Les blattes ou cafards (Blatta orientalis) sont des insectes qui appartiennent a la famille des Blattoptera. Ils se caracterisent par leur forme allongee, leurs ailes []
A Moi University student accused of stabbing his alleged love rival in March last year has been found guilty of manslaughter.

Dickson Siengo stabbed Stephen Mututho eight times at the universitys Eldoret town campus during a fight over a woman identified as Faith Bwire.

The deceased, who was a fourth-year hotel and hospitality management student, had visited his girlfriend at her off-campus hostel at Pioneer Roma on the outskirts of Eldoret but found her in the company of Dickson Siengo.

I was in my room with my friend Dickson when Steve came with his friend. When Steve saw me with him, an argument erupted between the two. I tried to separate them but in vain, said Faith Bwire in a past interview.

Dickson, 20, is said to have rushed to the kitchen, where he picked up a knife and followed Steve and his friend, who had both left the house.

It was only when I was on my way to the security office to report the incident that I stumbled upon Steve writhing in pain on the stairs and bleeding profusely. That is when I discovered that he had been stabbed, Faith narrated.

Steve sustained multiple stab wounds in the stomach, kidney, and heart, and died as officials of the student council and the hostel management rushed him to the hospital.

Appearing before Chief Magistrate Charles Obulutsa on Monday, Dickson was found guilty of manslaughter and sentenced to 8 years in jail.

He had applied for a non-custodial sentence to be able to complete his education and reform but the court rejected the plea.

The unfortunate part is that Mututho is gone. For you its possible that you will serve the sentence and resume your normal life, said Obulutsa.

You are taking a hospitality course that trains you to be hospitable to people who are not friendly and control anger.

Its unfortunate that Stephen is gone and that whatever sentence this court gives will not bring him back, added Obulutsa.

The Magistrate also noted that Dickson had not tried to contact Mututhos family.

As much as we may be sympathetic to your circumstances, the offence is serious. Its noted that you are a first offender. The deceased passed away in a very organised manner. Other students wanted to kill youwere it not for the quick action of police you would also be dead, said Obulutsa.

The Star reports that Siengo pleaded further saying he is young but Obulutsa said a more severe punishment would have been life imprisonment.

The deceased was stabbed eight times using a kitchen knife from the room of your girlfriend. For each stab, the court is giving you one year, ruled the Magistrate.

After the ruling, the student asked whether the time he had already spent in custody would reduce the sentence by a year but Obulutsa said this had already been considered.

Can you organise for me to complete my education in prison? the student further asked as quoted by the Star.

Mr Obulutsa replied: Yes, that is possiblethe prison authorities will organise that. There are people who have learned and graduated from prison.
Things are thick in the Nakumatt empire. By now, everyone knows that the once giant supermarket is experiencing serious financial issues. This has even led to talk of an impending collapse.

Over the weekend, it was announced that 3 branches in Uganda were shut down by their landlords. It appears the same may not be very far fetched in Kenya after all.

The latest bad news for Nakumatt is coming from Thika super highway, particularly Thika Road Mall (TRM). The supermarket chain apparently owes the mall landlord Sh51 million in rent arrears.

TRM, through Moran Auctioneers, has now seized a number of Nakumatts assets in a bid to recover their money. Among the items seized are trolleys, alcohol, toasters, refrigerators and 6 motor vehicles.

According to court documents, TRM took this drastic action after negotiations to unlock the rent arrears impasse failed.

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Nakumatt wants the court to stop TRM from auctioning its assets and bar them from kicking it out the premises. Court records do not indicate the default period of the rent, amounting to Sh51,896,027, but it is likely its over a period of several months.

Both parties have however asked the court to grant them till July 19 to negotiate a suitable settlement plan that may see the suit withdrawn.

Heres a list of the items in the possession of TRM.

But rent is only one of Nakumatts problems. Suppliers and staff all want their money. It was earlier reported that June salaries will be paid in 3 installments. It is unclear how staff will take this.

Among the suppliers chasing Nakumatt for their money is African Cotton Industries Limited, the manufacturer of popular tissue paper and sanitary towel brands such as Tena and Flora.

They are seeking Sh 70 million in unpaid debt, stretching back to May last year. In a suit, Africa Cotton states that Nakumatt has issued them 3 cheques totaling Sh11 million, all of which have bounced.

Two weeks ago, it was reported that Nakumatt has made it clear to the government that they would welcome a bail out. Trade PS dismissed the possibility, but we will be observing how things unfold in coming weeks.
The war drums have started, and as usual the culprits are people with the financial means to flee the country at the first sign of trouble.

Self-proclaimed public intellectual and economist David Ndii has now announced a gloomy future for Kenya, if Uhuru Kenyatta is declared winner in another sham election. Ndii made the tweet on Sunday, in what was interpreted as a warning for another post election violence.

From the Tweet, the other sham election could be the 2007 election, or the 2013 election that saw Uhuru declared winner. If its the latter, the Supreme Court would probably beg to disagree.

Which now presents the problem. Unless you were born yesterday, we know very well that elections in Kenya can be manipulated (though recent measures have been made to reduce this).

However, will it be a sham only when David Ndii does not agree with the results? Is he the one tasked with making that determination?

The reason the likes of Raila and other civil rights activists fought for democracy and a new constitution was so that institutions can work. The IEBC is there to conduct its job without interference. And frankly, the current commissioners were brought in quite recently after a bitter fallout between government and opposition that resulted in some nasty scenes in the streets. It would be unfair not to let them do their job. However, if you are aggrieved, the courts exist for that.

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The Judiciary has come a long way since the Moi days. With the passing of the new constitution, the Supreme Court is often looked upon to make important rulings, and in my simple understanding, only they can decide whether an election was a sham, after looking at the evidence not rumours.

It is unclear whether David Ndii meant the country will burn before or after the Supreme Court rules that the election was a sham.

But it can be argued that he shows no intention of waiting for a ruling before lighting up the country. Which negates the purpose of the Supreme Court in the first place.

What does he lack faith in. The Supreme Court or his party lawyers? The Judiciary has made many rulings that can be seen to be anti-government in the last few years. Why then would David Ndii burn the country before the Judiciary decides?

Truth be told. Next months election will not please everybody. We will hear stories and rumours of ballot stuffing, marking, failed BVR kits, missing names in the register etc. all over the country. But the moment we decide to become judge, jury and executioners, thats the moment the country will truly burn.

And if we do not have faith in the Supreme Court, after the long constitutional journey weve taken, then we should abolish it as soon as possible.

David Ndii will argue that he was simply making an observation. But observations like that coming from a person of repute in the inner circle of one of the team, can be taken very seriously. Indeed, the message received by Railas supporters is that the only way Raila will lose is through a sham election. It would be excusable coming from a neutral person, but from a man rumoured to be Treasury Cabinet Secretary in a Raila presidency, well, that is the exact definition of modern day incitement, lightly veiled.

And if I may, people like David Ndii and others blowing the war trumpet should have their passports seized so that when the country burns, they also burn in it.
A Ugandan national who was arrested for faking his way to top jobs in government and private companies has officially been charged.

The 50-year-old man goes by different aliases  Nobert Muhoro Ikundo, Nobert Ikundo Mwanyalo, Moses Otieno Obiero, Nobert Muhoro Ikundo Mwanyalo, Hope Lubega and Mwanyalo Robert.

He was charged with 15 counts of making documents without authority, nine counts of uttering a false document, one charge of impersonation and another of presenting forged documents to public officers, Nation reports.

Among the documents the form one dropout allegedly forged include a certificate for a masters degree in business for 2002 as well as a bachelors of science in electrical engineering for 1992.

He also forged another degree in electrical engineering with upper division qualification.

The court was also told that he forged a Kenya Certificate of Education (KCE) for 1985, two Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education documents for 1990, four birth certificates, a Kenyan identity card and three bachelor of computer science degree certificates for 1992, 1988 and 1989.

The suspect is further accused of presenting a forged birth certificate, a Kenya Revenue Authority personal identification number, a computer science degree certificate and transcripts, as well as one for KCE to the deputy human resource director of the Public Service Commission.

Until his arrest last month, he was the deputy director of information and communications technology at the Public Service Commission.

He also allegedly presented a fake birth certificate to a principal immigration officer in addition to impersonating one Nobert Muhoro Ikundo in 2015.

He denied the charges before Principal Magistrate Martha Mutuku and was released on cash bail of Sh300,000.
President Uhuru Kenyatta yesterday at State House, Nairobi, handed over to counties seven ambulances purchased with money recovered from a UK company found guilty of bribery to get a Kenyan contract.

The ambulances will be used to support the health referral system and will be based at health centers that really need them.

The counties which have benefitted are Laikipia, Wajir, West Pokot, Kitui, Elgeyo Marakwet and Nairobi.

Governors Joshua Irungu, (Laikipia), Ahmed Abdullahi (Wajir), Simon Kachapin (West Pokot), Julius Malombe (Kitui), Evans Kidero (Nairobi) and Senator Kipchumba Murkomen (Elgeyo Marakwet) received the ambulances on behalf of their counties.

The seven counties have a unique referral system challenges, largely related to remoteness as well as existence of a huge network of primary care facilities in relation to the number of hospitals available to the people.

The ambulance vehicles have been fitted with Basic Life Support equipment to ensure safe transport of patients.

Speaking during the function, President Kenyatta said his Government is working closely with the Governments of the United Kingdom, Switzerland and Jersey on a tripartite agreement-Framework for the return of assets from corruption and crime in Kenya (FRACCK).

The President said the repatriation of proceeds of corruption arising from the Smith & Ouzman case is a significant step taken by the Government of Kenya and the Government of the United Kingdom to ensure that corruption does not pay and that the corrupt will not enjoy proceeds of crime.

These Ambulances will go a long way in saving lives and enhancing emergency response services in the selected Counties which were in dire need of this support, said the President.

He said although the process has taken long because of the legal complexities of confiscation and repatriation, todays ceremony marks the most important step in ensuring that the repatriated monies are applied to the benefit of the people of Kenya.

The President extended invitation to other partners to join the collaborative framework.

He said his Government is now prepared to roll out a new 5-year strategy to fight corruption as captured in the Jubilee Manifesto and in the Medium Term Plan 3 whose focus shall be prevention, recovery and restitution.

The new strategy will include interventions targeting societal change in attitude towards corruption and the adoption of a progressive value system at all levels of the society starting with school going children.

This is why we have moved to clean up our examinations process and infrastructure, said the President

Other measures to be taken by the Government include investing in technology and re-engineering service systems to eliminate opportunities for corruption; adoption of a whole of government approach to fighting corruption (collective policy and administrative measures).

The Government will also be working with partners, to significantly upscale its ability to recover proceeds of corruption and crime in Kenya or anywhere in the world.

The President pointed out that because of the challenges the government has faced before, it now supports and champions the approach of partnership in tackling corruption.

I have insisted that all frontline Agencies involved in the fight against corruption must work together under the Multi Agency Framework which I established in November, 2015, said the President.

He thanked the United Kingdom Government, whose High Commissioner Nick Hailey, for helping in the establishment of the Kenya Child Protection Unit, the first of its type of support the National Crime Agency has provided anywhere in the world.

This unit has been incredibly successful and has so far led to over 250 children being safeguarded with a number of successful and significant prosecutions, including an offender who received life imprisonment for serious child sexual abuse, said the President.

Also present were Cabinet Secretaries Henry Rotich, Cleopa Mailu, Attorney General Githu Muigai and Ethic and Anti-Corruption Commission Chairperson Arch-Bishop Eliud Wabukala among others.

-PSCU
All About Ability, an independent living skills business, is celebrating its one-year business anniversary.

"We are extremely pleased with the hard work we have done over the past year," said Byllee Kairy, director, All About Ability.

In the past year, the company opened offices in Napa and Santa Rosa. The Napa office is located at 3369 Beard Road.

The company also launched two support programs within All About Ability. The first is Senior Connection, where retired professionals and hobbyists can share the experience and education that they have accumulated over their life times with young people.

The second is Young Entrepreneurship Program (YEP) that allows young people with a passion for creating their own products and services to launch their own small business.
When it was announced in early June that the United States would withdraw from the Paris Climate Agreement, family farmers and ranchers across the state balked. Then they got to work.

Now, a month later, more than 90 farms from Mendocino to San Diego have joined a pact to stand by the climate accord, adding their names to the California Farmers Climate Pledge and vowing, the pledge states, to continually improve [their] own on-farm practices to conserve energy and sequester carbon, while continuing to work toward the goals of the Paris agreement.

Ted Hall, proprietor of Long Meadow Ranch in Rutherford, is among the handful of Napa farmers who added their names to the pledge last month.

I really believe that doing the right thing can make economic sense, Hall said, and so the withdrawal from the Paris accord, the argument is that it was economically harmful. I dont believe that thats supported by the reality of what people can actually accomplish.

The day after the announcement, farmers around the state began to contact the Community Alliance with Family Farmers (CAFF) and the Farmers Guild, an assemblage of 12 local chapters throughout the state, including one in Napa.

Farmers are the first people to experience the backlash of climate change, said Farmers Guild Executive Director Evan Wiig. Thus, he recalled, following the news of a U.S. withdrawal farmers said we need to take a stand.

Soon after, the groups drafted and published the pledge. In a matter of days, Wiig said, 50 farms had signed on.

In addition to Long Meadow Ranch, local signatories so far include Henry Brothers Ranch in Angwin, Evermore Flowers in Napa and Worm Endings Unlimited, also based in Napa.

Charles Schembre, vineyard conservation coordinator with the Napa County Resource Conservation District (RCD), signed as well. Overseeing Huichica Creek Vineyard, the RCDs sustainable demonstration vineyard in the Carneros Region, Schembre said the pledge is a direct reflection of the work and progress that weve made. That work has largely been illustrating conservation practices like erosion control, carbon farming and restoring the propertys wetland area and riparian corridor.

So signing the pledge, Schembre said, just kind of seemed like a no-brainer.

At the end of the day, said Hall, those of us that are farmers are most potentially impacted by climate change and because we are connected to the land and have the opportunity to farm responsibly and grow plants that consume CO2 and, in effect, sequester carbon, its extremely important that those of us who take farming seriously do our fair share.

The pledge, Wiig said, is more than a symbolic gesture, lending credence to the groups efforts advocating for sustainable policy in Sacramento, and basically providing proof to legislators and policymakers that farmers are concerned and willing to do work on the issues.

It also counters a reputation that agriculture is more conservative [with] a lot of farmers out there who take a little more of a conservative stance on issues Wiig said, noting that the family farmers and ranchers CAFF and the Farmers Guild work with dont just believe in climate change, they experience it every single day and theyre very concerned about it.

We need our country to follow suit, he said.

For now, the group continues to seek signatures from Californias family farmers and ranchers. Wed love to get more vineyards for instance in Napa County because we know theres a lot forward thinking, innovative vineyard managers out there, Wiig said.

Wed love to keep building that list so weve got a nice background of support letting people know this is where farmers stand.

Among other local responses to the announcement of the U.S. withdrawal, the city of Calistoga passed a resolution on June 20 supporting the Paris accord. Mayor Chris Canning cited the citys Climate Action Plan, which adheres to the international agreement.
SACRAMENTO  California judges have broad authority to refuse to shorten the sentences of three strike inmates despite recent laws aimed at reducing the prison population, the state Supreme Court ruled.

In a 4-3 decision, the high court said Monday that judges may decline to cut prison terms for inmates who qualify for reductions under a 2012 law intended to reform the three-strikes repeat-offender law.

The ruling aimed to resolve questions posed by two ballot measures that were passed to relieve the states overburdened prison system, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Proposition 36 allowed three-strike inmates to receive sentence reductions if their third offense was neither serious nor violent. Judges could refuse a reduction if they believed the inmate posed an unreasonable risk of danger to public safety. They could consider the inmates history, disciplinary record in prison or other evidence.

Two years later, Proposition 47 created a definition of a safety risk that judges had to apply. Inmates could be denied a sentence reduction only if they posed an unreasonable risk of crimes including murder, a sexually violent offense, child molestation or others punishable by life in prison or the death penalty.

The court majority, led by Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye, ruled that the definition did not apply to three-strikers, who have been sentenced to 25 years to life for repeated crimes.

If it had, it would result in the release of more recidivist serious and/or violent offenders than had been originally contemplated under Proposition 36, Cantil-Sakauye wrote.

She noted that none of the ballot materials for Proposition 47 mentioned that it would affect three-strike prisoners. Proposition 47 allowed judges to reduce some nonviolent felonies to misdemeanors.

Based on the analysis and summary they prepared, there is no indication that the legislative analyst or the attorney general were even aware that the measure might amend the resentencing criteria governing the Three Strikes Reform Act, the chief justice wrote.

The ruling came in appeals filed by David J. Valencia and Clifford Paul Chaney, who were both sentenced to 25 years to life under the three-strikes law and both eligible for reduced terms.

Valencias criminal history included kidnapping, making criminal threats and striking his wife. Chaneys record included armed robbery and three convictions for driving under the influence.

A judge refused to reduce Valencias sentence, calling him a risk to public safety, particularly to women. Another judge denied Chaneys resentencing application, saying he was likely to drive again while intoxicated.

Both argued that the judges should have based their decisions on the more restrictive definition of safety risk.
This Fourth of July, look closely at one of those printed copies of the Declaration of Independence.

See it? The woman's name at the bottom?

It's right there. Mary Katherine Goddard.

If you've never noticed it or heard of her, you aren't alone. She's a Founding Mother, of sorts, yet few folks know about her. And some of America's earliest bureaucrats did their best to shut her down. Same old, same old.

Goddard was fearless her entire career as one of America's first female publishers, printing scoops from Revolutionary War battles from Concord to Bunker Hill and continuing to publish after her offices were twice raided and her life was repeatedly threatened by haters.

Yup, she faced down the Twitter trolls of 1776.

In her boldest move, Goddard put her full name at the bottom of all the copies of the Declaration that her printing presses churned out and distributed to the colonies. It was the first copy young America would see that included the original signer's names - and Congress commissioned her for the important job.

Her fiery editorials, had, after all, set the tone for pivotal moments in the revolution.

"The ever memorable 19th of April gave a conclusive answer to the questions of American freedom," she wrote in her Maryland Journal editorial after the start of the Revolutionary War. "What think ye of Congress now? That day. . . evidenced that Americans would rather die than live slaves!"

Until Goddard got the assignment from Congress to print and distribute copies of the Declaration, it was more like an anonymous internet post than a document of record.

Sure, there's the famous original copy in Thomas Jefferson's elegant penmanship.

Beautifully written, boldly stated, it was famously signed by the Founding Fathers on July 4th. But neither Americans nor the British saw that copy.

Instead, days and weeks later, they got a hastily-printed, mistake-laden, nearly anonymous document that was the 1776 version of the ALL CAPS EMAIL signed by PATRIOT1776. Signing your name to something like this was considered treason.

It was done on the night of that July 4, when the founders asked Irish immigrant John Dunlap to print 200 copies. The only names on it were John Hancock and secretary Charles Thomson, who was listed as a witness. It was read to troops on the front lines and a copy was sent to England.

But without all the names of the founders, the Declaration was less devastating.

Goddard's edition changed that.

And by including her name at the bottom, "Baltimore, in Maryland: Printed by Mary Katherine Goddard," she became a patriot worth remembering.

Goddard wasn't always so bold declaring her name.

When she ran the Baltimore newspaper that her brother had abandoned, she used the gender-neutral M.K. Goddard.

She was also quietly named the first female postmaster in the colonies in 1775, running the busy and crucial Baltimore Post Office as well as a bookstore, printshop and newspaper. At the time, Congress was meeting just down the street from her office. So she was basically the pipeline for a lot of information during our nation's founding years - her little shop was a combination Washington Post, Snapchat, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram from 1775 to 1784. (It's now a Rite Aid.)

Goddard may have been an early version of The Post's Katharine Graham, but she wasn't the only woman who made history running America's free press.

In 1739, Elizabeth Timothy took over the South Carolina Gazette after her husband died, also taking over his partnership with Benjamin Franklin.

Franklin said the Widow Timothy was far more skilled at business than her husband had been. "Her accounts were clearer, she collected on more bills, and she cut off advertisements if payments were not current," Franklin said according to Kay Mills in A Place in the News.

Goddard eventually lost her job as publisher after her brother married and returned to Baltimore in 1784, taking over the Maryland Journal and ousting his sister.

But she was still the Baltimore postmaster, and ran that office with efficiency and aplomb for a total of 14 years until the newly appointed national Postmaster General moved to replace her with someone with no experience, one of his political pals.

U.S. Postmaster Samuel Osgood said he didn't think a woman could handle all the travel associated with the job, that she didn't have the, ahem, stamina. Remember, it's a job she'd successfully done - along with publishing a newspaper and printing the Declaration of Independence - for more than a decade.

The folks who knew her were outraged and more than 200 merchants and residents in Baltimore sent the postmaster a petition asking to keep her in place. But Osgood held firm and though Goddard fought for reinstatement for years, it was to no avail.

She continued to run her bookstore in Baltimore until her death in 1816.

On this Independence Day, let's also celebrate the story of a forgotten patriot who used the power of the press to help build this nation.
There is an intriguing event happening at the St. Helena Public Library, celebrating the birthday of Elsie, the Library Cat, through the month of July. Joining this momentous occasion are three books, Adventures of Cougar the Cat, Cougar and the Company He Keeps, and Cougars Dreams, created by myself, Ferenc Brunner and Cheryl Olsen.

Let these books be a precedent and inspiration for our community to express their imagination and creativity. Imagination and creativity is a mutual desire and interest that speaks everyones language and lays the foundation for communication and exchange of ideas.

Our intent is to contribute our creativity and experience, to inspire our community to express their being, on the wings of imagination and creativity.

Cheryl and I are looking forward to the presentation of our books (free copy to all) to the community, and celebrating Elsies birthday. Enclosed in the books you will find further enlightenment, on how and why to be a part of this exciting endeavor.

I will provide guidance and inspiration in every aspect of this endeavor. Enjoy this journey, feel free to comment.

St. Helena Public Library, a politically neutral territory, is our community center, is the place for the community to educate, reflect, communicate and understand.

The library deserves the support of all of us.

Ferenc Brunner and Cheryl Olsen

St. Helena
The NATO Secretary General, Mr. Jens Stoltenberg will meet with the Prime Minister of Japan, H.E. Mr. Shinzo Abe, on Thursday, 6 July 2017.

Media Advisory

10:30 Press statements by the Secretary General and the Prime Minister  Main entrance

The press statements will be streamed live on the NATO website and available on satellite on demand via Eurovision Geneva.

Still and video images from the meeting will be available on the NATO website afterwards.

Follow us on Twitter (@NATOPress and @jensstoltenberg)
"There are plans to carry out the medium repair of the ship and upgrade it to the level of the first serial-produced submarine of the type. The work will take from two to three years," the source said, without specifying when the repair would begin.



The Lada-class submarine is a fourth-generation diesel-electric submarine. It has a surface displacement of about 1,750 tons, while the Varshavyanka-class submarines surface displacement is 2,300 tons. The Lada-class submarine has an underwater speed of 21 knots.



The Project 677 lead submarine St. Petersburg was laid down in 1997. Since 2010 when it was delivered to the Navy, it has been undergoing operational evaluation. The submarines Kronstadt and Velikiye Luki were laid down in 2005 and 2006, respectively. Their construction was suspended and then resumed only in 2013. They are being built, considering all imperfections revealed during the operation of the lead submarine. As Navy Deputy Commander-in-Chief for Armament Vice-Admiral Viktor Bursuk said earlier, the Navy is planning to order two more Project 677 submarines. According to him, submarines of the class will form the mainstay of Russias diesel-electric submarine fleet.



 Copyright 2017 TASS. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
WASHINGTON: Scientists have developed solar- powered smart windows with tunable glazing that can control the heat and light inside a home, saving up to 40 pct in an average building's energy costs.

The system developed by researchers at Princeton University in the US features solar cells that selectively absorb near-ultraviolet (UV) light, so the windows are completely self-powered, inexpensive and easy to apply to existing windows.

"Sunlight is a mixture of electromagnetic radiation made up of near-UV rays, visible light, and infrared energy, or heat," said Yueh-Lin Loo, from Princeton.

"We wanted the smart window to dynamically control the amount of natural light and heat that can come inside, saving on energy cost and making the space more comfortable," said Loo.

The smart window controls the transmission of visible light and infrared heat into the building, while the new type of solar cell uses near-UV light to power the system.

"This new technology is actually smart management of the entire spectrum of sunlight," said Loo.

Since near-UV light is invisible to the human eye, the researchers set out to harness it for the electrical energy needed to activate the tinting technology.

"Typical solar cells made of silicon are black because they absorb all visible light and some infrared heat - so those would be unsuitable for this application," Loo said.

In the study published in the journal Nature Energy, the researchers described how they used organic semiconductors - contorted hexabenzocoronene (cHBC) derivatives - for constructing the solar cells.

They chose the material because its chemical structure could be modified to absorb a narrow range of wavelengths - in this case, near-UV light.

To construct the solar cell, the semiconductor molecules are deposited as thin films on glass with the same production methods used by organic light-emitting diode manufacturers.

When the solar cell is operational, sunlight excites the cHBC semiconductors to produce electricity.

At the same time, the researchers constructed a smart window consisting of electrochromic polymers, which control the tint, and can be operated solely using power produced by the solar cell.

When near-UV light from the Sun generates an electrical charge in the solar cell, the charge triggers a reaction in the electrochromic window, causing it to change from clear to dark blue.

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Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-03 23:00:49|Editor: MJ

Syria's Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad (C, Rear) speaks during a press conference in Damascus, Syria, on July 3, 2017. Faisal Mekdad stressed Monday that his government is no longer having chemical weapons for military purposes. (Xinhua/Ammar Safarjalani)

DAMASCUS, July 3 (Xinhua) -- Syria's Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad said Monday that his government would not be surprised if the U.S. carried out a new attack on Syria, as "the crazy can do anything."

Mekdad's remarks came against the backdrop of a new escalation in the Syrian chemical file, with Washington alleging that the Syrian government is preparing for a new chemical attack.

On Monday, the White House said the United States had identified the Syrian government's potential preparations for another chemical weapons attack, warning of "a heavy price" if such attacks were conducted.

"The activities are similar to preparations the regime made before its April 4, 2017 chemical weapons attack," the White House said, referring to the April alleged chemical attack on the city of Khan Sheikhun in northern Idlib province.

Activists and the United States accused the Syrian army of carrying out the attack, while the Syrian government denied such allegation.

In the same month, the United States struck the Shayrat Air Base in central Syria with 59 Tomahawk missiles, saying the chemical attack was prepared in that base.

The Syrian government denied the accusations, stressing it has disposed of all of its chemical programs, when the chemical arsenal of Syria was handed over to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) in 2013, and was declared destroyed in 2014.

But since the United States renewed the accusation last week, talks have re-emerged about the intention of Washington to conduct another attack, taking the chemical weapons issue as an unsubstantiated pretext.

Mekdad warned the United States to "precisely calculate the possible reactions," if it were to carry out a new aggression on Syria.

"The reactions of Syria and its allies will not be as it was before and this is what we said and what the military and political leadership in Russia also said," Mekdad said.

Speaking during a press conference in Damascus, Mekdad said that there was no moral justification of the April U.S. strike on Syria, "however, the crazy can do anything."

The Syrian official stressed again that his government is no longer having chemical weapons for military purposes.

He said the new pressure on Syria comes in the wake of the "recent field development in Syria," adding that the current time "is the best for the Syrian state," in terms of the situation on the ground in key Syrian areas.

Meanwhile, Mekdad accused the United States of being a beneficiary of terrorism.

"The United States and its allies invested in terrorism and the (last April) strike was premeditated against all those fighting terrorism in the region," he said.

"They aim to support a coup against the Syrian government, which is targeted due to its stances in the region against Israel," he said.

He added that al-Qaida terror network was created by the United States and the real face of terrorism was created by the consecutive U.S. administrations.
Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad talks during a news conference in Damascus, Syria July 3, 2017. (REUTERS photo)

DAMASCUS, July 3 (Xinhua) -- Syria's Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad said Monday that his government would not be surprised if the U.S. carried out a new attack on Syria, as "the crazy can do anything."

Mekdad's remarks came against the backdrop of a new escalation in the Syrian chemical file, with Washington alleging that the Syrian government is preparing for a new chemical attack.

On Monday, the White House said the United States had identified the Syrian government's potential preparations for another chemical weapons attack, warning of "a heavy price" if such attacks were conducted.

"The activities are similar to preparations the regime made before its April 4, 2017 chemical weapons attack," the White House said, referring to the April alleged chemical attack on the city of Khan Sheikhun in northern Idlib province.

Activists and the United States accused the Syrian army of carrying out the attack, while the Syrian government denied such allegation.

In the same month, the United States struck the Shayrat Air Base in central Syria with 59 Tomahawk missiles, saying the chemical attack was prepared in that base.

The Syrian government denied the accusations, stressing it has disposed of all of its chemical programs, when the chemical arsenal of Syria was handed over to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) in 2013, and was declared destroyed in 2014.

But since the United States renewed the accusation last week, talks have re-emerged about the intention of Washington to conduct another attack, taking the chemical weapons issue as an unsubstantiated pretext.

Mekdad warned the United States to "precisely calculate the possible reactions," if it were to carry out a new aggression on Syria.

"The reactions of Syria and its allies will not be as it was before and this is what we said and what the military and political leadership in Russia also said," Mekdad said.

Speaking during a press conference in Damascus, Mekdad said that there was no moral justification of the April U.S. strike on Syria, "however, the crazy can do anything."

The Syrian official stressed again that his government is no longer having chemical weapons for military purposes.

He said the new pressure on Syria comes in the wake of the "recent field development in Syria," adding that the current time "is the best for the Syrian state," in terms of the situation on the ground in key Syrian areas.

Meanwhile, Mekdad accused the United States of being a beneficiary of terrorism.

"The United States and its allies invested in terrorism and the (last April) strike was premeditated against all those fighting terrorism in the region," he said.

"They aim to support a coup against the Syrian government, which is targeted due to its stances in the region against Israel," he said.

He added that al-Qaida terror network was created by the United States and the real face of terrorism was created by the consecutive U.S. administrations.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-04 00:42:16|Editor: MJ

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Total CEO Patrick Pouyanne speaks at the deal signing ceremony in Teheran, Iran, on July 3, 2017. Iran and a consortium of China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), France's Total signed a 4.8-billion dollar deal here on Monday to develop a major Iranian gas field in the Persian Gulf. (Xinhua/Ahamad Halabisaz)

PARIS, July 3 (Xinhua) -- French oil giant Total confirmed a major deal with Iran on Monday to develop phase 11 of the South Pars project in the Gulf, the first major energy deal between Iran and the West since Tehran signed an international nuclear deal in 2015.

Under the 20-year contract, the project will have a production capacity of 2 billion cubic feet per day or 400,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, and the produced gas is expected to supply the Iranian domestic market starting in 2021, Total said in a press release.

With an estimated cost of 2 billion U.S. dollars, the South Pars project's first phase "will consist of 30 wells and two wellhead platforms connected to existing onshore treatment facilities by two sub-sea pipelines."

The scheme's second phase will involve "the construction of offshore compression facilities, a first on the South Pars field," it added.

"This is a major agreement for Total, which officially marks our return to Iran to open a new page in the history of our partnership with the country. We are proud and honored to be the first international company to sign an IPC (Iranian Petroleum Contract) which offers an attractive commercial framework," said Patrick Pouyanne, chairman and chief executive officer of Total.

"This project is in line with the group's strategy to expand its presence in the Middle East and grow its gas portfolio by adding low cost, long plateau assets," he added.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-04 00:42:18|Editor: MJ

Palestinians gather at Rafah crossing point between southern Gaza Strip and Egypt during a protest, on July 3, 2017. Dozens demonstrated on Monday at Rafah crossing point between southern Gaza Strip and Egypt calling on the Egyptian Authorities to reopen the closed crossing for patients who need medical treatment. (Xinhua/Khaled Omar)

GAZA, July 3 (Xinhua) -- Dozens demonstrated on Monday at the gate of Rafah crossing point between southern Gaza Strip and Egypt calling on the Egyptian Authorities to reopen the closed crossing for patients who need medical treatment.

The demonstrators rallied at the borders with Egypt to call for immediate transfer of patients, who suffer critical health conditions, to Egyptian hospitals after many of the patients were banned from reaching Israel and the West Bank.

They waved the flags of Egypt and Palestine and chanted slogans that called on Egypt to reopen the crossing point for patients and students.

The crossing point of Rafah had been completely closed for several months.

"Save the children of Gaza from death, open Rafah crossing," the demonstrators chanted as they waved their valid Palestinian passports.

The crossing was partially reopened in March 6.

The demonstration was organized one day after a senior Hamas delegation headed to Cairo for talks with Egyptian security officials, according to Hamas officials.

Islamic Hamas movement officials had earlier stated that the Egyptian side promised to permanently open Rafah crossing point after finishing a renovation of the crossing buildings late August.

Earlier this week, the Hamas-run ministry of interior had announced the building of a buffer security zone along the borderline area between Gaza Strip and Egypt to boot and restore security situation.

Last month, Gaza Hamas chief Yahya al-Senwar and Hamas security chief Tawfiq Abu Naim paid an eight-day visit to Egypt and held talks with Egyptian security officials on easing the hard living situation in Gaza and security arrangements.

After the visit, the Egyptian authorities allowed the entry of fuel trucks into the Gaza Strip, most of them to operate the only power plant after it stopped generating electricity for more than two months.

Moreover, dozens of Palestinians gathered outside Shifa Medical Center in Gaza city to demand medical treatment for patients in hospitals in the West Bank and Israel.

They called for the need of neutralizing the file of medical treatment for Gaza patients and isolated it from the differences and the internal Palestinian division that has been going on for 10 years.

They blamed Israel for "the policy of collective punishment and the unjust siege."

The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza recently accused the Palestinian Authority of reducing the number of permits funded financially to treat patients from the Gaza Strip in the West Bank and Israel.

The Palestinian Authority's Health Ministry in the West Bank denied the accusations, saying the transfer programs of patients in Gaza continue, and that some of them are banned by Israel from leaving the Gaza Strip.

Meanwhile, the UN special coordinator for the Middle East peace process, Nikolay Mladenov, arrived in the Gaza Strip on June 28 to meet Hamas leaders for the second time in four days.

A Hamas official told Xinhua that Mladenov was "mediating several files related to deteriorating humanitarian conditions, most notably the electricity crisis."

Mladenov met last month with President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah, where he discussed "the latest developments in the political process and the situation in the Gaza Strip," according to the official Palestinian news agency WAFA.

Abbas stressed the importance of annulling the administrative committee set up by Hamas in Gaza and enabling the consensus government to perform its tasks and prepare for holding the general elections as a genuine way to end the division.

The United Nations has repeatedly warned of the consequences of the continued deterioration of humanitarian conditions in Gaza in light of the severe shortage of basic services provided to its population of more than two million people.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-04 00:42:25|Editor: MJ

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by Habtamu Liben and Zhu Shaobin

ADDIS ABABA, July 3 (Xinhua) -- African leaders attending the 29th AU summit in Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa have taken steps further toward owning a financially independent African Union (AU).

The latest call was made by Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, who urged other African leaders to take the momentum forward to make AU financially independent.

Mugabe, who previously pledged 300 cattle in supporting the newly established AU's foundation, affirmed in his remarks at the opening of the 29th AU summit on Monday that "finding alternative ways of funding the Union is the most urgent task."

Calling on heads of AU member states to take measures to finance AU, Mugabe stressed that "unless and until we can find our role, the African Union will not be truly our own."

The AU has frequently expressed its concerns that the financial shortfall has created a significant gap between its planned budget and actual funding, which hinders the effective delivery of its agenda.

According to figures by the pan-African block, only 67 percent of the AU's assessment for money contributions by member states are actually collected annually, and about 30 member states default either partially or completely on average annually.

At the 27th AU Summit held in Rwanda last year, a financing proposal was adopted to direct all AU member states to implement a 0.2-percent levy on eligible imports to finance the AU.

The initiative mainly aspires to create an equitable and predictable source of financing for AU and to reduce dependency on partner funds.

The financing proposal, which targets to cover 100 percent of the Union's operational budget, 75 percent of its program budget and 25 percent of AU's peace fund.

Countries such as Kenya, Rwanda, Chad, Ethiopia, Republic of the Congo and Ghana are said to be at the forefront in implementing the 0.2-percent levy on imports of eligible goods to the continent from a non-AU member state.

According to Thomas Kwesi Quartey, AU Commission Deputy Chairperson, the financing proposal of the Union, as AU's major reform target, is designed to assist the block to effectively address challenges that continue to hamper AU from realizing its potential by avoiding the search for donor.

"To reaffirm Africa's renaissance and in appreciation of the difficulties we face in the over-reliance on development partners for funds, whose biases and priorities sometimes negate the spirit of Pan-Africans, the momentum in the implementation of the 0.2 percent levy continues to gain traction," the deputy chairperson said.

Quartey also expressed his hope that "all the 55 AU member states will manage the full, consistent and timely implementation of this decision by the year 2018."

The United Nation, AU's major partner in various activities concerning the continent, has also expressed its continued support as African leaders commit themselves towards AU's self-reliance in its quest "towards a prosperous Africa."

Speaking at the opening of the 29th AU summit on Monday, the UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed affirmed that the UN "commends African leaders for their commitment to self-reliance as reflected in their decision to fund 25 percent of the AU's peace and support operations by 2020."
Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-04 01:12:56|Editor: MJ

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BERLIN, July 3 (Xinhua) -- A German administrative court has confirmed measures by police in Hamburg to prevent protestors at the G20 summit from establishing a permanent camp on Monday.

Previously, the organizer of the "Anticapitalist camp" had sought to appeal a police ban on sleeping tents, showers and kitchens.

A police spokesperson wrote on Twitter that the Hamburg court ruled accordingly and added that "no overnight stays will be tolerated."

Police had clashed with protestors at the campsite in southeast Hamburg on Sunday night as authorities removed 11 tents. According to the police, residents offered resistance, leading to the arrest of one individual and the use of pepper spray.

A series of protests against the G20 summit, scheduled for July 7 and 8, attracted more than 4,000 people on Sunday and included a procession of boats and rafts on the Binnenalster lake in the city center.

German authorities expect up to 100,000 people to join protests at the biggest upcoming rally on Saturday. German Minister of Justice Heiko Maas has warned against violence at rallies, while police have told press they are concerned about acts of sabotage at Hamburg's harbor and other infrastructure.

A range of demonstrations has been organized to call on G20 leaders to act more decisively on climate change and global inequality. So far, the majority of protests has been peaceful.

German police officers are out in force in Hamburg to ensure security at the summit. Police have intensified controls at the German-Danish border to identify potentially violent protestors.

Despite an official ban, members of an association of activists known as the initiative "BlockG20" have announced their intention to block access roads for diplomatic convoys and enter the 38 sq km "blue zone" which has been cordoned off from the public by security forces.

Hamburg's administrative court had previously confirmed the ban of two demonstrations in the restricted area.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-04 02:03:31|Editor: MJ

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VIENNA, July 3 (Xinhua) -- The unemployment rate in Austria saw a decline of 3.1 percent for June to take the total number of job seekers down to 374,973, the Public Employment Service Austria (AMS) reported on Monday.

The overall unemployment rate presently lies at 5.4 percent, considered favourable in the EU where the average rate is currently 7.8 percent.

The fall in jobless figures has been observable as a trend for several months, and this time marks the largest drop seen so far in 2017.

A notable 15.7 percent decrease in unemployment was recorded amongst young people, while men saw a larger 6.5 percent drop in their jobless numbers than women on 3.2 percent.

Foreign nationals for whom a long-standing trend toward rising unemployment had been seen, also saw a decline of 3.7 percent.

Unemployment for people aged 50 and over remained a problem, however, their jobless numbers increased by 3.5 percent. The government has launched its "Aktion 2020" job initiative aimed specifically at assisting this segment of the workforce.
File photo shows Nigerian soldiers participate in an operation in Nigeria's northeastern state of Borno, March 16, 2016. (Xinhua/Wale Salau)

LAGOS, July 4 (Xinhua) -- About 700 Boko Haram insurgents in the restive Borno state have surrendered to Nigerian troops, the Nigerian army said Monday.

Chief of Army Staff Tukur Buratai said during an exhibition to mark the week-long Nigerian Army Day Celebration that Nigerian troops had made "tremendous achievement" in the counter insurgency operations.

"Some others are in the process to surrender, This is a clear indication that the Boko Haram war is clearly being won," he said.

He said it would be a great sigh of relief as the terrorists are finally capitulating.

Boko Haram has been blamed for the deaths of more than 20,000 people and displacing of 2.3 million others in Nigeria since their insurgency started in 2009.

The group kidnapped more than 200 school girls in Chibok, a community in Borno State, in April 2014. So far, 106 of the abducted schoolgirls have been rescued.

At least 1,400 suspected members of Boko Haram are currently held in a detention center in the country's northeast region.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-04 02:38:52|Editor: MJ

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DHAKA, July 3 (Xinhua) -- At least nine people were killed and about 50 others injured when a boiler of a knit garment factory at Gazipur on the outskirts of Bangladesh capital Dhaka went off on Monday night, a police official said.

The explosion took place at around 8:00 p.m. local time at Multifabs Ltd, an export oriented knitwear factory, according to the official who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The blast at the factory's dyeing section led to a devastating fire that swept through the factory building for hours, he said.

"Eight bodies have been recovered from the accident site shortly after the accident," he said, adding that one more person succumbed to his injuries later in a hospital.

Some 50 people were injured in the explosion, said the official, adding all the injured people were rushed to local hospitals.

The death toll may rise as many people have sustained critical injuries, he said.

Ataur Rahman, a Fire Service and Civil Defence Headquarters official, told reporters that the ground and first floors of the four-story building partially collapsed due to the blast.

He said rescue operation was still under way. The cause of the accident is not yet clear.

A spokesman for the factory was not immediately available for comment.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-04 04:19:49|Editor: yan

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ANKARA, July 3 (Xinhua) -- Turkish Foreign Ministry condemned Greece over a Greek coast guard boat opening fire at a Turkish cargo ship at international waters in the Aegean Sea off the coast of Rhodes island on Monday.

"We strongly condemn the unmeasured act of Greek authorities in this disgusting incident," the ministry said in a written statement.

The Turkish ship M/V ACT carrying dry cargo was sailing from Iskenderun port in southern Turkey to Izmit port in northwestern Turkey when it came under attack by a Greek coast guard boat, according to the ministry.

Haluk Sami Kalkavan, the cargo ship's captain, told Turkish broadcaster CNN Turk that the Greek coast guard approached to his ship on three miles off the coast of Rhodes, and asked them to divert the route to Rhodes.

The Greek coast guard opened warning fire in the air after Turkish cargo ship's refusal, then onto the ship, Kalkavan said, adding that there are at least 16 bullet holes on the ship.

Following the incident, Turkey sent two coastal guard boats and one assault boat to the area, escorting the cargo ship to Turkish waters, the Interior Ministry said.

No one was killed or wounded in the incident, it added.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-04 04:40:02|Editor: MJ

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ALGIERS, July 3 (Xinhua) -- Algeria said on Monday it will resume talks with France in September on retrieving its national archives during colonial and precolonial years.

Algerian Minister of Mujahedeen (war-veterans) Tayeb Zitouni told reporters that the statements made by newly elected French President Emmanuel Macron when he was a candidate, were "audacious" and Algeria "awaits concrete steps."

Zitouni was referring to the remarks made by Macron while visiting Algiers in February 2017 that he was willing to discuss the issues related to the 130 years of French colonial rule in Algeria (1830-1962).

"We are tired of French promises since the independence, while nothing concrete has been done," Zitouni said. "It is not about conflict about inches of land; it is rather pending files that should be solved once for all."

In fact, Paris has been reluctant to return to Algeria archives retracing the precolonial and colonial eras. The two countries set up three joint commissions in 2016 in order to accelerate this process, but no progress has been made yet.

However, Zitouni said the joint commissions will meet in September to address several issues, including compensation for victims of nuclear explosions done by France in the Algerian desert, missing people during the colonial era, and recovery of the skulls of Algerian martyrs which are displayed in some museums in Paris.

Algeria is still waiting for a clear recognition by Paris of "the colonial crimes" committed in Algeria during the colonial period. Former French President Francois Hollande acknowledged, during his first official visit to Algiers in December 2013, that "the colonial system was deeply unjust."

This statement was seen by Algeria as a desire by France to improve the strained bilateral relations, but no further progress has been made to address the outstanding issue of the painful past.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-04 06:50:59|Editor: yan

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HOUSTON, July 3 (Xinhua) -- The amount of solar energy installed on the world's power grids jumped 50 percent year over year in 2016, local media quoted the International Energy Agency as report on Monday.

According to the report, between 70 and 75 gigawatts worth of solar panels came online, with close to half of those installations coming from China, where solar capacity more than doubled last year.

IEA said renewables represented 24 percent of total electricity output, and it forecast the renewable power will grow by 36 percent by 2021, making it the fastest-growing source of electricity generation globally.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-04 08:37:34|Editor: An

Photo taken on July 3, 2017 shows the site of rescue on the flooded area in Changsha, capital of central China's Hunan Province, July 3, 2017. Flood which squeezes through culverts and dam breaches submerged farmlands and residential buildings here. Thousands of rescuers gathered to deal with the emergency and a discarded trailer was requisitioned to plug up a wide culvert, which largely eased the water flow. (Xinhua/Li Ga)
Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-04 07:21:16|Editor: An

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MOSCOW, July 3 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping met with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on bilateral ties and major global issues here on Monday.

Xi urged closer coordination between the two countries on major issues of regional and global concern.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-04 07:56:21|Editor: MJ

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SAN FRANCISCO, July 3 (Xinhua) -- A gunman who reportedly tried to hijack a helicopter was killed Monday at an airport in Oregon.

Hillsboro police said the man tried to steal a helicopter at gunpoint outside a flight school at the Hillsboro Airport, hopped back over the fence at the sight of an officer and was fatally shot after a chase into a nearby field.

Hillsboro, the fifth-largest city in the State of Oregon, is 27 kilometers northwest of Portland, the largest city in the U.S. Pacific Northwest state.

The incident took place at 11:23 a.m. local time when the masked man went up to a helicopter with a flight instructor and a student inside as it was warming up at Hillsboro Aero Academy, Hillsboro police spokesman Lt. Henry Reimann was quoted as saying in a report by The Oregonian.

The man opened the door, pointed a gun at the student and ordered the student out.

After a police showed up, the man ran from the helicopter, went back over the barbed-wire fence and fled across a local road. A second Hillsboro police officer encountered the man in a field and shot him, Reimann said. The man died at the scene.

No other injuries were reported. Police haven't yet identified the suspect.

Flights were halted briefly and the airport was reopen by 1:00 p.m., officials said.
CHICAGO, July 3 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Magistrate Judge Eric Long on Monday ordered the man accused of kidnapping a visiting Chinese scholar to be held without bond until his next court hearing on July 5.

Brendt Christensen, 28, charged with kidnapping Yingying Zhang on June 9, did not speak during a hearing at a federal courthouse in Urbana city, the U.S. state of Illinois.

If convicted of the federal kidnapping charge, Christensen faces up to life in prison, according to Sharon Paul, a spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney's office.

Wearing an orange jumpsuit, Christensen did not speak during the hearing that lasted nine minutes, other than to acknowledge that he understood his rights, according to local media ABC7.

Judge Long asked Christensen's attorney, Evan Bruno of the Urbana-based Bruno Law Firm, whether he was ready to take a stand on bail. When Bruno asked for a few days, Long set a detention hearing for 3 p.m. Wednesday during which the bond will be determined.

Zhang, 26, went missing on June 9 after she got into a black Saturn Astra car about five blocks from where she got off a bus as she was heading to an apartment complex to sign a lease. She arrived at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) in late April.

FBI and local policemen arrested Christensen on Friday based on the fact that the suspect called someone about his kidnapping of Yingying Zhang.

"While Christensen was under law enforcement surveillance, agents overheard him explaining that he kidnapped Zhang," the FBI press release said.

Christensen was enrolled as a PhD candidate in experimental condensed matter physics by UIUC but it was not clear if he was still studying at the university when he was arrested.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-04 09:16:46|Editor: MJ

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SEOUL, July 4 (Xinhua) -- The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) has fired an unidentified ballistic missile into its eastern waters, Yonhap news agency reported Tuesday, citing South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS).
Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-04 10:27:17|Editor: MJ

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PARIS, July 3 (Xinhua) -- Two armed men opened fire on a group of people in the southern French city of Toulouse on Monday evening, killing one person and injuring six others, local media reported.

The shooting happened at around 9:00 p.m. (1900 GMT) when two men on motorcycle shot dead a man and injured others in the city's La Reynerie district before running away, said a Europe1 broadcaster.

Two of the injured people were in serious situation, according to the report.

Local officials, meanwhile, said extra security forces had been deployed to the area.

"No possibilities are ruled out, but there is no terrorist element at this stage," regional authorities were quoted as saying.

Citing a source close to the investigation, the broadcaster said the shooting is likely linked with settlement of old scores between gangs.

Last year, the La Reynerie district was the scene of two shooting incidents, both believed to be a settling of scores.

In one incident last July, a Russian man of Chechen origin was shot dead by an unknown gunman on a scooter.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-04 10:32:22|Editor: MJ

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YANGON, July 4 (Xinhua) -- Commander-in-Chief of Myanmar's Defense Services Min Aung Hlaing said the air crash of a military plane on June 7 was a great loss for the nation and the armed forces.

"Loss of lives involved in this accident is assumed to be the loss of every individual in the nation," Min Aung Hlaing told a meeting at the Army Headquarters in Nay Pyi Taw, the Myanmar News Agency reported on Tuesday.

He thanked all participants in the rescue operation for their concerted efforts, and people and families of the armed forces across the nation for their donation.

The search work will continue depending on the weather condition, he said.

According to the Navy, during the period from June 7 to July 2, 13 naval vessels and 26 local fishing vessels have taken part in the search for the plane wreckage and further search and transportation will be carried out by nine more naval vessels, eight local fishing vessels and nine soldier-divers.

According to the Air Force, a total of 261 pieces of wreckage have been recovered so far which are categorized into nose section, middle fuselage and rear section.

On June 18, flight Data Recorder (Black Box) and CVR (Cockpit Voice Recorder) were found in the retrieved plane's tail section, which was entangled with a fishing net of a local vessel under the sea off the country's southern coast.

The authorities are continuing to probe into the reasons of the plane crash based on the black box.

So far, a total of 92 bodies of victims have been retrieved.

With a load of 2.4 tons of cargo and 122 people aboard, including 108 military personnel and their family members and 14 crew members, the aircraft of the Myanmar Air Force lost contact with the ground shortly after taking off from Myeik on June 7.

The plane has been confirmed crashed in the Andaman Sea off the southern Tanintharyi region on a flight to Yangon.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-04 10:37:25|Editor: MJ

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MELBOURNE, July 4 (Xinhua) -- The way the common bee observes colors could revolutionize the way robots and drones see the world, an Australian study published on Tuesday has found.

A human's ability to see colour is heavily affected by changing light around them, but bees are able to see the same color regardless by using three eyes on top of their head as well as their two main eyes.

Adrian Dyer, the lead author of a study into bee's vision published by the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) University on Monday, said that the three eyes on top of a bee's head sample the light above them to detect the conditions.

"It means their brain knows what kind of lighting conditions they are in and then, when they are looking directly at a flower, they can say, 'Ah, it's a blue sky day, so the correct color should appear like this, or if it's a cloudy day it should appear like something else," Dyer told Australian media on Tuesday.

Dyer said the discovery of how the three eyes work could solve the long-running problem of how to advance the technology that allows cameras, robots and drones to see the world.

"This is a very big problem for machine vision - how to make reliable decisions when the color of the light changes," Dyer said.

By analyzing the process, researchers identified the mathematical formula used by a bee to process information gathered by the three eyes, information which can be programmed into a computer.

They believe that drones with "bee-vision" could have many practical applications, such as monitoring vegetation for ripeness and inspecting infrastructure.

"These ideas have been around for a while, but the problem has been how to judge color accurately," Dyer said.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-04 10:52:30|Editor: MJ

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YANGON, July 4 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) is providing new farming techniques for Myanmar as part of a project to address climate change risk on water resources and food security in the dry zone, official report said Tuesday.

The new farming techniques include crop spacing method, drought resistant crop selection, water conservation and environmentally sensitive livestock husbandry practices.

The project targets 250,000 people living in Shwebo and Monywa in northwestern Sagaing region, Myingyan and Nyaung Oo in northern Mandalay region and Chauk in central Magway region.

The four-year project worth 7.9 million U.S. dollars is the first of its kind in Myanmar to receive funding from the Adaptation Fund.

The project, being implemented by the UNDP in partnership with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation, began in 2015 and is set to complete in 2019.

The Myanmar government is working toward the adoption of a national climate change policy, expecting to announce the launch of the policy soon.

The policy, formulated in collaboration with civil society, private sector and experts from across all sectors, will be launched along with a new national climate change strategy and action plan.

The government is encouraging its people to appreciate and help preserve the beauty of the country, one of the most ecologically diverse countries in Asia, urging people to take forward the call of the theme of the World Environment Day this year to connect with the nature.

Myanmar, a signatory to the Paris climate change agreement, has voiced commitment to preserving and protecting the environment which includes combating the effects of global warming.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-04 11:22:42|Editor: MJ

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MEXICO CITY, July 3 (Xinhua) -- The Mexican government on Monday began to consult with the country's agri-food sector in a bid to bolster its hand at the upcoming free trade talks with Canada and the United States.

Mexico, the United States and Canada are set to renegotiate the two-decade-old North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in August at the insistence of U.S. President Donald Trump, who believes the treaty's terms are disadvantageous to U.S. industry.

The Mexican ministry of agriculture said in a statement that it has organized a forum where officials, producers and business owners could exchange strategic ideas.

"We have to bring the best argument to the table," said Deputy Agriculture Minister Jorge Narvaez at the opening of the Strategic Forum on NAFTA's Agricultural Chapter.

The information gathered at the forum will then be presented to the country's economic ministry, which will be leading Mexico's delegation to the talks, tentatively expected to start on Aug. 16.

Participants will review all aspects of trade, including tariffs and subsidies as well as health, labor and environmental regulations, said the statement.

"The agri-food sector is a key part of the free-trade agreement (NAFTA), thus there is a need to form a team, unite efforts and generate institutional confidence and certainty," said Narvaez.

The outlook for North America's agricultural industries improved recently when the agriculture ministers from all three countries met in the U.S. state of Georgia on June 20 to express their support for NAFTA and free trade.

Mexico exported more than 80 percent of its agri-food to the United States, generating a record of 29 billion U.S. dollars in revenue in 2016, according to its agricultural ministry.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-04 11:37:44|Editor: MJ

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HANOI, July 4 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam's foreign reserve hit an all-time record high of 42 billion U.S dollars as of June 30, according to the country's central bank.

The central bank's governor Le Minh Hung said at a cabinet meeting on Monday that the reserve rose by 1 billion U.S. dollars from late 2016, local online newspaper VnEconomy reported Tuesday.

Vietnam's foreign reserve rose to 34.6 billion U.S. dollars in 2014 from 13-17 billion U.S. dollars in the 2009-2011 period, according to the Asian Development Bank.

In the first half of this year, Vietnam's import revenue surged 24.1 billion U.S. dollars year-on-year to 100.5 billion U.S dollars, said the country's General Statistics Office.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-04 11:52:50|Editor: MJ

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PARIS, July 3 (Xinhua) -- Two armed men opened fire on a group of people in the southern French city of Toulouse on Monday evening, killing one person and injuring six others, local media reported.

The shooting happened at around 9:00 p.m. (1900 GMT) when two men on a motorcycle shot dead a man and injured others in the city's La Reynerie district before running away, said a Europe1 broadcaster.

Two of the injured people were in serious situation, according to the report.

Local officials said extra security forces had been deployed to the area.

"No possibilities are ruled out, but there is no terrorist element at this stage," regional authorities were quoted as saying.

Citing a source close to the investigation, the broadcaster said the shooting is likely linked with settlement of old scores between gangs.

The La Reynerie district was also the scene of two shooting incidents last year, both believed to be a settling of scores. Monday's incident occurred one day after another shooting injured eight people in Avignon, also a city in southern France.

On Sunday night, a shooting happened in front of a mosque in Avignon.The La Provence newspaper cited a judicial source as saying that authorities are not considering the incident as a terrorist attack.

Local police suspected the shooting was due to a dispute between young people.

Four people were wounded outside the mosque while a family of four in their apartment some 50 meters away took shrapnel.

The newspaper report also quoted witnesses as saying the shooting began at around 10:30 p.m. (2030 GMT) on Sunday when one of the two gunmen with their faces covered fired shots as worshippers were leaving the mosque. The two gunmen then fled the scene.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-04 12:02:55|Editor: MJ

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CANBERRA, July 4 (Xinhua) -- The head of the Australian Border Force (ABF) has temporarily stepped down from his post amid an investigation into what is currently an undefined external matter.

Local media has reported that ABF chief Roman Quaedvlieg was on leave from his post pending an investigation, and the matter at hand was personal in nature and may be to do with inappropriate behavior in relation to a personal relationship.

On Tuesday, spokesperson for the government's Department of Justice confirmed Quaedvlieg was "on leave," but did not delve into the details of his absence.

"The ABF Commissioner is on leave. A matter is under consideration by appropriate authorities," the brief statement said.

The spokesperson added that the government would not be commenting further "until that process is complete."

Quaedvlieg's absence was first brought to light by former Immigration Department spokesperson Sandi Logan, who was active on Twitter trying to get an explanation as to why Quaedvlieg had not posted to social media account Twitter since late May.

He said the ABF chief's "long absence from duty" had come about due to an "external investigation into his 'activities'," urging journalists to investigate.

Quaedvlieg was appointed to the role when the Australian Border Force was formed two years ago, and is the man responsible for enforcing the government's infamous and tough border protection policies.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-04 13:18:19|Editor: MJ

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PHNOM PENH, July 4 (Xinhua) -- A nest with seven eggs of the globally endangered white-winged duck was spotted in Northern Plains of Cambodia for the first time in five years, the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) said in a statement on Tuesday.

The nest was located inside a tree hollow about 12 meters from the ground in Kulen Promtep Wildlife Sanctuary (KPWS) in Preah Vihear province, the statement said.

White-winged duck (Asarcornis scutulata) is listed on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List as globally endangered, primarily because its global population is in decline due to habitat loss, disturbance along key stretches of riverine habitat and illegal poaching.

The global population of this enigmatic duck species is estimated to be between 250 and 1,000 individuals, while little is currently known about the numbers present in Cambodia.

"We saw a white-winged duck on the tree while walking to the rice field. We reported to WCS team because we know it is endangered bird," said local man In Long, 36, who found the nest. "They came to check the nest and hired three of us to guard it with direct cash payment in return."

"We are so happy to be nest protectors and will work hard to protect this nest from any human disturbances, eggs collection or other small carnivores," he said.

The Northern Plains landscape in Preah Vihear province, Cambodia consists of KPWS, Prey Preah Roka Wildlife Sanctuary and Chhep Wildlife Sanctuary, and is home to many globally endangered bird species, the WCS said.

Those include critically endangered Giant Ibis, white-shouldered Ibis, and three species of vulture, globally endangered white-winged duck, and many other important wildlife, it added.

Rours Vann, research team leader in Kulen Promtep Wildlife Sanctuary between the Cambodian Environment Ministry and the WCS, said after receiving the information, his team went to observe the nest and was so excited to see its mother on a big tree and had laid seven eggs already.

"white-winged duck is endangered, so more protection is needed to conserve the species from extinction," he said. "Nest and habitat protection are important to safeguard their lives and breeding."
Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-04 13:33:30|Editor: MJ

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NEW DELHI, July 4 (Xinhua) -- Massive public outrage erupted in India over the transfer of an "honest" woman police officer, barely a week after she stood up to a group of ruling party members and arrested some of them in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.

A video went viral of the Deputy Superintendent of Police Shrestha Thakur arguing with workers of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) after she penalized some of them for violating traffic rules in Bulandshahr district.

In the video, the woman officer can be seen angrily asking the agitated group of BJP members to get a written declaration from Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath that police have no power to check vehicles.

But after her transfer to a place close to the state's border with Nepal, many Indians took to social media to criticize the Uttar Pradesh government, while some even wished her good luck in her new posting.

"Perfect example for being honest in your job," tweeted a man who identifies himself as just Philip Prem.

However, Thakur has said on Facebook that she's not sure if the new posting was a punishment for doing her job or a reward for her good work, but claimed she has decided to treat the transfer positively.

"That's d spirit ... good luck," wrote Raj Mishra, another Indian, on her Facebook comment.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-04 13:43:37|Editor: An

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BERLIN, July 4 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping said his country supports Germany in making a success of the upcoming Hamburg summit of the Group of 20 (G20) major economies.

Beijing is full of expectations for the summit, Xi said in a signed article published Tuesday before he travels to the European country for a state visit and the G20 gathering.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-04 13:48:45|Editor: ZD

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RIO DE JANEIRO, July 3 (Xinhua) -- Corruption charges against Brazilian President Michel Temer have weakened his ability to push through reforms considered key to economic recovery, which in turn could affect the country's credit rating, U.S. rating agency Moody's said on Monday.

While it is predicted that Temer will be able to ride out the political storm and "survive" the accusations of graft, the charges have undermined his credibility and eroded his support, said the agency.

On June 26, Brazilian Prosecutor-General Rodrigo Janot filed the charges to the Supreme Court, accusing Temer of having been bribed by executives from meatpacking group JBS in exchange for favorable decisions by the government.

Brazil's Chamber of Deputies have begun analyzing the charges for passive corruption against the president, but Temer has also vowed to fight the charges and continued to state his innocence.

A congressional vote on proposed labor and social security reforms has already been postponed until the end of August or beginning of September.

Should new charges arise, voting on the reforms could be pushed back even further, reducing the chances the reforms will be approved during Temer's administration, with general elections slated to take place in late 2018, said Moody's.

The agency currently gives Brazil a Ba2 rating with a negative outlook.

The unpopular labor and social security reforms, coupled with the corruption allegations, have driven Temer's approval rating to single digit.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-04 13:58:56|Editor: MJ

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WASHINGTON, July 4 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday had a phone discussion with German Chancellor Angela Merkel before the upcoming G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany, the White House said.

"In an extensive discussion, the leaders addressed climate issues, the Women's Entrepreneurship Financing Initiative, and trade, including global steel overcapacity," the White House said in a statement.

Although the White House statement did not mention it, a German government spokesperson was reported to say Monday morning that a meeting between Merkel and Trump would "most likely take place early on Thursday evening" before the July 7-8 G20 summit.

The phone conversation between the two leaders came days after Merkel predicted "very difficult" talks over climate change and trade in the upcoming G20 summit.

"Whoever believes the problems of this world can be solved by isolationism and protectionism is making a tremendous error," said Merkel in an address before German parliament on Thursday.

Being one of the most vocal critics of Trump's decision to pull the United States out of the landmark Paris Agreement, Merkel also called the climate treaty "irreversible" and "not negotiable."

"We will and must take on this existential challenge," she said, "and we cannot and will not wait until every last person in the world can be convinced of climate change by scientific evidence."
Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-04 14:34:04|Editor: MJ

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SEOUL, July 4 (Xinhua) -- South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Tuesday strongly denounced the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK)'s firing of a ballistic missile, raising a possibility that it may be the type of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM).

South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said in a statement Tuesday that the DPRK fired off the ballistic missile into its eastern waters from an area near Banghyeon, North Pyongan province in the DPRK's northwest region at around 9:40 a.m. local time (0040 GMT).

The missile flew about 930 km into the East Sea, said the JCS which was still analyzing the type and the maximum altitude of the missile.

An unnamed South Korean government source was quoted by Yonhap News TV as saying the missile was lofted as high as more than 2,300 km.

President Moon convened the national security council (NSC) meeting of the Blue House.

The new South Korean leader, who took office on May 10, strongly denounced the DPRK's irresponsible provocation, saying it was in a clear violation of UN Security Council resolutions and squarely defies repeated warnings from the international community.

In an initial analysis by the military authorities of South Korea and the United States, the DPRK missile was estimated to have been a type of an intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM), but a precision analysis was going on with a possibility being in mind that it may have been a type of an ICBM, Moon said.

If the DPRK fired an ICBM-class missile, corresponding countermeasures would be considered, the president said.

The DPRK missile was reported to have traveled for some 40 minutes, but a JCS official refused to confirm the local media reports during a regular press briefing of the defense ministry.

The DPRK's firing of a ballistic missile followed President Moon's first summit meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump in Washington for two days from June 29.

During the summit meeting, the two leaders agreed to closely cooperate in denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula.

Moon said at the NSC meeting in his office that it was deeply disappointed and regretful for the DPRK to conduct such provocation just days after he and Trump urged Pyongyang to observe international obligations and refrain from any military actions that can cause instability.

Based on a firm South Korea-U.S. alliance, Moon said, South Korea will firmly maintain a combined defense posture with the U.S. forces while cooperating with the international society to sternly deal with the DPRK provocation.

The president urged Pyongyang to be awakened from an illusion that its nuclear and missile developments could ensure its safety, and to make a determination of the denuclearization.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-04 14:44:11|Editor: MJ

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BEIRUT, July 4 (Xinhua) -- Another large fire broke out at a Syrian refugee camp in Lebanon's Bekaa town of Ber Elias on early Tuesday, killing one child and wounding eight others.

The fire broke out before dawn on Tuesday due to a gas leak from a tent. The Lebanese civil defense has put out the fire and Lebanese Red Cross has transported the victims to nearby hospitals.

The refugee camp consists of about 100 tents with around 800 Syrian refugees living there.

This is the second large fire ramping the Syrian refugees during the past 48 hours. On Sunday, a large fire broke out at a Syrian refugee camp in Lebanon's east Bekaa town of Qob Elias, which left one child dead and seven injured.

According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Lebanon now hosts around 1.1 million Syrians who have fled their war-torn country since the rebellion against President Bashar al-Assad in March 2011.

The Lebanese government estimates the number to be around 1.5 million.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-04 14:54:25|Editor: MJ

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SYDNEY, July 4 (Xinhua) -- Sparkling water from an Australian beverage producer located in the Snowy Mountains region in the State of New South Wales (NSW) has been named as world's best sparkling water on Tuesday at the International Fine Water Tasting Competition in China.

A panel of five internationally-renowned water sommeliers chose Beloka Water out of 104 other entries, due to its extremely high quality.

"Beloka Water has demonstrated on the world stage what incredible water we have here in NSW and to set the bar so high at a global event is outstanding," a minister for regional NSW, John Barilaro, said in a statement obtained by Xinhua.

"Beloka Water is 100 percent Australian - everything from the caps, labels, and boxes are sourced here - and it's bottled using recycled glass in a sustainable manner."

Barilaro believes the success of the company will build on the great progress made by Aussie producers that are already exporting into China.

NSW Trade and Industry Minister Niall Blair said the free trade deal with China has opened the door to a market with a huge appetite for high quality products which will continue to grow.

"China is NSW's largest two-way trading partner in goods and a major focus for our food and beverage producers," Blair said.

Owner of Beloka Joe Commisso, who has been exporting to China for one year, acknowledged that being named the winner of the world's best sparkling water was a huge windfall for the business.

"We've been well and truly recognised on the international stage so we hope to see Australian fine dining establishments adopt our local premium water over well-known imported brands," Commisso said.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-04 15:14:45|Editor: Yurou Liang

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SINGAPORE, July 4 (Xinhua) -- Meng Hongwei, president of INTERPOL, called on all stakeholders to join hands in fighting against global threats at the opening ceremony of INTERPOL World 2017 in Singapore on Tuesday.

Meng said the stakeholders who are accountable to international security, such as government officials, law enforcement officers, scholars, private sector operators and cyber service providers, are playing indispensable roles in their own profession.

He said international cooperation and stakeholder engagement is of paramount importance, and contributions from leaders and experts in different professions are equally crucial.

According to the INTERPOL president, the world is going through globalization, technology revolution and borderless cyber space. People are not only enjoying the benefits but also suffering the ever-evolving global threats of crimes and terrorism, which the criminals are exploiting the convenience, mobility and anonymity stemmed from advanced technology and cyber world.

"We will face new challenges that may be out of our imaginations in terms of scale, speed and influence," Meng added.

"The recent 'WannaCry' saga well demonstrates to us the damage and despicableness of cyber crime."

INTERPOL World 2017 is a global exhibition and congress platform that encapsulates the vision of a safer world through the use of innovation and a multi-stakeholder engagement approach.

Meng said he believes the event can further strengthen the bonds between all the professions and there will be more cooperation among stakeholders in diversified areas, including information sharing, innovation and training.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-04 15:19:49|Editor: Mengjie

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BEIJING, July 4 (Xinhua) -- Airbus' heavy twin-engine H215 helicopter has started its maiden demonstration tour in China, eyeing the burgeoning aviation market, Airbus China said Tuesday.

The H215 helicopter is a member of the world-renowned Super Puma helicopter family, which includes the H225 and H215.

It will demonstrate its multi-mission capabilities for firefighting, power line monitoring, law enforcement, and passenger transportation during the debut demonstration tour.

"Airbus foresee great potential for this helicopter in the Chinese market," said Marie Agnes Veve, general manager of Airbus Helicopters China, adding that the H215 perfectly meets China's growing demand for heavy helicopters.

The H215 is a multipurpose helicopter, combining advanced avionics and a reliable platform for rugged multi-mission capabilities. It can provide precision and automatic hover stability in harshest operating conditions.

The two-week-long tour starts from July 4 in southern China's Zhuhai, and the H215 will then travel to the cities of Shenzhen and Lijiang.

It will cover more than 2,000 kilometers across China, attesting in real time to its long range capabilities, speed, and large useful payload.

Local customers will be invited on-board the helicopter to experience its performance and advanced technologies.

China has seen a surging demand in helicopters, which can serve multiple missions such as the Emergency Medical Services (EMS), law enforcement, fire fighting, and tourism. By the end of 2016, the country's civil helicopter fleet was around 800.

Airbus Helicopters is the leader in the civil turbine helicopter market in China with a market share of about 40 percent. In 2016, China became its largest civil market in terms of annual bookings.

In May 2017, Airbus Helicopters broke ground on its H135 Final Assembly Line (FAL) in east China's Qingdao. It became the first Western helicopter manufacturer to establish a FAL in China.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-04 15:24:52|Editor: Mengjie

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URUMQI, July 4 (Xinhua) -- More than 13,000 students will attend "Xinjiang classes" in economically developed regions this year, according to the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region education authority.

Among the students, 9,980 will attend high schools in areas outside Xinjiang. Currently, 93 high schools across China offer Xinjiang classes, part of a national program to train talent for Xinjiang.

The remaining 3,300 students will attend vocational schools. This year, about 77 percent of the students come from Aksu, Hotan, Kashgar and Kizilsu Kirgiz prefectures in southern Xinjiang.

The Xinjiang classes program started 17 years years ago and has sent 90,000 students from Xinjiang to study in more economically developed regions. Among them, over 21,000 have graduated from universities and returned to the region, according to Xinjiang's department of education.

Xinjiang classes have provided students from remote parts of the region with the opportunity to study at high-quality schools.

Xinjiang is home to 47 ethnic groups, including Han, Kazak, Mongol, Tajik and Uygur.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-04 15:30:03|Editor: Yurou Liang

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MANILA, July 4 (Xinhua) -- The Philippine Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld the martial law declared in the southern region of Mindanao, dismissing petitions seeking to challenge the declaration by President Rodrigo Duterte.

On May 23, Duterte declared martial law for 60 days on the island of Mindanao and nearby island provinces after extremists linked to Islamic State (IS) laid siege to Marawi City.

Philippine opposition lawmakers petitioned the High Court to review and nullify Duterte's decision, saying there was no revolution or invasion where public safety required the declaration of martial law and the suspension of the writ of habeas corpus. They said the proclamation contained "fatal inaccuracies and falsities."

Supreme Court spokesman Theodore Te said the top court ruled to dismiss the petitions filed by the opposition lawmakers and two other groups.

"The court dismissed the petitions by a vote of 11 of its members, three members voted to partially grant the petitions and one member voted to grant the petitions. All 15 justices have submitted draft opinions whether concurring or dissenting. All these opinions will be finalized and submitted tomorrow (Wednesday)," Te told the media.

Presidential spokesman Ernesto Abella said in a statement that with the Supreme Court decision, the whole government now stands together as one against the common enemy.

"We ask the public to give their full support and cooperation to local authorities," Abella said

In a message to the troops on Tuesday, Duterte enjoined the operating troops "to carry on until our objective of wiping out these enemies and the people has been achieved."

"I urge you to remain steadfast and alert as martial law in Mindanao will remain in effect to counter the persistent threat of terrorism and insurgency," Duterte said.

Duterte added that the people of Marawi need the assistance of the troops as they rebuild their lives and homes once the military operations end.

"We must not let our guards down against the emergence of terrorism and banditry in the area," Duterte said.

Fighting continued to completely retake the besieged city, killing at least 462 people, including 337 terrorists, 39 civilians and 85 soldiers and policemen.

Philippine Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said on Tuesday that the military has yet to clear about 1,500 houses and buildings in the city's central business district where most of the remaining 130 IS fighters are holed up.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-04 16:00:26|Editor: Yurou Liang

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SUVA, July 4 (Xinhua) -- Fiji's Ministry of Agriculture is conducting a five-day training on apiculture for agriculture officers in Tailevu, Fiji.

To date, Fiji has 1,000 farmers involved in the apiculture industry with over 10,000 bee hives producing more than 200 tons of honey annually.

Training includes all aspects of bee farming, and participants will later train farmers involved in the apiculture industry.

While opening the training on Tuesday, Tomasi Tunabuna from the Animal Health and Production Division said capacity building was one of the priorities.

Tunabuna urged participants to make good use of such trainings.

He said the apiculture industry had huge potential in Fiji and the interest among the people was continuously increasing.

Tunabuna said according to the recently announced budget for 2018 there would be an increased funding for the apiculture industry where more farmers would be assisted.

"There are also plans to rehabilitate those farmers who had lost their bee hives during Tropical Cyclone (TC) Winston so that production can soon normalize."

Majority of farms in Fiji's Western Division and the maritime zone were largely affected during TC Winston causing a major reduction in the overall production.

"There have been a lot of development programs planned for the next few years such as artificial insemination of queen bees, making of new boxes and training more farmers," he said.

Meanwhile, Dobuilevu Research Station in Rakiraki and Batiri Research Station in Vanua Levu will now be fully responsible for the apiculture research activities.

Agriculture livestock officers were also expected to be sent for overseas training targeting the export market with higher emphasis on small holder farmers.

Tunabuna added this was done in efforts to increase honey production in Fiji and reduce the imports of honey.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-04 16:05:33|Editor: Yurou Liang

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BANGKOK, July 4 (Xinhua) -- Thailand's ruling National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) decided on Tuesday to provide a six-month leniency in legal restrictions to the employment of migrant workers from neighboring states.

NCPO spokesman Col. Winthai Suvaree said the NCPO resolved to delay the enforcement of the government's executive decree, primarily designed to combat illegal employments of migrant workers.

The enforcement of such legal restriction, which was originally effective from June 23, is now being delayed until Jan. 1 next year, the spokesman said.

Under that law, penalties are increased for alleged violators, including migrant workers who may have entered the country illegally or carry no passports or have no work permits and employers who may have hired such illegal migrant workers or failed to notify the authorities.

If found guilty as charged, the employee will be promptly deported while the employer will be subject to a maximum of 800,000 baht (about 22,857 U.S. dollars) in fine under the new law.

The leniency in the applying of the legal restriction came in the wake of more than 18,000 Myanmar nationals scrambling to return home from Thailand since last week at the urging of their employers, who apparently feared such harsh penalties of the law.

Those migrant workers were expected to come back for jobs in Thailand with official documents such as passports to be provided by the Myanmar authorities.

An estimated 2 million Myanmar nationals are known to have been employed either in legal or illegal fashion by manufacturing and fishing industries in Bangkok's outlying areas, particularly in Samut Sakhon province.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-04 16:25:44|Editor: Yamei

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PYONGYANG, July 4 (Xinhua) -- The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) declared Tuesday that it has successfully launched an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) on the same day, hailing it as the "final gate to rounding off the state nuclear force."

The DPRK lauded the launch of the ICBM as a historic event in boosting its defense capabilities to counter the threats of the United States.

The Korean Central Television reported in a special program that top DPRK leader Kim Jong Un signed the order to carry out the test-fire of the ICBM Hwasong-14 on Monday and personally conducted the launch, before "declaring before the world its shining success."

The DPRK Academy of Defense Science said the missile blasted off from the northwestern part of the DPRK at 09:00 a.m. (0030 GMT) Tuesday to make a 39-minute flight along its pre-set trajectory before accurately hitting the target waters in the open sea in the East Sea of Korea (Sea of Japan), according to the Korean Central News Agency.

The test launch was carried out at the maximum angle launch system and had no adverse effect on the security of neighboring countries, it said, adding that it was boosted to the maximum height of 2,802 km and traveled 933 km distance.

"The success in the test-fire of intercontinental ballistic rocket Hwasong-14 is a powerful manifestation of the invincible state might and the tremendous capability of the self-reliant national defense industry of the DPRK," said the news release.

"It is also a great auspicious event to be specially recorded in the history of the DPRK which has long craved for powerful defense capabilities," it said.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-04 16:30:50|Editor: Mengjie

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BERLIN, July 4 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping said he will have in-depth discussions with German leaders during his upcoming state visit and strive for greater progress in the already high-level development of bilateral ties.

Xi made the remarks in a signed article titled "To Make the World a Better Place" and published Tuesday on mainstream German media ahead of his trip to the European country, where he will also attend the upcoming summit of the Group of 20 major economies.

"An important task of my visit is to have in-depth discussions with President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Chancellor Angela Merkel and other German leaders on how to seize the opportunities under the new circumstances to advance our comprehensive strategic partnership in a more coordinated manner with a view to elevating China-Germany relationship to a higher level," Xi wrote.

He proposed that China and Germany should strengthen top-level planning of bilateral relations and draft the blueprint of its future growth with a more open mind and a broader vision.

"We need to let our dialogue mechanisms at different levels play a leading role and enhance strategic communication on bilateral relations and major international and regional issues," Xi said.

China and Germany need to properly handle differences through equal-footed dialogue and friendly consultation, and "give each other understanding and support on issues concerning our respective core interests and major concerns," he added.

The Chinese president also proposed to enhance the strategic synergy between "Made in China 2025" and Germany's "Industry 4.0" with a pioneering, innovative, open and inclusive approach.

He said the two sides need to "foster an investment environment of two-way openness and fair competition, deepen practical cooperation in such fields as innovation, the Internet, smart manufacturing, finance, energy, environmental protection and green development, and expand cooperation in third markets."

The two countries also need to step up cooperation within the framework of the "Belt and Road" Initiative and jointly contribute to security, stability and prosperity of countries along the routes, he added.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-04 16:35:53|Editor: Yurou Liang

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VLADIVOSTOK, Russia, July 4 (Xinhua) -- Transport aircraft of the Russian Defense Ministry have delivered special military equipment to help the forest firefighting in Siberia's Irkutsk region in Russia's Far East, a local official said on Tuesday.

"Aircraft of the Russian Aerospace Force have delivered units of the Central Military District's Separate Railway Brigade from the city of Abakan to the city of Bratsk, as well as T-170 bulldozers, which are used to contain wildfires," said Colonel Yaroslav Roshchupkin, an aide to the Central Military District commander.

More than 50 troops and personnel of the military forestry agency, as well as some 20 pieces of special equipment including Mi-8 helicopters, are currently involved in the firefighting. The Central Military District's regional command center has been coordinating the units' activities, added Roshchupkin.

It was reported that since early July, more than 100,000 hectares of the forest tundra in the area has been engulfed by wildfires, many of which are hard to put out due to their distant location.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-04 16:40:55|Editor: Yurou Liang

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JERUSALEM, July 4 (Xinhua) -- An Israeli surveillance drone crashed over the Gaza Strip early on Tuesday morning, a military spokesperson said, in the fifth such incident over the past year.

The spokesperson said that an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) of Skylark type fell over the Palestinian enclave.

"No information was compromised," the spokesperson said.

The reason for the crash was not immediately clear, but the spokesperson said that they military is checking if a technical failure caused it.

Skylark, the smallest UAV in use by the Israeli army, belongs to the Artillery Force and is aimed at collecting information for tactical military missions.

It was the fifth time that an Israeli drone has been crashed since the beginning of 2017. On Thursday, a similar Skylark drone fell over the area of Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank. Two other Skylark drones crashed in Lebanon while they were engaged in security activity, and additional drone crashed in the northern Gaza Strip.

Israel occupied the Gaza Strip and the West Bank in the 1967 Mideast War and has been controlling these territories ever since.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-04 17:16:40|Editor: Yamei

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BANGKOK, July 4 (Xinhua) -- An inter-provincial bus veered off the road and fell into a canal, killing the driver and injuring 17 passengers in central Thailand on Tuesday.

The bus carrying 28 passengers was heading to Bangkok from northern Thailand's Nan Province.

When it came to central Thailand's Nakhon Sawan province on Tuesday morning, it ran off the road and fell into a canal, local reports said, adding that all passengers successfully escaped from the bus before it was flooded while the driver was trapped inside the bus and drowned.

At least 17 passengers got injured and 12 of them were wounded seriously, local media said.

Yot, one of the passengers, told media that the bus had been traveling for more than 10 hours and most of them were sleeping when the accident happened.

Fortunately, passengers managed to break the window by emergency hammers, Yot said.

Police said the driver may fall asleep when the accident occurred.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-04 17:16:44|Editor: Yamei

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by Zhang Jianhua

VIENTIANE, July 4 (Xinhua) -- Under the leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC), China has achieved great success in politics, economics and diplomacy while its role on the global stage has become increasingly prominent and serves as an example for developing countries, said a Lao party official.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with Xinhua in the Lao capital of Vientiane recently, Sounthone Xayachak, head of the External Relations Commission of the Central Committee of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party, said that for nearly a century, the CPC has paid attention to summarize and learn from experience in theoretical and practical aspects, conduct tradition-based innovation, and maintained its vitality to continue to grow and develop.

Since its establishment, the CPC has led the Chinese people in the fight for national independence and has achieved a glorious victory. After the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, the CPC has led the Chinese people to build an increasingly powerful socialist country and move solidly forward, said the official.

The CPC's wise leadership has led to stable politics, rapid and sustainable economic development, improved living standards, as well as extensive development of diplomatic activities of the country. The position, function and strength of the CPC and China have become increasingly prominent in both regional and world arenas, she told Xinhua.

Sounthone has paid many visits to China, and during each visit she has learnt valuable experiences from China in leading people in the struggle for national independence and developing socialism with Chinese characteristics, she said.

The CPC has a wealth of experience in governance, Sounthone said, emphasizing that she was impressed by the ability of the CPC in managing the socialist market economy, building a socialist democracy, building an advanced socialist culture and a harmonious society, as well as dealing with a myriad of international situations.

In addition, the CPC undertakes eliminating bad elements from within the party and anti-corruption endeavors as prioritized tasks, showing the determination of the CPC in building a healthy party, she told Xinhua.

The Lao party, government and people express their sincere gratitude and appreciation to the CPC, the Chinese government and the people of China for their valuable assistance in the struggle for the national independence of Laos and the process of building socialism here, she said, expressing her belief that Laos and China can continue to maintain mutually beneficial relations and make greater contributions to regional and world peace.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-04 17:26:50|Editor: Yamei

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NEW DELHI, July 4 (Xinhua) -- The Indian government is reportedly planning to develop a small tea stall in the western state of Gujarat, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi sold tea in his childhood along with his father, into a popular tourist attraction.

The tea stall is located at the Vadnagar railway station in Gujarat and Modi often talks about his "humble beginnings" as a tea vendor.

"Inside the Vadnagar railway station, there is a small tea stall, from where our prime minister had probably started his life's journey. We also want to develop that tea stall as a tourism spot. Our aim is to put Vadnagar on world tourism map," Indian Culture and Tourism Minister Mahesh Sharma told the media.

"There is no proposal for giving a facelift to the tea stall. Instead, the original charm of the tea stall will be preserved while giving it a modern touch," he added.

Ahead of the general elections in 2014, Modi had used "innovative" Chai Pe Charcha (Discussions over Tea) campaign to woo voters.

He had also used the internet to address people at 1,000 tea stalls across the country before the polls.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-04 17:57:17|Editor: Yamei

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WELLINGTON, July 4 (Xinhua) -- New Zealand Customs Minister Tim Macindoe on Tuesday welcomed the signing of a customs cooperation agreement with the European Union (EU) in Brussels overnight.

The agreement will strengthen cooperation with the EU in such areas as customs procedures and supply chain security and risk management.

Macindoe said in a release that this agreement signifies the two parties' joint ongoing commitment to close cooperation.

For New Zealand, the agreement will allow for closer cooperation on the delivery of technical assistance and capacity building activities New Zealand provides to other countries, particularly in the Pacific.

It will enable the two parties to learn from each other particularly in terms of research and development in customs technology, and also provide the opportunity to develop agreements with the EU covering other facets of the customs relationship, according to the release.

"The agreement also represents a necessary first step towards agreeing a mutually recognized secure trade scheme," which will ultimately allow accredited companies faster clearance of exports into the EU and New Zealand, Macindoe said.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-04 18:02:21|Editor: Yamei

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by Naim-Ul-Karim

DHAKA, July 4 (Xinhua) -- The Red Cross Society of China has made a cash donation to help Bangladesh's communities affected by the flooding that has stranded hundreds of thousands of people.

The Chinese embassy in Bangladesh's capital on Tuesday handed over a cheque of 100,000 U.S. dollars on behalf of the Red Cross Society of China to the Bangladesh Red Crescent Society.

BMW Mozharul Huq, secretary general of the Bangladesh Red Crescent Society, received the cheque from Chen Wei, deputy chief of mission at the Chinese embassy in Dhaka at a handing over ceremony.

Flooding sparked by heavy seasonal rains and onrush of water from hills across the Indian borders have affected parts of Bangladesh.

Authorities have evacuated residents of scores of villages to higher ground in a number of districts that are prone to torrential rains between June and September.

Floods have caused widespread damage to habitation, crops, roads and highways across vast areas of the country.

The donated fund will be distributed among 2,000 flood-hit families in Bangladesh's norther Netrokona district and northeastern Kishorganj district, Huq told Xinhua.

Huq considers this funding critical resource that guarantees life-saving interventions in support of affected communities in the districts.

"I think this cash assistance will help meet the basic needs of the most vulnerable particularly those who are still living in temporary camps."

On behalf of the Bangladesh Red Crescent Society, Huq expressed sincere thanks and appreciation both to the Chinese government and the Red Cross Society of China to stand by the Bangladeshi flood victims.

The Chinese embassy said the Chinese side is willing to provide assistance for relief work according to Bangladesh's needs.

Plight of millions of people in Bangladesh, criss-crossed by more than 230 rivers, mounts every year as the low-lying South Asian country experiences almost every year seasonal floods whether small or big.

More than 500,000 people in a dozen districts in the country's north and northeast have now been marooned as their homes have gone under up to waist high water.

The residents left their houses wading through flooded roads or on boats in search for shelter or a dry ground to live temporarily.

Experts said Bangladesh, bordering the Bay of Bengal, has become more vulnerable in recent time to climate change-related phenomena like cyclones, flooding, as its capacity to protect its people and land is feeble.

Three months of sustained floods in 1988 left several hundred people dead and caused millions of dollars of damage.

The country was again ravaged by major flooding in 1998 that left millions homeless and caused huge damage.

In 2007, two rounds of floods in Bangladesh killed more than 1,000 people.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-04 18:02:23|Editor: Yamei

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ISTANBUL, July 4 (Xinhua) -- Turkey's main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) on Tuesday announced its appeal to the European Court of Human Rights over alleged irregularities in the April referendum on expanding powers of presidency.

"I should sadly state that the referendum has become illegitimate due to the decision by the Supreme Election Board," CHP leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu said on TV as he is continuing a so-called Justice March with thousands of followers from Ankara to Istanbul.

"I am putting my first signature here now. The petitions will be sent today," he said on the 20th day of the march in the northwestern province of Kocaeli.

CHP failed in its bid to annul the April 16 referendum, in which constitutional amendments were passed by a slim majority to enable Turkey to switch to an executive presidency, though the opposition and international observers challenged the acceptance of unstamped ballots and other alleged frauds.

The Justice March was launched right after CHP lawmaker Enis Berberoglu was convicted and imprisoned by an Istanbul court on June 15 over espionage charges.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-04 18:12:26|Editor: Yurou Liang

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KATHMANDU, July 4 (Xinhua) -- Nepal's Commerce Ministry has said it has sent a letter to India through the diplomatic channel that the Goods and Services Tax (GST) implemented in India from July 1 should not infringe on trade and transit treaties between the two countries.

With India incorporating state tax under GST, there is possibility that Nepali exports could be levied higher taxes.

"Considering the possible impact on Nepal's trade with India and third country following the implementation of GST in India, we wrote to the Indian authority to ensure that the new tax system in India should not infringe on bilateral trade and transit agreements," Rabi Shankar Sainju, joint secretary at Nepal's Ministry of Commerce, told Xinhua on Monday.

"After sending first letter about two months ago, we have also sent another reminder letter about three weeks ago."

Nepalese government officials admit that the country's economy is bound to be affected by India's new tax system as the country's two third of international trade take place with India only.

Nepal has initiated a move to study its impact on its economy.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-04 18:27:29|Editor: Yurou Liang

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TOKYO, July 4 (Xinhua) -- Japan has said it is currently analyzing claims by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) that it launched an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) earlier Tuesday.

Japan has condemned the launch as a provocative act and lodged a strong protest with Pyongyang through its diplomatic channels.

Japan's Defense Minister Tomomi Inada told a press briefing on the matter that the missile, launched at around 9:39 a.m local time, achieved a higher altitude than any other missile test by the DPRK.

She also said the missile likely flew over a distance shorter than the range that it was capable of, on a steep trajectory.

Government sources said separately that the missile reached an altitude higher than 2,500 km and said that if it had been launched at a regular trajectory, it would have a range of more than 4,000 km.

Inada declined to state if the defense ministry had any more information on the exact type of missile launched. however, she said that it could be a new type of ballistic missile from the one that was fired on May 14, or an upgraded version of the same or similar type.

The defense minister's comments came after the DPRK made an unprecedented announcement after the launch that it had successfully launched an ICBM.

Prior to Inada's remarks, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe condemned the launch, stating in a press conference that the threat from the DPRK was increasing.

The prime minister's comments came after it was assessed that the ballistic missile likely landed in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) surrounding Japanese waters.

Abe said he will continue to liaise closely with leaders from South Korea and the United States on the matter, with trilateral talks pegged for the sidelines of the G-20 summit in Hamburg, Germany, which will be held from July 7-8.

Abe further said that he wants to make use of world leaders gathering at the G-20 summit to strongly appeal for coordination by the international community in responding to the DPRK.

Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, meanwhile, said that Japan had lodged a strong protest with the DPRK over its latest missile launch.

The top government spokesperson said that Japan can absolutely not tolerate these repeated provocative acts, and that a stern protest had been lodged with Pyongyang through its diplomatic channels in Beijing.

Suga said that the missile likely landed within Japan's EEZ but that so far no damage to vessels or planes in the area had been reported.

He said the ballistic missile was launched from the DPRK's western coast at around 9:39 a.m local time and flew for about 40 minutes before falling in Japan's EEZ in the Sea of Japan.

The prime minister has instructed all relevant government officials to do all they can to gather and analyze information and provide it to the public quickly and appropriately, Suga said, adding that Abe had said it was paramount to swiftly confirm the safety of aircraft and vessels, and be fully prepared for further unexpected events.

The DPRK is banned by the United Nations from testing nuclear and ballistic missile technologies and has been slapped with multiple international sanctions for persistently breaking U.N. resolutions.
An Iranian woman looks at cartoons of US President Donald J. Trump at an exhibition of the Islamic Republic's 2017 International Trumpism cartoon and caricature contest, in the capital Tehran on July 3, 2017. (AFP PHOTO)

TEHRAN, July 4 (Xinhua) -- Iran's capital Tehran hosts an international cartoon contest on the U.S. President Donald Trump.

The event, dubbed "International Trumpism Cartoon and Caricature Contest," opened in Tehran on Monday to showcase caricatures and cartoons on themes derived from Trump's domestic and international policies.

Some 1,600 artworks by over 550 Iranian and international artists from 75 countries will be on show at Tehran's Art Bureau until July 9.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-04 18:42:40|Editor: Yurou Liang

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TEHRAN, July 4 (Xinhua) -- Italy will sign an agreement with Iran to build a high-speed railroad between the two Iranian central cities of Qom and Arak, Financial Tribune daily reported on Tuesday.

The Islamic Republic of Iran Railways (IRIR) will sign the 1.2-billion-euro (1.36 billion U.S. dollars) deal with Italy's state railroad company on July 11, it said.

During the upcoming visit of Renato Mazzoncini, the chief executive officer of Italy's state railroad company, two other deals will also be signed on setting up training courses for IRIR personnel, the report said.

In February, Iran and Italy signed a preliminary agreement to develop the railroad system of the Islamic state, which says Italy will provide up to 5 billion euros in export credits to Tehran.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-04 18:42:43|Editor: Yurou Liang

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COLOMBO, July 4 (Xinhua) -- The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the Sri Lankan government have signed a 33.7 million dollar financing agreement that will help 57,500 rural households in Sri Lanka, a Foreign Ministry statement said here Tuesday.

The agreement will increase the families' incomes and food security by expanding livelihood and business opportunities in agriculture.

The agreement was signed by Gilbert F. Houngbo, president of IFAD and R. H. S. Samaratunga, Secretary to Treasury and the Ministry of Finance and Mass Media of Sri Lanka.

The new Smallholder Agribusiness Partnerships program will provide a platform for smallholder farmers in Sri Lanka, particularly for women and young people, to access financing and business training and will help them to form partnerships with each other and with the private sector.

IFAD has been working with Sri Lanka since 1978, investing a total of 317.2 million U.S. dollars in 18 programs and projects which reach over 614,832 households.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-04 18:47:45|Editor: Yurou Liang

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NIAMEY, July 4 (Xinhua) -- Boko Haram militants have killed nine people and kidnapped 45 others, most of them women and children, after attacking a village in Niger's southern Diffa region, according to local media reports.

The attack occurred between late Sunday night and early Monday morning, when the militants attacked the village, killing at least nine civilians and taking 45 others hostage.

Earlier in last week, two Boko Haram members carried out a suicide bomb attack against a refugee camp in the same region, killing themselves and two others, and injuring 11 other people.

In recent years, Boko Harm have repeatedly carried out attacks against targets in Nigeria and its neighboring countries, resulting in heavy casualties.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-04 18:52:49|Editor: Yurou Liang

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PYONGYANG, July 4 (Xinhua) -- The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) declared Tuesday that it successfully launched an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) on the same day, hailing it as the "final gate to rounding off the state nuclear force."

The DPRK lauded the launch of the ICBM as a historic event in boosting its defense capabilities to counter the threats of the United States.

The Korean Central Television reported in a special program that top DPRK leader Kim Jong Un signed the order to carry out the test-fire of the ICBM Hwasong-14 on Monday and personally conducted the launch, before "declaring before the world its shining success."

The DPRK Academy of Defense Science said the missile blasted off from the northwestern part of the DPRK at 09:00 a.m. (0030 GMT) Tuesday to make a 39-minute flight along its pre-set trajectory before accurately hitting the target waters in the open sea in the East Sea of Korea (Sea of Japan), according to the Korean Central News Agency.

The test launch was carried out at the maximum angle launch system and had no adverse effect on the security of neighboring countries, it said, adding that it was boosted to the maximum height of 2,802 km and traveled 933 km distance.

"The success in the test-fire of intercontinental ballistic rocket Hwasong-14 is a powerful manifestation of the invincible state might and the tremendous capability of the self-reliant national defense industry of the DPRK," said the news release.

"It is also a great auspicious event to be specially recorded in the history of the DPRK which has long craved for powerful defense capabilities," it said.

South Korea on Tuesday strongly denounced the DPRK's firing of the ballistic missile.

South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said in a statement that the DPRK fired off the ballistic missile into its eastern waters from an area near Banghyeon, North Pyongan province in the DPRK's northwest region at around 9:40 a.m. local time (0040 GMT).

Meanwhile, China said it opposes the missile launch by the DPRK which is in violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions.

"China urges the DPRK to refrain from acts that violate U.N. Security Council resolutions so as to create necessary conditions for resuming dialogue and negotiation," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang told a regular news briefing.

Given the complex and sensitive situation on the Korean Peninsula, China hopes all sides can exercise calm and restraint to ease tensions there and return to the right path of peaceful dialogue, the spokesperson said.

U.N. Security Council resolutions ban the DPRK from conducting any launches that use ballistic missile technology, nuclear tests or any other provocation.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-04 19:02:52|Editor: Yurou Liang

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MANILA, July 4 (Xinhua) -- Two Australian surveillance planes have started gathering intelligence information, including pictures, to pinpoint the remaining Islamist militants in the besieged southern Philippine city of Marawi, the Philippine defense chief said on Tuesday.

Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana told reporters that the two AP-3C Orion planes started their spotting mission last Friday.

"They will be here for two weeks. They are now flying alternately," he said.

Lorenzana said the Australian spy aircraft have been flying over Marawi City even at night and have the capability to be up in the air for 24 hours.

Lorenzana said that Filipino military pilots and technicians are also on board to help the Australian pilots relay the "valuable" data to the main Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) headquarters in Manila and Zamboanga City.

The conflict in Marawi, which broke out on May 23, has dragged on for 43 days. So far, the military said 461 have been killed in the fighting that also destroyed buildings and houses.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-04 19:33:12|Editor: Yurou Liang

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DUBAI, July 4 (Xinhua) -- United Arab Emirates (UAE) Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Abdullah Bin Zayed said on Tuesday that fellow Gulf state Qatar is "reluctant to change its policy towards supporting terrorism."

The UAE's top diplomat made the remarks at a press conference in the country's capital Abu Dhabi, UAE daily The National reported.

Sheikh Abdullah said the Saudi-led quartet, including UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Egypt, wait for Doha to respond to their 13 demands, the report said. Kuwait, which is playing a mediatory role in the crisis, reached on Monday an extension of the deadline by 48 hours.

The four Arab countries have issued 13 demands to Qatar over its alleged support of extremism which they say Doha must meet or face further sanctions.

The quartet demand from gas-rich Qatar to expel "terrorists," severe ties with Iran, terminate the presence of a Turkish military base in the country and to close the government-controlled news channel Al Jazeera.

The quartet cut diplomatic ties with Qatar on June 5 and imposed a transport boycott to and from the Gulf state by closing their land, sea and air borders for Qatari vehicles, ships and planes.

Sheikh Abdullah said the decision of Saudi-led quartet to boycott Qatar matured after "years of patience," according to the report. He said the four countries had had "enough" of Qatar supporting terrorism."

Qatar denies the charges that it was supporting "terrorism and extremism."

Following the press conference, Sheikh Abdullah Bin Zayed held talks with his German counterpart, Minister of Foreign Affairs Sigmar Gabriel, who tours the region currently to reach a diplomatic solution of the diplomatic spat.

Gabriel held talks on Monday in Riyadh with the Saudi government about the Gulf crisis.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-04 19:43:18|Editor: Yurou Liang

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FARAH, Afghanistan, July 4 (Xinhua) -- A total of four civilians were killed and another injured after a car ran over a mine planted by Taliban militants on a road in the western Farah province Monday night, police spokesman in the province Mohammad Iqbal Baher said Tuesday.

"A mine planted by Taliban rebels on a road in Pashtrod district struck a car Monday night killing four innocent civilians, including two women and injured another," Baher told Xinhua.

Taliban militants who are largely relying on suicide and roadside bombings are yet to make comments.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-04 20:18:40|Editor: Yurou Liang

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CAIRO, July 4 (Xinhua) -- Arab League (AL) Chief Ahmad Abul Gheit stressed Tuesday the importance of mobilizing international efforts to tackle challenges to water and food security in the Arab region, according to AL statement.

"Nearly seven million persons in Yemen, which has been experiencing a fierce civil war, are facing the dangers of famine, which made the country a base for the severest food security crisis in the modern history," Abul-Gheit said in his speech at the 40th Session of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations Conference, currently in session in Rome.

The armed conflicts in countries of Syria, Libya and Somalia are similar (to Yemen), which require unifying regional and international efforts to provide necessary aid for people in harm, the AL statement quoted Abul Gheit as saying.

The AL Chief highlighted "the region is subject to water scarcity, drought and food insecurity, which are all phenomenon that have been growing since civil wars erupted in some Arab countries after 2011 Arab Spring uprisings."

The FAO Conference which groups over 600 high-level government officials and representatives from 194 countries will be concluded on July 8.

The conference mainly focuses on issues and policies related to global food security.

Abul Gheit added the water, agriculture and climate changes files are main reasons for instability of the region, and will shadow negative impact on the future of the regional countries.

According to a 2016 report of the Food Security Information Network (FSIN) which is co-sponsored by the United Nations Food Agency, nearly 108 million people were reported to be facing crisis-level food insecurity, a drastic increase from the previous year's total of almost 80 million.

The FSIN report added that in 2017, widespread food insecurity is likely to persist in Iraq, Syria (including its refugees in neighboring countries), Malawi and Zimbabwe.

It added there is a high risk of famine in some areas of north-eastern Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan and Yemen because of armed conflict, drought and macro-economic collapse.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-04 20:23:47|Editor: Yurou Liang

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KIEV, July 4 (Xinhua) -- The Ukrainian government estimates the economic damage from the armed conflict in the country's eastern regions at about 50 billion U.S. dollars, a senior Defense Ministry official said Tuesday.

"In eastern Ukraine, the facilities of energy, transport and social infrastructure have been destroyed. People were left without jobs. It caused a direct loss of 50 billion U.S. dollars, according to the preliminary calculations," Ivan Rusnak, Ukraine's first deputy defense minister, told reporters.

The conflict has caused a humanitarian crisis in Donetsk and Lugansk regions, Rusnak said, noting that many civilians are currently in need of housing, medicine and food aid.

The conflict between government troops and rebels since April 2014 in eastern Ukraine has killed some 10,000 people and left about 3.8 million others in need of humanitarian assistance.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-04 20:39:05|Editor: Yurou Liang

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NAIROBI, July 4 (Xinhua) -- Kenya on Tuesday called on investors and developers to take up space in the Konza Techno City (Konza Technopolis) which seeks to transform the country into an international ICT business hub.

Konza Technopolis Development Authority (KoTDA) which is tasked with developing the city said the winning entities will be issued with leases on those parcels of land where they will build approved developments as per the Konza Technopolis Master Plan and land leasing guidelines.

"The call for applications is open for the duration of Financial Year 2017/18 with the applications being processed quarterly on a First Come First Served basis to ensure a continuous flow of investors to the Technopolis," KoTDA CEO Engineer John Tanui said in a statement issued in Nairobi.

"Eligible investors are required to demonstrate financial and technical capability and show experience in having undertaken similar projects in their fields of expertise," Tanui said.

He said the parcels available are in different clusters, including the Technology cluster that will host research and development centers, outsourcing campuses, innovation parks, business incubation and acceleration parks and technology innovation facilities.

According to Tanui, the Technopolis is now ready for private investment following the approval of the land leasing guidelines.

He added that the facilities to be put up include primary and secondary schools and tertiary institutions in addition to residential housing, commercial, as well as the light manufacturing and processing facilities.

Konza City is located about 60 km, south of the capital Nairobi, along the road from the coastal city of Mombasa. It will host ICT companies and will act as an ICT hub for the eastern and central Africa region.

The city is also planned to enable foreign companies outsource ICT services from Kenya including Business Process Outsourcing and software development among other services. It will also act as an incubator of ICT start-ups.

At Konza Techno City, the government will be joining a pool of local and international ICT firms, which have expressed an interest to invest in the new Smart City such as Google, Samsung, Huawei, Craft Silicon and Safaricom Limited.

This master plan was developed in conjunction with a Master Development Planner 1 (MDP1), a consortium of international and local firms engaged by the International Finance Corporation and KoTDA's parent ICT ministry to prepare this master plan alongside a business plan.

The construction of the Konza Complex, which is the first vertical development at the Technopolis and which will house KoTDA's headquarters, is ongoing and is set to be completed in 2018.

The government of Kenya has approved funding totaling to 400 million U.S. dollars for the development of Konza Technopolis Phase 1 Infrastructure to be implemented in 42 months.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-04 21:04:25|Editor: Yurou Liang

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GENEVA, July 4 (Xinhua) -- The UN refugee agency UNHCR on Tuesday said its staff was attacked last Saturday in the northern town of Kaga Bandoro, in the Central African Republic (CAR), and strongly condemned the violence.

Andrej Mahecic, UNHCR spokesperson, told reporters during a regular press briefing that armed men entered UNHCR's premises in Kaga Bandoro around 5 p.m. and looted all goods and money on site.

"Six of our staff members, including four UNHCR and two UNDP (The United Nations Development Program)staff, who were present at the time of the incident were robbed of their belongings, including personal items and passports, and threatened at gun point," the spokesperson said.

UNHCR said that since the attack, UNHCR had temporarily relocated staff to a safer place.

"We condemn this attack and stand by our staff. The safety of aid workers is of tremendous importance for being able to help civilian populations in desperate need," the UNHCR spokesperson noted.

UNHCR figures showed that in CAR, UNHCR provides protection and assistance to more than 8,600 refugees and 503,000 internal displaced people.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-04 21:14:27|Editor: Yurou Liang

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CAIRO, July 4 (Xinhua) -- At least two policemen were killed and ten others were wounded on Tuesday in an explosion in the Egyptian province of North Sinai, an official security source said.

"A police armored vehicle carrying the policemen were exploded after passing on planted explosive devices in Dafa region, southern Al-Arish city," the source told Xinhua.

The security forces are combing the area in search for the perpetrators, he added.

North Sinai is the main base for Islamic State branch in Egypt, which has been very active there, following the army-led ouster of the Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in 2013, in response to mass protests against his rule.

The IS affiliate in Sinai claimed responsibility for most of the anti-security operations that killed hundreds of police and army men across the country.

Meanwhile, the armed forces in coordination with the police launched a wide-scale operation to uproot the terrorist cells in Sinai Peninsula, North Sinai in particular.
Amina Mohammed, United Nations deputy secretary-general, looks at photos during a photo exhibition on China's Belt and Road Initiative at the UN headquarters in New York May 8, 2017. The week-long photo exhibition was opened on Monday. (Xinhua/Li Muzi) (zy) (Xinhua/Li Muzi)

ADDIS ABABA, July 4 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations encourages the engagement of the Chinese-proposed Belt and Road Initiative with Africa's efforts to drive integration, a senior official said on Monday.

"We must work to take advantage of one of the world's largest infrastructure initiatives, the Chinese-proposed Belt and Road initiative," said UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed at the opening ceremony of the 29th African Union (AU) Summit which opened on Monday.

She said that the initiative calls for global partners to scale up investments in Africa's infrastructure for regional economic integration.

Noting that the African continent, through the pan African block, is working to end violence and embark on economic integration through its flagship Silencing the Guns and the Continental Free Trade Area (CFTA) initiatives, the deputy secretary-general also called on the continent to utilize the Belt and Road initiative for the betterment of the continent.

"This is an opportunity not just to provide alternatives to silencing the guns for our people, but one that will keep our human and natural assets on the continent by building our tomorrow today," she said.

Proposed in 2013, the Belt and Road Initiative is a grand plan to connect Asia with Europe and Africa along, and beyond, ancient trade routes by putting in place an unparalleled trade and infrastructure network.

Referring to the AU's Continental Free Trade Area (CFTA) that envisages to expand the scale of intra-Africa trade through better harmonization and coordination of trade liberalization and facilitation, Amina also expressed the UN's continued support to Africa's integration motive.

She said the UN has already provided technical support to Africa's integration plan through mapping the intra-Africa trade and by analyzing regulatory frameworks for the effective implementation of the plan.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-04 21:34:35|Editor: Yurou Liang

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BERLIN, July 4 (Xinhua) -- The number of violent crimes carried out by right-wing extremists in Germany continued to rise in 2016, according to a report by the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) cited by the newspaper "Die Zeit" on Tuesday.

Authorities registered 1,698 such incidents in 2016 compared to 1,408 incidents in 2015, an increase of 13,6 percent. The report also revealed that the number of potentially-violent right-wing extremists had increased by 300 to a total of 12,100 across the country.

The report warned that inhibitions amongst the population against the use of violence against foreigners was sinking. Right-wing extremists also increasingly targeted at municipal and communal authorities whom they blamed personally for " a perceived negative state of affairs or the high number of asylum seekers in Germany. "

Albeit at a slower pace, the number of individuals identified as left-wing extremists also rose in 2016. The BfV estimated the figure at 28,500, a level not seen since 2012 and an increase of seven percent compared to 2015.

In particular, the report raised concerns over the potential for such violent crimes at the G20 summit in Hamburg and in the run up to national elections in September.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-04 21:54:45|Editor: Yurou Liang

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DAMASCUS, July 4 (Xinhua) -- The U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) retook a major neighborhood in Syria's northern city of Raqqa, days after Islamic State (IS) militants recaptured it, a monitor group reported on Tuesday.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the SDF succeeded in recapturing Sina'a neighborhood as they stormed the old city of Raqqa from the Bab Baghdad area.

This was the second time that the Kurdish-led SDF, a group of Kurdish, Arabs and Assyrians, retook the Sina'a neighborhood since the battle to liberate Raqqa started a month ago.

Late last month, IS militants stormed that key neighborhood again, pushing the SDF to retreat to the nearby neighborhood of Mashlab in eastern Raqqa.

The importance of the Sina'a neighborhood comes from its location as it is adjacent to the old city in central Raqqa.

With the help of the U.S.-led coalition, the SDF recently succeeded in laying a siege on Raqqa, the de facto capital for IS in Syria, as it pushes further to dislodge IS from the city.
The US announced on June 28, 2017, it would implement tough new security rules for all airlines flying into the country, but held off from a threatened expansion of its carry-on laptop ban. (AFP Photo)

ISTANBUL, July 4 (Xinhua) -- The Turkish Airlines confirmed on Tuesday that the United States will lift the ban on electronics on flights from Istanbul on Wednesday.

"As of tomorrow, we will put another ban, another crisis behind," Ilker Ayci, the airlines' chairman, told reporters in Istanbul.

According to the airlines' press office, U.S. security officials would carry out inspections on the security measures at Istanbul's Ataturk Airport prior to the first flight to New York on Wednesday morning.

Turkey started to use U.S.-manufactured tomography machines for luggage scan on a test basis by the end of June, local press reports said.

In March, Washington banned devices larger than a smart phone in cabins on U.S.-bound flights from 10 airports in eight countries including Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Morocco, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Turkey, citing the threat of bombs hidden in the electronics.

The U.S. first lifted the ban on flights from Abu Dhabi on Sunday.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-04 22:10:00|Editor: Yamei

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EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker (Xinhua file photo)

STRASBOURG, July 4 (Xinhua) -- European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker launched into a brief tirade against the European Parliament during a Tuesday morning session here, criticizing the poor turn-out of Members of European Parliament (MEPs) for a debate on the Maltese presidency of the Council of the EU.

Juncker took offense at the very low number of MEPs who attended a debate that was meant to review the outcomes of the Maltese presidency which was viewed by many observers as a particular success.

"I would like to welcome those who have actually taken the trouble to turn out this morning, but the fact that there are about 30 members of parliament present in this debate illustrates that Parliament is not serious in this debate," Juncker said, indicating that he had wanted to pay fitting tribute to Malta's Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, who was also present in the hemicycle.

A full house at the European Parliament would have seen 751 MEPs in attendance.

"I put that to you that if Ms. Merkel (German Chancellor Angela Merkel), it's hard to imagine, or Mr. Macron (French President EmmanuelMacron) perhaps, were here today there would have been a full house," the European Commission president continued.

He was interrupted by European Parliament President Antonio Tajani, who asked him to have "a more respectful attitude."

"You may criticize the Parliament, yes, but it is not the Commission which controls the Parliament, it should be the Parliament which controls the Commission," Tajani reminded Juncker.

The European Commission president, however, was still angry, and went on to say that there were too few members in the plenary to control the commission: "You are ridiculous!"

Tajani interrupted him again with a request that he change his language, but Juncker promised to never attend such a meeting again.

"The Commission is under control of the parliament, but the parliament has to respect even the presidencies of smaller countries, which the parliament is not doing," he said.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-04 22:20:14|Editor: Yurou Liang

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JERUSALEM, July 4 (Xinhua) -- Israeli President Reuven Rivlin on Tuesday granted a pardon to former prime minister Ehud Olmert, who was released on parole from prison earlier this week after serving a corruption sentence.

An official statement released by the President's Residence said that the move cancels most of the limitations that were imposed on Olmert after his early release.

Olmert could now leave the country and he would not have to report twice a month to a police station.

Olmert, 71, was released from jail on Sunday, after serving 16 months of his 27-month sentence. He was freed under a decision on Thursday by Israel Prison Service's parole board to grant him early release.

His lawyers appealed President Rivlin with a request to pardon Olmert on the day of his release.

In March, Rivlin rejected a request to grant Olmert a clemency, which could have Olmert released right away.

Olmert is the first Israeli prime minister to serve time in jail.

He started to serve his term on February 15, 2016, after the Supreme Court had reduced his six-year sentence to 18 months.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-04 22:20:16|Editor: Yurou Liang

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THE HAGUE, July 4 (Xinhua) -- The Lung Alliance Netherlands (LAN) on Tuesday presented an action plan to the Dutch government, calling for a concrete and integrated approach to prevent work-related lung diseases.

According to LAN, a partnership that includes patient associations, lung specialists and health insurers, around 2,000 people in the Netherlands die from work-related lung diseases per year as a result of exposure to substances at work.

LAN said that around one million people in the Netherlands worked with substances that could cause a lung disease, including welders, builders, people who remove asbestos, painters, farmers and cleaners.

With their action plan, LAN calls for better cooperation between health care providers, more labor inspections, more involvement of general practitioners (GPs), a national information campaign, and awareness raising in all sectors concerned.

"The labor inspectorate falls short when it comes to 'dusty' companies," LAN director Emiel Rolink told Dutch broadcaster NOS.

"On average, a company gets checked once in 25 years. If driving speed on the highway were checked only once every 25 years, then everyone would be driving too fast," he added.

According to Rolink, GPs have an important role to play. "They should ask much more often what kind of work a patient does. It is important for a GP to know if a patient works with dust a lot," he explained.

Employees share a part of the responsibility themselves as well, he said.

"Wear a mouth cap when working with dust and wet a stone before cutting it. Also, you could take your partner or a friend with you to check whether you are doing your job in a healthy way. If everyone pays better attention, we can prevent a lot of damage," the LAN director concluded.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-04 22:20:19|Editor: Mengjie

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GENEVA, July 4 (Xinhua) -- The International Organization for Migration (IOM) on Tuesday urged European Union (EU) member states to step-up cooperation in the shared interest of saving more lives in the Mediterranean Sea, and to help Italy receive, assist, and accommodate people rescued at sea.

Ahead of this week's informal meeting of EU justice and home affairs ministers, the IOM reiterated that the EU could not continue to deal with the situation in "crisis" mode.

IOM Director-General William Lacy Swing said in a statement issued Tuesday that the reception of rescued migrants should not be seen as an issue only for Italy, but for Europe as a whole.

"Italy has consistently shown its will and determination to deploy the means and capacities to save lives and handle the hundreds of thousands of people arriving at its shores over the past several years across the Mediterranean," he said.

According to the latest IOM figure, nearly 12,000 migrants have been rescued and brought to Italy since June 24 of this year, and as of July 3, 85,183 migrants had been rescued in 2017.

IOM figures also show that arrivals to Italy are up around 19 percent over last year, but in line with a generally stable trend over the last few years.

According to the IOM, arrivals in June 2017 reached 23,411, which was similar to arrivals in June 2016 and June 2015.

Migrant deaths in the Mediterranean are estimated by IOM to be at least 2,247 so far this year, well on the way to matching last year's record number of fatalities, which exceeded 5,000 men, women and children.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-04 22:25:23|Editor: Mengjie

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ADDIS ABABA, July 4 (Xinhua) -- The African Union (AU) Peace and Security Commissioner Smail Chergui will travel later this month to mediate solutions in the border dispute between Djibouti and Eritrea.

The revelation was made on Tuesday by African Union Commission Chairperson Moussa Faki Mahamat at a press conference after closing of the 29th AU Ordinary summit held from June 27-July 4 in Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa.

The Gulf nation of Qatar mediated between the two Red Sea nations in 2010, culminating in a 450 strong Qatari peacekeeping force being stationed in the disputed border.

However, Qatar abruptly removed its forces from the border last month, when both Djibouti and Eritrea backed Saudi Arabia led campaign to isolate Qatar.

Subsequent to the Qatari troops withdrawal, Djibouti accused Eritrea of occupying the disputed border area and appealed to the African Union and the United Nations to resolve the crisis.

Eritrea hasn't yet given its official position on AU's or UN's possible involvement in mediating in its border dispute with Djibouti.

Saudi Arabia, Egypt and United Arab Emirates and Bahrain have accused Qatar of supporting terrorism. Qatar has denied the charge.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-04 22:30:35|Editor: Mengjie

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ABU DHABI, July 4 (Xinhua) -- Visiting German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel said Tuesday that he sees "good chances" for the diplomatic row between Qatar and Saudi-led Arab countries not to escalate further, local and German media reported.

Gabriel made the remarks at a joint press conference with his United Arab Emirates (UAE) counterpart Abdullah Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan during his visit to the country.

Despite a "real danger" for the conflict to escalate, "I think there are sufficient possibilities in order to defuse the situation," he said, as there was new "room to maneuver" to achieve "common results."

The German official also pressed for joint regional efforts against terror financing.

"Financing of terror must stop! The UAE is already following a comprehensive approach," he urged.

Gabriel is on a second day of his three-day mediation tour in the Gulf Arab region to help seek a political solution to the Doha diplomatic crisis. He will head to Qatar later today and visit Kuwait on Wednesday.

On June 5, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt cut off diplomatic ties with Qatar and imposed a transport sanction on the Gulf state by closing all their land, sea and air links to Doha, accusing it of supporting terrorism and extremism, which Qatar has repeatedly denied.

Qatar holds a 14.6 percent stake in Germany's auto giant Volkswagen, and an eight percent stake in Germany's biggest lender Deutsche Bank.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-04 22:30:38|Editor: Mengjie

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JUBA, July 4 (Xinhua) -- South Sudan's ministry of agriculture and food security has pledged to inject about 5 million U.S. dollars to the country's Agricultural Bank to offer short and medium term loans to farmers across the East African nation, a senior official said Tuesday.

Rual Makuei Thiang, Managing Director of the Agricultural Bank of South Sudan told Xinhua during an interview that the scheme is part of the Comprehensive Agriculture Master Plan launched early this year that seeks eradicate hunger in the war-torn East African nation through financing agribusiness.

He added that the project is a government-led strategy to cultivate 1 million hectares of land by end of the agriculture season in 2018.

"We are helping our country so that instead of it being a food-importing country, we want to become an exporting country. This is our plan as a bank to encourage people to cultivate," Thiang said.

A report by the UN and government released last month warned that food insecurity has deteriorated South Sudan as the number of people struggling to get food increased from 4.9 million in February to 6 million -the highest level of food insecurity ever experienced in South Sudan.

Thiang said to abate the situation, the bank has already invested some money to be disbursed as short term loans to supply 672000 liters of fuel to farmers across the war-torn country and the remaining funds would be provided before end of the 2018 Agriculture season.

He said the scheme will be managed by a select committee involving state ministers of Agriculture, Cooperatives, Agricultural Bank of South Sudan and Farmers Union.

"The current economic and food crisis can only be improved through crop production. We can do it if we make agriculture as a priority because this country is gifted with resources. We are challenged on how we can put these resources on table for people to eat," Thiang said.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-04 22:55:54|Editor: yan

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SOFIA, July 4 (Xinhua) -- The Bulgarian government on Tuesday set its sights on school dropout prevention in a bid to help the country's prosperity.

Every child in Bulgaria needs to attend school, and to graduate from it as a well-educated person, Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov told a press conference.

This would guarantee the prosperity of the economy and the state, Borissov said.

The unemployment rate in the Balkan country is now six percent and it cannot decrease simply because people of some ethnic groups cannot read or write, and for this reason cannot find a job, Borissov said.

Deputy Prime Minister Tomislav Donchev, who also attended the press conference, added that more than five percent of children of ethnic groops in Bulgaria-- one fourth of them Roma children and over 10 percent children of Turkish origin -- are not covered by the education system.

The state should use its power to solve this problem, Donchev said.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-04 23:06:10|Editor: yan

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VIENTIANE, July 4 (Xinhua) -- Laos has graduated from the high risk "grey" list of money laundering which was approved by the Financial Action Task Force recently, according to Laos' National Committee for Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) on Tuesday.

The committee in collaboration with the World Bank and other international partners are organizing a four-day long AML/CFT workshop that kicked off Tuesday in Lao capital Vientiane.

The workshop, entitled "National Money Laundering Risk Management Workshop", will further build capacity in this issue. In his opening remarks, Vice President of the National Committee for AML/CFT Kongthong Phongvichith said Laos is successfully implementing its obligations in AML/CFT with the support of international bodies, especially the World Bank.

"AML/CFT is considered as a very important issue for Laos, as well as the whole world, when it comes to countering the financing for terrorism and money laundering," he said, while praising the impressive job Laos has done in this area allowing it to leave the "grey" list last month.

He also noted that the workshop, for national level staff, will enable Laos to build capacity for officials in charge of AML/CFT, helping them to understand more about the methods of the risk assessment by using new tools, including tools used for analysis of AML/CFT risks.

Over recent years, Laos has worked with domestic and international organizations to improve various relevant activities especially inspections, analysis and management as well as capacity building and technology development.

As a member of the Asia-Pacific Group on Money Laundering (APG), Laos has obligations in implementing the Financial Action Task Force (FATF)'s 40 recommendations in order to meet international standards on anti-money laundering and countering financing of terrorism, reported Lao state-run media Vientiane Times.

Laos has not yet faced serious issues in terms of money laundering and financing for terrorism but it still needs to strictly follow the guidelines of the government and international banking regulatory bodies to prevent all forms of illegal money laundering.

The global economy continues to grow, including in the financial services sector, and with that growth is also coming improved AML/CFT measures developed alongside that growth. However, criminal activity in relation to money laundering and financing for terrorism remain a threat to the worldwide economy, according to participants at the workshop.

Laos will receive a second round of assessment for AML/CFT by Asia-Pacific Group on Money Laundering (APG) in the year 2020-2021.

The Financial Action Task Force is an inter-governmental body established in 1989 by the G7 Summit that was held in Paris in 1989.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-04 23:06:12|Editor: ying

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Chinese President Xi Jinping meets with Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev in Moscow, Russia, July 4, 2017. (Xinhua/Liu Weibing)

MOSCOW, July 4 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev met here Tuesday on expanding cooperation and jointly building an "Ice Silk Road."

Noting that Russia is an important partner in the construction of the Belt and Road Initiative, Xi urged the two countries to carry out the Northern Sea Route cooperation so as to realize an "Ice Silk Road," and earnestly implement various connectivity projects.

With a vast potential and a broad prospect for their practical cooperation, China and Russia should upscale cooperation in economy and trade, investment and energy, implement major manufacturing cooperation projects, strengthen high-speed rail cooperation and push for an early start of the Moscow-Kazan high-speed railroad project, said Xi.

The two countries should also enhance cooperation in various areas including education, culture, sports, tourism and media, so as to promote mutual understanding and traditional friendship, he said.

The Chinese president hailed the fruitful results of bilateral cooperation in trade and investment against the backdrop of a sluggish global economic growth and gloomy international trade and investment.

He told Medvedev that China firmly sticks to promoting cooperation with Russia and is confident in jointly addressing global challenges with Russia.

China and Russia should continue to support each other, be open to each other and further expand cooperation, so as to create positive conditions for the two countries' common development and revival, and inject strong impetus into world peace, stability and development.

For his part, Medvedev warmly welcomed Xi, saying that the two countries' relations are at the best time in history, and the China-Russia comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination serves the two peoples' interests and is also conducive to world peace and development.

Recalling that President Vladimir Putin attended the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation in Beijing in May, Medvedev said the Russian side is willing to maintain close high-level exchanges, expand cooperation in such areas as trade, investment, finance, energy, agriculture, plane manufacturing, infrastructure and the Northern Sea Route, and carry out major cooperation projects in such areas.

Proposed by Xi in 2013, the Belt and Road Initiative aims to build trade and infrastructure networks connecting Asia with Europe and Africa on and beyond the ancient Silk Road routes. It comprises the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road.

Russia is the first leg of Xi's ongoing foreign trip, which will also take him to Germany for a state visit and the upcoming summit of the Group of 20 major economies.
Iraqi Federal Police members ride in military vehicles during the fight with the Islamic State militants in the Old City of Mosul, Iraq July 4, 2017. (Reuters Photo)

MOSUL, Iraq, July 4 (Xinhua) -- Iraq will declare full liberation of Mosul from the Islamic State (IS) militants within two days, an Iraqi army commander said on Tuesday.

"The maximum deadline to declare full liberation of Mosul from IS group will be on Thursday," Major General Najim al-Jubouri, commander of Nineveh's Operations Command, said in a press release.

"After that the troops will head to last redoubt for IS militants in the province of Nineveh in Tal Afar," Jubouri said, adding that the army's 9th Armored Division, Counter-Terrorism Service (CTS) forces and the federal police will be ready to free Tal Afar.

Tal-Afar, which located some 70 km west of Mosul, is the town of majority of both Sunni and Shiite Turkomans, in addition to other minorities of Kurds and Arabs. The town fell to IS hands in 2014.

As for the battles in the old city of the western side of Mosul, Jubouri said "we have about 400 meters remained under IS in some areas, and soon after we liberate al-Maydan area, we will declare the liberation of the right bank (western side of Tigris River) completely."

Iraq's Counter Terrorism Service, army, federal police and the Rapid Response forces have been fighting inside the old city, but the troops are making slow progress due to the stiff resistance of IS militants.

Large parts of Nineveh province including its capital Mosul, 400 km north of Baghdad, have been under IS control since June 2014, when government forces abandoned their weapons and fled, enabling IS militants to take control of parts of Iraq's northern and western regions.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-04 23:11:20|Editor: yan

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MOGADISHU, July 4 (Xinhua) -- An estimated number of people who have been displaced by the severe drought ravaging several parts of Somalia has risen to over 761,000 since November 2016, the UN said on Tuesday.

The UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in its latest report that over 22,000 displacements were recorded between June 1 and 23.

The UN said out of 22,000, 13,500 individuals arrived in Baidoa town from remote villages in Berdaale, Dinsoor and Qansahdhere districts in Bay region and Rabdhuure district in Bakool.

The UN said the cities of Baidoa which had 174,280 of those displaced while Mogadishu (161,100) host 44 percent of these displaced people.

"As of June 23, 16,300 IDPs are reported to have returned to their places of origin in Bay and Bakool regions, with 60 percent of them returning in June. In 2017, 29,087 Somali refugees returned to Somalia," said the UN.

According to the UN humanitarian agency, some 3,769 Somali refugees returned - 3,158 from Kenya, 417 from Yemen, and 197 from Djibouti - in May alone.

Humanitarian agencies say the severe drought has made local communities more vulnerable. Most have been forced to sell their assets and borrow food and money to survive.

The Horn of Africa nation is in the midst of a drought after rains failed in November 2016, for a third year in the row.

Humanitarians in Somalia are seeking over 800 million U.S. dollars to reach the most vulnerable with life-saving assistance until June.

According to the UN, donors have been quick with their contributions for a scale-up of response and over 600 million dollars has been made available or pledged for humanitarian response since January.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-04 23:21:24|Editor: yan

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BUDAPEST, July 4 (Xinhua) -- Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi on Tuesday said Egypt must strengthen its partnership with the Visegrad Four (Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia) as it is in a special position within the European Union (EU).

In a joint press conference with the prime ministers of the V4, al-Sisi said: "With a deeper partnership, we could ensure even more the safety and stability in the Mediterranean region. Cooperation is especially important in the fields of the fight against terrorism and extremist groups and ideologies, and in the handling of mass migration."

He added the ongoing Visegrad Four summit brought Egypt closer to the group.

The host of the conference, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, summed up the results of the discussions between the Egyptian leader and his group in one sentence: "It is our intention to strengthen the EU from the inside and from the outside as well."

Orban thanked Egypt for acting as a stabilizing factor in the region and congratulated it on having managed to consolidate its economy, and pursuing a policy aimed at national unity.

"We see Egypt as a country which, through its commitment to stability, also protects Hungary and Europe. Therefore, in addition to a spirit of friendship, we also have an interest in your success," Orban said.

"Egypt plays a very important role in the fight against terrorism in the Mediterranean region and is a country that is able to defend its borders and to stop migrants from getting to Europe by traversing his country's territories," Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico said.

"The most effective tool against illegal migration is the protection of the external borders and the cooperation with the sending countries," he said, adding that there was great potential in economic cooperation between Egypt and the Visegrad Four.

Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka backed the opinion of its Slovak colleague, stressing: "Egypt actively fights against human smugglers and is able to stop their boats from leaving the ports to reach Europe."

Polish Prime Minister Beata Szydlo said that the eradication of the network of human smugglers was the common interest of Egypt and the Visegrad Four, and that both parties had to work together in order to fight the causes of mass migration and their roots.

She added the Visegrad Four was reading to put its influence at work in order to help Egypt deepen its ties with the EU.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-04 23:26:30|Editor: yan

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KIEV, July 4 (Xinhua) -- The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) said on Tuesday that it could offer Ukraine a loan worth 150 million euros (about 170 million U.S. dollars) to upgrade its railway network.

In a statement released on its website, the EBRD said it is in talks with the state-run Ukrainian Railways company over jointly financing the project for the electrification of 253 km railway line in southern Ukraine, including connecting the railway line to the high voltage grid and installing a second track in single track sections.

The main purpose of the project, with a pricetag of some 417 million dollars, is to improve efficiency and to enhance the logistics of the Black Sea ports in Odessa and Mykolaiv regions, which are Ukraine's main gateways for grain exports.

The EBRD board of directors will decide on the disbursement of the loan in September.

Last month, Ukrainian Railways said it plans to invest up to 6.1 billion dollars within the next five years to modernize the country's railroad infrastructure.
European Commission President Jean-Claude Junker speaks during the press conference in Brussels Dec. 18, 2015. (Xinhua/Zhou Lei)

STRASBOURG, July 4 (Xinhua) -- European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker launched into a brief tirade against the European Parliament during a Tuesday morning session here, criticizing the poor turn-out of Members of European Parliament (MEPs) for a debate on the Maltese presidency of the Council of the EU.

Juncker took offense at the very low number of MEPs who attended a debate that was meant to review the outcomes of the Maltese presidency which was viewed by many observers as a particular success.

"I would like to welcome those who have actually taken the trouble to turn out this morning, but the fact that there are about 30 members of parliament present in this debate illustrates that Parliament is not serious in this debate," Juncker said, indicating that he had wanted to pay fitting tribute to Malta's Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, who was also present in the hemicycle.

A full house at the European Parliament would have seen 751 MEPs in attendance.

"I put that to you that if Ms. Merkel (German Chancellor Angela Merkel), it's hard to imagine, or Mr. Macron (French President Emmanuel Macron) perhaps, were here today there would have been a full house," the European Commission president continued.

He was interrupted by European Parliament President Antonio Tajani, who asked him to have "a more respectful attitude."

"You may criticize the Parliament, yes, but it is not the Commission which controls the Parliament, it should be the Parliament which controls the Commission," Tajani reminded Juncker.

The European Commission president, however, was still angry, and went on to say that there were too few members in the plenary to control the commission: "You are ridiculous!"

Tajani interrupted him again with a request that he change his language, but Juncker promised to never attend such a meeting again.

"The Commission is under control of the parliament, but the parliament has to respect even the presidencies of smaller countries, which the parliament is not doing," he said.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-04 23:56:54|Editor: yan

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VILNIUS, July 4 (Xinhua) -- Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite is to meet with U.S. President Donald Trump in Warsaw this week, the Lithuanian president's office announced on Tuesday.

According to the announcement, Grybauskaite is to meet Trump during his visit to neighboring Poland where he is a guest speaker at a meeting of 12 Eastern and Central European countries for the Three Seas Initiative on Thursday.

It will be the third meeting in six months between Grybauskaite and top-ranking U.S. officials from the new administration.

"The visit of the highest-ranking U.S. official to the Baltic Sea region is viewed internationally as an attempt to demonstrate a special attention to security of the Baltic and Eastern European countries and to once again express the U.S. commitment to NATO's collective defense," said the president's office.

Since 2014, Lithuania, a member of NATO's eastern flank, has increased its defense capabilities and asked for stronger allied presence in the region.

Later this month, Grybauskaite, together with presidents of the Baltic states, is to meet U.S. Vice President Mike Pence in the Estonian capital of Tallinn, according to the president's office.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-04 23:56:55|Editor: yan

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DUBAI, July 4 (Xinhua) -- German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel said Tuesday in Abu Dhabi that Germany supports the UAE's efforts at confronting those who fund extremists, UAE state news agency WAM reported.

The German minister made the remarks during a news conference when meeting his United Arab Emirates (UAE) counterpart Sheikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan.

The minister affirmed that the UAE is Germany's closest and most important partner.

Gabriel is on a three-day mediation tour in the Gulf Arab region in order to help to find a political solution to the diplomatic rift between the Saud-led quartet and Qatar.

The four Arab states cut diplomatic ties with Qatar on June 5 and imposed a transport ban to and from the Gulf state by closing their land, sea and air borders for Qatari vehicles, ships and planes.

The quartet also issued 13 demands to Qatar over its alleged support of extremism which they say Doha must meet or face further sanctions.

The deadline to meet the demands was on Monday but extended by 48 hours through Kuwaiti mediation.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-05 00:01:58|Editor: yan

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MOSCOW, July 4 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov said here Tuesday that the two nations are gravely concerned about Pyongyang's latest launch of a ballistic missile.

They urged relevant parties to avoid any provocation and make positive efforts toward an ease of the escalating tensions on the Korean Peninsula.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-05 00:02:01|Editor: yan

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SKOPJE, July 4 (Xinhua) -- The European Union (EU) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations will assist Macedonia to tackle its land consolidation issue, EU Ambassador to Skopje Samuel Zbogar told reporters Tuesday.

The Macedonian government should adapt the laws in order to use EU experiences and FAO expertise in land consolidation, Zbogar said at a conference.

The EU official said Macedonia should address the issue of large land fragmentation as soon as possible.

Such large fragmentation complicates farming, prevents modernization and the use of modern technologies, and negatively affects competitiveness and the country's promotion at EU markets, Zbogar declared.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-05 00:02:03|Editor: yan

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Moscow, July 4 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin said here Tuesday that the two countries support free global trade and oppose protectionism of all kinds, adding the United Nations shall have a greater say on global issues.

They added that the two countries are committed to a free trade zone in Asia-Pacific.

Concerning the United Nations, the two presidents urged to strengthen its "core" role in leading global governance and maintaining world peace and prosperity.

They also denounced regime change in any country through illegal external intervention.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-05 00:07:06|Editor: yan

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RIYADH, July 4 (Xinhua) -- One Saudi Arabian policeman was killed and three others were wounded Tuesday in a bomb attack in the Qatif region in eastern Saudi Arabia, the Interior Ministry said.

The terror attack occurred in the al-Masora neighborhood in Qatif, Al Arabiya local news quoted an Interior Ministry's spokesman as saying.

The spokesman said the blast occurred at early morning Tuesday while a police patrol team was attacked by a projectile.

He said that the three wounded victims were sent to a local hospital for treatment, while an investigation was launched into the incident.

Qatif, especially the al-Masora neighborhood, has witnessed many such attacks in recent months. Last month, a police officer was killed and other two were injured in a similar bomb blast when a police patrol was attacked in the neighborhood.

Violence in Qatif has escalated after the demolishing of the deserted houses which became hideouts for fugitives, most of them are young people from the minority Shiite community who are demanding for more rights in the Sunni conservative state.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-05 00:07:08|Editor: yan

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KABUL, July 4 (Xinhua) -- Afghan President Ashraf Ghani told a visiting U.S. delegation on Tuesday that Afghanistan agreed with a proposal to conduct joint raids with neighboring Pakistan along the joint borders, monitored by the United States, said a statement issued by the Presidential Palace.

A five-member delegation of the U.S. Senate, headed by Senator John McCain, chairman of the Senate Committee on Armed Services, arrived in Afghanistan after visiting Pakistan.

The comments came as Taliban militants and Islamic State (IS) affiliates have escalated operations over the past couple of months and fierce fighting has been continuing in more than half of the country's 34 provinces.

"Afghanistan does not take American support for granted... U.S. and Afghanistan had a relationship based on mutual interest and mutual respect. What was taking place was not a war in Afghanistan, but a war over Afghanistan against transnational terrorist organizations," the statement quoted Ghani as saying.

"And there were questions now as to whether the Taliban was a criminal organization with a political front rather than the other way round. Transnational crime and narcotics meant there had to be a regional solution."

The statement added that the U.S. delegation were in Afghanistan to review progress in the war-torn country.

According to the statement members of the delegation agreed that a regional solution was needed to end the violence in Afghanistan and the region at large.

"The Senators said the head of Pakistan's armed forces, General Qamar Javed Bajwa, agreed to joint operations against terrorist groups in the border region. They said the U.S. would provide monitoring and verification of these operations," the statement said.

The delegation also met with Afghan Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah on Tuesday and exchanged views on matters pertaining mutual interest and overall situation in the region.

Senators Lindsey Graham, Elizabeth Warren, David Perdue and Sheldon Whitehouse were accompanying McCain during the visit.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-05 00:22:15|Editor: yan

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WASHINGTON, July 4 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump will hold an official bilateral meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany, the White House confirmed on Tuesday.

Citing remarks by U.S. National Security Council spokesman Michael Anton, CNN reported that the first in-person meeting between Trump and Putin and the first official U.S.-Russian bilateral meeting in almost two years will occur on Friday.

However, the exact agenda for the bilateral meeting had yet to be set, according to CNN.

The first face-to-face encounter between the two leaders will come as the United States and Russia hold differences on a slew of issues, including the Syrian conflict, the Ukrainian crisis and the alleged Russian meddling in the U.S. presidential election.

In April, Trump said the United States was "not getting along with Russia at all" and the relations between the two countries "may be at an all-time low."

Meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Washington in mid-May, Trump expressed his desire to build a better relationship between the two countries.

Earlier this month, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said the United States is working to stabilize its relationship with Russia, which is "at an all-time low."

"Our relationship is at an all-time low, and it's been deteriorating further. Our objective is to stabilize that," Tillerson told lawmakers at a Senate hearing.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-05 00:27:22|Editor: yan

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AMMAN, July 4 (Xinhua) -- One Jordanian soldier who last year killed three American trainers pleaded not guilty on Tuesday, the state-run Petra news agency reported.

At a trial at a military court, the Jordanian soldier who was charged with murdering the three Americans said he was not guilty.

The court was adjourned until Wednesday and families of the American victims present at the court commended procedures taken by the court that was seeking to ensure a fair trial.

Last year, three American trainers were killed in an exchange of fire with a Jordanian soldier. A Jordanian officer was injured in the incident.

It occurred when the Americans' car entering the base did not obey orders from guards at the entrance of an airbase in Al Jafr area.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-05 00:37:40|Editor: yan

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MOSCOW, July 4 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping met with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin here on Tuesday, when the two leaders reached consensus on issues concerning Korean Peninsula, the deployment of anti-missile system in Europe and Asia-Pacific, and the chemical weapon issue in Syria.

On Peninsula issue, the two presidents called for uttermost restraint of all parties concerned to ease the current escalating tensions, adding that Pyongyang shall abide by the relative resolutions of the UN Security Council.

They also opposed the unilateral installation of anti-missile system in Europe and Asia-Pacific by some specific country at the expense of others' security interests.

As for the Syrian chemical weapon issue, Xi and Putin said that all relative parties shall respect the country's sovereignty, and support the independent and comprehensive investigation of this issue by reliable agencies based on solid evidences, so as to reach undisputed conclusions.

They also denounced the use of chemical weapons by anybody at any place.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-05 00:42:49|Editor: yan

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MOSCOW, July 4 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov said here Tuesday that the two nations are gravely concerned about Pyongyang's latest launch of a ballistic missile.

They urged relevant parties to avoid any provocation and make positive efforts toward an ease of the escalating tensions on the Korean Peninsula.

The two diplomats urged in a joint statement that the Democratic People's Republic of Korea to abide by the relative UN Security Council resolutions.

The two foreign ministers also reiterated opposition to the installation of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system in South Korea.

The system gravely harms the strategic security interests of China and Russia, and will not help the denuclearization process of the peninsula and regional peace and stability, said the two foreign ministers.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-05 00:47:51|Editor: yan

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LUSAKA, July 4 (Xinhua) -- Zambian President Edgar Lungu on Tuesday called for calm and allow security wings to conduct thorough investigation following a fire that swept through a popular and biggest flea market in Lusaka, the country's capital.

Fire swept through City Market located west of the central business district in the early hours of Tuesday, destroying hundreds of shops owned by small traders.

The market has about 400 shops.

Security wings are investigating all possible areas of wrong doing in this matter, the Zambian leader said in a speech released by his office.

He further called on citizens not to involve themselves in any retaliatory actions but warned that all those engaged in acts of sabotage will be brought to justice.

"We'll find you wherever you are hiding. The long arm of the law will not fail Zambians in this endeavor," he said.

According to police spokesperson Esther Mwaata-Katongo, preliminary investigations revealed that the fire started from one of the shops on the southern part of the market.

She said a combined team of firefighters managed to put out the fire.

According to her, this was the second such incident after a fire swept through another market in Misisi Compound, south of the city around midnight on Monday, which affected seven traders.

"Investigations in both cases have since been instituted and we are yet to establish the cause of the fire and quantify the damage caused," she said.

Vice-President Inonge Wina who visited the market called the incident an act of economic sabotage.

Most of the traders complained that their only sources of income had gone up in flames.

The incident came after the police warned that they had intelligence information that some criminal-minded people were plotting to destroy public properties such as electricity facilities, bridges and telecommunication facilities.

Last Saturday, over 10,000 households in Ndola city were left in darkness after unknown people destroyed electricity facilities.

There has been tension in Zambia since last year's disputed elections. The situation was worsened following the arrest of leading opposition leader Hakainde Hichilema who has been charged with treason.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-05 00:52:57|Editor: yan

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MADRID, July 4 (Xinhua) -- Representatives of Spain's Marques del Atrio winery will start a week-long visit to China on July 5, the winery confirmed on Tuesday.

The main reason for the visit is for the wine producer, from "La Rioja" wine district in Spain, to hold a series of meetings with their Chinese partner Changyu Pioneer Wine to help the two wineries better exploit the Spanish and Chinese markets.

The Marques del Atrio team will visit Beijing and Yantai, where Changyu have their head office.

"This is a very important commercial opportunity for us in which we are going to get an idea about the potential for the sale of Spanish wine in China and Changyu's wines in the rest of the world," explained Masques del Atrio's commercial director, Jorge Rivero.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-05 00:58:00|Editor: yan

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by Njoroge Kaburo

NAIROBI, July 4 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese firm has been awarded a contract to expand a 9.8-kilometer stretch of road in the outskirts of Nairobi, Kenyan authorities said Tuesday.

The Kenyan Urban Roads Authority (KURA) signed the deal, worth about 20 million U.S. dollars, with the China Qinjian International Group for the dualling of a stretch of the road from Dagoretti Corner to Karen Shopping Center.

"The project is fully funded by the government through the Development Vote and is expected to be complete within 24 months," KURA said in a statement.

The dualling project will cover three sections: Dagoretti Corner-Karen Roundabout (6.2km), Karen Road (1.9km) and a small section of Langata Road from Karen shopping center (1.7km).

KURA said the dualling is intended to ease movement of traffic, improve urbanization and bring economic growth especially to Karen and Ngong Town residents considering the unmatched development experienced in this part of Nairobi and Kajiado Counties.

This project came in as part of the construction and infrastructure upgrades meant to elevate Nairobi City's status and its environs and achieve the Vision 2030 objective of transforming the country to a middle-income economy.

China Qinjian International Group, established in 2008, has been involved in multi-billion construction works in Philippines, Botswana and Singapore. This is its first entry in construction in Kenya.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-05 01:53:49|Editor: yan

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CAIRO, July 4 (Xinhua) -- Libyan military spokesman Ahmed al-Mesmary on Tuesday accused Qatar, Sudan and Turkey of supporting terrorism in the conflict-torn Arab country.

"By supporting terrorists, Qatar committed crimes against humanity in Libya," Mesmary told reporters at a press conference in the Egyptian capital Cairo.

The Libyan spokesman said that he has documents proving involvement of the three countries of providing Libyan terror militia with logistic provisions, saying he will present the documents to the international community.

"All we need from the international community is to lift the arms embargo imposed on the Libyan army to fight terrorism," said the Libyan military spokesman.

He also said that his army achieved progress and controlled vast areas in Libya despite fighting four major categories: the Islamic State (IS), al-Qaida, the Muslim Brotherhood group and criminal gangs which possess weapons and ammunition.

"In one week, we controlled three large airbases in central Libya," Mesmary said, adding that his army managed to completely destroy the IS in Benghazi.

He clarified that the IS presence in Libya is declining while the criminal gangs control large parts in Tripoli.

Mesmary said that those areas that are still outside the Libyan national army's control include the city of Sirte and the area between the cities of Misrata and Tripoli.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-05 02:29:01|Editor: ying

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by Fuad Rajeh

SANAA, July 4 (Xinhua) -- Doctors in Yemen are calling for raising public awareness and medical aid to the war-torn country to contain the spread of cholera.

The doctors warned that the worst is yet to come though the death toll from the deadly epidemic rose to 1,560. The suspected cases of cholera infection are estimated to reach 252,816 since April 27.

Nashwan Aqlan, a doctor at Al-Jomhori Teaching Hospital in the capital Sanaa and member within the GTZ program to raise awareness about cholera, told Xinhua that almost all measures are being taken by local authorities and international agencies are only restricted to providing medicines and treatment for patients.

But more work need to be done to tackle the causes of the epidemic, including raising the public's awareness of the danger of the epidemic so to prevent more infections, Aqlan said.

"We need more activities to raise awareness about cholera. Many people don't take precautions to prevent it ... Most importantly, we need to address the collapse of the sanitation system," Aqlan said.

"This disease won't be contained unless we address the lack of access to clean water and adequate sanitation services immediately," he added.

More than half of Yemen's population, or 14.5 million, lack access to clean water and adequate sanitation services, the United Nations says, amid warnings the healthcare system is on the brink of total collapse.

Less than 45 percent of Yemen's hospitals are operational at the moment, but even those operational are facing huge challenges, mainly lack of medicines, medical equipment and staffs.

The Public Health and Population Ministry has allowed a specific number of hospitals and medical centers to treat people affected by cholera to prevent further spread of the disease.

But the number of these hospitals and centers, 10 in the capital Sanaa and 18 in the governorate of Sanaa, is not enough, Aqlan said.

"Many patients are being treated on the floor or in the lobbies. In some cases, a whole family, six members or more, receives treatment in a single bed," he added.

In addition, there is a need to address shortage of medicines for patients with chronic diseases, heart and kidney for example, since these patients make up the majority of the deaths from cholera, doctors said.

Doctors expected the number of infected people to increase as the rain season is approaching.

Yemen is now facing the world's worst cholera outbreak after the epidemic has spread through all cities. Around 5,000 suspected cases are being registered a day, including one case among children every minute.

Wahhaj Al-Maktari, head of the Sanaa-based Sopol Al-Haya Hospital, Yemen's sole critical care hospital, said there is a need for an effective and successful mechanism to consolidate coordination between the authorities and aid agencies to contain cholera.

"Agencies are working separately, in a disorganized way and without coordination with the authorities or among themselves apparently because of lack of trust. This is a key problem affecting the efforts aimed at containing this epidemic," Al-Maktari told Xinhua.

Other challenges include the lack of funding, as many doctors and nurses have not been paid for 10 months, and a shortage of hospitals and doctors especially in remote areas, he added.

"The situation is worrying. If these issues are not addressed immediately, the situation will worsen in coming months and then 50 percent of the suspected cases could die," he said.

In addition, doctors are calling on the rivaling parties fighting in the war-torn country to reach a humanitarian truce so that aid agencies could access conflict areas to provide emergence medical service to cholera patients.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-05 02:49:13|Editor: ying

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Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin attend a signing ceremony after their talks in Moscow, Russia, July 4, 2017. (Xinhua/Xie Huanchi)

MOSCOW, July 4 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping wrapped up a 26-hour compact visit to Russia on Tuesday afternoon with stronger bilateral ties and an expanding cooperation agenda.

In his sixth tour to Russia since assuming office, Xi met with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, and signed joint statements with the Russian side on further deepening their comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination and on stances on major international affairs.

Xi and Putin, boasting close working relationship and intimate personal friendship, have met with each other for 22 times for the past five years. In an apparent gesture to support the Xi-proposed initiative, Putin came to Beijing in May to attend the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation.

Practices have proved that the China-Russia relations are mature and solid, unaffected by outside environments, and serve as an example for harmonious coexistence and win-win cooperation between world's major countries and neighbors, said a statement jointly signed by the two leaders.

Under new historical conditions, the two countries will devote to further consolidating their relations based on equality, trust, mutual support, common prosperity and enduring friendship, and promoting deeper political mutual trust, practical cooperation, security cooperation, people-to-people exchanges and international coordination, said the document.

The China-Russia relations have gone beyond bilateral level, and become an important factor in safeguarding international strategic balance and the world's peace and stability, it said.

The two countries agreed that they will prioritize each other in diplomatic activities, support each other in safeguarding their core interests including sovereignty, security and territorial integrity, with the two heads of state continue to play a strategic leading role in bilateral ties.

On practical cooperation, the two sides agreed to carry on the synergy of their respective development strategies and the synergy between the Belt and Road Initiative and the Russia-led Eurasia Economic Union, deepen practical cooperation on various fields, and consolidate the material basis for the development of China-Russia ties.

The two presidents spoke highly of the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation, and agreed on taking concrete measures to promote cooperation projects on cyber security, Arctic research, space, trade, technology, connectivity, finance and the BRICS cooperation.

Xi and Putin also pledged to jointly push for the implementation of the Paris Agreement on climate change and expand China-Russia cultural and people-to-people exchanges.

In a meeting with Medvedev, Xi urged the two countries to carry out the Northern Sea Route cooperation so as to realize an "Ice Silk Road," and earnestly implement various connectivity projects.

With a vast potential and a broad prospect for their practical cooperation, China and Russia should upscale cooperation in economy and trade, investment and energy, implement major manufacturing cooperation projects, strengthen high-speed rail cooperation and push for an early start of the Moscow-Kazan high-speed railroad project, said Xi.

The two countries should also enhance cooperation in various areas including education, culture, sports, tourism and media, so as to promote mutual understanding and traditional friendship, he said.

The Chinese president hailed the fruitful results of bilateral cooperation in trade and investment against the backdrop of a sluggish world economy and gloomy international trade and investment.

He told Medvedev that China firmly sticks to promoting cooperation with Russia and is confident in jointly addressing global challenges with Russia.

On major international issues, Xi and Putin vowed to work together and establish a comprehensive and effective security mechanism in Northeast Asia as early as possible, so as to secure lasting peace and stability in the region.

They expressed strong opposition against the unilateral installation of anti-missile system in Europe and Asia-Pacific by some countries at the expense of others' security interests.

Regarding the Syria issue, the two countries called for the respect of Syria's sovereignty and independence, and urged comprehensive dialogue inside the Middle East nation to settle the current crisis through political and diplomatic means.

The United Nations should play a leading role in managing the peace talks between the Syrian government and the opposition and combating international terrorism, the two countries stressed in the joint statement on major international issues.

China and Russia spoke highly of the latter's sending of its air force to Syria at the invitation of the Syrian government to combat terrorism and protect the country's territorial integrity and sovereignty.

Speaking of the Afghanistan situation, Xi and Putin expressed worries over the expansion of extremist and terrorist groups such as the Islamic State in the Asian country.

Russia highly praised China's latest shuttle diplomatic efforts with Pakistan and Afghanistan, saying the moves improve the two neighbors' relations and promote the domestic reconciliation in Afghanistan, among all the positive results.

Russia was the first leg of Xi's ongoing foreign trip. The Chinese leader then traveled to Germany for a state visit and attendance at the Hamburg G20 summit.
Combo photo shows that U.S. President Donald Trump (L) listens during joint statements in Washington D.C., the United States, June 26, 2017 and Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) addresses a news conference in Bishkek, capital of Kyrgyzstan, on Feb. 28, 2017. (Xinhua Photo)

WASHINGTON, July 4 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump will hold an official bilateral meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany, the White House confirmed on Tuesday.

Citing remarks by U.S. National Security Council spokesman Michael Anton, CNN reported that the first in-person meeting between Trump and Putin and the first official U.S.-Russian bilateral meeting in almost two years will occur on Friday.

However, the exact agenda for the bilateral meeting had yet to be set, according to CNN.

The first face-to-face encounter between the two leaders will come as the United States and Russia hold differences on a slew of issues, including the Syrian conflict, the Ukrainian crisis and the alleged Russian meddling in the U.S. presidential election.

In April, Trump said the United States was "not getting along with Russia at all" and the relations between the two countries "may be at an all-time low."

Meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Washington in mid-May, Trump expressed his desire to build a better relationship between the two countries.

Earlier this month, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said the United States is working to stabilize its relationship with Russia, which is "at an all-time low."

"Our relationship is at an all-time low, and it's been deteriorating further. Our objective is to stabilize that," Tillerson told lawmakers at a Senate hearing.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-05 03:14:33|Editor: Song Lifang

Libyan military spokesman Ahmed al-Mesmary speaks at a press conference in Cairo, Egypt, on July 4, 2017. Libyan military spokesman Ahmed al-Mesmary Ahmed al-Mesmary on Tuesday accused Qatar, Sudan and Turkey of supporting terrorism in the conflict-torn Arab country. (Xinhua/Zhao Dingzhe)

CAIRO, July 4 (Xinhua) -- Libyan military spokesman Ahmed al-Mesmary on Tuesday accused Qatar, Sudan and Turkey of supporting terrorism in the conflict-torn Arab country.

"By supporting terrorists, Qatar committed crimes against humanity in Libya," Mesmary told reporters at a press conference in the Egyptian capital Cairo.

The Libyan spokesman said that he has documents proving involvement of the three countries of providing Libyan terror militias with logistic provisions, saying he will present the documents to the international community.

"All we need from the international community is to lift the arms embargo imposed on the Libyan army to fight terrorism," said the Libyan military spokesman.

He also said that his army achieved progress and controlled vast areas in Libya despite fighting four major categories: the Islamic State (IS), al-Qaida, the Muslim Brotherhood group and criminal gangs which possess weapons and ammunition.

"In one week, we controlled three large air bases in central Libya," Mesmary said, adding that his army managed to completely destroy the IS in Benghazi.

He clarified that the IS presence in Libya is declining while the criminal gangs control large parts in Tripoli.

Mesmary said that those areas still outside the Libyan national army's control include the city of Sirte and the area between the cities of Misrata and Tripoli.

Six years after the 2011 uprising that ended the 42-year rule of Muammar Gaddafi as well as his life, Libya is currently engaged in a civil war and run by two rival administrations, one in the capital Tripoli and the other in Tobruk city in the east.

Tobruk's administration was internationally recognized, before the Libyan Presidential Council was established in 2015 to run a unity government in Tripoli based on a UN-brokered peace deal between Libyan factions reached in Skhirat, Morocco.

Supported by the self-proclaimed Libyan national army led by strongman Marshall Khalifa Haftar, the parliament-backed government in Tobruk refuses to recognize the Tripoli-based unity government.

The United Nations says that the Libya's army needs to unify first in order for the UN Security Council to lift the arms embargo imposed since 2011.
Huang Kunming, executive vice director of the Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China Central Committee (C), speaks at the Third China-Russia Media Forum in Moscow, Russia, July 4, 2017. (Xinhua/Wu Zhuang)

MOSCOW, July 4 (Xinhua) -- Chinese and Russian media outlets should step up cooperation and enhance exchanges for pushing ahead the development of relations between the two countries, said a visiting Chinese senior official on Tuesday.

Huang Kunming, executive vice director of the Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, made the remarks during a keynote speech at the Third China-Russia Media Forum held in Moscow.

China-Russia relations have entered the best period in history, which creates vast room for media cooperation between the two countries, he said.

Huang said the Chinese and Russian media outlets should properly handle the relationship between traditional and emerging media, development and governance, the national standpoint and a global perspective.

More than 120 representatives of 75 media outlets from both countries attended the forum with the theme of "new future of China-Russia cooperation and mission of media." The two sides signed 17 deals on media cooperation at the forum.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-05 03:34:49|Editor: yan

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DAR ES SALAAM, July 4 (Xinhua) -- Tanzanian President John Magufuli on Tuesday snubbed non-governmental organizations that were pushing for readmission of teen mothers, saying he will never change his position.

Last month, Magufuli ordered that impregnated school girls not to be readmitted to school after delivery.

Speaking on his second day of his tour of Lake Zone regions, the president said he would never dance to the tunes of NGOs advocating for readmission of the teen mothers.

"The government has set aside 8 million U.S. dollars budget for free education delivery. It is upon parents and guardians to ensure that their girls are not impregnated so that they can enjoy this free education," said Magufuli.

The president warned that he will sack headmasters who allow teen mothers back to school after delivery.

He said his administration has not prevented people from getting education but it wanted to mould a nation of disciplined individuals.

Magufuli said last month that impregnated school girls could engage in other undertakings after they give birth, including joining the Vocational Education Training Authority centers where they can learn skills like sewing.

"They should not expect going back to school under my administration," Magufuli said, adding that if allowed back to school, they could encourage others to engage in unprotected sex.

Some NGOs have of late been pressuring the government to allow teen mothers back to school. Some urged the government to formulate a legal framework that would allow teenage mothers to resume studies after giving birth.

HakiElimu, a non-profit civil society organization, said recently that early pregnancy was some of the factors behind school girls' failure to finish their studies.

A study carried out by the Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences revealed that pregnancy was one of the major reasons for school dropout among teenage girls in the East African nation.

In 2007, pregnancy accounted for 21.9 percent of secondary schools dropout, said the study, adding that Mtwara region in south of the country was one of the leading areas in Tanzania for teenage pregnancy.

The study showed that school dropout caused by pregnancy increased from 5.2 percent in 2003 to 21.9 percent in 2017.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-05 03:49:54|Editor: yan

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ALGIERS, July 4 (Xinhua) -- Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika on Tuesday called France to recognize the crimes committed during its colonial era in Algeria.

He made the remarks on the eve of the celebration of the Independence Day in Algeria which falls on July 5 to mark the end of the colonial period from 1830 to 1962 by France.

"Algeria and France have started constructing exceptional partnership that should be mutually beneficial through the recognition of the truths of history," President Bouteflika said in a message on the 55th anniversary of the Independence Day.

"My people are still demanding that their sufferings during the colonial era should be recognized by France," specified Bouteflika, adding "safeguarding the national remembrance is also intended for our rising generations, as it will always constitute for them a precious source of patriotism and a motive of perennial national pride."

"By remembering our tragic past due to the French invasion, we are actually exercising our duty to remember our ancestors, millions of whom fell in the field of resistance, hundreds of thousands of others were imprisoned or deported, while millions were dispossessed of their lands and possessions," he noted.

Bouteflika concluded that the celebration of the Independence Day is also "exercising a duty to remember one and a half million of our sons who scarified their lives for the recovery of the independence and national sovereignty."

Algeria is still awaiting a clear recognition by Paris of "the colonial crimes" committed in Algeria between 1830 and 1962. Former French President Francois Hollande acknowledged, during his first official visit to Algiers in December 2013, that "the colonial system was deeply unjust."

This statement was seen by Algeria as a desire by France to warm up the "freezing" bilateral relations, but no further progress has been made since to overcome the pending issue of the painful past and up-and-down post-independent period between Paris and Algiers.

With the coming of Emmanuel Macron to power in France, Algerians are hopeful to see him openly recognizing the colonial-era crimes, as he is due to visit the North African nation in the forthcoming days.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-05 03:49:57|Editor: yan

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ARUSHA, Tanzania, July 4 (Xinhua) -- Tanzania is in the final stage to establish a well-equipped snow and ice data center on Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa's highest peak, a senior official said Tuesday.

Agnes Kijazi, Director General of Tanzania Meteorological Agency (TMA), said having a data center will be one step towards answering why ice cap at the peak of Kilimanjaro is melting.

Approximately 85 percent of the glacial ice on Kilimanjaro disappeared between 1912 and 2011, and the remainder could disappear before 2020, according to a 2012 report by NASA.

These are the same glaciers that have survived three periods of abrupt climate change, the most recent of which brought a 300-year drought starting in 2,200 BC.

"We are aware that ice cap on Mount Kilimanjaro is diminishing, but there is no scientific reason as why is it so," she said.

"There are many people who link the snow reduction with climate change. But, I'm sure that once the center will be established at the mountain it will be easier to get the reason and the remarkable measures to address the vice."

Mrisho Gambo, Arusha Regional Commissioner, commended the move by TMA, saying it will also help promote the country's tourism.

"The center at the mountain will make it a modern park that would provide accurate data on weather and climate in and outside Tanzania," he said.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-05 04:10:14|Editor: yan

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ALGIERS, July 4 (Xinhua) -- Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, also Defense Minister, on Tuesday issued a decree to promote Fatma Boudouani to Major-General, the country's first female to reach this top rank at the National People's Army.

Algerian state-run television broadcast the promotion ceremony assured by Deputy Defense Minister, Army Chief of Staff, Lieutenant General Ahmed Gaid Salah at the Defense Ministry headquarters in upper Algiers on the eve of the celebration of the Independence Day in Algeria to be on July 5.

Fatma Boudouani is Defense Ministry's representative at the Steering Committee of the "5+5 Initiative". She was promoted to the rank of General on July 5, 2012.
PM had to fire McDonald

Rowley at a press conference yesterday at his office in St Clair, said McDonald was dismissed from the Cabinet because of the presence of certain entities at her swearing in ceremony last Friday at Presidents House.

Asked whether the presence of Sea Lots community leader Cedric Burkie Burke was the deciding factor in McDonalds dismissal, he replied: Yes, it did. Asked to elaborate, Rowley responded, No, I wont. Rowley said his decision to reappoint McDonald was based on his analysis of the situation and he was willing to defend such a decision.

That is not something that I am backing away from. I did not expect anyone to agree, but I expect most people would be fair-minded and be of the view that when you look at the overall picture, especially the allegations made, I did not move Ms Mc- Donald (in March 2016) because an allegation was made about her.

If you are telling me a minister has one allegation and must be removed by the Prime Minister, all you want is five allegations against five ministers and the Government done. When I took the decision to remove her, it was based on my understanding of the requirements because she was the Minister of Housing and there were serious allegations about her conduct which had not been investigated.

One was the Calabar investigation which apparently will go on forever and the other was the hiring of people in her office. As far as I was concerned, as Prime Minister I had to know whether or not there was substance to these allegations about the Ministry of Housing, he said.

Asked how PNM members were treating with McDonalds dismissal, Rowley indicated this was not a party matter, but a Government matter.

We make a distinction between the party that put the Government into office and the Government that conducts Government business. There may sentiments expressed by the party but the most important thing is this is a governmental action, he said.

Questioned as to how Burke was able to attend the ceremony when he was not on the guest list, Rowley said the matter would have to be looked into, adding that there was need for tightening up of protocols and there should be more water tight security systems at a place like Presidents House.

Because if they can tell you they enter Presidents House without proper authorisation and its a question of who got who in there, clearly there is need for us all to review that situation so these developments would not happen again, he said.

Asked what was his relationship now with McDonald, Rowley said as a deputy political leader she is there to assist the political leader.

It is not an over arching position.

My relationship and conversations with Ms McDonald are very civil and very forthright as it has always been. I take responsibility for the action of bringing back Ms McDonald. I take responsibility for that based on my analysis of the overall situation. I dont expect anyone to agree with me on that, I have a decision to make, I took that decision and I take responsibility for that decision.

Had I known the swearing in would become an issue, because that is what we are dealing with now. If I had a crystal ball to look into it; if I appoint her the swearing in would have resulted in this, clearly I wouldnt have. But I had no way of knowing that the swearing in would have resulted in this situation, he said..
Internal investigation at Presidents House

According to well-placed sources, the President appeared distressed over the perceived security breach as well as photographs of him with Burke which have been posted online in various social media websites and which have gone viral. Newsday understands that reports are to be made available from the Special Branch officers and a recommendation will then be sent to the Head of Special Branch for immediate action.

National Security sources said if it is found that Special Branch officers were responsible for the breach, they could receive certain sanctions which include being transferred out of the elite unit. Last Friday, Burke of Sea Lots arrived at Presidents House along with an associate Glenroy Dopwell, whose name was in a list of approved invitees for the swearing ceremony.

Burke was not on this list.

Both Dopwell and Burke sat in the lobby at Presidents House awaiting the arrival of their MP.

When McDonald arrived, Burke and Dopwell were taken into the conference room for the swearing in ceremony, by Mc Donald who introduced both men to officials of Presidents House as her friends and constituents.

After the swearing in ceremony, Burke was photographed with President Carmona as well as Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley. Both President Carmona and Rowley, Newsday understands, were aware of who Burke was, at the time.

Sources revealed that Burke and Dopwell were recognized by some of the Special Branch officers who alerted other officers on duty at Presidents House and very quietly, officers took up strategic positions in and around the President and Prime Minister in the conference room.

It remains unknown whether Snr Supt Austin Lee of the Special Branch was informed of Burkes presence at Presidents House during the swearing in.

Attempts yesterday by Newsday, to reach both Snr Supt Lee as well as Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Ainsley Garrick  who is overall in charge of Special Branch  via telephone proved futile. Yesterday, sources within the Defence Force noted that Special Branch is wholly in charge of who is allowed entry into Presidents House.

Thus if a breach of security is identified, fault will rest with the Special Branch.
Concern over containers, yachties and jet ski users in gun trade

Comptroller of Customs and Excise Glen Singh yesterday told the Joint Select Committee (JSC) on National Security at the Office of the Parliament that 40 per cent of containers with imports are given the green light. That percentage, he said, represents established importers who are the captains of industry with highly compliant companies.

Asked if he was saying that it was beyond the captains of industry to bring in illegal weapons, Singh said, he did not say so. He was told it was what he had implied.

Based on the seizure of firearms found in a container at the home of a business owner at Valsayn, Senator Wayne Sturge said it would be speculative to imply that weapons do find their way into the country through containers given the green light.

Noting that significant weapon seizures were made through Customs, he said, it was not the small people who bring in weapons, and it was only common sense that it is the rich people you should be having your eyes on. Singh said from time to time random inspections are made on containers given the green light.

Meanwhile Senior Superintendent (Armoury) Leroy Brebnor said it is a matter of interest and concern to the Police Service that 40 per cent of containers were not searched or scanned.

That confirms and compounds the situation that we are in right now, he said noting that ten per cent of all crimes are committed by illegal firearms.

The JSC also heard that yachties, who are permitted to carry guns at sea, would on entering port report to the police what was in their possession.

They would then lodge the guns with the police and recover them on their departure.

However, Brebnor said there was no one to stop them from going back out to sea and re-entering as they please once they would have registered their initial entry to the country.

Asked if it was illegal for police officers to operate businesses, Brebnor said permission is usually granted by the commissioner of police.

He said the Police Service was working towards eliminating rogue officers. He said 150 officers were before the courts. There were also some convictions, he said.

Meanwhile, Acting Commissioner of Prisons William Alexander expressed concern about reports of illegal weapons being brought into the country from Venezuela via jet skis. There is a compartment in the jet ski, he said, which could be used to hide the weapons. It is only a two hour ride from the Venezuelan coastland to TT.

Meanwhile, Acting Chief of Defence Staff Hayden Pritchard said there was need for legislation to govern the use of small engine crafts in the same way as motor vehicles are registered for use. As it is, a 13 or 14 year-old can get behind the steering wheel of an outboard engine.

Prior to the hearing the Strategic Services Agency (SSA) presented in camera, the findings of its research to the JSC on illegal weapons and their impact in the country.

SSA director George Robinson said once the research is completed, the information will be shared with the respective security agencies.
James: She made wrong move

Burke was not on the list of approved invitees and James said he did not understand why McDonald did this especially as he was not properly attired for such an event. James said McDonald was being given a second chance (be being returned to Cabinet) yet displayed a kind of innocence which he could not comprehend given her years of experience in politics.

James said McDonald seemed to believe what she did by inviting Burke into the swearing in ceremony, was proper and yet this was clearly untenable and Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley had no choice but to fire her.

James said that the Prime Minister himself has questions to answer regarding his judgement in reappointing McDonald even as investigations by the Integrity Commission and the Fraud Squad are ongoing.

James said the Prime Minister probably felt enough time had passed (16 months - when he last fired McDonald as Housing Minister) and no charges had been laid. James added that although no charge has been laid at present, this does not mean the situation could change later on.

James was also puzzled about an apparent breach of security at Presidents House as Burke was not on the list of invitees yet was able to reach the conference room and later posed for photos with President Anthony Carmona and PM Rowley.

Another political commentator, Ferdie Ferreira, said the revocation of McDonalds appointment comes after the Peoples Partnership saw the removal of dozens of Cabinet members over a five year period.

He said political parties have a serious responsibility to re-examine the process of selection of candidates. He added that it was turning out to be an issue not only of the selection of candidates but also of the judgement of the Prime Minister, who has sole responsibility for the composition of the Cabinet.
Commission silent

During a news conference yesterday on the revocation of Marlene McDonalds appointment as Minister of Public Utilities, the Prime Minister referred to the body as, An Integrity Commission without integrity. Chairman of the Commission, Retired Justice Zainool Hosein could not be reached yesterday, but the Registrar of the Commission Jacqueline Pascall, said she would inform the Chairman of the Commission about the Prime Ministers comment today.
Analyst: Dont expect another chance

He added the prime minister acted in a no-nonsense manner given questions and concerns which arose over a guest at McDonalds swearing in ceremony last Friday.

Asked whether she should consider resigning as an MP after her second dismissal from the Cabinet, Basdeo said, No, she was elected as an MP which is up to her and her constituents to determine her future as to whether they want her to remain so.

But the point about that is, clearly she has been fired as a minister from a ministerial portfolio.

And if she has been fired for the reasons we are speculating she has been fired for, the association that she has, it is hardly likely she will come back as a minister in this term. Asked about Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessars calls for a new election, he said, Well every opposition leader, that is their role and function. They are to call on the government to call fresh election.
Drowning victim hailed a hero

Newsday spoke to Seegobins sister-in-law Dinah Ramcharan, who recalled the incident. We got to the pools at the waterfall after a 20-minute hike through the Matura forest. When we settled down, everyone was just having a good time and bathing in the shallow part of the pool.

When we were getting dressed and packing up to leave, David took his son Simeon and my son, Daniel for a final dip. They went swimming in one of the deeper pools and it was here currents forced them further downwards.

They started splashing around in the water trying to get to the edge of the pool. Ramcharan said Seegobin pushed the boys onto the riverbank before he slipped beneath the water and out of sight.

Ramcharan said that she called on members of the motorcycle club to go into the water and try and rescue Seegobin. I kept pushing them to go into the water but only two of them did. We waited for about half an hour for him (David) to come back out but he never did.

Eventually the other guys said we had a long walk back to the hiking trail and we could call the authorities from there. Ramcharan explained that the group notified the police who visited the scene and were accompanied by divers from the TT Coast Guard. The team later recovered Seegobins body after a brief search was carried out. Ramcharan said both Simeon and Daniel are struggling to come to terms with Seegobins death and were yesterday in a state of shock.

She is calling on the Tourism Development Company (TDC) and the Ministry of Tourism to take a more proactive approach in securing these popular pools by providing life guards or signs warning bathers of the danger of underwater currents in the deeper, larger pools.

It was only after one of the divers surfaced that they told me the pool was more than 16 feet deep.

We had no idea that was the depth that we were swimming in. I implore the relevant agencies to take action before other families suffer as we are suffering now. Seegobin, worked as a postal worker for the Trinidad and Tobago Postal Service (TT Post) for 19 years, is survived by his son Simeon Seegobin, 18, and daughter Rachel Seegobin, 20.
SEA results today

The statement said the results would be released in schools from about 10 am. It said that students or their parents will receive a Students Performance Report, Placement Slip and the SE A Information Booklet containing, Frequently Asked Questions regarding SE A. Mayor of Arima Lisa Morris-Julian and the entire Arima Borough Council yesterday extended congratulations to all students who will today receive results. The council also applauded the efforts of all parents, guardians, teachers and principals whose diligence and persistence it said will give rise to another generation of quality citizens.

Mayor Morris-Julian encouraged all students to feel proud that they have successfully completed one part of lifes journey. She said the result of this examination often overshadowed an otherwise joyful school experience. However, regardless of the outcome,the mayor and council are encouraging students to rejoice and prepare to enter an exciting period of life as a Secondary School student.
Two drown at Maracas Bay

The double tragedy has left two families from Fyzabad and Penal in mourning. According to reports, Ravi Ramnarine, 50, who is spending a few days with relatives in South wanted to eat a meal of bake and shark and his relatives along with a few friends went to Maracas Bay on Sunday afternoon.

After eating the meal late Sunday, Ravi decided that because he was scheduled to leave on Tuesday (today) he wanted to take a sea bath and encouraged his other friends and relatives to accompany him into the waters, however by that time lifeguards had completed their duties but one of the guards was still in the life guard quarters.

Ravi along with Premchand Singh, 50, of Fyzabad and Sandra Singh, 53, on Penal along with others were heard screaming frantically after they were swept further into the sea by a monster wave. The life guard along with others wasted no time in attempting to rescue the bathers. However, due to the strong current Premchand was swept away but Ravi and Sandra were rescued by the life guard and others.

Two other persons who are yet to be named were also rescued closer to the shoreline. Ravi and Sandra were rushed to the Port-of-Spain General Hospital where Sandra succumbed to drowning while Ravi was warded for observation. At about 10.30 pm on Sunday, persons in the vicinity of Sams Bar saw the body of Premchand wash ashore and District Medical Officer Dr Pooran along with Senior Superintendent Sagramsingh and Inspector Taylor, Cpl Ali and Cpl Rajkumar along with others visited the scene.

Yesterday, Parbatee Ramlall, sister of Premchand said that she was told the dreaded news on Sunday that her brother had drowned and she was asked to go to the Portof- Spain mortuary to identify his body. Parbatee said that she did not know how her brother ended up at Maracas Bay or the details surrounding his death.

However she noted that she along with relatives were deeply saddened over his demise and were awaiting further details on the incident. Investigations are continuing.
FFOS wants info on government rentals

In making the request, the group referred to statements by Cuffie on May 8, 2017 at the formal opening of the Government Campus Plaza. Cuffie was quoted as saying government was saving $22 million in rent for the various government departments when it moved ministries into the plaza.

Cuffie said when the PNM administration assumed office there was significant spending on unoccupied buildings but the government was not renting any unoccupied buildings at the moment.

Gary Aboud, corporate secretary of FFOS, said the group made numerous requests for the information from the government including the prime minister but the information was not forthcoming.

He said in a situation in which the government was retrenching people, he was asking the government to save the economy by cutting the waste out of government expenditure and one of the ways in which the government was wasting money was in the many buildings rented from alleged party financiers at exorbitant fees.

He referred to One Alexandra Place which, he said, was rented from one of the partys faithful and several other buildings which FFOS had identified publicly to the government and appealed to them to rationalise these rentals rather than laying off people.

He said the government could regain public confidence by showing that its rentals are along the same expenditure levels as private sector levels. He said if the prime minister is saving the economy, he has to justify to the public that the government is not throwing away money through exorbitant rentals as payback for campaign financing which, he said, was something very common in the Third World.

He said instead of making a public boast, Cuffie should supply the requested information to FFOS so that the group could compare what the government is paying with private sector rates. He said what is needed is more than just showing that the building is occupied, but there needs to be a clear rationale of the need to spend money on rentals.

He questioned whether the buildings were fully occupied or whether space was being saved.

He said if the minister embraced accountability, he would welcome the idea of comparing private sector rental rates to those paid by his Government.
Retroactive promotion for soldier

Commissioned officer Winston Springer sued the defence council of the TTDF for its failure to hear his challenge to the decision of his commanding officer to adjust his seniority date and promotion.

In a ruling in Springers judicial review claim, Justice Ricky Rahim ordered that he was entitled to a decision of the council and there was unreasonable delay on its part to treat with the complaint.

Springers complaint was lodged on June 5, 2014.

After that seniority dates as a Lieutenant, as he then was, will be effective from July 25, 2011 rather than June 15, 2005, as he expected.

In his lawsuit, Springer, of Bon Air, Arouca, said despite all efforts on his part the council failed to make a decision on his complaint and his career advancement was in abeyance.

He also noted that his compulsory retirement date was due on June 17, 2016.

In a letter dated June 12 to Springers attorney Gerald Ramdeen, the secretary to the council said the council met on May 5 and agreed to promote him retroactively to the rank of captain effective June 15, 2009.

The letter also stated that the chief of defence staff will take steps to have the quantum of the salary arrears and terminal benefits calculated.

Only last week it was revealed that the council failed to meet for over five years, from 2012 to 2016 when a meeting was finally held on July 14, 2016 to treat with complaints before it by serving officers.

In that ruling, Justice Frank Seepersad was critical of the former Peoples Partnership administration for failing to convene the council.

He said, Such a circumstance is simply unacceptable and really amounts to a gross dereliction of the statutory obligation that it was mandated to follow.
TDC workers still on the job

President of the C ommun i c a t i o n Workers Union (CWU) John Julien says the advice follows an emergency injunction, granted late last Friday by the Industrial Court, which restrains the TDC from terminating the services of any of the workers or doing any such action until and unless the entire matter is heard before the Court. The union filed two previous complaints, relative to a decision to shut down the TDC without consulting the CWU and the development of VSE P packages to be considered by the Cabinet. A decision to dissolve the TDC was announced at a post-Cabinet media briefing on March 9.

Speaking with Newsday on Sunday, Julien said the union feels vindicated, describing the ruling as a major victory for the CWU. The TDC was the first company that (Government) attempted to get rid of in March (2017). Remember they did that with Caroni Green Limited, with Government Human Resources Services (GHRS).

They said theyre going to do that to GISL (Government Information Services Limited), they did it with the OJT (On the Job Training) staff. Julien argued that all of them were sent home and the only reason that they did not send home the TDC workers in March was because they are part of a recognised majority union. We are saying, quite clearly, the only reason that they (Government) want to shut down the company and start it back (as two separate entities) is that if they do that, by law, the union will no longer be able to represent anybody in the new entity and they wanted to get rid of the union. Hence the unions feeling of vindication that its decision to have its lead counsel, Douglas Mendes, SC, file a request last Friday morning.

Julien said the decision was taken after the union learned that last Thursday afternoon, TDC staff were called into a meeting where they were presented with letters informing them of the companys closure the next day; June 30.

The letters; addressed to individual workers, included calculations of that persons severance package based on their years of service but in order to get the money, TDC workers were told they must first sign a Release and Discharge Agreement. Julien explained that if a worker signed this agreement, they would effectively be waiving their right or that of the union to take any action whatsoever against the TDC in the future related to their termination of employment.

Newsday obtained a copy of the letter given to TDC workers on June 29. In it, the company said, We regret to inform you that the Tourism Development Company Limited (TDC) will cease operation on June 30, 2017 and that you will be paid the following: (a) accrued vacation leave and gratuity, where applicable; (b) an ex-gratia payment equivalent to 45 calendar days pay, plus where applicable, half months pay for each year of service for years one to four and three quarter months pay for each year thereafter. The letter continued, Prior to release of the monies due to you, the Release and Discharge Agreement attached must be signed and returned to Cliff Hamilton, Interim Chief Executive Officer. You are advised that you ex-gratia payment will be paid on or before Friday, July 7, 2017, bearing in mind the four-day requirement for bank clearing arrangements.

We wish to acknowledge your loyalty, dedication and contribution over the period of your employment and to wish you the best in your future endeavours.
Expert: Suicide is impulsive in children

LifeLine coordinator Lucy Gabriel told Newsday, Suicide is more impulsive in children because children live very much in the now. They dont have an appreciation of the future. Adults tend to plan it but it can be just as impulsive. She said bullying, whether was in school or cyber bullying, could lead to a child feeling cut off from others.

She said many times, when children say they are being bullied, the results were meetings and talks with the parents but no immediate, definitive action was taken. The parents instead would have to take the children out of the school, to see a psychologist, or both.

When it comes to children there is a critical lack of authoritative action being taken. The bullied child is not given the support to fight back yet no action is taken against the bully, so the bullying continues and you leave that child with nowhere to go.

Therefore it must become very clear that nobody can be bullied in your classroom. Nobody is allowed to be bullied in your school because you would take swift action. Gabriel lamented that people know too little about mental health and suicide because no one talks about it. She said while depression was a mental illness in the broadest sense, it was not like schizophrenia or bipolar disorder, which could also lead to suicidal thoughts.

We as a society need to open the doors and talk about it because it is presentable. People just dont know enough about suicide and mental illness. That is a nut that has to be cracked. She noted that some of the signs of someone having suicidal thoughts included insomnia, saying they want to kill themselves, giving their things way, and being upset virtually every day.

She said too often, the family of the person who committed suicide got blamed for their relatives actions.

However she said once a person had made up their mind to kill themselves, they make sure that their family knew nothing about it by acting in a manner that alleviates all suspicion. For example, she said if the person had a tendency to get agitated or quarrel, when they make the decision to terminate their life, they would act as normal as possible.

If something has been bothering you for a while and you found the answer to it, how would you feel? Youd feel calm, youve resolved the issue, no problem. On the other hand, she said sometimes a person would say, I feel to kill myself  and the family would tell them to stop being stupid or dramatic. Also, sometimes family members do not discuss anything so it would be easier for the affected person to hide their feelings.

In the end, she said the family would be left devastated and may suffer from guilt. Also, she said once someone in the family committed suicide, other members of the family were more likely to do it as well.

It becomes a way of solving a major problem. That is, unless they themselves go through the process of grieving about it, because it is harder to take than an ordinary death, and sort it out and look at the way they interact with each other as family. Therefore, Gabriel said if you notice someone is disturbed about something, be open to discussing it and if you are unsure of what to do, call LifeLine.

She said it was important to sit and listen to the person and do not deny their feelings. They feel cut off from other people? You bridge that gap by saying, You tell me what it is like for you to be you. What is bothering you? Do not judge, give advise or criticise.

Listen and give their feelings the respect they deserve. Affirm their feelings. You are not pitying the person. Its empathy. She said when they feel that connection, the feeling to kill themselves would start to decrease.
Dr Moonilal slams lame duck Rowley

He is prime minister only by virtue of a piece of paper signed by the President, Moonilal said on the weekend at the Mohess Road Hindu School where he hosted an open clinic and medical fair for those affected by Tropical Storm Bret.

It is very unfortunate that incident (the hiring and firing) came at a time when the country is in mourning, he said, referring to the murders of Hafeeza Rose Mohammed and her 13-year-old neighbour Videsh Subar last week in Malabar.

Moonilal said since the prime minister appointed and then fired McDonald, he is ultimately responsible for the unsettling brouhahah.

Speaking on the free-for-all at the Office of the President in which members of McDonalds constituency were able to rub shoulders with President Anthony Carmona at McDonalds swearing in last Friday, Moonilal said there have been contradictory information which speak volumes as to how something like this could happen.

It shows, he added, that Mc- Donald lacked discretion and judegment as an individual was not invited, but based on the recommendation of Mc Donald, was allowed inside Presidents House. He said that the fact that Rowley had to go back on his own decision to hire McDonald, shows the leader of government is incapable of making sound decisions as leader of Cabinet.

Commenting on the issue of a Rio Claro resident posting threats to the primie minister and his family via social media, Moonilal said, I do not condone persons using social media to threaten anyone. Whether it is the prime Minister or the Opposition Leader. He however said that there are many in society who are lashing out because of anger over the governments bumbling when it comes to managing the affairs of the country.

The health clinic was coordinated by Dr Rai Ragbir and saw Dr Rishi Rampersad as well as nurses and health specialists in charge of the fair at which there were free diabetes, blood pressure and other tests conducted.

Moonilal said parts of his constituency suffered tremendously following the tropical storm. From a medical standpoint issues of concern, post Bret include an increase in mosquito- borne diseases and floodwaters invading homes and business places leaving people especially chidlren susceptible to water-borne diseases.

We are not satisfied that the Ministry of Health and the public medical institutions are doing enough to handle the health issues sustained by flood victims, Moonilal said adding that because a large number of those affected by the flood include children and the elderly, he decided to arrange this medical fair in collaboration with Dr Ragbir.

He said that the people of Penal, Debe and Oropouche are still waiting for health workers to spray their villages for mosquitoes and other insects.

Moonilal claimed that recently, a 26-year-old died of dengue and this is why the Ministry of Health should be concerned.

Dengue appears to be back and with the aftermath of the floods there are mosquito infestations everywhere.
AG: Kamla unprepared for Trial by Judge Alone debate

In wrapping up the debate on the bill, Al-Rawi said the Opposition Leader was not only unprepared but was wrong in saying that the Law Revision Commission could not amend sections of the law which had been ruled unconstitutional, null and invalid in the case of Jason Bissessar vs the Attorney General adjudicated by Justice Charmaine Pemberton.

Those sections had to do with Sections 67 and 68 of the Criminal Procedure Act.

However, the Attorney General said that in an appeal in January 31 the Court of Appeal had overturned that judgement. He added that the Persad Bissessar had said in her contribution that Trinidad and Tobago had been blacklisted, suggesting this had something to do with FATCA legislation.

However, he said it really had to do with the Global Forum under which the UNC Cabinet in 2011 agreed to to sign 13 bilateral agreements for the automatic exchange of information during the years in which the UNC was in office.

However, he said the then Government did not negotiate even one bilateral agreement and it was the current Government when it came into office which had to apply for fast track concession so that it could join the other countries which had already signed up.

On the issue of judge only trials, Al-Rawi said the Government had received written contributions from the Judiciary, the Criminal Justice Adviser for the United Kingdom and Canadian Governments; and also from attorneys Ravi Rajcoomar and Rajiv Persad, members of the Criminal Justice Bar Association.

He said all the advocacy against judge-only trials is misplaced and that two successive Chief Justices of this country had been crying out for an experiment with judge-only trials and that now the current Government was trying to operationalise it.
E-commerce giant Rakuten is linking up with a major US vacation rental platform. The move will support its new business in private rentals for tourists to Japan.

The new partner HomeAway is a major rival of Airbnb. Its website lists more than two million properties including resorts in 190 countries. Rakuten entered the rental platform business less than 2 weeks ago by teaming up with Japanese property website operator Lifull.

SoftBank returns to profit as investments rebound

AP - Nov 12

Japanese technology investor SoftBank Group Corp. reported on Friday a 3 trillion yen ($21 billion) profit for the July-September quarter, a sharp reversal from its loss a year ago. Japanese technology investor SoftBank Group Corp. reported on Friday a 3 trillion yen ($21 billion) profit for the July-September quarter, a sharp reversal from its loss a year ago.

Toyota joins other Japan companies to make next-generation chips

Nikkei - Nov 11

Toyota Motor and around nine other Japanese companies will team up with the government to launch a new entity to develop and make next-generation semiconductors, Nikkei has learned, aiming to establish manufacturing processes by the late 2020s. Toyota Motor and around nine other Japanese companies will team up with the government to launch a new entity to develop and make next-generation semiconductors, Nikkei has learned, aiming to establish manufacturing processes by the late 2020s.

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.
Several female employees at Cool Japan Fund Inc, a public-private investment fund aimed at promoting Japanese culture and products overseas, claim they were sexually harassed by executives of the entity including a career bureaucrat on loan from the central government, sources familiar with the matter said Monday.

Since the incidents, employees of the Tokyo-based fund have formed a labor union and are calling for information disclosure and steps to prevent similar cases from the fund, claiming the entity's handling of the alleged harassment cases is unsatisfactory.

In July last year, a male executive in charge of the investment section who hailed from the private sector organized a socializing event at a "karaoke" establishment in Tokyo in which four female employees and a male connected to the fund also participated, according to the sources.

At the event, all female employees were ordered to draw straws with a phrase on each. The phrases included "movie date with executive" and "handmade present" for the person connected to the fund.

Several days later, the female employees were asked who drew which straws and about their availability, but the dating with the executive and other suggested events never took place because the women reported the incident to a section set up within the entity to hear sexual harassment complaints, according to the sources.

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Two women were struck and killed by a train along the Tobu Tojo Line tracks in Higashimatsuyama, Saitama Prefecture, on Monday morning, in what police believe was a suicide.

According to police, the incident occurred just before 1 a.m. between Takasaka and Higashi-Matsuyama stations, Fuji TV reported. The train driver was quoted by police as saying he saw two people standing on the tracks together. He said he applied the emergency brake but could not stop in time.

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Salarymen have taken a pummeling in recent years - with pay stagnating and rising numbers of working women and mothers eroding their once-dominant position as the family's breadwinner.

Those changes have affected how they are seen at home, with children respecting their mothers more than fathers for the first time, according to recent research. And wives - who typically control the purse strings in Japanese households - have continued cutting their husbands' pocket money, a survey by Shinsei Bank showed last week.

Over the past two decades, average male base wages have shrunk 0.5 percent. And even though flat or falling prices mean there may have been little damage to purchasing power, that stagnation meant that there has been little impetus for pocket money to rise.

Conversely, the increasing entry of women into the workforce has meant that their pay has risen - up 15 percent over the same period, according to a labor ministry report. That increase might partly be to supplement family incomes and subsidize the flat salaries of husbands, but it's causing a change in how women are perceived in the home, according to the research from Hakuhodo Institute of Life and Living, which is connected to one of the nation's largest ad agencies.

The number of children who said they respect their mothers surged to a record high of 68.1 percent, surpassing that of fathers for the first time, according to the Hakuhodo survey, which has been conducted once a decade since 1997. About 62 percent of kids said they respected their fathers, down from the previous survey.
Chiba Prefectural Police suspect that an ongoing dispute in the criminal underworld is behind a shooting in Matsudo City, the fourth such incident over the past two months, reports NHK.

At around 11:00 a.m on Sunday, bullets from a handgun were fired into the door of a residence in the Midorigaoka area. Police arriving at the scene found several bullet holes in the door and another in an interior wall. No persons were hurt in the incident.

Police are treating the case as attempted murder.

Law enforcement is treating the shooting, the fourth to take place in Matsudo since May, as the result of a gang dispute. On the evening of May 10, a gunman, who was on a motorcycle, approached a van at an intersection on National Route 6 and opened fire. A gang member, 46, in a back seat of the van was struck in the head and shoulder. In June, two shootings similar to the one on Sunday took place at other residences.

According to a gangster quoted in a previous report, the target in the shooting on National Route 6 is an associate of the likely target in one of the shootings in June. Both gangsters are members of a gang that left from within the Inagawa-kai in January of last year.

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A 38-year-old woman working at a private elementary and junior high school in Matsumoto City, Nagano Prefecture, was slashed by a man on Monday.

According to police, the incident occurred just after 1:30 p.m. on the grounds of Saikyo Gakuen School, Fuji TV reported. Police received a call reporting that an unidentified man had attacked a female school employee with a knife and then fled.

The victim, who works in the administration department, had taken some garbage outside the school building when the man suddenly attacked her. Police said she sustained minor injuries to her left arm.

The woman told police she did not know the man who was dressed in black and wore a white face mask.

Jul 04 (ANNnewsCH) - eeZcaaaaae aaaeaacaeaaaSaaaaaaaYacacaaeeaaaaca aaa aSaaaaiazeaeea aSiaaeaaeaYacaaaaaaaaeaaaaaaaaaa
The predictions of the advocates of separatism in the Sahara were true. Their worst fears that Moroccos return to the African Union will block their plots to propagate the chimera of an independent Sahara state were vindicated.

The first participation of Morocco at an African Union Summit in over three decades proved that the Kingdom is uncompromising concerning its territorial integrity. Henceforth, separatist proponents should brace for the beginning of the end of the phony SADR entity within the African Union.

Actually, the Moroccan delegation that took part in the 29th AU Summit showed vigilance in blocking an attempt orchestrated by Algeria and a bunch of autocratic states turning in its orbit to include clauses prejudicial to Moroccos sovereignty over the Sahara in an AUs Human Rights Commission report.

A heated debate took place, on July 2, between the Moroccan delegation and its Algerian counterpart over the clauses violating Moroccos territorial sovereignty, such as sending an AU human rights monitoring mission to the Sahara and calling the southern provinces occupied territories.

Certainly, Human Rights is the least of the concerns of the autocratic regimes backing the anti-Moroccan clauses. Algeria, Zimbabwe and Botswana are all autocratic states setting a model of brutal authoritarianism and disregard for human dignity.

The age of ideological slogans for forming allies on the continent is over and so is the Algerian mantra. African states are looking forward to a new dawn in which bilateral and multilateral ties are forged through win-win partnerships.

Moroccos south-south cooperation model has earned it new friends and allies, including heavy weights such as Nigeria and Ethiopia. Nigeria, which previously sidelined on Algerian stands, is now taking distance. The Nigerian refusal to back the Algerian advanced clauses against Moroccos territorial integrity dealt a blow to the separatist theses proponents on the continent. In fact, Nigeria, together with Guinea, offered mediation leading to the amendment of the anti-Moroccan clauses in the AUs Human Rights Committees report.

Thanks to its growing allies in the African Union, Morocco is well-positioned to prevent any attempt at using AUs resolutions to propagate the separatist agenda. The battle to omit the appellation occupied territories from the AUs terminology is also in line with the UN process. It is noteworthy to mention that UN Security Council resolutions on the Sahara have never labeled the Sahara as an occupied territory.

Morocco has always been criticizing the admission of the Polisario within the pan-African organization as an anomaly in contradiction with the international law. This view is also shared by a growing number of African states who see in the Algerian pro-separatist rhetoric an ideological anachronism that aims at manipulating the AU to serve Algiers own hegemonic agenda.

Last year, in the AUs summit in Kigali, 28 African states submitted a motion demanding the freeze of the membership of the Polisario in the continental organization.

The participation of the SADR entity at the AUs sectoral committees is an aberration since it does not fulfill the attributes of state sovereignty. In admitting the polisario as a fully fledged member, the AU is at odds with the UN process, which calls for a consensual solution to the Sahara issue. It goes without saying that a mutually acceptable solution to the artificial dispute over the Sahara excludes separatism.
King Mohammed VI, as the leader who, at the 28th AU Summit, was put in charge of the question of migration, has submitted a paper to the AUs presidency, laying out a common African Vision on migration and the related stakes and challenges.

The document, entitled Vision for an African Agenda for Migration, was presented to Guinean President, Alpha Conde, Chairman of the African Union, on July 3 by the Kings brother Prince Moulay Rachid who leads the Moroccan delegation taking part at the 29th African Union Summit, held in Addis Ababa under the theme Harnessing the Demographic Dividend through investments in Youth.

The preliminary note outlines the steps that should be taken to tackle migration notably through adopting national policies, improving sub-regional coordination, and harnessing continental and international efforts.

The document urges African countries to combat trafficking and to create conditions propitious for the integration of migrants. Collective efforts are also needed at the sub-regional level and continental levels to ensure an adequate management of migration.

With regard to international partnership, the paper stresses the need for African countries and the African Union to assess and respond to the challenges and opportunities of migration. As a global issue, migration must be the subject of partnerships in which Africa will have to fully play its role.

In the royal speech, read out by Prince Moulay Rachid at the AU Summit Monday, King Mohammed VI stressed that addressing the challenge of migration requires an innovative approach that allows us to assess its causes and impacts and to consider possible solutions, above all by creating synergies between development plans and migration policies.

He urged collective efforts to develop an African Agenda on this question that includes a common vision of the ways and means of dealing with the question of migration, both within our continent and in international forums.

At the domestic level, Morocco was one of the first countries of the South to adopt a genuine solidarity-based policy regarding sub-Saharan migrants.

The policy, rooted in humanitarian values, was launched in 2014 and benefited notably Sub-Saharans who make the bulk of migrants within Morocco.

By last March, 18,228 migrants submitted to Moroccan authorities their requests to gain residency cards as part of the second phase of a regularization campaign that was launched last December upon directives from King Mohammed VI after the success of the first phase that saw 25,000 migrants gain residency status.
The Libyan navy has claimed that the countrys sovereignty is being jeopardized by international Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO) that are helping illegal migrants trying to reach Europe through Italy from the Libyan shores.

Spokesman Ayoub Qassim of the Libyan navy pointed out that the humanitarian NGOs are blocking any agreements that help Libya uproot immigration issues; rather, they are helping the crisis escalate.

Libya, Italy and the UNHCR have all affirmed that the influx of immigrants have increased over the past few months and the European country has threatened to send NGO rescue ships away from its ports. Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentilioni has called for the work to be shared between European states before the countrys exemplary society that accommodated the migrants over the years becomes unsustainable and stoking hostility.

Qassim noted that all the measures followed by the international community regarding immigration issues are faulty and are encouraging for more immigrants influx as their numbers are in a constant hike reaching a 20% higher rate compared to the same period in 2016. He accused NGOs of having no regard to the sovereignty of Libyas lands and waters, which are guaranteed by all international laws.

According to Italys Interior Ministry, 85,183 have crossed into Italy from Libya since the beginning of the year. Most of them are considered as economic migrants. Analysts expect the number of arrivals to increase as the peak season draws nearer; which is in summer when the waters are cooler.

A UNHCR commissioned report written by Altai Consulting and Impact Initiatives signaled that the smuggling industry has grown increasingly and that professional and transnational smuggling organizations further developed. The report highlighted that armed groups play an increasingly dominant role in what could be described as a profitable industrial venture wherein human lives are often lost.

Carmelo Zuccaro, the chief prosecutor of the Italian Sicilian port city of Catania where some of the ships carrying migrants have docked, also accused multi-nationality NGOs especially in Malta and Germany of having ties with Libyan human smugglers.
King Mohammed VI of Morocco has stressed the important role the African youth can play for the socioeconomic development of the continent, which needs to rise up to the challenges ahead by mobilizing all its resources and assets.

In a speech, read out Monday in Addis Ababa by the Kings brother Prince Moulay Rachid at the 29th African Union Summit, the Monarch affirmed that the future of Africa hinges on its youth, and that a proactive, youth-oriented policy can channel energy for the achievement of development.

Today, nearly 600 million Africans are young. In 2050, 400 million will be aged between 15 and 24, added the Sovereign, noting that this trend underscores the urgent need to use the demographic dividend to stimulate the emergence of our continent.

This is a godsend for Africa; it makes it possible for the continent to benefit from a young, educated and abundant labor force to drive the continents economic growth, stressed the Monarch, saying that each year, more than 11 million young Africans enter the labor market, but only 3 million jobs are created while over 70 pc of young Africans live on less than $2 a day.

According to King Mohammed VI, to address the issue of unemployment among African youth requires a proactive policy whose three watchwords are education, higher education and vocational training of the highest quality.

Investing in young people, who account for nearly two-thirds of Africas population, is crucial, underlined the Monarch, warning that idle African youths will hamper the continents much-desired emergence.

If the challenge of young peoples employability is not addressed urgently, their idleness will be compounded, thus reinforcing their vulnerability and the risk of radicalization, said King Mohammed VI, noting that nearly 40 pc of unemployed people are ideal recruits for rebel movements and extremist or terrorist groups which are present throughout the continent.

Furthermore, Africa is losing its youths to legal and illegal migration, went on to say the Monarch, affirming that there is no way such a loss can be justified.

I have always firmly believed that Africa can turn the challenges it is facing into genuine prospects for development and stability. African population growth, African institutions, migration and youth issues are opportunities we should leverage together, stressed the Sovereign, reiterating Moroccos resolve and readiness to contribute to the emergence of a New Africa: a strong, daring Africa.
Guadagno disapproves. Photo: Jeff Zelevansky/Getty Images

New Jerseys lieutenant governor Kim Guadagno called out her boss on Monday for sunning his thighs on a New Jersey state beach that was closed to the public. Calling Christies decision beyond words, Guadagno continued her months-long mission to distance herself from the historically unpopular Christie as she positions herself to succeed him in Trenton.

If I were governor, I sure wouldnt be sitting on the beach if taxpayers didnt have access to state beaches. It's... Posted by Kim Guadagno on Monday, July 3, 2017

Guadagnos criticism of Christie came shortly after he entered day two of damage control for visiting the beach and then lying about it to reporters. On Sunday, after he was photographed sitting in a beach chair with his family, Christie told reporters that he didnt get any sun today. Then this photo was published.

Front page of today's @starledger. It's gonna be this kind of day in Trenton. #njshutdown pic.twitter.com/vVANVqceOs  Matt Arco (@MatthewArco) July 3, 2017

On Monday morning, Christie defended himself while appearing on Fox 5. The governor is allowed to go to his residences, and Im at my residences, he said. Ill tell you this: I said last Monday, a week ago today, that no matter what happens, we were coming here as a family this weekend  This is one of the places we live.

Then he mocked the Star-Ledger for publishing the photo on its front page: What a great bit of journalism by the Star-Ledger. They actually caught a politician being where he said he was going to be with the people he said he was going to be with: his wife and children and their friends. Im sure they will get a Pulitzer for this one.

Later Monday, Christies spokesman Brian Murray appeared on MSNBC and admitted that the governor was on the beach for 45 minutes. Was that enough for him to get some sun? I will let you decide, Murray said.

Meanwhile, on the New Jersey beaches that are open this weekend, the near-universal disapproval of Governor Christie was on display in the skies.
COPYRIGHT NZCIVAIR

All information and photographs used on this blog are copyright to NZCIVAIR.






A People's History of the United States: 1492 - Present by Howard Zinn

: Known for its lively, clear prose as well as its scholarly research, A People's History of the United States is the only volume to tell America's story from the point of view ofand in the words ofAmerica's women, factory workers, African Americans, Native Americans, working poor, and immigrant laborers.





Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee: An Indian History of the American West by Dee Brown

: Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee is Dee Brown's eloquent, fully documented account of the systematic destruction of the American Indian during the second half of the nineteenth century. A national bestseller in hardcover for more than a year after its initial publication, it has sold almost four million copies and has been translated into seventeen languages. For this elegant thirtieth-anniversary edition -- published in both hardcover and paperback -- Brown has contributed an incisive new preface.Using council records, autobiographies, and firsthand descriptions, Brown allows the great chiefs and warriors of the Dakota, Ute, Sioux, Cheyenne, and other tribes to tell us in their own words of the battles, massacres, and broken treaties that finally left them demoralized and defeated. A unique and disturbing narrative told with force and clarity, Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee changed forever our vision of how the West was really won.





And the Band Played On: Politics, People, and the AIDS Epidemic by Randy Shilts

: By the time Rock Hudson's death in 1985 alerted all America to the danger of the AIDS epidemic, the disease had spread across the nation, killing thousands of people and emerging as the greatest health crisis of the 20th century. America faced a troubling question: What happened? How was this epidemic allowed to spread so far before it was taken seriously? In answering these questions, Shilts weaves the disparate threads into a coherent story, pinning down every evasion and contradiction at the highest levels of the medical, political, and media establishments.Shilts shows that the epidemic spread wildly because the federal government put budget ahead of the nation's welfare; health authorities placed political expediency before the public health; and scientists were often more concerned with international prestige than saving lives. Against this backdrop, Shilts tells the heroic stories of individuals in science and politics, public health and the gay community, who struggled to alert the nation to the enormity of the danger it faced. And the Band Played On is both a tribute to these heroic people and a stinging indictment of the institutions that failed the nation so badly.





Saltwater Slavery: A Middle Passage from Africa to the American Diaspora by Stephanie E. Smallwood

: This bold, innovative book promises to radically alter our understanding of the Atlantic slave trade, and the depths of its horrors. Stephanie E. Smallwood offers a penetrating look at the process of enslavement from its African origins through the Middle Passage and into the American slave market.Smallwood's story is animated by deep research and gives us a startlingly graphic experience of the slave trade from the vantage point of the slaves themselves. Ultimately, "Saltwater Slavery" details how African people were transformed into Atlantic commodities in the process.She begins her narrative on the shores of seventeenth-century Africa, tracing how the trade in human bodies came to define the life of the Gold Coast. Smallwood takes us into the ports and stone fortresses where African captives were held and prepared, and then through the Middle Passage itself. In extraordinary detail, we witness these men and women cramped in the holds of ships, gasping for air, and trying to make sense of an unfamiliar sea and an unimaginable destination. Arriving in America, we see how these new migrants enter the market for laboring bodies, and struggle to reconstruct their social identities in the New World.Throughout, Smallwood examines how the people at the center of her story--merchant capitalists, sailors, and slaves--made sense of the bloody process in which they were joined. The result is both a remarkable transatlantic view of the culture of enslavement, and a painful, intimate vision of the bloody, daily business of the slave trade.





The Making of Asian America: A History by Erika Lee

: In the past fifty years, Asian Americans have helped change the face of America and are now the fastest growing group in the United States. But as award-winning historian Erika Lee reminds us, Asian Americans also have deep roots in the country. The Making of Asian America tells the little-known history of Asian Americans and their role in American life, from the arrival of the first Asians in the Americas to the present-day.An epic history of global journeys and new beginnings, this book shows how generations of Asian immigrants and their American-born descendants have made and remade Asian American life in the United States: sailors who came on the first trans-Pacific ships in the 1500s; indentured coolies who worked alongside African slaves in the Caribbean; and Chinese, Japanese, Filipino, Korean, and South Asian immigrants who were recruited to work in the United States only to face massive racial discrimination, Asian exclusion laws, and for Japanese Americans, incarceration during World War II. Over the past fifty years, a new Asian America has emerged out of community activism and the arrival of new immigrants and refugees. No longer a despised minority, Asian Americans are now held up as Americas model minorities in ways that reveal the complicated role that race still plays in the United States.Published to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the passage of the United States Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 that has remade our nation of immigrants, this is a new and definitive history of Asian Americans. But more than that, it is a new way of understanding America itself, its complicated histories of race and immigration, and its place in the world today. Happy 4th of July..
Keystone XL may have become obsolete before it was even built, at least according to some sources close to TransCanada, which has gone on a hunt for clients. A Wall Street Journal analysis quotes these sources as saying Canadian producers and U.S. refiners are just not interested in the pipeline that is supposed to carry 830,000 barrels daily of Alberta heavy crude to Gulf Coast and Midwest refineries.

This lack of interest seems to be driven by TransCanadas quest for long-term commitments, with producers and refiners seemingly unwilling to make such commitments in the current price environment. Also, according to the WSJ, Canadian crude comes at a higher cost than alternative heavy crude blends, which is contributing to the lack of enthusiasm for long-term commitments. That is likely to change over the long term, however, when declining imports from Mexico and Venezuela will benefit Canadian crude.

The company behind the project itself seems upbeat. Already having spent US$3 billion on the project and planning to spend another US$5 billion before it is completed, TransCanada remains confident that it will find enough customers to fill Keystone XL at 90 percent of capacity over the next few months.

For the time being, producers and refiners are moving the oil by rail  a much more expensive and riskier option than pipelines. According to the WSJ sources, companies are opting for railway transportation, even with the added expense, because it does not require long-term commitments. Its not an easy choice; railway rates for a barrel of oil are two to three times higher than pipelines, Bloomberg notes. This is an additional burden on already strained budgets.

Oilprice wrote last month about a looming pipeline capacity crisis in North America, which is likely to result in an increase in railway oil shipments. If Goldman Sachs is any indicator, railways have a bright future as an alternative to pipelines, although its long-term sustainability at current oil prices is questionable. Related: This Supermajor Is Leading The Charge On Renewables

TransCanada is ready to start the construction of Keystone XL in 2018, with hopes of completing it by 2020. By then, Canadian crude production will have increased thanks to investments that were made over the last couple of years despite the price crash. U.S. shale production is also widely expected to continue rising, although doubts are starting to emerge that if prices remain subdued, this, too, can change.

What is unlikely to change, though, is U.S. Gulf Coast refineries need for a combination of light and heavy crudes to operate. Canadian crude may not be their only choice, but as producers north of the border focus on bringing down production costs just as much as their peers south of the border, it may become more competitive.

Keystone XL still needs the green light from Nebraska before construction begins. The states Public Service Commission held a public hearing on the project last month, saying it would make its final decision by November 23 at the latest. There is a lot of opposition against any pipeline projects in general, and against Keystone XL specifically, so the commissions decision is not yet a done deal. If it decides against the project, Canadian producers, which next year are seen to extract 4.2 million bpd in Western Canada, will find themselves in a tighter spot: the pipelines servicing the oil-rich region only have a capacity of 3.3 million bpd.

By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
There are some early signs that the shale boom is once again coming to a halt, beaten back by another bear market.

The oil rig count declined by 2 last week, the first decline in six months. It is too early to tell whether or not this is a trend  it is one data point, after all  but if the surging rig count starts to flatten out or even decline a bit, it would provide a huge lift to the oil market.

It would also suggest that U.S. shale cant continue to grow at such a rapid clip with oil prices below $45 per barrel. Shale is often likened as the new swing producer, that is, a source of supply that ramps up and down on short notice in order to balance the market. Reasonable people can debate that moniker, but if forthcoming data in the next few weeks shows that shale is slowing down, it would appear that prices in the mid-$40s are the threshold around which shale turns on and off.

(Click to enlarge)

A second piece of data also adds some weight to the notion that U.S. shale could be struggling with oil prices in the $40s. The EIA reported that U.S oil production dipped by 100,000 bpd for the week ending on June 23, the largest weekly decline in over a year.

(Click to enlarge)

More solid evidence comes from the retrospective monthly numbers, which are published with a several month delay but tend to be more accurate. The EIA just reported figures for April, which show U.S. oil production dipping to 9.083 mb/d, down from 9.107 mb/d in March. It was the first monthly decline in output in 2017. Related: Is The Polish Shale Gas Industry Set For A Comeback?

Again, these are only a few data points, so they do not necessarily prove anything. But if they are the start of a trend  if rig counts flatten out and production starts to fall  it would be a significant development. The EIA has predicted that the U.S. will grow production from the roughly 9.3 million barrels per day (mb/d) currently up to 10 mb/d by next year. That could be a difficult target to meet if the rebound starts to fizzle.

Moreover, a slowdown and perhaps even a decline in production would also dispel the belief that shale can continue to grow at sub-$40 oil prices. A lot of shale companies have boasted about their lower breakeven prices, and some say they can even make money with oil below $30 per barrel. That may be true for individual companies, but not for the industry as a whole. Conventional wells deplete at a rate of around 5 percent annually, and shale wells decline at a much faster rate. Without heavy drilling activity, overall production will fall. We will need more data, but again, that threshold for growth could pivot around the $45 price level.

Of course, slowing production will induce higher prices, which in turn, could provide more breathing room for drillers.

In fact, only two weeks after oil officially entered bear market territory, the market is starting to regain a bit of confidence, which is no doubt influenced by the sudden slowdown in U.S. shale. Hedge funds and other money managers staked out the most bearish position on crude futures in nearly a year, but the most recent data showed that the buildup of short bets slowed to a trickle. The past week of oil price gains could reverse that rush towards a bearish positioning. That slowdown was the prelude to what should be probably a pretty sizable net change in the position next week, John Kilduff, partner at Again Capital, told Bloomberg. The liquidation of bullish bets could be running out of steam, he said.

That might mean that there is a little more room for oil on the upside. Sharp selloffs can slow things down, setting up the conditions for a tighter market. "Sentiment has turned and I think we should be going up (in price). I don't think it's going to last, but the momentum at the moment is with the bulls," PVM Oil Associates strategist Tamas Varga said in a Reuters interview. Related: Has Keystone XL Become Obsolete?

Others are in agreement. "You are going to see crude oil inventories globally and domestically begin to decline month after month. That will support crude oil prices, boosting the entire sector," Rob Thummel, managing director for Tortoise Capital Advisors, told CNBC, adding that the fundamentals are set up for a second-half comeback.

It is also possible that the latest string of data pointing to a slowdown in the shale patch could be a one-off anomaly. If the rig count and weekly production figures resume their year-long climb, sentiment will quickly turn negative once again. David Leben, director of commodity derivatives at BNP Paribas, told the WSJ that the situation is not dramatically different from two weeks ago. All the bearish things are kind of still in play, he said.

By Nick Cunningham of Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
Fueled by a bout of short covering, oil prices continue to climb towards $50 as some analysts now see more upside than downside.

Chart of the Week





 Fossil fuels account for 81 percent of total U.S. energy consumption.

 The most significant development in recent memory is the dramatic downfall of coal in the electricity sector, the result of cheap natural gas, stricter environmental regulation and the rise of renewables

 Coal consumption fell almost 9 percent in 2016 alone, after dropping 14 percent in 2015. Coal consumption is down 38 percent since 2005.

Market Movers

 Schlumberger (NYSE: SLB) has announced a decision to invest $700 million in offshore Nigeria, projects that could ultimately lead to the production of 50,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day and 120 million cubic feet per day.

 Statoil (NYSE: STO) and Eni (NYSE: E) said that they made an oil discovery at their joint Kayak prospect in the Barents Sea. The 25 to 50 million barrel of oil equivalent discovery could boost production at Statoils Johan Castberg development.

 GE (NYSE: GE) completed the purchase of Baker Hughes (NYSE: BHI), which establishes the worlds second-largest oilfield services company after Schlumberger.

Tuesday July 4, 2017

Oil prices continued to rally, retracing a good chunk of the losses made over the past month. Brent is flirting with $50 oil while WTI has moved above $45. The gains have largely been attributed to a spate of short-covering, but the gains have damped down some of the panic that the market suffered from two weeks ago.

Oil has more room on upside than downside. Even as oil entered bear market territory only recently, a growing number of analysts see the selloff as going too far. Now some argue that there is a better chance of more price gains than there is in another downturn. The logic is the same as it was earlier this year: despite short-term volatility, the market is still heading towards balance, even if that is occurring at a painfully slow pace. We thought this market was actually a bit oversold. We think the fundamentals are better than where the price was earlier, Helima Croft, global head of commodity strategy at RBC Capital Markets, told CNBC. Other analysts agree. "Given that all these bearish headlines have been priced into the market, if you're going to have any sort of risk of a large outside move, I think it would be to the upside at this point," Stephen Schork, editor of The Schork Report, said to CNBC.

Related: Corpus Christi Set To Become The Next Oil Export Hotspot

Rig count falls. The rig count fell for the first time since January. Oil rigs were down by 2 for the week ending on June 23, and while it is only one weeks worth of data, the decline raises the prospect of the U.S. shale boom running out of steam as oil prices dropped into the low-$40s.

Suncor promises not to explore for oil. The WSJ wrote about Suncor Energys (NYSE: SU) unusual strategy to curry favor with investors. Suncor, Canadas largest oil producer, promised not to reinvest in new upstream projects for the foreseeable future. Suncor has spent large sums in Alberta oil sands, but it now promises to fork over cash to shareholders rather than spend it on growth, a strategy that has been greeted warmly by investors. The move comes after several oil majors exited Canadas oil sands earlier this year. The oil sands are expensive and dirty, and take years and billions of dollars to develop. Needless to say, they face an uncertain future. So, Suncors strategy, for now, is to not spend any more money on greenfield projects.

Tesla to start production of Model 3. Teslas (NYSE: TSLA) Elon Musk said that production of the Model 3 will begin on Friday. Production will start slowly, but will ramp up to 20,000 vehicles per month by December. The Model 3 is a fully-electric vehicle with a price tag of $35,000 before the $7,500 federal tax credit. Musk has bet the companys future on the success of the Model 3, and interest so far looks strong with 400,000 people signing up for purchases.

Libyas oil production tops 1 million barrels per day. Libyas oil production has reportedly exceeded 1 mb/d, the highest in four years. The rapid increase over such a short period of time has exacerbated the global supply glut. Last year, output dropped to about one-third of that level. But even at the beginning of 2017, production was below 700,000 bpd and seesawed back and forth on outages and the restoration of oilfield production.

Total announces $1 billion investment in Iran. Total SA (NYSE: TOT) signed a deal on Monday to invest $1 billion in an Iranian gas field. Total will operate the project, but will partner with China National Petroleum Corp. (CNPC). The South Pars field is on the largest natural gas fields in the world, and the gas production will feed Irans domestic market beginning in 2021.

EPA move to undo methane regulation shot down by court. The U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington DC ruled against the EPAs decision to scrap Obama-era regulations on methane emissions from oil and gas wells. The Trump administration has attempted a swift regulatory rollback, but the ruling is a reminder that undoing completed regulations are often a long, drawn-out legal process. Related: Largest EV Charging Network Just Landed A Huge Deal With GE

OPEC production rises to year-to-date high in June. OPECs production rose by 260,000 bpd in June, compared to May, hitting the highest collective output so far in 2017, according to Bloomberg estimates. Nigeria and Libya made up half of the gains, while Saudi Arabia boosted output by 90,000 bpd and smaller contributions came from Angola and the UAE.

Saudi GDP shrank in first quarter. Saudi Arabias GDP fell in the first quarter by 0.5 percent, compared the same period in 2016. It was the first year-on-year contraction since the global financial crisis nearly a decade ago. The figures are surprising because oil prices were higher than they were in 1Q2016. But Saudi oil production was down due to the OPEC cuts. Also, austerity measures are a drag on the economy.

IEA: Heavy trucks to drive oil demand. The IEA released a new report on the role that freight and heavy duty trucks play in future oil demand growth. The agency says that without fuel efficiency regulations and policies to promote alternatives, road freight alone will add 5 million barrels of oil demand growth over the next few decades.

Oil majors oppose U.S. sanctions on Russia. ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM), Chevron (NYSE: CVX) and other oil majors are pressing the U.S. government not to move forward with additional sanctions on Russia over fears that it will freeze them out of potential projects in that country. The U.S. Congress is considering a bill that would tighten sanctions on Russia in response to meddling in the 2016 presidential election.

By Tom Kool of Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
Plateauing U.S. output caused oil prices to see a 2 percent gain on Monday, continuing the longest streak of daily price gains after Baker Hughes reported the first decline in active U.S. rigs in 24 weeks.

Brent prices were up $0.64 or 1.31 percent at the time of this articles writing. West Texas Intermediate barrels stood $0.75, or 1.63 percent higher, as well.

"Its all about market sentiment," Commerzbank analyst Carsten Fritsch told Yahoo Finance. U.S. Gulf of Mexico producers saw a 100,000 barrel per day production from tropical storms and maintenance over the past two weeks, spurring eight straight days of price gains. "These... (temporary) factors outweigh the sharp increase in OPEC oil production in June... and the continued increase in Libyan and Nigerian output at least at the moment," he added.

Analysts note that the boom in active rigs in the Permian and Bakken is nearing an end, as the added production worsens the glut and puts downward pressure on already bearish prices. This makes new shale output more difficult to actualize.

"In our view there is still a significant shortfall in onshore output relative to prior market expectations," Standard Chartered wrote in a note on Monday. "We think the fall in prices has caused U.S. output growth to slow, and that revisions for May and June will confirm that supply is growing at a significantly more modest rate than the market has believed up to now."

OPEC oil output reached a 2017 high in June as Libya and Nigeria continue a production recovery despite the blocs efforts to ease a global supply glut, the results of a new Reuters survey shows. Saudi Arabia and Kuwait have shouldered most of the cuts to ensure the bloc sticks to its commitment to reduce production by 1.2 million barrels per day. Compliance to the deal will remain in the 90-95 range, despite the production increase this month.

By Zainab Calcuttawala for Oilprice.com

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Pakistan not bound to implement decision of US regarding Syed Salahuddin: Sartaj Aziz

ISLAMABAD: Advisor to Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz on Monday said Pakistan was not bound to implement decision of the United States (US) regarding designating Syed Salahuddin, senior leader of Hizb-ul-Mujahideen, a global terrorist. In a briefing given to 20-member delegation of Kashmir Journalist Forum at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the grave human rights situation in Indian-held Kashmir and steps taken by Pakistan to sensitize the international community on the issue, the advisor said India had failed to brand Kashmir freedom movement as terrorist activity due to invaluable sacrifices of the Kashmiri people. He said that the struggle of Kashmiri people had entered a critical phase since the new wave started on July 8, 2016, adding that Pakistan would not hold talks with India unless Kashmir dispute was included in the agenda.



Aziz said that Salahuddin was designated a global terrorist by the United States (US) and the decision was not that of the United Nations Organization (UNO). He said that Pakistan would continue humanitarian and diplomatic support of Kashmiris. The adviser presented a brief synopsis of the human rights violations perpetrated by the Indian occupation forces against unprotected Kashmiris in the valley and precarious security situation due to Indian unprovoked ceasefire violations since July 8, 2016.



"Over 150 have been martyred, mostly youth, including many in extra-judicial killings and fake encounters; around 8,000 were affected by pellet guns that had blinded more than 250 youth either fully or partially with another 930 at the verge of losing their eye-sight; 697 women reported molestation by Indian forces, around 18,000 injured and over 17,000 arrested arbitrarily with their fate and welfare unknown," according to the summary.



The adviser noted that despite Indian brutalities, on one hand the enthusiasm for getting freedom from India's unlawful occupation and sacrifices of Kashmiris, especially the youth, had been rising, on the other hand the phenomenon had also defeated the Indian propaganda of down-playing the Kashmir issue, as if there was nothing wrong. "If there was nothing wrong then why there were over 700,000 fully armed Indian occupation forces stationed? Why the entire media had been blocked? These are the questions that India should explain," the advisor said. "Current phase of the Kashmir movement has also buried Indian propaganda of cross-border terrorism. The whole world is witnessing that it is a movement by unarmed indigenous Kashmiri youth," he said, and mentioned Indian refusal to receive 'Fact Finding Missions to the IHK' by the UNHCR and the OIC. He commended OIC's strong statements condemning Indian atrocities in the valley.



Aziz stressed that the undeterred movement for self-determination and its indigenous character has been receiving increased coverage of the international as well as Indian media. "Voices expressing concerns and condemning Indian atrocities have echoed in various countries' parliaments including Australia, EU, North America, Nordic and the UK. Media and some members of civil society have made some useful and pertinent remarks. Western media has deplored that there is no recorded instance of a modern democracy systematically and willfully shooting at people to blind them. An Indian article reminded the Indian government that the land of Kashmiris is with us, the people of Kashmir's are not," the adviser cited.
Senator McCain visited South Waziristan

ISLAMABAD / PESHAWAR: Hours before a bipartisan US Senate delegation visited South Waziristan Agency on Monday, a CIA-operated drone carried out a missile attack in a village of the tribal region, killing a suspected militant leader.



According to sources, the US drone fired two missiles at a vehicle carrying commander Pir Agha of the militant Islamic State group and his three aides in Marghalan village, killing all four men on the spot.



The delegation led by Senator John McCain, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, while meeting Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in Islamabad and visiting South Waziristan underscored the importance of continued cooperation between the US and Pakistan for regional peace.



The delegation is visiting Pakistan for discussions on bilateral relationship, particularly the counterterrorism cooperation aspect and the situation in Afghanistan and efforts for peace and reconciliation there.



In a recorded video statement released by the Inter-Services Public Relations, Senator McCain during his visit to South Waziristan said the trip helped understand challenges, successes and remaining challenges that require close coordination and assistance from us and with us.



We are confident that with the right cooperation and right strategy we can see success here in this very long struggle, he added.



Another delegation member Senator Elizabeth Warren echoed Senator McCain, saying it was important to have strong partnership with Pakistan in this fight. That is the only way we will succeed.



Both Adviser on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz and Chief of the Army Staff Gen Qamar Bajwa had on Sunday in their meetings with the delegation emphasised on constructive engagement and enduring Pak-US security cooperation.



An ISPR statement said the US senators, while touring South Waziristan, reaffirmed the importance of institutionalised Pak-Afghan border security coordination and cooperation mechanism.



The delegation was taken to South Waziristan for showing them the measures being taken by Pakistan for securing the border, including its fencing, enhanced surveillance and construction of forts and posts. The senators were also briefed about the developmental projects that were being undertaken in the area.



The US, the embassy said, had provided Rs9.9 billion for law enforcement personnel in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, which besides being spent on the Takhta Baig-Mattani road, was used for construction of more than 100 border outposts.



Senator McCain had last year led another Senate delegation to North Waziristan and on that occasion praised Pakistani effort and called for closer relations and resolving the differences.



Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, during the meeting with the delegation, said that strong partnership between the US, Afghanistan and Pakistan was a prerequisite for sustainable peace in Afghanistan. He emphasised the importance of the Quadrilateral Coordination Group (QCG) for facilitating Afghan reconciliation.



PM Sharif and Afghan President Ashraf Ghani had during their meeting in Astana on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation recently had agreed on reviving the QCG. China later endorsed the activation of the QCG that has been dysfunctional since May 2016. The US is apparently not too keen about the idea.



[The] prime minister noted that as longstanding partners and strategic allies, a sustained and strong Pak-US partnership was essential to deal with the various challenges confronting the region and beyond, the PM Office statement said.
Trusted aide to Ishaq Dar appointed as FBR Chairman

ISLAMABAD: The government on Monday appointed a trusted aide to Finance Minister Ishaq Dar chairman of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) and notified over 10 per cent increase in the net salaries, pensions and allowances of the civil and armed forces personnel.



Mr Dars Special Assistant Mr Tariq Mahmood Pasha, a grade-22 officer, was appointed FBR chairman with additional charge of revenue division secretary with immediate effect. Mr Pasha was also holding the charge of economic affairs division (EAD) secretary, also under the finance minister, since February this year.



A senior official said the charge of EAD secretary had been withdrawn from Mr Pasha, but it was still undecided if he would continue as special assistance to the finance minister. As special assistant to the minister, Mr Pasha also held additional charge of secretary statistics division  another division under the portfolio of minister for finance, revenue, statistics, economic affairs and privatisation.



He belonged to the Inland Revenue Service, but switched to the secretariat group after he joined the ministry of finance when the PML-N government came to power and was promoted to grade-22 early this year. The Establishment Division has issued a formal notification for his posting as chairman of FBR/secretary revenue division.



Through a separate order, the government also notified a 10pc increase in net pension to all employees of the federal government, including civilians paid from Defence Estimates and retired personnel of the armed forces and civil armed forces. The notification explained that net pension would mean pension being drawn minus the medical allowance.



Under yet another notification, the government announced revision in basic pay scales and allowances of civil servants of the federal government along with 10pc ad-hoc relief allowance after merger of earlier ad-hoc allowances of 50pc and 10pc in the salaries.



The Basic Pay Scales-2017 would be effective from July 1, 2017, and replace BPS-2016. The notification said the basic pay of employees in service on June 30, 2017, would be fixed in the new scales on point to point basis i.e. at the stage corresponding to that occupied above the minimum of BPS-2016.



In cases of promotion from a lower to higher posts or scales before introduction of new scales, the pay of employees concerned in the revised scales would be fixed and so enhanced that it would not be less than the pay that would have been admissible to such personnel if promotion to higher post or scale had taken place after the introduction of new scales (BPS-2017).



After merger of 50pc ad-hoc allowance granted by the PPP government in 2011 and another 10pc ad-hoc allowance, the government has notified an ad-hoc relief allowance 2017 at the rate of 10pc of the running basic pay of BPS-2017 to the civil employees of the federal government as well as civilians paid out of defence estimates including contingent paid staff and contract employees.



The notification said the ad-hoc relief allowance will be subject to income tax, admissible during leave and entire period of last pay before retirement. This would, however, be not allowed to employees on extraordinary leave or to employees during the tenure of their postings abroad. The ad-hoc relief would also not be treated as part of emoluments for the purpose of calculation of pension, gratuity and recovery of house rent.



As a result of revisions in pay scales, the maximum basic pay of all the government employees and officers would cumulatively increase by more than 20pc.



The government also increased the outstation rates of daily allowance (DA) from Rs310-500 per day to Rs496-800 for grade 1 to 4 employees. These rates for grade 5-11 were increased from Rs390-550 to Rs624-880. Likewise, the DA rates for grade 12-16 and up to grade 22 were also increased by 60pc with immediate effect.
The percentage of Warren and Washington County youths who are taking drugs or drinking alcohol continues to decline, according to a survey by the Council for Prevention, but officials are worried about a slight increase in use by younger students.

About 29 percent of students in grades 7 through 12 said they had used alcohol at least once in their lifetime and 12.6 percent in the past 30 days, according to the 2016 survey of 6,264 students. Those figures are down from the 2014 results when 41 percent said theyd used alcohol within the past 30 days. The numbers for use of marijuana within the previous month also decreased, from 21 percent to 9.5 percent.

Things are definitely trending in the right way, said Katherine Chambers, Warren Countys Youth Court Director.

The percentage of students who had used prescription pain relievers to get high in their lifetime stayed roughly flat at around 6 percent. About one-quarter of students said they could obtain prescription drugs to get high within a day.

Still concerning to prevention educators is the percentage of students who have been passengers in cars being driven by someone under the influence of alcohol or drugs. A total of 10.7 percent of students said they were a passenger in a car with a driver who was drunk. That was about the same as in 2014.

About 9.8 percent said they had ridden in a car with a driver under the influence of marijuana  down from 11.6 percent two years ago.

Chambers is still concerned about the 3.5 percent of students who reported driving after or while using marijuana, even though that is less than the 5 percent in 2014.

Were talking above over 200 kids driving under the influence of marijuana up and down the Northway. That does not make me feel well, she said.

Chambers said numerous public awareness efforts have focused on the dangers of drinking and driving, but not as much attention has been given to driving under the influence of marijuana.

They are more willing to drive and theyre more willing to ride with their friends who are under the influence. Thats a scary thing when were talking about our winding roads, especially up north when you have animals coming out, she said.

Also, nearly 5 percent of seventh- though 12th-grade students surveyed in Warren and Washington counties say they were drunk or high during the school day, according to the Council for Prevention. Eighteen percent reported using marijuana on school property.

Chambers said individual school districts had some increases at certain grade levels, but the county numbers are trending down.

The council has been conducting the survey every two years since 1996.

Positive peer pressure has appeared to have been an influence. Despite more students saying it is easy to get marijuana, Chambers said fewer students reported that they would be considered cool for smoking.

Chambers credited the positive results to education efforts by local school districts and the Council for Prevention.

Chambers said increases among some seventh- and eighth-grade classes are unsettling, because it means they are not internalizing the anti-drug message.

I cant imagine at this point they have not been giving the message, she said.

If this trend continues, the numbers in the older grades could increase as well.

Theyre also using at that much younger of an age and have the potential to become addicted, she said.

Mental health is also an important issue. Just fewer than 20 percent of students reported feeling sad or hopeless to the point that it affected their daily activities at some point in the two weeks prior to taking the survey.

Thirteen percent said they had considered suicide and just over 6.2 percent had attempted suicide in the previous 12 months  that is about 100 fewer students than in the last survey.

But Chambers said about half of that 6 percent said they have made two or more suicide attempts, which is concerning.

With the more attempts, the more potential there is to complete a suicide attempt, she said.

Schools have put in programs to identify and help students who may be struggling with a variety of mental health issues, according to Chambers.

Forty percent of students report being bullied at school at least once within the last year and nearly 19 percent said they had been bullied two or more times.

The Council for Prevention added Suboxone, which is used to wean people off opioids, to its survey. Only about 1 percent of students said they were using Suboxone to get high.

Chambers said the survey is useful because it is based on a large sample size.

Were not trying to describe a whole school based on a handful of kids, she said. Were able to provide a snapshot of what students are saying during that time the survey is administered.

School officials are studying the data for their districts.

Fort Edward Superintendent Daniel Ward said his district seems to have a significant percentage of students with mental health needs.

He is looking into how to provide those services.
SARATOGA  The community is raising money for two employees of The Farmers Daughters Drive-In, who were injured Saturday when the car they were in was struck by a truck.

The crash happened at about 6:15 p.m. in front of the drive-in at 882 Route 29 and Schuyler Park, according to the Saratoga County Sheriffs Office.

The owner of the diner and ice cream shop, Annette Osher, said Casey Hunter and Alex Drohobycky had just completed an eight-hour shift at the restaurant.

Drohobycky said her car was parked across the street in Schuyler Park, because she and Hunter wanted to play a joke on their boss by letting them think that no one had shown up for work. But the boss had the day off and Hunter was giving Drohobycky a ride across the street to retrieve her car because it was raining hard.

We were trying to pull out of Farmers Daughters to go to the park across the street and the truck just kind of came out of nowhere, she said.

Hunter said the truck T-boned her 2003 Hyundai Sonata.

The force of the impact pushed Hunters car to the other side of the Farmers Daughters driveway, according to Osher.

Osher said her son, Billy, called 911. Emergency crews had to take the door off to extricate Drohobycky from the vehicle. Both she and Hunter were wearing seatbelts.

Both girls were taken to Saratoga Hospital. Drohobycky was later taken to Albany Medical Center to check for neurological issues.

They have both since been released from the hospital, but are banged up.

Im all right. I have lots of bruises. Ive got two stitches and some glue in my arm but Im just lucky that thats all, Drohobycky said.

Hunter has a bad wrist sprain and said she has trouble walking because of soreness in her pelvic area where the seatbelt was.

This is Hunters second year at the restaurant and Drohobyckys third.

Its really like a great family environment, Drohobycky said.

Hunters car was destroyed in the crash.

Both young women are Schyulerville residents and work 65 hours per week to save money for college, according to Osher. Employees of the drive-in donated $437 in tips to the girls on Sunday, which Osher matched.

The community really came out (Sunday) with the tips for the employees because they knew they were donating it, she said.

Osher said she is concerned about that stretch of roadway, which is heavily trafficked and has had lots of accidents. The posted speed limit is 55 miles per hour.

Just to get across the street into the park is incredibly hard, she said.

Drohobycky said she is grateful for the help of her boss and co-workers and the community.

The support that weve gotten is incredible, she said.

A GoFundMe page has been started with a goal of raising $1,000 for the women, since they will be out of work for the summer while theyre recovering and unable to earn money for college.

Casey will be attending Springfield College in the fall and studying communication disorders. Drohobycky will be attending the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York.

The page can be found at gofundme.com/casey-and-alex-college-fund.
Adirondack Theatre Festival is off to a rousing start

Bravos to the Adirondack Theatre Festival for its rousing start to the 2017 summer season. The musical Nicola Tesla Drops the Beat was playing to great reviews and an extra Saturday matinee was added last weekend because of the demand for tickets.

Washington County adapts to changes

Bravos to those in the Washington County public defenders office, the district attorneys office, magistrates, county administration and law enforcement officials for adapting to a new state mandate that public defenders must be at all arraignments. In the first six months of the year, public defenders have missed only seven arraignments while participating in 295 after-hours arraignments and 100 unscheduled arraignments during business hours. In all, they have represented the accused in 731 arraignments. The bad news for taxpayers is another lawyer and legal assistant are needed to handle the case load. That would cost another $165,000 a year.

Police issue crosswalk warnings first

Bravos to Glens Falls Police for first issuing warnings when enforcing crosswalk laws this past week. The police made their presence felt by issuing 36 warnings. Later in the week, they went back and issued 38 tickets.

AngioDynamics making big reinvestment

Bravos to AngioDynamics for its plans to reinvest $5 million in profit back into the business instead of redistributing it to shareholders. The reinvestment is part of an overall plan to invest more in the local company and its products. The company employs 900 people locally and, hopefully, the new plans will lead to more jobs locally.

Grandfather joins fight to make lake safer

Bravos to Robert Knarr for his plans to donate a $6,000 device to help police identify those under the influence of drugs while boating on Lake George. Knarr is the grandfather of Charlotte McCue, the 8-year-old who was killed last summer when a boat driven by Alexander West went over the top of Knarrs boat. West had been drinking and using drugs in the hours before the collision.

Safe Boating Initiative moving forward

Bravos to the Warren County Sheriffs Office for its Safe Boating Initiative that includes a second boat for more patrols, hiring a boat patrol officer to work nights and weekends and working with local marinas and restaurants to spot people who may have had too much to drink. The stepped-up enforcement has already led to the arrests of three people this season for boating while intoxicated.

Invasive species becoming hard to find

Bravos to Adirondack winters with an assist to environmental groups for the disappearance of the spiny water flea and other invasives. There was an enormous amount of angst over a number of pesky invasive species the past few years, but signs have been positive so far this year, and no one seems to know why. Some wonder if the tough winters are part of the reason. Other invasives, such as Asian clams and Eurasian milfoil, also seem to be under control. We suspect boat inspections are helping as well.

Stefanik backs climate amendment

Bravos to Rep. Elise Stefanik for helping shepherd several amendments to a defense appropriations bill through the committee system, including a Democratic-backed climate change measure. The amendment on climate change would mandate the secretary of defense report to Congress within one year on the risks to military installations combat readiness as the result of climate change over the next 20 years.
Welcome Guest! You Are Here:
Illinois budget stalemate is on the cusp of ending, with the Senates votes Tuesday to approve a tax and spending package over the vetoes of Gov. Bruce Rauner.

However, the action is coming largely over the objections of Quad-City area lawmakers.

Sen. Neil Anderson, R-Rock Island, joined his Quad-City colleagues in opposing the tax increase proposal, voting against the measure Tuesday.

The tax hike, along with an accompanying $36 billion spending plan, has now passed the House and the Senate. The Senate overrode the governors vetoes of the two measures on Tuesday, but the House hasnt voted to override yet.

The House voted Sunday to approve the tax and spending measures. There, Reps. Tony McCombie, R-Savanna, and Mike Halpin, D-Rock Island, voted against the tax increase.

McCombie also opposed the spending measure, but Halpin voted for it.

On Tuesday, Anderson voted the same way as Halpin. He voted against the tax increase but for the spending plan.

In a statement on the tax vote, Anderson said that it would be irresponsible to vote for the increase without long-term reforms in the state.

"We have to change the way our state does business. We have to put in place bipartisan, compromise reforms that will get out state back on track, he said.

Backers of the tax and spending plans said they are needed to prevent the state from suffering further damage stemming from the years-long budget stalemate.
SPRINGFIELD  The Illinois Senate voted to override Gov. Bruce Rauner's vetoes of a $36 billion budget package Tuesday, including a $5 billion tax increase designed to start digging out of the nation's longest budget crisis since at least the Great Depression.

The Democratic-controlled chamber completed its work within 30 minutes of the Republican governor's vetoes, sending the package back to the House for an override vote that would give Illinois its first annual budget since 2015.

The House did not plan to take up the action Tuesday.

"The package of legislation fails to address Illinois' fiscal and economic crisis  and in fact, makes it worse in the long run," the first-term governor wrote after his veto of the tax-increase bill. "It does not balance the budget. It does not make nearly sufficient spending reductions."

Rauner acted about three hours after the Senate voted to increase the personal income tax rate by 32 percent, from 3.75 percent to just under 5 percent. Corporations would pay 7 percent instead of just over 5 percent.

"We are at a moment in time. We are faced today with the fierce urgency of 'now,'" said the tax increase legislation's sponsor, Sen. Toi Hutchinson, D-Olympia Fields. "We don't have any more time. And too late is not good enough."

The House approved the tax increase with 72 votes on Sunday, one more than necessary, with the help of 15 Republicans. Whether they'll continue to defy Rauner remains to be seen. House Speaker Michael Madigan told WICS-TV that there would be no House action Tuesday.

Rauner promised to veto the tax measure because Democrats who control the General Assembly have not agreed to resolve his pet issues, including statewide property tax relief, cost reductions in workers' compensation and benefits for state-employee pensions and an easier process for dissolving or eliminating local governments.

"It's regrettable that I stand here today not capable of being able to support this package, not because what's in the package is bad, but because it's incomplete," said the Senate's newly minted minority leader, Bill Brady, R-Bloomington. "We need a comprehensive budget package with reforms."

If Rauner doesn't like the tax plan, the financial world does. On Monday, two of the nation's top credit-ratings agencies signaled it would be a good idea for Rauner to accept the results. Fitch Ratings and S&P Global Ratings, having earlier threatened to move Illinois' creditworthiness into "junk" status without swift action to approve a budget, smiled favorably on the financial outlook.

Democrats and Republicans have negotiated the issues that Rauner considers outstanding in the two weeks since the special session began. But the GOP claims talks broke down over the weekend in advance of Madigan calling the budget votes. Madigan said Monday that those talks were ongoing.

"We'll continue to work with the Republicans on those issues until they're resolved," Madigan said.
None of these aspiring artists have seen their work displayed outside their families homes.

Until now.

Beginning Friday, hand-blown glass crafted by almost 30 Quad-City military veterans will be featured at the Quad-City Arts gallery in The District of Rock Island for a six-week showing.

The nonprofit organization connected with Hot Glass, a not-for-profit glassblowing business in downtown Davenport, which partnered with the Quad-Cities Vets Center last fall.

Artist Joel Ryser, executive director of the studio, led free classes for veterans thanks to grant donations he received from various community organizations.

He thinks the upcoming show will help boost the veterans' self-esteem. Many of them battle bouts of anxiety, anger or depression associated with post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD.

A lot of these people never did artwork before and dont go to galleries, he said. Its just a new experience that is going to enhance what Ive done with them already.

Mark Van Osdel became one of the first veterans to learn under Ryser and his son, Logan, at their workshop at 104 Western Ave.

And it didn't take long for the U.S. Army and Navy veteran, who spent about 14 months in Iraq during 2007 and 2008, to get hooked on shaping molten glass.

He has a vase in the exhibit, but its not for sale.

I made it for my sister, said Van Osdel, who does not consider himself an art exhibit person.

Friday will mark his first visit to the Quad-City Arts Center.

The presentation will include a glass cast of a soldier's helmet, etched with the initials of veterans who participated in the project, as well as decorative pieces completed by the Rysers and other instructors.

Paintings by David Gregory of Peoria, and Lianne Westcot of Solon, Iowa, also will accompany the arrangement, which will remain at the gallery until Aug. 18.

Dawn Wohlford-Metallo, visual arts director for Quad-City Arts, said she is setting up the temporary collection this week.

We were looking for somebody to add some color to the exhibit, and they had the work," she said. "It seemed like a perfect storm."

Collaborating with Hot Glass, Wohlford-Metallo added, directly fits in with Quad-City Arts' mission to promote area artists.

"It's not very often we have the opportunity to display works by under-served populations in our gallery just because it's not always easy to find those people," she said.

Every year, the organization spotlights seven exhibits at its gallery in Rock Island and six exhibits at its gallery at the Quad-City International Airport in Moline.
Whatever the reason, Paul Pate split the baby and defended Iowa's Freedom of Information Act.

Iowa's secretary of state found himself in a bind last week when a letter arrived from a White House investigatory body that exists solely because conspiracy theorists have gone mainstream. Pate spent much of this year making the case for his soon-to-be-enacted voter ID law thanks to the conspiracy theories about widespread voter fraud. Election fraud is a non-issue in Iowa, he argued. But the "perception" that election fraud exists  a myth perpetuated by Pate's own Republican Party  justified his voter ID law, he said, legislation that ultimately will disenfranchise people, says all available research.

So it must have been an uncomfortable moment on Thursday when the Orwellian reality of this regulate-by-the-gut approach sunk in at Pate's office.

Kobach wants complete voter rolls from all 50 states, including the last four digits of voters' Social Security numbers, party affiliation and voting histories. The very same myth that fueled Pate's voter ID law would be used in Washington to track how every active citizen participates in the republic. There are few positive outcomes from such a purely partisan deep dive into voting.

Many states, especially those run by Democrats, flat-out refused. They issued denials, drafted a news release correctly noting how sketchy the whole thing is and dared the White House to challenge them.

Pate, however, was more thoughtful. He will release information that's legally public while withholding highly personal records that are exempt from FOIA.

Perhaps it's Pate's party affiliation and an aversion to all-out conflict with Trump's White House that kept him from issuing a straight denial. Perhaps it's that Pate, himself, recently weaponized the voter fraud myth. Or, just maybe, Pate got this one right on its merits.

Regardless of the rationale, Pate's reply was appropriate and correct for anyone who is suspicious of Kobach's motives but also appreciates the Freedom of Information Act, the ultimate protection of a citizen's right to know.

Some of what Kobach wants is, in fact, public information, under Iowa's FOIA. That's true in most states. And, by that measure, any strict denial of Kobach's troublesome request is an affront to FOIA. It's the Democrats that are flouting the law and basic transparency for political gain.

Thing is, any stand against a lawless White House becomes indefensible if it itself is an exercise in lawlessness.

Even Kobach's home state took a position similar to Iowa's, refusing to release information that included partial Social Security numbers.

Strange times make for strange bedfellows. In this case, you have election officials from New York and Mississippi denying the advisory commission's request. The secretary of state in deep-red Mississippi said Kobach can "go jump in the Gulf of Mexico." It's easy to see why New York's election officials would gain politically from denial of the advisory commission's information request. But it makes sense in many conservative states, too, where concern about the creep of federal authority over state rule has, for years, been a major talking point.

And then, you have Pate, who finds himself pushing back against a crusade that, just this year, he bowed to when pushing voter ID. He, too, is subject to his party's concern about federal overreach. And, clearly, he's sensitive to the political pitfalls of openly challenging the president. But, at the end of the day, some of what Kobach wants is, in fact, public information.

Whatever the true motivation, Pate's response to Kobach's request was, at once, an appropriate defense of FOIA that also serves to shield Iowans from the White House's little witch hunt.
CONCERTS

RAPID CITY

July 6

6 p.m. to 9 p.m.: 32 Below, 7th and St. Joseph streets

July 6

8:30 p.m. to 11:30 p.m.: Emily Lloyd, Firehouse Brewing Company

July 11

8:30 p.m. to 11:30 p.m.: Emily Lloyd, Firehouse Brewing Company

July 12

7 p.m. to 9 p.m.: Sophia Beatty, Firehouse Wine Cellars

July 13

6 p.m. to 9 p.m.: Judd Hoos, 7th and St. Joseph streets

July 15-16

Hills Alive, Memorial Park

Jul 19

7 p.m. to 9 p.m.: Sophia Beatty, Firehouse Wine Cellars

July 20

6 p.m. to 9 p.m.: The Lonely Rangers, 7th and St. Joseph streets

July 27

6 p.m. to 9 p.m.: Ryan Chrys & the Rough Cuts, 7th and St. Joseph streets

Aug. 3

6 p.m. to 9 p.m.: Tripwire, 7th and St. Joseph streets

Aug. 10

6 p.m. to 9 p.m.: Crash Wagon, 7th and St. Joseph streets

Aug. 17

6 p.m. to 9 p.m.: 35th & Taylor, 7th and St. Joseph streets

Aug. 24

6 p.m. to 9 p.m.: Mighty Big Jim & the Tall Boys

Aug. 31

6 p.m. to 9 p.m.: Brandon Jones

DEADWOOD

July 8

8 p.m. to 10 p.m.: The Everly Brothers Experience, Deadwood Mountain Grand

July 21

8 p.m.: Craig Morgan, Deadwood Mountain Grand

July 22

8 p.m. to 10 p.m.: Bellamy Brothers, Deadwood Mountain Grand

July 27

10 p.m. to 11:30 p.m.: Ned Ledoux in concert, Deadwood Mountain Grand

LEAD

July 27

7:30 p.m. to 10 p.m.: The Red Willow Band, Historic Homestake Opera House

July 29

7 p.m. to 9 p.m.: Black Hills Opry with Aces & Eights featuring Paul Larson, Allen and Jill Kirkham, Historic Homestake Opera House

SPEARFISH

July 7

5:30 p.m. to 9 p.m.: Kory and the Fireflies, downtown Spearfish

OUTDOORS

July 8, Botany Moon Walk. This walk is located in the southern Black Hills west of Custer. USFS botanists will walk participants along the Hell Canyon rim while discussing the diverse ecosystems that occur both along the rim and in the canyon.

July 9, Black Hills Runners Club Trail Series at Mystic Mountain. The 8-mile loop course starts at 7:30 a.m. The race is the oldest trail running race in the Black Hills and is in its 46th year. Visit blackhillsrunnersclub.com for more information.

July 9, Black Hills Volkssport Association Silver City Ice Cream Social Walk. Register from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Silver Center Community Hall. Two routes to walk, either 5K or 10K.

July 15, Black Hills Volkssport Association Bear Butte Walk. Register from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. at Bear Butte Visitor Center.

GALLERY

Until Aug. 19: "Black Hills Bounty  Traditional Arts from South Dakota." This exhibit showcases the work of folk artists residing in the Black Hills region. Guest curator Andrea Graham, folklorist with the South Dakota Arts Council, has traveled around the Black Hills area for two years seeking out unique examples of traditional folk art. This includes fiber arts such as quilts, weaving, and rug hooking; Norwegian woodcarving, hunting bows, and other wood crafts; metal work including hand-forged knives and decorative ironwork; cowboy and ranching crafts like hats and braided horsehair; Lakota dance regalia and star quilts; and sign painting.

CHEAP THRILLS

July 5, 6 p.m.: Trivia and bingo. What is the name of Captain Ahab's ship? If you know the answer (the Pequod), compete for prizes. The event is free. Wobbly Bobby, 510 Main St.

July 5, 7 p.m.: Battle of the Brains Trivia. If you paid close attention to the news this week or know sports, movies, music, history, geography or other special subjects, come compete for prizes for free, with Robert from Hits 102.7 hosting. The event is free. Thirsty's, 819 W. Main St.

July 7, 5:30 p.m.: Emerging Artists. The Dahl Arts Center hosts an Emerging Artists event every Friday. This week's event is an open mic night. Refreshments will be available. Admission is free. 713 Seventh St. Visitors are asked to use the Kansas City Street entrance.

July 7, 8:30 p.m.: Dance Party. This week's theme is "Neutrino Day." Dress as your favorite futuristic science fiction character, or reminisce about being "Trekkies" (fans of Star Trek) and boldly dance where no one has before. Admission is $8, or $12 for the pre-party dance lesson at 7:30 p.m. For more information, call 355-5118. Gotta Dance Studio, 412 Oshkosh St.

MORE TO DO

 Hills Alive, a free outdoor Christian music festival, is back for its 32nd year. The festival is July 14-16 at Main Street Square and Memorial Park in Rapid City. 25 bands from all over the country will be performing over the weekend. There will be activities for the entire family.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

 A very popular regional equine event is making a come back in 2017. The Black Hills Horse Expo will return to Rapid City Oct. 20-22 to the James Kjerstad Event Center.

According to event management, the format will be similar to previous years with a wide variety of clinic topics presented as well as exciting exhibitions. This dynamic event will bring together horse lovers from North and South Dakota, Montana, Wyoming, Nebraska, Iowa, Minnesota and Colorado.

More information about the Black Hills Horse Expo can be found at BlackHillsHorseExpo.com.

 The Harlou Building in Hot Springs recently received a matching grant from the South Dakota State Historical Society, according to Jay D. Vogt, director of the society, in a release.

Located at 407 N. River St. in Hot Springs, the Harlou Building was awarded a $16,329 Deadwood Fund Grant to assist with the repair of windows, installation of storm windows on the second floor, and replacement of a non-historic storefront window.

The building was constructed in 1893 with Hot Springs iconic building material, local sandstone. There are four large arched windows with prominent keystones across the second-story facade of the building. The name of the building, HARLOU, is carved into a central plaque at the top of the building. The name is a union of the names of the two men who had it built, Hargens and Loudenback.

The Harlou Building was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1974 as contributing to the Hot Springs Historic District. The building previously housed grocery and furniture stores, the public library, a bakery, Masonic rooms, and professional offices.
With the legislative session officially over and bills signed by the governor now in effect, school districts are beginning the budgeting process for the upcoming academic year with a revised state aid formula.

The Nebraska Unicameral passed LB409 to alter the TEEOSA state aid formula, slowing the growth of state aid by 2.1 percent per year for 2017-18 and 2018-19. The bill breezed through two rounds of debate, with 44 senators approving the bill on its final vote. No one voted against the changes to state aid, but five did not vote on the bill. District 43 Sen. Tom Brewer was listed as excused, not voting.

The bill tightened school districts spending limits, decreased the states obligations to schools and increased the amount local property taxpayers are expected to contribute.

Without the changes to the formula, state aid was expected to top $1 billion for the upcoming school year. Instead, the state will pay out $999.9 million in state aid, and is projected to hit the $1 billion mark next year.

Chadron will still see an increase in state aid from the 2016-17 year, but the new formula still presents the district with challenges, said Superintendent Dr. Caroline Winchester.

We did lose. We would have had $200,000 more (in state aid) than what we got.

Chadron will receive more than $4.2 million in state aid this fall, up $271,300 from the prior year. A slight enrollment increase allowed the school to hang on to the increase in state aid that it will receive, but Dr. Winchester expects the district to take a hit in 2018-19. As the countys valuation continues to climb, the state decreases state aid and increases the districts reliance on local property taxes. The states overall revenue also continues to struggle, and Dr. Winchester said she wouldnt be surprised if the legislature makes further changes to state aid next year.

The district is already capped out at a combined $1.05 levy. Chadrons local effort rate levy is currently $1.00, and its special building levy is .05. LB 409 sets the local effort rate at $1.02. If districts dont use that full amount, their state aid funding is penalized, so Dr. Winchester will recommend the school board increase the general fund levy to $1.02. That will mean a reduction in the special building levy to .03 in order to keep the combined levy at the maximum $1.05.

The decrease in the special building fund will likely mean that district needs such as roofing work will have to be paid for out of the general fund, Dr. Winchester said. That will complicate the budget even more because LB409 also decreased the amount districts can increase spending each year. Previously, school district spending could only increase by 2.5 percent per year; the new law changes that to 1.5 percent.

Thats going to increase challenges on how we fund things, Dr. Winchester said.

Chadron has lost more than $1 million of state aid in the last six years, while other income has also decreased by 4.3 percent. That has resulted in an increase of property taxes by 7 percent for total revenues today of approximately the same as a decade ago. The districts spending has increased an average of 1.2 percent per year in that same time frame.

Hay Springs was the only school in Sioux, Sheridan and Dawes counties to lose state aid this fall. Hay Springs will receive $914,600 in state aid, down nearly a quarter of a million from last year. The district has hired a new superintendent, Russell Lechtenberg, who starts today and will have to begin the process of determining how to manage the decrease in state aid.

Gordon-Rushville, Sioux County and Crawford each will see a slight increase in state aid from the 2016-17 year. Gordon-Rushville and Sioux County received no state aid at all last year. Sioux County is set to see $10,600 this fall, while G-R will receive just under $49,500. Crawford will receive $715,000 in state aid, up $60,600 from last year. Crawford, too, has hired a new superintendent, Kirk Hughes, who arrived in town last week and will begin working on the budget.
In South Dakota, the Fourth of July is a time to spend with friends and family, whether that be boating, camping, attending parades or grilling out and lighting fireworks. It is a holiday filled with joy and tradition that allows us to celebrate the liberties and freedoms unmatched by any other country in the world. It is also a reminder that we continue to be the greatest, strongest, most resilient country that has ever existed and can overcome any challenge we may face.

Unfortunately, it can often be too easy to lose sight of these principles amidst cable news stories of partisan gridlock and party infighting. During trying times, it is important to remember that what unites us as Americans will always be far greater than what divides us.

Having been working in Washington for two-and-a-half years, I can tell you that everyone I have met has good intentions. We all share the same goal of leaving our country better for future generations, we just sometimes disagree on how to get there. And thats ok. Having healthy, robust debates among elected leaders is a cornerstone of our democracy. As long as we remain respectful and understand that we all want whats best for our nation, there is no challenge we cannot overcome.

One area in which we continue to see common ground is in our support for our veterans and the men and women in uniform. Just before the Senate recessed for the Fourth of July holiday, Im pleased that the Armed Services Committee, on which I serve, once again came together in a bipartisan fashion to pass the annual National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).

The NDAA is the annual bill that supports our military operations and personnel within the Department of Defense. It is one of the most important bills we pass each year in Congress, and it is one of the rare instances in which members truly check their party ID at the door to put the defense of our nation, our troops and their families before all else. In fact, the NDAA has been signed into law for more than 50 years in a row, despite changing parties at the White House and amidst an ever-changing political climate in Washington. Im honored to do my part in continuing that effort and to stand with our men and women in uniform.

We are fortunate to live in the freest country in the world, a country that protects our individual right to express ourselves through free speech. The recent shooting involving Members of Congress, Capitol Police and Capitol Hill staff in Alexandria, Virginia, is a tragic reminder for all of us that while there is still evil in the world, we cannot and will not tolerate violent extremism.

Former President Bill Clinton said in his first inaugural address that "there is nothing wrong with America that cannot be cured by what is right with America." I wholeheartedly agree. This year, as we celebrate Independence Day, let us all strive to put aside our differences and celebrate the commonalities we share as Americans.
A Brookdale Estates mobile home was damaged in a fire Sunday night, according to the Rapid City Fire Department.

No one was injured, but the home sustained "significant heat damage," RCFD spokesman Jim Bussell said.

The fire started around 8:20 p.m. at the mobile home, located at 1702 S.D. Highway 44. The occupants of the home evacuated before it became engulfed in smoke.

After arriving on scene, fire crews were able to put out the blaze, Bussell said. A cause has not been determined.

The American Red Cross is providing assistance to the occupants of the home, Bussell said.
PIERRE | Rapid City, Deadwood and several West River counties will all see a boost in funding for fixing bridges as the state doles out the initial round of funding from its fledgling Bridge Improvement Grants program.

The first set of BIG funds will be distributed in the coming months under the program approved by the Legislature in 2015 that is funded through driver's licensing fees.

The Legislature increased prices for South Dakota license plates on motor vehicles in 2015 and dedicated $7 million of the additional revenue to bridge improvements for local governments. The Department of Transportation added $2 million annually for a total of $9 million. The total will increase to $13 million annually starting in 2019.

Grants cover 80 percent of estimated costs for rehabilitation and replacement projects. A county wheel tax must be in place.

Cities and counties apply to the commission in an annual competition based on points in categories.

Among the grants, the commission awarded $3.8 million for 14 bridge-preservation projects.

Three grants for bridge preservation went to Rapid City, totaling $590,000. Meade County received three, totaling $1,000,611. Davison County was awarded two, totaling $1,098,400. Beadle County received two, for nearly $400,000.

Brookings, Fall River, Hughes and Tripp counties also received preservation grants in 2016.

The commission awarded 40 grants for preliminary engineering, totaling $908,000, to 17 counties and the cities of Deadwood and Parkston.

The counties were Beadle, Brookings, Brown, Butte, Custer, Davison, Douglas, Grant, Hanson, Hughes, Lake, Marshall, Meade, Roberts, Spink, Tripp and Union.

Structure replacements are proceeding this summer in Marshall and Roberts counties.

The first completed project could see a ribbon-cutting ceremony attended by South Dakota Transportation Commission members.

It will be a trip up to the northeast corner of the state this fall, Doug Kinniburgh, engineering supervisor for local government aid in the state DOT, told commissioners last week.

The Marshall project is on 120 Street northwest of the community of Langford, over whats known as Langford Ditch. The commission awarded $333,144.80.

The Roberts project crosses a creek 1.8 miles west of Peever on 127 Street. The commission awarded $292,800.

Marshall and Roberts counties were two of the winners in the BIG programs first round of funding. Two cities and three counties would see money from the initial awards made April 28, 2016.

That morning the commission earmarked $1,040,000 for Aberdeen for the Third Avenue South East crossing over Moccasin Creek.

The commissioners also designated $854,904.60 for Yankton for the Pine Street bridge over Marne Creek.

Moody County received approval for $1,258,495 toward a replacement crossing the Big Sioux River 11 miles west of Ward on 223 Street.

The Moody project was estimated to cost $2,098,200. The grant amount used the remainder of the nearly $3.8 million that was available in 2016 from BIG for replacement and rehabilitation projects.

Kinniburgh said the local governments and state department have been lucky on the bids received so far. Theyre actually a lot better than I expected, he said.

DOTs goal is to have low bids selected for 53 bridge improvement projects by the end of calendar 2018, according to Kinniburgh. Were continuing to push them out the door, he said.

This year the commission made all three sets of bridge improvement decisions on April 27 this year.

Six counties received grants for rehabilitation or replacement of structures. Two went to Davison County: $846,400 for crossing Firesteel Creek on 404 Avenue; and $776,400, also for crossing Firesteel Creek, on 394 Avenue.

The five other rehabilitation or replacement projects are:

 $818,900 to Brown County for crossing the Elm River on 123 Street southeast of Westport;

 $1,078,600 to Brookings County for crossing a creek eight miles south of the city of Brookings on 471 Avenue;

 $358,600 to Beadle County for crossing Middle Pearl Creek southeast of Cavour on 410 Avenue;

 $386,000 to Meade County for crossing a creek southwest of Union Center on Ballfield Road; and

 $439,900 to Union County for crossing a creek southeast of Alcester on 484 Avenue.

The commission also awarded 17 preservation grants totaling some $2 million on April 24 this year.

They included four for Campbell County; three for Brookings, Codington and Yankton counties; one apiece for Gregory, Perkins and Ziebach counties; and one for Watertown.

Preliminary engineering grants went to 19 counties and Watertown. The counties were Aurora, Beadle, Butte, Clark, Day, Deuel, Hughes, Hutchinson, Jackson, Jerauld, Lawrence, Lyman, Marshall, Miner, Minnehaha, Sanborn, Spink, Turner and Union.

Commissioner Mike Vehle of Mitchell complimented the departments staff for continuing to revise rules for the BIG program.

Vehle, a Republican, was a state senator who worked many hours and drove many miles throughout South Dakota to earn the Legislatures approval for more highway and bridge funding in 2015.

Various changes in the BIG programs rules are proposed for a public hearing at the commissions July 27 meeting.

One would require counties to annually update their five-year plans and submit them to the state department by Oct. 15.

Theres a lot of stuff here, Vehle said.
Lawmakers mum on health care bill

Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, has been in the news lately, explaining intelligently and compassionately why she is unable to vote for the current American Healthcare Act (AHA), detailing what provisions of the bill, she believes would be harmful to the citizens of Maine and the country. She also explained what changes to the bill would cause her to vote for it.

Congresswoman Kristi Noem, R-South Dakota, has not voted on the current Senate bill but voted for a House version of the AHA. Because Senators John Thune, R-South Dakota, and Mike Rounds, R-South Dakota, have not said they are opposed to any provisions of the bill, we might believe they would vote in favor of it should it come to a vote.

It would helpful if both of our senators and the congresswoman issued press releases detailing how in their view the AHA would benefit the citizens of South Dakota, the country and why Senator Collins concerns are invalid, and what changes to the bill would cause them to vote against it. Is that too much to ask of our representatives?

Paul Douglas

Rapid City

Baseball tournament was disappointing

As a season ticket holder since 2009, I am extremely disappointed in the teams participating in the combined Veterans (Post 22) and Black Hills Class (Post 320).

I am used to seeing excellent teams at the previous Firecracker Classics. Excellence, according to Manager Dave Ploof, was winning a state title. Where is Eden Prairie, state champs of Minnesota, Las Vegas, California, Wyoming, Colorado, Montana, Nebraska - all state champs.

Albuquerque and Mountain View couldnt beat the Expos or the Bullets. Hope the Firecracker is better.

Jeff "Tex" Crossland

Rapid City

A wonderful visit to the Black Hills

After visiting South Dakota's Black Hills, I must admit I am totally impressed not only with the gorgeous landscape of the rolling hills but the generosity and friendliness of its people.

I plan to encourage those who have never been to this wonderful area of the United States to visit and enjoy the vast amount of scenic locations and numerous activities there are. We plan to return in the future to western South Dakota with sincere possibilities of making it our permanent home.

Chuck Humphrey

Kansas City
585

PUBLIC NOTICE

The Upper Niobrara White Natural Resources District will hold a Regular Board Meeting, at 9:00 a.m. on Thursday, July 13, 2017 at the UNWNRD Office, 430 East 2nd Street Chadron, NE. An agenda of the matter to be considered at such date, time, and place is kept continually current, and is available for public inspection during normal business hours at the Districts office at 430 East Second Street, Chadron, Nebraska. Persons who require auxiliary aids or special accommodations to attend or participate in the meeting should contact the Upper Niobrara White NRD office at 308-432-6190 to make the necessary arrangements.

Publish July 5, 2017

586

Notice of Regular Meeting

Chadron Public Schools

A Regular Meeting of the Chadron Public School Board of Education is scheduled for 5:30 pm on Monday, July 10, 2017. The meeting will be held in the Office of the Superintendent 602 E. 10th Street, Chadron, NE 69337. An agenda may be obtained from the Office of the Superintendent at the above address. The Meeting is open to the public.

Publish July 5, 2017

587

Notice of Board of Education Workshop

Chadron Public Schools

A Workshop for the Chadron Public School Board of Education is scheduled for 12:00 PM on Monday, July 10, 2017. The workshop will be held in the Office of the Superintendent, 602 E. 10th Street, Chadron, NE 69337. The purpose of the workshop is a BOE training, no action will be taken. An agenda may be obtained from the Office of the Superintendent at the above address. The Meeting is open to the public.

Publish July 5, 2017

590

NOTICE OF MEETING OF PLANNING COMMISSION

CITY OF CHADRON, NEBRASKA

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that a meeting of the Planning Commission will be held at 5:00 P.M. on Monday, July 10, 2017, in the City Hall Conference Room at 234 Main Street, Chadron, Nebraska, which meeting will be open to the public. An agenda for such meeting, kept continuously current, is available for public inspection at the office of the City Clerk at City Hall. The agenda may be modified at such meeting only to include items of an emergency nature.

/s/ Donna J. Rust

City Clerk

Publish July 5, 2017

591

NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING

ON APPLICATION FOR

City of Chadron LB 840 Economic Development Program

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that a public hearing will be held by the City Council of the City of Chadron, Nebraska, on the 17th day of July, 2017, at 6:00 oclock P.M., or as soon thereafter as can be heard, in the City Hall Council Chambers, 234 Main Street, Chadron, Nebraska. The public hearing will be held for the purpose of reviewing the request of Mike and Erika Hackett for LB 840 Economic Development funds pursuant to the Nebraska Local Option Municipal Economic Development Act. Mike and Erika Hackett are requesting funding in the amount of $82,000.00 to fund a portion of the cost of acquisition of real estate in the community. All interested citizens and parties are invited to attend this public hearing at which time all shall be given opportunity to be heard regarding the application. Written testimony will also be accepted at the public hearing. Written comments addressed to Donna Rust, City Clerk, PO Box 390, Chadron, NE 69337 will be accepted as part of the record of the hearing if received on or before the scheduled date of the hearing. Individuals requiring physical or sensory accommodations, who desire to attend the meeting or participate, please contact the City Clerks Office at City Hall at 234 Main Street, no later than 4:00 P.M. on the Friday preceding the date of the hearing.

/s/ Donna J. Rust

City Clerk

Publish July 5, 12, 2017

592

NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING

ON APPLICATION FOR

City of Chadron LB 840 Economic Development Program

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that a public hearing will be held by the City Council of the City of Chadron, Nebraska, on the 17th day of July, 2017, at 6:00 oclock P.M., or as soon thereafter as can be heard, in the City Hall Council Chambers, 234 Main Street, Chadron, Nebraska. The public hearing will be held for the purpose of reviewing the request of James Puchner, owner of The Business Connection, for LB 840 Economic Development funds pursuant to the Nebraska Local Option Municipal Economic Development Act. James Puchner is requesting funding in the amount of $100,000.00 to complete a renovation project of the building and to provide additional business support to expand into other products. All interested citizens and parties are invited to attend this public hearing at which time all shall be given opportunity to be heard regarding the application. Written testimony will also be accepted at the public hearing. Written comments addressed to Donna Rust, City Clerk, PO Box 390, Chadron, NE 69337 will be accepted as part of the record of the hearing if received on or before the scheduled date of the hearing. Individuals requiring physical or sensory accommodations, who desire to attend the meeting or participate, please contact the City Clerks Office at City Hall at 234 Main Street, no later than 4:00 P.M. on the Friday preceding the date of the hearing.

/s/ Donna J. Rust

City Clerk

Publish July 5, 12, 2017

593

NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING

ON APPLICATION FOR

City of Chadron CDBG Reuse Loan Program

Notice is hereby given that on Monday, July 17, 2017 at 6:00 oclock p.m., or as soon thereafter as can be heard, the City Council will be holding a public hearing in the City Hall Council Chambers located at 234 Main Street, Chadron, NE. The public hearing is concerning the City of Chadron CDBG Reuse Loan Program. The Council will be considering a loan available through the City of Chadron for business development activities.

Mike and Erika Hackett are requesting $168,000 for a 10 year term to fund a portion of the cost of acquisition of real estate.

Total project costs are estimated to be $1,390,000. The project will benefit 16 full-time equivalent employees.

All interested parties are invited to attend this public hearing at which time you will have an opportunity to be heard regarding the loan application. Written testimony will also be accepted at the public hearing.

Written comments addressed to the Mayor and City Council, City of Chadron, NE 234 Main Street, Chadron, NE 69337 will be accepted if received on or before July 17, 2017.

Individuals requiring physical or sensory accommodations including interpreter service, braille, large print, or recorded materials, please contact City of Chadron at 308-432-0505 no later than 4:00 P.M. on the Friday preceding the date of the hearing.

/s/ Donna J. Rust

City Clerk

Publish July 5, 12, 2017

ZNEZ

/s/ Donna J. Rust

City Clerk
Teenager charged with violence against National Guard officer to stay under house arrest

Context Teenager put under house arrest in relation to clash with police at June 12 rally

MOSCOW, July 4 (RAPSI)  The Moscow City Court has upheld the ruling of a lower court putting a 17-year-old Mikhail Galayshkin, charged with using violence against a National Guard officer at an unauthorized rally on June 12, under house arrest, the courts press-service told RAPSI on Tuesday.

On June 16, the Basmanny District Court ruled to put the defendant under house arrest until August 13. His communication, including right to use Internet, has been restricted.

Investigators claim that earlier Galyashkin participated in another unauthorized rally on March 26. They believe that the teenagers actions stem from the lack of appropriate attention from the defendants mother.

According to investigators, on June 12, a participant in unauthorized rally on Tverskaya Street sprayed tear gas in the eyes of a special unit officer of the National Guards Main Directorate. The officer received an eye burn as a result of the incident.

On June 13, Moscows Simonovsky District Court detained Russian opposition politician Alexey Navalny for 30 days in relation to the unauthorized rally. Navalny was found guilty of violating rally organization rules specified in the Russian Code of Administrative Offences.

Initially, Navalny has agreed with the city's authorities a rally at Academician Sakharov Avenue in Moscow on June 12. However, shortly before the beginning of the rally he called his supporters to change the rally location to Tverskaya Street in the central Moscow. On June 12, he was arrested by the police and later sentenced to a 30-days term in custody.
Dozens of vintage Chevrolet "horseless carriages" descended upon the Bitterroot Valley, slowly buzzing around and along Highway 93 as part of a national group's annual event.

The Vintage Chevrolet Four-Cylinder tour is in Hamilton with some cars that are 103-years-old. The cars and trucks were built between 1914 and 1928. The owners are a group of vintage Chevrolet enthusiasts who enjoy driving these cars to interesting places around the country.

Most brought the vehicles on trailers to a lodge in Hamilton on Sunday. They drove the antique cars to Missoula, upper West Fork, Painted Rocks, Lee Metcalf and St. Marys Mission. On Thursday morning they'll be at the Daly Mansion, where theyll take photos out front and the drivers will take tours.

The vintage vehicles take a little TLC. Their speed tops out around 45 mph, some of the moving parts are heavy to lift, and maintenance always is an issue - for example, there's no oil internally in the engine. Drivers have to get out and oil them every 100 miles.

Tom Meleo and Jim Farris started the four-cylinder touring club 26 years ago to keep the cars in the public eye.

This way people will drive their cars, Meleo said. Otherwise they just sit in their garages and are never used.

The touring club had 58 four-cylinder 1928 and earlier Chevrolets, with about 120 people in the group. Farris said the tour group is national and large.

Last year we had 500 cars at the tour at Lake Tahoe, he said.

Farris said his grandfather of the same name started the Western News in Darby in 1890.

He sold it to Miles Romney, Farris said. Then he moved on to East Helena. I grew up in Libby, where dad was a teacher.

Dan ODay, and his wife Kaydene, from San Jose, California, brought the oldest car on tour, built in 1914. He purchased it about seven years ago sight unseen off an obscure web ad, then worked to unfreeze the engine and repair the springs.

It has a fancy name, ODay said. It is a 1914 Chevrolet Model H2 Royal Mail Roadster. Fancy names are what sold these cars.

The 1914 touring car was built in New York. It has standard acetylene gas lights and magneto-no electric starter/ headlights. It also has a crank start and no battery.

It was refreshed in 1950 with non-original paint and non-original upholstery. It was kept in a dealership show room for years for children to play on while parents signed papers on new car purchases.

Im really happy with it, ODay said. Chevrolet began in 1911 and mass produced their first small car in 1914. It was called a 490 model because that was its price, $490.

ODay purchased his car, that didnt run, nearly a century later for $12,000.

ODay joined the group seven years ago and said he has enjoyed the Montana tour.

It has wonderful scenery and breath taking country, he said. It was hot yesterday and that caused a few problems and weve had a few breakdowns but otherwise it is gorgeous.

ODay said the 1928s have four-wheel brakes but older cars have two-wheel brakes.

Thats important, he said. We all learn to drive carefully, keep our distance and know our car.

ODay said the tour is like a family reunion.

Theyve been doing the four-cylinder tour for 26 years and some people have not missed a year, he said. We have people from Pennsylvania to Washington to Texas. People buy these cars just to be able to come on the tour.

Its all over the country, Farris added. We never stop new people from coming. We like to tour in smaller towns because every single car comes with a truck and a trailer and thats a lot of parking.

The Vintage Chevrolet Four-Cylinder tour is planned two-years ahead. Next year will be Iowa and 2019 will be McCall, Idaho.

The public is welcome to drop by the Daly Mansion Thursday morning to view the cars.
Open Democracy - 30 June 2017

Why are foreign donors so enthusiastic about alternative dispute mechanisms when they deliver second class justice for women?

It has taken nine military operations since 2002 to clear Pakistanas frontier and tribal areas from Taliban, and millions of people have been displaced from their homes, some more than once. Pakistanis have paid a high price for allowing religious extremism to grow on their soil. Between 2003-17 over 21,000 civilians, and even more militants, have been killed.

Women in these conflict-affected areas have coped with violence and displacement for over a decade now. They have lived with restrictions on their access to public spaces, attacks on womenas health service providers, and the closure of girlsa schools a with little public outcry in a nation that was reluctant to condemn the Taliban agenda.

Bravely, women have formed new organisations to resist some of the worst effects of aTalibanisationa a including the first all-female jirga, or council, in Swat valley to give women facing family disputes and violence legal advice.

Some, like Farida Afridi, who founded the SAVERA group for womenas empowerment, have been killed for their audacity in promoting girlsa education and employment in the tribal areas.

The jirga system is a commonplace dispute resolution mechanism in Pakistanas rural areas. It has been reviled by activists for its role in enforcing honour killings, rape as retribution during tribal feuds, the exchange of girls to settle disputes, and the broader exclusion of womenas voices.

But it is a powerful system, and its role is enhanced by corrupt and inefficient, overloaded national courts. Taliban also killed some tribal elders who were members of jirgas in order to establish their own authority.

The all-female council in Swat is a structure set up by women to give other women legal advice a but it has no particular standing as a dispute resolution mechanism or as anything equal to tribal jirgas, which are male-dominated. Rather, it reflects womenas dissatisfaction with the system that excludes them.

There is general agreement including among mainstream political parties and the government that the tribal areas must be fully integrated with the adjoining province Khyber Pakhtoonkhwa as a first step to resolving governance problems that made the area vulnerable to militancy in the first place.

As part of this, the government intends to do away with the colonial-era Frontier Crimes Regulations Act, which was used to govern the border areas indirectly through councils of tribal elders and administer punishments on communities for infringements.

But they are struggling to figure out how to do this without upsetting too many political interests.

Instead of simply giving the people full citizenship and political rights, and bringing them into the same administration as the rest of the country, the governmentas Riwaj Bill proposed legalising the jirga a means of traditional conflict resolution alongside extending the jurisdiction of the higher courts to the tribal areas.

This was controversial and was rejected by political party representatives from tribal areas and by womenas groups, arguing that they should enjoy the same constitutional protections as other Pakistani citizens.

the jirga system has been reviled by activists for its role in enforcing honour killings

When the government presented its Riwaj Bill to the National Assembly earlier this year it was unable to get it passed amid opposition to the jirga system and concerns that the bill represented backtracking on government commitments to fully integrate the tribal areas into Khyber Pakhtoonkhwa.

aUnder the Riwaj Act, the jirga system will be retained, while a council of elders appointed by the court will decide the criminal and civil nature of cases in light of Riwaj (tradition). That is unacceptable to us,a said Zuhra Mohmand of the Takra Qabailee Khwendo association of womenas groups in the tribal areas. It is also called for womens inclusion in discussions which seem to be led from the capital Islamabad.

The government appears to believe that retaining the jirga institution should be part of reconstruction efforts in the tribal areas because of its ongoing relevance and importance in settling tribal disputes. It has also passed another law to regularise aalternative dispute resolutiona (ADR) mechanisms.

The ADR Act, passed earlier this year, enables a range of disputes to be settled before arbitrators outside of Pakistanas beleaguered court system. Although this new law applies only to the capital territory for the moment, itas expected to be extended across the country.

The Act creates a panel of aneutrala men of integrity and experience including lawyers, retired judges, civil servants, and ulema (Muslim scholars) to preside over arbitrations. The cases they may oversee range from commercial and banking disputes to issues of family law.

This legislation was described as agiving constitutional covera to the jirga system.

In response to womenas rights concerns, in February law minister Zahid Hamid said both parties in disputes have to consent to go to arbitration, and aif any woman feels that she is not being given justice, she can move [to] the courta .

Given the difficulties that women face in accessing the judicial system, this is not very helpful. Women parliamentarians Nafisa Shah (Pakistan Peopleas Party) and Shirin Mazari (Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaaf) have demanded that women be appointed as aneutralsa as well.

the enthusiasm amongst foreign donors for ADR mechanisms is inexcusable

It is unsurprising that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif proposed a law without regard for its impact on women. His party has always been reluctant to oppose the religious right and implement progressive legislation. But the enthusiasm amongst foreign donors for ADR mechanisms is inexcusable.

Aid donors including the UKas Department for International Development are already funding ADR capacity-building in the province of Khyber Pakhtoonkhwa and tribal areas. The government also promises to train jirgas, now called aprivate mediation committeesa, to improve their functioning and educate them about human rights.

The Asia Foundation justifies its enthusiastic engagement with ADR as part of its efforts to bridge the gap between citizens and the legal system.

But jirgas as an institution never include women a neither as decision-making members nor as parties to plead their own cases. And, if Pakistanas courts cannot deliver on human rights, how can this task be outsourced to men with a proven track record of misogyny and the exclusion of women?

Aid agenciesa backing for ADR should be seen in the light of their larger concerns to address root causes of militancy. Their strategy involves moderating the rhetoric and power of cultural and religious institutions a as if that will, indirectly, end up granting men and women the rights they have so long been denied.

Interest in funding faith-based programmes, and working with religious leaders, is part of this strategy. For instance: the US government aid agency USAID recently spent a great deal of money on asensitisinga religious leaders to win over their support for contraceptive use (as part of its aExtended Service Deliverya project).

USAID even got its family planning manual approved by the retrogressive Council for Islamic Ideology. This was meant to undermine the Talibanas assault on contraceptive services. But while this approach may have made sense politically, it was not grounded in empirical evidence that involving mullahs will have a long-term impact in contraceptive uptake.

womenas rights activists argue that we are overstating the importance of religious leaders as arbiters of everyday life

Educated leaders of religious parties, Maulana Fazl ur-Rahman of Jamaat-i-Ulema-e-Islami (JUI) and leaders of the Jamaat-i-Islami publicly oppose family planning. Womenas rights activists argue that we are overstating the importance of religious leaders as arbiters of everyday life decisions.

Pakistan regularly runs nation-wide polio immunisation campaigns, yet it remains one of three countries where the disease is still endemic. The immunisation programme has for years been targeted by militants who accuse it of being a cover for a western conspiracy to sterilise Muslims and who are opposed to the use of women as vaccinators in communities.

Yet the government makes use of religious figures to promote and win back popular support for the struggling campaign, no matter how discredited or linked with the Taliban they are. Maulana Sami ul-Haq, in whose seminary Taliban leaders studied, was invited by WHO and Unicef to be a spokesperson for the programme in 2015 and 2016.

Not only should Maulana Sami ul-Haq be made to answer for his support for the Taliban, but he has proven to be an unworthy polio ally by changing his mind at least twice about supporting vaccinations. In 2012 he renounced this support after Osama bin Laden was killed, telling the west to end their drone strikes or leave children unprotected.

Pakistan feminists have fought against what they call the Talibanisation of Pakistani society for the last 15 years. The growth of intolerance and the instrumentalisation of Islam has been used to restrict womenas freedoms across the country, including by more mainstream religious parties and growing piety movements.

Using religion and culture as an excuse to limit (or on occasion expand) womenas choices, whether in matters of reproduction and sexuality, marriage, education, or inheritance, is subject to political whim and has little to do with the rights of women.

Ayesha Khan is a researcher on gender and development issues with the Collective for Social Science Research in Karachi, Pakistan. She conducted a study on women employed by a government community health workers programme for the DFID-funded research consortium Pathways of Womenas Empowerment.
A brilliant student, Mashal Khan, was brutally murdered by a mob on a university campus in Pakistan earlier in 2017 after he was accused of blasphemy. The killing caused widespread outrage in Pakistan and has even led to calls to change the countrys strict blasphemy laws. Who was Mashal Khan and why was he murdered? Secunder Kermani investigates.
The Times of India, July 2, 2017

by Pankaj Butalia

Three years after he became Prime Minister, Modi made his second statement against the vigilante violence unleashed by cow hoodlums in different parts of the country. The speech, welcome though it was, lacked conviction primarily because Modi heads a government in which ministers have openly lauded such gau rakshaks, and given them state financial assistance. Just a week ago, home secretary Rajiv Mehrishi said hate crime was not new in India and that the only thing new was its over-reporting.

This kind of casual dismissal of targeted brutality over the past three years flies in the face of the Prime Ministers claim to have finally taken a stand against such crimes. Now what neither the Prime Minister nor Mehrishi will acknowledge is that hatred in human beings needs only a small trigger to turn violent a and the most effective violence is often self-righteous. So all the provocateur needs to do is provide a platform a it could be the train in 2002 or the cow in 2014. Once set in motion the instigator can easily disown his role in the affair.

A casual look at the emergence of new leaders of Bharatiya Janata Party over the past three decades reveals that violence has been the most effective stepping stone for many of them. There seems to be a pattern here whereby violence against disadvantaged groups, normally minorities, helps bring the individual to the notice of the party. Once the goal is achieved, overt violence is renounced by the individual and we start to see the individual as a normal politician. The violence doesnt end, however. It just gets outsourced to those lower in the hierarchy.

During the Babri Masjid agitation in the early nineties, a few of its more impatient leaders like L K Advani, Uma Bharti and M M Joshi stepped outside the boundaries of the law. Unfortunately for Advani the tag of aggressive Hindutva stuck to him and cost him the prime ministership. Advani, Joshi and others then decided to become moderates or elder statesmen to be more acceptable in an era of coalition politics. Today, we do not see Advani as an aggressive politician a just as a gentle old man who wouldnt hurt a fly.

In 2002 this mantle of leadership through violence was taken up by the broad-shouldered Narendra Modi. By then he was a state chief minister and answerable to no one. He didnt seem to have national ambitions and didnt really care what the world thought of him as long as his core, aggressively Hindu-centric community didnt desert him. This changed once large corporate houses decided to back him as a development man in 2011-12. Today, Modi is a statesman, above violence, and a man with a vision for the country. His image has a makeover. All violence is normalised.

However, those who stood by him this entire period are still around and violence initiated for electoral purposes still pays dividends. This makes Modi a willing prisoner of his past, in which he cannot even bring himself to say that the rapes and killings that took place in Gujarat 2002 were criminal acts and all those involved in such crimes should get the harshest punishment.

In 2013, a year before the general elections, Muzaffarnagar in UP became the keg that was lit. Rich dividends came the way of BJPs Sangeet Singh Som, Sanjeev Baliyan, Suresh Rana, Virender Singh, who were rewarded with political posts including ministerial ones once the party came to power in 2014. As these gentlemen acquired respectability, on the sidelines appeared people like Sakshi Maharaj and Yogi Adityanath a spewing hatred against minorities. They were next in line, and having done their bit, clamouring for promotion.

In 2017, Yogi Adityanath was made UP chief minister. The first month of Adityanaths rule was a period of terror for the minorities with his outfits like Romeo Squads and Hindu Yuva Vahini running amok. Yet, a few months later, the process of normalisation was on, and the media was full of celebration of a hundred days of his rule. The process of Adityanaths gentrification had begun.

Meanwhile, the Parishads, the Dals, the Vahinis, the Senas, the moustached Generals, the Romeo Squads and, of course, the Gau Rakshaks wait their turn. They need to be noticed. They need to be upgraded when the next opportunity arises. Who can ask them to hold back and not partake of a model that assures success? They are savvy enough to know the Prime Minister has to make occasional noises every now and then. They will ride this out as did their fathers before them.

*Pankaj Butalia is a Delhi-based filmmaker who recently initiated an online petition, No lynch mobs, please
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).
Jessica Faraday and Preston "I work for Adidas" Page did not receive a warm welcome from some new neighbors.

KRON 4 reports (via Portland's KOIN) that the California-based pair moved to Portland, Oregon four months ago. They woke up this Sunday to find their home and their car (really, really) vandalized.

Spray-painted across the couple's new and adorable house were the words "Get California out of Portland" and "Move back." The pair's car was also keyed and covered in spray paint.

The day before, the couple was backing out of their driveway when another driver began yelling, "Go back to California!"

Faraday and Page assume the over-the-top vandalism stems from the road-rage incident. Apparently the pair had just finished revamping and re-painting their new home. It's not clear how anyone knew the couple had moved from California, but a peek at a website for their upcoming wedding at a monastery in Mexico might offer some answers.

This incident calls to mind a guerrilla sticker campaign from two years ago when someone, or some group, was stickering Portland real estate agent signs with the message "No Californians."

In defense of Faraday and Page (and their many, many hats and tattoos), Portland is pretty hipster-heavy already. The Oregon city is no stranger to man-buns and precious selfies. It's not like two more blond people in leather jackets and Navajo rings aren't totally going to fit right in.

While surprised someone would "go this far," Faraday and Page don't plan to give in to the vandal's demands.

"Portland is fantastic. You can't argue with this place," said Page.

CLEARLY YOU CAN, PRESTON.

Related: New Angry Mission Graffiti Targets All Yuppies and Hipsters
For San Franciscans, the relative heatwave of this summer simply means shorts weather for big holidays like July 4, some interesting heat-related tweets, and perhaps a flex alert or a Spare the Air Day. For ranchers in Californias Central Valley, though the AP reports that the heat is killing off cows by the hundreds, wreaking havoc on dairy production, and that a facility that processes livestock carcasses cant take any more incoming  so farmers have to bury and compost their own dead animals onsite.





These last couple days have been torturous on a lot of cattle, rancher Hank Van Exel tells CBS 13 Sacramento in video above. Van Exel has more than 6,000 cows, but nine consecutive days of temperatures exceeding 100 degrees has him resorting to emergency hacks like fans and mist machines to keep them alive. He estimates that his milk production has dropped 16 percent because of the heat wave. Its going to have a significant effect in the whole state, on milk production, he says.

According to the Fresno Bee, cow carcasses in the Central Valley are typically processed at a grease collection and animal byproduct rendering plant 15 miles from Fresno called Baker Commodities (who knew!). That Baker Commodities facility was already facing a backlog of cow carcasses thanks to the heatwave, and a recent mechanical malfunction at the plant is setting them back even further. This all led the states dairy authorities to issue a gruesome-sounding Emergency Morality Disposal Advisory giving guidance on handling extensively decomposed deadstock and composting or burying the cows remains in emergency landfills.



This is just what happens to cows in significant heat waves, but this years is the most lethal for San Joaquin Valley cows in about a decade. In 2006, valley farmers reported around $300 million in losses because of the heat, In the dairy business, you just have to take what Mother Nature gives you, Van Exel told CBS 13. Thats just farming.



Related: Cowboy Sheriff Feeds 30 Cows Stranded On A River Island Near Yosemite


Just as the Ford Model T completely revolutionized American travel back in the early 1900s, the new, yet-unreleased Tesla Model 3 is also anticipated to revolutionize modern society (at least among people who listen to TED Talks, it is). On Sunday night, Tesla founder Elon Musk issued a series of late-night tweets, which is how billionaires communicate these days, and the New York Times deciphers the jargon in these tweets to determine that the Tesla Model 3 electric cars will begin production this week. Thats two weeks earlier than planned thanks to some unexpected regulatory approvals coming in ahead of schedule, and the first Fremont-produced Tesla Model 3 is expected to roll off the line Friday. According to Business Insider, the first 30 people who ordered the Tesla Model 3 will be awarded their beloved vehicle at a handover party three weeks later on July 28.

Model 3 passed all regulatory requirements for production two weeks ahead of schedule. Expecting to complete SN1 on Friday  Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 3, 2017

Handover party for first 30 customer Model 3's on the 28th! Production grows exponentially, so Aug should be 100 cars and Sept above 1500.  Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 3, 2017

Looks like we can reach 20,000 Model 3 cars per month in Dec  Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 3, 2017

The term SN1 in the above tweet refers to the first batch of Tesla Model 3 cars, production for which Musk expects to complete on Friday. The Tesla Model 3 is considered to be a revolutionary product, at least among the thought leadership set, because it will be the most affordable Tesla ever and geared at the mass market. And by affordable we mean $35,000, compared to the $90,000 price tag on a typical Tesla. ( Autonomous driving capabilities will cost you a little more.)Further deciphering Elon Musks tweets, it looks like he anticipates 100 Model 3s to be produced in August, ramping up to 1,500 in September, and 20,000 Model 3 cars per month coming off the line by December.Producing 20,000 cars a month is a vastly larger scale than anything Tesla is used to, as they only produced around 80,000 cars in all of 2016 according to Business Insider. To that end, Tesla needs more than just their Fremont production facility . There is no room at Fremont, Musk reportedly said at a shareholders meeting in June We are bursting at the seams. Thanks to that bursting, Tesla built a $5 billion battery factory in Nevada, and is planning a new Chinese production plant near Shanghai. Despite pricing their cars at $90,000 a pop, Tesla still lost nearly $400 million in the first quarter of 2017. Nonetheless, investors are happily buying what Elon Musk is selling and Tesla stock is currently trading in the astronomic range around $350 a share . That puts Teslas market value at roughly $7 billion more than General Motors and $15 billion more than Ford, despite currently producing only tens of thousands of cars, compared to those larger automakers millions.



Related: Tesla Denies Female Engineer's Discrimination Claims, Discourages Unionization With Promises Of Froyo And Rollercoasters


The performances by artists from the Vietnam Singing-Dancing-Music Theatre will feature folk songs and dances accompanied by traditional instruments such as dan bau (monochord), dan tranh (zither) and bamboo flute.



The festival, held by the World Folklore Union, will take place in France, Italy, Romania, Greece and Serbia.



"This is the first time the World Folklore Union has invited Vietnamese artists through the Cultural Centre of Vietnam (CCV) in France to perform at the festival," said Nguyen Truong Giang, leader of the Vietnamese troupe to Europe.



"The artists will present songs and dances which consist of combination of materials, some from the folk dance period and other from the modern era. Some of the dance styles which were derived from the folk dance period include the umbrella dance, khen (pan-pipe) dance and Cham dance."



Vietnams attendance at the festival marks the CCV in France officially becoming the 56th member of the World Folklore Union. The membership recognition took place at the unions board meeting in Paris last March.



Talking to the Vietnam News Agencys correspondent to Paris, the unions president Dorel Cosma expressed his delight at Vietnams membership in the organisation. He praised Vietnams diverse folklore and affirmed his confidence in the countrys future contributions to the union.



According to CCV director Nguyen Thanh Vuong, the membership enables Vietnam to access information and take part in folklore projects among the union and gain financial and technical support from the organisation.



The union is an organisation founded in 1949 in France aiming to secure the relationship between the national federations of folklore groups in different countries.

Vietnamplus
SIOUX CITY | A man's hand was severely injured Monday night in a fireworks mishap on Sioux City's north side, a Sioux City fire official said.

Asst. Chief Dan Cougill with Sioux City Fire Rescue confirmed Monday night that an adult male in Leeds had been shooting off fireworks when the incident occurred. The call came around 8 p.m.

Cougill said the man was transported to Mercy Medical Center -- Sioux City. He said this was not the first hand or finger injury of the year due to the newly legalized fireworks.

Editor's note: This story has been updated with new information on the extent of the injury.
SIOUX CITY | A 27-year-old man was stabbed multiple times Monday in Sioux City, and police are investigating the case as an attempted murder.

At 9:47 p.m. the Sioux City Police Department was called to the 300 block of 14th Street in reference to an assault. Upon arrival, officers found a man suffering from multiple stab wounds. A press release said he was alert and responsive.

Police determined the victim, who is not identified in the release, was at the nearby Kum & Go and got into an altercation with up to four people. One of the subjects pulled a knife and stabbed him, the release said. The victim ran from the fight and was located in a grassy area directly to the south of the parking lot behind the gas station.

The suspects left the scene, and two males have been identified. Police are still looking to identify two others, who are Native American or Hispanic males in their 20s, the release said. If anyone has information on this ongoing investigation they are asked to call the anonymous tip hotline, 712-258-8477.

The man who was stabbed was taken to Mercy Medical Center -- Sioux City. His injuries appear to be non-life-threatening, the release said.
SIOUX CITY  After several failed attempts, Don Cline was finally able to get his hands on the limited edition Patriotic Bing bar when he visited Palmers Olde Tyme Candy Shoppe Monday.

The last time they said they didnt have any and said they keep selling out so fast, said Cline, who lives in Hawarden, Iowa.

The Patriotic Bing comes with three round chocolate and toasted peanut covered mounds each with a distinctly flavored center and color scheme that represents the American flag: Red is represented by the traditional cherry-flavored nougat found in a Bing; white by a vanilla-flavored nougat; and the last mound is blue raspberry.

Cline was in town running errands with his wife, Julie, when he decided to try his luck one more time at the downtown Sioux City candy store to see if the highly coveted variation of the chocolate treat was available.

As he walked out of the shop with a bag full of the American-themed candy bars, Cline commented that his family has liked Bings for years. Cline said he is often tasked with shipping box loads of them to his siblings who have moved out of the region.

Hearing stories about people being unable to find the Patriotic Bings has not been uncommon to Jon Sadler, who manages Palmers Old Tyme Candy Shoppe. He said Palmers launched the product about a month ago and has had trouble keeping them in stock since.

One thing Sadler credits for creating the unexpected high demand for the Patriotic Bing was a viral post on the Siouxland Chamber of Commerces Facebook to promote the candy bar. As of Monday afternoon, the post had generated nearly 2,900 shares, 844 reactions and 228 comments.

The next day it went viral; we were swamped, Sadler said referencing the post that went up on May 18. "We take care of our customers so the stores got them first and then I got them; people have been flying all over town trying to keep them. We couldnt make them fast enough.

The Patriotic Bings comes in boxes of 162 and Sadler estimated more than 200,000 of the bars have been sold since they became available. At its peak, his store was selling 1,600 of them a day and selling out by noon.

Sadler said Palmer was caught off guard by the demand  about four times higher than he expected  and had to ramp up production to keep pace.

They were going to do it just through the Fourth, but theyve made me enough that they are going to go into the summers a little ways, he said.

If they have enough wrapper left, they might even make them to Labor Day, who knows? Were not sure.
Le MARS, Iowa | Stuart Dekkenga got into a minor fender-bender when he was leaving work a couple months ago.

I had the sun in my eyes so I held my hand up to block it. I was looking the other way and then I ran right into a lady at a stop sign," he said. "I just wasnt paying attention.

The police officer who responded to the accident found his boss as the culprit.

"I told him to do whats right," said Dekkenga, the 22-year police chief of Le Mars. "It was my fault, so he wrote me a ticket."

After 38 years in law enforcement in the Plymouth County seat, doing the right thing is a legacy he hopes resonates with the 14-officer department.

"I tell the guys here all the time if there's a question on how to do it, just do it right. Sometimes that takes longer and sometimes it doesn't," Dekkenga said in an interview in his nearly-cleared-out office prior to his last day on the job last Friday. "It's kind of been something I hang my hat on when I need to."

Dekkenga, 57, grew up in Sioux Center, Iowa, and had aspirations of becoming a carpenter. When he went to sign up for classes at Western Iowa Tech Community College, he was disheartened to learn the carpentry program was full for the next two semesters.

"I kind of sank a little bit," he admitted. "I uttered the words, 'Well, what do you got open?' (The college official) started listing off courses and said police science and I told him to sign me up for that. It was a spur of the moment thing, and I haven't really looked back since. I just figured it was a God thing. He decided to push me in that direction."

During college, Dekkenga worked security at Sodrac Park, a now-defunct greyhound racing track in North Sioux City, and was a night patrolman in Onawa, Iowa.

In June 1979, he started his law enforcement career in Le Mars as an officer. He was promoted to sergeant in the mid-1980s, then again to captain five years later before becoming chief in 1995 to fill a retirement.

"This has been a good place to work. Good people to work with and that's what really makes the difference. This is a people business," he said. "It has been a real blessing for me. Yeah, we have had our struggles. A lot of things we get involved with arent pretty. They are not nice. But we still manage to get through it and help other members of the community get through it too.

Dekkenga recalled some high-profile cases the department has gone through such as the 1992 killing of Julie Baack and the Hayden family slaying in 2006 where police believe the father killed his wife and two teenage kids before he committed suicide.

"That was really rough for a couple of our guys here because it was a local family," Dekkenga said. "One of the first responding officers to the scene was also a godfather to the children. That was pretty traumatic for the group of people working here at the time. Because it was personal."

But the good parts in his tenure in law enforcement?

"Right here," he said coming behind his desk. He walked to a cabinet and grabbed a piece of paper (among many) hanging up.

"Thank you for finding my bike for me, a weathered note read, signed by an 8-year-old named Patrick.

Isnt that cool? he asked.

Dick Kirchoff has been mayor of Le Mars of almost a decade and his relationship with the police chief has been "absolutely great."

Stu has done a tremendous job. There has been a lot of changes in city government in the last seven or eight years and he has adapted to them very well," Kirchoff said. "... I just cant say enough good things about Stu."

Kirchoff said the city has hired an outside consultant to help dwindle the 40 police chief applications to five. Interviews will take place this week. The city's goal is to have a new chief by mid-August.

Dekkenga's wife, Karla, recently retired from the Iowa Department of Human Services. The two plan to restore their 1880s Victorian home and visit their three children in Denver and see a new granddaughter they haven't met yet.

"I have no regrets," Dekkenga reflected. "I think it has been very honorable because I have a real strong sense of justice -- on what's right is right."
There's a disturbing trend to this period of total Republican rule, as evidenced in three items in the July 1 Journal.

In Leonard Pitts' column, he reminds us of Grover Norquist's continuing battle to rid our country of taxes and let private industry do the jobs currently done by federal, state, and county agencies, financed by those taxes. Then the Other Voices editorial from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, headlined "Trump's financial reforms are a banker's wish list," shows how this administration wants to undo the regulations made necessary following "the 2007-2008 economic meltdown."

As if all this weren't bad enough, and you need some solace, there's no help ahead in spiritual places, with a third article headlined "Bill allows churches to endorse political candidates." With this GOP tactic, sermons will be replaced by election diatribes. Instead of leaving with a blessing, we'll be told for whom to vote.

All of the above brings sadness for America - and it's "y-u-g-e." - Nancy Riggan, Orange City, Iowa
THE MINI: My parents always told me that one is judged by the company they keep. perhaps Governor Reynolds and Senator Grassley should think about that before they appear along side of Donald Trump. --James Weber, Westfield, Iowa
First of all I want to say "thank you and we're glad you are gone" to the former governor of Iowa for leaving and going to China. As his last mistake, he had to sign the bill legalizing fireworks for everyone in the state of Iowa.

I read in The Journal that people shooting fireworks should check with their neighbors who have dogs before shooting them off to see if the noise would scare their pets. No one knocked on my door, and I have two cocker spaniels who have been traumatized by yahoos who find it so much fun to hear something go bang.

To the city fathers, I would like to ask where they came up with the times and dates the fireworks should be allowed. The official date for the beginning of this barrage was June 25 at 1 p.m. and it goes until July 4. Things began popping in our neighborhood the week before. Ten days to celebrate one day? Anyone with a brain would be bored with things going bang in less than one day. And we ask them, "When are our dogs supposed to go to the bathroom outside with it sounding like a war zone?" One suffers from stress coitus. Are they going to pay that vet bill when this holiday is over? We have to buy a license for our dogs. This should give them some rights. The dogs are terrorized for 10 days. I think they should have to go through the same 10 days of terror the dogs are going through.

Did they even consider what this noise is doing to people with health problems who are usually in bed by 10 p.m.?

I can hardly wait for the celebration of the new year. Perhaps the City Council needs to rethink the length of time this nonsense goes on. - Clarisse and Gary Sutherland, Sioux City
iStock/Thinkstock(WASHINGTON) -- North Korea claimed on Tuesday that it successfully test-fired its first intercontinental ballistic missile, the latest in a series of recent launches from the country.



If confirmed, the launch would be a significant development for the North Korean regime, which has been working to develop an ICBM capable of hitting the United States.



The U.S. has previously indicated that it would shoot down any such missiles flown over international waters to warn and deter North Korea from further long-range launches.



ICBMs, which are capable of carrying nuclear weapons, typically have a minimum range of about 3,420 miles.



U.S. officials, which have not confirmed the report, previously said that the missile launched from North Pyongyang province and had an intermediate range.



President Donald Trump took to Twitter on Monday, before the Pentagon issued an official statement on the matter, to respond to reports that North Korea had conducted another missile test.



"North Korea has just launched another missile. Does this guy have anything better to do with his life? Hard to believe that South Korea...and Japan will put up with this much longer. Perhaps China will put a heavy move on North Korea and end this nonsense once and for all, the president tweeted late Monday, presumably referring to North Koreas leader Kim Jong-un.



A U.S. official said earlier that the type of missile launched by North Korea was still being determined, though it was described as a land-based intermediate ballistic missile.



"We are working with our interagency partners on a more detailed assessment," the U.S. Pacific Command said in a statement Monday. "We continue to monitor North Korea's actions closely."



The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) assessed that the missile launch from North Korea did not pose a threat to North America.



The launch marks North Korea's 10th ballistic missile test this year.



A spokesman for Japan's cabinet said the North Korean missile had landed inside Japan's Economic Zone, which stretches 200 miles from the Japanese shoreline.

Copyright  2017, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
SIOUX CITY | Most Siouxland locals refer to it as "the big pencil," but the U.S. Department of Interiors refers to it as the first national historic landmark. It has been more than a century since the construction of Sergeant Floyd Monument was completed. One hundred sixteen years to be exact.

"It's like the Statue of Liberty in New York; visitors make the journey to see it, but a lot of local people haven't visited it. The monument is very special to Sioux City," says Bev Hinds, one of Sioux City's go-to history buffs.

"I don't call myself a historian; I am a purveyor of history," says Hinds." I tell the story."

Hinds calls her late husband the "true history buff." Dr. V. Strode Hinds served as president of the National Lewis & Clark Trail Historical Foundation. After his passing, the plaza around the monument was named in his honor in 1997. "He was buried in Clear Lake, Iowa, so I like to go up to the monument to mutter at him sometimes."

Hinds certainly does more than just telling the story of Sgt. Charles Floyd and his monument; through Hinds' passion for history and personal connection with the monument, she helps the landmark thrive. Every August, Hinds speaks at a memorial service for Floyd held at the monument. "It's always a nice program."

This year's service will be held at 6 p.m. Aug. 19.

Hinds also tends to the monument's visitors registrar. "I swing by at least every 10 days and make sure everything is in good shape." Besides occasional vandalism on the registrar or benches, Hinds says she there isn't much she needs to take of. "The Parks Department keeps it in good shape."

Kelly Bach, parks maintenance field supervisor of Sioux City, says the monument is more low maintenance than most of the 59 parks in Sioux City he tends to. "Each park has its different needs. Sometimes some parks require more attention than others."

Recently, Cone Park and Pearl Park have taken up a good amount of Bach's time because they're in the planning and construction phases. "Grandview takes up a lot of time because so many events are held there."

Besides bathroom maintenance and mowing, Bach says, the lights at Sgt. Floyd Monument require a good amount of maintenance. Bach says the city is looking to upgrade the lights around the monument to more energy-efficient lighting soon.

"Restorations to the monument haven't been made since 1997. We're at the point where there are a few areas that will need additional restoration soon," Bach says.

Sgt. Floyd Monument is open daily, at no charge. It is located on the east side of South Lewis Boulevard/U.S. Highway 75 south of Glenn Ave.
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.
Le Collectif Cheikh Yassine a organise un certain nombre dactivites et de festivites pour les enfants de Gaza sous le theme  La joie des enfants de Gaza pour lAid . Ces activites ont commence le premier jour de lAid et continue jusquau 4eme jour de lAid dans la bande de Gaza.



Plusieurs activites, ont ete organisees parmi lesquelles : des competitions recompensees par des prix, des jeux, des animations et des chants presentes par un groupe ainsi que des distributions de cadeaux et daides financieres.




A quintet of $40,000 Ohio Sires Stakes for two-year-old trotting fillies was contested on a cool Monday evening, July 3 at Northfield Park. For many in this division, it was their first pari-mutuel battle under the lights at the half-mile Home of the Flying Turns.

Chris Beaver and Wilbur Langs Sesame (Aaron Merriman) made her career debut a winning one as she held off the late-charging Storm Beach Okidd (Peter Wrenn) to prevail by a neck in 1:59 in division one. The 9-5 Triumphant Caviar lass held the lead throughout the mile from the gate onward, snapping off fractions of: 30.2, 1:00.2 and 1:30 before posting a :29 final brush.

Bred by Jonas Schlabach, Sesame is the fifth foal out of the Credit Winner mare Jewell Creek and is a half-sister to Explosive Ripple (Explosive Matter) 1:58 ($82,464). Bang, a 24-1 longshot, finished third for Kayne Kauffman, beaten 8-1/4 lengths.

Trainer Norm Parker harnessed Looking For Zelda to a 1:59.1 triumph in the second OSS division with Tony Hall at the lines at odds of 2-1. The daughter of Break The Bank K gave a wire-to-wire performance as she notched her first lifetime win for owner-breeder Robert J. Key of Leechburg, PA. Looking For Zelda is the second foal out of My Winning Way K and is a half-sister to Boyz N Guitars (Muscle Massive) 1:58.3 ($24,007).

Impinktoo, a 9-1 full sister to world champion Pinkman, finished second for Peter Wrenn, while 9-1 Oh My My My (Joe Essig, Jr.) was third, 2-1/2 lengths back.

The biggest upset of the night came when To Russia scored a 1:59.1 winning debut in the third OSS division for driver Ryan Stahl, returning $92.80 on a two dollar win ticket. The daughter of Manofmanymissions is trained by Scot Cox for the Parents Racing Stable, and prevailed in the final lengths with a :28.4 final panel over Eds Chargin Lady (Chris Page) and favourite Red Storm (Aaron Merriman), who had lead the field through the first three-quarters of the one mile test before tiring in the stretch.

To Russia was bred by Switzerlands Kjell Anderson and is the sixth foal out of Oaklea Odessa, 1:55.3s ($410,744) and is a half-sister to Muscle Babe (Muscle Mass) 1:53.3 ($250,630); Explosive Muscles (Muscle Mass) 1:54 ($184,589); and The Odessa Man (Angus Hall) 1:58.3 ($45,560).

John Sutton gave 8-1 Alanas Ways a perfect steer to grab the fourth OSS division in 1:58.3. The Dejarmbro lass bested 7-1 Ddream (Tyler Smith) and 4-1 Katy Did (Ronnie Wrenn, Jr.) by half a length at the wire for trainer Alicia Hanners and a quartet of Indiana, Michigan and New Jersey owners. Alanas Ways is the second foal out of the Cantab Hall mare Lady Bella and is a half-sister to She Drives Me Wild (by Pilgrims Taj) 1:59.3 ($23,921).

Trainer Danny Collins had This Years Best ready for a debut victory and she didnt disappoint owner Joyce McClelland, trotting to a 2:01.2 triumph in the final OSS division. Driven by Dan Noble, the 5-2 homebred daughter by My MVP-Under My Thumb-Malabar Man stayed solidly-gaited in a race marred by multiple breakers. Now Helen was second for Ryan Stahl at 11-1, while 18-1 longshot Bugs MVP was third with Peter Wrenn driving.

Ohio Sires Stakes continue on July 4, with two-year-old pacing colts vying in a special matinee program at Scioto Downs.

(OSDF)
The trotters own the spotlight at the Hippodrome 3R Tuesday with the opening round of the $220,000 Breeders Cup series for three-year-olds.

And taking center stage will be last years colt champion, Capteur De Reve (Dream Catcher in English), who starts from post five in the fifth race.

Trained by Maxime Velaye for the Provoquante Stable, who owns and bred Capteur De Reve, the son of Muscle Mass is primed and ready to have another big season.

He (Capteur De Reve) did fill out a bit over the winter, said trainer Maxime Velaye. But pretty much looks the same as last year.

Last year, Capteur De Reve did very well in the Future Stars Series at H3R. He captured an elimination division and was second in another, but was at his best in the C$65,000 final, winning with ease by two and three-quarter lengths.

Capteur De Reve has had tough in his first two starts this year, having to race in the Invitational Trot at H3R against older horses. He has been forth both times, but his trainer Maxime Velaye is OK with that.

It is not easy to race a three-year-old against older horses, Velaye said. But at least he did have some starts before the series begin and I was OK with it, but the last start I was expecting a better performance especially they only went 2:00.

I am confident that he will race good on Tuesday, Velaye explained.

Its not going to be easy. I see some of the horses improved a lot from last year, but my horse will be ready for the fight, and think he get the job done on Tuesday.

Capteur De Reves main rival will be Sometimes When in post two for driver Guy Gagnon. Also sired by Muscle Mass, Sometimes When has been second in his last two starts at Rideau Carleton, the fastest a neck loss in 1:58. Sometimes When was second to Capteur De Reve last year in the Future Stars Final.

Other contenders include Bastiano (post six) and Kinnder Dangerous (post one).

The trotting fillies are in the limelight in the seventh race, headed by HP Run Like Mom in post five for driver Stephane Brosseau.

Unraced at age two, HP Run Like Mom has found her winning ways as of late for trainer Jean Tourigny, and is on a two-race winning streak. She is sired by Kadabra and is bred and co-owned by Claude Hamel of Ayers Cliff with Michel Damphousse of Louisville.

In her last start, HP Run Like Mom, won by the entire length of the home stretch, the official margin was 19-1/4 lengths in 2:00.4.

Her main rivals in the race will be Affirmee (post four) and the entry from trainer Daniel Martin of Muscle Do (post two) and Moskido (post three).

Post time Tuesday evening is 7:00 p.m. For more information, visit www.quebecjockeyclub.com.

(Quebec Jockey Club)
The Somebeachsomewhere-Rainbow Blue filly Rainbow Room, making her pari-mutuel debut, was 1-20 in her division of five $30,000 Pennsylvania All-Stars events for freshman pacing fillies Monday night at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono, but it was the Bettors Delight-In A Whisper filly Aims Whisper who recalled the adage anything can happen in a short sprint to the wire, getting past by the heavy chalk by a head in 1:53.2.

Rainbow Room was sent to the top by driver David Miller, reaching the first station in :27.3 and then able to back the half off to walking-horse time of :57.4. Even after speeding things up in the third panel to post a 1:26 split a quarter-mile from the finish, you would have been hard-pressed to find anyone to take a bet against the Ohio Miller.

And the Ohio Miller won  but it was Brett Miller and Aims Whisper, sitting in the pocket, who paced her own last quarter in :27.1 to take the photo from the heavy chalk. Trainer Kevin Lare and owner Frank Chick saw their filly, despite winning two straight including a p/m event here at Pocono, nonetheless return $64.20 to win to her scattered backers.

In the division right after Aims Whisper, Team Miller-Lare-Chick had the 1-5 favourite in the A Rocknroll Dance-Bootleg Yankee baby Yankee Will Dance, but it was deja vu all over again, for after the big crowd choice laid down splits of :28, :56.2, and 1:24.3, another pocket rocket stole the headlines at the end -- the Somebeachsomewhere-See Major filly Majorsspeciallady and driver Matt Kakaley charged home in :28.1 from the two-hole, stopping the timer in 1:52.4.

Ron Burke conditions the promising distaffer for Burke Racing Stable LLC, Weaver Bruscemi LLC and J&T Silva Stables LLC. Trainer Burke and owners Burke Racing and Weaver Bruscemi turned up victorious in three of the five cuts  none of the quintet going to the race favourite.

Kakaley drove one other of the Burke winners, the one with the fastest time  1:52.3. That would be Strong Opinion, a Well Said-Rough Sketch filly who also used the Pocono Pike to paydirt, stepping home in :27.4. Burke Racing and Weaver Bruscemi co-own this filly with Jack Piatt II and Silva Pumel & Libby.

Burke also harnessed the first winner in the series, as the Bettors Delight-Double Creme filly Double A Mint overcame a 22-day stint since her last qualifier to go down the road in 1:55.1, with Yannick Gingras brushing her home in :26.3. This filly is owned by Burke Racing, Weaver Bruscemi and Silva Pumel & Libby.

Somebeachsomewhere joined Bettors Delight as gaining double siring credit when Sarpa Hanover, out of Shaky Cam Hanover, won in 1:55.1 for driver Andrew McCarthy and trainer Brett Bittle. This was one race where it was an advantage to be first-over, as behind the leading two the pocket horse made a late break to scatter the others, and Sarpa Hanover went on about her business unaffected, paying $33.00 while winning for the Charles Kellers III and IV, E. Daniel Bittle and the trainer.

(PHHA/Pocono)
WOODLAND It could have been just another trendy bar in downtown Vancouver, but that would have been a little too boring for Lady Bond. The tattoo artist and business owner craved a challenge, a way to make a meaningful mark on the world.

So lured by her stepmothers visions of a revitalized Woodland, Bond made her way up the freeway and opened a new tattoo studio in February 2016, followed by a tap house and wine bar called Sproos in June 2016. Sproos (pronounced spruce) just celebrated its one-year anniversary, and already it has become a popular watering hole in Woodland. The restaurant is expanding its menu to include brunch options, and it just got a new part owner, an award-winning bartender named Michael Watts.

The two owners hope Sproos will be a catalyst for downtown Woodlands transformation from a sleepy set of streets to a vibrant neighborhood.

For us . were an ember in this bonfire, in this wood pile thats ready to go, but we have to burn so bright that it catches other people on fire, that people want to come out here, buy property and open up businesses, said Watts, 34, of Ridgefield.

Sproos is certainly unique for Woodland. The tap house decor takes a page out of Portlandia but with hints of the Woodlands logging roots: Heavy steel elements mix with wood, saw blades and deer sheds. A Vancouver artist from Steel Leaf Designs made the bars counter top out of pieces of an old barn in Woodland. The bar has 31 taps of rotating craft beers, plus cider, mead and kombucha, and a small menu of Northwest wines. This fall Sproos will add scotch and whiskey too.

Behind the bar, cooks slice vegetables in a small, open kitchen. The menu varies seasonally to highlight fresh, local ingredients. This weekend Sproos will add a brunch items such as a blueberry coffee cake, pigs in a blanket and liege waffles (mini Belgian waffles with pearl sugar).

Really, were like fat kids at heart, Watts quips. Yet there are plenty of healthy options, too, like the caprese salad in a balsamic vinaigrette stuffed inside of an oversized heirloom tomato.

Beyond offering a trendy spot to hang out in Woodland, the two owners hope to make Sproos a community hub. In the last year, the tap house has hosted fundraisers for local charities and events like one last week when participants paddle boarded on Horseshoe Lake before enjoying some craft beer.

Bond, 39, of Vancouver already owns a tattoo shop and was looking to start a new business two years ago when her stepmother Michann Bond retired in Woodland. Michann is a former contractor who was heavily involved in revitalizing downtown Vancouver, and she had a vision for what downtown Woodland could become, Bond said.

In late 2015, the Bonds began remodeling an old veterinarian clinic into a tattoo shop. They gutted the buildings interior and revamped the exterior before opening The Bond Tatoo Society. A few months later they added the tap house adjacent to the tattoo business.

From the moment Bond started demolition, she contacted Watts to see if he wanted to be involved. The two knew one another through mutual friends, the owners of Low Bar in Vancouver where Watts worked three years ago. After a year of prodding, Watts finally agreed to join as part owner in Sproos last month.

Before Low Bar, Watts worked at Beachs Restaurant on the Columbia River and spent much of his career in the service industry before taking a brief break to work from home for a nonprofit for the last three years. He missed working with the public, and he was attracted to the idea of starting something new in Woodland, where he spent much of his childhood visiting his grandparents.

Sproos owners are counting on Portlands economic growth to continue to spread northward.

We could have easily have opened this in downtown Vancouver and been slammed but then its just about the money, its just about plopping in another business in downtown Vancouver, Bond said. Where with this, ... its a lot more work, its a lot more ground level, its a lot more building, but I feel like theres a bigger reward on a personal level because youre building the foundation.
IANS

India on 3 July successfully test-fired an indigenously developed short-range and Quick Reaction Surface to Air missile (QRSAM) from Chandipur along the Odisha coast. The missile was test-fired from Launch Complex-3 at the Integrated Test Range (ITR) around 11.30 a.m from a truck-mounted canister launcher, said official sources.

"All the technologies and subsystems incorporated in the missile have performed well, meeting all the mission requirements," an official statement said. "All the Radars, Electro Optical Systems, Telemetry Systems and other stations have tracked the Missile and monitored all the parameters. The missile test met all the objectives."

Defence Minister Arun Jaitley congratulated the DRDO (Defence Research and Development Organisation) over the successful launch. "Congratulations to DRDO for successfully test-firing Quick Reaction Surface to Air Missile. This will add to India's defence capabilities," Jaitley said in a tweet.

Congratulations to DRDO for successfully test firing Quick Reaction Surface to Air Missile. This will add to India's defence capabilities.  Arun Jaitley (@arunjaitley) July 3, 2017

"Successful flight test of Quick Reaction Surface to Air Missile paves way for complete indigenisation of Surface to Air missile domain," he said.

Successful flight test of Quick Reaction Surface to Air Missile paves way for complete indigenization of Surface to Air missile domain.  Arun Jaitley (@arunjaitley) July 3, 2017

The state-of-the-art missile has a strike range of 20-30 km and is capable of engaging multiple targets. The missile has been developed by the DRDO and other establishments. The missile was tested for a second time to evaluate the performance of its canister version. The first test was conducted on 4 June.
Kshitij Pujari

It happens to be a well-known fact that Elon Musk has grabbed attention and eyeballs across the globe for having incredible plans to steer the future of this planet. Much of what Elon Musk dedicates his life to revolves around his vision to change the world and humanity. His short term goals include things like reducing reliance on non-renewable energy, reducing global warming and making transport efficient and cheap. His long term plans involve the evolution of the human mind and also to make inter-planetary travel a reality by beginning the colonization of Mars in the foreseeable future.

Elon Musks total estimated wealth form all his different ventures is around $15.2 billion, making him the 80th-wealthiest person in the world. Musk is also ranked as the 21st most powerful person on the Forbes list of most powerful people in 2016.

The man has made and left a mark in numerous fields which have seemingly no connection to each other. To name a few Elon Musk was the co-founder of X.com a banking company which was later renamed as PayPal and is currently one of the world's largest Internet payment companies

Not satisfied with his current work, Musk pulled out of PayPal and jumped onto the automotive industry in the form of Tesla Inc and took the world by storm. Focusing on the cleanest form of energy Tesla cars which run primarily on electricity, are gaining massive coverage and demands all around the globe for their eco-friendly nature. Tesla's 2017 goals are to launch a new car, open a large battery factory, and "perfect autonomous driving."

However, Musk wanted more than just building eco-friendly cars. He wanted eco-friendly energy generation. In hopes of achieving that dream in 2014, Tesla Inc bought $90 million stock of SolarCity, an American company that specializes in solar energy services. Subsequently in August same year SolarCity merged with Musks Tesla for $2.6 billion. This gave Musk incredible control on solar energy development. SolarCity is the number one provider of residential and commercial solar energy. It maintains a vertically integrated supply chain for high efficiency module manufacturing. Solarcity products solar roof and Powerwall 2 want to transform energy generation and storage.

Musk also envisioned human enhancement through Artificial intelligence. He planned to implant computer chips and AI in the human brain as part of evolving the human conscience. To propel this Musk along with eight others co-founded Neuralink. Musk said the company aims to make devices to treat serious brain diseases in the short-term, with the eventual goal of human enhancement. Basically, Musk seems to want to achieve a communications leap equivalent in impact to when humans came up with language and dialect. Musks vision would enable direct uncompressed communication of concepts between people, instead of having to effectively compress your original thought by translating it into language, and then having the other party decompress the package you send them linguistically. Eliminating the middle man which is language, by integrating the conscious brain with AI will propel the human brain into a new stage of human evolution. He also runs a non-profit artificial intelligence (AI) Research Company called OpenAI that aims to carefully promote and develop friendly AI in such a way as to benefit humanity as a whole.

Musk is also ventured into the transportation business, after seeing people complain about expensive travel. He created a concept called Hyperloop, a network of tubes with a vacuum inside, that would accelerate pods to cruising speed gradually using a linear electric motor and glide above their track using passive magnetic levitation or air bearings. Musk made the outline of the initial Hyperloop concept opensourced by making it public. He released a preliminary design document and others have been encouraged to take the ideas and further develop them.

India is also on Hyperloops plan with a proposed route in India from Delhi to Mumbai in 55 minutes at a fraction of the price of air travel. The initial letter of intent with the Indian Government was however between Chennai and Bengaluru.

He was also irked by the severe traffic problems in the city. To counter that Musk co-founded The Boring Company an infrastructure and tunneling company that plans to tunnel under major cities providing a sled that can zoom in at speeds of 125 kmph non-stop. According to Musk, the company's goal is to enhance tunneling speed enough such that establishing an underground tunnel network is financially feasible.

Traffic is driving me nuts. Am going to build a tunnel boring machine and just start digging...  Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 17, 2016

But Musk was moving again, ahead of the earthly problems of transport, energy, AI, Cars etc. Not satisfied with the way humans were living their lives on Earth, Musk theorized a mass human extinction event which could wipe humanity from the face of the planet and planned to counter it. He wanted humanity to move beyond the Earth to distant planets like Mars. The only problem was the cost of putting humans in space was humoungous.

So Musk invested almost all his wealth in a space transport services company which he called SpaceX. The ambition of this program was to substantially cut the cost of space travel by making re-usable rockets. They were termed as Dragon spacecraft family and Falcon launch vehicle family. Although initially it nearly bankrupted him, Musk was successfully able to launch and land the same rocket.

His latest research paper gave detailed description of how in the near future a colonization of Mars with actual human settlement and self-sustaining city is possible. He is working on a plan to land people on the red planet before NASA.

Elon Musk is perhaps the greatest visionary on this planet. He is an inspiring figure and his concern for the human races survival is over whelming. Given enough time and resources Elon Musk will most definitely change the world as we know it.
hidden

Ukrainian company Intellect Service was not responsible for last week's international cyber attack that brought down the computer systems of several major companies, the father and daughter team told Reuters on 3 July. Cyber security investigators are still trying to establish who was behind the attack.

But Ukrainian officials and security firms including Microsoft , Cisco's Talos and Symantec say they have confirmed that some of the initial infections occurred when malware was transmitted to users of a Ukrainian tax software program called M.E.Doc. They say the virus, dubbed NotPetya by some experts, was primarily spread via an update issued by M.E.Doc, the accounting software developed by Olesya Linnik and her father Sergei at his company, Intellect Service.

In their first interview with foreign media since the attack, the Linniks said there was no evidence M.E.Doc, which is Ukraine's most-popular accounting software, was used to spread the virus and they did not understand the charges against them. "What has been established in these days, when no one slept and only worked? We studied and analysed our product for signs of hacking, it is not infected with a virus and everything is fine, it is safe," said Olesya, managing partner at Intellect Service.

"The update package, which was sent out long before the virus was spread, we checked it 100 times and everything is fine."

Little known outside Ukrainian accounting circles, M.E.Doc is an everyday part of life at around 80 percent of companies in Ukraine. The software allows its 400,000 clients to send and discuss financial documents between internal departments, as well as file them with the Ukrainian state tax service.

Police Investigating

Investigators have said M.E.Doc's expansive reach is what made it a prime target for the unknown hackers, who were looking for a way to infect as many victims as possible. "These malware families were spread using Ukrainian accounting software called M.E.Doc," researchers at Slovakian security software firm ESET said in a blog post on 30 June.

"M.E.Doc has an internal messaging and document exchange system so attackers could send spearphishing messages to victims."

Ukrainian police said on 3 July the Linniks could now face criminal charges if it is confirmed they knew about the infection but took no action. "We have issues with the company's leadership, because they knew there was a virus in their software but didn't do anything, if this is confirmed, we will bring charges," Serhiy Demedyuk, the head of Ukraine's cyber police, told Reuters in a text message.

Speaking before Demedyuk's comments at the company's modest offices on an industrial estate in Kiev, Sergei, Intellect Service's general director, raised his voice in frustration. "We built this business over 20 years. What is the point of us killing our own business?" Olesya said the company was cooperating with investigators and the police were yet to reach any conclusions.

"The cyber police are currently bogged down in the investigation, we gave them the logs of all our servers and there are no traces that our servers spread this virus," she said.

"M.E.Doc is a transportation product, it delivers documents. But is an email program guilty in the distribution of a virus? Hardly."

Reuters
hidden

Chinese tech group LeEco is under growing pressure from its creditors and business partners, with a court in Shanghai ordering some of its assets frozen over late payments to a bank. The latest financial woes of the conglomerate, which has interests ranging from smart cars to online content, have surfaced days after founder and CEO Jia Yueting said its cash problems were "far worse than expected" and that billions of dollars in funds raised in recent months were not enough to help it ride out the crunch.

China Merchants Bank Co Ltd said in a statement on Tuesday it had applied to have some of LeEco's assets frozen because a subsidiary, Leview Mobile HK Limited, had been late on making interest payments on a loan. "CMB's Shanghai branch repeatedly urged repayment without success and so sought to use legal means," the bank said, adding it now had risks related to the loan under control and did not rule out using "friendly talks" to resolve the issue.

LeEco, which controls smartphone maker Coolpad and its core listed smart TV unit Leshi Internet Information and Technology Corp, has been battling huge financial pressure since Jia admitted last year the company had expanded too fast and was facing "big company disease". According to a court document dated June 26, the Shanghai High People's Court approved a freeze order on 1.237 billion yuan ($182 million) of assets of Leview Mobile HK Limited, two other LeEco-linked firms as well as CEO Jia and his wife.

The court document, which was seen by Reuters, said it had found CMB's application to be "in accordance with the law" and that therefore the freeze order ruling would come into immediate effect. Local media outlets earlier reported the asset freeze. A LeEco spokesman said the case concerned "financing loans related to LeEco's smartphone business", but added LeEco had enough collateral to cover the loan.

"Our senior executives are currently in close communication with various financing units of CMB, and we hope to resolve the related debt issue very soon," he said. LeEco also hopes to raise further cash to help it "get back to normal", he added. In late 2015, CMB agreed a 10 billion yuan loan to LeEco, part of which was used to acquire a stake in Coolpad and was the biggest bank loan to LeEco at the time, financial magazine Caixin said on Monday, citing public information.

Suppliers, Partners

Some other partners and suppliers are re-examining their exposure to the troubled group. This week, local media reported an affiliated company of electronics manufacturing giant Foxconn divested its 20 percent stake in LeEco's TV and video unit Leshi Zhixin, a blow to the company's core business and one of its most profitable units. Foxconn did not reply to Reuters' request for comment.

LeEco is also facing pressure from China Mobile over late payments of around 14 million yuan, a person with knowledge of the matter said. The carrier declined to comment. In June, Taiwan's Compal Electronics Inc reduced shipments to LeEco, and temporarily suspended its plans to buy shares of Leshi Zhixin, according to local media. At Compal's first quarter investor conference, it said it was monitoring Leshi's repayment abilities and would develop a new strategy to collect its debt, which could involve legal action.

Compal did not provide immediate comment when contacted by Reuters. LeEco did not reply to Reuters' requests for comments on its business partners' actions. Faced with the worsening cash crunch, LeEco has put some of its global properties for sale, cut staff numbers, and is planning a restructuring to fold some business units into Leshi Internet.

Reuters
tech2 News Staff

The Turkish Airlines said on 4 July, 2017 that the US will lift the ban on electronics on flights from Istanbul from the next day.

"As of tomorrow, we will put another ban, another crisis behind," Ilker Ayci, the airlines' chairman, told reporters in Istanbul.

US security officials would carry out inspections on the security measures at Istanbul's Ataturk Airport prior to the first flight to New York on 5 July, 2017 morning, the airlines' press office said.

Turkey started using US-manufactured tomography machines for luggage scan on a test basis in June end, Xinhua news agency reported.

In March, Washington banned devices larger than a smartphone in cabins on US-bound flights from 10 airports in eight countries, including Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Morocco, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Turkey, citing the threat of bombs hidden in the electronics. The US first lifted the ban on flights from Abu Dhabi on 2 July, 2017.

This report comes after The United States on 28 June, 2017 unveiled enhanced security measures for flights to the country designed to prevent expanding an in-cabin ban on laptops. The measures would affect 325,000 airline passengers on about 2,000 commercial flights arriving daily in the United States, on 180 airlines from 280 airports in 105 countries. Britain quickly followed suit with a similar set of restrictions.

With inputs from IANS
Dedicated to the Restoration of Progressive Democracy
Farhad Mazhar taken to DB office

Poet and columnist Farhad Mazhar who had gone 'missing and then rescued' was taken to the office of Detective Branch (DB) of Police at city's Minto Road on Tuesday morning.



Masudur Rahman, deputy commissioner of DMP (media), said Mazhar was taken to the DB office around 10:45am for interrogation.



After bringing him back to the capital from Khulna, police initially took him to Adabar Police Station around 9am.



Meanwhile, Didar Ahmmed, deputy inspector general (DIG) of Khulna Range, told journalists that Farhad Mazhar was brought to Fultola Police Station around 12am after his 'rescue' from a bus of 'Hanif Paribahan' at Nayapara in Abhaynagar upazila on Monday night.



The DIG said Mazhar was not kidnapped as he had gone out of his home 'on his own for a visit'.



Police traced Mazhar at Nayapara in Abhaynagar upazila on Monday night, over 18 hours after he was reportedly kidnapped from the capital.



Police found him at the 'Hanif Paribahan' bus around 11:30 pm while he was returning to Dhaka from Khulna, said officer-in-charge of Abhaynagar Police Station Anisur Rahman.



Earlier, Farhad Mazhar was said to have been kidnapped by unknown miscreants from Adabar in the capital in the early hours on Monday. -- UNB


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Revolutionary People's Rep'c of Guinea-Bissau, Republic of Guyana, Republic of Heard and McDonald Islands Holy See (Vatican City State) Honduras, Republic of Hong Kong, Special Administrative Region of China Hrvatska (Croatia) Hungary, Hungarian People's Republic Iceland, Republic of India, Republic of Indonesia, Republic of Iran, Islamic Republic of Iraq, Republic of Ireland Israel, State of Italy, Italian Republic Japan Jordan, Hashemite Kingdom of Kazakhstan, Republic of Kenya, Republic of Kiribati, Republic of Korea, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Republic of Kuwait, State of Kyrgyz Republic Lao People's Democratic Republic Latvia Lebanon, Lebanese Republic Lesotho, Kingdom of Liberia, Republic of Libyan Arab Jamahiriya Liechtenstein, Principality of Lithuania Luxembourg, Grand Duchy of Macao, Special Administrative Region of China Macedonia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Madagascar, Republic of Malawi, Republic of Malaysia Maldives, Republic of Mali, Republic of Malta, 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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
If you are looking for the new Immoral Minority posts, you should know that they can be found here at our new home Please stop by to get caught up on politics, join the conversations, or simply check out the new digs.
MURPHYSBORO  City Council aldermen voted to tighten up language in the city's yard sale ordinance that has one local businessman fighting back.

At their June 27 City Council meeting, aldermen voted 7-1 to amend the ordinance to specify that yard sales can only be held on residential property and that no more than two  not to exceed three consecutive days  can be held in a calendar year on that property. According to the change, "The term 'yard sale' shall include garage sale, rummage sale, carport sale, estate sale, flea market and similar types of sales or events."

Sporadically over the past two years, some Council members have talked about the open-air furniture and odds-and-ends market in the 1600 block of Walnut Street near 17th Street. Two times a month, management of 17th Street Resale will place various items from their store outside on the empty lot next to the store.

Voting for the updated ordinance were aldermen Michael Bastien, Dan Bratton, Gloria Campos, John Erbes, Barb Hughes, W.J. Pittman and Jance Curry-Witzman; aldermen Russell Brown and Herby Voss were not present.

Alderman Gary McComb was the only councilman who voted against the proposed update, saying he didn't think the city should impact the owner's ability to make money.

They wrote it especially for one person, McComb said. I just dont go along with that (the updated ordinance). I just dont agree with taking a mans business away from him.  Were supposed to be promoting business.

McComb said the lot's owner, Darryl Wisely, frequently helps with causes in the community, especially those involving people who are homeless. McComb said Wisely also sells furniture and other items bought by people who are not able to afford them or want to buy items from larger stores.

Mayor Will Stephens, who does not cast a vote, said he has no problem with the way the business has been running.

The amended ordinance calls for yard sales to be held no more than twice within a calendar year, not to exceed three consecutive days. Anyone wanting to conduct a yard sale must register with the police department and indicate the location and dates of such yard sales, before the yard sales begin.

Chester Wisely, who said he manages the lot for his brother, Darryl, confirmed that his brother has started a petition calling for allowance in 17th Street Resale to keep side-lot flea market open.

Chester Wisely said his family has operated businesses in the city since the 1800s, when his great-great uncles ran a nursery and a repair shop.

He said he and his brother have owned business in the city since the 1980s and his brother purchased the lot next to his business, 17th Street Resale, about 10 years ago.

"Were not a yard sale," Chester said. "Were 17th Street Resale, and we pay taxes on everything. We don't charge the customer tax."

"It looks like they specifically made this law so that it would directly affect our business, " Chester Wisely said. "What theyve done is racial, its prejudicial, because it targets a lot of the black people who come to our place to buy, and it targets the poor people who come to Southern Illinois."

"I just dont feel like the city has the right to dictate who can and who cannot put merchandise on their own personal property," Chester said.
SPRINGFIELD  The Illinois Senate endorsed a $5 billion income tax increase Tuesday and a $36 billion spending plan designed to begin digging Illinois out of the nation's longest state-budget deadlock since at least the Great Depression.

The Democratic-controlled Senate provided three-fifths majorities on both votes. The tax increase passed 36-18, just enough to send the measure to Gov. Bruce Rauner, and enough to override the veto the Republican has promised.

"We are at a moment in time. We are faced today with the fierce urgency of 'now,'" said the tax increase legislation's sponsor, Sen. Toi Hutchinson of Olympia Fields. "We don't have any more time. And too late is not good enough."

Local Sens. Paul Schimpf, R-Waterloo, and Dale Fowler, R-Harrisburg, voted against the measure.

I have consistently stated that I will not support stand-alone tax increases that are not accompanied by reforms. Unfortunately, because the legislative majorities simply walked away from negotiations this past weekend, that is the choice before me, Schimpf said in an emailed news release. We cannot ask Illinois taxpayers for more revenues without equal or greater amounts of economic reforms and budget cuts. A tax increase, at this time without the prerequisite reforms, will not solve our problems. Voting against this budget was not a decision I made lightly, as there are thousands of constituents that for months have demanded a fiscal plan to end the impasse. I am more than willing to work with the legislative majorities to obtain a real solution to the states economic predicament.

Fowler echoed those sentiments.

Southern Illinois cant afford another tax increase, our region is already suffering from an exodus of residents to Indiana, Kentucky, or Missouri or other points across the nation. I made a promise to my constituents, that I would oppose tax increases if they were not coupled with reforms to make Illinois more competitive," Fowler said in an emailed news release. To lend my support for another tax increase without the assurances that it would be applied to the states $14.7 billion backlog, would be irresponsible. It is a shame that the legislative majorities backed away from any meaningful reforms and decided to instead proceed with a tax package which endangers our already fragile Illinois economy.

The Senate followed with a 39-14 vote to approve a $36 billion spending plan that Democrats have crowed is $1 billion less than even Rauner floated last winter.

Tuesday was the fourth day of the third consecutive fiscal year that Illinois has begun without an annual budget agreement because of an ongoing dispute between Rauner and the Democrats. He has insisted that in exchange for a funding plan, he should secure business-friendly "structural" changes, such as cost-reducing restrictions on the compensation program for injured workers and state-employee pensions. He wanted a four-year statewide property tax freeze matched by a temporary income tax increase.

But the income tax increase headed to his desk is permanent.

"It's regrettable that I stand here today not capable of being able to support this package, not because what's in the package is bad, but because it's incomplete," said the Senate's newly minted minority leader, Bill Brady of Bloomington. "We need a comprehensive budget package with reforms."

If Rauner doesn't like the tax plan, the financial world does. On Monday, two of the nation's top credit-ratings agencies signaled it would be a good idea for Rauner to accept the results. Fitch Ratings and S&P Global Ratings, having earlier threatened to move Illinois' creditworthiness into "junk" status without swift action to approve a budget, smiled favorably on the financial outlook.

Democrats and Republicans have negotiated the issues that Rauner considers outstanding in the two weeks since the special session began. But the GOP claims talks broke down over the weekend in advance of Madigan calling the budget votes. Madigan said Monday that those talks were ongoing.

"We'll continue to work with the Republicans on those issues until they're resolved," Madigan said.

The budget bills are SB6 and SB9.

 The Southern contributed to this story.
"Tracy and I can't thank the people of Southern Illinois enough for their support and their prayers. Our victory tonight sends a powerful message to out-of-touch politicians everywhere that we're unified and unyielding in the fight for our conservative values. Joe Biden's going to be held accountable for destroying the economy, ignoring the border crisis, and taking us from America First to America Last in two years flat. But none of this would be possible without the trust of voters from across our vast 12th District. Serving you is truly the honor of a lifetime."
Bunker Hill, Lexington and Concord, and Saratoga are a few of the major battles of the American Revolutionary War. But sometimes forgotten is a significant battle that happened in Orangeburg County: the Battle of Eutaw Springs.

Cameron resident Doug Doster wants to ensure the Battle of Eutaw Springs is remembered. Doster is a member of the Battle of Eutaw Springs Chapter of the South Carolina Society of the Sons of the American Revolution. He serves as vice president of the local chapter and is a past president of the state organization.

The battle does not get the recognition it deserves, Doster said.

Part of that is because there was no clear victor, he said. There is disagreement among historians about who won the battle.

Some say the British won, some say the patriots won, others say it was kind of a draw, he said.

But the battle was a strategic win for the patriots because it convinced (British commander Gen. Charles) Cornwallis he wasnt going to win the war in the South, Doster said.

Col. Alexander Stewarts British force was camped at a plantation near Eutaw Springs on the morning of Sept. 8, 1781 when Gen. Nathanael Greenes American army attacked. The two evenly matched forces slugged it out in what would be the last major battle of the war in South Carolina.

Doster said that another reason the battle is often overlooked is because less than three months later, Cornwallis surrendered to American commander Gen. George Washington after the Battle of Yorktown.

Yorktown got all the big fanfare because the surrender happened there, he said. But most historians would agree the Battle of Eutaw Springs convinced Cornwallis that he couldnt win in the South.

The British strategy all along was to divide the Northern and Southern colonies, Doster said.

They were going to split them and defeat the North first and (then) go down South, he said.

And they werent that much worried about the South because here in South Carolina, the American Revolution was as much of a civil war between neighbors, families even, Doster said. Many South Carolinians at that time were Tories, or Loyalists to Great Britain, he said.

They did as much killing of patriots almost as the British (did), he said.

Greenes troops were made up of regular soldiers and militia, or part-time citizen soldiers. Stewarts force was comprised of British regulars and Loyalists, Americans fighting to preserve British rule. Each army had about 2,000 men, most of them veterans of combat.

The brutal combat lasted for three hours as the two forces traded musket volleys and bayonet charges. Greenes troops drove the British back into their camp, but the British regrouped and forced Greene from the battlefield.

The Americans suffered more than 500 casualties, but the British lost nearly 700 men. After the crippling loss of about one third of his command, Stewart retreated toward Charleston the next day, leaving most of the South Carolina countryside in American control.

And they stayed there until the end of the war and (then) left, Doster said.

The Battle of Eutaw Springs Chapter holds commemorative events every September in the Eutawville community. After a program at the Church of the Epiphany, a wreath ceremony is held a few miles down the road at the Eutaw Springs Battleground site.

Doster said that people often drive past the battleground without noticing it because its a small site and its located on a curve in the road.

Travelers could be right by it before they knew what it was, he said. The historic marker is kind of hidden.

But that could change now that the South Carolina Battleground Preservation Trust has gotten involved with the site, Doster said. New fencing, a flagpole and possibly another marker are planned, he said.

Its going to be more noticeable, he said.

Doster said he doesnt know how many people visit the battleground site each year to remember the battle, but he suspects most of the visitors to the area come for another reason.

Its supposed to be a good fishing spot, he chuckled. It probably gets more fishermen there than people interested in the history.
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By Azernews





By Sara Israfilbayova

Azerbaijani and Iranian entrepreneurs will meet in Baku on July 6 to jointly explore business opportunities.

The meeting will be held as part of the visit of the Chamber of Cooperation delegation from Irans West Azerbaijan Province to Baku, said the Azerbaijan Export and Investment Promotion Foundation (AZPROMO).

Iran recognized Azerbaijan's independence in 1991 and diplomatic relations between the two countries were established in 1992.

The two countries enjoy developed political, economic, cultural and humanitarian relations and have signed about 50 documents on cooperation.

Iran has invested $2.7 billion in Azerbaijan`s economy as of February 2017. As many as 538 Iranian companies are engaged in various spheres of Azerbaijan`s economy. Azerbaijani companies operate in Iran as well.

Iran is an important trade partner of Azerbaijan and the bilateral trade increased 70 per cent in 2016.

Azerbaijans trade turnover with Iran amounted to $96.83 million in January-May 2017, which is 31.3 percent more than in the same period of 2016, according to the State Customs Committee of Azerbaijan.

AZPROMO was established by the Ministry of Economy of Azerbaijan in 2003 with the aim to contribute to the economic development through attracting foreign investments in the non-oil sectors of economy and stimulating expansion of country's exports of non-oil goods to the overseas markets.
The OSCE monitoring held along the line of contact between Azerbaijani and Armenian troops passed without incidents on July 4, Azerbaijans Defense Ministry reported on July 4.

The monitoring was held under the mandate of the OSCE chairperson-in-office personal representative along the line of contact near the Ashagi Veysalli village of Azerbaijans Fuzuli district, said the ministry.

On the Azerbaijani side, the monitoring was held by Ghenadie Petrica and Simon Tiller, who are field assistants of the OSCE chairperson-in-office personal representative.

On the Azerbaijani territories occupied and controlled by Armenian armed forces, the monitoring was held by Mikhail Olaru and Ognjen Jovic, who are field assistants of the OSCE chairperson-in-office personal representative.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.

The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.
Saudi Enaya, a leading provider of health insurance products and services in the kingdom, said it has joined hands with Shariyah Review Bureau, a global Sharia Advisory firm with an attractive client base from multiple industries and across many geographies, to offer Sharia-compliant value creating policies.



"Sharia compliant products is a strategically attractive proposition that creates significant value for our shareholders and policyholders," remarked CEO Lee Shurey.



"Over the past several months, we have been undertaking customer-centric research and a thorough market review of the health insurance solutions in the kingdom. We believe it is the right time to incorporate Islamic insurance business in line with our own health insurance policies after obtaining all the regulatory needed approvals, stated Shurey.



"Offering services that cater to our customers faith and value based needs provides a tremendous opportunity to strengthen Enayas position in the region," he added.



Enaya said that more than three years ago it had identified Islamic cooperative insurance as a major potential to heavily attract society and the economy.



Moneer Brembali, the human resources director at Enaya, said: "Over the years, we have undertaken several initiatives on behalf of our customers health insurance needs. Our agreement with SRB is yet another demonstration of our strategy to cater to the kingdoms Islamic insurance developmental needs."



"SRBs Sharia Review Certification expertise and unparalled Sharia Audit experience in Saudias cooperative insurance market will complement the knowledge and capabilities that we at Enaya are seeking," noted Brembali.



SRB is a Sharia Advisor which currently serves 24 per cent of the Saudi Cooperative Insurance market in the kingdom. It comes to Enaya with a deep history in setting up Sharia Supervisory Board, Sharia Certification, and Sharia Audit solutions and an established record of innovation to expand and improve upon leading insurance practices, he added.-TradeArabia News Service
Italian contractor Saipem has won $500 million contracts from state oil giant Saudi Aramco for EPCI (engineering, procurement, construction and installation) activities at major offshore oilfields.



The long-term agreement in force, renewed in 2015 until 2021, also covers T&I (trunklines and installation) in Saudi Arabia, for Aramco.



The scope of work includes the design, engineering, procurement, construction and installation of a total of 19 jackets for the development of fields in Marjan, Zuluf, Berri, Hasbah, and Safaniya, among the most important offshore fields in the region of the Arabian Gulf.



On the win, CEO Stefano Cao said: "With this award, Saipem is further reinforcing its presence a highly strategic area such as the Middle East."



"The new contracts assigned by a long-standing customer like Saudi Aramco are also a strong and tangible sign of a major clients trust in Saipem, in the high quality of its services and in the solid expertise the company can ensure in the construction and installation of offshore platforms," he added.



Saipem is one of the world leaders in drilling services, as well as in the engineering, procurement, construction and installation of pipelines and complex projects, onshore and offshore, in the oil and gas market.



Additionally, it has negotiated the extension in Angola of the deployment of vessel FPSO Gimboa, inclusive of management and maintenance services, personnel, material and consumable supplies for three years, plus one optional year.




Brunswick Group, a leading corporate communications partnership, has announced two senior appointments in the Gulf region - Rupert Young as senior partner for the Gulf and Jeehan Dahman Balfaqaih as the head of the company office in Dubai, UAE.



Young, who joined Brunswick in London, UK, in 1997, moved to Dubai over 10 years ago to spearhead the firms growth in the region. Today Brunswick is a market-leading corporate relations advisory firm helping organisations across the GCC and wider Middle East and North Africa (Mena) address critical communications challenges.



The group's GCC team comprises 60 consultants and support staff, based in its offices in Abu Dhabi and Dubai.



Young leads Brunswicks business in the Gulf, based out of Dubai. He is a specialist in advising firms on corporate positioning, media relations, listed-company reporting, investor relations, financial transactions and the management of major issues, it said.



He started his professional life in the British Army, training at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, after which he went on to serve a Short Service Commission. Young has a BA Honors from the University of East Anglia in the United Kingdom.



Rob Pinker, chief operating officer and head - India, Middle East and Africa (IMEA), Brunswick Group, said: The Gulf is becoming an increasingly important hub for the firm.



Young will focus on connecting and integrating our companys global network, ensuring we continue to offer regional clients the very highest standards of corporate communications advice, including cross-broader reach and the latest thinking and best practice, he said.



Core to this will be the continued integration of our specialist offers including; Brunswick Insight, which supports data driven communications strategies, our cybersecurity and privacy practice, and MerchantCantos, our wholly owned creative content solutions business, it added.



On Balfaqaih, Pinker said with this appointment, she has become the first Arab to lead a Brunswick office and also the first woman at the UAE office, said a statement.



She joined Brunswick Gulf in 2007, soon after it was launched, and has since played a pivotal role in helping to grow the business in the region.



She has more than 16 years of experience in corporate positioning, creative campaigns, issue management and communications advisory in the Gulf. As the first recruit in the UAE for Brunswick, Balfaqaih was instrumental in building the firms presence and offer in the GCC.



During her time with Brunswick, Balfaqaih has advised the senior management and boards of local government and semi-government entities and private and public regional and international companies on their communications with multiple stakeholder groups.



Balfaqaih earlier worked at Rasmala, a regional investment bank, where she was head of corporate communications. A published Arabic poet, she leads Brunswicks Arabic capabilities.



Pinker said: Balfaqaih has emerged as a natural leader in our Dubai Office. We are all looking forward to working with her in her new role.



A Bachelor of Science degree holder from McGill University, Canada, she was named as one of Arabian Business 100 under 40 Most Influential Young Arabs in 2016. TradeArabia News Service
Spain-based Telepizza, a leading restaurant chain, today announces further expansion, with the opening of its first Iranian store in Tehran.



The company plans to open a further two stores by the end of the month. Telepizza signed a masterfranchise agreement with Momenin Investment Group last year; MIG will be investing EUR100 million in the next ten years.



The Tehran store opening marks the start of the latest phase of Telepizza's ambitious global expansion plans, becoming the first International QSR brand to enter the Iranian market and with 1,421 stores globally. Telepizza plans to build on this successful first launch with a further seven stores due to open in Tehran by the end of 2017 and 200 stores across Iran planned in the next 10 years.



The significant opportunities presented by Iran's large, young, population (more than 80 million people of which 65 per cent are below 36 years old), and highly fragmented competition, made the country an obvious choice for expansion.



"We are very proud of the inauguration of our two first Iranian stores. It is a great responsibility to become the first QSR chain in the country," said Pablo Juantegui, chairman and CEO of Telepizza Group. "At Telepizza, we are delighted to share with Iranian consumers the essence of our brand, bringing them the unique flavour of our pizzas, at any moment and place."



Telepizza International president, Giorgio Minardi, said: "The launch of our first Iranian outlet marks an exciting step in our international expansion which continues to gain momentum. Iran looks set to become a hugely important market for us, with significant room for growth. We know our innovative flavours and commitment to use only quality local Iranian ingredients, coupled with our outstanding customer service and great value will appeal to Iranian consumers.



At launch, Telepizza brings its expertise and proven track record in marketing, delivery technology - including full service website and ordering app - franchising and supply chain management. Coupled with its franchisee operating strength and real estate and local management expertise, Telepizza is perfectly positioned to take full advantage of the opportunities presented by the emerging Iranian market.



Alongside classic pizzas, the Telepizza menu also features innovative Chef's signature pizzas such as the Nachos pizza, bringing exciting new flavours to the Iranian market and appealing to consumers' desire to 'try something different'.  TradeArabia News Service
Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain and Egypt has won praise from the board of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) for its air navigation safety measures, said a Saudi Press Agency report, citing a top official.

Mohammed Rahma, the ICAO director of the Middle East regional office, said that in direct co-operation with the countries that announced severing their relations with Qatar, office staff activated at 8.30am on June 5 the contingency plan set forth in Annex XI to the Convention on International Civil Aviation (Chicago, 1944).

He was speaking at the informal session held yesterday (June 30) in which the Secretariat General of the ICAO presented updated information about the safety of the skies over the Arabian Gulf.

In response to a question from a board member, the director of the Air Navigation Bureau, Steve Kramer, said that the General Secretariat of the ICAO has no concerns about the safety of the skies over the international waters in the Gulf, as the boycotting states possess modern navigation devices and abilities covering all international airspace over the Arabian Gulf, stated the report.

The Regional Bureau will hold a meeting on July 6 in Cairo with representatives of the countries that have cut ties with Qatar to discuss any new demands from Qatar regarding the opening of new air routes over the international waters in the Gulf, stated the SPA report.

A number of international representatives commended the efforts being exerted by the countries and the Secretariat General of the ICAO, especially the staff of the Middle East Regional Office, and requested continuing co-operation between the Regional Office, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt and Bahrain to ensure safety over international waters in the Arabian Gulf, it added.
Meet award-winning artisans and buy their products at Kerala Arts and Crafts Village
The heads of several of Wyomings rural hospitals warned that the Senates health care bill could force them to reduce services, operate on even smaller margins than they currently do and, in the worst-case scenario, close facilities altogether.

A lot of my facilities are barely hanging on, said Eric Boley, the president of the Wyoming Hospital Association. They have very little if any operating revenue at the end of the year. This could push them over the edge.

There are fewer than 30 hospitals in Wyoming, and many, like the memorial hospitals in Douglas and Thermopolis, are the only facility in their county. They form the backbone of health care in a rural state with an aging population, and many of them would be faced with stark choices and starker balance sheets under the Senates proposed Better Care Reconciliation Act, officials say.

Hospital officials found little to love in the bill. Maureen Caldwell, CEO of Weston County Health Services, said she supported the provision that allowed younger people to stay on their parents insurance plans until theyre 26. But that was it.

Ryan Smith, the CEO of Memorial Hospital of Converse County, found nothing at all to excite him.

Its not a good thing for hospitals, so no, theres not a lot in there that I see that would be beneficial to us, he said.

The measure, which was released more than a week ago and will be considered after the Senate returns from its July 4 recess, would enact cuts to Medicaid, change how tax credits were distributed, freeze some Planned Parenthood funding for a year and repeal the individual mandate.

That provision  requiring Americans buy health insurance or face a penalty  was the most controversial part of former President Barack Obamas Affordable Care Act. It drew repeated condemnation from Sens. Mike Enzi and John Barrasso, the Wyoming senators who were part of a group of 13 lawmakers who wrote the BCRA.

This is a fundamental change away from the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, Barrasso told the Star-Tribune after the bill was released. Obamacare has collapsed.

Boley and other hospital officials did not say that the ACA was perfect. Boley faulted its high-deductible plans that levied hefty bills on patients that hospitals are still struggling to collect. He said uncompensated care  or medical services provided to patients who cannot pay  did not go down in Wyoming like it did in other states because lawmakers chose not to expand Medicaid.

But, he and others said, the Senate bill would only cause uncompensated care to soar higher. The bills estimated $770 billion cut to Medicaid would have huge effects on rural hospitals here, he said.
Summer has arrived, with its special shade of only-in-Wyoming blue sky, warm breezes and late afternoon light shows.

With it comes the attempt to keep cool, including layer-inducing, office air conditioning and icy beverages of choice after work.

Caffeine lovers and entrepreneurs have added iced coffee as an option along with the iced tea enjoyed for generations, and many think cold brew coffee is worth the price of a half tank of gas.

At my house, I have reconfigured a Pinterest recipe using only ingredients I had on hand. That meant no vanilla bean, no half-and-half and no cold brew coffee.

It is my new favorite daily treat, and Im happy to share. My version is way less sweet than the one from which this is adapted, and obviously, you should sweeten to taste.

I also have found an ingenious way to figure punch portions, as well as a yummy fresh fruit concentrate that makes tasty lemonade in a pinch.

Heres to July, the best month.
Wednesday support meetings

Alcoholics Anonymous: 6:30 a.m., 917 N. Beech; 8:30 a.m., 500 S. Wolcott; 10 a.m., 328 E. A; noon, 500 S. Wolcott; 2 p.m., 917 N. Beech; 5:09 p.m., 917 N. Beech; 5:30 p.m., 328 E. A; 6 p.m., 456 S. Walnut; 7 p.m., 500 S. Wolcott; 8 p.m., 328 E. A; 8 p.m, 328-1/2 E. A, closed; 8:23 p.m., 719 3rd St., Evansville. Douglas: 7:30 p.m., 628 E. Richards (upstairs in back). Unless otherwise noted, all meetings are open. Casper info: 266-9578; Douglas info: (307) 351-1688.

Al-Anon: Stepping Stones to Recovery, 303 E. 2nd St., First United Methodist Church, east doors, downstairs, room 12. 7 p.m.

Narcotics Anonymous: noon, 500 S. Wolcott, 12-24 Club; 8 p.m., 302 E. 2nd St., Methodist Church, enter east side. Web site: http://www.urmrna.org.

Nicotine Anonymous: noon, 500 S. Wolcott, 12-24 Club. Info: Pam M., 577-0518.

OIF/OEF Support Group: 6:30-8 p.m., Casper Vet Center, 1030 N. Poplar St., Ste. B. All OIF/OEF Veterans are invited to attend. No need to pre-register. Info: 261-5355.

Teen Addiction Anonymous: 7- 8 p.m., 12-24 Club Teton Room. Info: 258-7439.

TOPS #35 Weight Loss: 6:45 a.m., First Christian Church, 520 CY Ave. Weight Loss Support Group, Weigh-in is from 6:30 a.m.-8 a.m. Info: 258-2063 or 234-5644.

TOPS #162: 8:30 a.m., United Methodist Church, 1880 Poplar. Anyone interested is invited to join. Info: 472-4926.

Hay entries due

2017 Central Wyoming Hay Show entries will be accepted from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday at the Central Wyoming Industrial Building Annex. Hay will be judged the morning of July 10. Places will be announced at 1 p.m. Any Natrona County hay producer may enter. Two small bales equal one entry and must be tied with string or wire. Large bale entries should be 35 to 40 pounds, contained in a plastic tote, plus a photo of the bale. The producer is responsible for a $30 testing fee upon entry. No cutting shown previously may enter. Awards will be given for best of show, premier hay exhibitor, champion relative feed value and reserve champion feed value. Hay will be judged on color, RFV, texture, stem:leaf ratio, cleanliness and other factors. For more information, call University of Wyoming Extension at 235-9400.

Wednesday Writers

Practice writing, share your work and receive constructive feedback from fellow writers at 10 a.m., on the main floor of the Natrona County Library. Call 577.READ x2 or email reference@natronacountylibrary.org for more information.

Summer food sites for kids

The Natrona County School District is partnering with the U.S. Department of Agriculture to provide free meals to children when school is out for the summer. There are no income requirements or registration. Any child under age 18 may come to eat. For more information, contact 307-253-5205.

Meals will be served Monday through Friday at the following locations: Verda James Boys & Girls Club site, 11:30 a.m., to Aug. 25; YMCA, 11 a.m., to Sept. 1; Salt Creek Recreation Center in Midwest, 11:30 a.m., to Aug. 25; Casper Recreation Center, 11:15 a.m., to Aug. 31; Boys and Girls Club main branch, 11:30 a.m., to Aug. 25; Paradise Valley Boys & Girls Club site, 11:30 a.m., to Aug. 25.

Lunch at Food

for Thought

Wyoming Food for Thought Project provides free meals to children during the summer. This summer, meals will be served at the program center located at 900 Saint John in North Casper on Monday through Friday at noon. There are no income requirements or registration. Anyone age 18 or younger may come to eat. For more information, contact (307) 337-1703 or visit www.wyfftp.org.

Each year, the U.S. Department of Agriculture partners with local organizations like Wyoming Food for Thought Project to provide free meals to children when school is out for the summer.

Andy Mason music

Musician Andy Mason will perform at the Natrona County Public Library at 1 and 3 p.m. on Wednesday. Seating is limited. Tickets will be handed out starting one hour prior to each performance. Call 577.READ x5 for more information.

Quilts of Valor every Wednesday

The Central Wyoming Chapter of Quilts of Valor meets from 1 to 4 p.m. Wednesdays to sew at the Central Wyoming Senior Services Center, 1831 E. Fourth St. Quilts of Valor are made by volunteers. Donated fabrics, supplies or monetary donations are appreciated. The group makes all quilts for servicemen and women who have been touched by war. Our chapter awards quilts to veterans who reside in the Central Wyoming region. Dues are $5 per year and new members are always welcome. If you have any questions, please contact Yung Hui Torske at 258-5578, Sandy Elliott at 307-5540331 or any chapter member.

Music video shoot

in Chugwater

Steve Frame and his Western Rebels from Casper need extras for a music video they are shooting for a new song from 3 to 8 p.m. on Wednesday at Stampede Saloon & Eatery in Chugwater. Dress like youre going out to party. Info: westernskiesmanagement74@gmail.com or 720-745-1798.

Fried chicken

at the Elks

Wednesday Night Special at the Casper Elks Lodge is fried chicken with mashed potatoes and gravy, green beans and corn. All you can eat for $7, children 5 to 12 are $3, serving from 6 to 7 p.m. or until gone. Members, significant other and guest accompanied by a member. For more information, call 234-4839.
A group of researchers from the University of Wyoming led an international team that suggests humans lived permanently in high-elevation areas in the Andes Mountains more than 7,000 years ago.

The team, led by UW Department of Anthropologys Randy Haas, authored a report that studied the living situations of humans in the Andes more than 7,000 years ago. The research found evidence that these ancient peoples lived in those areas year-round, rather than on a seasonal basis, according to a university news release. The team studied remains and evidence from a site in Peru thats nearly 12,500 feet above sea level.

The researchers, which included academics from the University of California-Davis, the University of California-Merced, the University of Arizona and institutions in Peru, excavated the remains of 16 people and discovered more than 80,000 artifacts at the site. The material dated back to as early as 8,000 years ago, according to the release.

To study whether ancient peoples lived in those locations permanently, researchers studied the bones for oxygen and carbon isotopes. They also examined the distance traveled from the higher-elevation site to lower areas, the demographic mixture of the remains and the types of tools and materials found.

This gives us a very strong baseline to help understand the rates of cultural and genetic change in the Andean highlands, a region known for the domestication of alpaca, potatoes and other plants; emergence of state-level political and economic complexity; and rapid human adaption to high-elevation life, Haas said, according to the release.

The examination of the bones revealed the distinct signature of permanent high-elevation occupation, according to the release. The researchers also determined that that travel distances were too long for seasonal human migration and that presence of children and women suggested such migration was unlikely. Additionally, most of the tools used by the ancient peoples were crafted from high elevation stone material.

The report appears in the July issue of Royal Society Open Science.
CHEYENNE  A time capsule dedication and dinner featuring the current and former mayors will mark the 150th anniversary of Wyoming's capital city next month.

City officials are still seeking additional ideas for how to commemorate Cheyenne's sesquicentennial.

Events will take place Aug. 7-12.

The Greater Cheyenne Chamber of Commerce will host a dinner with Mayor Marian Orr and five past mayors who will discuss the city's past, present and future Aug. 7.
Wyoming is joining more than 20 states in refusing to turn over public voter data to a federal commission investigating the integrity of elections.

Im going to decline to provide any Wyoming voter information, Secretary of State Ed Murray told the Star-Tribune on Monday. Its not sitting well with me.

The Presidential Advisory Commission on Voter Integrity sent a request to all 50 states last week, asking them to turn over any publicly available personal voter data. Many state officials, from across the political spectrum, have declined to do so.

Murray said he was concerned that the request risked the privacy of Wyoming voters and may be part of an attempt to create federal regulations governing the electoral process, which he believes would contradict the role states have in running elections.

Elections are the responsibility of states under the Constitution, Murray said. Im wondering if this request could lead to some federal overreach.

Murray acknowledged that his reading of state laws governing voter privacy may differ from that of the federal commission but said that he wanted to err on the side of protecting the personal information of Wyoming voters.

The letter from commission vice chair Kris Kobach requested all publicly available voter data from every state, including names, addresses, birth dates, political parties, the last four digits of Social Security numbers and past criminal convictions. While items like name and party affiliation are public in Wyoming, much of the other information is not.

Every state receives the same letter, but were not asking for it if its not publicly available, Kobach told the Kansas City Star.

For example, while Kobach is the Kansas secretary of state, he told the newspaper that Kansas would not be releasing the last four digits of Social Security numbers for voters in that state because the information was not able to be publicly released.

The voting commission, which is officially chaired by Vice President Mike Pence, was created by President Donald Trump in May. After his election last fall, Trump alleged without evidence that millions of people had voted illegally. Efforts to regulate voting have become a partisan issue in recent years, with Republicans generally supporting efforts to restrict ballot access over fraud concerns and Democrats arguing that voter ID laws and similar measures are intended to stop low-income people and minorities from voting.

Trump criticized the states that have declined to provide the data requested last week, asking over the weekend, What are they trying to hide?

Murray insists that Wyoming is not hiding anything. He said state elections are well-run and free from fraud or interference. Murray added that in conversations with other secretaries of state, he had not heard concerns about voter fraud.

I have not experienced any secretary of state who has expressed any concerns or worry about fraud or some type of nefarious activity occurring that jeopardizes their respective election process, said Murray, who said this spring that he is weighing whether to run for governor in 2018.
ABC News(WASHINGTON) -- President Donald Trump will hold an official bilateral meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin this Friday on the sidelines of G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany.



According to a spokesperson for the White House, the Trump-Putin meeting will be a "normal bilateral meeting."



The White House has not released details on what Trump will discuss with his Russian counterpart.



Dimitry Peskov, a spokesman for the Kremlin, told reporters that it will be a full-fledged, seated bilateral meeting.



Trumps national security adviser, Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster, told reporters last week that there's "no specific agenda."



"Its really going to be whatever the president wants to talk about, McMaster said.



The Kremlin released a statement Monday in which it said Putin will demand the return of two diplomatic compounds seized by the United States -- sanctions placed on Russia by former President Obama in 2016 following Russia's interference in the U.S. presidential election.



Trump and Putin have spoken over the phone three times since Trump took office, but this is the first face-to-face meeting between them.



A special counsel and congressional investigators are currently examining whether members of Trump's campaign colluded with Russian officials ahead of the 2016 election.

Copyright  2017, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
LAS VEGAS (AP)  Mark Balfe-Taylor donned a bud of marijuana as a pocket square as he and his new wife, Anna Balfe-Taylor, became married inside the supplier of one of Las Vegas' largest marijuana dispensaries.

Anna says she had to think about it when Mark asked her to marry him inside the marijuana-growing facility, but eventually supported it. She says it was a great idea, even though neither of them will be smoking Mark's pocket square.

The two were completely sober and say they plan to keep it that way. Getting married in a grow house was more about showing support for the way marijuana laws are moving forward in Nevada.

Mark says his father was once imprisoned because of a marijuana-related offense, so the issue has always hit home with him.
We've collected a few front pages from newspapers.com to give you a look at some July 4 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.
Border Patrol agents from the Willcox Station arrested a Mexican couple on Friday after they found more than $730,000 worth of cocaine hidden in the truck they were driving at the Arizona 90 immigration checkpoint.

The agents sent the 1997 GMC pickup for further inspection after a drug dog alerted to the vehicle, according to a news release from Customs and Border Protection.

Agents found a false floorboard concealing nearly 65 pounds of cocaine.

The Mexican citizens, a 44-year-old driver and his 42-year-old wife, were arrested on suspicion of drug smuggling.
For young people with aspirations of careers in aviation, a new local nonprofit is helping those dreams to take flight.

It is our responsibility as adults to help the children coming along to find ways to be successful in life, and there are many careers in aviation: Not just pilots, but avionics technicians, certified aircraft mechanics, aerospace engineers, flight dispatchers, air-traffic controllers and all kinds of other opportunities, said Alan Muhs, a commercial pilot and flight instructor. We want to give kids exposure to some of those opportunities.

Muhs and fellow pilot Jeff Northcutt co-founded Southern Arizona Teen Aviation last year in an effort to inspire the next generation of aviators by guiding high school sophomores, juniors and seniors through the construction of airplanes.

During a flight career that began when he earned his private pilots license more than 41 years ago, Muhs has owned several factory-built airplanes. In 2014, with the help of the members Experimental Aircraft Association Chapter 81, he completed a Vans Aircraft RV 10 to realize a dream of building a plane. Since then, he has flown it all over the United States, to Mexico and to the Bahamas.

Muhs, Northcutt and five volunteer mentors  Angel Tito Sanchez, Mel Jordan, Glenn Brasch, Bob Miller, and Matt North  hope to transfer their knowledge and hands-on experience to a group of students through the construction of a two-seat Vans Aircraft Model RV12.

This plane has state-of-the-art avionics including a flat-panel screen, digital radios, autopilot and other technology these kids will encounter if they pursue careers in avionics, said Muhs.

Construction of the $65,000-plane began in March and will proceed along a regimented program: In May, the students and mentors finished the tail, and the wing kit and fuselage are up next.

Eight students are participating in the program, which meets Sunday afternoons and Monday evenings in a donated hangar and mirrors the calendars of local schools. Another student is slated to join when the program convenes in August; an opening for one student remains since the program is limited at this time.

All the participants are male, though Muhs is encouraging girls to join. He also hopes to add more students as the volunteers continue to hone their teaching skills.

He said it has been rewarding to work with the students, who began the experience by learning to read mechanical drawings, prepare metal parts, handle tools and practice skills such as riveting and drilling. Prior to starting work on the plane, each student built a tool box.

For the most part, kids dont get a lot of hands-on experience in school anymore. When I grew up, there was metal shop class and wood shop and auto shop, but kids dont have those now.

They need to get their hands on things: To touch and see and feel and do so that they can understand their strengths and weaknesses and what they are interested in. It is difficult to get a good grasp on that when you are just sitting in a classroom, Muhs said.

Muhs said students also learn valuable skills in leadership and teamwork. Students work in two groups and each day a different student acts as supervisor of his group. The supervisor is responsible for reading plans and giving directions to others in his group.

It is his job to make sure that things are being done correctly before we move on to the next step. ... Every once in a while things go awry, but they learn to slow down and be patient and give directions and come up with strategies to work together, he said.

Working with his team has been an amazing experience, according to Jorge Rosado, who will be a junior at Mountain View High School in August.

It blows my mind that we started from tiny pieces of metal and this will become a plane that we will really be able to fly, said Rosado, who heard about the opportunity through an aviation course at school.

An aspiring commercial pilot, Rosado said he has always been fascinated by the physics of flight and jumped at the chance to learn more.

They said they would help us with learning about the different aspects of what makes an airplane fly, rather than just knowing how to fly. ... We have learned so much about every piece of the tail section and what it takes to put them together and the differentials needed to make it safe to fly, he said

So far, Rosado said that the construction process has made him aware of the multitude of possible careers in aviation. Guest speakers from the aviation community, along with trips to Davis-Monthan Air Force Base and Tucson International Airport, provide additional learning opportunities.

Sebastian Hutton, also a junior at Mountain View, agreed it is a one-of-a-kind opportunity and encourages other students to try it.

I have never done anything like this is my life. It is unreal that we are building an official product that will someday be in the sky. It is honestly something that I never thought I would be able to do, but the instructors are easy to understand and very concise, Hutton said.

Moving forward, Muhs said the nonprofit, which is all-volunteer with no paid staff, seeks to become self-sustainable.

Any money that is donated goes into buying airplane parts and when we are done we will sell the airplane and use the proceeds to buy the next kit, Muhs said.

In the meantime, the nonprofit is in need of additional funding to complete its initial airplane. It has raised $15,000 and seeks to raise an additional $50,000 to finish the project by May 2108.

It is interesting that when we talk to adults and tell them what we are doing, they all wish they could have done something like this in high school.

Lecturing and class time are important, but we do kids a disservice by not letting them experience some of the things they do with us. It is our job as adults who have been fortunate to have great lives and careers to expose them to as many different experiences as we can, he said.
The worlds of science, technology, engineering and mathematics arent just for boys.

But, according to new research conducted for Junior Achievement, a national non-profit that teaches students about financial literacy, work readiness and entrepreneurship, only 11 percent of teen girls ages 13-17 are drawn to non-medical STEM careers versus 36 percent of boys.

Various factors contribute to this, including lack of exposure to female role models, girls cultural expectation to nurture, societal norms and marketing to name a few.

Local experts working to close the gap say its important to draw more diversity into the STEM industries.

We should care because the solutions to deal with water and energy issues  some of the most important issues of our time  are locked in the students we are not currently drawing into the STEM fields, said DaNel Hogan, director of the STEMAZing Project, a local program dedicated to empowering pre-K to 12th grade educators to enhance and improve their STEM curriculums. It is only with diverse teams of scientists and engineers that the creative innovations required for a sustainable future will be unlocked.

MAKING AN IMPACT

Girls interested in STEM tend to lean toward the medical and dental fields rather than engineering or technology.

Research has shown that because of cultural beliefs and expectations, girls tend to be drawn to fields and careers where there is a clear link to helping people or making the world a better place, said Jill Williams, director of Women in Science and Engineering at the University of Arizona. This helps explain why medical-related STEM careers have greater female participation. In these fields, the link between science, math and technology and helping people is more obvious than in non-medical fields.

But, STEM careers, not just the medical ones, have a huge impact on society, and that needs to be conveyed to girls  and all people  to appeal to their desire to help, said Chuck Zaepfel, director of the Southern Arizona District of Junior Achievement.

Its not back in the back room with beakers, Zaepfel said. Youre actually making a difference to save lives like in medical research, and if youre a scientist working with NASA, the research our space program has brought to every day lives is tremendous.

The way STEM is often marketed, its hard to see all of the ways it can benefit people.

You only need to take a walk down the toy aisle at your local toy store to see how different types of toys and activities are marketed toward boys and girls, Williams said. As children proceed through the educational system, we also know that boys are encouraged to pursue STEM fields to a greater degree than girls are. This is most often not intentional on the part of educators, but rather patterns that are adopted subconsciously over time.

Lack of exposure to STEM and what careers are out there at an early age is also a contributing factor, says Czarina Salido, program director of Taking Up Space.

A lot of people get stuck in their box thinking that STEM is for geeky kids stuck in front of a computer or in a lab but there are all kinds of jobs, even working for automotive shops, Salido said. There are tons of different aspects. It has to do with exposure, just not being aware of the type of things that are out there or the opportunities.

PROGRESS

Mabel Rivera, a teacher at Innovation Academy, a K-5 STEM school in the Amphitheater School District, says in some ways, its starting to turn around.

Youre starting to see more women in STEM fields, but the fact that we still have to make videos or say look at these women in STEM means we still have a long ways to go, Rivera said.

Rivera, who will be teaching second grade next school year, was one of 200 teachers from across the globe selected to go to space camp in Huntsville, Alabama, through the Honeywell Educators at Space Academy. The program seeks to help educators learn new ways to bring science, technology, engineering and math to the classroom next fall.

Since many children dont have exposure to female role models in a STEM career, Rivera hopes to bring professionals to her classroom to talk about their careers and the difficulties they had in getting there.

Zaepfel from Junior Achievement says children are influenced most by parents, social and general media, teachers and classroom.

Picture books, films and other activities that feature strong female characters, who show the ability to persevere through challenges, and pursue STEM fields and careers can go a long way in breaking down gender stereotypes, added Williams.

Since children begin forming their STEM identities early on, Hogan says they need exposure to STEM early and often.

This means STEM experiences for all of our students, too, Hogan said. Far too many STEM opportunities are given and available to only our students who come from mid- to high-socioeconomic households. We need all of our students, including girls and under-represented minorities to be engaged in STEM learning.

Most of the work Hogan does with STEMAZing is focused on helping early childhood and elementary school educators do a better job engaging students with STEM lessons and activities.
Help India!

By Qasid Ahmed Siddiqui for TwoCircles.net

For the first time in many years, India is garnering global attention for all wrong reasons i.e., murders in the name of cow vigilantism. One cant imagine any other major event apart from 2012 Gujrat Riots that garnered similar attention internationally and for all wrong reasons; the recent lynching of minorities in the pretext of cow vigilantism is both appalling and shocking. How can a nation who has already reached planets and excels in the path of development be silent towards bloodthirsty mob who lynch innocents on the pretext of some suspicion of carrying or consuming beef? Has beef become more important than the nations dreams or is protecting cow our nations dream?

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A recent Facebook post rightly quoted the current situation of mob lynching. It read, There is only one thing between India and Development i.e., COW. Either we choose cow & forget development or we choose development and forget cow. This might sound as a humorous statement but it rightly points the menace India is going through.

It isnt shocking to see that the mob lynching happens mostly in rural India and almost all of the victim belong to poor and marginalised families. When one observes these lynchings it isnt shocking to know that the victims are people who cant afford legal battle nor can they can garner media attention immediately. Strangely enough, hardly any of these incidents happen in metros, may be due to the fact that metros are actively covered by media, the police too are swift in taking action and any such incidents might directly affect revenue.

As the nation is being burnt in the name of Cow Protection, minorities were expecting PM Modi to condemn these attacks sternly and bring stricter laws to tackle the menace. Even after several social media campaigns, media coverage by some channels, it took almost two years for PM Modi to finally condemn these attacks, while he condemned these attacks, many wondered why did PM Modi mention Mahatma Gandhi to educate Cow Vigilantes and why not Savarkar or Golwalkar. Its a known fact that all the Cow Vigilantes are affiliated to Hardline Hindu Organisations like RSS, VHP, Bajrang Dal, Hindu Yuva Vahini etc., and these outfits find their inspiration through Savarkars or Golwalkars teachings. It would have been logical if PM Modi had quoted both Savarkar and Golwalkar if he wanted Cow Vigilantes to truly follow the path of nonviolence. It is quite clear that Cow Vigilantes surely didnt take heed of PMs word as a Muslim was lynched the very day in Jharkhand when PM expressed his anguish against mob lynching.

As lynching becomes a new norm in the name of Cow Protection in India, one cant avoid but ask the underlying agenda behind Cow Protection. Is it really all about protecting the cow? if so, shouldnt the government ban export of beef? Shouldnt the government come hard on all the beef exporters? Shouldnt the Cow Vigilantes be more vocal against the beef exporters and demand the government to ban all beef exports and companies affiliated with this business! Why dont Cow Vigilantes speak against the companies exporting beef? Arent they aware that all major exporters are Hindus? All these incident raise a critical question: What happens after the cow is allegedly rescued and handed over to Gau Shala who claim to take care of the cow, is there any official count on cows rescued? One cant deny understanding the intentions behind Cow Protection or cant stop asking if there is a mafia trying to control beef industry in the pretext of Cow Protection. One can easily speculate that the Cow Vigilantes might be paid goons working for beef mafia by confiscating cattle in the pretext of being protectors of cow and handing them over to people involved in beef business.

As per the data released by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, India is the largest exporter beef in entire world leaving Brazil behind. According to the data, India exported 2.4 million tonnes of beef and veal in FY2015 compared to 2 million tonnes by Brazil and 1.5 million by Australia. These three countries account for 58.7 percent of all the beef exports in the world. India itself accounts for 23.5 per cent of global beef exports. This is up from a 20.8 percent share in 2016 and all these beef exports were achieved after India voted BJP to power hoping apart from development BJP would be the true protector of cow. With ever increasing demand for Indian beef in International Market, its quite clear that the easiest way to meet global demand is to control local consumption of beef and there is no denial that it is being done in the name of Gau Raksha (Cow Protection), Gau Bhakti (Worshipping Cow), Gau Seva and making it illegal to consume beef in India.
Help India!

By Mirza Mosaraf Hossain, TwoCircles.net

Over the past six months, communal tensions have been simmering across the state of West Bengal, with various incidents reported from the state, and especially in the region around Kolkata. From Dhaulagarh to Metiabruz, there have been various events that have threatened the safety of common citizens, and the latest event comes from North Parganas after an extremely controversial Facebook post from a teenager angered members of the Muslim community. As per the latest report, about 300 personnel of paramilitary forces were being rushed to the state to assist the local police in containing the situation.

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On Tuesday, a 17-year-old boy, who is from the Hindu community posted objectionable images related to the Muslim faith on Facebook, which led to a massive commotion between two religious groups in Keosha, Ramchandrapur and Swarupnagar villages in Baduria, North Parganas. Members of the Muslim community took to the streets to demand punishment for the accused and blocked the roads to protest. In the ensuing violence, properties of both Hindus and Muslims, especially shops, suffered extensive damages.

Muslim organisations, intellectuals and many other Hindu people individually condemned the heinous event and came forward to requesting local people to maintain peace in the area.

According to Tarikul Islam, the working Secretary of All India Sunnat Al Jamayat, a non-profit Islamic Welfare Trust based in Mohammadpur, Rajarhat, Kolkata, the local police have arrested the main culprit. We would like to thank them and would request to all my fellow Muslim brothers who are in protest to stop this now. Our Indian constitution will ensure us justice.

Prabhas Chandra Dey, the S.I of Baduria police station who is handling the case, could not be contacted for his comments.

Abdul Matin, the General Secretary of Sunnat Al Jamayat, went to the Rudrapur village and requested the protesters to stop unwanted road blockings and not fall to the agenda of polarisation.

Osman Gani, the State President of Students Islamic Organization, said we must protest against such kind of immature activities, but that must be particularly against the individual who committed the crime. We must ensure that no one is harmed and that our protests as per what our constitution allows us. A protest should not turn into a violent space.

Baduria came into news for the wrong reasons on the day of Eid too, when a local newspaper Yogashankha reported that Muslims of Baduria had hoisted the Pakistani national flag during Eid. In reality, however, it was the Islamic flag of half moon and star that is the symbol of peace in Islam. Though the authority of the paper suspended Parimal Dey who covered the news, many locals said this was a political plot to antagonise the two communities.
Help India!

New Delhi, (IANS): Calling Prime Minister Narendra Modis visit to Israel a complete turning point, senior CPI-M leader Prakash Karat on Tuesday said it was a part of an overall Hindutva ideology which was coming into play both domestically and in terms of foreign policy.

The former Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) General Secretary also added that Modis visit was also an open declaration that India doesnt stand by the Palestinian cause anymore.

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What the Modi government is doing within India, this foreign policy is an extension of that, said Karat at a public meeting organised by the Palestine Solidarity Committee, stressing there was a need to oppose this direction of foreign policy as well as the strategic alliance between India and Israel which betrays the Palestinian cause.

Modi on Tuesday embarked on a three-day visit to Israel  the first by an Indian Prime Minister.

The visit coincides with India and Israel marking 25 years of their diplomatic relations and 50 years of occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Karat said the visit would lead to total identification of the Indian government  and through that of India  with the Israeli occupying state and would legitimise all atrocities and the occupation of Palestinian territories by Israel.

This is a complete reversal from Indias long-held traditional stand the centre of which was Palestinian fight for independence.

From (Mahatma) Gandhis time till the 1980s, India stood firm with Palestinian struggle for freedom. And today that is completely abandoned, said Karat.
Canada is celebrating its 150th year with Justin Trudeau making a statement on how inclusive and welcoming his country is. Certainly, a very different message to that coming out of Donald Trumps administration in Washington D.C.

Justin Trudeau, as opposed to Donald Trump, is lorded as the golden boy of politics like Emmanuel Macron in France. However, Justin Trudeau has been attacked on his environmental credentials by one leading environmentalist.

What Trudeau's relationship is like with Native Canadians I cannot say, however, he is obviously aware that his nation is guilty of racial and cultural genocide.

As one Native Canadian mused, his people have been in Canada for thousands of years making 150 years of the Canadian nation seem insignificant.

Canada has nothing to be proud of

Like the United States, Canada should hang its head in shame in what it has done to its native peoples. Could it be called a holocaust with genocidal tendencies? Yes, almost certainly.

From day one when the interior of Canada was being opened up by European explorers, again like in the US, Native Canadians who had lived in this wilderness for centuries were in the way. Like so-called 'Manifest Destiny' in the US, Native Canadians were killed, bribed, and driven from their land so Canada could develop into a modern nation state.

The forced fostering of Native Canadian children and the recommended sterilisation of Native Canadian women were just some of the awful things on the agenda.

The findings of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission

The above group launched an investigation into Canada's treatment of its native people and found that Canada was indeed guilty of crimes.

Many non-Native Canadians are not comfortable with the history of their often tragic treatment and encounters with native people. Going back to the findings of the above group it found there had been cultural genocide enacted by the Candian state on the First Nations people as they are sometimes called.

Even though natives will take part in the celebrations others will not because of what happened to their ancestors and because they do not feel welcome in Trudeau's so-called inclusive nation.

So often you hear about the awful scourge that was slavery in North America but you hear next to nothing of the suffering of the Native population. It is about time these issues were properly addressed and talked about.
According to the regime of North Korea, they have successfully tested their first intercontinental ballistic missile. This is the missile that dictator Kim Jong-un and his subjects have been developing since the election of US President Donald Trump. Kim is terrified of Trumps trigger finger and he wants to know he has the ability to nuke America from the safety of his living room, just in case.

However, Kim is just as reckless and unreliable as Trump, if not more, so this could have catastrophic consequences for the world we live in. If this missile test is confirmed and not just a fear tactic or bluff from Kims regime, then it could lead to a global nuclear holocaust.

However, if Kim can keep his finger off the trigger long enough for diplomatic negotiations, this would make Washington putty in his hands.

US military reports say differently

The claim from North Korea comes in contradiction of previous reports by the United States military, who are stationed in Korean waters to keep an eye on Kim. They said that North Korea had not tested an intercontinental ballistic missile, but rather one of intermediate range, which would be no big deal since they test those almost every week. According to analysts of this data, the missile could be able to reach Alaska, but not that little bit further to get to Washington, New York, LA, Boston, or other major cities in the continental United States.

Trump is nowhere near Alaska; its just ice and wolves, its not worth an expensive missile.

Rarely does the state television broadcast of North Korea feature announcements like this, but today, a newsreader appeared on the network to announce that Kim Jong-un himself had personally shown up on the site to oversee this ICBM test, which they called a landmark event.

The newsreader choked up during the announcement, so make of that what you will. The ICBM has been identified as a Hwasong-14 missile.

The newsreader said that the new classification of North Korea is that of a strong nuclear power state, which has a very powerful ICBM that can strike any place in the world. Yikes. She also provided details and statistics about the launch to back up her claim, alarmingly making this claim seem less false than one might dismiss it as.

She claimed that the altitude reached by the missile was 2,802 km (1,741 miles) and the distance reached was 933 km (580 miles). This is the longest and highest one of Kims missile tests have ever reached. These figures correspond roughly with the estimates made by analysts in Japan and South Korea.

North Korea closer than ever to striking US soil

This test (if its true and the statistics are accurate) brings Kim Jong-un much closer to achieving his goal of hitting US soil with a nuclear weapon. However, a lot of people believe that theres no way anyone could make a nuclear device light and compact enough to fit on a missile and still travel that far. These same naysayers also believe that North Korea couldnt have developed technology capable of getting the intercontinental ballistic missile out of Earths atmosphere and then surviving the re-entry.

But who knows what the North Korean regime is developing? Remember Hitlers secret Nazi underground science experiments? This could be something like that.

Whether it was an ICBM or not, or as big of a success as they are making out on the news, North Korea definitely did fire an unidentified ballistic missile, as confirmed by the military of South Korea. The missile flew into the Sea of Japan. Kim doesnt like calling it the Sea of Japan  he prefers to call it the East Sea of Korea. This is North Koreas eleventh launch this year, and guess what, today is Americas Independence Day! What a coincidence...
The UK has announced today that it will pull out of the London Fisheries Convention (LFC) that allows foreign fisherman to access British waters. In a move to take back control of our fishing industry. The move has been backed by the Scottish government, who host most of the UKs fishing industry. But the move could prove costly to the UKs fishing industry during Brexit negotiations and further the problems that will arise from coming out of the EU and subsequently the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP).

CFP was a controversial policy and was one of the more heavily cited reasons to leave the EU, however, the difficulties that will emerge from this were largely ignored by many prominent leavers and taking back control was largely a myth.

CFP and the LFC

The policy was unsatisfactory when first introduced but the weaknesses were like that of other transnational fishing policies, there are no clear boundaries which makes it difficult to manage marine life. But last year it was reformed and is heading in the right direction, pulling out of any deal with the EU over the fishing industry will damage progress that has been made collectively. Without CFP and the deal to allow foreign fisherman in British waters, the UK will have to negotiate fishing agreements with member states separately. This would also include sensitive discussions between devolved British jurisdictions, as most stock migrates between British waters and elsewhere.

Any agreement between the EU and the UK should use CFP framework because there are too many benefits to stock sustainability within CFP. The risks created by pulling out of the London Fisheries Convention will also damage the British fishing industrys ability to fish outside of British waters and policing would prove costly, environmentally damaging and politically sensitive.

International marine law does not provide the means to ensure compliance, which is a significant weakness. It is worth remembering that the UK has the second-best fishing industry in the EU And that this fishing policy has nothing to do with the EU itself.
Donald Trump's Mental Stability remains in question as he serves as the U.S. president. Numerous experts have weighed in on the current state of Trump's mental health, and it's clear there are aspects of his behavior that are of great concern as he leads the most powerful nation in the world. Trump has trouble backing up his claims and often speaks -- or tweets -- before he thinks. When every little word you utter is closely watched, mental stability isn't just an asset; it's a must.

"Serious problems" with Trump's mental state

Washington Post conservative columnist Jennifer Rubin told CNN's "New Day" on Monday that there are serious concerns about Donald Trump's mental stability. She explained that there are "serious problems" with the commander-in-chief being so "erratic" and "unreliable." The columnist continued that the gap between the president's statements and messages delivered through his communications team at the White House differ significantly.

Rubin used Trump's attack on the London mayor as an example of his illogical way of responding to a tragedy. She says Donald Trump showed mental instability by slamming London Mayor Sadiq Khan after the city was attacked by terrorists -- an act that left seven people dead and many more wounded. The president mocked Khan for saying there was no reason to be alarmed.

Inconsistencies

The columnist criticized Trump for going after the mayor at the worst possible time to politicize a horrible incident. Rubin goes on to say that Trump is "not focused on the right things" and has created controversy. She brands the 45th President of the United States as the "world's worst client or the world's worst witness" because he oftentimes abandons the messages carefully prepared by his staff.

Does Trump have a "dangerous mental illness"?

Back in April, 25 leading psychiatrists gathered at Yale University to assess Donald Trump's mental health and concluded that he has a "dangerous mentally illness" and is unfit to serve as the U.S. president. Republicans responded by calling out the experts as "unethical psychiatrists" who were unwilling to accept the election results.

Dr. Allen Frances, who's written in the New York Times, said many amateur psychiatrists have misdiagnosed Trump as having narcissistic personality disorder, but that doesn't make him mentally ill. Frances added that the team of mental health professionals diagnosing Trump (all of whom don't know him) at Yale, are not fans of his and are distressed by his politics. Frances thinks categorizing Donald Trump as mentally ill is actually an insult to those who really are because most of them are well-behaved and have good intentions, which he says, Trump is neither.
The morning after the horrific terrorist attacks on London left seven dead and dozens injured, it was only a matter of time before cable news outlets put their own spin on the story to fit their partisan narrative. Over on Fox News, two network contributors decided to bring up the idea of potential interment of Muslims in the United Kingdom.

Fox News on London

For the third time in as many months, an apparent Islamic terrorist attack has taken place in London. On Saturday night, at least three suspects acted out in terror at and around the London Bridge, killing seven people and injuring many more in the process.

One man drove his van into a crowd of people on the bridge, while multiple knife attacks took place not far from the location at hand. According to most recent reports out of the BBC, 12 individuals have been arrested in relation to the London attacks, which occurred at an east London flat that belong to the initial three suspects. Prime Minister Teresa May was quick to condemn what took place, saying "enough is enough," while London Mayor Sadiq Khan offered similar sediments. In the hours since the attack, different news outlets have offered a wide range of reporting on the issue, including a controversial view over on Fox News which took place during a June 4 broadcast.

During the Sunday morning edition of "Fox & Friends" on Fox News, two network contributors brought up the possibility of Muslim "internment" in an attempt to curb the growing threat of radical islamic terrorism.

One guest was Nigel Farage, the British politician that campaigned on support of Brexit, who took a hard-line stance following the latest terrorist attack, saying, "A lot of people have abused the word refugee." Farage went on to detail the trouble that the United Kingdom and much of Europe is having in dealing with terrorist activities, saying he hopes Teresa May "goes a lot further." "If there is not action, the calls for internment will grow," he added.

Fox & Friends Guest Openly Talks Internment After London Terror https://t.co/3k13o04MR6 (VIDEO) pic.twitter.com/MnUC2ONC53  Mediaite (@Mediaite) June 4, 2017

Not stopping there, Katie Hopkins of the Daily Mail was interview later on in the show, and said "we do need interment camps." "We need to start incarcerating, deporting, repeating until we clean this country up," she continued.

After the segment aired, the hosts of "Fox & Friends" were forced to issue an on-air apology due to backlash.

Fox & Friends Forced to Issue On-Air Clarification After 'Internment' Discussion https://t.co/331KlhkJgm (VIDEO) pic.twitter.com/Tg6XZlNTrl  Mediaite (@Mediaite) June 4, 2017

Moving forward

While not going as far as the aforementioned Fox News contributors, President Donald Trump used the London Bridge terrorist attacks to promote his controversial travel ban on Twitter, while blasting the Mayor of London in a follow-up tweet. Trump received criticism for his comments, though his supporters were quick to come to his defense.
It is a harsh truth but abductions in a school setting are one of the most tangible dangers facing students, all the way up to university levels. Not long ago there was the incident of a Tennessee high school teacher who made off with one of his teenage female students for five whole weeks before they were found in a commune close to Oregon. And then last month Yingying Zhang, 26, a Chinese visiting scholar at the University Of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Campus, disappeared after hitching a ride back to her apartment. On June 30 police arrested suspect Brendt Chirstensen, a Champaign local, in connection with her disappearance.

His apprehending came about due to returning to the scene of the crime in a sense.

Return to the scene

On Thursday, June 29, Yingying Zhangs father and aunt from China led a rally of students and other sympathizers through the University of Illinois campus in a show of solidarity to ascertain her whereabouts since her vanishing on June 9. Under the hashtag of FindYingying the assembly offered up to $40,000 in reward money to anyone who might be able to provide information on what happened to Zhang. The event was covered by CNN reporter Kaylee Hartung, who even snapped pictures of the event.

A walk through @UniversityofIl campus to show support for missing grad student Yingying Zhang. Led by her father and aunt. pic.twitter.com/bG3dJAoJU4  Kaylee Hartung (@KayleeHartung) June 29, 2017

But as the photos were uploaded on Twitter, social media quickly focused on a small figure towards the back of the crowd in one shot.

A man with short hair and beard, a black shirt, pants, and a backpack was leaning against a rail watching the proceedings. According to the University of Illinois public affairs chancellor Robin Kaler, he was identified as Brendt Christensen, a resident of the Champaign area. Based on these photos, police went on to arrest Christensen the following day, the culmination of a weeks-long surveillance operation to pin him as the suspect for abducting Yingying Zhang.

Likely suspect

The detective work that eventually zeroed in on Brendt Christensen as being responsible for kidnapping Zhang was drawn from several clues. Security camera footage of the University of Illinois from June 9 saw the young Chinese scholar hitching a ride from a black car with a sunroof and a crack front hubcap.

Christensen owns a black Saturn Astra with the same characteristics. When questioned by investigators shortly after the disappearance Christensen appears to have changed his story as to his activities during that time. Furthermore, a check of his smartphone history turned up that he visited a web forum that catered to strange fetishes  FetLife  and had followed forum threads regarding how to plan a perfect abduction.

One last damning piece of evidence was audio captures of Christensen talking to a confidant about his kidnapping of a Y.Z., believed to mean Yingying Zhang. Said audio files also strengthen the sad probability that the kidnap victim is already dead, which is also the official police presumption.
It would appear that the construction of Energy Transfer Partners' Bakken pipeline system will soon move into Louisiana, running from Lake Charles to St. James, and slashing across 700 bodies of water in the process.

The so-called Bayou Bridge pipeline has met with significant public outcry, and a number of protests are planned to disrupt its construction. The pipeline will move fracked oil from the Bakken shale in north dakota all the way down to the Gulf coast, where it can be moved via commercial ships.

A mercenary firm that acted illegally in North Dakota has recently applied for the ability to work in Louisiana, but their purposes there are unknown.

TigerSwan worked on behalf of Energy Transfer Partners during the Standing Rock Sioux protests in North Dakota, so many wonder if their presence in Louisiana has something to do with the imminent pipeline construction.

A dangerous past

TigerSwan is a firm that doesn't share much about itself and has operated outside of the law. During the protests in North Dakota that opposed the Dakota Access Pipeline, they were accused of using counterterrorism tactics against US citizens.

Ex-Delta Force soldiers founded the company, and their CEO, James Patrick Reese, is alleged to have a criminal record. While Mr. Reese has denied this charge, he was not able to produce evidence of a clean record when TigerSwan was investigated in North Dakota.

What is known is the view that TigerSwan took toward the protesters in Standing Rock, when they compare them to jihadists and militants.

A delta farce

The Delta Force was founded in the 1970's as a direct policy response to rising terrorism, and have taken part in numerous classified missions since then. The Department of Defense refuses to refer to their existence publicly, and their mission profile has never been made public.

It is known that they were based on the British SAS, and are used for potentially violent missions in combat zones around the world. What their former members are doing in the US while they work on behalf of Energy Transfer Partners has not been made public, but when their presence was discovered in North Dakota, they were quickly removed from their roles.

Upon review, TigerSwan was denied the right to operate in North Dakota, and they were also accused of using dishonest tactics to accomplish their work. As of yet, they have not been granted the right to work in Louisiana, nor has Energy Transfer Partners disclosed any connection between the Bayou Bridge pipeline project and TigerSwan's application to work in Louisiana.

When mention of TigerSwan's interest in a license to operate in Louisiana was made to groups that are resisting the construction of the Bayou Bridge pipeline, these was little surprise.
While media remains riveted on President Trumps Twitter tweets, a divisive battle among Democrats in California has brought acrimony and unleashed bitter feuds between sparring politicians. The vitriolic health care debate has opened deep divisions between Democratic factions who have proposed a $400 billion Universal Health Care bill in California and opponents who say its supporters failed to show how the state would pay for it. The infighting has reportedly led to Death threats against a Democratic lawmaker who opposes the legislation.

Speaker: proposal an unfunded shell

California Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon said the bill lacks any credible means of funding before shelving the proposal last week. Rendon described the bill as an empty shell that promises universal funding but doesnt have a funding mechanism. There was absolutely no funding attached to a $400 billion proposal, no service delivery mechanism, he told The Hill publication.

The Democrats' failure to agree on a workable single-payer health care system in California does not bode well for similar national proposals that Democrats like Bernie Sanders have advocated.

Supporters say the bill could be reintroduced in January under a new session while detractors say nothing would have changed to make universal health care in California affordable.

Proposal being pushed by Nurses Union

For its part, the California Nurses Association, which is leading the push for universal health care, claims opponents are doing the bidding of opposition industry groups that fund Democratic political action groups.

Nurses Union spokesman Michael Lighty claims Rendon is carrying water for special interest groups and intends to kill the bill permanently, according to an article in The Hill published yesterday.

However, any specifics on how California Democrats on either side of the proposal would pay for the massive legislation were not mentioned. Meanwhile, Rendon claims supporters of the bill have made death threats against him and more protests against opposition members have cropped up across the state. Democrats have supermajorities in the state House and Senate and a Democratic governor, which gives them all the necessary tools to provide unlimited Universal Healthcare.

Rendons removal of the bill acts as a political pressure-relief valve to protect so-called moderate Democrats who fear voter retaliation should they have to vote against universal health care.

California healthcare-fail may affect Democrats' national component

The apparent inability of a wealthy, blue state like California to fund a universal health care plan does boost confidence for national Democratic calling for government-run health care.

Infighting exploded in May during the state Democratic Party Convention after a Sanders-backed party chair candidate lost. Sanders supports government-run, single payer health care. At the same time, Senate Democrats are fuming at Rendon for not giving House Democrats a chance to debate the proposal in earnest.

Some political analysts say Senate Democrats wanted House Democrats to debate the bill and take some of the heat from its opponents.

The universal healthcare debate has sparked rare derision and disunity between the Democratic super majorities in a state that recently passed a massive gas tax to pay for crumbling infrastructure  a tax that prompted an acrimonious backlash from voters in that state.
A lawsuit was recently filed against the social media company Facebook. The lawsuit claimed that the California-based headquarters of the company had access to private information of Facebook Users. This information included the user's browser history even after they had logged out of their Facebook account. The judge was presented with the argument that this violated privacy rights and laws. However, the judge ruled in favor of Facebook and there was no real resolution for the plaintiffs.

Facebook is violating users privacy

The plaintiffs argued that Facebook tracked their browser history even after the users have logged out of their accounts.

They stated that Facebook made use of the "like" button to track other sites the plaintiffs visited. This means that the company could be recording browser history for their own use. The argument was that this was a violation of the users federal and state rights to privacy. They added that it also violated wiretapping laws.

These concerns were first brought to the public's attention by blogger Nik Cubrilovic in 2011. He discovered that the company was tracking user history even after users had opted to log out of their accounts. His discovery was countered by Gregg Stefancik who explained that Facebook uses measures after the user logs out to ensure that other people can not access their account.

The privacy debate has been going on for some years and as of yet, there is no clear resolution.

Judge rules in favor of Facebook tracking

Judge Edward Davila has presented this case. However, he ruled in favor of Facebook and dismissed the concerns of the plaintiffs. The judge stated that Facebook users have many options to hide their browser history from the likes of companies such as Facebook.

He told the plaintiffs that they could have utilized "incognito mode" on their computers.

The judge claimed that the plaintiffs did not have sufficient evidence to take their case any further. He found that they had not suffered any economic harm or loss. He told the plaintiffs that they could not pursue this claim in court again.

However, he did mention that they could pursue a breach of contract claim should they decide to do so. Judge Davila also dismissed another case of the same nature five years ago.

Facebook has introduced ways of allowing users to change their privacy settings. When they introduced a new advertisement scheme in 2014 they introduced new settings so users could personalize their privacy. A spokesperson from the company has stated that they hare very happy with the outcome of the case.
Outgoing Republican New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie had a falling out with then-President-elect Donald Trump in November that cost him a position in the administration. Now, it is with his constituents and media that the embattled governor is having a falling out.

Time reported on Monday that the latest Quinnipiac University poll showed the governors approval rating has gone down to a record-low 15 percent. It is the worst survey result for a governor in any state over the last two decades. The plunge was deep from a high of 72 percent approval rating in November 2012 after Hurricane Sandy.

Praise for response to the storm

At that time, Christie achieved the enviable and sky-high approval rating because of his response to the storm. Five years later, the governor is on the opposite end of the approval rating spectrum. His low approval rating likely is linked to his Sunday photo showing Christie and his family enjoying the luxury of the use of the Island Beach State Park, while the rest of New Jersey residents could not use two state beaches due to the state government shutdown.

Christie, however, defended his familys use of the beach during the weekend because as governor, he has access to two residences in the state. The governor is allowed to go to his residences and Im at my residences, he told Good Day New York on Fox 5.

Christie added he announced last week that whatever happened to the pending state budget, which caused the shutdown, he and his family would go to the Island Beach State Park for the weekend, The New York Daily News reported.

Blames state legislature for unsigned budget

The governor stressed he did not order the closure of the beaches.

Rather, the state government shutdown was the result of the New Jersey legislatures failure to pass the $34.7-billion budget for him to sign, Christie explained. The budget standoff was because of a bill to restructure Horizon Blue Cross Shield, an insurer in New Jersey after Speaker Vincent Prieto stonewalled voting on the legislation that would give New Jersey greater oversight of Horizon.

Like Trump, Christie used the publication by The Star-Ledger of his family picture lounging on the beach as an occasion to hit media. The governor called the front-page treatment of his family beach photo a great bit of journalism, The New York Post reported. He told Fox 5 mockingly that The Star-Ledger would get a Pulitzer Prize for catching a politician being where he said he was going to be with the people he said he was going to be with.
President Donald Trump is offering help to the parents of baby Charlie Gard in their attempt to get medical treatment in the United States. Charlie Gard is suffering from mitochondrial DNA depletion syndrome, a rare genetic disorder and has the RRM2B strain. The infant continues to stay on life support after Chris Gard and Connie Yates lost their long battle last week in International Court of Human Rights. His parents had requested the court not to turn off Charlie's life- support and to allow them to take Charlie to the U.S to try an experimental treatment.

The court denied the parents request granting doctors at Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children, London to shut off, 10 month- old, Charlie's life support and let him die.

Growing support

Charlie and his parents have been gaining international attention in their plight to keep the baby alive and be allowed to do everything possible for him. President Trump learned of the situation of baby Charlie and tweeted his support and offered the family help. President Trump stated, " If we can help little Charlie Gard, as per our friends in the U.K and the Pope, we would be delighted to do so," Trump said.

If we can help little #CharlieGard, as per our friends in the U.K. and the Pope, we would be delighted to do so.  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 3, 2017

Pope Francis has also given his support to Chris Gard and Connie Yates and their son.

Pope Francis believes the parents should be allowed try to everything possible for their child. In a statement released by Greg Burke, Director of the Holy See Press Office, Burke stated," Pope Francis prays for Charlie Gard's parents and hope that their desire to accompany and care for their own child to the end is not ignored," Burke said.

Crowds of people have also begun gathering outside Buckingham Palace.They are protesting the court's decision not to save Charlie. Protesters are shouting, "Save Charlie Gard," and carrying signs an effort to gain the British government's attention to intervene and allow the baby treatment in the United States.

Ethical questions

Charlie Gard medical treatment and right to life case has also brought many ethical questions into play. Parental rights vs medical care and the well-being of a child and if there is a possible treatment to save the child life should it be used or should the child be allowed the right to die with dignity. There have been many cases that parents have been charged with medical neglect of their children, denying them care and a child dies.

An example is Timothy and Sarah Johnson of Plymouth, Minnesota who were both arrested for the death of their son Seth, 7, in March 2016. Seth's parents knew he wasn't feeling well and instead of getting him medical care, they prayed over him. His parents left him with his 16 year- old brother so they could go away for the weekend.

The little boy died from pancreatitis and acute sepsis, never seeing a doctor. The Johnsons were charged in his death but failed to appear in court. The couple fled to New Zealand and are waiting for extradition back to Minnesota.

In the case of baby Charlie his parents are doing everything humanly possible to help their son and a court and doctors orders his life- support turned off without even trying. All Charlie's parent's want is this last chance to treat their son and raised $1.8 million dollars for his care. The experimen is being used on another child in the U.S.

Artuirto Estopinan, 6, who is suffering from the same rare genetic disorder and has the TK2 strain is receiving the experimental treatment.

Estopinan is undergoing nucleoside therapy and has shown improvement since he started. nucleoside therapy is the same treatment Charlie's parents want to try.

It is the hope that the doctors will listen to President Trump and Pope Francis and give Charlie a chance.
TEHRAN  Iran and a consortium of Chinese and French energy giants signed a multi-billion-dollar deal here on Monday to develop a major Iranian gas field in the Persian Gulf.

The deal followed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed by the National Iranian Oil Company and a consortium involving China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), France's Total and Iran's Petropars in November 2016 to develop Iran's South Pars (SP11) gas field.

At Monday's signing ceremony, Iran's Petroleum Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh, Total's CEO Patrick Pouyanne and Lv Gongxun, representatives of the CNPC were present.

According to Zanganeh, the contract for development of the gas field is worth $4.8 billion. The contract will be carried out in two phases with a total period of 20 years.

At each stage, $2.4 billion of foreign fund will be allocated for the project, the minister said, adding that Total will operate the SP11 project with a 50.1 interest alongside CNPC with 30 percent and Petropars with 19.9 percent.

Iran expects to produce as much as 56 million cubic meters per day of natural gas from the field once it is in full swing, he said.

The South Pars field is a natural gas condensate field located in the Persian Gulf. It is the world's largest gas field shared between Iran and Qatar.

According to the International Energy Agency, the field holds an estimated 51 trillion cubic meters of in-situ natural gas and some 50 billion barrels of natural gas condensate.
Principal Financial Group, the Iowa-based pension, insurance and asset management service provider, hopes to become a shareholder in China's pension business after gaining 12 years of experience in asset management in the country, said its senior executives.

The group has worked with State-owned China Construction Bank on the CCB-Principal Fund Management since 2005.

The joint venture was the sixth-largest fund management company in the country last year. China is Principal's third-largest market outside the United States in terms of profit.

Renee Schaaf, the group's senior vice-president, said that China's pension potential is enormous. It is estimated that it will increase five-fold over the next 10 years from around $20 billion to $100 billion. The growth will come from the development of enterprise annuity and voluntary retirement products.

"China has one of the fastest aging populations in the world, and this will put pressure on the government-run pension system," she said. "It is inevitable that individuals will need to take greater responsibility to prepare a nest egg for their retirement to ensure they have enough at retirement."

According to the Virginia-based Global Aging Institution, China's population of over 65-year-olds will grow from 10 percent in 2015 to 28 percent by 2050. This seismic shift will put an enormous fiscal strain on the government.

Schaaf said there are many growth points for the group to invest in projects related to the Belt and Road Initiative, and its branches in Southeast Asia have done well under the initiative.

Its partner, CCB, has been an active participant in the development of the Belt and Road Initiative, and there are opportunities for Principal to facilitate some of CCB's activities, not only helping the Chinese bank source for projects, but also navigate local regulations in the different markets involved in the initiative the company operates in.

The US company has a joint venture of asset management partnerships in Southeast Asia with CIMB Group Holdings Berhada Malaysian banking group headquartered in Kuala Lumpur, which may also benefit from cross-border mutual recognition schemes for asset management under the initiative.

"As China pledged to further open up in its financial service sector, we see opportunities for Principal to offer our overseas investment capabilities to Chinese investors, while offering our Chinese joint venture's expertise in China equity and fixed income to our clients outside of China," said Thomas Cheong, Principal's vice-president and head for North Asia.

Both CCB and Principal signed a strategic cooperation agreement to expand the relationship to other areas of asset management, pension development and the joint development of overseas market opportunities in 2016.

"The economic transition pushed by the Chinese government will gradually transfer the country from an export-driven manufacturing economy to an economy based on internal consumption, saving and investment," said Zhao Ying, a researcher at the institute of industrial economics of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing.
More court presidents and chief judges are picking up their gavels again in a move to improve the quality of case hearings, China's top court said on Monday.

In the past, their roles have largely focused on court management or administrative affairs, attending meetings or conducting research, "but they have been asked to go back to the courtrooms to hear cases as part of judicial reform", said Xu Jiaxin, director of the Political Department at the Supreme People's Court.

Their return, initiated by a reform put forward by the central leadership in 2013, requires senior judges to play a bigger role in improving efficiency and alleviating the pressure brought on by the rapidly increasing number of disputes, he said.

Courts in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangdong province have moved ahead of other regions since the reform was launched. Last year, for example, court presidents and chief judges in the capital handled 138,000 cases, up 52 percent year-on-year, according to the top court.

To expand the reform, the highest judicial chamber issued a guideline in April, clarifying how many cases a president or chief judge should hear annually, and outlining some of the disputes they should handle.

For instance, the number of cases handled by a president in an intermediate people's court should reach 5 percent of the average amount handled by other judges in the court, while senior judges with administrative titles should first hear cases that are complicated, unique or that may stir up the public, it said.

"We hope more young judges can learn from presidents and chief judges in case hearings, upholding justice by improving the quality of trials," Xu added.

Chen Qi, president of Beijing Miyun District People's Court, has been regularly hearing cases in court.

"I not only read judicial documents and make verdicts. I attend all legal procedures of a case as I did before," she said, adding that what she does is also disclosed in the court and supervised by other judges.

But Xu said the reform does not mean presidents and chief judges can ignore administrative affairs. "It's to push them to balance their work," he added.

In addition, the top court is also ready to establish commissions at provincial level to supervise whether judges have made mistakes in applying laws or legal procedures, in a bid to improve the quality of case hearings.

caoyin@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 07/04/2017 page4)
Zhang Xiwu, former deputy head of China's State-owned assets supervisory authority, has been demoted for "serious disciplinary violations", the country's top anti-graft authority announced on Monday.

Zhang, 59, has been removed from his position as deputy head of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council and from his Party positions, and has been demoted to a bureau-level, non-leadership post, according to the Communist Party of China's Central Commission for Discipline Inspection.

The CCDI said he will no longer serve as a delegate to the 18th CPC National Congress and his ill-gotten gains will be confiscated.

Zhang, also former deputy secretary of the SASAC CPC Committee, seriously violated the Party's code of conduct and relevant rules involving canvassing for his election, and inquired about information related to inspections over alleged graft issues, according to the CCDI.

The CCDI said he failed to perform his duties in running the Party strictly, while obstructing an investigation into him.

He was also found to have abused his power to gain benefits for his family members in terms of jobs promotions, and carried out profitable activities.

Between 2003 and 2017, Zhang served as the deputy general manager and manager as well as chairman and Party chief of Shenhua Group - a national coal and electricity giant - before being promoted to the post of deputy head of the SASAC.

Since November 2012, when the new leadership took office, the country has conducted a sweeping drive to fight against "tigers" and "flies", referring to high-ranking and low-ranking officials.

According to the top anti-graft watchdog, more than 150 high-ranking officials at ministerial level or above have been probed for alleged graft, including Zhou Yongkang, who was sentenced to life imprisonment in June 2015.

zhangyan1@chinadaily.com.cn
Africa and the Middle East will be two major focuses for the UN Security Council during China's presidency for the month of July, with scheduled open debates on enhancing peace and security in Africa, as well as the situation in Palestine, according to the country's permanent presentative to the UN.

Regions in discussion for July include Syria, Yemen, Iraq, Lebanon, South Sudan, Burundi, Colombia, as well as Haiti and Cyprus, said Liu Jieyi on Monday at a press briefing on the program of work at the Security Council.

"China certainly will be objective and impartial in carrying out the duties of the president, will try to be as transparent as the Council members would like us to be, and we certainly will try to arrange the work of the Security Council in the efficient and effective way to make the best use of the time available," he said.

On South Sudan, the Council will urge different parties to cease "whatever hostilities still exist" and to work out a lasting solution best for the country and its people; the Council will also persuade parties in Yemen to seek reconciliation, solving problems through political means; for Colombia, the Security Council will adopt a resolution backing a second political mission that will continue its work emptying weapons caches and destroying explosives.

An open debate scheduled tentatively for July 18 will continue conversations on enhancing African capacities in areas of peace and stability, according to Liu, which the next two Security Council presidents - Egypt and Ethiopia - are likely to continue.

"We see the four months as a period of generating more political momentum in the Security Council to help Africa enhance its capacity in areas of peace and security because [China is] of the view that we should always provide more help to Africa to seek solutions to African problems by African countries in African ways," said Liu.

"So whatever focus the security council can bring to this issue of enhancing capacity building in Africa, it will serve a very good cause to not only peace and stability in Africa but also peace operations in general throughout the world," he said.

The second open debate scheduled for July 25 on the Middle East will hopefully bring negotiations on the issue of the two-state solution in Palestine and Israel, Liu said.

Asked about China's views on its contributions to the UN's peacekeeping efforts in light of the UN slashing its peacekeeping budget by $600 million due to pressure from the US, Liu said that it is "important that we use every dollar to where it is truly needed, and it is about how to make the peacekeeping operations more efficient and effective with the kind of resources that we have."

China is the second-largest contributor to the UN peacekeeping budget, Liu said.

"We certainly hope that all the other countries will wholeheartedly support the UN peacekeeping operations because we don't see a better alternative to multilateral efforts to actually make a difference in countries hosting or where the peacekeepers are deployed," he said.

amyhe@chinadailyusa.com

(China Daily USA 07/04/2017 page1)
Zhang Yingying's father present at court hearing for Illinois man, 28

People react at the end of the bond hearing for Brendt Christensen outside of the US Courthouse Monday, July 3, 2017 in Urbana, Ill., before the bond hearing for Brendt Christensen, who allegedly kidnapped visiting scholar Yingying Zhang. [Photo/VCG]

Brendt Christensen, the 28-year-old Illinois man charged with kidnapping University of Illinois visiting scholar Zhang Yingying, appeared in federal court in Urbana on Monday.

Christiansen did not speak other than to acknowledge to the federal judge that he understood his rights during the nine-minute hearing. He was ordered held without bail until the next court hearing on Wednesday.

The Champaign News-Gazette reported that Ms. Zhang's father was among the 45 people present in the courtroom, as a large crowd gathered outside with signs reading "Justice for Yingying."

"The next hearing would be a detention hearing to determine whether Christiansen should remain in custody," said Sharon Paul, spokeswoman for the US attorney's office for the Central District of Illinois.

A preliminary hearing was set for July 14, but that would be waived if a grand jury returns an indictment before then, Paul said.

Christensen could face life in prison if convicted of the crime of kidnapping, according to Paul.

"There were 300 to 400 people gathered outside today," said Charlie Li, president of the Chinese American Community of Central Illinois (CACCI), who spoke with Zhang's relatives and lawyer, Zhidong Wang, outside the courthouse after the hearing.

"All of us are really concerned about Yingying and her family," Li said. "And we want justice for Yingying."

According to CNN, Christensen's defense attorney, Evan Bruno, urged the public to avoid jumping to conclusions.

"There's a long road ahead," Bruno told reporters outside the courthouse. "I encourage everyone to be patient, to keep an open mind and wait until the evidence comes in."

Christensen was arrested on Friday on a criminal complaint filed by the US attorney's office charging him with kidnapping Zhang.

Zhang, the 26-year-old visiting Chinese scholar at The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), has not been found and is believed by authorities to no longer be alive.

Forensic investigators searching the suspect's car noted that the seat where Zhang "would have been sitting appeared to have been cleaned to a more diligent extent" and concluded in the court papers that "this type of action may be indicative of an attempt to conceal or destroy evidence."

The FBI and the University of Illinois Police declined to comment on Monday's hearing.

Zhang Ruinan in New York contributed to this story.

China Daily

(China Daily USA 07/04/2017 page2)
Strolling along Las Vegas' hotels, casinos and shopping malls is to invite a sense of dj vu: Haven't I run into some of these same commercialized sites in China's big cities?

This confusion, together with my probe into how deeply Chinese have influenced the local habitat, accompanied me throughout my visit.

Evidence on the surface is pretty convincing: private Chinese gaming salons offered at top-tier casinos, Chinese-themed festivities and performances promoted through a variety of channels, Mandarin-speaking shop clerks cordially doting on deep-pocketed mainlanders, not to mention the few most widely acclaimed restaurants featuring Chinese chefs and cuisines.

The city is also offering a casino and hotel specifically for Chinese visitors, the Lucky Dragon Hotel & Casino, which is majorly financed by Chinese investors and set to opened last December. Las Vegas' first-ever Asian-themed resort, the 203-room facility features bilingual staff and signage, a luxury tea bar and authentic Chinese food with the same dishes found in Guangzhou, Shanghai or Beijing.

Meanwhile, another Asian-themed resort much bigger than Lucky Dragon, the Resorts World on the North Strip, broke ground early this year and is expected to open in 2019. A $4 billion project, the property will have 3,200 rooms and feature Chinese architecture, including an ersatz Great Wall.

I can't help but wonder what other factors are coming into play - besides the obvious one that there are no gamblers in the world like the Chinese when it comes to baccarat, the most lucrative game in Las Vegas, and casino operators know it.

The influx of China's direct investment and throngs of tourists have surely contributed to the strong influence of the Chinese in the state of Nevada and Sin City.

Take the annual Consumer Electronic Show (CES), the world's biggest trade event of its kind, which is held in Las Vegas and is already 50 years old. For the 2017 show, China sent 1,575 exhibitors, or 41 percent of the total, according to the Consumer Technology Association.

Luo Linquan, China's consul general in San Francisco, flew to Las Vegas for CES week in January to meet with representatives of leading Chinese companies.

"You are at the forefront of constructing a stronger and closer China-US relationship through business and trade," Luo said at a "China Night" banquet to salute the achievements of Chinese companies. "CES is a good showcase of China-US cooperation."

He also visited officials of the state and city governments. In a conversation with Nevada Lieutenant Governor Mark Mutchison, Luo said, "China and Nevada should work more closely on the tourism and convention industry," adding that the potential for future cooperation in the sectors of tourism, culture, exhibition and hospitality was tremendous.

Carolyn Goodman, mayor of Las Vegas, said her city would make a continuous effort to push forward pragmatic bilateral cooperation, and Las Vegas welcomed Chinese enterprises to invest locally and create local jobs.

Last December, China's Hainan Airlines announced the launch of a non-stop flight between Las Vegas and Beijing three times a week, connecting the "global leisure-industry focal point" with the capital of the world's second-largest economy.

Chinese visitors had already reached around 210,000 last year, according to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority. Hainan's new route not only cuts travel time but it is expected to introduce millions of prospective visitors to Las Vegas and generate approximately $33.5 million in visitor expenditures each year.

The international marketplace is key to Las Vegas' success in the future, both on the leisure side as well as the convention side, said Rossi Ralenkotter, president and CEO of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority.

"We know that the growth market in the future is going to include China," Ralenkotter said.

Contact the writer at junechang@Chinadailyusa.com.

(China Daily 07/04/2017 page2)
President Xi Jinping and first lady Peng Liyuan arrive at Moscow's Vnukovo International Airport on Monday. Xi embarks on a state visit to Russia. SERGEI KARPUKHIN/REUTERS

President Xi Jinping said on Monday that he is confident he can reach consensus with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, on deepening bilateral relations and pushing forward cooperation in all areas.

"I believe this trip is definitely going to yield fruitful outcomes," Xi said in a written statement upon his arrival at the Moscow airport on Monday.

Xi is paying a two-day state visit to Russia at Putin's invitation. Apart from the talks with the Russian president, Xi will also attend people-to-people exchange programs jointly hosted by the two countries and meet with people from all walks of life.

On Tuesday, Xi will fly to Berlin for a state visit to Germany and then to Hamburg to attend the G20 Summit.

In an interview with Russian media before his departure on Monday, Xi said that China and Russia hold similar views on the essence and damage of the US deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense anti-missile system in the Republic of Korea and will take necessary measures, jointly or individually.

He said China and Russia have been in close communication and are coordinating at various levels on the issue.

The deployment gravely harms the strategic security interests of China, Russia and other countries in the region, Xi said.

China and Russia will take necessary measures, jointly or individually, to safeguard their national security interests and the regional strategic balance, he said.

On the Korean Peninsula issue, Xi said China is committed to denuclearizing the peninsula, safeguarding its peace and stability and settling disagreements through dialogue and consultation.

China, he added, hopes that other parties with an interest in the Korean Peninsula will join the push by China and Russia for talks, take up their respective responsibilities and place the issue on the right track of dialogue and consultation toward a negotiated settlement as soon as possible.

China and Russia have maintained close strategic coordination on global and regional affairs, serving as a sort of ballast in safeguarding global and regional peace, security and stability, Xi added.
French President Emmanuel Macron delivers a speech during a special congress gathering both houses of parliament (National Assembly and Senate) at the Versailles Palace, near Paris, France, July 3, 2017. [Photo/Agencies]

VERSAILLES/PARIS - France's new president, Emmanuel Macron, told parliament in a ceremonial address on Monday that he would seek direct approval from voters in a referendum if parliament failed to sign off his intended institutional reforms quickly enough.

Elected only two months ago by a hefty majority, Macron told the lawmakers of both houses, summoned especially to the Palace of Versailles, that he wanted to cut the number of lawmakers by a third, curb the executive's role in naming magistrates, and introduce a "dose" of proportional representation.

Macron's upstart Republic on the Move (LREM) party has secured a comfortable majority in the National Assembly - but France's youngest leader since Napoleon made clear his impatience to complete the reshaping of the political landscape that he has begun.

"The French people are not driven by patient curiosity, but by an uncompromising demand. It is a profound transformation that they expect," Macron told the specially convened joint session of parliament.

"I want all these deep reforms that our institutions seriously need to be done within a year. These reforms will go to parliament but, if necessary, I will put them to voters in a referendum."

Macron also pressed his case for reform of Europe.
A Go Fund Me page has been set up to cover funeral expenses for Dr. Tracy Sin-Yee Tam, who was gunned down in a rampage by another doctor on Friday at Bronx-Lebanon Hospital Center in New York.

Shortly before 6 pm Monday, almost $28,000 of the $50,000 goal was raised.

The accompanying text on the page says: "Tracy Tam was an exceptional and an extremely compassionate physician. She touched lives of many. She worked extra hours without incentive just to hold hands of patients that are about to pass or just to talk to them and listen to their needs.

"Tracy lost her life to senseless killing on June 30, 2017, at Bronx Lebanon Hospital while she was covering for another colleague. We are raising money to help fund Tracy's funeral costs and expenses. Any help would be greatly appreciated."

The doctor who set up the page went to medical school with Tam.

On Friday, Dr. Henry Bello, 35, went to the hospital armed with an assault rifle. He opened fire, killing Dr. Tam, 32, and wounding six others before fatally shooting himself after at first trying to set himself on fire.

Four of the others shot were doctors and a fifth was a patient.

Bello had resigned from the hospital amid allegations of sexual harassment. He emailed the New York Daily News two hours before the shooting.

"This hospital terminated my road to a licensure to practice medicine," Bello wrote, also calling out other doctors by name. "First, I was told it was because I always kept to myself. Then it was because of an altercation with a nurse."

Dr. Tam lived with her parents, immigrants from China, and her younger sister in Jamaica, Queens, where her father is a taxi driver, The New York Times reported.

The Times said the doctor chose to work in needy neighborhoods. She was also known for her kind, sweet demeanor.

"She was never above tucking her patients in at night," Dr. Iyad Baker, who supervised her during her residency, told the Times. "She would come in even when her shift is over."

williamhennelly@chinadailyusa.com

(China Daily USA 07/04/2017 page2)
Two US scientists who were born in China have won a coveted award and $250,000 for their work in developing a gene-editing system and the use of nanomaterials in environmental protection.

The Blavatnik Family Foundation and the New York Academy of Sciences announced on June 27 that Feng Zhang of the McGovern Institute for Brain Research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Yi Cui of Stanford University and the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory were the 2017 Laureates of the Blavatnik National Awards for Young Scientists.

Melanie Sanford, a professor at the University of Michigan, also was honored for her work in developing simpler chemical approaches with less environmental impact to the synthesis of molecules.

Zhang was born in Shijiazhuang in Hebei province and moved to Des Moines, Iowa with his family when he was a young child. "I grew up in the US and was educated here," he said in an interview.

Zhang said his research involves making precise changes to DNA. "Our cells have DNA called genomes that contain proteins that may have a mutation. If we can correct the mutation, we can fight diseases like sickle cell," he said.

Zhang intends to use his financial award to support science and education.

Cui was born in Laibin in Guangxi province, and after obtaining a bachelor's degree from the University of Science and Technology of China, came to the US in 1998 for graduate level studies.

After joining Stanford in 2005, Cui decided to use what he learned about nanotechnology, which is science, engineering and technology conducted at the nanoscale (about 1 to 100 nanometers). According to the National Nanotechnology Initiative, one nanometer is one-billionth of a meter. A human hair is approximately 80,000-100,000 nanometers wide.

Cui's goal is to generate leading-edge technologies for sustainable energy and environmental protection.

Cui said he has not had time to think about what he will do with the financial award. "But I am sure that it will help me to focus on what I do," he wrote in an email.

The Blavatnik Family Foundation is an active supporter of many leading educational, scientific, cultural and charitable institutions in the US and throughout the world. The New York Academy of Sciences is an independent, not-for-profit organization that has been advancing scientific research, education and policy since 1817.

paulwelitzkin@chinadailyusa.com

(China Daily USA 07/04/2017 page2)
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A Vietnamese High-Quality Products Fair opens today in Quy Nhon City with 400 booths set up by 150 Vietnamese businesses.  PHoto hiquynhon.vn

HCM CITY  A Vietnamese High-Quality Products Fair opens today in Quy Nhon City with 400 booths set up by 150 Vietnamese businesses.

To run until July 9, the fair has a section for exhibiting products meeting international standards and a Green-Nice Market where visitors can buy various regional specialities and enjoy activities like culinary and oil extraction performances.

Organised by the High Quality Vietnamese Product Business Association, the fair also features other activities like a promotion offering over 1,000 different products at VN20,000 every day, game shows, a cooking contest and art performances.

Visitors will get more than 1,000 surprise gifts, including t-shirts, hats, pens, confectionary, fish sauce, soft drinks, and gas stoves from a truck driving around the exhibition from 8:30am to 9:30am daily.

The event is being held in a square in front of the Quy Nhon Trading Centre on Nguyen Tat Thanh Street.  VNS
HA NOI  In a preliminary conclusion, the US Department of Commerce (DOC) has announced its will partially terminate its anti-subsidy investigations into steel nails imported from Viet Nam, according to report by the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MOIT).

The DOC has explained that the plaintiff, Mid Continent Steel & Wire, Inc, has withdrawn its request for administrative reviews of eight among 11 Vietnamese companies exporting nails.

Furthermore, no other relevant party has submitted any review request of the eight companies, so the DOC will stop the probe.

In addition, it has been determined that one of the remaining three companies has not exported any of its products to the US during the period under review, so the DOC will also stop administrative reviews of company.

For the remaining two companies, the subsidy margin has been preliminarily fixed at 313.97 per cent for the review period (November 3, 2014 to December 31, 2015).

As scheduled, the DOC will promulgate its final conclusion regarding the administrative review 120 days from the announcement of the preliminary conclusion.

The final conclusion will function as a foundation for the DOC and the USs customs and border protection agencies to assess anti-subsidy duties and deposits to be imposed on batches of steel nails imported from Viet Nam.

Earlier, on June 6, 2017, the DOC announced its plan to partially terminate its administrative review of steel nails imported from Viet Nam for 21 product codes.  VNS
Agriculture firm Hoang Anh Gia Lai (HAGL) has predicted VN6.33 trillion (US$281.5 million) in total revenue and VN552 billion in pre-tax profit in 2017, the company announced at its annual shareholder meeting on June 30. Photo giaoduc.net.vn

HA NOI  Agriculture firm Hoang Anh Gia Lai (HAGL) has predicted VN6.33 trillion (US$281.5 million) in total revenue and VN552 billion in pre-tax profit in 2017, the company announced at its annual shareholder meeting on June 30.

Compared to 2016s performance, the total revenue mark would be 1.6 per cent lower, but pre-tax earnings would improve from a loss of VN1.4 trillion in 2016.

Main sources of income in 2017 are likely to be fruit (dragon fruit, passion fruit and banana) (VN2.6 trillion), rubber (VN745 billion), cattle for slaughter (VN1.24 trillion) and the real estate project HAGL Myanmar (VN1.14 trillion).

Concerning HAGL Myanmar, HAGL chairman oan Nguyen uc said that the group would be willing to sell half of its stake in the project if any investors are interested in this asset.

HAGL is seeking partners to offload its stake in the hydropower plant Nam Kong 3, and the group is proceeding to complete the sale of hydropower project Nam Kong 2. Both projects are developed in Laos.

In the future, HAGL will increase its ownership in the subsidiaries to take control of its sub-business units.

HAGL also forecast its profit in the first half of 2017 reached VN213 billion, equal to 40 per cent of the years plan and lower than expected figure as some of the sub units had not operated, thus contributing nothing to the firms earnings.

uc said that the firm will try to fulfill its 2017 target during the second half by achieving 30 per cent of the targeted profit in each quarter.

In addition, the company has successfully reduced parts of its total loans by selling business units and converting bonds into shares to offset the burden in its financial health.

According to the groups CEO Vo Truong Son, HAGL was able to reduce its total loans by VN5 trillion after selling its sugar arm, HAGL Sugar JSC, to Thanh Thanh Cong Group (TTC) in May and issuing 137.5 million shares at VN8,000 per share to convert the VN1.1 trillion worth of loan agreement made with the Singapore-based national wealth fund Temasek in 2010.

The 137.5 million shares issued for Temasek are forbidden from being traded within one year to keep HAGLs share price stable, uc said.

However, the group will not pay dividends for 2017s performance. Shares of HAGL are listed on the HCM Stock Exchange with symbol HAG, closing yesterday down 4 per cent at VN9,100 per share.  VNS
Vietnamese firms should step up efforts to boost exports to the EU despite facing several difficulties, a senior official said yesterday.  VNA/VNS Photo inh Hue

HA NOI  Vietnamese firms should step up efforts to boost exports to the EU despite facing several difficulties, a senior official said yesterday.

ang Hoang Hai, head of the European Market Department under the Ministry of Industry and Trade, was speaking to the Vietnam News Agency on the even of Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phucs visit to Germany and Holland and participation to G20 Meeting (July 5-7).

He said EU was a large and potential market with 28 member countries and a total population of 500 million people. For several years, Viet Nam has enjoyed a trade surplus with the EU market, he noted.

In 2016, Viet Nam exported goods worth US$34 billion to the EU, 12 times the value in 2000, and paid $11 billion for imports from the bloc.

Hai noted that Viet Nam can enjoy benefits from the Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) for the 2017-2019 period. Many countries exporting to the EU do not have enjoy this preference.

When the Viet Nam-EU Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) comes into effect, Viet Nam would have experienced 20 years of participating in the process of regional and international economic integration. Vietnamese enterprises have actively competed with rivals from other countries, he said.

Furthermore, a characteristic of the Viet Nam-EU import-export structure is that it is mutually complementary and less confrontational than direct competition, Hai said.

Commitments under the EVFTA on opening each others markets will be an important impetus for boosting Viet Nam-EU trade relations, as also an opportunity to further expand exports, especially of key items like textiles, footwear, agro-forestry and wooden products.

Meanwhile, Hai said, it must not be forgotten that the EU is a market with strict quality and safety standards that not many local firms can meet.

Viet Nams legal system and policies lack uniformity and stability, so local enterprises are at a disadvantage when it comes to international disputes and lawsuits.

Hai said Vietnamese enterprises are also not fully conversant about product origins, and with related rules in the FTA being very strict, the firms will not be able to comply with them.

Therefore, businesses need to actively adjust their supply chain and input materials to adhere to the rules of origin and enjoy preferential tax regimes under the EVFTA. These activities will also help them avoid investigations and other trade defense measures.

Local enterprises should actively reform and improve their ability in all fields, and enhance product quality to face future challenges, Hai said.

To boost exports to the EU, the Ministry of Industry and Trade has directed its trade offices in the EU member countries and relevant agencies to monitor market developments and identify solutions.

Hai also said that the ministry plans to encourage local enterprises directly joining the international distribution network.  VNS
The State Capital Investment Corporation (SCIC) has declared record pre-tax profit of around VN19 trillion (US$844 million) in 2016, which is 3.9 times the profit earned in 2013. Photo cafef.vn

HA NOI  The State Capital Investment Corporation (SCIC) has declared record pre-tax profit of around VN19 trillion (US$844 million) in 2016, which is 3.9 times the profit earned in 2013.

In its report on the business results in the period between 2013 and 2016, SCIC said its growth had increased continuously.

Its total revenue rose by 4.1 times from VN5.32 trillion in 2013 to VN22 trillion in 2016. Its contribution to the State budget increased 7.4 times from VN2.2 trillion in 2013 to VN16.5 trillion in 2016. Its revenue from selling its stakes in Vinamilk was more than VN10.8 trillion.

Between the period 2014 and 2016, SCIC poured VN13.4 trillion into investment, including VN6.05 trillion in bonds, VN1.86 trillion in shares and VN631 billion in newly established firms.

In addition to these, the corporation also invested VN1 trillion in Thai Nguyen Iron and Steel Joint Stock Corporation (TISCO) following the Governments direction. However, SCIC divested from the project.

In 2016 alone, the corporation disbursed nearly VN1.2 trillion, including a capital contribution of VN18 billion in Viet Nam INCO JSC for No 29 Lieu Giai project, buying VN500 billion bonds of VPBank and VN100 billion bonds of ACB.

SCIC also increased its investment of VN4.5 billion in Trang Tien Plaza Co. Ltd. It has poured money into some other projects, such as industrial scale vaccine production project, cancer drug plant and hospitals.

In 2017, it planned to sell capital at 107 businesses in various sectors.

The corporation said the selling of State capital at businesses has been continuously promoted, thus bringing in the positive results. Last year, it successfully sold capital at both big scale firms and those with complicated and prolonged shortcomings.

Its business plan submitted to the Ministry of Finance was approved this year. Accordingly, SCIC planned to reduce half of its revenue target this year to VN11.2 trillion, with pre-tax profit of VN8.3 trillion and after-tax profit of VN7.3 trillion.

SCIC is scheduled to implement privatisation of five more enterprises by 2020, while continuing to hold capital in three others, selling capital in 137 firms and completing the dissolving of three companies. Among the 137 firms in which SCIC planned to sell State capital, there were big companies such as Vinamilk (39 per cent), Traphaco (36 per cent), DHG Pharmaceutical Joint Stock and Company (43 per cent), as well as Sa Giang Import-Export Company (50 per cent), Tien Phong Plastic Joint Stock Company (37 per cent), Binh Minh Plastic Joint Stock Company (30 per cent), Bao Viet Group (3 per cent) and MBBank (10 per cent).

SCIC said it would face difficulties in meeting the targets, though they were lower than that of last year. The main reason was that the list of State enterprises under Decision No 58/2016/Q-TTg that could be equitised has not been approved.

It said the enterprises management has been ensured and more effective. However, some firms have seen shortcomings and prolonged complication that had slowed the divestment process.

ang Quyet Tien, Deputy Director of the MoFs Corporate Finance Department, also said 19 firms had approved their equitisation process by the middle of June, slower than last year.  VNS
AK NONG  Authorities in Central Highlands province of ak Nong have asked the ak Nong Aluminum Company to ensure that aluminum powder is not released into the environment.

This followed reports on June 28 by residents living near the Nhan Co Aluminum Factory to the local Peoples Committee of white powder flying around their homes and the area next to the factory. The powder also covered tree leaves in their yards, about 700m from the factory.

An investigation showed residual aluminum from the hydrate firing area (aluminum is created by burning hydrate), the colour and size of which were similar to the powder stuck to the leaves.

A representative of Nhan Co Aluminum Factory confirmed that during aluminum processing, the metal is transmitted through a pipe. When the pipe pressure increases, the company had to release aluminum to an open water container at the hydrate firing area. Strong winds blew the aluminum powder from there.

According to a report by the provincial Department of Natural Resources and Environment, the powder (AI203) scattered in the air increased dust concentrations, one of the factors causing air pollution in the area, said Nguyen Van Hiep, deputy department director.

The department has asked the ak Nong Aluminum Company, under the National Coal and Minerals Corporation (TKV), to reclaim the aluminum remaining in the open container in the hydrate firing area, and fully cover this area and the aluminum product package area. The environmental recovery report must be submitted to the ministry no later than July 05.

The company was ordered to adhere to an environmental impact assessment report approved by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment and report to the ministry on any further similar incidents so that timely measures can be taken to deal with them.

According to TKV, the Nhan Co plant has an annual capacity of 650,000 tonnes of aluminum. It is an important pilot project carried out with Politburos approval as a foundation to develop Viet Nams bauxite mining and processing industry.  VNS
HA NOI  Vietnamese performers will attend a folk culture festival across Europe for the first time from July 5 to August 15.

The performances by artists from Viet Nam Singing-Dancing-Music Theatre will feature folk songs and dances accompanied by traditional instruments such as an bau (monochord), an tranh (zither) and bamboo flute.

The festival, held by the World Folklore Union, will take place in France, Italy, Romania, Greece and Serbia.

"This is the first time the World Folklore Union has invited Vietnamese artists through the Cultural Centre of Viet Nam (CCV) in France to perform at the festival," said Nguyen Truong Giang, leader of the Vietnamese troupe to Europe.

"The artists will present songs and dances which consist of combination of materials, some from the folk dance period and other from the modern era. Some of the dance styles which were derived from the folk dance period include the umbrella dance, khen (pan-pipe) dance and Cham dance."

Viet Nams attendance at the festival marks the CCV in France officially becoming the 56th member of the World Folklore Union. The membership recognition took place at the unions board meeting in Paris last March.

Talking to the Vietnam News Agencys correspondent to Paris the unions president Dorel Cosma expressed his delight at Viet Nams membership in the organisation. He praised Viet Nams diverse folklore and affirmed his confidence in the countrys future contributions to the union.

According to CCV director Nguyen Thanh Vuong, the membership enables Viet Nam to access information and take part in folklore projects among the union and gain financial and technical support from the organisation.

The union is an organisation founded in 1949 in France aiming to secure the relationship between the national federations of folklore groups in different countries.  VNS
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By Hong Van

Just like rice, fish sauce is a staple of almost every dish in Viet Nam. For Vietnamese people, a meal without fish sauce is considered incomplete, culture expert Tran Ngoc Them once wrote in his book Viet Nam Culture Foundation.

A bowl of fish sauce, nuoc mam, is placed at the centre of the table so every one can reach it. Some may not eat vegetables, some may not have meat, but everyone has rice and seasons the food with fish sauce. Therefore, how one places the fish sauce bowl can tell a lot about etiquette and consideration for others, according to Them.

The earliest mention of fish sauce is found in Roman literature in the 4th century BC.

Nowadays fish sauce is popular in Southeast Asian countries  in Thailand it is known as nam pla, in Myanmar as nganpyaarrai, in Korea as eojang.

In Viet Nam, fish sauce is used widely  as a seasoning, a dipping sauce, in humble daily meals and at fancy parties. Nuoc mam is said to help distinguish Vietnamese food from that of its neighbours.

Tribute to kings

No one knows exactly when Vietnamese people started making and using fish sauce. It was first documented in ai Viet Su Ky Toan Thu or Complete Annals of ai Viet (ai Viet is the former name of Viet Nam), a book compiled by royal historian Ngo Sy Lien in the 15th century.

The book mentions that in the 10th century, locals made fish sauce and offered the condiment as a tribute to kings. This indicates that Vietnamese people used fish sauce before the 10th century and that it was a well-known specialty that Chinese rulers demanded Viet Nam give as payment.

Other Vietnamese historical books also recorded nuoc mam as a specialty of some central regions of Viet Nam and as a commodity required by the government as a form of tax in some periods of the Nguyen dynasty (1802-1945). In other words, households that made fish sauce had to pay the government a certain amount of fish sauce every year.

Gifts of the sea

Fish sauce comprises two elements  fish and salt, the two gifts of the sea. To make it, alternating layers of fish and salt are placed in a wooden vat for six months to a year to ferment. The amber-coloured liquid of the fermentation process seeps down and is drained.

American Poet Bruce Weigl who fought in the battlefields of the central province of Quang Tri in 1967 and 1968 during the Viet Nam War, waxed poetic about Vietnamese fish sauce in his writing My Own Personal Fish Sauce.

Weigl described his experience of being offered rice with some fish sauce. It was delicious: a wonderful combination of pungent and sweet, and the richness too of the taste of the river that flows back into the darkness where time is It [fish sauce] has become the smell of Viet Nam for me in my mind when Im home and lonely for my second country.

Weigl decided to try making it himself at home in the US, becoming known as the Fishsauce Ambassador. He has gone from being a fan to being a connoisseur.

Fish sauce may smell a bit pungent for foreigners at first, yet once they try it, its aroma lingers in their mind.

Hue does it best

Fish sauce is used most popularly in cooking, as seasoning accompanying meals and as a dipping sauce. When served with noodles or pancakes, sugar, water, garlic and chili are added to the fish sauce to disguise the strong fish smell.

In a meal of Vietnamese people, rice is like the quintessence from the earth, fish sauce is the quintessence of water. They symbolise the Water and Earth of the five basic elements of the universe (the others being Fire, Metal and Wood), wrote Them.

Fish sauce is used all over Viet Nam, yet no region can use fish sauce more cleverly than Hue people because in Hue (a former royal capital) culinary culture, there are at least 30 different dipping sauces with the main ingredient being fish sauce, featuring a number of flavours - salty, sweet, sour, spicy, balanced, light, strong. It is simply because Hue people have different dipping sauce for different dishes, wrote culture researcher Tran ang Anh Son.

There are many ways to classify fish sauce in Viet Nam, according to culture teacher Nguyen Thi Tuyet Ngan, from HCM Citys University of Social Sciences and Humanities.

There is raw or cooked fish sauce; fish sauce in the form of liquid or paste; sauce made from fresh water fish or salt water fish; sauce from fish or shrimp, crab or squid.

Grab a crab

Besides fish, locals in three regions of Viet Nam also ferment crab, shrimp or squid to extract liquid.

The northern province of Thai Binh or central province of Thanh Hoa have long been famous for their mam cay (fermented crab sauce). Cay (sesarmidae), also known as red-chileped crab, is found along rivers.

In the scorching heat of April and May, the creature comes out of its hole, seeking food. This species is sensitive to sound and moves fast, so catching them is hard.

To make crab sauce, a small knife is used to take out carapace from female crabs to take its egg. The egg is often pan fried or stir fried with oil and scallions, and is used as a dipping sauce served with vegetables.

Crab is then ground and added with salt and thinh (ground roasted rice). The mix is put in sunlight for a month and the liquid easily seeps down from the crab. Boiled dishes like pork or rau lang (sweet potatos leave) are paired well with crab sauce.

In many regions of Hau Loc, Hoang Hoa, Quang Xuong districts of Thanh Hoa Province, crab sauce is used in exchange for other commodities, like rice.

There is a famous courting saying that goes:

Hey girls (whore) catching red-cheliped crab

Call me husband and I will catch it for you.

Similarly, in the southernmost province of Ca Mau, locals make fermented ba khia sauce. There is a crab species named ba khia, which appears only a few times in October, when the water rises. It is unique to the south, living in brackish water regions.

Ba khia, with its carapace taken out and chelipeds cracked, is immersed in salt, garlic, chili, lemon, sugar and sliced mango and star fruit. The mix is ready to be served after a few days when the saltiness has blended with the sourness of lemon, the sweetness of sugar and spiciness of chili. Ba khia paste with its strong taste and unique flavour is paired well with rice and broth, a modest yet tasty treat.  VNS
LONDON  A British teenage Islamist was on Monday jailed for a minimum of 16 years for plotting a bomb attack at an Elton John concert in London on the 9/11 anniversary.

Judge Michael Topolski at Londons Old Bailey said Haroon Syed, 19, was "committed to carrying out an act of mass murder" as he handed down the life sentence with a minimum 16-year term.

Syed, from west London, admitted in April that he was preparing terrorist acts between April and September last year, considering targets such as London shopping destination Oxford Street and Johns concert in Hyde Park on the 15th anniversary of the attacks on the US.

Around 50,000 attended the central London concert, which also featured a performance by British ska band Madness.

The court earlier heard that Syed had become influenced by members of Al-Muhajiroun (ALM), a banned group linked to radical preacher Anjem Choudary.

"You were not lured, you were not enticed, you were not entrapped," said the judge.

"You became deeply committed to the ideology of a brutal and barbaric organisation," he added.

Syed admitted trying to get a machine gun, handguns, suicide vest and bomb, Londons Metropolitan Police said following his guilty plea.

"When he couldnt raise any finance through loan applications, settled on trying to source a bomb, with a special request for it to be packed with nails so he could detonate it in a crowded place."

He told a Security Service fake contact that he needed a machine gun and an explosive vest "so after some damage with machine gun do martyrdom... thats what Im planning to do.

"You have to find out the price for the machine gun, any gun."

On August 30 last year, he said: "I might put the bomb in the train and then Im going to jump out so the bomb explodes on the train."

He arranged to buy a custom-made bomb and asked his contact to make sure it contained lots of nails.

"I was thinking of Oxford Street... If I go to prison, I go to prison. If I die, I die, you understand," he said.

His search for potential locations included Johns concert.

When he was arrested on September 8, he told police his phone password was ISIS, an acronym for the Islamic State jihadist group.

Syeds brother, Nadir Syed, 23, was jailed for life with a minimum term of 15 years last year after being found guilty of plotting to carry out a beheading of a serviceman around Remembrance Sunday in 2014.  AFP
HCM CITY  Handicapped teacher Nguyen Ngoc Ky has released a new autobiography in HCM City.

The 358-page book entitled Nguyen Ngoc Ky -Tam Huyet Trao oi (Nguyen Ngoc Ky - Passion for Life) includes 50 pieces featuring the writers challenges during his life, from a boy living in the northern province of Nam inh to a student at Ha Noi National University from 1968 to 1970.

It also describes the dreams and the strong will of Ky, who suffered a severe illness as a child and lost the use of his arms when he was four years old. He taught himself to write with his feet and became a good student.

The book recounts his time as a teacher in his native province and an educator at the Go Vap Education Centre in HCM City.

Nguyen Ngoc Ky-Tam Huyet Trao oi is published and distributed by the HCM City General Publishing House in co-operation with its partner Tri Viet-First News.

Kys first autobiography, Toi i Hoc (I Went to School), was released by the Kim ong Publishing House in 1970. His second autobiography, Toi Hoc ai Hoc (I Went to the University), appeared in 2013.

Both have been reprinted many times by prestigious publishers.

As a member of the Viet Nam Writers Association, Ky has released many books and poetry collections for children such as Chu Nhen u ua (Balancing Spider) and Qua Bi Ky La (The Miraculous Pumpkin).

For his tenacious spirit, he received a medal of honour presented by President Ho Chi Minh in 1963 and the title of Meritorious Teacher in 1992.

The 70-year-old Ky and his life and career have been an inspirational role model to students.

"Teacher Nguyen Van Ky and his books are popular with both children and adults of different generations because they are full of passion and courage, o Kim Thoa, a reader from HCM City, said.

"My children loved Kys books when they were young. Today I am going to buy the books for my grandchildren. I believe theyll learn valuable lessons after reading it, said the 78-year-old woman.  VNS
TOKYO  Vice Chairman of the National Assembly Uong Chu Luu started his working visit to Japan from Monday.

At Japans National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS) in Tokyo, the NA Vice Chairman had talks with GRIPS President Akihiko Tanaka, and Director of the Centre for Global Leaders Development to learn from Japanese experience in public management and reform of the Japanese Government.

He spoke highly of the Institute and its President Akihiko Tanaka, who instructed numerous big projects in Viet Nam as being the President of the Japan International Co-operation Agency (JICA) from 2012-15.

Luu expressed his hope that as the President of the Institute, Akihiko Tanaka will promote the strategic partnership between Viet Nam and Japan in a more effective manner in the coming time.

For this part, Akihiko Tanaka pledged to boost co-operation between his institute and Viet Nams relevant agencies, particularly in personnel training.

The same day, Luu visited the Embassy of Viet Nam in Japan, praising the embassys contributions to the Viet Nam-Japan ties development.

Vietnamese Ambassador Nguyen Quoc Cuong highlighted the growing relationship between the two nations, with the increasing number of high-level and local delegation exchanges. Representatives of 30 provinces and cities of Viet Nam came to Japan to promote trade, investment and cultural exchanges in 2016.

Besides, the number of overseas Vietnamese accounts for 7 per cent of the total foreigners in Japan, including 60,000 students, almost tripling the total number of students from other Southeast Asian nations, he said.

The figures show that the Viet Nam-Japan relations will further develop, the ambassador added.

The NA Vice Chairman also took a tour of Canon Group, one of the successful investor in Viet Nnam. The group said it is keen on investing in the support industry in Viet Nam.  VNS
HA NOI  Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc requested stronger and more practical administrative reform from the grassroots to the central level during the June government meeting in Ha Noi on Monday.

He asked the Ministry of Planning and Investment to consider a plan on handing over more authority to subordinates in charge of investment projects to submit to him or the National Assembly for consideration.

The PM asked for the involvement of resources, especially in the form of public-private partnership, based on studying models of Quang Ninh, Ha Noi and several localities for multiplication.

He underscored the need to lower lending rates as part of efforts to improve business climate so that Viet Nam would be named among top ASEAN countries in terms of business environment.

Ministries and agencies were asked to increase dialogues, deal with businesses and citizens complaints, prevent bureaucracy and speed up the progress of equitisation of State-owned enterprises.

The PM agreed with a proposal raised by President of the Viet Nam Fatherland Front on dealing with violations in the building of steel-coated vessels while stepping up the prevention of corruption and negative occurrences at ministries, agencies and localities.

Attention should be paid to agriculture, tourism, mechanical engineering and processing, and exports in combination with environmental protection, he stated, adding that ministries, agencies and localities need to stimulate trade in key economic and industrial zones and tourist areas to further contribute to economic growth.

Also at the event, Deputy Minister of Health Truong Quoc Cuong said the ministry will convene a meeting with scientists to announce that sea in the central region has been marked safe.

Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Nguyen Xuan Cuong said the sector is very likely to fulfill this years target assigned by the Government, given that farm produce export has so far been more than 10 per cent higher than the same period last year.

To stimulate growth, Deputy Prime Minister Vuong inh Hue called for devising a plan on economic restructuring with shift to economic models to serve growth.  VNS
HA NOI  More inspections street-food are needed to control food safety and hygiene and prevent food poisoning.

Quick and affordable street food is often the first choice of students and people with low-incomes, however it has been said the food poses risks to health

According to surveys by Ha Noi Moi (New Ha Noi) newspaper, street food has become more and more popular in Ha Noi. Most of the establishments are near hospitals, schools, markets and factories.

In front of Viet uc Hospital and the Central Obstetrics Hospital in Trieu Quoc at Street, at lunch time, several mobile street foods stalls selling rice and noodles can be seen on the sidewalks.

The vendors use their bare hands to serve food and customers sit eating on the dusty sidewalks. And the mobile shops do not have enough water to clean dishes.

Street food restaurants in Nui Truc Street of Ba inh District and part of Trung Liet Ward of ong a District are the same.

Dr Tran Ngoc Tu, head of Ha Nois Food Safety and Hygiene Administration, told the paper that restaurant owners did not fully comply with food safety and hygiene laws.

At present, about 20 per cent of food service entities are using food with unknown origins, Tu said.

Seventeen per cent of street food shops were located near polluted areas and the food was not on shelves at least 60cm above the ground, he told the paper.

Meanwhile, many shops did not comply with regulations to protect food from dust and insects. Cooks used bared hands to serve food and many shops did not use clean water for processing food and washing dishes and cooking utensils, Tu said.

According to the official, most street food stalls were mobile, making it difficult for officials to control food safety and hygiene.

Additionally, local authorities had not tightened inspections of food safety and hygiene or strictly punished violations.

Under current regulations, inspections on restaurants and street food stalls are the remit of ward and township authorities. But these authorities just warned violators or levied small fines unlikely to prevent violations, said Tu.

Last year, wards and townships in Ha Noi inspected more than 17,000 restaurants and street food stalls and fined 16 street food vendors a total of VN9.3 million (roughly US$400) for food safety violations.

To overcome shortcomings in street food control, recently, deputy director of Ha Noi Healthcare Department, Tran Van Chung has asked agencies to enhance food safety inspections in the city.

Chung asked local authorities to carry out periodical inspections on restaurants and street food stalls at least four times a year.

The Ha Noi Food Safety and Hygiene Administration should conduct unscheduled inspections to restaurants and street food stalls to uncover violations.

Violations must carry strict sanctions and be made public.

Also, to effectively implement the food safety and hygiene regulations, information dissemination to food sellers and people is important.  VNS
Nguyen Xuan Cuong, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, talks to Nong thon Ngay nay (Countryside Today) about plans to increase exports of agro-products.

What were the agriculture sectors top achievements in the first half of 2017?

In 2017, the agriculture sector will continue to face two major challenges. They are the impacts of the climate change and fierce market competition.

However, with close guidance from the Party and Government, together with active support from many public and social organisations as well as farmers efforts in the course of restructuring our primary industry, we have overcome many challenges and achieved successes.

In the first half of this year, notable achievements have been recorded. At the onset of the year, the Government set a target for the sector to achieve a 3.05 per cent growth rate in 2017. However, in the first half of the year, we have already achieved 2.65 per cent.

Regarding exports, we have already earned US$17.1 billion in the first two quarters.

Meanwhile, in building new rural area, in the same period, some 30.76 per cent of communes nationwide had achieved all the targets set in the campaign, exceeding the target of 30 per cent.

What will the ministry do to achieve the growth rate of 3.05 per cent for the whole year?

Based on lessons learned in the first two quarters, we have identified the two most important activities to focus our efforts on, namely: to reorganise our production towards large-scale and concentrated production and to expand our markets.

In addition, we have also identified some solutions from now till the end of the year.

Of course, to ensure that the plans are achieved, we need strong support from all agencies from the central level down to localities as well as commodity associations. Without their support, I dont think we will achieve our targets.

Can you further clarify what the ministry will do to achieve the targets?

In the second half of 2017, well focus on the processing sector. To do this, we have already worked with the Ministry of Planning and Investment on completing Decree 210 on encouraging enterprises to invest in agriculture and rural areas and to act as a driving force in agricultural production and processing. In addition, the Ministry of Agriculture has worked with local associations to develop both domestic markets and foreign markets aiming to earn $33 billion in agro exports. More importantly, we want to increase the value added to our agriculture products and farmers income. We believe that if this target is achieved, the problem of having a bumper crop but the price plummets will be eliminated.

To achieve these targets, we have also identified the importance of the information analysis and market forecast, particularly in key markets, like the US, Japan, Europe, China and others.

In the meantime, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) will continue to conduct bilateral negotiations with foreign countries to enlarge our export markets. For example, well negotiate with Australia for the export of raw shrimps; Myanmar for poultry eggs; pork, dairy and dairy products to China and others.

Last but not least, the MARD will try to put the proposal on developing the Viet Nam Rice Trademark from now till 2020 with a vision to 2030. At the same time well soon debut a programme on trademarks for some key Vietnamese agro-products  tea, coffee, mangoes, dragon fruits and Tra fish with geographic indications attached to the products by the year 2020.

What about our meat exports?

I have to confess that meat export is a tough issue as it requires very strict quarantine regulations.

We hope, in the near future well complete negotiations to export chicken to some foreign markets, including Japan.

On July 1st we held a workshop with representatives from meat exporters, distributors and enterprises to discuss meat products.

After that workshop, we also plan to organise a workshop on pork exports. We hope, when were able to expand our pork export market, our husbandry industry, in general, will develop sustainably._VNS
During its 15th meeting from June 27-30 in Ha Noi, the Party Central Committees Inspection Commission issued a warning against Phan Thi My Thanh, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee and Head of the National Assembly delegation of the southern province of ong Nai.  VNA/VNS Photo An ang

HA NOI  The Party Central Committees Inspection Commission will consider disciplinary action against some officials for violations, announced the Commission yesterday.

During its 15th meeting from June 27-30 in Ha Noi, the Commission issued a warning against Phan Thi My Thanh, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee and Head of the National Assembly delegation of the southern province of ong Nai.

According to the Commission, while working as Director of the provincial Department of Industry and Trade and Secretary of the Party Committee of Nhon Trach District, Thanh was a part of managing Cuong Hung Ltd.Co which was co-founded by her husband, meaning Thanh violated the Law on Anti-Corruption.

While holding the position of Vice Chairwoman of the provincial Peoples Committee, Thanh committed some violations, including signing documents to allow the Cuong Hung company to invest in a commercial residential project in Phuoc Tan Commune, violating the anti-corruption law and Party regulations.

She also signed committee documents she was not authorised to sign, allowing the company to trade construction materials and lease premises, violating the regulations of the provincial Peoples Committee.

Thanh also signed documents providing financial support for land clearance task for a Build-Operate-Transfer road project without asking for agreement from the provincial Peoples Committee or reporting to the provincial Peoples Council, violating investment regulations.

During the meeting, the Commission also proposed disciplinary action against Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry Ho Thi Kim Thoa.

According to the Commission, while holding the position as Party Committee Secretary and Director of ien Quang Lamp Company from January, 2004 to May, 2010, Thoa violated regulations on business equitisation and procedures and illegally handled loan interest exempted from banks worth VN6.7 billion (US$298,000).

She also violated State regulations on land management when the ien Quang Company signed a contract to jointly invest in land in HCM City with Vietnam Investment Construction Trading JSC without agreement from the land owner and relevant authorities. She did not report relevant authorities to handle while illegally handled a revenue worth VN30 billion ($1.3 million) from transferring the rights to exploit the land slot.

Thoa also bought shares exceeding allowed levels and violated ien Quang Companys regulations on share transfer.  VNS
Viet Nam will wipe out tuberculosis in 2030, Deputy Prime Minister Vu uc am said at the 60th anniversary of the Ha Noi-based Central Lung Hospital, five years earlier than many nations in the world.  Photo VGP

HA NOI  Viet Nam will wipe out tuberculosis in 2030, Deputy Prime Minister Vu uc am said at the 60th anniversary of the Ha Noi-based Central Lung Hospital, five years earlier than many nations in the world.

Speaking on Sunday at the anniversary celebration, the Deputy PM hailed the efforts, enthusiasm, professionalism and great responsibility of the generations of physicians, scientists and health workers in the hospital in fighting tuberculosis and contributing public health.

The hospitals doctors have transferred technology to district-level health centres and implemented the community-based tuberculosis prevention programme. There are 45 lung and tuberculosis hospitals around the country and the recovery ratio of patients testing positive for TB reached 89.9 per cent compared with the target of 85 per cent.

The hospital has also implemented an acute childhood respiratory infection prevention programme - a fatal lung disease for children under five - that mobilised the participation of all pediatrics hospitals nationwide.

The hospitals innovations in management, which contributed significantly to reducing overload despite the growing number of patients, is a valuable example that should be replicated in the health sector, the deputy PM said, saying it reflected the very core values of the socialist health system.

The Deputy PM suggested that the Central Lung Hospital co-ordinate with tuberculosis treatment centres to reach the goal of reducing the death toll from an estimated 17,000 a year to 10,000 by 2020, and wipe out the disease in 2030.

Tuberculosis remains one of the most prevalent infectious diseases in Viet Nam, with the number of fatalities more than double that of traffic accident deaths.

Each year an estimated 180,000 people with active TB disease ae identified, 5,000 of them with multi-drug resistant tuberculosis. Sadly, only 52 per cent of those infected are treated. Although TB diagnostics and medications are provided free of charge, the total cost incurred by a patient may be equal to one years income due to hospitalisation costs and nutritional needs during treatment.-- VNS
KUWAIT CITY  Qatar on Monday responded to a list of demands from Saudi Arabia and its allies after they agreed to give a defiant Doha another 48 hours to address their grievances.

Details of the response were not immediately available, but a Gulf official said that Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani had delivered it during a short visit to Kuwait, which is acting as a mediator in the crisis.

Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt had announced in the early hours of Monday they were pushing back a deadline for Qatar to agree to a list of 13 demands they issued on June 22.

A joint statement said they were extending the ultimatum, which had been due to expire at the end of the day on Sunday, at the request of Kuwaits emir.

The demands included Doha ending support for the Muslim Brotherhood, closing broadcaster Al-Jazeera, downgrading diplomatic ties with Iran and shutting down a Turkish military base in the emirate.

Sheikh Mohammed had earlier said the list of demands was "made to be rejected" and on Monday British lawyers for Qatar denounced the demands as "an affront to international law".

"They are reminiscent of the extreme and punitive conduct of bully states that have historically resulted in war," said the lawyers.

In the evening, Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir expressed hopes for a "positive response to be able to resolve the crisis".

Qatars reply would be "examined with precision", Jubeir told a news conference with German counterpart Sigmar Gabriel in the Red Sea city of Jeddah.

Saudi Arabia and its allies announced on June 5 they were severing ties with their Gulf neighbour, sparking the worst diplomatic crisis to hit the region in decades.

They accused Qatar of supporting extremism and of being too close to Saudi Arabias regional arch-rival Iran, which Doha has strongly denied.

The crisis has raised concerns of growing instability in the region, home to some of the worlds largest energy exporters and several key Western allies who host US military bases.

Trump calls leaders

Doha has said it is ready for talks to end the crisis.

Kuwait, which along with fellow GCC member Oman has not cut ties with Qatar, has been heading up mediation efforts.

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has also called for compromise and hosted senior Gulf officials, but his efforts have been undermined by remarks from President Donald Trump apparently supporting Riyadhs position.

Trump spoke separately on Sunday with the Saudi king, Abu Dhabis crown prince and the Qatari emir about his concerns over the dispute, the White House said.

The US president "underscored that unity in the region is critical" but also "reiterated the importance of stopping terrorist financing and discrediting extremist ideology," a statement said.

Egypt said it would host the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the UAE on Wednesday to discuss the crisis.

Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani is expected to visit Paris "before the end of the summer" for talks on the Gulf crisis with President Emmanuel Macron, the French presidency said on Monday.

The two leaders spoke by phone and Macron said he would bring up the issue on the margins of this weeks G20 summit and with Trump when he visits Paris on July 13-14.

Meanwhile Germany announced that Saudi King Salman had cancelled plans to attend the upcoming G20 summit in Hamburg.  AFP
IOWA CITY - Amy Lynn Green, 25, of Iowa City, has been charged with child stealing and child endangerment.

On June 29, police were called to 205 Taft Speedway St. in Iowa city for a report of Green taking her boyfriend's 6-year-old child. She is not the biological parent of the child.

Green took her boyfriend's child and had last been seen going into the wooded area south of Taft Speedway and north of the Iowa River.

The child's father told officers Green had no custody, permission, or authorization to take the child.

Green also has a history of illegal substance abuse and mental health issues.

Officers with the Iowa City Police Department, Iowa City fire personnel, and Johnson County sheriff's deputies searched with K9s, on foot, with ATVs and by boat to find Green and the 6-year-old.

Sheriff's deputies eventually located Green and the child four hours after they went missing along the shoreline hiding under brush.

Green told the child to stay quiet or he'd never see his dad again if they were found.

The child was found cold, wet, and had scratches as well as bug bites on his body from being in a timber for almost four hours.

Green appeared to be under the influence of an amphetamine as officers spoke to her about the incident.

Green admitted to taking, hiding and otherwise concealing the child in an attempt to keep him away from his father and other relatives.
CHARLES CITY -- A man wanted in the fatal shooting of another man in Charles City Friday was still at large late Monday afternoon.

Antoine Williams, 36, has been charged with first-degree murder. Authorities say he is armed and dangerous.

The police are still not releasing the name of the victim. Police Chief Hugh Anderson said authorities are having difficulty notifying family members because they don't live in Charles City.

Anderson said he couldn't speculate on where Williams might be, but hopes he is in custody soon.

The shooting was reported just after 10 p.m. Friday at the Casa Apartments in the 2100 block of Clarkview Drive. Police say the victim was taken to a Charles City hospital and pronounced dead.

Williams is described as a black male, who is 6 feet, 7 inches tall and weighs 250 pounds.

He may be in a red 2006 Chevy Equinox with Iowa plate DOW568.

Police say anyone who spots Williams should call law enforcement rather than approaching him.
HESPER -- One man is dead and two others hurt in a single vehicle rollover crash in Winneshiek County Sunday.

According to the Winneshiek County Sheriff's Office, it happened about 4:20 p.m. on County Road A-14 between Hesper and Locust Road. All victims are from Spring Grove, Minn.

Deputies said Casey Buxengard, 24, was driving east on A-14 at a high rate of speed when he lost control of his SUV and entered the north ditch. The vehicle rolled several times across a field, coming to rest on its side.

Casey Buxengard and a passenger, Justin Vincek, 25, were ejected during the crash. Another passenger, Lindsey Buxengard, 26, was able to crawl out of the SUV after the crash.

Emergency crews drove Lindsey Buxengard to a hospital, and flew Casey Buxengard to a hospital. Investigators said Justin Vincek died at the scene.

The Iowa State Patrol has taken over the investigation and will release a report after it is completed.
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Paladin Energy enters administration

03 July 2017

Share

Paladin Energy Ltd has today appointed administrators after it was unable to agree a delay to the repayment of $277 million it owes Electricite de France (EDF). The administrators will continue to operate the company on a business-as-usual basis until further notice.

Langer Heinrich (Image: Paladin)



Western Australia-based Paladin in February announced plans for a balance sheet restructuring to enable it to meet debts due in April, after plans to sell a 24% stake in the Langer Heinrich uranium mine in Namibia to China's CNNC Overseas Uranium Holdings failed to progress. The sale of a 30% stake in the Manyingee project in Western Australia to Avira Energy Ltd (formerly MGT Resources), announced at the same time as the CNNC sale in July 2016, also failed to complete.

CNNC, which already owns a 25% joint venture equity stake in the Namibian project, subsequently began a process that could lead to it exercising an option to acquire all of Paladin's share of Langer Heinrich. This led to the proposal in May of an alternative restructuring plan by Paladin, as the original plan had assumed the company would retain an ongoing interest in its Namibian flagship project.

Paladin is due to pay EDF $277 million by 10 July under a long-term supply agreement signed in 2012. The company said it had approached EDF to grant a "standstill" agreement, which would allow time for the alternative restructure proposal to be implemented. Although terms had been negotiated they had not been signed.

"EDF has now informed Paladin that it is not prepared to enter into a standstill agreement and requires payment of the amount when due on 10 July 2017," Paladin said today.

Paladin on 27 June announced it had secured support for its alternative restructure proposal from over 75% of the holders of 2017 convertible bonds, passing the threshold needed to implement the proposal. Those bondholders have agreed to so-called forbearance arrangements under which they would not accelerate or enforce their claims against Paladin until 30 September. Today, the company announced that 88% of the holders of its 2020 convertible bonds had also agreed to similar forbearance arrangements.

An international investment bank is due to deliver an expert determination of the value of Paladin's interest in Langer Heinrich on 20 July, after which CNNC will have 30 days to decide whether to exercise its option to acquire Paladin's share of the project.

The administrators appointed today by Paladin's board are Matthew Woods, Hayden White and Gayle Dickerson, all of KPMG, who will immediately undertake a financial and operational assessment of Paladin Energy Ltd and related companies Paladin Finance Pty Ltd and Paladin Energy Minerals NL. Paladin said its management and directors "remain committed" to working with the administrators to restructure and recapitalise the company.

Paladin purchased Langer Heinrich in 2002, with production beginning from the open pit mine in late 2006. The mine produced a total of 1903.5 tU last year. The company's 85% interest in the Kayelekera uranium mine in Malawi, under care and maintenance since 2014, is held by Paladin (Africa) Ltd.

Researched and written

by World Nuclear News

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It (social media) can be a really powerful tool, and the more people we have effectively using it, the more users well have, and the more people we can reach for business.

In an attempt to help local business, the city of Lafayette celebrates its second yearly Social Media Day. The event aims to promote the use of social media platforms and the internet for local business owners to grow and expand their livelihoods.

Spearheaded by the brand icon Mashable, June 30 has been deemed as the day where people from the locality celebrate the contributions and impact social media platforms have had in their lives. Mashable organized the event alongside other brand names such as BBR Creative, Opportunity Machine, and other agencies in the Acadiana Area.

The event aims to teach businesses on how to use the social media in promoting their retail businesses to increase sales and exposure.

According to the BBR Creatives website, Social Media Day Lafayette provides agencies and organizations around Acadiana a forum to join together and educate the community  while honoring the media that connects us.

The 2017 Social Media Day Lafayette hosted various activities such as seminars, workshops, and various networking activities. All of which were free of charge and open to the public. The event took place at the Opportunity Machine located in the LITE Center in Lafayette, at 537 Cajundome Boulevard.

Some of the seminars that took place consisted

Social Media Automationby Rodney Hess, Vice President of Rally Marketing who talked about the automation of online marketing 5 Social Media Trashfires and How to Avoid Them by Cory Lagrange and Kirstie Watkins, both from BBR Creative both of whom talked about common mistakes committed by businesses online How to Turn One Hour into One Year of Content by Katie Domas which was about online content scheduling and posting Workshop: Lessons Learned from a Nonprofit Social Media Admin by Samantha Baldridge from Habitat for Humanity of Lafayette and much more

What were doing, according to Corey LaGrange, a Digital Marketing Strategist at BBR Creative, is were offering a day full of instructional and educational classes. What we really want to teach, is that social media doesnt have to be scary, and it can be a very viable and inexpensive marketing and advertising tool,

It can be a really powerful tool, and the more people we have effectively using it, the more users well have, and the more people we can reach for business, added LaGrange.

The local government of Lafayette has recognized the validity of the event itself. No other than the Mayor of Lafayette, Joel Robideaux officially proclaimed that June 30 as Social Media Day.

According to a research on social media and internet use, at least 46% of internet users utilize social media and other internet platforms when making purchases. The popularity of e-commerce or the use of the internet in dealing businesses and transaction has made everyday lives easier and helped many businesses prosper.

Media Contact

Company Name: The Nation Today

Contact Person: Michael R. Thrasher

Email: michael@thenation.today

Phone: (866) 954-1189

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Midkine as Important Target

Sydney, July 4, 2017 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Cellmid Limited ( ASX:CDY ) is pleased to advise that the highest ranked paper Nature has published the results of a significant study showing for the first time that midkine, around which the Company holds extensive intellectual property rights, is a crucial agent in the promotion of melanoma metastasis.



- Findings that midkine plays an essential role in the metastatic spread of malignant melanomas were published in the prestigious journal NATURE



- Cellmid holds the most significant global IP portfolio around midkine globally



- This high quality independent study provides strong validation of Cellmid's cancer therapeutic and diagnostic programs targeting midkine



The paper, entitled "Whole-body imaging of lymphovascular niches identifies premetastatic roles of midkine", by Professor Marisol Soengas and her group based in CNIO in Madrid, describes how midkine drives the often-fatal metastatic spread of melanoma cells from the primary tumour in the skin to distant organs such as liver, lung, bone and brain.



This independent study published in Nature is highly significant for Cellmid for four key reasons:



- It provides strong validation for Cellmid's cancer therapeutic and diagnostic programs, which use the Company's proprietary midkine antibodies;



- It adds to the considerable data on the prognostic value of detecting midkine in different cancer types, where elevated midkine levels in various tissues correspond with poor therapeutic outcomes;



- It significantly increases visibility and credibility of Cellmid's cancer therapeutic programs targeting midkine; and



- As the holder of the most significant intellectual property and antibody assets around midkine globally the publication places the Company in a unique position for partnerships.



The Company's antibodies against midkine have already shown considerable promise in reducing tumour growth and restricting new blood supply to different solid tumours (some of these results have been released in ASX announcements on 3 October 2013 and 5 October 2016). Together with these new discoveries around metastasis, inhibiting midkine for better treatment of melanoma becomes a compelling drug development program for Cellmid.



While most conventional anti-cancer treatments aim to kill rapidly dividing tumour cells, the ability to stop the spread of metastatic tumour cells would be of immense benefit for many advanced cancer patients with diverse tumour types.



It is widely accepted that lymphatic vessels are often the escape route for cancer cells to spread initially to nearby lymph nodes, followed by metastasis to more distant vital organs. The sprouting of new lymphatic vessels from the tumour into surrounding lymph nodes was thought to facilitate this step-wise metastatic spread via a process called lymphangiogenesis.



However, the group at CNIO in Madrid used a sophisticated mouse model to demonstrate that the primary tumour induces aberrant lymphangiogenesis in lymph nodes and organs located at considerable distances from the tumour, creating a pre-metastatic niche for tumour cells to lodge in.



Importantly, midkine release from the tumour was found to stimulate distant lymphangiogenesis, creating a route for cancer cells to colonize sites throughout the body independent of local spread into lymph nodes adjacent to the primary tumour.



Midkine also enhanced the ability of tumour cells to adhere to lymphatic vessels. Therefore, midkine not only promotes lymphangiogenesis, but also tumour cell colonization in newly formed lymphatic vessels.



These actions of midkine extend Cellmid's current knowledge about midkine's role in tumours as well as in blood vessel formation and cellular interactions throughout the body. Together with previous studies, the current findings provide strong rationale for Cellmid's oncology program targeting midkine with therapeutic antibodies.



In their Nature News and Views commentary on the study, Hoshino and Lyden from Weill Cornell Medicine in New York describe how "MDK (midkine) downregulation in an aggressive melanoma led to drastic inhibition of lymphangiogenesis, and reduced number of metastases", concluding that this work "might open a door to diagnostic and therapeutic strategies that aim to deal with metastases before they arise".



David Olmeda, lead author on the Nature paper, lends further support for Cellmid's midkine program in oncology "we focussed on MIDKINE, because it was new and could represent an alternative therapeutic target".



Details of the study and results



An engineered mouse model was used to conduct the study that incorporates a very sensitive bioluminescent reporter called luciferase with the Vegfr3 gene that specifically mediates lymphangiogenesis. This model enables researchers to track aberrant lymphatic vessel formation by imaging internal light generation in living tissues of mice in the presence of implanted tumours that have different metastatic potentials.



Detailed in vivo imaging of melanoma tumour-bearing mice revealed distinct patterns of new lymphatic development, with lymph vessel formation at distant sites proceeding independently of lymphangiogenesis around the primary tumour. In addition, the ability of tumour cells to colonize distal lymph nodes and organs was not linked to lymphangiogenesis in the proximity of the tumour. These findings represent fundamental new paradigms in understanding metastatic spread from primary tumours and are likely a general feature of many cancer types.



Removal of primary tumours dampened distal lymphangiogenesis, indicating that factors released by melanoma cells drive pre-metastatic niche formation. However, presence of VEGFC in the tumour - the most likely angiogenic factor to control lymphangiogenesis - did not influence distal lymphangiogenesis and metastases, suggesting that other tumour-derived factors may be involved.



The lack of correlation between VEGFC and melanoma tumour metastasis led the researchers to perform proteomic profiling to compare the factors released by melanoma cells with high versus low metastatic potential. The most highly ranked candidate that had not previously been studied in this context was identified as midkine.



While midkine has been extensively investigated in other tumour types and has been shown to promote metastasis by blood vessel growth, inflammatory signalling and cell proliferation, it has not previously been linked to lymphangiogenesis.



Marisol Soengas and colleagues carried out gain and loss-of-function experiments to manipulate midkine expression in melanomas with low or conversely high metastatic and lymphangiogenic potential to demonstrate that midkine is essential for creation of the pre-metastatic niche in aberrant lymphatic vessels at distal sites. The cellular action of midkine in mediating lymphangiogenesis and tumour cell adhesion to lymphatic vessels was then examined in vitro by examining the attachment and spreading of tumour cells in the presence of confluent monolayers of lymphatic endothelial cells.



Treatment with midkine protein stimulated the movement of melanoma cells across and through the lymphatic cell layer, indicating that midkine secreted by tumour cells into circulating lymph and/or blood may influence tumour cell colonization of distal premetastatic niches.



Further evidence for the ability of midkine to influence dynamic interactions between tumour cells and the lymph node microenvironment was obtained by intravital multiphoton imaging. Melanoma cells expressing midkine were observed actively invading lymphatic vessels, while the same tumour cells in which midkine had been silenced were static and showed no dynamic interaction with lymph cells.



The group then explored the clinical relevance of these experimental findings by showing that high midkine levels in lymph nodes taken from melanoma patients was prognostic for poor outcomes. Kaplan-Meier survival curves comparing melanoma patients stratified for high vs low midkine showed that more than twice the number of patients with low midkine were disease free at 8 years compared to patients with high midkine expression in lymph nodes (p=0.0243).



As disease-free survival was defined as the time interval between diagnosis and the development of the earliest metastasis detected at any anatomical site, this analysis combined with hazard ratios of 2.76 (p=0.005) by Cox regression univariate model shows a strong association between midkine and metastasis in melanoma patients. Multivariate modelling showed the prognostic value of midkine was independent of other factors such as age, gender and Breslow score, a prognostic measure of how deeply the tumour has invaded into the skin.





About Cellmid Limited





Cellmid Limited (ASX:CDY) is an Australian life sciences company with a consumer health business and biotech assets. Advangen is Cellmid's wholly owned subsidiary engaged in the development and sale of first in class, best in class, clinically validated anti-aging products for hair, skin and body. Advangen has a range of FGF5 inhibitor hair growth products which are sold in Australia, Japan, USA and China. Advangen has a rich portfolio of hair growth and anti-aging hair care assets which include formulations of products on market, trademarks, patents and patent applications, proprietary assays and manufacturing processes.

The Company also holds the most comprehensive intellectual property around midkine, an important growth factor implicated in various diseases including cancer, inflammatory diseases, bone healing and autoimmune conditions. Lyramid, Cellmid's wholly owned subsidiary has been commercializing these promising drug technologies.

For further information, please see www.cellmid.com.au and www.evolisproducts.com.au
Ealing Council leader Julian Bell 'furious' at 'shabby state of affairs'

(Artist's impression of new Acton Mainline station) Participate Sign up for our Acton newsletter



Comment on this story on the Network Rail have been forced to admit that there are delays to work on local stations which are being upgraded to accommodate Crossrail including Acton Mainline. They have conceded that 'significant delays' have taken place on work on stations after the issue of a lack of construction activity at the sites was raised by local residents including Dr Ben Sherliker who has been monitoring activity at the West Ealing station site. The situation has been described as 'a very shabby state of affairs' by Ealing Council leader Julian Bell who says he has serious concerns about public safety when the new service begins. The central and eastern section of Crossrail, which will be known as the Elizabeth Line in Central London is due to be opened in December 2018. TfL Rail is due to take over the Paddington to Heathrow link in May 2018 which will mean that Acton Mainline should be served by the new 200m long Elizabeth Line trains which can carry up to 1500 passengers each. When the central section of Crossrail/Elizabeth Line opens this means you will be able to travel from stations in Ealing on one of the new Elizabeth line trains and change at Paddington for a fast train across London using the new tunnels. It is thought likely at this point there will be a marked increase in passengers using local stations. It is envisaged that the western section of the line that would serve local stations including Ealing Broadway would be fully integrated with the central tunnelled section of the network by December 2019. Dr Sherliker believes that there is a significant risk of overcrowding at local stations before the Crossrail/Elizabeth Line service is fully linked up as the advent of the central section in December 2018 will bring significantly increased passenger numbers and the station upgrade work will not be completed. He is also concerned that this will not leave time for Ealing Council to complete complimentary works outside the stations to deal with the increased footfall. Dr Sherliker also claims that the promise that the local stations will have step free access may also be reneged on. Local stations are expected to see a 70% increase in passenger numbers from December 2019 when the journey time to Bond Street will be 13 minutes. The area around Acton Mainline station is also likely to be prone to congestion unless public realm works are undertaken and Ealing Council say they cannot commence these until the work at the station is finished. There are concerns locally that station works have stopped as the stations are being put out for redesign and re-tender and this indicates that significant budget issues have arisen and Network Rail may be have to consider reducing provision of services at some stations to prevent overcrowding at peak times. Councillor Julian Bell said, leader of Ealing Council said, All of these stations (Southall, Hanwell, West Ealing, Ealing Broadway and Acton Mainline) are now seriously delayed and none will be complete when the first trains start running in May 2018. New station buildings were considered necessary because of the increase in passenger numbers that Crossrail will bring and I have serious concerns about public safety when the Elizabeth Line service starts. Despite demanding a new work programme from Crossrail and Network Rail, their official position remains a mystery to us as neither will confirm what the cause of the delay is, what is being done to rectify the issues and when work will start. In the meantime, we are left with old station buildings that will not be able to cope with the increased footfall." The Council say they are also waiting to spend the Crossrail Complementary Funding they have been granted by TfL. This money has been allocated to ensure that the gateway to Crossrail stations is safe and welcoming but they are limited in the work they can do before work on the stations is finished. TfL have said that the deadline for spending the money runs out at the end of the 2018/19 financial year regardless and cannot be extended. Councillor Bell said, "I am furious that a delay that is none of our making is going to mean that we could miss out on vital funding. In addition, we have also learned that the three stations due to have new buildings will not have the old station building removed as part of the process. Its likely that they will be simply boarded up by Network Rail and left to fall into disrepair. These old buildings are going to require a significant level of maintenance to stop them for becoming a liability to the public walking past and to the railway line, but Network Rail is refusing to take any responsibility and contribute towards the cost of maintaining or removing them. We are now raising these issues at the highest level within both Crossrail and Network Rail. My residents deserve some answers and we will be doing everything we can to communicate our very real concern about the effects of these continuous delays and to get some clarity on exactly what is going on with this very shabby state of affairs. Cllr Greg Stafford, Opposition Leader said, The Leader of Ealing Council is claiming to be 'furious' and seeking clarity on the 'very shabby state of affairs' regarding the Crossrail station delays.

There is no mention in his tirade, that TfL is chaired by the Mayor of London and that it is his Labour Mayor that is failing to deliver on the biggest infrastructure project not only in London, but Europe. Incredulous is the only word that comes to mind!" The Crossrail team at Network Rail say that the platform extensions at local stations are continuing and by December this year they will have completed all of the rail infrastructure needed to support the testing of the new Elizabeth line trains in advance of their introduction into service next May. At that time the current Heathrow Connect service (2 per hour) will be replaced by 4 TfL Rail services an hour, essentially doubling the frequency of the stopping service to Heathrow, as well as doubling the length of the trains. In terms of the station building they say their approach has been to prioritise the platform work required to introduce the new services next year. July 3, 2017
TSX:ORV

TORONTO, July 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Orvana Minerals Corp. (TSX:ORV) (the "Company" or "Orvana") is pleased to provide an update on its efforts to extend the life of its Don Mario operation in Bolivia. Further, the Company announces that it has arranged debt financing in the aggregate amount of US$11.3 million (the "Facilities") from Banco BISA S.A. ("BISA") in Bolivia. The primary use of these proceeds will be used to construct a major tailings storage facility expansion project ("TSF Project") that will add sufficient capacity to support up to an additional three years of operations beyond Q2 2018.

Jim Gilbert, Chairman and CEO, stated "Don Mario was the foundational operation for Orvana, and has contributed significant gold production and free cash flow generation for many years. We are very pleased with the progress we are making to clearly define what we are hoping to be a profitable future for Don Mario. Currently, we are finalizing an open pit mine design for potential near-term mining of the Cerro Felix satellite deposit. In parallel, we are completing an advanced stage confirmatory test program on processing of significant existing surface mineral resource stockpiles. Management believes the conclusion of these projects at Don Mario will justify the planned TSF Project. In that regard, we have successfully arranged competitive debt financing with BISA, who continue to be a key local stakeholder of Don Mario, to fund the TSF Project. We are grateful for their ongoing support."

Don Mario Update

Mining activities are currently taking place in the Lower Mineralized Zone ("LMZ") that forms part of the existing open pit. The Company has been mining and processing LMZ ore since Q3 2016. Operational activities at LMZ are scheduled to end during Q2 2018. The Company is actively evaluating various projects that are at various stages of completion and management anticipates these will result in extension of operational life beyond Q2 2018. A summary of these ongoing projects is below:

Near-term projects:

Cerro Felix Mining:

Cerro Felix is a satellite mineral deposit located 500 m from the LMZ. The Company published resource estimates effective September 30, 2016 . Estimates include an indicated mineral resource of approximately 490,000 tonnes grading 3.15 g/t gold, 0.09% copper and 2.53 g/t silver, containing approximately 49,600 ounces of gold, 0.97 million pounds of copper, and 40,000 ounces of silver 1 .

. Estimates include an indicated mineral resource of approximately 490,000 tonnes grading 3.15 g/t gold, 0.09% copper and 2.53 g/t silver, containing approximately 49,600 ounces of gold, 0.97 million pounds of copper, and 40,000 ounces of silver . From 2009 to 2011, approximately 207,000 tonnes of ore at an average grade of 1.77 g/t of gold was processed from mineralized zones north-west and south-east of the previously mined Upper Mineralized Zone ("UMZ"), including Cerro Felix.

Near surface mining activities have been undertaken in recent months. A total of 15,000 tonnes have been extracted and processed as part of a blended plant feed during FY 2017 to date.

An open pit mine design is currently being finalized, incorporating a recently completed geotechnical evaluation. The Company is aiming to commence pre-stripping activities during Q1 2018.

Mineral Stockpile processing:

As at September 30, 2016 , Don Mario surface stockpiles contained a measured mineral resource of approximately 2.2 million tonnes, grading 1.84 g/t gold and 1.89% copper 2 .

, Don Mario surface stockpiles contained a measured mineral resource of approximately 2.2 million tonnes, grading 1.84 g/t gold and 1.89% copper . Don Mario has had a successful track record of processing this material as part of a blended feed into the processing plant (approximately 237,400 tonnes in FY 2016 and FY 2017 to date)

Initial test results have yielded positive indications towards the possibility of producing a copper concentrate from this material, and the Company is now completing further testing to optimize grade.

The Company has received positive commercial indications from potential third party off-takers for such copper concentrates.

Long-term projects:

Tailings re-processing:

Prior to commencement of mining from the LMZ, mining activities took place in the UMZ open pit from 2012 to early 2016. During this period, ore was processed through a flotation circuit and achieved an average gold recovery of approximately 55% in the production of copper concentrates. Management believes that tailings material deposited as a result of this process is therefore expected to contain significant gold content.

The Company has commenced an evaluation of reprocessing of tailings, to determine the viability of recovering gold from the material deposited in the tailings storage facility. Drilling is planned to obtain geotechnical and metallurgical parameters in order to select conceptual processing plan and develop a full economic case.

At the present time, the Company aims to execute this project subsequent to the completion of the near-term projects above.

Exploration  Las Tojas Deposit:

Las Tojas is a satellite deposit located approximately 12 km northwest from the Don Mario Mine.

Drilling of the Las Tojas deposit have been carried out by Orvana at various times between 1996 and 2008, during which 110 holes totalling 15,080 m of drilling was completed. Drilling was carried out along northeast-southwest oriented section lines spaced about 50 and 100 m apart. Orvana completed two additional drill holes at Las Tojas in 2015 and these tested depth extensions of the known mineralized zone. Both holes intersected narrow mineralized zones. The Las Tojas deposit is not included in any of the resource or reserve estimation work covered by the Company's most recent Don Mario 43-101 Report or Annual Information Form.

A limited amount of material from Las Tojas was mined from 2009 to 2011 and was successfully processed through the carbon in leach circuit at that time.

A new drilling campaign, testing the southern extensions of previously mined areas of Las Tojas, is planned to be completed in the coming months with the objectives of establishing a NI 43-101 compliant mineral resource.

TSF Project

The TSF Project is required to support processing activities at Don Mario beyond Q2 2018. The TSF Project will include the construction of a 4 meter raise to provide storage capacity for up to 3 additional years. The Company engaged Amec Foster Wheeler ("AMEC") to evaluate alternatives, provide design parameters and engineer the TSF Project. As a result, AMEC developed a capital cost estimate of US$9.7 million within 10% accuracy, including owner's costs and 10% contingency. Execution of the TSF Project is expected to commence immediately to take advantage of the favorable dry season in Bolivia, with expected completion in Q2 2018.

BISA Facilities

The BISA Facilities are comprised of two separate agreements, both of which are secured by certain assets of Don Mario without recourse to Orvana.

Term facility

Principal amount of approximately US$8.34 million (denominated in Bolivianos);

(denominated in Bolivianos); Annual interest rate of 5.3% (fixed rate);

Scheduled drawdowns between closing and December 2017 ;

; Quarterly interest payments; equal quarterly principal repayments commence April 2018 until January 2021 .

Revolving working capital facility

Principal amount of up to approximately US$2.97 million (denominated in Bolivianos);

(denominated in Bolivianos); Renewable every 6 months until November 2020 ;

; Annual interest rate determined at date of drawdown and dependent on form of drawdown;

Drawdown may be in the form of cash for up to US$1.97 million , bank guarantees for up to US$2.97 million , or a combination of the two up to the limit of US$2.97 million .

The pre-existing bank loan with BISA (the "BISA Loan") is not affected by the BISA Facilities and will continue to be repaid in the normal course with full repayment scheduled for September 2017. The principal balance outstanding on the BISA Loan is $2.8 million as at June 30, 2017.

Scientific and technical information in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Gino A. Zandonai, a Qualified Person under the terms of National Instrument 43-101. Mr. Zandonai is independent of Orvana. Mr. Zandonai has verified the technical data disclosed in this news release not related to the current mineral resource estimates disclosed herein.

About Orvana

Orvana is a multi-mine gold and copper producer. Orvana's operating assets consist of the producing gold-copper-silver El Valle and Carles mines in northern Spain and the producing gold-copper-silver Don Mario mine in Bolivia. Additional information is available at Orvana's website (www.orvana.com).

Cautionary Statements  Forward-Looking Information

Certain statements in this information constitute forward-looking statements or forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities laws ("forward-looking statements"). Any statements that express or involve discussions with respect to predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions, potentials, future events or performance (often, but not always, using words or phrases such as "believes", "expects", "plans", "estimates" or "intends" or stating that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might", "will" or "are projected to" be taken or achieved) are not statements of historical fact, but are forward-looking statements.

The forward-looking statements herein relate to, among other things, Orvana's ability to achieve improvement in free cash flow; the potential to extend the mine life of Don Mario beyond their current life-of-mine estimates, including specifically, but not limited to in the case of Don Mario, the completion of the TSF Project, the mining of the Cerro Felix deposit, the processing of the mineral stockpiles and the reprocessing of the tailings material; Orvana's ability to optimize its assets to deliver shareholder value; the Company's ability to optimize productivity at Don Mario ; estimates of future production, operating costs and capital expenditures; mineral resource and reserve estimates; statements and information regarding future feasibility studies and their results; future transactions; future metal prices; the ability to achieve additional growth and geographic diversification; future financial performance, including the ability to increase cash flow and profits; future financing requirements; and mine development plans.

Forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon a number of estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable by the Company as of the date of such statements, are inherently subject to significant business, economic and competitive uncertainties and contingencies. The estimates and assumptions of the Company contained or incorporated by reference in this information, which may prove to be incorrect, include, but are not limited to, the various assumptions set forth herein and in Orvana's most recently filed Management's Discussion & Analysis and Annual Information Form in respect of the Company's most recently completed fiscal year (the "Company Disclosures") or as otherwise expressly incorporated herein by reference as well as: there being no significant disruptions affecting operations, whether due to labour disruptions, supply disruptions, power disruptions, damage to equipment or otherwise; permitting, development, operations, expansion and acquisitions at Don Mario being consistent with the Company's current expectations; political developments in any jurisdiction in which the Company operates being consistent with its current expectations; certain price assumptions for gold, copper and silver; prices for key supplies being approximately consistent with current levels; production and cost of sales forecasts meeting expectations; the accuracy of the Company's current mineral reserve and mineral resource estimates; and labour and materials costs increasing on a basis consistent with Orvana's current expectations.

A variety of inherent risks, uncertainties and factors, many of which are beyond the Company's control, affect the operations, performance and results of the Company and its business, and could cause actual events or results to differ materially from estimated or anticipated events or results expressed or implied by forward looking statements. Some of these risks, uncertainties and factors include fluctuations in the price of gold, silver and copper; the need to recalculate estimates of resources based on actual production experience; the failure to achieve production estimates; variations in the grade of ore mined; variations in the cost of operations; the availability of qualified personnel; the Company's ability to obtain and maintain all necessary regulatory approvals and licenses; the Company's ability to use cyanide in its mining operations; risks generally associated with mineral exploration and development, including the Company's ability to continue to operate Don Mario; the Company's ability to acquire and develop mineral properties and to successfully integrate such acquisitions; the Company's ability to execute on its strategy; the Company's ability to obtain financing when required on terms that are acceptable to the Company; challenges to the Company's interests in its property and mineral rights; current, pending and proposed legislative or regulatory developments or changes in political, social or economic conditions in the countries in which the Company operates; general economic conditions worldwide; and the risks identified in the Company's Disclosures under the heading "Risks and Uncertainties". This list is not exhaustive of the factors that may affect any of the Company's forward-looking statements and reference should also be made to the Company's Disclosures for a description of additional risk factors.

Any forward-looking statements made in this information with respect to the anticipated development and exploration of the Company's mineral projects are intended to provide an overview of management's expectations with respect to certain future activities of the Company and may not be appropriate for other purposes.

Forward-looking statements are based on management's current plans, estimates, projections, beliefs and opinions and, except as required by law, the Company does not undertake any obligation to update forward-looking statements should assumptions related to these plans, estimates, projections, beliefs and opinions change. Readers are cautioned not to put undue reliance on forward-looking statements.

The forward-looking statements made in this information are intended to provide an overview of management's expectations with respect to certain future operating activities of the Company and may not be appropriate for other purposes.

Cautionary Notes to Investors  Reserve and Resource Estimates

In accordance with applicable Canadian securities regulatory requirements, all mineral reserve and mineral resource estimates of the Company disclosed in this news release have been prepared in accordance with NI 43-101, classified in accordance with Canadian Institute of Mining Metallurgy and Petroleum's "CIM Standards on Mineral Resources and Reserves Definitions and Guidelines" (the "CIM Guidelines").

Pursuant to the CIM Guidelines, mineral resources have a higher degree of uncertainty than mineral reserves as to their existence as well as their economic and legal feasibility. Inferred mineral resources, when compared with measured or indicated mineral resources, have the least certainty as to their existence, and it cannot be assumed that all or any part of an inferred mineral resource will be upgraded to an indicated or measured mineral resource as a result of continued exploration. Pursuant to NI 43-101, inferred mineral resources may not form the basis of any economic analysis, including any feasibility study. Accordingly, readers are cautioned not to assume that all or any part of a mineral resource exists, will ever be converted into a mineral reserve, or is or will ever be economically or legally mineable or recovered.

-----------------------

1 Mineral resource estimates were prepared by DGCS SA under supervision of Gino A. Zandonai, who is an independent Qualified Person under NI 43-101. See "Don Mario Mine Operation 2016 Technical Report" dated January 27, 2017 filed on SEDAR under Orvana's profile.

2 Mineral resource estimates were prepared by DGCS SA under supervision of Gino A. Zandonai, who is an independent Qualified Person under NI 43-101. See "Don Mario Mine Operation 2016 Technical Report" dated January 27, 2017 filed on SEDAR under Orvana's profile.



Contact: Jeff Hillis, Chief Financial Officer, T (416) 369-6281, E jhillis@orvana.com
US President Donald Trump urged China to take decisive action against North Korea on Monday after its latest ballistic missile launch, urging Beijing to end this nonsense once and for all.

Does this guy have anything better to do with his life? Trump said of his North Korean counterpart Kim Jong-Un after South Koreas military reported that a ballistic missile had come down in the Sea of Japan. The US military also confirmed the launch.

Hard to believe that South Korea and Japan will put up with this much longer, he wrote on Twitter.

Perhaps China will put a heavy move on North Korea and end this nonsense once and for all!

The missile launch, which authorities in Seoul said was fired from a site near Panghyon in North Phyongan province, came only days after Trump hosted South Koreas new leader Moon Jae-In at the White House.

Trump has been urging China  North Koreas closest diplomatically  to pressure the Pyongyang regime to put the brakes on its nuclear and ballistic missile programs.

But he recently declared that Chinas efforts had not worked out, without spelling out what his administration planned to do so as a result.
Levelling a series of sensational allegations against West Bengal governor KN Tripathi, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday accused him of threatening and insulting her.

He threatened mehe insulted me on Tuesday. He cannot do it. He is a nominated person. I have told him you cannot talk to me like this. I am an elected person, an angry Banerjee said in Kolkata.

The governor telephoned me and said certain objectionable things. He spoke like a block president of BJP. He always takes one side. I have made it clear to him that he cannot speak to me in that manner. He cannot threaten me, a visibly furious Mamata Banerjee said at the state secretariat on Tuesday evening.

Giving a stern warning to members of both the communities involved in the strife, Ms. Banerjee said her patience should not be tested. For you people I had to hear so many things. I have not come here just to hold the office of the Chief Minister., she added.

Though Trinamool Congress ministers have alleged partisan behaviour on the part of the governor in the past, never did the chief minister lash out at him publicly in the manner she did on Tuesday.

I did not come to power with his blessings I came to power with the blessings of the people If he is holding a Constitutional post, so do I Mamata. He cannot speak to me like this he cannot take sides of only one group I am deeply hurt, said Mamata.

Mamata alleged that the Governor pays more heed to complaints lodged by state BJP leaders.

Banerjees TMC also survived a barrage of attacks from BJP during the civic polls in 2017 during which the party won four of seven municipal bodies in West Bengal. The party also snatched the Mirik in the hills of Darjeeling from BJP ally Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM). Darjeeling is currently faced with agitation with GJM demanding separate Gorkhaland.
In the noisy debates over cow-protectionism, we gloss over the fact that it is Indian Muslims and, in some cases Dalits, who are being repeatedly targeted. And that bigotry, and not some misguided holy enthusiasm, is the intimation that ties all the attacks together. The lynch mobs count on two things  the ifs and buts uncertainty of government response as illustrated in the rationalizations of home minister and our short, fickle memory that is either too numbed or too distracted to stay focused on the issue.

We have already moved on from Mohammad Akhlaq who was killed in Uttar Pradesh over rumours that there was beef in his house and whose son, a corporal in the air force continued to believe his country would grant him justice. In March 2016, they were found hanging from a tree in a Jharkhand village, their hands tied together by the nylon chords used to hold cattle. Imtiaz was only 12 years old. A school-going child, he was escorting Ansari to a cattle fair in the hope of making a few extra bucks for his family. Later, it emerged that Ansari had been threatened just a few days earlier by a gang of extortionists who asked him for a Rs. 20,000 bribe for ferrying his oxen. The National Commission for Minorities team that investigated the killing reported a brazen communal bias in the police handling of the lynching and said that complaints by Muslim traders against the so-called cow-protections groups had been ignored. A few months later, the Jharkhand Chief Minister declared If India is your country; the cow is your mother. But no mother would allow murder in her name. There are many politicians who messed up passing all irrelevant statements, but none of them ever condemned or demanded action against the propagators.

Cow slaughter is banned in a majority of states and Union territories: Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Assam, Bihar, Chandigarh, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Mizoram, Odisha, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh. However, the largest beef consuming state is not-Muslim majority Jammu and Kashmir but Meghalaya, where more than 80% of the population consumes this meat.

According to the latest National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) round, around 1 of every 13 Indiansor 80 million peopleeat beef or buffalo meat and the biggest chunk of beef-eating population are Muslims. After Muslims, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (SC/ST) make up the biggest group of the beef-eating population. Among Hindus, more than 70% of the beef-eating population is SC/ST, 21% is other backward castes and only 7% is upper caste (others category).

The cow protection movement has been a religious and political movement aiming to protect the cows whose slaughter has been broadly opposed by Hindus, Buddhists, Jains and Sikhs. While the opposition to slaughter of animals including cows has ancient roots in Indian religions, the cow protection movement traces to the colonial era of British India. The earliest activism is traceable to Sikhs of Punjab who opposed cow slaughter in the 1860s. The movement became popular in the 1880s and thereafter, attracting the support from the Arya Samaj founder Swami Dayananda Saraswati in the late 19th-century, and from Mahatma Gandhi in early 20th-century.

The cow protection movement gained broad support among the followers of Indian religions particularly the Hindus, but Muslims broadly opposed it. Numerous cow protection-related riots broke out in the 1880s and 1890s in British India. The 1893 and 1894 cow killing riots started on the day of Bakri-id, a Muslim festival where animal sacrifices are a part of the celebration. Cow protection movement and related violence has been one of the sources of religious conflicts in India. Historical records suggest that both Hindus and Muslims have respectively viewed cow protection and cow slaughter as a religious freedom. The cow protection movement is most connected with India, but has been active since the colonial times in predominantly Buddhist countries such as Sri Lanka and Myanmar.

Many ancient and medieval Hindu texts debate the rationale for a voluntary stop to cow slaughter and the pursuit of vegetarianism as a part of a general abstention from violence against others and all killing of animals. Some significant debates between pro-non-vegetarianism and pro-vegetarianism, with mention of cattle meat as food, is found in several books of the Hindu epic, the Mahabharata, particularly its Book III, XII, XIII and XIV. It is also found in the Ramayana. These two epics are not only literary classics, but they have also been popular religious classics.

The Mahabharata debate presents one meat-producing hunter who defends his profession as dharmic. The hunter, in this ancient Sanskrit text, states that meat consumption should be okay because animal sacrifice was practiced in the Vedic age, that the flesh nourishes people, that man must eat to live and plants like animals are alive too, that the nature of life is such every life form eats the other, that no profession is totally non-violent because even agriculture destroys numerous living beings when the plough digs the land. The hunters arguments are, states Alsdorf, followed by stanzas that present support for restricted meat-eating on specific occasions. This is the third part of the four parts series on the topic. Tomorrow we will highlight other aspects of cow slaughtering and goondaism on her name.

(Any suggestions, comments or dispute with regards to this article send us on feedback@afternoonvoice.com)
Lakhs of devotees gathered at Pandharpur, located in Solapur district of western Maharashtra, on the occasion of Ashadhi Ekadashi.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and his wife Amruta performed a maha-puja (grand prayer) at the Lord Vitthal temple in Pandharpur early on Tuesday.

Feeling blessed and positive, Fadnavis said, after the early morning ritual.

Ekadashi marks the culmination of pilgrimage, called waari, that devotees undertake from across the state on foot to reach the temple town.

In Mumbai, large crowds gathered at the Vitthal temple in Wadala to perform puja on the auspicious occasion.

Arrangements were made to ensure smooth traffic flow in the area.
When Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had announced loan waiver to distressed farmers he never would have thought that even agriculturists from Mumbai would feature in the list along with other districts of the state. The list released by the state government includes 694 farmers from Mumbai city and 119 farmers from suburban Mumbai who are eligible for farm loan waiver. Thus a question which arises here is do people really indulge in cultivation activities in a metropolis like Mumbai which is known as the commercial capital of the country? In a city where there is scarcity of land how can agricultural activities be carried out? Are people cultivating on terraces of their flat? The Chief Ministers office has released a list of beneficiaries who are eligible for farm loan waiver on social media.

A question which arises in my mind is do farmers reside in Mumbai? The list released by state government also features farmers from the city. We will carry out a probe to ascertain whether these farmers are genuine and eligible for loan waiver, said Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.

CM @Dev_Fadnavis tells district wise number of beneficiary farmers of loan waiver (loan upto 1.5lakh) pic.twitter.com/Egt6GUJ21d  CMO Maharashtra (@CMOMaharashtra) 3 July 2017

The government is trying to mislead farmers by releasing fabricated list of beneficiaries eligible for loan waiver. They should apologise to the residents of Maharashtra. The CM had earlier announced that around Rs. 34,000 crore will be required for loan waiver which has been reduced to Rs. 5,000 crore. Only 15,000 farmers will be granted loan waiver instead of 89,000 farmers. If no farms are available in Mumbai from where have so many farmers cropped up from the city? Thus the government is only trying to mislead people by releasing bogus list of beneficiaries, said Congress spokesperson Sachin Sawant.

RTI activist Anil Galgali tweeted, Mumbai too have farmers. However the list attracted attention on the social media. If there are 811 farmers in the city then their list must be made public.

Sanjay Nirupam tweeted, Farmers in Mumbai? A fraud list of loan waiver beneficiaries released by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. Farmers in Mumbai got waiver. Cant believe this.

Farmers in Mumbai? A fraud list of loan waiver beneficiaries released by

CM @Dev_Fadnavis.Farmers in Mumbai got waiver. Cant believe this. https://t.co/C41Jx3uTX6  Sanjay Nirupam (@sanjaynirupam) 4 July 2017

The loan waiver amount announced by Maharashtra government is much bigger as compared to other states. The state will write off farm loans up to Rs 2,50,000 and those farmers who possess valid 7/12 extract. As per the loan waiver scheme more than Rs 35, 36, 10, 216 farmers will benefit from the scheme.

We will verify the list of loan accounts from Mumbai and suburbs. The benefit will not go to anyone who does not deserve it. It could be farmers who now reside in the city but own land elsewhere, said state co-operation minister Subash Deshmukh.

The maximum number of beneficiaries are from Buldhana district (2,49,818) in Vidarbha followed by Ahmednagar (2,00,869) in Western Maharashtra region and Beed district (2,08,480) in Marathwada.

The least number of beneficiaries are from Mumbai city (694),Mumbai suburbs (119) and Palghar district (918).

Under the loan waiver Rs. 34, 022 crore is set to be disbursed by the government  which would benefit 89 lakh farmers and nearly 40 lakh farmers would be totally debt-free.
Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharifs elder son Hussain Nawaz arrived at the Federal Judicial Academy (FJA) in Islamabad on Tuesday to appear for a sixth time before the joint investigation team (JIT) probing the Panamagate case.

His brother Hassan Nawaz faced the six-member Joint Investigation Team on Monday, while his sister Maryam Nawaz will appear before the team for the first time on Wednesday.

From the nature of questions, I can assume I will not be asked to appear before the JIT [again]. But, If I am summoned again, I will appear to fulfill my legal obligations, Hussain had said.

Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, who is also the father-in-law of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharifs younger daughter, also faced the JIT on Monday in connection with the probe, which has entered its final week.

Dar again disowned the confessional statement he signed in the year 2000, linking the Sharif family with money laundering in the Hudaibya Paper Mills case and termed the confession he signed 17 years ago as a piece of trash.

Speaking to the media outside the FJA, Prime Ministers Special Assistant Asif Kirmani stressed again that the JIT report will have no credibility if does not include the statement of Qatari prince Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jabar Al-Thani.

FIAs former deputy director, Inam R. Sehri, has submitted a 248-page report about fictitious bank accounts allegedly used by the Sharif family for money laundering and a 500-page report regarding investigation into the construction of a motorway to the JIT, the Dawn reported.

According to the details, the team will review tax returns and other documents related to the businesses of Sharif family. The members will also collect the evidence for the preparation of the final report that is to be submitted in Supreme Court (SC) on July 10.

A five-member SECP team headed by the head of Companies Registration Office (CRO) based in Lahore on Friday submitted additional record related to the companies of the Sharif family including Hudaibya Paper Mills, Chaudhry Sugar Mills and Ittefaq Foundries to the JIT.

Prime Ministers Special Assistant Asif Kirmani stressed again that the JIT report will have no credibility if does not include the statement of Qatari prince Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jabar Al-Thani.
The Special Public Prosecutor on Tuesday sought a life term for underworld Abu Salem who has been convicted in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case.

The Special Public Prosecutor made this submission during argument on quantum of sentence before TADA Court.

The CBIs prosecutor noted that since Salem was extradited from Portugal under section 34C of the Extradition Act, he cant be given capital punishment.

However, the prosecutor said Salem deserved the death penalty.

Section 34C stipulates that an individual extradited from a nation which doesnt sentence convicts to death, can only be put in jail for life for a crime punishable by the death penalty in India

On June 16, twenty-four years after the serial blasts shook Mumbai in 1993, the special court for Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act (TADA) had convicted six people regarding the case. Those convicted include Mustafa Dossa, Abu Salem, Taher Merchant, Feroz Abdul Rashid Khan, Karimullah Khan and Riyaz Siddiqui.

Earlier on June 17, Abdul Qayyum, who has been acquitted of all charges related to the case, said, Many innocents like me are in the jail. I request that the innocent should be released.

When asked about his future plans, Qayyum said he would do some kind of business in India.

Salem was accused of transporting weapons from Gujarat to Mumbai.

He also handed over actor Sanjay Dutt, who was an accused in the case for illegally possessing weapons, AK-56 rifles, 250 bullets and some hand grenades at his residence on 16 January, 1993. Two days later, on 18 January, 1993, Salem and two others went to Dutts house and got back two rifles and some rounds.

The court had dropped certain charges against Salem in 2013 after the CBI moved a plea, saying those charges were against the extradition treaty between India and Portugal.

He is currently lodged in the Taloja Jail in Navi Mumbai.

In February 2015, Salem was sentenced to life imprisonment by a special court in the 1995 in connection with the murder of Mumbai builder, Pradeep Jain.
Aiken, SC (29801)

Today

Showers early, then partly cloudy overnight. Low near 60F. Winds WSW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 40%..

Tonight

Showers early, then partly cloudy overnight. Low near 60F. Winds WSW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 40%.
Turkey's Indigenous Assyrian Culture Fears Extinction

Assyrian Christian monks attend a service at the ancient monastery of Mor Gabriel, 9 miles away from the town of Midyat, Turkey, Jan. 13, 2009. ( Reuters/Umit Bektas) A legal battle over the ownership of dozens of churches, monasteries and other property in southeastern Turkey has embroiled one of the world's oldest Christian communities. Turkish authorities have seized approximately 50 properties, totaling hundreds of thousands of square meters, from the Syriac Orthodox Church on grounds their ownership deeds had lapsed, church and community leaders said.

An appeal by the fifth-century Mor Gabriel, one of the oldest working monasteries in the world, against the confiscation was rejected in May by a government commission charged with liquidating the assets. Among the properties are at least two functioning monasteries erected 1,500 years ago, said Kuryakos Ergun, the chairman of the Mor Gabriel Monastery Foundation. The loss of these monuments threaten the survival of one of Turkey's oldest indigenous cultures. Read the full story here
Petition Launched to Include All Greeks in Genocide Recognitions

Greek Genocide Resource Center

Over the past few decades, Greeks have made numerous attempts to recognize the genocide of native Greeks living in Ottoman Turkey between 1914-1923. More often than not, these recognitions have been assigned to a particular region (usually Pontus) and in the process, have excluded other Greeks from recognition and remembrance. A petition has just been created, which hopes to put an end to the act of excluding Greek victims from future genocide recognitions. The petition has already attracted over 500 signatures in 4 days. Genocide is the ultimate act of exclusion. Subsequently it should be remembered in inclusive ways. While the reasons Greeks choose to seek recognition for one particular region and exclude other Greeks from recognition are complex, the fundamental act of excluding Greek Genocide victims from recognition needs to be addressed. In 2007, the world's foremost experts on genocide, the International Association of Genocide Scholars officially affirmed the genocide of Greeks in Ottoman Turkey. The AIGS used the term 'Pontian and Anatolian' Greeks when describing the region/s in which Greeks were victims. Notwithstanding the fact that Pontus was a region within Anatolia, the recognition should have been a catalyst for including more Greeks in future recognitions. But it wasn't. In 2009, the South Australian Lower House condemned only the genocide of Pontian Greeks in a joint recognition (along with Armenians and Syrian Orthodox victims), while in 2010, the Swedish Parliament also only recognized the genocide of Pontian Greeks. It had become obvious that Greeks were ignoring the decisions of genocide scholars and continuing with their policy of exclusion. While research on the broader genocidal experience of Greeks has expanded, and while the Greek public is becoming more aware of the scope of the genocide, more needs to be done to raise awareness. But the problem of exclusion needs to be tackled. With that in mind, the Greek Genocide Resource Center has launched a petition urging all genocide advocates to sign. The petition makes the following demands:

all future recognitions, pay respects to all the Greek victims of the genocide, using terminology that does not divide the Greek victims based on region, and

all future recognitions refer to the Greek victims as 'Greeks' regardless of which region they were from.

the genocide be referred to as a Greek Genocide, and strongly argues against giving the genocide multiple titles based on regions. A single title, used uniformly, is common practice when referring to a genocide, and is in line with other co-victims such as the Armenians and Assyrians, who refer to their genocide as an Armenian Genocide and Assyrian Genocide respectively.

For the sake of clarity and uniformity, the petition also asks, that:One of the targets of the petition, is Canadian Senator Leo Housakos. Senator Housakos will soon present a motion to the Canadian Senate seeking to only recognize the genocide of 353,000 Greek victims from Pontus. While the death toll of the Greek Genocide as a whole is approximately 1,000,000 Greeks, it is surprising that a Senator of Greek descent will exclude almost 700,000 Greeks from recognition and memory. Housakos has yet to make a statement regarding the reasons he has excluded so many Greeks from the motion. Other decision makers of the petition include Pontic organizations in Greece and abroad. While the path to recognition for Greeks has been largely one of exclusion, it should be noted that there have been some inclusive recognitions. For example in 2013, the New South Wales Legislative Assembly recognized the genocide of all Greek victims, regardless of region. While this recognition was impeccable in its wording, it has been the exception, rather than the norm. Those who wish to sign the petition can do so here
June 29, 2017

CAIRO  The diesel fuel Egypt has supplied to the Gaza Strip is but a drop in the bucket toward easing Gazas power crisis, but there is hope the gesture might signal a thaw in Egypt's relations with the Hamas-run Gaza government and possibly open the flow of trade.

Egyptian authorities opened the Rafah border crossing to the Gaza Strip June 21-24 to allow in Egyptian industrial diesel for Gaza's sole power plant, which has been offline more than two months. Since then, the plant has received intermittent deliveries of Egyptian diesel fuel through the Rafah crossing.

But even as Egypt has been supplying energy, Israel has been taking it away at the request of the Palestinian Authority (PA) in the West Bank. Hamas and the PA split violently in 2007, leaving Fatah and PA President Mahmoud Abbas with the West Bank and Hamas governing the Strip. The PA, which has been pressuring Hamas financially in several ways recently, has said it will no longer foot the bill for the electricity Gaza receives through 10 Israeli power lines. On June 19, Israel began to gradually cut back the electricity.

In a statement, the Gaza Energy Authority said, Israel has so far reduced the power lines arriving into Gaza from 120 to 36 megawatts [MW], so the Gaza Energy Authority has directly purchased Egyptian diesel itself and the power plant will continue to operate as long as diesel is available, and electricity will be distributed according to the available power."

The plant started partial operations the evening of June 21, generating 45 MW of power. Egypt sent 1.1 million liters (291,000 gallons) of fuel, enough to run the facility at full capacity for two days, Haaretz reported. Officials said the plant would run at half capacity, providing just several hours of electricity daily, to stretch the fuel supply.

Egypt is providing the oil under a tripartite understanding reached in early June by representatives of Hamas, Egypt and the reformist movement within Fatah, headed by Abbas rival Mohammed Dahlan.

The Gaza Strip, which is home to more than 2 million Palestinians, needs 450-500 MW of power per day. Power lines coming in from Egypt provide 23 MW and Gaza's sole power plant can only provide 140 MW at full capacity, in which case there is still a 60% deficit.

Mohammad Thabet, the public relations director at Gaza Electricity Distribution Co. (GEDCO), told Al-Monitor that the Gaza Energy Authority informed GEDCO that two of the plants four generators started operating again after receiving the Egyptian fuel. The plant had stopped operating for two months as a result of the dispute about the "blue tax" imposed on diesel imported from Israeli companies. The consensus governments Ministry of Finance started collecting the tax on industrial diesel in April under the pretext of coping with the financial crisis the government is facing. The tax amounts to about 108% of the initial price of fuel after refining.

He added, There is no clear schedule to distribute electricity to citizens because when Egypt started providing diesel, Israel was at the same time reducing the electricity supply lines, which resulted in power cuts, and we were unable to accurately calculate the needed electricity for the entire Strip. However, if the Egyptian power supply lines remain operative and Egypt continues to pump diesel into the power plant in Gaza, we expect to see a significant improvement in electricity."

Thabet further stressed that GEDCO loses money with each kilowatt of electricity it distributes. Whether GEDCO receives electricity from Israel or Egypt, or generates its own after buying Egyptian diesel, the cost of distributing the electricity surpasses the price plus the tariff. Thus the cost of selling electricity to citizens will remain the same.

According to economists, the introduction of Egyptian industrial diesel to the Strips power plant is an important economic step and helps support Gaza at political and humanitarian levels. Egypt will supply the same amount of diesel that Israeli companies supplied, but for almost half the price  and without the blue tax.

Mohammed Abu Jayyab, an economic expert and editor-in-chief of al-Eqtisadiah newspaper in Gaza, told Al-Monitor that pumping Egyptian diesel into Gaza shows a new Egyptian way of dealing with the Strip.

The entry of Egyptian diesel is an important economic step that holds great political and humanitarian dimensions. It illustrates a new Egyptian way in dealing with the humanitarian crises plaguing Gaza, namely the electricity crisis. It comes as a result of the understanding reached between the Hamas [and Egyptian] delegations and that of Dahlan," he said.

Abu Jayyab believes that the economic feasibility of Egyptian diesel is strong compared with the Israeli diesel that the PA supplied to the generating station, noting, We are talking about saving 50% of the price the Gaza Energy Authority used to pay for Israeli diesel, which means it will have double the quantity for the same price now.

Economist Nouhad Nashwan told Al-Monitor that the cost per liter of Egyptian industrial diesel is 1.2 shekels (34 cents), while diesel coming from Israel costs more than 3.5 shekels ($1) per liter. Importing diesel only from Egypt would cut the cost of operating the plant at full capacity by two-thirds.

The imported diesel from Egypt eases the electricity crisis in part, especially as the quantities will be double what Israel used to provide, and without any taxes. No longer importing diesel from Israel and resorting to Egypt instead is a major step in paving the way for a deeper trade exchange during the coming period, Nashwan concluded.

In another sign of goodwill, Hamas is building a 7-mile-long buffer zone along the strip's border with Egypt. The area will have military posts and surveillance cameras to keep militants from crossing into Egypt and to prevent weapons and drug smuggling.
July 3, 2017

TEHRAN, Iran  Six years after the outbreak of civil war in Syria, the eastern part of the country has become a critical hotspot that could determine the balance of power between the various domestic and international forces involved.

While the United States is becoming increasingly assertive in keeping the Syrian army and its allied forces away from the Iraqi border, Syrian President Bashar al-Assads main allies, namely Iran and Russia, have started to redefine their strategies to preserve their vital interests in the war-torn country.

The United States' shooting down of a Syrian fighter jet on June 18 was regarded as an indicator of elevated US military activism in Syria in support of its partners. In fact, it was a new peak of direct confrontation between the United States and the Syrian government that had started weeks earlier, when American forces declared it a "red line" if pro-Assad forces were to approach the southeastern al-Tanf region, which hosts a base of the US-led coalition.

Reacting to the shooting down of the Syrian aircraft, Russia drew its own red line, with the Defense Ministry declaring that any airborne objects found west of the Euphrates River would be considered targets.

However, this is not the whole picture, as eastern Syria has become the focal point for Iran, too. The very fact that Iran on June 18 chose Deir ez-Zor as the target of its first missile strike against Islamic State (IS) positions signaled the significance of the region in Irans strategic calculations.

Mindful of these developments, the question now is why the situation in eastern Syria has suddenly become so fragile, and what consequences this could have for the future of Syria.

It could be argued that the new phase of US military involvement in Syria has been triggered by growing concerns over the persistent military successes of the Syrian army and its allied forces during the past year, and particularly after their recapture of East Aleppo. It appears that the United States and its allies were hopeful that Aleppo would be the peak of Assads military achievements, after which he would enter talks with the rebels to jointly determine the status of other parts of the country.

Those hopes turned out to be false. Just in the past month, for example, the Syrian army not only advanced toward the areas held by US-backed rebels at the border with Jordan and Iraq, but also started to march toward Raqqa from the west. This potentially puts in danger the fate of the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) after the recapture of Raqqa from IS. Therefore, the United States has seemingly come to the conclusion that there wont be a military solution in line with its interests in Syria  as the rebels are losing more ground  and that its not even possible to freeze the situation as it was right after the Syrian governments recapture of East Aleppo.

In these circumstances, the only possible and logical option for the United States and its allies is to reinforce their current positions inside Syria and to concentrate on the areas that have the most potential to be successfully retaken by American-backed forces. In this vein, the United States is more vigorously trying to keep pro-Assad and pro-Iran forces away from al-Tanf and is also eager to accelerate SDF operations in Raqqa. Thus, the United States is now concentrating on its core interests in Syria: containing Irans influence; preserving a minimum level of balance of power between different forces; and, at the top of the list, safeguarding Israels security by preventing Syrian army advances further southward.

As such, the abovementioned developments mean that the United States has already started to delineate its zones of influence inside Syria. In turn, Assads allies, namely Iran and Russia, have reacted by concentrating more on their own core interests. For Iran, the most important aim is to preserve its access to Lebanon through Syria, which is why it has shifted its concentration to eastern Syria. Iran has already taken the first steps in this regard as the Popular Mobilization Units, a pro-Iranian Iraqi force, reached Iraqs border with Syria on May 30, and as Syrian forces seized control of an eastern area bordering Iraq on June 9.

However, Russia, as another main ally of the Syrian government, presents a rather different story. Moscows most vital interest in Syria  guaranteeing access to the Mediterranean Sea by safeguarding its military bases in western Syria  is already preserved. Nonetheless, as a world power, the broader situation in Syria is also important for the Russians in terms of preserving their international prestige. This means not abandoning an ally right after a geopolitical achievement.

For a long time, Russia tried to fulfill this part of its aims by militarily supporting Assads government and, at the same time, actively calling for a political solution to end the war. Moscow has not wanted its involvement in Syria to exceed a certain point. However, after the recent moves by the United States and its allies in directly clashing with Syrian forces, Moscow is in fact being pushed into more active involvement in the country.

Thus, with these converging courses of action, Russia and Iran are expected to increase their cooperation with Assad to help him retake the eastern parts of the country, thereby preventing a drastic shift in the balance of power in favor of the United States. Should they manage to retake more IS-held areas in eastern Syria, they may even extend the scope of the de-escalation zones to the east, so they can consolidate their gains in other areas. The latter is a plausible scenario, since Turkey, as the third pillar of the de-escalation zones agreement, is growing more and more outraged by the increased US support for Syrian Kurds.

Syria has effectively been divided into different zones of influence between the two main power constellations involved in the country. The outcome of this is clear: The process of reaching a political solution will become more complicated, at least when it comes to a solution that could preserve Syrias territorial integrity. At the same time, there is also a risk of direct clashes between the United States and its forces on the one side, and Iran and Russia on the other.
July 3, 2017

BAGHDAD  Iraqi academics and civil society organizations in Iraq and abroad are implementing an initiative to rehabilitate the Mosul Public Library. The library was founded in 1921 and includes around 113,000 books. On Feb. 22, 2015, the Islamic State (IS) burned down the library, marking a great cultural catastrophe.

The initiative also aims to rehabilitate the University of Mosuls Central Library, established in 1967, which remained in ruins during IS control. IS took control of Mosul in 2014.

On June 13, the students of the University of Mosul took their exams for the first time in three years after the Iraqi armed forces liberated the university on Jan. 14.

The Association of Iraqi Academics in Australia and New Zealand launched its own project with the cooperation of the League of Iraqi Academics in the United Kingdom to help rehabilitate Mosuls libraries. The project was well received in Australian and Iraqi universities and among civil society organizations and many academics and intellectuals.

The association managed to collect a large quantity of books and publications that are ready to be shipped to Iraq, said Ahmed al-Rabie, a member of the association and an Iraqi academic residing in Australia.

Rabie told Al-Monitor, The association was able to collect a large quantity of manuscripts, science and technology sources and books from a number of Australian and Iraqi universities, civil society organizations, academics and social figures.

Rabie added, But the project faces technical difficulties to expand the scope of the campaign, amid lack of support. There are also logistic problems, like [getting] Australias permits to ship [the books] and ensure their safe receipt at the Iraqi ports and delivery to Mosul, as well as covering the financial cost.

To overcome these challenges, Rabie said, we contacted the official parties in Australia, namely the Iraqi Embassy and cultural attache to help with the process.

He added, The restoration of the University of Mosul is not an easy task, and civil society organizations cannot bear the responsibility alone. He called on Iraqi universities, associations and academic centers abroad and international centers for scientific research and academies to help in the reconstruction of the university.

He also called for Iraqi cultural attaches around the world to cooperate and adopt efficiency and professionalism standards, while committing to the rehabilitation process of the university.

It seems these initiatives are mainly aimed at donating books to the University of Mosuls Central Library, while ignoring other issues, such as diversifying support and filling the financial and logistic gaps.

On Jan. 25, well-known religious clerics called on cultural institutions affiliated with them to supply the University of Mosuls Central Library with books.

Iraqi member of parliament Hamam Hammoudi launched a campaign to rehabilitate the Central Library on March 14, urging publishing houses and cultural centers to donate books.

On Jan. 29, the University of Basra urged librarians and researchers to donate books to the two ravaged libraries of Mosul.

However, the Association of Iraqi Academics in Australia and New Zealands initiative is of particular importance, according to Iman Abdel Malak, the head of the Center for Humanitarian Dialogue in Lebanon.

Malak told Al-Monitor, Academics abroad can communicate with universities and scientific and research bodies in various countries in a bid to collect periodic scientific publications, books and literary works, different than those already present in Iraq. These books are either old, not updated or mostly literary or religious.

Malak believes the rehabilitation of the library is an adequate response to the ideology of extremist groups that has resulted in destruction and arson.

Haidar al-Aboudi, the spokesman for the Ministry of Higher Education, praised the initiative of Iraqi academics in Australia and New Zealand.

He told Al-Monitor, The ministry welcomes any efforts in this regard and is ready to cooperate and coordinate [efforts] with local and foreign organizations.

Aboudi added, The ministry is considering the cost and the administrative measures required for such initiatives. It calls on contributing parties to contact the ministry through official channels to coordinate [efforts] for the shipment and for covering the cost of this process.

Aboudi said, The ministry is also contributing in the rehabilitation of the University of Mosul through a project aimed at equipping 130 laboratories and restoring 23 faculties.

Shawan Daoudi, a member of parliaments Cultural Committee, commented on the efforts to find support for the restoration of Mosuls libraries and how to ensure the success of the initiatives of academics and civil society organizations abroad. He called for establishing a clear and public government mechanism that allows the various parties inside the country and abroad to communicate and ensure the success of their initiatives by providing financial support.

Daoudi told Al-Monitor, Iraq has received 5,000 books from French organizations.  Civil, charity and cultural organizations abroad have very important and qualitative initiatives, but they face difficulties associated with the costs and [getting] the official Iraqi approvals.

It seems several parties are eager to rehabilitate the cultural scene in Mosul. Riyad al-Gharib, a member of the Iraqi Writers Unions executive office, told Al-Monitor, The union has called on writers and intellectuals to actively participate in the formation of a movement tasked with collecting books and sending them to Mosul, as well as holding cultural and educational events in the city.

What Mosul needs today is not individual initiatives from inside the country or abroad. What it actually needs is an official government mechanism that coordinates the work of the initiatives and supports them to form a collective national movement that rebuilds Mosuls cultural institutions in a scientific and thoughtful manner.
July 4, 2017

Demonstrations that have rocked Moroccos northern region of Rif for eight months have worsened of late. With a police crackdown, peaceful protests have turned into violent clashes. Protesters are demanding social and economic justice, fighting what is known as hogra, or abuse by police, which deprives citizens of dignity.

The demonstrations started in October at Al-Hoceima, where a fish seller was crushed to death during a dispute with police. He was trying to recover 1,100 pounds of swordfish, caught out of season, that police had confiscated and disposed of in a garbage truck. The man was unable to get out of the truck in time when the compacting mechanism was turned on. Some activists claimed police intentionally ordered the truck driver to turn on the crusher. Authorities deny the allegations.

Thousands of people protested the incident, which caused widespread unrest that grew into Al-Hirak al-Shaabi (the Popular Movement). Activist Nasser Zefzafi, an Al-Hoceima native who accuses the government of neglecting peoples demands, took to social media to mobilize the movement.

He was arrested along with dozens of other activists a few days after he interrupted a Friday prayer sermon May 26 in Al-Hoceima to denounce using religion as a political tool in mosques.

Nevertheless, the protests continued.

On June 25, during the Eid al-Fitr celebration observing the end of Ramadan, violence erupted. The people of Al-Hoceima  who are still defiant and have become accustomed to taking to the streets  were heavily beaten by police. Pictures and videos of protesters bleeding while rubber bullets were fired have circulated online since then.

Moroccan journalist Imad Stitou, who has been monitoring the public discontent in Al-Hoceima, said, This is the most serious problem that the Moroccan regime has faced since [King] Mohammed VI came to power [in 1999]. Its worse, he said, than the 2011 Arab Spring rebellion, known in Morocco as the February 20 Movement.

I think it is the end of what was known as the new era, Stitou told Al-Monitor, referring to the peace brought about by the kings pledge in 2011 to turn over some power to the legislature and create a position for a prime minister.

In 2011, Morocco fared better during the Arab Spring than many neighboring countries. Reforms brought about by constitutional amendments enabled the Justice and Development Party to win parliamentary elections twice to lessen repercussions from the February 20 Movement.

Even so, the Justice and Development Party has been losing its popularity among Moroccans  especially in Rif  because of broken promises that put the government in direct confrontation with the people.

After the recent Eid violence, the king canceled some of his ministers annual leaves and announced he was disappointed by the governments lack of progress on some long-awaited development projects. Later, Prime Minister Saad Eddine El Othmani expressed his sorrow over the latest clashes between police and protesters in Al-Hoceima and revealed what he described as urgent measures to execute development projects in Rif.

But the renewed promises might have come too late, Stitou said.

The recent protests in Al-Hoceima mean the failure of the whole political system. They exposed the weakness of all parties to convince the people, who are directly calling on the top authority, the king, for relief, Stitou said.

There are concerns that the monarchy will do nothing more than criticize the delayed projects in Al-Hoceima, he added.

Chaima Zoui, an activist from Rif who lives in Rabat, has been working for Al-Hirak al-Shaabi for months. The young activist has little hope that a royal intervention could change things for the better.

I do not think that the kings interference has had a positive impact on the people of Rif. They have lost confidence in all state institutions, she told Al-Monitor.

Though the gap has expanded between the government and Rif's angry crowd, so far the protesters have opted for peacefulness for months despite police provocation and violence, she said.

The government had hoped the Eid holiday would be an opportunity to reconcile with its people, but it was just the opposite. Options are fading, and its hard to see any solution coming soon.

The movements most immediate demand is the release of all activists, especially Zefzafi.

There were some who were expecting a royal pardon for the activists, Zoui said. But I think that [possibility] was promoted by the [government elite] to test the peoples will to give up their insistence on change.
July 2, 2017

BEIRUT  In Hamra, the commercial and diplomatic center of Beirut, passersby could hear the singing of 20 Syrian and Lebanese children, who were practicing for their concert during the Global Week for Syria festival, which took place on June 28-July 5.

Each Saturday morning since January, these children have been practicing with Syrian oud player Mohanad Nasser to sing traditional songs, Mona Yaacouli, a local coordinator for the French association Yalla! pour les Enfants, told Al-Monitor. The choir, which is accompanied by Syrian and local musicians, is made up of Syrian refugee children and local youngsters living in the Lebanese village of Aley.

They are very excited as it is their first public performance. This new experience will give them confidence. The Syrian children in Aley hardly ever get to go anywhere new unless we take them out, Yaacouli said. After their performance at the festival, the children headed to famous restaurant T Marbouta for a meal.

The childrens concert organized by Yalla! was one of the many concerts, performances, panel discussions and workshops in Lebanon that took place as part of the Global Week for Syria. The festival marks a worldwide initiative by the Music and Beyond Foundation under the patronage and support of UNESCO. Twenty countries participated in the festival, including in Lebanon where events were held in Beirut, Aley, Tripoli, Minyara and the Bekaa Valley.

Global Week for Syria is a multidisciplinary call for peace, support and co-creation that is aimed at raising awareness, creating platforms and stimulating artistic co-creations between Syrian and local and international musicians, according to its organizers. The driving force of the festival is Hannibal Saad, the founder of the Music and Beyond Foundation, whose desire to unite Syrian musicians with their international counterparts started with a project called Syrian Music Lives in 2013.

I used to organize two festivals in Syria each year, but after 2011 I decided to do something to bring Syrian musicians together abroad, Saad, a rock musician in the 1980s, told Al-Monitor. I asked people to share information about concerts that involved Syrian musicians. I saw the need of a global festival and launched the first Global Syria Week in 2015.

He said, The main axis is between Lebanon and the Netherlands, but more and more cities join each year. We prefer to focus on Lebanon because it is close to Syria with many international organizations, Arabic and international media, as well as many Syrian artists based here."

For Saad, the Global Week for Syria is about Syrians keeping hope alive and encouraging Syrian artists to continue making music in their new lives in the various host countries.

I also wanted to show Westerners that Syrian musicians can share their culture and adapt to new ones, he noted. In Lebanon, it is important to work with the local community so thats why we chose to partner with UNESCO, which works hard to raise awareness and preserve the Syrian heritage.

He added that he started the Global Week for Syria with modest means, and that because people believed in the festival's mission it has grown bigger each year. That means there is good energy here. We believe in co-creation and what it does to bring musicians and people together  making you see life in a more positive way, he said.

The first festival took place at the American University of Beirut in collaboration with the Morgenland Festival Osnabruck with concerts by Lebanese, Dutch, Syrian and American-Syrian artists. In addition to the concerts, panel discussions and workshops are organized that focus on topics such as the regional traditions of music, Syrian artists and musical movements.

Fawaz Baker, a Syrian scholar, musician and composer currently living in France, traveled to Beirut to participate in the festival. I will be part of panel discussions  one about the life and work of Aleppine musician Nouri Iskandar, the other about my own work, Baker told Al-Monitor. But I already travel to Lebanon once a month because I started music schools in refugee camps four years ago."

Baker said he decided to participate in the festival not to help rebuild a fragmented Syria but to demonstrate his faith in the power of music. I only believe in things you choose freely  unlike one's nationality, identity or religion. Music is the only way to go beyond that, he said.
July 3, 2017

TUNIS, Tunisia  The Donald Trump administration is set to make major changes regarding aid to nations throughout the world. Released in late May and to be voted on in the fall, the proposed foreign operations budget for the fiscal year 2018 stipulates a massive decrease of the State Departments budget for Tunisia. It is expected to drop from just over $177 million in fiscal year 2016 to only $54.5 million, approximately 30% of the previous budget.

Tunisia, as the only true, albeit flawed democracy in the Middle East and North Africa, will see its budget plummet, while the budgets for nondemocratic countries like Jordan and Egypt will only slightly decrease, according to the proposed budget plan. Israels budget will stay constant at $3.1 billion.

These budget cuts  or lack thereof in the case of countries like Israel  underscore the Trump administrations obsession with counterterrorism and security, rather than softer forms of diplomacy. But even then it becomes tricky, since, as Sarah Yerkes of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace pointed out in The Hill on June 20, the Trump administration plans to switch Tunisias military aid from a grant to a loan, thus complicating the relationship between the two countries.

The proposed budget also calls for a 62% decrease in the US-Middle East Partnership Initiative budget, which would curtail a range of popular exchange programs for youth in Tunisia. These programs specifically aim to train Tunisian students and young adults in leadership skills, anticipating that they will become the future key actors in Tunisia going forward.

Ahmed Medien, 28, an exchange program alumni, told Al-Monitor, These programs serve as an equalizer for students from developing countries so that they can dream big and travel without restrictions.

Unfortunately for young Tunisians interested in studying in the United States through exchange programs, these cuts appear to be inevitable. In terms of domestic programs, this pivot toward counterterrorism is surprising since many of the US-funded programs already in place in Tunisia work on ameliorating the root causes of why people join extremist groups like the Islamic State (IS), one of which is youth exclusion.

The US Embassy in Tunis works on job training and skill building, hosts workshops on coding, and brings in English-language students from across Tunisia to access educational opportunities. In other words, the US Embassy is working on youth inclusion in the best ways it can. Embassy workers consider this to be particularly important since these feelings of exclusion and lack of opportunity can drive young people toward extremism, especially in Tunisia, which has contributed thousands of foreign fighters to IS.

Political analyst Youssef Cherif worries about the cuts to aid at a time when Tunisias other major political and economic partners  the EU, Qatar and Turkey  are all struggling with their own serious issues, such as Brexit, the Gulf crisis and Turkeys own difficult political situation. He points out the major benefits US support has already provided. Civil society boomed thanks to US funding and support; hundreds of Tunisian students were able to study in the US thanks to exchange programs, and even structural reforms were enacted in Tunisias administrative and economic systems in part thanks to loans and grants from the US, he told Al-Monitor.

The US Embassy and the US Agency for International Development's work in Tunisia is just a small contribution to the collective effort being spearheaded by the Tunisian government, civil society and international actors. However, relative to the overall US budget, it requires very little capital and can have a very positive effect.

Contacted by Al-Monitor, the US Embassy in Tunis was unable to comment specifically on the proposed budget, maintaining its traditional nonpartisan stance. Still, it provided Al-Monitor with generic talking points, one of which read: This change in budget approach does not imply a change in US policy toward Tunisia nor a change in focus on our strong partnership with Tunisia and the Tunisian Armed Forces. Tunisia remains a steadfast and critical partner for the United States.

Despite not commenting, it is clear the embassy staff are stuck in a difficult position. As Cherif pointed out, US development aid and security support following the 2011 revolution helped Tunisia in its transition from one of the worlds most repressive dictatorships to one of its most promising democracies. While still expressing its rhetorical support, the job of embassy staff becomes more difficult, as the proposed budget will shrink its funds in such a major way.

Competent professionals work in the US Department of State. The Trump administration ought to provide them with the tools and funding to operate in a way that maximizes their potential. Otherwise, the best we can hope for is that Tunisia continues its successful path forward, even with less US support.

Additionally, American supporters of Tunisia should keep abreast of the upcoming debate in Congress about the proposed budget, which should take place in the fall before the end of the fiscal year. Lobbying in favor of maintaining the same level of aid to Tunisia will only change the overall budget in a minor way but will reap major dividends in Tunisias continued development.
One U.S. Navy veteran's north Alabama business is celebrating Independence Day with an unusual special: a free AR-15 with every new roof. Yes, it's legal.

Digital Roofing Innovations is making quite a splash with its early marketing campaigns. The Decatur-based business has only been around about a year. A July 4 ad promoting the special on Facebook had been shared more than 400 times in its first six hours online.

"Donald Trump says make America great again. I say make America gun again. MAGA!" Owner Zach Blenkinsopp says in the ad, shirtless, wearing cowboy boots, an American flag hat and short star-patterned shorts while holding an AR15. "Some of you might be sitting there saying, 'Man, this sounds like a gimmick.' A gimmick you say? Well I'm a gosh darn Navy veteran, active duty eight and a half years. My roofing company's not a gimmick and this baby's not either. It's here to protect you and your family."

Blenkinsopp, a Florence native, served in the Navy from 2004 until 2012. He's seen companies elsewhere give away free guns with purchase, but he's never seen it from a veteran-owned company. The company also offers military discounts.

"Any red-blooded, right wing American, when they see that, it's going to give them a little extra incentive," Blenkinsopp told AL.com.

It's not really just AR-15s. After the roof is completed, the company gives each customer a voucher that can be redeemed for either an AR-15, a pistol, a hunting rifle or a $500 gift card good at Cypress Creek Indoor Range in Florence. Customers have to go through all the regular legal channels they would to buy a gun at any other brick-and-mortar store in Alabama.

The promotion - for now, only available to roofing customers in Alabama - is ongoing for the foreseeable future, Blenkinsopp said.

Blenkinsopp comes from a digital marketing background, and his business partner is a former commercial real estate appraiser. He's not particularly concerned with potential backlash to the ad. Despite how some viewers might interpret the ad, he said both he and his partner are very open-minded people.

"I've traveled a lot outside the U.S. I've got tons of gay friends that identify whatever way they do," Blenkinsopp said. "Even though in the video you might picture me as a backwoods redneck, me and my partner are well-traveled, educated guys."
Wednesday is the deadline for political candidates to file their first monthly campaign finance reports of the 2018 election cycle showing who contributed to their campaigns and how they spent the money.

For the first time, candidates who file late or inaccurate reports will face civil fines.

A bill passed by the Legislature in 2015 gave the secretary of state, probate judges and the Ethics Commission the authority to levy fines if reports are late or inaccurate, effective with the 2018 cycle.

That bill, by Sen. Arthur Orr, R-Decatur, made other changes to the Fair Campaign Practices Act, including giving the Ethics Commission the authority to investigate violations of the act.

Secretary of State John Merrill, who supported Orr's bill, said he believes campaign finance reports will get more scrutiny than during previous election cycles.

"Anytime you have a greater level of public consciousness when you're evaluating something as important as campaign contributions and when you know people are paying attention to it, it raises awareness and it can only produce a greater level of accountability and transparency, and that's a positive thing," said Merrill, who has been secretary of state, the state's top election official, since January 2015.

For next year's elections, candidates could begin taking contributions in June, one year before the 2018 primaries.

Merrill said he had a staff of six employees who review the campaign finance reports. They will have mountains of documents to read. Next year is a major election cycle, with all 140 seats in the Legislature on the ballot, as well as the governor's race and the other statewide constitutional offices, not to mention county offices.

Also new this cycle is a requirement for candidates for county offices to file their reports electronically with the secretary of state's office. The requirement applies to candidates for county commission, sheriff, county school boards, judgeships and all other races except municipal races. Previously, candidates in many of those races filed their reports with their county probate judges.

The 2015 bill was one of the changes the Republican-led Legislature has made to the Fair Campaign Practices Act since a Montgomery County grand jury issued a report in 2012 saying the law was weak and hard to enforce, partly because there was no agency designated to police it. The secretary of state's office was responsible for collecting the reports and making them public, but did not have enforcement or subpoena power.

The change to allow the Ethics Commission to investigate campaign finance violations has yielded one highly visible result.

In April, the commission found probable cause that then-Gov. Robert Bentley had committed three violations of the campaign finance law, along with one of the ethics law. Bentley resigned from office five days later in a deal that involved pleading guilty to two misdemeanor violations of the campaign finance law. He was also facing impeachment hearings in the Legislature.

Merrill's office had reported to the Ethics Commission what Merrill believed was a violation when Bentley used campaign funds to pay legal fees for his one-time political adviser, Rebekah Mason. Merrill learned of that when asked about it by a television reporter. He and Bentley later had several discussions about it, Merrill said.

Bentley reported the payment and his lawyer defended it as legal in a letter to the Ethics Commission.

Employees from the secretary of state's office testified before the commission, Merrill said.

"We don't take any pride in that," Merrill said, referring to the findings against Bentley. "We're just doing our job. We review the documents. When it was appropriate we submitted that finding to the appropriate authority. And they acted on it accordingly, which is what they should have done."

Ethics Commission Executive Director Tom Albritton said the commission has a good working relationship with the secretary of state's office on enforcement of the campaign finance law. Albritton said the commission has issued a number of advisory opinions on the Fair Campaign Practices Act in response to questions from elected officials.

"I think that anytime attention is drawn to the requirements in the Ethics Act and the Fair Campaign Practices Act is good," Albritton said. "It increases the likelihood that people will comply and that the public is informed about what is allowed and what's not allowed so they can help keep a watchful eye."

The new civil penalties for late or inaccurate campaign finance reports are set in the 2015 law. For a first offense, the fine is the lesser of $300 or 10 percent of the contributions not reported. Fines are higher for subsequent offenses. Violators can use campaign funds to pay the fines.

The law says a first-time late filer has a 48-hour grace period after a report is due to avoid a violation or fine.

Merrill announced another change he said will make reporting on campaign spending clearer and more meaningful.

If candidates pay campaign expenses with a credit card, and then draw from their campaign account to pay the monthly bill on the card, they must now itemize the expenditures on a form they include with their monthly reports.

Merrill said that will eliminate the practice of listing only the monthly credit card payment on a campaign finance report, with no specifics about what expenses were paid for with the card.

"You've got to itemize it on that report so anybody can see what the expenses were on the American Express bill because it had been rumored that there were some members or candidates or former candidates that were buying ball tickets, that were going out to eat, that were going on vacation, all kinds of stuff not related to their service or to their campaign expenses," Merrill said. "And that's not appropriate. So you have to make sure that you're following the law as far as the expense of those resources are concerned.

"Once you take that money, that doesn't mean it belongs to you. It still has to be spent in a certain way."
The investigation into a deadly shooting in Birmingham's Lakeview District that started as a dispute, and then a shootout, between two city workers continued on Monday.

Homicide detectives are sorting out what happened, and preparing possible criminal charges. City officials are conducting their own personnel investigation, which includes determining why an on-duty worker was armed in a city vehicle, which is a violation of city policy.

The shooting happened early Sunday at the intersection of 28th Street and Seventh Avenue South in a popular, and frequently-crowded, nightspot with bars, restaurants and street vendors.

Larry Duncan, 42, was killed in the crossfire. Police said he did not fire a weapon, and his grieving wife told AL.com he was trying to diffuse an argument between a family member and two other people when he was caught in the crossfire. Police have not said who fired the shots that actually struck and killed Duncan.

About 4:02 a.m. Sunday, South Precinct officers responded to the 2800 block of Seventh Avenue South after police working off-duty in the area heard shots fired and called for assistance. When they arrived, they found Duncan lying in the roadway suffering from multiple gunshot wounds, said Sgt. Bryan Shelton. Duncan was taken to UAB Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Duncan's family member - his wife's cousin - was found in the same area suffering from a gunshot wound to his right leg. That man - an off-duty Birmingham City worker - was taken to Grandview Medical Center by Birmingham Fire and Rescue Service, where he was treated and released. After treatment, he was taken to Birmingham Police Headquarters for questioning and is now being held in the city jail pending the ongoing investigation.

A third man - an on-duty city sanitation worker - was also shot multiple times and was taken to UAB Hospital in a Birmingham City sanitation work truck. His condition has not been released, but Shelton said it appears he is going to survive.

Duncan had been out with his two family members. It appears they were leaving the area when the argument between one of them erupted with two City of Birmingham Street and Sanitation Department workers who were in the area collecting trash. During that altercation, one of the on-duty city workers exchanged gunfire with Duncan's family member, who also is employed in public works.

Both city employees and Duncan were struck by gunfire. Duncan did not fire any shots, and does not carry a weapon, police and family said.

Shelton said Sunday it's not clear why an on-duty city employee had a handgun on him at work. "The possession of the handgun will be an internal city investigation as opposed to a criminal one unless evidence is found otherwise,'' Shelton said.

City officials on Monday said that internal investigation is ongoing. The city has a clear "Violence Free Workplace Policy" enacted by Mayor William Bell in 2013. "The goal of this policy is to prohibit behavior which is intended to intimidate, alarm or injure another person,'' according to the policy. "The City will not tolerate this type of behavior. An employee who violates this policy will be subject to discipline up to, and including, termination."

The policy prohibits employees, except sworn police officers, from carrying firearms or other lethal, deadly weapons on their person or in city vehicles and city buildings. In compliance with state law, employees with a concealed weapon permit can have a legally-possessed firearm in their privately-owned vehicles while on duty. That firearm must be kept from "ordinary observation" while the employee is in the vehicle, and must be locked in a secure compartment when the employee is not in the vehicle.

Employees who don't have a concealed weapon permit can have a legal hunting firearm, other than a pistol, in their personal vehicle during hunting season as long as they have a valid Alabama hunting license, the weapon is unloaded, they have never been convicted of a violent crime and have no documented workplace incidents involving the threat of physical injury.

City officials issued this statement regarding the Lakeview shooting on Monday: "In addition to the criminal investigation, this is also a personnel matter and investigation and the city can not legally comment. Our thoughts and prayers go out to everyone involved."
Ryan Johnson

The off-duty Birmingham city worker who exchanged gunfire with an on-duty city worker in Birmingham's Lakeview District Sunday morning is now charged with murder.

Police on Tuesday announced formal charges against 23-year-old Ryan Johnson. He is charged in the shooting death of 42-year-old Larry Duncan, his cousin by marriage with whom he had gone out with Saturday night along with other family members.

About 4:02 a.m. Sunday, South Precinct officers responded to the 2800 block of Seventh Avenue South after police working off-duty in the area heard shots fired and called for assistance. When they arrived, they found Duncan lying in the roadway suffering from multiple gunshot wounds, said Sgt. Bryan Shelton. Duncan was taken to UAB Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Johnson was found in the same area suffering from a gunshot wound to his right leg. He was taken to Grandview Medical Center by Birmingham Fire and Rescue Service, where he was treated and released. After treatment, he was taken to Birmingham Police Headquarters for questioning and has been held in jail since then. He will be transferred to the Jefferson County Jail where he will be held on $150,000 bond.

A third man - an on-duty city sanitation worker - was also shot multiple times and was taken to UAB Hospital in a Birmingham City sanitation work truck. His name and condition have not been released, but Shelton said it appears he is going to survive.

Duncan and Johnson, and other family, had gone out together. It appears they were leaving the area when the argument between one of them erupted with two City of Birmingham Street and Sanitation Department workers who were in the area collecting trash. During that altercation, one of the on-duty city workers exchanged gunfire with Johnson.

Duncan did not fire any shots, does not carry a weapon, police and family said, and was trying to break up the dispute when he was caught in the crossfire. Authorities have not said who fired the shots that struck Duncan.

City officials on Monday said they are conducting their own personnel investigation, which includes determining why an on-duty worker was armed in a city vehicle, which is a violation of city policy.

Duncan grew up in north Birmingham's Hooper City community, and graduated from Carver High School. After high school, he attended Virginia College where he studied computers. His most recent job was with R+L Carriers, a Birmingham-based freight shipping and logistics company for whom he transported goods back and forth between Birmingham and Ohio multiple times a week.

He and his wife, Brandy Duncan, had been together 20 years, and married in 2001. They have two sons, ages 20 and 10. The older son just arrived in Birmingham Friday on a 10-day pass from the U.S. Army and had not yet even seen his father. "He's in shock,'' Brandy Duncan said in a Sunday afternoon interview with AL.com. "He's trying to be OK."

The younger son, too, is taking his father's death hard. "You couldn't tear him away from his Dad. That was his world,'' she said. "He said, 'So there's no more Dad? I'm not going to see my Dad ever again?''

Larry Duncan was well-known and much-loved in the community he grew up in. Many of those childhood friends have posted about their memories, and their sorrow, on Facebook as news spread about his death.

"Larry was a super good guy. He didn't bother nobody. He was very loving, very caring. He was a peacemaker,'' Brandy Duncan said. "He's never been the type to be involved in drama. He always stayed away from stuff like that and tried to diffuse things."
Many Americans gathering to celebrate Independence Day will mark the holiday at Arlington National Cemetery. But for visitors feeling patriotic, there is one item that is banned on the hallowed grounds: a waving American flag.

Earl Granville, a retired Army staff sergeant and veterans advocate who lost his leg in a bombing in Afghanistan, said that he was surprised to learn about the obscure federal law that prohibits visitors from carrying an unfurled U.S. flag at the cemetery.

"There's absolutely, positively nothing disrespectful whatsoever about carrying the colors to the cemetery where our fallen armed forces are buried," Granville said.

The law - 38 U.S. Code SS 2413 - emerged in 2006 when former U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Mich., grew angry after watching mourners at a military burial face "chants and taunting and some of the most vile things I have ever heard," Rogers told the Associated Press at the time.

Rogers was referring to protests by members of the Topeka, Kansas-based Westboro Baptist Church, who showed up at Arlington burials with posters chiding mourners with messages such as "Thank God for dead soldiers." They picketed military funerals, claiming that combat deaths represented God's anger for the country's tolerance of homosexuality.

In response, Rogers helped write the "Respect for America's Fallen Heroes Act," a bill that made it illegal to protest funerals held at Arlington Cemetery and the 135 burial grounds run by the National Cemetery Administration. In its broad definition of "demonstration," the legislation specifically made it unlawful to display "any placard, banner, flag or similar device."

A violation carries a penalty of up to a year in prison.

"Families deserve the time to bury their American heroes with dignity and in peace," Rogers told the Associated Press in 2006. Rogers did not respond to repeated requests for comment from The Washington Post.

The bill received widespread bipartisan support and passed easily.

The American Civil Liberties Union opposed the law, saying it raised the possibility of government censorship.

But Lee Rowland, an ACLU lawyer, said that when it comes to flags, the law is written carefully. By banning all flags, the law purposely avoids violating a visitor's First Amendment right to free speech.

"In the eyes of the law both an American flag and a Nazi flag express a clear message and thus are both worthy of First Amendment protections no matter how much we may disagree with one of them," Rowland said. "It's an all-or-nothing proposition . . . Even if the results in practice may feel unjust."

Tim Marshall, the author of the 2017 book, "A Flag Worth Dying For: The Power and Politics of National Symbols," said that the American flag has represented, liberty, loyalty and rebellion. Although hoisting the flag can be a form of patriotism, Marshall said, burning it can also be an expression of freedom.

The law that prevents Arlington visitors from carrying the flag, Marshall said, has a "paradoxical logic in it. That to uphold one freedom, you curtail another."

Arlington spokeswoman Barbara Lewandrowski said that before Memorial Day, members of the Army's 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment place small flags in front of each of the cemetery's 280,000-plus headstones and burial markers. These small flags are exempt from the law, which allows for displays as "part of a funeral, memorial service, or ceremony."

"Arlington National Cemetery staff works diligently to honor and respect all families who come to pay their respects to loved ones and we tirelessly ensure a safe and peaceful environment for our visitors," Lewandrowski wrote in a statement to The Post.

Several regulations tightly govern decorum at the cemetery to preserve the sanctity of the burial ground. Flowers left at graves are removed as soon as they become wilted and visitors are not allowed to affix anything to the headstones, including photographs of the deceased. It's all part of the tradition of Arlington, said Joe Davis, a spokesman for the Veterans of Foreign Wars.

"There is no more patriotic and revered place in America than Arlington National Cemetery," Davis said. "But being a military installation, rules must still be abided by."

Six years ago, Keith Jolly, a former Marine, founded the Ruck to Remember, a commemorative 60-mile march to the cemetery's Section 60, where a majority of the casualties of Iraq and Afghanistan are buried.

In May, more than 150 people participated in the charity event, Jolly said. But before entering the cemetery, he said, participants were told to roll up their flags or fold them and place them inside their rucksacks. Jolly said that he does not agree with the law, but he won't let it interfere with the spirit of the Memorial Day weekend march, which is "about those laid in there in the cemetery."

"I wish there was a way," to carry flags on the grounds, Jolly said. "It's not ideal . . . It'd be perfect if we could."

Paul Rieckhoff, founder and president of the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, said that the law banning flags at Arlington Cemetery is "ripe for adjustment or amendment to provide flexibility for respectfully presenting the colors."

Rieckhoff said that the law remains largely unknown, noting that if members of the IAVA network were aware of it "they'd be outraged."

"If someone is in there with the colors in a respectful way, or paying homage in a respectful way, then they should allow it," Rieckhoff said.
Most governors couldn't get caught in a brouhaha like the one surrounding New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, because his state is one of only a handful with a state-owned vacation home for its chief executive.

A look at the home and others like it around the U.S.:

___

NEW JERSEY

Christie was criticized for sunning himself with his family at Island Beach State Park, which was closed to the public because he initiated a government shutdown.

Christie, a Republican, defended his use of the beach, saying he had previously announced his vacation plans and the media had simply "caught a politician keeping his word." He says he wasn't using any additional state services this weekend beyond the governor's Ocean House, a five-bedroom, three-bathroom home hidden behind greenery along the park's main road.

The cedar-shingled Cape Cod-style home was constructed by steel magnate Henry Phipps, a partner of Andrew Carnegie. Phipps had bought the park property in 1926 to turn it into an exclusive seashore resort. Only three large homes were built before the 1929 stock market crash halted construction. Phipps died the next year.

In 1953, the state bought the Phipps estate and additional land to preserve the island's natural beauty and create a recreation area. Island Beach opened as a state park in 1959.

For most of the year, Christie and his family live in their own home and have chosen not to live in the governor's mansion in Princeton.

___

ALABAMA

The state is finishing renovations to its beachfront governor's mansion, built on property donated to the state in 1962 for use as an executive mansion. Governors beginning with George C. Wallace used the six-bedroom, four-bath house on and off until it was badly damaged by Hurricane Danny in 1997. The house is being renovated with BP grant money left over from the 2010 Gulf oil spill, and the state has said it plans to use the mansion for economic development events once the work is done. It's on the Fort Morgan peninsula near Gulf Shores.

___

MICHIGAN

The Michigan governor's summer residence on Mackinac Island is a three-story home on a bluff overlooking the Straits of Mackinac. It was built as a summer cottage for a Chicago attorney and bought by the Mackinac Island State Park Commission in 1944, according to the state. The 7,100-square-foot residence has 11 bedrooms. Thousands of people tour the first floor each summer, and the governor hosts events there with national and state leaders. Republican Gov. Rick Snyder visited the summer residence six times last year, his press office said Monday.

___

NORTH CAROLINA

North Carolina's governors wanting a getaway have one waiting about 250 miles west of the state capital in Raleigh, a 6,000-square-foot, contemporary split-level home on a mountain overlooking Asheville and other Appalachian peaks. The home and the 18-acre grounds complete with roaming bears and outdoor terraces were donated to the state in 1964 by Asheville's chamber of commerce.

A nonprofit group rents out the house and grounds to dozens of civic organizations through the year, generating income that leaves taxpayers responsible for about half the $15,500 annual maintenance costs. Former U.S. Rep. Gabby Giffords, who was shot and seriously wounded in Arizona in 2011, recuperated there while she was seeing an Asheville-area physician.

Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper and his family are staying at the western mansion, through the Fourth of July, a spokesman said Monday. His wife visited with staff in March and June while attending official events.
Three people have been arrested for trafficking meth, according to the Cherokee County Sheriff's Office.

Brittany N. Bradshaw, 28, of Kennesaw, Georgia; James W. Craig, 41, of Calhoun, Georgia; and Brandie Holliday, 36, of Hokes Bluff were all charged with drug trafficking and possession of drug paraphernalia and transported to the Cherokee County Detention Center.

All three were booked Thursday night and held in lieu of a $22,500 bond. Craig was released on bond Sunday night.

Investigators Jeremy Stepps and Michael Green, with the assistance of the Sheriff's Office K9 Keelo, completed the arrest.
On a Wednesday night last month in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, it was just like old times for Right Side Broadcasting.

Live on YouTube, hosts Steve Lookner and Liz Willis interviewed people sporting "Make America Great Again" hats, who waited eagerly in line to watch President Donald Trump take the stage at a jam-packed, campaign-style rally. Some of the Trump fans doubled as Right Side fans, and asked Lookner and Willis to pose for selfies in their branded polos.

Once the event started, Right Side streamed Trump's remarks in their entirety, just as it did hundreds of times during a presidential race that vaulted this Auburn, Alabama, start-up from internet obscurity to a media partnership with the Trump campaign.

The president's Facebook page featured Right Side's video feed from Cedar Rapids - and racked up 1.8 million views.

But nights like this one have been rare since Trump pulled off an upset victory in November.

After generating $1.1 million in advertising revenue and donations in 2016, Right Side entertained grand expansion plans. Founder Joe Seales told Business Insider last fall that he wanted to add news shows to his company's YouTube channel and build toward 24-hour programming.

Instead, Right Side has been forced to cut back amid steep revenue declines. A staff of 12 is down to four. Shows hosted by Mike Cernovich, Wayne Dupree, Margaret Howell and Nicholas J. Fuentes have been canceled.

Far from seeing a gusher of donations from energized Trump supporters, Seales said he has been propping up Right Side Broadcasting with money from his own pocket.

"I think a lot of them feel like the mission has been accomplished," Seales said of the president's backers. "I think that after Trump won, people thought, 'Well, hey, our job is done.' Our donations went down significantly after the campaign. I think everybody sort of has that feeling of, 'Why are you guys still doing this? Trump won.' "

What if Trump hadn't won? Teaming up with Right Side on webcasts before Election Day fueled speculation that the former reality TV star might launch a television channel, if the vote didn't go his way. When CNN asked campaign chief executive Stephen K. Bannon about the prospect of "Trump TV" in October, the former Breitbart News chairman smiled and said, "Trump is an entrepreneur."

According to Seales, Right Side never discussed going into business with Trump in the event of a defeat.

"We always kept the door open," Seales said. "Nothing was ever discussed, but if Trump ever came to us, had he lost, and said, 'Would you be interested?' we'd be foolish not to listen to him because he's a good businessman."

Seales knew, of course, that Trump's victory meant the billionaire would be otherwise occupied. He also knew that Right Side's No. 1 source of content, rallies, would mostly disappear after Election Day.

Yet he still believed the company could thrive under a Trump presidency, perhaps not as Trump TV in any formal capacity but as an alternative to the mainstream press. Seales figured Right Side would save a lot of money on travel in a non-campaign year. He also "thought we had a good chance of getting in" to cover the White House.

"We had a number of people inside the campaign, now in the administration, who told us they would be able to help us," Seales said. "I don't want to call anybody out, but we sort of thought we would be in the mix there. They probably had good intentions, and they probably got in and found out things are done a different way. I'm not blaming that for our lack of success. I take responsibility for that, as a business owner."

"We have pretty much lost touch with everybody in the administration who was in the campaign," Seales added. "We still have pretty close ties to people who are left over in the campaign that is still operating. We still work with them at each rally."

Right Side streams White House news briefings using publicly available government footage, but on-camera question-and-answer sessions have become infrequent. The reduction "has hurt us a little bit," Seales said.

A bigger problem, however, is that popular Right Side videos just aren't bringing in ad money like they used to. Like many YouTube-based companies, Right Side does not sell ads directly but relies on YouTube to place commercial spots on its clips. In March, YouTube adopted a narrower definition of what it calls "advertiser-friendly content."

As a result, according to Seales, Right Side is getting more and more messages YouTube rejecting its videos for "monetization."

Seales also has observed that some YouTube channels appear to pirate TV networks' video feeds of live events featuring Trump administration officials. Seales said he is unwilling to do the same, but integrity has a price.

"We can't compete with that, and these people are presenting themselves as legitimate news channels," Seales said. "It's really tough for us to contend and play by the rules."

After holding high hopes for a big year in 2017, Seales now is looking toward 2019, when Trump presumably will return to the campaign trail.

"It's just come to a point where it's hard to justify keeping our operations ongoing the way they have been," Seales said. "We definitely believe that we have a purpose; it may only be during elections."
Philippines President Duterte is cracking down on recreational marijuana use, but he backs medicinal use of the drug.

Manila, Philippines  Sitting at an undisclosed location in Metro Manila, Alden is busy preparing for his next delivery until his phone beeps. He says it is one of his customers texting to check that he is OK and hasnt been shot like thousands of others since the start of President Rodrigo Dutertes war on drugs.

Alden, however, is not a typical drug dealer. He treats hundreds of patients with debilitating diseases and life-threatening illnesses, even though he never studied medicine in college. He may not be a doctor, but he has something very few medical practitioners in the Philippines have: cannabis oil.

Despite a strict prohibition on marijuana  which is made from dried cannabis leaves and flowers  and the threat of Dutertes crackdown on drugs, Alden manages an underground network that provides marijuana to people suffering from a wide range of medical conditions  including cancer, neurological disorders, and arthritis.

Like everyone else, you want to transcend your existence, says Alden, whose real name has been changed to protect his identity. You want to leave a mark, and here I am thinking Im coming closer to making that a reality.

In March, a bill legalising medical marijuana was cleared for debate in the Philippine Congress amid a drug war that has killed more than 8,000 people since Duterte took power last year. The measure was first introduced in 2014, but failed. It was then revived last year, a day before Duterte launched his war on drugs. If the bill passes, the Philippines could become the first country to legalise medical marijuana in Southeast Asia.

Duterte has, surprisingly, expressed support.

Its effective, the president said during his 2016 campaign. I will not deprive Filipinos of the benefits of medicinal marijuana, but I must have a clear definition of what it is and it must be approved by the FDA [Food and Drug Administration in the Philippines].

IN PICTURES: Prisons and rehab overcrowding in the Philippines

Marijuana advocates

Marijuana use has long been an open secret in the Philippines despite harsh penalties for possession of just a few grammes  including up to 400,000 Philippine pesos ($8,000) in fines, decades-long prison sentences, and, until it was abolished in 2006, even the death penalty.

Before Dutertes crackdown, it was common to catch a whiff of residual marijuana smoke in the streets or to walk past a group of teenagers discreetly passing around a joint. Now people are more cautious.

According to growers and street dealers at MonsterBud Philippines, a community of marijuana advocates, theres a shortage of supply while the average street price of locally cultivated marijuana has nearly tripled.

In the mountains of northern Luzon, where the grounds are fertile for growing, marijuana remains particularly widespread. Over the years, some towns have evolved into tourist destinations for those looking to catch a high.

But using or dealing marijuana still comes with considerable risk, especially in Metro Manila  the area most affected by police raids and extrajudicial killings linked to the drug war. Alden doesnt let the risk consume him. He knows many of his patients would suffer without the supply.

Even putting [my son] on this medicine, it makes me feel like nothings impossible, said a mother currently treating her son  who suffers from cerebral palsy and infantile spasms  with daily dosages of marijuana.

The other medicines were limiting. I dont know if hell be able to run or walk or talk properly on his own, but he has a chance [with cannabis].

I hate that I have to keep hush-hush. Other people should know that maybe [marijuana] could help their child. It might not work on everyone, but its worth a try, added the mother, who asked to remain anonymous for fear of jeopardising her sons treatment.





Duterte has the guts

While Dutertes support for medical marijuana appears at odds with his campaign against illegal drugs, he still strictly opposes its use for recreational purposes. The police also remain committed to the pursuit of those who use or deal the drug.

Alan Ladra, a deputy division chief of the Philippine National Police Directorate For Operations, admits, however, that marijuana remains a secondary concern compared with shabu, local slang for methamphetamine.

Shabu is the most abused drug in the country, according to the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA). In PDEAs latest annual report from 2015, shabu users accounted for more than 95 percent of drug-related arrests.

Dutertes positive reception to medical marijuana has energised advocates such as Kimmi del Prado, the founder of the Philippine Cannabis Compassion Society (PCCS), a group campaigning to legalise medical cannabis.

I think people are now more receptive to [marijuana] thanks to the president, she said.

Del Prado has been driving the fight for legalisation since the movements inception in 2013. It was then, after the death of Moon Jaden Lugtu-Yutuc  a 20-month-old baby suffering from a rare form of epilepsy  that the idea of legalising medical marijuana started to make national headlines.

Lugtu-Yutucs parents believed cannabis could have helped reduce their daughters intense spasms and given her a chance to live.

Around that time, Maria Cielito was looking for an alternative for her daughter, Nina, who was suffering from a brain tumour and a condition called hydrocephalus. When Cielito heard about Moon Jadens story, she began researching the benefits of marijuana and came across testimonies online by Dr William Courtney, a member of the American Academy of Cannabinoid Medicine.

In 2012, Courtney went public with a story about how cannabis oil helped dramatically reduce a babys inoperable brain tumour. This inspired Cielito to seek marijuana for her own daughter, but restrictive laws prevented access. She has lobbied in Congress in support of legalisation ever since.

Jay de Leon, the chief researcher at the PCCS and the Philippine Organisation for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, hopes to expedite the measure before the 2019 mid-term elections when congressional representatives are likely to shift their focus to re-election and avoid controversial issues.

We want this to be the legacy of Duterte. We dont want another president, said de Leon. I may not fully agree with [Duterte] in all of his actions, but he is the only president who has the guts to make this thing happen.

Dutertes support for medical marijuana is a bit of a mystery. The 72-year-old leader often equates drug addiction with criminality, threatening to kill addicts and bypass due process for those caught using or dealing. As uncompromising as he appears to be with drugs, he embraces the medicinal benefits of marijuana.

READ MORE: Philippines Supreme Court upholds Dutertes martial law

Legal access

Dutertes allies represent a majority in the Congress and could, theoretically, easily pass the bill once the legislative session resumes in July, but lingering opposition could delay the process.

Senator Vicente Sotto is one of the bills most ardent critics. His support is crucial, advocates say, because he is the leader of the majority in the Senate and has the power to obstruct a quick passage of the bill.

Sotto, a former chairman of the governments drug prevention and control agency, is an ally of Dutertes war on drugs. Legislation must be passed by both the House and the Senate for it to become law.

Theres no need to pass a law that will legalise medical cannabis because anyone who thinks that a component of marijuana can cure them or help them reduce the effects of their sickness can use the compassionate provision of RA 9165. As long as there is no empirical data that proves that marijuana can cure any specific disease, I will not support such proposed measure, Sotto wrote in a statement to Al Jazeera.

The compassionate provision of RA 9165, or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002, allows an exception for people with certain medical conditions to apply for access to marijuana.

Doctors and researchers can also apply to study the drug. None have done so because the application process is simply too bureaucratic, according to de Leon. One patient, he says, waited for four years for approval and still wasnt granted access.

Jorge Ignacio, chairperson of the Cancer Institute in Manila, is one of the few vocal medical marijuana advocates among doctors in the Philippines. Many of his colleagues, he says, often avoid the subject because they are probably too scared of the old notion of what marijuana is or they just dont have an idea of how far the science has come.

Although Ignacio endorses marijuana as a potential treatment, he is clear to point out that he advocates only for legal access. At the same time, he admits that eight of his patients are currently using marijuana with the help of underground suppliers.

I only want patients to have access, legally, because I cant bear seeing them benefiting from it but still hiding and being very discreet about things. It actually hampers my treatment, said Ignacio, who is one of the four doctors policymakers consulted while drafting the legislation.

If enacted, the proposed bill would allow immediate access to marijuana for about 500,000 patients who enrol in research studies and clinical trials within the first year, according to Ignacio. The bill requires a medical research phase before marijuana is fully commercialised, which could take up to three or four years.

But Alden wont wait and his patients cant afford to. No matter what the political climate, he vows to press on.

It would be unwise for me not to assume that Im being followed and theres not an attempt to infiltrate, but I get hundreds of messages asking for oil, said Alden.

I could easily quit, but that would be my biggest crime.
Narendra Modi makes historic visit to Israel, the first by an Indian PM, as two nations move to further boost ties.

Indias Prime Minister Narendra Modi has arrived in Israel on a historic three-day visit  the first by an Indian prime minister. The visit coincides with the 25th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries in 1992.

India recognised Israel in 1950 nearly two years after it declared independence, but it took New Delhi 67 years to establish diplomatic ties with the Middle Eastern nation.

Earlier on the day of the meeting, Indian English language daily The Times of India published a joint editorial written by Modi and his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu highlighting the collaborations between the two countries.

India and Israel are walking hand in hand into the future as partners, the editorial said.

Ties between the two nations have become more visible since Modi became prime minister in 2014 and Israeli ambassador to India Daniel Carmon said the landmark visit will focus on issues of economic development, innovation, agriculture, water and establishing a better connection between the people of the two countries, as well as defence.

Modi is set to hold talks with Netanyahu, whom he calls his friend and is likely to address the Israeli parliament, the Knesset.

I look forward to holding extensive talks with my friend, @IsraeliPM @netanyahu, who shares a commitment for vibrant India-Israel ties.  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) July 3, 2017

On the agenda

Modis trip comes weeks after India approved a defence deal with Israel worth $2bn.

The Indian prime minister has been pushing for defence cooperation with Israel, which has agreed to collaborate and support his Make in India initiative. The trip will focus on Expanding business and investment collaboration on the ground. In addition, I hope to get insights into Israels accomplishments in technology and innovation through on-site visits, Modi wrote on his Facebook page.

READ MORE: The beginning of an Israel-India romance?

We already have quite a significant collaboration in defence technology and cybersecurity, but now we need to go to new areas, Vijay Chauthaiwale, head of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Partys (BJP) foreign policy department, told Al Jazeera.

It may be in the areas of agriculture and water conservation, innovation and startup culture. It coincides very well with the startup action plan of Modi, Chauthaiwale said.

PR Kumaraswamy, professor of Middle Eastern studies at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) in New Delhi, agrees that much of the focus would be on non-political and non-security issues such as agriculture and water management, saying that Israeli technology can help India attain food security.

Yet, India-Israel bilateral trade has grown from a mere $200m in 1992 to nearly $5bn last year.

Agriculture has emerged as one of the main areas of cooperation and Israel has helped to set up nearly 15 centres of excellence across India, which lend new technology to farmers to enhance crop production.

OPINION: India dithers on the Palestinian question

Apart from discussing bilateral relations with his counterpart, Modi also includes on his agenda addressing the Indian diaspora community of more than 80,000 Jews of Indian origin who reside in Israel.

I am particularly looking forward to interacting with the large, vibrant Indian diaspora in Israel that represents an enduring link between our two peoples, Modi wrote on his Facebook page before his arrival in Israel.

While matters of business and counterterrorism might be the focus of the trip, analysts and media in the two countries say defence deals will also be on the agenda.

A complex relationship

Modis Hindu nationalist BJP has pushed for closer ties with Israel as opposed to previous governments, who kept the relationship more discreet.

People [in India] were not openly admitting the relationship. You have a girlfriend but you are not ready to bring her to your family, Kumaraswamy, the JNU professor, said.

Yet since the BJP came to power in 2014, Modi has met Netanyahu twice on previous occasions in New York and Paris.

The two countries have become closer allies for various reasons over the past 25 years and have maintained high-level military cooperation.

In the past decade, India has bought more than $10bn worth of arms from Israel, more than any other country.

OPINION: Indias forgotten solidarity with Palestine

Vijay Prashad, editor of the publishing house LeftWord Books, says the Congress party (which headed the previous government), for instance, was the one which initiated the normalisation of relations with Israel to forge better relations with the United States as part of a pragmatic foreign policy.

They [Congress party] were told that the road to friendship with Washington was via Tel Aviv, Prashad told Al Jazeera.

The BJP perhaps has more programmatic push. They [BJP and Israel] share some ideas on anti-terrorism, identifying Islam with terrorism, he said.

BDS objections

But not everyone in India thinks fondly of the deepening ties between the two countries. Activists from Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) in India and pro-Palestinian voices have criticised the Modi governments open embrace of the Israeli government.

They accuse Israel of imposing apartheid-like conditions on Palestinians and building illegal settlements on private Palestinian land in contravention of international laws.

Established in 2005, BDS is a grassroots movement calling for a boycott of Israeli goods, divestment from Israeli firms operating in occupied territories and imposition of sanctions in order to pressure the Israelis to prevent human rights abuses against Palestinians.

Prime Minister Modis visit to Israel is a dramatic signpost of how far India has shifted: from support of the Palestinian struggle against occupation to total involvement and complicity with Brand Israel, Githa Hariharan, a supporter of BDS movement in India, told Al Jazeera.

India has, over recent years, got more and more implicated in the Israeli war machine that occupies, kills, and discriminates through apartheid policies against the Palestinians in the [occupied] West Bank and Gaza, as well as its own Arab citizens.

Hariharan also pointed at the striking parallels between Zionism and Hindutva. The ideology of Hindutva, which calls for supremacy of Hindus over others, guides Modis BJP, which has turned a blind eye to the recent lynching of dozens of Muslims by cow vigilantes.

At present, this link is sharp: both Zionism and Hindutva practice exclusionary politics; both believe in and aspire to states based on religious identity, she said.

READ MORE: Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions: What is BDS?

In a break from the diplomatic past, Modi is not visiting the seat of the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah.

Kumaraswamy, author of the book Indias Israel Policy, does not believe that New Delhi is abandoning one for the other, saying the prime minister is going to say Israel is not going to influence the Palestinian issue and that Palestinians are not going to influence Indias Israels policy.

Previously, India had sympathised with the Palestinian cause and sided with the Arab nations, with which it maintains close economic ties. These include the seven million-plus Indian nationals who work in the Middle East, mainly in the Gulf countries, and send more than $30bn back home as remittances. India also imports more than 60 of its petroleum needs from the Gulf.

BJPs Chauthaiwale reiterated that Indias stand on the Palestinian cause is not in question.

We want to build a strong relationship with Israel at the same time as we support the Palestinian cause. And we are not shy about it, he said.

In an interview with an Israeli newspaper, Israel Hayom, Modi affirmed New Delhis support for the two-state solution. The Indian prime minister said that the Indian embassy would not be moved from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, staying clear of the Netanyahu governments claim over Jerusalem as its capital.

Yet, some remain unconvinced. Critics say the government stand vis-a-vis Palestinians is shifting. In the wake of the Israeli onslaught on Gaza in 2014, the Modi governments response was restrained and prevented a parliamentary resolution condemning the Israeli violence.

It abstained from a vote at the UN human rights council that condemned Israel for the Gaza violence.

All official Indian talk of Palestine and support to Palestine is shameful lip service, Hariharan, one of the convenors of the Indian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel, said.

How else can we view the massive buying of arms from Israel? How else can we view Indias significant military ties with Israel?

Prashad from LeftWord Books agrees. Where is the space, then, to say that Palestine is occupied?
The upcoming G20 summit should be viewed as an opportunity to improve the basic conditions for civil society to thrive.

There is a growing list of critical problems in the G20s inbox, namely a faltering global economy, terrorist threats in a majority of G20 member states, and a patched-up climate change agreement. Solving these problems will take more than 20 heads of state and their economic ministers. The role of the private sector is widely acknowledged, but the power of civil society is often dismissed. Addressing these expensive and expansive issues requires the will and contribution of the people.





As history has repeatedly shown, it is charities, non-profits, NGOs, social movements, and individual citizens that make the critical difference when we try to solve the worlds most pressing problems.

Civil society plays a critical role in securing public buy-in for government policies and helps to ensure that the right programmes get implemented at the local level. Civil society is a natural ally for the G20, yet many of its chief leaders are treating the sector as the enemy. The worldwide wave of attacks on civil society has been well documented for more than a decade and has now reached crisis levels. The restrictions on civil society are no longer confined to authoritarian parts of the world, but are now also prevalent in many democracies too.

In 2015, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Raad Al Hussein tried to list all of the countries currently persecuting civil society but said: There are now too many countries on that list for me to name them here today. This is a grim indictment  The High Commissioners list included several G20 members such as China, Australia and Brazil.

Since then, the crisis has only escalated.

READ MORE: Thousands rally against G20 summit in Hamburg

The latest research from the global civil society alliance CIVICUS shows that just 3 percent of people on the planet live in countries with open civic space and that many G20 member countries excel at attacking their critics and closing space for citizens to organise, take action and speak out on political, social, environmental and other issues.

According to the data, only meeting host Germany does well enough at protecting civil society to merit an open rating on the CIVICUS Monitor a new research tool providing close to real-time data on the state of civil and political freedoms in 195 countries. An open rating indicates that the state properly protects civil society and enables citizens to form associations, conduct peaceful protests and speak freely.

A clear commitment from all G20 members to improving space for civil society would be a monumental achievement for this summit. And Chancellor Merkel can make it happen. by

On the other hand, there are eight G20 member countries where conditions for civil society are categorised as closed, repressed or obstructed, according to the Monitors data. In the worst cases  G20 members Saudi Arabia, China, Turkey and Russia  it is almost impossible for citizens effectively to criticise authority or freely express an opinion on social or political issues without risking state censure, harassment, imprisonment or even extrajudicial killing.

This week, G20 leaders will gather to discuss issues as diverse as the resilience of the global financial system, global health challenges and womens economic empowerment. These are crucial topics on which a broad coalition of civil society organisations has already made strong recommendations (pdf) though the Civil20 group. Chancellor Angela Merkel has also met with civil society representatives to listen to their concerns and take them into consideration before the G20 discussions. This is one step, but now Merkel and other G20 leaders need to take it a step further by confronting attacks on civic freedoms head on.

The G20 Summit in Germany comes at a time of global uncertainty and instability. It should be viewed as an opportunity for Merkel to exercise even more influence and impact, not just on the agenda but also on discussions related to improving the basic conditions for civil society to thrive.

Recent political shocks and crises including the ongoing conflict in Syria, the state-wide purge in Turkey and Trumps election tell us that governments need to start listening to citizens more. But if that is to happen, civil society and space for citizens to participate must first be protected.

States must stop seeing open spaces for civil society as a nice to have and begin to recognise them as a way of solving crises and creating peaceful and sustainable societies.

OPINION: Are protests enough to bring down the G20?

Merkel has the gravitas to make this case forcefully from a position of strength. Her record of ensuring that civic freedoms are protected at home gives her the moral authority to promote this agenda abroad. What is more, given the horror with which Donald Trumps presidency has been greeted internationally, Merkel has bolstered her position as the most stable and influential leader in the western hemisphere.

As host of such an influential group, Merkel must renew her commitment to democratic values, including protecting civil and political freedoms, and speak frankly to those serial abusers of civil society.

In particular, she and other G20 leaders with a stated commitment to democratic values, such as Canada and South Korea, should call out the egregious abuses happening in other G20 states today  including the statewide purge on dissent in Turkey; the continued targeting of civil society through restrictive NGO laws and suppression of protests in Russia; imprisonment of human rights lawyers in China; and the imposition of death sentences on dozens of peaceful protesters in Saudi Arabia.

Criticism should not, however, be limited to countries from the global south, but should also include reprimanding Western countries where respect for civic freedoms is in decline. Countries including the US, the UK and France should be challenged on their restrictive laws, policies and practices which damage citizen action in their democracies:

In the US, under Trumps presidency, dozens of restrictive protest laws (pdf) have been proposed or passed, while media freedom has been undermined at the highest level.

In the UK, in the wake of the Brexit referendum there was an increase in harmful and racist speech; and the governments anti-terrorism agenda has eroded civil liberties.

And finally, in France the prolonged state of emergency has caused civic groups and activists to have their rights unduly restricted as surveillance powers have expanded.

A clear commitment from all G20 members to improving space for civil society would be a monumental achievement for this summit. And Chancellor Merkel can make it happen.

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Cathal Gilbert is the coordinator of the CIVICUS Monitor, a research platform which rates civic rights violations for 195 countries. Before joining CIVICUS, Cathal worked for almost a decade on human rights, civil society and governance projects in East and Southern Africa.

The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial policy.
The Violet Organization is working to restore schools, roads, parks and public spaces in the rebel-held province.

A non-governmental organisation has launched an initiative to rebuild parts of northern Syria that have been destroyed in the countrys ongoing war.

The Violet Organization aims to clean, rebuild and renovate schools, roads, parks and other public spaces in rebel-held Idlib. The first project, dubbed Idlibs Spring, focuses on the heart of Idlib city, where volunteers have painted, planted and renovated the famous clock square.

We have 1,500 volunteers working on this project with the help of local committees, and we will continue with a similar project in areas such as in Ariha, Jisr al-Shughour, Maaret al-Numan, Marea and Kafranbel in Idlib province, spokesman Fouad Sayyed Issa told Al Jazeera.

The feeling of hope was felt by everyone as we finished our project in Idlibs clock square. This clock tower means so much to the people of Idlib, he added. We could see happiness on the faces of adults and children; everyone was so happy. Everyone felt like life was brought back to them.

Founded in Idlib city in 2011, the same year the Syrian conflict began, the Violet Organization was launched by a group of volunteers focused on distributing humanitarian aid.

Between 2015 and 2016, we managed to reach out to 2.7 million people in need, Issa said. We mostly receive our donations from organisations and individuals. Our work includes creating shelters, providing health facilities and education, and protection.

Amid deadly fighting between rebels and government forces, the team later moved its office to the suburbs and expanded aid operations to Aleppo, Hama, Latakia, Homs and the Damascus suburbs.

Most of Idlib province in northwestern Syria has been under rebel control since 2015. It is regularly bombed by both Syrian and allied Russian warplanes, and many schools, hospitals and homes have been destroyed.

The Violet Organization has received praise from the United Nations for its aid during the eastern Aleppo evacuation, and the group has also teamed up with other relief groups, including Save the Children and the International Rescue Committee.

Our message to the world is that the Syrian people can and will get back on their feet. We will bring life back to our country and smiles back to our peoples faces. The war must stop; the air strikes and the fighting must stop, Issa said.

Idlib was part of a deal on de-escalation zones in Syria that came into effect in May.

The deal, signed by Russia, Turkey and Iran, called for a cessation of hostilities between rebel groups and forces fighting on behalf of the Syrian government in four zones located mainly in opposition-held areas of the country, including the provinces of Damascus, Idlib, Latakia, Aleppo, Homs, Hama, Deraa and Quneitra.

With the Syrian conflict into its seventh year, more than 465,000 people have been killed in the fighting, more than a million injured and more than 12 million Syrians  half of the countrys prewar population  displaced from their homes.
Amnesty says Ebtisam al-Saegh was beaten and sexually assaulted by security forces during a previous detention in May.

Two UK-based rights groups say that a female activist in Bahrain is at serious risk of torture after being detained by authorities in the country, more than a month after she claimed to have been beaten and sexually assaulted during a previous arrest.

Amnesty International and the Bahrain Centre for Rights and Democracy (BIRD) said Ebtisam al-Saegh was arrested at her home on Monday night after masked officers in civilian clothing raided her home. She was taken to a prison in the capital, Manama.

The officers, all masked, had body and head cameras and were armed. They demanded her mobile phone and her CPR (national ID) card, BIRD said in a statement, citing family members.

According to the groups, no warrant was presented for the arrest.

Amnesty said Saegh had retweeted on Monday a post criticising the ill treatment of women at the hands of security forces and blaming the king, according to Amnesty International.

Bahraini authorities did not respond to a request for comment on Tuesday, the Associated Press news agency reported.

High risk of torture

Amnesty said it fears that Saegh is at high risk of torture as long as she remains in custody.

The rights group said the activist had been beaten and sexually assaulted by members of the Bahraini National Security Agency during her previous detention in May.

Bahraini authorities have failed to investigate those claims, Amnesty said.

READ MORE: Bahrain dissolves main Shia opposition Al-Wefaq party

Bahrain denies rights abuses and has installed cameras at interrogation centres as measures to guard against violations.

The government of Bahrain has stepped up a crackdown on critics, shutting down two main political groups, revoking the citizenship of a Shia Muslim spiritual leader and jailing rights campaigners.
Prime minister launches plan to grant residency rights and job permits to undocumented migrants after surge in racism.

Algeria plans to grant residency rights and job permits to illegal African migrants amid a shortage of workers in farming and construction and after a surge in racist sentiment across the country.

Prime Minister Abdelmadjid Tebbounes plan follows the launch of an anonymous online campaign that blames African migrants for taking jobs and spreading the HIV virus that causes Aids.

To determine the number of beneficiaries of the scheme, the interior ministry is organising a census while security services will screen potential residency candidates.

They will get a residency document which will allow them to get a job, Tebboune told politicians on Friday night.

He gave no further details on the scheme.

Thats great news, I will be happy if I can work under the framework of the law, a young Malian working illegally in a housing project as a mason in Ouled Fayet, west of Algiers, told Reuters news agency.

READ MORE: Algeria and Morocco urged to assist Syrian refugees

Youth unemployment is running at around 30 percent in Algeria, but the country also faces a shortfall of workers in some sectors as it tries to steer its economy away from overreliance on oil and gas production.





The online anti-migrant campaign has shocked many in Algeria, which sees itself as a leading influence in the Sahel region and more widely in Africa, for example negotiating a peace deal in 2015 in Mali.

Last month a hashtag No to Africans in Algeria was widely shared on Twitter and Facebook, calling for expulsions to protect Algerian families and prevent chaos.

Amnesty Internationals local representative, Hassina Oussedik, has urged the government to do more to protect African migrants.

There are unofficially an estimated 100,000 African migrants in Algeria, who have escaped acute poverty and conflict back home.

Most of the migrants are from Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso and some use Algeria as a transit country en route to Europe via neighbouring Libya.
Ex-Guantanamo Bay inmate was 15 when he was captured by US troops at a suspected al-Qaeda compound in Afghanistan.

The Canadian government is reportedly going to apologise and give compensation to Omar Khadr, a former Guantanamo Bay prisoner.

Khadr, 30, pleaded guilty in 2010 to killing a US soldier in Afghanistan when he was 15, but Canadas Supreme Court later ruled that officials had interrogated him under oppressive circumstances such as sleep deprivation.

An official familiar with the deal told the Associated Press news agency on Tuesday that Toronto-born Khadr will receive $8m.

The official was not authorised to discuss the deal publicly before the announcement and spoke on condition of anonymity.

The Toronto Star also reported that the deal was reached in June between Canadas justice ministry and Khadrs lawyer.

WATCH: WITNESS  Guantanamos Child, Omar Khadr

Omar Khadr spent 10 years in Guantanamo Bay. His case received international attention after some dubbed him a child soldier.





Khadr was 15 when he was captured by US troops following a gun battle at a suspected al-Qaeda compound in Afghanistan that resulted in the death of an American special forces medic, US Army Sergeant First Class Christopher Speer.

Khadr, who was suspected of throwing the grenade that killed Speer, was taken to Guantanamo and ultimately charged with war crimes by a military commission.

He pleaded guilty in 2010 to charges that included murder and was sentenced to eight years plus the time he had already spent in custody.

He returned to Canada two years later to serve the remainder of his sentence and was released in May 2015 pending an appeal of his guilty plea, which he said was made under duress.

The Supreme Court of Canada ruled in 2010 that Canadian intelligence officials obtained evidence from Khadr under oppressive circumstances, such as sleep deprivation, during interrogations at Guantanamo Bay in 2003, and then shared that evidence with US officials.

A spokesman for Canadas justice ministry and the prime ministers office did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

After his 2015 release from prison in Alberta, Khadr apologised to the families of the victims. He had said he rejects violence and wants a fresh start to finish his education.

He currently resides in an apartment in Edmonton, Alberta and is studying to be a nurse.

Al Jazeeras Daniel Lak, reporting from Toronto, said the apology and compensation could put an end to Khadrs 15-year legal saga.

He can now look to his home country saying, We are sorry, we were wrong, we should have heeded the advice of court after court in Canada that he is a child soldier,' Lak said.

I think it is a very big day for supporters of Omar Khadr.
Catherine Marchi-Uhel will head the UN body to document and prosecute serious violations of international law in Syria.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres appointed a French legal expert and former judge on Monday to head the UN investigative body that will help document and prosecute the most serious violations of international law in Syria, including possible war crimes and crimes against humanity.

UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric announced the appointment of Catherine Marchi-Uhel who has been serving as the ombudsperson for the Security Council committee monitoring sanctions against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) group and al-Qaeda.

She was previously a judge in France and an international judge with the UN mission in Kosovo and at the Cambodia court prosecuting leaders of the Khmer Rouge. She also served as senior legal officer at the International Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and worked in legal positions at the French foreign ministry.

READ MORE: Syrias civil war explained from the beginning

The 193-member General Assembly voted last December over strenuous objections from Syria and close ally Russia to establish a new body to closely coordinate with the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Syria, which was established by the Geneva-based UN Human Rights Council. The commission said last year that war crimes are rampant in Syria.





The International, impartial and independent mechanism, established under UN auspices, is mandated to collect, consolidate, preserve and analyse evidence of violations of international humanitarian law and human rights violations and abuses and prepare files in order to facilitate and expedite fair and independent criminal proceedings in the future.

The General Assembly asked the secretary-general to arrange for the speedy establishment of the independent body, but it took Guterres, who took office on January 1, six months to announce an appointment.

The investigative body will initially be funded by voluntary contributions. The assembly has urged all UN member states, especially parties to the conflict, to cooperate with it.

More than 320,000 people have been killed in Syria where a UN Commission of Inquiry has documented cases of torture, summary killings and other atrocities by all sides in the conflict.
French, British and German leaders urge all sides of the ongoing Gulf rift to solve the crisis diplomatically.

Leaders of France, UK and Germany have urged both sides of the diplomatic standoff in the Gulf to resolve the crisis peacefully.

French President Emmanuel Macron spoke to Qatars Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani on the phone on Monday about the latest developments of the Gulf crisis, according to Qatar News Agency (QNA).

Macron and the emir stressed the need to resolve this crisis through dialogue and diplomatic means, QNA said.

Meanwhile, British Prime Minister Theresa May spoke to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman about the ongoing crisis.

She urged all sides to take urgent steps to de-escalate the situation and restore Gulf Cooperation unity, Mays office said in a statement on Monday.

READ MORE: All the latest updates on the Qatar-Gulf crisis

The statement also said that the UK remains committed to supporting the process towards finding a solution.

Also on Monday, Saudi Arabias Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said that he hopes Qatar will respond positively to a list of demands put forth by his country and three other Arab states.

We hope for a positive response to be able to resolve the crisis, he said from the Saudi city of Jeddah during a news conference with his German counterpart, Sigmar Gabriel.

The two leaders stressed the need to resolve the Gulf crisis through dialogue and diplomatic means, as well as back the mediation efforts of Kuwait, according to QNA.

Jubeir said that the response will be examined with precision.

The news conference came after Qatar delivered its response to a list of 13 demands from Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Egypt and the UAE.

READ MORE: Can the Qatar-Gulf rift be repaired?

Qatars Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani was received by Kuwaits Emir Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Sabah on Monday to hand over a letter from Qatars emir, according to state-run Kuwait News Agency.

The response will be the focus of a gathering in the Egyptian capital of Cairo on Wednesday of foreign ministers from the four blockading countries.

The Saudi-led group severed diplomatic ties with Qatar and imposed sanctions on it on June 5, accusing it of supporting terrorism. The allegation has been rejected by Doha as baseless.

After more than two weeks, the four countries gave Doha 10 days, or until Sunday night, to comply with a 13-point demand list in exchange for the end of the anti-Qatar measures.

The demands included that Qatar shut down the Al Jazeera Media Network, close a Turkish military base and scale down ties with Iran.
Sigmar Gabriel, Germanys foreign minister, has said that Qatars sovereignty must be respected, praising the Gulf countrys restraint in responding to a blockade imposed by Arab states amid the worst regional diplomatic crisis in years.

He made the comments on Tuesday in Doha during a joint news conference with his Qatari counterpart, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani, who, for his part, insisted that Qatar is looking to solve the dispute through dialogue, but without compromising its independence.





There are boundaries that you should not cross, that the sovereignty of each of country and the respect of this national sovereignty has to be there, Gabriel told reporters during the last stop of a tour of the Gulf region, in the latest diplomatic effort to end the standoff.

It has to be a basic condition and when that is there, even the most difficult questions can be talked about, he added.

Gabriel visited Saudi Arabia on Monday, before holding meetings in the United Arab Emirates and Qatar on Tuesday

READ MORE: European leaders call for GCC crisis de-escalation

Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt cut diplomatic and trade ties with Qatar on June 5, accusing it of supporting terrorism  an allegation Doha denies. The four countries have also imposed a land, air and sea embargo.

After more than two weeks, the four countries gave Doha 10 days, or until Sunday night, to comply with a 13-point demand list in exchange for the end of the anti-Qatar measures.

Qatar on Monday delivered its response to Kuwait, which is acting as a mediator, and the Saudi-led group of countries is now expected to meet in the Egyptian capital of Cairo on Wednesday to discuss their next move.

Gabriel told reporters in Doha that while Germany was not going to take any sides in this dispute, it commended Qatars attitude towards the crisis, citing Dohas repeated calls for dialogue in order to bring about a resolution.

Qatar has shown restraint in reacting to the blockade, Gabriel told reporters in Doha. We hope others will respond in a similar spirit.

Unrealistic and not actionable

The Qatari foreign minister, meanwhile, said his country is committed to fighting terrorism.

Qatar takes the issue of combating terrorism as a top of priority. It is an issue of national security not only to the state of Qatar but to the entire region. However, the unjust siege imposed by the other states under the pretext of combating terrorism is totally false and fabricated, he told reporters.

MARWAN BISHARA, AL JAZEERAS SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: The European position is very important, especially in the absence of clarity from the United States. In a sense, the European position is also important in terms of how Germany, the most important economic power in Europe, expresses it. Germany has some leverage in the Greater Middle East  it doesnt have hard power, but it does have soft power. What weve heard from the German foreign minister throughout the last month is an attempt at being the mature person in the room in terms of the different things we hear  or we dont hear  from across the Atlantic or the UK, France and elsewhere.

He also said that the demands put to Doha by Saudi Arabia and its allies were impossible to meet.

The list is unrealistic and is not actionable, the Qatari foreign minister said. Its not about terrorism, its talking about shutting down the freedom of speech.

The demands included that Qatar shut down the Al Jazeera Media Network, close a Turkish military base and scale down ties with Iran.

Al Jazeeras Jamal Elshayyal, reporting from the press conference in Doha, said the Qatari foreign minister did not give any information about the contents of Qatars official reply to the demands.

The main piece of information that everybody has been trying to find out is what exactly Qatars response to those demands entailed, he said.

The foreign minister said that he wasnt at liberty to give details with regards to the response, but essentially he made it clear that  they were willing to discuss with their neighbours issues such as the funding of terrorism, but they were not willing to discuss issues of sovereignty or freedom of expression and free speech.

OPINION: What is the Qatar-GCC showdown really about?

Earlier on Tuesday, Gabriel held talks with Abu Dhabis crown prince in the UAE, where he said that the Gulf crisis is an opportunity for the region to strengthen the fight against the funding of terrorism.

We clearly share the view of the Emirates that any form of financing of terrorism or extremism and the sheltering of extremists must end. We are of the same view that this affects the entire region and that there is now the chance in this crisis for the whole region to reach results, he told reporters, before adding that the matter was not about questioning Qatars integrity or sovereignty.

This is for us, Europeans, a very important matter because the Gulf Cooperation Council is for us the guarantor of stability and security in the region, Gabriel added.
Austria FM says country ready to protect borders amid growing concerns over influx of migrants and refugees in Italy.

Italy has summoned Austrias ambassador after Vienna said it would likely set up strict controls to stop migrants and refugees from passing the border between the two countries.





Austrian Ambassador Rene Pollitzer was called to the Italian foreign ministrys headquarters in Rome on Tuesday following the Austrian governments statement about deploying troops to the Brenner (pass), the ministry said in a statement.

Hans Peter Doskozil, Austrian defence minister, was quoted on Monday saying his country would very soon impose border checks and deploy soldiers on its frontier with Italy if the influx of migrants across the Mediterranean does not slow.

I expect that very soon border controls will be activated and that an assistance deployment (by the military) will be requested, he told the online edition of the Krone daily newspaper.

He was cited as saying that this move was indispensable if the inflow into Italy does not ease. The newspaper said that 750 soldiers were ready for deployment within 72 hours and that four armoured vehicles had already been sent to the border area.

READ MORE: UN urges Europe to help Italy with refugee tragedy

Al Jazeeras Sonia Gallego, reporting from Catania in Italy, said it was not the first time that a diplomatic dispute had erupted between the neighbouring countries.

Certainly it is a sign that the refugee crisis in Europe is still in need of a proper solution across the continent, she said.

With the advent of summer, what everyone is fearing is a repetition of the previous summers when thousands of refugees crossed into Europe, our correspondent added.

Since last year, Vienna has been warning that it will impose strict controls at the Brenner mountain pass if Rome is unable to stop arrivals from travelling north.

But politicians in northern Italy pointed out that there is no increase in migration in their region, and they linked Tuesdays developments to Austrias parliamentary elections in October.

The situation at the Brenner is stable, calm  even statistics say this, said Arno Kompatscher, the head of Italys province of South Tyrol, also known as Alto Adige.

Austria and Italy are already cooperating on border controls, he pointed out.

In Austria they are in an election mood, he told Italian newswire Adnkronos.

Rather than talking about tanks, we need to organise ourselves to give a hand to Italy and tackle the phenomenon already in Africa, he said.

Eleonora Poli, researcher at the Italian Institute of International Affairs, also questioned the timing of Austrias decision.

Playing the migration card might help traditional parties to acquire legitimacy needed to win the election, Poli told Al Jazeera. My understanding is that it is more of a political game than an actual need to control the border with Italy.

Arrivals up 20 percent

Austrias interior ministry acknowledged that the inflow to Italy has not yet created problems at the Brenner pass. Police have not yet seen rising numbers of irregular border crossings in southern Austria, ministry official Gerald Tatzgern told public radio.

Yet, Sebastian Kurz, Austrias foreign minister, on Tuesday told the Austrian Press Agency that both Italy and the European Union need to know that we are ready to protect our Brenner border if necessary.

Controls at the Brenner pass could also disrupt cargo traffic, and could cause considerable delays for German tourists during the summer holidays.

Border checks would lead to a very tense traffic situation, the German motorist club ADAC said in a statement.

Every year, more than five million cars cross the mountain pass, many of them from Germany.

READ MORE: Amid Libyas chaos, human traffickers have free rein

Italys interior ministry said on Monday that the migrant and refugee arrivals so far this year have risen by nearly 20 percent compared with the same timeframe in 2016.

It added that more than 85,000 migrants and refugees had reached Italian shores after being rescued in the central Mediterranean compared with the 71,000 at this time last year.

According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), more than 12,000 migrants and refugees arrived in southern Italy in the past week, most of whom came by boat from Africa, making Italy the main point of entry to Europe.
The head of the European Unions executive body has criticised European members of parliament as totally ridiculous, enraged by a high absentee rate during a speech by the prime minister of Malta, which has just completed a term running the blocs presidency.

After EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker thanked the 30 of the 700-plus politicians in the huge atrium for showing up, he insisted that the parliament is not serious since legislators failed to attend Tuesdays keynote debate in larger numbers.

The session in Strasbourg, France, focused on Maltas six-month presidency of the European Union, which ended last weekend.

READ MORE: How far-right populism is challenging the EU

EU Parliament President Antonio Tajani chided Juncker and asked for a more respectful attitude.

The Commission does not control the parliament. It is the parliament that should be controlling the Commission, Tajani said, to which Juncker retorted: There are only a few members in the parliament to control the Commission. You are ridiculous.

Juncker added that parliament had to respect the presidencies of smaller countries  Malta has 415,000 people in contrast to the EU, which has half a billion.

If Merkel or Macron were here

The Commission prepares rules and regulations for the bloc and runs its day-to-day business. Juncker is considered a key leader of the 28-nation bloc. The parliament has increased its clout over the past year but many EU decisions are still made by the leaders of the member states or by the Commission, not by the European Parliament.

For many, being an EU legislator is still perceived as an easy job for politicians without a big national portfolio or veterans seeking a leisurely path to retirement.

The exchange at the legislature was even more remarkable since Juncker and Tajani belong to the same EPP Christian Democratic group.

EU Vice President Frans Timmermans said the two men discussed the incident and then it was off the table again.

The views of the parliament bore out Junckers assertion, with row after row of empty seats. Philippe Lamberts of the Greens groups, one of the few to show up, was seen applauding the rebuke of Juncker.

Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat was attending the plenary. While he was still in the hall, Juncker referred to the German and French leaders while scolding the parliament.

If Mr Muscat would have been Mrs Merkel  tough to imagine  or Mr Macron  easier to imagine  we would have had a full house. The parliament is totally ridiculous, Juncker said.

Muscat laughed during the incident and shrugged off the suggestion that small countries might matter less.

Timmermans said this is what happens when impassioned politicians speak from the heart before adding especially when you are from a smaller country and you believe prime ministers deserve the same level of respect whatever the size of their country.

Gianni Pittella, the leader of the Socialist bloc, said attendance should have been better but added that whenever we have major events, votes on major files, members of the European Parliament are there.

The presidency of the Council of the EU rotates among member states at six-month intervals. Estonia began its term at the weekend.
Top court overwhelmingly votes in favour of military rule imposed by the president on the southern Mindanao region.

The Philippines Supreme Court has overwhelmingly upheld the enforcement of martial law in the southern region of Mindanao, which President Rodrigo Duterte said was necessary to quell the threat from ISIL.





Eleven justices of the 15-member high tribunal voted to dismiss petitions that challenged the martial law on Tuesday, according to Supreme Court spokesman Theodore Te.

Three justices voted to partially grant the petitions, which alleged that Dutertes declaration had no factual basis, while one voted in favour of the petitions, Te said.

The petitioners have up to 14 days to file a reconsideration request to the Supreme Court.

Duterte declared military rule over Mindanao for 60 days on May 23 when hundreds of fighters linked to the the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) group attacked Marawi city after government forces tried to arrest a local leader of the group.

The region is home to about 20 million people.

More than 460 people have been killed in the battle in Marawi, while more than 300,000 residents have been forced to flee their homes in the municipality and nearby towns.

Before the Supreme Court ruling, Duterte had threatened to jail critics of the martial law and insisted he would ignore the findings of the court, vowing only to listen to recommendations from the armed forces.

The martial law will be in effect for another three weeks.

Duterte would need congressional approval to extend that period.

It seems that based on how Congress has been amenable to his requests in the past, he would be able to get that extension if requested, Al Jazeeras Yaara Bou Melhem reported from Manila.
Russia and China have called for a simultaneous freeze on North Korean nuclear and missile tests and military exercises by the United States and South Korea.

The positions were announced in a joint document issued after a meeting between leaders Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping in the Russian capital of Moscow on Tuesday, in which they also condemned Pyongyangs latest missile test as unacceptable and urged against any statements or actions that could lead to an increase in tensions.

The two sides propose that the DPRK (North Korea) as a voluntary political decision declares a moratorium on testing nuclear explosive devices and ballistic rocket launches, and the US and South Korea refrain from carrying out large-scale joint exercises, the two countries foreign ministries said in a joint statement.

OPINION: Will there be a Korean war under Trumps presidency?

Parallel to this, the opposing sides should start negotiations and affirm general principles of their relations including the non-use of force, rejection of aggression and peaceful co-existence, the statement added.

In comments carried by the state news agency TASS, Putin was also quoted as saying: Our mutual priorities include a comprehensive resolution of the problems of the Korean Peninsula in order to ensure lasting peace and stability in northeastern Asia.

Russia and China have the closest diplomatic relations with the insular nation of North Korea.

The joint statement followed an announcement by North Korea that it had test-fired its first intercontinental ballistic missile.

The United Nations Security Council will hold an emergency meeting on Wednesday.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres strongly condemned the launch, warning that it constitutes a dangerous escalation of the situation.

The test also sparked a Twitter outburst from US President Donald Trump, who urged China, North Koreas closest ally, to act to end this nonsense once and for all.

Beijing has previously called for a dual-track approach of suspension for suspension that would see North Korea and the US ease up on tensions, and now Moscow has added its weight to the plan.

Confronting parties

The two countries urged the confronting parties involved to sit down for talks, to agree on principles that include a refusal to use force and a pledge to make the Korean Peninsula free of nuclear weapons.

At the same time, their document emphasised that the Norths sensible concerns must be respected and urged other nations to create a peaceful atmosphere of mutual trust to help to launch the talks.

In an apparent hint at the US, Beijing and Moscow spoke against the non-regional powers military presence in Northeast Asia and its buildup under the pretext of countering North Koreas nuclear and missile programmes.





They specifically opposed US missile defence systems in the region, saying their deployment seriously damages strategic security interests of regional powers, including Russia and China and hinders peace and stability.

Xis visit to Russia also comes amid a flare-up of tensions between China and the US over an American destroyer sailing within the territorial waters of a Chinese-claimed island in the South China Sea.

During their meeting, Putin hailed Xi as a big friend and presented him with Russias highest award for his efforts to strengthen ties.

Xi said the Russian-Chinese relations are now the best ever.

Putin and Xi are scheduled to attend the Group of 20 summit in Germany later this week. Putin and Trump are to hold their first meeting there.
US says SDF advances into the most heavily fortified portion of Raqqa by breaking the ancient city wall.

US-backed forces in Syria have breached the wall surrounding the Old City of Raqqa as they try to retake the city from ISIL, the US Central Command said.

Coalition forces supported the SDF advance into the most heavily fortified portion of Raqqa by opening two small gaps in the Rafiqah Wall that surrounds the Old City, Centcom said in a statement on Monday night, referring to the Syrian Democratic Forces.

US-backed fighters pierced Raqqa from the south for the first time on Sunday, crossing the Euphrates River to enter a new part of the Syrian city, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have spent months closing in on the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, or ISIS) groups stronghold and entered the citys east and west for the first time last month.

In the fighting at the wall, US Central Command said the Kurdish-led SDF fighters faced heavy resistance from ISIL fighters, who used the wall as a combat position and planted mines and improvised explosive devices against advancing US-backed soldiers.

READ MORE: Amnesty declared for 83 ISIL members in Raqqa

Conducting targeted strikes on two small portions of the wall allowed coalition and partner forces to breach the Old City at a locations of their choosing, denied ISIS the ability to use pre-positioned mines, IED and VBIEDs, protected SDF and civilian lives, and preserved the integrity of the greatest portion of the wall, the US statement said.

The portions targeted were 25-metre sections and will help to preserve the remainder of the overall 2,500-metre wall, it added.

Advancing on Raqqa, the de facto capital of ISIL since they seized it in July 2014, is a symbolic development in the coordinated fight against the group in Syria and Iraq.




Jia Yueting, founder of LeEco, poses for a photo in front of a logo of his company at LeEco headquarters in Beijing, April 22, 2016. [Photo/Agencies]

The founder of Chinese internet giant Leshi, also known as LeEco, has stepped down as the legal representative of the company, as the tech conglomerate continues to struggle with a cash crunch.

Jia Yueting has been replaced by Wu Meng, who has been working at Leshi for a long time and held multiple senior positions, though Jia remains as the executive director, according to the official information website, National Enterprise Credit Information Publicity System.

Jia's departure as the legal representative comes shortly after he stepped down as the chief executive of the company's listed video-streaming unit Leshi Internet Information and Technology Corp.

Leshi Holding is the parent company of Leshi's sprawling business units, which involve smartphones, automobiles and other businesses.
Publication of report, which reportedly focuses on Saudi Arabia, has been delayed by the PM, British media says.

British Prime Minister Theresa May is withholding a report on foreign funding of extremism which reportedly criticises Saudi Arabia, according to UK reports quoting statements by the Home Office and Downing Street.

Both offices said that the prime minister is personally responsible for deciding whether to release the report, which had been commissioned by ex-Prime Minister David Cameron in 2015 and approved by May, who was home secretary at the time, The Guardian reported.

In a written reply to a June 27 question by the Green Party co-leader, Caroline Lucas, May said on Monday: Ministers are considering advice on what is able to be published and will report to Parliament with an update in due course.

According to The Guardian, Sarah Newton, a parliamentary under-secretary of state at the Home Office, also responded to Lucas this week: The review into the funding of Islamist extremism in the UK was commissioned by the former prime minister and reported to the home secretary and the prime minister in 2016.

Publication of the review is a decision for the prime minister.

The UKs Home Office told Al Jazeera in a written statement: The review has improved the governments understanding of the nature, scale and sources of funding for Islamist extremism in the UK.

Astonishing delay

Astonishing that the Govt is sitting on this report but refuses to publish it or give any reason for their secrecy, said Lucas in a tweet.

Saudi Arabia is the UKs biggest trading partner in the Middle East, with exports of more than $8bn in British goods and services to the country in 2015.

But Tim Farron, leader of the opposition Liberal Democrats, told Al Jazeera that the governments priority should be security, rather than trade.

If there are people  no matter how lucrative the business deals you have with them or their country  who are funding those who would murder our children and innocent people, then it is security that comes first, he said.

It would be an absolute crime against the people of this country for Theresa May to continue sitting on this report.

READ MORE: UK activists demand end to Saudi Arabia, UAE arms sales

Campaign groups and legal experts have called on the UK to end arms sales to Saudi Arabia, saying that weapons were being used for human rights violations in the war in Yemen.

The UK is one of the top suppliers of arms to Saudi Arabia with successive governments, both Labour and Conservative, signing major arms deals with the kingdom.

In the past three years, the UK has approved arms export licences to Saudi Arabia worth $4.7bn.

Andrew Smith, spokesperson for the Campaign Against Arms Trade, told Al Jazeera there are serious questions to be asked.

If Saudi Arabia is involved in any way in either exporting terrorism, or willingly ignoring terror which is being funded from Saudi Arabia, then, of course, hard questions need to be asked, he said.

Not just about the conduct of Saudi Arabia but about the nature of the relationship with Saudi Arabia.

A government spokesperson told Al Jazeera that Saudi Arabia is not the main focus of the report and denied that the delay in publishing was linked to any sensitivity surrounding the kingdom.

Al Jazeeras Neave Barker, reporting from London, said, while the report remains private, many continue to question whether Britains trade ties have been put before national security.










English News China playing a rising role in world affairs: German diplomat

Alwihda Info | Par peoplesdaily - 4 Juillet 2017



The two countries have maintained close exchanges in science, education and culture sectors, said Schaefer, adding that more that 600 universities of the two countries have developed partnerships, while their students and scholars have conducted wide-ranging exchanges and close contacts to explore natural sciences and humanities.

By Feng Xuejun from Peoples Daily China is playing an increasingly significant role in the world as a responsible big country, Michael Schaefer, former German Ambassador to China, told the Peoples Daily before Chinese President Xi Jinping started his state visit to Germany.



This year marks the 45th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and Germany. The world has gone through huge changes over the past years, said the diplomat who served German Ambassador to China from 2007 to 2013, adding that the situation in Asia, Europe and the world as a whole is transforming from polarization to multi-polarization.



A review of history has shown that since Chinas adoption of the reform and opening up policy, it has ascended from a poor and weak country to be the second largest economy in the world, noted Schaefer, who serves the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the BMW Foundation.



The diplomat noted that China now has become a most important partner of Germany in Asia, while Germany the most crucial partner of China in Europe.



The two governments, sharing common interests in many fields, are willing to push forward bilateral relations since development is the most fundamental interest of the two countries, he pointed out.



The two countries have maintained close exchanges in science, education and culture sectors, said Schaefer, adding that more that 600 universities of the two countries have developed partnerships, while their students and scholars have conducted wide-ranging exchanges and close contacts to explore natural sciences and humanities.



Citing music as an example of culture communications, Schaefer said that lots of Chinese musicians are holding tours in Germany, and some even choose to study and work in the country. At the same time, lots of German musicians opt to work and live in China.



Such interactions, according to Schaefer, are significant to deepen China-Germany friendship.



China and Germany are linked by not only shared interests but also by common responsibilities, especially in advancing global economy and tackling challenges such as climate change, he stressed.



Hailing President Xi as a political leader with wisdom, Schaefer explained that the President proposed a new concept of international cooperation, and provided the world with important public products, especially the Belt and Road Initiative.



The China-proposed initiative can help spread a mutually beneficial and win-win spirit as each country is encouraged by China to engage in and enrich the connotation of the proposal, the diplomat said.



The proposal, which attracted the focus of the international community, demonstrated Chinas strong soft national power, Schaefer said.



He suggested that in the next step, one of the important tasks under the Belt and Road initiative is to pool the strength of involved parties together and encourage them to play a more active part.



I saw with my eyes as I went to almost all the provinces of the country during my six years term of office, that China has made marvelous achievements after the reform and opening up, the former ambassador said.



An influential country as it is, China never seeks hegemony. As a big country of responsibility, China is playing an increasingly significant role in the world, he concluded.



Dans la meme rubrique : < > China, Germany should keep to overall direction of bilateral ties from strategic height: Xi CIIE turns more exhibitors into investors China is ready to work with all countries to practice true multilateralism, build more consensus for openness Pour toute information, contactez-nous au : +(235) 99267667 ; 62883277 ; 66267667 (Bureau N'Djamena)










English News Freight train service boosts China-Germany interconnectivity

Alwihda Info | Par peoplesdaily - 4 Juillet 2017



The success of the rail line well reflects the close China-Germany cooperation, said Li Shuqiu, Director of European Liaison Office of Chongqing Economic and Information Commission, adding that the Chongqing-Xinjiang-Europe freight train service has presented four characteristics in its development.

By Guan Kejiang from Peoples Daily The Duisburg Port, the worlds biggest inland port located in western Germany, has thrived thanks to the Belt and Road initiative as the port, over the past years, has ascended to one of the key stops in Western Europe for the China-Europe freight train service.



Located in the North Rhine-Westphalia, a state in western Germany, the port is an important transportation and logistics hub in Europe.



Ralph Meurer, general manager of the Economic Promotion Bureau of Duisburg, said the China-Europe freight train service is definitely a key of good luck that has the potential capacity to turn Duisburg into a China-Germany trade center.



As of this May, more than 4,000 cargo train trips had been made between Chinese and European cities. Departing from 28 cities in China, the freight trains travel to 29 cities in 11 European countries.



In 2016, more than 1,700 cargo train trips were made between Chinese and European cities, over 1,000 among which were between China and Germany. The freight train service is transporting a rising number of commodities between China and Germany, as well as between China and Europe.



As an important stop along the rail corridor connecting China and Europe, Duisburg is a stopover city for over 20 trains every week. Now, the China-Europe freight train service is contributing 20 percent of Duisburgs total business turnover. Last year, Duisburg set a record for being the only port in Germany that did not suffer from a loss and made profits.



The Chongqing-Xinjiang-Europe Railway that reaches Duisburg is the earliest line to come into service. So far, 1,100 trains have been running along the route, the largest number compared with other lines linking China and Europe.



It takes 12 days to travel 11,000 kilometers through the route after the trains leave Chongqing for the terminal in Duisburg, 30-plus days less than river-ocean transportation. The cost is only one fifth of that by air.



The success of the rail line well reflects the close China-Germany cooperation, said Li Shuqiu, Director of European Liaison Office of Chongqing Economic and Information Commission, adding that the Chongqing-Xinjiang-Europe freight train service has presented four characteristics in its development.



The first one is the increase of trains and decrease of empty containers. The number of trains returning to China added to 150 in 2016 from 22 in 2014, Li pointed out.



In addition, the supply of goods has been enriched and the range of services has been expanded, with nearly 100 brands are being transported along the route, according to the director.



The freight train service is covering more markets, with more than 10 countries in western and eastern Europe benefiting from the service last year, Li added.



Taking the opportunities brought by the route, lots of related businesses have emerged. Chinas e-commerce companies, for instance, have set up their purchasing centers near Duisburg.



Thanks to the line, Chongqing, an inland city far from the ocean and doesnt produce any coffee beans, has opened the worlds third-largest coffee trading center and is working to build a network that combines a variety of transportation means.



The China-Europe train service is making its due contribution to facilitate the opening up of inland Chinese cities and the development of an open economy in China.



The construction of the Silk Road Economic Belt has genuinely benefited Germany. An estimated 45,000 jobs in Duisburg are directly or indirectly related to the development of the Duisburg Port, 26,000 more than that in 2000.



Realizing the broad prospect brought by the Belt and Road construction, the Rheinische Post once published an article titled The Belt and Road Initiative is an employment engine in Rhein.



Dans la meme rubrique : < > China, Germany should keep to overall direction of bilateral ties from strategic height: Xi CIIE turns more exhibitors into investors China is ready to work with all countries to practice true multilateralism, build more consensus for openness Pour toute information, contactez-nous au : +(235) 99267667 ; 62883277 ; 66267667 (Bureau N'Djamena)










English News RMB first ever added into ECBs foreign-exchange reserves

Alwihda Info | Par peoplesdaily - 4 Juillet 2017



As the worlds second largest economy, China, in recent years, has been deepening its reforms in currency and financial systems, and it has been much more involved in the global economy, Matthias Busse, research fellow at the Brussels-based Centre for European Policy Studies told the Peoples Daily.

By Wu Gang from Peoples Daily Thanks to the accelerated pace of China's currency RMB, or the yuan, towards internationalization as well as the good performance of Chinese economy, RMB is increasingly attractive to the central banks around the world, said analysts after the European Central Bank (ECB) announced to shift 500 million euros worth of its foreign reserves to RMB during the first half of 2017.



The decision is the first time for the ECB to add the Chinese currency to its reserves.



The incorporation of the RMB into its foreign reserves reveals an increasingly rising importance of China to the whole Eurozone, the bank said.



The International Monetary Fund (IMF) decided to include the RMB into the Special Drawing Right (SDR) basket as a fifth currency, effective on October 1, 2016. The other four club members included the US dollar, the euro, the yen and the British pound.



As the worlds second largest economy, China, in recent years, has been deepening its reforms in currency and financial systems, and it has been much more involved in the global economy, Matthias Busse, research fellow at the Brussels-based Centre for European Policy Studies told the Peoples Daily.



This proves that the internationalization of Chinese currency and its economy has been recognized by ECB, he said.



The decision of the ECB, as one of the most influential central banks in the world, will have a certain demonstration effect, said Busse, adding that more financial institutions may select RMB as an option for asset allocation in the future.



The global demand for RMB is destined to see a gradual growth, the researcher added.



Analysts also pointed out that ECBs decision was made after comprehensive analysis of the present situation, as China has nowadays become the second largest trading partner of the EU.



In addition, China-EU investment has been maintaining a continued growth as a whole, and China has first ever become a net direct investment country to EU.



RMBs inclusion is attributed to the eye-catching development of Chinese economy in recent years compared with developed economies who were trapped in the financial crisis, noted Zsolt Darvas, senior fellow at the Belgium-based think tank Bruegel Institute of Economics.



As a matter of fact, the EU, especially Eurozone countries, all expect to strengthen economic and trade relations with China, Darvas said.



Dans la meme rubrique : < > China, Germany should keep to overall direction of bilateral ties from strategic height: Xi CIIE turns more exhibitors into investors China is ready to work with all countries to practice true multilateralism, build more consensus for openness Pour toute information, contactez-nous au : +(235) 99267667 ; 62883277 ; 66267667 (Bureau N'Djamena)










English News Russian friends praise China-Russia ties ahead of Xis visit

Alwihda Info | Par peoplesdaily - 4 Juillet 2017



I believe that the Belt and Road Initiative will soon marvel the world, though it is now not so widely appreciated in terms of its significance to the world and Russia. Let us wait and see, Vladimir Remyga, professor of Financial University under the government of the Russian Federation, told peoples Daily two years ago.

By Wu Yan, Zhang Xiaodong, Qu Song from Peoples Daily Chinese President Xi Jinpings state visit to Russia from July 3 to 4 is viewed as a significant event by Russian media and experts.



We are very much looking forward to President Xis visit, said Marat Abulkhatin, deputy editor-in-chief of Agency TASS, adding that his agency has worked out a very intensive plan to report the political event.



The first time Abulkhatin saw Xi in person was five years ago, when he led a team to report the CPCs 18th National Congress in 2012. Xi is not only a political figure with a firm stance but also a person with tenacity and wisdom, he recalled.



China and Russia are eyeing closer ties represented by increasingly frequent political, economic, people-to-people and cultural exchanges, Abulkhatin pointed out.



Leaders of the two countries have conducted dialogues on various platforms such as the BRICS summit and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, he said, adding that their voices on global stage and breaking news emerged from time to time, helping Russian citizens understand President Xi very well.



There are various massive co-built projects very worthy of expectations, such as the Moscow-Kazan high-speed rail and the Tianwan Nuclear Power Plant, he illustrated.



Cultural exchanges are increased as well, for instance, bookstores in Moscow are selling Chinese literature works, such as poetry of the Tang Dynasty(618-907) and novels of contemporary Chinese writer Mo Yan, Abulkhatin continued.



In a visit to Russia in March 2013, Xi gave an important speech at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO).



The speech was so splendid that I can still remember some details, hailed Aleksey Aleksakhin, interpreter of Xis speech.



The speech greatly boosted cooperation between MGIMO and some Chinese universities. After the speech, lots of Russian students found curiosity in learning Chinese and researching on Russia-China relations, recalled Aleksakhin, who is also the director of the Chinese teaching and research office and a PhD in linguistics at the institute.



Now at MGIMO, an estimated 500 students are learning Chinese and engaged in China study. In 2020, Chinese will be tested for Russia's College Entrance Exam. The future of the two countries depends on the young generation, the professor pointed out.



I believe that the Belt and Road Initiative will soon marvel the world, though it is now not so widely appreciated in terms of its significance to the world and Russia. Let us wait and see, Vladimir Remyga, professor of Financial University under the government of the Russian Federation, told peoples Daily two years ago.



Remyga was one of the first economists representing the Soviet Union to visit China in early 1980s. His rich knowledge on China made him realize that the Belt and Road Initiative is a great concept that would benefit Russia, Europe, Asia and the world at large.



There are ample news updates and information about the Silk Road Economic Belt in Russia, Remyga said, elaborating that government officials, academicians and businessmen are having more discussions over the Belt and Road construction.



In the latest two years, more consensus has been reached and more projects were launched, the professor continued.



The political ties between the two countries are at a historic peak and China is the largest trade partner to Russia, the economist noted. But he also admitted that, by contrast, Russia is only the 10th trade partner of China.



In a belief that disparity means opportunities, he stressed that China and Russia, highly complementary in economy, have huge potentials for cooperation.



Pic:



Russian artists perform a dance Joyous Festival during the 8th China-Russia Cultural Market in Heihe, northeast China's Heilongjiang province. (Photo by Peoples Daily)



Dans la meme rubrique : < > China, Germany should keep to overall direction of bilateral ties from strategic height: Xi CIIE turns more exhibitors into investors China is ready to work with all countries to practice true multilateralism, build more consensus for openness Pour toute information, contactez-nous au : +(235) 99267667 ; 62883277 ; 66267667 (Bureau N'Djamena)
Most people think the United States is the nation most heavily in debt. But if one looks at per capita values, the USA is far from the worst. The worst now looks like it may be China.

According to the World Atlas, the United States does not even make the top 10. What is truly scary is Japan, which has an incomprehensible 248% debt to GDP ratio.

Some other notable high debt to GDP ratios include that of the US at 105.8%, Jamaica at 124.3%, Cape Verde at 119.3% and Bhutan at 115.7% (because of its reliance on Indian financial assistance). Troubled European nations such as Cyprus, Ireland, Belgium, Spain, and Portugal also have troubling ratios. -- Nomad Capitalist

According to Market Realist, Greece, Italy, Portugal, France, and Spain are in worse shape than America, with the UK and Belgium not far behind. Another chart shows that the USA is not the worst in household debt to GDP.

Now, such data can change radically, and rapidly, per week. The point here is not to say that the USA is not doing so badly. One could think of this as individuals without a parachute in free fall from a height in the stratosphere, with the highest one shouting to the lower one, I am in better shape than you.

Nor is this to scold anyone. Rather, there is an ominous underreported tidal wave about to occur.

Chinese debt surpasses GDP by 300%.

Global Debt Hits A New Record High Of $217 Trillion; 327% Of GDP  Zero Hedge, June 29, 2017

Anyone who has surveyed the Chinese scene knows that China has been building massive empty urban areas with no one in them. There was massive and reckless speculation, which is now starting to collapse. To get a sense of the enormity of this, one need only see how much concrete was used.

China used more cement between 2011 and 2013 than the U.S. used in the entire 20th Century.

The statistic seems incredible, but according to government and industry sources, it appears accurate. -- Washington Post, 2015

China has hidden debt.

Rising defaults in China are unearthing hidden debt at companies across the country.

Small firms that cant get loans by themselves have been winning banks over by getting other companies to guarantee their borrowings. The companies making those pledges exclude them from their balance sheets, leaving creditors in the dark. Borrowers often extend the guarantees for each other, raising the risk that failures could ricochet, at a time when increasing borrowing costs have already added to strains. -- Bloomberg

This is the Chinese version of the Fannie Mae Crisis. Only, this seems to be driven by crony capitalism rather than bank corruption. Does it matter?

The world economy is poised for a disaster of unparalleled proportions.

Why The Next Recession Will Morph Into A Decades Long Depressionary Event... Or Worse But the absence of a growing consumer base isn't just a US issue...this is a global problem. The annual growth of the 0-64yr/old population of the combined OECD nations (most the EU, US, Canada, Mexico, Chile, Japan, S. Korea, Australia / New Zealand) plus China, Brazil, and Russia show the growth that has driven nearly all economic growth has come to an end... and begins declining from here on.  Zero Hedge

Those without a sense of history, think that depressions are short interruptions. Depressions can last decades or even centuries. It would not be until 19th century Europe that the average standard of living would start to equal Rome in its heyday. This may be what we are looking at.

Moreover, two new features have arisen which were never seen before in history. In the past, during such debacles, there were places to flee. Until the Great Depression of 1929, it was common practice to return to a relative's farm and wait it out. What made the Great Depression so bad was that America was mostly urban by 1929 and many people had no relative to lodge with. But urbanization was not worldwide in 1929. It is now.

The pace of urbanization has been remarkably swift. In 1950, only 30 percent of the worlds people lived in cities. That has grown to 54 percent in 2014 -- NY Times

If a worldwide downturn occurs, over half the world's population may have no place to wait it out.

The second new feature is small families. Until the 20th century, it was common practice to have large families to provide for one's old age. Youngsters were what kept the economies growing and booming. That is gone. Europe is having a population collapse. America is being kept afloat, but only with immigration. China's one-child policy is blossoming to horrific consequences. Even India is leveling off. It seems that the only places where population is growing are in Islam, Africa, and Israel. Israel is also blessed with a relatively low debt to GDP ratio; making it one of the few nations with a growing population and low debt.

Now in 1929, some nations were affected differently. France was not as severely hit by the Great Depression, though it lasted a bit longer there. Argentina, which had an export economy, was thoroughly destroyed by the Great Depression, when countries closed their markets to Argentina grain. In reality, a good portion of the political and economic disasters that have plagued Argentina over the past century have stemmed from that Great Depression, where Argentina's military and political leaders have used every ridiculous trick in the book to regain the glory that was once theirs before 1929, when it had the 4th highest GDP per capita on the planet.

This time, there will be no place to flee -- not internally, not externally -- anywhere on the planet. The only exception may be that Jews may have an escape to Israel. What it now looks like is that it may be Chinese, not American nor European, debt which will take down the house of cards.

Anyone who has studied history knows that debt at these levels usually ends with war and revolution. The debt of from the French and Indian War had Britain taxing America, which lead to the American Revolution. The debt from supporting the American Revolution bankrupted France, which led to the world shattering French Revolution. German debt after WWI contributed to the rise of Hitler, and so on. The coming debacle will not be limited to a national crisis, nor a civilizational crisis, but will provoke an absolutely total worldwide crisis.



One can foresee major governmental and cultural changes. In a drive to collect taxes, governments may go cashless so they can track all transactions, which will lead to a total abridgment of privacy and liberty. Count on it, health care will be pulled from the sickly and the poor. Who can afford it?

I do not think national governments will collapse  technology has given them a degree of totalitarian options; but societies and civilizations will radically change. A dark age may be coming.

What is interesting is that this collapse may not be able to be laid at anyone's feet  as it was formerly thought the U.S. would be to blame. The whole shebang may collapse overnight, with everyone at fault.

Mike Konrad is the pen name of an American who wishes he had availed himself more fully of the opportunity to learn Spanish in high school, lo those many decades ago. He writes on the Arabs of South America at http://latinarabia.com. He also just started a website about small computers at http://minireplacement.com.
I seem to read articles all the time about how President Trump and/or the Republican Congress is stupid, or incompetent, or dead in the water. And not just from the usual lefty Democratic operatives with bylines in the fake news media.

Now theres a piece from Roger L. Simon complaining of the GOP Congresss ineptitude.

No doubt, but what President Trump and the Republican Congress are trying to do is hard. In the first place, they are trying to dial back just a little bit of free stuff. That goes against the basic principle of all politics from time immemorial, which is sign on with Captain Flint and hell win you loot and plunder. Only now it is vote for me instead.

In the second place, as revealed by the Voter Study Group, Trumps voters are all over the map on the issues. They come in every combination of economic belief and social belief. But Democrats are pretty well all economic statists and social progressives. So Republicans have a much bigger cat-herding problem than Democrats.

Then there is the Deep State. You never heard the Congressional Budget Office predicting that ObamaCare would double health-insurance premiums back in the day. How come they still have jobs? You never heard info babes sneering at President Obamas prediction, as in I cant believe he promised to lower premiums by $2,500 per year. Of course not, because that would have been racist. But the CBO can sure do a good number on the number of people losing health insurance due to eevil Republicans. Yet this number includes people dumping health insurance when it is no longer mandatory, and those being removed from Medicaid, which according to a study in Oregon is just like Folgers Coffee: no difference in health outcomes between Medicaid recipients and nonrecipients.

You tell me: what is your brilliant strategy for persuading the American people to give up just a little free stuff when you lead a coalition that is all over the map, and you are having to deal every day with a media that thinks you are all racists sexists and homophobes, and that gets brownie points from its peers for insulting Trump and the Republicans in the most creative way?

The only thing that makes sense to me is the in spite of strategy. In spite of the predictions of millions (or even billions of deaths from philosopher Maxine Waters) you push through an ObamaCare reform that starts to get health care costs trending down. In spite of accusations of favoring the rich and CEOs, you push through tax rate and loophole cuts that gets us back to 3 percent growth. In spite of predictions of runaway global warming you drive a stake through the heart of the global warming zombies by taking away their funding and subsidies, and hug a fracker every day of your life. In spite of partisan judges lusting after their fifteen minutes of fame, you push through immigration restrictions on jihadi friendly nations. And then you hope that people notice a change by November 2018.

But the bigger problem is how to persuade the liberal world that their ideas stink and ought to be consigned to the dustbin of history. Here is Schopenhauer admitting the size of the problem.

[T]he errors of great minds extend their influence over whole generations and finally degenerate into monstrosities. All this arises from the fact that, as Berkeley says, Few men think; yet all have opinions.

This was published in 1818, the year in which Karl Marx was born.

Yes, and there is no better proof of Schopenhauers notion than the proliferating We Believe yard signs (available on Amazon!). Ever thought that Science is Real is the medieval science of St. Thomas Aquinas? Or considered that if Kindness is Everything then the vile accusations of racist, sexist, homophobia have to go?

Not at all, for the We Believe yard sign is merely living proof that all have opinions.

But the errors! The monstrosities! How about Marxs idea that labor in exchange is slavery compared to labor in use? If that is true, how come people are still migrating in their tens of millions each year from the farm to wage labor?

Then theres the monstrosity that the economy can be organized like an army in a socialist or semi-socialist administrative state, disproved a century ago, and tested to destruction in the Soviet Union and Maoist China.

Theres the idea that people should be organized politically by class, by race, by gender, and taught to hate identities different from their own.

Theres the idea that, during a blessed interglacial in the middle of an Ice Age, climate warming is a problem.

How do we even imagine rolling back these monstrosities?

Lets give our GOP leaders less criticism and more encouragement. They need it.

Christopher Chantrill @chrischantrill runs the go-to site on US government finances, usgovernmentspending.com. Also see his American Manifesto and get his Road to the Middle Class.
Conservatives often complain about the lamentable state of their movement. They would do well to look left. Liberals are in greater trouble, and they know it.

The recent special elections for vacant House seats made this evident. The thrashing liberals received in the 2016 elections were also a sign of an inability to communicate their message. Gone are the days in which liberals worked inside a consensus and engaged in debate with others. Everywhere, liberal democracy seems to be endangered by the breakdown of political discourse.

This is due to a great crisis inside the left worldwide. It is no longer a movement of ideas. Liberals have no new ideas because they have adopted such an extreme relativism that they no longer strongly believe in anything. Everything is fluid and undefined. In this way, they have undermined their own foundation of logic and authority that is essential to the functioning of any political movement.

As a result, the old days of rational debate are over. The left exploits emotions and resentments, but can no longer be held to the logic of ideas.

The left also has little passion. Passion requires strong beliefs worth fighting for. To be effective, it must be focused and directed by vision. However, many liberals now admit that they have no vision. Their ranks are full of aging militants who lack dynamism. More often than not, its most ardent activists, like those of the resistance or Black Lives Matter engage in erratic and irrational behavior that alienates the population as a whole.

In the absence of great ideas and passion, the left congeals around tired ideas of the past. Liberals resort to socialist class struggle narratives that have long grown old and irrelevant. The fragility of these ideas makes them brittle to the point that they would seem to break if opposed and compromised. Safety lies in not changing, and just repeating slogans of the past.

This explains the liberals stubborn attachment to political correctness that has so isolated itself from common sense and reality. It explains their willingness to suppress opposition even by sacrificing freedom of expression on university campuses. That is why the new liberals avoid debate and set themselves up as commissars to condemn those who oppose them on feminism, abortion, same-sex marriage, or global warming.

They know that all this causes intense polarization. However, the left lives upon this polarization. They only survive by hardening in their positions. It has reached a point where the more radical core does not wish to live in consensus with the right. It realizes that the minute it reaches a consensus, it is lost.

Thus, to advance, the left is restricted to looking to the right. Indeed, the only way the left can be saved is by exaggerating or distorting the rights positions. It exploits any vulnerable point that might further liberal orthodoxy. It calls for media to create firestorms around minor issues that hide its weaknesses. The left creates myths about itself to make it seem more powerful than it is.

The weakness of the conservative cause is its failure to rise above the noise from the left as its shifts the debate to secondary issues. Conservatives are also weak when they fail to adhere firmly to the ideas and principles that are their cause. They are vulnerable to the extent that they timidly believe liberal myths and fear what they imagine to be the disapproval of the masses.

The strong point of the conservative cause is the fact that it retains the logic and discourse that support great ideas and strong principles. By nature, conservatives tend to buttress the structures of logic and authority that make movements vibrant.

Conservatives also tend to crystallize around ideas of the past. However, these ideas do not resemble the hackneyed slogans of the left. These ideas involve the joyful rediscovery of what Russell Kirk referred to as those permanent things that never grow old. These values of courage, duty, courtesy, justice, and charity are forever ancient, forever new, since they owe their existence and authority to a transcendent God. Amid the present chaos, they attract people in search of certainties. They have the capacity of regenerating cultures in decay.

If unmasked, the left is vulnerable. Indeed , conservatives have their own problems, but they should exploit the weaknesses of the left and capitalize on its strong points.

John Horvat II is a scholar, researcher, educator, international speaker, and author of the book Return to Order, as well as the author of hundreds of published articles. He lives in Spring Grove, Pennsylvania where he is the vice president of the American Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family and Property.
For most Americans, Independence Day means firecrackers and cookouts. The Declaration of Independence -- the proclamation of which, on July 4, 1776, we celebrate -- doesn't actually feature in the celebration itself. Contemporary Americans are less likely to read it now that its easily available on the Internet, than when it relied on horseback riders for its distribution.

It is fair to say that the Declaration of Independence has been mocked out of meaning.

Back in 1776, gallopers carried the Declaration through the country. Printer John Dunlap had worked "through the night" to set the full text on "a handsome folio sheet," recounts historian David Hackett Fischer in Liberty And Freedom. And the president of the Continental Congress, John Hancock, urged that the "people be universally informed."

Thomas Jefferson, the author of the Declaration, called it "an expression of the American Mind." An examination of Jefferson's constitutional thought makes plain that he would no longer consider the collective mentality of contemporary Americans and their leaders "American" in any meaningful way. For the Jeffersonian mind was that of an avowed Whig -- an American Whig whose roots were in the English, Whig political philosophy of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.

Come to think of it, Jefferson would not recognize England as the home of the Whigs in whose writings colonial Americans were steeped -- John Locke, Algernon Sidney, Paul Rapin, Thomas Gordon, and others.

The essence of this "pattern of ideas and attitudes," almost completely lost today, explains David N. Mayer in The Constitutional Thought of Thomas Jefferson, was a view of government as an inherent threat to liberty and the necessity for eternal vigilance.

Indeed, especially adamant was Jefferson about the imperative "to be watchful of those in power," a watchfulness another Whig philosopher explained thus: "Considering what sort of Creature Man is, it is scarce possible to put him under too many Restraints, when he is possessed of great Power."

"As Jefferson saw it," expounds Mayer, "the Whig, zealously guarding liberty, was suspicious of the use of government power," and assumed "not only that government power was inherently dangerous to individual liberty but also that, as Jefferson put it, 'the natural progress of things is for liberty to yield and government to gain ground.'"

For this reason, the philosophy of government articulated by Jefferson in the Declaration radically shifted sovereignty from parliament to the people.

By "all men are created equal," moreover, Jefferson, who also wrote in praise of a "Natural Aristocracy," was certainly not implying that all men were similarly endowed. Or, that they were naturally entitled to healthcare, education, a decent wage, amnesty, or entry into the country he and the Constitution makers bequeathed.

Rather, Jefferson was affirming the natural right of "all men" to be secure in their enjoyment of their "life, liberty and possessions."

But Jefferson's muse for the "American Mind" is even older.

Notwithstanding the claims of the multicultural noise machine, the Whig tradition is undeniably Anglo-Saxon.

Our Founders' political philosophy originated with their Saxon forefathers, and the ancient rights guaranteed by the Saxon constitution. With the Declaration, Jefferson told Henry Lee in 1825, he was also protesting England's violation of her own ancient tradition of natural rights. As Jefferson saw it, the Colonies were upholding a tradition the Crown had abrogated.

Philosophical purist that he was, moreover, Jefferson considered the Norman Conquest to have stained this English tradition with the taint of feudalism. "To the Whig historian," writes Mayer, "the whole of English constitutional history since the Conquest was the story of a perpetual claim kept up by the English nation for a restoration of Saxon laws and the ancient rights guaranteed by those laws."

If Jefferson begrudged the malign influence of the Normans on the natural law he so cherished, imagine how he'd view Americas contemporary cultural and political conquistadors -- be they from Latin America, the Arabian Peninsula, and beyond -- whose customs preclude natural rights and natural reason!

Naturally, Jefferson never entertained the folly that he was of immigrant stock. He considered the English settlers of America courageous conquerors, much like his Saxon forebears, to whom he compared them. To Jefferson, early Americans were the contemporary carriers of the Anglo-Saxon project.

The settlers spilt their own blood "in acquiring lands for their settlement," he wrote with pride in A Summary View of the Rights of British America. "For themselves they fought, for themselves they conquered, and for themselves alone they have right to hold." Thus, they were "entitled to govern those lands and themselves."

Like it or not, Thomas Jefferson, author of The Declaration, was sired and inspired by the Anglo-Saxon tradition.

Ilana Mercer is the author of The Trump Revolution: The Donalds Creative Destruction Deconstructed (June, 2016) & Into the Cannibals Pot: Lessons for America From Post-Apartheid South Africa (2011). Follow her on Twitter, Facebook, Gab & YouTube.
The people working on various aspects of the F-35 fighter program must be very frustrated. The program is still highly classified, so that much that is taking place within the program is simply not available for discussion. And yet, the F-35s critics are baying and howling and often deliberately misrepresenting the program and its products.

The F-35 program is not one program. It is several. Its products are three different aircraft and several brand-new, and highly innovative, technologies. It provides quantum leaps in aviation technology in many different areas. Simultaneously achieving all these technical breakthroughs has obviously proved difficult. But that is not surprising -- it is the norm in innovative engineering.

The program is producing three very different aircraft: the F-35A is a conventional takeoff aircraft for the Air Force. The F-35B is a vertical takeoff and landing capable aircraft for the Marine Corps. The F-35C is a catapult takeoff and carrier landing aircraft for the Navy. From a distance, the aircraft look alike and inside they share much avionics and the core of the engine. But dont be fooled. These are very different aircraft.

The F/A-18 Hornet and the F/A-18 E/F Super Hornet also look like they are the same aircraft. But they are really two completely different aircraft. The Hornet was developed in the 1970s and was manufactured in the 1980s. The Super Hornet was developed in the 1990s and was in production after 2000. The Super Hornet is 20% larger, up to 15,000 pounds heavier, has 40% greater range and 50% greater endurance. They look alike simply because the Super Hornet borrowed excellent aerodynamic design from the Hornet. Time and money saved.

Then why are they both called "F-18"? Try selling a brand new aircraft to Congress! For that matter, try selling three different aircraft to Congress: just call them all F-35s and make sure they look alike.

The real intent of unifying the various F-35 programs under one management umbrella was to make sure that each of the three different aircraft, and innovative technologies, would be fully compatible for Joint Service Operations. Moreover, there is substantial fabrication and logistics commonality and this reduces overall unit cost and subsequent support cost.

It should be noted that the F-35 development effort is not quite complete. There are still bugs to be fixed. This is normal, and normally provided for in the Integrated Master Plan and Schedule.

At a similar point in the development of the M1 Abrams tank, its critics were howling for program cancellation because of the tanks many developmental bugs. The bugs were fixed and the M1 proved itself, in battle, to be by far the deadliest tank in history.

Even though Initial Operating Capability (IOC) has been declared for the F-35A and the F-35B, this does not mean that these aircraft have their full combat capability -- although some units have been forward deployed. IOC really means that these aircraft are training the crews that will eventually operationally fly improved production models. And, in a pinch, they could fight.

My old boss, mentor, and dear friend, the late Bill ONeil, used to say that a fighter plane is a truck. Its job is to deliver a munition to the right place at the right time. It doesnt matter what it looks like. Try telling that to a fighter jock. What he wants is something looking sleek and deadly!

But Bill was right, and his contribution to the F-35 is major. I mentioned that several innovative programs existed under the F-35 umbrella. One of the most important of these is Bills Distributed Aperture System -- the DAS.

The DAS on the F-35 consists of six infrared sensors (cameras) placed at various parts of the aircraft. A complex computing system seamlessly fuses the imagery and presents it to the helmet visor of the pilot in such a way that wherever he looks he sees the world outside the aircraft as if the walls of the aircraft are simply not there. No need to roll the aircraft to see the ground below, just look down. No need to turn the aircraft to look straight behind, just turn your head. The wings are no longer there to obscure your vision.

Imagine a pilot about to land his nose-up aircraft on the deck of an aircraft carrier. It is night. It is storming. The carriers lights are doused because an enemy is nearby. To the naked eye the carrier simply does not exist. Only the lights of the Optical Landing System are visible. If you have any doubts about the seriousness of this scenario just talk to a carrier qualified pilot, as I have. It scares even the most experienced pilots!

Because the DAS sensors see in the infrared, night looks like day. With DAS, the pilot looks down just below his instrument panel. The now brightly lit carriers deck is fully visible to him at all times. Landing is so very much easier. Carrier pilots are going to love the DAS.

But the F-35 DAS is in its infancy. It is easy to envision where this technology is going to go, with greatly increased spatial resolution and hyperspectral imaging. DAS is definitely the future -- the future for all aircraft -- thanks to the F-35 program.

Any way you slice it, the DAS is a technical achievement of the first magnitude. The F-35 Program Office deserves great credit for betting on the vision, and the genius, of William F. ONeil.

So the F-35 program not only has produced three different aircraft, it has sponsored major advances in aviation technology -- the work of wizards.

Still, the critics howl: The new engines gulp marginally more fuel than 4th generation engines. The air intakes are too large and draggy. Exotic coatings mean aircraft maintenance is increased and availability is decreased. The list goes on. This is selective reporting by the critics.

The critics deliberately fail to note that the F-35 engines have 50% greater thrust with a 50% greater thrust to weight ratio and yet are the same size and weight as the 4th gen engines. With higher thrust-to-weight, range is extended. With the larger intakes high altitude performance is significantly enhanced. With internal weapons carriage range is extended, not diminished.

And, always keep in mind that it is the Government that writes the requirements, not the contractors. The F-35 projects must meet those technical requirements or the companies dont get paid.

Experienced fighter pilots love the plane. John Venable, in his Operational Assessment of the F-35 Fighter, interviewed senior fighter pilots who tested early developmental models of the various F-35s. Those tests were the source of much of the criticism. Yet, with a few still to be corrected performance measures, the testers preferred these new aircraft to their more familiar 4th generation fighters. Since that earlier report, some of these testers have flown further developed versions of the F-35. They are amazed at the improvement. These planes are shaping up to be real air combat winners.

In all the controversy it is vital to remember the F-35 series of aircraft are stealthy. They can deliver munitions to the right place at the right time inside Integrated Air Defenses that would blow 4th generation aircraft out of the sky.

Yes, the three different F-35 aircraft are still teething. Soon these three kittens will grow up to become ferocious Tigers!
What is it about gender issues that drives the media/political elites mad? The government of Canada handed gender activists the crucial precedent they need. As the BBC reported yesterday:

An eight-month old Canadian baby has been issued a health card without a gender marker, in what could be the first case in the world.

So serious are the issues of child abuse here that I must put them aside, possibly for another time. I want to confine myself to the manner in which what has to be called fantasy has permeated the ruling class when it comes to the denial of biology.

Now, it must be kept in mind is that this is an identity card, not a birth certificate. That struggle is coming.

Parent Kori Doty - a non-binary transgender person who identifies as neither male nor female - aims to allow the child to discover their own gender.

I am 100% certain Kori Doty has either two X-chromosomes or and X and a Y. Thats a binary fact of science. The BBC, I am certain, is all in favor of science.

I was also under the impression that the BBC was meticulous about grammar. But the plural pronoun their is applied to the singular noun child. But all those rules are out the window if people like Kori Doty can use the personal pronoun they (see below). Has the BBC thrown grammar out the window as part of its contribution to the gender transformation crusade?

The health card has been issued with a "U" in the space for "sex", which could be for "undetermined" or "unassigned". Kori Doty is fighting to omit the gender from the birth certificate.

Now wait a minute! I have been endlessly lectured for a long time now that gender is a social construct, while sex is biological. That is how they made the initial arguments in favor of transgenderism.

A government document should not record a social construct. If it is to mean anything permanent with the backing of the state, it must reflect biological reality. Yet this concept is also out the window, as many governments accept two females and other alternative parentage fantasies, the non-binary male-female ones, on birth certificates.

The parent gave birth to Searyl Atli in November at a friend's home in British Columbia. Kori Doty, who prefers to use the pronoun they, argues that a visual inspection at birth is unable to determine what gender that person will have or identify with later in life.

The parent? Is this yet another world first? Parthenogenesis! Do they expect us to accept the contention that there was no other parent that is embedded in this writing? The BBC, I am certain, is all in favor of science. Unless something has changed, children are the products of two parents.

I have a helpful suggestion for the BBC and the rest of the global progressive culture that wants to foist a redefinition of human biology upon the rest of us. They should use what proved to be a winning strategy for the gender revolution before, and invent a new term. The terms cisgender and sis-male/sis-female were invented to reflect biological reality, and allow the fantasy identities to stand as equals on ever-lengthening list of possible ender identities.

Is it time to create the term cisbirth to recognize that you need a sperm and an egg, and it matters where they came from when a new human being is created? I guess that is now cruel, since that particular barrier already fell for adoptive parents in the name of compassion.

Our civilization is becoming unmoored from reality at its very first official recognition of the existence of a new life. The customs and institutions around reproduction are the bedrock of every civilization in history, and when they falter, guess what happens?
British prime minister Margaret Thatcher famously once said, "Europe was created by history. America was created by philosophy." Nearly all European nations trace their beginning to a common ethnic kinship or a cultural characteristic, but America was created by exiles united in voluntary assent to shared political beliefs. That's why British writer G.K. Chesterton visited the United States for the first time and remarked that America was "a nation with the soul of a church"  not because of its religiosity, but because of a common creed enshrined in "sacred texts" of the Declaration of Independence and Constitution.

In 1776, a near miraculous stew of ideas and leaders came together to form a Declaration of Independence. Eleven years later, an equally miraculous gathering formed the Constitution. Both documents centered on a belief in universal human dignity.

Government does not grant you the right to free speech, assembly, religion, press, protest, or redress of grievances. We believe that these rights are inalienable, and government's role is simply to protect them and ensure human dignity. Government is just a tool, not a source. That's really a remarkably profound idea we take for granted and fail to celebrate enough.

The sad irony is that the very Founders who argued these ideas so frequently fell short of those same principles. Some owned slaves, and nearly all opposed equal rights for women. So it naturally caused upheaval when nineteenth-century Americans increasingly adopted a view held that "all men are created equal," including black Americans, and a few generations later, it came to encompass women as well.

Abraham Lincoln believed that the Declaration of Independence did not necessarily proclaim people equal in all respects. Instead, it meant that all people are created with certain equal, inalienable rights, among which are "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." A free society should always strive to achieve these equal rights, even if, as in the case of the Founders, it fell short of that goal in the past. The Declaration's concept of equality is an aspiration, Lincoln said, "constantly looked to, constantly labored for, and even, though never perfectly attained, constantly approximated, and thereby constantly spreading and deepening its influence and augmenting the happiness and value of life to all people, of all colors, everywhere."

That is the genius of Lincoln's argument: that the Constitution is concrete (at least until amended), but the Declaration of Independence is aspirational, and the American project is a move toward the aspiration.

Despite its roots in American independence, the 4th of July is incomplete without understanding and celebrating Lincoln, too. His unique view of the Declaration as an aspiration helped properly frame American independence for what it was and what it was bound to be.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel is comfortably ahead in her re-election contest with socialist rival Martin Schultz. Her center right coalition of Christian Democrats and Bavarians leads the socialists 38%-24% with two and a half months to go before the September 24 election.

This is a far cry from polls taken at the beginning of this year when the two were neck and neck and the nationalist Alternative for Germany party (AfP) polling an astonishing 15%.

But Merkel is no fool of a politician. What was dragging her popularity down was her open door policy for Middle Eastern and African migrants. more than a million of whom had entered Germany. That policy resulted in a surge for the nationalists, threatening her re-election chances.

So Merkel decided to take the sting out of AfP's criticisms and altered German refugee policy. Not only did she severely restrict new arrivals, she also initiated a review of those refugees claiming asylum. The change in policy worked. AfP support has dropped to 8% and Merkel finds herself in the electoral driver's seat.

So it came as no surprise when her coalition's party program, published yesterday, downplayed Germany's close relationship with the US. Gone is any reference to America as a "friend" of Germany. Instead, the substitution "partner" was used.

Reuters:

Four years ago, the joint program of her Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and its Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU), referred to the United States as Germany's "most important friend" outside of Europe. The 2013 program also described the "friendship" with Washington as a "cornerstone" of Germany's international relations and talked about strengthening transatlantic economic ties through the removal of trade barriers. But the words "friend" and "friendship" are missing from the latest election program - entitled "For a Germany in which we live well and happily" - which Merkel and CSU leader Horst Seehofer presented on Monday ahead of a Sept. 24 election. Instead, the United States is described as Germany's "most important partner" outside of Europe. CDU officials were not immediately available to comment on the change in wording. The change in wording underscores how relations between Berlin and Washington have deteriorated since U.S. President Donald Trump entered the White House in January. During his campaign for the presidency, Trump said that Merkel was "ruining" Germany with migration policies he described as "insane". He has repeatedly denounced Germany's trade surplus with the United States, accused Berlin and other European partners of owing "massive amounts of money" to NATO, and unsettled western partners with his decision last month to pull out of the Paris climate accord.. A survey by the Pew Research Center last week showed that just 35 percent of Germans have a favorable view of the United States, down from 57 percent at the end of President Barack Obama's term. Merkel is due to host Trump and other leaders at a G20 summit in Hamburg later this week. In place of the 2013 passage about strengthening economic ties, the 2017 program refers to historical U.S. support for Germany after World War Two and in the run-up to German reunification. The new CDU/CSU election program also repeats a line that Merkel used in a speech in Munich in late May after a difficult summit of G7 leaders, where Trump resisted pressure from six other nations to stay in the Paris agreement. "The times in which we could fully rely on others are, to a certain extent, in the past. We Europeans must take our fate into our own hands more decisively than we have in the past," the program reads.

How significant is this? Germany can call us anything they wish, but the bottom line is they need us a heckuva lot more than we need them. Merke;'s ploy has more to do with the toxicity of Trump's name among more moderate German voters who form the core of her support, than any real downgrading of our relationship.

But Merkel's dissing the US is not without risk. The chancellor needs a sizable number of nationalists' votes in order to win an outright victory and avoid a messy election aftermath where she would need to bargain with smaller parties to gain a majority in the Bundestag. The AfP agrees with Trump - at least about immigration and the EU - and might not take kindly to the slight against him.

Merkel figures she gains more by disrespecting the American president and America than she would otherwise. It seems a sensible gamble and will probably play out as she believes it will.
During the Obama presidency, many of us asked about President Obama's policies, such as closing GITMO, the one-sided opening to Cuba, the Iran deal never submitted as a treaty to the U.S. Senate, the premature withdrawal from Iraq and the fascination with meaningless climate change accords.

How was any of this in the interests of the U.S.? It wasn't, but it was in the interests of Obama, or the man who longed becoming the leader of the world.

My explanation was that Obama was creating the kind of resume that would make him popular in Europe and Latin America universities. In other words, the anti-American corners of the world.

President Obama's latest speech confirms my fears. Here is Obama speaking in Indonesia:

If we dont stand up for tolerance and moderation and respect for others, if we begin to doubt ourselves and all that we have accomplished, then much of the progress that we have made will not continue, he said. What we will see is more and more people arguing against democracy, we will see more and more people who are looking to restrict freedom of the press, and well see more intolerance, more tribal divisions, more ethnic divisions, and religious divisions and more violence.

Maybe some one should remind Obama that The Supreme Court approved President Trump's ban on a 9-0 vote.

Obama's remarks are a bit interesting given thatIndonesia has seen a rise of intolerance. Of course, Obama did not say a word about that or about Raul Castro's lack of freedom when he went to Cuba.

We will hear a lot more speeches from Obama, such as the one in Indonesia. The words will have that Obama meaninglessness that characterized his campaign speeches, i.e. "hope and change" or "we are the ones that we've been waiting for".

Obama's ego does not allow him to retire, attend White Sox games or draw up ESPN brackets. Instead, his ego is calling on him to go out and save the world again and this time it is literally the world. We will see Obama spend time with his rich friends in the afternoon and then speak in front of some audience about economic inequality in the evening.

Obama's ego is also deeply bruised because the Democrats are at their worst standing since the 1920s and President Trump's pen keeps cancelling "44s" executive orders.

Nevertheless, we will see a lot of Obama for the next few years. He is also hoping to rebuild the Democrat Party, although that may prove to be a bit more difficult, given the reality of U.S. politics.

Get used to it. Obama is back, as he will remind us with lots of meaningless speeches and even a tweet here and there.

Obama has returned. Seriously, did anyone think that he'd go away?

P.S. You can listen to my show (Canto Talk), (YouTube) and follow me on Twitter.
A 2010 book titled The High Tide of American Conservatism recounts the 1924 election campaign in which two candidates, a Republican and a Democrat, ran as conservatives favoring limited government, individual freedom, and low taxes.

The two conservative candidates combined received 83 percent of the popular vote, while the progressive candidate received just 17 percent. Yet within a few short years, conservatism had been supplanted by Roosevelt liberalism.

Republicans need to heed that lesson of history.

As Victor Davis Hanson said early this year, Trump's election has brought Republicans "more opportunity for conservative political change than any Republican candidate in a century," a one-time chance to "reverse the entire Obama project."

The quickest way for Republicans to squander this opportunity and lose their electoral majorities is to fail to stop the Obamacare wrecking ball that "destroys and bankrupts everything it touches." As Wayne Allen Root, writing at the Las Vegas Review-Journal, says, Obamacare is "the whole enchilada" of the Obama project.

Mr. Root's column is directed at Nevada Republican senator Dean Heller, who Root says "is in the process of destroying his own political career" with his opposition to the Senate health reform bill and is looking to become "One and Done Dean." Mr. Root's admonitions to Heller apply to all recalcitrant Republicans in the Obamacare repeal debate:

Can Heller do math? No matter what he does, nobody from today's radical, extremist Democrat Party will ever vote for him. Not one liberal student at UNLV. Not one Black Lives Matter protester. Not one illegal alien. Not one person on Medicaid. Not one feminist for Hillary. Not one Bernie Sanders nutcase. Not one MoveOn.org zombie. Democrats are laughing at Heller. They know he's doing their bidding ... single-handedly blocking the repeal of Obamacare ... killing President Trump agenda ... and perhaps destroying the GOP's chances of keeping Congress in 2018. Yet those same Democratic voters will try to throw him out office next year.

Democrats are laughing not just at Heller, but at any Republican dragging his feet on Obamacare repeal and perhaps destroying the GOP's chances of keeping its majorities in 2018.

Root goes on to predict that "the pain and misery of Obamacare" will cause Heller to "lose in a GOP primary to a doorknob":

The people who are being ripped off to pay the massive Obamacare bill are members of the GOP base. Dean Heller's base. Those are the people Heller just stabbed in the back. While the people Heller is "protecting" will never vote for him, no matter what he does for them.

The people being ripped off are not just Dean Heller's base, but the base of every Republican in Congress. Meanwhile, the people whom recalcitrant Republicans are supposedly protecting will never vote Republican, no matter what any Republican does for them.

In a follow-up column, Mr. Root urges Heller to "[d]o the math" on Obamacare:

In California, the Democrat Assembly leader is getting death threats because he tabled the idea of universal health care. Democrats are threatening to kill a Democrat because he realized there isn't enough money in the world to pay for free health care. ... But that was the point of Obamacare from Day One. To bankrupt the middle class and make us all welfare queens and wards of the state. Put everyone on Medicaid. Explode the rolls. Mission accomplished, Mr. Obama.

Will the legacy of this Republican Congress be "mission accomplished, Republicans," or "mission accomplished, Mr. Obama"?

Root again reminds Republicans:

Meanwhile the entire middle class and all small businesses are being slaughtered and bankrupted right under their noses. And no one says a word. ... Someone has to pay the bill. Surprise  it's their own middle-class base being ripped off. Now add in massive middle-class job losses. Obamacare has created a nation of low-wage, part-time jobs. Now add in $10 trillion in new debt over the past eight years to pay for this massive welfare state scam. The math is real and simple. Obamacare is a massive failure. It destroys and bankrupts whoever and whatever it touches. But mostly, it destroys your own GOP voters, Sen. Heller. Do the math.

It destroys your own GOP voters, Senate Republicans. Do the math.

Allowing Obamacare to continue to rip off their own GOP voters is the surest way to "one and done" for Republicans in 2018.

And as Shakespeare observes of "tides in the affairs of men" not taken, a Trump presidency subject to Democratic majorities would be "bound in shallows and in miseries."
The largest music festival in Sweden will not go on next year because, for the second year in a row, more than a dozen sexual assaults of young girls marred the event.

Last year, more than 40 young girls reported being sexually assaulted. Men described as being of "foreign origin" were responsible.

Despite increased security this year, the assaults continued.

Breitbart:

Festival safety manager Ulf Bowein was asked why the sex attacks were continuing to happen despite the increase in the number of personnel and tighter security precautions. He said: Thats a good questionask those who commit the infractions instead. Unfortunately, its like anywhere in the community. We have a number of individuals who commit the crime, he added. Bowein noted the number of attacks had gone down in number since last year. Reports claimed that men, largely described as being of foreign origin, had sexually molested up to 40 girls at the festival. The news prompted British band Mumford and Sons, who headlined the event, to announce a boycott for future performances until the situation was brought under control. The band did not feature at all in this years event. Sex attacks became common at Swedish festivals last year, so much so that officials estimate the number of sex attacks at outdoor music festivals increased by 1,000 per cent in 2016. The targets of the sex attacks are generally young girls, many of them underage. 17-year-old Alexandra Larsson was one of the victims and she described what happened to her: First, someone touched me on the butt a few times. I turned around and inquired who had done it, but got no answer. This was repeated several times. Finally, someone touched me on the genitals. Then I got angry and turned around and shouted, Whoever it was, you are an idiot!' Festivals are not the only locations for sex assaults as various reports have shown that girls in Sweden have been attacked in railway stations, and even in public schools.

It should be noted that authorities have not identified the perpetrators of the assaults this year. Less than a month ago, two "African migrants" were arrested for sexually assaulting numerous women at a railway station.

Sweden has been a primary destination for migrants from the Middle East and Africa due to their generous welfare payments and welcoming government. But the spike in crime - including sexual assaults - has changed authorities' minds. They are now offering money for the recent arrivals to go home.

The national character of Sweden has been altered by the new arrivals, with migrants outnumbering native Swedes in some communities. The problems the migrants bring with them - along with the question of what to do with so many illiterate, unskilled workers - will occupy the government's attention for years to come.
America may seem hopelessly conflicted right now, but it's good to keep in mind that the longest surviving democratic republic in history began with much disagreement over America's destiny. Not everyone wanted to plunge into the unpredictable future of a brand new nation.

In 1776, delegates from the 13 American colonies gathered in Philadelphia to deliberate on whether to break away from British rule. Some were adamantly opposed, but the delegates' disgust at King George's tyrannical edicts won the day.

On June 7, Virginia's Richard Henry Lee made a motion, swiftly seconded by Massachusetts's John Adams, to declare the colonies' independence. The motion was debated for three days by the delegates before being postponed for several weeks.

Meanwhile, a committee consisting of Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, Robert Livingston, and Thomas Jefferson appointed Jefferson to compose the first draft of the Declaration of Independence, which he did, writing feverishly in his rented room.

On July 2, Congress passed the Lee Resolution: "These United Colonies are, and of right ought to be free and independent States." Two days later, the delegates officially adopted the Declaration of Independence, whose most famous passage still inspires millions around the world 241 years hence:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.

Twenty-five years after the Declaration's adoption, Jefferson delivered his first inaugural speech on March 4, 1801.

The nation's third chief executive warned against division in the still new nation and entreated his fellow citizens to "unite with one heart and one mind. Let us restore to social intercourse that harmony and affection without which liberty and even life itself are but dreary things."

At the same time, he cautioned Americans against their own government lest it become tyrannical, a warning that rings true today:

A wise and frugal government, which shall restrain men from injuring one another, shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvements, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned. This is the sum of good government.

I have to believe that Mr. Jefferson and the other Founders would be appalled at the size of the federal government and our confiscatory level of taxation. They would declare most federal agencies unconstitutional.

At one point, Mr. Jefferson wryly observed: "Sometimes it is said that man cannot be trusted with the government of himself. Can he, then, be trusted with the government of others? Or have we found angels in the form of kings to govern him? Let history answer this question."

History has. The fight for freedom is a never-ending battle, with threats from within and from abroad.

That we retain the bulk of the liberties and rights spoken of in the Declaration and guaranteed in the Constitution is a testament to the wisdom of those who gathered in 1776 and again at the Constitutional Convention.

America has too much government and is divided today, sometimes violently, but it is still a beacon to millions around the world who have never experienced freedom.

Robert Knight is a senior fellow at the American Civil Rights Union.
This is not entirely unexpected, but nevertheless, represents a clean break with the Obama administration and, indeed, American history.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson told UN chief Antonio Guterres during a private State Department meeting last week that it was up to Russia to decide the fate of President Bashar Assad in post civil war Syria. By washing the US hands of Assad's fate, Tillerson is sending a clear signal that the US will not concern itself with the shape of a post war government and society in Syria.

Foreign Policy:

Tillersons assurances to Guterres signaled the Trump administrations increasing willingness to let Russia take the drivers seat in Syria, throwing geopolitics to the wayside to focus on defeating ISIS. He also signaled that U.S. military action against Assads forces in recent months is intended to achieve only limited tactical goalsdeterring future chemical weapons attacks and protecting U.S. backed-forces fighting the Islamic State in Syrianot weakening the Assad government or strengthening the oppositions negotiating leverage. Tillersons position reflects a recognition that Syrias government, backed by Russia and Iran, is emerging as the likely political victor in the countrys six year long civil war. It also marks a further retreat from the 2012 U.N.-brokered Geneva Communique  signed by Russia, the United States, and other key powers  which called for the establishment of a transitional government with members of the regime and the opposition. The Geneva pact, according to the Obama administration and other Western allies, was to result in Assads departure from power. (Though the Obama administration softened its own demand that Assad step down during its final year in power). A State Department official declined to comment on Tillersons private discussion with Guterres, but insisted that the U.S. remains committed to the Geneva process and supports a credible political process that can resolve the question of Syrias future. Ultimately, this process, in our view, will lead to a resolution of Assads status. The Syrian people should determine their countrys political future through a political process, the official added.

Given the post war mess left in Iraq and Libya, Trump's policy goals have the benefit of keeping America's distance from what promises to be a less than peaceful, chaotic post war atmosphere in Syria.

But the policy also carries a geopolitical cost; it empowers and gives influence to Russia in the Middle East after decades of US policies that sought to prevent that eventuality.

What Putin will do with this influence isn't much of a mystery. As the rest of the Middle East backs "the strong horse" in the region, Russia will seek to establish a military presence where they've never had one before. Putin will have new clients for Russian arms, as well as states willing to back his foreign policy.

The US no longer needs Middle Eastern oil to survive. We have become net exporters of fossil fuels and possess more oil reserves in our shale and beneath oceans off our coast than Saudi Arabia. Europe may have to take a more active role in the region due to their dependence on Russian natural gas and Middle Eastern oil.

The US retreat from Syria and the Middle East was inevitable once our need for the oil disappeared. And Europe, once dependent on the US Navy to keep the oil shipping lanes open, will eventually have to fend for themselves.
Did anyone else notice what happened last week in Washington in just two days? In case you missed it, the following took place in a mere 48 hours

First, the US House of Representatives passed a bill, H.R.1215, also known as the Protecting Access to Care Act. The bill caps medical malpractice lawsuits by restricting plaintiff non-economic damages to $250,000. Juries may not be informed of this limitation. This is expected to dramatically reduce jury awards for non-economic damages (aka pain and suffering, punitive damages, and others) which has been seen as the primary factor in dramatic increases in medical malpractice insurance rates in recent years. The bill passed narrowly, with 218 yeas and 210 nays, mostly along party lines.

Then, the US House of Representatives passed a bill, H.R.3003, also known as "No Sanctuary for Criminals Act", that would strip federal dollars from self-proclaimed "sanctuary" cities that shield residents from federal immigration authorities. The bill passed with a 257-167 vote, also mostly along party lines.

Then, the US House of Representatives passed another bill, H.R.3004, also known as Kates Law, which would increase the penalties that may be imposed on criminal aliens convicted of illegal re-entering the US after being deported. The bill was a seen as a response to the brutal murder of Kate Steinle, who was shot by alleged shooter Juan Francisco Lopez-Sanchez  an illegal immigrant who had been deported five times and had seven felony convictions. The bill passed with a vote of 257 to 157, also mostly along party lines.

Lastly, the White House announced they will seek to overturn the Obama administrations five-year plan forbidding oil and gas exploration in the Arctic and Atlantic oceans and will examine opportunities to drill almost anywhere off the U.S. coast. Vincent DeVito, the Dept. of the Interiors counselor for energy policy, said a 45-day comment period will start Monday with a request for public comment in the Federal Register. After that time, and further due consideration, a final decision will be made. You may recall that on his way out of office in January, President Barack Obama banned offshore drilling in both ocean areas  this policy change will override that. Most environmentalist groups are up in arms about this.

These are four developments are generally seen as extremely unpopular with most of the left in this country, and extremely popular with most of the right, and would ordinarily generate much outrage in the mainstream media.

You did not hear about this? You missed that outrage? Well, that is understandable since almost all of the news coverage in the next few days was thoroughly dominated by one of President Trumps tweets (related to the hosts of MSNBCs Morning Joe, Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski), and the controversy surrounding it. Until his CNN-wrestling tweet grabbed all the attention.

Now, I do not know if Mr. Trump sought to make this tweet as a distraction for these legislative and policy achievements deliberately, or it was just a coincidence - only Mr. Trump knows for sure (and remember what Emma Bull said: Coincidence is the word we use when we can't see the levers and pulleys). But if he did this as part of a larger design, then he is demonstrating a mastery of the adversarial media that we have not seen in a long time.
Keith Koffler of White House Dossier is one of the very few pundits I have seen who sees through the illusion that President Trumps tweets are the product of an out-of-control adolescent mind housed in the body of a POTUS. He understands that the opposition  the media/political establishment  is being played by an expert:

Trumps calculation is this: By baiting the media with his Twitter account, Trump is both revealing and provoking their instinctive liberal bias, helping undermine their legitimacy. And he is maintaining the energy and commitment of his voter base, which reviles the mainstream press.

And he provides evidence to support the thesis that Trump operates very strategically in the way he handles people:

He was playing people, said Tony Schwartz, who helped Trump write Art of the Deal, in an interview with the New Yorker last summer. The New Yorker paraphrased Schwartz, who listened in on many Trump calls: On the phone with business associates, Trump would flatter, bully, and occasionally get mad, but always in a calculated way, the New Yorker wrote. In another venue, Schwartz, who hates Trump and wanted to harm his candidacy, recalled that he once saw Trump verbally abuse someone on the phone, hang up, look at Schwartz and calmly say something like, Do you think it worked?

Meanwhile, outrage over Trumps Tweets continues to preoccupy a good portion of the commentariat, as Trump practices The Art of Distraction. I urge the media to continue to look away every time the president in effect tweets, SQUIRREL!
(ANSA) - Rome, July 4 - Austrian Defence Minister Hans Peter Doskozil has said Vienna is ready to deploy up to 750 troops at its border at the Brenner Pass "very soon" unless the flow of migrants from Italy diminishes, the Kronen Zeitung newspaper reported Tuesday. "I think that border controls will be activated very soon and an army deployment will be necessary," Doskozil was quoted as saying. He added that the measure will be "indispensable if the flow of migrants from Italy does not diminish". European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, on the other hand, said Tuesday that the EU's pledges of support for Italy with the Mediterranean asylum-seeker crisis will not remain just words. He told a plenary session of the European Parliament that, with measures it will approve Tuesday, the Commission will "show with deeds that we want to keep showing solidarity, especially with Italy, which is displaying a heroic attitude. Solidarity is an obligation". The college of commissioners is set to discuss management of asylum seekers later on Tuesday.


(ANSA) - Rome, July 4 - The Italian foreign ministry summoned the Austrian ambassador to Rome on Tuesday after Vienna said it was ready to deploy up to 750 troops at its border at the Brenner Pass "very soon" unless the flow of migrants from Italy diminishes. "I think that border controls will be activated very soon and an army deployment will be necessary," Austrian Defence Minister Hans Peter Doskozil was quoted as saying by the Kronen Zeitung newspaper Tuesday. He added that the measure will be "indispensable if the flow of migrants from Italy does not diminish". Austrian Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz then defended the plan. "Our preparations for controls at the border with Italy are not only just, but also necessary," Kurz said. "We are preparing to defend our border at the Brenner if that is necessary".

Four Austrian military Pandur armoured vehicles have reportedly been taken to the Brenner Pass and they could be used in the migration control operations announced as possible by Doskozil. Austrian news agency APA reported the measures, including the deployment of the 750 troops, could be activated within three days. The Italian foreign ministry in Rome said in a statement that the Austrian Ambassador to Rome, Rene Pollitzer, had been summoned on Tuesday morning by the ministry's Secretary General, Ambassador Elisabetta Belloni, "following the declarations of the Austrian government about the deployment of the troops at the Brenner".


(ANSA) - Brussels, July 4 - Italy should prepare a code of conduct for NGO ships carrying out search and rescue operations in the central Mediterranean, the European Commission said in its action plan to ease migratory pressure on Italy. The plan should be drafted in consultation with the EC, and on the basis of dialogue with the NGOs, it said.

Italy has said it will instruct NGO rescue ships not to enter Libyan territorial waters. It has also mooted barring non-Italian NGO ships from Italian ports, a threat that will be a key issue at an informal meeting of EU interior ministers in Tallinn on Thursday and Friday.

France and Spain have already said they will not open their ports to such ships.

EU member States should also mobilise to support migrant repatriations from Italy, the EC said in its action plan Tuesday. They should also: contribute more to the Fund for Africa, to complete a 2.6-billion-euro contribution; accelerate relocations from Italy; and press ahead with reforming the Dublin regulation. The EC vowed to support the "organisation of a centre of coordination for sea rescues fully operational in Libya". It also urged Tunisia and Libya to name respective areas of search and rescue (SAR) for migrants and set up an official coordinating office for sea rescues. The two countries have never set up their SAR areas, which serve to map out the areas of sea they are competent for.


(ANSA) - Brussels, July 4 - European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said Tuesday that the EU's pledges of support for Italy with the Mediterranean asylum-seeker crisis will not remain just words. He told a plenary session of the European Parliament that, with measures it will approve Tuesday, the Commission will "show with deeds that we want to keep showing solidarity, especially with Italy, which is displaying a heroic attitude. Solidarity is an obligation". The college of commissioners is set to discuss management of asylum seekers later on Tuesday.


(ANSA) - Rome, July 4 - The Italian foreign ministry summoned the Austrian ambassador to Rome on Tuesday after Vienna said it was ready to deploy up to 750 troops at its border at the Brenner Pass "very soon" unless the flow of migrants from Italy diminishes. "I think that border controls will be activated very soon and an army deployment will be necessary," Austrian Defence Minister Hans Peter Doskozil was quoted as saying by the Kronen Zeitung newspaper Tuesday. He added that the measure will be "indispensable if the flow of migrants from Italy does not diminish". Austrian Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz then defended the plan. "Our preparations for controls at the border with Italy are not only just, but also necessary," Kurz said. "We are preparing to defend our border at the Brenner if that is necessary".

Four Austrian military Pandur armoured vehicles have reportedly been taken to the Brenner Pass and they could be used in the migration control operations announced as possible by Doskozil. Austrian news agency APA reported the measures, including the deployment of the 750 troops, could be activated within three days. The Italian foreign ministry in Rome said in a statement that the Austrian Ambassador to Rome, Rene Pollitzer, had been summoned on Tuesday morning by the ministry's Secretary General, Ambassador Elisabetta Belloni, "following the declarations of the Austrian government about the deployment of the troops at the Brenner".

Both Foreign Minister Angelino Alfano and Interior Minister Marco Minniti said the Austrian initiative was completely unjustified.

Alfano said "with Austria we are seeing last year's film: they were talking about walls but then we saw that no migrants passed through: there is no justification for this attitude. No one passes through the Brenner".

Minniti said "I am frankly surprised by the statements of the Austrian defence minister Doskozil, as is clear there is no emergency at the Brenner Pass and the relations of cooperation with the Austrian police work perfectly". He said Vienna's decision to deploy troops at the Brenner was "an unjustified and unprecedented initiative".


(ANSA) - Rome, July 4 - Austrian Defence Minister Hans Peter Doskozil has said Vienna is ready to deploy up to 750 troops at its border at the Brenner Pass "very soon" unless the flow of migrants from Italy diminishes, the Kronen Zeitung newspaper reported Tuesday. "I think that border controls will be activated very soon and an army deployment will be necessary," Doskozil was quoted as saying. He added that the measure will be "indispensable if the flow of migrants from Italy does not diminish". Four Austrian military Pandur armoured vehicles have reportedly been taken to the Brenner Pass and they could be used in the migration control operations announced as possible by Doskozil. Austrian news agency APA reported the measures, including the deployment of the 750 troops, could be activated within three days. European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, on the other hand, said Tuesday that the EU's pledges of support for Italy with the Mediterranean asylum-seeker crisis will not remain just words. He told a plenary session of the European Parliament that, with measures it will approve Tuesday, the Commission will "show with deeds that we want to keep showing solidarity, especially with Italy, which is displaying a heroic attitude. Solidarity is an obligation". The college of commissioners is set to discuss management of asylum seekers later on Tuesday.


(ANSA) - Brussels, July 4 - European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said Tuesday that the EU's pledges of support for Italy with the Mediterranean asylum-seeker crisis will not remain just words. He told a plenary session of the European Parliament that, with measures it will approve Tuesday, the Commission will "show with deeds that we want to keep showing solidarity, especially with Italy, which is displaying a heroic attitude.

"Solidarity is an obligation". The college of commissioners is set to discuss management of asylum seekers later on Tuesday.

Italy is demanding the EU take action to alleviate the burden, saying the massive arrival of migrants is pushing its ability to cope to the limit.

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) said on Tuesday that 101,210 migrants and refugees arrived in Europe via the Mediterranean from the start of 2017 up to July 3, with 85,183 landing in Italy. It estimated that 2,247 people died at sea in this period.


(ANSA) - Rome, July 3 - The president of Rome's Vatican-owned Bambino Gesu Hospital, Mariella Enoc, said Monday she has asked her health director to ask London's Great Ormond Street Hospital if terminally ill 11-month-old British boy Charlie Gard can be moved there. "We know that it is a desperate case and that there are no effective therapies," Enoc said, adding "we are close to the parents in prayer and, if this is their desire, willing to take their child, for the time he has left to live". Enoc said Pope Francis's words on the case summed up her hospital's mission: "Defending human life, above all when it is wounded by illness, is a commitment of love that God entrusts to all men".

US President Donald Trump also on Monday offered help for Gharlie, tweeting: "If we can help little #CharlieGard, like our friends in the UK and the pope, we would be happy to do so".

A White House spokesman said Trump had not personally spoken to Charlie's parents but an administration staffer had done so through British authorities. "The president just wants to help," the spokesman said.

On Friday Monsignor Vincenzo Paglia, president of the Pontifical Academy for Life, called for respect of the wishes of the parents of Charlie, who do not want their child to be taken off life support.

The parents, Chris Gard and Connie Yates, wanted their son to undergo experimental treatment in the US and have strenuously opposed his doctors' decision to remove him from life support.

The European Court of Human Rights has rejected an appeal filed by the parents to enable Charlie, who suffers from a rare genetic condition and has brain damage from which he will not recover, to undergo treatment in the US.

Doctors at Great Ormond Street Hospital were scheduled to take him off life support on Friday but then extended their deadline.

Before the European court, judges in the UK had ruled that it was lawful for the hospital to withdraw life-sustaining treatment because the child would suffer harm if his present suffering was prolonged without any realistic prospect of improvement and that the experimental therapy could not provide real benefits.

Politicians across the political spectrum in Italy condemned the decision.

Anti-establishment 5-Star Movement (M5S) leader Beppe Grillo, a vocal critic of the EU, slammed the European court's ruling saying it was "incredible" as it meant that the "entire EU" has nothing to say "on such an atrociously fundamental issue".

Anti-migrant and anti-euro Northern League leader Matteo Salvini said the decision amounted to a "homicide" and strongly criticized doctors for reportedly refusing the parents' request to take their child home to die after their last appeal against their decision was denied.

Centre-right Forza Italia Senator Lucio Malan called on Italian President Sergio Mattarella to "intervene with Queen Elizabeth" in order for the child not to be taken off life support, which he said was an "execution".


Crisis in Catalonia govt over referendum Puigdemont removes skeptical councillor, prompting party revolt

(ANSAmed) - Madrid, July 4 - Cracks were beginning to appear in the pro-independence front in Catalonia on Tuesday as the government of Charles Puigdemont presented the law regulating the independence referendum announced for October 1.



Labour councillor Jordi Baiget was removed from post on Monday after expressing doubts about the vote which the central government of Mariano Rajoy considers to be unconstitutional. Baiget's removal has created considerable unease within the liberal PDeCat, with members of the old guard accusing Puidgemont of "bowing to the diktat of the CUP", the anti-capitalist left that supports the Catalan government from outside. Meanwhile the government of Madrid has sent a letter to the 993 municipalities in Catalonia reminding public officials of their "obligation to respect constitutional and statutory law" by not helping to organise the referendum. (ANSAmed)
(by Lorenzo Trombetta) - Beirut - Italian civil society has a leading role in providing humanitarian assistance to civilians fleeing the ISIS stronghold of Raqqa in northern Syria that has for weeks been under attack from Kurdish forces supported by the United States. On Tuesday 'Un Ponte Per' (Upp), an Italian NGO that has operated in the Middle East for 25 years, launched the campaign 'Syria. On their side' to raise money for the Kurdish-Syrian Red Crescent in support of its work to assist people trying to escape the violence. The UN has documented the flight of hundreds more civilians in the last few hours alone as Kurdish forces advance on the Yarmuk neighbourhood in southwestern Raqqa. "Our commitment is to provide aid to everyone, without distinction," says UPP northeast Syria programme director Luca Magno. "We are working with the Kurdish-Syrian Red Crescent, which was established in 2012 and has emerged as being the most important humanitarian actor in this part of Syria," Magno said in a telephone interview with ANSAmed.



On the campaign website (www.unponteper.it/it/siria-dalla-loro-parte/) Upp presents the stories of four doctors or paramedics who are working on the front line or on the sidealines to assist the civilian population in Raqqa and the surrounding area. "They are just some of the aid workers of the Kurdish Red Crescent with whom we work in northeast Syria 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Together we do a lot, but there is urgent need for medicines and adequate equipment," reads the Upp website. The campaign aims to take medicines and facilities to new areas, Magno explained. "For years Syria has been engulfed by a war that has caused the worst humanitarian disaster in recent decades," Upp says.



"There are over 1.5 million people in need in the north east alone." The Kurdish-US offensive on Raqqa is ongoing and there are reports of progress by the anti-ISIS coalition near the city centre.



Between 50,000 and 100,000 civilians are said to be trapped in the city according to concordant estimates. For this reason, local and international organisations are expecting a greater flow of civilians from the city over the coming days, with rescue missions near the front line. UPP and the Red Crescent are also ready to support approximately 3,000 people in emergency medical centres and better equipped hospitals in the region. Upp has long been operating in north east Syria and in the Nineveh Plains around the Iraqi former ISIS sronghold of Mosul. "Together we have created a system of ambulances to assist displaced Syrians and Iraqis fleeing from Raqqa and Mosul," the website reads. The Italian NGO also supports six clinics and runs training courses for doctors, health workers and volunteers in order to be 'on their side". (ANSAmed)
ANSAmed - Today's events in the Mediterranean

(ANSAmed) - ROME, July 4 - - These are some of the main events scheduled for today the Euro-Mediterranean area.



VARIOUS CITIES - World Day of Cooperation ASTANA - New round of talks for a solution to the Syrian crisis (also July 5).



ROME - FAO - Special Session addressing water scarcity and climate change in Near East and North African region. BRUXELLES- EU Commission to present new measures to address migrants crisis. (ANSAmed).




(By Denis Greenan).

ROME - Austria deployed tanks against possible migrant incursions on its border with Italy Tuesday prompting Rome to summon the Austrian ambassador to clarify matters.



Meanwhile European Commissioner Jean-Claude Juncker said Italy would have European solidarity "in deeds and not just words" - and the EC said in a new migrant action plan for Italy, which allotted 35 million euros and called for a new coordination centre in Libya, that Rome should draft a code of conduct for NGO ships rescuing asylum seekers off Libya. The Italian foreign ministry summoned the Austrian ambassador after Vienna said it was ready to deploy up to 750 troops at its border at the Brenner Pass "very soon" unless the flow of migrants from Italy diminishes. "I think that border controls will be activated very soon and an army deployment will be necessary," Austrian Defence Minister Hans Peter Doskozil was quoted as saying by the Kronen Zeitung newspaper Tuesday. He added that the measure will be "indispensable if the flow of migrants from Italy does not diminish". Austrian Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz then defended the plan. "Our preparations for controls at the border with Italy are not only just, but also necessary," Kurz said. "We are preparing to defend our border at the Brenner if that is necessary".



Four Austrian military Pandur armoured vehicles have reportedly been taken to the Brenner Pass and they could be used in the migration control operations announced as possible by Doskozil. Austrian news agency APA reported the measures, including the deployment of the 750 troops, could be activated within three days. The Italian foreign ministry in Rome said in a statement that the Austrian Ambassador to Rome, Rene Pollitzer, had been summoned on Tuesday morning by the ministry's Secretary General, Ambassador Elisabetta Belloni, "following the declarations of the Austrian government about the deployment of the troops at the Brenner".



Both Foreign Minister Angelino Alfano and Interior Minister Marco Minniti said the Austrian initiative was completely unjustified.



Alfano said "with Austria we are seeing last year's film: they were talking about walls but then we saw that no migrants passed through: there is no justification for this attitude. No one passes through the Brenner".



Italy should prepare a code of conduct for NGO ships carrying out search and rescue operations in the central Mediterranean, the EC said in its action plan to ease migratory pressure on Rome. The plan should be drafted in consultation with the EC, and on the basis of dialogue with the NGOs, it said. Italy has said it will instruct NGO rescue ships not to enter Libyan territorial waters. It has also mooted barring non-Italian NGO ships from Italian ports, a threat that will be a key issue at an informal meeting of EU interior ministers in Tallinn on Thursday and Friday. France and Spain have already said they will not open their ports to such ships.
Joining Qatar Airways global network, which spans six continents, are: Sohar, Sultanate of Oman, which will launch on 8 August; and Prague, Czech Republic, which will launch on 21 August.

The airline has confirmed the start of its new service between Doha and Sohar with three-weekly flights beginning 8 August, while the service between Doha and Prague will operate on a daily basis from 21 August. Both destinations will be operated by Qatar Airways Airbus A320 aircraft.

Qatar Airways recently launched a direct daily service to Dublin, Republic of Ireland, as part of its rapid global expansion strategy, with service to Nice, France, commencing 4 July, and flights to Skopje, Republic of Macedonia, on 17 July.

Qatar Airways Group chief executive, Akbar Al Baker said: Having recently been named Airline of the Year at the prestigious 2017 Skytrax World Airline Awards, it is now our turn as an airline to give back to all of our passengers and supporters around the world. Qatar Airways announcement today comes at a time when we are accelerating our global expansion plans by expediting the launch of these two new destinations. Qatar Airways is committed to connecting more people to more places, through our five-star hub, Hamad International Airport, while supporting our global message of Going Places Together.

Other new destinations planned for the remainder of this year and 2018 include Canberra, Australia; Chiang Mai, Thailand.; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; San Francisco, U.S.; and Santiago, Chile. A total of 25 new destination launches will take place throughout 2017-2018.




I take music for grantednot because I dont love it passionately, but because it has always been as much a part of my life as the air around me. To be sure, there have been times when I paid less attention to music, but sooner or later it has taken hold of me again. It is my second language, one learned in childhood, meaning that I speak it without an accent and as easily and naturally as I speak English. To come at it from the other direction, I experience a piece of instrumental music in much the same way that I experience a short story or an essay: it talks to me.

I remember being overwhelmed by my first encounter with something that Felix Mendelssohn said in an 1842 letter to a friend: The thoughts which are expressed to me by music that I love are not too indefinite to be put into words, but on the contrary, too definite.  I also remember reading the following passage in a biography of Donald Francis Tovey and thinking, I know just what he meant:

I have (this sounds like fantastic nonsense, but it isnt) frequently caught myself positively solving some problem (of a more or less philosophical nature) in, say, the key of A minor, where I had utterly failed to reason it out in words.

If music has this strong an effect on you, then there will be times when you feel an overpowering, almost physical urge to listen to a specific piece of it. Such a feeling came over me last night: I felt that if I couldnt listen to the first movement of Charles Ives Third Symphony right away, I would be reduced to abject despair. Therein lies the supreme spiritual utility of the digital technology that has brought about what is without question the most radical transformation of daily life to take place in my lifetime: I screwed in my earbuds and clicked a few keys on my MacBook, and all at once my head was full of Ives.

Why, though, was it this particular piece that I craved? Im sure it was because Id spent an hour talking to my brother on the phone on Tuesday night. A year has gone by since I saw David, and its been nearly two years to the day since my last visit to the small town in southeast Missouri where we grew up and where he still lives. Having lived in New York for thirty years, I cant pretend to be anything other than a city dweller now, but Im still a small-town boy at heart, and Ives Third Symphony, whose subtitle is The Camp Meeting and whose first movement is called Old Folks Gatherin, overflows with the hymn tunes and homespun harmonies of Ives youth, which I, too, heard in church on Sunday mornings back in Smalltown, U.S.A. No sooner did I start listening to it than I was swept back in time, and when the music ended, I felt serene and secure, more so than Ive felt for quite some time.

Not surprisingly, listening to Old Folks Gatherin also made me long to see my brother. Alas, we wont be together again until the first week in December, when he and his wife will be in West Palm Beach for the premiere of my new play. But we are always together in my heart, and thatll have to do for now.

As I typed that last sentence, I found myself thinking of a sentence uttered by Abraham Lincoln a century and a half ago: The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature. So far as I know, Lincoln didnt much care for music, classical or otherwise, but anyone capable of penning a phrase like mystic chords of memory must surely have had some inkling of its ineffable power. Music is for me what the madeleine was for Proust: it opens the door to memory. Last night its mystic chords also bridged the thousand-mile gap between New York City and Smalltown, U.S.A., and put my beloved brother in the room with me for a few precious minutes. Of such little blessings is the life of a music lover made.

* * *

Leonard Bernstein and the New York Philharmonic perform Charles Ives Third Symphony:
Reserve Bank of India, in consultation with the Finance Ministry had ordered the printing of Rs 200 notes.

Mumbai: Nearly eight months after demonetisation dealt a blow to consumer transactions in India, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will begin printing Rs 200 bills to fast-track the remonetisation process.

Sources told ANI that the decision to introduce Rs 200 notes was taken by the central bank after consultation with the Finance Ministry in March. Printing order for these notes have been placed.

RBI started introducing new high value notes in the banking system after nearly 86 per cent of the total currency in circulation was scrapped through demonetisation on November 8, 2016 - a massive anti-black money and anti-counterfeiting measure taken by Prime Minister Narendra Modis government.

As per the data obtained from a State Bank of India research, there were roughly 1,650 crore banknotes of Rs 500 denomination in circulation. The overnight withdrawal of these notes created a gaping void in the cycle of note circulation.

This move highlights the governments efforts at pumping in lower denomination notes in the system, especially since low denomination notes dominate everyday transactions in India.

However, RBI has indicated in the past that it will not be printing new Rs 1000 currency notes that were also banned as part of the notes recall decision that sucked out over Rs 15 lakh crore worth of currency notes in circulation.
Reports of the film clashing with Salman Khan's film on Eid 2018 started doing the rounds, but it is false.

Rajkumar Hirani and Ranbir Kapoor are working with each other for the first time.

New Delhi: Contrary to rumours of Rajkumar Hirani's Dutt biopic clashing with Salman Khan's next on Eid 2018, the filmmaker has refuted the reports.

The biopic on actor Sanjay Dutt, starring Ranbir Kapoor, will release as per schedule on March 2018, states director Raju Hirani.

Strongly denying the shift in the release date of his upcoming film, the 'PK' director says, "All these are baseless rumours. The film will release as per schedule in March 2018."

There is immense anticipation on his next as the filmmaker will turn to the cameras after his blockbuster hit 'PK.'

The filmmaker will be tracing Sanjay Dutt's life story with Ranbir donning six different looks in the film.

The biographical drama, written and directed by Hirani, is produced by Vidhu Vinod Chopra.

The movie is part of a three-film deal signed by Fox Star Studios with Hirani and Chopra.

The biopic is slated to release on March 30, 2018.
Former 'Bigg Boss' contestant has filed a domestic violence case against Gaurav Gupta at an Andheri court in Mumbai.

Mandana Karimi and Gaurav Gupta were popular on social media for their numerous pictures.

Mumbai: Former 'Bigg Boss' contestant Mandana Karimi has filed a domestic violence case against her husband, Gaurav Gupta, at an Andheri court in Mumbai.

In her application, Mandana said that she came to India in 2012 to pursue a career in modelling and acting. She got engaged to Gaurav Gupta in July 2016 and eventually got married in January 2017.

The 31-year-old actress alleged that she was asked to quit her acting career.

The Iranian-national also complained that her husband and in-laws have expelled her from the house and are not allowing her in.

The actress has made her husband, her mother-in-law Madhu Gupta, her father-in-law Sushil Gupta and brother-in-law Gautam Gupta as respondents in her plea.

Now, the court has issued notice to all the four above mentioned respondents on Monday.

The next date of hearing is July 15.
SEOUL -- The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) has fired a ballistic missile into its eastern waters, Yonhap news agency reported Tuesday, citing the Republic of Korea (ROK)'s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS).

The JCS was quoted as saying in a statement that the ballistic missile was fired off into the East Sea from Banghyeon, North Pyongan province in the DPRK's northwestern region at about 9:40 a.m. local time (0040 GMT).

The missile launch was immediately reported to President Moon Jae-in, the statement said.

Citing Japanese media reports, Yonhap said the missile may have landed in Japan's exclusive economic zone.
20th Century Fox has revealed that it has set six new release dates for Marvel films between 2019 and 2021.

London: 20th Century Fox has revealed that it has set six new release dates for Marvel films between 2019 and 2021.

Fox has reportedly targetted June 7, 2019, November 22, 2019, March 13, 2020, June 26, 2020, October 2, 2020, and March 5, 2021 to release its upcoming films, reported Digital Spy.

The studio which controls the film rights to 'X-Men' and 'Fantastic Four' has three films in the works for release next year, including 'New Mutants', 'Deadpool 2' and 'X-Men: Dark Phoenix.'

The studio is yet to reveal any more details about the forthcoming releases.
He said dynamic change is needed to transform the system.

New Delhi: In an interaction with IAS officers, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that India has not progressed as much as it should have and that countries which achieved independence after India, and faced greater resource constraints than India, have touched new heights of development.

On Monday, during his meeting with the 2015 batch IAS officers, the Prime Minister said boldness is required to drive change, and added that a fragmented administrative arrangement does not allow the collective capabilities of officers to deliver to the optimum level. He said dynamic change is needed to transform the system.

The young IAS officers will work as assistant secretaries in central ministries for three months and will then proceed to join their designated cadres. This is the third batch of rookie officers who will be getting the first hand experience of working in central ministries, an initiative which had been started by the Prime Minister in 2015.

He said that this three month programme of assistant secretaries, is now into its third year, and would have a great impact. He urged the young officers to interact freely with the senior-most officers of the Union Government over the next three months, so that the system could benefit from the combination of their energy and fresh ideas, and the administrative experience of Secretary-level officers.

The Prime Minister asked the young officers to recall their life upto the day of the UPSC result, the challenges they faced; and use the opportunities they will now have, to bring about positive changes in the system, and the lives of the common people.
Beijing: Will take measures to safeguard territory

The standoff between Indian and Chinese troops was first reported when China denied Indian pilgrims entry for the sacred Kailash Mansarovar Yatra through the Nathu La pass in Sikkim. (Photo: PTI/File)

New Delhi/Beijing: Terming Indias act of stopping Chinese troops from constructing a road in an area near Sikkim as a betrayal, China on Monday said India must pull back its soldiers from the area.

The India-China boundary in the Sikkim section is well demarcated. The action taken by India is a betrayal of the position taken by the Indian governments, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said at a media briefing in Beijing.

By entering into the Chinese territory and obstructing Chinese troops normal activities, India has violated the existing convention on the boundary and basic principle of international law and obstructed peace and stability of the boundary area. We require the Indian side to withdraw their troops to the Indian side of the boundary and create conditions for the restoration of peace and stability, he added.

Reacting to Indian defence minister Arun Jaitleys statement that India of 2017 is different from what it was in 1962, the spokesperson said, He (Arun Jaitley) is right in saying that India in 2017 is different from 1962, just like China is also different.

China, he added, will take all necessary measures to safeguard its territorial sovereignty.

Mr Jaitley was reacting to a Chinese defense ministry officials oblique reference to the 1962 war when he saidthat the Indian Army could learn lessons from the past and stop such dangerous clamour for war.

The Chinese media, meanwhile, has said that Indias objection to China building a road in Sikkim ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modis visit to the US was aimed at demonstrating to Washington its firm determination to constrain Chinas rise.

New Delhis position has consistently been that while the status of Sikkim as a part of India has been accepted by the Chinese, the boundary in the Sikkim sector with China is yet to be finalised.

Where the boundary in the Sikkim sector is concerned, India and China had reached an understanding, also in 2012, reconfirming their mutual agreement on the basis of the alignment. Further discussions regarding finalisation of the boundary have been taking place under the Special Representatives framework, Indian external affairs ministry had said in a statement issued last week.

On Monday, adopting a de-escalating move, an Indian Army spokesperson said: Such sensitive issues are best dealt between two nations, away from the media glare. The spokesperson also added, Indo-China relations as also the relationship between both the armies are extremely well managed by a host of mechanisms.

The standoff between Indian and Chinese troops was first reported when China denied Indian pilgrims entry for the sacred Kailash Mansarovar Yatra through the Nathu La pass in Sikkim.

While initially Beijing said it stopped the pilgrimage due to damage to roads in Tibet after rains and landslides, it later said that the matter was related to the standoff between the two armies near Sikkim.

The Sikkim route to Mansarovar was opened in 2015, enabling pilgrims to travel the 1,500-km long route from Nathu La to Kailash on bus.

Meanwhile, experts on Sino-India strategic affairs warned on Monday that a war is also possible if the ensuing confrontation is not handled properly, noting that China will resolutely defend its territory and safeguard the border.

India is trying to catch up with China in the construction of frontier defense, Zhao Gancheng, director of Center for Asia-Pacific Studies at the Shanghai Institute for International Studies, told Global Times. Both sides should focus on development rather than conflict or war, he added.
The statement came a day after Kumar criticised the Congress and held it responsible for the mess in the Opposition.

New Delhi/Patna: The rift in the Opposition deepened on Monday with Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar squarely laying the blame on the Congress for breaking Opposition unity. He accused the Congress of being merely reactive, and not having a substantial and robust agenda of its own to counter the BJP.

Just talking of unity among Opposition parties is not enough. There must be a narrative  not just in reaction to what the BJP offers, but an alternative narrative, the chief minister said.

As a big party, the Congress needs to take the lead in setting an alternative narrative for the next general election, he added.

The statement came a day after Mr Kumar criticised the Congress and held it responsible for the mess in the Opposition.

The Congress made light of all implications and impact of Mr Kumars statement.

Maintaining that the Bihar chief minister was only speaking about presidential polls, the Congress dismissed murmurs of Mr Kumar and JD(U)s exit from the 17-party Opposition grouping and added that there was no threat to the alliance in Bihar. All naysayers will be proven wrong, the party maintained.

It is a minor static on a closed issue (presidential polls), Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi said in Delhi.

Directly addressing the Congress at a press conference in Patna, the Bihar chief minister urged it to take the lead in setting an alternative narrative and agenda against the BJP for 2019 general elections.

Apart from talking about unity, the Opposition parties should also have a common agenda to be an effective Opposition. It is not for one leader or party to come up with an agenda. This has to be done together. Simply talking about unity is not going to be effective, he said.

While maintaining that all was well in the Mahagathbandhan  Bihars Grand Alliance of JD(U), the RJD and the Congress led by him  he declared that he was not in the race to become Prime Minister.

Describing JD(U) as a small party, Mr Kumar told the media, Hamari party choti hai aur hum PM pad ke race mein katai shamil nahi hai (My party is a regional party and I am not at all in the race for the post of PM).

At the national level, the JD(U) and the Congress have tried to work out a common understanding but differences emerged over various issues, including surgical strike, demonetisation and the presidential election which have created a divide among the alliance partners in Bihar.

In Bihars alliance government, RJD is the single largest party with 80 seats in the Assembly, and the Congress is the junior-most partner.

Some have put down Mr Kumars statements as posturing to show that he is still the Bihar chief minister and JD(U) chief, and nobody should speak against him.

After Mr Kumar announced his decision to back NDA presidential candidate Ram Nath Kovind, senior Congress leader and partys Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, Ghulam Nabi Azad, had talked of ideological and political opportunism.

People who have one principle make one decision, but those who believe in many principles make different decisions, Mr Azad had said, without taking Mr Kumars name.

JD(U) sources say that Mr Kumar has taken strong umbrage at the comment and wanted to make his displeasure clear.

Mr Kumar had created a stir with his decision to support Mr Kovind for the Presidents post. His change of stance  given that he had introduced the idea of the Opposition uniting to name its own candidate  came as a shock to the Opposition.

He also refused to back former Lok Sabha speaker Meira Kumar once her candidature was announced by the Opposition  a decision Lalu Prasad Yadav called a historic blunder.
Meet to have focussed on growing atrocities on Dalits in UP.

Lucknow: After forcing at least 45 Dalits detrain in Jhansi with a 125-kg soap bar they were going to present to Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath, the state government on Monday also cancelled a conclave of Dalit organisations scheduled to be held in Lucknow.

Retired IPS officer S.R. Darapuri and 30 members supporting the Dalit conclave were arrested from the UP Press Club where the convention and a press conference was scheduled to be held.

The police also laid raided Nehru Yuvak Kendra where at least two dozen Dalit delegates from Dalit Adhikar Manch in Chitrakoot had been put up after arriving in the capital to attend the Dalit convention.

ADG (Law and Order) Aditya Misra said that these were all preventive measures as there were reports of a possible law and order problem in Lucknow.

You know there is a background to this, the ADG said.

The 45-member Dalit delegation from Gujarat, comprising representatives from at least half a dozen Dalit organisations, led by Navsarjan Trust, were on their way to Lucknow to present the 125-kg soap bar to the chief minister.

This was planned in protest against the local officials in Kushinagar giving Dalits shampoos and soaps so that they could clean themselves before their meeting with chief minister Yogi Adityanath.

The entire delegation was made to get off the Sabarmati Express in Jhansi on Sunday night and return to Ahmadabad.

IPS officer (retired) S.R. Darapuri, the convenor of the proposed Lucknow Dalit convention, said, The Gujarat delegation was told to ensure their safety, the administration would arrange to send them to Lucknow but they were sent back instead.

The delegation members sat on a dharna at the Jhansi railway platform and informed their colleagues in Lucknow about the ordeal.

Mr Darapuri said that the police told them there were orders from above to send them back to Ahmadabad, and under no circumstances, would they be allowed to reach Lucknow.

Early on Monday morning, the police forcibly made them board a general compartment of Saurashtra Express for their return journey to Gujarat, Mr Darapuri told reporters.

In a related development, the Indigo flight bringing the founder of Navsarjan Trust and Dalit human rights activist, Martin Macwan, to Lucknow for the Dalit convention was also cancelled at Ahmadabad airport, this morning.

Mr Macwan told reporters on phone that after waiting in the flight for an hour, it was announced that the flight had been cancelled as the runway was under maintenance. The proposed meeting was scheduled to discuss the growing atrocities on Dalits in UP with special emphasis on the Saharanpur clashes.
MEA spokeperson Ashok Prasad said the government had been calling Salahuddin as a terrorist all along, and his own remarks confirmed that.

New Delhi: The Centre on Monday condemned Hizbul Mujahideen chief Syed Salahuddin's recent utterances against India, and said his designation as a global terrorist by the United States was "well deserved".

Home Ministry spokesperson Ashok Prasad said the government had been describing Salahuddin as a terrorist all along, and his own remarks had confirmed that.

"His designation as a global terrorist by the US is well deserved," he told reporters in the national capital.

Read: Will ignore US' global terrorist tag for Salahuddin: Pak

Prasad said Salahuddin was also "instrumental" in providing funds to terrorists and separatists and giving other kinds of assistance to the militants.

In an interview to a Pakistani TV channel, Salahuddin had said he "can strike anytime, anywhere in India" and that it was easy for him to get weapons in Pakistan for these terror strikes.

The US declared him a "Specially Designated Global Terrorist" on June 27.

"We are not terrorists... Our struggle is for freedom from India and it will continue till the liberation of Kashmir," the 71-year-old Kashmiri separatist leader, who is based in Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, had said.

Reacting sharply to Salahuddins remark, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Gopal Baglay said the confession by the Hizbul chief affirms the complicity of Pakistan's state structure in using terrorist proxies as a matter of policy against the neighbours.

Baglay said, "The brazen admission by Syed Salahuddin of perpetrating terrorist attacks on India and having the capacity to carry out such attacks at any place and time in India is a further proof of Pakistans continuing policy of cross border terrorism."

The MEA spokesperson demanded that Pakistan must give up its policy of cross-border terrorism, fulfill its obligations under international resolutions and stop all activities of terrorists from the territory under Pakistan's control.

Baglay further said that "the interview only highlights the unabashed manner in which terrorist organisations and leaders enjoy freedom of operations in Pakistan, including access to terror financing and procurement and supply of weapons for terrorism."

He further added that "It is a matter of deep regret that senior Pakistan functionaries continue to justify and defend the activities of such internationally designated terrorist entities and leaders who are responsible for killing thousands of innocent civilians over the past three decades.
The helicopter with 3 people on board went missing after losing contact with in Arunachal Pradesh amid bad weather.

Arunachal Pradesh as well as some other neighbouring states have been reeling under heavy monsoon rains that have triggered landslides and floods. (Photo: AP/Representational)

Itanagar: An Indian Air Force (IAF) chopper, which was on a flood victim rescue mission, with three crew members on board, went missing near Sagalee in Papum Pare district of Arunachal Pradesh on Tuesday, the defence officials said.

The Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) lost contact soon after its take off from Sagalee at around 3.50 pm before the rescue, Defence PRO Lt Col Sambit Ghosh said.

The chopper was evacuating people, stranded at Sagalee due to landslides, triggered by rains.

Sources at the chief minister's office in Itanagar said Chief Minister Pema Khandu was monitoring the situation.

Directives have been issued to the administration and the police to extend all possible help in the search and rescue operation.

The villagers have also asked to help the administration in locating the missing chopper, the sources said.
On Monday, two militants were neutralised in a gun battle with the security forces in Pulwama.

In the joint operation, the security forces also recovered weapon and other warlike stores. (Photo: Representational/PTI)

Pulwama: The body of a third terrorist has been recovered on Tuesday in Bamnoo area of Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district, amid the ongoing counter-terror operation.

On Monday, two militants were neutralised in a gun battle with the security forces in Pulwama. The search operation is underway to flush the remaining terrorists out.

On a specific information received, the Special Operations Group (SOG) Pulwama and 44 Rashtriya Rifles (RR) of army launched cordon and search operation in the area on Monday.

Read: J&K: 2 terrorists killed, 1 trapped as gunbattle underway in Pulwama

In the joint operation, the security forces also recovered weapon and other warlike stores.

Meanwhile, in a separate operation, the security forces have begun cordon and search operation in Ajas area of Bandipora district where terrorists are suspected to be trapped.
The ministry officials also claimed that it was the discretion of the Centre as to which paramilitary needs to be deployed.

New Delhi: The Union home ministry has asked West Bengal government to submit a fresh report on the situation in Darjeeling in wake of a request from the latter to withdraw a contingent of 100 women paramilitary forces and replace the SSB with CRPF in the hill district.

The Centre wants the state to give detailed reasons for the move and also an update on the prevailing law and order situation in Darjeeling which has been witnessing largescale agitation for almost a month now. This is the second such report sought by the home ministry from the state.

Ministry sources had described the previous report sent by the Mamata regime as incomplete, saying it failed to give a detailed account of the violence, reasons for it and what step had been initiated by the state government to contain it.

The Bengal government, in its first report to the home ministry, had claimed that agitators had links with Northeast militant groups and were deliberately trying to disrupt peace in the region.

In a recent communication to the Centre, the state has requested that the CRPFs women contingent should be withdrawn and instead replaced with men. Describing the request as inappropriate, ministry sources said they were examining the issues flagged by the state government.

The ministry officials also claimed that it was the discretion of the Centre as to which paramilitary needs to be deployed, depending on the availability and logistics and that the state government cannot give choice as to which Central force it requires. The Central paramilitary forces are deployed on basis of a number of factors like which force is easily available and can be immediately rushed to contain the situation. It is still not clear as to why the West Bengal administration wants SSB to be replaced by CRPF, a senior official said.
Japanese delegation to hold talks with railway, Niti Aayog officials soon.

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe will jointly preside over the ground-breaking ceremony of the ambitious Rs 1 lakh crore worth Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train project in Gandhinagar in September this year. It will officially mark the beginning of the construction work for the Prime Ministers dream project.

According to reliable sources, Mr Abe is likely to visit India tentatively between September 14 and September 17 this year. Incidentally both the leaders birthday falls within four days of each other.

The visit, sources added, has been planned in such a way that it will coincide with Mr Modis birthday which falls on September 17 and there is a possibility that the ground breaking ceremony may take place on that date. Incidentally Mr Abes birthday also falls just four days later on September 21.

Sources privy to the development said that though the final dates of Mr Abes visit are yet to be finalised, it is likely to be a three-day visit and may take place between September 14 to 17.

Estimated to cost about Rs 1 lakh crore, 81 per cent of the funding for the project is to be facilitated through a loan from Japan. The project cost includes possible cost escalation, interest during construction and import duties. Maharashtra and Gujarat will also share 25 per cent cost each for the project.

A high speed training centre is also to come up at Gandhinagar, which will provide training to railway officials regarding operations and management of bullet trains. Currently some batches of railway ministry officials are visiting Japan for receiving training on the technical aspects of operating bullet trains, sources said.

Highly-placed sources informed this newspaper that later this month, a delegation from Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), which is the main funding agency for the bullet train project, will hold negotiations with top railway ministry and Niti Aayog officials to finalise the loan agreement. The loan pact will also cover the costs for the proposed high speed training centre.

Currently geo-technical survey of the project is going on, which is to be followed by the final location survey to mark the alignment and exact spots for the pillars on which trains will run at higher speed to reduce the travelling time between Mumbai and Ahmedabad drastically.

It takes about seven hours to travel between the two cities and the bullet train aims to reduce it to about two hours. Construction of the corridor is expected to start in 2018 and is estimated to be completed by 2022.
Modi said he will have 'in-depth talks' with Netanyahu on the full spectrum of partnership and strengthening it in diverse fields.

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday left for Israel on a two-day visit, becoming the first Indian prime minister to visit the middle-east country.

People of both the countries are expecting that the historic visit of the prime minister will give a fillip to the bilateral ties.

On the eve of his visit to Israel, Modi on Monday said he will discuss with his counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu the common challenges like terrorism and ways to boost the economic ties.

Read: Terror is terror: Israel backs India on anti-militant ops ahead of PM's visit

Modi had described Indias ties with Israel as special and had said that his visit would lead to further cementing of bilateral ties and cooperation in key areas, including counter-terrorism.

Modi was quoted by news agencies as saying that his visit was based on the deep centuries-old connection between our two people.

He said, I share the opinion of many of my people, who see Israel as a beacon of technology, as a country that has managed to survive even though the odds were against it.

In Israel, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will also meet President Reuven Ruvi Rivlin and address the CEOs of the two countries as well as the Indian diaspora.

Modi will also visit the Yad Vashem Memorial Museum in Jerusalem and also pay tribute to Indian soldiers who died liberating Haifa in 1918.

"Tomorrow (Tuesday), I begin a historic visit to Israel, a very special partner of India's... As the first Indian prime minister to do so, I am greatly looking forward to this unprecedented visit that will bring our two countries and people closer," Modi said.

Modi also professed his anticipation on Twitter, "I look forward to holding extensive talks with my friend, @IsraeliPM @netanyahu, who shares a commitment for vibrant India-Israel ties."

The prime minister said he will have "in-depth talks" with Netanyahu "on the full spectrum of our partnership and strengthening it in diverse fields for mutual benefit. We will also have the chance to discuss major common challenges like terrorism."

Israel Ambassador to India, Danny Carmon said that Narendra Modi and Benjamin Netanyahu will hold a four-hour meeting on Wednesday, which will include a working lunch.

During the bilateral meeting, the two leaders are expected to talk on setting up joint strategic partnerships on agriculture and water, among other areas of cooperation.

Carmon added that Israel is also seeking cooperation in the field of space technology.

This year, India and Israel are marking 25 years of their diplomatic relations. "My programme during the visit gives me an opportunity to engage with a cross-section of Israeli society. I am particularly looking forward to interacting with the large vibrant Indian diaspora in Israel that represents an enduring link between our two peoples," Modi said.

On the economic side, he said, "I will join with leading Indian and Israeli CEOs and start-ups to discuss our shared priority of expanding business and investment collaboration on the ground."

In addition, he said, "I hope to get insights into Israel's accomplishments in technology and innovation through on-site visits."

India has acquired weaponry worth billions of dollars from Israel in the past decade.

The two countries will sign agreements to deepen cooperation on state-of-the-art technologies in the space sector. India will also be opening a cultural centre in Israel, the announcement regarding which is to be made during Modis visit.

On July 6, the prime minister will travel to Hamburg for the G-20 Summit being hosted by Germany on July 7-8. The theme chosen for this year is 'Shaping an Inter-connected World'.

"I look forward to engaging leaders from other G-20 countries on the vital issues affecting our world today that have a bearing on economic growth, sustainable development, and peace and stability," he said.

"We will review progress on decisions since the Hangzhou Summit last year and deliberate on issues of terrorism, climate, sustainable development, growth and trade, digitalisation, health, employment, migration, womens empowerment, and partnership with Africa," Modi added.

As in the past, he said he looked forward to the opportunity to meet leaders on the sidelines of the Summit to exchange views on bilateral matters of mutual interest.
Mehrishi has been closely involved in managing the Kashmir crisis since violence erupted in July last year.

New Delhi: Speculation is rife that Jammu and Kashmir governor N.N. Vohra may be replaced in the next few days. Though senior officials, both at the Centre and state, remain tight-lipped, sources said there is a growing view that a new governor, who is more familiar with the prevailing security scenario in the Valley, should be sent to the state. Home secretary Rajiv Mehrishi, who completes his two-year tenure next month, is being considered as a possible replacement to Mr Vohra, according to sources.

Mr Mehrishi has been closely involved in managing the Kashmir crisis since violence erupted in July last year, after the killing of top Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani.

Apart from his experience of liaisoning with security and intelligence agencies operating in the Valley in his capacity as the home secretary, Mr Mehrishi is known for his hands-on approach. He was in Srinagar last week to monitor the security arrangements for the Amarnath Yatra.

Mr Vohra, a former senior bureaucrat, has been serving as the J&K governor since 2008 and was given an extension for a second tenure in 2013 by the previous UPA government. Incidentally, he is J&Ks second civilian governor after Jagmohan.

There is a view both at the Centre and in the state that Mr Vohra has already had a fairly long tenure and that it is now time to get someone who has new ideas and strategy to deal with the complex security situation in the Valley. Mr Mehrishi is a seasoned and experienced officer who has been handing sensitive security issues and is well-suited for the job, a senior government official said. Talk of replacing Mr Vohra has been doing the rounds for some time now and the Centre is likely to take a final decision on the issue shortly.

It is possible, sources added, that the Centre may wait for Mr Mehrishi to complete his tenure as home secretary next month before taking a final call.
The two countries will sign agreements to deepen cooperation on state-of-the-art technologies in the space sector.

New Delhi/Jerusalem: On the eve of his historic visit to Israel, the first-ever by an Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi described Indias ties with Israel as special on Monday, and said that his visit would lead to further cementing of bilateral ties and cooperation in key areas, including counter-terrorism.

In an interview to the pro-government daily Israel Hayom, Mr Modi was quoted by news agencies as saying that his visit was based on the deep centuries-old connection between our two peoples. He further said, I share the opinion of many of my people, who see Israel as a beacon of technology, as a country that has managed to survive even though the odds were against it.

Mr Modi will embark on his three-day visit to Israel from Tuesday. He will be received by his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu at the airport, along with a top protocol team comprising Israelis from various fields, including rabbis. This is a special gesture that is usually only accorded to the Pope or the US President.

India has acquired weaponry worth billions of dollars from Israel in the past decade. The two countries will sign agreements to deepen cooperation on state-of-the-art technologies in the space sector. India will also be opening a cultural centre in Israel, the announcement regarding which is to be made during the visit of Mr Modi, deputy director general of Israels foreign ministry Mark Sofer told reporters on Monday.

In a message ahead of the visit from New Delhi, Mr Modi said, I will be visiting Israel on 4-6 July, 2017, upon invitation of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu... I look forward to holding extensive talks with my friend, @IsraeliPM @netanyahu, who shares a commitment for vibrant India-Israel ties... From boosting economic ties to furthering people-to-people interactions, my Israel visit has a wide range of programmes. As the first Indian Prime Minister to do so, I am greatly looking forward to this unprecedented visit that will bring our two countries and people closer. This year, India and Israel are marking 25 years of our diplomatic relations.

He further said, I will have in-depth talks with Prime Minister Netanyahu on the full spectrum of our partnership and strengthening it in diverse fields for mutual benefit. We will also have the chance to discuss major common challenges like terrorism. I will meet President Reuven Rivlin who I had the pleasure of receiving in New Delhi in November last year, as well as other senior leaders. My programme during the visit gives me an opportunity to engage with a cross-section of Israeli society. I am particularly looking forward to interacting with the large vibrant Indian diaspora in Israel that represents an enduring link between our two peoples.

PM Modi also said, On the economic side, I will join with leading Indian and Israeli CEOs and start-ups to discuss our shared priority of expanding business and investment collaboration on the ground. In addition, I hope to get insights into Israels accomplishments in technology and innovation through on-site visits. During my stay, I will visit the Yad Vashem Memorial Museum to honour the memory of the victims of the holocaust that counts among the greatest tragedies in human history. Later, I will also pay my respects to the courageous Indian soldiers who laid down their lives during the liberation of Haifa in 1918.

The P.V. Narasimha Rao had taken the gigantic foreign policy leap of establishing full-fledged diplomatic ties with Israel on January 29, 1992. But it around the turn of the Century during the earlier NDA Government led by Atal Behari Vajpayee that ties really began to take-off. In 2003, the then Israeli PM Ariel Sharon visited India in a landmark visit. President Pranab Mukherjee visited Israel in 2015. Israeli President Reuven Rivlin visited India last year.
Gandhi had written to the commerce minister to reduce import duty on equipment that help visually-challenged people.

New Delhi: After boycotting the midnight GST launch on Friday, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi hit out at the government on Monday for taxing equipment for differently-abled people. He also sought the immediate rollback of the tax, and said in a tweet: GST on disability aids like wheelchairs and Braille typewriters once again shows this governments complete insensitivity towards our most vulnerable. Congress Party demands a full rollback of this disability tax that will put millions of our disabled people through further hardship.

In the new GST regime that kicked in from July 1, tax rates for Braille typewriters and papers, carriages for the disabled and wheelchairs and other assistive devices were fixed at rates varying between five to 18 per cent.

The Congress also launched an attack against the government for imposing tax on disability aids. It put out remarks criticising the move on its Twitter handle.

Earlier too, Mr Gandhi had written to the commerce minister to reduce import duty on equipment that help visually-challenged people. These suggestions were accepted by the government and were acted upon in the Union Budget as well.

The rollout of GST has drawn flak from the Congress, which termed it as a tamasha. It said on Twitter: By hastily rolling out GST, Modi Govt has abandoned those who need its support the most. #GSTTamasha.

In Parliaments coming Monsoon Session, the Congress plans to raise issues related to the imposition of tax rates on several commodities. The party is keen to have other Opposition parties on board too in order to collectively corner the government.
US must arrest, hand Hizb chief over to India, says Congress.

New Delhi: Hizbul Mujahideen chief Syed Salahuddin, in a recent interview to a Pakistan TV channel, has threatened India saying the outfit was capable of launching terror strikes anytime and anywhere across India.

While owning up responsibility for promoting terror activities in the Kashmir Valley and specifically targeting security forces, Salahuddin claimed Hizbul Mujahideen had been procuring modern weapons from international arms dealers and the same were being used against Army and para-military forces in the Valley. Till now our focus was on Indian occupation forces. All the operations that we have done or are underway, we focus only on the installations of these occupational forces, Salahuddin said in an interview with Geo TV.

The Union home ministry on Monday criticised Salahuddins remarks against India and said his designation as a global terrorist by the United States was well deserved. The home ministry said that he has been encouraging subversive activities in the Kashmir Valley.

Ministry spokesperson Ashok Prasad said the government has all along maintained that Salahud-din was a terrorist and the recent comments by him only go on to confirm governments stand. Putting Salahuddin in the category of a designated global terrorist by the US is well deserved, he added.

The Congress also said that as the United States has classified Salahuddin as a global terrorist, now its their responsibility to track him down in Pakistan, arrest him and hand him over to India.

Salahuddin has been the chief of Hizbul Mujahideen from its inception. He has been orchestrating terror attacks in India. Since, the USA has now classified him as a global terrorist. Its now responsibility of USA to track him down in Pakistan, arrest him and hand it over to India, Congress leader Manish Tewari told a news agency.

Last week, home secretary Rajiv Mehrishi had said the US move would not only help in restricting Salahuddins movement but also eventually choke his channel of funds. Salahuddin was a coward who had run away to Pakistan. . The US declaration of naming him a designated global terrorist would impact his funding and movement, Mr Mehrishi had said during sidelines of an event in the capital.
An IPS officer was also injured when he was attacked by an angry mob that ransacked his car as well.

As the troubled spot in West Bengal is adjacent to Bangladesh, there is a possibility that outsiders were involved in this violence, Kailash Vijayvargiya said. (Photo: Facebook)

Basirhat: Four companies of central paramilitary forces were rushed to Basirhats Baduria and its adjoining areas on Tuesday evening in wake of the violence due to communal clashes there.

Deputy Inspector General (South Bengal Frontier) of the Border Security Force (BSF) RPS Jaswal informed that four companies of the BSF troops were deployed at Baduria Basirhat, Swarupnagar and Deganga.

Besides a Rapid Action Force (RAF) team of the Kolkata Police, another contingent of force of the Howrah City Police led by its police commissioner DP Singh have also been deployed in the violence-hit areas.

Riot erupted in the area close to the Indo-Bangla border after a youth, Sourav Sarkar from Rudrapur, allegedly uploaded an inflammatory post on his Facebook account which went viral and hurt the sentiment of a minority community on Sunday leading to a clash.

Although Sourav fled at night, he was later arrested by the police from a paddy field on Monday morning. The accused has been remanded by the Basirhat Sub-Division Court in the police custody for four days.

But the public anger continued as many roads were blocked and several houses were torched by the demonstrators. On Tuesday afternoon when Superintendent of Police (North 24 Parganas) Bhaskar Mukherjee visited Jadurhati, he came under attack as well.

The IPS officer was injured after he was beaten up while his vehicle was ransacked by an angry mob.
Cong has also insulted the Army by asking for proofs of surgical strikes across LoC, by comparing Army chief with a goon, the minister said.

New Delhi: The Congress' criticism of the Centre over the Sino-India border row amounted to politicising a defence matter and an insult to our brave soldiers, Union Minister Prakash Javadekar said on Monday.

"The desperate Congress party is insulting the Army day in and day out. At a press conference on Monday, it has raised questions on what is happening at the Sino-India border. While our Army is doing its duty on the Sino-India border, the Congress party is insulting them by raising such questions," he said.

It had insulted the Army earlier also by asking for proofs of the surgical strikes carried out by it across the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir and also when it compared the Army chief with a goon, added the Union human resource development minister.

This attitude of the Congress was condemned by everyone, he said. "In desperation, the Congress has stooped so low that it is now politicising the issues related to defence and external affairs," Javadekar said, adding that it was strange that the party which ruled the country for 50 years was doing this.

The Union minister is scheduled to visit China to attend a meeting with education ministers of the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) countries.

"We will discuss various issues to improve the quality of education and other related issues. We also want to have a more important role in the UNESCO," he said.

Javadekar will also meet the faculty members and office-bearers of the Beijing University during his two-day trip to China. Expressing concern over the rising incidents of infiltration along the Sino-India border, the Congress said national security was "going through turbulent times".

Unfortunately, it appeared that the government was caught napping, it said, while blaming the Centre for not implementing the accords on the Sino-India border signed by the erstwhile UPA regime.
The Delhi Dialogue, being held annually since 2009, is a premier annual event to discuss politico-security, economic and social ties.

New Delhi: The Delhi Dialogue 9, themed in 2017 on "ASEAN-India Relations: Charting the Course for the Next 25 Years", begins in New Delhi Tuesday evening, with Minister for External Affairs Sushma Swaraj hosting the ministerial session.

Political leaders, policy makers, senior officials, diplomats, business leaders, think tanks and academicians from both sides are participating in the discussions.

The Delhi Dialogue, being held annually since 2009, is a premier annual track 1.5 event to discuss politico-security, economic and socio-cultural engagement between ASEAN and India.

This dialogue is being organised by the Ministry of External Affairs in collaboration with Observer Research Foundation (ORF), Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), Institute of South Asian Studies (ISAS), Singapore, SAEA Group Research, Singapore, Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA), Jakarta, Institute of Strategic and International Studies (ISIS), Malaysia, Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam, Indian Council of World Affairs (ICWA) and ASEAN-India Centre. It is supported by the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER); the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII); the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM); All India Association of Industries (AIAI), Mumbai; and Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC), Kolkata.

Besides Mrs Swaraj, the ministerial session would be participated by Gen. (Dr.) V.K. Singh, Minister of State for External Affairs; Mr. Sarbananda Sonowal, Chief Minister of Assam; Mr. Pham Binh Minh, Deputy Prime Minister & Minister of Foreign Affairs, Vietnam; Mr. U Kyaw Tint Swe, Union Minister, Ministry of the Office of the State Counsellor, Myanmar and Mr. Hirubalan V P, Deputy Secretary-General for ASEAN Political-Security Community Department, ASEAN Secretariat.

General VK Singh will participate in the panel discussion of the Ministerial Session titled Waters of Asia: Cultural, Social and Political Ties along with Dr. Maliki Osman, Senior Minister of State for Defence and Foreign Affairs, Singapore; Mr. Virasakdi Futrakul, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Thailand; Mr. Sengphet Houngboungnuang, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Lao PDR; Dato Erywan Pehin Yusof, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Brunei Darussalam and Dr. Sok Siphana, Advisor to the Royal Government, Cambodia.

The Business and Academic Session would be held parallel to each other following a joint inaugural session on 5 July. The joint inaugural session will be addressed by Secretary (East), Ministry of External Affairs, as well as by the Presidents of FICCI, CII, ASSOCHAM, ICC, AIAI and Vice President of ORF.

The five business chambers, namely FICCI, CII, ASSOCHAM, AIAI and ICC will chair a panel discussion each in the course of the day on the following themes: International economic trends and their impact on India and ASEAN; India-ASEAN Trade Relations; Building Regional Network to promote SMEs and Women's Empowerment; India-ASEAN Infrastructure Investments: Current Scenario and the Way Forward; and Trade & Tourism through Connectivity - Focus North East & East.

ORF is organising the Academic Session which would feature panel discussions on the following themes: Regional Geopolitics: Great Power Politics in the Asia-Pacific; New Connectivity Paradigms in the Asia-Pacific; Technology, Innovation and Big Data; and Socio-Cultural Engagement and Diaspora Links.

These academic sessions will be participated by scholars and experts from prominent universities and institutes in India, Indonesia, Vietnam, Malaysia, Japan, Cambodia, Singapore and Laos.

There would be a Concluding Plenary titled Looking Ahead which will focus on key takeaways from Delhi Dialogue 9 to chart the course for India-ASEAN relations for the next 25 years.

The 10 member Committee of Permanent Representatives of ASEAN countries and 15 senior media personnel from ASEAN would be attending the event. A live webcast of the proceedings of the Ministerial Session on 4 July and the Business and Academic Session on 5 July will also be available.
Nevada has yet to finalize the exact number of stores that regulators will approve.

Nevada, the only state where both gambling and prostitution are legal, is adding recreational marijuana to its list of sanctioned indulgences for adults, with sales kicking off at more than dozen shops beginning on Saturday. As result of a legalization measure approved by Nevada voters in November, the state will join four other U.S. states and the District of Columbia in allowing recreational sales.

Authorized marijuana shops will be able to sell up to one ounce (28 grams) for recreational use by customers 21 years and older, said Stephanie Klapstein, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Taxation. Public consumption of marijuana is prohibited, and Nevada has enacted new regulations against edible forms of pot that could appeal to children, such as fruit-shaped candies infused with cannabis. Nevada is also imposing a 10 percent excise tax on pot sales in addition to the regular 4.6 percent state sales tax.

Nevada has yet to finalize the exact number of stores that regulators will approve. Sixty applications were submitted from across the state, according to Klapstein, whose department is overseeing the state's pot market. Only medical cannabis dispensaries, which became legal in the state in 2015, are eligible to apply for licenses for recreational sales.

Many of them are expected to open in Las Vegas, Nevada's largest city and gambling magnet. "Tens of millions of visitors per year from all over the U.S. and around the world will see firsthand that regulating marijuana works," said Mason Tvert, a spokesman for the Marijuana Policy Project, a group that backed the November 2016 ballot measure.

Voters in three other states - California, Maine and Massachusetts - have also approved marijuana legalization. In 2012, Washington and Colorado were the first states to legalize recreational marijuana, followed by Oregon and Alaska. Marijuana remains illegal under federal law. Most U.S. states allow it for medical purposes, but not for recreation.

A U.S. Department of Justice spokesman in an email declined to comment on Nevada's state-sanctioned marijuana sales and added that the department is reviewing its policies on marijuana enforcement. U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions has long opposed easing marijuana restrictions. At a speech in March, he described marijuana as "only slightly less awful" than heroin and said the United States needed to discourage drug use.
BJP has already launched its door-to-door campaign.

New Delhi: Political deliberations begin in Delhi amid speculations of a mid-term poll. Sources said the decision by the Election Commission (EC), over the 20 AAP MLAs, would set the tone for future course in the national capital. BJP has already launched its door-to-door campaign in the name of vistarak programme.

The BJP is anticipating disqualification of 20 AAP MLAs, who were appointed as parliamentary secretaries. A party insider claimed that at least half-a-dozen AAP legislators were already in touch with BJP after its massive victory in the civic polls. They have expressed their willingness to switch loyalty. However, the party is yet to make a call.

Further, eight other MLAs are also likely to face disqualification under office-of-profit for being appointed as chairpersons of Rogi Kalyan Samitis in different government hospitals in the city, he added. Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari said this was a favorable time for the expansion of the party through mass outreach programmes.

Since June 23, our vistaraks are out in the field. They have been tasked with strengthening BJPs ground in Delhi, adding over 1.5 lakh new members to the party, Mr Tiwari said.

The vistaraks have been interacting with voters and creating awareness about government policies and the partys vision.

This also gives the party an opportunity to assess the functioning and popularity of the government on the lowest level, added Mr Tiwari.

BJP has already deployed around 50,000 workers to reach out to the voters across the city along with 9,227 vistaraks. Delhi BJP general secretary Rajesh Bhatia told this newspaper that the party has trained 9,411 vistaraks, of whom 9,227 are in the field. These vistaraks are assisted by over 45,000 BJP workers at the booth levels.

Meanwhile, in an attempt to reach out to the first time voters, Delhi BJP has appealed the youths to get enrolled in the voter list.
After the woman approached police with a complaint, the 28-year-old accused was arrested.

New Delhi: An auto driver has been arrested for allegedly raping a 23-year-old woman in east Delhi's Ghazipur.

The incident happened on July 2.

After the woman approached police with a complaint, the 28-year-old accused was arrested.

The accused is currently in judicial custody.

Further details are awaited.
Conducts raids in 10 locations Accused had opened several shell firms.

The searches were conducted on the basis of information received by the directorate (ED) that Naresh Chand Jain and his brother Bimal Kumar Jain are involved in large scale hawala and illegal activities. (Photo: PTI)

New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has seized Rs 27 lakh in cash during searches on the premises of an alleged hawala dealer based in Delhi.

According to sources, the agency recently conducted searches at 10 locations in the national capital, including at Pitampura, Vikaspuri, Rohini and Wazirpur, of Naresh Chand Jain, an alleged hawala dealer. Sources added details of some foreign bank accounts were also seized during searches.

The searches were conducted on the basis of information received by the directorate (ED) that Naresh Chand Jain and his brother Bimal Kumar Jain are involved in large scale hawala and illegal activities.

Naresh Chand Jain has been indulging in opening of shell companies and generation of fake invoices which he uses for making bogus import and exports, the Enforcement Directorate said in a statement.

The seized `27 lakh includes Indian and foreign currencies from Dubai, Hong Kong, the US and the Philippines.

Documents related to various shell companies, stamps, letterheads, fake invoices of various shell companies were also recovered apart from hard discs, mobiles, several Permanent Account Number (PAN) cards, voter ID cards, digital payment devices of various foreign banks and SIM cards of Nepal and Dubai, it said.

The Enforcement Directorate said Naresh Chand Jain and his brother have been doing hawala transfers to Dubai, Singapore, Hong Kong, China, Nepal, the United States of America, Europe and other countries.

Details of various bank accounts maintained in Dubai were also seized from the searched premises. Investigation by the ED has revealed that Naresh Chand Jain registered shell companies by paying certain persons a sum of Rs 5,000-50,000 for becoming a director in his companies.

These fake directors and shell companies were later used by Naresh Chand Jain and his associates for hawala and illegal activities, it said. The agency is investigating the case under sections of the Foreign Exchange Manag-ement Act.
I was hurt so deeply that I thought I would quit my post, said Mamata Banerjee.

Kolkata: In an unprecedented move, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee accused Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi of threatening and insulting her over phone during their conversation on the reports of violence due to communal clashes at Basirhat in North 24 Parganas.

Exploding in fury at the state secretariat, Nabanna, she told the media in the afternoon, "The Governor called up me on my phone and threatened me. He also insulted me. I never felt so humiliated in my life. I was so deeply hurt that I thought I would quit my post. The Governor was talking like a BJP Block president. He cannot threaten me."

Read: Facebook post sparks communal violence in WBs Basirhat; 4 BSF companies deployed

Banerjee said, "His post is constitutional. A Governor is appointed by the Centre while the CM is elected by the people of the state. I made it clear to him that he cannot talk to me in that tone. I have not become the chief minister with his blessings. We are neither thieves nor dacoits."

Banerjee also wondered how a Governor could question her government's ability to tackle the law and order situation. She also slammed Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). In agitation, she asked the journalists to not question her.

Also read: BJP seeks Centre's interference as communal clashes break out in WB

In the evening, the Raj Bhavan in a statement rubbished the CM's allegations.

The Raj Bhavan statement said, "The Honble Governor is surprised at the attitude and language used by the Honble Chief Minister during the Press conference today. The talks between the Honble Chief Minister and the Honble Governor were confidential in nature and none is expected to disclose it."

It added, "However, there was nothing in the talks for which the Honble Chief Minister may have felt insulted, threatened or humiliated. The Honble Governor did say to the Honble Chief Minister to ensure peace and law and order by all means. The Honble Governor always holds the persons, who occupy the Constitutional positions, in high esteem."

According to the statement, "The Honble Governor, being the Head of the State, is the guardian of all the citizens of the State and not of any particular party or section of society. It is proper for the Honble Governor to bring to the notice of the Honble Chief Minister any serious grievance made by any member of public or any serious event happening in the State. The Honble Governor cannot remain a mute spectator of the affairs in the State."

A delegation of BJP and RSS leaders visited Tripathi at Raj Bhavan at around 2:30 pm. They showed him some photographs of the violence-hit areas and sought his intervention.

At around 3:30 pm the Governor called up the chief minister on her mobile who was holding a meeting on the development of Kalighat Temple with some of her cabinet ministers at Nabanna then, sources disclosed.

Banerjee left the meeting and attended the Governor's call, sources revealed, adding that their conversation however turned bitter as he wanted to know from her about the situation at Basirhat.
Prime Minister Modi will on Tuesday begin his two nation tour starting from Israel.

Mumbai: President of All India Jewish Welfare Association Chen Jacob Nagawkar on Tuesday expressed excitement ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Israel visit, saying that the excitement among the Indian community in Israel is phenomenal .

"This is fantastic news for us. In the existence of Israel from 1948, this is the first time that an Indian Prime Minister is visiting Israel. We are very happy and excited about it. We are very glad that Narendra Modi has officially accepted the relation with Israel and is taking it forward to this extent. If you see the excitement among the Indian community in Israel and India, it is phenomenal," Nagawkar said.

Prime Minister Modi will on Tuesday begin his two nation tour starting from Israel.

Upon arriving in Israel, Prime Minster Modi will hold talks with his counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu in Tel Aviv on all matters of mutual interest. This year both the countries are commemorating 25 years of diplomatic relations.

The Prime Minster, in his Facebook post, said, both leaders will also discuss major common challenges like terrorism.

During the visit, he will engage with a cross section of Israeli society. The Prime Minister said, he is looking forward to interacting with the large vibrant Indian diaspora in Israel that represents an enduring link between the two countries.

The Prime Minister will also call on President Reuven Rivlin.

Prime Minister Modi will address the Indian community in an event in Tel Aviv. He will also attend a CEO forum in which CEOs of companies from both the nations will participate to discuss their shared priority of expanding the bilateral trade and investment.

The Prime Minister will also visit the Indian cemetery in Haifa where he will pay homage to Indian soldiers who laid down their lives during the first world war.

In the second and final leg of his tour, Prime Minsiter Modi will visit Hamburg in Germany to attend the 12th G-20 Summit.
The demonetisation led to the increased numbers of paperless transactions in the country, which also opened more opportunities attackers.

As government and financial firms in India promote cashless transactions seven months after the revolutionary demonetisation of the two major bills in the country, global cybersecurity company Kaspersky Lab urged for a major beefing up of online defences of consumers and banks against hackers.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced in November last year the termination of Rs. 500 and Rs. 1,000 banknotes of the Mahatma Gandhi series to eradicate the use of black money which reportedly funds terrorism and illegal activities in India.

The demonetisation led to the increased numbers of paperless transactions in the country, which also opened more opportunities for money-hungry attackers.

The long queues on ATM machines and the shortage in currency bills resulted to the rise of the more convenient use of digital payments and electronic wallets. While transacting money online is indeed easier compared to the traditional method, it is more dangerous too. Its a well-known fact that hackers are almost always motivated by money, and the growth of a cashless economy in India would attract their attention, undoubtedly, warns Stephan Neumeier, Managing Director at Kaspersky Lab Asia Pacific.

The results of Kaspersky Cybersecurity Index for the second half of 2016 revealed the top internet activity in India is online shopping. This is followed by emailing, watching movies, and using social media sites.

Almost all (96 per cent) of the respondents admitted to using the internet in purchasing goods online. A great majority of the them (84 per cent) also use their devices in banking and in paying online through digital wallets.

Kaspersky Labs data for 2016 also showed users from India are among the most attacked by banking malware, along with those from Russia, Germany, Japan, Vietnam, and the United States.

It is a must for consumers, banks, and the government to work together in beefing up Indias cybersecurity defences to safeguard money online. Like constructing a sturdy fortress, securing payment networks, banking systems, and the internet itself requires a brick-by-brick approach. In this case, the bricks are the highly-cybersavvy users and the efficient cybersecurity solutions. Lack of either can create a vulnerability that cyber attackers are waiting for and willing to exploit, explains Neumeier.

To help more users in India achieve a safer and more secure online banking and shopping experience, we are launching a promo Secure Your Online Transactions where Kaspersky Total Security and Kaspersky Internet Security will be at 25 per cent off starting June 29 until August 15, 2017, said Altaf Halde, Managing Director, Kaspersky Lab South Asia.

To help online users in ensuring the safety of their transactions via the internet, Kaspersky Lab security experts suggest the following basic security tips:

- Dont assume links are genuine. When you need to visit an online bank, a retailer or a payment website, you should manually type in the URL  instead of clicking on a link.

- Beware of fake communications. Most financial organizations will never send emails asking customers to: send personal data in an email, visit their site for authorization, or enter personal data in pop-up windows.

- Check the URL. When youre visiting a web page that needs you to enter confidential data, carefully check that the address of the page thats shown on the browser corresponds with the page that you are intending to access. If the URL is made up of a random selection of letters and numbers  or it looks suspicious  do not input any information.

- Use encryption. Make sure that you use an encrypted connection, whenever you need to input any confidential data. If a connection is secure, the URL will start with the letters https and the address bar or the browsers status bar will display a small icon of a lock.

- Use your own computer  and your own Internet connection. Try to avoid using public computers  in Internet cafes, airports, clubs, hotels, libraries or other locations  when you need to access online banking services or online retailers. These public computers may have a variety of spyware programs running on them, which could record everything you type on the keyboard  including your passwords  and also intercept Internet traffic. Even if you use your own computer for online transactions, you need to avoid connecting to the Internet via a public Wi-Fi network. On a public Wi-Fi network, there is a risk that the traffic might be intercepted by the networks administrator or by cybercriminals  and attacks might be launched with network worms.

- Dont use your main credit card or debit card. You might benefit from having a special card that you only use for online purchases. It may be possible to restrict the credit limit for your online credit card or to hold a limited amount of money on your online debit card.

- Be wary of potentially untrustworthy sites. It can be a good idea to avoid buying from retailers that have websites that are registered with free hosting services.

- Get additional information about the website. If you have any doubts or suspicions about a retailers website, use a WhoIs IP service in order to find out more information about the domain  including how long it has been in use and who owns it. Note the period of time for which the domain has been paid.

- Eliminate vulnerabilities  in your operating system and applications. Always ensure that the operating system  and all applications  on your computer and other devices have the latest updates installed. This will help eliminate operating system and application vulnerabilities that can be exploited by malicious software programs and attacks. Windows OS products are often targets of vulnerabilities so be sure you're secure whether you are running the newest OS, XP, or Windows 7, security is essential.

- Maintain your firewall. For additional security, instead of just running a standard firewall, you may choose to run application and software-based firewalls.

- Protect against malware and Internet security risks. A rigorous anti-malware solution can protect you against computer viruses, worms, Trojan viruses and more. Some anti-malware products also include special technologies that provide additional layers of security when youre using online shopping and banking websites.

Kaspersky Total Security is equipped with two key features, Secure Connection and Safe Money, which help in safeguarding online transactions. Secure Connection decrypts all data sent and received through a network which results to a safer internet connection while Safe Money is a functionality which verifies if the site is genuine and protects all transferred financial information against data theft.
The governor Diffa region said the village had been singled out because it was known for its resistance to the jihadists.

The attack happened on Sunday at the village of Ngalewa, near the border with Nigeria. (Photo: AFP)

Niamey (Niger): Boko Haram jihadists have kidnapped 37 women and slit the throats of nine other people at a village in southeastern Niger, the regional governor said Tuesday.

The attack happened on Sunday at the village of Ngalewa, near the border with Nigeria, the governor of Diffa region, Laouali Mahamane Dan Dano, told state TV.

"Boko Haram elements... slit the throats of nine people... they took women, 37 women, and departed with them," he said.

"The defence and security forces are already in pursuit, and we hope that in the coming days these women will be found and freed," he said.

The governor, who went to Ngalewa on Monday, said the village had been singled out because it was known for its resistance to the jihadists.

The assailants came by foot for greater stealth, he said.

The village's mayor, Abari El Hadj Daouda, said by phone that the attack happened on Sunday evening, "between 10 and 11pm."

"About 30 or 40 women and children were kidnapped... (and) nine people killed," he said.

The village lies a few kilometres (miles) north of the town of Kabalewa, where there was a suicide attack last Wednesday.

Diffa, which as a population of around 600,000 people, has suffered a string of attacks by the Nigeria-based Boko Haram since 2015.

Around 300,000 people displaced by jihadist attacks have taken refuge in the region, which already grapples with grinding poverty.

In April 2014, Islamist militants seized 276 schoolgirls from the remote northeast Nigerian town of Chibok, 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.

The attack on Sunday coincided with a visit to Niger's western neighbour Mali by French President Emmanuel Macron, aimed at boosting multinational efforts to fight jihadism in countries south of the Sahara.

The so-called G5 Sahel nations -- Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger -- plan to set up a regional force.
Macron will use the speech to set out his vision for France at a rare sitting of both the National Assembly and Senate.

Paris: French President Emmanuel Macron addressed both houses of Parliament in the splendour of the Palace of Versailles on Monday, a move seen by critics as further evidence of his regal style of ruling.

Mr Macron will use the speech, which has been billed as a US-style state of the nation address, to set out his vision for France at a rare sitting of both the National Assembly and Senate. Lawmakers from the two houses are usually called together only in times of national crisis, but Macron has convened the session, which he plans to make an annual event, to lay out his vision and priorities two months after his election.

The event has spurred unease over a growing concentration of power in the presidency, with his speech seen as proof of what critics call his monarchical drift.

The address in the former seat of kings comes a day before Prime Minister Edouard Philippe delivers the governments traditional policy statement to the newly elected 577-seat National Assembly.

The press and opposition parties have accused 39-year-old Macron of pulling the rug from under his premiers feet, and slammed his refusal to take questions after his address. A media darling during his campaign, Macron has kept the press at arms length since his election. His speeches have been carefully choreographed affairs, designed for maximum visual impact, but he also sets aside time during public outings to greet members of the public and pose for selfies.
Cornered ISIS makes last stand, launches suicide attacks.

Mosul/Erbil: ISIS fighters were battling to hold on to the last few streets under their control in the Old City of Mosul on Monday, making a doomed last stand in their former Iraqi stronghold.

In fierce fighting, Iraqi Army units forced the insurgents back into a shrinking rectangle no more than 300 by 500 meters beside the Tigris river, according to a map published by the military media office.

Smoke covered parts of the Old City, which were rocked by airstrikes and artillery salvos through Monday morning.

The number of ISIS militants fighting in Mosul has dwindled from thousands at the start of the government offensive more than eight months ago to a mere couple of hundred now, according to the Iraqi military.

With its territory shrinking fast, ISIS has been stepping up suicide attacks in the parts of Mosul. On Sunday, a male suicide bomber dressed in a woman's veil killed 14 people west of Baghdad.

Iraqi forces said that they expected to reach the Tigris and regain full control over the city by the end of this week. Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi is expected to visit Mosul to formally declare victory, and a week of nationwide celebrations is planned.

Mosul is by far the largest city captured by ISIS. It was here, nearly three years ago to the day, that it declared the founding of its caliphate over parts of Iraq and Syria.

With Mosul gone, its territory in Iraq will be limited to areas west and south of the city.
The Prime Ministers trip is a cause of genuine excitement for the small Jewish Indian community in Israel.

Modi's three-day visit beginning on Tuesday - the first ever of an Indian Prime Minister to Israel - is a landmark moment for the Jewish state. (Photo: ANI Twitter)

Ramla (Tel Aviv): At a curry house in central Israel, a poster welcoming Prime Minister Narendra Modi greets patrons even before they encounter the rich scent of spices wafting from the kitchen.

Modi's three-day visit beginning on Tuesday - the first ever of an Indian Prime Minister to Israel - is a landmark moment for the Jewish state, a country seeking the friendship of powerful allies and customers for its advanced military equipment.

But for members of the small Jewish Indian community in Israel, the trip is a cause of genuine excitement and a unique opportunity to increase their visibility.

"There's not a single (Indian) household that's not talking about it. This is all people are talking about," said Elazar Ashtivker, owner of the Maharaja restaurant in the city of Ramla, south of Tel Aviv.

"It's historic," he said.

The fast-talking 33-year-old's parents, who were born in India, opened the restaurant in its first incarnation in the 1980s because they felt "the community was in decline".

Initially, the restaurant served the Indian community nearly exclusively.

But in the 1990s the trend of Israelis travelling to Asia after completing their military service became wildly popular, and many returned home with a taste for the Maharaja's spicy delicacies.

The restaurant serves what Ashtivker calls "mainstream Indian food" but also sells peppers, vegetables and imported spices.

The wording on the poster is in the colours of the Indian flag and invites members of the Indian community, in Hebrew and English, to a July 5 meeting with Modi in Tel Aviv.

"There's a lot of excitement," Ashtivker said. "Everyone has signed up and everyone is going."

"If you looked for Indians in Israel on the 5th you won't find any. They'll all be at the convention centre," he said with a laugh.

Estimates put the number of Jews of Indian origin in Israel at about 100,000, according to Eliaz Dandeker, a historian and author documenting the community.

Even those of Indian origin born in Israel maintain a "deep connection" to their ancestral homeland, said Dandeker, including through music, cinema, food and cultural events.

Events in Israel have featured appearances by Indian actors.

Jews made their way to India over the course of the last 3,000 years, and by and large have not suffered religious and racist persecution in the country.

They began coming to Israel en masse in the late 1940s and early 1950s for religious and other reasons.

Many of them settled in rural communities to become farmers, while others moved to peripheral towns throughout the country.

In the first years following the creation of the state of Israel in 1948, many Indian immigrants abandoned their names and traditions as part of the era's "melting pot" ideal.

"There's more openness today" to Indian culture, the 34-year-old Dandeker said. "The younger generations want to know more."

In his spice shop near the Maharaja, Shaul Divekar, who emigrated from India as a child, scoops red lentils from a sack into a plastic bag, chatting from behind his counter with two customers.

The conversation fluctuates between the goods that arrived from India and the prime minister who is about to.

Divekar proudly notes he is in charge of one of the seven buses taking Indian Israelis from Ramla to Wednesday's meeting with Modi.

"He's special," Divekar said of Modi, a Bollywood music video playing on a laptop behind the cash register.

"He likes Jews," proudly offers a tall bearded man in his 30s standing nearby the Indian DVD collection in Divekar's store, his Hebrew heavy with an Indian accent.

Dandeker, the historian, notes that Jewish Indians in Israel have been called the "invisible Jews" since they are neither Ashkenazis from Europe nor Sephardis from Africa and the Middle East.

While members of the community have reached prominence in Israel in fields including medicine and the military, "a lot of them don't stress their origins".

And with many of them having changed their last names to sound more Israeli, "it's hard to spot them," said Dandeker.

Modi's visit and its potential to generate interest among Israelis in Indian culture could help raise the profile of the Indian community.

"We expect it to help advance our community," said Ashtivker, the restaurateur. "We're a small community here and don't really stand out."
India has a right to defend itself against terrorists in the same way as Israel has a right to defend itself from terrorists, official said.

Jerusalem: Asserting that both India and Israel suffer from the "evil" forces of terrorism, the Jewish nation has said it completely supports New Delhi in its fight against terror emanating from Pakistan and within the country.

"Israel has never hidden the fact that it supports India hook, line and sinker on the subject of terrorism," the deputy director general of Israels foreign ministry, Mark Sofer, told reporters here.

Read: PM Modi describes India-Israel ties as special

"We are not asking for a quid pro quo. You have suffered from terrorism from inside India, and not just emanating from Pakistan, which has been seen in recent history," he said.

Condemning terrorism in all forms, the Israeli official said outfits like Lashkar-e-Taiba and Hamas were no different from each other and added that both India and Israel have the right to defend themselves.

Read: Israel adopts resolution for strengthening ties with India

"We feel that India has a right to defend itself against terrorists in the same way as Israel has a right to defend itself from terrorists. We are both suffering from the same scourge. I really don't see any difference between the Lashkar-e-Taiba and the Hamas; I never did and I don't today. A terrorist is a terrorist," said Sofer, who has served as ambassador to India.

"Killing people for some sort of spurious or inexplicable ideological aim is terrorism, however you look at it. And that is what is happening from outside into India and coming from outside into Israel as well. We both clearly share the same struggle against the forces of evil," he said.
In their speeches, PM Netanyahu and Modi described each other as, my friend and embraced each other 3 times.

Tel Aviv: Laying the foundation of a new chapter in relations with Israel, Prime Minister Narendra Modi began his "ground-breaking" visit on Tuesday, receiving an extraordinary welcome by the Jewish nation.

The personal chemistry and the warmth between Modi and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was apparent in their remarks and their hugs.

Reflecting the importance that Israel is according to the first visit by an Indian prime minister since Israel's establishment 70 years ago, the host nation pulled out all stops to welcome Modi -- Netanyahu broke protocol to come to the Ben Gurion airport, an honour reserved only for the US President and the Pope; Netanyahu's entire Cabinet was also present as were representatives of various religious orders.

In their prepared speeches, both leaders described each other as, "my friend" and embraced each other three times. "Aapka swagat hai, mere dost (welcome, my friend)," Netanyahu said in Hindi, adding, "We love India." Modi responded by speaking a few words in Hebrew, "Shalom (hello), I am happy to be here."

Read: Israel visit: Modi encourages cooperation against terrorism at welcome address

Behind the overt affection and friendship, lies deep political significance as India for the first time has delinked its relationship with Israel from its traditional support to Palestine. But, India now hopes to leverage its relationship with Israel to attract more investment, and gain from Israeli cutting-edge technology and defence.

"It is truly a historic visit," said Netanyahu while welcoming Modi who was wearing a cream colour 'band gala' suit and a dark blue handkerchief in the pocket.

At the start of the three-day visit, Modi was also accorded a Guard of Honour after an Israeli military band played the national anthems of the two countries.

Hailing Modi as "a great leader of India and a great world leader", Netanyahu said, "we have been waiting for the last 70 years" for a visit by an Indian prime minister.

They vowed to give a push to the bilateral relationship in all aspects and jointly deal with the common threats like terrorism.

Read: Hes special: Indian Jews in Israel prepare to welcome, meet Narendra Modi

"I remember what you told me in our first meeting  when it comes to India and Israel relations, the sky is the limit. But now, prime minister, let me add even sky is not the limit.

We are also cooperating in space," Netanyahu told Modi. Talking about the vast possibilities of cooperation between the two countries, he said, "We can do even more, even better together."

Speaking later, Modi said, "It is my honour to be the first ever Indian prime to undertake this ground-breaking visit to Israel." He said his visit was about the strength of the two societies and their strong partnership.

"Building a strong and resilient relationship with Israel will be my intent and focus...We have to secure our societies against the common threat of terrorism," Modi said.

"Together, we can do even more and even better (for India-Israel ties)," he added.

Noting that India is an old civilisation but a young nation, Modi said, "We have a talented and skilled youth, who are our driving force."

Describing Israel as an "important development partner", he said, "This is an exciting journey that we will undertake together, for the good of our people and our society."

Modi said his visit celebrates the strength of centuries-old links between the two societies and "based on these bonds, our partnership has maintained a strong and sustained upswing since the establishment of full relationship, diplomatic relations, 25 years ago."
Narendra Modi arrives in Israel in the first-ever visit to the country by an Indian PM. More details awaited.

Tel Aviv: Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived at Israels Tel Aviv airport in a historical first time visit by any Indian prime minister.

Modi will be in Israel till July 6 before travelling to Hamburg in Germany to attend the G-20 Summit.

Here are the updates:

The official welcoming ceremony at the Ben Gurion airport ends.

A progressive partnership in all these areas would shape the scope of my conversation with my friend PM Benjamin Netanyahu: Modi

We are cooperating to secure our societies against common threats such as terrorism: Modi

I am keen to interact with Indian diaspora in Israel, including large number of Jews of Indian origin: Modi

My visit marks a pathbreaking journey of our engagement: Modi

It is my singular honor to be the first ever PM of India to undertake this groundbreaking visit to Israel: Modi

The Prime Minister of India takes the podium.

I am confident of the real mathematics of life, of success of our partnership for many reasons; talent of our people. Even sky is not the limit in cooperation between India and Israel: Israeli PM

We admire your culture, history, democracy and commitment to progress: Netanyahu

Welcome to IsraelAapka Swagat Hai Mere Dost. We have been waiting for you, for a long time. We love India: Israel PM Benjamin Netanyahu.

Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu arrives at Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion airport to receive Narendra Modi.

PM Modi to be received by his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has landed at Tel Avivs Ben Gurion airport and is set to get a red carpet welcome from the Israeli delegates.

In Israel, he will also meet President Reuven Ruvi Rivlin and address the CEOs of the two countries as well as the Indian diaspora.

He will also visit the Yad Vashem Memorial Museum to honour the memory of the victims of the holocaust that counts among the greatest tragedies in human history.

Modi will also pay his respects to the courageous Indian soldiers who laid down their lives during the liberation of Haifa in 1918.

"I begin a historic visit to Israel, a very special partner of India's... As the first Indian prime minister to do so, I am greatly looking forward to this unprecedented visit that will bring our two countries and people closer," he had said in a statement here yesterday.

"I look forward to holding extensive talks with my friend, @IsraeliPM @netanyahu, who shares a commitment for vibrant India-Israel ties," he had tweeted.

The Prime Minister had said he will have "in-depth talks" with Netanyahu "on the full spectrum of our partnership and strengthening it in diverse fields for mutual benefit. We will also have the chance to discuss major common challenges like terrorism."

This year, India and Israel are marking 25 years of their diplomatic relations.

"My programme during the visit gives me an opportunity to engage with a cross-section of Israeli society. I am particularly looking forward to interacting with the large vibrant Indian diaspora in Israel that represents an enduring link between our two peoples," Modi had said.

On the economic side, he had said, "I will join with leading Indian and Israeli CEOs and start-ups to discuss our shared priority of expanding business and investment collaboration on the ground."

On July 6, the prime minister will travel to Hamburg for the G-20 Summit being hosted by Germany on July 7-8.

The theme chosen for this year is 'Shaping an Inter-connected World'.

"I look forward to engaging leaders from other G-20 countries on the vital issues affecting our world today that have a bearing on economic growth, sustainable development, and peace and stability," he had said.

"We will review progress on decisions since the Hangzhou Summit last year and deliberate on issues of terrorism, climate, sustainable development, growth and trade,

digitalisation, health, employment, migration, womens empowerment, and partnership with Africa," Modi had added.
Qatari Foreign Minister met with Security Council members on Friday to discuss the rupture in ties with Saudi Arabia and allies.

Qatar said it had received the demands on June 22 with just 10 days to meet them, which would mean they would have until Sunday to comply. (Photo: AFP)

United Nations: The UN Security Council has told Qatar to sort out its differences with its Gulf neighbors, China's ambassador said Monday, indicating the top UN body would not get involved in the dispute.

Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani met with Security Council members on Friday to discuss the rupture in ties with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt.

Chinese Ambassador Liu Jieyi, who holds the council presidency this month, said "the best way would be (that) the countries concerned work out a solution through dialogue and through consultations among themselves, because we don't see any other alternative to that."

Read: Gulf crisis: Qatar defiant as Saudi extends deadline by 48 hours

"Whatever the countries can do to mend the fences and to get back to good neighborly relations, that would certainly be welcomed by China," said Liu.

Al-Jazeera reported that the foreign minister had asked Security Council members to urge Saudi-led nations to lift restrictions on the use of airspace and other transportation links with Qatar.

Saudi Arabia and its allies announced on June 5 they were severing ties with Qatar and later put forward a list of 13 demands.

They accuse Qatar of supporting extremism and of being too close to Saudi Arabia's regional arch-rival Iran, which Doha has strongly denied.

The demands included Doha ending support for the Muslim Brotherhood, closing Al-Jazeera, downgrading diplomatic ties with Iran and shutting down a Turkish military base in the emirate.

Read: After having deadline extended, Qatar responds to Arab states demands

Sheikh Mohammed had earlier said the list of demands was "made to be rejected" and on Monday British lawyers for Qatar denounced the demands as "an affront to international law."
Modi was instrumental in getting the UN to declare June 21 as the International Yoga Day.

Tel Aviv: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tonight said he has been inspired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's enthusiasm for Yoga and cited yogic asanas to link the two flourishing democracies of the world.

"I have to confess that I have been inspired by Modi's enthusiasm for Yoga," Netanyahu said in a press statement along with Prime Minister Modi.

Underlining that he wants to start practising Yoga, he said, "Modi advised me to start at lower level. I am starting at a lower level. When I do a relaxing Tadaasana in the morning and I turn my head to right, India is the first democracy I see and when Modi does a relaxing Vasisthasana and he turns left, Israel is the first democracy he can see. So in fact we have India and Israel two sister democracies," Netanyahu said.

Modi was instrumental in getting the UN to declare June 21 as the International Yoga Day.

The United Nations General Assembly declared June 21 as the International Day of Yoga in December 2014. Over 190 countries, including 40 Islamic nations, supported the move to have a special day for yoga.
Trump urged North Korea's biggest ally, China, to "put a heavy move on North Korea and end this nonsense once and for all!"

The missile launch comes as the Trump administration has displayed increasing frustration with China's reluctance to put more pressure on North Korea. (Photo: AP)

Washington: President Donald Trump criticized North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Monday after that country's latest missile launch, asking, "Does this guy have anything better to do with his life?"

Trump wrote on Twitter that it's "Hard to believe that South Korea ... and Japan will put up with this much longer."

And he urged North Korea's biggest ally, China, to "put a heavy move on North Korea and end this nonsense once and for all!"

South Korean officials said early Tuesday that North Korea had launched another ballistic missile toward Japan, part of a string of recent test-firings as the North works to build a nuclear-tipped missile that could reach the United States.

Read: North Korea launches ballistic missile, says South Korea military

The Defense Department said US Pacific Command detected and tracked the launch of a land-based, intermediate range ballistic missile from North Korea's Panghyon Airfield. The missile was tracked for 37 minutes and landed in the Sea of Japan.

Shortly before Trump's tweets, the White House said he had been briefed on the South Korean report.

The missile launch comes as the Trump administration has displayed increasing frustration with China's reluctance to put more pressure on North Korea. Last week, the US blacklisted a small Chinese bank over its business ties with North Korea.

The White House said Trump brought up the North Korean missile program during a phone call Sunday with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Chinese state media reported that Xi warned Trump that "some negative factors" are hurting US-China relations.

Read: Its time for Chinas bluff to be called over North Korea

The New York Times, citing anonymous administration officials, reported Monday that Trump told Xi the US was ready to act on its own against North Korea.

A senior US official told foreign policy experts last week that the US has made clear to China that Chinese banks and companies conducting business with Pyongyang will face sanctions if there is no movement on North Korea's nuclear activities, a participant in the meeting told The Associated Press.

The individual wasn't authorized to speak publicly on the matter and asked that his name and that of the senior official be withheld.
Sartaj Aziz said Salahuddin being designated a terrorist by the US was an attempt by the American administration to 'appease' India.

Islamabad: Pakistan on Monday dismissed the US designating Hizbul Mujahideen chief Syed Salahuddin a "global terrorist", saying it was not a UN decision but a move by the Trump administration to "appease" India.

Alleging that India was offering its services to the US to "pressurise" China, Pakistan Prime Ministers Adviser on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz said India has been trying to downplay the Kashmir issue for a very long time.

Talking to a delegation from the Kashmir Journalists Forum, he said Salahuddin being designated a terrorist by the US was an attempt by the American administration to "appease" India.

Pakistan was not bound to follow the decision as it was not a United Nations (UN) declaration, Dawn newspaper quoted Aziz as saying.

The US declared Salahuddin a "global terrorist" just before Prime Minister Narendra Modis first meeting with President Donald Trump on June 26 in Washington.

In a notification, the State Department said Salahuddin, who hails from Kashmir and is based in Pakistan for the last 28 years, "has committed, or poses a significant risk of committing, acts of terrorism."

Aziz said that India has been trying to downplay the Kashmir issue for a very long time, but the agitation at the local level had completely changed the Indian narrative.

Aziz reiterated that the struggle was being led by Kashmiris and Pakistan was only providing political, diplomatic and moral support to them.

Aziz also highlighted ceasefire violations by India, claiming that India had violated the ceasefire more than 400 times in the past years, which was a violation of a 2003 agreement between the two nations.

He said that Pakistan was willing for a dialogue on all issues with neighbouring countries as a part of its vision for a peaceful neighbourhood, but a dialogue with India without Kashmir on the agenda was out of the question.
The reports mentioned that the China has been spying through its warships on Indian Navy activities in Indian Ocean region.

The Chinese submarine is believed to be armed with surface-air and long range missiles. (Representational image)

Beijing: After the Sikkim standoff between India and China began, a Chinese warship has been spotted in the Indian Ocean waters, media reports said.

Reports stated that the submarine in Indian Ocean is a Yuan class - conventional diesel electric  submarine. This is the seventh time that Chinese submarine was seen in the Indian Ocean, however first time this year. The submarine is believed to be armed with surface-air and long range missiles.

Read: China dismisses Jaitley's 1962 war remarks, asks India to respect Sikkim treaty

India is constantly monitoring and recording the movement of Chinese warships through satellites and long range maritime surveillance platforms such as US made P81, the report added.

A senior official who spoke to India Today said, "Over the years, we have augmented our capabilities manifold. More force multipliers are being added. We have the region covered as well."

The occurrence could be worrying for India due to the timing, as post the military standoff near Sikkim, China has started invading waterways with deployment of warships in Indian Ocean region.

Read: India planned intrusion at Sikkim to impress Trump: China

The reports mentioned that the China has been spying through its warships on Indian Navy activities in Indian Ocean region when there was joint naval exercise between India, US and Japan.

The standoff began with China allegedly claiming the disputed tri-junction of India-Bhutan-China, Doka La, to be their territory. They had also claimed that the Indian troops had crossed the border, which basically is territory under contention.

China on Monday had asked India to withdraw its troops from Doka La. Its spokesperson also dismissed Defence Minister Arun Jaitleys 1962 war remarks stating that even China isnt the same that then it was in 1962 and will take "all necessary measures" to safeguard its territorial sovereignty.

Read: Withdraw troops from Doklam to end stand-off in Sikkim: China to India

Jaitley was responding to Chinas earlier remark, where it said India should learn from history referring to 1962 war which ended badly for India.

Earlier last week, PTI reported that India has sent its large number of troops in a "non-combative mode" to strengthen its position in an area near Sikkim. This is seen as the longest such impasse between the two armies since 1962.
Pyongyang claims a successful launch of an "intercontinental" missile. The Japanese government submits a formal protest to the UN. South Korean President Moon Jae-in also calls for the United Nations to intervene. The G20 in Hamburg will discuss the event in a trilateral meeting between Abe, Trump and Moon.

Seoul (AsiaNews / Agencies) - North Korea has tested another missile defying international pressure prompting US President Donald Trump's rapid reaction. The missile flew for 930 kilometers before landing in the waters of Japan. Pyongyang Television has been proclaiming the success of the "intercontinental" missile, capable of striking up to Japan and even Alaska.

The launch took place at 9.40am (local time) from Panghyon Airport, about 100km northwest of Pyongyang. The estimated flight time was about 40 minutes. The Japanese government filed a formal protest for the violation of United Nations resolutions. The launch of the missile took place a few days ahead of the start of the G20 on July 7 and 8 when US, Chinese, Japanese, and South Korean leaders will discuss efforts to curb nuclear tests in North Korea.

In recent days, North Korea was at the center of a phone call between China's President Xi Jinping and Trump. Trump also spoke with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Abe announced that he will discuss North Korea with Trump and South Korean President Jae-in at a trilateral meeting on the margins of the G20 summit in Hamburg.

"World leaders will meet at the G20 and I want to take this opportunity to appeal strongly to the international community for a coordinated response to North Korea," Abe said. Trump reaffirmed that the Japan-US alliance "is ready to defend and respond to any threat or action taken by North Korea." Abe also said he wanted to appeal to Xi and Russian President Vladimir Putin to take a "more active" role towards Pyongyang.

After the news of the latest launch, Trump wrote on Twitter: "North Korea has just launched another missile. Does this guy have nothing better to do with his life?" With clear reference to the North's leader, Kim Jong-un. Trump wished that China, among Pyongyang's main allies, "firmly deciding on North Korea and ending this senselessness once and for all!" Only last week the US administration had stated that Chinese efforts in resolving North Korea's ambitions had failed.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in has called for UN Security Council sanctions against North Korea for this latest launch of missiles. The president told his security and external relations officials to look for "United Nations security measures in close collaboration with the allies of the country, including the United States," spokesman Yoon Young-chan said. Moon summoned an emergency meeting of the National Security Council. Yoon said the missile in question was mid-range, but represents a further step towards the development of an intercontinental ballistic missile.

The Chinese ambassador to the UN Liu Jieyi warned that the further escalation of high tensions with North Korea could get out of control. "The consequences would be disastrous," he concluded. Pyongyang claims it wants to work on a nuclear missile capable of hitting the United States. Shea Cotton, a researcher at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies in the United States, suggested Tuesday's launch was deliberately staged to coincide with the anniversary of the US Declaration of Independence. "It's already July 4 in North Korea," he wrote on Twitter. "I have some suspicion that they are letting off some fireworks right now for that."

The United Nations Security Council has adopted its latest resolution with sanctions against North Korea in June. Pyongyang regularly rejects the United Nations stance that it violates its sovereign right to self-defense and spatial exploration.

This year there were another 10 missile launches by North Korea.
by Louis Raphael Sako*

In a note shared with Iraqi bishops, Mar Sako outlines the prospects of the Nineveh Plain after the devastation inflicted by the Islamic state. The indigenous peoples of the region have the task of rebuilding politically, socially and humanly. Christians and Muslims are jointly committed to living together according to the principles of citizenship and the rule of law. External and foreign interference must end.

Baghdad (AsiaNews)  There is a lot of talk about the future of the townships of Nineveh Plain before and after ISIS. Part of such talk is logical and acceptable, and part is merely dreams or wishes that cannot come true. The following are highlights about what we see in our Church in Iraq regarding this critical matter.

Who has the right to talk about the future of Nineveh Plain?

This question is raised to get logical answers, and those logical answers, involve, in our opinion, the data below:

 Those who have the right to talk about the future of Nineveh Plain are mainly the indigenous people of the region, with the question of whether there are united political parties that truly represent them for all their political aspirations. Though we appreciate those who are not from the region or those who left the country for many years living in diaspora countries, with all the suffering they feel, they cannot talk about the future of this region because they are away from the current situation and what is really going on. They cannot talk about the concerns of the regions inhabitants. Yet, they are encouraged, according to their capabilities, to help the indigenous people renovate their homes, The Church is the only one that helps.

 Our opinion stated above is clarified by that the people of Nineveh Plain are those who should draw a map of the region with their Muslim and Non-Muslim neighbors. This map should be feasible and far from any foreign agendas or personal narrow-minded interests.

 It is very sensitive that this matter is discussed in one way or another in isolation from the critical and worrying situation of Christians because most of the people of Nineveh Plain are currently forcibly displaced with their homes demolished or burned and infrastructure nearly destroyed. This led many of these families to leave the country.

 It is now obligatory, more than ever, for the people of Nineveh Plain, and Christians in general, to strengthen their unity, leave useless quarrels, create a healthy and relaxed atmosphere for thinking, discussion, dialogue, which leads to collective action in order to:

1) Be realistic and rational after all that they have suffered.

2) Choose their representatives from among the sages and wise people of their townships, who are recognized for intellectual capability, honesty, and free expression, to hold serious meetings inside and not outside the country, together with, not in isolation from, their neighbors, guaranteeing for themselves a better future.

Christians of Nineveh Plain and their neighbors

 The Christians of Nineveh Plain have a long history with their Muslim neighbors, from among loyal citizens, who were also victims of ISIS. Thus, the Christians of Nineveh Plain know in categorical terms that their neighbors' history with them cannot be reduced by ISIS terrorism.

 It is of significant that the Christians of Nineveh Plain realize that there are common lines with their neighbors that are indispensable, so that they are enabled to develop their regions and achieve their progress. They have shared with them their pains, joys, and customs throughout generations as neighbors and friends.

In a reference to the cultural and moral interaction, especially during catastrophic circumstances, I would like to present this living example. Last week, I visited two families that returned to the town of Karemlash. One family was Christian and the other was Shabak-Muslim. The two families speak Chaldean and have the same customs, traditions, and good neighborliness.

Common demands, unified position and security priority

The following are some points that cannot be disputed for their necessity:

 Agreeing to common and acceptable demands, that are enforceable according to the Constitution and international laws. Agreeing to a unified and clear position for discussion with the central and the regional governments.

 Providing security and stability, to the possibility of requesting international control. The people of Nineveh Plain need to be reassured because of what they have suffered from conflicts, wars, displacement, and marginalization.

A wish before the local and international public opinion

Last but not least, I can only express this wish which I have already expressed to the local, regional, and international public opinion: I truly believe that the only solution for all citizens is to establish an advanced, democratic & civilized system by which justice and equality are achieved. This is the only way to end many current problems.

This, too, is another occasion to appeal to the Iraqi government to fulfill its obligations to impose security and law; to reconstruct these townships with their homes, schools, institutions, official services, streets, hospitals, and churches; and to help the citizens by listening to them and meeting their true and legitimate demands. This appeal may represent a minimum commitment to what the government ought to do.

These ideas express the vision of the Chaldean Church, for all its twenty bishops have seen them.

* Patriarch of Babylon of the Chaldeans and president of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Iraq
by Sumon Corraya

The flames spread on the ground floor of the Multifabs plant. The company supplies retailers in many Western countries. The owner will pay for the medical costs of the injured and will offer work to the relatives of the victims.

Gazipur (AsiaNews) - At least 11 dead died following a fire that broke out last night in a garment factory in Kashimpur, Gazipur (north of Dhaka). About 50 people were injured. Firefighters are still looking for bodies.

After a boiler exploded, flames spread on the ground floor of the four-story garment factory of Multifabs Limited. At that time hundreds of workers were inside for the first day of work following the Eid al-Fitr's holiday.

Eyewitnesses said that they heard a big bang caused by the boiler blast, which shook nearby buildings and broke windows. After the explosion, power and gas were cut for safety reason.

The factory makes clothing for companies in the United States, Netherlands, Spain, Russia, Germany, Japan, Denmark and Sweden.

When he arrived on the scene, the owner of the company said, I will give a job to the relatives of those who lost their life in the boiler explosion and I will bear all the costs of treatment of those injured and now in various hospitals.

For its part, the local government announced a compensation of 20,000 Taka (US$ 250) for every dead worker.

In Bangladesh, the garment industry, mostly export-oriented, is a key part for the economy. The country is the second largest garment exporter after China.

However, those employed in the industry, in which about 80 per cent of the profits go to foreign interests, are over-exploited. Safety standards are poor and workplace accidents are not uncommon.

The worst industrial accident occurred in 2013 when the Rana Plaza industrial complex collapsed, crushing some 1,100 employees with 2,500 people left with serious injuries and permanent disabilities.
He was arrested a month after the incident in July 2015. The second suspect was acquitted and a third is awaiting trial. On the wall he wrote: "Idols will be cast out or destroyed." Previous charges of hate crimes. It is the "price to pay" for "subtracting land".

Nazareth (AsiaNews / Agencies)  The Israeli court in Nazareth has sentenced Yinon Reuveni, a 22-year-old Jewish extremist for the fire at the Catholic Church of the Loaves and Fishes in Tabga (Lake of Tiberias) in June 2015. The verdict was issued yesterday.

Reuveni was arrested the month after the incident together with Yehuda Asraf, acquitted of the charges. Moshe Orbach, the third suspect, is awaiting trial for the distribution of propaganda on the "need" to attack non-Jewish properties.

The fire caused extensive damage to the store and to other buildings in the complex. No damage was reported from floor mosaics dated to the fifth century. On the wall, a Hebrew graffiti said, "Idols will be expelled or destroyed."

The church, which attracts about 5,000 pilgrims per day, was reopened to the public last February after eight months of restoration and spending about one million dollars.

As reported by local sources, Reuveni is not new to hate crimes: he is a suspect in an arson attack in February 2015 at the Basilica of the Dormition of Jerusalem and of having planned to set fire the mosques surrounding the Jewish outpost in the West Bank Of Baladim, in the province of Binyam.

In recent years, Jewish extremists and settlers have targeted various Christian and Muslim sites according to the so-called "price tag" logic: the "price" that Christians and Muslims have to pay, according to Israeli extremists, for having "taken away their land." At one time the phenomenon was spread only in areas bordering the West Bank and Jerusalem, but today it has extended to a large part of the territory.
"Communists and Catholics understand each other much better." "Communist rule is always a dictatorial regime whose authorities tend to oppress opponents," including Catholic priests and bloggers. The same authorities who, on the other hand, "steal" the land of monasteries and want to exclude Catholics from sectors such as school or health care. "

Hue (AsiaNews / EdA) - Msgr. Joseph Nguyen Chi Linh, Archbishop of Hue, and President of the National Bishops' Conference says he is "optimistic" about the future of Catholic-Vietnamese relations. "Communists and Catholics  he said in an interview with Eglises d'Asie - understand each other much better than before."

And yet, as he states, "the communist regime is always a dictatorial regime whose authorities tend to oppress opponents," including Catholic priests and bloggers. The same authorities who, on the other hand, "steal" the land of the monasteries, want to exclude Catholics from sectors such as education or health, hide the terrible consequences of pollution to the people, do not want a Vatican representative residing in the country, who seek to interfere in the appointment of bishops and in any activities the Church intends to take.

"I'm optimistic  he declares - because after a long period of cohabitation, members of society are trying to get closer. Communists and Catholics understand each other much better than before. Catholics are less and less suspected. Before people were led by what the propaganda was saying. Now they can view things with their own eyes and find out that Catholics are not as bad as they thought. And then the testimony of Catholics becomes more and more positive. Hate and rancor are diminishing. Relations are getting more and more friendly. It takes courage to overcome this period. You have to be patient, you cannot change the country in five minutes. "

The Archbishop then explains the episode of the assault and vandalism carried out on the Benedictine monastery of Thien An on June 28. The fact is that the law does not recognize private property and this also applies to the approximately 107 hectares of land in the monastery. The authorities "stole it to sell it off to foreign companies". "They do not care" about the rights of monks and do whatever they want. So they knocked down a cross and when the monks raised it again there was the attack on the convent.

Priests and bloggers threatened or arrested fall into the logic of the "dictatorial regime". The attitude towards the of the Formosa Plastic Group ecological disaster should also be viewed according to the same logic. "The government is always afraid to recognize the truth about the Formosa scandal" because of due compensation, "it is always facing the same problem of corruption."

As for the new law "on believers and religions", "in general, it is a step back, there is no progress; We still have no real freedom. For example, there are many areas in which the Church has no right to engage, such as healthcare, education, etc. It has not emerged from the mentality of the 'demand and concession' system ('xin-cho'), for which permission must be sought for any initiative and the authorities can grant it or not.

The prelate goes on to voice his "disappointment" at the failure to agree on a Vatican Nuncio resident in Vietnam. "We do have a 'non-resident representative of the Holy See'. He lives in Singapore and has the right to stay in Vietnam for only a month, then has to leave. All his movement in Vietnam must be approved by the Vietnamese Foreign Ministry. Our expectations are measured, but the government does not dare to go ahead without the approval of the Chinese authorities.

Finally, vocations are numerous in Vietnam. Both in seminaries and in religious orders. "We have obtained some freedom in the organization of the activities of formation centers." The policy for which state approval is needed to send a young man to a seminary remains theoretically in force, but no longer applies, and every diocese that wishes to do so also finds it relatively easy to send young people to study abroad. "This is our hope. Those returning from abroad will return to work in our formation centers and gradually improve the quality of formation."
With the support of the US raids, Syrian Democratic Forces create a 25-meter gap. The goal is to speed up military operations to wrest the stronghold of Caliphate. Inside there are still 4,000 jihadists ready to fight. UN: fear for fate of civilians used as human shields.

Damascus (AsiaNews / Agencies) - The Syrian Democratic Forces (Sdf), assisted by the United States, opened a 25-foot-high breach in the Old Town Walls at Raqqa, the stronghold of the Islamic State (IS) in the country, in a further step towards the defeat of jihadist militias. This is according to US military sources supporting the coalition's advance in fighting jihadist militias in Syria.

Arab-Kurdish forces, exploiting the coverage provided by US air raids, opened fire on two different areas of Rafiqah's historic walls at Raqqa. The city represents a strategic juncture for Daesh militaries [Arabic acronym for IS, former Isis], which today can count on the presence of some 4,000 militia in defense of the "capital of the Caliphate."

Since last week, the city, located on the northeast bank of the Euphrates River, is surrounded by soldiers from the Syrian Democratic Forces. The final offensive began on June 6th and achieved significant progress on the military front. According to coalition leaders, taking Raqqa's grip will deal a "decisive blow" to the Caliphate militias, even though the civilian population trapped in the fighting and the subject of the jihadist retaliation so far has had to pay the consequences.

Over the years, the area has become famous for the atrocities committed by Daesh against enemies, opponents and civilians. These include numerous public executions and sentences imposed by sharia, Islamic law.

UN sources report that at least 173 civilians died in June, in cross-fire between coalition and Daesh fighters. However, the estimate is only indicative and the number could be far greater. For this reason, the UN note goes on, "civilians should not be sacrificed on the altar of rapid military victory".

There are still as many as 100,000 people trapped in the battle and unable to flee. In addition, jihadists hinder civilian exodus and use them as human shields to defend themselves from coalition attacks.

In over six years of conflict since March 2011 the Syrian conflict has killed more than 300,000 people. Those who have had to abandon their homes because of the war - including migrants and IDPs  have reached 11 million.
Total is the first company to sign such an important agreement with Iran in more than ten years. The estimated investment is US$ 4.8 billion. The US hostile position slows down the normalisation of Irans economic relations, but Europe looks forward to future agreements. For Zarif, Iran remains committed to the nuclear deal despite reckless US hostility".

Tehran (AsiaNews/Agencies)  French energy giant Total was set to defy US pressure on Monday, with a multi-billion-dollar gas deal with Iran, the first by a European firm in more than a decade.

It is by far the biggest vote of confidence in the Islamic republic since sanctions were lifted under a 2015 nuclear deal with world powers.

Total is to invest an initial US$ 1 billion in the South Pars offshore gas field as part of a consortium with Chinese and Iranian firms.

Total's CEO Patrick Pouyanne and Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namadar Zanganeh signed the 20-year deal, which will eventually see the consortium pour US$ 4.8 billion into the South Pars phase 11 project.

Total will take a 50.1 per cent stake in the South Pars phase 11 project, whilst China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) will own 30 per cent and Iran's Petropars 19.9 per cent.

The aim is to start pumping into Iran's domestic grid in 2021, eventually reaching 50.9 million cubic metres of gas per day.

European firms have been eyeing opportunities in Iran, which has the world's second-largest gas reserves and fourth-largest oil reserves, but they have been cautious about investing due to US hostility.

Many companies and financial institutions are reluctant to engage with Tehran for fear of repercussions from Washington. For example, Shell and Russia's Gazprom have signed only preliminary deals to date.

In view of this, Total has appointed a compliance officer with the sole task of ensuring it does not fall foul of US measures against Iran.

Last month, the US Senate passed a bill imposing new sanctions on Iran for its support for acts of international terrorism.

The law has yet to go to the House of Representatives, and it is unclear whether President Donald Trump will abandon the nuclear agreement with Iran.

Any attempt to scupper the latter will likely face major push-back from its other signatories: Great Britain, France, Germany, China and Russia.

Last month, Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif met with European Union leaders, and tweeted that they were committed to the nuclear deal "despite reckless US hostility".

Total has a history of involvement in the Middle Eastern nation, having led development of phases two and three of South Pars in the 1990s.

Total had signed up to develop Phase 11 back in 2009 but was forced to abandon its projects in 2012 when France joined a US-led campaign to impose sanctions, including an oil embargo, against the country.
Lespiaucq will assume role of chairman of the board, Volkswagen Group France.

Thierry Lespiaucq will be leaving his position as managing director  Volkswagen Group Sales India by August this year. He will be heading to France to assume the position of chairman of the board  Volkswagen Group France.

Lespiaucq came to VW India in May 2014 and took over from Mahesh Kodumudi. In March this year, he briefly took charge of Volkswagen Passenger Cars India as well, in the period between Michael Mayer's exit and the appointment of Steffen Knapp.

Lespiaucq had already served as Director of the VW Group in France from 2004 to 2010. Under the new role, he will be looking after the group's five brands  Volkswagen, Audi, Skoda, Seat, and Volkswagen Utility Vehicles.
The 2018 Nissan Leaf has been announced to debut on Sept. 6. An official teaser photo seems to hint that the grille design of the new electric vehicle came from the IDS Concept.

Nissan U.K. took to its official Twitter account the announcement of the launch of the new Leaf. The tweet says the new model will premiere on Sept. 6.

The announcement also serves as a teaser photo of the upcoming model. However, only the logo and the car grille can be spotted on the image.

It seems that the next generation Leaf has taken its inspiration from the IDS concept that was introduced at the 2015 Tokyo Motor Show. It can also be noted that sources from the automaker have revealed that the design of the upcoming model will resemble the exterior design language of the IDS concept.

The 2018 Nissan Leaf is positioned to become the best electric vehicle in the world. It comes with the impressive ProPilot assist feature that will enable the car to function as a self-driving vehicle.

This intelligent ProPilot assist will act as the technical pair of hands of the driver. It will manipulate the vehicle to move in a single lane, as well as the acceleration and braking system of the EV.

Meanwhile, customers of the electric utility, Salt River Project, are in for an exciting treat. They can avail a $10,000 rebate for a new Leaf, which means they will only need to pay about $14,000 for the electric car. Nissan will release the rebate to the buyers.

Apparently, the Salt River Project made a deal with Nissan to acquire a group-purchase rebate for the new Leaf. The automaker has granted the negotiation and has rewarded the electric utility with a rebate.

Furthermore, customers will also qualify for a tax credit of $7,500. Interested buyers can avail of the promo for the whole month of July.

SRP senior director of environmental management and chief sustainability and compliance executive Kelly Barr expressed their excitement regarding the partnership with Nissan. He said, "We are excited to work with Nissan to offer our customers an opportunity to invest in an electric vehicle that will save them money while helping the environment."

We expect more teasers to surface in the next days as the automaker has already confirmed the launch date. We will update you with more details in our next report.
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The Pasco County Sheriff's Office is investigating an incident in which two deputies returned fire at a suspect after the suspect fired at them.

Brad Hero, 36, shot multiple times after firing at deputies

Hero was reportedly armed with what turned out to be a pellet gun

Deputies tried to talk Hero down before he fired



Officials said at around 7:40 p.m. on July 3, two Pasco deputies -- Field Training Officer Cpl. Michael Barrow and trainee Deputy Dustin Riker were traveling south on U.S. 19 approaching Gulf Drive when they spotted Brad Hero, 36, walking on the sidewalk with what appeared to be a handgun.

The deputies made contact with Hero and verbally commanded him to lower the handgun. Hero then pointed the perceived handgun at Cpl. Barrow before firing it at Deputy Riker, hitting him above his right knee, according to investigators.



The deputies then returned fire, striking Hero several times in the legs. Hero was then transported to a local hospital for treatment of what are believed to be non life-threatening injuries.

Hero's weapon was later determined to be a BB gun.

He has been charged with aggravated battery on a law enforcement officer with a deadly weapon and aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer with a deadly weapon.

The two deputies have since been placed on administrative leave. Deputy Riker sustained a minor injury due to the shot to his leg.

The investigation continues.


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A "victim of his own generosity," Jefferson County Sheriff Jake Giles died slumped over in a Katy Limited train seat, a bullet hole in his head.

His killer, a pretty 21-year-old with dark eyes and cherub lips, had been plotting her escape since Giles showed up in Kansas City to haul the woman's husband back to Jefferson County, where he faced assault charges.

Ida Hadley told newspaper reporters later that Giles, 46, was kind to her and that she planned to "hold up the sheriff, take his gun away from him, stop the train, drop off, hold up an auto and flee across country."

"But Jake, my old friend, did not put up his hands," she said.

Hadley claimed Giles reached for his gun, forcing her to squeeze the trigger of her .32 revolver.

"I had not thought I would have to do that," she said.

Because he considered Ida and Paul Hadley friends, Giles made the ill-fated mistake of not handcuffing Paul or searching Ida.

Trouble begins

Paul Hadley, 30, was wanted back in Jefferson County on allegations he had roughed up John Vest, a Beaumont shoe salesman.

"The trouble started in January 1916, when 21-year-old Ida Cravey, before her marriage to Paul Hadley, refused to pay for a pair of shoes she bought," according to the nterprise archives. "Paul Hadley didn't like Vest's efforts to collect from her."

During the scuffle, Paul Hadley allegedly shot Vest in the arm.

The day after posting bond, Paul Hadley, who worked as an automobile salesman, married Ida. Accusations of theft and embezzlement soon started swirling about, so the newlyweds took off to Kansas City.

The couple escapes

It was just after midnight on March 24, 1916 when Ida Hadley raised her revolver and shot Giles.

Moments earlier, she told the sheriff it was fine if he wanted to nod off for a spell, saying she and Paul were going to do the same. She then excused herself and made her way to the powder room.

When she returned, Ida had a gun.

After she shot Giles, "a shocked crewman stared at the girl whose husband then thrust a gun at him and forced him to stop the train," according to archived stories. "The young couple jumped off and escaped into the quiet Oklahoma night."

The train's crew took Giles to the nearest depot, but it was too late. The lawman, still wearing a silver star on his jacket, was dead.

Witnesses at Ida Hadley's murder trial disputed her claims that Giles went for his gun, saying the woman walked up behind Giles as he slept and shot him in the head.

"Witnesses also said that as the couple left the train, Paul Hadley told his wife to keep the gun on the passengers and 'blow their heads off' if they moved," according to the archives. "After the couple ran off into the Oklahoma countryside, they sheltered in farm houses and barns, bribing people to help them."

Ida shows little remorse

A posse of sheriff's deputies and police officers was formed just 20 minutes after Giles was shot, The Enterprise reported. They found the Hadleys 15 hours later, holed up in a McIntosh County farmhouse.

"They surrendered after the sheriff of the county shouted, 'Bring that couple out of there or we will fill you and your house and everybody in it full of lead,'" according to archived stories.

Members of the posse said Ida Hadley applauded when she learned Giles was dead.

"On the way to county jail, she chatted with the deputies and ribbed them for taking so long to find them," according to Enterprise stories. "She immediately took credit for killing the sheriff and repeatedly stopped Paul Hadley from speaking."

Ida Hadley claimed she snagged her stockings on some barbed wire while running and had one of the members of the posse buy her a new pair.

She "then put them on in front of a crowd of men," The Enterprise reported.

The Hadleys were kept in separate cells at the Muskogee, Oklahoma jail while awaiting trial.

She "knitted, sang, prayed, whistled and chatted." He was nicknamed "Mopy" by other prisoners because he never smiled.

Meanwhile, back in the Jefferson County, "crowds clogged the streets" for Giles' funeral.

"Schools, county and city offices, and most of the businesses closed for half a day for his funeral," The Enterprise reported.

Giles left behind nine children. His wife, Emily Estelle Giles, preceded him in death one year earlier.

The Hadleys are tried

At trial in April 1916, Ida Hadley's defense attorney said she was insane, "calling it 'bride madness' and claiming she would do terrible things, like shoot a sheriff, at the thought of separation from her husband," The Enterprise reported.

Prosecutors pointed at the Hadleys, who "held hands and clung to one another through the trial," and said they were perfectly sane.

Paul Hadley claimed he was "as much in it" as his wife, according to The Enterprise.

The trial was attended each day by "throngs of people," some of whom wanted to get a glimpse at the "brazen" Ida Hadley, while others just wanted to be a part of the spectacle.

The jury reached a verdict on June 27, 1916, The Enterprise reported.

Ida Hadley was found not guilty by reason of insanity. Paul Hadley got a life sentence.

Before the trial, "Mopy" told some of his fellow inmates back in the Muskogee jail that he would rather get the chair than a life sentence.

He eventually got his wish.

'Love crazy girl'

"Acting upon the immortal words of Ruth, Ida Hadley decided to go to the state penitentiary with her husband rather than the state asylum," the Muskogee County Democrat reported on June 29, 1916.

She was kept in a cottage on the prison grounds, visiting her husband almost daily.

In 1918, she snuck in saws and files and helped Paul Hadley escape, according to a large spread in the July 16, 1922 Indianapolis Star, which ran beneath the headline, "The Love Crazy Girl Who Turned Tigress."

The couple were caught a short time later.

Ida Hadley got a 10-year prison sentence, but she was happy because she was sent to the same prison as Paul.

Oklahoma authorities allowed the couple to work together on an invention Paul Hadley said would help the pair start a new life when they were released on appeal, the Star reported.

The warden agreed to parole Paul Hadley in 1919 for 60 days, long enough for him to visit a Kansas City attorney to have his mechanical invention patented.

"It was the first time he and Ida had been separated, save by a few feet of concrete and steel bars in nearly a year," according to the story.

Paul Hadley promised Ida he would return.

He lied.

Romance comes to an end

Several years passed with no word. Then Ida Hadley read Paul's name in the newspaper.

He had shot and killed a woman and injured a man in Arizona in a fit of rage, the Star reported.

Paul Hadley was sentenced to hang.

Bitter and angry, Ida Hadley requested a pardon so she could watch her husband die, according to the Star's article.

Oklahoma authorities set her free.

On April 13, 1923, The Arizona Daily Star ran a front page letter Paul Hadley wrote on a "typewriter furnished him by some person interested in the case."

In the statement, Paul Hadley said he was going to "meet his maker at 5 a.m." today. He professed his innocence and criticized capital punishment, saying the law would continue to put men to death who are not guilty.

The headline on his letter read, "I Believe in God...I will not go to his presence with a lie on my lips...I am not guilty."

Three days after Paul Hadley's execution, Ida married Jack Daugherty, of Wichita Falls, Texas, the Arizona Republican reported on April 22, 1923.

Like her romance with Paul Hadley, Ida's marriage to Daugherty was short-lived.

She died of tuberculosis on March 21, 1924.

Southeast Texas Tales is a weekly feature that revisits regional history.

Ashley.Sanders@BeaumontEnterprise.com
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Justin Sticker motions toward his right cheek and forehead, parts of his face that were replaced with titanium plates after a car accident almost took his life 21/2 years ago.

He can recall the date - Nov. 12, 2014 - but little else from a night that put him in a coma for 16 days and left him with a collapsed lung, a bleeding brain and a catalog of broken bones.

He does, however, remember who saved his life.

"The firefighters, they came and cut me out of

the car with the Jaws of Life," Sticker said. "I was a goner without them."

When Sticker, then 16, returned to Kountze after months of rehabilitation and facial reconstruction surgery, his first stop was the firehouse.

"I signed up right away," said Sticker, 18, the youngest member of the Kountze Volunteer Fire Department. "Now, every day, I'm working with the same people who saved my life. Most young people have other priorities, but this is the most important thing in my life."

Just as volunteer firefighters rescued Sticker, it will be up to him and his generation to rescue Southeast Texas departments from an imminent problem.

The volunteer fire department, once an iconic part of American life, is losing its appeal to younger generations as volunteer numbers continue to drop, which has departments in jeopardy of disappearing as the first and sometimes only line of defense against fire and disaster in small rural communities.

Who will answer the call?

Since the mid-1980s, the number of volunteer firefighters nationwide has dropped by nearly 15 percent while the number of career firefighters has grown more than 50 percent, according to the National Fire Protection Association. The dip in volunteers has hit particularly hard in Texas, where 77 percent of active firefighters are volunteers.

Of the 64 fire departments in Jefferson, Orange, Jasper, Newton, Hardin, Tyler and Chambers county, 52 are run by volunteers.

"Our biggest issues are when we have calls during the day," said Spurger Fire Chief Ellis Jones, who has seen his active volunteer numbers dwindle to single digits. "It becomes a problem when very few people are available to take those calls. You start to worry in the future if there will be anyone to take those calls."

Kirbyville Fire Chief Greg Ellis said his department - about 25 active volunteers - is adequately staffed to handle the number of fire and first-responder calls they receive now. The future is less certain.

"First thing a lot of kids ask is, how much does it pay? When I tell them nothing, it usually sends them running the other way," Ellis said. "There is a growing concern for who will take the reins once guys like me decide to hang it up."

Chris Barron, executive director of the state firefighter and fire marshals' association of Texas, said the decline could create serious challenges for small communities.

"The reality that comes with smaller numbers, and departments having to shut down, is slower response time, an increase in property damage and loss of life," Barron said. "It's a growing problem with no real answer."

Culture change

Young people's priorities have changed since Ellis became a volunteer firefighter more than 30 years ago, he said.

"Kids these days are busier with different things than when we were younger," Ellis said. "They are either involved in a hundred different things or are too self-absorbed to worry about others."

He admits that the job's demands and an increase in first-responder calls have made it a less desirable avocation.

Fires have become almost secondary to car wrecks.

"Some of the things you see here, you can't ever unsee," Ellis said. "I've seen grown men not be able to handle it."

In 2012, only 5 percent of calls were for actual fires, according to the National Fire Protection Association. But the total number of fire department responses has increased 167 percent in the past 26 years, largely because medical responses have gone up by 15.2 million.

"I think this job sometimes surprises people with what they see and the amount of knowledge and skill you have to have," Ellis said. "When it comes down to it, this is a job you have to feel compelled to do, something that calls to you."

Randy Odom joined the Wildwood Volunteer Fire Department in 1989 after attending a community meeting where three veteran firefighters - then, the entire department - begged for more volunteers.

"I remember one of the guys joking that he was the chief because he was the only one who could get onto the truck without any help," said Odom, Wildwood's current fire chief. "I had never been a firefighter before - neither had anyone in my family - I just saw a place where I was needed."

Odom hopes that a new generation will be drawn to the field by a sense of duty, as he was. But the reality is the majority of younger volunteers were born into it.

Fire family

Dakota Folsom, 15, struggled with the straps to her oxygen tank during a training exercise at the Kountze Fire Station last week. Her father, Clinton Folsom, stood by her side, offering advice while adjusting her protective mask.

Dakota recently became one of two junior volunteers in the department, a training program that begins at 15 and ends at 18. If she makes it through, she'll be the fourth generation from her family to become a firefighter - and the first female.

Texas has no mandatory minimum training requirement for volunteers, but Kountze Fire Chief James Stoeppleman said volunteer departments set their own requirements while going through similar training as paid firefighters. It's tough, he said. Not many people Dakota's age can handle it.

"My friends think I'm crazy and they look at me weird when I tell them I want to be a firefighter," said Dakota, a sophomore at Warren high school. "But they didn't grow up around this."

Dakota remembers waiting up at night for her father while he was out on calls. When he returned, she would be full of questions, as well as relief.

"I would worry about him so much while he was out," Dakota said. "I think part of me wants to do this so I can be out there to protect him."

Unlike her father, who has volunteered in Kountze for nearly 15 years, Dakota hopes to become a paid firefighter.

"I'm not worried about the money, but I want to do this for a living," she said. "I have a lot to learn before that happens."

Stoepplemon said younger volunteers often have similar aspirations.

"You can't blame them for wanting to make some money for the thing they love doing," he said. "But when they leave, you start to wonder who is going to be left in the future."

Daniel Burgess, a 17-year-old junior volunteer in Kountze, plans to remain a volunteer when he turns 18.

"I want to be able to put out my neighbors' fires," Burgess said.

His decision to stay will ultimately benefit more than just his neighbors. As younger people settle into permanent volunteer roles, local taxpayers continue to benefit from their commitment.

Taxes and mutual aid

According to the National Fire Protection Association, volunteers save local governments more that $139 billion annually.

In Texas, Barron said, those savings extend into the "millions and billions of dollars."

Running a fire department is not cheap. According to Barron, rural departments have about one-fourth the budget of their municipal counterparts. Since the 1980s, the price of a single self-contained breathing apparatus has jumped from $900 to more than $5,000. A new fire engine costs up to $500,000 - $400,000 more than it did 30 years ago.

That money has to come from somewhere.

"Volunteer departments can't run on bake sales and barbecues," said Joe Clark, a retired Beaumont firefighter who now heads the North Hardin County Emergency Service District (ESD), a government entity that receives tax money from the county and distributes funds to volunteer departments.

The continual loss of man power, he said, will force counties to raise property and sales tax to hire paid firefighters or risk seeing the departments shut down.

"No one is ever going to vote to raise their own property taxes," Clark said. "We are facing some serious problems in the future if we can't get younger people interested in serving their communities."

Silsbee Fire Chief Robin Jones still sees strength in the number of volunteers in Southeast Texas, thanks to a "mutual aid" agreement between neighboring departments.

"If a fire gets out of hand, we can always depend on help, either from Lumberton, Sour Lake or the Texas Forest Service," Jones said. "When smaller departments like Kountze or Evadale need help, we're always there to answer the call."

When a wildfire burned 577 acres north of Kountze in 2011, Jones said mutual aid enabled them to respond with enough firefighters to contain it.

"What's scary to think about is what happens the day we don't have the numbers to respond."

DThompson@BeaumontEnterprise.comTwitter.com/daveth89
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At least ten people were killed, and dozens of others were injured after a boiler exploded at a garment factory in Bangladesh on Monday, say reports. A fire service official reportedly said nine people were killed in the blast and one died in hospital. The accident happened at a plant of Multifabs Limited on the outskirts of the capital, Dhaka, a fire official reportedly said. However, the company said the plant was functioning well, and the boiler had just been serviced.
Theresa May has been accused of "kowtowing" before Saudi Arabia by "suppressing" a report into the funding of extremist groups in the UK.

Outgoing Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron claimed the Prime Minister should be "ashamed of herself" for putting trade links with the oil rich state ahead of public security.

Mr Farron's hard-hitting remarks came after the PM said the Government is taking advice on what is able to be made public from the probe.

Mrs May's predecessor David Cameron agreed to an inquiry into foreign funding of Islamist extremists in 2015 as part of a deal with Lib Dems in return for their support on the extension of air strikes into Syria.

Reports have suggested the findings may never be published because of the sensitivity of the investigation's information regarding Saudi Arabia.

Mr Farron told the Press Association: "It is a scandal that the Government are suppressing this report.

"The only conclusion you can draw is that they are worried about what it actually says.

"We hear regularly about the Saudi arms deals, or ministers going to Riyadh to kowtow before their royal family, but yet, our Government won't release a report that will clearly criticise Saudi Arabia.

"All this Government seems to care about is cosying up to one of the most extreme, nasty and oppressive regimes in the world.

"You would think our security would be more important, but it appears not.

"For that Theresa May should be ashamed of herself."

In a written answer to a parliamentary question, the PM said: "The review into the funding of Islamist extremism has improved the Government's understanding of the nature, scale and sources of funding for Islamist extremism in the UK.

"Ministers are considering advice on what is able to be published and will report to Parliament with an update in due course."
The development of Kilkeel harbour could boost exports and the economy post-Brexit, a Northern Ireland fishery boss has claimed.

It comes just days after it was announced the UK would withdraw from the London fisheries convention, an agreement signed in 1964, before the UK joined the EU.

The convention allows vessels from France, Belgium, Germany, Ireland and the Netherlands to fish within six and 12 nautical miles of the UK's coastline.

DUP MEP Diane Dodds told the BBC that the move was the first step towards the UK re-establishing itself as an independent coastal state.

But Dick James of the Northern Ireland Fish Producers Association told the BBC that an alternative must be found.

The fishing industry had largely been in favour of the UK withdrawing from the EU. It's estimated that around 90% of fishermen voted for Brexit.

Alan McCulla, managing director of Sea Source - a company owned by fishermen which markets, processes and sells Northern Ireland fish - said the annual volume of the harbour's catch was behind only Fraserburg in northeast Scotland.

"While we already export much of our fish and langoustines to France and Italy, I believe that there's a substantial business opportunity to export a great deal more to these and other international markets.

"Going for Growth - Investing in Success, the strategic action plan from the Agri-Food Strategy Board, also pinpointed the opportunity and saw potential to increase external sales by 38% to 75m by 2020 and to create an additional 600 jobs.

"A step towards this would be an expansion of Kilkeel, our largest fishery harbour which is also significant at the UK level.

"Kilkeel really should be developed into our seafood hub by a greater investment in facilities.

"Expanding the harbour infrastructure would also help reduce our dependence, for instance, on langoustines. A very significant industry in processing langoustines has developed at Kilkeel and there is scope to expand this."

Fishermen say expanding the harbour would allow fishermen to land other species including herring and mackerel, most of which could be exported.

"At present, Kilkeel doesn't have the facilities for the trawlers for these fish, which are either landed in Scotland or the Republic of Ireland.

"Several of the trawlers involved in this business have told us they would use Kilkeel if the essential harbour facilities were to be developed for them," Mr McCulla said.

"Another important growth opportunity is through the promotion of our superb seafood as a brand, and to use its regional provenance to drive a thriving export market - ramping up overseas value and volume.

"This is why we are now busily developing the Sea Source brand and identifying it with Kilkeel."

He said Northern Ireland seafood, including langoustines, had impressed food professionals he had met on a recent trip to Dubai.
AXA is closing stores with the loss of jobs.

Motor insurer Axa is to close four of its 15 branches in Northern Ireland with the loss of 20 jobs, it can be revealed.

But the company is also expected to move some operations into the province as it also closes 14 branches in the Republic, cutting staff numbers by over 100.

Phone services operated from branches in the Republic are to moved to Londonderry.

Axa has 15 branches in Northern Ireland, from east Belfast to Coleraine and Magherafelt. However, it's not clear which branches will close.

It's understood staff will be informed about the cutbacks at meetings today.

The company will seek voluntary redundancies, but the job losses will be compulsory if it does not get the numbers it wants.

The cutbacks come after three years of heavy hikes in motor premiums, with insurers insisting they are losing money on motor cover.

Axa, whose parent company is French, is one of the largest and oldest insurers in the Irish market.

It employs 1,200 people in the Republic and has 42 branches across Ireland.

Branch networks have also been cut back by other insurers as more consumer business moves online.

Some of the remaining branches will be downsized.

In a statement, Axa said: "These changes are about providing the best possible service to our customers in the way that best suits them. We will continue to have the largest branch network in the industry and we will also strengthen our telephone and online channels to provide all customers with the best experience."
The Chancellor told business leaders that the UK had to remember that Brexit was "just one among many challenges" facing the other EU members

Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt was forced to deny that he had received warnings of EU nationals "fleeing the UK" if the country opts for a hard Brexit, after the phrase was spotted on a briefing note which he carried into 10 Downing Street.

The document, exposed to press photographers by Mr Hunt as he arrived for a meeting of Cabinet, appeared to be a crib-sheet for responding to expected questions from MPs.

But he did not repeat the phrase during a session of oral questions to health ministers in the House of Commons shortly afterwards, telling MPs only that he wanted to give the 150,000 EU nationals working in the NHS the opportunity to continue doing their "brilliant job".

And he later said on Twitter: "For avoidance of doubt I have never been advised or believed Brexit means people `fleeing UK'. I was anticipating a question along those lines from MPs at health orals - which is why the phrase appears in my briefing note."

Cabinet heard an announcement from Brexit Secretary David Davis that the crucial Repeal Bill, paving the way for Britain's withdrawal from the EU, will finally be tabled next week.

The bill will repeal the 1972 European Communities Act which took the UK into the EU's predecessor, the European Economic Community, and will transpose relevant EU law onto the UK statute book, so that it can then be removed or amended as the UK Parliament wishes.

But it is expected to face a rocky ride through Parliament over the coming two years.

Meanwhile, Downing Street indicated that Prime Minister Theresa May gave her blessing to a call from Mr Hunt and Business Secretary Greg Clark for continued close collaboration with the EU on the regulation of medicines after Brexit.

The EU's European Medicines Agency is currently based in London, but will leave the country after Brexit, creating uncertainty for UK-based pharmaceutical firms about the regulatory regime for drugs in future.

In a letter to the Financial Times, the ministers said : "The UK is fully committed to continuing the close working relationship with our European partners.

"Our aim is to ensure that patients in the UK and across the EU continue to be able to access the best and most innovative medicines and be assured that their safety is protected through the strongest regulatory framework and sharing of data."

If the Brexit talks fail to achieve the "desired relationship", the UK will set up a regulatory system that protects patients and "supports the UK life science industry", they said.

Mrs May's official spokesman confirmed that the letter was shared with 10 Downing Street "in the usual way" before publication.

And the spokesman said: "What they set out was that we are committed to the close working relationship we have with our EU partners and beyond that, everything else is a matter for negotiation."

Arriving at Cabinet, Mr Hunt was seen holding a note containing suggested responses to questions from MPs, including the warning that "Hard Brexit means people fleeing the UK".

In the event, he told the House of Commons: "The 150,000 EU nationals working in our health and care services do a brilliant job and we want them to continue doing it."

Around 9% of doctors and 19% of nurses in England are EU nationals, said Mr Hunt, adding: "We are still seeing doctors and nurses coming to the UK and we need to do everything on all sides of this House to reassure them that we see them as having a bright and vital future in the NHS."

But Labour MP Heidi Alexander, a former shadow health secretary, told him: "The truth is EU staff no longer want to come here. Doctors and nurses are leaving in their droves."

Meanwhile, the European Parliament's chief Brexit co-ordinator Guy Verhofstadt repeated warnings that Mrs May's proposal for a new "settled" status, short of full citizenship, for EU nationals living in the UK following Brexit would deliver "less rights" to the estimated 3.2 million individuals involved.

"It's clear that the system that is proposed by the UK side - this 'settled status' they call it - is in fact a new system with less rights, incorporated in the migration system in Britain," Mr Verhofstadt told a press conference in Brussels.

"That's something completely different. The European p roposal is a continuation of existing rights, not only for the European citizens living in the UK, but also for the UK citizens living on the continent."

Efforts to build bridges with Brussels may have been dealt a blow as a recording emerged of Brexit minister Steve Baker calling for the EU to be "torn down".

In the 2010 recording, obtained by The Independent, Mr Baker can be seen telling an event organised by the Libertarian Alliance: " I think the European Union needs to be wholly torn down... Th at is actually impractical unless the whole people of Europe can be persuaded to rise up and vote for politicians who are prepared - in a moderate and consistent and principled and gentle way - to say that the European Union project has merely succeeded in raising economic nationalism to a continental scale."

Asked if Mrs May continued to have confidence in Mr Baker, who was appointed to the Department for Exiting the EU last month, the PM's spokesman said: "Steve Baker was appointed to the job on merit and the PM has huge faith in him working with his colleagues to deliver a successful Brexit that works for Britain and the EU."

Liberal Democrat chief whip Alistair Carmichael said: "Jeremy Hunt knows that Brexit will be a disaster for the NHS and it should be no surprise that the Health Secretary's team expect him to be challenged on this issue.

"We have already seen record levels of EU nationals leaving jobs in the NHS last year, and there has been a dramatic fall in the number of nurses from the EU registering to come and work in our health service since the Brexit referendum.

"This will exacerbate existing pressures on staffing in our essential NHS and social care services and risks threatening the quality of patient care."

Labour MP Chuka Umunna, a leading supporter of the Open Britain group, said: "Whether it was photographed by accident or design, this document hits the nail on the head - a hard, destructive Brexit will lead to more EU citizens who work in the NHS leaving our country.

"Indeed, the number of EU nurses leaving has already increased since the referendum, which is putting our hospitals under great strain.

"Jeremy Hunt needs to make that point forcefully to the Prime Minister."
Tesco Bank has begun hunting for a successor to outgoing chief executive Benny Higgins, and says customer numbers have kept growing despite last year's cyber attack.

Mr Higgins said the search for his replacement would start immediately after announcing he would bring to an end a 10-year tenure by stepping down in February 2018.

However, he dismissed the idea that his decision was linked to the cyber heist in November 2016, which forced the lender to pay out 2.5 million to 9,000 customers who had money stolen for their accounts.

Speaking about his departure, he said: "One of the tough choices that not everybody can make is choosing the time that is right for them and right for the business.

"I think 10 years is, for me, a very obvious time to embark on something else, and is a good time for the business to bring in fresh leadership."

When asked who might lead the bank in the future, he said it was "very early days" and the decision would be made by the bank's board.

He also batted away the prospect that his departure could lead Tesco to hoist a for sale sign over the lender.

However, he said he will look for another project, with the aim of taking up a "full-time position" once he leaves in eight month's time.

Focussing on the cyber attack, he said: "We have taken every step which we think is appropriate to ensure (our) defences against anything similar.

"Our business has actually shown, if anything, stronger growth since November. I don't want that to sound in anyway complacent because we never are... but the business has attracted more customers, across more products, since then."

Mr Higgins joined Tesco Bank in 2008 when the supermarket giant bought out Royal Bank of Scotland's 50% stake in what was a joint venture between the two firms.

He has overseen a dramatic transformation of the business, including the launch of a current account, increasing customer account numbers from 5.8 million to eight million and bolstering staff from 200 to 4,000 at Edinburgh, Glasgow and Newcastle.

However, his stewardship has also courted controversy.

Last year, it was reported that he had billed Tesco Bank 18,000 in taxi expenses during an eight-month period.

The chief executive, who was paid 2.1 million last year, was ferried to the Royal Opera House, private members' clubs and several plush London restaurants.

Tesco chief executive Dave Lewis, said: "Benny has steered Tesco Bank to the strong position it is in today.

"The strong growth in customers, deposits and lending is down to his leadership. It has been a pleasure having him on the leadership team, and we wish him all the best in his future endeavours."
Hats off to nurse Stephanie Burton, who works in Altnagelvin Hospital

Today will see a graduation at Queen's University that nurse Stephanie Burton never thought would happen.

The Londonderry woman was left with a brain injury after being attacked during a holiday in Spain two years ago.

Stephanie had been walking along the strip in Salou with her friends on a night out when she was punched so hard in the face that she fell back and hit her head.

"That caused the head injury," she said. "It was just bad timing and bad luck. I didn't really think much of it and I didn't want to make a big drama out of it."

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Stephanie said she covered up her bruised face with make-up, not even telling her parents what had happened.

Upon returning to Belfast, she carried on as normal, putting her migraines and tiredness down to exam stress.

Noticing that Stephanie wasn't her usual self, falling asleep in lectures and being forgetful, her lecturer Maggie Bennett advised her to consult a doctor.

Stephanie was transferred to hospital for an MRI scan that revealed she had suffered a head injury as a result of the assault.

"I was shocked when I was told I needed to attend brain injury rehabilitation. I would've carried on as normal if Maggie hadn't suggested I visit a doctor," she said. "I think nurses make terrible patients, you're always looking after people and put yourself last.

"The migraines were horrific, I had a migraine that lasted from April to December and they couldn't get rid of it at all."

At first Stephanie struggled with the diagnosis, overwhelmed by the journey of recovery that lay ahead. After a gruelling six months spent between various hospital and rehabilitation appointments, she was able to return to her studies.

"It was a lot easier than I thought, thanks to the support I received from fellow students and staff. The disability services and nursing staff helped me massively. It is thanks to this support that I am now graduating with a first class honours," she said.

Stephanie works in the emergency department of the Altnagelvin Hospital in her native Derry.

"It is really fast-paced and busy, which is what I prefer. If it is not constant I find myself getting more tired, so I am better being super busy," she added.

"I will be coming back to Queen's in September to do a Masters in advanced professional practice."
South Belfast Sure Start's 50 staff look after 1,600 infants and young children up to the age of four, and support their families, at least half of which would use the service each week. [File photo Childcare Getty Images/ iStockphoto]

South Belfast Sure Start has issued protective redundancy notices its 50 employees.

The notice was given on Monday, Sure Start Chairperson Eleanor Jordan said, because the project is funded by the Department of Education and "there has been no further funding confirmed beyond the 31st July".

South Belfast Sure Start's 50 staff look after 1,600 infants and young children up to the age of four, and support their families, at least half of which would use the service each week.

The programme was set up in 2001 and this is the first time that staff have ever been sent notice letters, Ms Jordan said.

The staff team of mainly family support and early years workers are worried, she explained.

"Taking politics out of it, the reality is that they have only three weeks of secure employment left.

"Most of them have families and homes to support and are already struggling because the wages are generally low and they havent had a pay rise in three years.

"They work extremely hard for young children and families often in the most difficult of circumstances and I know they will be just as worried about what the loss of Sure Start services would mean to the families and children they work with."

The Sure Start programme works in the heart of the most disadvantaged communities of South Belfast.

Communities, Ms Jordan said, who "have borne the brunt of the troubles and already feel left behind in many ways".

Whilst some welfare reform measures are starting to make a difference, the Sure Start programme and its staff are, Ms Jordan stressed, something that parents in South Belfast have been able to rely on.

She continued: "I cannot understand why a government would be so dismissive of its youngest citizens, especially those who are the most disadvantaged and vulnerable in society.

"All the evidence is that investing in early years is the most successful way for a government to improve outcomes for the whole of society.

"How are we going to be able to progress in NI if these babies, toddlers and pre-schoolers get forgotten about amongst all the other things politicians are arguing about?

We are calling on all politicians to come together and take whatever action is needed to ensure jobs and the essential services provided by this organisation are sustained," Ms Jordan concluded.

There are 39 Sure Start programmes across Northern Ireland, mostly based in the 25% most deprived electoral wards.

DUP MLA Christopher Stalford posted a comment about this issue on his Facebook page on Tuesday. He wrote: "I have just been contacted by a person who works for SureStart. She, and every other person working for the organisation has been put on pre-emptive notice that they will be out of a job by 31st July unless devolution is restored. Doing this to people over a language act is a disgrace. Selfish madness."

The Dept. of Education has been contacted with a request for comment.
Laura Poitras had already been filming behind the scenes with WikiLeaks and Julian Assange when Edward Snowdens release of NSA information hit the headlines. She was embedded with the team that helped Snowden evade US authorities and travel to Russia. That part of her footage was extracted into the successful standalone film CitizenFour reviewed ) and released in late 2014.Filmed over five years,is like prequel and a sequel to that story. However, Snowden is a relatively straightforward, clean cut character who can attract audience empathy in a way that the more complicated Assange cannot.At first Poitras portrays a principled and pragmatic publisher of government secrets who admits that he may not behave in a methodical manner when subjected to threats. Then a layer of the onion is peeled away to reveal a paranoid protester who must have a crick in his neck given the number of times he looks over his shoulder while being briefed by a colleague in a wooded area near the WikiLeaks HQ.Being briefed is misleading phrase for me to use: Assange frequently interrupts those who speak to him. Its one of the traits that jumps out from the 92 minute film. He is unable to suppress his own thoughts escaping his mouth while he is supposed to be listening to someone else.And then theres his startling lack of empathy for other people, including the women who made the allegations of sexual assault. He dismisses the complaints and investigation as a radical feminist conspiracy. Suddenly hes on the wrong side of this conspiracy.The onion continues its raw reveal as we realise that although WikiLeaks is a small organisation, this is a boss who lets other people dial the numbers and start phone calls before he reaches over to take the handset. His team trim his hair, and even when closeted in his cramped quarters in the Ecuador embassy next door to Harrods in London (June 19 was his fifth anniversary), he is surrounded by WikiLeaks staffers.One of his most trusted aides, Sarah Harrison, was unable to return to the UK for several years after helping Snowden flee to Russia. Yet we hear no complaint. Loyalty within Camp Assange is high.One side effect of the extended period of filming is that some of the long-running characters disappear (like a soap opera). Jacob Appelbaum (journalist, hacker and computer security researcher) is at first prominent, speaking at conferences about WikiLeaks and challenging government figures, before making a quick exit from the scene (and his involvement with the Tor Project) when allegations of sexual abuse were made.The case of Bradley Manning (who transitioned to Chelsea Manning over the course of the documentarys timeline) is also woven into the general tapestry of discordant digital rebellion along with visits to Washington, Tunis and Egypt. Footage of Lady Gaga interviewing the white-haired crypto-journalist is surreal.While never, or rarely, appearing on camera herself, Laura Poitras has chosen to narrate the film through a series of production diary extracts. The story she tells is bitty. The chosen end point is no better  and no more conclusive  than if the film had stopped ten or fifteen minutes earlier.We see the risks that WikiLeaks staff take in their pursuit of publishing the truth. We see the risks some may have taken outside of their work. We are also introduced to the risk being taken by the filmmaker who has triggered government agency trip wires and is now viewed as a sympathiser if not a direct advocate for WikiLeaks.At points in the film, Risk feels both unsatisfactory and uncomfortable. As a consequence it successfully reflects the WikiLeaks organisation and its leader Julian Assange.The film no where near as complete and finished as CitizenFour. And Assange is no where near as likeable a subject as Snowden. But Risk is a good overview of the Assange era, even if his story  and incarceration in the Knightsbridge diplomatic mission  has not reached a neat conclusion.If WikiLeaks made films about people doing things they didnt like, Risk contains exactly the moments that they would include to shake the trust the audience would have in their subject. Laura Poitras has certainly done nothing to give Julian Assange hero status, nor has she rescued his reputation. The uncompromising documentary highlights his aloofness and the contradictions in his approach.is being screened in the Queens Film Theatre until 6 July
New rules for transparency over financial support to political parties in Northern Ireland will apply to donations from the Republic, senior political sources have indicated.

Northern Ireland Secretary James Brokenshire said details of future gifts are to be published, but declined to make the measure retrospective to the start of 2014.

Unlike the rest of the UK, the identities of donors to local parties have remained secret due to concerns over security, but critics are concerned the veil is harming accountability.

Sinn Fein receives funding from donors abroad, particularly in the US.

At Westminster the DUP's Sir Jeffrey Donaldson asked Mr Brokenshire about donations routed via the Republic of Ireland to political parties operating in Northern Ireland - meaning Sinn Fein.

Mr Brokenshire said the issue "would remain under consideration".

He said he intended to bring forward legislation "that will provide for the publication of all donations and loans received by Northern Ireland parties on or after July 1, 2017".

But sources last night said that the new transparency rules would apply to donations from the Republic.

But there is concern that the rules won't be retrospective, meaning no new information about the DUP Brexit donation worth 435,000 from a group of pro-union business people.

The government had previously agreed to backdate the publication of donations to January 1, 2014.

Alliance leader Naomi Long told Mr Brokenshire: "You bottled this. This was a chance to show you aren't in the DUP's pocket and publish who lines theirs. You failed to grasp it."

Seamus Magee, a retired head of the Electoral Commission in Northern Ireland, which regulates party finances, tweeted: "The deal on party donations and loans must be part of the DUP/Conservative deal. No other explanation."

A spokesman for the government said: "The Secretary of State plans to implement the Conservative manifesto commitment to full transparency for political loans and donations from July 1, 2017.

"We do not believe it is right or fair to impose retrospective regulations or conditions on people who donated in good faith in accordance with the rules as set out in law at the time."

Ann Watt, head of the Electoral Commission in NI, said she expected the first donation and loan report to be published in the autumn. "We would also like to see the necessary legislation put in place, as soon as possible, to allow us to publish details of donations and loans received since January 2014."
Fire Fighters battle a blaze at a property in the Stratheden Street area of the Newlodge, North Belfast on July 3rd 2017 (Photo by Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph)

Fire Fighters battle a blaze at a derelict property in the Stratheden Street area of the Newlodge, North Belfast on July 3rd 2017 (Photo by Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph)

Fire Fighters battle a blaze at a property in the Stratheden Street area of the Newlodge, North Belfast on July 3rd 2017 (Photo by Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph)

Fire Fighters battle a blaze at a derelict property in the Stratheden Street area of the Newlodge, North Belfast on July 3rd 2017 (Photo by Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph)

Fire Fighters battle a blaze at a derelict property in the Stratheden Street area of the Newlodge, North Belfast on July 3rd 2017 (Photo by Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph)

Fire Fighters battle a blaze at a property in the Stratheden Street area of the Newlodge, North Belfast on July 3rd 2017 (Photo by Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph)

Fire fighters have put out a blaze at a property in the New Lodge area of north Belfast.

Shortly after 6.30pm this evening three fire engines were called to the scene on Stratheden Street.

Speaking to the Belfast Telegraph, station commander for Belfast's North and West District Brian Hetherington explained: "The fire was in a first floor bedroom, so it was a large fire within one room. The property is unoccupied as it is currently being redeveloped, so it was empty and mostly boarded up at the front."

While some members of the crew extinguished the fire, others alerted neighbours and evacuated them from their homes to avoid potentially harmful smoke inhalation.

The fire was extinguished within around 15 to 20 minutes, and the crew then performed checks to ensure that there was not chance that it would reignite.

Hetherington said that the damage to the property had been substantial and that it was too early to determine the cause of the fire.
Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney says a breakthrough in N Ireland powersharing talks must come on Tuesday or the institutions will stay in cold storage over the summer

Northern Ireland's powersharing crisis is set to drift on through the summer as talks were scaled down amid widespread acknowledgement a deal before the autumn is unlikely.

While no formal suspension of the talks process has been called by the UK Government, and the main parties have signalled a willingness to continue some form of engagement over the coming weeks, substantive negotiations are not expected to resume in the short term.

The bitter political rift between Stormont's two largest parties - Democratic Unionists and Sinn Fein - has left the region without a first and deputy first minister since January and a functioning ministerial executive since March.

On Tuesday, Sinn Fein blamed the failure to settle their differences on the DUP's parliamentary deal with the Prime Minister.

The party's Stormont leader Michelle O'Neill said: "What this constitutes is a monumental failure on behalf of Theresa May."

However, the DUP has claimed Sinn Fein's "excessive shopping list" of demands is preventing the formation of a new executive.

Conceding the restoration of devolution would not materialise in the "immediate term", Northern Ireland Secretary James Brokenshire said: "Despite the progress made by the parties to restore devolved government in Northern Ireland, gaps remain."

Mr Brokenshire now must decide if he will step in to pass a budget for Stormont's rudderless administration.

Civil servants are currently in charge of the region's government departments, but a lack of budget is restricting their ability to spend the region's allotted resources.

"I will reflect carefully in the coming days on any further steps which may be required to support the continued effective provision of public services in Northern Ireland," said Mr Brokenshire.

The DUP and Sinn Fein, the two parties whose sign-off is required to form a devolved government, remain at loggerheads over a range of issues.

Sticking points include the shape of legislation to protect Irish language speakers, the DUP's opposition to lifting the region's ban on same-sex marriage, and mechanisms to deal with the legacy of the Troubles.

Imminent recesses at Stormont and Westminster - and heightened community tensions around the loyal order marching season - are among the factors inhibiting a breakthrough in the short term.

Mrs O'Neill heavily criticised Mrs May.

"She has set back decades of work that has been done here throughout the years and it's a consequence, as we all know, of the DUP supporting the Prime Minister and the Prime Minister in turn supporting the DUP," she said.

DUP leader Arlene Foster suggested a deal will now have to wait until at least the autumn.

"We are disappointed we don't have an agreement this afternoon," she said.

"We are going to keep working at it through the summer and hopefully we can come to an agreement later on in the year.

"We are certainly up for an agreement, we are up for devolution."

Mrs Foster and Mrs O'Neill both insisted MLAs should continue to get paid, despite the fact the Assembly has been in cold storage since March.

Offering justification for paying the 49,500 salary to 90 MLAs, the leaders stressed that their representatives would continue to work hard over the summer.

Negotiations were always unlikely to succeed if they stretched into mid-July, when they would be framed against the backdrop of Orange Order commemorations around the "Twelfth of July".

Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney said: "The Governments can support and encourage but, in the final analysis, it is only the parties themselves that can make an agreement with each other.

"All sides may now wish to reflect on how progress can best be made and I would encourage the parties to maintain dialogue with each other over the coming weeks."

The devolved institutions imploded in January when Mrs Foster was forced from office after Sinn Fein's then deputy first minister, the late Martin McGuinness, quit.

That was in protest at the DUP's handling of the renewable heat incentive (RHI), a botched scheme that left the administration facing a 490 million overspend.

Mr McGuinness's move triggered March's snap Assembly poll and subsequent months of faltering negotiations to restore a devolved government.

The row over RHI exposed a series of other deep seated divisions at the heart of the administration.
A new banner of a loyalist killer that has been erected in Co Tyrone is legal, the PSNI has said.

Police arrested a man for theft after he removed the first banner dedicated to Wesley Somerville, one of the UVF gang who carried out the 1975 Miami Showband massacre.

Stephen Travers, who survived the bomb blast in which three of his bandmates were murdered, said yesterday that the people of Moygashel must be "short on heroes if they are honouring a man who murdered innocent musicians".

He said that the "real loyalist heroes" of the Somme would be "spinning in their graves" at the thought of Somerville being included in their number.

He was speaking after the controversial banner dedicated to Somerville, which was taken off a lamp post, was replaced by a new one on Saturday.

The PSNI said that the erection of the new poster did not break the law and that no crime has been committed.

Chief Inspector Roy Robinson said: "As a police service we recognise the hurt and frustration that can be caused when a particular poster or banner appears; however, we are compelled in law to consider the legislation available to us.

"Whilst the display of this poster may be perceived as offensive and distasteful, the erection of it does not in itself breach the law. Therefore it is being treated as a 'hate incident' as no crime has been committed."

However, solicitor Peter Corrigan of KRW Law in Belfast claimed that the PSNI is wrong.

"The PSNI are saying that this is not a criminal offence," he said.

"We are challenging this. Under Public Order Offences it is a criminal offence to have a banner that causes fear within a section of the community.

"We are calling for the PSNI to take the banner down and we are challenging their interpretation that this is not a criminal offence."

Police arrested a man in his 60s in connection with the theft of the original banner. He was released on bail pending further inquiries.

Mr Travers said: "They say the law is an ass and this is a perfect example. If it is a case of the police are afraid of trouble if they take it down, then that would be abject cowardice.

"I can certainly see the difficulties saying that someone gets a criminal record for taking it down, and I'm sure it was taken down in conscience, and then that it's not a crime to put it up.

"It's not a case of putting it up causing any more damage, but I think the damage that has been done is to the Moygashel community.

"The whole world is looking at this and saying they must be very short of heroes if that's who they have to honour.

"They are shooting themselves in the foot on this, but let them continue."

Tensions in the Tyrone village were said to be 'extremely high' last week after a man was arrested for taking the flag down on Main Street.

The tribute to Somerville, one of two UVF men who blew themselves up while planting explosives on the Miami Showband's minibus in July 1975, was put up beside other UVF banners. Families of UVF victims had called on the police to remove it.

Victor McNicholl from the Moygashel Residents' Association said the community is "now happy" after the banner was replaced.

"It is not the same one that had been stolen. A new one has been made and was erected again on Saturday," he said.

"It is nothing to do with my group and I don't know where it came from. I just know that it has gone back up.

"Everyone is very happy that it has gone back up. That is the end of it now.

"They will not take it back down again. It shouldn't have been stolen in the first place.

"It stays up for two months, the same as the decorations in the village for the Twelfth of July, and then it is taken down again at the start of September.

"It is only people who are outside the village who are complaining about it. But they don't say anything about the IRA murals down the road. They don't come down, they are up all year round. Wesley is back up there now, he has been there for the past 25 years and he will be back up there for the next 20 years.

"We are a Protestant village, he is part of the culture of the village. He is not a terrorist, he never was a terrorist as far as this village is concerned and that is not glorifying anything. It is nothing against anybody.

"I don't understand why people are annoyed about it. There are a thousand things more important than a poster in Moygashel."

But Mr Travers said the move will have the 'real heroes of loyalism' spinning in their graves.

"I can't change the people of Moygashel," he says. "It is the way they want to be represented. I wonder if parents show the poster to their children and tell them that this is who I want you to be when you grow up.

"If that is the case then God help the children of Moygashel. When you consider the options they have for heroes, the people from the Second World War and the Somme, I'm sure they are spinning in their graves to know they are equated in any way with people who kill themselves while trying to murder innocent musicians."
The PSNI have warned shop owners to beware of a money changing scam currently being operated in the Craigavon area.

Police are warning that the scam involves a group of people swarming into a business and asking for larger notes to be changed into smaller ones.

Members of staff are then confused by the individuals changing the specification for the types of notes they are asking for a number of times - and leave with more cash than they started with.

The PSNI have advised business owners to refuse the transaction if anyone comes into their businesses asking to change larger monetary notes into smaller ones.

Speaking to the Belfast Telegraph, a worker from a local shop in Craigavon said that over the past week there had been an increase in the number of people coming in asking for 50 notes to be changed - but that they did not think a scam had been carried out.
Irish Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney has said the Northern Ireland political parties need to do a deal on Tuesday, if the Stormont Institutions are to be resurrected before the summer break.

It comes after Secretary of State James Brokenshire told the Commons a deal was achievable by the end of the week.

However, sources across the political spectrum have said there was no chance of a deal in the coming days, with many saying the DUP and Sinn Fein were "poles apart".

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"Back on road to Belfast early - parties really must make political breakthrough today if NI assembly is to be back before summer recess," Mr Coveney tweeted on Tuesday morning.

On Monday Sinn Fein said, given the "hostile atmosphere" over the Twelfth period, there could be no chance of a deal.

DUP leader Arlene Foster said it was vital that an agreement was reached at Stormont.

Writing in today's Belfast Telegraph, she warned that without a deal, Northern Ireland was facing "another election or the inevitable introduction of direct rule".

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She said: "The challenge for Sinn Fein over the next few days is whether they will act in the interests of everyone in Northern Ireland rather than maintain that narrow focus.

"I want to get the Executive restored immediately so local ministers can implement key reforms in health and education, as well as meet the needs of our community sector by giving them some budget certainty.

"Sinn Fein should stop holding devolution to ransom for narrow political advantage with the Irish language."

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Gary Hanna getting down on one knee to pop the question

Gary Hanna of Larne RNLI with the banner he used to propose to girlfriend Nichola Fleet

An RNLI volunteer has set the bar high for anyone planning a memorable wedding proposal after enlisting the help of his lifeboat and crew.

Gary Hanna, who has volunteered at Larne lifeboat station for nearly two years, surprised girlfriend Nichola Fleet during what she thought would be a leisurely Sunday stroll on the beach.

However, during the walk the couple were joined by the Larne lifeboat complete with crew shooting flares and a large banner bearing the words: 'Will you marry me Nichola? Say yes, from Larne station'.

The couple, who have been together for 16 months after meeting online, are now planning to tie the knot in Longeveau, France, in 2019.

"I had no idea that he was planning anything," the bride-to-be told the Belfast Telegraph.

"My mum and dad came for Sunday lunch and said they wanted to go for a walk and an ice cream on Ballygally beach afterwards.

"We went down to the beach and Gary was skimming stones for ages, and I thought: 'Flip how long is he going to stand skimming stones for?'

"Then we saw the lifeboat and even then I didn't twig. When it turned round I saw the banner and I had to read it three times. I didn't think he was as romantic as that!"

Video of the heart-warming gesture shows the crew setting off flares as Gary gets down on one knee.

He then slips the white gold and square cut diamond ring onto Nichola's finger to cheers from his watching colleagues and people nearby.

"Gary would be very thoughtful but he's not normally one for big romantic gestures and I don't normally like surprises," said Nichola, who works as a receptionist at Belfast's Avoniel Leisure Centre.

"I later found out that he had asked my dad for permission on the boat a couple of weeks earlier, and my mum and sister had helped him choose the ring. I didn't know about any of it.

"But I couldn't be happier. He has definitely earned a lot of brownie points."

Meanwhile, Nichola's resourceful husband-to-be is just relieved that his unique proposal went off without a hitch.

"I had asked the coxswain and the station mechanic if it would be possible to use the boat and then they worked their magic," said Gary, who works in his family's plant nursery business. "Everyone at the RNLI was so supportive - we are like a family at the station.

"I told Nichola that the boat was out that day but I wasn't going as I had invited her mum and dad down for Sunday dinner. I told them to ask to go for an ice cream at Ballygally for dessert.

"Then the boat came up and turned around, and when she saw it she was shocked.

"Both sets of parents were there and they let out a cheer.

"We are going to France in September, and I think she thought that I was going to propose then, but I couldn't let her wait that long."

And Gary has a tip for grooms planning an unforgettable proposal.

"Plan ahead. Then hopefully everything will work out on the day," he advised.
Northern Ireland's Secretary of State James Brokenshire has confirmed that a new Executive will not be formed "in the immediate term".

In a statement this evening issued through his Department, Mr Brokenshire said: "Despite the progress made by the parties to restore devolved government in Northern Ireland, gaps remain."

"All parties have, however, emphasised their desire to remain engaged and to find a way to return to and resolve these issues. The Government welcomes this and will do all it can to work with the parties to achieve a successful outcome."

He said that the British Government "will not forget our responsibilities to uphold political stability and good governance in Northern Ireland" and that it remains "steadfast in its commitment to the Belfast Agreement and to governing in the interests of all parts of the community".

A statement was also issued by Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade Simon Coveney, who has been the representative of the Irish government at the Stormont discussions.

"Having met the parties and the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland again this morning and talked through the detail of the outstanding issues, it now seems clear that agreement will not be forthcoming this week," said Mr Coveney.

"The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland said yesterday that he stands ready to introduce the necessary legislation at Westminster to allow an Executive to be formed once the necessary political agreement is reached between the parties."

He added that "it is only the parties themselves that can make an agreement with each other" and reiterated the Irish government's backing for the Good Friday Agreement.

DUP leader Arlene Foster earlier confirmed that no deal had been reached to restore power-sharing, and suggested a deal will now have to wait until at least the autumn.

Speaking to a group of reporters outside Stormont, the former First Minister said that her party was "disappointed" an agreement couldn't be reached, but dismissed the idea that the summer break would create a "vacuum".

"We are going to continue talking throughout the summer, I want to send that message very firmly to the people we represent. I think what we want to see is an agreement that everyone can buy into, whether youre a nationalist or a unionist," she said.

"I hope others involved in this process are looking at the bigger picture as well and are saying if we want devolution, then you need to find an accommodation that everyone can feel comfortable with."

She added that the decision by Secretary of State James Brokenshire to allow further time for the talks was to "give the parties some space" and that "he knows how much progress we have made".

We are going to keep working at it through the summer and hopefully we can come to an agreement later on in the year. Arlene Foster

Speaking a short time after Mrs Foster, Sinn Fein's leader in Northern Ireland Michelle O'Neill said that her party were "disappointed but not surprised that a deal had not yet been done", noting a lack of urgency at the talks.

"What this constitutes is a monumental failure on behalf of Theresa May, she has set back decades of work that has been done here throughout the years," O'Neill said.

"It is a consequence as we all know of the DUP supporting the PM, and in turn the PM supporting the DUP."

She said that her party were focused on "delivering rights that are available to citizens in other parts of these islands" and added "the reason we dont see those rights afforded and the reason that Theresa May is sitting back and allowing that to happen is because she is in hock to the DUP".

What this constitutes is a monumental failure on behalf of Theresa May. She has set back decades of work that has been done here throughout the years. Michelle O'Neill

Commenting on the talks process, SDLP leader Colum Eastwood said: "The most depressing commentary on today's 'pause' is that no-one will be surprised by it - least of all the public."

"However, just because we are well versed in the hugely frustrating pattern of these talks, it shouldnt make us any less angry at what amounts to another failure. "

The UUP's leader Robin Swann this evening said that "it's groundhog day yet again in Northern Ireland politics" but that "devolution remains the best option for the people of Northern Ireland".

Secretary of State James Brokenshire, in the House of Commons on Monday, said a deal could be reached this week. However, sources have said the two main parties are "poles apart".

Sinn Fein sources said they expect the UK and Irish governments to suspend the negotiations, with the aim of restarting the process in a number of months. The party said it didn't expect a deal until the autumn.

The talks have stalled over the failure by the DUP and Sinn Fein to reach agreement on key issues such as an Irish language act, a Bill of Rights and legacy issues with sources saying the two main parties have not moved any closer and there is no expectation of a deal until after the summer.

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Discussing the option of bringing in Prime Minister Theresa May and Taoiseach Leo Varadkar for a summit, Former Northern Ireland Secretary of State Shaun Woodward (Labour) Lord Reg Empey (UUP) and Daithi McKay (SF) all agreed that this could "re-energise" the talks process. They were speaking to the BBC.

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Daithi McKay spoke of the "urgency" of resolving the outstanding issues and called for a new mediator. While recognising that there's not much point continuing talks during the first two weeks of July holiday and marching period, he said there was "no reason" why the negotiations couldn't continue after that.

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Mr McKay said: "I think the format has to change because, after the election, when James Brokenshire was returned as the secretary of state, he didn't go into the process, nobody went into the process, doing anything differently.

"Not only do we need a summit, I think we need to look back to the work of the Good Friday Agreement and the work of George Mitchell.

"We do need somebody more independent [to chair the talks] because James Brokenshire was not viewed by nationalists as independent before the election, he certainly isn't now.

"We do have the evolving relationship between the Tories and the DUP and that will certainly continue to impact on relations between all the parties here.

"I do think we need some sort of summit to demonstrate that both governments are actually serious about resolving the difficulties at Stormont and we do need an independent mediator there to do it."

'Complicated'

Former Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Labour's Shaun Woodward, also said that the negotiations had been "complicated" by the Tories deal with the DUP, "if only because of suspicion that they might not be willing to put pressure on the DUP".

He commented: "What I feel would really help now would be a real, honest independent broker, like a George Mitchell."

Also agreeing that new energy is needed, Mr Woodward said: "For very complex reasons, the government has overseen drift happening. Neither side feels they have to move and they are waiting for the other side to move.

"By all, means have a summit. The two governments should be working hand in glove on this. A summit could help but I think what we have to be very clear about is what are the consequences if the summit should fail," he also stated. "What happens if the summit fails. That has to very clearly laid out for people Otherwise, this could drift on and on and on and that would be very bad."

'Risky'

Lord Reg Empey said he that bringing in prime ministers could be a risky strategy.

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"We have done it in the past and it has been successful - but you may recall David Cameron came in one evening a couple of years ago - he found that the situation wasn't sufficiently ready and he scarpered away.

"The prime ministers is basically the last card you can play.

"Sometimes they can make a difference but, if they fail, then you're really in serious difficulty."

Lord Empey also called for all five of the parties in Northern Ireland to be brought together. "Let us not forget that the last time the five parties sat down together at the table was last Tuesday."

Prime ministers should not be brought in until "a lot of pressure" had already been brought to bear on the parties locally, he said.

"We're 19 years past the Belfast agreement, surely we would be showing respect to the people who are on waiting lists and in trouble in all sorts of ways if we were actually sorting things out ourselves instead of having somebody to hold our hand all the time.

"It's only in the last resort that you bring the prime ministers in and, as Shaun Woodward rightly points out, if that fails, we're in serious difficulty."
Pallets for a loyalist bonfire were being stored by Belfast City Council at one of its depots.

An investigation into why Belfast City Council agreed to store wooden pallets for a loyalist bonfire has been agreed.

Efforts were made to discuss the issue behind closed doors at last night's City Hall meeting, but councillors voted to allow the public and press to stay for the announcement.

The probe will examine why the council stored 3,000 wooden pallets for loyalist bonfire builders on Chobham and Hope Street.

The controversy surrounding the matter intensified after the Belfast Telegraph revealed they had been stolen from council premises on the Gransha Road.

The DUP have supported the investigation, but have insisted the council did not act inappropriately.

Last night Sinn Fein councillor Jim McVeigh raised the issue, prompting an immediate vote on whether it should be aired in public.

The vote passed by 34 votes to 19, with a number of unionist politicians opposing.

Before speaking Mr McVeigh was warned by the Lord Mayor Nuala McAllister to make sure "your behaviour and conduct is fitting of the office which you hold".

Mr McVeigh told the meeting: "It's time to call a spade a spade. Bonfires are not culture, they're anti-culture."

He added that most councillors had been "kept in the dark" about the decision to store the pallets and that it had "seriously damaged the reputation of this council across this city in the minds of many, many people".

Mr McVeigh then circulated terms of reference for the investigation which were agreed.

The document stated that the investigation by the chief executive was to be conducted with "independent assessment of the evidence".

In addition it suggests that the council establish a mechanism for staff who may wish to make disclosures on the matter, either directly or anonymously.

Prior to last night's meeting, a concerned council employee told the Belfast Telegraph that frontline staff were now worried they could be at risk from loyalists.

"There is a real danger that angry loyalists will vent their fury on us," the source said. "Some of us feel very vulnerable.

"Some of us are engaging with bonfire builders and loyalist community people on a daily basis and we fear the repercussions. We could now be targeted through no fault of our own."

In response, the council's director of city and neighbourhood services, Nigel Grimshaw, urged staff to come to him with any concerns.

"There is potential that tensions may rise in some communities over the days ahead. Your safety and welfare is of paramount importance," he told staff.

"I would ask any member of staff with any concerns to contact their supervisor/manager in order that appropriate support can be considered."

A council spokeswoman said that while no threats had been made, "we take the safety of our staff extremely seriously".
Sir Jeffrey Donaldson has insisted that there was no "side deal" between the DUP and the Tories on disclosure of political donations.

The DUP MP was responding to a remark Tweeted Seamus Magee, the former Head of the Electoral Commission on Monday night.

Mr Magee wrote: "The deal on party donations and loans must be part of the DUP/Conservative deal. No other explanation."

He was referring to the announcement requirement for political parties to disclose donations applies from July 1, 2017 rather than having been backdated to 2014.

Mr Magee has since removed the Tweet.

Read More

Speaking to the BBC on Tuesday morning, Sir Jeffrey said it was "absolutely not" true that there was any side deal on donations.

He added: Let me be absolutely clear. I was deeply disappointed to read Seamus Magee's tweet last night.

"Totally innacurate.

"And I hope that Seamus, a man of integrity whom I respect, will take my word for it.

"There is no side deal on party political donations."

The DUP, Sir Jeffrey welcomed the disclosure requirements saying he didn't "have any particular difficulty" with them being backdated.

He called for the government to "close the loophole that allows Sinn Fein to bring money in through the back door of the Irish Republic".

Explaining that, "at the moment, only people registered in the United Kingdom can donate to political parties in Great Britain" he said that rule "should extend to Northern Ireland".

Sinn Fein should be required, he continued, to disclose any funding they bring in through the Irish Republic.

"We will be pressing for that change," he concluded.
OOCL Hong Kong, the world's largest container ship, which can carry 21,413 twenty foot containers and is 1,311 feet long, docks in Felixstowe (Steve Parsons/PA)

The worlds largest container ship, which can carry 21,413 containers measuring 20ft each, has arrived in the UK.

OOCL Hong Kong, which is 400 metres long, docked in Felixstowe, Suffolk on the last stop of its maiden voyage to Europe before it returns to the Far East as part of an estimated 77-day round trip.

The vessel weighs 210,890 tonnes and has a width of 58.8 metres.

It was built at Samsung Heavy Industries shipyard in Geoje, South Korea and serves the Asia-Europe trade lane as part of OOCLs LL1 service.

The ship arrived at Hutchison Ports Port of Felixstowe at midday on Tuesday and is due to depart on Thursday morning.

Clemence Cheng, chief executive officer of the Port of Felixstowe and managing director of Hutchison Ports Europe, said: The OOCL Hong Kong is the latest in a line of mega vessels to call at the Port of Felixstowe.

The ports location close to the main shipping lanes and the ports of Northern Europe, combined with a unique combination of road and rail connections, makes it the first choice for the latest generation of giant container ships.
Emergency personnel work at the scene where a taxi struck a group of pedestrians. (NBC Boston via AP)

A crash that injured 10 people near Boston's Logan International Airport does not appear to be an intentional act, according to police.

A Massachusetts State Police official said the crash is believed to be a case of "operator error" in which the driver stepped on the gas pedal instead of the brake.

The 56-year-old taxi driver's vehicle struck the pedestrians in a taxi-queuing area on Monday afternoon near the East Boston airport.

State police spokesman David Procopio said 10 people were injured, some seriously.

Video of the scene showed a white taxi with front end damage at rest against a building and near some picnic tables.

Mr Procopio said based on the preliminary investigation, "there is no information that suggests the crash was intentional".

AP
Jordan Clements has looked at the life of a doctor from both sides. His father is a surgeon and Jordan has required a lot of medical intervention to cope with muscular dystrophy.

What both perspectives have reinforced in this remarkable 24-year-old is a determination to become a medic specialising in radiology or cancer care.

He is now well on his way after graduating in medicine from Queen's University, a tremendous achievement for someone facing serious health challenges.

He knows the incredible work that the medical professionals perform daily from his own experiences and that may help make him a great doctor one day.
When Islamist gunmen killed a 10-year-old Egyptian schoolboys father, he witnessed his dad standing firm in his Christian faith and refusing to recite the Muslim profession of faith. The price for his convictions cost his life. A boy, his brother and mother now live without their father. They are one of many Coptic Christians persecuted for their faith. We need to pray for them to be given spiritual freedom.

Spiritual Freedom is holding those beliefs that exist in the heart, mind and soul of each person who believes in God. Such beliefs cannot be controlled, given, or taken away from anyone regardless of the kind of government or leadership a person lives under.

At the University of Texas in Austin, carved in stone on one of the original main buildings are the words, You shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free. That verse goes on to say, If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.

In other words, the truth that brings freedom is not some educational construct or ideal, but spiritual truth. That truth is carved on many of our academic institutions and ignored, even attacked. Romans 6:20-23 tells us that sin enslaves people for spiritual death and eternity apart from God. Knowing Christ provides freedom from the control of sin and eternal life with Him.The freedom we have in Christ is in in direct contrast to the bondage of sin. This is the importance of spiritual freedom. It sets you free from the bondage of sin.

For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Freedom in Chris cannot be taken away and provides lasting freedom beyond this life. John 8:36 notes, If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. We now know the truth that sets us free as believers (John 8:32).

Bottom line. The best freedom is that which comes from a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. We experience true freedom in Christ by knowing Him, walking in His ways, and engaging with the changes He makes in and through our lives as we focus on service to Him and to others. This freedom transcends the human freedoms desired in this world, providing peace with Christ forevermore.

So this 4th of July, enjoy the freedoms we have in America, especially the freedom to openly express your Christianity. While that freedom has been under attack, we still have more freedom that other places in the world.

Happy fourth of July.
With the growth of extremism in Southeast Asia, governments and their partners must develop capabilities not only to fight but rehabilitate suspected terrorists in custody.

The terror threat is becoming acute in the maritime region of Southeast Asia  composed of Malaysia, Brunei, the Philippines, Singapore and Indonesia  where half a billion people live.

Almost a thousand alleged terrorists incarcerated in Southeast Asian prisons, especially those in Indonesia following the 2002 Bali bombings, will be released in the coming decade.

Without proper rehabilitation programs, it is very likely that some terror suspects will pose a security threat. Others will infect their friends and family with their militant ideas and ideals, while a few would be expected to join the terrorist iconography.



With the rise of the Islamic State (IS) and its global expansion, the region needs to build a robust capability for rehabilitating terrorists and confronting extremism. To accomplish this, governments should invest in understanding IS and community-based rehabilitation capabilities.



Seductive power of IS

Because of the global growth of militant extremism, the number of people sent to prison for participating and supporting IS will grow exponentially.

Many governments with their community partners have worked to deter terrorist recruitment and radicalization. But the appeal and seductive power of IS has made many susceptible to indoctrination and vulnerable to recruitment.

To transform the lives of those potential recruits, mainstream society must prepare rehabilitation programs. Without rehabilitation, prison will not prepare them to reject extremism. They would not embrace coexistence and moderation.



But unlike Singapore, Saudi Arabia and Sri Lanka, most countries have no comprehensive rehabilitation programs tackling extremism. Although IS recruited from 120 countries, less than a fifth of the countries have adopted the U.N.-sponsored programs.

Developing Rehabilitation Programs



Building rehabilitation programs requires leadership, a legal framework, a dedicated organization and expert resources.

The world has started to understand that no one agency can develop and implement criminal or terrorist rehabilitation.

Rehabilitation is an enterprise where government, private sector, community organizations and academia work together.

Prisons often lack the knowledge and skills to transform the inmates they hold. Only a few countries have the resources to build within their prisons the expertise to return suspected terrorists back to mainstream life. They rely on the private sector for resources, the community for support and academics for assessment.



The best private companies devote significant resources to train and, after release, recruit beneficiaries. Similarly, community leaders and institutions pave the way and build bridges to bring back those deviants to the mainstream.

Academia train the specialists to work in prison and community settings. In addition, the institutions of higher learning and think-tanks can develop and refine the assessments to measure the degrees of radicalization and de-radicalization.



Drawing expertise from different sectors

Diverse partners should come together to develop different approaches of intervention. A visionary, goal-oriented and creative leadership is essential.

The key is to understand and manage the risks.

Rehabilitation is a risk worth taking because it achieves good for the individual and family, workplace and community.

Leaders should draw expertise and resources from different sectors to chart and sustain the lives of the beneficiaries.

Success depends on drawing relevant partners from multiple sectors and the ability to hold them together to achieve a common goal.

The beneficiaries are best transformed in settings where they can make it. Some may end up being in the security forces and other government jobs, others at universities and institutions of learning, some in private sector and companies.

The classic detention and prison are not the ideal settings for embracing change for the better. Punishment to deter re-offending and rehabilitation to prepare for release should be the twin goals of all facilities.



What will secure Southeast Asia?

It is essential to build lethal capabilities to address the immediate threat, but strengthening rehabilitation and community-engagement capabilities will secure the region.

Governments that are lacking resources  such as the Philippines  to transform those in custody should build strategic capabilities in two areas: rehabilitation and community engagement.

They should invest in building larger prisons, as space is essential to build good rehabilitation programs. They should create a dedicated rehabilitation authority and develop an appropriate rehabilitation framework, ensuring that efforts to transform a suspected terrorist into a productive citizen will not be wasted.

If the community is infected, the re-integrated suspect may be influenced by another extremist. He may relapse.

It is most important for all governments to control recidivism.

For a successful re-integration of a suspected terrorist, there should be parallel efforts to build programs to immunize the community against extremist ideas and ideologies.

Rohan Gunaratna is professor of Security Studies at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies at the Nanyang Technology University and head of the International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research in Singapore.

The opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and not of BenarNews.
The sinister businesses of the Assad clan

At the luxury resort of Marbella |

Von: PETER TIEDE and ANDREAS THELEN

Marbella  Breasts are shaking, bottoms swaying, the sun is shining on sweat-soaked skin  at noon, the Arab dancers at the Plaza Beach Club in Puerto Banus are already in full swing, performing for the guests at the luxury resort of Marbella in southern Spain  and for the Syrian Assad dictator clan. According to Spanish investigators, the clan launders its money here, at Spains southern shore.

The investigators uncovered real estate and valuables worth more than 500 million euros in and around Marbella alone. In April and May, they seized Assad-property in all of Spain  over 800 million euros of real estate, luxury cars, bank accounts, and jewellery. The bank accounts of 16 suspected persons were frozen. Over 76 companies are under investigation.

The main accused person is Rifaat al-Assad (79), uncle of Syrias dictator Bashar al-Assad and brother of the latters deceased father, former dictator Hafiz al-Assad (69).

A network of bogus companies

The investigators working for Jose de la Mata, special judge at the National Court, are confident about how the division of labour works within the dictator clan. In Syria, Bashar al-Assad fights against his own people with chemical bombs and barrel bombs. Under palm trees, uncle Rifaat launders the millions in dirty money and drug profits that were stashed away.

Allegedly, the state treasury was already plundered under father Hafiz. One of the people who invested the money abroad was uncle Rifaat. Rifaat  who, for a long time, was considered his brothers right hand  had to leave Syria because of a supposedly planned coup against his brother in the mid-1980s. The official story was that he left for an indefinite work stay in the Soviet Union.

The Gray Dalbion, a hotel and shopping complex, formerly owned by the Assad clan. The property was seized by the Spanish authorities

Rifaat, however  who is known as the Butcher of Hama because he ordered a massacre of 20 000 people  went to the West. Based in France, he developed a real estate empire in Spain and France, but also Curacao, Liechtenstein, and Luxembourg. Apparently, he used millions from the Syrian treasury for this  transferred to him by his brother.

The investigators have now discovered a web of bogus companies that were registered under, among others, two of his wives, eight of his sons, and two of his daughters  in Europe, in Arabian states, and tax havens such as Gibraltar and Panama. In Panama alone, the investigators found 27 companies associated with Assad.

A Spanish investigator involved in the proceedings told BILD: This concerns the suspicion that billions from illegal dealings were laundered in Spain and France  including money from drug deals and money from Syria.

The premises of Russias President, Vladimir Putin, on the mountain top. The entire surroundings are widely fenced off

The Assads had big plans

Since 1988, Rifaat has specifically invested the money in spaces in and around Marbella that were later turned into luxury property  including the area surrounding what is today the Puerto Banus marina with the Plaza Beach Club, the neighbouring apartment complex Benabola, car parks, bars and restaurants, and the shopping complex Gray Dalbion  entirely clad in marble  next to the beach. All of these properties are now seized.

The Assads also had further plans: in the Marbella back country mountains, the clan bought a mansion called La Maquina in the luxurious village of Benahavis.

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What is officially described as a finca is in fact a 424 hectares, ideally located property  an entire mountain range with a valley left in its natural state, a mountain torrent, eucalyptus and pine forests, and all of it is almost entirely unbuilt on. Adjacent to that area is Spains most expensive villa complex La Zagaleta  two mountains and a valley with villas on 3000 to 6000 square metres of land each.

Everything is closely guarded. The area can only be entered by a residents invitation. The owners of the villas (some of them featuring a helicopter field) include super-rich Russians and their Swiss former bankers.

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The most prominent owner is Russias President, Vladimir Putin (64). According to Spanish investigators, the Kremlin leader  who fights a war in Syria on Assads side  owns a 34-room villa together with Russian businessmen. It is hidden from view and located at the La Zagaleta mountain top.

Two mountains away from that villa, the Assad clan  which is closely associated with Putin  wanted to make big money. The al-Assads wanted to turn La Maquina into a Syrian town  with luxury villas for rich Syrians, a Guardia Civil investigator told BILD.

A local estate agent for luxury real estate says: There is enough money around that needs to be safely invested in the West  from Russia, the Arabian region, and soon also from China.

The value of the unbuilt-on mountain and valley property of La Maquina alone is 60 million euros. After being developed, it will probably be worth ten times as much, the estate agent assumes.
The purpose of the alliance is to make it easier for tech talent, especially students and professors at area universities, to start companies that commercialize the technology theyve worked on.

Alphabet executive chairman Eric Schmidt and GV founder Bill Maris are throwing their connections behind a new nonprofit. The Alliance for Southern California Innovation is aimed at promoting tech entrepreneurship in the region, with a focus on health and medical technology.

The purpose of the alliance is to make it easier for tech talent, especially students and professors at area universities, to start companies that commercialize the technology theyve worked on. The group will work with universities to make processes like licensing of technology easier, and connect budding entrepreneurs with resources like potential investors.

The organization also wants to draw more venture capitalists, who are concentrated up north in Silicon Valley, to Southern California.

When it comes to the ecosystem that can create great startups, its really all about the local ecosystem, said Alliance founder Steve Poizner, an entrepreneur and former state-elected official. Poizner co-founded a GPS technology startup in the 1990s that he sold to Qualcomm, and later oversaw regulation of the insurance industry in California as insurance commissioner.

Poizner added that venture capitalists often do most of their work with companies located near them.

He said the southern part of the state, where most residents actually live, has advantages over the northern half  like there being less heated competition for engineering talent. Plus the rent is usually cheaper. Yet the area hasnt had the same access to venture capital as Silicon Valley.

Schmidt will serve as an adviser to the group, which means that he along with other advisers will help with things like luring venture capitalists to the region, promoting entrepreneurship and identifying areas of scientific and technological expertise where Southern California can establish a lead over other regions.

Mariss new venture fund, Section 32, will work with the organization by advising startups referred to him by the alliance and considering investing in them.

Maris founded Section 32 after leaving Alphabets venture capital firm GV (Google Ventures), where he was CEO and founder. San Diego-based Section 32 recently raised $150 million and one focus of the fund will be startups in the health space, though Maris said that is not the only area where he plans to invest.

My theory is that, in a certain number of years, we will just describe health tech and life sciences companies as just tech companies and they wont be broken out, he told Recode. He added that health tech will be an important part of my portfolio, and its an important part of my heart and my interest.

Its also an area of investment thats especially promising in Southern California. Poizner pointed out that University of California San Diego is known for its life sciences research, and UC Santa Barbara for materials science, and Orange County is a hub for medical device companies.
The Central government has set up the Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) under NITI Aayog for promoting a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship in the country as it felt the need for creating high-class incubation facilities with necessary infrastructure.

Niti-Aayog has chosen the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) for hosting the 10-crore Atal Incubation Centre aimed at identifying promising start-ups, creating facilities and guiding them to success in the field of biotechnology.

CCMB, a constituent laboratory of Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), is among the 10 institutions across the country to be chosen for the facility and the only one in the Telugu States of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, said Director Rakesh K. Mishra at a press conference.

According to the news in a leading news daily, The Hindu, about 3,800 government and private institutions were vying to host the incubation centre with 230 applying from within Telangana alone, but CCMB got the nod and the new facility would come up on its campus at Uppal, said Dr. Mishra.

The Central government has set up the Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) under NITI Aayog for promoting a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship in the country as it felt the need for creating high-class incubation facilities with necessary infrastructure, he said.

NITI Aayogs support through the Mission would help catalyse the efforts of the start-ups in biotechnology to scale up as successful entrepreneurs, he said. Upcoming firms would also be engaged with issues like intellectual property agencies, regulators, seed funders, business developers, research institutions etc.

The ongoing skill training programmes, research strength of the centre, biotechnology industrys maturity here and the Telangana governments support would serve as an ideal platform to take entrepreneurship in biotechnology to the next level, Dr. Mishra observed.

His colleague N. Madhusudhan Rao said there was a lot of activity on developing point of care devices for various human and non-human diseases, to capture the shifting therapy from drugs to biologics, to engage in big data analysis for precision medicine and in the area of stem cell therapies.

About Atal Innovation Mission

Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) under NITI Aayog is aimed at promoting a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship in the country. It aims to create high-class incubation facilities with necessary infrastructure in terms of capital equipment and operating facilities, coupled with the availability of sectoral experts for mentoring the start-ups. The scheme is known as Atal Incubation Centre scheme. The incubation centres would support and encourage start-ups in the sectors like manufacturing, transport, energy, health, education, agriculture, water and sanitation etc. The scheme focuses on the establishment of incubation centres in underserved and unserved areas to support inclusive growth. Under the scheme, Atal Incubation Centre can be established either in publicly funded institutions or Private sector funded institutions or in Public Private Partnership (PPP) mode.


The bill would exempt doctors and drug companies from liability of prescribing and supplying experimental drugs

Right-to-try is being debated fiercely in US as the American Congress is considering a bill on the topic. It is a practice allowing patients diagnosed with terminal illnesses to use drugs that are yet to be approved and are out of clinical trials, but have passed the first clinical test of safety. However, usage of even such drugs also requires Food & Drugs Administration (FDA) approval. The bill in the US Congress however, seeks to eliminate this FDA approval and monitoring of the process.

The Trump administration has supported the bill and this is termed by many as a part of the administrations passion for deregulation. In all 33 states have already passed Right-to-try laws. Efforts of Goldwater institute, a libertarian non-profit organisation that drafted the model law, have led to passing of the laws in the states. In general, overall anti-regulatory environment in the society appears to have provided strength to the Right-to-try moment.

Those supporting the bill claim that as it is the terminally ill patients have no hope for cure from the regular drugs that are given to them. So, why not allow them to try new drugs though it is little risky proposition as all stages of clinical trials are not completed yet. In the process of receiving approval after completing all phases of trials, the drug will be available after long time. But if allowed it to use before that it may be successful in some cases and save life to terminally ill patient.

The patients who have exhausted approved medical treatments without any success, doctors and drug manufacturers can ask the FDA under its expanded access or compassionate use programme to use experimental drugs that have entered but not completed its drug approval process. The bill seeks to remove this process of FDA approval for use of such drugs. The reason given for moving the bill is that the FDA moves too slowly in approving usage of such unapproved drugs.

However, the figures quoted in the US media does not support this stand. The FDA authorized 99% of the 1,278 such requests it received in 2015. The Goldwater Institutes view is that it just fundamentally does not believe in the process of a person applying to the government for permission to save his/her own life. It has described its campaign as ultimate in patient empowerment.

The opposition to the move is on the ground that the patients, though terminally ill and not responding to regular drugs, may suffer a lot by using the drugs yet to be tested fully and they may not prove effective.

The bill would exempt doctors and drug companies from liability of prescribing and supplying experimental drugs. But more controversial provision of the bill is that in case a patient suffers or dies due to the drug, FDA would not be allowed to use the information to delay or block approval of drug or treatment. It would undermine FDAs authority and make it a lame duck only watching without any action in case of negative effect of the drug. That will be stretching Trumps deregulatory philosophy too far.

Some year back, in a public hospital in Mumbai, India a controversy erupted as the hospital was reusing disposable costly medical devices with proper care while operating very poor patients who cannot afford cost of such devices. If the disposable devices were not reused they could not have been operated at all as they could not afford such devices. However, some people objected to this practice on the ground that the hospital was endangering lives of poor patients.

Medical fraternity is plagued by such ethical issues quite often. Decisions like allowing usage of yet to be approved drugs or reuse of disposable devices are though appear wrong and dangerous are taken on humanitarian ground. However, removing the entire control of agencies like FDA on that process is surely very risky. Hence, despite appreciating the concept of using yet to be approved drugs on terminally ill patients, the question arises if the Right-to-try bill is right?
Opinion | 04 November 2022 | Interviews

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The International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA) publishes an annual global review of biotech crops commercialisation or the ISAAA Briefs. It is one of the most cited references in modern agri-biotechnology due to its credibility and accuracy. Since the adoption of biotechnological crops in 1996, ISAAA has remained the single most prominent source of this information.

The year 2016 was momentous, since for the first time Nobel Laureates released a statement in support of biotechnology, condemning critics for their stance against the technology and the development of golden rice. Guided by the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Agriculture, the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations, International Food Policy Research Institute, G20 countries and other like-minded bodies have committed to eradicating hunger and malnutrition within 15.

More importantly, the United States (US) National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine has published a review of 900 studies on biotech crops since 1996 and found that genetically modified (GM) crops and conventionally bred crops do not differ in terms of probable risks to human health and the environment. Biotech crops have had an unblemished record of safe use and consumption for over 20 years. Future generations can benefit greatly from wide choices of biotech crops with improved traits for high yield and nutrition as well as safety regarding use and the environment.

Highlights of 2016 adoption

Planting of hectares worldwide

A year after the second decade of commercialisation of biotech/GM crops in 2016, 26 countries grew 185.1 million hectares of biotech crops  an increase of 5.4 million hectares or 3% from 179.7 million hectares in 2015. Except for the 2015 adoption, this is the 20th series of increases each year; and notably, 12 of the 20 years consisted of double-digit growth rates.

Global area of biotech crops

Global hectarage of biotech crops has increased ~110-fold from 1.7 million hectares in 1996 to 185.1 million hectares in 2016. This makes biotech crops the fastest-adopted crop technology in recent times. An accumulated 2.1 billion hectares or 5.3 billion acres were achieved in 21 years (19962016) of biotech crop commercialisation.

Global adoption rates

The 185.1 million hectares of biotech crops were grown in 26 countries, of which 19 were developing and seven industrial countries. Developing countries grew by 54% (99,6 million hectares) of the global biotech crop area compared to 46% (85,5 million hectares) for industrial countries.

The four major biotech crops  soya bean, maize, cotton, and canola, in decreasing area  were the most adopted biotech crops by 26 countries. The area planted to biotech soya bean was the highest at 91.4 million hectares, making up 50% of the global hectarage of 185.1 million hectares for all biotech crops. Although the soya bean area only showed a marginal decrease of 1% from 2015 (92.7 million hectares), the area is still substantial at 91.4 million hectares. Based on the global crop hectarage for individual crops, 78% of soya bean, 64% of cotton, 26% of maize and 24% of canola were biotech in 2016.

Biotech countries

Of the top five countries growing 91% of biotech crops, three are developing (Brazil, Argentina, and India) and two are industrial (US and Canada).

The US leads biotech crop planting in 2016 at 72.9 million hectares, followed by Brazil (49.1 million hectares), Argentina (23.8 million hectares), Canada (11.6 million hectares) and India (10.8 million hectares) for a total of 168.2 million hectares, 91% of the global hectarage.

Ten countries in Latin America grew ~80 million hectares of biotech crops. Except for Chile and Costa Rica which continuously plant biotech crops for export, biotech crop countries in Latin America grew biotech crops for food, feed, and processing. Brazil obtained the highest increase of 11% or 4.9 million hectares of biotech crops in 2016, occupying 27% of the global biotech crop area.

Eight countries in Asia and the Pacific grew ~18,6 million hectares of biotech crops. Biotech crops planted in the eight biotech crop countries of Asia and the Pacific ranged from fibre (cotton), feed (maize and canola) and food (maize and eggplant). Adoption of these biotech crops varied in 2016: India and Chinas biotech cotton planting was extremely affected by low global cotton prices, while Pakistan and Myanmar maintained their biotech cotton area. The area planted to biotech maize in the Philippines and Vietnam increased due to high demand for livestock and poultry feeds, as well as favourable weather conditions. In Australia, favourable weather conditions after two years of drought permitted increased planting of biotech cotton and canola.

Four countries in the European Union (EU) continued to plant biotech maize at more than 136,000ha. Four countries in the EU continued to plant biotech maize [imidazolinone-resistant (IR) maize event MON 810] in 2016. They consisted of Spain with 129,081ha, Portugal (7,069ha), Slovakia (138ha) and the Czech Republic (75ha) for a total of 136,363ha. Thus, a significant difference of 19,493ha or 17% increase from 116,870ha in 2015 was achieved. The more than 95% of the total biotech maize in the EU was planted in Spain.

On the African continent, South Africa and Sudan increased planting of biotech crops. By 2016, at least four African countries had in the past placed a GM crop in the market  Burkina Faso, Egypt, South Africa, and Sudan. However, due to a temporary setback in Burkina Faso and Egypt, only South Africa and Sudan planted biotech crops at 2.8 million hectares. South Africa is one of the top ten countries planting more than one million hectares in 2016 and continued to lead the adoption of biotech crops on the continent. Biotech maize, soya bean, and cotton area increased to 2.66 million hectares in 2016, a 16% increase from the 2.29 million hectares in 2015.

Contribution of biotech crops

Biotech crops contributed to food security, sustainability and climate change by:

Increasing crop productivity with 574 million tonnes valued at $167.8 billion from 1996 to 2015 and 75 million tonnes valued at $15.4 billion in 2015 alone.

Conserving biodiversity from 1996 to 2015, by saving 174 million hectares and 19.4 million hectares in 2015 alone. Providing a better environment by saving 620 million kilogrammes of active ingredient of pesticides from 1996 to 2015 and by 37.4 million kilogrammes in 2015 alone.

South African status

South Africa planted its first biotech crops, insect-resistant cotton, 19 years ago in 1998. Insect-resistant maize and herbicide-tolerant soya bean followed in 2000 and 2001, with herbicide-tolerant maize in 2003. In 2016, the country planted 2.66 million hectares of biotech crops comprised of maize (2.16 million hectares), soya bean (494,000ha) and cotton (9,000ha).

This was a 16% increase from the reported biotech crop area of 2.29 million hectares in 2015. The average biotech crop adoption increased marginally to 91% in 2016. The total area planted to maize, soya bean and cotton was 2.93 million hectares, a 15% increase from the last report in 2015.

The El Nino weather pattern persisted from 2015 through to November 2016, seriously damaging all agricultural sectors, water resources, grazing for livestock and resulting in raised food prices. A La Nina pattern developed later during December, with good rainfall in most parts of the country except for the far western provinces. Promising outcomes include increased late planting of food crops and expected higher crop yields per hectare.

Since 1998, the 70 events approved for planting in South Africa include five Argentine canola events, ten for cotton, 42 for maize, one rice event (for food) and twelve soya bean events.

Biotech maize

South Africa is set to harvest the largest maize crop on record, estimated at 15.63 million tonnes. The average maize yield is estimated at 5.95 ton per hectare, which is also the highest ever and constituting the highest national maize average in Africa.

Maize is the main field crop in South Africa and is used for both human consumption (mainly white maize) and animal feed (mainly yellow maize). Biotech maize was planted on 2.16 million hectares at an adoption level of 90%, 22% higher than 2015. This hectarage comprised of 19,5% (420,000ha) insect-tolerant, 18,9% (407,000ha) herbicide-tolerant (HT) and 61,7% (1.33 million hectares) of stacked IR/HT maize.

Biotech white maize was planted on 52% (1.123 million hectares) of the total biotech maize, with yellow maize at 48%. Maize is the most critical staple food in the country and the Southern African Development Community region. The severe drought had hit food production very hard in this area. It soon became clear that South Africa would become a net importer of maize and early 2016 indications were that some three million ton of commodity maize will have to be imported.

The country requires 10.5 million tonnes to be produced annually, but only 7.5 million tonnes were produced in the 2015 harvest season. The price of white maize escalated to a peak of R5,500/ton (~$408), which prompted the government to intensify the issuance of import permits. Approximately 94,9% of the 628 permits were for white maize.

New information on imported volumes and late rains showed higher-than-expected yields of crops on the field and more stocks available with US grain entering, creating a possible surplus, and presenting challenges for local farmers as white maize prices dropped to approximately R2,300/ton (~$170).

Despite these setbacks, farmer confidence has been improved and normalcy returned in early 2017. Hence, the latest estimate in the area of biotech maize planting indicated a 22% increase of up to 2.16 million hectares.

WEMA project

In partnership with Kenya, Mozambique, Tanzania, and Uganda, South Africa is involved in the development and deployment of biotech maize under the Water Efficient Maize for Africa (WEMA) project. Maize varieties with stacked drought tolerance and insect resistance were approved in June 2015, but seeds will only be available in late 2017 to a limited number of smallholders. The official wide-scale release to commercial farms is planned for 2018.

Maize production in South Africa indicates the long-term trend of producing more maize on less area, with the use of more efficient and effective farming methods and practices. These are accompanied by the use of less marginal land in the maize production systems, better seed cultivars and adoption of biotechnology.

With biotechnology, maize yield has doubled over the past 20 years in South Africa (USDA, Agricultural Biotechnology Annual for South Africa, 2016).

Biotech soya bean

Soya bean has been planted in South Africa since 2001 and in 2016 it was planted on 520,000ha, a 3% decrease (15,000ha) from 535,000ha planted in 2015 due to drought. Biotech soya bean was planted on 494,000ha, 95% of the total soya bean area.

Experts believe that the increasing trend in soya bean hectarage before the onset of drought in 2015/16 will continue due to the demand created by the growing investments in the oilseed-processing industry in the country. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) post estimates that there will be a 39% growth in the area planted with soya beans in 2016/17, due to the added soya bean crushing capacity and increased affinity by farmers to use soya beans as rotational crop with maize (USDA FAS GAIN Agribiotechnology, South Africa 2016).

The Oilseed Industry Office has been stimulating and supporting soya bean adoption by way of new imported varieties, better use of Rhizobia and farming systems. The Industrial Development Council has provided funding through the Department of Trade and Industry to boost oilseed pressing facilities.

Biotech cotton

Cotton with insect resistance [Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt)] has been planted in South Africa since 1998, and in 2016 there were 9,000ha planted to IR/HT cotton, a 25% decrease in planting due to drought and low global cotton price. All cotton is GM with Bt-Bt stack and glyphosate tolerance. It is expected that cotton prices will increase as global prices stabilise, leading to increased prospects for cotton in the 2017/18 season.

Economic benefits

It is estimated that the economic gains from biotech crops for South Africa for the period 1998 to 2015 was $2.1 billion, and $237 million for 2015 alone (Brookes and Barfoot, 2017, Forthcoming).

Biotechnology continues to be a good investment for millions of farmers across the globe. In 2015, for each additional dollar invested in biotech crop seeds globally, farmers netted an average $3.45. In developing countries, farmers received $5.15 for each extra dollar invested in biotech crop seeds, whereas farmers in developed countries received $2.76 for each extra dollar invested. Biotech crops are here to stay and will continue benefiting the ever-growing population with new GM crops and traits to cater to the needs of farmers and consumers alike.

FB0817 Biotech crops
We've just come out of Cannes 2017. Planet Ad (aka Up Uranus) is still aflutter with opinions on what won, scrambling to identify trends, and general attempts to make sense of it all. Because Cannes is not just gongs, gutter bars and gallons of rose wine. It's the industry's annual temperature check, the optimum chance to get a bird's-eye view of what we do, what's working, what's not, and how (not to mention if) we keep ourselves relevant.

Last year I was a juror. This year I looked at it all from the viewpoint of my junk-strewn desk in Bryanston, with the worlds worst case of FOMO. Ah well...

Its hard not to be caught up in Cannes fever. And since last year did indeed give me some rich insights into Planet Ads trajectory in 2016, I thought Id take the opportunity to see how that compares to where Cannes pointed a year later. 2016 was the year of Brewtroleum, #OPTOUTSIDE, The Next Rembrandt, The Swedish Number, Contours Baby Stroller and Manboobs, to name but a few. I am mentioning these particular few intentionally.

The trick to spotting learnings is to find commonalities in the work. What unites them? What gives them that magic touch that other work, good as it is, just doesnt quite have? Well, in terms of scale or budget, look for commonalities in the above-mentioned work at your peril.

On the one hand, you have campaigns that made biofuel from beer, shut down a statewide US retail chain on the biggest shopping day of the year, and created a brand-new Rembrandt piece using only digital technology. On the other, you have an adult-sized pram and, well, manboobs (used to show women how to check themselves for breast cancer).

But if thats where youre looking, youre looking in the wrong place. What unites them is the power and simplicity of the idea . Try the acid test that old farts like me have been applying for years. Ask of each of these, that most brutal of questions: Whats the idea?

The answers for 2016s best of breed are breathtakingly simple, as a truly great idea should be:

Manboobs - Facebook wont let us show womens breasts, so lets show mens breasts instead.

The Contour Baby Stroller - Babies cant tell you what they want from a pram, so lets make one that can fit the people who can  their parents.

#OPTOUTSIDE  Our brand champions outdoor activity, so lets close our stores on a busy shopping day so people can spend more time outside living healthily than inside shopping.

And so on.

Try it for yourself with some of this years crop of big winners so far. Its revelatory:

Meet Graham  To show how the human body cannot withstand the impact of a car crash, lets build a human body that can.

Fearless Girl  Next to one of the most iconic symbols of masculine power, lets match it with a symbol of feminine power that shows just how little physical strength counts for.

Cook This Page  Lets take all the intimidation and elitism out of cooking, and make it as easy and fun as join-the-dots drawing.

In short, Cannes big winners, as disparate and diverse as they are, have the same thing in common as last year  beautifully simple ideas.

Last year, I described Cannes 2016 as the year that common sense prevailed. That the shiny flashing lights of new media were not being lauded for their own sake. That the medium was not the message. That the big winners, regardless of size, shape, media choice, technology deployed, etc. etc. etc., were judged on the size of the idea. Which makes me very happy indeed. Because if what constituted the cornerstone of creative a year ago, is still the cornerstone today, it stands to reason that it will still be so tomorrow. Which is a key insight for a business like ours, that prides itself on predicting what tomorrow will bring.

Doubtless, tomorrow will bring countless changes both evolutionary and revolutionary  which is why at Havas, our key driver is to be fluent in tomorrow. Thats what makes our lives and our jobs exciting. But its great to see that there are some constants. And that the most important one of all is the great, simply beautiful and beautifully simple idea.




Debonairs Pizza, one of the brands in the Famous Brands stable, and its marketing partner, FCB Joburg, are celebrating the quick service restaurant chain's move to the top slot on the latest South African Customer Satisfaction Index.

The South African Customer Satisfaction Index (SAcsi) is compiled by Consulta after analysing survey responses from over 36,500 people. It assesses top brands from nine industries and their performance when it comes to keeping consumers happy - or letting them down.

These include brands in fast food, life insurance, cellular handsets, full service restaurants, banking, supermarkets, short-term insurance, wireless internet providers and municipalities.

According to Consulta, the top five overall brands in the country are dominated by fast food chains with Debonairs Pizza leading the pack:

Debonairs  85.0



Nandos  83.8



Apple  83.5



McDonalds  83.2



Capitec Bank  83.1

In addition, Debonairs Pizza was one of two biggest movers for the year with its SAcsi score jumping 3.9 points to 85.0.

Were delighted with our performance, as our franchisees have been focused on delivering quality service and great value for consumers who, given the depressed economy, are rewarding themselves more often with a delicious Debonairs Pizza as opposed to more expensive purchases, or who are working late to make ends meet and need the convenience of a fun and satisfying meal at the end of a hard day, said Marketing Executive Toni Joubert.

We also believe our communication with our consumers, driven by FCB Joburg, is helping us talk in the right tone, and uses the correct verbal and visual clues that contribute to a mutually respectful relationship between the brand and the Debonairs Pizza fan.

The agency has a reputation for winning over the hearts of minds of its client target markets and we certainly see the positive link between our advertising and our customer engagement, she said.

Proof of the agencys ability to create much liked advertising, and Debonairs Pizzas determination to weave good-hearted, family-style humour into its communication, also recently paid off with a top spot on Kantar Millward Browns Most-Liked television commercials list for the third quarter of 2016.

Taking pole position on the list was Gogo Crammed Crust, created by FCB Joburg and shot at a popular picnic spot for Joburgers, Rhodes Park.




Gold Brands Investments says the 2017 financial year will be remembered as one in which companies with exposure to the consumer goods sector suffered significant headwinds.

The franchisor said that in the year to February 2017, it had been forced to close more than half of its flagship head office Chesanyama stores, from 13 in February 2016, to five in the period under review.

"Due to the economy and consumers reducing their spending, the group went through significant change and transformation," said CEO Praxia Nathanael. "Management have introduced a number of strategic interventions to improve the revenue, profitability and liquidity position of the group."

Gold Brands incurred a net loss for the year of R48m, with current liabilities exceeding current assets by R17m at year end. It said strategic interventions ahead included the introduction of an online ordering platform and outsourcing the food distribution function; in-house production of sauces and spices; changing pay and sourcing structures with franchisees and retrenching excess staff.

Gold Brands reported turnover of R143m, from R235m in the year-earlier period, because of a general decrease in the economy, which management estimates to have been responsible for at least a 15% decrease. More than 155 underperforming franchisees closed and the opening of new franchises was halted.

The company said talks were still in progress to take the Chesanyama brand to the UK.

Source: Business Day
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the restaurant and retail sector should be funded despite the recession as these businesses will be engines for growth.

Cathy Yeulet via 123RF

This is the view of Retail Capital CEO Karl Westvig, whose optimism about restaurants and retail is backed up by the most recent Statistics SA data. While discretionary spending may be on the decline in SA due to the constrained economic environment, retailers in food, beverages and tobacco in specialised stores are showing positive growth rates.

Boston Consulting Group partner and MD Stefan Salzer said shoppers wanted to feel they were being treated "a bit better" without necessarily paying too much more. "These stores give specialised attention which differentiates them from one-size-fits-all offerings," said Salzer.

At constant prices, April's retail data showed a 13.6% year-on-year rise in sales in this category of goods, higher than the overall retail trade rise of 1.5%.

Retail Capital provides working capital to small businesses based on real-time information on credit card transactions. "Banks and lenders are often more wary to extend credit to SMEs; this is worsened during recession," said Westvig. "But it can be lucrative to lend to these businesses in restaurants and retailing as there is scope for growth," he said.

A large portion of Retail Capital's funds is disbursed to black- and women-owned businesses. Concepts range from pop-up to traditional stores. "Certainly, there is always risk in lending but we see prospects especially in those sectors. We have built our business in identifying trends, threats and opportunities in retail and restaurants. We model for seasonal changes and customer tastes," said Westvig.

However, JSE-listed companies are increasingly saying it is difficult to grow sales. "Since March, the restaurant industry has had a very sharp turndown in activity across the board," Spur Corporation CE Pierre van Tonder said earlier in June.

In the six months to December 2016, Spur's group sales from continuing operations rose by 10.4% to R3.8bn, while existing restaurant sales rose 4.1%.

Taste, which holds the Starbucks and Domino's Pizza brands, reported a R101m headline loss (-25c a share) from a 3% increase in core turnover to R1.1bn in the year to end February. In its full-year results, Famous Brands reported consolidated revenue of R4bn, an 18% increase on the previous year, while operating profit rose 31% to R455m. Famous Brands owns Wimpy, Mugg & Bean, Europa, Fishaways, Tashas, Steers, Debonairs Pizza, Milky Lane and The Bread Basket.

Over the past year, Spur's share price has declined 8.84%. Taste Holdings has shed 38.3%, while Famous Brands is up 3.47% in the same time frame.

Source: Business Day
The first Timothy Oulton gallery in Africa has been launched by Weylandts inside its Fourways store. The dedicated 85 sqm space is exclusively branded and furnished with Timothy Oulton pieces and is the first store-within-a-store concept Weylandts has introduced.

A British furniture company, Timothy Oulton is renowned for its luxury and dramatic collections, including handcrafted leather furniture, unique lighting pieces and home accessories.

This is an exciting addition to our offering. I have been a fan of the range for many years and am delighted to enhance its presence within our stores with a dedicated showroom in Fourways. The synergy between the two brands has been instrumental in making this decision," said Chris Weylandt.

"We share the same ideals of furniture being of the highest quality, bold and timeless and an unrelenting drive to deliver a world-class customer experience in-store. I think the Johannesburg market is ready for something different, this is definitely it.

The opening of the Johannesburg gallery marks the next step in Timothy Oultons expansion. From New York to New Delhi and Harrods in London, Timothy Oulton now has 40 galleries across the globe.
South African franchisee, Siyaghopa Trading Group, will be opening its first Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen quick service restaurant (QSR) in Sandton City, Johannesburg on 13 July 2017.

Founded in 1972 in New Orleans, Popeyes is an iconic American brand and a global player in the fried chicken segment of the QSR industry, having carved a niche in the market with its Louisiana-style cuisine. Its restaurants span more than 25 countries, with South Africa being the latest to join the fold.

The brand is founded on a 300-year old culinary tradition, which incorporates a fusion of cooking styles, spices and ingredients, derived from African, European, North American and Native American cultural influences. Based on restaurant unit counts, Popeyes is currently ranked as the world's second largest QSR chicken concept.

We are bringing the best of the American South to meet Africas South, and we have no doubt that the culinary similarities  including the melting pot of flavours and festive traditions  will be well received by South African guests, said Jaye Sinclair, CEO of Siyaghopa Trading Group. We look forward to a successful launch to establish Popeyes in the local market. Going forward, we plan to expand the brand nationally, in a variety of locations, venues and formats, to ensure the majority of South Africa has access to Popeyes in the near future.

We are excited that Siyaghopa will develop the brand in the South African market, as we see many opportunities to grow the brand in this market, said Ron Whitt, president of International Popeyes.

Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen South Africa will serve Halaal chicken and is certified by the South African National Halaal Authority (SANHA).
The fourth annual Manufacturing Indaba, held on 27-28 June 2017 in Ekurhuleni, brought together key industry players, with revitalisation and collaboration high on the agenda.

Gui Yongnian via 123RF

Delivering the welcome address at the start of the Manufacturing Indaba, Dr Nkosindiphile Xhakaza  MMC for Finance and Economic Development, City of Ekurhuleni, said, This event is of the utmost importance to us as it brings about much-needed growth to the manufacturing sector, which contributes greatly to the growth of this country and the economic trajectory.

The Minister of the dti, Dr Rob Davies, delivered a keynote address focusing on outlining the regional and local development industrialisation plans that are underway to jumpstart South Africas manufacturing sector and reverse the countrys de-industrialisation. The approach was similar to trends adopted in successful emerging economies, Davies said, citing countries such as India and China that were building their domestic markets, as the basis to expand their productive capabilities and move up the value chain.

The Manufacturing Circle chairman and CEO of Nampak, Andre De Ruyter, working in close unison with the Manufacturing Indaba, upholding the dream to create 1 million jobs in South Africa in the next decade, delivered positive insight on the manufacturing interface. He pointed out the challenges while at the same time, gave industry viable solutions, conveying the positive outlook that he has for the transformation of the future of manufacturing, touching on the importance of black industrialism and the social returns that a successful manufacturing sector can deliver if enhanced.

The delegates attended sessions with African industry leaders, as well as bespoke international speakers, providing practical methods for the way forward. The panel discussions gave key players the opportunity to pose questions and obtain answers from the people who are very often unattainable, with the theme of revitalisation and collaboration high on the agenda.

The Manufacturing Indaba, hosted by the City of Ekurhuleni was held in partnership with the dti, the Department of Science & Technology, the Manufacturing Circle and the NCPC-SA.

Growth in support

The growth in both private sector attendance and greater support from a number of government departments and entities, in addition to our original partners, has seen significant input and prominence afforded to manufacturing through debates on job creation, key project funding, industrialisation methods, technology and innovation, case studies for success stories, as well as discussions on key issues affecting the South African manufacturing industry were debated as part of the conference dialogue," says Liz Hart, MD of the Manufacturing Indaba.

"Benchmarking our performance will hopefully initiate a turnaround that will see South Africa move from a valued manufacturer to a valuable manufacturing country.
Mineral resources minister, Mosebenzi Zwane is directly responsible for damaging investor confidence, and therefore the possible 8,500 job losses at AngloGold Ashanti, says trade union, UASA.

Photo: AngloGold Ashanti

The destructive manner of issuing section 54 notices and the unilateral publication of the new Mining Charter are examples of his recklessness. then in a somewhat schizophrenic intervention, Zwane has now ordered an investigation into AngloGold Ashantis reasons for closing down some of its operations, the union said in a statement.. "One can only wonder what spin he will put on it the results if it shows the truth in respect of his and his departments role in the status quo."

The notice served by the mine will impact the West Wits District namely the Tau Tona/Savuka and Mponeng Mines and various surface operations which include marginal ore dumps and tailings storage facilities. In the Vaal River District Moab Khotsong/Great Noligwa, Kopanong Mines, various surface operations (which include marginal ore dumps and tailing facilities under Mine Waste Solutions) are also affected.

"Although UASA is acutely aware of the prevailing economic challenges such as unfavourable commodity prices, we will leave no stone unturned to interrogate the reasons put forward by the employer. It is our contention that it will be short sighted to defer capital projects to save cost at the expense of an extended life of mine," the statement said.

"UASA issued numerous warnings over time about the potential implosion at Anglo Gold Ashanti (to no avail). We are now faced with the unenviable task of trying to save as many as possible of the 8,500 jobs affected and we will leave no stone unturned to mitigate the negative impact on the members and the South African economy as a whole."

The first session of the section 189 A facilitation process will take place on 14 July 2017 in Potchefstroom.
Each urban development affects not only those that invest in it or occupy the buildings and places within it, but the wider community - all those that live and work nearby, simply pass through or visit the area on a regular basis," says Biljana Savic, a London town planner and director of The Academy of Urbanism.

"How and where we build new or regenerate existing buildings and places, and what uses we plan for them affects our quality of life  our feeling of belonging, identity and pride; safety, crime and fear of crime; community cohesion; health; access to essential facilities including schools, public transport, green spaces or shops; as well as economic prosperity of local businesses or entire city regions. Therefore, it is only right that all the affected parties, including local residents and businesses, should be actively involved in shaping the developments that affect them.

Constructive collaboration

The Sustainable Cities Institute notes that the positive outcomes of constructive collaboration with communities are numerous and far outweigh the potential challenges of coordinating such an effort. Among these outcomes are the generation of new ideas, customised solutions to community-specific issues, conflict prevention and relationship building. Moreover, residents who are invested in shaping their community report a higher level of satisfaction with where they live.

In New Zealand, the importance of communities in influencing urban development is increasingly being recognised with a proliferation of innovative urbanism initiatives aimed at mobilising and instigating conversations with them around comprehensive, long-term urban solutions. For instance, a design-by-trial approach was used to develop proposals for the transformation of Waitemata Plaza in Aucklands Waterfront regeneration area. A number of design options were tested over the course of a summer, enabling the community to experience the potential for the space and provide valuable feedback. Their responses informed a new plan for the plaza that was heavily supported by resident and stakeholder groups.

Urban regeneration

In Cuba, community engagement is well-established in urban regeneration and development projects in various parts of Havana. Since the early 1980s, regeneration agency, the Office of the Historian of the City of Havana, has undertaken hundreds of projects in the oldest part of the city, following the areas designation by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. These have been carried out in careful consultation with local people and businesses to make sure that the character and liveliness of the city is not lost. Additionally, for the past 10 years, the International Network for Traditional Building and Urbanism (INTBAU) has been hosting the annual International Charrette on Urban Design in Havana. This is an intensive planning session where citizens, designers and others collaborate on a vision for the future of a particular neighbourhood or section of the city. This years event focused on Old Havana with the theme of Cuba: learning from its past to develop its future.

Locally, organisations like the Development Action Group (DAG), People's Environmental Planning (PEP) and Future Cape Town, along with a handful of developers, are advocating for communities to be consulted, where appropriate, in addressing the countrys housing crisis - particularly the need for urban housing in well-located areas that accommodates a more diverse set of income ranges. Community participation is incredibly important in development work, because it allows for the wealth of local, lived experiences and knowledge to have an impact on a project, and in that way contribute towards democratic city making, says Claire du Trevou, project coordinator at PEP.

Addressing need for housing

Cosmo City in Johannesburg, one of the first social housing projects in South Africa to integrate different income groups and land uses, is an example of successful community engagement geared towards meeting the need for housing. Over a period of three years, the community surrounding the proposed development site was engaged via public noticeboards, advertisements, personal notifications and workshops, some of which drew nearly 3000 people. Although some objections related to the development were raised through the public consultation process, intense community engagement was essential for its success with the design proposal accommodating many of the communitys comments.

For me as a practitioner in the space, community participation is not simply a check-box task. It is an act of acknowledgement - acknowledging that you, as a professional, do not always know best; acknowledging the lived experience of those living in the spaces you work; and acknowledging that there are other ways of doing," concludes du Trevou.
KPMG auditors responsible for the audit of Gupta-owned Linkway Trading risk losing their designation as registered auditors if an investigation by the profession's regulator finds against them.

The Independent Regulatory Board for Auditors may, in terms of the Auditing Profession Act and following a disciplinary hearing, impose a warning, a fine or cancel an audit practitioner's registration where improper conduct is found.

Photo: KPMG

The board is now investigating KPMG's 2014 audit of Linkway Trading, which paid for the R30m Gupta wedding at Sun City in 2013 using money meant to develop Free State farmers.

On Friday, the amaBhungane Centre for Investigative Journalism reported that the leaked Gupta e-mails revealed how money from the Free State provincial government had flowed via Free State company Estina to Gupta-owned Accurate Investments in Dubai and then on to Linkway Trading.

Linkway, supposedly a project management company in the Gupta-owned Oakbay Group, used the money to pay for the wedding. By classing it as a business expense, it paid no tax on the income.

KPMG, which resigned as Oakbay auditor in April 2016, said it was standard procedure for entities such as Linkway to "receive and disburse funds against a specific event".

KPMG said it was not auditors of any offshore entities and therefore could not comment on the flow of funds from the Free State dairy project. "We have acted with integrity in our dealing with the Oakbay Group."

Still, Moses Kgosana, who was KPMG's CEO during the firm's audit of Linkway and attended the Gupta wedding, has elected to withdraw as future chairman of Alexander Forbes.

Kgosana, who served on the company's board for two years, was due to become chairman on August 31. He felt that time spent dealing with these allegations would compromise what he was able to deliver as chairman, Alexander Forbes said.

The South African Institute of Chartered Accountants said it would await the outcome of the audit regulator's investigation before deciding whether to take any disciplinary action in terms of its own code of conduct.
What can be done to remunerate employees better? The simple answer is plenty. Yet many employers do not get the most out of employee package structuring. This is one of those areas where there are too many experts, and correctly so, as this spans the professional functionality of remuneration specialists, tax advisors, auditors, financial planners and trustees.

Therefore, depending on which professional you ask, you will get different responses, for example, tax advisors will comment on that there is no tax risk, whilst they have no experience in remuneration methodology and financial planning.

Conversely, trustees will always promote better retirement planning and more risk benefits, which are indeed important, but should this be more important than putting a child through the best possible education. The correct answers only come when you deal with holistic experts that can demonstrate to you an approach of total reward statements.

Tough times means no more holy cows

With economic times being what they are, employers cannot afford large increases. It also becomes difficult to give good increases if you are retrenching staff. The question then is, what can be done to pay employees better?

If you have ever offered an employee a job and needed to gross-up the package because the take-home pay is not enough, the reason is most likely not your costing of the job, but rather not having the correct package structure flexibility.

The Supreme Court of Appeal says you can salary sacrifice

On 30 November 2015, it was confirmed that the Supreme Court of Appeal delivered a final judgement on remuneration structuring. The simple message is that it is absolutely legal to structure remuneration and allow a salary sacrifice. A word of caution before you proceed.

The principle has been confirmed. The Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) made it very clear that a package structuring agreement and correct documentation, which will include policies and often a Package Structuring Tool, is compulsory. With no ambiguity, the SCA said it will simply not believe oral evidence and the actual legitimacy depends on correctly executed documents.

What is the Golden Rule?

An employee should be allowed to structure their remuneration to meet personal financial requirements. Where this is not done, the employer is paying for benefits or allowances which employees do not want. This means hard earned employee remuneration is paid towards benefits which the employee does not value. It may make your employee benefit broker happy, but it does not mean anything for your employee. Rather give your employee the choice to utilize flexible benefits to maximize their package.

Flexible items

The most commonly allowed items to a flexible-package are retirement funding, group life, disability, income protection, funeral cover, employee vehicle insurance, travel allowance, company vehicles, medical aid, gap cover, 13th cheque etc.

Why do all companies not do this?

Employers are generally not well informed of what legally can be done. In addition, the functions within the company who should promote this flexibility are usually concerned about additional administration. The administration is actually not that much more, where you are currently administering the employee benefit provider and payroll systems.

What is new?

The budget 2017/18 had plenty of bad news for employers, but there has been serious relief given for employee child bursaries.
LUXEMBOURG CITY, Luxembourg: EU member states can ban ride-hailing pioneer Uber without informing the European Commission because at heart it is an ordinary transport company under their jurisdiction, a top EU lawyer said Tuesday, 4 July 2017.

San Francisco-based Uber insists it is a service, not a transport provider, connecting riders with freelance drivers directly and much more cheaply than traditional cab companies.

But critics and competitors say this allows it to dodge costly regulation and several countries, led by France, have banned its low-cost UberPop service as a result.

Uber France challenged the ban, saying it amounted to regulation of an information company which Paris should have first lodged with the Commission, the European Union's administrative arm.

However, Maciej Szpunar, an advocate general with the Luxembourg-based European Court of Justice, said Uber was in fact an ordinary transport company and so member states could go ahead and regulate its activities without notifying the Commission in advance.

He recalled that in a 11 May opinion on a related case concerning Uber Spain, he had concluded that UberPop "does not constitute an information society service."

Szpunar also argued that even if the ECJ, the EU's highest court, should at some stage determine UberPop was indeed an information service provider, a ban in response to "the illegal exercise of a transport activity does not constitute a technical regulation within the meaning of the directive."

"Notification of the draft law to the Commission would not be necessary in that situation either," he said.

He argued that member states only had a duty to notify the Commission if they took a specific, targeted action against information service providers.

"Rules which affect those services only in an implicit or incidental manner are excluded from the notification obligation," he said.

The ECJ's advocate generals - its top lawyers - are regularly called on to provide initial guidance to the court which in most instances follows their advice in its final rulings.

The French authorities banned Uber after violent protests by traditional taxi drivers.

Uber in turn filed complaint with the EU against France and other states, arguing that national policies hostile to its operations violate European law.

Source: AFP
InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) has announced the opening of its new Holiday Inn in Mutare, Zimbabwe - the third Holiday Inn franchised property with African Sun Limited. Located in the heart of the city centre with significant business activity across the forestry, citrus farming, and mining industries, the hotel features 96 rooms, an outdoor pool and a meeting room that can seat 250 people.

Holiday Inn Mutare

South Africa and Zimbabwe have good bilateral relations and strong economic cooperation with trade interest in various sectors such as capital equipment, textile, agricultural products, and diamonds, amongst others. Mutare is positioned in the diamond mining region of Zimbabwe, and close to the Tete Province, a coal mining region in Mozambique.

Supporting business travel

Commenting on the announcement, Pascal Gauvin, chief operating officer, India, Middle East and Africa, IHG, said: Africa represents huge untapped opportunities for a variety of industries across the region. Were thrilled to announce the opening in Mutare as we believe that it will further support business travel between the Middle East and Africa. We are especially proud to continue working with established partners such as African Sun Limited who also own several other properties with us. We are excited to begin welcoming guests to the Holiday Inn Mutare.

Edwin T Shangwa, managing director, African Sun, said: We are happy to be partnering with IHG once again. We have successfully launched two Holiday Inn hotels together, and have seen great success across both properties. Now that the hotel has opened its doors, it will benefit equally from IHGs global distribution systems, strong brand portfolio, and loyalty programmes.

The Holiday Inn Harare and Holiday Inn Bulawayo have both performed to brand standards and present further opportunities for growth. The new Holiday Inn property in Mutare increases IHG and Africa Suns footprint to a total of 351 rooms.

Across the Middle East and Africa, there are 31 (6,346 rooms) Holiday Inn Hotels & Resorts open and an additional nine properties (2,503 rooms) due to open within the next three to five years. Globally, there are almost 1,200 Holiday Inn Hotels and Resorts open, with a further 265 due to open in the next three to five years.
#Newsmaker: Holly Meadows, the new face of Cosmopolitan South Africa

This week is Holly Meadows' first as editor of Cosmopolitan South Africa. She succeeds Kerrie Simon-Lawrence, who is returning to Australia.

Holly Meadows Just a year ago, Meadows was promoted from deputy editor of the magazine to head of commercial content in Associated Medias commercial hub. With her experience on the brand and as a Millennial herself, she knows what the Cosmo reader wants. I know that she demands her editor to think, create and innovate at a dynamic pace  and Im looking forward to taking on this challenge." "The role of a modern editor has evolved tremendously," says Kim St Clair Bodden, senior vice president and editorial director at Hearst International. "Creating engaging content is essential  but equally as important is the ability to reimagine that content and make it relevant across different platforms. Holly is innovative and imaginative, with a deep understanding of the print, digital and social environments, and were happy to welcome her back to Cosmopolitan South Africa." Associated Media Publishings CEO, Julia Raphaely, adds, "Holly is really deserving of this appointment. It has been her dream to edit Cosmopolitan, and I am sure she will flourish in this role. We are excited to see where she leads Cosmopolitan in South Africa." What do you think is the role of the modern editor? Comment on your role specifically, and what it will entail. What do you think is the role of the modern editor? Comment on your role specifically, and what it will entail.

Its difficult to pin down any job description these days and I think the role of an editor varies vastly from brand to brand. For me, being a modern editor means a lot more than putting together a monthly magazine. You need to think holistically, ahead of the curve all the time and always put the reader first.

What excites you most about it, and why are you excited to be back on Cosmopolitan? What excites you most about it, and why are you excited to be back on

Im absolutely thrilled to be appointed as the new editor of Cosmopolitan South Africa. Were at a really interesting tipping point in the magazine publishing landscape, and Im excited to take Cosmo into its next phase as a digital, print and experiential pioneer in the South African market.

Cosmopolitan is a power brand and its a phenomenal feeling to be a part of that. Its sharp, smart and bold and has engaged women across the globe for over 50 years now. It exists across 79 countries, more than 30 languages and has a global reach of more than 100-million people  to give South Africa a voice amongst that platform excites me.

Comment on the state of magazine publishing in South Africa and how you think this compares globally. Comment on the state of magazine publishing in South Africa and how you think this compares globally.

Globally print circulation is decreasing and we all know this. My job is to play a part in reinventing the wheel, thinking innovatively and creating imaginatively to stay top of mind.

Where do you plan to take the publication? Where do you plan to take the publication?

Theres only one way to describe it and thats into the future!

What will be at the top of your to-do list when you start? What will be at the top of your to-do list when you start?

Top of my radar right now is the September issue, which will be my first edition.

What do you love most about your career? What do you love most about your career?

I love the dynamism and fast pace thinking that my career demands, being agile and creatively challenged really drives me. Cosmopolitan is a best friend for the fun, fearless female and its up to us to deliver her everything she needs to live her best life. Cosmo South Africa reached 12-million users via social media in the last six months alone  being tasked to grow that footprint further is in itself a massive privilege.

How does it feel to have achieved your dream at such a young age? How does it feel to have achieved your dream at such a young age?

I dont think its quite sunk in yet! Im thrilled, motivated, humbled and ready.

What are you currently reading/listening to for work? What are you currently reading/listening to for work?

Sza  shes just released her debut album, Ctrl, and its fantastic. Also, Im a sucker for trashy chick-lits and Im not ashamed of it one bit!

Tell us something about yourself not generally known?



I lived in India for over a year and worked in Bollywood  it was one of those life-changing chapters and help shaped who I am today.
Anyone in business or industry today already knows this: change isn't coming. It's here. It's called the fourth industrial revolution and it's driven by digital.

The acceleration of digital technology is forcing companies in every market sector to adapt to change in a hundred different ways. There is not a single job type unnaffected (even the human writing this piece could soon be outpaced by the descendants of intelligent AI content generators like Persado). In recent surveys:



50% of companies expect their traditional business models to be obsolete by 2020.



80% say they feel behind in adapting to change



90% say digital is forcing them to reassess job titles and team structures.

Against this disruptive background, no discipline is being affected more than human resources - whose practitioners must deal not only with seismic shifts in the way the business around them manages human capital, but also with the direct impact of new technology on their own day-to-day duties.

Traditional roles are increasingly under threat - how should we be adapting?

More and more innovative HR practitioners are rapidly reshaping the way they work in terms of adopting, rather than avoiding, powerful new technologies such as recruitment chatbots, database mining and Graylink. With frequent advances in areas like robotics, automated communication and the Internet of Things, the pressure is on for HR teams to diversify their knowledge set to keep pace with the digital disruption curve. For those prepared to get hands on with it, the current value of the HR software and tools market is said to be around $14 billion. The trick is working out how best to grapple with it.

Its crunch time, people

The 2017 Future of HR Summit, taking place 19-20 July 2017 at the Birchwood Hotel, Johannesburg, will address the exciting, ongoing transformation of HR in the business environment, forecast trends for the coming year, share innovative approaches to overcoming challenges, and discuss practical methods of employee engagement and talent acquisition in the hyper-digital age. Delegates will engage with experts on topics such as millennials (who they are and how to get them); HRs secret weapon, chat-based messaging; developing a digital-savvy game plan; and mastering mobile recruitment.

There are other benefits in attending - HR practitioners will get to earn continuing professional development points, known as CPDs, via the Summits CPD accreditors, SABPP. Attendees will be rewarded two CPD points per day of the Summit - four CPD points in all.

Click here for more information.




Cape Town, located in South Africa's Western Cape, is facing one of its worst droughts in over a century . The city, and southern Africa more broadly, have been experiencing significant water shortages for the last two years that were not entirely unforeseen

Since 2001, Cape Town has had a water conservation and demand management policy to reduce the citys water demand. These efforts have kept overall water demand relatively stable until 2014, when demand started to rise. Due to a combination of lower rainfall in the winter of 2016 and a relatively slow initial governance response to the drought, the city officially declared a water crisis this year.

In early April, Cape Town was down to its last 100 days of water. The water levels in the dams that supply the city had fallen to 20% of their capacity. In response, the city imposed level four water restrictions. These include stricter limits on residential water use and strongly recommend a limit of 100 litres per person per day. They also include a ban on irrigation, and a 350 litres per day cap on the free basic water allocation for impoverished households, regardless of household size.

More recently, the Mayor of Cape Town announced the preparation of a new Water Resilience plan to address the future of the citys water. The details of the plan have not yet been publicly announced, however the mayor highlighted that because of climate change, the city should shift towards water sensitive planning. This would involve:

managing all urban water (stormwater, groundwater, rivers and treated wastewater effluent) in an integrated way.

The city is considering stormwater harvesting and groundwater storage as potential longer term solutions. They have been shown to address drought risk and improve resilience.

Building resilience in the citys water sector will also require addressing climate change, drought, and flooding in the winter seasons. Experts at the University of Cape Town have promoted the implementation of a Water Sensitive Urban Design that offers ways to build resilience to various risks. This approach involves various interventions at the city scale that use the water that flows through the city more efficiently. This includes focusing on sustainable management and use of stormwater. This approach has been successfully applied in others contexts, such as Australia.

Given that Cape Town is currently facing significant water shortages and can expect more frequent droughts in the future, the time is ripe for more carefully planned long term interventions.

Building a water resilient city

There is no established way to build resilience in the water sector, but a few ideas have been proposed.

To build water-related resilience a city needs flexible institutions that can respond quickly and proactively to changes.

Breaking down the silos that isolate water-related and other government departments, such as spatial planning and disaster risk management, community organisations and civil society, to facilitate more inclusive and informed planning.

Making use of natural or green infrastructure in the water system which can serve as a natural buffer against water-related risks, such as flooding or drought.



Cape Town has already started considering stormwater harvesting, which has shown initial success. It involves collecting, treating and storing stormwater for potential reuse. Its usually used for non-potable purposes or to replenish water in aquifers. But it has only been done on a very small scale in South Africa, limited to on site systems used for irrigation at factories or other businesses.

Research has shown that if treated stormwater is used for non-potable purposes - such as irrigation and toilet flushing  it could reduce the total current residential potable water demand by more than 20%. This could be a significant water savings for the city. Of course, there are challenges associated with implementing reused stormwater, including water quality concerns and limited institutional capacity.

Successful stormwater management involves building or creating space for natural (green) ponds or corridors. These can absorb excess flood water, and prevent or reduce downstream flooding by slowing down the flow of stormwater through the city. They can also help replenish groundwater, either naturally, or through artificial recharge  the process of using stormwater to manually recharge groundwater aquifers. But natural detention ponds may also increase the vulnerability to flooding of informal settlements, if they are not carefully planned.

More importantly, building resilience in the water sector involves more than just technical solutions. It requires institutions that are able to respond proactively to early signs of stress, and to cater to the needs of diverse populations. Cape Town, like other African cities, has unique urbanisation challenges and persistent social justice issues that need to be considered in the transformation to a more water sensitive city.

Implementation should take into account Cape Towns ongoing social inequality challenges. Research has already shown that the impact of disasters are not equally distributed. In dealing with the current water shortages and planning for the future, the city should consider carefully how the costs and benefits of building resilience in the water sector are distributed among different members of society.

This article is based on a policy brief, co-authored with Emma Luker.
On July 7, G20 leaders will gather in Hamburg for their annual meeting. One likely outcome: another clash over climate change between the host government, Germany, and United States president Donald Trump.

As the Chinese did last year, German Prime Minister Angela Merkel has prioritised climate on the G20 agenda, just when the US administration is rolling back many environmental policies.

President Trump has announced that he wants his country to leave the Paris agreement, saying that the international accord is unfair to the US.

A report to evaluate progress

The question of what is fair in climate politics is hugely important.

Trumps definition of fairness  America First  is probably not mutually acceptable to most other nations. But countries will hesitate to scale up their ambitions unless they are convinced that others are doing their fair share.

To address this question, we have put together our third annual stocktake on their progress in a report  coordinated by the global consortium Climate Transparency  that determines how far the G20 has come in shifting from fossil fuels to a low-carbon economy.

The report, compiled with 13 partners from 11 countries, draws on a wide spectrum of published information in four main areas (emissions, policy performance, finance and decarbonisation) and presents it concisely, enabling comparison between these 20 countries as they shift from dirty brown economies to clean green ones.

The G20 is crucial to international action on climate change. Together, member states account for 75% of global greenhouse gas emissions and, in 2014, accounted for about 82% of global energy-related carbon dioxide emissions.

All member countries signed on to the 2015 Paris agreement, with its long-term temperature goals of keeping global warming to below 2C, ideally limiting it 1.5C..

The G20 have also proven to be a nimble policy forum, where soft policy making can happen. And there is less concern than in the past that the group would seek to replace the multilateral process.

This means these governments must lead the way in decarbonising their economies and building a low-carbon future.

The beginning of a transition

According to the Climate Transparency report, the G20 countries are using their energy more efficiently, and using cleaner energy sources. Their economies have also grown, proving that economic growth can be decoupled from greenhouse gas emissions.

So we are beginning to see a transition from brown to green. But the report also reveals that the transition is too slow; it does not go deep enough to meet the Paris Agreements goals.

In half of the G20 countries, greenhouse gas emissions per capita are no longer rising. A notable exception is Japan, where emissions per person are ticking upward.

Canada has the highest energy use per capita, followed by Saudi Arabia, Australia and the US.

India, Indonesia and South Africa all have low energy use per capita (Indias per capita rate is one-eighth that of Canada). Poverty in these countries can only be addressed if people have access to more energy.

Today, renewable energy is increasingly the cheapest option. Still, we found that many G20 countries are meeting their increasing energy needs with coal, the dirtiest of fossil fuels.

According to the Climate Action Tracker, which monitors progress toward the Paris agreements temperature goals, coal should be phased out globally by 2050 at the latest.

Between 2013 and 2014, the G20 countries public finance institutions - including national and international development banks, majority state-owned banks and export credit agencies - spent an average of almost US$88 billion a year on coal, oil and gas.

Yet many of the G20 countries are now looking at phasing out coal, including Canada, France and the UK, which have all established a plan to do so.

Author provided

Germany, Italy and Mexico, too, are considering reducing their use of coal or have taken significant action to do so. India and China continue to be highly dependent on coal but have recently closed and scaled back plans for a number of coal plants.

Countries at the bottom of the rankings are Japan, Indonesia and Turkey, all of which have substantial coal-plant construction plans, and Australia.

Subsidies

Despite their repeated commitment to phasing out fossil fuel subsidies, the G20 countries are still heavily subsidising fossil fuels. In 2014, together, the G20 provided a total of over US$230 billion in subsidies to coal, oil and gas.

Japan and China provided, respectively, about $US19 billion and $US17 billion a year in public finance for fossil fuels between 2013 and 2014.

There is good news, though: renewable energy is on the rise. The G20 countries are already home to 98% of all installed wind power capacity in the world, 97% of solar power and 93% of electric vehicles.

In most G20 countries, renewables are a growing segment of the electricity supply, except in Russia, where absolute renewable energy consumption has decreased by 20% since 2009. China, the Republic of Korea and the UK have all seen strong growth.

Generally, the G20 countries are attractive for renewable energy investment, especially China, France, Germany and the UK  although the UK has now abandoned its policy support for renewables.

National experts asked by Germanwatch, a Climate Transparency partner, generally agree that their respective G20 country is doing quite well on the international stage (with the exception of the US) but lack progress in ambitious targets and policy implementation.

China, Brazil, France, Germany, India, Mexico and South Africa are ranked the highest for climate action. Countries with the lowest climate policy performance are the US, Australia, Japan, Saudi Arabia and Turkey.

Dealing with global data

Putting together this G20 stocktake has had its challenges. The choice of indicators involves value judgements, which often become only apparent once national experts begin discussing them.

Enabling the international comparisons necessary to measure progress on climate requires information that is accurate, verifiable and comparable. The underlying data comes from very diverse economies with different legal systems, different regulations and reporting methods.

International organisations, such as the International Energy Agency, have often done extensive and very careful work to develop comparable data sets but these may not always be consistent with data from in-country sources. Exploring these differences helps us to improve our understanding of the data and the underlying developments.

The existing reporting and review system of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is the source of much of the data that makes these comparisons possible.

The real challenge the UNFCCC process faces in the next few years as it finalises the rule book for the Paris agreement is how to develop an enhanced transparency system that will be robust and detailed enough to provide the relevant information for its five-yearly assessment of global progress on addressing climate.

Even so, the UNFCCC is constrained by the extent to which countries are able to see beyond their narrow interests.

Independent assessments such as Climate Transparencys, which remains mindful of different perspectives but is not limited by national interests, can play a vital role in helping to increase the political pressure for effective climate action.
Mayor Geoffrey Byamukama's knees--this is what U.S. taxpayer's assistance helps accomplish.

[Belly of The Beast]

GULU, Uganda--Over the years, reports by local and international human rights organizations have highlighted the appalling state of gross abuse of human rights including torture by the U.S.-backed Yoweri Museveni regime's security agencies.

This is the autocrat of 31 years now whose government gets $750 million each year from the U.S. The dictatorship routinely rejects these reports as baseless. So Washington continues to sign checks to the regime and to train soldiers and provide weapons. One such alarming report of human rights abuses is the U.S. Department of States' section on Uganda in its annual survey of the world.

Acts of torture have been steadily escalating unabated. Gen. Museveni fully supports the use of both physical and mental torture as a means of humiliating, suppressing and subduing his real and perceived political opponents into submission to his tyrannical whims. State-inspired gruesome torture fits well into his designs of reigning over a terrorized and fear-stricken population. On 15th May 2017, in a letter to his top security managers, he tactfully turned around to discourage the use of torture. In his usual style, he wisely saw it fit to dupe Ugandans and the world that he wad an advocate for human rights and indeed his statement made headlines. This is the public Museveni; Ugandans know the other one who operates at night.

His statement was of course prompted by the recent flooding of social media with gruesome pictures of victims of torture at the hands of his security officers. About six months ago, in Ruwenzori region in western Uganda, his security forces shockingly killed, by some accounts, over 100 unarmed civilians and burnt their bodies; those who survived were paraded naked then arrested. Human Rights Watch and the U.S. have called for an independent investigation. Gen. Museveni rewarded the Commander of that massacre operation, Gen. Peter Elwelu by appointing him to head the Land Forces and he was bestowed the Ruwenzori Medal for exemplary performance. The mission had been to storm the palace of Charles Mumbere the traditional king of the Ruwenzururu and rout his supporters.

The U.S. Department of States' own report states: "Media outlets reported that, on November 26 and 27 in Kasese District, the Uganda Peoples Defense Forces (UPDF) and Uganda Police Force (UPF) killed between 60 and 250 persons, including unarmed civilians, during clashes with supporters of Charles Wesley Mumbere, the Rwenzururu king." The State Department also adds, "Amnesty International reported that 'many people appeared to have been summarily shot and their bodies dumped.'" It also added: "On December 15, media published images of the guards at their initial hearing, where defense lawyers asserted their visible injuries resulted from torture."

How can the so-called "civilized" Western world continue to subsidize a regime of torture?

Torture under Museveni dates to his bush war days in the early 1980s when he was fighting to seize power. Victims were detained in mud-flooded underground cells, subjected to mob beatings, tied "Kandoya"--like a hog-- or inflicted with Kafuuni, which was smashing of the skull. At the time, the victims were his own fighters, members of his National Resistance Army (NRA) who were suspected of being disloyal, or enemy agents, or kidnapped functionaries of the Uganda Peoples Congress (UPC) the ruling party at the time.

After Museveni seized power in 1986, the old bush war torture-methods were adopted in dealing with dissenters, more especially those defeated in the northern part of the country. It was the highhandedness and gross human rights abuse by NRA that fueled the insurgency. Gross human rights abuse by Museveni's NRA in Acholi region, Teso and Karamoja, were well documented by local and international human rights organizations. A simple Google search of "Museveni and torture and Acholi," or for the other two regions, will confirm this. Recently RT also broadcast "A Brilliant Genocide" by Australian filmmaker Ebony Butler to millions of global viewers.

After the mid-1990s, Gen. Museveni, established the Joint Anti-terrorism Task Force (JATT) under the guise of fighting terrorism. It came along with the establishment of the notorious secret torture and illegal detention facilities commonly known as "safe houses." Gen. Museveni also created militias to terrorize the population, such as the notorious Kalangala Action Plan (KAP) under Major Kakoza Mutale and the Gulu based Popular Intelligence Network (PIN) who caused mayhem.

It was after public outcry that "Operation Wembley" evolved into the Violent Crime Crack Unit (VCCU); VCCU evolved into Rapid Response Unit (RRU) which in turn also gave rise to the Special Investigations Unit (SIU) that has of recent teamed up with the dreaded "Flying Squad" and established base at the notorious Nalufenya torture facility. The choice of Nalufenya, 50 miles away in the city of Jinja was precipitated by the desire to get away from the public eye in Kampala and to complicate access to the facility by human rights activists and journalists.

Despite the record of buses dating 31 years, no security officer has ever been held accountable for torture under the Museveni regime. Recent torture victim, Geoffrey Byamukama, the mayor of Kamwenge is lucky that he was not killed and dumped or branded an "armed robber" then shot in a "shootout" with the police. He is accused of being involved in the March 17, 2017 assassination in broad daylight of Andrew Kaweesi, the Uganda Police spokesman, by professional hitmen. The public don't believe it.

Byamukama's detention and torture were exposed by media. Gruesome photos leaked on social media likely saved his life. Thousands of Museveni's torture victims will never see justice. The Uganda Human Rights Commission (UHRC) an entity with a good name is meant to provide a cover up for regime excesses; it's like leashing a rabid pit bull with a thread.

Parliament did a disservice to Ugandans by conniving with the executive to exonerate strict liability for torture from the police as an institution. Therefore, as long as Gen. Museveni remains in power, torture is the order of the day.
The prisoner is generally tied to a gun with the upper part of the small of his back resting against the muzzle. When the gun is fired, his head is seen to go straight up into the air some forty or fifty feet; the arms fly off right and left, high up in the air, and fall at, perhaps, a hundred yards distance; the legs drop to the ground beneath the muzzle of the gun; and the body is literally blown away altogether, not a vestige being seen.
In recent months, there have been a worrying number of cases of journalists and media representatives being arrested or prosecuted in connection to their work in Myanmar.

The right to freedom of opinion and expression is a human right guaranteed to all, and it constitutes one of the essential foundations of a democratic society and one of the basic conditions for its progress and development based on the rule of law.

Media freedom, independence and pluralism are at the heart of any democracy. We therefore call on the Government of Myanmar to provide the necessary legal protection for journalists to work in a free and enabling environment without fear of intimidation, arrest or prosecution.

The EU and its Member States stand ready to support Myanmar in this crucial endeavour.
Over a five-day period between June 23 to 28 over 60,000 migrant workers fled, according to the Thai Immigration Bureau. The number has continued to climb, with the bulk of the returnees headed to Myanmar.

On June 30, over 3,6000 workers reportedly crossed into Myanmar via the Mae Sot-Myawaddy border.

The Thai-based Foundation for Education and Development (FED) said many undocumented workers have gone into hiding since the June 20 labor law announcement.

Although the Thai authorities informed us that they are not making any arrests at the moment, we have received reports about the police arresting [the workers] in isolated areas. I heard that they are arresting the workers in Mae Sot and sending them to Myawaddy. Workers who were arrested in Phuket have been sent to the immigration jail in Ranong. Our team is now in Ranong to assist them, said Ko Htoo Chit, director of FED.

He added that Myanmar officials should negotiate with their Thai counterparts to ensure the workers can return home with dignity.

Officially, between 2 and 4 million migrant workers are employed in Thailand, forming the country's low-skilled, economic backbone. But rights activists say the number, especially of undocumented workers, is much higher.

The Thai junta has rolled out several new visa and permit schemes since it came to power in 2014 and promised to regulate the infamously murky industry. Periodic crackdowns have sent many homeward, while labor activists have slammed the government's regularization attempts as leading to arbitrary overhauls and facilitating extortiate brokers' fees.

According to the new labor regulations, workers who cannot show their permit during an inspection will be fined 10,000 baht. If the employer or job on the work permit is incorrect, the workers will be fined 100,000 baht, while employers who hire unregistered workers or those with a permit from another employer will face a fine between 400,000 and 800,000 baht.

In an attempt to stem the tide of the exodus and reduce the panic, Thailand announced a 120-day grace period before the fines can take effect.
The 20th and early 21st centuries have put enormous strain on the cultural and social life of Myanmar, as successive authoritarian governmentsfrom the British colonial administration to multiple military regimessought to control the country in all aspects. Many hoped that the transition to democracy that began around 2010 would finally unshackle the media and allow for a rigorous and free public discourse, but so far this has not been the case. Under the current, largely civilian government journalists and civil rights leaders have been arrested and intimidated, and historically peaceful inter-communal relations have been exploited for political gain.

Historically, Myanmars writers, journalists and authors have played a central role in the life of the country. From independence in 1948 until the first caretaker military government in 1958, there were hundreds of newspapers, magazines and journals active. But successive military governments stifled all forms of independent media for the next 50 years, leaving citizens with only government-censored news. Even when, in 2016, some of the last restrictions on a free press were lifted, many of the old habits of censorship and oppression still pervade the media landscape, and the journey back to a practically independent press stretches ahead.

Ruling elites in the current government, including military holdovers and Burman-nationalists in the ruling National League for Democracy (NLD), have shown little interest in protecting an independent press and have in many cases persecuted members of it. Neither NLD leader and Nobel laureate Daw Aung San Suu Kyi nor her hand-picked president U Htin Kyaw have taken significant stands for a free press, and that message has made it down government structures. In the last 150 days, there have been almost weekly reports of abuse, intimidation or arrest of journalists by police and the military. Reporters are arrested for uncovering land seizures and official corruption, or for commentary deemed insulting to ruling elites. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and her allies are silent on almost all of these cases, raising serious questions about her storied commitment to human rights.

In the1990s, exiled students and democracy activists began to form small, independent news organizations from refugee camps in India and Thailand. Using information smuggled out of Myanmar, we wrote reports for the BBC and VOA. After ten years of hard work, a few talented activists became full-time journalists in exile and the news organizations they created, such as the Irrawaddy, Mizzima and a multitude of ethnic-based groups, continued to expand their operations, finally reaching broader outside audiences with the spread of the internet. Many of these journalists joined forces in 2003 to form Burma News International (BNI), a group of mostly ethnic news sources. With strong networks of sources on the ground, BNI was soon approached by the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), RFA and BBC for content.

It was these news organizations in exile that kept the pro-democracy movement engaged and rooted in the reality of life under the military government. Predictably, the government regarded these journalists as elements of danger to the state, a fact that has not changed even with the advent of civilian government. The recent detention of DVB and Irrawaddy reporters in northern Shan State offers a disturbing example. NLD leaders, who were themselves imprisoned and harassed between 1988 and 2008, have been quick to jettison their principles in their pursuit of political compromises with the military. Journalists, on the other hand, have no interests aside from reporting on stories if importance to Myanmar and the world.

The contributions that writers, journalists and public intellectuals have made to modern Myanmar are immeasurable. It was the students of Rangoon University led by Aung San who showed the injustice of British colonial rule in essays published in the 1940s. The mass movement for independence was rooted in the ideas of the countries intellectual leaders, who later constituted the first civilian government. Likewise, since the 1960s Myanmar writers and journalist have led the fight for freedom of expression and civil rights at great risk to themselves.

In short, Myanmars writers and journalists have always striven for freedom from fear, freedom of expression and civil liberties for all people, regardless of race and religion. In 2015, Myanmars media became so relevant as to truly constitute a fourth pillar of the state, widely respected both in the country and among international piers.

The role that journalism plays in a democratic transition is vast, and there cannot truly be said to exist a democratic government that severely restricts the media. Personal liberties and civil rights cannot thrive unless they are informed by an active and critical press. Unless the public is engaged and informed of current affairs, the government will not reflect their will, but that of the powerful.

Governments in Myanmar have long sought to neuter the media through violence, but if the last half century of history is an example, a free and independent press cannot be eliminated. In the fight for democracy and liberty, artists, writers and thinkers have a weapon more powerful than guns.
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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!)
A barrister has failed in her bid to be allowed to represent clients without having to be instructed by a solicitor, writes Ann O'Loughlin.

Eugenie Houston, president of the newly formed Association of Barristers in Ireland, had asked the court to clarify provisions of a new law, passed in 2015, in relation to the question of direct access of members of the public to barristers.

Mr Justice Paul Gilligan ruled yesterday there is "simply no proposition" that a barrister can act and conduct contentious litigation on behalf of a party to such proceedings without being instructed by a solicitor.

Traditionally, and currently, in order to appear before a court, a barrister can only receive instructions from a solicitor. Barristers are usually members of the Law Library and/or the Society of Kings Inn.

Ms Houston, who is not a member of the Law Library, is seeking to act for two men who has so far have represented themselves in High Court injunction proceedings being brought against them over alleged trespass on a bog in Co Offaly.

She said that under the 2015 Legal Services Regulation Act, as a qualified barrister, she should be entitled to represent the two men directly rather than having only to act after receiving instructions from a solicitor.

While only two parts of the 15-part 2015 Act have so far been enacted, she believed she can do so under Section 13.5, which is law which is in operation.

That provides legal practitioners shall act with independence and integrity, in the best interests of their clients, and maintain proper standards of work. It states they should also comply with such duties as are "rightfully owed to the court" and keep the affairs of clients confidential.

A section of the new Act, which has not been enacted yet, provides that no professional code should operate to prevent a barrister providing legal services "other than a contentious matter" where instructions were not received through a solicitor, he said.

She believed it was proper that she should bring the application before the court to clarify whether direct access was permissible rather than "act behind the scenes" for a person as that would be entirely wrong.

Ms Houston also said she also had professional indemnity insurance and did not handle clients' money.

Lawyers for the Legal Services Regulatory Authority, which was set up under the Act, the Kings Inn, and the plaintiffs in the case being brought against Ms Houston's potential clients, disagreed she was entitled to directly represent.

The law as it stands does not permit direct access and the rules of the superior courts did not authorise it, they argued. They also said access was a matter which was covered during a recent public consultation process by the Regulatory Authority and on which a report has yet to issue.

It was further argued that as part of being admitted to the degree of barrister-at-law in July 2008, Ms Houston signed a declaration to the Benchers of the Honourable Society of Kings Inn that she would comply with the rules and regulations of the Bar Council. They provide a barrister may not act in contentious litigation except on the instructions of a solicitor.

Mr Justice Gilligan, in rejecting Ms Houston's application, said it was clear to the court the Oireachtas intended, in passing the 2015 Act, that professional codes applicable to barristers should continue to apply "unless and until replaced or revised by regulatory action of the Authority".

He also found the rules of the superior courts do no permit a party to defend an action by counsel alone. As the rules are secondary legislation, and have the force of law, jurisdiction vested in the court regarding practice and procedure must be exercised in accordance with those rules, he said.

There was no basis for the court to consider, in exercising its discretion, to issue a direction that would enable the defendants in this case, to be represented by a barrister who is not instructed by a solicitor, he said.
A lawyer for a construction company director, wanted in the UK over his role in a 5 million (about 5.8 million) tax fraud, has argued that 'Brexit' leaves his client in a legal limbo, writes Alison O'Riordan.

Thomas Joseph O'Connor (49), with an address at Cloughbeirne, The Walk, Roscommon, was sentenced in his absence to four-and-a-half years in prison for defrauding the British revenue more than a decade ago in January 2007.

After being convicted following a six-week trial at Blackfriars Crown Court, Mr OConnor, who was on bail, did not attend court for the sentencing hearing. He had returned to Ireland but was arrested on an extradition warrant in 2009.

After the High Court ordered his extradition, he appealed and the Court of Appeal dismissed his appeal in October 2015. He lost a further appeal to the Supreme Court in March of this year.

In April, Mr O'Connor's lawyers applied for a postponement of his surrender to the UK on humanitarian grounds. The court heard his brother was terminally ill and undergoing palliative care.

Ms Justice Aileen Donnelly granted the application saying there was a "very particular closeness between Mr O'Connor and his brother".

At a further hearing today (Tuesday), the High Court heard that Mr O'Connor was seeking to re-open the extradition proceedings because of Brexit.

Mr OConnors barrister, Dr Michael Forde SC, said his client was entitled to have a complete re hearing or a second shot because of the 'Brexit' decision.

His counsel told the court that if Mr O'Connor is surrendered, he is likely to be imprisoned for four and-a half years and as the law presently stands, the UK will have left the EU on March 29, 2019.

There is no legal certainty that the present state of affairs will continue after 2019, he said.

Dr Forde said no provision had been adopted in the UK to protect Mr OConnors rights after this date.

He said it was unfair to expect his client who is on legal aid and with limited resources to say what the present view of the UK government would be after March 29, 2019. He just simply cannot tell and that leaves Mr OConnor in a legal limbo, he said.

Dr Forde said that Article 50, which set out the process by which member states may withdraw from the European Union, was a definitive decision and it may not be revisited. He said it was a matter for European law to resolve this issue and not Irish law.

Counsel for the Minister for Justice and Equality, Mr Robert Barron SC, said that Brexit was the only issue that could be re-opened in this case and the outcome of it was unknown. He said it was speculation as to what will happen to the Extradition Act in the UK and what arrangements would be put in place upon the UK leaving the EU. Brexit will not alter domestic legislation, he said.

Mr Barron said there was no evidence that Mr OConnor would lose any of his fundamental rights before the court after March 29, 2019 nor that he would be re-extradited elsewhere. It is all premature, he said.

The barrister said that the UK was bound to its commitments on EU law at present. What is being suggested here is that the UK will not respect its obligations but there is no evidence of this," he said.

The hearing continues tomorrow before Ms Justice Donnelly and Mr OConnor was remanded on continuing bail.
The Canadian Prime Minister has said he has given Leo Varadkar some advice on getting women into politics.

Justin Trudeau has said the issue was discussed during a 90-minute meeting between the two leaders in Farmleigh this morning.

Trudeau's cabinet has an equal split of men and women, while Leo Varadkar has been criticised for giving only 20% of ministerial roles to women.

The Canadian Prime Minister said women question themselves for political roles.

"For some reason it's more difficult to get women to run for politics than it is to get men to run for politics.

"When you ask a woman to step forward and run, her first question is 'really do you think I should?, do you think I can?, do you think I'm qualified enough?'.

"When you ask a man to run for politics his first question is 'well, what took you so long to ask me?," he said.

The Taoiseach defended his promotions, adding there are 12 female TDs who support the Fine Gael minority Government, 10 of whom have ministries or chair Oireachtas committees.

The Taoiseach said he believes diversity leads to better decision making and that diversity is about more than gender.

"We should try to have a government and a parliament that looks like the country that it tries to represent," he said.

And outlining his ambitions for the next election, he added he wants to get more women to run for parliament and win seats over the next few years.

"Fine Gael already has more female TDs than any other party at 11," he said.

"But I want it to be much higher.

"I'd like it to be 50:50 but certainly at least 20 after the next general election thus giving me more scope to promote even more women than are promoted already.

"That's very much the space I want to be in."

Mr Varadkar added: "Being asked whether you are a feminist or not can often be a trick question because I think other people have to judge that of you, not to make that decision for yourself.

"Certainly if feminism is defined as supporting equal opportunity between men and women, which I do, then I consider myself a feminist but I totally accept that other people may have a different definition of that and therefore not agree."

Mr Trudeau said: "Getting more women into positions of power and authority and success is not just the right thing to do it's the smart thing to do and that's something we both agreed on."
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is to hold talks today with Taoiseach Leo Varadkar.

Trade issues are expected to dominate the agenda when the pair meet in Dublin, with the CETA agreement between Europe and Canada expected to be a key focus.

Mr Trudeau will also be hosted by President Michael D. Higgins at Aras an UachtarAin.

The Canadian PM has several other engagements in Dublin including a business lunch and a visit to see the Famine memorial statues in the city centre before a state dinner is hosted by the Taoiseach.

During the Fine Gael leadership contest Leo Varadkar made no secret of his admiration for Justin Trudeau.

He has given him credit for helping to reinvigorate the middle ground in politics - something he says Emmanuel Macron did in France, and which he himself wants to do in Ireland.

Others would point out of course that Trudeau has managed to do some things that eluded Varadkar, including getting a gender balance in his cabinet.

Mr Trudeau is accompanied on the trip by his wife Sophie Gregoire Trudeau and their young son Hadrien.

The visit has been arranged two months on from when Mr Varadkar's predecessor Enda Kenny met the Canadian leader in Montreal.
The government should allow Credit Unions to make available the hundreds of millions of euros they have available for the provision of social and affordable housing, according to Sinn Fein.

Speaking during the Housing Committee hearings on credit union financing of social and affordable housing Sinn Fein TD Eoin O Broin suggested "that with the government failing to deliver and with credit unions and AHBs in a position to pick up the slack we need to make the regulatory changes necessary to simply deliver more homes.

Mr OBroin said the Irish League of Credit Unions have indicated they can lend between 173m to 520m a year to provide much needed homes and that agencies like Respond, Cluid, Oaklee, and Co-operative housing have confirmed that they could use this funding to provide thousands of additional social and affordable homes every year.

The Dublin Mid-West TD said: These would be in addition to existing targets contained in the Governments Housing Action Plan and provide up to 15,000 social and affordable homes.

The discussion surrounding utilising credit union finance for social housing has been going on for years with little movement in the right direction to date.

Approved Housing Bodies (AHBs) are not supposed to replace local authority social housing provision but they are in a position to complement it.

"We are in the midst of a housing crisis and Sinn Fein believe that with access to the appropriate finance the larger AHBs should be in a position to deliver an additional 2,000 to 4,000 real social housing units a year.

Mr O Broin went on to suggest the government was not not focused on the housing crisis and said the creation of a specific credit union fund from which tier three AHBs can apply, on a rolling basis, for loan finance for the purchase, renovation and/or building of social housing was a feasible option.

"The proportion of funding provided by the credit union would either be on a 100% basis or a 70% basis. In the case of the latter, the Department of Housing would provide the remaining 30% through the existing AHB funding mechanisms already well established."
DNA matching a murder accused was identified on a glove and wig found alongside the sub-machine gun alleged to have been used in an attack that left a 36-year-old dead, a trial heard today, writes Eoin Reynolds.

Dr Edward Connolly of Forensic Science Ireland told the trial of Christopher McDonald that he tested a number of items found in a laneway four days after Keith Walker was shot 18 times in the car park of the Blanchardstown Pigeon Racing Club on Shelerin Road in Clonsilla on June 12, 2015.

Mr McDonald (34), from the East Wall area of Dublin, has pleaded not guilty to Mr Walker's murder. He is on trial at the Central Criminal Court.

The jury previously heard from Detective Sergeant Paul Tallon that he found the glove and wig along with a brown handbag, ear plug and sub-machine gun in a laneway at Sheepmoor Grove in Blanchardstown after receiving a tip-off from a local resident. Detective Garda David O'Leary has also told the jury that he tested the gun and was satisfied that it was the one used to shoot Mr Walker.

Having tested swabs taken from all these items, Dr Connolly told prosecuting counsel Denis Vaughan Buckley SC that he found DNA matching the accused on both the inside and outside of the clear plastic glove and on the black wig. The chances of finding a person unrelated to Mr McDonald with the same profile would be considerably less than one in one thousand million, he said. DNA found on the strap of the bag and on the gun were not suitable for interpretation. The ear plug had a DNA profile that was not that of the accused man.

Dr Thomas Hannigan, also of Forensic Science Ireland, said he examined the wig, glove and other items for firearms residue. He said that when he received the items he understood that they had been found during the investigation of the murder of Keith Walker, who was shot multiple times by a shooter wearing women's clothes.

He said the wig and glove tested positive for firearms residue and that the residue was similar to that found on items at the scene of the shooting. His conclusion was that this evidence provides strong support that the glove and wig were worn by the shooter. He did not find firearms residue on swabs taken from the accused man.

He offered three possible explanations for the failure to find firearms residue on Mr McDonald, saying he may not have been the shooter, or he was the shooter but his hands and face were covered, or the residue was lost in the 12 hours between the shooting and when the samples were taken. He added that these are not the only possibilities.

Dr Hannigan also examined face swabs that gardai took from the accused, which they believed to be make-up. Dr Hannigan said the swabs were "insufficient for analysis" so he could say nothing further about them.

During cross examination Dr Hannigan agreed with defence counsel Bernard Condon SC that the science labs have precautions in place to prevent contamination of items that are being analysed.

Superintendent Colm Murphy agreed with Mr Condon that he was aware that a woman in the Whitestown area of Blanchardstown had told gardai that a man called to her house, aged in his early 20s, and asked her to dress him up as a woman. He said he was also aware of a Dublin Bus driver who told gardai he had seen a number of men on his bus dressed as women. Superintendent Murphy said these were among more than 400 statements taken by gardai investigating Mr Walker's murder.

The trial will continue tomorrow in front of Justice Patrick McCarthy and a jury of six men and six women.
A judge has adjourned the case of a man accused of damaging one of Dublins best known gay bars with homophobic graffiti pending possible further charges, writes Tom Tuite.

Eoin Berkeley, 23, was due to appear again at Dublin District Court on Tuesday having already been charged in May. He is accused of criminal damage to the facade and panels at the George Bar in the city-centre in the early hours of May 20 last.

Derogatory language and a swastika daubed in chalk had to be removed from the pubs facade.

Defence solicitor Tony Collier told Judge Michael Walsh his client could not come to court because a member of his family had health issues. There was no garda objection to an adjournment in his absence.

Judge Walsh was told that directions from the Director of Public Prosecution need to be obtained and a court garda sergeant agreed there was a possibility of further charges.

The case was adjourned for a week.

At his first hearing on May 22 last Mr Berkeley was warned he risked having his bail revoked if he broke conditions imposed by the court which compel him to stay away from the bar on Dublins South Great Georges Street.

The 23-year-old, from Hampton Wood Way, Finglas, Dublin 11, who is on a disability benefit, has not yet indicated how he will plead.

A summary of the prosecution evidence was handed over in court to his solicitor at the first hearing. The court was also told that CCTV evidence would also be disclosed.

There was no objection to bail provided he obeyed six conditions: stay out of the Dublin 2 area, specifically remain away from The George, sign on daily at his local Garda station, reside at his current address, notify gardai of any change of address, and be sober habits and be of good behaviour.

He had replied yeah at the previous hearing when a judge warned that if there is any breach, bail can be revoked by the court.

Free legal aid was also granted after the defence explained to the court that Mr Berkeley is in receipt of a 193 a week disability benefit. His access to funds was limited, his solicitor had said.
The Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA), has said research will be undertaken in Ireland to see if the HPV vaccine should be extended to boys.

The human papillomavirus vaccine is currently given to girls to help prevent cervical cancer and is part of the national immunisation scheme.

It is known that there are other cancers associated with this virus that affect both men and women, such as genital and oropharyngeal (throat) cancer.

HPV is associated with the development of penile cancer in men, as well as being the cause of genital warts in both men and women.

HIQAs Director of Health Technology Assessment and Deputy Chief Executive Dr Mairin Ryan said: HPV infection is the most commonly acquired sexually transmitted viral infection.

"In most cases it causes no symptoms and is cleared by the bodys immune system. However, persistent infection can lead to the development of cancer, she said.

HIQAs assessment will also consider the wider implications of any proposed change to the vaccination programme, such as the budget impact, use of resources, and the ethical and societal implications.

HIQA has said that the vaccine has been proven to be highly safe and effective and results of the health technology assessment are expected this year.
Labour TD Joan Burton has called for referendum on the Eighth Amendment to take place early next year.

Welcoming comments made by the Taoiseach in the Dail today that he would be open to holding a referendum on the Eighth Amendment in early 2018, Deputy Burton said: Today in the Dail I put to the Taoiseach that the best time to have a referendum on the Eighth Amendment would be in the first half of 2018, for example sometime between the end of March to the middle of June, preferably before the Popes visit.
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said that Joan Burton was "terrorised" at the Jobstown protest.

Speaking in the Dail today, he dismissed calls for a public inquiry into the handling of the case, saying that the acquittal of six people for false imprisonment does not mean their actions were acceptable.
Update 5.15pm: The sister of a Waterford man says she blames the Government for her brother's death.

Thomas Power died a fortnight ago after suffering a cardiac arrest, he had to be transferred to Cork as the Waterford cath lab was closed when he became ill.

Hundreds of people joined the Power family in a protest outside the Dail earlier today.

Catherine Power said that she firmly believes Thomas could have been saved.

"I've learned since he only had 20 minutes to live," she said.

"So for those 20 minutes he could have been in a cath lab in Waterford and gotten the stint in and he'd be here with us today.

"So yeah, I blame the Government, the HSE, Leo Varadkar.

"People have been campaigning for this since 2008 and there's now my brother gone, and he could be sitting up in the bed today - probably out working. He'd be driving the tractor today."

Earlier:

The family of a Waterford man who died on the way to Cork for cardiac treatment say a second cath lab has to be built.

Hundreds of protestors gathered outside the Dail this lunchtime calling for 24/7 cardiac care.

Catherine Powers brother died of a heart attack two weeks ago on his way to Cork for treatment.

40-year-old Thomas had presented to University Hospital Waterford, but was transferred by ambulance to Cork as cardiac facilities do not operate at the weekend.

Hundreds of people staged a vigil outside University Hospital Waterford on June 23 calling for 24-hour cardiac care for the region.

Mr Power had been married for nine months, had just finished building a house and his wife Bernie is expecting their first child.

Health Minister Simon Harris said last month that he is open to a further review on the issue of cath labs in the South East.

I commissioned an independent clinical review in relation to the cath lab situation in Waterford.

I followed the recommendations in full, in terms of the allocation of additional resources, and Im now putting in place a mobile cath lab.

As Minister, Ill always stand by clinical recommendations. I am open, though, after the improvements that Professor Herity has made, of taking course to have a further review on the issue, he said.
Update 5.15pm: Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has spent the day meeting with the Taoiseach and President in Dublin.

Mr Trudeau discussed trade, Brexit and the gender balance in politics in a meeting with Leo Varadkar that lasted almost two hours.

An official dinner in his honour will take place in Dublin tonight.

Justin Trudeau said he has always appreciated Irish hospitality.

"For our 150th birthday, we wanted to come here to Ireland, the ancestral home of so many Irish immigrants who helped build Canada," he said.

"So many times over my life, visiting ceilis or small impromptu kitchen parties I felt that famous Irish hospitality echoing down through the generations.

"And that's certainly been felt by all of us here today."

Some of the media coverage of his visit has been criticised in the Dail chamber this afternoon, however.

People Before Profit TD Richard Boyd Barrett says too many reports have ignored a proposed trade deal with Canada - and instead focused on socks.

BREAKING: Varadkar has outflanked Trudeau when it comes to socks (Mounties & Maple Leaves  vs stripes) c/o @merrionstreet pic.twitter.com/9ZY05jK8EL  Kirsty Blake Knox (@KirstyBlakeKnox) July 4, 2017

"Bizarrely, much of the coverage of your meeting with Prime Minister Trudeau has been focusing on the pattern of your socks and your youthfulness, when in fact this is a deal that has I would argue hugely significant and potentially very damaging consequences for our economy."

Earlier:

Canada and Ireland should cash in on Brexit and Donald Trump's US presidency by encouraging people and businesses to relocate, Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau has said.

After talks with Taoiseach Leo Varadkar in Dublin, Mr Trudeau said migration should be seen as a positive.

"There are tremendous opportunities for countries like Canada and Ireland at a time where perhaps our significant allies and trading partners, in the case of the UK and US, are turning inward or at least turning in a different direction, to make the pitch that Canada and Ireland are places that are exciting and open to the world in a positive, progressive way," Mr Trudeau said.

Trade issues were high on the agenda when Mr Trudeau and Mr Varadkar met in Farmleigh House in Dublin, with the CETA agreement between the Europe Union and Canada a key focus.

The deal, which has yet to be ratified by national parliaments, took seven years to negotiate.

But it has controversial clauses, including concerns about giving companies the right to sue governments and questions about workers' rights.

Mr Varadkar said the CETA deal is progressive and not just about big business, citing its focus on environmental protections.

"I understand that there are concerns," the Taoiseach said.

"People always have concerns about free trade agreements.

"But there are many more benefits for our country and our people, our economy than there are downsides.

"It's not just an agreement for big business.

"It's also an agreement for small business, for workers and has huge potential for Ireland."

During the Canadian PM's trip, Mr Trudeau was being hosted by President Michael D Higgins at Aras an Uachtarain.

He has several other engagements in Dublin including a business lunch and a visit to see the Famine memorial statues in the city centre and a dinner hosted by the Taoiseach.

Mr Trudeau is accompanied on the trip by his wife Sophie Gregoire Trudeau and their young son Hadrien.

The visit has been arranged two months on from when Mr Varadkar's predecessor Enda Kenny met the Canadian leader in Montreal.

Mr Trudeau will leave Ireland on Wednesday for engagements in Scotland, including meeting the Queen at the Palace of Holyroodhouse on Wednesday to "honour her importance to Canada's history".

Real pleasure to welcome @JustinTrudeau and his wife Sophie to Dublin pic.twitter.com/AQ4qOKg9AP  Leo Varadkar (@LeoVaradkar) July 4, 2017

Mr Trudeau is attending the G20 summit in Hamburg later in the week.

On Brexit, Mr Varadkar said more people will want to come to Ireland as a result.

"What I anticipate, because of our economic recovery, because we are the fastest-growing economy in Europe now for two years in a row, and potentially because of Brexit, more and more people will want to come to Ireland," he said.

"We will actually have more inward migration into Ireland.

"We will be able to import the skills that we need and the knowledge that we need and the new experiences we need through a positive, open, managed migration policy."
Update 4.28pm: Democratic Unionist leader Arlene Foster has said today that she is disappointed an agreement to restore powersharing has not been reached in Northern Ireland, suggesting a deal will now have to wait until at least the autumn.

Mrs Foster expressed frustration as talks wound up without a breakthrough at Stormont Castle in Belfast.

It is expected the process will now be effectively parked over the summer months, to resume in the autumn.

"We are disappointed we don't have an agreement this afternoon," said the DUP leader.

Mrs Foster said her party would continue to work on issues over the summer, but acknowledged the intensity of engagement would drop during the holiday period.

"We are going to keep working at it through the summer and hopefully we can come to an agreement later on in the year," she said.

"We are certainly up for an agreement, we are up for devolution."

Update 2.44pm: Powersharing talks in Northern Ireland look set to be parked for the summer, with Sinn Fein acknowledging a deal will not materialise before the autumn.

Party sources said they expect the UK and Irish governments to suspend the negotiations, potentially later today, with the aim of restarting the process in a number of months.

Discussions continued inside Stormont Castle today, but no substantive progress was made.

The Democratic Unionists and Sinn Fein, the two parties whose sign-off is required to form a devolved government, remain at loggerheads over a range of issues.

Sticking points include the shape of legislation to protect Irish language speakers, the DUP's opposition to lifting the region's ban on same-sex marriage, and mechanisms to deal with the legacy of the Troubles.

Earlier, Foreign Minister Simon Coveney said if a breakthrough did not come today then one would not be forthcoming on this side of the summer recess.

While MLAs have not been sitting in Parliament Buildings since March's snap election, the Assembly's official summer recess starts on Friday.

Next week will also witness the "Twelfth of July" - the key fixture in the Protestant loyal order marching season.

Negotiations were always unlikely to succeed if they stretched into mid-July, when they would be framed against the backdrop of the heightened community tensions that traditionally surround the Orange Order commemorations.

On Monday, Northern Ireland Secretary James Brokenshire said he felt a powersharing executive could still be established this week.

His optimism was not shared by the parties at Stormont, with the DUP and Sinn Fein continuing to blame each other for the impasse.

DUP leader Arlene Foster has claimed Sinn Fein is more concerned with adding to its "shopping list" of demands rather than seeking compromises to restore powersharing.

Responding on Monday, Sinn Fein's Stormont leader Michelle O'Neill insisted all her party was seeking was "basic rights".

"If that's a shopping list then I am very proud of that shopping list - because it's about delivering people their rights," she said.

The devolved institutions imploded in January when Mrs Foster was forced from office after Sinn Fein's then deputy first minister, the late Martin McGuinness, quit.

That was in protest at the DUP's handling of the renewable heat incentive (RHI), a botched scheme that left the administration facing a 490 million overspend.

Mr McGuinness's move triggered March's snap Assembly poll and subsequent months of faltering negotiations to restore a devolved government.

Prime Minister Theresa May gave senior colleagues an update on the talks at the regular weekly meeting of Cabinet at 10 Downing Street.

Mrs May's spokesman told reporters that the PM said that "while progress had been made, gaps between the parties still remain".

Following calls from Labour for Mrs May to travel to Belfast to help find a resolution, the PM's spokesman said: "The Prime Minister spoke with five parties and invited them to Downing Street. She has talked with the leaders of the DUP and Sinn Fein at the weekend. We continue to hope to make progress.

"The PM updated Cabinet today, the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland is there today. The Prime Minister has been closely involved so far and will continue to be so."

Asked if Mrs May felt Mr Brokenshire was doing a good job, the spokesman said: "Of course. He has been working constantly since the elections in Northern Ireland to try to help secure an agreement to restore the devolved assembly. He has been working constantly and is doing a good job."

The spokesman confirmed that if a settlement is reached, legislation will be needed for it to allow the executive to be restored, as the statutory deadline for agreement has now been passed.

"The statutory deadline has been missed, but we still believe that a resolution can be found and we are urging the parties to continue focusing all their efforts on achieving this," said the PM's spokesman.

Update 1.04pm: Prime Minister Theresa May gave senior colleagues an update on the talks at the regular weekly meeting of Cabinet at 10 Downing Street.

Mrs May's spokesman told reporters that the PM said that "while progress had been made, gaps between the parties still remain".

Following calls from Labour for Mrs May to travel to Belfast to help find a resolution, the PM's spokesman said: "The Prime Minister spoke with five parties and invited them to Downing Street. She has talked with the leaders of the DUP and Sinn Fein at the weekend. We continue to hope to make progress.

"The PM updated Cabinet today, the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland is there today. The Prime Minister has been closely involved so far and will continue to be so."

Asked if Mrs May felt Mr Brokenshire was doing a good job, the spokesman said: "Of course. He has been working constantly since the elections in Northern Ireland to try to help secure an agreement to restore the devolved assembly. He has been working constantly and is doing a good job."

The spokesman confirmed that if a settlement is reached, legislation will be needed for it to allow the executive to be restored, as the statutory deadline for agreement has now been passed.

"The statutory deadline has been missed, but we still believe that a resolution can be found and we are urging the parties to continue focusing all their efforts on achieving this," said the PM's spokesman.

Earlier: A breakthrough in powersharing talks in the North must come today or the institutions are set to remain in cold storage over the summer, Simon Coveney has said.

Mr Coveney suggested the coming hours at Stormont Castle would be make or break in terms of a restoration of devolution in the short term.

"Back on road to Belfast early - parties really must make political breakthrough today if NI assembly is to be back before summer recess," Mr Coveney tweeted this morning.

While MLAs have not been sitting in Parliament Buildings since Marchs snap election, the Assemblys official summer recess starts on Friday.

Next week will also witness the "Twelfth of July" - the key fixture in the Protestant loyal order marching season.

Negotiations are unlikely to succeed against the backdrop of the heightened community tensions that traditionally surround the Orange Order commemorations.

On Monday, Northern Ireland Secretary James Brokenshire said he felt a powersharing executive could still be established this week.

His optimism was not shared by the parties at Stormont, with the Democratic Unionists and Sinn Fein continuing to blame each other for the impasse.

Sticking points include the shape of legislation to protect Irish language speakers, the DUPs opposition to lifting the regions ban on same-sex marriage, and mechanisms to deal with the legacy of the Troubles.

On Monday, Mr Brokenshire told the House of Commons that the UK Government remained focused over the "crucial days ahead" on establishing a coalition executive, despite a deadline for agreement lapsing last week.

Mr Brokenshires warning of "profound and serious implications" if Thursdays deadline was missed prompted speculation that he could call another snap election or impose some form of direct rule from Westminster.

But he instead opted to give the talks a few more days.

While he did not set a new deadline - four have already passed - Mr Brokenshire warned he would soon have to step in to pass a Stormont budget.

DUP leader Arlene Foster has claimed Sinn Fein is more concerned with adding to its "shopping list" of demands rather than seeking compromises to restore powersharing.

Responding on Monday, Sinn Feins Stormont leader Michelle ONeill insisted all her party was seeking was "basic rights".

"If thats a shopping list then I am very proud of that shopping list - because its about delivering people their rights," she said.

The devolved institutions imploded in January when Mrs Foster was forced from office after Sinn Feins then deputy first minister, the late Martin McGuinness, quit.

That was in protest at the DUPs handling of the renewable heat incentive (RHI), a botched scheme that left the administration facing a 490 million overspend.

Mr McGuinnesss move triggered Marchs snap Assembly poll and subsequent months of faltering negotiations to restore a devolved government.
The special Seanad committee will deliver its report to the Government today on the issue of how Brexit will affect Ireland.

The cross party group has heard from all sectors, in over 50 hours of hearings on their concerns and recommendations.

Chairperson Senator, Neale Richmond, has said Ireland needs to be at the centre of the new European Union.

"Ireland staying within the EU gives us far greater access to the world markets, it allows us to be part of the largest economic trading block within the world.

"The EU is our biggest trading partner, what we have to try and get is a close of an agreement as we can possibly with the UK, to allow that relationship to continue as normal as possible but ultimately it's never going to be as good as we have now," he said.

Meanwhile, one in ten Irish SME's have not made any preparations for Brexit.

According to a new survey from AIB, entrepreneurs are not as concerned about the impact of the UK leaving the EU as had been anticipated.

Over 1300 were surveyed and 54% have said they expect to suffer no impact whatsoever.

AIB's head of Customer Treasury Services, Tom Hall has said the results are surprising.

"The survey gave us some surprising results actually, there is many SME's, 54% of them don't expect an impact from Brexit at all.

"At a high level, that was a very surprising outcome because I think we're all tuned in that this is going to be a rather nasty process," he said.
A Dublin youth drove sideways around a bend and sped over a pedestrian area before colliding head on with a patrol car during a high-speed pursuit, a court has heard, writes Tom Tuite.

The 17-year-old boy, who cannot be named because he is a minor, pleaded guilty to criminal damage and multiple counts of dangerous driving in connection with the 25-minute chase in north Dublin on the night of Jan. 17 last.

As he adjourned sentencing at the Dublin Childrens Court, Judge John OConnor told the youth he was lucky no-one was killed and he did not end up on trial for manslaughter.

At one point the youth drove sideways as he took a sharp turn at speed, the court heard.

Garda Cormac McGill told the hearing that two gardai from Ballymun detective unit had been travelling in-bound on the N2 at Finglas and came to a roundabout on St Margarets Road. A Fiat Punto driven by the boy came through the roundabout from the left and failed to yield causing the gardai to brake suddenly.

The teen drove on to Barry Avenue while pursued by the garda car which had activated lights and sirens. He failed to stop and sped off before driving over small roundabouts.

The court heard the boy drove at excessive speeds in residential areas and reached Plunkett Road, Finglas, and made his way back on to St Margarets Road, full circle to where it began.

He continued speeding while other road users had to pull in out of his way as he drove in the centre of the road while overtaking. At Melville Road he drove into a right turn causing the car to turn sideways and he nearly lost control of the vehicle.

He then overtook a Dublin Bus as it was pulling out before he drove on past Poppentree Park at speeds in excess of 100 kph and drove on the wrong way on a roundabout on Balbutcher Lane.

He then turned into the Belclare View residential area and sped over speed ramps and overtook a car blindly causing on coming cars to brake suddenly and come on to the footpath.

He drove to Balbutcher Lane and mounted a green and drove in the direction of Sillogue Crescent, a pedestrian area. A man had to be pick up his dog and run out of the way to avoid being hit, the Garda said.

The court heard the youth, who had no driving licence or insurance, squeezed through a gap which brought him to Sillogue Park where he sped over speed ramps before turning left on to Sillogue Way.

Gda McGill said his patrol car was coming in the opposite direction and the teenager collided with the front of his car. He got out and arrested the youth and contacted his carers.

Some 4,500 worth of damages were caused to the patrol car.

Gda McGill agreed with defence solicitor Michelle Finan that the youth was co-operative when arrested.

His prior criminal convictions included trespassing on a building, and driving without a licence or insurance and he was given a two year road-ban in March.

The teenager was accompanied to court by a care worker.

His solicitor told the court the teenagers parents had serious health issues and at a young age he had acted as a carer for them. He has difficulties with self-regulation but one of his outlets was driving, she said.

On the day in question he had been with a friend who was intoxicated and asked him to drive. When they saw the first garda car his friend told him I have something on me, we cant stop and the boy drove on and everything went out of control, the solicitor said.

His care workers speak highly of him, Ms Finan said.

Judge OConnor said the boy showed no regard for human life.

Sentencing was adjourned for a probation report on the youth to be obtained.
A 1m Irish-built wave-piercing powerboat has set off on an epic 2,000km round-Ireland record-breaking voyage, writes Eoin English.

The hi-tech Thunder Child, built by Safehaven Marine, based in East Cork, set off from a point close to the Old Head of Kinsale in Co Cork around 10am in a bid to set a new world record for the circumnavigation of Ireland.

The sleek 18-metre Interceptor-style vessel, with five crew on board, is now powering its way along the south east and eastern seaboard, on a voyage which will take it anti-clockwise around Ireland.

Skipper Frank Kowalski, Mary Power, Ciaran Monks, Carl Randalls and Ian Brownlee are due to arrive in Portrush this evening for a refuelling stop before heading out into the Atlantic to sail around Rockall, an isolated islet some 500km off the north west coast.

It is then due to take on more fuel in Belmullet early tomorrow morning, before powering its south along the west coast, before rounding the Fastnet to head for the start-finish line off the Old Head of Kinsale.

The crew hopes to complete the never-before-attempted long-way-round voyage, which will take them outside Irelands islands, within 30 to 35 hours, which should see them finish off the Cork coast around 8pm tomorrow.

Safehaven Marine is an internationally recognised designer and manufacturer of high-speed commercial sea craft, and is renowned for building boats with exceptional sea-keeping capabilities, strength and stealth.

Its vessels are in operation around the world, working in port pilot roles, in search and rescue missions, and they have been bought by various military and naval services for deployment on security and patrol operations.

The crew of Thunder Child pictured before setting off this morning on their round-Ireland record breaking bid.

After almost a year in development, Safehaven Marine MDs Frank Kowalski, launched his newest and fastest Baracuda-style naval patrol, search and rescue vessel, Thunder Child, at the Port of Cork just before Christmas.

It is built of advanced lightweight cored composite materials, making it both strong and light. Its surface-drive propulsion system, manufactured in Italy, is powered by a pair of Caterpillar C12.9 turbocharged, supercharged, intercooler diesel engines which produced 1,000hp each.

It can reach speeds of up to 60kts, and is fitted with long range 5,000 litre fuel tanks allowing a range of over 750 nautical miles.

It is equipped with HD radar, high-spec thermal night vision cameras, and shock-mitigation seating.

The vessels progress is being tracked live using advanced satellite technology through a dedicated website, https://thunderchild.safetrxapp.com.

A spokesman for 8 West Consulting said the latest SafeTrx open architecture that underpins the tracking website supports tracking technology including satellite and IoT devices, in addition to smartphones.

Our SafeTrx architecture will be receiving data from L band and Iridium Satcom devices onboard as well as a number of SafeTrx compatible Sigfox IoT (internet of things) tracking devices, as well as standard smartphones and GPS-enhanced smartphones, he said.

Sigfox is a low-power, wide-area network designed to allow simple internet of things devices to communicate.

Track the vessel's progress live here: https://thunderchild.safetrxapp.com.

Since Sigfox has a long range and low power requirement, it has exciting potential in marine safety, providing connectivity in areas without cellular coverage. The Sigfox network in Ireland is operated by VT, and the network is expected to extend at least 150km out to sea. Devices communicating on the network can have batteries that last for years.

John Murphy, CEO of 8 West Consulting, said working with these new low-cost, long-range, long battery life IoT devices and new IoT distress wearables, provides our customers with new possibilities.

We saw the prospect of partnering up with Safehaven Marine as a fantastic opportunity to test these new tracking and alerting devices in the one the harshest environments on the planet, the North Atlantic.

Our devices on the Thunder Child will be transmitting location data over L-band, Iridium, GSM and Sigfox.

All are integrated into SafeTrx and are accessible to the public on the tracking website.

We have logged 750,000 hours of use already with multiple potentially catastrophic outcomes avoided because of the use of SafeTrx.
The Canadian government is going to apologise and give millions of dollars to a former Guantanamo Bay prisoner after the Supreme Court ruled in 2010 that officials had interrogated him under "oppressive circumstances", according to an official.

The official familiar with the deal said that Omar Khadr will receive 10.5milion Canadian dollars. The government and Khadr's lawyers negotiated the deal last month.

The Canadian-born Khadr was 15 when he was captured by US troops following a firefight at a suspected al Qaida compound in Afghanistan that resulted in the death of an American special forces medic, US Army Sergeant First Class Christopher Speer.

Khadr, who was suspected of throwing the grenade that killed Speer, was taken to Guantanamo and ultimately charged with war crimes by a military commission.

He pleaded guilty in 2010 to charges that included murder and was sentenced to eight years plus the time he had already spent in custody. He returned to Canada two years later to serve the remainder of his sentence and was released in May 2015 pending an appeal of his guilty plea, which he said was made under duress.

Khadr spent 10 years in Guantanamo Bay. His case received international attention after some dubbed him a child soldier.

The Supreme Court of Canada ruled in 2010 that Canadian intelligence officials obtained evidence from Khadr under "oppressive circumstances", such as sleep deprivation, during interrogations at Guantanamo Bay in 2003, and then shared that evidence with US officials.

Khadr was the youngest and last Western detainee held at the US military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

His lawyers filed a 20 million US dollar wrongful imprisonment lawsuit against the Canadian government, arguing the government violated international law by not protecting its own citizen and conspired with the US.

Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau declined to confirm the apology and money when asked about in Ireland on Tuesday.

"There is a judicial process under way that has been under way for a number of years now and we are anticipating, like I think a number of people are, that that judicial process is coming to its conclusion," Mr Trudeau said.

Scott Bardsley, a spokesman for Canada's public safety minister, also confirmed there is an ongoing court process on this case.

"Settlement processes are always strictly confidential by nature. Accordingly, the government is not in a position to provide any comment one way or another," Mr Bardsley said in an email.

The widow of Sgt Speer and another American soldier blinded by the grenade in Afghanistan filed a wrongful death and injury lawsuit against Khadr in 2014.

A US judge granted 134.2 million US dollars in damages in 2015, but the plaintiffs acknowledged then that there was little chance they would collect any of the money from Khadr because he lives in Canada.

Khadr's lawyers have long said he was pushed into war by his father, Ahmed Said Khadr, whose family stayed with Osama bin Laden briefly when Omar Khadr was a boy. Khadr's Egyptian-born father was killed in 2003 when a Pakistani military helicopter shelled the house where he was staying with senior al Qaida operatives.

After his 2015 release from prison in Alberta, Omar Khadr apologised to the families of the victims. He said he rejects violent jihad and wants a fresh start to finish his education and work in health care. He currently resides in Edmonton, Alberta.

AP
Iraqi prime minister Haider al-Abadi has congratulated Iraqi fighters on "this big victory in Mosul" even as fighting continues in Mosul's Old City.

Iraqi forces are about 250 metres from the Tigris River and facing increasingly brutal resistance from Islamic State (IS) fighters.

Mr al-Abadi spoke during a press conference in Baghdad, less than a week after he declared an end to IS's self-styled caliphate after Iraqi forces achieved an incremental win by retaking the landmark al-Nuri Mosque in the Old City.

His remarks come on the three-year anniversary of IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi's sermon at the al-Nuri Mosque, from where he declared an Islamic caliphate.

Iraqi forces launched the operation to retake Mosul, the country's second largest city, in October.

IS overran Mosul in a matter of days in 2014.

Mr al-Abadi said: "Praise be to God, we managed to liberate (Mosul) and proved the others were wrong, the people of Mosul supported and stood with our security forces against terrorism."

The Iraqi PM added that he has given instructions to rebuild and stabilise areas of the city already freed from the militant group.

Lt Gen Abdel Ghani al-Asadi, of Iraq's special forces, said earlier in the day that Iraqi forces are yards away from the Tigris River, in the western half of Mosul.

The Tigris divides the city roughly into its western and eastern half, which was liberated from IS militants back in January.

IS militants who remain trapped in just a few hundred meters of territory in the Old City are now in a "fight to the death," Lt Gen al-Asadi said, adding that IS fighters are increasingly resorting to suicide bombings.

He said he expects the fighting to get even heavier as they are pushed closer to the river.

Iraqi forces marked a significant victory this week when the Rapid Response Division retook Mosul's main hospital complex on the city's western side.

The building that once held the city's best medical facilities now sits devastated by the fight.

For weeks, a handful of IS snipers perched in the main hospital's top floors held back hundreds of Iraqi forces.

At the height of the extremists' power, they held nearly a third of Iraq.

AP
The lawyer playing a leading role unravelling the Northern Territory's juvenile justice scandal has condemned allegations of abuse inside the Bimberi youth detention centre.

Peter O'Brien is currently representing Dylan Voller at the Royal Commission into the Protection and Detention of Children in the Northern Territory.

The image of Dylan Voller in a spit-hood at the Don Dale Youth Detention Centre that helped trigger the royal commission. Credit:ABC

Mr O'Brien  who was shortlisted for the 2016 Australian Human Rights Award  said children allegedly abused inside the ACT's facility could have grounds for a claim against the government.

"The actions themselves, if demonstrated to be true, would certainly be breaches of the Children and Young Persons Act in every instance," he said.
Canberra's greyhound racing club will fight a move to ban the industry by suing the ACT government for money it says is owed after ACTTAB funding ended.

Lawyers for the club have commenced legal action it hopes will stop the shutdown, which it says will put 50 people out of work and ignores its animal welfare record.

The greyhound racing industry is fighting a proposed ban with legal action.

Club legal counsel Jim Colquhoun also directed a warning to the ACT's thoroughbred and harness racing industries after they declined to join its legal action, saying they could become targets for the government if they didn't unite.

The club will claim that by funnelling money for the greyhound industry into an assistance fund for people forced to leave, the government would deny it 'just terms' for funding it used to receive from ACTTAB before the agency's 2014 sale to Tabcorp.
Prosecutors say a man spiked the drink of a woman he met on a "sugar daddy" website in an attempt to rape her in a Canberra hotel.

The Gold Coast woman had turned to seekingarrangement.com in a moment of desperation, having left her job after being bullied and sexually harassed. "I was quite scared I was going to be homeless, because I wasn't able to pay my rent and I was unable to feed myself," she told the court from a remote witness room.

She explained how the website worked to connect "sugar daddies" and "sugar babies" and said though people did offer sexual favours in this situation it was not the only form the relationship took. She had been clear on her profile she was looking for companionship.

The accused, Juswan Mokmargana, 46, contacted the woman, 25, over the site and they began talking in March 2016, she told the court.

He flew her to Sydney for a day trip, where she said they ate yum cha in Chinatown and got to know each other. They had talked about travel, dreams, aspirations, family and friends.
When Tony Abbott laid down his conservative manifesto last week, the immediate question was how this would affect the standing of Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull. Less attention was paid to Abbott's alternative program for government. It includes a proposal for governments to bypass the Senate, which he described as the "mother of all reforms".

Abbott is obviously committed to this idea, having put it forward several times this year. Its origins lie with former prime minister John Howard, who proposed weakening the powers of the Senate in 2003. Howard had the reform examined by a hand-picked advisory committee, but it went nowhere after failing to gather political and community support.

Enhancing government power has been a key plank of Abbott's advocacy over many years. His vision is for a federal government that can pursue its policy agenda unfettered by the Senate or other constraints. He has opposed anything resembling a national Bill of Rights, and has suggested that the constitution be amended so the Commonwealth can pass laws on any topic.

Expanding federal power in this way would permit the federal Parliament to impose its will on areas under state control, and spell the end of the Australian Federation as we know it. Abbott's approach is anything but conservative, and resembles past policies of the Australian Labor Party that sought centralised power and the abolition of the Senate.
Her foundation application was equally non-conformist, as the actress explained: "When I put on foundation, I use an eyebrow brush or toothbrush to brush it into my hairline so that it all blends.

"I have a conspiracy theory that lip balms actually have additives in them to dry your lips out so you keep buying them. But because Bepanthen is just a cream for dry skin, it works. It's what I've used my whole life."

"I use Bepanthen, which is actually a nipple cream for breastfeeding mothers or diaper rash cream for babies," said Robbie.

Margot Robbie admitted to using some unconventional beauty hacks last week. In an interview with UK Elle , the 26-year-old actress confessed to a non-traditional use for nipple cream.

"I do that every single day, and every time my husband [Tom Ackerley] is like, "What are you doing?" And I'm like, "I'm brushing my make-up into my hairline!" And he's like, "Girls are crazy."

We may indeed be crazy, sir. But you know something? We know what works!

Many nipple creams are made up of mostly lanolin  the waxy stuff secreted by sheep to keep their wool soft. It's the perfect moisturiser for sore, cracked nipples, as any woman who has breast-fed will tell you. Truth be told, Bepanthen contains several ingredients, not all of them natural.

If you're into nipple cream as a moisturiser, you might want to try something like Lansinoh instead  it's basically lanolin. In fact, that's all it is. It also works equally well for nappy rash because it's water-proof, which means that it will stay on to protect a baby's sensitive skin, come hell or high water, so to speak.

All of this sounds mildly weird, and possibly gross, until you realise that several lip balms on the market already use lanolin because of its natural moisturising properties. The most famous of these is of course Lanolips, (and their hardest-working lip balm is called 101 Ointment.)
"We desperately need something to treat infections resistant to antibiotics, so we are turning back to these viruses, but with new knowledge and new technology," says Carl Merril, a retired National Institutes of Health scientist who has been studying bacteriophages for 50 years. Initially, they probably will be used in life-threatening situations or as an adjunct to antibiotics, "but I do see them in the future as being a first-line defence," he says. Phage therapy is not licensed by the US Food and Drug Administration, although the agency has granted permission to use it in at least four life-threatening situations,including the 2016 San Diego case. The agency also is studying the issues related to possible future widespread human use. These issues include the design of clinical trials, which are necessary for approval. The agency has scheduled a public workshop to discuss the scientific and regulatory issues. Phages have been used elsewhere - in Russia and Georgia, for example - as an alternative to antibiotics Nevertheless, "the data on efficacy of bacteriophage are limited, particularly due to a lack of well-controlled clinical trials," says Cara Fiore, a microbiologist in the FDA's Centre for Biologics Evaluation and Research. The agency is aware of the growing interest in phages among researchers and "recognises the potential importance of bacteriophages for therapy," she says. Bacteriophages are ubiquitous. They are found in sewage and wastewater, soil, marine water, the intestines of animals, even in the human gut. In fact, there are more bacteriophages than any other kinds of viruses. There are believed to be more than 10 million trillion trillion, more than any other organism on Earth.

"Our GI tracts are loaded with millions of them that are merrily trying to kill the bacteria that live in our GI tract, bacteria that are constantly evolving to avoid the phages that are coming after them," says Robert T. Schooley, chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases at the University of California at San Diego. "Darwin would be proud." Several academic institutions and the US Navy are collecting phage samples. The Navy, which has been researching phages for nearly a decade, sees them, among other things, as a potential treatment for infections cause by battlefield wounds. Naval researchers collect phage specimens all over the world, from places most people avoid. "We go where there is water humans have used, whether to flush toilets or to take a shower with or brush your teeth," says Michael Stockelman, deputy director of the Naval Medical Research Centre's infectious-diseases directorate in Silver Spring. "We go to wastewater treatment plants and cities with open sewers. They're easy to find because phages are fairly stable in the environment. They have to linger long enough to find their next host." Antibiotics typically kill all bacteria, including beneficial ones. But phages are bacteria-specific, attacking only a single species of bacteria. Phages enter bacterial cells, where they replicate, causing the cells to rupture. This releases additional phages into the body, making the treatment more potent.

The key is matching the right phage to the right bacterium. Scientists say it is likely that every bacterium has a phage - or many phages - that can kill it. This involves taking a patient's multidrug-resistant bacterium, growing it on a "lawn" of agar (a jelly-like substance used to culture microorganisms) with an overlay of phages, then looking for "holes" in the lawn where the phages have killed the bacteria. Once identified, the phages are plucked, grown in large batches and purified. Depending on the site of the infection, they are then delivered orally, topically, intravenously or into the respiratory tract by aerosol administration. This process can take five to 10 days. A critically ill patient might die during that time, but researchers say they believe that eventually they will be able to streamline the method. "There are some things that ultimately might make this easier," Schooley says. "For example, as we learn what receptors a given phage uses to get into a cell, one could see if the bacterium has that receptor - if not, the phage won't work. Also, as it becomes more automated, it is possible that one could cut this to 48 to 72 hours. But for now, it's going to be a 'show me what you kill' vetting process." Although phages are not yet approved, most experts say they believe they are safe. "We are awash with phages already, and administering a purified phage or [combination of] phages is unlikely to cause problems," Schooley says. "We're exposed to them all the time."

It is possible that people will develop antibodies to the viruses, but this should not diminish the phages' efficacy, according to Merril. "Antibodies could react to parts of the virus but wouldn't affect how they kill the bacteria," he says. Also, a phage will bind quickly to the bacteria, "whereas it takes longer for antibodies to develop and act," he adds. Bacteria can develop resistance to phages, as they do to antibiotics. But because millions of genetically different phages can attack a specific bacterium, it's possible to create phage "cocktails" to prevent resistance, an approach similar to that used by AIDS clinicians with antiviral drugs to treat HIV. "Because there are so many of these viruses on the planet, it assures we will be able to find the right virus, or combination of viruses, to treat any infected individuals," Merril says. Some phages are able to pick up genetic material from bacteria and, during replication, transfer it to other bacteria. This raises the possibility that phage progeny could spread harmful genes - for example, genes that could produce dangerous toxins. Viruses with this quality are called lysogenic phages. But it's possible to screen for such phages by "sequencing the viruses we identify and analysing them," Merril says. Lysogenic phages would not be used in humans, he says.
The US 2018 elections promise to be the Year of the Woman, with more women planning to step into local, state and federal elections than ever before.

This represents a significant change. The United States has some of the lowest female political representation in the world. Only 24.8 per cent of state legislature seats are occupied by women. As more women consider entering politics in response to Donald Trumps sexist remarks during the election and the historic Hillary Clinton loss, findings from our study on voter attitudes offer a warning: Candidates shouldnt assume women will vote for other women.

More women are entering US politics after Hillary Clinton's historic election loss. Credit:AP

This was evident in the 2016 presidential election. Hillary Clinton worked to appeal to female voters but performed poorly among white women. Some have argued Clintons personality caused her inability to emotionally connect to voters.

However, our research indicates that Clintons failure to capture the white female vote is, in part, based in something more fundamental  marriage.
A dramatic $450 million write-down of workers' compensation payments to public servants will see insurance premiums for government departments slashed this year.

Federal workplace insurer Comcare's get-tough policies on compo claims by Commonwealth employees, and on their bosses, have borne fruit dramatically this year and departments will save an estimated $87 million in premiums.

Not worried. Comcare chief executive Jennifer Taylor

The insurers says the bills to taxpayers are being dramatically reduced as fewer compensation claims are made, fewer are being approved and more long-term claimants are being returned to work.

Comcare says its financial turnaround "is the most significant of any large workers' compensation scheme in Australia".
The winning tender to develop Barangaroo Central will not be announced until late this year  up to two years after the process began  amid suggestions of a dispute over views from the planned $2 billion Crown Sydney casino next door.

Fairfax Media has been told Crown has raised concerns about development at Central Barangaroo impeding sight lines from its controversial 275-metre-high casino, hotel and apartment tower.

It follows agreements with the NSW government's Barangaroo Delivery Authority that Crown and the company constructing the tower, Lendlease, must be consulted "should there be any changes to Barangaroo Central that could affect sight lines to iconic views".

A new tender process for Barangaroo Central was announced in November 2015 by then premier Mike Baird, who said it was required due to the decision to include a Sydney Metro station beneath the site.
Security has been tightened in Brisbane's CBD, with concrete security bollards installed at entries to the Queen Street Mall.

The bollards could be seen at the Albert Street entrances to the mall on Tuesday morning.

Security bollards have been installed at Brisbane's Queen Street Mall. Credit:Ruth McCosker

The placing of the concrete blocks follows the installation of temporary security bollards in King George Square in January.

The Brisbane City Council declined to comment on the security measures.
Police will dig up a Bowen dump on Wednesday in relation to the disappearance and suspected murder of north Queensland teenager Rachel Antonio in 1998.

Detective Inspector Nikki Colfs said 10 forensic officers from Brisbane would be involved in the one-day examination of the tip, which police said was designed to determine the level of refuse when the 16-year-old girl disappeared.

Ian and Cheryl Antonio at Queens Beach, Bowen, near where their daughter Rachel was last seen. Credit:Mackay Daily Mercury

Police said they had not received any new information regarding the cold case, but that heavy machinery would be used to dig down to refuse layers from 1998.

It comes after police were considering in February whether to excavate the rubbish tip, where the family of missing schoolgirl believe her body was dumped, after receiving new information relating to the case.
Premier Daniel Andrews has revealed his government is willing to spend millions of dollars of taxpayer money to bail out or buy private Victorian businesses in order to save jobs.

The Premier hinted that further centralisation of private business could follow in the wake of the government's decision to buy a Gippsland timber mill in order to protect 250 jobs.

The state government would not reveal how much it spent to buy the Heyfield timber mill. Credit:Joe Armao

The government has not revealed how much it would spend on the Australian Sustainable Hardwood mill in Heyfield but one analysis valued the business at between $38 million and $42 million.



Mr Andrews said the government could be used for industry support, "or purchasing a business which we believe is a going concern, is a profitable business, in order to save those jobs".



The Premier said the government would continue to take an "unconventional approach" where it was warranted.

"We're open to doing other unconventional things where they stack up to get the job done, to save jobs, to create jobs," he said.
A person has died at Rio Tinto's Yandicoogina mine site in the Pilbara on Tuesday.

The incident was reported to police around midday, with investigators on their way to the scene - 100 kilometres north of Newman.

A man in his 50s has died at a Rio Tinto mine site. Credit:Erin Jonasson

Fairfax Media understands the worker died as a result of an explosion.

Police said they believe the deceased is a man aged in his early 50s.
Over 1,200 mail-in votes added to Montco totals; Bucks still in limbo

Two of Montgomery County's three commissioners said they did not support disenfranchising more than 1,200 voters because of a handful of rule breakers
Teen visits South Jersey in 50-state Flowers and Flags tribute to vets

Preston Sharp of Calif. visits veterans graves in Cinnaminson cemetery in South Jersey on 50-state Flowers and Flags tribute to their sacrifices
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So, three jobs all available in the Burton and South Derbyshire area that can offer you a 30,000 salary, what more could you want?

Do you look at the 30,000 potential wage and see it as mere pennies? Well there are always opportunities to aim even higher, and supermarket giant Aldi may have just the job for you.

The German company is looking for graduate Area Managers to take the reins of their own store after just 14 weeks of training - and be paid 42,000 for the pleasure, which will reach a massive 73,450 after just four years.

Aldi are looking across the country and have a 12 month programme that targets recent graduates who are required to have received a grade of at least a 2:1 in their respective University degree and are calling for hardworking applicants with a never-give-up attitude.

The successful candidate will receive the 42,000-a-year starting wage, along with a fully expensed Audi A4. The job comes with the chance to travel across the world.

If you think this sounds like the job for you, or for any more information on how to apply, click the link here .
Pupils from Coton-in-the-Elms Primary School are gearing up for their first performance of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.

Children in years three to six have been rehearsing since February in the run-up to the show, which is performing tonight, Monday, July 3 and tomorrow, Tuesday, July 4 at The Brewhouse Arts Centre, in Burton.

For the last 12 months, teachers at the primary school have incorporated the classic tale of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat throughout their lessons to allow the children to learn more about the story. This included art, where the pupils were able to create props for the play to allow them to be involved with every aspect of bringing the production to life.

Jo Cresswell, the schools business officer, said: Its all about creating experiences for the children. Not many children would even go to a theatre, never mind perform in one. The children are so excited. I dropped them off today and the chitter chatter between them is amazing.

The first performance of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat will take place tonight and tomorrow, from 7pm until 9.15pm at the Union Street venue. Entry is free but donations to the school are accepted.
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Three people arrested in connect with a fight outside Burton Market Hall remain police bail this week.

Police were called at 8.20pm on Sunday, April 30, to reports of a disturbance near the venue.

Three people were later arrested on suspicion of violent disorder. They are a 21-year-old man and a 38-year-old Woman from London, and a 24-year-old man from Oxfordshire. They have been released while investigations continue.

A 23-year-old man, believed to be from the local area, suffered a head injury and was taken to hospital but was later released.

Anyone with information is asked to call Staffordshire Police on 101 quoting incident number 837 of April 30.
People from the Burton and South Derbyshire area who have tickets for concerts which were due to take place at Manchester Arena have been finding out if and when their gigs will now take place. The arena has been closed since a suicide bomber detonated a device which killed 22 people and injured 129.

The venue had a packed calendar of events lined up and is popular with people from this area as it is only just over two hours away by car. It has hosted gigs by top artists, including Britney Spears, Beyonce and the Rolling Stones.

In the attack, which took place on Monday, May 22, at the end of an Ariana Grande concert, a bomb was detonated in the main foyer of the arena, causing devastation to the building and the lives of concert-goers. Since then the arena has been undergoing repairs.

It can be hard to work out what concerts have been rescheduled and to when, so weve compiled a list of all the concerts that were supposed to take place and what has happened to them.

Radiohead - Tuesday, July 4 and Wednesday, July 5

The English rock band who headlined this years Glastonbury festival were due to play at Manchester Arena in July. They have now announced that they will play at Emirates Old Trafford on Tuesday, July 4. Anyone who had tickets to either of the original gigs will be able to attend, and extra tickets have been released.

Linkin Park  Friday, July 7

American rock band, Linkin Park, have had to cancel their concert at Manchester Arena, and it has not been rearranged. Those with tickets are set to receive a full refund.

Blink-182  Friday, July 14

(Image: Getty)

Punk rock band, popular for their song All The Small Things, Blink-182 will now play at Manchester Castlefield Bowl instead of Manchester Arena on the same date. Those with tickets will receive a full refund, and will have to re-purchase tickets for the rescheduled concert, due to it being a smaller venue.

Key 103 Live 2017  Saturday, July 15

Key 103s live music will still take place at the arena, but on Thursday, November 9. All those with tickets for July 15 will be granted entry to the November gig. Alternatively, refunds will be offered to anyone who requests one.

PAW Patrol Live!  Saturday, August 19 and Sunday, August 20

(Image: Getty)

The popular kids live show has secured an alternate venue and will now perform at the 02 Apollo, Manchester on the same date. Anyone with tickets for the original performance will be given a full refund and an exclusive 48 hour period to rebook the tickets before they go on general sale. You will be contacted directly regarding this.

BROS  Tuesday, August 22

Eighties sensation Bros will not reschedule their Manchester gig, and anyone with tickets will receive a refund. This will not affect the bands dates in London.

5 Star Wrestling  Saturday, September 2

The popular wrestling tournament show has been rescheduled to Thursday, March 22 2018. All tickets are automatically valid for the rescheduled show, but anybody who wishes to receive a refund will be given one.
Indian conglomerate has signed a $2-billion-plus memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Israels Lesico group to collaborate in the light rail transit (LRT) projects in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. The announcement came on Tuesday against the backdrop of Prime Minister Narendra Modis three-day visit of Israel.
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After hitting 52-week highs, the scrip of has fallen 20 per cent to the current Rs 265. While this is due to some correction in zinc prices on the London Metal Exchange (LME), company fundamentals and the outlook for zinc prices are strong. Hence, these corrections are good opportunities to accumulate the stock.
Microsoft will undergo a reorganization that will impact its sales and marketing teams and may result in several layoffs, said media reports.
Private equity (PE) entities invested about $5.4 billion (Rs 35,000 crore) in India across 124 deals during the quarter ended June, up by 62 per cent than that in the same quarter of 2016, which saw $3.3 billion across 145 transactions.
Rupert Murdoch faces a tough choice over the next two weeks: Offering more concessions that will make his $15.2-billion bid for UK pay-TV broadcaster Sky Plc slightly less attractive, or gambling that he can get it through a perilous six-month regulatory review.
Jet Airways is deepening its relationship with Delta Airlines, which could result in the US carrier picking up a stake in the Mumbai-based carrier.

Jet Airways, in which Abu Dhabis Etihad Airways owns a 24 per cent stake, has adopted a network strategy independent of its investor. At present, the Jet Airways management is fine-tuning plans for a commercial joint venture with Delta and Air France-KLM. A joint venture allows participating airlines to share revenue and profits on routes.

Sources said there had been exploratory discussions between the managements of Jet Airways and Delta on an equity investment.

JPMorgan is assisting Jet Airways to raise funds, including through a possible stake sale. Sources, however, said talks with Delta had not reached the stage of valuation and a formal due diligence had not yet been conducted.

Over the last few months there have been frequent meetings between executives of the two airlines at Deltas headquarters in Atlanta and in Europe and the two carriers may announce a joint venture in the next couple of months.

Delta has stakes in the Richard Branson-founded Virgin Atlantic, AeroMexico and China Eastern Airlines. An investment in Jet Airways will provide it access to the fast-growing Indian market. However, it is unclear whether an equity investment will materialise, given Deltas animosity towards Gulf carriers on the issue of open access to the US market. An investment in Jet Airways will bring Delta and Etihad on the same table.

Separately, Jet Airways Chairman Naresh Goyal is talking with the Etihad management for fund-raising.

Jet Airways stock rose 3.35 per cent on Monday on talks of a stake sale to close at Rs 582. The airline's market capitalisation was Rs 6,621 core at Mondays closing price. There are enough indications of Jet Airways growing ties with Delta. The Mumbai-based airline has hired Vinay Dube, a senior executive from Delta, as its new chief executive officer. Also, Delta has leased a slot at the congested Heathrow airport to enable Jet to start a third daily service between Mumbai and London. "As a policy, Jet Airways does not comment on speculation," an airline spokesperson said. A Delta spokesperson said, "We cannot comment on any future investments."

Etihad picked up a 24 per cent stake in Jet Airways for Rs 2,079 core in 2013. The two carriers have an extensive code share partnership and the Abu Dhabi-based airline has assisted Jet Airways in raising loans from banks in the Gulf. However, relations between the two partners turned cold several months ago. This coincided with Jet Airways growing ties with Air France-KLM and Delta. Jet Airways has made Paris, Amsterdam and London its European gateways and feeds traffic to its European partners and Delta.
Prime Minister today arrived in on a historic visit, the first by an Indian premier to the Jewish state, during which he will have in- depth talks with his counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu on issues of mutual and global concerns like terrorism and security.

In a break from protocol, Netanyahu received Modi at the Ben-Gurion International Airport here.

Modi, who was given a red carpet welcome, hugged Netanyahu after descending from the special aircraft.

"My friend, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, welcome to Israel," Netanyahu wrote on his Facebook account.

"Shalom", says PM Modi in return and goes on to say that this is indeed a groundbreaking visit from a PM of India. He also said that his visit would build a progressive partnership on economic ties and terrorism.

The anthem of both the countries were played by the militray band and the two leaders stood side by side. All senior Israeli ministers were at the airport.

The Israeli prime minister will accompany Modi closely throughout his three-day trip - a gesture customarily reserved for US presidents.
Contrary to the Chinese government's assertion that Jawaharlal Nehru had accepted the 1890 Sino- British treaty over Sikkim to buttress Beijing's claim over the Dokalam area, the former prime minister had pointed out to China that it is claiming sizeable part of Bhutan's territory.

"It is not clear to us what exactly is the implication of your statement that the boundaries of Sikkim and Bhutan do not fall within the scope of the present discussion," Nehru wrote in a letter to his then Chinese counterpart Zhou Enlai on September 26, 1959.

"In fact, Chinese maps show sizable areas of Bhutan as part of Tibet," Nehru said in the letter accessed by PTI here.

In the lengthy letter highlighting India's stand on the boundary dispute, Nehru wrote that under treaty relationships with Bhutan, the Government of India is the only competent authority to take up with other Governments matters concerning Bhutan's external relations, and in fact it has taken up with China a number of matters on behalf of the Bhutan Government.

"The rectification of errors in Chinese maps regarding the boundary of Bhutan with Tibet is therefore a matter which has to be discussed along with the boundary of India with the Tibet region of China in the same sector," he wrote.

After asserting that Chinese maps are showing sizable areas of Bhutan as part of China, Nehru referred to the 1890 Sino-British treaty granting India's sovereignty to Sikkim.

"As regards Sikkim, the Chinese Government recognised as far back as 1890 that the Government of India 'has direct and exclusive control over the internal administration and foreign relations of that State'. This Convention of 1890 also defined the boundary between Sikkim and Tibet; and the boundary was later, in 1895, demarcated. There is thus no dispute regarding the boundary of Sikkim with the Tibet region," Nehru said.

At the same time, he pointed out that "it is wrong to say that the frontier east of Bhutan as shown on Chinese maps is the traditional frontier. On the contrary, it is the McMahon Line which correctly represents the customary boundary in this area. The water-parting formed by the crest of the Himalayas is the natural frontier which was accepted for centuries as the boundary by the peoples on both sides."



China and India have been engaged in a standoff in the Doka La area near the Bhutan trijunction for almost a month.

Sikkim, which became a part of India in May 1976, is the only state which has a demarcated border with China. The lines are based on a treaty signed with the Chinese in 1898. Doka La is the Indian name for the region which Bhutan recognises as Dokalam, while China claims it as part of its Donglang region.

Chinese are making attempts to build a road which was objected to by Bhutan.

The Ambassador of Bhutan has a lodged a protest with the Chinese Government through their Embassy in New Delhi on June 20. Bhutan has no diplomatic relations with China.

(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 Tamil Nadu government has assured that all the 17 projects in the states information technology (IT) sector -- worth an investment of nearly Rs 10, 985 crore -- are intact, and work in all of them are underway.
The verbal spat between China and India escalated on Monday, as Beijing said the Indian Armys action to stop Chinese troops from constructing a road in an area near Sikkim is a betrayal of the stance taken by successive Indian governments, and India must withdraw from the region.



Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang said that the Sino-India border in the Sikkim sector is well demarcated. By entering into Chinese territory and obstructing Chinese troops normal activities, India violated the existing convention on the boundary and basic principle of the international law and obstructed peace and stability of the boundary area, Geng told reporters in an extensive briefing.



China and India have been engaged in a stand-off in the Doka La area near the Bhutan tri-junction for almost a month in what has been the longest such impasse between the two armies since 1962, when the two countries fought a brief war.



Sikkim, which became a part of India in May 1976, is the only state with a demarcated border with China. The lines are based on an 1898 treaty signed with China.

He dismissed Defence Minister Arun Jaitleys remarks that India of 2017 is different from what it was during the war with the communist nation in 1962, saying China too is different and will take all necessary measures to safeguard its territorial sovereignty.

Former Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru endorsed the 1890 Sino-British Treaty on Sikkim in a letter to then Chinese counterpart Zhou Enlai in 1959. Successive Indian governments have also endorsed this, he said.

He, however, said the line for diplomatic communication between India and China is open and smooth.

Indias Security Adviser Ajit Doval, who is the Special Representative for the India-China border talks, is to visit Beijing on July 26 to attend the meeting of the NSAs from BRICS - Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. He is expected to discuss the issue with his Chinese counterpart Yang Jiechi.

The standoff first came to public notice when China denied Indian pilgrims entry for Kailash Mansarovar Yatra through the Nathu La pass in Sikkim. Beijing initially said it stopped the Yatra due to damage to roads in Tibet after rains and landslides. But soon signalled the matter was related to the standoff between the two armies near Sikkim.

The Sikkim route to Mount Kailash and Mansarovar Lake was opened in 2015, enabling pilgrims to travel the 1500-km long route from Nathu La to Kailash by buses.

The other route to Tibet through Lipulekh pass is open as it is located in the middle section where there is no dispute over boundary between India and China, Geng said.

On the Indian Ministry of External Affairs statement on Friday that construction of the road by Chinese troops would represent a significant change of status quo with serious security implications for India, the Chinese official said they have noted the statement by India.

(The statement) evaded the 1890 convention between Great Britain and China relating to Sikkim and Tibet. But it is this convention which has confirmed the alignment of the boundary between the two sides at the Sikkim section. This convention has been recognised by successive Chinese and Indian governments and has been confirmed by the Indian governments in written form, he said.

Prime Minister Nehru has affirmed in his letters to Premier Zhou Enlai, that the convention must be observed. That is the basic principle of international law. It is an obligation must be fulfilled by the Indian side, he said.

The Chinese official cited two letters Nehru wrote to Zhou - first on March 22, 1959, and on September 26, 1959 - to say that the border between Sikkim and Tibet China is defined by the 1890 Convention and demarcated on the ground in 1895.

There is no dispute on the border between Sikkim and Tibet, he said, adding that the trespass by Indian troops happened at the defined Sikkim section.

This is different from frictions and confrontations between the two sides at undefined boundary, Geng said.

He also accused India of using Bhutan as a cover, but skirted questions on Bhutans protest against the construction of the road, saying the area is Bhutanese territory.

In order to cover up the illegal entry of the Indian border troops, to distort the fact and even at the expense of Bhutans independence and sovereignty, they try to confuse right from wrong, that is futile, the Chinese official said.

We have no objection to normal bilateral relations between India and Bhutan but firmly opposed to Indian side infringing up Chinese territory using Bhutan as an excuse. The Bhutan side does not know previously that the Indian troops entered into the Doklam area, which is not in line with what is claimed by the Indian side, he said.

Geng also claimed that Bhutan did not know that Indian border troops had entered into the Doklam area which is not in line with what has been claimed by the Indian side. We will work with Bhutan without interference of any external forces in maintaining peace and tranquillity of border area and resolving the boundary question, he said.

Bhutan, however, has no diplomatic ties with China. It is supported militarily and diplomatically by India. And this is not the first time that such a transgression has happened in Doka La. The Chinese forces had in November 2008 destroyed some makeshift Indian army bunkers there.

Defence experts believe China wants to exert its dominance over the Chumbi Valley, which is a part of the southern reaches of Tibet. By claiming the Doka La area, Beijing wants to maximise its geographical advantage so that it can monitor all movements along the India-Bhutan border.

Since the standoff on June 6, when PLA bulldozers destroyed bunkers of the India Army claiming the area belonged to China, Chinese media have carried several pieces warning India for escalating border tension and reminding the Indian Army about the 1962 war.
on Monday dismissed the US designating Hizbul Mujahideen chief Syed Salahuddin a "global terrorist", saying it was not a UN decision but a move by the Trump administration to "appease" India.
In a bid to raise imports of the premium Merino wool from Down Under, Australia's The Woolmark Company is planning to tap handloom weaving clusters in Gujarat and Manipur. The Woolmark Company, which represents 55,000 wool growers in Australia, hopes to raise imports of Merino wool in India on the back of varied textile products.
Prime Minister Narendra Modis assurance to Surats diamond traders that he was going to to represent their interests could prove to be a shot in the arm for the citys industry. More specifically, this could be good for the Surat Diamond Bourse (SDB), a two-year-old trading platform looking to take the shine away from Bharat Diamond Bourse, Indias largest bourse functioning out of the Bandra-Kurla complex in Mumbai.
For Sanjiv Mehra, a retailer in the Capitals Khan Market, counted as among the most expensive high-street shopping hubs of the world, implementation of the goods and services tax (GST) is like a recap of what happened nearly 12 years ago when the value-added tax (VAT) was enforced.

It is too premature to comment on the GST, but 12 years back we faced the same problems when the VAT was introduced. There are a lot many complexities in the and getting on-board initially is quite capital-intensive. Also, we are unsure about how we will get input tax credit on the old inventory, Mehra, who is also president of the Khan Market Traders Association, said.

Clearing old stock

The first working day after the implementation of the saw lower customer footfalls than usual. For retailers, the biggest business was finding ways to clear old inventory.

The government should tell us how we are going to get input tax credit on our existing stock. At present, we are paying from our pocket. We fear we will be hit by losses due to this, said Brij Gopal Khosla, senior vice-president of the association.

Inventory down

It was a contrasting picture at Nehru Place, Asias largest computer hardware hub. Shoppers had turned up in large numbers but retailers were finding it hard to meet the demand due to dearth of inventory.

According to Himanshu Gupta, owner of an electronics retail outlet, SSDN Technologies, which deals in personal computers, the inventory level was extremely low. Placing new orders is a problem, as manufacturers are unable to meet rising demand. While meeting the requirements under the is not an issue for them, most are not ready yet with the required level of stocks, he said.

Price uncertainty

In Mumbai, customers unsure of the post-GST changes in prices took time to return to high streets and malls. Suresh J, managing director of Arvind Lifestyle Brands, which retails US Polo, GAP and so on, said walk-ins were lower even during the weekend.

Suresh said for the time being they were absorbing the increase in levies. We are at a certain loss. For the time being, we are absorbing it. So, there is no change in prices. But going forward, there would be some changes, he said. Earlier, in apparel, VAT and other levies would come to about 9.5 per cent of the sale price. In the GST, there is a levy of 12 per cent on merchandise above Rs 1,000 and five per cent on apparel below Rs 1,000. So, manufacturers will have to increase or reduce, depending on the categories they are in.

Myth and reality

Shoppers at South Mumbais shopping hub High Street Phoenix were much less in number too. Stores like Zara, Benetton, US Polo and Lifestyle looked much quieter than usual despite heavy discounts on offer. Customers are perhaps assuming a price hike post-GST and staying away.

On the very first business day after the GST roll-out, traders across segments had returned to business in Kolkata. Last Friday, around 100,000 traders in West Bengal had gone on a one-day strike against the GST roll-out.

While uncertainty over compliance norms continues to be a concern, traders are also faced with supply issue. A spice trader from the Tollygunge area said that supplies of select spices like mustard paste, poppy seeds and others were in short supply, while another shopowner from Behala complained about shortage of cigarette supplies from the distributor. A supply shortage, in effect, has led to an increase in prices for a number of daily use goods.

Short-term glitches

A retailer in Bengaluru said, Even after demonetisation, things were slightly slow but it picked up later. Were hoping for the same after the GST implementation. Hopefully, things will get sorted out in a while. Another executive representing a prominent brand pointed out that the GST had no impact on their business because prices had not gone up. It is just a fear psychosis which is gripping the distributors and shopowners which will last for a fortnight at best, A R Kajaria, president of the Federation of West Bengal Trade Association, said.
It is the 50th year of the Israeli occupation of Palestine. It has been 50 years since annexed the Palestinian territories of West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza Strip following the Six Day Arab-Israeli War of June 1967.
Israel is eyeing the strong middle class base in India to boost its exports, capitalising on the the momentum generated by the "historic" visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, but scepticism persists here due to stalled discussions on a Free Trade Agreement.

"India is a key export market for Israel. Tightening relations with India and this historic visit of the Indian Prime Minister will lead, beyond increasing security exports, to growth in trade in goods and services," Israeli Minister of Economy and Industry Eli Cohen said.

"The Indian economy is becoming a prime destination for Israeli exports, with its 1.3 billion consumers led by 300 million citizens in the middle and upper-middle class, with purchasing power equal to the middle class of Western economies," Cohen noted.

An FTA between the two nations has remained elusive despite negotiations having started around seven years ago. The first round of negotiations were held on May 26, 2010.

On a question regarding the long-pending pact, Israeli foreign ministry officials said India was "re-evaluating" it, but tried to downplay its significance, saying there are newer developments that will help realise the economic potential between the two countries.

In an interview to the pro-government newspaper Israel Hayom, Prime Minister Modi had said India was not looking at a "traditional import-export relationship" with the Jewish nation.

"It is more than a buyer-seller relationship. We are more interested in a tech-based partnership with an emphasis on 'Make in India.'" he had said.

According to the Israeli Ministry of Economy and Industry, trade between the countries has grown from $200 million in 1992, when diplomatic relations were established, to $4.13 billion in 2016 (including diamonds).

Israeli exports reached $1.29 billion in 2015, but there was a 13 per cent dip in 2016 with exports totalling $1.15 billion (excluding diamonds).

A CEO forum of leading Israeli and Indian companies is to be formed during Modi's visit which, as per officials, is going to shape the road map for future bilateral trade cooperation.

The Israeli cabinet last week approved several measures to increase economic cooperation between the two countries, extending support to deepening ties through collaboration on R&D through creation of a joint fund and identifying key sectors like water, agriculture and space technologies for enhanced collaboration.

(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 Mumbai bench of National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) on Tuesday cleared bankruptcy proceedings against after the company failed to repay dues worth Rs 7,000 crore to Indian banks. The company was among the first batch of 12 companies identified by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for action under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC).
India and Israel have been engaged in setting up state of the art centres of excellence in agriculture as part of the (IIAP) since 2008.
Laying the foundation of a new chapter in relations with Israel, Prime Minister began his ground-breaking visit on Tuesday, receiving an extraordinary welcome by the Jewish nation.

The personal chemistry and the warmth between Modi and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu were apparent not only in their prepared remarks but also their repeated hugs.

Reflecting the importance that is according to the first visit by an Indian prime minister since Israel's establishment 70 years ago, the host nation pulled out all stops to welcome Modi.

Netanyahu broke protocol to come to the Ben Gurion airport, an honour reserved only for the US President and the Pope; Netanyahu's entire Cabinet was also present as were representatives of various religious orders.

In their prepared speeches, both leaders described each other as, "my friend" and embraced each other three times.

"Aapka swagat hai, mere dost (welcome, my friend), Netanyahu said in Hindi, adding, We love India. Modi responded by speaking a few words in Hebrew, Shalom (hello), I am happy to be here.

The two leaders vowed to give a push to the bilateral relationship in all aspects and jointly deal with the common threats like terrorism.

I remember what you told me in our first meeting  when it comes to India and relations, the sky is the limit. But now, prime minister, let me add even sky is not the limit. We are also cooperating in space, Netanyahu told Modi.

Talking about the vast possibilities of cooperation between the two countries, he said, We can do even more, even better together.

Behind the overt affection and friendship, lies deep political significance as India for the first time has delinked its relationship with from its traditional support to Palestine. But, India now hopes to leverage its relationship with Israel to attract more investment, and gain from Israeli cutting-edge technology and defence.

It is truly a historic visit, said Netanyahu.

Hailing Modi as a great leader of India and a great world leader, Netanyahu said, we have been waiting for the last 70 years for a visit by an Indian prime minister.

They vowed to give a push to the bilateral relationship in all aspects and jointly deal with the common threats like terrorism."I remember what you told me in our first meeting - when it comes to India and Israel relations, the sky is the limit. But now, prime minister, let me add even sky is not the limit. We are also cooperating in space," Netanyahu told Modi.Talking about the vast possibilities of cooperation between the two countries, he said, "We can do even more, even better together."Speaking later, Modi said, "It is my honour to be the the first ever Indian prime to undertake this ground-breaking visit to Israel."He said his visit was about the strength of the two societies and their strong partnership."Building a strong and resilient relationship with Israel will be my intent and focus...We have to secure our societies against the common threat of terrorism," Modi said."Together, we can do even more and even better (for India-Israel ties)," he added.Noting that India is an old civilisation but a young nation, Modi said, "We have a talented and skilled youth, who are our driving force."Describing Israel as an "important development partner", he said, "This is an exciting journey that we will undertake together, for the good of our people and our society."Modi said his visit celebrates the strength of centuries-old links between the two societies and "based on these bonds, our partnership has maintained a strong and sustained upswing since the establishment of [the] full relationship, diplomatic relations, 25 years ago."From the airport, Prime Minister Modi visited the Danziger flower farm in Moshav Mishmar Hashiva along with Netanyahu and Agriculture Minister Uri Ariel to learn about latest innovations and advancements in floriculture.The farm, about 56 km from Jerusalem, is one of Israel's leading floriculture companies with approximately 80,000 square meters of state-of-the-art greenhouses specialising in the reproduction of plants."At the Danziger Flower Farm, advanced agriculture technologies were showcased by the Israeli Government," Office of the Prime Minister said in a tweet."The two leaders were briefed about the research technologies being used there for floriculture," the office said in a series of tweets.The farm named a breed of chrysanthemum after Modi.Modi also visited the Yad Vashem Memorial Museum to honour the memory of the victims of the holocaust that counts among the greatest tragedies in human history.The museum occupies over 4,200 square metres  mainly underground  and emphasises the experiences of the individual victims through original artifacts, survivor testimonies and personal possessions.The Holocaust was the killing of nearly six million Jews, including some 1.5 million children, by Adolf Hitler's Nazi Germany. Though the persecution of Jews began in 1933, the mass murder was committed during the more than four years of World War II.Prime Minister Modi will have wide-ranging discussions on Wednesday with Netanyahu on the full spectrum of bilateral partnership and ways to strengthen it in diverse fields for mutual benefit. They will also have the chance to discuss major common challenges like terrorism.Modi will meet President Reuven Ruvi Rivlin and address the chief executive officers (CEOs) of both the countries as well as the Indian diaspora on Wednesday.He will also meet 26/11 Mumbai terror attack survivor Holtzberg Moshe, who was only two when he was saved by his Indian nanny Sandra Samuel. Moshe's father Rabbi Gavriel and mother Rivkah were among eight Israelis killed in the attack.Modi will also pay his respects to the courageous Indian soldiers who laid down their lives during the liberation of Haifa in 1918.During his visit to Israel, Modi will not travel to Ramallah, the seat of the Palestinian Authority, to meet with Palestinian leaders, as is common for visiting foreign dignitaries. He, however, said on the eve of his visit that India believes in a two-state solution in which both Israel and a future Palestinian state coexist peacefully.India supports all efforts to find an acceptable solution to all the pending issues, including Jerusalem, he added.The two-state solution envisions independent Israeli and Palestinian states coexisting side by side peacefully. This year, India and Israel are marking 25 years of their diplomatic relations.
Prime Minister is in for a three-day visit starting today. This visit, the first by an Indian prime minister, will have issues like counter-terrorism, trade, especially the diamond industry, agriculture, water management, and defence cooperation on the agenda.
Diamond trade and investments into agriculture, irrigation sector may prove to be bigger talking points for India rather than defence during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to .

The three day visit starting Wednesday is the first ever by an Indian PM to the nation and is widely expected to hinge on greater cooperation in bilateral defence ties owing to India's position as the largest purchaser of Israeli arms and defence technology.

However, India will also push hard to increase trade and investments with the nation which have remained static in spite of greater connections between the private sector in both countries in recent years.

Talks are expected to focus on how to colaborate on the lucrative diamond polishing and processing trade, a senior government official said under conditions of anonymity.

Bilateral trade stood at $5.02 billion in 2016-17, rising 2.3 per cent in 2016-17 after four consecutive years of fall.

This involves $3.06 billion of exports and $1.96 billion of imports. Of this, raw non-industrial diamonds figure significantly on both sides of trade, contributing more than a billion dollars to both imports and exports.

While India is the largest exporter of polished diamonds in the world, sending out more than 75 per cent of the world supply, is the second largest.

Israel, for long the top exporter of the shiny stone to the United States  the world's largest market for diamond  has recently been overtaken by India.

" has high manufacturing costs which are prompting their firms to send over small raw diamonds to India for processing", Praveen Shankar Pandya, Chairman of Gems and Jewellery Export Promotion Council said.

In the absence of a job working policy, the country is losing out on these contracts which are moving to China and Vietnam, he added.

A job working policy allows consignments of a particular good to be shipped to another country to be worked upon, after which they are sent back. Labour charges are paid by the primary country.

The Middle Eastern nation relies heavily on diamond exports which make up nearly 24 per cent of its export kitty by value.

Better sourcing norms for phosphates, crucial to the energy sector is also being sought by India which receives more than 20 per cent of the mineral from the middle eastern nation.

A joint business council has been created for the first time which is looking at expanding the scope of bilateral trade, Pankaj Patel, President of industry body Ficci said.

While nearly all industries are covered as part of discussions, irrigation, agriculture, pharmaceuticals, healthcare, infrastructure and IT enabled sectors are the focus, he added.

On the investment front, Israel currently has investments over upwards of $122 million in India. "While the figures are relatively small owing to the investing companies mostly being mid-sized, the investment footprint is magnified owing to the projects being specialized and heavily tech based." a senior government official said.

This involves specialised projects in drip irrigation and solar production in Rajasthan, farming projects in Madhya Pradesh and Telengana as well as sewage waste management project in Agra.

According to diplomatic sources, mid level companies in these sectors such as solar are looking to partner with Indian players.

Likewise, Indian companies are interested in teaming up with their Israeli counterparts for research and development (R&D). On this note, the countries are also set to formalize an agreement to create a $40 million joint fund for boosting industry relations which will focus on setting up of innovation centres.

While both countries will burden half the cost over the next 5 years, the figure will be split equally between the government and the private sector.

Talks on the proposed India-Israel Free Trade Agreement may also gather steam during the visit. The agreement had been pushed hard by Israeli President Reuven Rivlin during his visit to India back in 2016.

"Although the first round of negotiations had taken place back in May, 2010, the government is taking it slow since we are already involved in a number of similar negotiations," the official mentioned above said.




Prime Minister on Tuesday hailed the sacrifices of his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu's elder brother who was killed exactly 41 years ago while saving the lives of Israeli hostages in Uganda.

"Today is July 4. Exactly 41 years ago, since Operation Entebbe. The day, when your prime minister and my friend Bibi lost his elder brother Yonatan while saving the lives of so many Israeli hostages," Modi said in his brief address at the Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv.

As Modi recalled the incident, Netanyahu listened impassively.

Lt Colonel Yonatan (Yoni) Netanyahu commanded the elite commando unit Sayeret Matkal of the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) during Operation Entebbe, an operation to rescue hostages held at Entebbe Airport in Uganda in 1976.

An Air France flight from Tel Aviv to Paris was hijacked and ended up being diverted to remote Entebbe Airport. An operation was launched under the command of Yoni in which all seven hijackers were killed. Three hostages were also killed.

The mission was successful, with 102 of the 106 hostages rescued, but elder Netanyahu was killed in action  the only one among the Israeli forces to die.

The Operation Entebbe was later renamed "Operation Yonatan" in his honour.

"Your heroes are an inspiration for the younger generations," Modi told Netanyahu, who was also a member of Sayeret Matkal.

Modi, the first Indian prime minister to visit the Jewish nation, arrived here today on a three-day visit.
The Ahmadiyya community, which is being persecuted in Islamic nations across the world from Pakistan to Indonesia and from Africa to West Asia, traces its origins to India. Though scattered across India, the Ahmadiyyas are concentrated in Qadian in the Gurdaspur district of Punjab where the communitys founder was born. Although they have been counted as Muslims in Census 2011, the Muslim Personal Law Board considers them to be non-Muslims owing to which the community does not find representation on the board. The Mahmud Mosque in the port city of Kababir in is the only Ahmadiyya mosque in West Asia. is also the only country in the region where Ahmadiyya Muslims can follow their faith without fearing state persecution.



In an interview Tariq Ahmad, spokesperson of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat in India talks about the issues confronting the community in the light of PM Modis visit to Israel
The initial apprehensions about the meeting between Prime Minister and US President are now finally settled with greater hope and pragmatism. In fact, the vociferously expressed opinions that the H1-B visa issue would derail the talks or that the talks would be a non-event have proved to be wide off the mark. If one takes a broader view of PM Modi's various engagements at Washington DC, it would emerge how pragmatism was the order of the day. Despite Trumps clear commitment to protectionism, the idea of two-way trade and partnership has emerged well and clearly. 'Strong India is in Americas interest' was a clear message from President Trump. The emphasis on a fair and reciprocal trading arrangement was an important point that emerged in the joint statement.

Disclaimer: Views expressed are personal. They do not reflect the view/s of Business Standard.
The Institute of Banking Personnel Selection (IBPS) is set to undertake the recruitment programs for around 9000 Management Trainee (MT)/Probationary Officers (PO) vacancies in 20 public sector banks for the year 2017. The official notification for the same will be released soon in July. The recruitment will take place at three levelsPreliminary exam, Main exams and Interviews. The Preliminary examination for the Probationary Officer recruitment is scheduled to take place on 7th, 8th, 14th and 15th of October this year.
IDFC Bank, which concluded first full year of operations in 2017, said its vision is to become a mass retail bank in five years. To support this growth, the bank plans to accelerate the pace of retail lending and retail liability acquisition.
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Vietnam calls on President

His Excellency Mr. Pham Binh Minh, the Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam called on the President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee at Rashtrapati Bhavan today (July 4, 2017).Welcoming Mr. Minh to India, the President recalled his state visit to Vietnam in September 2014 and thanked him for the warm hospitality provided to him and his delegation during the visit. The President also congratulated Mr. Minh on his elevation as a member of Politburo last year.The President said that India and Vietnam traditionally share warm and cordial relations, based on mutual respect and goodwill.

Our fruitful partnership has grown in recent years. He was confident that it would continue to strengthen in the years to come. He said that the status of present bilateral trade between India and Vietnam is satisfactory. However, the two countries should work together to achieve the target of US$15 billion bilateral trade by 2020. Many Indian companies are keen to invest in Vietnam for the development and prosperity of their people. The Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister warmly reciprocated the Presidents sentiments and said Vietnam is keen to work with India in taking their mutual relationship to greater heights.
The President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee has extended his greetings and felicitations to the Government and people of the Peoples Democratic Republic of Algeria on the eve of their Independence Day (July 05, 2017). .

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In a message to His Excellency Mr. Abdelaziz Bouteflika, the President of the Peoples Democratic Republic of Algeria, the President has said, On behalf of the Government, the people of India and on my own behalf, it gives me great pleasure to extend to Your Excellency and to the friendly people of Algeria my warm greetings and felicitations on the occasion of your nations Independence Day. .

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India considers Algeria as one of the leading economies of Africa and the developing world. The partnership between our countries continues to grow in several areas for the mutual benefit of our peoples. .

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I am happy that the visit of the Honble Vice President of India to Algiers from October 17-19, 2016 has contributed to the further strengthening of the friendship between our peoples. I am also happy to learn that a roadmap for co-operation in the fertilizer sector has been agreed to during the visit. The bilateral co-operation between our two countries in the fertilizer sector has immense potential for creating additional employment and promoting food security. .

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Similarly, space co-operation between India and Algiers has, also, assumed new dimensions. I am confident that both our countries will continue to pursue and enhance our bilateral co-operation in the space sector for our mutual benefit and the strengthening of our bilateral co-operation in the ICT, oil, defence and gas sectors. .

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Please accept, Excellency, my best wishes for your personal health and well-being as well as the continued progress and prosperity of the people of Algeria". .

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Shri Radha Mohan Singh to review the Flagship Programmes with 13 State Ministers

Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Shri Radha Mohan Singh will be reviewing the progress of two priority programs of the Government namely National Agricultural Market (e-NAM) and Soil Health Card on 5th July 2017 at Krishi Bhawan. State Ministers of Agri-marketing of the 13 States, markets of which have integrated to e-NAM, and State Agriculture Ministers of some selected States will be attending along with their senior State officials. The progressive agri-market reforms being driven by Department of Agriculture, Cooperation and Farmers Welfare and NITI Aayog incorporated in the new model Agriculture Produce and Livestock Marketing (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2017 will also be discussed to encourage the States to adopt the suggested provisions at the earliest to bring in the benefits for the farmers.

455 markets from 13 States have been integrated to the national web based portal of e-NAM with the registration of over 47 lakh farmers and 91,000 traders. This innovative market process is revolutionizing agri markets by ensuring better price discovery, bringing in transparency and competition to enable farmers to get improved remuneration for their produce moving towards One Nation One Market".

The Soil Health Card scheme is helping the farmers to know the nutrition status of their land and receiving advisory for rationalization of inputs, thereby reducing costs and increasing returns through appropriate cropping patterns. The second cycle which began from 1st May 2017 is building on the learnings of the first cycle so as to improve efficiency and make its use more acceptable by the farmers. So far 9 crore soil health cards have been distributed to farmers in all the States of the country. The review meeting will enable Central and State Governments to jointly address issues to take these programs forward thereby contributing to enhancing farmers income the prime objective of all the programs of the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare

SS
A two day review of progress of new urban missions in seven Union Territories including Delhi begins in New Delhi tomorrow. .

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On the first day tomorrow i.e July 5, 2017, National Mission Directors of five urban missions will undertake detailed review of progress and implementation issues with officials from UTs concerning AMRUT, Smart City Mission, Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban), Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana(Urban) and Deen Dayal Antyodaya Yojana- NULM. Issues relating to urban transport will also be discussed. .

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Minister of Urban Development and HUPA Shri M.Venkaiah Naidu has convened a meeting of Lieutenant Governors of Delhi, Puducherry, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Chandigarh, Dadra and Nager Haveli, Daman & Diu and Lakshadweep on July 6, 2017 for a high level review for evolving a way forward for speeding up implementation under various missions. .

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Chief Minister of Delhi Shri Arvind Kejriwal and of Puducherry Shri V.Narayanasamy have also been invited for the review. These are the only two UTs with elected legislatures. .

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Ministry of Urban Development has already approved investments for the five year mission period for all the seven UTs under Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) and smart city plans of New Delhi Municipal Council, Chandigarh and Port Blair. .

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Special focus will be on sanitation with only three of the 16 towns in these UTs having been declared Open Defecation so far. Capacity building issues will also be discussed to enable speedy execution of projects. .

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Shri Venkaiah Naidu has so far reviewed progress of urban missions in 22 States with Chief Ministers in respective state capitals. With the proposed review in case of seven UTs, such review in respect of 29 of the 36 States and UTs would be completed by July 6. .

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States remaining to be reviewed are: Andhra Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Odisha, Punjab, Telangana and West Bengal. .

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AAR/KM
Turkish Airlines chief executive Bilal Eksi said that he expects the ban on large electronic devices from the cabin of US-bound flights from certain countries to be lifted on July 5.

"We expect the electronic device ban applied to American flights to be lifted on Wednesday July 5," Eksi said on Twitter on Monday without giving further detail.

In March, Washington barred all electronic devices larger than a mobile phone on direct flights to the United States from 10 airports in Turkey, the Middle East and North Africa, only allowing them to be transported in hold luggage.

Flag-carrier Turkish Airlines responded to the ban by offering laptops to business-class travellers in May.

The US on Sunday lifted a ban on passengers taking such devices on Etihad Airways flights from its base in the Emirati capital Abu Dhabi, the first airliner to benefit from a lift of the ban.

The decision came after the airline implemented enhanced security measures, a spokesman for the US Department of Homeland Security said.

The ban was put into place after intelligence officials learned of efforts by Islamic State jihadists to produce a bomb that could be secreted inside such devices.

(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.)
US President Donald Trump spoke with German and Italian leaders on Monday, a White House official said, ahead of a summit of the Group of 20 leading economies this week that could expose his sharp differences with world powers on trade and other issues.

Trump is preparing for the two-day that starts in Hamburg on Friday, just over a month after a G7 summit in Sicily showed deep divisions between Trump and other Western leaders on climate change, trade and migration.

A fractious first NATO summit with Trump also left European allies wondering where the military alliance goes next.

Trump will hold separate meetings with various leaders in Hamburg, including host German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and a potentially difficult first meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Trump announced on Twitter that he would be talking on the phone with leaders from Germany, Italy and France on Monday. The White House later said in a statement that the calls would be with Merkel and Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni, but did not mention French President Emmanuel Macron.

Trump and Macron spoke last week when the US president accepted an invitation to attend Bastille Day ceremonies in Paris on July 14.

Representatives for the White House did not immediately reply to a request for comment. Representatives for Macron's office could not immediately be reached for comment.

In remarks last week, Merkel raised the prospect of an open clash with Trump at the Hamburg summit, although some Trump administration officials have played down the discord.

Heather Conley, a State Department official during the Republican George W. Bush administration, said the United States' European allies are still shocked after the G7 and NATO summits with Trump cast doubt over Washington's relation with its allies.

"There's concern he could improve it - but could also do further damage," said Conley, who is now with the CSIS think tank in Washington.

Russia and the United States are still discussing the timing of the encounter between Trump and Putin, a Kremlin aide said on Monday.

Since Trump was elected US president, Russian has been keenly anticipating his first meeting with Putin, hoping it would trigger a reset in US-Russia relations that plunged to post-Cold War lows under Trump's predecessor, Barack Obama.

But with Trump embroiled in controversy at home over his associates' potential links to Moscow, the session with Putin has become a minefield. Too warm a meeting would allow Trump's domestic opponents to accuse him of being a Kremlin stooge.

High-level US diplomat Thomas Shannon met on Monday with Russia's ambassador to Washington, Sergei Kislyak, to prepare for the Trump-Putin meeting, the State Department said.

They also discussed scheduling a new meeting between Shannon and Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov, which Moscow cancelled in June in anger at expanded US sanctions on Russia.
North Korea test-launched a ballistic missile from its western region into the sea off its east coast on Tuesday, South Korea's military said, ahead of a summit of leaders from the Group of 20 nations in Germany later this week.
Electronics Co Ltd said on Tuesday it will invest at least $18.6 billion in South Korea to extend its lead in memory chips and next-generation smartphone displays, in a plan that promises to create almost half a million jobs.


Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) Chairman Ajay Tyagi on Monday said the National Stock Exchange (NSE) may have to refile the offer document for its much-awaited initial public offer (IPO), which could potentially raise more than Rs 10,000 crore from investors.
The head of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in Israel thanked visiting Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the support offered to the country back home.

As Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu introduced the Indian leader to the religious heads in the country, the head of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community said, "We want to thank you for helping our community in India. Thank you very much."

Ahmadi Muslims, being a religious minority, have been subject to various forms of persecution and discrimination as they are considered heretics and non-Muslims by mainstream Muslims.

In India, Ahmadis are Muslims by law while the Second Amendment to the Constitution of Pakistan and Ordinance XX declare Ahmadis to be non-Muslims and further deprive them of religious rights.

Other religious leaders also greeted Prime Minister Modi and welcomed him to the country.

Prime Minister Modi on Tuesday arrived at the Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv where he was received by his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu in a special gesture.

Prime Minister Modi is the first Indian prime minister to visit Israel.

The leaders then paid a visit to Danziger Flower Farm.

Further in the day, Prime Minister Modi, along with Netanyahu, will visit Yad Vashem, the national Holocaust memorial in Jerusalem.

Tomorrow, the Indian leader will meet with Israeli President Reuven Rivlin, hold talks with Netanyahu and then attend an event organised by the Indian community in Israel in Tel Aviv.

On Thursday, Prime Minister Modi along with his Israeli counterpart, will visit Haifa cemetery, the cemetery of the fallen Indian soldiers in the first war and place wreath on the grave areas.

From there, the duo will head for a field visit to see the Gal Mobile-integrated water purification vehicle designed to produce high quality drinking water. It can be used during times of disasters to provide drinking water.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Biju Janta Dal (BJD) on Tuesday hailed Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Israel where he is will discuss major common challenges including terrorism with his counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu.

"This is a very historic development. It is unfortunate that we have not acted in our own interest because of certain political correctness and perceived relations with many other nations," BJD leader Jay Panda told ANI.

He further said the India and Israel have many things in common and have faced many common challenges.

"Both the nations have been victims of terrorism. Israel has faced extreme existential challenges. Israel has the advanced technologies that we can benefit from. It is very good development that has happened and good for both the countries," he added.

Prime Minister Modi will today begin his two nation tour starting from Israel.

Upon arriving in Israel, Prime Minster Modi will hold talks with Netanyahu in Tel Aviv on all matters of mutual interest. This year both the countries are commemorating 25 years of diplomatic relations.

In a blog post, both leaders will also discuss major common challenges like terrorism.

During the visit, he will engage with a cross section of Israeli society. The Prime Minister said, he is looking forward to interacting with the large vibrant Indian diaspora in Israel that represents an enduring link between the two countries.

The Indian Prime Minister will also call on President Reuven Rivlin.

Prime Minister Modi will address the Indian community in an event in Tel Aviv. He will also attend a CEO forum in which CEOs of companies from both the nations will participate to discuss their shared priority of expanding the bilateral trade and investment.

The Prime Minister will also visit the Indian cemetery in Haifa where he will pay homage to Indian soldiers who laid down their lives during the first world war.

In the second and final leg of his tour, Prime Minsiter Modi will visit Hamburg in Germany to attend the 12th G-20 Summit.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Condemning the law and order of Uttar Pradesh, the Samajwadi Party on Tuesday said that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is trying to threaten and dominate the officers who are doing their duties.

"In Uttar Pradesh the BJP Government is trying to threaten and dominate the officers. A woman officer who was following the rules and her duty, she was detained because she stood up against their party. The BJP should now start following the law and order," Samajwadi Party leader Rajendra Chaudhary told ANI.

He further said that the BJP workers think that by harassing these officers they will take law and order in their own hands, but they should know that these government officers will keep on doing their jobs and following the law and order.

However, BJP leader Harish Srivastav said that those questioning the law and order of Uttar Pradesh should first introspect their performance in the past five years.

"The Yogi Government is doing everything possible to mend the law and order of the state," he added.

The Uttar Pradesh Government on Sunday transferred senior police officer Shreshtha Thakur, who sent five BJP leaders to the jail for creating obstacles in discharging her duties, to Bahraich.

As per reports, Mukesh Bhardwaj, the party city president asserted that Thakur's transfer was necessary to lift the morale of the party workers.

The cop was transferred a week after BJP's 11 MLAs and MPs held a meeting with the chief minister over the issue.

It is reported that the local leaders and workers linked it with their pride and pressurised the government to take action against Thakur.

On June 22, Thakur and her team, while checking vehicles in Syana area, stopped a person, who was driving a motorcycle without wearing a helmet, and slapped a fine of Rs 200 on him.

After her objection, the man started arguing with Thakur and called in more BJP leaders at the site.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The defence experts on Tuesday said that there is a need to tell China that Bhutan is as vital for India's interest as Taiwan is for them.

"This has been China's way of doing things. Grabbing lots of territories and now they have a number of military bases there. A similar tactic is being tried in India. As far as China is concerned, we need to tell them that as Taiwan is important to China, this particular area is vital for India's interest. We cannot afford to leave it," defence expert Brig (Retd.) V. Mahalingam told ANI.

He added that China must understand this and there needs to be a peaceful ending of this particular issue.

"There is also a particular talk which is coming that China is interested in India joining the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). I must tell that India is not agreeing to CPEC because of one very important reason, China is trying to move its population into Pakistan's Gilgit like it did Africa and in the next 20-30 years China will take over this area from Pakistan and we will have a Chinese Army facing us right in front from Jammu and Kashmir to Arunachal Pradesh. Therefore, there is a need to talk and openly discuss the issue and resolve it," Mahalingam asserted.

Meanwhile, another defence expert Ashok Mehta said that for the first time ever, India has a situation in the Chumbi valley in the Doklam plateau, where Indian and Chinese soldiers are confronting each other on Bhutanese territory.

"This has never happened before. This is also the first time that the Indians have gone in support of Bhutanese against the Chinese. This time the Chinese have openly violated the agreement that they have had with the Bhutanese which relate to the settlement of the borders through peaceful means and that no attempt by either side will be made to unilaterally altering the status quo and that's precisely what's the Chinese have done," he added.

He further said that China wants to delink Bhutan from India.

Calling India's actions at the Sikkim border a "betrayal", China on Monday reiterated that the boundary section between the two countries was well demarcated.

"The India-China boundary in the Sikkim section is well demarcated. The action taken by India is a betrayal of the position taken by the Indian governments," Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang said at a media briefing.

China also countered Union Defence Minister Arun Jaitley's remarks saying that China of 2017, like India, is also different from 1962.

"He (Arun Jaitley) is right in saying that India in 2017 is different from 1962, just like China is also different," Shuang said.

Saying that China will take all necessary measures to safeguard its borders, it asked the Indian side "to respect the 1890 treaty" and immediately pull back the troops which have crossed into its territory.

It also accused India of using Bhutan as a "cover up" for the "illegal entry" into the Doklam area over which Bhutan has lodged a protest with the Chinese government.

"In order to cover up the illegal entry of the Indian border troops, to distort the fact and even at the expense of Bhutan's independence and sovereignty, they try to confuse right from wrong, that is futile," Geng said.

He said China has "no objection to normal bilateral relations between India and Bhutan but firmly opposed to the Indian side infringing on Chinese territory using Bhutan as an excuse."

"The Bhutan side does not know previously that the Indian troops entered into the Doklam area, which is not in line with what is claimed by the Indian side," Geng said.

The Chinese and Indian security forces posted at Doklam, an area near the Sikkim border, are locked in a standoff for almost a month now.

On July 2, the Indian Army rushed additional troops to the area to engage the Chinese People's Liberation Army in a "non-combative mode".

This was in response to the Chinese transgression in Doklam where the PLA destroyed two Indian Army forward bunkers, claiming that India was violating its territorial sovereignty.

Releasing details of the events that preceded the current impasse, the Indian Army had said its troops prevented the Chinese servicemen and machines from furthering damage or transgressing into the area.

Additional forces from nearby brigade headquarters, located 20 km from the face off point, were moved in on June 8 during which a scuffle led to soldiers on both sides suffering minor injuries.

This is the longest standoff between the two armies since 1962.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Union HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar on Tuesday lashed out at the Congress for condemning the Centre over its border standoff with China and said that the latter has been continuously insulting the Indian Army.

"Today in their press conference the Congress raised questions on what is happening on the Indo-China border. Earlier also, they have asked for proves on the surgical strike. This was a clear insult to the brave soldiers who participated in the surgical strike. The same thing happened when they called names to the Army Chief. They not only insulted the Army Chief but they insulted the entire Indian Army," Javadekar told ANI.

He added that in every situation, the Indian Army deployed on the Indo-China border is doing its work and the Congress is insulting them.

"It's a comment from a party which has ruled this country for more than 50 years but in desperation they have stooped so low that they are making politics out of foreign policy and defence policy. This is condemnable and everybody will condemn this kind of insult to the Army and the forces," he said.

The Congress on Monday said that the Modi Government has been "caught napping" on the situation on border with China.

The Opposition party said there had been a large number of incursions and the ruling alliance had lurched from having "a reluctant Defence Minister" to a "part-time Defence Minister".

Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi yesterday said that the security was going through turbulent times in different facets with respect to China border.

"China was blaming India "day in and day out" and was adopting one of the most aggressive postures even as it had not cared for India's concerns about Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorist Masood Azhar and membership of the Nuclear Suppliers Group and the United Nations Security Council," Singhvi said.

The Congress leader's remarks came in the wake of the Indian and Chinese troops' face-off at Doklam or Donglong, a disputed territory between China and Bhutan.

He said the incident had been preceded by a sharp increase in the number of Chinese incursions and violations.

"Unfortunately, it appears this government has been caught napping and has not been able to implement significant accords of recent origin," he added.

He said there had been violation of the India-China Border Agreement 2005 and the Border Defence Co-operation Agreement of 2013.

Singhvi said apart from transgressions and destruction of bunkers, there has been a complete stoppage of the "Mansarovar Yatra" from one entry point.

He said his party was very alarmed and concerned about the situation and added that nothing was more important than security.

Referring to Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley also holding the charge of Defence, Singhvi said it is just not possible for "part-time ministers" to deal with such issues.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Congress on Tuesday partially welcomed Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Israel, while hoping that it is not being "done not at the expense of India's traditional loyalty and ties to the Palestinians".

Congress spokesperson, Shashi Tharoor said that as the Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, he believes that the relationship has reached a level of maturity which makes it possible for India to contemplate the first ever prime ministerial visit to Israel.

"President Mukherjee went last year. So, now we are taking it to the level of chief executive of the nation. As far as foreign policy is concerned, we hope to keep this a issue, and not a political one," Tharoor told ANI.

However, Tharoor maintained that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs should have thought about the fact that Prime Minister Modi is visiting Israel but not Palestine.

"I hope the Ministry of External Affairs has done its homework. For example, the fact that the Prime Minister is going to Israel but not to the Palestinian authorities must have been thought through," he said.

"This is a very important relationship which India needs to sustain, while at the same time making sure it is not at the expense of our traditional loyalty and ties to the Palestinians," Tharoor added.

However, Tharoor maintained a positive view and suggested that if the visit is carried out properly, then there is no question of an issue.

"India has often had an allergy to hyphenated relationships. We have always told Americans, when you come to India, why you must go to Pakistan. By the same logic, we are also not hyphenating Israel and Palestine. I see no particular harm in that if we play our cards right," he said.

Congress leader Salman Khurshid also expressed his concern over the issue of Palestine.

"But, the larger question of Palestine remains looming large and the Government doesn't seem to have given very clear positions on that. To go without giving clear position can lead to difficult situations," Khurshid told ANI.

Khurshid reiterated that till the time issues of Palestine are not resolved, India cannot endorse Israeli policy.

"Prime Minister Modi is a proactive leader reaching out to the world and I imagine, a part of his desire to reach the Israel is understandable but it is a fundamental departure from consistently help policy of the Government of India which reflected a consensus in the country that till such time as the issues of Palestine are not sorted out, we cannot be seen and endorsing Israeli policy," he said.

Prime Minister Modi will today begin his two nation tour starting from Israel.

Upon arriving in Israel, Prime Minster Modi will hold talks with his counterpart Benjamin Netanyahuin Tel Aviv on all matters of mutual interest. This year both the countries are commemorating 25 years of diplomatic relations.

The Prime Minster, in his Facebook post, said, both leaders will also discuss major common challenges like terrorism.

During the visit, he will engage with a cross section of Israeli society. The Prime Minister said, he is looking forward to interacting with the large vibrant Indian diaspora in Israel that represents an enduring link between the two countries.

The Indian Prime Minister will also call on President Reuven Rivlin.

Prime Minister Modi will address the Indian community in an event in Tel Aviv. He will also attend a CEO forum in which CEOs of companies from both the nations will participate to discuss their shared priority of expanding the bilateral trade and investment.

The Prime Minister will also visit the Indian cemetery in Haifa where he will pay homage to Indian soldiers who laid down their lives during the first world war.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Appreciating the revolutionary Goods and Services Tax (GST) reform in India, a Chinese daily has said that New Delhi still lags far behind Beijing in terms of implementing the reform.

In an article, state-run Global Times has criticized the implementation of the new tax regime by questioning how long it will take to be effectively instituted across the country's 29 states, including those with underdeveloped technical infrastructure.

The editorial even listed out the major economic decisions by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi of first launching demonetization drive on November 8, 2016 and then GST, a drastic reforms to unify the country's economy and stated that "there will considerable obstacles in implementing the GST."

China has a forceful leadership to implement policies effectively to achieve rapid economic development to maintain the world's second largest economy status but considering the Indian market structure, the fragmented market conditions, "India needs to ensure full compliance with the reforms throughout the country, India still lags far behind China in terms of policy execution," the article said.

Terming GST as a big step in the right direction, the publication further said ,"it is expected to bring long-term benefits to the country's economy."

"Of course there is still a long way to go before the grand tax overhaul can be fully implemented, and significant disruption in the tax regime can be expected in the short term. Many businesses are still confused about what to charge, and have complained about the complications of the new policy," it further stated.

GST will unify 16 different taxes including excise, service tax and VAT, and transform India into a single market for seamless movement of goods and services can flow seamlessly and with the abolition of check posts, the long queues at state borders will be avoided.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Defence experts have said that they see Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Israel as being significant as both nations face common security challenges.

P K Sehgal told ANI, "Israel and India suffer same problems of terrorism. Thus our requirements are similar. Since both countries have compatibility, both will be able to terminate terrorism. Israel has got some of the finest intelligence sharing and they will share it with us."

Sehgal said defence, security, technology, education, agriculture and innovation would be areas of discussion.

Sehgal also said that Israel as a small country needs markets, and India provides a huge market.

S R Sinho said, "Israel has always supported us. It is an asset to India. This is the first visit of the PM to Israel in the last 25 years and I hope it will benefit us."

Uday Bhaskar said, "Israel is one country, which unequivocally supports India on terrorism. Both the countries have a shared political consensus. 26/11 attacks would also be one of the points of discussion, as along with India, Israel too had tragic experiences, with Jewish being attacked."

He added that there are a lot of competencies in Israel, which India could benefit from.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Delhi Dialogue 9, themed this year on "ASEAN-India Relations

Political leaders, policy makers, senior officials, diplomats, business leaders, think tanks and academicians from both sides are participating in the discussions.

The Delhi Dialogue, being held annually since 2009, is a premier annual track 1.5 event to discuss politico-security, economic and socio-cultural engagement between ASEAN and India.

This dialogue is being organised by the Ministry of External Affairs in collaboration with Observer Research Foundation (ORF), Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), Institute of South Asian Studies (ISAS), Singapore, SAEA Group Research, Singapore, Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA), Jakarta, Institute of Strategic and International Studies (ISIS), Malaysia, Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam, Indian Council of World Affairs (ICWA) and ASEAN-India Centre. It is supported by the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER); the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII); the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM); All India Association of Industries (AIAI), Mumbai; and Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC), Kolkata.

Besides Mrs Swaraj, the ministerial session would be participated by Gen. (Dr.) V.K. Singh, Minister of State for External Affairs; Mr. Sarbananda Sonowal, Chief Minister of Assam; Mr. Pham Binh Minh, Deputy Prime Minister & Minister of Foreign Affairs, Vietnam; Mr. U Kyaw Tint Swe, Union Minister, Ministry of the Office of the State Counsellor, Myanmar and Mr. Hirubalan V P, Deputy Secretary-General for ASEAN Political-Security Community Department, ASEAN Secretariat.

Gen. V.K. Singh will participate in the panel discussion of the Ministerial Session titled Waters of Asia: Cultural, Social and Political Ties along with Dr. Maliki Osman, Senior Minister of State for Defence and Foreign Affairs, Singapore; Mr. Virasakdi Futrakul, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Thailand; Mr. Sengphet Houngboungnuang, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Lao PDR; Dato Erywan Pehin Yusof, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Brunei Darussalam and Dr. Sok Siphana, Advisor to the Royal Government, Cambodia.

The Business and Academic Session would be held parallel to each other following a joint inaugural session on 5 July. The joint inaugural session will be addressed by Secretary (East), Ministry of External Affairs, as well as by the Presidents of FICCI, CII, ASSOCHAM, ICC, AIAI and Vice President of ORF.

The five business chambers, namely FICCI, CII, ASSOCHAM, AIAI and ICC will chair a panel discussion each in the course of the day on the following themes: International economic trends and their impact on India and ASEAN; India-ASEAN Trade Relations; Building Regional Network to promote SMEs and Women's Empowerment; India-ASEAN Infrastructure Investments: Current Scenario and the Way Forward; and Trade & Tourism through Connectivity - Focus North East & East.

ORF is organising the Academic Session which would feature panel discussions on the following themes: Regional Geopolitics: Great Power Politics in the Asia-Pacific; New Connectivity Paradigms in the Asia-Pacific; Technology, Innovation and Big Data; and Socio-Cultural Engagement and Diaspora Links.

These academic sessions will be participated by scholars and experts from prominent universities and institutes in India, Indonesia, Vietnam, Malaysia, Japan, Cambodia, Singapore and Laos.

There would be a Concluding Plenary titled Looking Ahead which will focus on key takeaways from Delhi Dialogue 9 to chart the course for India-ASEAN relations for the next 25 years.

The 10 member Committee of Permanent Representatives of ASEAN countries and 15 senior media personnel from ASEAN would be attending the event. A live webcast of the proceedings of the Ministerial Session on 4 July and the Business and Academic Session on 5 July will also be available.

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New Delhi [India], July 5 (ANI): With the International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) celebrating A. R. Rahman's 25th anniversary in filmdom, the delighted double Oscar-winning composer said that this "feels good."

The philanthropist has clocked 25 years in the film industry since his debut in Tamil film 'Roja' in 1992.

While talking to ANI, the 50-year-old composer said, "I'm feeling great. I'm performing in London and then going to IIFA and we have been working on it from past four months.. New York is a great place and I hope people will enjoy this."

Stating that he has many memories with IIFA in South Africa, Singapore, Rahman said, "Some of the places I couldn't go because I was stuck in other projects, I was contractually in Hollywood, when I got one of the awards. But, IIFA is such great, wherever they go, they spread their glory."

Expressing his love for IIFA, the elated 'Vande Mataram' producer said that he has beautiful memories with IIFA and he "loves the joy, when members of fraternity come together and meet."

The show is set to feature a never-seen-before medley of musicians that includes Benny Dayal, Javed Ali, Neeti Mohan, Jonita Gandhi, Haricharan Seshadri.

The Awards 2017, to be held at New York's iconic MetLife Stadium on July 15, will witness power-packed performances by Bollywood superstars - Salman Khan, Alia Bhatt, Katrina Kaif, Shahid Kapoor, Sushant Singh Rajput and Kriti Sanon, to name a few.

He is also set to begin his "Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow" tour which too marks 25 years of his journey in the music industry. It starts on July 8 at Wembley in London.

The music maestro's journey from the hit song "Roja" to "Kaatru Veliyidai" will be celebrated at the tour.

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French President Emmanuel Macron has declared that the state of emergency, which was imposed post the 2015 Paris terror attacks, would be lifted later this year.

Addressing both the houses of Parliament on Monday, Macron was quoted by Anadolu as saying, "I will restore the liberties of the French people by lifting the state of emergency in autumn. These freedoms are guarantees of a strong democracy."

Macron, however, added that a new security law will be put in place to prevent terrorist attacks from taking place in the country.

Macron also laid out his vision for the next five years promising a "profound transformation" of France and Europe.

He promised to end inequality in France that has left people "imprisoned" by their "social origins" He also promised to reduce the number of members of parliament by one third and hold a referendum on if the Parliament does not approve.

He promised citizens more power to use petitions to get key topics discussed in Parliament and add a "dose" of proportional representation to French parliament.

Macron said France and Germany would launch "democratic conventions" across Europe by the end of 2017 to discuss the future of the EU.

He said the conventions would take the form of national debates on the EU and would be aimed at "refounding Europe." Each member state would be "free to sign on or not, but there is no longer time for quick fixes.

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Much shock to their fans, it seems like everything is fine between Iggy Azalea and Azelia Banks now.

Iggy Azelea revealed that the highly controversial rapper, whom she's had a long and storied feud with, would be making an appearance on Iggy's upcoming album 'Digital Distortion'.

The 28-year-old rapper announced this news on her Snapchat as she wrote, "Public service announcement. Azealia is going to be on DD. We are collaborating. Burn your wigs now or preserve them in your freezer for release day."

For the unversed, the two had an explosive and racially charged Twitter feud in 2014 after Azealia dissed Iggy's talents or lack thereof.

Recently, the 'Black Widow' posted a note on social media saying she wanted to get past all the hate, as she wrote, "I just want to say FYI; re A. Banks. Call me crazy but girl. I don't hate you. I don't know you to hate you."

Adding, "I believe you may want to meet me in person so you can steal a lock of my hair and cast a spell hoping I die (lol) I don't agree with many of your opinions but honestly, at times I empathize with you as a creative Gemini woman. I wish you had spoken to me before deciding I was out to get you when we first came on the scene, but that's also typical Gemini reaction shit (I get it). As a 27 year old adult woman just know: I wish you well from one human to another and joke collaboration or not as adults we should move past trivial beef with strangers."

Many of Iggy's loyal fans responded to her announcement today with outrage, but the performer tried to spin the collab in a positive light, writing, "If you cant understand my desire to turn YEARS worth of negativity into a positive interaction then that's your loss my dear. peace! I don't expect you guys to understand why i would collaborate with someone who has publicly said they hope I die.

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that as technological partners, both Israel and India can transform the .

Israel's Director Gneral of Foreign Affairs Yuval Rotem tweeted, "This afternoon @narendramodi will become #India's 1st-ever PM to visit Israel.Mr Prime Minister, Israel mein aapka swagat hai! #ModiInIsrael"

During his visit, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will accompany him throughout the visit.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that he sees Israel as a technological partner and expects fruitful cooperation between the two powers that can change the together. "Our friendship is very good," he declared during his interview with Israeli TV.

When asked how Israel agrees with his worldview regarding the new India,Modi explained that "This is due to the way Israel has managed to develop and grow against all odds. "Israel developed in such a short time and it made everyone look at it in wonder," he noted. "As soon as they say 'Israel,' they think about innovation, technology, stratosphere, space, agriculture, resource utilization, and this is the fingerprint of Israel, all of these things are very compatible with India's vision. Israel and expand our horizons together. "

Modi termed Israel a "technology partner" of his country. "Innovation is the right way to develop and move forward," he said. "Israel is always at the forefront of innovation, and today we are working together in the field of space technology, and with your potential and our potential, the sky is the limit." It ignores the differences in size between countries, as well as the differences in population size. "The geographical size does not matter," Moody said. "India has a population of 1.3 billion people, and if we look for a country of our size, we will be left alone, so I think that friendship is very good."

Giving an insight view of his mission to transform India, Modi said, "The goal of my government is to realize the dreams of the younger generation in India," he declared. "Our path is: reforms, performance and changes, so we will reach new heights.India is a country with great potential," he continued. "We want to focus on these issues in order to create modern India, and in my village, for example, we want to improve the quality of life so that the poor should have their own house."

In 1950, Prime Minister Jawaharlal Naharu met with Israel, but diplomatic ties were established only in 1992, it took PV Narasimha Rao to establish ties, Atal Bihari Vajpayee to invite an Israeli President and Narendra Modi now to visit Israel and send a strong signal.

"Relations between our governments have been around for 25 years," explained the Prime Minister of India, the change in Israel's perception of his country. "The way we did these years is very important, and we are now at this turning point, and at this point, my visit to Israel will not hurt anyone in India."

Modi is visiting Israel about two weeks after the International Yoga Day. When told that Israel also observed International Yoga Day, Modi said, "If yoga is used as a way to solve problems in the Middle East, it will make me very happy."

The full interview will be broadcast on the " Order" program Saturday night.

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Noting that New Delhi and Jerusalem face one of the greatest common challenges in the 21st century, Israel Prime Minister Netanyahu on Tuesday said that it was imperative to defeat the force of terror that rampage and threaten both the countries' security.

Addressing a joint press conference at his residence in Jerusalem, the Israeli Prime Minister said that both the countries are equal in spirit and have the capacity to accomplish many more opportunities together.

"Although we are unequal in size, we are equal in spirit. We believe we can accomplish great things, and we have accomplished great things. We have many more opportunities to cease together in the future, but I have to say that we also face common challenges," Netanyahu said.

"And the first of it is to defeat the force of terror that rampage through the and threaten both our countries. So we must stand together in this battle much as we work together to protect the future," he added.

Pointing out that he and Prime Minister Narendra Modi share the same trait of bringing reforms, Netanyahu congratulated his Indian counterpart on the reform undertaken by him to change India's economy.

"We both seek a better future for our peoples, but doing so requires a lot of work, so it won't happen overnight. But PM Modi and I have same trait, we both want it to happen overnight, we are tireless reformers," Netanyahu said.

"I congratulate you on the reforms you are doing to change India's economy and we both believe that we can do together great things for the betterment for the future of our peoples," he added.

Terming Ramanujan as one of the greatest Indian mathematicians, Netanyahu said that Israel greatly admires the people of India and their potentials.

"My late uncle, who was a mathematician professor at the Israel Institute of Technology, told me about his admiration for the great Indian mathematician Ramanujan. He was the greatest mathematician of the 20th century, where he said, he was perhaps the greatest mathematician in many many centuries and this symbolizes the talent of the people of India," he said.

Concluding his address, Netanyahu said, "It's in this spirit my friend Narendra Modi, in this spirit of close cooperation, in deepest friendship that I welcome you here to our home in Jerusalem.

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday arrived in Israel's Tel Aviv on a three-day historic visit - the first ever trip by an Indian Prime Minister to the Jewish state.

The Prime Minister later in the day said that India-Israel ties have seen rapid growth and they should together oppose evils of terrorism, radicalism and violence.

"I am very grateful to their warm and generous hospitality. India-Israel ties have seen rapid growth over the last several years and we together must resolutely oppose evils of terrorism, radicalism and violence," Prime Minister Modi said during a press statement here.

He added that India wants to put in place a robust security partnership to respond to shared threats to the peace, stability and prosperity of the two countries.

"We want to frame our relationship that transforms the landscape of our economic engagement. Indian Jews are a living and vibrant connect to this shared history," he asserted.

Prime Minister Modi further said that India is a fast growing economy and the government using technology and innovation for the progress of the nation.

Breaking all protocols, Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu received his counterpart at Ben-Gurion Airport in the capital city.

Prime Minister Netanyahu will also accompany the Indian leader to all programmes throughout the visit.

In his 48-hour visit, the Prime Minister Modi, who is the first Indian prime minister to visit Israel, is attending 18 programmes in Israel.

These programmes include bilateral meetings, mega Community Programme, meeting top Israeli CEOs, NRIs, students.

Today, the Indian leader will meet with Israeli President Reuven Rivlin, hold talks with Prime Minister Netanyahu and then, attend an event organised by the Indian community in Israel in Tel Aviv.

On Thursday, Prime Minister Modi along with his Israeli counterpart, will visit Haifa cemetery, the cemetery of the fallen Indian soldiers in the first war and place wreath on the grave areas.

From there, the duo will head for a field visit to see the Gal Mobile-integrated water purification vehicle designed to produce high quality drinking water. It can be used during times of disasters to provide drinking water.

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New Delhi [India] July 04 (ANI): Entire world watched red carpet welcome extended to Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Tel Aviv airport by Prime Minister of the State of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday which is surely to leave India's neighbours envy. Israel is India's friend in need, trusted indeed.

The importance of PM Modi's visit for Israel could be understood by the two diplomatic gestures: First, Netanyahu personally welcomed PM Modi at airport and second, the Israeli Prime Minister greeted Indian Prime Minister in chaste Hindi- Namaste, aapka swagat hai (Namaste, you are welcome).

PM Modi is visiting Israel at the invitation of the Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, from July 4th-6th.

PM Modi will call on the Israeli President Reuven Rivlin. Both the countries will also have a working meeting and PM Modi is invited for a dinner with the Israeli Prime Minister. It will also include high-level bilateral meetings and other various components which reflect the fabric of the Indo-Israeli relations.

This significant visit, the first of an Indian Prime Minister to Israel, takes place on the backdrop of marking 25 years of diplomatic relations between India and Israel, and will further upgrade the ever growing partnership between the two countries.

The diplomatic relations between India and Israel were formally established in February 1992 when Israel opened its Embassy in Delhi and a few months later India opened its Embassy in Tel Aviv on 15 May 1992.

Former Israeli Prime Minister Aerial Sharon was the first Israeli Prime Minister to visit New Delhi. It was Sharon who entered into bilateral trade and defense relations with India. PM Modi and Netanyahu are expected to cement the bilateral relations.

Today, Israel has emerged as the most trusted ally of India and both countries have not only government to government contact, but also people to people contact.

The Indian security analysts believe that "if we have Pakistan as neighbour, we must have Israel as our trusted friend and ally".

Israel has always helped India at the time of crisis. On many occasions, it has provided crucial intelligence inputs to India.

Be it the questions of war against terrorism or fight against the poverty or the struggle for technological progress, both countries are working hand in hand and shoulder to shoulder. And, this is beneficial for both.

Israel has technology and India has the market. So, from the space to defence and agriculture to culture relations between these two nations are deepening systematically, scientifically, socially and sentimentally.

That is why, if Israel is developing satellites, India is providing launching support to it. If India is wasting 70 per cent of its water in the drain, Israel is there to provide foolproof water supply system.

Indo-Israel relations are growing very fast and at diverse levels. Israel Foreign Ministry rightly believes, India is the most pro-Israel nation, ahead even of the United States.

However, the recent warm relations have a very cold past.

The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) was joyous after emergence of Israel as an independent nation, Mahatma Gandhi and the Congress party were not in favour of creating Israel on the basis of religion.

Thus, India opposed the partitioning of Palestine plan of 1947 and voted against Israel's admission in the United Nations in 1949. One year later, Nehru changed his mind and recognised Israel as a nation in 1950.

However, Israel came to rescue India during 1962 Indo-Chinese war after Nehru wrote a letter and sought arms to fight with Beijing.

In fact the ruling dispensations of the two countries share common philosophy of 'nationalism'. The two nations share many things that are common. It holds the promise of better and strengthened relationship between India and Israel.

In the decisive battle with Pakistan in 1971 that created Bangladesh, the hero of the battle field was Lt Gen J F R Jacob. He was an Indian Jew. He was General Officer Commanding in Chief of Eastern Command of the Indian Army. Field Marshal Gen Sam Manekshaw was chief of the Army Staff then. Lt Gen Jacob's role in the war was heroic.

Now both India and Israel are inching forward towards a better relationship. Israeli Finance Minister Moshe Yalun has said during his visit to India about the role of Israel in the field of defence supply to India.

India has signed a number of Memorandum of Understanding with Israel in the field of agriculture, technology, defence industry, research and economy. In the field of micro irrigation projects, states like Harayana, Gujarat and Maharashtra stand to benefit largely from Israeli technology. Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis has toured Israel earlier.

It helped India even during the war of 1965 and 1971 with Pakistan. During the Kargil aggression too Israel helped India and reinforced Indian Army with supply of arms and ammunitions. Even today, Israel is providing various arms, ammunitions and technological support to India. It is also providing its expertise in the field of agriculture and water conservation.

There is also an abiding interest in Indian culture, which is promoted with a variety of dance, music, traditional arts, crafts and cinema.

A new Cultural Exchange Programme is also on the cards. Several Israelis avail Indian Council of Cultural Relations scholarships (seven every year) to study Hindi, dance, music and yoga in India. Hindi is taught at Tel Aviv and Hebrew University.

During his visit, PM Modi is expected to sign several MoUs in the field of Defence, Science and Technology, Agriculture, Education and other areas, which will surely deepen the ties between the two countries.

Israel is India's friend in need, trusted indeed. Let's hope for the best. India can proudly say "Neighbours envy, our pride".

.

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A new fast-growing Israeli Chrysanthemum flower has been named after visiting Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to honour him.

"Crysanthumun flower will be named in honour of PM @narendramodi. The flower will be called 'Modi'," tweeted the PMO.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi after arriving in Tel Aviv on Tuesday visited the Danziger Flower Farm.

At the farm, the two leaders were briefed about the research technologies being used there for floriculture. Cutting-edge agricultural technologies of Volcani center (the research arm of Ministry of Agriculture) were also displayed and explained. These include remote sensing, GIS, and post-harvest technologies.

The first bunch of a Chrysanthemum flower named after Prime Minister Narendra Modi was presented to the him.

He, along with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, then visited Yad Vashem, memorial to the victims of the Holocaust, where Prime Minister Modi laid wreath to honour the victims.

Prime Minister Modi also signed the Visitors' Book at Yad Vashem.

Prime Minister Modi on Tuesday arrived at the Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv where he was received by his Israeli counterpart in a special gesture.

Prime Minister Netanyahu will also accompany the Indian leader to all programmes throughout the visit.

In his 48-hour visit, the Prime Minister Modi, who is the first Indian prime minister to visit Israel, is attending 18 programmes in Israel.

These programmes include bilateral meetings, mega Community Programme, meeting top Israeli CEOs, NRIs, students.

Tomorrow, the Indian leader will meet with Israeli President Reuven Rivlin, hold talks with Prime Minister Netanyahu and then attend an event organised by the Indian community in Israel in Tel Aviv.

On Thursday, Modi along with his Israeli counterpart, will visit Haifa cemetery, the cemetery of the fallen Indian soldiers in the first war and place wreath on the grave areas.

From there, the duo will head for a field visit to see the Gal Mobile-integrated water purification vehicle designed to produce high quality drinking water. It can be used during times of disasters to provide drinking water.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday backed Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's recent criticism on the Congress and said that no one can stitch cordial relationship with the grand old party.

Asserting that during the ten year tenure of the UPA regime the Congress party committed corruption to the tune of Lakhs of crores, BJP leader Sushil Modi said that JD(U) leader K.C. Tyagi in a statement made it clear that the Nitish led party shared better relation with the saffron outfit.

"The JD (U) in a statement had made it clear that it had more cordial relations with the BJP than Congress. No party can share a good rapport with the Congress. Congress in its regime of ten years had committed corruption to the tune of 10 lakh crore rupees. So we agree with Nitish Kumar's comments on Congress,' said Modi.

On Sunday, Nitish held Congress responsible for the mess in the Opposition over the Presidential elections. His reported observation came after senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad had indirectly criticised Nitish Kumar for extending support to the Democratic Alliance (NDA) Presidential candidate Ram Nath Kovind.

The Congress should start work on an agenda only after the approval from other opposition parties, he said.

"Opposition parties have to decide their role and they should start preparation for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. But the opposition needs an alternative narrative, just a reactive narrative won't work.

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President of All India Jewish Welfare Association Chen Jacob Nagawkar on Tuesday expressed excitement ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Israel visit, saying that the excitement among the Indian community in Israel is phenomenal .

"This is fantastic news for us. In the existence of Israel from 1948, this is the first time that an Indian Prime Minister is visiting Israel. We are very happy and excited about it. We are very glad that Narendra Modi has officially accepted the relation with Israel and is taking it forward to this extent. If you see the excitement among the Indian community in Israel and India, it is phenomenal," Nagawkar told ANI.

Prime Minister Modi will today begin his two nation tour starting from Israel.

Upon arriving in Israel, Prime Minster Modi will hold talks with his counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu in Tel Aviv on all matters of mutual interest. This year both the countries are commemorating 25 years of diplomatic relations.

The Prime Minster, in his Facebook post, said, both leaders will also discuss major common challenges like terrorism.

During the visit, he will engage with a cross section of Israeli society. The Prime Minister said, he is looking forward to interacting with the large vibrant Indian diaspora in Israel that represents an enduring link between the two countries.

The Indian Prime Minister will also call on President Reuven Rivlin.

Prime Minister Modi will address the Indian community in an event in Tel Aviv. He will also attend a CEO forum in which CEOs of companies from both the nations will participate to discuss their shared priority of expanding the bilateral trade and investment.

The Prime Minister will also visit the Indian cemetery in Haifa where he will pay homage to Indian soldiers who laid down their lives during the first world war.

In the second and final leg of his tour, Prime Minsiter Modi will visit Hamburg in Germany to attend the 12th G-20 Summit.

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Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who today arrived at Tel Aviv, thanked his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu, who, in a special gesture, was present to receive him, for the 'warm welcome'.

Speaking here, the Indian Prime Minister said, "It is my singular honour to be the first ever prime Minister of India to undertake this ground breaking visit to Israel."

"The people of Israel have built a nation on democratic principles. They have converted challenges into opportunities. India applauds your achievement," he added.

Modi, in his speech, also noted the 41st anniversary of Operation Entebbe, where Prime Minister Netanyahu lost his elder brother Yoni.

Operation Entebbe was a successful counter-terrorist hostage-rescue mission carried out by commandos of the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) at Entebbe Airport in Uganda on July 4, 1976. A week earlier, on June 27, an Air France plane with 248 passengers had been hijacked by two members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine - External Operations (PFLP-EO) and two members of the German Revolutionary Cells.

The hijackers had the stated objective to free 40 Palestinian and affiliated militants imprisoned in Israel and 13 prisoners in four other countries in exchange for the hostages.

Five Israeli commandos were wounded and unit commander Lt. Col. Yonatan Netanyahu was killed during the operation.

"Your heroes are an inspiration for the younger generation," said Prime Minister Modi.

He further said that India is a very old civilisation, but a very young nation and the talented and skill youth of the country are also its driving force.

"They propel my vision to transform India, its industry, economy, way of doing business and interface with the world," said the India leader.

"India counts Israel among its important partners. the need to rely on science, technology, innovation and higher technical education to overcome developmental challenges are common to both of us," the Prime Minister added.

Talking about the 'common threat' of terrorism, Prime Minister Modi said, "Alongside building a partnership of shared economic prosperity, we are also cooperating to secure our societies against common threats such as terrorism."

He also expressed his keenness on interacting to the Indian Diaspora in Israel, including a number of Jews of Indian origin.

"My visit marks a path braking journey of engagement A journey that we are excited to undertake together for the good of our people and societies. As we march together a strong and resilient partnership with Israel will be my intent and focus," he concluded.

Prime Minister Modi is the first Indian prime minister to visit Israel.

As part of an elaborate official welcome ceremony, Netanyahu received Prime Minister Modi on arrival.

Prime Minister Modi inspected a ceremonial Guard of Honour.

Prime Minister Netanyahu began his press statement with the Hindi words "Aapka swaagat hai mere dost."

He said the Prime Minister is welcomed with open arms and even the sky is not the limit for cooperation between the two countries.

Netanyahu described Prime Minister Modi as a great leader and a " leader."

Prime Minister Modi's program for the day includes him visiting a flower farm. From there he will head to Yad Vashem, the national Holocaust memorial in Jerusalem accompanied with the Israeli leader.

Tomorrow, the Indian leader will meet with Israeli President Reuven Rivlin, hold talks with Prime Minister Netanyahu and then attend an event organised by the Indian community in Israel in Tel Aviv.

On Thursday, Modi along with his Israeli counterpart, will visit Haifa cemetery, the cemetery of the fallen Indian soldiers in the first war and place wreath on the grave areas.

From there, the duo will head for a field visit to see the Gal Mobile-integrated water purification vehicle designed to produce high quality drinking water. It can be used during times of disasters to provide drinking water.

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With the orders and supervision of Kim Jong-un, North Korea conducted its first successful test of a long-range intercontinental ballistic missile Hwasong-14, that it says can "reach anywhere in the ."

An Intercontinental Ballistic Missile reached a height of 2,802 kilometres (1741 miles), according to state broadcaster Korea Central Television (KCTV).

That's the highest ever altitude reached by a North Korean missile, and puts the U.S. on notice that Pyongyang could potentially hit the U.S. mainland.

This launch is the latest provocation when U.S. President Donald Trump is in talks with China, Japan and South Korea on finding ways to deal with North Korea nuclear and ballistic missile program and has said that U.S. is running out of patience.

In a rare announcement, state North Korean television announced that Kim Jong-un had personally overseen the "landmark" test of a Hwasong-14 intercontinental missile (KN-14 ).

North Korea was now a "a strong nuclear power state" and had "a very powerful ICBM that can strike any place in the world," The Guardian quoted newsreader as saying.

The advancement in North Korea's missile technology further adds concerns that it may develop the technology to mount a miniature nuclear warhead on a long-range missile.

South Korea's military confirmed that North Korea had fired an "unidentified ballistic missile" into the Sea of Japan known in North Korea as the East Sea of Korea - from Banghyon in North Pyongan, a province near its border with China.

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Kathmandu [Nepal], July 4 (ANI): The Nepal Election Commission has started the preparation for the three-tier elections to the Provinicial Assembly and House of Representatives.

After the meeting of the Election Commission commenced late on Tuesday evening, it sent a letter to the government with a demand to fortify the electoral body.

In the letter, the electoral body proposed its date for holding the three tiers of elections.

The EC wants to conduct the province level polls by October second week, the national assembly elections by October last week and legislative elections by November second week if the required laws were provided.

"Undermining the geological and typography of Nepal it is not possible to hold the elections in the Himalayan Districts of Nepal after late November and keeping mind on the constitutional obligations Commission has made aforementioned work table to formulate it. State Council Election: Within mid of October- 2017, National Assembly Election: Within the starting days of November- 2017, Election of House of Representative: Within the Third week of November- 2017," the letter to the government by electoral body states.

The Government of Nepal has the time of six months to hold the election of state council, national assembly and the election of house of representatives as the present Constituent Assembly will be dissolved after first week of January, 2018.

In addition, the electoral body also requested government to form separate commission for the determination of number of constituencies which is required to submit its report by the end of July.

The commission also has set mid of July as the dateline for the passing of the electoral laws to hold the three tier election. It said that it can wait till the first week of August to get the date of the elections.

Recently, Nepal held the first and second phase election of local levels after about two decades and is set to hold the third round of local elections in the Province no.2 on September 18.

However, the final round faces uncertainty as the protest over the charter promulgated two year ago is still prevalent.

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Nepal Vice-President Nanda Bahadur Pun is on a visit to China on Tuesday to attend the 23rd China-Lanzhou Investment and Trade Fair being held in Lanzhou, the capital city of Gansu Province.

During his week- long visit to China, the vice president will also meet senior Chinese leaders in Lanzhou and hold talks on strengthening Nepal-China ties.

Pun is leading a business delegation to attend the 23rd China-Lanzhou Investment and Trade Fair on July 6 and will also address a meeting on cooperation and development along the ambitious Silk Road project.

The vice president is scheduled to address the high-profile Forum for Cooperation and Development along the Silk Road on 6 July and also deliver a keynote speech to the business community on the theme "Nepal- China (Gansu) Economic and Trade Cooperation Exchange Conference" on July 7, said a press release issued by MoFA .

Nepal is the guest of honour country to the 23rd China-Lanzhou Investment and Trade Fair. Pun will return home on July 10. He ill also visit two historical cities of Shaanxi Province of China - Xi'an and Yan'an, where the provincial Chinese leaders will call on him, the Himalyan Times reported.

Senior officials of the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Commerce, Secretary at the Office of Vice-president are accompanying the vice president.

Nepal has signed a Memorandum of Understanding on the framework agreement on China's One Belt One Road Initiative (OBOR) in May, becoming part of Beijing's ambitious plan to revive ancient Silk Road trade routes.

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Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday arrived at the Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv where he was received by his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu.

Prime Minister Modi is the first Indian prime minister to visit Israel.

His program for the day includes him visiting a technological centre. From there he will head to Yad Vashem, the national Holocaust memorial in Jerusalem accompanied with the Israeli leader.

Tomorrow, the Indian leader will meet with Israeli President Reuven Rivlin, hold talks with Prime Minister Netanyahu and then attend an event organised by the Indian community in Israel in Tel Aviv.

On Thursday, Modi along with his Israeli counterpart, will visit Haifa cemetery, the cemetery of the fallen Indian soldiers in the first war and place wreath on the grave areas.

From there, the duo will head for a field visit to see the Gal Mobile-integrated water purification vehicle designed to produce high quality drinking water. It can be used during times of disasters to provide drinking water.

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The defence experts on Tuesday said that Hizbul Mujahideen Chief Syed Salahuddin is an arrogant man, whom Pakistan should push back to India to let him face the consequences by the Indian Armed forces.

"Salahuddin is arrogant to the ultimate, and boastful. Pakistan should eventually push this man to Kashmir to lead a Jihad against India and let him face the consequences by the security forces," defence expert P. K. Sehgal told ANI.

"Salahuddin says that he can do anything to India and Kashmir at his own choice and will, but little does he know that every all his boasts are of no use whatsoever," he added.

Another defence expert Qamar Agha stated that that India, since the beginning, has said that Salahuddin is a terror outfit and now the United States has also agreed with it.

"Now he is posing himself as they can do whatever they want and therefore trying to uplift their status. The reason behind this is that they are somewhere afraid that Pakistan will abandon them. He is not some major leader, he is from Kashmir and therefore by trying to showcase his status as a big terrorist, he wants to seek support from Pakistan," Agha told ANI.

Adding, "It is Pakistan's duty to arrest him and hand him over to India as because of him many innocent people have lost their lives. They are trying to create disturbance in Kashmir which will not be accepted by India at any cost."

Salahuddin, who has been branded as a 'global terrorist' by the United States, admitted in a TV interview to having carried out terror attacks on Indian soil.

"Till now our focus was on Indian occupation forces. All the operations that we have done or are underway, we focus only on the installations of these occupational forces," Salahuddin said in an interview with Geo TV.

Asserting that Kashmir was his 'home', the Hizbul chief stated that the Valley was witnessing an uprising since the killing of Burhan Wani.

Further revealing that he has many supporters in India, Salahuddin admitted to purchasing weapons from international markets, adding that he has the capacity to deliver weapons at any place if he is paid for it.

Informing that he carried out many 'operations' in India, Salahuddin stated that the international scenario changed after 9/11.

"If we would have taken our operations out of Kashmir at that time, India would get a chance to label Kashmir-e-Tehreek a terrorist organization. We have support and we can target any place in India, at anytime," he said.

On June 26th, the U.S. Department of State designated Salahuddin, as a 'Specially Designated Global Terrorist'.

"Department of State has designated Mohammad Yusuf Shah, also known as (AKA) Syed Salahuddin, as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) under Section 1(b) of Executive Order (E.O.) 13224, which imposes sanctions on foreign persons who have committed, or pose a significant risk of committing, acts of terrorism that threaten the security of U.S. nationals or the security, foreign policy, or economy of the United States. As a consequence of this designation, U.S. persons are generally prohibited from engaging in transactions with Salahuddin and all of Salahuddin's property and interests in property subject to United States jurisdiction are blocked," the State Department said in a statement.

Salahuddin is the senior leader of the militant group Hizbul Mujahideen. In September, 2016, Salahuddin vowed to block any peaceful resolution to the Kashmir conflict, threatened to train more Kashmiri suicide bombers, and vowed to turn the Kashmir valley "into a graveyard for Indian forces.

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U.S. Senator John McCain has reiterated that Pakistan plays a prominent role in establishing peace and stability in Afghanistan.

"We will not have peace in the region without Pakistan," said McCain in a statement during his visit to Islamabad in the company of Senators Lindsey Graham, Elizabeth Warren, Sheldon Whitehouse and David Perdue.

McCain, who chairs the powerful Senate Armed Services Committee, met with Sartaj Aziz, Advisor to Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Foreign Affairs, and Pakistan's Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa.

"Our relationship is more important perhaps than ever before," McCain said.

The U.S delegation visits Pakistan comes at a critical juncture as Afghan President Ashraf Ghani is eagerly waiting for U.S. policy on Afghanistan. Moreover, President Donald Trump is also considering sanctions on Pakistan because of the increasing number of attacks on Afghan soil by the Pakistan-based militants. Washington's new war strategy in Afghanistan also includes the deployment of additional forces in the country which has been grappling with a rising Taliban insurgency.

Aziz said that the strategic partnership between Pakistan and the United States "was critical to achieve peace and stability in the region and beyond,"Tolo News reported.

Meanwhile, Pakistan's ministry of foreign affairs said in a statement that Pakistan remained committed to supporting efforts for lasting peace and stability in Afghanistan.

"Aziz said that Pakistan remained committed to supporting efforts for lasting peace and stability in Afghanistan. Adviser noted that QCG process remains a credible and effective vehicle to facilitate reconciliation and restore peace, stability and economic prosperity in Afghanistan," the statement reads.

Senator McCain, who has been a major critic of Pakistan, has always criticized Islamabad's role in the fight against the Taliban and its offshoot the Haqqani network.

Afghanistan has accused Pakistan's intelligence agency of supporting Haqqani network for orchestrating May's deadly Kabul blast in which 100 people were killed and hundreds others were injured.

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday enplaned for the three-day bilateral visit to Israel on from New Delhi.

The Prime Minister's Office (PMO) tweeted on the departure of the Prime Minister.

PM @narendramodi emplanes for a historic visit to Israel, the first ever by an Indian Prime Minister. pic.twitter.com/6q2iXJ71Xh  PMO India (@PMOIndia) July 4, 2017

External Affairs Ministry's spokesperson Gopal Baglay tweeted saying the Prime Minister was heading for an intense week of bilateral & multilateral diplomacy.

Intense week for bilateral & multilateral diplomacy. PM @narendramodi departs for Tel Aviv, the first leg of his tour pic.twitter.com/3ePikhvu8K  Gopal Baglay (@MEAIndia) July 4, 2017

Prime Minister Modi is the first serving Prime Minister to visit Israel.

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi will today begin his two nation tour starting from Israel. He is the first Indian Prime Minister to visit the state.

Upon arriving in Israel, Prime Minster Modi will hold talks with his counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu in Tel Aviv on all matters of mutual interest. This year both the countries are commemorating 25 years of diplomatic relations.

The Prime Minster, in his Facebook post, said, both leaders will also discuss major common challenges like terrorism.

During the visit, he will engage with a cross section of Israeli society. The Prime Minister said, he is looking forward to interacting with the large vibrant Indian diaspora in Israel that represents an enduring link between the two countries.

The Indian Prime Minister will also call on President Reuven Rivlin.

Prime Minister Modi will address the Indian community in an event in Tel Aviv. He will also attend a CEO forum in which CEOs of companies from both the nations will participate to discuss their shared priority of expanding the bilateral trade and investment.

The Prime Minister will also visit the Indian cemetery in Haifa where he will pay homage to Indian soldiers who laid down their lives during the first world war.

In the second and final leg of his tour, Prime Minsiter Modi will visit Hamburg in Germany to attend the 12th G-20 Summit.

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the G-20 Summit on July 7 in Hamburg, Germany, amid escalating tensions between both nations.

Leaders of the five emerging economies Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa will hold informal talks on the sidelines of the G-20 Summit next week in Hamburg.

According to sources, the two leaders met last month in Astana, Kazakhstan, on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit and their meeting in Germany is expected to be focused on bilateral apprehensions over the right to construct a border road in the Sikkim sector.

China has said the area where the road is to be constructed falls on their side as per an 1890 treaty signed between Britain and China. India says it does not and is wary of Beijing taking control of the area which overlooks the strategically located Chumbi Valley.

Consequently, China has suspended the annual Kailash Manasarovar Yatra due to the border stand-off.

"According to the usual practice, BRICS leaders will hold an informal meeting ahead of the G-20 summit in Hamburg,"Sputnik quoted Li Baodong, China's Vice Foreign Minister.

China is holding the rotating chairmanship of the BRICS and will host the September summit in the port city of Xiamen.

U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin will also meet at the summit, and Germany will try to push climate change and free trade to the top of the agenda.

Security Adviser Lt. Gen.H.R. McMaster confirmed "the two leaders would meet on the sidelines of the G-20 Summit in the northern German city and that President Trump's journey would also include a stop in Poland.

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In the wake of China stopping Indian pilgrims from visiting Kailash Mansarovar, a protest was held outside the Chinese embassy here on Tuesday.

The protestors urged the public to ban China and its products.

Vikas Chowdhury, a protester, told ANI, "We have organised the protest against the Chinese action of stopping India's Mansarovar visit and killing of Indian soldiers. It would be better if China stops committing these mistakes to prove that they are a superpower."

Chowdhury said India's youth alone can handle China's aggression.

"Our country has the capability to lead the world. The Indian youth can achieve a lot. We want to warn China, if the youth of this country, decides to achieve something, then it can easily do it," he said.

While raising the slogan of "China Go Go Go", the district chief of Hindu Manch Naveen Jain condemned the Chinese move.

"Prohibiting Indians from entering Mansarovar is questioning our religion and culture. We cannot tolerate this, at any cost," Jain said.

Another member of the protest appealed the public to boycott 'Chinese goods' and purchase Indian goods.

Last month, China refused the entry of around 50 pilgrims from travelling to Kailash Mansarovar through the Nathu-La pass.

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A mega exhibition sponsored by the Ministry of Agriculture was held at the Sher-i-Kashmir International Conference Centre (SKICC) for four days in Srinagar recently.

The exhibition was held with the objective of promoting agriculture research, science, technology, research, development, information technology, communication, biotechnology, industrial development, innovation, crafts, culture, government schemes and programmes.

This exhibition provided a platform for science and technology lovers, farmers, traders, industrialists and students to interact with policy makers, scientists and researchers to give a glimpse of experiments, researches in various fields.

ISRO (Indian Space Research Organization), ICAR (Indian Council of Agriculture Research), Ministry of Railways, Ministry of AYUSH, ICMR (Indian Council Of Medical Research), CSIR (Council of Scientific and Industrial Research),ICAR(Indian Council of Agriculture Research) and many more institutions participated in the event.

The vision of the exhibition is to create an interactive platform and multiply the messages for development of the society. It intends to uplift the section from grassroots by not only spreading science amongst the masses but tourism, railways, agriculture, medical, skill development, handlooms and handicrafts.

To encourage the young minds, a pavilion has been set up, where students from various schools have displayed their innovative models and ideas.

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The Democratic Alliance (NDA) Presidential candidate Ram Nath Kovind on Tuesday got support of the Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS), Telugu Desam Party (TDP), and YSR Congress Party (Yuvajana Shramika Rythu Congress Party).

The support came after Kovind met with the leaders of these parties in Hyderabad. Union Information Technology Minister M Venkaiah Naidu was accompanying Kovind, as he garnered support.

Naidu made this announcement in a series of tweets.

"Happy that TRS party has expressed its support to the NDA Presidential Nominee Sh Ram Nath Kovind (sic)," Naidu tweeted.

Announcing support of the TDP to Kovind, Naidu tweeted: "Happy that TDP party has expressed support to the NDA Presidential Nominee Sh Ram Nath Kovind."

In his earlier tweet, he said that "Happy that YSRCP party has extended support to the NDA Presidential Nominee".

The election for the next President of India is to be held on July 17 as President Pranab Mukherjee will demit the office on July 24.

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With North Korea launching yet another ballistic missile that landed in waters near Japan, U.S. President Donald Trump called on China to take action and "end this nonsense once and for all!"

Maintaining his trademark streak on Twitter, Trump minced no words as he literally mocked North Korean leader Kim Jong-un asking "Does this guy have anything better to do with his life?"

North Korea has just launched another missile. Does this guy have anything better to do with his life? Hard to believe that South Korea.....  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 4, 2017

Reckoning that South Korea and Japan will not put up with these repeated provocations for much longer, the U.S. President put the full onus on China to take some concrete action and put a stop on Pyongyang's aggravations.

....and Japan will put up with this much longer. Perhaps China will put a heavy move on North Korea and end this nonsense once and for all!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 4, 2017

According to officials in Seoul and Tokyo, North Korea launched a ballistic missile that landed in waters near Japan.

South Korea's military confirmed that North Korea had fired an "unidentified ballistic missile" into the Sea of Japan from Banghyon in North Pyongan, a province near its border with China, the Guardian reported.

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China has expressed its dissatisfaction with the United States for sailing its navy warship near a disputed island in the South China Sea claimed by Beijing. It said that the behaviour of the US constitutes a serious political and military provocation.

"Under the pretext of "navigation freedom, the US side once again sent a military vessel into China's territorial waters off the Xisha Islands without China's approval. Its behaviour has violated the Chinese law and relevant international law, infringed upon China's sovereignty, disrupted peace, security," Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang said on Monday.

Shuang said the US is "deliberately" stirring up troubles in South China Sea, where China and other ASEAN member states are working peacefully and improving the situation in the disputed region.

"The Chinese side strongly urges the US side to immediately stop such kind of provocative operations that violate China's sovereignty and threaten China's security. The Chinese side will continue to take all necessary means to defend national sovereignty and security," Shuang said.

Chinese remarks came days after the US Navy conducted a "freedom of navigation exercise" around Triton Island in the Paracel archipelago, which is claimed by China, Vietnam and Taiwan.

As a part of the exercise, the guided-missile destroyer USS Stethem came within 12 miles of Triton, sailing into what China claims to be its territorial waters.

The US does not recognize Beijing's claim of sovereignty over the islands, which it has occupied and on which it has been building fortifications.

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Just Dial fell 2.54% to Rs 372 at 10:31 IST on BSE after the company said that its chief financial officer resigned from his post.

The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 3 July 2017.

Meanwhile, the S&P BSE Sensex was up 16.68 points, or 0.05% to 31,238.30.

On the BSE, 81,000 shares were traded in the counter so far, compared with average daily volumes of 1.97 lakh shares in the past one quarter. The stock had hit a high of Rs 380 and a low of Rs 365 so far during the day. The stock hit a 52-week high of Rs 625.60 on 4 June 2016. The stock hit a 52-week low of Rs 318.20 on 27 December 2016.

The stock had underperformed the market over the past one month till 3 July 2017, falling 14.25% compared with 0.17% decline in the Sensex. The scrip had also underperformed the market in past one quarter, falling 29.93% as against Sensex's 4.38% rise. The scrip had also underperformed the market in past one year, falling 38.28% as against Sensex's 14.45% rise.

The small-cap company has equity capital of Rs 69.55 crore. Face value per share is Rs 10.

Just Dial announced that Ramkumar Krishnamachari, chief financial officer and key managerial personnel of the company, submitted his resignation yesterday, 3 July 2017. The company said it accepted the resignation and decided to relieve Ramkumar Krishnamachari from his duties with effect from 30 September 2017.

Net profit of Just Dial declined 37.08% to Rs 25.35 crore on 5.90% rise in net sales to Rs 181.72 crore in Q4 March 2017 over Q4 March 2016.

Just Dial is a leading local search engine in India.

Powered by Capital Market - Live News

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At least 10 people were killed and 50 injured in a boiler room explosion at a garment factory in central Bangladesh. The search for more bodies in the debris continues, officials said on Tuesday.

The accident took place around 7 PM on Monday at the export-oriented textile factory Multifabs Limited, which employs nearly 6,000 people.

Most employees were on leave to celebrate the Eid-ul Fitr when the explosion occurred. "We found eight bodies on Monday and one in the morning (Tuesday) when we started removing the debris again," Gazipur Fire Service Assistant Deputy Director Akteruzzaman said.

"We are not sure if there are more bodies inside because no one could give a detailed account of any missing person," he was quoted as saying by Efe news.

Of the 50 injured, one person later died in the hospital, taking the deaths to 10, Akteruzzaman added.

"The factory was closed until Monday and we started the boiler only in the evening. One of the two boilers exploded within an hour of starting the operation in the evening," Multifabs Chairman and Managing Director Mohiuddin Faruqui said.

According to Faruqui, between 25 and 30 people were inside the factory at the time of the explosion, while many bystanders were also injured.

Gazipur district factory inspector Farid Ahmed said that the factory's licenses were all in order and that the reason for the explosion was yet unclear.

Last week, labour union organisations IndustriALL Global Union and UNI Global Union announced the signing of a new agreement with more than 20 textile companies to ensure safety in Bangladeshi factories, among other issues.

The sector has been under the spotlight over its working conditions since the collapse of the Rana Plaza garment factory building in 2013, which left more than 1,100 dead and 2,500 injured.

(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.)
At least 14 Al-Shabaab militants were killed and 17 others injured in a fight with Somali National Army backed by African Union forces in southern Somalia, an official said on Monday.

Somali Government Army Commander Mohamed Abdow Ali said that they lost three soldiers in the fight.

"We attacked Al-Shabaab militants base about 20 km from Garbaharey town. Then fighting erupted bringing casualties on both sides, we killed 14 militants and injured 17 others during the deadly battle," Xinhua quoted Ali as saying.

The commander said they were in control of the battle zone at the moment, adding they would continue such operations against the militants.

--IANS

sku/

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Greenpeace India has emphasized that the proposed agricultural roadmap would be a major step towards realising the dream of an organic Bihar.

Greenpeace India has in its feedback suggested that all provisions in the roadmap, which aim to help the farmers adopt ecological agriculture, be brought under the single umbrella of the Ecological Bihar Mission.

It also stressed on drawing up a biomass conservation and quality enhancement strategy by adding a few more elements such as cattle sheds with pucca floors and urine collection tanks, EcoSan toilets, promotion of vegetable, fruit and other ecologically suitable trees, rainwater harvesting infrastructures such as shallow wells, bunds, lakes and ponds etc. in the list of subsidized items.

Greenpeace India has also suggested creation of a single-window application clearance system in all identified villages and corridors so that the farmers can easily take advantage of this scheme by completing all the formalities of the process.

Implementation of continuous training for farmers, farmers' counsellors and related experts has also been underlined in the suggestions.

Extra emphasis has been laid on setting up a separate department on ecological farming, promoting research and conducting ecological farming programmes in all institutions related to agriculture, where sharing of knowledge, experience and new experiments related to ecological farming can take place.

Greenpeace India on Tuesday submitted its feedback on the Bihar government's latest agricultural roadmap draft to Sudhir Kumar, Principal Secretary of the state's Agriculture Department.

Senior campaigner with Greenpeace India Ishteyaque Ahmed lauded the initiative.

"The proposed roadmap has many elements which are essential to initiate a paradigm shift towards ecologically empowered and climate resilient robust agriculture system. We are also able to see the risk-taking appetite and openness to innovations in the roadmap to make farmers of the state self-dependent, hence economically well-equipped to tackle the economic onslaughts of current times," Ahmed said.

"We congratulate the authors and designers of the third roadmap for pro-actively aiming for achieving the goal of increased farmers' income, and shifting focus on organic and ecological ways of farming is the most obvious and natural option for achieving the visionary task," he added.

Ahmed said, "We also welcome the proposal of developing one village in each district of the state as the model ecological farming village and creating organic farming corridors along the Ganga and all state and national highways in the state."

"We are also appreciative of the pro-active steps of the concerned departments for identifying Patna-Nalanda road links to be developed as the first organic farming corridor and further identification of nine districts in the state for promotion of organic vegetable production," he added.

Ahmed admitted that achieving these objectives in a short span of five years is a "Herculean task and requires immaculate planning and transparency".

Welcoming the acknowledgement of market linkage as an essential component of ensuring good returns to the organic farmers in the roadmap, Greenpeace India recommended that the roadmap should aim at connecting all the organic/ecological food producers through a chain of block-level to state-level ecological food producer markets.

A regular review of the policies and strengthening of implementation processes laid down in the roadmap has also been proposed.

--IANS

ik/amit/vt

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In an effusive welcome to Narendra Modi, the first Indian Prime Minister to visit the country, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said "Apka swagat hai mere dost. We have been waiting for you for a long time".

After warmly receiving Modi at Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion Airport with a hug, and according him a red carpet welcome, a smiling Netanyahu said: "My friend Prime Minister Narendra Modi, welcome to Israel. Apka swagat hai mere dost."

He also welcomed Modi in Hebrew.

"Prime Minister we have been waiting for you for a long time. We have been waiting almost 70 years in fact. Because yours is truly historic visit. It is the first time an Indian Prime Minister is visiting Israel. We receive you with open arms. We love India, we admire your culture, your history, your democracy, your commitment to progress."

In his comments, Modi said he was "honoured" to be the first Indian Prime Minister to visit Israel, though the two nations had set up formal diplomatic relations 25 years ago.

"It is my singular honour to be the first-ever Prime Minister of India to undertake this ground-breaking visit to Israel."

Making a statement soon after Prime Minister Modi landed in Tel Aviv on a three-day visit, Netanyahu termed the friendship between their two countries as "natural".

Netanyahu said that in their first meeting three years ago Modi had said 'sky is the limit' for India-Israel relationship.

"You said when it comes to India-Israel relationship, sky is the limit. But actually my friend the sky isn't the limit because today our space programmes are working towards reaching even greater heights," a smiling Israeli Prime Minister said.

"The tie between our talented, innovative people is natural. It is so natural that we can ask what took so long for them to blossom."

He also announced an innovation fund for cooperation in the fields of technology, water, agriculture, energy and other fields.

"In this visit, your Make in India initiative, meets my Make with India policy. We are setting up a $40 million innovation fund as the seed for even greater cooperation on technology between us," the Israeli Prime Minister added.

In a display of close and informal ties between the two leaders, Modi called Netanyahu by his nickname Bibi and remembered as Yoni his elder brother Yonatan Netanyahu, a military officer who commanded the elite commando during Operation Entebbe to rescue hostages held in Uganda on July 4, 1976. The officer was killed during the operation.

"Today is July 4, exactly 41 years since Operation Entebbe. The day when your Prime Minister, and my friend, Bibi, lost his older brother Yoni, while saving the lives of so many Israeli hostages. Your heroes are an inspiration for the younger generations," Modi said.

Modi said, "India is an old civilisation but a young nation as 800 million youth are below 35 years of age. On the path of sustainable and high growth and all-round development, India counts Israel as an important partner."

"We are also cooperating to secure our countries against common threats such as terrorism...A strong and resilient partnership with Israel will be my focus," Modi said.

--IANS

ao/sar/rn

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An auto-rickshaw driver has been arrested for raping a 23-year-old woman here, police said on Tuesday.

Deputy Commissioner of Police Omvir Singh said the crime took place on Saturday in Gazipur in east Delhi.

The driver, who is about 30 years of age, allegedly raped the woman after she boarded his auto on Saturday night, police said.

"Passersby caught the accused and handed him over to police," a police officer told IANS.

The woman is the mother of three children, police said.

--IANS

nkh/him/bg

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The way a common bee observes colours could revolutionise the way robots and drones see the world, an Australian study published on Tuesday found.

A human's ability to see colour is heavily affected by changing light around them, but bees are able to see the same colour regardless by using three eyes on top of their head as well as their two main eyes, reports Xinhua news agency.

Adrian Dyer, the lead author of a study into bee's vision published by the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) University on Monday, said that the three eyes on top of a bee's head sample the light above them to detect the conditions.

Dyer said the discovery of how the three eyes work could solve the long-running problem of how to advance the technology that allows cameras, robots and drones to see the world.

By analysing the process, researchers identified the mathematical formula used by a bee to process information gathered by the three eyes, information which can be programmed into a computer.

They believe that drones with "bee-vision" could have many practical applications, such as monitoring vegetation for ripeness and inspecting infrastructure.

--IANS

ksk

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China on Tuesday criticised North Korea's ballistic missile launch earlier during the day and warned Pyongyang to stop violating UNSC resolutions in this regard.

"China opposes North Korea for breaching the UN Security Council resolutions to conduct launching activities," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang said during a press conference here.

"We urge North Korea to stop and create needed conditions for the resumption of talks on peace and denuclearisation on the Korean peninsula," Geng was quoted as saying by Efe news.

Following the intercontinental missile launch, confirmed as successful by North Korea, Geng said Beijing has been following the event closely.

The spokesperson stressed that the UNSC (whose rotating presidency was assumed by China on Monday) resolutions "have clear rules on North Korea's ballistic missile technology and activities of (ballistic missile) launches".

Geng underlined China's stance saying that the situation on the Korean peninsula is "delicate and complex", which is why he reiterated Beijing's request to all parties involved to show moderation and avoid all actions which may further escalate tensions.

North Korean state broadcaster KCTV said on Tuesday that the new missile, Hwasong-14, is capable of striking anywhere in the world.

--IANS

soni/dg

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China will have no choice but resort to "military" option if India "refuses to listen", a Chinese expert has warned over the festering border row.

"China is trying its best to use historical lessons to reason with India and show sincerity in peacefully solving the problem, but if India refuses to listen, then China would have no other choice than to use a military way of solving the problem," Hu Zhiyong, a research fellow at the Shanghai Academy of Social Science, was quoted as saying by Global Times.

The state-run newspaper, on Monday, carried a report quoting "observers" that "there could be a chance of war if the recent conflict between China and India is not handled properly".

"India is provoking China because it wants to prove to the US it could contain China while Prime Minister Narendra Modi was in the US," Hu said.

Tensions between India and China have risen over the border row in Sikkim sector as both sides have refused budge in Doklam region, where the armies of both sides are engaged in a stand-off.

Doklam also referred to as Donglong by China is a disputed zone between Beijing and Thimphu.

Bhutan has opposed the road construction by the Chinese army, citing the disputed status of the region. China has called the action just since Donglong "is on Chinese territory".

India seconds Bhutan as the ownership of Doklam is yet to be decided. Moreover, the presence of Chinese army in Doklam has security implications for India as the region is close to Siliguri corridor, which connects India's northeast to the rest of the country.

--IANS

gsh/rn

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Citizen activists on Tuesday demanded immediate action against top auditing firm PwC alleging its involvement in various financial violations, which they said may cause "damage to public interest and even to national security".

Addressing a press conference here, members of Citizens Whistle Blowers Forum alleged despite being held guilty by the government agencies of various financial violations, PwC's business from the government projects was multiplying.

Activist lawyer Prashant Bhushan demanded termination of all government contracts to PwC and investigation in all allegations against PwC, alleging that the firm has been implicated by agencies such as Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO), Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the Satyam scam, fabrication and fudging of documents, misrepresentation in respect of the purpose of illegal inflows.

PwC, in an official statement, denied the allegations.

"We deny the allegations made. PwC has always complied and will continue to comply with applicable laws and regulations and any suggestion to the contrary is merely speculative," it said.

Bhushan, in his allegations, said: "Blatant violations of various statues, misrepresentation by PwC in respect of purpose of illegal inflows raises apprehensions about the real end purpose and source.

"A Joint Parliamentary Committee had in 2002 recommended action against PwC. However, no government since then has taken any action. PwC has been involved in benami transactions, evasion of Income Tax, and falsification of accounts. Yet, it has been hired by the Income Tax authorities to help it in the black money probe. It raises serious issues of conflict of interest."

Bhushan alleged that though PwC blatantly violated or circumvented the FDI policy, FEMA, it has been empanelled by the Reserve Bank of India to conduct audit of IT information systems.

The CWBF also held PwC responsible for hiding information about diversion of money in Vijay Mallya's company from 2010 to 2014.

Bhushan questioned why the government was not penalizing PwC but it was rather being awarded various contracts and works when it has "breached the fiduciary trust imposed in it".

Jagdeep Chokkar, member of CWBC, alleged "complicity" between government authorities such as Registrar of Companies and the PwC for the inaction.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Supreme Court on Tuesday asked the Central government and the RBI to consider, within two weeks, the option of granting time to people with a legitimate reason for not being able to deposit old Rs 500 and 1,000 notes after these were demonetised.

A bench of Chief Justice J.S. Khehar and Justice D.Y. Chandrachud asked Solicitor General Ranjit Kumar, appearing for the Central government, to take instructions on the issue and inform the court.

Ranjit Kumar sought time to get instructions for granting an opportunity to persons to deposit their money on a case-by-case basis.

The bench said there are people who could not deposit their old currency note during the December 30 deadline - like those in prison.

"We want to know as to why you chose to bar such persons," it asked.

The court was hearing a batch of petitions, including a woman who said she had just delivered a baby and another who said she was dealing with a death in her family.

The pleas sought direction to authorities to allow them to deposit demonetised notes.

On November 8, 2016, the Central government had announced that Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes would no longer be legal tender from November 9.

The government had assured the people that demonetised currency notes could be exchanged at banks, post offices and Reserve Bank of India (RBI) branches till December 30, 2016. If people were unable to deposit them by that day, they could do so till March 31, 2017 at RBI branches after complying with certain formalities.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A CPI-M delegation along with the sons of Mohammed Akhlaq and Pehlu Khan, both victims of lynch mobs, and other affected families met Home Minister Rajnath Singh here on Tuesday.

A memorandum was submitted before the Home Minister, asking for justice and prevention of such cases, the CPI-M said.

The delegation raised the issues of Junaid's lynching on June 22, gang-rape of two girls of a poor Muslim farmer in Dingarheri, Haryana, in August last year, the killings of Pehlu Khan in April this year and Mohammed Akhalq in September 2015, and the beating up of truck driver Rizwan carrying buffaloes by a mob in Delhi on April 24 this year.

The Home Minister assured the delegation of action on the issues raised but pointed out that law and order was largely a state subject.

The delegation requested the Home Minister to direct officials to collect information about the cases of cow related violence from the states as there is a "pattern in this violence".

"There is a pattern in the violence which indicates that these are not spontaneous cases of mob violence, but there are organised groups of so-called 'gau rakshaks' behind each of these cases," the delegation said in its memorandum.

"In almost all these cases, the accused, if and when arrested, are easily given bail; charges are not framed even after months if not years. On the contrary, in most cases victims or their families are faced with false cases; compensation is not given in many of the cases," the delegation told Singh.

"Our request is to monitor and follow up on each of these aspects so as to bring justice to the victims and also to send a strong message to ensure prevention of such crimes," it said.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A low turn out for a debate at the European Parliament (EP) on Tuesday prompted European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker to denounce the assembly as "ridiculous" and not "serious".

Juncker lambasted that only around 30 members of the EP turned up for a debate on Malta's presidency of the Council of the European Union, BBC reported.

Standing up in an almost empty chamber in Strasbourg, he denounced the body as "ridiculous, totally ridiculous". Juncker said the poor showing proved that the Parliament was "not serious".

He said the assembly in Strasbourg would have been full if the debate had involved powerful figures such as French President Emmanuel Macron or German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Juncker's comments drew protest from Parliament chief Antonio Tajani who accused the European Commission chief of a "lack of respect".

"Mr President, could you please have a more respectful attitude. You can criticise the Parliament, but it's not the Commission's job to control the Parliament, it's the Parliament that has to control the Commission," Tajani said.

But the clash continued when Juncker said it was ridiculous to suggest that so few MEPs could control the EU's executive body, Efe news reported.

"There are only a few members in the plenary to control the commission. You are ridiculous," Juncker repeated.

Ignoring a further objection by the Parliament chief to his choice of language, Juncker told the few MEPs in the chamber: "I will never again attend a meeting of this kind."

Juncker went on to thank Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat for his country's role in the rotating Council of the EU presidency and reiterated that the Parliament should have more respect for the smaller countries.

The EP is composed of 751 directly elected lawmakers from the EU's 28 member states, while the Commission is the EU's executive body.

Malta's Prime Minister Joseph Muscat looked on with a broad grin as the argument unfolded. The debate was due to focus primarily on the EU's struggle to relocate 160,000 refugees from Italy and Greece.

Describing the situation as a "fiasco", Muscat called for an honest debate on Europe's values.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Congress on Tuesday slammed the Narendra Modi-led government and said it was not serious about Chinese incursions.

"On one hand, PM Modi goes on foreign trips, and on the other we have seen incursions from the Chinese side, and our government is not serious about it," said Congress Spokesperson Ajay Maken.

"In reply to incursion, our government says it is transgression. When you yourself are downgrading the Chinese incursion, then how will you fight," Maken said.

"First of all, they have to understand that these are Chinese incursions and looking at this, our government has to take aggressive steps diplomatically. But our government is not accepting it as an incursion, they call it transgression," he added.

Makensaid: "Home Minister Rajnath Singh had earlier denied it to be an incursion. Our government should be prepared for any outcome on the ground. They have only indulged in talking and giving speeches."

"There is no change on the ground, be it on the issue of Pakistan border or China border. There is continuous incursion from those sides, infiltrators are coming and these have been on a record high," said Maken.

"But there is no response from the government, they only give statements. There is no reply on the preparedness of the government. Had the government taken proactive measures, then there wouldn't have been so many incursions."

"The budget allocation on the mountains for the armed forces has not been spent properly," he added.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Levelling a series of sensational allegations against West Bengal Governor K.N. Tripathi, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday accused him of threatening and insulting her.

"He threatened me.. he insulted me today (Tuesday). He cannot do it. He is a nominated person. I have told him ayou cannot talk to me like this. I am an elected person," an angry Banerjee told media persons here.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Arsenal's French striker Olivier Giroud on Tuesday said he wants to continue playing for the club and give his best.

"I won a few titles in my career, that is an important thing, but there is another thing which is important for me and that's that the people (see you as a) loyal warrior on the pitch -- that you always give your best for the team," he said," Giroud told Arsenal weekly podcast.

"That's why I want to carry on my good journey at Arsenal and I always want to give my best. I would love to win another title or maybe more until the end of my contract.

"The motivation is here, always doing your best to make your family proud," he added.

With Arsenal wanting to sign Lyon striker Alexandre Lacazette, Giroud has been linked with clubs like Marseille, Lyon, West Ham and Everton this summer.

Giroud, who won three FA Cups and one Community Shield during his time at Arsenal, however, wants to win more silverware with the North London club.

Giroud signed a contract extension in January.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
President Pranab Mukherjee on Tuesday called upon India and Vietnam to work together to achieve a target of $15 billion in bilateral trade by 2020.

During a meeting at Rashtrapati Bhavan with Vietnam's visiting Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh Minh -- who is also Foreign Minister of Vietnam, the President said many Indian companies were keen to invest in Vietnam.

President Mukherjee said India and Vietnam traditionally share warm and cordial relations based on mutual respect and goodwill and the fruitful partnership has grown in recent years.

According to an official release, Mukherjee said he was confident the relations will continue to grow in the years to come.

The Vietnamese leader warmly reciprocated the President's sentiments and said Vietnam was keen to work with India in taking bilateral relations to greater heights.

--IANS

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(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 Tuesday announced plans to refurbish and beautify the area surrounding the iconic Kalighat Kali temple in the city, considered one of the 51 "Shakti Peeths" (seats of divinity) in India.

"We have earlier refurbished and beautified surroundings of Dakhineswar Kali temple, Tarapeeth, Furfura Sharief, Belur Math, etc. We plan to beautify the entire Kalighat area, keeping the basic structure intact and without evicting anybody," Banerjee told the media.

She was briefing the media at the state secretariat, Nabanna, following a high-level meeting where senior ministers, Kalighat temple officials, senior police officials and bureaucrats were present.

The Chief Minister said the drive would entail "only adjustment and readjustment" in the locality around the 200-year-old temple, one of the holiest spots for Hindus.

"Entire temple's original structure will be maintained. We may shift Kalighat police station. Entry and exit points will be improved," she said.

To carry out the beautification, a survey would be initiated to flesh out the details, she said.

The Trinamool Congress supremo said the city's civic body -- Kolkata Muncipal Corporation -- had been tasked to formulate three to four Detailed Project Reports (DPRs).

"The date for submitting the DPRs is August 31. After we receive it, we will again sit together for a discussion. Then we will select the plan that will be taken up (for implementation)," she said.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Criticising West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for levelling a series of sensational allegations against Governor K.N. Tripathi, the state's opposition parties on Tuesday accused her of breaking constitutional norms by bringing out the private conversation into a public forum.

"Governor is the constitutional head in the state. The way the Chief Minister has openly talked about her conversation with the Governor in a public forum, in spite of swearing in to follow the constitution, is untenable. This is an insult to constitutional norms," Left Front legislature party leader Sujan Chakraborty told IANS.

"This was a private phone conversation between two constitutionally superior persons and no one knows what was the exact conversation," he said.

Stating that no one wants the Chief Minister to be threatened, Chakraborty however said all the statements made by Banerjee cannot be trusted.

On the other hand, the state Bharatiya Janata Party held Banerjee responsible for the recent lapse in law and order in the state and said people are being compelled to go to the Governor due to this.

"These incidents of communal violence are frequently occurring now. Today the people are forced to go to the Governor due to the Chief Minister's failure to maintain law and order in the state," alleged state BJP president Dilip Ghosh.

"If the Governor asks her why the state administration is not able to maintain the law and order situation properly, what is there to feel insulted? Why is she terming this as an insult?" he asked.

In a scathing attack on the Governor, Banerjee on Tuesday accused him of insulting and humiliating her. She also claimed that Tripathi spoke like a functionary of the BJP, and not like the state's constitutional head.

Responding to her accusations, the Raj Bhavan came out with a press release, expressing surprise at the "attitude and language" used by the Chief Minister at the media meet, but said the "Governor cannot remain a mute spectator of the affairs in the state".

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday left for his three-day trip to Israel -- a first by an Indian Prime Minister -- to discuss with his counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu the common challenges like terrorism and ways to boost economic ties.

"PM Narendra Modi emplanes for a historic visit to Israel, the first ever by an Indian Prime Minister," the Prime Minister's Office tweeted.

In a special gesture, Netanyahu will receive Modi when he arrives at Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion Airport. Such a special gesture has been done only for US Presidents, including Donald Trump, and the Pope.

In Israel, Modi will also meet President Ruven Ruvi Rivlin apart from paying his respects to courageous Indian soldiers who laid down their lives during the liberation of Haifa in 1918. The visit coincides with India and Israel marking 25 years of their diplomatic relations.

Modi will be in Israel till July 6 before travelling to Hamburg, Germany, to attend the G-20 summit.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Narendra Modi on Tuesday became the first-ever Indian Prime Minister to step on Israeli soil, undertaking a 'ground breaking' visit and declaring cooperation in tackling terrorism, while his host Benjamin Netanyahu affirmed that they want to forge a historic partnership with India for which even sky is not the limit.

Israel rolled out a red carpet welcome as the Air India One aircraft landed at Tel Aviv's International Airport on a warm afternoon with Netanyahu setting aside protocol and receiving Modi, who is making the visit 25 years after India established diplomatic ties with the Jewish nation, with a handshake and a hug.

Normally Israeli Prime Ministers go to the airport to receive only the US Presidents and a few western leaders. As Gujarat Chief Minister Modi has visited Israel on an earlier occasion.

"Excellency and friends, my visit marks a path breaking journey of engagement, a journey that we are excited to undertake together for the good of our people and societies. As we march together a strong and resilient partnership with Israel will be my intent and focus," he said in a brief speech after he was welcomed warmly by his host.

"It is my singular honour to be the first Prime Minister to undertake this ground breaking visit to Israel," Modi, clad in an off-white bandhgala suit, said in a brief speech to reciprocate the welcome given by Netanyahu and his cabinet.

"I want to thank my friend Prime Minister Netanyahu for the invitation and receiving me with so much warmth," he said, adding this symbolises the centuries-old links between the two societies.

India, he said, has maintained a strong and sustained upswing in the ties after establishing full relationship 25 years ago.

He said people of Israel have built a nation on democratic principles and nurtured it with hard work, grit and spirit of innovation. They have marched on regardless of adversity and converted challenges into opportunities. "India applauds your achievements," he said.

He also recalled that on July 4, 41 years ago, Netanyahu's elder brother, Yonatan was part of the commandos in the Operation Entebbe in Uganda to rescue over 100 Israeli civilians in the airport, and in the process sacrificed his life. He became an inspiration for the younger generation.

Modi said in India, a very old civilisation, there were 800 million people below the age of 35 years and they were the driving force and propelling his vision to transform India, its industry, its economy, its way of doing business and its interface with the world.

Modi said in India's path of sustained high growth and all round development India counts Israel among its important partners. They need to rely on science, technology, innovation and hard technical education to overcome the developmental challenges that are common to both the countries.

He said alongside building a partnership for shared economic prosperity, India and Israel are also cooperating to secure their societies against common threats such as terrorism. "A progressive partnership in all these areas would share the scope of my conversation with the Prime Minister, my friend Netanyahu," he said.

Modi said he was also keen to interact with the Indian diaspora in Israel, including a large number of Jews of Indian origin who have enriched both the societies.

In his welcome address, Netanyahu said Israel has been waiting for a long time for this visit. "Apka swagat hai mere dost. We have been waiting almost 70 years, in fact, because your's is a truly historic visit. It is the first time that an Indian Prime Minister is visiting Israel. We receive you with open arms. We love India. We admire your culture, your democracy and your commitment to progress."

Recalling his first meeting with Modi three years ago at the United Nations, Netanyahu said both of them agreed to breakdown the remaining walls between India and Israel.

"We shook each others' hand and forged a historic relationship. We met again in Paris and since then we have spoken many times on the phone. But I remember my friend what you said in that first meeting.

"You said when it comes to India-Israel relations, the sky is the limit. But actually my friend the sky isn't the limit because today even our space programmes are working towards reaching even greater heights," he said.

The host Prime Minister said that the ties between the talented and innovative peoples of both the countries is natural. "It is so natural that we can ask what took so long for them to blossom. Well, it took a meeting of minds and hearts. it took a commitment of our governments we have that today," he said.

Netanyahu said in this visit Modi's 'Make in India' initiative meets his 'Make with India' policy. "We are setting up a $40 million innovation fund as the seed for even greater cooperation on technology between us," he said.

Hailing him as a great leader of India and a great world leader, Netanyahu said, "Your visit to Israel is a testimony to that."

Earlier, the two leaders inspected a guard of honour by Israeli defence forces in honour of Modi. Netanyahu introduced his ministers, officials, including the present and former ambassadors of Israel in India and his National Security Advisor.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
In the backdrop of the standoff between Indian and Chinese troops on the India-China-Bhutan tri-junction, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is going to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping when leaders of the BRICS nations hold a meeting on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Hamburg on July 7.

"A meeting of BRICS leaders will take place in Hamburg on the sidelines of the G20 Summit on July 7," a source here said on Tuesday.

"The meeting is expected to have the presence of Prime Minister Modi and the Chinese President," the source said.

China on Monday said India was using Bhutan to "cover up" the illegal entry by Indian troops into "Chinese territory" and demanded their immediate withdrawal.

Earlier, seeing Chinese troops, personnel of a Bhutan Army camp on a ridge at a place called Zompelri rushed down and confronted the Chinese and told them that they cannot unilaterally change the existing status quo in the tri-junction.

Indian Army personnel, who were present in the general area Doka La in Sikkim on the other side, too rushed to the spot to help the Bhutanese soldiers. However, by that time the PLA had pushed back the Bhutanese and then came to a face-to-face situation with the Indian Army personnel.

The Indian soldiers too made it clear to the Chinese soldiers that they had no business changing the existing unilateral status quo in the tri-junction.

There is no Chinese territory between India's border in the Sikkim sector with Bhutan.

India and China had in 2012 reached an agreement that the tri-junction boundary points between India, China and third countries will be finalised in consultation with the concerned countries. Both the countries share three international tri-junctions - with Bhutan, Myanmar and Afghanistan.

Bhutan too has written agreements with China of 1988 and 1998 stating that the two sides agreed to maintain peace and tranquility in their border areas pending a final settlement on the boundary question, and to maintain status quo as before March 1959.

Following the June 16 incident, Bhutan officially lodged a protest at the Chinese Embassy in New Delhi on June 20. Beijing and Thimphu do not share diplomatic ties.

The matter also came up for discussion at a border personnel meeting (BPM) between India and China at Nathu La in Sikkim on June 20.

Last Thursday, the Bhutanese Foreign Ministry issued a press release which stated Bhutan has conveyed to the Chinese side, both on the ground and through the diplomatic channel, that the construction of the road inside Bhutanese territory was in direct violation of the agreements and affects the process of demarcating the boundary between the two countries.

"Bhutan hopes that the status quo in the Doklam area will be maintained as before June 16," the statement said.

Though the June 16 incident is being seen as forcing India's hand to change the status quo in the tri-junction, it is understood that New Delhi has been approaching the matter in a reserved manner so that Bhutan does not come under pressure despite the fact that the road being constructed near Indian defence lines posed serious security implications.

The External Affairs Ministry in a statement on Friday said that India has taken up the matter with China at the diplomatic level both in New Delhi and Beijing.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
North Korea on Tuesday launched a ballistic missile into the East Sea, according to South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS).

"North Korea fired an unidentified ballistic missile into the East Sea from the vicinity of Banghyon, North Pyongan province, at around 9.40 a.m.," Yonhap News Agency quoted the JCS as saying.

Army Col. Roh Jae-cheon, a spokesman for the JCS, told the media that the missile travelled "several hundred kilometres", which means the firing was successful.

"But South Korea and the US are analysing the apogee of the missile and its exact flight distance," he said, adding "Our military is maintaining full preparedness against the possibility of North Korea's additional provocation."

A government source said the missile is estimated to have flown 800-900 km.

Japanese media reported that the missile may have landed in the country's Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).

Tuesday's launch comes after North Korea fired four surface-to-ship cruise missiles on June 8 in the wake of a ballistic missile launch about a week earlier.

It also comes amid signs that US President Donald Trump is growing increasingly frustrated with the lack of progress in curbing North Korea's nuclear and ballistic missile programmes, reports CNN.

On Friday, Trump declared US patience with North Korea was "over" and on Sunday he spoke with the leaders of both China and Japan, two important regional actors in the ongoing standoff with Pyongyang.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
North Korea fired an unidentified ballistic missile on Tuesday that flew into waters east of the Korean Peninsula, according to South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff.

The projectile may have landed in Japan's Exclusive Economic Zone, which extends 200 nautical miles from its coastline, CNN quoted Takahiro Hirano, Public Affairs Officer from Japan's Ministry of Defense.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
NDA's presidential candidate Ram Nath Kovind on Tuesday said the office of the President should be kept above party and assured the parties supporting him that he will uphold the highest esteem of the prestigious office.

Stating that he is not associated with any political party, Kovind appealed to all members of the presidential election collegiums to support his candidature.

Kovind was addressing a meeting of the leaders of Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), the ruling party of Telangana which is extending support to him.

"Ever since I became Governor of Bihar, I have been working throughout in a non-partisan manner, keeping every citizen of Bihar with equal status without any discrimination. I can assure you that I will continue to keep the position of the President above party," he told the meeting attended by TRS President and Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao, Union Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu and some other BJP leaders.

"As on today I am not associated with any political party. Of course my earlier background had been with the BJP. I had the privilege of working in the team of Venkaiah Naidu. Even after resigning the governorship I did not join any party," Kovind said.

Stating that the President is also the supreme commander of the armed forces, he said security of 'our international borders should be our topmost priority'.

"I can assure you I will always strive for all round development of the nation irrespective of caste, creed, language, region and geographical situations."

The NDA nominee said he would also do his best to fulfil the aspirations of youth and for development of modern education.

"We have to fulfil dream of new India which our honourable Prime Minister has been advocating till 2022 when we celebrate completion of 75 years of our independence."

He expressed his gratitude to NDA and non-NDA parties especially TRS and noted that TRS chief had extended him the support even before his candidature was announced.

Kovind thanked Rao for having installed many hoardings in Hyderabad in his honour and for delivering his speech in Hindi.

The TRS President said Telangana would look towards Kovind for his blessings for development. Stating that TRS is extending full support to him, Rao said he was sure to get elected with a huge majority.

Kovind, who arrived in Hyderabad in the morning, also addressed the MPs and state legislators of BJP and YSR Congress Party.

He later left for Vijayawada to meet Telugu Desam Party (TDP) President and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu and other leaders of TDP and BJP.

--IANS

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(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.)
One person was killed and six others were injured after two armed men opened fire on a group of people in the French city of Toulouse, police said.

The shooting took place on Monday night at around 9.00 p.m. (local time) in the city's La Reynerie district. The attackers managed to flee on a motorcycle, reports Xinhua news agency.

Two of the injured were reported to be in serious condition, according to local media reports.

"No possibilities are ruled out, but there is no terrorist element at this stage," regional authorities said.

Citing a source close to the investigation, the Europe1 broadcaster said the shooting is likely linked with settlement of old scores between gangs.

Last July, a Russian man of Chechen origin was shot dead by an unknown gunman on a scooter in La Reynerie.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Strongly condemning the extortion bid at Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose's grand nephew and Trinamool Congress MP Sugata Bose's house by members of a construction syndicate, West Bengal's opposition leaders and eminent persons on Tuesday termed the 'syndicate raj' as a deep-rooted problem in the society and blamed the ruling party of patronising the offenders.

The state's opposition parties unanimously accused the Trinamool of giving refuge to such "miscreants and extortionists" under their party's banner and claimed several ruling party leaders were involved in it.

"It is shocking that such incidents are happening in the house of the descendents of a statesman like Netaji inside the Chief Minister's constituency. A Trinamool MP and a former parliamentarian of the party reside there. This simply shows the audacity of these miscreants," BJP's National Secretary Rahul Sinha told IANS.

"This shows even the family of Netaji is not safe from these extortionists. It is a deep-rooted problem in the state," he noted.

Accusing Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of discreetly nurturing such miscreants for serving her party's interests, Sinha claimed that Banerjee's promises to eradicate the syndicate culture were mere attempts to portray her image of honesty in public.

"The Chief Minister scolds her ministers and vows to take action against the syndicate in public and in front of the cameras. This is nothing but her clever attempt to eye wash people and portray her honest image in public," he alleged.

Echoing Sinha, state Congress president Adhir Chowdhury said the Trinamool was synonymous with the state's syndicate culture.

"Trinamool Congress and syndicates are synonymous. Before the last assembly election, some of their party leader themselves admitted that the party would not be able to function if the syndicate rackets are stopped," Chowdhury told IANS over phone.

Referring to the imprudence of the miscreants who dared to threaten a ruling party MP at his residence, he said: "When you allow lumpens to thrive under your party banner, that's what happens. Now the genie is out of the bottle."

Painter Shuvaprasanna Bhattacharya expressed shock at the audacity of the extortionists who intruded into the house to demand money and insulted prominent personalities like Sugata Bose and his mother and former MP Krishna Bose.

"These people have no respect for eminent personalities in the society. How could they enter the house of a statesman like Netaji? Or harass an eminent professor like Sugata Bose," he exclaimed.

The artist, also known for his proximity to the state's ruling party, however, claimed that no political parties could be blamed for the hooliganism, as such people change their political affiliation for their own benefit.

Around 10-12 motor-cycle borne youths entered Bose's residence on Monday and demanded that construction materials for the ongoing repairs of the house be taken from them. They spoke aggressively with Krishna Bose and even had an altercation with Sugata Bode.

"These people wanted that cement, sand and other materials should be taken from them. When I asked them to leave the house, they left."

Following a complaint lodged at Ballygunge police station, the six were arrested within hours and produced in court on Tuesday.

"The six accused have been remanded in judicial custody till July 6," a police officer said.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Police have arrested an 11-year-old boy in Pakistan's Lahore city for killing his minor sister for teasing him over his "poor handwriting", the media reported on Tuesday.

Nine-year-old Eman Tanvir was found strangled at her grandmother's house in the city's Shalimar area on June 30, reports Dawn news.

Earlier, the police had taken the victim's stepmother Saba into custody for interrogation but later released her.

A senior police official on Monday said the victim and her elder brother Abdul Rehman had come to spend Eid holidays at their grandmother's house.

"The siblings held a handwriting competition when their grandmother was not home," the official said.

He said Eman teased Abdul for having poor handwriting. This annoyed the boy who put a scarf around his sister's neck and strangled her to death.

The official said Abdul also cut his arm and locked the door of the room from inside to conceal his crime.

Later when the boy was interrogated he confessed to killing his sister.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
President Pranab Mukherjee will attend the convocation ceremony of the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) on Wednesday in the city.

"The President, who is also the Visitor of the 109-year-old premier institute, will deliver the convocation address and interact with its students and faculty on the occasion," said a statement here on Tuesday.

Mukherjee will also honour 677 students, including post-doctoral research scholars, post-graduates and graduates passing out from the institute with awards and medals.

The ceremony will be held at the J.N. Tata Auditorium in the sprawling green campus of the science institute in the city's northwest suburb.

Karnataka Governor Vajubhai R. Vala and Chief Minister Siddaramaiah will participate in the ceremony in the presence of other dignitaries and select invitees.

"Vehicular movement and traffic on the route from the old HAL airport in the city's eastern suburb to the institute will be regulated and restricted to make way for the President's convoy," police said in a statement.

--IANS

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Union Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu on Tuesday said the presidential election was not an ideological fight as some opposition parties were trying to project it.

Addressing a meeting organised by the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) in honour of NDA's presidential candidate Ram Nath Kovind, he said commitment to the Constitution and capacity of the candidate was the only criteria.

Dismissing the claim by the Congress and some other opposition parties that it is an ideological fight, the senior BJP leader said the only ideology the President should have is commitment to the Constitution.

"Other ideologies have no place," remarked Naidu, adding that the President has no power to take political decisions but only acts as a constitutional head and the supreme commander of the armed forces.

"The ideologies have already been decided in 2014 when people voted overwhelmingly for (Prime Minister) Narendra Modi," added the central minister.

He said some parties were trying to divert attention by speaking about commitment to democracy.

"Who are talking of commitment to democracy, those who imposed Emergency. They are also talking about social security. You had been in power for long but you could not provide social security. Now out of power, you are talking about it," he said targeting the Congress party.

Naidu said these parties were also speaking about social and economic disparities but these things had to be taken care of by those in power as the President can only give advice as an elderly person.

The central minister also slammed the Congress party for putting its candidate despite the NDA consulting it and the entire opposition and taking their views before announcing its candidate.

He also defended the NDA fielding its own candidate in the past, saying then the ruling alliance had not consulted it before announcing its nominee.

Naidu exuded confidence that Kovind will get elected as he was getting wide support across the country.

Terming him as the most suitable candidate, the BJP leader said as Bihar Governor he conducted himself in a non-partisan manner and hence Bihar's ruling party Janata Dal-United too, declared its support to him.

The Minister said Kovind never advocated conflict between communities and always spoke for social harmony. He said because of his commitment to the Constitution and soberness, he was earning the goodwill of larger section of the country.

Naidu said major parties outside the NDA like JD-U, Telangana Rashtra Samithi, Biju Janata Dal, both factions of AIADMK, YSR Congress Party, Indian National Lok Dal and several other smaller parties have declared their support to Kovind.

--IANS

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Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's elder son Hussain Nawaz on Tuesday appeared before a Joint Investigation Team (JIT) for the sixth time in connection with the Panama Papers probe into his family's assets.

His younger brother Hassan Nawaz faced the JIT on Monday, while his sister Maryam Nawaz will appear before the team for the first time on Wednesday, reports Dawn news.

Following Hassan's appearance, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar also faced the JIT on Monday in connection with the probe, which has entered its final week.

The minister, who is also the father-in-law of Nawaz Sharif's younger daughter, is the eighth member of the extended Sharif family to be summoned for questioning.

On June 15, Nawaz Sharif appeared before the JIT and became the first sitting Pakistani Prime Minister to appear before a probe team.

The six-member JIT is due to present its report to the apex court on July 10.

In its judgment of April 20 in the Panama Papers case, the Supreme Court had constituted the JIT and empowered it to summon the Prime Minister, his sons and any other person to investigate allegations of money laundering, Dawn news reported.

The Sharif family is alleged to have purchased four apartments in London's Park Lane area through money laundering.

--IANS

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Madrid, July 4 (IANS/MAP) Spanish police have detained a radicalised individual suspected of disseminating extremist propaganda of the Islamic State (IS) terror group.

The suspect, a 31-year-old man of Moroccan origin, was arrested on Tuesday in Collado Mediano, a mountain town located in the Madrid region, some 48 km northwest of the Spanish capital.

According to reports, the suspect used anonymous browsers to access and gather extremist content on encrypted pages in the so-called deep web, which he then propagated in Spain.

Security agents were conducting searches on the man's property to gather potential evidence of his prolific use of social media through which he was suspected of maintaining contacts within Spain as well as abroad.

Agents from the European Union's law enforcement agency, Europol, participated in the arrest and were working to establish the exact scope of the suspect's international network of contacts.

The Interior Ministry in a statement highlighted the importance of tackling terrorist propaganda online, considering that groups such as the IS and Al Qaeda boast a multitude of Internet platforms aimed at spreading their message, recruiting and giving orders to would-be militants.

Spain's terror alert status has been at its second-highest level since June 2015.

--IANS/MAP

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US President Donald Trump has slammed Kim Jong-un in response to North Korea's latest ballistic missile launch and warned him that South Korea and Japan's patience is running out.

"North Korea has just launched another missile. Does this guy have anything better to do with his life?" Trump tweeted on Tuesday.

"Hard to believe that South Korea and Japan will put up with this much longer. Perhaps China will put a heavy move on North Korea and end this nonsense once and for all!" he added.

Earlier on Tuesday, North Korealaunched a new ballistic missile test, firing at least one missile that fell into the Sea of Japan, also called the East Sea, a spokesperson for the South Korean Ministry of National Defence told Efe news.

The launch was conducted near the Panghyon air base, where the North Korean military fired the Pukguksong-2 missile, also known as KN-15 with an estimated range of about 3,000 km, for the first time on February 12.

Japanese government spokesperson Yoshihide Suga said at a press conference that the missile was believed to have fallen into the maritime Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), which stretches some 200 km off the Japanese coastline.

This latest North Korean weapons test, the first since a cruise missile launch on June 8 and the 11th so far this year, comes just after the new South Korean president Moon Jae-in and Trump met last week in Washington to address the North Korean issue, and just hours ahead of the US Independence Day.

--IANS

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The Washington-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) breached a wall surrounding the Old City of Raqqa, the last bastion of the Islamic State (IS) terror group, the US Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a statement.

IS fighters were using the historic Rafiqah Wall as a fighting position and had planted mines and improvised explosive devices at several breaks in the wall, the CENTCOM statement said late Monday.

"Coalition forces supported the SDF advance into the most heavily fortified portion of Raqqa by opening two small gaps in the Rafiqah Wall that surrounds the Old City," CNN quoted the statement as saying.

The Rafiqah Wall surrounds the Old City of Raqqa in the southeastern part of the city, according to Syrian state media.

The wall is approximately 5 km long, 3.8 metres high and 1 metre thick. It is approximately 3 km away from the city centre.

"The portions targeted were 25-metre sections and will help preserve the remainder of the overall 2,500-metre wall," the statement said.

CENTCOM and the SDF did not specify which area of the wall was breached, reports CNN.

The US envoy for the anti-IS coalition, Brett McGurk, said Monday's operation by the SDF was "a key milestone in the campaign to liberate the city".

The SDF launched an offensive to seize Raqqa on June 6.

For over three years, IS has used the city as a staging ground for its deadly attacks in the Middle East and further overseas.

--IANS

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The Turkish Airlines said on Tuesday that the US will lift the ban on electronics on flights from Istanbul from Wednesday.

"As of tomorrow, we will put another ban, another crisis behind," Ilker Ayci, the airlines' chairman, told reporters in Istanbul.

US security officials would carry out inspections on the security measures at Istanbul's Ataturk Airport prior to the first flight to New York on Wednesday morning, the airlines' press office said.

Turkey started using US-manufactured tomography machines for luggage scan on a test basis in June end, Xinhua news agency reported.

In March, Washington banned devices larger than a smartphone in cabins on US-bound flights from 10 airports in eight countries, including Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Morocco, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Turkey, citing the threat of bombs hidden in the electronics.

The US first lifted the ban on flights from Abu Dhabi on Sunday.

--IANS

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A Japanese restaurant chain has launched a Thank you for curry campaign in India, that includes placing a billboard in Gurugram that says Thank you in Japanese. According to the restaurant chain, which has no outlets in India, its Indian curry is a bestseller in Japan and was introduced by Indian freedom fighter Rash Behari Bose 90 years ago. The campaign will continue till September in Japan, with the restaurant chain encouraging its diners to post images on a company website to show their appreciation for curry to people in India. A portion of the proceeds would be donated to the Japan-India Association. Bose (1886-1945) was involved in the Delhi conspiracy case, the attempt to assassinate Viceroy of India Lord Hardinge in 1912. Bose escaped to Japan in 1915.
The WannaCry ransomware attack in May was followed by the Petya attack last week. This attack affected the Ukrainian government and large corporates such as Maersk and Merck. In India, it affected the operations of terminals at Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT), operated by Maersk. According to Kaspersky Lab, the rate of ransomware attacks on businesses grew from one every 120 seconds in January 2016 to one every 40 seconds by October last year. The rate of attack on individuals' computers rose from one every 20 seconds to one every 10 seconds over this period. Today, it has become imperative for everyone, including entrepreneurs and small business owners, to learn how to defend themselves against such attacks.
BJP national president on Tuesday blasted the Naveen Patnaik government in Odisha for lack of development in the state and asserted that BJP will form the government in the state in 2019 winning a two-third majority in the Assembly election.
A labourer was killed and two others were seriously injured when a wall in a plywood factory collapsed in Jouria village here today, police said.

The labourers were digging an area adjacent to the wall inside the factory when it collapsed, resulting in on the spot death of one among them and injuring two others, they said.

The deceased has been identified as Sanjeev Kumar (24), resident of Radaur in this district, police said.

The injured are undergoing treatment at a hospital, they said.

A case has been registered and investigating initiated, they added.

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The Mumbai Police today seized around 700 kgs of meat, suspected to be beef, from a tempo at Shivaji Nagar in suburban Govandi.

The tempo driver and cleaner have been detained, a senior police official said.

The meat was apparently brought for sale from Panvel in neighbouring Raigad district, he said.

Acting on a tip-off, the police searched the tempo parked on a roadside in Shivaji Nagar and seized the consignment.

Samples have been sent to the Forensic Science Laboratory in Kalina here for examination, Deputy Commissioner of Police (zone-VI) Shahaji Umap said.

The seized meat has been handed over to the municipal authorities for disposal, he said.

"We have detained the driver and cleaner of the tempo and their interrogation is on," the DCP said, adding that appropriate action will be taken after they receive the chemical analysis report of the seized meat.

Under the Maharashtra Animal Preservation (Amendment) Act, the slaughter of bulls and bullocks, besides cows is banned in the state.

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A citizens' forum today demanded that the Centre terminate all its contracts awarded to PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), and accused it of indulging in "forgery", which the auditing major rejected.

Activist lawyer Prashant Bhushan of the 'Citizens Whistleblowers Forum' alleged "inaction" on the part of successive governments against the firm, despite adverse findings, including by a Joint Parliamentary Committee.

Bhushan told reporters, instead of letting the law take its due course, the Centre has involved the PwC in major tasks including "in the black money probe" while the Reserve Bank of India has used its services for audit of its information systems.

"We deny the allegations made. PwC has always complied and will continue to comply with applicable laws and regulations and any suggestion to the contrary is merely speculative," PwC said in a statement, reacting to the allegations.

Justice (retd) AP Shah, RTI pioneer, Aruna Roy, former finance secretary EAS Sharma, Jagdeep Chhokar of the Association for Democratic Reforms, former navy chief Admiral Ramdas and former Chief Information Commissioner Wajahat Habibullah are the other members of the forum.

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Bangladesh authorities today launched an investigation into a blast at a factory that killed at least 11 workers, the latest disaster to hit the country's lucrative but notoriously unsafe garment industry.

Dozens of workers were inside the factory on the outskirts of Dhaka when the boiler exploded on Monday evening, causing a section of the six-storey building to collapse.

It was unclear what caused the explosion, which occurred during maintenance work on the boiler at a time when most workers were off for the Eid holidays.

"We were meant to open the factory today after the Eid holiday so we were checking the equipment yesterday," said operations director Mesba Faruqui.

"If it had happened today, God forbid, there might have been more casualties."



The government said it had formed a committee to investigate the explosion, the latest disaster to hit the country's $30-billion garment industry.

The plant in the Gazipur industrial district is owned by manufacturer Multifabs, which makes clothing for brands including Littlewoods and Aldi according to its website.

The collapse of the nine-storey Rana Plaza factory complex in April 2013 in which than 1,100 people were killed was seen as a wake-up call for the industry, which supplies clothing for major brands all over the world.

In the wake of the disaster, authorities pledged to improve working conditions at factories but accidents are still commonplace.

Only a few hundred of the country's 4,500 textile factories have been certified as safe and last year a fire at a factory just miles from Rana Plaza claimed 34 lives.

A survey this year by global charity Action Aid of more than 1,400 Rana Plana survivors found nearly half were still jobless while roughly 31 percent were too traumatised to work.

There have also been demands for an increase in the basic monthly wage of $68 for the country's four million garment workers, most of whom are women.

Three workers remain unaccounted for after the latest disaster, and district administrator Mahmud Hasan said the toll could rise further.

"The search and rescue operation is still ongoing. The rescuers are trying to reach the boiler room under the debris to look for any further casualties," he told AFP.

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The Union government today assured "full funding" to Jammu and Kashmir under flagship schemes like Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojna (RKVY) and micro irrigation scheme to develop agriculture sector in the state.

Union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh today met Chief Minister Mehbooba here and discussed several issues of agriculture sector pertaining to Jammu and Kashmir, an official spokesman said.

Mehbooba asked for liberal assistance to the state under the flagship schemes and also highlighted the need for setting up cold chains in the state to minimise post harvest losses.

She informed Singh that the state government has introduced a special scheme in horticulture sector under which apple and mango villages are being developed in the state.

"With the establishment of the cold chains the fruit would reach the markets in time and even the value additions could be made into the produce," she said.

The Union minister assured the Chief Minister that the Centre would provide full funding to the state under these programmes.

On the research activities in agriculture sector, the chief minister apprised the Union minister of the activities conducted at SKUAST, Central Institute of Temperate Horticulture and other research stations.

During the meeting, the spokesman said the desirability of setting up of a horticulture university in view of the huge horticulture produce also came up for discussion.

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The city will witness several changes in the traffic system in the heart of the city as construction of underground tunnels for East West Metro railway begins this week in the bustling business zone.

One of the most important of these changes is closure of the Brabourne Road flyover, which carries huge traffic round the clock from Howrah through Howrah bridge to the metropolis, for three days.

The critical construction of the underground corridor from the banks of River Hooghly towards Dalhousie in the heart of the city through the highly congested Burrabazar area using tunnel boring machine (TBM) would begin from the midnight of July seven.

"The TBM will start working from the river bank into the city on July six," general manager (administration) of Kolkata Metro Railway Corporation Ltd (KMRCL) A K Nandy told PTI here.

"Traffic on the flyover and underneath at Brabourne Road will be closed from July eight to July ten," Nandy said.

"We have held talks with the city mayor and Kolkata Police for arrangements in this regard," he said.

Traffic that pass through the flyover will be diverted to other roads like Strand Road and Mahatma Gandhi Road as also the second Hooghly bridge, which is located a few kilometres away from Howrah bridge.

Burrabazar, through which Brabourne Road passes, is known as the trading hub of eastern India and is always choc-a-bloc with vehicles and pedestrians on working days.

Two major roadblocks in the construction of the tunnel in Burrabazar area and Mahakaran station at Dalhousie were recently removed after KMRCL got the go-ahead from Archeological Survey of India (ASI) and Calcutta High Court.

The ASI permitted KMRCL to lay the underground metro line and build Mahakaran station at Dalhousie area, near Currency Building and two synagogues, which are heritage structures.

Laying down the conditions for such construction, the National Monuments Authority said "all construction above the ground, including Mahakaran Metro station, shall be beyond the 100-metre prohibited area of Centrally Protected Monuments."



The construction of the tunnel will require vacating two very old buildings, one each on Strand Road and Raja Woodmunt Street, on both sides of the flyover.

Vacating some other buildings may also be done later as the TBM approaches Dalhousie area through Brabourne Road, Nandy said.

The high court had given the go-ahead to plans to temporarily shift the residents of these buildings during construction of the tunnel.

"We have made arrangements for the stay of the residents of these two buildings in a hotel and we will also provide food to them," Nandy said.

AFCONS, which is carrying out the construction work of the tunnel, had moved the high court seeking relief over delay owing to the issues related to occupiers who are not evacuating some old buildings in Burrabazar area and permission for construction near or under the three heritage buildings in Dalhousie area.

The 14.67 km-long East West Metro corridor connecting Howrah with Salt Lake Sector V has suffered delays in completion schedule owing to various reasons.

A decades-old minibus stand in front of former state secretariat Writers' Buidling, from where 16 routes to different parts of the city originated, will be dismantled from Wednesday.

"These buses will now do a round about of the Dalhousie area and move out after passengers alight and board," city Mayor Sovan Chatterjee said.

Several tram routes, which travelled to and from Dalhousie area, the city's oldest office district, will also be suspended for three years during which construction of the tunnels and Mahakaran station will be done.

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Condemning police action against a Dalit group planning to protest against the Yogi Adityanath government, the Congress today accused the BJP regime in Uttar Pradesh of "adopting double standards" in its treatment of the community.

"Dalits, who were on their way to Lucknow from Gujarat to express their anger, were stopped and sent back from the Jhansi railway station yesterday. Those expressing solidarity with them in the state capital, including a retired IPS officer, were also taken into custody...This spells out the double standards of the ruling party towards Dalits," alleged Congress spokesman Ashok Singh.

Citing reports of shampoo and soaps being distributed in a Dalit locality before the chief minister's visit there, he said this was the "reality of BJP's Dalit prem".

In yesterday's incident in Lucknow, retired IPS officer S R Darapuri and seven others were detained and later released by the police for attempting to take out a rally.

In another instance, a group of Dalits from Gujarat, on their way to the state capital with a plan to gift a 125-kg soap to Adityanath as a mark of protest, were stopped and sent back from the Jhansi railway station.

Singh said, "BJP president Amit Shah and other leaders of the party are now eating food with Dalit families in a bid to woo them...These are the same people who used to criticise Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi when he did the same thing."



"BJP is a party of double standards. It says one thing and does another," he alleged.

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The Congress is planning to take out 'path yatras' (roadshows) to counter the BJP's 'Parivartan Rath Yatra' (chariot march) in Himachal Pradesh.

During the yatras, which are likely to be attended by party vice president Rahul Gandhi and othes senior leaders, Congress workers would cover every booth, village, block and district of the state on foot, Himachal Congress chief Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu told reporters after a party meeting here today.

He said 7,000 young people would be associated with the yatras, which would be undertaken in three phases. The first phase will be from July 18-24, the second one from August 1-7 and the third and final phase from August 15-21, he added.

Through these yatras, the party aims at highlighting the achievements of the incumbent government in the state and failures of the Narendra Modi government at the Centre.

Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh was not present at the meeting, which was attended by state ministers Vidya Stokes, Sujan Singh Pathania and Dhani Ram Shandil.

Earlier, state Youth Congress chief Vikramaditya Singh had announced a 'Vikas Prachar Yatra' (development message) to counter the BJP's chariot march.

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An Assistant Sub-Inspector of the Rajasthan police allegedly committed suicide by shooting himself with his service revolver in the Sawaimadhopur district of the state, police said today.

Kishore Singh (59), who was posted in the police lines, shot himself in the head when he was in his quarters, they said.

"The matter came to light when he didn't came out of his room in the morning," SP Maman said.

Preliminary investigations revealed that he had been under stress due to some family issues for the last few days, he said.

The body was handed over to his family members after post mortem, Maman said, adding the matter was being investigated.

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A court has convicted an Israeli man for an arson attack at the church where Christians believe Jesus performed the miracle of the loaves and fishes, court documents said today.

The district court in the Galilee city of Nazareth found Yinon Reuveni guilty of "aggravated arson" and two counts of criminal conspiracy for the June 2015 attack.

A date for sentencing was not set.

The court transcript did not give Reuveni's date of birth, but Israeli daily Haaretz said he was 22 and from the rogue Jewish settlement outpost of Baladim, in the north of the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

Two rooms of the Church of the Multiplication complex in Tabgha on the Sea of Galilee were badly damaged in the fire, but the church itself was not damaged.

Hebrew graffiti was found at the site, reading "Idols will be cast out" or destroyed. The text is part of a common Jewish prayer.

The Roman Catholic church remained closed until February while the damage caused by the fire was repaired at a cost of around one million dollars, of which the Israeli government contributed almost $400,000.

Reuveni's lawyers have 45 days in which to appeal.

Tabgha was subjected to a previous attack in April 2014 in which church officials said a group of religious Jewish teenagers had damaged crosses and attacked clergy.

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Bollywood actor Paresh Rawal has said all the jokes made about Pakistan in his upcoming movie "Guest iin London" are in good humour and one should take it in the right spirit.

When the trailer of the movie was out, some of Rawal's fans across the border were offended as it featured certain jibes at the neighbouring country.

When asked about the same, Rawal told reporters last evening, "It's just in humour, there is nothing serious about it. We have cracked jokes about us too. So don't be so touchy, don't make an issue about it."



The 67-year-old actor was speaking at a special event of "Guest iin London" here.

Director Ashwni Dhir, who was also present at the event, said there was nothing anti-Pakistan in the film.

"There are good, healthy jokes in the film... It's not about Pakistan, these are just good jokes. We have cracked jokes about ourselves in the film too. So don't be serious about it, it's a funny film."



"Guest iin London" starring Kartik Aaryan, Kriti Kharbanda, Rawal and Azmi, is scheduled to release this Friday.

Ashwni said along with his comic timing, he has been a huge fan of Rawal as the actor can bring in a lot of depth in his roles.

"It isn't just about his comic timing. He has done such terrific emotional scenes, I told him I remembered actor Balraj Sahni while looking at him. As an actor he is complete. He is always ready to surprise you.

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The electoral office in Gujarat has launched a month-long special electoral roll revision drive from July 1, before a final list is published in September, ahead of the assembly elections due later this year.

"We have launched a special drive for summary revision of electoral list till July 31. The drive includes a lot of other factors like addition of new booths -- we have added 1,900 new booths, taking total number of booths to 50,128," chief electoral officer B B Swain told PTI.

A final list will be published on September 25.

A voter can consult the booth level officer, or go to the state election commission website, use mobile phone SMS service and helpline number -- 1950 -- to check his electoral roll details, and fill in forms 6, 7, 8 and 8(A) to add, delete, correct, and transfer his name, respectively, as per his requirement.

"The one month period will also have three special drives on Sunday (July 9, July 16 and July 23)," Swain said.

The final voter list will be published on September 25, he said.

As part of the drive, voter list will be read out in special meetings of village council, resident welfare associations in the respective areas between July 7 and July 21, Ahmedabad collector Avantika Singh said.

As per draft voter list, Ahmedabad has a total 51,39,846 voters as on July 1.

Any person who attains the age of 18 on January 1, 2017, will be eligible to add his name in the list, she said.

"We have appointed designated officers and campus ambassadors across colleges in the district to carry out the drive to add the names of such youth to the voter list. A voter is required to check their names in electoral roll with booth level officer even if he has a voter card," she said.

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Rather than imparting knowledge, education in India has become a "commercial commodity", rued eminent scientist G Madhavan Nair, who also spoke out strongly against the tendency of parties to make campuses a training ground for budding politicians.

The former Chairman of Indian Space Research Organisation said "real education" is not being imparted to children who in fact are being "spoon-fed", and most of the evaluation exams are memory-tests rather than gauging their understanding of the subject.

"That's why the education system has deteriorated considerably. Result is that the people who come out even after graduation or engineering, they are not employable. They don't have the basic understanding of the subject, don't have the skills for applying knowledge for practical applications and this is resulting in a pathetic situation," he told PTI.

Quality is the "first casualty" at many of India's private institutions, which are only interested in increasing student intake number and making money, according to him.

"I think basically education has become a commercial commodity these days rather than acquiring excellence in knowledge," Nair said.

He, however, said institutions such as IITs and Indian Institute of Science in Bengaluru are maintaining their standards mostly because they get "best of the students" on their campus but they need to raise their level from global perspective.

He expressed the view that one should not mix politics with education.

"Today, there is a bad tendency. There are many political parties who want to use these institutions for building up their cadres, and that should be stopped," Nair said.

Instead, he said, interested political parties can start a separate institute for training politicians, rather than converting educational institutions for such a purpose.

Nair stressed that the thrust of education should be on improving observation, analytical and communication skills of students, in addition to cultivating moral values.

"These should form the basis of primary education. Once the foundation is strong and you show them the way how to acquire knowledge, that is sufficient. There is no point in just doing 10,000 answers by-heart, that will not take you anywhere. Education system should be an enabler, that kind of change is required," he said.

Nair also regretted that talented people are not coming into the teaching profession, adding, teachers are not being given proper and professional training.

Stressing that quality is a must in teaching, he said teachers also need to be evaluated periodically.

Nair advocated adopting some basic lessons from "Gurukul system", particularly strong relation between the teacher-student and the parent.

"That ambience has to be created. Evaluations should not be based on annual exam. It should be constant evaluation where the parent also participates in a very scientific manner. Moral studies have to be given strong base in early part of education," he said.

Nair said three language (Hindi, English and local language) policy has to be adopted in all the states. Hindi is a link language, while English cannot be kept out of our system, he said, adding, basic education can be imparted in a much more efficient manner in local language.

He also favoured giving students an option to study Sanskrit. "Sanskrit is one of the most scientific languages, learning that, I understand, will improve analytical skills of the individual.

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Digital cross-border payments company InstaReM today said it has raised investments worth USD 13 million from GSR ventures, SBI-FMO ventures, Vertex Ventures, Fullerton Financial Holdings (FFH) and Global Founders Capital (GFC).

The Singapore-headquartered company, co-founded by Mumbai-bred Prajit Nanu, will use the investments to build its global payment infrastructure, it said in a statement here.

The investments will also be used to boost the employee-strength of its office in Mumbai where most of the company's teams are based, it said.

"The fund-raise is significant on multiple counts. GSR has a strong network in China and the US whereas SBI-FMO has a strong base in Japan and emerging markets. Jefferson Chen from GSR ventures now joins the InstaReM board," Nanu said.

The company claims it has grown eight times in volume since its March 2016 funding.

In total, InstaReM has now raised over USD 18 million.

The fintech has the capability to now send payments to over 50 countries with a guaranteed destination amount on the same day.

By start of the October-December quarter of 2017, InstaReM will be available across all markets in Europe and the US, in addition to Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong and Canada, the company said.

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: Following are the top stories from the northern region at 2145 HRS:



DES10 JK-ASSEMBLY-MEDIA



Srinagar: A special GST session of the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly here delayed for nearly two hours as the media boycotted the House and opposition parties refused to take part in it till "curbs" on reporting of the proceedings were lifted.

DES11 JK-ASSEMBLY-GST



Srinagar: The Jammu and Kashmir Assembly began discussions on a resolution moved by the government for implementing the GST regime without affecting the special status of the state.

DES14 JK-AMARNATH-TOLL



Srinagar: Two pilgrims die after paying obeisance at the 3,880-metre high holy cave shrine of Amarnath in south Kashmir, taking the death toll in the ongoing yatra to six, officials say.

DEL2 JK-ENCOUNTER



Srinagar: A third militant killed in an encounter with security forces in Pulwama district of south Kashmir as the operation enters the second day, police say.

MDS2 TN-LD-ISIS OPERATIVE



Chennai/Jaipur: Rajasthan Police's Anti Terrorism Squad detained a man from Chennai in connection with its probe into a case of funding the terror group ISIS.

DES16 UP-RTI-YOGA



Lucknow: The AYUSH Ministry spent over Rs 34 crore for International Yoga Day celebrations in the past two years, an RTI query reveals.

DES21 POL-VHP-COW



New Delhi: Supporting cow protectors or 'gau-rakshaks', the VHP says they are "victims not tyrants", adding that the strong meat lobby is trying to malign the holy vow of cow protection.

DES35 UD-ODF-STATES



New Delhi: Around 1,100 towns and cities in Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Kerala and Telangana set to be declared Open Defecation Free (ODF) by October 2, the day the Centre launched the ambitious 'Swachh Bharat Abhiyan' in 2014.

NRG13 UKD-MISSING CHILDREN RESCUED



Dehradun: As many as 331 missing children rescued by police from different parts of Uttarakhand last month as part of its drive Operation Smile which traces missing children and reunites them with their families.

NRG2 JK-AMARNATH



Jammu: Another batch of 1,786 pilgrims leavesJammu for the high-altitude Amarnath cave shrine of Lord Shiva in south Kashmir Himalayas.

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India today said freedom of navigation was "imperative" for enhancing regional peace and stability and boost trade, in a clear reference to the South China Sea dispute where China has been ramping up its military strength.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said India wants to further boost cooperation with ASEAN and commerce, connectivity and culture will be the key areas to strengthen the ties with the regional bloc.

She was speaking at Delhi Dialogue, an annual forum aimed at enhancing India's interaction with the ASEAN countries.

She said India and ASEAN are facing the common traditional and non-traditional security challenges and both sides have consciously forged collaborations, bilaterally and through ASEAN-led fora such as East Asia Summit and expanded ASEAN Maritime Forum, to ensure regional peace and security.

"Freedom of navigation and respect for international law, notably UNCLOS (United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea) is therefore imperative in this context," she said.

Her comments came amid China's growing military assertiveness in the South China Sea where it has sent naval ships and military jets to "warn off" a US missile destroyer sailing close to an artificial island built by it.

Speaking on the occasion, Deputy Prime Minister of Vietnam Pham Binh Minh also referred to the South China Sea dispute sought India's support to maintain safety, security and freedom of navigation in the area.

"We welcome India's active contribution and hope it will continue to support our efforts to maintain safety, security and freedom of navigation in order to promote peace and cooperation in the South China Sea on the basis of international law," he said.

Pham said prosperity of ASEAN and India depends on security and safety of the trading routes in the Indian and Pacific oceans. Vietnam is also party to the maritime dispute.

India has commercial interests in the South China Sea and has been pressing for resolving the dispute as per United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, besides advocating favoured freedom of navigation in the resource rich area.

Swaraj said India will continue to step up cooperation with the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) member states in the areas of cyber security, anti-piracy and other transnational crimes.

She said India was committed to enhance maritime cooperation with ASEAN to realise the full potential of the ocean economy.

"We will continue to step up cooperation in countering terrorism, cyber security, anti-piracy and other transnational crimes," she said.

Contending that India's cultural linkages with Southeast Asia has been "without any conquest or colonolisation", Swaraj said it's engagement with the ASEAN is at the "heart"of its Act East Policy.

"Future focus areas of cooperation between ASEAN member states and India can be described in terms of three Cs- commerce connectivity and culture. This rests on stability and security," the External Affairs Minister said.

The inaugural session of the two-day forum was attended by ministers and top officials from Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Laos, Singapore, Vietnam, Indonesia, Mynamar and Thailand.

"We remain committed to ASEAN to enhance our maritime cooperation to realise the full potential of our ocean economy," Swaraj said.

She also highlighted the government's reform initiatives to boost trade and investment in India and referred to the rolling out of the Goods and Services Tax, calling it the biggest tax reform since independence.

"These steps have opened new opportunities for trade and investments into India.

"I invite companies from ASEAN countries to take advantage of these opportunities for investments in India in numerous sectors such as smart cities, roads, highways, ports, railways, power and urban infrastructure," she said.

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About seven kgs of gold valued at about Rs two crore was seized from two passengers, who arrived at the Karipur airport near here from Bahrain by the DRI officials.

According to DRI officials, the passengers, who cameby an Oman Airways flight via Muscat which landedaround 4.30 am, were intercepted following special intelligence inputs.

They seized 3.7 kgs of gold, brought in as machine parts, from the baggageof Muhammed Koya.

About 3.29 kgs of gold, hidden in an iron box, was seized from the baggage Abdul Rahim.

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The way graveyards are expanding in the national capital, there would be no place to live, the Delhi High Court observed today.

Asking the authorities to find out about the burial practices prevailing elsewhere in the world, a bench of Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice C Hari Shankar said as the population was rising, the death rate was also growing, but the land remained the same.

"The way you are expanding graves, there will be no place to live. There is no place for people to live. There is space only for graves. Please help the city to live. Where will you bury people who die now? Find out what is the practice in the world," the bench said.

It also said that several illegal activities were also going on in the graveyards.

The observations came as the bench heard pleas related to unauthorised construction inside the Amir Khusro Park near Sundar Nagar in South Delhi.

When the counsel for Waqf Board said the population of Muslims has grown by 1.2 per cent in last 10 years, the bench shot back "has the land grown in that proportion? It remains the same."



"Already Christian cemeteries are facing a problem. You say population is increasing, ... Do you have the land to bury people now. Hindus have started opting for electric cremation as there may not be enough trees to get wood for cremation. What can be the substitute for Muslims," it observed.

During the hearing, the bench also asked the Waqf Board counsel to go and inspect the structures at the park and inform it which of these were pre-existing and which ones were new.

"We will protect only the old structures. New structures are not liable to be protected. We are here to see that the law is abided by," it said and listed the matter for further hearing on July 10.

The bench also asked the authorities to remove debris from the demolished structures in the park.

The court had earlier observed that the right to life of residents cannot be put to risk by allowing encroachments, which could lead to insanitary conditions.

It had earlier dismissed a plea seeking review of its May 16 order declining to stay demolition of some structures in the park.

The review plea was moved by some persons who were living inside the park and claimed to be the descendants of past caretakers of a shrine there.

It had directed the DCP of south-east district as well as the Station House Office of the police station concerned to investigate the complaints of fraudulent and criminal activities and act against those found indulging in illegal acts.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The teething problems in Goods and Services software infrastructure is hurting Indo-Bangla trade at Petrapole and other land borders.

"We are facing problems since July 1. The infrastructure of GST is not adequate and not working smoothly though trouble shooting efforts are being taken. Due to this cross border truck movement is very slow," Calcutta Customs House Agents Association president Sujit Chakraborty told PTI.

"We are trying to get shipping bills or bills of entry for imports but lot of errors are taking place slowing the process of clearance. There is no proper guidance," he said.

Against an average of 350 trucks crossing Petropole to Bangladesh earlier, it has been reduced to 100 trucks now. Trade worth more than Rs 15000 crore takes place through Petrapole.

The problem at Gojadanga land border at Basirhat is more than at Petrapole, while there are reports of hurdles at Mahadipur land port in Malda district due to the new GST software.

The system-related hurdle has added to the woes of the exporters at the border.

"The intregated check post built at Petrapole could not be harnessed at its full capacity due to lack of proper road of just 300 m in the Bangladesh end and now due to lack of storing capacity. Choked roads are preventing trade movement," Chakraborty said.

A lot of Indo-Bangla trade is in perishable goods and damage to them is not ruled out if GST system is not geared up, he added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Haryana government will set up an environment-friendly transportation system in Gurgaon on the pattern of Poland, state Minister Kavita Jain said today.

The Urban Local Bodies Minister, who is leading a delegation on a visit to the plant of JBM Solaris Electric Vehicles Limited in Poland's Ponzan, said "In the first phase, 75 to 100 electric buses would be operated".

As compared to ordinary buses, each electric bus would help save about 4.25 lakh litres diesel and reduce carbon emissions by 1,150 tonnes in ten years of operation, she was quoted as saying in a Haryana government release.

This would help in improving the environment, she said, adding that the central and state governments were committed towards operating electric vehicles in the country.

In the first phase, electric vehicles would be operated in Gurgaon, which has excellent infrastructure and facilities in residential, commercial and public sectors, and is located in the national capital region, she said.

This would not only reduce traffic congestion, but also provide better public transport system to an average of 50,000 people every day.

Gurgaon Metropolitan Development Authority, Municipal Corporation, Gurgaon and Haryana State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation (HSIIDC) would bear 50 per cent, 40 per cent and ten per cent of the cost of the project, respectively, she said.

JBM Group has already established plant for manufacturing of CNG buses in Ballabhgarh near Faridabad, which would soon begin manufacturing electric buses under the Make in India programme, she added.

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Muslims in Indonesia and Malaysia were urged to boycott Starbucks today by major Islamic groups accusing the coffee chain of being pro-gay rights, as concerns grow over rising religious conservatism in both nations.

Leaders from Muhammadiyah, Indonesia's second biggest mass Muslim organisation, also urged the government to revoke the company's business licence for its stance on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) issues.

"The ideology, business and view that they support are against our ideology," Anwar Abbas, Muhammadiyah's head of economic affairs, told AFP.

Another Muhammadiyah leader, Yunahar Ilyas, said the group was calling on "Muslims to not drink in Starbucks so that the income is not used to strengthen LGBT campaigns".

Starbucks Indonesia did not immediately respond to AFP requests for comment.

The firm is among a slew of US companies to have spoken up against discrimination in the US, with representatives signing a letter to North Carolina's Republican governor protesting legislation targeting transgender people last year.

Hardliners and Islamic groups have led a growing backlash against Indonesia's LGBT community over the past year, which activists believe was triggered by widespread media coverage of a decision in the United States to legalise same-sex marriage.

The group Pribumi Perkasa Malaysia this week also called on the government to "re-evaluate the trading licence given to companies that support same-sex marriages and LGBT," spokesman Amini Amir Abdullah said in a statement.

The Muslim leaders said concerns about Starbucks arose after reading Starbucks chairman's comment when tackling a shareholder's complaint in 2013 that the company were losing customers due to the firm's stance on LGBT.

At the time, chairman Howard Schultzman, then the chief executive, responded by asking the shareholder to sell the shares.

Homosexuality has long been taboo in Malaysia, where 60 percent of the population is Muslim, and where sodomy is a crime punishable by up to 20 years in prison.

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The head of Iran's Revolutionary Guards today described Saudi Arabia as a "terrorist state" as he announced his position had been extended for three years.

Major General Mohammad Ali Jafari's 10-year stint as commander of the elite military force was due to expire in three months.

But in a speech carried by the semi-official Fars and Tasnim agencies, he said it would continue until at least 2020.

In a speech at a Guards meeting in Tehran, he highlighted the threat from Saudi Arabia, which backs opposing sides to Iran in several regional conflicts.

"Today, the Saudis are becoming a terrorist state in the region," he said.

"Today in our region only the countries that are powerful enough will remain safe," he added.

"We face an enemy that only understands the language of force, so we cannot speak to the enemy with another language."



However, Jafari said there was still room for negotiations.

"Some try to say that we are against interaction with the world and seek war," he said.

"I say with a loud voice that the Sepah (Revolutionary Guards) also seek peace, but peace can only be realised and last if the enemy is scared of starting a war with us and fears its consequences."



Jafari, 59, rose through the ranks during the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s. Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei chose him to lead the Guards in September 2007.

The Guards are a parallel military force set up to safeguard the 1979 Islamic revolution.

They oversee Iran's external operations in Syria, Iraq and beyond, as well as running their own domestic intelligence and economic operations.

The United States has strict sanctions on the group, accusing it of terrorist activity and destabilising the region.

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The proposed bid to slash the number of tribunals today caught the attention of the Supreme Court which cited media reports and asked whether the Centre was planning to abolish quasi-judicial panels.

The NDA government has recently proposed to bring a law to slash the number of tribunals from present 36 to 18.

"Is the government going to abolish the tribunals? The media reports say so," a bench of Justices M B Lokur and Deepak Gupta asked Additional Solicitor General Tushar Mehta who was representing Maharashtra government in an appeal filed against an order of the National Green Tribunal.

The NGT had stopped the chairpersons of 10 state pollution control boards (SPCBs), including that of Maharashtra, from assuming office and start working with immediate effect on the ground that they have not been appointed in consonance with the judgement of the tribunal.

The state government, besides other reliefs, is seeking an immediate stay on the NGT order.

Mehta said NGT order was not justified as it cannot direct making of rules in a particular manner.

"A tribunal which itself is created under the statutes cannot direct making of rules in a particular manner. The NGT order of June 8 needs to be stayed," the ASG said.

The bench then observed, "that's why you are saying that you will abolish the tribunals".

Mehta said "No, I am representing a state but the issue at hand is a national issue".

The bench then posted the matter for hearing on Monday.

The green panel on June 8 had ordered the chiefs of SPCBs of Maharashtra, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, Kerala, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Manipur to stop functioning.

Maharashtra has contended that the NGT order has brought the working of the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board to a standstill.

The NGT had slammed the 10 states for making ad-hoc appointments and granted three months to Delhi government and two months to Punjab and Uttar Pradesh for making appointments to their pollution control boards as per the guidelines issued by it.

In August last year, it had asked state governments to fill the vacancies in the boards as per the guidelines laid down by it and file the report. It had asked them why they should not be directed to stop functioning as chairmen as they were not appointed in compliance with the judgement of the tribunal.

The green panel, which had issued a slew of guidelines for appointments to the posts of chairman and member secretary, had in August said the nominations should be of persons who have "special knowledge, practical experience or qualification in environment protection studies" and not on the ground of their association with state government.

The tribunal said the chairman or member secretary should have a fixed term, which should not be extended. Such persons should not hold office in the board in accordance to their tenure in state government.

The judgement had come on a plea by Uttarakhand resident Rajendra Singh Bhandari, who had challenged the constitution of state pollution control boards on the ground that people who did not qualify were appointed as chairman, member secretary and members of these boards.

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Italy today launched a crackdown on organised crime in the south of the country, deploying more than a thousand police in a hunt for members of the 'Ndrangheta mafia, local media said.

Helicopters, sniffer dogs and teams specialising in detecting bunkers and other hideaways joined the operation, they said.

It targeted 116 individuals from 24 crime families, sought for criminal association, extortion, fraud, illegal possession of arms and other offences.

Based on tightly knit clans, the 'Ndrangheta has its stronghold in Calabria, the "toe" of Italy, although recent arrests have shown it is also operating in northern Italy and has expanded to other European countries.

It is widely believed to have outstripped the better- known Sicilian and Neapolitan mafias through its successful cocaine trafficking from Latin America.

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Italy's foreign ministry summoned the Austrian ambassador today after Vienna said it was considering introducing border controls to block migrants from passing between the two countries.

The ministry said the move followed "the declarations of the Austrian government concerning the deployment of troops to the Brenner Pass" on the border.

Vienna's defence minister was quoted Monday saying his country would "very soon" impose border checks and deploy soldiers on its frontier with Italy if the influx of migrants across the Mediterranean does not slow.

"I expect that very soon border controls will be activated and that an assistance deployment (by the military) will be requested," Hans Peter Doskozil told the online edition of the Krone daily.

He was cited as saying that this move was "indispensable if the inflow into Italy does not ease". The newspaper said that 750 soldiers were available and that four armoured vehicles had already been sent to the area over the weekend.

Austria introduced checks on its eastern border with Hungary in 2015 and has readied physical measures such as barriers on its Italian border to the south-west, including at the famous Brenner Pass.

More than 85,000 migrants and refugees have arrived in Italy by sea this year, the UN refugee agency has said. More than 2,000 others have died or gone missing on the perilous crossing.

The comments from the centre-left Doskozil come ahead of early elections in Austria in October when the anti- immigration far-right is forecast to do well and potentially emerge as the biggest party.

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India and Vietnam today explored ways to deepen defence cooperation and deliberated on the situation in the disputed South China Sea which is witnessing growing Chinese assertiveness.

Defence Minister Arun Jaitley held talks with Vietnam's Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh Minh during which various aspects of defence cooperation between the two countries were discussed.

The two sides also deliberated on the regional security situation and explored ways to further boost defence cooperation, sources said.

Vietnam is also a party to the dispute involving territorial claims by China in the resource-rich South China Sea where India has commercial interests.

Pham Binh, who is also Vietnam's foreign minister, is understood to have apprised Jaitley about the situation in South China Sea.

The security cooperation between India and Vietnam is on an upswing and earlier this year the two countries elevated their ties to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership to respond to emerging regional challenges.

While China claims sovereignty over almost all of the South China Sea, the other countries laying claim over parts of the area are Vietnam, Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan.

China has increased its assertiveness in the South China Sea in the last couple of years.

It has scrambled naval ships and military jets to "warn off" a US missile destroyer sailing close to an artificial island built by it in the disputed area.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lu Kang said in a statement late Sunday night that China had dispatched military vessels and fighter planes in response to warn off the US vessel. Separately, Minister of State for Defence Subhash Bhamre met senior Minister of State for Defence and Foreign Affairs of Singapore Maliki Osman and discussed ways to deepen bilateral cooperation in the areas of defence and security.

Bhamre also meet Industry Minister of Belarus Vitaly Vovk and discussed possible cooperation in the areas of defence production.

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World number one Angelique Kerber kicked off her bid to return to the Wimbledon final with a 6- 4, 6-4 win over Irina Falconi, while Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic prepared to start their All England Club campaigns.

With defending champion Serena Williams sidelined while she prepares to give birth to her first child, the race to lift the Venus Rosewater Dish is the most wide open in a generation.

Kerber, the 2016 Australian and US Open winner, is among the favourites after reaching last year's final.

The German has failed to maintain that form this season and her poor run culminated in an embarrassing French Open first round loss to Ekaterina Makarova last month.

But top seeded Kerber showed glimpses of her best form as she saw off American qualifier Falconi in 87 minutes on Centre Court.

The 29-year-old faces Belgian world number 88 Kirsten Flipkens for a place in the last 32.

"All the memories came back. It was amazing what happened last year," Kerber said.

"I'm happy to be back, but this year is completely different for me. I'm just happy I'm through the first round."



As the United States celebrated Independence Day, American 24th seed Coco Vandeweghe, the grand-daughter of a former Miss America, beat Mona Barthel 7-5, 6-2.

Australian qualifier Arina Rodionova, ranked 166th, saved seven match points before defeating Russian 16th seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 3-6, 7-6 (8/6), 9-7.

Kiki Bertens, the Dutch 23rd seed, was beaten 7-6 (7/4), 7-5 by Romanian world number 63 Sorana Cirstea.

In the men's draw, French 22nd seed Richard Gasquet slumped to a 6-3, 6-4, 5-7, 6-2 loss against Spain's David Ferrer.

It was the first time Gasquet, a two-time Wimbledon semi-finalist, had lost in the first round since 2006.

- Title rivals -



================



Argentina's Juan Martin Del Potro, a Wimbledon semi- finalist in 2013, defeated Australian Thanasi Kokkinakis 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (7/2), 6-4 as the 29th seed moved towards a potential third round classic against Djokovic.

Rising British star Kyle Edmund won for the first time at Wimbledon after four successive opening round losses.

Edmund, 22, beat compatriot Alex Ward, ranked 869th, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-1.

Later on Tuesday, Federer, chasing a record eighth Wimbledon title, starts his 19th All England Club campaign against Ukrainian world number 84 Alexandr Dolgopolov.

Having unexpectedly won the Australian Open in January before taking the clay-court season off to rest, Federer can lay down a marker to his title rivals by claiming a record 85th match win at Wimbledon.

That would take the 35-year-old past Jimmy Connors into sole possession of the first place on the day he makes his 70th Grand Slam appearance, equalling Fabrice Santoro's Open era record.

Three-time champion Djokovic opens his bid to regain the All England Club crown against world number 47 Martin Klizan of Slovakia.

Djokovic crashed out in the third round at Wimbledon last year and has endured the worst run of his career in 2017, the 12-time major winner losing in the second round in Melbourne and the quarter-finals in Paris.

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Describing the Constitution as "Gita, Quran, Ramayan and Bible" all rolled into one, NDA presidential candidate Ram Nath Kovind today said he would always strive to maintain its supremacy after he is elected to the post.

Addressing MPs and MLAs of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and the BJP as part of his election campaign in Andhra Pradesh, Kovind said the Constitution was the only guide book by which a president was supposed to work.

"I will always strive for the all-round development of the nation, to fulfil the aspirations of the youths and for the development of modern education.

"For a president, the Constitution is supreme. It is the Gita, Ramayana, Quran and Bible. It is very important to maintain and uphold the supremacy of our Constitution," Kovind noted.

"The president also happens to be the supreme commander of the armed forces. Security of our international borders should be our topmost priority," he added.

"For a president, the well-being of every citizen of the country, every section of the society, irrespective of the caste, creed, region, religion or geographical location, is most important.

"We have to fulfil the dream of a New India by 2022 when we will be celebrating the completion of 75 years of our independence," the 71-year-old former Bihar governor said.

He expressed gratitude to the NDA and other parties that have supported his candidature for the top constitutional post for the election for which will be held on July 17.

Speaking at the event, Union minister M Venkaiah Naidu rejected the Congress' claim that the presidential election was a contest of ideologies.

"It is a false political propaganda they are indulging in. What is their ideology? Is imposing Emergency and jailing opposition leaders and stifling the media your ideology?" Venkaiah asked.

Asserting that the NDA nominee would win the presidential election with a significant majority, the Union minister said, "We are united, they are divided. We are confident, they are diffident."



Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu said Kovind's elevation as President would enhance the pride and prestige of the country. "We are very happy to support such an intellectual," he said.

Union ministers P Ashok Gajapati Raju, Y S Chowdary, BJP national general secretary Muralidhar Rao, state ministers, MPs and legislators attended the event.

Earlier, Kovind was received at the airport by the chief minister.

The NDA candidate garlanded a bust-sized statue of TDP founder N T Rama Rao and offered floral tributes.

He also offered floral tributes to freedom fighter Alluri Sitaramaraju on his birth anniversary.

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Sri Lankan military said today it has released 54 acres of land to nearly 190 families from the minority Tamil community and ended its control over a major fishing harbour after almost 30 years in the former war zone of Jaffna.

The release came as a positive response from the military to the long-standing demands of the Tamil people and supports the pledge of President Maithripala Sirisena, who vowed during his election campaign to work towards achieving reconciliation with the minorities.

The land and the fishing harbour border Sri Lankan military's Palaly Army Cantonment, the ColomboPage reported.

The Sri Lankan Army said in a statement that 187 families, who reside as Internally Displaced Persons since 1990 will now be able to return to their lands and resume their fishing livelihood after an absence of nearly 30 years.

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) ran a nearly three-decade separatist campaign leading to a bloody war with the Sri Lankan security forces.

According to the UN figures, up to 40,000 civilians were killed by the security forces during former president Mahinda Rajapaksa's regime that brought an end to the brutal conflict with the defeat of the LTTE in 2009.

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The benchmark Sensex moved in a small range with a negative bias today, hit by a fresh spell of selling in consumer durables, capital goods and realty.

Energy shares traded up.

The Sensex resumed higher at 31,331.21 and hovered between 31,353.46 and 31,174.24 before reading 31,203.62 at 1136 hours, down 18 points, or 0.06 per cent.

The NSE Nifty was also down 7.50 points, or 0.08 per cent, to 9,607.50 at 1136 hours.

Major losers were Hero MotoCorp (2.09 per cent), Dr Reddy's (1.45 per cent), Wipro (1.29 per cent) and Axis Bank (1.19 per cent).

Asian shares rose on market strength in the United States as oil's longest stretch of daily price gains in over five years lifted the energy counter. Markets in Seoul were briefly shaken by a missile launch by North Korea, which comes on the eve of the Independence Day in the US.

Better-than-expected auto sales and a strong report on US factories also boosted stocks.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth a net Rs 804.67 crore yesterday, as per provisional data.

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A prominent government critic, who was believed to have been blindfolded and abducted from his home, was today found safe in southwestern Bangladesh, police said.

Farhad Mazhar, 69, was found sitting in a bus with a travel bag in western Jessore, indicating he could be travelling on his own.

"Mazhar said unidentified people abducted him yesterday as he went out of his house (in the capital). We will review his statement," Dhaka police's Joint Commissioner Abdul Baten said.

A senior police official earlier told newsmen in Jessore "it does not look like a case of abduction" as Mazhar was found to be carrying his travel bag as a joint team of police and elite Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) rescued him while family members said the writer habitually carry the bag which contains different things, including books".

The CCTV footage of the writer's neighbourhood in Dhaka showed him walking away with a man yesterday.

Mazhar was brought to Dhaka under security cover while family members met him at detective police headquarters in the capital where officials quizzed him initially ahead of producing him before a magistrate for delivering his statement as part of a legal procedure.

"He would be handed over to his family after he makes his statement before the magistrate later today," Baten said.

Previously known to be an ultra-left writer, Mazhar, also a poet, visibly took a U-turn by throwing his weight behind ultra-right or fundamentalist Jamaat-e-Islami as its top leaders were being tried for committing warcrimes during the country's Liberation War of 1971.

In opposing the warcrimes trial, Mazhar also appeared as a harsh critic of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's government.

Mazhar's wife earlier said she had received a call from her husband who said he was being taken away and feared for his life while another by unidentified people demanding a ransom demand of 3.5 million taka (USD 43,300) for her husband.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's trademark hug was again at display on Tuesday when he clasped his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu in a warm embrace at the Ben Gurion airport here, not once but thrice.

In what has become a keenly-watched ritual, Modi has notably embraced most of the foreign leaders whom he has met over the last three years.

These include Barack Obama and his successor President Donald Trump.

Trump, to whom Modi reached out for a hug during his recent visit to Washington DC, had appeared to be taken aback before he reciprocated.

Netanyahu today reciprocated with gusto to the Indian prime minister's gesture.

Before Trump, Modi had embraced Russian President Vladimir Putin during his visit to St Petersburg last month when he went to attend the St Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) as a special guest.

Earlier, Modi had hugged Obama often during their interactions.

Among other world leaders with whom Modi has shared embraces are French President Emmanuel Macron, his predecessor Francois Hollande, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and Crown Prince of UAE Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

Significantly, Modi had shared a warm embrace with Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif too when he made an unscheduled visit to Lahore in December 2015.

(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.)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi today visited the Danziger "Dan" flower farm along with his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu to gain first hand information about the latest innovations and advancements in floriculture.

The Danziger flower farm is one of Israel's leading floriculture companies with approximately 80,000 square meters of state-of-the-art greenhouses specialising in reproduction of plants.

The farm, founded in 1953, is located in Moshav Mishmar Hashiva, about 56 km from Jerusalem, in central Israel.

Soon after landing, Prime Minister Modi visited the Danziger flower farm in Moshav Mishmar Hashiva along with Netanyahu and Agriculture Minister Uri Ariel to learn about latest innovations and advancements in floriculture.

The visit to the farm highlights that one of Israel's key interests in closer cooperation with India is its expertise in agricultural technology, officials said.

Danziger flower farm developed into a company of 200 employee from a small family business, growing and selling cut flowers.

Today, the farm produces young plants and cuttings for the local market and for more than 60 countries all over the world.

Earlier, Modi was greeted by Netanyahu along with the top tier of Israel's leadership -- known as segel aleph -- an honour afforded to only a few select leaders like US presidents and popes.

Modi's three-day visit to Israel is the first by an Indian prime minister to the Jewish nation.

During the visit, the two leaders will discuss common challenges like terrorism and ways to boost the economic ties.

The prime minister will be in Israel till July 6 before travelling to Hamburg in Germany to attend the G-20 Summit.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi today visited the Danziger "Dan" flower farm along with his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu in Mishmar Hashiva where they were briefed about the latest technologies being used for floriculture.

The Danziger flower farm is one of Israel's leading floriculture companies with approximately 80,000 square meters of state-of-the-art greenhouses specialising in reproduction of plants.

"Beginning with a focus on agriculture... Prime Minister Narendra Modi visits the Danziger Flower Farm," Office of the Prime Minister said in a tweet.

"At the Danziger Flower Farm, advanced agriculture technologies were showcased by the Israeli Government," it said in another tweet.

"In another special gesture, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu accompanied Prime Minister @narendramodi to the flower farm.

"The two leaders were briefed about the research technologies being used there for floriculture," the office said in a series of tweets.

The farm, founded in 1953, is located in Moshav Mishmar Hashiva, about 56 km from Jerusalem, in central Israel.

"Reaffirming potential of deeper cooperation in Agriculture! Prime Ministers visit Danziger Flower farm -- a leading facility for Research and Development in plant varieties," Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Gopal Baglay said in a tweet.

Soon after landing, Prime Minister Modi visited the Danziger flower farm in Moshav Mishmar Hashiva along with Netanyahu and Agriculture Minister Uri Ariel to learn about latest innovations and advancements in floriculture.

The visit to the farm highlights that one of Israel's key interests in closer cooperation with India is its expertise in agricultural technology, officials said.

Danziger flower farm developed into a company of 200 employee from a small family business, growing and selling cut flowers.

Today, the farm produces young plants and cuttings for the local market and for more than 60 countries all over the world.

Earlier, Modi was greeted by Netanyahu along with the top tier of Israel's leadership -- known as segel aleph -- an honour afforded to only a few select leaders like US presidents and popes.

Modi began his "path-breaking" visit to Israel with his counterpart Netanyahu extending an extraordinary welcome and asserting that "even sky is not the limit" in the cooperation between the two countries.

Modi's three-day visit to Israel is the first by an Indian prime minister to the Jewish nation.

During the visit, the two leaders will discuss common challenges like terrorism and ways to boost the economic ties.

The prime minister will be in Israel till July 6 before travelling to Hamburg in Germany to attend the G-20 Summit.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Nepal's Vice President Nanda Bahadur Pun today left for China leading a business delegation and address a meeting on cooperation and development along the ambitious Silk Road project initiated by Beijing.

The 23rd China-Lanzhou Investment and Trade Fair will be held in Lanzhou, the capital of the northwestern Gansu Province on July 6.

During the visit, the Vice President will address the High-profile Forum for Cooperation and Development along the Silk Road and also deliver a keynote speech to the business community on the theme "Nepal- China (Gansu) Economic and Trade Cooperation Exchange Conference" on July 7, according to a statement issued by Nepal's Foreign Ministry.

Vice President Pun is also scheduled to meet senior Chinese leaders during the visit. Pun will also visit two historical cities of Shaanxi Province of China - Xi'an and Yan'an, where the provincial Chinese leaders will call on the former Maoist leader.

He is accompanied by his spouse Hastamali Pun and senior officials at the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Commerce. He is scheduled to return Kathmandu on July 10.

Nepal is the guest of honour country at the trade fair. Nepal recently signed the Belt and Road projects initiated by China.

The Belt and Road projects aims to enhance connectivity and cooperation among countries, primarily between China and the rest of Asia and Europe through land as well as maritime routes.

Nepal signing the deal with China raised some concerns in India, which has opposed Beijing's initiative. India has reservations over the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, part of the One Belt One Road, as it is proposed to pass through the Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

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"He speaks about you all the time," Israeli Communications Minister Ayoub Kara told Narendra Modi today, reflecting the warm personal chemistry between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his Indian counterpart.

Kara made the remarks during his interaction with Modi who was being introduced to the Israeli ministers by Netanyahu at the Ben Gurion airport just after his brief speech.

"Welcome sir," Kara said when Netanyahu introduced him to Modi, who had brief chats with most of the ministers.

"We like you so much. He speaks about you all the time," he told Modi, pointing his finger to Netanyahu who describes the Indian prime minister as his friend.

Modi laughed on hearing this and placed his left hand on the minister's shoulder.

When Modi introduced Netanyahu to National Security Adviser Ajit Doval, the Israeli prime minister said, "Good to see you again. I am glad the day came fruition. You have something to do with it."



Doval had travelled to Israel in early March to prepare the ground for the first-ever prime ministerial visit from India to the Jewish state.

Religious leaders of different faiths in Israel also met Prime Minister Modi at the airport.

"God bless you," the justice minister told Modi.

When introduced to Modi, the agriculture minister said, "Salom, welcome. I want to make business (with India).

Modi smiled and responded, "You're most welcome.

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A new fast-growing Israeli flower was on Wednesday named after Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in a special gesture to mark the first visit of an Indian Prime Minister to the Jewish nation.

Israeli Crysanthumun flower will now be called "MODI", officials here said.

"New fast-growing Israeli Crysanthumun flower named in honor of Prime Minister and will be called "MODI". Indeed, a #GrowingPartnership!," Israel's official twitter handle said in a tweet.

"Crysanthumun flower will be named in honour of Prime Minister . The flower will be called 'Modi'," Office of the Prime Minister tweeted.

Earlier, Modi visited the Danziger "Dan" flower farm along with his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu in Mishmar Hashiva where they were briefed about the latest technologies being used for floriculture.

"Commemorating Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit, Danziger Flower Farm names the flower Crysanthumun as 'Modi.', on the name of Prime Minister," Press Information Bureau said in a tweet.

"A symbol of blooming in a special gesture, a new fast growing variety of chrysanthemum flower named after Prime Minister Narendra Modi," External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Gopal Baglay tweeted.

Crysanthumun flower will be named in honour of PM @narendramodi. The flower will be called 'Modi.' pic.twitter.com/4qLALtxHzP  PMO India (@PMOIndia) July 4, 2017

The Danziger flower farm is one of Israel's leading floriculture companies with approximately 80,000 square meters of state-of-the-art greenhouses specialising in the reproduction of plants.

The farm, founded in 1953, is located in Moshav Mishmar Hashiva, about 56 km from Jerusalem, in central .

Modi was greeted by Netanyahu along with the top tier of Israel's leadership -- known as segel aleph -- an honour afforded to only a few select leaders like US presidents and popes.

Modi began his "path-breaking" visit to with his counterpart Netanyahu extending an extraordinary welcome and asserting that "even sky is not the limit" in the cooperation between the two countries.

His three-day visit to is the first by an Indian prime minister to the Jewish nation.

(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.)
Numaligarh Refinery Limited (NRL) today launched its start-up initiative to foster an entrepreneurial culture in the Northeast region.

The initiative, IDEATION 2017, aims to focus on prospective entrepreneuers from the region by selecting promising ideas and assisting them to grow, NRL's Managing Director P Padmanabhan said during the launch.

The initiative is in line with NRL's Corporate Vision and Mission of providing an impetus to the development of the region, he said.

It is also in line with the Centre's ambitious Start-up India Mission which fosters to build a start-up ecosystem in the country.

IDEATION website featuring details of the scheme and other details was also launched on the occasion.

The website would also facilitate online submission of start up ideas till August 15, 2017.

To carry forward the initiative, IDEATION 2017 contest has been announced for selection of innovative ideas in the domain of technology, product innovation and business process improvement.

The three categories identified for the contest include ideas requiring seed funding for incubation to make it ready for commercialization for which an amount of Rs 10 crore has been earmarked.

In the second category, commercially viable innovation requiring early stage funding and in the third category funding for young start-ups would be scaled up.

The IDEATION launch was attended by hundreds of budding entrepreneurs representing academic institutions like IIT Guwahati, Assam Engineering College, entrepreneurs registered under MSME and local start up clusters viz. Assam Start-up and NE8X.

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi



today left for Israel, first by an Indian prime minister to the Jewish nation, where he will discuss with his counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu the common challenges like terrorism and ways to boost the economic ties.

Modi will be in Israel till July 6 before travelling to Hamburg in Germany to attend the G-20 Summit.

In Israel, he will also meet President Reuven Ruvi Rivlin and address the CEOs of the two countries as well as the Indian diaspora.

He will also visit the Yad Vashem Memorial Museum to honour the memory of the victims of the holocaust that counts among the greatest tragedies in human history.

Modi will also pay his respects to the courageous Indian soldiers who laid down their lives during the liberation of Haifa in 1918.

"I begin a historic visit to Israel, a very special partner of India's... As the first Indian prime minister to do so, I am greatly looking forward to this unprecedented visit that will bring our two countries and people closer," he had said in a statement here yesterday.

"I look forward to holding extensive talks with my friend, @IsraeliPM @netanyahu, who shares a commitment for vibrant India-Israel ties," he had tweeted.

The prime minister had said he will have "in-depth talks" with Netanyahu "on the full spectrum of our partnership and strengthening it in diverse fields for mutual benefit. We will also have the chance to discuss major common challenges like terrorism."



This year, India and Israel are marking 25 years of their diplomatic relations.

"My programme during the visit gives me an opportunity to engage with a cross-section of Israeli society. I am particularly looking forward to interacting with the large vibrant Indian diaspora in Israel that represents an enduring link between our two peoples," Modi had said.

On the economic side, he had said, "I will join with leading Indian and Israeli CEOs and start-ups to discuss our shared priority of expanding business and investment collaboration on the ground."



On July 6, the prime minister will travel to Hamburg for the G-20 Summit being hosted by Germany on July 7-8.

The theme chosen for this year is 'Shaping an Inter- connected World'.

"I look forward to engaging leaders from other G-20 countries on the vital issues affecting our world today that have a bearing on economic growth, sustainable development, and peace and stability," he had said.

"We will review progress on decisions since the Hangzhou Summit last year and deliberate on issues of terrorism, climate, sustainable development, growth and trade, digitalisation, health, employment, migration, women's empowerment, and partnership with Africa," Modi had added.

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi today made an impromptu visit to the grave of Theodor Herzl, who is considered as the founding father of Zionism, at the suggestion of his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu.

Modi, who visited the Yad Vashem Museum and honoured the victims of the Holocaust, was suggested by Netanyahu, apparently spontaneously, that they visit the grave of Herzl born Benjamin Ze'ev Herzl - which lies adjacent to the memorial.

Prime Minister Modi agreed on the suggestion and the two leaders visited the marble tomb at Mt. Herzl.

Modi placed a small rock on the marble tomb as Netanyahu watched with a smile.

"PM Netanyahu and @PMOIndia Modi visited Mt. Herzl in Jerusalem, and paid their respects to the founder of modern Zionism, Theodor Herzl," the official Twitter account of the Office of the Prime Minister of Israel tweeted.

It also posted a brief video that showed Modi placing his hand on the tomb.

"Before departing the Yad Vashem complex the leaders visited the Grave of Theodor Herzl - Chozeh HaMedinah (lit. "Visionary of the State")," Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Gopal Baglay tweeted.

Herzl was an Austro-Hungarian journalist, playwright, political activist, and writer who is considered the founding father of Zionism - a movement to establish a Jewish homeland.

He died in 1904 at the age of 44 and buried in a cemetery in Vienna. In 1949, his remains were moved from Vienna to be reburied on the top of Mount Herzl in Jerusalem, named in his memory.

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "standalone" visit to Israel is a good way to concentrate on the bilateral achievement "without other issues affecting" them, Israeli envoy David Akov said today.

The Israeli envoy made the remark in reply to a query on his country's stand on the possibility of the Indian premier visiting Ramallah. Modi is skipping a visit to Palestine during his trip.

"It's not for us to decide. This is clearly an issue for the Indian government to deal with. We believe that the standalone visit as this is called ... We think it is a very good way to visit Israel. This (visit) is a good way to concentrate on what we can achieve bilaterally, between the two countries without other issues (Palestine) affecting (them).

"I think this (visit) is a very good way, but again this is not our decision. It is the decision of the Prime Minister and the Government of India," the Consul General of Israel in Mumbai told reporters.

He was responding to a query on what would be the stand of Israel on the possibility of Modi visiting Ramallah, the de facto administrative capital of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) in the central West Bank, during his "historic" visit to the Jewish nation that began today.

Modi is the first Prime Minister of India to visit Israel.

Akov said India and Israel have been cooperating in the fields of agriculture and water management.

"We have expanded our cooperation to security and the joint statement of both the governments have also mentioned issues like digital health and digital transportation.

"The Israel government has already declared that it has formed special funds worth Rs 500 crore, which is the largest so far for any government of Israel, for such tie-ups and cooperation on various sectors," he said.

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Union minister M Venkaiah Naidu today deprecated attempts at projecting the presidential poll as a "fight of ideologies", insisting there was no place for ideologies in the functioning of the president who does not have "political decision making powers".

Apparently referring to the opposition's presidential nominee Meira Kumar's comments here yesterday that she was fighting an "ideological battle", Naidu said the only ideology the president could have was the commitment to the Indian Constitution.

"They are trying to politicise this (presidential) election. Politics is in elections. (They say) this is an ideological election. (This is) not an ideological election. President does not have political decision-making powers," he said.

"(They say) fight of ideology. The only ideology president can have is commitment to the Constitution of India. That is the only ideology. Other ideologies have no place," the minister said.

Kumar, who is pitted against Ramnath Kovind, the NDA nominee and a fellow Dalit, had said she was fighting an "ideological battle" and that it should not been misconstrued as a Dalit versus Dalit contest.

She had targeted the Modi government over the "atmosphere of fear" prevailing in the country, and insisted she was fighting for "freedom of expression and freedom of press".

Kumar, a former speaker of the Lok Sabha, had said,"There is so much of fear about what one should eat. There is fear about what one should say. I am also fighting for freedom of expression, freedom of press."



Hitting back, Naidu said,"my friends from the other side, I don't want to name the parties... They are trying to divert the attention, saying 'commitment to democracy'. Who is talking about it, who imposed Emergency, put all of us in jails? They are talking about democracy."



Asserting that the president could only tender advice to the government, he alleged that the opposition was talking about issues like social security and economic disparities which are not issues of immediate concern in a presidential election.

It would have been good had the Congress not fielded its candidate as the NDA consulted and sought suggestions of the Congress, the Left and other opposition parties before finalising the name of Kovind, he said.

"It would have been good if the Congress had not put up a candidate. In democracy, everybody has got a right to contest an election. I am not questioning that," he said.

Kovind rose from humble origins and became a lawyer in the Supreme Court. He also worked as the head of the BJP's Scheduled Castes Morcha, and served as Bihar Governor, he said.

Naidu was speaking at a reception hosted by Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao for Kovind.

During a whirl-wind visit to Hyderabad, Kovind interacted with the Telangana legislators belonging to the TRS, BJP, TDP and also the YSR Congress.

The NDA nominee has received support even from non-NDA parties like Nitish Kumar's JD(U), the BJD, YSR Congress and the TRS, and he is sure to win, Naidu said, thanking Rao for supporting Kovind's candidature.

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The Police today busted an inter-state racket allegedly involved in cheating hundreds of people from various states by posing as employees of banks and fraudulently withdrawing money from their bank accounts.

As per the initial investigation, the amount of Rs 30-35 lakh has been withdrawn in the last two years from various bank accounts in Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Delhi, and were transfered to the accounts ostensibly opened by the members of the gang under fake identities.

Police today arrested Hukum Singh Yadav (19), a resident of Astari village in Tikamgarh district, in this regard. Interestingly, Yadav is only class X pass, according to a senior official.

Police have identified 14 persons who they suspect were working for Yadav.

Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Harinayaranchari Mishra told reporters that the kingpin of the gang was identified as one Shailendra Yadav who has been operating from Delhi.

Explaining the modus operandi of the gang, the DIG said Shailendra Yadav used to obtain names and phone numbers of bank customers.

"The gang members then used to call the customers on their registered mobile numbers by posing as the employees associated with helplines of banks.

"They used to make customers part with their confidential information under the pretext of raising their daily ATM withdrawal limit, linking their Aadhar number with PAN card etc. Subsequently, they used to withdraw money from the bank accounts of the customers and transfer them to fake bank accounts and e-wallets," Mishra said.

The DIG said the kingpin of the gang also lured some minors from Tikamgarh district for cheating people.

Shailendra Yadav and his associates are absconding, he added.

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Rajasthan Police's Anti Terrorism Squad (ATS) has detained a man from Chennai in connection with its probe into a case of funding the terror group ISIS.

Harun Rashid's name was revealed by Jamil Ahmed, who was arrested in November last year from Sikar for allegedly arranging funds for the terror group.

Rashid will be brought to Jaipur from Chennai by a team for further interrogation, Additional Director General of Police, ATS, SoG (Special Operations Group) Umesh Mishra said.

Earlier, the ATS had arrested Iqbal alias Travel Haq from Chennai in a money laundering case.

Iqbal used to transfer money to Ahmed in Dubai through Western Union from China and Hawala from India.

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The RBI today released Rs 2,600 crore for the banking community in Telangana for lending to farmers in the ongoing kharif season.

The amount was released following a directive from Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.

According to an official release, the amount was more than the earlier commitment of Rs 1,700 crore made by the Centre to the state.

"...On the subject of availability of cash to the farmers in the banks of Telangana for the kharif season, Shri Arun Jaitley (Finance Minister) directed the Reserve Bank of India to release more funds to Telangana and advised the banking community to utilise the funds for farmers.

"As per the directive, the RBI, on Tuesday 4th July, 2017, released Rs 2,600 crore - ie Rs 900 crore more than the tentative commitment of Rs 1,700 crore made as of 1st July, 2017," the release said.

With this, each erstwhile district of Telangana - Adilabad, Nizamabad, Ranga Reddy, Warangal, Karimnagar, Khammam, Nalgonda and Mahaboobnagar - would get Rs 150-200 crore, Rs 50 crore more than the original commitment, it said.

Union Minister for Labour and Employment Bandaru Dattatraya requested the banks in Telangana to distribute the cash to farmers to tide over the currency crunch, particularly in remote and rural areas, the release further said.

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The Reserve Bank is expected to introduce Rs 200 notes in the coming months to ease pressure on lower-denomination currencies that are in short supply.

The new notes of Rs 200 should be out before the end of 2017 and will greatly help in narrowing the demand and supply gap in smaller-denomination currency bills, sources said.

They also said that there is no immediate plan to re- introduce Rs 1,000 notes.

Last year in November, the government had demonetised the old 500 and 1,000 rupee notes.

Soon, a notification may be issued by the Reserve Bank of India with regard to issuance of new Rs 200 bills.

This exercise of printing Rs 200 denomination notes is being undertaken to further improve the currency situation in the country, sources said, adding the problem people are facing due to high-value Rs 2,000 notes would also be taken care of with the circulation of Rs 200 notes.

The central bank had reportedly decided to bring in Rs 200 notes in March after consulting the finance ministry, they said. The notes are going through multiple checks for security and quality at government printing presses.

The shortage of currency notes was trigged by the scrapping of high-denomination bills last year.

In a surprise announcement, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced scrapping of old notes of Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 notes, wiping out over 85 per cent of the cash in circulation.

The move was aimed at checking black money, counterfeit notes and terror financing.

Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana (PMGKY) launched following the closure of 50-day demonetisation period did not draw a good response with only Rs 5,000 crore unaccounted income being declared under the amnesty scheme.

The scheme was launched in December last year to enable people with black money to come clean by paying tax and penalty of 50 per cent.

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Robots will start roaming South Korea's largest airport this summer, helping travelers find their boarding gates and keep its floors clean as the country prepares for its first Winter Olympics game.

Starting this month, Troika, a self-driving robot made by LG Electronics, will rove the Incheon International Airport, telling travelers how long it takes to get to boarding gates and escorting them to their flights.

A jumbo cleaning robot will help cleaning staff swab the wide expanses of floors in the airport west of Seoul.

Troika, about the size of a young teen, is equipped with a rectangular display on its front that looks like a giant smartphone screen and can show flight information, an airport map and weather data.

Its partly rounded head has a flat touchscreen face that displays blinking or smiling eyes or information.

The guiding bot responds to its name.

Travelers can insert their tickets into its scanner to get flight information, and Troika will then ask if they want to be escorted to their gates, warning laggards to "Please stay closer so I can see you."



Troika's debut piqued the interest of many in the airport. Heads swiveled and children approached with curiosity as the 140-centimenter (4 foot 6 inch) robot with its white body and black screens glided through the terminal.

Robotics is gaining ground in South Korea, where many big businesses are automating factory production lines. South Korean researchers have won awards in international robot competitions.

In 2015, South Korea's Team KAIST beat the US and Japan to win the DARPA Robotics Challenge with a humanoid that completed tasks without losing balance. But South Korea has been slow to introduce human-like robots or interactive robots in public places like hotels or stores, unlike its neighboring Japan where Softbank's humanoid Pepper is no stranger.

Incheon International Airport Corp. Believes it is the first to introduce such service-oriented robots in a South Korean public space. Another state-owned airport operator, Korea Airports Corp, which operates 15 international airports in South Korea but not Incheon airport, also has teamed up with local companies to introduce air-purifying robots to measure air quality and clean terminals.

Incheon International Airport Corp. Said in a statement that it does not expect the robots to replace human workers, but just to help, especially with overnight shifts and physically demanding tasks.

Future plans include deploying robots to advise travelers about items that are banned on flights, serve food in airport lounges and carry cargo.

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Russia and China today called for a simultaneous freeze on North Korean nuclear and missile tests and military exercises by the United States as tensions ratcheted up on the peninsula.

"The two sides propose that the DPRK (North Korea) as a voluntary political decision declares a moratorium on testing nuclear explosive devices and ballistic rocket launches, and the US and South Korea refrain from carrying out large-scale joint exercises," their foreign ministries said in a joint statement.

"Parallel to this the opposing sides should start negotiations and affirm general principles of their relations including the non-use of force, rejection of aggression and peaceful coexistence," the statement said.

The joint statement issued after a meeting between leaders Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping in Moscow followed an announcement by North Korea that it had test fired its first intercontinental ballistic missile.

The claim could be a watershed moment in Pyongyang's push to develop a nuclear weapon capable of hitting the mainland United States -- although Moscow and Washington cast doubt on the claim it was a long-range missile.

The test sparked a Twitter outburst from US President Donald Trump who urged North Korea's closest ally China to act to "end this nonsense once and for all".

In their joint statement Russia and China condemned the missile test announcement as "unacceptable" and urged against "any statements or actions that could lead to an increase in tensions".

China has previously called for a "dual track" approach of "suspension for suspension" that would see North Korea and the US ease up on tensions, and now Russia has added its weight to the plan.

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The Salem police commissioner and his two subordinates today appeared before the Madras High court in response to to a contempt of court notice for their alleged failure in removing encroachments around the Rajaganapathi temple in Salem.

The Salem police commissioner appeared before a bench of Justice N Kirubakaran along with Assistant Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) of Salem south division and ACP (Traffic).

The others, who appeared before the bench included Salem Fire and Rescue Services' division officer and the executive engineer of Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HRCE).

In their affidavits, the officials claimed that as on date there was no encroachment around the temple.

The police had fully assisted the corporation in removing the encroachments, they said.

The judge dispensed with their further appearance before the court and posted the contempt of court plea against them for further hearing to July 24.

The plea had been filed by A Radhakrishnan, a trustee of Arulmighu Sugavaneswarar Thirukoil, Salem, seeking initiation of contempt of court proceeding against police officials for their alleged failure in providing protection to a committee for inspecting and removing encroachments as ordered by the court earlier.

The judge had summoned the officials on June 22.

The matter pertained to the obstruction of drainage around the Rajaganapathi temple, a sub-temple of the Sugavaneshvarar Swamy shrine.

Special government pleader M Maharaja sought time to give details as to what action has been taken based on the joint inspection report.

He also informed the court that an FIR was pending against the petitioner for allegedly threatening Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments officials.

The judge directed the HRCE to produce the CCTV footage on the happenings said to have occurred inside the office premises on February 7, on the basis of which an FIR has been filed against the petitioner.

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The Supreme Court today asked an NGO to apprise it how it had deciphered the population details of 'Limbu' and 'Tamang' tribals in Sikkim and West Bengal by using the 2001 census data.

A bench comprising Chief Justice J S Khehar and Justice D Y Chandrachud was hearing a plea of NGO 'Public Interest Committee for Scheduling Specific Areas (PICSSA) that 'Limbu' and 'Tamang' communities, belonging to ST category, have been denied proportionate representation in West Bengal and Sikkim.

It asked lawyer Prashant Bhushan, appearing for the NGO, to provide population details about the 'Limbu' and 'Tamang' tribals on July 11, the next date of hearing.

Bhushan claimed that there was a rise in the ST population in Sikkim and West Bengal and not reserving seats for them proportionate to the growth in their population amounted to denial of their constitutional rights.

"How did you arrive at the figures that there is a rise in population of these communities from the 2001 census," the bench said.

The apex court had yesterday said the constitutional scheme that the 2001 census data would be used for giving proportionate representation to Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (ST) in Lok Sabha and legislative assemblies is "unambiguous".

However, the NGO in its plea has claimed that the population of Limbu and Tamang communities in Sikkim was 20.60 per cent in 2001 and had risen to 33.8 per cent in 2011.

It also said that in Darjeeling area of West Bengal, the ST population rose to 21.5 per cent in 2011 from 12.69 per cent of 2001.

"It is very clear that for proportionate representation, the census of 2001 shall be considered till 2026. There is no ambiguity," the bench had said.

The PIL has sought direction to the Centre, the poll panel and the two states to take steps for proportional representation of STs, as guaranteed under Articles 330 (reservation of seats for SCs and STs in the House of People) and 332 (reservation of seats for SCs and STs in legislative assemblies of states) of the Constitution, to prevent violation of Article 14 (Equality before law).

The petition said in the Tribes Advisory Council (TAC) established in West Bengal on March 6, 2012, there were no elected members of STs from the three hill area subdivisions of Darjeeling district.

"Moreover, the state assembly elections in 2016 had no reserved ST seat and hence had no implementation of articles 170 and 332 of the Constitution notified as per census 2011. The delimitated assembly seats in Darjeeling hills presently consist of elected non-ST members," it said.

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The Supreme Court today said it would examine the claims that one of the vaults of Thiruvananthapuram's historic Shree Padmanabhaswamy Temple contained extraordinary treasure with "mystical" energy.

The issue of whether to open vault 'B' of the temple was raised before the apex court, which passed a slew of directions including on the security of the treasures, auditing of accounts and repair of the deity.

A bench of Chief Justice J S Khehar and D Y Chandrachud was told by senior counsel Gopal Subramanium, who is assisting as an amicus curiae in the matter, that 'Kallara' (vault) B of the temple should be opened as it was closed "on the apprehension that there is some mystical energy".

"The experts says Kallara B should be opened because it has been opened earlier also. Kallara B may have more than one chamber .... Nothing but useless suspicion is generated about what is there in Kallara B," he told the bench.

The apex court, which observed that it cannot continue to monitor the administration of the temple, said it would deal with the issue of whether to open the vault later.

Meanwhile, the bench passed several directions regarding the functioning of temple on the issues raised by the amicus curiae in his report.

Regarding security of the temple's treasures, Subramanium said these should be confined to the temple and proper security arrangement should be made there.

He suggested that IPS officer H Venkatesh may be considered for the duty of securing the treasures as he was the commissioner of police of Thiruvananthapuram and had served in the CBI as well.

Senior advocate Arvind Datar, appearing for one of the petitioners, told the bench that an officer of the rank of superintendent of police was already holding the charge of security of the temple and its complex and was being assisted by about 200 police personnel.

"We are presently of the view that security arrangements presently in place should be allowed to be continued but with a rider that the entire responsibility of security of the temple will be with the in-charge holding the responsibility of security," the bench noted in its order.

Subramanium also told the court that there should be an audit of the manner in which the expenses were incurred for the temple's upkeep and other functions and suggested the appointment of a financial controller.

Datar, however, said there was an internal auditor and part audit has already been done.

"You see, in the Supreme Court we have a full audit section ... I feel that the treasure of the temple is far, far more than the treasure of this court," the bench said, adding, "there should be a government-appointed person to see how the expenses are incurred".

"...We request the state of Kerala to nominate a panel of three officials from the Indian Audit and Accounts Service to overlook the audited accounts of temple and to submit quarterly reports to the administraive committee for implementation of such suggestions as given in the report," the court said.

On the issue of repair of the deity, the bench said the repair work should be carried out by the experts.

"Since the request to carry repair of deity was made by this court, we would expect the experts to carry out the responsibility vested in them...," it said.

The bench also appointed former apex court judge Justice K S Radhakrishnan as chairman of the selection committee which was constituted for works, including in the Sreekovil (sanctum sanctorum).

The committee was permitted to choose the most suitable persons at the best competitive prices for the work, subject to ratification by the administrative committee.

Subramanium also told the bench that working relationship between the administrative committee of the temple and its executive officer should be clearly defined.

The bench noted that all the parties have agreed that the apex court should direct that administrative committee shall be the incharge of taking all policy decisions and the way in which it should function.

The controversy over the administration and management of the historic temple has been pending in the apex court for last few years in the wake of charges of financial irregularities.

The sprawling temple, an architectural splendour in granite, was rebuilt in its present form in the 18th century by the Travancore Royal House which had ruled southern Kerala and some adjoining parts of Tamil Nadu before integration of the princely state with the Indian Union in 1947.

Even after India's independence, the temple continued to be governed by a trust controlled by the erstwhile royal family for whom Lord Padmanabha (Vishnu) is their family deity.

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Capital markets regulator Sebi will auction a property owned by Sahara in Uttarakhand, for a total reserve price of little over Rs 223 crore, on July 28, as part of the process to recover funds from the beleaguered group.

In a public notice today, the Securities and Exchange Board of India said that SBI Capital Markets has been mandated to e-auction a 82.93 acres of land located in village - Bahadarabad and Ranipur in Haridwar, Uttarakhand.

"Sebi hereby invites bids from the intending bidders along with and amount equivalent of 25 per cent of the reserve price as earnest money to be paid through demand draft/pay order/RTGS/NEFT in favour of Sebi-Sahara Refund Account," the notice said.

The regulator said that 1.36 acres of land out of 82.93 acres has been acquired by National Highways Authority of India (NHAI).

"An amount equivalent to the valuation of 1.36 acres of land would be reduced from the successful bid amount to be paid by the successful bidder in its last tranche payment on pro-rata basis," it added.

Following directions from the Supreme Court for the sale of certain Sahara assets to recover money, Sebi has appointed SBI Capital Markets (SBI Caps) and HDFC Realty for auctioning various land parcels held by Sahara group.

In November last year, Sebi had lined up as many as five land parcels of Sahara for an e-auction at a total reserve price of over Rs 130 crore.

Besides, 13 properties were put on the block in October, and their combined reserve price was about Rs 1,400 crore and 58 properties were auctioned in July, last year, with a collective reserve price of nearly Rs 5,000 crore.

After spending two years in jail, Sahara chief Subrata Roy is currently out on parole. He was sent to jail on the orders of the Supreme Court in a long-running dispute with Sebi.

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Rajasthan Police's Anti Terrorism Squad today detained a man from Chenani in connection with its probe into a case of funding the terror group ISIS.

Haroon Rashid, a businessman based here, was taken into custody by the Rajasthan ATS. After preliminary questioning, he was taken to Jaipur by a private airline today, airport sources in Chennai said.

Rashid's name was revealed by Jamil Ahmed, who was arrested in November last year from Sikar in Rajasthan, for allegedly arranging funds for the terror group.

Rajasthan Additional Director General of Police, ATS, SoG (Special Operations Group) Umesh Mishra earlier in the day said Rashid will be interrogated after bringing him from Chennai.

Earlier, the ATS had arrested Iqbal alias Travel Haq from Chennai in a money laundering case.

Iqbal used to allegedly transfer money to Ahmed in Dubai through Western Union from China and via hawala transactions from India.

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Continuing his campaign against RJD chief Lalu Prasad's elder son, Bihar minister Tej Pratap Yadav, senior BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi today alleged that the minister was gifted over 13 acres of land when he was three years old.

Modi's fresh allegation against Lalu Prasad's family, which the RJD termed "baseless", came a day after he urged the Election Commission to disqualify Tej Pratap as a legislator for "concealing" details of assets in his election affidavit.

The BJP leader claimed that on March 23, 1992, then state minister Brij Bihari Prasad's wife Rama Devi gifted two plots - one measuring 9 acres 24 decimal and the other 3 acres 88 decimal - in the Kudhni area of Muzaffarpur district to Tej Pratap as a reward for "taking care" of her.

Rama Devi is at present the BJP MP from Sheohar.

Stating that Tej Pratap was only a three-year-old child in 1992, Modi said, "The gift deed mentioned that Rama Devi gifted the land to Tej Pratap out of sheer love and affection, and because she was impressed at the way he had "taken care" of her.

How could a three-year-and-eight-month-old child take care of or look after Rama Devi, asked the Leader of the Opposition in the Bihar legislative council.

Modi, who has repeatedly been attacking Prasad and his family for purportedly owning undeclared properties worth over Rs 1,000 crore, alleged that the land dealings needed to be probed by Income Tax authorities as the documents in question were in the public domain.

Talking to reporters on the sidelines of his weekly Janata Darbar, the former Bihar deputy chief minister said he did not know about the current status of the property, which was valued at Rs 20,000 when it was allegedly gifted to Tej Pratap.

Asked whether he had asked his party MP Rama Devi about the issue, Modi said the land deal took place long before she joined the BJP.

To a question, he said Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar should reconsider his ties with the RJD and Congress.

Modi said he would also complain with the EC against Lalu's other son, Deputy Chief Minister Tejaswhi Prasad Yadav, as he had also concealed details of his immovable assets in his election affidavit.

Reacting to the allegations, RJD spokesman Shakti Singh Yadav said Modi had been confined to the footnotes of the BJP, and that he was making baseless charges against Lalu Prasad and his family in order to remain in the media glare.

"The allegations have no basis. Everything is in the public domain. If the donor has no problem in offering a gift, why is Sushil Modi hassled," he asked.

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Robert Downey Jr says actor Tom Holland is "perfect" to play Spider-Man as the young star is physically quite gifted.

In an interview to Corp Australia Network, the 52- year-old actor praises Holland, who will be seen in the role of the popular superhero in "Spider-Man: Homecoming".

"Tom is the perfect man for the job. He's enthusiastic, bright and gifted, a very physically talented guy by virtue of his dance and acrobatic background. He has just the right combination of elements required to bring a new take on the character," Downey Jr said.

Holland was introduced in the Marvel cinematic universe in "Captain America: Civil War".

He is the third actor to play Spider-Man after Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield.

The film will release on July 7.

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The Uttar Pradesh and the Delhi Police officials today reviewed the arrangements for annual month-long Kanwad yatra.

Top police officials of Uttar Pradesh and Delhi exchanged their views on the preparations of Yatra, during which it was decided that joint raids should be carried out on drug mafias operating in Trans-Yamuna and Ghaziabad areas, official sources said.

On the occasion of Maha Shivratri on July 21, lakhs of devotees are likely to pay obeisance by Jal Abhishek on Shiv Linga in the temples of their respective areas.

City Superintendent of Police Akash Tomar said that from UP, Inspector General (Meerut Zone) Ram Kumar and from Delhi, Joint Commissioner Ravinder Yadav held the meeting here at police lines.

"The main focus was traffic and security of pilgrims till Maha Shiv Ratri," he added.

Senior Superintendent of Police H N Singh emphasised on joint police raids on drug mafias operating in Trans Yamuna and Ghaziabad.

Joint checking and patrolling on UP-Delhi borders, also verification of auto drivers will be done.

The officials also decided to share the databases of criminals and exchange routine informations about gangs active in both the states.

They also decided that calls being made on emergency number 100 from bordering colonies usually land in Delhi and UP, in such cases police of both the sates will coordinate.

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President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw the US from the Paris climate pact could "push the Earth over the brink" and turn it into a hothouse planet like Venus, renowned British physicist Stephen Hawking has warned.

Trump announced last month that the US would be withdrawing from the Paris Agreement, which has been signed by nearly 200 nations, claiming he wants to "renegotiate" the country's part in the agreement to ensure American businesses are not disadvantaged.

Hawking, arguably the world's most famous scientist, told the BBC that Trump's decision to pull out of the Paris climate agreement could lead to irreversible climate change.

"We are close to the tipping point where global warming becomes irreversible. Trump's action could push the Earth over the brink, to become like Venus, with a temperature of two hundred and fifty degrees, and raining sulphuric acid," the 75-year-old physicist said.

He also feared aggression was "inbuilt" in humans and that their best hope of survival was to live on other planets.

The Cambridge professor said climate change is one of the great dangers humanity was facing, but it could be prevented by acting now.

"By denying the evidence for climate change, and pulling out of the Paris Climate Agreement, Donald Trump will cause avoidable environmental damage to our beautiful planet, endangering the natural world, for us and our children," Hawking said.

When asked whether he felt humans would ever solve their environmental problems and resolve conflicts, Hawking was pessimistic, saying that he thought humans' days on Earth were numbered.

"I fear evolution has inbuilt greed and aggression to the human genome. There is no sign of conflict lessening, and the development of militarised technology and weapons of mass destruction could make that disastrous. The best hope for the survival of the human race might be independent colonies in space," he said.

On Brexit, Hawking feared that UK research would be irreparably damaged.

"Science is a cooperative effort, so the impact (of Brexit) will be wholly bad, and will leave British science isolated and inward looking," he said.

Asked about his legacy, Hawking said, "I never expected to reach 75, so I feel very fortunate to be able to reflect on my legacy. I think my greatest achievement, will be my discovery that black holes are not entirely black."



Hawking has had motor neurone disease for most of his adult life. It has impaired his movement and ability to speak.

"When I was diagnosed at 21, I was told it would kill me in two or three years. Now, 54 years later, albeit weaker and in a wheelchair, I'm still working and producing scientific papers. But it's been a great struggle, which I have got through only with a lot of help from my family, colleagues, and friends," he said.

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The US Pacific Command has confirmed that North Korea had tested another missile.

It said the land-based, intermediate range missile was tracked for 37 minutes and landed in the Sea of Japan.

It did not pose a threat to North America, the command said in a statement.

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A Venezuelan military court jailed 27 students accused of "rebellion" in anti-government protests, a non-governmental watchdog said today.

"The prosecutor charged them with crimes of instigating rebellion, theft of armed forces property, destruction and violation of a security zone," said lawyer Alfredo Romero, director of the judicial watchdog Foro Penal.

He said the 27 were arrested on Sunday at UPEL university in the northern city of Maracay after protests against the government.

Five other suspects, all women, were sentenced to house arrest after being detained on the same occasion, according to Romero.

Foro Penal had previously warned that scores of people were being brought before military courts over civil charges relating to recent months of anti-government unrest.

It said the 27 students were sent to regular jails, bringing to 433 the total number of what Foro Penal terms "political prisoners" in Venezuela.

President Nicolas Maduro is under mounting pressure after three months of unrest that prosecutors say have left 89 people dead.

Demonstrators blame Maduro for a desperate economic crisis in the oil-rich country. They want elections to replace him and accuse authorities of repressing protesters.

Maduro has been resisting the opposition's demands for a year and a half. He says the crisis is a US-backed conspiracy.

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Vigilance sleuths today arrested a survey amin on graft charge from Begusarai district in Bihar when he was accepting bribe for handing over a survey report.

One Arun Prasad Singh, a resident of Sikarhula village, had lodged a complaint with the vigilance department that one Ravindra Kumar, the survey amin, was demanding a bribe for the report, a vigilance department release said.

The allegations were found to be true during the verification carried out by the bureau, it said.

A flying squad team was constituted under Deputy Superintendent of Police Mohammad Jamiruddin who raided a private office at Sikaraul Dihpur area of the district and caught him when he was accepting Rs 35,000 from the complainant.

Kumar was posted at the office of bandobast officer in Kankol village, the headquarters of Sadar block of Begusarai district.

The accused would be produced before a Special Vigilance Court at Patna after interrogation, the release said.

Altogether 44 persons have been arrested in 42 trap cases laid by the bureau in 2017.

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Israel's Yad Vashem memorial serves as a mirror to societies as the world is grappling with intolerance, hatred and terror, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said today as he paid homage to the victims of the Holocaust.

Modi was accompanied by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Israel's largest memorial of the Holocaust, among the greatest tragedies in human history as some six million Jews were killed by Nazi Germany.

The leaders toured the Hall of Names, containing photographs and names of Holocaust victims, and the Children's Memorial and participated in a memorial ceremony in the Hall of Remembrance.

In the visitors' book at the memorial, Prime Minister Modi, wrote, "I am deeply moved by my visit to the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial Museum. It is as much a poignant reminder of the unspeakable evil inflicted generations ago as it is a symbol of the endurance and fortitude of the Jewish people."



"As we deal with conflict, intolerance, hatred and terror in our time, Yad Vashem serves as a mirror to societies around the world. May we not forget the injustices of the past and its devastating toll on humanity. And remembering the past, may we empower our children to make compassionate, just and righteous choices for their future," Modi wrote.

Before departing the Yad Vashem complex, Modi visited the grave of Binyamin Ze'ev (Theodor) Herzl at the suggestion of Netanyahu.

Theodor Herzl was an Austro-Hungarian journalist, playwright, political activist, and writer who was one of the fathers of modern political Zionism, a movement to establish a Jewish homeland.

Yad Vashem started as an organisation in 1953 on the slopes of the Mount of Remembrance near Jerusalem, as a form of reference to future generations, documenting the memory of Holocaust victims and the history of the Jewish people during the tragic time.

The museum occupies over 4,200 square metres - mainly underground - and emphasises the experiences of the individual victims through original artifacts, survivor testimonies and personal possessions.

Shaped as a prism penetrating the mountain, the new Yad Vashem opened in 2005. Its architecture sets the atmosphere for the nine chilling galleries of interactive historical displays which present the Holocaust in several ways.

The museum leads into the Hall of Names, which contains more than three million names of Holocaust victims submitted by their families and relatives.

The Holocaust was the killing of nearly six million Jews, including some 1.5 million children, by Adolf Hitler's Nazi Germany. Though the persecution of Jews began in 1933, the mass murder was committed during the more than four years of World War II.

On his arrival, Modi was greeted by Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu along with the top tier of Israel's leadership - known as segel aleph.

Modi's three-day visit to Israel is the first by an Indian prime minister to the Jewish state.

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By Nidhi Verma and Florence Tan

SINGAPORE/NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India's top refiner has issued its first tender to buy high-sulphur, or sour, crude from North America as it seeks to diversify imports, three trading sources said on Tuesday.

The purchase comes after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the United States last week when President Donald Trump said the U.S looked forward to exporting more energy products to the world's third-biggest oil buyer.

It is part of Trump's policy to assert power globally by boosting natural gas, coal and petroleum exports. He said last week the "golden era" of the U.S. energy business was now underway.

State-owned Indian Oil Corp has issued a tender to buy up to 2 million barrels of sour crude from North America and Canada to meet its growing demand, the sources said.

IOC is ramping up output at its new 300,000 barrels per day Paradip refinery on India's east coast and has stepped up sour crude purchases this year.

India joins China and Japan in casting their nets further to North America to source for competitively priced sour crude after heavy oil production in the Middle East and Latin America fell on OPEC-led output cuts and lack of investments.

IOC is seeking to buy the crude grades Mars, Southern Green Canyon and Thunderhorse from the U.S. and Western Canadian Select from Canada in the tender, the sources said.

Sellers have the option of delivering the crude to Paradip port on Sept. 25-Oct. 4 or to Vadinar port on the west coast on Oct. 1-10, they said.

The first part of the tender will close on Tuesday and the second part on Wednesday. The tender will be valid until Thursday.

IOC's crude oil imports are dominated by grades from the Middle East, Asia Pacific and Africa. It also occasionally buys oil from Latin America, although in small quantities.

To date, the refiner has bought only two cargoes of light sweet oil from Canada.

(Reporting by Florence Tan and Nidhi Verma; Editing by Manolo Serapio Jr.)

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By Jess Macy Yu and Shu Zhang

TAIPEI/BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese tech group LeEco is under growing pressure from its creditors and business partners, with a court in Shanghai ordering some of its assets frozen over late payments to a bank.

The latest financial woes of the conglomerate, which has interests ranging from smart cars to online content, have surfaced days after founder and CEO Jia Yueting said its cash problems were "far worse than expected" and that billions of dollars in funds raised in recent months were not enough to help it ride out the crunch.

China Merchants Bank Co Ltd said in a statement on Tuesday it had applied to have some of LeEco's assets frozen because a subsidiary, Leview Mobile HK Limited, had been late on making interest payments on a loan.

"CMB's Shanghai branch repeatedly urged repayment without success and so sought to use legal means," the bank said, adding it now had risks related to the loan under control and did not rule out using "friendly talks" to resolve the issue.

LeEco, which controls smartphone maker Coolpad and its core listed smart TV unit Leshi Internet Information and Technology Corp, has been battling huge financial pressure since Jia admitted last year the company had expanded too fast and was facing "big company disease".

According to a court document dated June 26, the Shanghai High People's Court approved a freeze order on 1.237 billion yuan ($182 million) of assets of Leview Mobile HK Limited, two other LeEco-linked firms as well as CEO Jia and his wife.

The court document, which was seen by Reuters, said it had found CMB's application to be "in accordance with the law" and that therefore the freeze order ruling would come into immediate effect.

Local media outlets earlier reported the asset freeze.

A LeEco spokesman said the case concerned "financing loans related to LeEco's smartphone business", but added LeEco had enough collateral to cover the loan.

"Our senior executives are currently in close communication with various financing units of CMB, and we hope to resolve the related debt issue very soon," he said. LeEco also hopes to raise further cash to help it "get back to normal", he added.

In late 2015, CMB agreed a 10 billion yuan loan to LeEco, part of which was used to acquire a stake in Coolpad and was the biggest bank loan to LeEco at the time, financial magazine Caixin said on Monday, citing public information.

SUPPLIERS, PARTNERS

Some other partners and suppliers are re-examining their exposure to the troubled group.

This week, local media reported an affiliated company of electronics manufacturing giant Foxconn divested its 20 percent stake in LeEco's TV and video unit Leshi Zhixin, a blow to the company's core business and one of its most profitable units. Foxconn did not reply to Reuters' request for comment.

LeEco is also facing pressure from China Mobile over late payments of around 14 million yuan, a person with knowledge of the matter said. The carrier declined to comment.

In June, Taiwan's Compal Electronics Inc reduced shipments to LeEco, and temporarily suspended its plans to buy shares of Leshi Zhixin, according to local media. At Compal's first quarter investor conference, it said it was monitoring Leshi's repayment abilities and would develop a new strategy to collect its debt, which could involve legal action.

Compal did not provide immediate comment when contacted by . LeEco did not reply to Reuters' requests for comments on its business partners' actions.

Faced with the worsening cash crunch, LeEco has put some of its global properties for sale, cut staff numbers, and is planning a restructuring to fold some business units into Leshi Internet.

($1 = 6.7986 Chinese yuan renminbi)

(Reporting by Jess Macy Yu in TAIPEI and Shu Zhang in BEIJING; Additional reporting by Sijia Jiang in HONG KONG; Editing by Adam Jourdan and Muralikumar Anantharaman)

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Anyone who has travelled in India or is even familiar with the country is well aware of the huge risk that its roads present. India has the dubious distinction of being the worlds worst when it comes to road mishaps, with nearly 1.3 lakh people killed annually due to accidents. Driving is a hazardous job in the country, even more so in remote and mountainous roads where overloaded vehicles, rash drivers and hairpin bends make for a fatal combination. How does one reduce the risk of accidents on such routes?
Consumers will now have to pay more to purchase a TV set or related appliance as manufacturers have already begun to raise prices to account for GST.

A week leading to the GST roll-out saw sharp discounts and offers on high-end, lavish television sets which are now up by at least 2 per cent (Delhi/NCR region).

Electronic multinational company LG was among the first consumer retailers to hike TV prices. Dealer prices of their products such as LG LED televisions, LG Smart LED sets to LG UHD LED sets shot up between 1.3 per cent to 7 per cent in the Western region, reported the Economic Times.

Another popular electronics MNC Panasonic reportedly said that prices of TVs, refrigerators and microwave ovens is expectedly to go up after decisions over the amounts are finalised.

ET quoted sources saying that this amount could be anywhere between 3-4 per cent.

On the contrary, electronics giant Samsung denied any hike in prices but sources have told the business newspaper that the Korean company has already increased prices of its white goods by 1-2 per cent well ahead of the GST roll-out.

Sony India is currently studying the implications of GST, its Head of Sales of Sony India, Satish Padmanabhan, told ET adding that they won't be revising any rates as of now.

Similarly, officials at Lenovo are trying to understand the GST impact and will make changes to the rates only if necessary.

In the pre-GST sale across stores last week, consumer appliances and durables were being sold at up to 50 per cent discount to consumers. As a result, footfalls across these stores were up by nearly 70 per cent.

Consumer goods have fallen under the 28 per cent tax slab of GST starting from July 1. This rate is higher than the previous rates set between 24-28 per cent.
Making another serious observation on the government's demonetisation deadline that stopped people from exchanging their old notes beyond December 30, the Supreme Court today said the government can't deny citizens, who have valid reasons, the right to swap the scrapped notes.

NDTV reported that the Court referred to people like those in prison cannot be stopped from exchanging the old notes. The Apex Court has also asked the government to explain how it would help such people by the 17th of this month.

According to the report, the Chief Justice of India JS Khehar was concerned about the honest citizens and said, "If these genuine people are not given a chance, then it is a serious issue."

Last year on November 8, Prime Minister Narendra Modi scrapped old Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes and asked people to deposit the same in banks till December 30, 2016. However, the deadline for non-resident Indians or NRIs was 31 March, 2017 which was later extended through an ordinance till Jun 30.

This is not the first time when the Chief Justice has asked the government to help genuine citizens. Earlier in March, when the government passed an ordinance to help people who were abroad, a bench led by chief justice of India J S Khehar said: "Prime Minister in his address had said that people with genuine difficulties can deposit the demonetised currency even after December 30, 2016, till March 31, 2017 with the RBI branches. Give us the reasons why despite having powers under the law, you did not create a category for those people who couldn't deposit the demonetised notes before December 30, 2016."

The bench further said that the discretion vested in the government by the ordinance had been exercised arbitrarily to allow one category only when the law permits the government to extend the relief to other categories too.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi today brought another paradigm shift in India's long-standing foreign policy vis-a-vis Israel by paying first Prime Ministerial visit to the state, almost 69 years after the Jewish nation declared its independence on 14 May 1948. But why has no Indian Prime Minister visited Israel in all these years?



PM Modi: Its an honor to be the first Indian prime minister to visit. https://t.co/cDGHHJdWrm PMO India (@PMOIndia) July 5, 2017

The answer lies in decade-old Israel-Palestinian conflict. It is this reason that held India back for over four decades from establishing diplomatic relations with Israel. It was in 1992 when India established formal diplomatic relation with the Jewish county. India did not want to give an impression that it was siding with Israel which would have upset many Arab countries as they were locked-in a sectarian conflict between Palestinian Jews which transformed into the first Arab-Israel war in May 1948.



India was confronted with two-pronged challenge while dealing with Israel. One was political and the other was economical. Politically, India was concerned about 14 per cent Muslim population's sentiments. Economically, India was heavily dependent on Arab countries for oil and it also cared for people working in Arab countries. Nothing has changed in above stated conditions as India still looks up to Arabs for oil and Indians still work in Arab countries. But then what really has changed that now India wants to shed all these concerns and is opening up about its relation with Israel? Whatever be the reason but if we take a closer look at India-Israel relations over the years we find the space for cooperation widening and becoming important more than ever.



Tried and Tested Defence Partnership: Israel is known for its advanced defence technology and it has proven its prowess during the Kargil conflict. It was 1999 when India was attacked by Pakistan and by some account it was Israel which 'turned around' the war in India's favor. Israel provided mortar ammunition and laser-guided missiles for India's fighter jets.

The Caravan reported that when Indian Air Force faced problems of limited sight of the Pakistani bunkers and inaccurate unguided missiles, it got the support from Israel that committed IAF Mirage 2000H fighters capable of delivering laser-guided bombs to ground attack operations. The precision strikes from the upgraded Mirage 2000H limited the advantage of the Pakistani soldiers, the report said.



According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, India was the biggest purchaser - between 2012 to 2016 - of Israel's arms and ammunition with over 41 per cent of latter's total exports. Israel is now India's third-largest source of arms with a 7.2 per cent share of imports after the USA and Russia. It was also reported that India's imports of unarmed vehicles or UAVs have almost all been from Israel. Of 176 UAVs purchased from Israel, 108 are Searcher UAVs and 68 are Heron UAVs, the IndiaSpend report said.



This year in April, India signed a nearly USD2 billion contract with Israel for supplying advanced medium-range surface-to-air missile systems or MRSAM. MRSAM is an advanced air and missile defence system that would protect the country from aerial threats. At a time when new dynamics are emerging at India's neighbourhood - Pakistan to the west and China to the northern and eastern border - it's important for India to turn to a country that can help you in safeguarding country's national interest.



India's Agricultural Crisis: Israel has established itself as a leader in cutting-edge technology in not only arms and ammunition manufacturing, but also in civilian fields such as agriculture, irrigation and water conservation.



Beginning with a focus on agriculture...PM @narendramodi visits the Danziger Flower Farm. pic.twitter.com/LUQOMGTws8 PMO India (@PMOIndia) July 4, 2017

Israel's expertise in agriculture - vertical farming, protected cultivation, drip irrigation, fertigation, canopy management, nursery production and Integrated Pest Management technologies - made it the best option for India to solve its agrarian crisis. In 2006, India and Israel signed an Agreement for Agricultural Cooperation under Indo-Israel Agriculture Project or IIAP.

Israels strides in agriculture are well known. Latest technology, research & innovation in agriculture can benefit farmers immensely. Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) July 4, 2017

The agreement was signed to increase crop diversity and productivity for which an 'Agricultural Centers of Excellence' was established. The Centers of Excellence provide a suitable platform for a rapid transfer of technology to the farmers. Apart from this, India and Israel also have a bilateral agreement for cooperation in agriculture. And this bilateral action plan for 2015-18 is currently operational.
A fortnight before the rollout of the Goods and Services Tax (GST), oil marketing companies had introduced the system of daily price revision for petrol and diesel. So far, the daily price revision has benefitted consumers as petrol prices have decreased by Rs 2.4 and diesel by Rs 1.05.







The price of petrol in Delhi on the day the new price mechanism kicked off was Rs 65.48 per litre, and the price of diesel was Rs 54.49. Today, the petrol price in Delhi is Rs 63.08 per litre. The price of diesel is Rs 53.44.

The daily price revision was started on June 16th country wide after a pilot in five cities - Udaipur, Jamshedpur, Visakhapatnam, Chandigarh and Puducherry.

In the earlier system, the price of petrol and diesel changed every fortnight based on global oil prices. The new price mechanism is more dynamic as the consumers can get immediate benefit from changes in international crude oil prices. The global rates of crude oil prices have been sliding in recent days due to which the prices have seen a fall in Indian cities too.

Meanwhile, the All India Petrol Dealers' Association has announced a country-wide 'no-purchase' protest on July 5 to protest against the oil marketing companies 'failure' to install 100 per cent automated system at petrol pumps and 'lack of transparency' in the daily dynamic pricing of fuel.

The Dealers' Association has also called for a nationwide strike petrol pumps on July 12. "We had a stormy three-hour meeting with oil marketing companies (OMCs) on June 29. The OMCs had agreed with us and had assured that price protection needs to be given," AIPDA spokesperson Ali Daruwalla told The Indian Express.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday embarked on a historic visit to Israel, first ever by any Indian prime minister to the Jewish nation.

During the three day visit, PM Modi will meet his counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu and discuss common challenges like terrorism.

Touted to be a landmark visit by an Indian Prime Minister, Modi's visit is expected to boost the diplomatic ties between the two countries. This year, India and Israel are marking 25 years of their diplomatic relations.

Israeli ambassador Daniel Carmon said that PM Modi's visit is being treated with unprecedented importance.

PM Modi will be interacting with 4,000 Jews of Indian origin and will be staying in the same luxury suite at the King David Hotel where US President Donald Trump stayed in during his visit.

Modi will be in Israel till July 6 before travelling to Hamburg in Germany to attend the G-20 Summit.

In Israel, he will also meet President Reuven Ruvi Rivlin and address the CEOs of the two countries as well as the Indian diaspora.

He will also visit the Yad Vashem Memorial Museum to honour the memory of the victims of the holocaust that counts among the greatest tragedies in human history.

Modi will also pay his respects to the courageous Indian soldiers who laid down their lives during the liberation of Haifa in 1918.

"I begin a historic visit to Israel, a very special partner of India's. As the first Indian prime minister to do so, I am greatly looking forward to this unprecedented visit that will bring our two countries and people closer," he had said in a statement here yesterday.

"I look forward to holding extensive talks with my friend, @IsraeliPM @netanyahu, who shares a commitment for vibrant India-Israel ties," he had tweeted.

The prime minister had said he will have "in-depth talks" with Netanyahu "on the full spectrum of our partnership and strengthening it in diverse fields for mutual benefit. We will also have the chance to discuss major common challenges like terrorism."

"My programme during the visit gives me an opportunity to engage with a cross-section of Israeli society. I am particularly looking forward to interacting with the large vibrant Indian diaspora in Israel that represents an enduring link between our two peoples," Modi had said.

On the economic side, he had said, "I will join with leading Indian and Israeli CEOs and start-ups to discuss our shared priority of expanding business and investment collaboration on the ground."

On July 6, the prime minister will travel to Hamburg for the G-20 Summit being hosted by Germany on July 7-8.

The theme chosen for this year is 'Shaping an Inter- connected World'.

"I look forward to engaging leaders from other G-20 countries on the vital issues affecting our world today that have a bearing on economic growth, sustainable development, and peace and stability," he had said.

"We will review progress on decisions since the Hangzhou Summit last year and deliberate on issues of terrorism, climate, sustainable development, growth and trade, digitalisation, health, employment, migration, women s empowerment, and partnership with Africa," Modi had added.

(with inputs from PTI)


The Reserve Bank is expected to introduce Rs 200 notes in the coming months to ease pressure on lower-denomination currencies that are in short supply.

The new notes of Rs 200 should be out before the end of 2017 and will greatly help in narrowing the demand and supply gap in smaller-denomination currency bills, sources said.

They also said that there is no immediate plan to re- introduce Rs 1,000 notes.

Last year in November, the government had demonetised the old 500 and 1,000 rupee notes.

Soon, a notification may be issued by the Reserve Bank of India with regard to issuance of new Rs 200 bills.

This exercise of printing Rs 200 denomination notes is being undertaken to further improve the currency situation in the country, sources said, adding the problem people are facing due to high-value Rs 2,000 notes would also be taken care of with the circulation of Rs 200 notes.

The central bank had reportedly decided to bring in Rs 200 notes in March after consulting the finance ministry, they said. The notes are going through multiple checks for security and quality at government printing presses.

The shortage of currency notes was trigged by the scrapping of high-denomination bills last year.

In a surprise announcement, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced scrapping of old notes of Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 notes, wiping out over 85 per cent of the cash in circulation.

The move was aimed at checking black money, counterfeit notes and terror financing.

Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana (PMGKY) launched following the closure of 50-day demonetisation period did not draw a good response with only Rs 5,000 crore unaccounted income being declared under the amnesty scheme.

The scheme was launched in December last year to enable people with black money to come clean by paying tax and penalty of 50 per cent.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrives in Israel , It is the first ever visit by any Indian prime minister to the Jewish nation.

During the three day visit, PM Modi will meet his counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu and discuss common challenges like terrorism.

Touted to be a landmark visit by an Indian Prime Minister, Modi's visit is expected to boost the diplomatic ties between the two countries. This year, India and Israel are marking 25 years of their diplomatic relations.

Israeli ambassador Daniel Carmon said that PM Modi's visit is being treated with unprecedented importance.

PM @narendramodi & @IsraeliPM @netanyahu at Danziger Flower Farm- a leading facility for R&D in plant varieties in Tel Aviv, Israel pic.twitter.com/HlA27xvam4 PIB India (@PIB_India) July 4, 2017

PM Modi will be interacting with 4,000 Jews of Indian origin and will be staying in the same luxury suite at the King David Hotel where US President Donald Trump stayed in during his visit.

Modi will be in Israel till July 6 before travelling to Hamburg in Germany to attend the G-20 Summit.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi visits Yad Vashem, memorial to the victims of the Holocaust, in Israel. #ModiInIsrael pic.twitter.com/Pagwft7jzv ANI (@ANI_news) July 4, 2017

In Israel, he will also meet President Reuven Ruvi Rivlin and address the CEOs of the two countries as well as the Indian diaspora.

He will also visit the Yad Vashem Memorial Museum to honour the memory of the victims of the holocaust that counts among the greatest tragedies in human history.

PM @narendramodi & @IsraeliPM @netanyahu at Danziger Flower Farm- a leading facility for R&D in plant varieties in Tel Aviv, Israel pic.twitter.com/KivkLQnGbx PIB India (@PIB_India) July 4, 2017

Modi will also pay his respects to the courageous Indian soldiers who laid down their lives during the liberation of Haifa in 1918.

Partners for peace and prosperity, partners for a better future for humanity...PM @netanyahu welcomes PM @narendramodi to Israel. pic.twitter.com/mZgl8pAqz2 PMO India (@PMOIndia) July 4, 2017

"I begin a historic visit to Israel, a very special partner of India's. As the first Indian prime minister to do so, I am greatly looking forward to this unprecedented visit that will bring our two countries and people closer," he had said in a statement here yesterday.

"I look forward to holding extensive talks with my friend, @IsraeliPM @netanyahu, who shares a commitment for vibrant India-Israel ties," he had tweeted.

The prime minister had said he will have "in-depth talks" with Netanyahu "on the full spectrum of our partnership and strengthening it in diverse fields for mutual benefit. We will also have the chance to discuss major common challenges like terrorism."

"My programme during the visit gives me an opportunity to engage with a cross-section of Israeli society. I am particularly looking forward to interacting with the large vibrant Indian diaspora in Israel that represents an enduring link between our two peoples," Modi had said.

#WATCH PM Narendra Modi visits Yad Vashem, memorial to the victims of the Holocaust, in Israel https://t.co/0lJ3dihXTS ANI (@ANI_news) July 4, 2017

#WATCH Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu says, 'Aapka swagat hai mere dost' welcoming Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Israel pic.twitter.com/QjtsoCek2R ANI (@ANI_news) July 4, 2017

Here are the LIVE updates:Prime Minister Narendra Modi visits Yad Vashem, memorial to the victims of the Holocaust, in Israel

8:59 PM: Crysanthumun flower will be named in honour of PM Narendra Modi. The flower will be called 'Modi'.

Crysanthumun flower will be named in honour of PM Narendra Modi. The flower will be called 'Modi.' #ModiInIsrael pic.twitter.com/pL1bsCWb4m ANI (@ANI_news) July 4, 2017

6:55 PM: After finishing their respective speeches, Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu introduces Prime Minister Narendra Modi to his Cabinet of Ministers.

PM @narendramodi & @IsraeliPM @netanyahu at Danziger Flower Farm- a leading facility for R&D in plant varieties in Tel Aviv, Israel pic.twitter.com/6yRGxhL84H PIB India (@PIB_India) July 4, 2017

6:54 PM: We have to secure our societies against the common threat of terrorism: PM Narendra Modi





6:54 PM: India is an old civilisation but young nation. We have a talented and skilled youth, who are our driving force: PM



6:53 PM: My honour to be the 1st ever Indian PM to undertake this ground breaking visit to Israel: PM Narendra Modi



6:46 PM: I remember what you told me in our first meeting- when it comes to India & Israel relations, the sky is the limit.But now, Prime Minister, let me add- we are also cooperating in space, says Israel PM Netanyahu.

A progressive partnership in all these areas would shape the scope of my conversation with my friend PM Benjamin Netanyahu: #ModiInIsrael pic.twitter.com/MkIdJHU13p ANI (@ANI_news) July 4, 2017

6:45 PM: Welcome to Israel...Aapka Swagat Hai Mere Dost. We have been waiting for you, for a long time. We love India: Israel PM Netanyahu says to PM Narendra Modi.

6:36 PM: PM Modi warmly greeted by his Israeli PM Netanyahu and his retinue.

But now, Prime Minister, let me add- we are also cooperating in space: PM @netanyahu to PM @narendramodi PMO India (@PMOIndia) July 4, 2017

6:33 PM: Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu breaks protocol yet again to welcome his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi in person.

Welcome to Israel...Aapka Swagat Hai Mere Dost. We have been waiting for you, for a long time. We love India: PM @netanyahu to PM Modi PMO India (@PMOIndia) July 4, 2017

6:15 PM: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has landed at Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion airport and is set to get a red carpet welcome from the Israeli delegates.


Private sector Yes Bank will consider the proposal to divide the equity share of the company in a board meeting to be held later this month.

"A meeting of the board of directors of Yes Bank will be held on July 26, 2017 to consider sub-division of equity shares of the bank of the face value of Rs 10 each," the bank said in a regulatory filing.

However, the bank did not provide any further details on the ratio in which the shares will be divided.

Companies generally go for a stock division to improve liquidity of its shares in the stock market and to make them affordable to the small investors.

Stock of Yes Bank closed 2.15 per cent higher at Rs 1,493.35 apiece on BSE
Xiaomi revealed the names of its devices that will be treated to Android Nougat update soon. The Chinese handset maker listed 14 of its smartphones that will get a new Android version.



According to GizmoChina, Company's proprietary MIUI will be upgraded on Mi Max, Mi 5, Mi 5s, Mi 5s Plus, Mi Note 2, Redmi Note 4X, Mi MIX, and Redmi 4X will be based on Android 7.0 Nougat. Meanwhile, Mi 6, Mi Max 2 , Mi 5C and Redmi 4X will get software updates to Android 7.1 Nougat.



Surprisingly, Redmi Note 4 does not feature on the list whereas the Mi Note will be upgraded to Android Nougat. The phablet was released in China in August last year and came to India some time later in January this year.



Xiaomi rolled out the Android 7.0 Nougat beta stable update for Mi Max in June. The phone ran MIUI 7 based on Android 6.0 Marshmallow out of the box but later got an update to MIUI 8.



Devices that did not make it to the device compatibility list might get MIUI 9 update that will allow them to use some features that Android Nougat offers. The latest version of Android OS offers facilities like multi-window view, additional security features, efficient battery usage, personalised user experience and streamlined notifications.



The new update will also allow users to immerse in virtual reality experience virtual reality on Daydream compatible phones. The Vulcan API with Android Nougat promises high performance 3D graphics on devices that support it.



Android 7.0 Nougat is present on 7.1 per cent devices and 0.5 percent devices run on Android 7.1. The mobile operating station was launched along Google Pixel and Pixel XL. It has been launched for other Google devices like Nexus 6P, Nexus 5X, Nexus 9, Pixel tablet, Nexus player and Android One devices.

Also watch:




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Next month, a Bronx man will be holding a dinner for his late wife whom passed away last year.

On Thursday, July 15, longtime Parkchester resident Alexander Rutherford will host a dinner for, Leslie, who passed away in August after a long battle with scleroderma.

Scleroderma is a disease which affects mostly women and causes human heart, muscles, organs and skin to harden, while attacking healthy tissue in the bodys immune system.

The dinner will take place from 7 p.m. to midnight at the Kismet Catering Hall, 1995 Westchester Avenue and raise money for and spread awareness about the disease, which his wife battled for so long, as well to commemorate her life.

Leslie was born in Trinidad and Tobago before moving to New York in 1987. The two were married in 2000, and settled in Parkchester.

Alexander, originally from St. Albans, Queens, moved to Parkchester in the 1980s, which was where his father worked. He resettled in Parkchester in the mid-1990s before meeting Leslie.

In the mid-2000s, Leslie began to show symptoms of scleroderma. She eventually passed away as a result of the disease on August 19.

The dinner will include keynote speeches, as well as a DJ and a dance floor  so the night can also be a celebratory atmosphere for Leslie.

She was very lighthearted and always in good spirits, Alexander said. She wanted to help everybody  it was like she was an angel on earth. We were all touched by having her in our lives.

I am so privileged for the time I was able to spend with her and the lessons she was able to provide to me. She was the best person I ever came in contact with, he added.

Alexander further explained that the disease is both under exposed and unrecognized.

Other diseases and illnesses, such as cancer, diabetes and AIDS have received so much attention  and its time that people become aware of this horrifying illness as well.

Bob Sagets sister Gay passed away in 1993 at age 42 as a result of the disease. Queen Latifahs mother Rita has also suffered with the disease for over ten years.

Leslie passed away last August after a lengthly, 10-year battle with scleroderma, said Bruce Cowan, executive director of the Scleroderma Foundations tri-state chapter. Its comforting to know that Alexander is putting on a event in honor of his late wife to shed light, raise awareness and put this disease on the radar. Hopefully the proceeds from the event can be donated to future scleroderma research.

For those who are looking to purchase tickets to the dinner, send the donation to Alexander Rutherford, P.O. Box 495, Parkchester Station, Bronx, NY 10462.
Heidi Rutchey walks into 1st District Court, where she was ordered to have a mental competency evaluation, Thursday, Dec. 12, 2013, in Logan, Utah. Rutchey is charged with killing her two-year-old son.

LOGAN  A River Heights mother, Heidi M. Rutchey, has pleaded guilty but mentally ill to killing her infant son in 2013. The 46-year-old woman will now wait in the Cache County Jail until she is sentenced next month.

Rutchey appeared in 1st District Court Monday afternoon, after Judge Thomas Willmore said he would give attorneys one more week to work out a possible resolution to the case. As part of the plea deal, Rutchey pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of child abuse homicide, a second-degree felony. Prosecutors also agreed to give her credit for the time she has already served.

Rutchey had previously pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to murder. A doctors evaluation though later determined she was not substantially incompetent at the time of the crime. A second doctor found she suffered from delusions from an untreated bipolar disorder.

State attorney Aaron Josie told the court how Rutchey was being medicated for mental health issues in September 2013. Cache County Sheriffs deputies report she stopped taking her prescriptions and went into a delusional state of mind. During that time, she suffocated her two-year-old son Eli.

Rutchey checked herself into the hospital several days later. While there, questions arose concerning Elis safety. Medical staff called police dispatch and requested a welfare check for the child at a River Heights apartment near 400 South 400 East.

Eli was found dead in his home by deputies, September 4.

In November 2016, Rutchey was found competent to stand trial after being treated at the Utah State Hospital for three-years.

During Mondays hearing, Judge Willmore scheduled sentencing for August 14. Rutchey could face up to 15-years in prison. Defense attorney David Perry told the court he intends to argue that she serve her sentence at the State Hospital.

<hr /><p style=text-align: center;>will@cvradio.com
Pr Jacques Fame Ndongo, Membre du Bureau politique du RDPC Cameroon Tribune

Mr. Minister, there is a saying that goes thus Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.

Your Excellency,

Your ministry announced on July 1, 2017, that an agreement has been reached with a Chinese company Sichuan Telecommunications Eng for the production of 500.000 laptops promised to students by the Head of State President Paul Biya. Your ministry further mentioned that 30% of the budget has already been made available by Exim bank. Very good initiative, but Mr. Minister, why?

Mr. Minister, there is a saying that goes thus Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime. Mr. Minister, you are one of the protagonists of vision 2035 aimed at making Cameroon an emerging nation. Please tell me how we can emerge by 2035 if we go borrowing to provide laptops to students. What youve failed to tell the soon to be beneficiaries of these laptops is that as taxpayers tomorrow, they will in one way of the other pay back the loan to Exim Bank. Why not use the loan Mr. Minister and bring in a company like IBM, Lenovo etc, to build a production plant in Cameroon in which technology will be transferred and create jobs. Wont you be proud as Minister of Higher Education to see laptops in shops with the inscription Made in Cameroon? Countries like Rwanda have tried this approach which is working so well today and has created more than 5.000 jobs.

Mr. Minister, I saw you attending the Cameroon Investment Forum in May 2016 as well as the first ever Cameroon Diaspora Forum which just rounded up in Yaounde a week ago, as well as many other conferences and seminars youve attended. Please Mr. Minister tell me and the Cameroonian people how we can emerge as a nation by 2035 if we still go borrowing from foreign banks to provide laptops to students, instead of using the loans to invest and create jobs in a country where there is a total lack of trust towards a government that is full of promises. One of the recommendations made in the just ended Cameroon Diaspora Forum is to encourage Cameroonians who are experts in their respective fields to invest back home. I can tell you that there are many Cameroonians in the globe who are highly placed experts in Information and Communication Technology. Why not make use of these experts, use the loan from Exim bank and develop a mechanism in which an assembly plant would be set up to produce laptops and create jobs?

Mr. Minister, I dont think to provide 500.000 laptops to students is the most pressing problem affecting the educational system in our country, the system needs to be REFORMED. The most pressing problem remains that of a lost academic year in the Southwest and Northwest regions. Mr. Minister further steps can then be taken to address the interrupted school year. Specifically, intensive courses could be offered over the long vacation, along with a special second session of all the exams that have been disrupted. The start of the next academic year may even be slightly delayed, but we would have gone a long way in making amends. (Things Fall Apart by Barrister Akere Muna). Mr. Minister, it cannot be right that a country that is so blessed has our young men and women with only one ambition, to get a free laptop from the state and then what?

Mr. Minister, I will conclude now by saying that in Chinua Achebes Things Fall Apart, he makes a savvy use of proverbs from the Igbo people. One that comes to mind is: &the lizard that jumped from the high Iroko tree to the ground said he would praise himself if no one else did. Like the lizard, some are marching all over the country, monopolizing the public media in self-praise, while everyone else watches in complete stupefaction. They see that the center can no longer hold because things are falling apart. However, it is not too late to change our course. Please, Mr. Minister, revisit your decision, ask Sichuan Telecom Eng to come and set up a production plant in Cameroon, teach our young men and women how to build laptops and computers and create jobs.

Long Live the Republic of Cameroon!

Julius Njonguo

Brugge-Belgium.
Rev. Massok W. Musa

Christians of Presbyterian Church in Cameroon, PCC, have pressed on church administrators to unveil faces behind the theft of the sum of FCFA 7 million from the churchs safe three weeks back.

The Post Newspaper reports that the issue was the main topic of discussion last Sunday in which the Parish Pastor who doubles as Presbyterial Secretary for East Mungo, Rev Emmanuel Massok urged the Christians to remain calm as investigations to unveil perpetrators continue.

According to him, Christians should be calm because it is money that has been stolen and not their blessings.

The Presbytery Secretary said the matter was taken to court because the church is an institution under the State.

He said the outgoing Pastor the Rev Denis Kang did not do his job well by not controlling his Christians.

The main suspects the treasurer ,Security guard, cleaners were arrested and later bailed while investigations continue.
| BY Ricki Green |

A week ago, at the final awards presentation of the 2017 Cannes International Festival of Creativity, David Droga was honoured with the Lion of St Mark award.

The award is the highest individual honour a creative person can receive at Cannes. Reserved for the very elite  Sir John Hegarty, Lee Clow, Dan Wieden, Marcello Serpa, Joe Pytka and Bob Greenberg are previous honourees.

Droga is Australias greatest and most successful Advertising export. The whole of Australia, and indeed Asia  where his 2 year stay saw him elevated to legend status  is immensely proud of him. On returning from Cannes we became a bit sentimental and dug out this old interview with him. What follows is a reprint of Campaign Brief Asias July 1998, 8 page interview with him. We interviewed Droga straight after the announcement that his agency, Saatchi & Saatchi Singapore, had won the AdAge International Agency of the Year award. A very big deal at the time, especially when you consider that Droga was only 29 years old.

We ran with the headline KING DAVID, something he was a bit embarrassed about, but we suspect deep down, loved at the time. The humility, respect and generosity he showed with his great Lion of St Mark acceptance speech in Cannes shows through in this interview from nearly 20 years ago. Read on

KING DAVID

How 29 year old David Droga led Saatchi Singapore into battle

against the giants of world creativity, and won.

(July, 1998) When David Droga took over the reigns as Executive Creative Director at Saatchi & Saatchi Singapore two years ago (1996) he said he hoped to make a difference. In an interview with Campaign Brief headed Will Droga slay the Asian dragon? (May 1996) he is quoted: I dont want to step in and blend into something someone else has created. I want to be able to go somewhere where I can actually help instigate the greatness. Be one of the players that builds a reputation for the agency.

In just two years he has been able to achieve that greatness. And more. Drogas effort paid off on the world stage recently when Saatchi & Saatchi Singapore beat all other agencies outside the USA to the coveted Advertising Age International Agency of the Year.

For a Singapore agency to achieve such acclaim is no small achievement. Last years winner was Bartle Bogle Hegarty, London. The year before Hunt Lascaras TBWA in South Africa. Two of the worlds most creatively awarded agencies. The award is judged by the editors of Ad Age and Creativity in New York and London from submissions they receive from over 30 countries around the world. This years finalists included BMP London, Hunt Lascaras and DM9 in Brazil.

For Droga, the accolade is the ultimate award for an amazing effort from his creative department.

BBH London won it last year so to be on the same list as them feels pretty good, he said. Ive been here almost two years now and its definitely not the easiest market in the world, so to get global recognition for an agency in such a small market is great. It makes all the stress worthwhile.

Everyone at Saatchis was pretty overwhelmed. I think it also gave many of our clients even more confidence in the agency. Of course, not every client really appreciated it. Some just thought it meant they could get things from us even faster and cheaper(laughs) Typical! But obviously if our ads werent adding to their brands it would mean nothing to them. The proof for our clients is that our campaigns are working and making a big difference to their business.

Droga said the win was also greeted warmly by the whole Singapore industry.

This is a very proud, patriotic and competitive country. In general the industry is ecstatic that an agency based in Singapore is ranked by the American trade press as the best agency in the world for the year. We got huge publicity in the national papers and the win was taken on personally by a lot of people. Weve also had great support from out suppliers. Its bigger than Saatchi Singapore it has made the world focus turn to this part of Asia. It proved that a big agency in a small country of just over 2 million people can compete with the rest of the world. There are people in the United States turning to their maps and saying where the hell is Singapore?

Undoubtedly one of the major factors that would have impressed Advertising Age is the creative consistency Saatchi & Saatchi Singapore has been able to achieve across their entire client list. It is a rare achievement in Asia  in fact it is rare to all but the very best creative agencies in the world.

In submitting for International Agency of the Year, a showcase of around 20 ads have to be forwarded with no more than two ads from any one client.

For me one of my major objectives from the start has been to attain this high creative standard across the board with all clients, said Droga. Being able to do great work on smaller clients is always much easier than doing it for a big multi-national that has so many guidelines to their advertising. Here, in fact, its our bigger clients that are the ones we are pushing hardest on. Sure weve done some good work on the small ones, but the majority of awarded work is done on the agencys largest clients like Navy, Hewlett Packard, Hutchison, and Qualcomm.

A lot of agencies in the region are busy trying to write stuff for only a small percentage of their clients  my objective has been to try to do it for every client. We havent succeeded with them all yet, but hey, thats the objective.

Droga said when he first arrived at the agency he chose the most conservative client  the one everyone said would be the hardest to turn around, the one no creative wanted to work on and worked on it himself. He used it as a showcase to create good advertising. He did not want to do it just for the client, he wanted to signal to the entire agency that he was serious about creative standards. If it could be done on that client then there was no reason it couldnt be done with any other at the agency. It was Drogas way of upping the ante.

For me, as much fun as it is being involved in all the great work to come out of the agency, I also get a lot of satisfaction out of how we have been able to turn around clients that many other agencies may have thought was impossible.

Probably one of the best examples of this is Singapore Navy, one of Drogas favourite clients. Traditionally their advertising had been much like most government clients  highly conservative, very straightforward and very simple.

But Saatchis recent work has taken them quantum steps, injecting a strong personality that Droga says has paid dividends.

Hewlett Packard, another of the agencys huge blue chip clients, previously known for its bland ads, is also enjoying the benefits of a fresh creative perspective. Saatchis latest TVC Aliens has now been picked up across the whole of Asia, Europe and Latin America. In fact it was recently voted Singapores most popular commercial in an annual competition run by the countrys largest television network.

However another more striking example of bold advertising for a large client is Hutchison Paging. This ad not only challenged the telecommunications category, it challenged Singaporean society. Essentially the ads told people not to go to work t

oday. In a country renowned for its strong work ethic, it was considered a risk. Obviously the ad struck a nerve with the target audience. The subscription rate exceeded the clients forecast by an impressive 300%.

Even Visa has decided to push the envelope with Droga. And their most recent corporate commercial does that. Its an ad which just seems to grow and grow the longer you watch it.

However, not every client of the agency is looking for change in the conventional way. Take Procter & Gamble, one of the worlds largest and most visible advertisers.

With all clients you have to look at the category first and then try to make improvements in stages. For us our first objective was to make a dramatic improvement to their production values. P&G are obviously pretty happy with this. At a recent P&G global meeting, Saatchi Singapore was named one of their top three agencies world wide for Quality in TV production. Considering this client has over 300 agencies around the world, this is no small feat. Thanks to Haydn Evans (Saatchis Head of TV) and the guys, great directors are now seeing P&G as an opportunity, said Droga.

When you do good work on big brands you get recognition and thats how you earn new business. You are never going to get a big piece of business to walk in the door because you did a great at for a coffee shop.

Saatchi Singapores creative credits are indeed impressive. In addition to Ad Ages top accolade they bagged two Silvers, one Bronze and 11 Finalists at The One Show (5th best agency performance in the world), had five entries accepted into D&AD this year, picked up Gold, Silver and five Bronze at the Clio Awards (top 10 in the world) and scored a Gold and also tow Silver Lions at Cannes last year. At AWARD, Australias top award show, the agency picked up three Bronze awards and had an amazing 31 Finalists. And in the Asia Pacific Awards they amassed three Gold, four Silver and two Bronze awards. (Ed note: This was in the days when award shows only had a limited amount of categories).

For all the creative success Saatchi Singapore has had, they have also increased their billings by about 35% and their staff has grown from 85 people to 125 over the past 18 months. All at a time when most other agencies are downsizing over the current Asian economic crisis.

Creative success is certainly one of our objectives, says Droga. However it is meaningless if the agency and clients dont enjoy the benefits. Theres no joy in winning an award if you have to retrench people the next day because youre neglecting the business. Im sure our head office in New York is proud of our work but Im certain they love us because weve achieved such growth.

There is no question the industry is suffering, particularly in south-east Asia. I mean, whole economies have been crushed. We, along with most agencies, have felt it hardest in Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand. Even the Singapore ad industry has felt the pinch I guess weve been OK because of our absolute focus and energy. You have to be even more competitive. The weaker agencies that delivered the generic work were hit hardest. If you dont have a point of difference, how can you survive? Clients want even better advertising and ideas for their money  thats got to be a universal issue.

One of the great strengths of the Saatchi creative department is the stability and consistency of all teams. Their creative performance does not rest with one or two star teams but rather on the whole department. Its a record Droga is very proud of as he highlighted the performance of all seven teams.

Ive surrounded myself with a lot of very talented, hungry creative. Some even more arrogant than me. Its a very competitive and motivated group of people. Its more like the United Nations than an ad agency. Although the majority of creative are Singaporean, we have people from America, India, Malaysia, England, Australia and Taiwan. Despite their different styles they all bring something fresh to the table. Ive definitely got the best heads of TV and print production around: a fellow Australian, Haydn Evans and Ester Yue, a Singaporean veteran.

As for the creative teams, well theyre all coming into their own. On one had youve got the quiet achievers, Edmund Choe and Juggi Ramakrishnan. While on the other theres the brash young Americans, Ted Royer and Ross Ludwig.

Theres Andy Clarke, who is not only incredibly consistent, but one of the most disciplined art directors Ive ever worked with. Then theres the maturity of Francis Wee mixed with the aggression of Calvin Soh.

Then theres Rowan Chanen, Larry Ong, Tay Guan Hin, Rashid Salleh and Peter Moyse. The list of great talent and potential talents like our junior creatives Maurice Wee, Trudy Hshieh, Renee Lim and Yong Li Yung, goes on. Together with Haydn (Evans), Ester (Yue), and Alvin Chin in the studio we have a strong team with most of them ranking very high in your Campaign Brief Asia Creative Rankings (see 1998 Creative Rankings table at very bottom of this post).

Droga says: While one team has a strong presence at Cannes, another will make an impact at The One Show or D&AD, then another team will do well at AWARD. Its great when one teams succeeded it motivates the others. But even more importantly, everyone gets on and has a laugh amidst the pressure we put ourselves under.

Droga said his objective has been to build a creative department that, if someone leaves  and he realizes of course that some will  then another team will fill the void so the personality and creative consistency of the agency doesnt suffer.

The personality of the agency has been greatly enhanced since their move from the boring high-rise office the agency has occupied for years to their middle of the action Clark Quay premises within an old nightclub and Karaoke Bar.

Our old office was like a bank or an accounting firm. Very predictable. Very sterile. I felt it was demoralizing on everyone in the agency. Now all creative teams are housed in the old Karaoke booths and there is a creative atmosphere thr

oughout the entire agency. People enjoy coming to work and clients even get a buzz out of it because its so different to what they are used to.

Comparisons to the heady days of OMON in Australia, which Droga shared in and helped create, are natural.

OMON was a hell of a lot of fun. And as much as I liked the work we did I was happy to move on. It was also a very important move for me personally. I guess as a joint CD there always had to be a consensus. Coming to Singapore was quite liberating. Whether it was a success or a huge failure, Ive had to trust my own instinct. At the end of the day Ive enjoyed doing it my way. Also at OMON I was obsessed with writing most of the stuff myself, where as here, Im still writing but Im definitely playing much more of a CD role. Getting the work out of the teams and pushing them to be obsessed. I suppose the more they all succeed the more I do.

One of the tactics Droga employed to push his teams to think differently was to ban headlines on print work in the creative department for a month. Apart from the fact that much of their work has to work around the region, and therefore visual ideas work better, he believed it added a lot of discipline, keeping ideas single-minded and not relying solely on a clever headline.

Another tactic was to have floating art directors for variety.

Droga says he has aged more in the last two years than ever, describing the pace and quantity of work in the Singapore market as basically outrageous.

Coming into Singapore was always going to be a challenge. A few agencies already had quite good creative reputations. But I felt there was an opportunity to go beyond doing ads for small clients. To do it on TV. Sure its a print market, you cant escape that, but Singapore was definitely ready for a more serious approach to creativity.

He believes it goes back to having the right people around you: Im certainly not on a one man mission, everyone is striving for the same thing. We live through the same highs and lows together. Sure I wish all our clients saw the big picture, but as long as we win more battles than we lose its worth the stress. The problem in this business is there is no finish line, it just keeps going. So who knows whats around the corner but we do know we still have a long ay to go.

The last two years have been good and as much as we like to think we are great we recognize were by no means where we want to be. We still get depressed watching the Shots reel and reading Archive. I imagine thats what drives us, were trying to compete on a global level.

Droga says working in Singapore is much more frantic and involves longer hours compared to Australia which he says is much more relaxed.

Australia looks to outdo the guy down the road  its not pushing itself as hard as it could. I think Australia is becoming very insular and most agencies are becoming very conservative. Asia is such a competitive market you have to aim to out do everyone not just that guy down the road. We are more influenced by whats happening around the world. I miss Australia and I love Australia. However, if I was to go back there now I think I would be really bored. I mean, Asia is leapfrogging ahead despite the downturn. My teams here are having five briefs land on their desk each week!

So does he believe their Advertising Age International Agency of the Year win will shake up agencies in Australia?

I dont know if our win will shake up Australia. I mean, we Aussies are a cynical bunch! But I do believe Australia has to take a good hard look at itself. Consider AWARD last year. The three most awarded agencies were non-Australian  two Singaporean and one from New Zealand. If that doesnt shake people up, what the hell will? Its unbelievable that Australia cant dominate its own award show! Also, the fact that Singapore does better than the whole of Australia at Cannes, The One Show and D&AD should also shake them up.

With Singapore setting the pace Drogas energy will now turn more to his regional CD role.

I have deliberately spent more time in Singapore over these two years because I needed to have a showcase office within the Saatchi network. With Singapore a shining star you can attract the right people in other parts of the region. If I only had a regional role Id be spreading my role too thin  you cant arrive at an office, spend four days, solve all the problems, and then leave. For me its more a case of getting the right people in the right offices. In Hong Kong, weve just put in place possibly the best creative department in town, same in China, Vietnam and Taiwan so Im hoping this will pay dividends for us in the coming year. I could never have attracted these people into our other offices if it werent for Singapores reputation. My priorities are to ensure Singapores continued stability and growth and also focus a lot more on some of our other offices, particularly China and Hong Kong. Our office in China is growing at a rate of about 150% a year. At this rate it will be a billion dollar operation in 5 years. Its amazing, its already the largest agency in China, now the key is to match the growth with creativity.

So, whats next? Hopefully bigger and better things, says Droga. Im too competitive and too passionate to be come complacent.

David Drogas fast-track to the top

At still only 29, Drogas achievements verge on the unbelievable. After winning AWARD School in Australia at the ripe old age of 18, he joined OMON, the hottest agency in the country, as its very first employee. In the years that followed, Droga quickly established himself as one of Australias most awarded writers, collecting numerous gongs at AWARD, D&AD and Cannes.

At 24, he was rewarded with a 25% stake in the agency and promoted to joint Creative Director. The following year, OMON was awarded 1993 Agency of the Year (for the second time) by Campaign Brief Australia.

But as OMON began the process of a potential merger in 1995, Droga became restless. And when the agency merged with McCarthy Watson & Spencer, an unlikely suiter, he cashed in and began looking for new challenges. At only 27, he was lured to Saatchi & Saatchi Singapore as Regional Creative Director by Bob Isherwood the networks Worldwide Creative Director.

Just a few months after this interview Droga was approached to take on the ECD role at Saatchi & Saatchi London.

Photos from top:

1. Opening spread of Campaign Brief Asias interview with Droga.

2. The Saatchi & Saatchi creative department from 1998.

3. Andy Clarke.
| BY Ricki Green |

Hendricks Gin has a reputation for bringing the quirky and unusual to life, but The Awakening, held at Commune from June 2 to 4 via Yakusan, elevated the brand to whole new level with media, influencers and consumers coming away truly awakened.

With deliberate mystery surrounding the weekend long event, attendees anticipated they were going to experience something unique and unusual but were taken by surprise with this one-of-a-kind experience. Following opening night and through word of mouth, the experience sold out in record time, with consumers scrambling to be a part of this extraordinary immersive live experience.

Participants embarked on an hour-long interactive and theatrical journey of the body and the mind, as their own human instincts, emotions and reactions became the subject. Self-guided within groups of 20 through a series of unexpected scenarios, intricately themed rooms, carnivalesque theatrical performances and superbly crafted Hendricks drinks, participants were integrated into the script and pushed outside their comfort zones.

With an unprecedented amount of positive feedback, strong media attendance, initial reach of 5.7m across targeted media, over 1,000 ecstatic consumers and immeasurable WOM, Yakusan has certainly raised the bar on what interactive brand experience should deliver for both the brand and the consumer.

Yakusan Brand Experience Group, was responsible for the creative and concept development, production, communication and content strategy, media and partnership with Siren Theatre Co. and PR was managed by Agent 99.

Yakusan have been partners with Hendricks Gin since it first launched in Australia 10 years ago, creating and producing its brand strategy, brand experiences and rich content.
| BY Ricki Green |

Isobar has announced the appointment of Chirryl-Lee Ryan as head of experience design as of 12 June.

Based in Hong Kong and reporting to David Jessop, managing director of Isobar Hong Kong, Ryan will drive creative excellence and innovation in experience design in Hong Kong and Australia. She will also work with the global experience design community in Isobar, including with Cheyney Robinson, chief experience officer EMEA & APAC.

Ryan is a transdisciplinary designer with more than two decades of industry experience spanning visual, digital, motion, spatial, industrial and strategic design, with a specific focus on human-centered design.

Her appointment reflects Isobars continued focus on enhancing its experience design practice in the APAC region, following its acquisition of Fractal Ink Design Studio, Indias leading design hot shop in December 2016. This is also in line with Isobars goal of establishing its Hong Kong office as one of the key hubs for experience design in the region.

Prior to joining Isobar, Ryan was part of Fjord, Accentures global design and innovation consultancy, working globally with blue chip clients including those in telecommunications, government and finance sectors, where she used human centered design and digital to improve the lives of millions of people around the world.

Says Jessop: Chirryl-Lee is an extremely exciting hire for Isobar who will turbo-charge our Experience Design service offering. She brings over 20 years of global transdisciplinary design experience to the table and will steward the experience design practice in Hong Kong and Australia, working with clients across the region. Hiring Chirryl-Lee reflects the importance we place on Experience Design as a critical service to help solve our clients complex business problems.

Says Konrad Spilva, CEO, Isobar ANZ: We were inspired by Chirryl-Lees approach to the world  one of never accepting the status quo, constantly striving for better and generally being a natural champion of our no bullshit attitude. In a time when organisations around the world are doubling-down on the practice of human centred design and seeing massive payoffs as a result, the appointment of Chirryl-Lee with her impressive experience and proven results is a massive win for us and our clients across the region.

Says Ryan: Im excited to be part of a leading global agency with a vision as ambitious as my own. Our goal at Isobar is to transform businesses, brands and peoples lives through creative use of digital  and Experience Design not only offers new and innovative ways of building the future digital economy, but also builds meaningful partnerships with clients by creating better business value and ultimately, making peoples lives better.
Monday, July 3, 2017 at 8:27PM

Samsung takes all the useable and non-explode-y parts of the Galaxy Note7 and puts it in a new refurbished device the company is calling the Galaxy Note Fan Edition. The phablet was just launched in South Korea and will be coming to its stores on July 7th. The Note Fan Edition basically carries the same specs of the Note7 except for some key differences including a smaller 3,200mAh battery, which they claim passed through the new rigorous battery testing system they have in place. It also gets support for Samsungs Bixby assistant. There will only be 400,000 units released and the device is coming to Korea first with other markets being decided after. Samsung Canada has previously announced that they have no plans to carry the refurbished device. Although with the Galaxy Note8 rumoured to be coming in August, were not sure why Samsung even decided to release this version. If given an opportunity to buy one though, would you?

Source: The Verge
"While a direct flight between Canberra and the United States mainland may be some years off, we can improve access to America through a direct service to Auckland where travellers can then access a connecting flight to the United States," Mr Barr said.
But IT and privacy experts are sounding the alarm, using the revelations to call for an urgent rethink of the government's new centralised $1 billion My Health Record system - which is about to be rolled out to most Australians.
About 50,000 custom-made tiles had to be imported from Italy, later found to be too long and requiring modification to fit the existing pattern. The forecourt's trees had to be removed and replaced, with problematic retaining walls and landscaping also requiring rectification.
The move into Taiwan builds on BSOs heritage as a leading low-latency connectivity provider to the emerging markets. BSO, which will be present in the Chief IDC data centre complex which hosts the TPIX, is enabling market makers to trade faster into some of the worlds highest-growth regions. The move supports the TPIXs upgrade of its algorithmic trading platform, as it continues to meet the speed demands of electronic traders.

Our members are always seeking the lowest possible latency and most reliable access to high-growth global trading venues to execute trades faster and without interruption, said Tony Chang, senior vice president of sales at Chief IDC Taiwan.

The flexibility of BSO to adjust its low-latency connectivity to new destinations ensures our clients quickly access the most profitable markets.

BSOs move into Taiwan meets the growing demand for more reliable and flexible services that suit the needs of market makers looking to ramp up their trading activity across emerging regions. The TPIX is the latest in a long line of emerging market focused agreements BSO has struck, following announcements with Sucden Financial, RJO Brien and the CME Group earlier this year.

Fraser Bell, chief revenue officer at BSO, added: Being at the forefront of connecting the trading community to new and high-growth regions such as Taiwan is core to BSOs service-led approach. Our presence in the exchange reinforces our continued commitment to providing the electronic trading community with continuous and stable access to the most profitable and attractive markets.

At the end of last year, BSO enhanced the connectivity of its global network in/out of Dubai, significantly lowering latencies to speed up trading activity.
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.
The Prime Minister of our country Mr. Narendra Modi has added one more feather to his cap. Or so to say he will be doing so in the coming future. Penguin Random House, a well known publishing house, has revealed that Mr. Modi would be penning a book for the youth in India. The book will cover important issues like overcoming stress during the examination and how to keep up composure after the exams get over.

Narendra Modi's Inputs on Education

The book will be published in multiple languages and shows how the Prime Minister of the country wants to help the students. The book is mainly aimed at the students of class 10 and class 12, who are the most affected by the expectations and pressure that comes with examinations.

It is an extension of the 'Mann Ki Baat' radio programe, that the PM found to be successful and thus decided to put his words into print.

There is no doubt that there are many young and upcoming writers in the country. With examples like Mr. Modi, young minds of our country will always have the inspiration to find their dreams of writing and making them happen.

Writing a book, is not a few days work. It takes many months to develop the idea, and many more to actually write it. People might think that writing is as easy as saying, 'I'm going to write.'

Guess what? It is not.

So while Mr. Modi is helping the students of our country to tackle the examinations with a strong mind we have some tips for all the young aspiring writers who want to bring in some changes in the society or just have a story for the whole world to read.

Gotta Read 'em all!

The more you read, the more you will be able to write. Words do not just seed out of your mind. It needs extreme work to put one's thoughts into words. How to do this? The answer is to read. You can chose whatever genre, fiction or non-fiction, but you must read. What happens when you read?

Vocabulary increases

You will know what word to use where

Learn to make proper sentence construction

Start noticing the styles used by different authors

You will be reading SO MANY BOOKS!

Also Read: 8 Things that the World of Harry Potter taught the Student Community

Write. Write. Write

Needles to say this is the most important part of the whole process. If you only decide on writing or just keep on wanting to write, you will never reach your goal to finish writing that book. Don't be anxious. No author has ever written some bestseller the very first time they wrote something. So just make sure every day you write some bit. Why?

You will know the parts you don't have to include.

It will increase your ability to write more.

Something that you don't find useful now, may come useful later.

Recalling words will become easier with time.

Also Read: Free Online Creative Writing Course

Don't Think about Good or Not Good

The first time you are writing something, you need not worry if you your writing is good or not. Writing is something that develops with time. The more time you spend on it, the better you will become. But being anxious about how your plot will be ending and if the readers will like it or not, will not help you a bit. Rather, you must stay calm and concentrate on writing. Ask yourself if you are satisfied with whatever you did. If not then start again. You should give maximum time to your work.

Refer the Right Sources

As a Non-Fiction writer one might need more information than just imagination. For the first time authors, this might become a difficulty. Authors usually learn how to work with their book, and each of them have their own way of finding out resources. But for first timers, one must keep the following in mind:

Get the information from certified sources

Double check with other sources as well

Make someone else edit your work ( This way they might find an error)

In case of Fiction, sometimes, facts must be right. It all depends on the author, so it can be flexible, but it is better to double check your facts and your sources than ending up with an error and saying things like, "It's fiction, I imagined it that way."

Look Out for Constructive Criticism

If you really want to grow as a writer one thing you must do is take constructive criticism. But this doesn't mean that you must adhere to every other person's perspective. Though some might be worthy enough to listen, many people might be discouraging in their statements.

Have a critic who will read through your work without any bias.

Some people might not say anything, with the intention of not hurting the writer. The person must give an honest opinion.

At the end it is the writer's choice to accept the feedback or not, but it is advised to go with the criticism.

Write something only if you truly believe in it

Now this might sound silly to some, but it actually works. Writing words is an easy task. Writing one's soul and thought into a book requires experience, imagination and passion. These three ingredients can only be available when :

The writer truly believes in what they are writing.

When there is a reason to why they must be writing.

For a reader to read and connect, there needs to be context which can be geographical, social or based on any other aspect of life.

Literature is the reflection of the society. To use the words of Stephen Chobsky for the writers, one can say that writers are the ones who see things, who keep quite about them and who understand and write them.

Type Slowly to Enhance Your Writing Skills
While we knew the upcoming BMW X2 wouldnt retain all those flashy elements found on the concept version, were still happy to see how these patent images resemble prototypes that were already spotted multiple times.



Its always nice to have some type of confirmation, even though these images sourced from the Japanese Patent Office arent exactly as conclusive as BMW coming out with a press release and a full gallery.

Still, from what we can see, the car is basically be a toned-down version of the X2 Concept, which made its official debut at the 2016 Paris Auto Show last year.

BMWs senior VP, Adrian van Hooydonk described it as being aimed at active people looking for a combination of enjoyment and practicality, although what some people saw was another attempt at creating a flashy crossover. Which is good, if youre a fan of the whole Coupe SUV genre.

At the front, the patent images reveal how the headlights could likely remain angular, but not quite as sharp in terms of design as the ones on the concept. Look close and youll spot the differences  overall, they also seem bigger in the patent shots.

Other differences include the smaller front grille, less aggressive front bumper, production-ready door mirrors, a single (and also smaller) exhaust tip, slightly altered taillights plus a regular rear bumper. Whats really interesting though is that all patent images include that little empty circle on the C-pillar, where the concept has a BMW badge. So then, could C-pillar badges become a new trend for BMW? Time will tell.

Well also point out that this rendering from last year, meant to depict a production version of the X2 Concept, doesnt look all that realistic anymore  not with that gigantic grille and ultra-sloped rear end. The real thing appears to be more of a sportier X1.

The good news is, were only a little over two months away from the 2017 Frankfurt Auto Show, where BMW will be unveiling their X2 crossover.

PHOTO GALLERY
A resident of Jemez Springs, New Mexico, has been sentenced and forced to carry a photo of the 18-year-old he killed in a multi-vehicle car crash in August 2016.



Daniel Leigh Crane, aged 50, pleaded guilty to charges of homicide by vehicle in the second degree and was sentenced to two years probation with 60 days to serve in jail. Additionally, he must pay $1,140 in fines, a $420 fee for his defense attorney, cannot operate a vehicle in the state of Georgia, must complete 80 hours of community service and has to attend a victim impact panel.

Perhaps the most interesting thing about the courts decision, though, is that Crane will also be required to carry a photo of Summer Ann Lee, the 18-year-old who died in the crash, at all times, as well as a copy of the victim statement Lees mother presented at court.

On the morning of August 20, 2016, Crane struck Lees SUV and pushed it into five other cars. Lee later died as a result of her injuries, while seven other individuals were taken to hospital.

Speaking to the Henry Herald, Summer Ann Lees mother, Kim Lee, said she wanted Crane to apologize for his actions.

In court he never apologized, not even for the wreck, but to never apologize for the life that was taken  thats what we had a problem with. To not show any remorse is what has torn us apart, she commented.

PHOTO GALLERY
German publication Der Spiegel reports that Volkswagens French division reported false delivery figures for years in an effort to make its performances look better.



Citing an internal report from VW auditors, Der Spiegel discovered that many VW models were only registered by their owners months or years after taking delivery.

Additionally, the German company classified various cars as being delivered even though they didnt have purchase contracts let alone had been delivered.

All up, it is reported that inaccurate information was given for almost 800,000 vehicles from Volkswagen, Audi, Skoda and Seat.

Reuters says that VW group chief executive Matthias Mueller was informed about the inaccurate delivery figures on April 24 and shortly after, the head of VWs French operations Jacques Rivoal resigned, citing strategic differences with management.

PHOTO GALLERY
Photo: The Canadian Press The Nova Centre, a mixed-use commercial development under construction in downtown Halifax.

Halifax is booming, its skyline awash with construction cranes, and Jesse Rodgers can tell you why.

Rodgers, a veteran of Waterloo's tech startup scene, moved to the Nova Scotia capital a year ago with his wife and four kids. They bought a big house on a quiet, tree-lined street a stone's throw from the ocean.

They are part of a convergence of factors  thriving manufacturing and construction sectors, healthy employment and income gains, strong housing and retail markets, off-the-charts population gains  that have made Halifax one of the country's fastest-growing cities, and earned it the title of Canada's fifth-biggest tech hub.

In a region that is largely consumed by a narrative of decline, Halifax stands out, and not just because of its fast-changing skyline.

"The startup community in Halifax feels like Waterloo 15 years ago, and its going to grow," said Rodgers, who helms the city's start-up entrepreneur hub Volta Labs. "The timing is now for Halifax."

Halifax has long been lauded for its short commutes, affordable homes, clean air and nearby beaches. It's home to multiple universities and colleges, military bases, start-ups and a convenient time-zone and geography.

But the city's charm may come from what it doesn't have: Million-dollar tear-downs, gruelling commutes to increasingly expensive, far-flung bedroom communities, summertime smog warnings, crush-loaded transit.

The municipality's planning department is processing more building permits than ever before. In 2011, for example, the city issued permits for 96 new residential units. Last year, that number soared to 1,040 units.

The city's per capita population growth in 2016 outpaced Montreal, Vancouver, Ottawa and, just barely, Toronto, according to recent Statistics Canada figures.
Photo: West Kelowna Fire Rescue

Firefighters snuffed a wildfire overnight that advanced to within 75 metres of Mission Hill Winery in West Kelowna.

The fire reportedly broke out about 1 a.m. off Elk Road, on Westbank First Nation lands, in the Mount Boucherie area and was determined to have spread from a smouldering burning barrel, says West Kelowna Fire Chief Jason Brolund.

Several homes are also not far away.

Firefighters from the Westbank, Lakeview Heights, Glenrosa and Rose Valley fire stations responded to the blaze, which grew to approximately 200x200 metres in size.

A fire guard was built around the perimeter of the fire, and all hotspots were extinguished, says Brolund.

On Monday, the fire danger rating in West Kelowna reached extreme, he noted in a press release.

Campfire bans are normally considered following a period of at least three days at this level.

"The weather is expected to remain hot in coming days, and in the face of our extreme fire danger, we are urging the public to be cautious in the wildland-urban interface," said Brolund. "Remain vigilant and report signs of smoke or fire immediately to 911."
Photo: Google Maps The body of a Surrey man has been recovered from Shuswap Lake.

RCMP divers have recovered the body of a 37-year-old Surrey man from Shuswap Lake.

Salmon Arm RCMP members were called to a local campground on Sunday where the man, who was vacationing in the area, had gone missing while in the lake within a designated swimming area.

Our local Salmon Arm Search and Rescue team was called in to conduct a shore search as the Salmon Arm RCMP maintained a presence at the location overnight, said Staff Sgt. Scott West, head of the Salmon Arm detachment. "On July 3 (Monday), the RCMP Southeast District Underwater Recovery Team attended early in the morning and recovered the male from Shuswap Lake.

West expressed his condolences to the victim's family and released no further information.
Photo: The Canadian Press The fire danger rating in the Central Okanagan is extreme.

It didn't take long for forests in the Central Okanagan to dry out and the fire danger rating to reach extreme.

Hot, dry weather over the past week, and a forecast for more of the same, has prompted the rating. It is expected to stay in the high to extreme range for quite some time.

Fire departments throughout the Central Okanagan are asking residents and visitors to be extremely careful with the use of fire and any fuel source. Smoking materials should be carefully extinguished and motorists should not toss cigarettes or other smoking materials from moving vehicles.

Smoking is also prohibited in regional and municipal parks.

There is also a ban on open burning. Violators could be fined and charged the cost of firefighting costs.

Currently, campfires are still allowed, with size restrictions, in West Kelowna, Lake Country, Peachland and the Central Okanagan east and west electoral areas. Campfires are not allowed at any time of year in the City of Kelowna.

Anyone who sees smoke or fire should immediately call 911 or *5555 on a cellphone.
Juan Lara was headed back to the Port of Los Angeles two weeks ago from his daily pickup in the Mojave Desert when his truck erupted with engine trouble. He managed to bring the truck and its 50,000-pound load of borax limping into the port.

There the 63-year-old driver says he faced a bill for $10,500 in repairs for a truck he doesn't even own. That will take a big chunk out of his pretax pay of about $2,500 a week, which is reduced by more than half by his expenses for fuel, insurance and the truck lease itself. Subtract federal, payroll and state taxes, and Lara may be working for less than $18 an hour, with no benefits.

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Lara is classified at his trucking company, California Cartage Express, as an "independent contractor," not an employee, even though he says he drives exclusively for the company and operates under the control of its dispatchers.

That isnt a storm cloud for you. That is an absolute tornado coming at you at about a hundred miles an hour. And you better scatter.  U.S. Judge William D. Keller warns a port trucking company that its "independent" drivers are employees

The vast majority of the roughly 12,000 regular truck drivers at the Port of Los Angeles and Port of Long Beach are classified by their bosses as independent contractors. But as federal and state judges and labor regulators have consistently ruled, they're employees in all but name. They just don't get the benefits  access to employer-owned equipment, workers compensation and unemployment insurance, employer contributions to Social Security and minimum wage protection.

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They don't get retirement or healthcare coverage, or reimbursement for their work expenses. Typically, they work on 90-day renewable contracts, which means they can effectively be fired at will, with no recourse to the protection against arbitrary treatment enjoyed by employees.

The misclassification of workers as independent contractors is a national scandal. But the port may be the single most concentrated example of this race to the bottom in the American workplace. Port trucking "really is a case study in the bigger economic trends we have seen since the 1980s," says Jessica Durrum, head of the clean & safe ports campaign for LAANE, the Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy. "This is not about one or two bad apples."

There's no mystery why shipping firms at the port prefer the independent contractor model: It saves them about 30% compared to the cost of operating with employee drivers. That's the estimate of Fred Potter, director of the port division of the Teamsters, which represents about 500 drivers at the port and is trying to expand its representation.

The Teamsters' goal is to get the drivers as much as 30% more in pay over the average $28,000 that the union says the "independent contractors" can pull down after expenses, but resistance by the firms has been ferocious. As long as the misclassification continues, Potter says, "the employers who break the law have an advantage."

The drivers haul not only industrial cargoes, but merchandise for leading retail chains, including Target, Home Depot, Lowe's and Wal-Mart as well as merchandise bearing some of the world's most familiar brand names. Those chains and brands are the customers that shipping companies try to please by undercutting each other's rates, and they have the power to require the shippers to comply with the law.

We reached out to the four big retailers; Target said it expects all its vendors "to comply with our vendor standards and all applicable laws and regulations around labor, wages, overtime and more," including "the appropriate classification of their workers." Home Depot said, "we're investigating the issue and we're exploring ways to ensure drivers are aware of available channels to raise concerns with us." Lowe's said it had "no information to share" and Wal-Mart didn't respond. We also reached out to California Cartage, Lara's company, but they didn't respond.

Shipping companies claim that truckers prefer to be independent contractors. "The market is telling us that independent contracting is where the talent pool is," says a spokesperson for XPO Logistics, a big port shipping firm. "For them it's about pay and flexibility, and that's important for us, too."

"Of drivers offered the opportunity to be employees or independent contractors," says Weston LaBar, executive director of the Harbor Trucking Assn., "more than 90% choose to be independent contractors." But that choice is really a sham because opportunities to be employees are limited; the few employee-only companies at the port face "a significant economic disadvantage," says an industry insider who asked to remain unidentified because he serves in port management.

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Legal rulings have almost uniformly found that the truckers meet all the markers of employees and almost none of independent business operators; LaBar concedes that "99% of the cases" have been ruled in favor of the drivers.

As a National Labor Relations Board judge found in 2015 in a case involving Green Fleet Systems, the company dictated each driver's shifts, set payments unilaterally, effectively prevented them from working for other companies and required the drivers to park the trucks on company property between shifts  and charged them up to $15 a week for the parking.

"In every real sense, they were neither independent nor businesses," ruled the judge, Jeffrey D. Wedekind. "Rather, they were dependent drivers."

As the rulings pile up, so do the liabilities. The port firm Shippers Transport Express settled a federal court suit over the misclassification of more than 500 truck drivers for $11 million in 2015, while agreeing to convert the drivers to employee status. Of about 900 complaints filed with the California labor commissioner since 2011, rulings have been issued in more than 375  every one finding that the drivers are employees and ordering back pay totaling nearly $40 million, according to Julie Gutman Dickinson, a Los Angeles-based lawyer for the Teamsters. About 350 cases have been settled or sent to arbitration, and 150 are pending.

In May, U.S. Judge William D. Keller of Los Angeles ordered Pacer Cartage, a unit of XPO, to pay five drivers a total of $958,657 in unlawfully deducted wages, lease payments, expenses and interest. XPO is appealing the order.

During the trial Keller warned Pacer that case law had moved inexorably toward the conclusion that the drivers had been improperly classified as independent contractors."That isn't a storm cloud for you," he said. "That is an absolute tornado coming at you at about a hundred miles an hour. And you better scatter."

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The industry attributes its string of losses to "politically tilted" judges and regulators and the influence of "plaintiffs' attorneys and organized labor," as Greg M. Feary, the head of a law firm that represents the shippers, wrote in response to a recent USA Today investigation into lease abuses at the Port of Los Angeles.

The classification of drivers as independent contractors dates back to federal deregulation of the trucking industry in 1980. Companies that mostly employed Teamster members on fixed wages were soon supplanted by nonunion companies that sold their trucks to their drivers and paid them by the load. Established Teamster companies, including California Cartage, shifted to the new model. A vigorous trade in used trucks developed among drivers.

But the economics for drivers took a drastic turn for the worse in 2008, when the port instituted an initiative to get old, polluting diesel trucks scrapped and replaced with fuel-efficient, lower-emission  and much more expensive  new models. The goal was to quell local residents' complaints about filthy air, paving the way for a port expansion to relieve congestion.

As a federal appeals court later observed, port officials believed that the conversion to clean trucks would be "prohibitively expensive" for independent drivers. The city of Los Angeles issued a mandate that all trucking firms at the port, which had better access to the capital needed to convert the fleet, would have to change back to the employee-only model. The shipping firms successfully sued to overturn the mandate in federal court.

"Every day I come to work knowing I'll have to cover $60 for the lease that day, plus fuel and insurance," says Daniel Seko, 39, a driver for Intermodal Bridge Transport who gets paid by the load. In a good week, Seko says, he might earn $900 before expenses. "If it's not a good week, $500."

There are signs that the industry is moving toward an employee-only model, but at a snail's pace.

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One reason may be that the companies are hoping that the advent of the Trump administration heralds a more indulgent approach at the NLRB.

A few weeks ago, XPO asked an NLRB judge to suspend two cases in which the Teamsters accuse the firm of illegally misclassifying drivers, to "see whether the new administration remains interested" in the cases. The judge rejected the motion and scheduled a hearing for July 24 in Los Angeles.

Keep up to date with Michael Hiltzik. Follow @hiltzikm on Twitter, see his Facebook page, or email michael.hiltzik@latimes.com.

Return to Michael Hiltzik's blog.
June Oswald, 46, of New Orleans is a lawyer who has struggled with addiction. She was diagnosed with hepatitis C in December but Medicaid denied her claims for treatment because the damage to her liver was not severe enough. (Edmund D. Fountain / For The Washington Post)

BATON ROUGE  In this city on the east bank of the Mississippi River, Rebekah Gee, Louisiana's health secretary, presides over what she calls the "public-health-crisis cradle" of America. Poverty and poor health collide here to produce some of the nation's worst rates of obesity, premature birth and other maladies.

Those problems are deep-rooted and hard to solve. The easy one, at least in theory, is hepatitis C, a liver-damaging virus frequently contracted by injection-drug users that can cause cirrhosis and cancer.

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A handful of powerful new medicines offer high cure rates and few side effects. But because the drugs also launched with staggering list prices - as much as $94,500 for a 12-week course of treatment - Louisiana and other states have decided to ration care to Medicaid patients, waiting for people to get severe liver damage before providing access to the medicine.

Now, Gee is considering a radical move to get treatment to the thousands of Louisiana residents who need it but are not sick enough to qualify - asking the federal government to step in to drive prices down, perhaps by overriding the patent protections drug companies hold over the medicines.

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"This should be the low-hanging fruit," Gee said. "What frustrates me as a public policymaker is I can't solve public-health problems that should be the easy ones."

Gee will decide over the coming months whether to move forward with the controversial strategy. Gee could ask the federal government to invoke a little-known law that allows it to employ companies' drug patents for the government's use. After essentially overriding the patents, the government could pay the companies as little as $1,000 for a 12-week course of treatment.

Pharmaceutical firms say they invest in risky research and development because of the rich reward that come with success - a temporary monopoly on their inventions. Companies argue that any interference in this reward structure would dull the incentives for innovation, undermine the business model that supports the development of new drugs and endanger the next transformative medicine.

If Gee moves forward or is able to leverage the threat of intervention to wring deep concessions on price, it could be a powerful precedent.

"Secretary Gee is . . . directly challenging the power of a drug company to essentially determine who lives and dies by pricing products so high that she can't buy them for her population," said Sara Rosenbaum, a professor of health law and policy at George Washington University. "It puts the issue into a much clearer posture than just sitting around saying, 'We can't afford these drugs for poor people.' "

At the moment, that is Louisiana's stance. Despite receiving rebates to ameliorate the high list prices, the state says it can afford to pay for treatment for only the patients with significant liver damage, at high risk of progressing to cirrhosis and organ failure. Last year, that meant only 324 of the state's estimated 35,000 Medicaid or uninsured patients who are infected.

Dominick Crocco, 31, contracted the virus from heroin use about six years ago. His liver is damaged - his doctor told him he was "lucky" initially, because tests showed his liver function was impaired enough that it met the state's strict criteria.

Medicaid refused to pay for his prescription, however, because parts of his liver were still not diseased enough.

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"I'll get sick enough, eventually," Crocco said, wryly.

Crocco and Gee, in their own ways, are experiencing the confluence of medical progress, a health crisis that weighs heavily on the poor and the realities of the safety net. The new generation of hepatitis C treatments represents a promising public-health opportunity to wipe out a disease. But even with the emergence of powerful cures, the rates of hepatitis C increased nationally between 2010 and 2015, driven primarily by injection drug use fueled by the opioid epidemic. Because private insurance will often cover hepatitis C treatment, lower-income people on Medicaid are among those most affected by the price.

The plight in Louisiana shows how, in an era of limited public finances, the government is forced to decide whom it can afford to treat and whom it can't. Those tough decisions are certain to become more acute if the Senate health-care bill, which would reduce federal Medicaid spending, moves forward. Over time, states facing rising medical costs will have to raise more money through taxes or cut back on the program.

"When you look at some of the national discussion about drug prices, it's often presented in isolation: This is the price, and the drug is worth it," Gee said. "When I make decisions about drug coverage, I have to trade off those decisions with K-12 education, higher education, roads."

As the medical director for Louisiana's Medicaid program, Gee - an obstetrician and gynecologist who moved here in 2009 - was involved in writing guidelines for the state's coverage of hepatitis C medications after the first of a new generation of drugs was approved in late 2013. The treatment carried an infamous $84,000 price tag.

"It was frankly impossible, from a budget standpoint," Gee recalled.

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The criteria patients had to meet were strict. The virus must have wreaked damage, transforming a smooth, healthy liver into a leathery organ, mottled with nodules. The individual had to have a clean drug and alcohol screening.

Gee quickly found herself under fire. The issue was made even more stark when Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards, D, expanded Medicaid last July under the Affordable Care Act. That created the opportunity to cure even more people but exacerbated the financial challenge. Treating the state's Medicaid and uninsured would cost $764 million, according to an online calculator created by Peter Bach, director of the Center for Health Policy and Outcomes at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.

Restrictions on access conflict with medical guidelines and infuriate physicians, who argue that patients with other diseases do not face similar barriers.

"The bottom line for me is my patients are developing organ damage and I have to wait until they have organ damage until I can access medication for hepatitis C," said Jason Halperin, an infectious-disease clinician at CrescentCare, a federally qualified health center in New Orleans.

"The bottom line for me is my patients are developing organ damage and I have to wait until they have organ damage until I can access medication for hepatitis C," said Jason Halperin, an infectious-disease clinician in New Orleans. (Edmund D. Fountain / For The Washington Post)

Gee this year began to think about using a federal law that allows the government to override intellectual-property rights to get more-affordable medication.

At Gee's urging, Joshua Sharfstein, a professor of public health at Johns Hopkins University and a former Food and Drug Administration deputy commissioner, convened a meeting of health-policy specialists and economists. They advised that the state ask the federal government to intervene in a two-pronged approach: Gee should first ask the government to negotiate with a drug company and license a medication, in line with a recent recommendation by a committee from the National Academies.

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At the same time, they advised Gee to pursue a harder-edged tactic, in case the voluntary approach did not work: Gee should ask the secretary of health and human services to invoke a century-old law that allows the government to use patents at a reasonable cost. The panel recommended a price as low as $1,000 per patient.

The law was used routinely in the 1950s and 1960s to make medicines available at lower prices. It was considered but not used during the anthrax attacks in 2001. It has been used by more than 10 government agencies or departments to lower the prices for patented inventions, including night-vision goggles for the Defense Department.

"The drug has been out for years, and we're failing to provide it to the majority of people who have this infection," Gee said. "We're failing at our mission to improve the public health, and so just doing what we're doing is not an option and we have to do better."

President Donald Trump has used forceful language against high drug prices and threatened the industry with tough action to bring costs down. Still, health-policy experts predict that even if Gee asks the federal government to help, the odds are against a Republican administration making such a dramatic intervention in the private sector.

Department of Health and Human Services spokeswoman Alleigh Marre declined to comment.

By merely threatening the move, Louisiana could prompt the drug companies that produce hepatitis C treatments - which oppose intervention - to offer a better price.

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Gilead, a company that has projected between $7.5 billion and $9 billion in sales for 2017 for its hepatitis C drugs, says federal intervention would threaten future progress.

In a statement, the company said the proposal "puts in jeopardy further medical innovation by undermining the patent system and de-incentivizing research and development." Gilead said that the state's predictions of the budget impact are unrealistic, based on the idea that the entire infected population could be screened, treated and connected to treatment in a year. Gilead offers states that do not restrict access to treatments deep discounts - less than $30,000 for a 12-week treatment.

Merck spokeswoman Pamela Eisele said the company had already introduced its treatment, Zepatier, at a significant discount to competitors - $54,600 for a 12-week course - and offers additional rebates.

Markeisha Marshall, a spokeswoman for AbbVie, said the $83,319 list price for that company's drug does not reflect discounts or rebates.

Rebekah Gee, Louisiana's health secretary, is considering a radical move to get hepatitis C treatment to the thousands of Louisiana residents who need it but are not sick enough to qualify. (Edmund D. Fountain / For The Washington Post)

Gee said that she is not wedded to one approach and that she simply thinks the equity and access problems that are an outgrowth of high drug prices need to be tackled. After receiving the expert panel's recommendation, Gee put out the proposal for public comment and received 102, a majority of which were in favor of taking some action. She expects to make a decision soon about a strategy to try to eliminate hepatitis C in Louisiana.

Gee said that she has not been approached yet by any companies offering a better price.

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Caught in the middle of debates about intellectual-property rights and innovation are patients, who see being cured of hepatitis C as crucial in getting their lives back on track. Even for those who are not in danger of liver failure or cancer in the short term, the virus can cause emotional duress and worries about infecting others.

June Oswald of New Orleans, who was denied access because there was not adequate damage to her liver, had been painstakingly rebuilding her relationships and life in a residential treatment center. Getting rid of the virus is an essential part of that journey for Oswald, a lawyer whose struggle with addiction has damaged her career and her family.

"I know I could spread it to others. I have a small child - I'm worried about sharing a toothbrush or having a cut in my house," Oswald said. "I'm worried about developing future liver damage."

In Baton Rouge, Crocco feels as if he is on a precipice, ready to begin a new life. After his prescription for a hepatitis C medication was rejected in January, he relapsed. To claw himself out, he moved two hours from his home and his old bad habits. He went through detox and rehab and now lives with 22 other men trying to stay sober.

Crocco has seen others relapse or come close; that has only motivated him more to stay clean. Amid days packed with addiction support meetings and three-hour therapy sessions, he has started doing electrical contracting work. The idea he could fix his liver, he said, has helped him stay clean.

"I'm literally willing to do whatever I've got to do to stay clean," Crocco said. "My relapse mechanism is remorse-, self-esteem-related. I have all these reminders that this is what I deserve, and hep C is one of those things. It's how you live, and this is who you are."
MADISON, Wis.  Patience might pay off for Tony Hook, but people who love his cheese will have to move a little quicker.



The Mineral Point, Wis. cheese maker is releasing a 20-year cheddar, and cheese lovers are already lining up to make sure they get a nibble of it.



Hook, whose 15-year cheddar created a national stir in the food world when it debuted in late 2009, set aside nearly 500 pounds of cheese for another five years after that. Despite a price tag of more than $200 a pound, people are eager to order it now even though it won't be available until the end of May.



"In another week, it's going to be gone," said Jeanne Carpenter, specialty cheese manager at Metcalfe's Market, which is taking quarter-pound orders for the cheese. "There's not going to be any for sale on the shelf. I just requested another 10 pounds and they're scattering around trying to find me some more because I'm out of my allotment."



At another Madison store, the cheese can also be ordered in advance but only in quarter-pound increments that cost $52.25.



"We want as many people who are willing to indulge in this to get a chance," said Fromagination owner Ken Monteleone. "We're not trying to sell it to people who want 1 pound; then they'll try to resell it and that's not the goal. We want to celebrate what the Hooks have done."



Both Metcalfe's and Fromagination are selling it for $209 a pound, which is the same price the Hooks will be setting when it debuts May 29 at their Mineral Point shop and May 30 at their stand at a local farmer's market. It will be available at other stores and restaurants, and the Hooks are still taking orders.



"The reality is I should be charging $360 a pound for it but who is going to pay that?" Monteleone said. "We're not looking at it as our moneymaker. We look at it as a chance to create excitement about artisan cheese."



When Hook's released the original 15-year cheddar, it was believed to be the oldest cheese that had been commercially available. In 2012, a cheese shop owner found some 40-, 34- and 28-year in the back of a cooler when he closed his store. It was sold at a cheese shop in Milwaukee, with 40-year going for $10 an ounce.



The Hook's cheese wasn't a case of lost inventory but a plan that was put in place after the 15-year was such a success. Hook checked the cheese a couple times a year since setting it aside, though he hasn't tasted it since the fall.



"It's really, really good," he said.



The main difference, he said, will be in the crunch. As cheese ages, it develops calcium lactate crystals, something many cheese eaters either love or hate. The flavor itself won't be that different from the 15-year, he said.



"You're going to notice it but the 15-year is so good already," Hook said. "It's just something that's special. We're not planning to release it every year like we do the 15. This is kind of a one-shot deal for now."



Because cheese dries as it ages, this cheddar will be extremely crumbly, like its 15-year sibling. Cutting a quarter pound will be a challenge, but that's as much as Metcalfe's is going to sell per person, too.



"We're going to have to weigh it very carefully and cut it very carefully," Carpenter said. "Every crumb is going to count."



Carpenter said many people who are ordering it are planning to go in on a purchase with friends for a get-together.



"I'm telling people to just eat it," Carpenter said. "Do not waste it in a recipe. Open it up, get four or five of your friends together and eat it. Then remember where you were when you tasted 20-year cheddar."



Even the mild-mannered Hook feels a bit sheepish about the price, but knows it's what the market is about. It's all a far cry from when Hook and his wife, Julie, opened their factory in 1976 and earned pennies on the pound making cheese that was sold under other companies' labels.



"You never know for sure," Hook said. "You think of people who have high-falutin' jobs that can afford things like this, but over the years, with the 15-year, we've got what you could call the common folk. There's a cab driver who stops every year the first day we have the 15-year out."



"I feel sort of bad in a way because everyone should be able to afford good things in life," he said.



Hook has nothing to feel bad about, Monteleone said.



"If I put aside money 20 years ago, I'd expect a return on it," Monteleone. "He took a big risk. He should be rewarded."



Wisconsin State-Journal


While on the hunt for a Nestle Quick-based fudge recipe for a reader, The Daley Question has received several recipes from other readers, including one made with nuts and marshmallows. (Judy Lowery, McClatchy-Tribune)

Daley Question readers responded generously to my plea for help in finding a fudge recipe made with Nesquik, formerly known as Nestle Quik. ("Fudge recipes, Nestle-style," Daley Question, Feb. 18, 2015). Bob Smith wrote in from Wheat Ridge, Colo., asking for a recipe he believed his dad had taken from a Nestle Quik can in 1971 or 1972.

"The recipe was for a fudge that either exclusively, or primarily, used Nestle Quik and a double boiler,'' he wrote.

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Roz O'Hearn, director of corporate and brand affairs for Nestle USA in Solon, Ohio, said there was no such recipe in the company's database. I wondered aloud if perhaps the recipe Smith's dad had used might have been for another brand. I asked readers if they might help.

Readers replied with recipes, Web page links and memories. The recipe that seems to come closest to the description give by Smith is one submitted by Elizabeth McKenna of Huntley.

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"I am sending the following recipe which I have in my file,'' she wrote. "Although I cannot guarantee that it is Quik cocoa that is listed, I feel that there is a strong possibility that it is, because that is the only cocoa that I used when my children were growing up."

McKenna's recipe is also made in a double boiler  another plus.

I made the fudge at home. The recipe was quite easy even without the double boiler. The fudge was very sweet (the nuts help tone that down) and somewhat grainy. You will want to serve the pieces chilled; mine got very gooey out at room temperaute. It did seem to fit Bob Smith's recollection of a fudge "sweeter than many fudge recipes" but with a "more mellow" chocolate flavor.

The recipe can be found below, along with two other fudge recipes submitted by readers. One of these recipes calls for Hershey's Cocoa; a number of readers mentioned the brand, including Pamela Schopp-Young of Dyer, Ind. She sent in a recipe for "Rich Cocoa Fudge" that she clipped from "The Daily Southtown/The Star" back in 2006. The paper "had a full page of fudge recipes which I saved,'' she wrote in an email. The column in question, distributed by the Associated Press, was written by Carol Anne Blitzer, then a feature writer at The Advocate, Baton Rouge, La.

Mary E. Kirner of Aurora mailed in an old recipe from a Hershey's ad or recipe pamphlet that's slightly different than the version shared by Schopp-Young. Notably, her recipe calls for 1 1/2 tablespoons of light corn syrup. Her recipe also asks for 4 1/2 tablespoons of butter instead of 4 tablespoons and 3/4 teaspoon vanilla instead of 1 teaspoon. The cooking procedure is largely the same, although the Kirner recipe calls for stirring the milk frequently after it comes to a boil and the Schopp-Young version calls for no stirring at all  indeed, the words "DO NOT STIR" are capitalized.

"This is the recipe my mother used to make fudge back in the '50s," Kirner wrote. "She would send most of it to one of my brothers who was in the Air Force at the time. It's a bit tricky  especially beating the mixture after adding the vanilla  too much beating and it gets grainy."

While Schopp-Young wondered if hers was the recipe Bob Smith was looking for, she inadvertently helped me help another reader who had asked for a Hershey's Cocoa fudge recipe. I have not tested Schopp-Young's recipe.

The third fudge recipe, calling for chocolate chips, was submitted by Rob Lindberg of Chicago. It comes from his godmother, Rita Boyle. It also contains marshmallows and nuts, if you want them. "People say it's the best," he wrote. I have not tested it.

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Columns, particularly those with a sweet theme, tend to trigger questions on a related topic. Reading about fudge prompted Chicagoan Phyllis Niederman to write in about the fudge kit produced by Nestle under its Carnation brand.

"I called Nestle to find out if the kit is available all year round or only holiday time.My information was less than definitive.Perhaps you can be more successful?" she asked.

The kit is indeed a seasonal item, Nestle's O'Hearn wrote in an email. The next batch of fudge kits will be shipped in late fall 2015, she noted.

Do you have a question about food or drink? Email Bill Daley at wdaley@tribpub.com. Snail mail inquiries should be sent to: Bill Daley, Chicago Tribune, 435 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago IL 60611. Twitter @billdaley.

Elizabeth McKenna's fudge

Makes: 2 dozen squares

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Elizabeth McKenna of Huntley believes she used Nestle Quik, now known as Nesquik, as the cocoa in making this fudge. You'll need a double boiler, or a reasonable substitute, for this recipe.

1 pound confectioner's sugar

1/2 cup cocoa

1/4 teaspoon salt

6 tablespoons butter

4 tablespoons milk

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1 tablespoon vanilla

1 cup chopped nuts

1. Combine all ingredients but the nuts in the top of a double boiler. Stir over simmering water until smooth. Add nuts and spread quickly in 9-by-5 buttered loaf pan.

Rich Cocoa Fudge

This recipe was submitted by Pamela Schopp-Young of Dyer, Ind. She got it from a 2006 newspaper story on fudge. It calls for Hershey's Cocoa but feel free to substitute with whatever you have.

Makes: About 36 pieces

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3 cups sugar

2/3 cup Hershey's Cocoa or Hershey's Special Dark Cocoa

1/8 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cup milk

1/4 cup butter

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

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1. Line 8- or 9-inch square pan with foil, extending foil over edges of pan. Butter foil.

2. Mix sugar, cocoa and salt in heavy 4-quart saucepan; stir in milk. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture comes to a full rolling boil. Boil, without stirring until mixture reaches 234 degrees on a candy thermometer, or until a small amount of mixture dropped into very cold water forms a soft ball which flattens when removed from water. (Bulb of candy thermometer should not rest on bottom of saucepan).

3. Remove from heat. Add 1/4 cup butter and vanilla. Do not stir. Cool at room temperature to 110 degrees. Beat with a wooden spoon until fudge thickens and just begins to lose some of its gloss. Quickly spread into prepared pan; cool completely. Cut into squares. Store in airtight container at room temperature. (For best results, do not double this recipe.)

Variation: Nutty Rich Cocoa Fudge  Beat cooked fudge as directed. Immediately stir in 1 cup chopped almonds, pecans or walnuts and spread quickly into prepared pan.

Rita Boyle's fudge recipe

This recipe was submitted by Rita Boyle's godson, Rob Lindberg of Chicago. It calls for two Nestle Toll House chocolate products but do substitute another brand if necessary.

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4 cups sugar

1 cup butter

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup milk

Eat. Watch. Do. Weekly What to eat. What to watch. What you need to live your best life ... now. >

1 bag (12 ounces) Nestle's Toll House Semi-Sweet Chocolate Morsels

1 bag (11 1/2 ounces) Nestle's Toll House Milk Chocolate Morsels

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25 large marshmallows

1 cup chopped nuts (your choice) (optional)

1. Bring the sugar, butter, vanilla and milk to a fast boil and stir often for 2 minutes. Remove from heat.

2. Add the chocolate chips, marshmallows and optional chopped nuts. Stir until all ingredients are smooth.

3. Pour into a 10-by-15-inch greased baking sheet and cool in refrigerator. Remove after cooled and let come to room temperature; cut into small squares. Store in refrigerator, but best served at room temperature.
A therapy-animal trend grips the United States. The San Francisco airport now deploys a pig to calm frazzled travelers. Universities nationwide bring dogs (and a donkey) onto campus to soothe students during finals. Llamas comfort hospital patients, pooches provide succor at disaster sites and horses are used to treat sex addiction.

And that duck on a plane? It might be an emotional-support animal prescribed by a mental health professional.

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The trend, which has accelerated hugely since its initial stirrings a few decades ago, is underpinned by a widespread belief that interaction with animals can reduce distress - whether it happens over brief caresses at the airport or in long-term relationships at home. Certainly, the groups offering up pets think this, as do some mental health professionals. But the popular embrace of pets as furry therapists is kindling growing discomfort among some researchers in the field, who say it has raced far ahead of scientific evidence.

Earlier this year in the Journal of Applied Developmental Science, an introduction to a series of articles on "animal-assisted intervention" said research into its efficacy "remains in its infancy." A recent literature review by Molly Crossman, a Yale University doctoral candidate who recently wrapped up one study involving an 8-year-old dog named Pardner, cited a "murky body of evidence" that sometimes has shown positive short-term effects, often found no effect and occasionally identified higher rates of distress.

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Overall, Crossman wrote, animals seem to be helpful in a "small-to-medium" way, but it's unclear whether the critters deserve the credit or something else is at play.

"It's a field that has been sort of carried forward by the convictions of practitioners" who have seen patients' mental health improve after working with or adopting animals, said James Serpell, director of the Center for the Interaction of Animals and Society at the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine. "That kind of thing has almost driven the field, and the research is playing catch-up. In other words, people are recognizing that anecdote isn't enough."

Using animals in mental health settings is nothing new. In the 17th century, a Quaker-run retreat in England encouraged mentally ill patients to interact with animals on its grounds. Sigmund Freud often included one of his dogs in psychoanalysis sessions. Yet the subject did not become a research target until the American child psychologist Boris Levinson began writing in the 1960s about the positive effect his dog Jingles had on patients.

But the evidence to date is problematic, according to Crossman's review and others before it. Most studies had small sample sizes, she wrote, and an "alarming number" did not control for other possible reasons for a changed stress level, such as interaction with the animal's human handler. Studies also tend to generalize across animals, she noted: If participants are measurably soothed by one golden retriever, that doesn't mean another dog - or another species - will evoke the same response.

Even so, media headlines are often about the happiness bounce. Hal Herzog, a Western Carolina University psychologist who has long studied human-animal interactions, recalls a 2015 study on the health benefits for children of having a pet dog. "Here's a reason to get a puppy," NBC announced. "Kids with pets have less anxiety."

That's actually not what the study concluded. The authors did find that children with dogs had lower anxiety based on screening scores than children without dogs. Still, they cautioned that "this study does not answer whether pet dogs have direct effects on children's mental health or whether other factors associated with acquisition of a pet dog benefit their mental health."

It was a classic case of conflating correlation and causation, which Herzog says is common. Cherry-picked positive results also are a problem, as he says happens in promotional materials from the Human-Animal Bond Research Initiative (HABRI). The pet-industry backed organization funds research on the topic.

"The number of papers I see that start out, 'It is now well-established that there are health benefits from owning pets' - that drives me crazy," Herzog said. "Yes, there's literature that supports that. But there's also literature that doesn't find that."

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HABRI Executive Director Steven Feldman takes a more positive view of the science while acknowledging that more research needs to be done. "Just like getting vegetables and getting exercise, I would say having animals in our lives is also an essential element of human wellness," he said.

To many animal lovers and pet owners, the back-and-forth might sound horribly wonky. There's something intuitive about the good feelings animals give us. Why over-analyze it?

Alan Beck does not disagree. Beck, who directs the Center of the Human-Animal Bond at Purdue University, cites one common theory.

"Throughout history, animals gave us some comfort. So if it works for you and me in a relatively normal environment, maybe it has a special role for someone who has a depression and stress disorder - that just makes sense," he said. "The literature does show it's not bad. And that's just as important."

Focusing too much on scientific support sometimes feels like a form of "physics envy," Beck added, "where you try to quantify everything without appreciating it."

But there are good reasons for rigorous research on animals and mental health. In 2012, the Department of Veterans Affairs said it would not cover costs of service dogs for veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder, citing "a lack of evidence to support a finding of mental health service dog efficacy." The department is now in the midst of a multiyear study on the topic, which could lead to government funding for these pooches.

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Another reason, the scientists say, is for the animals' sake. Crossman pointed to a 2014 incident at Washington University as an example of animal therapy gone wrong. A bear cub brought to campus during finals week nipped some students, causing a rabies scare that almost ended with the animal being euthanized. More generally, Serpell said, the popular idea that pets make you happier "is not a harmless distortion. ... If the public believes that getting an animal is going to be good for them, many times an unsuitable person will get an unsuitable animal, and it doesn't work out well for either."

The research is getting stronger, in part because funding is growing - from HABRI as well as from a public-private partnership between the National Institutes of Health and the Waltham Centre for Pet Nutrition. Crossman's recent study at the Yale Innovative Interactions Lab was among the work being supported.

It relied not just on the Labrador retriever Pardner but seven other certified therapy dogs. Several times a month over much of the past year, they hung out at the university for 15-minute sessions with children who had just finished two stressful tasks: spontaneously crafting stories and telling them to strangers, followed by doing math problems.

The strangers were the researchers, and their mission was to assess whether the kids, ages 10 to 13, would find their time with the dogs to be therapeutic. The study was designed to avoid some of the pitfalls that Crossman has seen elsewhere, which is why some of the 78 young participants got to play only with a fuzzy blanket - because tactile stimulation is known to reduce stress - and why others simply waited for the 15 minutes.

"Without the controls, the changes could be due to all kinds of things, like the fact that lots of time has passed," Crossman said. "Kids are actually pretty good at coping."

The children completed questionnaires to assess their mood and anxiety before and after; spit samples, to measure the "stress hormone" cortisol, were taken at three points. At the end, all the kids got a "junior scientist" certificate, lots of praise and an open play session with the dogs.

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Crossman, who emphasizes that she is an animal lover, declined to reveal the findings before they're published. But "hopefully" they will show that dogs can affect children's stress, she said - before quickly offering a researcher's clarification.

"I say 'hopefully' not just because I think it works or hope it does, but because these programs are used so widely," she explained. "Kids are already participating in this on a huge scale. Ideally, the order goes the other way around: We test the idea, and then we implement."

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Former United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon addresses an audience June 28, 2017, during a forum at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in Boston. Ban delivered the keynote address at a Lions Clubs International convention over the July Fourth weekend to celebrate the organization's 100th anniversary. (Steven Senne / AP)

Lions Clubs International will mobilize its global network of volunteers to combat diabetes as part of a new health initiative announced Monday.

"So many people in the world have diabetes but have not been diagnosed. They're not getting treatment," Lions Clubs International President Bob Corlew said. "We want to provide information to people about the symptoms."

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The organization was started in 1917 by Chicago business leader Melvin Jones and has since grown to include more than 47,000 clubs worldwide, with about 1.4 million members in more than 200 countries.

Nearly 30,000 members gathered at McCormick Place during the Fourth of July weekend to celebrate the club's 100-year anniversary.

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Former United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon delivered the convention's keynote address Monday. He urged Lions Club members to "lead by example" in their efforts to protect human rights and to be conscious of climate change.

Ban, a South Korean diplomat, dedicated part of his speech to criticizing President Donald Trump's decision to pull out of the Paris climate agreement, calling him "misguided."

"Climate change is happening because of our human behavior. We have the power and the means and the technology to stop it," he said. "(Trump) is on the wrong side of history."
People watch as a removal service transports the bodies of two people who were killed in a shooting that wounded two others near the intersection of South Eberhart Avenue and East 110th Place on July 5, 2017, in Chicago. (Armando L. Sanchez / Chicago Tribune)

On the last day of the long Fourth of July weekend, Chicago police on Tuesday announced the arrests of 58 people across the city on gun and drug charges.



Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson said several guns were seized as well as 1,200 grams of cannabis and 500 grams of heroin and crack cocaine.



"CPD officers are working on the streets in force to keep residents and visitors safe in every neighborhood," he said.



As of 2 p.m. Tuesday, at least 59 people had been shot in Chicago since the start of the holiday weekend Friday afternoon. Seven of them have been killed, according to data kept by the Tribune.



In the latest shootings, a woman and two men were injured.

The woman walked into Norwegian American Hospital Tuesday morning and said she had been shot in the right hand while walking in Logan Square, according to police.



The woman, 26, told hospital staff she was shot in the 1600 block of North Sawyer Avenue around 5 a.m., police said.



The woman was treated and released before police arrived to talk to her. Officers were unable to find a crime scene on the block and there were no calls about shots fired there, police said.

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The men were shot in the West Pullman neighborhood in the 100 block of West 118th Street Tuesday afternoon, according to a media alert.

The 20-year-old man was shot in his armpit and taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn where his condition has stabilized, officials said.

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Police are unsure of where the other man, 18, was shot on his body, but he was taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn as well, according to police.



Check back for updates.
Duriel Lyke, 28, was shot at 10 p.m. Saturday on East 79th Street, officials said. He had just left a nearby park with a group of mourners who had attended the funeral of Deshawn Boswell when someone in a gray SUV opened fire. ( Family photo )

John Fitzgerald Lyke Jr. is a former prosecutor and defense attorney who now hears felony cases as a Cook County judge. But when he was told his son had been shot after attending the funeral of a friend  who had been shot to death  his first thoughts were not about seeking justice.

"Prayer," Lyke said on Monday. "Immediately that went through my mind. Praying for God to cover him and to make certain that he'll be OK. Hoping that he wasn't dead."

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Lyke said he wasn't only praying for his wounded son Duriel, 28, but also thinking about what he'd say to the person who shot his son.

"The shooter, I want him to understand that I love him  I'm just disappointed and upset with him  because we're all God's children," Lyke said.

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Duriel Lyke, 28, was shot at 10 p.m. Saturday on East 79th Street in the Grand Crossing neighborhood, officials said. He had just left a nearby park with a group of mourners who had attended the funeral of Deshawn Boswell when someone in a gray SUV opened fire.

Boswell, 26, had been shot and killed June 16 just around the corner in what officials said appeared to be a botched drug deal, officials said.

Duriel Lyke was hit twice, in the head and the leg, and another man was struck in the ankle. Lyke was taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in critical condition and immediately underwent emergency surgery, his family said.

Police said the 27-year-old man hit in the ankle is a known gang member. Lyke has no known gang affiliation, according to police and Lyke's father.

No one was in custody in any of the shootings as of Monday night.

Chicago police officers direct people away from the scene where two people were shot in the 900 block of East 79th Street on July 1, 2017, in the Grand Crossing neighborhood. A 28-year-old man was shot multiple times and taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in critical condition and a 27-year-old man was shot in the ankle. (Erin Hooley / Chicago Tribune)

Lyke's father said his son is an employee of Cook County and has a 7-year-old son. He described his son as a jokester and said he loves to travel.

Judge Lyke said that he has long been acquainted with violence in Chicago as a former prosecutor and a criminal defense attorney, and now as a judge. He grew up in the Robert Taylor Homes housing project and enlisted in the Army to pay for college and law school, he said.

He said that many people don't realize that there's trauma on both sides of a crime. It can hurt the family of a person who is shot, but it can also hurt the family of a person who is the shooter, and gets caught and is sent to prison.

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"There's a lot of young men who are misguided, misdirected and need to truly understand the impact of their actions. That a few seconds can have a dramatic effect for an entire lifetime," Lyke said. "Not only the victim but the victim's family and the perpetrator's family once the perpetrator is caught, and all of them can be devastated over something that happens in an instant."

His many years in the criminal justice system has not made it any easier to understand violence that has now hit so close to home.

"No situation rises to the level that you need to pull the trigger for some senseless reason," Lyke said.

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"I want the young man who pulled the trigger to know that God loves him, too, and hopefully he can understand that. That whatever was on his mind is not the way to go. And we can't resolve any differences through the barrel of a gun."

Lyke said his son has undergone four surgeries in two days to repair his skull and his leg. He is expected to have two more surgeries on both his leg and his head.

Lyke said thousands of people have reached out to the family on social media to offer their condolences. His son remains in remarkably good spirits, he said.

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In the hospital room, when they took the tube out of Duriel's throat the first time, his mother began to read a Bible passage to him. Duriel rolled his eyes, and everyone laughed.

Tribune reporter Elyssa Cherney contributed.

Kdouglas@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @312BreakingNews
The head of the scandal-plagued Cook County Adult Probation Department plans to leave his post at the end of the year, according to the chief judge's office.

The announcement that Chief Probation Officer Lavone Haywood would retire comes amid a broader upheaval in the department's senior leadership and in its management practices following a series of controversies over its officers' behavior.

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In May, Philippe Loizon, a Haywood deputy, was fired over accusations that a rogue unit of probation officers that he commanded had for years improperly teamed up with the FBI and other agencies to conduct warrantless searches of homes.

Haywood, who has been with the department for 41 years, could not be reached for comment.

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Chief Judge Timothy Evans, who oversees the department, plans to conduct a nationwide search for Haywood's replacement. The department has a $56 million budget and 555 employees who monitor about 25,000 people sentenced to probation, most of them convicted felons.

Evans appointed Haywood to the top position in March 2014. Evans had removed the agency's longtime leader, Jesus Reyes, following a December 2013 Tribune investigation that found the department had lost track of hundreds of convicts and overlooked new crimes committed by offenders, some of whom went on to commit violent crimes, including rape and murder, while under the court's watch.

In 2014, another Tribune investigation into the department found that probation officers had allegedly planted drugs, stolen money and teamed up with the FBI and other law enforcement agencies to conduct warrantless searches. Evans hired an outside law firm to look into what the Tribune had uncovered. He has not said what, if anything, was discovered.

Loizon, a deputy probation chief, had commanded the department's armed-officer units, including the gang intervention unit at the center of many of the accusations of wrongdoing. Evans removed him from the streets in 2014 and placed him on desk duty before dismissing him in May.

In March, a Tribune investigation found that Loizon had compiled more than $200,000 in compensatory time. For years, Haywood had been Loizon's direct supervisor and had approved Loizon's time sheets.

Evans then launched another review  this time into the department's compensation practices.

Evans' office recently released the results of that review, a 27-page report that, while acknowledging the need for reform, declined to hold anyone responsible for any conduct that led to the review, including Haywood.

"The efforts and attention of department management in recent years seemed to be preoccupied with the operational crises besetting the new administration, including the Illinois Supreme Court's 40 recommendations for pretrial services and allegations of improper department conduct reported in the Chicago Tribune," the report said.

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"The current administration did not create the situation giving rise to the current concerns regarding comp time, and blame does not lie solely with one person," the report said. "The situation existed before Chief Haywood's tenure as Chief Probation Officer. Chief Haywood is now moving forward with a new policy and other efforts to address the matter."

Evans pledged to determine how Loizon accumulated such a large amount of comp time but the report is silent on what, if anything, was found and what Haywood knew.

The report praised Haywood for implementing all 40 of the Supreme Court's recommended changes to the court's pretrial services division; overseeing renovation of department offices; and updating many of the department's policies.

The report also does not address what Evans knew about the comp time issues. Evans' office, though, was made aware in 2013of Loizon's significant accumulation of comp time hours, the Tribune has reported. In response, Evans' spokesman, Pat Milhizer, said the office is "reviewing the history of this matter."

Evans refused to release information about Loizon over concerns of a possible lawsuit. Loizon's lawyer had contacted the office June 6, Milhizer said.

"The Office of the Chief Judge has received correspondence from Mr. Loizon's attorney," Milhizer said. "The correspondence indicates 'anticipated litigation.'"

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Milhizer cited an Illinois Supreme Court rule that states a judge should not comment publicly about a "pending or impending proceeding in any court."

Loizon could not be reached for comment. His lawyer, Gregory Friedman, said Loizon was an exemplary employee who was wrongly demoted and fired.

"Philippe Loizon is not responsible for creating the department's comp time policy nor is he responsible for the fact that the department elected to allocate comp time to him in lieu of hiring adequate additional staff to alleviate Mr. Loizon of the many, many additional hours he was obliged to work because of that departmental decision," Friedman said.

"The APD undoubtedly has many serious problems. Many of those problems have been ignored for years by those in a position and with the power to resolve them. Philippe Loizon, however, was never placed in such a position or so empowered."

The report found that managers repeatedly did not follow the department's 1990 policy on comp time that the hours must be used within 60 days unless a written waiver was granted.

Loizon and other employees accumulated comp time over years and were not required to use it within the 60-day time frame. Evans' office could find no written waivers.

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The report also found that the probation department did not keep good records on accrued comp time, did not consistently verify time accrued and did not follow the 60-day rule.

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In the end, the report found no widespread abuses, with the vast majority of employees having less than one week of comp time.

Still, the probation department decided to change its policy.

Comp time must be used within one year of accrual. And exempt employees, which includes members of the executive and administrative staffs, are now barred from accruing comp time, bringing the department more in line with the policies of other Cook County agencies.

The comp time report found that two senior managers  an assistant chief and a deputy chief  are currently among the top five staff members in accumulated comp time, with amounts ranging from $16,000 to $41,000.

"I think one conclusion a reader can draw is that there was an issue regarding comp time accruals, fiscal impact was minimal, a solution via a new policy was identified, and now the Office of the Chief Judge is shifting its focus to the future of the department," Milhizer said.

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tlighty@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @tlighty
A 30-year-old woman was critically injured when a car hit her as she crossed the street in the Logan Square neighborhood early Tuesday, authorities said.

The woman was crossing the street in the 2400 block of North Kedzie Avenue about 12:30 a.m. when a man driving a black sedan traveling south on Kedzie hit her, police said in a media notification.

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The woman was taken to Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center.
SPRINGFIELD  Illinois lawmakers are one crucial step away from ending the record state budget impasse following a flurry of activity on Independence Day that saw the Senate override Gov. Bruce Rauner's vetoes of a tax hike and spending plan.

The measures now await action in the House, where 15 Republicans broke ranks with the governor over the weekend to approve the budget package and stave off further destruction to universities, social services and possibly the state's credit rating.

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Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan, the Republican governor's chief nemesis in a budget battle that's consumed state government for more than two years, said he expected the package of bills to eventually become law.

When and if that would happen is another question. Just 54 of 118 House members were in town Tuesday. That wasn't enough to do any official business, much less attempt an override, which would require 71 votes to be successful.

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While some House Democrats said they expected an override vote to be held Thursday, a Madigan spokesman said nothing is "firm."

Rauner did not appear in public Tuesday and has not taken journalists' questions for weeks. He announced his veto via Facebook.

"I just vetoed Speaker Madigan's 32% permanent income tax (rate) increase,'" the governor said on his Facebook page, with an accompanying image showing him using his veto stamp on a large pile of paperwork.

Last week, as a special session was underway before Saturday's start of a new budget year, Rauner took to Twitter to try to build pressure for a deal.

"At my desk preparing for a balanced budget to arrive," the governor's Twitter account said, alongside a picture of Rauner sitting at his desk. "Lawmakers need to come together & get this done for Illinois. Time is running out."

The budget sent to Rauner got votes from both Democrats and Republicans, but he still vetoed it because it didn't include his economic agenda. The governor's contradictory social media statements illustrate the politics at play in the historic budget impasse.

While both sides say publicly that they are eager to end the stalemate, neither wants to shoulder the blame for raising taxes to do so. And while each side has appeared content to let the budget impasse play out until the other side caves, neither wants to be known as the one responsible for tanking Illinois' credit score as New York ratings agencies have threatened to downgrade its debt to junk status.

Rauner has long cast himself as reluctantly willing to approve tax hikes, but only alongside other items on his wish list, including a property tax freeze and changes to workers' compensation, which he says will spur job growth and change the state's economic trajectory.

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The Democrats who control the legislature have resisted Rauner's agenda, contending that it would hurt the middle class. In recent months, Democrats have approved legislation that speaks to Rauner's agenda items, but the governor contends they're watered down versions of what he's seeking.

By vetoing the budget legislation, Rauner is able to say he acted to protect taxpayers from a tax hike. Lawmakers who vote to override him risk being blamed when voters feel the pinch to their wallets.

Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan, left, and Senate President John Cullerton talk on the state Senate floor in Springfield on July 4, 2017. (Rich Saal / State Journal-Register)

That's why Madigan and Democratic Senate President John Cullerton had spent the first two years of the impasse insisting that any tax hike would have to include Republican votes. But mounting pressure for a deal, felt most intensely by Downstate lawmakers whose districts are home to universities that have been hit especially hard by the budget impasse, caused rank-and-file House Republicans to break from the governor on Sunday.

The Senate did not see a similar revolt Tuesday. Just one Republican joined 35 Democrats in voting for the income tax increase and then to override Rauner's veto hours later. Thirty-six was the minimum number required for each.

Two Senate Democrats voted no: Sen. Julie Morrison of Deerfield and Sen. Tom Cullerton of Villa Park. Both likely will face tough re-election challenges. Democratic Sen. Bill Haine of Alton, who has been undergoing treatment for blood cancer since February, traveled to the Capitol to vote for the plan.

Sen. Dale Righter of Mattoon, the lone Senate Republican to vote yes, noted the damage done to Eastern Illinois University in his district.

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"Every dollar that we throw onto the backlog of bills is a dollar the next generation has to pay for even though we got to spend it," Righter said. "That's simply wrong, and that is the basis for which I support this."

Righter dismissed questions about whether he would face retribution from Rauner in the form of a primary challenger, saying he informed the governor's office and Republican leadership of his decision. Righter is not up for re-election in 2018.

"I enjoy as much as anyone the sometimes caricature the media likes to paint of the governor as this angry, vengeful guy," Righter said. "I've spoken with the governor's office, I spoke with my leader, Bill Brady, and both were very respectful, they understood very well that I had to represent my district."

The Senate votes came after an earlier breakdown of talks between the two sides.

For months, then-Senate Republican leader Christine Radogno of Lemont had worked to cut a deal with John Cullerton, but their efforts proved unsuccessful after Rauner became involved and made a series of demands that Democrats rejected. Chief among those was a refusal to sign on to a permanent income tax increase unless lawmakers also put in place a permanent property tax freeze, which Democrats said was politically popular but could wreak havoc on the budgets of local schools and governments that rely on those dollars.

Radogno stepped down with Saturday's start of the new budget year. Her leadership post now belongs to Sen. Bill Brady of Bloomington, who acted as a go-between for Rauner's office during those talks.

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Brady praised the "bipartisan participation that this chamber has shown over the last several months," but asked for voting to be delayed to try to reach a final agreement that incorporates changes sought by Rauner, including a property tax freeze and changes to the state's workers' compensation system.

Gov. Bruce Rauner holds a press conference with Illinois Republican legislative leaders in Springfield on May 31, 2017. (Zbigniew Bzdak / Chicago Tribune)

"It's regrettable that I stand today not capable of supporting this package," Brady said. "Not necessarily because what's in the package is bad but because it is incomplete."

Sen. Toi Hutchinson, a Democrat from Olympia Fields who carried the tax legislation, noted that the package before lawmakers was the product of several years of negotiations and incorporates ideas from both sides. The tax rate is lower than Democrats initially wanted due to pushback from Republicans, and the spending plan includes across-the-board cuts Democrats have historically opposed.

"We could not get as far as you wanted us to go, and I understand that," Hutchinson said in floor remarks directed at Brady. "In some areas, we did way more than we wanted to do. We'd like you to understand that."

Under the tax portion of the budget, the personal income tax rate would increase from the current 3.75 percent to 4.95 percent, which would generate roughly $4.3 billion. An increase in the corporate income tax rate from 5.25 percent to 7 percent would bring in an additional $460 million. Some of the money could be used to cover the cost of borrowing to pay down unpaid bills, Democrats said.

The legislation also would reinstate the research and development tax credit, which would expire in 2022, and increase the earned income tax credit for low-income families. It also would end several corporate tax breaks, including those for companies that operate on the continental shelves or shift production out of state.

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An accompanying spending plan, which the Senate also quickly approved 39-14, would have the state spend a little more than $36 billion, about $4 billion more than it currently takes in from taxes. The plan includes across-the-board cuts of 5 percent to most government agencies, and a 10 percent cut for higher education.

The spending plan also boosts funding for elementary and high schools by $350 million. But the entire K-12 portion of the budget is contingent upon a separate bill that changes the formula for doling out state dollars to schools. Democrats passed that legislation but have yet to send it to Rauner, who's called it a Chicago "bailout" and threatened to veto it.

In his Tuesday veto message, Rauner asserted that the budget package was $2 billion out of balance. His office says the legislation counts $500 million in savings on pension costs that aren't guaranteed and fails to account for $1.5 billion in spending from the budget year that ended Saturday. That money would have to be paid out of the current budget year funds, Rauner's team contends.

"I think that it would be fair to say that since the governor has not had a budget for almost three years, there were a lot of things that we spent money on that we did not have an appropriation for," said Rep. Greg Harris, D-Chicago.

Lawmakers also approved a third bill to implement the budget, and that includes a provision Mayor Rahm Emanuel sought to require new hires to pay more into the city municipal workers and laborers retirement funds and also increase the amount taxpayers contribute to those plans.

Madigan recently had asked the governor to sign a separate bill on the city pension issue as part of budget negotiations, but now the concept will become law if the House overrides Rauner's veto on the budget measure.

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Emanuel, for his part, tweaked the governor as the budget bills were on the way to his desk.

"I applaud state lawmakers from both parties for doing what the governor has been unwilling to do throughout his tenure: doing their jobs and taking the difficult but necessary steps, in a bipartisan fashion, to put Illinois back on track," Emanuel said in a statement.

The activity at the statehouse after years of dysfunction was enough to delay the state's credit rating from being cut to junk status by Wall Street ratings agencies Monday, though they warned that much rides on a final approval of the budget package. Even then, S&P Global Ratings warned that long-term damage has already been done.

"Even with a budget, however, it's likely that Illinois' finances would remain strained and vulnerable to unanticipated economic stress," the agency said. "In addition to having accumulated record amounts of payables, the state's university system has been deprived of state funding since January 2017. If a budget is enacted, the degree to which it closes the state's structural deficit, provides a pathway for addressing the backlog of unpaid bills, and its impact on cash flows, will be important factors in our review of its effect on Illinois' credit quality."

Tim Killeen, president of the University of Illinois, thanked lawmakers for voting for the budget package. The plan restores much of the funding schools did not receive for the last six months, but includes a 10 percent cut moving forward.

"We hope the lessons learned during this long and difficult impasse will help restore long-term stability and provide predictable funding year after year so we can plan our future and expand our impact on the public good," Killeen said in a statement.

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The budget also includes roughly $365 million that will be used to refund universities and colleges that fronted scholarships for low-income students for the first half of this year. Another $400 million is set aside to pay for the scholarships, known as monetary award program grants, for the upcoming school year that begins this fall.

While grateful for the funding, officials note that the uncertainty that plagued higher education in Illinois for the last several years led some students to put off their plans to attend school, or look at options out of state.

Lynne Baker, spokeswoman for the Illinois Student Assistance Commission, also noted that students attending schools that could not cover the cost of the scholarships during the impasse often had to take out additional loans or take fewer classes to save money.

"There's a loss that you can't really account for," Baker said.

mcgarcia@chicagotribune.com

kgeiger@chicagotribune.com
China's military vowed Monday to step up air and sea patrols after an American warship sailed near a disputed island in the South China Sea in what Beijing called a "serious political and military provocation."

The spat is the latest in a series of disputes that have roiled the U.S.-China relationship in just the past few days. Experts said Washington appeared to be signaling its growing frustration with Beijing by rolling out measures including arms sales to Taiwan and sanctions for a Chinese bank doing business with North Korea.

On Sunday, the USS Stethem, an American guided-missile destroyer, sailed within 12 nautical miles of Triton Island, a U.S. defense official said. The small isle in the Paracel Islands chain is claimed and controlled by China. It was the second such U.S. operation near Chinese-controlled islands in six weeks.

U.S. officials tried to portray the latest patrol as a routine, planned maneuver, but whatever their intentions, it has created more friction between the two countries. China's Defense Ministry said its armed forces had dispatched two frigates, a minesweeper and two fighter jets to warn the Stethem away.

Trump hosted Chinese President Xi Jinping at his Mar-a-Lago resort in April and said the men enjoyed "great chemistry." That marked a reversal from his tone during the presidential campaign, in which he had assailed China for what he called its unfair trade and currency practices. But in recent weeks, the White House has become frustrated with China over its reluctance to tighten the screws on North Korea in retaliation for its nuclear and missile program. China is North Korea's biggest trading partner.

"No more relying on the bromance between Donald and Jinping," Evan Medeiros, who served as President Barack Obama's top adviser for Asia, said in an interview. "The honeymoon is clearly over, but the next phase is less clear."

Last week, the United States angered China by lumping the country with the world's worst offenders on human trafficking, a downgrade from previous years. It was the new administration's most strident public criticism yet of China's human rights record.

Medeiros said Washington was sending a signal that policy toward China was changing, with the ultimate aim of securing more cooperation from Beijing.

The Paracels are among a group of islands and atolls in the South China Sea at the heart of ongoing tensions in Southeast Asia. China claims full sovereignty over the sea and has built military facilities on some islands.

The White House, in the Obama and Trump administrations, has seen the militarization of the South China Sea as a threat to stability in the resource-rich region, where ships from numerous countries have long fished.

China's Defense Ministry said the United States has "seriously damaged strategic mutual trust" between the two countries by entering what it claimed were China's territorial waters, while the country's Foreign Ministry accused the United States of staging a "serious political and military provocation."

The incident came just hours before Trump spoke by phone to Xi  on Sunday night in Washington, Monday morning in Beijing.

During the call, Trump "raised the growing threat posed by North Korea's nuclear and ballistic missile programs," the White House said in a statement.

Xi also used the call to express his concerns, requesting the United States "handle the Taiwan issue appropriately," according to a Chinese statement. China considers Taiwan a renegade province.

"Xi stressed that both China and the United States need to control the general direction of the bilateral relationship in light of the consensus reached at the Mar-a-Lago summit," China's government said.

Neither statement mentioned the tensions over the South China Sea.

China had appeared confident that it had reached an understanding with the United States after the Mar-a-Lago meeting and had gauged the minimum necessary action required to satisfy the Trump administration, said Bonnie Glaser, a senior adviser for Asia at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Chinese leaders seemed to have miscalculated.

"Apparently, they didn't respond adequately to U.S. concerns about banks and front companies in China that are enabling North Korea's illegal activities," she said.

A downturn in ties was effectively announced on Twitter on June 20, when Trump declared that China's pressure on North Korea had "not worked out."

Arthur Kroeber, managing director of Gavekal Dragonomics, a consulting and research firm, said Trump may have miscalculated, too.

"The basic deal Trump thought he offered Xi at the Mar-a-Lago summit  a light touch on trade in exchange for more cooperation on North Korea  was absurdly unrealistic, given China's obvious unwillingness to change its North Korea policy," he wrote in a client note.

But Kroeber said he still did not expect Trump to embark on a "stupid and self-defeating trade war" with China.

"The more likely outcome is that he will settle for largely symbolic actions" that will "do little to change trade flows but enable him to crow to his political base that he has got tough with foreigners who are cheating Americans out of production and jobs," he wrote.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said at a news conference Monday that both sides were "determined to press ahead" with their relationship despite encountering "some issues."

A Chinese foreign policy expert, speaking on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media, said Beijing does not want to see a deterioration in relations with Washington before an important Communist Party congress in the fall that is due to formally award Xi a second five-year term as leader.

"Facing America's recent behavior, the Chinese government had to make a public response," he said. "But President Xi's words were relatively low-key."

U.S. officials said the Navy's action Sunday  known as a freedom-of-navigation operation, or FONOP  was not aimed at making a political statement.

China has had de facto control of the Paracels since expelling Vietnam in 1974.

The Foreign Ministry said the Stethem had "trespassed" there, entering the waters "without China's approval." Wu Qian, a spokesman for the Defense Ministry, said the American action seriously damaged strategic mutual trust and military relations.

"The Chinese army will strengthen its defense capacity, increase the intensity of its sea and air patrols, and firmly defend national sovereignty and security," he said in a statement.

In May, a U.S. destroyer sailed within 12 miles of Mischief Reef, a man-made island in the Spratly Islands to the south of the Paracels.

The 12-mile line is the internationally recognized distance that separates the shores of a sovereign nation from international waters. The United States has routinely conducted voyages within this 12-mile limit around islands in the South China Sea as a message to countries such as China, Taiwan, Vietnam and the Philippines.

Many of these nations have laid claim to islands in the South China Sea, some of which are no more than tiny strips of sand and reef.

The Stethem, an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, is based in Japan.
BEIRUT  U.S. backed fighters have breached the ancient wall of the Islamic State's self-proclaimed capital, the Syrian city of Raqqa, marking new progress in the battle to rout the militants from their most important strongholds, the U.S. military said Tuesday.



Arab and Kurdish troops with the Syrian Democratic Forces stormed into the Old City of Raqqa overnight Monday after U.S. warplanes targeted two sections of its 8th-century wall, blasting holes that enabled fighters to funnel their way through the gaps, according to the U.S. military.



But their foothold in the neighborhood, one of the city's most densely populated, does not mean the four-week-old battle for control of Raqqa is nearing a conclusion, U.S. officials said.



Unlike in Mosul, Iraq, where the Old City has been the scene of the Islamic State's last stand after nearly nine months of fighting, Raqqa's Old City is one of the first central city neighborhoods to be breached by the advancing forces, said Col. Ryan Dillon, the U.S. military spokesman in Baghdad.



"Being in the Old City in Raqqa does not mean the same thing as it does in Mosul, where the Old City was the last bastion for ISIS," Dillon said, using an acronym for the Islamic State. "That is not the case in Raqqa. It's just where the SDF forces have penetrated right now, but there is plenty of fighting that remains in Raqqa."



The neighborhood is also one of the areas Islamic State fighters had expected to defend most fiercely, relying on the city wall to provide cover and focusing their defenses around two existing breaches.



Had the SDF fighters attempted to storm the area through those gaps, they would have encountered an array of heavy machine guns, artillery, snipers, mines, booby traps and car bombs, Dillon said. By blowing up two different sections of the wall, U.S. warplanes enabled them to bypass those, he said.



By averting a battle for control of the walls, the attack may also have helped preserve the historic monument, the military statement said. The two holes blasted were about 25 meters each and will not affect "the integrity" of the overall 2,500-meter wall, it said.



Known as the Rafiqa wall, the structure is one of the last remaining monuments of the headquarters of the Abbassid caliphate, which was briefly seated in Raqqa before relocating to Baghdad.

It was in part because of its historical association with the ancient caliphate that the Islamic State declared Raqqa, the first major city its forces conquered, to be the capital of its self-proclaimed copy of the ancient caliphate it hoped to form.



The advances in Raqqa come as the Islamic State faces imminent defeat in the streets of the Old City of Mosul. Only around 500 square meters remain under Islamic State control, Dillon said, and a final declaration of victory could be just days away.



U.S. officials will not put a timeline on the battle for Raqqa, now in its fourth week, but they say they expect it to be somewhat easier than the nine-month-old fight for Mosul because Raqqa is considerably smaller and less densely populated.



The fight for Raqqa, launched by a combined Kurdish and Arab force on June 6, made swift progress in the first two weeks, Dillon said. But the Islamic State appears since to have mustered its defenses, and the fighters have encountered some of the stiff resistance in the form of booby traps and suicide bombs that made advances in Mosul so slow, he said.
WASHINGTON  U.S. intelligence agencies have turned up the heat in recent days on Kaspersky Lab, the Moscow-based cybersecurity giant long suspected of ties to Russia's spying apparatus.



Now, official Kremlin documents reviewed by McClatchy could further inflame the debate about whether the company's relationship with Russian intelligence is more than rumor.



The documents are certifications issued to the company by the Russian Security Service, the spy agency known as the FSB.



Unlike the stamped approvals the FSB routinely issues to companies seeking to operate in Russia, Kaspersky's include an unusual feature: a military intelligence unit number matching that of an FSB program.



"That strikes me as much more persuasive public evidence," said Paul Rosenzweig, a former deputy secretary for policy at the Department of Homeland Security. "It makes it far more likely that much of the rumor and uncertainty about Kaspersky are true."

One of Kaspersky's certificates that carries a military intelligence unit number. (Greg Gordon /McClatchy/TNS)

For years, suspicions that Kaspersky is connected to Russia's spying apparatus have dogged the company, a leading global seller of anti-virus programs. Founder and CEO Eugene Kaspersky studied cryptography, programming and mathematics at an academy operated by the KGB, the FSB's Soviet-era predecessor, then worked for the Ministry of Defense.



Since he established the firm in Russia 20 years ago, Kaspersky has grown to serve more than 400 million users worldwide, according to its website, and is the largest software vendor in Europe. Its security software is also widely available in the United States in Target, Walmart and other retail outlets.



Federal agencies use it as well, with Kaspersky serving as a subcontractor on a smattering of federal software contracts, So has, ironically, the Democratic National Committee, even after its emails were breached last summer by Russian hackers.



But amid investigations into Russia's cyber meddling in last year's U.S. elections, concerns have grown that Kaspersky software could somehow be used to launch a crippling cyberattack on the U.S. electric grid or other critical infrastructure, such as railroads, airlines or water utilities. ABC News reported in May that the FBI warned industry leaders about those risks last year  a meeting confirmed by McClatchy.



In recent days, two events kept Kaspersky in the news: FBI agents fanned out to interview Russian Kaspersky employees based in the United States, and a Senate committee approved legislation to curb federal use of the company's products.



Even so, no proof has ever been made public to refute the company's vehement denials that it has connections to Russian intelligence.



The documents obtained by McClatchy, however, could provide additional evidence that the clandestine FSB has a tight relationship with Kaspersky.

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A worldwide deployment of sensors may be too great a temptation for any countrys intelligence services to ignore.  Kenneth Geers, former NATO cyber expert

In a statement to McClatchy, the company did not directly address the reference to an FSB military unit number in several of its certificates dating to 2007. The certificates are posted on Kaspersky's web site.



Kaspersky said the FSB's certification review "is quite similar to that of many countries," including those of the European Union and the United States. It includes an analysis of the company's source code "to ensure that undeclared functionality and security issues - like backdoors  do not exist," the company said.



However, Russia's certification reviews do not require the company to divulge "the necessary information to permit those (spy) organizations to bypass products' security mechanisms," Kaspersky said.



A former Western intelligence official who examined the documents for McClatchy described as "very unusual" the assignment of a military intelligence number on Kaspersky's certificates.



In Russia's closed society, the FSB retains the right to access any company's data transmissions, and no firm is allowed to use encryption to block the intelligence agency's intrusions, the former Western spy said.



Kenneth Geers, a former NATO cyber expert who is a fellow at the Washington-based Atlantic Council, also reviewed the company's FSB certificate.



Geers said he could not say with certainty the degree to which the documents show a formal connection between Kaspersky and the FSB.



But "the suggestion is that this is a government op (operation), a unit with a direct government affiliation," he said.



"No one should be surprised if there are closer relationships between IT vendors and law enforcement, worldwide, than the public imagines," Geers said.

Case in point: Whistleblower Edward Snowden revealed that American telecommunications companies shared vast amounts of personal data with the ultra-secret U.S. National Security Agency, where Geers once worked.



It's certainly possible, Geers said, that Kaspersky's software contains a secret "backdoor" to allow Russian special services access for law enforcement and counterintelligence purposes.



"If such a secret backdoor exists, I would not be shocked," Geers said. "A worldwide deployment of sensors may be too great a temptation for any country's intelligence services to ignore."



"Kaspersky may also have been required by Russian authorities to participate in a quiet business partnership with the government," he said.



A former CIA station chief in Moscow agreed that Kaspersky may have had little choice.



"These guys' families, their well-being, everything they have is in Russia," said Steve Hall, who later headed the agency's Russian operations before retiring in 2015.



Kaspersky is "a Russian company," Hall said. "Any time (Russian President Vladimir Putin) wants Kaspersky to do something  anything  he'll remind them that's where their families are and where their bank accounts are. There's no doubt in my mind it could be, if it's not already, under the control of Putin."



Kaspersky has rejected any notion that it might be an intelligence front, citing its years of delivering quality products.



"As a private company, Kaspersky Lab has no ties to any government, and the company has never helped, nor will help, any government in the world with its cyber espionage efforts," Eugene Kaspersky said in May during an "Ask Me Anything" session on the Web site Reddit.



Indeed, many cyber experts, including those with federal government backgrounds, have praised the quality of Kaspersky software. The company also has a record of exposing cyberattacks, including the U.S. government's Stuxnet attack that disabled Iran's nuclear weapons development even though the Iranian equipment wasn't connected to the Internet.

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It is common view around the intelligence community that [Kaspersky] is treated [by the Kremlin] like an arm of the Russian government.  Former Obama administration cyber official

But several other experts said they were "not shocked" by the disclosure of the language in Kaspersky's FSB certificate.



"It is common view around the intelligence community that [Kaspersky] is treated [by the Kremlin] like an arm of the Russian government," said a former Obama administration cyber official, who asked for anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter.



Kaspersky has gained an unwanted spotlight lately amid the Justice Department's investigation headed by outside Special Counsel Robert Mueller into whether the Kremlin colluded with President Donald Trump's 2016 campaign.



At a recent Senate Intelligence Committee hearing in May, Sens. Marco Rubio, a Republican from Florida, and Joe Manchin, a Democrat from West Virginia, raised concerns about Kaspersky.



Rubio asked a phalanx of intelligence agency chiefs sitting before the panel, "Would any of you be comfortable with the Kaspersky Lab software on your computers?"



Before him were, among others, the leaders of the FBI, CIA and the National Security Agency.



To a man, each said "no."



The FBI interviews of Kaspersky employees occurred on June 27, in the wake of disclosures that the company paid retired Army Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn more than $11,000 in consulting fees last fall before he began a short-lived stint as White House national security adviser.



The day after the interviews, the Senate Armed Service Committee approved legislation that would bar the Pentagon from buying Kaspersky products.



"The ties between Kaspersky Lab and the Kremlin are very alarming," said Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire. "This has led to a consensus in Congress and among administration officials that Kaspersky Lab cannot be trusted to protect critical infrastructure, particularly computer systems vital to our nation's security."



Her amendment to the Defense authorization bill prohibiting Pentagon purchase of the software as of October 2018 won overwhelming approval.

It would bar contracts with any firm in which Kaspersky has majority ownership. It also would require the Defense Department to sever connections with any network associated with Kaspersky.



"This is something that probably should have been done a while ago," said the unidentified U.S. government official, lamenting that "practicing cyber hygiene is not always the best in government."



If the ban becomes law, there could be reverberations, a Russian news agency reported. It quoted a top Kremlin communications official, Nikolai Nikiforov, as warning that if the United States freezes out Kaspersky, Putin's government could not rule out retaliation.



A spokesperson for the FBI declined to comment.



But the bureau has long suspected that some of Kaspersky's American-based employees were engaging in intelligence activities, said a U.S. government official, who declined to be identified because of the sensitivity of the matter.

Federal agencies currently hold at least 20 contracts in which Kaspersky products are used. The General Services Administration makes them available on an approved product list for much of the government.



CDW Corp., a top government tech contractor that has provided Kaspersky software and maintenance through four contracts with the Consumer Safety Product Commission (as recently as May 23), declined to say whether it plans to continue offering Kaspersky software.



Dell Inc., the giant computer manufacturer, offers Kaspersky in many of its products. The company did not respond to a request for comment.



So why do federal agencies still use Kaspersky software if there has been such uneasiness about it inside national security circles?



"Under acquisition rules, it is very difficult for an agency to rely on classified information in order to make purchasing decisions," said J. Michael Daniel, White House cybersecurity coordinator during the Obama administration.



"A lot of acquisition officers didn't seek out that information because they couldn't use it in the decision-making process," said Daniel, now president of the Cyber Threat Alliance, a group committed to improving cyber defenses.



The U.S. intelligence community's conclusion that Russian cyber operatives pirated thousands of emails from the Democratic National Committee beginning in 2015 helped trigger the inquiries into possible Kremlin interference in the election.



But two months after the DNC disclosed that its servers had been hacked  in an apparent attempt to help prevent further intrusions  the party purchased Kaspersky software on Aug. 25, 2016, for $137.46, according to Federal Election Commission records. It was the only federal political committee that reported buying Kaspersky software in the 2016 cycle, according to FEC records.
Eugene Kaspersky, Russian antivirus programs developer and chief executive of Russia's Kaspersky Lab, looks out a window decorated with programming code's symbols at his company's headquarters in Moscow on July 1, 2017. (Pavel Golovkin / AP)

MOSCOW  The chief executive of Russia's Kaspersky Lab says he's ready to have his company's source code examined by U.S. government officials to help dispel long-lingering suspicions about his company's ties to the Kremlin.

In an interview with The Associated Press at his Moscow headquarters, Eugene Kaspersky said Saturday that he's also ready to move part of his research work to the U.S. to help counter rumors that he said were first started more than two decades ago out of professional jealousy.

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"If the United States needs, we can disclose the source code," he said, adding that he was ready to testify before U.S. lawmakers as well. "Anything I can do to prove that we don't behave maliciously I will do it."

Kaspersky, a mathematical engineer who attended a KGB-sponsored school and once worked for Russia's Ministry of Defense, has long been eyed suspiciously by some competitors, particularly as his anti-virus products became popular in the U.S. market. Some speculate that Kaspersky, an engaging speaker and a fixture of the conference circuit, kept his Soviet-era intelligence connections. Others say it's unlikely that his company could operate independently in Russia, where the economy is dominated by state-owned companies and the power of spy agencies has expanded dramatically under President Vladimir Putin.

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No firm evidence has ever been produced to back up the claims. But this has not stopped what was once gossip at tech conferences from escalating into public accusations from American politicians and intelligence officials amid rising concerns over Russian interference in the United States.

Senior U.S. intelligence officials have suggested Congress steer well clear of Kaspersky's products and lawmakers are weighing a proposal to ban the company from the Pentagon. Law enforcement seems to be taking a hard look at the company as well. On Wednesday, NBC news reported that at least a dozen U.S. employees of Kaspersky were visited at their homes by FBI agents.

Kaspersky confirmed the NBC report, although he said he didn't know what the focus of the FBI's questioning was. He did say his relationship with the FBI was now shot.

"Unfortunately, now the links to the FBI are completely ruined," he said, noting that his company cooperated with both U.S. and Russian law enforcement. "It means that if some serious crime happens that needs Russian law enforcement to cooperate with FBI, unfortunately it's not possible."

The FBI declined to comment, but agents are unlikely to lose much sleep over that; Kaspersky allowed that cooperation between Russia and the United States on cybercrime has often been "far from perfect."

Still, lawmakers' moves to single out the company for special punishment worries even Kaspersky's critics, who note that it would set an unfavorable precedent for American technology firms  many of whom are known to work closely with the U.S. National Security Agency.

Kaspersky defended his work during the interview, saying he never benefited from official protection of any kind.

"I do understand why we look strange. Because for Russia it's very unusual, a Russian IT that's very successful everywhere around the world. But it's true," he said.

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Kaspersky said his company does exclusively defensive work, although under questioning he allowed that some unnamed governments had tried to nudge him toward hacking  what he calls "the dark side."

"There were several times it was close to that," he said, adding that the officials involved weren't Russian. He said in one case a discussion about defensive cybersecurity cooperation "turned to the offensive."

"I stopped that immediately. I don't even want to talk about it," he said.

Kaspersky's offer to have his code audited may not quiet all the skeptics, some of whom are concerned less about the integrity of the company's software and more about the company's staff and the data they gather. Like many cybersecurity outfits in the U.S. and elsewhere, some Kaspersky employees come from espionage backgrounds.

Kaspersky acknowledged having ex-Russian intelligence workers on his staff, saying that "most probably we have these guys in our sales department for their relationship with the government sector." But he added that his company's internal network was too segregated for a single rogue employee to abuse it.

"It's almost not possible," he said. "Because to do that, you have to have not just one person in the company, but a group of people that have access to different parts of our technological processes. It's too complicated."

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And he insisted his company would never knowingly cooperate with any country's offensive cyber operations.

"We stay on the bright side," he said, "And never, never go to the dark side."
The United States and Russia worked Monday to restore a key diplomatic channel between the two clashing nations, days before President Donald Trump planned to hold his first face-to-face meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin



Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak, under immense scrutiny in the U.S. over his contacts with Trump campaign associates, met in Washington with Undersecretary of State Thomas Shannon for a meeting that focused partly on preparations for the highly anticipated presidential tete-a-tete. Trump and Putin are to sit down on the sidelines of the Group of 20 summit taking place Friday and Saturday in Germany.



Yet Shannon and Kislyak also used their meeting to discuss the possibility of a new meeting between Shannon and Russia's deputy foreign minister, Sergey Ryabkov, the State Department said, a move that would signal the two powers were again focused on trying to establish a functioning relationship. It was unclear after their lunchtime meeting if and when such a meeting would take place.



Ryabkov and Shannon had been slated to host an ongoing series of discussions aimed at addressing irritants that have thwarted efforts to get the U.S.-Russia relationship back on track. The goal was to resolve smaller issues first in hopes of restoring a base level of trust that could clear the way for broader discussions about Syria, Ukraine and other global crises. But Moscow nixed the second session last month to protest new Trump administration sanctions over Russia's actions in Ukraine.

One of the irritants that Ryabkov and Shannon had been addressing in their talks, the closure of two Russian compounds in the U.S., rose to the surface on Monday as the Kremlin said it was losing patience with a U.S. plan to return them to Russian control. The recreational compounds  one in Maryland, one in New York  were shuttered in December by President Barack Obama in response to Russia's meddling in the election. U.S. officials have said the compounds were also used by the Russians for intelligence-gathering in the U.S.



Putin's foreign affairs adviser, Yuri Ushakov, said Russia had shown remarkable restraint by declining to retaliate for Obama's actions, which included expelling 35 Russian diplomats from the U.S. Ushakov insisted Russia would be obliged to respond if the compounds, also known as dachas, aren't given back, adding that Moscow's patience "has its limits."



Both Trump and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson have described relations with Russia as dismal. But while Trump's meeting with Russia's president could be a chance to move past old grievances, it's also being closely watched by Trump's critics for signs he's being too soft on the former Cold War foe. The meeting comes amid an ongoing U.S. investigation into Russia's election interference and potential Trump campaign collusion, in which Kislyak's frequent interactions with Trump aides are a major focus.
Tala Deloria, right, and other protesters at LAX's Tom Bradley International Terminal oppose the travel ban that took effect on June 29. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)

The Justice Department asked a Honolulu federal judge to deny Hawaii's request for clarification on President Donald Trump's travel ban and said any orders that limit the scope of the ban should be considered first by the U.S. Supreme Court.

The State of Hawaii is challenging the government's enforcement of the administration's executive order.

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Attorneys for the Trump administration argued that implementation of the travel ban is in accordance with the Supreme Court's June 26 ruling. That order requires visa applicants from six Muslim-majority countries and refugees worldwide to prove a "bona fide" family relationship to the U.S.

In a court filing Monday responding to Hawaii's challenge, the government said its definition of "close family member" is consistent with the Immigration and Nationality Act. The INA "frames the backdrop for federal immigration policy, including the executive order," according to the filing. "Even some familial relationships" won't suffice for visa applicants and refugees because of limits set by the INA that "privileges certain family relationships over others."

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"Plaintiffs attempt to create a dispute where there is none," according to the Justice Department's brief.

Federal Judge Derrick Watson is likely to rule after July 5 on Hawaii's request for clarity regarding family ties.

Hawaii's challenge is the latest in a dispute between Trump and ideological opponents of the administration's immigration agenda that's spanned all but the first 10 days of his presidency. The president scored a legal victory last week when the Supreme Court approved partial enforcement of a narrowed version of the ban.

The Supreme Court said it will hear the administration's appeal of lower-court orders blocking the ban from taking effect in its next nine-month session starting in October. In the meantime, it allowed the administration to enforce prohibition with some caveats, such as "bona fide" relationships.

Critics are claiming the government overreached in its execution of the Supreme Court's order.

Central to the dispute is the question of who constitutes family for applicants seeking refuge or a visa to the U.S. The Supreme Court ruled that the travel ban could be applied for now to everyone except people with a "credible claim of a bona fide relationship with a person or entity in the U.S."

The government then went on to define "bona fide relationship" as links within a nuclear family, including spouses and children and siblings. That excluded aunts, uncles, grandparents, cousins and  initially  fiances. The administration also ruled out any connections between refugees and resettlement agencies, citing the Immigration and Nationality Act as well as the Supreme Court's decision.

The government quickly backed off on fiances. In a version of the new rules posted early June 29, fiances weren't among those deemed as having "bona fide" ties. But later in the day, without explanation, the State Department updated its guidance to say that fiances would be treated as close family members.

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The travel restrictions allow Trump to declare partial victory on his campaign promise to stem the flow of refugees and travelers from nations he deems a security risk. Lower court decisions to block two of his proposed travel bans were early, public defeats for the administration.

Still, the State Department's definition did nothing to assuage concerns that the impetus of the policy is Trump's discriminatory intent toward Muslims. The court in Hawaii and another in Maryland ruled that the travel ban is the manifestation of Trump's campaign promise to deliver a Muslim ban, a violation of First Amendment rights to religious freedom.

Nongovernmental organizations and refugee advocates have struggled to determine how many people will actually be affected by the revised restrictions. The U.S. has already admitted about 49,000 refugees this year, just shy of the executive order's 50,000 cap, which could be breached before Watson rules on Hawaii's motion.

Hawaii Attorney General Douglas Chin has asked Watson  the same judge who issued a preliminary injunction against the revised travel ban  to clarify the scope of the order claiming the latest restrictions go further than the Supreme Court allowed.

"After days of stonewalling plaintiffs' repeated requests for information, the government announced that it intended to violate the Supreme Court's instruction," Hawaii said in a filing last week in Honolulu federal court. "It will apply the executive order to exclude a host of aliens with a 'close familial relationship' to U.S. persons."

Chin said if the judge can't immediately provide clarification, the state wants an order barring the government from using the State Department's definition of family ties.

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"Our concern is that when you read their definition of what constitutes a close family relationship, they're cutting out a lot of people," Chin said.
A statue of President Abraham Lincoln is shrouded in snow in February 2016 in front of the Illinois State Capitol. (Chris Walker / Chicago Tribune)

Independence Day arrives this year during a period of intense political polarization, anger and distrust, potentially jeopardizing the ideals for which the American Revolution was fought.

That's a problem, but it also signals an opportunity. Nations benefit from the unifying effects of shared memories  especially if those memories reflect a commitment to ideals. The revolution was inspired by two such ideals: self-government and human liberty.

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To understand the current importance of that claim, a good place to look is a speech by Abraham Lincoln  not by the president who emphasized the better angels of our nature, but by a largely unknown 28-year-old, speaking in 1838 before the Young Men's Lyceum in Springfield, Ill., under the ambitious title, "The Perpetuation of Our Political Institutions."

Even as a young man, Lincoln was obsessed with founding principles, and as he would 25 years later at Gettysburg, he focused on the foundations of the American experiment in self-government.

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The occasion for the speech was what Lincoln saw as a serious danger, not from abroad but from "amongst us." Two weeks before, parts of the nation had reeled from a gruesome murder in St. Louis. As Lincoln put it:

"A mulatto man, by the name of McIntosh, was seized in the street, dragged to the suburbs of the city, chained to a tree, and actually burned to death; and all within a single hour from the time he had been a freeman, attending to his own business, and at peace with the world."

Lincoln insisted that black lives matter. Decades before ratification of the 14th Amendment to the Constitution and its equal protection clause, which followed the Civil War, Lincoln insisted on the equal protection of the laws.

But Lincoln had a broader claim, involving the importance of respect for the law, and of inculcating it in people's hearts. That idea should "be taught in schools, in seminaries, and in colleges; let it be written in Primers, spelling books, and in Almanacs; let it be preached from the pulpit, proclaimed in legislative halls, and enforced in courts of justice." He argued that reverence for the law, and for the rule of law, should become "the political religion of the nation" (the italics are his).

Lincoln had an even larger argument. To the Young Men's Lyceum, he recalled the American Revolution itself, which he described as a bold effort "to display before an admiring world, a practical demonstration of the truth of a proposition, which had hitherto been considered, at best no better, than problematical; namely, the capability of a people to govern themselves" (again, Lincoln's italics).

The American experiment in self-government was succeeding. But its future was hardly guaranteed. Lincoln worried over the emergence of a leader who "thirsts and burns for distinction," who might "set boldly to the task of pulling down." Lincoln described this as "a probable case, highly dangerous."

At that point, Lincoln looked backward to the revolution itself. Writing 62 years after the Declaration of Independence, he argued that the time had come to move past the emotional fervor that animated the war effort and to cultivate reason instead.

Americans, he declared, should understand "the powerful influence which the interesting scenes of the revolution had upon the passions of the people as distinguished from their judgment." Focused as we were on defeating Britain, "the basest principles of our nature, were either made to lie dormant, or to become the active agents in the advancement of the noblest cause  that of establishing and maintaining civil and religious liberty."

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The problem was that "this state of feeling must fade, is fading, has faded, with the circumstances that produced it." What was until recently a living history was starting to disappear, along with the people who had experienced it. Memories had dimmed.

In Lincoln's account, passion "will in future be our enemy." Reason, by contrast, "must furnish all the materials for our future support and defense." Those materials must be molded into "a reverence for the constitution and laws."

Lincoln delivered the Lyceum Address 179 years ago, which means that nearly three times as many years separate us from his remarks as separated those remarks from the Declaration of Independence.

To many of us, July 4 is more about fireworks, family and a day off than about shared national memories, or the capacity for self-governance or civil and religious liberty.

But with Honest Abe, let's step back and focus on those things. For all the contemporary challenges, Americans retain them. Lincoln was right: They deserve our reverence.

Bloomberg

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Cass R. Sunstein is a Bloomberg View columnist. He is the author of "The World According to Star Wars" and a co-author of "Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth and Happiness."
When it comes to our democracy, the best insight I ever received was not from a book or lecture. Rather, it came from a merchant I was haggling with over a souvenir as I traveled in the Middle East some 20 years ago.

The old, haggard man said, "Why do you Americans complain about your government? It is actually your government. You own it. You can change it. We can't do that here."

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Though voiced as a complaint, the man's comments are profound.

In much of the world, there is no democracy. Or if there is "democracy," it is democracy in name only.

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Just check out Freedom House's annual survey that objectively tracks and ranks freedom around the globe. It classified countries as either "free," "partly free" or "not free." And one look at its world map shows that more real estate on our globe is still classified as "not free" or "partly free" than "free."

As we learn in grammar school, the opening words of the U.S. Constitution say it all: "We the people of the United States ..."

Note how it does not begin. It does not begin with "I, the King," or "Me, the dictator," or "They, the corporations," or even "Lord, our creator." But instead, "We the people."

The old man had it right.

"We the people" actually have the power to change our government. Though we've done our best to gum it up at times, the structure is all there for change. All it takes is "we the people."

Americans can actually sue their own government, and win! And openly protest the government. Try doing that in much of the rest of the world and let me know how it turns out.

It is why the U.S. has such an immigration problem: No matter all of our problems, more people want to come here  it's still the land of opportunity  than anywhere else.

Of course, some might dismiss this thought as naive. After all, have you seen how special interests, corporations, computers, the press, "fake news," foreign countries and even Kim Kardashian control so many aspects of our lives?

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But they only control us to the extent we allow them to do so. That, too, is a choice.

Our democracy is hardly perfect, but it was never intended to be. What makes it unique  and enduring  is that it was set up with the ability to adapt, to change. No coups or revolutions required.

Just as Barack Obama came out of virtual nowhere to lead our democracy, so, too, did Donald Trump. One was born of modest means and the other massive means, but so what? In both cases "we the people" elected them and made it happen. No party or person has a monopoly on our government. Instead, "we the people" do.

And therein lies the beauty. Whether it's voting, fighting a bogus parking ticket, attending a local zoning meeting or running for president, if Obama and Trump could do it, so can you.

So no matter where you may fall on the political spectrum, and no matter how frustrated you might grow at times, remember the old man, who today still could say: "It is your government. You actually own it. Or can."

William Choslovsky, a Chicago lawyer, loved democracy until he was recently defeated in his run for a third term on his local school council.
On his Facebook page June 28, state Rep. Marty Moylan, D-Des Plaines, praised the spending plan Democrats in Springfield had crafted, saying it "goes further than Governor Bruce Rauner's proposed spending plan for next year" and saves programs like "elder care, domestic violence shelters, and meals on wheels."

Four days later, Moylan voted against the higher taxes that would make that Democratic spending plan balance. That is, he voted against the taxes that would pay for all those programs he wants his constituents to know he likes.

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Rep. Jerry Costello II, who calls himself the most conservative Democrat in the Illinois House, voted against the taxes, too, on Sunday evening. Like Moylan, Costello had supported the Democratic spending plan's $36 billion for state programs and services in the fiscal year that began Saturday. Never mind the obvious inconsistency.

A week earlier, Costello wrote on his Facebook page, "The hardworking taxpayers in Southern Illinois deserve a full and balanced budget." Yet he previously had voted for spending plans that didn't include tax hikes to pay for them, including last year's notorious doozy from Speaker Michael Madigan that was $7 billion out of balance.

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Tell us more about those hardworking taxpayers in your district, Mr. Costello, who "deserve" an honest spending plan. What's honest about voting for programs that you're not willing to support by collecting more revenue from, yes, hardworking taxpayers?

No matter how legislators vote on a tax hike, elected officials should be held accountable to their own rhetoric. That includes freshman Republican Dave Severin of Benton, who also voted for the spending, but not the higher taxes to support it.

Vote for all of it or none of it  no fingers crossed behind your backs.

By contrast, Republican Terri Bryant said she voted in favor of the Democrats' budget on Sunday, including the tax increases, to protect Southern Illinois University in her district. It was a risky vote for a new lawmaker who is likely to be challenged in the next primary election, just for these votes. At least she was consistent.

"I hope you will help me bring my university back," she said.

Suburban Reps. Michelle Mussman, D-Schaumburg, and Sam Yingling, D-Grayslake, knowingly voted for years of unbalanced Madigan budgets. Meanwhile, they post on their Facebook pages the need for an honest budget from Rauner. Okaaay.

Mussman and Yingling are two more legislators who voted for the House spending plan  but not the tax increase to support it. Who, again, is responsible for Illinois' wild imbalance between spending and revenue? Is it Rauner? Or is it weak-kneed Democrats? Perhaps Mussman and Yingling believe the budget can be balanced without a tax increase. That's a position their party has ridiculed for years.

Voters, take note: The 10 Democrats and one Republican who voted against the tax hike but in favor of spending have to be held accountable to their own endless rhetoric about the need to pass honest budgets.

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Remember, Democrats control this process in both houses. They have been the party insisting for years the budget could not be balanced through spending reductions alone. Higher taxes had to be part of the equation: Illinois can't possibly cut its way out of this mess ... Until Sunday, that is, when 10 of them slithered away from their party's long-held position.

They're hoping you won't notice their double talk. We hope you will. It's called hypocrisy.

Join the discussion on Twitter @Trib_Ed_Board and on Facebook.

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A mural about immigration could be coming to an East Aurora elementary school.

Aurora officials are looking to bring Mexican artist Alejandro L'Occoco to Aurora to paint the mural at Brady Elementary School on Aurora's East Side.

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Alderman Juany Garza, who is working on the proposal, said the idea behind the mural was to represent all immigrants and the city's formation with immigrants.

"I want it now, especially in these times when we have the issues we're facing with immigration," she said, referring to President Donald Trump's contested changes to immigration practices.

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Immigrants have long come to Aurora, said Dan Barreiro, the city's chief community services officer and an East Aurora School District 131 board member. And Brady School has served many immigrant communities throughout its history, he said.

"We can't ignore the fact that we all come from different places, and that's been the history of Aurora," Barreiro said. "And so this mural would pay tribute to those that came from different places."

City officials are working on the project with the Council of Hispanic Communities. No site inside Brady has been selected and no sketch of the mural developed yet, Barreiro said, though L'Occoco, of Guadalajara, is expected to work on both after he is in Aurora.

Garza said she first presented the idea to former mayor Tom Weisner, but he soon retired and was replaced by an acting mayor until the election.

She first suggested the Aurora Public Library, a museum or another similar site, but those suggestions didn't pan out, she said. She later thought of East Aurora High School, but ongoing construction at the school would have made painting a mural difficult, she said. Eventually, officials settled on Brady.

"Everyone can go and see the mural there," she said. "Because this school was not only Latinos in the beginning, it was a lot of (immigrant communities) before the Latinos."

In recent years, more than 96 percent of students at Brady were Hispanic, according to the most recent state data available.

The mural is not expected to cost the city or school district any money.

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East Aurora School Board President Annette Johnson said she was not opposed to the idea, but she wanted to ensure the mural would be appropriate for an elementary school.

"It's a good local topic," she said. "I think the history of Aurora, a lot of immigrants did form around that school."

sfreishtat@tribpub.com

Twitter @srfreish
Patrick Eldon, CEO of orderTalk, Inc., right, presents Meera Angus, social communities manager for Girlstart, a $5,000 check for STEM education programs. One-fifth of the donation will go toward Elgins Girlstart STEM summer camp for elementary and middle school girls, it was announced. ( Pierson Grant Public Relations )

A tech company has donated $1,000 to an Elgin STEM summer camp for girls.

On Wednesday, orderTalk, Inc., announced it had donated $5,000 to Girlstart summer camp programs primarily for elementary and middle-school girls interested in science, technology, engineering and math.

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Elgin's Girlstart camp received $1,000 of the donation for the cost of supplies, materials and support the professional development of pre-service teachers, according to an orderTalk news release.

"This is an exciting partnership for orderTalk because we are helping to build momentum at a grass-roots level for subjects that we, like Girlstart, are tremendously passionate about," said orderTalk CEO Patrick Eldon in a statement. "We want to support the process of discovery among young girls and demonstrate that STEM topics are admirable and exhilarating subjects, deserving of their attention."

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According to the news release, the Elgin summer camp is a week long, for girls in grades 4-8, and is a partnership with The Boys & Girls Clubs of Elgin. The camp will feature STEM-related activities such as app development and video game development.

"Currently, only 18 percent of computer science degrees and 24 percent of STEM jobs are held by women," said Girlstart Deputy Director Julie Shannan in a statement. "We can't continue to ignore the fact that the technology industry is growing faster than any other industry, yet evidence suggests that interest in technology-related careers by females is stalling. Girlstart programs strive to reverse this trend by captivating girls early on in their educational path."

Girlstart was founded in Austin, Texas, in 1997 and has camps and programs throughout the U.S., targeting interest in STEM education and careers. Meanwhile, orderTalk is one of the main providers of online ordering technology for the restaurant industry, according to a company profile.

raguerrero@tribpub.com
Angel Gonzalez spent about half of his life incarcerated for a 1994 Waukegan rape and abduction he did not commit. He was released from prison in March 2015 and was then exonerated. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune )

The question of whether a Waukegan man will receive a financial settlement from the city of Waukegan  and how much  after being imprisoned for 20 years for a crime he's been exonerated of remains unknown.

But the two insurance companies the city had policies with in the mid-1990s, when Angel Gonzalez was arrested by Waukegan police and convicted of abducting and raping a woman, have agreed to front $900,000, the maximum the city could collect under the policies, city attorney Robert Long said.

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A third insurance company that the city has an excess liability insurance policy with currently has filed a lawsuit asking a federal judge to rule that it doesn't have to cover any potential settlement or jury award reached in the suit Gonzalez filed in April 2016, according to court records.

The company, called States Self-Insurers Risk Retention Group, Inc., argues that its policy does not cover claims that predate the policy's start date when the city has other coverage from the time, according to the complaint.

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The States company also said the policy does not cover injuries that are the result of knowingly wrongful acts or deliberate violations of the law, according to the complaint.

Gonzalez has argued in his own lawsuit that his civil rights were violated when Waukegan police officers used an "unduly suggestive and unreliable" identification method where the victim was brought to where Gonzalez had been pulled over and arrested despite the Lake County Jail being "mere steps" away.

Gonzalez, who was from a small town in Mexico and spoke very limited English when he was arrested in July 1994, was then taken to the Waukegan Police Department where he was stripped of his clothing, given a paper suit to wear and placed in a holding cell with no bed, according to his complaint.

"All night, Mr. Gonzalez was barefoot, scared, confused, provided no food or water, not allowed to make a phone call, and was unable to sleep, unaware of why he was in custody," according to the complaint.

The morning of July 11, 1994, Gonzalez was interviewed by two Waukegan detectives  Artis Yancey, who went on to become police chief, and Luis Marquez, according to the complaint.

Gonzalez argued in the lawsuit that during the interrogation his civil rights were again violated because he was not informed of his Miranda rights in Spanish; he was given a waiver of his Miranda rights, written in English, to sign; and he was not provided an attorney after he asked for one, according to the complaint.

During the interrogation that went from about 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Gonzalez said he was instructed multiple times to write out a statement admitting to the kidnapping and rape, according to the complaint.

The first statement he wrote up was torn up and thrown away, according to the complaint. He then wrote a second statement, which the detectives were also "not satisfied with."

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The detectives then typed out in English "a much longer and more detailed statement which they claimed had been made by Mr. Gonzalez," according to the complaint. The detectives read the statements on camera, the first time the equipment had been turned on during the interrogation, and had Gonzalez indicate his agreement.

Gonzalez was convicted in 1995 on the basis of the woman's identification of him and the confession, according to the lawsuit.

DNA evidence ultimately led to his exoneration in 2015, just over 20 years after he had been incarcerated, according to reports from the time. The DNA evidence found markers for two men, neither of which was Gonzalez or the woman's boyfriend.

Gonzalez was granted a certificate of innocence in June 2015 by Judge Victoria Rossetti, a move that faced no opposition from the state's attorney's office.

Stephen Scheller, who prosecuted Gonzalez at trial, attended the hearing and outside court, shook Gonzalez's hand and looked him in the eye as he said, "I'm sorry. I'm really sorry."

Gonzalez was the latest in a series of men who were accused of rape or murder under Lake County State's Attorney Mike Nerheim's predecessor, Michael Waller, but were later cleared by DNA evidence.

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A 2015 Chicago Tribune investigation found that no city police agency in Illinois, other than Chicago's, shares responsibility for as many known wrongful convictions as Waukegan, whose officers helped send six men to prison who were later exonerated.

At the time of that investigation, the city had paid out $26.1 million in police-related lawsuits since 2006.

As a rule of thumb, juries tend to reward $1 million to $2 million for each year a person has been wrongfully imprisoned, Long said, adding that each case is different.

The city of Waukegan has one other lawsuit of this type pending besides Gonazalez's, he said.

That case centers on Jason Strong, who was cleared of murder in May 2015 after spending 15 years behind bars.

Wrongful conviction lawsuits weren't a major risk at the time Gonzalez was arrested and convicted, and so cities like Waukegan didn't have large insurance policies, Long said. Juries weren't awarding as much in damages.

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Cases tend to last two to three years depending on how many people are involved and the number of depositions taken, Long added.

If Gonzalez is unsuccessful in his suit, the city plans on putting the $900,000 it collected from the two insurance companies toward its legal fees, he said.

Attempts to reach Gonzalez's attorney Monday were unsuccessful.

emcoleman@tribpub.com

Twitter @mekcoleman
Artist Dee Abbate, right, of Oakwood Hills leads a group through an exhibit she organized, called Painting Syrias Children: The Refugee Portrait Project, at McHenry County College in Crystal Lake on Thursday, June 29, 2017. ( Stacey Wescott/Chicago Tribune )

When Dee Abbate first saw a photograph of Syrian children injured during an attack in their war-torn country, she was heartbroken. But she didn't think there was anything she could do about it from her home in far northwest suburban Oakwood Hills.

Six years later, Abbate, an artist, said that image, "is still burned into my heart," but now she's found a way to help with just her paintbrush.

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Abbate, 75, decided to paint portraits of the children she saw in photographs and sell the paintings to raise money for charities that help Syrian refugees who have fled their home country.

Thanks to Abbate's recruiting, her idea spread across artist groups, and now more than 20 other artists throughout the northwest suburbs are involved. Their work is part of a traveling exhibit now on display through the end of July at McHenry County College.

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"It's a little thing we can do with what we know how to do, which is paint portraits," Abbate said. So far, they've raised about $7,000 for three charities  World Vision, Catholic Relief Services and Act for Peace  which also gave the artists permission to paint images based on the photos that appear on their websites. The portraits do not depict images of injured children, she said.

Each artist chose photographs to paint that spoke to them, Abbate said. Besides raising funds for charity, the artists are hoping the exhibit also brings awareness of the Syrian conflict and how it affects children in the region, she said.

"We hope people will look at these children and see their own," Abbate said. "What would this be like if this happened in our country? These are people just like us."

World Vision  one of the charities Abbate chose  estimates 5 million Syrian refugees are now living in exile since the start of Syria's civil war six years ago, and more than 6 million more are displaced within Syria. About half of those affected are children, according the group, and with no end in sight to the fighting there, the number of those fleeing is likely to grow.

Local artist Judith Hollister of Crystal Lake said she was searching for a new project when Abbate approached her about the Syrian portrait project.

She's completed two paintings for the exhibit and is working on two more. Before the display opened at the college, the paintings hung at three different churches, Hollister said, and the group was surprised by the sales and the interest from the public.

"The generosity of the people and the response was so wonderful," she said. "We were overwhelmed."

Diane Ward of Crystal Lake, a retired art teacher, said she helped Abbate come up with the idea of selling her first portrait of a Syrian child, and decided to paint some herself.

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Ward said she keeps painting, and is working on her fifth portrait, which she plans to add to the exhibit when it moves later this year to Lakeside Arts Park at the Dole in Crystal Lake.

In searching photos of Syrian children, Ward said, "you find somebody and fall in love with them and decide to paint them."

Ward said she saw her granddaughter's "big brown eyes" in the first subject she chose to paint.

"It's wonderful," she added of the project. "You can pray for this kid ... while you're painting them."

Sandra Lang, gallery curator at the community college, said she often picks community groups' work for display during the summer, and was intrigued by the refugee project when Abbate approached her about it appearing in the gallery.

"I really like seeing artists giving themselves to a cause they believe in," she said. "To be able to use the gallery space to showcase that? Not just their talent but what artists can do as a group for a positive outcome? That was really appealing to me."

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"Painting Syria's Children: The Refugee Portrait Project" is on display in the Epping Gallery at the college, 8900 U.S. Highway 14, Crystal Lake. For more information, or to view the artists' work, visit www.mchenry.edu/artgallery.

kthayer@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @knthayer
Police released this surveillance photo of a blue Blazer witnesses said left the scene of a homicide July 3 in the 2400 block of Ripley Street in Lake Station. (Lake Station Police Department)

Lake Station police are investigating the death of a man found shot to death Monday afternoon, authorities said.

Officers were dispatched just before 2 p.m. Monday to the 2400 block of Ripley Street for a gunshot victim, Capt. Brian Williams said. When police and paramedics arrived, the man already was dead, Williams said.

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The Lake County Coroner's office identified the victim as 40-year-old Joseph Martin, of Portage. Martin's death was ruled a homicide, according to the coroner's office.

Witnesses told police a blue Blazer was seen fleeing the scene just after the incident, Williams said. Police released a photo of the suspected car from video surveillance.

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Police did not release further information about the incident.

Anyone with information is asked to call Detective Sgt. Gulley or Williams at 219-962-1186. They may also be contacted by email at ggulley@lakestation-in.gov and bwilliams@lakestation-in.gov.

rejacobs@post-trib.com

Twitter @ruthyjacobs
The RailCats on Monday released former Portage star Tony Cheky after his arrest over the weekend during the team's series in St. Paul, Minnesota.

The 24-year-old Cheky, who also was a four-year starter at Michigan State after graduating from Portage in 2011, was charged with third degree assault with substantial bodily harm, according to Ramsey County court records. The felony charge carries a maximum sentence of five years or a $10,000 fine, or both, according to records. Bail was set at $40,000.

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According to records, St. Paul police responded at about 1:45 a.m. Sunday to a reported assault at the InterContinental Saint Paul Riverfront hotel, where the RailCats were staying.

Cheky, who has played for the RailCats for at least part of every season since 2015, could not immediately be reached for comment Monday.

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After overcoming a series of injuries during his career, Cheky this season was hitting a team-high .354, third in the American Association, in 33 games. He also was third on the team in both runs (24) and RBIs (19), hit his first professional homer and had six stolen bases.

Cheky had been expected to represent the RailCats in the league's All-Star game.

RailCats manager Greg Tagert has known Cheky for three years, and the two have developed a close relationship. Tagert called Cheky "the face of the franchise and clearly the best player on our team."

But there was no "gray area" in this situation.

"This was an easy decision," Tagert said. "Tony put himself in a position that gave the club no other choice. It's unfortunate.

"Tony will no longer wear a RailCat uniform as long as I'm managing here."

The alleged victim told police he had been attending a wedding reception at the hotel when a man he did not know punched him in the face, according to records. His next memory was waking up on the floor with a bloody nose and painful headache.

An examination of the alleged victim at a local hospital revealed a fractured nasal bridge and a closed head injury, according to records.

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Hotel employees and other wedding guests said one man was punched several times before the other man was pulled away by bystanders, according to records. Hotel video surveillance shows the alleged assailant also kicking the alleged victim in the head.

Tagert has a reputation for running a disciplined clubhouse.

"There are four or five clubs in this league, maybe six, that set a standard of winning on the field as the highest priority  the one across the diamond (Fargo-Moorhead), ourselves, Winnipeg, Wichita, you can go down the list," Tagert said. "But nobody puts a stronger emphasis on what happens off the field and in that clubhouse than we do. It's a strong reminder to our players that we absolutely mean it.

"I like Tony. He's a passionate young man from a good family. But unfortunately when somebody does something, there's going to be consequences."

Tagert has released players for lesser "indiscretions," including some he second-guessed.

"I've made a lot of decisions I've regretted over a lifetime at age 54," Tagert said. "But this is not one of them. This was disturbing enough for me, it was not a decision I had to think about.

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"We'll move forward with this group here and try to set out to accomplish what we always try to accomplish. But we won't do it with sacrificing that character."

Tagert informed team owner Pat Salvi and general manager Brian Lyter of his decision, and they "fully" supported him.

"We handled it appropriately," Salvi said. "There was no alternative but to release him. It's not the kind of situation that's so life-altering he can't get past this. We wish him well."

Salvi addressed the team in the clubhouse before Monday night's game at the Steel Yard against Fargo.

"I wanted them to know that we as an organization don't abandon you at the first sign of something going bad," Salvi said. "We typically would have your back. But the circumstances in this particular case were such that it was the right thing to do, for the league and the organization. As difficult as it was, we had to do it."

mosipoff@post-trib.com

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Children eagerly looked north on Lake Shore Drive in Cedar Lake Tuesday waiting for the first tell-tale sights and sounds of the Summerfest 4th of July parade.

They jumped up and down with excitement after the first youngster shouted, "I can hear it. Listen, listen."

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Ireland Stuckey, 8, of Crown Point, and her dad, Jeff Stuckey, waited at the end of a long line of parade-goers for the first entries to pass. Ireland was wearing a red, white and blue skirt and an American flag hat to show her holiday spirit.

"We're going to another parade after this and then a cookout at our house," Ireland said, adding she was looking forward to celebrating with her family

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Stuckey said the family always comes to the Cedar Lake parade, and then heads back to Crown Point for the city's parade in the afternoon. This year, his wife and two boys, were in Illinois and couldn't make it.

Stuckey said he likes to attend the parades and teach his children about the significance of the 4th of July.

"I'm teaching her a sense of history about what Independence Day is about," he said.

Ireland said she is learning about the Revolutionary War and what happened in 1776 from her dad, and of course, having a good time at the parades.

"I like it because of the candy and (the chance) to celebrate," Ireland said.

Tim Sehr, of Cedar Lake, was at the parade to support his family and friends who served in the military. He choked up when a float reminded him of a Vietnam veteran friend who died last week.

"It just made me think of him," Sehr said.

Lloyd Starrick, of Cedar Lake, and some of his children and grandchildren were waiting along Lake Shore Drive for the parade to pass. The family had staked out a prime spot, popped up a shade tent and set up their lawn chairs.

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Starrick's grandsons Nathan Alcott, 11, and Logan Alcott, 13, were visiting from Pensacola, Fla.

"I get (my grandsons) every year for the summer," Starrick said. The pair have been spending their summers with their grandfather since they moved from Cedar Lake to Florida about four years ago. They were surrounded by cousins including Leah Starrick, 7, of Cedar Lake, and other family members, who were set to celebrate the holiday together.

"We come up to see family and friends," Nathan said.

"And for the fireworks," the boys' mom, Brandi Frederickson, of Pensecola, said. "They are not legal in Florida."

The group watches the Summerfest fireworks display in the evening.

The boys' sister, Brook Ledoux, 24, of Cedar Lake, said her brothers and all the rest of the family have a party, swim and play on a waterslide once the parade ends. She was holding her son Grayson, 1, who was attending his first Summerfest parade.

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She said the sounds of a bowling area upset him, so she wasn't sure how he would respond to the noise from the emergency vehicles.

"We will see what happens," she said.

Carrie Napoleon is a free-lance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
Police ask public to help identify vehicle allegedly used in homicide
By Dezan Shira & Associates

Editor: Jake Liddle

From July 1, 2017, the State Administration of Taxation (SAT) has mandated that corporate tax identification numbers will be required in addition to company name in order to issue general fapiao or special VAT fapiao.

In reaction to the new requirements for fapiao issuance, WeChat has launched a new function that allows users to input relevant corporate tax information, and present it to service providers to issue fapiao.

Tammy Tian, Corporate Accounting Services Manager at Dezan Shira & Associates Beijing office says: We advise all of our clients to familiarize themselves with this mini app, its a great way to save time when asking for a fapiao.

RELATED: An Overview of Chinas VAT Reform

WeChats new function, titled My Receipt Payee Title, can be found under the MeMy profile section of the instant messaging app, where corporate tax information can be input and stored for future use.

The following fields are required to be filled out:

Company name*;

Tax identification code;

Company address*;

Mobile phone number;

Registered bank branch*;

Bank account number.

* Please note these fields must be provided in Chinese.





RELATED: Tax and Compliance Services from Dezan Shira & Associates

Once the relevant information is filled out, a QR code is generated and included on a card, which can be scanned by service providers to quickly and efficiently issue a fapiao with the correct information.

Whats more, once completed, the tax information card can be shared with colleagues and saved into their personal information section for further use. This can be done by going to the Discover section of WeChat, entering the Mini Programs manager, and selecting the Fapiao Helper () program. Inside, the tax information is listed, and in the top right hand corner, from the drop down menu, the information can be forwarded to individual WeChat contacts or groups.

The WeChats Fapiao Helper function makes for a quicker and more effective transaction when requesting a fapiao, removing human error arising from manual input of tax information, which leads to invalid fapiao.

Tax and accounting teams should consider sharing this app with their colleagues; it will remove some of the guesswork from the new fapiao requirements. Tian added.



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.
The first major energy project under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) was inaugurated on Monday in Sahiwal in Pakistan's eastern province of Punjab.

Photo taken on July 3, 2017 shows the Sahiwal coal-fired power plant in Sahiwal in Pakistan's eastern province of Punjab. [Photo/Xinhua]

With its two 660-megawatt units, the Sahiwal coal-fired power plant is expected to generate 9 billion kwh of electricity annually to address about one forth of Pakistan's current power deficit, or electricity demand of 10 million locals, according to an official from the China Huaneng Group, a major shareholder of the Sahiwal power plant.

Nur Bekri, director of China's National Energy Administration, said at the inaugurating ceremony that the completion of the Sahiwal power plant is another milestone of China-Pakistan friendship and the plant will continuously inject driving power to Pakistan's economic development.

He said that the Chinese energy authority will continue to strengthen bilateral pragmatic cooperation with Pakistan in terms of energy so as to tangibly push forward the construction of CPEC to benefit peoples both from China and Pakistan.

The power plant was built within a 22-month period, the fastest in Pakistan. The power plant equips two high efficient generation units with a series of advanced de-pollution measures.

For his part, Chief Minister of Punjab Shehbaz Sharif said that the Sahiwal power plant is the first step to realize the blueprint of CPEC and it will bring tremendous improvement to the Pakistani economy.

Punjab Provincial Energy Secretary Asad Gillani told Xinhua that with the connection to the national grid, electricity generated from Sahiwal will be distributed to all Pakistan and help shorten periods of power cut in the country.
The first batch of US beef that re-entered the China market after a 13-year ban has been popular, despite its costly price. The imported US beef, including prime sirloin, filet and rib eye steak, was sold at supermarkets and on e-commerce platforms.

China is currently the fastest-growing market for beef consumption globally. [File photo/Xinhua]

Sam's Club China, a high-end retailer of Wal-Mart Inc, became the first offline retailer to sell fresh US beef. Sam's Club China started to sell US beef at its stores in Beijing on June 27, and it has since run out of stock.

Airlifted to China from ranches in Nebraska, the grain-fed beef was vacuum packed and shipped by cold chain transportation during the whole journey.

Sam's Club China said the second batch of US beef will arrive in China after some time.

In July and August, Sam's Club will start selling US beef at its outlets nationwide, and Wal-Mart Inc did not disclose any specific plans to sell US beef at its supermarkets in China yet.

Chinese online shopping website Tmall.com, which is backed by Alibaba Group Holdings Ltd, has also started to sell US beef. It said 400 grams of fresh sirloin steak sells for 208 yuan ($30.6) on Tmall.com, and 300 grams of filet steak has a price tag of 228 yuan.

In the United States, every hundredweight (45.4 kilograms) of beef is sold for $116 to $126, meaning every kilogram of beef is sold at 17 yuan to 19 yuan, according to a forecast of the US Department of Agriculture.

Since June 20, Chinese authorities started to lift a 13-year ban and allow eligible US beef to be imported into China, according to the statement of the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine of China.

China is currently the fastest-growing market for beef consumption globally, and the imported beef mainly comes from Australia, Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay. China's domestic beef market has a 10 percent demand gap that needs to be fulfilled by imported suppliers.

Michael Finucan, general manager for international markets at Meat and Livestock Australia, said: "Australia competes in many global beef markets with the US. We believe our many years of trading in China have built strong relationships with the industry, and we will be able to continue to have a strong business here."

"Australia is focused on working with our customers to meet their specification requirements. Australia is able to supply a wide range of products that suit many sectors in the market from high-end restaurants and supermarkets to families."
Thousands of soldiers, armed police, civil servants and members of the public are battling floods in several provinces along the Yangtze River.

Staff members clear away mud after a flood at a vegetable base in Lianyuan City, central China's Hunan Province, July 3, 2017. Works of epidemic prevention and mud-cleaning are underway as floods subsided in central China's Hunan Province and south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. (Xinhua/Zhang Yang)



In Hunan Province, the water level at the Changsha monitoring station in the Xiangjiang River, a major Yangtze tributary, reached a record high of 39.51 meters early Monday, higher than the previous record of 39.18 meters set by a massive flood in 1998.

Floods have inundated houses, uprooted trees, damaged cars and sabotaged roads in Changsha, capital of Hunan.

The public, even elementary school students who are on summer vacation, volunteered to help fill sandbags to prevent the water from overflowing. Fourth grader Yang Shan, who lives in downtown Changsha, distributed ropes and filled sandbags for soldiers to carry to the riverbank.

Intermittent rain is forecast to last in Changsha until Wednesday, and the city is under heavy pressure to battle flooding.

In neighboring Hubei Province, the Three Gorges Dam on the upper Yangtze has reduced water discharge by 70 percent in the last three days.

Its flow was 27,000 cubic meters per second before July 1, but has now been reduced to 8,000 cubic meters per second, according to the Yangtze River Flood Prevention Headquarters.

The reduction stopped 3 billion cubic meters of water and lowered the water level by up to 1.5 meters, the headquarters said.

"We hope the reduction of outflow will give soldiers and the people enough time to evacuate and stack up sand bags to battle the flood," said Wu Zhaohui, an official with the water resources bureau in Hubei Province.

In Hubei alone, 16,000 people are on high alert for flooding.

In eastern Jiangxi Province, 28,100 people are battling against the floods, as water levels in the Jiangxi section of the Yangtze and Poyang Lake, China's largest fresh water lake, have risen above warning levels.

Heavy downpours also hit Sichuan Province on the upper reaches of the Yangtze. Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport in the provincial capital of Chengdu was forced to close down for over an hour on Monday afternoon.

Nearly 8,000 passengers were affected and 40 outbound flights were delayed.

Besides provinces along the Yangtze, other southern areas of China have also been plagued by heavy rain.

Rain-triggered floods have killed 16 people and left 10 missing in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, with 91,600 local residents relocated so far, according to the regional civil affairs department.

According to the Ministry of Finance, a total of 1.88 billion yuan (276.8 million U.S. dollars) was allocated to 20 provinces and regions Monday to aid disaster relief.
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U.S. Magistrate Judge Eric Long on Monday ordered the man accused of kidnapping a visiting Chinese scholar to be held without bond until his next court hearing on July 5.

Brendt Christensen, 28, charged with kidnapping Yingying Zhang on June 9, did not speak during a hearing at a federal courthouse in Urbana city, the U.S. state of Illinois.

If convicted of the federal kidnapping charge, Christensen faces up to life in prison, according to Sharon Paul, a spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney's office.

Christensen was enrolled as a PhD candidate in experimental condensed matter physics by the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), but it was not clear if he was still studying at the university when he was arrested on Friday.

Wearing an orange jumpsuit, Christensen did not speak during the hearing that lasted nine minutes, other than to acknowledge that he understood his rights, according to local media ABC7.

Judge Long asked Christensen's attorney, Evan Bruno of the Urbana-based Bruno Law Firm, whether he was ready to take a stand on bail. When Bruno asked for a few days, Long set a detention hearing for 3 p.m. Wednesday during which bond will be determined.

Christensen will be held in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service before the detention hearing.

A preliminary hearing was set for 10 a.m. local time on July 14. It would be waived if a grand jury returns an indictment before then. About 45 people packed the courtroom, with hundreds of Chinese from Zhang's university and local Chinese community gathering in the courthouse lobby and outside across the street.

They held posters written "Bring Justice to Yingying and her family," chanting "Justice for Yingying."

Zhang, 26, went missing on June 9 after she got into a black Saturn Astra car about five blocks from where she got off a bus as she was heading to an apartment complex to sign a lease. She, who arrived at the University of Illinois in late April, is feared dead.

FBI and local policemen arrested Christensen last Friday evening based on the fact the suspect called someone about his kidnapping of Zhang.

"While Christensen was under law enforcement surveillance, agents overheard him explaining that he kidnapped Zhang," an FBI press release said.
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Two armed men opened fire on a group of people in the southern French city of Toulouse on Monday evening, killing one person and injuring six others, local media reported.

The shooting happened at around 9:00 p.m. (1900 GMT) when two men on motorcycle shot dead a man and injured others in the city's La Reynerie district before running away, said a Europe1 broadcaster.

Two of the injured people were in serious situation, according to the report.

Local officials, meanwhile, said extra security forces had been deployed to the area.

"No possibilities are ruled out, but there is no terrorist element at this stage," regional authorities were quoted as saying.

Citing a source close to the investigation, the broadcaster said the shooting is likely linked with settlement of old scores between gangs.

Last year, the La Reynerie district was the scene of two shooting incidents, both believed to be a settling of scores.

In one incident last July, a Russian man of Chechen origin was shot dead by an unknown gunman on a scooter.
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The Public Ethics Commission of the Brazilian Presidency on Monday opened an investigation into the conduct of six officials and ex-officials, based on the confession by the executives from a meatpacking company JBS.

Those under investigation include Minister for Science and Technology Gilberto Kassab and Minister for Development, Industry and Trade Marcos Pereira.

Kassab is alleged to have received 350,000 reais (105,000 U.S. dollars) a month by issuing false receipts during his time as Minister for Cities and in his current role, with his gains totaling close to 30 million reais (9 million U.S. dollars).

Pereira is being investigated for allegedly having received close to 500,000 reais (150,000 U.S. dollars) a month from JBS for a total of 6 million reais (1.8 million U.S. dollars), in exchange for helping the company obtain a line of credit at a public bank, Caixa Economic Federal (CEF).

Both Kassab and Pereira said they were innocent and hope the investigation would prove their innocence.

Three former ministers and a vice-president of CEF are also under investigation. They will have 10 days to present the information being requested.

The ethnic commission was founded in 1999 by then-president Fernando Henrique Cardoso.
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The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) has fired an unidentified ballistic missile into its eastern waters, South Korea's defense ministry said Tuesday.

A defense ministry official told Xinhua that the DPRK fired off the ballistic missile into the East Sea from an area near Banghyeon, North Pyongan province in the DPRK's northwest region at about 9:40 a.m. local time (0040 GMT).

The missile launch was immediately reported to President Moon Jae-in, the official said.

A Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) official told a regular press briefing of the defense ministry that the military was analyzing a maximum altitude and a flying distance of the missile, noting that South Korea's military was maintaining full preparedness for any further DPRK provocation.

In the initial analysis by the military authorities of South Korea and the United States, the DPRK's missile launch was reportedly successful.

Citing Japanese media reports, South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported that the DPRK missile may have landed in Japan's exclusive economic zone.

The DPRK missile was reported to have flown for about 40 minutes, but the JCS official refused to confirm the media speculation.

Pyongyang test-launched ground-to-ship cruise missiles on June 8 from Wonsan area in the country's eastern region.

The DPRK's Tuesday firing of the ballistic missile followed South Korean President Moon's first summit meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump in Washington for two days from June 29.

President Moon has ordered the convening of the national security council meeting of the presidential Blue House, where cabinet members and senior presidential secretaries in charge of security and foreign affairs gather to discuss security issues.

Senior presidential press secretary Yoon Young-chan told reporters that the meeting was scheduled to be held at 11:30 a.m. local time (0230 GMT) at the Blue House.
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Students embrace one another during a forum on the campus of University of Missouri - Columbia on November 9, 2015 in Columbia, Missouri. (Xinhua)





For anyone who hasn't lived in the U.S. for a long stretch of time, and perhaps even for people who have, the country's racial problems can be difficult to understand. It's no secret that the U.S. -- like many other places around the world -- has a history fraught with what is now considered horrible mistreatment towards minorities, and most notoriously towards blacks.

This has led to a kind of collective guilt in the American conscience and is the reason the country adopted affirmative action and preferential hiring policies.

Few Americans would claim that their government doesn't owe something to blacks, as a group, for past injustices. But there is a very large debate going on now about just how much is owed to them, with some people going so far as to claim that ancestors of slaves should receive monetary reparations in one form or another.

It's a complicated issue, and it manifests itself in various forms at different times throughout the U.S. One of the recent examples is the series of events that unfolded at the Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington, during the past several months. It's a strange story, and one that reveals the tensions still surrounding race relations in the U.S.

It began with an annual tradition at Evergreen known as "Day of Absence." Until this year, the day went like this: black students and faculty would choose one day of the year to voluntarily stay off of Evergreen's campus in order to highlight their contributions to the college's functioning. It wasn't a controversial event, and many people involved with the college thought it did exactly what it was designed to do.

But this year, the tradition was altered: instead of blacks absenting themselves from campus, whites would be encouraged to stay away for the day. Initially, this change met little resistance. However, a biology professor named Bret Weinstein soon wrote an open letter to the other faculty and staff members at Evergreen saying that he objected to the idea of whites being made to stay off campus.

The crux of his argument was that there's a big difference between a group voluntarily staying off campus, as had been the case in the past, and a group being told to stay off campus, which he felt was essentially what the alteration did.

When word of Weinstein's letter reached students, things began to intensify. A large group of students confronted Weinstein outside of his classroom demanding to know why he objected to the change in the tradition. The whole exchange was taped and went somewhat viral on Youtube. Weinstein refused to admit that he'd been wrong in criticizing the change, and over the weeks that followed students began insisting that Weinstein was a racist for not agreeing to it and pushing for him to be fired. Based on a phone call from the police, Weinstein soon felt that his safety was threatened and was forced to hold his final classes of the semester off campus.

This then led to students confronting Evergreen's president, George Bridges. Their exchange, which can also be seen on Youtube, is somewhat surreal. The students make a series of claims and demands regarding the status of minorities at Evergreen, which Bridges politely listens to. The students, however, make increasingly odd statements, going so far as to call Bridges' hand gestures racist. At one point, a student even stands next to Bridges and slaps his hands against legs, signaling that he wants Bridges to keep his hands down at his sides -- which he does. Bridges has received widespread criticism for his obsequious behavior, and some have called for him to be fired due to his poor handling of the situation.

The events at Evergreen received national attention, with many commentators seeing them as the natural result of the wave of political correctness that has been sweeping over American campuses in recent years. Amidst all the confusion, a man even called the police claiming that he was going to go to Evergreen and start shooting as many people as he could -- a claim that fortunately turned out to be a hoax.

Evergreen is out for the summer, but the situation remains unresolved. The Washington State government has been holding hearings about the events, but no real conclusions have been reached. Weinstein hasn't been fired, but he has said in interviews that he imagines it would be difficult to return to teaching for the fall semester.

Regarding who is in the wrong or right, it's difficult to watch the videos circulating online and not come to the conclusion that the students are overreacting to Weinstein's letter, while Weinstein himself comes off as a very reasonable person in interviews. Whatever the case, the situation will be a difficult one to resolve.

Kyle Burnaby is a journalist from Cheyenne, Wyoming. He now lives in Bangkok.





Opinion articles reflect the views of their authors only, not necessarily those of China.org.cn.
More than two weeks after India sent troops across the Sikkim border into China to obstruct construction of a road by the People's Liberation Army in the Donglong region, the situation there remains worryingly tense, with a stand-off between soldiers of the two countries still ongoing.

That the situation has not flared out of control is thanks to the great restraint exercised by the Chinese troops. But the tensions resulting from the intrusion will surely grow if there is not a total withdrawal of the Indian troops.

Unlike previous incidents that have occurred along other parts of the 3,500-kilometer border between China and India, the latest incident happened at a section that has long been demarcated by an 1890 historical convention and reaffirmed in documents exchanged between successive Chinese and Indian governments since then.

The transgression by Indian troops therefore violates that convention and the basic norms that guide international relations. China has made it explicitly clear that it is "unwavering" in its resolve to uphold its territorial integrity and will take whatever measures it deems necessary to do so.

India may be trying to make a point. It is reportedly worried that the Chinese road construction may represent a significant change of the status quo with serious security implications for India, according to its foreign ministry.

But such worries could have been allayed through dialogue and consultation, using the mechanisms that are already in place and which have long helped the two sides maintain peace and tranquility in the region since their short border war in 1962.

Yet instead of calls for talks, what we hear is clamor for war by the Indian military, with its Army Chief General Bipin Rawat declaring recently that India "was ready for a two-and-a-half front war (China, Pakistan and internal security)", and its Defense Minister Arun Jaitley saying that the India of 2017 was not the India of 1962.

Perhaps its defeat in that war was too humiliating for some in the Indian military and that is why they are talking belligerently this time.

And such irresponsible acts and rhetoric reflect the "strategic anxiety" over China's rise harbored by some Indian politicians, and their apprehensions about the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative.

Yet as Chinese officials have emphasized on many occasions, the initiative aims to promote economic cooperation and connectivity and has no bearing on sovereignty issues. There is need for India to be sensitive about the initiative.

The trespassing by the Indian troops runs counter to the Indian government's longstanding and rightful position. It should respect China's territorial integrity and withdraw its troops back across the border.
Chinese tourists shop at a Kazakhstan store in the China-Kazakhstan Khorgos Frontier International Cooperation Center. [Photo by Ruo Yu/For China Daily]

URUMQIMarina has to cross an international border every day for work, but the one-hour drive from her home in Yarkent, Kazakhstan, to China's border town Khorgos is worth it, considering her monthly pay is 2,700 yuan ($400), an income above the average in her hometown.

As day breaks, Marina gets out of bed, has breakfast and hops into a cab to start a day of busy work at the China-Kazakhstan Khorgos Frontier International Cooperation Center. She began to work as an interpreter at a Chinese trade firm two months ago.

Marina receives foreign clients and coordinates with relevant government departments of Kazakhstan. Before landing her job, she studied Chinese for a year in Ili, Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, in Northwest China.

Marina is not the only person who shuttles every day between the two countries. Border trade is booming in Khorgos, an ancient town on the erstwhile Silk Road.

Trade is growing fast thanks to the Belt and Road Initiative, proposed by China to deepen economic cooperation through infrastructure development.

Hundreds of interpreters from China, Kazakhstan and other countries work at the Khorgos center. In addition to their salary, they sometimes get a bonus.

"Back in my hometown, I can earn only half the money I get here," Marina said.

The Khorgos Frontier International Cooperation Center straddles the China-Kazakhstan border. It occupies a total area of 5.28 square km, with 3.43 sq km in China and 1.85 sq km in Kazakhstan. It's the first trans-border international free trade zone in the world, and also China's first unique economic zone "within the country, but out of the jurisdiction of its customs".

The center started its operations in April 2012. The movement of personnel, vehicles and goods are unrestricted on its premises, and stores and visitors in the center are entitled to preferential policies, including taxation. There are more than 4,000 stores, including 40 duty-free shops in the center, with a staff of 6,000.

Lazarti comes from Xinjiang's Tekes county. The 22-year-old ethnic Kazakh found a job as an interpreter and salesman at the center after graduation.

He also helps sell imported Kazakhstan snacks such as candies and cookies, mainly to Chinese customers. He speaks Mandarin, Kazakh, and the Uygur languages.

"The work offers me an opportunity to meet people from other countries and broaden my horizons. These experiences would hopefully help me to start a business in the future," Lazarti said.

At 6 pm, the bustling trade center is at peace. After a full day's work, Marina jumps into a cab back to Yarkent, while Lazarti, bidding her farewell, walks towards his rented apartment on the Chinese side of the border.
The company logo of China Shenhua Energy Co Ltd is displayed during a news conference following the company's annual results in Hong Kong, China, March 29, 2016. [Photo/VCG]

China Shenhua Energy and GD Power Development have applied to extend a share trading halt as merger discussions continue, Shanghai Securities News reports.

The two companies suspended their shares on June 5 and issued a statement on Tuesday requesting a one month trading halt.

Earlier media reported their parent firms China's largest coal miner Shenhua Group and energy producer China Guodian Corp are in merger discussions which are expected to result in the creation of an energy giant with a combined asset of 1.73 trillion yuan ($254 billion).

According to the latest statements, the merger deal may involve energy assets. So far, the range of reorganized assets has not been finalized, and the transaction mode is also in discussion.

This year, the government pledged to deepen reform of State-owned enterprises and promised measures, including the introduction of a mixed ownership system and efforts to make SOEs leaner and healthier.

According to the National Development and Reform Commission, substantial steps should be taken in electricity, oil, natural gas, railway, civil aviation, telecommunications and military industries.

Last week, the State Council approved a merger between China National Machinery Industry Corporation (Sinomach) and textile giant China Hi-Tech Group Corporation, reducing the number of central SOEs to 101.

The State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission has planned to reduce the number of central SOEs to under 100 as part of the ongoing reforms to improve efficiency.
Hong Kong Monetary Authority Chief Executive Norman Chan (2nd L), People's Bank of China Deputy Governor Pan Gongsheng (2nd R) and Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam (R) attend the launching ceremony of Bond Connect at Hong Kong Exchanges in Hong Kong, China, July 3, 2017.[Photo/Agencies]

The Chinese mainland's Bond Connect arrangement with Hong Konga long-awaited program that gives overseas investors direct access to the mainland's $10 trillion debt marketopened on Monday.

The cross-border bond trading link will operate alongside the two existing Stock Connect systems between stock exchanges in Shanghai and Shenzhen and their Hong Kong counterparts; but it will allow only international and Hong Kong investors to trade onshore bonds in the initial phase.

Newly inaugurated Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor said at the launch ceremony in Hong Kong that Bond Connect "marks another new chapter of mutual market access between the mainland and Hong Kong".

Lam, in her first official event since taking office as the first female leader of Hong Kong on Saturday, said the next stepto be taken at the proper timeis to launch "southbound trading", which will allow mainland investors to buy and sell Hong Kong-listed bonds.

People's Bank of China Deputy Governor Pan Gongsheng said at the ceremony that Bond Connect "demonstrates the significance of Hong Kong as a world-renowned international financial center and the mainland financial industry's gateway to the world", and it "showcases the central government's determination to shore up the long-term prosperity and stability of Hong Kong".

Bond Connect stands as a golden opportunity that Hong Kong cannot afford to miss in cementing its role as the most important offshore price-setter for the renminbi, Li Xiaojia, chief executive of Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited, said after the ceremony.

"This determines whether Hong Kong will win out as the most important financial hub in Asian trading hours. That's where the significance of Bond Connect really lies," Li said.

The newly launched trading channel wrapped up its first trading day with volume of 7.05 billion yuan ($1.03 billion). Some 142 deals were done between 70 overseas financial institutions and 19 market makersfirms that maintain a stable and liquid market for a particular security by buying and selling it as circumstances requireaccording to a statement on Chinamoney.com.cn, a website of National Interbank Funding Center.

The buying side reached 4.9 billion yuan in 128 deals, underscoring the huge appetite of international investors. A deal between Bank of Communications and its Macao branch was said to be the first under the program.

Some 20 market makers for Bond Connect have been confirmed and approved by the People's Bank of China, including 14 Chinese mainland institutions and six international ones.

HSBC joined the likes of China Merchants Bank, Deutsche Bank, GF Securities and CITIC Securities, which rushed to finish its first deal as a market maker through the new link.

To mark the launch, China Development Bank and Agricultural Bank of China issued a combined 35 billion yuan in bonds for tender on Monday.

As a fitting tribute to the 20th anniversary of Hong Kong's return to the motherland, the cross-border bond train marks a milestone on the nation's journey to open up its financial markets,and moves a step closer to positioning its onshore bonds in the group of global fixed income indexes.

Goldman Sachs and HSBC said in their latest reports that the new trading channel, with no quota or need to stipulate an intended investment amount, may pave the way for the world's third-largest debt market to be included in global indexes.
Jack Ma (3rd from right), founder and chairman of China's e-commerce giant Alibaba, attends the opening ceremony of MYbank in Hangzhou, capital of East China's Zhejiang province, June 25, 2015. [Photo/Xinhua]

SHANGHAIMYbank, the two-year-old Chinese online lender that already has 3.5 million small-business customers, said it plans to push deeper into a segment that's long been ignored by the country's biggest banks.

MYbank wants to capitalize on its links with billionaire Jack Ma's Alibaba Group Holding Ltd by offering loans to the more than 10 million smaller businesses that use the company's e-commerce platforms, MYbank President Huang Hao said in a interview on Saturday.

The Hangzhou-based lender is controlled by Ant Financial, Alibaba's financial affiliate.

Huang said he is looking to win "as many as possible" of China's 70 million to 80 million small businesses as customers, most of which have no access to bank loans because they lack collateral.

MYbank was one of the first Chinese lendersalong with Tencent Holdings Ltd's WeBankto be established completely with private investment under a trial program unveiled in 2014.

"We are in a different stratum from the traditional banks," said Huang, 43, who was previously head of electronic banking at China Construction Bank Corp.

"We are like capillaries reaching every part of the society. It could be a small restaurant, a breakfast stand. No other financial institution would have served them before."

Formally known as Zhejiang E-Commerce Bank Co, MYbank was able to more than quadruple its lending through 2016, taking its outstanding loans to 33 billion yuan ($4.9 billion).

Interest generated from those loans helped MYbank report a profit of 316 million yuan last year, rebounding from the 69 million yuan loss it had in the final seven months of 2015 after it started operations, according to an earnings statement posted on June 28.

Its nonperforming-loan ratio was around 1 percent, Huang said, lower than the national average of 1.74 percent.

The bank's technology, which runs loan applications through more than 3,000 computerized risk-control strategies, has kept delinquencies in check, he said.

Last year's lending explosion came at a cost, however, dragging its capital adequacy ratio down to 11.07 percent by December, from 18.51 percent a year earlier. While the bank has no immediate plan to boost its buffers, it will consider measures including issuing asset-backed securities to keep capital at an appropriate level, Huang said.

MYbank charges its small-business customers lending rates between 5 percent and 14 percent annually, with many paying 7 percent to 8 percent, Huang said. That level is lower than the rates paid by similar clientele in some Chinese cities.

For example, small businesses in the eastern city of Wenzhou paid an average of 15 percent for loans from underground banks, according to a private lending network in the city that tracks the data.

Huang's bank has also tried to shelter itself from funding volatility and surging interbank borrowing costs by attracting more deposits.

By encouraging remote account openings, MYbank lured 23 billion yuan of deposits from its customers at the end of December, up from almost zero a year earlier, he said.

Agencies
Two passengers experience the Bell 407 GXPs helicopter and take a selfie. [Photo by Yang Guang/Xinhua]

A major global helicopter manufacturer is bullish about China's economic prospects and plans to triple the size of its fleet there in the next five years.

Bell Helicopter Textron Inc, a leading United States-based aviation company, has 20 percent of the country's market share of the civil turbine market with 110 helicopters.

European giant Airbus SE holds top spot with 36 percent.

Other key players in the sector are Leonardo SpA, Russian Helicopters JSC and Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation.

"This market is expected to grow by 20 percent every year," said Patrick Moulay, executive vice-president for global sales and marketing at Bell.

"For example, there are only about 30 helicopters dedicated to emergency medical services in China, whereas the number is 1,200 in the United States," he added.

Overall, there are 555 general aviation helicopters in operation in China compared to 6,590 in the US, according to data released by Bell.

But the country's fleet is projected to double in the next five years.

"We expect a significant demand for helicopters in China," Moulay said. "This will be fueled by growth in the fields of emergency medical services, search and rescue, law enforcement, firefighting and tourism."

Last week, Bell signed a multimillion-dollar deal with Shaanxi Helicopter Co Ltd to sell 100 Bell 407 GXPs helicopters, without revealing detailed financial figures.

It is the largest helicopter order that Bell has received from a Chinese company, with delivery dates penciled in within the next five years.

The aircraft will be mainly used for emergency medical services and law enforcement duties.

"We are very pleased to sign this purchase agreement with Bell," Yuan Xiaoning, president of Shaanxi Energy Group, the parent company of Shaanxi Helicopter, told Bell's official website.

"The 407GXP meets the Chinese market's demand for a single light helicopter. It has exceptional performance and has been widely used in a broad range of segments, including emergency medical services, tourism and firefighting, among others," he added.

Last year, Airbus reported that China had become its biggest civilian helicopter market in terms of annual orders.

To cope with demand, the European conglomerate has decided to roll out its first helicopter assembly line in Qingdao, Shandong province.

The plant will cost about 10 million euros ($11.4 million) and should be completed by next year.

"We are confident that this project will fulfill the requirements of local customers, while supporting the development of crucial helicopter services," Guillaume Faury, chief executive officer of Airbus Helicopters SAS, told China Daily.

"It will be jointly operated by Airbus Helicopters and Qingdao United General Aviation Company," he added.

By 2020, China plans to build more than 500 airports and more than 5,000 general aviation aircraft will be in operation. The industry is projected to be worth more than 1 trillion yuan ($1.4 billion) by then, according to the Civil Aviation Administration of China.

Still, China faces a shortage of helicopter pilots and this has had a negative effect on growth.

To solve the problem, Bell plans to cooperate with Chinese industrial partners and help ease training pressures, in addition to providing services for aircraft maintenance.
Cooks cut US beef during a promotional event in Beijing over the weekend. [Photo/Agencies]

The first batch of US beef that re-entered the China market after a 13-year ban has been popular, despite its costly price. The imported US beef, including prime sirloin, filet and rib eye steak, was sold at supermarkets and on e-commerce platforms.

Sam's Club China, a high-end retailer of Wal-Mart Inc, became the first offline retailer to sell fresh US beef. Sam's Club China started to sell US beef at its stores in Beijing on June 27, and it has since run out of stock.

Airlifted to China from ranches in Nebraska, the grain-fed beef was vacuum packed and shipped by cold chain transportation during the whole journey.

Sam's Club China said the second batch of US beef will arrive in China after some time.

In July and August, Sam's Club will start selling US beef at its outlets nationwide, and Wal-Mart Inc did not disclose any specific plans to sell US beef at its supermarkets in China yet.

Chinese online shopping website Tmall.com, which is backed by Alibaba Group Holdings Ltd, has also started to sell US beef. It said 400 grams of fresh sirloin steak sells for 208 yuan ($30.6) on Tmall.com, and 300 grams of filet steak has a price tag of 228 yuan.

In the United States, every hundredweight (45.4 kilograms) of beef is sold for $116 to $126, meaning every kilogram of beef is sold at 17 yuan to 19 yuan, according to a forecast of the US Department of Agriculture.

Since June 20, Chinese authorities started to lift a 13-year ban and allow eligible US beef to be imported into China, according to the statement of the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine of China.

China is currently the fastest-growing market for beef consumption globally, and the imported beef mainly comes from Australia, Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay. China's domestic beef market has a 10 percent demand gap that needs to be fulfilled by imported suppliers.

Michael Finucan, general manager for international markets at Meat and Livestock Australia, said: "Australia competes in many global beef markets with the US. We believe our many years of trading in China have built strong relationships with the industry, and we will be able to continue to have a strong business here."

"Australia is focused on working with our customers to meet their specification requirements. Australia is able to supply a wide range of products that suit many sectors in the market from high-end restaurants and supermarkets to families."
Workers load thermal coal at a storage base in Jiujiang, Jiangxi province. [Photo/Xinhua]

Rio Tinto has tightened ties with China after selling its Australian coal assets to State-backed Yankuang Group for $2.69 billion.

Industry insiders stressed that last week's announcement goes beyond this deal, and illustrates the relationship between one of the leading multinational mining groups and the world's second biggest economy.

"Instead of a simple deal between two companies in the coal sector, it shows Rio Tinto is hoping to expand its Chinese iron ore market," said Mi Pengqi, an analyst at JLC Network Technology Co Ltd, a commodity information provider based in Beijing.

"That makes sense as China is one of the largest iron and steel consumers in the world," he added.

The Australian acquisition certainly created a buzz in the coal sector.

Yancoal Australia Ltd, which is part of Yankuang Group, will now take over Rio Tinto's coal mining operations in New South Wales.

"This is the transformative deal for Yancoal as we become the largest pure-play coal producer in Australia and a positive sign for continued investment into the local resources sector," Reinhold Schmidt, chief executive at Yancoal Australia, told the Financial Times.

But the decision by Rio Tinto will create more than a few ripples.

China is the Anglo-Australian group's fastest growing market and the fourth largest in the world.

As one of four mining giants and the second-largest iron ore supplier in the world, Rio Tinto produces a quarter of the iron ore globally.

"Rio is very close to China and they probably don't want to risk that relationship," Hunter Hillcoat, an analyst at Investec Plc in London, told Bloomberg.

Since the commodity downturn of 2014, major mining companies have been cutting spending and reducing capital debt.

In a move to slim down, Rio Tinto has decided to spin off its non-core assets to boost cash flow. "Iron ore, instead of coal, is Rio's main business," Mi said.

"It is in that sector that the company has a leading position and pricing power," he added.

The deal will also increase the pricing power for Chinese coal companies in the Asia-Pacific market, according to Yin Mingde, deputy general manager of Yankuang Group.

Yin pointed out that the acquisition would take Yancoal's coal reserves to 5.71 billion metric tons with annual production running at 42.79 million tons.

"The figures mean that the company will become one of Australia's biggest 'pure-play producers' of the commodity, with coal reserves and production operations in Australia just behind Glencore and Rio Tinto," Yin said. "With the expansion of production capacity, Yancoal would become an important Australian coal exporter to Japan and South Korea.

"It is expected to participate in the negotiation on steam coal between Japan and Australia," he added. "This will enhance the pricing power of Chinese coal companies."

The acquisition of Rio Tinto's two open cast mines in the Hunter Valley region, which is more than two hours north of Sydney, and railway and port assets, will boost Yancoal's presence.

For the past three years, the company has turned a profit even during the downturn of 2015 when coal prices crashed.

The deal is an important attempt to promote and implement the company's international investment strategy, and to strengthen its business overseas, according to a company statement.

"The transaction is expected to be officially complete in the third quarter of this year and it will increase Yancoal's competition ability greatly, even in Chinese coal market," Mi said.
HOUSTON  The amount of solar energy installed on the world's power grids jumped 50 percent year over year in 2016, local media quoted an International Energy Agency report on Monday.

According to the report, between 70 and 75 gigawatts worth of solar panels came online, with close to half of those installations coming from China, where solar capacity more than doubled last year.

IEA said renewables represented 24 percent of total electricity output, and it forecast the renewable power will grow by 36 percent by 2021, making it the fastest-growing source of electricity generation globally.
By Cai Xiao in Beijing and Yang Jun in Guiyang | China Daily | Updated: 2017-07-04 11:14

China's central bank said it is working together with local governments to develop five new green finance pilot zones, an initiative that will help fund the country's fight against pollutionwhich some analysts have estimated will cost over 3 trillion yuan ($440 billion) annually in investment.

The central bank said a State Council executive meeting earlier in the month approved a plan for setting up the five green finance pilot zones in Zhejiang, Guangdong, Guizhou and Jiangxi provinces, as well as in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region. The zones are designated regions where financial institutions will be given incentives to issue loans to and fund environmentally-friendly industry.

People's Bank of China Vice-Governor Chen Yulu said they were considering two new methods to encourage financial institutions to participate in the construction of the new pilot zones.

"We will regard green credit assets with qualified ratings as collateral, a move to encourage banks to issue green loans," Chen said.

"The other method is to put financial institutions' green credit performance evaluations into the Macro Prudential Assessment system, which is also an important stimulus for financial institutions."

Chen added that the PBOC will support and encourage green finance products and service innovation in the pilot zones. Short-term green investment projects can rely on credit, and medium and long-term ones with steady cash flow can consider issuing bonds, he said.

The bank will also step up the pace of perfecting a green finance mechanism, including setting up standards for green credit and green bonds as well as building a green credit system.

Chen said the pilot zones have been selected in eastern, central and western areas that are at different stages of economic and social development.

"The cities of Huzhou and Quzhou in Zhejiang province, for example, will focus on industrial transformation," said Chen.

"Guizhou province will take advantage of its green resources to develop green finance in key areas of modern agriculture, clean energy and big data," the vice-governor added.

Guizhou is active in the process and its government put forward a plan for developing green finance and promoting green resource capitalization at the start of 2016.

In April last year, Gui'an New District in Guizhou province applied tor be a green finance pilot area. In November, the Guizhou government released a guideline to support financial institutions developing their green finance business and encouraging green companies to go public.

By the end of last year, Guizhou province had supported 836 energy conservation and environmental protection projects and the loan balance totaled 140.1 billion yuan ($20.6 billion). Among them, the Guiyang branch of the Industrial Bank issued green loans totaling 12 billion yuan.

Li Yao, director of Guizhou government's finance office, said they will largely promote green companies going public, issuing green bonds and developing green industry funds.

Lu Zhengwei, chief economist of the Industrial Bank Co Ltd, said each of the five regions has its own conditions while building a green finance system. Local governments can work with financial institutions to explore innovative mechanisms in the pilot zones.

"China's green finance will proceed more easily with experience in innovation learned in pilot zones," he said.
When I spent 4,000 yuan ($588) on a 55-inch smart TV during the Singles Day shopping spree last November, I regarded it as a really good deal, as I had saved about 1,000 yuan and also obtained an 80-month subscription to view additional content.

But, when I spent the same amount of money on a vacuum cleaner last month, I thought it was quite expensive.

Both are home appliances, so why do they give me such different feelings? I cannot help asking myself that question.

The superficial reason maybe lies in how the items are used. I started watching TV when I was a 2-year-old. We had a 12-inch black-and-white TV set, a local brand named Panda, in my parents' home in a small city in Central China's Henan province in 1981, and then upgraded to an 18-inch color TV in 1986, another local brand called Great Wall.

The Japanese cartoon series The Flower Angel and The Smart Little Monk Ikkyu-san and US animation Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck and the Czech cartoon Mole, which I watched on TV were an unforgettable part of my childhood memory.

But the older I got, the less time I was willing to spend watching TV. We don't even turn it on at all for weeks now. The big-screen LED TV in my living room is now more like a household ornament than a real appliance.

I got my first vacuum cleaner 12 years ago when I moved into my own home in Beijing after getting married.

Actually, I use the vacuum cleaner almost as often as the TV, once a week on the weekend.

Now, I seldom turn on the TV, partly because I need more time to take care of my son and try to protect him from being got addiction of watching any electronic devices, including TV.

Whenever I want to follow any Chinese or foreign soap opera, I always turn to my iPhone. Lying down anywhere, be it a sofa, cushion or bed, holding the phone is an enjoyable experience.

Before I got this new vacuum cleaner, I really hated the noise, unpleasant smell and cord trouble my old vacuum gave me.

The new one is a revolutionary product, cord-free, hassle-free, low noise, with hepa air purifier and multiple cleaning heads. It has greatly raised my willingness to use it since it's more like a cleaning toy rather than a household appliance.

The truth is, now in China, people are willing to pay what can bring them better experience, be it a product-generated experience, service or environment.

China is entering a consumption-driven growth stage, and along with people's basic need for housing, food, clothes and transportation, they have an increasingly growing appetite for quality products and better services.

Consumption accounts for a growing share of China's GDP in the past years. Its contribution to GDP has risen from 45.7 percent in 2008 to 66.4 percent in 2015.

For the January-March period, Chinese consumers accounted for 77.2 percent of its economy, higher than the same period last year, which stood at 64.6 percent, according to the latest report by The Boston Consulting Group.

By 2021, Chinese consumers are poised to add $1.8 trillion to the economy, which is equivalent to the current consumption size of Germany, cited the report, released in late June.

Chinese tourists have been a phenomenon in recent years. The older generation are known for their extravagance for snapping up luxury bags in Europe and the United States, but frugal when it comes to accommodation and food.

However, the rising middle-class and millennials have greater willingness to book star-rated hotels and taste local food at fine restaurants.

Back in 1981, when each of my parents' monthly pay was no more than 50 yuan, the 399-yuan 12-inch Panda TV cost one-third of the family's annual income.

Now in my daily life, nothing among daily necessities or home appliances could cost me a single month's pay. The big spending is for housing, a car, education and travel.

It seems my only big annual spending is travel, being a contributor to the 122 million outbound trips made by Chinese people last year.

Contact the writer at liuweifeng@chinadaily.com.cn
Staff from JD.com Inc attach a package to a drone in Xi'an, capital of Shaanxi province. [Photo/Xinhua]

Leading delivery company SF Holding Ltd said it has obtained a landmark license from the military authorities to use drones to deliver commercial packages and was conducting the country's first drone pilot demonstration zone.

The airspace application made by SF, and the government of Nankang district in the city of Ganzhou, was approved by the Eastern Theater Command, one of the five national military commands.

The flying range covers five counties in Nankang district and Ganzhou city in Jiangxi province. The first pilot flight, in the first pilot demonstration zone, was conducted last Thursday.

SF said it has launched several types of drones for delivery services, with a maximum load capacity of 25 kilograms and flying distance of 100 kilometers.

SF has invested in a smart distribution logistics and drone delivery system, and has taken out 151 patents. It established a specialized drone R&D and business operations system.

Zhao Xiaomin, a logistics market consultant in Shanghai, said SF will expand its drone delivery services to third and fourth-tier cities, and some undeveloped and remote regions, to build an air transportation network.

JD.com Inc, China's second-biggest e-commerce player, has been developing drone deliveries to meet the rising retail demand in China's rural areas.

Last year, JD successfully used drones to deliver online purchases to rural shoppers in Jiangsu province, kicking off the e-commerce giant's use of unmanned aircraft for last-mile distribution.

In November, it finished its first drone delivery in Xi'an, the capital of Shaanxi province. On June 18 it began using drones to regularly deliver packages in Xi'an. The company said that 40 delivery drone routes have been designed to deliver online purchases to shoppers in the area.

The company has also built a drone R&D center in the citywhich is focusing on operating middle and large-sized drones with loads of 200 kg to two metric tonsin order to cut storage costs.

JD also said it will build 150 operation sites for a drone delivery in Sichuan. Liu Qiangdong, its CEO, said the operation sites are expected to open in three years and drone deliveries could help reduce the freight costs by 70 percent.

JD said it strictly complied with the laws and regulations of the country, and each of the delivery tasks was carried out after obtaining authorization from the air traffic control department, to ensure the safety of each flight.

Pan Xuefei, a senior analyst at market research firm IDC, said the application of drones in delivery services are just at an initial stage.

"We still need time to see large-scale application," Pan said, adding that drones were mainly used to improve delivery efficiency in remote mountainous areas and sparsely populated areas.

Chai Hua contributed to this story.
In phone call, he says 'some negative factors' need attention

China hopes the United States will appropriately address issues regarding Taiwan by honoring the one-China policy and the three key bilateral joint statements made to date, President Xi Jinping told US President Donald Trump in a telephone conversation on Monday.

The conversation came at a time when two-way ties have been strained by Washington's recently unveiled plan to sell arms to Taiwan and the incursion of a warship into Chinese territorial waters off the Xisha Islands in the South China Sea.

Observers warned that if Washington fails to do damage control, ties between the countries may fray, as an arms deal breaches US pledges in past official statements and betrays the one-China policy.

Xi said bilateral ties have been bolstered in important ways since his meeting with Trump at the Mar-a-Lago resort in the US in April, but added that ties are also "impacted by some negative factors".

The two largest world economies should "focus on cooperation and manage and control their differences", Xi said.

Trump said the relationship has broad prospects, with both countries having a wide spectrum of common interests. The US government continues to uphold the one-China policy, and there has been no change in that position, he said.

Xi said China attaches great importance to Trump's reaffirmation of US adherence to the policy.

The two leaders agreed to meet on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Hamburg, Germany, this week and will continue to exchange views on issues of common concern, the Foreign Ministry said in a release.

Ruan Zongze, vice-president of the China Institute of International Studies, said the US arms sales to Taiwan "obviously breach US commitments" in the three key statements, while interfering with China's domestic affairs and sending misleading signals to those who seek Taiwan independence.

"Although Washington has many times reaffirmed that it subscribes to the one-China policy, it should take actions that honor its words, rather than eating its words," Ruan said.

Yin Zhuo, director of the Expert Consultation Committee of the People's Liberation Army Navy, said that despite the negative factors clouding overall ties, the two militaries have institutionalized dialogue mechanisms and frequent exchanges of officers to help eliminate doubts and mistrust.

When referring to the challenges facing the global economy, Xi said it is necessary for China and the US to work with other G20 member economies to strengthen the group's role and reinforce concerted efforts.
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US warship sailed into waters off Xisha Islands without permission

China strongly protested the trespassing of a United States warship into China's territorial waters off the Xisha Islands, dispatching battleships and fighter jets to warn off the vessel.

"China will continue to take all necessary means to defend national sovereignty and security," Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said after the USS Stethem, a US guided-missile destroyer, sailed within 12 nautical miles of Zhongjian Island in the waters off the Xisha Islands without notifying China in advance.

"China strongly urges the US to immediately stop such provocative operations that violate China's sovereignty and threaten China's security," Lu said in a statement released on Sunday night.

This is the second time that US naval ships have carried out such operations since US President Donald Trump took office. The first was in May, when a US warship entered the waters off Meiji Reef of the Nansha Islands.

According to Lu, the US behavior, under the pretext of "freedom of navigation" and without China's approval, violated Chinese law and international law, and also put in jeopardy the facilities and personnel on the Chinese islands.

"It is a serious political and military provocation. China is strongly dissatisfied with it and opposed to it," he added.

The Ministry of National Defense confirmed on Monday that the Chinese Navy dispatched the guided-missile destroyer CNS Luoyang, guided-missile frigate CNS Suqian, minesweeper CNS Taishan and two J-11B fighter jets to warn and drive away the US vessel.

"This is a serious violation of law, and China strongly opposes such actions," ministry spokesman Wu Qian said.

The Chinese government announced the baseline for its territorial waters around the Xisha Islands in 1996, yet the US continues to send warships to trespass and commit acts of provocation in Chinese territorial waters, Wu said.

"These actions have seriously damaged mutual strategic trust, seriously undermined the political climate for China-US military relations, seriously endangered the lives of soldiers on the front line, and seriously sabotaged regional peace and security," he said.

The Chinese military will increase various defense capabilities, as well as the number of sea and air patrols in the region, based on the level of threat that the nation faces, Wu said.

Contact the writers at mojingxi@chinadaily.com.cn
A Foreign Ministry official described on Monday the trespassing by Indian troops across the China-India border at the Sikkim section as "essentially different" to previous standoffs with Chinese border troops, as this time they crossed a clearly demarcated borderline between the two countries.

This incident is "very severe" as it goes against a "legally binding" boundary treaty, as well as the Charter of the United Nations and the basic principles of international law, ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said.

Photos taken on June 18, which the ministry has published on its website, show Indian troops crossing the demarcated Sikkim section into the Chinese territory of Doklam.

Geng said earlier that the Indian troops obstructed Chinese border troops' normal activities in the area, and China had "taken proportionate measures in response".

The Sikkim section of the China-India boundary has been defined by the Convention Between Great Britain and China Relating to Sikkim and Tibet, which was signed in 1890, Geng reiterated on Monday.

Since the establishment of the People's Republic of China and the independence of India, governments of both countries have recognized the validity of the treaty, and have repeatedly confirmed it in a series of official documents and meetings, Geng said.

China has lodged protest over the incursion to India many times, asking it to observe the treaty, respect China's territorial sovereignty and move its troops back onto its side of the boundary, the spokesman said.

wangqingyun@chinadaily.com.cn
More court presidents and chief judges are picking up their gavels again in a move to improve the quality of case hearings, China's top court said on Monday.

In the past, their roles have largely focused on court management or administrative affairs, attending meetings or conducting research, "but they have been asked to go back to the courtrooms to hear cases as part of judicial reform", said Xu Jiaxin, director of the Political Department at the Supreme People's Court.

Their return, initiated by a reform put forward by the central leadership in 2013, requires senior judges to play a bigger role in improving efficiency and alleviating the pressure brought on by the rapidly increasing number of disputes, he said.

Courts in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangdong province have moved ahead of other regions since the reform was launched. Last year, for example, court presidents and chief judges in the capital handled 138,000 cases, up 52 percent year-on-year, according to the top court.

To expand the reform, the highest judicial chamber issued a guideline in April, clarifying how many cases a president or chief judge should hear annually, and outlining some of the disputes they should handle.

For instance, the number of cases handled by a president in an intermediate people's court should reach 5 percent of the average amount handled by other judges in the court, while senior judges with administrative titles should first hear cases that are complicated, unique or that may stir up the public, it said.

"We hope more young judges can learn from presidents and chief judges in case hearings, upholding justice by improving the quality of trials," Xu added.

Chen Qi, president of Beijing Miyun District People's Court, has been regularly hearing cases in court.

"I not only read judicial documents and make verdicts. I attend all legal procedures of a case as I did before," she said, adding that what she does is also disclosed in the court and supervised by other judges.

But Xu said the reform does not mean presidents and chief judges can ignore administrative affairs. "It's to push them to balance their work," he added.

In addition, the top court is also ready to establish commissions at provincial level to supervise whether judges have made mistakes in applying laws or legal procedures, in a bid to improve the quality of case hearings.

caoyin@chinadaily.com.cn
By Hou Liqiang in Beijing and Feng Zhiwei in Changsha | China Daily | Updated: 2017-07-04 07:26

An armed police soldier carries a boy to safety in a flooded area in Changsha, Central China's Hunan province, on July 3. [Photo/VCG]

Recent downpours have killed 33 people, with 15 others still missing

Flooding in southern China should ease off on Tuesday as the rainfall that has troubled the region for more than 10 days subsides.

China's national weather observatory issued a yellow alert, the second-lowest in a four-tier weather warning system, on Monday for the seventh consecutive day of high temperatures in the northern part of the country. But it lifted a blue alert, the lowest in the warning system, which was issued late on Sunday for rain in the south.

The downpour on Sunday raised water levels in the Liujiang River and four of its tributaries in the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region above the warning level on Monday. The continued rainfall also resulted in an increase in water levels by about 50 centimeters in Dongting and Poyang lakes and three sections along the Yangtze River, according to the State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters.

Hunan has been the worst hit province along the Yangtze. Water levels at the Changsha monitoring station in the Xiangjiang River, a major Yangtze tributary, reached a record-high of 39.51 meters early on Monday, higher than the previous record of 39.18 m recorded during a massive flood in 1998.

About 326,900 people have been involved in flood control work in Hunan, Hubei, Jiangxi and Anhui provinces, with more than 80 percent of those having been dispatched in Hunan, the headquarters said.

According to the Ministry of Civil Affairs, recent downpours had killed 33 people in eight provincial-level regions as of Tuesday morning. Fifteen people are still missing and the total number of people affected has risen to 9.56 million, the ministry said.

The Ministry of Finance on Monday released 1.9 billion yuan ($280 million) in emergency fund for flood relief in 20 provinces and autonomous regions.

Floods have inundated houses, uprooted trees, and damaged cars and roads in Hunan's capital, Changsha, while intermittent rain is forecast to continue in the city until Wednesday.

The public volunteered to help fill sandbags as a flood prevention measure.

The Three Gorges Dam has helped control flooding. Its flow was 27,000 cubic meters per second before Saturday, but has now been reduced to 8,000 cu m/s, according to the Yangtze River Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters.

The reduction stopped 3 billion cum of water and lowered water levels by up to 1.5 meters, the headquarters said.

"We hope the reduction of outflow will give soldiers and residents enough time to stack up sandbags to battle the flooding or evacuate," said Wu Zhaohui, an official with the water resources bureau in neighboring Hubei.

The National Meteorological Center said new downpours will occur from Wednesday to Saturday, as a rain band moves to the Sichuan Basin in Southwest China.

The rainfall will affect 12 provincial regions, and the authorities sent a notice on Monday to these regions, asking them to take precautionary measures, according to the State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters.

Contact the writers at houliqiang@chinadaily.com.cn
Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor (second right), the chief executive of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, and her husband greet the public before a flag-raising ceremony to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the establishment of the HKSAR on Saturday.[Photo/VCG]

Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor said on Monday she would unveil detailed plans to raise recurrent education spending during a Legislative Council meeting on Wednesday. She called for support for the plan from lawmakers, saying she wants to address such issues in the next couple of months.

During her election campaign, Lam said education would be one of the most pressing issues she would have to tackle, if elected.

"I am the one most responsible for leading Hong Kong to a glorious future in the next five years. It is a long-term and an arduous task," Lam told reporters on Monday, her first day in office.

She reiterated her election promise to increase recurrent spending on education by HK$5 billion ($640.3 million) annually. Lam said she would table a proposal for the Executive Council to examine on Tuesday, adding that after ExCo approval, she would discuss details of the plan at Wednesday's LegCo meeting.

The ExCo, comprising principal ministers and 16 nonofficial members, assists the chief executive in policymaking. Members function on the principles of confidentiality and collective responsibility.

She emphasized that the plan would not be to spend the HK$5 billion at once.

The plan prioritizes areas needing urgent support, such as programs for the coming semester, which starts in September. Prioritized items had received broad support in discussions with different political parties and education stakeholders in the past three months.

"I am cautiously optimistic that we should be able to get this through before the summer recess at the LegCo. So when it comes to the 2017-18 school year, new resources will be injected into the education system," Lam said.

The LegCo summer recess starts in late July and lasts three months.

Lawmaker Starry Lee Wai-king said it was "highly possible" that the plan would be approved before the break.

Lee is chairwoman of the city's biggest political party in terms of LegCo seats - the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong. She has also suggested Lam first deal with issues Hong Kong people care about the most - such as housing, health and economic development - to win people's trust.

Lam vowed to review the current Basic Competence Assessment for third grade pupils in a bid to return the tests (criticized for being "too stressful" for pupils) back to their original purpose - to assess their academic competence without requiring specific drills for pupils.

The BCA is the revamped version of the Territory-wide System Assessment, which was launched in 2004. The TSA influences allocation of education resources. The test drew controversy from parents as it encouraged excessive exercises and extra tutoring.

Meanwhile, Lam also delivered another election promise on mending relations between the government and legislature. She said she would be "very willing" to arrange more meetings with lawmakers to explain future government policies during her five-year term.

willa@chinadailyhk.com
A J-15 fighter jet is on a training session aboard aircraft carrier Liaoning. [Photo by Li Tang/For China Daily]

China's aircraft carrier battle group carried out a full drill in first-degree combat readiness on Saturday, the highest level of a four-tier defense readiness protocol, the Defense Ministry said on Monday.

The drill was to strengthen coordination among the fleet's vessels and planes, and improve the skills of the crew and pilots in different marine regions under real combat situations, said Gao Zhaorui, the fleet's chief of staff.

The fleet includes the CNS Liaoning, China's first aircraft carrier; guided-missile destroyers CNS Jinan and CNS Yinchuan; and guided-missile frigate CNS Yantai. The group set out from Qingdao, Shandong province, on June 25 for routine trans-regional exercises.

On Saturday afternoon, hundreds of servicemen and women went into action. At the same time, several groups of armed J-15 carrier-borne fighter jets took off into the sky.

After the jets completed their objectives and returned to the carrier, personnel flocked to the planes to begin maintenance and refueling.

Xu Ying, a senior pilot, said it was his first time participating in a trans-regional drill. "Taking off in challenging sea and weather conditions really puts all the pilot's abilities to the test," he was quoted as saying in a ministry news release.

"After the drill, we pilots feel our piloting skills, mental fortitude and combat capabilities have improved. These skills will help us complete more complicated missions in the future."

Completing the full flight routine, from preparation to landing, has improved the flight crew's overall skills and efficiency, said Xu Yinghong, the captain of the flight crew. They also found new ways to optimize the procedure to make it go more smoothly.

The commander of fleet, who was not named in the ministry news release, said the objectives of the drill were divided into three major parts - vessel maneuvering, flight and equipment testing.

Every vessel also had to follow the central order of the fleet command, and complete various complicated tasks, such as changing formation and target surveillance, as a cohesive group, he said.

The fleet will visit Hong Kong from Friday to Tuesday to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the People's Liberation Army Hong Kong Garrison, the garrison said in a statement.

The garrison assumed defense duties of the city on July 1, 1997, when its sovereignty was returned to China from the United Kingdom. It currently has about 6,000 personnel and is commanded by Lieutenant General Tan Benhong.

Sections of the carrier and warships will be open to the public for the first time throughout the weekend. Hong Kong residents will also have a chance to interact with officers and sailors from the fleet, the statement said.

The CNS Liaoning is a refitted Soviet-era vessel that was commissioned by the PLA Navy in 2012. China also launched its first domestically built aircraft carrier in April.

zhangzhihao@chinadaily.com.cn
My family has been running a leather goods business for nearly 40 years, providing materials for a number of handbag manufacturers across the world. My parents started Mingzhuan Leather Co in Kaohsiung (Taiwan) in 1978, a year before I was born.

The company thrived amid the rapid growth of Taiwan's leather industry in the 1980s, when the island had more than 100 leather materials producers, and my parents' company was ranked among the top 10.

However, in recent years, the industry has contracted rapidly in Taiwan. To date, only about 10 leather producers remain on the island.

I took over my parents' business 10 years ago. In addition to continuing my family's traditional leather producing business, I began to look for more opportunities.

A major setback in a deal with a world-famous handbag brand a few years ago prompted me to launch my own brand.

I provided top-quality leather materials for that company, but it became increasingly demanding in terms of price and delivery. One of the factors was that the price of leather materials from the Chinese mainland, Thailand and Vietnam is lower than in Taiwan. I decided to upgrade my business.

I invented my own brand by laminating natural silk onto the surface of the leather, which is not only artistic but also environment-friendly. I launched the brand, called "Sweetburden", three years ago in Kaohsiung.

Later, I discovered that the demand for handbags on the mainland is huge. Among the 12 items I sold to a store in Paris, eight were bought by customers from the mainland.

In the past year, I have opened a workshop and four stores in the mainland. Their success confirmed my market expectations, and I have full confidence that new stores we plan to open in mainland cities will enjoy the same success.

I now live in Xiamen, Fujian province, where my workshop is located. There were good reasons for developing my business in the city, especially the preferential policies in the city for young entrepreneurs are generous.

In addition, the people in Xiamen speak the same dialect as people in Taiwan and the similar lifestyle makes me feel at home.

Ken Huang spoke with Zhang Yi.
New farming techniques to be adopted to safeguard remaining land, improve local ecology and yields

For Fan Yuesheng, using more fertilizer does not mean greater yields from his 10 hectares of farmland, where nutrient-rich black soil has been increasingly eroded as the 55-year-old in suburban Dandong, Liaoning province, struggles to ensure a livelihood.

Like many other rural areas, young people in Fan's hometown have fled to big cities looking for jobs and the neighbors left are almost all elderly. Farming is Fan's main area of expertise.

Facing a water shortage, Fan had to dig a well to pump out underground water, which has made it even more difficult to protect the preciously fertile black soil, he said. Water supplies are also being depleted.

Fan is not alone in his dilemma. The situation has challenged millions of farmers in Northeast China, according to the Guideline on Protecting Black Soil in Northeast China (2017-30), which was jointly released recently by the Ministry of Agriculture and five other ministries.

The new document sets to safeguard the remaining land with black soil while improving the local ecology and ensuring yields. By 2030, Northeast China's 16.67 million hectares of black soil will be better protected to improve fertility, ecology and farming facilities to yield greater production, the guideline said. The quality of black soil will be significantly improved while ecological settings in the region have been targeted to improve.

When the guideline is carried out, some black-soil farmland will be turned into forests, grasslands and wetlands. New farming techniques, including water conservancy projects, will be introduced to reduce consumption and keep such land even more fertile. New models of production, such as rotation between grain and bean, will also be introduced to lessen the stress on the land.

Meanwhile, large farms will be encouraged to use tractors to reduce cost and prolong fallow farmland.

The region, including Liaoning, Jilin and Heilongjiang provinces and the eastern part of the Inner Mongolia autonomous region, produces about one quarter of China's grain yields each year. According to data from the second national survey on land in 2009, the region's black soil covers 18.53 million hectares.

Over the past few decades, black soil, which has existed for thousands of years in Northeast China, has eroded partly due to excessive reclamation, and threatens biological diversity and sustainable food production, the guideline said.

The document said the previously stable micro-ecological systems had been breached by long-term farming and overuse of fertilizers and pesticides. Meanwhile, the expansion of rice-growing in the region has drained much of the underground water.

On top of this, floods and wind have added to the rate of erosion. Over the past 60 years, organic matter dropped by more than 30 percent on average, actually down by 50 percent in some places. Fan believed the guideline will be a turning point and give him new hope if properly implemented.

"A consensus has been reached that land with black soil is now less productive, and without action, it could face even greater erosion," said Wang Daowen, a researcher at the Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology at the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Wang said the structure of farming in Northeast China should be adjusted to adapt to local conditions by controlling crops that consume too much water, such as rice and corn. In that way, black soil will retain its moisture and withstand wind, he said.

Meanwhile, the region should also introduce other high-yield crops, which consume less water, fertilizers and pesticides, to reduce cost and improve the quality of agricultural goods in addition to reducing chemical contamination in black soil, the researcher added.

Wang also suggested establishing an online platform for black-soil protection where farmers can share information on new agricultural technologies and more efficiently buy production materials and sell goods. The platform can help avoid repetition and waste during production and logistics, which will also be beneficial to protecting black soil, he said.

huyongqi@chinadaily.com.cn
The order of air superiority and air operations is undergoing changes, as more emphasis will be placed on information agility instead of fighter jets and pilots with the help of big data and AI, opening an opportunity for China to overtake the West, said a senior military expert at a seminar on Monday.

Addressing a seminar on air operations, Yang Wei, deputy director of the Scientific and Technological Commission at the Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC), noted that air superiority has been the top priority in the history of war and will remain at the top in the future.

The seminar is a sideline forum of the third China Military and Civilian Integration Expo held by the Chinese Institute of Command and Control. The expo will last from July 3 to 5.

Recalling history, Yang noted that air operations have become more systematic and coordinated and less reliant on guns or missiles.

Speed and agility are no longer most important. The key to winning air operations, electromagnetic operations, or cyber operations is information agility, the priority and mobility of information, said Yang, who is also the chief designer of FC-1 fighter jet.

He referred to the new era as OODA 2.0, an era when machine-based information-gathering and analysis and decision-making systems will make the famous military theory of the OODA (observe-orient-decide-act) loop more automatic and flexible.

Fu Shengjie, a chief engineer at Chinas Air Force Equipment Academy, agreed that big data could turn the tables in decision-making and strategic planning.

Bai Xiaodong, a deputy chief designer at the China Airborne Missile Academy under AVIC, added that beyond-visual-range battles are heavily reliant on situation awareness, which can be effectively strengthened based on more information.

As for OODA 3.0, Yang believes that it is being led by the technology of AI: This is where China can overtake others, because we are all at the same starting line.

A fighter pilot didn't win by faster reflexes; he won because his reflexes were connected to a brain that thought faster than the opponent, said Yang, citing the noted quotation from the founder of OODA loop, John Boyd.

More Chinese companies are looking to AI-tech research and development. The nation is also expected to release an AI development plan up to 2030, which will include several major projects, according to Wan Gang, minister of Science and Technology of China.
Graduates from normal universities in Hunan province interact with their potential employers at a job fair in Hengyang in March. [Peng Bin/For China Daily]

A series of incentives have been rolled out in second-tier cities to woo college graduates pushed out of first-tier cities by skyrocketing housing prices and strict residency permits.

Chengdu in Southwest China's Sichuan province is offering graduates Hukou, or residency permits, even before they get job. The graduates can get local Hukou by simply submitting their graduate certificate.

The government in Changsha, Central China's Hunan province, has also introduced a no-threshold residency permits policy targeting university graduates.

Graduates who get Hukou in Changsha also get subsidies in rent or buying houses in the city.

This year saw a record of 7.5 million students graduated from China's universities and colleges.

But China's first-tier cities, mainly Beijing and Shanghai, have tightened their control over residency permit policy, fearing an excessive influx of students from other areas would stress out local resources.

Beijing has been capping its population as it pushes forward the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei regional integration program.

The capital has been moving out labor-intensive and polluting industries such as real-estate construction, steel, coal and mechanics.

Soaring housing prices are also driving people out of the country's first-tier cities

The outflow of graduates has been more voluntary in recent years, as students escape high-cost, high-pressure lifestyle in mega cities.

Meanwhile, universities and governments of non-first-tier cities are also advising and assisting students to seek jobs in their cities.

According to a report by 21st Century Business Herald, over 150,000 local graduates chose to stay in Wuhan, Cental China's Hubei province, for work in 2016. In contrast, only 100,000 made the same decision in 2013.

However, it's still too early to say if the incentive policies would be able to retain graduates in the second-tier cities.

Especially as many graduates find it harder to land a proper job in finance, internet and communications in second-tier cities.

Wang Fang, who came to Wuhan from Beijing to work at an internet company, told 21st Century Business Herald that he is considering going back to Beijing.

"Many of the employees of the company, including me, did not get our salaries for months. Compared to first-tier cities, there are not many high quality enterprises in second-tier cities," he said.
SUVA, Fiji - About 300 leaders and experts from Pacific island countries gathered in Suva on Monday to discuss enhancing cooperation in the fight against climate change.

The event, organized by Climate Action Pacific Partnership, was aiming at promoting the exchange of ideas, innovations and solutions, Fiji Broadcasting Corp said on its website.

The agenda featured interactive sessions with contributions from Pacific leaders, civil society and the private sector.

Inia Seruiratu, Fiji's climate champion minister, said the meeting was key to establishing credible and sustainable greenhouse gas emissions reductions.

The government of Fiji will be the president of the 23rd Climate Change Conference to be held in Bonn, Germany.

Fiji's Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama has given high priority to the conference, aiming to continue the momentum for action since the Paris climate accord was signed in 2016.

The region is highly vulnerable to climate change. The London School of Economics estimated that across the Pacific islands, home to 10 million people, up to 1.7 million could be displaced due to climate change by 2050.

Fiji, like other Pacific island states, faces challenges in fully implementing government policies due to limited technical, human resource and financial capacities.

Home to more than 870,000 people in the central South Pacific Ocean, Fiji's 300 volcanic islands include low-lying atolls that are highly susceptible to cyclones and floods.

The country is no stranger to the devastation wrought by climate change. Sea flooding is usually associated with the passage of tropical cyclones close to the coast. Heavy swells, generated by deep depressions and/or intense high pressure systems some distance away from Fiji, have also caused flooding to low-lying coastal areas.

According to a World Bank report, climate threats to Fiji's society and economy include higher rates of disease as average temperatures rise. There are increasingly destructive storms as oceans get warmer and weather patterns become more severe, causing disruptions to agriculture.

On Fiji's main island of Viti Levu, these factors are expected to cause economic damage of up to $25 million per year, or roughly 4 percent of Fiji's gross domestic product.

Xinhua

(China Daily 07/04/2017 page11)
SINGAPORE - Singapore's prime minister addressed his escalating family feud in a speech in parliament on Monday, saying his siblings' accusations that he had misused government power were "entirely baseless" but he would not sue them.

The family dispute has been a rare political dustup in the city-state led by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and his father since its independence in 1965. Public accusations against Singaporean leaders are extremely rare, and both Lee and his father have won defamation lawsuits against their political opponents.

Singaporeans have latched onto the never-before-seen spectacle, standing in line to enter the parliament's public gallery on Monday.

Business executive Lee Hsien Yang and Doctor Lee Wei Ling, a famous neurosurgeon, have accused their brother of using the "organs of the state" against them to preserve a house belonging to their father, Singapore founder Lee Kuan Yew.

Lee Kuan Yew died in 2015. His seventh and final will indicated a family bungalow should be demolished once his daughter moves out.

Dr Lee and her brother have claimed that the prime minister secretly wanted the house preserved to "inherit the faith Singaporeans had in Lee Kuan Yew through the visible symbol of the house".

They alleged that their brother lobbied a committee and that his wife, Ho Ching, improperly obtained artifacts belonging to their late father.

"Their allegations are entirely baseless, but they have already damaged Singapore's reputation. Unrebutted, they can affect Singaporeans' confidence in the government," Lee Hsien Loong said.

Associated Press

(China Daily 07/04/2017 page11)
On China's diplomatic chessboard the significance of Germany and other European Union member states can be gauged from the frequent visits President Xi Jinping has paid to those countries. In fact, he is due to arrive in Berlin on Tuesday to pay another state visit to Germany, during which he will also attend this year's G20 summit in Hamburg.

China has always attached great importance to Germany.

This is Xi's second state visit to Germany after his previous one in March 2014. What's more, the Chinese president's visit this year follows just one month after Premier Li Keqiang's tour to Germany. And Li also paid a visit to Germany in 2014.
The exhibition, Hall of Mental Cultivation of the Palace Museum: Imperial Residence of Eight Emperors, featuring items ranging from paintings and other art pieces to furniture, runs through Oct 15 at Hong Kong Heritage Museum.[Photo by Parker Zheng/China Daily]

An exhibition of artifacts from the Forbidden City is now on in Hong Kong to mark the 20th anniversary of its return to China. Wang Kaihao reports.

A collection of precious items from the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) is currently on display in Hong Kong. The items have never left Beijing before, and have been made public only once at the Capital Museum last year.

The artifacts are from the Hall of Mental Cultivation in the Forbidden City, China's imperial palace from 1420 to 1911, now known as the Palace Museum.

The ongoing exhibition, called the Hall of Mental Cultivation of The Palace Museum: Imperial Residence of Eight Emperors, which began on June 29, is presented by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government and the Palace Museum.

It is one of the key events marking the 20th anniversary of Hong Kong's return to China.

When visitors enter the exhibition at the Hong Kong Heritage Museum, they see a space resembling the Hall of Mental Cultivation.
The documentary "Beijing Night" launched Monday in Berlin, and is set to be broadcast on five German TV stations in three days.

"Beijing Night" is a documentary TV program filmed by Beijing TV station, covering daily life, travel, fashion, history and film of Beijing.

The documentary is scheduled to be broadcast every Friday night for a whole year on Germany's center.tv, Rheinmain.tv, Salve.tv, CityVision.tv, and on TV Berlin for three days.

With a total of 52 episodes that last 30 minutes each, "Beijing Night" intends to show the German audience the real daily lives of Chinese people and both the ancient and modern sides of Beijing city.

Petra Sigmund, director of the China department of the German foreign ministry, said at the launching ceremony that "Beijing Night" would serve as a good opportunity for German people to learn more about China and Beijing.

Press counselor of Chinese Embassy to Germany Erdong Wang said that the launching of "Beijing Night" would bolster communication and understanding between Chinese and German peoples and advance the cooperation between the two countries.
IMNU holds symposium on Aborigine and Mongolian cultures 2017-07-04 14:44:12  Yuan Hui and Zhao Xiao Academics from China and Australia recently assembled at Inner Mongolia Normal University (IMNU) to investigate the indigenous culture of Australia's Aborigines and Chinese Mongolians.

Academics from China and Australia recently assembled at Inner Mongolia Normal University (IMNU) to investigate the indigenous culture of Australias Aborigines and the Mongolian ethnic group.

The 2nd International Symposium on Australian Indigenous and Chinese Mongolian Cultures took place in Hohhot on June 24. It aimed to gather university experts together to discuss the historical and cultural experience of ethnic minorities.

Attendees included Jennifer Mason, political councilor of the Australian Embassy; Greg McCarthy, BHP Billiton Chair of Australian Studies at Peking University and professor of political science at the University of Western Australia; Colin Mackerras, emeritus professor of Griffith University and the visiting professor of Beijing Foreign Studies University (BFSU) and Renmin University of China; and Bill Gammage, professor of the Humanities Research Center at Australian National University.

Experts from China included Li Jianjun, secretary general of the Chinese Association for Australian Studies and director of the Center for Australian Studies at BFSU; Li Yao, honorary doctor in arts at Sydney University and visiting professor of BFSU and IMNU; and Zha Geer, deputy president of the Chinese Mongolian Philological Association and professor of Inner Mongolia Folklore Society.

Zhang Haifeng, vice-president of IMNU, gave a welcoming speech at the opening ceremony. Zhang emphasized the significance of the symposium and the confidence in future cooperations with experts from Austraulia.

Professor McCarthy pointed out that in the dialectical mode of thinking, the relationship between ethnic minorities and other ethnic groups, as well as between cultures and civilizations, has always been interrelated and interdependent.

Counselor Mason congratulated the IMNU Australian Studies Center for hosting the seminar through inviting academic experts from Australia and China to exchange opinions concerning ethnic culture and conduct comparative research into the subject. Mason praised the effort IMNU has made in studying indigenous Australians and conveyed her hopes for dynamic discussion and research in the future.

As part of the event, Siqin Bilige, arts instructor at IMNU Conservatory of Music, performed the long tune (traditional Mongolian folk singing). And Matthew Doyle, cultural counselor of Australias Bangarra Troupe, played the didgeridoo at the ceremony  a traditional instrument invented by indigenous Australians.

A total of 26 experts expressed their views on a variety of subjects, including the classification of Mongolian folk customs, the historical origins of Mongolian long tune, and the renaissance of native languages spoken by Aborigines.

The closing ceremony was attended by Zhao Donghai, vice-president of IMNU; Ghilad Zuckermann, professor of Linguistics and the Endangered Language Department at the University of Adelaide; and Wu Haiyan, director of IMNU Australian Studies Center.

The symposium has promoted the relationship between China and Australia as well as cross-cultural academic research. It has provided a platform for bilateral experts to communicate and thus enhance understanding and cognition.
New measures draw Taiwan people to mainland 2017-07-04 07:26:57 China Daily Zhang Yi A growing number of the island's residents ar relocating, lured by new policies, financial incentives and a wider range of opportunities, as Zhang Yi reports.

A growing number of the island's residents ar relocating, lured by new policies, financial incentives and a wider range of opportunities, as Zhang Yi reports.

'Since I opened my first store in Sichuan province in December, the mainland's business potential has exceeded my expectations. I now have four stores," said Ken Huang, an entrepreneur from Taiwan.

The 37-year-old owner of a handbag brand was among 8,000 people from the island who participated in a weeklong trade exhibition at the Ninth Straits Forum in Xiamen, Fujian province, last month. Most of the attendees were seeking opportunities to expand their businesses in the mainland and exploring the possibility of trading internationally.

Last month, communications and exchanges between people on both sides of the Taiwan Straits continued to rise, despite recent setbacks in political ties.

Although tourism and business activity are developing rapidly, high-level communications between the mainland and Taiwan have been at a low point for more than a year. The relationship between the two sides had been developing constructively based on the 1992 Consensus, a formula for relations between Taipei and Beijing rooted in the understanding that there is only one China, and opposed to "Taiwan independence".

Things changed in May last year, when the Democratic Progressive Party in Taiwan denied the existence of the 1992 Consensus, consigning dialogue to the deep freeze. That means the Straits Forum - composed of 21 major trade fairs, symposiums and exhibitions - is now the biggest platform for people from both sides of the Straits to seek career opportunities and better lifestyles.

During a speech at the forum, Yu Zhengsheng, China's top political adviser, announced a series of new policies to be rolled out in the coming months to benefit Taiwan residents in the mainland, and help them enjoy the same status as mainlanders in terms of financial and public services.

A growing presence

The new policies have been formulated as a response to the growing number of people from Taiwan settling in the mainland. According to a report conducted in April by 1111 Job Bank Co in Taiwan, about 700,000 Taiwan residents live and work outside the island, with about 350,000 of them working in the Chinese mainland. Meanwhile, research conducted in March by the Global Views Survey Research Center in Taiwan suggested that nearly 60 percent of Taiwan residents ages 20 to 29 would be willing to work, study or invest in the mainland.

Last year, the number of new businesses in the mainland owned by Taiwan residents rose 32 percent, and by February, nearly 4,000 sole proprietors from the island were operating in the mainland.

More than 20 new policies will be released in the coming months to help Taiwan residents find their feet in mainland cities.

Speaking at the forum, Cheng Tien-li, a freelance writer from Taiwan, explained the potential benefits. "At present, it would take me two weeks to open an account with a State-run bank because my documents would need to be reviewed and the procedure is complicated," she said.

"However, the staff at the bank said I will soon be able to apply for a credit card, just like a mainland resident. There will be no extra requirements or time taken when we (non-mainland residents) apply."

Huang, the handbag producer, said previously released policies - designed to support startups and entrepreneurs age 45 and younger - prompted him to expand outside Taiwan: "There was every reason to shift my business to the mainland, mainly the preferential policies for young people that have been released in recent years."

His workshop is located in the Taiwan pavilion of the Xiamen section of the Fujian Free Trade Zone, where the policies allow qualified businesspeople from Taiwan to claim a 100 percent refund of the rent they pay for business premises in the first year of operations, and they also receive a housing subsidy of up to 2,000 yuan ($295) per month.

In addition, measures released in January last year mean high-end professionals from Taiwan who earn more than 300,000 yuan a year can claim a refund of 25 percent of the income tax they pay to the Xiamen government, while "extraordinary talents" - highly respected individuals - can receive startup funding of as much as 1.5 million yuan over several years.

Business development

"Who wouldn't be tempted by these incentives?" said Bill Chow, senior manager at Dayongqi Trade Co, which has made seafood-based sauces in Taiwan for several decades.

"My company began developing its business in the mainland a year ago. We decided to establish branches in Xiamen and Shandong province because the mainland's large population provides a huge market - Taiwan can't compete."

After conducting market research in Shandong, Chow discovered that a number of food producers in the province met the standards of food safety required by his company, which has now subcontracted production to a local producer.

"It's more efficient to produce our sauces in the province. The factory's standard of hygiene is very satisfactory - the opposite of the food safety concerns we heard about in recent media reports."

One major attraction is that in the coming years the mainland's export tax is expected to be lower than its counterpart in Taiwan, according to Chow

"With China's growing national strength and success in developing economic and trade ties with other countries, it's predicted that exporters in the mainland will enjoy low taxes and convenient customs services, plus more trade agreements with other countries, especially those participating in the Belt and Road Initiative," he said.

Hsu Jung-hsiao, a 76-year-old retiree from Taiwan who attended the forum, said: "I'm not surprised that a growing number of people are willing to live and work in the mainland. For one thing, transportation and public services in major cities are much better than in Taiwan.

"I have lived in Taiwan since my parents took me to the island in 1949, but I have visited my hometown, Yancheng, Jiangsu province, every year for the past decade. The rapid development of airports and highways mean it's now convenient for me to visit my sister in Yancheng every year," he said.

Hsu's sons work in Shanghai and Guangzhou, Guangdong province, because they believe the economic development of large mainland cities offers great potential.

Visitor numbers rise

Last year, 5.7 million people from Taiwan traveled to the mainland, underscoring the steady growth since the two sides resumed communications 30 years ago.

In Nov 1987, after long-standing restrictions on trade and direct communications were abandoned, the Taiwan authorities allowed residents to visit relatives in the mainland. The move ended 38 years without formal communications between the two sides, even though trade via third countries thrived in the 1970s.

In 2011, in a bid to boost Taiwan's tourism sector, residents of three mainland cities were allowed to visit Taiwan as individuals - before, visitors were only allowed as members of tour groups. The number of eligible cities has been expanded to 47.

Hsu said he has full confidence in cross-Straits businesses and people-to-people exchanges, despite temporary setbacks, because people on both sides share the same roots, traditions, cultural values, culinary habits and language. Moreover, the mainland offers a wider range of employment and business opportunities, and the lifestyle is virtually undistinguishable from that in Taiwan.

That point was echoed by Chow: "I like living in Xiamen. One important factor is that there is no difference when I go to restaurants or supermarkets in the city. I can get everything I want, just like at home."

Despite the political setbacks, Yin Cunyi, a professor at Tsinghua University's Institute of Taiwan Studies, believes the mainland's determination to improve the lives of people on both sides of the Straits remains unchanged. "The political relations between the two sides are virtually 'frozen', but communications between people on both sides of the Straits are really 'hot', because they still need to trade," he said.

The mainland's growing popularity with businesspeople from the island is demonstrated by the number of startups in the Taiwan pavilion in the Xiamen section of the Fujian Free Trade Zone. To date, 81 companies have chosen to base themselves in the pavilion, which opened a year ago.

"It is an irreversible trend; businesses and organizations on both sides will engage in a wider range of exchanges and interactions in the coming years," Yin said.

Contact the writer at zhang_yi@chinadaily.com.cn
China-Russia relations are unshakable, Xi says 2017-07-05 03:27:00 China Daily AN BAIJIE Beijing's special relationship with Moscow will continue to develop no matter what happens in the rest of the world, President Xi Jinping says.

President receives high honor for friendship in meeting with Putin

Beijing's special relationship with Moscow will continue to develop no matter what happens in the rest of the world, President Xi Jinping said on Tuesday during his sixth trip to Russia as China's top leader.

The two countries are dedicated to boosting mutual political trust, connecting the Belt and Road with the Eurasian Economic Union and coordinating closely in global affairs, Xi said, adding that the bilateral ties have added positive energy on the path to global peace and development.

He made a state visit to Russia on Monday and Tuesday before traveling to Germany for a state visit and to attend the G20 Summit in Hamburg.

Xi and Russian President Vladimir Putin have maintained close contact this year. Xi highlighted their intensive talks on Monday, during which the two leaders "reached lots of new consensuses".

China and Russia have always backed each other on issues related to each other's core interests, Xi said, adding that the two countries have also maintained close and effective coordination on regional and global issues.

"No matter how the outside environment changes, the China-Russia relationship will not be affected," Xi said.

Noting that Xi selected Russia as the first country to visit after becoming Chinese president in 2013, Putin said Russia appreciated the gesture and cherished the friendship.

With joint efforts made by both sides, the two countries have made progress in the areas of economics, trade, military, technology and people-to-people communication, Putin said, adding that they have also had constructive interactions in international affairs.

Two joint statements were issued on Tuesday outlining the main political outcomes of the visit. One concerned bilateral ties focusing on the development of China-Russia cooperation in various fields. The other dealt with global issues, with Russia and China declaring a unified position on important regional and international matters.

The two presidents also witnessed the signing of a number of documents to boost cooperation in such areas as investment, energy, finance and agriculture and approved the 2017-20 implementation outline for the Treaty of Good-Neighborliness and Friendly Cooperation Between China and Russia.

The foreign ministries of both countries also issued a joint declaration on the Korean Peninsula issue.

Putin presented Xi with the Order of St. Andrew the Apostle, one of Russia's highest honors, for his prominent work in strengthening friendship between the peoples of Russia and China.

"This is not only an honor for me but also a symbol of the great importance that Russia attaches to relations with China, and the Russian people's friendly feelings toward the Chinese people," Xi said at the award ceremony.

Xi's meeting with Putin was the third so far this year. They have met a total of 22 times.

In early June, Xi and Putin met in Kazakhstan's capital, Astana, on the sidelines of a summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. Before that, Xi hosted Putin in Beijing during the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation, which brought together dozens of heads of state in May to discuss issues of common concern.

Zhang Jingquan, a professor of Northeast Asian studies at Jilin University, said that the steady development of China-Russia relations is good for the stability of the Eurasian continent.

Both countries, which have sought political solutions to the Syrian conflict and the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue, have played the role of a "ballast stone" in safeguarding regional and global peace and stability, Zhang said.

The closer relationship between Xi and Putin has become a "locomotive" for cementing the two countries' comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination, said Chen Yurong, a senior Eurasian studies researcher at the China Institute of International Studies.

China has been Russia's largest trading partner for years, and Russia is China's major source of cutting-edge machinery and other high-tech imports.

Last year, China and Russia managed to reverse the downtrend in bilateral trade, bringing up volume by 2.2 percent to $69.5 billion.
On China's 'diplomatic chessboard', Germany is an important piece 2017-07-04 08:26:06 China Daily Fu Jing As the host of the G20 summit, a platform where global issues are discussed, Germany needs support to ensure the success of the event. And Xi, who hosted G20 Leaders Summit in Hangzhou in September last year, is expected to provide that support.

On China's diplomatic chessboard the significance of Germany and other European Union member states can be gauged from the frequent visits President Xi Jinping has paid to those countries. In fact, he is due to arrive in Berlin on Tuesday to pay another state visit to Germany, during which he will also attend this year's G20 summit in Hamburg.

China has always attached great importance to Germany.

This is Xi's second state visit to Germany after his previous one in March 2014. What's more, the Chinese president's visit this year follows just one month after Premier Li Keqiang's tour to Germany. And Li also paid a visit to Germany in 2014.

Germany attaches equal importance to China, and German Chancellor Angela Merkel has visited China many times during her term in office. Actually, an official in the chancellor's office said Merkel probably doesn't attach such importance to any other country.

Germany is a competitive exporter and manufacturer, and thus an ideal model for China. Its social welfare and market system have been widely debated in China, which is undergoing market-oriented reform. And for decades, Germany has had a big share in China's market. For example, German car brands, such as Volkswagen, Audi, BMW and Mercedes, are omnipresent in China.

And since Chinese investors have just started to explore the opportunities in the high-end product market, Xi is likely to discuss with German leaders how to further boost bilateral ties and become bigger players in each other's markets by removing trade and investment barriers.

Globalization faces increasing challenges, especially with the United Kingdom's departure from the EU and US President Donald Trump's inward-looking policy to "make America Great Again", which is nothing but trade protectionism.

Trump has also pulled the United States out of the global climate change agreement, which almost every UN member state welcomed and signed in Paris in 2015.

Germany has been championing free trade, closer global connectivity and remains committed to fighting climate change. And at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, in January, Xi affirmed China's commitment to globalization and free trade, a commitment EU commentators and politicians alike have repeatedly cited and welcomed.

For China, Germany is not only a market but also a platform to explore the entire EU economy. In recent years, Beijing has been viewing Sino-German ties beyond the two countries' markets, whose consumers add up to 1.9 billion.

That's one of the reasons Xi proposed the Belt and Road Initiative in 2013. And Germany's positive response to the initiative prompted other EU countries to join it. For example, China initiated the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, which many EU countries joined as founding members to explore more opportunities in third-party markets.

Xi's visit to Germany is of great importance to EU-China ties. China has higher hopes of establishing better relations with the EU as a whole.

Xi's visits to Germany and other EU countries indicate China's sincerity in developing closer partnership with the European bloc.

As the host of the G20 summit, a platform where global issues are discussed, Germany needs support to ensure the success of the event. And Xi, who hosted G20 Leaders Summit in Hangzhou in September last year, is expected to provide that support.

The author is deputy chief of China Daily European Bureau. fujing@chinadaily.com.cn
Guiyang makes move to go cashless ( chinadaily.com.cn ) Updated: 2017-07-04

Guiyang will soon become first "cashless city" in southwestern China, as the municipal government has announced an agreement with China's major e-payment provider Ant Financial Services Group, the financial arm of Alibaba Group on July 1.

A cashless city refers to a modern urban lifestyle in which digital payments replace cash. Residents in Guiyang will only need a smartphone, instead of physical currency, to make purchases.

Apart from supermarkets and shopping malls, six scenic areas, including Qingyan ancient town and Tianhe Lake, will also accept cashless payment.

Six scenic areas in Guiyang accept cashless payment. [Photo/gywb.cn]

Social and other civic local government services are also becoming cashless with the support of Alipay, a mobile payment app from Ant Financial.

A customer pays with Alipay, a mobile app at a supermarket in Guiyang. [Photo/gywb.cn]

Last year, more than 1.2 million Guiyang residents benefited from the Alipay's 32 payment services for government affairs, medical services and communications. Eight hospitals in Guiyang have also opened Alipay registration channels, which will serve more than 5,000 people per week.

Through the promotion of mobile payments, the city is also driving consumption. People gain credit through cashless payments and are eligible for fiduciary loans. As of this May, Ant Financial had granted 6.9 billion yuan ($1 billion) to individuals and 720 million yuan to startups.
Editor's note: A special group wedding ceremony has drawn much attention online. Fifteen couples from a single university class of 43 students - 26 males and 17 females tied knot upon graduation in Chongqing, southwest China. Some netizens think it is a bad decision to rush into marriage without being sure about compatibility. Forum readers share their opinions.

1105852048 (US)

It is a very unfortunate thing... very often, young women get married just after graduation. Often that is because of the immense pressure the family - grandparents usually - put upon these girls. I have had numerous discussions with young women, about to graduate from college and many complained to me that they were already being pressured to marry and produce a child. That is really too bad, because many of these young women were brilliant students and ready to serve their country.
A device designed to gather data, including water temperature, salinity and depth, is readied for use on May 22, ahead of submersible Jiaolong's planned deep dives. Liu Shiping / Xinhua

Many say methane hydrate, found under sediments on sea and ocean floors, is the energy of the future because it can generate 10 times more energy than coal and hardly causes any pollution when burned. That's why China's recent success in the drilling methane hydrate in the Shenhu area of the South China Sea is viewed as significant.

The drilling success, thanks to technological breakthroughs, lays a foundation for further improvement of the technologies used. But there is still a long way to go before China can put methane hydrate, or fire ice as it is known, to commercial use. For instance, it has to reduce the cost of extraction, build a smooth network to transport the extracted methane hydrate, and take strict measures to ensure the process does not harm the environment.

That may take a while, but once fire ice is put to commercial use, it will have a huge impact on China and the world. For example, it will help keep energy prices low, and reduce the importance of oil and oil exporting countries.

The commercialization of fire ice will, to a large extent, solve China's energy problem and help it to update its energy structure. China is already the biggest importer of crude oil, importing more than 60 percent of the oil it needs. It is estimated that the fire ice reserves in China's seas could replace 100 billion tons of crude oil and meet the country's energy needs for at least 200 years. So once China succeeds in commercializing the use of fire ice, it will not have to depend on other countries for its energy supply.

Besides, since natural gas accounted for only 6.2 percent of China's total energy consumption last year, compared with the global average of 23.8 percent, fire ice can help China optimize its energy consumption structure.

Given these possibilities, China should accord strategic importance to the commercialization of fire ice. It also needs to increase its human, financial and technological, and other resource inputs into research and development, so as to commercialize fire ice as soon as possible.

It is also extremely important for China to firmly defend its maritime energy resources and territories while expanding the space for global cooperation to exploit them. With the importance of maritime resources becoming increasingly important, China could cooperate with the economies involved in the Belt and Road Initiative to optimize the use of energy resource structures.

More important, apart from making all-out efforts to commercialize fire ice, China should also expedite the construction of its natural gas infrastructure, in order to become an influential player in the global natural gas sector. It should, for example, break the monopolies in the natural gas exploitation sector, and encourage private capital to co-work with State-owned enterprises to exploit natural gas resources. Only through the joint efforts of the SOEs and private enterprises can China realize its plan for energy security.

The author is a researcher at Institute of World Economics and Politics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
Africa's enormous economic potential is not news, but, until now, policymakers around the world have not successfully defined the political and economic steps that must be taken to enable Africa to realize this potential fully. That is why the German G20 presidency has launched the G20 Africa Partnership initiative.

At the core of this effort to intensify cooperation with Africa lies the G20 Compact with Africa. The CWA offers interested African countries the opportunity to improve conditions for private investment, including in infrastructure.

The CWA's structure is straightforward: African countries, together with their bilateral partners and international financial organizations with proven expertise on Africa (such as the African Development Bank, the World Bank Group, and the International Monetary Fund), will jointly develop, coordinate and implement tailor-made measures. The main aim is to lower the level of risk for private investments by improving economic and financial conditions and strengthening institutions. Over time, the resulting increase in investment will boost growth and productivity, create jobs, and raise living standards, as envisioned in Agenda 2063 of the African Union.

The CWA stands for a new approach to international development policy. Of course, Germany is not reinventing the wheel. But the mode of cooperation and coordination among the many bilateral and multilateral players, as well as the commitment of the African countries, is something new.

Germany views the CWA as a long-term, demand-driven process. It is open to all African countries that are interested in improving their investment environment on a sustainable basis. But, most important, the decision-makers are the African countries themselves. They will determine what they want to do to improve conditions for private investment, who they want to cooperate with, and in what form. Only if the African countries "own" the initiative will it be a success.

So far, some African countries including Cote d'Ivoire, Morocco, Rwanda, Senegal and Tunisia have committed to full participation in the CWA.

CWA countries, the international financial organizations, and bilateral partners are working closely together on the details of the country-specific compacts. At the G20 meeting in Baden-Baden, Germany, in March, some membersand also non-G20 countriesindicated that they would like to become bilateral partners. The German government will also contribute via the bilateral frameworkcalled a "Marshall Plan with Africa"developed by Germany's Federal Ministry for Economic Development and Cooperation.

Our main job, however, is to bring private investors and African countries together. The G20 Africa Partnership Conference in Berlin on June 12-13 provided a platform for these African countries to reach out to investors in order to enhance the continent's engagement with the private sector.

Now the implementation phase of the CWA initiative will start. The country teams will further specify their compact measures and consider the milestones for their implementation. At this point, dialogue with investors will be particularly significant, because such conversations will help African countries to establish which measures and instruments are crucial for engagement with the private sector.

To be successful, this initiative cannot focus on short-term results. It needs to continue beyond Germany's G20 presidency in 2017-18 and to be supported by the G20 over the longer term. Germany, of course, will continue to take responsibility for the CWA's implementation, and the G20 will be informed on a regular basis about how the investment compacts develop.

Most important, by sending a signal to other African countries, progress in the participating countries will determine whether the CWA becomes a success for all of Africa. If all parties involvedAfrican countries, international organizations, bilateral partners, and, not least, investorscollaborate closely, the CWA has the capacity to promote sustainable, robust, and inclusive economic growth throughout the continent.

The author is Germany's federal minister of finance.
On China's diplomatic chessboard the significance of Germany and other European Union member states can be gauged from the frequent visits President Xi Jinping has paid to those countries. In fact, he is due to arrive in Berlin on Tuesday to pay another state visit to Germany, during which he will also attend this year's G20 summit in Hamburg.

China has always attached great importance to Germany.

This is Xi's second state visit to Germany after his previous one in March 2014. What's more, the Chinese president's visit this year follows just one month after Premier Li Keqiang's tour to Germany. And Li also paid a visit to Germany in 2014.

Germany attaches equal importance to China, and German Chancellor Angela Merkel has visited China many times during her term in office. Actually, an official in the chancellor's office said Merkel probably doesn't attach such importance to any other country.

Germany is a competitive exporter and manufacturer, and thus an ideal model for China. Its social welfare and market system have been widely debated in China, which is undergoing market-oriented reform. And for decades, Germany has had a big share in China's market. For example, German car brands, such as Volkswagen, Audi, BMW and Mercedes, are omnipresent in China.

And since Chinese investors have just started to explore the opportunities in the high-end product market, Xi is likely to discuss with German leaders how to further boost bilateral ties and become bigger players in each other's markets by removing trade and investment barriers.

Globalization faces increasing challenges, especially with the United Kingdom's departure from the EU and US President Donald Trump's inward-looking policy to "make America Great Again", which is nothing but trade protectionism.

Trump has also pulled the United States out of the global climate change agreement, which almost every UN member state welcomed and signed in Paris in 2015.

Germany has been championing free trade, closer global connectivity and remains committed to fighting climate change. And at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, in January, Xi affirmed China's commitment to globalization and free trade, a commitment EU commentators and politicians alike have repeatedly cited and welcomed.

For China, Germany is not only a market but also a platform to explore the entire EU economy. In recent years, Beijing has been viewing Sino-German ties beyond the two countries' markets, whose consumers add up to 1.9 billion.

That's one of the reasons Xi proposed the Belt and Road Initiative in 2013. And Germany's positive response to the initiative prompted other EU countries to join it. For example, China initiated the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, which many EU countries joined as founding members to explore more opportunities in third-party markets.

Xi's visit to Germany is of great importance to EU-China ties. China has higher hopes of establishing better relations with the EU as a whole.

Xi's visits to Germany and other EU countries indicate China's sincerity in developing closer partnership with the European bloc.

As the host of the G20 summit, a platform where global issues are discussed, Germany needs support to ensure the success of the event. And Xi, who hosted G20 Leaders Summit in Hangzhou in September last year, is expected to provide that support.

The author is deputy chief of China Daily European Bureau. fujing@chinadaily.com.cn
China Culture Week was launched and a China-related book exhibition opened on Monday in Moscow, further stoking Russians' growing interest in China.

The opening ceremony was held at Chance Bookuu, a bookstore that sells China-related books in the city center.

"Chinese culture and books are inseparable overseas, and most foreigners get to know Chinese culture from these books," said Zhu Yongliang, deputy president of Zhejiang Publishing United Group.

Over 492 Russian-language books about China and Chinese culture, as well as more than 10,000 books in Chinese were on display during the exhibition, which was described as "the book road on the new Silk Road" by Mark Ulyanov, director of the Chinese studies faculty at Moscow State University.

A Russian woman reads the Chinese version of Xi Jinping: The Governance of China on Monday at Chance Bookuu, a bookstore that sells Chinese books in central Moscow.Ren Qi / China Daily

"China-related books have been enthusiastically welcomed by Russian audiences in recent years, and many Russian people have come to Chance Bookuu to buy books about Chinese language, Chinese culture and Chinese food since the bookstore opened in July," Zhu said.

He said China and Russia have had strong ties in media for years, and the cooperation of publishing companies from both countries can be a new channel to increase mutual understanding.

Svetlana Anikeyeva, the publisher of Oriental Literature Publisher, said relations between China and Russia have reached the highest level in history, and the rights to China-related books are quite sought after in the Russian publishing industry.

Mu Ping, the publisher of Russia Chance International Publishing Corp, which owns the Chance Bookuu bookstore in Moscow, said as more Russian media introduce China to local people, Chinese culture is attracting more Russians to the bookstore.

The Chinese business executive, whose company is based in Russia, said starting a China-related bookstore in Moscow was not as easy as he had expected. He and his staff decided on using events to help attract customers.

Over 160 activities, such as cultural lectures, tea-making demonstrations and Chinese traditional skills training, have been held at the bookstore, Mu said.

"To our surprise, by holding these cultural activities, more Russians, whether young or old, come to our bookstore. More importantly, we have the chance to meet lots of Russian officials and professors, and are able to push China-related books to a higher stage," Mu said.

During Monday's activities, agreements were signed on training Chinese-Russian translators and publishing Russian textbooks by Zhejiang Publishing, Russia Chance International and Moscow Normal University.

Mu said Russian scholars and students who study Chinese are interested in China-related books, but more ordinary readers, who do not know any Chinese, also are interested in knowledge about China and Chinese culture.

"We believe that with Chinese and Russian publishing companies working together, more China-related books will be introduced to Russian readers," Mu said.

renqi@chinadaily.com.cn
SEOUL - The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) has fired a ballistic missile into its eastern waters, Yonhap news agency reported Tuesday, citing the Republic of Korea (ROK)'s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS).

The JCS was quoted as saying in a statement that the ballistic missile was fired off into the East Sea from Banghyeon, North Pyongan province in the DPRK's northwestern region at about 9:40 a.m. local time (0040 GMT).

The missile launch was immediately reported to President Moon Jae-in, the statement said.

Citing Japanese media reports, Yonhap said the missile may have landed in Japan's exclusive economic zone.
People react at the end of the bond hearing for Brendt Christensen outside of the US Courthouse on July 3, 2017 in Urbana, Illinois. [Photo/Agencies]

URBANA A federal judge in Illinois has ordered a man accused of kidnapping a visiting University of Illinois scholar from China to be held without bond.

Monday's brief hearing was the first court appearance for 28-year-old Brendt Christensen since he was charged on Friday in the kidnapping of Yingying Zhang. Authorities have said they believe the 26-year-old Zhang is dead, although her body has not been found.

The (Champaign) News-Gazette reports that Christensen  clad in an orange jumpsuit  didn't speak during the nine-minute hearing other than to acknowledge that he understood his rights.

Christensen is scheduled to attend a bond hearing before US Magistrate Judge Eric Long on Wednesday. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for July 14.

Christensen is accused of abducting Zhang in Urbana on June 9.

Hundreds of people are gathering outside the federal courthouse.

AP
A police officer stands guard on a street near a scene of a shooting in front of a mosque, in this still image from video, in Avignon, France July 3, 2017. [Photo/Agencies]

PARIS -- Two armed men opened fire on a group of people in southern French city of Toulouse on Monday evening, killing one person and injuring six others in a likely drug trafficking affair, local media reported.

The two men on motorcycle shot dead a man and injured others in the city's Reynerie district before running away, said Europe1 broadcaster.

Two of the injured people were in serious situation, according to the report.

"No hypothesis is excluded but there is no terrorist element at this stage," regional authorities were quoted as saying.

Citing a source close to the investigation, the broadcaster said the shooting is likely linked with settlement of old scores between gangs.
Performance by the Military Band of the Chinese People's Liberation Army in 2015.[Photo/China Daily]

One of Scotland's biggest annual tourism attractions is teaming up with social media app WeChat in a bid to tap the Chinese market.

The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo, a world-famous music and dance spectacle which has run in various forms since 1949, attracts an average 220,000 visitors each year.

From 2018, users of payment app WeChat Pay will be able to purchase tickets to the event through a live booking system.

WeChat had around 889 million monthly active users in 2016, 90 percent of which are Chinese.

Brigadier David Allfrey, chief executive of the Tattoo, hopes the partnership will increase exposure ahead of the event's planned three-week tour of Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou in 2020.

"This is a game-changer in building relationships with our Chinese customers and in partnerships going forward," Allfrey said, adding that the

Tattoo is the first Scottish business to arrange such a deal with WeChat. "It feels like a major milestone," he said.

Graeme White, director of tourism at Scottish Development International, said the WeChat Pay deal will allow the Tattoo to offer Chinese visitors a familiar and convenient payment method.

"This is a great example of a company attuned to its Far Eastern customers," said White. The Tattoo includes performances by Scottish pipe and drum military bands, dance troupes and firework displays held on the esplanade of Edinburgh Castle every evening through the month of August and twice on Saturdays.

The event held a China Day in 2015, ahead of President Xi Jinping's state visit that year. The Military Band of the People's Liberation Army of China has appeared at a previous event and Allfrey says there are plans to include Chinese performers in next year's program. Visit Scotland, the local tourism authority, is increasingly pushing Edinburgh's presence on Chinese social media.
Trade between China and Russia is expected to grow thanks to the opportunities created by the Belt and Road Initiative, experts said.

"In the next one to two years, Sino-Russian trade will likely continue delivering double-digit growth, partly bolstered by their strong economic complementarities," Wei Jianguo, vice-president of the China Center for International Economic Exchanges, said on Monday.

Also, China's investment in Russia is expected to grow significantly, and the two countries will also work more closely to invest in third countries, especially economies along the Belt and Road, said Wei, a former vice-minister of commerce.

Li Hui, China's ambassador to Russia, said, "China and Russia have enormous potential for bilateral economic cooperation. ... More new growth areas, such as agricultural products, and oil and gas equipment, are likely to be fostered."

"Despite the global economic downturn and several other unfavorable factors last year, Sino-Russian trade has been stabilized. The uptrend will likely be maintained this year," he said at a recent news conference.

"The Belt and Road Initiative will help China and Russia upgrade their cross-border economic cooperation in trade and investments," said Sun Chenghai, director of the Foreign Trade Development Bureau at the Ministry of Commerce. "Russia is building economic development zones and diversifying the functions of Zarubino Port, which is 18 kilometers from its border with China."

In 2015, the global economic downturn and low energy prices dragged down the trading volume between the two countries. But the figure quickly bounced back in 2016, with a boost from e-commerce.

"Big-ticket projects in such fields as energy and transportation are going smoothly," Sun said. "Interconnection, financial and trade facilitation under the Belt and Road Initiative definitely has profound implications in terms of resolving difficulties and improving the business environment between two countries."

Last month, China Railway Group announced it will build a high-speed railway in Russia connecting the country's third-largest city, Yekaterinburg, with Chelyabinsk. The project will involve a total investment of $2.5 billion.

The train, at an estimated speed of up to 250 kilometers per hour, will cut the journey between two cities to approximately one hour and 10 minutes from five hours.

jingshuiyu@chinadaily.com.cn
A Russian woman reads the Chinese version of Xi Jinping: The Governance of China on Monday at Chance Bookuu, a bookstore that sells Chinese books in central Moscow. Ren Qi / China Daily

China Culture Week was launched and a China-related book exhibition opened on Monday in Moscow, further stoking Russians' growing interest in China.

The opening ceremony was held at Chance Bookuu, a bookstore that sells China-related books in the city center.

"Chinese culture and books are inseparable overseas, and most foreigners get to know Chinese culture from these books," said Zhu Yongliang, deputy president of Zhejiang Publishing United Group.

Over 492 Russian-language books about China and Chinese culture, as well as more than 10,000 books in Chinese were on display during the exhibition, which was described as "the book road on the new Silk Road" by Mark Ulyanov, director of the Chinese studies faculty at Moscow State University.

"China-related books have been enthusiastically welcomed by Russian audiences in recent years, and many Russian people have come to Chance Bookuu to buy books about Chinese language, Chinese culture and Chinese food since the bookstore opened in July," Zhu said.

He said China and Russia have had strong ties in media for years, and the cooperation of publishing companies from both countries can be a new channel to increase mutual understanding.

Svetlana Anikeyeva, the publisher of Oriental Literature Publisher, said relations between China and Russia have reached the highest level in history, and the rights to China-related books are quite sought after in the Russian publishing industry.

Mu Ping, the publisher of Russia Chance International Publishing Corp, which owns the Chance Bookuu bookstore in Moscow, said as more Russian media introduce China to local people, Chinese culture is attracting more Russians to the bookstore.

The Chinese business executive, whose company is based in Russia, said starting a China-related bookstore in Moscow was not as easy as he had expected. He and his staff decided on using events to help attract customers.

Over 160 activities, such as cultural lectures, tea-making demonstrations and Chinese traditional skills training, have been held at the bookstore, Mu said.

"To our surprise, by holding these cultural activities, more Russians, whether young or old, come to our bookstore. More importantly, we have the chance to meet lots of Russian officials and professors, and are able to push China-related books to a higher stage," Mu said.

During Monday's activities, agreements were signed on training Chinese-Russian translators and publishing Russian textbooks by Zhejiang Publishing, Russia Chance International and Moscow Normal University.

Mu said Russian scholars and students who study Chinese are interested in China-related books, but more ordinary readers, who do not know any Chinese, also are interested in knowledge about China and Chinese culture.

"We believe that with Chinese and Russian publishing companies working together, more China-related books will be introduced to Russian readers," Mu said.

renqi@chinadaily.com.cn
Students of Russian at Kaiqu Middle School in Huaibei, Anhui province, converse with two Russian teachers from Irkutsk State University in April. Wan Shanchao / For China Daily

More high schools in China are offering Russian courses as student interest in the language grows in secondary schools, particularly since the Belt and Road Initiative was proposed, educators said.

The Russian program at Jianwen Foreign Language School, a high school in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, attracted only 24 students when it was established in 2011. But interest has grown quickly, especially after the initiative was proposed in 2013, according to Li Guangming, the vice-principal.

"The program at our school has almost 250 students," he said. "About 80 graduates of the program were accepted by higher education institutions in Russia. ... Many others went to domestic universities."

Huang Mei, director of the School of Russian Language and Culture at Beijing Foreign Studies University, said Russian used to play a role at high schools in China like English does now.

"Although not pervasive in today's China, there have been signs in recent years that Chinese people's interest in learning Russian is reviving," she said. "One of the key reasons is that implementation of the Belt and Road Initiative has facilitated close exchanges and cooperation between China and Russia, as well as with other countries like Kazakhstan and Ukraine, where the language is also used."

In Hubei province, No 14 Middle School of Wuhan, which encompasses high school grades, offered Russian courses between 1985 and 2002, but canceled them as interest waned. But in September, the school, working with the University of Moscow, started an experimental Russian language class and planned to recruit 40 students.

"But to the surprise of the school authorities, more than 400 students and parents attended the introductory meeting and showed a willingness to join the class," said Li Yanxia, director of the school's admissions office. The more parents knew about the Belt and Road, the greater the support for the class.

Students admitted to the program take Russian for two years at the school. They then attend a one-year preparatory course at the University of Moscow before taking the university's entrance exam, she said.

Li Guangming of the Jianwen Foreign Language School said that the graduates who are now studying at institutions in Russia are at such schools as Saint Petersburg State University, Repin Academy of Fine Arts, and Emperor Alexander/St. Petersburg State Transport University.

"With the relationship between China and Russia getting closer and the demand for people who can speak Russian growing, I believe more young people in China will develop an interest in the language and decide to study it," Li Guangming said. "The Russian language may again become one of the major foreign languages learned by Chinese students in high school."

zhaoxinying@chinadaily.com.cn
Greater regional integration of economies to help both countries

President Xi Jinping's state visit to Russia will inject new energy into Sino-Russian relations and provide new opportunities for greater regional economic integration, said Li Hui, the Chinese ambassador to Russia.

Li Hui, the Chinese ambassador to Russia

Xi arrived in Moscow on Monday to start the two-day visit.

The visit means a lot for both Sino-Russian relations and the international community, given that the current international situation is complicated, the global economy is recovering slowly, and tremendous adjustments are taking place in the relations among powers, Li said, in an exclusive interview with China Daily.

"Xi will meet his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, for the third time this year after the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation in May and Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in Astana last month," Li said.

The two leaders will exchange opinions over mutual concerns to further enhance the China-Russian Comprehensive Strategic Partnership of Coordination and deepen practical cooperation between the two countries.

The meeting of the two presidents will also help to strengthen the coordination between Belt and Road Initiative and Eurasian Economic Union, Li said.

"Russia is one of the founding countries of the EEU, and it's China's good neighbor, good partner and good friend. China and Russia have achieved great progress in cooperation in the fields of economics, energy, infrastructure construction, finance, aerospace and culture since the release of a joint statement about coordination between the Belt and Road Initiative and the EEU by the leaders two years ago," Li said.

Li said China has been Russia's largest trading partner for six consecutive years and one of the main countries for its exports of energy and high-tech products as well.

In the first five months of this year, their trade volume reached 223.1 billion yuan ($32.8 billion), increasing by 33.7 percent compared with last year, the ambassador said.

He said the two countries have great economic complementarity, which may stimulate additional opportunities as they cooperate in new ways.

"First of all, we have established new trading platforms, including those for internet commerce, and there is more trading of agricultural products and oil and gas equipment than ever.

"Second, the two countries have initiated closer financial links, as Russian currency authority Bank of Russia has opened its first overseas branch in Beijing, and a renminbi clearing center opened in Moscow.

"Some major cooperation projects have started with the support of the China Development Bank, the Export-Import Bank of China and many Russian financial institutions," he added

Li said developing and strengthening Sino-Russian relations is a good strategic choice for both countries, and serves the interests of both.

"Both China and Russia are founder countries of the SCO and BRICS, and play significant roles in the two international cooperation mechanisms," Li said.

BRICS is the economic bloc made up of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

Li said China and Russia are confident they will be able to fulfill their responsibility to unite all member countries of the SCO and BRICS in order to form closer, more comprehensive and more stable partnerships.

renqi@chinadaily.com.cn
President Xi Jinping, right, shakes hands with Russian President Vladimir Putin during a meeting at the Kremlin in Moscow, July 3, 2017. [Photo/Xinhua]

MOSCOW -- Visiting Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, met on Monday and agreed to further cement bilateral ties and strengthen coordination on the Korean Peninsula and other major issues.

China and Russia are comprehensive strategic partners of coordination, and it is quite important for them to intensify communication and coordination in dealing with major affairs, said Xi, who had a tete-a-tete with Putin in the Kremlin shortly after his arrival in Moscow.

The two sides should strengthen cooperation, and steadfastly support each other in pursuing their own development paths and defending their respective sovereignty, national security and development interests, added the Chinese president.

They also need to step up policy communication and action coordination on major regional and global issues, so as to tackle risks and challenges and promote world peace, stability and prosperity, he added.

For his part, Putin said he agrees that the two sides should beef up mutual support and strengthen coordination on major regional and global issues.

It is important to boost head-of-state diplomacy, which leads and promotes the development of bilateral relations, said Putin, adding that Xi's ongoing state visit, the second of its kind since he took office in 2013, will further boost the two countries' partnership.

The two leaders also exchanged views on the Korean Peninsula and Syria issues. They agreed to jointly push for a proper settlement of the peninsula issue via dialogue and negotiation.

As for the U.S. deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system in South Korea, Xi and Putin said the move concerns the strategic balance in the region.

China and Russia, they stressed, are both opposed to installing THAAD in South Korea.

Russia is the first leg of Xi's ongoing foreign trip, which will also take him to Germany for a state visit and the upcoming summit of the Group of 20 major economies.
BEIJING - The following is the full text of Chinese President Xi Jinping's written interview with Russian media ahead of his departure for the July 3-4 state visit to Russia:

Written Interview by H.E. Xi Jinping

President of the People's Republic of China

With Russian Media Organizations

Q1. You have often said that the relationship between China and Russia is at its best in history. Could you elaborate on that? How does timely dialogue and consultation on major international issues contribute to regional and global peace, stability and prosperity?

Xi: Indeed the China-Russia comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination is now stronger than ever. Here is why I believe this is the case:

First, our two countries have built a high level of political and strategic trust. The boundary issue, which had been left from history, has been settled once and for all. Our 4,300-km border is now a bond of friendship for our people. The Treaty of Good-neighborliness, Friendship and Cooperation has been signed, which established the idea of ever-lasting friendship in legal terms. The two sides have reached a four-point agreement on showing firm support for each other's efforts to uphold one's own sovereignty, security, territorial integrity and other core interests; for each other's choice of development path suited to one's national circumstances; for each other's development and revitalization; and for each other's management of one's own affairs. In short, China and Russia see each other as a most trustworthy strategic partner.

Second, our two countries have established sound mechanisms for high-level exchanges and all-round cooperation. President Putin and I have developed a close working relationship and good personal friendship. The two of us meet frequently, five times a year on average, to set the direction and make plans for our bilateral relations. At President Putin's invitation, I will pay a state visit to Russia. I believe my visit will lend new impetus to the growth of bilateral relations. Besides, the two sides have full-fledged mechanisms for inter-agency and sub-national engagement and consultation. All this has provided strong institutional underpinnings for the growth of China-Russia relations.

Third, our two sides are working hard to align our development strategies. President Putin and I have reached an important agreement to strengthen the complementarity of the Belt and Road Initiative and the Eurasian Economic Union. Bilateral cooperation in energy, trade, investment, high-tech, finance, infrastructure and agriculture is growing rapidly and increasingly geared toward modernization and innovation in science and technology. The Tianwan nuclear power plant stands as a flagship program for our nuclear cooperation. The eastern route of the natural gas pipeline is progressing smoothly. Our active cooperation on major strategic projects such as the long-range, wide-body aircraft and heavy-lift helicopter is a boost to the comprehensive national strength and international competitiveness of both countries. The two sides are also tapping into new areas of cooperation, such as innovation and e-commerce. In a word, the booming practical cooperation serves as a powerful engine driving the sustained growth of China-Russia relations.

Fourth, our two countries enjoy solid public support for stronger relations. This year marks the 20th anniversary of the China-Russia Committee for Friendship, Peace and Development and the 60th anniversary of the Russia-China Friendship Association. It is also the concluding year of China-Russia Media Exchange Year 2016-2017, for which a variety of cultural events have been planned. Currently, there are over three million visits a year between the Chinese and Russians. For years, China has been Russia's biggest source of foreign tourists. The two sides have established culture centers in each other's country, built a joint university, and set the target of exchanging 100,000 students by 2020. Our peoples are fond of each other's language and culture, and our mutual understanding and friendship are growing day by day. All of this speaks to the shared desire of both nations to develop the friendly and cooperative relations.

Fifth, our two countries enjoy close strategic coordination in regional and international affairs. As major countries in the world, permanent members of the UN Security Council and emerging economies, China and Russia both stand for the basic norms governing international relations with the purposes and principles of the UN Charter as the cornerstone. We both support progress toward a multi-polar world and greater democracy in international relations. We both resolutely uphold the outcomes of WWII and international fairness and justice. Our two countries have close coordination and collaboration in the United Nations, G20, APEC and other multilateral institutions. We have jointly proposed and set up various multilateral mechanisms such as the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and BRICS and worked hard for their development, which contribute to peace and stability in Central Asia and Northeast Asia, which are our common neighborhood. The fact is, our concerted efforts in international affairs are like an anchor for peace, security and stability in our region and the world amidst the turbulent and volatile international situation. Thus, we are living up to our responsibility as major countries for world peace and development.

Looking ahead, we have every confidence in the China-Russia comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination. I will continue to work with President Putin to ensure that the relationship will make sound progress along the right track so as to promote the development and renewal of both our countries and contribute to the prosperity and stability of the world.
HANGZHOU - President Xi Jinping said Monday that China is ready to maintain close communication and coordination with Germany for a successful G20 summit in Hamburg next year.

Xi made the remarks when meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel after the conclusion of this year's summit in the eastern Chinese city of Hangzhou.

Xi said China and Germany share all-round strategic partnership. As the current world situation is having profound and complicated changes, all parties should work together to face the challenges and cooperate.

Beijing and Berlin should strengthen the foundation of mutual trust, maintain high-level exchanges, and consult each other on major issues of common concern in a timely manner, according to Xi.

The Chinese president called for enriched cooperation between the two countries, implementation of all consensuses reached, and cooperation in innovation.

He called for expanding exchanges and cooperation in fields ranging from education, science and technology, culture, health, tourism as well as innovation and youth.

Xi said the two countries should strengthen communication and coordination in multilateral venues, to make contributions to peace, stability and development of the world.

China will not change its stance of firmly supporting the European integration process, and believes that Europe is capable and wise enough to face the challenges, Xi said.

The president noted that through joint efforts, the Hangzhou summit achieved success with positive results. China appreciates that Germany is willing to keep innovation, structural reform, development and the digital economy as major topics for next year's summit.

Merkel congratulated China on the success of the summit, adding that the theme and results were echoed by the vision of the Hamburg summit, and that she expected China would support preparations for the Hamburg summit.

Germany is willing to strengthen high-level communication and cooperation in economy and trade, investment and development with China, as well as deepen cultural exchanges, according to Merkel, who added that Germany is committed to promoting development of Europe-China relations.
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BERLIN -- Chinese President Xi Jinping said he will have in-depth discussions with German leaders during his upcoming state visit and strive for greater progress in the already high-level development of bilateral ties.

Xi made the remarks in a signed article titled "To Make the World a Better Place" and published Tuesday on mainstream German media ahead of his trip to the European country, where he will also attend the upcoming summit of the Group of 20 major economies.

"An important task of my visit is to have in-depth discussions with President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Chancellor Angela Merkel and other German leaders on how to seize the opportunities under the new circumstances to advance our comprehensive strategic partnership in a more coordinated manner with a view to elevating China-Germany relationship to a higher level," Xi wrote.

He proposed that China and Germany should strengthen top-level planning of bilateral relations and draft the blueprint of its future growth with a more open mind and a broader vision.

"We need to let our dialogue mechanisms at different levels play a leading role and enhance strategic communication on bilateral relations and major international and regional issues," Xi said.

China and Germany need to properly handle differences through equal-footed dialogue and friendly consultation, and "give each other understanding and support on issues concerning our respective core interests and major concerns," he added.

The Chinese president also proposed to enhance the strategic synergy between "Made in China 2025" and Germany's "Industry 4.0" with a pioneering, innovative, open and inclusive approach.

He said the two sides need to "foster an investment environment of two-way openness and fair competition, deepen practical cooperation in such fields as innovation, the Internet, smart manufacturing, finance, energy, environmental protection and green development, and expand cooperation in third markets."

The two countries also need to step up cooperation within the framework of the "Belt and Road" Initiative and jointly contribute to security, stability and prosperity of countries along the routes, he added.
home World Alberta school board terminates agreement with Christian school over dispute about Bible verse

A public school board in Alberta, Canada has announced that it will terminate its agreement with a Christian school because it refused to remove Bible verses from its student handbook.

At a special meeting on Thursday, the trustees of the Battle River School Division (BRSD) voted in favor of cutting ties with the Cornerstone Christian Academy (CCA), which has been operated by the school board under an alternative program since 2009.

The BRSD stated in a letter that it will no longer operate the Christian Academy after June 30, 2018.

CBC reported that the board is also terminating the lease agreement for the school building in Kingman, 27 kilometers north of Camrose, as of next June.

According to a press release issued by Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms (JCCF), which represents the Christian academy, the school board wanted Cornerstone to sign a communication agreement that amounted to a "gag order."

The document released by the JCCF indicated that the dispute stemmed from a Bible verse the school had planned to include in its student handbook.

The Christian school had planned to include a reference from Corinthians which state that neither "fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate ... shall inherit the kingdom of God."

A spokesperson for the school board said that the trustees were concerned that the verses may contravene Alberta's human rights legislation.

"As a public school board we must ensure that any educational programming provided complies with board policy and procedure, provincial legislation including the Alberta Human Rights Act and the School Act," the school board stated in a letter to Cornerstone chair Deanna Margel.

"Unless those concerns can be resolved, we are unable to maintain the current relationship," it added.

According to Global News, Margel had stated that the school had agreed to drop the Bible verses from the handbook, but she feared that the board still wanted to limit what Bible verses the school is allowed to teach.

The academy stated in a news release that it wants to continue working with the school board. The board, on the other hand, said that it is hoping that the termination of the agreement will create a new opportunity for BRSD to lay the groundwork for a "new working relationship" with Cornerstone. The board noted that its master agreement with the academy provides for a 365-day "transition period" once the agreement is terminated.

Margel said that the board's decision to terminate the agreement "makes no sense if they truly desire to continue working together."

"It seems unwise, and completely unnecessary, to throw away years of productive co-operation in mere weeks because we've simply hit an unusual bump in the road. Things just don't add up," she added.
home US Americans celebrate Fourth of July

Americans will celebrate Independence Day on Tuesday with fireworks, acts of gluttony and escapes to the beach, even for people in New Jersey where legislators brokered a last-minute deal to reopen state parks.

In keeping with tradition, cities across the country will launch fireworks after dark, perhaps the most emblematic way to commemorate July 4, 1776, when the American colonies' Declaration of Independence from Britain was adopted.

The document enshrines the rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, which in many U.S. cities today involves competitions over how many hot dogs and hamburgers people can stuff down their throats in rapid succession.

In Washington, a hamburger restaurant challenges competitors to consume as many sandwiches as possible in 10 minutes, while in New York City, a seaside establishment stages a tournament that tests some of the world's most formidable consumers of frankfurters.

Americans are expected to flock to beaches, especially in the West where the weather is hot and dry, while the eastern part of the country may see scattered thunderstorms.

In New Jersey, a budget battle halted nonessential services, forcing state beaches and parks to close, but lawmakers on Monday night ended the three-day-old state government shutdown.

On Sunday, while state beaches were still closed, however, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie managed to visit Island Beach State Park, prompting outrage.

Maine residents are facing a partial government shutdown as well, but its state parks remain open. They are two of nine states to miss deadlines for passing a budget.

An informal peace and love celebration will mark the holiday in Oregon's Malheur National Forest. The annual Rainbow Family Gathering had drawn nearly 12,000 people by Monday, and thousands more were expected for July Fourth, said Ryan Nehl, a forest administrator.

Professing to have no leaders and no organization, the families mark Independence Day with "care-taking of mother earth, nonviolence and living a compassionate and loving life," according to one blog associated with the event.

Forest rangers are concerned they will be outnumbered.

"We don't want any of the groups to potentially surround any of the officers on site," Nehl said.

U.S. President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump are scheduled to attend a picnic for military families on the South Lawn of the White House and later view an 18-minute fireworks display.

City officials expect almost 700,000 visitors for a range of events in the U.S. capital.
home World Archaeologists unearth evidence of 2,000-year-old battle for Jerusalem

Archaeologists with the Israel Antiquities Authority have unearthed evidence of a battle that culminated in the destruction of Jerusalem nearly 2,000 years ago.

On Thursday, the Antiquities Authority unveiled relics from the battle, including well-preserved arrowheads and stone ballista balls, as part of Jerusalem's jubilee commemoration of the Six Day War.

According to The Jerusalem Post, the relics were found on the main road through the city to the Temple Mount.

In 66 A.D., Jewish rebels started barricading themselves within Jerusalem until they were defeated by the Roman army in 70 A.D. The Siege of Jerusalem ended with the sacking of the city and the destruction of the Second Temple.

"This battle is described by the historian Flavius Josephus [born 37 CE]: 'On the following day the Romans, having routed the brigands from the town, set the whole on fire as far as Siloam (Josephus, Wars, Book 6:363),'" the Antiquities Authority stated.

According to Nahshon Szanton and Moran Hagbi, the directors of the excavation, the ballista balls were fired by Roman catapults to bombard the city, while the arrowheads were used by the Jewish rebels.

The archaeologists also found a road running from the city's gates and the Pool of Siloam to the Temple.

"Recent research indicates that the street was built after Herod's reign, under the auspices of the Roman procurators of Jerusalem, and perhaps even during the tenure of the Roman governor Pontius Pilate, who is also known for having sentenced Jesus to death by crucifixion," Szanton said.

"This conclusion sheds new light on the history of Jerusalem in the late Second Temple period, and reinforces recognition of the importance of the Roman procurators' rule in shaping the character of Jerusalem," he added.

Aleteia reported that part of the road that has been discovered is 100 meters long by 7.5 meters wide and is paved with large stone slabs.

Hagbi noted that the current excavations are also aimed at exposing the area adjacent to the street, as well as the shops that were alongside it.

Dr. Yuval Baruch, the Antiquities Authority's Jerusalem region archaeologist, said that the researchers are expecting to unearth the entire length and width of the street within five years to complete the excavation of the site.

He noted that after the excavations, the remains of the street will be preserved and developed so that visitors will be able to walk along it.
home World Christian TV network in Russia offers homosexuals one-way tickets out of the country

A Russian Orthodox Christian TV channel has offered to give one-way tickets to homosexuals to emigrate out of the country for good.

Tsargrad TV recently posted a video on social media websites encouraging gay people to compete for a one-way plane ticket overseas.

"Just recently, California - the most liberal state in the USA by the way - proposed to facilitate the granting of green cards to Russian perverts," said TV host Andrei Afanasyev, according to the BBC.

"The staff of Tsargrad TV support this initiative. Moreover, we are ready to pay for a one-way ticket to anyone who plans to emigrate in complete earnest, and can provide a medical certificate proving that they are sodomites or have other forms of perversion," he added.

A Russian sexologist noted that it was unlikely that anyone would be able to obtain the medical certificate required by the network because sexual orientation was not considered as a disease.

The video was posted on the Russian social network VK, which was the most popular website in the country. The post, which featured clips of LGBT marches abroad, has since garnered over 34,000 views.

The TV host insisted that the video was not intended to troll users. "This is not a joke. We really want you to return there, where you can openly submit to your sins," Afanasyev said.

Tsargrad TV, which also refers to itself as Constantinople, boasts of an audience of about a quarter of the Russian population. Its founder, Konstantin Malofeev, said he views the network as the equivalent of America's Fox News.

The channel, which was set up to promote Christian Orthodox values, has been known to criticize Western countries for "low morals" and has regularly used derogatory terms to refer to LGBT individuals.

Some have expressed interest in taking up the channel's offer, though it is unclear how serious they are.

"It looks like my winning ticket to get out of this frigging country. What should I submit?" one user reportedly asked.

The video drew criticisms from a large majority of people responding to the video, with some calling the channel's staff "savages" and vowing to block it from their feeds.

The Russian church has been one of the harshest critics of the LGBT movement, with its highest cleric comparing gay marriage to Nazism over a month ago.

Activists have called on Western nations to grant asylum to Russian homosexuals in greater numbers following reports that gay men are being secretly and systematically imprisoned in Chechnya.
home US Court dismisses lawsuit challenging NC law that allows magistrates to opt out of performing gay weddings

A federal appeals court has dismissed a lawsuit that challenged a North Carolina law that allows magistrates to recuse themselves from performing gay wedding ceremonies or issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples.

On Wednesday, the Fourth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed the case filed by three couples, saying the lawsuit lacked legal standing because the law had not harmed the complainants.

The three-judge panel had argued that the complainants failed to prove personal harm because they have either already married their partner or are about to do so without any claim of obstruction.

"The outcome here is in no way a comment on same-sex marriage as a matter of social policy. The case before us is far more technical a whether plaintiffs, simply by virtue of their status as state taxpayers, have alleged a personal, particularized injury for the purposes of Article III standing," Circuit Court Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III wrote. "Based on a century of Supreme Court precedent, we conclude that they have not," he added.

Under the law, magistrates who file recusals are required to make other officials available to perform their duties. The plaintiffs argued that the law penalized them because taxpayer money is used to cover the travel expenses of magistrates.

The Christian Post reported that two of the plaintiffs were from McDowell County where all magistrates opted out of conducting same-sex weddings. The recusals forced magistrates from nearby Rutherford County to travel to McDowell to perform the marriages.

State Sen. Phil Berger, who introduced the SB 2 in 2015 to allow magistrates to recuse themselves from officiating same-sex weddings, hailed Wednesday's court decision.

"Once again, a federal court has rejected the idea that exercising one's First Amendment religious freedoms somehow infringes on others' rights," the senator said.

Berger's bill came with the condition that the individual who opted out of performing same-sex weddings remove themselves from the marriage business altogether.

According to Christian News Network, then-governor Pat McCrory vetoed the measure, but a majority vote subsequently overruled his veto.

Prior to the passage of the legislation, several North Carolina magistrates were forced to resign from their post because they could not, in good conscience, perform same-sex weddings.

In 2015, two magistrates sued the state's Administrative Office of the Courts, alleging that they were pressured to perform same-sex wedding ceremonies or face discipline. The magistrates also claimed that John Smith, the office's director, made no effort to accommodate their religious convictions.
home US Creationist drops lawsuit after park authorities grant him permission to study rocks in Grand Canyon

A creationist has dropped his lawsuit against the National Park Service after he obtained a research permit to study the rocks at Grand Canyon.

Andrew Snelling, a geologist who believes that the Grand Canyon was formed after Noah's flood, sued the National Park Service in May, alleging that he was denied permission to conduct research at the park because of his Christian beliefs about the origins of the earth.

In 2013, the geologist requested permission to obtain a few fist-sized rock samples to study the "folding Paleozoic sedimentary structures at four locations within the Grand Canyon." However, his request was denied after park authorities sent his proposal to reviewers, who reportedly advised the officials to turn down his application.

This week, Snelling had asked to drop the lawsuit after the National Park Service finally caved in to his request.

"We commend Park Service officials, Interior Secretary Zinke, and the Trump administration for understanding that specifically targeting Dr. Snelling's faith as the reason to stop his research was both inappropriate and unconstitutional," said Gary McCaleb of the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), co-counsel for Snelling.

Scientists who want to conduct research in the park are required to explain their objectives and obtain a permit.

According to World Net Daily, permit coordinator Ronda Newton asked for two peer reviews of Snelling's plans.

Snelling, who holds a doctorate in geology from the University of Sydney, had provided three peer reviews, but Newton went on to ask the opinion of two professors who were opposed to the creationist's proposal.

Karl Karlstrom, a professor from the University of New Mexico, reportedly demonstrated "antipathy for Dr. Snelling's religious faith and the religious views of the scientists who provided peer reviews on behalf of Dr. Snelling."

Peter Huntoon of the University of Wyoming, who has worked with Karlstrom on various projects, allegedly condemned Snelling's plan, saying "ours is a secular society as per our constitution (sic)" and suggested "inappropriate interests" should be "screened out."

Snelling, who works with the creationist organization Answers in Genesis, was required by the park to first travel through the canyon and obtain the GPS coordinates of locations he wanted to study before obtaining a permit.

A park officer reportedly said that Snelling's permit was initially denied because the rock samples he wanted is freely available outside the park.

McCaleb stated that the Park Service "finally admitted, 'Dr. Snelling's proposal is well stated with methods that are similar or equal to standard scientific practice to test the hypothesis provided,' so it is the right choice to let the research go forward."

"This settlement benefits everyone, in that it sends the message that the government will not interfere with basic scientific inquiry," said Michael Kitchen, lead counsel for Snelling.
home World European court rejects appeal of parents to continue life support for terminally-ill baby

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in Strasbourg, France has rejected a plea made by British parents to continue the life support of their terminally-ill baby.

Chris Gard and Connie Yates, parents of 10-month-old Charlie Gard, made the plea to the European court to allow them to take their son to the U.S. for an experimental treatment.

The parents have previously lost legal battles in the U.K.'s High Court, Court of Appeal and Supreme Court to keep their son on life support, the Daily Mail reported.

On June 19, the ECHR agreed to intervene and allow Charlie Gard to continue receiving treatment at the Great Ormond Street Hospital in the interest of preventing "imminent risk of irreparable harm." But on Tuesday, the parent's final hope was extinguished when the Strasbourg court ruled that their application was "inadmissible."

The majority of seven judges in the European Court backed the rulings of the U.K. courts and declared that the "decision is final."

The ECHR noted that the U.K. courts had concluded that "it was most likely Charlie was being exposed to continued pain, suffering and distress and that undergoing experimental treatment with no prospects of success would offer no benefit, and continue to cause him significant harm."

Charlie, who was born on Aug. 4 last year, is one of few people who suffers from a very rare mitochondrial disease that saps energy from organs and muscles.

The U.K. courts have accepted that it would be "futile" for the baby to have further treatment because he has irreversible brain damage and he is not able to see or move.

A Great Ormond Street spokesperson stated that there is "no rush" to end Charlie's treatment.

"(The) decision by the European Court of Human Rights marks the end of what has been a very difficult process and our priority is to provide every possible support to Charlie's parents as we prepare for the next steps," the spokeswoman said.

"There will be no rush by Great Ormond Street Hospital to change Charlie's care and any future treatment plans will involve careful planning and discussion," she added.

However, Gard and Yates are claiming that they are being rushed and that the hospital has denied their request to allow the baby to die at home.

"We can't even take our own son home to die, we have been denied that, do you not think we have been put through enough?" Gard said.

The parents also claimed that the hospital also said no to the baby dying in a hospice, and turned down their offer to arrange private transport to their home.
home US Evangelical support for gay marriage rises by more than twice, Pew poll reveals

Support for same-sex marriage is at an all-time high, and it has increased by more than twice over the last decade among evangelical Christians, according to a survey conducted by Pew Research Center.

The findings of the study, published on Monday, indicated that 62 percent of Americans are in favor of gay marriage, while 32 percent remain opposed.

Support for gay marriage among evangelical Christians has increased to 35 percent over the past 10 years when it was only 14 percent. As many as 59 percent of evangelicals remain opposed to allowing homosexuals to get married.

The survey results revealed that 47 percent of white evangelicals born after 1964 favor same-sex marriage, compared with 26 percent of older evangelicals who were born between 1928 and 1964.

The Republican Party and Republican-leaning independents are nearly split on the issue, with 47 percent in favor of gay marriage, and 48 percent opposed.

African-Americans who support gay marriage has also risen to 51 percent from 39 percent in 2015. White Americans, in general, were the most supportive of the practice at 64 percent, followed by Hispanics at 60 percent.

Among Baby Boomers, 56 percent favor allowing homosexuals to marry legally, while 39 percent remain opposed. Last year, Boomers were divided on the issue with 46 percent in favor and 48 percent opposed.

Julie Rodgers, a lesbian who once worked for evangelical Wheaton College, said she believes the shift in public opinion about gay marriage is "inevitable."

She said that her views about the issue shifted because she saw another way of interpreting the Bible.

"When pastors and leaders begin to come out (as LGBT affirming), people are going to move. They just need permission," she said. "It gives people another perspective and permission to say, 'I feel that way, too,'" she added.

Dr. Wesley Hill, from the Trinity School for Ministry, explained that the support for same-sex marriage among younger white Evangelicals stems from their idealistic way of thinking.

"I think so much of the current support for same-sex marriage is motivated by a genuine desire to see people flourish. Singleness is such a lonely experience for so many people today, and being lesbian or gay often means facing discrimination or ostracism," he told CBN News.

Hill asserted that many people in society today want to make homosexuals feel "at home," and for the younger generation, marriage appears to be the ideal "home" for members of the LGBT community.

"If we're ever going to change that trend, we have to show, in our churches and in our families and communities, that there is another home a a truer, more life-giving one a that Christ offers," he said.
home US Francis Chan explains decision to leave his thriving megachurch

Famous author Francis Chan recently revealed the reason for his abrupt departure from his own megachurch in California seven years ago.

During a talk at Facebook headquarters on Thursday, Chan explained in detail his reasons for leaving the Cornerstone Church in Simi Valley, California, which drew around 5,000 people each week before his departure in April 2010.

Chan said that he felt he was wasting the "supernatural" gifts of the people who attend the service of Cornerstone each week because they only come to listen to him instead of contributing to Church.

Additionally, he believed that the church was not following God's command to love one another because the attendees would simply greet each other for 30 seconds and hang out in cliques once a week.

When Chan announced his decision to leave Cornerstone in 2010, he said he felt a restlessness and stirring to let go of the church he founded in his living room.

In his talk at Facebook, Chan revealed that he decided to leave the church partly because he wanted to get away from the pride he began to feel as his book, "Crazy Love," became a bestseller and as he grew in popularity as a Christian speaker. He went on to explain to the audience that God hates pride and that one can easily lose humility.

Chan now leads a movement in San Francisco called We Are Church, which is comprised of about 14 to 15 house churches and 30 pastors. The churches are intended to be small, so members can get to know each other and make use of their gifts.

He noted that those who join the churches include "guys coming off the streets, out of prison to doctors and people that work here (Facebook) or Google."

Chan emphasized that attending the house churches is free, and he hopes to double the number of the churches each year so that there will be 1.2 million people participating in the movement in just 10 years.

He went on to narrate his encounter with a former gang member whom he baptized in Cornerstone, but that man later left even though he was quite involved in the church.

"One of my friends asked him, 'Hey, how come you're not at Cornerstone anymore?' He said 'I didn't understand church. When I was baptized, I thought that was going to be being jumped into the gang where it's like 24/7 they're my family, because I didn't know it was just somewhere we attend on Sundays," he recounted.

"That makes me so sick that the gangs are a better picture of family than the church of Jesus Christ. I can't live with that. ... We're going to do something different," he added.

He admitted that his former gig at Cornerstone was easier in some aspects, but he said that he loves what he is doing now.

The bestselling author revealed that he gives away all the money he earns from his books. He said that he had prayed years ago that God would either raise up a new generation of rich people who would give all their money away or make him rich so that he could give his riches away "give it all away to show that you're better than all of that." When he surprisingly made a million dollars the next year through his book and made more in subsequent years, he signed it all over to a charitable gift fund.

"It's been the best thing. Now I spend my days going and looking where are the needs around the world and how can I contribute to it?" he said.
home World German Parliament votes to legalize same-sex marriage despite opposition from Christian party

The German Parliament has voted to legalize same-sex marriage despite opposition from the Bavaria-based Christian Social Union (CSU) party.

On Friday, members of the parliament voted 393 to 226, with four abstentions, to give full marital rights to gay couples and allow them to adopt children.

The CSU, which is the more conservative sister party of Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party, has voiced out its firm opposition to same-sex marriage.

"The marriage of man and woman is under special protection because it is fundamentally oriented toward creating new life. This is not the case in homosexual relationships," CSU's Gerda Hasselfeldt stated, prior to the vote.

Merkel was among the 226 who voted against same-sex marriage, but she maintained that she believes marriage is between man and a woman. She said she hopes that the decision will lead to "social cohesion and peace."

The chancellor drew the ire of some members of her traditionally Catholic conservative bloc when she announced on Monday that she would allow lawmakers to vote on the issue according to their individual conscience.

Erika Steinbach, an independent lawmaker who quit the CDU in protest of Merkel's open-door policy towards asylum seekers, accused the German leader of betraying the party's values in an attempt to defuse the politically sensitive issue before the September election.

"It runs against the CDU's own party program, which sees marriage as being between a man and a woman, so CDU decisions are clearly not worth the paper they are written on. It would be hard to exaggerate how excruciating this is," Steinbach stated.

Merkel, a daughter of a Protestant pastor, is seeking a fourth term in a national election on Sept. 24.

Germany has allowed same-sex couples to take part in civil partnerships since 2001, but gay marriage has remained illegal, according to Premier.

Political parties, including the Social Democrats, have long been calling for the legalization of same-sex marriage. The Green Party and the Free Democratic Party have reportedly ruled out working closely with Merkel after the elections unless gay marriage would be supported in any coalition deal.

The measure to legalize same-sex marriage will now be sent to the upper house of the German Parliament, where it is expected to pass.

Germany is set to join more than a dozen other European countries, including France, Britain and Spain, in allowing same-sex couples to marry.
home World Iraqi forces declare end of ISIS caliphate after capturing historic mosque in Mosul

Iraqi security forces announced the end of the Islamic State's caliphate on Thursday after capturing the historic mosque that symbolized the terror group's power in Mosul.

"Their fictitious state has fallen," military spokesperson Brigadier General Yahya Rasool told state TV on Thursday, three years to the day since the caliphate was declared on the same spot by ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

"The return of al-Nuri Mosque and al-Hadba minaret to the fold of the nation marks the end of the Daesh state of falsehood," Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said, using the Arabic acronym for the terror group.

The 12th-century al-Nuri mosque was blown up by ISIS last week when the U.S.-backed Iraqi forces began a push in its direction, Reuters reported. The jihadist group has flown its black flag from the al-Hadba minaret since 2014.

Lt. Gen. Abdul Wahab al-Saadi said that elite special troops entered the compound on Thursday afternoon following a dawn offensive and took control of the surrounding areas. Explosive experts will have to clear the area as ISIS often rigs sites with booby traps before retreating.

There are approximately 300 militants still fighting in the Old City district, and the terror group still holds territory on the west side of the Tigris River, according to The Independent.

The prime minister has "issued instructions to bring the battle to its conclusion," according to his office.

On Friday, U.S.-backed Iraqi forces stormed the remaining forts held by ISIS in Mosul's Old City, a day after capturing the al-Nuri mosque.

Commanders of Iraq's CTS counter-terrorism units stated that the battle remains challenging as many non-Iraqi ISIS militants have blended in with civilians and are likely to fight to the death.

The operation to liberate Mosul began in October 2016 with a coalition made up of the Iraqi army, elite counter-terrorism units, Iranian-funded militias and Kurdish Peshmerga.

The terror group's stronghold in the Syrian city of Raqqa is under siege, with U.S.-backed forces encircling the city after closing the militants' escape route from the south.

ISIS, however, has denied that it is losing the battle for Mosul, saying the Iraqi army had virtually collapsed with 300 killed and wounded.

"The epic battle of Mosul is one of the most important battles of Islam and its lessons will be applied in other confrontations God willing," the group stated in its weekly publication, al-Naaba.

On June 17, Russia reported that its forces might have been killed Al-Baghdadi in an air strike, but the U.S. government said that it has no information to corroborate such reports.
home US Man destroys Ten Commandments monument on Arkansas Capitol a day after installation

Capitol police arrested a man after he toppled the new Ten Commandments monument that was installed on the grounds of the Arkansas capitol building on Tuesday.

The 6-foot-tall display was destroyed less than 24 hours after its installation when Michael Tate Reed of Van Buren allegedly drove his vehicle into the stone monument. Reed, who recorded the incident and posted the video on Facebook, reportedly yelled "freedom," as he drove his car into the display.

Christian News Network reported that the 32-year-old man was taken into custody on charges of defacing objects of public interest, criminal trespass and first-degree criminal mischief. He is facing jail time and a fine of $2,500 for the offenses.

In another Facebook video, a man who identified himself as Michael Reed expressed his beliefs in Jesus and the separation of church and state.

"I'm a firm believer that part of salvation is that we not only have faith in Jesus Christ but we obey the commands of God, and that we confess Jesus as Lord," the man said in the video.

"But one thing I do not support is the violation of our Constitutional right to have the freedom that's guaranteed to us, that guarantees the separation of church and state, 'cause no one religion should the government represent," he added.

In 2014, a man by the same name crashed his car into the Ten Commandments monument installed at Oklahoma's Capitol. The man was later admitted to the hospital for mental treatment, but no formal charges were filed against him.

The installation of the monument follows the passage of a 2015 bill known as "The Ten Commandments Monument Display Act," which allowed the Decalogue display near the Capitol. Last month, a state panel gave final approval to the design and location of the privately funded granite monument.

Prior to the toppling of the monument, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) threatened to file a lawsuit, arguing that the display violated the U.S. Constitution.

"At a time when we do not need any more religious conflict and divisiveness in the world and in this country, it violates the First Amendment promise of religious liberty to all," said ACLU Executive Director Rita Sklar.

The Satanic Temple also challenged the Decalogue display by pushing for the installation of a competing statue of Baphomet, a goat-headed, angel-winged creature accompanied by two children smiling at it. However, the Temple's efforts were blocked by a new law enacted this year requiring legislative approval before new proposals for monuments can be considered by the commission.
home World Nearly 6 out of 10 Scots are now religiously unaffiliated, according to new survey

The number of religiously unaffiliated Scots has reached a record high, with nearly six out of 10 describing themselves as having no religion.

A survey conducted by independent research body ScotCen found that 58 percent of respondents said they had no religion at all, compared to 40 percent in 1999.

The Scottish Attitudes Survey indicated that the sharpest decline was in The Church of Scotland, where only 18 percent said they belong to the Kirk, down from 35 percent in 1999, according to the BBC.

The proportion of Roman Catholics (10 percent), other Christian denominations (11 percent), and non-Christian faiths (two percent) have remained relatively stable in Scotland over the same period.

"The decline in religious identity in Scotland has been most keenly felt by the Kirk as fewer and fewer people choose to describe themselves as Church of Scotland by default. As each generation coming through is consistently less religious than the last, it is hard to imagine this trend coming to a halt in the near future," said ScotCen researcher Ian Montagu.

"However, if the Kirk is able to push through liberalising measures such as allowing ministers to oversee same-sex marriage ceremonies, it is possible that its appeal may broaden somewhat to younger, more socially liberal Scots," he added.

The survey was based on interviews with 1,237 people conducted between July 2016 and December 2016.

The Reverend Norman Smith, the convener of the Church of Scotland's Mission and Discipleship Council, said that the findings of the study do not come as a surprise for the Church. He stated that the challenge for the Church is to find ways to "connect people's everyday life to faith."

Smith pointed to another study reported in the Daily Telegraph, which he says indicated that "Christianity continues to have an impact on people's lives."

The news agency recently reported that new figures have found that one in six young people are practicing Christians, while thousands convert to Christianity after visiting church buildings.

Meanwhile, the British Social Attitudes Survey, also conducted in 2016, revealed that British people, especially Christians, are becoming more accepting of same-sex marriage, abortion, pornography and sex before marriage.

The survey found that 64 percent of the U.K. public now say same-sex relationships are "not wrong at all," up from 57 percent in 2013, the year before gay marriage was legalized.

About three-quarters of British people now say sex before marriage is "not wrong at all," up from 42 percent when the question was first asked in 1983. Christians seemed to be following the national trend, with a majority now saying there is nothing wrong with sex between unmarried people.

Among Roman Catholics, whose church strongly opposes abortion, 61 percent said that a woman should be permitted to terminate her pregnancy if she does not want a child.
home World Nigerian preachers urge Christian students to boycott compulsory Islamic studies in school

Christian preachers in Nigeria have criticized the government's decision to impose compulsory Islamic studies in schools and are now calling on Christian students to boycott the classes.

Last week, Christian leaders associated with the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN) met in Lagos to discuss their opposition to the introduction of Arabic Sstudies in secondary schools in Nigeria.

The religious leaders present at the meeting include Pastor Enoch Adeboye of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), Pastor W.F. Kumuyi of Deeper Life Bible Church, Bishop David Oyedepo of the Living Faith Church, Bishop Mike Okonkwo of The Redeemed Evangelical Mission (TREM) and Reverend Felix Omobude.

The leaders called for the immediate reversal of the revised Basic Education Curriculum, especially the removal of Christian Religious Studies (CRS) as part of a subject known as Religion and National Values, NAIJ reported. The pastors argued that CRS should be considered as a separate subject just as it has always been.

They also called on Christian students across Nigeria to "not attend Arabic classes," claiming that the government lacks the authority to force the children to attend the compulsory lessons.

"We are aware of orchestrated plans to subtly use this policy as a means of forceful religious indoctrination and we maintain our stand against it," the PFN stated.

"Government has no right to force subjects on any any Nigerian child neither does it have the authority to drop Christian Religious Studies at the Senior Secondary School level while asking him/her to continue to read Islamic Studies which he/she cannot do at university level," said Oyedepo.

The bishop also emphasized that the removing CRS from the curriculum automatically meant that it would not be embraced at the tertiary institutions.

Omobude, who serves as the national president of PFN, expressed concern over the controversy surrounding the revised Basic Education Curriculum and pointed to the case of in Kwara State where a Christian female student was allegedly beaten and forced to take Arabic Studies against her wish.

Meanwhile, Kate Nwufo, the acting Executive Secretary of Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council, denied claims that CRS has been removed from the curriculum.

"We have developed a curriculum on religion and national values to expose pupils to see relationship between moral values - which entails religion, social values - and civic values," she said.

The Christian Association of Nigeria, the largest Christian organization in Nigeria, has alleged that there is discrimination against Christian students in the curriculum and has called on the government to publish full details of the new courses.
home US Ohio Senate advances bill that would ban dismemberment abortions

The Ohio Senate has advanced a legislation that would ban dismemberment abortions, a method that involves the use of steel instruments to extract the unborn baby from the womb in pieces.

The Senate voted 24a9 on Wednesday to approve the Dismemberment Abortion Ban (SB 145), which is sponsored by Senators Matt Huffman (R-Lima) and Steve Wilson (R-Maineville).

The measure would ban dismemberment abortions, also known as the dilation and evacuation procedure, which is typically performed in the second trimester.

Dismemberment has been defined in the bill as "with the purpose of causing the death of an unborn child, to dismember a living unborn child and extract the unborn child one piece at a time from the uterus through use of clamps, grasping forceps, tongs, scissors, or similar instruments that, through the convergence of two rigid levers, slice, crush, or grasp a portion of the unborn child's body to cut or rip it off."

The bill was passed by the Ohio Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday, and it is expected to go before the Ohio House this fall after the summer recess.

Life Site News noted that an estimated 3,000 abortions were performed in Ohio using the dilation and evacuation method. The same method is used in 95 percent of second-trimester abortions across the nation.

Jaime Miracle, a spokeswoman for NARAL Pro-choice Ohio, testified in the Senate hearing against the bill, claiming that the dismemberment abortion ban is unconstitutional and bad for the state.

The spokeswoman argued that the ban would leave doctors with limited second-trimester abortion options, adding that such options are not as safe.

The passage of the measure has been hailed by the Ohio Pro-life group Created Equal. "With the passage of this bill in the Ohio Senate, Ohio is now one step closer to ending this brutal method of murdering babies," said the group's national director, Mark Harrington.

Ohio Right to Life also applauded the Senate for advancing the legislation. Mike Gonidakis, the group's president, stated that the legislation is part of a larger pro-life national agenda.

"With as much as we've accomplished in the last six years, our dismemberment ban is arguably the most significant and groundbreaking legislation to date," he said.

According to Life News, the dismemberment abortion ban is based on model legislation from the National Right to Life Committee. The pro-life organization noted that eight states have passed laws banning dismemberment abortions since 2015.

Earlier this year, Texas became the latest state to enact the dismemberment abortion ban, joining Arkansas, Alabama, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, and West Virginia.
home US Oklahoma college reconsiders plans to remove religious symbols from campus chapel

The officials at East Central University (ECU) in Ada, Oklahoma are reconsidering their decision to remove religious symbols and Bibles from the campus chapel following backlash from politicians and religious leaders.

Last week, the university announced its plans to remove Bibles, crosses and other religious symbols from the Kathryn P. Boswell Memorial Chapel after it received a letter from the Washington, D.C.-based advocacy group Americans United for Separation of Church and State.

Americans United noted that the public university is allowed to have a space that can be used for religious worship, as long as it is not dedicated solely for that purpose. However, the group called for the removal of the religious symbols, insisting that displaying religious iconography on government property is a violation of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

In a statement released on Thursday, the university officials expressed plans to remove the religious items.

"We discussed (the matter) with ECU's executive council and with the general counsel of the Regional University System of Oklahoma and we are responding appropriately. ECU is doing its best to follow the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment of the Constitution," ECU President Dr. Katricia Pierson stated, as reported by KFOR.

The decision drew criticisms from some religious leaders, who maintained that it is not wrong for a university to display crosses.

"It's time for Christian people to take a stand for our history and heritage. The idea that the cross excludes people is not true -- it's the opposite. The cross represents that all are welcome, that people of all walks of life are loved by God," said Randall Christy, founder of the Gospel Station Network.

After drawing backlash, the university officials announced that they will suspend the removal of the religious symbols for now.

"We moved too quickly," Pierson said, "We regret not taking time to pause and thoughtfully consider the request and the results of our actions on all of the students, faculty and community members who we serve," she added.

Pierson initially noted that the university decided to remove the symbols to show support for all cultures and religious beliefs. She said that the school will immediately begin convening a committee of students, faculty and community members who represent a diversity of viewpoints to discuss the issue.

The university president further stated that the school will neither take away any further artifacts nor return the removed items until the committee discusses the issue and establishes policies or guidelines for religious expression on campus.

Christy, who serves as the pastor of Union Valley Church, south of Ada, told Tulsa World that he contacted the American Center for Law and Justice and the Liberty Counsel, two Christian law firms, to "find out if we qualify for representation."
home US Texas Supreme Court curbs employment benefits for gay spouses of government workers

The Texas Supreme Court has unanimously ruled that the spouses of homosexual government workers are not necessarily entitled to employment benefits.

The high court stated that the landmark 2015 U.S. Supreme Court decision Obergefell v. Hodges, which legalized same-sex marriage nationwide, did not address issues such as payments of spousal benefits for government employees.

"The Supreme Court held in Obergefell that the Constitution requires states to license and recognize same-sex marriages to the same extent that they license and recognize opposite-sex marriages, but it did not hold that states must provide the same publicly funded benefits to all married persons," Justice Jeffrey Boyd wrote on behalf of the panel, as reported by Christian News Network.

"Of course, that does not mean ... that the city may constitutionally deny benefits to its employees' same-sex spouses. Those are the issues that this case now presents," he added.

The case was sent back to a lower court, with the Texas Supreme Court saying it could not decide on whether to grant the plaintiff's request to recover previously paid benefits.

The lawsuit was filed by a pastor and an accountant against the city of Houston in 2013 when then-Mayor Annise Parker issued an order that required the city to pay municipal spousal benefits to same-sex couples who were married out-of-state as such unions were illegal in Texas at the time.

The plaintiffs argued that the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling on same-sex marriage was poorly reasoned and that same-sex couples were not entitled to spousal employment benefits.

The Texas Supreme Court had previously refused to hear the case, but supporters, with the help of Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, urged the justices to reconsider. The high court agreed to hear the case in January, and held a hearing for oral arguments in March before it released its written opinion on Friday.

Houston has been paying benefits for spouses of gay employees, and Mayor Sylvester Turner vowed that the city would not stop providing the benefits despite the ruling.

"The City of Houston will continue to be an inclusive city that respects the legal marriages of all employees," he said, according to Time. "Marriage equality is the law of the land, and everyone is entitled to the full benefits of marriage, regardless of the gender of their spouse," he added.

LGBT rights groups have expressed their intentions to appeal all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court if Texas courts decide against them.

The gay rights groups noted that the Texas court decision followed a U.S. Supreme Court case when the justices narrowly ruled that states may not treat married same-sex couples differently when issuing birth certificates. The U.S. Supreme Court decision overturned an Arkansas court ruling, which stated that married lesbian couples cannot be both listed on their children's birth certificates.
home US Twitter blocks pro-life group from buying ads due to messages criticizing Planned Parenthood

A leading pro-life group has been prohibited from buying advertisements on social media giant Twitter due to "inflammatory" and "offensive" messages criticizing Planned Parenthood.

Twitter has reportedly blocked the pro-life group Live Action from advertising on the platform until all messages that have been deemed offensive are deleted. The group has claimed that most of the tweets that have been considered offensive are messages that are critical of Planned Parenthood.

"I think it's clear that Twitter is discriminating against the pro-life voice," Live Action President Lila Rose told Fox News' Tucker Carlson.

"Planned Parenthood is allowed to promote their pro-abortion and misleading messages, while Live Action is barred from promoting any content exposing abortion and Planned Parenthood," she added.

The social media giant has reportedly flagged the pro-life group's tweets with ultrasound pictures and fact-checks of Planned Parenthood as violating its hate content and sensitive topic policy.

According to Life Site News, Twitter has asked Live Action to delete tweets containing ultrasound images of preborn children, as well as its tweets calling for the end of taxpayer funding for Planned Parenthood.

A representative from Twitter reportedly told the pro-life organization that it would have to delete all of its tweets and overhaul its website in order to advertise on the platform.

One particular advertisement that Twitter refused to allow on the platform was a picture of a baby in the womb with the caption, "I Am Not a Potential Human" at the top and "I Am a Human With Potential" at the bottom.

A spokesperson for Twitter claimed that ideology is not taken into account in the enforcement of the company's advertisement policy.

"Twitter has clear, transparent rules that every advertiser is required to follow, and the political viewpoints of an organization do not impact how these rules are applied," a statement from Twitter read.

Rose asserted that Twitter's actions are indicative of an "epidemic" of the suppression of free speech that is happening in universities across the U.S.

Twitter has prevented other pro-life groups from buying ads on its platform in the past. The Susan B. Anthony List, a political action committee that works to get pro-life women elected to Congress, has been prevented from posting a tweet that stated: "Abortion is profoundly anti-woman. Three quarters of its victims are women and children: Half the babies and all the mothers."

The social media company reportedly stated that the message violated its policy prohibiting "the promotion of health and pharmaceutical products and services."
home World UK court overturns conviction of two Christian preachers charged with public order offenses

An appeals court in the U.K. has overturned the conviction of two Christian preachers who were previously found guilty of religiously-aggravated public order offenses for preaching at a mall in Bristol.

Michael Overd, 53, and Michael Stockwell, 51, were fined 300 (US$395) each and ordered jointly to pay court costs of 3,372 (US$4,442) in February for violating the Crime and Disorder Act.

The two men were filmed in July 2016 preaching at Broadmead Shopping Centre in Bristol, telling the shoppers being gay was "immoral" and shouting "Mohammed is a liar."

The men had been preaching and answering questions from shoppers on a variety of topics such as Islam, Buddhism, Jehovah's Witnesses, homosexuality and other moral and religious issues, according to Christian News Network.

A crowd of up to 100 people has reportedly gathered around the men chanting "go home" before the police came to arrest them.

They insisted that they were simply reading from the King James Bible and denied that they directed hostility at other faiths or sexualities.

On Thursday, the judges at Bristol Crown Court overruled the conviction of the street preachers, saying it has not been proved that their offense was religiously-aggravated.

The judges noted that Stockwell, a former U.S. Marine from Selden, New York, "did no more than express his no doubt sincerely held religious beliefs." They also stated that Overd, who resides in Creech St. Michael, Somerset, seemed to take satisfaction in "working the crowd," but had not committed a public order offense.

Judge Martin Picton, along with two magistrates, found that the prosecution had failed to prove that the preachers showed hostility to members of another religious group.

"I feel elated that it is over," Stockwell told Bristol Post. "My heart is still for the Bristol people, and that they will be able to hear the gospel being preached on the streets unhindered," he added.

Overd said that he was "very sad" that "this is what this country has come to," but he vowed that he would continue preaching.

"This is not an isolated case. How many times must we go to court before there is respect for the law?" Overd stated. "My heart bleeds for this country, but I am a patriot and I will be back on the streets to preach," he went on to say.

Andrea Williams, chief executive of the Christian Legal Centre, which supported the preachers, celebrated the ruling as a "victory for freedom of speech."
home World UK government says women from Northern Ireland can now get free abortions in England

The U.K. government has announced that pregnant women from Northern Ireland will now be able to obtain free abortions in England.

Chancellor Philip Hammond told MPs on Thursday that the government will be funding the abortions of women arriving from Northern Ireland, where the procedure remains illegal.

The announcement came amid mounting pressure from MPs and a proposed amendment to the Queen's Speech urging the government to provide adequate funding for Northern Irish women who travel to England to obtain an abortion.

The Telegraph reported that the terminations will be funded by the Government Equalities Office and that the National Health Service (NHS) will not face any extra costs.

Minister for Equalities Justine Greening wrote a letter to MPs expressing her own personal support for the issue.

"At present women from Northern Ireland are asked for payment and from now on it is our proposal that this will no longer happen. This is clearly a sensitive issue and one which has direct implications for equality in treatment of women from Northern Ireland," she wrote.

The pro-life group Precious Life condemned the decision as an "outrageous attack on democracy."

"UK taxpayers should also be outraged that, while thousands of people are waiting years on NHS waiting lists for vital medical treatment because of lack of funding, the government is now going to fund more abortions that are never medically necessary," said the group's director, Bernadette Smyth.

A report recently published by the U.K. Department of Health has revealed that 724 Northern Irish women had traveled to England for abortions in 2016. The latest figure is said to be the lowest since England passed the Abortion Act in 1967.

Earlier this month, the U.K. Supreme Court ruled that the NHS cannot be compelled to pay for abortions of women from Northern Ireland. The ruling was based on an NHS policy that prohibits funding of medical services in England that would be illegal if received in Northern Ireland.

The challenge to the policy was brought by a woman from Northern Ireland who took her daughter to England in 2012 to obtain an abortion. She argued that the policy was discriminatory and violated her daughter's rights.

In a split decision of 3a2, the judges upheld the ruling of the lower courts that the policy did not amount to unlawful discrimination. The court noted that the availability and funding of abortions in Northern Ireland was a matter for the democratic process in the region and not the responsibility of the NHS.
home World Vatican pro-life academy draws criticism for 'cowardly' statement on withdrawal of life support of terminally-ill baby

The Vatican's Pontifical Academy for Life has drawn criticisms for its statement regarding the withdrawal of life support of Charlie Gard, a 10-month-old baby who suffers from a rare genetic disease.

Charlie's parents, Chris Gard and Connie Yates, wanted to take their son to the U.S. for an experimental treatment, but the U.K. Supreme Court last month ruled that the treatment would only prolong the baby's suffering without any prospect of helping him. They appealed to the European Court of Human Rights to overturn the ruling, but it refused to intervene.

After the European court declined the parents' appeal, the Pontifical Academy for Life issued a statement, describing the case as a very "complex" situation.

"[W]e must also accept the limits of medicine and, as stated in paragraph 65 of the Encyclical Evangelium Vitae, avoid aggressive medical procedures that are disproportionate to any expected results or excessively burdensome to the patient or the family," the statement from the academy read.

The academy's statement stands in contrast to a tweet from Pope Francis, which emphasized that it is a "duty of love that God entrusts to all" to defend human life. The pope's tweet was posted on his English and Italian language accounts several hours after the academy issued the statement, Life News reported.

T. Becket Adams, a commentary writer for the Washington Examiner, described the academy's statement as "cowardly."

"Reading this cowardly Vatican sttmnt on baby Gard's death sentence reminds me of the 'shhh' in Mellish's final scene in Saving Private Ryan," he wrote, referring to a 1998 war movie.

On July 2, the Vatican issued a statement saying Pope Francis is offering his prayers for the baby, and asking that his parents' wishes be respected.

"The Holy Father follows with affection and emotion the story of Charlie Gard and expresses his own closeness to his parents," read a statement issued by Vatican spokesman Greg Burke. "He prays for them, wishing that their desire to accompany and care for their own child to the end will be respected," he added.

Charlie was admitted to the Great Ormond Street Hospital in London in October and was diagnosed as suffering from a mitochondrial disease that causes progressive muscle weakness and brain damage.

The baby's parents had subsequently discovered that 18 people in the U.S. had been treated with an oral medication to remedy the rare condition.

While the parents are aware that no cure has been promised, the hospital has argued that removing Charlie's life support would be in his "best interests."

Gard and Yates have received 1.3 million pounds ($1.68 million) from more than 83,000 donors to help pay for Charlie's treatment in the U.S.

A day after the Vatican conveyed its support for Charlie, U.S. President Donald Trump also expressed his intention to help the family.

"If we can help little #CharlieGard, as per our friends in the U.K. and the Pope, we would be delighted to do so," the president wrote in a tweet.
From a pharaohs protector to Charles Is stirrups: 5 centuries-old lots with links to royalty

Christies has a rich history of selling property from royal and noble households, and this tradition continues in Classic Week in London. Here, we take a look at 5 lots with royal provenance or connections, offered across various sales in July

1

A pharaohs stone goddess This Egyptian granite Head of Sekhmet, to be offered in the Antiquities sale on 5 July, was made under Pharaoh Amenhotep III, ruler of Egypt from 1388 to 1351 BC. This example once decorated the sanctuary at the Temple of Mut at Karnak, where about 200 similar works can still be seen today.

Sekhmet, depicted as a lion-headed woman, was a feared goddess who could be both destructive and healing. Her name means the female powerful one. More statues exist of her than of all other deities combined. It is suggested that this is due to the seven years of crippling plagues during Pharaoh Amenhotep IIIs reign, and that statues of Sekhmet were erected to try to bring the pestilence to an end.



2

A letter signed by Elizabeth I This signed document by Elizabeth I  bearing her striking, calligraphic signature  sends instructions for the strengthening of the Cambridgeshire and Ely county militia. The young Queen instructs Lord North, the lord lieutenant of the county, to ready his troops in anticipation of an invasion from France, of whose doubtfull procedings she is wary.

Open a larger version of this image Elizabeth I (15331603), Queen of England and Ireland. Document signed (Elizabeth R), instructions on the county militias addressed to Lord North [Edward, 1st Baron North (c. 14961564)] as Lord Lieutenant of Cambridgeshire and the Isle of Ely, n.p., n.d. [?1559]. 6 pages, 312 x 209 mm. Estimate: 12,000-18,000. This work is offered in Valuable Books & Manuscripts on 12 July at Christies London

The degree of central control in the letter is notable  it even includes a price-list for buying new equipment for the militia; and it is also striking how much was asked of individual citizens in defending their country, both in money and time  the letter even specifies that they are to give up the afternoon of every public holiday for the next two or three months for military training. The worry it expresses about people of secrete welthe not paying their share  the tax avoiders of their day  strikes a contemporary note. This rare document is a snapshot from one of the golden periods of English history. It is signed by the last, and greatest, of the Tudors monarchs, under whose reign arts and culture would flourish, international exploration was encouraged, and religious tolerance would be increased: Elizabeth, it could be argued, laid the foundations for the values and freedoms the UK enjoys today.

3

Charles Is stirrups These riding stirrups were made for the coronation of Charles I, and were later used by William III in the Battle of the Boyne (1690). Charles I became King in 1625, but his coronation did not take place until the following year; 1626 is inscribed on the leather of these stirrups, next to a crown with the cypher C.R.

Although there are no detailed depictions of the trappings of Charles Is horse, we know that the coronation procession by barge from Hampton Court to Westminster was derailed by strong tides, forcing Charles to make the last part of the journey on horse  with his feet secured by these very stirrups. This royal provenance is given credence by entries to the 19th-century journal Notes and Queries, self-described as a medium of inter-communication for literary men. In Volume VII of the 4th Series, printed in 1871, Major Stewart Blacker writes, The stirrups, however, bear evidence as being the property of an earlier king than William III, viz. Charles I the leather was looped on, is plainly marked, dotted or inscribed, a royal crown, with the cypher C.R. and the date 1626 beneath.

Open a larger version of this image Print of Charles I and the Duke of Hamilton (After Van Dyke, 1782)

In the previous edition of Notes and Queries, a correspondent had written: Some time previous to the month of August 1835, I saw in the house a pair of stirrups, which were then very carefully preserved, and were represented (no doubt truly) as what had been used by King William III at the battle of the Boyne. Williams use of accoutrements belonging to his grandfather, Charles I, such as these stirrups, was a symbolic gesture  he had been born and raised in Holland, and invited to take the British throne by influential British Protestants, deposing his Catholic father-in-law James II in the process. It is believed that no other pairs of 17th-century stirrups with a royal association are known to survive.

4

Chairs owned by Marie-Antoinette Marie-Antoinette (1755-1793), the last Queen of France and Navarre through her marriage to Louis XVI, had notoriously expensive tastes. Yet if her spending was ruinous, her taste was exemplary. These elegant and finely carved fauteuils were probably delivered to her apartments at the Chateau de St. Cloud, in 1785. They are closely related to two chaises stamped by Jean-Baptiste-Claude Sene (1748-1803), a maitre menuisier, and inscribed 'pour le service de la/ Reine a St Cloud/ n. 299', which were acquired by the Louvre in 1944.

Marie-Antoinette bought the Chateau de St. Cloud from Louis-Philippe, Duc d'Orleans, in 1785, furnishing it mostly with furniture and works of art collected from other royal residences. New pieces were also commissioned, and completed in haste to be ready for the first visit by the King and his Queen in the summer of 1785.

5

A Vernet landscape treasured by Raine, Countess Spencer This landscape painting by Claude-Joseph Vernet, to be offered in The Old Masters Evening Sale on 6 July, had been owned by a Grand Chancellor of Russia and a French botanist before coming into the possession of Raine, Countess Spencer, stepmother to Diana, Princess of Wales. Vernet was a leading 18th-century marine painter, celebrated for his studies of idyllic harbours and stormy coastlines across Europe. In 1753 Vernet was summoned by Louis XV to return to his native France from Rome, where he had lived for 20 years, to paint a series of views of French seaports for the King.
5 minutes with A Bronze Age ceremonial dirk

Antiquities specialist Claudio Corsi admires this rare, museum-quality weapon discovered in Holland a century ago. Well over 3,000 years old and one of only five of its kind known to exist, it is offered in London on 5 July

A dirk is a dagger. The word came into use in Scotland in the 17th century, probably from the Dutch, Swedish and Danish dolk, and German dolch. This dirk, offered in the Antiquities sale in London on 5 July, is from the Middle Bronze Age in Europe, between 1500 and 1350 BC. There is one problem, however. The first thing that strikes one is that its too big to be a dirk, says Claudio Corsi, a specialist in Antiquities at Christies London. It was ceremonial. What kind of ceremony, or what the significance of the dirk might have been, is unknown. Besides its unwieldy size, a further indication that the dirk had no practical use is that there are no holes at the base, where rivets would have held the blade to the hilt. It is almost a symbolic representation of a dirk, which would have been used as an emblem of power, suggests Corsi. An item of this size and expense would have belonged to a noble, wealthy and powerful person. The production of bronze was a major cultural innovation of the period, says Corsi. The technology had spread from the Middle East into Europe around 2100 BC, and smiths with the knowledge to make such pieces were revered for what appeared almost as alchemy. This particular dirk is of the highest quality, with no casting faults or imperfections, and a decorative design made by a highly-skilled bronzesmith.

Found between 1894 and 1900 in the Ommerschans district of the Netherlands, this dirk was originally buried together with a number of smaller bronze and stone items. Remarkably, one of the items is a small razor known to have come from Sicily. This find, according to Corsi, gives us an idea of how wide the network of commerce was. All of these items were discovered by the forester of the area, who mounted them on board and hung them on the wall of his home. It was not until 1927 that the director of the Rijksmuseum van Oudheden in Leiden  the national archaeological museum of the Netherlands  was made aware of the haul and had them cast in plaster before returning them to the family. This is a very rare piece, and only five such ceremonial dirks are known to exist. Two have been found in the Netherlands; two were discovered in France; and one, known as the Oxborough Dirk, was found in Norfolk, England, in 1988. The decoration and execution of this group of dirks is strikingly similar, making it likely that they were made in the same workshop. On 6 July 1994 the Oxborough Dirk, pictured below, sold for 51,000 at Christies in London, and it can now be seen at the British Museum.

Open a larger version of this image A ceremonial bronze dirk of the 'plougrescant-ommerschans' type, The Oxborough Dirk, Middle Bronze Age, c. 15001350 BC, from Oxborough, Norfolk. 27 in (70.9 cm) long. Estimate: 9,000-12,000. Sold for 51,000 on 6 July 1994 at Christies London
Hotels, they are a'changin', as hoteliers develop properties that cater to the younger, tech-savvy generations.

New and older brands are making moves to do away with the beige, interact via apps, double as co-working and social spaces, and score shareable selfie love along the way. But don't call them "millennial hotels." While many of the perks and amenities are inspired by research on the group, the properties included below - Hyatt Centric, Radisson RED, Hotel EMC2 and Residence Inn by Marriott - aim to appeal to guests of all ages.

Scott Greenberg, president and chief executive of Smashotels, a hospitality management company near Chicago - and also the owner and founder of Hotel EMC2, a smart, new Chicago hotel with an art-and-science theme in Marriott's Autograph Collection - says he knows that if he develops a hotel that his three millennial-aged children will love, older generations will follow.

"If we attract young people, old people will show up. But if you build a hotel for old people, young people never show up," Greenberg says.

Rose Anderson, vice president of global branding and innovation with Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group, which owns Radisson Red, says she is less interested in resonating with a particular generation and more with a mentality.

"It's not so much about the age; it's more about the behaviors that have been kind of pegged to the millennials: very social, online, connected. We are very much targeting a millennial mind-set versus a generational audience," Anderson says.

Even long-standing brands such as Residence Inn are putting research into uncovering what millennials want.

"You don't want to be alienating some of your customers in order to appeal to some of your other customers," says Diane Mayer, vice president and global brand manager of Residence Inn, TownePlace Suites, Protea and Marriott Executive Apartments. "So, if you can find things that maybe are millennia- driven but that have universal appeal, that's the holy grail."

While amenities such as free WiFi and stellar bar programs are practically a given now in hotels looking to woo younger audiences, here are some other trends to look for on your next getaway (millennial-driven or not).

- Aspiring to be Instagram-worthy: There was a time when beige ruled the roost and hotel room design was rather #milquetoast. Many hotel developers now know that a piece of cool art doesn't just have the potential to appeal to a guest, it has the potential to appeal to everyone who follows that guest on social media.

"From a design and art standpoint, we've got a lot of very bold art that creates backdrops for people to take selfies and share online," says Anderson, of Radisson RED, which has locations in Minneapolis and Brussels, as well as Cape Town, South Africa, and Campinas, Brazil.

The colorful and creative design of Hotel EMC2 banishes bland and is irresistibly shareable. The hotel commits deeply to its art-and-science theme, and is punctuated with antique books, vintage microscopes and nods to great scientific and artistic minds, such as Albert Einstein (the restaurant is named the Albert) and Leonardo da Vinci ("one of the patron saints of the hotel," Greenberg says). In the rooms, dramatic and photogenic showers - which are inspired by laboratories of the 1920s - are a centerpiece, and are translucent on three sides (with an optional curtain), while mirrors have an infinity effect and beg for selfies.

- Connecting guests with local favorites: At Hyatt Centric - which is targeting the millennial-minded traveler and has 15 locations, with plans to nearly double that number globally by 2019 - staffers are encouraged to share their favorite local spots with guests.

"It's no longer just the job of the concierge to give you recommendations," says Sandra Cordova Micek, Hyatt's senior vice president of global brands. "Our colleagues are constantly being asked what their hidden gems are and what they would recommend."

In addition, the hotel places original local guides in rooms (and publishes them on the hotel's website). It also highlights local art and food; some properties offer area tours. At Chicago's Magnificent Mile location, for example, guests are invited on neighborhood and brewery tours, and a hotel manager leads guests on morning runs.

Residence Inn partnered with Under Armour Connected Fitness to offer its extended-stay guests at more than 700 properties at least one running map, via the app MapMyFitness. "A lot of people like to run or walk because it helps them be in the place they are, even if they don't get to be a tourist," Mayer says.

On the social side, Residence Inn properties host events three nights a week, dubbed the Residence Inn Mix, which include visits from local food trucks; gatherings with appetizers, desserts and premium beer (Goose Island, Stella Artois, Leffe, Shock Top and some local offerings, depending on location); barbecues; and tasting and educational events that bring in chefs from local restaurants. Mayer says that those offerings were inspired by research Residence Inn conducted that found that millennials traveling for business were looking for fun, social events that connected them to the city where they were staying.

- Revamping room service - and menus: Some hotels are moving away from the stodgy, old room service trays with silver domes. Hyatt Centric tailors its room service to on-the-go guests looking to explore the city, Cordova Micek says.

"We're sort of turning room service on its ear and thinking about it as restaurant-to-go delivery. So, it's not room service on the big silver tray rolling out. It's actually having your food delivered in environmentally friendly packaging that comes in a paper bag that you can take with you if you're going to run around and see the city," she says.

At Radisson RED, guests can order grab-and-go food (such as a Belgian waffle with mac and cheese, and fried chicken) from on-site restaurant OUIBar + KTCHN using the RED app, then take it back to their room or out on the town.

At Hotel EMC2, multiple vegan options are available on the menu. Greenberg says those meat-free options were inspired by his millennial daughter.

"I think back to my daughter, who was raised on salami and eggs, hamburgers and T-bone steaks, and she comes home on vacation and marches off to the grocery store to get her vegan ingredients," he says.

- Changing the form and function of lobbies: In these days of laptops and mobile offices, people like to work alone - together. Hotel lobbies are accommodating that, offering lots of work spaces - as well as plugs and free WiFi - with easy access to snacks, caffeine and cocktails. At the Hyatt Centric on Magnificent Mile, for example, the lobby is the kind of place where you could spend days on end. It's filled with playful local art, and includes a library and dozens of comfortable chairs and tables, all of which spill into the bar, which spills into the restaurant, with no walls or barriers separating the spaces.

Gone is the traditional lobby at Radisson RED: The brand banished the front desk.

"It's creating this immediate barrier between you and the guests, and I think the younger audiences are a lot more informal by nature," Anderson says. At the Minneapolis location, guests can check in using the app on their phone, then use the phone as the key to get into the room. Should someone need help with checking in, Anderson says, staffers are walking around with iPads in hand.

- Adopting a high-tech - or all-tech - approach: That Radisson RED app doesn't just give you access to your room - it's your key to communication at the hotel. It's possible to spend a night, or week, there and not physically talk to anyone but still manage to order food at the on-site restaurant, call a cab, check in, check out, request more towels and even chat with other guests. "You want things when you want it and how you want it. The app allows them to control this and do everything," Anderson says.

Across many brands, in-room technology is making stays more personalized and convenient. At Residence Inn, Radisson RED, Hyatt Centric and Hotel EMC2, guests can stream Netflix (and in some cases other accounts) onto the television. Hotel EMC2 guests can also control the lighting and thermostat using the TV remote control, and each room has an Amazon Echo unit that streams music, reads the weather report, looks up info on the web or does other tasks via voice command.

At Hotel EMC2, two robots, Leo and Cleo, bleep and bloop up the elevator and down the hallway to deliver bottles of water, toothbrushes and extra linens to rooms, upon request.

- Prioritizing social consciousness: At Radisson RED, you won't find any paper - except toilet paper - in the rooms.

"We have paperless rooms and we're very proud of that," says Anderson, adding that millennials are very eco-conscious as a generation, and the hotel embraces that.

When Greenberg came up with the Hotel EMC2 theme, he wanted to inspire dialogue about art and science. (There's even a resident scientist at the hotel.) He also wanted to make a difference. The hotel provides financial support from direct bookings to Project Syncere (an acronym for supporting youth's needs with core engineering research experiments), which helps pave a path for students in underserved communities to pursue science, technology, engineering and math careers.

"Millennials want to feel like there's something of value, that somebody cares about something and that their money is going to serve the greater good," Greenberg says.

- - -

Silver is a writer based in Chicago. Find her on Twitter: @K8Silver.
Vera Lynn turned 100 in March, nearly four decades after Roger Waters asked in a song that bears her given name, "Does anybody here remember Vera Lynn?"

Lynn became an iconic cultural presence in Britain in 1939 with her song "We'll Meet Again," a hopeful salve of sorts for a country devastated by war.

"Vera!" Waters sang with Pink Floyd in 1979. "Vera! What has become of you? Does anybody else in here feel the way I do?"

The lyric is an acknowledgement of a country's collective cultural memory but also a cry for understanding from someone in self-imposed exile from that culture. If art is working with positive and negative space - creating sound where there wasn't sound or chipping away at a rock until it becomes sculpture - Waters' life work could be viewed as a man using music to fill a father-size hole in his life.

More Information Roger Waters When: 8 p.m. Thursday Where: Toyota Center, 1510 Polk Tickets: $55-$250; 866-446-8849, houstontoyotacenter.com See More Collapse

As Wilfred Owen's poetry captured the horrors of World War I, Waters' music is about the aftermath: the long-rage debt of war. Eric Fletcher Waters was killed at the Battle of Anzio, in Italy, in 1944 when Waters was 5 months old.

Fiction-writing professors tell their charges to "write what you hate." So Waters has responded to that void by writing of bullies and tyrants and the greedy. Some contingent of fans who remember Pink Floyd as a soundtrack for getting high in the '70s will bristle at the political visuals at his Toyota Center show this week. But those listeners changed more than Waters has. The music he will play - ranging from Floyd's 1971 album "Meddle" to Waters' new "Is This the Life We Really Want?" - is the leaves and branches that spring from thematic roots of loss and love and how they relate to war. Which is a long way of saying those bothered by inflammatory visuals involving the American president will be in for a conflicted night. Waters may have written "Big man, pig man, ha-ha charade you are," in the mid-'70s, but he's reapplied it to a new target in 2017.

For years, I've treated Waters' post-Floyd albums like stories of governmental strife in some far away country: with acknowledgement and marginal interest. But "Is This the Life We Really Want?" stuck with me, not because of its pointed commentary about Donald Trump, but for the way it connects back to Waters' peak decade making music with Floyd. Waters has always gravitated toward self-contained narratives. The subtitle of "The Final Cut" was "A requiem for the post-war dream by Roger Waters, performed by Pink Floyd." And think back to "The Wall": The last song, "Outside the Wall," ends with the line, "Isn't this where " and the first song, "In the Flesh," opens with the line " we came in?" The album by design was an unbreakable cycle.

Waters' new songs fit a larger narrative of his current concert presentation, an interior travelogue: First, a declaration about making the most of one's time from "Dark Side of the Moon"; then feelings of regret and longing from "Wish You Were Here"; outrage and anger in the new songs; a dulled complacency and feeling of disconnection with "The Wall"; recognition of the divisions devised by society's predatory pigs and dogs from "Animals" and "Dark Side"; and then the deconstruction of the wall, starting with "Vera."

The narrative of "The Wall" followed the creation of a deranged rock star from a toxic primordial soup of youth that included an absent father and overbearing authority figures. Fear created that character, who in turn became a megalomaniac. That "The Final Cut" - an album I think is undervalued by the Floyd faithful - with its pompous subtitle would be his next album is telling. Pink Floyd had ceased to be a collaborative band. David Gilmour's guitar on "The Final Cut" was recognizable, but he sounded flat compared to his '70s work, standing outside a wall keeping him from his band. Waters appeared to become one of the bullies he despised.

That, effectively, was the end of Floyd as people knew it. And maybe that's as it should have been. Creation of dystopic visions is never a long game. Try to sell one vision too many or one vision too long and you become Chicken Little. George Orwell died at 46. Philip K. Dick died at 53. Waters is 73. And he seems to recognize that if you wait long enough, the dystopia you envisioned won't arrive, but some essence of it may.

"The Wall" concerned itself with personal walls, but the great thing about such a simple metaphor is it can be widely applicable and impervious to time. Walls are sturdy. When Waters played his "The Wall" concerts here, he had kids on stage in "Fear Builds Walls" T-shirts. That was 2010, and the visual now feels prescient given the events of the past year, when talk of walls became more than metaphorical.

And as the walls became more real, Waters has become more combative. "You're nearly a laugh, but you're really a cry," he sang on "Pigs (Three Different Ones)" 40 years ago. The commentary on "Is This the Life We Really Want?" is neither laugh nor cry.

Waters' worldview - more specifically the outspoken way he has presented it - has put him in conflict with other cultural figures, including recent spats with radio host Howard Stern and members of Radiohead, which was disinclined to abide by his call for boycotting Israel. "Can Jews enjoy the new Roger Waters album?" is just one headline addressing the complicated situation in which Waters is aligned with the pro-Palestine Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement.

He could just let "Is This the Life We Really Want?" speak for him. The album is angry and hopeful, befitting a musician whose whisper/wail voice often conveys the thin line between fragile peace and dervishlike anxiety. For the combativeness of its early songs, it retains a defiant hopefulness at the end. "Bring me my final cigarette," he sings. "It would be better by far to die in her arms than to linger in a lifetime of regret."

I assume he's singing about love. Which despite the firing-squad imagery lends the album a more optimistic tone than the cyclical despair of "The Wall."

It's like he's calling to Vera again. "Does anybody else in here feel the way I do?" Sure. Also, Vera made it to 100. There's a metaphor for hope in that, too.
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Private developers are building a retail center at the northeast corner of the Grand Parkway and Interstate 10 that is designed to primarily cater to the area's Asian population.

Named "Katy Asian Town," the 15.5-acre center is being anchored by an H Mart, a popular Asian grocery store chain. Stakeholders are hoping the property will attract the significant Asian population that has developed around Katy while also becoming a destination for students and staff of a University of Houston System campus that will be constructed nearby.

"We have an incredible Asian population (in Katy)," said RE/MAX United broker Josie Lin, the primary representative of the project. "If you are familiar with Chinatown in Bellaire, you can tell Chinatown is kind of crowded. That's one of the reasons for (Katy Asian Town). There's a high demand in Katy for Asian retail stores."

The roughly 50,000-square-foot H Mart will be surrounded by more than 100,000 square feet of stores and restaurants, according to Lin, who said about 60 percent of the available 51 units of space at the center have been leased. There will be several known Asian businesses such as Gong Cha tea, Atami Steak and Sushi and Soju 101, an Asian bar, Lin said.

The center has been quietly planned for more than a year. It's unclear which developers are involved in the project because they have not publicly disclosed their names and no immediate information was available on them. Developers want to maintain a low profile until the project is complete, Lin said.

The recent growth of the Katy area has brought an influx of Asians that retail developers can capitalize on, said Austin Zhao, chair at the Asian Chamber of Commerce - Houston.

In Fort Bend County, about 20 percent of the roughly 628,000 residents are Asian or "other," a 2015 census estimate shows. In the 181-square-mile Katy school district, Asians represent about 15 percent of the student population, according to the most recent data from Katy ISD. And in nearby Sugar Land, where 37 percent of the city's population is Asian, there are already multiple Asian stores such as the Welfresh Market.

"That area is a growing area. It's booming," Zhao said of Katy. "There are lots of Asian people in Sugar Land, but now, a lot of Asians are also moving to Katy because Asian families care about education and Katy has good schools and transportation. So, it's not surprising that the Katy Asian Town is being built."

Zhao said most of his more than 300 active chamber members live in west Houston-area towns such as Katy and Sugar Land.

Katy Asian Town is being constructed next to land where a University of Houston System campus will open in 2019, giving stakeholders further reason to develop the retail space.

The campus is expected to initially include an 80,000-square-foot building and serve about 2,000 students before expanding to more buildings that will hold roughly 8,000-10,000 students.

Plans for a 300-unit apartment complex just north of the campus also exist. In an information document presented by Lin, the UH System campus is highlighted as a nearby resource.

The first set of stores at Katy Asian Town are expected to open by the end of the year, Lin said. It's unclear when the H Mart will open.

"This will be not only a benefit for Katy, but for Cypress, and even north to The Woodlands," Lin said. "It will serve people who are coming from places like San Antonio, too."
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One woman was shot and at least two suspects are on the loose after a Monday night robbery in southwest Houston.

When police arrived at the Sharon Park Village apartment complex at 5600 Chimney Rock around 11 p.m., they found a wounded woman outside - and the suspects had apparently fled the scene.
A fight broke out into gunfire late Monday night in southwest Houston, leaving one woman in the hospital with multiple gunshot wounds.

Just before 10:30 p.m., police responded to a shooting call in the 8300 block of Quail View, in the Fort Bend County portion of Houston.
Swimmers headed to Padre Island National Seashore for the Fourth of July are encouraged to avoid the water because of "a risk of dangerous rip currents," officials announced Monday.

"There is a risk of dangerous rip currents today and tomorrow," reads a Facebook post from the Padre Island National Seashore. "We strongly urge all visitors not to swim! Rip currents can sweep even the strongest swimmers out to sea."
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.
PARMA, Ohio -- A Parma Municipal Court judge set bond at $50 million for a man accused of killing his prison pen-pal and her boyfriend weeks after he was released from prison.

Thomas Knuff, 42, was charged with two counts of aggravated murder in the deaths of Regina Capobianco, 50, and her boyfriend, John Mann, 65.

Knuff appeared before Parma Municipal Court Judge Deanna O'Donnell Monday afternoon. He is also charged with breaking and entering in connection with a May incident at a hair salon.

O'Donnell set his bond at $25 million for each murder charge, plus $10,000 bond for the breaking and entering charge.

Before deciding on Knuff's bond, O'Donnell questioned him about having been released from prison roughly one month before the slayings. He told her that he'd been serving time for aggravated robbery.

Knuff kept his hands folded and kept his eyes on O'Donnell throughout his court appearance. He mostly responded to her questions with one-word answers.

He is accused of killing Capobianco and Mann on May 11 at Mann's home in the 6200 block of Nelwood Road near Ackley Road. Capobianco and Mann were both stabbed several times in the neck and shoulder. Police are still working to determine a motive.

Knuff left their bodies to rot until police found them on June 21, after Capobianco's sister reported her missing to Stark County deputies.

Capobianco and Knuff originally met through a prison pen-pal program, Parma Heights police said. They exchanged letters for roughly a decade while Knuff was serving more than 15 years for a string of break-ins in Parma, Parma Heights and Middleburg Heights and robberies in Garfield Heights.

Capobianco and Mann picked up Knuff when he was released from Lorain Correctional Institution April 11.

He committed more crimes across the area after his release, Parma Heights police said during a morning news conference.

Knuff's breaking and entering charge corresponds to a May 18 break-in at the Classic Studio's hair salon on Pearl Road, according to the charges and Parma Heights police.

Knuff remains under supervision by the Ohio Adult Parole Authority.

His other prior convictions include theft, robbery, receiving stolen property, breaking and entering and drug possession, according to prison records.

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CLEVELAND, Ohio -- A 70-year-old homeless man found in the garage of an abandoned home was beaten to death, the county medical examiner ruled.

Roger Carte died of blunt force trauma to the head, neck, torso, arms and legs, according to the Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner. His death is ruled a homicide.

No arrests have been made in the case.

Someone called Cleveland police anonymously on June 25 and said they found a man dead inside the garage of the vacant home in the 2100 block of East 79th Street, just south of Cedar Avenue, according to police reports.

The vacant house sits next to a day care center. Vacant lots sit on the other side of the home and across the street.

It's also near a busy intersection with businesses on each corner, including convenient stores and, a cellphone store and car mechanic.

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LORAIN, Ohio -- Investigators on Tuesday released a photo of the car believed to have been used in the deadly shooting of a 19-year-old man.

Police have not made an arrest in the case and are hoping that the public will recognize the car.

Keshawndrae Carter was fatally shot about 12:30 p.m. Sunday on West 22nd Street near Beech Avenue, police said. He was taken to Mercy Regional Medical Center, where he died.

Police have not released information on the circumstances surrounding the shooting.

A man investigators were seeking to interview about the shooting turned himself into police on Monday, police said. He is not a suspect in the shooting, but was arrested on an unrelated charge of using weapons while intoxicated, police said.

Investigators are asking anyone with information on the shooting or the whereabouts of the car to call detectives at 440-204-2105 or their dispatch center at 440-204-2100.

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WASHINGTON, D.C. -- More than 40 states reportedly are refusing to hand over voter information for a federal commission investigating voter fraud, and a privacy group has filed a lawsuit against the panel.

Maryland, Delaware and Louisiana on Monday joined a growing list of states, which includes Ohio, that will not provide the private voter data, Reuters reports.

CNN checked with all 50 states in the nation and found 41 are ignoring the request or only providing information that is already publicly available.

The Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity, formed in May, is seeking the full names, addresses, dates of birth, political parties, and the last four digits of the social security numbers of all registered voters, according to CNN.

It also wants information on elections registered voters have participated in since 2006, felony convictions, on whether they were registered to vote in other states, military status, and whether they lived overseas.

Colorado, Missouri and Tennessee are cooperating with the commission, CNN reports.

But in a statement released Monday, Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh called the commission's requests "repugnant," Reuters reports, saying it "appears designed only to intimidate voters and to indulge President Trump's fantasy that he won the popular vote."

The Electronic Privacy Information Center filed a lawsuit in federal court Monday saying the request for voter information is "unnecessary and excessive," Bloomberg News reports. The lawsuit calls for an immediate halt to the gathering of information.

The government has until 4 p.m. Wednesday to respond to the lawsuit.
Look beyond tweets and "media snow" to see what U.S. President Donald Trump has actually done, former Australian Prime Minister John Howard said on Wednesday.

"I think what people should look at is the substance of the outcome of all the things he does," Howard told CNBC's "Squawk Box".

Trump's response to the Syrian government's use of gas as a weapon was "first class and had a desired effect and sent a message to the Syrians," said Howard.

In early April, the U.S. military attacked a Syria-government airfield with 59 Tomahawk missiles on Thursday evening. Trump said later he was targeting the Syrian airfield from which the government allegedly launched a chemical attack this week on a rebel-held area.

Howard also gave a thumbs up to Trump's relationship with the Chinese.

"The way in which he has on a personal basis dealt with the Chinese president is very good because that relationship between the United States and China will for many years into the future, indefinitely indeed, be the most important bilateral relationship in the world," added Howard.

Trump also has talked much about imposing tariffs on Chinese exports to the U.S.. after his campaign talk of a punitive 45 percent tariff on goods imported from the world' second largest economy.

"I think that would be very bad for both of those countries and also the rest of us," said Howard, who was Australian prime minister from 1996 to 2007.

When asked about a reported acrimonious phone call between Trump and current Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull earlier this year, Howard said that Turnbull handled the situation "brilliantly" and stood up to Australia.

Observers, however, should look beyond the surface, Howard said.

"I wouldn't take too much notice of the color and movement of some of these exchanges with the American president. Look, he's different from many of his predecessors; I think that's obvious," said Howard.

Howard however expressed disappointment with the U.S. walking away from the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

"We believe very strongly in more open and more liberal trade and I think all the nations of the capitalist world have got to to redouble their commitment to freer trade because freer trade has helped liberate hundreds of millions people out of poverty in the last 20 or 30 years and we've got to keep going down that path," said Howard.

"Anything that is done on that front by the American administration is infinitely more important than all the tweets in the world," he added.
Governor of New Jersey Chris Christie. Getty Images

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie said late on Monday he will sign a budget bill to end a partial government shutdown that became a black eye for him after he was seen lounging on a beach that had been closed to the public over the holiday weekend. State lawmakers were finalizing the bill and legislators and the governor said they would stay as long as it took on Monday night and into Tuesday morning to craft and sign it. Christie said all state parks and beaches would be open on Tuesday for the Fourth of July holiday and state offices would be open as usual on Wednesday. He said he was happy a resolution had been reached on the budget impasse, but saddened it came three days late. New Jersey State Senate President Steve Sweeney told a news conference: "None of this was easy." "I think this is a good day because everything will be open," Sweeney said.

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Christie became the subject of widespread mockery and derision after a New Jersey newspaper captured photos of the Republican governor and his family sunbathing on a beach that had been closed to the public over the holiday weekend due to the budget standoff. The saga, dubbed "beachgate" by some media outlets, threw a spotlight on stalled budget negotiations that caused partial government shutdowns in New Jersey and in Maine, and led to the suspension of many non-essential services. New Jersey's state parks closed on Saturday, forcing many to alter their holiday weekend plans. More than 30,000 state workers were on furlough on Monday. In Maine, the state police, parks and offices responsible for collecting revenue all planned to work through the shutdown, the state's first since 1991. But the majority of its 12,000 state employees will be furloughed. Members of Maine's State Employees Association rallied outside the State House to demand a budget deal from lawmakers and Republican Governor Paul LePage. "Governor LePage won't answer his door - we want to work!" organizers posted on Twitter, with photos and videos of dozens of the association's members holding placards and chanting. About 10 U.S. states still do not have budgets for the fiscal year that began on July 1, including Illinois, which is in its third year without an enacted budget. While states have mostly recovered since the 2007-2009 recession, their revenue growth has not always kept pace with the national economy. In some states without full budgets, including Connecticut and Pennsylvania, lower-than-anticipated income tax collections exacerbated budget gaps and led to disputes over how to close them.

'I'll go back to the beach'
North Korea launched a missile on Tuesday, with Japan saying it appeared to have landed in the Japanese exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

The rogue nation, via its state news agency KCNA, said it had succeeded in launching an intercontinental ballistic missile, something leader Kim Jong Un reportedly had claimed to be close to accomplishing.

ICBMs have a minimum range of around 5,500 kilometers and are capable of carrying nuclear weapons. For its part, South Korea did not rule out the possibility of the missile being an ICBM.

"The initial analysis by South Korean and the U.S. authorities is assuming that today's provocation was of a mid-to-long range missile, but we are not ruling out the possibility of the missile being ICBM class," South Korea's President Moon Jae-In said, according to a press pool report on Tuesday.

"If the missile indeed was an ICBM type, we will seek relevant response," he said, adding that his government would "respond firmly," using "all possible means," which included sanctions and dialogue.

A South Korean military official had earlier confirmed to NBC News that an unidentified ballistic missile was fired toward the East Sea from Banghyun area in Northern Pyong An Province at around 9:40 am (KST) Tuesday morning.

North Korea's KCNA said that the missile was a Hwasong-14, which it described as an "almighty ICBM rocket," launched at a steep trajectory, traveling 930 kilometers and reaching an altitude of 2,082 kilometers, according to a transcript translated by NBC News.

The steep trajectory, common with recent launches by the North, prevents its missiles from reaching nearby countries such as Japan, according to Reuters.

The KCNA transcript said that Kim Jong Un personally observed the launch on-site and "declared glorious success throughout the world."

South Korea's Moon had ordered a National Security Council meeting after the launch, South Korean state news agency Yonhap reported, citing the Blue House  the South Korean equivalent of the White House.

The meeting was to determine the country's defense readiness against further incidents, Yonhap said.
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Their filing cites a video featuring a CNBC reporter asking Shkreli's lawyer Benjamin Brafman how he felt about his client's scathing remarks after court recessed Friday. Shkreli, who was walking alongside Brafman interjected, "He'll do whatever he wants." When the reporter asked Shkreli, "You can do whatever you want, Martin?" Shkreli replied, "Yes," according to the prosecutors' motion. Tweet Also attached to their motion were several news articles about Shkreli's comments, as well as suspected tweets under the Twitter handle @BLMBro. Prosecutors wrote: "The government respectfully moves this Court for an order to limit extrajudicial statements by the defendant Martin Shkreli and counsel for all parties during the pendency of this trial." "Since the empanelment of the jury, Shkreli has engaged with the press  in apparent contravention of the instructions of his lawyers  in the courthouse itself, directly outside the courthouse and on digital media in a manner that risks tainting the jury," the motion says. "In order to protect the public's interest in a fair trial in which the jury will reach a verdict based solely on the evidence presented in the courtroom, the defendant should be restrained from further public comment during the pendency of the trial. In addition, or in the alternative, the government seeks semi-sequestration of the jury." Prosecutors also wrote: "Unfortunately, despite the assurances of defense counsel prior to trialas well as efforts by defense counsel to control Shkrelionce the jury was selected and empaneled, Shkreli embarked on a campaign of disruption by commenting on trial evidence and witnesses to the press and on social media, and by making a spectacle of himself and the trial directly on the courthouse grounds." "During the lunch break on June 30, 2017, the defendant paid a highly-publicized visit to reporters and members of the public in the overflow viewing room, which is located on the same floor of the courthouse in which the trial is taking place. Among other things, the defendant repeatedly commented on evidence the jury had heard just the day before and the credibility of testifying witnesses."

Defense attorney Ben Brafman stands at the defense table with Martin Shkreli during his opening statement. Elizabeth Williams | CNBC
Qatar is facing possible further sanctions after a deadline to meet its neighbor's demands comes to an end. Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Bahrain cut diplomatic ties with Qatar on June 5 in a dispute that was allegedly over Qatari support for terrorists, but what many experts say was actually an effort to bring the country in line with Saudi-dominated foreign policy.

But it remains to be seen if Qatar can avoid the long-term grievances with its neighbors impacting its deals in the international community. Many of Qatar's assets are overseas and include a Hollywood movie studio, landmark skyscrapers and an Italian luxury designer.

Qatar's massive oil-generated surplus and its tiny population of just about 2.2 million mean it is the wealthiest country per capita in the world. Its sovereign wealth fund, Qatar Investment Authority, established in 2005, oversees around $338 billion in assets, according to Sovereign Wealth Center. It's the 11th largest fund in the world, according to the research organization.

Here's a look at some of Qatar's largest assets around the world:
But upcoming listings such as Singtel's broadband unit NetLink Trust, expected to raise 2.5 billion Singapore dollars, will bring total amount this year to 3 billion Singapore dollars  nearly doubling 2016's annual amount and slightly shy of 2014's 3.5 billion Singapore dollars, it added.

That was despite slower activity in the first half of 2017, when the Singapore Exchange (SGX) added nine new companies which raised a total of 464 million Singapore dollars ($335.8 million)  short of the 1.6 billion Singapore dollars gathered from seven listings in the same period a year earlier, the report showed.

The initial public offering market in Singapore was set for a "strong rebound" this year, with the current pipeline of "blockbuster" listings already pointing to the highest amount of funds raised since 2014, according to a Deloitte report.

"We are expecting a strong pipeline of blockbuster listings in the second half of 2017 and coupled with the strong post-IPO performance of the companies listed in the first half, Singapore's IPO market is certainly buzzing with excitement," Ernest Kan, deputy managing partner (markets) at Deloitte Singapore, said in a statement accompanying the report.

The optimism was a turnaround for an exchange, which struggled with investor confidence and thin trading volume after a penny stock rout four years ago, as well as a spate of delistings and slow IPO activity.

The listing of NetLink Trust later this month  Singapore's largest IPO in more than four years was expected to build listing momentum for the rest of the year. In addition to NetLink Trust, at least three other companies were expected to list on the SGX.

EY said in a report last week that growing investor confidence in Southeast Asian economies will help to bolster the region's IPO pipeline, and tipped Singapore to lead such activity. The consultancy added that SGX's effort to help technology companies access the capital market would drive IPO transactions in the near future.

But in the wider Asia Pacific region, Singapore still lagged behind its traditional rivals Hong Kong and Australia, according to a report by law firm Baker McKenzie.

Hong Kong raised $6.6 billion through 60 IPOs in the first half of 2017, while Australia gathered $1.6 billion from 38 new listings, the company said.
SpaceX aborted a second launch attempt Monday evening for a Falcon 9 rocket carrying Intelsat 35e, a commercial communications satellite. The launch was shut down by SpaceX's computers with less than 10 seconds to liftoff.

Immediately after, SpaceX said in a tweet it was standing down for the day due to a violation of abort criteria, adding that the payload was in good health. It said the next launch opportunity will be on July 4.

SpaceX tweet: Standing down today due to a violation of abort criteria, vehicle/payload in good health, next launch opportunity tomorrow, July 4th!

But several hours later, CEO Elon Musk tweeted that SpaceX would spend July 4 doing a full review of rocket and launch pad systems. He added that the next launch date will be no earlier than July 5 or 6.

Elon Musk tweet: We're going to spend the 4th doing a full review of rocket & pad systems. Launch no earlier than 5th/6th. Only one chance to get it right ...

SpaceX earlier said on the live broadcast for the launch that it was looking into the cause for the hold up, but added that Sunday's issues appeared to have been fixed. SpaceX shifted the launch time twice on Monday, from the initial 7:37 p.m. EDT to the final time of 8:35 p.m. EDT. When the launch failed, the company said it was standing down for the day.

On Sunday, SpaceX attempted to launch the Falcon 9 from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. But it was also aborted at T-10 seconds before liftoff.
In their campaign program for the German election, Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives have dropped the term "friend" in describing the relationship with the United States. Four years ago, the joint program of her Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and its Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU), referred to the United States as Germany's "most important friend" outside of Europe.

German Chancellor and head of the Christian Democrats party, Angela Merkel and the leader of the CDU's Bavarian sister Party CSU (not in picture) give a press conference on July 3, 2017 in Berlin. Odd Andersen | AFP | Getty Images

The 2013 program also described the "friendship" with Washington as a "cornerstone" of Germany's international relations and talked about strengthening transatlantic economic ties through the removal of trade barriers. But the words "friend" and "friendship" are missing from the latest election program - entitled "For a Germany in which we live well and happily" - which Merkel and CSU leader Horst Seehofer presented on Monday ahead of a Sept. 24 election.

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Instead, the United States is described as Germany's "most important partner" outside of Europe. CDU officials were not immediately available to comment on the change in wording. The change in wording underscores how relations between Berlin and Washington have deteriorated since U.S. President Donald Trump entered the White House in January. During his campaign for the presidency, Trump said that Merkel was "ruining" Germany with migration policies he described as "insane." He has repeatedly denounced Germany's trade surplus with the United States, accused Berlin and other European partners of owing "massive amounts of money" to NATO, and unsettled western partners with his decision last month to pull out of the Paris climate accord. A survey by the Pew Research Center last week showed that just 35 percent of Germans have a favorable view of the United States, down from 57 percent at the end of President Barack Obama's term. Merkel is due to host Trump and other leaders at a G20 summit in Hamburg later this week.

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Australia's fourth largest bank ANZ may appear to be downsizing operations in Asia with the recent asset sales, but its chief executive said the lender was merely "tweaking our strategy."

ANZ CEO Shayne Elliott told CNBC's "Street Signs" on Tuesday the "tweaks" to focus on its corporate clients in Asia came after taking into consideration the changing landscape.

"Yes, of course we're tweaking our strategy, and what business doesn't? We tweak because we learn and this is a fast-changing economy. We've got to keep up with that change," Elliott said in response to a question on whether ANZ's strategy in Asia was a failure.

ANZ offloaded its retail and wealth businesses in Singapore, Hong Kong, China, Taiwan and Indonesia to DBS Group Holdings last year. Elliott noted that the retail segment was "really, really small," relative to ANZ's overall size, which was why the bank decided to "put our intellectual and financial capital to work in our institutional bank."

In addition, the bank also disposed of its holdings in several banks, including the Shanghai Rural Commercial Bank, to streamline its business  a decision that "doesn't really impact anybody" as those were just investments and not subsidiary banks, according to Elliott.

ANZ is not the only bank that has shifted its strategy in Asia. In May, National Australia Bank announced that it is selling its private wealth business to Singapore's Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp . to also focus on corporate and institutional clients.

The Australian banking sector is facing a rough patch after the government announced a surprise bank levy in its annual budget. Rising housing debt levels in the country also led to Moody's Investor Service downgrading the credit ratings of Australia's biggest banks.
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Qatar is likely to reject the bulk of the demands put forward by Saudi Arabia and its allies after a damaging blockade that's left the region in crisis, a former U.S. ambassador to the country said Tuesday. Chase Untermeyer, who was ambassador to the country from 2004 to 2007, said there are few opportunities for compromise on the list of 13 demands, which include closing a Turkish military base and shutting down Al Jazeera, the state television network. "Qatar clearly will reject these demands," Untermeyer told CNBC's "The Rundown." "The only thing I can possibly imagine would be to send away from Qatar representatives of various organizations and groups such as Hamas, that are not only obnoxious on their own sake, but are condemned by the United Nations and by the United States and other Western powers," he added. "That doesn't really bother Saudi Arabia because Hamas's chief target is Israel, but the fact is that if there were to be any kind of small bit of sacrifice, those kind of relationships can be easily done and not really affect the foreign policy of Qatar." Qatar, the world's largest liquefied natural gas exporter, has provided an official response to the 13 demands to authorities in Kuwait which is mediating the dispute between Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt. No details of the reply have so far been made public.

New high-rise office buildings and hotels build the skyline opposite the promenade at the Nadine Rupp | Getty Images

What they want

Saudi Arabia and its allies cut ties and transport links with Qatar a month ago, accusing the wealthy country of supporting terrorism. Qatar denied the charge and has stood steadfast, bringing in support from outsiders Iran and Turkey to ride out the storm. Alongside shutting down a Turkish military base and silencing Al Jazeera, the blockade countries also requested Qatar sever all ties to "terrorist groups," handover "terrorist figures" and align itself with other Gulf and Arab countries. Qatar is also being asked to curb diplomatic ties Iran, which is a key rival of Saudi Arabia. "Why should Qatar cut ties with Iran when Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and others among the blockading countries have their own ties with Iran?" said Untermeyer. Qatar has said it is willing to discuss the matters, but described the 13 demands as being "made to be rejected." "Some of these things, they will absolutely not be able to budge on," said Emily Hawthorne, a Middle East and North Africa analyst at geopolitical intelligence firm Stratfor. "Some of these demands really get at the fundamental components of Qatari foreign policy in ways that Qatar has made a name for itself over the past decade." The deadline for Qatar to comply with the demands had been due to expire on Sunday, but the blockade countries granted a 48-hour extension in order for Qatar to conform. "The status quo right now is not an option, but economically, Qatar can outlast some of the economic pressure that some of the blockading countries have put on Doha," Hawthorne added.

Qatar's leverage

With neither side showing any sign of compromising publicly, Hawthorne said the crisis is likely to persist for months to come. "Qatar is very good at maintaining balanced relationships, and that's what it really wants to hold on to here," she said. "It can withstand the economic pressure, but it needs to hold on to maintaining balanced relationships with Russia, with the United States, with Iran as well as Saudi Arabia," she added.

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The blockading countries, particularly the UAE, have threatened extra economic sanctions on Qatar, which Hawthorne said "would be a logical escalation from this point in the crisis." "It's a difficult balancing act for Qatar, but I think you might see them capitulate somewhat or compromise somewhat on these demands, in order to cling to the things that it needs for its survival, like pragmatic relationships with Iran and the ability to invest broadly in Asia and in Europe without Saudi Arabia dictating what it's investing in."

The Al Jazeera influence
British Prime Minister and Conservative Party leader Theresa May speaks at the declaration at the election count at the Magnet Leisure Centre on June 9, 2017 in Maidenhead, England.

Italy would like to see Britain reverse its decision to leave the European Union despite the fact that the process has already began, according to the country's ambassador to the U.K.

"We would be delighted if a shift in public opinion would lead the government in the future to stop the process and backtrack towards retaining full membership of the Union," Pasquale Terracciano, the Italian ambassador to the U.K., told CNBC in an exclusive interview on Monday.

Brexit negotiations are heading towards their second round with proposals on citizens' rights already on the table. U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May sent a letter to officials of the other 27 member countries informing them of the U.K.'s intention to leave the bloc last March. However, all of these steps could be reversed if the U.K. wanted, the Italian ambassador said.

"I think honestly that going back would be possible," he said. "If not, it would be possible to find a close relationship or create, developing what has already been done for Norway and Switzerland, and develop the concept of associated partnership," Terraciano suggested.

The Norway model includes access to the single market  a tariff free trading bloc for the EU - but as a result it also contributes to the EU's budget and accepts the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice. Switzerland has a free trade agreement with the EU and access to the single market, but not for its banking services. It pays into several EU projects and it also has to respect free movement of people. Both of these models have redlines for the U.K. government.

The EU has associated agreements with third countries, including Albania, Kosovo, Chile and Turkey. Such agreements involve commitments at the political and economic level, but it can take the shape of a trade deal for example.

When asked if the current divisions within the U.K. government could impact the negotiations, Terracciano insisted that the door would continue to be open if the U.K. did want to remain a member of the EU.

"We can't do much regarding the internal political situation in Britain," Terracciano told CNBC. "We'd like to know what is the final aim, the final objective that the U.K. has in mind, because this isn't clear at the moment. Also once again in any case should the country decide to go into reverse gear we'd certainly be very helpful," he added.

In the eventuality that Brexit does take place, Italy wants "to find a constructive solution which keeps the U.K. as closely associated to the union as possible."

"No punitive attitude in our position," he added.

Terracciano also said that it's important to keep the EU united, including for the benefit of the U.K., because EU unanimity is required to approve the final Brexit deal.

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European stocks closed lower on Tuesday, with the benchmark index pulling back from its biggest rally in more than two months amid geopolitical concerns.

The pan-European ended 0.29 percent lower with most sectors and major bourses trading in negative territory. In the previous session, the index rallied 1.1 percent for its biggest one-day percentage gain since April 24.

Utilities led the losses on Tuesday, down 0.5 percent. EDF hit the bottom of the European benchmark after it announced a 1.5 billion ($1.9 billion) overspend for Britain's new nuclear power plant development, Hinkley Point. HSBC downgraded its rating of EDF on the news and the stock slipped more than 3 percent.



Basic resources pared all of its losses from morning trade to close more than 0.5 percent higher, supported by a dip in oil prices. Oil retreated from its longest stretch of gains in over five years during Asian deals Tuesday although recovered to edge slightly higher at the European close. Brent prices were up 0.22 percent to $49.80 per barrel while U.S. crude was 0.3 percent higher at $47.21. Antofagasta , Anglo American and Rio Tinto all ended in positive territory on Tuesday.

Looking at individual stocks, WorldPay shot up 28 percent to the top of the European benchmark after it confirmed bids from Vantiv and JPMorgan.

Stada was also up 2.2 percent amid reports that the generic drug maker could receive a new takeover bid from buyout groups Bain Capital and Cinven. Their initial offer of 5.3 billion euros ($6 billion) fell through last month.



Across the Atlantic, U.S. markets are closed for Independence Day celebrations. The greenback rose to a seven-week high Monday and the yield on the two-year Treasury note rose to levels not seen since 2008 on Monday ahead of the national holiday.
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This article is part of a "Reporter's Notebook" series, wherein CNBC journalists submit tales and observations from the field. NOIDA, India  The Intex brand doesn't have much name recognition beyond India's borders. In fact, the Indian smartphone maker has even struggled to compete in its home market  pushed aside by global players like Samsung and Chinese tech giants.



Yet, the Intex factory in Noida, an hour outside of Delhi, offers a glimpse into the playbook of Indian companies and their aggressive push to "Make in India," an initiative Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched three years ago to encourage local manufacturing and spur job creation.



The facility located in this industrial neighborhood is just two years old. And with 750 people working directly on the assembly line, the operation pales in comparison to compounds established by manufacturing giant Foxconn , which employs hundreds of thousands of workers that assemble Apple's iPhones in China.

Workers at an Intex factory in India. Akiko Fujita | CNBC

Intex workers pull 8.5-hour shifts every day. Each wears a white lab coat and chef-like hat. Each repeats the same tasks in robotic fashion  sorting through components at the front of the assembly line, packaging the final product at the end of the line. The phones are dropped, scratched and squeezed daily to ensure quality control.



The factory churns out 15,000 smartphones and 10,000 feature phones a day. But Intex CFO Rajeev Jain has his eye on another figure: The 70-30 ratio of imported-to-domestic components.



"We are focused on reducing the imported content," Jain said. "By 2019, most of the components are going to be domestic only. This percentage should definitely reverse."



Jain says that reversal is key to Intex lowering the cost of its handsets  and ultimately competing with foreign players at home. While the company has five factories throughout India, just one is dedicated to developing components. It's in the process of building a sixth plant, to reduce its imports from 70 to 20 percent in the next two years.



That effort to sell cheaper, locally produced smartphones has taken on increased importance since November last year, when the government pulled more than 80 percent of banknotes from circulation in an effort to tackle black money. That forced millions of unbanked users onto smartphones to utilize digital payments platforms like Paytm.



Yet internet penetration remains just over 30 percent in a country with an estimated population of over a billion. While the government has challenged local handset makers to develop low-cost smartphones that make digital transactions accessible to the masses, Jain said larger infrastructure issues have proven to be a large hurdle.

Employees at work in an Intex factory in India. Akiko Fujita | CNBC
CropX

An experimental farm showcasing Israeli agriculture technology is in the planning stages outside Wagga Wagga. And no, for those not in the know, that's not in Africa, nor in India, whose Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, is this week in Israel, among other things to discuss agriculture cooperation. It's in Australia. "That a country that is the seventh largest exporter of food in the world, being Australia, could learn something from a country as small as Israel on agricultural technology does raise the eyebrows for a few people," admits Ben van Delden, head of marketing and 'ag-tech' point man at KPMG Australia in a phone interview. It may sound counterintuitive that many of the most promising Israeli ag-tech startups are actually concentrating, at least at first, on the very developed markets in places like Australia, the U.S. and Europe. While Israel and India also eye intense agriculture cooperation, it's often different in nature. "The technology that Israel offers a market like Australia will be very different from the almost agricultural aid that goes to a market like India," says van Delden. That's not necessarily because of different technological levels but because of the difference in the way agriculture is practiced and different infrastructure and commercial challenges. For van Delden a trade mission trip to Israel came as an eye-opener. More even than high-level science, which Australia and for that matter many other countries also have, he concluded that it was a matter of mentality: "Dial up the Chutzpah", he called a report he wrote that appeared early 2017. "That audacity, that chutzpah, we were very interested in. If we can take an ounce of that and apply it to a country with the scale of land like Australia  Think of the potential," he enthuses.

Farmers sow in a paddy field on May 10, 2016 in Wuchang, China. Xiaolu Chu | Getty Images

One area where a cackle of Israeli companies is concentrating on is monitoring, sensing and analysis networked systems that give farmers timely, detailed information on their crops and warnings of what needs to be done, often delivered to their phones, tablets or laptops. It's called precision farming and the market is estimated to be worth close to $11 billion by 2025, according to a Grand View Research report from earlier this year. Even the company that developed the system at the heart of the country's Iron Dome missile defense system, mPrest, is branching out into precision agriculture. And there are companies such as Taranis, which is active in markets far and wide, including the U.S., Russia, Argentina and, indeed, India. A relative newcomer is CropX, which is a company that not only produces the software but also purpose-made soil sensors, which it says can easily be placed by growers. It's in its first year of being applied commercially and has chosen to do so in developed markets such as the U.S. and Europe, says CEO Tomer Tzach. He explains why many startups first look at Western markets: "Realistically speaking, it's a matter of priority and complexity, the path of the least resistance, low-hanging fruit etc." In the U.S., his system, which is initially concentrating on irrigation information, is being applied even in the home-state of Silicon Valley, California, where drought is a problem. But the main target is the "broadacre" mass market in the central U.S., where huge acreages are planted with corn, soy beans, alfalfa, wheat etc. "This mass market is totally underserved when it comes to sensing technologies. Because they need a solution for such large acreages that is inexpensive and very simple and risk free," says Tzach. Eventually, though, he has the ambition to be active worldwide.

Female farmers carrying a cauliflower basket to sell at the local market early in the morning in Allahabad, India. Ravi Prakash | LightRocket | Getty Images

CropX will roll out a new product later this year that will expand its system to include crop protection and fertilization. Tzach explains Israel's ability to penetrate even the most developed agriculture markets in two ways: Israel's arid and sometimes adverse conditions and the technologies developed in the army. "We're taking advantage of many Israeli technologies that are coming out of the military. My hardware developer was actually in the military unit that creates hardware for special operations." Another company that operates for now mainly in the developed markets is Prospera. Its system, which involves machine learning, connects to a range of sensing and imaging tools via the cloud, which growers can access on their mobile phones or any other platform. Daniel Koppel, the company's co-founder and CEO, explains its strategy; "There's a combination of different factors for our geographies but one would definitely be the technological maturity. For us as a company it's probably less risk-taking to start with more tech-mature companies," he says. It's a well-trodden startup path but Koppel too eventually hopes to reach less developed markets, where the system can have an even bigger impact: "Now we work with growers that are reaching 70 percent [of capacity] and we're helping them to get to 90-95. I think in developing countries we can help them with a much bigger jump and they can get all the way to 90 percent."

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French President Emmanuel Macron walks through the Galerie des Bustes (Busts Gallery) to access the Versailles Palace's hemicycle for a special congress gathering both houses of parliament (National Assembly and Senate), near Paris, France, July 3, 2017. Etienne Laurent | Reuters

French President Emmanuel Macron vowed Monday that he would move to a public vote if lawmakers did not move quickly enough to back his ambitious reform agenda. In a rare address to both houses of parliament which echoed the U.S. State of the Union address, the newly-elected president said that he planned to cut the number of lawmakers by a third in order to drive ahead with the overhaul plans which helped him ride to victory in May. This would reduce the number National Assembly members from 577 to 385 and the number of Senate members from 348 to 232. He then told the almost 1,000 senators and MPs present at the palace of Versailles that if his proposed changes did not receive parliamentary approval within a year he would take the decision to a referendum.

Why call a referendum?

The purpose of Macron's proposed plebiscite is twofold: it demonstrates the urgency with which he hopes to implement change and it sends a clear signal to the public that their voices will be heard. "He's playing a game with the parliament, with the Senate, to show that he is serious about implementing reforms," Antoine Lesne, head of SPDR ETF Strategy at State Street Global Advisors, told CNBC Tuesday, noting that the pledge was not binding.

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Macron also promised to add a dose of proportional representation and introduce petitions to get key topics discussed in a bid to give more power to the people. "The people on the street want something different and he hears that," Lesne said. "He wants to show that he is listening to the people." The last time France held a referendum was in 2005, when it voted against creating a consolidated constitution for the entirety of the EU by a majority of 55 percent. The move to hold a vote which was ultimately rejected spawned criticism of the then-President Jacques Chirac in much the same way it did for former British Prime Minister David Cameron and former Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, who both backed failed referenda.

What happens next?

Arguably of greater importance is the speech due to be made by French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe to the National Assembly later Tuesday. He is expected to fill in the gaps left by Macron and provide further details of his government's overhaul agenda, including labour market reforms, tax revisions and new security measures. Already Macron has vowed to lift France's state of emergency, in place since the Paris attacks of November 2015, this autumn but gave no more clarity.

Mayor of Le Havre Edouard Philippe speaks as he presents the candidates for the 'La Republique en marche' party ahead of the June parliamentary elections Charly Triballeau | AFP | Getty Images
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Martin Shkreli's defense attorney objected to a prosecution request that the "pharma bro" be gagged during his ongoing securities fraud trial, and blamed reporters for baiting his emotionally fragile client into publicly blasting prosecutors, witnesses and the press. Shkreli's "comments are clearly not designed" to affect the "integrity of the judicial process," of the trial in Brooklyn, New York, federal court, wrote his lawyer, Benjamin Brafman, to Judge Kiyo Matsumoto on Monday night. "Rather his comments are the somewhat natural, though unfortunate, consequence of a young man with a demonstrated history of significant anxiety being at the center of a supremely difficult time in his life," Brafman wrote. Brafman also said, "In fairness to Mr. Shkreli, the Court should be aware that certain representatives of the press have gone out of their way to try to 'bait' Mr. Shkreli into making public statements that we all have worked very hard to avoid." In fact, Shkreli last Friday walked, uninvited, into a courtroom that reporters use to monitor a video and audio feed from his trial's courtroom, and began speaking to journalists freely. Shkreli answered questions from the reporters, and also asked them questions during an exchange that featured him making scathing comments about the prosecution, commenting on the evidence against him, and criticizing some of their coverage of the case. Shkreli only stopped talking when Brafman poked his head into the room and asked him to step outside.

Martin Shkreli, former chief executive officer of Turing Pharmaceuticals and KaloBios Pharmaceuticals Inc, departs with his attorney Benjamin Brafman after a hearing at U.S. Federal Court in Brooklyn, New York, U.S., June 26, 2017. Lucas Jackson | Reuters

Brafman, in his letter Monday, wrote that Shkreli, 34, believes he is "being targeted" by federal prosecutors "not because of his conduct, but because of who he is." He also believes the press is focusing "unfairly on negative aspects of him" in its coverage of the case, the lawyer wrote. "Having said that, we also note that Mr. Shkreli is under enormous pressure that is compounded by his clearly frail emotional state." Brafman told the judge that "we have spoken to Mr. Shkreli and we will make every effort to remove this issue from the case." "We object strongly to the gag order," the lawyer wrote. He added that if the media coverage "remains prejudicial" defense attorneys must be allowed to respond to that coverage, if necessary. The lawyer's response in a letter to Matsumoto came after prosecutors filed a motion asking to bar Shkreli from making any more public comments about the case, either to the press, on Twitter or other social media, as long as the trial is ongoing. Prosecutors also want defense lawyers and themselves gagged from making public comments. Shkreli is charged with securities fraud in connection with his alleged looting millions of dollars from Retrophin , the publicly traded drug company he founded. Prosecutors claim he used the money to repay investors whom he allegedly defrauded at two hedge funds he had run, in addition to paying off personal debts. In their motion, prosecutors cited Shkreli's surprising, impromptu meeting with reporters covering the case last Friday, among other incidents. During that meeting, Shkreli called the prosecutors "the "junior varsity," criticized a witness against him, and lambasted headlines about the case. Those prosecutors said Shkreli's off-the-cuff remarks, made against the desperate wishes of his lawyers, "risks tainting the jury." Prosecutors, who believe that Shkreli has resumed posting on Twitter under a pseudonym despite being banned from the social media platform earlier this year for harassing a female reporter, also want him barred by the judge from tweeting further about the case. If they don't get the gag order granted, prosecutors want a semi-sequestration of jurors to protect them from hearing or reading Shkreli's comments during his trial on charges of securities fraud.

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The prosecutors' filing cites a video featuring a CNBC reporter asking Shkreli's lawyer Brafman how he felt about his client's scathing remarks after court recessed Friday. Shkreli, who was walking alongside Brafman interjected, "He'll do whatever he wants." When the reporter asked Shkreli, "You can do whatever you want, Martin?" Shkreli replied, "Yes," according to the prosecutors' motion. Tweet Brafman, in own letter Monday, claims the reporter was needling both him and Shkreli. Also attached to prosecutors' motion were several news articles about Shkreli's comments, as well as suspected tweets under the Twitter handle @BLMBro. Prosecutors wrote: "The government respectfully moves this Court for an order to limit extrajudicial statements by the defendant Martin Shkreli and counsel for all parties during the pendency of this trial."

Defense attorney Ben Brafman stands at the defense table with Martin Shkreli during his opening statement. Elizabeth Williams | CNBC

"Since the empanelment of the jury, Shkreli has engaged with the press  in apparent contravention of the instructions of his lawyers  in the courthouse itself, directly outside the courthouse and on digital media in a manner that risks tainting the jury," the motion says. "In order to protect the public's interest in a fair trial in which the jury will reach a verdict based solely on the evidence presented in the courtroom, the defendant should be restrained from further public comment during the pendency of the trial. In addition, or in the alternative, the government seeks semi-sequestration of the jury." Prosecutors also wrote: "Unfortunately, despite the assurances of defense counsel prior to trialas well as efforts by defense counsel to control Shkrelionce the jury was selected and empaneled, Shkreli embarked on a campaign of disruption by commenting on trial evidence and witnesses to the press and on social media, and by making a spectacle of himself and the trial directly on the courthouse grounds." The prosecutors also noted that during his visit to reporters on Friday, "in addition to his comments on the evidence and witnesses, Shkreli also made inappropriate personal attacks on current and former prosecutors in this case."

Potential jurors don't hold back in the Martin Shkreli trial
Skyline of London Simon Dawson | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Brexit could lead to a fragmentation of the financial services industry in Europe, incapable of fighting against major financial hubs like New York and Singapore, a senior Italian official told CNBC in an exclusive interview. "There's a danger in fact. We are concerned because having an easy and relatively cheap access to market capitals here in London is very important for our industry at large. We'd not like seeing all the activities shifting from Europe to New York or Singapore. We'd all lose out in this case," Pasquale Terracciano, the Italian ambassador to the U.K. told CNBC Monday. Italian officials are therefore campaigning to attract asset managers and private equity firms to 'complement' rather than 'compete' with the City of London, as the U.K. prepares to leave the European Union and with it losing access to passporting rights - the ability that allows financial services firms in the U.K. to run operations and offer services throughout the European Economic Area. "This is what could make the pitch from Milan different from FrankfurtMilan isn't pretending to be in a position to become the new London," Terracciano said.

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He cited good connectivity, international universities and an attractive fiscal discipline as the top-selling points of Milan. And not even the so-commonly mentioned weak banking system nor political instability make Milan less attractive, the ambassador said. "It's so commonly mentioned when we talk about Italy that it is no longer credible," Terracciano, said about the financial and political concerns overshadowing the Italian economy. "Sometimes it really sounds like an easy way to fend off a challenge coming from Milan or ItalyIf you look at the situation here (in the U.K.) I don't know what could be considered more stable, after all, yes we have changed prime minister but the party in government is still the same for the last four years and policies, reforms, programs adopted have been implemented," he said. Terracciano also noted that Italy has solved the big threats to financial stability by rescuing Monte dei Paschi and the two Veneto banks and also by creating a fund to help banks offload their bad loans. "NPLs by themselves aren't a threat to stability.it's nevertheless a serious story because it has implied a lower growth but it is not a problem of instability or safeness of the banking system," he added.

Pharma sector also eyed
The Qatari state energy company said it will double the size of a planned project in the North Field, the massive natural gas reserve in the Persian Gulf that has underwritten the country's rapid rise to wealth. That will allow the country to hike its total output of LNG from 77 million tons a year to 100 million tons annually some time between 2022 and 2024, according to the company.

The move threatens to add to a projected glut of liquefied natural gas, or LNG, as a wave of new projects come online in the coming years, including from the United States.

Qatar Petroleum on Wednesday announced plans to significantly raise natural gas production in the coming years, creating an obstacle to President Donald Trump 's goal of "energy dominance."

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson (R) meets with Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani at the State Department in Washington, U.S., June 27, 2017.

Qatar is already the world's dominant LNG exporter, and the planned 30 percent hike over the next five to seven years could help it consolidate its grasp on the market.

The global market for LNG was 258 million tons last year, according to the International Gas Union.



U.S. companies hope to capitalize on a boom in natural gas production at home to grab a piece of the growing LNG market. Last week, the Trump administration touted LNG exports as a pillar of its plan to dominate the global energy trade.

Projected U.S. natural gas exports

Source: Energy Information Administration

Cheniere Energy currently operates the only LNG export terminal in the lower 48 states, but four others are under construction in Texas, Louisiana and Maryland. They are slated to come online by 2021 and will push U.S. export capacity to 9.2 billion cubic feet  nearly equal to top importer Japan's total LNG imports in 2015.

While demand is growing, analysts believe a surge in LNG export terminal construction will flood the market in the early 2020s, creating oversupply. The surge in Qatari output is expected to come online just as that flood hits. A supply imbalance could depress prices and make it harder to attract funding for new LNG export terminals.

There were more than a dozen U.S. terminals proposed as of May, according to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

The Trump administration has recently created a headache for Qatar in the LNG market.

In May, the Commerce Department reached an agreement with Beijing that will see China give state-owned companies the green light to negotiate long-term contracts with U.S. LNG exporters. Analysts told CNBC there is no guarantee the Chinese companies will import more American LNG, but they are likely to use the agreement to secure lower prices from Qatar and other exporters.

The Trump administration has also sought to make inroads with South Korea, the world's second largest LNG importer, last week during an event the White House dubbed "Energy Week."

The same week, South Korean President Moon Jae-in visited Washington, D.C., and Korean conglomerate SK Group signed memorandums of understanding to develop U.S. shale gas with Continental Resources and GE . Sempra Energy inked an agreement to explore jointly developing a Texas LNG project with the Korea Gas Corporation.
As strongly-worded ultimatums are re-issued, and compliance deadlines pass, the diplomatic crisis in the Gulf grinds on with no obvious end in sight. And the real world actions that Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt and Bahrain have so far taken against Qatar mean the financial impacts have now moved beyond the hypothetical.

The Qatari currency, the riyal, remains nominally pegged to the U.S. Dollar, but it has recently been trading at its weakest level against the greenback in almost three decades. A lack of liquidity in the spot market is partially responsible, and on a retail level that shortage is even playing out here on the British high street. A number of foreign currency suppliers in the U.K. have apparently stopped trading in Riyals, and the knock-on effect has been almost immediate. Barclays, Royal Bank of Scotland, the Post Office and Lloyds Banking Group have announced in the last few days that they are no longer exchanging the currency at their branches.
Weve discussed before how Apples devices can be good for your health, but we should see the potential of its mobile health solutions take a quantum leap in the next few years, as genetic information is used to deliver utterly personalized, precision medical care.

Genetics for the rest of us

The U.K.s chief medical officer this week recommended routine DNA testing for cancer patients to help develop personalized treatment.

"This technology has the potential to change medicine forever, but we need all NHS staff, patients and the public to recognise and embrace its huge potential, said Professor Dame Sally Davies. The age of precision medicine is now.

Think about the implications of this:

While such information isnt necessarily going to help develop treatments for every patient and every illness, there are some problems that can be better addressed once a persons genetic make-up is understood.

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The idea must be that by understanding a persons individual genetic construction, it becomes easier to identify external factors that may impact that person.

While there are clear potential benefits, there are also concerns.

The World Health Organization warns that: Knowledge of genetic risks can lead to potential social and psychological consequences for the individual.

However, Dame Davies statement suggests such testing will become part of future healthcareit will be up to each of us to ensure such data doesnt become the thin end of a drive to genetic discrimination. There are dystopian ways to abuse such technologies.

Everything machines

How does this relate to Apple? Apple Watch can already help you to follow a healthy exercise routine. Its built-in heart rate monitor is already saving lives.

Apple is working to extend the capabilities of its connected devices to monitor different types of health data, with Apple CEO Tim Cook reportedly wearing an iPhone-connected diabetes blood sugar monitor.

From software for medical research to development of new sensor technologies, there can be little doubt that Apple wants to build a connected ecosystem of products and services that may provide tangible benefits to public health.

There have been claims Apple is also expanding its reach into electronic health record technologies, citing a range of hires and acquisitions that appear to support this idea.

Apple also made numerous significant enhancements to its CareKit and ResearchKit frameworks at WWDC 2017, including the addition of more tracking options for diabetes treatment and better integration with healthcare provider platforms, such as Medables Synapse.

The idea might be that by securely combining a patient health data with ambient sensor-based insight, a person will be empowered to manage and improve their health, and healthcare professionals will be able to access deep collections of related data to help improve treatment and diagnosis.

There are also clear implications for artificial intelligence in this.

Apple wants your source code

So, now we have a situation in which an augmented human is better equipped to maintain their own health while also being empowered to monitor any existing conditions. (However, we still need effective ways to ensure health-focused solutions are actually good for your health).

Now imagine how much more effective such personalized solutions may become if informed about your own unique genomic code.

This combination should enable remote diagnostic systems to match a persons personalized status with current activity in order to determine potential future health challenges.

Apple has been exploring the potential of genetics in digital health since at least May 2015. Working with 23andMe, Apple in 2016 added a new ResearchKit module that allows study participants to easily contribute their genetic data to medical research.

The PPD ACT app was the first app to use an iPhone to enable consent for DNA sample collection. The iOS ResearchKit project is an attempt to find out if there is a genetic predisposition for postnatal (or post-partum) depression.

The MyHeart Counts app uses genetic data to help figure out predisposition to heart conditions and measure how a participants activity and lifestyle relate to cardiovascular health.

The Asthma Health app uses genetic data from 23andMe customers to help researchers better understand ways to personalize asthma treatment.

Collecting this type of information will help researchers determine genomic indicators for specific diseases and conditions, said Eric Schadt, PhD, the Jean C. and James W. Crystal Professor of Genomics at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, and founding director of the Icahn Institute for Genomics and Multiscale Biology.

The momentum behind use of genomic data in medical care and research in conjunction with the statement from the U.K.s chief medical officer suggests this will indeed become part of the future of healthcare.

Apple appears to be building itself a strong position to be part of that future.

Google+? If you use social media and happen to be a Google+ user, why not join AppleHolic's Kool Aid Corner community and join the conversation as we pursue the spirit of the New Model Apple?

Got a story? Drop me a line via Twitter and let me know. I'd like it if you chose to follow me on Twitter so I can let you know when fresh items are published here first on Computerworld.
Cllr Andrew Snowden is a County Councillor for Hoghton with Wheelton and Lead Member for Highways and Transport on Lancashire County Council.

Now that the deal with the DUP is done, and we will progress forward with the stable government we promised the electorate, I thought it an appropriate point to reflect on the two elections we have just fought and the lessons from them.

I personally believe that the answers to the questions the General Election posed, can be found in the results of the local elections.

On May 5th this year, I walked up the steps onto the stage of the Lancastrian Suite at Chorley Town Hall  the Returning Officer having just told me I had taken the seat, despite new boundaries meaning Labour should have won by a few hundred votes.

I had worked hard for nearly 12 months; doorstep by doorstep, week in and week out. Despite the fact I was running against the retired district GP of many years, it felt good and the canvass sheets backed it up. We were making ground and Labours disastrous record in charge at County Hall meant the tide was with us. However, it was the calling of the general election whipped up that favourable political undercurrent into a tidal wave. We took overall control of Lancashire County Council for the first time in three decades.

As I made it to the top of the steps I realised we had done it. I had contested the Borough seat the year earlier and made big in-roads into the Labour vote, but this time I had actually won. I went on to thank my wife for her amazing and dedicated support and the local volunteers and stalwarts of the party such as Peter Malpas, our Deputy Chairman.

But I also went on to say:

We are taking ground here in Chorley. We will stride into this campaign with our heads held high  proud to say we are Chorley Conservatives, we offer a better future for our town and stronger leadership for our Country, so lets get out there and win this.

I was on message, up-beat, and ready to win the fight.

So what went wrong?

Only a month later I left that same room utterly gutted for our hard-working local candidate, Caroline Moon.

A lot has been said about the incompetence of CCHQ but at the local elections I actually received good support from CCHQ  and Theresa May was a huge help not a hindrance. As a target Council seat CCHQ sent targeted letters via direct mail, they ran a campaign to register postal votes and I also used CCA grants and grants from the County Group to target voters I chose with surveys.

We had support from the regional Party to help glue our local knowledge with best practice in terms of electioneering tools. Theresa Mays strong and stable message resonated.

But this was the key difference to the general. The letters that went out from CCHQ were in my name, not Theresa Mays. The surveys were to voters I knew we needed to talk to and contained questions on the issues I knew mattered to those people.

Our excellent Campaign Officer was gleaning local knowledge from the candidate to mix in with the CCHQ campaign techniques. What made the difference was the fact that we ran our own campaigns. Our leader Cllr Geoff Driver knew what was broken at County Hall and we were getting that message across. The CCHQ resources gave us that extra momentum we would not otherwise have had and it was beyond a doubt Theresa May that got us home and dry.

In the midst of the analysis of the disastrous general election campaign, we are missing the point that the answer came in the result a month earlier.

Locally run campaigns, with the weight of the CCHQ machine behind them proved a winning combination  a partnership of equal weighting. Yes, some of CCHQs stuff was a bit naff, the Plan to Vote idea that assumed we had divisions of volunteers lying around waiting for something to do was a bit bizarre. But despite that, it proved that Theresa May is a winner, the ill-advised control-freak general election campaign clouded that advantage. It was unrecognisable to the sensible and well-fought campaign that had just ended.

I think the lessons we have learnt are about the philosophy we apply to our campaigns and the relationship between local and national party operations. I despair at some of the soul-searching about what needs to change in our political ideology; we are the most dominant political party locally and nationally. We now need to learn the lessons and regain our policy momentum and our proficiency in campaigning.

The jury is now out as to whether Theresa May can regain that lost momentum, but for now she has my support as the best person for the job at hand. She also has my thanks that I, like hundreds more, am now a proud Conservative councillor.

As we move on from the disappointing general election, let us never underestimate the impact we Conservatives will have as a result of the successful local elections, the local services we will improve will make a real and meaningful difference to people across this Country.

Thank you, Theresa.
Iain Duncan Smith is a former Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, founded the Centre for Social Justice, and is MP for Chingford and Woodford Green.

It is impossible at the moment for two or more Conservatives to gather together without immediately and at some length discussing the recent election. I say discuss, but that part only follows when the groups agreed list of Anglo-Saxon expletives and colourful adjectives is exhausted and calm descends on the company. Whilst there is often agreement about many of the more negative reasons, there is less about what we should do going ahead. This is more likely because the results in different parts of the country were seldom uniform.

As John Curtice pointed out recently, the Conservatives in some areas made big strides in gaining what he referred to as blue collar workers, whilst he showed, in other areas, we lost support from more middle class voters who previously voted Conservative. London was, as I wrote during the election, very different from the rest of the UK and requires particularly careful analysis.

However, all this important work which now needs to go on in understanding the result and then rebuilding around that result, so that we have a better chance of winning the next general election, will need a little time. Importantly, we will only get that if we realise what a precarious position we are in and just how important it is that we do not do anything to precipitate an election.

Labour will use anything and everything to sow discord and panic in our ranks, and we need to be smart enough to spot it and counter it rather than react to it. Look at the terrible human tragedy of the Grenfell Tower fire; notwithstanding the need for consideration, within days Labour were relentlessly using it for their own ends. Angry marches on Downing Street, a day of rage, and John McDonnell whipping up hatred against the Conservatives when he said the tower fire was murder. This is the nature of the Labour Party now. We must recognise that that there are great similarities with the angry and very left wing Labour Party that became dominated by Militant in the 1980s. I can recall the same tactics being used, with all the same bile and personal abuse we have seen during this election.

This, in turn, requires that we keep calm in the face of such provocation and recognise that we simply dont have the scope for enormous internal rows amongst ourselves. Take the deal with the DUP. It is almost certainly not to everyones liking, yet it needed to be done. The idea that we should have just assumed the DUP would have been with us on key votes simply isnt living in the real world. Precarious as it is at present, just imagine how complicated getting business through would have been if chunks of time were taken up with endless negotiations at every turn. After all, this is not a coalition but an arrangement. Such deals are commonplace in other advanced economies to enable governments to carry on. It also reflects the pressing need to get all the legislation on leaving the EU through the House of Commons with the minimum of fuss. For, as the deadline for departure draws nearer, we will need to be clear that we can complete the process, and this can only be done if we are secure in the knowledge we have the votes.

But this rule also applies to the Cabinet. The flurry of comments concerning public spending plans and the pay cap in advance of the pay review bodies recommendations were, I fear, self-indulgent and, as such, pointless.

First, whilst we may believe we know why we didnt win an outright majority, it does us no good to arrive at the solution based solely on conjecture and speculation. For whilst I, like everyone else, hold strong opinions on the matter, I would like to see those opinions backed up by a clear understanding of the facts.

Second, it is as important to understand why nearly 43 per cent of the electorate voted for us despite such a poor campaign, before we jump to conclusions; after all, it was the largest vote share we have received since 1992. Third, whatever we decide we need to do, we must first recognise that a reputation for economic competence is hard-gained and easily lost. If you dont believe me, look at how long it took us to regain it after 1997. The economy is still not out of the woods and the deficit is already set to rise later this year.

In essence, I believe the first thing we need is time and we can only get that if we all recognise it requires a level of self-discipline which will certainly test our patience. The second is that we need to use that time to re-organise, to understand the nature of the vote on 8th June, and then to act on it in a way that accentuates the nature of the choice the electorate will face when the next election comes around. We need to have the scrutiny turned on Corbyn and Labour, and that can only happen once our political situation as a Government appears more stable.

None of that is easy, but the alternative  an angry, militant and deceitful Labour government led by such class warriors as Corbyn and McDonnell, and their brand of the politics of envy, is what awaits this country if we get it wrong.
Managed services News

Top ConnectWise Executive Adam Slutskin Leaves After 8 Years

Michael Novinson

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ConnectWise Chief Revenue Officer Adam Slutskin has left the company after helping the IT service management vendor grow revenue 17-fold and carry out three key acquisitions.

Slutskin announced his departure in a LinkedIn post on Saturday, saying he wishes to spend a little down time with family as he begins exploring what to do next. He joined the Tampa, Fla.-based company in May 2009, and was promoted to Chief Revenue Officer in June 2015, where he lead a 300-person team across business development, channel, sales operations, account management, and marketing.

"I do leave this company in fantastic shape. I groomed my leadership team well, and they are set to fly," Slutskin wrote in a LinkedIn comment. "There are many contributing factors that lead to any departure. I am extremely hungry and motivated to repeat this success, which I am very confident I can do."

[Related: ConnectWise To Add AWS, Cisco To CloudConsole, Double Number of Users By End of Year]

Despite reporting directly or indirectly into three CEOs and partnering up with four different CFOs and COOs, Slutskin said ConnectWise delivered year-over-year sales growth in 95 of his 97 months at the company.

In fact, Slutskin said June 2017 was the most successful month in ConnectWise history, with the company delivering top-line performance nearly double what the company did in Slutskin's entire first year. Slutskin also recruited or influenced the hiring of COO Jason Magee and CMO Scott Marshall, according to his LinkedIn profile, as well as recruiting most of ConnectWise's revenue leadership team.

"Adam Slutskin has decided to leave ConnectWise to pursue, in his own words, his 'next great adventure," ConnectWise CEO Arnie Bellini told CRN in a statement. "On behalf of everyone at ConnectWise, I want to thank Adam for all he did for the company. We will fully support him in pursuing his dreams."

Slutskin declined to comment for this story, citing the terms of his severance agreement. Bellini said he would function as ConnectWise's combined CEO and CRO for the foreseeable future, while Steve Farnan - an eight-year ConnectWise veteran  has been promoted from vice president of sales to senior vice president of sales.

Slutskin asked his LinkedIn followers to make him aware of any career opportunities he should explore, saying he was looking to join a "great company" looking for a "dedicated and passionate leader."

"I am eager to identify a company that is looking to grow revenue rapidly, enhance their culture, and have a damn good time doing it!" Slutskin wrote.

Slutskin additionally said he participated in the evaluation of and was responsible for the revenue functions of ConnectWise's 2010 acquisition of remote monitoring and management vendor LabTech, 2011 acquisition of quoting and proposal vendor Quosal, and 2015 acquisition of remote connect vendor ScreenConnect.

ConnectWise additionally tasked Slutskin with creating the company's worldwide sales strategy and sales targets, which included the establishment of quotas, associated compensation plans, and go-to-market sales strategies.

On the channel side of the equation, Slutskin said he formed partnerships with distributors like Ingram Micro, Synnex, Tech Data and Arrow, as well as security and backup vendors like Webroot, StorageCraft, Veeam, Acronis, ESET and Malwarebytes.

Before entering the IT industry, Slutskin spent 23 years in the U.S. Air Force as both an active and reserve aircrew member. Slutskin also enjoyed stints at Holden Partners, Broadwing Communications, CA Technologies and Professional Services Automation (PSA) competitor Kaseya before joining ConnectWise in March 2009.

TaylorWorks has been a ConnectWise partner for nearly a decade, but owner Tim Taylor became most acquainted with Slutskin after writing the book "How To Start and Run a Successful I.T. Company Without Losing Your Shirt."

Taylor pitched Slutskin on his book, and Slutskin invited Taylor to visit him at ConnectWise headquarters and talk about the book. Taylor said he found Slutskin to be very ongoing, personable, upbeat and friendly.

"I hate to see him go," Taylor said. "He's a really nice guy, and seemed to run a real great team there."

The Longwood, Fl.-based MSP now has 15 employees using the ConnectWise suite to maintain 1,500 to 2,000 client endpoints, Taylor said. He said the acquisitions of LabTech, Quosal and ScreenConnect had facilitated more linkages among the tools, creating a better user experience.

With Slutskin's departure, Taylor urged ConnectWise to remain focused on its core SMB customer base and not get distracted by the temptation of trying to impress larger clients.

"I would imagine, at the size they are now, one person leaving shouldn't hurt too badly," Taylor said. "They're the 800-pound gorilla. As long as they keep innovating and don't get too big for their britches, they should be alright."

Snap Tech IT has been very impressive by the enthusiasm and camaraderie Slutskin and his team had, according to Karl Bickmore, CEO of the Tempe, Ariz.-based ConnectWise partner. Bickmore said Slutskin was a big part of ConnectWise's culture, and make sure his team both worked hard and had a lot of fun together.

"As an advisory council member, I saw innovation and a constant search for how to up his game," Bickmore told CRN. "He was constantly bringing new ideas to the table to find new ways to reach new partners."
Social service providers are hoping for the best, but expecting a worse-case scenario for their clients as the new fiscal year hits them in their pocketbooks, and Connecticut lacks a new budget.

Non-profits throughout the state have been told to plan for budget cuts of 10-percent or more.

At least six once-a-month furlough days, with no state support for developmentally disabled programs, are planned starting Wednesday July 26.

Eileen Healy, executive director of Independence Northwest, a Naugatuck-based advocacy program for the disabled, said Monday shes not sure what her non-profit may have collected in the quarter that started Saturday.

We dont even know whether well get anything in the budget, she said, noting that she made do last year with $250,000 in state support  less than half of what they requested  for 1,500 consumers of all types of disabilities, with additional programs in West Haven, Stratford, Hartford and Norwich. Its going to be tight. By the time we pay salaries and contribute to three funding streams subsidizing rent, itll go quick.

Healy estimates that the Independence programs that help the disabled transition from nursing homes back into their communities, saves the state about $11 million a year.

For many providers such as Anthony Corso, program director for New Haven-based Danas House, a halfway house for inmates with mental health and substance-abuse issues, its like 2009 all over again, when the General Assembly and then-Gov. M. Jodi Rell could not agree on a new budget until the end of August, nearly two months after the start of the fiscal year.

So hes already talking with banks about lines of credit to keep the 15-bed residential center afloat through the summer.

Were in limbo because our funding is through the Department of Correction and we havent heard on how to handle this on a monthly basis, said Corso, whose program is associated with the Bridgeport-based Family ReEntry Inc., which also has a Norwalk program. Were assuming we wont get paid until there is a budget. We havent received word to shut programs down.

Transitioning inmates back into the community and reducing prison populations are key parts of Gov. Dannel P. Malloys Second Chance Society legislation of recent years, including this years elimination of cash bail for non-violent crimes. But last week, when House Democrats balked at voting on a so-called mini-budget, Malloy signed a bare-bones executive order to keep government functioning without raising revenue in the new fiscal year.

If the budget stalemate continues into the fall, social service cuts could exceed 15 percent or more, according to the Department of Developmental Services.

Costello said his program helps 60 inmates a year to transition away from prison, take their medications and participate in follow-up programs. Connecticut is one of at least nine states, including Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Maine, New Jersey and Delaware that have not passed budgets.

"There are devastating funding cuts to community-based providers, said Gian-Carl Casa, president and CEO of the Connecticut Community Nonprofit Alliance. "We continue to believe that budget solutions should be long term, and include conversion of state services to the community, where $300 million can be saved over the next five years and used to prevent damaging cuts.

Casa said that state agencies have been communicating with organizations, but are only just assessing the potential sweeping impacts.

Thousands of people are going to be affected, Casa said. Many of these providers are going to tap into their savings and others are going to close.

He and members of the alliance have spoken with lawmakers, but he suggested that constituents speak directly with their district House members and senators. Last week, when House majority Democrats said they would not accept the governors mini-budget, they instead offered a new two-year budget that they expect to vote on July 18.

kdixon@ctpost.com; Twitter: @KenDixonCT
Pa. Dems could flip the House of Reps. Here's what that might mean
Over recent years successive Governments, both Labour and Conservative, have indulged in a shameful betrayal of our Armed Forces, writes Colonel Richard Kemp

Over recent years successive Governments, both Labour and Conservative, have indulged in a shameful betrayal of our Armed Forces.

The very people who risk their lives to protect our countrys interests have been subjected to a relentless campaign of persecution, dressed up as legal investigation into abuses.

Disgracefully, the politicians have not only sanctioned this continual harassment but even encouraged it through vast legal aid subsidies and compensation payments.

Almost all the allegations of maltreatment brought against British troops who served in Iraq and Afghanistan have turned out to be baseless.

But the reluctance of the Government to combat vigorously this stream of empty charges has created its own cycle of exploitation by tank-chasing lawyers and their clients.

Fraudulent

In Iraq alone, the Ministry of Defence forked out 20 million to more than 300 claimants to avoid court hearings, even though it spent more than 100 million on legal fees.

This week, a whistleblower who worked for the law firm Leigh Day  at the forefront of pursuing allegations of abuse by British military personnel in Iraq  alleged that many of these settled claims were not merely exaggerated: they were utterly fraudulent.

According to this person, a favourite lawyers ruse was to persuade clients to alter their stories about detention, pretending they had been held by the British even if they had been taken by the Americans.

The reason for this alleged change was simple: lawyers knew the MoD was an easy target, whereas the U.S. military was more robust.

In the account of the whistleblower, many Iraqi claimants had documents referring to the American forces at the time but knew they could not sue the U.S., so they said: OK, lets make it the British.

Indeed, the informant says it was easy money, like taking a piece of cake. Every one of us were looking at the British treasure. The allegations are strongly denied by Leigh Day.

The very people who risk their lives to protect our countrys interests have been subjected to a relentless campaign of persecution, dressed up as legal investigation into abuses. File pic

Nevertheless, that statement should bring shame on our defence chiefs and politicians. They blather about upholding the law, but have created a system which means claimants are lavishly rewarded for humiliating our fighting men and women.

Every detail of this saga represents an affront to basic morality and national pride.

One of the Iraqi translators was the Manchester-based businessman, Mazin Younis, whose services were used by Leigh Day and by Public Interest Lawyers, run by disgraced human rights campaigner Phil Shiner, who was struck off as a solicitor this year for making false claims against British troops.

Reportedly, Younis was paid 1.6 million in 2009 for supplying clients to Shiners company as well as to Leigh Day.

The sum is another monument to the MoDs refusal to defend its people. Sadly, the Iraq fiasco is not an isolated case, for the Governments enfeeblement has created an atmosphere that fuels witch-hunts against our military.

Only at the weekend it was revealed that elite SAS troops are under investigation over accusations that they executed unarmed Afghan civilians in cold blood.

Among the incendiary charges are that the SAS used fake photography to conceal civilian deaths, falsified reports and planted Taliban weaponry on victims to disguise them as insurgents.

As Max Hastings argued powerfully in the Mail yesterday, all charges of misconduct must be examined, especially such serious ones. But based on my own long military experience, this episode does not have the ring of truth.

I had SAS soldiers operating under my command in Northern Ireland, Iraq, Afghanistan and the Balkans, and I always found them highly trained, controlled and disciplined. The alleged behaviour does not match anything I have seen of SAS activity.

Such a criminal conspiracy could only have been enacted with orders from the top; we have seen not a shred of evidence to support such a plot, just as there is none to support claims of Iraqi abuses.

Yet the circus continues, driven forward by Ministerial edict and underwritten by the taxpayer. This is partly down to the power of the political agenda. Phil Shiner is a Left-winger who patently wanted to undermine the Services.

Similarly, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn  Marxist revolutionary, IRA sympathiser, and unilateral nuclear disarmer  jumped on the anti-Army bandwagon by calling for an independent inquiry into alleged SAS war crimes.

Disgracefully, the politicians have not only sanctioned this continual harassment but even encouraged it through vast legal aid subsidies and compensation payments. File pic

With the same zeal with which he once denounced the recapture of the Falklands, he declared that there can be no question of a cover-up.

Supine

But other, less radical, politicians have been almost as bad. Senior figures in both main parties like to parade their supposed virtue by showing their eagerness to take up cases against our troops.

That is very different to the U.S. attitude, which holds that the real virtue lies in the defence of their military.

The supine British attitude explains why the MoD was so determined to hound Royal Marine sergeant Alexander Blackman for killing a Taliban fighter, not only by securing his conviction for murder  rightly overturned  but also by resisting his appeal.

The political impetus behind the pathetic surrender to the lawyers has been accelerated by two other factors.

One is the notorious Human Rights Act of 1998, which has become a cash cow for money-grabbing lawyers, political activists and vexatious litigants. Social justice warriors might benefit from the Act, but real warriors lose out.

The second is Britains membership of the International Criminal Court in the Hague, agreed by Tony Blairs government in 2001.

He was warned that it would result in UK military personnel being placed in the dock simply for doing their duty; nevertheless he went ahead.

To the outrage of progressive opinion, the U.S. refused to join the International Court, because it did not want its soldiers to come under the jurisdiction of foreign regimes, or its military campaigns to be an arena for litigation.

Morale

As the latest Iraqi farce illustrates, British officialdom is trying to apply the legal niceties of peaceful civilian life to the lethal conflict and chaos of the battlefield.

The result is not justice, but a bonanza for lawyers and their clients. A central reason for this flight from common sense is that so few politicians, civil servants and even senior officers have any hardened experience of war.

Over the years as an officer, I was disturbed to witness how many cases the MoD settled against litigants without a fight, even when the accusations had no foundation. The argument was always that going through the courts was too expensive, so the taxpayer was saving money.

I did not believe that then, and, after this weeks revelations, I know it is even more untrue. This pusillanimous outlook inflicts more damage on our Armed Forces than any court action could achieve.

In effect, those who fight for the Queens colours see our Government colluding with foes. That partly explains why recruitment is in crisis and morale badly deflated.

The willingness to settle also gives credence to allegations of abuse. That in turn provides more ammunition for our foes. In practice, therefore, the judicial white flag is a catalyst for more violence.

The folly will never end until British interests are given priority. If only our leaders had the same guts as the serving men and women now under scrutiny.
A plus-size model who became the first openly transgender woman to land a major fashion campaign has spoken out about the difficulties of navigating the dating scene.

Model Shay Neary, 29, made her first foray into the world of online dating during her freshman year of college, after she started transitioning.

Nowadays, the model, who frequently advocates for self-love and self-acceptance on social media, says most men are no longer interested once she discloses her gender status, even if they made the first move.

Values: Model Shay Neary has navigated the online dating scene for years as a trans womanand believes a generous dose of education and respect would improve her experience

Beginnings: Neary, 29, made her first foray into the world of online dating after she started transitioning during her freshman year of college, via Craigslist

Worse, she frequently shares screen grabs of conversations on various online dating platforms, showing how some men send her abusive comments as soon as she points out she's transgender.

Neary's experience echoes the complaints of others from the transgender community, who have spoken out against instances of abuse, discrimination, or lack of inclusivity in the world of online dating.

The model typically lets men approach her first, either on an app or in real life. She has chosen to tell prospective dates early on in the conversation that she is trans, which often leads to them dropping out of the exchange altogether.

'You're exposing yourself, making yourself vulnerable and telling them your gender status when it's such an awkward conversation to have,' Neary told DailyMail.com. 'It shouldn't be necessary. We should be more comfortable with gender as a society.'

When a prospective date declines to continue the interaction because she is trans, the model feels that her gender is being denied, 'as if we're walking penises and vaginas' who have no identity outside of their physical attributes.

Neary grew up in a small town in Philadelphia and is now based in New York City, where she juggles a day job and her modelling career. Her campaign with UK-based label Yours Clothing, which debuted earlier this year, marked the first time a plus-size, out transgender woman posed for a major fashion campaign.

While she is completely at ease with her gender and herself, the model knows some online dating users are not comfortable with dating transgender people. That is fine, she said, as long as they remain respectful.

Transparency: The model has chosen to tell prospective dates early on in the conversation that she is trans, which often leads to them dropping out of the exchange altogether

Speaking out: She regularly shares screen grabs of conversations on various online dating platforms, showing how some send abusive comments when she points out she's transgender

Clear: Over her years using online dating platforms, Neary has also gotten into the habit of disclosing the fact that she is transgender openly on her pagesometimes to no avail

Abusive: One screenshot shared by Shay earlier this year shows how one online dating user referred to being transgender as being a 'freak show' in a shocking message

Education: Another screen grab reveals how one man opted to stop the conversation after finding out Shay is a trans womanand apparently didn't know what the term entails

'I give people the benefit of the doubt when it comes to comfort,' she said. 'Im willing to be more open to take things slow.

'If theyre not comfortable with where Im at in my transition, thats OK. If they still want to know me on a deeper level, that's OK.'

For Neary, who grew up in a small town, online dating was one of the first avenues available to her in order to meet other people. At first, her only choices were OK Cupid and Craigslist.

As a college student, she went on Plenty Of Fish, but says her profile kept being deleted due to her being transgendera complaint echoed by other former users of the website. DailyMail.com has reached out to Plenty Of Fish for comment.

Over her years using online dating platforms, Neary has gotten into the habit of disclosing the fact that she is transgender clearly on her page.

She used to ask them: 'Did you read my page?' but it became apparent that some users pretended they had when in fact they had not.

So now, Neary clearly asks 'Do you know I'm trans?' knowing the conversation might take an unpleasant or full-on abusive turn.

Knowledge: The model, who became the first plus-size out trans woman to land a major fashion campaign, wishes people would proactively get to know the trans community

Outreach: The model urged others to get to know people inside the trans community and make trans friends to improve their understanding of transgender people

Spreading the love: The model also acts as a body positivity advocate on social media and often shares snaps of herself to encourage others to embrace their own physiques

'Its just about how its addressed. If someone is just genuinely no interested but educated on the topic, that's OK,' she said.

'There has to be a level of respect. If you can say, "I was attracted to this person but I understand they're trans and I'm not really interested," thats OK.'

Most of Neary's relationships have been with men who had never dated a trans woman before, and she believes the experience probably changed their perception of dating significantly .

'Im sure when you talk about your type of person, you have a specific thing in mind. And sometimes that includes a vagina. Some men cant get past the biology of it. But many men are perfectly fine with being with a transgender woman,' she said.

Its your job as an educated citizen of the world to be as knowledgeable as possible

The model wishes people would proactively get to know the trans community.

'People almost expect you to educate them and I hate that in a sense because its not my job,' she said. 'Its your job as an educated citizen of the world to try to be as knowledgeable as possible.'

When she encounters men who are into transgender women, Neary finds them 'so refreshing'because then she is free to talk about her own interests instead of discussing her gender.

'There are so many other topics I love to talk about and I dont get to talk about them,' she added. 'Your conversation starts revolving around your gender 24/7. You become the voice of reason for the trans community.'

But the model has always insisted on pointing that she does not represent the trans community as a whole. In the world of online dating, the only person she can represent is herself.

Profile: As far as her favorite dating apps, Neary says OK Cupid and Tinder are among their favorites, because they make it easy to self-identify as a transgender individual

Being Shay: The model insists that she does not represent the trans community as a whole. In the world of online dating, the only person she can represent is herself

At its core, Neary wishes people know dating a transgender person is 'just like regular dating'.

'Theres so many fears. Ive always been a firm believer that we let fear tell us what we should and shouldnt do. Because society says it should be this way, we conform to that thing,' she said.

'Take fear out of the perspective. You may find someone who may push you to do more with your life and be a better person.'

The model urged others to get to know people inside the trans community and make trans friends to improve their understanding of transgender people.

As far as her favorite dating apps, Neary says OK Cupid and Tinder are among their favorites, because they make it easy to self-identify as a transgender individual as part of a user profile.

'There are also trans dating applications. But I don't think those sites help,' she added. 'They perpetuate a stereotype that its OK not to be included in the whole. I would rather it be mainstream than it be a secretive thing.'
Coconut oil has long been creating a buzz in beauty circles, but now a new - and more obscure - natural ingredient is being hailed as the secret to shiny hair and plump skin.

Beauty experts are tipping Kalahari melon oil as the latest beauty phenomenon thanks to its 'super hydrating' properties.

The latest wonder ingredient to make its way into our makeup bags comes from the depths of the African desert and is so nutritious experts claim you could live on it alone for six weeks.

Hailed as the perfect cure for dry, flaky skin and brittle hair, it's been described by beauty buffs as like 'stumbling across an oasis' and will soon be making its way onto the shelves of your local pharmacy.

Scroll down for video

The new beauty hero: The Kalahari melon ( citrullus vulgaris) originates from South Africa's Kalahari Desert  one of the driest locations on the planet - and has super-hydrating properties

The Kalahari melon (citrullus vulgaris) originates from South Africa's Kalahari Desert  one of the driest locations on the planet.

Its enriching nutrients have long been one of the cosmetics industrys best kept secrets - until now.

A natural cleanser, Kalahari melon seed oil contains linolenic acid which can help unclog pores and remove excess sebum on the surface of the skin.

The miracle oil also contains antioxidants and vitamins A, C and E help to hydrate and tighten skin, making it appear firmer and reducing the appearance of wrinkles, while also reducing skin inflammation, such as acne.

The oil has even been tipped as an effective conditioner for the hair and scalp without leaving your tresses greasy.

And as the wonder-product gains in popularity, experts believe it will be flying off shelves as temperatures soar this summer, leaving hair and skin dehydrated while air conditioning and chlorine from the swimming pool can also leave tresses feeling dry.

Wonder product: A natural cleanser, Kalahari melon seed oil contains linolenic acid which can help to unclog pores and remove excess sebum on the surface of the skin

Holland & Barrett are rolling out a cold-pressed bottle as part of their new African Oils collection by Miaflora (9.99 for 50ml)

Nutritionist Emily Rollason told MailOnline: 'Coconut oil, Argan Oil and Cacay Oil have a new rival on the scene.

'Kalahari Melon Seed Oil is as rich in nourishing omega 6 fatty acids as Evening Primrose Oil, while its antioxidants help to keep the skin glowing, youthful and strong, making it the beauty must-have this season.'

'Omega 6 fatty acids stimulate skin cell growth, helping to regenerate and restructure skin cells to keep your skin feel supple and firm.

'It also keeps skin looking blemish-free,' added Emily, a nutritionist at Holland & Barrett who are rolling out a cold-pressed and bottled liquid as part of its new African Oils collection by Miaflora (9.99 for 50ml).

'It also means Kalahari Melon Seed Oil could be effective at treating visible skin conditions and replacing damaged tissue to help with the appearance of scars.'
A loving boyfriend has proposed to his Harry Potter obsessed girlfriend - with a golden snitch he had made especially for the romantic occasion.

Hopeful boyfriend Uriel Palma, 23, from Florida, was looking for a special way to propose to girlfriend Trechsel Hall, 24, and he finally enlisted the help of a New Zealand jeweller.

Asher Freeman turned Mr Palma's dream into a reality after spending 60 hours handcrafting the ring box in the form of a golden snitch - which could only be opened with a tiny Nimbus 2000 broomstick charm.

Hopeful boyfriend Uriel Palma, 23, was looking for creative ways to propose to his then girlfriend Trechsel Hall, 24

'Proposing with a snitch wasn't the first thing that came into mind, only because it didn't "exist"'

'I couldn't find anything on the internet about buying or trying something like this,' Mr Palma, who is in the military, told Daily Mail Australia.

'While I was in Egypt [Trechsel] forced me to read all of the Harry Potter books, so realising she's a massive fan is what made me think maybe I could do something about that.'

Mr Palma said it was by sheer luck that he came across jeweller Asher Freeman and he was the only person willing to do it within the five-month timeframe.

'He seemed extremely intrigued and very very motivated to do this project,' Mr Palma said.

'I was telling him ideas and he was like "hell yeah let's do that", completely allowing me control of how I wanted my snitch customised.'

Mr Palma said it was by sheer luck that he came across jeweller Asher Freeman on Bored Panda and he was the only person willing to do it

Although Mr Palma was deployed in Egypt at the time, Mr Freeman kept communication open about the design - allowing him to choose the style of the wings, necklace type, the length and whatever engravings he wanted.

He also kept him up to date with the status of the design every time there was progress made.

'I've never met somebody so dedicated to helping a random guy in Egypt,' Mr Palma said.

Although Mr Palma was deployed in Egypt at the time, Mr Freeman kept communication open about the design

Mr Palma divulged that he had been planning on proposing to his girlfriend since the day they started dating and chose to propose in a fancy restaurant while in Japan.

'It took me a year of constantly talking to her for her to finally let me date her as she's a very shy and introverted person,' he said.

'I gave her the Snitch while we were in Japan and the whole time she couldn't open it no matter how she tried but I'm sure she knew what was inside, smart woman.

'So on the night of the proposal I took out out little Nimbus 2000 broomstick and opened it.'

Mr Palma's romantic proposal worked - and his girlfriend said yes.

'She was very happy and the way she smiled that night will always be engraved in my memories with her.'

The couple have decided to wait a year before they get married as Mr Palma is currently stationed in Germany.

Mr Palma divulged that he had been planning on proposing to his now fiance since the day they started dating and proposed in a fancy restaurant while in Japan

'I gave her the Snitch while we were in Japan and the whole time she couldn't open it no matter how she tried but I'm sure she knew what was inside'

Mr Freeman told Bored Panda that his hand-crafted was made out of sterling silver, with an extra coating of 18 carat yellow gold and the wings plated in a coating of rhodium.

'Made to be a necklace pendant, I made a Nimbus 2000 Broomstick Charm to accompany it that unbeknownst to everyone else, is the key to open it,' Mr Freeman said.

'The hinging and catch mechanisms were concealed so that when shut, no one else can tell that it is actually meant to open, keeping the engagement ring a complete secret.'

The box was first drawn up using 3D computer modeling which was then 3D printed before being cast in sterling silver.

Being Mr Freeman's first attempt of doing this it then went under 60 hours of handwork and scrutiny to ensure it was finished in accordance to his high standard.

The piece is made out of sterling silver with the snitch having an extra coating of 18 carat yellow gold and the wings plated in a coating of rhodium

'I commissioned a wizard of an engraver to hand engrave the lid with I Open at the Close, and the lucky ladies name on the inside. The catch and internal mechanisms are all handmade,' he explained.

'I feel thoroughly privileged to have had the opportunity to make this, and am looking forward to making another  a new version with a different surprise inside is already in the development stage, and dreaming up new ideas for others is keeping me awake at night in anticipation!

'Knowing how much this has been appreciated and loved by him and her, has been the icing on the cake  the socks on Dobbys feet so to speak.'
In 2012 Sharon Wolter-Ferguson, 54, a single mum, set up HEWI London, a website selling barely worn designer clothing. Today the company has an annual turnover of 4.5m. Sharon lives in London and has two daughters, Natalya, 27, and Tatiana, 25.

I married young. When my husband, a Dutch businessman, and I split, I moved to Monaco with my girls. I was lucky enough to be invited to glittering parties and,obviously you cant keep wearing the same outfits! Luckily I found a gem of a boutique that sold discounted designer labels.

Once I bought a nude chiffon Alberta Ferretti dress for less than a tenth of its price. Id sell pieces back to the shop and buy something else with the credit.

Sharon Wolter-Ferguson, 54, a single mum, set up HEWI London in 2012

It was when I moved back to London in 2008, that I began to think I should set up a business. Back then no one was selling pre-worn pieces. My lightbulb moment was realising that women want to buy something fabulous that feels new, not second-hand.

I spent two years developing the website and called the company Hardly Ever Worn It (HEWI). I wanted a site for women like me, searching for something easy to use, authentic and safe. I was clear about what to feature, too. It was not vintage or what you might find on eBay, but upmarket.

The business started with a few friends donating items, but soon black bin bags full of clothes were appearing outside our house! Today we vet all the items we sell.

But I knew the breakthrough would be getting customers to upload photos of their own pieces to sell through the site, peer-to-peer (and wed handle the payments). Our first upload was a Gucci python gold bag from Bahrain. I thought, this is it! Its working! We take 35 pc on pieces that we sell and 15 pc if you sell it on the site yourself.

I tell everyone: hang on to the bag and receipt and you can resell

Theres also an anonymous VIP section which is used by famous vendors  including fashion editors, celebrities, even royalty.

Forty per cent of the items on HEWI are new. People buy clothes that dont fit, then miss the time slot to return them. I tell everyone: hang on to the bag and receipt and you can resell.

Today we have a staff of 15 including my daughters but I still work 24/7. Its funny that Ive become a successful business woman. For 20 years I was a housewife and mother. But now I look at my children and its so rewarding because theyre so proud of me.

hewilondon.com
The first time I realised I wasnt cut out for relaxation was after an invigorating aerobics class about 20 years ago.

Our teacher instructed us to lie on our backs, clench and release various muscle groups one at a time, then imagine we could hear the gentle swish of water as it lapped the sea-shore.

I thought it would work, but the only image that came into view was a giant tsunami drowning everyone in its wake. I sat up abruptly. My classmates all seemed to be asleep.

Writer Linda Kelsey has admitted she finds trying to relax at yoga classes - or any other mindfulness space - a very stressful process, and has better ways to make herself feel good, like power walking

For me there is nothing more stressful than trying to relax. And for a long time Ive felt I was the only one with this problem.

Friends say Im simply not practising enough to get the hang of it. Too damn right, Ive got far better ways of calming myself than balancing my chakras.

Now I have science on my side. A report from Brown University in the U.S. has reported on relaxation-induced panic, where scientists found evidence of meditation sickness involving anxiety, insomnia, hypersensitivity to light and sound.

So now when Im feeling anxious, I go for a power walk. It clears my head, and even headaches, without the need to reach for a pill.

Or I hit the cross-trainer. A build-up of sweat and feeling puffed, I find, is great for taking your mind off your troubles.

Then theres baking a cake  soothing and creative at the same time. Reading a book. This works by taking you into a world of other peoples worries. For me, doing a cryptic crossword is infinitely more calming than breathing in and out.

Have a relaxing weekend has become the end of week platitude. You, too, I always reply. But what I should say is, Relaxing? Whatever for? Too damn stressful by far.
If you consider yourself a vanilla-and-chocolate swirl loyalist, this story is not for you.

Whether or not you personally snap and post pictures of every last thing you eat, there's no denying that Instagram has inspired a whole lot of innovation in the food industry, with chefs and bakers now constantly competing to keep ahead of the pack with dishes that look as incredible as they taste.

That means that this summer, there's already an entirely new crop of ice cream trends to try, from unexpected flavors (think yam and corn) to eye-popping toppings (like cereal, crispy potato chips, and fluffy cotton candy).

Scroll down to see some of the biggest trends and special releases of Summer 2017  there are still plenty of warm days left to try them all.

What's next!? Instagram has inspired eateries to get increasingly innovative with their offerings

Trendy hybrid: Fish-shaped cones are all the rage  and Taiyaki NYC even finished theirs off to look like unicorn fish

Gilled goodness! The fish-shaped waffle cones are a popular Japanese trend (seen at Uji Time in Berkeley)

A new kind of seafood: They're typically found at Japanese ice cream shops and make for a cool picture

Holy mackerel! SomiSomi in Los Angeles also has a version of the open-mouthed cones

Fish-shaped 'taiyaki' cones

What fish have to do with ice cream is sort of a head-scratcher, but the combination has attracted thousands to shops across the country.

There's no need to worry  we're not talking salmon-flavored soft serve or scoops of cod 'n creme. Rather than the ice cream itself, it's the cones that are getting the aquatic animal twist.

Called taiyaki, cones shaped like fish  with the fish's mouth open at the top to hold the frozen treat, and a narrower tail to hold onto  are popping up from coast to coast.

Whereas cones used to be an afterthought (waffle, cake, or sugar?), more creameries are offering cones in special colors, flavors, and shapes these days.

Spots like Taiyaki in New York, SomiSomi in Los Angeles, and Uji Time in Berkeley have found Instagram gold with their adorable fish cones.

So imaginative: Dominique Ansel, who invented the Cronut, is also getting experimental with his ice cream offerings this summer

Summer staple: He is selling a watermelon soft serve inside a slice of watermelon, which he dots with chocolate chip 'seeds'

Artistic masterpiece: He also has this kiwi sorbet bar, with homemade sorbet, vanilla ice cream, and poppy seeds

Don't forget the fuzz! He dusts them with chocolate to look like kiwi 'fuzz'

Only in Japan: Though he isn't selling it in the US yet, he also came up with this caramel sweet corn soft serve which is sold on real grilled corn

Dominique Ansel's fruit and veggie concoctions

The genius behind the Cronut never stops innovating, introducing new limited-edition sweets several times a year at his bakery locations in New York, London, and Tokyo.

In the past, he's raised eyebrows with his balsamic-topped burrata soft serve  and now he's switching things up again with three new creations.

In May he introduced the Kiwi Sorbet Bar, which looks just like a real sliced kiwi, albeit rectangular. Made with a center of vanilla bean ice cream surrounded by homemade kiwi sorbet and poppy seeds, the bar is then covered in milk chocolate 'fuzz'.

Through July 4 in New York, he's also serving a watermelon-flavored treat called What-a-Melon Soft Serve, which is presented inside a real slice of watermelon, sprinkled with chocolate 'seeds', and accompanied by a little container of sea salt to sprinkle on top.

There's one treat that might just be too edgy for Americans, though  and right now, it's only for sale in Japan: corn ice cream. The chef has whipped up caramel sweet corn soft serve, dotted it with caramel corn (not popcorn  corn corn), and serves it in actual grilled corn on the cob with soy sauce and butter.

Coming to a carnival near you? Wu Kong, a Japanese chain that's come to the US, is capturing magic with its cotton candy cones

Mouthwatering magic: The trend has popped up around the world and makes it look like ice cream is floating on a cloud

Hose off when you're done! Though it's beautiful and is likely tasty, it also looks pretty messy

Top 'er up! CottonHi in LA and OddFellows in NYC have versions, too

More is more! One of the biggest dessert trends is to simply pile more dessert on your dessert  these from Wu Kong have cotton candy, ice cream, cookies, marshmallows, and more

Eat fast! No doubt a Wet-Nap would come in handy after devouring one of these

Cotton candy clouds

This is not the cotton candy ice cream of your youth  though that extra-sugary blue-and-pink hard-packed treat was delicious, too. These days, ice cream shops are getting in the carnival spirit by adding literal cotton candy to their cones.

Clearly a result of the let's-see-how-much-dessert-we-can-pile-on-top-of-this-dessert trend, the fairy floss frozen confection has taken off outside the US too, with popular shops in the UK, Australia, and across Asia.

Some shops simply stick the cotton candy on top, while others fashion it around the cone, creating the effect that the ice cream is floating on a magical, sugary cloud.

Popular spots include OddFellows NYC (which has been selling it since 2015), Wu Kong in NYC, and CottonHi in LA, while London's Milk Train keeps customers satisfied across the pond.

Purple passion: Ube, a purple yam popular in Southeast Asian dishes, is becoming more popular in the US (seen at Soft Swerve in NYC)

Double the fun: Many early adopters of other trends  like fish-shaped ad black cones  sell it (left: Recess Italian Ice & Desserts in Las Vegas, right: Ihalo Krunch in Toronto)

So, it's healthy, right? The bright purple color certainly makes a great photo, and fans love the taste, too

Getting your veggies in! Sort of... It comes in soft serve and hard-packed (Wanderlust Creamery in Tarzana) and may still have some of ube's vitamins

Too pretty to eat! Customers often load it up with toppings but it can also be enjoyed plain

Purple ube everything

A flavor that once made some Americans nervous  ube wasn't exactly a widely-used veggie in the US, though it's popular in Southeast Asia  is now pretty ubiquitous, popping up in desserts in major cities and small towns alike. But swirls of purple ube ice cream are the most in-demand, by Instagram standards.

Soft Swerve in NYC and Ihalo Krunch in Toronto both offer versions of the bright purple ice cream, while some shops have gone so far as to mash it up with other trends.

Wanderlust Creamery in Tarzana, California offers theirs in a fish cone, while Sweet Cup in San Diego will let you have scoops in their rolled taco-style cones.

It comes in hard-packed and soft-serve, sandwiched between cookies and slices of brioche, and inside macaron sandwiches.

And there's an added bonus: While ube ice cream is still definitely ice cream (and shouldn't be counted toward your daily vegetable intake), it might still have some of the veggie's benefits, like Vitamin A, Vitamin C, and potassium.

Cute collab: Afters Ice Cream, a California chain, has collaborated with Hello Kitty this summer

Precious: The chain's Irvine location has been made over with a Hello Kitty theme, and they're selling Hello Kitty merch

For kids and grown-ups: There are also two new flavors just for the summer: Yummy Strawberry Cake and Mama's Apple Pie

Limited time: All flavors, not just the new ones, can be served in Hello Kitty cups

Hello Kitty x Afters Ice Cream

Afters Ice Cream  a California chain with locations up and down the west coast  has teamed up with Hello Kitty for a super cute collaboration that just launched.

In addition to temporarily making over the Irvine location with Hello Kitty decor, the shops are all serving treats up in Hello Kitty cups and selling Hello Kitty ice cream-themed swag.

Then there are the new flavors: Yummy Strawberry Cake and Mama's Apple Pie, which will be available all summer.

Why didn't we think of that sooner? Lots of shops are now offering cereal as toppings

Fruity: Thanks to their fun rainbow colors, Fruity Pebbles (pictured on a treat from Ridges Churro Bar) are especially popular

Ice cream is kind of like milk, right? Colorful sugary cereal adds color and texture (and looks great on Insta)

Two scoops for breakfast! Emack & Bolio's in New York City sticks the cereal, like Froot Loops, to the sides of the cone

G is for gimmie: Birthdae Cake in Los Angeles serves a Cookie Monster flavor with Cookie Crisp

New ideas: Square Bar Cafe uses cereal to make ice cream sandwiches

Cereal makes the best topping

It didn't take thinking too far outside the box for people to realize that sugary breakfast cereal makes for great sugary ice cream toppings.

Some choices are all about the flavor, like Cookie Crisps, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, and Honey Smacks.

Others, though, pack a big visual punch, like rainbow Fruity Pebbles (which go on a lot like sprinkles), Froot Loops, and Lucky Charms

While Birthdae Cake in LA,Square Bar Cafe in San Diego, and Emack & Bolio's in NYC (which does a fun cereal-spackled cone) all have Insta-famous options, cereals on the topping bar are really showing up just about everywhere.

Interesting: 375 Fries in New York City mainly sells fries but has added dessert to the menu

Got that crunch! The vanilla ice cream is topped with honey glazed potato chips

Savory and sweet: The sundae is also topped with apple crumbs and honey butter syrup

Crunchy, savory potato chips

When it comes to odd savory and sweet combinations, it's best not to knock it 'til you try it. Potato chips might not seem like a must-have topping to those who swear by hot fudge or sprinkles, but that bit of crunch and salt is fast earning fans at one New York City eatery.

French Fry shop 375 Fries, which opened just this spring, serves more than just fries and dipping sauces (and special plates, like poutine and fry nachos).

They also have honey glazed potato chips, which they'll sprinkle on top of vanilla soft serve with some apple crumbs and honey butter syrup.

Though the treat just debuted two weeks ago, it's already earning plenty of Insta attention.
Crown Princess Mary has welcomed a new addition to the family, according to an official announcement on the Danish royal family's Instagram page.

On Monday, three months after Princess Mary's beloved dog Ziggy died, a post announced the arrival of a new puppy, Grace.

'Yesterday, the Crown family welcomed their new dog, Grace, to Grasten Palace,' the post read.

'Grace is a border collie and is related to the family's previous dog Ziggy.'

On Monday, three months after Princess Mary's beloved dog Ziggy died, a post announced the arrival of a new puppy, Grace (pictured)

Grace's predecessor Ziggy (pictured) who was given to Princess Mary as a wedding gift and had been with the Danish royal family for 12 years, passed away in April

In an adorable snap that accompanied the post, the fluffy brown and white dog could be seen gazing adorably into the camera.

Grace's predecessor Ziggy, who was given to Princess Mary as a gift when she married Prince Frederik, passed away in April.

The family bid farewell to the beautiful Border Collie, who had been with the Danish royal family for 12 years, and announced the solemn news via Instagram.

'The dog has been part of the family for 12 years and was a wedding gift to the royal couple,' the post read.

'Ziggy was a faithful and loving dog, who unfortunately suffered from chronic renal failure and osteoarthritis.'

The post was written alongside a photograph of Ziggy which was taken by Princess Mary.

'Ziggy was a faithful and loving dog, who unfortunately suffered from chronic renal failure and osteoarthritis,' the royals said after the dog (pictured) died

The playful pup had been a most loved member of the household over the years and joined the family on holidays, on bike rides and appeared in family portraits

The playful pup had been a most loved member of the household over the years and joined the family on holidays, on bike rides and appeared in family portraits.

He was first photographed alongside Princess Mary as she proudly took him for a walk as a puppy five months before she gave birth to her eldest child, Christian.

The Australian-born royal received the brown and white dog as a gift from the Danish Kennel Club after she and Prince Frederik decided on a Border Collie for their family pet.

Ziggy was just three months old when she joined the family before being trained by professional Danish trainer Louisa Wibroe and her dog Thelka.

Ziggy was just three months old when she joined the family before being trained by professional Danish trainer Louisa Wibroe and her dog Thelka

Princess Mary previously described Ziggy (pictured) as a key part of their family

The loyal and intelligent dog was adored by the couple's four children and in 2015, posed alongside Prince Christian in a portrait for his 10th birthday.

Princess Mary previously described Ziggy as a key part of their family.

'In the morning we make porridge, and all sit around the dining table. Then we talk and eat, while our dog Ziggy runs in and out. It's really cosy,' she told Hello.
Vogue's 'sacked' fashion director Lucinda Chambers has accused the magazine of 'bullying' readers into making unnecessary purchases.

In the astonishingly candid interview for online fashion journal Vestoj, which has since been removed, she claims she was 'fired' by the new editor, Edward Enninful.

Miss Chambers, who worked at the fashion bible for 36 years, also suggested that the fashion industry was 'cajoling' and 'bullying' people into buying costly designer items they simply do not need.

And she even controversially gave examples of her work, which she was not proud of, including the 'crap' June cover featuring Alexa Chung.

Former fashion director Lucinda Chambers (pictured) has accused the magazine of 'bullying' readers

She said: 'The June cover with Alexa Chung in a stupid Michael Kors T-shirt is crap. He's a big advertiser so I knew why I had to do it. I knew it was cheesy when I was doing it, and I did it anyway. Ok, whatever. But there were others There were others that were great.'

She also revealed: 'A month and a half ago I was fired from Vogue. It took them three minutes to do it,' she said.

She also said fashion magazines had stopped being 'useful' to readers and instead left many 'anxiety-ridden' over what to wear.

And in a shocking admission, the 57-year-old  who worked at the publication for 36 years  said she 'hadn't read Vogue in years'.

The 57-year-old (pictured)  who worked at the publication for 36 years  said she 'hadn't read Vogue in years'

She said: 'The clothes are just irrelevant for most people  so ridiculously expensive,' she said in an interview, which has since been removed from the site.

'In fashion we are always trying to make people buy something they don't need. We don't need any more bags, shirts or shoes. So we cajole, bully or encourage people into continue buying.'

She added: 'It's a shame that magazines have lost the authority they once had. They've stopped being useful.

'Truth be told, I haven't read Vogue in years.'

Miss Chambers's career at Vogue started when a piece of jewellery she had made appeared on its glossy pages.

She was appointed fashion director in 1992, which saw her dictate many of the magazine's fashion editorials, including deciding on the clothing, models and photographers used.

Miss Chambers, 57, who started as PA to editor Beatrix Miller before becoming Grace Coddington's assistant, is behind some of British Vogue's most iconic covers featuring everyone from Kate Moss to the Duchess of Cambridge.

In her first shoot for any title, the Duchess appeared on the front for the June 2016 issue of the magazine in conjunction with the National Portrait Gallery.

Miss Chambers' damning indictment of the publication is a far cry from previous interviews on the subject. Speaking at the first Vogue festival in 2012, she insisted that she 'believed' in her job.

'British Vogue is the opposite of fascist fashion. So many varied things are celebrated in the magazine. It's not just there to inform. It's there to challenge and to inspire. It's there to let you dream a little and, hopefully, to realise some of those dreams,' she said at the time.

Enninful, who hails from Ghana and is the son of a seamstress, is the first male editor of the UK title.

He has worked as the fashion and creative director at W Magazine since 2011 and pipped Samantha Cameron's sister, Emily Sheffield, who is currently the magazine's deputy, to the coveted role

The announcement of Miss Chambers departure coincided with long-term editor-in-chief Alexandra Shulman leaving the title.

A Vogue spokesman said: 'It's usual for an incoming Editor to make some changes to the team. Any changes made are done with the full knowledge of senior Management.'
A woman who was so fed up with living payday to payday sold all her belongings so she could move to Canada to live a rent-free life out of a van.

Yvette Morrissey moved from New Zealand to Canada in November 2016 after finding herself single, with no savings and feeling overworked earlier that year.

And so the 28-year-old, also known as the Wayfaring Kiwi, sold all her belongings, including her beloved horse Blue, saving more than $6,500 in just three months.

Yvette Morrissey (pictured) moved from New Zealand to Canada in November 2016

She sold all her belongings so she could move to Canada to live a rent-free life out of a van

'In August of 2016, I was 27 and found myself single, overworked, living from pay to pay with zero savings in my bank account,' Yvette said.

'I kind of panicked and thought that this isn't what life is meant to be like, I wanted to make some exciting memories so I sold absolutely everything I owned.

'I squished all my possessions into two suitcases and within three months I was living and working at Big White Ski Resort in Canada.

'I don't really know how I managed to do it so quickly - I just remember being so determined that this was my path and nothing was going to stop me from following it.'

She revealed how she used to work as a journalist for several years before launching the first online equestrian magazine in New Zealand, called Equine Online in 2015.

'I also worked in communications, sales, and as a travel agent for a couple of years,' she said.

The 28-year-old New Zealander decided to move to Canada for a sustainable life out of a van

Despite leading a 'full-blown hippy lifestyle' in Canada - Yvette has been working full-time

The young woman decided to leave her corporate life for a carefree lifestyle living out of a van

But she decided to leave the corporate life for a 'full-blown hippy lifestyle'. However, she still wants to work full-time despite her new carefree lifestyle.

'A lot of van lifers don't work and simply buy a van to travel around in for a while and then sell it,' she said.

'They are constantly moving around and seeing new things, I have to have a routine and go to work.'

Yvette currently lives in Banff, Alberta, Canada while holding down a full-time job. In her spare time, she hits the road in her Ford E150 to explore the local area.

She plans on spending the summer in Banff to save money to road trip to Toronto, visiting National Parks on her way.

Next summer, she plans to van life in the UK before possibly moving back home to New Zealand, buying and refurbishing a van to live in to save more money.

The 28-year-old New Zealander decided to move to Canada for a sustainable life out of a van

Despite leading a 'full-blown hippy lifestyle' in Canada - Yvette has been working full-time

She sold all her belongings so she could move to Canada to live a rent-free life out of a van

She decided to leave her New Zealand life in 2016 after finding herself single, with no savings

The 28-year-old New Zealander decided to move to Canada for a sustainable life out of a van

'l save approximately more than $4,200 living in a van over a house but it wasn't plain sailing at first,' she said.

'It's a kaleidoscope of feelings. The first night I spent in the van I had nightmares that there were bears outside my van trying to eat me as I was camping in the woods.

'Some nights it can be incredibly lonely, I miss the company that comes with living with people. I'm an introvert by nature so I was quite surprised by this.

'Aside from the first night, I've only ever felt scared once before and that was when a drunk guy knocked on my window in the middle of the night. I woke up to him staring at me through my window which was pretty unnerving.

'Not having a bathroom or kitchen is hard. Going to the bathroom in the woods has become normal to me now.

'I joined a gym and I shower and get ready for work there. A lot of kind people offer me the use of their bathrooms and kitchens too.

Despite leading a 'full-blown hippy lifestyle' in Canada - Yvette has been working full-time

She sold all her belongings so she could move to Canada to live a rent-free life out of a van

She decided to leave her New Zealand life in 2016 after finding herself single, with no savings

The 28-year-old New Zealander decided to move to Canada for a sustainable life out of a van

'Living in a van really desensitizes you to caring about what other people think. I usually rock up to the gym in my pyjamas in the morning and I get odd looks but all I'm caring about at that stage is using the bathroom and having a shower.

'Aside from those difficulties, most of the time I feel free. There is something so great about having all your possessions in one, portable place.

'I love driving to the park or river, opening up my windows and doors, making pancakes on my portable stove and then curling up and reading a book. I make the most of my time now.

'I don't slump down in front of the television - I read a book or I go hiking. I paint and draw, spend time with friends, and in nature. I can drive anywhere I want, whenever I want.

'So I live in the van in part to save money, and also because I want to live as simply as possible because I don't think material objects create happiness - experiences do.'

Yvette says that she wants people to live their lives more authentically and says being rent-free is thrilling.

Despite leading a 'full-blown hippy lifestyle' in Canada - Yvette has been working full-time

The 28-year-old New Zealander decided to move to Canada for a sustainable life out of a van

She sold all her belongings so she could move to Canada to live a rent-free life out of a van

'With the way that the economy is at the moment, not having to pay rent is incredibly freeing,' she said.

'As someone in their twenties, I feel it is incredibly hard to buy a house unless you spend the majority of your youth working your ass off,' she added.

'People shouldn't want to spend their youth doing that. Spend your youth shaping yourself to be an interesting, kind, passionate and giving person. You can settle down whenever.

'Use your twenties to travel the world, meet amazing people, and learn about other cultures.

'The majority of people think it's awesome, some people have called me brave, which I find quite bizarre. I feel like there are so many people in the world who are much less fortunate than I am, and I feel so grateful that I can live this way.

'The truth is anyone can do it - it doesn't have to be for a long time. It can be for a couple of weeks, or a couple of months, or with no end date in mind.'

For more information visit her Wayfaring Kiwi Facebook page.
Passport, flights, accommodation and travel insurance - tick!

But while most travellers plan their trips in advance to ensure they are ready before departure - they often forget about the most important asset - their health.

Jet-setting Australians are losing precious holiday time as they are not aware of the health risks associated with travel, a new research has found.

There are plenty of health myths associated with 'at-risk' destinations, including South East Asia, South and Central America, Africa and the Middle East... But how many of them are true?

Here travel health experts have debunked some of the most common travel health myths that could be making you sick on holiday - and the answers may surprise you!

Jet-setting Australians are losing precious holiday time as they're not aware of the health risks associated with travel, a new research has found (stock image)

Drinks made with ice are fine  freezing kills germs

Freezing water into ice preserves rather than kills germs. Therefore it's possible a cocktail with ice made from contaminated water could make you sick.

Can't I just be careful with what I eat and drink?

'Following the rules of safe eating and drinking such as 'cook it, boil it, peel it or forget it' is good advice.

However up to 95 per cent of travellers disregard these rules. All it may take is salad greens washed in contaminated water or undercooked meat from a street vendor to make you sick.

It's possible a cocktail with ice made from contaminated water could make you sick (stock image)

Myth: Freezing ice kills germs - Ice actually preserves rather than kills germs (stock image)

I'm staying in a five-star resort, surely I'll be okay?

Five star or no star, the risks are still there. For example, mosquitoes can travel over resort walls, and you may not spend the entire trip camped inside a resort.

Even then, you can't be sure of the personal hygiene of everyone that's handled your food from paddock to plate.

I was vaccinated as a child, so I'm still immune aren't I?

It's generally a good idea to ensure your childhood immunisations are up-to-date, some may require boosters to ensure you maintain immunity.

In addition to these, there may be other diseases not covered by the childhood vaccinations in Australia, and your doctor can advise what vaccines are recommended.

The research found 42 per cent of Australians aren't getting health advice that could protect them against serious travel-related diseases (stock image)

Travellers are losing precious holiday time as they're not aware of the health risks associated with travel, a new research has found (stock image)

I was born there  don't I have natural immunity to local diseases?

Many people travel back to their country of origin, often to 'visit friends and relatives'. It's not an uncommon belief that they have natural immunity to some diseases, however this can wane (decrease) over time.

I've got travel insurance, do I really need to get vaccinated as well?

Travel insurance is great and highly recommended. However it may not cover you against every eventuality and often some travel-related diseases won't impact you until you return home, at which stage travel insurance usually no longer applies.

I'm not travelling to an 'at risk' destination so I don't have any travel health needs

There's much more to travel health than just infectious diseases.

Your GP or travel doctor can assist with many other health issues such as dealing with jetlag, DVT prevention, travelling with medications, mosquito bite avoidance, first aid and safe eating & drinking advice.

Sydney's travel health specialist Dr Bernard Hudson is urging travellers to get the right health advice at least six weeks before they embark on their trip (stock image)

The research, commissioned by Sanofi Pasteur, found 42 per cent of Australians aren't getting health advice that could protect them against serious travel-related diseases.

The illnesses holidaymakers could contract overseas if they are not careful include hepatitis A, rabies, typhoid fever and yellow fever.

Most travellers are aware about the possible health risks associated with travel to at-risk places such as consuming tap water (79 per cent), eating food from street vendors (61 per cent) and having a drink with ice in it (61 per cent).

However, up to 56 per cent didn't consider eating locally prepared food from a 3-5 star hotel as risky.

Almost three in five travellers are more worried about terrorism or plane crashes than catching diseases when travelling overseas.

Sydney's travel health specialist Dr Bernard Hudson is urging travellers to get the right health advice at least six weeks before they embark on their trip.

Myth: Five star hotels are safe. Five star or no star, the risks are still there. For example, mosquitoes can travel over resort walls, and you may not spend the entire trip camped inside

'Holidaymakers who priorities itineraries over their own health are putting themselves and potentially those around them at risk, especially if they're visiting high risk destinations,' he said.

'The reality is, no one wants to be bedridden on holiday, have to take time off work when they return or spread a travel-related disease to their loved ones.

'It doesn't take much to get the right health advice before you take off.'

Dr Hudson said his advice is simple: 'see your GP or a travel doctor preferably six weeks prior to departure to get the right advice before you go.

'However, there are some vaccinations and anti-malarials that can provide protection for last minute travellers,' he said.

'Depending on your destination you may need medication, vaccinations or other advice. Make it a top priority, just as you would your plane tickets and insurance.'
An Adelaide woman with a 'fascination for mermaids' has opened up about how having a breast augmentation stopped her feeling like she had 'the chest of a 10-year-old boy.'

Animal-lover and former beauty therapist Amy-Lee Shrubsole, 27, who goes by the name mermaidwife on Instagram, has a passion for pink - and has dyed her hair a stunning soft candy colour for the last year.

But the administration worker said that for years she used to hide her figure under over-sized T-shirts - something that only ended after she happened to win a cosmetic surgery competition.

Beauty therapist Amy-Lee Shrubsole has opened up about how having a breast augmentation stopped her feeling like she had 'the chest of a 10-year-old boy'

The administration worker said that for years she used to hide her figure under over-sized T-shirts - until she won a cosmetic surgery competition (she is pictured before and after)

'I've always been an AA or A cup, so when there was the competition to win a $5000 voucher for a cosmetic holiday I had to enter,' Ms Shrubsole, who is married to husband Brenny, told Daily Mail Australia.

'I was a '25 words or less' contest and I decided to go a fun acrostic poem. I was shocked when I found out my entry won.'

Ms Shrubsole decided to use her voucher - from cosmetic surgery company Cosmeditour - on a breast augmentation, and said her only regret was that 'I didn't do this for myself years ago.'

'I don't feel like I have the chest of a 10-year-old boy anymore,' she said, explaining her procedure took place at the World Medical Centre in Thailand.

'I don't feel like I have the chest of a 10-year-old boy anymore,' Ms Shrubsole said

The 27-year-old said the surgery had also made her feel 'much more feminine'

AMY-LEE'S TIPS FOR PERFECT SKIN 'My best advice is to first and foremost look after your skin,' she said. 'Keep it hydrated, find the best products for your skin type and use sunscreen. 'If I was to give any recommendations on products it would be to find a fantastic primer to use before applying your foundation. 'Mine is the Elf Cosmetics Mineral Infused Primer ($13 Kmart), it works SO well for me and I wouldn't swap it for anything now.' Advertisement

'I was also lucky enough to go on the holiday with my husband, and four of our friends,' she added.

Ms Shrubsole said the surgery had made her feel 'much more feminine'.

'I bought my first bikini in years (rather than just wearing an oversized T-shirt to hide under), and actually love shopping for pretty tops now,' she said.

And it's not the only way in which the Adelaide native - who has only ever modelled for fun - has transformed her looks over the years.

'I started getting Emerval lip fillers probably four years ago now, and go back every eight or so months for a top up,' Ms Shrubsole said.

'I love it, and it makes me feel so much more confident. I know there are a lot of people who talk negatively about fillers, but I don't do it for them.

'I bought my first bikini in years (rather than just wearing an oversized T-shirt to hide under), and actually love shopping for pretty tops now,' she said

'I bought my first bikini in years (rather than just wearing an oversized T-shirt to hide under), and actually love shopping for pretty tops now,' she said

'I get lip injections because they are naturally paper thin, I get botox here and there to prevent ageing, they both make me feel a lot more confident especially when I don't wear make up.'

Ms Shrubsole's Instagram may be littered with glamorous snaps but she is a volunteer with the Cat Adoption Foundation and has down-to-earth aspirations to run an animal rescue centre.

'I get lip injections because they are naturally paper thin,' Ms Shrubsole said (pictured are her lips before and after

'People need to remember that Instagram is almost entirely fake, you only show the bits of yourself and your life that you want to show,' she said.

'It really is never a true representation of any given person.

'I am confident in who I am as a person because I have an amazing group of people for best friends, but I could pick apart a selfie for hours with things I would want to change, or hate about myself and is self conscious about.'

And as for her passion for mermaids - it began at a young age.

'People need to remember that Instagram is almost entirely fake, you only show the bits of yourself and your life that you want to show,' the animal lover - who has dreams of running her own animal rescue centre - said

Nowadays the 27-year-old not only dyes her brunette hair pink but she has a pink and grey themed lounge room - which she said is 'calming and natural'

Ms Shrubsole said her fascination with mermaids began at school when she had to do a project on mythical creatures

'I remember my first fascination with mermaids started was when I was in primary school, and I had to do a project on mythical creatures. I chose mermaids of course, and from then on I just loved the stories and myths behind them,' she said.

'They're mysterious and beautiful. Not to mention when I was little I was obsessed with The Little Mermaid, so I think growing up with that has definitely been a contributing factor. I even had red hair for a number of years because I love Ariel so much.'

Nowadays the 27-year-old not only dyes her brunette hair pink in a nod to her love of the mythical sea creatures but she has a pink and grey themed lounge room - which she said is 'calming and natural.'

'My bedroom's theme is typically pink and grey too,' she said. 'And I've always wanted a pink car.'

'My bedroom's theme is typically pink and grey too,' she said. 'And I've always wanted a pink car,' she said

'I am confident in who I am as a person because I have an amazing group of people for best friends,' she said

She also boasts a barbie tattoo on her arm, along with other inkings.

'My barbie tattoo I have wanted for a while to loosely represent my love of femininity and beauty, but honestly most of my tattoos don't have 'special meanings',' she said.

'I don't believe every tattoo needs to have a deep story behind it. All of my tattoos are just things I love and enjoy.

'I have Disney princesses on the backs of my legs, I have portraits of Walt Disney, Michael C Hall and Christian Bale on the front of my left leg - make up, perfume and other pretty bits and pieces on the opposite leg, purely because they're my interest.

'I have some song lyrics to favourite songs and some cute animals. I like to be colourful and tattoos allow me to add to that theme.'
A father-of-two from Sydney has asked working parents like himself to remember that their days don't end when they arrive home at the end of the day.

Brad Kearns, 28, said as soon as he arrives home from work, he and his wife Sarah chat about their days before she cuts him off to ask him to help around the house.

'I continue to talk and move over to perform the task as I go. I'm a pretty terrible house worker at the best of times so when I talk I become agonisingly slow for her to watch,' he wrote on Kidspot.

'You can literally see her twitching as I use the wrong sponge or turn on an already boiled kettle.'

A father-of-two from Sydney has asked working parents like himself to remember that their days don't end when they arrive home at the end of the day

Brad Kearns, 28, said as soon as he arrives home from work, he and his wife Sarah chat about their days before she cuts him off to ask him to help around the house

Brad recounted how the night usually then involves Sarah cutting him off again with more jobs before it descends into an argument.

'That's the bit that gets us. It's the bit where she wanted me to just shut up and help. The bit where I ridiculed her reaction and insinuated she was snapping at me for no reason,' he continued.

But upon reflection, Brad said that in the past when Sarah arrived home after being out all day he saw it as a 'saving grace' because she got home and started to help out immediately.

He concluded his piece by calling on working parents to let their partners at home know their day isn't over either.

Brad recounted how the night usually then involves Sarah cutting him off again with more jobs before it descends into an argument

'That's the bit that gets us. It's the bit where she wanted me to just shut up and help. The bit where I ridiculed her reaction and insinuated she was snapping at me for no reason,' he said

'We just need to remember that our partners at home don't have a set finish time like us,' he said.

In March, Brad shared his experience after staying home with their young kids while Sarah was at work.

'Every now and then when I walk in the door from work; she throws the kids at me and says 'you deal with them' you've been at work all day and I need a break,' he wrote on his Facebook page, DadMum.

'Sometimes I'm feeling a little precious and I take it personally because I think she's telling me I don't work hard.

But upon reflection, Brad said that in the past when Sarah arrived home after being out all day he saw it as a 'saving grace' because she got home and started to help out immediately

'Well for the last two days the tables are turned. She's been at work and the boys have been whiny. It's muggy and sweaty and gross and we all have cabin fever.

'I'm literally counting down the minutes until she gets home so I can have a shower, shave and brush my teeth again.'

Brad concluded that post by asking working parents to arrive home and 'just take the kids for a few minutes'.

'It's amazing what a poo in silence without a child banging on the door can do for a parent's sanity,' he wrote.

'We just need to remember that our partners at home don't have a set finish time like us,' he said

The doting father sent social media into overdrive in 2016 after detailing his experience of 'being a mum for a day' to his sons, who were then aged six weeks and two, when his wife was sick.

Speaking to Daily Mail Australia at the time, Brad said he was surprised by the positive and overwhelming response from people.

'Sarah and I have been together since 18 and married since 21. We have two sons but have had three as our first son was stillborn. I place a lot of emphasis on family which is why I left the army and began working on the front desk of Fitness First,' he said.

Brad said by staying home with the kids he had finally been able to see what he had been missing and how hard it had been for his wife.

'The thing is I'm not even sick. So when I visited her in hospital yesterday we had a laugh about the difference it was for me and Sarah said 'you should do updates on Facebook so you remember how hard it is',' Brad explained.

'I want to let the mums know I get it... and I'm envious of them,' he said.
A leading doctor has taken a stance against plastic surgeons who broadcast graphic operations of their patients on Snapchat.

Many Australian surgeons have joined the popular social media trend of using the photo-sharing app to livestream their surgeries from the operating theatre.

But Sydney plastic surgeon Laith Barnouti slammed the rising practice of procedures being broadcast on networking platforms as 'unethical'.

A leading doctor has taken a stance against plastic surgeons who broadcast graphic operations of their patients on Snapchat (stock image)

Sydney's plastic surgeons Dr Eddy Dona (right) and Dr. Kourosh Tavakoli (left) are among the doctors who have been broadcasting their surgeries on Snapchat

'If a surgeon is using Snapchat during surgery, it means they are downing tools, halting their work to pick up a phone and take images in the operating theatre, while a patient is lying on the table. This is not only unethical but interfering with the progress of the surgery,' Dr Barnouti told Mamamia.

'Surgeons should be focusing on the health and welfare of their patient, not thinking about sending Snapchat messages in the middle of a complex operation.'

Dr Barnouti also raised concerns that phones could bring potential risks to patients because they were not sterilised before entering the operating theatre.

Dr Dona shows viewers the before-and-after of his surgeries, including breast augmentations

Many Australian surgeons have joined the popular social media trend of using the photo-sharing app to livestream their surgeries from the operating theatre (stock image)

His concern comes after Sydney's Westmead Private Hospital announced it has banned doctors from broadcasting surgeries via social media.

Sydney's plastic surgeons Eddy Dona and Kourosh Tavakoli are among the doctors who have been broadcasting their surgeries on Snapchat.

Earlier this year, Dr Dona told Daily Mail Australia he wanted to 'educate' people through his social media account.

'People usually see the before and after pictures - and often, they think getting surgery is quite glamorous,' he said.

'But I wanted to demonstrate the significant pathway from getting between the before and after - and it's never glamorised or trivialised.

'Surgery is never minor. And by talking to viewers through each surgery I'm performing, they're aware of the risks involved.'

'And if you can see of all that for real and still want to go ahead and do it, then you know what's involved.'

The Sydney-based surgeon shows the before-and-after procedures of breast augmentation

Before going ahead, the plastic surgeons ask permission from their patients to take images and videos (stock image)

Before going ahead, Dr. Dona asks permission from his patients to take images and videos - and up to 40 per cent happily agree for him to do so.

He also wanted to speak out amid the latest reports after the Australian Medical Association slammed such surgeons for displaying their operations via Snapchats.

'I am aware of certain groups who think plastic surgeons using Snapchat are being unethical - but it's all nonsense,' Dr. Dona said.

'My patients have zero obligation to do Snapchat. Great if they consent, and no dramas if they say no. There's no difference to their surgery, no discounts or favours if they agree to appear on Snapchat.

'Plastic surgery has been going on for decades but by opening the doors through this platform, we're showing people what's going on.

'If anything, it's actually deterring surgeries.'
A transgender woman has said her transition is complete after undergoing a 7,000 hair transplant - with the help of a robot.

Nicola Trahearn, a 50-year-old former builder from Birmingham, is now looking forward to ditching her wigs following the eight-hour procedure, which has been hailed as 'the future of hair transplanting'.

Surgeon Dr Ali Soueid said the ARTAS machine is the only robotic system in the world that performs hair transplants, and told how it not only harvests hair from the back of the head in the 'safest and most efficient way' for patients, it also makes the cuts at the front of the scalp in order for the harvested follicles to be implanted.

Nicola, a father of two who divorced from her children's mother after coming out as transgender, said that although the procedure was a 'little painful', she is now looking forward to being 'full of confidence'.

Nicola Trahearn, from Birmingham, has said her transition is complete after receiving a state-of-the-art hair transplant performed by a robot

The remarkable transformation by a robotic hair transplant involves using a robot to remove hair follicles  which have been specially selected by a computer - from the back of the head, before implanting them on top.

'The procedure was a little painful but it's worth it,' said Nicola, who was born a boy named Mark.

'I'm looking forward to seeing my hair grow and being full of confidence.

'I want my hair to be shoulder length so I can colour and style it. I used to look in women's magazines at how they looked and think about how I'd look.'

Nicola has until now been relying on wigs to cover her bald patches but hopes that once the implanted hair has grown, it will enhance her femininity.

She says: 'I think I'll be able to look in the mirror now and be happier about what I see, and feel happier. I'll feel more Nicola.

'Plus, this way I won't have to worry about the management and cost of having wigs.'

Transgender Nicola can now expect her new hair to grow into long brown locks within a few months after the eight-hour procedure

The 50-year-old former builder has spent 7,000 having her male-pattern baldness plugged in and the person who carried out the procedure has called it the 'future of hair transplanting'

The father-of-two, who is divorced from her children's mother, says: 'The procedure (being carried out above) was a little painful but it's worth it'

The remarkable transformation by a robotic hair transplant costs between 10,000 to 12,000

Despite the considerable cost of the procedure, Nicola said she thinks it will save her money in the long run.

She currently has two wigs, which are made from real hair, which cost around 1,400 each.

They need to be washed and styled every five to six weeks, costing 50 a time.

Nicola said: 'I've spent 2,800 on two wigs and, together with the maintenance needed, I've spent about 4,000 in total to have long hair.'

Nicola has until now been relying on wigs (like above) to cover her bald patches but hopes that once the implanted hair has grown, it will enhance her femininity

Born and raised as Mark (above), Nicola grew up more interested in playing with girls than boys and preferred to try on her mother and sister's dresses.

Born and raised as Mark, Nicola grew up more interested in playing with girls than boys and preferred to try on her mother and sister's dresses.

'I didn't understand why I had more feminine feelings,' she recalls. 'So, I acted as normally as possible.

'Then in my late teens and early 20s, I trained as a builder. I acted very masculine and put a brave face on. I didn't let on how I really felt inside. But I knew I was a woman inside, I wanted to wear women's clothes.

'Deep down inside I wanted to be a woman.'

Still preferring to try and fit in, Nicola, who has always been attracted to women, started having girlfriends.

Nicola (pictured as Mark with wife Lisa and their two children) says: 'I didn't understand why I had more feminine feelings. So, I acted as normally as possible'

The procedure involves using a robot to remove hair follicles  which have been specially selected by a computer - from the back of the head, before implanting them on top

Despite the sizeable cost of the procedure, Nicola thinks it will save her money in the long run

She currently has two wigs (above), which are made from real hair and glued on to her head, costing around 1,400 each

In her late teens, Nicola trained as a builder and acted very masculine but knew on the inside that she was a woman and wanted to wear women's clothes

She met Lisa in 1995, and they got married in 2008.

Despite a loving relationship and enjoying being a parent to their two children, Nicola's urge to become a woman grew stronger.

She says: 'I thought I'd reach 40 and change then, but I wanted to wait for the children to grow up, so they would understand.'

In 2009, she agreed to emigrate to Australia with Lisa and their children, hoping this would provide a fresh start and might help to suppress her desire to transition.

'I tried to make a go of it but, try as I might, I couldn't stop my feelings,' she said.

In 2011, she 'came out' to her family when her son was 15 and daughter was 13.

Nicola, pictured before the procedure, showing her receding hairline and balding patches

Last July, she had gender reassignment surgery on the NHS, but is now saving 6,000 for breast implants

Nicola (pictured as Mark as a teen), now works as a carer and decorator and heard about the Artas robotic transplant through a laser treatment clinic she went to

Nicola and Lisa separated after the family returned to England.

Nicola, who began transitioning in 2012, said that despite it being 'horrible' to begin with, the pair are now best friends, and her children have always been supportive.

She underwent the hair transplant at the Skin and Follicle Clinic in Birmingham.

After a consultation, Nicola (pictured as Mark in his early 30s holding his daughter) decided to go ahead with the 7,000 procedure which was carried out at the Skin and Follicle Clinic, in Birmingham

Nicola says: 'My hairline has been receding since my late twenties. Male pattern baldness means wigs or a transplant are the only options I have, to look like a woman'

Nicola will have to wear her wig for the next few days to let the hair follicles scab over and settle and will continue to wear her wig until her hair grows

She says: 'It will take two or three months for the follicles to take, then in around six to eight months I'll have a head of hair, then after about a year it will be a decent length'

Reza Nassab, from the Skin and Follicle Clinic in Birmingham, who performed the transplant and has had the procedure himself, explained how using a robot enabled greater accuracy

He continues: 'This is the future of hair transplanting. It is has been predicted that robots will be doing the work of surgeons in 20 years' time, but in hair transplant surgery it is happening already'

Nicola said: 'My hairline has been receding since my late twenties. Male pattern baldness means wigs or a transplant are the only options I have, to look like a woman.

'But I'm delighted with the transplant.

'For the next few days I'll have to keep my wig off to let my hair follicles scab over and settle, so I'll have to stay in the house for a bit.

'Then I'll wear my wig until my hair grows. It will take two or three months for the follicles to take, then in around six to eight months I'll have a head of hair, then after about a year it will be a decent length. I'm looking forward to that stage.

'And Lisa and my children are really happy for me.'

Reza Nassab, from the Skin and Follicle Clinic in Birmingham, who oversaw the transplant and has had the procedure himself, explained how using a robot enabled greater accuracy.

He said: 'During the harvesting process, the robot takes healthy grafts and identifies the best hairs for grafting, rather than manually extracting grafts.

'As you can imagine, removing 2,000 grafts manually, one is prone to making mistakes and this ensures consistency and the quality of the graft.

'This is the future of hair transplanting. It is has been predicted that robots will be doing the work of surgeons in 20 years' time, but in hair transplant surgery it is happening already.'
A teacher has slammed a cosmetics brand's advertising campaign that tells young girls to 'skip class not concealer'.

Josh Key, from Perth, Scotland, spotted the Benefit Cosmetics advert on his way to the school where he begins teaching at in September and claims it tells girls they 'just need to be pretty'.

The poster depicts a young woman lay in bed holding an alarm clock and appearing sleepy while what appears to be a teacher stands next to her and a pile of books, alluding to a school theme.

Numerous angry parents have hit out at Benefit on social media and are appealing to the make-up brand to reconsider their campaign - while one claims that Debenhams vowed to remove it by July 3.

Numerous angry parents have hit out at Benefit over an ad they claim 'devalues' education

Teacher Josh Key from Perth, Scotland spotted the offending advert on the way to work

Josh, 25, said: 'I spotted the advert on my way to visit the primary school where I will start my career as a teacher next year.

'I was upset by the idea of anyone sending a message to my learners that encouraged them to devalue their education, but more so that it was targeted at young women and girls.

'Considering the global statistics which show how over represented girls are among early school leavers and 'not at school children', I felt the message was very irresponsible.

'I feel that we consistently tell boys and young men about the importance of being strong or intelligent, or creative, well-educated and highly qualified, and on the other side we tell girls that they just need to be pretty.

The ad in a Debenhams store window: One parent claims the retailer said it would be withdrawn by yesterday

'The fact that global brands and national retailers saw fight to exploit this message and the vulnerability of young girls for profit seems at best cynical and at worst actively suppressing the efforts and ambitions of half of the population.'

Another angry customer was data scientist Hayley Fenton, who had been to Debenhams in Leeds when she spotted the poster in the front window.

Hayley, who also works in education, said: 'I was just appalled by it to be honest. You know when you look twice at something because you can't believe it?

Debenhams PR team seemed to suggested the advert would be removed from stores yesterday

'I wasn't expecting to see something like that. It sends a negative message about looks being so important, even more than turning for school.

'I would imagine most of Benefit Cosmetics' customers are of around that mid-teen age.

'I just thought 'who's approved this campaign?'

'It's so important that women are encouraged to do their best in things. There's so much negative imagery anyway.

'These people are saying what we look like is far more important than doing well.'

According the Hayley, after contacting Benefit, the brand's original response was that they would take the feedback onboard.

However after she contacted one of their stockists, Debenhams, directly, the retail store said they would take down the adverts within days.

Hayley said: 'Benefit's original response was that they would bare the feedback in mind for future advertising campaigns.

'I went to Debenhams and their response was much more positive. They said they were going to remove the advert from their stores by the 3rd July.

'I've got a little boy who's one and obviously I'm going to try to bring him up to have respect for women but in some ways I'm glad he doesn't have to deal with the things women deal with.

'I think if I did have a daughter in the future, I'd point out that they are worth much more than their looks.

'I will reconsider buying products in the future from Benefit Cosmetics.

'I've seen some of their other questionable campaigns in the past. They were kind of fat shaming too when they made a 'MakeAMovieAFatty' hashtag.

'We need to let girls know that they can do anything despite their looks.

'The poster clearly reads 'skip class'. If it was aimed at older women, it would read 'skip lectures'.'

Social media users clubbed together to put increasing pressure on Benefit, with one blogger, Amy Treasure, writing: 'Maybe Benefit shouldn't have skipped the marketing class. This sort of advertising has no appeal anymore - outdated.'

Lisa Valentine asked: 'So it doesn't matter if your education suffers as long as your makeup is on point?'

A spokesperson from Benefit Cosmetics said: 'We understand how this could have been taken out of context; the intention was never to cause offense and we regret if it has.

'Please know that we value all levels of education and we apologise for any communication that did not reflect this.'

Debenhams were contacted for comment but failed to respond or confirm if they were removing the advert.




A hilarious video has captured the moment groom proves he's head over heels for his new bride - when he picks her up during their first dance before losing his footing and crashing onto the stage.

Lawrence Satow, 30, of Drewsteignton, was celebrating tying the knot with girlfriend of seven years Victoria, 29, when he scooped her up in his arms at their reception on Saturday.

With Macklemore's 'Can't Hold Us' playing, the over-enthusiastic entrepeneur began twirling Victoria around the dance floor.

But the manoeuvre didn't go to plan as Lawrence span Victoria, who works in agriculture, round and round until he completely lost control.

The hilarious 28-second clip shows the couple crashing into a huge speaker before landing on top of each other on the stage.

The video of the couple's disastrous first dance has since gone viral with more than 30,000 people viewing and sharing the clip.

A hilarious video has captured the moment Lawrence Satow attempted an ambitious first dance with new bride Victoria - only for it to end in disaster

The happy couple chose to dance to Macklemore's 'Can't Hold Us' at their wedding reception on Saturday

The red-faced newlyweds flew out on their honeymoon to Mykonos, Greece, on Sunday after the wedding at St Lawrence's Church in Brookside, Hereford.

Lawrence said: 'I think the video speaks for itself, the whole thing was fairly brutal.

'It wouldn't be an over exaggeration to say that it was one of the most humiliating moments of my life so far.

'The routine was completely off-the-cuff, we hadn't planned it at all and were just going to go with the flow.

During their dance Lawrence chose to pick up his bride and twirl her around

However, he lost his footing seeing the couple come crashing down onto the stage

Lawrence says that he was mortified but his guests found the incident very amusing

'Victoria chose the song, and it's not one that I'm massively familiar with, so initially I didn't feel too confident about it.

'But as it went on, I started to feel as though we were getting the hang of it.

'The watchers-on were cheering, and I thought I might as well try something a bit ambitious - it was our first dance, after all.

'I know that Victoria isn't at all heavy, so I decided to lift her off the ground and spin her round, like they do in Strictly Come Dancing.

'But the floor was slippery, I think some beer or maybe some limoncello had been spilled, and I was obviously wearing uncomfortable shoes.

The clip has been shared online where it has received more than 30,000 times

'I lost my footing, and very quickly we were heading back towards the stage.

'As we were falling backwards, all I was trying to do was make sure that Victoria fell on top of me, rather than vice-versa. I would probably have crushed her.'

However, the couple escaped unscathed and the ambitious manoeuvre went down a treat with the wedding guests.

Lawrence added: 'Thankfully neither of us were hurt at all, and everyone in the crowd found it absolutely hilarious.

'The music was still playing, and people were looking on at us and willing us to continue, so we did.

'There's something terribly British about that, I think. It's the 'Keep calm and carry on' spirit.

'Everyone was laughing and taking the mickey out of us afterwards, and I must say I'm very embarrassed now that video of the whole thing has surfaced.

'Fortunately we went off on our honeymoon the next day, so I was able to escape a lot of the banter.

'We're due to come back home on Friday, but we're both tempted to stay out there for the foreseeable future to spare ourselves a bit of embarrassment.'
With their days a whirlwind of formal engagements and VIP meet-and-greets - often with photographers in tow - it's little wonder that many royals prefer to play it safe when it comes to their wardrobe.

But Queen Letizia of Spain is one monarch who refuses to play by the rules.

Far from sticking to tried and tested skirt suits and sensible heels, the 44-year-old mother of two is regularly snapped in daring ensembles - from leather trousers to skyscraper heels.

Today the Queen, who recently experimented with a 'bubble' ponytail more often sported by beauty vloggers, chose a pair of billowing pale pink culottes and a co-ordinating top for a charity event in Madrid.

Queen Letizia of Spain looked stylish in pale pink with snakeskin accents in Madrid

The Spanish Queen appeared unruffled by the blustery weather in the capital today

The fashion-forward royal is becoming known for her playful sense of style

She accessorised with a pair of towering snakeskin heels and a matching clutch bag.

Letizia's only nod to royal tradition were her pearl earrings - though naturally she opted for a statement drop pair over discreet studs.

The Queen was attending an event hosted by the Foundation Against Drugs at Distrito Telefonica - the Spanish telecoms firm's HQ - in the capital today.

She appeared unfazed by the blustery weather in Madrid, smiling serenely for photographers as her hair blew in the breeze.

The mother of two smiled serenely for photographers as she arrived at the charity event

Her minimalist outfit was offset by glossy pink lipstick and lashings of mascara

Her loose pink top boasted the sort of statement ruffled sleeves adored by fashion bloggers

The Queen joined fellow guests on a panel at the event hosted by Foundation Against Drugs

Last week Letizia wowed in a red dress as she attended a ceremony to mark the 40th anniversary of the 1977 Democratic Election on the arm of her husband, King Felipe VI.

The Queen looked dazzling in the lace dress, by Carolina Herrera, which she wore with nude stilettos and what looked like a pair of ruby earrings.
A student has been hailed a 'genius' after managing to sneak an oversize hip flask into her prom by disguising it as her clutch bag.

British student Eleanor Clarke attended her prom in full evening wear this week and finished her outfit with what appeared to be a roomy evening bag.

However, on a closer inspection the silver 'clutch' is in fact a large metal hip flask, big enough to keep her friends' thirsts quenched throughout the evening.

British student Eleanor Clarke (centre) has been applauded by Twitter after she managed to sneak an oversize hip flask into her prom by disguising it as a clutch bag

Eleanor shared photos of her hack with her 2,000 strong Twitter following earlier this week.

She wrote: 'Still don't know how I got away with a huge hip flask as my prom clutch'.

Accompanying the tweet Eleanor shared four photos of her big night out revealing how she craftily camouflaged her drinking vessel.

Eleanor shared her hack with her 2,000 strong Twitter following earlier this week

She accompanied the tweet with photos of she and her friends enjoying a fun-filled evening

In one of the photos Eleanor and her friends can be seen posing in a swigging motion before heading off to the prom.

Eleanor's tweet has thus far received more than 284,000 likes and 54,000 retweets as her followers applaud her efforts.

Twitter user Jemma commented: 'fact she's so casual holding it like an actual clutch n all oh my god a true intellectual. (sic)'

Eleanor's tweet has thus far received more than 284,000 likes and 54,000 retweets as her followers applaud her efforts

Many have described Eleanor as a 'genius' and one follower asked her to become the 'first female president'

Others described the act as 'genius' with one of Eleanor's followers asking that she become the 'first female president'.

While the focus was mainly on the hip flask others pointed out that Eleanor's friends appeared to have unusual baggage themselves.

Referring to a fluffy purse Andy said: 'We're all talking about the huge hip flask meanwhile Red dress is taking her cat to prom'.

Meanwhile other eagle eyed Twitter users questioned whether the student in blue was carrying an iPad with an orange cover.
A Norwegian prince has been pictured being scolded by his mother after he was caught staring into the distance during a public engagement.

Eleven-year-old Prince Sverre Magnus, who is the younger child of Crown Prince Haakon and Crown Princess Mette-Marit, looked decidedly bored at the unveiling of a statue of his grandmother, Queen Sonja, in Oslo today.

The sculpture was unveiled to coincide with the Queen's 80th birthday on Tuesday, and while Princess Ingrid Alexandra, watched politely, her brother appeared to scowl.

But it's not the first time the youngster, who is third-in-line to the Norwegian throne, has been caught pulling a silly face.

Scroll down for video

Prince Sverre Magnus, who is the younger child of Crown Prince Haakon and Crown Princess Mette-Marit, looked decidedly bored at the unveiling of a statue of his grandmother today

In May, as the Norwegian nobility gathered on the balcony of Oslo's Royal Palace for King Harald and Queen Sonja's joint birthday celebrations, Sverre Magnus cheekily performed the popular 'dab' dance move for the crowds - much to the amusement of his cousins.

The youngster emerged as the star of the show during the birthday celebrations and even went viral after someone shared a clip on Reddit.

The dab has become popular among celebrities and sport stars alike, with Manchester United midfielder Paul Pogba famously performing 'dabs' after scoring goals.

And the little prince's sense of humour clearly runs in the family, as his father Crown Prince Haakon pulled a bizarre prank when he shaved his beard off in the middle of a speech at last night's gala dinner.

The royal was was told off by his mother Mette Marit (second right) after being caught staring into the distance during a formal public engagement

Fitting tribute: The statue was unveiled to coincide with the Queen's 80th birthday on Tuesday, and while Princess Ingrid Alexandra, watched politely, her brother appeared to scowl

Prince Sverre Magnus, 11, performed the popular 'dab' dance move on the balcony of Oslo's Royal Palace last night during his grandparents' joint 80th birthday celebrations

Playing up for the cameras! The Prince - joined by (L-R) cousin Leah Isadora Behn, sister Princess Ingrid Alexandra, Prince Sverre Magnus, cousin Maud Angelica Behn, and grandmother Queen Sonja - pulls a funny face for the cameras

The cheeky royal couldn't resist pulling a series of funny faces as the royal family gathered on the balcony during last night's celebrations - while his parents looked on solemnly

Prince Sverre Magnus (third left) joined royals including King Harald and Queen Sonja (centre) and his parents Crown Prince Haakon and Crown Princess Mette-Marit (far right)

It's not the first time the cheeky prince has played up to cameras! Prince Sverre Magnus is the younger child of Crown Prince Haakon and third in line to succeed his grandfather, King Harald V, who turns 80 this year. He amused onlookers with an impromptu peace sign and 'dab' move during his grandparents' birthday celebrations in May, but it's not the first time the royal has amused onlookers by pulling silly faces during formal events. Last year, he was seen yawning and picking his nose as his parents smiled from the palace balcony during the Norwegian Constitution Day celebrations in Oslo. The royal was seen yawning and picking his nose as his parents smiled from the palace balcony during the Norwegian Constitution Day celebrations in Oslo last year Sverre Magnus pulls a series of unintentionally funny faces during last year's coronation anniversary celebrations for King Harald and Queen Sonja Prankster prince! Sverre Magnus, with father Haakon who last night shaved off his beard, was snapped picking his nose on the Royal Palace balcony last year And just a month later, the cheeky royal looked far from impressed as he sipped from a cup of juice during his grandparents' coronation anniversary celebrations. Coincidentally, the 11-year-old, as a descendant, of King Edward VII's daughter Maud, joins members of the Norwegian royal family in being in the line of succession to the British throne. Advertisement

The Norwegian nobility took centre stage in May when glamorous royals from across Europe assembled in Oslo to mark the King Harald and Queen Sonja's 80th birthdays.

As the monarch's grandson and third-in-line to the throne, Sverre Magnus played a public role in the celebrations but it clearly all got too much for the cheeky youngster as he pulled a series of silly poses on the balcony.

Luckily his cousin, 12-year-old Leah Isadora Behn, was on hand to give him a sharp nudge in the side.
Hardly a week goes by these days without mental health making the news; with everyone from celebrities to politicians keen to share their own struggles with depression or anxiety.

But there is one psychiatric condition that remains conspicuously absent from the discussions, even though an estimated one in ten of us will experience it at some point.

Unlike bipolar disorder or postnatal depression, people dont seem to want to admit to having this condition  you wont see them going on funruns for it or talking about their experiences on morning TV.

Say word psychopath and most people think of a character like Hannibal Lecter

Thats because for this condition, the stigma is still very much alive and kicking.

While most people could name one or two personality disorders (such as psychopath), there are actually ten types, and many of us will have at least one of them at some stage in our lives.

Yet many people do not even know personality disorder exists, leaving those affected  and the people around them  to suffer in silence.

Psychiatrists such as myself see many people with personality disorders and know the pain and distress they can cause.

Lots of people have aspects of a personality disorder. But unless its causing serious problems, then its often said they have traits of a personality disorder, but not the fullblown version  where the symptoms are a constant feature that hampers their life.

So in this way, personality disorder is really on a continuum.

For example, many surgeons and lawyers, score highly on psychopathic disorder scales, yet they have found a job where their ability to be cold and calculating, incredibly focused and to cut themselves off from the emotions of others actually helps them do their job.

While they might have psychopathic personality traits, we wouldnt say they had a disorder.

Similarly, many celebrities have narcissistic personality traits. But its these traits that have enabled them to succeed, for example, by taking advantage of others and prioritising their own needs.

Many surgeons and lawyers score highly on psychopathic disorder scales

Some of the symptoms of personality disorders, in isolation, can seem to be advantageous. People with histrionic personality disorder, for example, are often great fun: the perfect party person.

However, this is enjoyable for only so long, and friends and family will often tire of such behaviour when they seek peace and quiet.

Despite being so common, personality disorders are shrouded in secrecy and shame, with even many doctors not fully understanding how to spot them. As a result, they can sometimes be misdiagnosed as depression or bipolar disorder because they appear to share some symptoms.

There is also general confusion around the terms used to describe personality disorders, and what  if any  treatments work.

It used to be thought, for instance, that people with a personality disorder had one for life, and there was little that could be done to help.

Research has now shown that people do get better and their symptoms can improve  with the right treatment.

The chances are youre closely related to someone with the traits of a personality disorder, are married to one, or work with one. But how would you know if they have a personality disorder that needs treatment?

In this first part of a new series, I set out to demystify this hidden yet extremely common problem  and hopefully provide some of the answers to help you cope with it.

PERSONALITY IS A BIT LIKE BAKING

To understand what a personality disorder is, we first have to get to grips with what personality is  trickier than you might think, as how we behave towards people can differ from one situation to another. Generally speaking, though, personality is a combination of the key characteristics that govern how we behave, think and feel. While we all have similar traits, different people have different quantities in different combinations.

Its a bit like baking. You can start with the same or similar ingredients, but depending on the quantities and how you combine them, you can end up with very different pastry.

Personality is a combination of the characteristics that govern how we behave, think and feel

In a fully formed personality, the traits should balance and complement each other so we can get on with our lives without too many problems.

However, in a personality disorder, these traits arent working together, and instead, some seem to dominate or are absent.

To go back to the cooking analogy, its as though some of the key ingredients are missing entirely or arent in the right proportions, so the pastry doesnt turn out right.

This makes life very difficult for the person and those around them. People with a personality disorder often find that they struggle to make and maintain close relationships, get on with people at work, control their feelings and emotions and understand other people.

LINKED TO FAMILY UPHEAVAL

Exactly what causes a personality disorder has created a lot of debate, but its thought to be down to a combination of factors. A major one is upbringing.

Perhaps its no surprise to learn that people with a personality disorder are more likely to have had a difficult childhood.

During our formative years, just as we learn skills such as how to walk, read and write, so we also learn key skills like how to control and regulate our emotions, plus coping strategies. If the childhood environment prevented them from developing this aspect of themselves, then a personality disorder is more likely to develop.

This may mean an abusive or traumatic upbringing but could also include being brought up in a chaotic or unstable family home, with parents going through an acrimonious divorce, who were heavy drinkers or who didnt provide adequate support, love or attention.

GETTING A DIAGNOSIS CAN BE TRICKY Because personality is a complex thing, its not always easy to say for sure when someone has a disorder. The symptoms can also be mistaken for other mental health problems, such as depression or bipolar, as they can superficially seem very similar. The part of the brain responsible for our personality is the prefrontal cortex  found just behind your forehead above the eyes. This area is still growing right up until our mid20s. Because of this, most doctors try to avoid diagnosing a personality disorder in people until they are at least in their 20s. Advertisement

Early bereavement or being involved in major accidents or multiple upheavals such as moving home or schools a lot can also contribute.

This isnt the whole picture, though: siblings can go through the same difficulties, yet one will develop a personality disorder and the other wont. Similarly, not everyone who has a personality disorder has had a difficult childhood. This suggests that there is also a genetic element.

As our personality is not fully formed until our mid-20s, often the problems from a personality disorder do not become evident until then, although that person might have started exhibiting symptoms in their late teens.

Sometimes people have had traits for many years but have been in a relationship with someone thats helped contain the most difficult aspects, so the full symptoms dont become apparent until something happens and that other person either leaves or dies.

Other triggers can include money problems, stressful situations, important events and drinking a lot of alcohol.

WARNING SIGNS TO LOOK FOR

Its important to emphasise that its normal to struggle with life at times and to feel overwhelmed. What distinguishes a personality disorder is that the symptoms are recurring and have a serious impact on someones life

Broadly speaking, the personality disorders fall into three broad clusters, based on the type of emotional problem underlying them. These are:

Cluster A: Odd or Eccentric.

Cluster B: Dramatic, Emotional or Erratic.

Cluster C: Anxious or Fearful.

Generally, to be diagnosed with a personality disorder, people need to have three or four of the characteristics of one type  few will have all the symptoms.

You can also have symptoms of more than one type of personality disorder, and so might be diagnosed with mixed type.

Today we will focus on the Cluster B group, because they contain some of the personalities most people have heard of, such as psychopathic.

Essentially, Cluster B types behave in unpredictable or overly emotional ways.

There are four different types of personality in this group: antisocial (the proper medical term for psychopathic), histrionic, borderline and narcissistic. Here, we look at the first three

A PSYCHOPATH IN ALL OF US?

The following are characteristics of antisocial (sometimes called dissocial)) personality disorder, the medical term for psychopathic. Could your loved one or even boss be affected? Do they:

Put themselves in dangerous or risky situations, often without considering the consequences for themselves or others, for instance?

Get bored and frustrated very easily and act on impulse  they may find it difficult to hold down a job for long?

Behave aggressively and get into fights easily?

Act in ways that are unpleasant for others or appear cruel, uncaring, cold and unemotional

Appear superficially charming and charismatic?

Do things to get what they want, putting their needs above others  even though they may hurt people and feel no sense of guilt if they have mistreated others?

Say the word psychopath and most people think of a woman in a shower screaming as a man approaches with a large knife, or of Hannibal Lecter in a mask.

We tend to assume all psychopaths are cold, brutal, callous murderers with no regard for the feelings of others; or sadists, gaining pleasure from other peoples pain.

While certainly there are some notorious murderers who exhibit psychopathic traits, the term psychopath is greatly misunderstood.

Ive seen this recently with political commentators claiming that Donald Trump is a psychopath, basing this on his scant regard for what others think and his apparent glee at causing anger and hostility among liberal Americans.

Im not at all convinced. Being a psychopath is a serious, profound mental health issue, whereas being generally offensive is not a mental illness.

Psychopaths are characterised by a lack of remorse and difficulties with empathy

You can disagree with him and not like him, but that doesnt mean Trump has a serious psychological problem.

The term psychopath refers to someone with antisocial personality disorder. It is characterised by a lack of remorse, difficulties with empathy and yet a superficial charm. Those affected are also unwilling to accept responsibility. They lack behavioural control, so they will feel emboldened to do whatever they like, even if its against the law or social convention, and are impulsive. As youd imagine, its strongly linked to criminal behaviour.

Ive worked with many psychopaths in a secure hospital who had either murdered or seriously injured their victims.

These patients seemed very normal. They didnt try to attack me, just shuffled about, asking if they could use the exercise yard or complaining about the food. Superficially, it was hard to see what all the fuss was about.

Over time, though, I realised that while someone can appear psychologically normal in straightforward interactions, they can still have profound underlying problems.

Psychopaths lack behavioural control, so they will feel emboldened to do whatever they like

One patient, for example, had subjected several women to horrific sexual attacks but was perfectly pleasant and polite on the ward. It was hard to reconcile what he had done with the person who would stand in front of me each day.

The patient was allocated a young female psychologist and, over several months, he began to open up about the attacks, going into more and more detail.

I assumed this was a sign of progress, yet it began to become apparent that the psychologist was becoming more distressed by the details.

The sessions were abruptly stopped as it became clear the patient wasnt recalling the details for therapeutic reasons, but was gaining immense sadistic pleasure from the distress he was causing the psychologist.

But many people with psychopathic traits are not sadists, and not everyone with this type of personality disorder is a criminal.

In fact, we all have  to a greater or lesser extent  aspects of our personality that are psychopathic.

Its very useful for all of us to get in touch with our inner psychopath at times, as it helps us be focused, to prioritise what we want.

Sometimes we need to be a little callous and self-centred  to cut ties with someone whos upset you, for example, or challenge people despite it being socially awkward to do so.

People in many professions score highly on psychopath tests, and thats a good thing as it helps them do their job.

Consider, for example, a barrister who has to stand up and defend someone they may well think is guilty, yet they absolutely cannot allow the court to see this. They effectively have to lie to a room full of people and make it convincing.

Psychopathic patients in secure hospitals like Broadmoor (pictured) may have either murdered or seriously injured their victims, but may outwardly seem very normal

This is a good thing because being represented in court and having your version of events heard is the cornerstone of a just society.

Similarly, imagine a surgeons work. Cutting into someone is a strange thing to do  you have to suspend the fact that theyre another human being and instead treat them as a machine that needs to be fixed. Thats a very psychopathic thing to be able to do.

Captains of industry also often score very highly on psychopathic personality disorder scales.

Again, they have to be incredibly hard-headed and focused in order to have risen up the ranks, often prioritising their own needs over other colleagues.

They will have had to be manipulative and conniving to get where they are, and then focused and, at times, callous in order to maintain their position.

Firing someone is an incredibly difficult thing to do  its often catastrophic for the employee and their family.

Yet bosses have to do this routinely. Psychopathic traits enable them to get on with the job without being overwhelmed with guilt.

Psychopaths and those with psychopathic traits can often be very charming superficially because its part of being able to manipulate and inveigle themselves into others lives and get their trust quickly.

But, ultimately, it is incredibly difficult to form longstanding relationships with them.

They can sometimes maintain their charming persona for some people but not others, to the extent that two peoples description of the same person might seem utterly different.

DRAMA QUEEN PERSONALITY

The proper medical term for this personality is histrionic.

Most of us will know someone like this. They might be labelled drama queens, which rather belittles what is actually a very distressing condition.

So how can you tell if your loved one, friend or colleague is affected?

Use the following checklist (remember, theyd need three or four characteristics to be considered to have this personality disorder). Do they:

Over-dramatise events?

Worry a lot about their appearance?

Crave new and exciting things and never feel satisfied?

Feel very uncomfortable if not the centre of attention, and much more at ease as the life and soul of the party?

Feel they have to entertain people (possibly flirt or behave provocatively to ensure they remain the centre of attention)?

Have a reputation for being over-emotional?

Feel dependent on the approval of others?

Allow themselves to be easily influenced by others?

Part of the problem is that people struggle to sympathise with them or to understand their behaviour as a symptom of a serious problem with their personality, rather than them just liking a bit of drama and excitement in their life.

Theyre often great fun to have around at first. But as soon as the attention is not on them, things turn sour.

They have a tendency to be overemotional, which can be difficult and draining after a while. So although its enjoyable spending short periods of time with them, they are hard to see regularly, which can make the person feel let down. They can suffer severe low mood and a profound sense of being rejected and lost.

When the attention is not on them, things tend to turn sour with those with personality disorders

Because histrionic types tend to dramatise things, other people often end up taking everything they say with a pinch of salt.

Again, as they are keen for the approval of others, this can be very upsetting for them.

This type is often dismissed as simply being dramatic and attention-seeking.

But it indicates a profound problem and, if left untreated, these people can experience suicidal thoughts and become very isolated as their friends and family tire of them.

Overwhelmed by their own emotions

The following checklist lists the characteristics of someone with borderline personality disorder. Ask yourself, do they:

Find it hard to control their emotions?

Feel bad about themselves and/ or empty?

Feel very worried about people abandoning them, and would do anything to stop that happening?

Have very intense emotions that last from a few hours to a few days, and that can change quickly?

Not have a strong sense of who they are or their identity, but feel as though theyre having to act or play a role with people?

Make friends easily but find it very difficult to keep them?

Act impulsively and do things that could harm them (such as cutting themselves)?

When stressed, hear voices or see things that other people dont?

Often self-harm?

People are often confused by the term borderline, thinking it means this personality disorder is mild. In fact, the term borderline comes from an older system meaning on the border between a psychotic and a neurotic illness.

(Mental illness used to be characterised into psychotic illness  where people would have unusual experiences such as seeing or hearing things  and neurotic, which meant the symptoms related to mood and feelings.)

It is often one of the most debilitating of the personality disorders. People with emotionally unstable personality disorder (EUPD), as its also known, will really struggle with life.

It can also be extremely tough on those close to them because their behaviour can often be very distressing and scary to witness as someone with EUPD may express suicidal thoughts.

Friends and family will often be very involved to start with, and then over time may become exhausted or start to feel used or manipulated.
Ellen Perkins was diagnosed with an underactive thyroid (hypothyroidism)

Life can be miserable if your body doesnt make enough thyroid hormone. And if you are not prescribed the right hormone supplement to replace it, its even worse.

But now hundreds of thousands of patients face the very real prospect that having finally got the right treatment, it could soon be snatched away.

When Ellen Perkins, now 50, was diagnosed with an underactive thyroid (hypothyroidism), she was initially prescribed the standard thyroid hormone replacement, known as thyroxine, or T4.

That didnt work for me, I was sleeping for 16 hours a day, recalls Ellen, a sales and development co-ordinator at an outdoor leisure centre in Staffordshire. That makes life really difficult when you are a single parent with three young children.

I despaired of feeling better. The medication seemed to have no effect and I hurt from the moment I awoke to the moment I fell asleep and was having three naps a day. Coming back from the school run Id sit in a daze on the sofa. I was so cold I couldnt feel my hands and feet.

Ellen took thyroxine for five years, but says she was steadily getting worse. Id complain, but the doctor just said it should work and kept upping the dose.

Then an endocrinologist swapped her to a related hormone, tri-iodothyronine (T3), which banished all those symptoms. My life was transformed literally overnight, she says. Soon I was warm for the first time in a decade. I was dancing round the house telling my sons that I had warm feet as it was such a novelty.

Now she and thousands of other patients, mainly women, fear they will no longer be able to get tri-iodothyronine (the tablets are known as liothyronine) because the manufacturer has raised the price. In Germany and Sweden, 100 liothyronine tablets cost 25 (25p each), in the UK its an astonishing 854.

Thousands of patients fear they will no longer be able to get tri-iodothyronine

In 2012, the NHS paid 8 million for T3 prescriptions; by 2016, almost the same number of prescriptions cost 32 million.

The official view is that liothyronine is unnecessary, with Royal College of Physicians guidelines spelling out that it doesnt recommend prescribing the pills.

As A result, Public Heath England has told local health authorities (clinical commissioning groups, or CCGs) that they can take liothyronine off the list of prescribable drugs; some have already started refusing to fund the drug, affecting patients such as Ellen.

I was horrified when my CCG told my GP to stop prescribing it, but my endocrinologist supported my right to continue using it, she says. And she counts herself one of the lucky ones.

Lyn Mynott, chair of Thyroid UK, a charity support group, says: My phone has been ringing off the hook about this for months.

The official NHS view is that liothyronine is unnecessary and should not be prescribed

People whose symptoms improved only when they started on T3 are worried. Many fear they will be driven to buying it on the internet which means they wont get proper medical monitoring.

Some doctors refuse to deal with patients who buy this way.

Its suggested that as many as 200,000 people could be affected.

T3 and T4 are naturally produced by the thyroid gland and are involved in such vital functions as how fast your body uses fats and carbohydrates and how it controls temperature and heart rate.

Symptoms of a deficiency include fatigue, weakness, weight gain, feeling cold and aching muscles.

Levels of these hormones can decline for various reasons, including autoimmune disease (where the immune system attacks the thyroid gland), serious infections, and as a side-effect of drugs such as lithium for bipolar disorder. Hypothyroidism is more common in women, but its not clear why.

The official view is that what all these patients require to function normally is a supplement of thyroxine, but some patients and experts say not all benefit.

Its a long-running dispute with professional bodies replying that there is no evidence for patients concerns. The Royal College of Physicians is unequivocal: Overwhelming evidence supports the use of thyroxine (T4) alone in the treatment of hypothyroidism. We do not recommend the prescribing of additional tri-iodothyronine (T3).

Five per cent of the UK population suffers from a thyroid disorder

Up to 3 per cent of the UK population are prescribed thyroxine, according to the doctors organisation GP Update. Its agreed that about 90 per cent of patients improve greatly, but Thyroid UK estimates that around 10 dont. This is because thyroxine doesnt actually do anything directly but has to be converted by the body into tri-iodothyronine  the theory is that all the extra T4 is automatically converted.

But some patients may not be able to convert T4, according to Colin Dayan, a professor of clinical diabetes and metabolism at Cardiff University. He was part of a team that in 2009 found a gene, called DOI 2, that is involved in controlling the process that activates thyroxine.

A fairly common mutation can make the process less efficient, he says. That could mean some patients with plenty of thyroxine are not able to make enough T3.

Ellen is one of these patients, she discovered after having a private genetic test. The NHS refused to run one for me, she says.

There is other evidence that some patients dont do well on thyroxine. Antonio Bianco, a professor of medicine and an endocrinologist specialising in metabolism at Chicagos Rush University Medical Center, is studying how the two hormones interact, and the effects of the DOI 2 gene.

He looked at patients in a large nutritional study and compared a group with hypothyroidism with healthy people  those on thyroxine had lower levels of T3 and were heavier, despite eating fewer calories, according to his report, published in the Annals of Internal Medicine last year.

Patients have complained for years of continuing to have symptoms on T4, Professor Bianco told Good Health. Now for the first time we have documentation that supports their concerns.

This strongly suggests taking thyroxine for low thyroid does not necessarily return you to perfect health. Doctors should discuss the limitations of thyroxine with their patients instead of saying that all will be back to normal.

But even if there is a reason why some patients dont do well on thyroxine, sceptics question if iodothyronine is safe long term. They claim it might raise the risk of heart disease and osteoporosis.

NHS England has announced it is consulting on the advice described as low value

However a study last year found no sign that patients were any more at risk. The research involved 400 patients on iodothyronine, and 34,000 on thyroxine, who were followed up for an average of nine years by researchers at Ninewells Hospital and Medical School, Dundee.

Endocrinologist and lead researcher Professor Graham Leese says: There is a group of patients who say they get little benefit from thyroxine and feel better when they get iodothyronine as well.

There is no good evidence that this combination is more effective, but if these patients strongly prefer it, this study suggests the risk isnt great, as long as their blood tests stay within the same limits. We need more research, though.

Meanwhile, NHS England has announced it is consulting doctors and patients on the advice to withdraw iothyronine, along with some other drugs described as low value, and will publish the results in the next few months.

Concordia, which makes the drug form of T3, liothyronine, says that it is a complicated drug to produce and that changes demanded by the regulator has made a price rise necessary.

We would be happy to discuss any cost issues with the Department of Health, but it hasnt approached us with any concerns, said a spokesperson.
Indigestion pills taken daily by millions of Britons may raise the risk of an early death, research suggests.

Scientists found that people who take proton pump inhibitors (PPIs), common drugs used to treat heartburn, are 25 per cent more likely to die in the next six years than those who use an alternative treatment, called H2 blockers.

Experts said use of the drugs should be restricted in light of the new evidence, which was based on records from six million people.

More than five million bottles and packets are prescribed each year in England to treat gastroesophageal reflux, a severe form of heartburn.

Scientists people who take proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) for heartburn are more likely to die in the next six years than those who use H2 blockers (file pic)

WHAT ARE EXAMPLES OF PROTON PUMP INHIBITORS BRANDS? Brands available in the UK include: Dexilant (dexlansoprazole)

Protonix (pantoprazole)

Aciphex (rabeprazole) Brands available in the US include: Nexium (esomeprazole)

Prevacid (lansoprazole)

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WHAT ARE EXAMPLES OF H2 BLOCKERS BRANDS? Brands available in the UK include: Tagamet (cimetidine)

Peptimax (cimetidine)

Tazac (nizatidine) Brands available in the US include: Axid (nizatidine)

Pepcid (famotidine)

Tagamet (cimetidine) Advertisement

Many more Britons buy PPIs - which include omeprazole and lansoprazole - over the counter of pharmacies without a prescription, or in corner shops and supermarkets.

The drugs are not recommended for long-term use, but doctors fear that because they are so readily available, people may take them without medical supervision for years.

The new research, by US experts at the Veterans Affairs Saint Louis Healthcare System and Washington University in Missouri, used records from army veterans to examine the risks of taking the drugs.

The researchers found people who had used the medicines were on average 25 per cent more likely to die than those who took H2 blockers during the study period, which lasted six years.

And they were 23 per cent more likely to die than people who took neither drug.

The risks were particularly strong among people who took the drugs for longer periods.

For those who took them consistently for more than six months the risk of death rose to 31 per cent, and if people took them for more than a year the risk jumped again to 51 per cent.

The scientists, whose work is published in the BMJ Open journal, said they do not know exactly why this might be - and indeed could not prove that the drugs were actually causing the increased risk of death.

Experts said use of the drugs should be restricted in light of the new evidence

But they said recent research has indicated a link between proton pump inhibitors chronic kidney disease, dementia and osteoporosis.

Other research has linked the drugs to the ageing of cells and tissue - a problem known as oxidative stress.

The scientists stressed that patients should continue to use the drugs if their doctor prescribes them - but should steer clear if they are not definitely needed.

They wrote: 'Although our results should not deter prescription and use of PPIs where medically indicated, they may be used to encourage and promote pharmacovigilance [monitoring the side-effects of licensed drugs] and [they] emphasise the need to exercise judicious use of PPIs and limit use and duration of therapy to instances where there is a clear medical indication and where benefit outweighs potential risk.'

The authors found many people in the study were taking the drugs even though their symptoms did not warrant it.

These people were actually at a slightly higher risk of death than those people who actually needed the drugs.

The findings are supported by a German study of 74,000 people, published in the journal JAMA Neurology in February 2016, which suggested that elderly people who used PPIs at least once every three months had a 44 percent increased risk of dementia compared with those who did not take the drugs.

And a Stanford study of three million people, published in July 2015, suggested that people who took PPIs were 16 to 21 per cent more likely to have a heart attack.

The study only looked at PPIs, and the possible risk does not extend to other indigestion treatments such as antacid treatments which neutralise excess stomach acid.

John Smith, chief executive of the Proprietary Association of Great Britain, the trade association representing manufacturers of over-the-counter medicines, said: 'These findings should be treated with considerable caution.

'This is an observational study - its authors acknowledge that no firm conclusions should be made regarding cause and effect.

'The study only looked at prescription use of PPIs, which are typically used at higher doses and for longer durations.

'Additionally, the study had several limitations, including the fact that PPI users involved in the study were of an advanced age and may have already had other underlying health conditions, the researchers were unable to obtain information about their causes of death.

'Over-the-counter PPIs provide an important health benefit.

'They are an effective and appropriately safe way to provide short-term relief from heartburn and indigestion, if used in accordance with the clear on-pack instructions and the patient information leaflet inside.'
Women have long claimed their monthly period makes them more irritable or stressed.

Now, however, scientists have said the idea that a womans menstrual cycle affects her thinking is nothing more than a myth.

According to some previous studies, women are more impulsive and moody before their period, and more rational afterwards.

Scientists have said the idea that a womans menstrual cycle affects her thinking is nothing more than a myth

But the latest research says that while women may feel their thinking became altered, this was not the case when studied scientifically.

It seems that despite hormone levels fluctuating enormously in a womans body, they have no effect on her ability to remember or make decisions. The findings suggest that the cause of the problems may actually lie elsewhere.

Professor Brigitte Leeners and her team examined three aspects of mental abilities over two menstrual cycles.

They concluded that the levels of the hormones oestrogen, progesterone and testosterone had no impact on working memory, which is the ability to remember facts while completing a task.

Nor did it have any effect on cognitive bias, the likelihood that thinking would be skewed one way or another. And women were just as able to pay attention to two things at once, the researchers found.

The authors said none of the hormones had any replicable, consistent effect on thinking.

According to some previous studies, women are more impulsive and moody before their period, and more rational afterwards

Professor Leeners said: As a specialist in reproductive medicine and a psychotherapist, I deal with many women who have the impression that the menstrual cycle influences their well-being and cognitive performance.

She wondered whether if this anecdotal evidence could be scientifically proven, and attempted to shed some light on the controversial topic.

The team, from the Hanover Medical School and University Hospital Zurich, monitored 68 women.

Analysis of the results from the first cycle suggested that cognitive bias and attention were affected, but these results werent replicated in the second cycle.

The team looked for differences in performance between individuals and changes in individuals performance over time, and found none.

Professor Leeners said: The hormonal changes related to the menstrual cycle do not show any association with cognitive performance.

'Although there might be individual exceptions, womens cognitive performance is in general not disturbed by hormonal changes occurring with the menstrual cycle.

She said further work on larger samples was needed to offer a fuller picture of the way that the menstrual cycle affects the brain.

Other research has found that women often blame feelings of stress on their period  but at other times of the month the complaints are attributed to other causes, such as physical exertion, psychological distress or even the weather.

The research was published in the journal Frontiers in Behavioural Neuroscience.
Genetic tests should be offered to millions of patients with cancer and other rare diseases, according to the chief medical officer.

Dame Sally Davies said these would enable doctors to diagnose illnesses more quickly and prescribe a bespoke treatment.

The information could also help scientists to predict how a condition will progress, based on a persons genes.

Dame Sally wants to set up a central genetic database within the next five years to aid research.

Dame Sally Davies said genetic testing would enable doctors to diagnose illnesses more quickly and prescribe a bespoke treatment. File photo

Our genes dictate how quickly cancerous tumours grow and whether they will respond to certain types of drugs.

So far only around 30,000 patients have had their genes tested, even though scientists can now analyse a significant proportion to work out the most effective treatments.

Dame Sally wants to massively expand the process  known as whole genome sequencing  over the next few years to include all patients with cancer, rare diseases and illnesses such as tuberculosis.

She said genetic testing should become as routine as an MRI scan, although patients would have the opportunity to opt out.

But the ambition for a central database will prompt concerns that medical information will fall into the hands of hackers or be used by insurance firms to boost premiums.

Only two months ago the NHS was crippled by a huge cyber attack which was thought to have been carried out by hackers in North Korea.

Dame Sally insisted the database would be extremely secure and that the risks of a hack were outweighed by the huge benefits of holding the information.

Each human being has around 20,000 genes, which determine everything from our eye colour and body shape to the diseases we are likely to develop in future.

Dame Sally Davies said genetic testing should become as routine as an MRI scan, although patients would have the opportunity to opt out

Genetic tests would also be offered to patients family members to check whether they have inherited the same diseases.

They cost 680 per patient but Dame Sally believes they would ultimately save the NHS millions of pounds as patients would only be offered those treatments known to work.

She said: This technology has the potential to change medicine for ever but we need all NHS staff, patients and the public to recognise and embrace its huge potential.

Genomic medicine has huge implications for the understanding and treatment of rare diseases, cancer and infections  ending the diagnostic odyssey and tailoring treatment for more patients than ever.

Genetic tests would also be offered to patients family members to check whether they have inherited the same diseases

Patients with cancer or a rare disease should have access to genomics-based care, professionals should consider this as a standard part of their approach.

Within the next five years, Dame Sally said it would be her dream to see genetic tests offered to 3.5million patients with rare diseases, the 350,000 diagnosed with cancer annually and the 6,000 who develop tuberculosis.

Dr Michael Dunn, head of genetics at charity Wellcome, welcomed Dame Sallys call as a bold and forward-thinking vision.

Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt said: We will support the NHS to continue its relentless drive to push the boundaries of modern science to benefit even more people.

Within the next five years, Dame Sally said it would be her dream to see genetic tests offered to 3.5million patients with rare diseases, the 350,000 diagnosed with cancer annually and the 6,000 who develop tuberculosis

Counselling could reduce the severity of hot flushes in breast cancer patients having chemotherapy.

A clinical trial, funded by charity Breast Cancer Now, will examine how cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) alleviates the side effect suffered by around 70 per cent of women undergoing treatment.

Although previous research found it helped many women regain control of debilitating symptoms, CBT is not routinely available to breast cancer patients on the NHS.
Just two glasses of wine a day can increase your chances of bowel cancer by as much as 21 per cent, new research warns.

Indulging in two glasses of tipple a day increases the risk of colorectal and oesophagal cancer by a fifth, according to a new study.

And those who have more than four alcoholic drinks a day are putting themselves at a higher risk of pancreatic, liver and gastric cancer.

The warning comes as researchers reveal that the average Briton gets through 2.1 alcoholic drinks every day.

Colorectal, pancreatic and liver cancer cause almost three million deaths per year and contribute to more than a third of global cancer deaths.

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Two glasses of wine a day increases your chances of bowel cancer by as much as 21 per cent

BOWEL CANCER RISK FACTORS It's not known exactly what causes rectal and bowel cancer, but there are a number of things that can increase the risk. These include: Age  almost nine in 10 cases of bowel cancer occur in people aged 60 or over Diet  a diet high in red or processed meats and low in fibre can increase your risk Weight  bowel cancer is more common in people who are overweight or obese Exercise  being inactive increases the risk of getting bowel cancer Alcohol and smoking  a high alcohol intake and smoking may increase your chances of getting bowel cancer Family history  having a close relative who developed bowel cancer below 50 years of age puts you at a greater lifetime risk of developing the condition. Advertisement

What did the report find?

A report released on Sunday revealed that all Europeans are 'moderate' drinkers - meaning they have between one and four alcoholic drinks every day.

Britons get through 2.1 alcoholic drinks a day, which is above the European average of 1.9, the report revealed.

Moderate drinkers are 21 per cent more likely to suffer from bowel or oesophagal cancer, the research found.

Alcohol consumption across Europe is higher than in any other region in the world, with more than one fifth of those aged over 15 drinking heavily at least once a week.

As a result, the continent suffers from the highest proportion of ill health and premature death directly linked to alcohol.

Despite high levels of consumption throughout Europe, research shows that as many as 90 per cent of people are unaware on the link between alcohol and cancer.

Heavy drinking is 'embedded' in our culture

Professor Markus Peck, from the Medical University of Vienna, Austria, said: 'One of the main challenges in addressing high drinking levels is how deeply embedded alcohol consumption is within the European society, both socially and culturally.

'Political action like minimum pricing and reducing access to alcohol needs to be taken now to prevent many future casualties.

'Research then has to follow to help generate data and allow us to fine-tune future political activity'.

Alcohol consumption across Europe is higher than in any other region in the world, with more than one fifth of those aged over 15 drinking heavily at least once a week

Increased pressure on the alcohol industry to develop clear and responsible labelling is crucial to cutting rates of alcohol-related cancer, he said.

Tightening regulations on the marketing of alcohol is another important step outlined within the report to help tackle the crisis.

The report was published by the United European Gastroenterology.
Career women have long been thought to be putting motherhood on ice because they choose their job over a baby.

However most women who freeze their eggs are doing so not because of their career but because they cannot find a similarly successful man.

The claim was made following reports that women are a third more likely to attend university than men in the UK.

These highly educated women, who pay around 5,000 each for egg freezing, are described in a new study as the leftover women amid a generation of missing men.

Their problem, according to US and Israeli researchers, is that they are unable to find similarly clever, driven men because fewer males are entering higher education.

Most women freeze their eggs because they cannot find a similarly successful man (stock)

IVF CLINICS PEDDLE FALSE HOPE OVER EGG FREEZING Fertility clinics are giving desperate women false hope by exaggerating their success rates with frozen eggs, it was revealed earlier this year. MailOnline's undercover reporter was told the chance of the delayed motherhood technique working was as high as 65 per cent. Yet official figures show only around 15 per cent of IVF cycles using frozen eggs are successful. One doctor said freezing 15 to 20 eggs was an insurance policy. Yet the fertility watchdog says just one in 50 frozen eggs leads to a baby. The watchdog  the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority  launched an urgent investigation into the findings back in May. IVF pioneer Lord Winston said giving women false information was an outrage. Advertisement

'Missing men' and 'leftover women'

Their findings, from a study of 150 women, have been backed up by British fertility clinics.

The studys author Marcia Inhorn, professor of anthropology at Yale University, said of women who freeze their eggs: There are not enough graduates for them. In simple terms, this is about an oversupply of educated women.

In China they call them leftover women. It sounds cold and callous but in demographic terms this is about missing men and leftover women.

On the situation in Britain, Professor Geeta Nargund, medical director of Create Fertility, said: It is something to celebrate that more women are going to university and getting educated but, at the same time, when it comes to starting a family it seems there is now a societal problem with these women finding men at the same level of education.

Women tell us frequently that they are freezing their eggs because the men they meet feel threatened by their success and so are unwilling to commit to starting a family together.

Freezing eggs as an 'insurance policy'

In western countries soaring numbers of women are freezing their eggs as an insurance policy to beat their biological clock.

The latest study examined 150 women in the US and Israel, more than 90 per cent of whom said they were not intentionally postponing their fertility because of their education or career.

Rather, they were desperately preserving their fertility before their eggs ran low and they lost their chance to have a child, because they were single or without a man to marry.

The authors said female graduates, who outnumbered male graduates and made up four-fifths of the study group, were unable to find educated men willing to commit to family life.

Highly educated women are described as leftover amid a generation of missing men (stock)

FREEZE YOUR EGGS AT A YOUNG AGE IF YOU PLAN TO HAVE CHILDREN AFTER 35 Women who think they will be too busy to have children by 35 should freeze their eggs, one of the worlds leading fertility specialists said in October last year. Whether they simply have not found Mr Right, their career is too important or it is simply not a good time, egg freezing offers a chance to cheat the biological clock, a medical conference heard. Richard Paulson, President Elect of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, said he has advised his own daughters - both in their early 30s - that if they do not have two or three children by the age of 35 they should consider egg freezing. After that age the quality of the eggs takes a sudden downturn and getting pregnant becomes much harder, he said. Dr Paulson made the remarks at the ASRM Congress in Salt Lake City, USA. He was commenting on a survey that found women who had undergone egg freezing had lessened biological clock pressure and made them feel less desperate during dating. Advertisement

More university educated women than men

Last year 30,015 more women aged 18 were accepted for university in the UK than men of the same age, according to UCAS.

In that year, 56 per cent of acceptances were for females.

Up until 2014, 3,676 women in Britain had opted to have their eggs frozen, with experts saying it is now more popular than ever.

University admissions service UCAS said while 36.8 per cent of women entered higher education in 2016, the figure for men was 27.2 per cent, with more women than men on two-thirds of courses.

The gender gap for higher education is now as large as that between rich and poor people, which was described as a worrying inequality by former UCAS chief executive Mary Curnock-Cook.

The gender gap is also historic, and applies to women currently in their 30s.

In 2000, 54 per cent of university students were female. They are now likely to be aged 35 to 38.

In 2005, national statistics for the UK show 57 per cent of students were female - a group now aged 30 to 33.

What the experts say

Describing the phenomenon, Professor Inhorn said: This is an issue that has been misinterpreted so much - this idea of a selfish career woman, putting her fertlility on hold.

She added: Maybe women need to be prepared to be more open to the idea of a relationship with someone not as educated.

But also may be we need to be doing something about our boys and young men, to get them off to a better start.

Professor Simon Fishel, founder of Care Fertility, said: Anthropologically we are always searching, consciously or unconsciously, for like-minded people so it is not a great leap to understand that women are looking for someone on the same level, who is university-educated or a professional.

They certainly ask about that when looking for a sperm (or egg) donor, so it is likely to apply to a partner.

This problem of missing men is absolutely the case in many situations in the UK, but there is a wider problem behind the increasing desire for egg freezing, not least about men and women being too unaware of their biological clocks.
Thousands of women are being denied a 4 ($5) drug which could triple their chances of getting pregnant, new research finds.

A new study found that the cheap treatment could offer new hope to the thousands of women suffering from 'unexplained infertility'.

The treatment, which costs 4 per cycle, improves fertility by stimulating the ovaries to produce eggs and by injecting sperm directly into the womb.

But the NHS has rejected the treatment and instead says that couples facing unexplained infertility should keep trying for two years before having IVF.

Around 900,000 couples are affected by unexplained fertility problems every year, according to previous research.

Thousands of women are being denied a 4 ($5) drug which could triple their chances of getting pregnant, new research finds

WHAT IS NICE? The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) is a public body which provides national guidance on health and social care. Nice creates 'evidence-based' guidelines which inform choices made by NHS doctors. These guidelines are drawn up by medical professionals, representatives of patient and carer groups and technical experts. The body advises the NHS on four key areas, including new technologies (such as new medicines), clinical practice, public health communication and social care. Advertisement

The new research, presented at the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology in Geneva, claims that the drug could offer an lifeline to couples struggling to conceive.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) currently recommends that couples suffering from unexplained infertility keep trying for a child for two years before starting IVF.

But a Nice spokesperson said that these guidelines will be updated in light of the new research, according to the Telegraph.

How was the study conducted?

For the study, researchers recruited more than 200 couples struggling to conceive.

Half of the participants were offered the new treatment, which is known as intrauterine stimulation (IUI).

IUI involves insemination and oral pills which stimulate egg production in the ovaries.

The other half were given the standard NHS advice, which is to continue trying for a baby two years.

After just a year, 31 per cent of those who received IUI had a child, compared with nine per cent of those told to keep trying.

A new study found that the cheap treatment could offer new hope to the thousands of women suffering from 'unexplained infertility'

WALNUTS MAKE MEN MORE FERTILE Men struggling to have children could boost their fertility by eating walnuts, a study published in February claims. Scientists say that eating a walnut-enriched diet may improve sperm quality. Research found that the nut reduces lipid peroxidation, a process that can damage sperm cells. This form of cell damage harms sperm membranes, which are primarily made up of polyunsaturated fatty acids. Walnuts are the only tree nut that are predominantly comprised of these fatty acids - meaning they are uniquely powerful for replenishing sperm cells. Advertisement

Drugs offer relief from 'emotional burden' of IVF

The study's lead researcher, Professor Cindy Farquhar, told the Telegraph that the treatment may be preferable to many women as it is less invasive than IVF.

'IVF has such a burden physically and emotionally. IUI is a lower impact - a slow but steady approach without such an emotional and physical burden,' she said.

Dr Gillian Lockwood, executive director of a fertility clinic called IVI Midland, said the Nice guidance should be rewritten following the latest research.

'The evidence on this is very compelling,' she said.

'Many practitioners believe it should be offered.

'Most couples find it unacceptable to be told to keep trying for two years when they are likely to have already been trying for years, and to fear they are reaching the end of the road.'
Three rebels were killed by government forces in Kashmir as anti-India protests swept the Valley again on Monday.

At least 35 civilians were also injured in the 24-hour long violence which erupted after militants after soldiers and counterinsurgency police raided southern Bahmnoo village on a tip rebels were hiding there, police said.

Clashes broke out as protesters showed solidarity with rebels, it's claimed.

An unidentified relative cries near the body of killed rebel Jehinger Ahmad during his funeral at Keller, 49 kilometers (30 miles) south of Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir on Tuesday

Police Inspector-General Muneer Ahmed Khan said that soldiers were searching for the body of a fourth militant in the debris.

At least six police and soldiers were injured in the fighting.

The gunfight triggered intense clashes after hundreds of civilians marched near the site to help the trapped militants escape.

Government forces fired bullets, shotgun pellets and tear gas to stop the march by rock-throwing protesters who chanted slogans such as 'Go India, go back' and 'We want freedom.'

Villagers carry the body of killed rebel Jehinger Ahmad in a truck during his funeral at Keller

At least 35 civilians were injured, including five with bullet wounds.

On Tuesday, anti-India protests and clashes spread to at least three other areas in volatile southern Kashmir. Reports said hundreds of men and women threw rocks after government forces fired tear gas shells to stop the demonstrators from conducting protest marches.

In recent years, Kashmiris, mainly youths, have displayed open solidarity with anti-India rebels and sought to protect them by engaging troops in street clashes during military operations against the militants. The anti-India protests and clashes have persisted despite the Indian army chief warning recently that 'tough action' would be taken against stone throwers during counterinsurgency operations.

Kashmiri villagers attend the funeral of rebel Jehinger Ahmad, one of three killed in a gunbattle in the Indian-controlled part of Kashmir

India and Pakistan control part of Kashmir, but both claim the Himalayan territory in its entirety. Rebel groups have been fighting since 1989 for Kashmir's independence or merger with neighboring Pakistan. Nearly 70,000 people have been killed in the fighting and the ensuing Indian crackdown.

Anti-India sentiment runs deep among the region's mostly Muslim population and most people support the rebels' cause against Indian rule despite a decades-long military crackdown to fight the armed rebellion.

India has accused Pakistan of arming and training the rebels, which Pakistan denies.

Rebel groups have largely been suppressed by Indian forces in recent years and public opposition to Indian rule is now principally expressed through street protests.
Narendra Modi enjoyed an overwhelmingly warm welcome as he touched down on Israeli soil at the start of his 'groundbreaking' visit to the ally country.

The leader's tour of the Jewish state - the very first by a sitting Indian prime minister - is aimed at celebrating 25 years of diplomatic relations and strengthening his country's already warm ties with the Jewish state led by Benjamin Netanyahu.

But Israeli officials said the warm treatment bestowed on the Indian leader goes well beyond diplomatic protocol and reflected the importance of the visit.

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Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi became only the third figure to be greeted by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the tarmac

Prime Minister Netanyahu greeted Modi at Israel's international airport near Tel Aviv and will accompany the Indian leader throughout the three-day visit. Modi became only the third person to be greeted personally by Netanyahu after the Pope and US President Donald Trump.

Modi, who will not be meeting Palestinian officials during the visit, was welcomed with an honor guard and greeted Netanyahu with his trademark bear hug - also afforded to US President Donald Trump last week - as he alighted the aircraft.

'We receive you with open arms. We love India. We admire your culture, we admire your history, your democracy, your commitment to progress,' Netanyahu said. 'We view you as kindred spirits in our common quest to provide a better future for our peoples and for our world.'

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi (left) greets Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with one of his trademark bear hugs on the tarmac of the Ben Gurion airport near Tel Aviv

In a rare move, Netanyahu will also join Modi on every step of his three day tour

Modi said it was a 'singular honour' to be the first sitting prime minister of India to visit Israel.

'Alongside building a partnership for shared economic prosperity, we are also cooperating to secure our societies against common threats such as terrorism,' he said. 'A progressive partnership in all these areas will shape the scope of my conversation with prime minister, my friend, Netanyahu.'

The warm welcome afforded to Modi left many on social media stunned but keen to celebrate what the huge gesture means for relations. Many were also keen to point out that the Israeli premier was wearing a Tiranga broach alongside one bearing his own national flag, in a mark of respect.

Omar Abdullah commented: 'The two PMs leaving no one in any doubt about the depth and warmth int he relations.'

'Modi has broken the old barriers and divisions of India diplomacy, reaching out to the entire world and all friends of India #ModiinIsrael,' added Dr David Frawley.

Meanwhile Sadanand Dhume said the visit was a 'long overdue corrective' and Yashwant Deshmukh called the welcome given to Modi 'flattering'.

But while most were jubilant, not everyone was celebrating the visit

Not everyone was jubilant, though. One Twitter user claimed Modi, like his Israeli counterpart, was pursuing 'far right politics in India while fanning anti-Muslim sentiment'.

During the Cold War, India was a leading member of the Nonaligned Movement of developing countries and sided staunchly with the Palestinians in their conflict with Israel. Before ties were established in 1992, India would not even allow its citizens to enter Israel on an Indian passport.

But over the past quarter century, the two countries have cultivated warm ties, particularly in the areas of technology and defence cooperation.

Modi said it was a 'singular honour' to be the first sitting prime minister of India to visit Israel

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi gestures upon arrival in Ben Gurion airport near Tel Aviv

India is a major purchaser of Israeli arms. This year, Israel's state-owned Israel Aerospace Industries has announced over $2 billion in contracts to provide air and missile-defence systems to India.

Rafael, another state-owned defence contractor, is trying to finalise a deal to sell 8,000 'Spike' anti-tank missiles to India in a deal that is reportedly valued at some $1 billion, according to an industry expert familiar with the deal. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to talk to the media.

Netanyahu will join Modi at virtually every stop of a packed schedule that included a trip to Israel's Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial on Tuesday.

Netanyahu will join Modi at virtually every stop of a packed schedule that included a trip to Israel's Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial on Tuesday

Together they will also have meetings with high-tech executives, stop at a cemetery for Indian soldiers killed during World War One, attend a cultural event with Indian Jews, and observe an Israeli desalination machine. The two leaders are scheduled to hold talks on Wednesday.

Yuval Rotem, the director general of Israel's Foreign Ministry, said the decision for Netanyahu to spend so much time with Modi is not a standard practice for visiting dignitaries and indicated 'the highest level of importance' attached to the visit.

Mark Sofer, the ministry's deputy director for Asia and the Pacific, said the meetings would focus on various areas of technology, including cybersecurity and space research, with a particular focus on Israeli water and agricultural technologies. He said a joint statement is to come on Wednesday.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (R) and his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi (C-L) greet religious officials during an official ceremony at the airport

At the airport ceremony, Netanyahu announced the establishment of a $40 million innovation fund to promote technological cooperation.

Modi is also set to visit an Israeli boy whose parents were killed in a massacre by Islamic militants in Mumbai in 2008, along with the Indian nanny who rescued him. The boy, who is now 10, returned to Israel with the nanny after the attack, and the woman still lives in the country.

In a departure from standard protocol, Modi will not be visiting the Palestinians, though all sides have tried to play down the decision.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas visited Modi in India in May, and Indian officials say they handled all their business at the time.

Palestinian officials likewise say that Abbas' meeting in May was a sign of strong relations, and that India remains a close ally. Abbas, in any case, is out of the country for the next week.
Communal tensions have flared-up once again in the Basirhat district in Bengal after a supposedly disrespectful Facebook post concerning the Prophet Mohammad began circulating online.

What began as a protest soon escalated into a violent roving mob ransacking houses of the majority Hindu community in the district.

It is believed that dozens of businesses, houses, and at least six police vehicles, were torched by a mob in West Bengal's North 24 Parganas district.

Communal tensions have flared-up once again in the Basirhat district in Bengal

The incident began after a class 11 student posted a 'blasphemous' message on Facebook.

The student in question, according to Indian news sources - a Hindu, was arrested on Sunday night and prohibitory orders were enforced.

However, the vandalism continued throughout Monday and Tuesday as the administration did not inform people about the arrest, claimed Quazi Abdur Rahim, the MLA of Baduria, where the incident happened.

Locals are claiming that the police did nothing to help and in response the Union Home ministry has now sent in nearly 400 paramilitary personnel to secure the area.

Eye witnesses said many were beaten up, cars were torched

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has had a troubled year so far (pictured - effigy being burned by GJM supporters at a separate protest concerning a different issue)

When TMC MP Idris Ali reached the spot, his car was attacked. Speaking to Mail Today, Ali said, 'I was there to pacify things, along with a Maharaj.

'But he used ''unparliamentarily language'' that made things worse. They threw stones at my car. However, situation is under control now.'

Local sources on the contrary said the situation is still far from normal and many Hindus have fled from the affected areas.

Blockades are on in at least 60 places in Basirhat and incidents of police being beaten up are also being reported.

The Rapid Action Force has been deployed as well. Tapan Ghosh, the firebrand leader of Hindu Samhati said, 'The accused who is a minor is already apprehended. But it was used as an opportunity to attack on Hindus.'

West Bengal's Chief minister Mamata Banerjee however has blamed the BJP for inciting the violence.

Didi has also alleged that the governor Keshari Nath Tripathi threatened her and accused her of acting like a 'BJP block president'.

The CM told reporters in Kolkata, 'He telephoned me and threatened me. The governor cannot threaten me. He should know that he is a nominated person. I have told him that you cannot talk to me like that'.
An Enforcement Directorate probe has revealed doctor-turned-televangelist Zakir Naik had created dummy companies in India and abroad to camouflage the diversion of funds received by him through his provocative speeches.

The sources of the funds are under suspicion as the donors were mostly anonymous.

Dr Zakir Naik is the president of Islamic Research Foundation (IRF) and was allegedly receiving funds in the form of zakat (donations) from various sources in India and abroad - including countries like UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Malyasia.

Zakir Naik's has been accused of 'radicalising Indian youth to join ISIS'

Sources said the funds are received through banking channels. However the donors remain unidentified as their names in the receipts are mentioned as 'well wishers.'

During the course of investigations, it was revealed that IRF has various accounts which had donations deposited and transferred.

The bank accounts were held with Citi Bank, DCB Bank Ltd and Union Bank of India.

In cash receipts as well, only the names of the donors are mentioned on the receipts and not their contact details, which raises suspicion towards bogus or sham entries.

ED investigations have revealed that the donations from unknown sources are apparently in response to 'hate speeches' made by Zakir Naik.

Therefore the donations are prima facie proceeds of crime emanating from the scheduled offences. However, Naik's lawyer, Mobeen Solkar, says: 'The speeches were not inflammatory or provocative.

Naik has been accused of unlawful activities and promoting religious hatred

'If it is assumed they were, even then the offence falls under Section 153 A of Indian Penal Code that is not a scheduled offence. PMLA provisions can only be invoked in cases of scheduled offences. The proceedings are unwarranted and unjustified.'

Further the investigation has revealed that huge amounts of cash were generated by IRF which was handed over by Naik to his close confidante Aamir Gazdar, who was also one of the directors of six companies controlled by Naik.

ED claims some of these companies were dummy companies established by Naik in India and abroad to camouflage the diversion of funds received by him through his 'illegal activities of provocative speeches.'

A company by the name of Harmony Media Pvt. Ltd was incorporated by Naik and his relatives.

The said company was engaged in production of Naik's speech videos. It was found while speeches were delivered by Naik, the financial proceeds were claimed by Harmony.

However no amount had been paid by way of royalty or remuneration to Naik. So there appears to be an intrinsic link between Harmony and Naik.

He is indirectly controlling the said company as gathered by recorded statements of persons examined in this connection.

ED has concluded thus the money so made is proceeds of crime. Naik's lawyer, Mobeen said, 'All allegations are baseless. We have cooperated in the investigations. ED has already arrested one person.

'None of the companies are dummy. Some of them were doing business and others were about to start.'
In a historic first, Narendra Modi is currently in Israel, thereby becoming the first Prime Minister of India to visit the country.

Modi had visited Israel as chief minister of Gujarat in 2006. And as Indian Prime Minister, he had met his Israeli counterpart, Benjamin Netanyahu, a few times already.

Though the President of India and a number of Modi government ministers have already been to Israel in the last three years, Modi's visit marks a new phase in a relationship that has been becoming robust over the last few decades.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (right) and his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi (left) greet religious officials during an official ceremoney at Ben-Gurion International airport

Hallmark

A hallmark of Modi's foreign policy has been a self-confident assertion of Indian interests.

This is reflected in his government's moves vis-a-vis Israel, marking a distinct break from unnecessary and counterproductive diffidence of the past.

Despite sharing 25 years of diplomatic ties and working closely on defence, counter-terrorism, agriculture and energy-related issues, no Indian PM has ever visited Israel.

When it comes to India's Israel policy, hypocrisy has been the norm.

Despite representing a nation that is one of the biggest victims of cross-border terrorism in the world, the Indian political establishment has had no compunction in time and again equating the actions of a liberal democratic Israel with the murderous extremism of a terrorist organisation such as Hamas.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa with Prime Minister Narasimha Rao

And despite developing close ties with Israel, previous governments had been reluctant to openly embrace ties with Israel.

There has been a steady strengthening of India's relationship with Israel ever since the two established full diplomatic relations in 1992.

It is a tribute to PV Narasimha Rao's foresight that he was able to lay the basis of Indo-Israeli partnership.

In contrast to the back-channel security ties that existed before the normalisation of bilateral relations, India has been more willing in recent years to carve out a mutually beneficial bilateral relationship with Israel, including deepening military ties and countering the threat terrorism poses to them.

Over the years, the Indian government has also toned down its reactions to Israel's treatment of the Palestinians.

India has also begun denouncing Palestinian suicide bombings and other terrorist acts in Israel, something that was earlier regarded as justified in light of the Israeli policies against the Palestinians.

India is no longer initiating anti-Israel resolutions at the UN and has made serious attempts to moderate NAM's anti-Israel resolutions.

This re-evaluation has been based on a realisation that India's largely pro-Arab stance in West Asia has not been adequately rewarded by the Arab world.

India has received no worthwhile backing from the Arab countries in the resolution of problems it faces in its neighbourhood, especially Kashmir.

There have been no serious attempts by the Arab world to put pressure on Pakistan to reign in cross-border insurgency in Kashmir.

Perspective

On the contrary, the Arab nations have firmly stood by Pakistan, using the Organisation of Islamic Conference to build support for Islamabad and the jihadi groups in Kashmir.

If Arab nations, such as Jordan, have been able to keep their traditional ties with Palestine intact while building a new relationship with Israel, there is no reason for India not to take a similar route, which might give it more room for diplomatic manoeuvring.

Keeping India's wider strategic interests in perspective, successive Indian governments since the early 1990s have walked a nuanced line between expressing genuine concern for the Palestinian cause and expanding its commercial and defence ties with Israel.

Warm welcome: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (right) chats to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi

India is the world's largest buyer of Israeli weaponry and is Israel's second-largest trading partner in Asia, second only to China.

The domestic political milieu continues to exert its substantial influence on the trajectory of Indo-Israeli relations.

Israel has been a good friend of India but New Delhi continues to be shy of demonstrating its friendship.

At crucial times, when India needed Israeli help, it got it unreservedly. Israel was willing to continue and even step up its arms sales to India after other major states curbed their technological exports following India's May 1998 nuclear tests.

Imagery

Israel provided India with much-needed imagery of Pakistani positions using its UAVs during the 1999 Kargil War, which was instrumental in turning the war around for India.

When India was planning to undertake a limited military strike against Pakistan in June 2002 as part of 'Operation Parakram', Israel supplied hardware through special planes.

The terrorism that both India and Israel face comes not only from disaffected groups within their territories; it is also aided and abetted by neighbouring states, increasingly capable of transferring weapons of mass destruction to terrorist outfits.

And yet previous governments had been reticent in acknowledging Israel's partnership. In diplomacy, public affirmation of friendships at the highest levels is often as important as drawing red lines for adversaries.

The Modi government is doing well by repudiating the discredited Israel policy of its predecessors.

Banter: In a historic first, Narendra Modi is currently in Israel, thereby becoming the first Prime Minister of India to visit the country

An open relationship with Israel serves India well and it's about time Israel gets the recognition it deserves from New Delhi.

It is tempting to say that India continues to follow a balancing act between Israel and Palestine as New Delhi hosted Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in May.

But by personally visiting Israel, Modi is making it clear that India's relations with Israel have now turned a corner.

As India expands its diplomatic footprint in West Asia, Israel will be an important pillar of that outreach and New Delhi is ready to say this openly.
A surge in financial technology start-ups over recent years means there are countless companies offering clever tools to make managing our finances easier or cheaper.

Ever thought what's missing from your money transfer is a gif or emoji? Probably not, but sending money via text message and dodging fees are likely to be higher up your list of priorities.

To help, there's now a whole heap of companies promising faster, cheaper and simpler ways to move your money abroad using just your smartphone.

A place in the sun: Finding a cheap and easy way to transfer money abroad is a top priority for anyone with a holiday home

There are already scores of companies offering cheap money transfers online, many of which also offer their services via an app.

These include online currency specialists FairFX, Moneycorp and regular household names such as Paypal.

However a few new companies have popped up offering those wanting to transfer cash overseas tools specifically built for their smartphones or on the go use.

These not only promise fees much lower than your bank will charge and super fast delivery but also extra features to make moving your cash more convenient.

Below we take a look at four of the newest and most interesting apps available - to see whether they really offer anything different to web-based transfer services, and how the costs stack up.

Remember, while most of these charge no fee or low fees, your recipient's bank may charge them correspondent or receiving charges.

Always wanted to send Emoji with your transfer? Circle works within its own messaging app

Circle: Send cash in a text

The stand out feature of Circle is that it requires just a mobile number to send anyone cash  anywhere in the world.

The app imports your contacts and lets you open up a chat between you and the person you are sending money to.

And if you do fancy jazzing up your money requests, you can send an emoji, picture or gif.

You can link a debit card or bank account to transfer in cash to your Circle pot or just use a debit card for instant transfers.

The app is free to download on Android and Apple devices  if you have an iPhone with the latest software you can also integrate the app with iMessages so you can request and send money within your normal message thread.

Cleverly, as with most of these apps, it also asks anyone you send cash to sign up and download the app if they don't have it already.

While transfers are instant, signing up makes it a bit time-consuming for anyone you send cash to if they are not familiar with the app.

If they don't sign up you won't lose the cash though - the transaction won't go through until it's accepted at the other end, and while it's pending you can also cancel it.

Fees and rates:

Circle promises to charge users no fees whatsoever  instead charging a mid-market exchange rate. You can find out the rate here.

HOW SAFE ARE THEY? Most transfer companies, including all those mentioned in this article, are authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority, under the 'authorised as a Electronic Money Institution by the FCA' banner. This means they must keep client money ring-fenced separately from their own accounts. This means you are likely to get it back if the company does fold. Circle allows you to set up Touch ID when sending money or cashing out and set up a pin code to enter the app. You can also close down all sessions you have open across any device. World First requires you to set up a passcode to enter the app, and TransferWise and Azimo both offer the option to set up TouchID. TransferWise allows you to autolock the app after two minutes of inactivity.

When This is Money checked on 22 June it was offering a rate of 1.2664 when transferring your pounds to US Dollars and 1.134 for Euros.

This means for your 1,000 transfer your recipient in the US would get $1,266 and in Europe it would be worth 1,134.

This is Money verdict:

When we tried it, it was quick to download and set up with a simple layout. Using the service however resulted in a blocked debit card, a quick phone call to the bank, NatWest, and we were told that the service is safe, but it flags transactions through Circle sometimes as there have been customer reports that it is a payment method favoured by fraudsters.

When we asked Circle they said: 'To address your personal experience, banks can block transactions, as they can with any retailer, and there are many reasons why they might do this. We have developed our own internal risk and compliance system which spots almost all suspicious transaction to prevent fraudsters using Circle. We also have in-house risk analysts who assist in stopping fraud.'

Smart watch: Tech-lovers can make transfers with five taps and three swipes

World First: Make transfers with the tap of a smart watch

World First promises to take a smaller margin than the banks when sending money abroad.

Not only does it come with an app (available from both Google and Apple stores), but it is also set up to work with your Android and Apple smart watches.

The company claims you can make transfers with just 'five taps and three swipes'.

On a less gimmicky note, it offers a handy rate alert which can help make sure you only transfer your cash when the rate is at its best.

The major drawback there is a minimum transfer threshold of 1,000.

The app requires more information from you to set up an account than the rest, but it comes with professional tools such as a conversion tool with the latest inter-bank rate, live rate graphs and links to market news and exchange rate analysis via the company's blog.

Fees and rates:

There are no transfer fees.

When This is Money looked, transferring 1,000 gets you 11230.01 and $11230.01 as it offered a Euro rate of 1.123 and a US Dollar rate of 1.253.

You can find out the rate you will be given here.

This is Money's verdict:

The app is easy to use and has one of the most professional layouts.

It has a much more high-end feel - unsurprising considering it's the service Harrods Bank chose to team up with last year when it wanted to start offering money transfers.

Its conversion tool with the latest inter-bank rate, live rate graphs and links to analysis via the company's blog is a unique feature, but in reality, a smart watch tool isn't likely to appeal to everyone.

If you are worried about a fat-fingered mistake with such a small screen, you might want to stick to the smartphone app.

Azimo app: The tool claims to save you 90 per cent compare to a high street bank

Azimo: Pick your transfer up in cash or top-up a mobile

Similar to Circle, Azimo lets you send and request money both in the UK and overseas using just a mobile number.

One of the interesting features it offers is paying someone's mobile top-up or sending the money to pick up in cash from one of Azimo's partner banks alongside standard bank transfers or SWIFT payments.

You can check the options available in the country you wish to make the transfer to here.

Again, if you send money to someone without an account they will get a message with a link to download the app - they then have to fill in their bank details to get the money out.

After they are set up however, the details are saved and transfers are instant.

Fees and rates:

Azimo claims that you could save up to 90 per cent compared to a high street bank or other online money transfer provider.

The exact fee you will pay depends on where you are sending your cash to, but it says in most cases it will cost just 1.

When This is Money looked, someone transferring 1,000 to Europe would receive, 1121.97. Moving the same amount to the US would get you $1260.40.

It has a lucrative refer-a-friend scheme which pays 10 for every person you invite and an extra 25 after you invite three.

This is Money's verdict:

It was quick to sign up, requiring just an email address and your mobile number. You can then import your contacts instantly so you can set up payments.

You will only be able to send money via text message within the UK and Europe, but you can send money by other methods worldwide.

A nice bonus, a window popped up offering the first transfer for free.

The service also comes with a tracking feature and a full money-back guarantee if something goes wrong with your transfer, which provides a lot of reassurance if you are concerned about using a new service.

Facebook bot: TransferWise is integrated with Facebook to allow you to send money within the Messanger service

TransferWise: Use your smartphone wallet to pay or send money via Facebook

TransferWise has a handful of clever features, plus the peer-to-peer site side-steps the banks completely matching you with other people wanting to move their cash the opposite way to you.

It claims to be up to eight times cheaper than using a bank and promises to use the true mid-market exchange rate taken directly from Reuters.

One handy feature, you can use your Apple wallet to pay for transfers meaning you won't need to even take out your debit card.

It also has a Facebook bot which you can talk to through Facebook's messenger to set up payments and rate alerts. You will still need to log into your Transferwise account to send money though.

You can download the app for free via the Google Play store or the Apple app store.

Fees and rates:

You can currently receive up to 1million - check here for limits for other currencies.

When This is Money checked Sending 1,000 would get you 1,127.46 or $1,259.65 including the service's upfront fee.

It offered a rate of 1.26595 for sending money to the US or 1.13330 for transfers to Europe.

Transferwise charges different fees depending on where you are sending money. For example the lowest charge is 0.5 per cent to send cash to the USA or Europe, but sending money to Vietnam or Brazil adds a 1.5 per cent fee.

This is Money's Verdict:

The app is well laid out and easy to navigate and the concept of a peer-to-peer approach is very appealing.

It also has some tempting referral rewards, paying 50 for every three people you recommend who transfer over 200.

A 0.5 per cent fee doesn't seem much, particularly as it offers a competitive exchange rate, but watch out for the fees for less common destinations.
A Current Affair reporter Ben McCormack has faced court for the first time since being charged with child porn offences.

Dressed in a navy suit and appearing pale and stocky, the Nine Network journalist was the subject of a media scrum as he arrived at a Sydney court on Tuesday.

The 42-year-old was joined by his father and brother in court as he appeared over two counts of allegedly transmitting child porn using a carriage service.

In what was no doubt a surreal moment, he ignored journalists shouting questions including 'is it a bit strange to have the cameras turned on you?'

A Current Affair reporter Ben McCormack has faced court for the first time since being charged with child porn offences

The clean-shaven Nine Network personality arrived at the Downing Centre Local Court about 9am on Tuesday morning in a navy suit

The court is waiting for the full brief of evidence to be served over the charges.

McCormack's lawyer, Sam Macedone, said he was planning to meet with Commonwealth prosecutors to discuss the charges once the evidence was ready.

The reporter appeared relaxed through Thursday's hearing, joking with journalist friends when his hearing was slightly delayed for a magistrate to be sworn in.

Outside court, Mr Macedone said it was likely his client would enter a plea at the next appearance.

'There are some outstanding matters on the brief. When we receive those, we'll be in a much better position to understand what's there.

'I feel very confident on the next occasion we'll be entering our plea'.

He said he had 'no idea' what the plea would be until he saw the documents.

Ben McCormack pictured leaving Downing Centre Local Court on Tuesday morning

Ben McCormack (left and right) pictured leaving Downing Centre Local Court on Tuesday morning

The matter was adjourned with a hearing date to be set on September 5.

McCormack was taken to hospital for mental health treatment shortly after being arrested in April.

He 'wasn't in a good way' and received treatment until early June.

McCormack has been suspended by his employer pending the outcome of the case.

Court papers alleged one of the offences occurred on January 13 and the other between April 30, 2015 and February 23, 2017.

Ben McCormack arrives at the Downing Centre Court in Sydney, Tuesday July 4

Ben McCormack (left and right) arrives at the Dowling Centre in Sydney's centre on Tuesday

A Current Affair reporter Ben McCormack has faced court for the first time since being charged with child porn offences

McCormack (pictured walking to court on Tuesday) was taken to hospital shortly after being arrested in April for mental health treatment

McCormack (pictured outside Sydney court on Tuesday) has been charged with two counts of allegedly using a carriage service to transmit child pornography

However, McCormack's lawyer Sam Macedone has said he is not alleged to have sent any images and the charges relate solely to a 'discussion'.

Bail was continued.

He has been hit with strict bail conditions which virtually bar him from seeking to speak to children.

McCormack pictured being released from Redfern Police station in Sydney on April 6 after he was charged with child pornography offences
An Italian architecture graduate, whose body was found on the 23rd floor of Grenfell Tower, was identified by her dental records.

Gloria Trevisan, 26, was found in a flat on the 23rd floor of the west London block, where she lived with Marco Gottardi, Westminster Coroner's Court was told.

She was identified by her dental records and the cause of her death was given as 'consistent with the effects of fire' by coroner's officer Eric Sword during yesterday's short hearing.

Gloria Trevisan, 26, was found in a flat on the 23rd floor of the west London block, where she lived with Marco Gottardi, Westminster Coroner's Court was told

She was identified by her dental records and the cause of her death was given as 'consistent with the effects of fire' by coroner's officer Eric Sword during yesterday's short hearing

The couple made heart-rending final phone calls to their families as the flames rose towards their 23rd floor flat

Ms Trevisan, who completed her master's degree in architecture at the University of Venice last October, had travelled to London with Mr Gottardi to find work, family lawyer Maria Cristina Sandrin told Italian media after the fire.

Ms Sandrin said the young woman had called her mother as the fire crept up the building.

The couple made heart-rending final phone calls to their families as the flames rose towards their 23rd floor flat.

The pair, both architecture graduates, moved to London three months ago to look for work and were captivated by the views over the capital they enjoyed from their 23rd floor flat.

Mr Gottardi, also 27, called his family at 3.45am and again just after 4am.

His father Giannino told Italian newspaper Il Mattino di Padova: 'In the first call Marco told us not to worry, that everything was under control, that basically we must not worry.

'He was trying to minimise what happened, probably not to unsettle us.

'But in the second call  and I can't get this out of my head  he said there was smoke, that so much smoke was rising.'

Ms Trevisan, who completed her master's degree in architecture at the University of Venice last October, had travelled to London with Mr Gottardi to find work, family lawyer Maria Cristina Sandrin told Italian media after the fire

Miss Trevisan told her mother: 'Thank you mother for what you have done for me'

Miss Trevisan was one of two victims of the June 14 fire whose inquests were held on Monday

Ms Sandrin said: 'I've heard the recording of Gloria talking to her mother and there is no hope to find them alive.

'She said goodbye. She said, "Thank you mother for what you have done for me".

Miss Trevisan was one of two victims of the June 14 fire whose inquests were held on Monday.

It also heard information about one of the oldest victims, Ali Yawar Jafari.

Mr Jafari, 81, was pulled from the building by firefighters but pronounced dead at the scene, the hearing was told.

The Westminster Coroner's Court where the Grenfell inquiry is taking place

His son Hamid Ali Jafari had previously said his father had lost contact with his mother and sister, who lived with him in Grenfell Tower, on the 10th floor, when he stepped out of a smoke-filled lift that took them to the ground floor.

The provisional cause of his death was given as 'inhalation of fire fumes' with a second cause of coronary and hypertensive heart disease.

Coroner Dr Fiona Wilcox adjourned the inquests to a date to be fixed.
Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Milton Hirsch, pictured, ruled Florida's updated 'Stand Your Ground' law is unconstitutional and said state lawmakers overstepped their authority when they made the updates

A Miami judge ruled Florida's updated 'Stand Your Ground' law is unconstitutional.

In his ruling Monday, Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Milton Hirsch said state lawmakers overstepped their authority when they made the updates.

His 14-page order said the changes should have been crafted by the Florida Supreme Court instead of by the Legislature.

The order is a victory for prosecutors who have firmly opposed the law, The Miami Herald reported.

Critics have said the law makes it easier for defendants to get away with murder and other violent crimes.

The Legislature modified the 2005 statute and Governor Rick Scott signed it into law in June. The bill was backed by the National Rifle Association.

The controversial law has long been criticized for fostering a shoot-first mentality, which eliminated a citizen's duty to retreat before using deadly force in responding to an apparent threat.

Prosecutors said the law made it easier for judges to dismiss criminal charges if they believe someone acted in self-defense.

In Miami-Dade County, judges have tossed out several high-profile murder cases after pre-trial immunity hearings, but they've also allowed others to go to a jury, the Herald reported.

Scroll down for video

The Legislature modified the 2005 statute and Governor Rick Scott, pictured, signed it into law in June. The bill was backed by the National Rifle Association

Now, the new law requires prosecutors to shoulder the burden of disproving a self-defense claim.

State attorneys have said that essentially forces them to unfairly try a case twice, making it easier for criminals to escape justice.

Under the law, prosecutors must prove by 'clear and convincing' evidence that someone wasn't acting in self-defense.

The judge's ruling likely will lead to legal wrangling in the appellate courts and the Florida Supreme Court.

Kylie Mason, a spokeswoman for Attorney General Pam Bondi, told The Associated Press they would appeal the order.

Scott spokesman John Tupps also said the governor's office is reviewing the judge's ruling.

The 2012 killing in Florida of unarmed teenager Trayvon Martin by neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman opened a debate about the limits of self-defense, and it hasn't let up since.

Zimmerman was acquitted of second-degree murder after jurors received instructions on Florida's 'Stand Your Ground' law.
A mother has told of the terrifying moment thieves wearing black balaclavas held a gun to the head of her teenage daughter during a bungled home robbery.

Karen Middleton, 44, had only just woken up on Monday morning when three masked men armed with knives and guns broke into her Gold Coast home.

Her daughter Starr, 16, heard the men demanding cash and raced to her mother only for one of the alleged robbers to hold a gun to her head.

'I thought that's it, my baby is going to die in front of me, that's all that was going on in my head,' Ms Middleton told the Gold Coast Bulletin.

Gold Coast mother Karen Middleton claims three masked robbers armed with knives and guns broke into her home. She says one man held a gun to her daughter Starr, 16, while another man punched daughter Reef (pictured), 20, to the ground

Starr's older sister Reef (pictured) said the men were wearing black masks that covered their whole face

Starr's older sister Reef, 20, was also in the home at the time of the alleged robbery.

She was punched in the face by one of the masked men and fell to the floor upon impact.

'They were wearing black masks that covered their whole face,' Reef told the Gold Coast Bulletin.

'I didn't think too much of it because of the adrenaline and all of that. They realised we had no money and they ran off but we chased them down the street.'

Police confirmed to Daily Mail Australia they were investigating the incident.

Daily Mail Australia has contacted Reef Middleton for comment.

Police confirmed to Daily Mail Australia they were investigating the incident at the Mermaid Waters home (street pictured)
A jogger has found the body of a dead woman near a jetty south of Adelaide.

The woman's body was found by a member of the public about 5.45am on Tuesday at Port Noarlunga, a sea-side suburb about 30km south of Adelaide.

Police are investigating circumstances surrounding the woman's death.

'At this early point in the investigation, the death is being treated as unexplained,' the police said.

The woman's body was found by a member of the public about 5.45am on Tuesday - officers were called to the scene shortly after

The woman's body was found at Port Noarlunga, a sea-side suburb about 30km south of Adelaide

Crime scene investigators remain at the beach where they set up a tent to preserve the potential crime scene

Police are undertaking checks to help identify the woman, who had no identification on her body.

Crime scene investigators remain at the beach where they set up a tent to preserve the potential crime scene.

South Australia police urged anyone with information to phone Crime Stoppers.

A jogger has found the body of a dead woman near a jetty south of Adelaide (pictured)

The police set up a tent on the beach to cover the potential crime scene - where the woman's body was discovered on Tuesday

Crime scene investigators remain at the scene where they have set up a tent to preserve the potential crime scene

Officers and detectives are seen at Port Noarlunga, a sea-side suburb about 30km south of Adelaide, where the body was found on Tuesday morning
The parents of a Texas woman who said she was raped while attending the University of Alabama have sued the alleged attacker, school officials and others, claiming the episode led to her suicide last year.

A federal wrongful death lawsuit filed over the weekend by Michael and Cynthia Rondini of Austin, Texas, claims the alleged assault and officials' subsequent mishandling of the allegations prompted Megan Rondini to kill herself.

The lawsuit says Rondini, then a 20-year-old junior who planned to go to medical school, met a man at a popular Tuscaloosa bar in July 2015. She was later sexually assaulted at his home, possibly after being drugged, the suit contends.

Megan Rondini, 20 (pictured), may have been driven to commit suicide after she accused TJ Bunn, 34, the son of a wealthy Tuscaloosa family, of rape in July 2015. She hanged herself on February 26, 2016

Megan (pictured) told investigators that on July 1 she went to Innisfree Irish Pub for trivia night with a group of sorority sisters. She blacked out and woke up in Bunn's Mercedes. Megan said she was so intimidated by Bunn that she didn't try to stop him as he drove toward his house

Ultimately, Megan and her family decided it was no longer safe for her to stay in Tuscaloosa. She withdrew from the Univeristy of Alabama (pictured) before the end of fall semester. 'She did everything that she could to protect herself and to get help,' Megan's father, Mike Rondini, told Buzzfeed News

Megan ended up transferring to Southern Methodist University in Texas. While there, she filled out an intake form for SMU's mental health center and, for one question, which asked if there had been major losses, changes, or crises in her life, Megan wrote: 'Raped, bullied by police, changed university' (Pictured, the Bunn family home)

The man whom she only knew as 'Sweet T' turned out to be business man TJ Bunn, 34, the son of an influential Tuscaloosa family.

Police investigating the sexual assault were sympathetic toward the man and wrongly focused on Rondini's actions, which including taking a handgun and $3 for cab fare from his home, the lawsuit claims.

'Megan ultimately was treated as a crime suspect and her status as a victim of a sex crime was completely disregarded,' the suit said.

The young woman withdrew from Alabama and returned home to Texas, where her mental condition deteriorated, according to the complaint.

Megan's mother, Cynthia (right) and father, Michael, are suing the school and law enforcement over the tragic suicide of Megan (left)

The man wasn't charged, and the lawsuit claims investigators and university officials mishandled her allegations.

The suit contends Rondini afterward suffered depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder, which her parents say led to her suicide.

It also names Beth Howard, Title IX coordinator at University of Alabama; Cara Blake of the school's Women and Gender Resource Center; Tuscaloosa County Sheriff Ron Abernathy; and two county officers, investigator Adam Jones and deputy Joshua Hastings.

In a statement, the university declined comment on specifics of the lawsuit but said school officials were 'deeply saddened' by Rondini's death and are trying to raise community awareness and support victims of sexual assault.

A lawyer for Bunn denied that he had sexually assaulted her.

'The allegations against my client as set forth in this baseless lawsuit are simply false,' the statement said.

Abernathy said the case was referred to a grand jury, which declined to issue an indictment. Letting grand jurors consider evidence rather than filing immediate charges is standard practice in cases with 'very conflicting statements,' Abernathy said.

The suit names Beth Howard, Title IX coordinator at University of Alabama (above); Cara Blake of the school's Women and Gender Resource Center

The lawsuit was assigned to a federal magistrate judge Monday, but no hearing date was set.

The complaint doesn't seek a specific amount of money. It asks for a court order requiring the sheriff's office to provide better training to officers and 'to provide safe conditions to citizens around criminal investigations.'

Megan told investigators that on July 1 she went to Innisfree Irish Pub for trivia night with a group of sorority sisters. She saw Bunn there and had seen him before but they only had spoken once.

She blacked out and came to in Bunn's Mercedes.

Megan said she was so intimidated by Bunn that she didn't try to stop him as he drove toward his house.

She then said Bunn told her to go to his room and she complied, sitting on a couch near the door, as far as possible from his bed and - when he came in - he told her he wanted to have sex.

That's when Megan said she had to leave, while 'trying to be really nice to him' because 'I know he's an influential person in Tuscaloosa'.

'I said, I really need to go, I have friends that are waiting,' she told police when they first interviewed her at the hospital. 'He didn't really take that.'

Eventually, Megan said, she 'felt like just letting him have sex with me was the only way he would let me go'.

Megan said she took a gun out of Bunn's car for protection after she crawled out of his window - but police also threatened her with felony theft charges - which Bunn said he would drop if she would drop hers against him

According to investigators, Megan was able to escape his mansion by climbing out of the second story window.

When she realized she couldn't find her keys, she checked Bunns Mercedes, where she found his wallet and a pistol, which she took for protection despite not knowing how to fire it.

Under Alabama's rape law, victims must prove they 'earnestly' resisted their attackers, and the investigator who interviewed Megan, Adam Jones, decided that she hadn't done so against Bunn.

According to him, she hadn't 'kicked him or hit him,' so the investigator would conclude that no rape occurred.

When she told him about going into Bunn's car, video shows Jones entering and exiting the room, asking Megan questions that were about her behavior the previous night instead of her rape allegations.

When Bunn was interviewed, he called Megan 'a very willing participant.'

When his interviewer left the room for a moment, Bunn told his lawyer in a whisper that he'd drop the charges against Megan if she dropped hers.

'I won't pursue her if she doesn't pursue me, but I will play hardball if she does,' he's seen saying on video.

The suit names Tuscaloosa County Sheriff Ron Abernathy (above with his wife), saying law enforcement treated Megan like a criminal and TJ Bunn like a victim

Later, when Megan tried to file a civil suit, she learned the only way to escape possible prosecution for those crimes was to drop her case.

The district attorney's office eventually decided to present it to a grand jury - but the grand jury would also rule on felony charges against Megan for breaking into Bunn's car and stealing his gun.

When Megan went to the University of Alabama for counseling, a staff therapist told her that she had to recuse herself from the case because she knew the Bunn family.

Ultimately, Megan and her family decided it was no longer safe for her to stay in Tuscaloosa and she withdrew from the university before the end of fall semester.

The suit names Tuscaloosa County Deputy Ron Abernathy, above, and two county officers, investigator Adam Jones and deputy Joshua Hastings. Jones concluded that since Megan hadn't 'kicked him or hit him,' Bunn she hadn't fought hard enough

'She did everything that she could to protect herself and to get help,' Megan's father, Mike Rondini, told Buzzfeed News. 'She should have gotten that help, and she didn't. That is a failure on everybody's part.'

Megan left Tuscaloosa newly-diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, and her depression seemed to only worsen.

On February 2016, Megan sent a text to a friend that read: 'When all is said and done, I wonder what I could've accomplished if one man didn't completely rip everything away from me.'

Megan ended up transferring to Southern Methodist University in Texas, a school she hated because she missed her old friends, her sorority, her old life.

She filled out an intake form for SMU's mental health center, in which she wrote that she thought she would be 'better off dead' more than half the time.

One question asked if there had been major losses, changes, or crises in her life. Megan wrote: 'Raped, bullied by police, changed university.'

She never turned it in and hanged herself on February 26, 2016.

Megan never wrote a suicide note, but the intake forms were found next to her bed.
More than 1,200 children were rescued from sexual, domestic or labour slavery in England last year, a report reveals today.

They were identified by police, charities and welfare experts as potential victims of so-called modern slavery, which includes human trafficking and forced labour.

But the figure could merely be the tip of the iceberg, with many more unreported cases, the study by the Childrens Commissioner for England warns.

Anne Longfield has urged politicians to stamp out the horrendous exploitation of youngsters by adults.

Some 1,204 children aged up to 17 were referred to the NRM last year for suspected domestic servitude, labour or sexual exploitation in England  an increase of a third, from 901 in 2015. The child in the image is a model

She said slavery was just one of several serious issues that forced millions of children across the country to live vulnerable or high-risk lives.

Her report cites the latest figures from the Governments national referral mechanism (NRM), the official framework for identifying and helping victims of slavery and trafficking.

Some 1,204 children aged up to 17 were referred to the NRM last year for suspected domestic servitude, labour or sexual exploitation in England  an increase of a third, from 901 in 2015.

British nationals were the biggest group at 247, with 209 of them feared to have been caught up in sexual exploitation.

Children's Commissioner Anne Longfield's report cites the latest figures from the Governments national referral mechanism (NRM), the official framework for identifying and helping victims of slavery and trafficking

They were followed by 223 Albanian youngsters, of whom 150 were referred for potential labour exploitation. The third highest source of referrals were 200 Vietnamese children, with 101 of them feared trapped in forced labour.

Nigerian children also made up 40 of the NRM referrals in 2016, with 18 of these for suspected domestic servitude.

However, the report says there are many invisible children who may be particularly vulnerable due to gaps in identification.

These youngsters may have been victims of modern slavery but not reported to the national referral mechanism.

Miss Longfield said: Child slavery leaves deep scars on the lives of those children who suffer horrendous exploitation by adults  and this could well be only the tip of the iceberg.

These appalling crimes need to remain in the spotlight and be consigned to the past.

I hope todays report highlighting the large number of children living vulnerable lives will be a spur for politicians to act.

Jakub Sobik, from the organisation Anti-Slavery International, said: Child slavery affects thousands of British children and those trafficked from abroad.

But the UK is not well prepared to protect them. Trafficked children go missing from the care system at an alarming rate.

The youngsters were identified by police, charities and welfare experts as potential victims of so-called modern slavery, which includes human trafficking and forced labour

Police in Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire and Lincolnshire found 140 modern slaves between January 2014 and the end of 2016.

They included a child of 14 and a 15-year-old Albanian boy who was forced to work as a pickpocket in Nottingham.

In April, Theresa May faced embarrassment after serious failings in her campaign against modern slavery were identified by MPs on the Commons work and pensions committee.

The problem is a long-standing one. In 2014, a report commissioned by Rotherham Council revealed that at least 1,400 children in the town, some as young as 11, had been subjected to appalling sexual exploitation between 1997 and 2013.

British nationals made up the biggest group of exploited children at 247, with 209 of them feared to have been caught up in sexual exploitation

A spokesman for the British charity the Human Trafficking Foundation added: The data around child trafficking masks the scale of the problem, not only because many children are hidden or too scared to come forward, but also because we are often failing to recognise child victims of modern slavery when they actually do come forward.

British or Albanian boys or girls being exploited by often violent adults in drug-running cases are still treated as young criminals and gang members rather than as victims of exploitation.

Robert Goodwill, minister for children and families, said: We will look carefully at these exploratory statistics.
The father of one of the holidaymakers who died in Dreamworld's Thunder River Rapids tragedy says he is being 'left in the dark' over the cause of his son's death.

Roozi Araghi, 38, was one of the four people killed while enjoying a day out at Dreamworld's Gold Coast site on October 25, 2016.

Eight months later, Roozi's father Behrooz Araghi says he has now idea how his son and three others died.

'They haven't told me what they believe went wrong. We're very much in the dark,' he told The Australian.

The father of one of Roozi Araghi (pictured), who died in Dreamworld's River Rapids tragedy, says he is being 'left in the dark' over the cause of his son's death

The Thunder River Rapids raft collided with another vessel, causing it to flip and overturn, sending the passengers into the water

'They have been very friendly, they are doing their jobs. I am not dogmatic, I am pragmatic; I know these things take time. Nothing will bring him back.'

Mr Araghi told the paper Workplace Health and Safety Queensland representatives have contacted him every month to update him on the investigation, but have little to tell him.

Roozi's partner Luke Dorsett, 35, Luke's sister Kate Goodchild, 32 and fellow holidaymaker Cindy Low, 42, were also killed in the tragedy.

Their Thunder River Rapids raft collided with another vessel, causing it to flip and overturn, sending the passengers into the water.

Dreamworld was forced to close for two months and saw a rapid decline in park attendance when it reopened its doors.

The theme park's parent company, Ardent Leisure, told The Australian: 'Dreamworld continues to fully co-operate with the relevant authorities in this important investigation.'

Mr Araghi (left) and his partner Luke Dorsett, 35, were among those killed in the 2016 tragedy

Dreamworld was forced to close for two months and saw a rapid decline in park attendance when it reopened its doors

The company announced last month that CEO Deborah Thomas would be stepping down from her role.

'On behalf of the Ardent board, we want to express our sincere gratitude for Deborah's contribution as CEO and managing director, which coincided with an exceptionally busy and challenging period in the group's history,' Ardent chairman George Venardos said at the time.

'It is a testament to Deborah's professionalism and character that she has agreed to remain part of the team and provide valuable support and continuity to Ardent and the various official bodies preparing for the coronial inquiry into the Dreamworld tragedy.'

Kate Goodchild (left), 32, and New Zealand expat Cindy Low (right), 42, were also killed on the ride

The theme park's parent company, Ardent Leisure, announced last month that CEO Deborah Thomas (pictured) would be stepping down from her role
A man who attacked and threatened to kill his wife and child has prevented his daughter from leaving Australia, after placing her on a no-fly list.

The man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, successfully applied for his young daughter to be placed on the list while he was in jail, because no checks were made to see if he had a criminal record, reported Nine News.

Applications to have a child placed on the Family Law Watchlist, designed to alert police to the movement of children, have no section where a person can declare if they have a criminal record.

A man who attacked and threatened to kill his wife and child has prevented his daughter from leaving Australia, after placing her on a no-fly list

In March, the man was jailed for four months over the attacks on his wife and child and was due to be released from jail last weekend.

The mother and daughter wanted to leave the country but while he was in prison, the man applied to have his daughter barred from leaving.

If the mother now leaves the country with her daughter, she faces up to three years in jail.

The man remains behind bars after police laid new charges against him for stalking his ex-wife.

The man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, successfully applied for his young daughter to be placed on the no-fly list because no checks were made to see if he had a criminal record

Neither the Australian Federal Police, the court system or the department of Attorney-General George Brandis are reportedly taking responsibility for the matter, with some dispute over who handles airport watch lists.

In a statement to Nine News, Senator Brandis' office said they could not comment on individual cases for privacy reasons.

Daily Mail Australia has contacted the Australian Federal Police for further clarification on the matter.

The child's mother is reportedly hoping for the no-fly order to be overturned at a court hearing in August.
The man is then seen grabbing the shark's tale and pulling it toward the beach

As the drone descends further toward land, it becomes evident that the shark has been hooked to a string

A hammerhead with a length of at least six feet is seen swimming in shallow water just yards away from a man who waded into the Gulf of Mexico

Remarkable aerial footage shot by a camera-fitted drone hovering above Panama City Beach, Florida on Saturday shows a man reeling in a large hammerhead shark as a large crowd of astounded beachgoers looks on.

Curtis Williams, a YouTube user, posted the dramatic video, which begins high above the beach.

A hammerhead with a length of at least six feet is seen swimming in shallow water just yards away from a man who waded into the Gulf of Mexico.

The camera then lowers altitude and captures footage of the shark coming closer to the man.

Remarkable aerial footage shot by a camera-fitted drone hovering above Panama City Beach, Florida on Saturday shows a man reeling in a large hammerhead shark as a large crowd of astounded beachgoers looks on

Curtis Williams, a YouTube user, posted the dramatic video, which begins high above the beach. The man then moves closer to the shark. As the drone descends further toward land, it becomes evident that the shark has been hooked to a string

The shark continues to resist while the man pulls the string and the hooked animal toward shore

The man is then seen grabbing the shark's tale and pulling it toward the beach

The video ends before viewers are able to see what happens to the shark, though Williams says that the shark was released back out to sea unharmed

The man then moves closer to the shark. As the drone descends further toward land, it becomes evident that the shark has been hooked to a string.

The shark continues to resist while the man pulls the string and the hooked animal toward shore.

Eventually, the exhausted shark gives up and is briefly brought to shore.

The man is then seen grabbing the shark's tale and pulling it toward the beach.

The video ends before viewers are able to see what happens to the shark.

In the comments section of the YouTube video, Williams, who filmed the incident from his drone, said that the shark was released back out into the gulf and no harm was done.
Distraught veterinarians have been forced to put down a wild echidna after it was injured during a celebratory fireworks display last week.

The Territory Day celebrations held on July 1 in Darwin proved too much for the native animal that ended up being badly burnt from the firecrackers.

Ark Animal Hospital practice manager Charles Giliam told Daily Mail Australia that a concerned member of the public brought in the injured animal to the hospital on Sunday after it was found on Lee Point Road.



Wild echidna was badly burnt following a Territory Day fireworks display in Darwin last week

A member of a public spotted the injured echidna and brought it to the Ark Animal Hospital

'It was tough to access the echidna when it came in because it was rolled up in a ball and so we had to gas it down in order for it to open up and asses the animal,' Mr Giliam said.

Once the animal had opened up, veterinarians at hospital realised that it had a very limited chance of survival at it had been 90 percent burnt.

'Her claws were burnt, bones were exposed, and her nose which is crucial for her survival was damaged as well and quills were burnt too.'

'After consulting one another, the vets thought the kindest thing that they could do for the animal was not to prolong her life,' he said.

And so on Monday, the animal was put down.

Mr Gilliam said it was the first time the hospital had treated a wild echidna following the Territory Day fireworks display.

The animal was so distraught that it had curled into a ball forcing veterinarians to gas it down

A closer look at how badly burnt the echidna's quills were following the firecracker display

In the past, they had cared for other wildlife and domestic pets such as dogs who had been frighten for the loud bang from the fireworks display.

To avoid such incidents from recurring, Mr Giliam suggested that significant events with firework displays should be limited to only certain areas, instead.

This is how an echidna should look like if it wasn't injured or burnt from any accidents




Britain's Laura Robson crashed out of Wimbledon yesterday  but left with 35,000 prize money.

That works out at 530 for every minute of her 66-minute tie against Brazilian Beatriz Haddad Maia.

For Miss Robson, 23, who had been handed a wildcard, it was the third consecutive year she had lost in the first round.

Britain's Laura Robson crashed out of Wimbledon yesterday  but left with 35,000 prize money

It is her quickest exit from Wimbledon so far, playing for just one hour six minutes

The British hopeful, who was ranked number 27 four years ago, has seen a significant chunk of her career blighted by a wrist injury.

She said of the match: 'I thought I had a really good chance. With the way that I'd been playing the past few weeks, there is no reason I couldn't have won that match. Yeah, I just let myself down.'

It is her quickest exit from Wimbledon so far, playing for just one hour six minutes compared with one hour nine minutes last year.

At times, she appeared to be overcome with emotion but when asked, Miss Robson said: 'I felt emotional, but I wasn't close to tears. I was more angry at myself.'

The British hopeful, who was ranked number 27 four years ago, has seen a significant chunk of her career blighted by a wrist injury

She was cheered on by fellow British player Katie Boulter, 20.

Another wildcard, Miss Boulter will today make her Wimbledon debut against America's Christina McHale.

British number one Johanna Konta won her first match in straight sets against Hsieh Su-wei after shrugging off injury fears.

Miss Konta, 26, said she felt 'no pain' despite pulling out of a game at Eastbourne last week following a bad fall.

And British number four Aljaz Bedene caused an upset last night after beating Croatian favourite Ivo Karlovic in a five-set thriller.

The Slovenian-born player, 27, beat the world number 23  who is 6ft 11in tall  in a 4-hour 25-minute match which saw each set go to a tie break.
A husband has been accused of shooting his wife in the head during a drunken argument in an Uber.

Cameron Espitia, 31, is being held on suspicion of killing wife Jennifer, 29, as they were taken home in Seattle in the early hours of Sunday morning.

Espitia, a former member of the Coast Guard, was arrested close to the scene, claiming he could not remember anything after getting into the car.

Cameron Espitia, 31, a former member of the US Coast Guard, appeared in court on Monday accused of killing wife Jennifer (pictured together) during a drunken fight in an Uber

The driver said Jennifer was sat in front of the vehicle and her husband was behind when they started having a 'vicious' fight before he shot her in the back of the head

Prosecutors described the killing as an 'execution', Patch.com reports.

The driver, who has not been named, told police that he picked the couple up shortly after midnight, with Jennifer sitting in the front seat and Cameron sitting behind her.

The pair then began having a 'vicious' argument, Fox Q13 reported, with Espitia repeatedly swearing at his wife.

The driver said he then heard a 'loud boom' and initially thought he had blown a tire.

But moments later he realized Jennifer had slumped forward and was ordered by Espitia to keep driving which he did, saying he feared for his life.

Eventually he was told to pull over as Espitia got out, and he called the police.

Espitia was arrested nearby, and reportedly told officer he was 'having a bad night' with his wife and had been drinking.

Police said they found a small gun in an ankle holster on Espitia.

Court documents show Espitia claimed his last memory was of getting into the vehicle, before waking up in bushes at the side of the road.

Espitia (pictured in court) told police that he had no memory of the time between getting into the vehicle until he woke up in bushes nearby, where he was arrested

Espitia is now being held on suspicion of second-degree murder on a bond of $3million. Charges have not yet been laid

He said he had a vague memory of being inside an SUV, but no recollection of what happened during that time.

Jennifer was taken to a nearby hospital but died from her wounds.

Her husband is now being held on suspicion of second-degree murder and had a bond set at $3million on Monday. Charges have not yet been laid.

Court documents show Espitia was a member of the Coast Guard for 13 years and has no criminal record. He was born in California but lived in Seattle with his wife.

Coast Guardsman Elliot Felix, who has known Espitia for five years, was called as a character witness to the bail hearing, according to the Seattle Times.

He told the court that 'never in a million years' would he believe Espitia to be capable of killing his wife.

Social media shows the couple have been married since at least 2013. She is listed as working for an insurance firm, while he lists no occupation.
More than 700 women suffering horrific pain from vaginal mesh implants have launched a class action against global healthcare giant Johnson & Johnson in the Federal Court.

The implants are thought to have been used to treat pelvic floor damage on about 8,000 Australian women who have suffered life-altering complications after surgery, Rebecca Jancauskas from Shine Lawyers said on Tuesday.

Ms Jancauskas said the mesh was designed to repair pelvic floors, but side effects have been devastating.

'The complications that Australian women are suffering include the mesh or tape eroding through, and into, surrounding tissue and organs, as well as incontinence, infection and chronic pain,' she said.

Members of the class action against Johnson & Johnson, from left, Gai Thompson, Joanne Maninon and Carina Anderson, outside the Federal Court in Sydney

'Many now live in excruciating pain, suffering terrible side effects that impact all aspects of their lives,' she said.

Some of the implants can still be bought, Ms Jancauskas said.

'This class action is about righting the wrong against these women, who will suffer pain and complications for the rest of their lives,' she said.

The Australian class action comes after more than 100,000 women started legal action in the US and similar moves were taken in the UK and Canada.

In Australia, the controversial implants have been used to treat incontinent and prolapse caused by childbirth in thousands of cases since 2000, according to news.com.au.

More than 700 women suffering strong pain from vaginal mesh implants have launched a class action against global healthcare giant Johnson & Johnson. Pictured left, Gai Thompson

Rebecca Jancauskas (left), from Shine Lawyers, said the mesh was designed to repair pelvic floors, but side effects have been devastating

Some women have said they were forced to stop working because of the agony they were left in, including making sex incredibly painful.

Jan Hawkins, 60, says she had to retire from her job as a primary school teacher after she developed severe complications from an implant she had inserted in 2007.

'It's like sandpaper inside you that every now and then rears its ugly head and pokes through organs and walls, which affects nerves and how they function,' Ms Hawkins told news.com.au.

'It's a terrible thing that rubs and creates a cheese grater effect.'

Even with full medical coverage, it still cost her about $20,000 to have the implant removed from one of the two doctors able to carry out the procedure, she said.

The vaginal mesh implants are thought to have been used to treat pelvic floor damage on about 8000 Australian women who have suffered life-altering complications. File photo

More than 700 women suffering strong pain from vaginal mesh implants have launched a class action against global healthcare giant Johnson & Johnson in the Federal Court

Louise King, one of the women in the class action suit, said she was not able to have sex with her husband after she had the implant after a prolapse.

'When we tried to make love, it was excruciating,' she told the ABC.

'We could never make love again before he died from prostate and lung cancer in 2014.'

Ms King added that her concerns were dismissed by her doctors.

'Now my whole body is wracked in pain and I have had to give up my dream job,' she added.

Shine is due to open its case in the Federal Court in Sydney on Tuesday, with Johnson & Johnson's lawyers to present their arguments next Monday.

Hearings are expected to run for about six months.
Scam letters were being sent to try and convince elderly people to send cash to foreign conmen (stock photo)

The Royal Mail has stopped one million postal frauds reaching homes since the scandal was exposed by a Daily Mail investigation.

The scam letters, which seek to convince the elderly and vulnerable to send cash to foreign conmen, are being seized almost every day before being destroyed.

Postmen are also intercepting letters that they suspect have been sent to fraudsters, so they can return money to victims.

The crackdown is a major victory for the Daily Mail, which revealed nine months ago how Royal Mail was making millions delivering postal frauds.

After we published the investigation, Theresa May warned postal bosses that they must 'do more' to protect victims and ministers summoned them to an urgent meeting.

Last night, consumer minister Margot James said: 'Since [then] Royal Mail has been ramping up its efforts to protect vulnerable consumers from receiving scam mail. Stopping a million items since November is a significant milestone and I'd like to thank the Daily Mail for ... highlighting this issue.'

In October, the Mail Investigations Unit revealed how conmen were using the Royal Mail's lucrative bulk mail contracts to target the elderly.

Their letters persuaded victims to buy unlicensed medicines, or claimed to be from clairvoyants saying the recipient would be terrorised by evil spirits if they did not send cash. Others conned vulnerable people, including dementia patients, into thinking they had won a prize that they could claim by sending money.

Victims' families told how they had lost as much as 100,000 or even their homes. Officials believe up to 10billion is lost to such scams each year.

The Mail's reporters tracked down the scammers to a ski resort in Canada, where they met to trade 'suckers lists' with names and addresses of people susceptible to the letter frauds.

They boasted of 'ripping off' 'suggestible' victims and of using Royal Mail's discounted bulk postage rates to send letters to the UK. This also allowed them to have Royal Mail branding on envelopes, which they said helped them gain the trust of their victims.

MPs, campaigners and charities accused Royal Mail of 'knowingly profiting from fraud'. For years, Royal Mail told victims' families that it was legally required to deliver any addressed letter, stopping them intercepting frauds.

Conmen were using the Royal Mail's lucrative bulk mail contracts to target the elderly (stock photo)

But after our investigation, it signed deals with suppliers forcing them to agree that staff could open post believed to be scams. Letter frauds are now collected at its major distribution centres before being destroyed. Suppliers have to agree with Royal Mail that they will share information about suspected scammers.

Royal Mail also contacts homes it suspects are being targeted and sends warnings.

Marilyn Baldwin OBE founded anti-scam charity Think Jessica after her mother, Jessica Looke, lost more than 50,000. In the last five years of her life, Royal Mail delivered 30,000 criminal letters to her.

Mrs Baldwin said: 'The Royal Mail's work is a major leap forward. But I was reporting this to them ten years ago and nothing was done. If it hadn't been for the Daily Mail's articles this would never have happened.'

Louise Baxter, of National Trading Standards, said: 'As well as leaving people out of pocket, victims are often left feeling a sense of shame and social isolation. That's why we're working so hard with Royal Mail to [stop fraudulent mail] reaching households in the first place.'

Royal Mail's Stephen Agar said: 'We're grateful to the Daily Mail for highlighting the way in which these fraudsters were operating. We are working hard to try to stop this terrible material reaching UK households.'
Children born through IVF are more likely to be overweight, a study found.

Experts revealed 'test tube babies' have their genes altered, with those born through fertility treatment weighing 1lb more on average by the age of nine.

Starting out in a laboratory dish instead of their mother's body may cause children to store up more fat  meaning they could become heavier even when they eat as much as their naturally conceived peers.

Starting out in a laboratory dish instead of their mother's body may cause children to store up more fat

Lead researcher Dr Heleen Zandstra, from Maastricht University in the Netherlands, said: 'This is enough of a weight difference to be concerning, because overweight children are more likely to become overweight adults. We think IVF children may be predisposed to cardiovascular problems, including heart problems, in later life. They may be programmed wrongly by IVF to store food as fat throughout their lives.'

The study, presented at the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology conference in Geneva, looked at 136 children born through IVF in the Netherlands. Those of average height, aged nine-and-a half, weighed 1lb more than children of the same age and height  a difference of 2.1 per cent.

The hormones given to women to harvest their eggs for IVF could cause their children to be overweight, by changing the way their cells behave in the first days of life.

IVF babies begin as an embryo growing in a laboratory dish, with the Dutch team discovering the different chemicals used may change the birth weight of children.

IVF babies begin as an embryo growing in a laboratory dish, with the Dutch team discovering the different chemicals used may change the birth weight of children

While this chemical soup is thought to make IVF children slightly smaller at birth, it could then lead to weight gain when they are older. Explaining the phenomenon, Dr Zandstra said: 'Research has suggested these chemicals cause IVF babies to be born smaller. They might change the way the baby absorbs nutrients, or how the placenta passes them on.

'At an older age this may cause a child born smaller to store more food as fat, because their body wants to make sure they get enough.'

Evidence is growing IVF children may be bigger. Japanese research presented at the conference also found they were taller at the age of six than those conceived naturally.
Once, it was known to millions of youngsters for Blue Peter, Grange Hill and the Magic Roundabout.

Now the BBC is to spend an extra 34million on childrens programming, amid fears that it is losing its grip on British youngsters.

The corporation said viewers are fleeing to Facebook, Amazon and Netflix, and warned that British culture will be shaped and defined by West Coast America if it does not take vital action.

In speeches to staff today, Lord Hall, the BBCs director general, and Sir David Clementi, its new chairman, will set out plans to tackle this with the biggest increase to its childrens budget in a generation.

Lord Halls pledge comes amid growing evidence that the BBC has already lost the attention of many older teenagers, as well as viewers in their 20s, 30s and early 40s

The BBC will spend an extra 34.4million on its CBeebies and CBBC services over the next three years, so that their annual budget goes up from 110million today to 124.4million in 2019.

A quarter of the total budget for the services  which are aimed at children up to the age of 12 - will be spent on online content.

Lord Halls pledge comes amid growing evidence that the BBC has already lost the attention of many older teenagers, as well as viewers in their 20s, 30s and early 40s.

James Purnell, the boss of the BBCs radio, childrens and education services, admitted last month that eight percent of Britons aged 16 to 44 do not use any BBC service in a given week.

But with the BBC facing competition not only from other UK broadcasters but also from global media giants like Facebook, Amazon and Netflix, and young people in particular consuming media in different ways, the BBC will need to achieve it in different ways, said the BBC

That figure has almost doubled since four years ago, when just five percent of people in that age bracket were beyond the BBCs reach.

Those youngsters that do tune into the BBC spend less than half the time plugged into BBC platforms than viewers aged 45 and above.

People aged 16 to 44 use the broadcaster for an average of 12 hours a week, compared to 27 hours for older viewers.

The loss of these younger viewers is a major threat to the corporation. It will be much harder to persuade audiences to pay the 147-a-year licence fee if Britons have already given up the BBC habit.

Mr Purnell has said that he does not want to over-turn the current trend, pointing out that youngsters still spend more time on BBC platforms than they do on YouTube, Facebook and Snapchat.

But yesterday, corporation insiders admitted that it needs to take urgent action if the BBC wants to retain its influence in Britain.

Investment in British content  particularly for the young - is vital, unless we want more of our culture shaped and defined by the rise of West Coast American companies, a source said.

Youngsters also felt alienated by the BBC after it axed its BBC3 television channel at the start of last year, the broadcasting watchdog found

The way children and young people are watching and consuming programmes and other content is changing fast, and the BBC needs to respond.

This investment will mean we can reinvent how we serve our youngest audience in the years ahead, while continuing to produce outstanding programmes on CBeebies and CBBC.

The BBC added: The BBCs historic mission  to inform, educate and entertain  remains unchanged.

'But with the BBC facing competition not only from other UK broadcasters but also from global media giants like Facebook, Amazon and Netflix, and young people in particular consuming media in different ways, the BBC will need to achieve it in different ways.

According to Ofcom research published last month, youngsters have been switching off because they think the BBC is too middle-aged, too middle-class and does not take enough risks.

The way children and young people are watching and consuming programmes and other content is changing fast, and the BBC needs to respond', said the BBC

Britons aged 18 to 29 think there is stagnation in BBC comedy, that it is forever playing it safe, and there is more cutting-edge content on Amazon, Netflix and Channel 4.

Youngsters also felt alienated by the BBC after it axed its BBC3 television channel at the start of last year, the broadcasting watchdog found.

The so-called yoof service, which caters to 16 to 34 year olds, still exists as an online service but many youngsters did not even know it was there.

However, Lord Hall will focus his attention on winning over the next generation down.

He will lay out plans for to increase the childrens programming budget today as he unveils the BBCs annual plan  setting out what it wants to achieve over the year ahead.

According to Ofcom research published last month, youngsters have been switching off because they think the BBC is too middle-aged, too middle-class and does not take enough risks

The director general will also say that the BBC must invest more in virtual reality, artificial intelligence and voice activation, so that it can stay at the cutting edge of the broadcasting industry.

The corporation would not go into further detail on virtual reality its plans. But in the future, it could invite viewers to scythe alongside Aiden Turners Poldark, for example, or time travel with Doctor Who.

The BBC has already launched a number of small virtual reality projects. Last year, it allowed Strictly Come Dancing fans to tour the ballroom with special 360-degree footage of the contest.

It also produced a string of immersive games for people with Oculus Rift virtual reality headsets, for example allowing them to work on a space station in zero-gravity, or to experience life as a refugee first hand.
Britain's best-known luvvie Stephen Fry, who is a close friend of Prince Charles, is urging Americans to have an unelected head of state.

In an article for a New York paper to mark today's Independence Day, he sympathises with his audience for having thrown off the 'yoke of British oppression in 1776' but suggests that they would be better off with a good old-fashioned monarchy.

'Do you not agree that it would be a very healthy thing for presidents to make such a humble, supplicatory journey every week and be reminded that they serve a bigger idea than power, a nobler entity than a political party or a trending ideology?' he asks.

Britain's best-known luvvie Stephen Fry (left), who is a close friend of Prince Charles (right), is urging Americans to have an unelected head of state

'America has an elected executive, but Britain has an elected executive and something else, too: a head of state who stands above the fray, personifying and representing our nation and its history.'

Typically Fry smarms up to his American readership while doing the British down, claiming: 'I am far from claiming that Britain is anything other than a ridiculous country, nor am I denying that there are plenty of Britons who don't buy into the drama of kingship.

'Rationally, a monarchy is an absurdity. Of course it is.

'But we British are not rationalists. We are empiricists and seem always to have been. Looking at 10 Downing Street and the American White House now, I wonder which nation is constitutionally most in danger of allowing a tyrant to arise.'

Typically Fry smarms up to his American readership while doing the British down, claiming: 'I am far from claiming that Britain is anything other than a ridiculous country, nor am I denying that there are plenty of Britons who don't buy into the drama of kingship'

Fry was said to be desperate to emulate the success of old comedy partner Hugh Laurie in the US. But Fry's recent series was cancelled after just one season. Pictured: Hugh Laurie (left) as Bertie Wooster and Stephen Fry (right) as Jeeves in 'Jeeves and Wooster' TV Programme

Fry, 59, who lives in LA with his husband Elliott Spencer, 27, has been careful not to attack President Trump since he won the U.S. election. The former QI presenter used to be outspoken in his criticism of the tycoon and once attacked him for his 'poisonously atrocious taste, false glamour, shallow grandeur [and] cynical vulgarity'.

And after a visit to one of his gaudy properties in 2009, Fry declared that he hoped 'never to hear Trump's name again'.

Fry was said to be desperate to emulate old comedy partner Hugh Laurie's success in hospital drama House with a CBS sitcom he starred in called The Great Indoors.

However the series was cancelled after just one season.

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IS TREVOR SEEING DOUBLE?

Here's one thesp not afraid to show his age.

Silver fox Trevor Eve, who starred in the BBC's hit crime drama Waking The Dead, spent part of his 66th birthday at the weekend grappling with a smartphone while wearing not one, but two, pairs of specs.

The snap was then lovingly shared online by his wife, Gold Blend TV ad star Sharon Maughan, who is also mother of their three children including Star Trek actress Alice Eve.

Silver fox Trevor Eve (pictured), who starred in the BBC's hit crime drama Waking The Dead, spent part of his 66th birthday grappling with a smartphone while wearing two pairs of specs

Good year at the office as Gervais makes 2.5million Comic Ricky Gervais always seems pleased with himself, but now he has a new reason to feel smug. The 56-year-old star of The Office made a profit of 2.47 million in a year, according to accounts for his TV production company Red Lion 100. No pay to Gervais is reported in the accounts for the 12 months to March, but they do report a 2.28million dividend payment to him for 2016. The actor, who lives in London with girlfriend Jane Fallon, is worth an estimated 55 million. He said of his wealth: 'I know it sounds a lot, but remember, I donate a lot of this to good causes (the Inland Revenue mainly).' Comic Ricky Gervais (pictured) always seems pleased with himself, but now he has a new reason to feel smug. The 56-year-old star of The Office made a profit of 2.47 million in a year, according to accounts for his TV production company Red Lion 100 Advertisement

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Indelibly associated with big houses, Downton Abbey creator Julian Fellowes has revealed that he is, in fact, happiest in the beach hut he owns in the West Country.

'My wife, Emma, and I are both very committed to the sea,' Lord Fellowes says. 'We live about 15 minutes away from the coast and have a beach hut in Devon. The windows look out right over the water and the waves are crashing around you all the time.

'No matter what season, even on the harshest winter's day, it's still wonderful to watch and be part of. It's a place where we can recharge.'

Indelibly associated with big houses, Downton Abbey creator Julian Fellowes has revealed that he is, in fact, happiest in the beach hut he owns in the West Country

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Kate Moss and Liv Tyler go wild in the country

Has dating a much younger man awakened Kate Moss's inner child?

The spirited supermodel, 43, surprised friends at the 40th birthday party she threw at the weekend for actress Liv Tyler when she got down on all fours and started chasing the unsuspecting Lord Of The Rings star around the lawn.

Kate, who had a cigarette in her mouth, was wearing a long floral dress which she dragged across the grass and her high jinks were shared by Tyler in a video online.

The festivities, held at Kate's 2.5 million home in the Cotswolds, was also attended by Kate's toyboy Nikolai von Bismarck, 30, who has just returned from the U.S. where he reportedly flew for a detox, as well as Liv's fiance and father of two of her three children, Dave Gardner.

Has dating a younger man awakened Kate Moss's inner child? The spirited supermodel (left), 43, surprised friends at the 40th birthday party she threw for actress Liv Tyler (right) when she got down on all fours and chased the unsuspecting Lord Of The Rings star around the lawn

The festivities, held at Kate's 2.5 million home in the Cotswolds, was also attended by Kate's toyboy Nikolai von Bismarck, 30, who has just returned from the U.S. where he reportedly flew for a detox, as well as Liv's fiance and father of two of her three children, Dave Gardner

WHY JO'S A MODEL GRANNY At the side of hard-partying Rolling Stones guitarist Ronnie for 30 years, Jo Wood had a rock 'n' roll marriage. The former model has now admitted, however, that one casualty of her lifestyle was her relationship with her children, Leah and Tyrone. Jo, 62, confesses: 'As much as I love them, I didn't stop and take it all in, like I do with my ten grandchildren. At the side of hard-partying Rolling Stones guitarist Ronnie for 30 years, Jo Wood (pictured) had a rock 'n' roll marriage. The former model has now admitted, however, that one casualty of her lifestyle was her relationship with her children Leah and Tyrone 'It's lovely, because I can sit down and play with Lego, hang out and put on make-up, run round like a loony with the boys. 'I put my time aside just for them now.' Meanwhile Ronnie, 70, has 13-month-old twins with his third wife, theatre producer Sally Humphreys, who is 31 years his junior. Advertisement

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Fearless in the most dangerous jungles and barren deserts, Sir David Attenborough is, however, lost in the world of modern cuisine.

'I'm not much of a foodie,' admits the 91-year-old naturalist. 'I've just come back from America, where there are very few foods I'm familiar with like "wraps" and "subs".

'But I can always say: "I would like bacon and eggs, please."'

Fearless in the most dangerous jungles and barren deserts, Sir David Attenborough (pictured), 91, is, however, lost in the world of modern cuisine. 'I'm not much of a foodie,' he admits

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Gorilla thriller for Aspinall's new wife

They've only been married a year, but Damian Aspinall is already facing competition. The 57-year-old conservationist posted this picture online in which his Burberry exec wife Victoria, 30, snuggles up to a hirsute male.

'I introduced my beautiful wife to Bims, an 18-year-old male gorilla brought up at Howletts now free in the wild, a wonderful moment,' he wrote.

Damian, who manages Howletts Park in Kent, was married to Louise Sebag-Montefiore for ten years; he later dated model Donna Air, with whom he has a daughter.

They've only been married a year, but Damian Aspinall is already facing competition. The 57-year-old conservationist posted this picture online in which his Burberry exec wife Victoria, 30, snuggles up to a hirsute male

Damian (pictured with Victoria) who manages Howletts Park in Kent, was married to Louise Sebag-Montefiore for ten years; he later dated model Donna Air, with whom he has a daughter

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BBC aesthete Alan Yentob is a stickler for authenticity.

The arts presenter is portrayed at the Donmar Warehouse in the musical Committee, about the collapse of the Kids Company charity he chaired.

Yentob has lent a pair of his Armani pyjama bottoms, which he wore to visit the Calais jungle, to complete the costume of Omar Ebrahim, the actor who plays him. He may never see them again.
A Nevada woman living with 20 large dogs, 35 Chihuahuas, 15 cats and two horse has been arrested for animal cruelty.

Brenna Lise England, 38, faces one charge of animal cruelty after officers found her animals living in 'deplorable conditions of filth and trash' at her Pahrump home in Nevada.

Officers also found the remains of a dead kitten in the backyard of the property on the 1500 block of Heritage Drive, News 3LV reports.

Brenna Lise England, 38, (left and right) faces one charge of animal cruelty after officers found her animals living in 'deplorable conditions of filth and trash' at her Pahrump home in Nevada

The surviving animals have been rescued and are now being cared for in another facility.

'The animals on the property were not being provided with adequate shelter, food or water,' the Nye County Sheriff's Office said in a statement. 'The animals were living in deplorable conditions of filth and trash.'

England is being held at the Nye County Detention Center on $1,001 cash-only bail.
The head of Australia's Border Force, who is currently taking leave from his role over a 'personal matter', was allegedly in a relationship with a young female staffer.

Roman Quaedvlieg, a married father-of-three, stepped away from his role earlier this year as an investigation was launched into his role in the wake of a Senate hearing.

And it has now been claimed the 52-year-old was allegedly involved in a relationship with a fellow ABF employee in her early 20s, with her colleagues saying she received a promotion after their relationship began, the Daily Telegraph reports.

Roman Quaedvlieg (pictured), the head of Australia's Border Force who is currently on leave over a 'personal matter', was allegedly in a relationship with a young female staffer

Mr Quaedvlieg's leave of absence was confirmed on Monday, with the ABF issuing a brief statement noting that there was a matter under investigation.

But a former Border Force media manager took to Twitter to hint that the matter is a 'personal' one, and has little to do with his official duties.

Former spin doctor Sandi Logan claimed Quaedvlieg had been suspended, not put on leave, and that an 'external investigation' was taking place.

It is not known how long Quaedvlieg, who is making more than $700,000 a year in his position, has been off work for.

The last tweet to come from the 52-year-old's official account was on May 25.

No information has been released as to what he has been placed on leave over, with authorities remaining tight lipped.

It has now been claimed Mr Quaedvlieg, a married father-of-three, was allegedly involved in a relationship with a fellow ABF employee aged in her early 20s. Some inside the ABF believe she may have been handed a promotion since her relationship with Mr Quaedvlieg began

An inside source told Fairfax Media the Commissioner's sudden departure is related to his personal behaviour as opposed to the carrying out of his official duties.

'The ABF Commissioner is on leave,' the statement from the office of Minister for Justice Michael Keenan said.

'A matter is under investigation by appropriate authorities.

'There will be no further comment until that process is complete.'

Mr Quaedvlieg was previously the chief police officer of ACT Policing, and has been the Commissioner of the Australian Border Force since its creation in 2015.

He made headlines in 2004 when he was caught up in a tsunami with his wife Christine.
A 39-year-old Las Vegas woman who was beaten into a coma by her ex-boyfriend and eventually died of her injuries last week predicted her own death on social media, it was reported on Monday.

The Clark County coroner said Stella Martinez died on June 23 at Summerlin Hospital of brain injuries following the June 3 incident.

Her death was ruled a homicide.

Police say a patrol officer responding to a report of a man trying to break into a home saw 41-year-old Christopher Wood attacking and choking Martinez on the ground in the backyard.

Martinez was hospitalized for nearly three weeks before she died.

Stella Martinez (left), who was choked into unconsciousness by her ex-boyfriend, 41-year-old Christopher Wood (right), died of her injuries ten days ago

The Clark County coroner said Martinez died on June 23 at Summerlin Hospital of brain injuries following the June 3 incident

Police say a patrol officer responding to a report of a man trying to break into a home saw Wood attacking and choking Martinez on the ground in the backyard

Wood was arrested on attempted murder, attempted burglary and domestic battery by strangulation charges that are expected to be upgraded before a July 14 preliminary hearing of evidence against him.

His court-appointed public defender, Josie Bayudan, declined to comment.

In the wake of Martinez's death, it has become apparent that she foresaw her tragic end, according to Las Vegas Review Journal.

She posted a number of Facebook messages on her profile which suggest that she was helpless in the face of an abusive man who she feared would one day kill her.

Wood (left) was arrested on attempted murder, attempted burglary and domestic battery by strangulation charges that are expected to be upgraded before a July 14 preliminary hearing of evidence against him

In the wake of Martinez's death, it has become apparent that she foresaw her tragic end. She posted a number of Facebook messages on her profile which suggest that she was helpless in the face of an abusive man who she feared would one day kill her

'I'll be dead before (they) do anything,' she wrote in a Facebook comment in January.

Her Facebook account has been deactivated.

The Facebook accounts of both Martinez and Wood indicate that the pair began dating around May of last year.

They are seen together in photos dated all throughout 2016.

They even exchange loving messages to one another in August and October.

But this past January, the tone of the social media posts changed dramatically.

'I wish I never met you, I did everything for you,' Martinez wrote.

She accused Wood of being a sociopath who destroyed her life, according to the Review Journal.

Martinez went public on social media in order to warn other women about Wood and as a means of empowering herself.

'I'll be dead before (they) do anything,' she wrote in a Facebook comment in January. Her Facebook account has been deactivated

'Although I have no doubt (you're) still going to try to kill me but you will never find me,' she posted on his Facebook page in January.

When Martinez posted the messages on her own account, a number of her Facebook friends urged her to either obtain a restraining order against Wood or move out of town where she would be safe.

Martinez also posted messages on Wood's Facebook wall, but those messages were largely ignored, according to the Review Journal.

She also posted messages indicating that she lacked faith in the police's ability to protect her.

Police confirmed that they were called several times about domestic violence incidents between the couple.

On one occasion, police arrested Martinez and charged her with a crime.

Martinez wrote on her Facebook account that she feared police would once again turn against her if she sought their help.

Those who knew Martinez said she felt compassion for Wood and wanted to help him - just as she had wanted to help others who suffered from drug addiction, as she had.

'Stella had a heart for people who struggled,' her friend Rachael Chesin said.

'She helped many people get clean, and she truly loved God and loved people deeply.'
The projected bill for building the new nuclear power station at Hinkley Point has soared to almost 20billion and could rise further.

Following a review by its senior executives, energy giant EDF said the cost of the controversial project in Somerset has risen by 1.5 billion to 19.6billion.

The French state controlled firm also warned the project could be delayed for up to 15 months.

This would result in an another 700million in costs, meaning the bill would smash through the 20billion barrier.

Following a review by its senior executives, energy giant EDF said the cost of the controversial project in Somerset has risen by 1.5 billion to 19.6billion

It would also mean Hinkley Point C would not start delivering power to the national grid until 2027  a decade after the first start date proposed by EDF.

EDF stressed it hoped to avoid delays and was still aiming to finish the first nuclear reactor by the end of 2025.

In a statement, it explained the extra costs partly resulted from adapting the project's design to meet the demands of UK regulators.

The firm is funding two-thirds of the plant, which is expected to create more than 25,000 jobs, with China investing the rest.

It insisted there will be no financial impact on UK consumers of the increased costs, while the UK government said households 'won't pay a penny' until the power station is built.

Hinkley Point C would be the UK's first new nuclear plant for decades, but has been beset with budget problems

But the latest twist in this long-running saga is likely to fuel concerns about the Hinkley Point project.

In a report published last month the government spending watchdog said the prime minister's decision last September to press ahead with Hinkley has locked the nation into a 'risky and expensive' project.

The National Audit Office warned that the cost to families of guaranteeing that EDF and the Chinese receive a high price for the electricity produced by the power station has spiralled from 6bn to 30bn.

This is expected to add up to 15 to annual electricity bills up to 2030.

The NAO said the nuclear reactor chosen for the site in Somerset is 'unproven', raising questions over its safety.

Hinkley Point C would be the UK's first new nuclear plant for decades, but has been beset with budget problems

John Sauven, executive director at Greenpeace UK, said: 'Hinkley is already over time and over budget after just a few months of building work.

'Today's news is yet another damning indictment of the Government's agreement to go ahead with this project.

'This year's school leavers will still be paying for Hinkley when they approach their pension age.

'And now it looks like they will be paying for the most expensive object on earth for even longer.'

Hinkley Point C would be the UK's first new nuclear plant for decades, but has been beset with budget problems.

Theresa May postponed final approval for the scheme when she became prime minister last year amid concerns the power plant, to be built in partnership by the French company EDF and China General Nuclear Power, was not good value for money.

However, she then decided to go ahead with the scheme despite serious concerns that it will saddle consumers with high bills for decades.

Many countries, including Germany, have turned their backs on nuclear power because of safety concerns in the wake of the 2011 Fukushima disaster in Japan.

A spokeswoman for the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy said: 'The UK Government negotiated a competitive deal which protects consumers and ensures that all of the cost of construction, including any overruns, sits with the contractor.

'Hinkley Point C will be the first new nuclear plant in a generation. This was an important strategic decision to ensure that nuclear is part of a diverse energy mix in the UK.

'Consumers won't pay a penny until Hinkley is built; it will provide clean, reliable electricity powering six million homes.'
The History Channel was forced to delete an embarrassing tweet that showed an image of George Washington on horseback along with a caption about the Battle of Gettysburg, implying the first president had fought in a Civil War battle 64 years after his death.

'On #ThisDayinHistory 1863, the Battle of Gettysburg ends' the channel tweeted Monday, with an accompanying picture of George Washington in Cambridge, Massachusetts during the Revolutionary War in 1775, also on June 3, but 88 years earlier.

Internet justice was swift and ruthless.

The History Channel got its centuries wrong when it tweeted an illustration of George Washington in the Revolutionary War 1775 and accompanied it with a caption about the Battle of Gettysburg in 1863

'Even the Channel is into FAKE NEWS, using George Washington pic from 1775 to commemorate the Battle of Gettysburg!' wrote Boston Bobblehead.

'New York Times: "Downtown Arkansas;" History Channel: "Hold my beer," tweeted Craige Smuckatelli, referencing a tweet the New York Times had sent about the mass shooting at the Power Ultra Lounge in Little Rock.

'Come on, History Channel. Seriously?' asked KY Jeeper.

The History Channel goofed when it accompanied a tweet about the last day of the Battle of Gettysburg with a picture of George Washington 88 years earlier in the Revolutionary War

Red State got into the fun with an article titled 'History Channel Reveals the Secret Alien Nazi Story Behind Washington at Gettysburg.'

Even so, the inaccurate tweet remained online for hours before being taken down with no explanation.

The History Channel has long been accused of betraying its original history-oriented programming and criticized for various inaccuracies.

In 2012, a writer complained on the Daily Kos that during a documentary about the Dark Ages in 8th Century England, the show superimposed images from 100 BC Pompeii and 333 BC Southern Turkey.

The writer said when he complained, The History Channel replied that as long as an image created the desired 'atmosphere,' then it didn't matter if it was historically consistent.

'This idiocy just confirmed what I already thought about the History Channel's programming, so I dropped the matter and tuned out,' the writer says.
Former Liberal staffer Peta Credlin has slammed Malcolm Turnbull, accusing the Prime Minister of undermining his party and losing the confidence of his cabinet.

Ms Credlin, who was Tony Abbott's chief-of-staff, said Mr Turnbull had revealed his true intentions after claiming he would retire from politics if he lost the next election.

'I think they're extraordinary comments, actually,' Ms Credlin told conservative commentator Andrew Bolt on Sky News on Monday night.

'The comments yesterday where he said basically "sack me and I'll quit", reinforced a lot of the concerns everyone's always had about Malcolm and the Liberal Party.

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Former Liberal staffer Peta Credlin has slammed Malcolm Turnbull, accusing the Prime Minister of undermining his party

Ms Credlin, who was Tony Abbott's chief-of-staff, said Mr Turnbull had revealed his true intentions after claiming he would retire from politics if he lost the next election

Ms Credlin, who once worked as a senior staffer for Mr Turnbull, said a cabinet member had told her he had lost faith in the Prime Minister.

She claimed the politician said to her: 'This is the guy that knifed Peter King to get the seat, knifed Brendan (Nelson) to become leader, knifed Tony Abbott to become Prime Minister, and the next knife's obviously coming the Liberal Party's way.'

Her comments come after Mr Turnbull defiantly declared he would be Prime Minister for a 'long time' despite a week of infighting within his government.

Turnbull (pictured, right) also promised to quit politics if he ever loses the prime ministership

Ms Credlin told Andrew Bolt the comments 'reinforced a lot of the concerns everyone's always had about Malcolm and the Liberal Party'

'I intend to be Prime Minister for a very long time,' he told reporters at a press conference on Monday.

'Now I know you may think at 62 I'm too old but I assure you... I will be running at the 2019 election and will win.

'That's my commitment, I'll be PM for a long time and I look forward to meeting you at many press conferences like this over many, many years to come.'

Mr Turnbull's call to arms came after his predecessor Tony Abbott called for conservatives to 'take our party back'.

'For too long the party hierarchy has expected the rank and file to turn up, to pay up and to shut up. Let's take our party back and then we can win the next election,' he said at a NSW Liberal Party member forum on Saturday.

'Respect is a two-way street and it's time the party hierarchy showed the respect to the membership that the membership has always given to them.'

Malcolm Turnbull defiantly declared he would be Prime Minister for a 'long time' despite a week of infighting within his government
A Brisbane driver has died as a result of a horror smash in an industrial area on Tuesday morning.

Queensland police say initial information suggests that the driver of a Suzuki Swift crashed into a stationary trailer at Platinum Street near Crestmead at 6am.

Following the crash, the unidentified 35-year-old male driver remained trapped in the wreckage where emergency services tried unsuccessfully to save him.

Scroll down for video

A driver has died after smashing into a stationary trailer in an industrial area in Logan, Brisbane

The man ended up being trapped in the wreckage following the crash and could not be saved

However, he was pronounced dead at the scene due to severe head injuries.

Police say the man was the sole occupant of the car at the time of the accident.

Emergency services said the man died at the scene and it was because of severe head injuries

The accident had occurred at an industrial area at Platinum Street, Crestmead in Brisbane

Police had cordoned off Platinum Street between Radium Street and Titanium Court following the accident.

Queensland police say the man's next of kin have been notified.
One of the six surviving victims of a Bronx doctor's shooting rampage has been released from the hospital.

Dr Oluwafunmike Ojewoye, 29, was shot in the neck when Dr Henry Bello opened fire on seven people in Bronx-Lebanon Hospital on Friday afternoon.

Bello used an AM-15 assault rifle during his rampage on the 16th and 17th floors. He shot six doctors and one patient before turning the gun on himself.

Ojewoye, a second-year family medicine resident, is the first victim to be discharged from the hospital, while the conditions of the other five victims have improved.

Though Ojewoye was shot in the neck, she was able to recover quickly, Dr Sridhar Chilimuri, Physician in Chief at Bronx-Lebanon, told the New York Daily News.

'The injury was such that only the bone was fractured not the blood vessels and the nerves so that was probably how she was able to recover,' Chilimuri said.

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Dr Oluwafunmike Ojewoye, 29, center, was shot in the neck Friday, but was released from the hospital on Monday. She is a second-year family medicine resident

Ojewoye, pictured, is the first of Dr Henry Bello's six surviving victims to be released from the hospital

Dr Henry Bello (left and right in 2004), 45, used an AM-15 assault rifle in a deadly rampage that left one dead and six others injured at Bronx-Lebanon Hospital Friday

At least two of the other victims are in stable condition in the hospital including Dr Edy Hasrouni, 31, who was shot in the stomach, and patient Wildamo Guareno, 26, who was shot in the left knee.

Attending physician Dr Hassan Tariq, 32, was shot in the wrist and is now 'doing well', Chilimuri said.

Med student Dr James Mathew was shot in the knee and suffered a brain injury in the attack, but has since woken up and was talking with his family at Mt. Sinai Hospital.

Dr Justin Timperio, 29, from Canada, was shot 'between six and nine times', which caused damage to his kidney and liver, his father told The Canadian Press.

Timperio, who had been working at Bronx-Lebanon for about four years, had to have additional surgery at Mt. Sinai.

Dr Justin Timperio, 29, pictured, from Canada, was shot 'between six and nine times', which caused damage to his kidney and liver, his father said. Timperio had to have additional surgery at Mt. Sinai

Though six out of Bello's seven victims survived the attack, one victim died.

Dr Tracy Sin-Yee Tam, a family medicine physician, was identified Saturday, though she was not Bello's intended victim.

She was supposed to be off work on Friday and was covering a friend's shift, according to the New York Post.

State records show Tam graduated from the Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine in 2013, and was licensed to practice medicine in New York in December of 2015.

Bello's intended target, Dr Kamran Ahmed, was not at work on Friday.

Dr Kamran Ahmed (right) was on his day off from the Bronx-Lebanon Hospital on Friday when Bello went looking for him and shot dead Dr Tracy Sin-Yee Tam (left), 32, a family medicine physician, was supposed to be off work that day

Just two hours the incident, Bello sent an email to a New York newspaper blaming the hospital for terminating 'my road to a licensure to practice medicine'. Pictured are first responders at the scene

Bello, who had a rifle hidden under his lab coat, was stalking the hospital corridors looking for Ahmed after singling him out in an email in which he accused him of ruining his career.

Ahmed, a 48-year-old father of three, told the Post he was shocked to be singled out by the killer.

Ahmed was one of two doctors named in an email that was sent by Bello to the New York Daily News just two hours before he stormed the hospital.

Bello was allowed to resign, in lieu of being fired, from the hospital after being accused of sexual harassment in 2015.

He had warned his former colleagues when he was forced out in 2015 that he would return someday to kill them.

Bello then shot five other doctors and one patient before turning the gun on himself.

Bello (pictured) shot himself after trying to set himself on fire at the hospital. He staggered, bleeding, into a hallway where he collapsed and died with the rifle at his side, police said

He died from a gunshot wound after first trying to set himself on fire. Bello staggered, bleeding, into a hallway where he collapsed and died with the rifle at his side, police said.

'I didn't see him since he got fired. He was fine with me, but he had many arguments,' Ahmed said.

He said of his slain colleague Dr Tam: 'Everybody loved her. She loved to teach us. I feel so sorry about her. She was there to cover one of the attending. She was in outpatient usually. Unfortunately she was the victim.'

According to New York State Education Department records, Bello had a limited permit to practice as an international medical graduate to gain experience in order to be licensed. The permit was issued on July 1, 2014, and expired last year on the same day.

Bello 'was very aggressive, talking loudly, threatening people all the time. He was a problem,' said Dr David Lazala, a family medicine doctor who said he trained Bello at Bronx Lebanon.

He said Bello, who worked at night as a doctor, sent him a threatening email after Bello was fired.

In unrelated cases, the doctor had been arrested in 2004 on a charge of sexual abuse, according to a police report, after a 23-year-old woman told police Bello grabbed her, lifted her up and carried her off, saying: 'You're coming with me.'

He was arrested again in 2009 on a charge of unlawful surveillance, after two different women reported he was trying to look up their skirts with a mirror.

Bello graduated with his medical degree from Ross University School of Medicine in Dominica in the Caribbean in 2010.

He started working at the Bronx hospital in 2014.
Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young has hit out at criticism from 'grumpy old men' after she took her daughter on a work whale watching trip.

The nearly $4,000 trip in the Great Australian Bight has seen her labelled 'out of touch' by Australian Conservatives senator Cory Bernardi.

But Senator Hanson-Young turned the tables on Tuesday.

Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young charged taxpayers almost $4,000 to go whale watching with her 10-year-old daughter last year and has hit out at her critics in a television interview

'Let's not forget Senator Bernardi spent $76,000 of taxpayer money last year swanning around the US following Trump like a sick puppy,' she told Sky News, citing his secondment to the United Nations.

'Rather than muckraking how about all South Australian senators get on with protecting our environment, our tourism and our fishing industries.'

She insists her daughter was sick last September and as a single mother she didn't have anyone at home to take care of her.

'I don't regret it,' she said, adding that it was an official work trip within the rules.

'I'm not going to be lectured to by some grumpy old men about how to be a mother or indeed what is best for my family.'

Senator Hanson-Young conceded she is in a privileged position and does have help, but says every parent struggles to get the balance right between work and family.

The $3874.24 cost of the trip included return flights from Adelaide to Ceduna for $1,875 and $1,292.52 for the charter boat, according to Finance Department records

Senator Hanson-Young and the Greens were at the time trying to restart senate committees hearings investigating BP's plans to drill for oil in the Bight

There can't be a family-friendly parliament and no provision for family travel, she said.

'You can't have it both ways.'

It was earlier reported that the 35-year-old travelled to the Great Australian Bight last year under the guise of her efforts to ban oil and gas exploration in the marine reserve.

The $3,874.24 cost of the trip included return flights from Adelaide to Ceduna for $1,875 and $1,292.52 for the charter boat, according to Finance Department records.

She also spent $317.52 on a hire car and charged $120 to the government's Comcar chauffeur service during the overnight trip.

Another $268 in travelling allowance was charged to get around the small town of Coorabie, 945 kilometres west of Adelaide.

A helicopter landing site was being constructed in the town to service a $1 billion BP oil rig constructed in the Bight, which Senator Hanson-Young opposes.

Despite Senator Hanson-Young saying that she spent her days meeting with constituents, business owners, local councils but her Facebook page said otherwise as it was filled with travel snaps.

The 35-year-old travelled to the Great Australian Bight last September under the guise of her efforts to ban oil and gas exploration in the marine reserve
A plastic surgeon says taking nude selfies could save your life.

Dr Ian McDougall says taking the photos could lead to early skin cancer diagnosis via comparisons of previous images.

The Gold Coast-based doctor is encouraging people to take snapshots every six months which could identify problems more effectively than doctors.

'With the technology we have now, if everyone had photographs of their body and reviewed it every six months you would pick these things up far earlier than doctors would,' he told the Gold Coast Bulletin.

A plastic surgeon says taking nude selfies could save your life. Dr Ian McDougall says taking the photos could lead to early skin cancer diagnosis via comparisons of previous images

Dr McDougall says the measures have saved the lives of his patients in the past because often doctors can miss lesions that can appear in photographs.

'What I'm trying to advise everyone is to get photographs of their body because it's evidence of change,' he said.

Cancer Council Queensland supports Dr McDougall's idea and says they can go a long way to self diagnosing.

Taking photos of your skin or moles regularly is a great way for individuals to check for variances over time and take action if they notice any changes,' CEO Chris McMillan told the Gold Coast Bulletin.

If you are worried about moles or lesions you can visit the Melanoma Institute or Cancer Council for support.
Kenneth Noye, 70, is serving a life sentence for the 1996 road-rage killing of 21-year-old Stephen Cameron on the M25 in Kent

One of Britain's most notorious murderers could be back on the streets within months after the Parole Board recommended he is moved to an open prison.

Kenneth Noye, 70, is serving a life sentence for the 1996 road-rage killing of 21-year-old Stephen Cameron on the M25 in Kent.

The career criminal - once cleared of slaying a policeman after claiming self-defence  was jailed for a minimum of 16 years in 2000 after he stabbed the young electrician in a row over his girlfriend's driving.

But Noye could now be transferred from closed HMP Wayland in Norfolk to open conditions  and even allowed out on day release.

Last night, Stephen's family condemned the decision to allow the killer one step closer to freedom. His father Ken Cameron said: 'I don't believe for a minute he has changed his ways.

'He'll always be a dangerous man. Noye should never be allowed out of prison. People will say anything when they are up for parole.'

The Parole Board confirmed it has 'recommended' that Noye is suitable for a move to open conditions. The decision, which will be made within 28 days, now lies on the desk of Justice Secretary David Lidington.

A spokesman said: 'We can confirm that a three-member panel of the Parole Board has not directed the release of Kenneth Noye. However, they have recommended that he be transferred to open conditions.

'This is a recommendation only and the Ministry of Justice will now consider the advice and make the final decision.'

The cold-blooded murder of Stephen in May 1996 shocked the nation and sparked an international manhunt.

Danielle Cable, who was just 17, watched in horror as Noye pulled out a knife and fatally stabbed her boyfriend Stephen when they stopped at traffic lights.

Noye, a career criminal once jailed for conspiring to handle gold from the 1983 26million Brink's Mat heist at Heathrow Airport, was prime suspect for the frenzied attack.

Danielle Cable, who was just 17, watched in horror as Noye pulled out a knife and fatally stabbed her boyfriend Stephen when they stopped at traffic lights

Police discovered he had fled the country in a helicopter, but he was tracked down in Spain and Miss Cable identified him as he sat in a restaurant.

She has since changed her identity amid fears that Noye has put a 1million bounty on her head.

The Parole Board's decision comes after Noye won a High Court challenge against a decision refusing him a move to open prison conditions.

But that move was blocked by then Justice Secretary Michael Gove amid fears the killer remained a grave danger to the public.

He was concerned that Noye could go on the run again and remained a senior figure in the criminal underworld who could attempt to 'settle scores'.

In February, Noye argued Mr Gove's decision was 'unlawful and irrational'. A judge at the High Court in London ruled in the career criminal's favour.

Mr Justice Lavender said the decision to halt the transfer had been made on an 'inappropriate factual basis' over his attitude to violence.

In 1985 Noye stabbed police officer John Fordham 10 times. A jury found him not guilty of murder or manslaughter on the ground of self-defence.

A Ministry of Justice spokesman said: 'The independent Parole Board has made its recommendation. We will carefully consider this and make a decision in due course.'
A man who raped three children including his own daughter when she was a toddler, has succeeded in having his jail term reduced on appeal.

The man, who cannot be named as to protect the identity of his victims, argued that his crimes should not be deemed 'in the worst category' of sexual offences.

In 2014 the father sexually abused his two-year-old daughter, raped a 13-year-old girl and in another attack abused his partner's son, who was between seven and nine.

But despite the horrific nature of his crimes, the Western Australia Supreme Court of Appeal agreed to cut his jail sentence by three years, the West Australian reports.

A man who raped three children including his own daughter when she was just a toddler has succeeded in having his jail term reduced on appeal by the WA Supreme Court of Appeal

Sexually abusing his young daughter both physically and orally, the man - given the name RGT by the court - attacked her 12 times between April and October in 2014.

Adding to the perverse nature of his crimes, he even used his mobile phone to record some of the attacks.

The WA Supreme Court of Appeal heard that the young girl was not injured in the attacks and there was no evidence that she remembered them.

RGT also claimed he did not remember the attacks, telling the court he was heavily using methamphetamine at the time.

In another attack, RGT abused the son of his de facto partner while he was staying at his home.

When the boy's mother left the house, he ignored the child's pleas and committed two sexual acts on him.

Despite the horrific nature of his crimes, which included him filming himself abusing his two-year-old daughter, the court agreed to cut his jail sentence by three years. He will now be up for parole in late 2027

He continued his spate of attacks in November 2014, raping a teenage girl who was the daughter of a family friend.

The court heard he told the girl 'this might hurt', before he forced her to perform sex acts on him.

With the three years slashed from his sentence, the attacker will be available to be set free from prison in 2027.
Prosecutors want a New York judge to make former pharmaceuticals company CEO Martin Shkreli stop talking.

They filed a motion in US District Court on Monday, asking that Shkreli and attorneys for all parties refrain from making statements outside court.

Shkreli is on trial for charges of federal securities fraud.

He's most notorious for raising the price of a life-saving drug by 5,000 percent while at another company and has been nicknamed Pharma Bro.

Federal prosecutors say Shkreli has interacted with the media since the jury for his trial was picked, in the courthouse, outside and on digital media.

They say his statements risk tainting the jury.

'Pharma Bro' Martin Shkreli has become known not only for his astronomical price hike of a life-saving drug, but his perma-smirk (above with lawyer Benjamin Brafman)

'Shkreli has been an active and deeply divisive media presence for years,' federal prosecutors wrote in their motion to the court.

'Shkreli's numerous controversial public statements were a concern of the parties even before jury selection. Indeed, Shkreli's media persona was cited as a key reason why co-defendant Evan Greebel requested severance of his trial from that of Shkreli.'

Greebel is the former corporate attorney for Shkreli's company who is accused of helping the 'Pharma Bro' loot a pharmaceuticals firm out of millions of dollars in order to pay off investors he was accused of defrauding at a hedge fund he operated, according to CNBC.

Both men have pleaded not guilty.

Even with his federal securities fraud trial set to begin, Shkreli has blatantly defied his attorneys' advice to lay low and keep quiet. He is seen on the left alongside his lawyer, Benjamin Brafman

Despite being told to lay low before his trial, Shkreli has seemed to revel in the attention, though it's mostly negative

Greebel's trial will take place at an unspecified date after Shkreli's trial concludes.

'In connection with his severance motion, counsel for Greebel argued at length that Shkreli was likely to disrupt any trial by, inter alia, 'attacking prosecutors [and] public figures' and 'trying to turn this trial into a circus as part of a deliberate strategy to obtain jury nullification rather than have the jury focus on and carefully consider the evidence,' government lawyers claim.

Defense attorney Benjamin Brafman objects to a gag order and has accused reporters of baiting his client.

'As an officer of the court whose probably tried 25 cases to verdict in this building, that there will be no disruption of these proceedings by Mr. Shkreli,' Brafman said.

'He's not going to do anything to undermine the integrity of these proceedings. And I promise you, this case, if Mr. Shkreli goes to trial alone, will have substantially less disruptions and less difficulties than if we have a joint trial.'

Brafman did not run from his client's troubled public image, describing him as a misunderstood genius, as he began his defense in the former drug company executive's securities fraud trial on Wednesday.

'You may not like Martin Shkreli,' Benjamin Brafman said in his opening argument in Brooklyn federal court on Wednesday, 'and you may have reasons to hate Martin Shkreli, but that is not a basis on which to convict.'

Shkreli's reputation stems largely from his decision to raise the price of anti-parisitic drug Daraprim to $750 a pill, from $13.50 when he was chief executive of Turing Pharmaceuticals in 2015.

The former pharmaceutical CEO, who became a pariah after raising the cost of a life-saving drug 5,000 per cent, has been preening for cameras and trolling on social media, potentially complicating his defense

That move sparked outrage among patients and US lawmakers.

But Brafman reminded jurors that Shkreli is 'not on trial for all of the other stuff that made him a household name.'

Instead, Shkreli, 34, is facing charges over to his tenure as an executive at drug company Retrophin Inc and hedge fund MSMB Capital Management between 2009 and 2012.

Before Brafman's opening, Assistant U.S. Attorney Karthik Srinivasan told jurors that Shkreli lied about MSMB's finances to lure investors, concealed devastating losses and repaid them with cash and stock stolen from Retrophin, which he founded in 2011.

'They got their money back only because the defendant stole from a public company, and it eventually turned out to be successful,' Srinivasan said.

Shkreli was ousted as Retrophin's CEO in 2014.

Brafman, in his opening statement, conceded that Shkreli's statements to investors were not always '100 percent accurate.'

But he said Shkreli's wealthy investors trusted Shkreli despite knowing about his erratic personality, and were rewarded in the end, reaping millions of dollars in returns.

'Martin Shkreli didn't lie to them,' Brafman said. 'They were betting on Martin Shkreli's genius.'

Brafman described Shkreli as a socially awkward 'nerd' exploited by people around him, a sharp contrast with the villainous 'pharma bro' persona depicted throughout media.
An extremely rare white kangaroo has been captured on camera by a couple of stunned farmers.

The kangaroo was spotted for the first time months ago by Trevor and Jeanette de Landgrafft at their farm in Western Australia but it wasn't until recently they were able to capture the unique roo on camera.

'This roo jumps out, and then another, a mother and a youngster, and it was white!' Mrs de Landgrafft told Brisbane Times.

A pair of farmers spotted the unique white kangaroo at their Western Australian farm

'We couldn't believe it.' After missing the opportunity to capture the white roo on camera the first time, Mrs de Landgrafft kept her phone on camera mode when she was in the area until she was finally able to capture proof of the white kangaroo.

Trevor and Jeanette de Landgrafft have lived on farms for 60 years but the white roo is a first

The couple have lived on regional Western Australia farms for more than six decades and this was the first time they had spotted a white roo in the wild.

White, or albino, kangaroos happen once every 50,000 to 100,000 animals, Mark Eldridge told ABC News, making them a rare sight to see.
A former bodyguard to Lady Gaga and Beyonce is facing fines for possessing 2kg of explosives and detonators, after he was caught up in a drug raid in 2016.

Security consultant Wayne Schmarr, 47, appeared in Kalgoorlie Magistrate's Court on Monday and pleaded guilty to unlicensed possession of dangerous goods, reported The West Australian.

The court heard police arrived at a property in Lamington with a drug-related search warrant for another man on June 1, 2016, as Schmarr was moving his belongings into the same house.

Wayne Schmarr (pictured), a former bodyguard to Lady Gaga and Beyonce, is facing fines for possessing 2kg of explosives and detonators

Schmarr told the court he found the plastic rubbish bags of explosives and detonators less than an hour before police came to his house with a warrant for his housemate.

Schmarr's lawyer Brendon Slattery told the court his client moved the items into the shed because he didn't know who they belonged to, and they looked like rubbish that was being collected.

Senior Constable Thomas Banyard told the court Schmarr told police about the items in the shed when asked if he had anything to declare before the search began.

However, police said they could not confirm if Schmarr had only been at the house for an hour beforehand, or if the shed was locked when they arrived at the property.

Schmarr,a security consultant, has previously worked as a bodyguard for celebrities including Beyonce (left) and Lady Gaga (right)

Pictured is Gold Bar Nightclub in Kalgoorlie where Schmarr previously worked as a bouncer. He lost his security license after an altercation with a drunk patron at the nightspot in

The items found in the bags included three non-electric detonators, each attached to 1m-long safety fuses, three 70cm-long explosives 'sausages' which were 25mm in diameter, two glass containers of ammonium nitrate and a 21-metre long reactive ground coil charge.

Magistrate Adam Hills-Wright told the court he was surprised at Schmarr's guilty plea plea because he didn't seem to agree to owning the explosives.

Mr Slattery requested that Mr Hills-Wright give his client a spent conviction because he had recently been offered a job that would include anti-terrorism work, and he would need his security licence back.

The items found included three non-electric detonators, three 70cm-long explosives 'sausages' which were 25mm in diameter, two glass containers of ammonium nitrate and a 21-metre long reactive ground coil charge (stock image)

In Kalgoorlie Magistrate's Court (pictured) on Monday, Magistrate Adam Hills-Wright said a fine for Schmarr's actions was appropriate and adjourned his case to July 7

Schmarr lost his license after a confrontation with an intoxicated patron at Kalgoorlie's Gold Bar Nightclub.

The ABC reported that Schmarr had also previously served with the Australian Defence Force in Bosnia and Somalia.

Mr Hills-Wright said a fine for Schmarr's actions was appropriate and adjourned his case to July 7.
A food company was forced to recall its buffalo-style chicken salad after Whole Foods workers discovered it was actually tuna salad.



Willow Tree Poultry Farm shipped about 440 pounds of the tuna salad on June 27 to Whole Foods Markets in Connecticut, New Jersey and New York, according to the US Department of Agriculture.

However, the chicken salad was actually tuna salad, something not discovered until Whole Foods employees unpacked the product.

Willow Tree Poultry Farm recalled it's 'buffalo-style' chicken, above, from Whole Foods in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut after it was discovered it was really tuna

Tuna is a known allergen and could have caused problems for anyone allergic to it, but so far the company says no illnesses have been reported.

'It was just a human error and were going to make sure this doesnt happen again,' Willow Tree president Walter Cekala told The New York Post on Monday. 'We take food safety very seriously. Someone on our team is over there right now trying to find out how this happened  what link in the chain broke.'

The products came in 12.5 oz. individual plastic containers labeled 'buffalo style chicken salad' with the number P-8827 inside the USDA mark of inspection.

The products can be thrown away or returned to the place of purchase.

Willow Tree Poultry Farm is located in Attleboro, Massachusetts and mostly produces poultry products such as chicken and turkey pies and various deli salads.
A paediatrician who left Australia in 2015 to join ISIS has resurfaced in a new propaganda video, urging Muslims in the West to join the terror group.

Perth-born Tareq Kamleh  dubbed 'Dr Jihad'  is seen for the first time in more than two years in an official six-minute video released on Tuesday.

Now going by Abu Yousef al-Australi, he appears pale, with dark circles under his eyes and sporting a long, straggly beard.

In the clip, he is seen treating a child in a hospital before speaking to the camera while sat in a narrow tunnel under the Syrian city of Raqqa, urging Muslims in the West to travel to join the so-called caliphate.

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Perth-born Tareq Kamleh  dubbed 'Dr Jihad'  is seen for the first time in more than two years in an official six-minute video released on Tuesday

Before his spiel, Kamleh  dressed in scrubs - is seen appearing to treat a child in a hospital, who he says has been injured in a blast.

'Is this one of the terrorists that America's wanting to hit?' he says, pointing to the little girl, who he later reveals has died.

'We are dealing with the countless numbers of burnt children that are coming in now from the continuous bombings that America is dropping on us.'

He adds: 'Is this really a war on terrorism?

'Is there no shame in those Muslims still in the West?'

Then, clad in combat gear and brandishing a rifle, Kamleh sits in a narrow tunnel and chides Muslims who haven't made 'hijrah' to join ISIS.

Now going by Abu Yousef al-Australi, he appears pale, with dark circles under his eyes and sporting a long, straggly beard

Before his spiel, Kamleh  dressed in scrubs - is seen appearing to treat a child in a hospital, who he says has been injured in a blast

'It really surprises me how the Muslim nation is acting at the moment and how stagnant you have all become,' he says.

'We are under continuous bombing here and we are fighting hard to try and hold the lands of Islam.

'What more will it take for it to be a justified cause for you to come here and fight?

'And if you can't come here, jihad itself isn't only in the lands of Syria or only in the lands of Iraq.'

He adds: 'You are living in the countries that are sending us rockets. You are living in the countries that are killing Muslims in here and you are still paying taxes to them.

'You have no honour. You have no self-respect. You have no love for fellow Muslims.'

While sat in a narrow tunnel under the Syrian city of Raqqa, urging Muslims in the West to travel to join the so-called caliphate

Kamleh then says he has a message for the 'kuffar' (non-believers) before he begins taunting US President Donald Trump.

'Now, a message to the Kuffar, to old Trump,' he says.

'We were so happy because for a long time we have been waiting for your soldiers to meet us on the ground here.

'And your effeminate predecessor Obama danced around this subject for too long.

'He refused to send us your soldiers and now we know they are on the lands wanting to enter our lands.

'We are really eagerly awaiting your attempt to enter our cities.'

Chillingly, he concludes: 'We love death more than you love life.'

Kamleh's former colleagues, at the Women's and Children's Hospital in Adelaide and Mickey Base Hospital in Queensland, accused him of being lazy and leading a lavish playboy lifestyle while in Australia.

His appearance in the propaganda video comes as Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, Trump and other world leaders head to Germany for the G20 summit.

The summit will kick off on Friday with a leader-level discussion behind closed doors on terrorism, at which Mr Turnbull will call for cyberspace to be treated just as seriously as the battlefield in countering ISIS.
For one community, the constant ringing of gunshots has prompted action and the support of an international superstar.

On Monday, elected leaders and local police in Miami-Dade, Florida begged the public to leave their guns at home on July 4, using rapper Pitbull as the face of their campaign.

'Please do not fire into the air,' said Miami-Dade County Commissioner Audrey Edmonson.

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On Monday, elected leaders and local police in Miami-Dade, Florida begged the public to leave their guns at home on July 4, using rapper Pitbull as the face of their campaign

'Please do not fire into the air,' said Miami-Dade County Commissioner Audrey Edmonson.

'When a bullet goes up, it always has to come down.'

At Jefferson Reaves Sr Park, Edmonson was flanked by summer campers, county employees, police, local and state representatives as she talked about hindering gun violence over the holiday weekend.

'One bullet kills the party' was the theme of the gathering and while Pitbull wasn't physically in attendance at the function, his face was plastered onto a poster with the slogan leaned against the speaker's podium.

While Pitbull (pictured) wasn't physically in attendance at the function, his face was plastered onto a poster leaned against the speaker's podium

At Jefferson Reaves Sr Park, Edmonson was flanked by summer campers, county employees, police, local and state representatives as she talked about hindering gun violence over the holiday weekend

'One bullet kills the party' was the theme of the gathering where officials came together to plead with the public

While the focus was primarily on celebratory gunfire, 46 shooting deaths so far this year motivated the discussion as well.

'We just need to put the guns down, period,' said Miami-Dade Police Director Juan Perez.

'We just need to put the guns down, period. Don't use them on July 4 to shoot up in the air and don't use them on July 5, either,' said Miami-Dade Police Director Juan Perez.

'Don't use them on July 4 to shoot up in the air and don't use them on July 5, either.'

'One bullet kills the party' was started by Miami Mayor Tomas Regalado following a fatal shooting at a 2010 Overton party for someone who had just been released from jail.

The Mayor later convinced Pitbull to assist fight to stop gun violence.

However, a shooting on New Year's Eve in 2010 and an additional one last January at the Martin Luther King Jr. Parade, pushed for the call for change.

Six-year-old Andrea Fregonese was vacationing in Miami with his Italian family and having dinner on an outdoor patio at a restaurant called Mai Tardi on New Year's Eve, when he began complaining of chest pain.

While the focus was primarily on celebratory gunfire, 46 shooting deaths so far this year motivated the discussion as well

'One bullet kills the party' was started by Miami Mayor Tomas Regalado following a fatal shooting at a 2010 Overton party for someone who had just been released from jail

At the hospital, doctors discovered that Andrea had been shot in the stomach by what they believed was by a gun that was fired in the air potentially over a mile or more away. He recovered.

This year, chaotic gunfire began at Brownsville Park during the Martin Luther King Jr Parade. Eight were shot while others were injured during a stampede to get out of the park. Everyone lived and the shooter was arrested.

'Don't pick up the guns y'all,' said state House Rep. Cynthia Stafford D-Miami.

'Picking up a gun is a choice. Enjoy your family. Enjoy your friends. Enjoy the food. Bullets don't have eyes.'
Following the pathway forged by millions of Brits before her, Mia Ayliffe-Chung went off to pick fruit on a farm so she could extend her backpacking holiday in Australia.

But what should have been the trip of a lifetime ended in disaster for the glamorous 21-year-old, who was slain in a frenzied knife attack while at a hostel in August 2016.

Ms Ayliffe-Chung was allegedly stabbed to death by Smail Ayad, a French tourist who she shared a dorm with at Home Hill, north Queensland, in the days before she died.

And now, almost a year on from her daughter's death, Rosie Ayliffe has slammed the current requirement for backpackers to do farm work - saying it's responsible for the 'dark side' of tourist life in Australia, the ABC reports.

Mia Ayliffe-Chung (pictured), was slain in a frenzied knife attack at a backpacking hostel in Home Hill, north Queensland, in August 2016. The 21-year-old was picking fruit on a farm so she could extend her visa

Now, close to a year on from her daughter's death, Rosie Ayliffe (pictured) has slammed the need for backpackers to do farm work - saying it's responsible for the 'dark side' of tourist life in Australia

Ms Ayliffe-Chung, who was working in cane fields in an effort to extend her visa, was allegedly stabbed at least 20 times in the face, neck and chest by Ayad.

Fellow British backpacker Thomas Jackson, 30, was also allegedly attacked by the 29-year-old as he rushed to her rescue. He passed away five days after the attack.

In the days after British police woke her in the middle of the night to deliver the horrific news, a heartbroken Ms Ayliffe flew out to Australia to bury her daughter.

The single mother said the devastation of losing her daughter on the trip of a lifetime led her to push for change to the 417 visa protocol.

'I now understand that there's a dark side to the backpacker culture - that people can find themselves at risk just like my daughter did,' Ms Ayliffe said.

'I want to see regulation of the 88 days. I want a central body which distributes backpackers among farms that are certified.'

Smail Ayad (pictured), a French tourist who she shared a dorm with Mia Ayliffe-Chung, stabbed her and fellow British tourist Thomas Jackson to death in August 2016

'I now understand that there's a dark side to the backpacker culture - that people can find themselves at risk just like my daughter did,' Ms Ayliffe said in the wake of her daughter's death

Fellow British backpacker Thomas Jackson (left), 30, rushed to rescue Mia Ayliffe-Chung and was also allegedly attacked by Ayad. He passed away five days after the attack

During her trip for her daughter's funeral, Ms Ayliffe said many backpackers came up to and told her of their experiences working on farms.

She claims they told horror stories full of exploitation and abuse. It was these stories and her daughter's death which have led her to launch the campaign for change.

In addition to writing to Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, Ms Ayliffe has also used social media to warn backpackers travelling to Australia.

'If you're travelling on your own, stay in groups or with male companions... never get into a vehicle with a stranger in any country in the world,' Ms Ayliffe posted to social media earlier this year.

'While it's good to be open and trusting, and it brings its own rewards, you have to travel smart and not take unnecessary risks.

'I want to see regulation of the 88 days. I want a central body which distributes backpackers among farms that are certified,' Ms Ayliffe said

Despite the horrors that have faced her, Ms Ayliffe returned to Australia to learn more about the farm work scheme in recent months - even putting herself through the pain of visiting the place where Mia died

'This is not saying this was the girl's fault in any way, but what we as a campaign are looking at is a system  88 days agricultural labor  which can be changed.'

Despite the horrors that have faced her, Ms Ayliffe returned to Australia to learn more about the farm work scheme in recent months.

Even putting herself through the pain of visiting the place where Mia died, the father of murdered hero Thomas Jackson says Ms Ayliffe's brave work may save more lives.

'If she's successful there'll be less people going through what we've gone through and Rosie herself has gone through,' Les Jackson said.
A man who starved a bulldog and left her with green drinking water, has been charged with five animal cruelty charges and fined almost $5,000.

Matthew Rickett, 40, from St Mary's in western Sydney failed to appear in Campbelltown Local Court on 23 June and was convicted in his absence over charges relating to his white bulldog Bella.

The court heard Rickett failed to provide sufficient food and veterinary treatment in relation to a hookworm infestation, fleas and associated skin infections, a bilateral ear infection and poor body condition.

A man who starved a bulldog and left her with green drinking water, has been charged with five animal cruelty charges and fined almost $5,000. Pictured is Bella at a Sydney property

After complaints about a dog in poor condition, RSPCA officers inspected a property in Claymore on November 1, 2016.

They found Bella in an emaciated state with all her ribs, hips and spine very visible.

The only drinking water she had was green, and she was seized for veterinary assessment and treatment.

Bella only weighed 12.8kg when she came into RSPCA care.

Matthew Rickett, 40, from St Mary's in western Sydney failed to appear in Campbelltown Local Court on 23 June and was convicted in his absence over charges relating to his white bulldog Bella (pictured)

After four weeks of care and being fed proper food, she weighed 21.5kg, a 67.9 per cent weight gain, and has since gone on to find a new home with a loving family.

When interviewed, Rickett said he left Bella with his mother in late June and had not visited her for three to four weeks.

He said the last time he saw Bella she was 'a bit slim' and admitted he was the person responsible for providing her with any veterinary treatment she required.

Rickett was fined $900 for each offence, a total of $4,500 and ordered to pay costs of $302.70.

Rickett's mother, who was caring for Bella when she was found, has been scheduled to appear in court on August 25.

The court heard Rickett failed to provide sufficient food and proper veterinary treatment in relation to a hookworm infestation, fleas and associated skin infections, a bilateral ear infection and poor body condition (pictured)
A barista at a Townsville coffee shop had an peculiar experience on Tuesday when a nosy echidna entered their premises.

The spiky critter shuffled into Stripes Coffee on Echlin St around 7am.

Shop owner Danny Perkins had just made a coffee for one of his friends when he turned around and saw it sitting at the front door, he told the Townsville Bulletin.

A barista at a Townsville coffee shop had an peculiar experience on Tuesday when a nosy echidna entered their premises

Mr Perkins said the monotreme slumped itself up against a wall before trying to make a little burrow.

'I tried to usher him out but it looked like he didn't wanted to go back onto the street.'

He and his mate finished their brews when they next attempted to make the Echidna leave.

'I got the broom and sort of brushed him out,' he said.

Despite the intrusion, Mr Perkins said the little creature is free to visit anytime and will perhaps serve him up a short black.

'I'd just keep it simple just to give him a little bit of pep and let him know he's always welcome.'
Allison Cope, 24, was reported missing on Monday after taking a break from her job at an airport Starbucks in North Carolina

A North Carolina woman who mysteriously went missing after taking a break from her job at an airport Starbucks was found alive in Virginia early Sunday morning.

Police in Virginia Beach notified their counterparts at Raleigh-Durham International Airport that they found Allison Cope, 24, alive in a parking garage near the oceanfront, according to WTVD-TV.

Cope appeared to be in good condition when she was found. She was taken to Sentara Virginia Beach Hospital by an officer.

No further information about her status was provided.

Cope's roommate and good friend, Sarah Kosinski, released a statement saying she was thankful Cope was found alive.

'She is the light of our lives and we are thankful to have her back,' Kosinski said.

'We appreciate all the help and support from the community and we ask for privacy.'

The news of Cope's discovery brings to an end the week-long saga that began last Monday.

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Police in Virginia Beach notified their counterparts at Raleigh-Durham International Airport that they found Cope alive in a parking garage near the oceanfront (above) early Sunday

Cope was reported missing on Monday at 7pm after she clocked out for a break from her job in Terminal 2 of the Raleigh-Durham International Airport at 3pm.

Surveillance footage shows Cope going down an escalator and leaving Terminal 2 with just keys in her hand, presumably to run to her car for a minute, according to friends.

Her silver Ford Focus was not in the airport parking lot and her security badge was used to exit the parking lot around 3.10pm.

Cope appeared to be in good condition when she was found. She was taken to Sentara Virginia Beach Hospital (above) by an officer

Before Sunday, Cope was last seen in video surveillance entering a supermarket at a Shell gas station in Wake Forest, North Carolina, which is 25 miles away from Raleigh-Durham International Airport

Raleigh police released the surveillance footage of Cope entering the gas station (above) at around 4.15pm on Monday, the day she went missing

Cope and her silver Ford Focus. The car was not in the airport parking lot and her security badge was used to exit the parking lot around 3.10pm

An hour later, surveillance footage showed her entering a gas station supermarket in Wake Forest, which is about 25 miles from the airport, according to police.

Cope charged $23.52 at the gas station.

'Airport police have thoroughly reviewed the video and there is no evidence that she is under any distress,' Raleigh-Durham Airport Authority Police Department said in a press release.

Authorities who investigated Cope's disappearance did not come across any evidence of a crime,ABC News reported.

Cope's roommate and good friend, Sarah Kosinski, released a statement saying she was thankful Cope was found alive. 'She is the light of our lives and we are thankful to have her back,' Kosinski said

Cope uncharacteristically left her phone and bag at the airport, her car keys and debit card were missing from her bag.

Kosinski told Spectrum News last week that she believes that she went on break to get her car registration as they had been texting about the insurance policy.

Kosinski said that for her friend to leave without letting her colleagues know was 'not really like her'.

'She has her phone glued to her 24/7 so I don't think she'd drive off into the universe with no phone,' Kosinski said.

'She's like sunshine. Everybody sees her, she's happy, she smiles, she lights up a room. She's the most positive person I've ever met,' Kosinski added.

'She doesn't think bad of people at all, she's really, like everybody is good, she always said she doesn't hate anybody. She's forgiving, to a fault, she's forgiving,' Kosinski told WTVD.

Cope has been working at the Starbucks chain for four years.
A lawyer banned from more than 200 inner-city Sydney licensed venues after a drunken fracas in a Thai restaurant descended into alcoholism when his wife learnt he was gay.

Leon Monastirski's wife left home after learning of his changed sexual interests and took their two children to Melbourne, barrister Bruce Levet told Downing Centre District Court on Tuesday.

'In the last three to four years he has become, he would admit, an alcoholic,' Mr Levet said. 'He ingests large amounts of alcohol at every available opportunity.'

Lawyer Leon Monastirski was barred from 225 licensed venues in Sydney after a drunken fracas in an inner-city Thai restaurant

Lawyer Leon Monastirski unsuccessfully appealed against his convictions for assaulting police and resisting arrest

Leon Monastirski was banned from 225 late night venues including The Colombian on Oxford Street, Darlinghurst

Monastirski was drunk when arrested at the Pad Thai restaurant on Oxford Street in inner-city Darlinghurst about 10.40pm on February 24 last year.

He had been stumbling between tables, annoying waiters and diners, even putting headphones on some as they tried to eat. Police arrived to find him swaying, slurring his words and smelling strongly of alcohol.

Monastirski told the officers who confronted him 'get the f*** out of my face', 'just f*** off, I'm not going anywhere' and 'you're not real cops, you can go f*** yourselves'.

As he was handcuffed, Monastirski told the officers: 'You're not real cops. I'm going to have you discharged from your duties as police. I'm a lawyer.'

During a struggle, Monastirski dug his fingernails into the hand of one of the police and swung his left elbow towards the face of another. No contact was made.

Six months later Monastirski was convicted of two counts assaulting police, resisting arrest, using offensive language and continued intoxicated behaviour after being told to move-on.

Lawyer Leon Monastirski (right) pictured with his barrister Bruce Levet (left) outside Downing Centre District Court on Monday

Sydney lawyer Leon Monastirski has appealed against his convictions for assaulting police and resisting arrest

Leon Monastirski was refused entry to the Midnight Shift bar (pictured) in Oxford Street, Darlinghurst, before being arrested at a nearby Thai restaurant

Monastirski was fined $700 and placed on an 18-month good behaviour bond but police then successfully sought to ban him from all 'high-risk' venues in the city for 12 months.

He was excluded from 225 venues which sell alcohol after midnight in the CBD, Surry Hills, The Rocks, Woolloomooloo and Kings Cross.

Monastirski had that ban reduced to three months after he challenged the order in the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal, but police are now appealing against that decision.

Mr Levet said his client had bee the first person subjected to such a long-term order. 'He is unlucky, as it were, that he is a guinea pig,' he said.

On Tuesday Monastirski lost an appeal against his original convictions for assaulting police and resisting arrest.

Monastirski successfully appealed against the severity of his sentence for using offensive language and ignoring a move-on direction by police.

Mr Levet had told Judge Chris Hoy his client was 'hopelessly drunk' when he entered Pad Thai and he had no intention to assault police.

Lawyer Leon Monastirski outside Downing Centre Local Court where he is appealing against his convictions for assaulting police and resisting arrrest

Solicitor Leon Monastirski told police who arrested him 'I'm going to have you discharged from your duties'

The Pad Thai restaurant in Oxford Street, Darlinghurst, where Leon Monastirski was arrested during a drunken fracas last year

'If I can use the vernacular, Your Honour, my client was as p***ed as a parrot,' Mr Levet said. 'He was just too drunk to even know what was happening.'

Monastirski's troubles with alcohol began following a marital dispute.

'In 2004-2005 he underwent a sexual identity crisis and decided that he was possibly either homosexual or bisexual,' Mr Levet said.

His wife was 'not unnaturally rather upset with him' and left with their children.

'The last half dozen years, as a result of that, he has been in what would appear to be a downward spiral,' Mr Levet said.

Police say Leon Monastirski told them 'Your'e not real cops, you can go f*** yourselves' when they confronted him

Leon Monastirski (right) with his barrister Bruce Levet (left) outside Downing Centre District Court

The Colombian Hotel in Oxford Street, Darlinghurst, is one of the 225 venues Leon Monastirski was barred from entering

Monastirski had lost all work since his ban had been publicised and was living off Centrelink benefits which left him with $31.35 a week after paying for a one-bedroom flat in Surry Hills.

Judge Hoy dismissed Monastirski's appeals, fined him $350 and placed him on three 12-month good behaviour bonds to be served concurrently.

'The appellant behaved abysmally on this night,' Judge Hoy said.

'Being drunk or intoxicated is no excuse. It is trite to say Mr Monastirski should have known better. That said, he obviously didn't.'

'I accept he has been suffering the travails of some personal issues, together with the disease of alcoholism. I accept that he has been on somewhat of a downward spiral both professionally and personally.'
YouTube star Stevie Ryan - the ex-girlfriend of Drake Bell - hanged herself, authorities say.

The 33-year-old, known as her YouTube name Little Loca, took her own life on July 1. Los Angeles County Coroner's Office confirmed she died by hanging.

Bell reacted to the death of his ex-girlfriend as he took to his Twitter to post an old photo of he with Ryan on the red carpet of the 2006 MTV Movie Awards along with a heartfelt caption.

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Drake Bell - pictured at the Spider-Man: Homecoming premiere in LA last week (right) has reacted to the death of his ex-girlfriend Stevie Ryan (left) after she hanged herself

He wrote: 'No no no!!!! I can NOT BELIEVE THIS IS HAPPENING!!!! Please wake me from this nightmare @StevieRyan I loved you and will forever miss you!' The two dated from 2005 to 2006.

This comes after a post shared on the LA coroner's office website confirmed that the Victorville-born star, who was famed for her viral videos, died on Saturday.

Shortly before her death, she posted a note on Twitter about the death of her grandfather as she penned: 'The man of my dreams will now only be in my dreams.'

Stevie became known for her parodies of celebrities including Justin Bieber and Lady Gaga, as she won huge praise having been scooped up by Hollywood bosses.

'I loved you and will forever miss you!' The 31-year-old star took to Twitter to post an old photo of he with Ryan on the red carpet of the 2006 MTV Movie Awards along with a heartfelt caption

Back in the day: Bell and Ryan at a Neutrogena event in Los Angeles back in April 2006

In a previous interview discussing the responses she receives for her video, she said: 'No matter who you are... You can be the most talented person in the world and you put anything on the Internet and all you're going to get is hateful responses.

'I didn't know that at the time. I don't think anyone knew that yet. I was like, 'Oh hell no they didn't! These b***hes do not know what they just asked for!'

'So then I created Little Loca thinking, 'I'm going to hand YouTube its ass right now.' I created Little Loca and thought I'd just do it and freak people out.'

Devastating: As news of her passing surfaced, fans swiftly swarmed the microblogging site to pay tribute to the much-loved star

Late star: A LA coroner's office confirmed that the Victorville-born star, who was famed for her viral videos, died on Saturday

Her final post to her 116,000 Twitter followers was a tribute to her grandfather who posed with a crass hand gesture as she plastered letters over the top of the shot.

She penned: 'I'm definitely his granddaughter. Rest in Persebu my heart'.

As news of her passing surfaced, fans swiftly swarmed the microblogging site to pay tribute to the much-loved star.

Users penned: 'Rest in peace @StevieRyan love youu :((( i cannot believe this. i've always been a fan and looked up to ya ever since myspace :(((...

Beloved: She penned: 'I'm definitely his granddaughter. Rest in Persebu my heart'

'She was of the first youtubers i started watching back in the days, i can't believe she's gone RIP @StevieRyan.... Awful. Sometimes people can't beat their demons, at least she's at peace now. She was awesome, nice, & funny. I wish I knew her longer...

'Just learning about the passing of @StevieRyan. She was an incredible talent and person. Rest well.... So sad to hear of another life lost to suicide.. R.I.P to Stevie Ryan... WHAT?!? Oh no. Will miss her terribly on here.'

Jenelle Evans of Teen Mom 2 tweeted a now-deleted message that read: 'I know we pretty much hated each other but I'm sorry you had to go so soon pretty girl. #RIP @StevieRyan,' according to People.

Stevie's fellow YouTube personality Chris Crocker has tweeted: 'Words cannot describe how heartbroken I am.... @StevieRyan you will always be in my heart.'

Aww: Teen Mom couple Tyler and Catelyn Baltierra took to Twitter to pay tribute

Tribute: Stevie's fellow YouTube personality Chris Crocker has tweeted : 'Words cannot describe how heartbroken I am.... @StevieRyan you will always be in my heart'

Memories: 'Stevie Ryan is no longer with us. I love her very deeply and I regret every moment I didn't spend with her,' wrote comedian Benji Aflalo on Twitter, posting three photos of her

Touching: Superstore writer Vanessa Ramos tweeted : 'I am beyond saddened to learn of Stevie Ryan's passing,' adding: 'If you suffer from depression, please get help'

Homage: Podcaster Alison Rosen, formerly of The Adam Carrolla Show, tweeted that she was 'Beyond heartbroken and shaken up by the news of @StevieRyan'

'Stevie Ryan is no longer with us. I love her very deeply and I regret every moment I didn't spend with her,' wrote comedian Benji Aflalo on Twitter, sharing three photos of Stevie, including one that showed him sat beside her.

Superstore writer Vanessa Ramos tweeted: 'I am beyond saddened to learn of Stevie Ryan's passing. If you suffer from depression, please get help.'

Podcaster Alison Rosen, formerly of The Adam Carrolla Show, tweeted that she was 'Beyond heartbroken and shaken up by the news of @StevieRyan.'

According to the website, Stevie died at her Los Angeles home with the cause of death listed as suicide by hanging.

For confidential support call the Samaritans in the UK on 08457 90 90 90, visit a local Samaritans branch or click here for details
The father of the eight-year-old girl killed in the Manchester terror blast has spoken of his family's heartache for the first time.

Saffie Roussos was the youngest of the 22 murdered in the horrific attack during an Ariana Grande concert in May.

Speaking on what would have been the youngster's ninth birthday, her father Andrew has described the 'nightmare' of losing his daughter and said that his family have 'lost everything'.

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Pictured: Saffie Roussos smiles as she dances for her parents' camera, in this previously unseen family photo

Pictured: Saffie's father has released this previously unseen photo of his daughter beaming into the camera

He also released cherished and previously unseen video and pictures of Saffie beaming as she dances and plays up to the camera.

Saffie's mother Lisa Roussos attended the concert with her daughter and was severely injured during the attack at the Manchester Arena.

She was placed in a coma by doctors, but on regaining consciousness she turned to her husband and uttered the heart-breaking words: 'Saffie's gone, isn't she?'

Speaking to the BBC's Victoria Derbyshire programme Mr Roussos described the moment he was told by a police officer that his daughter had died.

He said: 'I couldn't take it in. I just sat there looking at him. It's just your worst nightmare. I didn't know what to say, I didn't know what to think.'

Mr Roussos, from Lancashire, said his family were remaining 'strong for each other' and do a 'little bit of crying and cuddling' to 'get through the day'.

Pictured: Saffie's father Andrew spoke to the BBC's Victoria Derbyshire programme on what would have been his daughter's ninth birthday

Pictured: Saffie smiles as she poses for a photo with her mother Lisa Roussos

Left, Saffie dances for the camera in a previously unseen family photo and right, the youngster in her school uniform

He described his daughter as a 'little joker' and a 'huge character' who loved dancing, music and gymnastics.

Mr Roussos spoke to Derbyshire alongside Saffie's brother Xander and her 26-year-old sister Ashlee Bromwich, who was at the gig with her.

Ms Bromwich, who described being thrown to the ground by the explosion, said of Saffie: 'She was Ariana Grande-obsessed, so to see how happy she was, it was just ... Obviously I had to go with her.'

She added: 'She was so happy, just elated all night.'

Mr Roussos aid he wanted to speak out so as not to let her birthday go by unmarked.

Pictured: Fans are consoled by police officers on the night of the horrific attack on May 22

He said: 'We didn't want to just let her birthday pass. Saffie loved the limelight and I just wanted to celebrate Saffie's birthday through doing this.'

He added: 'You couldn't be out with Saffie without having fun, but her dream was to be famous. It was her everything and we bought her the tickets for Christmas.

'She was just counting the days, the seconds and it was just Ariana Grande until nine, 10 o'clock at night. And she would sing and dance every single song.'

Mr Roussos also revealed that he met with Ariana Grande before the One Love tribute concert in Manchester last month and shared a touching moment with the US pop star.

The father said: 'All she could say to me was, ''I'm sorry'', and I said, ''You've got nothing to be sorry for. You made Saffie so happy with what you do''.
A Colorado woman turned her car into a submarine when she sent it plunging into the bottom of a swimming pool at a resort on accident.

Hitting the accelerator instead of the brakes, a woman in her 70s crashed her black Lincoln SUV into the pool at the Cheyenne Mountain Resort country club in Colorado Springs, Colorado, on Monday morning.

Driving up to 60mph, the woman hit a nearby car before driving up a hill, through a fence and was sent flying airborne into the water.

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Hitting the accelerator instead of the brake, a woman in her 70s crashed her black Lincoln SUV into the pool at the Cheyenne Mountain Resort country club in Colorado Springs, Colorado, on Monday morning

Driving up to 60 miles per hour, the woman hit a nearby car before driving up a hill, through a fence and was sent flying airborne into the water

Corey Youso, who had been walking nearby, lunged into the pool and rescued the woman, according to KRDO.

He told the Colorado Springs Gazette that the woman seemed dazed and confused when he reached to unbuckle her seat belt.

She was taken to a nearby hospital where it was reported that she was just being monitored and had no serious injuries.

The pool was drained and the car was lifted Monday afternoon around five. The pool will reopen on Tuesday.

Driving up to 60 miles per hour, the woman hit a nearby car before driving up a hill, through a fence and was sent flying airborne into the water

Police won't release the name of the driver but did cite her for careless driving

'I think I need a vacation from my vacation,' Youso said.

Jessica Puzio was a guest at the resort and told of the aftermath to the BBC.

'When my friend and I headed down to the pool to relax at about 11am, we were surprised to find a Lincoln SUV partially submerged in the water,' she said

'Amazingly, the car didn't look like it had a scratch on it - just a flat tire. If you ask me, she's really lucky that pool was there to soften the crash.'

Police won't release the name of the driver but did cite her for careless driving.

'I have never seen a car in a pool,' said police Sgt. Fred Walker to the Gazette.

'It was a first for me.'
An aviation expert has called into question AirAsia's explanation for engine problems that forced a flight to make an emergency landing  saying the damage looks far more severe than a bird strike.

The flight had been en route to Kuala Lumpur when the pilot made the call to make an emergency landing at Brisbane Airport shortly after takeoff.

In a statement, AirAsia said that the flight was diverted after experiencing a suspected bird strike to the plane's starboard engine and that the remains of two birds were found on the runway.

But aviation consultant Neil Hansford expressed his doubts, saying it would take very large birds to cause the level of damage seen in pictures.

'If I look at the early damage here, there's blades missing, which I find a little suspicious,' he said in an interview with ABC Radio Brisbane.

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An aviation expert has called into question AirAsia's explanation for engine problems that forced a flight to make an emergency landing

Neil Hansford expressed his doubts, saying it would take very large birds to cause the level of damage seen in pictures. Above, what appears to be a bird carcass in the engine

'I also find it suspicious the fact that the airline is saying that they've found carcasses on the runway.

'AirAsia would have no access to the runway and that would have been something that would have been determined by Gold Coast Airport.'

The Civil Aviation Safety Authority later confirmed plover carcasses were found at the Gold Coast Airport, where flight D7207 took off around 10.20pm on Monday.

'There was evidence on the runway of a birdstrike,' spokesman Peter Gibso said.

Mr Gibson praised the actions of the pilot and said CASA would review the incident, but wasn't considering any other action.

Passenger Tim Jago said he saw flames coming from the engine shortly after takeoff.

AirAsia said that the flight was diverted after experiencing a suspected bird strike to the plane's starboard engine

The flight had been en route to Kuala Lumpur when the pilot made the call to make an emergency landing at Brisbane Airport shortly after takeoff on Monday night

He described hearing about five 'pops' and said the aircraft shuddered a little.

'I think it was the engine shutting down and starting back up,' the 31-year-old New Zealander said.

Mr Jago said the mood on the plane was 'tense but calm' during the brief flight.

After the plane landed late at Brisbane Airport, passengers had to wait until about 2am on Tuesday before being taken to hotels.

The 345 passengers and 14 crew aboard were uninjured and are expected to fly to Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday evening.

The 345 passengers and 14 crew aboard were uninjured and are expected to fly to Malaysia on Tuesday evening

'Passengers on board the flight were attended to by the ground staff upon landing and were provided with all the necessary assistance, including hotel accommodation in Brisbane,' an AirAsia spokesman said.

He added that a recovery flight has been deployed by AirAsia X and is expected to arrive at Brisbane Airport at 5.10pm local time, and scheduled to depart at 6.10pm.

Early last week, another AirAsia plane was forced to make an emergency landing at Perth Airport after an engine malfunctioned 90 minutes into the flight to Kuala Lumpur.

That flight, D7237 with 359 people on board, landed safely on June 28 and investigations are continuing.
Bali jail escapee Shaun Davidson has boasted on his Facebook page that he is 'sipping cocktails on a beach in Dubai' and is a 'real life action movie star'.

The Perth-born bandit escaped the notorious Kerobokan prison in Bali on June 20 through a tiny tunnel burrowed underneath the jail walls.

Now two weeks later, Davidson claimed he was far away from Kerobakan jail and revelling in his new-found freedom.

'I'm a real life action movie star, nah I'm just normal b, there ain't no way a penitentiary is every holding me from Oz to Bali, Amsterdam to Germany, you better believe it when I say my life is no lie. I'm sipping on this cocktail on the beaches of Dubai [sic],' he wrote online.

Fled to Amsterdam? Shaun Davidson (pictured) is wanted in Perth, charged with four offences including possessing methamphetamine and cannabis for sale or supply

The post was made on a Facebook page believed to belong to the 33-year-old escapee, under the pseudonym Matthew Rageone Ridler.

Dubai is the latest holiday destination Davidson claimed to have visited since his break-out, declaring on Facebook he was in both Amsterdam and Germany since his escape.

An online support group created for the Australian has already amassed hundreds of 'likes'.

The page titled 'Fans of Shaun Rageone Davidson - Australian Escapee' urged Australians to support the 'all round good guy'.

'Please post your well wishes to him and share this page, show him your support,' it reads.

'He's not only a wanted international fugitive but he's got the looks of a model and the humour of a comedian. This cunning lad is not only smart but he seems like the whole package.'

That's not near Kerobokan? Shaun Davidson checked into Amsterdam late this week - days after he disappeared from his Bali jail

Davidson's claim to be holidaying in Dubai was just the most recent in a string of sensational claims posted to his Facebook page since his June escape.

His first post claimed he was 'living the dream' in the Netherlands capital, Amsterdam.

His second post featured a group photograph of several men and women wearing singlets at the Club Air nightclub.

'Closing time where's all the ladies at', Davidson then wrote.

The fugitive wasn't seen in the picture.

The two men were arrested more than 2,000km from the jail they escaped from

Bulgarian national Dimitar Nikolov Iliev and Indian man Sayed Mohammed Said were caught at Novo Turismo in Dili East Timor (pictured)

The updates were posted just for Davidsons friends but were provided to Daily Mail Australia by a source on Friday afternoon.

It comes after two of Davidson's accomplices were discovered at a luxury resort in East Timor on late last month.

Bulgarian national Dimitar Nikolov Iliev and Indian man Sayed Mohammed Said were caught at the four-and-a-half star Novo Turismo in Dili.

But Davidson and fellow escapee, the Malaysian man Tee Kok King, were not found.

The Australian also garnered support from strange quarters on Friday, with Perth property tycoon James Tee taking to Facebook in support of Davidson.

Tee, well-known for his flamboyant image, congratulated the fugitive in a series of posts and comments online.

James Tee (pictured) used Davidson's nickname 'Rage' and told him to sell his story for cash

'Well done Rage!!! Haha,' he wrote, using Davidson's nickname. 'A round of applause for Shaun Rageone Davidson!'

Tee also mocked the Indonesian police, and the Bali Nine drug smugglers.

'He'll well and truly be beyond Indonesian jurisdiction now. The dopy (sic) Indo cops can forget looking for him.

'If only the Bali 9, oops I meant Bali 7 was as smart?! Ahhhhhhhahaha.'

The prisoners were said to escaped through the muddy passage which is about 50cm by 75cm wide and 12 metres long.

The tunnel travelled underneath the prison wall and emerged at a road running along Kerobokan.

(From left to right) Dimitar Nikolov Iliev from Bulgaria and Indian man Sayed Mohammed Said were caught in East Timor on Thursday but Shaun Davidson and Tee Kok King from Malaysia are still on the run

It is believed the men used a fork and a bucket to construct the tunnel (seen here being drained on Tuesday) and make their escape

One of the discovered East Timor prisoners, Dimitar Nikolov Iliev, 43, was serving a seven-year term for money laundering.

Meanwhile, Said, 31, was in the midst of a 14-year sentence for drugs.

Davidson was serving a one-year prison sentence for using another person's passport. He was due to be released in August.

He was also wanted in Perth, charged with four offences including possessing methamphetamine and cannabis for sale or supply.

Tee Kok King, 50, was understood to be serving seven and a half years for drug offences.
Three people were dramatically arrested over the shooting death of a young man on the NSW Central Coast on Monday.

Father-of-two Jesse Thompson, 19, was shot in the neck during a car chase through Wyong after an alleged drug dispute and died at the scene.

Heavily armed officers rammed a small silver car on Forest Road in Wyee about 1.20pm on Tuesday after a short pursuit.

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Jesse Thompson (pictured), a 19-year-old father-of-two, was shot and killed during a car chase

Three people, including a 24-year-old male (pictured) were dramatically arrested over the shooting death of a young man on the NSW Central Coast on Monday

One of the arrested people (pictured centre) was led away by plain clothes police officers after police intercepted their vehicle in what witnesses described as a double collision

A 24-year-old male was arrested by police following the collision with his vehicle

Heavily armed officers rammed a small silver car on Forest Road in Wyee about 1.20pm on Tuesday after a short pursuit, which shattered the rear window (pictured)

There was blood on the floor following the incident, which witnesses claim came following police opening fire on the suspects, which has been denied by NSW Police

A police car overtook the suspect's car and swerved in front of it, forcing a collision, while a police 4WD rammed it from behind, witnesses told the Sydney Morning Herald.

Witnesses said police fired on the occupants of the car after it stopped and one even claimed to see a bloodied body on the ground afterwards.

However, NSW Police told Daily Mail Australia no bullets were fired but Tactical Operations Unit officers may have shot bean bag guns in the arrest.

'All of a sudden all these police in black suits and helmets and guns jumped out and one of them fired through the back of the car and we believe shot the driver but didn't kill him,' witness John Skewes told the newspaper.

One suspect was forced to the ground following the pursuit as armed police surround the area

Police said a 24-year-old man was arrested at the scene and his car seized, and a 17-year-old girl (pictured) was arrested soon after on nearby Wyee Street

Witnesses said police fired on the occupants of the car, something which NSW Police has denied to Daily Mail Australia

Police said a 24-year-old man was arrested at the scene and his car seized, and a 17-year-old girl was arrested soon after on nearby Wyee Street

Mr Skewes claimed a young woman in her late teens or early 20s got out of the car and tried to run but was tackled to the ground and cuffed by police.

Police said a 24-year-old man was arrested at the scene and his car seized, and a 17-year-old girl was arrested soon after on nearby Wyee Street.

Properties on Gilby Street in Wyee were later raided by police.

Earlier about 10.50am police arrested a 48-year-old man during a car stop at George Booth Drive, Sea Hampton.

He was taken to Toronto Police Station where he is assisting with inquiries and his car was seized for forensic examination.

There was a large police presence involved in the arrests, including an aerial unit as witnesses claimed to have seen a bloodied man after the suspect's car was rammed by police

Officers attached to Tuggerah Lakes Local Area Command established two crime scenes, one at Warner Ave and one at Byron Rd

Police dramatically arrested three people the next day over Mr Thompson's death

Mr Thompson was allegedly shot dead by at least two men who fired on the silver Toyota 4WD he and a 28-year-old man were travelling in during Monday's car chase.

A 28-year-old was grazed in the hand and shoulder by the bullets that killed Mr Thompson and was treated by paramedics at the scene.

The gunmen then sped away in a white Mitsubishi Triton ute.

Mr Thompson was believed to be a known ice dealer frequently involved in disputes over supply of the deadly drug in the area.

Police reportedly believed he and his companion got into an argument over drugs before speeding off with the white ute in pursuit.

Heavily armed officers rammed a small silver car on Forest Road in Wyee about 1.20pm on Tuesday after a short pursuit in connection with Mr Thompson's death

NSW emergency services treated Thompson (pictured) for his wounds but he died at the scene

Lloyd Kelly said he witnessed the Toyota stop as Thompson's body was pulled out.

'They were trying to exit the car as it was still going,' he said.

'They were all out of their mind.'

Police officers attached to Tuggerah Lakes Local Area Command established two crime scenes

Police allege there was a confrontation between two vehicles that led to gunfire breaking out

Two crime scenes were set up by police, one on Warner Avenue, one on nearby Byron Road

Jesse Thompson's grieving friends and family have paid tribute to the alleged murder victim, saying that he was well-known and well-loved.

'He was so loved by many. He was always smiling. He has two beautiful children now that doesnt get to watch them grow,' said family friend Brittney Tate.

Officers attached to Tuggerah Lakes Local Area Command established two crime scenes, one at Warner Ave and one at Byron Rd.
A backpacker found hanged on a Thai holiday island used a false name days before her body was discovered, it has emerged.

Thai police are re-opening an investigation into the 'suicide' of Elise Dallemagne who was found in a jungle on Koh Tao island in April after her family claimed she may have been murdered.

The 30-year-old Belgian was found half-eaten by lizards and police originally determined that she hanged herself on the island where seven other foreigners have died in the last three years.

But the mystery in to her death deepened today after it emerged she had appeared to try to hide her true identity when checking into a hotel in the days before her death.

Elise Dallemagne, 30, was found dead on Thai island Koh Tao back in April, with her death ruled a suicide. But mother Michele van Egten says she does not believe that version of events

A hotel check-in book shows how the backpacker crossed out the name Dallemagne and wrote in Dupuis instead

Dallemagne used a fake name to check into a hotel days before her body was discovered, it has been claimed

According to reports in Thailand, she crossed out the name Dallemagne and wrote in Dupuis instead.

An unnamed worker is said to have told police that the backpacker checked into the Triple B Hotel at Mae Hat bay on April 19, and asked for the cheapest room.

She would not write in her passport number - unlike other guests, insisting she would supply it later, the worker said. Dallemagne then scribbled out her surname and wrote in the fake one.

Last month, posts on social media said Dallemagne had booked a ticket to Chumphon province, on the mainland, and that her luggage arrived after her death, implying that she had not intended to kill herself.

'Police continue to look for new evidence, because it was an unnatural death, but we have not found any,' Police Colonel Preecha Kladsawad, deputy of Surat Thani police, said.

Elise's mother Michele van Egten says she does not believe the Thai police's version of events amid fears authorities are working to suppress a series of grisly tourist murders.

Michele made the details of her daughter's death public while appealing for information, saying the case would have gone unnoticed otherwise.

She told magazine Der Farang that she had been promised an autopsy report by investigators that had failed to materialise.

Michele said: 'I do not believe what the police have told us. We fear somebody else was involved.

Posts on social media this week said Dallemagne had booked a ticket to Chumphon province, on the mainland, and that her luggage arrived after her death

'We're more and more thinking that the police information is not the right explanation.'

Michele revealed that Elise had been travelling around Asia for the last two years, and before her death had been living at a yoga and tantra retreat on Koh Phangan.

She was also part of the Sathya Sai Baba cult and lived with a self-proclaimed 'guru'. She the island on April 17 to return to her native Belgium, Michele said.

But on April 28 she was found dead in the jungle in Koh Tao.

Phone records show that Elise called her mother on Skype on April 17 before leaving on a Ferry April 19.

It is not known why she alighted on Koh Tao instead of continuing on to the mainland.

Eight days before her body was found, Michele said she spoke with her daughter who 'seemed normal' and was showing no signs of depression

Miss Dallemagne had been due to travel back to Belgium from Koh Phangan, where she had been living, but made an unexpected stop on Koh Tao

Michele claims that Elise used a fake name of 'Elise Dubuis' to check into the Triple B Bungalows next to Mae Head Pier on Koh Tao as she travelled via the island on a ferry bound for Chumphon province on her route back to capital Bangkok.

But an unexplained fire that evening burned down three bamboo huts - including the one Elise had been staying in.

Elise fled 2.5km through the jungle to Tanote Bay and took a room at the Poseidon Resort where she booked another ticket for Bangkok leaving on April 24.

Eight days later locals living near the island's idyllic Tanote Bay found Elise's body after becoming suspicious of a monitor lizard going back and forth into the jungle.

They followed the animal and discovered that it had been feeding on Elise's remains, which were found among rocks behind the Tanote Family Bay Resort.

The backpacker had to be identified using dental records and previous X-rays.

Police told Elise's mother Michele that her daughter had taken her own life by hanging herself from a tree around three days before she was found.

But no suicide note or message were recovered and Michele is desperate for information surrounding the mysterious death.

Britons Hannah Witheridge (left) and David Miller (right) were killed on Koh Tao in 2014 as they walked back to their hotel along a beach. Theirs were the only two deaths to be investigated as murder

Nick Pearson, 25, from Derby, was found dead in the ocean on New Year's Day 2014 and his death was ruled a suicide, though his parents believe he was killed

Christina Annesley, 23 (left and right), died on the island in January 2015 after apparently mixing antibiotics she was taking for a chest infection with alcohol

Elise's bags appear to have been loaded onto the ferry she was due to take, and arrived at Chumphon province where she should have caught a bus to the capital.

Michele says police told her that Elise had been wrapped in old t-shirts or cotton shawls while an empty fuel bottle was found next to her.

An autopsy was performed in Surat Thani Hospital and later by the Institute of Forensic Medicine Police Hospital, Bangkok, and Elise was cremated 14 days later.

Michele said: 'Too many things show us that someone is involved. Police told us that Elise hanged herself up in the jungle. I cannot accept why my daughter should have killed herself.

'She was normal in the last conversation and no signs of depression were visible.

'I don't know why she would have booked a transfer to Bangkok and then went into the jungle to commit suicide.

'I am devastated by events. I am still waiting for the final autopsy report. We just want more information.

'My daughter had been travelling for two and a half years in India, Australia and New Zealand and always back again to Thailand.

'She lived there for months with Guru Raaman Andreas from Germany and two female friends.'

In March Russian tourist Valentina Novozhyonova, 23 (left and right), vanished from her hostel on Koh Tao and has still not been found

Bricklayer Luke Miller from the Isle of Wight was found dead in a swimming pool on January 8 2016 and an inquest this month found 'no evidence' he was murdered

Miss Dallemagne is the seventh tourist to be found dead on the island in just three years, with the majority of cases ruled suicides (file image)

The death on Koh Tao is the latest in a number of cases involving foreigners.

British backpackers Hannah Witheridge and David Miller were murdered there in 2014.

Police said Witheridge, 23, had been raped and bludgeoned to death and Miller 24, had suffered blows to his head.

Of all the deaths, theirs were the only ones to be investigated as murder after a public outcry - while four others were ruled suicides.

In March Russian tourist Valentina Novozhyonova, 23, vanished from her hostel on Koh Tao and has still not been found.

Bricklayer Luke Miller from the Isle of Wight was found dead in a swimming pool on January 8 2016 and an inquest earlier this month found 'no evidence' he was murdered.

British holidaymaker Christina Annesley, 23, died on the island in January 2015 after apparently mixing antibiotics she was taking for a chest infection with alcohol.

But her parents slammed Thai police for failing to properly investigate the death.

Frenchman Dimitri Povse, 29, was found hanged in a bungalow on the island on New Year's Day 2015 and his death was ruled as suicide despite his hands being tied behind his back.

In the most high-profile case, Brits Hannah Witheridge and David Miller were murdered as they walked back to their hotel rooms in September 2014.

On New Year's Day 2014, 25-year-old Nick Pearson, from Derby, was found floating in the sea and his parents believe he was murdered - despite police claims he fell 50ft and drowned.
The country's Advertising Standards Bureau have revealed the 10 most complained advertisements to have courted controversy this year.

There has been more than 2,700 objections to content displayed in ads this year, far with majority of those relating to discrimination and exploitative images or messages, Mumbrella reported.

From January first to June 30 the Ultra Tune Australia ad received 357 complaints for discrimination or vilification, exploitative and degrading scenes, sexual references and nudity as well as issues with health and safety.

The Advertising Standards Bureau have revealed the ten most offensive ads

The Ultra Tune Australia ad received 357 complaints for discrimination or vilification, exploitative and degrading scenes

The 'Unexpected Situation' ad presented two out-of-luck females in skimpy clothing trying to put out a fire in their car bonnet.

Complainants said the display was 'sexist' with one objector citing: 'The women are presented in a stereo-typically sexually provocative manner. The two women are objectified through the manner in which they are dressed, the camera's focus on their buttocks and breasts easily visible in revealing clothing.

'Further, they are represented as incapable and in need of rescue,' Newscorp reported.

Sportsbet came in at second on the list with 202 complaints after their ad with 1998 Gold medalist Ben Johnson brought on a series of health and safety related complaints which the ASB upheld.

Sportsbets putting roid in Android ad was the second most complained ad, which drew 202 complaints

The issue of concern was the ad was Health and Safety stemming from it's portrayal of steroid use

One complainant thought: 'The ad celebrates the fact that Ben Johnson is a convicted drug cheat athlete and makes him look cool, as if he is someone to look up to. The ad glorifies the use of drugs to get ahead in sport and life in general.'

Insurance provider AAMI caused controversy when their television ad had a family standing on the side of the road beside a sign which says 'Ship Creek'.

The use of language was called out and took a total of 84 complaints.

This AAMI ad garnered 84 complaints due to the issue of bad language

The ad depicted a family standing beside their broken down car near a sign which says Ship Creek

iSelect Pty Ltd had viewers in a spin with their ad when a woman switches her light off and on a number of times, revealing a different man in her bed each time

People who took offence cited discrimination or vilification to cause offence and overall received 72 complaints, which were dismissed by the ASB.

The majority of the the complaints were dismissed, with the exception of Sportsbets putting the roid in android ad which was blasted by Advertising Standards Bureau.

This Bonds ad drew 32 complaints, with some branding it 'disgusting' and 'demeaning'

Ultra Tune managed to appear on the list two more time, including this rubber ad
North Korea on Tuesday said it had successfully tested an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), prompting US experts to say the device could reach Alaska.

The launch, which came as the United States prepared to mark its Independence Day, triggered a Twitter outburst from President Donald Trump who urged China to 'put a heavy move' on North Korea to 'end this nonsense once and for all'.

The North has long sought to build a rocket capable of delivering an atomic warhead to the continental United States - something that Trump has vowed 'won't happen', and launch marks a new phase in the country's decades-long weapons program.

In an announcement of the missile test, North Korean officials called the launch, which leader Kim Jong-un supervised, a 'glistening miracle'.

North Korea on Tuesday said it had tested an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), prompting US experts to say the device could reach Alaska

The Japanese government estimates that the missile (pictured above) fired from the North's western region flew for about 40 minutes, which would be longer than any other such previous reported tests

The test still may be the North's most successful yet; a weapons analyst says the missile could be powerful enough to reach Alaska

The 'landmark' test, believed to be pictured above, of a Hwasong-14 missile was overseen by leader Kim Jong-Un

Weapons experts in the United States said that the missile has the potential to reach areas of Alaska

The missile launch prompted control specialist Jeffrey Lewis to respond on Twitter: 'That's it. It's an ICBM. An ICBM that can hit Anchorage not San Francisco, but still.'

David Wright, of the Union of Concerned Scientists, wrote on the organisation's allthingsnuclear blog that the available figures implied the missile 'could reach a maximum range of roughly 6,700 km on a standard trajectory'.

'That range would not be enough to reach the lower 48 states or the large islands of Hawaii, but would allow it to reach all of Alaska.'

The 'landmark' test of a Hwasong-14 missile was overseen by Kim, an emotional female announcer said on state Korean Central Television.

It reached an altitude of 1741 miles (2,802 kilometres) and flew 580 miles (933 kilometres) for 39 minutes, she added.

'The test-fire was conducted at the highest angle and did not have any negative impact on the safety of neighboring countries,' announcer Ri Chun-Hee, who previously told her loyal viewers of the deaths of the country's founder Kim Il-Sung and his son Kim Jong-Il, said.

'As the dignified nuclear power who possesses the strongest intercontinental ballistic rocket which is capable of hitting any part of the world along with the nuclear weapons, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) will fundamentally terminate the US nuclear war threats and blackmail and credibly protect the peace and stability of the Korean Peninsula and the region,' she added.

'Kim Jong Un, Supreme Leader of our party, state and the army, personally observed the process of the test-launch in field and solemnly declared before the world its shining success,' the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said in an accompanying article.

North Korea released footage of what is believed to be the missile just before it was tested on Tuesday

The test missile, believed to be pictured above, reached an altitude of 1741.082 miles (2,802 kilometres) and flew 580 miles (933 kilometres)

The report contradicted South Korean and US officials who earlier said Tuesday's launch was of an intermediate-range missile

The missile was estimated to have reached an altitude that 'greatly exceeded' 1553 miles (2,500 kilometres), Japan said

David Wright, of the Union of Concerned Scientists, wrote on the organisation's allthingsnuclear blog that the available figures implied the missile 'could reach a maximum range of roughly 6,700 km on a standard trajectory'

The isolated, impoverished country has made great progress in its missile capabilities since the ascension to power of Kim, who has overseen three nuclear tests and multiple rocket launches

In an announcement of the missile test, North Korean officials called the launch, which leader Kim Jong-un supervised, a 'glistening miracle'

NORTH KOREA CALLS ICBM TEST A 'GLISTENING MIRACLE' 'Our great leader Kim Jong Un sent a personally handwritten letter 2017, July 3rd, ordering the launch of an intercontinental ballistic rocket (Hwasong 14). 'The launch, that was personally supervised by the great leader KJU himself, will now be followed by the National Institute of Science's report. 'National Science Institute's Report: Intercontinental Ballistic Rocket Hwasong 14 was successful. 'Our dear leader KJU's strategic order was followed by a launch of an ICBM, and this was successfully processed. North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un signs the order to carry out the test-fire of inter-continental ballistic rocket 'The newly developed ICBM Hwasong-14 was launched, and this took place on July 4, 2017 at 9am, and flew for 39 minutes. 'It flew from a northwestern city, and flew precisely following the predicted trajectory. It also reached precisely the targeted point in Chosun (Korean) air. 'Our intercontinental ballistic rocket did not at all bring negative impacts to any nearby country. 'Our intercontinental ballistic rocket reached a maximum altitude of 2,802 km, and flew for 933 kilometres. 'Our dear leader KJU was there to witness the glistening miracle.' 'The success of the last stage of becoming a nuclear power state is developing an intercontinental ballistic missile. Hwason 14 shows the unwithering power of our state, our strong independence and defense in the world and will be marked as a significant mark in our history. 'North Korea, as a nuclear state capable of reaching any country in the world with our intercontinental ballistic rocket, will be able to root out the U.S's nuclear program once and for all, and bring peace and secure safety to the Chosun (Korean) peninsula.' Advertisement

The report contradicted South Korean and US officials who earlier said Tuesday's launch was of an intermediate-range missile.

Russia has also said it believes the missile was medium range.

'The missile reached an altitude of 535 kilometres (330 miles) and flew 510 kilometres before falling into the central part of the Sea of Japan,' the defense ministry said in a statement to Russian news agencies.

'The parametric flight data of the ballistic object corresponds to the tactical and technical characteristics of a medium-range ballistic missile,' it said, adding that it did 'not present' any danger to Russian territory.

Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga declined to comment on whether Japan thinks it was an ICBM, and South Korea's Defense Ministry said it was analyzing whether the North's statement was accurate.

The launch seems designed to send a political warning to Washington and its chief Asian allies, Seoul and Tokyo, even as it allows North Korean scientists a chance to perfect their still-incomplete nuclear missile program.

The test may be the North's most successful yet; a weapons analyst says the missile could be powerful enough to reach Alaska.

The 'unidentified ballistic missile' was fired from a site in North Phyongan province, the South's Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement, and came down in the East Sea, the Korean name for the Sea of Japan.

US Pacific Command confirmed the test and said it was a land-based, intermediate range missile that flew for 37 minutes.

It was estimated to have reached an altitude that 'greatly exceeded' 1553 miles (2,500 kilometres), Japan said.

The launch, which came as the United States prepared to mark its Independence Day, triggered a Twitter outburst from President Donald Trump who urged China to 'end this nonsense once and for all'

The device came down in the Sea of Japan within the country's exclusive economic zone, Tokyo's defense ministry said in a statement, waters extending 200 nautical miles from its coast.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told reporters: 'This launch clearly shows that the threat has grown.'

Mr Abe, who talked by phone with Mr Trump on Monday, said the two leaders plan to seek further co-operation from world leaders when they attend the G20 summit in Germany.

INTERCONTINENTAL BALLISTIC MISSILE PRODUCTION IN NORTH KOREA An intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) is a guided ballistic missile with a minimum range of 3,400 miles (5,500 kilometres), meaning it can go further than any other missile. North Korea has only tested medium-range or lower ballistic missiles before, meaning they were capable of reaching a maximum 3,400 miles (5,500 kilometres). The last rocket Kim tested before this latest development came in June, when a medium-range missile flew 435 miles (700 kilometres) before landing in the Sea of Japan. ICBM missiles were first developed during World War II, and countries around the world have now worked to create their own missiles and defence systems against them. ICBM launches have three distinct phases of flight. During the boost phase, a rocket launches the warhead at high speeds above the atmosphere, where it continues in free-fall through the vacuum of space. The midcourse phase begins with the rocket separating from the warhead, which continues unguided and unpowered, hundreds of miles above the Earth. The reentry, or terminal, phase sees the warhead descend at high speeds back through the Earth's atmosphere toward the ground. The missiles are primarily designed for nuclear weapons delivery, though they can also be used to deliver conventional, chemical or biological weapons. Pyongyang is subject to multiple sets of United Nations sanctions over its atomic and missile programs, which it says it needs to protect itself against a possible invasion. It regularly issues bloodcurdling threats against its 'imperialist enemy' Washington, and has long sought a rocket capable of delivering a warhead to the continental United States. The progress has accelerated especially after young leader Kim Jong-Un took power following the death of his father, longtime ruler Kim Jong-Il, in 2011. Pyongyang has staged five atomic tests - including two last year - with the regime stepping up efforts to produce a nuclear warhead small enough to fit into a missile. The latest launch potentially forces a recalculation of the threat it poses. Just last week South Korean President Moon and Trump met for the first time and vowed to oppose North Korea's development of atomic weapons. In response to the latest launch but before the announcement, Trump asked on Twitter: 'Does this guy have anything better to do with his life?' He added: 'Hard to believe that South Korea and Japan will put up with this much longer. Perhaps China will put a heavy move on North Korea and end this nonsense once and for all!' Advertisement

British foreign minister Boris Johnson said on Tuesday that the international community must work harder on North Korea, describing Pyongyang's latest missile test as an example of the grave danger it poses to neighboring countries.

'The international community must redouble its efforts to impose a price on this regime, which strains every nerve and sinew to build nuclear weapons and launch illegal missiles, even as the people of North Korea endure starvation and poverty,' Johnson said in an emailed statement.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in said that the North's actions could have serious consequences.

'If North Korea crossed the red line without responding to the peaceful approach to the denuclearization on the Korean peninsula which agreed by the US and South Korean leader, we are not sure of the consequences,' Moon said in a statement, in which he also called on China to put more pressure on Pyongyang.

South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said the launch was a 'direct challenge' to international peace, though it did not refer to the missile as an ICBM.

'the US and the South Korean intelligence authorities are conducting the detailed analysis on whether [the launched missile] has the capability of so-called intercontinental ballistic missile as the North claimed,' the statement said.

'Our military strongly condemns Kim Jong Un regime's vain delusions and reckless provocations, and warn [the North] to immediately cease the act of creating tension and anxiety on the Korean Peninsula and the international community,' it added.

'If North Korea ignores our warnings and continues the provocations obstinately, we clearly warn that Kim Jong Un regime will be on the verge of destruction (or ruin).'

Leaders in China have also condemned Tuesday's test launch in North Korea.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told reporters Tuesday that his country was collecting information about North Korea's latest launch, conducted earlier in the day.

He said that China urges 'the North Korean side to stop taking actions that violate Security Council resolutions and to create the necessary conditions for the resumption of talks.'

The spokesman also defended China's efforts to try to resolve the North Korean nuclear issue. He said that China's role is indispensable, and that its contribution in that regard is recognized.

'We hope all relevant parties can exercise restraint, avoid taking actions that may escalate tensions, and make efforts to bring the issue back to peaceful settlement through dialogue and consultation,' Geng said.

China's UN ambassador, Liu Jieyi, warned on Monday that further escalation of already high tensions with North Korea risks getting out of control 'and the consequences would be disastrous'.

On a trip to Moscow, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin agreed on Monday to 'jointly push for a proper settlement of the (Korean) peninsula issue via dialogue and negotiation', according to the official Xinhua news agency.

Meanwhile, North Korean citizens in the capital are praising their country's launch of what it called its first intercontinental ballistic missile.

Soon after the authoritarian government announced Tuesday that it had fired the missile that morning, a 38-year-old Pyongyang man named Ri Song Gil said his country 'can attack anywhere in the world'.

He added, 'Now, the time when the US could threaten the world with nuclear weapons has passed away'.

People watch a TV broadcast of a news report on North Korea's Hwasong-14 missile in Seoul on Tuesday

People in Seoul watch a television news broadcast showing a North Korean announcer reading a statement on the country's new ICBM test

People watch the news that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un signed the order to carry out the test-fire of intercontinental ballistic rocket near the Pyongyang railway station in Pyongyang, North Korea

A local TV news shows what was said to be the launch of a Hwasong-14 intercontinental ballistic missile, ICBM, aired by North Korea's KRT, at a consumer-electronics retailer in Tokyo

Twenty-seven-year-old Kim Hye Ok calls the launch 'extremely delightful news' and says North Korea 'will march forward along our own way' despite international sanctions.

Still pictures of the launch showed a missile lifting off the ground, spewing a flame and clouds against a backdrop of green hills.

Other photos showed Kim, in a striped Mao suit, shading his eyes with a raised hand and looking up at the sky, or sitting behind a desk looking through a pair of binoculars.

Hours after the North launched a ballistic missile that flew more than 900 kilometres on Tuesday, the North's state media said it would make an 'important announcement'.

'Important announcements' were made twice last year, one in January when the North claimed it had successfully tested a hydrogen bomb and the other in February when it said it had successfully put a satellite into orbit.

Lee Illwoo, a Seoul-based military commentator, said the missile traveled for a far longer period of time than if it would have been fired at a normal angle.

A North Korean scud-type missile, with a range of 800-900 kilometres, would land in its target site within ten minutes if fired at a standard angle of 45 degrees.

Lee said it's likely that North Korea fired either Hwasong-12 missile or a solid-fuel Pukguksong-2, both of which were tested in May.

On May 14, North Korea launched the Hwasong-12 missile, which its state media later said flew as high as 1,310 miles (2,111 kilometres) and landed in a targeted area in the ocean about 490 miles (787 kilometres) from the launch site.

On May 21, North Korea also tested the Pukguksong-2, which traveled about 310 miles (500 kilometres).

North Korea has a reliable arsenal of shorter-range missiles, but is still trying to perfect its longer-range missiles.

Some analysts believe North Korea has the technology to arm its short-range missiles with nuclear warheads, but it's unclear if it has mastered the technology needed to build an atomic bomb that can fit on a long-range missile.

South Korean army's K-9 self-propelled howitzers take positions during an annual exercise in Paju, near the border with North Korea on Tuesday

The annual exercise came as North Korea claimed to have tested its first intercontinental ballistic missile in a launch

JAPAN CONDUCTS EVACUATION DRILLS IN PREPARATION FOR MISSILE STRIKES As North Korea increases its missile launches, cities in Japan are conducting evacuation drills based on the scenario that a strike is imminent. Drills have been been conducted in nine of Japan's 47 prefectures, and there are more scheduled in at least 11 prefectures. The first drill this month will have people evacuate to an underground mall in Takaoka, Toyama Prefecture. Several missiles tested by North Korea have landed in the Sea of Japan, including an economic zone of the Oga Peninsula, Akita PRefecture. The Akita prefecture conducted an evacuation drill in March. Since then, other local governments facing the Sea of Japan and in the Kyushu region, which is close to North Korea, have conducted their own drills. In the event of a missile falling into the nation, the government will alert the public via the J-Alert early warning system. The government will call on people to evacuate to well-built buildings or underground spaces. If there are no such areas nearby, people will evacuate into clay pipes and the tunnels of agricultural water canals. The evacuation is different from that which would occur in the event of an earthquake, according to Japan News. A Cabinet Secretariat official in charge of crisis management said, 'We want people to know they should evacuate from buildings to outdoor spaces in an earthquake, but that they should evacuate to underground malls, buildings or concealed places if a missile approaches'. Advertisement

The isolated, impoverished country has made great progress in its missile capabilities since the ascension to power of Kim, who has overseen three nuclear tests and multiple rocket launches.

In response to the launch but before the announcement, Trump asked on Twitter: 'Does this guy have anything better to do with his life?'

He added: 'Hard to believe that South Korea and Japan will put up with this much longer. Perhaps China will put a heavy move on North Korea and end this nonsense once and for all!'

The United Nations has imposed multiple sets of sanctions on Pyongyang over its weapons programs, which retorts that it needs nuclear arms to defend itself against the threat of invasion.

How far would missile have to travel from Pyongyang to reach the rest of the world? US Naval Base in Guam: 2,114 miles (3,402 km) Hawaii: 4,727 miles (7,670 km) London (over mainland Europe): 5,379 miles (8,657 km) San Francisco: 5,588 miles (8,993 km) Los Angeles: 5,935 miles (9,551 km) New York: 6,783 miles (10,916 km) Washington, DC: 6,857 miles (11,035 km) Advertisement

Just last week South Korean President Moon and Trump met for the first time and vowed to oppose North Korea's development of atomic weapons.

Washington, South Korea's security guarantor, has more than 28,000 troops in the country to defend it from its communist neighbor, and fears of conflict reached a peak earlier this year as the Trump administration suggested military action was an option under consideration.

The Korean Peninsula has been divided between the American-backed South and the authoritarian North since the 1950-53 Korean War.

Worries have increased as the North's leader Kim pushes to expand his nuclear arsenal and develop ballistic missiles that can carry nuclear warheads.

Russia and China have agreed a joint position on North Korea designed to defuse tensions around its missile program and both want Washington to halt deployment of a missile shield in South Korea, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday.

Moscow and Beijing had agreed on the need for a simultaneous freezing of North Korea's missile and nuclear program and large-scale military exercises by the United States and South Korea, the ministry said in a statement.

The statement was released after President Vladimir Putin held talks with visiting Chinese President Xi Jinping in the Kremlin.

The same statement said Moscow and Beijing wanted the United States to immediately halt its deployment of the THAAD anti-missile system to South Korea, a move Washington says is necessitated by the North Korean missile threat.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who talked by phone with Mr Trump on Monday, said the two leaders plan to seek further co-operation from world leaders when they attend the G20 summit in Germany

Moscow and Beijing had agreed on the need for a simultaneous freezing of North Korea's missile and nuclear program and large-scale military exercises by the United States and South Korea, the ministry said in a statement. Pictured above, Chinese President Xi Jinping (left) and Russian President Vladimir Putin

NORTH KOREA'S MISSILE DEVELOPMENT: A TIMELINE North Korea on Tuesday said it had tested an intercontinental ballistic missile, as its decades-long weapons program reached a grave new phase. Here are key dates in Pyongyang's quest to develop a missile capable of hitting the United States: Late 1970s: Starts working on a version of the Soviet Scud-B (range 300 kilometres or 186 miles). Test-fired in 1984 1987-92: Begins developing variant of Scud-C (500 km), Rodong-1 (1,300 km), Taepodong-1 (2,500 km), Musudan-1 (3,000 km) and Taepodong-2 (6,700 km) Aug 1998: Test-fires Taepodong-1 over Japan as part of failed satellite launch Sept 1999: Declares moratorium on long-range missile tests amid improving ties with US July 12, 2000: Fifth round of US-North Korean missile talks ends without agreement after North demands $1 billion a year in return for halting missile exports March 3, 2005: North ends moratorium on long-range missile testing, blames Bush administration's 'hostile' policy July 5, 2006: North test-fires seven missiles, including a long-range Taepodong-2 which explodes after 40 seconds Oct 9, 2006: North conducts underground nuclear test, its first April 5, 2009: North Korea launches long-range rocket which flies over Japan and lands in the Pacific, in what it says is an attempt to put a satellite into orbit. The United States, Japan and South Korea see it as a disguised test of a Taepodong-2 May 25, 2009: North conducts its second underground nuclear test, several times more powerful than the first April 13, 2012: North launches what it has said is a long-range rocket to put a satellite into orbit, but it disintegrates soon after blast-off December 12, 2012: North launches a multi-stage rocket and successfully places an Earth observational satellite in orbit February 12, 2013: Conducts its third underground nuclear test January 6, 2016: North conducts its fourth underground nuclear test, which it says was of a hydrogen bomb -- a claim doubted by most experts March 9, 2016: Kim Jong-Un claims the North has successfully miniaturised a thermo-nuclear warhead April 23, 2016: North test-fires a submarine-launched ballistic missile July 8, 2016: US and South Korea announce plans to deploy an advanced missile defence system -- THAAD (Terminal High Altitude Area Defense) August 3, 2016: North Korea fires a ballistic missile directly into Japan's maritime economic zone for the first time September 9, 2016: Fifth nuclear test March 6, 2017: North fires four ballistic missiles in what it says is an exercise to hit US bases in Japan March 7, 2017: US begins deploying THAAD missile defence system in South Korea May 14, 2017: North fires a ballistic missile which flies 700 kilometres before landing in the Sea of Japan. Analysts say it has an imputed range of 4,500 kilometres and brings Guam within reach July 4, 2017: North Korea test-fires a ballistic missile which flies 930 kilometres before landing in the Sea of Japan. Analysts say it has an imputed range of 6,700 kilometres and brings Alaska within reach. Pyongyang later says it was a 'landmark' test of a Hwasong-14 intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). Advertisement

The statement said Washington was using North Korea as a pretext to expand its military infrastructure in Asia and risked upsetting the strategic balance of power in the area.

'The deployment ... of THAAD will cause serious harm to the strategic security interests of regional states, including Russia and China,' the statement said.

'Russia and China oppose the deployment of such systems and call on the relevant countries to immediately halt and cancel the process of deployment.'

Tuesday's launch is the first by the North since a June 8 test of a new type of cruise missile that Pyongyang says is capable of striking United States and South Korean warships 'at will.'

Since taking office on May 10, Moon has tried to improve strained ties with North Korea, but the North has continued its missile tests. Pyongyang says it needs nuclear weapons and powerful missiles to cope with what it calls rising US military threats.

There has also been anger in the United States over the death of Otto Warmbier, an American student detained in North Korea for around 18 months before he was returned home in a coma in June.

Trump has been pinning his hopes on China - North Korea's main diplomatic ally - to bring pressure to bear on Pyongyang.

Last week he declared that Beijing's efforts had failed, but returned to the idea on Twitter following the launch: 'Perhaps China will put a heavy move on North Korea and end this nonsense once and for all!'

But a former foreign policy adviser to Hillary Clinton warned that his comments risked undermining the credibility of both the US deterrent, and its assurances to its allies in Seoul and Tokyo.

She added: 'Picking a twitter fight with a nuclear-armed dictator is not wise - this is not reality TV anymore.'
David Cameron waded into the Tory austerity row today with a stinging rebuke to 'selfish' politicians who put the nation's finances at risk.

The former Prime Minister spoke out amid a raging spat within the government over how to fund an easing of the public sector pay cap and more spending on services.

Over the past week, a string of Cabinet ministers have lined up to demand the 1 per cent limit - which has been in place since 2012 - is lifted.

Boris Johnson and Michael Gove joined the clamour over the weekend, suggesting that taxes might not need to go up in order to underwrite the move.

David Cameron, pictured with South Korean President Moon Jae-in in Seoul today, has waded into the row over whether austerity should be eased

But Chancellor Philip Hammond went into bat for 'sound money' last night, warning voters that they must be willing to foot the cost they want to boost funding for public services.

He admitted that the country was 'weary' of the fight to eradicate the deficit, but said people had to 'hold their nerve' and recognise that borrowing more was just storing up trouble for future generations.

The clash between the two views is thought to have been evident when Theresa May gathered her Cabinet in Downing Street this morning.

And Mr Cameron has now stepped in to defend the necessity of balancing the books.

'The opponents of so called austerity couch their arguments in a way that make them sound generous and compassionate,' he told a conference in South Korea.

'They seek to paint the supporters of sound finances as selfish, or uncaring. The exact reverse is true.

'Giving up on sound finances isn't being generous, it's being selfish: spending money today that you may need tomorrow.'

The Treasury has been fiercely resisting demands to make any announcement on pay before the autumn.

Downing Street made clear yesterday that the pay cap will stay in place for the NHS and soldiers until next year.

The Prime Minister's official spokesman said 1 per cent awards already confirmed for nurses, doctors, dentists and the armed forces this year will not be revisited.

However, ministers have revealed there are 'active discussions' about other parts of the public sector, such as police and teachers, where salary review bodies have yet to report.

In a pointed jibe at Labour's claim that tens of billions of pounds can be raised purely from the rich, Mr Hammond told a CBI dinner: 'The serious question to the electorate cannot be 'would you like us to tax someone who isn't you to pay for you to consume more?', but 'would you be willing to pay more tax to consume more public services?''

He said there had to be a recognition that simply borrowing more amounted to 'passing the burden on to the next generation'.

Boris Johnson, seen out for a run in London this morning, has been pushing for an increase in public sector pay

Environment Secretary Michael Gove, pictured arriving in Downing Street today, suggested that higher state spending on things like police, nurses and firefighters would not mean taxes need to rise

'We do, of course, recognise that the British people are weary after seven years hard slog repairing the damage of the Great Recession,' the Chancellor said last night.

'They have travelled a long way but still the sunlit uplands seem stubbornly to remain one further ridge away.'

'And once again, some are questioning whether we should abandon the economic plan that has brought us so far and take a different path.

'A path of higher taxes on business and wealth creators, higher spending, nationalisation, and higher borrowing.'

He added: 'That does not mean we can't have a debate in Britain about the level of funding of public services.

'But it does mean that it has to be a grown-up debate where we acknowledge that borrowing to fund consumption is merely passing the bill to the next generation and reject the fallacy that the burden of additional taxation can always fall on someone else.

Jeremy Hunt, pictured heading to Cabinet today, has also reportedly pushed for an end to the public sector pay cap for staff in the NHS

Home Secretary Amber Rudd and Culture Secretary Karen Bradley joined their colleagues at Cabinet today

'Then, hopefully, we can build a consensus that the only sustainable solution is to increase the trend rate of growth.'

The government stance is slowly crystalising following a major Tory meltdown over how to fund the increases.

Every percentage point by which public sector pay is lifted costs the Exchequer around 2billion.

One option being considered by ministers is to cancel tax cuts that have already been pencilled in.

Dropping a scheduled cut in corporation tax from 19 to 17 per cent could be worth 510 million in 2019-20 and 2.6 billion the following year, according to the Times.

The government could also delay its pledge to increase the personal allowance from its current level of 11,500 to 12,500 in this parliament.
Austria is preparing troops to defend its borders in the wake of Europe's migrant influx.

The soldiers will be sent to the Italian border to carry out checks if the huge number of arrivals continues.

Government officials in Vienna have said 750 troops are primed to be sent and four armoured vehicles have already made their way to the country's southern border.

Italy has begged other European countries to accept migrant ships and threatened to close its ports as the nation struggles to deal with record numbers. A boat carrying migrants is pictured last week off the coastal town of Zawiyah, Libya

Hundreds of migrants who arrived by train at Hegyeshalom on the Hungarian and Austrian border walk the four kilometres into Austria

Hans Peter Doskozil, Vienna's defence minister, told the online edition of the Krone newspaper Austria would beef up its borders 'very soon' and added the move was 'indispensable if the inflow into Italy does not ease'.

The move prompted Italy's foreign ministry to summon the Austrian ambassador on Tuesday.

The ministry said the move followed 'the declarations of the Austrian government concerning the deployment of troops to the Brenner Pass' on the border.

The vehicles were sent on the weekend and paves the way for a similar system as is seen on its eastern border.

Migrants stand on the deck of the Swedish Navy ship Bkv 002, as they wait to disembark in the Sicilian harbor of Catania, Italy, Saturday, July 1

In 2015, Austria introduced checks on the border with Hungary and the new measures would affect the country's Brenner Pass.

This year alone, more than 100,000 migrants have arrived in Europe by sea, according to the UN refugee agency.

It prompted Italy to beg other European countries to accept migrant ships and threatened to close its ports as the nation struggles to deal with record numbers.

Refugee arrivals are up nearly 19 per cent over the same period last year and Rome has threatened to close its ports to privately-funded aid boats or insist that funding be cut to EU countries which fail to help.

Italian interior minister Marco Minniti has now urged his French and German counterparts to discuss a 'coordinated response' to Italy's migrant crisis.

It comes as it emerged that 69 migrants have died off the Costa del Sol trying to make the perilous crossing to southern Spain - a route increasingly being used by people desperate to enter Europe.

Vincent Cochetel, the UNHCR's special envoy for the central Mediterranean, told reporters in Geneva: 'This is not sustainable. We need to have other countries joining Italy and sharing that responsibility.'

The issue has reared its head ahead of elections in Austria set for October with the anti-immigration far-right party tipped to do well.
The father of a six-year-old boy treated by the same US doctor offering to help Charlie Gard said today: 'If my son was in the UK he'd be dead'.

Art Estopinan, from Baltimore, claims Donald Trump 'saved' ten-month-old Charlie by offering him free care because his doctors were about to switch off his life support.

Mr Estopinan's son Art Jr was given two months to live in 2011 and could only move his eyes but six years later he can move his hands, fingers, feet and arms and is a 'strong and happy boy'.

He appeared on ITV's Good Morning Britain and was involved in a row with the show's GP Dr Hilary Jones who said the cases were different, adding: 'Sometimes real parental love is letting go'.

A furious Mr Estopinan said: 'Charlie Gard is a human being who deserves the chance to live', adding: 'What right do you have to play God? What this guy is saying is false - you sir are 100 per cent wrong'.

Charlie Gard would need Great Ormond Street doctors to waive their legal ban won in London and Strasbourg to allow him to fly to America for treatment.

Mr Estopinan's son Art Jr was given two months to live in 2011 but says the US doctor offering to help Charlie saved him and he has a happy life

Art has a similar but not identical mitochondrial depletion syndrome to Charlie and was the first person ever to receive the experimental and pioneering nucleoside therapy

Family photos and video (pictured) show him moving in a special wheelchair, sitting around the dinner table and playing in the son

Now the Pope offers Charlie Gard treatment at his personal hospital The Pediatric Hospital Bambino Gesu (pictured) The Pope's own Roman hospital has today offered to care for Charlie Gard to prevent Great Ormond Street Hospital ending his life. The ten-month-old's defiant parents Connie Yates and Chris Gard have told supporters they are 'still fighting' to save him. Theresa May is today facing increasing pressure to make a 'moral' intervention after the US President and the Pope gave their support as doctors prepare to turn off his life support. The Pontiff also tweeted: 'To defend human life, above all when it is wounded by illness, is a duty of love that God entrusts to all'. Today the Vatican's Pediatric Hospital Bambino Gesu, known as the 'Pope's Hospital', has offered to take Charlie Gard from Great Ormond Street. President of the hospital, Mariella Enoc, tweeted that the Holy Fathers own words in support of Charlie 'sum up our mission'. She said: 'I have asked the health director to check with Great Ormond Street Hospital if there are sanitary conditions for an eventual transfer of Charlie to our hospital. We know that the case is desperate'. Advertisement

He explained: 'The doctor in the US who saved my son has a plan to treat Charlie. I trust [the doctor] with my son's life and he says there's hope for Charlie. If there's treatment that can help him then he deserves that chance'.

Yesterday Donald Trump joined the Pope in vowing to help the desperately ill baby boy as British doctors prepare to withdraw his life-support.

Mr Estopinan said: 'President Trump has saved him. He was set to die yesterday morning', adding Mr Trump's administration had paid attention to Art Jr's recovery and through him became aware of Charlie's plight.

Art and his wife and Olga believe that their six-year-old son Art Jr 'would surely be dead by now' if he was in the UK.

He was given experimental treatment by the same American doctor who wants to see Charlie.

Art has a similar but not identical mitochondrial depletion syndrome to Charlie and was the first person ever to receive the experimental and pioneering nucleoside therapy.

Family photos and video show him moving in a special wheelchair, sitting around the dinner table and playing in the son.

Mr Estopinan said: 'I have been to meet Charlie's parents - we are connected - we are one family'.

President Trump risked a diplomatic row yesterday by declaring Americas support for saving Charlie Gard.

He joined the Pope in vowing to help the desperately ill baby boy as British doctors prepare to withdraw his life-support.

Charlies parents have raised 1.3million from the public to fund experimental treatment in the United States.

But Washington sources said yesterday that the American hospital and doctor had agreed to waive their fees.

Last night, Charlies parents Connie Yates, 31, and Chris Gard, 32, said the support of the Pope and the US President had left them overwhelmed with emotion.

Art Estopinan, from Baltimore, (left) who has a son with a similar condition to Charlie Gard was upset when Dr Hilary (right) suggested it can be kinder to let an unwell child die

Art and his wife and Olga (right) believe that their six-year-old son Art Jr 'would surely be dead by now' if he was in the UK.

The six-year-old boy has gained some movement after getting the nucleoside therapy being denied to Charlie

CAN PRESIDENT TRUMP HELP CHARLIE GARD? As Donald Trump weighed in on the fight to save British baby Charlie Gard on Monday, Theresa May is facing pressure to intervene. Her spokesman said yesterday it would be 'inappropriate' to discuss the 'delicate case'. Without her support the US president would not have the authority to go over the European Court of Human Rights to try to keep the boy alive. Charlie's parents have been told by Europe's highest court that his life support must be switched off soon, a decision they have been desperately fighting to avoid. President Donald Trump has offered to help dying British baby Charlie Gard - but whether or not he can is under consideration Great Ormond Street doctors would have to change their minds about letting him travel to the US. On Monday, White House officials revealed that a doctor and hospital in the US has offered their services to the boy if his parents can get him here. While the president himself has not spoken to the family, members of the administration have and they have been aided by the UK government which has taken a hands-off public approach to the subject. DailyMail.com understands that if the boy is able to arrive in the US with his family, the treatment will be carried out free of charge. The answer to whether or not this is a reality lies in the UK. The first factor is that London's Great Ormond Street Hospital is allowed to withdraw his care (i.e. turn off the ventilator keeping him alive) when it sees fit. Following the European court's decision, the hospital's doctors said they were in no rush to do so and were giving the family more time together. If the US is to intervene, it will have to do so before those doctors turn off Charlie's ventilator. In 2014, Ashya King's parents were arrested for neglect after taking him out of hospital in the UK to seek alternative treatment abroad The second issue is that of the legal ramifications his family will face if they flout the European court's rulings. It is not abundantly clear where the jurisdiction lies with punishing Mr. and Mrs. Gard. Solicitors for the family were working with British officials and the White House on Tuesday to try to untangle find an answer to this question. The family's ordeal reignites the debate on who should have final say over a sick child's life. It was an issue which sparked global debate in 2014 when another the parents of five-year-old British boy Ashya King removed him from Southampton General Hospital against doctors' advice to seek alternative therapy to treat his brain cancer in Prague. Brett and Naghemeh King wanted Ashya to undergo proton beam therapy which was not available in the UK. The couple was arrested in Malaga, Spain, and were accused of neglect. They later had the charges dropped and were allowed to take their son the Czech Republic to receive the treatment. He is now cancer free and back at school. Three proton beam therapy centers, funded by Proton Partners International, are now under construction in the UK and will accept both private healthcare and NHS patients. Advertisement

The US President tweeted: 'If we can help little Charlie Gard, as per our friends in the UK and the Pope, we would be delighted to do so'

Miss Yates responded to Mr Trump's offer of free treatment by saying they are 'still fighting' for their son

They are spending the final days of their sons life with him, after being given extra time to say their goodbyes.

Chris Gard and Connie Yates are spending the last days of their ten-month-old son Charlie's life with him at hospital in London

The White House said President Trump was trying to be helpful, but his intervention in a tweet yesterday afternoon is a challenge to British and European judges who have ruled that Charlie  who was born 11 months ago today  must be allowed to die.

His parents desire to take him to the US has have been blocked by the High Court, Appeal Court, Supreme Court and European Court of Human Rights, which backed Great Ormond Street doctors who say he has no hope and should be allowed to die.

Charlie is thought to be one of only 16 children in the world with mitochondrial depletion syndrome, which causes progressive muscle weakness and brain damage.

He has irreversible brain damage, his lungs cannot function without a ventilator, and he cannot see, hear, move, cry or swallow. Yesterday President Trump ordered White House officials to make contact with Charlies family, and tweeted: If we can help little #CharlieGard, as per our friends in the UK and the Pope, we would be delighted to do so.

But his intervention was met with exasperation in some quarters of Whitehall, with No10 calling it a delicate case.

The Ministry of Justice said court rulings against Charlies parents were made by an independent judiciary and there was no basis to challenge them. Prime Minister Theresa Mays spokesman said: This is a very delicate case and it would be inappropriate to discuss it further at this stage. Our thoughts are with Charlie and his family.

Charlie's parents desperately wanted their son (pictured) to undergo treatment in America - Mr Trump says he can secure it of they can get to the US

President Trumps tweet, which was liked 40,000 times within two hours, came after Pope Francis offered his own backing.

The Vatican said the Pope is following with affection and sadness the case of little Charlie Gard and expresses his closeness to his parents. For this he prays that their wish to accompany and treat their child until the end is not neglected. Last night a White House spokesman said: Upon learning of baby Charlie Gards situation, President Trump has offered to help the family in this heart-breaking situation.

Although the President himself has not spoken to the family  he does not want to pressure them in any way  members of the administration have spoken to the family in calls facilitated by the British government.

The President is just trying to be helpful if at all possible. A spokesman for Charlies parents, of Bedfont, west London, said: Chris and Connie are overwhelmed with emotion that President Trump and the Pope have spoken publicly of their support.

Their kind words have given them so much comfort. They remain at Charlies bedside and his condition remains stable. They released a new photograph of the family together as supporters around the world calling themselves Charlies Army demanded another chance for their son.

'If he's still fighting, we're still fighting': Charlie Gard's parents post defiant message from his bedside

Last night the ten-month-old's mother Miss Yates said on Facebook after Mr Trump's intervention: 'If he's still fighting, we're still fighting!!! Xxx'.

But critics have accused Mr Trump of offering 'false hope' to Charlie's family who face losing their son after exhausting their legal battle with Great Ormond Street, who will not accept that travelling to the US is in Charlie's best interests.

Dr Sarah Wollaston, the Tory chairman of the Commons Health Select Committee, said the US President was 'wrong' to offer the treatment and said it was a 'political decision' as he tries to dismantle Obamacare.

But Charlie's parents, who won an 11th hour reprieve for their son on Friday, still hope the Prime Minister will intevene.

Chris Gard and Connie Yates released this new picture of their son Charlie and are 'overwhelmed' after Donald Trump and the Pope offered their support

Charlie's supporters including Cher have called on Charlie to be allowed to fly to America - with some tweeting Mrs May directly urging her to intervene

In a statement their spokesman said: 'Chris and Connie are overwhelmed with emotion that President Trump and the Pope have spoken publicly of their support.

'Their kind words have given them so much comfort. They remain at Charlie's bedside and his condition remains stable.'

But they also released a new photograph of the family together as supporters around the world demanded another chance for their son.

Overnight members of the so-called 'Charlie's Army' urged Great Ormond Street to drop their case and allow him to fly to the US.

And many tweeted the Prime Minister directly, including pop star Cher who said: 'If the US can save precious Charlie Gard then send him to us!'

Sarah Veaney tweeted: 'Ironic how the USA leader @realDonaldTrump gets involved but @theresa_may the U.K leader hasn't! Same old!'.

Paulina Sagan wrote to Mrs May and said: 'I urge you to get involved. Not sure what to do? LISTEN TO THE WORLD! It speaks for Charlie!'

Karen Stevenson tweeted her: 'Trump and Pope Francis have spoken out for Charlie Gard. Where is your voice?'

And Natalie Dent said: 'Thanks @realDonaldTrump for your support - @theresa_may do the right thing and #savecharliegard'.
This is the moment a former British wrestler accused of battering his ex-partner to death in Gran Canaria grappled with police as he was taken back to his home.

Jimmy Breaks was arrested last Friday on suspicion of killing 47-year-old mother-of-two Donna Cowley after she died in hospital following an alleged assault.

The 80-year-old ex-TV star appeared to grapple with officers as he was bundled into a car after being hauled out of a prison on the island and driven to his apartment in the holiday resort of Puerto Rico.

He appeared shell-shocked and confused as he was led into the ocean-view property ahead of a fingertip search by forensic experts drafted in following the death of his on-off girlfriend.

Pictures captured the moment former British wrestler Jimmy Breaks (centre), accused of battering his ex-partner to death in Gran Canaria, grappled with police as he was taken back to his home

The 80-year-old ex-TV star appeared to grapple with officers as he was bundled into a car after being hauled out of a prison on the island and driven to his apartment in the holiday resort of Puerto Rico

Pictured left: Donna Cowley, 47, who died in Gran Canaria on Friday. Right: Jimmy Breaks, who is being held on suspicion of her murder

Pictured: One-time wrestling pro Jimmy Breaks, who was British Lightweight champion from 1963 to 1967

He shuffled down steps leading to the flat after refusing a piece of cardboard offered to him by officers to cover up his face from waiting TV crews and reporters.

But he appeared fighting fit as he was taken away after just half an hour inside and a brief reconstruction of the events leading up to Donna's death.

He was almost lifted off his feet off by two officers either side of him as he appeared to struggle while being rushed up steps to a waiting unmarked Peugeot 307 police car.

One of the Civil Guard pair marching him to the vehicle looked like he was wrestling with Breaks, known as Cry Baby in the ring, as he grabbed him by his shirt sleeve to force him onto the back seat.

He was almost lifted off his feet off by two officers either side of him as he appeared to struggle while being rushed up steps to a waiting unmarked Peugeot 307 police car

At one point during the struggle his black trousers fell down to expose his underpants

At one point during the struggle his black trousers fell down to expose his underpants.

The expat, arrested last Friday on suspicion of killing Donna after she died in hospital following an alleged assault by Breaks, shouted out: 'Will you help me' before being driven away.

The ex-wrestler's dramatic return to his apartment came after an army of police and court officials headed to his 130,000 flat overlooking the Atlantic for the first time since it was sealed up and made a crime scene following Donna's death last Friday morning.

He was driven from Gran Canaria prison Salto del Negro where he has been languishing since Saturday - and kept waiting for half an hour inside the vehicle before emerging from behind its blacked-out windows.

The court officials who went into his property included the investigating judge who remanded him in prison on Saturday, 24 hours after jobless bar worker Donna's death in hospital.

Pictured: Jimmy Breaks holding down a rival during a wrestling match

Breaks (pictured in the ring) was a highly successful wrestler, losing his British Lightweight title for the last time in 1984 after being defeated by Steve Grey

Pictured: An advert for a fight between Breaks and Strongman Dennison in Southend-on-Sea

Breaks' timeshare sales worker son Gary, who let the officials including forensics experts dressed in white overalls into his father's flat, declined to comment.

Last night it emerged Breaks, known as Cry Baby in the ring, faces dying in jail after being warned he could be sentenced to up to 19 years in jail if he is convicted of Donna's homicide.

A homicide conviction carries a maximum 15 year jail sentence in Spain.

Breaks is also being investigated for allegedly undermining the authority of the law - following what the Spanish Civil Guard have described as an act of 'active resistance' after he was taken into custody.

That offence carries a maximum four year prison sentence.

Pictured: Breaks going up against a masked opponent in the ring

Donna's autopsy results have not been made public, but well-placed sources have said the investigating judge's decision to remand Breaks in jail on suspicion of killing the expat point to a link between the alleged assault and her death.

Yorkshire-born Donna called police to the apartment they shared just after midnight on Friday and cops reportedly found Breaks watching the TV on his sofa while she was tending to her wounds in the bathroom.

She died in a hospital in the island capital Las Palmas later the same day as medics were preparing to take X-rays to confirm the extent of her injuries.

Donna moved to Gran Canaria more than 20 years ago with Breaks after working for him at a pub he owned in Bradford.

She fell on hard times after succumbing to drink problems when her love of partying started to take its toll and seeing her health problems, which included asthma and diabetes, spiral.

She emigrated after splitting with her husband and leaving her two young children in the care of her parents. Her daughter subsequently died on Christmas Day 2005 in tragic circumstances aged just 17.

Victim: Donna Cowley, 47, died nearly 24 hours after the alleged assault at an apartment in the holiday resort of Puerto Rico in the south of Gran Canaria. Pictured: A file photograph of the island

Breaks reportedly confessed to assaulting Donna during his behind-closed-doors court quiz on Saturday and told a judge she was acting as his carer when she died and they were not an item.

He has not yet been formally charged with any crime, as is normal in Spain where charges are only laid shortly before trial.

Friend Suzie Wong, who paid an emotional Facebook tribute to Donna after her death, said 'Donna always managed to stay so happy, regardless of what she was going through in life.

'She was a beautiful person with no badness whatsoever inside her.

'She was only living with Breaks because she had no money and nowhere else to stay, simple as that. She didn't deserve what happened to her.'
A policeman and father of two has a 'long road to recovery' after he was allegedly kicked in the face by a teenager in Sydney's north.

The 37-year-old NSW Police officer, who's now in a stable condition, was among three officers allegedly injured by the 16-year-old boy.

Two teenagers have charged on Tuesday with a raft of offences over the alleged attack.

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A 16-year-old boy was taken into custody and is currently assisting police with their inquiries at Ryde Police Station after he allegedly attacked a police officer

Blood stains are seen on the road-side in Sydney's north after a police officer was allegedly kicked in the face by a teenager on Monday night

Paramedics are pictured wheeling the officer into the back of an ambulance following the attack. He remains in hospital in a stable condition

Police officers remained at the scene in Marsfield, Sydney's north, investigating the alleged attack about 10pm

Police were called to the area after reports a group of youths assaulted two security guards at Macquarie shopping centre, he said.

The 16-year-old was approached by a dog squad officer at a nearby intersection at around 10pm and allegedly became agitated, with four officers needed to detain the boy.

The teen then allegedly kicked the 37-year-old in the face, causing the officer to hit his head on the pavement.

'Policing is a dangerous job, it can be violent, it can be unpredictable,' Det Supt Duncan said.

The 16-year-old was contrained and taken into custody by police officers called to the scene

Paramedics assessed the dog squad officer at the scene before taking him to hospital. Police say he is facing a 'long road to recovery'

Det Supt Duncan spoke to the officer, who is in Royal North Shore Hospital, on Tuesday afternoon and the thoughts went out to his wife and two young sons, both under five.

'He's a lovely young officer... our thoughts and best wishes are with him and his speedy recovery,' he said.

The 16-year-old is in custody and currently assisting police with their inquiries at Ryde Police Station.

The teenager was charged with cause grievous bodily harm to police officer on duty, assault officer in execution of duty, affray, resist officer in execution of duty, two counts of common assault, and use offensive language in/near public place.

Police will allege the teen allegedly assaulted two security guards at a nearby shopping centre prior to being spoken to by police.

He was refused bail to appear at a childrens court on Wednesday.

Officers cornered off parts of the road where the alleged attack occured to investigate the incident

Police have said 'Policing is a dangerous job, it can be violent, it can be unpredictable'

'I saw one police officer in the gutter he seemed to be fairly badly injured, head wounds by the look of it,' witness Anthony Elgood (pictured) said
This is the shocking moment a woman is thrown 60 feet along a road after being hit by a car on a zebra crossing.

The unnamed woman was walking across a pedestrian crossing in the city of Biysk, in central Russias Altai Krai region, when she was hit by a speeding silver car and the horror crash was caught on CCTV.

As she crosses the road, one car just misses her, passing behind her, but a second later she is clattered by an overtaking vehicle which sends her somersaulting through the air before crashing down onto the tarmac and sliding across the road.

The overtaking car leaves the first lane and passes into the second lane, seemingly unaware there is a woman walking in the middle of the road

She went over the bonnet and skidded across the road in front of the vehicle, travelling an estimated 60 feet (20 metres).

Her dress was ripped by the impact, leaving her sprawled in the middle of the road barely clothed and badly injured with multiple fractures.

CCTV footage shows the moment she is hit by the car.

Having already crossed one carriageway and a tram railway line, the woman attempts to navigate the second carriageway.

Although cars are meant to stop to allow pedestrians to cross, about 22 percent of drivers in larger cities and 32 percent of drivers in smaller cities fail to do so, so she risks stepping out into the road with a car coming towards her.

As she crosses the first lane, an overtaking car slams into her in the middle of the second lane sending her spiralling through the air.

Remarkably, she is still conscious after the impact and can be seen trying to get up to her feet but only managing to get to her knees.

The woman tries to crawl but cannot stand by herself.

The impact sent the woman somersaulting through the air and she eventually stops 60 feet from where she was hit

Witnesses gather around the woman, who suffered multiple injuries as a result of the horror crash

In the clip, the driver of the vehicle can be seen rushing out to help her before going back into his car, seemingly to call the emergency services.

A group of onlookers can also be seen rushing to help her.

The woman was sent to hospital with bruises, a concussion and multiple fractures.

It was not known whether police have launched an investigation into the incident.
A key Jeremy Corbyn ally has warned MPs who refuse to follow the left-winger's agenda should accept de-selection as the Labour civil war reignited.

Chris Williamson, who won back his Derby North seat last month as the Labour leader led an unexpected surge, said MPs must back Mr Corbyn.

De-selection - where local Labour parties sack sitting MPs to stop them running for re-election - is deeply contentious among Labour MPs who see it as punishment.

But in a signal the division which almost destroyed Mr Corbyn's leadership continues, Mr Williamson insisted it was the price to pay for continued defiance.

Chris Williamson (pictured on ITV News) said MPs must back Jeremy Corbyn's agenda or face de-selection by party members

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn (pictured addressing a rally in Sussex on Saturday) appointed Mr Williamson, who is a close ally, to his front bench team yesterday

He told ITV News: 'MPs need to reflect the political programme that is overwhelmingly supported by Labour members and Labour supporters and if people aren't prepared to do that then it will be up to members in their local constituencies to find someone else who will.'

The MP's new intervention came after he warned critics of Mr Corbyn to 'bend the knee' in the aftermath of the election.

Mr Corbyn faced a full-blown revolt by his MPs in the 18 months ahead of the general election as most believed he had no hope with the electorate.

But when the election came on June 8, Labour's vote surged to 40 per cent.

Mr Williamson told the New Statesman: 'They should be down on their bended knees and apologising, in fact.

LABOUR'S NEW APPOINTMENTS DEFRA: David Drew, Holly Lynch Home Affairs: Nick Thomas Symonds, Chris Williamson, Afzal Khan, Louise Haigh Scotland: Paul Sweeney Justice: Gloria De Piero, Imran Hussain International Development: Roberta Blackman Woods Transport: Rachael Maskell, Karl Turner Treasury: Anneliese Dodds Housing: Tony Lloyd, Melanie Onn Women and equalities: Carolyn Harris Defence: Gerald Jones Local Government: Yvonne Fovargue Education: Tracey Brabin Wales: Chris Ruane Advertisement

'Not just to Jeremy but to the entire Labour movement.'

In a signal of the support for Mr Williamson at the top of the party, Ian Lavery - Mr Corbyn's new party chairman - yesterday offered his endorsement as the Derby North MP was made a shadow minister.

Mr Lavery: 'Chris is a first class MP and a true representative of his constituency.

'He has a reputation as being no fan of neoliberalism and his appointment is a sign that the days of free market Thatcherism are coming to an end.'

Mr Corbyn yesterday snubbed Labour's centrist 'big beasts' in his frontbench reshuffle after his allies reportedly warned there will be 'no jobs for traitors' in the top team.

The Labour leader announced 20 MPs he is promoting to shadow ministerial posts, but failed to bring back moderates such as Yvette Cooper and Chuka Umunna.

The Tories accused Mr Corbyn of scraping together a frontbench of 'has-beens' after it emerged that six of the new shadow ministers have previously quit his frontbench in protest at his leadership and policies.

Gloria De Piero and Melanie Onn return to the frontbench a year after joining the mass resignation of shadow ministers in the wake of the EU referendum in June 2016.

Labour chairman Ian Lavery (pictured centre launching a poster in the election campaign) yesterday endorsed Mr Williamson as a 'first class MP'

Ms De Piero, who last year told Mr Corbyn she was quitting because she did not believe he could deliver victory, takes a post in the justice team while Ms Onn becomes a housing spokeswoman.

Holly Lynch takes an environment brief less than a year after resigning as an opposition whip in protest at the sacking of Rosie Winterton as chief whip.

While Rachael Maskell joins the transport team five months after quitting the frontbench to defy a three-line whip and vote against the invocation of Article 50 to take Britain out of the EU.

Tory MP Luke Hall MP said: 'This reshuffle was forced on Jeremy Corbyn because of the chaos within the Labour Party which saw 49 of his own MPs defy him over Brexit.

'Labour are so divided that Corbyn is resorting to appointing a string of 'has-beens' who have previously resigned or been sacked from his frontbench. The rest have only been in parliament for a few weeks.

'He likes to call this a government-in-waiting but in reality they are a chaotic shambles that can't wait to borrow billions of pounds and put up taxes on working people.'

John McDonnell (pictured on an anti austerity demonstration in London on Saturday) reportedly said that there will be 'no jobs for traitors' ahead of the frontbench shake-up

The rebuff to Labour moderates comes amid fears the party's left-wing leadership will use their new-found grip on the party to purge moderates and promote allies.

John McDonnell has reportedly told party colleagues there will be 'no jobs for traitors'.

Mr Corbyn has been forced to hunt for more MPs to plug his frontbench after four of his team joined a humiliating rebellion against the Labour leader in Parliament last week.

Catherine West, Andy Slaughter and Ruth Cadbury were all sacked from the frontbench after joining rebels to vote for the amendment to the Queen's Speech calling for the UK to stay in the single market after Brexit.

Daniel Zeichner quit as shadow transport minister just before the vote.
Prison terms for those found guilty of negligent manslaughter are set to double in the wake of the Grenfell Tower and Hillsborough disasters.

Judges will be told to issue jail time of up to 18 years by the Sentencing Council, with the current lack of guidelines meaning most terms are set below 10 years.

As a result of the proposals, those who were motivated by financial gain or aware that their actions were likely to cause harm will face the harshest sentences.

The charge is used to prosecute those who have failed in a duty of care and caused a person's death, and can include parents, carers and employers.

In 2016, an inquest into the 1989 Hillsborough tragedy ruled that the 96 Liverpool fans who died had been unlawfully killed, partly due to the actions of police on the day

It was announced that David Duckenfield (pictured), the police officer in charge on the day of the Hillsborough disaster in 1989, would be charged with gross negligent manslaughter

New rules surrounding manslaughter are set to be introduced next year and will apply to historical cases, the Daily Telegraph reports.

It was announced last week that David Duckenfield, the police officer in charge on the day of the Hillsborough disaster in 1989, would be charged with gross negligent manslaughter.

In 2016, an inquest into the tragedy ruled that the 96 Liverpool fans who died had been unlawfully killed, partly due to the actions of police on the day.

Meanwhile, it was revealed last month that similar charges were being considered in the aftermath of the Grenfell Tower fire in west London, which killed at least 80.

Everyone from local politicians who ignored warnings to contractors who fitted flammable cladding can expect to be questioned.

Former Director of Public Prosecutions Sir Keir Starmer told BBC1s Andrew Marr Show: There are prosecutors already in, advising the police.

'There are wider regulatory offences, but I think manslaughter is the most serious and thats the one that needs to be looked at first.
President Trump has been blasted for requesting sensitive voter data as 41 states ruled out handing the information over.

So far just three states - Colorado, Tennessee and Missouri - have agreed, while three more are considering it and another three say they have not received the request.

Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh was particularly scathing in his refusal, calling the request illegal and 'repugnant'.

In total 41 out of 50 states say they will not comply with a request for voter information after Trump set up a commission to investigate his claims of fraud in the 2016 election

Brian Frosh, the Maryland Attorney General, said the request was 'designed only to intimidate voters and indulge President Trump's fantasy that he won the popular vote'

In a statement, Mr Frosh said the request was 'designed only to intimidate voters and indulge President Trump's fantasy that he won the popular vote'.

He added: 'Repeating incessantly a false story of expansive voter fraud, and then creating a commission to fuel that narrative, does not make it any more true.

'There is no evidence that the 2016 election in Maryland - or any other state - was compromised by voter fraud.'

The President has repeatedly alleged that millions of people voted illegally in the 2016 election, saying he would have won the popular vote had these ballots been discounted.

As the records stand, Trump lost the popular vote to Hillary Clinton by almost 3million, the largest margin of any candidate who went on to win the presidency.

Trump has since piled pressure on states to comply with his request, accusing those who refused of 'trying to hide' something.

Only Colorado, Missouri and Tennessee have said they are willing to comply with part of the President's request, which was launched via executive order back in May.

Mr Frosh issued a statement on Monday, saying 'there is no evidence that the integrity of the election in Maryland - or any other state - was compromised by voter fraud'

Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, vice chair of Trump's commission, penned the request for data including full names, dates of birth, party affiliation and social security information

Florida, Idaho and Nebraska were still considering the request on Monday afternoon, according to CNN, while Hawaii, New Jersey and Wyoming did not return the news channel's request for comment.

Seven states say they have yet to receive a letter from the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity, but four have already ruled out complying.

Information being sought by the commission includes registrants' full names, addresses, dates of birth, political parties, the last four digits of their social security numbers, a list of the elections they voted in since 2006, information on any felony convictions, information on whether they were registered to vote in other states, their military status, and whether they lived overseas.

Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, vice chairman of the commission, has said he is only requesting information if it is already publicly available.

Even the states that welcomed the request have refused to provide social security information, while others said they consider birth dates and party affiliations private.

Trump has piled pressure on states refusing to comply with the request - accusing them of 'trying to hide' something

Frosh is far from the only person to criticise the request.

Mississippi's Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann, a Republican, told the commission 'they can go jump in the Gulf of Mexico, and Mississippi is a great state to launch from.'

Louisiana Secretary of State Tom Schedler, also Republican, added: 'My response to the Commission is, you're not going to play politics with Louisiana's voter data, and if you are, then you can purchase the limited public information available by law, to any candidate running for office. That's it.'

Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe, a Democrat, echoed Frosh's criticisms of Trump, saying: 'At best this commission was set up as a pretext to validate Donald Trump's alternative election facts, and at worst is a tool to commit large-scale voter suppression.'
Two men have been extradited to Spain over the death of a British man found dead with his genitals forced into a can of tuna in Malaga.

Homeless Steven Allford, originally from London, was found dead on a bench near the city's airport in October with his trousers around his ankles and ham on his buttocks.

Police investigating the 51-year-old's 'humiliating' death have detained two men in Finland bringing the total number of arrests made in the case to four. However, a fifth man, of British nationality, is still being sought and a European warrant has been issued for his arrest.

Steven Allford was found dead on a bench outside Malaga Airport in October, pictured

A post-mortem revealed Mr Allford choked to death on his own vomit after a drinking session but prosecutors investigating possible manslaughter say he was tied up with straps and they believe this stopped him from saving himself.

At one stage, a video showing the alleged incident appeared on Facebook but was later removed as evidence.

A Finnish man was arrested shortly afterwards by the police in Finland who had seen the footage.

Then, in February, Spanish police arrested another suspect, a 58-year-old Irish vagrant in Algeciras.

He was found inside a tent hidden in a refuge made out of several abandoned cars.

Police investigating the 51-year-old's 'humiliating' death near Malaga Airport (file picture) have detained two men in Finland bringing the total number of arrests made in the case to four

The Sur in English newspaper say the police in Finland who saw the video have now arrested two more men in their country and they have already been extradited to Malaga. One was already in jail in Finland in connection with a different offence.

Both men were living rough on the Costa del Sol at the time of Mr Allford's death but have apparently told police what happened to him was 'only a joke'.

They were remanded in custody whilst investigations continue.

'One more man, from Britain, who also appears in the video is still being sought and a warrant has been issued for his arrest,' says the Spanish newspaper.

One theory about the circumstances of Mr Allford's death is that it followed a row over food with other homeless people sleeping rough outside the airport.

Little is known about his life or why he was homeless but it is understood he had only been in Spain for about a week and was trying to sort out proper accommodation.
Pictured: Conservative MP Craig Mackinlay, with his wife Kati, arrives at Westminster Magistrates' Court in London

A Conservative MP has appeared in court over charges that he fiddled his election expenses.

Craig Mackinlay is accused of offences under the Representation of the People Act 1983 alongside Marion Little, 62, and Nathan Gray, 28.

Last month the 50-year-old held on to the Kent seat of South Thanet with an increased majority of 6,387, just one week after it was announced he would be prosecuted.

Mackinlay, who gave his address as Ramsgate in Kent, arrived at Westminster Magistrates' Court, in London, this morning with his wife Kati.

The Crown Prosecution Service said the decision to press charges came after an investigation by Kent Police, concerning allegations relating to Conservative Party expenditure during the 2015 election campaign and before the June 11 statutory time limit on prosecutions.

In 2015, Mackinlay beat Nigel Farage, the then Ukip leader, into second place with a majority of almost 3,000.

Mackinlay faces two counts of making a false election expenses declaration while his election agent Gray, from Hawkhurst in Kent, faces one.

Campaign director Little, from Ware in Hertfordshire, faces three counts related to aiding Mackinlay and Gray in making false declarations.

Pictured: Nathan Gray and Marion Little arrive at Westminster Magistrates' Court in London

Pictured: Mackinlay reacts alongside former Ukip Leader Nigel Farage and FUKP candidate Al Murray, after winning his South Thanet seat in 2015

All three defendants indicated not guilty pleas when the charges were read to them.

The allegations are said to concern the costs of battle buses used to bring in activists and hotel accommodation.

Mackinlay has previously described the decision to charge him as 'very unfair'.

After his victory in June he thanked the public despite what he said were attempts to 'break my legs' ahead of the election.

The politician also claimed he had the full backing of Theresa May and that she told him the party believed the allegations were 'unfounded'.
Italy's unemployment crisis has been put under the spotlight once again as 85,000 people applied for just 30 jobs at a bank.

Bank of Italy in Rome advertised thirty deputy assistant roles at a junior wage of 28,000 (24,800) and received nearly 3,000 candidates for each post.

The crippling lack of work in the country means nearly 40 per cent of youngsters don't have a job and the overall figure is at 11 per cent.

The Bank of Italy in Rome where 85,000 people have applied for just thirty junior roles

Unemployment in the eurozone remained at the same level in May with the Eurostat statistics agency said the jobless rate across the 19 nations stayed at 9.3 percent.

Europe-wide, the unemployment rate is at its lowest level since March 2009, though the rate was up in trouble spots Italy and France.

Italy, with its economy shaken by recent banking failures, saw unemployment up from 11.2 percent to 11.3 percent.

It has left Italians scrambling for jobs they might not ordinarily feel obliged to apply for, including the roles at the state bank.

A man with a wad of 500 notes in his hand. One of the duties of the deputy assistants would be to feed cash into machines that separate genuine and counterfeit notes

One of the duties of the deputy assistants would be to feed cash into machines that separate genuine and counterfeit notes, according to The Telegraph.

The 85,000 applicants were eventually whittled down to a 8,000 shortlist.

All of those vying for the junior positions are academic first-class graduates, according to the paper.

They will now enter a rigorous recruitment process where they will be forced to sit an exam on statistics, mathematics, economics and English and will be subject to a second oral exam.

The thirty successful applicants, which make up just 0.35 percent of those who originally went for the jobs, will take up full-time employment next year - a sought-after position in Italy.

Labour laws in Italy make it difficult for employers to get rid of incompetent workers, meaning people are constantly chasing jobs in the public sector that come with benefits and pensions.

It has resulted in thousands of people at a time applying for relatively mundane jobs.

In 2015, 32,000 applied for 94 admin roles in Umbria.
The long-term business partner of MasterChef judge George Calombaris has quit just months after it was revealed 162 staff had been underpaid across three Melbourne restaurants.

George Sykiotis said this week he was ceasing his full-time involvement with MAdE Establishment, the company behind Hellenic Republic, Gazi and The Press Club.

In a letter to staff, Mr Sykiotis said he would keep his stake in the business but step away from current duties to spend more time with family, The Age reported.

The long-term business partner of MasterChef judge George Calombaris (pictured), George Sykiotis, has reportedly announced he is ceasing full-time involvement in MAdE Establishment

George Sykiotis (pictured), said he made the decision to step away from full-time duties to spend more time with his family

'The reason for this change is that my family, who have sacrificed so much for me over these years and have been such a great support, require more of me and it's now my turn to give back,' Mr Sykiotis reportedly told staff.

He has been with the company for the past 11 years, with his stake accounting for one-third of the business, along with Mr Calombaris and MAdE Establishment chairman Radek Sali.

Mr Sykiotis reportedly told staff he would now take on a consultative role across the business, while praising Mr Calombaris as 'one of the greatest people I have had the pleasure of sharing my life with'.

In early April, Mr Calombaris was forced to apologise after MAdE Establishment announced it had underpaid staff by a whopping $2.6 million.

The Age reported sources had claimed Mr Sykiotis' position had become 'untenable' after the pay issue became public which reportedly created tension between him and Mr Sali.

MAdE Establishment was advised by the Fair Work Ombudsman more than 18 months ago the 162 staff were being underpaid but they had to wait until April to receive their full entitlements.

MAdE Establishment is the company behind top Melbourne restaurants including Hellenic Republic (pictured)

Other restaurants operated by the business include Gazi and The Press Club (pictured)

The business, which confirmed the underpayments through internal and external analysis, put the matter down to 'historically poor processes'.

'We received a heads-up from FWO [Fair Work Ombudsman] more than 18 months ago, which should have resulted in us fixing our systems sooner,' Mr Calombaris said in an email to staff at the time.

'Regrettably, our attention to detail at that time wasn't at a level it should have been but we now have a CEO and Human Resources Manager in place, supported by good processes and systems to properly support the business.'

In May, The Age reported Melbourne man David Schreuder had that month filed a law suit against the Hellenic Republic restaurant in Kew, claiming he was infected with a norovirus while dining at the restaurant in 2014.

It came the same month Mr Calombaris was charged by NSW Police with the common assault of a 19-year-old man at Sydney's Allianz Stadium.
Terrifying images of young children playing chicken on a busy road have been released by police in a bid to stomp out the dangerous game.

The three youngsters, aged between four and nine, are pictured running in front of cars and lying in the middle of the road in Washington, Tyne and Wear.

The images, taken in Oxclose Road, near The Terraces in Columbia, were sent to police by local councillor Dianne Snowdon after local residents raised concerns.

Northumbria Police say officers are working to identify the children in the images so their parents can be spoken to about their reckless behaviour.

Terrifying images of young children playing chicken on a busy road have been released by police in a bid to stomp out the dangerous game

The three youngsters, aged between four and nine, are pictured running in front of cars and lying in the middle of the road in Washington, Tyne and Wear

They also want to remind people of the dangers of playing on and near busy roads.

Neighbourhood Inspector Vicky Quinn said: 'These images are shocking and truly unbelievable.

'The children, who appear to be very young, are risking their own safety and the safety of motorists and other road users by this reckless behaviour.

'Parents should know where their children are playing and what they are doing when they go out and make sure they are safe.

'We would urge all parents to speak to their children about the importance of road safety and being safe.'

Operation Dragoon is Northumbria Police's road safety initiative, which aims to educate all road users about road safety.

As part of the operation, police say activity packs have been handed out to schoolchildren to raise awareness.
A talented young rugby player died just eight days after being diagnosed with an aggressive form of leukaemia.

James O'Mara from Claines in Worcester, was described by his family as a 'fit and healthy' teenager when he suddenly fell ill.

The 13-year-old was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukaemia and despite nurses battling around the clock to save him, he died just over a week later.

James O'Mara, pictured with his mother, died just eight days after he was diagnosed with leukaemia

The 13-year-old aspiring rugby player was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukaemia and despite nurses battling around the clock to save him, he died just over a week later

James was a member of Droitwich Rugby Club and had recently started delivering his local paper to earn some pocket money.

He was taken to A&E on June 1 after feeling sick for several days. He had no pre-existing conditions and his family thought he had a sickness bug.

But doctors revealed the devastating news James had Acute Myeloid Leukaemia and he was immediately transferred to Birmingham Children's Hospital.

He was placed in intensive care and had chemotherapy but on June 8, his body 'couldn't fight anymore' and he passed away in hospital.

His aunt Amanda said their lives had 'changed for ever' following the tragedy.

James' family said liver had failed and his body was being poisoned leading to multi organ failure

The youngster passed away surrounded by his heartbroken family in hospital

During his time in hospital, he used 89 units of blood products and his family are now urging people to donate blood, platelets and plasma to help others

His aunt Amanda Tanner, 41, said: 'He was always laughing, joking and smiling - he didn't see the point in homework.

'He loved being outside doing anything that could be adventurous.'

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Writing on a memorial page for James, Ms Tanner said their lives had 'changed for ever' following the tragedy.

She wrote: 'For one week, whilst under sedation, he tried to battle against the odds with the help of the most amazing doctors and nurses medication and 89 units of blood products.

'One nurse performed a blood transfusion by hand, taking out with one syringe and putting in with another.

'The nurses worked 12 hour shifts and literally did not stop during that time.

'His liver had failed and his body was being poisoned leading to multi organ failure.'

James' family is now encouraging people to donate blood or platelets to help save lives.

They are also hoping to raise money for Birmingham Children's Hospital, Bloodwise and the Children's Liver Disease Foundation CLDF in his memory.

His aunt added: 'There are so many poorly children and adults that need blood and blood products such as platelets, it doesn't cost us anything to donate other than time - about one hour every three months and it really could save someone's life and give hope to families in situations like ours.

'We never would have imagined to have been in this position and can only thank all those many people that gave their blood and platelets that gave us hope.'
Brexit minster Steve Baker has said the EU is an 'obstacle' to peace and should be 'wholly torn down'.

He attacked the Brussels club which he said is 'incompatible' with a free society and has become a 'failure in its own terms'.

He said that far from promoting peace and free trade, the bloc has fuelled economic nationalism.

Speaking to The Libertarian Alliance think-tank, Mr Baker said: 'I think Ukip and the Better Off Out campaign lack ambition, I think the European Union needs to be wholly torn down.

Brexit Minister Steve Baker said the European Union should be 'torn down' because it has failed in its own goals of promoting peace and trade

'The thing is, of course, that is actually impractical unless the whole people of Europe can be persuaded to rise up and vote for politicians who are prepared, in a moderate and consistent and principled and gentle way, to say that the European Union project has only succeeded in raising economic nationalism to a continental scale.

'That was not its purpose, it was meant to defeat economic nationalism. It is therefore a failure inits own terms.'

Mr Baker, a long-time critic of the EU and a key player behind the Brexit campaign, was cheered as he made the comments to an audience.

The Wycombe MP added: 'If we wish to devolve power to the lowest possible level, make it accountable and move on into a free society, then it's clearly incompatible.

Brexit Secretary David Davis, pictured with EU negotiator Michel Barnier in Brussels last month, is leading the UK's talks on leaving the bloc

'What I want is free trade and peace among all the nations of Europe as well as the world and in my view the European Union is an obstacle to that.'

Mr Baker, who was filmed making the comments to an audience in 2010, was promoted to help lead Britain's departure from the bloc in the post-election reshuffle.

Britain kicked off formal Brexit talks by making a bold offer to allow the three million EU nationals living in the UK to stay after we leave the Brussels club.

Meanwhile, Labour are in disarray over their stance on leaving the EU after nearly 50 MPs defied Jeremy Corbyn to back a parliamentary vote calling for the UK to stay in the single market after Brexit.

Shadow ministers Andy Slaughter, Ruth Cadbury and Catherine West after they joined the rebellion, while Daniel Zeichner resigned from the frontbench shortly before the vote.

A spokesman for No10 said: 'Steve Baker was appointed to the job on merit.

'The PM has huge faith in his ability to work with colleagues.'
A tearful pensioner said she was 'made to feel like a criminal' after airline Thomas Cook was unable to give her a vital oxygen tank she needed to be able to fly.

Jean Knapp was travelling to Rhodes, Greece, with her husband Raymond from London Gatwick for a holiday to celebrate her 70th birthday.

However Mrs Knapp, who suffers from pulmonary hypertension and could have a heart attack without the extra oxygen, said she 'cried all the way home' after cabin crew quizzed her about the necessity of the tank and informed her it could not be found.

Jean Knapp (left) and her husband Raymond (right) had to cancel their holiday after Thomas Cook lost her vital oxygen tank she needs to fly

She had liased with the airline in the weeks leading up to her flight to make sure it would be on board when she flew. It was also on her boarding pass

In the days leading up to the trip, Mrs Knapp repeatedly travelled from her home in Andover, Hampshire, to London with her medical forms to make sure the oxygen tank would be on the plane.

But despite receiving confirmation from Thomas Cook, the pair were unable to fly on Tuesday, June 27 and forced to cancel their holiday.

Mrs Knapp said: 'I'm totally gutted. We won't get another holiday now.

'We were just told to get off the plane and go home. They made us feel like a pair of criminals.

'This trip was for my 70th birthday and it's all been ruined for my husband too.

'It's affected me this whole thing. I'll never be able to rely on them again.'

She added: 'I paid 200 for the medical clearance (MEDA) forms for Condor [part of the Thomas Cook group] and they told me they'd received the forms and would contact me on the June 20.

'Then I received a letter from Thomas Cook confirming that the oxygen cylinder would be on the flight. It was even on my boarding pass.

'I said can I have my oxygen now please and it was not there. We were belted into our seats and nobody could find it.

'Then they took me to the front of the plane and asked if I could travel without it, but I told them I'd have a heart attack.

Mrs Knapp said: 'We were just told to get off the plane and go home. They made us feel like a pair of criminals' (The pair are pictured on a previous holiday)

'The cabin crew staff member just said: "We don't really carry oxygen anyway because of an incident that occurred." They never told me any of this at the beginning.

'After that it was appalling. We were given no support. If they had said to me 'look, we are really sorry about this' [that would have been fine] but they didn't.

'My illness is life-threatening because I don't get enough oxygen from my lungs to my heart when I'm in the air.'

Following the six-hour journey back home to Andover, Mrs Knapp called Thomas Cook and the next day went into the store where she had originally booked the holiday.

She said: 'The next day I went into the Thomas Cook near where I live and the woman went "Oh hello" and she knew about us.

'When I got in, she was laughing and joking about it. We got a full refund but I don't know why she thought it was OK to laugh.

'She just said: "Oh, you've got the money back book, book something else."

'Something's got to be done. I should be sat on the beach now. We travelled miles and miles to the airport over six hours on the day of the flight.

She added: 'My illness is life-threatening because I don't get enough oxygen from my lungs to my heart when I'm in the air' (Mrs Knapp is pictured on a previous holiday)

'When we went to get our car out of the car park, the security people couldn't believe it.

'It was horrendous. I never expected this in my whole life and got no apology.'

After Thomas Cook were contacted for comment, they got in touch with Mrs Knapp to offer her a free holiday, but she claims she was unable to accept it.

A spokesperson for Thomas Cook said: 'We are sorry that we let Mrs Knapp down. Due to an aircraft change at short notice we were unable to provide the additional oxygen on board.

'Clearly this is not acceptable and we have investigated to make sure it doesn't happen again. We have fully refunded Mrs Knapp's trip and offered a gesture of goodwill.'

In response to the gesture of goodwill, Mrs Knapp said: 'Thomas Cook told me they've done a full investigation and they've admitted they are wrong.

'They were going to give me a holiday but I need time and space now to get my head around it. I'm not ready to go away now.

'It's unbelievable. They said we are responsible for everything that happened to you.

'They are going to come back with a money offer [as a gesture of goodwill] and I'll be booking a holiday with it.'
The German supermarket chain is ever-growing in popularity, for both their grocery range and their bi-weekly special buys.

And even more Australians will soon have access to the retailer, as Aldi announces the locations of five new stores in Sydney, which will open by Christmas.

The move is part of a greater expansion across Australia, with 60 stores set to open across the country this year, reported Seven News.

Sydney will welcome new stores in Narellan, Whetherill Park, Macarthur Square, Riverwood and Hillsdale.

Aldi has announced the locations of five new stores to open in Sydney before Christmas, as the retailer prepares to open in 60 new locations nationwide by the end of the year

The Narellan store was approved by council in May 2015, meaning it has been a long wait for locals.

Taking over land which previously held multiple businesses and two residences, the store will be built on more than 6000 square metres of land, the Macarthur Chronicle reported.

While things are looking rosy for the supermarket chain now, Aldi's smooth ride may be short lived.

Another German supermarket, Kaufland, are looking to expand to Australia, reported the Canberra Times.

Headquarters have been set up for the 'hypermarket' retailer in Melbourne, and Schwarz Group, who own Kaufland and Lidl, are scouting out areas to place their shops.

The Group are snapping up sites in Melbourne Adelaide and Brisbane at present, but will likely not be able to expand into Sydney as traditional supermarkets such as Woolworths and Coles have a stronghold over much of the market.
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Why did the chicken cross the road? Because an Austrian truck overturned spilling 7,000 of them out onto a busy motorway.

Emergency workers scrambled to an unusual operation when a transporter truck lost control on the A1 autobahn in Asten near Linz in the north of the country.

The result was thousands of hens escaping from their cages and wreaking havoc across the three lanes of the motorway.

Spitting feathers: The scene of the carnage as dozens of firemen attempt to scoop up the escaped chickens on the A1 autobahn in Asten near Lenz

He's cracked it: A firefighter in a helmet and an orange high-visibility jacket carries a chicken away from the hundreds of others on the motorway

Ruling the roost: One chicken trots along the feather-covered motorway under the noses of half a dozen firefighters who are tasked with the huge clean-up operation

Winging it: A firefighter, who has taken off his outer gloves but left his inners on, is faced with the unenviable task of trying to catch the loose chickens

Hen do: The chickens did not venture too far from the truck as they stood on top of the cages that had fallen onto the road

Beak-a-boo: Cages carrying the chickens are left strewn across the carriageway as the animals make the most of their new-found freedom by propping themselves up on the safety barriers and pecking at the ground in the hard shoulder

Falling fowl: Firemen remove chicken and transport boxes from the A1 highway in Asten near Linz, upper Austria, where a poultry truck caused traffic chaos after losing its freight on July 4

Dozens of emergency workers, including firefighters, were seen attempting to scoop up the escaped animals to try and get them all to safety.

Police told Emirates 24/7: 'Boxes containing dead and injured animals were strewn over a 160-metre stretch of road while thousands of chickens ran onto the motorway on both sides.'

The incident caused bedlam on the busy road, which is a popular commuter route into Vienna.

Police had to close one side of the motorway, but traffic jams stretched back on both sides as drivers slowed down to get a glimpse of the chaos.

The extent of the chickens' injuries have yet to be released.
A 22-year-old man has been charged with the murder of a traveller who was battered to death with a shovel in front of his parents at an M25 service station.

Simon Daniel Baker from Outwood near Redhill, appeared at Staines Magistrates Court yesterday and is due to appear via video link at the Old Bailey tomorrow.

Quhey Saunders, 20, a member of the travelling community in Stanford-le-Hope, Essex, was beaten to death at a service station in Cobham, Surrey, on Monday last week, according to witnesses.

Surrey Police have said they are still looking to trace second man in connection with the incident.

Quhey Saunders died after an altercation at the Shell petrol station at Cobham Services. He is pictured left and right with his girlfriend Larosa Smith

Police and a member of the public battled to save him but sadly he died on Wednesday

Ms Smith posted a heartbreaking tribute to him on Facebook after he was pronounced dead

Senior investigating officer Detective Chief Inspector Jo Hayes said yesterday: 'Exactly one week ago today, a young man was brutally attacked.

'Last Wednesday he sadly died of his injuries, and so we are visiting the scene again today to appeal to anyone who may have been there to come forward.

'I would like to identify everyone who visited this busy petrol station at Cobham Services between 3pm and 3.30pm on Monday 26 June.

'There were drivers refuelling their vehicles, and we'd like to speak to them. Eyewitnesses report people filming the incident on mobile phones, and we'd like to speak to them. And there was a second suspect seen leaving the scene in a white Peugeot Partner van. We'd like to speak to him.

'This would have been a traumatic event to witness, and I understand some people may feel confused or conflicted about coming forward. I want to reassure everyone that was there that we have trained officers waiting to speak to you  and your information could be vital in bringing the people responsible for this crime to justice.'

In the tribute, she wrote: 'He wasn't just my boyfriend he was my best friend, my full life'

After Mr Saunders died, his girlfriend, Larosa Smith, posted a heartbreaking tribute to Mr Saunders on social media on Wednesday, accompanied with photographs of him having fun with his friends.

She said: 'I'm so lost without him, knowing I can't just ring his phone and hear his voice or fall asleep on the phone like we did every night. Even when we'd argue we would ring each other and not talk, just go to sleep on the phone. It's the little things [that] mean the most.

'I love you with all my heart my Quhey.'

In the days leading up to his death, Miss Smith chronicled his progress while he was on life support at St George's Hospital in Tooting, London.

On Tuesday evening, heartbreakingly she wrote: 'A miracle will happen because I'm not ready to lose him after 5 years. He's not leaving me.'

Half an hour later, she added: 'The machine is still on' with a prayer emoji.

Ms Smith added: 'I'm so lost without him, knowing I can't just ring his phone and hear his voice or fall asleep on the phone like we did every night'

In a series of heartbreaking posts, Ms Smith has revealed the extent of her grief to her Facebook friends

She posted on Thursday that she 'keeps going through' her photographs of him with a broken heart emoji

Ms Smith chronicled the days leading up to his death on Facebook, writing about how she didn't want to leave Quhey's side

She later added photographs of him to her page and changed her profile picture to the pair kissing.

In the early hours of Wednesday morning, she wrote: 'Just got back from the hospital really didn't want to leave his side.

'My heart is broke. Everyone keep him in your prayers tonight, we need a miracle.'

But sadly, after she learned of his death, she poured her heart out to her Facebook friends, revealing her devastation over the loss of her 'Q'.

She wrote: 'R.I.P my baby I have no words to describe the way I feel right now I thought you'd broke my heart in the past but this is what a broken heart feels like.

'I really don't know how I'm gonna live without you. You was my everything.

'I lived every day for you. Everything I done was for you.

'You watched me grow from being 13 - five years with you now.

'I've got to go on by myself, we had our ups and downs, we've been through so much but I'd do it all again 50x over.

'I know you'll always be by my side, I know you'll never leave me, you'll always be there watching over me - watching every move I make.

'You put up a good fight - I'm so proud of you.

The 'horrific attack' took place at Cobham Services in Surrey on Monday last week. Mr Saunders died in hospital on Wednesday

Writing on social media, friend Shannon Crossley said: 'Rest in peace Quhey. Such a lovely boy. Taken far too soon'

'I love you more than anyone or anything in this full world. You'll never leave my side and I'll never love anyone like I love you .'

His brother Luke wrote on Facebook Quhey 'stole the show again' after donating his heart and accompanied it with a video of an air ambulance flying off into the distance.

He said: 'He's donated [his] heart to a young man that had no more than a couple of days to live and needed a heart transplant desperately.

'You got one last flight brother and went out in style. Your legacy will live forever my king - a legend never dies.'

Tributes have poured in for the man, who has been described as a 'lovely boy' and who joked about working as a male escort on his Facebook page.

Writing on social media, friend Shannon Crossley said: 'Rest in peace Quhey. Such a lovely boy. Taken far too soon. Life isn't fair. Heart goes out to his family & close friends.'

Hours before his death was announced, his friends and family posted supportive messages on Facebook hoping he would pull through.

Witness Rafael Francis, 53, was on his way to work for a delivery company at 3.15pm on Monday when he saw the fight break out.

Speaking to the Evening Standard, the retired soldier said: 'I don't know what started it, but there were lots of vicious punches and kicks being thrown. They were shouting about getting a gun, that's when I tried to get involved.'

He added that he could only watch as Mr Saunders started being hit in the head with a shovel but later on, his training 'kicked in' and he screamed for an ambulance while trying to stem the blood.

Mr Francis said: 'His mother kept asking me if I thought the boy was going to make it, I couldn't look her in the eye. There was just too much blood.'

Police are appealing for information about the drivers of this Peugeot Partner Van, registration NX63 VLP
North Korea on Tuesday said it had successfully tested an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), claiming the rocket had flown 933 kilometres for 39 minutes.

Experts say the missile could reach a maximum range of 6,700km on a standard trajectory, meaning it would be able to hit Darwin, which is 5,750km from Pyongyang.

David Wright, of the Union of Concerned Scientists, wrote on the organisation's allthingsnuclear blog that the available figures implied the missile 'could reach a maximum range of roughly 6,700 km on a standard trajectory'.

'That range would not be enough to reach the lower 48 states or the large islands of Hawaii, but would allow it to reach all of Alaska.'

North Korea on Tuesday said it had tested an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), prompting US experts to say the device could reach a maximum range of more than 6,000km - putting Darwin in the potential firing line

The Japanese government estimates that the missile (pictured above) fired from the North's western region flew for about 40 minutes, which would be longer than any other such previous reported tests

Darwin is less than 5,750km away from Pyongyang, meaning Australia could be in the firing line of North Korea's new missile, which experts say can travel 6,700km

Australia's Minister for Foreign Affairs, Julie Bishop, has condemned the ballistic test, labelling it 'provocative' and 'in breach of numerous United Nations Security Council resolutions'.

'North Korea continues to threaten its neighbours while undermining regional and global security,' she said.

'North Korea's long term interests would be best served by ceasing its nuclear and missiles programs and focusing on improving the lives of its long suffering people.'

The launch, which came as the United States prepared to mark its Independence Day, triggered a Twitter outburst from President Donald Trump who urged China to 'put a heavy move' on North Korea to 'end this nonsense once and for all'.

The North has long sought to build a rocket capable of delivering an atomic warhead to the continental United States - something that Trump has vowed 'won't happen'.

The launch marks a grave new phase in the country's decades-long weapons program.

In an announcement of the missile test, North Korean officials called the launch, which leader Kim Jong-un supervised, a 'glistening miracle'.

The test still may be the North's most successful yet; a weapons analyst says the missile could be powerful enough to reach Alaska

The 'landmark' test, believed to be pictured above, of a Hwasong-14 missile was overseen by leader Kim Jong-Un

Weapons experts in the United States said that the missile has the potential to reach areas of Alaska

The 'landmark' test of a Hwasong-14 missile was overseen by leader Kim Jong-Un, an emotional female announcer said on state Korean Central Television.

It reached an altitude of 1741 miles (2,802 kilometres) and flew 580 miles (933 kilometres) for 39 minutes, she added.

'The test-fire was conducted at the highest angle and did not have any negative impact on the safety of neighboring countries,' announcer Ri Chun-Hee, who previously told her loyal viewers of the deaths of the country's founder Kim Il-Sung and his son Kim Jong-Il, said.

NORTH KOREA CALLS ICBM TEST A 'GLISTENING MIRACLE' 'Our great leader Kim Jong Un sent a personally handwritten letter 2017, July 3rd, ordering the launch of an intercontinental ballistic rocket (Hwasong 14). 'The launch, that was personally supervised by the great leader KJU himself, will now be followed by the National Institute of Science's report. 'National Science Institute's Report: Intercontinental Ballistic Rocket Hwasong 14 was successful. 'Our dear leader KJU's strategic order was followed by a launch of an ICBM, and this was successfully processed. 'The newly developed ICBM Hwasong-14 was launched, and this took place on July 4, 2017 at 9am, and flew for 39 minutes. 'It flew from a northwestern city, and flew precisely following the predicted trajectory. It also reached precisely the targeted point in Chosun (Korean) air. 'Our intercontinental ballistic rocket did not at all bring negative impacts to any nearby country. 'Our intercontinental ballistic rocket reached a maximum altitude of 2,802 km, and flew for 933 kilometers. 'Our dear leader KJU was there to witness the glistening miracle.' 'The success of the last stage of becominga nuclear power state is developing an intercontinental ballistic missile. Hwason 14 shows the unwithering power of our state, our strong independence and defense in the world and will be marked as a significant mark in our history. 'North Korea, as a nuclear state capable of reaching any country in the world with our intercontinental ballistic rocket, will be able to root out the U.S's nuclear program once and for all, and bring peace and secure safety to the Chosun (Korean) peninsula.' Advertisement

'As the dignified nuclear power who possesses the strongest intercontinental ballistic rocket which is capable of hitting any part of the world along with the nuclear weapons, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) will fundamentally terminate the US nuclear war threats and blackmail and credibly protect the peace and stability of the Korean Peninsula and the region,' she added.

'Kim Jong Un, Supreme Leader of our party, state and the army, personally observed the process of the test-launch in field and solemnly declared before the world its shining success,' the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said in an accompanying article.

The report contradicted South Korean and US officials who earlier said Tuesday's launch was of an intermediate-range missile.

Russia has also said it believes the missile was medium range.

'The missile reached an altitude of 535 kilometres (330 miles) and flew 510 kilometres before falling into the central part of the Sea of Japan,' the defense ministry said in a statement to Russian news agencies.

'The parametric flight data of the ballistic object corresponds to the tactical and technical characteristics of a medium-range ballistic missile,' it said, adding that it did 'not present' any danger to Russian territory.

Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga declined to comment on whether Japan thinks it was an ICBM, and South Korea's Defense Ministry said it was analyzing whether the North's statement was accurate.

The launch seems designed to send a political warning to Washington and its chief Asian allies, Seoul and Tokyo, even as it allows North Korean scientists a chance to perfect their still-incomplete nuclear missile program.

The test still may be the North's most successful yet; a weapons analyst says the missile could be powerful enough to reach Alaska.

The 'unidentified ballistic missile' was fired from a site in North Phyongan province, the South's Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement, and came down in the East Sea, the Korean name for the Sea of Japan.

US Pacific Command confirmed the test and said it was a land-based, intermediate range missile that flew for 37 minutes.

It was estimated to have reached an altitude that 'greatly exceeded' 1553 miles (2,500 kilometres), Japan said, prompting arms control specialist Jeffrey Lewis to respond on Twitter: 'That's it. It's an ICBM. An ICBM that can hit Anchorage not San Francisco, but still.'

North Korea released footage of what is believed to be the missile just before it was tested on Tuesday

The test missile, believed to be pictured above, reached an altitude of 1741.082 miles (2,802 kilometres) and flew 580 miles (933 kilometres)

The report contradicted South Korean and US officials who earlier said Tuesday's launch was of an intermediate-range missile

The missile was estimated to have reached an altitude that 'greatly exceeded' 1553 miles (2,500 kilometres), Japan said

David Wright, of the Union of Concerned Scientists, wrote on the organisation's allthingsnuclear blog that the available figures implied the missile 'could reach a maximum range of roughly 6,700 km on a standard trajectory'

The isolated, impoverished country has made great progress in its missile capabilities since the ascension to power of Kim, who has overseen three nuclear tests and multiple rocket launches

In an announcement of the missile test, North Korean officials called the launch, which leader Kim Jong-un supervised, a 'glistening miracle'

North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un signs the order to carry out the test-fire of inter-continental ballistic rocket

The device came down in the Sea of Japan within the country's exclusive economic zone, Tokyo's defense ministry said in a statement, waters extending 200 nautical miles from its coast.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told reporters: 'This launch clearly shows that the threat has grown.'

Mr Abe, who talked by phone with Mr Trump on Monday, said the two leaders plan to seek further co-operation from world leaders when they attend the G20 summit in Germany.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in, meanwhile, said that the North's actions could have serious consequences.

'If North Korea crossed the red line without responding to the peaceful approach to the denuclearization on the Korean peninsula which agreed by the US and South Korean leader, we are not sure of the consequences,' Moon said in a statement, in which he also called on China to put more pressure on Pyongyang.

South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said the launch was a 'direct challenge' to international peace, though it did not refer to the missile as an ICBM.

'the U.S. and the South Korean intelligence authorities are conducting the detailed analysis on whether [the launched missile] has the capability of so-called intercontinental ballistic missile as the North claimed,' the statement said.

The launch, which came as the United States prepared to mark its Independence Day, triggered a Twitter outburst from President Donald Trump who urged China to 'end this nonsense once and for all'

'Our military strongly condemns Kim Jong Un regime's vain delusions and reckless provocations, and warn [the North] to immediately cease the act of creating tension and anxiety on the Korean Peninsula and the international community,' it added.

'If North Korea ignores our warnings and continues the provocations obstinately, we clearly warn that Kim Jong Un regime will be on the verge of destruction (or ruin).'

Leaders in China have also condemned Tuesday's test launch in North Korea.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told reporters Tuesday that his country was collecting information about North Korea's latest launch, conducted earlier in the day.

He said that China urges 'the North Korean side to stop taking actions that violate Security Council resolutions and to create the necessary conditions for the resumption of talks.'

The spokesman also defended China's efforts to try to resolve the North Korean nuclear issue. He said that China's role is indispensable, and that its contribution in that regard is recognized.

'We hope all relevant parties can exercise restraint, avoid taking actions that may escalate tensions, and make efforts to bring the issue back to peaceful settlement through dialogue and consultation,' Geng said.

China's UN ambassador, Liu Jieyi, warned on Monday that further escalation of already high tensions with North Korea risks getting out of control 'and the consequences would be disastrous'.

On a trip to Moscow, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin agreed on Monday to 'jointly push for a proper settlement of the (Korean) peninsula issue via dialogue and negotiation', according to the official Xinhua news agency.

The 'landmark' test of a Hwasong-14 missile was overseen by leader Kim Jong-Un, an emotional female announcer said on state Korean Central Television

People watch a TV broadcast of a news report on North Korea's Hwasong-14 missile in Seoul on Tuesday

People in Seoul watch a television news broadcast showing a North Korean announcer reading a statement on the country's new ICBM test

People watch the news that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un signed the order to carry out the test-fire of intercontinental ballistic rocket near the Pyongyang railway station in Pyongyang, North Korea

A local TV news shows what was said to be the launch of a Hwasong-14 intercontinental ballistic missile, ICBM, aired by North Korea's KRT, at a consumer-electronics retailer in Tokyo

Meanwhile, North Korean citizens in the capital are praising their country's launch of what it called its first intercontinental ballistic missile.

Soon after the authoritarian government announced Tuesday that it had fired the missile that morning, a 38-year-old Pyongyang man named Ri Song Gil said his country 'can attack anywhere in the world'.

He added, 'Now, the time when the U.S. could threaten the world with nuclear weapons has passed away'.

Twenty-seven-year-old Kim Hye Ok calls the launch 'extremely delightful news' and says North Korea 'will march forward along our own way' despite international sanctions.

Still pictures of the launch showed a missile lifting off the ground, spewing a flame and clouds against a backdrop of green hills.

Other photos showed Kim, in a striped Mao suit, shading his eyes with a raised hand and looking up at the sky, or sitting behind a desk looking through a pair of binoculars.

Hours after the North launched a ballistic missile that flew more than 900 kilometres on Tuesday, the North's state media said it would make an 'important announcement'.

'Important announcements' were made twice last year, one in January when the North claimed it had successfully tested a hydrogen bomb and the other in February when it said it had successfully put a satellite into orbit.

Lee Illwoo, a Seoul-based military commentator, said the missile traveled for a far longer period of time than if it would have been fired at a normal angle.

A North Korean scud-type missile, with a range of 800-900 kilometers, would land in its target site within ten minutes if fired at a standard angle of 45 degrees.

South Korean army's K-9 self-propelled howitzers take positions during an annual exercise in Paju, near the border with North Korea on Tuesday

The annual exercise came as North Korea claimed to have tested its first intercontinental ballistic missile in a launch

Lee said it's likely that North Korea fired either Hwasong-12 missile or a solid-fuel Pukguksong-2, both of which were tested in May.

On May 14, North Korea launched the Hwasong-12 missile, which its state media later said flew as high as 2,111 kilometers (1,310 miles) and landed in a targeted area in the ocean about 787 kilometers (490 miles) from the launch site.

On May 21, North Korea also tested the Pukguksong-2, which traveled about 500 kilometers (310 miles).

North Korea has a reliable arsenal of shorter-range missiles, but is still trying to perfect its longer-range missiles.

Some analysts believe North Korea has the technology to arm its short-range missiles with nuclear warheads, but it's unclear if it has mastered the technology needed to build an atomic bomb that can fit on a long-range missile.

The isolated, impoverished country has made great progress in its missile capabilities since the ascension to power of Kim, who has overseen three nuclear tests and multiple rocket launches.

In response to the launch but before the announcement, Trump asked on Twitter: 'Does this guy have anything better to do with his life?'

He added: 'Hard to believe that South Korea and Japan will put up with this much longer. Perhaps China will put a heavy move on North Korea and end this nonsense once and for all!'

The United Nations has imposed multiple sets of sanctions on Pyongyang over its weapons programs, which retorts that it needs nuclear arms to defend itself against the threat of invasion.

Just last week South Korean President Moon and Trump met for the first time and vowed to oppose North Korea's development of atomic weapons.

Washington, South Korea's security guarantor, has more than 28,000 troops in the country to defend it from its communist neighbor, and fears of conflict reached a peak earlier this year as the Trump administration suggested military action was an option under consideration.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who talked by phone with Mr Trump on Monday, said the two leaders plan to seek further co-operation from world leaders when they attend the G20 summit in Germany

The Korean Peninsula has been divided between the American-backed South and the authoritarian North since the 1950-53 Korean War.

Worries have increased as the North's leader Kim pushes to expand his nuclear arsenal and develop ballistic missiles that can carry nuclear warheads.

Tuesday's launch is the first by the North since a June 8 test of a new type of cruise missile that Pyongyang says is capable of striking U.S. and South Korean warships 'at will.'

Since taking office on May 10, Moon has tried to improve strained ties with North Korea, but the North has continued its missile tests. Pyongyang says it needs nuclear weapons and powerful missiles to cope with what it calls rising U.S. military threats.

There has also been anger in the United States over the death of Otto Warmbier, an American student detained in North Korea for around 18 months before he was returned home in a coma in June.

Trump has been pinning his hopes on China - North Korea's main diplomatic ally - to bring pressure to bear on Pyongyang.

Last week he declared that Beijing's efforts had failed, but returned to the idea on Twitter following the launch: 'Perhaps China will put a heavy move on North Korea and end this nonsense once and for all!'

But a former foreign policy adviser to Hillary Clinton warned that his comments risked undermining the credibility of both the US deterrent, and its assurances to its allies in Seoul and Tokyo.

She added: 'Picking a twitter fight with a nuclear-armed dictator is not wise - this is not reality TV anymore.'
Jean Claude Juncker today angrily branded the European Parliament 'ridiculous' after just 30 MEPs bothered to turn up for a meeting.

The President of the European Commission launched a furious attack on the institution as he vented his frustration at politicians who had skipped the session.

He accused Eurocrats of failing to show 'respect' by missing the meeting with the Maltese.

His remarks sparked an angry exchange with European Parliament President Antonio Tajani, who told him off for being disrespectful.

The heated exchange between the squabbling Eurocrats descended into a row between which EU institution should be shown more respect.

Scroll down for video

Jean Claude Juncker tore into the European Parliament, branding it 'ridiculous' after only 30 MEPs bothered to show up for a session on the Maltese presidency of the European Council

Speaking to a near-empty parliamentary session this morning, a very frustrated Mr Juncker said that the institution would be full if German Chancellor Angela Merkel or French President Emmanuel Macron was addressing it.

But he suggested that MEPs had deserted their duty because the debate was about the Maltese presidency of the European Council.

He said: I would like to welcome those that have actually taken the trouble to turn out this morning.

'But the fact there are only about 30 members of Parliament present in this debate only really illustrates the fact that Parliament is not serious in this.

'Im putting that to you today. If Mrs (Angela) Merkel or Mr (Emmanuel) Macron perhaps would have be there there would have been full.

European Parliament President Antonio Tajani angrily interrupted Mr Juncker and accused him of showing a lack of respect to MEPs

Jean Claude Juncker launched his furious attack after only around 30 MEPs bothered to show up for the session in Strasbourg this morning

But Mr Tajani angrily interrupted and demanded that Mr Juncker show some respect.

In a fiery exchange and wagging his finger, he said: Mr President, could you please have a more respectful attitude?

'You may criticise the Parliament yes, but the Commission does not control the Parliament, its the Parliament that should be controlling the Commission.

But Mr Juncker hit back branding the Commission 'ridiculous' and said he will 'never again' attend such a session.

He said: There are only a few members in the plenary to control the Commission. You are ridiculous.'

But Mr Tajani angrily interrupts him again and says: Mr President, I will ask you please to change your language. We are not ridiculous, please. Please.

Mr Juncker: I will never again, I will never again attend a meeting of this kind.

'The Commission is under the control of the parliament but the Parliament has to respect even the presidencies of smaller countries, which is what the Parliament is not doing.'


A man in China has successfully sued a psychiatric hospital for forcing him to undergo conversion therapy that was meant to 'cure him' of being a homosexual.

The 37- year-old had been placed in the hospital by his family in October 2015 after he revealed his homosexuality to his wife and asked for a divorce.

A court in Zhumadian, central China's Henan province ruled that the hospital issue him a public apology and pay him 5,000 yuan (568).

Conversion therapies are unscientific and ineffective, but they remain on offer at many clinics

The hospital (pictured) was located in Zhumadian, central China's Henan province

The man surnamed Yu was diagnosed with 'sexual preference disorder' by the hospital.

He repeatedly asked to leave with every request refused and was forced to undergo a medicated treatment which was supposed to 'cure' him.

Yu told reporters last summer that he was strapped to a hospital bed for almost 20 days while also forced to ingest a cocktail of pills.

He claims that staff threatened to hit him if he refused to swallow the pills.

The hospital told the court that it had diagnosed him with an anxiety disorder as he had a 'tendency towards self-harm'.

LGBT+ groups celebrate the landmark ruling which

However the court dismissed the justification stating that Yu's medical record showed him to be stable and not suicidal.

LGBT groups in China are celebrating the ruling.

Pang Yanhui, director of the NGO LGBT Rights Advocacy China said: 'This verdict is of great importance for homosexuals because no laws offer protection against these forced treatments.'

It wasn't until 2001 that China withdrew homosexuality from its list of mental illnesses. Homosexual men and women continue to face intense family pressure and discrimination in the country.

There are many 'conversion clinics' in China.

A case in 2014 saw a man sue a clinic in Chongqing after he was traumatised by electroshocks administered to his genitals in a bid to 'cure' him.
Police believe 'dangerous and violent' fugitive Sanchez Edwards was the thug who attacked the pensioner in London's East End

A violent schizophrenic on the run from a secure unit has been named as the mugger who was dragged a 92-year-old widow along the pavement.

Police believe 'dangerous and violent' fugitive Sanchez Edwards was the thug who attacked the pensioner in London's East End.

Shocking footage released last week showed the 92-year-old widow screaming as she is dragged along the ground as the thug snatches her handbag in Hoxton.

Now police have named 27-year-old Edwards as the prime suspect in the case.

Edwards has been missing from the John Howard Centre medium secure unit in nearby Homerton since May 17.

Edwards, a paranoid schizophrenic with a history of drug use, had been admitted to the centre on January 29 last year.

He was later convicted and sentenced to an unrestricted hospital order under the Mental Health Act for an assault on a member of hospital staff.

Detectives are trying to locate him after releasing CCTV footage showing a pensioner being dragged several feet along the ground.

The victim had popped out to post a letter and was headed to the Lawson Medical Centre off Hoxton Street when she was attacked from behind on Tuesday June 27.

Graphic footage shows the mugger using so much force the woman is pulled to the ground.

But, refusing to let go of her bag, police say she was dragged until she was 'in so much pain that she eventually let go.'

The thug ran off leaving her black and blue in the gutter.

She suffered extensive bruising all over her body, with the most severe on her ribs and side where she was dragged along the floor.

She also suffered a three inch bruise to her left arm from where the handbag dragged on her arm.

The woman, who recently lost her husband of nearly 70 years, was left incredibly distraught and terrified of leaving her house.

The frail elderly woman had just posted a letter and was on her way to the doctor when the hooded man crept up behind her

The victim was left with a three-inch bruise on her left arm from where the handbag dragged on her arm

Detective Inspector Paul Ridley, of Hackney CID who is leading the investigation, said: 'Sanchez Edwards is a dangerous man with a strong history of violence.

'My team are completing fast-time inquiries to attempt to locate him, but I require the public's assistance.

'If you see Edwards then do not approach him but immediately call 999 or alert a nearby police officer.'

Edwards is described as a dark skinned black man, 5ft 9ins, with short black hair, medium build and a black beard.

DI Ridley said Edwards is a paranoid schizophrenic with a history of drug use.

He said: 'He is likely to be using public transport around various locations in London.'

Edwards has been missing from the John Howard Centre medium secure unit in nearby Homerton since May 17

DI Ridley added: 'I have been involved in many serious cases, however the devastating psychological trauma of this victim is possibly the worse I have encountered.

'The events have emotionally moved the initial officers that tended to the lady in the aftermath as well as the investigation team, especially witnessing this inconsolable elderly lady sobbing about the robbery and recent tragic events.

'I cannot comprehend how anyone could target a frail lady in her 90s using this amount of violence, it is truly horrific.'

He said the handbag contained a 50 Virgin mobile phone, a Freedom Pass, documents and 100 cash.
PC Paul Hyland is accused of assaulting a 14-year-old boy during an arrest in east London. He denies the charge and is standing trial

A policeman from Scotland Yard's anti-gang unit is accused of punching a 14-year-old boy in the face while his three colleagues stood by.

PC Paul Hyland, 34, is on trial over an alleged attack on the boy who was arrested on suspicion of robbery at his home in Poplar, east London in 2015.

His colleagues PCs Frances Smythe, 25, William Wright, 27, Ian Evans, 25, also face charges at Southwark Crown Court over claims they did nothing to prevent the assault and failed to report it.

The boy, now 16, claims he was ambushed in his boxers and pushed down onto the bed.

Prosecutor Paul Casey said: 'He was wanted on suspicion of robbery and was 14 years old at the time.

'The officers were let in in stages by his sister who was in the flat throughout.

'The complainant was found in bed by PC Ian Evans and was arrested in bed without a struggle and placed in handcuffs without a struggle.

'What happens next is of significant dispute between the complainant and his sister, and the four officers.

'Whilst in handcuffs he was punched in the face by PC Paul Hyland and that punch amounted to assault occasioning actual bodily harm. It caused an immediate bruise to his left eye.'

Jurors were shown a photo of the boy's black eye and told he also had bruising to his neck and wrists.

Frances Smythe is one of three PCs accused of failing to report Hyland's actions

Mr Casey continued: 'Mr Hyland used a force, that punch, which was unlawful. The complainant is a young man with a history of offences of violence.

'There were at least two officers in the room at all times.

'He was described as 'fairly compliant' so his handcuffs were removed briefly to allow him to get dressed. They were put back in place by the time PC Hyland entered the room.'

PC Hyland says he thought the boy was about to headbutt PC Evans, lowering his jaw onto his neck, so reached out to stop him and pinned him to the wall.

He says the bruising to his eye must have happened during the struggle and was not inflicted deliberately.

The officer claims he came rushing into the flat because he heard raised voices between a male and a female and wanted to make sure it wasn't 'kicking off'.

The prosecution acknowledge that the boy may have been abusive to officers, but 'certainly not to an extent that justifies PC Hyland punching him in the face', the jury were told.

'PC Hyland lost control of his actions,' said Mr Casey.

William Wright is also accused of misconduct in a public office

The prosecutor added: 'His three colleagues could not have been expected to prevent him doing that - they were probably taken by surprise at his actions.

'However, once the situation had calmed down they had a duty to record and report their colleague's actions.

'They were obliged to tell what he did. This amounted to a cover-up of his actions.

'PC Hyland does not say that he punched the complainant believing that he was justified, but says he didn't punch him at all.

'And his colleagues support him. There is no scope for both stories being correct. Someone isn't telling the truth.'

The boy had recognised PC Hyland from previous arrests and asked him 'what have you let these retards in here for?' the court heard.

PC Smythe says he was asking her why she wasn't in the kitchen and making other sexist comments.

PC Hyland insists says he did not punch the boy, but restrained him because he thought the boy was about to headbutt his colleague

The boy's sister, who's young child was in the flat at the time, said she saw her brother's black eye and started shouting 'why would you do that? He's just 15!'

She later gave a statement at Bethnal Green Police Station to say her brother was grabbed in the groin area.

The woman claims Evans and Wright arrived at the flat first, followed by Smythe wearing gloves to conduct a search, and finally Hyland.

Described as a 'prominent member of a criminal gang', the complainant is currently remanded in custody.

Hyland, of, Kent, denies assault occasioning actual bodily harm. Evans and Smyth, both of Essex, and Wright, from Kent, all deny misconduct in a public office. The trial continues.
Dozens of homeless dogs have been found dumped in straw bags after being beaten by urban officers in north-west China.

Harrowing video footage, filmed by animal activists, shows a dying dog struggling to get up from a pool of blood. A few other dogs, which were already dead, are seen with severe head injuries.

The urban management office of Lanzhou said the animals had been beaten by the urban patrollers during a campaign aimed to get rid of the city's 'excessive' stray dogs. Officials have since apologised.

Animal activists found bags of dogs on a truck belonging to the urban patrollers in China

Around 30 stray dogs were found and most of them had died from the cruel treatment

The horrific incident came to light when a group of animal activists busted a van marked 'Urban Management' in the early hours of July 3 in Yuzhong town of Lanzhou city, according to PETA Asia.

The activists seized dozens of dogs, which were dead or dying, in straw bags. They also found bloodstained wooden rods in the truck.

Mr Mu, a member of Lanzhou Stray Dogs Protection group, told MailOnline that he went with four other volunteers to expose what he called the inhumane killing of stray dogs.

Mr Mu said: 'I was shocked and heartbroken when I saw that number of dogs being treated in such an inhumane way.

'There were loads [of dogs] already dead and we sent the injured ones to shelters but I don't know how many can make it.'

Lanzhou urban officers were said to be carrying out a major campaign as they beat the dogs

Most of the dogs were found to have blood in their eyes and head, according to Mr Mu

Gruesome video footage shows at least five or six dogs bleeding from the eyes and head. In the most extreme case, one of the dogs' eyeball had popped out.

It's believed that there were 20 to 30 dogs found in the truck, with many thought to be dead. Other seriously injured dogs can be seen struggling to stand up and trembling.

Mr Mu said the survivors would be taken to a shelter and cared for.

The injured dogs are to be sent to a shelter but it's not sure how many of them could survive

PETA Asia posted the incident on their official Weibo account on July 3, which caught the attention of local news media.

Animal activists claimed that the urban management officers had been killing stray dogs in Yuzhong since June 20, PETA Asia told MailOnline.

Today, the Yuzhong Town's Urban Management Office issued an apology letter admitting that the stray dogs were beaten to death by their officers on July 3.

The officials explained that they had received complaints from members of public about stray dogs attacking schoolchildren in the town.

A letter from officials said: 'We have the responsibility to capture any homeless dogs and send them to a shelter.

'However there were officers using inappropriate methods to capture the canines resulting in death.'

Yuzhong Urban Management confirmed that it would carry out strict measures to monitor the operations in regards to the way stray dogs are captured.

'We will carry procedures according to Regulations of the Lanzhou Municipality on Dog Keeping and will put on camera during the capture and the transport of the stray dogs.'
Jeremy Meeks has hinted he is still part of the violent Crips street gang he ran with before being jailed, but claims he has quit 'to a certain extent' since his rise to model fame.

The convict, who has various Crips-related tattoos scrawled across his body, spoke publicly of his gangster past for the first time in an interview with Man About Town.

Meeks, who was dubbed the 'hot felon' after his 2014 arrest, admitted he didn't want his children to follow his gangster path.

When asked if and can he actually quit his gang, Meeks told writer Laura Albert: 'You can quit, to a certain extent I have, I am very extremely non-active. I'm grown now.

'Most of my tattoos are from my past which I am trying to shed and remove.'

Jeremy Meeks, pictured at LAX on Monday, has his gang affiliation 'Crips' scrawled across his forearms (pictured), but he hasn't completely ruled out his ties to the violent street gang

Meeks has the words 'Crip Life' inked on his forearms and the letters 'NC' on his neck, which is believed to stand for the Northern Crips set he belonged to. He also has a teardrop tattoo under his left eye, which often relates to a gang killing.

He acknowledged that the Crips tattoos he has emblazoned across his body would have an effect on his two step-children and one son.

'They ask me a lotta questions that are really hard to answer. All they gotta do is type my name, Google it. It tells about crimes and my background and my gang affiliation. There comes a million questions...,' he said.

'They want to be just like me - I don't want to tell, "yeah I'm a Crip and I'm this and I'm that and I've done this and I've done that". And it's nothing to boast about or even something you even want to talk to your kids about because next you know, they say "Okay well my dad's a Crip so that's what I'm going to be".'

The 32-year-old recalled not even knowing what the Crips gang was as he grew up in a 'heroin household' in Washington. His said his mother was addicted to drugs, while his father was given a murder sentence when Meeks was just nine-months-old.

Meeks told of how he was rescued by his 18-year-old sister who took him to live with her on an Air Base in northern California.

'I came from Washington and the town I came from didn't have gangs. I didn't understand colors and neighborhoods and gangs, I didn't come from that world. So I would wear any color I wanted and didn't understand why everyone was trying to fight me, over a color. Asking me where I'm from,' he said.

Meeks, who was convicted in 2015 for weapons offenses, spoke publicly of his gangster past for the first time in an interview with Man About Town, during which he said he had quit being a Crip 'to a certain extent'

Meeks has the words 'Crip Life' inked on his forearms (left and right) showing his affiliation with the violent street gang

He also has the letters 'NC' emblazoned on his neck, which is believed to stand for the Northern Crips set he belonged to. Meeks also has a teardrop tattoo under his left eye, which often relates to a gang killing

Meeks said those trying to fight him would ask him if he was a Crip or part of the rival Bloods gang depending on what color he was wearing - but he claims he didn't know what either were.

WHO ARE THE CRIPS STREET GANG? The Crips is one of the most violent and largest gangs in the US. Its members traditionally wear blue clothing and have been involved in murders, robberies and drug dealing. It was founded in Los Angeles but has since spread across the country. The gang typically is made up of African-American men. Crips have a notorious rivalry with the Bloods street gang who are known for wearing red clothing. The two gangs sometimes fight each other and are responsible for the majority of gang-related murders in LA. Like the majority of gangs, once a member joins it is set for life. It is difficult to simply just leave the set or switch to another gang. The Crips and Bloods actually started as an alliance of sorts. In 1971 a gang in Compton named the Piru Street Boys started associating themselves with a Crips set. After two years, the Piru gang started fighting with other Crips sets and it became gang warfare. In 1973, Piru broke off connections and formed rival gang the Bloods. Crips and Bloods membership was glamorized over the years due to rap music and famous rappers associated with each gang. Snoop Dogg, Warren G and Kurupt are known Crips members. Rappers The Game, Gucci Mane and YG belong to the Bloods. Advertisement

'But I had to learn fast. Because I wasn't getting my a** kicked, but I was fighting a lot. It just came to the point where I had to force myself to understand this new world I moved into an it sucked.'

Meeks eventually became involved with the Northern Crips  a branch of the notorious Los Angeles gang, which has become one of the largest and most violent US street gangs.

He married a local nurse named Melissa, who had two children, at 24 and went on to have a son, now seven, with his wife.

When he was arrested in June 2014 as part of a crackdown on gangs by the Stockton police department, he was charged with five weapons offenses and two counts relating to gang membership.

Meeks, who was handed a 27-month jail term in 2015, could never have foreseen the fame he would attract after his mugshot quickly went viral and he was given the title hottest felon.

His striking appearance was always admired but the compliments had little effect on him.

'I heard all my life, "you're so handsome, you have the most beautiful eyes," and I heard it a hundred times a day. To where I would not even pay no mind to it,' he said.

They have led him to an international career in modelling, and later acting with the convict revealing he has been taking classes in Hollywood.

'The acting - I didn't know how I would like it - but once I got into the classes I realized it's a strong passion in my life, I really fell in love with it. Just being on the state, doing imrov - aww man.'

Meeks and his wife Melissa married eight years ago. She already had two children but they share a son together

Meeks appeared in photographs passionately kissing Green on board a $145,000 yacht off the boast of Bodrum in Turkey

Meeks, along with his wife of eight years, gave the joint interview to Man About Town two months ago, during which he boasted of his loyalty to Melissa and about being a family man.

'I'm a family man, I'm a father, I'm a husband, I'm an uncle, I'm a best friend, I'm a God-fearing man, a Christian'.

Meeks shot to international fame after his 2014 mugshot went viral. He has given his first interview to Man About Town, which was published in May

'I'm the peanut butter and French toast champion!'

Melissa sat by him as he made the comments.

But the image he was eager to present in their interview was destroyed this week when his relationship with 26-year-old Topshop heiress Chloe Green was revealed.

Meeks appeared in photographs passionately kissing Green on board a $145,000 yacht off the boast of Bodrum in Turkey.

It seemingly signaled the end of his marriage to Melissa, which was the object of envy of many an internet fan when Meeks became famous.

Meeks was pictured arriving back in Los Angeles on Monday afternoon following his holiday romance with Green.

He was spotted clutching a phone to his ear and a cigarette between his fingers as he waited for his ride at LAX.

The felon-turned-supermodel continues to face backlash as his online fans revolted in disgust over his apparent separation from his wife, labeling him a 'scumbag'.
Ronald Coyne (pictured) was named as the student who burnt a 20 in front of a homeless man in Cambridge

Cambridge University toffs laughed off the scandal sparked by a student burning a 20 note in front of a homeless man, saying: 'It should have been a 50 note'.

The university came under pressure to expel Ronald Coyne after a video of him taunting the man while dressed in a bow tie and coat-tails went viral in February.

A secret recording taken two weeks later at a Cambridge University Conservative Association (CUCA) event reveals members broke out into 11 seconds of raucous laughter after one shouted out: 'It should have been a 50 note'.

But bosses at the university still refuse to confirm or deny if disciplinary action had been taken against the first-year student at Pembroke College for his vile actions.

Law student Mr Coyne was promptly expelled from CUCA which said it was 'shocked and outraged' by his disgraceful behaviour in the early hours of February 2.

But the audio recording of the Q&A session with Havant MP Alan Mak shows members at the dinner laughing and defending his actions.

The MP's speech was instructing members on how not to become a 'professional politician' when he was interrupted with 11 seconds of raucous laughter after a member shouted out 'It should have been a 50 note'.

Burning a 50 note is rumoured to be an initiation ceremony for the notorious Bullingdon Club in Oxford attended by ex-PM David Cameron and Boris Johnson.

Mr Mak had said Mr Coyne's actions were 'not representative of the Conservative party in any sense of that word' but another student was also heard saying: 'If a man can't do a stupid thing like that in his first year*. I think that's really bad.'

Toffs were also heard laughing after one asked the MP 'do you think Ronald Coyne did a greater disfavour * did a greater disfavour to Cambridge University or the Conservative party?'

The university came under pressure to expel Ronald Coyne after a video of him taunting the man while dressed in a bow tie and coat-tails went viral in February

Mr Mak insisted it had not, stating: 'People are smart enough to understand it's probably just the isolated attitudes of one individual.'

Members were heard agreeing with a student defending Mr Coyne, saying: 'I think this is really horrible, if a man can't do a stupid thing like that in his first year without this, if I could use this expression, "virtue signalling". I think that's really bad.'

The event was thought to take place in Gonville and Caius College on February 24. Cambridge University Conservative Association declined to comment.

A spokesman of the University of Cambridge said: 'The dinner was a private event therefore it would be inappropriate for us to comment.'

He said there was 'no update' on their previous statement on their response to Mr Coyne's actions, which said: 'We are aware of an incident that took place in the early hours of Thursday 2nd February 2017.

'This incident has been referred to the University's disciplinary process. We cannot comment further while this process is underway.'
A mother-of-two who fell pregnant and suffered a miscarriage after she was raped by her uncle has finally won justice 20 years after the attack.

Julie Smith was just 18 when Andrew Robinson, now 66, attacked her while she was staying with him during the summer holidays.

It was almost two decades before Julie, now 39, found the courage to report the crime - prompting Robinson to go on the run before being caught and jailed for 17 years.

Julie, from Edinburgh, has now waived her right to anonymity to relive her harrowing story in a bid to encourage other victims of historic abuse to seek justice.

Julie, left, was just 18 years when her uncle Andrew Robinson, 66, right, attacked her while she stayed at his home in the summer holidays

Julie said: 'I won't pretend it's been easy, but now I have justice and he is finally behind bars, I feel free at last'

Julie, whose surname has been changed in this article at her request, said: 'His sick attack cast a shadow over my whole life, but now I can finally try to move forward. I won't pretend it's been easy, but now I have justice and he is finally behind bars, I feel free at last.

'I will not let the actions of one sick man ruin my life any more. I hope anybody reading my story might also find the strength to seek justice.

'It is never too late. It took me almost two decades, but I've done it.'

Andrew Robinson was sentenced to 17 years in prison in February this year

Julie told how she had gone to stay with her aunt and uncle in Newcastle to work at their ice cream kiosk to earn extra cash before starting a hairdressing course.

She shared a room with her 15-year-old cousin but one weekend she went away and Julie had the bedroom to herself - and Robinson struck.

Julie said: 'I woke in the middle of the night to find a hand over my mouth and realised it was my uncle Andrew.

'I froze in terror as his other hand started touching me under the covers. Then he raped me. I was too scared and shocked to make a sound.'

Her aunt slept in the next room and after the attack Robinson left without a word.

The following morning Julie was too scared to tell her aunt anything. Instead she went into the shower and scrubbed herself clean.

'I just couldn't stop crying,' she said. 'I was away from home for the first time ever and didn't know what to do.'

Robinson told her not to tell anyone about what he'd done, warning her no one would be believe her.

She said: 'Just the sight of him made me feel sick. Thankfully he wasn't in the house much because he was always at work or the pub.'

On one of her last days at the kiosk she suffered stomach pains but was so desperate to get home to her family in Scotland the following day that she ignored it.

Days later she went to A&E at the Royal Infirmary in Edinburgh where she began losing blood and screamed for help.

Doctors confirmed Julie had suffered a miscarriage at eight weeks. She'd had no idea that she was pregnant but knew her uncle had been the father.

Julie, with her husband Mark, who she married in 2010 before they went on to have a son together

Julie battled with anxiety and depression and even gave up her hairdressing course after the horrific attack. Julie is pictured here when she later started her own family

She said: 'I didn't think I could take much more. I felt too disgusting to breathe a word to anyone and I was still scared that nobody would believe me. I just wanted to act like it hadn't happened and go back to me being me again.'

Julie battled with anxiety and depression and even gave up her hairdressing course, but refused to tell her worried mother what was wrong.

Aged 20, she started a relationship and had a son and a daughter, but the relationship didn't last. Months later she met Mark, and they married a year later, in 2010 before having a son.

But she could not tell her husband what her uncle had done to her.

In 2014, a cousin from Newcastle visited Julie and told her that her uncle had been reported to police for another rape.

Julie said: 'I just started crying. I knew it was true because he had done it to me.'

Julie admitted that her uncle had raped her and agreed to make a statement, but reliving the abuse nearly 20 years on was so traumatic she suffered a breakdown.

Julie watched as Robinson was finally brought to justice

Hospital records confirmed her miscarriage and Robinson was arrested and pleaded guilty to two charges of rape; one against Julie, one against another victim, as well as an indecent assault on a 13-year-old girl.

He was bailed and though he was not allowed to contact Julie, she still lived in fear.

On the day of the sentencing, Robinson failed to show up at court and police confirmed he had gone on the run.

Julie said: 'I couldn't believe it. I was in such a state that police had to drive me home and I had to be sedated by my GP. I couldn't believe he'd got away and was terrified he would come for me in revenge.'

Police launched a manhunt and Robinson was found four days after.

In February this year, Julie and Mark watched as Robinson, from Castleford in West Yorkshire, was jailed for 17 years at Newcastle Crown court.

Julie admitted: 'My family have been amazing through all of this. It's been traumatic, but ultimately I am pleased I finally reported him and helped to put him behind bars  where he deserves to be.

'I was just a young teenager away from home for the first time with family, I should have been safe.

'But he attacked me in the most disgusting and despicable way, and I wanted everyone to know his name and face so even when he does get out, he won't ever be able to hurt another woman again.'
Footage taken from inside an AirAsia flight which 'burst into flames' on Monday shows frightened passengers screaming and pleading for their lives.

A man is heard quietly saying 'oh my god, oh my god, I don't want to die' in the video obtained by Nine News, while a woman wails further away.

Flight D7207, bound for Malaysia, was forced to make an emergency landing inBrisbane after passengers saw sparks flying from the engine shortly after takeoff on the Gold Coast.

A picture reportedly taken from the plane shows flames coming from the engine. Passenger Warren King said the fire was 'on the engine itself and went back 20-30 feet'.

Scroll down for video

Footage taken on an AirAsia flight which 'burst into flames' on Monday showed a male passenger saying 'I don't want to die' as a woman wailed

A passenger on the plane said he saw flames stretch 20-30 feet from the engine, which was on fire

An AirAsia flight bound for Malaysia was forced to land just an hour into the overnight flight on Monday (pictured on tarmac in Brisbane)

The man also said in the midst of the chaos, he 'saw the airline hostess praying'.

Passengers say they heard explosions from the right wing just minutes into the overnight flight.

Others on board said they feared for their lives and started putting on life jackets in preparation for a crash landing.

The pilot called mayday immediately, before dumping fuel and landing safely in Brisbane.

The mid-air horror comes just a week after an AirAsia flight was forced to turn back to Perth Airport after an engine failure caused the plane to start shaking violently.

The pilot on that plane told passengers to 'say a prayer'.

Passenger Warren King (pictured) said he saw a flight attendant praying in the chaos

The embattled airline said a 'suspected bird strike' to the plane's engine had forced the pilot to make an emergency landing after taking off from the Gold Coast (flight path pictured)

A photo of the AirAsia plane's starboard engine appears to show external damage after the emergency landing

Passengers reported hearing 'four or five loud bangs' before seeing 'an orange light coming from the windows' (engineers inspect plane on tarmac in Brisbane on Tuesday morning)

The embattled airline said a 'suspected bird strike' to the plane's starboard engine had forced the pilot to land just over an hour into Monday's international flight.

The 345 passengers and 14 crew landed safely just after 11.30pm.

Passenger Tim Joga, 31, told Fairfax Media that the plan started 'shuddering' after 'four or five bangs' were heard less than ten minutes into the flight.

'The plane started shuddering then there were a couple of loud bangs and a lot of light,' he said.

'I could see an orange light coming from the windows.'

Malissa Siaea was travelling with her husband to Malaysia for their honeymoon when 'fire sparked out of the right-side engine' less than 20 minutes into the flight.

'Then the plane swooped a little bit and started shaking badly,' she told Fairfax.

Others on board said they feared for their lives and started putting on life jackets in preparation for a crash-landing (engineers examine plane on Tuesday)

AirAsia X CEO Benyamin Ismail said all passengers would be flown to Kuala Lumpur 'as soon as possible'

The mid-air horror comes just a week after an AirAsia flight was forced to turn back to Perth Airport after an engine failure caused the plane to start shaking violently (pictured)

'AirAsia X Flight D7 207 was diverted after experiencing a suspected bird strike to its starboard engine,' the airline said in a statement.

'Two bird remains were found on the runway.'

AirAsia X CEO Benyamin Ismail said all passengers would be flown to Kuala Lumpur 'as soon as possible' on a special flight.

'We are following all regulatory guidelines to ensure the safety and wellbeing of our guests,' he said in the statement.

'We would like to commend our pilot and crew members for their professionalism and swift action to reassure passengers who were on board flight D7 207 and to land the aircraft safely in Brisbane airport.'
The White House has confirmed that President Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin will meet on Friday while the two men are in Germany for the G-20 summit.

It will be the first meeting between the two world leaders since President Trump took office, and topics of discussion will include the war in Syria and ongoing fight against terrorism as well as the crisis in Ukraine, Putin aide Yuri Ushakov said on Tuesday.

The White House stated however that there was 'no set agenda.'

It is expected that the Kremlin will use the meeting to demand that the United States hand back two diplomatic compounds that Barack Obama had seized in December of last year.

Those Russian Embassies, located in Maryland and New York, were shuttered by the previous administration as part of an action aimed at punishing the Kremlin for their alleged interference in the presidential election and harassment of diplomatic personnel.

Ushakov said on Monday that Russia had displayed 'unusual flexibility' by not aggressively responding to the move made by the Obama administration last year, adding that the return of these embassies would 'free Russia from the need to take retaliatory moves.'

He also noted that Russia's patience in the matter 'has its limits.'

First time: The White House has confirmed that President Trump (left on Saturday) and Vladimir Putin (right on Tuesday) will meet with one another when the two men attend the G-20 summit later this week

Swank estate: The New York compound is located on Long Island in the town of Oyster Bay (above)

Moving day: Russian officials are seen making a mad dash from the Maryland estate on December 30 (above) after Obama gave them just 24 hours to leave the property and, in some cases, the country

National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster first spoke about these planned sit-down between President Trump and Putin - along with other foreign leaders attending the summit - during a briefing last week.

'Ill just note that while in Hamburg, the President will meet with many world leaders, including Chancellor Merkel of Germany, the host of the G20, Prime Minister May of the United Kingdom, Prime Minister Abe of Japan, President Moon of South Korea, President Xi of China, President Putin of Russia, President Pena Nieto of Mexico, President Jokowi of Indonesia, and Prime Minister Lee of Singapore, among others,' McMaster told members of the press last Thursday.

He did not however offer any details about what topics of discussion President Trump might broach with those aforementioned leaders, including Putin.

'Theres no specific agenda. Its really going to be whatever the president wants to talk about,' said McMaster when asked specifically about the planned meeting between the Russian leader and commander-in-chief.

He did however stress that relations between Russia and the United States would be a key focus of this upcoming trip, which will begin on Thursday with a visit to Poland before continuing on to Hamburg and the G-20 summit.

'As the President has made clear, hed like the United States and the entire West to develop a more constructive relationship with Russia,' McMaster stated at last week's briefing.

'But hes also made clear that we will do what is necessary to confront Russias destabilizing behavior.'

It was first reported back in early June that the United States and Russia were entering negotiations that might lead to the return of the country's two compounds.

Russia has been voicing their desire to have these compounds returned ever since President Trump took office, with Ushakov saying back in May: 'We are patient, but this patience is not unlimited. If no solution is found, some response measures from the Russian side will be on the agenda.'

That comment came shortly after Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov first outlined Russia's desire to gain control over the compounds during a meeting with Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Thomas Shannon.

Short drive from DC: The Maryland property (above) is situated on the Corsica River on the state's Eastern shore

Getaway: The 45-acre estate (above) was obtained specifically for those Russian diplomats who worked or had business dealings in Washington DC

The Russian Embassy in the United States also took to Twitter on Monday to state their thoughts on the matter.

'There is no effect yet. Responding in kind is one of the basic principles of interstate communication,' read the tweet, quoting Ryabkov from an interview he did with Izvestiya newspaper.

There was also a link to more of Ryabakov's interview, in which he said: 'Our regular messages to Washington demanding to return our property, that is protected by diplomatic immunity, immediately and with no strings attached have proved to be ineffective.'

He then added: 'The US, from a legal perspective, seriously violates the regulations of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.'

The Deputy Foreign Minister later stated in his interview that the Kremlin was simply calling for 'common sense and understanding by the American side of the clear rules of international communication.'

One mother prior, a tweet on the same account read: 'If the #US doesnt restore diplomatic immunity of Russian property, Russia will reply in kind regarding US property in #Russia.'

Obama cited a newly approved amendment to Executive Order 13964 when imposed a number of sanctions against Russia last December following evidence of alleged meddling in the presidential election.

That Order was created so that the government could effectively respond to cyber threats coming from malicious persons or entities that operated outside the reach or scope of existing authorities.

The shuttering of the New York and Maryland compounds and dismissal of 35 foreign diplomats were declared to be repercussions that were specifically in response to the treatment of foreign diplomats by the Russian government according to a December 29 Fact Sheet released by the Obama administration.

'Over the past two years, harassment of our diplomatic personnel in Russia by security personnel and police has increased significantly and gone far beyond international diplomatic norms of behavior,' stated the Fact Sheet.

It was also noted that other Western embassies had expressed similar concerns before laying out the punishment for this alleged harassment.

Obama also noted that he believed the 35 individuals who were ordered to leave the country were spies that had been operating under the cover of diplomacy.

Public declaration: 'If the #US doesnt restore diplomatic immunity of Russian property, Russia will reply in kind regarding US property in #Russia,' tweeted the Russian Embassy in the US on their social media account June 8 (above)

More public statements: On Monday they tweeted a statement from Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov (above)

Bold statement: 'The US, from a legal perspective, seriously violates the regulations of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.' said Ryabkov to a Russian newspaper (above)

The New York compound that was seized by the US government was once called Elmcroft, and is located on Long Island in the town of Oyster Bay.

The grounds, which hold a tennis court, gardens, soccer field and two large buildings was once home to former New York governor Nathan Miller, who lived there with his wife and seven daughters.

Miller purchased the 38-room property, whose main house had 27 rooms and 11 baths when it was first built in 1918, from its original owner, and sold it off to the Soviets just one year before his death in 1953, at which point it became a restreat for diplomats.

A second property, the Killenworth mansion, was purchased nearby at around the same time by the Soviets.

That compound is located in the town of Glen Cove and was bought in 1951 by the foreign government.

Obama did not seize that estate.

The Maryland property is situated along the Corsica River on the state's Eastern shore and was bought in 1972 by the Soviets.

The 45-acre estate was obtained specifically for those Russian diplomats who worked or had business dealings in Washington DC and were looking for an escape from the nation's capital, located just 60 miles away.

Aerial photos show what appear to be tennis courts and a soccer field on the property, which operated as both a summer camp and holiday getaway for the children of diplomats over the past five decades.

There is also reportedly a swimming pool located on the site along with a private beach, where guests could sail with their friends and family.
Faye Parson (pictured at Chelmsford Crown Court) denies causing the death of Michael Daly by careless driving in February 2016

An ambulance driver who hit and killed a pedestrian on a crossing as she responded to an emergency call could not remember if her siren was on, a court heard.

Faye Parson, 41, denies causing the death of 77-year-old dentist Michael Daly by careless driving in February 2016.

Her ambulance had its blue lights on when she pulled into the wrong lane to overtake a queue of traffic, Chelmsford Crown Court heard.

Peter Clement, prosecuting, said the traffic lights were on red as Mr Daly crossed the A414 Main Road in the village of Danbury, Essex on his way home.

The passenger-side wing mirror of the ambulance hit Mr Daly and he was flung into a black van in queuing traffic, the court heard.

He suffered severe brain injuries and was taken to St George's Hospital in Tooting, London by air ambulance.

His life support machine was switched off four months later on June 3, 2016 after he contracted the MRSA superbug and suffered a cardiac arrest.

Mr Clement said: 'This case is perhaps a tragic illustration of the responsibilities imposed on all drivers but in this case of emergency vehicles when responding to urgent calls and the particular care which is required by them while driving, the care expected of a competent and careful driver.

'Miss Parson was driving in the wrong lane, overtaking traffic and approaching a pedestrian crossing. That's the scenario with which we are concerned.'

Parson, of Braintree, Essex, told police she could not remember if her siren was on, Mr Clement said.

He continued: 'She could not recall if she had her sirens on as she approached that crossing but she said at interview probably not as the road was clear and she did not foresee any problems.

'Asked about the traffic lights at that crossing as she approached she told police she had no specific recollection whether they were on green or red for her as they approached but by virtue of her speed and training if they were on red she would have treated them as a stop or a give way sign.

'She did not and therefore she reasoned the lights must have been on green for her.'

A data processor fitted to the ambulance confirmed its blue lights were on and its siren was armed for use, but it did not record whether the siren was used.

Mr Clement said: 'No-one for a moment is suggesting Miss Parson set out on that journey intending to drive poorly or with a disregard for other users' road safety.

'It doesn't enter into this.'

He said the issue was whether her driving met the standards expected of a competent and careful driver.

The speed limit was 30mph and the ambulance was recorded at 29mph immediately before the collision.
This is the heart-stopping moment a mother saved her baby by pulling the child out of the way of a speeding lorry that failed to stop at a crossing in Russia.

The footage, taken in Rostov on Don in Russia, shows the mother instinctively wheeling back her baby's push chair as the juggernaut thunders past just inches away.

Video, captured by another driver's dashcam, shows the woman starting to cross the road with two others.

Dramatic footage captures the moment a mother saved her baby by pulling the child out of the way of a speeding lorry that failed to stop at a crossing in Russia

The footage, taken in Rostov on Don in Russia, shows the mother instinctively wheeling back her baby's push chair as the juggernaut thunders past just inches away

The driver of the car beeps the group in an apparent bid to warn them.

But moments later, the lorry comes into view, coming within inches of smashing into the buggy as it hurtles past.

The incident, in south-western Russia's Rostov Oblast region, has divided opinion online in the country.

Video, captured by another driver's dashcam, shows the woman starting to cross the road with two others before the juggernaut thunders past

One social media user called the lorry driver a 'moron' while another suggested the vehicle was speeding.

Others blamed the pedestrians, with 'Roman X' saying: 'The driver couldn't have seen them and this pedestrian crossing is unregulated.

'It seems that these guys did not even check the road when they started moving.'
Jack Chappell is accused of running a web business supplying software used to attack the websites of several multinational firms, including Amazon and Vodafone.

A student has appeared in court charged with supplying malware to criminals who used it in a string of high-profile cyber attacks.

Jack Chappell, of Stockport, is accused of running a web business supplying software used to attack the websites of several multinational firms, including Amazon and Vodafone.

It is claimed he offered a subscription service so criminals could monitor online credit card payments.

He was arrested following an investigation by British anti cyber crime police into the launch of so-called denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks against the NatWest bank plus the National Crime Agency, the BBC, BT and Netflix.

According to West Midlands Police, Chappell, who lives with his family in a 270,000 home in Heaton Moor, supplied the DDoS service and ran an online helpdesk as part of the operation.

It is thought none of the cyber attacks which involved the subscription service allegedly set up by Chappell resulted in loss or theft of customer data.

The 18-year-old, who wore a blue checked shirt, spoke to confirm his name, age and address when he appeared at Manchester Magistrates' Court today.

He has been charged with four counts, including conspiracy to do an unauthorised act or acts with intent to impair the operation of a computer or computers.

Magistrates sent the case to Minshull Street Crown Court in Manchester on July 26.

The court heard the case would be joined up with other counts Chappell has already been charged with.

Police said the teenager was charged following an investigation led by the West Midlands Regional Cyber Crime Unit, assisted by Israeli Police, the FBI and Europol's European Cybercrime Centre.

Prosecutors allege Chappell supplied Denial of Service software - which crashes websites by flooding them with huge volumes of data b' and ran an online helpdesk for would-be hackers.

The 18-year-old, who wore a blue checked shirt, spoke to confirm his name, age and address when he appeared at Manchester Magistrates Court on Tuesday

West Midlands Police said Chappell was accused of helping cyber-criminals target websites around the world, including a 2015 attack on NatWest that affected the bank's online systems.

The force said in a statement: 'Chappell allegedly attacked the websites of T-Mobile, EE, Vodafone, O2, BBC, BT, Amazon, Netflix, Virgin Media and the National Crime Agency.

'He has been charged with impairing the operation of computers under the Computer Misuse Act, plus encouraging or assisting an offence and money laundering crime proceeds together with an American national.'

The West Midlands force added that none of the Denial of Service attacks Chappell is alleged to have been behind led to the theft or loss of any customer data.
A Texas mother-of-six stabbed a would-be mugger in the neck with her car keys in a self-defense technique she picked up as a child.

Jessica Collins from Amarillo, Texas was attacked outside her apartment on Friday night by an unidentified assailant.

The 27-year-old mother-of-six was punched in the face as she attempted to retrieve a cellphone charger from her car.

Jessica Collins, pictured, suffered a bloody nose after she was punched in the face by a mugger outside her apartment in Amarillo, Texas on Friday

Ms Collins was holding her car key between two of her knuckles when her assailant struck giving her the opportunity to stab him in the neck and forcing him to run away to safety

Collins had placed the car key between two of her knuckles and swung at her attacker drawing blood.

She posted a warning on Facebook about the mugger and advised other women in Amarillo to consider using their keys as a potential self-defense weapon.

The Facebook post, which has been shared more than 100,000 times, shows the shocking injuries she suffered during the attack.

Ms Collins wrote: 'Thank you all for sharing and please continue to do so. I am just trying to raise awareness so many women and girls these days don't pay attention or think until it's too late.

'So I'm not only trying to inform people but maybe even save lives. Feel free to share share share.

'Ladies if you are going somewhere alone always always carry your keys with one between two knuckles. It's so important to remember your safety. Especially when everything happens so fast.

Jessica Collins, pictured with her fiance Michael Pulsifer decided to share photographs of her injuries on Facebook in order to alert other women and possibly save their lives

'I realized I left my phone charger in my car. So I unlock my car and grab the cord and then step back (to shut the door) when a Hispanic male punched me in the nose.

'Thankfully I had my keys in a defense position because I gave him a right hook and ended up getting him in the neck then he ran one way (holding his neck) and I ran the other way into my apartment building and got inside then called the police .

'A report has been made but still. Please be careful out there. He's is still out there somewhere and I know there are probably others like this. Feel free to share to save a life.'

Ms Collins told her followers that police came to her apartment and took DNA from the key which they hope could lead them to the attacker.
A 16-year-old has reportedly married a 71-year-old woman against the wishes of an Indonesian community after threatening suicide if their families blocked the union.

Selamat Riayadi and his elderly bride named only as Rohaya are said to have got married in their home village of Karangendah in the western South Sumatra province of Indonesia.

As is tradition in the region, the couple had to ask permission from the owner of the home in which the marriage was solemnised because the bride to be had been widowed twice.

The couple said their love for each other was so strong they would commit suicide together if the wedding wasn't given the go ahead because 'they were so completely in love, if one of them dies then both must die'.

Groom Selamat Riayadi dressed in green and his bride Rohaya dressed in gold and a headscarf

The soon-to-be married couple do not look overly enamoured as they sit behind a Hello Kitty blanket

After initially showing scepticism towards the relationship the homeowner, who happened to be a community leader named as Kuswoyo, reportedly granted permission.

Both he and her brother gave in to her wishes to wed following the couple's suicide threats.

The official minimum age for boys to marry in Indonesia is 19 but a loophole allows for any marriage within a person's 'religious norms', but it is not clear who gave it the thumbs up.

The Muslim couple are understood to have formed a nikah siri marriage, recognised by society but not the state.

Because Islam has no formal minimum age on marriage, it only requires consensus that the would-be bride or groom has reached 'maturity'.

The wedding video and photos were spread online and many Indonesians questions whether or not the union was real.

But an Indonesian media outlet claims it spoke to Kuswoyo who confirmed both the marriage and the couple's threats to kill themselves if they were barred from marrying.

He is reported as saying: 'They said they wanted to commit suicide because they were completely in love, so if one of them dies, then both must die.'

Video footage of the ceremony was shared on social media in Indonesia after it was supposedly given the go-ahead

The marriage is not believed to be motivated by financial concerns, as both newlyweds are equally poor.

His family made a dowry payment to hers of 11.50.

The video of the ceremony shows the young groom put his face in his hands as the union is proclaimed..

His new wife sits quietly beside him as the wedding guests go wild with delight.
Police investigating the deaths of a teacher and her husband after their bodies were found inside a pickup truck in New Mexico have ruled it a murder-suicide, it was reported on Tuesday.

Ursula Kokotkiewicz, 32, and husband Jacob, 31, were found with gunshot wounds to their heads in a blue truck along the I-40 near Albuquerque on Thursday last week.

Police identified the couple on Tuesday, saying that Jacob was in the driver's seat and found with a 9mm handgun between his legs.

His wife was beside him in the front passenger seat.

Police have not said who shot whom, as the investigation is ongoing, according to the Star-Telegram.

Ursula Kokotkiewicz, 32, and husband Jacob, 31, were found with gunshot wounds to their heads in a blue truck along the I-40 near Albuquerque on Thursday last week

Police identified the couple on Tuesday, saying that Jacob was in the driver's seat and found with a 9mm handgun between his legs

The identities were reported by KOAT Albuquerque.

'This investigation remains open and ongoing,' State Police spokeswoman Elizabeth Armijo told the Albuquerque Journal.

Police said the pair lived in Flower Mound, Texas, and Mrs Kokotkiewicz taught English in the Dallas area.

Officers have ruled the deaths a murder-suicide, though they are not saying who shot whom

Tributes were paid to Mrs Kokotkiewicz online, with one person writing: I can't believe Ms K is gone. I should have gotten a picture, a hug or something, and I didn't because I expected to see her again'

They had been visiting National Parks in recent days, according to social media posts, and were recently in Utah before traveling to New Mexico.

Her last post was on June 27 from a spot in Zion National Park called Angel's Landing, with the bodies being found two days later and 500 miles away.

Tributes were paid to Mrs Kokotkiewicz online, with one person writing: I can't believe Ms K is gone. I should have gotten a picture, a hug or something, and I didn't because I expected to see her again.'

They had been visiting National Parks in recent days, according to social media posts, and were recently in Utah before traveling to New Mexico

Kokotkiewicz's last post was on June 27 from a spot in Zion National Park called Angel's Landing, with the bodies being found two days later and 500 miles away

She had posted a number of other selfies during their vacation

The teacher also posed next to a College World Series sign during the tournament and wrote: 'Geaux TCU'
Food, not beaches, buildings, museums or historic monuments, is the motivating factor for two-thirds of Americans when it comes to choosing their perfect holiday destination.

Sixty-six per cent of US travelers rank potential dishes and dinners at a specific restaurant in a city other than their own as motivation for picking a place to visit, according to a new survey.

OpenTable, an online restaurant reservations company, released the results of its, Will Fly For Food study on Tuesday.

It revealed the above-mentioned statistics, while also shining a light on exactly what cities Americans want to visit to treat their tastebuds.

Paris has long been considered one of the most gastronomic cities in the world, which makes it the number one dream dining destination for Americans

A waiter is seen carrying paella to customers on a beach in Barcelona. The Catalan city ranks third as a dream dining destination for Americans

At the top of the list was Paris, followed by Florence and Barcelona. Rounding out the top-five were two American cities, New Orleans and New York City.

The bottom half of the top-ten had a mix of international and local flavor, with Tokyo, Bangkok, San Francisco, Madrid, and Chicago closing it out.

'Americans are redefining their travel bucket lists not by where they want to go, but by what they want to eat,' OpenTable's Chief Dining Officer, Caroline Potter, said in a statement.

Sixty-six per cent of US travelers rank potential dishes and dinners at a specific restaurant in a city other than their own as motivation for picking a place to visit, according to a new survey

Florence is renowned for its baked goods, hearty pasta dishes, bean stews and Florentine steaks. It was second on America's list of dream dinner destinations

TOP DREAM DINING DESTINATIONS FOR AMERICANS Paris Florence Barcelona New Orleans New York City Tokyo Bangkok San Francisco Madrid Chicago Advertisement

'While traveling, they're also not afraid to experiment with local cuisine, and make more adventurous dining decisions.'

A deeper dive into the survey findings reveal 58 per cent of American travelers 'significantly' link the culture of a city to its food scene, while 52 per cent said they have 'flown to the country of origin of their favorite cuisine'.

Almost nine in ten said they 'feel more inclined to make adventurous ordering decisions' while on holiday, and 78 per cent of Americans seek out restaurants with 'authentic, local flavors' while away from home.

OpenTable also offered up a list of dishes to try while on vacation in specific cities, such as sticky pork belly in Melbourne, Australia; disco poutine in Montreal; rainbow sushi in Tokyo; and white sausage and pretzel in Munich.

Diners are seen enjoying their meals in New Orleans' French Quarter. The city is the fourth most popular food vacation destination for Americans

New York's food carts probably aren't high on many lists, but the Big Apple ranked fifth in terms of the city Americans dream about traveling to for the food
Despite claims by furious Trump opponents that they would leave the country if he won the presidency, Canada hasn't proved as many citizenship applications as might be expected.

The country's did receive an uptick of 66 per cent in applications from January-April 2017, but that only meant an average of 400 people per month rather than the previous year's 264.

And those figures are still down from highs of 2011 - the middle of the Obama administration - when 564 Americans a month were trying to become Canadian, the National Post reported.

Despite claims from some that they would flee to Canada if Donald Trump won the election, the country has not seen a vast wave of US immigrants

In the first four months of this year just 400 Americans a month applied for citizenship - a 66 per cent increase from 264 a month in 2016. But figures are generally trending down

The paper looked at figures from from 2007 to April of this year, obtained from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada.

The figures don't include Americans who have moved to the country in the hope of becoming permanent residents, or those who already live there.

However, the statistics do suggest that, overall, the numbers of Americans trying to become Canadian are trending down.

From 2007-2014, the yearly average of Americans applying for Canadian citizenship was 5,712; in 2015 and 2016 the country had 3,168 and 3,623 applicants, respectively.

Canada's immigration website did crash around the time of the 2016 election, but that may not be because of horrified Americans looking to flee north.

On November 10, the country began requiring visa-free visitors to apply for $7 electronic travel applications - similar to the ESTA program run by the US.

For those looking to become citizens, the costs are somewhat higher: The fee for applying alone is $500.

The peak in the last decade was in 2011, in the middle of the Obama years, when 564 people a month from the US tried to get Canadian citizenship

And applicants must also have a sponsor such as an employer or spouse who can ensure they are able to pay their way.

They must then wait six years before they can actually get citizenship.

Regardless of actual demand, some areas in Canada used the election as a cheeky way to get dollars pouring in.

A tourist website for Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, set up a pre-election site with the message 'Hi Americans! Donald Trump may become the President of your country!

'If that happens, and you decide to get the hell out of there, might I suggest moving to Cape Breton Island!'

The site - titled 'Cape Breton if Donald Trump Wins' - now has a broader approach, post-election.

'I'm so happy you decided to visit us! (online anyway),' the site says.

'But the truth is, we welcome all, no matter who you support, be it Democrat, Republican or Donald Trump.'
In distress after getting separated from its mother, a baby wildebeest decided to make a blue car its new mummy.

This remarkable footage was captured by visitors Zaheer and Asma Ali while visiting the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park in the desert region of Botswana and South Africa.

The couple were travelling to the Mata-Mata camp when they came across the young animal, which appeared to be following a blue car in front of them.

Zaheer and Asma Ali were visiting the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park in the desert region of Botswana and South Africa when they came across the young animal, which appeared to be following a blue car in front of them

'We were shocked to see that the wildebeest calf moved and stopped when the car did,' Mr Ali told Latest Sightings.

'At first, we didnt understand what was happening. But after a few minutes of viewing the wildebeest, checking our surroundings and seeing that there wasnt a herd in sight, we realised that he was probably lost and the had taken to the car in front of us as its mother.

'We knew it was a natural instinct for him to follow the biggest moving object closest to him, as he would have done in the herd.'

He added: 'We were afraid for him as he was all alone and vulnerable in prolific lion and cheetah territory, and our aim was to help him back to the safety of his herd.'

Mr Ali said: 'At first, we didnt understand what was happening. But after a few minutes of viewing the wildebeest, checking our surroundings and seeing that there wasnt a herd in sight, we realised that he was probably lost and the had taken to the car in front of us as its mother'

To the couple's horror, they then saw it run into the path of a vehicle travelling in the opposite direction (left). The driver managed to slam the brakes just in time, and the animal escaped injury

Mrs and Mrs Ali then followed the calf and its blue 'mummy' for about 2km.

To the couple's horror, they then saw it run into the path of a vehicle travelling in the opposite direction. The driver managed to slam the brakes just in time, and the animal escaped injury.

'Then the calf decided to turn towards our vehicle,' said Mr Ali. 'It was looking for a spot on the vehicle to suckle.

'My wife, Asma, rolled down the window and this little guy was obviously quite distressed. We moved the vehicle forward, hoping it would start following us.

'We moved quite a distance away from the calf so he didn't get hurt by the car's tyres.'

After the couple had driven another 4-5km, they came upon a herd of wildebeest.

'There were around 50 wildebeest in this herd,' Mr Ali said. 'The calf stopped - and within five seconds, the mother came running towards him and they were reunited. He immediately started suckling on her.'
A pregnant woman is facing deportation back to the U.S. despite telling the Australian Government boarding a plane could kill her and her unborn child.

Eleanor Mapp lives in Perth, in Western Australia, with her Australian partner, Terrance Batey, and his family.

As her bridging visa is due to run out on July 4, she claims the Department of Immigration will force her out of the country.

But the 30-year-old has a history of serious obstetric complications and travelling by air could lead to her death, medical experts told Perth Now.

'I'm a high risk pregnancy and I feel that if I'm sent home I will die and so will my baby,' Ms Mapp said.

Scroll down for video

Eleanor Mapp (pictured) is facing deportation back to the U.S. despite telling the Australian government boarding a plane could kill her and her unborn child

Ms Mapp has revealed that she has no family or support in her native country and no access to much needed specialist medical care vital to her and her baby's survival

Not only is the mother-to-be at danger while airborne, she has revealed she had no family or support in her native country and no access to much needed specialist medical care vital to her and her baby's survival.

The American has suffered heartbreak due to her childbirth problems before, as in 2015 she lost twins during pregnancy and last year gave birth to a premature baby that later died.

With her previous ordeals in mind and her circumstances in the U.S., medical staff at Perth's King Edward Memorial Hospital have urged the Department of Immigration to tread carefully when deciding Ms Mapps fate.

'Without proper high level obstretic care, Eleanor and her baby are at high risk of dying and it is too risky to send her back to the USA until her baby is born,' Dr Alida Lancee said.

Maternal foetal medicine specialist Scott White reiterated Dr Lancee's comments again suggesting medical neglect could prove to be fatal.

'She is at significant risk of maternal harm, including potentially death, if she is not managed appropriately in this pregnancy,' Dr White said in writing to the Immigration Department.

Ms Mapp has suffered heartbreak due to her childbirth problems before, as in 2015 she lost twins during pregnancy and last year gave birth to a premature baby that later died (pictured)

Medical staff at King Edward Memorial Hospital (pictured) have urged the Department of Immigration to tread carefully when deciding Ms Mapps fate

The department said it had been liaising with Ms Mapp over the last year to resolve her visa status yet she had not submitted a visa application.

'Individuals who have no further matters before the department and have been deemed medically fit to travel are expected to depart,' a spokeswoman said.

But Ms Mapp has shared the stark reality of her impending return to the U.S. if she survives a flight to her country of birth.

'I've got nowhere to go, I'll be out on the street, no money, no healthcare, nowhere to go,' she told Seven News.
A school dubbed the most 'hipster' in Britain could be in trouble with the education watchdog.

Ofsted is examining The Greenhouse Education Project in Southstoke, near Bath, Somerset, over concerns it may be an 'unregistered school'.

The project, which formed in 2014 and charges fees of 1,250 per term, claims to be an educational centre where children learn in a Mongolian-inspired yurt.

It provides children with 18 hours of 'enrichment' per week from qualified teachers, with the school day made up of mostly outdoor play.

A school dubbed the most 'hipster' in Britain could be in trouble with the education watchdog

Pupils at The Green House Education Project spend their time playing outside, climb trees barefoot and wear what they like

From left, pupils Florence, five, Asha, six, Zoe, five, and Doris, five, pictured inside the yurt

Children are pictured climbing trees at the Green House Education Project in Bath, Somerset

The school is only open three days a week, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday leaving children free to spend more time at home with the family or on holiday.

There are no rules and children are encouraged to take risks and learn how to keep themselves safe.

Other non-curricular activities include yoga, meditation and mindfulness.

But concerns have now emerged about the centre after it was revealed that Ofsted is looking into whether it should formally investigate the establishment.

The project, which educates 23 children, is been examined on the grounds that it may breach guidelines concerning the provision of home education.

The Green House Project, located near Southstoke in Bath, Somerset is the brainchild of Bath mothers and qualified teachers Cindy Adams (pictured left) and Anna Robinson (right)

One pupil, five-year-old Sebastian, is pictured at the Green House Education Project in Bath

The school's 23 pupils go to classes either outdoors if the weather is good, or in a yurt with a wood-burning stove

An Ofsted spokeswoman said that 'an illegal school' is a setting which is not registered as a school but 'that provides the main part of education for five or more school aged children, or one or more pupils who are looked after'.

The watchdog said that while it was now looking into the school, it was unable to confirm whether a formal investigation would be launched.

Although it added that '18 hours per week' met the Department for Education's definition of full-time education.

Anna Robinson, a director of The Green House Education Project, has denied that the centre falls within the definition of a school and said she is not worried by the examination.

'It's not a school,' she said. 'In terms of Ofsted, even though we don't qualify for being a school, all our policies, all our safety training has been deliberately done to Ofsted's standards.

There are no rules, no exams and no uniform, and the school encourages children to understand safety by taking risks - including climbing trees

The pupils are divided into two age groups - the Wolf Cubs, aged 5-7, and the Wolf Pack, aged 7-14

Anna Robinson (pictured left) and Cindy Adams (right) of the Green House Education Project

'Because we are all qualified home educatorsaEuro  it's an unusual area - but absolutely not a school. There is full mainstream, or home education - what we provide is a hybrid.'

Following the media coverage the project has received over its Ofsted status, a clarification has been posted on The Green House Education Project website.

The message reads: 'We would like to make it clear that to the best of our knowledge, The Green House is not a school.

'It is a learning community that acts as a service to home-schooling families.'

The website then links to a document that addresses why the project is currently not required to register on the Early Years Register or Child Car Register.

Providers do not have to register with Ofsted: 'If they are providing a home-education arrangement where a child of school age receives full-time education outside school, and is partly or completely taught by a person other than a parent of the child.
Three lions have been found poisoned with their heads and paws removed for use in black magic spells in the latest attack by poachers in South Africa.

The big cats were found dead at the Kareefontein farm outside Modimolle in the north east of the country.

Security raised the alarm after seeing the dead animals and police later found a knife abandoned at the scene of the slaughter.

Three lions have been found poisoned with their heads and paws removed for use in black magic spells in the latest attack by poachers in South Africa (file picture)

It comes a month after two lions were butchered in similar circumstances by poachers who broke into the Emoya Big Cat Sanctuary in Vaalwater, northern South Africa.

In the latest killings, the local police have launched a manhunt for a group of suspects, according to Capricorn Review.

Lt Col Moatshe Ngoepe said: 'Police investigations will continue and the suspects in this matter are still unknown. No arrests have been made as yet.'

In June, male lions Jose and Liso who endured 'hell on earth' in South American circuses before being transported to a wildlife refuge in South Africa also had their heads and paws cut off in possible witchcraft-related killings.

Last month, two lions were butchered in similar circumstances by poachers who broke into the Emoya Big Cat Sanctuary (pictured) in Vaalwater, northern South Africa

The incursion into the sanctuary highlighted how brazen poachers can infiltrate places like Emoya, which said it had 24-hour security and armed patrols and has taken additional measures to protect its property.

Lions are often killed in South Africa to create potions for the country's witchcraft practitioners.

In January, poachers cut through fences at another animal park in South Africa and decapitated and chopped the paws off three male lions, possibly for use in traditional healing rituals.

While lion parts have long been used in some African cultures, conservationists have raised concerns that poachers are increasingly targeting lions because of demand in some Asian countries.

African lion bones are a relatively recent substitute in tonics for the bones of Asian tigers, whose numbers were depleted by poachers. Lion teeth and claws are known to have value as trinkets.
Johanna Ruf as a little girl in 1940, now an elderly German woman who witnessed the last days of Adolf Hitler in his bunker

A nurse who was due to meet Hitler and slapped Joseph Goebbels' son in the face the day before his father murdered him has revealed her secrets.

Johanna Ruf, now 88, was just 15 when she was stationed at the Nazi leader's bunker in Germany as allied forces surrounded the building at the end of World War Two.

She was all set to meet the Fuhrer to be commended along with her fellow medical workers until the ceremony was called off because some of the nurses had dirty blouses.

The awards never went ahead because Hitler killed himself, which happened to be the same day Ruf slapped Goebbels' son Helmut for being rude to her.

Until now, the former nurse's story has remained untold, but after 70 years her very personal account of how she witnessed the last days of the Nazi regime from up close has finally been published.

In a new book is called Eine Backpfeife fur den Kleinen Goebbels, which translates to A Slap in the Face for the Young Goebbels, she tells how she took care of the wounded in a makeshift sickbay located right under Hitler's study in the air-raid shelter near the Reich Chancellery.

Magda and Joseph Goebbels with their children, Hilde (left), Helmut (center), and Helga (right), visit Hitler on the Obersalzberg, Kehlstein House, 1938

Johanna Ruf, 88, pictured today after releasing a book telling of her time as a nurse to the Nazis

The Goebbels family in 1942 including his only son Helmut (left) who the teenage nurse slapped

The rear entrance to the Fuhrerbunker in the garden of the Reich Chancellery where Johanna Ruf worked as a nurse when she was just 15

One of the most shocking tales in the book is her meeting with the Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels' son.

Ruf said: 'Old Goebbels came to the sickbay. He obviously wanted to motivate us.

'He said, "the final victory is in front of the door", but there were only the Russians in front of the door.'

A little while later, the young nurse met a little boy in the Fuhrer's bunker.

Ruf said: 'He was really naughty to me, so I offered him a slap in the face.'

When the boy rudely answered 'just do it', Ruf forcefully slapped the young boy in his face.

She only learned later that she had slapped Goebbels' only son Helmut, then nine years old.

On May 1, the following night, the boy was poisoned by his parents together with all the other Goebbels children as they could not envision a future for them without national-socialism.

Hitler had taken up residence in the bunker on January 16, 1945 when Berlin was under threat of a massive Russian advance and made it the headquarters of the Nazi regime until he shot himself on April 30 - the day she slapped Goebbels' son.

The book, called Eine Backpfeife fur den Kleinen Goebbels, which translates to A Slap in the Face for the Young Goebbels

Towards the end of April 1945, with the Russians just mere feet away from the entrance of the bunker, Ruf and her colleagues were to be personally awarded by the Fuhrer himself.

But because their blouses were dirty, the ceremony had to be postponed.

Ruf said: 'We washed our shirts to be able to stand all clean in front of Hitler. Yet then all was cancelled.'

Hitler had shot himself before Ruf could ever personally meet with him.

Ruf worked around the clock with about 30 other medics at Defence Area Citadel - the last bastion of the Third Reich.

She said: 'Outside everything which was moving was shot at, that's why we stayed inside overnight. I was the youngest.

'We were given the infantry emergency supplies: long-lasting bread, sausages, ground coffee, butter, chocolate, cigarettes, biscuits and glucose.'

'In January 1945 school lessons ended for us. We of the League of German Girls wanted to do something. That's why I signed up as a nurse.'

She first served in a bunker at the Anhalter station but was later transferred to Hitler's underground lair, where Nazi bigwigs Goebbels and Hitler's lover Eva Braun were residing.

Ruf worked until the middle of May in the sickbay until she was transferred to Frankfurt an der Oder by the Russians when they raided the bunker.

On July 27, 1945, the Russians released her as she was still so young.
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A series of haunting unseen images from the Second Boer War collected by a soldier from Derby who took part in the brutal conflict have been unearthed in a time capsule showing where 22,000 soldiers were killed.

The remarkable photos, which include prints of slain Boers, a funeral of a British serviceman and a Boer War dog shed new light on a war that took place more than a century ago.

Photographer Robert Oliver fought in the South African conflict, which started in 1899 and ended in 1902, and was awarded the Queens medal for South Africa after fighting in Cape Colony, the Orange Free State and the Transvaal in 1901 and 1902.

One of a series of haunting unseen images from the Second Boer War collected by a British soldier who took part in the brutal conflict have been unearthed in a time capsule. A group of men pose up for a photo all holding a rope as a man in a white shirt stands on top of a pile of rubble

Soldiers being pulled along by cattle in the brutal battleground of the Boer War. A Derbyshire soldier who took part in the conflict took the photographs that have now been unearthed by a historian. He discovered the capsule, which contains a rare and eclectic mix of itens

A soldier walks in front of a boat which is being prepared for the Boer War in South Africa. The photograph was taken by Robert Oliver who fought in the South African conflict, which started in 1899 and ended in 1902. Mr Oliver was awarded the Queens medal for South Africa after fighting in Cape Colony, the Orange Free State, the Transvaal and South Africa in 1901 and 1902

A picture showing the funeral of solider Les Allen at the Sydenham Cemetery thought to be in Bloemfontein. Half a dozen troops can be seen lowering his coffin into the group as Mr Allen's comrades stand by with their heads bowed and their hands on their weapons in front of their chests. More than 22,000 soldiers from the British Empire died during the war

What was the Boer War? The Boer Wars in South Africa resulted from more than a century of conflict between the British Empire and the Boers - or farmers - and the First Boer War took place between 1880 and 1881, and the Second Boer War between 1899 and 1902. The Boers formed two republics, the Transvaal and The Oranje Vrijstaat or Orange State, which they attempted to keep independent of British Colonial rule. Large numbers of British armed forces were engaged first in open warfare, and subsequently in a long and bitter guerrilla campaign which ended with the signing of the Treaty of Vereeniging on 31 May 1902. British military service records show high losses, with more than half caused by illness, especially typhoid fever, rather than enemy action. 22000 British soldiers were killed, of which only 35% died in battle, and the remaining 65% from disease. Advertisement

The archive, which contains a 'rare and eclectic' mix of items including the pictures, was gathered by war hero Robert Oliver, and found in a home in Derbyshire by auctioneer Charles Hanson, a regular on the BBC antiques show Bargain Hunt.

The collection also contains two pairs of original kid gloves, spurs, an ammunition bandolier, caps and hats, Queens and Kings South African medals, a glazed portrait of Robert Oliver, a photo album of unpublished personal photos of the war, a powder flask, cap badges, an original South African feathered headdress, a cartridge belt and other items.

'It really is quite an archive,' Mr Hanson said.

'We know from the family that Robert Oliver was quite a rogue in his youth. At the age of 16, he ran away, ending up on a ship to Canada where he found work as a lumberjack.

'He later joined Staffordshire Police and our client's memory of him was that he was funny but firm and strict.

'Later in life he became a landlord, owning the Devonshire pub in Hartington, Derbyshire.'

The photographs, never seen publicly before, comprise of amazing images of a war which took a horrific number of lives.

They include pictures of a Boer War dog, an observation balloon at Ladysmith and General Buller.

'There are also images of Boers and their homes, together with graphic images recording the harsh reality, and true horror, of war - something the Victorian press did not portray at the time, as the British Empire was deemed undefeatable,' Mr Hanson added.

This photograph shows the brutality of the war with slain Boers left scattered in the battleground. The Boers were well armed and these guerrilla fighters carried out surprise attacks on the British, as, without uniforms, they blended easily into the farmlands which also provided hiding places for supplies and horses

Four men stand outside an open doorway during the Boer War in a photograph collected by Robert Oliver - a soldier from Derbyshire. The collection will be auctioned by Hansons Auctioneers on July 25. Although the collection has a guide price of 400 to 600, the auction house think it may make up to 1,000

A soldier poses up for a photograph with a collection of bullets draped across his chest (left) and a Boer War dog in a hat leans backwards balancing on his hind legs and backside (right). Dogs were used regularly in warfare as trackers, scouts or just loyal company for soldiers who needed a morale boost

A Boer soldier with his arm extended into the air and his helmet at his side lies dead in the turf of South Africa. The haunting images shed new light on a war that took place more than a century ago are to be auctioned off. In front of the soldier lie his comrades, who have all suffered the same fate at the hands of the British Empire's army

Troops piling off massive ships ready to enter the bloody Boer War. More than 55,000 British soldiers were killed, captured or wounded in the Second Boer War between 1899-1902 as Dutch-speaking settlers and soldiers from the British Empire fought battles in South Africa. It is likely some of these men would never make it home

The collection of incredible photographs was discovered in a home in Derbyshire. As well as the images, the collection also contains two pairs of original kid gloves, spurs, an ammunition bandolier, caps and hats, Queens and Kings South African medals, a glazed portrait of Robert Oliver, a photo album of unpublished personal photos of the war, a powder flask, cap badges, an original South African feathered headdress, a cartridge belt and other items

The devastation of the war is captured in this image showing a produce merchant's building razed to the ground. There are also images of Boers and their homes, together with graphic images recording the harsh reality, and true horror, of war - something the Victorian press did not portray at the time, as the British Empire was deemed undefeatable

Victorian vehicles sitting in floodwater during the Boer War in the collection of photographs compiled by a war hero Robert Oliver. The remarkable photos, which include prints of slain Boers, a funeral of a British serviceman, and a Boer War dog, shed new light on a war that took place more than a century ago, according to auctioneer Charles Hanson, a regular on the BBC antiques show Bargain Hunt.

A naked solider washes in the uncompromising conditions of the Boer War. The Boer Wars in South Africa resulted from over a century of conflict between the British Empire and the Boers - or farmers farmers - and comprised the First Anglo-Boer War 1880 to 1881, and the Second Boer War 1899 to 1902

A boat piled crammed with troops pulls into the harbour. British military service records show high losses, with more than half caused by illness, especially typhoid fever, rather than enemy action. 22,000 British soldiers were killed, of which only 35 percent died in battle, and the remaining 65 percent from disease

Another photograph from the collection which will go under the hammer on July 25 at Hansons Auctioneers in Etwall in Derbyshire

Mr Hanson said: 'The British went into the Boer War over-confident and under-prepared.

'The Boers were well armed and these guerrilla fighters carried out surprise attacks on the British, as, without uniforms, they blended easily into the farmlands which also provided hiding places for supplies and horses.

'The archive, which is almost 120 years old, provides a fascinating record of these battles.

'Lasting two years and eight months, the Boer War resulted in tens of thousands of deaths, with 22,000 British lives lost.

'Although the collection has a guide price of 400 to 600, we think it may make up to 1,000.

'The images, objects, ephemera, uniform and equipment really highlight the difficulties of war carried out long before technology came to the fore.'

The collection will go under the hammer on July 25 at Hansons Auctioneers in Etwall in Derbyshire.
Underbelly star Vince Colosimo has been charged with driving while suspended and while under the influence of drugs.

The 50-year-old actor's case was mentioned in Melbourne Magistrates Court this week, but will not have to face a judge until August when his trial begins, the Herald Sun reported.

As it is his second charge of driving while suspended, Colosimo could be facing time behind bars for his actions.

Underbelly actor Vince Colosimo has been charged with drug driving and driving with a suspended licence

In December 2014, the actor was charged with two counts of driving with a suspended license.

Colosimo pleaded guilty, escaped conviction, and received a $1,000 fine and a 14-day driving ban.

In January this year, the actor pleaded guilty to possessing methamphetamine.

The actor had been caught with a small amount of the drug ice when he was pulled over by police in Melbourne's north in September 2016.

The actor will face Melbourne Magistrate's Court in August, where he could receive jail time or a fine of up to $38,060

The father-of-two was given a 12-month good behaviour bond and ordered to pay $1,000 to the court.

Being caught driving with a suspended licence more than once can attract up to two years jail, meaning it is possible Colosimo will be sent away for his alleged misdeed.

But if he is allowed to walk free, it may not be without a hit to the wallet.

Those caught driving while suspended once face a fine of up to $4,760, but subsequent offences can cost the driver up to $38,060.
The shocking moment a police officer repeatedly punched a young woman in the face while she was being pinned to the ground has been captured on camera.

The cop, who has not been named, was recorded in York City, Pennsylvania, punching 21-year-old Melissa Dyann Penn in the early hours of Monday morning.

Penn, who appeared to be in her early 20s, was tackled to the ground at the start of the video.

The cop then delivered a series of blows to her head.

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Melissa Dyann Penn (left, in her mugshot, and right) was filmed being punched in the head by a police officer in Pennsylvania on Monday morning

The officer punched her three times directly in the head, while wrestling with Penn on the sidewalk.

At one point, it appeared as though she was trying to lift her arms up from her side to push the cop off.

But he is then seen hitting her in the side - a fourth shot - before rolling Penn onto her side and wrenching her arm back so he could handcuff her.

The video then ends.

Video shows the officer, who has not been named, pinning Penn to the ground while he punched her

The York Daily Record reports the incident took place after Penn had been kicked out of a nightclub by bouncers and was then trying to get back inside.

An affidavit states the officer was punching the young woman in 'an attempt to daze and disorient her and regain tactical advantage over her', according to the Daily Record.

York Police also released a statement about the video, reading: 'We would ask that people not draw conclusions regarding a small portion of the incident and we hope to release more video in the future.

The officer punched her three times directly in the head, while wrestling with Penn while on the ground

After delivering the strikes, the cop wrenched Penn's arm back and then arrested her

'Every York City Police Officer is expected to treat our citizens with respect and professionalism but if physical force is used against our officers they will respond according to our policies.'

The video was shared across social media, with more than 50,000 people watching the clip in just one posting.

Police charged Penn with aggravated assault, resisting arrest and defiant trespass. She was released Monday on $5,000 bail.
A former Oklahoma police officer who shot dead his daughter's boyfriend is facing a third trial charged with first-degree murder after two previous juries were deadlocked.

Shannon Kepler retired from Tulsa Police Department shortly after the shooting in August 2014.

He has been tried twice since then on first-degree murder charges but on both occasions the jury failed to return a verdict.

Former Oklahoma police officer Shannon Kepler, pictured, is accused of the first degree murder of his daughter's black boyfriend Jeremey Lake in August 2014

Kepler claims Lake was armed when he approached his house and the shooing was selfefnce

Carl Morse, father of the victim Jeremey Lake siad he wanted justice for his son

Jeremey Lake, 19, left, had just started a relationship with Lisa Kepler in August 2014

Kepler claims Lake was armed and he was acting in self defense. Although when searched by police, officers could not find the gun.

In late 2014, Kepler retired from the force along with a lump sum based on his service.

The Oklahoma state Police Pension and Retirement Board approved the payment of the 160,000 lump sum.

Kepler's wife Gina, also a police officer, was initially arrested on suspicion of being an accessory to murder after the fact.

Ms Kepler, who was 18 at the time of the shooting, had just met Mr Lakes in a homeless shelter.
Harvard's Fox Club - the fellowship whose members have included Bill Gates and poet TS Eliot - has reneged on its plan to admit female members.

In October 2015 the 119-year-old, formerly all-male finals club accepted junior and senior women as provisional members, as part of a year-long plan to go fully co-ed.

But now the graduate board has revoked all provisional members - male and female - and is only inviting the male members to reapply, The Harvard Crimson reported.

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Outfoxed: The Fox Club (pictured) has excluded all its female members two years after they were allowed in as 'provisional' members under pressure from undergrads and Harvard itself

Ladies out: Ex-Fox undergraduate president Daniel T Skarzynski (left), who graduated in 2016, said that graduate board president Hugh M Nesbit (right, class of '77) had announced the decision. The undergrads had been pushing to admit women, to the annoyance of some alums

Former Fox undergraduate president Daniel T Skarzynski - who graduated in 2016 - explained the move in an email.

He said that he had been told of the move by club graduate board president Hugh M Nesbit of the class of 1977.

'For the concerned parties, [Nesbit] also said that if youd like to be re-considered for membership, you should send an email to that effect,' Skarzynski wrote.

He said the graduate board would then vote individually on those applications.

'However,' he wrote,'[Nesbit] said this invite for reapplication does not apply to female members until such a time as the club votes successfully to add women to its membership.'

The club has been divided over the issue for years, amid pressure from Harvard to go co-ed.

The club's house was temporarily shuttered in November 2015 after the initial vote to let in women was passed by undergraduates, due to a pushback by alumni.

Those members, under the title of the 'Friends of the Fox Club,' circulated emails to dissuade the admission of female students, the Harvard Crimson wrote in 2015.

Poll Should private universities force their clubs to go co-ed? Yes No Should private universities force their clubs to go co-ed? Yes 175 votes

No 601 votes Now share your opinion





'As graduates, we must act upon our sense of duty to protect the club that we love and not allow it to be hijacked by a small group of undergraduates who were only just invited into our membership and still have yet to scratch the surface of the club's legacy,' one email read.

Graduate board leaders ruled that the alumni could not block the vote, due to a clause in the constitution that said undergraduates have 'complete control of the election of new members.'

The 'provisional member' status was agreed upon as a compromise; some male members offered to become 'provisional' too, in solidarity.

But since then two votes have been held on admitting women as full members, both of which have failed to get the two-thirds majority needed to pass.

And now the ladies are out.

Not all alumni are against allowing in female Foxes, however; Reverend Douglas W. Sears, who graduated in 1969, said pushing out the women members was a mistake.

In favor: Graduate Douglas W Sears said the decision put the Fox Club ' on the wrong side of history'. Harvard is also penalizing all same-sex clubs

'Some folks certainly know how to get on the wrong side of history voluntarily,' he said.

This will likely not be the end of the affair for the Fox Club.

Harvard is introducing a new rule for the next class that forbids members of single-sex clubs from receiving college endorsement for several fellowships such as the Rhodes and the Marshall.

They will also not be allowed to lead certain student groups.

However, the dean has announced that a committee will be formed that may be able to revise or replace those penalties.

But some expect a fight, and the all-male Fly Club in September last year retained lawyers ahead of an expected legal battle.
Grave-robbing was an, ahem, grave fear for people in the United States back in the post-Civil War era. This cartoon shows grave robbers, or 'resurrection men', stealing a recently deceased individual

Grave-robbing was such a dire concern in the post-Civil War United States that people took to building weapons to protect the deceased. The dreadful thought that the dead body of a loved one might be stolen from its grave, sold to a doctor and dissected for medical purposes prompted entrepreneurs to consider how to injure or even kill would-be robbers.

State laws were passed from the 1880s to the 1910s, allowing medical personnel to use unclaimed dead bodies  including those of people whose families could not afford proper burials  for dissection and analysis. Before such laws, graveyards were the Wild West of medical research.

Medical schools required corpses to learn more about the human body. With no easy way to get bodies back in the day, they turned to the black market for dead bodies. Robbers known as resurrection men would therefore enter graveyards to exhume recently buried people and sell their bodies to medical researchers. In other cases, robbers exhumed bodies for ransom.

Two men developed violent contraptions called coffin torpedoes, which would maim or kill would-be grave robbers. One resembled a shotgun, and another resembled a landmine.

State laws passed from the 1880s to the 1910s allowed medical researchers a legal means of claiming unclaimed dead bodies and using them for medical research. Before this, they turned to the black market of grave robbery. Pictured: Grave robbers lifting a coffin from the ground

Perhaps the most famous victim of grave-robbing was John Scott Harrison, an Ohio Congressman who was the son of President William Henry Harrison and the father of President Benjamin Harrison. Harrison, who died at the age of 74, was discovered hanging named in the Medical College of Ohio

In the aftermath of the Civil War, dead bodies were numerous and ripe for the taking. Most victims were the poor or homeless. African American people and recent immigrants were heavily affected, as well. But in a particularly high profile case, the body of Ohio congressman John Scott Harrison was taken from its grave and sold to the Medical College of Ohio.

Harrison, the only person to have been both the father and son of a US president, was buried on May 29, 1878. His family members noticed, on the day of his funeral, that the body of a young and recently deceased tuberculosis sufferer had been stolen the previous week. Harrisons son John, perhaps worrying that his fathers body would suffer a similar fate, visited the Medical College of Ohio nearby to investigate the disappearance.

At the college, John found a naked male body hanging from a rope. But the body was not young and emaciated; in fact, it was healthy and old. John looked at the mans head and found himself face-to-face with his 74-year-old father, who was stolen overnight.

The college, when confronted with the subsequent outrage, did not seem bothered and cited the realities of medical research. The Harrisons filed a lawsuit against the college, though its outcome is not known, as the courthouse with the cases record burned down.

Family members of the dead across the country, therefore, turned to various protection methods such as bodyguards and cast-iron cages surrounding coffins. For a brief period, even more violent measures were in vogue.

Philip K Clover, an artist and inventor from Columbus, Ohio, was the first to patent a version of a coffin torpedo. In his patent published October 8, 1878, he wrote: My invention has for its object to provide a means which shall successfully prevent the unauthorized resurrection of dead bodies.

Pictured is Philip K Clover's patent for a version of the coffin torpedo. Clover's version functioned as a sort-of shotgun

And with this end in view, my invention consists of a peculiarly-constructed torpedo, adapted to be readily secured to the coffin and the body of the contained corpse in such a manner that any attempt to remove the body after burial will cause the discharge of the cartridge contained in the torpedo and injury or death of the desecrator of the grave.

Clovers torpedo was attached to the top lid of the inside of the coffin and was wired to the corpse. It functioned as a sort-of shotgun that would be triggered upon opening the lid. The would-be robber would be pummeled with 36-caliber lead balls  either killing or gravely wounding the thief.

For his patent, Clover drew a body in a coffin showing a wire attached around one arm up to the lid and down to the feet that would have been connected to the shotgun-like torpedo

The sort-of shotgun, loaded with lead balls, would be triggered if the coffin's lid was opened

But how to stop a group of robbers? While Clovers design seems perfect for a lone wolf, a collective could easily send one particularly unlucky member to pry the coffin open first and die by coffin torpedo. The individuals martyrdom would allow other members of the gang to then take the body.

But a patent for a different form of the coffin torpedo appeared to solve this issue. Thomas N Howell, a probate judge in Circleville, Ohio patented his own version on December 20, 1881.

Howells patent was for a torpedo that functioned as a sort-of landmine. A shell was to be buried above and near to the coffin, which would be protected by a metal contraption. The shell, filled with almost one pound of black powder, would ignite at a physical disturbance. The metal contraption would act as both a shield and weapon and direct the force of the blast at the grave robber. The body of the deceased would remain unharmed, while the resurrection man would emerge at best with some burns and - at worst - dead .

An advertisement for the landmine-style device read: Sleep well sweet angel, let no fears of ghouls disturb thy rest, for above thy shrouded form lies a torpedo, ready to make minced meat of anyone who attempts to convey you to the pickling vat.

Pictured is a patent for Thomas N Howell's coffin torpedo that functioned more as a landmine

There is little evidence to suggest that coffin torpedoes were ever widely used, but they do shed light on a morbid fascination with death in the 19th century. An 1899 edition of the Topeka State Journal suggested that the grave of an extravagant Mrs Whitney, whose dead body was allegedly adorned with jewels, had some rather aggressive safeguards.

The report, the veracity of which is not known, sets the scene: Under the wealth of hothouse flowers adorning Mrs William C Whitneys grave on a hilltop overlooking the Little Neck Meadows, the freshly turned earth is sown with powerful torpedoes. The coffin is hemmed about with them, and the ghoul who undertook to strike his space beneath the surface would invite swift destruction.

Sleep well sweet angel, let no fears of ghouls disturb thy rest, for above thy shrouded form lies a torpedo, ready to make minced meat of anyone who attempts to convey you to the pickling vat Advertisement for the 1881 landmine-style 'coffin torpedo'

And one night in January 1881, three resurrectionists were thwarted in their attempt to snatch a body from a cemetery in Mount Vernon, Ohio. One of the grave robbers was, for better or worse, sent to his own grave.

The story goes, that while excavating the grave, the picks came in contact with a torpedo, which exploded, killing one of the ghouls, named Dipper, and mangling the leg of another, reads a report from the Stark County Democrat. The third individual, who fortunately for him served as watchman, was not believed to have been hurt and saved his mangled comrade.

The weapon itself (pictured) was buried above and separately from the coffin. The weapon would be filled with black powder and would explode at the sign of a physical disturbance

The coffin, pictured as 'A', would be protected from the blast by a metal shield, pictured as 'G'

Coffin torpedoes were not the only method of protecting graves. Some families hired armed watchmen who stood rapt at attention near graves or in watch towers built in cemeteries. Cemetery guns were popular in Europe and were generally above-ground weapons that were either loaded or unloaded and were scattered around cemeteries attached by wire to various points in a cemetery. If triggered, a blank shot would spook a potential grave-robber, or a loaded shot might kill him. The guns were unloaded during the day for mourners. Mortsafes, or iron cages adding an additional layer of protection to a grave, were popular in Europe, too.

Sheer force was an occasional deterrence to grave-robbing as well. Before the invention of the coffin torpedoes, there were at least 17 Resurrection Riots across the United States, during which incensed citizens stormed medical colleges to reclaim stolen dead bodies.

By the early 1900s, anatomy laws in the US providing legal means for medical colleges to claim the bodies weakened the black market for dead bodies. And with the weakened black market came safer resting for the dead. But in a time when the bodies of loved ones could be snatched on a whim, coffin torpedoes perhaps provided a sense of security. And ironically, of course, such weapons killed whoever might have had the audacity to mess with the dead.

Other devices that were used to deter grave robbers included the 'mortsafe,' which was particularly popular in the United Kingdom. The pictured mortsafe was in a cemetery in Towie, Aberdeenshire, Scotland
Bill Gates has warned that European leaders risk deepening the migrant crisis by being too generous to those arriving on the continent.

The Microsoft founder said countries such as Germany will not be able to handle the 'huge' numbers of migrants waiting to leave Africa and find a better life overseas.

Instead, the 61-year-old suggested spending more on foreign aid to treat the root causes of migration, while making it more difficult for people to reach the continent.

Bill Gates warned European leaders they will worsen the migrant crisis by being over-generous to those arriving on the continent, and suggested spending more on foreign aid instead

Mr Gates said countries such as Germany cannot handle the 'huge' numbers of people wanting to travel to Europe (pictured, migrants arrive in Munich)

Speaking in an interview with the German Welt am Sonntag newspaper, with a translation published by Breitbart, he said: 'On the one hand you want to demonstrate generosity and take in refugees.

'But the more generous you are, the more word gets around about this  which in turn motivates more people to leave Africa.

'Germany cannot possibly take in the huge number of people who are wanting to make their way to Europe.'

Mr Gates praised Chancellor Merkel's commitment to spending 0.7 per cent of GDP on foreign aid as 'phenomenal', and asked other European leaders to follow suit.

But he added: 'Europe must make it more difficult for Africans to reach the continent via the current transit routes.'

His own foundation has spent years and invested hundreds of millions of dollars to fight poverty and disease in Africa.

Mail Online contacted the foundation for comment, but had not received a response at the time of publication.

Mrs Merkel has been heavily criticised for her previous policy of open-door migration which saw 1million people arrive in Germany in a single year.

Chancellor Angela Merkel has been criticised for her previous policy of open-door migration. Italian interior minister Marco Minniti raised the prospect of closing ports to private ships helping migrants ashore earlier this week

It is thought that 82,000 migrants, largely from North Africa, have arrived in Italy since the start of the year, with 2,000 drowning in their efforts to cross

At the time conservative European politicians warned that providing migrants with an open door into Europe would make the problem worse.

Mr Gates' comments came as Italian interior minister Marco Minniti held emergency talks with his French and German counterparts over the migrant crisis.

Mr Minniti has threatened to close Italian ports to privately-funded vessels helping to rescue migrants from ships in the Mediterranean.

He said that other European nations must agree to shoulder some of the burden, or Italy will cut funding to those refusing to help.

An estimated 82,000 migrants have arrived in Italy so far this year, up 19 per cent on previous year, The Telegraph reports.

A German government report which leaked to the Bild newspaper suggests there could be up to 6.6million people trying to get into Europe, including 2.5million waiting to cross from North Africa.

It is thought that 2,000 people have lost their lives making the crossing since the start of the year.

Mr Gates' comments also came after the G20 Africa Conference which took place in Berlin last month.

The summit aimed to discuss ways to improve economic growth, develop infrastructure, and strengthen private investment across the continent.
Optus users were left high and dry on Tuesday night with a service outage affecting customers in NSW, Victoria and the ACT.

Hundreds of people took to Twitter to share their displeasure at the outage, with many further incensed by a lack of response from the telco.

Customers in NSW lost access to 4G and 3G networks about 9:30pm, while some in Melbourne were still complaining of no internet at 1:30am.

Optus suffered a network outage in NSW, Victoria and the ACT on Tuesday night

Those who turned to the Optus website for answers were left bitterly disappointed, with the outages map displaying an: 'Oops! Something went wrong' message.

Though many were frustrated at the time they had wasted trying to connect to the internet, or angered by the company's lack of response to the incident, one Twitter user had a unique problem.

'My housemate and I both paid our overdue Optus bills, thinking it was the source of the service outage... what a scam,' wrote user Max East.

Another compared the telco to embattled Vodafone, whose service can often be unreliable.

'Optus doing their best impression of Vodafone tonight,' Twitter user Jamie wrote.

'Spent 30 mins [sic] fiddling with cables and going through manuals instead of doing work, cheers.'

Another attempted to leverage the outage to her advantage, requesting free access to streaming service Stan for a month as means of an apology.

But one tweet summed up the feeling among social media-using Optus customers perfectly.

'No home phone service, no customer service, no response... nothing from Optus. What's up?,' Twitter user Oliver Hu wrote.

An Optus spokesman said: 'Some Optus customers in New South Wales, Victoria and Australias Capital Territory may have experienced interruptions while using their home broadband services, and 4G mobile data services on the evening of Tuesday, July 4.

'All data service were restored at approximately 10.30pm the same night. Interruptions were experienced for approximately 1 hour and voice services were not affected.

'Optus technicians are investigating the exact cause of the interruptions.

'We apologise to customers and appreciate their understanding.'
A man is fighting for his life after his arm was bitten off by a crocodile while he was relieving himself in a lagoon in Mexico.

Cal Monzon, 40, who is believed to be an American tourist, was reportedly urinating in the Nichupte Lagoon in Cancun.

As he was relieving himself the crocodile swam out of the water and bit his forearm off at the elbow, according to the Riviera Maya News.

Cal Monzon, 40, is fighting for his life after his arm was bitten off by a crocodile while he was relieving himself in the Nichupte Lagoon (pictured) in Mexico

Monzon, who is believed to be an American tourist, was urinating in the lagoon (pictured) when out of nowhere the crocodile swam out of the water and bit his forearm off at the elbow

After a struggle with the reptile Monzon managed to escape and run away.

Monzon, who was staying at the Rui Peninsula, was then rushed to a local hospital where he underwent emergency surgery.

According to the Riviera News, Monzon is in critical condition and fighting for his life.

The Nichupte Lagoon in Cancun is a tourist hotspot in the southeastern Mexican state of Quintana Roo.

According to local media, the Nichupte lagoon is known for its crocodile-infested waters.

Earlier this month, area businesses and residents expressed concern over the reptiles leaving the lagoon and entering restaurant and hotel areas.

Gonzalo Merediz Alonso, the executive director of Friends of Sian Ka'an, told the Riviera News that the crocodiles need to be removed from the lagoon and into a closure.

About 120 crocodiles live in the lagoon, a number that has grown substantially over the years.
Former Australian prime minister Julia Gillard says questions will be continued to be raised about US President Donald Trump's mental health if he persists with his bizarre Twitter rants.

Appearing on the ABC's Lateline program on Monday night, Ms Gillard weighed in on Mr Trump's social media use which has increasingly come under the scrutiny of politicians and media commentators in the US.

The newly installed chair of beyondblue, the national depression, anxiety and mental health initiative, was responding to a question from Lateline reporter David Lipson about the commentary surrounding Mr Trump's mental state.

Former Australian prime minister Julie Gillard (pictured) has weighed into the debate over US President Donald Trump's Twitter comments

Ms Gillard was responding to a question surrounding commentary about Mr Trump's (pictured) mental state

'Look, I would worry that a charge of being mentally ill ended up being thrown around as an insult. That would worry me,' Ms Gillard responded.

'I know that some people in the US, some commentators, are not proffering that analysis by way of insult: they are actually saying it because they are genuinely concerned.'

Australia's 27th prime minister acknowledged it was difficult to judge a person's mental health having never met them.

But she added Mr Trump's Twitter use had been a cause for concern.

'We really can't offer some analysis of a man we've never met. And in any event, and we're not mental health professionals,' Ms Gillard said.

'So I think there is some need for caution here. But I do think, if President Trump continues with some of the tweeting, et cetera, that we have seen, that this will be in the dialogue.'
An Australian six-year-old girl was dumped in a Middle Eastern orphanage by her Muslim father as he did not want her living with her mother who decided to stop practising Islam.

The man, who was not named for legal reasons, was awarded sole custody of the couple's daughter.

She also strongly objected living with her mother after she abandoned them.

The daughter was so deeply affected by the situation she was reduced to kicking and spitting at her mother when she spent time with her, The Australian reported.

The Family Court in Australia in Adelaide heard the husband, an Australian citizen, met his wife in the Middle East at the age of 51, while she was just 17.

An Australian six-year-old girl was dumped in a Middle Eastern orphanage by her Muslim father as he didn't want her living with her mother (stock image)

After marrying in 2004, the couple had their daughter in 2006 in Australia and moved between the country and the Middle East.

Yet they divorced in 2012 and the girl's father was granted custody of her by a Middle Eastern court.

The wife, who was referred to as Ms Hamoud, told the court she was a 'victim of physical and financial abuse' during their relationship.

The mother returned to Australia and began legal proceedings to gain access to her daughter.

But was met with resistance from her daughter, who informed a psychologist appointed by the Australian Family Court she hated her mother.

The girl also told psychologists she had no intention of seeing her mother, who 'hit her, did not look after her, spent all her time putting on make-up, stealing money, and changing her religion'.

The Family Court in Australia in Adelaide (pictured) heard that the girl was so traumatised by the experience that she was reduced to kicking and spitting at her mother in her presence

The father admitted the girl to an orphanage, claiming his wife had left them and that his mother was too old and sick to care for the girl, leaving him no choice.

When the girl's mother demanded to know their daughter's location, he refused to tell her.

She eventually managed to track down her daughter and the child was returned to Australia under orders of the Family Court, but became violent towards the staff at a contact centre during supervised visits from her mother.

Justice David Berman suggested the husband had 'demonstrated a distinct lack of understanding as to the importance of the child having a relationship with her mother'.

But the mother, who has failed to share any significant time with her daughter since 2014, admitted defeat in the current circumstances and the child could not be brought up by her.

She does however one day hope that 'as the child matures, she may well seek a relationship'.

She agreed to give up parental responsibility to her former husband yet Justice Berman refused the husband's push for the girl to head back to the Middle East.
Talks to restore powersharing to Northern Ireland are to be effectively suspended until autumn - with Sinn Fein blaming the deadlock on Theresa May's deal with the DUP.

The negotiations broke down after the two Northern Ireland parties failed to reach an agreement to bring devolved government back to Stormont.

Sinn Fein's Northern Ireland leader Michelle O-Neill laid the blame for the turmoil squarely with Mrs May's decision to be propped up in No10 by the DUP's ten MPs.

She accused the PM of being 'in hock' to the DUP and said the impasse in Stormont constitutes a 'monumental failure on behalf of Theresa May'.

Sinn Fein's Northern Ireland leader Michelle O' Neil blamed the breakdown of powersharing talks on Theresa May - and said hey amount to a 'monumental failure' by the PM

And she accused the beleaguered PM of setting back decades of work on the peace process and powersharing.

Meanwhile, DUP leader Arlene Foster today said that a deal is now not expected until the autumn.

The failure to strike an agreement means that Northern Ireland could be ruled directly from Westminster for the first time in a decade.

Northern Ireland Secretary James Brokenshire said he will 'reflect carefully in the coming days' on what steps Westminster should take.

Speaking in Stormont after talks broke down, Ms O'Neill said: 'Sinn Fein are disappointed but not surprised that a deal has not yet been done.

'We said this last Saturday.... we outlined that we had concerns that there was no urgency to get the deal done and get the issues dealt with.

'What this constitutes is a monumental failure on behalf of Theresa May. She has set back decades of work that has been done here over the years.

'And it's a consequence, as we all know, of the DUP supporting the Prime Minister, and in turn the Prime Minister supporting the DUP.'

She insisted that Sinn Fein wants to see a return to powersharing, but warned this can only be brokered if sticking issues around the protection of the Irish language and rights are resolved.

Ms O'Neill added: 'The reason that we don't see those rights afforded, and the reason Theresa May is sitting back and allowing that to happen, is because she is in hock to the DUP.'

The furious outburst came after the latest round of talks between the two squabbling parties broke down.

DUP leader Arlene Foster said she was disappointed no deal has been struck. She has led her party into a 'confidence and supply' agreement which sees her ten MPs prop Theresa May up in Number 10 in exchange for an extra 1billion for Northern Ireland

Mrs Foster, pictured today outside Stormont Castle, indicated that no deal will now be reached until at least the autumn. the failure to resolve the crisis means that Northern Ireland could be run directly by Westminster for the first tie in a decade

While the Democratic Unionists and Sinn Fein both said they were prepared to engage in the coming weeks, both acknowledged substantive negotiations would not resume until the autumn.

Imminent recesses at Stormont and Westminster - and heightened community tensions around the loyal order marching season - mean the talks are unlikely to make any further progress until after summer.

Under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement both sides must share power, but Sinn Fein is refusing to serve under DUP leader Arlene Foster because of her role in a renewable energy scandal.

The row has re-opened much deeper splits across the republican and unionist divide.

And it has been thrown into further turmoil by Mrs May's 'confidence and supply' deal with the DUP's ten MPs.

The PM is being propped up in No10 by the party in return for a promise to turn the spending taps on and pour 1billion into Northern Ireland's coffers.

But critics have hit out at the deal, which they say has undermined the British government's role as a neutral broker in the talks to restore powersharing.

Northern Ireland Secretary James Brokenshire, pictured outside Stormont last week, said he will consider carefully what steps Westminster should take following the breakdown of talks

Speaking today, Mrs Foster said she is disappointed no deal has been struck amid expectations that substantive talks will now be kicked back to autumn.

She said: 'We are disappointed we don't have an agreement this afternoon,' said the DUP leader.

Mrs Foster said her party would continue to work on issues over the summer, but acknowledged the intensity of engagement would drop during the holiday period.

'We are going to keep working at it through the summer and hopefully we can come to an agreement later on in the year,' she said.

'We are certainly up for an agreement, we are up for devolution.'

Mr Brokenshire said: 'Despite the progress made by the parties to restore devolved government in Northern Ireland, gaps remain.

'Following discussions with the two largest parties and with the Irish Government this morning, it is clear that these issues cannot be resolved quickly enough to enable an executive to be formed in the immediate term.

He said the British government will do everything it can t work with the parties to restore powersharing.

But he added: 'I will reflect carefully in the coming days on any further steps which may be required to support the continued effective provision of public services in Northern Ireland.'
An 18-month-old boy, who was run over by his father in a freak accident in Queensland has been identified.

Mason Wright was standing in the entrance to his family's garage in Brassall when his father reversed a car, hitting and killing him, reported the West Australian.

Reports say Mason's mother was in the shower as the devastating scene unfolded.

Mason Wright (pictured) was killed after his father ran him over in a devastating freak accident

The 18-month-old was reportedly standing in the family garage (pictured) as his father reversed a car

Ipswich Child Protection and Investigation Unit are looking into the cause of the toddler's death.

A spokeswoman for Queensland Police told Daily Mail Australia on Tuesday the death was 'not suspicious'.

Emergency services had attended the scene immediately but were unable to save Mason.

A GoFundMe account was set up for the little boy's family to help with funeral costs on the same day, and has fundraised nearly $2,000.

'Mason was born 23rd of December 2015, with his happy smile, charming strong active attitude he was the ladies little man,' a family friend wrote.

'Those who knew the family know how much they loved their little boy and would do anything for all of their children.'
President Donald Trump called an emergency meeting on the Fourth of July to formulate a 'measured response' to North Korea's first intercontinental ballistic missile test, amid fears it could reach as far as Alaska.

North Korea declared Tuesday that it had finally achieved its dream of building an intercontinental ballistic missile, saying it would 'fundamentally put an end to the US nuclear war threat and blackmail'.

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson later confirmed the latest missile test was with an intercontinental ballistic missile.

And Tillerson says thats a new escalation of the threat posed to the United States and the world by North Korea.

North Korea on Tuesday said it had tested an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), prompting US experts to say the device could reach Alaska

President Donald Trump has called an emergency meeting on the Fourth of July to formulate a 'measured response' to North Korea's first intercontinental ballistic missile test, amid fears it could reach as far as Alaska

The launch, which came as the United States prepared to mark its Independence Day, triggered a Twitter outburst from Trump who urged China to 'put a heavy move' on North Korea to 'end this nonsense once and for all'.

The US has requested a closed-door meeting of the United Nations Security Council on North Korea's latest missile launch, a spokesman for the US mission to the United Nations says.

The spokesman said the meeting of the 15-member council was likely to be scheduled for Wednesday.

If data and intelligence proves the ICBM was launched, officials say Trump would potentially approve a 'measured response' to deal with North Korea.

Potential responses include sending additional troops to the region and possibly more sanctions.

North Korea has long sought to build a rocket capable of delivering an atomic warhead to the United States - something Trump has vowed 'won't happen'.

In an announcement of the missile test, North Korean officials called the launch, which leader Kim Jong-un supervised, a 'glistening miracle'.

The Hwasong-14 ICBM reached an altitude of about 1,741 miles (2,802 kilometres) and flew 579 miles (933 kilometres) for 39 minutes before hitting a target area on the sea off the east coast, according to North Korea.

Washington, Japan and South Korea gave similar figures, and US experts said the trajectory implied the device could reach Alaska.

North Korea is subject to multiple sets of United Nations sanctions over its atomic and missile programs, which it says it needs to protect itself against a possible invasion.

It regularly issues bloodcurdling threats against its 'imperialist enemy' Washington, and has long sought a rocket capable of delivering a warhead to the continental United States.

The 'landmark' test, believed to be pictured above, of a Hwasong-14 missile was overseen by leader Kim Jong-Un

Weapons experts in the United States said that the missile has the potential to reach areas of Alaska

Russia and China joined diplomatic forces on Tuesday and called on North Korea, South Korea and the US to sign up to a Chinese de-escalation plan designed to defuse tensions around Pyongyang's missile program.

The plan would see North Korea suspend its ballistic missile program and the US and South Korea simultaneously call a moratorium on large-scale missile exercises, both moves aimed at paving the way for multilateral talks.

The initiative was set out in a joint statement from the Russian and Chinese foreign ministries issued shortly after President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping held wide-ranging talks in the Kremlin.

Russia and China both share a land border with North Korea and have been involved in past efforts to try to calm tensions between Pyongyang and the West.

Moscow and Beijing used the same joint declaration to call on Washington to immediately halt deployment of its THAAD anti-missile system in South Korea, a move Washington says is necessitated by the North Korean missile threat.

North Korea's missile launch on Tuesday prompted control specialist Jeffrey Lewis to respond on Twitter: 'That's it. It's an ICBM. An ICBM that can hit Anchorage not San Francisco, but still.'

David Wright, of the Union of Concerned Scientists, wrote on the organisation's allthingsnuclear blog that the available figures implied the missile 'could reach a maximum range of roughly 6,700 km on a standard trajectory'.

'That range would not be enough to reach the lower 48 states or the large islands of Hawaii, but would allow it to reach all of Alaska.'

The Japanese government estimates that the missile (pictured above) fired from the North's western region flew for about 40 minutes, which would be longer than any other such previous reported tests

The test still may be the North's most successful yet; a weapons analyst says the missile could be powerful enough to reach Alaska

'The test-fire was conducted at the highest angle and did not have any negative impact on the safety of neighboring countries,' announcer Ri Chun-Hee, who previously told her loyal viewers of the deaths of the country's founder Kim Il-Sung and his son Kim Jong-Il, said.

'As the dignified nuclear power who possesses the strongest intercontinental ballistic rocket which is capable of hitting any part of the world along with the nuclear weapons, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) will fundamentally terminate the US nuclear war threats and blackmail and credibly protect the peace and stability of the Korean Peninsula and the region,' she added.

'Kim Jong Un, Supreme Leader of our party, state and the army, personally observed the process of the test-launch in field and solemnly declared before the world its shining success,' the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said in an accompanying article.

The report contradicted South Korean and US officials who earlier said Tuesday's launch was of an intermediate-range missile.

Russia has also said it believes the missile was medium range.

'The missile reached an altitude of 535 kilometres (330 miles) and flew 510 kilometres before falling into the central part of the Sea of Japan,' the defense ministry said in a statement to Russian news agencies.

'The parametric flight data of the ballistic object corresponds to the tactical and technical characteristics of a medium-range ballistic missile,' it said, adding that it did 'not present' any danger to Russian territory.

Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga declined to comment on whether Japan thinks it was an ICBM, and South Korea's Defense Ministry said it was analyzing whether the North's statement was accurate.

The launch seems designed to send a political warning to Washington and its chief Asian allies, Seoul and Tokyo, even as it allows North Korean scientists a chance to perfect their still-incomplete nuclear missile program.

The test may be the North's most successful yet; a weapons analyst says the missile could be powerful enough to reach Alaska.

The 'unidentified ballistic missile' was fired from a site in North Phyongan province, the South's Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement, and came down in the East Sea, the Korean name for the Sea of Japan.

North Korea released footage of what is believed to be the missile just before it was tested on Tuesday

The test missile, believed to be pictured above, reached an altitude of 1741.082 miles (2,802 kilometres) and flew 580 miles (933 kilometres)

The report contradicted South Korean and US officials who earlier said Tuesday's launch was of an intermediate-range missile

David Wright, of the Union of Concerned Scientists, wrote on the organisation's allthingsnuclear blog that the available figures implied the missile 'could reach a maximum range of roughly 6,700 km on a standard trajectory'

The isolated, impoverished country has made great progress in its missile capabilities since the ascension to power of Kim, who has overseen three nuclear tests and multiple rocket launches

In an announcement of the missile test, North Korean officials called the launch, which leader Kim Jong-un supervised, a 'glistening miracle'

US Pacific Command confirmed the test and said it was a land-based, intermediate range missile that flew for 37 minutes.

It was estimated to have reached an altitude that 'greatly exceeded' 1553 miles (2,500 kilometres), Japan said.

The device came down in the Sea of Japan within the country's exclusive economic zone, Tokyo's defense ministry said in a statement, waters extending 200 nautical miles from its coast.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told reporters: 'This launch clearly shows that the threat has grown.'

INTERCONTINENTAL BALLISTIC MISSILE PRODUCTION IN NORTH KOREA An intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) is a guided ballistic missile with a minimum range of 3,400 miles (5,500 kilometres), meaning it can go further than any other missile. North Korea has only tested medium-range or lower ballistic missiles before, meaning they were capable of reaching a maximum 3,400 miles (5,500 kilometres). The last rocket Kim tested before this latest development came in June, when a medium-range missile flew 435 miles (700 kilometres) before landing in the Sea of Japan. ICBM missiles were first developed during World War II, and countries around the world have now worked to create their own missiles and defence systems against them. ICBM launches have three distinct phases of flight. During the boost phase, a rocket launches the warhead at high speeds above the atmosphere, where it continues in free-fall through the vacuum of space. The midcourse phase begins with the rocket separating from the warhead, which continues unguided and unpowered, hundreds of miles above the Earth. The reentry, or terminal, phase sees the warhead descend at high speeds back through the Earth's atmosphere toward the ground. The missiles are primarily designed for nuclear weapons delivery, though they can also be used to deliver conventional, chemical or biological weapons. Pyongyang is subject to multiple sets of United Nations sanctions over its atomic and missile programs, which it says it needs to protect itself against a possible invasion. It regularly issues bloodcurdling threats against its 'imperialist enemy' Washington, and has long sought a rocket capable of delivering a warhead to the continental United States. The progress has accelerated especially after young leader Kim Jong-Un took power following the death of his father, longtime ruler Kim Jong-Il, in 2011. Pyongyang has staged five atomic tests - including two last year - with the regime stepping up efforts to produce a nuclear warhead small enough to fit into a missile. The latest launch potentially forces a recalculation of the threat it poses. Just last week South Korean President Moon and Trump met for the first time and vowed to oppose North Korea's development of atomic weapons. In response to the latest launch but before the announcement, Trump asked on Twitter: 'Does this guy have anything better to do with his life?' He added: 'Hard to believe that South Korea and Japan will put up with this much longer. Perhaps China will put a heavy move on North Korea and end this nonsense once and for all!' Advertisement

Abe, who talked by phone with Trump on Monday, said the two leaders plan to seek further co-operation from world leaders when they attend the G20 summit in Germany.

British foreign minister Boris Johnson said on Tuesday that the international community must work harder on North Korea, describing Pyongyang's latest missile test as an example of the grave danger it poses to neighboring countries.

'The international community must redouble its efforts to impose a price on this regime, which strains every nerve and sinew to build nuclear weapons and launch illegal missiles, even as the people of North Korea endure starvation and poverty,' Johnson said in an emailed statement.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in said that the North's actions could have serious consequences.

'If North Korea crossed the red line without responding to the peaceful approach to the denuclearization on the Korean peninsula which agreed by the US and South Korean leader, we are not sure of the consequences,' Moon said in a statement, in which he also called on China to put more pressure on Pyongyang.

South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said the launch was a 'direct challenge' to international peace, though it did not refer to the missile as an ICBM.

'the US and the South Korean intelligence authorities are conducting the detailed analysis on whether [the launched missile] has the capability of so-called intercontinental ballistic missile as the North claimed,' the statement said.

'Our military strongly condemns Kim Jong Un regime's vain delusions and reckless provocations, and warn [the North] to immediately cease the act of creating tension and anxiety on the Korean Peninsula and the international community,' it added.

'If North Korea ignores our warnings and continues the provocations obstinately, we clearly warn that Kim Jong Un regime will be on the verge of destruction (or ruin).'

Leaders in China have also condemned Tuesday's test launch in North Korea.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told reporters Tuesday that his country was collecting information about North Korea's latest launch, conducted earlier in the day.

He said that China urges 'the North Korean side to stop taking actions that violate Security Council resolutions and to create the necessary conditions for the resumption of talks.'

The spokesman also defended China's efforts to try to resolve the North Korean nuclear issue. He said that China's role is indispensable, and that its contribution in that regard is recognized.

'We hope all relevant parties can exercise restraint, avoid taking actions that may escalate tensions, and make efforts to bring the issue back to peaceful settlement through dialogue and consultation,' Geng said.

China's UN ambassador, Liu Jieyi, warned on Monday that further escalation of already high tensions with North Korea risks getting out of control 'and the consequences would be disastrous'.

On a trip to Moscow, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin agreed on Monday to 'jointly push for a proper settlement of the (Korean) peninsula issue via dialogue and negotiation', according to the official Xinhua news agency.

Meanwhile, North Korean citizens in the capital are praising their country's launch of what it called its first intercontinental ballistic missile.

Soon after the authoritarian government announced Tuesday that it had fired the missile that morning, a 38-year-old Pyongyang man named Ri Song Gil said his country 'can attack anywhere in the world'.

He added, 'Now, the time when the US could threaten the world with nuclear weapons has passed away'.

People watch a TV broadcast of a news report on North Korea's Hwasong-14 missile in Seoul on Tuesday

People in Seoul watch a television news broadcast showing a North Korean announcer reading a statement on the country's new ICBM test

People watch the news that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un signed the order to carry out the test-fire of intercontinental ballistic rocket near the Pyongyang railway station in Pyongyang, North Korea

A local TV news shows what was said to be the launch of a Hwasong-14 intercontinental ballistic missile, ICBM, aired by North Korea's KRT, at a consumer-electronics retailer in Tokyo

Twenty-seven-year-old Kim Hye Ok calls the launch 'extremely delightful news' and says North Korea 'will march forward along our own way' despite international sanctions.

Still pictures of the launch showed a missile lifting off the ground, spewing a flame and clouds against a backdrop of green hills.

Other photos showed Kim, in a striped Mao suit, shading his eyes with a raised hand and looking up at the sky, or sitting behind a desk looking through a pair of binoculars.

Hours after the North launched a ballistic missile that flew more than 900 kilometres on Tuesday, the North's state media said it would make an 'important announcement'.

'Important announcements' were made twice last year, one in January when the North claimed it had successfully tested a hydrogen bomb and the other in February when it said it had successfully put a satellite into orbit.

Lee Illwoo, a Seoul-based military commentator, said the missile traveled for a far longer period of time than if it would have been fired at a normal angle.

A North Korean scud-type missile, with a range of 800-900 kilometres, would land in its target site within ten minutes if fired at a standard angle of 45 degrees.

Lee said it's likely that North Korea fired either Hwasong-12 missile or a solid-fuel Pukguksong-2, both of which were tested in May.

On May 14, North Korea launched the Hwasong-12 missile, which its state media later said flew as high as 1,310 miles (2,111 kilometres) and landed in a targeted area in the ocean about 490 miles (787 kilometres) from the launch site.

On May 21, North Korea also tested the Pukguksong-2, which traveled about 310 miles (500 kilometres).

North Korea has a reliable arsenal of shorter-range missiles, but is still trying to perfect its longer-range missiles.

Some analysts believe North Korea has the technology to arm its short-range missiles with nuclear warheads, but it's unclear if it has mastered the technology needed to build an atomic bomb that can fit on a long-range missile.

South Korean army's K-9 self-propelled howitzers take positions during an annual exercise in Paju, near the border with North Korea on Tuesday

The annual exercise came as North Korea claimed to have tested its first intercontinental ballistic missile in a launch

NORTH KOREA CALLS ICBM TEST A 'GLISTENING MIRACLE' 'Our great leader Kim Jong Un sent a personally handwritten letter 2017, July 3rd, ordering the launch of an intercontinental ballistic rocket (Hwasong 14). 'The launch, that was personally supervised by the great leader KJU himself, will now be followed by the National Institute of Science's report. 'National Science Institute's Report: Intercontinental Ballistic Rocket Hwasong 14 was successful. 'Our dear leader KJU's strategic order was followed by a launch of an ICBM, and this was successfully processed. North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un signs the order to carry out the test-fire of inter-continental ballistic rocket 'The newly developed ICBM Hwasong-14 was launched, and this took place on July 4, 2017 at 9am, and flew for 39 minutes. 'It flew from a northwestern city, and flew precisely following the predicted trajectory. It also reached precisely the targeted point in Chosun (Korean) air. 'Our intercontinental ballistic rocket did not at all bring negative impacts to any nearby country. 'Our intercontinental ballistic rocket reached a maximum altitude of 2,802 km, and flew for 933 kilometres. 'Our dear leader KJU was there to witness the glistening miracle.' 'The success of the last stage of becoming a nuclear power state is developing an intercontinental ballistic missile. Hwason 14 shows the unwithering power of our state, our strong independence and defense in the world and will be marked as a significant mark in our history. 'North Korea, as a nuclear state capable of reaching any country in the world with our intercontinental ballistic rocket, will be able to root out the U.S's nuclear program once and for all, and bring peace and secure safety to the Chosun (Korean) peninsula.' Advertisement

The isolated, impoverished country has made great progress in its missile capabilities since the ascension to power of Kim, who has overseen three nuclear tests and multiple rocket launches.

In response to the launch but before the announcement, Trump asked on Twitter: 'Does this guy have anything better to do with his life?'

He added: 'Hard to believe that South Korea and Japan will put up with this much longer. Perhaps China will put a heavy move on North Korea and end this nonsense once and for all!'

The United Nations has imposed multiple sets of sanctions on Pyongyang over its weapons programs, which retorts that it needs nuclear arms to defend itself against the threat of invasion.

How far would missile have to travel from Pyongyang to reach the rest of the world? US Naval Base in Guam: 2,114 miles (3,402 km) Hawaii: 4,727 miles (7,670 km) London (over mainland Europe): 5,379 miles (8,657 km) San Francisco: 5,588 miles (8,993 km) Los Angeles: 5,935 miles (9,551 km) New York: 6,783 miles (10,916 km) Washington, DC: 6,857 miles (11,035 km) Advertisement

Just last week South Korean President Moon and Trump met for the first time and vowed to oppose North Korea's development of atomic weapons.

Washington, South Korea's security guarantor, has more than 28,000 troops in the country to defend it from its communist neighbor, and fears of conflict reached a peak earlier this year as the Trump administration suggested military action was an option under consideration.

The Korean Peninsula has been divided between the American-backed South and the authoritarian North since the 1950-53 Korean War.

Worries have increased as the North's leader Kim pushes to expand his nuclear arsenal and develop ballistic missiles that can carry nuclear warheads.

Russia and China have agreed a joint position on North Korea designed to defuse tensions around its missile program and both want Washington to halt deployment of a missile shield in South Korea, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday.

Moscow and Beijing had agreed on the need for a simultaneous freezing of North Korea's missile and nuclear program and large-scale military exercises by the United States and South Korea, the ministry said in a statement.

The statement was released after President Vladimir Putin held talks with visiting Chinese President Xi Jinping in the Kremlin.

The same statement said Moscow and Beijing wanted the United States to immediately halt its deployment of the THAAD anti-missile system to South Korea, a move Washington says is necessitated by the North Korean missile threat.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who talked by phone with Mr Trump on Monday, said the two leaders plan to seek further co-operation from world leaders when they attend the G20 summit in Germany

Moscow and Beijing had agreed on the need for a simultaneous freezing of North Korea's missile and nuclear program and large-scale military exercises by the United States and South Korea, the ministry said in a statement. Pictured above, Chinese President Xi Jinping (left) and Russian President Vladimir Putin

NORTH KOREA'S MISSILE DEVELOPMENT: A TIMELINE North Korea on Tuesday said it had tested an intercontinental ballistic missile, as its decades-long weapons program reached a grave new phase. Here are key dates in Pyongyang's quest to develop a missile capable of hitting the United States: Late 1970s: Starts working on a version of the Soviet Scud-B (range 300 kilometres or 186 miles). Test-fired in 1984 1987-92: Begins developing variant of Scud-C (500 km), Rodong-1 (1,300 km), Taepodong-1 (2,500 km), Musudan-1 (3,000 km) and Taepodong-2 (6,700 km) Aug 1998: Test-fires Taepodong-1 over Japan as part of failed satellite launch Sept 1999: Declares moratorium on long-range missile tests amid improving ties with US July 12, 2000: Fifth round of US-North Korean missile talks ends without agreement after North demands $1 billion a year in return for halting missile exports March 3, 2005: North ends moratorium on long-range missile testing, blames Bush administration's 'hostile' policy July 5, 2006: North test-fires seven missiles, including a long-range Taepodong-2 which explodes after 40 seconds Oct 9, 2006: North conducts underground nuclear test, its first April 5, 2009: North Korea launches long-range rocket which flies over Japan and lands in the Pacific, in what it says is an attempt to put a satellite into orbit. The United States, Japan and South Korea see it as a disguised test of a Taepodong-2 May 25, 2009: North conducts its second underground nuclear test, several times more powerful than the first April 13, 2012: North launches what it has said is a long-range rocket to put a satellite into orbit, but it disintegrates soon after blast-off December 12, 2012: North launches a multi-stage rocket and successfully places an Earth observational satellite in orbit February 12, 2013: Conducts its third underground nuclear test January 6, 2016: North conducts its fourth underground nuclear test, which it says was of a hydrogen bomb -- a claim doubted by most experts March 9, 2016: Kim Jong-Un claims the North has successfully miniaturised a thermo-nuclear warhead April 23, 2016: North test-fires a submarine-launched ballistic missile July 8, 2016: US and South Korea announce plans to deploy an advanced missile defence system -- THAAD (Terminal High Altitude Area Defense) August 3, 2016: North Korea fires a ballistic missile directly into Japan's maritime economic zone for the first time September 9, 2016: Fifth nuclear test March 6, 2017: North fires four ballistic missiles in what it says is an exercise to hit US bases in Japan March 7, 2017: US begins deploying THAAD missile defence system in South Korea May 14, 2017: North fires a ballistic missile which flies 700 kilometres before landing in the Sea of Japan. Analysts say it has an imputed range of 4,500 kilometres and brings Guam within reach July 4, 2017: North Korea test-fires a ballistic missile which flies 930 kilometres before landing in the Sea of Japan. Analysts say it has an imputed range of 6,700 kilometres and brings Alaska within reach. Pyongyang later says it was a 'landmark' test of a Hwasong-14 intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). Advertisement

The statement said Washington was using North Korea as a pretext to expand its military infrastructure in Asia and risked upsetting the strategic balance of power in the area.

'The deployment ... of THAAD will cause serious harm to the strategic security interests of regional states, including Russia and China,' the statement said.

'Russia and China oppose the deployment of such systems and call on the relevant countries to immediately halt and cancel the process of deployment.'

Tuesday's launch is the first by the North since a June 8 test of a new type of cruise missile that Pyongyang says is capable of striking United States and South Korean warships 'at will.'

Since taking office on May 10, Moon has tried to improve strained ties with North Korea, but the North has continued its missile tests. Pyongyang says it needs nuclear weapons and powerful missiles to cope with what it calls rising US military threats.

There has also been anger in the United States over the death of Otto Warmbier, an American student detained in North Korea for around 18 months before he was returned home in a coma in June.

Trump has been pinning his hopes on China - North Korea's main diplomatic ally - to bring pressure to bear on Pyongyang.

Last week he declared that Beijing's efforts had failed, but returned to the idea on Twitter following the launch: 'Perhaps China will put a heavy move on North Korea and end this nonsense once and for all!'

But a former foreign policy adviser to Hillary Clinton warned that his comments risked undermining the credibility of both the US deterrent, and its assurances to its allies in Seoul and Tokyo.

She added: 'Picking a twitter fight with a nuclear-armed dictator is not wise - this is not reality TV anymore.'
The Canadian government will apologize to former Guantanamo Bay inmate Omar Khadr and pay him around $8m (Canadian $10m) to compensate him for the abuse he suffered in detention, two sources familiar with the matter said on Tuesday.

A Canadian citizen, Khadr, now 30, was captured in Afghanistan in 2002 at age 15 after a firefight with U.S. soldiers. He pleaded guilty to killing a US army medic and became the youngest inmate held at the US military prison in Cuba.

Khadr later recanted and his lawyers said he had been grossly mistreated. The Canadian Supreme Court ruled in 2010 that Canada breached his rights by sending intelligence agents to interrogate him and by sharing the results with the United States.

Omar Khadr pictured in front of his lawyer's home in Edmonton, Alberta in 2015

Omar Khadr is photographed in an interrogation room in 2003 when he was 15 (left). Pictured in an undated handout photo (right)

Khadr spent a decade in Guantanamo before being returned to Canada in 2012 to serve the rest of his sentence. He was released on bail in 2015 and lives in Edmonton, Alberta.

The Canadian government and Khadr's lawyers reached the compensation deal, said the sources, who asked to remain anonymous given the sensitivity. Canada has reached a series of expensive settlements with citizens imprisoned abroad who alleged Ottawa was complicit in their mistreatment.

Khadr had sued Ottawa for around $15m (Canadian $20) on grounds of violating his human rights. News of the settlement was first reported by the Globe and Mail newspaper.

Khadr was taken to Afghanistan by his father, a senior al Qaeda member, who apprenticed the boy to a group of bomb makers who opened fire when U.S. troops went to their compound. The father was killed in a battle with Pakistani forces in 2003.

Omar Khadr, left, leaves court with his long time lawyer Nate Whitling (right) after a judge ruled to relax bail conditions in Edmonton in 2015

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, in Ireland for a visit, said the judicial process should be ending soon but declined further comment.

Spokespeople for Trudeau and Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Nor did Khadr's lawyers. The U.S. Embassy was closed for the July 4 U.S. holiday.

'It is the right decision in light of the callous and unlawful treatment meted out to Mr. Khadr with the complicity of Canadian officials,' said Ihsaan Gardee, executive director of the National Council of Canadian Muslims.
The Lib Dem MP who won the right for male politicians to speak in the Commons without wearing a tie has revealed how he had discussed the plan with the Speaker days earlier.

Male MPs will no longer have to wear ties to speak in the Commons after John Bercow crapped the traditional dress code last week.

Tom Brake, who represents Carshalton and Wallington, said MPs would now appear more relatable to the public.

The break with tradition came Mr Brake asked a question in the Commons without wearing a tie, which was questioned by Tory MP Peter Bone through a point of order.

Responding, Mr Bercow said MPs should wear 'businesslike attire' but that it was not essential for this to include ties.

Parliamentary custom is for male MPs to wear jackets and ties in the chamber.

Liberal Democrat MP Tom Brake asked a question in the Commons on Wednesday without wearing a tie, which was questioned by Tory MP Peter Bone through a point of order

Mr Brake said Parliament should be 'representative of the people it serves'.

Writing in the Prospect Magazine he said: 'I am very pleased to see that, as a result, the Speaker has confirmed - as he had indicated in a conversation a few days before - that he will be more flexible with the dress code in the future (although I won't be turning up in my running gear just yet).

'I don't think it 'reduces the esteem' of parliament by not continuing with certain traditions on no other basis than the fact that they are traditions - in fact getting rid of some of the fussier and ridiculous practices of 'the mother of all parliaments' may help people connect more with the place where their laws are made.

Tory MP Peter Bone said the change was 'for the worse'. He added: 'The Speaker will call it modernising, I would call it sort of dumbing down in a dress sense'

He added: 'As Anna Soubry helpfully pointed out, women have gone tieless in the Commons for quite some time. They also have a much wider range of choice in what they can wear. Parliament discriminates against women in many ways - but this is one strange occasion where Parliament discriminates against men.'

The controversial decision comes just months after Mr Bercow ditched the 300-year-old custom of clerks wearing wigs in the Commons chamber.

Mr Bercow also broke with tradition when he started as Speaker in 2009 by abandoning the traditional court dress worn by his predecessors.

Speaker John Bercow said he did not think it essential for parliamentarians to don a tie

Despite Mr Bercow relaxing the Parliamentary dress code, ministers are defying the Speaker and refusing to take any questions from MPs who are not properly dressed with a tie.

John Hayes, a transport minister, said he would rebuff any interventions from members who did not wear a necktie.

The Tory MP even brought a spare tie for other MPs to borrow in Parliament on Monday.

He said: 'There has been some debate over recent days in this chamber about sartorial standards.

'I ought to say as a matter of courtesy I won't be taking interventions from anyone who's not wearing a tie, on whatever side of the House that they sit.

'As well as courtesy, I believe in generosity, and anyone that is sartorially challenged or inadequate I will provide a tie for. I do have a tie here which I'm prepared to offer.'

However he was mocked by fellow MPs following his speech.

Labour MP Jess Phillips tweeted that she 'won't take interventions from people not wearing a feather boa, prompting her party colleague Stella Creasy to respond: 'Feather boas? That's nothing...it's mandatory pants on head from now on for points of order I reckon'.
A Republican lawyer who reported independent Senator Bernie Sanders and his wife Jane Sanders to federal officials, was giving the feds information that was hearsay.

The Virginia lawyer, who handled President Donald Trump's campaign in the state, Brady Toensing, was passing on information he heard from Republican State Rep. Don Turner of Virginia. Turner confirmed he didn't have direct knowledge of the allegations of bank fraud by Sanders' wife Jane.

The lawyer, Brady Toensing, sent letters to the US attorney for Vermont and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. alleging that Sen Sanders pressured a bank to approve a loan to a now-closed college run by Sanders' wife.

Bernie Sanders stood by his wife Jane Sanders (pictured together) and called the allegations against his wife 'pathetic'

Republican Representative Donald Turner (pictured) said the info that was eventually passed to the FBI on the allegations against Jane Sanders by attorney Toensing was 'hearsay'

The source of that information was Republican State Rep. Don Turner, the minority leader of the Vermont House.

Turner told WCAX-TV that friends at the bank described pressure from Sanders' office, but he says those friends didn't have direct knowledge of the negotiations. Turner says he told Toensing about it in May 2016, adding that he would not have brought it to the attention of federal investigators.

Toensing, an attorney who served as Donald Trump's Vermont representative during last year's presidential campaign, said Monday he was standing by the allegation.

'This was not a country store, cracker-barrel rant,' Toensing said. He said Turner told him the information came from a top bank official and he noted that hearsay is used by investigators to develop direct evidence.

Turner did not immediately return a message left by The Associated Press on Monday.

The Vermont weekly newspaper Seven Days first reported late Friday that Turner was the source of Toensing's information.

Trump's campaign lawyer in Virginia, Brady Toensing, defended his move to alert the FBI and prompt an investigation into Jade Sanders, saying the info given to him by Rep. Turner 'was not a country store, cracker-barrel rant'

In early 2016, Toensing sent a more extensive letter to federal authorities alleging that in 2010, when Jane O'Meara Sanders was president of Burlington College, she made fraudulent claims while seeking $10 million in financing for a real estate deal.

The college, which closed last year, later sold the property. Officials cited debt from the land deal as a major reason.

Federal law enforcement officials have refused to confirm or deny the existence of any investigation, let alone what led them to open one. But Bernie Sanders confirmed an investigation was underway after it was revealed last month that Jane Sanders had retained attorneys. No charges have been filed.

During a Sunday appearance on CNN's State of the Union, the Vermont senator and 2016 Democratic presidential candidate cited Turner's comments as proof that the allegations against his wife were politically motivated.

'Sadly we are in a moment where parties not only attack public officials, they have to go after wives and children,' Sanders said. 'You know, this is pathetic and that's the way politics is in America today.'




U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has confirmed North Korea successfully tested an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) capable of hitting Alaska.

And Tillerson says thats a new escalation of the threat posed to the United States and the world by North Korea.

Tillerson says the U.S. will bring North Koreas action before the United Nations Security Council.

His statement provided the first confirmation of the U.S. conclusion that the missile was an ICBM.

The U.S. militarys initial assessment was that North Korea fired an intermediate-range missile.

The U.S. has requested a closed-door meeting of the United Nations Security Council on the latest launch, a spokesman for the US mission to the United Nations says.

The spokesman said the meeting of the 15-member council was likely to be scheduled for Wednesday.

Scroll down for video

North Korea on Tuesday said it had tested an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), prompting US experts to say the device could reach Alaska

Weapons experts in the United States said that the missile has the potential to reach areas of Alaska

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson (above) says the launch is a new escalation of the threat posed to the United States and the world by North Korea

The launch, which came as the United States prepared to mark its Independence Day, triggered a Twitter outburst from President Donald Trump who urged China to 'put a heavy move' on North Korea to 'end this nonsense once and for all'.

North Korea has long sought to build a rocket capable of delivering an atomic warhead to the continental United States - something that Trump has vowed 'won't happen', and launch marks a new phase in the country's decades-long weapons program.

On Tuesday, the US, Japan, and South Korea said intelligence suggested the missile flew for about 40 minutes and reached an altitude of 1,500 miles, which would be longer and higher than any similar North Korean test previously reported. It also covered a distance of about 580 miles.

In the wake of the test, David Wright, of the Union of Concerned Scientists, wrote on the organisation's allthingsnuclear blog that the available figures implied the missile 'could reach a maximum range of roughly 6,700km on a standard trajectory'.

'That range would not be enough to reach the lower 48 states or the large islands of Hawaii, but would allow it to reach all of Alaska.'

The missile launch prompted control specialist Jeffrey Lewis to respond on Twitter: 'That's it. It's an ICBM. An ICBM that can hit Anchorage not San Francisco, but still.'

The launch seems designed to send a political warning to Washington and its chief Asian allies, Seoul and Tokyo, even as it allows North Korean scientists a chance to perfect their still-incomplete nuclear missile program.

When it announced the missile test earlier, North Korean officials called the launch, which leader Kim Jong-un supervised, a 'glistening miracle'.

The Japanese government estimates that the missile (pictured above) fired from the North's western region flew for about 40 minutes, which would be longer than any other such previous reported tests

The test still may be the North's most successful yet; a weapons analyst says the missile could be powerful enough to reach Alaska

The 'landmark' test, believed to be pictured above, of a Hwasong-14 missile was overseen by leader Kim Jong-Un

Tillerson (above) also said the U.S. will bring North Koreas action before the United Nations Security Council

The 'landmark' test of a Hwasong-14 missile was overseen by Kim, an emotional female announcer said on state Korean Central Television.

How far would missile have to travel from Pyongyang to reach the US? US Naval Base in Guam: 2,114 miles Hawaii: 4,727 miles San Francisco: 5,588 miles Los Angeles: 5,935 miles New York: 6,783 miles Washington, DC: 6,857 miles Advertisement

'The test-fire was conducted at the highest angle and did not have any negative impact on the safety of neighboring countries,' announcer Ri Chun-Hee, who previously told her loyal viewers of the deaths of the country's founder Kim Il-Sung and his son Kim Jong-Il, said.

'As the dignified nuclear power who possesses the strongest intercontinental ballistic rocket which is capable of hitting any part of the world along with the nuclear weapons, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) will fundamentally terminate the US nuclear war threats and blackmail and credibly protect the peace and stability of the Korean Peninsula and the region,' she added.

'Kim Jong Un, Supreme Leader of our party, state and the army, personally observed the process of the test-launch in field and solemnly declared before the world its shining success,' the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said in an accompanying article.

North Korea released footage of what is believed to be the missile just before it was tested on Tuesday

The test missile, believed to be pictured above, reached an altitude of 1741.082 miles (2,802 kilometres) and flew 580 miles (933 kilometres)

The report contradicted South Korean and US officials who earlier said Tuesday's launch was of an intermediate-range missile

The missile was estimated to have reached an altitude that 'greatly exceeded' 1,553 miles (2,500 kilometres), Japan said

David Wright, of the Union of Concerned Scientists, wrote on the organisation's allthingsnuclear blog that the available figures implied the missile 'could reach a maximum range of roughly 6,700 km on a standard trajectory'

The isolated, impoverished country has made great progress in its missile capabilities since the ascension to power of Kim, who has overseen three nuclear tests and multiple rocket launches

In an announcement of the missile test, North Korean officials called the launch, which leader Kim Jong-un supervised, a 'glistening miracle'

NORTH KOREA CALLS ICBM TEST A 'GLISTENING MIRACLE' 'Our great leader Kim Jong Un sent a personally handwritten letter 2017, July 3rd, ordering the launch of an intercontinental ballistic rocket (Hwasong 14). 'The launch, that was personally supervised by the great leader KJU himself, will now be followed by the National Institute of Science's report. 'National Science Institute's Report: Intercontinental Ballistic Rocket Hwasong 14 was successful. 'Our dear leader KJU's strategic order was followed by a launch of an ICBM, and this was successfully processed. North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un signs the order to carry out the test-fire of inter-continental ballistic rocket 'The newly developed ICBM Hwasong-14 was launched, and this took place on July 4, 2017 at 9am, and flew for 39 minutes. 'It flew from a northwestern city, and flew precisely following the predicted trajectory. It also reached precisely the targeted point in Chosun (Korean) air. 'Our intercontinental ballistic rocket did not at all bring negative impacts to any nearby country. 'Our intercontinental ballistic rocket reached a maximum altitude of 2,802 km, and flew for 933 kilometres. 'Our dear leader KJU was there to witness the glistening miracle.' 'The success of the last stage of becoming a nuclear power state is developing an intercontinental ballistic missile. Hwason 14 shows the unwithering power of our state, our strong independence and defense in the world and will be marked as a significant mark in our history. 'North Korea, as a nuclear state capable of reaching any country in the world with our intercontinental ballistic rocket, will be able to root out the U.S's nuclear program once and for all, and bring peace and secure safety to the Chosun (Korean) peninsula.' Advertisement

However, Russian experts said they believe the missile was medium range.

'The missile reached an altitude of 535 kilometres (330 miles) and flew 510 kilometres before falling into the central part of the Sea of Japan,' the defense ministry said in a statement to Russian news agencies.

'The parametric flight data of the ballistic object corresponds to the tactical and technical characteristics of a medium-range ballistic missile,' it said, adding that it did 'not present' any danger to Russian territory.

The North Korean test may be the North's most successful yet; a weapons analyst says the missile could be powerful enough to reach Alaska.

The 'unidentified ballistic missile' was fired from a site in North Phyongan province, the South's Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement, and came down in the East Sea, the Korean name for the Sea of Japan.

US Pacific Command confirmed the test and said it was a land-based, intermediate range missile that flew for 37 minutes.

It was estimated to have reached an altitude that 'greatly exceeded' 1553 miles (2,500 kilometres), Japan said.

The launch, which came as the United States prepared to mark its Independence Day, triggered a Twitter outburst from President Donald Trump who urged China to 'end this nonsense once and for all'

The device came down in the Sea of Japan within the country's exclusive economic zone, Tokyo's defense ministry said in a statement, waters extending 200 nautical miles from its coast.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told reporters: 'This launch clearly shows that the threat has grown.'

Abe, who talked by phone with Mr Trump on Monday, said the two leaders plan to seek further co-operation from world leaders when they attend the G20 summit in Germany.

INTERCONTINENTAL BALLISTIC MISSILE PRODUCTION IN NORTH KOREA An intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) is a guided ballistic missile with a minimum range of 3,400 miles (5,500 kilometres), meaning it can go further than any other missile. North Korea has only tested medium-range or lower ballistic missiles before, meaning they were capable of reaching a maximum 3,400 miles (5,500 kilometres). The last rocket Kim tested before this latest development came in June, when a medium-range missile flew 435 miles (700 kilometres) before landing in the Sea of Japan. ICBM missiles were first developed during World War II, and countries around the world have now worked to create their own missiles and defence systems against them. ICBM launches have three distinct phases of flight. During the boost phase, a rocket launches the warhead at high speeds above the atmosphere, where it continues in free-fall through the vacuum of space. The midcourse phase begins with the rocket separating from the warhead, which continues unguided and unpowered, hundreds of miles above the Earth. The reentry, or terminal, phase sees the warhead descend at high speeds back through the Earth's atmosphere toward the ground. The missiles are primarily designed for nuclear weapons delivery, though they can also be used to deliver conventional, chemical or biological weapons. Pyongyang is subject to multiple sets of United Nations sanctions over its atomic and missile programs, which it says it needs to protect itself against a possible invasion. It regularly issues bloodcurdling threats against its 'imperialist enemy' Washington, and has long sought a rocket capable of delivering a warhead to the continental United States. The progress has accelerated especially after young leader Kim Jong-Un took power following the death of his father, longtime ruler Kim Jong-Il, in 2011. Pyongyang has staged five atomic tests - including two last year - with the regime stepping up efforts to produce a nuclear warhead small enough to fit into a missile. The latest launch potentially forces a recalculation of the threat it poses. Just last week South Korean President Moon and Trump met for the first time and vowed to oppose North Korea's development of atomic weapons. In response to the latest launch but before the announcement, Trump asked on Twitter: 'Does this guy have anything better to do with his life?' He added: 'Hard to believe that South Korea and Japan will put up with this much longer. Perhaps China will put a heavy move on North Korea and end this nonsense once and for all!' Advertisement

British foreign minister Boris Johnson said on Tuesday that the international community must work harder on North Korea, describing Pyongyang's latest missile test as an example of the grave danger it poses to neighboring countries.

'The international community must redouble its efforts to impose a price on this regime, which strains every nerve and sinew to build nuclear weapons and launch illegal missiles, even as the people of North Korea endure starvation and poverty,' Johnson said in an emailed statement.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in said that the North's actions could have serious consequences.

'If North Korea crossed the red line without responding to the peaceful approach to the denuclearization on the Korean peninsula which agreed by the US and South Korean leader, we are not sure of the consequences,' Moon said in a statement, in which he also called on China to put more pressure on Pyongyang.

South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said the launch was a 'direct challenge' to international peace, though it did not refer to the missile as an ICBM.

'the US and the South Korean intelligence authorities are conducting the detailed analysis on whether [the launched missile] has the capability of so-called intercontinental ballistic missile as the North claimed,' the statement said.

'Our military strongly condemns Kim Jong Un regime's vain delusions and reckless provocations, and warn [the North] to immediately cease the act of creating tension and anxiety on the Korean Peninsula and the international community,' it added.

'If North Korea ignores our warnings and continues the provocations obstinately, we clearly warn that Kim Jong Un regime will be on the verge of destruction (or ruin).'

Leaders in China have also condemned Tuesday's test launch in North Korea.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told reporters Tuesday that his country was collecting information about North Korea's latest launch, conducted earlier in the day.

He said that China urges 'the North Korean side to stop taking actions that violate Security Council resolutions and to create the necessary conditions for the resumption of talks.'

The spokesman also defended China's efforts to try to resolve the North Korean nuclear issue. He said that China's role is indispensable, and that its contribution in that regard is recognized.

'We hope all relevant parties can exercise restraint, avoid taking actions that may escalate tensions, and make efforts to bring the issue back to peaceful settlement through dialogue and consultation,' Geng said.

China's UN ambassador, Liu Jieyi, warned on Monday that further escalation of already high tensions with North Korea risks getting out of control 'and the consequences would be disastrous'.

On a trip to Moscow, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin agreed on Monday to 'jointly push for a proper settlement of the (Korean) peninsula issue via dialogue and negotiation', according to the official Xinhua news agency.

Meanwhile, North Korean citizens in the capital are praising their country's launch of what it called its first intercontinental ballistic missile.

Soon after the authoritarian government announced Tuesday that it had fired the missile that morning, a 38-year-old Pyongyang man named Ri Song Gil said his country 'can attack anywhere in the world'.

He added, 'Now, the time when the US could threaten the world with nuclear weapons has passed away'.

People watch a TV broadcast of a news report on North Korea's Hwasong-14 missile in Seoul on Tuesday

People in Seoul watch a television news broadcast showing a North Korean announcer reading a statement on the country's new ICBM test

People watch the news that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un signed the order to carry out the test-fire of intercontinental ballistic rocket near the Pyongyang railway station in Pyongyang, North Korea

A local TV news shows what was said to be the launch of a Hwasong-14 intercontinental ballistic missile, ICBM, aired by North Korea's KRT, at a consumer-electronics retailer in Tokyo

Twenty-seven-year-old Kim Hye Ok calls the launch 'extremely delightful news' and says North Korea 'will march forward along our own way' despite international sanctions.

Still pictures of the launch showed a missile lifting off the ground, spewing a flame and clouds against a backdrop of green hills.

Other photos showed Kim, in a striped Mao suit, shading his eyes with a raised hand and looking up at the sky, or sitting behind a desk looking through a pair of binoculars.

Hours after the North launched a ballistic missile that flew more than 900 kilometres on Tuesday, the North's state media said it would make an 'important announcement'.

'Important announcements' were made twice last year, one in January when the North claimed it had successfully tested a hydrogen bomb and the other in February when it said it had successfully put a satellite into orbit.

Lee Illwoo, a Seoul-based military commentator, said the missile traveled for a far longer period of time than if it would have been fired at a normal angle.

A North Korean scud-type missile, with a range of 800-900 kilometres, would land in its target site within ten minutes if fired at a standard angle of 45 degrees.

Lee said it's likely that North Korea fired either Hwasong-12 missile or a solid-fuel Pukguksong-2, both of which were tested in May.

On May 14, North Korea launched the Hwasong-12 missile, which its state media later said flew as high as 1,310 miles (2,111 kilometres) and landed in a targeted area in the ocean about 490 miles (787 kilometres) from the launch site.

On May 21, North Korea also tested the Pukguksong-2, which traveled about 310 miles (500 kilometres).

North Korea has a reliable arsenal of shorter-range missiles, but is still trying to perfect its longer-range missiles.

Some analysts believe North Korea has the technology to arm its short-range missiles with nuclear warheads, but it's unclear if it has mastered the technology needed to build an atomic bomb that can fit on a long-range missile.

South Korean army's K-9 self-propelled howitzers take positions during an annual exercise in Paju, near the border with North Korea on Tuesday

The annual exercise came as North Korea claimed to have tested its first intercontinental ballistic missile in a launch

JAPAN CONDUCTS EVACUATION DRILLS IN PREPARATION FOR MISSILE STRIKES As North Korea increases its missile launches, cities in Japan are conducting evacuation drills based on the scenario that a strike is imminent. Drills have been been conducted in nine of Japan's 47 prefectures, and there are more scheduled in at least 11 prefectures. The first drill this month will have people evacuate to an underground mall in Takaoka, Toyama Prefecture. Several missiles tested by North Korea have landed in the Sea of Japan, including an economic zone of the Oga Peninsula, Akita PRefecture. The Akita prefecture conducted an evacuation drill in March. Since then, other local governments facing the Sea of Japan and in the Kyushu region, which is close to North Korea, have conducted their own drills. In the event of a missile falling into the nation, the government will alert the public via the J-Alert early warning system. The government will call on people to evacuate to well-built buildings or underground spaces. If there are no such areas nearby, people will evacuate into clay pipes and the tunnels of agricultural water canals. The evacuation is different from that which would occur in the event of an earthquake, according to Japan News. A Cabinet Secretariat official in charge of crisis management said, 'We want people to know they should evacuate from buildings to outdoor spaces in an earthquake, but that they should evacuate to underground malls, buildings or concealed places if a missile approaches'. Advertisement

The isolated, impoverished country has made great progress in its missile capabilities since the ascension to power of Kim, who has overseen three nuclear tests and multiple rocket launches.

In response to the launch but before the announcement, Trump asked on Twitter: 'Does this guy have anything better to do with his life?'

He added: 'Hard to believe that South Korea and Japan will put up with this much longer. Perhaps China will put a heavy move on North Korea and end this nonsense once and for all!'

The United Nations has imposed multiple sets of sanctions on Pyongyang over its weapons programs, which retorts that it needs nuclear arms to defend itself against the threat of invasion.

Just last week South Korean President Moon and Trump met for the first time and vowed to oppose North Korea's development of atomic weapons.

Washington, South Korea's security guarantor, has more than 28,000 troops in the country to defend it from its communist neighbor, and fears of conflict reached a peak earlier this year as the Trump administration suggested military action was an option under consideration.

The Korean Peninsula has been divided between the American-backed South and the authoritarian North since the 1950-53 Korean War.

Worries have increased as the North's leader Kim pushes to expand his nuclear arsenal and develop ballistic missiles that can carry nuclear warheads.

Russia and China have agreed a joint position on North Korea designed to defuse tensions around its missile program and both want Washington to halt deployment of a missile shield in South Korea, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday.

Moscow and Beijing had agreed on the need for a simultaneous freezing of North Korea's missile and nuclear program and large-scale military exercises by the United States and South Korea, the ministry said in a statement.

The statement was released after President Vladimir Putin held talks with visiting Chinese President Xi Jinping in the Kremlin.

The same statement said Moscow and Beijing wanted the United States to immediately halt its deployment of the THAAD anti-missile system to South Korea, a move Washington says is necessitated by the North Korean missile threat.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who talked by phone with Mr Trump on Monday, said the two leaders plan to seek further co-operation from world leaders when they attend the G20 summit in Germany

Moscow and Beijing had agreed on the need for a simultaneous freezing of North Korea's missile and nuclear program and large-scale military exercises by the United States and South Korea, the ministry said in a statement. Pictured above, Chinese President Xi Jinping (left) and Russian President Vladimir Putin

NORTH KOREA'S MISSILE DEVELOPMENT: A TIMELINE North Korea on Tuesday said it had tested an intercontinental ballistic missile, as its decades-long weapons program reached a grave new phase. Here are key dates in Pyongyang's quest to develop a missile capable of hitting the United States: Late 1970s: Starts working on a version of the Soviet Scud-B (range 300 kilometres or 186 miles). Test-fired in 1984 1987-92: Begins developing variant of Scud-C (500 km), Rodong-1 (1,300 km), Taepodong-1 (2,500 km), Musudan-1 (3,000 km) and Taepodong-2 (6,700 km) Aug 1998: Test-fires Taepodong-1 over Japan as part of failed satellite launch Sept 1999: Declares moratorium on long-range missile tests amid improving ties with US July 12, 2000: Fifth round of US-North Korean missile talks ends without agreement after North demands $1 billion a year in return for halting missile exports March 3, 2005: North ends moratorium on long-range missile testing, blames Bush administration's 'hostile' policy July 5, 2006: North test-fires seven missiles, including a long-range Taepodong-2 which explodes after 40 seconds Oct 9, 2006: North conducts underground nuclear test, its first April 5, 2009: North Korea launches long-range rocket which flies over Japan and lands in the Pacific, in what it says is an attempt to put a satellite into orbit. The United States, Japan and South Korea see it as a disguised test of a Taepodong-2 May 25, 2009: North conducts its second underground nuclear test, several times more powerful than the first April 13, 2012: North launches what it has said is a long-range rocket to put a satellite into orbit, but it disintegrates soon after blast-off December 12, 2012: North launches a multi-stage rocket and successfully places an Earth observational satellite in orbit February 12, 2013: Conducts its third underground nuclear test January 6, 2016: North conducts its fourth underground nuclear test, which it says was of a hydrogen bomb -- a claim doubted by most experts March 9, 2016: Kim Jong-Un claims the North has successfully miniaturised a thermo-nuclear warhead April 23, 2016: North test-fires a submarine-launched ballistic missile July 8, 2016: US and South Korea announce plans to deploy an advanced missile defence system -- THAAD (Terminal High Altitude Area Defense) August 3, 2016: North Korea fires a ballistic missile directly into Japan's maritime economic zone for the first time September 9, 2016: Fifth nuclear test March 6, 2017: North fires four ballistic missiles in what it says is an exercise to hit US bases in Japan March 7, 2017: US begins deploying THAAD missile defence system in South Korea May 14, 2017: North fires a ballistic missile which flies 700 kilometres before landing in the Sea of Japan. Analysts say it has an imputed range of 4,500 kilometres and brings Guam within reach July 4, 2017: North Korea test-fires a ballistic missile which flies 930 kilometres before landing in the Sea of Japan. Analysts say it has an imputed range of 6,700 kilometres and brings Alaska within reach. Pyongyang later says it was a 'landmark' test of a Hwasong-14 intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). Advertisement

The statement said Washington was using North Korea as a pretext to expand its military infrastructure in Asia and risked upsetting the strategic balance of power in the area.

'The deployment ... of THAAD will cause serious harm to the strategic security interests of regional states, including Russia and China,' the statement said.

'Russia and China oppose the deployment of such systems and call on the relevant countries to immediately halt and cancel the process of deployment.'

Tuesday's launch is the first by the North since a June 8 test of a new type of cruise missile that Pyongyang says is capable of striking United States and South Korean warships 'at will.'

Since taking office on May 10, Moon has tried to improve strained ties with North Korea, but the North has continued its missile tests. Pyongyang says it needs nuclear weapons and powerful missiles to cope with what it calls rising US military threats.

There has also been anger in the United States over the death of Otto Warmbier, an American student detained in North Korea for around 18 months before he was returned home in a coma in June.

Trump has been pinning his hopes on China - North Korea's main diplomatic ally - to bring pressure to bear on Pyongyang.

Last week he declared that Beijing's efforts had failed, but returned to the idea on Twitter following the launch: 'Perhaps China will put a heavy move on North Korea and end this nonsense once and for all!'

But a former foreign policy adviser to Hillary Clinton warned that his comments risked undermining the credibility of both the US deterrent, and its assurances to its allies in Seoul and Tokyo.

She added: 'Picking a twitter fight with a nuclear-armed dictator is not wise - this is not reality TV anymore.'
Soldier's from Britain's elite Special Air Service have been accused of executing four unarmed men during a raid in Afghanistan - before covering up the evidence.

The rogue unit is alleged to have deliberately killed suspected insurgents rather then detaining them, and then falsified mission reports to cover their tracks.

One man claims that British special forces descended upon his house in Qala-e-Bost, Helmand Province, Afghanistan, in 2011.

The rogue unit has been accused of killing suspected insurgents rather then detaining them (stock image)

His allegations are substantial enough that the Royal Military Police is now planning to interview him in Afghanistan.

Speaking on BBC Radio 4 the man said that four of his male relatives were shot despite not being affiliated with any armed group.

He said: 'It was 1am when two helicopters came and landed nearby. After about 10 mins they entered our house, they surrounded it and called for us to come out of our rooms.'

He then described how the men and women were separated and the troops started searching the house.

The man was separated from his father and told to stay in a small room with his eyes closed.

It is claimed that special forces soldiers murdered rather than captured four family members during a night raid on their homes in Qala-e-Bost, southern Helmand province (pictured)

He added: 'I was in that room for rest of the night. Early in the morning they came and opened my eyes and said I should not go out until they left the area.

'When the helicopters left we came out of the room. As soon as I came out I saw they had martyred my father, two brothers and cousin.'

Russian guns planted on bodies It is claimed that the unit carried a Russian Makarov (stock picture) 'kill pistol' because it could be pictured with a victim if an unarmed Taliban suspect was shot dead The allegations include claims that SAS soldiers doctored reports and used fake photographs to hide civilian deaths. It was said they had placed Taliban pistols and rifles near dead civilians to make them look like enemy fighters. They then falsified reports in a bid to blame Afghan special forces, so that the incident would not be probed by regular army command, it was said. The allegations were said to have been supported by a drone film, which reportedly showed British soldiers opening fire, contradicting claims that the Afghan partners, acting as backup and interpreters, were responsible. Bullets retrieved from victims bodies were also allegedly of an SAS type. They matched the 5.56mm calibre used by the SAS, rather than larger bullets used by Afghan special forces. There were more claims soldiers planted Russian Makarov pistols on victims bodies and took pictures as evidence they killed Taliban insurgents in self defence. In another claim, an elite team allegedly executed three unarmed brothers in a secret night raid. Their mother said she watched her sons being gunned down at their home in Gereshk district, Helmand Province, in 2012. She claimed her farmer sons had no Taliban connection and had been holding their hands in the air when SAS troops opened fire, according to the Sunday Times. Advertisement

The Royal Military Police (RMP) are also investigating claims the troops then planted guns on the victims to make them appear to be insurgents.

The investigation is part of Operation Northmoor, which has looked into deaths during the Afghan war, but only so far found one case of unlawful killing.

However former Army intelligence officer Chris Green said that, when he tried to look into the case, he was met with a wall of silence.

An Army intelligence officer said he was met with a wall of silence when he tried investigating (stock image)

He said that while regular British troops operated under very strict Rules of Engagement, special forces did not have to apply the same rules - and there was no accountability.

When Green sought information about the shooting to help 'pacify a very angry local population' he was met with a 'wall of secrecy'.

He said he could see no reason why the information he asked for was denied, and special forces wouldn't provide a good reason.

A source close to Operation Northmoor told the Sunday Times that there was 'strong evidence' that the civilians were murdered.

More than 675 allegations were made against British forces in Afghanistan, but ninety per cent were discontinued (stock image)

The RMP discovered that the NATO-issue 5.56mm ammunition was discovered near the victims.

Afghan and Taliban forces usually use 7.62mm rounds.

In a statement, an MoD spokesman said: 'The Royal Military Police has found no evidence of criminal behavior by the Armed Forces in Afghanistan.

'They have discontinued over 90 per cent of the 675 allegations made and less than ten investigations remain.

'Our military serve with great courage and professionalism and we proudly hold them to the highest standards.'
Jessica has not been heard from since fire raged through the block she called home on June 14

Relatives of missing Grenfell Tower girl Jessica Urbano have marked what would have been her 13th birthday today.

Family and friends of the schoolgirl released balloons as the gathered to remember her at Avondale Park in west London.

Jessica has not been heard from since fire raged through the block she called home on June 14. She is presumed to have died in the tragedy.

Dozens of children, many wearing T-shirts with 'Happy Birthday Jessie' on them, others simply in school uniform, gathered in the park.

Her smiling face and flowing curls looked up at the crowd from a picture on a birthday cake.

Shortly after 4.30pm, under a clear sky, her family briefly addressed the group, thanking them for coming.

Balloons in hand, they all then joined in a rendition of Happy Birthday and released their cargo into the air.

As the light-coloured tributes floated off into the air, messages could be made out on some. One simply read: 'God bless you.'

At least 80 people are thought to have died in the fire earlier this month.

Meanwhile, the families of victims of the Grenfell Tower fire have been told at a meeting with a coroner and the Met Police that their relatives may not be identified until the end of the year.

The private meeting took place on Tuesday evening at the Olympia London in West Kensington, just over a mile from Grenfell Tower itself, with Westminster coroner Dr Fiona Wilcox and Met Police Commander Stuart Cundy in attendance.

Lotifa Begum, a coordinator for the charity Muslim Aid, who left partway through the meeting, said the families had been told that the 'recovery phase', where the authorities identify bodies, could take until the end of the year.

She said some of the families inside the meeting were 'very upset and angry', and a few had been overwhelmed and had to leave.

The family of Jessica Urbano, who lived on the 20th floor of the building, arrived at the meeting wearing t-shirts saying 'Happy Birthday Jessie' along with a picture of the little girl, on what a family member online said was her 13th birthday.

Families of victims greeted each other at the entrance before going inside, some ushered in by police staff.

Family and friends of the schoolgirl released balloons as the gathered to remember her at Avondale Park in west London

According to an email inviting families to the meeting, it was an opportunity for victims' families to 'have some questions answered'.

But the families were told before the meeting that they would not be allowed to put questions directly to Dr Wilcox or Commander Cundy, and had to email their questions in by 11am the day before.

It's understood that some family members were not happy with how the meeting was organised.

Ms Begum said: 'A lot of the families would have appreciated a lot more time and notice.'

At least 80 people died or are presumed missing after the block of flats caught fire early on June 14.

Families of victims greeted each other at the entrance before going inside, some ushered in by police staff




Serial killer Joanna Dennehy (pictured) murdered three men in 2013 while under the supervision of probation workers

Criminals have been charged with nearly 400 murders while under official supervision.

Damning figures reveal the public is being put in danger by offenders who commit chilling crimes despite being on probation.

They are meant to be monitored closely, but 76 a year are being hauled before the courts for killing in cold blood.

Offenders on probation were charged with 382 murders between 2012 and 2016, according to figures from the Ministry of Justice  the department which changed the regime for managing criminals in the community in 2014.

They were also charged with 200 attempted murders, 34 manslaughters, 1,024 rapes or attempted rapes, 134 kidnaps, 54 arson attacks and 457 other serious sexual or violent offences  a total of 2,285 violent and sexual offences, or the equivalent of nine serious attacks a week.

Of the 2,829 cases of homicide, including both murder and manslaughter, between 2012 and 2016, one in seven was carried out by criminals under supervision.

The figures, released by the MoJ in response to Freedom of Information requests, raise fresh concerns over whether dangerous offenders are being released too soon  and whether the authorities are able to monitor them safely.

Among the most notorious cases of monitoring failures is that of serial killer Joanna Dennehy, who murdered three men in 2013 while under the supervision of probation workers. Last night critics said the figures were evidence of how the public was being put at risk by failures in the monitoring system.

David Spencer, of the Centre For Crime Prevention think-tank, said: 'These shocking figures show that, despite the recent Government shake-up, probation in the UK is still not fit for purpose.

Fuelled by a 'sadistic lust for blood', Dennehy (pictured) killed Lukasz Slaboszewski, Kevin Lee and John Chapman in March 2013.

'For even one criminal to be released under supervision, only to commit a serious crime, is unacceptable.

For the figures to be in the thousands, and to include almost 400 murders, is staggering and will only serve to hugely undermine public trust in the justice system.

'It is painfully clear that an urgent review of the current system is needed.'

Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron added: 'This is scandalous and should make every right-thinking person outraged. Probation and supervision is supposed to be for offenders who are low risk and yet it seems some of the most dangerous people are being let out to commit further crimes, including murder. Enough is enough. An urgent investigation must be conducted and ministers need to be held accountable.'

THE SHOCKING CRIME TOLL Since 2012, criminals on probation have been charged with: - 382 murders - 200 attempted murders - 34 manslaughters - 1,024 rapes or attempted rapes - 134 kidnaps - 54 arson attacks - 457 other serious sexual or violent offences Advertisement

Bob Neill, who was Tory chairman of the justice select committee in the last Parliament, said: 'This seems to prove that the probation arrangements are not working properly. They are not rehabilitating offenders nor protecting the public.

'These figures are a real concern and they show that the system is failing and needs overhauling.'

The Government introduced the 3.7billion Transforming Rehabilitation programme in 2015 in a bid to tackle reoffending  which costs society 15billion a year. The overhaul created a National Probation Service to deal with high-risk offenders, with the remainder assigned to 21 partly privatised Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs).

The reforms saw all prisoners sentenced to a year or less given 12 months of supervision on release.

Under a payment-by-results scheme, the CRCs check whether criminals are complying with court requirements and help rehabilitate them.

Damningly, the number of so-called Serious Further Offences  serious crimes committed by offenders on probation  has soared 30 per cent since the Government shook up probation, from 404 to 522.

Ian Lawrence of Napo, the probation officers' union, said thousands of staff had been laid off since the shake-up, meaning staff were increasingly supervising offenders remotely.

He said: 'The situation is going to get worse and it is going to put even more people at risk. If offenders are not being seen, or not as frequently, and the level of supervision is not what it should be, then mistakes will occur.

'There are people on the streets who are not being properly supervised, which means they are a real and present danger to the public.'

TRIPLE KILLER'S THREAT MISSED Joanna Dennehy (pictured) was under supervision of probation workers when she murdered three men Killer Joanna Dennehy was under supervision of probation workers when she murdered three men. Fuelled by a 'sadistic lust for blood', she killed Lukasz Slaboszewski, Kevin Lee and John Chapman in March 2013. All three men were stabbed through the heart. At the time, Dennehy was serving a 12-month community order for assault and owning a dangerous dog. She was supposedly being supervised by the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Probation service, but simply skipped appointments after moving to Lincolnshire. A leaked report revealed officials missed opportunities to spot the risk she posed and the mother of two was left in the hands of a junior manager. In 2014, tattooed Dennehy, 34, laughed and smirked when she was told she would never be released from prison, and told a judge she had 'no remorse'. Advertisement

In December, a damning report found that the public was being put at risk because of 'unacceptable' failures in the supervision of offenders released on to the streets.

Watchdogs said some criminals were not seen by probation workers for weeks or months, while others had vanished altogether.

Last year, then-justice secretary Liz Truss ordered a full review of the probation service's privatisation.

An MoJ spokesman said: 'Keeping the public safe is our top priority and offenders on licence are subject to a strict set of conditions on release.

'A thorough investigation is always carried out when someone commits a serious further offence to see whether anything could have been done differently.'
A woman and a man have been charged after a six-year-old girl was seen being bundled into a car, sparking a massive police search.

The girl, named Lilee, had been the subject of a police Amber Alert but was found safe and well on the Sunshine Coast on Tuesday afternoon.

Police early on Wednesday said they had charged a 24-year-old woman and a 31-year-old man with burglary and commit an indictable offence (domestic violence offence).

The girl, named Lilee, had been the subject of a police Amber Alert but was found safe and well on the Sunshine Coast on Tuesday afternoon

The woman, of Chemside, has been denied police bail to appear in the Caboolture Magistrates Court on Wednesday.

The Mansfield man has been released on bail to appear in the same court on July 20.

An Amber Alert was issued for Lilee after she was taken from a home in Caboolture north of Brisbane on Tuesday morning.

She was seen getting into a car with a woman and two men at a home at Lynfield Drive around 9am.

On Tuesday, police said Shannon Millikin (pictured) and a man were speaking with police

At 3.20pm, police found Lilee safe and well on the Sunshine Coast.

On Tuesday, police said a woman, Shannon Millikin, and one of the men were speaking with police.

Millikin and Lilee are known to each other, but police wouldn't confirm the nature of the relationship.
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Reality TV star Jeremy McConnell suffered a broken nose, fractured eye socket and concussion in a fight with his Hollyoaks ex-girlfriend Stephanie Davis.

Last night, Davis left a police station with an apparent black eye and scratched - as friends claim she has broken ribs from her fight with McConnell.

The former Hollyoaks actress was seen with marks on her face and neck after being released on bail at 3am following an alleged attack on her on-off boyfriend at the Royal Chace Hotel in Enfield, north London.

And now it has emerged that McConnell suffered extensive damage in the violent row.

Pictures have emerged of Jeremy McConnell's injuries after he was allegedly assaulted by his girlfriend, former Hollyoaks actress Stephanie Davis, who was arrested on Sunday

Former Hollyoaks star Stephanie Davis has been pictured leaving a police station with what appears to be a black eye and a scratched neck. She was spotted sporting the marks after being released on bail after allegedly assaulting her on/off boyfriend Jeremy McConnell following a row at the Royal Chace Hotel in Enfield, north London

Friends of Jeremy told The Sun Online he is in a lot of pain but is trying to put on a brave face.

They said: 'Jeremy's face is pretty messed up, the swelling is still quite bad around his eyes and his nose.

'He's been checked out by doctors who told him his nose is broken and one of his eye sockets has a fracture.

'Although Jeremy was suffering with concussion he just wanted to come home so he's in Ireland and is spending time with his friends trying to get his head around what happened.

As Davis left the police station last night, 24-year-old Step was seen clutching her stomach and wearing oversized grey tracksuit bottoms with an apparently 'blood smeared' jumper. She was driven to a friend's house.

Pictures have also emerged of Jeremy with two bruised eyes and a cut on his nose as he left the country yesterday in the wake of the incident.

Friends have claimed that her 'toxic' boyfriend went for her first in the brawl that led to her arrest for GBH, and she has been left with broken ribs.

They have claimed the row started when Jeremy threw a phone packed full of pictures of their baby son and smashed it on the floor.

The former Hollyoaks actress has been bailed over the alleged attack on model McConnell at a London hotel

After leaving the police station Stephanie was driven to a friend's house clutching her stomach (pictured left) while wearing oversized grey tracksuit bottoms and a 'blood stained' jumper

The pair had reportedly been drinking together for hours at a pub in Enfield before returning separately to the hotel and clashing in the room their shared.

She was taken to hospital by police yesterday as she was questioned over the incident. Scotland Yard today confirmed she has been bailed until late July.

Explaining the circumstances leading up to Sunday's fight, a friend of mother-of-one Steph said self-confessed alcoholic McConnell had picked the fight with her after 'falling off the wagon'.

The friend told MailOnline: 'Jeremy relapsed again on Sunday and attacked Stephanie causing severe injuries including five broken ribs and a broken nose alongside other injuries which explain her stay in hospital yesterday whilst in police custody.

'Stephanie has to go back to hospital today for another follow up appointment and for her serious injuries to be checked over by medical professionals.

'Stephanie's friends and family all want her away from toxic Jeremy and the distress and trouble he has caused her since they met.'

McConnell, 27, was seen nursing two black eyes and a scratched face yesterday as he boarded a flight back to his home town of Dublin.

It came as a witness to the bloody aftermath of the incident at the four-star Royal Chace Hotel in Enfield said more than 10 police officers were brought in to deal with the couple.

The actress clutched her stomach as she left the police station at 3am in the morning following her arrest

Friends claim that her 'toxic' boyfriend Jeremy McConnell went for her first in the brawl that led to her arrest for assault

Steph was taken to hospital by police yesterday after she became ill during questioning. Scotland Yard today confirmed she has been bailed until late July

A guest who was staying on the same floor as the pair said she returned to her room after the incident and feared a terrorist attack had unfolded due to the number of emergency services at the scene.

The woman, who asked not to be named, told MailOnline: 'Steph was walking away with a woman police officer, being held up because she was stumbling, and he was in a room. Hotel staff were bringing ice to him. There was lots of bloody towels and things around.

'She was taken to an ambulance and I think later arrested. It was a terrible thing to see. They are just kids really and had too much alcohol, I think.'

Earlier in the day, the pair are said to have clashed outside a Wetherspoon's pub in Enfield after spending hours drinking in the lead-up to Steph's arrest.

One pub-goer said: 'They were in the pub for almost the whole day and being incredibly hard to deal with. Jeremy then vanished in a taxi leaving Steph on her own. Her phone was smashed to pieces.

'From what I saw it doesn't seem to be a healthy relationship but I didn't think it was any of my business.'

The pair were seen arguing in the street after drinking in a Wetherspoon's pub in the hours before Davis was arrested

Witnesses said the reality TV went off in separate taxis after the drinking session in Enfield, north London on Sunday

McConnell told of his 'explosive' relationship with Stephanie Davis days before her arrest Jeremy McConnell spoke about his 'explosive' relationship with girlfriend Stephanie Davis in an interview just days before her arrest for GBH. Speaking to Closer Magazine's therapist Emma Kenny for this week's magazine, which went to press last week before Stephanie's arrest on Sunday night, Jeremy admits that the Celebrity Big Brother couple both struggle to contain their emotions. Of his tumultuous relationship with Stephanie, Jeremy says: 'It's really up and down. We love each other, but we are both very insecure people and have a lot of arguments.' 'A couple of weeks ago I had a big argument with Steph and locked myself in a hotel room and cried for hours. I desperately wanted her to come and hug me and tell me I was going to be alright,' he says. He ended the interview by agreeing that he and Stephanie should seek couple's counselling, admitting: 'I know we need to handle our emotions better.' Advertisement

Pub regulars said Jeremy got into a cab around 9.30pm and Davis stayed at the bar for more beer before heading back to their hotel, where she was arrested around 11pm over claims she assaulted McConnell.

Black cab driver Roger Osborn, 68, had gone to the pub for a quiet drink with his friends after a long weekend of work.

He said: 'I got here at about 9pm and they were already here and they had had plenty of drink. It looked like he was bullying her and she was shouting at him as well.

'At one point he had a go at us and started swearing at some of the other customers. We didn't get involved. We just wanted to come down to our local and have a drink and we didn't want any trouble.

'He was being aggressive but she was giving it back as well. They were both pretty drunk and they were as bad as each other.'

Pub witness Mr Osborn said McConnell left for 'about ten minutes' before returning and shouting at a man talking to Davis.

He added: 'Then he left and it wasn't much longer until closing time and she left. He was being a bully and it was getting nasty, but she was shouting back at him as well.

'You just don't want to see or hear that when you want a quiet drink, everyone in the pub was getting angry.'

Davis has reportedly been dropped from her role on Channel 5's Big Brother's Bit On The Side in the wake of her arrest, although Channel 5 have refused to comment.

Police said McConnell's injuries were not serious and the Irishman was treated at the scene by paramedics and did not need hospital treatment. He flew back to his home town of Dublin yesterday.

But pictures show him with two black eyes, a scratch to his nose and face a blood-shot left eye.

Another woman who apparently witnessed the fight later tweeted the couple, telling McConnell his behaviour was 'awful' and telling Steph: 'I hope your ok.'

Steph found fame playing character Sinead O'Connor in Hollyoaks from 2010 to 2015, before appearing on Celebrity Big Brother.

On Saturday, the day before the alleged attack, Steph had told her 400,000 followers she was planning to let her hair down when her aunt looked after her baby. She later deleted the tweet

The former Hollyoaks actress was arrested on suspicion of attacking her on-off boyfriend

The actress is said to be being held at a London police station and questioned by officers

A Scotland Yard spokesman said yesterday: 'Police in Enfield were called to a hotel in The Ridgeway, EN2 at 11pm on Sunday, 2 July following reports of an assault.

'Officers attended and arrested a 24-year-old woman on suspicion of GBH. She has been taken to a north London police station for questioning.

'She was subsequently taken to hospital after becoming unwell where she remains at this time. Her condition is not believed to be serious.

'The victim was treated at the scene and did not attend hospital. Enquiries continue.'

The couple's rocky relationship began after they starred together on Celebrity Big Brother in January last year.

But they then became embroiled in a toxic romance which first ended a month before she announced she was expecting his baby.

McConnell initially denied paternity of the child, but was proved to be the father and moved to be with Davis in Liverpool.

Davis has recently appeared on TV with the couple's son Caben-Albi, who was born in January this year

The fight is said to have broken out at the Royal Chace Hotel in Enfield on Sunday after the pair were seen drinking in the town

Regulars at this pub said the pair were drinking together until around 9.30pm, when Jeremy left and Steph carried on with a group of women

They became parents in January when Steph gave birth to son Caben-Albi. It is understood the youngster was not with them on Sunday.

The pair were staying at the Royal Chace Hotel while Davis films Big Brother's Bit On The Side.

Whilst Stephanie has found renewed fame this year as a 'relationship expert' on Big Brother's Bit On The Side, while sources say Jeremy is in 'self-destruct mode'.

His friends and family are said to be very concerned about him, after an evening out two weeks ago ended with him leaving a club and sleeping on a park bench.

MailOnline was told he was escorted out of 'Dstrkt' nightclub during the Sixty6 Magazine Summer launch party, but was later allowed back in.

Sources close to couple have said that, before Sunday's incident, the couple were planning to move to the country together.

Steph, who was seen grabbing fast food last month, has had a rocky relationship with Jeremy

Insiders told MailOnline: 'Stephanie and Jeremy have told friends and family of their plans to move to the countryside and have begun looking at properties in Norfolk.

'Stephanie and Jeremy have both earned well so are going to put their money into a country cottage, Stephanie has previously been to Norfolk for work and loved how remote it was'.

Sunday's alleged attack comes less than a week after Davis' mother, Pauline, posted cryptic messages online after labeling McConnell a 'scumbag'.

She shared a quote reading: 'Who you spend time with will have a great impact on what kind of life you live'. Another said: 'You can either let your heart rule your mind or your mind rule your heart.'

MailOnline has contacted both Stephanie and Jeremy's representatives for comment.

Pub witness Mr Osborn said McConnell left for 'about ten minutes' before returning and shouting at a man talking to Davis.

He added: 'Then he left and it wasn't much longer until closing time and she left. He was being a bully and it was getting nasty, but she was shouting back at him as well.

'You just don't want to see or hear that when you want a quiet drink, everyone in the pub was getting angry.'

Davis has reportedly been dropped from her role on Channel 5's Big Brother's Bit On The Side in the wake of her arrest, although Channel 5 have refused to comment.

Police said McConnell's injuries were not serious and the Irishman was treated at the scene by paramedics and did not need hospital treatment. He flew back to his home town of Dublin yesterday.

But pictures show him with two black eyes, a scratch to his nose and face a blood-shot left eye.

Another woman who apparently witnessed the fight later tweeted the couple, telling McConnell his behaviour was 'awful' and telling Steph: 'I hope your ok.'
An Afghan civilian yesterday claimed four members of his family were allegedly 'martyred' during a night raid by troops he believes were Britain's special forces.

Speaking from the war-torn country, the unnamed man said soldiers raided his home in southern Helmand Province in 2011 and killed his unarmed and innocent father, two brothers and cousin.

His public testimony  the first by an alleged victim of UK elite troops - came as General Lord Richard Dannatt, former head of the army, said there should be 'no witch-hunts but no cover-ups'.

The man says the soldiers  who had flown in during the night in two helicopters  were elite British soldiers, according to the BBC.

Speaking from the war-torn country, the unnamed man said soldiers raided his home in southern Helmand Province in 2011 (pictured here, stock photo)

Officers from the Royal Military Police (RMP) are due to fly out to Afghanistan to interview the man as part of a probe codenamed Operation Northmoor.

The case is the last remaining allegation of unlawful killing in Afghanistan still under investigation by the unit after 51 others were thrown out in recent months.

On Sunday there were claims that British special forces executed unarmed Afghan civilians in cold blood and then planted guns to make the victims appear to be insurgents.

Jeremy Corbyn then called for an independent inquiry to examine whether a probe into alleged SAS 'war crimes' had been deliberately impeded by the Ministry of Defence.

It was claimed the MoD had put pressure on the RMP to wrap up the cases amid fears the reputation of the SAS could be trashed by the explosive allegations. Others said the SAS had been subjected to a 'witch-hunt'.

Yesterday Lord Dannatt told the BBC: 'If we are going to indulge in criticism of them we have got to be pretty sure there is strong evidence of wrong doing, frankly no witch hunts but no cover ups.

'If there is evidence of wrongdoing it should be investigated but we should be very very careful about throwing mud at our very special, special forces.'

The Afghan man said in his case his family members were deliberately shot even though they were unarmed and were not affiliated to the Taliban or an armed group.

He told the BBC: 'It was 1am, two helicopters came and landed nearby, after about ten minutes they entered our house.

'They surrounded it and called for us to come out of our rooms but they were here to search the house. We came out of our rooms and they turned on two lights.'

He said one was red and the other green and they took the females to the green light side and the males to the red light side. He added: 'It was me and my father. They started searching the house and after that they searched me and my father.

'They separated me from my father and closed my eyes and asked me to sit down. We were in that room for the rest of the night.'

He explained how he waited there for hours with his eyes closed. He said: 'Early morning they came and open my eyes and said I should not go out until they left the area.

'When the helicopters left the area we came out of the room. As soon as I came out of the room, I saw that they had martyred my father, two brothers and cousin.'

It is understood the case is also currently subject to a civil claim. The case was brought by Leigh Day, a law firm seeking compensation for the family of the deceased.

The case is the last remaining allegation of unlawful killing in Afghanistan (pictured, Helmand Province) still under investigation

A former British army intelligence officer, Chris Green, who served in Afghanistan, said there had not been enough transparency when it came to the actions of Britain's elite troops.

Mr Green, who was tasked with looking into abuse cases, said: 'It was my view that the British forces that I worked with worked under a very very strict rules of engagement and it seemed to me that special forces did not have to apply the same rules in quite the same way.'

He said there had been a 'wall of secrecy' put in front of him when he tried to pacify an 'angry population' amid claims UK troops had acted unlawfully.

He said: 'My own view of their accountability, was, I didn't see any, so when I sought information from them this wall of secrecy was put in front of me and I could see no good reason why the information I was asking for was denied from me and nor could they give me good reason for denying me that information.'

The existence of Operation Northmoor emerged nearly two years ago, when police were examining claims of around 100 Afghans alleging they were mistreated during the 13-year war.

It was launched in 2014 and the inquiry's workload rapidly soared to 675 claims, before being slashed to just ten. In all, there were 52 allegations of deaths, mainly by special forces.

But 51 were deemed not serious enough to be referred to the Service Prosecuting Authority.

The probe has cost taxpayers 9million to date. A further 2.5 million is expected to be spent as officers examine the remaining ten investigations.

An MoD spokesman said: 'The Royal Military Police has found no evidence of criminal behaviour by the Armed Forces in Afghanistan.

They have discontinued over 90 per cent of the 675 allegations made and less than ten investigations remain.'
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At first glance, its look like Photoshop trickery.

However, NASA's Expedition 52 Flight Engineer Jack Fischer of NASA took this incredible snap from the International Space Station.

It shows the glowing nighttime lights of an aurora from his vantage point in the International Space Station's cupola module on June 19, 2017.

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NASA's Jack Fischer took this incredible snap from the International Space Station's cupola module on June 19, 2017. Part of the station's solar array is also visible, giving it an otherworldly feel.

WHAT ARE AURORAS? There are two types of auroras - Aurora Borealis, which means 'dawn of the north', and Aurora Australis, 'dawn of the south.' The lights are created when charged particles from the sun enter Earth's atmosphere. Usually the particles are deflected by the Earth's magnetic field, but some enter the atmosphere and collide with gas particles. These collisions emit light, in many colours although pale green and pink are common. Advertisement

The image was released as NASA astronauts Jack Fischer and Peggy Whitson celebrated the Fourth of July from over 250 miles above Earth on the International Space Station.

Fischer shared a photo of the pair on on social media and said, 'We sometimes have issues standing up straight, but we have no problems at all showing our American pride-Happy 4th!'

The incredible auroras are created when solar particles collide into our planet's magnetic field, particles that are trapped around Earth are rapidly accelerated.

Those particles are sent crashing down into Earth's upper atmosphere, at altitudes of 60 to 250 miles (100 to 400 kilometres), where they excite oxygen and nitrogen molecules and release photons of lights.

The results are the distinctive swirls of dancing light in the sky.

Just hours after this year's winter solstice, the northern lights put on a stunning display over northern Canada.

The phenomenon was captured by a Nasa satellite in infrared, as the skies over the area lit up.

The northern lights, which appeared on December 22, appear in the image as glowing swirls of clouds.

NASA astronauts Jack Fischer and Peggy Whitson celebrated the Fourth of July from over 250 miles above Earth on the International Space Station.

Nasa's Suomi NPP spacecraft captured the image of the northern lights over British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Nunavut, and Northwest Territories in Canada.

The satellite took the images from 512 miles (824 kilometres) above Earth's surface, using a Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS).

In a statement on its website, Nasa said: 'Just hours after the winter solstice, a mass of energetic particles from the Sun smashed into the magnetic field around Earth.

'The strong solar wind stream stirred up a display of northern lights over northern Canada.'

In April this year, Nasa released an ultra-high definition 4K timelapse of the Auroras Borealis and Australis as seen from 250 miles above Earth.

'Harmonic produced this show exclusively for Nasa TV UHD, using time-lapses shot from the International Space Station, showing both the Aurora Borealis and Aurora Australis,' Nasa wrote.

While the astronauts on the space station are often treated to spectacular light shows created by the aurora from their unique perspective, they are often on the Earth's horizon.

In April this year, Nasa released an ultra-high definition 4K timelapse of the Auroras Borealis and Australis as seen from 250 miles above Earth

While the astronauts on the space station are often treated to spectacular light shows created by the aurora from their unique perspective, they are often on the Earth's horizon

In February the green glow, caused by electrically charged particles thrown out by the sun interacting with the gas atoms in the atmosphere, right in the path of the space station

But in February the green glow, caused by electrically charged particles thrown out by the sun interacting with the gas atoms in the atmosphere, right in the path of the space station.

Major Tim Peake managed to capture the stunning moment as the space station passed through the green haze by taking a picture out of a window.

Posting the image on Twitter, he described the aurora as being like a 'thick green fog' which was 'eerie but very beautiful'.

 Slide me  Just hours after this year's winter solstice, the northern lights put on a stunning display over northern Canada. The phenomenon was captured by a Nasa satellite in infrared, as the skies over the area lit up

Major Tim Peake managed to capture the stunning moment as the space station passed through the green haze by taking a picture out of a window

Aside from being beautiful to behold, studying the aurora from space could provide scientists with details about the behaviour of the sun.

Nasa said: 'The dancing lights of the aurora provide spectacular views on the ground, but also capture the imagination of scientists who study incoming energy and particles from the sun.
A giant crocodile over 24ft (7 metres) long and with razor sharp T-Rex teeth may sound like the stuff of nightmares.

But a new study has revealed that such a creature was once the top predator in Jurassic Madagascar.

And unlike modern crocodiles, their distant cousin walked on its hind feet as it scavenged on sauropod carcasses or attacked other prey.

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A giant crocodile over seven metres (24 feet) long and with razor sharp T-Rex teeth may sound like the stuff of nightmares. But a new study has revealed that such a creature was once the top predator in Jurassic Madagascar (artist's impression)

GIANT CROCODILE The crocodile had deep and massive jaw bones armed with enormous serrated teeth similar in size and shape to those of a T-Rex. The tip of a shed tooth showed a deeply worn surface caused by contact with hard food, such as bone and tendon indicating this fearsome animal was both predator and scavenger. It is nicknamed 'Razana' but its full title is Razanandrongobe sakalavae, which means 'giant lizard ancestor from Sakalava region'. It is also the largest and oldest known 'notosuchian,' predating the other forms by 42 million years. Little is known about the origin and early evolution of the Notosuchia, which are hitherto unknown in the Jurassic. Advertisement

Until now, little was known about the origin and early evolution of giant crocodile relative known as Notosuchia.

But a new study of fossilised remains by Italian and French paleontologists, led by the Natural History Museum in Milan, has begun to fill the gap in a million-year-long ghost lineage.

The predator had deep and massive jaw bones armed with enormous serrated teeth similar in size and shape to those of a T-Rex.

The tip of a shed tooth showed a deeply worn surface caused by contact with hard food, such as bone and tendon indicating this fearsome animal was both predator and scavenger.

It is nicknamed 'Razana' but its full title is Razanandrongobe sakalavae, which means 'giant lizard ancestor from Sakalava region'.

It is also the largest and oldest known 'notosuchian,' predating the other forms by 42 million years.

Little is known about the origin and early evolution of the Notosuchia, which are hitherto unknown in the Jurassic.

Cristiano Dal Sasso, of the Natural History Museum of Milan said: 'Razanandrongobe sakalavae is the largest terrestrial carnivore from this Middle Jurassic terrestrial ecosystem and was perhaps one of the top predators in Madagascar at the time.

'Its jaws were extremely robust and high, but possibly short, and bore large teeth with serrated edges resembling those of theropod dinosaurs.

'Many features of this species strongly suggest that it fed also on hard tissue such as bone and tendon.

The predator had deep and massive jaw bones armed with enormous serrated teeth similar in size and shape to those of a T-Rex

The tip of a shed tooth showed a deeply worn surface caused by contact with hard food, such as bone and tendon indicating this fearsome animal was both predator and scavenger

'The new material described herein has permitted us to score a sufficient number of characters to test the phylogenetic relationships of the species, placing it within the notosuchian mesoeucrocodylians closely related to the sebecosuchians.

'The phylogenetic analysis also reveals that R. sakalavae is a valid species well-distinct from any other currently known member of Notosuchia.

'In actual fact, it contributes to filling in a gap in the group's evolution, which contains a long ghost lineage in the Jurassic.

Paleontologists Cristiano Dal Sasso (right) and Simone Maganuco (left) exhibit some skull bones of Razanandrongobe sakalavae at the Natural History Museum of Milan

'It documents a dramatic, somewhat unexpected, size increase in the early history of the group.'

A combination of anatomical features clearly identify this taxon as a Jurassic notosuchian, close to the South American baurusuchids and sebecids, that were highly specialised predators of terrestrial habits, different from present-day crocodilians in having a deep skull and powerful erect limbs.

Co-author Simone Maganuco also of the Natural History Museum of Milan added: 'Its geographic position during the period when Madagascar was separating from other landmasses is strongly suggestive of an endemic lineage.

'At the same time, it represents a further signal that the Notosuchia originated in southern Gondwana.'

Pictured left are the crocodile's teeth, which were remarkably similar to T-Rex teeth, while pictured firhgt are the exceptionally deep roots of the teeth
A reaction cross will not be added to Facebook, despite calls from Christian activists.

Demands that the religious icon be made available on the social network were made by Christians angered by the introduction of a rainbow flag, to mark LBGTQ pride month in the US.

Thousands of users of the site began posting memes requesting the introduction of the Christian cross, but a spokesman for the California company rejected the pleas.

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A reaction cross will not be added to Facebook, despite calls from Christian activists (pictured). Demands that the religious icon be made available on the social network followed the introduction of a rainbow flag, to mark LBGTQ pride month in the US

RAINBOW FLAG The rainbow flag was created by Gilbert Baker in 1978 in memory of the 25th anniversary of the Stonewall riots, a seminal moment in the struggle for gay civil rights. Mr Baker died in March, so the flag's introduction as a Facebook reaction in June was especially poignant for many in the gay community. But the image has provoked a strong response from some Christian users of the social media site. Among the prominent users to repost Mr Hanna's image was Arizona-based evangelist Joshua Feuerstein, who has two million followers. His post attracted over 28,000 reactions, almost 9,500 shares and 2,200 comments, many of them homophobic. Advertisement

The campaign was started by Facebook user Hikmat Hanna in recent weeks.

He uploaded an image on June 24, highlighting the introduction of the gay pride flag and calling for a similar symbol for Christians.

It has since been shared by tens of thousands of people, but Facebook has said it will not be introduced.

Speaking to HuffPost, a Facebook spokesman said: 'This reaction is not actually available on Facebook, and is not something we're working on.'

He did not elaborate on reasons for doing this.

The rainbow flag was created by Gilbert Baker in 1978 in memory of the 25th anniversary of the Stonewall riots, a seminal moment in the struggle for gay civil rights.

Mr Baker died in March, so the flag's introduction was especially poignant for many in the gay community.

Speaking about the decision at the time, a Facebook spokesman said: 'We believe in building a platform that supports all communities.

'So we're celebrating love and diversity this Pride by giving you a special reaction.'

But the online response from some Christians has been particularly vociferous.

Among the prominent users to repost Mr Hanna's image was Arizona-based evangelist Joshua Feuerstein, who has two million followers.

His post attracted over 28,000 reactions, almost 9,500 shares and 2,200 comments.

Many included homophobic views, according to reports in HuffPost.

The rainbow flag was created by Gilbert Baker in 1978 in memory of the 25th anniversary of the Stonewall riots, a seminal moment in the struggle for gay civil rights. Facebook added the rainbow reaction (pictured) in June

Among the prominent users to repost Mr Hanna's image was Arizona-based evangelist Joshua Feuerstein, who has two million followers. His post (pictured) attracted over 28,000 reactions, almost 9,500 shares and 2,200 comments. Many included homophobic views

One said: 'You can't cheat nature. God cannot create people of the same sex to ever fall in love with one another.'

Another added: 'People took a symbol like the rainbow which means beauty and a non-destructive action and turned it into a destructive sinful symbol.'

Others defended the addition of the flag reaction, with one user saying: 'Perhaps as Christians, we should be more worried about our own sins and learning the word of our lord before passing judgement onto others or worrying about what reactions Facebook has available.'
The three 'norths' are due to combine over Britain this month for the first time in history, and will stay over the country for the next three-and-a-half years. What this means is that true north, magnetic north and grid north will all line up, according to national mapping service Ordnance Survey. True north is the direction along the surface of the Earth that ends at the North Pole, while magnetic north points where the planet's magnetic field goes downwards. Grid north is the direction of the grid lines on maps, that usually point towards or near the North Pole. The three norths will make landfall at the village of Langton Matravers just west of Swanage in early November, before slowly travelling up the country. Dr Susan Macmillan, of the British Geological Survey, said: 'This is a once in a lifetime occurrence. Due to the unpredictability of the magnetic field on long timescales it's not possible to say when the alignment of the three norths will happen again.'
Space robots are being tested on Europe's most active volcano by Germany's space agency.

Mount Etna, in Sicily, Italy, is a test bed for a number of 3ft-high, four-wheeled machines ahead of future missions to distant worlds.

The volcano's desolate surface and dry, windy climate means it is the perfect spot to put the robots through their paces.

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Lunar and martian robots (pictured) are being tested on Europe's most active volcano by Germany's space agency

ESA'S LUNAR BASE Last year, Jan Woerner, the head of the European Space Agency (ESA) elaborated on the firm's rumoured plans to build a village on the moon. The concept is a base for lunar exploration by humans and robots, which would act as a stopover for spacecraft, and become a 'village' with mining and even tourism. ESA, which could work with the German Aerospace Centre on its moon village, has previously described the project as a potential international launching pad for future missions to Mars. Advertisement

The tests are being conducted by the German Aerospace Centre, the agency which runs Germany's space programme.

The programme has enlisted experts from Germany, Britain, the United States and Italy to research ROBEX (Robotic Exploration of Extreme Environments).

The aim is to improve robotic equipment that will eventually be used in space.

'This is aimed at simulating a future, hypothetical landing mission on the moon or Mars and they use a lot of robots which are there to transport and install different instruments,' said Dr Boris Behncke, a volcanologist from the National Vulcanology Institute in Catania, near Mount Etna.

Scientists also hope to use the robots to explore the depths of Mount Etna and relay back useful technical data on seismic movement.

Mount Etna, in Sicily, Italy, is a test bed for a number of three-foot high, four-wheeled machines, including the robot pictured here, ahead of future missions to the moon and Mars

The volcano's desolate surface and dry, windy climate means it is the perfect spot to put the robots through their paces

The techniques learnt on Etna would then be deployed in lunar missions or in the exploration of Mars.

An initial robotic testing phase has nearly been completed on the Piano del Lago area of the volcano, a desolate stretch of terrain buffeted by strong winds.

Next, a network of equipment including rover robots and drones will be mounted to monitor seismic activity that closely simulates that which would be used on the moon.

Last year, Jan Woerner, the head of the European Space Agency (ESA) elaborated on the firm's rumoured plans to build a village on the moon.

The concept is a base for lunar exploration by humans and robots, which would act as a stopover for spacecraft, and become a 'village' with mining and even tourism.

The tests are being conducted by the German Aerospace Centre, the agency which runs Germany's space programme. Pictured are some of the German team testing out equipment on the volcano

The programme has enlisted experts from Germany, Britain, the United States and Italy to research ROBEX (Robotic Exploration of Extreme Environments). This image shows some of the lunar equipment currently being trialled

ESA, which could work with the German Aerospace Centre on its moon village, has previously described the project as a potential international launching pad for future missions to Mars.

'The future of space travel needs a new vision: Right now we have the Space Station as a common international project, but it won't last forever,' Mr Woerner said.

'If I say Moon Village, it does not mean single houses, a church, a town hall and so on. No, that would be misleading.

'My idea only deals with the core of the concept of a village: People working and living together in the same place.

'And this place would be on the Moon.'

The aim of the project is to improve robotic equipment (pictured) that will eventually be used in space

Scientists also hope to use the robots to explore the depths of Mount Etna and relay back useful technical data on seismic movement

The techniques learnt on Etna will eventually be deployed in lunar missions or in the exploration of Mars

An initial robotic testing phase has nearly been completed on the Piano del Lago area of the volcano, a desolate stretch of terrain buffeted by strong winds

Next, a network of equipment including rover robots and drones will be mounted to monitor seismic activity that closely simulates that which would be used on the moon

The German Aerospace Centre could one day use the robots while working with the European Space Agency, which plans to put a village on the moon by 2030

Developing equipment for use in lunar and martian missions has become increasingly popular as higher numbers of private exploration firms have begun investing in space missions and equipment

A scientist from German Aerospace Center is seen working as he tests robots on Mount Etna
Archaeologists searching for clues about early English Christianity have discovered the remains of one of the country's earliest churches.

Excavations on Holy Island of Lindisfarne uncovered the stone foundations, which may be linked to two pivotal religious figures from the seventh century.

Experts believe it was from this site that much of northern and central England was eventually converted to Christianity by St Aidan and St Cuthbert.

Archaeologists searching for clues about early English Christianity have discovered the remains of one of the country's earliest churches (pictured) on the Holy Island of Lindisfarne

LINDISFARNE ISLAND Archaeologists searching for clues about early English Christianity have discovered the remains of one of the country's earliest churches. A small rectangular building thought to date from the mid-seventh century was found at the top of an exposed area known as the Heugh. The remote island holds a special place in history. Known as the Cradle of Christianity in the North East, it was here that St Aidan established a monastery in 635 AD and set out to convert the pagan Northumbrians. The monastery developed into an international centre of learning and craftsmanship. It was during this Golden Age of Northumbria that items such as the Lindisfarne Gospels were produced. All this came to a crashing end with the arrival of the Vikings in the late eighth century, who ransacked the island. Advertisement

Researchers from the Peregrini Lindisfarne Landscape Partnership Scheme made the discovery during excavations which took place over the past month.

Previous work on the island, located off the coast of Northumberland, has uncovered a number of rare finds, including the Lindisfarne Gospels, Britain's most celebrated illuminated manuscript.

It had previously been thought that the original Anglo-Saxon churches on the island stood down in the shelter of a high rocky ridge known as the Heugh.

This area is now occupied by the Parish Church and the Priory, which experts believed were built on top of the previous remains.

A small rectangular building, thought to be a church dating from the same period as a previous monastery in the mid-seventh century, was found at the top of this exposed area, just a few feet (two to three metres) from the cliff edge.

Sara Rushton, conservation manager at the council, said: 'This latest discovery of a potential church building on the Heugh cements Holy Island as one of the most significant early medieval sites in Britain.

'It is incredible to think that we have uncovered two very significant buildings associated with the early Christian foundation of the priory that provide tangible links to both St Aidan and St Cuthbert.'

The remote island holds a special place in history.

Known as the Cradle of Christianity in the North East, it was here that St Aidan established a monastery in 635 AD and set out to convert the pagan Northumbrians.

The monastery developed into an international centre of learning and craftsmanship and it was during this Golden Age of Northumbria that items such as the Lindisfarne Gospels were produced.

All this came to a crashing end with the arrival of the Vikings in the late eighth century, who ransacked the island.

The monastery developed into an international centre of learning and craftsmanship but this came to a crashing end with the arrival of the Vikings in the late eighth century, who ransacked the island. A later monastery was established on the island in the 11th century (pictured)

The island, where the famous Lindisfarne Gospels were created, remained an important cultural centre for centuries to come. Pictured - the surviving 16th century castle on Lindisfarne

With the help of crowdfunding, experts have been digging on the island, trying to find evidence of the earliest monastery where the famous Lindisfarne Gospels were created.

The island remained an important cultural centre for centuries to come.

A monastery was re-established on the island in the 11th century and a castle later built in the 16th century.

Excavations last year further west on the Heugh revealed a massive foundation wall that archaeologist are now speculating is a watch tower.

With the help of crowdfunding, experts have been digging on Lindisfarne, off the Northumberland coast (labelled), trying to find evidence of the earliest monastery on the island where the famous Lindisfarne Gospels were created
In an attempt to keep up with its rivals, Samsung is rumoured to be working on a new smart speaker featuring its voice assistant, Bixby.

The secret project is codenamed Vega, although little is known about the details of the device.

The speakers could be competition for Amazon Echo and Apple's forthcoming HomePod.

The rumours come shortly after the launch of Bixby was delayed for the second time, as the smart assistant is 'struggling to comprehend English' forcing developers to continue working on it.

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In the hopes of keeping up with its rivals, Samsung is rumoured to be working on a new smart speaker featuring its voice assistant, Bixby

WHAT IS BIXBY? According to Samsung, Bixby is 'a completely new way to use your Galaxy S8 or S8+.' Users can use voice, text, or touch to say what they need, since it understands all three. Alternatively, users can take pictures on their camera, and Bixby will search for objects within the picture. Samsung added: 'It's integrated into every aspect of the Galaxy S8 and S8+, so it's able to handle the tasks you normally do on your phone and it's constantly learning your ways so it can get better and better.' Advertisement

A report in the Wall Street Journal claims that Samsung is working on a smart speaker.

Details are very minimal, and the report does not mention any specifications, features or a release date.

The speaker will feature Bixby - Samsung's digital assistant that can answer questions, set reminders and perform tasks, much like Apple's Siri, and Amazon's Alexa.

But Samsung has been plagued with issues with the smart assistant, forcing the firm to delay its launch.

The voice-enabled assistant has been available for Galaxy S8 users in Korea, where Samsung is based, since the device launched earlier this year.

But a report in the Wall Street Journal indicates that Bixby is 'struggling to understand English syntax and grammar,' delaying the launch in the US and UK.

In a statement, a Samsung spokesperson said: 'Bixby Voice benefits from time to further enhance natural language understanding, and we are currently growing our user testing in the US to prepare for launch.'

Samsung's speaker will face stiff competition from both Apple's HomePod (pictured left), which was revealed last month, and Amazon's Echo (pictured right) and Echo Dot speakers

The WSJ now says Samsung sees the full release of Bixby voice support available for the Galaxy S8 as 'unlikely before the second half of July.'

Samsung's speaker will face stiff competition from Apple's HomePod, which was revealed last month, Amazon's Echo and Echo Dot speakers, and Google's Home speaker.

MailOnline has contacted Samsung for comment.

The connected speaker market has been growing steadily in recent years.

Amazon released its Echo range of speakers in 2014, followed by Google Home appeared a year later.

Microsoft has also opened up its Cortana assistant for use in third-party speakers.

Meanwhile, last month, Apple said its Siri-powered HomePod will be available by the end of the year.
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It can build an entire house in just two days - and never takes tea breaks.

An Australian firm has revealed that construction giant Caterpillar has backed its Hadrian X giant truck mounted building robot that can lay 1,000 bricks an hour, glueing them into place as it goes.

The $2m deal means the robot, which can work 24 hours day, and finish an entire house in just two days, is a step closer to appearing on building sites around the world.

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Mounted on the back of a truck, Hadrian X is simply driven onto a building site, and can put down 1,000 bricks an hour using a 30m boom, allowing it to stay in a single position while it builds.

The two companies will collaborate on the development, manufacturing, sales and services of the bricklaying technology, with a newly established strategic alliance board determining the best ways to get Hadrian into the hands of construction customers in different countries.

Caterpillar will also have an option to invest a further USD$8 million in Fastbrick Robotics.

Fastbrick Robotics Managing Director Mike Pivac said: 'Fastbrick Robotics is delighted to sign a MOU with Caterpillar and welcomes the company as a new shareholder.

'Caterpillar is a globally recognised industry leader, and we look forward to collaborating with the company and uniting our teams to share ideas, pursue innovation and explore opportunities to commercialise our unique technology.'

Mounted on the back of a truck, it is simply driven onto a building site.

It can put down 1,000 bricks an hour using a 30m boom, allowing it to stay in a single position while it builds a house.

Fastbrick, the firm behind it, says it could revolutionise building.

CEO Mike Pivac said:'We are a frontier company, and we are one step closer to bringing fully automated, end to end 3D printing brick construction into mainstream.

The bricks travel along the boom and are gripped by a clawlike device that lays them out methodically, directed by a laser guiding system.

Mortar or adhesive is also deliver under pressure to the hand of the arm and applied to the brick, so no external human element is required.

'We're very excited to take the world first technology we proved with the Hadrian 105 demonstrator and manufacturing a state of the art machine.'

Instead of traditional cement, Hadrian X will use a construction glue.

'By utilising a construction adhesive rather that traditional mortar, the Hadrian X will maximise the speed of the build and strength and thermal effeciency of the final structure,' the firm said.

HOW HADRAIN X BUILDS A HOUSE IN 48 HOURS A robotic 'hand' that can grab bricks, pick them up, and place them down in sequence. The whole process is automated. Bricks are fed onto a conveyor belt that travels along a long robotic arm, or telescopic boom. The bricks travel along the boom and are gripped by a clawlike device that lays them out methodically, directed by a laser guiding system. Until the brick shell is finished and the house's other elements need to be added, the structure never needs to be touched by human hands. The robot has a boom 92ft (28 metres) long that is connected to its main body. At the end is a robotic 'hand' that can grab bricks, pick them up, and place them down in sequence. A 3D computer-aided design (CAD) is used to work out the shape of the house or structure required, and the robot then calculates where each brick should go. Mounted on the back of a truck, it is simply driven onto a building site. Mortar or adhesive is also deliver under pressure to the hand of the arm and applied to the brick, so no external human element is required. It can even leave spaces for wiring and plumbing, and scans and cuts the bricks if they need to be re-shaped. Advertisement

The Hadrian X can handle different sized bricks, and also cuts, grinds and mills each brick to fit.

The company describes the robots as '3D automated robotic bricklaying technology.'

Australian inventor Mark Pivac, who founded Fastbrick Robotics, told Perth Now 'People have been laying bricks for about 6,000 years and ever since the industrial revolution, they have tried to automate the bricklaying process.'

The robot has a boom 92ft (28 metres) long that is connected to its main body. At the end is a robotic 'hand' that can grab bricks, pick them up, and place them down in sequence.

'We're at a technological nexus where a few different technologies have got to the level where it's now possible to do it, and that's what we've done.'

The robot has a boom 92ft (28 metres) long that is connected to its main body.

At the end is a robotic 'hand' that can grab bricks, pick them up, and place them down in sequence.

A 3D computer-aided design (CAD) is used to work out the shape of the house or structure required, and the robot then calculates where each brick should go.

Mortar or adhesive is also deliver under pressure to the hand of the arm and applied to the brick, so no external human element is required.

It can even leave spaces for wiring and plumbing, and scans and cuts the bricks if they need to be re-shaped.

The project, ten years in the making and with $7 million (4.5 million) spent on it so far, would supposedly be able to create a house in just two days.

It could work by itself 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, and although other aspects of the house would require human intervention, it is perhaps a sign of things to come in construction.

The product will be marketed first in Western Australia, before expanding to the rest of the country and ultimately the whole world.

Mr Pivac noted that he had 'nothing against bricklayers', and simply wanted to improve the process in which houses were made.
Lockheed Martin has revealed its secretive Skunk Works unit is beginning to build the first flight demonstrator of a radical hypersonic update of the long-retired Mach 3 SR-71 Blackbird spy plane.

The firm has been working on the project since the early 2000s, but has now revealed progress on the project is gaining pace.

It says the SR-72 hypersonic plane will be a strike and reconnaissance aircraft that tops Mach 6.

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Lockheed Martin posted an artist's impression of the craft to its website, with the caption 'The Skunk Works hypersonic design  an aircraft developed to execute Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance and strike missions at speeds up to Mach 6.'

'We've been saying hypersonics is two years away for the last 20 years, but all I can say is the technology is mature and we, along with Darpa and the services, are working hard to get that capability into the hands of our warfighters as soon as possible,' Rob Weiss, Lockheed Martin's executive vice president and general manager for Advanced Development Programs, told Aviation Week.

'I can't give you any timelines or any specifics on the capabilities,' he said.

'It is all very sensitive.

'Some of our adversaries are moving along these lines pretty quickly and it is important we stay quiet about what is going on.

'We can acknowledge the general capability that's out there, but any program specifics are off limits.'

Hypersonic technologies, including a combined cycle propulsion system that blends a rocket engine and a supersonic jet engine, are now sufficiently advanced to allow the planned SR-72 project to begin, it is believed.

THE BLACKBIRD SR-71 The SR-71 was the world's fastest and highest-flying operational manned aircraft throughout its career. On July 28 1976 it broke the world record for absolute altitude - reaching 85,069 feet. Advertisement

That same day a different SR-71 set an absolute speed record of 2,193.2mph - a record it still holds today.

The plane was so fast that it could outrun surface-to-air missiles as it traveled close to the edge of space at about 85,000 feet, or about 16 miles above the earth.

On July 28 1976 it broke the world record for absolute altitude - reaching 85,069 feet

If a surface-to-air missile launch was detected, the standard evasive action was simply to accelerate and outfly the missile.

The plane flew so high above the Earth's surface that Joersz said there was no real sense of speed at all with the clouds so far below.

A total of 32 of the aircraft were built which flew from 1964 to 1999; 12 were lost in accidents, but none were shot down by enemies.

Lockheed's previous reconnaissance aircraft was the relatively slow U-2, designed for the CIA.

The plane's titanium skin was capable of surviving temperatures up to 482C

In late 1957, the CIA approached the defense contractor Lockheed to build an undetectable spy plane and within ten months they had come up with the design for the Blackbird.

Flying at 80,000 ft meant that crews could not use standard masks, which would not provide enough oxygen above 43,000 ft, so specialist protective pressurised suits were made.

The plane's titanium skin was capable of surviving temperatures up to 482C.

Testing of an 'optionally piloted' flight research vehicle (FRV) could happen as early as next year.

It is expected to be around the same size as an F-22 and powered by a full-scale, combined cycle engine.

Envisioned as an unmanned aircraft, the SR-72 would fly at speeds up to Mach 6, or six times the speed of sound, Lockheed Martin has said previously.

At this speed, the aircraft would be so fast, an adversary would have no time to react or hide.

'Hypersonic aircraft, coupled with hypersonic missiles, could penetrate denied airspace and strike at nearly any location across a continent in less than an hour,' said Brad Leland, Lockheed Martin program manager, Hypersonics.

'Speed is the next aviation advancement to counter emerging threats in the next several decades.

'The technology would be a game-changer in theater, similar to how stealth is changing the battlespace today.'

Marillyn Hewson said Lockheed's engineers are on the verge of making technology such as scramjet engineers, which have been talked about for years, a reality. This illustration shows the design for the SR-72's engine. The plane will also have a 'warm structure' that will heat up during flight

Lockheed Martin posted an artist's impression of the craft to its website, with the caption 'The Skunk Works hypersonic design  an aircraft developed to execute Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance and strike missions at speeds up to Mach 6.'

Lockheed Martin and Aerojet Rocketdyne have been working together since 2006 on work to integrate an off-the-shelf turbine with a scramjet to power an aircraft with a combined cycle propulsion system from standstill to Mach 6

'The combined cycle work is still occurring and obviously a big breakthrough in the air-breathing side of hypersonics is the propulsion system,' Weiss revealed.

'The technology of the 'air breather has been matured and work is continuing on those capabilities to demonstrate that they are ready to go and be fielded,' he adds.

It comes as Boeing has pledged to make hypersonic passengers planes a reality - and says they could be operating within a decade.

'I think in the next decade or two you're going to see them become a reality,' Boeing Chairman and CEO Dennis Muilenburg told CNBC at the Paris Air Show.

However, he admitted the firm still has to prove there are enough people who could afford tickets to make it worthwhile.

'I think in the next decade or two you're going to see them become a reality,' Boeing Chairman and CEO Dennis Muilenburg told CNBC at the Paris Air Show. He believes the firm's work on experimental craft such as the firm's work on the X-51 Waverider (pictured) would also prove invaluable.

'There is still work to do on closing the business case to make sense for our customers,' said Muilenburg, who said the firm's work on the X-51 Waverider would also prove invaluable.

'But we see future innovations where you could connect around the world in about two hours.'

Hypersonic jets, flying at up to Mach 5, or 3,800 mph, could allow passengers to dramatically cut journey times.

For example, a commercial flight from New York to Shanghai currently takes about 15 hours - but at hypersonic speeds, could take two.

NASA recently said it is is seeking proposals for the development of its supersonic X-plane, with plans to begin work as early as next year.

The Quiet Supersonic Transport (QueSST) low-boom flight demonstrator aims to produce a much lower 'boom' than other supersonic aircraft, and NASA is hoping to see the first flight tests take place in 2021, according to Aviation Week.

Lockheed Martin has been working on the preliminary design, with hopes to move on to build the demonstrator, but NASA has now opened the door for other companies to submit their own designs as well.

Boeing recently won a military contract to build a 'big bother' for the secretive X-37b spaceplane.

Boeing declined to say how much it will put into development of the vehicle, which it calls Phantom Express, with DARPA, which is an agency under the U.S. Department of Defense.

About the size of a business jet, Phantom Express will take off like a rocket, boost itself beyond the atmosphere and release an expendable second-stage rocket and satellite, then turn around and land like an airplane on a runway.

The project, known as XS-1, is expected to debut in 2020, and military bosses claim it will 'bolster national security by providing short-notice, low-cost access to space.'

NASA is backing plans to return to supersonic flight, with its Quiet Supersonic Transport (QueSST) low-boom flight demonstrator aims to produce a much lower 'boom' than other supersonic aircraft, and NASA is hoping to see the first flight tests take place in 2021

HOW THE PHANTOM EXPRESS WILL MAKE SPACE AFFORDABLE The XS-1 program envisions a fully reusable unmanned vehicle, roughly the size of a business jet, which would take off vertically like a rocket and fly to hypersonic speeds. The vehicle would be launched with no external boosters, powered solely by self-contained cryogenic propellants. Once it reaches the correct altitude, the booster would release an expendable upper stage able to deploy a 3,000-pound satellite to polar orbit Upon reaching a high suborbital altitude, the booster would release an expendable upper stage able to deploy a 3,000-pound satellite to polar orbit. The reusable first stage would then bank and return to Earth, landing horizontally like an aircraft, and be prepared for the next flight, potentially within hours. Advertisement

Despite the skepticism of supersonic and hypersonic planes being commercially viable, there is a resurgence in interest in ultra-fast airliners.

Colorado-based Boom Technology is meeting with prospective partners and clients at the Paris Air Show. Boom is developing a 55-seat supersonic jet it hopes to sell to airlines and have in service by early next decade.

THE PLANE THAT FLEW PASSENGERS FROM LONDON TO NY IN THREE-AND-A-HALF HOURS Concorde was a turbojet-powered supersonic passenger jet that was operated until 2003. It had a maximum speed over twice the speed of sound at Mach 2.04 (1,354 mph or 2,180 k per hour at cruise altitude) and could seat 92 to 128 passengers. It was first flown in 1969, but needed further tests to establish it as viable as a commercial aircraft. Concorde entered service in 1976 and continued flying for the next 27 years. The inability to turn a profit on supersonic flights between the U.S. and Europe is what ultimately killed the Concorde. It is one of only two supersonic transports to have been operated commercially. The other is the Soviet-built Tupolev Tu-144, which ran for a much shorter period of time before it was grounded and retired due to safety and budget issues. Concorde was jointly developed and manufactured by Aerospatiale and the British Aircraft Corporation (BAC) under an Anglo-French treaty. Concorde's name, meaning harmony or union, reflects the cooperation on the project between the United Kingdom and France. In the UK, any or all of the type are known simply as 'Concorde', without an article. Twenty aircraft were built including six prototypes and development aircraft. Air France (AF) and British Airways (BA) each received seven aircraft. The research and development failed to make a profit and the two airlines bought the aircraft at a huge discount. It was first flown in 1969, but needed further tests to establish it as viable as a commercial aircraft. Concorde was retired in 2003 due to a general downturn in the commercial aviation industry after the type's only crash in 2000, the September 11 attacks in 2001, and a decision by Airbus, the successor to Aerospatiale and BAC, to discontinue maintenance support. The inability to turn a profit on supersonic flights between the U.S. and Europe is what ultimately killed the Concorde. British Airways and Air France flew the Concorde for more than 30 years and never made money shuttling a limited number of passengers across the Atlantic in roughly 3 hours. The Concorde made its last flight in 2003. Advertisement

Boeing recently revealed a project to develop passengers planes that don't need a pilot and aims to test some of the technology next year.

Jetliners can already take off, cruise and land using their onboard flight computers and the number of pilots on a standard passenger plane has dropped to two from three over the years.

The idea may seem far-fetched but with self-flying drones available for less than $1,000 (774), 'the basic building blocks of the technology clearly are available,' said Mike Sinnett, Boeing's vice president of product development.

Boeing is looking to test the technology in a simulator this summer and use it in real aircraft from next year, Mike Sinnett, vice president of product development said (stock image)

SELF-DRIVING PLANES Jetliners can already take off, cruise and land using their onboard flight computers and the number of pilots on a standard passenger plane has dropped to two from three over the years. Mike Sinnett, Boeing's vice president, a pilot himself, plans to test the technology in a cockpit simulator this summer. He said he will 'fly on an airplane next year some artificial intelligence that makes decisions that pilots would make'. Airlines are among those backing the idea, in part to deal with a projected need for 1.5 million pilots over the next 20 years as global demand for air travel continues to grow. Advertisement

Mr Sinnett, a pilot himself, plans to test the technology in a cockpit simulator this summer.

He said he will 'fly on an airplane next year some artificial intelligence that makes decisions that pilots would make'.

Self-flying aircraft would need to meet the safety standards of air travel, which had its safest year in 2016, according to the Aviation Safety Network, the world's biggest plane maker said in a briefing ahead of the Paris Airshow.

They would also need to convince regulators who don't yet know how to certify such planes.

'I have no idea how we're going to do that,' Mr Sinnett said.

'But we're studying it right now and we're developing those algorithms', he said.

Airlines are among those backing the idea, in part to deal with a projected need for 1.5 million pilots over the next 20 years as global demand for air travel continues to grow.

But a self-flying plane would need to be able land safely as Captain Chesley Sullenberger did in the 'Miracle on the Hudson,' Mr Sinnett said.

'If it can't, then we can't go there.'

Boeing is also inching closer to creating its next new aircraft to plug a gap in its product line, Boeing Commercial Airplanes Chief Executive Kevin McAllister said in a separate briefing

A U.S. Airways plane hit a flock of geese shortly after taking off from New York in 2009 knocking out its engines but Sullenberger managed to glide the Airbus A320 to a safe landing on the Hudson River, saving all 150 passengers on board.

Boeing is also inching closer to creating its next new aircraft to plug a gap in its product line between its best-selling narrow-bodied 737 and its larger 787 Dreamliner.

It aims to bring the new jet to customers around 2025.

After in-depth talks with nearly 60 customers it concluded that current wide-body planes have too much range for most of the routes narrow-body planes fly, Boeing Commercial Airplanes Chief Executive Kevin McAllister said in a separate briefing.

'This is a market that cannot be served by narrow-bodies - not by ours or our competitors'' he said, referring to rival Airbus.

'It can be served by wide-bodies, the question is can it be more efficiently served by a targeted airplane?'
If the animal kingdom were a school, this chap would be the most popular student in every class.

Meet the capybara - the world's largest rodent, which also appears to be the friendliest critter on earth.

The capybara, which can grow to around four feet in length and weigh up to 145lbs, is a highly social semi-aquatic mammal that lives in groups as large as 100, and is native to the forests and marshes of South America.

Images of the furry creatures interacting with just about every other animal you can imagine - from kittens and ducklings to monkeys and a caiman - have been doing the internet rounds of late, and it's easy to see why.

While uncommon, the capybara's intelligence and gentle nature means they can be kept as pets, so long as they have access to a sizeable pool, grass to graze on and friends to keep them company.

In short, it's a wonder Disney hasn't yet cast this delightful creature as the star of an animated film. Perhaps one day it will.

If the animal kingdom were a school, this chap would be the most popular one in every class

Meet the capybara - the world's largest rodent, which also appears to be the friendliest critter on earth

The capybara, pictured here with a fawn and a tortoise, can grow to around four foot long and weigh up to 145lbs

While scientists aren't sure why they seem to attract so many other animals, the capybara is a highly social semi-aquatic mammal that lives in groups as large as 100

The species is native to the forests and marshes of South America, and while big cats prey on them, this caiman doesn't seen too fussed

The brown mammals can often be spotted with birds hitching a lift on their backs

Images of the furry creature interacting with just about every other animal you can imagine - in this case a baby goat - have been doing the internet rounds of late, and it's easy to see why

The capybara is quite closely related to the guinea pea, and this one seems to blend right in

While uncommon, the capybara's intelligence and gentle nature means they can be kept as pets

They must have access to a sizeable pool, grass to graze on and friends to keep them company

Capybaras are excellent swimmers and can remain submerged for up to five minutes

They can even sleep floating in the water, so long as they poke their noses above the surface

Monkeys seem to have a particular fondness for using these animals as an armchair

In captivity, they can live for around eight to ten years, but survive less than four in the wild

Their predators in their natural habitat include jaguars, puma, ocelots and eagles

Capybaras are capable of making dog-like barks when they are threatened or when females are rounding up their babies

In terms of their diet, they are herbivores, grazing mainly on land grass and aquatic plants

They typically live in groups of between ten and 20 individuals, but have been known to flock together in far greater numbers
He's the comedian who won hearts in South Africa on I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! and in Sweden as a commentator at Eurovision.

Now Joel Creasey seems to have recovered from the heartbreak of his breakup two years ago, as he took to Instagram to show off his new man.

A source revealed to New Idea the 26-year-old comedian has found love again with Melbourne model Jack Stratton-Smith.

Could this be love? Joel Creasey seems to have recovered from the heartbreak of his breakup two years ago, as he took to Instagram to show off his new man

'They're all loved up, it's great to see,' they told the publication.

'He's been pretty unlucky in love over the years, but finally seems like he's met The One and is ready to settle down,' the insider added.

In a recent social media post made by the Perth-born TV presenter, Joel and Jack dress in matching denim outfits and diamante embellishments.

He wrote in the caption: 'Kooky! We're off to a denim and diamonds party. I've done a double denim look with a bit of shaving rash.'

New love! A source revealed to New Idea, the 26-year-old comedian has found love again with Melbourne model Jack Stratton-Smith

Cute snap: Before leaving for Europe Joel shared a selfie and joked in the caption 'will miss this one while I'm gone though. Please note the Poke'mon shirt is mine... and I paid for it'

Another selfie captured by Joel before travelling to Ukraine for the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest featured Jack prominent in the background in a Pokemon T-shirt, propping himself up on the bed.

After saying he would be away in Europe and then New Zealand for his comedy tour, Joel wrote: 'Will miss this one while I'm gone though. Please note the Poke'mon shirt is mine... and I paid for it.'

Daily Mail Australia has reached out to Joel's management for comment.

Heart break: In 2015, Joel broke up with American actor Jeffrey Self after discovering he had met someone else while Joel was away filming I'm A Celebrity

In the past, Joel spoke about his heart break with his American ex, Jeffrey Self, after having to be away from him to film I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here, back in 2015

'I was meant to be in America with him for three months and when I got there it all collapsed. He sort of met someone else,' he told The Daily Telegraph.

'I will talk about it but I don't want to slam him, even though I hate him I also don't want to hurt him.'
She found recognition as a fashion model before rising to fame on Home and Away.

And while she is one of Australia's most glamourous and stunning talents, Pia Miller has opened up to Cosmopolitan about her humble beginnings.

The 33-year-old says her 'real drive' is inspiring young women, speaks about her awkward younger years in the magazine's August issue cover feature.

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Look at her now! Pia Miller flaunts her cleavage in stunning Cosmo shoot as she describes her younger self as the 'little Spanish girl in the corner with the monobrow' in candid interview

The Chilean-born stunner describes how she was once the 'little Spanish girl in the corner with the monobrow and the Dora the Explorer haircut'.

'If what I do can be motivating for young women, that's the real driver for me,' she states.

The mother of two appears on the cover of the magazine in a stunning red tulle dress, featuring a plunging neckline that accentuates her cleavage and glowing complexion.

Humble beginnings: The Chilean-born stunner describes how she was once the 'little Spanish girl in the corner with the monobrow and the Dora the Explorer haircut'

Inspiring others: 'If what I do can be motivating for young women, that's the real driver for me,' she states.

Her caramel-coloured tresses are styled in loose waves and her only accessories are a pair of oversize bronzed earrings.

In the her interview she also speaks openly about how her public persona has delivered 'some definite low moments' throughout her career.

'The media can be cruel and it can be really hard. Especially when it's bulls***,' she explains.

'The media can be hard': In the her interview she also speaks openly about how her public persona has delivered 'some definite low moments' throughout her career

The soap star, who plays policewoman Katarina Chapman on Home and Away, describes how her sons Isaiah, 14, and Lennox, 10, influence her decision-making.

She heaps praise on her children for their 'level of resilience' after moving from their home in Melbourne for her starring role on the Sydney-based show.

'I feel like I'm raising really lovely young men, with a good understanding of the world - good and bad,' she gushes.

See more in the new issue of Cosmopolitan  out now.
She's the statuesque former Miss Universe who recently celebrated her fourth wedding anniversary.

And Jennifer Hawkins, 33, looked more smitten than ever while sharing a loved-up snap with her husband Jake Wall, 34, during their Maldives getaway.

Taking to Instagram on Monday, the genetically-blessed couple sit side by side on a boat in crystal clear waters.

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On board the love boat! On Monday, Jennifer Hawkins, 33, has shared an Instagram snap of herself cuddled up with her husband Jake Wall, 34, on a boat during their Maldives getaway

Jennifer was all smiles in her snap with her arms all over her muscular beau who holds up the shaka hand sign.

She captioned her post: 'Such a fun day,' using a sun emoji and tagging Jake.

Meanwhile, her fans commented on her post, seemingly envious of the J-Bronze tan entrepreneur's holiday, including one follower wrote: 'Half your luck. Cold here.'

Another said: 'That water @jenhawkins u r so lucky it's freezing in Sydney.'

Luxury getaway: Jennifer has so far shared a few snaps from their luxurious getaway to her social media, including a photo of herself flaunting her incredibly toned body in a black bandeau bikini under an open white collared shirt and a pair of denim daisy dukes

Couple's retreat: The Myer Ambassador also shared a cheeky selfie with Jake showing her cheekily poking her tongue towards his ear

Meanwhile someone else said: 'mate..... it was minus 2 in Hobart this morning this photo has crushed all of us back here enjoy!'

The Newcastle-born stunner and her husband have been enjoying some time away at the Maldives for the past four days, according to her Instagram.

This is the second time this year the couple have stayed at the super private and luxurious Amilla Fushi Resort & Spa.

Sharing only a few photos to social media, Jennifer recently flaunted her incredibly toned body in a black bandeau bikini underneath an open white collared shirt and a pair of denim daisy dukes.

Staying active: The beauty queen has so far shared a few snaps from their luxurious getaway to her social media from the tropical island, including one of herself in a bike and baring her toned figure in a revealing workout ensemble

Jennifer rejoiced over the warm tropical weather and being able to wear flip flops on her feet, writing 'back to thongs' in the caption.

The beauty stood before two cream-coloured bikes with cane baskets, possibly the couple's mode of transport while on holiday.

On Friday, she was snapped on board one of the bikes baring her stomach in a revealing workout ensemble.

The Myer Ambassador also shared a cheeky selfie with Jake showing her cheekily poking her tongue towards his ear.
The former model and TV personality continues to defy the years.

Janice Dickinson looked years younger than 62 when she was spotted out grabbing a cup of coffee in the tony Bel-Air neighborhood of Los Angeles on Monday.

The beautiful brunette showed off her slender figure in a tight black vest that she teamed with black cropped leggings covered with large white spots.

Bottoms up: Janice Dickinson looked years younger than 62 when she was spotted out grabbing a cup of coffee in the tony Bel-Air neighborhood of Los Angeles on Monday

With her long tresses smoothed back into an updo, she covered her eyes with a large pair of dark glasses as she walked along in slides.

Janice showed off her still well-muscled arms when she raised her coffee above her head in salute to the snappers waiting for her outside Starbucks.

Cup of Joe to go: The beautiful brunette showed off her slender figure in a tight black vest that she teamed with black cropped leggings covered with large white spots and slides

Her outing comes after she was spotted getting her hair done in West Hollywood on Thursday.

The self-styled first supermodel showed off her perfect bone structure as she went make-up free for the pamper session.

One of the most successful models of the 1970s and 1980s, she also served as a judge on four cycles on America's Next Top Model beginning in 2003.

Pampering herself: The self-styled first supermodel showed off her perfect bone structure as she went make-up free to a hair salon in West Hollywood on Thursday

Janice was the star of her own reality series, The Janice Dickinson Modeling Agency that ran from 2006 to 2008, named after the business she opened in 2005.

She married her fourth husband, psychiatrist Dr. Robert 'Rocky' Gerner, in December after it was revealed that she had beaten the breast cancer that had been diagnosed in March 2016.

The celebrity went through a six-month course of radiation and two lumpectomies.
Her husband Oliver Curtis only left jail a fortnight ago.

But Roxy Jacenko placed their reunion on the back burner on Monday night to spend time with her mother.

The 37-year-old posted an image to Instagram, in which she dons PJs and reveals she's been spending quality time with her mum Doreen, who lives one level above Roxy's luxury flat in a Bondi, Sydney apartment block.

Mum date: Roxy Jacenko placed her Oliver Curtis reunion on the back burner on Monday night to spend time with her mum, Doreen, who lives one level above Roxy's luxury flat in a Bondi

Roxy captioned the image: 'The perks of having your mum living above you. Spray tans and dinner, then dash back down to my apartment and leave the cleaning up to them'.

In the photo, the PR maven is seen in matching Peter Alexander pyjamas featuring a winter theme of snowmen and snowflakes.

While they spent Monday up to their own devices, Roxy and Oliver, 31, stepped out for a cosy family brunch outing in Sydney last week.

Close again? While they spent Monday up to their own devices, Roxy and Oliver, 31, stepped out for a cosy family brunch outing in Sydney last week

The savvy businesswoman was also spotted shopping in North Bondi with her newly released husband and their two kids Pixie, five, and Hunter, three on Saturday.

The family-of-four enjoyed breakfast at Cafe Trio at Bondi Beach, with Roxy tagging an Instagram snap at the eatery, before heading out for a spot of shopping.

But both Roxy and Oliver were spotted without their wedding rings and have continued to cause confusion as to the status of their relationship.

Family time: The family-of-four enjoyed breakfast at Cafe Trio at Bondi Beach, with Roxy tagging an Instagram snap at the eatery, before heading out for a spot of shopping

Busy bee: Her husband only left jail a fortnight ago but Roxy is continuing her life as normal

Last month, she finally addressed Oliver's return when a photographer asked her, 'Roxy, is it good to have Oliver home?'

Roxy replied: 'Yes the children are very happy.'

'Are you happy?' they asked again. She responded: 'Yes, of course.'

Loved up? Last month, she finally addressed Oliver's return when a photographer asked her, 'Roxy, is it good to have Oliver home?' Roxy replied: 'Yes the children are very happy'

Transgressions? It comes just weeks after Roxy was photographed kissing her ex-boyfriend Nabil Gazal

It comes just weeks after Roxy was photographed kissing her ex-boyfriend Nabil Gazal.

The Sweaty Betty PR founder was pictured wrapping her arms around her ex's neck whilst the pair kissed during celebrations at the millionaire's lavish apartment in May.

Roxy declined to comment on the images when approached by Daily Mail Australia at the time.
Drake Bell has reacted to the death of his ex-girlfriend Stevie Ryan.

The Stevie TV star died at the age of 33 following a suspected suicide.

Bell, 31, took to his Twitter to post an old photo of he with Ryan on the red carpet of the 2006 MTV Movie Awards along with a heartfelt caption.

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Opening up: Drake Bell - pictured at the Spider-Man: Homecoming premiere in LA last week 0 has reacted to the death of his ex-girlfriend Stevie Ryan

'I loved you and will forever miss you!' The 31-year-old star took to Twitter to post an old photo of he with Ryan on the red carpet of the 2006 MTV Movie Awards along with a heartfelt caption

He wrote: 'No no no!!!! I can NOT BELIEVE THIS IS HAPPENING!!!! Please wake me from this nightmare @StevieRyan I loved you and will forever miss you!' The two dated from 2005 to 2006.

This comes after a post shared on the LA coroner's office website confirmed that the Victorville-born star, who was famed for her viral videos, died on Saturday.

Shortly before her death, she posted a note on Twitter about the death of her grandfather as she penned: 'The man of my dreams will now only be in my dreams.'

Stevie became known for her parodies of celebrities including Justin Bieber and Lady Gaga, as she won huge praise having been scooped up by Hollywood bosses.

Back in the day: Bell and Ryan at a Neutrogena event in Los Angeles back in April 2006

Sad times: American actress Stevie Ryan has died aged 33 following a suspected suicide

In a previous interview discussing the responses she receives for her video, she said: 'No matter who you are... You can be the most talented person in the world and you put anything on the Internet and all you're going to get is hateful responses.

'I didn't know that at the time. I don't think anyone knew that yet. I was like, "Oh hell no they didn't! These b***hes do not know what they just asked for!"

'So then I created Little Loca thinking, "I'm going to hand YouTube its ass right now." I created Little Loca and thought I'd just do it and freak people out.'

Devastating: As news of her passing surfaced, fans swiftly swarmed the microblogging site to pay tribute to the much-loved star

Late star: A LA coroner's office confirmed that the Victorville-born star, who was famed for her viral videos, died on Saturday

Her final post to her 116,000 Twitter followers was a tribute to her grandfather who posed with a crass hand gesture as she plastered letters over the top of the shot.

She penned: 'I'm definitely his granddaughter. Rest in Persebu my heart'.

As news of her passing surfaced, fans swiftly swarmed the microblogging site to pay tribute to the much-loved star.

Users penned: 'Rest in peace @StevieRyan love youu :((( i cannot believe this. i've always been a fan and looked up to ya ever since myspace :(((...

Beloved: She penned: 'I'm definitely his granddaughter. Rest in Persebu my heart'

'She was of the first youtubers i started watching back in the days, i can't believe she's gone RIP @StevieRyan.... Awful. Sometimes people can't beat their demons, at least she's at peace now. She was awesome, nice, & funny. I wish I knew her longer...

'Just learning about the passing of @StevieRyan. She was an incredible talent and person. Rest well.... So sad to hear of another life lost to suicide.. R.I.P to Stevie Ryan... WHAT?!? Oh no. Will miss her terribly on here.'

Jenelle Evans of Teen Mom 2 tweeted a now-deleted message that read: 'I know we pretty much hated each other but I'm sorry you had to go so soon pretty girl. #RIP @StevieRyan,' according to People.

Stevie's fellow YouTube personality Chris Crocker has tweeted: 'Words cannot describe how heartbroken I am.... @StevieRyan you will always be in my heart.'

Aww: Teen Mom couple Tyler and Catelyn Baltierra took to Twitter to pay tribute

Tribute: Stevie's fellow YouTube personality Chris Crocker has tweeted : 'Words cannot describe how heartbroken I am.... @StevieRyan you will always be in my heart'

Memories: 'Stevie Ryan is no longer with us. I love her very deeply and I regret every moment I didn't spend with her,' wrote comedian Benji Aflalo on Twitter, posting three photos of her

Touching: Superstore writer Vanessa Ramos tweeted : 'I am beyond saddened to learn of Stevie Ryan's passing,' adding: 'If you suffer from depression, please get help'

Homage: Podcaster Alison Rosen, formerly of The Adam Carrolla Show, tweeted that she was 'Beyond heartbroken and shaken up by the news of @StevieRyan'

'Stevie Ryan is no longer with us. I love her very deeply and I regret every moment I didn't spend with her,' wrote comedian Benji Aflalo on Twitter, sharing three photos of Stevie, including one that showed him sat beside her.

Superstore writer Vanessa Ramos tweeted: 'I am beyond saddened to learn of Stevie Ryan's passing. If you suffer from depression, please get help.'

Podcaster Alison Rosen, formerly of The Adam Carrolla Show, tweeted that she was 'Beyond heartbroken and shaken up by the news of @StevieRyan.'

According to the website, Stevie died at her Los Angeles home with the cause of death listed as suicide by hanging.

For confidential support call the Samaritans in the UK on 08457 90 90 90, visit a local Samaritans branch or click here for details
She is no stranger to a daring look on the runway.

And Winnie Harlow, 22, showcased this confident streak as she flashed her assets in a perilously low-cut strappy dress at the Christian Dior 70th anniversary bash at Fashion Week in Paris on Monday.

The model looked close to a wardrobe malfunction as the gold brocade dress slipped down her chest, revealing her pert assets.

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Molten metal:Winnie Harlow, 22, showcased this confident streak as she flashed her assets in a perilously low-cut strappy dress at the Christian Dior 70th anniversary bash at Fashion Week in Paris on Monday

Windswept: Her feline-esque eyes were enhanced with smoky shadow and her plump pout was slicked in a peach gloss

The metallic gown cinched in at the waist, showing off the star's toned physique, before flowing out in a semi sheer skirt, which was pattered in shamrocks.

Keeping with the opulent theme, Winnie, real name Chantelle, toted a gun metal silver bag and wore golden strappy sandals.

Her glossy raven tresses were worn sleek and straight and parted in the middle.

Her feline-esque eyes were enhanced with smoky shadow and her plump pout was slicked in a peach gloss.

Winnie shot to fame after being discovered by Tyra Banks on America's Next Top Model.

Having been bullied at school for her vitiligo, she has previously admitted that she never expected to achieve such success in the fashion industry.

Smouldering: Winnie, real name Chantelle, looked every inch the Parisian fashionista in the intricate dress

Busty: The model looked close to a wardrobe malfunction as the gold brocade dress slipped down her chest, revealing her pert assets

Work it: The star posed and pouted as she got ready for the glittering event

The catwalk beauty recently admitted she is not a fan of being branded a 'role model' and she would prefer to be seen as an 'inspiration'.

Describing the difference, she told Elle Canada: 'I feel like I am an inspiration. Thats the word I prefer.

'I dont believe that I have to be a role model, someone to be emulated. My mom inspires me, and I take great things from her, but there are things from my mom that I would never do.'
He enjoyed a whirlwind trip to Australia, performing on Sunday's grand finale episode of The Voice.

And during a pre-recorded interview on Channel Seven's Sunrise, aired on Tuesday, Niall Horan revealed his 'obsession' for the land Down Under.

Joking that he often finds an excuse to relocate to Australia, the 23-year-old told co-hosts Samantha Armytage and David Koch: 'I'm just obsessed with this country.'

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'Anyone want to give up their job?' Niall Horan joked during his appearance on Australian breakfast TV show Sunrise that he often considers LEAVING the business for a low-key life in Australia

Prior to belting out the lyrics to his solo hit Slow Hands, Niall expressed his love for Australia.

'Anyone want to give up their job?' he teased, before adding: 'I'm trying to find an excuse to move down here.'

The pre-recorded appearance on the breakfast program later saw the former boy band member perform his solo hit Slow Hands.

Land Down Under: Prior to belting out the lyrics to his solo hit Slow Hands, Niall showed his love for Australia: 'I'm just obsessed with this country, to be honest,' Niall said during the pre-recorded chat

Taking the mic: Niall cut a cool and casual figure for his appearance on the show, opting for a blue linen shirt and trousers

Loving it: He appeared in high spirits as he performed his new song

Niall cut a cool and casual figure for his apperance, opting for a blue linen shirt and trousers.

He finished off the low-key look with brown suede boots.

The pre-recorded appearance on Thursday came just days before his live performance on Channel Nine's reality series, The Voice.

Niall performed Slow Hands again, this time switching up his look.

A simple white T-shirt was teamed with brown pants, a fitted jacket and round-rimmed hat.

Sunday's The Voice: The pre-recorded appearance on Thursday came just days before his live performance on Channel Nine's reality series, The Voice
They are known for their chic sense of styles just as much as their impressive acting abilities.

And Gemma Arterton and Felicity Jones proved their sartorial prowess once again on Monday night, as they arrived at Dior's exhibition bash in Paris in equally stylish black dresses.

The Made In Dagenham star, 31, opted for a workwear-inspired collared mini dress, while 33-year-old Felicity slipped into a tulle maxi gown as they posed side by side on the floral carpet at the Musee Des Arts Decoratifs.

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All black everything: Gemma Arterton and Felicity Jones proved their stylish flair once again on Monday, as they arrived at Dior's exhibition bash in Paris in equally stylish black dresses

Gemma first caught attention in her LBD - which followed a workwear style with a stiff white collar and pleated skirt.

However the frock was made more sexy by daring fishnet sleeves, before it cinched in at her petite waist and flowed out into a flippy A-line skirt.

Falling into soft pleats, the skirt then cut off just above her knee, to keep the look sophisticated but sexy by teasing at her enviably slender legs underneath.

She means business: Gemma first caught attention in her LBD - which followed a workwear style with a stiff white collar and pleated skirt

Slender: However the frock was made more sexy by daring fishnet sleeves, before it cinched in at her petite waist and flowed out into a flippy A-line skirt

Classically chic: Gemma added a slick of bright red lipstick in a glamorous finishing touch, and slicked her hair back into a tight up-do, to draw attention to her striking natural beauty

Remaining co-ordinated from head to toe, she accesorised with simple black patent court shoes and a matching clutch bag as she posed fiercely on the carpet.

Gemma added a slick of bright red lipstick in a glamorous finishing touch, and slicked her hair back into a tight up-do, to draw attention to her striking natural beauty and enviable glowing complexion.

The brunette was the picture of confidence as she posed at the bash, without her rumoured beau Rory Keenan, 37, by her side.

Flying solo: The brunette was the picture of confidence as she posed at the bash, without her rumoured beau Rory Keenan, who she was seen kissing on Sunday, by her side

The pair were seen kissing at the the British Summer Time festival in London's Hyde Park on Sunday, and are rumoured to have been dating for months - after both appearing in West End play Saint Joan.

Gemma was instead joined by fellow actress Felicity Jones at the bash, who arrived in a similarly stylish black ensemble.

The Oscar nominee looked typically elegant in her Gothic-inspired number, formed of a tight fitting bodice and chunky tulle skirt.

Stunning: Gemma was instead joined by fellow actress Felicity Jones at the bash, who arrived in a similarly stylish black ensemble

Pulling into delicate cap sleeves, the maxi gown then drew attention to her impressively petite waist with a thin black belt, before expanding out into the dramatic skirt.

Keeping all eyes on her show-stopping look, the Theory of Everything star added barely-there heels to her feet and carried a tiny box clutch of matching hue.

She swept her hair into a loose up-do, to reveal her beaming smile and glowing skin to all - which she accentuated with a sultry, smoky eye and rosy blusher.

Ballerina chic: The Oscar nominee looked typically elegant in her Gothic-inspired number, formed of a tight fitting bodice and chunky tulle skirt

However while she posed in the elegant frock for cameras, it was the dazzling rock on her left hand that caught attention - having allegedly become engaged to her director beau Charles Guard.

The couple are yet to confirm the news, but rumours he had proposed began to swirl in May, and the actress has been seen with a ring on her finger ever since.

Sources told US Weekly, that the star, who has admitted to being a 'romantic' in the past, immediately said yes after the film director popped the question earlier this year.
Tyga took to social media Monday to promote a line of sparkling wine that it's claimed contains real gold flakes.

The Rack City rapper showcased bottles of bubbly on Instagram with the caption: 'My new champagne 24kt gold in the bottles yeeeeeeee.'

He showed off Brut and Rose versions of LeGrand La Vie Doree that are available to purchase online for $84.99 and $94.99 a bottle through Florida-based BevFly.com.

New product: Tyga took to social media Monday to promote a line of sparkling wine that it's claimed contains real gold flakes

Bubbles: The Rack City rapper showed off a bottle of Brut and a bottle of Rose posed by an infinity pool

According to a website set up to promote the bubbly, it's made from grapes grown in the Burgundy region of France.

That means that although Tyga calls it champagne, it isn't, since a sparkling wine can only officially be called Champagne if it comes from the Champagne region of France.

The wine is aged in the bottle for two years, the website states, and the gold flakes are provided by a French family of goldbeaters.

Available on the Internet: The sparkling wines are being sold online at $84.99 for Brut and $94.99 for Rose

The sell: It's claimed the sparkling wine made from grapes grown in Burgundy contain 24 karat flakes made by a French family of goldbeaters

Money-making enterprise: Tyga also promoted the beverage by posing the bottles on his upscale vehicles in videos shared via Instagram and Snapchat

Tyga, 27, is exploring new money-making ventures following his split from longtime galpal Kylie Jenner, 19, in April.

He recently shot a series of ads for his collaboration with online retailer BooHooMan.

The rapper has been dogged by money woes in recent months.

He was accused by his baby mama Blac Chyna of skipping child support payments for their four-year-old son King Cairo. Chyna also has a seven month old baby daughter with Rob Kardashian, Kylie's half-brother.

In August last year, Tyga was hauled into a hearing by celebrity jeweler Jason of Beverly Hills to see how he can pay off a $200,000 judgment for a diamond encrusted watch and chain back in August.

He has also been in hot water legally for his music company dragging its feet in paying a lawsuit settlement from 2015 to a fan injured during one of his concerts.
She had already made a chic appearance at the Ralph & Russo AW17 catwalk show earlier that afternoon.

But Zendaya proved she could dazzle in two show-stopping looks in one day, as she swapped her white frock for a stunning beaded ballgown on Monday night.

The 20-year-old showed off her sensationally slender figure in the white dress, complete with a bejeweled bodice and lengthy train, as she arrived at another lavish Paris Fashion Week bash with a glamorously-clad Arizona Muse.

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Belle of the ball: Zendaya proved she could dazzle in two show-stopping looks in one day, as she swapped her white frock for a stunning beaded ballgown on Monday night

Gorgeous: The 20-year-old showed off her slender figure in the white dress, complete with a lengthy train, as she arrived at a lavish Paris Fashion Week bash with Arizona Muse (R)

The actress stole the show in her slinky white gown, which clung to her impressively trim and toned figure all the way down to its floor-length hem.

Remaining classic and straight in style, the dress was made more striking by the addition of a lengthy cape and train - which extended from her shoulder straps and billowed behind her as she posed.

Lined with sleek navy satin, the dress was then embellished with shimmering silver sequins across the bodice and hem, to break up the white hue and add a hint of glitz to the look.

Model material: The actress stole the show in her slinky white gown, which clung to her impressively trim and toned figure all the way down to its floor-length hem

Only upping the glamour further, Zendaya accessorised with chunky silver earrings left on show by her chic slicked back up-do.

Accentuating her stunning features with a thick slick of eyeliner and pale coral lip, the film star was truly radiant as she posed elegantly outside the bash.

Zendaya has enjoyed a busy time in the French capital so far - having already attended the Ralph & Russo AW17 show earlier on Monday.

Glam girl: Lined with sleek navy satin, the dress was then embellished with shimmering silver sequins across the bodice and hem, to add a hint of glitz to the look

All eyes on me: Accentuating her stunning features with a thick slick of eyeliner and pale coral lip, the film star was truly radiant as she posed elegantly outside the bash

The glamorous trip however will no doubt allow her to relax, after a hectic few months promoting her latest film Spider-Man: Homecoming with co-star Tom Holland.

The young actress played student Michelle in the newest Marvel flick, who gave the superhero film a modern twist by existing only as a friend, and not a love interest, to classmate and lead role Peter Parker.

While she rose to fame on Disney Channel's Shake It Up, the star has blossomed into one of the most in demand actresses - affirming her status in the industry by landing her own Vogue cover last month.

A bit of all-white: Zendaya has enjoyed a busy time in the French capital so far - having already attended the Ralph & Russo AW17 show earlier on Monday (above)

Turning heads: Model Arizona Muse, 28, was next to arrive after the star, in an equally eye-catching but glamorous ensemble

Model Arizona Muse, 28, was next to arrive after the star, in an equally eye-catching but glamorous ensemble.

The beauty showed off her delicate decolletage and plenty of smooth skin in the strapless frock, which pulled into a tight black bodice embroidered with flowers.

Known for her slender frame however the model, who grew up in her namesake State, opted to shroud her slim figure with the frock, which expanded into a voluminous pink fluffy skirt.

Striking: Known for her slender frame however the model opted to shroud her slim figure with the frock, which expanded into a voluminous pink fluffy skirt

Letting her statement dress do all the talking, the fashionista accessorised with nothing but a small shoulder bag, and a delicate gold necklace.

Styling her hair in sexy, tousled waves, the model put on a smouldering display as she posed for cameras on her way inside.

Unlike Zendaya, Paris Fashion Week marks Arizona's return to the modelling world, after spending a few relaxing weeks enjoying married life.

Better than ever: Arizona appeared relaxed as she returned to her duties in the modelling world - after tying the knot with long-term boyfriend Boniface Verney-Carron last month

The beauty tied the knot with long-term boyfriend Boniface Verney-Carron last month in a luxurious Temperley London gown, at Marylebone eatery Hardy's.

Documenting her day on social media, she shared a number of photos of her nuptials on Instagram as she gushed over her new husband.

She captioned one smooch-filled snap: 'My husband, I loved every single second of marrying you yesterday. It was as I had been told it would be, the happiest day of my life.'
One Shark Tank contestant is set to rake-in the show's highest-ever investment on Tuesday.

But divisive 'shark' Steve Baxter's savage rant is set to overshadow one investor's $2.5 million dollar outlay.

According to news.com.au, the Brisbane tech entrepreneur harshly slams a contestant in the episode, before issuing personal attacks on his co-stars.

During the episode, Steve reportedly takes issue to a hand-churned butter business owners 'modest' growth plan, and labels her as 'gutless.'

But after fellow investor Naomi Simson mounts an offer for owner Heather, he decides to turn his attention to criticising her reputation.

'Thats not a bad deal ... except it comes from Naomi,' he flatly claims.

According to the publication, his strangely hot-tempered display becomes more vicious towards veterinary expert Dr Glen Richards.

In for the kill! Divisive Shark Tank investor Steve Baxter's savage rant in an episode sees him harshly call a contestant 'gutless' before launching personal attacks on co-stars

'Gutless': In the episode airing Tuesday on Channel Ten, Steve reportedly takes issue to a hand-churned butter business owners 'modest' growth plan, labeling her as 'gutless'

In what appears to be an unprovoked personal attack, he uses a cruel analogy to explain his investment stance to a pet food company owner.

'If you are after some cat food  you ask Glen,' he barks.

'So if you want to take a business that sells pigs ears and have it sell a lot more pigs ears, then Glens your bloke.'

'Thats not a bad deal ... except it comes from Naomi': But after fellow investor Naomi Simson mounts an offer, he decides to turn his attention to criticising her reputation

It reportedly leads to an on-set squabble between the investors, with the eventual resolution revealed in an episode trailer on Channel Ten's Facebook.

'I am speaking! I am speaking! For Christs sakes, its my money and Im here to talk to the bloke,' Steve commands, silencing the stunned sharks.

The fiery episode of Shark Tank airs 8.45pm Tuesday on Channel Ten

'If you are after some cat food  you ask Glen': According to the publication, his strangely hot-tempered display becomes more vicious towards veterinary expert Dr Glen Richards

Squabble! It reportedly leads to an on-set squabble between the investors, before Steve commands: 'I am speaking! I am speaking! For Christs sakes, its my money and Im here to talk to the bloke'
While Kylie Jenner dined in London Monday night, she unveiled her new 'la' ankle tattoo which used to be a lowercase 't' in honor of ex-boyfriend Tyga.

The 19-year-old reality star finally ended her on/off three-year relationship with the 27-year-old Grammy nominee sometime in March.

Adding insult to injury, the Lip Kit mogul and her new rapper flame, Travis Scott, got matching butterfly ink on their ankles on June 12.

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July versus December: While Kylie Jenner dined in London Monday night, she unveiled her new 'la' ankle tattoo which used to be a lowercase 't' in honor of ex-boyfriend Tyga

Erased! The 19-year-old reality star finally ended her on/off three-year relationship with the 27-year-old Grammy nominee sometime in March (pictured February 13)

Meanwhile as of June, the half-Vietnamese hip-hop star's ex-fiancee Blac Chyna still has his surname 'Stevenson' written in red on her right forearm.

But the 29-year-old Lashed owner - who mothered his four-year-old son King - did cover up his first name 'Michael' on her hand with a henna tattoo.

The artificially plump-lipped socialite coordinated with Travis in matching maroon-and-white casual ensembles for their sushi date at Nobu Berkeley St.

The Time of the Twins author was also rocking a large diamond bauble on her left-ring finger, prompting engagement speculation.

Ouch! Adding insult to injury, the Lip Kit mogul and her new rapper flame, Travis Scott, got matching butterfly ink on their ankles on June 12

Nostalgic: Meanwhile as of June, the half-Vietnamese hip-hop star's ex-fiancee Blac Chyna still has his surname 'Stevenson' written in red on her right forearm

Remains: But the 29-year-old Lashed owner - who mothered his four-year-old son King - did cover up his first name 'Michael' on her hand with a henna tattoo (pictured in 2016)

Kylie has joined the 24-year-old Grammy nominee (born Jacques Webster, Jr.) on his 36-date Damn Tour, which played London's O2 Academy Brixton on Monday night.

The tatt update came four days after Jenner and her sister Kendall apologized for selling $125 'Rap vs. Rock' T-shirts without permission of any of the appropriated artists.

It was the second time the 21-year-old Society Management Model received universal backlash after Pepsi pulled her tone-deaf 'protest' commercial off the air on April 5.

Twinning: The artificially plump-lipped socialite coordinated with Travis in matching maroon-and-white casual ensembles for their sushi date at Nobu Berkeley St

Riddle of the ring: The Time of the Twins author was also rocking a large diamond bauble on her left-ring finger, prompting engagement speculation

On the mic: Kylie has joined the 24-year-old Grammy nominee (born Jacques Webster, Jr.) on his 36-date Damn Tour, which played London's O2 Academy Brixton on Monday night

The nepotistically-privileged daughter of Kris & Caitlyn Jenner will next get her very own eight-episode spin-off Life of Kylie, which premieres August 6 on E!

It's hard to believe the Calabasas teenager was once a regular Sierra Canyon School cheerleader until she started homeschooling in 2012.

Kylie's fame-hungry family will compete for a reality TV trophy at the fan-voted Teen Choice Awards, which air August 13 on Fox.

Tacky: The tatt update came four days after Jenner and her sister Kendall apologized for selling $125 'Rap vs. Rock' T-shirts without permission of any of the appropriated artists

Two strikes: It was the second time the 21-year-old Society Management Model received universal backlash after Pepsi pulled her tone-deaf 'protest' commercial off the air on April 5

Spotlight: The nepotistically-privileged daughter of Kris & Caitlyn Jenner will next get her very own eight-episode spin-off Life of Kylie, which premieres August 6 on E!
She's well known as an actress but Elizabeth Olsen might just as well be a model given her talent for quick outfit changes and stylish choices.

The pretty 28-year-old was spotted out and about in Paris on Monday on three separate occasions in the three different ensembles as she did the rounds during Haute Couture Fashion Week.

She rocked stripes, prints and solid colors with effortless ease but her accessory was always her new musician beau Robbie

Stylish and confident: Elizabeth Olsen, 28, rocked stripes, prints and solid colors with effortless ease on Monday as she did the rounds during Haute Couture Fashion Week in Paris

The Captain America: Civil War star looked incredible in a fringed monochrome two-piece as she arrived for the Christian Dior show.

The top had short sleeves while the pants ended just above the ankle.

She added stiletto-heeled black court shoes and left her long dark blonde hair loose.

Stripes: The Captain America: Civil War star looked incredible in a fringed monochrome two-piece and heeled court shoes as she arrived for the Christian Dior show

Patterns: Elizabeth changed into cotton flared pants and a simple white t-shirt for another Dior event and added criss-cross black sandal flats for a more casual summer look

Dressed for a night out: For her final look of the day, she opted for a navy dress that had a slit at the front and was belted at the waist. She went bare-legged in tan ankle boots

Elizabeth changed into patterned cotton flared pants and a simple white t-shirt for another Dior event - the launch of an exhibition celebrating 70 years of creation at Musee Des Arts Decoratifs.

Once again, her trousers were cropped at mid-calf and she wore criss-cross black sandal flats for a more casual summer look.

For her final look of the day, she opted for a navy dress that had a slit at the front and rolled up sleeves.

The number was belted at the waist and she went bare-legged in tan ankle boots.

Loved up: The actress's accessory was always her new musician beau Robbie Arnett whom she has been dating since March

The actress's boyfriend also showed off his sense of style.

Robbie, the vocalist for indie pop band Milo Greene, stepped out in black slip-on loafers and a dark two-piece suit with drainpipe trousers and fitted jacket.

He added a pale pink cotton shirt that he left unbuttoned at the collar.

The couple have been dating since March.

Also in Paris for the fashion shows are Elizabeth's older twin sisters Mary-Kate and Ashley.

The 31-year-olds have been seen taking in some of the high profile designer collections.

Fashion fan: Elizabeth's older sister Mary-Kate Olsen, 31, was also in Paris to attend the collections

Stylish too: The 31-year-old wore a long black coat over black pants and carried a black crocodile skin purse
It's the meeting of the minds many fans thought they'd never see.

Musical artists Iggy Azalea, 27, and Azealia Banks, 26, have brushed aside their past issues and will be working together on the Australian rapper's next album, Digital Distortion.

She wrote in a Snapchat post, 'Public Service Announcement, Azealia is going to be on DD. We are collaborating. Burn your wigs now or preserve them in your freezer for release day.'

Come together: Longtime rivals Azealia Banks, 26, (L) and Iggy Azalea, 27, will collaborate on the Australian rapper's next album Digital Distortion, Iggy said Monday. Banks was seen in March in NYC while Azalea was snapped in June in Toronto

The talented artist, whose real name is Amethyst Kelly, later tweeted: 'I [don't] expect you guys to understand why [I] would collaborate with someone who has publicly said they hope [I] die.'

The Fancy songstress, who's previously recorded songs with peers including Jennifer Hudson, Rita Ora and Jennifer Hudson, said the collaboration serves as something of a means to an end to an 'extremely negative' situation.

'If there is a way to make it positive and also be creative together,' she wrote, '[I'm] here for it.'

The feud hit its zenith in December of 2014, when Azalea called Banks 'a MISERABLE, angry human' on Twitter after Banks called her counterpart out for a perceived lack of response to incidents that impacted the black community earlier that year, such as the deaths of Michael Brown and Eric Garner.

Banks wrote that 'its funny to see people Like Igloo Australia silent when these things happen Black Culture is cool, but black issues sure arent huh?'

In June, Azalea extended something of an olive branch to her rival, saying on Snapchat that she hoped to 'at least be able to come to an understanding' with Banks on some level. She added, 'As a 27 year old adult woman just know: I wish you well from one human to another and joke collaboration or not as adults we should move past trivial beef with strangers.'

Opening up: The Fancy artist explained the surprising move on social media Monday

Banks responded in saying that 'a true reconciliation' was possible if Azalea acknowledged some of the racial and gender issues behind the beef.

'I hope that there will be a chance for us to have an open discussion about this, as I feel America and the world could really benefit from some candid discourse between two public figures about the worlds biggest sickness: racism,' she told XXL. 'I wish for women of the future to be able to refer to this moment in womens culture as an example of what can happen when people take time to understand.'
She's the controversial actress who is also a fervent supporter of the Free The Nipple campaign.

And Caitlin Stasey has, once again, bared all for her social media followers.

On Monday, the former Neighbours star, who now resides in Los Angeles, posted a picture of herself seemingly wearing nothing but a seductive look and a few necklaces to her Instagram.

Raunchy: Caitlin Stasey took to her Instagram story on Monday to post a photo that showed the actress wearing nothing but a seductive look and a few necklaces

While no nipples were freed in the photo, it was quite racy nonetheless, with the actress leaning right into the camera for the sultry shot.

Her arm, adorned with a snake tattoo, strategically obscured her breasts in the photo, but still gave an ample view of her 'assets' regardless.

Caitlin cryptically captioned the photo: 'when your mid 90s boyfran wants to know wassup.'

Sultry socials: Caitlin is not shy about sharing sultry images online

With light streaming in from a window behind her, Caitlin offered the camera a sultry expression.

Caitlin, a supporter of the Free The Nipple gender equality campaign, has never been shy of flaunting her figure on social media.

The 27-year-old exposed her bare skin again on Sunday in which she strategically obscured her chest with a hand.

Caitlin, who first shot to fame thanks to her role as Rachel Kinski on long-running soap Neighbours, was seen squinting at the sunlight as she posed for the selfie.

She captioned the photo: 'Screengrabbrag.'

Commenters praised her au naturel approach to beauty, with one user adding: 'I like the way you share a holistic view of your life. It's super refreshing to see the good the bad and the sexy. I think I understand your approach and I like it.'

That's cheeky! last month, Caitlin flashed her pert derriere by bending over in a g-string and sheer dress overlay in her lounge room

Last month, Caitlin flashed her pert derriere by bending over in a g-string and sheer dress overlay in her lounge room.

In another photo, she further showcased her sex appeal by displaying extreme underboob in a tiny red crop top and a pair of white hotpants.

The high-waisted shorts showed off her trim pins and lithe physique.

Peep show! Caitlin had hearts racing as she shared a scantily clad snap last month that showed off her underboob

In just one hour the snap had racked up over 7,000 likes with hundreds of comments on her enviable body.

The comments on the suggestive shot were mostly envious with fans praising the star's figure.

One fan said: 'Hot! Good to see some boobage from my fave again!' while another adoring fan said: 'You are absolutely gorgeous! But what's even better is that you are smart, articulate, and kind'.
She may have famous parents but like any other 15-year-old girl, Kaia Gerber expects her dad to be her personal taxi driver.

The teen, who has inherited her mother Cindy Crawford's beauty, was spotted hanging out with some pals on Monday in Malibu.

She was then seen getting picked up by her model-turned-businessman father Rande Gerber in his pick up truck.

It's in her genes: Kaia Gerber, 15, who has inherited her mother Cindy Crawford's beauty, was spotted hanging out with some pals on Monday in Malibu

Kaia was dressed for the warm summer's day in cut-off denim shorts and a black tank top.

She wore navy socks with slip-on shoes and added a matching peaked cap.

She completed her ensemble with a tiny tan shoulder purse.

Rande, who just sold his Casamigos tequila company that he co-founded with best pal George Clooney for $1 billion, arrived to pick up his daughter in a black souped-up pick-up truck.

Her ride: She was later seen getting picked up by her father Rande Gerber who served as his daughter's taxi driver, something most dads of teen girls can relate to

Model daughter: Kaia was dressed for the warm summer's day in cut-off denim shorts and a black tank top. She wore navy socks with slip-on shoes and added a matching peaked cap

Kaia is following her parents in pursuing a modeling career.

In July, 2015, she landed a contract with IMG Models and did a picture spread for Vogue Italia.

The teen made her debut in American Vogue two months later posing in a casual dress for a photo featured in the magazine's coveted September issue.

She landed her first campaign at the age of 14 for jewelery line Chrome Hearts and the same years she starred in her first magazine cover, posing with mom posed with Cindy for the cover of Vogue Paris shot by famous photographer Mario Testino.

On her way: Kaia is following her parents in pursuing a modeling career after landing a contract with IMG Models in 2015
She recently welcomed her son Anaca with fiance Hermann Nicoli.

And doting mother Candice Swanepoel was spotted with her eight-month-old baby on a fun outing to the park in New York City on Monday.

The 28-year-old was joined by her beau as they played in the grassy public area and enjoyed the sunny day in the Big Apple.

Doting mom: Candice Swanepoel, 28, was spotted with her eight-month-old baby on a fun outing to the park in New York City on Monday

The Victoria's Secret Angel looked summer chic in a tiny cold shoulder blue sun dress that showcased her beautiful decolletage.

Cut just above the knees, the couture number let her gorgeous gams take center stage during the alfresco outing.

The model remained relatively makeup free to let her natural beauty shine as she wore just a bit of neutral bronzer and berry lip.

With few accessories such as a cross necklace and drop earrings, Candice whipped her golden tresses up in a loose ponytail.

All smiles: They played in the grassy public area and enjoyed the sunny day in the Big Apple

Model mom: The Victoria's Secret Angel looked summer chic in a tiny cold shoulder blue sun dress that showcased her beautiful decolletage

Au natural: The model remained relatively makeup free to let her natural beauty shine as she wore just a bit of neutral bronzer and berry lip

She couldn't keep her hands off her adorable son as he enjoyed the warm weather in nothing but a diaper.

The South African born beauty helped Anaca walk around in the grassy knoll making sure he kept his balance.

She smiled incessantly as her baby boy continually tried to make stand on his own two feet.

Helpful hand: The South African born beauty helped Anaca walk around in the grassy knoll making sure he kept his balance

When not helping him take steps in the park, the blonde starlet thew him in the air playfully as they both laughed.

After an exhaustive bout of daycare, Candice helped herself to a refreshing bottle of much needed water.

She welcomed Anaca in October with her long-term love and fiance Hermann Nicoli - who she met at the tender age of 17 working with the Brazilian male model on assignment in Paris back in 2005.

Hermann eventually popped the question in August 2015, but no wedding date has been set for the New York-based couple.

Little Anaca is already following in his mother's footsteps, joining Candice and a host of celebrity mothers and their adorable offspring in an advert co-directed by famous mother and actress Liv Tyler.

Baby steps: She couldn't keep her hands off her adorable son as he enjoyed the warm weather in nothing but a diaper

Re-hydrate: After an exhaustive bout of daycare, Candice helped herself to a refreshing bottle of much needed water
Over the weekend, Laura Csortan fired back at the Daily Telegraph's 'hurtful and cruel insinuation' she and celebrity accountant Anthony Bell are couple after they were pictured holidaying together on the Gold Coast.

The former Adelaide beauty queen and her daughter Layla Rose, seven months, were seen holidaying alongside Anthony, in Queensland last week.

And shortly after, best pal Erin Molan and her fiance Sean Ogilvy appeared to rush to support Laura, with the Footy Show presenter appearing to enjoy a getaway at popular Halcyon House in Cabarita Beach.

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Offering her support: Erin Molan, 33, rushes to support pal Laura Csortan on a quick getaway, 40, after the single mother lashed out at the 'hurtful and cruel insinuation' she and Anthony Bell are a couple

From snaps shared to Erin's Instagram account on Monday, it appeared Erin was by Laura's side in the wake of Sunday's headline news.

She captioned an Instagram snap on Monday: 'Best 'less than 24 Hours getaway' with the best people'.

Tagging the location on the social media site as Halcyon House at Cabarita Beach in New South Wales, another image saw the blonde beauty embracing Laura's daughter Layla Rose.

Erin sported casual attire, consisting of a metallic long-sleeved sweater and accessorised with stylish sunglasses and drop earrings.

Planting a kiss on the baby's head, the Channel Nine personality captioned the snap: 'My love' alongside an emoji with love heart eyes.

Group affair: While a later image saw Erin's fiance Sean Ogilvy seated in a local cafe and embracing little Layla

Meanwhile, a later image saw Erin's fiance Sean Ogilvy seated in a local cafe and embracing little Layla.

Sean, a police officer, wore a blue T-shirt and jeans, beamed as he held onto Layla who looked cute as a button in a vibrant onesie.

'Best 'less than 24 Hours getaway' with the best people xxx' Erin captioned the moment.

Friends: Anthony Bell (left) and Laura Csortan (right) pictured with her seven-month-old daughter

The posts came shortly after Laura fired back at the 'hurtful and cruel insinuation' she and celebrity accountant Anthony are a couple, after they were pictured holidaying together on the Gold Coast.

The personality and her daughter were seen holidaying with Anthony in Queensland's Gold Coast last week, in pictures accompanied by an article published in Sunday's The Daily Telegraph.

Just hours after their release, Laura took to Instagram, slamming the publication for its 'cruel insinuation' she was in a relationship with Anthony.

'I woke up this morning to the most hurtful and cruel article by Annette Sharp. No mother, let alone a single mum should be put through an insinuation like this just because they support a friend unconditionally,' she said.

Laura emphatically denied the pair were romantically involved, after the publication claimed they once dated.

'Anthony is one of my closest friends and we are not (nor have we ever been) in a coupled relationship,' she said.

Laura also fired back at the 'insinuation' Anthony was the father of her child.

'Layla's father is presently living overseas and does not wish to be dragged through the media. Nor is it anyone's business,' she said.

High-profile: Anthony  who has a Bell Partners office in Brisbane - has visited Queensland several times in recent months and spent time with Laura

Speaking out: 'Layla's father is presently living overseas and does not wish to be dragged through the media. Nor is it anyone's business,' Laura shared to her Instagram account shortly after the release of the pictures

Public affairs: It comes just weeks after a judge dismissed Kelly Landry's (above, with Mr Bell in 2011) apprehended violence order application against her estranged husband

Laura said she and her family were helping Anthony through his relationship break down with former Getaway star Kelly Landry  which featured heavily in the public eye.

'My mum, sister and I have had to watch our dear friend go through a most painful relationship breakdown and we are not the type of people to desert a friend in need at a terribly difficult time,' she said.

The pair's holiday to the Gold Coast comes just weeks after a judge dismissed Kelly Landry's apprehended violence order application against her estranged husband.

Helping a friend in need: Laura said she and her family were helping Mr Bell through his relationship break down with former Getaway star Kelly

Offering support: She said she and her family were helping Anthony (pictured arriving to court in May) through his relationship break down

The pair spent a week in court levelling accusations of infidelity and abuse at each other in May, but ultimately a judge ruled there was no need for an AVO.

Laura, a model, actress and television presenter, claimed she was unfairly treated by The Sunday Telegraph and its journalist Annette Sharp.

Erin also offered her support for Laura on Instagram, commenting underneath her lengthy yet heartfelt post: 'Love you darling girl.

'From experience, I know how much this hurts  look after Seany for me today and see you all tonight,' she said.
She is known as Australia's most popular 'Instagram model'.

And on Tuesday, Skye Wheatley flaunted her VERY slender physique as she revealed her dramatic weight loss in an social media video.

Putting her slim figure on display, the former Big Brother star donned skimpy briefs and lifted up her shirt while moving her hips from side to side.

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Tummy tease! On Tuesday, ex-Big Brother star Skye Wheatley flaunted her VERY slender physique as she revealed her dramatic weight loss in an social media video

Skye seemed very pleased with her toned abs and trim pins, captioning the video 'Morning skinny yay'.

She looked almost unrecognisable from her Big Brother days, when she sported a more natural figure.

Since departing the reality TV series, Skye has been open about her cosmetic enhancements and weight-loss journey.

Bikini ready: Skye was known for her 'dumb blonde' persona on Big Brother in 2014

If you've got it, flaunt it! Skye regularly takes to social media to share scantily-clad photos

In 2015, Skye flew to Thailand to receive breast enlargement surgery.

It was a surgery that, according to the socialite, went awry leaving her $28,000 out of pocket to fix the 'botched' job.

If I had listened to mum and not gone to Thailand to have my boobs done, they'd be perfect,' she previously told The Daily Telegraph.

'I've lost all my confidence and I never want to get naked with a boy again. I hate what that surgeon has done to me.'

Working up a sweat? Despite being a fan of activewear, Skye claims she rarely exercises

Transformed: Skye looks almost unrecognisable from her Big Brother days

Since bouncing back from her surgery disaster, Skye has regularly taken to social media to share scantily-clad images of herself.

But despite being a fan of wearing activewear in her Instagram posts, Skye claims she rarely exercises.

She instead attributes her slender frame to drinking protein shakes, which she is often paid to spruik online.
Alyson Hannigan returned from a trip to Australia with former Buffy the Vampire Slayer co-star Tom Lenk Monday at LAX airport.

The 43-year-old actress went low-profile for the travel day, wearing a cap that read Love with her trademark red locks down.

She wore a grey coat, blue jeans and light grey sneakers while toting a few plastic bags as she chat with Lenk outside of the travel terminal.

Headed home: Alyson Hannigan, 43, was snapped at LAX airport Monday after returning home from Melbourne's Oz Comic Con in Australia

Lenk, 41, laughed and smiled toting a backpack, roll-on luggage and a large red carry-on bag. The actor, who co-starred with Hannigan on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, wore a dark denim jacket over a blue shirt with black pants and low-top sneakers as they made their way out of the busy travel hub just a day before America's Independence Day.

The actress of American Pie fame and her former co-star were fresh back from attending Melbourne's Oz Comic Con Sunday.

She greeted fans and signed autographs as part of a stellar lineup of television stars inlcuding Aquaman's Jason Momoa, Twin Peaks stunner Sherilyn Fenn and Game Of Thrones actor Daniel Portman.

The trip marked the redheaded beauty's first official appearance in Australia, according to The Guardian, coinciding with the 20th anniversary of Buffy the Vampire Slayer's debut in early 1997.

Happy: The actress looked to be in a great mood as she made her way through a crosswalk

Travel buddies: She was accompanied by her former Buffy the Vampire Slayer co-star Tom Lenk

She told the publication that of the recognizable projects she's been a part of, fans always bring up the fantasy series.

'Its such a gift. The fact that it still happens all the time, its never lost on me,' she said. 'Its so touching - Im so grateful that I got to be a part of that.'

The mom-of-two, who's also appeared on shows such as How I Met Your Mother, Veronica Mars and That '70s Show, added, 'Thats why I love television so much, because it was all of those things for me growing up, when I needed it.'

Patient: The redheaded actress waited patiently at the busy airport

Home sweet home: The stars arrived just in time for July 4 festivities in the states
She's never been shy of flaunting her physique in skimpy bikinis on Instagram.

And on Tuesday, Skye Wheatley treated her 310,000 social media followers to an incredibly busty snap.

Posing by a swimming pool, the 23-year-old socialite drew attention to her large surgically-enhanced breasts.

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Out to play! On Tuesday, Skye Wheatley treated her 310,000 social media followers to an incredibly busty snap while relaxing poolside with a cocktail

She captioned the post, 'Versace vibes'.

Skye left little to the imagination in a brightly coloured halterneck bikini top and a pair of tie-side bottoms.

He face wasn't fully visible in the photo, but she made sure to include her plump lips as she sipped on a cocktail.

Summer vibes? Skye left little to the imagination in a multi-coloured skimpy bikini

The throwback photo was taken in early May during Skye's previous trip to Palazzo Versace in the Gold Coast.

The Instagram model has posted several photos in her Thaikila swimwear, while seductively showed off her slender frame.

Skye, who rose to fame on Big Brother Australia in 2014, has previously admitted to having multiple cosmetic surgery treatments.

Shoops! She famously underwent a botched Bangkok boob job and paid a Sydney surgeon $28,000 last year to fix her 'wonky' breasts

She famously underwent a botched Bangkok boob job and paid a Sydney surgeon $28,000 last year to fix her 'wonky' breasts.

'I'm having to fork out a lot of money to fix my boobs,' she previously told the Daily Telegraph. 'They're too big and fake and wonky.'

But Skye appears to be feeling confident again, as she flaunts her bikini body on Instagram on an almost daily basis.
She unveiled her new platinum blonde locks on Monday.

And Karlie Kloss continued to show off her new look as she attended the Christian Dior, couturier du reve Exhibition Launch celebrating 70 years of creation at Musee Des Arts Decoratifs in Paris later on that day.

The American model, 24, oozed understated elegance in a black cocktail dress.

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Turning heads: Karlie Kloss continued to show off her new look as she attended the 'Christian Dior, couturier du reve' Exhibition Launch celebrating 70 years of creation at Musee Des Arts Decoratifs in Paris later on that day

Showing off her long lithe frame, the chiffon dress skimmed her slender waist, giving a glimpse of her decolletage.

Giving a glimpse of her endless slender pin, she elongated them in a pair of black slingback shoes.

The encrusted straps added a touch of detail, and she teamed it with a Gothic-inspired choker.

Rear view: The American model, 24, oozed understated elegance in a black cocktail dress

Wearing her platinum blonde hair in a sleek side do, she accentuated her icy blue eyes with statement black eyeliner.

Accessorising with a red clutch bag, she certainly turned heads on the streets of Paris as she made her way to the event.

The busy star certainly has plenty to be happy about as she continues to juggle her modeling career also being the face of Swarovski and Carolina Herrera's Good Girl campaign while studying at New York University.

Leggy! Showing off her long lithe frame, the chiffon dress skimmed her slender waist, giving a glimpse of her decolletage

She has also been busy running her coding company, Kode With Klossy.

She spoke to Fast Company, for whom she recently graced the front cover, and discussed how she found her passion for app and coding.

Karlie said: 'I follow my nerdy passions, even if they are kind of unexpected.'

Ice ice baby! Wearing her platinum blonde hair in a sleek side do, she accentuated her icy blue eyes with statement black eyeliner

Detail: The encrusted straps added a touch of detail, and she teamed it with a Gothic-inspired choker

Adding: 'Being true to yourself, as cheesy as that sounds, is important. If you don't enjoy what you're doingif you're pretending to be something you're notthen it's not sustainable.'

The Chicago-born stunner began spreading that interest to younger ladies, launching her own free summer coding program for girls ages 13 to 18.

She also shares coding tidbits via her YouTube channel, Klossy, on a playlist titled, 'Coding is a superpower! #CSforAll.'
Hot Felon Jeremy Meeks, who cheated on his wife of eight years with Chloe Green, is also accused of stealing the Topshop heiress from rumoured boyfriend Robert Cavalli.

The 32-year-old convicted criminal turned model is facing a backlash from fans who are furious he dumped the wife who stood by him while he was in jail and was pictured passionately kissing 26-year-old Chloe on a luxury yacht in Turkey.

The married father-of-one, who previously described himself as a 'family man', was accused on social media of 'disrespecting his marriage' as he romanced billionaire Sir Philip Green's daughter.

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'Look that says I'm with your woman!': Jeremy Meeks was pictured embracing Chloe Green's rumoured boyfriend Robert Cavalli at Cannes before he was photographed kissing the Topshop heiress

Together...? Robert shared a photo with rumoured girlfriend Chloe before she was pictured with married convicted felon Meeks, a 33-year-old father of two

And Chloe was attacked on social media for allegedly dumping her reported beau Robert, son of legendary fashion designer, Roberto Cavalli.

Chloe was linked to the millionaire designer's son after he posted a number of sun-soaked pictures of them together over the past year.

In the run-up to Cannes Film Festival, the couple appeared to be travelling together, with Robert sharing a photo of them from Monaco, enjoying a cup of tea with Chloe in a pink dressing gown with the caption: 'Me vs you'.

It is believed that Chloe met Meeks while she was in Cannes earlier this year with Robert.

Steamy: Meeks and Green were pictured kissing on board a luxury yacht that costs 119,000 a week to hire as they sailed in the Med off the coast of Turkey near Bodrum

He posted a photo of himself meeting Meeks at the film festival.

But after the photos emerged of Meeks and Chloe together in Turkey the photo was flooded with comments from Instagram users accusing Meeks of stealing his girl.

One follower joked: 'He giving you that fake a** What's up homie but low key he just slipped that h** Chloe his number.'

Another added: 'I'm with ur woman'.

Fans notice a snap Robert had shared with Chloe along with a heart emoji, commenting: 'U might have had a chance with her if u were a married man' (sic).

Life of luxury: Meeks continued to send tongues wagging after pictures emerged of him kissing British Topshop heiress Chloe Green on a yacht in Turkey on Friday

Close: The new couple cuddle on the beachfront in Turkey during their holiday romance

Meeks and Chloe, who is heir to her father Sir Philip's billions, were pictured sharing an intimate kiss over the weekend and snuggling up together as they waited to be taken back to their 112,000-a-week yacht in Bodrum, Turkey.

Their tender embrace was watched over by an entourage which had joined them on their luxury charter for a week of fun in the sun.

It came as Melissa broke her social media silence and as his legions of fans turned on him for dumping her.

All aboard: Heiress Chloe's billionaire father Sir Philip has refused to comment on her relationship with his daughter

On Monday, two days after the pictures emerged, Meeks's manager posted a photo of him and his client, who has 1.2million Instagram followers in Dusseldorf, Germany.

But fans turned on them with one user writing: 'Shame on you,' in apparent reference to the photos.

Meeks' wife, Melissa, a mother of three who has a son with the convict, appeared to respond to her husband's alleged infidelity with a sultry Instagram post of her own on Sunday.

She added: 'It's just me against the world baby,' with the hashtag 'Still I rise'.

'Just the beginning': Chloe took to Instagram on Saturday, sharing a a photo with Meeks and his manager, with the caption: 'Just the Beginning... We appreciate all the love and the hate'

Kiss: Chloe didn't seem to have a care in the world as she leaned in to the convicted criminal whose mugshot won him an army of female admirers and a modelling contract on his release

Ignoring the revelation that her husband was cheating on her, Melissa made a point of not mentioning his adultery and instead opted to caption the picture with two hashtags - Queens are Born in July and It's My Birthday Month.

Chloe has since deleted her Instagram account shortly after posting a picture of her and Meeks together with the caption: 'Just the beginning...We appreciate all the love and the hate.'

Meeks too has edited his account, deleting all photographs of him and Melissa, which has not gone down with the fans who fell in love with his good looks after his California mugshot went viral in 2014.

He has left pictures up of Melissa's two children from a previous relationship as well as their own child.

Rumoured beau: Chloe and Roberto pose for a photo on board a luxury yacht at Cannes before they met Meeks at the revered film festival in the South of France

'Missing you': Robert Cavalli posted this cute photo of him and Chloe on Instagram and tagged her in it - before pictures emerged of her in the Mediterranean with the hot felon

One angry user Mish Reine wrote: 'And the award for the biggest scumbag of the earth goes to Jeremy.

'What an idiot leaving a woman who held you down for eight years despite everything she's even given you a beautiful child just for you to throw it all away for a bit of fame by going off with a billionaire daughter for more publicity.

'Your actions are the real meaning of a low life felon.

'Karma's a b***h. Remember that.'

Another user going by the name of Enlightened Beauty wrote: 'How sad. Don't let the materialistic things get to you.

Facing the music: Meeks landed in LA today to face his wife of eight years for the first time since photos emerged of him kissing Chloe on holiday

'When you die, none of this is gonna matter. Everyone will remember you cheating on your wife.'

Meanwhile Chloe's father Sir Philip said he is 'not getting involved' in his daughter's holiday romance.

The tycoon refused to be drawn when asked about it, telling the Telegraph: 'With respect, I am not getting involved in it.'
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It is one of the most highly-anticipated shows of all the fashion weeks.

So naturally the superstars were out in force for Tuesday's Chanel fashion show during Paris Haute Couture Fashion Week to debut the FallWinter 2017/18 collection, during which Karl Lagerfeld opted to build a giant replica of the Eiffel Tower under the glass roof of the Grand Palais.

Leading the stars were Chanel muses Cara Delevingne and Kristen Stewart alongside pop star Katy Perry, with all the ladies rocking matching buzzcuts, as they made a stunning display with Cara, 24, going braless, Kristen, 27, opting for a dazzling sequinned unitard while Katy, 32, sported a patterned two-piece comprising of a soft jacket and tight shorts.

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Here come the girls: Leading the stars were Chanel muses Cara Delevingne and Kristen Stewart alongside pop star Katy Perry, with all the ladies rocking matching buzzcuts, as they made a stunning display with Cara, 24, going braless, Kristen, 27, opting for a dazzling sequinned unitard while the Katy, 32, sported a chic patterned two-piece comprising of a soft jacket

Cara, who has starred in a number of Chanel campaigns, looked sensational in an intricately designed white vest top tucked into stunning metallic trousers while sporting boots in the searing heat.

Ever a stickler for brand loyalty, she sported a thick leather choker complete with a large CC adornment while keeping her make-up neutral - with just her trademark thick brow boasting dark hues.

Kristen was undoubtedly determined to make a showstopping entrance as she slipped into the eye-wateringly tight unitard which clung to every inch of her slender frame.

The strapless number made the most of her lithe limbs while the stretchy, sequin adorned material meant she had no room for movement in the skin-tight garment. Allowing her body to do the talking, she boosted her height in a pair of simple black stilettos while peeling on a pair of rounded sunglasses.

Bleached babe: All three ladies sported matching buzzcuts - with each opting for a bold blonde hue

Doing her thing: Cara, who has starred in a number of Chanel campaigns, looked sensational in an intricately designed white vest top tucked into stunning metallic trousers while sporting boots in the searing heat

Captain Cara: The bleach blonde beauty saluted cameras outside the venue as she wowed in her ensemble

Strutting her stuff: As she strode out of the event she blew a cheeky kiss to the camera

The gang: Karl grabbed Katy and Cara alongside Claudia Schiffer for a snap

A parting bid: Kristen was undoubtedly determined to make a showstopping entrance as she slipped into the eye-wateringly tight unitard which clung to every inch of her slender frame

Fabulous from every angle: The strapless number made the most of her lithe limbs while the stretchy, sequin adorned material meant she had no room for movement in the skin-tight garment

Stunning: Kristen was putting on an incredible display in her stunning ensemble

Game faces on: As models for the brand, the women had a responsibility to look sensational

Katy meanwhile appeared to be rocking a look from last season, as she sported a suit adorned with spaceman imagery from the Fall 2017 Chanel collection, which debuted at the Grand Palais with a Space-themed show in March - complete with a rocket in place of the Eiffel Tower at the Grand Palais.

She was joined in the entry hall by her glamorous mum Mary Hudson, nee Mary Perry, 69, who looked nothing short of sensational in an elegant tweed jacket paired with black trousers. She wore her brunette tresses in a super volumunious blowdry as she posed alongside her daughter.

All three of the glam ladies wore their matching locks in a spiky style with the bleached colouring providing an even edgier touch to their already incredible cool Chanel FROW ensembles.

Cool kid: Kirsten wowed in her jumpsuit as she headed into the bash - in arguably one of the scantiest looks of the day

Bleached babes: All three of the glam ladies wore their matching locks in a spiky style with the bleached colouring providing an even edgier touch to their already incredible cool Chanel FROW ensembles

Peace out! Katy meanwhile appeared to be rocking a look from last season, as she sported a suit adorned with spaceman imagery seemingly from the Fall 2017 collection, which debuted at the Grand Palais with a Space-themed show - complete with a rocket in place of the Eiffel Tower

Comparing hairdressing tips? Inside the event, Katy and Cara caught up as they put on an animated display

Mummy dearest! She was joined in the entry hall by her glamorous mum Mary Hudson, nee Mary Perry, 69, who looked nothing short of sensational in an elegant tweed jacket paired with black trousers. She wore her brunette tresses in a super volumunious blowdry as she posed alongside her daughter

Glam: Katy's similarities to Mary were plain to see as they glammed it up on the front row

Twinning! The ladies were certainly coordinating in their front row look

Katy also posed with fellow music superstar Pharrell Williams, who was joined by his wife Helen Lasichanh, as he shunned the sleek Chanel style in favour of a super kooky tie-dye shirt and Seventies-inspired glasses.

Other stars to grace the show included fashion royalty Claudia Schiffer, 46, who was showing off her age-defying style and good looks in a stunning denim one-piece which she paired with flats.

Her long blonde locks were worn in cascading curls over her shoulders while she peeled a pair of over-sized, Sixities-inspired white sunglasses over her ageless complexion.

With the stars: Pharrell Williams grabbed Katy for a silly snap inside the venue

Edgy: Music superstar Pharrell, who was joined by his wife Helen Lasichanh, as he shunned the sleek Chanel style in favour of a super kooky tie-dye shirt and Seventies-inspired glasses

Jumpsuit for my love: Other stars to grace the show included fashion royalty Claudia Schiffer, 46, who was showing off her age-defying style and good looks in a stunning denim one-piece which she paired with flats

Stylish: Her long blonde locks were worn in cascading curls over her shoulders while she peeled a pair of over-sized, Sixities-inspired white sunglasses over her ageless complexion

The sidewalk as a catwalk: Claudia strutted out of the event in her finery

Yet more Hollywood fabulous came in the form of Tilda Swinton, who shunned her typical androgynous look in favour of a soft and stylish cream tweed jacket with a pair of billowing Palazzo pants with a flesh-flashing chiffon material and delicately pleated style.

Fashion week stalwart Julianne Moore looked far younger than her 56 years as she dazzled in a chic mini dress which made the most of her taut and toned legs. She wore her trademark flame red locks in loose waves while keeping her make-up light and dewy to best show off her complexion.

Joining festivities was Lily Collins who went super low-key in a pair of jeans while she paired the look with a stunning embellished top with frayed tweed sitting on the arms - in a nod to some of Chanel's hallmarks.

Blonde beauty: Yet more Hollywood fabulous came in the form of Tilda Swinton, who shunned her typical androgynous look in favour of a soft and stylish cream tweed jacket with a pair of billowing Palazzo pants complete with a flesh-flashing chiffon material and delicately pleated style

Drinking in the view: Tilda sat close to Katy Perry while taking in the very latest designs

Glowing: Fashion week stalwart Julianne Moore looked years younger than her 56 as she kept her make-up light and dewy to best show off her complexion.

Stunner: The Still Alice star dazzled in a chic mini dress which made the most of her taut and toned legs

She was undoubtedly a shock addition to the arrivals due to her super low-key ensemble - with denim undoubtedly a cardinal FROW sin - particularly during Haute Couture week.

Thankfully adding a touch of glamour to the look was her staggering black strappy heels while the sparkling top and fringed sleeves was another sparkling touch to the look.

She wore a smudged smokey eye while allowing her brunette locks to fall in loose waves falling over her shoulders in a chest-tickling length - perfect for her tried-and-tested effortless look.

Exquisite! Karl Lagerfeld opted to build a giant replica of the Eiffel Tower under the glass roof of the Grand Palais

Leading the stars: Joining festivities was Lily Collins who went super low-key in a pair of jeans while she paired the look with a stunning embellished top with frayed tweed sitting on the arms - in a nod to some of Chanel's hallmarks

Beauty look: She wore a smudged smokey eye while allowing her brunette locks to fall in loose waves falling over her shoulders in a chest-tickling length - perfect for her tried-and-tested effortless look

Casual at the tower: While Lily's outfit was low-key, the setting was spectacular and made a statement while she posed in front of the camera

Out and a pout: Despite gaining momentous kudos as an actress, she is clearly adept at taking on the role of a fashionista

Slinky: Arizona Muse was later seen leaving the show in a trendy monochrome jumpsuit of varying animal print

Flying the flag for the UK was Kaya Scodelario who was oozing understated elegance, as she showed off a glimpse of her tanned and toned pins in a striped metallic skirt. The two-piece featured a pretty terracotta tone, entwined with gold stripes which was reflected in her owl-embellished Chanel handbag.

In his trademark monochrome getup, Karl proudly displayed his Grand Vermeil medal, Paris' highest distinction, which he had been given by the mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, with whom he posed on arrival.

Other stars joining the early arrivals included frequent Chanel model Caroline de Maigret, who was also opting for a more casual look than many in white pallazo pants with a fitted navy top.

Chic: Flying the flag for the UK was Kaya Scodelario who was oozing understated elegance, Kaya showed off a glimpse of her tanned and toned pins in a striped metallic skirt. The two-piece featured a pretty terracotta tone, entwined with gold stripes which was reflected in her owl-embellished Chanel handbag

Man of the moment: In his trademark monochrome getup, Karl proudly displayed his Grand Vermeil medal, Paris' highest distinction, which he had been given by the mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, with whom he posed on arrival

Look at me! Karl was on hand to meet guests, who were naturally praising him

A vision: It was clear to see why he was feted for his work as the models strutted down the catwalk

Alongside Caroline was Israeli model Shlomit Malka who opted for a fitted skirt and sleeveless shirt with a Chanel belt cinching in her waist while Liu Wen was in jeans and a T-shirt - hinting at a casual air to the runway show.

Guardians And Of The Galaxy beauty Pom Klementieff was looking sleek in a tweed jacket with cropped black jeans - once again a nod to the denim looks - complete with slashed bottoms while 17-year-old My Golden Days actress Lily Taieb showed off a more mature style in brown velvet trousers and a clashing velvet blazer.

As the models descended along the runway, the French theme was clear to see with flouncy dresses and pork-pie hats providing a vintage edge while thigh-high PVC boots paired with see-through heels giving a contrasting modern vibe - once again a mark of Karl Lagerfeld's edgy vision.

Navy and white: Other stars joining the early arrivals included frequent Chanel model Caroline de Maigret, Israeli model Shlomit Malka and Liu Wen - with all the stars appearing relatively casual in an array of flats, jeans and T-shirts

Sensational: The vast area was occupied by the gigantic tower which dwarfed the volumunious designs beneath

Suited and booted: Guardians And Of The Galaxy beauty Pom Klementieff was looking sleek in a tweed jacket with cropped black jeans complete with slashed bottoms while 17-year-old My Golden Days actress Lily Taieb showed off a more mature style in brown trousers

Kooky: French singer Sebastien Tellier and his stunning wife Amandine de La Richardiere were casual yet sophisticated in a duo of quirky ensembles

Dressing it up: In Paris actress Joana Preiss, Eyes Find Eyes star Alma Jodorowsky and Tracee Ellis Ross (left-right) were wholly more dressed up than their peers as they opted for dazzling ensembles - yet Traces could not resist giving a nod to the denim theme in her jazzy white jeans with a frayed trim

Brilliant and bridal: One of the sartorial sensations saw a bridal-themed gown with a frothy hem and sleeves and a bow fastened under the bust while the stunning model had a veil attached at the nape of her neck

A vision in white: The bridal gown was possibly one of the most showstopping of the entire show

Standing ovation: Karl was given raptuous applause by the fashionistas and style critics from all around the world

Invites: 'To illustrate the invitation Karl Lagerfeld chose a 1926 painting of "La Tour Eiffel" by Robert Delaunay

A blog post ahead of the show read: 'For the set of the FallWinter 2017/18 Haute Couture collection, Karl Lagerfeld came up with the idea of building a replica of the tower under the glass roof of the Grand Palais...

'The House artistic director chose the model Camille Hurel to introduce the FallWinter 2017/18 Haute Couture collection...

'To illustrate the invitation to the FallWinter 2017/18 Haute Couture show, Karl Lagerfeld chose a 1926 painting of "La Tour Eiffel" by Robert Delaunay. The Cubist work expressed the artist's resistance to mainstream artistic opinion of the day, which wanted to see the tower demolished.

'The Eiffel Tower has become a symbol of avant-garde modernity and a source of inspiration for countless artists who still use it as a model.'

Wow! As ever the stage was as spectacular as the clothes, with a gigantic Eiffel Tower recreated in the centre of the runway

Sensational: As the models descended along the runway, the French theme was clear to see with flouncy dresses and pork-pie hats providing a vintage edge while thigh-high PVC boots paired with see-through perspex heels giving a contrasting modern vibe - once again a mark of Karl Lagerfeld's edgy vision

Need for tweed: As ever the hallmarks of Chanel complete with tweed and classic shapes

More colourful: Far from the scanty ensembles seen along many runways, the Chanel show was more based on suggestion as one outfit saw a model sports a volumunious skirt with a heavy jacket lines with flowers and a pork pie hat

Tweedy: The most colourful looks boasted flower adornments and huge skirts - yet displayed the model's waist thanks to the tailored silhouette

Spectacular: The replica of the Eiffel tower was nothing short of sensational
He's suffered a few health scares in the last year.

But on Tuesday, Patti Newton assured fans that her TV legend husband Bert Newton, 78, was in good shape.

Taking to Instagram, the 72-year-old slammed Woman's Day for suggesting Bert was 'dying' and had been 'crying'.

'He's not dying': On Tuesday, Patti Newton (left) slammed Woman's Day for suggesting her TV legend husband Bert (right) was 'dying' and had been 'crying'

'Who ever took this photo caught (Bert) having a sneeze, not tears!' Patti wrote.

'He's not dying and it's sad he couldn't sneeze in peace.'

The photo of the Gold Logie winner sneezing was featured on the cover of this week's Woman's Day.

'It's sad he couldn't sneeze in peace': Patti, 72, claimed the photograph of Bert, 78, on the latest cover of Woman's Day actually showed in him sneezing, not in tears

The front page headline read: 'The truth behind Bert's tears'.

Earlier this year, Woman's Day reported Patti held grave concerns for her husband after his recent health scare.

She is 'terrified that this time he won't make it,' reported the publication as Bert battled pneumonia.

'Terrified this time he won't make it': Earlier this year, Woman's Day reported Patti held grave concerns for her husband after his recent health scare

But just last month Bert confirmed he was feeling like his old self again.

'I'm feeling better now. It took a while,' he told The Daily Telegraph.

'I didn't realise until I copped it the first time that pneumonia is such a serious thing, but I'm feeling better now.'
She always turns heads with her stylish ensembles.

And Nicole Scherzinger rocked a vintage vibe as she touched down at London's Heathrow airport on Tuesday.

Paying homage to the 90s, the 39-year-old X Factor judge rocked a white rara skirt as she strolled through the terminal.

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Looking good: She always turns heads with her stylish ensembles. And Nicole Scherzinger rocked a vintage vibe as she touched down at London's Heathrow airport on Tuesday

Flashing a hint of her toned stomach, the star also displayed her tanned and toned pins in the garment, which featured crochet detailing.

She teamed the tiny skirt with a white T-shirt that complemented her glowing complexion, whilst she slipped her feet into fringed sliders.

Turning heads with her accessories, Nicole donned a large straw trilby hat and slung a brown handbag over her shoulder.

Nicole was jetting back from her girls' holiday to Mykonos, where she shared a plethora of sizzling bikini snaps.

Cream of the crop! Paying homage to the 90s, the 39-year-old X Factor judge rocked a white rara skirt as she strolled through the terminal

All about the accessories: Turning heads with her accessories, Nicole donned a large straw trilby hat and slung a brown handbag over her shoulder

Her mini break came after she got to work in Edinburgh filming the next stint of the X Factor auditions with her co-judges Louis Walsh and Simon Cowell.

Alesha Dixon was forced to step in after Sharon Osbourne suffered from back problems.

The Britain's Got Talent's judge is no stranger to the panel after she filled in for Nicole at the Manchester auditions beforehand because of a reported diary clash.

Legs eleven! Flashing a hint of her toned stomach, the star also displayed her tanned and toned pins in the garment, which featured crochet detailing

At the time, a source told The Sun: 'Alesha is guest-judging for the first day of the Manchester auditions as Nicole is unable to film that day due to a previous diary commitment.

'Everyone is gutted that Nicole won't be joining them, but Alesha has a wealth of experience from her role on BGT and her own pop career so will do a great job filling in.'

While she missed the first day of shooting in Manchester, she made a striking appearance the following day.

Music mogul Simon set his heart on bringing back the same judges as 2016 for the first time in seven years of the show.
It was recently reported that she has infuriated her Montecito neighbours with her plans to build an incredible 14,000-square-foot-mansion.

Now brushing her planning woes aside, Gwyneth Paltrow, 44, looked as though she didn't have a care in the world while sauntering through the streets of Milan on Monday.

The Oscar-winning actress looked positively darling in her blue shirt dress that showcased her lean pins to perfection while she navigated the city's side-streets as she indulged in a spot of retail therapy.

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Dressed to impress: Gwyneth Paltrow, 44, looked as though she didn't have a care in the world while sauntering through the streets of Milan on Monday

Her chic garment featured eye-catching ruffle detail across the torso, collar and down her bust while she accompanied her children Apple, 13, and Moses, 11, in the idyllic city ahead of her ex-husband Chris Martin's Coldplay show.

The blonde bombshell's fashion forward ensemble amplified her golden glow while it skimmed her slender frame as she made her way to her waiting car in a pair of studded white trainers.

Taking style inspiration from the European fashion capital, she worked her glossy mane into a low chignon as she covered her facial features with a pair of oversized shades.

She accessorised her look with a stack of gold and silver bangles while she followed her camo-pant-clad son into their car.

Pin-credible! The Oscar-winning actress looked positively darling in her blue shirt dress that showcased her lean pins to perfection while she navigated the city's side-streets as she indulged in a spot of retail therapy

Her sartorial display comes after it was reported that she has made her neighbours in Montecito, California see red with plans to build a mega mansion.

The Santa Barbara Independent reported last year that the Iron Man star bought two neighbouring estates in the district and has now been cleared for plans to build a new mansion across both sites.

Speaking to Page Six, one of her neighbours insisted the new home is 'too big, too tall and incompatible with the adjacent houses, and it blocks their views'.

Gwyneth, who also owns homes in New York and London, has left neighbours enraged after plans for the home were cleared despite claims the home is still 'too tall' - after the star claimed to have lowered the home by eight feet.

On the move: Her sartorial display comes after it was reported that she has made her neighbours in Montecito, California see red with plans to build a mega mansion

Andrew Rice, a spokesman for one neighbor, Michael MacElhenny, told Page Six: 'Shes created an uproar with neighbors on all three sides. Michael and the other neighbors have tried to work with her, and theyve gotten nowhere'.

The representative is insistent the star has only lowered the home by one foot and he claims the project has been given the go-ahead based on false information.

MailOnline has contacted a representative for Gwyneth for comment.

Troubles: The SantaBarbara Independent reported last year that the 44-year-old Iron Man star bought two neighbouring estates in the district and has now been cleared for plans to build a 14,000-square-foot mansion across both sites

Happier times: Speaking to Page Six, one of her neighbours insisted the new home is 'too big, too tall and incompatible with the adjacent houses, and it blocks their views'

When she purchased the home for a near $5million price tag last year, it was reported she needed to extensive work, which already boasted four bedrooms, four bathrooms, a large pool and more than two acres of land.

In 2014, Gwyneth left neighbours surrounding her Brentwood home furious, which she published in 2012 for $10m with ex-husband Chris Martin, fuming when she proposed erecting a nine foot gate over their property.

Neighbour Hilda McGonigle told Radar at the time: 'Its a really active community, but we dont see much of them.

'When they moved in they had Do Not Trespass signs put up at their school and all over their property. Then they had the big gates put in and four layers of trees.'

Happy days: In 2014, Gwyneth left neighbours surrounding her Brentwood home, which she published in 2012 for $10m with ex-husband Chris Martin, fuming when she proposed erecting a nine foot gate over their property

In 2013 a complaint was filed with the Los Angeles Department Of Building And Safety to lower the black barriers, but the couple has yet to do anything, making them eligible for a $900 fine.

But the worst of it was the months and months of heavy construction that caused traffic and noise on the sleepy street.

'There was always work being done at the house,' a neighbour who didn't want to be identified said. 'I only got annoyed when the workmen would illegally park in my driveway and they hadnt even spoken to me about it.'
She confirmed she is pregnant with her third child in June, less than a year after giving birth to her second daughter.

And Luisa Zissman showed off her blossoming baby bump as she joined her reality star pal Sam Faiers, 26, for a day out in London with their children on Monday.

The former The Apprentice star, 30, looked positively glowing as she let her rounded stomach take centre stage in a fuchsia pink top.

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Bumping along: Luisa Zissman, 30, showed off her blossoming baby bump as she joined her pal Sam Faiers, 26, for a walk in London on Monday

On trend as ever, the entrepreneur opted for comfort in a pair of stylish ripped jeans and colourful pumps.

The pregnant star let her hair down in a poker straight fashion, adding a hint of glamour with her eye-catching bracelet.

Luisa was joined by her youngest daughter Indigo, 10 months, good pal Sam and Sam's baby son Paul, 18 months, for her walk in the capital, where the girls treated themselves to tasty milkshakes.

Former TOWIE beauty Sam kept it casual in an unbuttoned denim shirt and white tee for their catch up.

Maternal: The former Apprentice star and her TOWIE pal looked every inch the doting mothers as they ferried their kids around in the prams

The reality star went make-up free to showcase her naturally striking features for the girls' low-key day out.

In good company, the pair looked every inch the doting mothers as they pushed their young children in prams.

Luisa broke the news she is expecting a baby girl on Instagram in June, just 10 months on from the birth of Indigo.

She added the simple caption: 'Girl gang', before saying she 'always wanted girls never boys!'

Luisa is mum to Dixie, seven, who she shares with her ex husband Oliver Zissman, and 10-month-old Indigo Esme Collins, who she raises with her husband.

Good news! Luisa, who is already mum to daughters Dixie, seven, and Indigo, 10 months, recently announced she is expecting a baby girl

Happy days! The entrepreneur proudly showed off her growing stomach in a skimpy bikini in a recent Instagram picture

The former The Apprentice star started dating her husband Andrew Collins in late 2013, a few months after she found was propelled into stardom on The Apprentice.

The Irish business tycoon proposedwith a 1.5million ring in Paris, France, in October 2014 before they tied the knot in Cannes in July 2015.

Before announcing the news, Luisa revealed it was her dream to have another baby girl to add to her brood in a recent interview with OK! magazine.

She told the publication: My dream is to have four daughters who are all really into horse riding, like me.

'Im not sure Id know what to do with a boy!
It's the biggest free concert of the year in the U.S., held on the west lawn of the United States Capitol Building in Washington, D.C., to celebrate Independence Day on July 4th.

And Dan Aykroyd, 65, has been busy practising his best moves for his Blues Brothers performance during the dress rehearsal for A Capitol Fourth.

Dressed in a dapper top hat and suit, the Saturday Night Live actor looked dashing as he boogied away on stage with Jim Belushi, 63.

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Busy man: Dan Aykroyd, 65, has been busy practising his Blues Brothers performance for A Capitol Fourth, which is held on the west lawn of the United States Capitol Building in Washington, D.C., to celebrate Independence Day

Dan is famed for his Blues Brothers soul act, which he founded in 1978 with John Belushi.

After John's death in 1982, Dan continued to perform with a rotation of musicians and guest performers.

Jim is the younger brother of John, and has stepped up to fill his brother's shoes for the iconic act.

Looking good! Dressed in a dapper top hat and suit, the Saturday Night Live actor looked dashing as he boogied away on stage with Jim Belushi, 63

Iconic: Dan is famed for his Blues Brothers soul act, which he founded in 1978 with John Belushi

The pair looked like they were having a ball as they belted out hits in the smart costumes of the act.

Donning dark sunglasses, the duo looked cool as they jived around on stage.

Also joining the boys in rehearsals was country music star Kellie Pickler, who looked stunning in a red dress.

Too cool: The pair looked like they were having a ball as they belted out hits in the smart costumes of the act. Donning dark sunglasses, the duo looked cool as they jived around on stage

Getting it perfect: The boys were spotted practising in their everyday attire before slipping into their famous costumes

Beautiful: Also joining the boys in rehearsals was country music star Kellie Pickler, who looked stunning in a red dress

Lady in red: Kellie wore her blonde hair in curls, and looked beautiful as she practised for the big night

Mike Love of The Beach Boys also looked trendy in a colourful patterned shirt, and posed with The Four Tops backstage of rehearsals.

The Four Tops are a legendary vocal quartet from Detroit, Michigan, who defined the city's Motown sound in the 1960's.

Adding to the eclectic feel of the upcoming performance, Star Wars droids were also seen in rehearsals to become part of the big night.

Lads: Mike Love of The Beach Boys also looked trendy in a colourful patterned shirt, and posed with The Four Tops backstage of rehearsals

Eclectic mix: Adding to the eclectic feel of the upcoming performance, Star Wars droids were also seen in rehearsals to become part of the big night

A Capitol Fourth is heard and seen by millions across the United States of America each year, as it is broadcast live on major channels PBS, NPR and American Forces Network.

The concert traditionally features elements of the 3rd U.S. Infantry Element, The U.S. Army Band, the National Symphony Orchestra, and the Choral Arts Society of Washington, who provide the music for the celebrity acts.

A celebrity host and a variety of guests will entertain and pay tribute to their country throughout the evening.

Important night: A Capitol Fourth is heard and seen by millions across the United States of America each year, as it is broadcast live on major channels PBS, NPR and American Forces Network
She is one of the most beautiful women in Hollywood.

So it's no surprise Julianne Moore courted attention as she arrived at the Chanel showcase as part of Paris Haute Couture Fashion Week at the French capital's Grand Palais on Tuesday.

Taking centre stage, the actress, 56, dazzled in an eye-catching embellished fringe dress, complete with beaded tassels.

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Dazzling: Julianne Moore courted attention as she arrived at the Chanel showcase as part of Paris Haute Couture Fashion Week at the French capital's Grand Palais on Tuesday

The Oscar winner flaunted her envy-inducing legs in the thigh-skimming garment as she posed under Karl Lagerfeld's giant replica of the Eiffel Tower.

Adding a hint of drama, the Still Alice star accentuated her age-defying beauty with smokey make-up.

The Hollywood redhead let her gorgeous flame-haired locks down in soft waves for the occasion.

Centre stage: Taking centre stage, the actress, 56, dazzled in an eye-catching embellished fringe dress, complete with beaded tassels

Natural beauty: The Hollywood redhead let her gorgeous flame-haired locks down in soft waves for the occasion

Keeping her accessories simple with a classic black handbag, Julianne walked with poise in pointed sky-scraper heels.

The superstars were out in force for Tuesday's Chanel fashion show during Paris Haute Couture Fashion Week to debut the FallWinter 2017/18 collection.

A blog post ahead of the show read: 'For the set of the FallWinter 2017/18 Haute Couture collection, Karl Lagerfeld came up with the idea of building a replica of the tower under the glass roof of the Grand Palais...

'The House artistic director chose the model Camille Hurel to introduce the FallWinter 2017/18 Haute Couture collection...

Sitting pretty: Julianne shared a giggle with her Still Alice co-star Kristen Stewart in the FROW

Double chic: Julianne flashed a huge smile while Kristen kept a straight face

Wow! As ever the stage was as spectacular as the clothes, with a gigantic Eiffel Tower recreated in the centre of the runway

'To illustrate the invitation to the FallWinter 2017/18 Haute Couture show, Karl Lagerfeld chose a 1926 painting of "La Tour Eiffel" by Robert Delaunay.

'The Cubist work expressed the artist's resistance to mainstream artistic opinion of the day, which wanted to see the tower demolished.

'The Eiffel Tower has become a symbol of avant-garde modernity and a source of inspiration for countless artists who still use it as a model.'

Julianne established herself as a leading Hollywood actress in 1995 flick Nine Months and 1997 movie The Lost World: Jurassic Park.

She received Oscar nominations for her roles in Boogie Nights (1997), The End of the Affair (1999), Far from Heaven (2002) and The Hours (2002).

Exquisite! Karl Lagerfeld opted to build a giant replica of the Eiffel Tower under the glass roof of the Grand Palais

The flame-haired beauty scooped the Oscar for her moving performance in Still Alice in 2014.

Julianne married actor and stage director John Gould Rubin in a romantic ceremony in 1986.

The former flames were separated in 1993 and their divorce was finalised in August 1995.

Sensational: As the models descended on the runway, the French theme was clear to see with flouncy dresses and pork-pie hats providing a vintage edge

Brilliant and bridal: One of the sartorial sensations saw a bridal-themed gown with a frothy hem and sleeves and a bow fastened under the bust

Julianne put her heartache behind her when she struck up a blossoming relationship with her now-husband Bart Freundlich in 1996.

The award-winning actress welcomed their son Caleb, now 19, into the world the following year in 1997 and their daughter Liv, now 17, in 2002.

The lovebirds married in August 2003 and now live in New York City together where they raised their children.

Need for tweed: As ever the hallmarks of Chanel complete with tweed and classic shapes
She rose to fame for her role in Skins, before branching out to the big screen in Pirates Of The Caribbean.

And Kaya Scodelario proved she was also a force to be reckoned with in the style stakes, as she attended the Haute Couture Fashion Week in Paris on Tuesday.

The British actress, 25, showed off her enviable figure in a chic ensemble as she arrived at the Chanel AW17 show.

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Turning heads: Kaya Scodelario proved she was also a force to be reckoned with in the style stakes, as she attended the Haute Couture Fashion Week in Paris on Tuesday

Oozing understated elegance, Kaya showed off a glimpse of her tanned and toned pins in a striped metallic skirt.

The frock featured a pretty terracotta tone, entwined with gold stripes which was reflected in her owl-embellished Chanel clutch bag.

Teaming the ensemble with a simple navy T-shirt and strappy black sandals, she shared a glimpse of the snake tattoo on her ankle.

Legs for days! The British actress, 25, showed off her enviable figure in a chic ensemble as she arrived at the Chanel AW17 show

Wearing her brunette hair in loose waves around her face, she rocked a bold red lip and a hint of blusher.

Kaya has been busy promoting her latest flick Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales star.

Back in December, The Maze Runner started her own family with husband Benjamin Walker, when they welcomed a son into the world.

Benjamin and Kaya met on the set of The Moon and The Sun and got engaged in December 2014 after just a few months of dating.

The pair married the following year, before announcing they were expecting in June 2016 with a sweet social media snap of Ben cradling her blossoming bump.

Designer's own! The frock featured a pretty terracotta tone, entwined with gold stripes which was reflected in her owl-embellished Chanel clutch bag

Stunning: Kaya later made a very striking outfit change as she arrived at the Chanel new perfume release party during Paris Fashion Week Haute Couture Collection

Fashionista: The midriff-cinching number boasted gold glittering detailing and showed off her long, lean legs

Here come the girls: Leading the stars were Chanel muses Cara Delevingne and Kristen Stewart alongside pop star Katy Perry, with all the ladies rocking matching buzzcuts,

Back at the show, the superstars were out in force for Tuesday's Chanel fashion show during Paris Haute Couture Fashion Week to debut the FallWinter 2017/18 Haute Couture collection, during which Karl Lagerfeld opted to build a giant replica of the Eiffel Tower under the glass roof of the Grand Palais.

Leading the stars were Chanel muses Cara Delevingne and Kristen Stewart alongside pop star Katy Perry, with all the ladies rocking matching buzzcuts, as they made a stunning display with Cara, 24, going braless, Kristen, 27, opting for a dazzling sequinned unitard while the Katy, 32, sported a chic patterned two-piece comprising of a soft jacket and tight shorts.

As the models descended along the runway, the French theme was clear to see with flouncy dresses and pork-pie hats providing a vintage edge while thigh-high PVC boots paired with see-through heels giving a contrasting modern vibe - once again a mark of Karl Lagerfeld's edgy vision.

Comparing hairdressing tips? Inside the event, Katy and Cara caught up as they put on an animated display

Leading the stars: Joining festivities Lily Collins who went super low-key in a pair of jeans while she paired the look with a stunning embellished top with frayed tweed sitting on the arms - in a nod to some of Chanel's hallmarks

Exquisite! Karl Lagerfeld opted to build a giant replica of the Eiffel Tower under the glass roof of the Grand Palais

A blog post ahead of the show read: 'For the set of the FallWinter 2017/18 Haute Couture collection, Karl Lagerfeld came up with the idea of building a replica of the tower under the glass roof of the Grand Palais...

'The House artistic director chose the model Camille Hurel to introduce the FallWinter 2017/18 Haute Couture collection...

'To illustrate the invitation to the FallWinter 2017/18 Haute Couture show, Karl Lagerfeld chose a 1926 painting of "La Tour Eiffel" by Robert Delaunay. The Cubist work expressed the artist's resistance to mainstream artistic opinion of the day, which wanted to see the tower demolished.

'The Eiffel Tower has become a symbol of avant-garde modernity and a source of inspiration for countless artists who still use it as a model.'

Standing ovation: Karl was given raptuous applause by the fashionistas and style critics from all around the world

More colourful: Far from the scanty ensembles seen along many runways, the Chanel show was more based on suggestion as one outfit saw a model sports a volumunious skirt with a heavy jacket lines with flowers and a pork pie hat
She has made it through to Sunday night's House Rules grand final.

However, the victory may have come at a price for contestant Daniella Winter.

The 38-year-old told The Daily Telegraph on Wednesday the intense physical labour took its toll and she even reached a point where her body was shutting down.

'My body just was not coping': House Rules star Daniella Winter revealed the intense physical labour took its toll on her and she even reached a point where her body was shutting down

'My body just was not coping with the physical side of things - you're shoveling, pulling wheelbarrows, you're pulling down walls, you're doing all the hard physical labour,' she said.

With filming taking place just three months after giving birth to her second son via cesarean, Daniella admitted she was too 'stubborn' to consult her doctor before taking on the challenge.

'My body was breaking down. There was just no sleep so the sleep deprivation - I almost felt like I was going a bit loopy. I felt very out of control,' she continued.

Wrong decision? With filming taking place three months after giving birth to her second son, Daniella admitted she was too 'stubborn' to consult her doctor before taking on the challenge

Too much pressure: 'My body was breaking down. There was just no sleep so the sleep deprivation - I almost felt like I was going a bit loopy. I felt very out of control,' she confessed

On Monday, the Queensland native told New Idea magazine that she was unable to have any more children.

'We can't get pregnant again,' she confirmed.

'We have to make the decision of either my body breaking down or more children.'

Tough: 'We have to make the decision of either my body breaking down or more children'

Family: Daniella and husband Aaron are proud parents to sons Jaxon, three, and Brooklyn, one

Daniella and her husband Aaron, 31, are already parents to sons Jaxon, three, and one-year-old Brooklyn.

After splitting three abs during the final stages of her pregnancy, Daniella was forced into an emergency C-section at 38 weeks.

Despite being told to take several months off any strenuous work to allow her body to recover, the couple learned they'd been accepted by House Rules.

Post-pregnancy: Despite being told to take several months off any strenuous work to allow Daniella's body to recover, the couple learned they'd been accepted by House Rules

However, she revealed that once the show wraps up next week they will be weighing up their options about having more children.

'I'm going to have to go back to my obstetrician and have a chat to him and see what we can do,' Daniella said.

Daniella and Aaron will go up against rivals Kate and Harry in the grand final of House Rules on Sunday night.
Despite being born a whopping six years into the decade, Bella Hadid has been digging the style of the Nineties in recent weeks.

So the 20-year-old was naturally bringing her look du jour to her off-duty looks as she attended Paris Haute Couture Fashion Week on Tuesday, as she stepped out in an incredibly stylish crop top and trouser combo.

Ensuring her sensational figure was on full display, the sister of fellow supermodel Gigi sported the skin-tight top which gave a generous glimpse of her abs while going for a punky addition with her tartan trousers.

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Chic: Despite being born a whopping six years into the decade, Bella Hadid has been digging the style of the Nineties in recent weeks, as illustrated during an outing in Paris on Tuesday

Bella was flashing her incredible abs in a tiny white crop top as she stepped out looking sensational in the Nineties meets punk style.

Adding a splash of funky detail to the look she sported tartan trousers adorned with buckles and fastenings and fastened with a high-waisted front which only further displayed her incredibly flat stomach.

Sure to not overheat in the bright sunshine, she toted a cropped leather jacket in her hand which was perfect for her punky look.

Boosting her already staggering height, she sported a pair of white pointed heels which lengthened her legs while also coordinating with her top.

Sexy stuff: The 20-year-old was naturally bringing her look du jour to her off-duty looks as she attended Paris Haute Couture Fashion Week, as she stepped out in an incredibly stylish crop top and trouser combo

Wowzers: Bella was flashing her incredible abs in a tiny white crop top as she stepped out looking sensational in the Nineties meets punk style

Adding to her retro style was her newly sheared bob which skimmed her shoulders in length while falling from a perfectly placed side parting.

Attention to detail was key as she clutched her red iPhone atop her wide-rimmed sunglasses with a black frame.

Showing her brand loyalty, she clutched a Christian Dior handbag - in a nod to the designer for whom she is currently a spokeswoman.

Just hours before her outing, the stunning star was spotted at the 'Christian Dior, couturier du reve' Exhibition Launch celebrating 70 years of creation at Musee Des Arts Decoratifs on Monday evening.

Sporting an exquisite gown from the French fashion house, she was seen enjoying the fun and frolics of the evening with a glass of champagne in one hand and a cigarette in the other while she got close to a pal.

Her sheer dress looked simply sensational as she draped herself across a balcony while the happy pair giggled and sipped on a drink.

In the midst of her whirlwind week, the stunning star also walked for Miu Miu on Sunday alongside her best pal Kendall Jenner.
She has just penned her autobiography Brand New Me which gives followers an insight into her rollercoaster life.

And Charlotte Crosby was out in full force promoting her book and signing copies for fans outside a WH Smith in Birmingham on Tuesday afternoon.

Dressed to impress, the former Geordie Shore personality, 27, flaunted her legs in a thigh-skimming playsuit as she greeted her excitable fans.

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Looking leggy: Charlotte Crosby dressed to impress when she promoted her new book and signed copies for fans outside a WH Smith in Birmingham on Tuesday afternoon

The reality star teased a glimpse of her ample assets in the daring low-cut neckline of the checkered garment.

Walking with grace, the Celebrity Big Brother winner courted attention in her sky-scraper ruffled heels.

Charlotte threw a denim jacket, complete with decorative embroidered roses around her shoulders to complete her summery look.

Windswept, the Just Tattoo Of Us host left her locks loose in tousled waves and completed her look with a light touch of makeup.

Walking with grace! The Celebrity Big Brother winner, 27, courted attention in her sky-scraper ruffled heels and tiny playsuit

In her new book, Charlotte discusses her struggle with body confidence, her love life and ectopic pregnancy last April.

It is her second autobiography is the follow up to her first title, Me Me Me.

The party enthusiast discussed her battle with depression following her medical condition last year On Monday's episode of ITV's This Morning.

Charlotte, who was in a relationship with Gary 'Gaz' Beadle at the time, told Holly Willoughby: 'It was an awful thing to go through it. I was shooting a promo for Georgie Shore when I felt like I was being stabbed inside.

Storytelling: Charlotte discusses her struggle with body confidence, her love life and ectopic pregnancy last April in her new book

'It's the worst pain. I just thought it was a bad period but the blood was thin and watery. So I got help,' she revealed, before confirming: 'But I can still have children.'

Now she is very loved-up with Ex On The Beach hunk Stephen Bear, 27, who she fell madly in love with on the set of their reality show Just Tattoo Of Us.

The lovebirds are planning to take their relationship up a notch and get their first place together.

They went public with their romance in February and have been dating for five blissful months.

The Geordie Shore star confessed she knew he was Mr Right when they were enjoying a sun-soaked holiday abroad in Barcelona.
She's a television favourite, having co-hosted Sunrise from 2002 to 2013.

And now Melissa Doyle is being credited by TV executives for the recent ratings success of Sunday Night, Channel Seven's rival to Nine's 60 Minutes.

The 47-year-old plays an important role in landing exclusive interviews, The Daily Telegraph reported on Wednesday, with a source saying: 'Mel has a very strong brand.'

'She has a very strong brand': Melissa Doyle (pictured) is being credited by TV executives for the recent ratings success of Sunday Night, Channel Seven's rival to Nine's 60 Minutes

'Mel has a very strong brand, built up over the years,' said the TV insider. 'She really leads the show as a reporter and a stable host.'

They added: 'Mel has a reputation for being a very compassionate interviewer; she doesn't attack the talent, which makes them comfortable.'

The Daily Telegraph reported that Sunday Night is getting better ratings than 60 Minutes so far this year.

Familiar face: The 47-year-old plays an important role in landing exclusive interviews, The Daily Telegraph reported on Wednesday, with a source saying: 'Mel has a very strong brand'

Approximately 774,000 viewers watched Sunday Night last weekend, compared to about 687,000 watching 60 Minutes.

The publication noted Melissa was the reason London terror attack survivor Candice Hedge gave an interview to Sunday Night, despite 60 Minutes offering a higher bid.

Candice's family reportedly wanted her to sit down with Melissa instead, because she's more 'compassionate.'

Speaking to Daily Mail at the Australian Commercial Radio Awards last year, Melissa explained that showing emotion was part of being 'true to myself.'

Golden girl! Sunday Night is reportedly getting better ratings than 60 Minutes so far this year

'As a journalist, I have tried really hard to be true to myself and to do the stories and tell stories in a way that I hold dear,' she explained at the time.

'The day that I don't feel when I do some of the stories, and that I am so heartless that I don't cry is properly the day I should give it up and go and do something else.

'I hope I never, ever leave particular stories or particular interviews and not feel the depth of emotion that is in that story at that time,' Melissa continued.

'If that ever happens, then it is time to go and do something else.'

Success: Speaking to Daily Mail at the Australian Commercial Radio Awards last year, Melissa explained that showing emotion on television was part of being 'true to myself'

In terms of being a role model to other women in a male-dominated industry, Melissa said the prospect was an 'honour'.

During her 20 year career as a journalist, Melissa has covered major events, such as the 2006 Beaconsfield Mine collapse, the Royal Wedding and the 2014 Sydney siege.

Last year, Melissa was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia for her contribution across broadcast media and charity.
She recently broke off her engagement to rugby league player Trent Merrin after a three-year relationship.

And Sally Fitzgibbons, 26, has revealed how she is dealing with the split, telling The Daily Telegraph she is simply focusing on the things she feels passionate about.

'I have so many exciting things on the horizon, so for me that is my focus,' the professional surfer said on Wednesday.

Moving on: Sally Fitzgibbons has revealed how she is dealing with her split from Trent Merrin, telling the Daily Telegraph she is simply focusing on the things she feels passionate about

'There are the things that I'm passionate about and that is what I try to stick to thinking about,' she said.

Sally and Trent enjoyed a whirlwind romance. They started dating in 2014 before becoming engaged the following year.

Trent proposed to his blonde girlfriend during a romantic trip to Vanuatu.

Moving on: 'There are the things that I'm passionate about and that is what I try to stick to thinking about', she explained

It didn't work out! Speaking to Channel Nine's Today show back in February, Sally said they planned to tie the knot by the end of the year

Speaking to Channel Nine's Today show back in February, Sally said they planned to tie the knot by the end of the year.

But with much more free time on her hands, the beach babe has been focusing her energy on giving back to the community.

Currently raising money through her Sally Fitzgibbons Foundation, she is working hard to combat the children's obesity epidemic in Australia.

Charitable causes: But with much more free time on her hands, the beach babe has been focusing her energy on giving back to the community

Speaking to Daily Mail Australia in December 2015, Sally explained it was a vision she'd had for a long time.

'It's about trying to empower and energise future generations, I want them to get outdoors, get active, and just try to get the most out of their bodies and then the most out of life,' she said.

Hoping to raise $100,000, Sally plans to use the money to donate skipping ropes and other fitness educational materials to young Australians.
She once admitted there's nothing she likes more than than watching TV at home with her husband.

But Joanne Froggatt and James Cannon's love for sport clearly prevailed on Tuesday as they made their annual appearance at Wimbledon in London.

The Downton Abbey star, 36, exuded French Riviera chic in a crisp ivory shirt and elegant palazzo pants as she cosied up to her IT manager hubby of five years.

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Love all: Joanne Froggatt and James Cannon's love for sport clearly prevailed on Tuesday as they made their annual appearance at Wimbledon in London

The blonde beauty served up a style ace in the all-white ensemble, which she lent a dose of colour thanks to a pom-pom trim clutch bag.

She styled her golden tresses in polished waves and wore minimal make-up to showcase her pretty features.

James meanwhile, looked dapper in a navy blazer and white loafers, which he teamed with tan leather tasselled loafers.

Looking good: The blonde beauty certainly styled up a style ace in the all-white ensemble, which she lent a dose of colour thanks to a pom-pom trim clutch bag

Preened to perfection: She styled her golden tresses in polished waves and wore minimal make-up to showcase her pretty features

Joanne and IT director James tied the knot at a private ceremony in October 2012.

They recently moved from Buckinghamshire to Los Angeles so that she can pursue career opportunities in the US.

Speaking exclusively to The Daily Mail ahead of the 2016 Golden Globes, Yorkshire-born Joanne confessed that she and James had just made the move from the UK to Los Angeles for her career, as Downton Abbey came to an end.

'We've taken the plunge and done it. Last Tuesday we rented out our house for six months, boarded a flight to Los Angeles and here we are,' she said.

Snap happy: James looked eager as he held up his phone, ready to capture the centre-court action

Thirsty? The Downtown Abbey star, 36, took a sip of water as she spectated with her IT manager hubby of five years

Just topping up: The actress, who shielded her eyes behind round-eye shades, took a moment to apply some chapstick

Here come the girls! Joanne looked in high spirits as she mingle with supermodel Erin O'Connor and TV presenter Laura Whitmore

'We're actually homeless. We're living in a hotel until we can find ourselves somewhere to rent out here. We have some feelers out and we're assembling a list of places to view.

'I have no jobs lined up in Hollywood but there are so many opportunities to be had.

'We're going to have a little bit of a break first and then plunge right in and see what's out there. I won't be here forever.

'My home is in England. I just want to see what happens.'

Fashionista: Laura looked absolutely fabulous as she put on a leggy display in a flirty figure-hugging white dress and chic blazer

Cute couple: Joanne and IT director James. who tied the knot at a private ceremony in October 2012, recently moved from Buckinghamshire to LA so that she can pursue career opportunities

Sweet: Joanne has previously opened up about James, saying that she found it refreshing that he managed an IT company and was not in the showbiz industry

Joanne has previously opened up about James, saying that she found it refreshing that he managed an IT company and was not in the showbiz industry.

'Hes passionate about film and theatre, so we have a common interest  and hes not in the business, so its perfect,' she told The Telegraph in 2015.

The actress added that she liked nothing more than keeping a low profile and watching TV at home with him to relax.
She kept a low profile at England's Glastonbury Festival last month by wearing a variety of colourful wigs.

And Margot Robbie has once again mastered the art of disguise by going unnoticed at another music event over the weekend, The Daily Telegraph reported.

The Wolf Of Wall Street star celebrated her 27th birthday by camping out with friends at a low-key festival, El Dorado, outside of London, it is claimed.

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Repeat performance? Margot Robbie may have once again mastered the art of disguise by going unnoticed at a UK music festival over the weekend. Pictured at Glastonbury last month

Indeed, Margot's husband Tom Ackerley took to Instagram on Monday with a photo that appears to have been taken at a festival.

In the snap, the newlyweds are shown standing in a field as they watch at a colourful fireworks display.

'HBD to this Rockstar', he wrote in the caption.

Keeping a low profile? Margot's husband Tom Ackerley took to Instagram on Monday with a photo that appears to show the newlyweds at a mystery music festival

Margot flew under the radar last month when she partied at Glastonbury Festival with Suicide Squad co-star Cara Delevingne.

At one stage, Margot was seen wearing a bob-style black wig with neon glasses, before later changing into a rainbow-coloured hairpiece.

It follows rumours the Australian actress is ready for motherhood, with NW reporting Margot and Tom 'may have conceived during a trip to Hawaii in March'.

Who's that girl? Margot flew under the radar last month when she partied at England's famous Glastonbury Festival with Suicide Squad co-star Cara Delevingne

'Margot's been ready for motherhood for a while now, and Tom can't wait to be a dad,' a source reportedly told the magazine.

The insider, described as 'a friend of the couple', also claimed Margot and Tom will raise their children in Australia, where her family lives.

'She's made her mark in Hollywood and the job offers come to her now, so there's no need for her to be in LA,' they added.
She's about to set tongues wagging with her latest TV project.

But offsetting the steamy premise for her new series, Naomi Watts, 48, stepped out in a demure ensemble as she arrived at a special screening of Netflix's Gypsy in London on Monday.

The Australian beauty looked positively radiant as she worked a slinky knee-length number that skimmed her svelte figure.

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Chic: Naomi Watts, 48, stepped out in a demure ensemble as she arrived at a special screening of Netflix's Gypsy in London on Monday

Her fashion forward piece featured circular metallic accents throughout which brought an extra dimension on the black carpet.

Adding volume to her look, Naomi's statement dress featured waterfall draping over her right hip that brought an asymmetrical silhouette to her attire.

The film star kept her accessorises to a minimum, opting to slip on a pointed velvet pump that added to her diminutive height.

She worked her bob-length golden locks into a soft tousled wave while posing for photos at the exclusive screening.

Demure darling: The Australian beauty looked positively radiant as she worked a slinky knee-length number that skimmed her svelte figure

Style savvy: Naomi joined her co-star Sophie Cookson(L) and show director Sam Taylor-Johnson at the screening

A vision: Film maker Sam - who is directing the first two episodes of Gypsy - showcased her honed calves in a cream smock dress, equipped with darling pockets

Film maker Sam Taylor-Johnson - who is directing the first two episodes of Gypsy - showcased her honed calves in a cream smock dress, equipped with darling pockets.

The Fifty Shades of Grey director, 50, teamed her summer-inspired look with a pair of vibrant red sandals while her golden mane tumbled down her shoulders.

Sam and Naomi were joined at the cinematic event by co-star Sophie Cookson, 27, who was sure to stun the fashion police with her khaki sequin dress with race strip detailing across her shoulders and neckline.

The English actress is known for her role as Roxy in Kingsman: The Secret Service undertakes the part of Sidney in the new series.

Mane attraction: The Fifty Shades of Grey director, 50, teamed her summer-inspired look with a pair of vibrant red sandals while her golden mane tumbled down her shoulders

All that sparkles: Sam and Naomi were joined at the cinematic event by co-star Sophie Cookson, 27, who was sure to stun the fashion police with her khaki sequin dress with race strip detailing across her shoulders and neckline

The two-time Oscar nominee - who split with Liev Schreiber last September - plays Jean Holloway, a New York therapist who becomes a little too involved in the lives of her patients in the thrilling series.

For the first season, her character on the outside appears to have the perfect life - successful career, a spacious home in the Connecticut, a loving lawyer husband (Billy Crudup), and a bright young child.

Yet, Jean's insatiable curiosity ultimately sees her crossing ethical lines and skirting the line between professional reality and personal fantasy.

Sizzling: The English actress is known for her role as Roxy in Kingsman: The Secret Service undertakes the part of Sidney in the new series

Racy: Her show-stopping number featured a daring front slit that display her lean limbs

As the series develops, she quickly starts piecing together the fragments of her patients' admissions while beginning forbidden relationships with the people in their lives.

The Mulholland Drive actress told EW of her attraction to the a slow-burning, psychosexual thriller.

'I find an identity crisis a fascinating subject,' she explained to them. 'I grew up in a world where I was moving around a lot as a kid.

Work it! The two-time Oscar nominee - who split with Liev Schreiber last September - plays Jean Holloway, a New York therapist who becomes a little too involved in the lives of her patients in the thrilling series

Candid: For the first season, her character on the outside appears to have the perfect life - successful career, a spacious home in the Connecticut, a loving lawyer husband (Billy Crudup), and a bright young child

Green with envy: Yet, Jean's insatiable curiosity ultimately sees her crossing ethical lines and skirting the line between professional reality and personal fantasy

'When you physically move into a new environment, you have to reshape your identity in order to feel comfortable, so I think I understand that exploration of one's identity.

Adding: 'I always wanted, as a kid, to be someone else, anyone but myself That's a hard thing to admit to, but that's how I grew up.'

The entire 10-episode first series of Gypsy hit Netflix on June 30.
He enjoyed a whirlwind trip to Australia, performing on Sunday's grand finale episode of The Voice before addressing relationship rumours with Katy Perry.

And Niall Horan proved he had fans across the world, as he arrived at Narita International Airport in Japan on Tuesday.

The former One Direction star, 23, was mobbed by a huge crowd of fans as he arrived at the airport.

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Huge following: Niall Horan proved he had fans across the world, as he arrived at Narita International Airport in Japan on Tuesday

Dressed in a casual grey Nike hoodie and coordinating trainers, he completed his casual ensemble with a cap and blue shorts.

And ever the gracious star, he made sure to pose with his numerous stars vying for a selfie.

Giving waiting photographers the thumbs up for an array of snaps, the star appeared in good spirits despite his long flight.

Popular: The former One Direction star, 23, was mobbed by a huge crowd of fans as he arrived at the airport

Relaxed: Dressed in a casual grey Nike hoodie and coordinating trainers, he completed his casual ensemble with a cap and blue shorts

Just days ago Katy Perry doubled-down on claims that One Direction star Niall Horan is unsuccessfully trying to court her.

Niall took to Australian show The Project to deny the allegations, insisting he 'just wanted to be friends' and jokingly suggesting she was 'being mean'.

But on Friday, the 32-year-old Swish Swish songstress addressed the ongoing saga on the same Australian program, insisting: 'He wants to go out on a date.'

Fan love! Ever the gracious star, he made sure to pose with his numerous stars vying for a selfie

Giving waiting photographers the thumbs up for an array of snaps, the star appeared in good spirits despite his long flight

Katy added that her almost 10-year age difference to the 23-year-old was too much of a turn-off.

'Have you ever seen the movie The Graduate? That's kinda what this feels like... I could be his mum!'

In the film, Dustin Hoffman's 21-year-old character is seduced by an older woman, and the pair engage in an affair, before he then falls in love with her daughter.

Hitting back: Just days ago Katy Perry doubled-down on claims that One Direction star Niall Horan is unsuccessfully trying to court her

Nothing going on with Katy: Niall took to Australian show The Project to deny the allegations, insisting he 'just wanted to be friends' and jokingly suggesting she was 'being mean'

While Katy appears to believe Niall genuinely wants to date her, she did not elaborate on how closely their situation mirrors the film.

On Wednesday, Katy Perry confessed that Niall Horan 'is always trying to get my number, to flirt with me,' adding that she'd rejected the well-meaning attempts.

But in an interview on The Project on Thursday, he laughed off her comments, exclaiming: 'Katy, please stop being mean to me!'

Katy's side of the story: But on Friday, the 32-year-old Swish Swish songstress addressed the ongoing saga on the same Australian program, insisting: 'He wants to go out on a date.'

Globe trotter: He looked in good spirits despite having just landed from a long haul flight

He added: 'She is just finding any excuse to just patronise me and go around spreading rumours about me. I just want to be her friend.'

And Katy dismissed the flirting attempts by saying in reference to Niall: 'I could babysit you, I'm like your mum!'

Seemingly taking umbrage at hearing this, Niall responded: 'I mean, she is talking like she is about 55 years older than me. She is not that much older than me.'
Nurse sharks are said to be one of the least dangerous examples of the species.

And Mariah Carey didn't seem at all concerned for herself or her six-year-old twins Roc and Roe, when she shared social media snaps of them all swimming with the creatures.

Indeed it looked like the diva was more bothered about her appearance - unzipping her wetsuit to reveal her cleavage.

The 47-year-old captioned the shots: 'Shark day with #dembabies ... don't worry, they're gentle #NurseSharks.'

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On the wild side: Daring Mariah Carey showed off her plunging cleavage in a wetsuit as she petted tame Nurse Sharks in the Bahamas

The singing star wore a skin-tight wetsuit that she unzipped to give a generous view of her decolletage and popped a cap on her blonde hair.

Her twins, whom she shares with ex-husband Nick Cannon, also wore wet suits, flotation vests and snorkeling gear.

But they really didn't need to venture under water as the baby nurse sharks appeared to be happy to bask on the jetty where they were standing, which was submerged by about six inches.

Fishy tale: The 47-year-old, who was with her six year-old twins Roc and Roe, captioned the three shots, 'Shark day with #dembabies ... don't worry, they're gentle'

Swimming with the fishes: The family were at Compass Cay, the private island in the Outer Exumas near the Exuma Cays Land And Sea Park where the sharks are fed and tamed

Mariah and her children were joined on their July 4 vacation by her on-off-on again boy toy beau Bryan Tanaka, 34.

The group were in the Bahamas, one of the singing star's favorite locations, where the nurse sharks are an attraction at Compass Cay.

The private island is in the Outer Exumas near the Exuma Cays Land And Sea Park, where the marina workers feed the wild fish and tame them.

'Today was pretty epic': Mariah's boy toy beau Bryan Tanaka , 34, joined the family and he seemed blown away by the experienc, sharing this selfie with the friendly sharks

The 34-year-old choreographer shared an Instagram video clip and a snap from the day as he stood by the Nurse Sharks basking on the jetty, captioned: Today was pretty epic. #MuchLove.'

The couple, who have been linked professionally for 10 years, became closer after she split from her fiance, Australian billionaire James Packer in 2016.

There appeared to be a rift earlier this year, but they were spotted out to dinner late last month.
She faced freezing temperatures while shooting new film The Mountain Between Us on location in the rugged wilds of rural Canada.

But Kate Winslet was afforded a decidedly warmer welcome as she made a backstage appearance at Georgio Armanis prive fall-winter 2017 runway show in Paris on Tuesday evening.

The Oscar-winning actress, 41, was greeted with kiss from the celebrated Italian designer, 82, ahead of his latest unveiling at the French capitals Haute Couture Fashion Week.

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Looking good: Kate Winslet looked suitably stylish as she made an appearance at Haute Couture Paris Fashion Week on Tuesday evening

Opting for an elegant black evening dress, Kate ensured she looked suitably stylish while posing for photos.

A cinched waistline drew attention to her curvy frame, while a sleeveless detail gave the outfit a distinctive flourish.

Adding to her tasteful look with conventional black heels, the actress caught the eye as she settled into her front row seat.

Greetings! The actress was afforded a warm welcome at Georgio Armanis fall-winter 2017 runway show

Close: The Oscar-winning actress, 41, was greeted with kiss from the celebrated Italian designer, 82, ahead of his latest unveiling at the French capitals Haute Couture Fashion Week

Pleased to meet you: The pair were shoulder to shoulder and hand in hand as they posed for photos

Mirroring the understated nature of her look, Kate accentuated her features with deft touches of make-up selected from a natural colour palette, while a single statement earring proved to be her only visible accessory.

In good company on the night, Kate was joined by fellow high-profile guests Roberta Armani, Priyanka Chopra and Cuban actress Ana de Armas.

Other guest to the attend the lavish event included Naomi Watts and veteran star Sophia Loren.

Striking: Opting for an elegant black evening dress, Kate inevitably commanded attention

A vision in black: A cinched waistline drew attention to her curvy frame, while a sleeveless detail gave the outfit a distinctive flourish

Finishing touches: The actress completed her tasteful look with conventional back heels

The actress is poised for a busy year end with the October release of new disaster film The Mountain Between Us.

Starring alongside Idris Elba, the actress plays a journalist who is forced to battle against the elements after surviving a plane crash in the desolate High Uintas Wilderness.

We did have lots of quite scary things to do, Kate told the Daily Mail of filming in Pemberton, British Columbia.

Our coldest day was minus 38 celsius. You got out of the car and immediately the insides of your nostrils would freeze.

The Mountain Between Us is released in the United Kingdom and the United States on October 6 2017.

Subtle: Mirroring the understated nature of her look, Kate accentuated her features with deft touches of make-up selected from a natural colour palette

In good company: In good company on the night, Kate was joined by fellow high-profile guests Roberta Armani (far left), Priyanka Chopra (centre, right) and Cuban actress Ana de Armas (far right)

Say cheese: (L-R) Naomi Watts, Sophia Loren, Roberta Armani and Kate Winslet occupied front row seats on Tuesday evening

Tasteful: A single statement earring proved to be Kate's only visible accessory

He's got you covered: A burly minder stayed close as the actress emerged from her car earlier that night

My man: Kate arrived at the event hand in hand with husband of five years Ned Rocknroll

Take my hand: Ned reached out for the actress as they prepared for their appearance at the Armani prive runway show

Stunning in silver: French model Cindy Bruna caught the eye backstage at the event
The last shock elimination saw a huge seven islanders dumped from the villa.

But Love Island certainly showed no signs of stopping on Tuesday night, as another four contestants were forced to leave the house, and the chance for love, behind.

While Nathan and Chyna received the fewest public votes and were eliminated immediately, fan favourites Montana and Marcel then had to choose another two dumped in a shocking twist - bidding farewell to newbies Craig and Danielle.

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Popular with a price: Montana (L) and Marcel (R) were voted fan favourites on Tuesday's Love Island - meaning they were forced to vote out two other contestants in a shock twist

The islanders were called to gather around the fire pit - where the devastating news that four of them would be leaving the villa was delivered.

The three girls who received the fewest votes were Chyna, Danielle and Tyla - with Chyna left in tears when she was told she was the least popular, and to be immediately dumped from the island.

However in a cruel twist, it was then revealed that Marcel was voted the most popular boy, and had to choose to save either Danielle and Tyla.

Farewell: The three girls who received the fewest votes were Danielle, Tyla and Chyna (above) - with the latter gaining the least popularity, and immediately dumped

Goodbye: Meanwhile Nathan (above) was voted out immediately following the public poll, when put up against Craig and Jonny

The Blazin Squad star chose to keep Tyla, in order for her to give her romance with Jonny a try - meaning glamour model Danielle was forced to depart.

The three boys with the fewest votes were then named as Nathan, Craig and Jonny - who cut a surprised expression upon hearing his name.

Nathan was voted out immediately following the public poll, while Montana was dramatically made to choose between long-standing contestant Jonny, or Camilla's latest love interest Craig.

Unlucky number three: However it was then revealed that Marcel was voted the most popular boy, and had to save either Danielle (above) or Tyla - opting to eliminate the glamour model

Despairing: Danielle was visibly upset as she was eliminated, while Jonny and Tyla were overjoyed they had been saved (right)

Last but not least: In the same twist, Montana as the favourite girl was forced to choose the other boy to go - opting for newbie Craig (above)

Clearly despondent about the decision, the brunette beauty held her head in her hands as she looked between both boys, declaring: 'What the f***'

She explained of her decision: 'I feel I see more of a relationship happening with the other boy, so the boy I have to dump is Craig.'

Teary Camilla was left with her head in her hands, while Tyla could not contain her joy at being allowed to stay with love interest Jonny for another day.

Unpopular: In the bottom three but saved by their co-stars, Tyla and Jonny not contain their joy at being allowed to stay and pursue their romance

Reassuring: Speaking to Craig afterwards, Scottish beauty Camilla said: 'It was just bad timing for you, but it doesn't change how amazing you are as a person'

Romance on the cards: However Danielle and Nathan may give romance a go now they left have the villa - having put on a flirty display and even sharing a smooch

Speaking to Craig afterwards, the Scottish beauty said: 'It was just bad timing for you, but it doesn't change how amazing you are as a person.'

However Danielle and Nathan may give romance a go now they left have the villa - having put on a flirty display and even sharing a smooch on Tuesday's episode.

Speaking of the prospect of a fling with the hunk, the former Page 3 girl said: 'It was absolutely amazing, I've had the best time ever but I've left with Nathan. I suppose he's alright... so we'll see how it goes!'

Exciting: Speaking of the prospect of a fling with the hunk, the former Page 3 girl said: 'I've had the best time ever but I've left with Nathan. I suppose he's alright... so we'll see how it goes!'

Optimistic: All taking the news in their stride, Nathan (right) then added: 'I went in to enjoy myself and enjoyed every minute'

'Proud': While father-of-three Craig added: 'I went in with one goal. I didn't achieve in the way I hoped, but I don't regret anything and I feel I've done myself proud'

All taking the news in their stride, Nathan then added: 'I went in to enjoy myself and enjoyed every minute.'

While father-of-three Craig added: 'I went in with one goal. I didn't achieve in the way I hoped, but I don't regret anything and I feel I've done myself proud.'

However the decision left many viewers disgruntled at the fact Jonny and Tyla, who both found themselves in the bottom three, were not booted out of the lavish Majorca mansion.

Fans flooded to Twitter after the show to complain of the couple, writing: 'ugh i hate tyla and jonny so much' and 'Love island is getting so annoying! New people don't get a chance when Jonny and Tyla should both be gone' (sic)

Wrong decision: However the decision left many viewers disgruntled at the fact Jonny and Tyla (above), who both found themselves in the bottom three, were not booted out

Unpopular: Fans flooded to Twitter after the show to complain of the couple

Another then added in agreement: 'I want the next dumping from the island to be a public vote. Need to get rid of Jonny and Tyla'

While a further fan complained: 'does anyone else feel our votes are being wasted. We want jonny and Tyla out and somehow they are still there !!!!'

More disgruntled viewers then added to the social media rage, writing: 'How many more opportunities do the #LoveIsland villa need to get rid of Jonny and Tyla!'

And: 'Why are Jonny and Tyla still on my tv screen?! Why haven't they been voted out of #loveisland yet?!'

The real deal: Not only was Montana voted the most popular in the villa, but her and Alex were voted the most genuine couple by 93% of the public

However some viewers called out those complaining for double standards against Camilla - and admitted the new pairing had started to grow on them.

One chimed in: 'Why the hate to Jonny & Tyla? Everyone's ok with Camilla not liking Craig but ain't allowed to not like Camilla? #Baffled'

While another added: 'Thank god Jonny stayed. He's done f*** all wrong. Camilla leads em on then f***s em off. She's a game player there for the money.'

Not only was Montana voted the most popular in the villa, forcing her to make the difficult decision, but her and Alex were voted the most genuine couple by 93% of the public.

Besotted: The hunk (above) could not help but gush of his new girl in the Beach Hut, confessing: 'I feel strongly towards that girl, she is fantastic'

The new pairing appeared to be getting on like a house on fire, having got a bit steamy under the covers while in the Hideaway, following their romantic date.

The hunk could not help but gush of his new girl in the Beach Hut, confessing: 'I feel strongly towards that girl, she is fantastic. I woke up this morning next to her and I was just like, 'I have won'.'

Before Montana only affirmed his views by revealing of their romantic evening: 'We didn't do the actual deed, we just did bits, really good bits. He's got the goods, let's just say that!'

Over: Montana meanwhile no doubt chose to dump Craig from the island, after his romance with Camilla (above) fell through

After a joking chat about his manhood with Amber the previous day, she went on, giggling: 'I'm going to throw it out there, I thought he would have a small package because I thought there must be something wrong with this bloke surely... but he proved me wrong.'

Montana meanwhile no doubt chose to dump Craig from the island, after his romance with Camilla fell through.

Speaking in the villa after she admitted to him she did not want his love as she was not yet over Jonny, the tattooed star confessed he wanted to 'crack on' with other girls - but they simply did not meet her standards.

As the Scottish beauty suggested he make a move on new girl Chyna, he affirmed to her: 'It's on you but no matter who walks through that door, to me, anything else would be settling.

At loggerheads: The Scottish beauty suggested he make a move on Chyna, but Craig affirmed: 'It's on you but no matter who walks through that door, to me, anything else would be settling'

'I know its early days but you have set the bar high for every girl in here.'

Remaining firm in her rejection however, the personal trainer went on to joke that she was not ready to be part of the new Professor Green and Millie Mackintosh - in reference to their appearance.

However the comment went down like a lead balloon, with Craig awkwardly stating: 'That was a joke, by the way,' when met with a stony silence.

Things only worsened later on when the public voted Craig as overwhelmingly dishonest in the episode's challenge - which hugely ruffled his feathers.

Not impressed: Things only worsened later on when the public voted Craig as overwhelmingly dishonest - which hugely ruffled his feathers

He ranted to Camilla later on: 'I know that you're a very loved person I get that and rightly so in my eyes. Everyone should love you, that's how I see it and everyone does love you and people are seeing on the outside that I'm not good enough for you.

'I completely agree but at the same time, I take a risk and it didn't pay off and obviously I'm very cut up about it.'

While Camilla is struggling to get over her former Essex flame, Jonny himself appeared infatuated with his new love interest Tyla.

Clearly excited by the brunette beauty, he confessed in the Beach Hut: 'Tyla brings out a proper good side to me and she's hilarious, she is well loud.

Onto the next: While Camilla is struggling to get over her former Essex flame, Jonny himself appeared infatuated with his new love interest Tyla

'It's a little bit annoying but it's not that annoying, it's endearing annoying, she just puts a smile on my face. It's really good.'

Brutally discussing his ex in the villa however, Jonny vented his frustration at Camilla's hesitance to be intimate.

He told Kem: 'Tyla is a proper sexual person, it's been three days mate and the tension is ridiculous.

'I'm not worried about Cam because we weren't doing anything. It makes me think, 'How much time do you really need for this?''

However, the villa is only set for even more of a shake-up as two new boys are set to make their arrival - Jamie, a model, and Theo, an athlete.
In a recent candid interview, she claimed that she has missed out on landing coveted movie roles because her 'boobs are too big'.

But Emily Ratajkowski seemed far from shy about displaying her purportedly troublesome assets when she made quite the eye-popping appearance at Vogue's Paris Haute Couture Fashion Week party, held at Palais Galliera on Tuesday.

The 26-year-old beauty turned heads as she arrived in a deeply plunging black dress, which not only put her ample cleavage on prominent display but also her torso, thanks to peephole slit that was held together with a series of small metallic bars.

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We like to party: Emily Ratajkowski was spotted at Vogue's Paris Haute Couture Fashion Week party, held at Palais Galliera on Tuesday night

And the London-born brunette kept the daring display going, with thigh-high slits on either side of the figure-hugging number helping her show off her shapely legs.

With her voluminous chestnut brown tresses styled in a bun, the Gone Girl actress complemented her stunning looks with nude pink lipstick for the big night out.

Standing tall in a pair of black strappy heels, Emily - who shot to fame when she appeared topless in the video for Robin Thicke's 2013 smash hit Blurred Lines - rubbed shoulders with the likes of Bella Hadid and Cara Delevingne.

Eye eye: The brunette beauty put on quite the eye-popping display in her plunging black dress

The thigh's the limit: The London-born brunette kept the daring display going, with thigh-high slits on either side of the figure-hugging number helping her show off her shapely legs

Through the peephole: She gave a glimpse of her torso through a peephole slit that was held together with a series of small metallic bars

Emily's glamorous outing comes after she claimed she failed to land a number of roles that she sought in the past because her 'boobs are too big'.

She told the August issue of Australia's Harper's Bazaar magazine: 'There's this thing that happens to me, "Oh, she's too sexy."

'It's like an anti-woman thing, that people don't want to work with me because my boobs are too big.

'What's wrong with boobs? They're a beautiful feminine thing that needs to be celebrated. Like, who cares? They are great big, they are great small. Why should that be an issue?'

Sign of the times: As the California-raised star arrived, she signed autographs for fans

Tall: She stood tall in a pair of stylish strappy heels as she made her way into the exclusive bash

Selfie: As she made her way into the venue, she also posed for selfies with her excited fans

Big night out: With her voluminous chestnut brown tresses styled in a bun, the Gone Girl actress complemented her stunning looks with nude pink lipstick for the big night out

And the star also hit back at sexism she has experienced in the industry.

She said: 'In every profile written about me, there is, 'She's so sexual and she's such a sex symbol,' paired with, 'But, wow, she knows about politics.' And that in itself is sexist. Why does it have to be one or the other?

Emily says she has turned down a lot of movie roles because she doesn't want to be in a "big studio movie", which only really requires her to look hot in a bikini.

She added: 'I am way more interested in working with unexpected and cool directors on interesting projects than being in this big studio movie where you're in a bikini. I turn down a lot of movies, but I have to fight for the ones that I really want.'

Strike a pose: As she enjoyed the bash, Emily, who had arrived from London, shared a shot of herself on Instagram

Smouldering snaps: Emily regularly treats her Instagram followers to scintilating snaps

Emily also slammed the double standards in the world of celebrity, where women are shamed for acting sexy while men are revered.

She said: 'Look at pop culture: Mick Jagger is 73, and he still sometimes wears his shirt open and gyrates onstage. We understand that this is a part of his performance and artistic brand.

'Meanwhile, when Madonna, who is 58 and a revolutionary in that same kind of artistic sexuality, wears a sheer dress to the Met Gala, critics call her 'a hot mess' whos 'desperate.'

Cheeky: The 26-year-old recently claimed that being 'too sexy' stopped her from getting roles
It wasn't so long ago that listening to music was a simple pleasure. You heard a track you liked - perhaps even on the radio - and you went to the store and bought a copy.

But while online streaming has cut out the middleman, it's also had some unintended affects.

Like making a bootlegger out of veteran artist Snoop Dogg, who just couldn't figure out how to download Jay Z's new album, 4:44.

'Had to bootleg it!' Snoop Dogg listened to illegal copy of Jay Z's album 4:44... because he doesn't have Tidal; he is seen with ' the two are seen in 2002

'I want to shoot a shout out to Jay Z,' he said in a video review of the album. 'Just dropped another muthaf***in hot album.'

'But you know what? I dont got Tidal, so a n**** had to bootleg it to me.'

While at 45-years of age Snoop is no stranger to technology, mastering the artist-owned streaming service was beyond him.

'Im on iTunes and s**t cuz, I dont understand thatyall gotta explain that to me.

'I went to iTunes looking for this album and I couldnt find it. But my homie sent it to me. You understand me.

'He did it again.'

It's no joke: Snoop gives his thoughts on old friend Jay Z's new album in an Instagram video

Snoop's comments come after a disillusioned Kanye West reportedly 'cut ties' with Tidal - after he helped relaunch the company in 2015 alongside the likes of Rihanna and Calvin Harris.

However Tidal - which Jay-Z acquired in 2015 but trails far behind streaming leader Spotify as well as Apple Music - has seen a jump in downloads coinciding with the release of 4:44 on Friday.

Tidal on Friday and Saturday was the most downloaded app for iPhones in the United States, jumping 163 places from Thursday, according to tracking service App Annie.

It stood at number six on Monday, behind app stalwarts such as Instagram.

4:44, the first album in four years by the rapper who has devoted much of his energy to his business empire, came out to favorable reviews and a major buzz online over his unusually introspective lyricism.

On the album, he apologizes to his wife, pop superstar Beyonce, for infidelity and reveals that his mother is a lesbian who struggled in the closet.

It's a hit: 4:44, the first album in four years by the rapper who has devoted much of his energy to his business empire, came out to favorable reviews and a major buzz online over his unusually introspective lyricism

Jay-Z chose to release 4:44 exclusively on Tidal, with the album promoted by telecom provider Sprint, which recently bought a one-third stake in the platform amid the rapid growth of streaming worldwide.

Jay-Z has not revealed whether the album will remain a Tidal exclusive.

Other stars including Beyonce who released their albums through Tidal eventually made them available for download on Apple's iTunes or on rival streaming platforms.

Tidal, a Norwegian company, said last year that it had three million subscribers, although a media report questioned the figure.

It is a fraction of the 50 million paying subscribers of Sweden-based Spotify, which said last month that an additional 90 million people used its free tier.

The exclusive arrangement has brought uncanny moments. When Jay-Z's album was released, social media was abuzz with loaded lyrics which he supposedly made against fellow rapper Kanye West and his wife Kim Kardashian.

The lyrics turned out to be the musical equivalent of fake news - with Jay-Z taking West to task but more lightly. Some social media users acknowledged they could not access the album to verify for themselves.
Shes a seasoned pro when it comes to showing off her slender physique, and Anja Rubiks latest public appearance proved to be no exception as she stepped out Tuesday evening.

The Polish model, 34, looked typically stunning in a sheer black blouse and thigh-skimming skit that accentuated her undeniably lithe figure as she arrived at the Vogue Party for Paris Fashion Week.

Leaving little to the imagination, Anja kept her top unbuttoned while posing for photos outside the high-end event, where onlookers gathered for a glimpse of its incoming guests.

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Looking good: Shes a seasoned pro when it comes to showing off her slender physique, and Anja Rubiks latest public appearance proved to be no exception as she stepped out Tuesday evening

A neatly cinched waistline drew further attention to her figure, while conventional stiletto heels added an extra two inches to the model's already statuesque height.

Accentuating her naturally pretty features with deft touches of make-up, the blonde was on form as she greeted onlookers before making her way inside.

Anja has been juggling a range of projects, with her portfolio featuring campaigns with the likes of Chloe, Fendi, Balmain and H&M.

Here she comes: The Polish model, 34, looked typically stunning in a sheer black blouse and thigh-skimming skit that accentuated her undeniably lithe figure as she arrived at the Vogue Party for Paris Fashion Week

Hard to miss: Leaving little to the imagination, Anja kept her top unbuttoned while posing for photos outside the high-end event, where onlookers gathered for a glimpse of its incoming guests

Slender: A neatly cinched waistline drew further attention to her toned figure

The multi-talented star also found time to start her own magazine in 2012, with '25' centering around erotica from a women's point of view.

Anja, who started modelling when she was in high school in Paris, explained to Vogue recently that her years in the business have meant she can now be more choosy about which projects she takes on.

'I've been in the industry for so long that I'm in the very beautiful position of being able to collaborate with people who are my good friends, or who I identify with.

'So I stand for things I really believe in, like at Chloe where I love what Clare does, or Anthony Vaccarello who is my close friend,' she said.

Finishing touches: Accentuating her naturally pretty features with deft touches of make-up, the blonde was on form as she greeted onlookers before making her way inside

Striking: Anja was joined by fellow model Karlie Kloss, whose own bold choice of ensemble ensured she was not overshadowed

Stunning: The American star, 24, opted for a sweeping black evening gown complete with bold, thigh-high slash for her appearance at the event

Anja was joined by fellow model Karlie Kloss, whose own bold choice of ensemble ensured she was not overshadowed at the Vogue party on Tuesday night.

The American star, 24, opted for a sweeping evening gown complete with bold, thigh-high slash for her appearance at the event.

With an off-the-shoulder detail the stunning backless dress revealed plenty of flesh, and her milky white skin provided a dramatic contrast to her outfit's jet black colour scheme.

Adding a splash of colour, the model opted for a generous later of crimson lipstick, all the more noticeable by virtue of her generously applied, ghostly white foundation.

Vivid: Adding a splash of colour, the model opted for a generous later of crimson lipstick, all the more noticeable by virtue of her generously applied, ghostly white foundation

Bold choice: With an off-the-shoulder detail the stunning backless dress revealed plenty of flesh, and her milky white skin provided a dramatic contrast to her outfit's jet black colour scheme

High glamour: The model was an engaging sight as she made her way inside the event
Angola's President Jose Eduardo Dos Santos, pictured April 29, 2014, has returned to Spain for personal reasons, according to a statement from the presidency, with no indication as to when he would return

Angolan President Jose Eduardo dos Santos returned to Spain on Monday for a "private visit", officials said, five weeks after a monthlong trip to the country when he underwent medical tests.

Dos Santos, 74, has been dogged by reports of poor health, with his daughter Isabel having to deny rumours that he had died on his last trip to Spain.

"President dos Santos left Luanda on Monday for a private visit to the Kingdom of Spain for personal business," the presidency said in a statement, adding that he was in Barcelona, though without saying when he was scheduled to return.

Dos Santos, who has ruled Angola since 1979, has reportedly received cancer treatment in the city over several years, but details of his health have not been made public.

The opposition has called for the government to be more forthcoming.

Dos Santos has announced that he will not contest next month's general election, marking a historic change in the oil-rich country which experienced nearly three decades of civil war that ended in 2002.

Critics accuse him of crushing dissent and allowing his family and associates to enrich themselves while most Angolans live in extreme poverty.
Ben Gurion airport near Tel Aviv returned to normal after a brief logjam because of the congested summer season

Israel's main international airport returned to normal Monday evening after temporary flight delays, the Israel Airports Authority said, blaming crowded summer skies for disruptions.

IAA spokesman Ofer Lefler told AFP that there had been a brief logjam because of a need to widen gaps between takeoffs and landings at the peak of the congested summer season.

Israel's state-owned KAN-11 TV and other media said that the delays at Ben Gurion airport, near Tel Aviv, were security related and that incoming flights were told to vacate Israeli airspace.

"At the moment about 15 aircraft in the air are not being permitted to land and being told to leave the airspace in the area of Ben Gurion airport," it said.

Lefler denied any security incident or closure of Israeli airspace.

"Everything is fine, everything is calm, there is no security incident," he said.

Last year Israel scrambled warplanes jets to intercept an unidentified passenger aircraft entering its airspace and escorted it to land.

It turned out to be an Egyptian Air Sinai flight from Cairo to Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion airport.

The Egyptian aviation ministry said that the pilot of the Boeing 737 had given the necessary notification to Cypriot authorities as he flew through their airspace but they were too slow to pass it on to Israel.
Fire rescue personnel attend to the starboard engine of an AirAsia Airbus A330 on July 4, 2017, after the aircraft made an emergency landing at Brisbane International Airport

An AirAsia flight to Malaysia was forced to return to Australia shortly after take-off following a suspected bird strike, the carrier said Tuesday, the second incident involving the airline in the country in two weeks.

Passengers said the plane shook and bangs came from the right engine of AirAsia X flight D7 207 following its departure from Australia's Gold Coast to Kuala Lumpur late Monday.

The flight carrying 345 passengers and 14 crew was diverted to Brisbane airport just north of the eastern city and landed safely, the Malaysian carrier said.

"Two bird remains were found on the runway," the low-cost carrier said in a statement, adding that the starboard engine had experienced a "suspected bird strike".

"We are following all regulatory guidelines to ensure the safety and well-being of our guests, who are currently being attended to by our ground staff," AirAsia X chief Benyamin Ismail added.

"We would like to commend our pilot and crew members for their professionalism and swift action to reassure passengers who were on board flight D7 207 and to land the aircraft safely in Brisbane airport."

An AirAsia flight to Malaysia was forced to return to Australia shortly after take-off following a suspected bird strike

The Malaysian airline said it was arranging a special flight to take the passengers to Kuala Lumpur.

Passenger Calvin Boon said he saw flames going through the engine.

"The whole engine blown and flame went through it all like (video game) Resident Evil man really, Resident Evil," the Australian Broadcasting Corporation quoted him as saying.

Another passenger, Tim Joga, told The Sydney Morning Herald the plane started to vibrate minutes after take-off.

"The plane started shuddering then there were a couple of loud bangs and a lot of light, "Joga said.

"I could see an orange light coming from the windows."

Another AirAsia flight from Perth to Kuala Lumpur experienced technical issues about 90 minutes into the journey on Sunday and was forced back to Australia, with one passenger saying the plane was "shaking like a washing machine".

The airline suffered its first fatal incident in December 2014, when AirAsia Flight QZ8501 crashed in stormy weather off Indonesia killing all 162 people on board.

That followed two Malaysia Airlines tragedies in the same year which left hundreds dead, raising concerns among some travellers about the safety of the country's carriers.
Rights groups accuse the government of Burundi President Pierre Nkurunziza (FRONT)of moving the country towards a violent dictatorship

Burundi's President Pierre Nkurunziza and his ruling party have moved the country toward violent dictatorship, rights groups said Tuesday in a report that slams the international community for inaction.

A "purge" of ethnic Tutsis from the army, a crackdown on opposition and media and a bid to change the constitution to allow unlimited presidential terms are signs of an "increasingly violent dictatorial regime", it said.

The tiny central African state was plunged into political crisis in April 2015 when Nkurunziza announced his intention to run for a third term which he went on to win.

At least 500 people have been killed in ensuing violence, according to the UN -- although rights groups put the figure at over 1,000 -- and more than 400,000 have fled the country since the crisis began.

In their report the International Federation for Human Rights (known by its French acronym, FIDH) and partner groups describe how the ruling party has tightened its stranglehold during a two-year conflict.

It said the ruling CNDD-FDD has become the sole state party, with monuments glorifying it erected, party flags placed at entrances to public schools and violent propaganda broadcast urging Burundians to be ready to fight and eliminate opponents.

"In a matter of two years, almost all the heads and activists of the political opposition have been silenced and hunted down by the Burundian authorities," it said.

The report details accounts of Tutsi soldiers who have disappeared, been arrested or brutally tortured or found dead.

It warns that without international intervention Nkurunziza could succeed in reversing history and establishing a Hutu-controlled regime based on a mono-ethnical army under the control of the authorities.

In Burundi, which has a long history of violence between Hutu and Tutsi communities, "this would represent a major risk for peace in the country, as in the region."

The report singles out the ruling party youth wing, the Imbonerakure, which it describes as a militia characterised by "ideological radicalisation" that has been recorded singing songs encouraging the rape of opposition women and is widely accused of human rights violations, including murder, rape and torture.

The FIDH urges "the international community to recognise the gravity of the situation in Burundi" and for the International Criminal Court (ICC) to quickly open an investigation.

It also says the African Union and UN should ensure political dialogue, impose an arms embargo and apply sanctions against Burundi officials.

"The international community's lack of determination and its incapacity to implement its own decisions " allow Nkurunziza to shore up his position ahead of a possible attempt to change the constitution to allow him to run again in 2020.

Burundi has repeatedly denied a campaign of repression and has harshly criticised UN warnings of a genocide risk.
The ballistic missile launch was the latest in a series of provocations that have ratcheted up tensions over the weapons ambitions of the nuclear-armed North, ruled by Kim Jong-Un

North Korea launched a ballistic missile Tuesday, the South's military said, just days after Seoul's new leader Moon Jae-In and US President Donald Trump focused on the threat from Pyongyang in their first summit.

The launch, which comes as the US prepares to celebrate the Fourth of July holiday, was the latest in a series of provocations that have ratcheted up tensions over the nuclear-armed North's weapons ambitions.

The "unidentified ballistic missile" was fired from a site near Banghyon in North Phyongan province, the South's military said in a statement, and came down in the East Sea, the Korean name for the Sea of Japan.

The device may have come down in Japan's exclusive economic zone, a spokeswoman for Tokyo's defence ministry told AFP -- waters extending 200 nautical miles from its coast.

Pyongyang has carried out multiple launches since Moon -- who backs engagement with the North but also stresses the need for sanctions -- was elected in May.

At their summit in Washington at the weekend, Trump declared that the US had run out of patience with North Korea over its weapons drive, which includes developing a missile capable of delivering a warhead to the US mainland.

"Together, we are facing the threat of the reckless and brutal regime in North Korea," Trump said. "The nuclear and ballistic missile programs of that regime require a determined response."
Narendra Modi's visit to Israel - the first ever of an Indian prime minister - is a landmark moment for the country, especially as it seeks the friendship of powerful allies and customers for its advanced military technology.

But for members of the small Jewish Indian community in Israel, the trip by the Indian leader is a cause of genuine excitement and a unique opportunity to increase their visibility.

At a curry house in central Israel, a poster welcoming Modi greets customers even before they encounter the rich scent of spices wafting from the kitchen.

Elazar Ashtivker, owner of a curry house in the Israeli city of Ramla, puts the finishing touches to an Indian dish on July 2, 2017

'There's not a single (Indian) household that's not talking about it. This is all people are talking about,' said Elazar Ashtivker, owner of the Maharaja restaurant in the city of Ramla, south of Tel Aviv.

'It's historic,' he said.

The fast-talking 33-year-old's parents, who were born in India, opened the restaurant in its first incarnation in the 1980s because they felt 'the community was in decline'.

Initially, the restaurant served the Indian community nearly exclusively.

But in the 1990s the trend of Israelis travelling to Asia after completing their military service became wildly popular, and many returned home with a taste for the Maharaja's spicy delicacies.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi left, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stand during welcome ceremony upon arrival in Ben Gurion airport near Tel Aviv on Tuesday

The restaurant serves what Ashtivker calls 'mainstream Indian food' but also sells peppers, vegetables and imported spices.

The wording on the poster is in the colours of the Indian flag and invites members of the Indian community, in Hebrew and English, to a July 5 meeting with Modi in Tel Aviv.

'There's a lot of excitement,' Ashtivker said. 'Everyone has signed up and everyone is going.'

'If you looked for Indians in Israel on the 5th you won't find any. They'll all be at the convention centre,' he said with a laugh.

'Invisible Jews'

Estimates put the number of Jews of Indian origin in Israel at about 100,000, according to Eliaz Dandeker, a historian and author documenting the community.

Even those of Indian origin born in Israel maintain a 'deep connection' to their ancestral homeland, said Dandeker, including through music, cinema, food and cultural events.

Events in Israel have featured appearances by Indian actors.

Jews made their way to India over the course of the last 3,000 years, and by and large have not suffered religious and racist persecution in the country.

Israelis eat at the Maharaja Indian restaurant in the city of Ramla on July 2, 2017

They began coming to Israel en masse in the late 1940s and early 1950s for religious and other reasons.

Many of them settled in rural communities to become farmers, while others moved to peripheral towns throughout the country.

In the first years following the creation of the state of Israel in 1948, many Indian immigrants abandoned their names and traditions as part of the era's 'melting pot' ideal.

'There's more openness today' to Indian culture, the 34-year-old Dandeker said. 'The younger generations want to know more.'

'He's special'

In his spice shop near the Maharaja, Shaul Divekar, who emigrated from India as a child, scoops red lentils from a sack into a plastic bag, chatting from behind his counter with two customers.

The conversation fluctuates between the goods that arrived from India and the prime minister who is about to.

Divekar proudly notes he is in charge of one of the seven buses taking Indian Israelis from Ramla to Wednesday's meeting with Modi.

Shaul Divekar, an Indian who emigrated to Israel as a child, holds a poster announcing the visit of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the Jewish state

'He's special,' Divekar said of Hindu nationalist Modi, a Bollywood music video playing on a laptop behind the cash register.

'He likes Jews,' proudly offers a tall bearded man in his 30s standing nearby the Indian DVD collection in Divekar's store, his Hebrew heavy with an Indian accent.

Dandeker, the historian, notes that Jewish Indians in Israel have been called the 'invisible Jews' since they are neither Ashkenazis from Europe nor Sephardis from Africa and the Middle East.

While members of the community have reached prominence in Israel in fields including medicine and the military, 'a lot of them don't stress their origins'.

And with many of them having changed their last names to sound more Israeli, 'it's hard to spot them,' said Dandeker.

Modi's visit and its potential to generate interest among Israelis in Indian culture could help raise the profile of the Indian community.

'We expect it to help advance our community,' said Ashtivker, the restaurateur. 'We're a small community here and don't really stand out.'
Despite two international arrest warrants issued in 2009 and 2010, Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir remains at large and in office amid a raging conflict in Darfur

War crimes judges will Thursday hand down an eagerly anticipated ruling on whether South Africa flouted international law by failing to arrest Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir in 2015, wanted for genocide in Darfur.

The landmark decision will serve as a blueprint for future cooperation between countries and the International Criminal Court, experts say.

It will also highlight that the tribunal based in The Hague can only function with the support of its member states and the backing of the UN Security Council.

"The ruling is... fundamental for future compliance," said Carsten Stahn, international criminal law professor at Leiden University.

A decision against South Africa "would send an important message that states cannot negotiate (their) legal obligations with the court," he told AFP.

- Bitter dispute -

Despite two international arrest warrants issued in 2009 and 2010, Bashir remains at large and in office amid a raging conflict in the western Sudanese region of Darfur.

The long-time ruler has denied the ICC's charges, including three accusations of genocide as well as war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The deadly conflict erupted in 2003 when ethnic minority groups took up arms against Bashir's Arab-dominated government, which launched a brutal counter-insurgency.

The UN Security Council asked the ICC in 2005 to probe the crimes in Darfur, where at least 300,000 people have been killed and 2.5 million displaced, according to UN figures.

Bashir continues to travel and Khartoum announced Monday he will visit Moscow for the first time in August following an invitation by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Russia formally withdrew its signature in November from the ICC's founding Rome Statute, a treaty Moscow has never ratified.

Pretoria and the ICC became embroiled in a bitter tangle in 2015 when Bashir attended an African Union summit in Johannesburg.

Despite the arrest warrants, Bashir then flew home unhindered. It remains unclear whether he did so with the tacit approval of South African President Jacob Zuma's government.

At a landmark hearing in April, Pretoria disputed accusations by the ICC's prosecutors that it had broken its obligations to the very same tribunal it helped found in 2002.

Angry prosecutors stated Pretoria "had the ability to arrest and surrender Mr al-Bashir and it chose not to do so."

Pretoria's lawyers argued there "was no duty under international law on South Africa to arrest" Bashir, saying he enjoyed diplomatic immunity.

- 'Complicated matter' -

International law experts agree the ICC's judges are likely to find South Africa failed in its obligations to arrest and surrender Bashir.

But they added it was not a simple matter of rapping Pretoria over the knuckles.

"The manner and tone in which the decision is meted out will be of utmost importance," said international law expert Mark Kersten of the University of Toronto.

"It is possible, and what many hope, is that the decision will show some degree of understanding, and perhaps lenience towards South Africa and suggest that the matter continues to be debated at the appeals level," Kersten told AFP.

The ICC's judges could also refer the case to the court's Assembly of States Parties or the UN Security Council for further action.

- Withdrawal? -

Zuma last week reiterated South Africa's intentions to pull out of the ICC, saying it was "rectifying procedural challenges."

South Africa announced it had told the United Nations in October that it was pulling out of the ICC following the Bashir debacle.

But a South African court in February ordered Pretoria to reverse the decision, saying it was unconstitutional.

Kaajal Ramjathan-Keogh, executive director at the Southern Africa Litigation Centre, said it was far from certain judges will refer the case to the UN Security Council amid "certain sensitivities" about Pretoria's continued membership.

And if they do then "the effect, looking at the ICC's history, is going to be minimal," she added.

Last month, the ICC's chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda renewed her call for UN Security Council support in "efforts to execute the arrest warrants" against Bashir.

"At a minimum, the council should demonstrate its support for the work of my office by taking concrete action in response to decisions of non-compliance or non-cooperation referred to it by the court," Bensouda said.
A member of the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) patrols a street in Syrian town of Tabqa, in May 2017, as they advance their battle to the Islamic State's stronghold in nearby Raqa

US-backed forces in Syria have entered the most heavily fortified area of Raqa, the de facto capital of the Islamic State group, in what a US official says is a "key milestone" in the war against the jihadist force.

Success in Raqa and major advances by US-backed forces in Mosul, a second IS stronghold in Iraq, represent a powerful double blow to the violent extremist group.

The US Central Command said in a statement dated Tuesday that coalition forces supported an advance by Syrian Democratic Forces fighters "into the most heavily fortified portion of Raqa by opening two small gaps in the Rafiqah Wall that surrounds the Old City."

The SDF faced heavy resistance, as the IS fighters used the wall as a combat position and planted mines and improvised explosive devices against advancing fighters.

"Conducting targeted strikes on two small portions of the wall allowed coalition and partner forces to breach the Old City at a locations of their choosing," the statement read.

This prevented IS from using "pre-positioned mines, IED and VBIEDs, protected SDF and civilian lives, and preserved the integrity of the greatest portion of the wall."

A 25-meter (80-foot) section of the wall was targeted, which "will help preserve the remainder of the overall 2,500-meter wall," it added.

- 'Key milestone' -

Map of the Syrian city of Raqa, showing advances by Kurdish Arab alliance forces (SDF)

Brett McGurk, the US special presidential envoy for the coalition to defeat IS, said on Twitter that breaching the wall in Raqa was a "key milestone in campaign to liberate the city."

The US-backed fighters entered Raqa from the south for the first time on Sunday, crossing the Euphrates River to enter a new part of the Syrian city, a monitor said.

The SDF have spent months closing in on the IS bastion and entered the city's east and west for the first time last month.

According to the coalition, some 2,500 IS jihadists are defending the city.

IS overran Raqa in 2014, turning it into the de facto capital of its self-declared "caliphate."

The city was the scene of some of the group's worst atrocities, including public beheadings.

The United Nations warn that up to 100,000 civilians are still trapped in the city.

McGurk earlier tweeted: "#ISIS terrorists down to less than one square kilometer in #Mosul and totally surrounded in #Raqqa, #SDF advancing from four directions."

- Final stages of Mosul battle -

In Mosul, Iraqi forces face stiff fighting and a rising number of suicide attacks, including some by female bombers, as they enter the final stages of the battle.

More than eight months since the start of the operation to retake Mosul, IS fighters have gone from fully controlling the northern Iraqi city to holding a limited area on its western side.

Iraqi forces have been closing in on the Old City in west Mosul for months, but the terrain combined with a large civilian population has made for an extremely difficult fight.

IS overran large areas in Iraq north and west of Baghdad in 2014, but Iraqi forces backed by US-led coalition air strikes have since regained much of the territory they lost.

The Iraqi military believes that there are just a few hundred jihadists left in Mosul.
North Korea's apparent launch of an ICBM has alarmed its neighbours, especially South Korea and Japan

North Korea has test launched an intercontinental ballistic missile for the first time, the United States confirmed Tuesday as it warned of an escalating threat from Pyongyang and insisted America would never accept a nuclear-armed North Korea.

The North's possession of a working ICBM -- something US President Donald Trump had vowed "won't happen" -- represents a milestone for the reclusive communist regime as it pushes ahead with a weapons program it says it needs to ward off invasion.

Some experts said such a missile could reach Alaska or go even further toward the US mainland. But there was widespread skepticism of the North's claim of the missile being able to "strike any place in the world."

North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un called the missile "a gift" to "American bastards" on the US Independence Day holiday, the Korean Central News Agency reported.

Pyongyang's having such a weapon could radically alter the calculus for countries seeking to thwart the military goals of the isolated state.

North Korea's official news agency announced that the ICBM is capable of carrying a "large, heavy nuclear warhead" that can survive re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere.

It quoted leader Kim, who personally oversaw the test, as having inspected the Hwasong-14 missile and "expressed satisfaction, saying it looked as handsome as a good-looking boy and was well made."

The North's Academy of Defence Science, which developed the missile, said it reached an altitude of 2,802 kilometres and flew 933 kilometres, calling it the "final gate to rounding off the state nuclear force."

US confirmation of the launch came in a statement from Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.

"The United States strongly condemns North Korea's launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile. Testing an ICBM represents a new escalation of the threat to the United States, our allies and partners, the region, and the world," Tillerson said.

He added: "As we, along with others, have made clear, we will never accept a nuclear-armed North Korea."

The United States requested an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council, which is expected to take place on Wednesday.

Russia and China issued a joint appeal to ease soaring tensions between the United States and North Korea.

But that call was shrugged off by Washington and Seoul, which fired ballistic missiles simultaneously in a drill Wednesday simulating an attack on the North's leadership, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said, "as a strong message of warning."

The live-fire training was held at the order of President Moon Jae-In, Yonhap news agency said, who backs engagement with Pyongyang to bring it to the negotiating table.

"President Moon said North Korea's serious provocation required us to react with more than just a statement and that we need to clearly show our missile defence readiness to North Korea," it cited Seoul's presidential Blue House as saying.

The missiles deployed in the drill feature "deep strike precision capability," enabling the United States and South Korea "to engage the full array of time critical targets under all weather conditions," the US military said.

- More sanctions? -

China and Russia called for a moratorium on further missile and nuclear tests by Pyongyang after a meeting between leaders Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping in Moscow. They also called for a simultaneous suspension of large-scale US-South Korea military exercises.

"The opposing sides should start negotiations and affirm general principles of their relations including the non-use of force, rejection of aggression and peaceful coexistence," the joint statement said.

North Korea missile launch

Trump has been pinning his hopes on China -- North Korea's main diplomatic ally -- to solve the crisis, but troubles have escalated since the US leader took office in January.

There are still doubts whether the North can miniaturise a nuclear weapon to fit a missile nose cone, or if it has mastered the technology needed for it to survive re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere.

But since Kim came to power there have been advances including three nuclear tests and multiple rocket launches.

Following the launch, Trump asked on Twitter: "Does this guy have anything better to do with his life?"

The United Nations has imposed multiple sets of sanctions on Pyongyang, which claims that it needs nuclear arms to defend itself against the threat of invasion.

The European Union said Tuesday that it may consider further sanctions against the North, having last month expanded a blacklist.

- 'The threat has grown' -

US Pacific Command said the test involved a land-based, intermediate range missile that flew for 37 minutes before splashing down in the Sea of Japan.

Pyongyang has ramped up its missile and nuclear test programme since Kim Jong-Un came to power after the death of his father in 2011

Moscow's defence ministry called it medium-range. But Tokyo -- in whose exclusive economic zone it came down -- estimated the maximum altitude to have "greatly exceeded" 2,500 kilometres, prompting arms control specialist Jeffrey Lewis to respond on Twitter: "That's it. It's an ICBM. An ICBM that can hit Anchorage not San Francisco, but still."

David Wright, of the Union of Concerned Scientists, wrote on the organisation's allthingsnuclear blog that the available figures implied the missile had "a maximum range of roughly 6,700 km on a standard trajectory."

"That range would not be enough to reach the lower 48 states or the large islands of Hawaii, but would allow it to reach all of Alaska."

Antoine Bondaz, an analyst at the Foundation for Strategic Research in Paris, said the launch was a "humiliation" for Trump after his repeated attempts to get China to rein in Pyongyang.

South Korea's Moon warned the North against crossing "the bridge of no return."

Washington, South Korea's security guarantor, has more than 28,000 troops in the country. Fears of conflict peaked earlier this year as Trump's administration suggested military action was an option.

burs-dw/acb
Unaccompanied children who arrive at the International Nguenyyiel refuge camp in Gambela, Ethiopia have fled life-threatening siutations in South Sudan

Her feet bare and her hometown in flames, Nyadet walked east alone, eating food given to her by strangers and following trails left by others escaping war in South Sudan.

She is 12 years old.

Nine days after she fled bloodshed in the flashpoint town of Malakal last November, Nyadet reached the country's border with Ethiopia, and crossed over to safety.

"Maybe they are safe," is all she can say of her mother, father, sister and two brothers, whom she lost track of when the streets of her hometown transformed into a war zone.

South Sudan refugees

South Sudan's civil war has raged on for the past three years with such viciousness that parts of the country are bereft of food and a third of the population has fled their homes, but few refugees present as vexing a problem as children like Nyadet who escape the conflict alone.

"They are fleeing definitely life-threatening situations," said Daniel Abate of aid group Save the Children, which helps reunite lost children with their families.

At the Nguenyyiel refugee camp near Ethiopia's lush western frontier, boys and girls who crossed the border unaccompanied tell tales of murdered families and childhoods shattered by the unremitting violence in South Sudan.

Around 1.8 million South Sudanese have fled the country and of that number one million are children and of those, 75,000 have fled unaccompanied by their parents

"War happened," is the description Nyakung, 11, gives for the atrocities she witnessed in the capital Juba, where her mother was left to die inside a blazing hut and three of her brothers were gunned down on a road while running for the safety of a UN base.

Aid agencies are trying to get children like Nyakung back with their families, but humanitarians admit that with the conflict still raging in South Sudan, the odds of these children seeing their loved ones again are slim.

- Tired and destitute -

South Sudan's war, sparked when President Salva Kiir accused his former deputy Riek Machar of plotting a coup in 2013, has been marked by numerous atrocities against civilians despite the presence of thousands of UN peacekeeping troops.

Around 1.8 million South Sudanese have fled the country, making it the fastest growing refugee crisis in the world.

Unaccompanied children who have travelled alone alone from South Sudan are sometimes reluctant to be reunited with relatives, believing it could mean returning to the violence they fled

One million of those refugees are children, the UN says, and of that number about 75,000 were either separated from their parents or without any family at all.

Aid workers say they regularly see South Sudanese children straggling across the border, often with an adult stranger, but sometimes by themselves.

"You can tell they are very tired, their clothes (are) worn-out on them, they have not been showered for some time. So, you can see that they're destitute," Daniel said.

Nguenyyiel is home to nearly 2,900 children that arrived without any family, who pass their days attending school and playing in a tree-shaded jungle gym.

Chan, 13, escaped Malakal late last year when fighting erupted and the grass hut he lived in was torched.

He then walked for a month until he crossed into Ethiopia.

"I just go the direction where I see a safe place," he said.

Some, like Nyadet, hope to one day reunite with their families.

Others hold no such hope.

Chan says he doesn't know where his parents are but believes they must be dead.

- Slim odds -

With neither the government nor the rebels honouring a peace deal made two years ago, locating family members of lost children in the chaos of South Sudan is difficult, says Hiwotie Simachew, emergency response manager for aid group Plan International.

Some parents have also likely joined the exodus that has distributed hundreds of thousands of South Sudanese refugees to Uganda, Kenya, Sudan and beyond.

Parents, if they are still alive, could be in refugee camps in any of these countries, or in other settlements in Ethiopia, Hiwotie said.

Plan International and Save the Children have managed to reunite hundreds of youths with their families, but that's just a fraction of the around 31,500 children Ethiopia's Administration for Refugee and Returnee Affairs says have arrived without their parents.

Even when family members are located, some don't want to take custody of the children.

In one case, aid workers found the uncle of three unaccompanied minors in Australia, but he declined to adopt them, Hiwotie said.

In other instances, it's the children themselves who resist reunion, because they believe that would mean a return to the violence from which they escaped.

"They are refusing to reunify with their family and thinking that, if they show their interest, they will return back to South Sudan," Hiwotie said.
Philippine President Duterte imposed military rule across the insurgency-wracked region of Mindanao on May 23

The Philippines' Supreme Court on Tuesday endorsed President Rodrigo Duterte's enforcement of martial law across the southern third of the country, which he said was necessary to defeat Islamic State group-backed militants.

Duterte imposed military rule across the insurgency-wracked region of Mindanao on May 23, hours after hundreds of gunmen waving black IS flags occupied parts of Marawi city and triggered deadly clashes that are yet to end.

Opposition lawmakers called for the Supreme Court to strike down Duterte's martial rule for its "utter lack of sufficient factual basis".

Besieged Philippine city

An overwhelming majority of the justices dismissed that petition, Supreme Court spokesman Theodore Te told reporters on Tuesday, although he did not give any reasons for their decision.

Militants continue to occupy parts of Marawi, the Islamic capital of the mainly Catholic country, despite a US-backed military offensive there that has claimed more than 460 lives and displaced nearly 400,000 people.

Duterte said when he declared martial law that the militants had attacked Marawi as part of a plan to establish a province for IS in the southern Philippines.

In their petition to the court, the opposition lawmakers warned martial law would open the door to repression and atrocities seen during the 20-year rule of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos that ended with a "People Power" revolution in 1986.

During the Marcos dictatorship, thousands of suspected communist and Muslim insurgents, as well as his critics, were jailed, tortured or killed, according to historians.

When Duterte announced martial law, he praised Marcos's version while vowing his own would be "harsh".

Under the constitution drawn up to prevent a repeat of Marcos-era abuses, the president is allowed to declare martial law only to prevent "invasion or rebellion".

It is limited initially to 60 days.

If Duterte wants to extend, he must get congressional approval.

As part of his martial law measures, Duterte allowed security forces to detain suspects for up to three days without prior court orders.

The government has said it has detained 66 people using these martial law powers for their links to the Marawi conflict, including the parents of brothers who are key militant leaders.

Duterte had repeatedly threatened to ignore the findings of the court if it ruled against him, vowing only to listen to the recommendations of the military.

"They are not soldiers. They do not know what is happening on the ground," Duterte said of the Supreme Court justices, as he also threatened to put martial law critics in jail.

Duterte on Monday warned martial law could continue beyond 60 days.

"I urge you to remain steadfast and alert as martial law in Mindanao will remain in effect to counter the persistent threat of terrorism and insurgency," he told troops.
North Korea missile launch

North Korea on Tuesday said it had tested an intercontinental ballistic missile, as its decades-long weapons programme reached a grave new phase.

Here are key dates in Pyongyang's quest to develop a missile capable of hitting the United States:

Late 1970s: Starts working on a version of the Soviet Scud-B (range 300 kilometres or 186 miles). Test-fired in 1984

1987-92: Begins developing variant of Scud-C (500 km), Rodong-1 (1,300 km), Taepodong-1 (2,500 km), Musudan-1 (3,000 km) and Taepodong-2 (6,700 km)

Aug 1998: Test-fires Taepodong-1 over Japan as part of failed satellite launch

Sept 1999: Declares moratorium on long-range missile tests amid improving ties with US

July 12, 2000: Fifth round of US-North Korean missile talks ends without agreement after North demands $1 billion a year in return for halting missile exports

March 3, 2005: North ends moratorium on long-range missile testing, blames Bush administration's "hostile" policy

July 5, 2006: North test-fires seven missiles, including a long-range Taepodong-2 which explodes after 40 seconds

Oct 9, 2006: North conducts underground nuclear test, its first

April 5, 2009: North Korea launches long-range rocket which flies over Japan and lands in the Pacific, in what it says is an attempt to put a satellite into orbit. The United States, Japan and South Korea see it as a disguised test of a Taepodong-2

May 25, 2009: North conducts its second underground nuclear test, several times more powerful than the first

April 13, 2012: North launches what it has said is a long-range rocket to put a satellite into orbit, but it disintegrates soon after blast-off

December 12, 2012: North launches a multi-stage rocket and successfully places an Earth observational satellite in orbit

February 12, 2013: Conducts its third underground nuclear test

January 6, 2016: North conducts its fourth underground nuclear test, which it says was of a hydrogen bomb -- a claim doubted by most experts

March 9, 2016: Kim Jong-Un claims the North has successfully miniaturised a thermo-nuclear warhead

April 23, 2016: North test-fires a submarine-launched ballistic missile

July 8, 2016: US and South Korea announce plans to deploy an advanced missile defence system -- THAAD (Terminal High Altitude Area Defense)

August 3, 2016: North Korea fires a ballistic missile directly into Japan's maritime economic zone for the first time

September 9, 2016: Fifth nuclear test

March 6, 2017: North fires four ballistic missiles in what it says is an exercise to hit US bases in Japan

March 7, 2017: US begins deploying THAAD missile defence system in South Korea

May 14, 2017: North fires a ballistic missile which flies 700 kilometres before landing in the Sea of Japan. Analysts say it has an imputed range of 4,500 kilometres and brings Guam within reach

July 4, 2017: North Korea test-fires a ballistic missile which flies 930 kilometres before landing in the Sea of Japan. Analysts say it has an imputed range of 6,700 kilometres and brings Alaska within reach. Pyongyang later says it was a "landmark" test of a Hwasong-14 intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM).
Zeerak the bespectacled orange muppet is the latest innovation from Sesame Street in Afghanistan: a children's TV character who reveres his educated older sister, brought on to screens to show a new generation that a woman's place is beyond the home.

Zeerak the bespectacled orange muppet is the latest innovation from Sesame Street in Afghanistan: a children's TV character who reveres his educated older sister, brought on to screens to show a new generation that a woman's place is beyond the home.

Producers are betting the new character -- a four-year-old boy dressed in a traditional shalwar kameez and a waistcoast embroidered in Afghan national colours will inspire millions of children -- and their parents -- to see the value in education.

Zeerak's big sister Zari, introduced last year with great fanfare as the first Afghan muppet to join internationally cherished characters such as Big Bird and Elmo, has already proved a success on the local version of Sesame Street, known as 'Baghch-e-Simsim'.

Baghch-e-Simsim is the only programme on Afghan television dedicated to children and has a remarkable reach -- a recent survey showed some 80 percent of children and parents with access to television watch the show.

Massood Sanjer, head of Tolo TV which airs the show, believes introducing a boy, who adores and wants to emulate his school-going, older sibling, will "indirectly teach the kids to love their sisters" in a conservative, gender-segregated nation which traditionally has invested more in its sons.

Baghch-e-Simsim is the only programme on Afghan television dedicated to children and has a remarkable reach -- a recent survey showed some 80 percent of children and parents with access to television watch the show.

Sanjer believes the show can, from an early age, underline the importance of educated women in Afghan society, but also show boys that a good education benefits everyone.

Afghanistan's Sesame Street producers are betting a new character -- a four-year-old boy dressed in a traditional shalwar kameez and a waistcoast embroidered in Afghan national colours will inspire millions of children.

"People -- kids and parents, who have access to TV are watching and know the brand of the character. So it is a very good sign that people love to learn and it is great to use media as an education tool for kids," he told AFP.

That message still needs to be hammered home in many parts of Afghanistan nearly 16 years after the end of the Taliban's repressive regime.

A report published last year by the National Risk and Vulnerability Assessment Center showed that just 66 percent of boys and 37 percent of girls aged 15-24 can read and write, while barely 45.5 percent of Afghans attend primary school, and 27 percent secondary school.

- Driving social change -

The broadcaster is utilising everything it can to help change attitudes -- the new muppet Zeerak's name means 'smart' in Dari and Pashto, Afghanistan's two official languages. And even his trendy, black-rimmed glasses were chosen for a reason.

Afghan Sesame Street producers believe introducing a boy character who adores and wants to emulate his school-going older sibling, will "indirectly teach the kids to love their sisters" in a gender-segregated nation which traditionally has invested more in its sons.

Producer Wajiha Saidy explains that wearing spectacles is seen as shameful for Afghan youngsters, so they wanted to address the issue and show it to be normal.

Across its global iterations, Sesame Street has made a point of inclusivity with its cast. Earlier this year the American version debuted a character with autism, while in South Africa the programme features a HIV-positive muppet.

Last week it courted controversy in the US after tweeting a group image of some of its stars to reflect a rainbow in support of 'LGBT Pride Month'.

Afghan Sesame Street producers also organise small mobile theatres that travel to kindergartens in rural areas, estimating that they reached nearly 20,000 children last year.

"Sesame Street is proud to support families of all shapes, sizes, and colors," the official account said.

In Afghanistan, the show's attention to equality extends to its casting, with two talented female puppeteers, Sima and Mansour, lending their voices to Zari and Zeerak.

Zari is by far the favourite character on the show in Afghanistan, according to the study commissioned by Tolo which surveyed some 1,500 children and their parents.

Just 60 percent of Afghanistan has access to television, but Baghch-e-Simsim is also broadcast on the radio across 44 FM stations, says Anwar Jamilli, who runs the audio progammes.

The producers also organise small mobile theatres that travel to kindergartens in rural areas, with Jamilli estimating that they reached nearly 20,000 children last year.

He says the show's focus on friendship and sharing brings a dose of happiness to children living with the ever-present threat of violence.

"This is very new for Afghan children", he says.
The six-year conflict has claimed more than 300,000 lives and forced millions from their homes

A fifth round of talks on ending the six-year Syrian conflict began in Kazakhstan on Tuesday, focused on shoring up a plan for safe zones in the war-torn country.

Russian news agencies reported that a three-way meeting gathering the co-sponsors of the talks, Russia, Iran and Turkey, was underway in the Kazakh capital Astana, aimed at cementing four conflict-free areas agreed in May.

The two days of meetings are then set to involve a string of bilateral talks before a plenary session bringing together all the participants on Wednesday.

Anuar Zhainakov, press-secretary at Kazakhstan's foreign ministry, confirmed to AFP that delegates from the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad and the rebel factions that oppose him had also arrived in Astana.

An agreement signed by regime backers Moscow and Tehran and rebel-backer Ankara to carve out four "de-escalation zones" in Syria was seen as a potential breakthrough towards calming a conflict that has claimed an estimated 320,000 lives.

The deal laid out the areas where rebels and government forces should halt hostilities, including air strikes, for six months. More than 2.5 million people are believed to live in the zones.

Violence decreased markedly across all four areas in the first weeks after the deal was announced, although it ramped up in Daraa.

However, the sides failed to meet a June 4 deadline to determine the exact boundaries of the zones and it remains unclear how and by whom they will be policed.

The Astana talks received a boost on Monday after the Syrian army unilaterally announced a halt to fighting until midnight on July 6 in the southern provinces of Daraa, Quneitra and Sweida, which cover the rough area of one of the four proposed zones.

Of all the four zones, which also take in the northwestern province of Idlib, parts of the central province of Homs and opposition-controlled Eastern Ghouta near Damascus, it is the southern zone that has seen the worst fighting in recent weeks.

While Damascus has spoken in support of the zones deal, the rebels have been far more pessimistic and slammed any Iranian involvement in the plan.

Russia has argued the agreement will help focus attacks against extremist groups such as Fateh al-Sham, previously known as the Al-Nusra Front, and the Islamic State group, which are not parties to the troubled government-rebel truce.

Syria's conflict evolved from a bloody crackdown on protests in 2011 to a devastating war that has drawn in world powers, including Russia and a US-led international coalition.

Russian has pushed the talks in Astana since the start of the year as it seeks to pacify Syria after it game-changing military intervention on the side of Assad.

The talks in Astana complement broader political negotiations the United Nations is backing in Geneva that are due to restart in mid-July.
Images of men kissing and groping the cardboard cutouts have been circulating online

Energy giant Shell said it is removing life-sized cutouts of a Malaysian woman in a headscarf from its petrol stations in the Muslim-majority country after photos of men groping the figure started circulating online.

The adverts featuring a female employee, wearing a red T-shirt with a Shell logo, black trousers and a black headscarf, smiling and with her thumb raised in the air, had been placed at Royal Dutch Shell's stations in Malaysia.

But images of men kissing the cardboard cutouts, holding her hand and grabbing her chest and crotch started circulating on Facebook in recent days, in what Shell blasted as "distasteful and suggestive acts".

The woman, named in local reports as 25-year-old Nor Shafila Khairusalleh, who worked at a Shell station, criticised the "extreme behaviour" of the men in the images.

"They may just be joking, but I feel humiliated because that is still myself although it is just an image," she told news portal mStar.

The Anglo-Dutch group said in a statement that "we do not condone this disrespectful act, which is completely against the culture of Malaysians and Shells core values. We urge netizens and members of the public to refrain from sharing these images further.

"The standee (cutout) will be removed from all our sites with immediate effect."

An AFP journalist at a Shell station in Bentong, just outside the capital Kuala Lumpur, said two of the cutouts had been removed from the forecourt and placed inside the site's shop. A staff member said the cutouts were removed Monday and were going to be placed in storage.

Shell did not say how many cutouts were removed and which stations were affected. The oil giant has a network of over 950 stations across Malaysia and serves nearly one million customers a day, according to its website.

More than 60 percent of Malaysia's population of over 30 million people are Muslim and social attitudes -- particularly outside cities -- can be conservative.

Religious conservatism has also been rising in Malaysia in recent years, chipping away at a one-time reputation for moderation and tolerance.
Dozens of workers were inside a factory on the outskirts of Dhaka when the boiler exploded, causing a section of the six-storey building to collapse in the latest industrial accident in Bangladesh

Bangladesh on Tuesday called off a search for survivors after an explosion at a garment factory killed at least 13 workers and injured scores, the latest disaster to hit the multi-billion dollar industry.

Dozens of workers were inside the factory on the outskirts of Dhaka when the boiler exploded on Monday evening, causing a section of the six-storey building to collapse.

It was unclear what caused the explosion, which occurred during maintenance work on the boiler at a time when most of the factory's 5,000 workers were off for the Eid holidays.

Authorities called off the nearly 22-hour-long search after rescuers found two more bodies in a toilet next to the destroyed boiler room, bringing the death toll to 13.

"Our fire fighters have completed searching the entire section of the debris," local administrator Mahmud Hasan told AFP.

The government said it had formed a committee to investigate the explosion, the latest disaster to strike the country's $30-billion garment industry.

The plant in the Gazipur industrial district is owned by manufacturer Multifabs, which makes clothing for brands including Littlewoods and Aldi according to its website.

The collapse of the nine-storey Rana Plaza factory complex in April 2013 in which more than 1,100 people were killed was seen as a wake-up call for the industry, which supplies clothing for major brands all over the world.

In the wake of the disaster, authorities pledged to improve working conditions at factories but accidents are still commonplace.

Only a few hundred of the country's 4,500 textile factories have been certified as safe and last year a fire at a factory just miles from Rana Plaza claimed 34 lives.

A survey this year by global charity Action Aid of more than 1,400 Rana Plana survivors found nearly half were still jobless while roughly 31 percent were too traumatised to work.

There have also been demands for an increase in the basic monthly wage of $68 for the country's four million garment workers, most of whom are young women.

One of the injured workers receiving treatment at nearby hospitals blamed the factory authorities for not replacing the boiler despite the fact that it was allegedly "beeping danger signals continuously".

Worker Harunur Rashid told Bangla daily Prothom Alo that the boiler's safety bulb was beeping danger lights but the device's operators assured them there was nothing to worry about.

"Within ten minutes after we returned to work, the boiler exploded. It's absolutely the authorities' negligence," he said.

Mesba Faruqui, the operations director of the factory, said the operators were doing maintenance duty as the factory was meant to open on Tuesday after the long Eid holidays.

"If the accident had happened today, God forbid, there might have been many more casualties," he told AFP.
The US president has piled pressure on China to use its diplomatic and economic clout over North Korea, its Communist ally, to pressure Pyongyang to stop its nuclear and missile activities

China defended its "relentless efforts" to resolve the North Korea nuclear issue on Tuesday following a Twitter outburst from US President Donald Trump, as Pyongyang claimed to have tested an intercontinental ballistic missile.

The US president has piled pressure on China to use its diplomatic and economic clout over North Korea, its Communist ally, to persuade Pyongyang to stop its nuclear and missile activities.

China's foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told a press briefing that its contribution was well recognised -- describing its role as "indispensable" -- after Trump called on China to take more action on North Korea.

"Perhaps China will put a heavy move on North Korea and end this nonsense once and for all!" tweeted Trump, who will meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the G20 summit in Germany later this week.

"China has made relentless efforts for the settlement of the Korean peninsula nuclear issue. China's contribution in this regard is well recognised, and its role is indispensable," Geng said.

Geng said China was following developments closely after North Korean television announced that leader Kim Jong-Un had overseen the "landmark" test of a Hwasong-14 missile, which reached an altitude of 2,802 kilometres (1,741 miles) and flew 933 kilometres.

"China opposes the DPRK breaching UN Security Council resolutions to conduct launch activities," the spokesman said, using the initials of North Korea's official name.

"We hope all relevant parties can exercise restraint, avoid taking actions that may escalate tensions, and make efforts to bring the issue back to peaceful settlement through dialogue and consultation," Geng said.

On a trip to Moscow, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin agreed on Monday to "jointly push for a proper settlement of the (Korean) peninsula issue via dialogue and negotiation", according to the official Xinhua news agency.

- 'Negative factors' -

China's response to Trump's tweet comes as tensions between the superpowers have resurfaced in recent days, breaking from a friendlier atmosphere that emerged after Trump met Xi at the US leader's Florida resort in April.

Trump warned about "the growing threat" posed by North Korea during a phone call with Xi on Monday, while the Chinese leader said Sino-US relations were hit by "negative factors".

China announced in February the suspension of coal imports from North Korea for the rest of the year, a crucial currency earner for Pyongyang.

The total value of all imports from North Korea fell to $721.5 million between January and May from $773.6 million over the same period last year, according to Chinese official figures.

But Trump has urged Beijing to do more and last week his administration took steps that infuriated the Asian superpower.

The US Treasury Department slapped sanctions on China's Bank of Dandong for allegedly laundering North Korean cash and it accused a Chinese shipping company of smuggling banned luxury goods into the country.

The Trump administration also authorised a $1.3 billion arms sales to Taiwan and placed China on a list of the world's worst human trafficking offenders.

China has pressed for the resumption of six-party negotiations with North Korea that have been dormant since 2009.

Beijing proposes a "dual-track approach" in which Pyongyang would suspend its nuclear and missile activities while the United States and South Korea would halt large-scale military exercises.
Sri Lanka's 37-year-long Tamil separatist war ended in 2009, but government forces still maintain a large presence in the former conflict zones and keep a close watch on the local Tamil population

Sri Lanka's military said Tuesday it has ended its occupation of a major fishing harbour after 27 years and allowed Tamil civilians in the former war zone to take back their land.

Security forces withdrew from the Mayliddy harbour in the Jaffna peninsula on Monday, bowing to the long-standing demands of fishermen and their families from the minority Tamil community who have been living in camps for displaced people since June 1990.

"Accordingly, 187 families... are able to return to their original lands and resume their fishing livelihood after an absence of nearly 30 years," the army said in a statement.

Sri Lanka's 37-year-long Tamil separatist war ended in 2009, but government forces still maintain a large presence in the former conflict zones and keep a close watch on the local Tamil population.

The military, which is dominated by the island's Sinhalese majority, also runs hotels, transport services and other enterprises in competition with local Tamil businesses.

The UN has been pressing Colombo to step up reconciliation efforts and reduce the military's presence in former war zones, including the Jaffna peninsula, the heartland of minority Tamils.

Tamil rebels fighting for a separate homeland for the ethnic minority were defeated in a final military push after decades of conflict.

Sri Lanka faced international censure during the regime of former president Mahinda Rajapakse, who refused to investigate allegations that up to 40,000 minority Tamil civilians perished in the final stages of the war.

His successor, Maithripala Sirisena, came to power after promising reconciliation and accountability for war-time atrocities, but rights groups say progress on both fronts has been slow.
A fighter of the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces fires a machine gun during their advance into the Islamic State group stronghold of Raqa on June 21, 2017

US-backed forces have penetrated the heavily fortified heart of jihadist bastion Raqa for the first time, in a key milestone in the war against the Islamic State group in Syria.

Air strikes by the US-led coalition battling IS punched two holes in the medieval wall surrounding Raqa's Old City, allowing fighters of the Syrian Democratic Forces to breach the jihadists' defences, Washington and the SDF said on Tuesday.

The advance -- the culmination of a nearly eight-month campaign -- comes as the jihadists face an expected defeat within days in Iraq's second city Mosul, the other pivot of the cross-border "caliphate" they declared in 2014.

Coalition officials said a few hundred diehard jihadists were making a desperate last stand in just one square kilometre (less than half a square mile) of Mosul's Old City.

In neighbouring Syria, the SDF said coalition warplanes opened up two breaches in the 2.5 kilometre (one and a half mile) Rafiqah Wall around Raqa's Old City, enabling its fighters to evade explosives laid by IS.

"Daesh (IS) have used this archaeological wall to launch attacks, and planted bombs and mines in its gates to hinder the advance of SDF forces," the alliance said.

A fighter of the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces speaks on a walkie talkie during their advance into the Islamic State group stronghold of Raqa on June 21, 2017

During three years of jihadist rule, Raqa became infamous as the scene of some of IS's worst atrocities, including public beheadings, and is thought to have been a hub for planning attacks overseas.

"There have been fierce clashes (in the Old City) since dawn today, with 200 of our fighters mobilising to the area," said Mohammad Khaled Shaker, a spokesman for the Syrian Elite Forces, US-backed Arab fighters allied with the SDF.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said US-backed forces "are clashing with IS at four points in the eastern part of the Old City" as fresh coalition air strikes pummelled other neighbourhoods.

- 'Real fight has begun' -

The US envoy to the coalition, Brett McGurk, said on Twitter that breaching the Rafiqah Wall marked a "key milestone in (the) campaign to liberate the city."

US Central Command, which oversees military operations across the Middle East, said the coalition air strike had allowed advancing forces "to breach the Old City at locations of their choosing."

This prevented IS from using booby-traps, landmines and suicide car bombs, "protected SDF and civilian lives, and preserved the integrity of the greatest portion of the wall," it said.

The United Nations has raised concerns for tens of thousands of civilians trapped in Raqa, where it says the jihadists are using many as human shields.

The Rafiqah Wall that surrounds the city's historic heart originally dates back to the late 8th century, when as capital of the Abbasid caliphate, Raqa was briefly the centre of the Islamic world.

A fighter of the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces readies a weapon during the advance into the Islamic State group stronghold of Raqa on June 21, 2017

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the advance had been supported by US special forces and constituted the "most important progress" yet for the SDF, which broke into Raqa on June 6.

But IS still controls 70 percent of the city, according to the Observatory, and the toughest battles are yet to come.

"Today, the real fight for Raqa has begun. There are both many civilians and many mines in the Old City," said Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman.

"The biggest challenge for the SDF will be opening up humanitarian corridors so besieged civilians can leave," he said.

Activists were also concerned that as the SDF moved closer to the heart of Raqa, civilian casualties would rise.

"Now that they are in the Old City, they're in a much more densely populated area," said Hussam Eesa from the Raqa is Being Slaughtered Silently activist collective.

"We may be counting casualties by the hundreds," he told AFP.

- Mosul victory 'in 2 days' -

The coalition estimates that around 2,500 IS jihadists are defending Raqa.

That is far more than the 200 or so IS fighters, most of them foreign, that Iraqi commanders believe are holed up in Mosul's Old City.

Iraqi forces were moving in on the last IS-controlled neighbourhoods of the Old City from all sides on Tuesday, commanders said.

Fighters of Iraq's elite Counter-Terrorism Service advance through the bombed out streets of Mosul's Old City on July 3, 2017

"In the next two days, we will announce the complete liberation of the Old City, and therefore... the city of Mosul," Staff Brigadier General Haidar al-Obeidi, a commander in the elite Counter-Terrorism Service, told AFP.

Iraqi forces have been closing in on Mosul's Old City for months, but its maze of narrow alleyways combined with a large civilian population has made for an extremely difficult fight.

Iraqi forces are facing a rising number of suicide attacks, including some by female bombers, in the final stages of the more than eight-month-long campaign, commanders said.

But coalition officials said the jihadists were now on their last legs in their two most emblematic strongholds.

"#ISIS terrorists down to less than one square kilometre in #Mosul and totally surrounded in #Raqqa," tweeted US envoy McGurk.
Writer and commentator Philip Fitzpatrick in a recent article in PNG Attitude pointed out the power of social media and the tremendous amount of writing produced not only by journalists but ordinary Papua New Guineans on election-related matters in social media.

Papua New Guineans who have not realised the power of social media or simply have been ignorant of it until this election have woken up to it.

In the current Papua New Guinean election, social media has played an unprecedented role in disseminating and circulating election issues; greater than any other media stream.

SOCIAL media is high speed, handy, easily accessible and a powerful tool to disseminate information, promote ideas and products, communicate political platforms and run election campaigns.

This has included the promotion of platforms by political parties, propaganda from candidates and supporters and commentary from ordinary citizens.

A large number of candidates have taken advantage of this communications revolution by running their campaign on Facebook in addition to public rallies and visits to villages and suburbs.

Some of them have done pretty well on social media. One is Papua New Guineas much loved patriot and diehard warrior against corruption, Bryan Kramer. I wont be surprised if he unseats PNC Party candidate and sitting MP for Madang, Nixon Duban.

Social media has the potential to swing political power.

There is no other media outlet through which information gets to the ordinary masses faster than Facebook. Although perhaps 90% of the population has no access to social media like Facebook, information reaches them orally at lightning speed.

What really happens is that, when information reaches Facebook subscribers, they immediately feeds others and this chain accelerates so spreading information to the masses quickly.

A lot of people in Kundiawa, where I live, knew about the apprehension of the NCD election manager, Terrence Hetinu, and the discovery of K184,300 in his possession.

They knew from Facebook in less than an hour of the incident. This is how fast information travels through social media.

People need to be well informed of matters affecting their life and country. When they become aware of these issues and developments, only then they can participate meaningfully by making informed decisions.

And one of the effective ways for dissemination of information is through social media which have taken prominence in this election.

There is no other media outlet that exposed the alleged criminal yearnings and dealings of Peter ONeill in the manner that social media has done.

Now it appears that most provinces have turned against Peter ONeill and his PNC Party in this election because of the massive awareness generated by social media regarding unpopular decisions and also allegations of serious crimes that went unprosecuted in court.

The burning of PNC Party tee-shirts and caps in the Eastern Highlands and other parts of PNG; the violent revolt against Peter ONeill by the people of Goroka while he was campaigning for PNC candidate and incumbent governor Julie Soso and the stoning of PNC candidate and incumbent Simbu Governor Noah Kool in Kundiawa were manifestations of peoples informed riposte to ONeill and PNCs poor governance.

The massive anti-ONeill and PNC sentiment and the crusades we have seen and read about in social media is an indication of the minds and hearts of the people of PNG.

Peter ONeill seems set to lose his prime ministership and a new government headed by a new prime minister is the likely outcome of this election.

Until next time..
Actor Jackie Chan will star in Chinese public-service adverts promoting "core socialist values"

Chinese cinema-goers now have to sit through a short clip promoting "core socialist values" and President Xi Jinping's "Chinese dream" political credo before the show starts -- and some aren't happy about it.

Authorities enlisted action star Jackie Chan and domestic film idols as part of the public-service adverts, which have been ordered shown at cinemas in China since July 1 and last a few minutes apiece, state media said.

Four videos were made under the title series "The glory and the dream -- our Chinese dream", borrowing from Xi's vision of a revitalised China, and were an initiative of the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television, said the official Beijing Youth Daily.

"The purpose is to help people better understand and accept the (ruling communist) party's principles and policies," it added.

The state-aligned Global Times quoted one of the videos as saying: "No matter what you do, as long as you respect the country, our society, our nation and our family, you are helping us to realise the Chinese dream."

The newspaper said Beijing cinemas were required to play one of the short videos before screenings, but theatres in other parts of the country also confirmed to AFP that they too had been showing the clip, suggesting the edict is country-wide.

"Many came late for the movie just to avoid the short video and others complained about the video after watching the movie," the Global Times quoted one cinema employee as saying.

Users on Weibo, China's Twitter-like social media platform, expressed mixed feelings.

"Had planned on going to the cinema but heard there is now a China dream trailer at the beginning, forget it," wrote one.

But another, named Good Netizen from Henan, wrote: "Three generations of film stars spreading positive energy in society. They expressed the aspirations of a Chinese person, every ordinary Chinese person's Chinese dream."

Since taking office in 2013, Xi has consolidated control to become one of China's most powerful leaders in decades, exalting the Communist Party and cracking down on its critics.
Progress on North Korea's weapons programme has accelerated since young leader Kim Jong-Un took power following the death of his father

North Korea declared Tuesday that the country had finally achieved its dream of building an intercontinental ballistic missile, saying it would "fundamentally put an end to the US nuclear war threat and blackmail".

The Hwasong-14 ICBM reached an altitude of about 2,802 kilometres (1,741 miles) and flew 933 kilometres for 39 minutes before hitting a target area on the sea off the east coast, the North said.

Washington, Japan and South Korea gave similar figures, and US experts said the trajectory implied the device could reach Alaska.

Pyongyang is subject to multiple sets of United Nations sanctions over its atomic and missile programmes, which it says it needs to protect itself against a possible invasion.

It regularly issues bloodcurdling threats against its "imperialist enemy" Washington, and has long sought a rocket capable of delivering a warhead to the continental United States.

The progress has accelerated especially after young leader Kim Jong-Un took power following the death of his father, longtime ruler Kim Jong-Il, in 2011.

The latest launch potentially forces a recalculation of the threat it poses.

Here are five key questions on the issue.

- Is this really an ICBM?

While South Korean and US armies confirmed some details of Tuesday's launch, they did not immediately describe it as an ICBM.

The US Pacific Command called it a "land-based, intermediate range" missile, Moscow described it as "medium range" Russian news agencies reported.

But South Korean President Moon Jae-In said Seoul was analysing the result of the test "with a possibility of an ICBM in mind".

David Wright, of the Union of Concerned Scientists, wrote on the organisation's blog that the available details suggested a range of 6,700 kilometres, which would allow it to "reach all of Alaska".

- What difference would a North Korean ICBM make?

The mere fact that the North has developed this sort of weapon would mark a significant milestone.

Pyongyang has staged five atomic tests -- including two last year -- with the regime stepping up efforts to produce a nuclear warhead small enough to fit into a missile.

With the North's threat growing significantly, possession of an ICBM would give Pyongyang key leverage to seek to squeeze more concessions from the US in potential future negotiations.

However it may still take some time before the North could reliably deploy multiple units of the missile, said Lee Chun-Keun, a researcher at Science and Technology Policy Institute in Seoul.

- What can the international community do?

The North is already under a thick layer of United Nations and bilateral sanctions over its past missile and nuclear tests conducted in violation of UN resolutions.

So the option for the UN to take further action may be limited -- a point echoed by former US President Barack Obama on Monday.

Obama, speaking in a Seoul political forum, said the North was "already so isolated" from global commerce and finance that it was difficult for outside sanctions to have a real impact.

"In terms of economic pressure... you squeeze and squeeze and squeeze, but they are not as dependent on global interactions and the government is not accountable to its people in any way," he said.

As such, many of the strategies the US used to bring other nations, most prominently Iran, to negotiating tables to dismantle nuclear weapons "are less available" on the North, he said.

One potential option would be punishing not only the North but also firms dealing with the country -- so-called "secondary sanctions" that could hit firms in China, the North's top trading partner.

- What is the Trump factor?

US President Donald Trump earlier dismissed the prospect of an ICBM from the North reaching the US mainland, tweeting "It won't happen!"

He took to Twitter to slam Kim Jong-Un over the latest missile launch.

"Does this guy have anything better to do with his life?" he tweeted on Tuesday.

Tension has been high since Trump took power, especially after he suggested possible military option against the North.

But recently US officials have suggested such actions -- which could see Seoul devastated by a Northern response -- remain a last resort.

- Could China save the day?

Talks of punishing Pyongyang over its provocations often boil down to what China can do as the North's economic lifeline -- a point repeated by Trump on Tuesday.

"Perhaps China will put a heavy move on North Korea and end this nonsense once and for all!" he tweeted.

The North heavily relies on its powerful neighbour to buy its resources exports -- a major source of hard currency -- as well as other trade through the increasingly porous border.

Beijing made a rare gesture of pressure on the North earlier this year by banning coal imports from the country.

But it is unclear whether China would be willing to impose measures that could generate instability in the North.

Beijing's worst-case scenario is a collapse of the regime in Pyongyang, which could see an influx of refugees from the impoverished neighbour, and worse yet, US troops stationed on its border in a united Korea.
A girl hides herself next to a makeshift tent in a camp in the village of Kidjendi near Diffa, Niger on June 19, 2016 as displaced families fled from Boko Haram attacks in Bosso

Boko Haram jihadists have kidnapped 37 women and slit the throats of nine other people at a village in southeastern Niger, the regional governor said Tuesday.

The attack happened on Sunday at the village of Ngalewa, near the border with Nigeria, the governor of Diffa region, Laouali Mahamane Dan Dano, told state TV.

"Boko Haram elements... slit the throats of nine people... they took women, 37 women, and departed with them," he said.

"The defence and security forces are already in pursuit, and we hope that in the coming days these women will be found and freed," he said.

The governor, who went to Ngalewa on Monday, said the village had been singled out because it was known for its resistance to the jihadists.

The assailants came by foot for greater stealth, he said.

The village's mayor, Abari El Hadj Daouda, told AFP by phone that the attack happened on Sunday evening, "between 10 and 11pm."

"About 30 or 40 women and children were kidnapped... (and) nine people killed," he said.

The village lies a few kilometers (miles) north of the town of Kabalewa, where there was a suicide attack last Wednesday.

Diffa, which as a population of around 600,000 people, has suffered a string of attacks by the Nigeria-based Boko Haram since 2015.

Around 300,000 people displaced by jihadist attacks have taken refuge in the region, which already grapples with grinding poverty.

In April 2014, Islamist militants seized 276 schoolgirls from the remote northeast Nigerian town of Chibok, 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.

The attack on Sunday coincided with a visit to Niger's western neighbour Mali by French President Emmanuel Macron, aimed at boosting multinational efforts to fight jihadism in countries south of the Sahara.

The so-called G5 Sahel nations -- Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger -- plan to set up a regional force.
US President Donald Trump (left) and Russian President Vladimir Putin are set to meet on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Hamburg

Russian President Vladimir Putin is set to hold a first meeting with US leader Donald Trump on Friday on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Hamburg, the Kremlin said Tuesday.

"It has been agreed for July 7," top Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov was quoted as saying by Russian news agencies, without giving further details.

The much-hyped maiden encounter between the two leaders comes as Trump's camp is under intense scrutiny over any links to the Kremlin.

Ties between Washington and Moscow plunged to their lowest point since the Cold War after the Kremlin's seizure of Crimea from Ukraine in 2014.

Trump repeatedly pledged to work to improve ties with Russia during his presidential campaign, lavishing praise on strongman leader Putin.

But hopes have waned in Moscow of an imminent improvement in ties with the US, as accusations Putin ordered a hacking and influence campaign to get Trump elected have made any links to Moscow politically toxic for the White House.
The six-year conflict in Syria has claimed more than 300,000 lives and forced millions from their homes

Powerbrokers Russia, Iran and Turkey on Tuesday focused on shoring up a plan for safe zones in Syria at a fifth round of talks they are pushing in Kazakhstan to help end the six-year conflict.

Moscow and Tehran, which back Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, and rebel supporter Ankara agreed in May to establish four "de-escalation" zones in the war-torn country in a potential breakthrough towards calming a war that has claimed an estimated 320,000 lives.

But while fighting dropped off in the weeks after the deal, it has ratcheted up in some areas since, and the key international players have yet to finalise the boundaries of the zones or determine who will police them.

Russia's chief negotiator at the talks, Alexander Lavrentiev, told journalists in Kazakhstan's capital Astana that these issues were "under discussion" and that "an agreement has not yet been reached."

The two days of meetings, which include representatives of the Syrian regime and rebels, is set to conclude Wednesday with a session attended by all participants. United Nations Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura was also dashing between delegations.

The deal in May roughly laid out the areas where rebels and government forces should halt hostilities, including air strikes, for six months, but Russia, Turkey and Iran have failed to meet a June 4 deadline to set exact boundaries for the zones.

More than 2.5 million people are believed to live in the four areas, which include rebel-held Idlib province, northern parts of Homs province, Eastern Ghouta near Damascus and areas of southern Syria.

A major sticking point still seems to be deciding which countries will ensure security in which areas, with Turkey and Iran reportedly wrangling to bolster their influence.

- 'Cessation of hostilities' -

The Astana talks received a boost Monday after the Syrian army unilaterally announced a halt to fighting until midnight on July 6 in the southern Daraa, Quneitra and Sweida provinces, which together cover one of the zones.

Daraa had seen the fiercest fighting in the areas envisioned as safe zones in recent weeks.

But an AFP correspondent said air strikes pummelled the key opposition-held town of Douma in a rebel enclave of Eastern Ghouta just outside Damascus on Tuesday for the first time since the de-escalation zones were announced in May.

A medical source told AFP a woman and a child were killed in the raid, a toll confirmed by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which also said that 10 others were badly wounded.

The Observatory, a Britain-based monitor that relies on a network of sources inside Syria for its information, said the raids were carried out by Syrian warplanes.

While Damascus has voiced its support for the de-escalation zones, rebel factions have been far more pessimistic and have slammed any Iranian involvement in the plan.

Russia has argued the agreement will help focus attacks against extremist groups such as Fateh al-Sham, previously known as the Al-Nusra Front, and the Islamic State group, which are not parties to the troubled truce between the government and rebels.

Syria's conflict evolved from a bloody crackdown on protests in 2011 to a devastating war that has drawn in world powers, including Russia and a US-led international coalition.

Moscow has pushed the talks in Astana since the start of the year as it seeks to pacify Syria after its game-changing military intervention on the side of Assad.

The talks in Astana are intended to complement broader political negotiations the United Nations is backing in Geneva, which are due to restart in mid-July.

The West has largely been kept on the sidelines of the Astana talks, but Stuart Jones, the top US diplomat for the Middle East, was attending as an observer.
Police face protesters during a night demonstration in Morocco's Al-Hoceima on June 9, 2017

Moroccan security forces have begun withdrawing from the restive northern cities of Al-Hoceima and Imzouren, which have been rocked by weeks of social unrest, officials and residents said.

A "gradual" pullback from both cities began on Monday at the request of King Mohammed VI, the governor of Al-Hoceima province, Fouad Chourak, told reporters.

A resident of Al-Hoceima, who spoke to AFP by telephone Tuesday, confirmed the pullback.

"Policemen have withdrawn from the central square in Al-Hoceima," the resident said. "Only a few policemen in civilian clothes are left."

Al-Hoceima, the main port in the neglected northern Rif region, has been rocked by unrest since a fishmonger was crushed to death in a rubbish truck in October as he tried to retrieve swordfish confiscated for being caught out of season.

In the months since, demands for justice and anger over the region's perceived marginalisation snowballed into a grassroots movement centred on Al-Hoceima, but protests also spread to neighbouring cities, including Imzouren.

The governor said he hoped demonstrators "will react positively" to the police withdrawal.

"Trust and security are linked... until the situation returns to normal," he said, adding that a positive response from protesters could pave the way for further measures by authorities to restore stability.

The pullback comes a week after clashes between security forces and demonstrators left nearly 80 police officers wounded, most of them struck by stones.

Authorities have arrested more than 100 people, including Nasser Zefzafi, the leader of the grassroots protest movement known as Al-Hirak al-Shaabi, since the end of May.

Al-Hirak has been demanding jobs, development, an end to corruption, and the release of all those arrested.

The government has responded to the unrest by relaunching a 2015 programme to improve the region's infrastructure, health facilities and education services by 2019.

The police withdrawal comes at the start of the tourist season, when many of the Rif diaspora living in Europe return for holidays.

The impact of these returns has raised concern, as diaspora associations have shown support for the movement, and before his arrest Zefzafi had called for a major protest on July 20.

A week ago Mohammed VI told ministers of his "disappointment, dissatisfaction and concern" that a $670 million (600 million euro) development programme for the Rif was behind schedule.

On a visit to the region, Tourism Minister Mohamed Sajid announced a series of "urgent measures to save the current summer season", including airline subsidies, airport tax relief and promotion campaigns.

The Rif has long had a tense relationship with central authorities in Rabat, and it was at the heart of the Arab Spring-inspired protests in Morocco in February 2011.
The order to carry out the test-fire of the intercontinental ballistic missile signed by North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un is aired on a giant screen near the Pyongyang Railway Station

Russia and China on Tuesday called for a simultaneous freeze on North Korean nuclear and missile tests and military exercises by the United States as tensions ratcheted up on the peninsula.

"The two sides propose that the DPRK (North Korea) as a voluntary political decision declares a moratorium on testing nuclear explosive devices and ballistic rocket launches, and the US and South Korea refrain from carrying out large-scale joint exercises," their foreign ministries said in a joint statement.

"Parallel to this the opposing sides should start negotiations and affirm general principles of their relations including the non-use of force, rejection of aggression and peaceful coexistence," the statement said.

The joint statement issued after a meeting between leaders Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping in Moscow followed an announcement by North Korea that it had test fired its first intercontinental ballistic missile.

The claim could be a watershed moment in Pyongyang's push to develop a nuclear weapon capable of hitting the mainland United States -- although Moscow and Washington cast doubt on the claim it was a long-range missile.

The test sparked a Twitter outburst from US President Donald Trump who urged North Korea's closest ally China to act to "end this nonsense once and for all".

In their joint statement Russia and China condemned the missile test announcement as "unacceptable" and urged against "any statements or actions that could lead to an increase in tensions".

China has previously called for a "dual track" approach of "suspension for suspension" that would see North Korea and the US ease up on tensions, and now Russia has added its weight to the plan.
US Senator John McCain has warned Pakistan that Washington is counting on its support to eliminate militancy

US Senator John McCain visited Kabul Tuesday and warned neighbouring Pakistan that Washington was counting on its support to eliminate militancy and in particular the Haqqani network, responsible for numerous attacks on Afghan territory.

The relationship between the US and Pakistan has been strained at times, with some in Washington believing Islamabad has not done enough to bring its influence to bear to persuade the Afghan Taliban to renounce violence.

McCain's statement came one day after he and a bi-partisan Senate delegation visited Islamabad, where Pakistani officials said he reinforced the country's essential role in regional stability.

"We made it very clear that we expect they (Pakistan) will cooperate with us, particularly against the Haqqani network and against terrorist organisations," said McCain, chairman of the US Senate Armed Services Committee, in Kabul.

"If they don't change their behaviour maybe we should change our behaviour towards Pakistan as a nation," he insisted.

Pakistan has received billions in US aid since the invasion of Afghanistan in 2001.

The Taliban-affiliated Haqqani network, based in the border areas between the two countries, has long been thought to have ties to Pakistan's shadowy military establishment.

Led by Sirajuddin Haqqani, who is also the Taliban's deputy leader, they have carried out numerous operations deep in the heart of Kabul, and have been blamed by Afghanistan for a devastating truck bombing which killed more than 150 people in the capital in May.

The Senate visit to Islamabad and Kabul comes as the US is gearing up to send more troops to Afghanistan to support Afghan forces straining to beat back the resurgent Taliban.

McCain called for more than just troops, however, urging "a strategy to win" the war which has dragged on for nearly 16 years and which even US generals concede is at a "stalemate".

"The strongest nation on earth in this world should be able to win this conflict," he said, calling for diplomatic efforts alongside a military push.

The US currently has 8,400 troops deployed under the NATO banner, and is thought to be mulling sending up to 4,000 more.

Pentagon chief Jim Mattis has stressed his new approach, due to be presented to US President Donald Trump by mid-July, will have a broader "regional" emphasis, with no set timetable.

Trump has remained remarkably taciturn on Afghanistan, but this month gave Mattis authority to set troop numbers at whatever level he saw fit.

NATO, whose Operation Resolute Support numbers some 13,500 including the Americans, also promised last week to increase its presence in Afghanistan.

Recent Taliban gains have shaken confidence in Afghanistan's future and talk of sending NATO troops in has stoked fears the alliance could get sucked back into an unwinnable war.

But Mattis refused recently to "put timelines" on the conflict.

"The bottom line is that NATO has made a commitment to Afghanistan for freedom from fear and terror... You can't let this be undone," he said in Brussels last week.
A group of Galamseyers, or illegal gold panners, working in Ghana's Kibi region

Rescuers were on Tuesday scrambling to locate survivors after an illegal goldmine collapsed in western Ghana, trapping at least 17 miners underground.

The abandoned mine in Prestea-Nsuta, which was more than 80 metres (260 feet) deep, caved in on Sunday afternoon as the miners were coming back to the surface.

"As of now, we are on the site with the rescue teams," Nsuta district police commander Superintendent Atsu Dzinaku told AFP.

"They saw a body which they are trying to get out," he added.

"They assure us they will do their best to get them out from the pit, we are waiting to see what will happen."

The accident has been blamed on small-scale gold mining, known in Ghana as "galamsey", an industry that has recently seen a government crackdown.

One of the miners who managed to escape said he heard "unusual sounds" from the ground as they were working, which prompted him to call for them to stop and surface.

"Some were reluctant because they presumed it was nothing. Others understood and went out of the pit," Ibrahim Musa told AFP, adding the collapse began as they were climbing out.

"The guys who were taking the equipment out, unfortunately, have been trapped on the way because where they were passing had collapsed.

"They were 17 in number and are still trapped there... We have not been able to pull them out."

- Environmental damage -

"Galamsey" has been banned in Ghana since earlier this year after a national campaign called for an end to the practice because of its effect on waterways and forests.

Musa, however, claimed the mine was not off-limits.

Abraham Otabil, a spokesman for the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources, said the site was not meant to be in operation and the miners had "no right" to be there.

The "galamsey" ban will last until September at the earliest and the ministry is looking at better regulation of the industry across Ghana to make it "more professional", he said.

A "substantial" number of people have stopped mining under the directive but "others are still doing it and these are the results we are getting", he added.

"These reckless deaths should stop."

- Previous accidents -

Ghana is Africa's second-largest gold producer and exports of the commodity, along with minerals and oil, helped boost the country's economic growth until a recent slide.

The industry involves a number of major global players but small-scale, illegal mining has been a persistent problem and accidents are frequent.

In 2010, at least 45 people were killed when an illegal mine collapsed after heavy rains.

Environmental expert Desmond Amankwah said a lack of safety measures and regulation were features of the illicit activity, which can blight farmland for up to 30 years.

But at the same time he said mining provided jobs and development in Ghana, which could explain a push-back against the government crackdown.

"Wherever there is a mining settlement it is more developed than other villages that don't have these minerals," he said.
A picture of the Church of the Multiplication in northern Israel dated February 12, 2017 when it reopened after an arson attack

A court has convicted an Israeli man for an arson attack at the church where Christians believe Jesus performed the miracle of the loaves and fishes, court documents said Tuesday.

The district court in the Galilee city of Nazareth found Yinon Reuveni guilty of "aggravated arson" and two counts of criminal conspiracy for the June 2015 attack.

A date for sentencing was not set.

The court transcript did not give Reuveni's date of birth, but Israeli daily Haaretz said he was 22 and from the rogue Jewish settlement outpost of Baladim, in the north of the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

Two rooms of the Church of the Multiplication complex in Tabgha on the Sea of Galilee were badly damaged in the fire, but the church itself was not damaged.

Hebrew graffiti was found at the site, reading "Idols will be cast out" or destroyed. The text is part of a common Jewish prayer.

The Roman Catholic church remained closed until February while the damage caused by the fire was repaired at a cost of around one million dollars, of which the Israeli government contributed almost $400,000.

Reuveni's lawyers have 45 days in which to appeal.

Tabgha was subjected to a previous attack in April 2014 in which church officials said a group of religious Jewish teenagers had damaged crosses and attacked clergy.
A digger clears debris after a fire engulfed part of the Tel al-Sarhoun refugee camp near Bar Elias in Lebanon's eastern Bekaa valley on July 4, 2017

A child died and several people were injured when a fire broke out in a Syrian refugee camp in Lebanon Tuesday, rescue workers said, the second such blaze this week.

The seven-year-old girl was killed after the fire began at a camp near the town of Bar Elias in the Bekaa Valley after midnight, firefighters there told AFP.

Seven other people were injured and taken to hospitals in the area.

The Lebanese Red Cross confirmed that one child was killed and seven people were hurt.

The country's civil defence service said that 22 out of the camp's 185 tents were destroyed.

"Gas canisters in the tents blew up, causing the fire to spread quickly," the civil defence said in a statement.

It was unclear what caused the fire, but locals said it appeared that a fuse had burst into flames.

Lebanon is home to more than one million refugees fleeing the conflict in neighbouring Syria, many of whom live in informal tented settlements in the Bekaa.

The deadly fire was the second to hit refugee camps in the arid valley in just three days.

On Sunday, a massive blaze near the village of Qab Elias killed one person and wounded six, according to the Red Cross, with locals saying a child was killed.

That fire destroyed all but three of the camp's 193 tents, a resident told AFP.

The United Nations refugee agency said it was working fast to rebuild the Qab Elias camp, publishing photos of men unloading wooden stakes from a truck and setting up new blue tents.

"A glimmer of hope for the 103 Syrian refugee families who lost much in the fire," the agency said.

The Syria refugee influx into Lebanon has strained the country's infrastructure, and has also sparked accusations that refugee camps are harbouring militants from the war.

Last week, Lebanese soldiers stormed two camps in the northeast border town of Arsal but were met with a string of suicide attackers and grenades.

One young girl was killed and seven soldiers were wounded as a result, the army said.

But a wave of arrests in the wake of the raids sparked controversy after images emerged of Lebanese security forces apparently detaining refugee men.

The men are shirtless and pictured lying on the ground in rows, their hands tied behind their backs.

In response, a group calling itself "The Electronic Army of the Syrian Revolution" hacked Lebanese state television's website, posting messages opposing the army.

"The crime of Arsal is unforgivable," one message said.
Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani speaks during a joint press conference with his German counterpart in the Qatari capital Doha on July 4, 2017

Qatar's foreign minister said Tuesday that demands put to Doha by Saudi Arabia and its allies in the Gulf diplomatic crisis were impossible to meet.

"The list is unrealistic and is not actionable," Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani told reporters in Doha.

"It's not about terrorism, it's talking about shutting down the freedom of speech," he said at a joint press conference after talks with German counterpart Sigmar Gabriel.

Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt -- who accuse Qatar of supporting extremism -- gave Doha an extra 48 hours to meet their demands after an initial 10-day deadline expired on Sunday.

These demands included Doha closing broadcaster Al-Jazeera as well as downgrading diplomatic ties with Iran.

Qatar officially handed its response to Kuwait on Monday, which is mediating in the dispute, but its contents have not been disclosed.

Sheikh Mohammed refused to give any further details on Tuesday, but said Doha was looking for a solution to the month-long crisis based on dialogue.

"The state of Qatar has adopted a very constructive attitude since the beginning of the crisis. We are tying to act mature and discuss the matter."

Gabriel, who visited Saudi Arabia on Monday, said he saw signs emerging of a chance to involve "international bodies" in the discussions and to get all sides involved in the dispute around the negotiating table.
A helicopter carrying three Indian Air Force officers on a flood rescue mission has gone missing near the country's border with China, a defence official has said.

The aircraft which took off in Assam is said to have lost contact with colleagues on the ground after hitting turbulent weather in Arunachal Pradesh.

India's junior home minister Kiren Rijiju tweeted that efforts were on to locate the chopper, which was carrying relief material for flood-affected residents in the northeast of the country.

Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) of the Indian Air Force's Sarang aerobatics team perform during the Air Force Day parade at Air Force Station Hindon in Ghaziabad town on the outskirts of New Delhi in October 2016 - one chopper is now missing

The chopper lost contact over mountainous Arunachal Pradesh on Tuesday in bad weather - the state, as well as some other neighbouring states, have been reeling under heavy monsoon rains that have triggered landslides and floods (picture for representation only)

'The ALH (Advanced Light Helicopter) had taken off from Tezpur airbase in Assam state around 4pm (10:30 GMT),' the official said, declining to be named.

Arunachal Pradesh as well as some other neighbouring states have been reeling under heavy monsoon rains that have triggered landslides and floods.

China and India have a border dispute in the mountainous northeast and regularly accuse each other of making illegal troop encroachments.

An Indian security personal stands guard in the Tewang District near the Chinese border in India's north-eastern state of Arunachal Pradesh

Demonstrators shout slogans as they protest against China's claim of six districts of Arunachal Pradesh state in New Delhi in April

Their mistrust stems from a brief war in 1962 over Arunachal Pradesh which has a large ethnic Tibetan population.

The standoff has intensified in recent days with the two sides trading stern diplomatic warnings over a remote scrap of territory where the frontiers of China, India and Bhutan meet.

China last week accused Indian border guards of crossing from Sikkim state into Tibetan territory and ordered the 'trespassers' to withdraw in a formal protest.

Chinese soldier (L) and an Indian soldier stand guard at the Chinese side of the ancient Nathu La border crossing, where tensions have flared between both sides in recent weeks

China has also deployed a Yuan class submarine in the Indian Ocean, in what is widely seen as an aggressive move

In apparent retaliation, China has blocked Indian pilgrims from crossing the border in the mountainous area 'out of security concerns', the Chinese foreign ministry said.

But China on Monday said it would continue to allow Indian pilgrims to Kailash Mansarovar through the Lipulekh pass in Uttarakhand.

Meanwhile, a Chinese submarine venturing into Indian Ocean waters has raised eyebrows in India, which widely sees the presence of the vessel as an aggressive move.

It is the seventh submarine belonging to the Chinese People's Liberation Army to be deployed in the area, officials said.

'Indo-China armed conflict is possible'

While for the first time this week China relented from its war of words with India, state media outlets in Beijing instead begun drawing parallels to 1962 and speaking of 'teaching India a lesson'.

An article published on the PLA website by strategic expert Wang Dehua warned that 'those in India who still uphold 'confrontation' in this event should be fully aware of the fact that if a solution isn't reached through diplomatic or military communication or the issue isn't handled properly, another armed conflict between China and India is not completely out of question.'

Wang, who is the head of the Institute of South and Central Asia at the Shanghai Institutes for International Studies, said that 'some Indians dare to provoke China and even claim that it's not 1962 anymore probably because they don't think China has military advantages at the border sector where the event took place.

Armed expulsion of trespassing Indian troops would be Chinas last resort, says Wang Dehua

'They mistakenly think that India can avenge itself by using the favourable terrain and its advantageous mountain division and air force on the border. But India would do better to not forget the historical lesson,' he said.

Prior to the June 16 stand-off and China's statements last week, Chinese media rarely have referred to 1962.

This week appears to be an exception, with the PLA spokesperson on Thursday reminding India of 'historical lessons' and numerous references to 1962 in China's state media.
A South Korean soldier watches a television news showing file footage of a North Korean missile launch, at a railway station in Seoul on July 4, 2017

The European Union on Tuesday warned it may consider additional sanctions against North Korea after it carried out what Pyongyang tested what it claimed to be an intercontinental ballistic missile.

Last month, the EU expanded its sanctions blacklist after North Korea launched a volley of surface-to-ship cruise missiles off its east coast.

The EU's external affairs arm said in a statement that the bloc expected North Korea to abide by UN resolutions and halt all work on its nuclear and missile programmes.

The European Union "will consider an appropriate response, in close consultation with key partners and in line with UN Security Council deliberations, including possible additional restrictive measures," it said.

The EU expected North Korea to refrain from any further action which could increase regional tensions and to take part in talks on resolving the crisis, it added.

In an unusual joint statement earlier, Russia and China condemned the missile test as "unacceptable" and urged against "any statements or actions that could lead to an increase in tensions."

EU sanctions against North Korea date back to 2006 and are part of international efforts to halt a nuclear and ballistic missile programme which experts say is intended to give Pyongyang the capability to hit the US mainland.
A guard tower outside the fencing of Camp 5 at the US Military's Prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Canadian Omar Khadr, who is reportedly set to be awarded millions of dollars of compensation by his government, spent ten years at the detenteion camp.

Canada is set to apologize and award millions of dollars of compensation to a former Guantanamo detainee who was captured in Afghanistan at the age of 15 and pleaded guilty to killing a US soldier, reports said Tuesday.

Omar Khadr will receive at least Can$10 million ($8 million US) from the federal government for the treatment he was subjected to during his captivity, according to reports in the Globe and Mail and Toronto Star which cited anonymous sources.

Khadr, a Canadian citizen, became the youngest prisoner at the US detention camp in Cuba following his capture from Afghanistan in 2002.

Canada's Supreme Court in 2010 ruled that his rights had been violated by Ottawa, which shared statements he made to Canadian officials with the United States.

While at Guantanamo, he was sentenced in 2010 to eight years plus time already served for murdering a US soldier with a grenade, attempted murder, conspiracy, providing material support for terrorism and spying.

He won the right to be extradited and was sent home to Canada in 2012 to serve the remainder of his sentence.

His lawyers fought for several years to have his status as a minor at the time of the attack recognized. Canada's Supreme Court finally agreed one week before his conditional release in 2015.

His legal team was pursuing Can$20 million against the Canadian government because his rights as a prisoner were violated.

Public Safety Canada said the government was not in a position to provide additional information owing to the strictly confidential nature of the case.

"There is a judicial process underway that has been underway for a number of years now, and we are anticipating, like I think a number of people are, that that judicial process is coming to its conclusion," Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told reporters in Ireland.

The ruling has precedent. In March, Ottawa apologized to three of its citizens who were tortured in Syria, allegedly with the indirect participation of Canadian officials.

The government said it had settled civil suits with three Canadian nationals -- Abdullah Almalki, Ahmad Abou Elmaati and Muayyed Nureddin -- who were arrested and tortured in Syrian custody just after the 9/11 attacks and detained until 2004.

In a similar case, Canadian computer engineer Maher Arar was tortured in a Damascus prison in 2002, after he was transferred there by US officials based on a Canadian tip-off.

But Arar was later cleared of any suspicion by the Canadian authorities, and in January 2007 won an apology from then prime minister Stephen Harper and Can$10 million in compensation from the Canadian government.
"Today, the Saudis are becoming a terrorist state in the region," said Iran Revolutionary Guard Major General Mohammad Ali Jafari, seen in 2011

The head of Iran's Revolutionary Guards on Tuesday described Saudi Arabia as a "terrorist state" as he announced his position had been extended for three years.

Major General Mohammad Ali Jafari's 10-year stint as commander of the elite military force was due to expire in three months.

But in a speech carried by the semi-official Fars and Tasnim news agencies, he said it would continue until at least 2020.

In a speech at a Guards meeting in Tehran, he highlighted the threat from Saudi Arabia, which backs opposing sides to Iran in several regional conflicts.

"Today, the Saudis are becoming a terrorist state in the region," he said.

"Today in our region only the countries that are powerful enough will remain safe," he added.

"We face an enemy that only understands the language of force, so we cannot speak to the enemy with another language."

However, Jafari said there was still room for negotiations.

"Some try to say that we are against interaction with the world and seek war," he said.

"I say with a loud voice that the Sepah (Revolutionary Guards) also seek peace, but peace can only be realised and last if the enemy is scared of starting a war with us and fears its consequences."

Jafari, 59, rose through the ranks during the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s. Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei chose him to lead the Guards in September 2007.

The Guards are a parallel military force set up to safeguard the 1979 Islamic revolution.

They oversee Iran's external operations in Syria, Iraq and beyond, as well as running their own domestic intelligence and economic operations.

The United States has strict sanctions on the group, accusing it of terrorist activity and destabilising the region.
United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres, shown in this file photo, said Pyongyang must cease "further provocative actions"

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Tuesday strongly condemned North Korea's launch of a ballistic missile that Pyongyang claimed was its first successful ICBM test.

"This action is yet another brazen violation of Security Council resolutions and constitutes a dangerous escalation of the situation," Guterres said in a statement.

He added that North Korea's "leadership must cease further provocative actions and comply fully with its international obligations."

The Security Council is expected to meet Wednesday for an emergency closed-door meeting after Pyongyang declared that it had successfully tested its first intercontinental ballistic missile.

US Ambassador Nikki Haley on Tuesday spoke by phone with China's Ambassador Liu Jieyi, who holds the council presidency this month, to convey the US request for an urgent meeting.

Guterres stressed "the importance of maintaining the unity of the international community in addressing this serious challenge," in a reference to US-Sino differences.

China is pushing for talks between world powers and North Korea on dismantling its nuclear program but the United States maintains that Pyongyang must first halt its missile and nuclear tests.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un oversaw the launch of the Hwasong-14 missile which experts say is capable of reaching Alaska.

North Korea's Academy of Defence Science said it reached an altitude of 2,802 kilometers (1,741 miles) and flew 933 kilometers.

US Pacific Command confirmed the test and said it was a land-based, intermediate-range missile that flew for 37 minutes before splashing down in the Sea of Japan. It said the launch did not pose a threat to North America.

The launch came as Americans prepared to mark Independence Day, prompting President Donald Trump to urge China -- North Korea's main diplomatic ally -- to act to "end this nonsense once and for all."
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) - Taliban insurgents ambushed a local militia group in northern Balkh province, killing 13 pro-government fighters, provincial officials said Sunday.

Munir Ahmad Farhad, spokesman for the governor of northern Balkh province, said local forces were on their way to take part in a security operation when they were ambushed. The men were part of a local militia established under the authority of the Interior Ministry to defend the area from insurgents.

A Taliban spokesman claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement sent to media.

Also on Sunday, Taliban insurgents launched attacks on the city of Kunduz from two different directions in the country's northeast, according to provincial officials.

Mahmood Danish, spokesman for the provincial governor in Kunduz, confirmed that Taliban fighters attacked the city and heavy fighting was continuing Sunday.

"Taliban attacked from two different directions around the city, but Afghan security forces have repelled their attacks," he Danish.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid released a statement confirming the group's fighters attacked Kunduz and overran a number of police check points.

In May, Taliban insurgents overran the Qala-e Zal district police headquarters after two days of intense fighting that Afghan security forces later were able retake.

The Taliban have launched attacks on Kunduz in the past and at least twice briefly captured the provincial capital, reaching the central roundabout and hoisting their flag around in the city.

The Taliban have increased their attacks against the Afghan security forces since their annual spring offensive began April.
LONDON (AP) - Britain is pulling out of an agreement that permits fishermen from five other countries to operate in U.K. waters, the first step in reasserting control over its fishing industry as it prepares to leave the European Union.

The government announced Sunday it will trigger the two-year process of leaving the London Fisheries Convention, which allows vessels from France, Belgium, Germany, Ireland and the Netherlands to fish between six and 12 nautical miles off the U.K. coastline.

Britain signed the convention before it joined the EU and would be bound by its terms after leaving the bloc unless it starts to withdraw from the treaty now. EU regulations govern fishing in the zone between 12 nautical miles and 200 nautical miles from shore, giving other member states the right to fish in U.K. territorial waters as long as they comply with the bloc's rules.

FILE - In this Monday, June 12, 2017 file photo, Michael Gove, Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, arrives for a cabinet meeting at 10 Downing Street in London. The British government is pulling out of an agreement that permits other countries to fish in U.K. waters, it was announced Sunday, July 2. "This is an historic first step towards building a new domestic fishing policy as we leave the European Union - one which leads to a more competitive, profitable and sustainable industry for the whole of the U.K.," Gove said. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein, file)

"This is an historic first step towards building a new domestic fishing policy as we leave the European Union - one which leads to a more competitive, profitable and sustainable industry for the whole of the U.K.," Environment Secretary Michael Gove said.

Britain had about 6,000 fishing boats in 2015, which landed 708,000 tons of fish worth about 775 million pounds ($1 billion), according to the government. Vessels from other convention members caught 10,000 tons of fish worth an estimated 17 million pounds.

Irish fishermen called the decision to pull out of the London Convention an aggressive move, although they expected it.

"The access for us is huge, but the access between six and 12 is not our greatest priority," said Sean O'Donoghue, chief executive of the Killybegs Fishermen's Organization, a large producers' group based on Ireland's west coast. "Our access is between the 12-mile limit and 200-mile UK-wide limit. That is the important one."

Ben Stafford, head of campaigns at WWF, said after leaving the EU and the London Convention, Britain must continue to focus on protecting its fisheries because fishing policy is "about a lot more than which country fishes where."

"It is about ensuring that fishermen use the right fishing gear, that fishing takes place at levels that maintain sustainable stocks and that we pioneer ways to monitor what is happening at sea in order to understand the impacts of fishing," Stafford said. "Leaving the EU means we could get these things right. But we will still need to cooperate with our neighbors, as fish do not recognize lines on a map."
WASHINGTON (AP) - On the surface, the investigation was routine.

Federal agents persuaded a judge to issue a warrant for a Microsoft email account they suspected was used for drug trafficking.

But U.S.-based Microsoft kept the emails on a server in Ireland. Microsoft said that meant the emails were beyond the warrant's reach. A federal appeals court agreed.

FILE - This July 3, 2014, file photo, shows the Microsoft Corp. logo outside the Microsoft Visitor Center in Redmond, Wash. On the surface, the investigation was routine. Federal agents persuaded a judge to issue a warrant for a Microsoft email account they suspected was used for drug trafficking. But U.S.-based Microsoft kept the emails on a server in Ireland. Microsoft said that meant they were beyond the warrant's reach and a federal appeals court agreed. In June 2017, the Trump Administration asked the Supreme Court to intervene. (AP Photo Ted S. Warren, File)

Late last month, the Trump administration asked the Supreme Court to intervene.

The case is among several legal clashes that Redmond, Washington-based Microsoft and other technology companies have had with the government over questions of digital privacy and authorities' need for information to combat crime and extremism. Privacy law experts say the companies have been more willing to push back against the government since the leak of classified information detailing America's surveillance programs.

Another issue highlighted in the appeal is the difficulty that judges face in trying to square decades-old laws with new technological developments.

In the latest case, a suspected drug trafficker used Microsoft's email service. In 2013, federal investigators obtained a warrant under a 1986 law for the emails themselves as well as identifying information about the user of the email account.

Microsoft turned over the information, but went to court to defend its decision not to hand over the emails from Ireland.

The federal appeals court in New York agreed with the company that the 1986 Stored Communications Act does not apply outside the United States.

The administration's Supreme Court appeal said the decision is damaging "hundreds if not thousands of investigations of crimes - ranging from terrorism, to child pornography, to fraud."

The emails, the administration noted, may reside on a server somewhere, but said Microsoft can retrieve them "domestically with the click of a computer mouse."

Microsoft's president, Brad Smith, said in a blog post following the high court appeal that the administration's position "would put businesses in impossible conflict-of-law situations and hurt the security, jobs, and personal rights of Americans."

Technology companies and privacy experts are among those watching the case closely.

"This is a big deal in an era of a global internet. Servers are not just in the United States. They're all over the world, and figuring out the rules for foreign-stored data is really important, not just for us, but for foreign governments," said Orin Kerr, a George Washington University law professor whose work is cited in the appellate ruling.

One problem identified by Kerr and other privacy scholars is that courts might not be the best place to resolve these issues.

Should the same rules apply to the emails of an American citizen and a foreigner? Does it matter where the person is living?

"The Supreme Court can't answer these questions in the nuanced way that's needed," said Jennifer Daskal, an American University law professor.

Even Judge Gerard Lynch on the New York panel that sided with Microsoft called for "congressional action to revise a badly outdated statute."

The Stored Communications Act became law long before the advent of cloud computing. To the extent personal information was kept online, it was mainly on personal computers.

Today, companies build data centers around the world to keep up with their customers' demands for speed and access.

Members of Congress have introduced legislation to update the law, but nothing has been enacted.

Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, opposes the administration's appeal, but said in a statement that "Congress can and should modernize data privacy laws to ensure that law enforcement can access evidence in a timely manner."

Microsoft also supports revising the law. The company also is among those challenging "gag orders" that prevent service providers from notifying customers that their data have been turned over to the government under court order.

Companies have been more willing to assert their customers' and their own privacy interests since former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden's leak of classified U.S. material about America's surveillance programs, Kerr said.

The technology companies wield enormous power, perhaps more than governments do, in shaping the scope of digital age privacy rights, Daskal said.

The companies decide "what to retain, where to keep it, for how long, and whether to encrypt it," she said. And when governments produce court orders for customers' information, it's the companies' call about "when to comply and when to resist," Daskal said.

The justices won't decide whether to hear U.S. v. Microsoft, 17-2, before the fall. If they do, argument wouldn't occur until next year.
TOKYO (AP) - Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida plans to travel to Brussels on Wednesday for talks on a trade accord with the European Union.

Kishida told reporters he hoped the two sides could reach a "basic agreement" after failing to bridge differences blocking a proposed Economic Partnership Agreement during last week's negotiations in Tokyo.

Japan and the EU have been working to reach an accord before a summit of the Group of 20 industrial nations later this week in Hamburg, Germany and to send a message in support of free trade, countering a U.S. backlash against broad trade pacts.

In this Saturday, July 1, 2017, photo, a customer looks at various types of imported cheese sold at a department store in Tokyo. Japan's foreign minister is preparing to head to Brussels to seek a breakthrough in talks on a free trade agreement with the European Union. Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida said over the weekend that he was hopeful the two sides would resolve remaining differences, mainly over trade in cheese and autos, before Friday's summit of the Group of 20 industrial nations. (AP Photo/Koji Sasahara)

"Based on the ministerial talks we had on June 30 and July 1, we are currently continuing tough negotiations," Kishida said. "Although we cannot be too optimistic about the prospect of the talks, I strongly hope to strike a basic agreement on Japan-EU EPA this time around as I head into the talks."

"I will work up until the last minute so that we can achieve the best results for our national interest," he said, noting there were "sensitivities" on both sides.

Cecilia Malmstrom, the European Commissioner for Trade, said Monday that she believes a deal can be reached later this week.

The hope is to announce a deal when Japan's prime minister meets EU leaders in Brussels on Thursday ahead of a summit of the Group of 20 industrial nations in Germany.

"The Japanese don't agree with some of the key technical issues (in the deal) which are fundamental for the EU, especially those referred to investment," Malmstrom said in a speech to a conference in Madrid.

She did not go into detail.

Japanese officials have said the main sticking points are over ending tariffs on imports of cheese and autos.

A deal would require finessing Japan's protections for its dairy farmers, whose home market is protected by tariffs of up to 40 percent on processed cheese.

It's unclear just what the potential for compromise might be.

Australia and New Zealand, the biggest exporters of cheese and other dairy products to Japan, fought hard to persuade Tokyo to gradually open its market over a 15-year period during negotiations for a Pacific Rim trade pact, the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

That initiative has been imperiled by U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to pull out of the formerly U.S.-led arrangement. But the 11 remaining members are discussing ways to pursue a revised version without the U.S. as the anchor.

Both Japan and the EU have a tradition of protecting their politically powerful farm sectors, and dairy products are an especially sensitive issue for the EU, with its long traditions and half the world's market share for cheese.

Japanese eat only about 2 kilograms (about 1 pound) of cheese per person a year, way less than Europeans, partly because of different tastes and food cultures, and partly because costs are so high. A small, chocolate-bar sized block of imported Parmesan costs over $7 and a similar amount of Swiss cheese at least $6.

Japan has a complicated distribution system engineered to ensure the country's 17,700 dairy farmers, overwhelmingly small family businesses, continue to provide a stable supply of raw milk, even though their average costs are double those of farmers in Europe and the U.S.

A glut in milk production in the past two years in the U.S., Europe and Oceania has helped push prices lower and boosted imports, according to a recent U.S. Department of Agriculture report. It also has lent urgency to the EU's effort to win easier access to Japanese consumers.

___

Associated Press writers Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo and Aritz Parra in Madrid contributed to this report.
Here are key findings from The Associated Press investigation into the Vatican's showcase children's hospital, Bambino Gesu (Baby Jesus) Pediatric Hospital. The hospital denied the findings, threatened legal action against the AP and pointed to a 2015 report clearing it.

1. A Vatican-authorized task force of hospital doctors, nurses and administrators reported a series of problems affecting patient care in April 2014, concluding after a three-month investigation that the hospital's mission had changed and was "today more aimed at profit than on caring for children."

2. An AP investigation corroborated many of the 2014 complaints, including overcrowding and lax hygiene standards that contributed to deadly infection. An extremely drug-resistant superbug wore on for nearly two years and killed eight children in the cancer ward.

This Saturday, Nov. 26, 2016 photo shows one of the entrances of the Vatican's Bambino Gesu Pediatric Hospital. Sharply divergent conclusions about conditions at the facility underscore the controversies and problems that have afflicted Italy's premier children's hospital, regarded as such a center of excellence and prestige that it draws top-notch surgeons to work and celebrities to visit. (AP Photo/Domenico Stinellis)

3. Doctors were so pressured to maximize operating-room turnover that patients were sometimes brought out of anesthesia too quickly. A 14-year-old girl undergoing an appendectomy was woken up too soon, "against all ethics and morals of our hospital," an internal hospital report said.

4. An epidemiologist who reviewed the charts of 11 deceased cancer patients said he was struck by the "extreme number of medical interventions," including kidney dialysis, performed on children who were nearly dead.

5. In its November 2014 monthly magazine, the union noted that the neonatal surgery ward had "sadly become famous" internally for its rates of infection and death. The route staff walked from the changing room to the ward was "equivalent to an open sewer."

6. In 2015, the Vatican sent an American health care expert, Sister Carol Keehan, to investigate the task force's allegations. After Keehan's team spent three days at the hospital, she said the employees' key concerns were "disproved."

FILE - In this Wednesday, May 24, 2017 file photo, U.S. First Lady Melania Trump plays with children during her visit to the Vatican's Bambino Gesu Pediatric Hospital. Sharply divergent conclusions from two Vatican-commissioned reports about conditions at the facility underscore the controversies that have afflicted Italy's premier children's hospital, regarded as such a center of excellence and prestige that it draws top-notch surgeons to work and celebrities to visit. (Remo Casilli/Pool Photo via AP)

In this Thursday, July 21, 2016 photo, Florinda Galasso of Campobasso, southern Italy, shows the effects of a stroke she suffered during open-heart surgery at the Vatican's Bambino Gesu Pediatric Hospital in 2009. Her surgeon had emphasized a 95 percent success rate although Galasso would have been at higher risk for a stroke given her medical history and the rare procedure planned. She was left nearly paralyzed on her left side, can no longer drive, walks with difficulty and is nearly blind in her left eye. Galasso sued the hospital for lack of informed consent and won. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)
LITTLETON, Mass. (AP) - Police in Massachusetts say a motorcyclist has been injured in a collision that killed a bear cub.

Police say the crash happened Sunday evening on state Route 2 in Littleton. Investigators say the motorcyclist was traveling eastbound when the bike crashed into the baby bear.

The motorcyclist was taken to a hospital with injuries that are not considered life-threatening.

The bear cub died at the scene.

Littleton is in Middlesex County about 30 miles (48 kilometers) from Boston, the biggest city in New England.

According to the state, the bear population in Massachusetts was last estimated in 2011 to be 4,000 to 4,500.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Police say a fight broke out between protesters after marches for and against President Donald Trump, leading to three arrests in Philadelphia.

About 150 "Impeach Trump" members and 50 pro-Trump members held separate marches Sunday morning.

Police say a group of Trump supporters tried to enter a bar in the city after the march when they were confronted by anti-Trump demonstrators. A fight broke out, during which a pro-Trump protester and a police officer were assaulted.

Two anti-Trump demonstrators were charged with assaulting the Trump supporter. Police say the Trump supporter suffered a minor mouth injury. A third person was charged with assaulting the police officer, and a fourth person was issued a citation.
BEIJING (AP) - A friend of imprisoned Chinese Nobel Peace laureate Liu Xiaobo doubts the government's claims that the ailing dissident is too sick to leave the country, in part because of a video in which Liu is described as being in "acceptable" condition.

Whether Liu is able to travel is a key question in any negotiations for his possible release from a Chinese hospital. The U.S. and European Union have been calling on Beijing to allow China's most famous political prisoner to choose where he wants to be treated for late-stage liver cancer.

Shang Baojun, Liu's former lawyer, has said Chinese officials have told Liu's family members that his health was too poor to allow him to travel.

In this recent undated handout photo, Chinese dissident and Nobel Prize laureate Liu Xiaobo, left, is attended to by his wife Liu Xia in a hospital in China. Liu Xiaobo has been released from prison on medical parole after being diagnosed earlier June 2017 with late-stage liver cancer and is being treated in a hospital in the northeastern city of Shenyang. He had been more than half-way through an 11-year sentence after being convicted in 2009 on subversion charges. (Photo via AP)

However, Liu's friend, political dissident Hu Jia, said Monday a video that emerged on YouTube over the weekend appeared to indicate that Liu was in stable condition. Medical experts were seen saying that Liu's treatment plan was going smoothly.

"Currently, his situation is acceptable," an unidentified male doctor in a white coat was seen saying in the video, which did not include any images of Liu and was dated Wednesday.

A separate photo that's been circulating online showed Liu holding a bowl and being spoon-fed by his wife, Liu Xia. He did not appear to be hooked up to life-support.

"Based on the videos and the photo, we know for sure that his conditions have not deteriorated," Hu said. "There's no question that Liu Xiaobo can travel."

William Fingleton, spokesman for the European Union delegation in China, said EU diplomats met with a Chinese vice minister of justice on Friday regarding Liu's treatment. Fingleton did not provide details on the discussion.

In a statement released later Friday, the EU's foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, urged China to immediately grant Liu parole on humanitarian grounds, citing Liu's deteriorating health.

Mogherini also said that China should "allow him to receive medical assistance at a place of his choosing in China or overseas," and that Liu and his wife should be free to communicate with the outside world.

On past occasions, China has released political prisoners on grounds of ill health and immediately sent them into exile abroad.

Reliable, independent information on Liu's condition and his desire to travel has been difficult to obtain, since Liu and Liu Xia have long been isolated by the authorities out of the reach of most friends and the media. While the couple has not publicly stated their willingness to go abroad, their friends believe they wish to do so, based on Liu Xia's earlier indications.

China's foreign ministry said Monday that it has no information on Liu's case. "I can only say that we hope that the relevant countries can respect China's judicial sovereignty instead of making use of this individual case to interfere in China's domestic affairs," spokesman Geng Shuang said at a regular news briefing.

China's justice department did not immediately respond to faxed questions about Liu's case. On Monday, the judicial bureau in Shenyang, the northeastern city where Liu is undergoing treatment, posted a statement that said Liu is receiving "meticulous care" from well-known Chinese doctors for liver cancer that has metastasized to his entire body.

"With consent from family members, the hospital has conducted treatments aimed at fighting the tumor, protecting the liver, regulating the immune system, providing nutrition, and alleviating pain," the statement said. "It also has applied a targeted drug that is most advanced, most proven, and unanimously recommended by both domestic and international guidelines."

Liu, a writer and outspoken government critic, was sentenced in 2009 to 11 years in prison on a charge of inciting subversion of state power, a year after he co-authored Charter '08, a document calling for democracy and rule of law in China. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2010 while incarcerated.
BRIDGEWATER, N.J. (AP) - President Donald Trump offered to help to a terminally ill British baby on Monday, saying on Twitter that "if we can help little #CharlieGard, as per our friends in the U.K. and the Pope, we would be delighted to do so."

The White House did not immediately answer questions about what Trump meant by help.

Charlie Gard suffers from a rare genetic condition and is unable to breathe unaided. Last week, his parents lost a legal battle to take him to the U.S. for trial therapy. His parents and a London children's hospital said Friday that the 10-month-old boy will be given "more time" before life support is withdrawn.

This is an undated hand out photo of Chris Gard and Connie Yates with their son Charlie Gard provided by the family, at Great Ormond Street Hospital, in London. The parents of terminally-ill baby boy Charlie Gard lost the final stage of their legal battle on Tuesday, June27, 2017 to take him out of a British hospital to receive treatment in the U.S., after a European court agreed with previous rulings that the baby should be taken off life support. (Family of Charlie Gard via AP)

There is little Trump can do to help, because U.K. and European courts have deferred to the hospital's decision not to allow Charlie to be sent to the U.S. for trial therapy.

Pope Francis on Sunday called for Gard's parents to be allowed to do everything possible to treat their child.

In a statement, the Vatican press office said Francis "is following with affection and sadness the case of little Charlie Gard and expresses his closeness to his parents. For this he prays that their wish to accompany and treat their child until the end is not neglected."

On Tuesday, the parents lost a bid to take Charlie to the U.S. for trial therapy when the European Court of Human Rights sided with earlier rulings that continued treatment would cause "significant harm" and that life support should end. Specialists have said the proposed therapy wouldn't help Charlie.
WARSAW, Poland (AP) - It was a declaration of birthday wishes from a newly independent nation to one marking its 150th anniversary - and it was signed by almost a sixth of the population.

"We, the people of Poland, send to you, citizens of the Great American Union, fraternal greetings, together with the assurance of our deepest admiration and esteem for the institutions which have been created by you," reads the "Polish Declarations of Admiration and Friendship."

"In them liberty, equality and justice have found their highest expression and have become the guiding stars for all modern democracies."

An image made available Monday July 3, 2017, from the Library of Congress shows a page bearing signatures of members of Poland's military, from the 1926 Polish Declarations of Admiration and Friendship for the United States, signed by 5.5 million Poles, nearly one-sixth of the population of the time, over an eight month period and then presented at the White House to U.S. President Calvin Coolidge in 1926, to mark the 150th anniversary of America's Declaration of Independence. The extraordinary documents have now been digitized and made accessible by the Library of Congress in Washington, ahead of the Fourth of July holiday and as U.S. President Donald Trump prepares to visit Warsaw on Thursday. ((Library of Congress via AP)

Some 5.5 million Poles signed the document over an eight-month period in 1926 to mark the 150th anniversary of America's Declaration of Independence, a mass expression of gratitude for the help America gave the Poles during World War I.

The collection was presented to President Calvin Coolidge, who requested the manuscripts be preserved in the Library of Congress in Washington. More than 90 years later, the documents have now been digitized and made accessible online.

The Polish Embassy in Washington announced the step a few days ahead of the Fourth of July holiday and as President Donald Trump prepares to visit Warsaw on Thursday - a visit coming early in his presidency that also reflects the longstanding U.S.-Polish alliance.

It also comes as Poland gears up to celebrate the centennial next year of its own independence, regained at the end of World War I after 123 years of being ruled by foreign powers. Poland's rebirth was possible partly thanks to the backing from President Woodrow Wilson, who insisted on the re-creation of an independent Polish state.

Polish President Andrzej Duda, who has seen the collection, called it "an extraordinary work and an important testament for Poles and Polish-Americans."

"It will be thrilling for many individuals to soon be able to find the signatures of their forefathers in these declarations," Duda said.

The manuscripts - 30,000 pages in 111 volumes - are richly illustrated and include original works by the best Polish graphic artists of the era. Among those who signed were leading politician Jozef Pilsudski, government members and Czeslaw Milosz, a teenager who went on to become a Nobel-winning poet and writer. Many other political figures, priests, scientists, soldiers and millions of schoolchildren also signed, sometimes adding their own drawings or dried flowers to the pages.

Ryszard Schnepf, a former Polish ambassador to the United States who initiated the digitization project, said he found it amazing that "during only a few months, in a shuttered and divided newborn country, five and half million people signed a declaration. We can only imagine how strong the friendship feelings toward the American people must have been."

____

Online:

https://www.loc.gov/collections/polish-declarations/about-this-collection/

An image made available Monday July 3, 2017, from the Library of Congress shows the cover page from the 1926 Polish Declarations of Admiration and Friendship for the United States, signed by 5.5 million Poles, nearly one-sixth of the population of the time, over an eight month period and then presented at the White House to U.S. President Calvin Coolidge in 1926, to mark the 150th anniversary of America's Declaration of Independence. The extraordinary documents have now been digitized and made accessible by the Library of Congress in Washington, ahead of the Fourth of July holiday and as U.S. President Donald Trump prepares to visit Warsaw on Thursday. (Library of Congress via AP)

An image made available Monday July 3, 2017, from the Library of Congress shows the opening page of the 1926 Polish Declarations of Admiration and Friendship for the United States, signed by 5.5 million Poles, nearly one-sixth of the population of the time, over an eight month period and then presented at the White House to U.S. President Calvin Coolidge in 1926, to mark the 150th anniversary of America's Declaration of Independence. The extraordinary documents have now been digitized and made accessible by the Library of Congress in Washington, ahead of the Fourth of July holiday and as U.S. President Donald Trump prepares to visit Warsaw on Thursday. (Library of Congress via AP)

An image made available Monday July 3, 2017, from the Library of Congress shows the cover of the 1926 Polish Declarations of Admiration and Friendship for the United States, signed by 5.5 million Poles, nearly one-sixth of the population of the time, over an eight month period and then presented at the White House to U.S. President Calvin Coolidge in 1926, to mark the 150th anniversary of America's Declaration of Independence. The extraordinary documents have now been digitized and made accessible by the Library of Congress in Washington, ahead of the Fourth of July holiday and as U.S. President Donald Trump prepares to visit Warsaw on Thursday.(Library of Congress via AP)

An image made available Monday July 3, 2017, from the Library of Congress shows a page bearing signatures of members of the Karol Marcinkowski Physicians' Association in Warsaw, from the 1926 Polish Declarations of Admiration and Friendship for the United States signed by 5.5 million Poles, nearly one-sixth of the population of the time, over an eight month period and then presented at the White House to U.S. President Calvin Coolidge in 1926, to mark the 150th anniversary of America's Declaration of Independence. The extraordinary documents have now been digitized and made accessible by the Library of Congress in Washington, ahead of the Fourth of July holiday and as U.S. President Donald Trump prepares to visit Warsaw on Thursday.(Library of Congress via AP)

An image made available Monday July 3, 2017, from the Library of Congress shows a page bearing signatures of public school teachers and pupils, from the 1926 Polish Declarations of Admiration and Friendship for the United States, signed by 5.5 million Poles, nearly one-sixth of the population of the time, over an eight month period and then presented at the White House to U.S. President Calvin Coolidge in 1926, to mark the 150th anniversary of America's Declaration of Independence. The extraordinary documents have now been digitized and made accessible by the Library of Congress in Washington, ahead of the Fourth of July holiday and as U.S. President Donald Trump prepares to visit Warsaw on Thursday.(Library of Congress via AP)
ALHAMBRA, Calif. (AP) - The Latest on a Southern California man accused of murdering his 5-year-old son (all times local):

9:25 a.m.

A Southern California man has pleaded not guilty to a charge that he murdered his 5-year-old son.

This May 17, 2017 photo shows a special bulletin wanted poster of Aramazd Andressian Jr., a 5-year-old boy who had been missing for several weeks from South Pasadena, Calif., being displayed at a news conference outside the Hall of Justice in Los Angeles. Homicide detectives have found the body of the 5-year-old boy whose father is charged with his murder, authorities announced Saturday, July 1, 2017. Based on "additional leads," detectives returned Friday to an area near Lake Cachuma in Santa Barbara County and found the remains of Aramazd Andressian Jr., according to a statement from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

Aramazd Andressian Sr. entered the plea Monday in the Alhambra branch of Los Angeles County Superior Court.

Judge Cathryn Brougham set bail at $10 million and scheduled a preliminary hearing for Aug. 16.

Authorities say homicide detectives discovered the remains of little Aramazd Andressian Jr. near Lake Cachuma in Santa Barbara County on June 30. The boy had been missing for more than two months.

The father was returned to Los Angeles County last week after his arrest in Las Vegas.

___

The father of a 5-year-old boy whose body was found near a Southern California lake is scheduled to be arraigned on a murder charge.

Aramazd Andressian Sr. was returned to Los Angeles County last week from Las Vegas, where he was arrested. His new attorney, Ambrosio Rodriguez, says his client intends to plead not guilty.

Rodriguez, who met with Andressian for the first time over the weekend in jail, says he will ask a judge Monday to continue the case for 30 days in order to prepare a defense.

Authorities say homicide detectives discovered the remains of Aramazd Andressian Jr. near Lake Cachuma in Santa Barbara County on June 30. The boy had been missing for more than two months.

Aramazd Andressian Sr., center, a suspect in killing of his missing 5-year-old son, is escorted off a plane in shackles after landing at the Long Beach Airport, Friday, June 30, 2017, in Long Beach, Calif. Andressian Sr. has been extradited to Los Angeles to face a murder charge in the disappearance of his 5-year-old son. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

FILE - In this May. 17, 2017, file photo, Ana Estevez, center, the mother of Aramazd Andressian Jr., a 5-year-old boy who has been missing for several weeks from South Pasadena, Calif., is helped by an unidentified family friend, left, with South Pasadena Police Chief Arthur Miller, right, as they join Sheriff's officials at a news conference outside the Hall of Justice in Los Angeles. Homicide detectives have found the body of a missing 5-year-old boy whose father is charged with his murder, authorities announced Saturday, July 1, 2017. Based on "additional leads," detectives returned Friday to an area near Lake Cachuma in Santa Barbara County and found the remains of Aramazd Andressian Jr., according to a statement from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes, File)

Aramazd Andressian Sr., top, a suspect in killing of his missing 5-year-old son, is escorted off a plane in shackles after landing at the Long Beach Airport, Friday, June 30, 2017, in Long Beach, Calif. Andressian Sr. has been extradited to Los Angeles to face a murder charge in the disappearance of his 5-year-old son. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Aramazd Andressian Sr., center, a suspect in killing of his missing 5-year-old son, is escorted off a plane in shackles after landing at the Long Beach Airport, Friday, June 30, 2017, in Long Beach, Calif. Andressian Sr. has been extradited to Los Angeles to face a murder charge in the disappearance of his 5-year-old son. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
It's a shift few want  the lone hospitalist manning Auburn Community Hospital overnight  but that's what Joseph Apone did. Starting around 7 p.m., the calls flooded in: the emergency room visits, the ambulance calls.

"Not only was he (Apone) a caring, wonderful, intelligent and articulate doctor," said ACH board Chair Anthony Franceschelli, "he didn't mind working nights. So if you think about it, while the rest of us are home asleep, Joe is up taking care of the entire hospital."

And Apone did that for about nine years. His colleague Adam Duckett, an ACH physician and the Cayuga County coroner, said Apone was likely the longest-serving hospitalist at ACH. Diagnosed with colon cancer, Apone passed away March 4 at the age of 64.

Friends, colleagues and family gathered in the hospital to remember the Auburn native on Tuesday, June 27, and to dedicate a board resolution and miniature statue in his honor. The hospital said Apone made a significant financial contribution to ACH upon his death, though it declined to say how much.

Apone's sister, Jane Wood of Seneca Falls, said her brother was a private man and probably would have been unhappy knowing that people were talking about him after his death. Duckett, too, said his generosity reached far and wide, oftentimes without recipients knowing where it came from.

"He would never do anything publicly," Duckett said. "He just did it because he felt it was the right thing. He would never take credit. There's so many people he has helped without most people knowing that he did it."

For example, Wood said at the hospital's dedication ceremony that after her brother's death, she found out he had treated one of her neighbor's family members for free.

"We'll never know all the lives that he's touched, and the impact that he's made," she said.

Born and raised in Auburn, Apone was a graduate of the former East High School. He went to SUNY Buffalo for his undergraduate degree and then to medical school in Sardinia, Italy. He transferred back to the U.S., where he finished medical school at the University of Rome and opened a private practice in Little Falls, New York.

Apone never married, nor did he have children. Wood said her brother was driven by his work, but as parents Jennie and Jerry Apone needed more help around the house, the doctor moved back to his hometown. In 2008, he began working for Auburn Community Hospital, covering the 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. shift seven days a week, with a week off afterward.

"He always felt he didn't have kids, he didn't have a family, so he always took the crazy stuff from people who had the family, had the kids," Wood said. "It was kind of our upbringing."

Besides his giving nature, Duckett said, Apone was a jokester. In his first couple of weeks on the job, Apone told Duckett he needed to go speak with hospital president/CEO Scott Berlucchi. At first terrified about why the hospital's president needed to see him so soon into his new job, Duckett later realized his mentor was pulling a prank, and Berlucchi had never asked to see him at all.

"He would say things with a straight face until I got onto him, and he'd scare the living heck out of me," Duckett said, laughing.

But he misses his colleague, as Wood misses her brother. It was a bit of a shock when he left his job and died a few weeks later, they said. Duckett said sometimes that happens to those in the business. They procrastinate and get into a routine, he said.

Wood, too, said with providers, it's easy to forget about taking care of yourself. A medical practitioner at the Canandaigua VA Medical Center, Wood now pushes more than ever for her patients to be screened for colon cancer after the age of 50.

"If it saves one life, it makes somebody go and get their colonoscopy," she said, "his death won't be in vain of that."
NORFOLK, Va. (AP) - The latest on a shooting in Virginia that left a suspect dead and an officer wounded (all times local):

12:30 p.m.

A neighbor who interacted with a man she believes was the one fatally shot by police in Virginia said he had just recently shown up in the neighborhood where the confrontation occurred.

Norfolk police said in a statement Monday that officers fatally shot a suspect after he shot and wounded an officer during a weapons check on Sunday night. Police have not identified the suspect. The officer was treated at a hospital and released.

Angie Graupmann said the man had been sleeping in dumpsters for three days before the confrontation. She thought he was "crazy_that he was on drugs" because he told her that the police were after him, and that his wife had hired a hit man.

She said the man approached her in her front yard, but she grabbed a poker from her bonfire and told him to back away.

___

7 a.m.

A shooting in Virginia has left a suspect dead and an officer wounded in Virginia.

Police say in a statement that it happened about 11:15 p.m. Sunday when Norfolk officers responded to a report of a person with a weapon.

Police say when the officers arrived, they were told that a man was inside a nearby house with a gun.

When the officers tried to make contact with the man, police say he shot an officer. Police say other officers on scene returned fire, striking the suspect. Police say first aid was administered but the suspect died at the scene.

The officer was taken to a nearby hospital, treated and released.

The officers involved have been placed on administrative leave, and Virginia State Police are investigating the shooting.
MEXICO CITY (AP) - Mexican painter Jose Luis Cuevas, who made his mark by breaking with the hyper-nationalist tradition of the country's muralists of the 1930s and 1940s, died on Monday. He was 83.

President Enrique Pena Nieto announced Cuevas' passing but did not give a cause of death.

Muralists of that time like Diego Rivera idealized the working class, peasants and Mexico's indigenous past. But Cuevas was known for his twisted, distorted depictions of the human form, both in painting and sculpture.

FILE - In this March 26, 2007 file photo, Mexican painter Jose Luis Cuevas smiles during an interview with The Associate Press, at his home in Mexico City. It was announced on Monday, July 3 2017, that Cuevas has died. (AP Photo / Marco Ugarte, File)

Cuevas was best known for his 1950s manifesto "The Nopal Curtain," and a "temporary" mural he erected on a billboard in 1967, and took down a month later.

Both were a reaction to the somewhat ponderous, stereotyped images that prevailed in Mexico's school of mural painting.

Pena Nieto said in his Twitter account that Cuevas "will always be remembered as a synonym of universality, freedom, creation."

FILE - In this March 26,2007 file photo, Mexican painter Jose Luis Cuevas poses for photo during an interview with The Associate Press, at his home in Mexico City. It was announced on Monday, July 3 2017, that Cuevas has died. President Enrique Pena Nieto did not give a cause of death. (AP Photo /Marco Ugarte, File)
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - The Latest on a North Korean missile launch (all times local):

12:30 p.m.

The U.S military says it tracked a North Korean missile for 37 minutes before it landed in the Sea of Japan.

Army soldiers walk by a TV news program showing a file image of a missile being test-launched by North Korea at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, July 4, 2017. North Korea on Tuesday launched yet another ballistic missile in the direction of Japan, South Korean officials said, part of a string of recent test-firings as the North works to build a nuclear-tipped missile that could reach the United States. The signs read "The presidential Blue House was briefed immediately after the North Korean missile was fired." (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

The Hawaii-based U.S. Pacific Command said in a statement Tuesday that an intermediate-range ballistic missile was launched from near an airfield in North Korea.

NORAD, or the North American Aerospace Defense Command, said the missile did not pose a threat to North America.

South Korean and Japanese officials reported the North Korean missile launch earlier Tuesday. It is part of a string of recent test-firings as the North works to build a nuclear-tipped missile that could reach the United States.

___

11:30 a.m.

President Donald Trump has tweeted about North Korea's latest ballistic missile launch.

He wrote in two consecutive tweets: "Does this guy have anything better to do with his life? Hard to believe that South Korea and Japan will put up with this much longer. Perhaps China will put a heavy move on North Korea and end this nonsense once and for all!"

South Korean and Japanese officials say North Korea launched a ballistic missile Tuesday morning that is believed to have landed in the Sea of Japan. It is part of a string of recent test-firings as the North works to build a nuclear-tipped missile that could reach the United States.

___

10:30 a.m.

Japanese officials say a ballistic missile fired from North Korea's western coast is believed to have landed in Japan's exclusive economic zone.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told reporters the missile was fired around 9:40 a.m. Tuesday and flew for 40 minutes before landing in the Sea of Japan within waters where Japan claims economic rights.

He said no damage to aircraft or ships has been reported. Japanese media said the coast guard had cautioned ships about potential falling objects.

___

10 a.m.

South Korean officials say North Korea launched another ballistic missile in the direction of Japan, part of a string of recent test-firings as the North works to build a nuclear-tipped missile that could reach the United States.

The South's Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement that the launch was made from North Phyongan province. Other details were scarce. It wasn't immediately clear if this was a routine firing of a short-range missile or an attempt to perfect North Korea's longer-range missiles.

Just last week South Korean President Moon Jae-in and U.S. President Donald Trump focused much of their first meeting on opposing North Korea's development of atomic weapons that threaten both allies.

FILE - In this April 15, 2017 file photo, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un waves during a military parade in Pyongyang, North Korea to celebrate the 105th birth anniversary of Kim Il Sung, the country's late founder and grandfather of current ruler Kim Jong Un. South Korea's military said Tuesday, July 4, 2017 North Korea has launched another ballistic missile. The launch is part of a string of test-firings in recent months as the North works to build a nuclear-tipped missile that could reach the United States. (AP Photo/Wong Maye-E, File)
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) - A small crowd filled the plaza across from the Alaska state Capitol on Monday for the unveiling of a statue of William Seward.

Steady rain fell as a white tarp was removed to reveal the statue commemorating the 150th anniversary of the agreement under which the U.S. bought the territory of Alaska from Russia. Seward, then the U.S. secretary of state, was instrumental in the Alaska purchase.

U.S. Rep. Don Young, Lt. Gov. Byron Mallott and Juneau Mayor Ken Koelsch were among the speakers at Monday's event.

A statue of William Seward is unveiled in a plaza across from the Alaska state Capitol on Monday, July 3, 2017, in Juneau, Alaska. The statue commemorates the 150th anniversary of the agreement under which the U.S. bought the territory of Alaska from Russia. As Secretary of State in 1867, Seward signed and helped negotiate the Treaty of Cession with Russia. (AP Photo/Becky Bohrer)

Young said he still marvels at Alaska and encouraged Alaskans to get to better know their state. He closed his remarks before the unveiling by expressing his thanks to Seward.
MANILA, Philippines (AP) - The Philippine Supreme Court upheld on Tuesday the president's declaration of martial law in the south in a legal boost to a military offensive that the defense chief said may soon succeed in quelling an uprising by Islamic State group-linked militants.

Supreme Court spokesman Theodore Te said 11 of 15 justices voted to dismiss petitions against the declaration of martial law, which President Rodrigo Duterte imposed across the country's southern third for 60 days after hundreds of gunmen waving IS-style black flags laid siege to southern Marawi city on May 23.

The petitioners argued the siege did not constitute a rebellion that could justify martial rule which might foster human rights abuses in a country that ousted dictator Ferdinand Marcos in a 1986 revolt for massive rights violations.

Philippine Supreme Court spokesman Theodore Te answers questions from reporters during a press conference in Manila, Philippines Tuesday, July 4, 2017. The Philippine Supreme Court has upheld President Rodrigo Duterte's declaration of martial law in the southern third of the country, dismissing petitions to nullify it.(AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

"We were hoping the Supreme Court would be our last line of defense against a patently absurd decision built on a failure of intelligence and a rhetoric of violent machismo," said Machris Cabreros of Akbayan, a left-wing political party whose officers were among the petitioners. "Instead they caved in and unwittingly opened the door to further creeping authoritarianism."

The government's top lawyer, Solicitor General Jose Calida, welcomed the decision, saying, "as the conscience of our nation, the Supreme Court did not sit idly to watch our country get dismembered."

Calida has said evidence showed that an IS-linked alliance of four local extremist groups plotted to seize predominantly Muslim Marawi as part of a plot to create an Islamic caliphate in Southeast Asia. Duterte's move helped troops capture militants and block their movement, security officials said.

After 43 days of intense ground assaults and airstrikes, troops have recaptured most areas of Marawi including parts of its central business district, where the gunmen turned buildings into sniper posts that slowed the military's advance for weeks. Troops regained control Monday of a key school compound where they recovered 15 assault weapons and found the remains of a foreign-looking fighter, probably a Singaporean, military officials said.

In a speech marking the air force's founding anniversary at Clark freeport north of Manila, Duterte said more than 40 Philippine aircraft were involved in the Marawi offensive.

"As we wrap up in our campaign to liberate Marawi, I am confident that the Philippine air force will once again take an active role in the rebuilding of the city," Duterte said.

Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana told reporters that troops may be able to recapture the last few areas held by the militants in a week but he added that if the gunmen "fight to the last, then it will be longer."

Defense officials hope the crisis will end before Duterte delivers his annual state of the nation address on July 24, but Lorenzana said he would let commanders set the pace of the battle to avoid adding pressure that could endanger troops.

The military says 300 to 500 residents may still be trapped in their homes by fierce street-to-street battles. More than 1,700 civilians have been rescued by troops and government volunteers, including many who were shell-shocked, starving or sick.

About 400,000 villagers have abandoned Marawi, a bastion of Islamic faith with hundreds of mosques, and outlying towns in Lanao del Sur province, about 800 kilometers (500 miles) southeast of Manila.

The unprecedented urban attack has alarmed Southeast Asian and Western governments, which fear that the Islamic State group's brutal rule in Syria and Iraq, now collapsing, may have galvanized Asian militants into attempting to create their own so-called Islamic caliphate in the region with funds from Middle East-based jihadis.

Despite Duterte's antagonism toward U.S. and Australian officials, who have criticized his bloody crackdown on illegal drugs, the Western allies have deployed surveillance planes to help Philippine troops track down the remaining militants in Marawi.

Lorenzana said Australia deployed two P3 Orion aircraft Friday in Marawi, where a similar U.S. surveillance plane started operating a few weeks ago.

European officials, also often a target of Duterte's verbal attacks, announced Tuesday they will provide 49 million pesos ($980,000) in emergency aid for displaced civilians.

Intense daily airstrikes have depleted the military's stockpile of bombs dropped by a new fleet of South Korean-made FA50 fighter jets so a Philippine air force cargo plane was dispatched to the United States to pick up new supplies, Lorenzana said.

___

Associated Press writer Jim Gomez contributed to this report.

An activist shouts slogans denouncing the martial law in Mindanao as they hold a rally in front of the Supreme Court in Manila, Philippines on Tuesday, July 4, 2017. The Philippine Supreme Court has upheld President Rodrigo Duterte's declaration of martial law in the southern third of the country, dismissing petitions to nullify it.(AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

An activist holds a slogan bearing a photo of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte during a rally in front of the Supreme Court in Manila, Philippines on Tuesday, July 4, 2017 to denounce martial law in Mindanao. The Philippine Supreme Court has upheld Duterte's declaration of martial law in the southern third of the country, dismissing petitions to nullify it.(AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

Activists scuffle with Philippine police as they tried to get near the Supreme Court in Manila, Philippines on Tuesday, July 4, 2017 to denounce martial law in Mindanao. The Philippine Supreme Court has upheld President Rodrigo Duterte's declaration of martial law in the southern third of the country, dismissing petitions to nullify it.(AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte addresses troops during the 70th anniversary celebration of the Philippine Air Force at Clark Freeport Zone Tuesday, July 4, 2017 in Pampanga province, north of Manila, Philippines. The Philippines' top court on Tuesday upheld President Duterte's martial law declaration in the southern third of the country, dismissing petitions to nullify it.(AP Photo/Bullit Marquez)

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, center, and Vice President Leni Robredo, left, applaud at the conclusion of the 70th anniversary celebration of the Philippine Air Force at Clark Freeport Zone Tuesday, July 4, 2017 in Pampanga province north of Manila, Philippines. The Philippines' top court on Tuesday upheld President Rodrigo Duterte's martial law declaration in the southern third of the country, dismissing petitions to nullify it. At right is Air Force Chief Lt.Gen. Edgar Fallorina.(AP Photo/Bullit Marquez)

Philippine Air Force officers and enlisted personnel stand at attention amidst heavy rain as they listen to President Rodrigo Duterte during the 70th anniversary celebration of the Philippine Air Force at Clark Freeport Zone Tuesday, July 4, 2017 in Pampanga province, north of Manila, Philippines. In background are two of the new FA50 fighter jets which were acquired from South Korea.(AP Photo/Bullit Marquez)
WASHINGTON (AP) - President Donald Trump will learn this week whether he gets a second chance to make a first impression as he returns to Europe and has his first encounter with Russia's Vladimir Putin.

Trump's first visit to the continent in May stirred anxieties among European allies when he declined to endorse NATO's common defense treaty explicitly and scolded world leaders for not spending more on their armed forces. This time, Trump will use stops in Poland and Germany to try to pull off the tricky balancing act of improving ties with Moscow at a time of particularly fraught relations while also presenting the U.S. as a check against Russian aggression.

Trump is leaving Washington for Europe on Wednesday. In what may be the most-watched event of the four-day trip, the president will meet Putin on Friday on the sidelines of an international summit in Hamburg, Germany. Every aspect of the bilateral meeting between the two unpredictable leaders is sure to be closely scrutinized as investigations press on into alleged Moscow meddling in the 2016 election and potential Trump campaign collusion.

FILE - In this May 26,m 2017 file photo, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, accompanied by European Council President Donald Tusk, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, talks with President Donald Trump during a family photo with G7 leaders at the Ancient Greek Theater of Taormina in Taormina, Italy. President Donald Trump will learn this week whether he gets a second chance to make a first impression as he returns to Europe and has his first encounter with Russia's Vladimir Putin. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)

With those investigations hanging heavy in the air, there is little expectation the meeting will produce significant progress on difficult issues such as the crisis in Ukraine or the conflict in Syria.

"I can't imagine any issue they can actually make major headway on, given the poison that surrounds the relationship," said Michael O'Hanlon, a senior fellow in foreign policy at The Brookings Institution, who suggested it might lay the groundwork for future cooperation.

The Trump-Putin encounter will be one of at least nine meetings the U.S. president will have with foreign leaders while in Hamburg for a Group of 20 summit of industrial and emerging market nations, beginning Friday.

But first Trump will stop in Poland, where leaders are looking for reassurance that the presence of U.S. and NATO troops there will continue as long as the region's security is threatened by a resurgent Russia. In return, Trump will be expecting a warm reception as he pays homage to Polish resolve with a speech Thursday in Krasinski Square, his first major outdoor address in a foreign country.

Poland's leaders are closely aligned with Trump's worldview, and ruling party lawmakers and pro-government activists plan to bus in groups to help ensure an enthusiastic crowd for Trump after his rather awkward European debut in May.

Previewing the trip, White House officials said Trump would reiterate the U.S. commitment to NATO's Article 5, which says an attack on one member is an attack on all - something he didn't do at NATO headquarters in Brussels during his first overseas trip but eventually endorsed last month. The president is also expected to cite the need to develop "a common approach to Russia," his advisers said.

"He'd like the United States and the entire West to develop a more constructive relationship with Russia," said the White House national security adviser, H.R. McMaster. "But he's also made clear that we will do what is necessary to confront Russia's destabilizing behavior."

Preparing for the trip, Trump spoke Monday with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni. Earlier in the holiday weekend, he had conversations with Chinese President Xi Jinping, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and the leaders of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar.

After this trip, the president will be back in Europe soon for a mid-July visit to France to celebrate Bastille Day alongside new French President Emmanuel Macron. And in late July, he'll send Vice President Mike Pence to Estonia and Georgia - two former Soviet satellites straddling the Russian border - and new NATO member Montenegro.

Poland has been a staunch U.S. ally in Iraq and Afghanistan and is home to about 5,000 U.S. troops serving in separate American and NATO missions.

"They're betting that this relationship with the United States on defense will balance their concerns about the possible directions of U.S.-Russia policy," said Jeff Rathke, a senior fellow and deputy director of the Europe Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Sharing a border with Russia "is of the highest concern for Poland."

U.S.-Russian relations remain tense - Trump said in April they may be at an "all-time low" - and Moscow has denounced the recent decision by the U.S. to impose sanctions on more than three dozen Russian people and firms over Russian activities in Ukraine. But Trump has expressed hopes of improved relations with the global power.

White House aides said Trump did not have a specific agenda for the meeting with the Russian president and they have yet to provide details on the staging for the encounter. Trump has had three phone calls with Putin since taking office. In the past, he's offered contradictory descriptions of his connections with Putin, insisting during the campaign he had no recollection of meeting him but earlier stating that they spoke around the 2013 Miss Universe pageant in Moscow.

Trump's overseas trip will be his first since he announced that he was withdrawing the U.S. from the landmark Paris climate agreement, to the regret of a number of world leaders who had lobbied Trump to remain in the 2015 pact. The White House said Trump and Merkel discussed the climate issues in their conversation Monday.

Merkel, host of the G-20 summit, has been open about her disappointment in Trump's decision and told the German parliament "we cannot expect easy talks in Hamburg" on climate issues.

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Associated Press writer Darlene Superville contributed to this report.

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On Twitter follow Ken Thomas at https://twitter.com/KThomasDC
WASHINGTON (AP) - President Donald Trump's first face-to-face meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday will be brimming with global intrigue, but the White House says there's "no specific agenda." So in the absence of a set list of topics, what are two of the world's most famously unpredictable leaders to discuss?

Trump, who prefers to have neatly packaged achievements to pair with high-profile meetings, may be looking for some concessions from Russia to show he's delivering progress and helping restore a productive relationship between the two powers. Putin would almost surely want something in return, and there's a long list of "irritants" between the two countries that they could potentially resolve.

Ahead of the bilateral meeting, White House National Security Council and State Department officials have been reviewing possible gestures the U.S. could offer Russia as part of the meeting, a current and a former administration official said. They weren't authorized to comment publicly and requested anonymity.

FILE - In this July 1, 2017 file photo, President Donald Trump speaks in Washington. President Donald Trump's first face-to-face meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin this week will be brimming with global intrigue, but the White House says there's "no specific agenda." So in the absence of a set topic list, what are two of the world's most famously unpredictable leaders to discuss? (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)

Yet any outward sign of bonhomie between Trump and Putin would be immediately seized upon by the president's critics and Russia hawks eager to show he's cozying up to the Russian leader. The ongoing investigations into Russia's interference in the U.S. election and potential Trump campaign collusion won't be far from anyone's minds.

The two leaders will sit down in Hamburg, Germany, on the sidelines of a Group of 20 summit of leading rich and developing nations. Ahead of the meeting, Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak met Monday in Washington with the No. 3 U.S. diplomat, Thomas Shannon, to prepare.

A look at what Trump and Putin could address:

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ELECTION HACKING

Trump has been reluctant to publicly and directly acknowledge Russia's role in meddling in the U.S. election, out of apparent concern it undermines the legitimacy of his win. He's also insisted there was no collusion with him or his campaign, a conclusion that U.S. investigators have not yet reached.

U.S. officials says Russia tried to hack election systems in 21 states and to sway the election for Trump, a level of interference in the U.S. political system that security experts say represents a top-level threat that should command a forceful response from the U.S. Putin has denied all this.

There are no indications Trump plans to raise Russia's meddling at the meeting. Yet if he doesn't, it will give fuel to Trump's critics who say he's blatantly ignoring a major national security threat. It could also embolden those who say Trump is trying to cover for the Russians after benefiting from their interference.

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IRRITANTS

Each side has a long list of complaints about the other that do not rise to the geopolitical level but are nonetheless impeding broader attempts to coordinate or cooperate on larger concerns. After meeting in Moscow earlier this year, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov agreed to set up a mechanism to deal with these issues the Russians describe as "irritants" and the Americans call "the smalls."

But even that effort has stalled. After the Treasury last month imposed new sanctions on Russia for its intervention in Ukraine, Moscow called off a scheduled second meeting between Thomas Shannon, the U.S. undersecretary of state for political affairs, and Sergey Ryabkov, a Russian deputy foreign minister. Shannon and Ryabkov's canceled June 23 meeting in St. Petersburg has yet to be rescheduled.

It was not clear if either Trump or Putin would seek to reopen the channel when they see each other in Hamburg, although Tillerson and other State Department officials have taken pains to stress that they remain open to a resumption of the talks.

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RUSSIA'S WISH LIST

Russia has been especially vocal about its chief demand: the return of two properties it owns in the U.S. that were seized by the Obama administration as punishment for Russian meddling in the 2016 election. The recreational compounds are located in Oyster Bay, New York, on Long Island, and along the Corsica River in the Eastern Shore region of Maryland

On Monday, Putin's foreign affairs adviser, Yuri Ushakov, said Russia had been remarkably restrained by declining to retaliate but that its patience was running out. If the U.S. doesn't soon give back the compounds, also known as dachas, Moscow will have no choice but to retaliate, Ushakov said.

Another Russian demand is to ease surveillance of its diplomats in the U.S.

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US DEMANDS

The U.S. has its own list, topped by a resumption of adoptions of Russian children by American parents which Russia banned in late 2012, an end to what it says is intensifying harassment of U.S. diplomats and other officials in Russia and a resolution to a dispute over a piece of land in St. Petersburg that was meant to be the site of a new U.S. consulate in Russia's second-largest city. The U.S. also wants expanded cultural and exchange programs between the two countries. Such programs were vastly curtailed or ended after Putin's 2012 return to the Kremlin in an election he accused Washington of interfering in.

Tillerson has made the adoption issue a priority, according to aides, although it remains unclear if he has succeeded in convincing the Russians to even consider revisiting the ban. The property dispute in St. Petersburg dates to 2014 when Russia blocked the U.S. from developing the site after the Obama administration hit Russia with sanctions because of it's annexation of Ukraine's Crimea region.

Officials say the U.S. won't simply swap the Russian compounds for the St. Petersburg consulate. Action on the other demands is also required, they say.

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UKRAINE SANCTIONS

Moscow has long sought an easing of economic sanctions the U.S. slapped on Russia over its actions in eastern Ukraine and annexation of Crimea, which the U.S. does not recognize. Though there were indications that Trump's aides entertained easing the sanctions in the run-up to the inauguration and early days of his presidency, his administration has repeatedly insisted that they will stay in place until Russia pulls out of Crimea and lives up to its commitments under a cease-fire deal for eastern Ukraine that has never been fully implemented.

Given that Russia has taken neither of those steps, easing sanctions would require a major reversal by Trump and would infuriate Russia hawks in both parties in the U.S. In fact, Congress has been pushing to increase sanctions on Russia and make them harder for Trump to lift. The Senate has passed the popular measure, which won't go to a House vote before Trump's meeting with Putin.

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SYRIA

Eager to bolster his global legitimacy, Putin has been pressing the U.S. to cooperate militarily with Russia in Syria, where both Moscow and Washington oppose the Islamic State group but disagree about Syrian President Bashar Assad. Though defense laws passed in the wake of the Ukraine crisis bar the U.S. military from cooperating with Russia, the two have maintained a "deconfliction" hotline to ensure their forces don't accidentally collide on the crowded Syrian battlefield.

The Pentagon has steadfastly resisted proposals to work closely with Russia in Syria, out of concern the U.S. can't trust Moscow with sensitive intelligence information. But the problems posed by the lack of coordination in Syria have resurfaced following recent events. The U.S. has recently shot down several pro-Syrian government aircraft, leading Russia, an ally of the Syrian government, to threaten to shoot down any aircraft that flies west of the Euphrates River.

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Reach Josh Lederman on Twitter at http://twitter.com/joshledermanAP and Matthew Lee at https://twitter.com/APDiploWriter
ANKARA, Turkey (AP) - Turkey's main opposition party is filing a petition to the European Court of Human Rights challenging Turkey's April referendum that increases the powers of the president.

Kemal Kilicdaroglu, the leader of pro-secular Republican People's Party, or CHP, signed the petition on Tuesday before he continued on his 425-kilometer (265-mile) "March for Justice" - a walk from Ankara to Istanbul protesting the jailing of a party lawmaker and other alleged injustices. The march, now on its 20th day, ends Friday.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's "yes" camp won the referendum with a thin margin.

Kemal Kilicdaroglu, center, the leader of Turkey's main opposition Republican People's Party, applauds carnation-throwing people as he walks with thousands of supporters on the 19th day of his 425-kilometer (265-mile) " march for justice " in Kocaeli, Turkey, Monday, July 3, 2017. Kilicdaroglu and supporters are marching from the capital Ankara to an Istanbul prison to protest the conviction of one of his party's lawmakers.(AP Photo)

The CHP contested the outcome citing irregularities, including the electoral board's decision to count as valid unstamped ballots despite the law. CHP decided to apply to the Strasbourg, France based court following unsuccessful Turkish high court appeals.
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - The Latest on North Korea's missile launch (all times local):

1:15 p.m.

The Japanese government says it is taking every measure to ensure people's safety a day after North Korea test-launched an intercontinental ballistic missile.

In this photo provided by Eighth U.S. Army, South Korea's Hyunmoo Missile II, left, and U.S. MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile, right, are fired into the east sea during the combined military exercise against North Korea at an undisclosed location in South Korea, Wednesday, July 5, 2017. North Korea delighted in the international furor created by its first launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile, vowing Wednesday to never give up its missiles or nuclear weapons and to keep sending Washington more "gift packages" of weapons tests. U.S. and South Korean forces, in response, engineered what was meant as a show of force for Pyongyang, with soldiers from the allied nations firing "deep strike" precision missiles into South Korean territorial waters. The missile firings Tuesday demonstrated U.S.-South Korean solidarity, the U.S. Eighth Army said in a statement. (Eighth U.S. Army via AP)

The missile that North Korea launched Tuesday fell into the sea between the Korean Peninsula and Japan. North Korea later claimed to have successfully tested an ICBM for the first time. U.S. and South Korean officials confirmed it was an ICBM, and Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said Wednesday the missile was "highly likely to be an intercontinental ballistic missile."

A successful ICBM test is a momentous advancement of Pyongyang's work on an arsenal of long-range nuclear-armed missiles.

Suga also says Japan is requesting an emergency meeting with China, along with the U.S. and South Korea. He did not elaborate.

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10 a.m.

North Korea is reveling in the condemnation of its first ICBM test, vowing to never give up its missiles or nuclear weapons and to keep sending Washington more "gift packages" of weapons tests.

A statement from North Korean state media said that leader Kim Jong Un urged his scientists to "frequently send big and small 'gift packages' to the Yankees," an apparent reference to continuing the stream of nuclear and missile tests Kim has ordered since taking power in late 2011.

The Korean Central News Agency quoted him as saying the U.S. would be displeased by the "package of gifts" delivered on its Independence Day.

North Korea test-fired the missile on July 4, the day that America marks its independence.

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9 a.m.

In a direct response to North Korea's missile launch, U.S. and South Korean soldiers fired "deep strike" precision missiles into South Korean territorial waters

The exercises on Tuesday were described by U.S. military officials in Seoul.

The U.S. Eighth Army said the missile firings were a show of force meant to demonstrate U.S.-South Korean solidarity.

The U.S. confirmed North Korea's launch was of an intercontinental ballistic missile, as the North had claimed and the U.S. and South Korea had feared. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson called it a "new escalation of the threat" to the U.S.

The U.S. Army said the joint exercise with South Korea countered what it called "North Korea's destabilizing and unlawful actions on July 4."

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8 a.m.

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson says North Korea's latest missile test was with an intercontinental ballistic missile.

And Tillerson says that's a new escalation of the threat posed to the United States and the world by North Korea.

Tillerson says the U.S. will bring North Korea's action before the United Nations Security Council.

His statement provided the first confirmation of the U.S. conclusion that the missile was an ICBM.

The U.S. military's initial assessment was that North Korea fired an intermediate-range missile.

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7:35 a.m.

The United States has asked for an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council following North Korea's claim that it successfully test-launched its first intercontinental ballistic missile.

The U.S. Mission to the United Nations said Ambassador Nikki Haley requested the meeting on Tuesday afternoon. The mission said it is expected to take place Wednesday afternoon.

The test launch would be a potential game-changing development in what may be the world's most dangerous nuclear standoff and a direct rebuke to U.S. President Donald Trump's earlier declaration that such a test "won't happen!"

The launch appeared to be North Korea's most successful missile test yet. A U.S. scientist examining the height and distance said the missile could potentially be powerful enough to reach Alaska.

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6 a.m.

Russia and China have proposed that North Korea declare a moratorium on nuclear and missile tests while the United States and South Korea refrain from large-scale military exercises.

The call was issued in a joint statement by the Russian and Chinese foreign ministries on Tuesday following talks between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping.

The statement came after North Korea tested a missile that flew higher and longer than previous ones, sparking concerns around the world.

Moscow and Beijing suggested that if North Korea halts nuclear and missile tests while the U.S. and South Korea freeze military maneuvers, the parties could sit down for talks that should lead to obligations not to use force and to refrain from aggression.

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8 p.m.

South Koreans expressed concern over increased tensions on the Korean Peninsula as they watched news of North Korea's announcement that it successfully launched its first intercontinental ballistic missile.

Company employee Park Choul, watching the news Tuesday at Seoul's train station, said he worried the relationship between South and North Korea will become even more strained.

Retiree Kwak Tae-young criticized North Korea for developing nuclear weapons for possible use against fellow Koreans, and urged North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to halt the program. He said he hoped for the peaceful unification of the Korean Peninsula.

A professor of North Korean Studies at Dongguk University, Koh Yu-hwan, said North Korea's missile and nuclear programs could provoke a military response from South Korea and the U.S., increasing tension in the region.

North Korea's neighbors are studying its claim that it tested its first ICBM on Tuesday. The launch appeared to be the North's most successful missile test yet. A U.S. scientist examining its height and distance said it could be powerful enough to reach Alaska.

6:30 p.m.

South Korea's military says it is analyzing with the United States whether North Korea really has test-fired an intercontinental ballistic missile.

Cho Han Gyu, director of operations at South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff, told a televised briefing that South Korean and U.S. intelligence authorities are determining whether a missile launched Tuesday has ICBM capability, as North Korea claims.

The launch was the latest in a series of tests by North Korea as it works to develop a nuclear-tipped missile that could reach the United States.

Cho said the missile demonstrated an improved range over an intermediate-range missile that North Korea tested on May 14.

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5:55 p.m.

North Korean citizens in the capital are praising their country's launch of what it called its first intercontinental ballistic missile.

Soon after the authoritarian government announced Tuesday that it had fired the missile that morning, a 38-year-old Pyongyang man named Ri Song Gil said his country "can attack anywhere in the world." He added, "Now, the time when the U.S. could threaten the world with nuclear weapons has passed away."

Twenty-seven-year-old Kim Hye Ok calls the launch "extremely delightful news" and says North Korea "will march forward along our own way" despite international sanctions.

The launch appeared to be the North's most successful missile test yet. A U.S. scientist examining its height and distance said it could be powerful enough to reach Alaska.

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5:50 p.m.

China says it opposes North Korean missile launches that violate U.N. Security Council resolutions.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told reporters Tuesday that his country was collecting information about North Korea's latest launch, conducted earlier in the day.

North Korea announced that it had tested an intercontinental ballistic missile, though that claim could not be immediately verified. The missile flew about 930 kilometers (580 miles) and fell into the Sea of Japan.

Geng said that China urges "the North Korean side to stop taking actions that violate Security Council resolutions and to create the necessary conditions for the resumption of talks."

He also defended China's efforts to try to resolve the North Korean nuclear issue. He said that China's role is indispensable, and that its contribution in that regard is recognized.

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5 p.m.

Japan's government spokesman says it is still studying North Korea's claim that it successfully tested an intercontinental ballistic missile.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga (yoh-shi-hee-deh soo-gah) said Tuesday that Japan is "carefully analyzing the maximum distance of its flight."

Suga said the missile landed about 300 kilometers (500 miles) off Oga Peninsula on Japan's northwestern coast.

North Korea announced that it tested an intercontinental ballistic missile earlier Tuesday. It is part of a string of recent tests as it works to develop a nuclear-tipped missile that could reach the United States.

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4:30 p.m.

North Korea says its latest missile test reached a height of 2,802 kilometers (1,740 miles) and flew 933 kilometers (580 miles) for 39 minutes before falling into the sea.

The country's Academy of Defense Science said Tuesday in a statement that it was a successful test of an intercontinental ballistic missiles called Hwasong-14.

The statement was distributed by North Korea's KCNA news service.

The reported trajectory was similar to that announced earlier by U.S., South Korean and Japanese officials, though the U.S. judged it to be an intermediate-range missile.

Either way, it would be a longer and higher flight than similar tests previously reported.

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12:30 p.m.

The U.S military says it tracked a North Korean missile for 37 minutes before it landed in the Sea of Japan.

The Hawaii-based U.S. Pacific Command said in a statement Tuesday that an intermediate-range ballistic missile was launched from near an airfield in North Korea.

NORAD, or the North American Aerospace Defense Command, said the missile did not pose a threat to North America.

South Korean and Japanese officials reported the North Korean missile launch earlier Tuesday. It is part of a string of recent tests as the North works to build a nuclear-tipped missile that could reach the United States.

___

11:30 a.m.

President Donald Trump has tweeted about North Korea's latest ballistic missile launch.

He wrote in two consecutive tweets: "Does this guy have anything better to do with his life? Hard to believe that South Korea and Japan will put up with this much longer. Perhaps China will put a heavy move on North Korea and end this nonsense once and for all!"

South Korean and Japanese officials say North Korea launched a ballistic missile Tuesday morning that is believed to have landed in the Sea of Japan. It is part of a string of recent test-firings as the North works to build a nuclear-tipped missile that could reach the United States.

___

10:30 a.m.

Japanese officials say a ballistic missile fired from North Korea's western coast is believed to have landed in Japan's exclusive economic zone.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told reporters the missile was fired around 9:40 a.m. Tuesday and flew for 40 minutes before landing in the Sea of Japan within waters where Japan claims economic rights.

He said no damage to aircraft or ships has been reported. Japanese media said the coast guard had cautioned ships about potential falling objects.

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10 a.m.

South Korean officials say North Korea launched another ballistic missile in the direction of Japan, part of a string of recent test-firings as the North works to build a nuclear-tipped missile that could reach the United States.

The South's Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement that the launch was made from North Phyongan province. Other details were scarce. It wasn't immediately clear if this was a routine firing of a short-range missile or an attempt to perfect North Korea's longer-range missiles.

Just last week South Korean President Moon Jae-in and U.S. President Donald Trump focused much of their first meeting on opposing North Korea's development of atomic weapons that threaten both allies.

A North Korean soldier guards the border near the Chinese border town of Dandong, northeastern Liaoning province of China Wednesday, July 5, 2017. Grinning broadly, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un delighted in the global furor created by his nation's first launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile, vowing Wednesday to never abandon nuclear weapons and to keep sending Washington more "gift packages" of missile and atomic tests. (Minoru Iwasaki/Kyodo News via AP)

This photo distributed by the North Korean government shows what was said to be the launch of a Hwasong-14 intercontinental ballistic missile, ICBM, in North Korea's northwest, Tuesday, July 4, 2017. Independent journalists were not given access to cover the event depicted in this photo. North Korea claimed to have tested its first intercontinental ballistic missile in a launch Tuesday, a potential game-changing development in its push to militarily challenge Washington - but a declaration that conflicts with earlier South Korean and U.S. assessments that it had an intermediate range. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)

This image made from video of a news bulletin aired by North Korea's KRT on Tuesday, July 4, 2017, shows what was said to be North Korea leader Kim Jung Un, center, watching the launch of a Hwasong-14 intercontinental ballistic missile, ICBM, in North Korea's northwest. Independent journalists were not given access to cover the event depicted in this photo. North Korea claimed to have tested its first intercontinental ballistic missile in a launch Tuesday, a potential game-changing development in its push to militarily challenge Washington - but a declaration that conflicts with earlier South Korean and U.S. assessments that it had an intermediate range. (KRT via AP Video)

People walk past a TV news showing an image of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un while reporting North Korea's missile test which landed in the waters of Japan's economic zone (EEZ) in Tokyo Tuesday, July 4, 2017. North Korea claimed to have tested its first intercontinental ballistic missile in a launch Tuesday, a potential game-changing development in its push to militarily challenge Washington - but a declaration that conflicts with earlier South Korean and U.S. assessments that it had an intermediate range. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

In this photo distributed by the North Korean government, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, second from right, inspects the preparation of the launch of a Hwasong-14 intercontinental ballistic missile, ICBM, in North Korea's northwest Tuesday, July 4, 2017. Independent journalists were not given access to cover the event depicted in this photo. North Korea claimed to have tested its first intercontinental ballistic missile in a launch Tuesday, a potential game-changing development in its push to militarily challenge Washington - but a declaration that conflicts with earlier South Korean and U.S. assessments that it had an intermediate range. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)

A North Korean female soldier guards the border near the Chinese border town of Dandong, northeastern Liaoning province of China Wednesday, July 5, 2017. Grinning broadly, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un delighted in the global furor created by his nation's first launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile, vowing Wednesday to never abandon nuclear weapons and to keep sending Washington more "gift packages" of missile and atomic tests. (Minoru Iwasaki/Kyodo News via AP)

A South Korean army K-9 self-propelled howitzer fires during the annual exercise in Paju, South Korea near the border with North Korea, Wednesday, July 5, 2017. Grinning broadly, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un delighted in the global furor created by his nation's first launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile, vowing Wednesday to never abandon nuclear weapons and to keep sending Washington more "gift packages" of missile and atomic tests. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

South Korean army soldiers ride a K-1 tank during the annual exercise in Paju, South Korea near the border with North Korea, Wednesday, July 5, 2017. Grinning broadly, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un delighted in the global furor created by his nation's first launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile, vowing Wednesday to never abandon nuclear weapons and to keep sending Washington more "gift packages" of missile and atomic tests. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

South Korean army K-1 tanks move during the annual exercise in Paju, South Korea, near the border with North Korea, Wednesday, July 5, 2017. Grinning broadly, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un delighted in the global furor created by his nation's first launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile, vowing Wednesday to never abandon nuclear weapons and to keep sending Washington more "gift packages" of missile and atomic tests. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

In this Tuesday, July 4, 2017 photo, a North Korean soldier guards in border town of Simuiju, North Korea, as he is seen from Dandong, northeastern Liaoning province of China. Grinning broadly, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un delighted in the global furor created by his nation's first launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile, vowing Wednesday to never abandon nuclear weapons and to keep sending Washington more "gift packages" of missile and atomic tests. (Minoru Iwasaki/Kyodo News via AP)
The Cayuga County Office for the Aging's annual Walk to Remember will return Saturday, July 29, at its new setting, the Ward W. O'Hara Agricultural & Country Living Museum and Dr. Joseph F. Karpinski Sr. Educational Center, 6880 E. Lake Road, Owasco.

Taking place as part of the Remember the Big 6 Picnic and 4-H Youth Country Fair, the walk will occur from 10 a.m. to noon, with check-in at 9 a.m. There will be a walking course, refreshments and raffles.

Entry is $25 for ages 13 and older, $10 for ages 5 to 12 and free for entrants younger than 5. Proceeds support Cayuga County Office For the Aging programs like the Alzheimer's Disease Community Service Program, the Caregiver Support Program and Project Lifesaver.

Those who register before July 14 will be guaranteed the event's official T-shirt.

For more information, or to register, call (315) 253-1226 or (315) 253-1104.
PARIS (AP) - French President Emmanuel Macron is taking part in a missile launch simulation aboard a nuclear submarine in the Atlantic to signal his commitment to the country's nuclear deterrent.

The simulation is part of a daylong visit to nuclear weapons facilities Tuesday on the Ile Longue base off the Brittany coast. It comes just after North Korea announced that it had tested an intercontinental ballistic missile.

Macron's office says he is visiting a warhead assembly and testing facility, then spending a few hours underwater in the Atlantic aboard the nuclear submarine "The Terrible," where he will take part in a simulated missile launch.

French President Emmanuel Macron walks through the Galerie des Bustes (Busts Gallery) to access the Versailles Palace's hemicycle where both houses of parliament (National Assembly and Senate) are gathered in the palace of Versailles, outside Paris, Monday, July 3, 2017. Macron will lay out his political, security and diplomatic priorities at an extraordinary joint session of parliament at the chateau of Versailles. (Etienne Laurent/Pool Photo via AP)

France will be the only EU country with nuclear weapons after Britain's departure. According to the French constitution, it's the president who decides whether to fire nuclear missiles.
BEIRUT (AP) - The Latest on the conflict in Syria (all times local):

5:30 p.m.

The top U.S. envoy for the international coalition against the Islamic State group says the breach of the old wall of the Syrian city of Raqqa, the extremists' de-facto capital, is a "key milestone" in the campaign to seize the IS stronghold.

This frame grab from video released Tuesday, July 4, 2017, and provided by Qasioun, a Syrian opposition media outlet, shows overnight shelling that struck in the Kurdish-controlled Parsa Mountain, in the Azaz area of northern Aleppo, Syria. Syrian activists say Turkish forces and allied Syrian fighters have shelled northern Syrian villages controlled by a Kurdish militia, killing several people. (Qasioun, via AP)

Brett McGurk hailed the breach in a tweet on Tuesday.

Hours earlier, U.S.-backed Syrian forces entered the old city of Raqqa following airstrikes from the international coalition that hit "two small portions" of the Rafiqah wall. The rest of the 2,500 meter (yard) wall remains intact.

Activists say the fighting between the U.S-backed forces and IS militants is raging inside Raqqa's Old City. The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces began their campaign for the city on June 6. Islamic State militants seized Raqqa, their first major city stronghold, in January 2014.

___

1 p.m.

Syrian activists say Turkish forces and allied Syrian fighters have shelled northern Syrian villages controlled by a Kurdish militia, killing a woman and two children.

The Kurdish-run Hawar news agency said Tuesday the overnight shelling struck an area near Afrin, a Kurdish-controlled enclave. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an activist-run monitoring group, says the overnight shelling wounded 10 others and hit over a dozen villages.

Turkey's private Dogan news agency said Turkish artillery units responded after the border region came under fire from the Kurdish-controlled Parsa Mountain area, across from the Turkish town of Kilis, late Monday.

Turkey considers the main Syrian Kurdish militia, which is a key U.S. ally against the Islamic State group, to be an extension of the Kurdish rebels in its southeast. Turkish Defense Minister Fikri Isik said Tuesday that Turkey may launch a cross-border operation into Afrin if it constitutes a "constant security threat."

___

11:50 a.m.

Turkey says it may launch a cross-border operation into the Kurdish-controlled enclave of Afrin in northern Syria if it constitutes a "constant security threat."

Defense Minister Fikri Isik told state-run television TRT on Tuesday that Turkey's military will continue to respond to the "slightest fire" into Turkish territory from Afrin. He spoke hours after reports that Turkey's military retaliated overnight to fire from areas controlled by Syrian Kurdish groups.

Turkey considers the main Syrian Kurdish militia, which is supported by the United States, to be an extension of Kurdish rebels fighting in Turkey. The U.S. views the Syrian Kurds as the most effective ground force battling the Islamic State group in Syria.

Last year, Turkey sent troops into Syria to help Syrian opposition forces battling to oust Islamic State militants from another border region and to curb the territorial advances of the Syrian Kurdish militia.

Isik said: "We would not abstain from doing what is necessary if Afrin becomes a constant security threat."

___

8:45 p.m.

The U.S. military says allied Syrian forces have breached the wall around Raqqa's Old City, where they are fighting to drive Islamic State militants from the extremists' self-declared capital.

Central Command said in a statement Monday that by punching through two "small portions" of the Rafiqah Wall they were able to enter the Old City while avoiding booby traps and IS snipers. It says the strikes left most of the 2,500-meter (yard) wall intact.

The Syrian Democratic Forces, a Kurdish-led militia, is battling IS in Raqqa with the help of U.S.-led airstrikes and U.S. special operations forces.

Several IS leaders were once based in Raqqa, where the group is believed to have plotted attacks in Europe. The loss of the northern Syrian city would deal a major blow to IS.

This frame grab from video released Tuesday, July 4, 2017, and provided by Furat FM, a Syrian Kurdish activist-run media group, shows U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fighters in the eastern side of Raqqa, Syria. The SDF forces have breached the wall around Raqqa's Old City, the U.S. military said Tuesday, marking a major advance in the weeks-old battle to drive Islamic State militants out of their self-declared capital. (Furat FM, via AP)

This frame grab from video released Tuesday, July 4, 2017, and provided by Furat FM, a Syrian Kurdish activist-run media group, shows U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fighters in the eastern side of Raqqa, Syria. The SDF forces have breached the wall around Raqqa's Old City, the U.S. military said Tuesday, marking a major advance in the weeks-old battle to drive Islamic State militants out of their self-declared capital. (Furat FM, via AP)

This frame grab from video released Tuesday, July 4, 2017, and provided by Furat FM, a Syrian Kurdish activist-run media group, shows U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fighters in the eastern side of Raqqa, Syria. The SDF forces have breached the wall around Raqqa's Old City, the U.S. military said Tuesday, marking a major advance in the weeks-old battle to drive Islamic State militants out of their self-declared capital. (Furat FM, via AP)
BRUSSELS (AP) - The head of the European Union's executive body denounced the bloc's parliament as "totally ridiculous" during a spat over the meager attendance at Tuesday's plenary session.

After EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker thanked the few dozens of the 700-plus legislators in the huge atrium for showing up, he insisted that "parliament is not serious" for failing to show up in large numbers for the keynote debate of the day.

EU Parliament President Antonio Tajani chided Juncker and asked for "a more respectful attitude." Tajani added: "The Commission does not control the parliament. It is the parliament that should be controlling the Commission."

European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker, left, European Parliament president Antonio Tajani , second left, and European Council President Donald Tusk watch Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban, second right, arriving at a ceremony for former German Chancellor Helmut Kohl at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, eastern France, Saturday July 1, 2017. Current and former world leaders gathered to bid farewell to former German Chancellor Helmut Kohl, recalling a man who was instrumental in uniting Europe and bringing about reconciliation between former adversaries on the continent. (AP Photo/Jean-Francois Badias)

To which Juncker retorted: "There are only a few members in the parliament to control the Commission. You are ridiculous."

Juncker is considered a key leader of the 28-nation bloc. The Commission prepares rules and regulations for the bloc and runs its day-to-day business. The parliament has increased its clout over the past year but many of the decisions are still made by the leaders of the member states or the Commission.

The exchange at the legislature in Strasbourg, France, was even more amazing since Juncker and Tajani belong to the same EPP Christian Democratic group.

Though the European parliament has increased its clout over the past years after earning a bigger say in a host of issues, it is often still perceived as an easy job for politicians without a big national portfolio and veterans seeking a leisurely way to retirement.

The views of the parliament bore out Juncker's assertion with row after row of empty seats. Philippe Lamberts of the Greens group, one of the few to show up, was seen applauding the rebuke of Juncker.

The session centered on the Maltese presidency of the EU which ended on July 1, and Prime Minister Joseph Muscat was attending the plenary.

While Muscat was still in the hall, Juncker referred to the German and French leaders while scolding the parliament.

"If Mr. Muscat would have been Mrs. Merkel - tough to imagine - or Mr. Macron - easier to imagine - we would have had a full house. The parliament is totally ridiculous," Juncker said.

Gianni Pittella, the leader of the Socialist bloc, said attendance should have been better but added that "whenever we have major events, votes on major files, members of the European parliament are there and present."
MOSCOW (AP) - Russia and China on Tuesday proposed a plan for defusing tensions over North Korea, suggesting that Pyongyang declare a moratorium on nuclear and missile tests while the United States and South Korea refrain from large-scale military exercises.

The Russian and Chinese foreign ministries made the recommendation in a joint statement after talks between President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping and another North Korean missile test.

The missile flew higher and longer than previous ones North Korea has launched, sparking concerns around the world. Moscow and Beijing called Tuesday's test "unacceptable."

The foreign ministries said that as a "voluntary political decision," North Korea should declare a "moratorium on testing nuclear devices and test launches of ballistic missiles." In turn, the U.S. and South Korea should "accordingly refrain from large-scale joint maneuvers," the joint statement added.

They said "the confronting parties" involved should sit down for talks to agree on principles that include a refusal to use force and a pledge to make the Korean Peninsula free of nuclear weapons.

At the same time, the document emphasized that the North's "sensible concerns" must be respected and urged other nations to create a "peaceful atmosphere of mutual trust" to help launch the talks.

In an apparent hint at the U.S., Beijing and Moscow spoke against the "non-regional powers' military presence in Northeast Asia and its buildup under the pretext of countering North Korea's nuclear and missile programs."

They specifically opposed U.S. missile defense systems in the region, saying their deployment "seriously damages strategic security interests of regional powers, including Russia and China" and hinders peace and stability.

Xi's visit to Russia came amid a flare-up of tensions between China and the U.S. over an American destroyer sailing within the territorial waters of a Chinese-claimed island in the South China Sea.

Before arriving in Moscow Monday, Xi warned President Donald Trump that "some negative factors" were hurting U.S.-China relations.

Putin hailed Xi during their Kremlin talks as a "big friend" and presented him with Russia's highest award for his efforts to strengthen ties.

Xi said "the Russian-Chinese relations are now the best ever."

After the talks, the two countries' officials signed several dozen agreements to bolster their cooperation.

Trump, Putin and Xi are scheduled to attend the Group of 20 summit in Germany this week. Putin and Trump are to hold their first meeting there.
MOSUL, Iraq (AP) - Iraq's prime minister on Tuesday congratulated his fighters on "the big victory in Mosul" - even as fighting with Islamic State militants continued in Mosul's Old City neighborhood where Iraqi forces are about 250 meters from the Tigris River and facing increasingly fierce resistance.

Haider al-Abadi spoke during a press conference in Baghdad, less than a week after he declared an end to IS' self-styled caliphate after Iraqi forces achieved an incremental win by retaking the landmark al-Nuri Mosque in the Old City.

"Praise be to God, we managed to liberate (Mosul) and proved the others were wrong, the people of Mosul supported and stood with our security forces against terrorism," al-Abadi said.

A Federal Police Rapid Response Force fighter walks inside a building at Mosul's main hospital complex after it was retaken by Iraqi forces during fighting against Islamic State militants, in Mosul, Iraq, Tuesday, July 4, 2017. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)

His remarks came on the third anniversary of IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi's sermon at the al-Nuri Mosque, from where he declared an Islamic caliphate on IS-held lands in Syria and Iraq.

Also during the press conference, al-Abadi added that he has given instructions to rebuild and stabilize areas of the city already freed from the militant group.

Inside Mosul's Old City, civilians fleeing Iraqi advance are increasingly desperate. The elderly and weak are carried across mounds of rubble in blankets. Soldiers - increasingly fearful of the Old City's inhabitants after a string of suicide bombings - hurry the groups along.

A middle-aged woman with a gaunt, pale face fainted as she fled past the destroyed al-Nuri Mosque. Two soldiers carried her to the roadside and tried to revive her with cold water.

Largely cut off from food and water for months, humanitarian groups are reporting a spike in the number of displaced people suffering from malnutrition and dehydration.

"None of the previous battles were like this," said Iraqi Maj. Faris Aboud, working at a small field hospital just outside the Old City.

"In a single day we received 300 wounded," Aboud, a father of three continued. "For me, seeing the wounded children is the hardest, we see children who have lost their entire families under the rubble, they have no one now."

Lt. Gen. Abdel Ghani al-Asadi, of Iraq's special forces, said earlier in the day that Iraqi forces are just 250 meters (yards) from the Tigris River, in the western half of Mosul. The Tigris divides the city roughly into its western and eastern half, which was liberated from IS militants back in January.

IS militants who remain trapped in just a few hundred meters of territory in the Old City are now in a "fight to the death," al-Asadi said, adding that IS fighters are increasingly resorting to suicide bombings and that he expects the fighting to get even heavier as they are pushed closer to the river.

Iraqi forces marked a significant victory this week when the Rapid Response Division retook Mosul's main hospital complex on the city's western side.

The building that once held the city's best medical facilities now sits devastated by the fight. For weeks, a handful of IS snipers perched in the main hospital's top floors held back hundreds of Iraqi forces.

Iraqi forces launched the operation to retake Mosul, the country's second largest city, in October. IS overran Mosul in a matter of days in 2014. At the height of the extremists' power, they held nearly a third of Iraq.

A man who asked to only be referred to as Abu Abid, for fear for his family's safety, was waiting to get a spot on a truck after fleeing the Old City.

"That place, it was absolute death," he said. "We will never be the same. Once the fear has been planted in your heart, you can't get rid of it."

___

Associated Press writer Ahmed Sami in Baghdad contributed to this report.

An external view of Mosul's main hospital complex shows damage after it was retaken by Iraqi forces during fighting against Islamic State militants, in Mosul, Iraq, Tuesday, July 4, 2017. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)

An external view of Mosul's main hospital complex shows damage after it was retaken by Iraqi forces during fighting against Islamic State militants, in Mosul, Iraq, Tuesday, July 4, 2017. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)

Federal Police Rapid Response Force fighters stand inside Mosul's main hospital complex after it was retaken by Iraqi forces during fighting against Islamic State militants, in Mosul, Iraq, Tuesday, July 4, 2017. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)

A Federal Policeman walks inside a building at Mosul's main hospital complex after it was retaken by Iraqi forces during fighting against Islamic State militants, in Mosul, Iraq, Tuesday, July 4, 2017. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)

A Federal Police Rapid Response Force fighter walks inside a building at Mosul's main hospital complex after it was retaken by Iraqi forces during fighting against Islamic State militants, in Mosul, Iraq, Tuesday, July 4, 2017. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)
AMMAN, Jordan (AP) - A Jordanian soldier charged with killing three U.S. Army Green Berets told a military court Tuesday that he opened fire because he thought fellow Jordanian troops had come under attack.

The U.S. military trainers were killed when their convoy came under fire at the gate of an air base in Jordan in November.

First Sgt. Marik al-Tuwayha took the stand in his murder trial Tuesday, saying he felt no resentment toward Americans and that he had joked and chatted with the U.S. trainers in the past.

FILE -- In this June 17, 2017 file photo, Brian McEnroe, the father of fallen U.S. Green Beret Kevin McEnroe, displays a memorial dog tag depicting his fallen son, in Amman, Jordan. First Sgt. Marik al-Tuwayha, the Jordanian soldier charged with killing three U.S. Army Green Berets including McEnroe, in November 2016, told a military court Tuesday, July 4, 2017, that he opened fire because he thought fellow Jordanian troops had come under attack. Al-Tuwayha said he felt no resentment toward Americans and that he had joked and chatted with the U.S. trainers before the incident. (AP Photo/Sam McNeil)

Jordan, a close U.S. military ally, initially said the Americans triggered the shooting by disobeying orders of Jordanian troops. Jordan later withdrew this claim.

Al-Tuwayha pleaded "not guilty." The judge has said the defendant has no apparent ties to terrorist groups.
LONDON (AP) - The family of a Libyan man convicted of the 1988 Lockerbie bombing launched a new effort Tuesday to posthumously clear his name.

Relatives of Abdelbaset al-Megrahi say he was wrongly convicted of the airliner bombing, which killed 270 people.

The family's lawyer, Aamer Anwar, handed a dossier of evidence to the Glasgow offices of the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission, which will decide whether to hand the case to an appeals court.

FILE In this Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2009 file photo Libyan Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, is seen below a portrait of Libyan Leader Moammar Gadhafi, at Tripoli Medical Center in Tripoli, Libya. Relatives of Abdelbaset al-Megrahi say he was wrongly convicted of the airliner bombing, which killed 270 people. The family's lawyer, Aamer Anwar, handed a dossier of evidence to the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission in Glasgow on Tuesday July 4, 2017. The commission will decide whether to hand the case to an appeals court.(AP Photo/Abdel Magid Al Fergany, File)

Al-Megrahi was convicted in 2001 of blowing up Pan Am Flight 103 over the Scottish town of Lockerbie on Dec. 21, 1988, killing all 259 people aboard and 11 on the ground. Many victims were American college students flying home for Christmas.

Al-Megrahi lost one appeal and abandoned another before being freed in 2009 on compassionate grounds. He died of cancer in 2012, still protesting his innocence.

The latest appeal seeks to overturn the murder conviction, citing concerns about the evidence that convicted al-Megrahi, including doubts about the timer alleged to have detonated the bomb.

It is supported by several relatives of Lockerbie victims, including Jim Swire, who lost his daughter Flora in the attack. He and some other relatives believe al-Megrahi was wrongfully convicted.

"The reputation of Scottish law has suffered both at home and internationally because of widespread doubts about the conviction of Mr. al-Megrahi," Anwar said. "It is in the interests of justice and restoring confidence in our criminal justice system that these doubts can be addressed."

Gerard Sinclair, chief executive of the Criminal Cases Review Commission, said the body would "give careful consideration to this new application."
MOSCOW (AP) - The Kremlin says Russian President Vladimir Putin's first meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump will take place Friday in Germany.

Russian news agencies say Putin's foreign affairs adviser, Yuri Ushakov, said Tuesday that the two leaders will meet on the sidelines of the G-20 summit being held in Hamburg. He wouldn't give any further details.

Ushakov has previously said the two would likely discuss the fight against terrorism, the war in Syria and the crisis in Ukraine.

FILE - In this June 2, 2017 file photo, Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks in St.Petersburg, Russia. President Donald Trump's first face-to-face meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin this week will be brimming with global intrigue, but the White House says there's "no specific agenda." So in the absence of a set topic list, what are two of the world's most famously unpredictable leaders to discuss? (AP Photo/Dmitry Lovetsky, File)

He added the Kremlin also expects the U.S. to quickly return the Russian Embassy's compounds, which were shuttered by the previous Obama administration. He noted that Russia has demonstrated a remarkable restraint by refraining from a tit-for-tat response, but added that its patience is running out.
PARIS (AP) - France's prime minister overwhelmingly won a confidence vote in the National Assembly on Tuesday after vowing to bring the country's budget deficit under the European Union limit of 3 percent this year without raising taxes.

Prime Minister Edouard Philippe told lawmakers that France's debt had reached "an unbearable level," putting the country "at the mercy of financial markets." He said there will be expenses cuts but pledged not to raise taxes.

Philippe won the vote in France's lower house of parliament by 370-67. Besides getting support from President Emmanuel Macron's party - which has a wide majority after a landslide win last month - he also got votes from centrist allies and even some conservative lawmakers.

French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe delivers a speech during a confidence vote debate at the national assembly in Paris, France, Tuesday, July 7, 2017. Edouard Philippe is set to face a confidence vote at parliament after his first big speech to detail the government's economic and social priorities. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)

"The truth is that while our German neighbors raise 100 euros in taxes and spend 98, we are raising 117 euros and are spending 125. Who can think this situation is sustainable?" he said.

Philippe pledged to stop increasing the number of state employees, to focus the government on its main priorities and to stop spending money on policies that don't deliver results.

Last week the country's national audit office said France's budget deficit could reach 3.2 percent - above the EU limit for the 10th consecutive year in 2017 - if no measures are taken.

Philippe said by choosing Macron, French voters showed they "are attached to the European Union and the euro. They want a more concrete, less fussy and more protective Europe."

He detailed the government's agenda in the next months and years, from health to education and job policies. He notably wants to raise the price of a cigarette pack to 10 euros ($11.35) - up from about 7 euros ($8) now.

Philippe pushed for the labor reform Macron has promised to pass by the end of the summer that aims to boost job creation, since French unemployment has been hovering around 10 percent for years. Unions, however, fear it strips hard-earned worker protections.

The government next week will outline new measures to handle Europe's migrant crisis, seeking a balance between helping refugees and controlling illegal immigration, Philippe said. The French government wants to reduce the asylum application procedure from 14 months now to 6 months and be able to deport those who are not granted asylum.

In an effort to keep fighting terrorists, France's military budget next year will increase spending on defense to 2 percent of GDP by 2025.

Far-right lawmaker Marine Le Pen, who lost her presidential bid to Macron, said his economic plans would produce "very tough consequences to buying power" for French citizens. She also criticized the government for submitting to EU demands to lower public spending.

"We know what that means ... the progressive, continued disappearance of public services," she said.

French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe delivers a speech during a confidence vote debate at the national assembly in Paris, France, Tuesday, July 7, 2017. Edouard Philippe is set to face a confidence vote at parliament after his first big speech to detail the government's economic and social priorities. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)
MEXICO CITY (AP) - Nine people were killed in central Mexico in a series of shootings involving disputes between suspected fuel thieves, officials said.

It was the latest round of violence in an area east of Mexico City where theives who siphon fuel out of state-run pipelines have fought police, the army and each other.

Prosecutors in Puebla state said late Monday the shootings started when a gang of gunmen led by a man known as "El Cuije" - "The Lizard" - went looking for other thieves to extort money from them. They killed three people on the spot and kidnapped five others, whose bodies were found elsewhere, burned.

A local police official was also killed in circumstances related to the shootings in the township of Huehuetlan El Grande. Another policeman and a town official were injured.

Mexican drug and criminal gangs frequently charge other criminals for the right to operate in their territory and that part of Puebla state has come to be dominated by fuel thieves.

In May, gunmen using local residents as human shields opened fire on Mexican army patrols investigating fuel pipeline thefts, in clashes that left four soldiers and six attackers dead.
City

 Claudette M. Dockery, 57, 314 Melone Village, Auburn, was charged June 30 with second-degree criminal contempt.

 John J. Connors III, 58, 28 Oak St., Auburn, was charged June 30 with second-degree criminal contempt.

 Stephanie M. Simpson, 19, 80 Owasco St. Apt. 1, Auburn, was picked up July 1 on a bench warrant.

 Nicole A. Spaulding, 33, 74 Lansing St., Auburn, was charged July 1 with driving while intoxicated with a blood alcohol content over the legal limit and driving while intoxicated first offense.

 Terrence M. Allen, 32, 248 State St. Apt. Up, Auburn, was charged July 2 with second-degree assault.

 Robert J. Kreydatus, 52, 4771 Twelve Corners Road, Auburn, was charged July 3 with resisting arrest.

 William E. Berry Jr., 67, 77 South St., Auburn, was charged July 2 with driving while intoxicated first offense and aggravated driving while intoxicated.

 Drew S. L. Strong, 25, 101 Quill Ave. Apt. H43, Auburn, was picked up on a warrant July 2 and charged with fourth-degree criminal mischief and resisting arrest.

 Darnel J. Tillmon, 34, 358 Bonesteel St., Rochester, was charged July 1 with unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle.

State

 Scott W. Parker, 46, Auburn, was charged June 30 with second-degree criminal contempt.

 Supreme R. Hines, 23, Auburn, was charged June 30 with fourth-degree criminal possession of stolen property, second-degree criminal impersonation and first-degree aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle.

 Christopher G. Galbally, 44, Auburn, was charged July 1 with operating a motor vehicle with a blood alcohol content over the legal limit and driving while intoxicated first offense.

 Paul R. Sheffler, 31, Hallstead, Pennsylvania, was charged July 1 with driving while intoxicated first offense and aggravated driving while intoxicated.

 Timothy J. Murphy, 58, Auburn, was charged July 2 with third-degree aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle, driving while intoxicated first offense and aggravated driving while intoxicated.

 Joseph W. Rocker, 25, Scipio Center, was charged July 2 with fourth-degree criminal possession of marijuana, operating a motor vehicle with a blood alcohol content over the legal limit and driving while intoxicated first offense.

 Derek A. Beckwith, 27, Moravia, was charged July 2 with seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance.

 Chelsea C. Albanese, 30, Auburn, was charged July 2 with unauthorized use of a motor vehicle.

 James N. Ross, 33, Weedsport, was charged July 2 with operating a motor vehicle with a blood alcohol content over the legal limit and driving while intoxicated first offense.

 Thomas A. McCarthy, 54, Port Byron, was charged July 2 with driving while intoxicated first offense and aggravated driving while intoxicated.
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) - Volkswagen says its flagship brand is returning to Iran after a 17-year absence.

The Wolfsburg-based carmaker said in a statement Tuesday it will start selling Tiguan SUVs and Passat sedans through importer Mammut Khodro.

Mammut Khodro is already selling trucks made by Volkswagen Group's Scania division.

Volkswagen began selling vehicles including the classic Beetle in Iran in the 1950s but withdrew in 2000.

Volkswagen said in a statement that restarting exports offers the company a chance to get to know local market conditions and re-establish the "Volkswagen" brand.

It cited Iranian government estimates of a car market with 3 million new vehicle sales per year.
LONDON (AP) - A terminally ill British child has attracted the attention of both the president of the United States and the pope. More than 1.3 million pounds ($1.68 million) has been raised to help 11-month-old Charlie Gard travel to America for treatment.

But little has changed for baby Charlie, who suffers from a rare genetic disease that has left him brain damaged and unable to breathe unaided. The life support he is receiving at a London hospital soon will be turned off over the objections of his parents, who want to take him to the United States for experimental therapy they believe could prolong his life.

A succession of judges has backed specialists at Great Ormond Street Hospital who say the treatment won't help Charlie and may cause him to suffer. Britain's Supreme Court ruled it's in the boy's best interests to be allowed to die with dignity. The European Court of Human Rights last week rejected an appeal from Charlie's parents, Chris Gard and Connie Yates, exhausting their legal options.

This is an undated hand out photo of Chris Gard and Connie Yates with their son Charlie Gard provided by the family, at Great Ormond Street Hospital, in London. The president of the United States has offered to help. The pope is willing to have the Vatican hospital take him in. Some 1.3 million pounds ($1.68 million) have been raised to help him leave Britain for treatment. But little has changed Tuesday July 4, 2017, for Charlie Gard, a terminally-ill British infant suffering from a rare genetic disease that has left him severely brain damaged. (Family of Charlie Gard via AP)

They have been spending time with Charlie before he is taken off life support.

By wading into the case in recent days, President Donald Trump and Pope Francis have given Gard and Yates new hope and shined an international spotlight on an ethical debate that pits the rights of parents to decide what's best for their children against the authorities with responsibility for ensuring that people who can't speak for themselves receive the most appropriate care.

"The world is watching," reads the headline across the top of charliesfight.org, the website dedicated to Charlie's cause. "Two of the most powerful men in the world want to give Charlie Gard his chance."

Great Ormond Street Hospital said Tuesday there were no new updates in Charlie's care.

Trump tweeted Monday that he would be "delighted" to help Charlie, who is suffering from mitochondrial depletion syndrome, which causes progressive muscle weakness. The president's comment came after Pope Francis issued a statement saying the parents' rights to treat their son "until the end" should be respected.

The Vatican children's hospital studied whether it was possible for Great Ormond Street to transfer Charlie to Rome. But Bambino Gesu hospital President Mariella Enoc said she was informed that the board of the London hospital said Charlie cannot be moved for legal reasons.

However, the matter was still being examined Tuesday.

"I was contacted by the mother, who is a very determined and decisive person and doesn't want to be stopped by anything," Enoc told reporters. "She asked us to try to verify the possibility that this treatment is done. And our doctors and scientists are looking into the possibility."

The fight over keeping Charlie alive is not about money. Charlie's parents have used a crowdfunding website to raise the money needed to pay for his treatment in the U.S. Instead, it revolves around an ethical debate about what's best for the child.

Under British law, it is normal for courts to intervene when parents and doctors disagree on the treatment of a child - such as cases where a parent's religious beliefs prohibit blood transfusions.

The rights of the child take primacy, rather than the rights of parents to make the call. It is a principle that applies even in cases where parents have an alternative point of view, according to Britain's Court of Appeal.

And Britain's courts have been consistent in this case. Three courts agreed that the experimental treatment would be futile and may "well cause pain, suffering and distress to Charlie." The parents then took their case to the European Court of Human Rights, which refused to intervene and endorsed the British judges' decision.

"This was a decision about what is best for this child," said Claire Fenton-Glynn, an academic at the University of Cambridge who studies children's rights. "This is an incredibly difficult decision for the court, and it's not one that the doctors or the court have taken lightly."

"It's this terrible, terrible situation," she said. "It's a horrible thing to have to decide."

In the United States, such disputes are normally negotiated between parents and doctors, according to Arthur Caplan, head of the division of bioethics at New York University Langone Medical Center in New York City. A family's ability to afford endless care usually poses a bigger obstacle than ethical disagreements.

Even the Vatican had difficulty with Charlie's case, as was clear in the conflicting messages that at first came from the Holy See. The pope's top bioethics official initially suggested that while the parents' wishes should be respected, they must also be helped to accept the limits of medicine.

After an outcry from conservatives, Pope Francis issued a statement of his own, insisting on the need to respect the wishes of the parents to "accompany and treat" their son to the very end.

Caplan said Charlie's situation is a reminder that medicine and technology can't fix everything, even in wealthy countries with cutting-edge technology.

"It is a strong belief in the U.S and U.K. that medicine has one more trick up its sleeve," Caplan said. "It's like an article of faith. But it's almost never true at the end of life."
VANDALIA, Ohio (AP) - An Ohio State Highway Patrol trooper fatally shot a knife-wielding man "covered in blood" who had rammed his car into the rear of his patrol vehicle early Tuesday, and authorities subsequently identified the man as a suspect in the stabbing death of a woman near Cincinnati a little more than an hour earlier.

Patrol Lt. Robert Sellers said the shooting was a little after 1 a.m. Tuesday in Vandalia, just north of Dayton. He said the trooper had made a traffic stop shortly before his vehicle was hit.

Sellers said the driver of the ramming car got out, covered in blood and "brandishing a knife." He advanced toward the trooper, who told him to drop the knife, the Patrol said.

Dana Dubose is seen in an undated photo provided by the Ohio Department of Corrections. The Ohio Highway Patrol says a trooper fatally shot Dubos early Tuesday, July 4, 2017, in in Vandalia, Ohio. The Ohio Highway Patrol says Dubose was wielding a knife and suspected of homicide after he had rammed his car into the rear of the trooper's patrol vehicle. (Ohio Department of Corrections via AP)

"The man continued to disregard verbal commands and lunged at the trooper with the knife extended," Sellers said. He said the trooper fired one shot, hitting the man. Emergency vehicles were called, but the man died at the scene.

The man was identified as Dana Dubose, 36, of Cincinnati. The Patrol said he was suspected in the fatal stabbing of a woman, 32, just before midnight Monday. That was in Springfield Township, some 60 miles south of Vandalia.

State corrections records show Dubose had served prison time for domestic violence and related charges.

The trooper's name wasn't immediately released. Police said he was recovering from injuries.

The investigation was continuing.
WARSAW, Poland (AP) - When President Donald Trump arrives in Warsaw on Wednesday night he will be the eighth U.S. president to visit Poland, one of the staunchest U.S. allies in Europe. Here is a history of the previous presidential visits:

Richard Nixon, arriving in May 1972, ended his speech at Warsaw's airport saying "Niech zyje Polska" (Long Live Poland).

Fearful lest Moscow disapprove of a warm welcome, the communist authorities appealed to people to stay home, but crowds gathered along Nixon's route, greeting him with flowers.

FILE - In this Dec. 31,1977, file picture, President Jimmy Carter and his wife Rosalynn Carter wave goodbye before their departure from Warsaw, Poland, first stop of their trip through seven countries. When President Donald Trump arrives in Warsaw, on Wednesday, July 5, 2017, with his wife Melania, he will be the eight U.S. president to visit Poland, a Central European nation that peacefully shed Moscow's dominance in 1989, joined NATO in 1999 and the European Union in 2004, and which is one of the staunchest U.S. allies in Europe. (AP Photo, File)

The visit paved the way for some trade exchange and for sizeable U.S. loans for Poland.

___

Gerald Ford came in July 1975 to Warsaw and Krakow. He was greeted by cheering crowds, many with their own U.S. flags as they were unavailable in the communist country.

___

Jimmy Carter visited Poland in December 1977, on one of his first foreign trips as president.

At dinner with communist leader Edward Gierek, Carter proposed a toast to the "indomitable spirit and to the freedom of the Polish people."

He also stretched protocol by making an unplanned visit to the much-respected head of Poland's Catholic Church, Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski, and he defied censorship by holding a news conference broadcast live.

___

George H. W. Bush visited in July 1989, weeks after elections in Poland that led to peaceful, gradual ouster of communists from power. He traveled to Gdansk to meet Solidarity leader Lech Walesa.

In July 1992, Bush returned to Warsaw briefly to attend, with President Walesa, the reburial of Polish politician and pianist Ignacy Jan Paderewski, whose remains were brought from the Arlington National Cemetery near Washington, D.C.

___

Bill Clinton, in Warsaw in July 1994, drew cheers for declaring that NATO enlargement to include the new democracies of eastern Europe was "not a question of whether, but when and how." At the time, there was little support inviting the former communist nations to join the alliance.

Three years later, Clinton made a one-day stop in Warsaw right after a NATO summit invited Poland and some other post-communist nations to join. He greeted Poles, Czechs and Hungarians as future U.S. allies in NATO and said very significant words, in Polish: "Nic o Was bez Was" ("Nothing about you without you").

___

George W. Bush gave a speech in June 2001 endorsing Poland's aspiration of joining the European Union, which it did in 2004.

In May 2003, he returned to visit the memorial of the German Nazi death camp of Auschwitz and the Renaissance royal Wawel Castle in Krakow.

In June 2007 Bush made a brief stop in the Baltic Sea resort of Jurata for talks with President Lech Kaczynski about plans for building elements of a missile defense system in Poland.

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Barack Obama intended to visit Poland in April 2010 for the funeral of President Lech Kaczynski but canceled when a cloud of volcanic ash from Iceland grounded planes.

In May 2011, Obama was a guest at a Central Europe summit, where he stressed Poland's leading role in the region. He laid flowers at the monument to the heroes of the 1943 Warsaw Ghetto Uprising and at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, where he broke protocol to shake hands and talk with the people in the crowd.

In June 2014 Obama came to mark 25 years since Poland's elections that ushered in democracy.

In July 2016 Obama came to a NATO summit, and also expressed concern to Poland's president about the new conservative government and its moves that included taking control of a top court, the Constitutional Tribunal.

FILE - In this Thursday, July 10, 1997, file photo U.S. President Bill Clinton addresses the Polish people on Castle Square in Warsaw, Poland. When President Donald Trump arrives in Warsaw, on Wednesday, July 5, 2017, with his wife Melania, he will be the eight U.S. president to visit Poland, a Central European nation that peacefully shed Moscow's dominance in 1989, joined NATO in 1999 and the European Union in 2004, and which is one of the staunchest U.S. allies in Europe. (AP Photo/J.Scott Applewhite, File)

FILE - In this Sunday, July 5, 1992, U.S. President George H.W. Bush, left, and Polish President Lech Walesa raise their arms to acknowledge the applause of crowds in Castle Square, Warsaw, Poland. When President Donald Trump arrives in Warsaw, on Wednesday, July 5, 2017, with his wife Melania, he will be the eight U.S. president to visit Poland, a Central European nation that peacefully shed Moscow's dominance in 1989, joined NATO in 1999 and the European Union in 2004, and which is one of the staunchest U.S. allies in Europe. (AP Photo/Doug Mills, File)

FILE - In this July 29,1975, file picture a woman spectator is pulled away by a policeman after she tried to shake hands with U.S. President Gerald Ford in Krakow, Poland, while he was ridding in a car with Edward Gierek, right, Polish Workers Party leader. When President Donald Trump arrives in Warsaw, on Wednesday, July 5, 2017, with his wife Melania, he will be the eight U.S. president to visit Poland, a Central European nation that peacefully shed Moscow's dominance in 1989, joined NATO in 1999 and the European Union in 2004, and which is one of the staunchest U.S. allies in Europe. (AP Photo, File)

FILE - In this May 31, 1972, file picture, President Richard Nixon, left, reaches out to clasp hands of well wishers in Warsaw, amid thousands who packed a Warsaw, Poland, square to see the U.S. president. When President Donald Trump arrives in Warsaw, on Wednesday, July 5, 2017, with his wife Melania, he will be the eight U.S. president to visit Poland, a Central European nation that peacefully shed Moscow's dominance in 1989, joined NATO in 1999 and the European Union in 2004, and which is one of the staunchest U.S. allies in Europe. (AP Photo, File)

FILE- In this Wednesday, June 4, 2014, U.S. President Barack Obama speaks at the 25th anniversary celebrations of Poland's first free elections led by the Solidarity movement at the Royal Square in Warsaw, Poland. When President Donald Trump arrives in Warsaw, on Wednesday, July 5, 2017, with his wife Melania, he will be the eight U.S. president to visit Poland, a Central European nation that peacefully shed Moscow's dominance in 1989, joined NATO in 1999 and the European Union in 2004, and which is one of the staunchest U.S. allies in Europe. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak, File)
BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) - A dispute over whether the Texas-based developer of the Dakota Access oil pipeline improperly reported the discovery of American Indian artifacts in North Dakota will linger into the fall, as the company continues fighting a relatively minor violation and small fine.

Energy Transfer Partners has been battling since November when state regulators filed a complaint and proposed a $15,000 fine, which pales in comparison to the $3.8 billion cost of the pipeline that began moving oil last month.

The complaint came after the Public Service Commission, which oversees pipelines, was notified by a third-party inspector that pipeline crews last October had diverted construction of the pipeline around Native American artifacts. The company had obtained the approval of the State Historic Preservation Office but not of the commission.

FILE - In t his Oct. 11, 2016, file photo, a crew member stops traffic as work resumed on the four-state Dakota Access pipeline near St. Anthony, N.D. A dispute over whether Energy Transfer Partners the developer of the $3.8 billion Dakota Access pipeline improperly reported the discovery of American Indian artifacts in North Dakota will linger into fall 2017. Energy Transfer Partners has been battling since state regulators filed a November complaint and proposed a $15,000 fine. A public hearing on the issue that was scheduled Aug. 16, 2017, is being delayed so attorneys can first make written arguments. (AP Photo/Blake Nicholson, File)

The artifacts weren't disturbed and ETP maintains it didn't intentionally do anything wrong. A public hearing on the issue was scheduled for Aug. 16, but the company requested that written arguments be made first. The PSC has agreed to a briefing schedule with a final deadline of Sept. 22. The hearing will be rescheduled after that, Commissioner Julie Fedorchak said.

ETP didn't comment on the reason for its request.

The pipeline began moving North Dakota oil to a distribution point in Illinois on June 1, after approval by the Trump administration ended months of delays caused in part by protests in North Dakota that resulted in 761 arrests between August and February. American Indian tribes and supporters fear environmental harm; ETP says the pipeline is safe.

The commission also is looking into whether the company removed too many trees while laying pipe in the state. An Aug. 17 public hearing is still scheduled. There is not yet a formal complaint in that matter, and "briefs on that at this point would be premature," Fedorchak said.

The company could face fines of up to $200,000 if found to have violated state rules in either case, though it could contest any fines in state district court.

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Follow Blake Nicholson on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/NicholsonBlake
SCARBOROUGH, Maine (AP) - Maine soft-shell clam diggers are hopeful for a stronger summer this year as the historic industry struggles with a multi-year decline in harvest.

Maine is the soft-shell clam capital of the country, and the clams are harvested from coastal mud. Clammers harvested less than 1.5 million pounds (0.68 million kilograms) last year, the lowest total in a quarter century.

Clams in the state face of a number of threats, including invasive green crabs, which eat them. Shellfish toxins also necessitated closures last year. The Maine Clammers Association says it's hoping for a bounce-back year because many clams seem to be reaching legal size.

In this June 28, 2017 photo, local softshell clams are on display at a Portland, Maine, fish market. Maine clams were once one of the state's most lucrative resources, but they are sliding in catch. Fishery managers said toxins in the environment and invasive predators could be to blame. (AP Photo/Patrick Whittle)

The clams are also known as "steamers" and they are fried, used in chowder and, of course, steamed. They're also harvested in smaller numbers in Massachusetts and New York.
BOSTON (AP) - Who wants to be a millionaire? Not most students at a school in one upscale Massachusetts town.

While arguments over whether to keep or drop Native American-themed high school mascots have divided communities across the U.S., Lenox Memorial Middle and High School is having a nickname debate of a more peculiar kind.

Students voted by a 2-to-1 margin at the end of the school year that they would like to retire their Millionaires mascot because it's divisive, leads to bullying from athletes at rival schools and doesn't reflect the economics of the community.

The nickname dates to the 1950s, when a local sportswriter used it to describe the school's athletes. It refers to "cottagers," wealthy out-of-towners who owned second homes in the picturesque community in the Berkshire Mountains. The affluent western Massachusetts town includes Tanglewood, the summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, which plays outdoor concerts to people who picnic on manicured lawns.

"The term Millionaires has become associated with the top 1 percent of our country, which excludes and burdens a very large majority of the population and currently plays a large role in the division of the United States," student council member Julie Monteleone told the school committee at a recent meeting, according to The Berkshire Eagle newspaper.

The effort to change the nickname has sparked debate in the town of about 6,000 and on the "You Know You're From Lenox If ..." Facebook page, where most people are in favor of keeping the mascot.

While acknowledging that the student council members were "articulate, knowledgeable and respectful," they're way off base, school committee member Francie Sorrentino said.

Four generations of Sorrentino's family have graduated from Lenox Memorial, and she considers herself working class. A proud member of the class of 1977, she's never been offended by being called a Millionaire.

"Some people say it's snobbish, but that's not true," she said. "This is a wonderful community and nobody is treated differently whether they're rich, middle class or poor."

School Superintendent Tim Lee included a question about a mascot change on the district's annual strategic planning survey that's sent to everyone in town, as well as faculty and staff. Lee says he has no stance on the mascot either way, and will let the process play out.

Sorrentino, noting that there have been several efforts to change the mascot in the past, would like to see the issue go to a townwide referendum.

"Some people wanted to change it to Lions a few years ago," she said. "Who's ever seen a lion in Lenox?"
WASHINGTON (AP) - The U.S. government has long warned that Russian organized crime posed a threat to democratic institutions, including "criminally linked oligarchs" who might collude with the Russian government to undermine business competition.

Those concerns, ever-present if not necessarily always top priorities, are front and center once more.

An ongoing special counsel investigation is drawing attention to Russian efforts to meddle in democratic processes, the type of skullduggery that in the past has relied on hired hackers and outside criminals. It's not clear how much the probe by former FBI Director Robert Mueller will center on the criminal underbelly of Moscow, but he's already picked some lawyers with experience fighting organized crime. And as the team looks for any financial entanglements of Trump associates and relationships with Russian officials, its focus could land again on the intertwining of Russia's criminal operatives and its intelligence services.

FILE - In this June 21, 2017, file photo, former FBI Director Robert Mueller, the special counsel probing Russian interference in the 2016 election, departs Capitol Hill following a closed door meeting in Washington. A 2001 Justice Department memo warned that no nation, including the United States, was immune from the threat posed by Russian organized crime. The special counsel investigation is bringing attention to Russian efforts to meddle in democratic processes, the type of intelligence gathering that in the past has relied on hired hackers. It's not clear how much the probe by Mueller will center on the criminal underbelly of Moscow, but he's already picked some lawyers with experience confronting organized crime. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File)

Russian organized crime has manifested itself over the decades in more conventional forms of money laundering, credit card fraud and black market sales. Justice Department prosecutors have repeatedly racked up convictions for those offenses.

In recent years, though, the bond between Russian intelligence agencies and criminal networks has been especially alarming to American law enforcement officials, blending motives of espionage with more old-fashioned greed. In March, for instance, two hired hackers were charged along with two officers of Russia's Federal Security Service in a cyberattack on Yahoo Inc. in 2013.

It's too early to know how Russian criminal networks might fit into the election meddling investigation, but central to the probe are devastating breaches of Democratic email accounts, including those of the Democratic National Committee and Hillary Clinton's campaign chairman. U.S. authorities have blamed those hacks on Russian intelligence services working to discredit Clinton and help Trump - but have said the overall effort involved third-party intermediaries and paid Internet trolls.

Former law enforcement officials say Russian organized crime has been a concern for at least a couple of decades, though not necessarily the most pressing demand given finite resources and budget constraints. The threat is diffuse and complex, and Russia's historic lack of cooperation has complicated efforts to apprehend suspects. And the responsibility for combatting the problem often falls across different divisions of the FBI and the Justice Department, depending on whether it's a criminal or national security offense - a sometimes-blurry boundary.

"It's not an easy thing to kind of grasp or understand, but it's very dangerous to our country because they have so many different aspects, unlike a traditional cartel," said Robert Anderson, a retired FBI executive assistant director who worked counterintelligence cases and oversaw the criminal and cyber branch.

"You have to know where to look, which makes it more complicated," he added. "And you have to understand what you're looking for."

Federal prosecutors continue to bring traditional organized crime cases, such as one last month in New York charging 33 members and associates of a Russian crime syndicate in a racketeering and extortion scheme that officials say involved cargo shipment thefts and efforts to defraud casinos. But there's a heightened awareness about more sophisticated cyber threats that commingle the interests of the government and of criminals.

"An organized criminal group matures in what they do," said retired FBI assistant director Ron Hosko. "What they once did here through extortion, some of these groups are now doing through cyberattack vectors."

Within the Justice Department, it's been apparent since the collapse of the Soviet Union that crime from that territory could affect national security in Europe and the U.S. Acting FBI director Andrew McCabe was years ago a supervisory special agent of a task force created to deal with Eurasian organized crime.

A 2001 report from the Justice Department's National Institute of Justice, a research arm, called America "the land of opportunity for unloading criminal goods and laundering dirty money." It said crime groups in the region were establishing ties to drug trafficking networks, and that "criminally linked oligarchs" might work with the government to undermine competition in gas, oil and other strategic markets.

Three months later came the Sept. 11 attacks, and the FBI, then under Mueller's leadership, and other agencies left no doubt that terrorism was the most important priority.

"I recall talking to the racketeering guys after that and them saying, 'Forget any focus now on organized crime,'" said James Finckenauer, an author of the report.

Besides cyber threats, Justice Department officials in recent years have worried about the effect of unchecked international corruption, creating a kleptocracy initiative to recover money plundered by government leaders for their own purposes.

In 2014, then-Attorney General Eric Holder pledged the Justice Department's commitment to recouping large sums believed to have been stolen during the regime of Viktor Yanukovych, the Ukrainian president chased from power that year.

That effort led to an FBI focus on Paul Manafort, the Trump campaign chairman who did political consulting work on behalf of Yanukovych's pro-Russia political party and who remains under scrutiny now.

But those same foreign links have also made cases hard to prove in court.

In many instances, foreign criminal hackers or those sponsored by foreign governments - including China, Iran and Russia - have remained out of reach of American authorities. In some cases, judges have chastised U.S. authorities for prosecutorial overreach in going after international targets.

A San Francisco federal judge, for instance, in 2015 dismissed an indictment involving two Ukrainian businessmen who'd been accused of bribing an official at a United Nations agency responsible for creating standards for machine-readable international passports.

The judge said he couldn't understand how the government could apply a foreign bribery law to conduct that had no direct connection to the U.S.
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - An association representing Ohio school boards is offering advice to districts following a court's decision upholding the constitutionality of a student's backpack search.

The Ohio Supreme Court ruled in May that the search furthered the "compelling governmental interest" in protecting students from harm.

A Columbus city high school security official searched the backpack in 2013 after it was found on a bus. The official conducted a second search after he recalled the student had alleged gang ties.

That search led to finding a gun on the student.

The Ohio School Boards Association is reminding districts to have strong policies and procedures in place when dealing with searches of student belongings.

The association says employees should be trained on those policies before the need arises to implement them.
MILAN (AP) - Italy's finance minister said Tuesday the plan to restructure the struggling bank Monte dei Paschi di Siena will provide "a credible future" for the institution while ensuring stability to the Italian banking sector.

Minister Pier Carlo Padoan made the comments after the European Union's executive commission approved Italy's plans to inject 5.4 billion euros ($6 billion) into the world's oldest bank as part of a five-year restructuring plan that the bank's management will outline to investors on Wednesday.

Italy's banking system has been weighed down by a heavy load of bad loans due to a prolonged crisis in the eurozone's third-largest economy coupled with management issues.

FILE - In this, Sunday, Oct. 26, 2014 file photo, a view of a "Monte Dei Paschi di Siena" bank branch in Milan, Italy. Italy's finance minister said Tuesday, July 4, 2017, the plan to restructure the struggling bank Monte dei Paschi di Siena will provide "a credible future'' for the institution, while ensuring stability to the Italian banking sector. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno, File)

Besides the Monte dei Paschi rescue, Padoan has been ushering through a plan to save two cooperative banks in the productive northern Veneto region, where account holders have lost billions of euros.

The Commission cleared the Monte dei Paschi capital injection only following the contribution of 4.3 billion euros from the bank's shareholders and junior creditors, as required by EU rules meant to minimize the cost of bailouts for taxpayers.

Once the operation is complete, the Italian government will hold a 70 percent stake in the bank. Padoan said he expected that Italy will be repaid its investment in full, with some returns, although he didn't specify by when and how much.

"The rescue is an extremely important element for the bank and the Italian banking system, and another sign of a turnaround after the agreement last week on the Veneto banks," Padoan told a press conference. "It is a plan that provides certainty and a sustainable future to the bank that will have a very important capital level."

The capital injection is intended to give the bank a buffer in case of worsening economic conditions. The restructuring includes moving more than 26 billion euros in soured loans off its balance sheets, according to the EU Commission.

Commission Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis said the capital injection "should protect financial stability in Europe and limit the burden on taxpayers."

Padoan also expressed confidence that the Italian parliament would approve the decree to save the two Veneto banks.
HIT: To the local celebrations, big and small, of America's birthday.

The Fourth of July is a day to honor the inspiring leaders and brave citizens who fought for our independence more than 240 years ago, and there's been many events this holiday weekend in the Cayuga County area that do just that.

Enjoy time with friends and family, and of course, celebrate safely. But also be sure to reflect on what the holiday stands for, and share your knowledge with your children, grandchildren, nieces and nephews.

MISS: To the flooding that slammed many parts of upstate New York on Saturday, including southern Cayuga County.

Powerful storms, including one that dumped an inch of rain in roughly 20 minutes, swept through the area for much of the day, one after the other. Several residents in southern Cayuga County, including those living in a Moravia apartment building, had to be evacuated.

It was the latest case of extreme wet weather in upstate New York this summer and spring. Hopefully we can get a sustained period of stable conditions going soon.

HIT: To the kickoff of the Sterling Renaissance Festival.

The yearly multi-weekend event in northern Cayuga County began its summer run on Saturday at the soggy fairgrounds. The festival is a terrific tourism draw for that area of Cayuga County, and it's also a fun way to spend a summer day or two for many local residents.

Actors, activities abound at the Sterling Renaissance Festival STERLING  Jillian Rejman said her mother first took her to the Sterling Renaissance Festiva

For those going to the festival this year, consider incorporating a visit to the nearby village of Fair Haven into your plans. The village has had its busy summer season disrupted by high Lake Ontario waters, so some extra visitors during the rest of the summer would be helpful to local businesses.
MADRID (AP) - A Spanish judge has denied former Barcelona club president Sandro Rosell the right to bail while he awaits trial on charges of money laundering.

Judge Camren Lamela ruled on Tuesday against a request by his lawyers to set bail for Rosell.

She said in a statement that Rosell presents "risks of flight, the destruction of evidence and continued criminal acts."

Rosell was arrested on May 25 as part of a money-laundering investigation related to buying television rights for past matches of Brazil's national team.

Authorities alleged that Rosell could have helped launder nearly 15 million euros ($16.8 million) through tax havens between 2007 and 2011.

Rosell has denied any wrongdoing.

Rosell, a former Nike executive in Brazil who presided Barcelona from 2010-14, will also stand trial in a separate case regarding fraud and corruption charges for the transfer of Neymar from Brazilian club Santos in 2013. Rosell has also denied any wrongdoing in that case.
LONDON (AP) - Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Tuesday that his country and Ireland should seize the opportunity to be open and progressive as their big neighbors, the U.S. and Britain, turn inward.

Trudeau said there are "tremendous opportunities for countries like Canada and Ireland at a time where perhaps our significant allies and trading partners ... are turning inward or at least turning in a different direction."

He said the two nations should "make the pitch that Canada and Ireland are places that are exciting and open to the world in a positive, progressive way."

Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, views the Famine Memorial statues in Dublin, after meeting with Irish Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, Tuesday July 4, 2017. The Canadian PM has several other engagements in Dublin including a meeting with President Michael D. Higgins, and a state dinner hosted by the Taoiseach. (Niall Carson/PA via AP)

Trudeau spoke after meeting Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar in Dublin. Both leaders face tricky times with their neighbors - the U.S. under President Donald Trump and the U.K. as it leaves the European Union.

The two politicians are among a crop of young, centrist Western leaders seen by some as a counterweight to the populism that fueled Trump's election victory and Britain's decision to leave the EU.

Varadkar said "more and more people will want to come to Ireland" because of Brexit. Dublin hopes to lure financial institutions from London after Britain quits the bloc.

Varadkar wore colorful maple leaf socks for Tuesday's meeting, in a salute to Trudeau's fondness for bold, statement ankle-wear.

Trudeau travels to Scotland Wednesday to meet Queen Elizabeth II, and is due to attend a summit of G-20 leaders in Hamburg, Germany on Friday and Saturday.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, left, speaks to the media as Irish Taoiseach Leo Varadkar looks on at Farmleigh House Tuesday, July 4, 2017 in Dublin. (Ryan Remiorz/The Canadian Press via AP)

Irish Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, right, shows off his Canadian themed socks during a press conference with Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, at Farmleigh House in Dublin Tuesday July 4, 2017. The Canadian PM has several other engagements in Dublin including a meeting with President Michael D. Higgins, a business lunch and a visit to see the Famine memorial statues in the city centre before a state dinner hosted by the Taoiseach. (Niall Carson/PA via AP)

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, left, shakes hands with Irish Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, during a press conference at Farmleigh House in Dublin Tuesday July 4, 2017. The Canadian PM has several other engagements in Dublin including a meeting with President Michael D. Higgins, a business lunch and a visit to see the Famine memorial statues in the city centre before a state dinner hosted by the Taoiseach. (Niall Carson/PA via AP)

Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau tours the Famine Sculptures Tuesday, July 4, 2017 in Dublin, Ireland, en route to the G-20 summit in Germany. (Ryan Remiorz/The Canadian Press via AP)

Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, views the Famine memorial statues in Dublin, after meeting with Irish Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, Tuesday July 4, 2017. The Canadian PM has several other engagements in Dublin including a meeting with President Michael D. Higgins, and a state dinner hosted by the Taoiseach. (Niall Carson/PA via AP)

Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, views the Famine Memorial statues in Dublin, after meeting with Irish Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, Tuesday July 4, 2017. The Canadian PM has several other engagements in Dublin including a meeting with President Michael D. Higgins, and a state dinner hosted by the Taoiseach. (Niall Carson/PA via AP)

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, left, and Irish Taoiseach Leo Varadkar exchange gifts during their meeting at Farmleigh House Tuesday, July 4, 2017 in Dublin. (Ryan Remiorz/The Canadian Press via AP)

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his wife, Sophie Gregoire, meet with Irish Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, left, at Farmleigh House Tuesday, July 4, 2017, in Dublin. (Ryan Remiorz/The Canadian Press via AP)

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, right, watched by Dublin GAA footballer Ciaran Kilkenny, centre, tries out a Hurling stick in the grounds of Farmleigh House in Dublin, after holding a press conference with Irish Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, 2nd right, Tuesday July 4, 2017. The Canadian PM has several other engagements in Dublin including a meeting with President Michael D. Higgins, a business lunch and a visit to see the Famine memorial statues in the city centre before a state dinner hosted by the Taoiseach. (Niall Carson/PA via AP)
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) - Puerto Rico's governor on Tuesday signed a law that bans coal ash from being deposited in landfills across the U.S. territory, though critics complained the measure does not go far enough to protect people's health.

Gov. Ricardo Rossello said coal ash can only be used for commercial purposes if it meets local and federal environmental laws. He also announced the creation of a $10 million company that would convert coal ash into construction material for exportation. The company is expected to start operating in a year.

"The policy of this administration is to seek commercial alternatives to create jobs and to export the ash generated on the island," Rossello said.

Applied Energy Systems, a company that uses mineral coal to generate power for Puerto Rico, had been depositing ash in the island's southern region. The practice sparked multiple protests, including an ongoing one that is barring trucks carrying coal ash from entering a landfill in the southern coastal town of Penuelas.

A message left with a company official was not immediately returned.

Critics say the law does not go far enough because it does not prohibit the use of coal ash for commercial purposes, nor the deposit of other types of ash in landfills.

"This law is one step forward and two steps back," biologist Miguel Canals said in a phone interview.

Applied Energy Systems said in a recent statement that the ashes are not toxic and that they have long been used in the U.S. mainland and Europe to build dams, roads and running tracks, among other things.
PARIS (AP) - The ever-audacious Karl Lagerfeld proved he is still nimble when it comes to putting on a fashion show. The 83-year-old had a 46-ton Eiffel Tower recreated inside the Grand Palais for the pleasure of his Chanel couture celebrity guests.

Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo returned the love by presenting him with the city's highest honor. Here are some highlights from the fall-winter 2017 shows Tuesday at Paris Haute Couture Week.

EIFFEL TOWER IN THE GRAND PALAIS HALL

Actresses Julianne Moore, left, and Kristen Stewart pose for photographers prior to the Chanel Haute Couture Fall/Winter 2017/2018 fashion collection presented in Paris, on Tuesday, July 4, 2017 in Paris. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

"Does it go through the roof?" asked a bemused fashion insider, pointing at the ceiling of the Grand Palais exhibition hall in Paris

It was a fair question. The 38-meter (125-foot) replica of Paris' most iconic monument that greeted Chanel's couture guests seemed to extend past the famed hall's glass roof thanks to the illusion of swirling clouds created by steam.

Back at ground level, celebrities including Julianne Moore, Katy Perry, Kristen Stewart, Pharrell Williams and Tilda Swinton were shown to metal seats in real sand and gravel.

"It's extraordinary to come into the Grand Palais, which is awesome at the best of any time, but to stand under the tour Eiffel is extraordinary. Only Chanel," Swinton said.

The wood-and-steel tower, which took workmen six weeks to make, was a stunning piece of craftsmanship. It copied nearly beam for beam the columns and metal twists of the edifice made by Gustave Eiffel for the 1889 Universal Exhibition.

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CHANEL GOES TURN-OF-THE-CENTURY

The dawn of the 20th century - the period following the Eiffel Tower's construction - was the creative touchstone for Chanel's wintery-looking couture.

The first model strode out in sunlight filtered by wrought-iron columns to set the tone of the graphic, steel-colored collection. She wore a wide-hipped, charcoal gray coat with exaggerated leg-of-mutton arms - styles that harkened to the Belle Epoque period.

This clever historic musing continued with flattened bowler hats and black patent lace-up ankle boots popular before World War I. Flourishing bouquets of plumes then shot out from wrists, ankles and shoulders in evening wear.

"In this collection, there are feathers treated like fur," Lagerfeld explained.

But the designer relied on myriad references for a show whose one unifying theme might have been simply the Parisienne.

"It's a vision of a revived Parisian woman. It is all about cut, shapes, silhouettes," he added.

Signature tweed jackets were reimagined as long tunics, or cropped and double-breasted.

Then it got arty. Mechanical Art Deco motifs gave a 1920s flair to black froufrou gowns that evoked the paintings of Robert Delaunay. Their frothy, flower embellishments at the hem gave the silhouette a vibrant dynamic.

Mini-dresses in tweed, retro bateau collars and bows under the bust mixed in a dash of the 1960s. Thigh-high boots added a hint of contemporary provocation.

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LAGERFELD HONORED BY PARIS

The German-born Lagerfeld was awarded Paris' highest honor - the "La Medaille Grand Vermeil" - by Mayor Anne Hidalgo for service to the city he's called home for seven decades.

And there was perhaps no better site for such an award than beneath a replica of the Eiffel Tower.

"Paris gives you its thanks and its love through this Grand Silver Gilt medal ... which is our city's highest award," Hidalgo said in front of a celebrity audience, including models Claudia Schiffer and Cara Delevingne. "From the bottom of our hearts, thank you. Paris loves you. You are Paris."

Lagerfeld, a contemporary of the late fashion icon Yves Saint Laurent, has been at the forefront of Paris fashion since the 1960s, designing for Chloe before taking over Chanel in 1983.

Although he doesn't see himself as French, the designer professed his love for the City of Light.

"I am a foreigner and I intend to stay a foreigner because foreigners see Paris and France through a different eye," he said, accepting the award. "And when you are not French, you look without nationalism or patriotism... Long live Paris."

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GIORGIO ARMANI PRIVE

Kate Winslet, Isabelle Huppert, Priyanka Chopra and Italian cinema icon Sophia Loren led the front row at Giorgio Armani Prive's demure yet playful collection.

As ever, it was classic glamour. The leitmotif of small cone hats and sensual face veils gave the silken 61-piece show a feel for the theatricality of the 1920s.

Large black neck ruffs evoked a harlequin. And a black cape with fuchsia floral embroideries was conceived by the fashion legend in gargantuan proportions - visually overpowering the model's body.

But Armani's fall-winter couture silhouette was all about the chest.

An open menswear tuxedo jacket with peaked shoulders exposed the flesh underneath. Elsewhere, a neckline on a pale blue top plunged daringly and was given a tasteful lift with a broach detail under the bust.

Beautiful black gowns in organza and satin - with huge full skirts - also exposed the shoulders and the chest.

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PARTIES, DARLING

Another couture week, another set of exhausting, champagne-guzzling soirees replete with fashionistas and VIP guests.

One of Tuesday's highlights was the launch party of Chanel's new perfume "Gabrielle Chanel" - after house founder Coco Chanel's real name.

Pharell and Katy Perry were among attendees at the Palais de Tokyo fete - as was actress Kristen Stewart, rocking her short blond hair look.

Stewart was named in May as the the face of the fragrance and will star in a film campaign of the scent in the fall.

Actress Alicia Vikander, meanwhile, attended the annual party of jewelry house Bulgari - admiring the panoramic view on top of Galeries Lafayette department store in central Paris.

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ALEXIS MABILLE'S VINTAGE COUTURE

The fashion history books seemed to have been consulted on more than one occasion ahead of this season's couture - with age-old styles wafting in the Parisian air.

French fashion designer Alexis Mabille headed for the 1860s to produce a short but beautifully executed collection of silk gowns.

Old gold, shimmering white, pale blue, purple and silver brought to life the archetypically "couture" styles rendered in yards of pleated silk fabric, embroidery and thick sumptuous layering. As was the style in the mid-19th century, gowns came adorned with all the trimmings.

Ruffled sleeves met cascading layers that formed different sections in a wedding cake style. Ribbons were tied around the midriff, and tassels hung off waist-binding belts.

The sumptuous designs might have suited Scarlett O'Hara or any belle of the ball.

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Deborah Gouffran contributed to this report.

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Thomas Adamson can be followed at Twitter.com/ThomasAdamson_K

A model wears a creation for Giorgio Armani Haute Couture Fall/Winter 2017/2018 fashion collection presented in Paris, on Tuesday, July 4, 2017 in Paris. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

A model wears a creation for Chanel's Haute Couture Fall/Winter 2017/2018 fashion collection presented at the Grand Palais in Paris Tuesday, July 4, 2017. (AP Photo/Francois Mori)

A model wears a creation for Chanel's Haute Couture Fall/Winter 2017/2018 fashion collection presented under a replica of the Eiffel Tower at the Grand Palais museum in Paris Tuesday, July 4, 2017. (AP Photo/Francois Mori)

A model wears a creation for Chanel's Haute Couture Fall/Winter 2017/2018 fashion collection presented at the Grand Palais in Paris Tuesday, July 4, 2017. (AP Photo/Francois Mori)

Singer Katy Perry, right, and her mother Mary Perry pose for photographers prior to the Chanel Haute Couture Fall/Winter 2017/2018 fashion collection presented in Paris, on Tuesday, July 4, 2017 in Paris. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

Model Claudia Schiffer poses for photographers upon arrival at the Chanel Haute Couture Fall/Winter 2017/2018 fashion collection presented in Paris, on Tuesday, July 4, 2017 in Paris. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

Actress Tilda Swinton poses for photographers upon arrival at the Chanel Haute Couture Fall/Winter 2017/2018 fashion collection presented in Paris, on Tuesday, July 4, 2017 in Paris. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

A model wears a creation for Chanel's Haute Couture Fall/Winter 2017/2018 fashion collection presented under a replica of the Eiffel Tower at the Grand Palais in Paris Tuesday, July 4, 2017. (AP Photo/Francois Mori)

Models wear a creation for Chanel's Haute Couture Fall/Winter 2017/2018 fashion collection presented at the Grand Palais in Paris Tuesday, July 4, 2017. (AP Photo/Francois Mori)

A model wears a creation for Chanel's Haute Couture Fall/Winter 2017/2018 fashion collection presented under a replica of the Eiffel Tower at the Grand Palais in Paris Tuesday, July 4, 2017. (AP Photo/Francois Mori)

A model wears a creation for Chanel's Haute Couture Fall/Winter 2017/2018 fashion collection presented at the Grand Palais in Paris Tuesday, July 4, 2017. (AP Photo/Francois Mori)

Film director Sofia Coppola poses for photographers upon arrival at the Chanel Haute Couture Fall/Winter 2017/2018 fashion collection presented in Paris, on Tuesday, July 4, 2017 in Paris. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

Actresses Julianne Moore, left, and Kristen Stewart pose for photographers prior to the Chanel Haute Couture Fall/Winter 2017/2018 fashion collection presented in Paris, on Tuesday, July 4, 2017 in Paris. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

A model wears a creation for Giorgio Armani Haute Couture Fall/Winter 2017/2018 fashion collection presented in Paris, on Tuesday, July 4, 2017 in Paris. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

A model wears a creation for Giorgio Armani Haute Couture Fall/Winter 2017/2018 fashion collection presented in Paris, on Tuesday, July 4, 2017 in Paris. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

A model wears a creation for Giorgio Armani Haute Couture Fall/Winter 2017/2018 fashion collection presented in Paris, on Tuesday, July 4, 2017 in Paris. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

A model wears a creation for Giorgio Armani Haute Couture Fall/Winter 2017/2018 fashion collection presented in Paris, on Tuesday, July 4, 2017 in Paris. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

A model wears a creation for Giorgio Armani Haute Couture Fall/Winter 2017/2018 fashion collection presented in Paris, on Tuesday, July 4, 2017 in Paris. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

A model wears a creation for Giorgio Armani Haute Couture Fall/Winter 2017/2018 fashion collection presented in Paris, on Tuesday, July 4, 2017 in Paris. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

A model wears a creation for Giorgio Armani Haute Couture Fall/Winter 2017/2018 fashion collection presented in Paris, on Tuesday, July 4, 2017 in Paris. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

A model wears a creation for Giorgio Armani Haute Couture Fall/Winter 2017/2018 fashion collection presented in Paris, on Tuesday, July 4, 2017 in Paris. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

A model wears a creation for Giorgio Armani Haute Couture Fall/Winter 2017/2018 fashion collection presented in Paris, on Tuesday, July 4, 2017 in Paris. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

A model wears a creation for Giorgio Armani Haute Couture Fall/Winter 2017/2018 fashion collection presented in Paris, on Tuesday, July 4, 2017 in Paris. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

A model wears a creation for Giorgio Armani Haute Couture Fall/Winter 2017/2018 fashion collection presented in Paris, on Tuesday, July 4, 2017 in Paris. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

A model wears a creation for Giorgio Armani Haute Couture Fall/Winter 2017/2018 fashion collection presented in Paris, on Tuesday, July 4, 2017 in Paris. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

A model wears a creation for Giorgio Armani Haute Couture Fall/Winter 2017/2018 fashion collection presented in Paris, on Tuesday, July 4, 2017 in Paris. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

A model wears a creation for Giorgio Armani Haute Couture Fall/Winter 2017/2018 fashion collection presented in Paris, on Tuesday, July 4, 2017 in Paris. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

A model wears a creation for Giorgio Armani Haute Couture Fall/Winter 2017/2018 fashion collection presented in Paris, on Tuesday, July 4, 2017 in Paris. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

A model wears a creation for Giorgio Armani Haute Couture Fall/Winter 2017/2018 fashion collection presented in Paris, on Tuesday, July 4, 2017 in Paris. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

A model wears a creation for Giorgio Armani Haute Couture Fall/Winter 2017/2018 fashion collection presented in Paris, on Tuesday, July 4, 2017 in Paris. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

A model wears a creation for Giorgio Armani Haute Couture Fall/Winter 2017/2018 fashion collection presented in Paris, on Tuesday, July 4, 2017 in Paris. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

A model wears a creation for Giorgio Armani Haute Couture Fall/Winter 2017/2018 fashion collection presented in Paris, on Tuesday, July 4, 2017 in Paris. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)
Downing Street has insisted there is no change in policy on the public sector pay cap, after a minister told the Commons there was an active discussion under way to ensure frontline workers are paid fairly.

Policing minister Nick Hurds comments came after Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson called for a wage boost for public sector workers who have been subject to a 1% cap on annual pay rises since 2012, following a two-year freeze.

Annual rise in public sector pay v inflation.

Pressure is mounting on the Theresa May and Chancellor Philip Hammond to relax austerity, with several Tory MPs calling for an end to the pay cap after the party lost its majority in the General Election to anti-austerity Labour, which has pledged to scrap the 1% ceiling.

Prime Minister Theresa May with Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson as she holds the first Cabinet meeting since the General Election with her reshuffled team at 10 Downing Street in London.

During Home Office questions in the Commons, Mr Hurd was challenged by his Labour shadow Louise Haigh over whether he supported the planned continuation of the cap until 2019/20.

He said: We want to make sure that frontline public service workers, including the police, are paid fairly for their work, not least because of the contribution that they have made over the years to reducing the deficit that we inherited from the party opposite.

And in that, the work they have done to safeguard hundreds of thousands of jobs. How we do that in a way that is sustainable and affordable is under active discussion.

Andrew questions @michaelgove on whether the Tories will remove the public sector pay cap #marr pic.twitter.com/ADAwopbxSv  The Andrew Marr Show (@MarrShow) July 2, 2017

Responding to Mr Hurds comments, the Prime Ministers official spokesman said: There are public sector pay review bodies carrying out their work. We are in the process of working through recommendations. That is what the minister was referring to.

Earlier in the day, a Government source said Mr Johnson wants a wage boost for public sector workers and believes any pay review recommendations that back increases should be followed.

Mr Johnson strongly believes a rise can be achieved in a responsible way which would not put undue pressure on the public finances, the source said, with the Chancellor still aiming to wipe out the deficit by the middle of the next decade.

Mr Johnsons views go further than those stated by his old adversary and Cabinet colleague Michael Gove.

Michael Gove

The Government source said: The Foreign Secretary supports the idea of public sector workers getting a better pay deal and believes the pay review recommendations are right.

He also strongly believes the rises can be done in a responsible way and without causing fiscal pressures.

Mrs Mays official spokesman told reporters: The position is exactly as it was set out last week, in that there are pay review bodies reporting.

We have responded to some, and we will respond to others in due course, as is normal, later this year.

Today on @MarrShow I promised to keep fighting secret Tory cuts to our #NHS we will expose damaging Capped Expenditure Plans pic.twitter.com/DZhpild4rs  Jonathan Ashworth (@JonAshworth) July 2, 2017

Recommendations for 1% pay rises for 2017/18 for nurses, doctors, dentists and members of the armed forces have already been accepted by ministers, but further recommendations are still to come from review bodies dealing with teachers, police, senior civil servants and prison officers, potentially allowing Mr Hammond to be more generous to these groups in his autumn Budget.

Asked whether it would be open to the Chancellor retrospectively to reopen decisions taken earlier this year, the PMs spokesman replied: These are the settlements for 2017/18.

Looks like public sector pay cap may be under review. Recent analysis on implications of diff policies here: https://t.co/VpRJnUBzUv pic.twitter.com/YsPmRFAxdq  Institute for Fiscal Studies (@TheIFS) June 28, 2017

Increasing public sector pay would boost the earnings of 5.1 million workers, including 1.6 million in the NHS and 1.5 million in public education, according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS). It is likely to cost billions of pounds.
A 16-year-old girl has admitted the manslaughter of seven-year-old Katie Rough.

The girl appeared by video link at Leeds Crown Court where she pleaded guilty to manslaughter by diminished responsibility.

Katie was found with severe lacerations to her neck and chest on a playing field in York in January and died later in hospital.

Katie's body was found in the Woodthorpe area of York (PA)

The dark-haired girl appeared on the video link sat next to a solicitor and wearing a black hoodie.

Her solicitor confirmed her name when asked by the judge, Mr Justice Soole.

Nicholas Johnson QC, defending, asked the court if the charge of murder could be put to the girl again and she wrote her plea on a piece of paper.

Her solicitor told the court: I can confirm she has indicated not guilty to murder but guilty to manslaughter.

Graham Reeds QC, prosecuting, said: We are going to accept that plea of manslaughter by diminished responsibility.

The coffin of seven-year-old Katie Rough leaves York Minster following a funeral service.

Mr Reeds said the defendant has been subject to four psychiatric and psychological reports. He said there was no dispute that her mental health problems meant she was suffering from diminished responsibility at the time she killed Katie, even though the killing was pre-planned.

Mr Reeds told a judge sitting in a packed courtroom how the teenager was found in the street in York by a member of the public.

She told him Katie was dead and asked him where she was. The man then found Katie lying on a nearby piece of land with a cut to her neck. She appeared to have no pulse or signs of breathing, Mr Reeds told the court.

The prosecutor said a post-mortem examination showed Katie had two severe cuts to her body  one to her neck and the other to her torso  but neither caused her death. Mr Reeds said Katie had been smothered before the cuts were made.

Katies family were in court to hear the guilty plea by the defendant, who cannot be named for legal reasons.

The judge, Mr Justice Soole, said he wanted more questions answering by the medical experts before he could pass sentence. He adjourned the case to a later date.
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will take their children, Prince George and Princess Charlotte, on their tour of Germany and Poland, Kensington Palace has said.

William and Kate will travel with their young son and daughter during their five-day trip, which begins in Polands capital, Warsaw, on July 17 and ends in the German city of Hamburg on July 21.

Further details have been announced for The Duke and Duchess's tour to Poland and Germany   https://t.co/YLVpzURi0h pic.twitter.com/Czrj4TpUAC  The Prince and Princess of Wales (@KensingtonRoyal) July 3, 2017

A Kensington Palace spokesman said: The Duke and Duchess are very much looking forward to this tour and are delighted with the exciting and varied programme that has been put together for it.

They have decided that their children, Prince George and Princess Charlotte, will travel with them and we expect the children to be seen on at least a couple of occasions over the course of the week.

They look forward to a busy and impactful tour, and are grateful that they will have the opportunity to meet the Polish and German people  such important friends of the United Kingdom  as a family.

Between 17th  21st July, TRH will visit the cities of Warsaw and Gdansk in Poland, and Berlin, Heidelberg and Hamburg in Germany.  The Prince and Princess of Wales (@KensingtonRoyal) July 3, 2017

William and Kate have taken their children, George, three, and two-year-old Charlotte, on an official tour before, travelling to Canada with them last year where they enjoyed an open-air party for youngsters.

And in 2014 their toddler prince flew with them to New Zealand and Australia for their extensive trip.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, Prince George and Princess Charlotte in Canada

But during the tour of Poland and Germany the children are likely to be seen only during arrivals and departures at the two countries.

With George starting school in south London this September, attending the mixed-sex Thomass Battersea school, and his sister likely to be enrolled in a nursery, this is the last time the royal couple will be able to take their children with them without school commitments making it problematic.

The Cambridges are making the trip at the request of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

It is likely to be seen as another Brexit diplomacy tour, helping to maintain and strengthen the UKs relations with Europe as it leaves the EU.
President Donald Trump has said he would be delighted to help terminally-ill Charlie Gard after his parents lost a legal fight to take him to the United States for treatment.

The little boy has been at the centre of a lengthy legal struggle involving his parents, who wanted him to undergo a therapy trial in the US, and hospital specialists who said the treatment was experimental and would not help.

Chris Gard and Connie Yates

Chris Gard and Connie Yates are now spending the last days of their 10-month-old sons life with him, after being given more time before his life-support is turned off.

Charlie, who suffers from a rare genetic condition and has brain damage, is being cared for at Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH).

It comes after Pope Francis called for Charlies parents to be allowed to accompany and treat their child until the end.

Charlies plight has touched people around the world and the family received donations totalling more than 1.3 million to take him to the US for therapy.

His parents, both in their 30s and from Bedfont, west London, asked European court judges in Strasbourg, France, to consider their case after judges in the High Court, Court of Appeal and Supreme Court in London ruled in favour of GOSH doctors.

But last week the European Court of Human Rights refused to intervene.

Chris Gard and Connie Yates with their son Charlie (Family handout/PA)

During a hearing at the High Court in April, Mr Justice Francis considered evidence from a specialist who would oversee any treatment Charlie had at a hospital in the US.

The specialist, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said therapy would provide a small chance of a meaningful improvement in Charlies brain function.

He told the court via a telephone link from America: It may be a treatment, but not a cure. (Charlie) may be able to interact. To smile. To look at objects.

In a statement released on Sunday, the Vatican press office said the pope is following with affection and sadness the case of little Charlie Gard and expresses his closeness to his parents.

For this he prays that their wish to accompany and treat their child until the end is not neglected.
North Koreas latest missile test was with an intercontinental ballistic missile, US secretary of state Rex Tillerson has confirmed.

He said the launch on Tuesday morning was a new escalation of the threat posed to the United States and the world by North Korea.

Mr Tillerson said the US will bring North Koreas action before the United Nations Security Council.

His statement provided the first confirmation of the US conclusion that the missile was an ICBM.

The US militarys initial assessment was that North Korea fired an intermediate-range missile.
Brexit is not a dominant issue for European Union countries, Philip Hammond acknowledged as he called for jobs and prosperity to be the first priority in the negotiations.

The Chancellor told business leaders that the UK had to remember that Brexit was just one among many challenges facing the other EU members.

He said the Government had to focus relentlessly on the key components of a free trade deal and customs agreement that minimises friction, with transitional arrangements to avoid a cliff-edge change on the day the UK breaks away from Brussels.

(Stefan Rousseau/PA)

Curbing migration has been a key demand for many Brexit supporters, but Mr Hammond said that while managing the system was important, businesses and public services must be able to recruit from overseas.

In a speech at a Confederation of British Industry dinner, Mr Hammond said the right Brexit outcome would mean: A comprehensive free trade deal in goods and services that allows the complex value chains that criss-cross our continent to continue to operate smoothly.

A customs arrangement that minimises friction at the border with a transition that prioritises protection of the free flow of trade across our borders until the agreed long-term arrangements can be put fully in place.

A future relationship that acknowledges our need to manage migration but allows British businesses and public services to continue to recruit the labour they need to deliver both economic growth and our social objectives.

Passengers going through the UK Border (Steve Parsons/PA)

The deal would acknowledge the legitimate concerns of the EU around regulation of financial markets and set up a co-operative supervisory structure.

We seek a shared understanding on what the future relationship looks like as early as possible and an agreement with our EU partners that it will be in our mutual interest that there will be a smooth and orderly path to the new arrangements, rather than a disruptive and dangerous cliff-edge. Because what businesses and citizens crave more than anything is clarity about the future.

Mr Hammond urged business leaders to have their say, including by contributing to a new advisory group being set up with Brexit Secretary David Davis and Business Secretary Greg Clark.

Brexit Secretary David Davis (Jonathan Brady/PA)

He acknowledged that Brexit was not the main issue on the agenda for many EU countries.

After speaking at a German business conference, he said he was struck once again during that visit by the asymmetry of attention to this issue. For us, Brexit is the dominant focus; for many of our continental partners, it is just one among many challenges vying for attention.

We need to remember that fact as we seek their attention to make these arguments, he said.

And it is incumbent on all of us, in business and in government alike, to go on making the case for a Brexit outcome that protects jobs and prosperity and a transition that takes us to it smoothly.
A Flagstaff charity celebrating its first half-century this year wont be around to celebrate its second.

The Flagstaff Sheriffs Posse, dedicated to helping local law enforcement and the community, is disbanding in September.

It was formed more than 70 years ago and founded officially in 1967. In 1987 it was named the Arizona Daily Sun Organization of the Year.

Its members once served as search and rescue squads, and its annual barbecue at the Elks Club raised thousands for local charities.

But the inability to recruit new members as well as the advanced age of current ones have convinced officers to give up their nonprofit status and break up.

Younger people in the community dont seem to have an interest in our group and we are getting too old to organize these events, Sheriffs Posse Captain Brian Kolb said. The youngest member we have in our group right now is in his 50s, and since we are getting too old and cant find new members we figured the posse had run its course.

Joe Richards, who served 32 years as the Coconino County Sheriff, was unaware of the posse disbanding. But he remembers the organization fondly as an essential search and rescue group in his early years as sheriff and a caring part of the community when they began doing charity work.

They used to help us a lot when we would do search and rescue missions, but they stopped doing that when we created a volunteer search and rescue team, Richards said. When they stopped doing search and rescue they became a group that really cared about their community by raising money through their barbecue.

The annual Flagstaff Sheriffs Posse Helping Hands BBQ was the groups biggest event, with all the proceeds going to buying the Sheriffs Office equipment and helping fund college scholarships.

The Posse also helped raise funds for the acquisition, relocation and construction of the grandstand at Fort Tuthill. Recently it has given $2,000 to Flagstaff Shelter Services and $8,000 to the new search and rescue facility.

Other beneficiaries have included the Family Food Center, Boys and Girls State, Toys for Tots, Youth Bowling, the Snowsharks, Coconino Parks and Recreation, the Hospice Run for Your Life, Victim Witness, scouts, the hospital, Sunshine Rescue Mission, Senior Meals on Wheels, Salvation Army, Catholic Social Services and the Flagstaff Symphony.

Each year, the Posse also feeds between 400 and 500 Special Olympians the evening before the barbecue.

Kolb said the end of the BBQ was one of the saddest side effects of the posse disbanding.

It was a sad reality for all of us when we realized we would not be doing the barbecue anymore, Kolb said. It was a good event that raised a lot of money. We made everything from scratch and the community loved it, but unfortunately we just cant organize it anymore.

Last year the event raised over $2,000 for scholarships and helped the posse donate water hazard clothing for search and rescue volunteers, Kolb said.

Despite the posse disbanding, the group does plan to donate their remaining funds though the Arizona Community Foundation, which specializes in giving away money from defunct nonprofits.

We are letting the community foundation handle the rest of our funding and they will continue to use it for our scholarships and other causes, Kolb said.

The posse has two more events planned before September. On July 13 the group will have their last meeting, where they will personally donate money to local causes. They will also have their last supper in August where posse members will catch up for one last formal affair.
Theresa May has been accused of kowtowing before Saudi Arabia by suppressing a report into the funding of extremist groups in the UK.

Outgoing Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron claimed the Prime Minister should be ashamed of herself for putting trade links with the oil rich state ahead of public security.

Mr Farrons hard-hitting remarks came after the PM said the Government is taking advice on what is able to be made public from the probe.

Tim Farron (Victoria Jones/PA)

Mrs Mays predecessor David Cameron agreed to an inquiry into foreign funding of Islamist extremists in 2015 as part of a deal with Lib Dems in return for their support on the extension of air strikes into Syria.

Reports have suggested the findings may never be published because of the sensitivity of the investigations information regarding Saudi Arabia.

Mr Farron told the Press Association: It is a scandal that the Government are suppressing this report. The only conclusion you can draw is that they are worried about what it actually says.

We hear regularly about the Saudi arms deals, or ministers going to Riyadh to kowtow before their royal family, but yet, our Government wont release a report that will clearly criticise Saudi Arabia.

Theresa May's Government was accused of 'cosying up' to Saudi Arabia (Lauren Hurley/PA)

He went on: All this Government seems to care about is cosying up to one of the most extreme, nasty and oppressive regimes in the world.

You would think our security would be more important, but it appears not. For that Theresa May should be ashamed of herself.

In a written answer to a parliamentary question, the PM said: The review into the funding of Islamist extremism has improved the Governments understanding of the nature, scale and sources of funding for Islamist extremism in the UK.

Ministers are considering advice on what is able to be published and will report to Parliament with an update in due course.
The head of the European Unions executive called its parliament totally ridiculous during a spat over low MEP attendance.

After EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker thanked the few dozens of the 700-plus MEPs for attending a plenary session, he insisted that parliament is not serious for failing to show up in large numbers for the keynote debate of the day.

EU Parliament President Antonio Tajani rebuked Mr Juncker and asked for a more respectful attitude, adding: The commission does not control the parliament. It is the parliament that should be controlling the commission.

To which Mr Juncker retorted: There are only a few members in the parliament to control the commission. You are ridiculous.

The exchange at the legislature in Strasbourg, France, was even more amazing since Mr Juncker and Mr Tajani belong to the same EPP Christian Democratic group.

Antonio Tajani

Though the European Parliament has increased its clout over the past years after earning a bigger say in a host of issues, it is often still perceived as an easy job for politicians without a big national portfolio and veterans seeking a leisurely path to retirement.

The views of the parliament bore out Mr Junckers assertion with row after row of empty seats. Philippe Lamberts of the Greens group, one of the few to show up, was seen applauding the rebuke of Mr Juncker.

The session centred on the Maltese presidency of the EU which ended on July 1, and Prime Minister Joseph Muscat was attending the plenary.

While Mr Muscat was still in the hall, Mr Juncker referred to the German and French leaders while scolding the parliament.

If Mr Muscat would have been Mrs Merkel  tough to imagine  or Mr Macron  easier to imagine  we would have had a full house. The parliament is totally ridiculous, Mr Juncker said.
Russian President Vladimir Putins first meeting with US President Donald Trump will take place in Germany on Friday.

Mr Putins foreign affairs adviser, Yuri Ushakov, said the two leaders will meet on the sidelines of the G20 summit being held in Hamburg, Russian news agencies reported.

Mr Ushakov has previously said the pair are likely to discuss the fight against terrorism, the war in Syria and the crisis in Ukraine.

Donald Trump is to meet the Russian leader face to face for the first time (Evan Vucci/AP/PA)

He added that the Kremlin also expects the US to quickly return the Russian Embassys compounds, which were closed by the Obama administration.

He noted that Russia has demonstrated remarkable restraint by refraining from a tit-for-tat response, but added that its patience is running out.
Talks to restore powersharing in Northern Ireland are set to be effectively shelved for the summer amid bitter recriminations over the failure to strike a deal.

While the Democratic Unionists and Sinn Fein both said they were prepared to engage in the coming weeks, both acknowledged substantive negotiations would not resume until the autumn.

Imminent recesses at Stormont and Westminster  and heightened community tensions around the loyal order marching season  are among the factors inhibiting a breakthrough in the short term.

No substantive progress has been made in talks at Stormont Castle (Liam McBurney/PA)

An official suspension has yet to be confirmed by the UK government.

Any pause in the process would likely require the Government to intervene to pass a budget for Stormonts rudderless administration.

Sinn Feins Stormont leader Michelle ONeill claimed the Conservative Partys parliament deal with the DUP was one of the main reasons efforts to establish a new administration have floundered.

Michelle O'Neill says Sinn Fein is disappointed but not surprised that a deal has not been reached pic.twitter.com/VvaScjDiD8  RTE News (@rtenews) July 4, 2017

What this constitutes is a monumental failure on behalf of Theresa May, she said.

She has set back decades of work that has been done here throughout the years and its a consequence, as we all know, of the DUP supporting the Prime Minister and the Prime Minister in turn supporting the DUP.

The DUP has cited Sinn Feins excessive demands as the reason for the logjam.

DUP leader Arlene Foster says she will keep working on efforts to restore power-sharing pic.twitter.com/ThyzFTiad8  RTE News (@rtenews) July 4, 2017

Party leader Arlene Foster suggested a deal will now have to wait until at least the autumn.

We are disappointed we dont have an agreement this afternoon, said the DUP leader.

We are going to keep working at it through the summer and hopefully we can come to an agreement later on in the year, she said.

We are certainly up for an agreement, we are up for devolution.

DUP continue to oppose rights to citizens - @moneillsf pic.twitter.com/O6n6pK1oye  Sinn Fein (@sinnfeinireland) July 3, 2017

Mrs Foster and Mrs ONeill both insisted MLAs should continue to get paid, despite the fact the Assembly has been in cold storage since March.

Offering justification for paying the 49,500 salary to 90 MLAs, the leaders stressed that their representatives would continue to work hard over the summer.

The DUP and Sinn Fein, the two parties whose sign-off is required to form a devolved government, remain at loggerheads over a range of issues.

Sticking points include the shape of legislation to protect Irish language speakers, the DUPs opposition to lifting the regions ban on same-sex marriage, and mechanisms to deal with the legacy of the Troubles.

While MLAs have not been sitting in Parliament Buildings since Marchs snap election, the Assemblys official summer recess starts on Friday.

Next week will also witness the Twelfth of July  the key fixture in the Protestant loyal order marching season.

Negotiations were always unlikely to succeed if they stretched into mid-July, when they would be framed against the backdrop of the heightened community tensions that traditionally surround the Orange Order commemorations.

On Monday, Northern Ireland Secretary James Brokenshire said he felt a powersharing executive could still be established this week.

Northern Ireland Secretary James Brokenshire (Niall Carson/PA)

His optimism was not shared by the parties at Stormont, with the DUP and Sinn Fein continuing to blame each other for the impasse.
Canada and Ireland should cash in on Brexit and Donald Trumps US presidency by encouraging people and businesses to relocate, Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau has said.

After talks with Irish Taoiseach Leo Varadkar in Dublin, Mr Trudeau said migration should be seen as a positive.

There are tremendous opportunities for countries like Canada and Ireland at a time where perhaps our significant allies and trading partners, in the case of the UK and US, are turning inward or at least turning in a different direction, to make the pitch that Canada and Ireland are places that are exciting and open to the world in a positive, progressive way, Mr Trudeau said.

Trade issues were high on the agenda when Mr Trudeau and Mr Varadkar met in Farmleigh House in Dublin, with the CETA agreement between the Europe Union and Canada a key focus.

The deal, which has yet to be ratified by national parliaments, took seven years to negotiate.

Real pleasure to welcome @JustinTrudeau and his wife Sophie to Dublin pic.twitter.com/AQ4qOKg9AP  Leo Varadkar (@LeoVaradkar) July 4, 2017

But it has controversial clauses, including concerns about giving companies the right to sue governments and questions about workers rights.

Mr Varadkar said the CETA deal is progressive and not just about big business, citing its focus on environmental protections.

I understand that there are concerns, the Taoiseach said. People always have concerns about free trade agreements.

The leaders met at Farmleigh House in Dublin (Niall Carson/PA)

But there are many more benefits for our country and our people, our economy than there are downsides. Its not just an agreement for big business.

Its also an agreement for small business, for workers and has huge potential for Ireland.

During the Canadian PMs trip, Mr Trudeau was being hosted by President Michael D Higgins at Aras an Uachtarain.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau meets with Irish Taoiseach Leo Varadkar in Dublin, Ireland. pic.twitter.com/bVWrhGzrU2  CanadianPM (@CanadianPM) July 4, 2017

He has several other engagements in Dublin including a business lunch and a visit to see the Famine memorial statues in the city centre and a dinner hosted by the Taoiseach.

Mr Trudeau is accompanied on the trip by his wife Sophie Gregoire Trudeau and their young son Hadrien.

The visit has been arranged two months on from when Mr Varadkars predecessor Enda Kenny met the Canadian leader in Montreal.

Wheels up this morning - Ireland, Scotland and Hamburg for the G20 summit. pic.twitter.com/pTUrsKR9OI  Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) July 3, 2017

Mr Trudeau will leave Ireland on Wednesday for engagements in Scotland, including meeting the Queen at the Palace of Holyroodhouse on Wednesday to honour her importance to Canadas history.

Mr Trudeau is attending the G20 summit in Hamburg later in the week.
Theresa Mays popularity has plummeted with Tory members, a survey has suggested, while a Cabinet minister compared her government to Sir John Majors fragile administration.

A survey by the influential ConservativeHome website saw the Prime Minister fall from having the highest net satisfaction rating in the Cabinet to the second lowest, above only party chairman Sir Patrick McLoughlin.

Meanwhile, Communities Secretary Sajid Javid poked fun at Mrs May by comparing the British political scene now to that of 20 years ago, when Sir John had lost his majority and the Tory party was deeply split over Europe.

Theresa May

+ @ConHome's Cabinet League Table. May endures a record fall  from top to second bottom. https://t.co/p0tMsDgfJl  ConservativeHome (@ConHome) July 4, 2017

There was further bad news for Mrs May as an ICM poll for the Guardian gave Labour a two point lead over the Conservatives.

Labour was on 43%, up five points from the previous poll just before the June 8 election, with the Tories down two on 41%.

NEW ICM / Guardian poll

Labour ahead by 2

Labour: 43%

Conservatives: 41%

Lib Dems: 7%

Ukip: 3%

Greens: 3%

+ May's approval rating dire pic.twitter.com/xIpsUToAD6  Keiran Pedley (@keiranpedley) July 4, 2017

The poll also suggested Jeremy Corbyn had a +9 net approval rating, with 44% thinking he was doing a good job and 35% that he was doing a bad job.

Mrs Mays net approval rating was -26, with just 28% thinking she is doing a good job and 54% a bad job.

The ConservativeHome league table of Cabinet members survey saw Mrs May dramatically fall from having a +89.1 net approval rating before the election to a -26.1 rating.

Brexit Secretary David Davis came out on top, with a net approval rating of +78.4.

In a speech to the Local Government Association in Birmingham, Mr Javid noted that the organisation was formed in the spring of 1997, joking that the political scene was very different from today.

.@sajidjavid: 'I'm your Secretary of State and I'm there to represent you and your interests. I'm here to help you'. #LGAconf17 #localgov pic.twitter.com/m6qOb4Tj0p  Local Government Association (LGA) (@LGAcomms) July 4, 2017

He said: We had a Conservative Prime Minister leading a minority government and facing big questions over Europe.

A charismatic, populist leader of the opposition promising the earth to young voters.

The Liberal Democrats could fit all their MPs in a minibus. Plus ca change, as they say.

Downing Street said Mr Javids comments would have been approved by the Prime Ministers office.

A spokeswoman said: Number 10 will have seen the speech in the usual way.

:: ICM Unlimited interviewed a representative sample of 2044 adults aged 18+ online between June 30 and July 3. Interviews were conducted across the country and the results have been weighted to the profile of all adults.
Iraqi prime minister Haider al-Abadi has congratulated Iraqi fighters on this big victory in Mosul even as fighting continues in Mosuls Old City.

Iraqi forces are about 250 metres (820ft) from the Tigris River and facing increasingly brutal resistance from Islamic State (IS) fighters.

Mr al-Abadi spoke during a press conference in Baghdad, less than a week after he declared an end to ISs self-styled caliphate after Iraqi forces achieved an incremental win by retaking the landmark al-Nuri Mosque in the Old City.

Iraqi children in Mosul

His remarks come on the three-year anniversary of IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadis sermon at the al-Nuri Mosque, from where he declared an Islamic caliphate.

Iraqi forces launched the operation to retake Mosul, the countrys second largest city, in October.

IS overran Mosul in a matter of days in 2014.

An external view of Mosul's main hospital complex (Felipe Dana/AP)

Mr al-Abadi said: Praise be to God, we managed to liberate (Mosul) and proved the others were wrong, the people of Mosul supported and stood with our security forces against terrorism.

The Iraqi PM added that he has given instructions to rebuild and stabilise areas of the city already freed from the militant group.

Lt Gen Abdel Ghani al-Asadi, of Iraqs special forces, said earlier in the day that Iraqi forces are yards away from the Tigris River, in the western half of Mosul.

Mosul hospital

The Tigris divides the city roughly into its western and eastern half, which was liberated from IS militants back in January.

IS militants who remain trapped in just a few hundred meters of territory in the Old City are now in a fight to the death, Lt Gen al-Asadi said, adding that IS fighters are increasingly resorting to suicide bombings.

He said he expects the fighting to get even heavier as they are pushed closer to the river.

Iraqi forces marked a significant victory this week when the Rapid Response Division retook Mosuls main hospital complex on the citys western side.

Mosul hospital

The building that once held the citys best medical facilities now sits devastated by the fight.

For weeks, a handful of IS snipers perched in the main hospitals top floors held back hundreds of Iraqi forces.

At the height of the extremists power, they held nearly a third of Iraq.
BRASILIA, July 3 (Reuters) - Brazilian police on Monday arrested former minister Geddel Vieira Lima as part of an investigation into loans that state bank Caixa Economica Federal extended to meatpacking, finance, toll road and real estate companies between 2011 and 2013, the prosecutor-general's office said.

In a statement on Monday the prosecutor-general's office accused Vieira Lima of acting to obstruct the investigations.

Vieira Lima was in charge of President Michel Temer's relations with congress.

Vieira Lima's attorney Gamil Foppel said his arrest was not necessary, because the former minister never refused to collaborate in the investigation and had offered to give the police his passport.

(Reporting by Lisandra Paraguassu; Writing by Brad Brooks and Bruno Federowski; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)
By Bahaar Joya

LONDON, July 4 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Three years ago Maliha, 24, was sitting in a park in western Afghanistan with the man she thought was the love of her life.

The pair were planning a future together, but that future was cut short in a brutal instant.

Suddenly, police officers barged into the park in the city of Herat and arrested the couple.

Maliha was accused of maintaining an illicit relationship, which in the eyes of Islamic law is a criminal act. At the police station, her companion called his family, bribed the police and disassociated himself from her.

"He deserted me like he never knew me," said Maliha said. "They informed my family about the incident and my involvement with a man. My father disowned me immediately and threatened to kill me if I ever approached him."

Maliha was convicted of being a prostitute and spent more than three years in a women's prison, sharing a cell with women convicted on similar charges.

Wardens at the prison came to the cell and harassed, beat and sexually assaulted the women, she said.

"We were branded as cheap and filthy women. Some nights I heard girls shouting...the prison officers were taking them out and sexually abusing them," she said. "I was so scared that I hardly ever bathed as it could attract attention towards me."

Maliha herself was abused one day when a man arrived claiming to be a lawyer. She was shown into a room with him where he tried to rape her. She was badly beaten when she resisted.

Her suffering continued until a woman lawyer and women's rights activist, Mahdis Doost, stepped into help her.

Afghanistan is one of the most dangerous countries to be a woman or girl in, and a shortage of female police officers and lawyers means women rarely report abuse, rights groups say.

Research indicates that more than eight in 10 women in Afghanistan have been sexually, physically or psychologically abused, but only a few thousand cases are reported each year.

If an unmarried woman is caught alone with a man who is not her relative, she can be accused, like Maliha, of being a prostitute.

A man and woman in Herat province, accused of being in an illicit relationship, were captured by a mob and shot in an extra-judicial killing, Herat's police spokesman said on Monday.

PATRIARCHAL

When women do report abuse or are arrested themselves, they find themselves at the mercy of Afghanistan's patriarchal judicial system, shaped by sharia law, women's rights campaigners say.

"In many court meetings, I could easily defend my client but the judge didn't let the proceedings be completed. The atmosphere was heavily antagonistic and many times I was called a whore or abused - just because of my choice of clients," Doost, 26, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

Afghanistan's roughly 500 registered women lawyers - mostly confined to the big cities of Kabul, Mazar-i-Sharif and Herat, undertake some of the most dangerous jobs in Afghan society.

They help women fleeing domestic violence and forced marriage. Divorce still remains taboo in Afghan society and if a woman wants to get a divorce lawfully, she has to navigate the male-dominated judicial system.

There is a common phrase in Afghanistan which says "a girl should come to her in-laws in a white dress and leave them in a white shroud," said Fereshta Karimi, another women lawyer working in Herat.

Among Afghanistan's women lawyers, only a few actually dare to practice in court. Doost, who represented Maliha, is one of them.

"When I took Maliha's case, she had been held in prison for nearly three years without a single appearance in court and no lawyer. I provided evidence that she was arrested in a public place and the crime (sex with a man) didn't happen and there were no witnesses for that," Doost said by phone.

"She had already spent more time than she should in prison for a crime she did not commit. The judge would not cooperate. That is why it took eight months for me to release Maliha."

DANGER

Abdul Qadir Rahimi, head of the Human Rights Commission of Afghanistan, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation they were aware of abuse of women by the police and judicial authorities.

"No specific report about rape or sexual exploitation (of women in detention) has surfaced yet, but we cannot deny such incidents occur as the system and police are corrupt in this country," he said.

There are around 100 women lawyers in Herat working under the Afghanistan Independent Bar Association (AIBA), Aziz Rafi, the head of the AIBA told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

But most of them are working as advisors and do not appear in court because of the dangers. Fereshta Karimi has worked on more than 30 women's cases over the last six years.

"As a married woman, every day I invite unwanted danger to my family with the nature of my job," she said.

"Sometimes clients' associates come to my door to discuss the intricacy of a case, which makes my family worried and upset.

"Many times my husband has tried to stop me from working and I have to struggle every day to continue my job as a lawyer." she said.

For women like Maliha, rejected by their own families, women lawyers have been their only hope.

Maliha is now living secretly with her widowed aunt. Because of her conviction, she can't resume her studies, get a job or move freely in society. Her male relatives have threatened to kill her.

Doost has promised to send her to the capital Kabul and find her a job there.

"It may be a place where I can resume my life among unknown people," Maliha said. "My aunt keeps saying me she can't hide me for long and I am scared for my life if my brother finds me." (Editing by Ros Russell.; Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers humanitarian news, women's rights, trafficking, property rights, climate change and resilience. Visit http://news.trust.org)
WASHINGTON, July 3 (Reuters) - North Korea launched a single, land-based intermediate range ballistic missile that was tracked for 37 minutes before it landed in the Sea of Japan, the U.S. military's Pacific Command said on Monday.

"The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) assessed that the missile launch from North Korea did not pose a threat to North America," it said in a statement. The missile was fired from near North Korea's Panghyon Airfield, it said. (Reporting by Phil Stewart; Editing by Paul Tait)
By Roberta Rampton

WASHINGTON, July 4 (Reuters) - During his presidential campaign, Republican Donald Trump praised Russian President Vladimir Putin as a "strong leader" with whom hed like to reset tense U.S.-Russian relations.

But as Trump heads to his first face-to-face meeting as president with Putin on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Germany on July 7-8, he is under pressure at home to take a tough line with the Kremlin.

Allegations of Russian meddling in last years U.S. elections have alarmed both Republican and Democratic lawmakers, who are pushing to extend tough sanctions placed on Russia following its 2014 annexation of Crimea, a peninsula belonging to Ukraine.

Lawmakers including Cory Gardner, a Republican senator from Colorado, are also concerned Russia has prolonged the civil war in Syria by backing its President Bashar al-Assad, a strongman whose forces have used chemical weapons against insurgents and civilians. The chaos has fueled instability in the region and a flood of migrants to Europe.

"President (Trump) needs to make it clear that the continued aggression by Russia around the globe ... is unacceptable, and that they will be held accountable," said Gardner, who was among six lawmakers invited by the White House last month to discuss foreign policy with Trump over dinner.

Meanwhile, the appointment of a special counsel who is investigating potential links between the Russian government and members of the Trump campaign has weakened the presidents ability to maneuver with Russia, foreign policy experts say.

The U.S. intelligence community has concluded Russia sponsored hacking of Democratic Party groups last year to benefit Trump over his Democrat challenger Hillary Clinton. Russia has denied those allegations while Trump has repeatedly dismissed the idea of any coordination between his campaign and Russia as a "witch hunt."

Still, just the optics of Trump meeting with Putin, a former KGB agent, are fraught with risk, foreign policy experts say.

"If (Trump) smiles, if he wraps his arm around Putin, if he says 'I'm honored to meet you, we're going to find a way forward,' ... I think Congress is going to react extremely negatively to that," said Julie Smith, a former national security aide in the Obama administration.

EVOLVING U.S. POLICY

Trump has signaled an interest in cooperating with Russia to defeat Islamic State in Syria and to reduce nuclear stockpiles.

The White House has been mum on what Trump would be willing to give Russia in exchange for that help. But there has been speculation he could ratchet down sanctions, or even return two Russian diplomatic compounds in Maryland and Long Island. President Barack Obama seized those facilities and expelled 35 Russian diplomats just before he left office as punishment for the election hacks.

While some administration officials, including Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, also support engagement, others, such as Vice President Mike Pence and U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley, have taken a hawkish line on Russia.

The lack of a unified strategy has left U.S. allies anxious. And it has lowered expectations for American leadership to help resolve crises in Syria and Ukraine, where Russian cooperation would be critical.

"Trump is like a horse with his front legs tied," said a German diplomat, who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity. "He cant make any big leaps forward on Russia. If he tried people would immediately suspect it was all part of some big conspiracy."

Trump's administration is still reviewing its Russia policy, a process that may not be wrapped up for a couple of months, a U.S. official said.

Speaking with reporters last week about Trump's upcoming meeting with Putin, White House national security adviser H.R. McMaster said his boss would like "the United States and the entire West to develop a more constructive relationship with Russia. But hes also made clear that we will do what is necessary to confront Russias destabilizing behavior."

THIRD TRY AT A RESET

Trump is just the latest president to grapple with the complicated U.S.-Russia dynamic.

George W. Bush and Obama sought to improve the U.S. relationship with Russia early in their administrations only to see relations deteriorate later.

Among the concerns for this president is Trumps apparent lack of interest in policy details and his tendency to wing it with foreign leaders.

McMaster told reporters that Trump has "no specific agenda" for his meeting with Putin and that topics would consist of "whatever the president wants to talk about."

Michael McFaul, who was U.S. ambassador to Russia under Obama, said he feared Trump might be headed to the meeting without clear objectives.

"I hope that he would think about first: what is our objective in Ukraine? What is our objective in Syria? And secondarily, how do I go about achieving that in my meeting with Putin?" McFaul said.

Other Washington veterans say Trump won't be able to make meaningful progress with Russia on anything until he confronts Putin about the suspected election meddling.

"(Trump) really has to raise the Russian election hacking last year, and has to say something like, 'Vladimir, don't do this again. There will be consequences,'" said Steve Pifer, a long-time State Department official focused on U.S.-Russia relations.

So far Trump has shown little inclination to do so, a situation that has heightened speculation about the potential impact from his coming encounter with the Russian leader.

"The shadow of all these investigations hangs over this," said Angela Stent, a professor at Georgetown University and former National Intelligence Officer for Russia. (Additional reporting by Patricia Zengerle, Arshad Mohammed, Warren Strobel, Richard Cowan, Jonathan Landay, John Walcott in Washington; John Irish in Paris; Noah Barkin in Berlin; Christian Lowe in Moscow; Editing by Caren Bohan and Marla Dickerson)
Following are news stories, press reports and events to watch that may affect Poland's financial markets on Tuesday. ALL TIMES GMT (Poland: GMT + 2 hours):

GETBACK

Getback will set the final price in its initial public offering (IPO). The debt collector has said it plans to raise 400-500 million zlotys from the share issue.

FX LOANS

The president's office will present by the end of July another project designed to help the banks' clients, who took loans denominated in Swiss francs, Dziennika Gazeta Prawna said, quoting unnamed sources.

According to the plan, which will cost 3 billion zlotys each year, a bank will pay quarterly contributions of up to 0.5 percent of its total FX loan value to a special fund, which it could use within 6 months to help customers.

PENSION FUNDS

Poland may not be able to enforce planned changes to the pension system in January 2018 due to delayed consultation over the project, Dziennik Gazeta Prawna said, quoting unnamed sources.

TAURON

U.S. energy firm Invenergy has filed suits against Polish state-run utility Tauron, demanding 1.2 billion zlotys for the early termination of long-term contracts to buy electricity and so-called green certificates, Gazeta Wyborcza daily said.

****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 (Reporting by Warsaw Bureau, editing by Louise Heavens)
SOFIA, July 4 (Reuters) - These are some of the main stories in Bulgarian newspapers on Tuesday. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

-- Bulgaria's unemployment rate dropped to 6 percent in May - the lowest level since February 2009, Eurostat data showed (Capital daily, 24 Chasa, Sega)

-- Bulgarias total revenue from foreign tourist trips rose by 18.3 percent to 731 million levs ($424.68 million) in January-May on an annual basis, the tourism ministry said. Some 1.1 million foreign tourists visited Bulgaria during the first quarter of 2017, 19.9 percent more compared to the same period the previous period (Standart, Monitor)

-- Bulgaria's grey economy accounted for 29.9 percent of the country's gross domestic product (GDP) in 2017, as much as in 2017 and slightly down from 30.2 percent of GDP in 2011, a study conducted by the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) showed. Red tape, corruption and unemployment are the three main factors driving the country's shadow economy ($1 = 1.7213 leva)
By Fathin Ungku

SINGAPORE, July 4 (Reuters) - At the end of an extraordinary two-day parliamentary debate on Tuesday, Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong declared that it had found no evidence that he had abused his power in a dispute with his siblings over their late father's house.

"Even the opposition is not accusing the government of abuse of power," Lee said in an emotional speech, his voice quavering and eyes tearing up as he rued the breakdown in relations with his brother and sister.

Since mid-June, Singaporeans have been riveted by a public battle between the heirs of Lee Kuan Yew, Singapore's long-serving first prime minister who died in March 2015, over whether to demolish the old family home or let the government decide whether it should become a heritage site.

Before his death, Lee had made it public that he wanted the humbly furnished home near the bustling Orchard Road shopping district to be demolished rather than turned into some kind of museum.

He stated that in his last will, part of which was released by the prime minister's younger brother last month. But the prime minister has said there were "deeply troubling circumstances" over how the will was drawn up.

The prime minister's brother and sister, Lee Hsien Yang and Lee Wei Ling, accuse him of being disingenuous and abusing his power by using a government committee to look at options for the house.

They both want the house to be demolished once Lee Wei Ling ceases to live there, in accordance with their father's will.

The prime minister, who recused himself from the committee, has said that while he personally favours honouring his father's wishes the government should ultimately decide what should be done.

It was the accusations of abuse of power that prompted Lee to call a special sitting of parliament to "clear the air" over an issue that some people say has tarnished Singapore's image.

He removed the Party Whip allowing lawmakers from the ruling People's Action Party (PAP) to question their own cabinet regardless of the party line. The PAP controls 83 of the 89 elected seats in parliament.

"FIG LEAF"

Lee reiterated that he was against suing his brother and sister, Lee Hsien Yang and Lee Wei Ling, for defamation. Such action, he said, would risk dragging out the affair and further damage his parents' name.

"This is not a soap opera," Lee said at the end of his concluding speech. "We must all get back to work."

During the debate, Goh Chok Tong, who ran the country for 14 years after Lee Kuan Yew's stepped aside in 1990, defended the prime minister's character, and voiced understanding over his reluctance to sue his own kin.

"The dispute over 38 Oxley Road is only a fig leaf for the deep cracks within the family, cracks which perhaps started decades ago. What is the agenda of PM's accusers?" said Goh.

"From what Lee Hsien Yang and his wife are freely telling many others, it is clear that their goal is to bring Lee Hsien Loong down as PM, regardless of the huge collateral damage suffered by the government and Singaporeans," said Goh, who holds the honorary title Emeritus Senior Minister.

Lee Hsien Yang has said he and his wife, lawyer Lee Suet Fern, would be leaving Singapore because they felt closely monitored and hugely unwelcome.

Earlier on Tuesday, Lee Hsien Yang took aim at the prime minister's statement to parliament at the outset of the debate.

"LHL (Lee Hsien Loong) has made convoluted, ultimately false claims about Lee Kuan Yew's wishes. LHL is trying to suggest that because LKY signed some renovation plans in early 2012, he was open to preservation of the house," Lee Hsien Yang said in a posting on Facebook.

Prime Minister Lee addressed that accusation in parliament.

"The simple answer is that I did not deceive my father... my father's primary wish on the house had always been clear - he always wanted it knocked down," he said.

"Where my siblings and I differ is on whether my father was prepared to consider alternatives should demolition not be possible." (Writing by Simon Cameron-Moore; Editing by Robert Birsel and Neil Fullick)
By Ahmad Ghaddar

LONDON July 4 (Reuters) - Oil prices flirted with both positive and negative territory on Tuesday, hovering around $50 a barrel on tentative signs that a persistent rise in U.S. crude production may be slowing.

The international benchmark settled down 7 cents at $49.61 per barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were trading up 1 cent at $47.08 a barrel.

Both contracts traded lower earlier in the session as many traders closed positions ahead of the U.S. Independence Day holiday on July 4, while Brent also faced technical resistance as it approached $50, traders said.

Despite this, the market's outlook has shifted somewhat.

Late May and most of June were overwhelmingly bearish as U.S. output rose and doubts grew over the ability of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries to hold back enough production to tighten the market.

But sentiment began to shift towards the end of June, when data showed a dip in U.S. oil output and a slight fall in drilling for new production. <RIG-OL-USA-BHI> <C-OUT-T-EIA>

"The fact that prices have not come under any noticeable pressure of late points to a shift in sentiment," Commerzbank said on Tuesday.

"This may be related to the fact that most of the 'shaky hands' have withdrawn from the market by now," the bank added.

Prices rose in recent days despite OPEC production hitting a 2017 high of 32.72 million barrels per day (bpd) in June, according to a Reuters survey.

The group's efforts to rebalance the market have been undermined by rising production from Libya and Nigeria, which are exempt from an output-cutting agreement.

Libya is pumping around 1 million bpd of crude, a four-year high.

OPEC exports rose for a second month in a row in June to 25.92 million bpd, up 1.9 million bpd from the same month last year, according to Thomson Reuters Oil Research.

"We see a recovery for oil prices in H2 2017 from current levels, with OPEC production cuts, a slowdown in global supply growth and seasonally firming demand driving up prices," BMI Research said, although it added that "large-volume supply additions will keep price growth flat year on year in 2018". (Additional reporting by Catherine Ngai in Calgary and Henning Gloystein in Singapore; Editing by Jason Neely and Matthew Lewis)
By Roli Srivastava

MUMBAI, July 4 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Young girls from India's remote northeast are lured with promises of good jobs and trafficked to Southeast Asia and the Middle East on Nepalese passports, campaigners say, amid fears traffickers are finding new ways to escape checks.

"Over a 100 girls from the northeast and northern part of West Bengal state were trafficked in the last two years, nearly 50 to 60 percent of them on passports issued by Nepal," said Hasina Kharbhih, founder of anti-trafficking charity Impulse NGO Network.

"Obtaining visas for Middle East countries is difficult on Indian passports, so recruitment agents are getting them from Nepal. They are doing the paperwork for both passports and visas in Kathmandu," Kharbhih told the Thomson Reuters Foundation by phone from Shillong, capital of northeastern state of Meghalaya.

Traffickers have been trying new ways, including transporting women on tourist visas to Gulf nations to get round Indian emigration checks. They are also trying routes through neighbouring countries including Nepal where collusion of officials with traffickers is suspected.

Campaigners said traffickers are flying the girls from Kathmandu airport and in some cases crisscrossing through Indian airports with them before flying to a Gulf nation such as Kuwait or Oman.

For destinations in Southeast Asia, such as Singapore and Malaysia, the girls are trafficked through Myanmar.

India's underdeveloped northeast, a region marred by ethnic violence and armed conflicts, is bordered by China, Nepal, Bangladesh, Myanmar and Bhutan and is a hub for sex traffickers to source girls for brothels in Mumbai and Delhi.

But cases of trafficking for labour to other countries are being increasingly reported.

Recruitment agents peddle dreams to college graduates of well-paid jobs in hotels and spas in Gulf nations or the frozen fish packaging industry of Malaysia. They target illiterate girls for jobs as domestic helps.

"The agencies are focusing on these areas because they find many girls are happy to go to Middle East countries as they find they can earn more there," Kharbhih said.

But when they arrive they often find themselves trapped in bonded labour, having to pay off debts to traffickers.

"Their passports are taken by the employers. They are not paid, as promised," she said.

ALERTS AND CHECKS

The police in Sikkim - considered prosperous among northeastern states - is currently investigating the case of a 25-year-old who flew to Kuwait to work as a housemaid in 2010 and went missing after that.

Her family lodged a complaint with police last year.

"She had flown on a passport issued by Nepal. This is our first such case," an official with the Sikkim anti-human trafficking unit said.

A similar case three years ago put campaigners on the Nepal passport trail when a woman trafficked to Lebanon committed suicide.

"We found during the investigation that she was among a bunch of others who was taken there on Nepalese passports for housemaid jobs. That one case was our entry point into the issue," Kharbhih said.

Cases have been trickling in since then - a recent one of a girl taken through Chennai on her Indian passport to Malaysia to work in a beauty parlour. Her passport was seized by her employer and she couldn't renew her visa when it expired.

"It was a complex case as she was legally detained for overstaying in Malaysia. It was very difficult to get her back," Kharbhih said.

Impulse NGO has police from India's northeastern states and campaigners logged on to its trafficking alert software. It is now training border forces on how to send alerts on the system in an effort to curb the numbers of trafficked girls and women.

"These girls want a good job, and some mortgage assets and take loans with the hope of returning home with money. In some cases, they do send money back home, but these happy stories are short-lived," Kharbhih said. (Reporting by Roli Srivastava @Rolionaroll; Editing by Ros Russell. Please credit Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers humanitarian news, womens rights, trafficking, property rights, climate change and resilience. Visit news.trust.org)
By Andy Home

LONDON, July 4 (Reuters) - The flow of Indonesian nickel ore to China has resumed after a three-and-a-half year break.

There have been a few false alarms since the Indonesian government banned all exports of unprocessed minerals, including nickel, at the start of 2014.

China's trade figures have shown the occasional import of what has been classified as nickel ore but which was in all probability iron ore with high nickel content.

But May's 264,000 tonnes seem the real deal. Not only was it the largest monthly total in three years but it tallies with plans by Indonesia's Aneka Tambang (Antam) to make its first 150,000-tonne shipment at the start of the month.

It's still a fraction of what Indonesia used to send every month to China before 2014.

The export ban remains in place but with a growing number of exemptions for companies that have committed to building processing plants.

For the Chinese nickel pig iron (NPI) producers that depend on such ore, it marks a dramatic turnaround from what looked like an existential crisis when Indonesia first cut off their supply.

Famine, however, has now turned to feast. Indonesian ore will add to a growing number of nickel raw materials flows into China.

And that spells trouble for the rest of the world's producers.

Graphic on China's imports of Indonesian nickel raw materials:

http://tmsnrt.rs/2tcthgB

Full breakdown of China's nickel trade in May:

DOUBLING UP IN INDONESIA

Indonesia is not going to be supplying the same volumes of nickel ore to China as it did in 2012 or 2013, when imports reached 34 million and 41 million tonnes respectively.

The government is granting only a limited number of exemptions with limited tonnage quotas.

Antam, for example, has around five million tonnes of low-grade ore available for immediate shipment but so far has got approval to export only 2.7 million tonnes over the 12 months to March 2018.

But it is pushing for more.

And others are joining the list of approved exporters. The latest is PT Ceria Nugraha, which has received government permission to export 2.3 million tonnes through July 2018.

The quid pro quo for getting the official nod to export is construction of value-add processing plants within the country.

This was the whole point of the export ban and to some extent it has been achieved with the number of plants constructed now in excess of 20. Many of them, not entirely surprisingly, have been built by Chinese companies looking to off-shore NPI production.

There has been a steadily increasing flow of Indonesian intermediate material into China since the start of 2015. May's imports of 158,130 tonnes were a fresh all-time high.

China's customs department classifies this stuff as "ferronickel" but it's not. The give-away is the price, an average $1,362 per tonne in May, compared with over $3,000 per tonne for imports from conventional ferronickel suppliers such as Colombia and Brazil.

Graphic on China's imports of Philippine nickel ore:

http://tmsnrt.rs/2tM996v

PHILIPPINES DOWN BUT FAR FROM OUT

While China doubles up on Indonesian supply, it can now also feast on the alternative ore sources that arose after the 2014 export ban.

The Philippines emerged as the main source of replacement supply for Indonesian ore.

It was another part of China's supply chain that seemed in imminent danger of collapse until a few weeks ago.

However, Regina Lopez, the Philippine firebrand environment secretary who wanted to close just about all the country's nickel mines, has now gone.

Her replacement, Roy Cimatu, has taken a much more conciliatory approach and many of the targeted mines have continued operating anyway after filing appeals against Lopez' closure orders.

China's imports of Philippine ore looked to have fallen off a cliff in the first quarter of this year, plummeting by 20 percent to 2.3 million tonnes.

But they recovered strongly over the course of April and May with the cumulative year-to-date tally of 6.7 million tonnes down by a modest 7 percent on last year's equivalent figure.

A particularly severe monsoon season and normal mine depletion have had a more significant impact than Ms Lopez.

Nor has the Philippines been the only country to have benefited from Indonesia's shipping absence.

New Caledonia has redirected its ore shipments from the bankrupt and now shuttered Queensland Nickel refinery in Australia to China.

Chinese imports of New Caledonian material have more than tripled so far this year to 346,000 tonnes.

Other new ore suppliers now regularly appearing in China's trade figures include Guatemala and Turkey with imports this year of 147,200 tonnes and 91,700 tonnes respectively.

REFINED NICKEL IMPORTS SLIDE

China's massive NPI sector has survived two potentially killer supply blows in the form of the original Indonesian ban and last year's threat of widespread mine closures in the Philippines.

It has emerged with a more geographically diverse nickel raw materials supply chain than ever before.

Rumours of its imminent demise, which have been plentiful in recent years, appear to have been seriously exaggerated.

But the flip side of its survival is a steady slide in China's appetite for nickel in refined metal form.

Imports slumped by 57 percent to 83,400 tonnes in the January-May period from 195,000 tonnes in the same period of 2016.

Exports, meanwhile, jumped by 45 percent to 7,400 tonnes.

All of which is bad news for everyone else.

There are 446,000 tonnes of refined nickel sitting in London Metal Exchange and Shanghai Futures Exchange warehouses. There is almost certainly a lot more hiding in the off-exchange statistical shadows.

Lacking a bull narrative since the political demise of Ms Lopez in the Philippines, the London price is looking bombed out again just above $9,000 per tonne.

Which means it's back to the cost-curve drawing board.

Brazil's Vale confirmed on Tuesday it is reassessing its loss-making New Caledonian operations.

It won't be the only nickel producer to be running the numbers again.

(Editing by Susan Fenton)
By Jack Stubbs and Pavel Polityuk

KIEV, July 4 (Reuters) - Ukrainian police on Tuesday seized the servers of an accounting software firm suspected of spreading a malware virus which crippled computer systems at major companies around the world last week, a senior police official said.

The head of Ukraine's Cyber Police, Serhiy Demedyuk, told Reuters the servers of M.E.Doc - Ukraine's most popular accounting software - had been seized as part of an investigation into the attack.

Though they are still trying to establish who was behind last week's attack, Ukrainian intelligence officials and security firms have said some of the initial infections were spread via a malicious update issued by M.E.Doc, charges the company's owners deny.

The owners were not immediately available for comment on Tuesday.

Premium Service, which says it is an official dealer of M.E.Doc's software, wrote a post on M.E.Doc's Facebook page saying masked men were searching M.E.Doc's offices and that the software firm's servers and services were down.

Premium Service could not be reached for further comment.

Cyber Police spokeswoman Yulia Kvitko said investigative actions were continuing at M.E.Doc's offices, adding that further comment would be made on Wednesday.

The police move came after cyber security investigators unearthed further evidence on Tuesday that the attack had been planned months in advance by highly-skilled hackers, who they said had inserted a vulnerability into the M.E.Doc progamme.

Ukraine also took steps on Tuesday to extend its state tax deadline by one month to help businesses hit by the malware assault.

Researchers at Slovakian security software firm ESET said they had found a "backdoor" written into some of M.E.Doc's software updates, likely with access to the company's source code, which allowed hackers to enter companies' systems undetected.

"VERY STEALTHY AND CUNNING"

"We identified a very stealthy and cunning backdoor that was injected by attackers into one of M.E.Doc's legitimate modules," ESET senior malware researcher Anton Cherepanov said in a technical note. "It seems very unlikely that attackers could do this without access to M.E.Doc's source code."

"This was a thoroughly well-planned and well-executed operation," he said.

ESET said at least three M.E.Doc updates had been issued with the "backdoor vulnerability", and the first one was sent to clients on April 14, more than two months before the attack.

ESET said the hackers likely had access to M.E.Doc's source code since the beginning of the year, and the detailed preparation before the attack was testament to the advanced nature of their operation.

Oleg Derevianko, board chairman at Ukrainian cyber security firm ISSP, said an update issued by M.E.Doc in April delivered a virus to the company's clients which instructed computers to download 350 megabytes of data from an unknown source on the internet.

The virus then exported 35 megabytes of company data to the hackers, he told Reuters in an interview at his office in Kiev.

"With this 35 megabytes you can exfiltrate anything - emails from all of the banks, user accounts, passwords, anything."

Little known outside Ukrainian accounting circles, M.E.Doc is used by around 80 percent of companies in Ukraine. The software allows its 400,000 clients to send and collaborate on financial documents between internal departments, as well as file them with the Ukrainian state tax service.

Ukraine's government said on Tuesday it would submit a draft law to parliament for the country's tax deadline to be extended to July 15, and waive fines for companies who missed the previous June 13 cutoff because of the attack.

"We had programme failures in connection to the cyber attack, which meant that businesses were unable to submit account reports on time," Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman told a cabinet meeting.

Separately, Ukraine's security service, the SBU, said it had discussed cyber defence with NATO officials and had received equipment from the alliance to better combat future cyber attacks. Ukraine is not in NATO but is seeking closer ties.

On Saturday Ukrainian intelligence officials accused Russian security services of being behind the attack, and cyber security researchers linked it to a suspected Russian group who attacked the Ukrainian power grid in December 2016.

A Kremlin spokesman dismissed charges of Russian involvement as "unfounded blanket accusations".

Derevianko said the hacker's activity in April and reported access to M.E.Doc's source code showed Ukraine's computer networks had already been compromised and that the intruders were still operating inside them.

"It definitely tells us about the advanced capabilities of the adversaries," he said. "I don't think any additional evidence is needed to attribute this to a nation-state attack." (Additional reporting by Natalia Zinets; Writing by Jack Stubbs; Editing by Gareth Jones and Matthias Williams)
By Deisy Buitrago and Alexandra Ulmer

CARACAS, July 4 (Reuters) - Venezuela's pro-government Supreme Court heard a petition on Tuesday to remove dissident state prosecutor Luisa Ortega, who was expecting the ax after alleging rights abuses and erosion of democracy under President Nicolas Maduro.

Ortega, the main challenger to Maduro from within the ruling socialist movement during three months of opposition protests, said she would not recognize legal proceedings against her by an "unconstitutional and illegitimate" Supreme Court.

The internal fissure has emboldened anti-Maduro protesters, who have been staging near-daily demonstrations since April to demand early elections amid a devastating economic crisis that has millions struggling to eat properly.

"We already know they're going to remove me today," said Ortega in a speech at her office, slamming what she said was a "spurious" case designed to silence her.

"They've frozen my bank account, they've frozen my assets, and they've banned me from leaving the country. It appears that defending the constitution constitutes a crime," she said, waving a small blue book of the charter written under Maduro's predecessor and mentor, the late Hugo Chavez, in 1999.

The Supreme Court said, however, that it would issue a decision within five days on the charge brought by socialist lawmaker Pedro Carreno of "grave offense" against Ortega.

Officials have leveled a plethora of accusations against the a 59-year-old lawyer, from "insanity" and encouraging "terrorists" to misusing a confiscated plane.

"She has attacked the democratic institutions of the country," Carreno told the Supreme Court hearing.

In recent weeks, Ortega has accused security forces of excessive violence, opposed pro-Maduro decisions by the Supreme Court and National Election Council, and said the president's plan for a new congress threatens democracy.

Speaking at her office in Caracas to applauding staff, Ortega said the case against her was rife with procedural errors and signs of collusion between the Supreme Court and the ruling party. She wryly remarked that the case was being handled with unusual speediness by Venezuela's infamously slow legal system.

Earlier on Tuesday, the court's constitutional chamber said her designation of a vice prosecutor was "absolutely null" and instead named its own vice prosecutor.

The court's appointee, Katherine Haringhton, was one of seven officials sanctioned by the United States in 2015 for alleged corruption and rights abuses.

Ortega condemned the parallel appointment as illegitimate. And in a swipe at first lady Cilia Flores, Ortega also mentioned the "narco-nephews" in her speech, an allusion to two relatives of Maduro's wife found guilty in the United States of trying to carry out a multimillion-dollar drug deal.

"ZERO HOUR"

Protesters across the oil-rich South American nation of 30 million set up road blockades "against the dictatorship" on Tuesday afternoon. Some played dominoes and football in the streets, while others chanted slogans, waved banners saying "No More Dictatorship" and stood under the sun.

The opposition wants to ramp up pressure ahead of Maduro's planned vote on July 30 to elect members of a new, controversial legislative superbody with powers to rewrite the constitution.

Maduro, a 54-year-old former union leader, says the assembly is the only way to bring peace to Venezuela after the deaths of 90 people in and around anti-government unrest since April.

His opponents counter it is a ruse designed to avoid free and fair elections the Socialist Party would lose, and possibly consolidate one-party rule in the mold of communist ally Cuba.

Warning that Venezuela is approaching "zero hour," lawmakers on Monday announced that the opposition would hold its own referendum on July 16 to let Venezuelans have their say on Maduro's plan and their alternative push for an election to replace him.

"I'm blocking the road for a better future. We're doing this to stop the Constituent (Assembly) election," said lawyer Ritza Quintero, 32, protesting with a banner. "Even if we don't stop it, we're not going to recognize it."

Opposition protesters also want solutions to the crushing economic crisis, freedom for hundreds of jailed activists, and independence for the opposition-led National Assembly.

Maduro, a former foreign minister who was narrowly elected in 2013 after Chavez's death from cancer, says protesting opponents are seeking a coup with U.S. support.

"Many are seeking ... little 'Rambos' in the armed forces, but you're not going to find them," Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino said in a video published on Monday, alluding to speculation of a military coup. (Additional reporting by Diego Ore, Silene Ramirez, Andreina Aponte and Andrew Cawthorne; Writing by Alexandra Ulmer; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne and Jonathan Oatis)
ASTANA, July 4 (Reuters) - Russia may deploy its military to police the borders of planned de-escalation zones in Syria within two to three weeks after finalising an agreement with Turkey and Iran, Russian negotiator Alexander Lavrentyev said on Tuesday.

Moscow hopes to sign the final documents with Ankara and Tehran on Wednesday, he told reporters after a series of meetings in the Kazakh capital, Astana.

Russia and Iran, which back President Bashar Assad's government, and Turkey, which supports some of the rebels, agreed in principle to create four "de-escalation zones" in Syria in a previous round of talks in May, but put off a planned June meeting where they were supposed to work out the details.

Since the May agreement was announced, the rebel-held stronghold of Idlib province in the northwest of Syria has been mostly calm.

But fighting has continued on other frontlines in western Syria, including Eastern Ghouta of Damascus and the southwestern city of Deraa, where government forces and their allies are trying to crush remaining pockets of rebellion.

Lavrentyev told reporters that Moscow and its partners were still discussing detailed maps and other conditions related to the Idlib and southern zones, while the borders of two other zones, in Homs province and near Damascus, had been agreed.

"Overall, (the agreement) provides for the presence of Russian military police in the buffer zones, but once again this matter has not been agreed yet," he said.

"Depending on when the documents on safe zones are signed, I think one should expect concrete measures on the deployment of forces within 2-3 weeks."

OPPOSITION SCEPTICAL

The Syrian opposition, some of whose delegates walked out of the previous round of talks in protest against Iran's participation, has routinely criticised Russia for failing to enforce the ceasefire and was sceptical of Moscow's plan.

Armed opposition leader Muhammad Alloush, who led the opposition delegation in earlier rounds of the Astana process, is not attending the current talks.

A Syrian opposition official said the aim of Astana "is to set out the areas of influence between the three states that sponsor it, and it embodies the interests of these states and their areas of influence on the ground, unfortunately with an intended American absence and suspicious European silence".

"It will succeed in the north because the desire of the states and their interests dictate that, and if we want to interpret it on the Syria-wide level, it represents the strengthening of Russian and Iranian influence on the ground."

Riyad Nassan Agha, a member of the opposition Saudi-backed High Negotiations Committee, told Reuters the opposition feared the Astana talks aimed to undermine the U.N.-backed peace talks in Geneva, reiterating the oppositions view that Iran could not act as a guarantor of any deal because "it is a hostile state".

"What they are talking about (de-escalation) did not happen. So the Syrian people no longer have faith in these agreements that happened in Astana," he said.

Lavrentyev, who earlier on Tuesday met Stuart Jones, acting U.S. assistant secretary of state for the Near East, said he would meet Syrian opposition delegates on Wednesday. (Reporting by Raushan Nurshayeva; Writing by Olzhas Auyezov; Editing by Vladimir Soldatkin and Gareth Jones)
MILAN, July 4 (Reuters) - Italy's antitrust authority has launched a probe into possible abuse by Telecom Italia (TIM) of its dominant market position in the rollout of ultrafast broadband in rural and sparsely populated areas, the watchdog said on Tuesday.

TIM and Italy's government have been at loggerheads over the rollout of superfast Internet in so-called non-economically viable areas for weeks, since Rome accused the phone group of jeopardizing tenders launched by the government in the same regions.

The watchdog said it would look into whether TIM had tried to obstruct the state tenders and whether it preemptively sought to secure clients, also using anti-competitive commercial practices.

TIM could not immediately be reached for comment. (Reporting by Agnieszka Flak, editing by Isla Binnie)
DUBAI, July 4 (Reuters) - Saudi Arabian Airlines, known as Saudia, expects the in-cabin ban on laptops and other large electronics on its direct flights to the United States to be lifted by July 19, state news agency SPA reported on Tuesday.

But U.S. authorities said it was too early to say whether the carrier would satisfy the new requirements.

The airline is working with the country's civil aviation authority, GACA, to implement new security measures for U.S.-bound flights announced by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security last week, according to the SPA report.

David Lapan, a spokesman for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, said in an email it was too early to confirm Saudia's compliance.

Saudia flies to the United States from airports in Jeddah and Riyadh.

Dubai-based Emirates, the Middle East's largest airline, said on Tuesday it was working to implement measures to lift the ban.

On Sunday, the United States lifted a ban on laptops in cabins on flights from Abu Dhabi to the United States, saying Etihad Airways had put in place required tighter security measures.

Turkish Airlines said on Monday it expected the ban to be lifted on flights from Turkey on July 5.

Lapan confirmed that Turkish Airlines alerted the Transportation Security Administration that it was ready to comply and that U.S. officials would verify on Wednesday whether the new measures had been correctly implemented.

In March, the United States banned laptops in cabins on flights to the United States originating at 10 airports in eight countries - Egypt, Morocco, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar and Turkey - to address fears that bombs could be concealed in electronic devices taken on board. (Reporting by Aziz El Yaakoubi and Valerie Volcovici in Washington DC; writing by Alexander Cornwell; editing by Jason Neely and Richard Chang)
ISTANBUL, July 4 (Reuters) - Turkey condemned as incitement to violence an art installation in front of the German Chancellery that portrayed President Tayyip Erdogan as a dictator, days before he is due to attend a G20 summit in Germany.

Turkey's foreign ministry, whose relationship with Berlin has soured in the past year over disagreements on a range of political and security issues, said the matter was made graver by the failure of German police to intervene.

A Reuters TV video of the installation showed a black car draped with a black-and-white banner printed with pictures of Erdogan, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz.

The banner was emblazoned with the phrase "Do you want this car? Kill dictatorship".

Critics in Turkey and overseas accuse Erdogan of authoritarian government, citing a purge of thousands of state officials and many arrests following a failed coup last July. Erdogan says the actions are necessary to ensure stability following the putsch attempt that killed more than 240 people.

The foreign ministry statement said it expected German authorities to act against the display. "The expression on the banner...makes a direct call to violence."

The Turkish protest came a day after the German government urged Erdogan to respect its request that he not address Turks living in Germany when he attends this week's Hamburg summit of the world's 20 largest economies.

Erdogan had been infuriated by what he calls "Nazi era tactics" when some local German authorities, citing security concerns, barred Turkish politicians from campaigning in Germany ahead of a referendum on expanding the president's powers. (Writing by Daren Butler; editing by Ralph Boulton)
By David Ljunggren

OTTAWA, July 4 (Reuters) - Canada's Liberal government will apologize to former Guantanamo Bay inmate Omar Khadr and pay him around C$10 million ($7.7 million) in compensation, two sources close to the matter said on Tuesday, prompting opposition protests.

A Canadian citizen, Khadr was captured in Afghanistan in 2002 at age 15 after a firefight with U.S. soldiers. He pleaded guilty to killing a U.S. Army medic and became the youngest inmate held at the military prison in Cuba.

Khadr later recanted and his lawyers said he had been grossly mistreated. In 2010, the Canadian Supreme Court ruled that Canada breached his rights by sending intelligence agents to interrogate him and sharing the results with the United States.

The case proved divisive: defenders called Khadr a child soldier while the then-Conservative government dismissed calls to seek leniency, noting he had pleaded guilty to a serious crime.

"Meet Canada's newest multi-millionaire - Omar Khadr," said the Conservatives as they unveiled a protest petition.

Tony Clement, the Conservative Party's public safety spokesman, said "it is one thing to acknowledge alleged mistreatment, but it is wrong to lavishly reward a convicted terrorist who murdered an allied soldier who had a wife and two children".

Khadr spent a decade in Guantanamo before being returned to Canada in 2012 to serve the rest of his sentence. He was released on bail in 2015 and lives in Edmonton, Alberta.

The Canadian government and Khadr's lawyers agreed on the compensation deal, said the sources, who asked to remain anonymous given the sensitivity. Canada has reached a series of expensive settlements with citizens imprisoned abroad who alleged Ottawa was complicit in their mistreatment.

Khadr, 30, had sued Ottawa for C$20 million on grounds of violating his human rights. News of the settlement was broken by the Globe and Mail newspaper.

A spokesman for Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale declined to comment. Khadr's lawyers did not respond to a request for comment. The U.S. Embassy was closed for the July Fourth holiday.

Khadr was taken to Afghanistan by his father, an al Qaeda member, who apprenticed the boy to a group of bomb makers. The father died in a battle with Pakistani forces in 2003.

"It is the right decision in light of the callous and unlawful treatment meted out to Mr. Khadr with the complicity of Canadian officials," said Ihsaan Gardee, executive director of the National Council of Canadian Muslims. ($1 = 1.2936 Canadian dollars) (Reporting by David Ljunggren; Editing by Denny Thomas, Howard Goller, Jonathan Oatis and Diane Craft)
CAIRO, July 4 (Reuters) - The heads of intelligence from Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain held a meeting in Cairo on Tuesday, Egyptian state news agency MENA said.

MENA, citing "informed sources", did not provide details of the meeting, which took place one day before foreign ministers from the four countries were due to meet to decide whether to continue sanctions they imposed on Qatar over accusations it was aiding terrorism and courting regional rival Iran.

Doha denies the charges and has submitted to mediator Kuwait replies to 13 demands that the gathering will consider. (Reporting by Ali Abdelaty; Writing by Eric Knecht; Editing by Ahmed Aboulenein)
A protest organized by the Inland Revenue Trade Join Front was held today in front of the department premises against the new Inland Revenue Bill. The protestors charged that the bill is drafted by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to slap higher taxes on people. The IMF has held back third tranche of Sri Lankan US $ 1.5bn bailout package until the draft is tabled in parliament. Pix by Nisal Baduge
A prominent presence in the construction industry for over two decades, Suncity Property Developers proudly launches Suncity@116, a luxury apartment project in Moratuwa at 116, Rawatawatta Road. Strategically located near schools, hospitals, and shopping areas, and a short drive to Colombo, this latest luxury apartment project by Suncity Property Developers is poised to repeat the success of its previous projects in Colombo and the suburbs. Scheduled for completion by December 2018, Suncity@116 combines convenience and luxury for discerning buyers.

The 6-storey apartment consists of 30-apartments of 3-bedrooms each. Every apartment is of a generous size and includes sitting area, dining area, servants room and toilet. The master bedroom is air conditioned and the apartments are fully tiled and adorned with high quality finishes. In order to offer its residents nothing but the highest elegant lifestyle, Suncity Property Developers has provided a swimming pool, gymnasium and recreational rooftop area for residents to unwind and relax in their safe haven. Round-the-clock security arrangements ensure families have a safe and secure nest. A wide range of easy payment options are being offered to prospective buyers to allow them to pay as per their convenience.

Commenting on the new luxury apartment project, Mr. said, I can proudly state that Suncity@116 will be the new star in Moratuwa. Increasingly, couples are looking for affordable, luxurious and serene locations away from the hustle and bustle of the city, which is precisely what this project offers. It offers a city lifestyle in the apartment, but in a suburban setting, where the environment is more serene. The rapid access to Moratuwa from Colombo has made it the new prized suburb for prospective home owners.

Suncity Property Developers expanded its reach out of Colombo for the first time with Melbourne Towers in Moratuwa, which sold out within six months of completion, followed by Suncity Tower Battaramulla. With the success of the Towers in Moratuwa, Suncity Developers began the construction of Suncity Classic Towers in Panadura. The entire project was completed in 2015, and was sold out within eight months of completion. Thereafter, the Company returned to Moratuwa with Suncity Tower, a new 6-storeyed condominium complex comprising 20 fully functional apartments.

Suncity Property Developers has entrenched its impressive credentials by successfully completing many luxury apartment complexes such as the Rosmead Towers, McCathy Towers, Horton Towers and Horton Regency, Suncity Towers Phase 1 and Suncity Towers Phase 2. Suncity Property Developers is a company that never rests on past glory but keeps striving to consolidate its presence in the market. Its latest project is Prestige Tower in Colombo 3, which is due for completion by July 2017.

Suncity Property Developers remains at the cutting edge of the sector in terms of skills, knowhow, experience, innovation and quality. These qualities have underpinned the Companys identity for over two decades.
The construction industry should be guided by the capacity to supply renewable energy

The need for feasible environmental friendly approaches for development projects and policy planning has been felt as vital elements, especially in the facet of addressing issues related to natural disasters including garbage management in Sri Lanka. Furthermore, preserving the biodiversity of ecosystems has today become quite a challenge as illegal constructions including development projects lacking a proper EIA report are currently on the rise. It is within this context that Chairman at Rainforest Rescue International and Systems Ecologist Dr. Ranil Senanayake elucidated Daily Mirror on how best to address the challenges of climate change and related phenomenons and on how to minimize the risks of natural disasters. Adding more essence to the subject, he spoke on the concept of Analog Forestry, the need to promote cleaner and greener energy while stressing on the need to adhere to proper environmental standards when focusing on development projects. Excerpts of the interview are given below.

The impact of possible, toxic marine sediment into the lungs of the citizens of Colombo is not considered

The laws are there, it is the unwillingness to execute the law that has created this apathy to defend

the country

There are also credible reports that the Chinese are dredging outside the nominated areas

The port city is a glaring example of the government acting against the well being of its

own citizens

All of the packing material winds up as garbage. The packing industry must take a proactive stand.

If Colombo is to be a Green City, it must recognize the Kelani Watershed as being its major source of ecosystem services

We adhere to Buddhist principles, doing the total opposite at home

A city can gain through a proper planting design

In many parts of the world temperatures are rising well above the danger line. This is a central reason why we have to contribute to maintaining the global temperature below a 1.5-degree rise.

Get ready for extreme episodic events from heat to drought to flood. Begin working with international climate modellers to develop predictive models for our area.

How do mega development projects in Sri Lanka have an impact on natural disasters?

Mega or Mini, the first thing is to understand what development means. It is a word that should denote progress and social growth, but has been perverted to mean an increase of individual greed and economic growth. A few politicians such as Jose Mujica the Ex president of Paraguay, or religious leaders like His Holiness the Pope have tried to enlighten their people on this perversion, but most so-called leaders choose the easy path to individual power and fortune by joining the Economic Development bandwagon without a second thought of future cost. The mini-development that led to illegal logging, sand mining, rock blasting, and wetland filling that we have witnessed during the last decade or more, has brought the consequences that we are experiencing as natural disasters today. If mega development merely means activities that stimulate individual greed aimed at obtaining economic growth in a bigger and larger manner, we should certainly expect greater natural disasters as a consequence.

If mega development merely means activities that stimulate individual greed aimed at obtaining economic growth in a bigger and larger manner, we should certainly expect greater natural disasters as a consequence

In your opinion, is it true that the recent flood situation was further intensified as a result of the poor drainage system in the country and due to the construction of illegal buildings blocking waterways?

That is a fact, it is not only unplanned construction that blocks the waterways, the increase in impervious surfaces (area where the rainfall cannot soak into the ground) creates increased outflows that are constricted by the small drainage channels, creating local flooding. The small plastic debris aggravates this situation by rapidly choking drainage systems.

It has been reported time and again, that illegal constructions are on the rise along riverbanks and most of these constructions are taking place without a proper Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) being conducted. What are your views on this?

There is an ordinance that sets out the river reservations, but because of official inaction or political aggression such reservations have mostly been cleared and even passed into individual ownership. If the government begins its development planning on a watershed basis and has clear and common sense plans on how we intend to develop each, then all river reservations can be marked and developed, so that the impact of extreme climate events can be mitigated.

The laws are there, it is the unwillingness to execute the law and the impunity with which the lawmakers treat the law that has created this apathy to defend the country.

The Port City Project has come under much criticism by environmentalist for the damage it could cause to the environment. Environmentalists have already pointed out that coastal erosion, damage to coral reefs and changes in sea wave patterns have happened as a result of soil excavation. In the long term, how would this affect the countrys urban geography including that of coastal areas?

The first consideration for the proposed port city is that all activities fly in the face of the Sri Lankan Law. The Initial EIA (phase 1) dealt only with the filling up of the sea in front of Colombo. The legality of this action should be considered, especially as there is no study of the affect of this action on the city of Colombo, beggars belief. By dragging the red herring of fisheries before the public, the impact of possible, toxic marine sediment into the lungs of the citizens of Colombo is not considered. If the sand transport models presented to demonstrate the innocuous nature of sand mining claimed by the EIA are proven wrong, who will be financially responsible? The massive fracturing of the overburden on rock cliffs as a consequence of the blasting required for the rock material, has not even been addressed. It will be good to examine how many rock quarries were in the vicinity of the areas that experienced earth slips.

There are also credible reports that the Chinese are dredging outside the nominated areas. There seems to be no Sri Lankan Government Institution interested in checking their work or following up on public complaints.

Further, any construction on the reclaimed land needs a Phase 2 EIA. If any construction or selling of future constructed space is made before the Phase 2 EIA is approved, it is a clear violation of Sri Lankan law. No one has seen such a report and if work is progressing without a phase 2 EIA, then the Attorney General should take note.

A real tragedy of the Port city mess is that it is the Sri Lankan Government that has agreed to get the clearances on behalf of the foreign investor. If the government is acting in the interest of the investors who is acting in the interests of the citizens of Sri Lanka?

The port city is a glaring example of the government acting against the well being of their own citizens. If this fiasco of ignoring the well being of the citizens of this nation continues for the financial benefit of some multinational, it can only be interpreted as traitorous and we should watch those individuals who are pushing the project secretly, with no transparency or accountability.

Garbage management in Sri Lanka is still very rudimentary. The public has not been sensitized as to their responsibilities and dumping has become a business.

In your view, how unregulated is garbage management in Sri Lanka? Also, in a scale of 0 - 10, where would you place Sri Lanka in its efforts to maintain effective garbage management?

Garbage management in Sri Lanka is still very rudimentary. The public has not been sensitized as to their responsibilities and dumping has become a business. While it is obvious that we have to invest in a better-organized garbage collection and disposal system, we should also consider the composition of garbage. There is a rapid increase in non-degradable packaging materials due to the tendency of packing consumer goods in smaller and smaller packs in order to increase sales volumes. All of the packing material winds up as garbage. The packing industry must take a proactive stand. At a scale of 1-10, I would suggest that we are around 5. We have the infrastructure, but not the political will to educate our public and begin a rational program of waste management.

Can you explain the concept of Analog Forestry?

The idea of Analog Forestry began when the massive destruction of our forests by mono cultures of Tea, Rubber and Coconut became evident. There was no talk of restoration, only replacement through the planting of even - aged mono cultures by the Forest Department. This was a bad idea, as in the plantations the need to address both the structure and the functions of the original forest was forgotten, even the biodiversity. Forestry was to follow the western model blindly. The western model is clearly stated by the pioneers of the US Forest Service:

The first and foremost purpose of a forest growth is to supply us with wood material; it is the substance of the trees itself, not their fruit, their beauty, their shade, their shelter, that constitutes the primary object, (Fenrow the Head of US Forest Service 1920).

Since international funding was tied to this description of a forest, the bureaucrats followed the money, looking at forests as things only to produce wood; forgetting what we knew as the forest from the Buddha who stated , The forest is a peculiar organism of unlimited kindness and benevolence that makes no demand for its sustenance and extends generously the products of its life activity; asking nothing in return, it affords protection to all beings, offering shade even to the axeman who would destroy it - Gautama Buddha (460 BCE)

As a Systems Ecologist the words of the Buddha confirmed my personal experience of a forest in Sri Lanka. Even the aged mono cultures of Pinus and Eucalyptus were imbeded in timber plantations, as much a forest as a Rubber plantation is. But they sucked up all the funds that were earmarked for re-forestation. It was clear that we needed an approach different from timber production and extraction to restore forests. So I set about designing a system that was analogous (similar) to the original forest in architectural structure and ecological functions, but comprised of economically valuable species that would encourage the farmer to care for the planted stock. It also addressed our native biodiversity as a critical design feature; it is a system that strives to maintain a high Biodiversity to Biomass (B: B) ratio and provides for a very high level of Ecosystem Services. More information about analog forestry can be obtained from www.analogforestry.org .

Can the concept of Analog Forestry and Green City go hand in hand in the context of Sri Lanka and if so, how effective would it be in addressing the issues of climate change both locally and in a global scale?

Indeed it can. A Green City must be identified within the watershed it is in. The City should accept responsibility to provide clean water, clean air and clean food to its inhabitants. This can be done easily if the city recognizes the ecosystem services by the rural component of that watershed and move to protect and enhance those services. In terms of climate change and temperature rise, the fact that a large tree provides a cooling factor equivalent to eight room sized air conditioners working eight hours a day, gives us the benefits that a city can gain through a proper planting design.

Many cities the worlds over are beginning to feel the drop in oxygen concentration in the air. Cities like Mexico City, Delhi and Beijing often have days when the oxygen concentration drops below 16 percent. At 15-19 percent a person has impaired thinking and attention, reduced coordination, decreased ability for strenuous work; below this heart disease becomes manifest. If we allow the huge unplanned barriers built by the port city, can we expect the oxygen concentration in the city to be affected ? Has such critical environmental impacts, been studied and reported on ? If Colombo is to be a Green City, it must recognize the Kelani Watershed as being its major source of ecosystem services and move to sustain it and it must recognize that the clean, oxygen rich sea air it currently enjoys, must be sustained by its green element.

Despite being a party to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Kyoto Protocol, Sri Lanka continues the use of coal, which has a direct impact on climate change. Do you think that Sri Lanka can contribute in maintaining the global temperature below a 1.5 degree rise under such conditions? Also, can you elaborate on the importance of maintaining global temperature below 1.5 degrees?

Temperature is a very critical thing for all living things, as we are kept alive by enzymatic reactions and as enzymes have critical thresholds beyond which they cannot function, high temperatures lead to Heat death. In addition to the direct impact that we are seeing, with heat related deaths in Pakistan and India; there is also the fact that food production will diminish with rising temperatures, as the temperature threshold for chlorophyll (the green in the leaves) is 39 degrees; beyond this, productivity will be impacted as the chlorophyll ceases to be effective. In many parts of the world temperatures are rising well above the danger line. This is a central reason why we have to contribute to maintaining the global temperature below a 1.5-degree rise. The tragedy of Sri Lanka is that while the President makes a policy statement on international stages, the fossil fuel lobby is busy working with some complaint bureaucrats insisting on a share of fossil fuel (coal, oil or gas) in the national energy futures scenario. Such greedy thoughtless action by the nexus of corrupt bureaucrat - businessmen-politicians (BBP) will endanger generations. When the whole world is moving to reduce their dependency on fossil fuels, we seem to be the exception, by wanting to increase our dependency on fossil fuel to sustain this development.

We have become a nation of international hypocrites. We preach about our concern for the environment, our concern for public health and our adherence to Buddhist principles, on all possible international stages, while doing the total opposite at home. Our ecosystems are in tatters and we crow about sustainability; our biodiversity restricted to tiny patches in a sea of mono cultures and we shout about the wonderful biodiversity Sri Lanka possesses, our seas are so polluted that a simple cut can get infected in many locations and we talk about having clean, unspoilt beaches.

How can renewable energy cater to maintain a cleaner and greener environment in Sri Lanka?

By ensuring the development of technologies that do not need fossil generated energy and by creating a production capacity to market the technology. Look at the value added to products that promote a cleaner and greener environment. Ensure that growth predictions consider the need to have a renewable energy input consideration in all development projects. Building massive edifices without considering the drain on the national energy production system, forces (or encourages) the bureaucrats to project a huge energy demand scenario and frighten us into accepting fossil energy. The construction industry should be guided by the capacity to supply renewable energy; in that way we could have a more sustainable form of development. If we work to realize the value of Ecosystem Services (ES) in our GNP accounting, not only can we rise out of debt, but it will also move us rapidly into a greener environment in Sri Lanka.

Overall, what message would you like to convey to the local authorities and the public on how they should help mitigate the risks of natural disasters, both locally and in a global scale?

Appreciate and understand the nature of the lands around you. Understand your situation on the landscape. If in a flood prone area, plan for floods. In earth slip areas plan good drainage. Protect your local watershed. At a global scale we should be serious about the pledge that the President made at CoP 21. Fossil fuel as an energy source should be discouraged. Place a lower priority on mindless consumerism. Get ready for extreme episodic events from heat to drought to flood. Begin working with international climate modellers to develop predictive models for our area. Develop Protocols so that one can respond to oncoming extreme episodic events. Know your neighbours and know some basic responses to disaster situations in your area. In events of disaster it is always the individual citizen who is first to respond. The Government must be prepared, but the first response is always the private citizen, the Government should strive to build up this capacity.
At least 18 people have died following a suicide car-bomb chase through the streets of Damascus this morning.



It was the deadliest attack to hit the Syrian capital in months.



Syrian state media and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said security forces intercepted three car bombers on their way into the city early on Sunday morning.

State television said two of the vehicles were blown up on the outskirts of the city.



A third managed to reach the eastern Tahrir Square district, where he was surrounded but able to detonate a bomb.The Observatory said 18 people were killed in the bombing, including at least seven members of pro-regime security forces and two civilians. It had not identified the remaining victims.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility.



The bombers had aimed to hit busy areas on the first day back to work after the Eid al-Fitr holiday.
Blue Mountain Apartments recently held the ground-breaking ceremony to commence construction of Avalon, an affordable luxury apartment complex with 18 units, located in Somadevi Place, Colombo 05. The groundbreaking ceremony was held following a religious ceremony at the site with the participation of Dr.Hiran Hettiarachchi  Group Chairman, Blue Mountain Group, senior management and staff of Blue Mountain Apartments along with the staff members.

Situated in a highly residential locale, Avalon offers a luxury hideaway for residents while simultaneously offering easy access to reputed schools such as AIS, Elizabeth Moir Senior School and other reputed government schools, banks, supermarkets, hospitals as Lanka Hospital, Asiri Medical and Asiri Surgical Hospital, restaurants and recreational services. Scheduled for completion in June 2019, the project is backed by the robust credentials of the leading Blue Mountain brand, Avalon offers a signature luxury experience for savvy home-owners looking for an investment that will appreciate and earn significant returns.

Commenting on the ground breaking of Avalon, Dr. Hiran Hettiarachchi (MBBS-Colombo & MBA-Australia)  Group Chairman of Blue Mountain, stated, Despite being located in the heart of the city, Avalon is hidden away from the hustle and bustle, and will prove to be a veritable oasis of tranquillity. Its strategic location offers residents unimaginable convenience and quick access to key facilities. Avalons central location, quality construction and exclusive design detailing makes it an ideal investment for discerning customers. Im proud to see the ground breaking taking place within 3 months of the launch and look forward to delivering the project in 2019.

Avalon residents can choose from 04 types of aesthetically designed 02 and 03 Bedroom Apartments that best suit their requirements. The apartments at Avalon exude luxury, with quality fittings and accessories in every apartment. Luxury finishes and designer details render every luxury apartment an exclusive proposition at an affordable price.

Some of the highlights of an Avalon apartment are a state-of-the-art kitchen with a stylish integrated pantry, large balcony and centralized gas. The apartments offer dedicated and secured parking; fully-equipped gymnasium; swimming pool; club house; elevator; backup generator; garbage collection point on each floor; drivers rest rooms and 24-hour security with CCTV monitoring.

Blue Mountain Apartments is part of the Blue Mountain Group, which specializes in offering a wide range of land and real estate services in Sri Lanka, including real estate, land sales, apartment/condominiums, construction, property management, legal services and more. The company operates on a futuristic model of innovation and is has earned its place in the market as a trusted developer that is renowned for its reliability, speed, efficiency and quality. Run by a team of talented professionals, Blue Mountain is continuously strengthening its reputation both locally and abroad. The company recently emerged as the most awarded Sri Lankan real estate developer at the Asia-Pacific Property Awards and is set to continue raising its profile in the global real estate arena.
REUTERS, 03rd JULY, 2017-Chinese President Xi Jinping set off on a visit to Russia on Monday stressing the grave threat a U.S. anti-missile system in South Korea poses to both Chinese and Russian interests.



China has repeatedly stated its opposition to the U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) anti-missile system and has called for its deployment to stopped, and the missiles already installed to be removed.



China says the systems powerful radar can probe deep into its territory, undermining its security and a regional balance while doing nothing to stop North Korea in its relentless pursuit of nuclear weapons and the missiles to deliver them.



The U.S. deployment of an advanced anti-missile system in South Korea gravely harms the strategic security interests of China, Russia and other countries in the region, Chinas state Xinhua news agency cited Xi as saying.



The United States and South Korea say the THAAD is solely aimed at defending the South from North Korea.



China and Russia have maintained close communication and coordination on the issue and held very similar views on it, Xi said in an interview with Russian media.



Beijing and Moscow are steadfastly opposed to the THAAD deployment and seriously suggest that relevant countries stop and cancel the installation, Xinhua cited xi as saying.



China and Russia would take necessary measures, either together or independently, to protect their interests, Xi said, without elaborating, according to Xinhua.
JAKARTA, (AFP), July 2, 2017 - The helicopter had four navy officers and four rescuers on board and reportedly crashed into a cliff about three minutes before arriving at Dieng Plateau, where one of the volcanic craters erupted Sunday. The blast of the Sileri Crater injured at least 10 people.



All eight bodies have been recovered from the crash site and identified, the head of the agency, Muhammad Syaugi, told AFP.



The chopper was on a mission to oversee the situation in Central Java, where a volcanic crater erupted at the Dieng Plateau on Sunday afternoon.



About five people were lightly injured when the Sileri crater spewed cold lava, ash and mud as high as 50 metres (164 feet) into the sky, with officials quick to deploy officers to clear the popular tourist area.
Former Additional Solicitor General and Presidents Counsel Kapila Waidyaratne has been appointed as the new Defence Secretary by the President today.

Mr. Widyaratne was appointed to the post following the resignation of Karunasena Hettiarachchi.

Waidyaratne was educated at S. Thomas' College, Mt Lavinia. He graduated from the University of Colombo (Batchelor of Science Economics) and the Sri Lanka Law College. He was awarded a master's degree in International Relations University of Colombo and is a solicitor in the United Kingdom.

Waidyaratne was appointed a Presidents Counsel in 2014.

Waidyaratne has also served in Fiji as a judge of the Court of Appeal and also served as a Trial Attorney at the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia from 1998 until 2003.

He Joined the Attorney General's Department in November 1983 as an Acting State Counsel and promoted to the post of Senior State Counsel in the year 1996. He promoted as Deputy Solicitor General in 2005 and promoted as Additional Solicitor General in December 2013.(Darshana Sanjeewa)
Army Chief of Staff Major General Mahesh Senanayaka has been appointed as the new Army Commander by President Maithripala Sirisena.

The Presidents Media said he was promoted to the rank of Lt. General prior to the appointment as the 22nd commander of the Sri Lanka Army.

Mahesh Senanayake served as the Security Forces Commander in Jaffna and also the Colonel of the Special Forces Regiment.

He was enlisted to the Sri Lanka Army on 16 October 1981 and followed the Officer Cadet Intake 16 (Long Course).

Lt. General Senanayake has held a number of appointments, including the extra regimental employment at the Sri Lanka Military Academy as an instructing officer. He also served as the Regimental Center Commandant of the Special Forces Regiment, Commander 211 Infantry Brigade - Vavuniya, Commander Special Forces Brigade and the General Officer Commanding 52 Division - Varani, Jaffna.

Mahesh Senanayake had actively contributed to almost all the major military operations, conducted in the North and East of Sri Lanka during a span of more than 30 years.

Senanayake succeeds General Chrishantha de Silva as the Army Commander. (DS)
From right: Director - Wickramapala, Director  T. Samaraweera , Managing Director Kumudika Fernando , Chairman Maliban Biscuits  A.G.R Samaraweera , Chairman Sri Lanka Tea board  Dr. Rohan Pethiyagoda , Anslem Perera - Chairman CTTA & Euro Scan exports, Anil Cooke  CEO Asia Siyaka Commodities PLC

The biscuit manufacturer with a heritage of over 65 years joined hands with The Ceylon Tea Board in celebrating 150 year anniversary worldwide.

Adding to this occasion, Maliban has produced an exclusive signature biscuit range in two flavors; Earls Grey and Ginger Tea featuring the 150-year trademarked logo of Ceylon Tea. This exclusive range is to be revealed at the Global Ceylon Tea Party events which are to be hosted by the Sri Lankan consulates across 162 countries covering 5 continents on the 06thJuly.

It is a great honour for us to be a part of such a prestigious global event, to be recognized globally along with Ceylon tea, one of the most intrinsic commodities that have made an impact on the social, cultural and economic spheres in Sri Lanka. As a pioneer in our industry we are proud to stand side by side with another world renowned product that is from Sri Lanka, both having won hearts and minds of consumers worldwide. Starting from the Land of the Rising Sun, all the way to South America, the Global Ceylon Tea Party is to be celebrated at 5.00 PM of each country in the designated locations across over 100 countries. With no one having attempted such a feat prior to this event, we are delighted to be a part of this event by the Ceylon Tea Board in pursuit of a Guinness World Record as The worlds largest tea parry,said Kumudika Fernando Managing Director Maliban biscuit manufactories private limited.

The Ceylon Tea Board announced earlier that Ceylon Tea would be served with an especially flown in Maliban range of biscuits and two sweetmeats of each country to commemorate 150 years since James Taylor first perfected the unique taste of Ceylon Tea, which since then has won hearts world over. The celebratory biscuits exclusively produced by Maliban for the global event is to revive the traditions of tea drinking and keep it alive.

The official handing over of the exclusive biscuit packs was done on the 20 of June at Maliban factory. At an intimate gathering, the top management of the Maliban Group presented the Ceylon Tea Board members with the uniquely designed box containing the special range of biscuits which will be flown off to 162 countries worldwide, where the biscuits will be served as a complement to a cup of Ceylons finest tea.

Maliban Biscuit Manufactories is an SLS and ISO (22000, 14001 and 9001) Certified Company who also is recognized by the FDA in U.S.A. Maliban has also won a plethora of international recognitions such as the Global Performance Excellence Award under the Large manufacturers category by the Asia Pacific Quality Organization, the prestigious The Superior Taste Award with a two star certification from the International Taste and Quality Institute of Belgium. Maliban is the only foods brand in Sri Lanka to have been recognized and awarded such international accolades for taste and quality.

With its beginning in 1267, the tea industry intrinsically linked to the very fabric of society by becoming one of the most important agricultural commodities in Sri Lanka. Although the story of Ceylon tea started to bloom with the coffee-blight, tea from Ceylon before long gained the reputation of being the finest in the world. Consequently becoming the backbone of the colonial economy, it also made Sri Lanka the largest exporter of tea by 1965. Which to this day remains one of the largest foreign exchange earners in the country presently over US$1.5 billion annually) and supporting around 20 percent of the countrys population through direct and indirect employment.
Parliament will approve a fresh set of Standing Orders which, among others, will change the present criteria stipulated for the impeachment of the Chief Justice, Judges of the Supreme Court or the President of Judges of the Court of Appeal.

Currently, a Parliamentary Select Committee is appointed to inquire into allegations in the event of an impeachment motion being handed over to the Speaker after an inquiry by MPs. However, the SOs are to be amended to include a panel of inquiry comprising officials instead of MPs. However, parliamentary sources said the amendment of SOs alone would not suffice in this case but that a supplementary law should be introduced to give it legal effect.

Parliament is expected to finalize its new SOs today at a meeting of all the MPs.

According to the new SOs, 84(1) where notice of a resolution for the presentation of an address to the President for the removal of the Chief Justice, Judges of the Supreme Court, the President of the Court of Appeal and Judges of the Court of Appeal from office on grounds of misbehavior or incapacity is given to the Speaker in terms of Article 107 of the Constitution and shall be place in the order paper of the House.

According to 2(a) the Speaker in consultation with the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition in Parliament, shall appoint a panel of inquiry consisting of three retired Judges of the Supreme Court to investigate the alleged misbehavior or incapacity of the Judge concerned.

The Speaker shall appoint one of the members of the Panel of Inquiry as the Chair of such panel of inquiry. According to the SOs, the panel of inquiry shall require the judge concerned to submit a written statement of defense within a period of three weeks from the date of receipt of the said resolution.

A panel of inquiry shall permit the MPs who have signed such a resolution or their legal representatives to adduce evidence oral or documentary to prove the alleged allegations.

If a Judge is the subject of the investigation by a panel of inquiry, he or she shall have the right to appear before it and to be heard by such panel of inquiry in person or by representatives and to adduce oral or documentary evidence.

The panel of inquiry so appointed shall conclude the inquiry within a period of two months. However, The Speaker at the request of the panel of inquiry may extend such time for further periods not exceeding one month at a time.

After conclusion of the proceedings of inquiry, the panel of inquiry so appointed shall report its findings together with the minutes of evidence taken before the Panel to the Speaker and The Speaker shall present findings of the Panel of inquiry to the House only if the panel of inquiry has found the Judge concerned is guilty. If the panel of inquiry has found a judge not guilty, he must inform the House and terminate proceedings. If the panel of inquiry has reported that a judge is guilty, the Speaker shall present it for approval by Parliament. If such resolution is passed by a majority of MPs, the Speaker shall forward the same to the President for the removal of the Judge concerned on the ground of proved misbehavior or incapacity.

The panel of inquiry may continue its functions notwithstanding a prorogation or dissolution of Parliament.

The procedure in removing a judge is being changed under the powers vested in Parliament under Article 107 of the Constitution under which the House is given the right by law or by standing orders relating to such a matter. (Yohan Perera)
In an effort at rationalising our foreign missions, Sri Lanka will relocate its embassy in Seychelles in Madagascar.

The government has decided to focus more on a foreign policy based on commercial diplomacy. The Foreign Affairs Ministry has prepared plans for our new missions to attract more and more foreign investment to the country.

The mission in Seychelles was opened during the tenure of former president Mahinda Rajapaksa.

According to ministry sources, a new mission will be set up to cover the countries in the West African region, which are former French colonies. It has also been decided to shut down the mission in Poland and open a new mission in Czechoslovakia.

Sri Lanka has 63 missions overseas in different parts of the world and this is likely to increase under the proposed rationalization policy. (Kelum Bandara)
Verite Research is a private interdisciplinary think tank engaging in strategic analysis and policy reform.

This year, Verite will be working with regional chambers and businesses to address policy issues through research-based advocacy and Right to Information (RTI) requests.

Accordingly, Verite held its first regional Policy Helpdesk and RTI Business Solutions Clinic for members of the Chamber of Commerce and Industries of Trincomalee on June 28th.

The event drew the participation of 22 industry representatives belonging to various industries such as construction, tourism, fisheries, retail and manufacturing, engaged with both domestic and export trade.

The objective of the forum was to enable these industries to actively engage in policy reforms to resolve issues affecting the private sector in their region. The workshop was conducted in two segments (i) Policy Reform Session; and (ii) the Right to Information (RTI) Business Solutions Clinic. In the first segment, participants identified policy related issues experienced by businesses based in Trincomalee and discussed possible workable solutions for these issues. Several pressing matters affecting provincial business associations, ranging from lack of proper loan schemes to institutional delays in processing registration documents were identified at the workshop.

In the second segment, Verite presented how the Right to Information Act, operationalised in February 2017, can be an important tool for the private sector to obtain information for their business purposes. Members were taken through the steps of drafting a RTI request and were assisted in drafting requests on issues specific to their businesses.

The session was conducted by Subhashini Abeysinghe, Economist & Research Director, Vidya Nathaniel, Head of the Economics Team, and Rehana Mohammed, an Analyst fromthe Legal Teamat Verite Research. Verite will be conducting similar workshops in other regions over the course of the year, in order to create an enabling internal and external business environment conducive to Sri Lankas economic growth.

Verites Policy Helpdesk and RTI Business Solutions Clinic can be contacted by emailing policyhelp@veriteresearch.org or calling its hotline 0768985522
On May 16, 2014, when the result of the Indian general election was announced, I was in Israel for a lecture tour. Narendra Modis victory prompted me to spend that day in Jaffa, the ancient port city in the southern part of Tel Aviv and famous for its oranges.

Jaffa, predominantly a Palestinian city, came under Israeli occupation after the 1948 war and thousands of Palestinians were forced to flee.

Now, one third of Jaffas population still comprises Palestinians. In Israel, Jaffa has been one of the few areas where Muslims and Jews have co-existed now for decades, but the influx of Israeli hardliners in this decade and with them the rigid Zionist ideology has made the situation quite volatile.

The citys Arab population is living in a terrible condition or gradually being forced to move out. The state supported Israelisation of Jaffa has made it a powder keg situated next to Israels capital.

Benjamin Netanyahu, the second longest serving Prime Minister in Israels history after David Ben-Gurion, is a right-wing hardliner, who has made his political career by portraying Palestinians as an existential threat to the Jewish state of Israel.

He has thrived on playing the politics of fear, vilifying Arabs and demonising Muslims. Thanks to his brand of politics, not only in Jaffa but a million of Arab Israelis in the whole country have been forced to the edge.

Like Netanyahu in Israel, Modi is pursuing his far-right politics in India while fanning anti-Muslim sentiment. Hindu nationalists in India revere Israel for the successful domination of its Muslim neighbourhood.

They not only envisage India following Israels apartheid model to deal with the minorities at home, but also always dream of turning India into an aggressive state like Israel in the region.

In the pursuit of that aggressive nationalist agenda, Modi has not only gone on a shopping binge of readymade military hardware, but is also promoting some of his industrialist cronies without previous experience in the arms production sector to collaborate with foreign arms manufacturers for joint production in the name of Make in India. 2017 has already become a record year of Israeli weapons sales to India.

Modi has no plan to travel to Ramallah for a customary meeting with Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas as most world leaders visiting Israel do. Photo: Reuters

In April 2016, Israels Aerospace Industries (IAI) received its largest ever defense contract of $1.6 billion from the Indian Army for the land-based version of the Barak 8 air defence system. A month later, IAI signed another defence contract of $630 million with Bharat Electronics (BEL) for its naval version for four vessels.

During his visit, Modi might sign a deal worth about $500 million to purchase 8000 Spike anti-tank missiles. There is also the possibility of India finalising a $1 billion Phalcon deal as well.

India getting weapons from Israel is not a new development. Israel has supplied arms to India in the past when India had fought wars with China in 1962, and with Pakistan in 1965 and 1971. At the time of the Kargil War, Israel had also provided surveillance drones and laser-guided missiles to India.

However, until Modi became the Prime Minister, most of these defence transactions were done quietly. But Modi has abandoned that cautious and time-tested approach. Moreover, he is moving India away from its established policy of not compromising in its support to the Palestinian struggle.

India and Israel have maintained more than cordial relations for many decades in spite of Indias open and firm support for the Palestinian cause. Though both countries have established a diplomatic relationship since 1992 and Israel has become the third-largest arms supplier for India, behind only Russia and the US, it is for the first time a sitting Prime Minister of India is visiting Israel.

While undertaking this high-profile visit, Modi has no plan to travel down to Ramallah for a customary meeting with Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas as most world leaders visiting Israel do. Even President Pranab Mukherjee in 2015 had first gone to the West Bank before travelling to Israel.

Since independence, India has maintained support for Palestine. Even Albert Einsteins request had not budged Jawaharlal Nehru in 1947 to provide support for the creation of the state of Israel. That year, India voted against the 1947 UN partition plan for Palestine, and only in 1950 recognised Israel.

Indias support for Palestine has been continuing since Nehrus time. This policy is not only in line with the sentiments of Indias largest religious minorities, but also standing with universal principles of justice and fairness and confirming to majority global opinion.

However, the RSS refuses to forgive Nehru for not turning India into a Hindu Pakistan, and considers Indias support for Palestine as part of Congress so-called appeasement policy towards Indian Muslims.

Modi by undertaking this official visit to Israel as PM and not including a trip to Ramallah is pandering to his Hindutva support base. His majoritarian politics thrives on taking political and policy positioning going against the sentiments of Muslim minorities. While he is avoiding a trip to the West Bank, he has found time to schedule a meeting with Moshe Holtzberg, the Israeli child who lost his parents in Nariman House in the 2008 Mumbai terror attack. That is to exhibit a facade of a common bond between India and Israel against Islamic extremism.

As an opinion piece in the Israeli newspaper Haaretz points out, Modi can afford to ignore the Palestinians. Modis Hindutva politics not only encourages him to ignore Palestine, but also to build an open alliance with Zionist forces.
As Prime Minister Narendra Modi visits Israel, a country with a landmass of just 20,000sqkm, part of the hype is centred around the awe that it evokes due to its demonstrated ability to stand up to a hostile neighbourhood.

The visit, coming as it does after the PMs trips to Russia and the US, has added significance due to the close defence interaction between the two nations; the defence relationship is special due to the unstinted support given by Israel in times of Indias needs.

Cooperation

With the first ever Indian participation in an air exercise with the Israeli Air Force also round the corner, an assessment of Indo-Israeli relations, especially on air power and defence-related procurement, is in order.

Unstinted support to the Arab and Palestinian cause governed Indias public posture till the 1990s.

This, however, did not stop behind-the-scenes contacts and the intelligence agencies of the two countries, Mossad and RAW, have continued close cooperation. Declassified documents show that Israel supplied arms in the 1962 IndiaChina war and the 1965 India-Pakistan war, and Israeli defence minister Moshe Dayan made an incognito visit in 1977 to discuss defence cooperation.

After the September 1985 meeting between then PM Rajiv Gandhi and the then Israeli Premier in New York, defence cooperation came over the ground. Currently, of the total arms imports of India, Israel is third (7.9 per cent) after Russia (68.29 per cent) and the US (14.5 per cent).

What is significant, however, is that many of the imports from Israel are high technology items, which have been denied by other nations, with air power assets being very significant. The three Phalcon AWACS aircraft are the most valuable of all acquisitions and are the backbone of Indias integrated air defence.

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles come next, and almost 200 Searcher and Heron birds are doing intelligence and reconnaissance work along the borders and in the Maoist-affected areas. It is a measure of trust between the two nations that the sale of Heron TP armed UAV has been agreed upon, something that even the Americans have denied India at this stage, despite the strategic tag to the India-US relationship.

The Harop UAV, which homes on to radars and other electronic emitters, has not been talked about much, but has been a potent arrow in the IAFs inventory for years; Harpey, its advanced version, will soon follow. It is no secret that a lot Israeli Elint equipment serves as the eyes and ears of our intelligence agencies.

The extent of Indo-Israeli cooperation in R&D is exemplified by the joint Medium Range Surface to Air Missile System (MRSAM) while Indias Ballistic Missile Defence, based on the Israeli Green Pine radar or a jointly developed long range tracking radar, is a pointer to engagement on strategic programmes.

Technology

However, India needs seeker and imaging technology, which is elusive. Indian industry can learn from the ingenuity of their R&D, as Israeli firms have bagged innumerable aircraft upgrade projects despite the host aircraft being of Russian or Western origin.

Cooperation in space has been ongoing quietly and Israel has used ISROs launch vehicles for some of its satellites. With ISROs leadership in commercial launches, it is the time that more business is garnered from Israel. How can this import-dependent relationship be put to Indias advantage?

The answer lies in using the Make in India initiative innovatively. When one considers the three services in totality and homeland security acquisitions (night vision, carbines, et al), the figures are indeed phenomenal. While there are some joint ventures on the ground and a factory in Madhya Pradesh to manufacture Israeli assault rifles, the multitude of forthcoming contracts should act as enablers for technology acquisition and employment generation.

Also of interest is the role of small, but technologically advanced, start-ups in the Israeli defence sector that constitute Tier-II and Tier-III suppliers in the international defence supply chain  they can serve as models for our Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs).

Realpolitik

In the world of realpolitik, nothing comes for free, and this is true for IndoIsraeli relations as well. However, the political environment cannot be more enabling than the one prevailing now. The governing dispensations in the two nations have an ideological pull towards each other and the trials and tribulations of the modern Israeli nation have many admirers in India.

There is another connect, that of the Jewish emigres from India. The presence of the Indian diaspora in Israel, in a manner of speaking, can only strengthen the relations between the two countries. So, while the cooperation in the field of security and defence, seen through an economic prism, could serve as a catalyst, the real boost to more robust defence relations would come only from a strong political handshake.

All pointers indicate an upward trajectory and the visit of PM Modi to Tel Aviv should open a new chapter in Indo-Israeli relations.
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In a protest against recent lynching incidents in India, a country-wide demonstration  #NotInMyName  was organised after a 16-year-old boy was stabbed to death on train.

The protests were held in London and Paris as well. But unfortunately, a human cause was given a communal colour. The fliers distributed during the protests and the banners displayed showed only lynchings of Muslim victims after 2015. Even in attributing value to human lives, it took a communal identity, playing to the tune of polarity, even when asking for justice.

The underlying motivations were hard to ignore, too apparent to hide. Some of those who attended said it to be a gathering of dissenters of the ruling party, rather than for the cause, it professed to rally for. It could be another short-lived movement, which couldnt shake peoples conscience, contaminating the claim for justice and value of human life.

To understand the underlying "politics", lets understand lynchings first. The etymology lies in the history of American revolution where a county court judge, Charles Lynch, used the unwritten law against the British supporters, who were under trial. He made the charges, empanelled the jury members, the court would adjourn. By the time the court resumed, the accused was hacked to death by the mob outside, which Lynch often argued, was a war-time necessity. The war had ended but the unwritten law had swayed across America and remained there for more than a century to come, delivering mob-justice, later against the Blacks.

The problem of lynching is endemic to India. The issue is deeper than it appears, and has layers. Going by the data for the last decade, there have been various causes behind lynching incidents across the country every year, ranging from caste to financial and religious disputes among people.

The problem of lynching is endemic to India. The issue is deeper than it appears, and has layers. (Credit: AP photo)

However, it's simply astonishing how people get violent over petty issues and take human lives. The successive governments have been unable to address the problem. The answer to it could be expected in a strict law against mob violence, including adequate police-people ratio, for better law and order. There are two visible sides of activism in the present context. Violation of peoples rights and voices for peoples rights. The other two sides, which are often ignored in the process - the government and the influencers of activism.

The history of individual rights goes back to Magna Carta in the year 1215. However, the history of modern-day human rights began in 1948 with the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The premise and prelude to it was the significance of the value of a human life in the accepted free world. The sphere of "rights" is wider than the real human understanding of it. The general understanding of democracy, if asked on the streets, is met with narrow answers like  "the right to vote and choose who you want to run your country".

With all the positive arguments of human evolution till date, we havent been able to counter the challenges of human identities and the limited information the masses are exposed to. While the evolution is understood in terms of technological advancements, and the values of mutual respect and compassion among humans, the dark side of basic human nature, that is, greed, anger, hatred and callousness are simply overlooked, leave alone an attempt to address it, in the least.

The essence of democracy, the best governance system known yet, is nothing, but freedom. Freedom to life of an individual as a human and the way she or he wants to live. It also offers the freedom to register dissent against the rulers people have chosen. Some of the major social movements in the recent past across the globe revolved around the idea of democracy.

For instance, the Arab Spring sprung in seven countries of West Asia and North Africa in 2010, against the oppression of people by their dictatorial and religious-monarchic regimes. The revolution saw thousands of people taking to the streets. Eventually, the leaders of dissenters, Muslim Brotherhood, managed to topple the government and formed their own in Egypt, only to have unmasked their Islamist intentions afterwards. The crisis in the region now is worse than what was.

In 2011, the Indian government faced the peoples ire for complicity in numerous cases of corruption. Hundreds of thousands of people gathered in protests across the country. Finally, a faction of the organisers formed their political party and successfully contested the Delhi Assembly elections. The India Against Corruption Movement died as soon as they came to power.

In a similar outrage, Womens March was organised in January 2017 against misogyny and to show solidarity to women who go through gender discrimination every day.

Millions of people around the world joined the march. Soon after, it was discovered that the organiser herself was a Sharia law supporter, which is the bedrock of violent gender and human discrimination wrapped in a religious code. The Womens March was never talked about thereafter.

There have been hundreds of significant social movements in India which more often that we have seen die due to vested political motivations of those who lead them.

The moment a social cause gets infused and tainted with political motivations or vested interests, the dishonesty behind it spells ultimate death knell for it, eventually leaving the "victims", in whose name it rises, even more vulnerable and defenceless.

Communal politics has disgracefully been a part of electoral politics in India, but the civil society falling prey to it is equally despicable. Its time to raise the societal standards.
I read this story on DailyO and I was surprised because I too had faced a similar experience. This is the letter I write to external affairs minister, Sushma Swaraj.

Dear ma'am,

I want to bring to your notice a critical issue that concerns all Indians visiting Georgia.

I was invited to attend an international urban design workshop in the country. Upon arriving at Tbilisi airport on May 14, I was denied entry and humiliated no end, treated like a terrorist and sent back home. Why? Because I am an Indian.

That day, I lost not only money but also my dignity.

The five-day workshop required me to study the courtyards of the older part of Tbilisi and prepare urban design proposals for the future of the city. The workshop was sponsored and hence free of cost, and I was visiting as a student. And so I planned a 12-day stay and applied for a tourist visa, which I got in three days.

On the day of my departure from Delhi, at the check-in counter, I was cautioned by the airport staff that the Georgian airport authorities had been sending several passengers back. They advised me to talk to the immigration authorities.

I then proceeded to show them the requisite documents - the visa, invitation letter - and cash and credit cards, confident that I had everything in place. My trip to Georgia was to begin.

Following a 21-hour layover at Almaty in Kazakhstan, I boarded the flight to Tbilisi. Upon reaching the Georgian airport, I joined the immigration queue like any other passenger.

No sooner had I stood there than a woman staffer asked me to move to the last counter, which had no queue nor other passengers.

The immigration officer stationed here asked for my travel papers and inquired about my arrival. I told him I was a participant at an international workshop and handed him the invitation letter.

He then asked me what the event was about and my duration of stay. I answered every one of his questions patiently and showed him the tickets. He probed if I was there to teach and I replied that I was only there to explore the courtyards.

I was then told to sit in a chair near the counter. After some time, another officer emerged from a nearby cabin and asked, "Mister, why are you here?" in a tone which was anything but polite.

To my utter shock, I was informed by the officer that I had been refused entry into Georgia.

When I asked to know the reason, he did not entertain my query. I asked again and he promptly told me go to my seat and wait. When I persisted, the officer's tone turned worse than rude.

He told me that another officer would answer my questions, but that never happened. When I approached the counter yet again, I was told I needed a business visa, not a tourist one.

I showed him a list of my workshop fellows, with their numbers and nationalities - every one of them was visiting on a tourist visa.

I demand that the honourable ministry of external affairs take up this issue with the Georgian embassy. Photo: Reuters

The officer now asked me if the workshop had any other Indian participant. I was the only Indian invitee. I tried to reason with him that no monetary transaction was involved and hence there was no context to seek a business visa.

He ignored my pleas and called a cop. I even requested him to call the organisers or to let me call them so they could clarify, but the officer pointedly refused, saying it wasn't necessary.

The policeman rudely directed me to follow him. In two minutes, I was made a criminal in a foreign country. The airport staff were prepared to put me on the flight back to India.

By now, everyone's behaviour had changed for the worse - from the immigration officers to the security personnel who frisked me to the staff who checked in my luggage. I was told my check-in baggage would be sent back in the same flight.

Without a chance to explain my situation, I was asked to board the flight to Almaty. I was exasperated, but the nightmare was far from over. Upon reaching the layover airport, I found that my luggage was nowhere to be found.

After some time, the airport authorities traced the bag in Georgia. My luggage was in Georgia, where I was denied entry, and I was in Kazakhstan.

15 hours later, I reached Delhi without my luggage. There, at the gate, I was taken to the immigration counter to fill few deportation forms. Three hours later, I was speaking to a immigration officer. He was supportive and told me that Georgia was indeed deporting Indians from the Tbilisi airport.

Finally, after two days of the harassment I was back home. My luggage arrived a week later, on May 24.

When I looked for similar incidents online, I realised there was a pattern to what was happening at Georgia. A Muslim expat was similarly harassed and thrown out because of his beard.

Apart from this, I saw forums full of people complaining that most Indians had been refused entry into the country without any explanation.

This is the trend: they first issue the guest an online visa ($20), we buy tickets (Rs 35,000) for one of the few flights that go to the country, get travel insurance (Rs 1,500) and book hotels, and upon our arrival, they reject our papers and deny us entry - and deport us to India.

I demand that the honourable ministry of external affairs take up this issue with the Georgian embassy.

I have been reluctant to take this up, but my friends and family insisted that I write to you, recounting my ordeal - in the hope that it will be not repeated.

Regards,
It was a bright and beautiful morning when Bonny Senger and Mike Petersen, of Bismarck, posed for selfies at a trailhead near West Yellowstone.

No stranger to the area, Petersen was geared up in a bright orange vest and waders. He packed food, bear spray and a sidearm in case of an emergency in the Montana Rockies.

Around 9:30 on June 4, a Sunday, Petersen took off down the trail.

"I never wanted him to go alone. That always scared me. But you don't question," Senger, 53, who was his girlfriend for the past three years, said in an interview. "I guess I didn't really know how dangerous it was."

"The last thing I said to him was, I don't know why I said it, I said Philippians 4:13. 'I can do all things through Christ,'" she said.

Those words of strength  her favorite in the Bible  would turn out to be needed when the 42-year-old welder disappeared into the woods that night. The father of four drowned in Beaver Creek along his hike in an incident family and law enforcement hope will bring attention to the dangers of hiking alone and in areas with rushing water.

"Bad things happen to good people, and nature doesn't care that 99 times out of 100 it went OK," said Gallatin County Sheriff's Capt. Jason Jarrett.

Jarrett said Petersen likely died attempting to cross the creek on his way back to the trailhead in the afternoon. Due to the spring snowmelt, the creek was much higher than it was when Petersen crossed it in the morning. The Gallatin County rescue team has responded to three drowning deaths this spring, according to its media releases.

"Water in itself needs to be respected," he said. "Moving water is deceivingly powerful."

Before his disappearance, Petersen texted Senger throughout the day  he'd hiked the trail several times before and knew where to get bits of cell reception  as she and her 14-year-old son, Jace, drove to nearby Yellowstone National Park to watch the roaming buffalo and Old Faithful geyser.

She planned to pick Petersen up around 6 p.m. at the trailhead. The idea was to go to dinner and make a fire before bedtime.

But 6 p.m. came and went with no sign of Petersen. At 7:20 p.m., Senger heard four gunshots in the woods. Senger thought it might have been a signal he was on his way, but then nothing. She panicked and drove to find cell service so she could call the Gallatin County Sheriff's Office.

At first the sheriff didn't sound too worried, she recalled, but around 10 p.m. they started a search. Senger and her son waited at a hotel with a chaplain while the search-and-rescue team scoured the area with search teams, dogs and helicopters.

"It was top-notch search and rescue," she said, after seeing the operation that Tuesday, the day rescue volunteers found Petersen with the help of a K-9. "They were all so amazing."

Petersen was a welder living in Bismarck, who left behind four kids, ages 17 to 23. A "storyteller" and a "positive person" Senger recalled, he enjoyed cooking and being outdoors.

"He was revived by the wilderness," said Senger, a physician recruiter.

His brother, Mac Petersen, a 27-year-old cook and server at Rolling Hills in Mandan, drove to southern Montana to join the search when he learned of the incident the day after Mike Petersen went missing.

As he watched the rushing river weave in and out of the road, he said he felt a "looming presence of defeat."

"I had this sinking feeling as we got closer and closer," he said.

It turned out to be justified, as authorities found Mike Petersen's body just an hour before he arrived.

Mac Petersen said he last spoke with his brother three days before his death. Knowing Mac Petersen worried about his safety hiking alone, Mike Petersen had said he was going to a wedding in Denver.

"He wasn't necessarily the most honest with people, but it was because he was always trying to make everybody happy," said Mac Petersen, who is now trying to help his brother's kids, who live together in an apartment.

Though the Gallatin County Sheriff's Office has completed its investigation, there will always be some question about what happened to Petersen in the woods.

During their search, rescue volunteers found Mike Petersen's vest and bear spray canister away from the river. In his backpack, they found the gun. It's possible Petersen encountered a bear, but tracks were never discovered.

Senger, who has three kids of her own, seeks some refuge from her grief in her Catholic faith. Outside the Ground Round shortly after his death, she found on a bench a white bandanna, just like the one Petersen wore when he left on the hike.

Written in Sharpie around the edge, it said: "Deuteronomy 31:6. Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God is with you. He will never leave you nor forsake you."

"I took it. I put it in my purse. And my son goes, 'Mom, you're stealing,'" she said, crying and laughing at once. "I don't care. I think that was for me."
FARGO  Sam Floberg will hunker down at a quiet place in Minnesotas Lakes Country this Fourth of July. Thats because the whoosh of fireworks brings the war in Afghanistan rushing back for the combat vet.

On Thanksgiving Day 2006, Floberg was near the end of a routine patrol with his squad from the Grand Forks-based 1/188th Air Defense Artillery when all of a sudden, rockets started flying past my head.

As the gunner in the units trailing Humvee, I was like a target, the Fargo man said.

Two rocket-propelled grenades zipped by his head. A third RPG was stopped by the vehicles armor. Then a fourth RPG penetrated the cab, killing the driver and severing Flobergs right leg.

Floberg, who was discharged in 2009, said he went to WE Fest, a country music festival in Detroit Lakes, Minnesota, sometime after he came back from the war zone.

The fireworks at the end of the show set off a fight-or-flight reaction.

I ended up locking myself in a truck for awhile, Floberg said. For me, it took awhile to get used to fireworks again.

Therapy has helped considerably. But there are still times when hes startled, and thats when hypervigilance kicks in, he said.

Flobergs situation is shared by many veterans who suffer some degree of post-traumatic stress from their wartime experiences. Its a cruel irony of this most patriotic and firework-filled holiday.

Independence Day celebrates freedom and the soldiers who protect that freedom. Yet the crackle of firecrackers, the boom of star-bursting rockets can send the minds of some former soldiers reeling back to faraway war zones.

Some courtesy helps

For Brad Aune, a former Marine and North Dakota Army National Guardsman, almost any day could promise an attack at Forward Operating Base Warrior, near Kirkuk, Iraq.

He was the first sergeant for Fox Battery of the 1/188th Air Defense Artillery when the unit was there in 2004 and 2005.

Almost every day wed get some kind of mortar or rocket on our FOB, the Fargo man said. There was quite a bit of stress with that. If you heard some sort of unexpected noise, it was not a good thing. Your brain gets kind of programmed that way.

Sounds that could be gunfire, a cannon shot or mortar can still get him to flinch, he said.

Aune doesnt avoid fireworks. He said his children let him know when theyre going to fire some off. And he thinks it would help some veterans if their neighbors would do the same.

I would never tell my neighbors not to shoot them (fireworks) off around me. Thats their right. I fought for their right to do that. We have freedom to enjoy.

I would appreciate that if my neighbors were going to shoot them off, if they would tell me, Aune said. Just courtesy. Just realize that some people are affected by it.

It never goes away

Dennis White of Fargo is commander of the Cass County Disabled American Veterans.

Its been decades since he was a 19-year-old serving as an engineer in the Vietnam War.

Hes OK with fireworks when he knows where theyre going off, but when I cant get a straight line on it, it definitely puts you in a defensive posture.

Other loud sounds can affect veterans, too, he said.

It immediately puts you on heightened alert, White said. Im 67, and it never goes away. Theres a lot of PTSD out there, a lot of it.

At the Fargo Veterans Affairs medical center, psychologist Margo Norton leads the Post Traumatic Stress Recovery team.

In the last eight years, the VA has worked with almost 1,000 veterans from North Dakota, western Minnesota and northern South Dakota with symptoms of post-traumatic stress.

So far this year, the VA has seen more than 100 new cases of veterans with PTSD, she said.

Its kind of ironic.  The Fourth of July is meant to celebrate our freedom and meant to celebrate the people who sacrifice for that, and some of those very same people have a very difficult time with the way we celebrate, because the noises do very much sound like combat, Norton said.

Absolutely, it can take them back. Its something that most of them will work on over the course of their treatment, she said, which includes gradual desensitization to loud noises and learning how to cope with their startle responses.

When it comes to fireworks, some veterans try wearing earplugs, blackening windows, seeking out quiet rooms, barricading themselves in the basement or avoiding family events altogether, Norton said.

Treatment can take just three to four months. Or it can take a year or two as a veteran works through different treatments, or drops out, then returns.

They experience a crisis, and they come back. Were there when they need it, Norton said.

An unexpected boom

Eric Marts, a Desert Storm and Operation Iraqi Freedom veteran, served as a master sergeant and first sergeant for Bravo Company of the 2/136th Infantry Combined Arms Battalion.

The Moorhead man is blind due to a traumatic brain injury after numerous concussions suffered while in combat in Iraq.

IEDs, mortar rockets, RPGs, Bravo Company kind of received it all, Marts said.

In 2006, a blast went off under a vehicle in which he was riding, and he lost vision in his right eye. He convinced superiors that because he shot his rifle left-handed, he could still be effective.

The next massive explosion rolled his Bradley fighting vehicle. Then he started losing his remaining vision. He was sent home in July 2007.

Now, his constant companion is his guide dog Corporal Deacon.

Marts said if he knows there will be blasts at a family Fourth of July celebration, he can handle it.

The issues I will have, being not able to see,  is if it comes to me unexpected. If Im outside with my dog or something and theres an unexpected boom, Ill be honest, that can startle me. I know its Fourth of July, but still, I jump, Marts said.

Other noises affect Marts, too. He cant see lightning, so the crash of thunder may catch him off guard. The heavy boom of a dump trucks gate swinging closed or train cars hooking up at night grab his attention. He also lives next to a shooting range.

I get to hear gunfire all the time. Im in just one heck of a spot, Marts joked.

Despite all that, he wishes he could watch the fireworks. And even though he knows there will be moments of unease, Marts hopes others fully enjoy the holiday.

Happy birthday, America! Thats the main point.

Signs of PTSD

Below are some signs of PTSD, shared by psychologist Margo Norton of the Fargo Veterans Affairs medical center.

Intrusive memories: Thinking of a traumatic event pulls you mentally away from what you are doing. There can also be nightmares or flashbacks.

You avoid things that remind you of the experience or talking about it.

Negative emotions or emotional detachment: You numb all your thoughts and feelings, often with the exception of anger, which sets off a fight-or-flight response.

Hypervigilance: Sufferers have extreme reactions to situations and can have sleep problems.

Veterans can call the VA for help at 1-800-273-8255. To learn more, visit www.ptsd.va.gov.
The wildfire burning a mile southwest of the town of Zortman has grown to approximately 1,000 acres in size, according to a Bureau of Land Management spokesman.

That number suggests the July Fire has grown by around 600 acres since it was estimated on Monday night to be zero percent contained and about 400 acres in size.

No mandatory evacuations had been ordered as of Tuesday afternoon, according to the Phillips County Sheriff's Office dispatch.

Zortman has a population of about 70 and is near the southern border of the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation.

Connell's Western Montana Type 2 Incident Management Team has been ordered to manage the fire, according to the National Wildfire Coordinating Group website InciWeb.

Wildfire incident command teams come in five different levels, with Type 5 typically assigned to the least complex fires and Type 1 teams assigned to the most complex.

In a press release sent Tuesday at about 3:30 p.m, BLM spokesman Jonathan Moor said that aircraft were dropping water on the fire and about 90 wildland firefighters were on scene.

Monday night, the fire was burning mixed timber along a ridge of BLM-managed lands in the Little Rocky Mountains.

Moor's update states that a heavy air tanker, multiple single air tankers, three helicopters, nine fire engines, two water tenders and three bulldozers are also involved in the effort to contain the July Fire.

Crews dispatched to the area include personnel from BLM, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Department of Natural Resources and Conservation and Phillips County firefighters.

The fire began Monday at about 4:30 p.m. and a cause has yet to be determined.
Mumbai: Bharti Airtel that has received biggest hit and loss in revenue due to arrival of Reliance Jio in India's telecom market has come up with a latest free offer Monsoon Surprise for its post-paid users effective July 1, 2017.

For the said offer, Airtel has extended its earlier Data Surprise offer and converted it into Monsoon Surprise exclusively for its post-paid customers. The company has said it is giving 10GB free data every month for the identified customers.

"Airtel's offer is valid on its Rs 499, Rs 649 and Rs 799 postpaid plans," a report on NDTV said. A company spokesperson said that the offer under Monsoon Surprise scheme could be availed of by activating it on MyAirtel app.

"The company is sending another shower of data for three more billing cycles, as part of Monsoon Surprise," NDTV quoted Bharti Airtel CEO Gopal Vittal as saying to subscribers in an email.

The free data offer is only valid on 4G handsets and after three months, it will be automatically withdrawn, the company said on its website.
Cement has been taxed at 28 per cent under the GST as compared to 30 to 31 per cent in the previous system of taxation.

New Delhi: Aditya Birla group firm Ultratech Cement today said it has reduced prices of its products by 2-3 per cent, extending benefits of tax reduction under the GST regime.

The company has started supply of batches on new rates from July 1 from its warehouses, when the new tax structure came into force.

"There will be somewhere 2 to 3 per cent reduction in cement prices because of reduction in tax rates due to GST. We are extending our tax benefits to dealers who would then forward it to the end consumers," UltraTech Cement Chief Financial Officer Atul Daga told PTI.

Cement has been taxed at 28 per cent under the GST as compared to 30 to 31 per cent in the previous system of taxation.

The reduction in prices would vary from state to state, he said, adding "whatever the difference in rates according to each market has been computed and the impact has been given in the new prices".

In the national capital, a cement bag of 50 kg is currently available at around Rs 315.

When asked if cement demand would pick up following price reduction, he said it will be gradual depending on how housing construction and infrastructure development shape up.

Last month, ahead of GST implementation cement offtake by dealers had slowed down due to speculation over tax rates.

"That was a temporary reduction ... this will now convert into cumulative purchase," Daga added.
The industry's AUM had crossed Rs 10 lakh crore in May 2014, and is expected to soon reach Rs 20 lakh crore.

New Delhi: Mutual fund industry's asset base rose 7 per cent to all time high of Rs 19.52 lakh crore at the end of June quarter, driven largely by strong participation from retail investors.

In comparison, assets under management (AUM) of the MF industry, comprising 42 players, were at Rs 18.3 lakh crore during the January-March quarter, as per the data of Association of Mutual Funds in India (Amfi).

The industry's AUM had crossed Rs 10 lakh crore in May 2014, and is expected to soon reach Rs 20 lakh crore. Growing participation from retail investors, especially from smaller towns, contributed to the upside.

Besides, buoyant investor sentiment and phenomenal growth in systematic investment plans also helped in the growth of assets under management, experts said.

"Indian investors have now eventually assimilated mutual funds and the credit goes to awareness programs and endeavours by regulators and Asset Management Companies (AMCs)in mutual fund industry," Bajaj Capital CEO Rahul Parikh said.

"Systematic investment plans have also given investors a choice as well as flexibility of investing periodically or in lump sum as per their preference," he added.

SIP is an investment vehicle offered by MFs allowing people to invest in small amounts periodically instead of in lump sum amount. The investment frequency is either weekly, monthly or quarterly.

Of the 42 fund houses, as many as 35 MFs witnessed growth in their asset base, while five saw decline in their AUMs. The Amfi data did not include assets base of Sahara MF and SREI MF.

ICICI Prudential MF continued to be the largest with an AUM of Rs 2,60,225 crore (excluding fund of funds) followed by HDFC MF (Rs 2,53,044 crore), Reliance MF (Rs 2,22,964 crore), Birla Sun Life MF (Rs 2,05,715 crore) and SBI MF (Rs 1,68,816 crore).

Axis MF has entered in the top 10 league with an AUM of Rs 63,599 crore. A mutual fund pools in assets of its investors and invests the money on their behalf. It provides diverse investment instruments like stocks and bonds without requiring investors to make separate purchases and trades.
Government employees can expect an HRA hike in the range of 106-157 per cent starting this month. (Representational Image)

Mumbai: With the Cabinet clearing the recommendations of 7th Pay Commission on allowances with some modifications, government employees can expect an HRA hike in the range of 106 per cent to 157 per cent, say reports.

The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi cleared the recommendations which will come into effect from July 1. The hike in HRA is expected to be huge, according to a report by Zee News.

The increased allowances is based on the recommendations of the Committee on Allowances (CoA) set up to examine the recommendations of the Pay Commission.

Here are few things to know about HRA hike -

The Pay Commission suggested reduction in HRA rates to:

24 per cent for X category of cities  with a population of 50 lakh and above,

20 per cent for Y category of cities  with a population of 5 to 50 lakh and

10 per cent for Z category of cities  with a population below 5 lakh of cities. The Committee of Allowances had however suggested that HRA should not be reduced as it may not be sufficient for employees in lower pay bracket. The HRA rates approved by the Cabinet are as follows:

Rs 5400 for X category of cities, which is 30 per cent of a minimum pay of Rs 18,000,

Rs 3600 for Y category of cities, which is 20 per cent of a minimum pay of Rs 18,000 and

Rs 1800 for Z category of cities, which is 10 per cent of a minimum pay of Rs 18,000.

According to Jaitley, this decision is set to benefit more than 7.5 lakh 1-3 levels of government employees.
New Delhi: The finance ministry on Monday said there is no distinction in the GST law based on religion and asked people not to circulate wrong messages on social media.

"There are some messages going around in the social media stating that the temple trusts have to pay the GST while the churches and mosques are exempt. This is completely untrue because no distinction is made in the GST law on any provision based on religion," the finance ministry said in a statement.

It also appealed to people not to start circulating wrong messages on social media as there are no religion-based distinction in the Goods and Services Tax (GST).

The government has rolled out the GST from July 1 with a view to introduce uniform indirect taxation system throughout the country.
New Delhi: Former RBI Governor Y V Reddy has said that the idea of government first restructuring public sector banks (PSBs) and then selling stake in them is a flawed idea as restructuring invariably comes with a cost.

"The idea that you consolidate PSB banks, restructure and then sell is wrong. Ultimately, restructuring has invariably some cost. Let the fellow do the restructuring who is taking over, than you doing it," the former RBI Governor said in an interview to PTI.

Asked to comment on the Finance Ministry requesting Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) members for a meeting ahead of the second bi-monthly policy review of 2017/18 last month, Reddy said that MPC members are competent enough as they are also economists.

"If they (Finmin) have called them (MPC member) on the capacity of economist then it is different -- purely as MPC then yes -- that's an official communication," Reddy said, adding, "I think, what has happened is MPC has just started. The conventions are yet to develop and procedures are yet to develop."

Referring to the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), he noted that it is good that the legislative framework has been put in place.

"It's (IBC) an important development. Therefore, certainly it is a desirable thing," Reddy said.

Asked about his opinion of the present RBI Governor Urjit Patel who rarely communicates with the media, Reddy pointed out that every RBI Governor has his own style of functioning.

"For instance, C Rangarajan was speaking quite frequently as RBI Governor, Bimal Jalan used to speak less frequently, but used the deputy governors. D Subbarao used to talk frequently. So, it depends," he noted.
Mumbai: Geeta Gawli makes a special request to the producers of 'Daddy' to get the release date changed.

In an unprecedented move, the makers of Arjun Rampal's 'Daddy' have been requested to shift the release date of the film to September 8. The film's trailer which has organically clocked over 10 million views has won the love of masses and the critics. However, the move to a new date comes with a special blessing. Daddy, which had an initial release date of July 21, will now be released on September 8th due to an appeal that took everyone by surprise.

Geeta Gawli, the daughter of gangster-politician Arun Gawli on whose life 'Daddy' is based, met Arjun and requested him to push the release of the film to a later date.

'Daddy' is not just a film but an experience of a lifetime for Geeta. It is an emotional journey that the Gawli family have gone through over the last three years of the making the film. She is hopeful that Arun Gawli gets parole and may be able to come out and speak about the film with the audience. This would be extremely important to him as he's never given permission for his life story before.

Talking about her meeting with Arjun, Geeta says, "I am really excited to show the film to everyone and I felt it would be special and auspicious to have the film release when my daddy was out on parole. I am really hoping that he gets parole at the time. I want the world to see the film and know the real daddy who has been our pillar of strength for so many years. I wanted them to release the film in September instead."

Geeta adds, "To see Daddy in person and on screen is very different. We cannot wait for the movie and are overwhelmed by the trailer. Arjun and Ashim have shown every aspect of our fathers life in this movie. We have no words to describe what we are going through. Over the last 3 years, Arjun has really understood my father and I really respect that he has kept his feelings in mind and made this movie while staying true to the ups and downs that he has endured in his life."

Geeta feels that for her father it will also be auspicious to release 'Daddy' in the midst of the Ganesh festival - an event that has been very close to Arun Gawli's heart. The entire Lalbaug area is renowned for the lavish and larger than life Ganesh pandals and pujas that the Gawlis have been a part of for many decades.

'Daddy' was the first Indian film to be launched at the Google headquarters and is one the most anticipated releases of 2017. The film starring Arjun Rampal in the lead role as Arun Gawli is directed by Ashim Ahluwalia and releases on September 8, 2017.
Gangster Arun Gawli (L) and Arjun Rampal in a still from the film based on his life 'Daddy'. Unlike other films made on gangsters, 'Daddy' does not glorify the alleged misdeeds of Gawli.

Mumbai: When Ashim Ahluwalia was asked to direct Daddy, a film based on the life of one of Mumbais most feared gangsters, he was clear about two things  it would not be a clean-up job and he would do it on his own terms and not the way Bollywood usually treats mobster films.

Daddy trailer: Arjun Rampal film could be best gangster saga to come out in years

Ahluwalias 2012 film Miss Lovely was an entry at the Cannes Film Festival, but he hasnt made any other film since then. He was at first reluctant when actor Arjun Rampal asked him to consider making a biopic on Arun Gawli, a one-time henchman of mafia boss Dawood Ibrahim who later broke away and formed his own gang. What eventually convinced him, Ahluwalia said, was that Gawli was a fascinating character and Rampal didnt want to make a typical Indian gangster film.

In our first chat about the film, I told him, You are not going to be jumping off rooftops. And he told me, That is exactly what I want, Ahluwalia said in an interview.

Exclusive: 'I am not afraid,' says Arjun on his act as Gawli in Daddy being judged

Rampal, a former ramp model, who made his Bollywood debut 15 years ago, was approached by another producer to act in the film, but was not convinced by the script. He took the idea to Ahluwalia, who doesnt particularly subscribe to Bollywoods ideas of how to make a movie. His Miss Lovely, an eloquent portrait of those that populate Mumbais soft-core porn industry, won accolades at Cannes and other festivals.

For long, Bollywoods gangster movies have romanticised the criminal, portraying him as a man wronged by the system and who turns to crime reluctantly. Amitabh Bachchan made a career out of playing a gangster with a golden heart in films like Deewaar and Agneepath. Recent movies like Once Upon a Time in Mumbai and Shah Rukh Khans Raees have followed the same path. In Bollywood, the gangster always gets redemption before the closing credits start rolling.

There is no redemption in my film. Yes, there is empathy, but the ending is very factual. It is not a clean-up job he said.

Exclusive: Arjun Rampal doesnt want an item number in 'Daddy'

Rampal and Ahluwalia approached Gawli for permission to make his biopic before shooting the movie. Gawli, who is serving a life sentence for the murder of a politician from the right-wing Shiv Sena party, was more than forthcoming, even giving them permission to include scenes where he smokes a chillum (a pipe used to smoke cannabis).

Known among his followers as Daddy, Gawlis stronghold in Mumbai was the Dagdi Chawl, a colony of seven buildings that houses families in one-room tenements. His family still lives there.

An unemployed youngster during the famed Mumbai textile strike, Gawli led a bloody gang war against Dawood Ibrahim in the 1980s but was never in jail for a long time. His gang of extortionists and contract killers spread terror in and around Mumbai, but also found patronage in the Shiv Sena, which felt the police should go easy on Gawli because he was a local man, as opposed to his Muslim rivals.

In 2012, he and eleven other acquaintances were convicted in the killing of politician Kamlakar Jamsandekar. Ahluwalia says while he feels empathy for a man who was an accidental gangster, there is no attempt to whitewash Gawlis crimes, including several alleged murders.

I wanted that sense in the film, that you know him completely and yet you never know him. The film is told from the point of views of six different characters who know him, but never from his perspective. One from his mother or wife, who tells how hard it was, and you feel empathy for him. Another is at the side of a gangster who left the gang and has negative things to say about him. You can never quite put your finger on this man, he said.

Ahluwalia and his crew recreated Gawlis hideout, but also shot in real locations in some of Mumbais dodgiest areas. He shot with no bound script, often writing dialogue on set based on what the environment was like.

Arjun Rampal in an intense jail scene from the film 'Daddy'.

Maybe you have some great dialogue written by your dialogue writer, but then on set it sounds filmy and wrong. That is why you have to have a relationship with your actors and crew. To be able to say, Arjun, this is not working, man. Lets drop it and do something else, he said.

The crew also shot in areas where Gawlis biggest rivals lived, an environment that was openly hostile to them.

I like putting people in this insanity. It is not healthy but it is very good for the movie. Taking people into really difficult locations and getting them out of their comfort zone. You are on edge there because you are getting yelled at by real gangsters or there are rats falling from the ceiling.

Even so, the film couldnt quite be a no-holds-barred version of Gawli and his life because of some things that are still under legal examination.

I might land up in jail if I reveal much about Daddy: Arjun Rampal

I dont want to make a movie that puts Arun Gawli at risk. Hes opened up himself to us and as filmmakers. We have to protect that without doing a whitewashing job. Hes given you all that info, it is in your hands what to do with it, and I wouldnt want to exploit that, he said.

Daddy releases in theatres in September.
Here's a special moment of the two geniuses at work from their personal jamming session.

Mumbai: Iranian auteur Majid Majidi is back in Mumbai after spending the sacred Ramzan month back home in Tehran.

He's resumed work in full swing on his next directorial venture 'Beyond The Clouds' produced by Zee Studios and Eyecandy Films. He was recently seen jamming with his music director AR Rahman on the music for their film in Rahman's studio in Mumbai.

Majid Majidi and Ishaan Khattar almost clashed on the set of Beyond the Clouds?

An insider source revealed that Rahman is in Mumbai to spend a few days with this cinematic legend. "Mr.Majidi and Rahman share a beautiful connect and are excited to work together." says the source.

Here's a special moment of the two geniuses at work from their personal jamming session.
Alia Bhatt and Sidharth Malhotra in a still from the film 'Student of the Year'. Both the actors are said to have started dating after their debut project.

Mumbai: Of all the rumoured couples we have in Bollywood, Alia Bhatt and Sidharth Malhotra are the most secretive. The duo, who are rumoured to be a rock-solid couple, has never publicly admitted to seeing each other. And now Sid is going to painful extents to conceal his whereabouts from the media.

Sidharth is and will always be special: Alia Bhatt

We hear that a few days back Sid was going to Alias new house in the wee hours of the morning. On sensing that the paparazzi have got a whisk of his visit, the Ek Villain took an entirely different route, leaving the cameramen guessing and running around for a while.

Exclusive: Stay away from Jacqueline Fernandez: Alia Bhatt to Sidharth Malhotra

However, the actor did visit his pretty ladylove. His car was found parked Alias car.

Sid-Alia have been spotted together many a times; movie theatres, dinner and lunch dates.

An hour-long hide-and-seek session for nothing? Accept it already.
It would be interesting to see these stalwarts- Shah Rukh Khan and Salman Khan perform together in a song.

Mumbai: On the occasion of Eid 2017, Shah Rukh Khan indirectly conformed that Salman Khan will play a cameo in his Aanand L Rais next untitled film, where the Raees actor will be essaying the character of a dwarf with the help of equipped graphics and visual effects. The film also has Anushka Sharma playing a mentally challenged character, while Katrina Kaif plays herself.

Giving some insights about the cameo in the film, Shah Rukh had revealed, There is a guest appearance in Aanands film that Id like Salman to consider. We are still working on it. But, I would like him to play the role.

The latest according to a leading tabloid is that Shah Rukhs 3 am buddy Salman will be joining SRK in Yash Raj Studios on Tuesday, July 4, to shoot a song for this untitled flick.

Meanwhile, at a promotional event of Tubelight, when Salman was asked how did they get SRK on board for the cameo, he had revealed that it just took a phone call to lock him for Gogo Pashas character, and this is what Shah Rukh has to say about it. He said, Ab mana hi nahi kar sakta, kaun mana kar sakta hai usko. Kiski himmat hai? (Who would dare say no to Salman?)

When told that people have loved his part in 'Tubelight,' Shah Rukh earnestly said, Thank you so much. They are all my friends, Kabir, Salman, I think it was a duty to do that and I am happy that I have done it okay because when you do a scene, like in 'Ae Dil Hai Mushkil,' 'Tubelight,' we don't know much about the story. So, I have seen my part too and I think I did a fairly good job so I am happy.

However, the actor admitted that he hasn't yet approached his '3 am buddy' Salman Khan.

I am going to speak to him when we get time. Salman and I only meet at 3 am, so we have to wait for the apt time, joked SRK.

Though the film has not received an apt title, reunion of these stars in this film is now definitely cemented through this song.
Mumbai: Raaj Shaandilyaa's new bond with Sunil Shetty is taking him all onto another level. Raaj and Sunil interacted more on the sets of Indias Asli Champion where he is the script writer.

A reliable source revealed that Sunil is very keen on working with Raaj for his next project. Raaj who entered record books after writing a phenomenal 625 comedy scripts in an extremely short time has made his transition to the serious genre in Bollywood with 'Bhoomi'.

Sunil is well versed Raaj and he knows his contribution for film Bhoomi. Sunil is now in talks with producers and directors that Raaj should write his next script for him.

He says, Raaj is the most talented and wittiest writer I have ever come across, it would be great to work with him.
Mumbai: Robert Downey Jr says actor Tom Holland is 'perfect' to play Spider-Man as the young star is physically quite gifted.

In an interview to News Corp Australia Network, the 52-year-old actor praises Holland, who will be seen in the role of the popular superhero in Spider-Man: Homecoming.

"Tom is the perfect man for the job. He's enthusiastic, bright and gifted, a very physically talented guy by virtue of his dance and acrobatic background. He has just the right combination of elements required to bring a new take on the character," Downey Jr said.

Holland was introduced in the Marvel cinematic universe in Captain America: Civil War.

He is the third actor to play Spider-Man after Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield.

The film will release on July 7.
Stevie Ryan was also known for the VH 1 show 'Stevie TV.' (Photo: AP)

New Delhi: Internet star Stevie Ryan, who rose to fame with her YouTube series 'Little Loca,' has died in an apparent suicide at the age of 33.

According to the website of the Los Angeles County Coroner's Office, Ryan was found dead at her place of residence on July 1. The cause of death is listed as suicide by hanging.

Ghostbusters star Henry J Deutschendorf II commits suicide

The news comes days after she co-hosted 'Mentally Ch(ill),' a "podcast about depression," where she revealed that her grandfather had died recently.

Ryan also took to the social media to grieve her grandfather's death by posting a tribute.

"The man of my dreams will now only be in my dreams," she wrote to her Twitter followers. "I'll miss you everyday, forever. I love you my Pa."

The man of my dreams will now only be in my dreams. I'll miss you everyday, forever. I love you my Pa. pic.twitter.com/nQ6hPPD3cC  Stevie Ryan (@StevieRyan) June 30, 2017

"My dream man who I will only see in my dreams. I'll meet you in Percebo, soon. I love you my Papa," She posted on her Instagram page.

Mumbai: 29-year-old actress Anjali Srivastava commits suicide

The YouTube personality, whose channel has 49,000 subscribers and millions of views, also used the video platform to share celebrity impressions.

She also parodied pop culture figures on the VH1 sketch series 'Stevie TV,' which was canceled after its second season.
Mumbai: Kamal Haasan has been quite vocal about his political and social views, and the legendary actor has once again expressed his opinion unabashedly.

The national award winning superstar has expressed his views on the boiling topic of the implementation of GST. There has been a state of crisis in Tamil Nadu, after theatre owners decided to shut shop post a 30% taxation that got levied.

2.0 lyricist Madhan Karky slashes remuneration to aid Kollywood during GST crisis

The Producer's council had also urged the Centre to levy the least possible taxation to regional cinema.

Read his statement here:

Neighbouring states like Kerala have totally desisted from levying anymore state tax on Cinema over and above GST. The film industry requested the CM of Kerala Mr. Pinarayi Vijayan and he through his Finance minister quickly announced that Kerala will not be levying anymore taxes on the already beleaguered film business. Karnataka has gone even further to facilitate the well being of the film industry. Telangana and Andhra are also doing their best for their film industries. It is only Tamil Nadu Govt. That has brought it to 30%. Film making in this State has been made difficult deliberately. There are further tortures and systemic corruption that the film Industry has to endure under this regime. All factions of the Industry are agitated. I am trying my best as any sensible individual of the industry to maintain solidarity and not play into the hands of any self serving and avaricious politician.

While earlier Bihar used to be the nation's whipping boy when it came to corruption, Tamil Nadu has left Bihar far behind. Film Industry is one among the many Industries asphyxiated by the prevailing systemic corruption in the State. I anticipate even stronger protests soon.

We of the Tamil film industry are trying to make our demands in one voice. So there are no dissident voices for the government to split the unity with.
For most of us going to the beach is about enjoying the waves and soaking up the sun. But for Sam Phelps, it means gearing up in a wetsuit, gloves, boots and a mask because he is allergic to sunlight due to a rare condition.

Sunlight causes the 27-year-old marine engineer from Bristol, to break out in painful, swollen rashes on hot days, even in winter, the Daily Mail reported. The sunshine makes his skin swell and turn purple causing excruciating pain. Sometimes, he told the Daily Mail it feels like a person is holding a lighter to his skin.

His condition, called erythropoietic protoporphyria (EPP), is incurable and makes his skin burn when exposed to UV light. According to the British Skin Foundation, symptoms of EPP begin with "tingling, itching or burning, as well as redness and burning". In certain cases people with EPP can develop liver disease. While EEP is inherited, families may not be aware they carry a gene with the condition.

Even though his friends tease him about being like a "vampire", Phelps reveals it helps explain his condition to others. Having to covering his face due to the condition makes security guards think he a criminal, according to the report.

Since being diagnosed with the condition six year ago, Phelps has had treatment sessions during the summer to help his skin adapt to the light. While it is not a cure, it does help make the symptoms less painful.

Despite it all, Phelps does not let the incurable disease stop him from spending time with friends and takes more risks with precaution to spend more time with them out in the sun.
According to the report, various studies in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry claims that there might be higher risk of addiction in adults, if a person, as an infant, faced any kind of disorder. (Photo: Pixabay)

Washington DC: A recent study has revealed the causes of addiction in adults that could be related to a psychiatric disorder incurred by a person during his/her childhood years.

The study links an adult's later years behaviour and addiction to his childhood past with psychiatry records.

According to the report, various studies in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry claims that there might be higher risk of addiction in adults, if a person, as an infant, faced any kind of disorder.

The researchers from the Child Study group at the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam and Accare, the Center for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at the University Medical Center Groningen, the Netherlands, demonstrated that individuals diagnosed in childhood with disorders like Oppositional defiant disorder (ODD), Conduct disorder (CD) with antisocial behavioral pattern, Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are more likely to face depression in their adulthood along with an increased risk of being an addict.

The study re-analyzed data of 37 previous studies containing a total of 762,187 individuals, of whom 22,029 had ADHD, 434 had disruptive behavior disorders (such as ODD/CD), 1,433 had anxiety disorder, and 2,451 had depression.

"We know that ADHD in childhood increases the risk for later substance-related disorders, but until now, no systematic evaluation of other childhood psychiatric disorders had been conducted," said Dr. Annabeth P. Groenman, researcher at Accare, Center for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, University Medical Center Groningen, the Netherlands.

Adding, "Our findings show that not only ADHD increased the risk of addictions, but that other childhood psychiatric disorders also increased risk. This indicates the importance of early detection of mental health problems in a wider group. Addiction is a major cause of immense personal, familial, and societal burden, and prevention is therefore an important goal."

Professor Jaap Oosterlaan, principal investigator of the Child Study Group at the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam and the Emma Children's Hospital AMC, the Netherlands, also said, "Now that we have firmly established children with psychiatric disorders as a high-risk group for later substance-related disorders, the next step is to make parents, clinicians, and the government aware of these risks and work together in reducing the risks for addiction and its debilitating consequences."

Hence, an addiction in you too might have a relation to such disorders in childhood.

This study is published in the July 2017 issue of the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (JAACAP).
As the high court handed an interim ban on Kambala last year, the organisers would submit a copy of the Ordinance to the court and get the stay vacated.

Mangaluru: All hurdles for organising Kambala are cleared with President, Pranab Mukherjee, approving an ordinance of the state government, much to the delight of activists who waged a prolonged legal battle in support of the folk game involving a race of buffalos in slush in coastal districts.

The order issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs states: "In pursuance of the proviso to Clause (1) of article 213 of the Constitution of India, the President of India hereby approves the promulgation of the 'The prevention of cruelty to Animal (Karnataka Amendment) Ordinance 2017,' by the Governor of Karnataka."

We are really happy that the Ordinance has received the President's nod. We will provide a certified copy of the order to the high court in a day or two and get the stay vacated," Ashok Rai, District Kambala Samithi office bearer, and who has been fighting a legal battle against the ban on Kambala, told Deccan Chronicle, adding "Since last ten years PETA has been trying to stop Kambala and we have been fighting against it. The problem increased after the ban on Jallikattu. I have been fighting the case in the court since four years. With the President promulgating the Prevention of Cruelty to Animal (Karnataka Amendment) Ordinance 2017, we will now be in a position to organise Kambala without any hurdles or any fear as Kambala will not be considered as a cruelty against animal. Our folk game will continue this season."

He thanked the state government for promulgating an ordinance, various leaders of BJP, and all elected representatives who worked to secure a green signal for Kambala.

As the high court handed an interim ban on Kambala last year, the organisers would submit a copy of the Ordinance to the court and get the stay vacated.

With the Tamil Nadu government passing an Ordinance for allowing Jallikattu, and the subsequent go-ahead received by the Union government, the state government promulgated an Ordinance to allow the folk game through an amendment to the prevention of cruelty to animals Act.
Acting on a tip-off, the police searched the tempo parked on a roadside in Shivaji Nagar and seized the consignment. (Photo: PTI/Representational)

Mumbai: The Mumbai Police on Tuesday seized around 700 kg of meat, suspected to be beef, from a tempo at Shivaji Nagar in suburban Govandi.

The tempo driver and cleaner have been detained, a senior police official said.

The meat was apparently brought for sale from Panvel in neighbouring Raigad district, he said.

Acting on a tip-off, the police searched the tempo parked on a roadside in Shivaji Nagar and seized the consignment.

Samples have been sent to the Forensic Science Laboratory in Kalina in Mumbai for examination, Deputy Commissioner of Police (zone-VI) Shahaji Umap said.

The seized meat has been handed over to the municipal authorities for disposal, he said.

Read: SC rejects PIL seeking ban on cow slaughter throughout country

"We have detained the driver and cleaner of the tempo and their interrogation is on," the DCP said, adding that appropriate action will be taken after they receive the chemical analysis report of the seized meat.

Under the Maharashtra Animal Preservation (Amendment) Act, the slaughter of bulls and bullocks, besides cows is banned in the state.
Akbaruddin Owaisi was also purportedly shown in the video, which has gone viral, criticising the Modi government for the recent killing of Muslims. (Photo: File)

Hyderabad/New Delhi: AIMIM MLA Akbaruddin Owaisi stoked a controversy when he claimed his brother and party chief Asaduddin Owaisi could win 50 seats in Parliament with the votes of "our brethren", remarks seen as an appeal to Muslim voters which the BJP dubbed as "hate speech".

Owaisi was also purportedly shown in the video, which has gone viral, criticising the Modi government for the recent killing of Muslims.

He referred to the killings of Mohammed Akhlaq, Pehlu Khan and 15-year-old Junaid Khan and asked "if it is a crime to wear a cap, grow your beard and be a Muslim".

"There is no need for the sympathy, support of anybody.

Our brother (his brother and MIM president Asaduddin Owaisi) can win 50 parliament seats for the party with the votes of our brethren," Akbaruddin, the MLA from Chandrayangutta in Hyderabad, was heard saying in the video.

Hitting out at the VHP and Bajrang Dal, he said: "Jitna ye mulk tera hai, utna ye mulk mera bhi hai". (This country is mine as much as it is yours).

Responding to Akbaruddin's alleged comments which were seen as appealing to Muslim sentiments, BJP spokesperson Krishna Saagar Rao alleged the MLA made a "hate" speech which could "incite" people.

Wondering why the TRS government in the state had not filed charge-sheet in the case of hate speech made earlier by Akbaruddin Owaisi, the BJP leader demanded that a police case be registered against him.

BJP would approach the Election Commission seeking cancellation of MIM's recognition, he said.

The Congress, meanwhile, accused the BJP of "misusing" people like the Owaisi brothers to "promote its agenda of polarisation and create hatred and mutual enmity in society".

Congress spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi dubbed the Owaisi brothers as the ruling party's "B-team" and put the blame on BJP's "dirty tricks department" for spreading "cheap politics".

"Let me make it clear, I have no hesitation in saying that this is yet again the BJP 'B Team' even though their name may be 'Owaisi brothers'," he told reporters in New Delhi.

"The object of this is only one - to create Hindu versus Muslim, caste versus caste, region versus region, Indian versus Indian.....and everybody versus everybody. I am shocked and aghast that the party which is in power does not have this much responsibility and stands exposed.

Every time they do so, we will expose them again," he said.

It was not immediately clear where and when Akbaruddin Owaisi made the alleged speech.
The child was buried just one foot below the earth. (Representational Image)

Barwani (Madhya Pradesh): Thirty two-year-old Sher Singh, who pulled out the baby, said some children playing close to the burial ground at Ghus village, about 64 kms from Barwani, heard cries coming from a mound of mud Monday evening.

Taken aback by the cries coming out from beneath the ground, the children ran away and informed me and my wife Sunita, 28, said Singh.

When I reached the spot, I was shocked to hear the cries coming from a small mound which had a crack, Singh said.

We (Singh and his wife) started removing the mud with our hands and found a baby boy wailing inside, he claimed.

The child was buried just one foot below the earth, he said.

We informed the Ojhar police outpost about the incident, Singh said.

The boy was later admitted to the district hospital, additional superintendent of police TS Baghel said, adding police are searching for the babys parents.

We are looking at the records of maternity hospitals in the district, Baghel said.

The district hospitals pediatrician, Dr Roop Singh Bhadale, who is treating the child, said the boy appears to be around 10 days old.

He has been bitten by insects and is suffering from flu and cold, but is out of danger, he said.

The couple, who pulled the baby out from the grave, has expressed the desire to adopt him and are camping at the hospital.

The husband and wife, who have three daughters, feel the baby is god-sent.
As the troubled spot in West Bengal is adjacent to Bangladesh, there is a possibility that outsiders were involved in this violence, Kailash Vijayvargiya said. (Photo: Facebook)

Basirhat: Four companies of central paramilitary forces were rushed to Basirhats Baduria and its adjoining areas on Tuesday evening in wake of the violence due to communal clashes there.

Internet services were also disrupted in Baduria in North 24 Parganas on Wednesday following communal violence.

Deputy Inspector General (South Bengal Frontier) of the Border Security Force (BSF) RPS Jaswal informed that four companies of the BSF troops were deployed at Baduria Basirhat, Swarupnagar and Deganga.

Besides a Rapid Action Force (RAF) team of the Kolkata Police, another contingent of force of the Howrah City Police led by its police commissioner DP Singh have also been deployed in the violence-hit areas.

Riot erupted in the area close to the Indo-Bangla border after a youth, Sourav Sarkar from Rudrapur, allegedly uploaded an inflammatory post on his Facebook account which went viral and hurt the sentiment of a minority community on Sunday leading to a clash.

Although Sourav fled at night, he was later arrested by the police from a paddy field on Monday morning. The accused has been remanded by the Basirhat Sub-Division Court in the police custody for four days.

But the public anger continued as many roads were blocked and several houses were torched by the demonstrators. On Tuesday afternoon when Superintendent of Police (North 24 Parganas) Bhaskar Mukherjee visited Jadurhati, he came under attack as well.

The IPS officer was injured after he was beaten up while his vehicle was ransacked by an angry mob.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee accused Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi of threatening and insulting her over a phone conversation on reports of violence due to communal clashes at Basirhat in North 24 Parganas

Kolkata: In an unprecedented move, Chief Minister (CM) Mamata Banerjee accused Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi of threatening and insulting her over a phone conversation on Tuesday, on reports of violence due to communal clashes at Basirhat in North 24 Parganas.

Exploding in fury at the state secretariat, Nabanna, she said, "The Governor called on my phone and threatened me. He also insulted me. I never felt so humiliated in my life. I was so deeply hurt that I thought I would quit my post. The Governor was talking like a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Block president. He cannot threaten me."

Banerjee said, "His post is constitutional. A Governor is appointed by the Centre while the CM is elected by people of the state. I made it clear to him that he cannot talk to me in that tone. I have not become the chief minister with his blessings. We are neither thieves, nor dacoits."

Banerjee was surprised over a Governor questioning her government's ability to tackle the law and order situation. She also slammed the BJP and refused to take any questions from journalists.

However, the Raj Bhavan in a statement rubbished Banerjee's allegations.

The Raj Bhavan said in a statement, "The Honble Governor is surprised at the attitude and language used by the Honble Chief Minister during the Press conference on Tuesday. The talks between the Honble Chief Minister and the Honble Governor were confidential in nature and none are expected to disclose it."

"However, there was nothing insulting in the talks that the Honble Chief Minister may have felt insulted, threatened or humiliated. The Honble Governor did say to the Honble Chief Minister to ensure peace, law and order by all means. The Honble Governor always holds the people, who occupy the Constitutional positions, in high esteem."

The statement read, "The Honble Governor, being the Head of the State, is the guardian of all the citizens of the State and not of any particular party or section of society. It is proper for the Honble Governor to bring to notice of the Honble Chief Minister any serious grievance made by any member of public or any serious event happening in the State. The Honble Governor cannot remain a mute spectator of the affairs in the State."

A delegation of BJP and RSS leaders visited Tripathi at Raj Bhavan at around 2.30 pm. They showed him some photographs of the violence-hit areas and sought his intervention. At around 3.30 pm the Governor called up the chief minister on her mobile who was holding a meeting on the development of Kalighat Temple with some of her cabinet ministers at Nabanna then, sources disclosed.

Banerjee left the meeting and attended the Governor's call, sources revealed, adding that their conversation however turned bitter as he wanted to know about the situation at Basirhat from her.
Mumbai: Israel has expressed its willingness to share advanced digital technology in the health sector, which can be used for integration, analysis and processing of patients data, with India.

Since Aadhar number is linked to most of the health related treatments it is generating huge data related to treatment of patients and Israel can provide expertise on how to handle and process it, David Akov, consul general of Israel said on Tuesday on the sidelines of an event.

"Aadhaar number is widely used in India including in the health sector. It is generating huge database of patients health, treatment, medical history. Israeli technology can help in how to handle and use it (database) for better purpose of finding out trends in the health sector," said Akov.

Israel is also keen on supporting digital transportation where available data on transportation can be processed, Akov said.
The SC said that the purpose of the ban was to ensure that people do not drink and drive on highways. (Representational Image)

New Delhi: In a move where the Punjab government observed a law saying restaurants situated within 500 metres of National Highways can serve liquor within their premises, the Supreme Court on Tuesday said there is nothing wrong with denotifying highways inside cities.

Following a Supreme Court order, thousands of pubs, restaurants and bars have been forced to shut down, saying that liquor cannot be served near national and state highways.

The SC said that the purpose of the ban was to ensure that people do not drink and drive on highways, a report in The News Minute read. There are no such issues when the roads are within the city, the apex court said, while adding that denotifying such roads may have intelligible differentia.

The court made the observation while responding to a plea filed by Arrive Safe Society, a Chandigarh based NGO. The NGO alleged that the Chandigarh administration had issued notification to denotify roads to bypass Supreme Courts order, the report added.

The NGO had moved the SC after Punjab and Haryana High Court dismissed its plea stating that the administrtion had not voilated any law by issuing the said notification.

The apex court had meanwhile ruled that states were not wrong in denotifying highways within the city to avoid shutting down of liquor shops and restaurants and hotels serving liquor.

Meanwhile, states like Karnataka have already approached Centre asking to denotify national highways passing through the limits of urban local bodies.
PM Modi had described Indias ties with Israel as 'special' and had said that his visit would 'lead to further cementing' of bilateral ties and cooperation in key areas, including counter-terrorism. (Photo: Twitter @PIB_India)

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday left for Israel on a two-day visit, becoming the first Indian prime minister to visit the middle-east country.

People of both the countries are expecting that the historic visit of the prime minister will give a fillip to the bilateral ties.

On the eve of his visit to Israel, Modi on Monday said he will discuss with his counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu the common challenges like terrorism and ways to boost the economic ties.

Modi had described Indias ties with Israel as special and had said that his visit would lead to further cementing of bilateral ties and cooperation in key areas, including counter-terrorism.

Modi was quoted by news agencies as saying that his visit was based on the deep centuries-old connection between our two people.

He said, I share the opinion of many of my people, who see Israel as a beacon of technology, as a country that has managed to survive even though the odds were against it.

In Israel, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will also meet President Reuven Ruvi Rivlin and address the CEOs of the two countries as well as the Indian diaspora.

Modi will also visit the Yad Vashem Memorial Museum in Jerusalem and also pay tribute to Indian soldiers who died liberating Haifa in 1918.

"Tomorrow (Tuesday), I begin a historic visit to Israel, a very special partner of India's... As the first Indian prime minister to do so, I am greatly looking forward to this unprecedented visit that will bring our two countries and people closer," Modi said.

Modi also professed his anticipation on Twitter, "I look forward to holding extensive talks with my friend, @IsraeliPM @netanyahu, who shares a commitment for vibrant India-Israel ties."

I look forward to holding extensive talks with my friend, @IsraeliPM @netanyahu, who shares a commitment for vibrant India-Israel ties.  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) July 3, 2017

The prime minister said he will have "in-depth talks" with Netanyahu "on the full spectrum of our partnership and strengthening it in diverse fields for mutual benefit. We will also have the chance to discuss major common challenges like terrorism."

From boosting economic ties to furthering people-to-people interactions, my Israel visit has a wide range of programmes.  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) July 3, 2017

Israel Ambassador to India, Danny Carmon said that Narendra Modi and Benjamin Netanyahu will hold a four-hour meeting on Wednesday, which will include a working lunch.

During the bilateral meeting, the two leaders are expected to talk on setting up joint strategic partnerships on agriculture and water, among other areas of cooperation.

Carmon added that Israel is also seeking cooperation in the field of space technology.

This year, India and Israel are marking 25 years of their diplomatic relations. "My programme during the visit gives me an opportunity to engage with a cross-section of Israeli society. I am particularly looking forward to interacting with the large vibrant Indian diaspora in Israel that represents an enduring link between our two peoples," Modi said.

On the economic side, he said, "I will join with leading Indian and Israeli CEOs and start-ups to discuss our shared priority of expanding business and investment collaboration on the ground."

In addition, he said, "I hope to get insights into Israel's accomplishments in technology and innovation through on-site visits."

India has acquired weaponry worth billions of dollars from Israel in the past decade.

The two countries will sign agreements to deepen cooperation on state-of-the-art technologies in the space sector. India will also be opening a cultural centre in Israel, the announcement regarding which is to be made during Modis visit.

On July 6, the prime minister will travel to Hamburg for the G-20 Summit being hosted by Germany on July 7-8. The theme chosen for this year is 'Shaping an Inter-connected World'.

"I look forward to engaging leaders from other G-20 countries on the vital issues affecting our world today that have a bearing on economic growth, sustainable development, and peace and stability," he said.

"We will review progress on decisions since the Hangzhou Summit last year and deliberate on issues of terrorism, climate, sustainable development, growth and trade, digitalisation, health, employment, migration, womens empowerment, and partnership with Africa," Modi added.

As in the past, he said he looked forward to the opportunity to meet leaders on the sidelines of the Summit to exchange views on bilateral matters of mutual interest.
M Venkaiah Naidu participated at the function hosted by TRS party welcoming Ram Nath Kovind in Hyderabad. Telangana CM K Chandrashekhar Rao was also present (Photo: Twitter @MVenkaiahNaidu)

Hyderabad (Telangana): The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) Presidential candidate Ram Nath Kovind on Tuesday got support of the Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS), Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and YSR Congress Party (Yuvajana Shramika Rythu Congress Party).

The support came after Kovind met with the leaders of these parties in Hyderabad. Union Information Technology Minister M Venkaiah Naidu was accompanying Kovind, as he garnered support.

Naidu made this announcement in a series of tweets.

"Happy that TRS party has expressed its support to the NDA Presidential Nominee Sh Ram Nath Kovind (sic)," Naidu tweeted.

Happy that TRS party has expressed its support to the NDA Presidential Nominee Sh Ram Nath Kovind. pic.twitter.com/6aBKodojBV  M Venkaiah Naidu (@MVenkaiahNaidu) July 4, 2017

Announcing support of the TDP to Kovind, Naidu tweeted: "Happy that TDP party has expressed support to the NDA Presidential Nominee Sh Ram Nath Kovind."

Happy that TDP party has expressed support to the NDA Presidential Nominee Sh Ram Nath Kovind. pic.twitter.com/pi7TN3gcZN  M Venkaiah Naidu (@MVenkaiahNaidu) July 4, 2017

In his earlier tweet, he said that "Happy that YSRCP party has extended support to the NDA Presidential Nominee".

Happy that YSRCP party has extended support to the NDA Presidential Nominee.

Happy that YSRCP party has extended support to the NDA Presidential Nominee. pic.twitter.com/sHv3G40s1d  M Venkaiah Naidu (@MVenkaiahNaidu) July 4, 2017

The election for the next President of India is to be held on July 17 as President Pranab Mukherjee will demit the office on July 24.
Amit Shah and Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Tuesday met mother of Chitrasen Jena, a BJP youth leader who was killed in the post Panchayat polls violence. (Photo: ANI/Twitter)

Bhubaneswar: BJP President Amit Shah on Tuesday hailed the warriors of Paika rebellion in Odisha who fought the British as he launched the party's grassroots connect drive in Ganjam district, home turf of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.

On his way to Hugulapata area in Ganjam Shah, Shah had a brief halt at Khordha and paid floral tributes to the fighters of Paika Rebellion of 1817.

"When the East India Company started tinkering with the revenue system in 1803, the farming community of Odisha rose in rebellion," the BJP President said in a Twitter post.

"The great Paika Rebellion in 1817 was led by Bakshi Jagabandhu Paika Bakshi projecting Lord Jagannath as the symbol of Odia unity," he tweeted.

As he launched the party's grassroots connect exercise 'Mo Booth Sabuthu Majboot', the BJP chief was accorded with rousing receptions at a number of places during his journey from Bhubaneswar to Ganjam, the home district of Naveen Patnaik, who is also the president of ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) in the state.

Shah was accompanied by senior BJP leaders like Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and state party president Basant Panda. Shah's three-day Odisha visit is aimed at expanding the party's base in the state ahead of the 2019 elections.

Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan & BJP President Amit Shah had food at a local's house, in Gunjam district's Hugulapata village

He is scheduled to visit Jajpur district on Wednesday to attend mass connect programmes. On July 6, he is slated to attend similar programmes in Khurda district. He is also slated to meet senior party leaders and hold discussion on strategies to be adopted to further widen its base in Odisha during his visit, where assembly elections are due in 2019 together with the Lok Sabha polls.

Shah's visit is part of BJPs strategy to strengthen the party in the state. Buoyed by its impressive performance in the panchayat elections in the state in February 2017, BJP is gearing up to strengthen the party in Odisha.
Chennai: For the past 30 years, both AIADMK and DMK have failed to address the population influx of Chennai. Close to 22 per cent of the state live in Chennai, which accounts for meagre four per cent of Tamil Nadu in geographic size.

By 2030, Tamil Nadu will be the most urbanized state with 67 per cent of its population living in urban areas and this is something logically bad for a state.

This trend will certainly increase the civic complaints thereby affecting the quality of life for those living in tier 1 cities, said a senior government official who had also served as a corporation commissioner.

Tamil Nadu is one of the most rapidly industrialising and urbanising states and is the third most urbanised state in the country in India, with 48.45 per cent of its population living in urban areas. Tamil Nadu will continue to grow its urban population and the number of voters in urban area had also increased in the past ten years. Chennai now has a total electorate of 5.92 crore and is likely to reach the six lakh crore by the next voters roll revision, official sources said.

According to state budget expenditure sheets a sum of Rs 2,428 crore has been infused for development of urban infrastructure over the past five years. Of the 6,492 works undertaken, 5,615 have been completed and the balance works are progressing. But from 2012, the expenditure to develop rural infrastructure works like improvement of interior roads, construction of bridges, storm water drain is less than Rs 1,200 crore, despite rural area accounting for 53 per cent of TNs geographic size. And this includes the Rs 631.51 crore sanction through Nabard, sources said.

Tamil Nadu has to change its policy as the unchecked development and urbanization as adversely affected land classification and made population influx a major problem for the capital Chennai and neigbouring Kancheepuram, said Madras High court advocate R. Govindaraj, joint general secretary Exnora.

Chennai has been periodically expanded without addressing its urban issues like solid waste management, parking, traffic and town planning. At the same time the state had failed to prevent migration of people from districts to cities in search of job, education and health facilities, he added.
Chennai: Five months after special operation guards of the Rajasthan Police picked up a man from Mylapore for allegedly funding the ISIS, sleuths from the same squad on Monday night picked up a 36-year-old man from Kondithope in Chennai on similar charges.

The suspect was identified as Haroon Rasheed, son of Mohammed Ali Jinnah, Sarkarai street. A mobile phone shop operator in Burma Bazaar, he had allegedly sent Rs 5 lakh to the accounts of ISIS fighters abroad, police sources said. The sleuths on Tuesday morning took Haroon Rasheed to Jaipur, Rajastan by flight for further questioning.

The Monday night arrest is believed to be the follow-up of the earlier arrest made by Rajasthan cops in February in Chennai when 40-year-old Mohamed Iqbal from Mylapore was picked up after he was found donating to ISIS. He had made three donations to ISIS and he was tracked through those transactions.
Hyderabad: A statement purportedly made by MIM MLA Akbaruddin Owaisi had gone viral on social media and is eliciting adverse comment. In the clip, Mr Akbaruddin Owaisi, addressing a public meeting on Saturday night at the Old City, is heard alleging that that Parliament and Assemblies pass laws against Muslims.

He said that people of VHP and Bajrang Dal, Narendra Modi listen: This country is not your father's property. He said, this country belongs to me as much as it belongs to you.

He appealed to Muslims to unite while voting wherever they are in considerable number in constituencies across the country. Mr Akbaruddin Owaisi said that if Muslims were united they could easily win 50 seats in Parliament. He also appealed to leaders who had disassociated from the MIM to forget the past and work for strengthen the party.

Several netizens made adverse comments over Mr Akbaruddin Owaisi addressing the PM. Reacting to certain adverse remarks that were floating around on social media, his brother and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi tweeted: Yes this dog is wafadar of India and will bark and bite any one who wants to make India a Hindu Rashtra and make minorities as second class citizens.
Hawking, arguably the world's most famous scientist, told the BBC that Trump's decision to pull out of the Paris climate agreement could lead to irreversible climate change. (Photo: File)

London: President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw the US from the Paris climate pact could "push the Earth over the brink" and turn it into a hothouse planet like Venus, renowned British physicist Stephen Hawking has warned.

Trump announced last month that the US would be withdrawing from the Paris Agreement, which has been signed by nearly 200 nations, claiming he wants to "renegotiate" the country's part in the agreement to ensure American businesses are not disadvantaged.

Hawking, arguably the world's most famous scientist, told the BBC that Trump's decision to pull out of the Paris climate agreement could lead to irreversible climate change.

"We are close to the tipping point where global warming becomes irreversible. Trump's action could push the Earth over the brink, to become like Venus, with a temperature of two hundred and fifty degrees, and raining sulphuric acid," the 75-year-old physicist said.

He also feared aggression was "inbuilt" in humans and that their best hope of survival was to live on other planets. The Cambridge professor said climate change is one of the great dangers humanity was facing, but it could be prevented by acting now.

"By denying the evidence for climate change, and pulling out of the Paris Climate Agreement, Donald Trump will cause avoidable environmental damage to our beautiful planet, endangering the natural world, for us and our children," Hawking said.

When asked whether he felt humans would ever solve their environmental problems and resolve conflicts, Hawking was pessimistic, saying that he thought humans' days on Earth were numbered.

"I fear evolution has inbuilt greed and aggression to the human genome. There is no sign of conflict lessening, and the development of militarised technology and weapons of mass destruction could make that disastrous. The best hope for the survival of the human race might be independent colonies in space," he said.

On Brexit, Hawking feared that UK research would be irreparably damaged.

"Science is a cooperative effort, so the impact (of Brexit) will be wholly bad, and will leave British science isolated and inward looking," he said.

Asked about his legacy, Hawking said, "I never expected to reach 75, so I feel very fortunate to be able to reflect on my legacy. I think my greatest achievement, will be my discovery that black holes are not entirely black."

Hawking has had motor neurone disease for most of his adult life. It has impaired his movement and ability to speak.

"When I was diagnosed at 21, I was told it would kill me in two or three years. Now, 54 years later, albeit weaker and in a wheelchair, I'm still working and producing scientific papers. But it's been a great struggle, which I have got through only with a lot of help from my family, colleagues, and friends," he said

Click on Deccan Chronicle Technology and Science for the latest news and reviews. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter.
The case, launched in 2010, is one of three against Google and of several against blockbuster US companies including Starbucks, Apple, Amazon and McDonalds. (Representational image)

The record EUR 2.4-billion fine slapped on Google by the EU for abusing its market dominance "will find its way back to European citizens," Europe's competition chief said Saturday.

Although the US tech giant has said it expects to appeal, if the European Commission wins, "this fine will return to European citizens" via the governments of the 13 member states involved, European Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager said on French radio.

She said each of these countries would see its contribution to the EU budget reduced in the following year, "pro rata, based on this fine".

Brussels has accused the world's most popular Internet search engine of giving an advantage to its Google Shopping service.

Google Shopping shows the images and prices of products in response to shopping-related searches when someone uses the search engine.

The EU says that Google is giving its own service too much priority in search results to the detriment of other price comparison services, such as TripAdvisor and Expedia.

The case, launched in 2010, is one of three against Google and of several against blockbuster US companies including Starbucks, Apple, Amazon and McDonalds.

Vestager has said "preliminary conclusions" in the Android and AdSense cases against Google also showed it breached EU rules.

The cases have stoked tensions with Washington and could face the wrath of President Donald Trump, the tycoon who won office on his "America First" slogan and has previously hit out against the EU.

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Since its a 2017 smartphone, the Moto M2 will be running on a stock version of Android Nougat 7.1.1 with Moto experiences. (Shown in photo is the 2016 Moto M)

Last year, Lenovo-led Motorola unveiled the Moto M  a new mid-range smartphone with a premium build, for the Indian market. It was essentially a beefed up Moto G4 with a deca-core Mediatek Helio P15 chipset and a full metal body. Motorola has already revamped most of its line-up for the 2017 and the Moto M is getting a second generation upgrade as well.

According to tipster Andri Yatim, the Moto M2 has been doing rounds of certain performance benchmarking platforms. As of now, it is expected that the Moto M2 will come in two variants  one with 4GB RAM and 32GB of storage and the second one with 6GB RAM and 64GB of storage. The phone will be featuring a 5.5-inch full-HD display and could also be powered by the Mediatek Helio X20 chipset, which is a deca-core processor. Since its a 2017 smartphone, it will be running on a stock version of Android Nougat 7.1.1 with Moto experiences.

The phone is already doing rounds of certain benchmarking sites and gaining Wi-Fi certification from Wi-Fi Alliance (WFA). Therefore, it seems that Motorola might be looking to release this smartphone sometime in the festive season in India after its unveiled elsewhere in the world. We can expect it to priced slightly higher than the Moto G5 Plus in India.

Click on Deccan Chronicle Technology and Science for the latest news and reviews. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter.
Washington: President Donald Trump criticized North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Monday after that country's latest missile launch, asking, "Does this guy have anything better to do with his life?"

Trump wrote on Twitter that it's "Hard to believe that South Korea ... and Japan will put up with this much longer."

And he urged North Korea's biggest ally, China, to "put a heavy move on North Korea and end this nonsense once and for all!"

Read: North Korea fires ballistic missile in Japan's direction: South Korea

South Korean officials said early Tuesday that North Korea had launched another ballistic missile toward Japan, part of a string of recent test-firings as the North works to build a nuclear-tipped missile that could reach the United States.

The Defense Department said US Pacific Command detected and tracked the launch of a land-based, intermediate range ballistic missile from North Korea's Panghyon Airfield. The missile was tracked for 37 minutes and landed in the Sea of Japan.

Shortly before Trump's tweets, the White House said he had been briefed on the South Korean report.

The missile launch comes as the Trump administration has displayed increasing frustration with China's reluctance to put more pressure on North Korea. Last week, the US blacklisted a small Chinese bank over its business ties with North Korea.

Read: US, Japan 'united' on pressuring North Korea: White House

The White House said Trump brought up the North Korean missile program during a phone call Sunday with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Chinese state media reported that Xi warned Trump that "some negative factors" are hurting US-China relations.

The New York Times, citing anonymous administration officials, reported Monday that Trump told Xi the US was ready to act on its own against North Korea.

A senior US official told foreign policy experts last week that the US has made clear to China that Chinese banks and companies conducting business with Pyongyang will face sanctions if there is no movement on North Korea's nuclear activities, a participant in the meeting told The Associated Press.

The individual wasn't authorized to speak publicly on the matter and asked that his name and that of the senior official be withheld.
Seoul: North Korea on Tuesday launched yet another ballistic missile in the direction of Japan, South Korean officials said, part of a string of recent test-firings as the North works to build a nuclear-tipped missile that could reach the United States.

The South's Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement that the launch, which came before the US celebration of its national independence, was made from North Phyongan province.

Other details were scarce. It wasn't immediately clear if this was a routine firing of a short-range missile or an attempt to perfect North Korea's longer-range missiles.

Read: US, Japan 'united' on pressuring North Korea: White House

Just last week South Korean President Moon Jae-in and US President Donald Trump focused much of their first meeting on opposing North Korea's development of atomic weapons that threaten both allies.

Japan's government said the missile was believed to have landed in Japan's exclusive economic zone in the Sea of Japan but no damage to ships or aircraft in the area has been reported.

China's UN ambassador, Liu Jieyi, warned Monday that further escalation of already high tensions with North Korea risks getting out of control, "and the consequences would be disastrous."

The Korean Peninsula has been divided between the American-backed South and the authoritarian North since the 1950-53 Korean War. Worries have increased as the North's leader Kim Jong Un pushes to expand his nuclear arsenal and develop ballistic missiles that can carry nuclear warheads.

Read: North Korea likens Trump to Hitler, compares US policies to Nazism

Tuesday's launch is the first by the North since a June 8 test of a new type of cruise missile that Pyongyang says is capable of striking US and South Korean warships "at will."

Since taking office on May 10, Moon has tried to improve strained ties with North Korea, but the North has continued its missile tests. Pyongyang says it needs nuclear weapons and powerful missiles to cope with what it calls rising US military threats.
North Korea on Tuesday launched yet another ballistic missile in the direction of Japan, South Korean officials said, part of a string of recent test-firings as the North works to build a nuclear-tipped missile that could reach the United States. (Photo: AP)

Seoul: North Korea proclaimed Tuesday that it had successfully tested an intercontinental ballistic missile -- a watershed moment in its push to develop a nuclear weapon capable of hitting the United States.

US experts said the device could reach Alaska, and the launch, which came as the United States prepared to mark its Independence Day, triggered a Twitter outburst from US President Donald Trump who urged China to "end this nonsense once and for all".

The North has long sought to build a rocket capable of delivering an atomic warhead to the continental United States -- something that Trump has vowed "won't happen". Its possession of a working ICBM will force a recalculation of the strategic threat it poses.

The "landmark" test of a Hwasong-14 missile was overseen by leader Kim Jong-Un, an emotional female announcer said on state Korean Central Television. It reached an altitude of 2,802 kilometres and flew 933 kilometres, she added.

Read: N Korea missile test: Trump asks China to 'end this nonsense once and for all'

The North was "a strong nuclear power state" and had "a very powerful ICBM that can strike any place in the world" she said.

There are still doubts whether the North can miniaturise a nuclear weapon sufficiently to fit it onto a missile nose cone, or whether it has mastered the technology needed for it to survive the difficult re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere.

But the isolated, impoverished country has made great progress in its missile capabilities since the ascension to power of Kim, who has overseen three nuclear tests and multiple rocket launches.

In response to the launch but before the announcement, Trump asked on Twitter: "Does this guy have anything better to do with his life?"

The United Nations has imposed multiple sets of sanctions on Pyongyang over its weapons programmes, which retorts that it needs nuclear arms to defend itself against the threat of invasion.

Read: US, Japan 'united' on pressuring North Korea: White House

- 'All of Alaska' -

The "unidentified ballistic missile" was fired from a site in North Phyongan province, the South's Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement, and came down in the East Sea, the Korean name for the Sea of Japan.

US Pacific Command confirmed the test and said it was a land-based, intermediate range missile that flew for 37 minutes, adding the launch did not pose a threat to North America.

It was estimated to have reached an altitude that "greatly exceeded" 2,500 kilometres, Japan said, prompting arms control specialist Jeffrey Lewis to respond on Twitter: "That's it. It's an ICBM. An ICBM that can hit Anchorage not San Francisco, but still."

David Wright, of the Union of Concerned Scientists, wrote on the organisation's allthingsnuclear blog that the available figures implied the missile "could reach a maximum range of roughly 6,700 km on a standard trajectory".

"That range would not be enough to reach the lower 48 states or the large islands of Hawaii, but would allow it to reach all of Alaska."

Read: North Korea says ready to strike Trump's aircraft carrier 'Armada'

- Growing threat -

The device came down in the Sea of Japan within the country's exclusive economic zone, Tokyo's defence ministry said in a statement, waters extending 200 nautical miles from its coast.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told reporters: "This launch clearly shows that the threat has grown."

The US, Japan and South Korea will hold a summit on the sidelines of this week's G20 meeting on the issue, he added. "Also I will encourage President Xi Jinping and President Putin to take more constructive measures."

South Korea's President Moon Jae-In, who backs both engagement with the North to bring it to the negotiating table and sanctions, and met Trump for a summit in Washington at the weekend, strongly condemned what he called an "irresponsible provocation".

- 'Not wise' -

Washington, South Korea's security guarantor, has more than 28,000 troops in the country to defend it from its communist neighbour, and fears of conflict reached a peak earlier this year as the Trump administration suggested military action was an option under consideration.

Emotional #NorthKorea newsreader says the "landmark" ICBM test of a Hwasong-14 missile was overseen by leader Kim Jong-Un pic.twitter.com/lzznFuUdX0  AFP news agency (@AFP) July 4, 2017

There has also been anger in the United States over the death of Otto Warmbier, an American student detained in North Korea for around 18 months before he was returned home in a coma in June.

Trump has been pinning his hopes on China -- North Korea's main diplomatic ally -- to bring pressure to bear on Pyongyang.

Last week he declared that Beijing's efforts had failed, but returned to the idea on Twitter following the launch: "Perhaps China will put a heavy move on North Korea and end this nonsense once and for all!"

But a former foreign policy adviser to Hillary Clinton warned that his comments risked undermining the credibility of both the US deterrent, and its assurances to its allies in Seoul and Tokyo.

She added: "Picking a twitter fight with a nuclear-armed dictator is not wise - this is not reality TV anymore."

Chronology of North Korean missile development

February 12, 2013: Conducts its third underground nuclear test

January 6, 2016: North conducts its fourth underground nuclear test, which it says was of a hydrogen bomb -- a claim doubted by most experts

March 9, 2016: Kim Jong-Un claims the North has successfully miniaturised a thermo-nuclear warhead

April 23, 2016: North test-fires a submarine-launched ballistic missile

July 8, 2016: US and South Korea announce plans to deploy an advanced missile defence system -- THAAD (Terminal High Altitude Area Defense)

August 3, 2016: North Korea fires a ballistic missile directly into Japan's maritime economic zone for the first time

September 9, 2016: Fifth nuclear test

March 6, 2017: North fires four ballistic missiles in what it says is an exercise to hit US bases in Japan

March 7, 2017: US begins deploying THAAD missile defence system in South Korea

May 14, 2017: North fires a ballistic missile which flies 700 kilometres before landing in the Sea of Japan. Analysts say it has an imputed range of 4,500 kilometres and brings Guam within reach

July 4, 2017: North Korea test-fires a ballistic missile which flies 930 kilometres before landing in the Sea of Japan. Analysts say it has an imputed range of 6,700 kilometres and brings Alaska within reach. Pyongyang later says it was a "landmark" test of a Hwasong-14 intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM).
The force he used to pull off the garment in the city's Bridges Shopping Centre caused her to fall to the floor. (Photo: Representational)

London: A 56-year-old man has been jailed for over a year for ripping off a Muslim woman's niqab or the full-face veil during an expletive-ridden racist assault at a shopping centre in the UK following the divisive Brexit vote.

Peter Scotter, 56, of Sunderland, shouted "You are in our country now" when he attacked his victim, who was with her young son, at a Sunderland shopping centre last July.

Scotter had admitted racially aggravated assault by beating and racially aggravated harassment. He was handed down a 15-month jail term at Newcastle Crown Court on Monday.

The court heard that the Brexit vote had sparked the assault by Scotter on the terrified mother, The Mirror reported.

During the assault, Scotter was heard screaming, "You are in our country now, you stupid (expletive) Muslim."

The force he used to pull off the garment in the city's Bridges Shopping Centre caused her to fall to the floor.

Yet he continued to shout abuse, including, "I'am taking my (expletive) country back" and "it's our Britain, stick by our rules."

The victim had said she did not want him to go to jail when she learned that he was undergoing checks on cancer in his mouth.

Tony Hawks, defending, told Newcastle Crown Court certain politicians and sections of the press had been "playing the race card" in the weeks before the incident. He said there was "no doubt that what he did was an ignorant and despicable piece of behaviour".

But he described his client as an "ignorant and ill- educated man" who "knows nothing whatsoever about Islam".

"He has to take responsibility for his own actions, but is it simply a coincidence that after listening to weeks of that rhetoric the defendant was not affected?" Hawks said.

Neil Pallister, prosecuting, said Scotter was escorted out of the centre by a security guard after the assault last June, but refused to listen to police, and launched yet more abuse.

The court heard he had 70 previous convictions, including throwing bricks with racist stickers on them at a house with refugees inside.

Jailing Scotter for 15 months, Judge Stephen Earl said he had used "appalling language" in a public place.

"Comments such as these cannot be acceptable in a civilised society," Earl said.

He also ordered him to pay a victim surcharge of 140 pounds.
The prime minister said he will have 'in-depth talks' with Netanyahu "on the full spectrum of our partnership and strengthening it in diverse fields for mutual benefit. (Photo: File)

New Delhi/Jerusalem: Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the first Indian prime minister to visit Israel, will undertake a three-day trip to the Jewish nation till July 6 before travelling to Hamburg in Germany to attend the G-20 Summit.

On the eve of his unprecedented visit to Israel, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said he will discuss with his counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu the common challenges like terrorism and ways to boost the economic ties.

In Israel, he will also meet President Reuven Ruvi Rivlin and address the CEOs of the two countries as well as the Indian diaspora.

During his visit, Modi will visit the Yad Vashem Memorial Museum in Jerusalem and also pay tribute to Indian soldiers who died liberating Haifa in 1918.

"Tomorrow, I begin a historic visit to Israel, a very special partner of India's... As the first Indian prime minister to do so, I am greatly looking forward to this unprecedented visit that will bring our two countries and people closer," he said in a statement here.

"I look forward to holding extensive talks with my friend, @IsraeliPM @netanyahu, who shares a commitment for vibrant India-Israel ties," he tweeted.

I look forward to holding extensive talks with my friend, @IsraeliPM @netanyahu, who shares a commitment for vibrant India-Israel ties.  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) July 3, 2017

The prime minister said he will have "in-depth talks" with Netanyahu "on the full spectrum of our partnership and strengthening it in diverse fields for mutual benefit. We will also have the chance to discuss major common challenges like terrorism."

From boosting economic ties to furthering people-to-people interactions, my Israel visit has a wide range of programmes.  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) July 3, 2017

Israel Ambassador to India, Danny Carmon said that Narendra Modi and PM Benjamin Netanyahu will hold a four-hour meeting on Wednesday, which will include a working lunch. During the bilateral meeting, the two leaders are expected to talk on setting up joint strategic partnerships on agriculture and water, among other areas of cooperation. Carmon added that Israel is also seeking cooperation in the field of space technology.

This year, India and Israel are marking 25 years of their diplomatic relations. "My programme during the visit gives me an opportunity to engage with a cross-section of Israeli society. I am particularly looking forward to interacting with the large vibrant Indian diaspora in Israel that represents an enduring link between our two peoples," Modi said.

On the economic side, he said, "I will join with leading Indian and Israeli CEOs and start-ups to discuss our shared priority of expanding business and investment collaboration on the ground."

In addition, he said, "I hope to get insights into Israel's accomplishments in technology and innovation through on-site visits."

On July 6, the prime minister will travel to Hamburg for the G-20 Summit being hosted by Germany on July 7-8. The theme chosen for this year is 'Shaping an Inter-connected World'.

"I look forward to engaging leaders from other G-20 countries on the vital issues affecting our world today that have a bearing on economic growth, sustainable development, and peace and stability," he said.

"We will review progress on decisions since the Hangzhou Summit last year and deliberate on issues of terrorism, climate, sustainable development, growth and trade, digitalisation, health, employment, migration, womens empowerment, and partnership with Africa," Modi added.

As in the past, he said he looked forward to the opportunity to meet leaders on the sidelines of the Summit to exchange views on bilateral matters of mutual interest.
Jerusalem: Asserting that both India and Israel suffer from the "evil" forces of terrorism, the Jewish nation has said it completely supports New Delhi in its fight against terror emanating from Pakistan and within the country.

"Israel has never hidden the fact that it supports India hook, line and sinker on the subject of terrorism," the deputy director general of Israels foreign ministry, Mark Sofer, told reporters here.

Read: Prime Minister Narendra Modis Israel trip to kick off with special welcome

"We are not asking for a quid pro quo. You have suffered from terrorism from inside India, and not just emanating from Pakistan, which has been seen in recent history," he said.

Condemning terrorism in all forms, the Israeli official said outfits like Lashkar-e-Taiba and Hamas were no different from each other and added that both India and Israel have the right to defend themselves.

Read: Israel emphasises importance of PM Modi's visit

"We feel that India has a right to defend itself against terrorists in the same way as Israel has a right to defend itself from terrorists. We are both suffering from the same scourge. I really don't see any difference between the Lashkar-e-Taiba and the Hamas; I never did and I don't today. A terrorist is a terrorist is a terrorist," said Sofer, who has served as ambassador to India.

"Killing people for some sort of spurious or inexplicable ideological aim is terrorism, however you look at it. And that is what is happening from outside into India and coming from outside into Israel as well. We both clearly share the same struggle against the forces of evil," he said.
Tel Aviv: Prime Minister Narendra Modi was welcomed by Israel's Prime Minister Bejamin Netanyahu, at Tel Aviv airport in Israel, in a historical first time visit by an Indian prime minister.

Welcome to IsraelAapka Swagat Hai Mere Dost. We have been waiting for you, for a long time. We love India, Netanyahu said at the welcome address.

#WATCH Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu says, 'Aapka swagat hai mere dost' welcoming Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Israel pic.twitter.com/QjtsoCek2R  ANI (@ANI_news) July 4, 2017

Talking about Indo-Israel relations, Netanyahu said that sky is not the only limit since both countries are now also cooperating on space technology.

"We shook each others hands and we agreed to forge to become historic partners and break down the walls between India and Israel," he added.

Explaining their formula for success, Netanyahu said, "It's simple. It's I-squared and T-squared, equals Indian talent and Israel technology, which equals India-Israel ties for tomorrow.

Responding to Netanyahu, Modi said he was honoured to be the first ever Indian Prime Minister to undertake this ground breaking visit to Israel.

"My visit is about the strength of our societies and our strong partnership," he said.

Modi added that he was keen to interact with the Indian diaspora in Israel, including large number of Jews of Indian origin.

Speaking on terrorism, Modi said, "Alongside building a partnership for shared economic prosperity, we are cooperating to secure our societies against common threats such as terrorism."

"A progressive partnership in all these areas would shape the scope of conversation with my friend PM Benjamin Netanyahu," he added.

In Israel, Modi will also meet President Reuven Ruvi Rivlin and address the CEOs of the two countries as well as the Indian diaspora.

He will visit the Yad Vashem Memorial Museum to honour the memory of the victims of the holocaust that counts among the greatest tragedies in human history.

Modi will also pay his respects to the courageous Indian soldiers who laid down their lives during the liberation of Haifa in 1918.

"I begin a historic visit to Israel, a very special partner of India's... As the first Indian prime minister to do so, I am greatly looking forward to this unprecedented visit that will bring our two countries and people closer," he had said in a statement on Monday.

The Prime Minister had said he will have "in-depth talks" with Netanyahu "on the full spectrum of our partnership and strengthening it in diverse fields for mutual benefit. He will also have the chance to discuss major common challenges like terrorism."

This year, India and Israel are marking 25 years of their diplomatic relations.

On the economic side, he had said, "I will join with leading Indian and Israeli CEOs and start-ups to discuss our shared priority of expanding business and investment collaboration on the ground."

On July 6, the prime minister will travel to Hamburg for the G-20 Summit being hosted by Germany on July 7-8.

The theme chosen for this year is 'Shaping an Inter-connected World'.

"I look forward to engaging leaders from other G-20 countries on the vital issues affecting our world today that have a bearing on economic growth, sustainable development, and peace and stability," he had said.

"We will review progress on decisions since the Hangzhou Summit last year and deliberate on issues of terrorism, climate, sustainable development, growth and trade, digitalisation, health, employment, migration, womens empowerment, and partnership with Africa," Modi had added.
Modi said his visit celebrates the strength of centuries-old links between the two societies and 'based on these bonds, our partnership has maintained a strong and sustained upswing since the establishment of full relationship, diplomatic relations, 25 years ago.' (Photo: AP)

Tel Aviv: Laying the foundation of a new chapter in relations with Israel, Prime Minister Narendra Modi began his "ground-breaking" visit on Tuesday, receiving an extraordinary welcome by the Jewish nation.

The personal chemistry and the warmth between Modi and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was apparent in their remarks and their hugs.

Reflecting the importance that Israel is according to the first visit by an Indian prime minister since Israel's establishment 70 years ago, the host nation pulled out all stops to welcome Modi -- Netanyahu broke protocol to come to the Ben Gurion airport, an honour reserved only for the US President and the Pope; Netanyahu's entire Cabinet was also present as were representatives of various religious orders.

In their prepared speeches, both leaders described each other as, "my friend" and embraced each other three times. "Aapka swagat hai, mere dost (welcome, my friend)," Netanyahu said in Hindi, adding, "We love India." Modi responded by speaking a few words in Hebrew, "Shalom (hello), I am happy to be here."

Behind the overt affection and friendship, lies deep political significance as India for the first time has delinked its relationship with Israel from its traditional support to Palestine. But, India now hopes to leverage its relationship with Israel to attract more investment, and gain from Israeli cutting-edge technology and defence.

"It is truly a historic visit," said Netanyahu while welcoming Modi who was wearing a cream colour 'band gala' suit and a dark blue handkerchief in the pocket.

At the start of the three-day visit, Modi was also accorded a Guard of Honour after an Israeli military band played the national anthems of the two countries.

Hailing Modi as "a great leader of India and a great world leader", Netanyahu said, "we have been waiting for the last 70 years" for a visit by an Indian prime minister.

They vowed to give a push to the bilateral relationship in all aspects and jointly deal with the common threats like terrorism.

"I remember what you told me in our first meeting  when it comes to India and Israel relations, the sky is the limit. But now, prime minister, let me add even sky is not the limit.

We are also cooperating in space," Netanyahu told Modi. Talking about the vast possibilities of cooperation between the two countries, he said, "We can do even more, even better together."

Speaking later, Modi said, "It is my honour to be the first ever Indian prime to undertake this ground-breaking visit to Israel." He said his visit was about the strength of the two societies and their strong partnership.

"Building a strong and resilient relationship with Israel will be my intent and focus...We have to secure our societies against the common threat of terrorism," Modi said.

"Together, we can do even more and even better (for India-Israel ties)," he added. Noting that India is an old civilisation but a young nation, Modi said, "We have a talented and skilled youth, who are our driving force."

Describing Israel as an "important development partner", he said, "This is an exciting journey that we will undertake together, for the good of our people and our society."

Modi said his visit celebrates the strength of centuries-old links between the two societies and "based on these bonds, our partnership has maintained a strong and sustained upswing since the establishment of full relationship, diplomatic relations, 25 years ago."
The article also restated Chinas accusation that Indian troops had illegally infiltrated the border and entered Donglang or Doklam region which China says, is a part of Tibet Autonomous Region. (Photo: Representational/File)

Beijing: An article on Chinas Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) website, on Tuesday, warned that the Indian Army would not win against their army if the military clash in the Sikkim sector led to an armed conflict.

According to a report in Hindustan Times, the article by strategic analyst Wang Dehua said that the Chinese had launched two major counter-attacks against the Indian armed forces in the 1967 conflict in the same region.

Dehua, who is the head of the Institute of South and Central Asia, Shanghai Institutes for International Studies wrote that India didnt get the upper hand in the past and wouldnt get an advantage now since the Chinese military has developed over the last few decades.

The article also restated Chinas accusation that Indian troops had illegally infiltrated the border and entered Donglang or Doklam region which China says, is a part of Tibet Autonomous Region. It also added that Chinese troops had shown restraint and not used force to ward off Indian troops during the standoff.

The article went back to the 1962 border conflict, saying that China had no intention of fighting the war and only acted in self-defence, and the conflict ended in Indias defeat.

Wang, in his write-up, made an implicit reference to Defence Minister Arun Jaitleys recent remarks that the conditions had changed after Indias defeat in 1962. The article said that India should keep the historical lesson in mind and not be mistaken that it has better advantage over China due to the favourable terrain, its advantageous mountain division and air force on the border.
Islamabad: Pakistan on Monday dismissed the US designating Hizbul Mujahideen chief Syed Salahuddin a "global terrorist", saying it was not a UN decision but a move by the Trump administration to "appease" India.

Alleging that India was offering its services to the US to "pressurise" China, Pakistan Prime Minister's Adviser on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz said India has been trying to downplay the Kashmir issue for a very long time.

Talking to a delegation from the Kashmir Journalists Forum, he said Salahuddin being designated a terrorist by the US was an attempt by the American administration to "appease" India.

Pakistan was not bound to follow the decision as it was not a United Nations (UN) declaration, Dawn newspaper quoted Aziz as saying.

The US declared Salahuddin a "global terrorist" just before Prime Minister Narendra Modis first meeting with President Donald Trump on June 26 in Washington.

In a notification, the State Department said Salahuddin, who hails from Kashmir and is based in Pakistan for the last 28 years, "has committed, or poses a significant risk of committing, acts of terrorism."

Aziz said that India has been trying to downplay the Kashmir issue for a very long time, but the agitation at the local level had completely changed the Indian narrative.

Aziz reiterated that the struggle was being led by Kashmiris and Pakistan was only providing political, diplomatic and moral support to them.

Aziz also highlighted ceasefire violations by India, claiming that India had violated the ceasefire more than 400 times in the past years, which was a violation of a 2003 agreement between the two nations.

He said that Pakistan was willing for a dialogue on all issues with neighbouring countries as a part of its vision for a peaceful neighbourhood, but a dialogue with India without Kashmir on the agenda was out of the question.
Islamabad: Pakistan will not enter into any dialogue with India that excludes Kashmir, Prime Ministers Advisor on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz said on Monday, asserting that Islamabad wants to settle all contentious issues through "result-oriented" talks.

"Indian belligerent posturing and their desire to conduct dialogue on their own terms i.e. without Kashmir, will never be acceptable," said Aziz briefing a 20-member delegation of Kashmir Journalist Forum from PoK at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

He said UN chief Antonio Guterres has expressed his concern over tension between India and Pakistan, called for a dialogue and offered to play role to help resolve Kashmir issue.

Aziz said Indias refusal to accept the role of the UN or good offices of the other leaders for reducing tension between India and Pakistan by resolving the Kashmir issue reflects "Indian desperation to hide its crimes against humanity" in the valley.

"Pakistan wants to settle all contentious issues, particularly the Kashmir dispute with India through a sustained and result-oriented dialogue," he said.

He asked the UN, OIC and Human Rights Organisations to step up efforts to stop the "bloodshed of Kashmiris" and ensure early implementation of UNSC Resolutions.

Aziz said that protest in Kashmir has now entered a "critical phase" and the "Indian propaganda of down-playing" the Kashmir issue is also being defeated.

"If there is nothing wrong then why there are over 700,000 fully armed Indian forces stationed? Why the entire media has been blocked? he said.

He said despite "the gravity of the situation on ground and persistent international pressure" on India to resume dialogue with Pakistan with particular focus on Kashmir issue, Indian government has been trying to "divert global attention" from the situation in the Valley by "heating up" Line of Control and Working Boundary.
China and India have been engaged in a standoff in the Dokalam area near the Bhutan trijunction for past 19 days after a Chinese armys construction party came to build a road. (Photo: AFP)

Beijing/New Delhi: China has ruled out a compromise in the military standoff with India in the Sikkim section, and put the onus on New Delhi to resolve the grave situation.

In unusually blunt remarks, Chinas ambassador to India Luo Zhaohui said on Tuesday, the ball is in Indias court and it was for the Indian government to decide what options could be on the table to resolve the standoff.

Asked about remarks by official Chinese media and think- tanks that the conflict can lead to a war if not handled properly, the ambassador said: There has been talk about this option, that option. It is up to your government policy (whether to exercise military option).

The Chinese government is very clear that it wants peaceful resolution at current state of the situation for which withdrawal of Indian troops from the area is a pre- condition, he asserted.

The first priority is that the Indian troops unconditionally pull back to the Indian side of the boundary. That is the precondition for any meaningful dialogue between China and India, he said.

China and India have been engaged in a standoff in the Dokalam area near the Bhutan trijunction for past 19 days after a Chinese armys construction party came to build a road.

Doka La is the Indian name for the region which Bhutan recognises as Dokalam, while China claims it as part of its Donglang region. China and Bhutan are engaged in talks over the resolution of the area. Bhutan, however, has no diplomatic ties with China and it is supported militarily and diplomatically by India.

The situation is grave and made me deeply worried. It is the first time that Indian troops have crossed the mutually recognised boundary and trespassed into Chinas territory, triggering a close range face off between Chinese and Indian border troops. Now 19 days have passed, but the situation still has not eased, Luo said.

He also asserted that India has no right to interfere with the China-Bhutan boundary talks, nor is it entitled to make territorial claims on behalf of Bhutan.

On the standoff, the ministry of external affairs had said India was deeply concerned at the recent Chinese actions and has conveyed to the Chinese government that such construction would represent a significant change of status quo with serious security implications for India.

As for the so called security concerns of the Indian side, India has crossed a delimited boundary into other countrys territory in the name of security concerns, no matter what kind of activities it conducts there, which will not acceptable to any sovereign state.

India cannot encroach upon the territory of other countries on the ground of its security concerns. Otherwise, the world would be in chaos, the Chinese envoy added.

He also asserted that it is critical that India shall withdraw its troops immediately to minimise the negative impact. It serves the interests of the two sides.
A third militant was killed today in an encounter with security forces in Pulwama district of south Kashmir as the operation entered the second day, police said.



One more militant was killed this morning and the body has been recovered, a police official said.



He said three militants have been killed in the encounter so far.



The search operation was on in the area, the official said.



Security forces launched a search operation in Bahmnoo area of Pulwama yesterday following information about presence of militants there.



The gunfight ensued after the militants fired upon the security forces during the search operation.

The identity of the slain ultras has not been ascertained yet, the official said.



Two Army personnel yesterday sustained minor injuries during the operation.


Prime Minister Narendra Modi today left for Israel, first by an Indian prime minister to the Jewish nation, where he will discuss with his counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu the common challenges like terrorism and ways to boost the economic ties.



Modi will be in Israel till July 6 before travelling to Hamburg in Germany to attend the G-20 Summit.

In Israel, he will also meet President Reuven Ruvi Rivlin and address the CEOs of the two countries as well as the Indian diaspora.



He will also visit the Yad Vashem Memorial Museum to honour the memory of the victims of the holocaust that counts among the greatest tragedies in human history.



Modi will also pay his respects to the courageous Indian soldiers who laid down their lives during the liberation of Haifa in 1918.



"I begin a historic visit to Israel, a very special partner of India's... As the first Indian prime minister to do so, I am greatly looking forward to this unprecedented visit that will bring our two countries and people closer," he had said in a statement here yesterday.



"I look forward to holding extensive talks with my friend, @IsraeliPM @netanyahu, who shares a commitment for vibrant India-Israel ties," he had tweeted.



The prime minister had said he will have "in-depth talks" with Netanyahu "on the full spectrum of our partnership and strengthening it in diverse fields for mutual benefit. We will also have the chance to discuss major common challenges like terrorism."



This year, India and Israel are marking 25 years of their diplomatic relations.



"My programme during the visit gives me an opportunity to engage with a cross-section of Israeli society. I am particularly looking forward to interacting with the large vibrant Indian diaspora in Israel that represents an enduring link between our two peoples," Modi had said.



On the economic side, he had said, "I will join with leading Indian and Israeli CEOs and start-ups to discuss our shared priority of expanding business and investment collaboration on the ground."



On July 6, the prime minister will travel to Hamburg for the G-20 Summit being hosted by Germany on July 7-8.



The theme chosen for this year is 'Shaping an Inter- connected World'.



"I look forward to engaging leaders from other G-20 countries on the vital issues affecting our world today that have a bearing on economic growth, sustainable development, and peace and stability," he had said.



"We will review progress on decisions since the Hangzhou Summit last year and deliberate on issues of terrorism, climate, sustainable development, growth and trade, digitalisation, health, employment, migration, womens empowerment, and partnership with Africa," Modi had added.
Aadhaar-issuing authority UIDAI has issued a stern warning to enrolment agencies for refusing enrolment to residents citing technical glitch or on any other pretext, and termed such refusal as "corrupt practice".



The UIDAI has said there is no question of turning back residents seeking enrolment when, in fact, operators are required to renew their registration with the authority every 10 days qualifying them as being fit to offer such services.



"We are getting a lot of complaints that Aadhaar enrolment centres listed on our site are refusing to do enrolment on one pretext or another. This amounts to corrupt practice," Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) CEO Ajay Bhushan Pandey told PTI.



There are 25,000 active enrolment centres across India. Incidentally, all the enrolment agencies will have to shift to government or municipal premises from external sites in coming weeks, bringing them under direct supervision of the authorities.



"It is the operator who lists the services on our website. When they register, it is assumed that their machine is working and they are in a position to enrol people," Pandey said, adding that there is no reason why agencies should not enrol people or turn them back them citing technical issues.



Moreover, the renewal of registration by enrolment agencies (EAs) every 10 days is an indication that they are indeed in a position to enrol, he pointed out.



"Refusal to enrol is tantamount to corrupt practice. We have issued a stern warning to all EAs and operators in this regard through our field offices, and request people to also report cases of refusal... so, strong action can be taken against the agencies concerned," he said.



The EAs flouting norms can be fined Rs 10,000 for first offence and Rs 50,000 for a repeat one. Thereafter, the agencies indulging in corrupt practices can be blacklisted.



Pandey also said there have been some complaints of people being asked their Aadhaar number and OTP on phones by callers claiming to be from banks or telecom companies. He cautioned people against disclosing their Aadhaar number and OTP on the phone.



"The person calling may claim to be from bank or telecom firm or government department. People should not fall prey to this or disclose their Aadhaar number or OTP on the phone. Nor should they enter their Aadhaar number or OTP received, on any unauthorised websites," he said.



The UIDAI is the nodal body responsible for rolling out Aadhaar, the 12-digit biometric identification number, to all residents. Till date, Aadhaar has been issued to more than 115 crore people.
Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk today ruled out giving financial support to Adani Group for its controversy-hit 21.7 billion dollars Carmichael mine project but the Indian energy giant asserted that it is moving forward on "all fronts".



"My government has always said that it is a matter for Adani to get the finance. This is a private investment," Palaszczuk was quoted by Australian Associated Press news agency.



She said, "But I haven't heard any reports from Adani themselves that they've indicated anything to the contrary".



Following Palaszczuk's statement, Adani Australia said it maintained that it was moving forward on "all fronts", including organising finance for its project.



"As was the case with Australian banks, Adani has not approached the Queensland Government for financing. The Queensland Government has, however, delivered every licence and approval necessary for the project," according to the company's spokesperson.



Stating that the Adani Group has an enviable record of rapid growth, strategic vision, financial stability and project execution, the spokesperson said the company would ensure the Carmichael coal mine and rail projects proceed.



"A great message for north Queensland and a great future now that we can all get along and work on," he said.



Last month, Palaszczuk opened Adani's head office in Townsville after Adani Group gave the final investment approval to the project which had hit several roadblocks over environmental concerns. The company's decision was welcomed and hailed by the state and federal government.



For the last six years, Adani has fought 10 appeals in courts filed by environmentalists and stressed that its project will create 10,000 direct and indirect jobs in Australia.



The Carmichael project has been facing opposition from environmentalists and indigenous groups. The Indian energy giant has for more than five years battled the opposition to any expansion of the Abbot Point port, saying it will cut into the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area.



The company has also been trying to secure a USD 1 billion loan from the federal government's Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility to build the rail line linking the mine with the Abbott Point coal terminal.



The future of the so-called biggest mine in the world and largest in Australia was earlier put on hold after the state cabinets split on the royalties payment.



Adani wanted the Queensland government to delay the start of royalty obligations on the coal mine it hopes to build in Queensland's Galilee Basin.



The project involves dredging 1.1 million cubic metres of soil near the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, which will then be disposed off on land.



The Adani Group entered Australia in 2010 with the purchase of the greenfield Carmichael coal mine in the Galilee Basin in central Queensland, and the Abbot Point port near Bowen in the north.
Rather than imparting knowledge, education in India has become a "commercial commodity", rued eminent scientist G Madhavan Nair, who also spoke out strongly against the tendency of parties to make campuses a training ground for budding politicians.



The former Chairman of Indian Space Research Organisation said "real education" is not being imparted to children who in fact are being "spoon-fed", and most of the evaluation exams are memory-tests rather than gauging their understanding of the subject.



"That's why the education system has deteriorated considerably. Result is that the people who come out even after graduation or engineering, they are not employable. They don't have the basic understanding of the subject, don't have the skills for applying knowledge for practical applications and this is resulting in a pathetic situation," he told PTI.



Quality is the "first casualty" at many of India's private institutions, which are only interested in increasing student intake number and making money, according to him.



"I think basically education has become a commercial commodity these days rather than acquiring excellence in knowledge," Nair said.



He, however, said institutions such as IITs and Indian Institute of Science in Bengaluru are maintaining their standards mostly because they get "best of the students" on their campus but they need to raise their level from global perspective.



He expressed the view that one should not mix politics with education. "Today, there is a bad tendency. There are many political parties who want to use these institutions for building up their cadres, and that should be stopped," Nair said.



Instead, he said, interested political parties can start a separate institute for training politicians, rather than converting educational institutions for such a purpose.



Nair stressed that the thrust of education should be on improving observation, analytical and communication skills of students, in addition to cultivating moral values. "These should form the basis of primary education. Once the foundation is strong and you show them the way how to acquire knowledge, that is sufficient. There is no point in just doing 10,000 answers by-heart, that will not take you anywhere. Education system should be an enabler, that kind of change is required," he said.



Nair also regretted that talented people are not coming into the teaching profession, adding, teachers are not being given proper and professional training.



Stressing that quality is a must in teaching, he said teachers also need to be evaluated periodically. Nair advocated adopting some basic lessons from "Gurukul system", particularly strong relation between the teacher-student and the parent.



"That ambience has to be created. Evaluations should not be based on annual exam. It should be constant evaluation where the parent also participates in a very scientific manner. Moral studies have to be given strong base in early part of education," he said.



Nair said three language (Hindi, English and local language) policy has to be adopted in all the states. Hindi is a link language, while English cannot be kept out of our system, he said, adding, basic education can be imparted in a much more efficient manner in local language.



He also favoured giving students an option to study Sanskrit. "Sanskrit is one of the most scientific languages, learning that, I understand, will improve analytical skills of the individual."
The Tamil Nadu Assembly today witnessed noisy scenes involving arch rivals AIADMK and DMK after an opposition member was evicted during a debate over the issue of arrests of state fishermen by Sri Lankan Navy.



Protesting the Deputy Speaker Pollachi V Jayaraman's order evicting their colleague J Anbazhagan, DMK members staged a walk out.



Trouble broke out when Fisheries Minister D Jayakumar made some remarks attributed to DMK President M Karunanidhi while the House was debating the mid-sea arrests of fishermen and detention of their boats by Sri Lankan Navy.



The DMK members were up on their feet and Jayaraman, who conducted the proceedings in the absence of Speaker P Dhanapal stated to be indisposed, tried to persuade them to resume their seats.



Soon Anbazhagan tried to make some point, which infuriated the Treasury benches with Chief Minister K Palaniswami himself taking exception to it.



Leader of the House and School Education Minister K A Sengottaiyan asked the Chair to take action against Anbazhagan, saying his conduct was not keeping with the ethos of the House.



Jayaraman ordered the eviction of Anbazhagan following which House Marshals took him out.



DMK Deputy Leader Durai Murugan asked the chair to reconsider his order, suggesting Anbazhagan could have been let off with a warning.



Jayaraman said he issued repeated warnings but Anbazhagan did not heed them."He came down from his seat and brought disrepute to the House," he said.



Intervening, Palaniswami said the Deputy Speaker had no option but to order the eviction.



"We don't want anyone to be evicted," he said amid thumping of the desks by ruling party members.



With Jayaraman showing no hint of budging, Durai Murugan led a walk-out of his party members.



However, the DMK members soon returned to participate in the debate on grants for Health and Family Welfare Department.



DMK allies Congress and IUML also wanted the Deputy Speaker's decision to evict Anbazhagan reconsidered.
In what is perhaps one of the biggest surprises vis-a-vis the ambitious loan waiver scheme, the Maharashtra government has listed 811 farmers as beneficiaries for Mumbai of the total 36,10,216 farmers eligible in the state.



These 811 farmers from Mumbai - 694 farmers from Mumbai City district and another 119 farmers from Mumbai Suburban district would receive 1.50 lakh under the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Krishi Samman Yojana, as the loan-waiver scheme has been named.



Under the loan waiver 34, 022 crore is set to be disbursed by the government - which would benefit 89 lakh farmers and nearly 40 lakh farmers would be totally debt-free. The farmers from Mumbai caught the attention when Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis put out a tweet listing the number of beneficiaries in each of the districts. "We would check on each and every case and then funds would be disbursed," an official of Chief Minister's Office said.



Cooperation Minister Subhash Deshmukh said that it may be the case that they would have taken loans from banks in Mumbai even though they may agriculture fields in other districts. "We would check and disburse the loans," he said, adding that of there has been anything wrong necessary action and remedial measures would be taken.



As per the details released by Chief Minister, Buldhana has the highest chunk of beneficiaries with 2,49,818 farmers while Yavatmal, which had seen the maximum number of suicides, ranks second at 2,42,471, followed by Beed's 2,08,480 and Ahmednagar's 2,00,869.



The other districts with a major share of beneficiaries under the scheme are Jalna - 1,96,463, Jalgaon - 1,94,320, Pune - 1,83,209, Amravati - 1,72,760, Parbhani - 1,63,760, Nanded - 1,56,849, Aurangabad - Aurangabad - 1,48,322, Nashik - 1,36,569, Akola - 1,11,625 and Solapur - 1,08,533. The remaining 17 districts fall in the below 1,00,000 beneficiaries list drawn up for the state - of which the Konkan region has the least number of beneficiaries - Sindhudurg (24,447), Thane (23,505), Raigad (10,809), Palghar (918).



However, the list attracted attention on the social media. "If there are 811 farmers in Mumbai, the list of the farmers should be made public," said veteran activist and RTI campaigner Anil Galgali.


NDA presidential nominee Ram Nath Kovind today said that the office of the president was above party politics and he would strive to uphold the Constitution.



Kovind was speaking at a meeting organised by Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao with the legislators of his party, the TRS, which was also attended by a few key leaders of the BJP. The TRS, though not part of the NDA, has declared support to Kovind's candidature.



"It is very important for all of us, particularly the office of presidency and voters like you. We have to maintain and upkeep the supremacy of our Constitution," he said here.



"The country and the entire world is well aware of the supremacy of the Indian Constitution and Indian democracy. As we know, the Constitution...our country is supreme," he said.



Observing that he has not been associated with any party ever since he became the governor of Bihar, Kovind said he has been functioning in a non-partisan manner.



"Ever since I became the governor of Bihar, I have been working throughout in a non-partisan manner, treating every citizen of Bihar with equal status, without any discrimination. I can assure you that I will continue to keep the position of president above party also," he said.



Though he was a member of the BJP earlier, he is not associated with any party now, he said.



"The office of presidency must be kept above party politics. I can also assure you that I will always strive for all-round development of the nation, irrespective of caste, creed, language, region, geographical situations," he said.



Kovind also said he would do his best to fulfil the aspirations of the youth. "We have to fulfil the dream of new India which our prime minister has been advocating till 2022, when we will celebrate completion of 75 years of Independence," he said.



He expressed his gratitude to NDA, under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and non-NDA parties like the TRS for supporting his candidature.



The TRS chief extended his support to him even before his name was announced as NDA's nominee, Kovind said.



Kovind thanked Rao for putting up hoardings in the city in his honour and also for speaking in Hindi in the meeting.



Besides the legislators of the TRS, Kovind separately met the legislators and other leaders of the BJP, the TDP's Telangana unit the YSR Congress during a whirlwind visit to Hyderabad as part of his campaign.



Kovind was accompanied by Union ministers M Venkaiah Naidu, Bandaru Dattatreya and other BJP leaders.
Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju on Tuesday had a miraculous escape when his chopper made a "preventive landing" on a small field in Arunachal Pradesh due to bad weather.



Rijiju along with seven others and crew were flying on a Mi-17 chopper from Assam's Guwahati to Ziro in Arunachal Pradesh to attend the Dree harvest festival when it faced heavy rains and fog in the afternoon.



A BSF spokesperson told DH that the chopper made a "preventive landing" as weather conditions did not allow the pilots to take it to the destination. "So it landed at an alternate place," the spokesperson said.



Officials said the pilots, belonging to the Border Security Force (BSF), managed to manoeuvre for around 10 minutes before landing on a small field in Itanagar under emergency conditions.



"I was lucky enough to be landed safely, thanks to the BSF pilots who are very experienced," Rijiju said. Itanagar Superintendent of Police (SP) also rushed to the spot after hearing about the development.



On February 9 this year, a BSF helicopter carrying Rijiju and seven others made a landing in emergency conditions at Hindon airbase due to engine trouble detected after being airborne for about 20 minutes. BJP MP from Tehri-Garhwal Mala Rajya Laxmi Shah, two television journalists and Union Home Ministry officials were on board the Mi-17V5 chopper headed to Tehri in Uttarakhand then.



Minister of State in Prime Minister's Office (PMO) Jitendra Singh tweeted, "Just spoke to @KirenRijiju ji after emergency landing in Arunachal. Me too had met a similar experience in Khasi Hills #NorthEast .Take care!"



Last week, Union Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi had a miraculous escape when pilots of BSF plane and IndiGo plane managed to avert a mid-air collusion.
The cycle tracks, that were laid in different cities in Uttar Pradesh during the previous Akhilesh Yadav regime, would be demolished as they were causing traffic congestion and posing difficulties before the people.



UP minister for urban development Suresh Kumar Khanna said here on Tuesday that the state government was in the process of ''reviewing'' the cycle tracks and would 'demolish'' them, wherever they were found to be causing traffic jams.



''The cycle tracks were laid without paying any attention to the width of the road....at many places they are causing traffic congestion...we have received complaints from people from many cities,'' Khanna said.



The minister said that the demolition drive would start from Bareilly from where a maximum number of complaints had been received. ''PWD officials have been entrusted with the task of identifying the tracks to be demolished,'' he added.



Khanna, however, did not spell out if the tracks would be demolished throughout the state or only at places, where they posed difficulties.



The decision to demolish the cycle tracks come close on the heels of removal of the word 'Samajwadi' from many of the schemes launched by the previous government.



The Akhilesh government had laid cycle tracks in Lucknow, Bareilly, Agra, Noida and some other places and publicised them as one of its major achievements. The then government had promoted the same as being environment-friendly and also good for health. At many places, there were encroachments on the tracks also.



Barely a few days back Samajwadi Party (SP) supremo Akhilesh Yadav had a dig at the Yogi Adityanath government after reports that the latter was contemplating to demolish them. Akhilesh had referred to prime minister Narendra Modi's recent visit to the Netherlands, where he was gifted with a bicycle.



Incidentally, Akhilesh had been inspired by the cycle tracks in the Netherlands.
Laying the foundation of a new chapter in relations with Israel, Prime Minister Narendra Modi began his "ground-breaking" visit today, receiving an extraordinary welcome by the Jewish nation.



The personal chemistry and the warmth between Modi and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was apparent in their remarks and their hugs.



Reflecting the importance that Israel is according to the first visit by an Indian prime minister since Israel's establishment 70 years ago, the host nation pulled out all stops to welcome Modi -- Netanyahu broke protocol to come to the Ben Gurion airport, an honour reserved only for the US President and the Pope; Netanyahu's entire Cabinet was also present as were representatives of various religious orders.



In their prepared speeches, both leaders described each other as, "my friend" and embraced each other three times.



"Aapka swagat hai, mere dost (welcome, my friend)," Netanyahu said in Hindi, adding, "We love India." Modi responded by speaking a few words in Hebrew, "Shalom (hello), I am happy to be here."



Behind the overt affection and friendship, lies deep political significance as India for the first time has delinked its relationship with Israel from its traditional support to Palestine. But, India now hopes to leverage its relationship with Israel to attract more investment, and gain from Israeli cutting-edge technology and defence.



"It is truly a historic visit," said Netanyahu while welcoming Modi who was wearing a cream colour 'band gala' suit and a dark blue handkerchief in the pocket.



At the start of the three-day visit, Modi was also accorded a Guard of Honour after an Israeli military band played the national anthems of the two countries.



Hailing Modi as "a great leader of India and a great world leader", Netanyahu said, "we have been waiting for the last 70 years" for a visit by an Indian prime minister.



They vowed to give a push to the bilateral relationship in all aspects and jointly deal with the common threats like terrorism.



"I remember what you told me in our first meeting - when it comes to India and Israel relations, the sky is the limit. But now, prime minister, let me add even sky is not the limit. We are also cooperating in space," Netanyahu told Modi.



Talking about the vast possibilities of cooperation between the two countries, he said, "We can do even more, even better together."



Speaking later, Modi said, "It is my honour to be the the first ever Indian prime to undertake this ground-breaking visit to Israel."



He said his visit was about the strength of the two societies and their strong partnership. "Building a strong and resilient relationshp with Israeal will be my intent and focus...We have to secure our societies against the common threat of terrorism," Modi said.



"Together, we can do even more and even better (for India-Israel ties)," he added.



Noting that India is an old civilisation but a young nation, Modi said, "We have a talented and skilled youth, who are our driving force."



Describing Israel as an "important development partner", he said, "This is an exciting journey that we will undertake together, for the good of our people and our society."



Modi said his visit celebrates the strength of centuries-old links between the two societies and "based on these bonds, our partnership has mantained a strong and sustained upswing since the establishment of full relationship, diplomatic relations, 25 years ago."
Contrary to the Chinese government's assertion that Jawaharlal Nehru had accepted the 1890 Sino-British treaty over Sikkim to buttress Beijing's claim over the Dokalam area, the former prime minister had pointed out to China that it is claiming sizeable part of Bhutan's territory.



"It is not clear to us what exactly is the implication of your statement that the boundaries of Sikkim and Bhutan do not fall within the scope of the present discussion," Nehru wrote in a letter to his then Chinese counterpart Zhou Enlai on September 26, 1959.



"In fact, Chinese maps show sizable areas of Bhutan as part of Tibet," Nehru said in the letter accessed by PTI here.



In the lengthy letter highlighting India's stand on the boundary dispute, Nehru wrote that under treaty relationships with Bhutan, the Government of India is the only competent authority to take up with other Governments matters concerning Bhutan's external relations, and in fact it has taken up with China a number of matters on behalf of the Bhutan Government.



"The rectification of errors in Chinese maps regarding the boundary of Bhutan with Tibet is therefore a matter which has to be discussed along with the boundary of India with the Tibet region of China in the same sector," he wrote.



After asserting that Chinese maps are showing sizable areas of Bhutan as part of China, Nehru referred to the 1890 Sino-British treaty granting India's sovereignty to Sikkim.



"As regards Sikkim, the Chinese Government recognised as far back as 1890 that the Government of India 'has direct and exclusive control over the internal administration and foreign relations of that State'. This Convention of 1890 also defined the boundary between Sikkim and Tibet; and the boundary was later, in 1895, demarcated. There is thus no dispute regarding the boundary of Sikkim with the Tibet region," Nehru said.



At the same time, he pointed out that "it is wrong to say that the frontier east of Bhutan as shown on Chinese maps is the traditional frontier. On the contrary, it is the McMahon Line which correctly represents the customary boundary in this area. The water-parting formed by the crest of the Himalayas is the natural frontier which was accepted for centuries as the boundary by the peoples on both sides."



China and India have been engaged in a standoff in the Doka La area near the Bhutan trijunction for almost a month.



Sikkim, which became a part of India in May 1976, is the only state which has a demarcated border with China. The lines are based on a treaty signed with the Chinese in 1898. Doka La is the Indian name for the region which Bhutan recognises as Dokalam, while China claims it as part of its Donglang region.



Chinese are making attempts to build a road which was objected to by Bhutan.



The Ambassador of Bhutan has a lodged a protest with the Chinese Government through their Embassy in New Delhi on June 20. Bhutan has no diplomatic relations with China.
China today ruled out a compromise in the military standoff with India in the Sikkim section, and put the onus on New Delhi to resolve the "grave" situation.



In unusually blunt remarks, China's Ambassador to India Luo Zhaohui said "the ball is in India's court" and it was for the Indian government to decide what options could be on the table to resolve the standoff.



Asked about remarks by official Chinese media and think- tanks that the conflict can lead to a "war" if not handled properly, the ambassador said in an interview to PTI: "There has been talk about this option, that option. It is up to your government policy (whether to exercise military option)."



The Chinese government is very clear that it wants peaceful resolution at current state of the situation for which withdrawal of Indian troops from the area is a "pre-condition", he asserted.



"The first priority is that the Indian troops unconditionally pull back to the Indian side of the boundary. That is the precondition for any meaningful dialogue between China and India," he said.



China and India have been engaged in a standoff in the Dokalam area near the Bhutan trijunction for past 19 days after a Chinese army's construction party came to build a road.



Doka La is the Indian name for the region which Bhutan recognises as Dokalam, while China claims it as part of its Donglang region. China and Bhutan are engaged in talks over the resolution of the area. Bhutan, however, has no diplomatic ties with China and it is supported militarily and diplomatically by India.



"The situation is grave and made me deeply worried. It is the first time that Indian troops have crossed the mutually recognised boundary and trespassed into China's territory, triggering a close range face off between Chinese and Indian border troops. Now 19 days have passed, but the situation still has not eased," Luo said.



He also asserted that India has no right to interfere with the China-Bhutan boundary talks, nor is it entitled to make territorial claims on behalf of Bhutan.



On the standoff, the Ministry of External Affairs had said India was "deeply concerned at the recent Chinese actions and has conveyed to the Chinese government that such construction would represent a significant change of status quo with serious security implications for India".



"As for the so called 'security concerns' of the Indian side, India has crossed a delimited boundary into other country's territory in the name of security concerns, no matter what kind of activities it conducts there, which will not acceptable to any sovereign state.



"India cannot encroach upon the territory of other countries on the ground of its 'security concerns'. Otherwise, the world would be in chaos," the Chinese envoy added.



He also asserted that "it is critical that India shall withdraw its troops immediately to minimise the negative impact. It serves the interests of the two sides."
States can denotify the National Highways if those roads fall within the city limit, the Supreme Court said on Tuesday.



A bench of Chief Justice J S Khehar and Justice D Y Chandrachud refused to interfere with the Punjab government's move to denotify the National Highways.



The decision by the state was apparently an attempt to outwit the apex court's order banning liquor sale within 500 metres of such Highways. Several other states including Karnataka also mulled over the similar option.



There is nothing wrong with denotifying highways if such roads are within a city. The purpose of its ban was to ensure high speeding vehicles on highways don't have drivers under the influence of liquor, the bench said.



There are no such issues when the roads are within the city. Denotifying such roads as Highways may have intelligible differentia, the bench added.



The apex court made the observations while hearing a plea against decision of the Chandigarh administration to denotify certain roads allegedly with an aim to circumvent its verdict banning liquor vends within 500 metres from the state and National Highways.



The court, which refused to interfere with the decision at this stage, deferred the hearing to July 11.



The Chandigarh administration had on March 16 issued a notification denotifying 12 Highway stretches that passed through the city.



An NGO, Arrive Safe Society of Chandigarh contended that the administration issued the notification to bypass the apex courts December 15, 2016 order banning liquor vends in National and State Highways.



The NGO had approached the Supreme Court after Punjab and Haryana High Court dismissed its plea holding that the petitioner could not cite any law that has been violated in issuing the said notification.
Continuing his campaign against RJD chief Lalu Prasad's elder son, Bihar minister Tej Pratap Yadav, senior BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi today alleged that the minister was gifted over 13 acres of land when he was three years old.



Modi's fresh allegation against Lalu Prasad's family, which the RJD termed "baseless", came a day after he urged the Election Commission to disqualify Tej Pratap as a legislator for "concealing" details of assets in his election affidavit.



The BJP leader claimed that on March 23, 1992, then state minister Brij Bihari Prasad's wife Rama Devi gifted two plots - one measuring 9 acres 24 decimal and the other 3 acres 88 decimal - in the Kudhni area of Muzaffarpur district to Tej Pratap as a reward for "taking care" of her.



Rama Devi is at present the BJP MP from Sheohar.



Stating that Tej Pratap was only a three-year-old child in 1992, Modi said, "The gift deed mentioned that Rama Devi gifted the land to Tej Pratap out of sheer love and affection, and because she was impressed at the way he had "taken care" of her.



How could a three-year-and-eight-month-old child take care of or look after Rama Devi, asked the Leader of the Opposition in the Bihar legislative council.



Modi, who has repeatedly been attacking Prasad and his family for purportedly owning undeclared properties worth over Rs 1,000 crore, alleged that the land dealings needed to be probed by Income Tax authorities as the documents in question were in the public domain.



Talking to reporters on the sidelines of his weekly Janata Darbar, the former Bihar deputy chief minister said he did not know about the current status of the property, which was valued at Rs 20,000 when it was allegedly gifted to Tej Pratap.



Asked whether he had asked his party MP Rama Devi about the issue, Modi said the land deal took place long before she joined the BJP.

To a question, he said Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar should reconsider his ties with the RJD and Congress.



Modi said he would also complain with the EC against Lalu's other son, Deputy Chief Minister Tejaswhi Prasad Yadav, as he had also concealed details of his immovable assets in his election affidavit.



Reacting to the allegations, RJD spokesman Shakti Singh Yadav said Modi had been confined to the footnotes of the BJP, and that he was making baseless charges against Lalu Prasad and his family in order to remain in the media glare.



"The allegations have no basis. Everything is in the public domain. If the donor has no problem in offering a gift, why is Sushil Modi hassled," he asked.
Communal clashes have broken out in North 24 Paraganas district of West Bengal over an "objectionable" post on Facebook, prompting the state government to rush 400 troops of paramilitary BSF today to assist the police in containing the situation.



The violence between two communities at Baduria under Basirhat sub-division in the district started last night over the post following which a young man was arrested, the police said today.



A violent mob put up road blockades at several places and attacked members of other community, besides destroying many shops, they said.



There were no immediate reports of any casualty.



Shops were shut down in Baduria as tension prevailed there and spread to adjacent areas like Keosha market, Banshtala, Ramchandrapur and Tentulia, the police said.



A senior Border Security Force (BSF) officer said four companies comprising 400 troops of the force's South Bengal Frontier have been deployed in Bashirhat, Swarupnagar, Baduria and Devganga areas to assist the state police in containing the situation.



In an unprecedented move, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee accused Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi of "threatening" her over phone and talking "big on the law and order".

She said that he was acting like a "BJP block president".



Banerjee said, "I am not here at the mercy of anyone. The way he spoke to me, I once thought of leaving (the chair)."



Tripathi expressed surprise over Banerjee's "attitude and language" and said there was nothing in his talks for which she felt insulted, threatened or humiliated.



"The talks between the Hon'ble Chief Minister and the Hon'ble Governor were confidential in nature and none is expected to disclose it," a statement issued by Raj Bhavan here said.



It said that the governor asked the chief minister to ensure peace and law and order by all means.



"The Hon'ble Governor cannot remain a mute spectator of the affairs in the state," it said.



Condemning the riots, Banerjee said, "This is a serious issue, let me handle it seriously."



She said after the arrest of one person, there should not have been any further trouble. "We were awake last night (to control it)."



Banerjee said, "The ruling party at the Centre has an agenda. They have formed a 'Gau Raksha group' to kill people. A 'hate group' was formed to foment riots. Riots are taking place in the name of Hindu Samhati."



Accusing the state police of failure to control the situation, BJP general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya, who is also in charge of the state, wrote a letter to Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh asking him intervene in the matter.



"More than 2,000 Muslims attacked Hindu families. Bombs went off at many places and information of Hindu sisters and daughters being raped has also been received. Local workers (of BJP) have said many facilities, including five BJP offices, were set on fire," Vijayvargiya, who is based in Delhi, said.



Banerjee said, "Someone had posted something objectionable on Facebook. He was arrested. Where is the fault of my government."



The West Bengal government has dispatched a special team of the state police and Kolkata Police to the riot-hit area to monitor the situation.



Official sources in Delhi said the clashes were triggered last evening over the Facebook post about a holy site.



A demonstration was held in front of the Baduria police station by the people belonging to one community.



In an indirect reference to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Israel visit, Banerjee said, "He is going abroad to forge unity and the country is on fire. This must be stopped."



She said, "I told police yesterday to stop it. They should have blocked the Facebook account. But, how many Facebook accounts can be blocked? If the police had opened fire, 200 people would have been killed."



The chief Minister appealed to top leaders of both the communities that her government would not tolerate "this hooliganism".



State BJP President Dilip Ghosh said if the governor asked her about the incident, where was the question of her being insulted.
Two more pilgrims, including a resident of Karnataka, died of natural causes en route to the 3,880-metre high holy cave shrine of Amarnath in south Kashmir Himalayas raising the death toll to six since the inception of the pilgrimage on June 29.



An official said Chander Shekhar, 73, a resident of Karnataka, fell unconscious after performing darshan near the cave shrine on Tuesday afternoon. He was rushed to base camp hospital where doctors declared him as brought dead, he said and added his body was handed over to his relatives for last rites.



Another pilgrim Shiva Kanth Mishra, 59, a resident of Uttar Pradesh, also died after he suffered cardiac arrest while returning from the cave shrine at Brarimarg along the Baltal cave route, he said.



We hand over the bodies to the relatives in case of death of any pilgrim. Most of the times they perform last rites here only, but if somebody is interested in taking the body back to home for last rites, the Shrine Board authorities help them out, he said.



Asked what happens to the pilgrims, who come alone without families, in case they die, the official said, In that case, we inform the families via phone and if somebody is unclaimed, his last rites are performed by the Shrine Board.



So far six pilgrims have died in as many days of the 40-day long yatra. In the wake of rising number of deaths of pilgrims in the previous years, authorities had asked the health department officials to conduct a thorough health check of yatries before they are allowed for onward journey to the Holy Cave.



It has been noted in the past that some pilgrims manage health certificates despite suffering from serious ailments and being unfit for high altitude travel. In such cases, a doctor on Yatra duty said.



The 40-day annual yatra, which commenced from the twin tracks of Pahalgam in Anantnag district and Baltal in Ganderbal district, is scheduled to culminate on 7 August, coinciding with the Raksha Bandhan festival.


Prime Minister Narendra Modi today visited Israel's Yad Vashem memorial and honoured the victims of the Holocaust, among the greatest tragedies in human history as some six million Jews were killed by Nazi Germany.



Modi was accompanied by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Israel's largest Holocaust memorial.



"So that the light of humanity always shines through us. PM pays homage to 6 million lives lost in the Holocaust at Yad Vashem Memorial," External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Gopal Baglay tweeted, along with the pictures of Modi at the Yad Vashem memorial.



The leaders toured the Hall of Names, containing photographs and names of Holocaust victims, and the Children's Memorial and participated in a memorial ceremony in the Hall of Remembrance.



Following the visit, Netanyahu suggested that he and Modi visit Binyamin Ze'ev (Theodor) Herzl's grave on which Indian Prime Minister Modi agreed.



Theodor Herzl was an Austro-Hungarian journalist, playwright, political activist, and writer who was one of the fathers of modern political Zionism, a movement to establish a Jewish homeland.



Yad Vashem started as an organisation in 1953 on the slopes of the Mount of Remembrance near Jerusalem, as a form of reference to future generations, documenting the memory of Holocaust victims and the history of the Jewish people during the tragic time.



The museum occupies over 4,200 square metres - mainly underground - and emphasises the experiences of the individual victims through original artifacts, survivor testimonies and personal possessions.



Shaped as a prism penetrating the mountain, the new Yad Vashem opened in 2005. Its architecture sets the atmosphere for the nine chilling galleries of interactive historical displays which present the Holocaust in several ways.



The museum leads into the Hall of Names, which contains more than three million names of Holocaust victims submitted by their families and relatives.



The Holocaust was the killing of nearly six million Jews, including some 1.5 million children, by Adolf Hitler's Nazi Germany. Though the persecution of Jews began in 1933, the mass murder was committed during the more than four years of World War II.



On his arrival, Modi was greeted by Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu along with the top tier of Israel's leadership - known as segel aleph.



Modi's three-day visit to Israel is the first by an Indian prime minister to the Jewish state.
Dakshina Kannada district Kambala Committee has expressed its joy over the assent by the President of India to an ordinance passed by the state government to allow organising the sport of Kambala.



Addressing reporters in the city on Tuesday, District Kambala Committee president Shantaram Shetty Barkur said that the Kambala event had not been organised last year, following an objection filed in the court by PETA. He added that as the event was stopped, several Kambala rituals too had not been conducted in temples.



Shetty said that both the state and the Central governments have worked hard towards lifting the ban on Kambala. The state government had passed an ordinance in the Assembly and had sent it to the Governor and then to the President for approval.



All political parties had supported the organisation of Kambala events, he said and thanked the MLAs, MLCs, ministers of the state and the Centre, on the occasion.



He said that the bill sent by the state government for the Presidents approval had been returned with suggestions for modification. The state government duly modified and reissued the bill, which has been assented by the President. For nine months, there will be no prohibition on Kambala events, which will be held from November 1 to March-end, he informed.



Ashok Kumar Rai said that a memorandum submitted to the High Court would come before the court on July 5. There is a hope for positive development, he added.

The members celebrated by bursting firecrackers on the occasion.




The delay in the implementation of Shuddha Neeru, which was touted as a panacea for the drinking water crisis in rural areas, irked the zilla panchayat members here at zilla panchayat meeting on Tuesday.



The project entailed installation of Reverse Osmosis (RO) machines to ensure that people were provided pure drinking water.



However, due to the negligence of the authorities, the work has not been completed in the district. Even at places where the work has been completed, the machines have become defunct, the members said.



An official from Karnataka Rural Infrastructure Development Ltd (KRIDL) said that at a few places the coin box machine and the RO machines have a few technical problems, which are being set right. Machines have been repaired two to three times in the past wherever it has been installed.



Responding to it, Chief Whip of the Government in Legislative Council Ivan

DSouza said he will discuss the issue with District In-charge Minister Ramanath Rai as well as the deputy commissioner and will bring the issue to the notice of Rural Development and Panchayat Raj minister. The minister will be asked to blacklist all those who have failed to instal the machines properly in the district.



Standing Committee president Shahul Hameed said that under the fourth phase of Shuddha Neeru, the government has sanctioned 68 units even when it has not been implemented effectively.



Members Prameela Janardhan and Mohammed M S suggested that instead of setting up such units, it is better to write to the government to earmark funds for drinking water projects in the district. Instead of entrusting the work on implementing the project to KRIDL, it should be entrusted to zilla panchayat engineering division.



Krishi Bhagya



Agriculture department joint director Kempe Gowda said that under Krishi Bhagya scheme, the target is to dig 700 farm ponds in Dakshina Kannada district. A sum of Rs 550 lakh has been allotted to the district. The facility of farm pond can be availed by farmers who have a minimum of one acre land. Even machines can be used for digging the farm ponds. To avoid any mishap, construction of a fence around the farm ponds has been made mandatory, he said.



When the members sought to know why D group employees in the department have failed to get salary for the last few months, an officer from Veterinary department said that the employees have not been paid the salary since February. The salary has been withheld at the state-level and will be released shortly, the officer informed.



The members said that beneficiaries are made to run from pillar to post by the bankers while sanctioning loan under self employment scheme, especially for micro units for the artisans.



Member Vinod said that a youth who had applied for the loan under the governments scheme has not been sanctioned loan since one year. The bank had asked the youth to furnish five-year rent agreement, whereas, in reality, 11-month rent agreement is sufficient. In such a situation, how will the youths be motivated to set up self employment units, the members asked.



Zilla panchayat president Meenakshi Shanthigodu also directed the lead bank manager to ensure that bankers speak in Kannada in rural branches.



Action plan approved



The zilla panchayat approved the action plan for the year 2017-18 worth Rs 1,387.46 lakh under agriculture, industry standing committee, Rs 15,269.84 lakh for education and health and Rs 1,783.86 lakh under Panchayat Raj engineering division.



Toppers in SSLC were felicitated on the occasion.


The head of North Dakotas corrections department hopes to see results soon in the states efforts to slow and reduce a growing inmate population after the recent passage of criminal justice reform legislation.

Leann Bertsch, director of the North Dakota Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, pointed to a provision in her departments budget that requires it to develop a prison population management plan to prioritize admissions based on sentences and space availability. That bill also requires local correctional facilities to create an inmate population plan.

State agency budget bills went into effect Saturday, July 1, the start of a new biennium.

With the inmate prioritization plan going in July 1, I would say within the next half of the year well probably start seeing how its going to impact jails and prison, Bertsch said. Locking more people up really doesnt make the state safer.

Those provisions are just parts of a wider criminal justice reform effort lawmakers took up this year, which were touted by top state officials like Gov. Doug Burgum, Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem and Chief Justice Gerald VandeWalle. Faced with growing inmate populations  North Dakotas prison population grew by 32 percent between 2005 and 2015  officials said they hope to shift more focus to behavioral health treatment and away from the expensive prospect of expanding jail capacity.

Bertsch said the reform will require a culture shift in the criminal justice system.

I think the law changes are just kind of the tools to allow those things to happen but the actual practitioners need to embrace the changes to make these law changes effective, she said.

Some of the changes have already gone into effect, such as a provision reducing the penalty for first-time drug possession charges from a Class C felony to a Class A misdemeanor. Lawmakers also lifted the ban on people receiving benefits under two major programs  the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families  for seven years after a felony drug conviction.

Another change setting probation as the presumptive sentence for those guilty of a first-time Class C felony or Class A misdemeanor offense doesnt go into effect until Jan. 1. The presumptive probation provision includes exceptions for domestic violence, crimes that require registration or involve a weapon and other aggravating factors.

Judiciary Committee Chairman Sen. Kelly Armstrong, R-Dickinson, said reducing first-time drug possession charges was a major change that could help give a second chance to young people whose career prospects would be otherwise hampered by a felony conviction.

You get a young kid, a younger adult whos got a lot of things going for them but gets caught up in some addiction things, this will at least give them a shot to get their life cleaned up and not have that felony chasing them the rest of their life, he said.

Aaron Birst, executive director of the North Dakota States Attorneys Association, expressed discomfort about some of the changes but said prosecutors are generally on board with reform. He said the $7 million set aside in the DOCR budget for a community behavioral health program is not much at all.

If you just reduce the penalties and theres no accompanying treatment facilities that will take those folks, you havent really solved any problem, he said. The principle is agreeable, but thats not the end of the analysis.

Bertsch said the $7 million is a good first step toward addressing the behavioral health needs of those in the criminal justice system.

I think the next step thats very much needed in our state is that we expand behavioral health services for everyone, regardless of whether theyre involved with the criminal justice system, she said.
The controversy surrounding the alleged derogatory comments made by District In-charge Minister B Ramanath Rai against senior party leader B Janardhan Poojary on Tuesday reached another level, with Poojary loyalist Harikrishna Bantwal daring Rai to undergo a truth test.



Addressing media persons in the city, Bantwal, a former Congressman who was expelled from the party for contesting as a rebel during the election to the Legislative Council earlier, challenged Rai to prove his innocence by undergo a truth test at the summit of Lord Manjunatha and Annappa Swamy at Sri Kshetra Dharmasthala.



Bantwal, who set a deadline of one week to Rai to accept the challenge, pooh-poohed the claims of Rai dismissing the allegations of abusive remarks as rumour without any substantiating evidence.



Bantwal reproduced as evidence a video clipping from the wedding of Rajesh Rao. Youth Congress leader Arun Coelho, who had reaffirmed before the media recently, and another leader of the party Tejasviraj, were present during the wedding. Rai who had a chance meeting with them and had abused Poojary then.



It also amounts to criminal offence for tarnishing image under Section 506 of IPC, added Bantwal.



The issue of Rai speaking low against Poojary has also reached AICC president Sonia Gandhi and Rajya Sabha member Oscar Fernandes, through media, he said.



Questions galore



Bantwal asked what prevented Rai, who called the allegations baseless, from appearing before the media for a week. He also asked why attempts were made behind the screen to silence Coelho and Tejasviraj. It was Rai again who insisted that Rajesh Rao clear the air addressing the media at the circuit house. I would have let it go, had Rai tendered an apology. But I could not rest when he went on to claim his innocence, said Bantwal justifying his challenge to the district in-charge minister to swear before the deity Manjunatha, as he (Rai) does whenever BJP leaders level allegations against him.



Kept aloof



Bantwal also quoted the speech of Rai during the investiture ceremony of newly appointed Dakshina Kannada District Congress Committee president K Harish Kumar. Rai had, on the occasion, expressed his regards for Poojary.



Bantwal wanted to know again why Poojary was restricted from conducting any press meet at the party office and was also kept aloof from party work. His opinion is not sought whenever new appointments were made to the organisation at least in the district, said Bantwal.



Poojarys capacity



Denying the claim of Rai influencing the party high command in Delhi to give ticket to Poojary to contest the previous Parliamentary elections from Dakshina Kannada, Bantwal sought to clarify, It was Poojarys victory over close contenders in the internal polls conducted to decide on the party nominees, that fetched him a ticket to contest the polls.




A drink at the end of a tiring day turned into a nightmare for a Delhi resident who was left with a 90mm hole in his stomach after gulping down a liquid nitrogen based cocktail.



The victim ordered a few rounds of drinks and some food at a bar in Gurugram but began to feel uncomfortable after consuming it. Assuming that he had acidity, the bartender suggested a tempting cold cocktail with smoke emanating from it. The man gulped it down and was writhing in pain in no time.



He was rushed to a hospital where the doctors discovered a big opening in the stomach.



For patients with chronic acid problems, we can see perforations of 1-2 mm diameter. For him, it was a 90mm hole. The stomach was open like a book, Amit Deepta Goswami, a consultant doctor at Columbia Asia Hospital in Gurugram, told DH.



The damage was caused by liquid nitrogen which was added to the drink to quickly cool it down and make it look attractive.



While small perforations can be sewed up, it was not possible in this case. Almost 45% of the stomach was removed and the rest was connected to the small intestine, Goswami said. The cocktail substantially damaged the nearby tissues as well.



The incident occurred in April and the patient is doing fine at the moment. He has since quit alcohol.



Liquid nitrogen has a boiling point of -195.8 degrees Celsius and is used to instantly freeze food and beverages. The colourless liquid is also used to cool computers and in cryogenic medical procedures. When used to freeze beverages, it should only be consumed after the nitrogen has completely evaporated.



Unfortunately, the victim did not wait for the smoke to evaporate.



Goswami said it was a rare case as the only other case known to him took place in the UK where an 18-year-old girl ended up in a hospital after celebrating her birthday at a bar.



Liquid nitrogen is permitted as an additive in frozen food as per the guidelines of the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI). But when it comes to the use of liquid nitrogen it is a grey area.


When it comes to the Queens language, Punjab students fare badly.



The Class X results of the state board this year testifies how averse the students are to English. But that isnt stopping the Punjab government from introducing Mandarin for the students of Class X in government schools.



Also on the cards are Italian and French, as the government feels the students need to be up for global competition. The government may rollout the initiative from the next academic session.



This years Class X examination result saw the sharpest dip in a decade. The number of students who passed the Punjab School Board Examination fell to 58% from 73% last year.



More than 40% students failed in English. Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh on Tuesday said Mandarin and other foreign languages will be offered to students of Class X and above. Of course, the focus will be on English, he said, adding, English is the still the international language. Lets admit it. The neighbouring Punjab province of Pakistan, too, has pushed for Mandarin to be taught to its students. In Pakistan, teachers from China will provide training and help compile the study material.



The state government feels foreign languages will boost students job prospects overseas.
The proposed exchange of land between the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) and the defence establishment inched a little forward on Tuesday with military officers inspecting BBMPs property at Thammanayakanahalli in Anekal taluk in Bengaluru Urban district.



The Palike needed 62 acres of defence land in the city for various development projects like road-widening, flyovers and underpasses. The defence establishment had agreed for the exchange of land on the condition that the value of land the Palike offered was equivalent to the guidance value of the defence property.



The general officer commanding of Karnataka and Kerala Sub Area, Major General K S Nijjar, Colonel Ashok Mishra, BBMP special commissioner B M Vijayashankar, BBMP chief engineer K T Nagaraj and assistant commissioner of revenue department D B Natesh inspected 207 acres and 24 guntas of land in survey number 23 of Thammanayakanahalli.



The army officers expressed their willingness to exchange their land with Palikes sprawling 207.24 acres of land. They said they would send a report to the Defence Ministry.



According to BBMP sources, the Palike needs defence land to kickstart 22 pending road infrastructure projects. Besides this, another 90 acres of government land adjacent to survey number 23 is available and the Palike reportedly proposed to hand over 35 acres of it. However, there was no clear commitment from the defence officers about accepting it.



It is learnt that 62 acres of defence land in the city is worth Rs 1,500 crore, whereas the guidance value of each acre of Palike land in Anekal is around Rs 30 lakh.



The Palike has already agreed to hand over Kensington Park near Halasuru lake to acquire 9,991 sq metres of land belonging to the Madras Engineer Group (MEG) to complete the railway overbridge (ROB) at Baiyappanahalli.


The West division police on Tuesday conducted searches at the Attica Gold Palace head office on Queens Road for allegedly purchasing stolen gold jewellery.



According to the police, the owner of the jewellery showroom, Ayub alias Bommanahalli Babu, was buying jewels from thieves at a very nominal price and would melt them before selling them, the police said. This he did, despite knowing that it was stolen jewellery, the police added.



There were numerous theft cases reported in west and south divisions where investigations revealed that stolen gold ornaments were sold to Attica at throwaway prices.



We had previously issued notices to the jewellers head office, but we did not get any reply. After obtaining a search warrant from the court, we began searches at the jewellery chains five branches last Thursday at five places simultaneously, but it went in vain as the shops were shut, said a senior police officer.



We came to know that the branches were equipped with a centralised locking system where all branches could be shut down by operating a control at the head office, the officer added.



We also asked the head office to reply to the notice, but they did not, said an officer explaining why another search warrant was obtained to conduct searches to gather ledger details, hard disks and other documents related to the stolen jewels.



Police sources said gold jewellery stolen from houses in Girinagar, Jnanabharathi, Hanumanthanagar, Vijayanagar and other police station limits were pledged or sold to Attica Gold Palace. The police are conducting searches based on documents that they have recovered from thieves.



The jeweller, knowing very well that it is stolen property, had dealt with it and there were thieves who regularly deposited stolen gold valuables with Attica, M N Anucheth, DCP (West), said.


The citys mounted police now sport a smart new look, giving up their regular khaki uniform. They will be seen in a black polo T-shirt with the logo of the Bengaluru city police embroidered into it, with a matching cap and a pair of white trousers.



The new uniform gives the mounted police personnel better visibility.



Riders will feel comfortable in the new uniform. They will also be given reflective jackets for smooth movement of the horses through traffic on Commercial Street and Brigade Road, D Kishore Babu, deputy commissioner of police, City Armed Reserve (headquarters), told DH.



CAR has just five horses in its stable and there are plans to increase it to 12. We are going to expand horse patrolling in the city, he said.



The five-member mounted patrol squad is deployed on Commercial Street on Tuesdays and on Brigade Road on Thursdays. They can be spotted in Cubbon Park on Saturdays and Sundays. The horse-mounted police are used for crowd control in these areas.


The Organised Crime Wing (OCW) of the Central Crime Branch (CCB) on Monday arrested a 27-year-old notorious rowdy Gautham, who was involved in many cases including attempt to murder, robbery and extortion in Bengaluru.



Gautham was picked up from Hosur bus stand based on a tip-off from a police informant. He was also involved in the murder of another rowdy Shivakumar, the police said.



According to the police, the feud between the two rowdy gangs dates back to 2005 when Shivakumar had a stand-off with one Velu, a rival gang member. Shivakumar then murdered Subramanya, a family member of Velu to gain notoriety.



To take revenge on Shivakumar, Velu and his associates killed Shivakumars elder brother Ashwath Narayana.



Shivakumar, who came out of jail, then murdered the retired additional superintendent of police and KPTCL chief vigilance officer K S Thammaiah in 2009 in Yelahanka.



Thammaiah was murdered as he was a nightmare for rowdies in the city and led the Anti-Rowdy Squad when Kasturirangan was the police commissioner.



In 2011, Shivakumar murdered Velu to take revenge for his brothers killing. Shivakumar used to intimidate Velus family members boasting that since he had killed a police officer, Velu and his family members were no big deal for him. Enraged by this, Velus relatives Shanmuga, Ranjitha and Gautham took the help of rowdy Silent Sunil and Market Vedi and hatched a plot to eliminate Shivakumar.



On December 9, 2012, Gautham and his gang hacked Shivakumar to death with lethal weapons near Electronics City and escaped.



Gautham, who had been underground ever since, was arrested on Monday. He was produced before a magistrate and remanded in judicial custody.



Attack on cop



Gautham was booked under the Arms Act for assaulting and extorting a police officer at gun point in 2013.



He was also a history-sheeter at the Silver Jubilee Park police station and had cases registered against him at SJ Park, Basavanagudi, Ashoknagar and Tilak Nagar police stations.


Rajasthan Anti-Terrorism Squad arrested a man with IS links, in Chennai on Tuesday.



Police sources said the accused, identified as Haroon Rasheed, was running a shop at Burma Bazar area in north Chennai. Rasheed was raising funds, besides recruiting youths for the IS.



The police team, while investigating Mohammad Iqbal, a Chennai resident arrested in February for raising funds for the IS, found Rasheed was one of the links being used to send money to the outfit.
BJP ally Shiv Sena on Tuesday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to come up with a national policy on beef in the wake of numerous incidents of violence and lynching.



The issue of beef is all about eating habits, business and employment. The issue of protection of cow progeny is related to whether one wants to increase pressure on poor farmers. Hence, there should be a national policy on the issue, reads an editorial in the Shiv Senas Marathi mouthpiece Saamana and its Hindi tabloid version Dopahar ka Saamana.



The Shiv Sena also questioned the BJP and the Centre about different policies on beef in different states.



The statement by the Uddhav Thackeray-led saffron political outfit assumes significance in the wake of Modis statement in Sabarmati last week.



He had said: Killing people in the name of gau bhakti (cow worship) is not acceptable. This is not something Mahatma Gandhi would approve of.



The editorial praised Modi for his statement, but said that the government needs to have more clarity on the issue of protection of cow progeny.


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A group of French travellers have been praised for cleaning up after themselves following their eviction from a park.

The large group of travellers parked up on council land a week ago and were told they faced legal action if they did not leave.

The travellers have now left the site, off Waterside Road, Stapenhill, and have been praised after putting their rubbish in black bin bags, which were handed to them by East Staffordshire Borough Council.

A group of at least seven caravans, believed to be from France, was first spotted arriving on the council land on Monday, June 26.

However, despite borough council bosses asking the travellers to move on from the site within 24 hours, they failed to do so, prompting court action.

The council, which owns the land, said the travellers had until 11am on Wednesday, June 28, to move, or they would start enforcement proceedings.

The travellers left over the weekend, leaving the area in a tidy state, the Burton Mail reported.

A council spokesman said: "The travellers left the site over the weekend. They used the black bin bags that the council provided to dispose of their rubbish and left them stacked which allowed the council to remove them on Monday morning."

The group is understood to be the same travellers who were recently evicted from a site in Leicester. Earlier this month, the group was given permission to stay on land next to a Leicester leisure centre so they could attend a medical appointment, the Leicester Mercury reported.

But Leicester council officials said the group which pitched up in Downing Drive in Evington, on Monday, June 12, were successfully evicted on Friday, June 16.

The council had given the travellers, some of whom were from Germany, permission to stay to allow them to attend a hospital appointment. The group, at one point, had 15 caravans in Leicester.

The council says the vacated site in Leicester will be tidied up but added that it was not left in a particularly poor state.
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A Derbyshire 22-year-old died after taking ecstasy on a night out described by a friend as a "final fling" to mark the end of her university career.

Joana Burns, from Alfreton, had completed a degree in mathematics at Sheffield Hallam University when she went on a night out at The Foundry at the Sheffield Students' Union building.

According to a report compiled by South Yorkshire Police, Miss Burns and her friends paid 7 each for ecstasy - also known as MDMA - to take during their night out on June 6.

(Image: Getty Images)

In statements taken by officers, one friend said Miss Burns was not a regular drug user, adding: "It was just supposed to be a one off, 'final fling' to finish university."

Another statement said there was an "understanding/assumption" that the group would take drugs on the night out, while a third said: "About two weeks before (the night out), the subject of drugs came up for discussion.

"Some of us were recreational drug users, including cannabis and MDMA. Some of my flatmates wanted MDMA for the night out."

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Miss Burns was taken to the Northern General Hospital after falling ill, while another female was also admitted in a critical condition after taking drugs.

Police Constable Paul Briggs from South Yorkshire Police says a drugs box at the venue  in which clubbers can dispose of drugs under an amnesty  was "considerably full" of confiscated substances during a visit to the premises a week before the incident.

In a report complied for a licensing hearing at Sheffield City Council, he says: "Within the box, I found 98 packets of a powder substance, 31 packets containing tablets/pills, four cannabis spliffs and nine packets containing cannabis."

A "large quantity" of drugs were also seized by door staff on the night of the incident, the report adds

Temporary Chief Superintendent Shaun Morley says: "From visits to the premises prior to this incident, officers from the licensing team at South Yorkshire Police have recovered a large quantity of drugs which had been seized by door staff.

"It is apparent there is an underlying issue of drugs supply and consumption at the premises."

A fundraising page to establish a memorial fund for Miss Burns has seen more than 1,250 pledged in donations.

On the JustGiving page, a tribute reads: "Joana was a wonderful young woman with so much to look forward to. She will be missed not only by her family and friends but by everyone who knew her."

The Foundry says on its website that anyone caught with drugs would be removed from the premises.

It says: "Sheffield Students' Union operates a zero-tolerance policy towards drugs consumption, possession and dealing. If you are found in possession of a controlled substance, you will be asked to leave the venue without refund."
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Offering great music, rustic charm, a relaxed atmosphere and beautiful surroundings on the banks of the River Derwent, The Eyes Have It festival returns this weekend.

Now entering its third year, the Duffield festival, which runs from Friday, July 7, to Sunday, July 9, will see some classic top 40 acts added to the mix.

Organiser Simon Clark says he is delighted to have the Blockheads, Toyah Willcox and the Climax Blues Band headlining at the festival. The Blockheads headline Friday night, with Toyah on Saturday and the Climax Blues Band on Sunday.

Simon said: Years one and two were absolutely fantastic and these household names will now take the festival to another level.

I went to see The Blockheads with Ian Dury back in 1979 and they blew me away. New Boots and Panties! was one of the seminal albums of that era, its just absolutely brilliant.

Mainly a rock, pop and blues weekend, the festival is also keen to stretch the boundaries in new directions with a diversity of musicians from all over the UK.

Simon says: One of the support acts we're most excited about is Esther Swift, a Scottish harp player. She has a fantastic voice and performs contemporary folk.

Returning country-blues favourites Itchy Fingers will add to the events roots feel, among a bill of more than 20 support acts.

Simon says: Weve got the cream of the local band circuit coming plus others from further afield, who alternate between our beautiful oak outdoor and beer marquee stages.

The event is built out of passion for live music but festival-goers can also expect good food and drink to flow throughout the weekend plus great camping facilities  even hot showers.

The line-up

Friday

7pm The Grey White Band

7.45pm Moon Bullet

8.45pm The Cubists

9.45pm Ras King Bobo Acrobat

10.15pm The Blockheads

Saturday

Noon Open Mic

2pm The Immortal Rich

2.45pm Littlefield

3.45pm David Lacey

5pm The Sneaks

5.45pm The Ruins

6.30pm Itchy Fingers

7.15pm Mikey Foulds

8.30pm Ben Miles

9.10pm Telsen

10pm Fire4

10.30pm Toyah

Sunday

12.30pm Esther Swift FREE Harp Workshop

1.45pm Duffield Singers

2.15pm No Way Back

3pm Doctor and the Mechanics

3.45pm Bowbridge

4.30pm Esther Swift

5.15pm Hungry For Change

6pm Zephyr

7pm Climax Blues Band

How much are tickets?

Weekend tickets for The Eyes Have It cost 45 (half price for under 18s, with camping at 10 per tent. Children under ten get in free if accompanied by an adult.

If you're only going for a day, Friday tickets are 20, Saturday entry is 25 and Sunday is 20.

There is free parking at the festival site at Eyes Meadow, Donald Hawley Way.

For more details and tickets, visit www.tehi.co.uk or call Simon on 07707 562981.
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Real ale lovers will be aiming to prove that life begins at 40 this week as the Derby City Charter Summer Beer Festival hits the four-decade milestone.

Mayor John Whitby will declare the event open to the public at 6.30pm on Wednesday, beer writer Roger Protz will address the early crowds and the first of five days of beer-fuelled festivities will commence.

Organised by the Derby Campaign for Real Ale, the festival is free to all CAMRA members for every session. Entry is free for pensioners before 5.30pm and half price for those aged under 26s with proof of age.

Opening times and prices for non-members

Wednesday, July 5, from 6.30pm to 11pm: 3 all day

Thursday, July 6, from 11am to 11pm: 2 before 5.30pm, 5 after 5.30pm

Friday, July 7, from 11am to 11pm: 2 before 5.30pm, 6 after 5.30pm

Saturday, July 8, from 11am to 11pm: 3 before 5.30pm, 6 after 5.30pm

Sunday, July 9, from 12pm to 2pm: free entry to all

Advance tickets are available from Derby Live.

Beer, cider and continental bottled beers

If you are not a beer connoisseur and are bewildered by the huge choice on offer, then it is worth looking out for the descriptions of the ales. Here's a quick guide to help you find the beer of your dreams.

Bitter (B) or Best Bitter (BB) - unsurprisingly, these have a bitter taste because of their high hop rate and are generally copper coloured.

Golden Ales (GA) - pale, thirst-quenching beer served cool and usually lighter in colour than bitter.

Mild (M) - a lower hop rate means that these beers are less bitter than bitter.

Porters and stouts (P and ST) - dark in colour, rich and bitter in taste.

Strong beers (SB) - heavy and sweetish usually 6% alcohol by volume or above.

Barley Wines and Strong Old Ales (BW and SOA) - sweet malt and ripe fruit flavours and normally between 10% and 12% ABV.

Wheat Beer (W) - sharp, fragrant and fruity, these beers are made with wheat and barley.

Speciality Beers (SP) - beers to which additional ingredients such as fruit, herbs and spices have been added.

As well as a good contingent of products from Derbyshire breweries, visitors to the beer festival will be able to sample beers from all over the British Isles, ranging from Lothian to Suffolk and from Tyne and Wear to Devon.

There will be ciders and perries (pear ciders) from across the UK and, as well as the finest domestic ales, there will also be quality bottled beers from Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands.

Unthinkable back in 1978, there is even a Derby Beer Festival mobile app for drinkers to navigate their way around the 300-or-so beers that will be on offer.

Food, glorious food...

Solid sustenance on offer at the beer festival includes traditional German grilled sausage, including a 20-inch monster.

The Oddfellows Chocolate Company will bring along some scorpion death chocolate and other hand-made confections.

Curries, onion bhajis and samosas will be available from Patel Catering while Morgans Cheese will have cheese, pickles and pork pies.

For those wishing to continue the beer theme, Sophie's Snacks are mostly made with beer. Organisers also say that pizza will be on offer.

Entertainment at the beer festival

Wednesday

Evening: Derbyshire Volunteers Big Ceilidh Band

Support: Ripley Morris Men

Fringe: Rapper Team

More Fringe: Sword Dancers

Thursday

Lunch: Ivan Ball Jazz Band

Evening: Shamus O Blivion and the Megadeath Morris Men (Celtic rock)

Support: Harriet! And Steele Threads (acoustic country rock)

Friday

Lunch: Brookside Jazz

Evening: The Dark Horses (classic rock covers)

Support: Hillbilly Jukebox (bluegrass versions of rock classics)

Saturday

Lunch: Trent Connection (swing and rock)

Support: Samba dancers and drummers

Evening: Midnight Pumpkin Trucks (rock)

Support: Backline (blues)

Sunday

Herron Brothers (folk indie)
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Toyota has produced a limited edition of a model that it builds in Derbyshire to mark 25 years of car manufacturing in the UK.

The Japanese car-maker is celebrating the landmark anniversary by selling a special version of the Auris Hybrid, a model that it builds at its Burnaston factory.

Toyota first started making cars at the Derbyshire plant back in December, 1992. The first car to roll off the production line was a Carina E.

Since then, over the past quarter of a century, the Burnaston factory has made more than four million vehicles, which have been delivered to customers across the UK, mainland Europe and beyond.

And in that time, the company has invested more than 2.5 billion in Burnaston and its engine-making plant in Deeside, North Wales.

Earlier this year, the firm announced it was investing a further 240 million in the Derbyshire factory to upgrade production processes.

Today, Toyota employs more than 3,000 people across its two UK plants and supports many more jobs within its UK supply chain.

Burnaston was the first Toyota factory in Europe to start producing hybrid vehicles, which are powered by a combination of petrol and electricity.

It is the home of the Auris Hybrid and to mark the factorys 25th anniversary, it has produced the limited edition car, known as the Auris Hybrid GB25.

According to Toyota, the special car represents the best of Toyotas UK manufacturing, a stylish and spacious compact hatchback offering the smooth, quiet and efficient performance of the latest-generation petrol-electric hybrid powertrain.

Performance-wise, the cars 1.8-litre petrol-electric engine can give 72.4 miles per gallon fuel consumption. On the outside it has a distinctive bi-tone paint finish, combining a contrasting black roof, front grille and door mirror casings with a choice of Tokyo Red, Pearl White or Aspen Grey bodywork. Its special status is marked out a by a 25 years building in Britain badge, incorporating the Union flag.

Inside, it has black leather upholstery with a quilted finish for the backrest and cushion and contrast silver stitching  also featured on the armrests and dashboard trim.

Other equipment features include 17-inch alloy wheels with silver and machined contrast finish, rear privacy glass, full colour multi-information display automatic air conditioning, power windows, push-button start and leather steering and shift lever trim. The car went on sale at the start of the month with a price tag of 24,045.
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The founder of a successful weight loss firm has said that a new state-of-the-art building being constructed at its Derbyshire headquarters will help more people achieve their weight loss goals.

The 75,000 sq ft building, which is currently under construction in Alfreton, will eventually provide a state-of-the-art training centre for 4,500 Slimming World franchisee consultants who will run slimming groups across the country.

The building will also create more space for 350 head office staff, while also providing room for the companys future growth plans. Once complete, it will feature advanced video conferencing facilities and a new restaurant.

It will also have two fully-equipped training rooms which will create a new home for the Slimming World Academy, where consultants will receive specialist training in nutrition, behaviour change techniques and the psychology of weight loss.

Recently, a key milestone in the build was reached with the completion of the steel framework. To mark the progress, a signing of the steel ceremony took place, with Slimming World founder, Margaret Miles-Bramwell, doing the honours.

Mrs Miles-Bramwell, who founded the business 48 years ago, said the investment will ultimately help hundreds of thousands of people across the UK and Ireland achieve their weight loss targets.

She said: Our head office is important because its home to our dedicated teams who work exceptionally hard to support our fantastic consultants who, in turn, ensure our members receive the very best service - and that all starts in Derbyshire.

Weve experienced huge growth in the last few years and this new building will ensure we have the facilities to give our people a great working environment and a bigger, state-of-the-art training centre.

People have always been the heart of Slimming Worlds success and so ensuring that our people - our head office staff and consultants - have the facilities and environment they need to do the best job possible has been a real priority for us.

Im delighted that we have now reached this milestone in the building process and we are confident that our fabulous new building will ensure that we continue to be at the forefront of weight management.

The two-storey building, designed by Nottingham architects CMPG, is situated on the 4.6-acre site of Slimming Worlds existing head office in Clover Nook Road. Work has been carried out by construction and infrastructure company Morgan Sindall since March this year, with an anticipated completion date of spring 2018.

According to Mrs Miles-Bramwell, the expansion is a far cry from when she first started the business. She said: Slimming World started life in Derbyshire with the first group I ran in Alfreton on Monday nights in 1969.

As a 21-year-old who had struggled with weight myself, it was my dream to help people shed the misery of excess weight with a programme that was empowering, liberating and enjoyable.

At the time, I never could have imagined that we would go on to help so many people to achieve their weight loss dreams each week.
The feature is available on Android and iOS, and will display nearby businesses that offer free Wi-Fi hotspots. Here's how you can use the new feature

Facebook will now help you find a Wi-Fi hotspot near your location. The companys Find Wi-Fi feature is now available globally. The feature was initially made available in select countries last year. In its release, the company notes that the Find Wi-Fi was helpful for travellers and those who were in areas of scarce cellular connectivity.

The Find Wi-Fi feature will help those on Android and iOS locate available free Wi-Fi hotspots that nearby businesses are offering. Users can get directions to the location, as well as get other information such as details about the business and their working hours.

In order to use the new feature, users need to open the More tab and select Find Wi-Fi. Once the option has been selected, users will see a map highlighting the nearby businesses offering Wi-Fi hotspots.

Last year, it was reported that Facebook may have been testing a service called Express Wi-Fi. The service aimed to bring internet services in rural India through public hotspots. However, unlike the companys Free Basics platform that aimed to offer internet services for free, Express Wi-Fi would charge users, albeit at a very low cost. Facebook has also partnered with Bharti Airtel to provide 20,000 Wi-Fi hotspots in India. With this collaboration, Facebook plans to use its Express Wi-Fi services to provide affordable internet access to Indians. However, Facebook will face tough competition from Google in this regard. The search engine giant partnered with RailTel to launch free Wi-Fi services in select railway stations. By June last year, the company claimed that about 1.5 million Indians used the services to access the internet.

Express Wi-Fi isnt even the most ambitious of plans by Facebook. The company plans to launch solar-powered drones that would beam down internet connectivity. A few days ago, the drone completed its second successful test flight. The announcement was made by Facebooks CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, who said that the drone flew for an hour and 46 minutes. Today, more than half the world's population -- 4 billion people -- still can't access the internet. One day, Aquila will help change that, he said in a post on Facebook. It should be noted that the Aquilas first full scale test flight was conducted around the same time last year.
Motorola sticks to its promise of introducing 12 new MotoMods every year. The company has detailed six new MotoMods including a new 360-degree camera, a DSLR camera mod and an action mod.

Motorola has showcased the next set of MotoMods coming to its Moto Z series at an event in Ghana. With the announcement, Motorola seems to be sticking to its promise of launching 12 new MotoMods every year. The company had also announced new MotoMods alongside the launch of the Moto Z2 Play last month.

The new MotoMods were first spotted by TechDroider and hint at a new collaboration with Marshall and DirecTV. Motorola has announced a new 360-degree camera mod that works when attached to a Moto Z series smartphone. The new MotoMod seems to feature a MotoShell like design with a 360-degree camera placed at the top. The new Mod attaches to the back of the phone and seems to use a concept similar to the one previously shown by Andy Rubin-backed Essential. There is no clarity yet on how this Mod works but expect Motorola to share more information in the new few days.

Other Mods named ROKR and Studio are built in collaboration with Marshall. The ROKR Mod will serve as a powerful and quality speaker, while the Studio seems to be a high quality microphone that can be used to record quality audio. The DirecTV Mod, on the other hand, features an HDMI port that can be used to connect a DirecTV streaming stick and stream the service from the phone.

However, the most interesting MotoMods come in the form of camera-related Mods. The company showcased a new DSLR mod that adds ability to connect a lens onto a Moto Z and a hotshoe mount for any kind of camera accessory. There is also an "Action Mod" that seems to feature a rotating camera. These camera mods will join the already available Hasselblad Mod with 10x optical zoom. All these MotoMods seem to be still under development and Motorola has not shared any details on its availability.
The HTC U11 is an extremely fast smartphone with a great camera. It's the best HTC fans can get right now, but it loses out in terms of premium feel and future-facing technology in the current flagship market. It's good, but not good enough.

HTC U11 detailed review

Its easy to write off HTC in the current market. The companys been through turmoil and it has had its fair share of hit and misses. A couple of years ago, HTC said it was done with the low-end segment, which later changed to a premium-only focus. HTCs smartphone dream (pun intended) didnt start with Android, but that dream lives on (HTC Dream, get it?). The HTC U11 is something new and its something different. Its got the good elements of the HTC 10 (review), and is better in a lot of ways.





At Rs 51,990, the HTC U11 is placed squarely in the flagship class, but its also an outlier. The U11 is orthodox, and unorthodox at the same time. Its unique with a distinct HTC flavour to it. For fans, its the perfect evolution of HTC, but as times change, it may be slightly behind the competition. Simply put, good may not be good enough for HTC. This review of the HTC U11 ascertains just this.

Build and Design

From the front, the HTC U11 looks almost entirely like the HTC 10, but its got a liquid glass surface on the back. It sort of changes colour depending on how light falls on it. The best way to put it is that the body shines. The silver colour looks blue-ish at times, but the lighting will give it a silvery shine. I havent seen the black variant just yet, but I assume it works the same way. There are other colours too, but HTC hasnt announced them in India just yet.

Youll find the volume rocker and power on/off buttons on the right, while theres an oval fingerprint sensor on the front. The recents and back buttons are on either side of the sensor, but the touch area for these are sort of small. The buttons are backlit though, which makes them easier to interact with. The camera sensor lies on the upper half of the back, with a dual-LED flash next to it.

A metal frame runs along the side and antenna bands run near its edges. The bezels on the top and bottom of the display are rather large, with a substantially large front camera sensor on the top right. The earpiece lies at the centre of the top, while youll find the USB Type-C port and speaker cut-out at the bottom frame.

Its a neat and HTC-esque finish. The company is one of the few that achieves an Apple-class finish, if I may call it that. Theres literally no loose screw or creak on the U11. The edges of the back and front are slightly curved for better ergonomics, while at 169 grams, it doesnt feel very heavy either.

As nice and unique as HTCs design language is, I cant help but say that it feels old. If Sonys mirror finish doesnt stand against the Galaxy S8 (review), then neither does this. HTCs design is great, it just feels blocky and old. Im probably the only one saying that, but thats just how it is. Big bezels and shiny glass doesnt quite cut it anymore. The disadvantages (scratches and the possibility of breaking) simply outweigh the advantages.

Display

HTCs Super LCD5 displays have never made big news, but for those used to all types of smartphone displays, these are known to be quite balanced. The U11 has a 5.5 inch QHD display with Gorilla Glass 5 protection (which provides a fluid feeling when you touch it). I saw a slight drop in brightness from extreme angles, but it wont get in the way of regular usage.

As mentioned above, colours are quite balanced, but theres a toggle to switch saturation from warm to cool based on your preferences. The slider is placed in the middle by default and I wouldnt recommend messing with it. The display shows a wide enough colour gamut. Colours arent punchy so to speak, but theyre neither too warm, nor too bright. Colour reproduction on the U11 isnt as good as the Galaxy S8+ or the LG G6. Its at par with the Xperia XZ Premium (review), which is good enough.

Here again, the HTC U11 lacks a 2017 flagship feature  theres no HDR support. You could argue that HDR isnt essential at this point, but thats just what flagships are. They give you features you wont need for the next year or so, and tout those features as the future. HTC doesnt, and it may work against the Taiwanese company here.

Edge Sense

Amongst the many advertised features of the HTC U11 is the new Edge Sense feature. The Taiwanese company has made the U11 squeezable, offering a new form of interaction with smartphones. You can customise the feature to launch any app, or perform other function, like turn on the torch, launch the camera and so on. Theres a distinction for squeeze-and-hold actions and a short squeeze.

You will be prompted to set up Edge Sense during the initial setup and you can also turn it on from the Settings menu. The feature isnt really omnipresent, allowing only two functions at a time  one on short squeeze and the other a long squeeze. You can map the functions/apps of your choice to this and squeeze away to kingdom come.

When setting up the feature, youll be asked to set the intensity of the squeeze. The phone doesnt actually squeeze, so you can set a visual (photo above) or vibration feedback for the same. There are + and - buttons to map the squeeze intensity to exactly what you want. Even so, I was unable to get a squeeze intensity that qualified as intuitive.

Edge Sense is intuitive in a way, since the HTC U11 is fast enough to launch the app of your choice as soon as a squeeze happens. However, I ended up pressing the power on/off buttons one too many times to make good use of the squeeze function. Moreover, one wonders why HTC wont allow more squeeze levels for this, like squeeze twice, slide on the frame and so on. The HTC U11s frame is pressure sensitive, so a bit more customisation would perhaps have made Edge Sense more useful. Its unique in its own right, but unique doesnt mean useful. A good feature is one that you didnt know you needed, but Edge Sense isnt that. Nubia's bezel gestures are comparable and easier to use.

Sense Companion

The Sense Companion is an artificial intelligence being developed by HTC. It was launched alongside the U Ultra, but just like Samsungs Bixby, it offers nothing over the Google Assistant (which the U11 also has, and isnt perfect to start with). Any AI assistant today is under development, even though theyre being shipped on devices. More the users use it, better they get.

That said, the Sense Companion and Bixby take too long to launch. Theyre essentially apps that are weaved into the UI, which means they arent as responsive as the Google Assistant on a Pixel, or even on the HTC U11.

Performance

While, the display may not be flagship class, the processor certainly is. The HTC U11 runs on Qualcomms latest and greatest Snapdragon 835 chipset. It has 6GB of RAM to boot, making it the cheapest phone with 6GB RAM after the OnePlus 5. That is, unless LG announces a cheaper price tag for the G6+.

As far as speed and user experience is concerned, this is certainly the second fastest out there today. The HTC U11 falls behind the OnePlus 5 in terms of raw speed, but it is certainly is at par with the Samsung Galaxy S8, and ahead of the LG G6. Sense UI is well optimised, but OxygenOS is just much lighter and smoother.

App launches on the HTC U11 are extremely fast, while load times are low as well. But the usual suspects, like Chrome, games like Injustice, and some others, take a split second longer than the OnePlus 5. In essence, games that allow 60fps will be rendered at such frame rates, while the best of games will run at the highest possible graphics scores with the HTC U11. Six Gigabytes of memory aids this user experience, keeping apps running as long as you need. Simply put, theres little to question in the performance department. Its amongst the fastest phones out there, just not the fastest.

With temperatures outside being above 40 degrees, the U11s internal temperatures can touch 50 over extended periods of gaming or video recording, but thats not abnormal. In an air conditioned room, at 24 degrees celsius, the U11s temperatures remain within the 43 degree mark over half an hour of gaming or 15 minutes of video recording.

Audio

The HTC U11 is louder than the HTC 10, but it has the same tweeter and woofer combo as last years flagship. That said, there is significant improvement here. HTC uses the entire phone as an acoustic chamber, so youll feel the vibrations in your hands when playing. It doesnt have a headphone jack, but the USonic headphones are splendid, and much better than any off the market headphones you can buy at an affordable price.

The HTC U11 doesnt excel on audio recording as much as the LG V20 (review) did, but its certainly amongst the best phones for audiophiles. The U-Sonic headphones can be customised to your ears and the phone delivers rich audio through them. The headphones connect via USB Type-C. HTC also includes a convertor (with built-in DAC) for those who want to use 3.5mm headphones.

Camera

HTC made a big deal out of the fact that the U11 outranks the Google Pixel and Samsung Galaxy S8 on DXOMark. The phone is DXOMarks highest rated camera ever and while that's a great distinction to have, it can be sort of confusing from a user point of view.

Personally, I would rate the HTC U11 below the Pixel and Galaxy S8. It can outperform the two at times, but often fails as well. Generally speaking, the Pixel and Galaxy S8 are more dependable for day-to-day shooting.

On the flipside, the U11 takes incredible photos in both daylight and low light conditions. White balance, colours and details are spot on and noise levels are kept under check in low light. The phone is capable of some of the sharpest photos in low light and outperforms the Galaxy S8 at times, as evidence by the shot below. The Galaxy S8 produces warmer colours, but the HTC U11 is closer to the source.



HTC U11 (left) vs Samsung Galaxy S8 (Right)

On the other hand, the U11 tends to create flares off light sources when shooting at night. That can be a big issue when shooting in restaurants or clubs. Also, white balance is sometimes off, when shooting indoors. This is evidence in the shot below, where the card table mat is supposed to be a lighter shade of green. Lastly, the U11 has some trouble focusing on close-up photos or macros, similar to the Pixel. The subject is required to be a few centimetres more further as compared to a Galaxy S8.



HTC U11 Camera Samples

Overall, the HTC U11 is a great phone for shooting. It focuses as fast as the best out there, processing time is low and it even has the Pixels always-on HDR capability. Ive used the Galaxy S8 side-by-side, which is how I know its more dependable, but youll only recognise that if you can try these phones out the way I did. On its own, the HTC U11 is without a doubt one of the top camera phones to buy. And yes, its substantially better than the OnePlus 5.

The U11 compromises OIS (from the HTC 10) on the front camera for a larger 16MP sensor. And I dont mind the compromise, since photos are sharper now and the beautification algorithms dont seem as unnatural as before. If selfies matter, this is again amongst best out there. Incidentally, an Oppo F3 Plus, with its dual-front cameras will offer more value for money, thanks to a cheaper price tag.

Battery

Flagship devices arent known for the best battery life, and the HTC U11 is no different. That said, it meets industry standards, offering a work days worth of battery. It lasts just under 8 hours on the PC Mark Work 2.0 battery test, while it lasted about 12 hours on regular usage. On continuous video streaming at HD quality, the HTC U11 lasted for about 7 hours on a single charge, which is all quite average, but up to industry standards today. As far as flagships are concerned, only the LG G6 will do better.

Bottomline

The HTC U11 is a flagship class flagship, and thats the best way to put it. Having said that, I would choose the Galaxy S8 or the LG G6 (review) over this in a heartbeat. They look better, sport newer technologies and feel more premium in my opinion. Edge Sense is unique, but I would pick the Edge display over it, even though Sense Companion is as hamstrung as Bixby. HTC fans will not complain with this phone, but as good as the HTC U11 is, its just not good enough anymore. I routinely picked the OnePlus 5 (review) and Galaxy S8 over this.
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PASCAGOULA, Miss. -- Jackson County's last swearing-in ceremony was completed on Monday as Mayor Dane Maxwell steps out of his father's shadow to begin writing his own story as mayor of the City of Pascagoula.

Maxwell, along with his new six-member city council was sworn in at the Pascagoula Senior Center.

This new administration features five newcomers, led by Maxwell with Ward 2 councilman George Wolverton, Sr., previously serving and Ward 5 councilman Scott Tipton returning for a second term.

"I am excited for what is to come," Tipton said of the upcoming administration. "There is a lot of buzz around the new faces entering city hall and I believe we're going to gel together to do some great things here in Pascagoula."

Frank Corder, chairman of Maxwell's transition team served as the master of ceremony , while Rev. Eric Camp of the Oasis Church delivered the invocation.

Next came the presentation of colors, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance by the Mayor of the Mayor's Youth Council, Hunter Blades, finishing with Emma Kate Alexander singing the National Anthem.

Judge Louis Guirola, Jr., Chief Judge of the Southern District administered the oath of office, beginning with Maxwell and then each council member individually.

After each council member received their oath of office, the floor was Maxwell's where he acknowledged his late father and thanked the people for voting for him.

"I wanted to thank my family and friends for sticking beside me, and also my dad, who has been a role model of what it means to be a champion for this city -- I have big shoes to fill," he said.

"36 years ago when I walked across War Memorial Stadium to receive my diploma, "Pascagoula Pride" was written in bold letters on the back wall. It was not just a slogan to us, but part of who we were. Today, surrounded by all of you, I am reminded of what Pascagoula Pride really means.

Throughout the campaign, I was asked time and time again what was I going to do to move Pascagoula forward -- today with pride in my hometown, it isn't about what I am going to do, it is about what we are going to do together. Together we can and will transform this city because we are Pascagoula."

Councilwoman at-large Jennifer Colmer and Ward 2 councilman Stephen Burrow were deemed by the Mississippi State Ethics Commission to have a conflict of interest, but made the necessary changes to serve in their positions by dissolving the Heidelberg, Steinberger, and Colmer law firm.

The ceremony concluded with the benediction from Ward 1 councilman Rev. Dr. Willie C. Jones. The administration's first order of business will take place on Wednesday at their first official meeting.
Re-Gen, the Newry based company who have applied for permission to develop a waste treatment at Warrenpoint Harbour have issued a statement regarding their proposed development.

It reads as follows:

"Re-Gen Waste Ltd has submitted a Pollution Prevention and Control (PPC) Permit application to the Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA) for the operation of a waste management facility in Warrenpoint Harbour.

"Re-Gen Waste is the sole applicant for the aforementioned permit. Warrenpoint Harbour Authority is in no way associated with this application.



"The PPC application process is a regulatory system implemented in Northern Ireland and regulated by the Northern Ireland Environment Agency. A PPC license is the first of several regulatory approvals required to operate a facility of this nature.



"As part of the process, as with any application of this nature, operators have to demonstrate that best available practices are being implemented to prevent and minimise emissions into the environment.



"An application has been submitted to NIEA that outlines how the facility will be developed and managed in accordance with best available techniques.



"This facility would primarily serve as a transfer point for hazardous waste that is already transported through the port daily.



"The facility would be regulated by the NIEA to ensure that it is being operated in a manner to mitigate any impact on the environment and residents in the area.



"Once operational, NIEA would undertake regular site audits to ensure that the facility is being operated in a compliant and environmentally safe manner.



"The facility would be purposely developed for the management of aqueous waste that requires ph stabilistation.



"All surfaces at the site would be a suitable hard standing for the activities conducted, to prevent potential contaminants from entering the soil.



"All drainage associated with waste storage areas would be diverted to a sealed tank. Any liquid captured in this tank would be removed from the site to an appropriately licensed treatment or disposal facility.



"A detailed management plan has been developed for agreement with NIEA to control all operations on the site and put in place measures to prevent impacts such as:

Odour

Noise

Litter

Potentially polluting emissions to air and water

Pests and vermin



"Any liquids received and stored at the facility that have a potential to impact on the environment would be stored within sealed tanks in bunded areas with a capacity of 110% of the stored volume.



"Therefore in the unlikely event that a leak was to occur, this would be immediately and effectively captured and contained within the bund.



"If approvals are granted, the facility will be operated by Re-Gen Waste and licensed by the NIEA.

"Re-Gen Waste is an environmentally responsible organisation with vast experience the waste management sector having undertaken the management and processing of waste throughout the UK and Ireland since 2004.



"Re-Gen Waste has a comprehensive quality and environmental management system, which the proposed facility at Warrenpoint Harbour would be operated in accordance with.



"Re-Gen Waste will undertake a comprehensive community consultation exercise prior to 31st August 2017 which will be advertised in local press, the company website, the companys social media channels and through political representatives in the area.

"Any concerns with regard to the application will be addressed during this exercise. There will be no further developments with regard to the facility until this consultation has taken place.



"Re-Gen Waste is invested in our people and their families and continues to play an integral part in the community. We are committed to applying the highest possible duty of care to our employees, the environment and the wider community."
It was a lovely sunny morning in the hills. We set off our journey to the further most east of India, into the battlefield of 1962 Indo-China war, Walong. The journey continued to fascinate us by the scenic beauty of river Lohit. Every now and then we were stopping for capturing the unmatched beauty of eastern Himalayas.

The Splendid View of river Lohit on the way to Walong.

Walong was not far from the place of our stay night before, Hayuliang. It was only at a distance of 96 km, but we took almost 3 and  hours to reach Walong because, first we were moving at gentle speed and secondly, our continuous break for photography.

A bridge over river Lohit. Over this bridge road goes to another beautiful place Hawai in east Arunachal Pradesh.

The scenic journey continued by the side of river Lohit.

At Walong you have a little choice for accommodation and the only place to stay is the Government Inspection Bungalow. We arrived at the Inspection Bungalow with no prior booking; in fact one cant book in advance for lack of communication. So it all depends upon your luck to get an accommodation here after arrival, and in our case, the luck was in our favour.

Inspection Bungalow, Walong

As you enter the town, the first thing that will attract your attention is the Walong army airstrip, an advance landing ground, by the bank of river Lohit. A small mud-paved landing ground was created here by the British during the world war-II for their Burma and east India operation which is now fully upgraded, paved and network connected with an eye on China.

Airfield at Walong

Army Airfield Walong

We arrived at the battlefield of Walong!

In Autumn of 1962 (October, 22nd to November, 16th) this place was the scene of the Battle of Walong when the Indian Army battled the Chinese advances. In this extremity of India, the poorly equipped Indian soldiers with a basic weapon single shot .303 rifles fought hard with minimum or no artillery support, held the ground and fought it out to the last bullet, till all of their ammunitions were exhausted. Then they engaged in a hand- to-hand combat and fought to the last man. And when they had to withdraw, they did so in reasonable ground. But in that treacherous terrain, many soldiers were left behind unnoticed, who never received any order to get back and were left to fight till their last breath.

Walong fell in the hand of Chinese on 16th November, 1962. Indians were defeated decisively in that battle of Walong by the Chinese and it was only Mao Zedongs decision to withdraw the PLA (Chinese Army) allowed the Indians to re-take Walong.

Time magazine of US in its November 30, 1962 edition had paid homage to the martyrs of Walong in a befitting manner: At Walong, Indian troops lacked everything. The only thing they did not lack was guts.

Walong Memorial  Hut of Remembrance

Today, a memorial  Hut of Remembrance stands at Walong which preserves and commemorates the sacrifices of all those brave soldiers who laid down their lives in the battle for Walong.

The Memorial

Stairs led to the Memorial

A Soldier in Silence at the Memorial

The visit to the battlefield of Walong is not completed without visiting another war spot known as Helmet Top. A zigzag climb of around 18 Kms from Walong will take you to this peak where stands a memorial in memory of the unknown soldiers who were left here unnoticed to die. At that treacherous ground, Indian soldiers fought courageously a lost battle but held the ground firm for 22 days. Many of those killed were never identified.

Memorial at Helmet Top

During the war of 1962, at this hill position, some soldiers were left unnoticed who made supreme sacrifices fighting the enemy shoulder to shoulder, till the last bullet and last breath.

After the war, what found on this hill position were the helmets of those unknown soldiers and other military gears that were strewn all over. Today, a memorial in the memory of those unknown soldiers stands here which enshrines their helmets, empty case of machine gun magazines, fired mortar shells and other gears.

Military Gears of those unknown soldiers kept in the Memorial at Helmet Top

Walong is not only the battle ground of 1962 Indo-China War; it also serves as the base for hiking to the Dong plateau where first rays of sun fall in India. How could we let go such a wonderful experience once in this lifetime! We had no hesitation to go for it although it required hiking steep hills in the darkness of night to reach the top of Dong Plateau at dawn.

In the darkness of that night, we were traversing through the dense forest. Though we had torch lights but they were only helpful to watch our footsteps and not the surroundings. We were hiking with one guide in the front and the other following us. I asked one of them, What if a bear comes out now?

More on that is coming soon. Stay tuned to read about our Journey to catch the first rays of sun in the post to follow.
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A new report has raised serious concerns about the increasing commercialisation of schooling in Australia, including the ethics of private companies having access to student data.

The NSW Teachers Federation (NSWTF) report  titled: Commercialisation in public schooling: An Australian Study  involved 2,200 educators from across Australia.

According to the data, almost 60% of responses argued against commercialisation, or at least expressed concern about the quality of commercial products and services.

Most commonly cited was the unease teachers felt when forced to implement commercial programs in their classrooms to align with the broader strategic objectives of their school.

Many expressed that they voiced their concerns to their principals but were often ignored.

We are made to test our students on PAT-R tests [Progressive Achievement Test  Reading] when the creators [ACER] obviously have no ability to understand what is needed for students to have the best opportunity to achieve, said one respondent.

PAT-R ignores educational research, students [even better readers] get tired and give up and guess answers half way through the tests. Yet, we have to collect this data, put it into One-School and we are asked why our data is not improving.

The teacher said that when PAT-R was first introduced, they voiced their concern to the principal, who thanked them for expressing it, but nothing changed.

Similarly, other teachers highlighted they had taken their concerns about tests that did not appropriately align with the achievement standards of the Australian Curriculum straight to the commercial provider, only to be dismissed at this level as well.

Another respondent noted:

I feel these publishers, as multi-national companies, show little regard for producing quality materials that relate to the Australian Curriculum and simply provide a generic product composed from materials prepared for education systems in other countries.

Big data paving way for corporatisation

The report pointed out that data infrastructures have become more important in the structuring and governance of schooling systems and enabled the growing involvement of private commercial interests.

The move to big data in the work of schools and schooling systems will also open up further opportunities for edu-businesses, particularly in terms of computer-based assessments and adaptive learning technologies, the reports authors stated.

The increased role of private companies and edu-businesses in respect of these various changes has resulted, to some extent, from the down-sizing and restructuring of the state bureaucracy, first under new public management and more recently through network governance.

The report said the reduced capacity of the state has opened up spaces and opportunities for edu-businesses to expand their role in schools and schooling systems, largely on a for-profit basis.

NSWTF president, Maurie Mulheron, pointed to the proliferation of influential think-tanks and foundations that are flag-bearers for the profits to be made from neoliberal ideology  specifically, the billions of dollars being made from schooling.



Mulheron told The Educator that this ideology is driving the incursion of edu-business into all levels of schooling, from teaching to textbooks to testing.



Why is education such easy prey? Because everyone has to send their children to schools. Schools are always there  its a gravy train for life, he said.



We will never do well at NAPLAN because Pearson [the edu-business organisation which runs the tests] will lose in selling a product as a solution.

Pearson has been contacted for comment.
The villagers are unable to return to their homes amid continued clashes between the Taang National Liberation Army (TNLA) and the Tatmadaw, according to Ying Pao Seng from the Shan Nationalities League for Democracy (SNLD) in Lashio.

The IDPs began arriving in Lashio on June 26 after fighting erupted in Namhsan township.

The IDPs are taking shelter in three or four monasteries in Lashio. They need household items. Each family only receives a blanket. Items are needed for the children. There are around ten children under the age of ten at the Sasana 2500 Monastery including infants. There are also children staying in other monasteries, Ying Pao Seng said.

The Taang Student and Youth Union helped distribute items among the IDPs. Rice and other food supplies have been provided by donors and local residents.

Currently, over 140 IDPs are taking shelter at the Khay Nin Naung Mon Monastery, 90 IDPs are housed at the Sasana 2500 Monastery, and 75 IDPs are staying at the Aung Yadanar Namhsan Monastery.

These IDPs are Taang people. It would be ideal if all organizations can assist them without any racial discrimination. Some [official] encouragement would also be helpful in assisting them, said Sai Nay, a Lashio resident who has been helping the IDPs.

The TNLAs Battalion 919 under Brigade 4 and the Tatmadaws 501st and 503rd Light Infantry Battalions have been fighting in the area between Pang Tawng and Man Lan villages in Namhsan township. Local residents reportedly fled after artillery shells fell inside the villages.
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.
Many in the Central American countries known as the Northern Triangle  El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras  appear to be [staying put]. Those nations have accounted for many of the undocumented immigrants who have tried to cross the American border in recent years. Now the wariness about Mr. Trumps immigration policies is palpable, the impact visible.

Migrant smugglers in Honduras say their business has dried up since Mr. Trump took office. Fewer buses have been leaving the northern Honduran city of San Pedro Sula bound for the border with Guatemala, the usual route for Honduran migrants heading overland to the United States. In hotels and shelters along the migrant trail, once-occupied beds go empty night after night.

The impact of Donald Trump is felt in many different ways in El Salvador. Two stories this week illustrate the "Trump Effect."El Salvador's minister of the economy, Tharsis Salomon Lopez, stated that the presence of Donald Trump in the White House appears to be generating an increase in remittances sent from Salvadorans living in the US back to El Salvador. Salvadorans sent back a reported $2 billion in the first four months of 2017, a growth of more than 10% over the same period in 2016. According to the minister, central banks in Mexico, Guatemala and Honduras have reported the same phenomenon.Perhaps Salvadorans are sending assets back in the event they are deported? Perhaps they feel their money is safer in a country which does not have an anti-immigrant president? The dynamics of this increase in remittances is not clear.Regardless of the cause, the head of the Ministry of the Economy would like to see those remittances invested in El Salvador, and not just be used for consumption of consumer goods.The New York Times has a story on another Trump Effect we have previously noted : fewer Salvadorans and other Central Americans are making the trek north in search of refuge in the US. From the article titled: Central Americans, Scared of Whats Happening in U.S., Stay Put Read the rest of the NYT article, which focuses on Honduras, here
Post Office delays Foxdale closure

The Isle of Man Post Office is urging Foxdale residents to use their local post office in a bid to save the facility.

The Post Office announced earlier this year that it was closing the Foxdale branch in August, but has now decided to keep the site open until the end of the year.

The organisation says the decision comes following talks with customers and Patrick Commissioners.

The sub-postmaster, Ellan Vannin Fuels, handed in their resignation earlier this year, stating the drop in transactions was costing them money.

EVF now plans to monitor the performance of the post office counter closely over the coming months to determine whether it can continue to operate in the New Year.
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Get the latest on all the biggest court and crime news in Essex direct from our expert court reporter

A pensioner has been left furious after a man she helped in the street slyly stole her credit card and spent 2,500 of her money on German websites.

Joan Barnes, 81, had been headed towards Sainsbury's, in Ongar, with her husband John when they were approached by a stranger on Saturday morning (July 2).

The man, who Joan has described as being in his 30s, smartly dressed and speaking with an eastern Europe accent, asked the couple if they had change for a 2 coin.

Joan, from Great Stony Park, Ongar, said: "We were walking along our side of the road and as we got towards the Tesco, a guy came up the road, approached us and said to my husband: 'Can you change a 2 coin?'

"John took out two 1 coins but the guy said it was no good as he needed a 50 pence piece.

"I said I thought I had a 50p."

Joan, who had her purse in her hand, opened it up to try and find the right change for the stranger.

It was at this point the unknown man took the purse from her, claiming to have seen the coin he supposedly desired.

Taken aback by this bold move, Joan grabbed back her purse, insisting she would find the coin herself.

"I didn't take my eyes off him," said Joan, a retired bookkeeper and personal assistant.

"I got him a 50p, then got him another one and we went off to Sainsbury's.

"I went to pay at the till and I realised he had taken my credit card but no money or anything else was missing."

The couple first headed to the nearest police station, but on finding it closed, they rushed home so Joan could contact Sainsbury's Bank to report the theft.

After speaking to various departments, she was finally put through to an adviser who had some shocking news for her.

"I was on the phone for so long," said grandmother-of-three Joan.

"They said someone had my four digit pin but I'm sure no one could have done - I was so certain.

"I got passed to different people and then one adviser asked me if I had spent any large amounts."

It turned out that three huge transactions totalling around 2,500 had been charged to Joan's card within 10 minutes of each other.

To make the situation even more confusing, the transactions could be traced back to a town in east Germany that Joan had never heard of.

Fortunately, Sainsbury's Bank have been able to reassure Joan that she won't be liable to pay for the fraudulent transactions, but encouraged her to contact the police.

Joan said: "They couldn't have been more pleasant about the whole thing.

"I was shaken when I realised how much money had been taken. I'm not shaken now, but I am angry.

"I was just so angry that I had been gullible because he seemed a pleasant enough fellow - it has made me less trustworthy.

"I want other people to be prepared but I don't want to live in a world where I act like I can't trust people."

John, 81, has been left feeling the same way as his wife, insisting that it is the last time he changes money for anyone.

He was so angry after it happened, he even headed out after dropping Joan home to see if he could find the culprit.

The couple did try to report the crime to police by ringing 101, but became slightly flummoxed when they were connected to the Chelmsford station.

"I tried all Saturday afternoon to get hold of the police.

"I tried 101, I think I did that first of all, but it kept connecting me to Chelmsford."

Essex Police has been approached for comment.
030717MASIU TO SUPPORT SUCH INITIATIVES

By Aloysius Laukai



The member for South Bougainville, TIMOTHY MASIU has vowed to support initiatives that promotes unity amongst the people of Bougainville.

Speaking as the major sponsor of the NEW DAWN FM Strings of Peace and Unification competition last week, MR. MASIU said that Cash Price that was paid was not important but the way Communities from all Constituencies in Buin participated at this competition.

From BAUBAKE eight teams participated, they are MAOVA STRING BAND OF MARAMUKU,KAU MATES of MAMARO, JT MATES of MALUOKU, STRIKERS of NIGERIAI, TURO MATES of MAMARO, MARASIA band of Laguai and Lagupex of Laguai and BACK PAGE of Malabita.

From LULE we had KUNAI GRASS FIVE KEY BAND and HAWAII Strings band of KONIGURU.

LENOKE had MOGU BORDERSIDE and MOGU THUNDERS whilst KONNOU had TAKI Rocks band of TANTAREKE village.

And finally MAKIS had two bands, they are TEARS OF MOTHERS from TUGIU and KOPEX String Band of Kokopo.

Member MASIU said that many such competitions like Gospel, Bamboo bands and contemporary will be supported if he gets back into office.

He said many people are interested in Sports, Music and traditional folk songs which must be preserved for the future generation and called on NEW DAWN FM to continue with its communication and social change programs.



Ends

Caption JT Band of Maluoku performing at the Competition Picture by Aloysius Laukai






European trade negotiators have left for Tokyo to seal a highly anticipated free trade agreement with Japan. The team includes Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom and Agriculture Commissioner Phil Hogan who will negotiate with Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida. Following years of talks, the two partners are working on signing an agreement at the upcoming G20 meeting in Hamburg later this week. European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, however, stressed that more work was needed: There are still a few sticking points. I have therefore sent the European agriculture commissioner and the trade commissioner to Japan.

Finalizing a deal between the EU and Japan would be a major victory for the advocates of liberalism in international trade especially after the United States withdrew from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) with a number of Asian countries including Japan but excluding China. Mr. Juncker said he wanted the talks with Japan to be over before Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe holds negotiations with European leaders in Brussels on 6 July. The trade agreement with Japan, if it materializes, is important. And I am assuming that it will materialize, Juncker said at a pre-G20 press conference with EU leaders in Berlin, adding that it will fully comply with all European rules, requirements and standards.

Ms. Malmostrom, however, said that it is not yet clear how long the negotiations might last and when a conclusion might be reached. Currently, the EU and Japan are in the 18th round of negotiations and the last round of talks took place in Tokyo in April this year. The official negotiations were launched in 2013 and a Strategic Partnership Agreement is being negotiated in parallel with the FTA. Japan is the EUs second biggest trading partner in Asia after China. Together, the EU and Japan account for more than a third of the worlds GDP.
Malta, the outgoing EU presidency, has reached a broad political consensus on all 12 chapters of the European Union Agency for Asylum on the basis of the mandate given to Coreper, the Committee of Permanent Representatives in the European Union, in December last year. The agreement still has to be endorsed by Coreper once more work on the recitals is done.

The main objective of a planned European Union Agency for Asylum is to improve the implementation and functioning of the Common European Asylum System (CEAS) by drawing on the work of the current European Asylum Support Office (EASO). The new regulation will transform EASO into a fully-fledged agency in charge of facilitating the functioning of the European asylum policy, ensuring convergence in the assessment of applications for international protection of refugees across the Union and providing technical and operational assistance to member states.

The EU grants asylum to people fleeing persecution or serious harm in their own country, which are thus in need of international protection. Asylum is a fundamental right protected by the 1951 Geneva Convention on the protection of refugees. In the EU, an area of open borders and freedom of movement, countries have the same fundamental values and thus need to have a joint approach to guarantee top-notch standards of protection for refugees. However, the EU must make sure that the system is not only fair and in line with international law but at the same time also effective throughout the bloc. Asylum applications are still neither constant, nor evenly distributed across the EU.
Madrid

Muere un hombre por disparos de un agente tras una pelea con armas blancas en un domicilio de Villaverde


For the first time since 1991 more Australians are moving to New Zealand than the other way round, and searches online for moving to New Zealand from the UK have surged, new research shows.Thanks to a strong economy and good job prospects, New Zealand has seen immigration reach new record highs and now a report from international relocation specialists the MoveHub shows that is it indeed the most popular country for expats.At the same time Australia has seen a 5% decrease in people moving there from overseas, according to the analysis of data from over 350,000 moving enquiries from April 2016 to April 2017.Interest in moving to New Zealand soared by 30% year on year despite less global interest overall in moving while the numbers looking to leave Australia have reduced dramatically by 41%.New Zealand enjoyed its highest ever levels of immigration on record, particularly from the US and the UK, potentially due to the political unrest in both countries. Interest in moving to New Zealand from the US is up 71% year on year, and from the UK up 83%.The report says that New Zealands strong economy and cheaper cost of living both contributed to the rise in popularity of the new winner and overall the cost of living, way of life and general culture are now the key considerations for those looking to move abroad.The European Union referendum was one of the most controversial political events of 201 and its outcome has had global repercussions and there was no shortage of political drama either in the US this year, said Ben Tyrell, head of Movehub.Indeed, searches for the phrase 'move to Canada' were higher than any other time in Google's history in the day after Donald Trump's election to US president, and it wasn't the only place being looked at.The 24 hours after Trump was announced as president, the website of Immigration New Zealand received 56,300 visits from the US, some 24 times the usual amount, Tyrell pointed out.But New Zealand has more to offer than simply an escape from Trump, the research suggests.New Zealand's economy is another contributing factor for the surge in immigration; it continues to perform strongly whilst Australia's mining boom dwindles, pushing up prices and encouraging yet more Australians to seek a cheaper cost of living across the Tasman, Tyrell explained.Though Australians may be moving to a well-known neighbour, Americans and Britons are relocating to a country half a world away, however it is clear that the distance pales into significance for the chance to live somewhere so beautiful with such a strong sense of community, he added.
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The midweek timing of the Fourth of July holiday led to fewer hotel room bookings in San Antonio this weekend even as drive-in visitors like Idahos Joan Herr flocked to the city.

More than 3.2 million Texans were projected to travel more than 50 miles during the Fourth of July weekend, according to an AAA Texas estimate.

But the holiday itself fell on a Tuesday, leaving local hotels with many empty rooms, said Bill Petrella, board chairman of the San Antonio Hotel and Lodging Association. Bookings were slower than normal this weekend because conventions and business travel did not make up for the holidays odd timing, Petrella said, leaving hotels to cut room rates in an attempt to compete more aggressively for leisure guests.

Everyone is kind of chasing the same leisure piece of the pie, Petrella said.

A line to gain admission to the Alamo stretched from the monuments church building to E. Crockett St. on the complexs South Side Monday morning.

Many of those guests had driven in for short stays. Herr and her 25-year-old daughter Jody swung through San Antonio as part of a 10-day road trip that included stops in Dallas and Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge. Joan Herr  who lives in Eagle, Idaho, a suburb of Boise  said she hadnt seen the Alamo since the 1980s and wanted to share the experience with her daughter. After spending Sunday night in San Antonio, the mother-daughter duo set off for Austin to visit the University of Texas campus Monday.

She (Jody) hasnt spent a lot of time on Texas history so itll be good to get a refresher on that, Joan Herr said of the Alamo visit.

Moses Akongnui, a 32-year-old General Services Administration employee, said he drove from Fort Worth to visit friends and see the Alamo and River Walk but wasnt sure if hed stay overnight. Akongnui said hes meant to see San Antonio for years but often meets his friends in Austin rather than spending another hour-and-a-half in the car.

Both of them are fun towns, Akongnui said. Why go the extra mile?

He added, But Austin doesnt have the Alamo.

Paula Arbaiza, 54, said she and her friend Herbert Herrera, 51, made plans at the last minute to drive from Houston on Sunday morning. Herrera had never seen the Alamo, Arbaiza said Monday, and the two rarely get time off, leading to the spur-of-the-moment trip.

The Fourth of July weekend is typically the Alamos busiest each year, said Becky Dinnin, executive director of the Alamo Endowment. About 181,000 visitors stepped through the Alamo churchs doors in June, Dinnin said, a significant uptick from the 127,000 visitors who flocked to the Texas Revolution monument in June 2016.

Some of that increase is owed to a malfunction in the Alamos visitor counting system last year, Dinnin said. But boosted interest among international travelers sparked by the attractions designation as a U.N. World Heritage site and a steady convention calendar also account for a 10-percent growth in visits year-over-year, Dinnin said.

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.

That is our bread and butter, Dinnin said.

Despite a downturn during the Fourth of July weekend, area hotels have otherwise had a strong year, said Paul Vaughn, senior vice president of San Antonio-based Source Strategies which monitors the hospitality industry. Room occupancy in San Antonio ticked up 1.6 percent during the five months of this year while room rates and revenue per available room rose 4.8 percent and 6.5 percent, respectively, Vaughn said.

But a weak convention calendar and political headwinds may depress the local tourism market in the coming months, Petrella said. The three-day 70th Annual Texas Bandmasters Association Convention and Clinic and four-day RBC pharmaceutical conference in July are each slated to bring in at least 7,000 convention-goers that will populate local hotels. But the convention calendar in July and August is otherwise bereft of gatherings that will generate room bookings for hotels outside the immediate area surrounding the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center, Petrella said.

Leaders in the states tourism industry are also nervous that Texas lawmakers could enact a bill restricting transgender bathroom use. The legislation died during legislators biennial 140-day session earlier this year, but lawmakers are scheduled to tackle the issue again in the special session, which starts July 18.

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick named the legislation one of his top priorities for the regular session while Gov. Greg Abbott, both Republicans, called on lawmakers to hammer out a deal on the proposed law in the special session. House Speaker Joe Straus, also a Republican, has been the biggest hold-out on the bill. Straus told New Yorker magazine he rejected a compromise from Patrick, telling two emissaries he was disgusted by all this. Tell the lieutenant governor I dont want the suicide of a single Texan on my hands.

jfechter@express-news.net

Twitter: @JFreports
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Trump campaign adviser Brad Parscale is moving his firms political data and marketing operation from San Antonio to Florida in pursuit of an airport with more direct flights.

Parscale ran the digital operation out of San Antonio that is widely credited with contributing to President Donald Trumps win last year. His role as digital director included overseeing the campaigns targeted social media outreach and helping to cull a massive database that assisted in identifying potential voters.

Its too difficult to get to the East Coast, namely Washington, D.C., and New York City, from San Antonio because of the lack of direct flights, Parscale said. Its also difficult to attract talent when a three-hour flight to New York takes seven hours and includes a layover or two, he said.

I think the airports nice, its convenient, it just needs more direct flights, Parscale said of San Antonio International Airport.

Theresa Hong, who worked on the Trump campaign as its digital content director, said the airport was a huge issue during the campaign.

I never thought it was until we were on the campaign, and until there were people not just all over the United States, but all over the world coming into San Antonio and working, she said. You cant get a round-trip flight, its very difficult for people to come in and out, and me going to D.C. a lot, me traveling around a lot, I can attest to that.

The infrastructure in Florida makes it a lot easier than San Antonio, she said.

Parscale is still very much part of Trumps orbit, serving as the digital, social and media adviser for the 2020 presidential campaign and the nonprofit supporting Trumps agenda called America First Policies.

Giles-Parscale received more than $93 million over the 18 months through December from the Trump campaign, the Republican National Committee and the joint fundraising effort Trump Make America Great Again Committee, according to Federal Election Commission reports. The firm has already received more than $1.5 million from the campaign in the first quarter of this year, according to the most recent FEC data.

All of Giles-Parscales political work and staff will be moved to Florida and split off from the San Antonio design and marketing firm that bears his name, Parscale said. The political operation will be based north of Miami, he said, to take advantage of the Miami and Fort Lauderdale airports. Hes already found office space in north Miami, declining to disclose details.

Parscale and Jill Giles, the firms creative director, partnered in 2011 to establish Giles-Parscale, which does marketing, branding, data science, interior design, website design and other digital services. The companys work can be seen all over San Antonio, including the logo for Hotel Emma and branding for the nearby Can Plant apartment complex at the Pearl.

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.

The companys corporate and consumer work will stay in San Antonio, which Parscale considers home.

I really want to continue to bring my knowledge back to my staff and help San Antonio businesses become even more profitable and successful, Parscale said Monday. San Antonio has, still, one of the best abilities of any city in the country to grow and spawn successful businesses. Even though the political business is no longer there, I still want to see San Antonio be successful.

Hong, who is no longer with Giles-Parscale, said the lack of direct flights in San Antonio is a real problem.

I am very, very sad hes going to be leaving San Antonio, Hong said of Parscale. However, I understand wanting to establish something kind of in the Fort Lauderdale-Miami area.

sehlinger@express-news.net

Twitter: @samehlinger
Walk through the doors. Head to the front of the room. Lock your gaze on the steely black eyes of the lobsters and crabs swimming in a wall of display tanks. And then whisper, I want to eat you.

Smashin Crab, one of several San Antonio eateries capitalizing on the unmistakable swampy flavors of the bayou to open in recent months, inspires such seafood longings.

And they do it in a tidy dining room with friendly service. Sure, the tables are lined with paper instead of linens. But given the mess youre about to make, you can hardly blame them for that.

Fast facts: Want a hurricane with your mudbugs? Youll need to find a good recipe. Smashin Crab has applied for full bar permits, but the restaurant is a BYOB establishment until those are approved.

On the menu: This newcomer is at its best when dishing up the fairly spectacular live seafood theyve gone to some lengths to secure: imposing Dungeness crabs from Washington, delicate little neck clams from Virginia, feisty blue crabs from the Texas Gulf Coast and, of course, the downright surly but oh-so-edible crawfish synonymous with Louisiana.

All are prepared boil-style with the customary corn, potatoes and sausage available as an add-on for a buck or two. Seafood prices and selection vary with the market and availability, but on a recent visit most fell between $9 to $20 per pound.

Customers chose from one of three flavors  Cajun, citrus pepper or garlic; combine all three into a blend billed as Trinity  and desired level of spice. Moments after ordering, a plastic bag of piping hot deepsea delight is presented in a metal bucket. Bib up, dive in and toss those shells right back in the bin.

As with a visit to any joint hanging its hat on seafood, it pays to be curious and ask questions. Where fresh, live clams ($13) delighted when doused in the Trinity sauce, ho-hum imported Peruvian shrimp did little to make the poboy sandwich ($10) theyre served in a memorable one. Farmed catfish was transformed into serviceable battered and fried strips, but upstaged by exemplary onion rings ($10 with a $1 up-charge for the rings) in one of several baskets.

In addition to boils, baskets and poboys, Smashin Crab serves a few other Cajun and Creole classics such as red beans and rice ($4), jambalaya ($7) and gumbo ($7).

And it would hardly be a seafood joint without an oyster option. Smashin Crab was shucking up Gulf-born bivalves during our visit, and doing so admirably. Clean tasting and meaty with a mild brininess, served raw ($9 for 6, $18 for 12), they required little more than a squeeze of lemon and shot of Crystal hot sauce to bring a smile.

Location: 8910 Bandera Road Suite 305. 210-509-7702, SmashinCrab.com. Facebook: Smashin Crab.

Hours: 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Sunday-Thursday, 11 a.m.-11 p.m. Friday-Saturday
040717TOKE HAPPY WITH LAUNCHING

By Aloysius Laukai



The member for BAUBAKE and Minister for Community Government, JACOB TOKE last week praised his BAUBAKE Think tanks for completing his Community Governments FIVE YEAR Development Plan.

The Plan launched last Monday identifies areas and work plans that the Community Government will try to develop in the next five years.

The plan was prepared by BAUBAKE technocrats for free.

MR. TOKE presented the Plan to the Community Government Chairman CHARLIE LAIA and called on the Chairman to make sure the plan is implemented.

He said he does not want to see the plan collect dust on the shelf like similar plans in the past.



Ends

Pictured are ABG Speaker Simon Pentanu, Vice President Raymond Masono, Jacob Toke and Charles Laia with the Development Plan Book for Baubake. Picture by Aloysius Laukai






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William Lawson, the man walking with the shooter who killed a San Antonio police officer and critically injured another last week, has a lengthy criminal record, including 14 arrests, that began when he was 19 years old.

Most recently, Lawson was twice convicted of prostitution after he offered sex for money to a detective working undercover in the Tobin Hill neighborhood, the same area north of downtown where the fatal shooting occurred Thursday. At least four of Lawsons arrests have occurred in that neighborhood.

On Thursday, Lawson was with Andrew Bice near the Tobin Lofts apartments on East Evergreen Street and Main Avenue when Officers Miguel Moreno and Julio Cavazos approached the two. Bice pulled a handgun on the officers, shooting and killing Moreno and critically injuring Cavazos before fatally shooting himself in the head.

Lawson, 30, was initially identified as a suspect in the shooting. He was handcuffed and interviewed by police but was not charged and was later described as a witness.

On Saturday, Lawson was arrested on unrelated charges after two San Antonio police officers responded to a call of a suspicious person in the 1600 block of McCullough Avenue. They allegedly found Lawson in possession of a .22-caliber firearm and heroin, a felony.

Police Chief William McManus said Saturday that officers brought Lawson into police headquarters to see if they could connect him to the killing and assault.

But, he said, there was nothing that we came across that would give us any probable cause to charge him with that crime.

Lawson was born in Waco, according to court records. His criminal history starts in 2007, when he was arrested in San Antonio for possession of 1 to 4 grams of cocaine, a felony. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to nine months in jail and a $1,200 fine.

The next year, Lawson was arrested while trying to cash a stolen check at a bank on San Pedro Avenue in Tobin Hill. He pleaded no contest to forgery and received a one-year sentence and a $1,500 fine.

Between 2010 and 2013, Lawson continued to have run-ins with the law: He was arrested nine times in and around Houston on various charges, including drug possession, criminal trespassing, prostitution and indecent exposure, according to public records.

In 2015, Lawson was again arrested in Tobin Hill when he was suspected of breaking into a car. He was convicted of possession of 0.4 grams of cocaine, a meth pipe, distribution baggies and a scale. He was sentenced to 15 months in jail.

Last year, Lawson was charged with prostitution after he approached a man, who turned out to be an undercover detective, near Ogden and Laurel streets in Tobin Hill. He asked the detective if he was a cop, to which the detective said he was not. Lawson then offered to perform a sexual act for $30.

Again last year, Lawson offered to perform deviate sexual intercourse with the same undercover detective for $40, according to records. He was convicted twice and was sentenced each time to almost five months in jail and fined a total of $1,500.

Lawson told authorities he was homeless, though he listed an address of a house on the Northeast Side in court records.

In the documents, detectives said the Tobin Hill neighborhood where Lawson was arrested was known for its prostitution activity.

On Thursday, McManus said Officers Moreno and Cavazos were on directed patrol to deter an increase in street crimes in the area. The San Antonio Express-News has published two reports describing residents concerns about nonviolent crimes, such as theft, prostitution and drug use, and some violent crimes.

The Police Department has since backed away from McManus statement about street crimes, saying instead that Tobin Hill is a very safe neighborhood.

eeaton@express-news.net

Twitter: @emilieeaton
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AUSTIN  Its been hyped as the most extensive state property tax reform legislation ever, yet many Texans wouldnt see their property taxes go down by even a nickel when compared with what they pay now under the plan the Legislature is set to take up this month.

Even architects of the reform plan acknowledge that homeowners will still likely face higher property tax bills next year even if the reforms that Senate leaders have celebrated as historic were in effect already.

Still, there was Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick at a news conference in May saying the Senate plan amounted to the largest property tax reform in Texas history, one that would save the average homeowner $20,000 over 20 years. That bill died at the end of the regular session but is likely to be resuscitated because Gov. Greg Abbott demanded property tax reform be among the topics for the Legislature to revisit in a special session starting July 18.

Skyrocketing property taxes in this state are unacceptable, and Texans need reform right now, Abbott said in a statement last week.

But while Senate leaders tout their plan as big reform, many acknowledge that it likely wont mean tax reductions for most homeowners on their bills next year. Thats because of rising home values and because of school taxes, which are unaffected by the reform, make up the majority of tax bills and continue to grow. Simply put, Texas property tax system is too complex and has too many variables for most taxpayers to grasp.

In some cities and counties, tax rates can actually be cut from the previous year, yet the result is higher taxes for perplexed homeowners because of rising home values and other taxing jurisdictions increasing rates.

When asked how local homeowners would be affected by property tax reform, Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff said he didnt expect them to see much difference.

We keep our rate very low, Wolff said. Were very cautious about what we do over a period of time, so I dont think it will affect them at all.

For the past 16 years, the county has raised the tax rate about 3 percent on average, Wolff said, some years seeing higher increases. He added that rising school taxes will likely play a factor in higher taxes for homeowners.

Critics of the Senate plan say Patricks $20,000 figure cant be backed up by available data and is based on bogus assumptions. Even Patricks allies have resisted repeating his figures, opting instead for more nominal projections.

Patricks staff declined to comment, referring inquiries to Sen. Paul Bettencourt, the chairman of the Select Committee on Property Tax Reform and Relief and teh key architect of the tax reform plan. Bettencourt said the figure hes relying on shows taxpayers could save between $35 and $100 a year.

It doesnt sound like much, but it adds up, Bettencourt said.

Difference in language

Bettencourt said hes been careful in debates not to let people think they are getting a tax cut if the reforms eventually pass.

This is a property tax relief measure, not a property tax cut measure, he said.

That is a big difference in language to Bettencourt. He said cities and counties are seeing massive increases in revenue from growing property values and not cutting tax rates enough to protect homeowners and businesses.

At the core of the Senate plan that died in the closing days of the regular session was an effort to keep cities, counties and other local taxing districts from raising the effective tax rates above 5 percent. If they went above 5 percent, they would have to seek a vote of the public.

Currently, cities and counties can go to 8 percent. If they top that, voters can petition to hold an election to roll back that tax  something that rarely happens in Texas because of the difficulty in meeting all the requirements to force a rollback election.

Recent history shows that most big counties would not have triggered that 5 percent cap, meaning growing tax bills in those counties wouldnt be slowed at all. Homeowners in Bexar, Harris and Travis counties would have seen no effect in the portion of their property tax bill charged by county governments in 2016 because none of those counties exceeded 5 percent, according to data provided by Texas Conference of Urban Counties. But in Dallas County and Williamson County, where the effective tax rates exceeded 6 percent, the county portion of the taxes would still go up, but only to 5 percent unless voters agreed to let those counties go higher.

Totally bogus

Of the states 38 most populous counties, just four in 2016 pushed the tax rate above the 5 percent threshold to trigger the reforms the Senate is seeking, according to Don Lee of the Texas Conference of Urban Counties. That is down from 2015, when 13 of those 38 went above 5 percent. In some fast-growing counties, such as Tarrant and Travis, the tax rate hasnt been over 5 percent for three straight years, according to Lees numbers.

In some counties, no one will notice any difference at all, Lee said.

Bettencourt agrees but says hes trying to target the places that have been exceeding 8 percent year after year.

The Texas Municipal League contends that the vast majority of cities didnt top 5 percent. But there are cities that go over 8 percent: About 200 cities topped the mark in 2014 or 2015.

When Patrick declared the plan would save most homeowners $20,000 over 20 years, it was based on the assumption that all local governments would push their effective tax rates to the 8 percent limit every single year, but the proposal would limit it to 5 percent every year.

I can find no facts to support that claim, Lee said.

Bennett Sandlin, executive director of the Texas Municipal League, was even more direct.

Those were totally bogus, he said.

Both said starting at an assumption that all local governments are going to raise rates 8 percent every year for 20 years is just a faulty premise to start with because that is not what has happened in even the past three years.

Bettencourt would not directly defend Patricks comments from that news conference because he said he wasnt there to hear it exactly.

However, he said, there is data to show how taxpayers could save close to $20,000 over 20 years using different figures. He said the median-valued home in Texas saw its tax bills from cities, counties and special districts grow 6.5 percent over five years, according to the Texas Taxpayers and Research Association. If the Legislature could cut that rate in half to 3.25 percent, it would save an average homeowner $50 in the first year.

In the second year, the savings would jump to $106 when compared with what could have been. By the 10th year, a tax bill would be $774 lower than it would have been if local entities continued to increase bills 6.5 percent on the median-valued home. By year 20, the tax bill would be $2,520 less than it would have been if the 6.5 percent growth rate continued unabated.

Bettencourt said that when those year-to-year savings are compounded, it gets to just short of $20,000 of savings for homeowners on average. However, Bettencourt acknowledged that setting the rollback rate at 5 percent alone would not necessarily accomplish that and would require additional reforms.

Support for rollback

While the rollback provision essentially died in the House during the regular session, it still has support there from a key player. Angleton Republican Dennis Bonnen, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, filed a bill early in the session that included a package of reforms for property taxes that included lowering the rollback rate.

He said he supports the concept but had no choice but to pull the idea from his bill in the final days of the regular session because he didnt expect the bill to be able to pass the full House because of opposition to the rollback language.

While he backs the rollback idea, Bonnen said hes been cautious in how he touts the plan, too. He said he doesnt want homeowners thinking people are getting a tax break next year if the bill were to pass. He said changing the rollback rate wont affect tax bills for people in communities where cities and counties keep tax rates at 5 percent or less.

It doesnt cut taxes, Bonnen said.

Staff Writer Fauzeya Rahman contributed to this report.
Emboldened by the recent election of Ron Nirenberg as mayor, the Bexar County Young Democrats are calling on San Antonio City Council to ban single-use plastic bags in the city.

The group scheduled a rally Monday night in Brackenridge Park on what is International Plastic Bag Free day.

Tonight is a call to action, said organization president Gabrien Gregory, a student at St. Marys University who will speak at the event along with Robin Schneider, executive director of the nonprofit Texas Campaign for the Environment.

Nirenberg has shown a desire to protect the environment; on June 22, he led council in a 9-1 vote supporting the Paris climate accord.

With his leadership, Gregory said, we have a real shot at getting the environmental leadership we need.

The group has three goals: ask people to examine their own lifestyles and try to reuse bags; raise expectations for City Council and push members to pass environmentally sensible ordinances; and urge the city to file an amicus brief in support of Laredos plastic ban, which was struck down by the state Fourth Court of Appeals last August. Laredo has appealed the case to the Texas Supreme Court.

Austin is one of fewer than a dozen Texas cities that opted to restrict plastic bag use, either through a ban or a fee. Their reasons vary but generally it is to prevent littering or protect marine or ranch animals.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has opposed such local rules, saying they threaten to turn Texas into California. While he has included several measures on the upcoming special session agenda aimed at impeding local control, putting limits on plastic bag ordinances is not one of them. A bill filed by a Dallas-area senator to prevent cities from restricting plastic bag use died during the regular session.

Nirenberg does not plan to attend Mondays event, said Bruce Davidson, the mayors communications director.

Former San Antonio District 7 Councilman Cris Medina unsuccessfully pushed for a single-use plastic bag ban in 2013.

Gregory noted that Ana Sandoval, who defeated Medina in the May 6 general election, is a climate scientist. Last week, at a budget priorities session, she suggested that council members stop drinking bottled water and instead use reusable containers.

vdavila@express-news.net
The presentation also focused on a ewes daily nutritional needs at various stages during the breeding cycle and how the availability of differing feeds such as hay, pasture and protein sources have an influence on the health of the ewe and lamb.
I get up at 5am to write.

The house is quiet, it is just me and the two dogs. These days even the dogs stay asleep but Crystal the Border Collie still wags the tail before digging deeper in to her basket. I write for two hours before getting ready for work.

Ann O'Loughlin

I lived in India for a year and loved it.

I took a sabbatical from my journalism job in the 1990s. My husband and I travelled to India and lived there for a year. We made great friends in the Southern city of Bengaluru.

I love to sew.

My mother was a dressmaker so I can run up a dress or a pair of curtains no problem. I made a patchwork quilt when I was a teenager and I still have it. I think that is why the women in my latest book, The Ludlow Ladies Society sew memory quilts together and in that way can come to terms with the secrets and grief of the past.

My passion is travel.

I started late when I was 19 with a trip to New York and I have not stopped since. I have travelled all over the former Eastern Europe and Soviet Union, Mongolia and China. The Forbidden City, Beijing is my favourite place in the whole world.

When I first started to write

My first creative writing was when I was just a teenager. I wrote a childrens corner with the adventures of the animals who lived in the woods, and every week I had the adventures published in my local paper. In the west of Ireland people still ask me about Sammy Squirrel and family.

I love to bake.

In my first book The Ballroom Cafe, Ella OCallaghan bakes her troubles away. I love baking. When I have a problem with my novel, I go bake a cake.

A black panther once stalked me in the jungle in India.

It was dusk, and we should never have gone for a walk. I was terrified. We could not run. He caught up with us, looked straight at me and wandered off.

I once had limpets for breakfast nettle soup for lunch and seagull for dinner.

On a four day survival course on the Saltee Islands off the east coast of Ireland, we prised limpets from the rocks, plucked nettles from the stalk and managed to snare a seagull. It was all revolting.

Nobody knows what I am writing, until I am done.

Not even my agent or publisher. My agent knows I will let her have a look when I am good and ready. My publisher gets nervous, but it is the way I like to do it.

My friend was killed on a Dublin street.

Everything for me was put in to stark relief when a good friend of mine, the journalist Eugene Moloney was killed on a Dublin street in 2012 as he walked home after a night out. Now, when I am afraid to step outside my comfort zone, I think of my friend and how he died too young and I walk out, unafraid of what is to come.

The Ludlow Ladies Society by Ann OLoughlin is published 20th July by Black & White Publishing, price 12.99 in royal paperback
Kim Kardashian West never "seriously" talked to Khloe Kardashian about being her surrogate.

Kim Kardashian West

The 'Keeping Up With The Kardashians' star has never considered seriously asking her sibling to carry her third child but Kim and her husband Kanye have found the "perfect surrogate" outside the family.

A source told People magazine: "Kim and Khloe visiting the doctor and talking about surrogacy was more of a story line. There were never serious talks about Khloe being the surrogate.

"They have found the perfect surrogate ... If things work out with the surrogate, they will be thrilled. But they still have a long road to go."

Meanwhile, Kanye is reportedly keen to have "five or six" children with the 36-year-old reality star, despite Kim being warned by doctors against falling pregnant again after giving birth to the couple's two children, four-year-old daughter North, and 18-month-old son Saint.

A source shared: "He would want a family of five or six if it was up to him. After having Saint, Kim was told she couldn't carry another baby - that it would be too dangerous. And she was okay with that."

Whilst another insider added: "Kim was never going to let herself get pregnant again. It's just too dangerous for her. Kanye was initially the one pushing for baby No. 3. They are both very excited to give their kids a sibling. Things are great between them. They act very happy together."

Kim's mother, Kris Jenner, and older sister Kourtney Kardashian previously offered to act as surrogates for the brunette beauty.

In scenes aired on 'Keeping With the Kardashians' recently, Kris explained how her own doctor has told her she no longer has viable eggs, but that doesn't mean she can't carry a baby.

Kim then asked: "Do you want to carry mine?"

Kris replied: "If I really thought that I could carry it for you and it would be born OK, I would do it in two seconds. I really would."

And Kourtney also volunteered, telling Kris: "I already offered myself. So, don't act like you're the only Mother Theresa in here!"
Business / Companies

by Staff reporter

ONE of Bulawayo's iconic textile firms, Merlin, needs a total overhaul of its production model so it can be turned around, Speaker of the National Assembly Jacob Mudenda has said.Addressing delegates at the Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce (ZNCC) 2017 annual congress in Victoria Falls held last week, Mudenda said Merlin should bring in new machinery through joint ventures to revive production."With my humble apology to my young man who is trying to revive this company, Merlin, the machinery there was designed to produce napkins, but these little children no longer use napkins," he said."So the production model of Merlin needs a total overhaul and bring in machinery that will produce diapers not those big napkins. If I was a business analyst, a consultant, this is what I will tell that company. Look for a joint venture that will bring in equipment to produce what the market wants."Merlin, established in 1954 and owned by businessman, Delma Lupepe, requires $30 million fresh capital spread over a period of five to 10 years to be brought back to life.Lupepe took over Merlin in 2004 through his investment vehicle, Maydeep Investments (Private) Limited, after the troubled textiles giant was discharged from judicial management.By the time he bought the company, technology was moving ahead of it and the arrival of diapers, which killed the cotton nappy business, and the influx of cheap linen products from Asia did not help matters.Merlin judicial manager, Cecil Madondo, in January, told creditors that the company would be liquidated if it did not find new investors to raise working capital and resume operations by June 30.However, he recently revealed that the company would not be liquidated, as he was in talks with some unnamed potential investors.Merlin requires $2,1 million in the short-term to purchase raw materials and to refurbish the plant and machinery to start production.A further $4,5 million would be needed for major repairs and maintenance to bring the company back to near full capacity.The company would require $23,4 million for a new plant, while $6,3 million would also be required to discharge the company's liabilities.Merlin's total assets currently stand at $2,2 million down from $3,8 million when the company was placed under judicial management in 2011.Its current liabilities are at $6,2 million, up from $4,3 million in 2013.
Scarlett Johansson's romance with Colin Jost is back on.

Scarlett Johansson

The 32-year-old actress was seen kissing the 'Saturday Night Live' star in May, before she was spotted holding hands with her lawyer Kevin Yorn - but Scarlett has now reportedly turned her attention back towards Colin, as the duo were out together in New York last week.

A source told the New York Post newspaper's Page Six column: "They seemed very into each other."

The celebrity duo were seen at the Palm at the Huntting Inn in East Hampton, with an eyewitness saying they were "looking cosy on a love seat".

Rumours of their burgeoning romance first came to light a couple of months back after they were spotted locking lips at the after-party for the 'Saturday Night Live' season finale.

At the time, an insider explained that the 'Ghost in the Shell' actress and Colin, 35, were making no attempt to hide their affections.

A source shared: "They would make out a bit, then go back to talking. Scarlett and Colin were flirting and canoodling in full view of everyone at the after-party."

But their romance appeared to be over just two weeks ago when Scarlett was photographed holding hands with Kevin and dining with him in New York, while Colin was in France for a Cannes Lions event for truTV.

The latest twist comes shortly after Scarlett - who filed for divorce from her second husband Romain Dauriac earlier this year - admitted she doesn't consider monogamy to be "natural".

The Hollywood star, who has a daughter called Rose with her estranged husband, said: "I think the idea of marriage is very romantic; it's a beautiful idea. And the practice of it can be a very beautiful thing."

But Scarlett also insisted that being faithful to one partner over a prolonged period of time requires a lot of "work".

She said: "I don't think it's natural to be a monogamous person. I might be skewered for that, but I think it's work. It's a lot of work."
Isabelle Huppert has praised "intransigent" photographer Guy Bourdin.

Isabelle Huppert

The 64-year-old French actress honoured the late photographer - who passed away in 1991 after suffering with cancer - over the weekend at fashion company Chloe's new cultural space Maison Chloe, where the temporary exhibition 'Femininities - Guy Bourdin' is being showcased, during Paris Couture Week.

Isabelle - who modelled for Guy in 1989 - said of the artist: "This reminds me of the terrific day I spent with him. He was an extraordinary photographer - very intransigent. I remember we must have made thousands of pictures - not thousands, I'm exaggerating a little, but certainly hundreds - and in the end he kept just five. He never wanted to compromise."

The 'Elle' actress was joined by Chloe creative director Natacha Ramsay-Levi and chief executive officer Geoffroy de la Bourdonnaye during the opening of the exhibition, which brings together Guy's images with archival Chloe designs, many of them by former creative director by Karl Lagerfeld.

Isabelle added: "It's a great house, but it's true that this suddenly shows it from a different angle."

Meanwhile, Judith Clark, who curated the exhibition, said the pieces designed by Karl were particularly well represented in the house's archive.

Speaking to WWD.com, she said: "A lot of them, which are heavily detailed, heavily embroidered, are objects that maybe women are more likely to keep.

"The Chloe ready-to-wear spans a great range of garments, it's a kind of luxury ready-to-wear, and therefore it can range from a T-shirt to a beaded gown. So I think there is a lot of work by Karl that is very experimental that I think people were likely to immediately recognise as iconic."
Scarlett Johansson has hinted at an emotional reunion between Black Widow and The Hulk in 'Avengers: Infinity War'.

Scarlett Johansson

The two Marvel Cinematic Universe characters have had an ongoing relationship, but at the end of 'Avengers: Age of Ultron', The Hulk, played by Mark Ruffalo, was seen flying away without saying goodbye to the spy.

Now, the 32-year-old actress has revealed the two characters are to meet again in the upcoming blockbuster 'Avengers: Infinity War'.

Scarlett - who filed for a divorce from her husband Romain Dauriac earlier this year - told The Actor's Studio: "I just finished 'Avengers: Infinity War'. The first one.

"My character has this ongoing relationship with Mark Ruffalo's character. I had such devastation that day. I don't know why. I was so devastated.

"It was something about this character that Mark plays and this is something that should feel so solid and suddenly doesn't or there's - and it reminded me of so much of the things going on in my own life at the time."

Meanwhile, Scarlett's 'Avengers' co-star Robert Downey Jr recently admitted he will stop playing Iron Man when it becomes "embarrassing".

The Hollywood star, who has been playing the superhero since 2008, explained: "Everyone says to me it's like a glove that fits so well. I have to start over every time but I am starting over with a pretty solid base.

"I just never want to blow it for the last six or seven Marvel Cinematic Universe movies I have done by dropping the ball because I decided to go to do it one more time.

"I just want to hang up my jersey before it's embarrassing."
Iggy Azalea has ended her long-running feud with Azealia Banks by joining forces for a collaboration.

Iggy Azalea

The '212' rapper will appear on the Australian beauty's forthcoming record 'Digital Distortion' as the pair have decided to bury the hatchet once and for all after being at each other's throats since a tirade was launched in 2014.

Announcing the shock duet on Snapchat on Monday (03.07.17), Iggy wrote: "Public Service Announcement, Azealia is going to be on DD. We are collaborating. Burn your wigs now or preserve them in your freezer for release day. (sic)"

The 'Fancy' hitmaker then took to Twitter after backlash from her fans to explain why she had decided to team up with Azealia and turn the situation into a "positive".

In a series of tweets, she wrote: "I dont expect you guys to understand why i would collaborate with someone who has publicly said they hope i die ...

"This has been something extremely negative for so long, if there is a way to make it positive and also be creative together, im here for it. (sic)"

In 2014, Azealia blasted Iggy, 27, for staying silent on ''black issues'' such as the police killings of Eric Garner and Michael Brown.

She wrote: ''its funny to see people Like Igloo Australia silent when these things happen... Black Culture is cool, but black issues sure aren't huh? (sic)''

But Iggy later hit back: ''Theres more to sparking a change than trolling on social media. World issues shouldnt be used as a poor excuse to promote fan battles. (sic)''

Just last year, Azealia - who has also been embroiled in disputes with the likes of Zayn Malik and Eminem in the past - fired off an expletive-laden tirade against Iggy on Twitter, after she criticised Beyonce for supposedly poking fun at "stereotypical white names" like Becky on her album 'Lemonade'.

The row erupted after a Twitter follower referred to Iggy as Becky, the mystery woman Beyonce mentions on her new album, who she suggests was romantically involved with her husband Jay-Z.

Iggy said: "Don't ever call me Becky. Generalizing ANY race by calling them one sterotypical name for said race ... I personally don't think is very cool, the end. (sic)"
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will take part in a rowing race later this month.

Duke and Duchess of Cambridge

The royal couple will take to the Necker River in Heidelberg, Germany, on July 20, for a competition against one another as part of their five-day tour of the country.

However, there will no doubt be some rivalry between the loved-up pair as they've each won a previous race - William claimed the title in 2011 when they took part in a dragon boat race across Dalvay Lake while Catherine nabbed the crown in 2014 when they competed in sailing challenge with the America's Cup crews in New Zealand - and the upcoming event will no doubt be the deciding champion.

William and Catherine are set to travel abroad for five days from July 17 - beginning in Warsaw and finishing up in Hamburg - and have decided their children Prince George, three, and Princess Charlotte, two, will be joining them for the tour.

A spokesperson for Kensington Palace told the Express.co.uk: "The Duke and Duchess are very much looking forward to this tour and are delighted with the exciting and varied programme that has been put together for it.

"They have decided that their children, Prince George and Princess Charlotte, will travel with them and we expect the children to be seen on at least a couple of occasions over the course of the week. They look forward to a busy and impactful tour, and are grateful that they will have the opportunity to meet the Polish and German people--such important friends of the United Kingdom--as a family."

This will be the second time the foursome have travelled as a family as they toured British Columbia for a week in October, while George joined his parents in Australia and New Zealand - prior to his sister being born - when he was eight months old.
Amy Childs thinks her daughter will be a "little fatty soon."

Amy Childs and her daughter Polly

The former 'The Only Way is Essex' star's tiny tot Polly is only eight weeks old but she's already had to increase the amount of milk she has because she's constantly hungry and is convinced it won't be long before she's too big for her clothes.

Writing in her column for new! magazine, she said: "Polly is in such a good routine - she's literally bum change then feed every four hours. I'm told that never normally happens with an eight-week-old baby.

"My mate Sam Faiers said to me: 'Get Polly to start swimming!' So I'm going to get her doing that soon. It makes me feel nervous, her in the water, but it's better to start her young. Food-wise, she's already on baby milk for hungrier babies, so she's going to be a little fatty soon. Her cheeks are already getting really big, bless her!"

And the 27-year-old beauty is hoping to set up some playdates with 'Made in Chelsea' Binky Felstead following the recent birth of her daughter India.

She explained: "I saw my friend Binky Felstead called her baby India - it's such a lovely name and, as you know, it was one I was considering. But when Polly came out, she didn't look like an India. I'm glad Binky chose that name because I love it! India and Polly can go on nice little play dates as they're both little girls."

However, Amy's column was all happiness as she has admitted she's devastated for Charlotte Church after it was announced she'd suffered a miscarriage recently.

Amy said: "I was so sad to hear about Charlotte Church losing her baby. It's heartbreaking. When I was pregnant with Polly, all I kept thinking was: 'Am I going to have a miscarriage?' When I was 19 weeks I was actually rushed to hospital as I had pain in my belly. But they said it was like a contraction, where the baby stretches so much and gets bigger, and it causes so much pain. It was the most worrying thing ever and I couldn't stop crying. It must be so hard for Charlotte."
Iceland has become a popular getaway destination in recent years, purely because of its stunning natural beauty and diversity of landscape. The Nordic experts over at Baltic Travel Company have put together a list of 10 reasons why you have to visit Iceland.

The landscape...

The Northern Lights

Icelands placement on top of the world ensures that its the best place to catch a glance of the awe-inspiring Northern Lights. Most commonly seen from September until mid-April, it is one of the worlds most famous natural occurrences to view and only the lucky few get to have a full show of them.

The blue lagoon

Set In the heart of the Icelandic landscape, the Blue Lagoon geothermal spa is one of the most visited attractions in Iceland, and rightly so as it is quite magnificent with its aqua blue water and naturally high temperatures, guaranteed to relax you.

The Icelandic whales

Whale watching in Iceland is famous for the sheer fact that you are almost always guaranteed to spot one of these magnificent creatures off the coast of Reykjavik. There are many different tours which offer various different types of sightings dependent on how keen you are to see them.

The roads

Famous for the vast open spaces and winding roads which go on for miles, curving around stunning natural landscape and rock formations. Iceland is a great place to hire a car and take a long road trip stopping off at different places as you go.

The unusual architecture

Iceland is special because of its unique, if slightly derelict feel. Heading into the famous town of Reykjavik, you will be immersed in brightly colored buildings and quaint little pubs filled with bustling locals. If you really want to delve into local life, head down to the local pub to try one of Icelands fine craft beers.

The wildlife

Not only are the whales a sight for sore eyes, but Iceland boasts some other amazing wildlife, such as Puffins, very pretty and colourful sea birds which can be found nesting on the edges of cliffs. If you are lucky enough to get close enough to them you will notice the different patterns on their beaks which give them their unique look.

The Icelandic glaciers

Just when you didnt think Iceland could offer anything more, you find yourself immersed in its stunning glaciers. Known as the land of Ice & Fire because of the number of glaciers and volcanos within the country, Iceland really does offer it all. With over 10 different glaciers to visit, you may find it hard to narrow it down to the ones you want to see.

The food

The cuisine of Iceland dates back for centuries, with important elements being lamb, dairy and fish, this is because of the vast amount of Ocean surrounding the country. Modern Icelandic food includes local ingredients such as salmon, trout, crowberry, Icelandic moss, wild mushrooms and an array of dairy products.

The mountains

Much of the Icelandic landscape is consumed by mountains that even the most confident of mountaineers would find it a little daunting. With various breathtakingly beautiful types, some much larger and covering a lot more ground than others, you are spoilt for choice on hiking trails.

The volcanos

One of the main reasons people visit this dramatic landscape is to witness one of more than 15 volcanos across the Icelandic landscape, with all of them offering varying looks and scales. Many are open to hikes whilst others are noted as too hazardous to get close to.

https://www.baltictravelcompany.com/
Karlie Klosss day job as a supermodel involves everything from walking the ramp for the most respected fashion houses in the world to being the face of a number of global brands including Swarovski and LOreal. But then theres Kloss, the after-hours edition. This dynamo works on Kode with Klossy, an initiative she launched last year with the aim of improving access to coding opportunities for young women, and runs a flourishing baking business, which also supports a programme to end childhood malnutrition by the American organisation, FEED. Watch her handle all these roles with the grace of a ballerina and youll have to agree that Kloss puts the super in supermodel.Besides inspiring us with her cool-as-a-cucumber off-duty style and giving us major squad goals (her friends include Taylor Swift and Lily Aldridge), Kloss is influencing a whole new generation (the social media star has 5.7 million followers on Instagram alone) simply by being her grounded, sensible self. The 24-year-old Victorias Secret Angel speaks to Femina about fashion, ambition and making a difference.As a kid, I wanted to be a doctor or a teacher. I didnt know anything about the fashion industry or modelling until I walked for a charity fashion show in St Louis (Missouri) and was discovered by a scouting agent. My parents have always been incredibly supportive of my career. I would not be where I am today without them.The first few years of my career were surreal. I was travelling to New York, London, Paris and Milan for fashion weeks and then returning to St Louis to join the rest of my friends at school. It was for a fashion week that I first travelled to Europe, and my parents went with me.I love connecting with fans from all over the world and sharing some of my experiences. Instagram in particular has a strong connection with fashion, so its a lot of fun to share different snapshots from my career.I love learning and challenging myself, so going back to school felt like the next natural step. I decided to take my first coding class because I was curious about how the technology we use every day works at the backend. After my first class, I was amazed by how collaborative and creative coding is, but was disappointed by the statistics on women in computer science courses and jobs. I decided to launch my initiative, Kode With Klossy, to increase access to computer science education and inspire young women and girls to learn coding.Attending the Met Gala in 2014 with Oscar de la Renta, just a few months before he passed away, was truly special. Our conversation that night was one of the most heartfelt ones Ive ever had. He talked to me about his wife, his family and how the most important thing in the world is to love what you do. I will cherish those words (and that evening) forever.I have always admired Swarovski for its elegant designs and rich history. So when I was introduced to Nadja Swarovski I was super-excited at the prospect of working together. My earliest memories of the brand come from my days of being a ballerina. When I was 10, my grandmother gave me a Swarovski necklace with a dainty ballet slipper. I wore it to all my dance classes that year.Stud earringsAfter I signed my first contract, I bought myself a pretty gold ring with three diamonds in itone to represent each of my sisters.An orange Dior gown. The pictures are so funnyI was almost a full foot taller than my date!Cookies, of course! Or my homemade banana ice cream.(Photographs: Swarovski; Instagram)


If we had to pick one Bollywood actor to play the part of a Disney princess, it would be Katrina Kaif hands down. The Jagga Jasoos actor just proved us right as she stepped out in a yellow Tony Ward gown which looked strikingly similar to the one that Emma Watson wore in the movie Beauty And The Beast. Simple studs and an updo added finishing touches to her look. Here are more recent sightings of the actor during Jagga Jasoos movie promotions:
This is not the first time that Sonam has been seen in Ralph & Russo. Earlier this year she picked a printed gown and coat combo from the house for her appearance at the IWC Schaffhausen gala in Geneva.
News / National

by Staff reporter

The President, Robert Mugabe has returned home from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia where he attended the 29th AU mid-term review summit and donated US$1 million to the continental body.The move which was hailed by African leaders set the ball rolling for the continent to move away from the donor syndrome.On arrival at the Harare International Airport, Mugabe was met by the two Vice Presidents Emmerson Mnangagwa and Phelekezela Mphoko, several cabinet ministers, services chiefs and senior government officials.President Mugabe's donation has been described as a true reflection of the African icon's defence of pan-Africanism as he seeks to empower Africans and eradicate the dependency syndrome.One pan-Africanist, Dr Augustine Tirivangana said the gesture by the President is a true reflection of his vision of bringing African solutions to African problems.In his comment, the chairperson of the Zimbabwe Institute of Diplomacy, Mr Vova Chikanda believes Africans must work together and shun division for the prosperity of the continent.The dependency syndrome has negatively affected Africa's economy as the West continues to detect the pace taking away the sovereignty of African states to decide their destiny.It is against this background that President Mugabe has taken a lead in fighting the dependency syndrome by donating US$1 million to the AU coffers.
Why Will I Hide My Marriage?

Ranbir said, "When I do get married, why will I hide it?

There Is No Such Thing Of An Arranged Marriage

The 'Jagga Jasoos' actor quipped, "There were a lot of reports suggesting that my mom flew to London to look for a girl for me. There is no such thing of an arranged marriage."

No Pressure From My Parents Or Grandmother

Ranbir added, "My parents have not put any pressure on me. Neither has my grandmother."

I Will Marry The Woman I Am In Love With

He said, "One good thing is that they have left it on me. I will marry the woman I am in love with. It is as simple as that."

How The Rumours Of Ranbir's Arranged Marriage Began

It all started when a leading tabloid reported that an arranged marriage is on the cards for Ranbir when he and his mom Neetu had a hush-hush meeting with a well-known family in London.

Uncle Randhir Too Had Brushed Off These Rumours

Ranbir's uncle actor Randhir Kapoor had reacted to those reports and was quoted saying to HT, "Ranbir is having a terrific time with all the success and the money he's got, and age being in his favour too. Why does he have to get married and spoil it all so soon?"
The much-awaited biopic on actor Sanjay Dutt will release as scheduled in March 2018, says director Rajkumar Hirani in response to rumours that the film will clash with Salman Khan's movie on Eid next year.

THEY'RE FIGHTING AGAIN! Sonam Gets ANGRY As Ranbir Compares Her With Katrina!

Denying the buzz about a possible date shift for the film's release, Hirani said in a statement: "All these are baseless rumours. The film will release as per schedule in March 2018."

It is locked for release on March 30 next year.

There is immense anticipation regarding Hirani's directorial as he is turning to the cameras after his blockbuster hit "PK".

In the upcoming biopic, the filmmaker will be tracing Sanjay Dutt's life story. Actor Ranbir Kapoor will be seen donning six different looks in the film as he steps in to play Sanjay.

The biographical drama, written and directed by Hirani, is produced by Vidhu Vinod Chopra. The movie is part of a three-film deal signed by Fox Star Studios with Hirani and Chopra.
The most eligible bachelor of Sandalwood Rakshit Shetty is no more a bachelor. The Simple Star got engaged to his co-star in the movie Kirik Party, Cute Girl Rashmika Mandanna, yesterday July 3, with all pomp and vigour.

The engagement ceremony was held in Rashmika Mandanna's birthplace Virajpet, Coorg. The couple exchanged rings in the grandly decorated Serenity Hall, in the same city.

While Rashmika flaunted her peach coloured gown, designed specially for her, Rakshit was donning a cream coloured tuxedo with a peach coloured tie. The couple complemented each other in all possible sense.

The function was attended by more than 2500 people, including families from both sides, friends and film fraternity members.

The director of Kirik Party, Rishab Shetty, his wife Pragathi Shetty, actresses Yagna Shetty and Sheetal Shetty and actor Pramod Shetty were all present in the occasion to wish and bless the couple.

Light showers welcomed the invitees to the get together function. The couple exchanged rings at 6.30 pm which was later followed by a party. The entire engagement ceremony had an exquisite traditional Kodava feel to it.

The party hosted more than 30 different types of food items that included both vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes. Dishes consisted mainly of Kodava style cuisine that included a variety of pork items. The function also had Chinese, North Indian and foreign cuisines as well.
Regulatory News:

Pershing Square Holdings, Ltd. (LN:PSH) (NA:PSH) today announces that it has purchased, through PSH's agent, Jefferies International Limited ("Jefferies"), the following number of PSH's ordinary shares of no par value (ISIN Code: GG00BPFJTF46) (the "Shares"):

Date of purchase: 3 July 2017 Number of Shares purchased: 4,192 Shares Highest price paid per Share: 1,163 pence 15.05 USD Lowest price paid per Share: 1,157 pence 14.97 USD Average price paid per Share: 1,160.50 pence 15.02 USD

PSH intends to cancel these Shares. The net asset value per Share related to this Share buyback is USD 17.73 GBP 13.61 which was calculated as of 30 June 2017. After giving effect to the above Share buyback, PSH has 239,082,037 outstanding Shares. The prices per share in USD were calculated by Jefferies.

The number of PSH Management Shares and the 1 special voting share (held by PS Holdings Independent Voting Company Limited) has not been affected.

About Pershing Square Holdings, Ltd.:

Pershing Square Holdings, Ltd. (LN:PSH) (NA:PSH) is an investment holding company structured as a closed-ended fund that makes concentrated investments principally in North American companies.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170703005652/en/

Contacts:

Media:

Maitland

James Devas, +44 20 7379 5151,

Media-pershingsquareholdings@maitland.co.uk
TORONTO, ONTARIO -- (Marketwired) -- 07/03/17 -- Brookfield Investment Management (Canada) Inc. (the "Manager") announces that the simple average of the net asset values of the units (the "Units") of Brookfield Select Opportunities Income Fund (the "Fund") (TSX: BSO.UN) on each business day in the month of June 2017 was $5.40. As a result, the annual redemption condition applicable to the Units (being that the simple average of the net asset values of the Units on each business day of the month of June preceding the Annual Redemption Date is less than $10.00) has been triggered and Units may be redeemed at the option of unitholders on July 31, 2017 (the "Annual Redemption Date"). Units of the Fund must be surrendered for redemption at least 15 days prior to the Annual Redemption Date, which is July 14, 2017 and payment of the proceeds of any such redemptions will be made on or before August 22, 2017.

Brookfield Investment Management (Canada) Inc., an affiliate of Brookfield Investment Management Inc. is the manager and investment manager of the Fund.

Brookfield Investment Management Inc. (the "Firm") is an SEC-registered investment adviser and represents the Public Securities platform of Brookfield Asset Management. The Firm provides global listed real assets strategies including real estate equities, infrastructure equities, real asset debt and diversified real assets. With more than $14 billion of assets under management as of March 31, 2017, the Firm manages separate accounts, registered funds and opportunistic strategies for institutional and individual clients, including financial institutions, public and private pension plans, insurance companies, endowments and foundations, sovereign wealth funds and high net worth investors. The Firm is a wholly owned subsidiary of Brookfield Asset Management, a leading global alternative asset manager with approximately $250 billion of assets under management as of March 31, 2017. For more information, go to www.brookfield.com.

The Fund uses its website as a channel of distribution of material company information. Financial and other material information regarding the Fund is routinely posted on and accessible at www.brookfield.com.

Contacts:

COMPANY CONTACT

Brookfield Place

250 Vesey Street, 15th Floor

New York, NY 10281-1023

(855) 777-8001

funds@brookfield.com



Investor Relations

(855) 777-8001

funds@brookfield.com

www.brookfield.com




Public Relations Department, Eisai Co., Ltd. +81-3-3817-5120

TOKYO, July 4, 2017 - (JCN Newswire) - Eisai Co., Ltd. announced today that Wellness Open Living Labs. LLC, co-founded by Eisai, and Osaka City University have concluded a basic collaboration agreement aimed at solving health science-related problems, such as dementia, and extending healthy life expectancy. Based on this agreement, WOLL and Osaka City University will collect and analyze health data, cultivate human resources, such as researchers involved in solving health problems, advance the development of the latest cutting-edge technology and academic research related to health problems, such the dementia issue in Japan, and verify and commercialize solutions.WOLL is a limited liability company, funded by 15 entities which support its objectives. Eisai, Osaka City University Alumni Association Chairman & former University President Takao Kodama, and NTT DATA KANSAI Corporation (Headquarters: Osaka, President and Chief Executive Officer: Yoshiharu Kouno) perform managerial roles. Meanwhile, Osaka City University, under its slogan of "a glocal hub of wisdom and wellness, full of smiles", works to strengthen industry-academia-government collaboration and regional contribution activities in the field of health sciences, and based on a "basic collaboration agreement relating to extending healthy life expectancy" concluded with Osaka City in February, performs "think-tank" function for the purpose of extending healthy life expectancy in Osaka City.Leveraging the experience gained in developing / marketing in the field of dementia treatments, Eisai has obtained the cooperation of various stakeholders, including local governments, healthcare professionals and care workers, and is working to create communities where people with dementia live with peace of mind. WOLL is the first limited liability company co-established by Eisai for the purpose of developing and providing solutions, and aims to externalize medical and care problems rooted in communities, and to investigate / develop / verify solutions in order to fulfill true needs.Eisai will continue to provide various solutions, as it seeks to make contributions to addressing the diverse needs of, as well as increasing the benefits provided to, patients and their families.About Wellness Open Living Lab. LLC (WOLL)WOLL is limited liability company, with Osaka City University Alumni Association Chairman & former University President Takao Kodama serving as it's CEO. Dr. Kodama, together with Eisai and the NTT DATA KANSAI Corporation, have contributed funding and perform managerial roles. In addition, ASICS Corporation, E-DESIGN Co., LTD., ONO PHARMACEUTICAL CO., LTD., CURRENT DYNAMICS Inc., SignalTalk Inc., Shinwa Syoji Co., Ltd., Daicel Corporation, Takazono Corporation, TSUKAKI CO., LTD., NIPRO CORPORATION, HANWA Co., Ltd., and Mandom Corporation, a total of 12 companies, support the goals of WOLL and have also contributed funding. WOLL was founded in order to solve health problems, such as dementia, and extend healthy life expectancy by pioneering new fields of research, developing and providing products and services, promoting health and regional / industry revitalization based on data utilization, and contributing to cultivation of human resources. Furthermore, by solving problems in the field of health sciences through the creation of knowledge, development, verification, and consultations, WOLL seeks to fulfill its corporate philosophy of collaboration between universities, companies, local governments, and citizens to co-create products, services, and administrative policies.About Osaka City UniversityOsaka City University, which celebrated the 130th anniversary of its founding in 2010, was Japan's first municipal university. A public university currently boasting one of highest numbers of students / faculties in Japan, it is also the only comprehensive university in Osaka City. Upon the opening of its predecessor organization, the Osaka University of Commerce, the mayor of Osaka at the time, Hajime Seki, declared that, "The new university should not be an imitation of the national universities; it should serve the needs of the citizens; conduct original research on the culture, economy, and society of the city of Osaka and communicate the results to the people of the city." His vision is still honored to this day. In 2008, Professor Emeritus Yoichiro Nambu, who founded the Theoretical Physics Study Group in Osaka City University's Department of Science and Engineering, was awarded a Nobel Prize for physics. In 2012, Professor Shinya Yamanaka, who studied at Osaka City University's Faculty of Medicine, was awarded a Nobel Prize for physics/medicine for his research on iPS cells. Both men impacted the world with their contributions. Upon Tetsuo Arakawa assuming the office of university president, Osaka City University took up the slogan of "a glocal hub of wisdom and wellness, full of smiles", and is working to become a focal point for a wide range of knowledge, possible through its eight faculties and ten graduate courses, and to be a driving force for creating a strong Osaka.About EisaiEisai Co., Ltd. (TSE:4523; ADR:ESALY) is a research-based human health care (hhc) company that discovers, develops and markets products throughout the world. Eisai focuses its efforts in three therapeutic areas: integrative neuroscience, including neurology and psychiatric medicines; integrative oncology, which encompasses oncotherapy and supportive-care treatments; and vascular/immunological reaction. Through a global network of research facilities, manufacturing sites and marketing subsidiaries, Eisai actively participates in all aspects of the worldwide healthcare system. For more information about Eisai Co., Ltd., please visit www.eisai.com.Source: EisaiContact:Copyright 2017 JCN Newswire . All rights reserved.


BEIJING (dpa-AFX) - North Korea has fired a ballistic missile Tuesday, with the missile appearing to have landed in Japan's exclusive economic zone, according to media reports.



The missile launch comes on the eve of Independence Day in the U.S. and also just days before a summit of the Group of 20 countries in Germany later this week.



The launch also follows a meeting between South Korean President Moon Jae-in and U.S. President Donald Trump on June 30, during which the two leaders agreed to closely cooperate in dealing with North Korea's nuclear threat.



'North Korea fired an unidentified ballistic missile into the East Sea from the vicinity of Banghyon, North Pyongan Province, at around 9:40 a.m.,' the South Korean state news agency Yonhap quoted the Joint Chiefs of Staffs or JCS as saying.



The missile launch was reported to the South Korean President, who has ordered the National Security Council to convene an emergency session.



According to Yonhap, a government source said the missile is estimated to have flown approximately 930 kilometers at an altitude of over several hundred kilometers.



Meanwhile, Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said that the missile appeared to have landed in Japan's exclusive economic zone in the Sea of Japan. He added that the Japanese government has lodged a complaint to North Korea, strongly denouncing the move as a blatant violation of the UN Security Council resolutions.



U.S. President Trump responded on Twitter to the latest provocation by North Korean leader Kin Jong Un, saying, 'Does this guy have anything better to do with his life? Hard to believe that South Korea ... and Japan will put up with this much longer.'



According to Yonhap, North Korea is apparently trying to diversify its missile inventory as well as hide its missile testing until the last minute.



Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Kostenloser Wertpapierhandel auf Smartbroker.de
LONDON (dpa-AFX) - Imagination Technologies Group plc. (IMG.L) reported that its loss attributable to equity holders of the parent for the year ended 30 April 2017 narrowed to 27.91 million pounds and 10.1 pence per share from 80.86 million pounds and 29.8 pence per share in the same quarter last year. On a statutory basis, the Group made an overall operating profit before tax of 2.4 million pounds, compared to loss of 29.4 million pounds last year. The Group's adjusted loss per share was 0.9 pence, compared to loss of 9.2 pence per share in the previous year. Group revenue from continuing operations for the period ending 30 April 2017 increased by 19% to 145.2 million pounds from 121.6 million pounds last year. Imagination continues to see good demand for licenses in all three of core businesses. There are exciting developments and compelling products in our FY18 roadmaps which bodes well for the competitiveness of each of the business units going forward. The Group continues to see good demand for licensing for its IP and expects to see further progress in license revenue in fiscal year 2018, subject to uncertainty caused by the initiation of the formal sale process. Royalty unit shipments are expected to benefit from recent design wins. It fully expects to receive royalties from our largest customer over the next year. 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.
CX Leaders from The North Face, Wilko Share Their Success

20:20 Customer Experience Summit Attracts Hundreds of Senior Customer Experience Leaders from Across Europe

InMoment, the leader in customer experience (CX) intelligence technology, is chairing the inaugural day of the prestigious 20:20 Customer Experience Summit, which takes place today in London.

InMoment's Simon Fraser, senior director of InMoment's EMEA customer success team, will chair and deliver remarks on day one of the event. Also presenting are InMoment clients Alexa Larsson, senior retail operations manager at The North Face, the world's leading outdoor brand, and Joanne Kendall, customer experience manager at Wilko, a high street retailer attracting more than four million customers each week. Other speakers at the event include CX leaders from Barclays, Google, Heathrow, and other leading brands.

The 20:20 Customer Experience Summit attracts leading brands from a multitude of sectors for education and inspiration around key CX practices and emerging themes. Topics for the 2017 event include: Creating employee engagement and empowerment, taking customer feedback to the next level, using benchmarking to monitor and drive change, the future of robotics and artificial intelligence, taking the next step in personalisation, and the future of data ownership.

"It's an honour to host and headline such an important event," said James Bolle, InMoment VP head of client services, EMEA; country manager, UK. "The collective knowledge and expertise of the brands represented reflect the increasing maturity of CX as a global business practice. The knowledge and relationships gained through this conference will provide essential guidance in deploying the right best practices and technologies for customer experience success."

About InMoment

InMoment is a cloud-based customer experience (CX) intelligence platform, arming brands with compelling customer insights to drive high-value business decisions and relationships with both customers and employees. InMoment's industry-leading analytics power a full suite of Voice of Customer (VoC), Voice of Employee (VoE), Employee Engagement, and Social Reviews Advocacy solutions. InMoment also provides strategic guidance, support, and related services to more than 350 brands across 95 countries. For more information, visit http://www.inmoment.com/.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170704005022/en/

Contacts:

InMoment

Lisa Davis

VP Communications

+1 801-230-9399 (m)

ldavis@inmoment.com
SDL (LSE: SDL), a leader in global content creation, management, translation and delivery, today announced it had reached a mutual settlement with Lilt, Inc., with regards to a lawsuit related to the infringement of patents specific to SDL Adaptive MT. The terms of the settlement remain confidential.

SDL originally filed the litigation claim in April of this year, for breach of patent claims in three named patents associated with machine translation:

Adapter for Allowing Both Online and Offline Training of a Text to Text System

Personalized Machine Translation via Online Adaptation

Efficient Online Domain Adaptation

"Our talented team has worked relentlessly and invested great time and energy into making technical advancements in machine translation, and this lawsuit was settled to the mutual satisfaction of both parties," said Thomas Labarthe, EVP of Business and Corporate Development, SDL.

SDL invests heavily in protecting its intellectual property rights and has over 115 patents globally. With 25 years' experience, SDL is a proven innovator in language translation technology, services and content management. The technology and methods contained in SDL's patented portfolio allow it to continue to revolutionize language tools, helping organizations expand to global markets and meet customers' expectations, regardless of language, device or location.

About SDL

SDL (LSE: SDL) is the global innovator in language translation technology, services and content management. Over the past 25 yearswe've helped companies deliver transformative business results by enabling powerful, nuanced digital experiences with customers around the world. Are you in the know? Find out why 78 out of the top 100 global brands work with us at SDL.com and follow us on LinkedIn Twitterand Facebook.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20171113006093/en/

Contacts:

SDL

Chris Hardman

Chardman@sdl.com
Opinion / Columnist

Zimbabweans need a leader. Better admit it now and put an advertisement. Similarities can be given to an example of having numerous accidents but keeping hiring unqualified drivers because in part they are their own advocates. We need a competent driver more than we need the type of a bus. The type of politics, radical, conservative have yielded no appropriate ideology in terms of safeguarding people security: Evidence many thousands outside and many more leaving the country under threat. That is the bus whose volume is irrelevant because the driver himself is valueless the way he drives it. Once the driver knows how to drive a class one bus well, humanely and with experience, Zimbabweans can make secure the class one bus. To avoid accidents and poor maintenance to the bus, which can be equivalent to political abortions committed by Zanu through rigging while we watched without any meaningful recourse for that matter; the need for an experienced driver cannot be underrated.In other words, a political party is least desirable since the concern is a leader who can talk and relate to people is what supply is critically short in. With one by one kids and sporadic emergence of individuals rising to fight the regime decimated and mysterious put into disappearance one cannot say people are not courageous ever. What has run short is leadership that brings home a strategy which him/her and people can adhere to and take a risk to liberate self. Once a good leader has emerged people will follow from a cognitive awareness and together the country will be built on a good, strong, culturally sensitive and democratic political party that includes even those in Zanu and in opposition politics masquerading almost as career politicians today. Politics needs a face lift from how destroyed and destructive it has been put through by the Zanu government by further seeding of needless opposition political parties to shield her incompetence.Zimbabwe has lost count of political parties and what they stand for. It is no more relevant to argue that political party formation in Zimbabwe has an agenda of rescuing power for the people by the people from long term abusers of power, people and governance processes by a Zanu government. It is more realistic to acknowledge that politics in Zimbabwe currently gravitates around fund raising, possibly for purposes of self-fulfillment than a call for an accounting fact sheet on how donations or even citizen contributions were put to use. The lack of evaluative method of testing a party effectiveness has kept inept political shenanigans exist and thrive at the expense of content and meaning of politics.Here is an example of intelligent analysis: Nkosana Moyo says people have let down Morgan Tsvangirai and I bet in that narrative is equally embedded the focus on how he, Morgan Tsvangirai let them down the people as well. But one idea at a time for clarity and purpose to overcome the opponent by tying people down on accountability who then from awareness should in turn ask for leadership accountability without letting them offs the hook. People have not been aggressive in making leadership accountable at all and in turn leadership has ceased being accountable. The statement, in my view, needs further subjection to analysis because it brings fresh air to dogmatic political narratives which loose audience in the struggle for self-eminence. Perhaps a new dispensation in political analysis is coming in order to turn tables down. There is need for rare approach that put to quiz both Zanu and her surrogates in any way or shape.No doubt there is an overwhelming feeling that accountability is a thing of the past in the Mr. Mugabe run government. It begin and ended up with the none accountable disappearance of the infamous $15 Billion money supposedly raised from sale of diamonds or some such related wealth from the subterranean minerals of Zimbabwe. While it was said so casual the president, Mr. Mugabe and possibly in anger on how it had been distributed or however awkward the deal of corruption may not have materialised to benefit all. The fact is the $15 Billion mismanaged funds were neither disputed nor sought for verification as to its employment, source and where it was used on. Given that Mr. Mugabe is almost, the-be-all and end-all to all proceedings be it in his parliament, in his courts of law or on a self-dominated rally platform he holds; no questions were ever put forward on the President revelations. Is it any wonder today he buys all military personnel vehicles to thank them for a job well done in protecting him from removal from messing the country by the choice of majority. Zimbabwe is lowest in every form of governance and has no hope to rise ever again for as long as a Zanu ticket rules the country. Evidence over thirty-nine years of abuse, dehumanization, disappearance and corruption cannot escape the eyes of any honest person be they Zanu or not. This our country needs a new leader and citizens have to put on their thinking hat this time round or for ever keep quiet as Zanu rigs again and rewards opposition politics for painting a democratic process by working to fail masses.Opposition politics in Zimbabwe no more believe in being honestly critical of Mr. Mugabe or his political party because they have failed making an impact including causing reforms implementations. It is academics to argue that opposition politics as it existed in 2008 and after had a role then, now, or in the future at all. Unless the politics of opposition takes a serious approach on issues and fearlessly pointing causes to people abuse and rights denial by those in power, masses may not be able to acknowledge importuning amounting sheer posturing. Too much life has been lost and yet those posturing have made riches out of it. Open approach is lacking and death to moral courage has been witnessed over time. An intelligent approach to these topics is required by leadership who stand for people and people who support leadership. It is an educational project based on honesty, integrity and transparency. This has sadly lacked in the thirtyeight years of Zanu ruler ship coupled with deceptive savage innuendos people have been exposed to that left them so traumatized.Having said this is not to say there is no room for politics of change in the country. Any political party that emerges immediately after the first quarter of 2017 may be able to win elections in 2018 if by its emergency it is born to counter failures nursed by collaboration and assimilation Zanu nurtured through old opposition political parties' formations. Simple intelligentsia data will reveal that people are waiting and will join drastic change narrative that depart from accommodative methodologies and adapt radical changes that fall within constitutional frameworks. The world understands need for political changes more than we Zimbabweans think we do which makes us fail to articulate the specifics for change. Each time we want to tackle change we slip into violence as though violence ever became a strategy for any successful political liberation struggle. This short coming has led to inevitable political fatigue.Without saying much, street smart approaches based on tangible effects of applying emotional intelligence resonates well to be adopted and used to clamp down on hopeless what-can-we-do mentality taking us to the acute phase when we fail to zealously articulate strong positions that embarrasses and cause for the call to account on the government of Mr. Robert Mugabe's failure running an economic collapsing employ less program for an otherwise rich country like Zimbabwe. The wakeup call has to come to all citizens whether they be abroad or at home, through an organized system on self-awareness and empowerment. Any political party that emerges in Zimbabwe today and does not take a strong position in alliance with Diaspora in her foreign as well as domestic strategy to win the mind and therefore the war over threats and violence from Zanu that has failed and cannot make a meaningful impact towards social change.Mr. Mugabe now talks to anybody as though he is talking to school boys. Such demeanor needs be put to rest once and for all. The commanders of Mr. Mugabe simply keep dreaming because they use violence and corruption trained to override mass reasoning and courage in claiming what is rightly their own-freedom. Honesty, integrity, experience in world and country community building is imperative as a relevant qualification to project and casting a trajectory on the dynamics of pushing an agenda that will naturally usher timely change.Zimbabwe has hatched a very unthinking and spoiled group of persons who have relied and supported Mr. Mugabe in order to fill their pockets from drops of rot from the table thereby survive him by pushing him to stay on an-forever-in-power strategy. Much of opposition politics is hutched from this crop of personalities. Talk of change, these persons laugh at you until you begin doubting yourself. This is a propaganda strategy. It is a very successful strategy too in people riddled with fear of an empty tomorrow. Ex-Combatants and veterans all go in rounds singing praises on Mr. Mugabe. Truth be told, Mr. Mugabe has been a disaster to our country, children and future. There is no crime in asking that he comes out and in pushing the agenda of change. But we need be strategic. The hashtag organisations in today Zimbabwe politics are good alliances to any political party that shoots out after May 2017 with leadership that is daring and prepared to take what may come from the Zanu failures.
14 July 2017

Acacia Mining plc

LSE:ACA

("Acacia" or the "Company")

Update on New Legislation in Tanzania

Acacia notes the publication in Tanzania's official Government Gazette of new legislation governing the natural resources sector. Of the legislation passed, the Written Laws Miscellaneous Amendment Act, being an amendment bill to the 2010 Mining Act, is now in force and is being applied by Tanzanian authorities.

Acacia continues to monitor the impact of the new legislation in light of its Mineral Development Agreements with the Government of Tanzania. However, to minimise further disruptions to our operations we will, in the interim, satisfy the requirements imposed as regards the increased royalty rate applicable to metallic minerals such as gold, copper and silver of 6% (increased from 4%) in addition to the recently imposed 1% clearing fee on exports.

ENQUIRIES

For further information, please visit our website: www.acaciamining.com or contact:

Acacia Mining plc +44 (0) 20 7129 7150

Giles Blackham, Investor Relations

Camarco +44 (0) 20 3757 4980

Gordon Poole / Billy Clegg / Nick Hennis

Disclaimer and forward-looking statements

This announcement is for information purposes only and does not constitute an invitation or offer to underwrite, subscribe for or otherwise acquire or dispose of any securities of Acacia in any jurisdiction.

This announcement includes "forward-looking statements" that express or imply expectations of future events or results as opposed to historical facts. These statements include, financial projections and estimates and their underlying assumptions, statements regarding plans, objectives and expectations with respect to future production, operations, costs, projects, and statements regarding future performance. Forward-looking statements are generally identified by the words "plans," "expects," "anticipates," "believes," "intends," "estimates" and other similar expressions.

All forward-looking statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties and other factors, many of which are beyond the control of Acacia, which could cause actual results and developments to differ materially from those expressed in, or implied by, the forward-looking statements contained herein. Factors that could cause or contribute to differences between the actual results, performance and achievements of Acacia include, but are not limited to, changes or developments in political, economic or business conditions or national or local legislation or regulation in countries in which Acacia conducts - or may in the future conduct - business, industry trends, competition, fluctuations in the spot and forward price of gold or certain other commodity prices (such as copper and diesel), currency fluctuations (including the US dollar, South African rand, Kenyan shilling and Tanzanian shilling exchange rates), Acacia's ability to successfully integrate acquisitions, Acacia's ability to recover its reserves or develop new reserves, including its ability to convert its resources into reserves and its mineral potential into resources or reserves, and to process its mineral reserves successfully and in a timely manner, Acacia's ability to complete land acquisitions required to support its mining activities, operational or technical difficulties which may occur in the context of mining activities, delays and technical challenges associated with the completion of projects, risk of trespass, theft and vandalism, changes in Acacia's business strategy and ongoing implementation of operational reviews, as well as risks and hazards associated with the business of mineral exploration, development, mining and production and risks and factors affecting the gold mining industry in general.

Although Acacia's management believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, Acacia cannot give assurances that such statements will prove to be correct. Accordingly, investors should not place reliance on forward-looking statements contained in this announcement. Any forward-looking statements in this announcement only reflect information available at the time of preparation. Save as required under the Market Abuse Regulation or otherwise as may be required under applicable law, Acacia explicitly disclaims any obligation or undertaking publicly to update or revise any forward-looking statements in this announcement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Nothing in this announcement should be construed as a profit forecast or estimate and no statement made should be interpreted to mean that Acacia's profits or earnings per share for any future period will necessarily match or exceed its historical published profits or earnings per share.
TSX:ORV

TORONTO, Nov. 27, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Orvana Minerals Corp. (TSX:ORV) (the "Company" or "Orvana") is pleased to announce the results of a twelve month infill drilling campaign during fiscal 2017 at its El Valle and Carles Mines in northern Spain.

The drilling program consisted of 209 diamond drill holes ("DD") totaling approximately 23,000 meters ("m") at the El Valle Mine and 45 DDholes totaling approximately 2,700 m at the Carles Mine. A core objective of the drilling executed during fiscal 2017 was to generate the information required to substantially de-risk the fiscal 2018 mine plan overall, and also to lay the foundation for future in-mine exploration targeting expansion of the mineral resource base.

Assay intersections relating to this drilling program are provided in this news release and include the following highlights:

El Valle Mine

8.29 g/t Au and 1.92% Cu over 9.6 m in the Black Skarn Oxide area, which remains open to the west.

64.27 g/t Au over 4.9 m in the East Breccia zone, an oxide orebody drilled from surface and located to the northeast of current mine development.

Carl e s Mine

12.54 g/t Au over 10.2 m in a skarn orebody located in the Carles Northwest area, which contains higher than average gold grades and which remains open at depth.

Jim Gilbert, Chairman and CEO of Orvana stated: "We are very pleased with the results of the infill drilling activities at the El Valle and Carles Mines during the past fiscal year.One of our stated objectives in fiscal 2018 is to improve grade control of the ore coming from our Spanish operations by targeting the development of higher-grade oxide areas, which will, in turn, positively impact our overall unitary costs. The successful infill drilling campaign completed in fiscal 2017 means that we are now well-positioned to achieve this objective, and also to increase mineral reserves and resources within the new higher-grade Black Skarn Oxide areas identified by the program."

2017 Exploration Program

The results reported in this release are from three areas (1) Black Skarn Oxide ("BSO"), an oxide zone located in the upper part of Black Skarn towards the west, (2) East Breccia ("EBX"), an oxide zone located to the east of the El Valle open pit; and (3) Carles Northwest ("CNW"), a skarn zone located at depth (Figure 1).

Drilling in these areas was undertaken with the objectives of (i) converting inferred mineral resources to measured and indicated mineral resources and (ii) adding to the base of inferred mineral resources. Elsewhere in the El Valle Mine, infill drilling was done to better define development and production stopes and targeted holes were drilled to assist in dewatering efforts. Selected exploration results are summarized in the tables and figures below.

The mineralization in the upper part of BSO is located in a structure which trends almost east-west and is in an altered calcic skarn, oxidized with disseminated mineralization of copper sulfides (chalcopyrite) and native copper, containing some Au and Cu values. This structure is separated from the main skarn orebody by a limestone band. This drilling campaign shows indications that the identified BSO mineralization is open towards the west (Figure 2).

The EBX mineralized structure trends north-south and is located at the northeast of the El Valle historical pit. It is an epithermal oxidized structure made by jasperoid and semi-jasperoid fragments inside a highly oxidized clay matrix. The 2017 drill campaign of the EBX included five holes from surface (Table 1). Based on the promising results from the 2017 drilling program, the Company expects that this area will be an important part of the Company's future exploration programs, with the potential for adding to the current inventory of mineral reserves and resources (Figure 3).

Table 1: El Valle-Boinas - BSO and EBX Drill Results























Hole Zone Azimuth Dip From

(m) To

(m) True

Thickness

(m) Au

(g/t) Ag

(g/t) Cu

(%) Recovery

% 16V1481 BSO 276.7 25.2 48.1 51.2 2.3 5.66 13.75 0.17 100 16V1481 BSO



82.1 115.3 24.9 3.51 78.87 0.65 72 Including 1 BSO



82.1 102.4 15.2 4.14 34.56 0.59 69 Including 2 BSO



106.0 115.3 6.9 3.26 198.40 1.02 84 16V1482 BSO 330.9 -1.3 20.5 21.9 1.4 9.30 58.70 1.76 86 16V1482 BSO



25.0 26.5 1.5 2.55 12.80 0.23 100 16V1483 BSO 293.9 25.5 76.0 88.0 9.6 8.29 52.84 1.92 88 16V1484 BSO 260.2 24.5 100.1 103.1 3.0 3.56 1.54 0.02 87 16V1485 BSO 292.8 11.5 90.2 98.1 4.7 5.56 53.60 1.06 75 16V1485 BSO



102.2 118.0 9.5 6.78 50.00 1.28 92 16V1487 BSO 313.1 27.8 20.7 22.6 1.6 13.22 33.29 0.75 90 16V1487 BSO



68.5 69.9 1.1 14.49 71.60 1.81 79 17V1490 BSO 308.1 9.2 58.8 66.4 7.6 3.86 46.61 0.11 95 17V1496 BSO 324.6 18.1 49.7 53.9 4.2 5.49 32.82 0.38 56 17V1497 BSO 350.2 16.1 43.45 46.65 3.2 2.19 72.10 0.92 94 17V1499 BSO 324.7 4.8 No intercepts Au>2g/t 17V1501 BSO 307.8 -3.5 84.75 87.8 1.53 3.63 37.74 0.64 93 17V1502 BSO 290.6 3.9 66.1 80.5 7.2 4.26 33.30 0.871 64 Including 1 BSO



79 80.5 0.75 13.84 99.5 2.34 93 16EBX1017 EBX 154.6 -56.5 28.1 33.5 4.9 64.27 5.65 0.23 70 Including EBX



29.4 30.5 0.9 285.06 23.10 0.76 57 16EBX1017 EBX



146.4 147.5 0.9 4.05 2.90 0.95 100 16EBX1017 EBX



166.5 170.7 3.8 7.73 1.12 0.91 100 Including EBX



169.4 170.7 1.2 20.31 1.20 1.64 100 16EBX1017 EBX



182.0 183.2 1.1 2.23 4.40 0.16 100 16EBX1018 EBX 174.0 -52.8 28.3 31.8 2.6 3.09 2.9 0.04 57 16EBX1018 EBX



208.2 210.2 1.5 5.24 0.5 0.01 100 16EBX1018 EBX



224.1 227.1 2.3 3.02 1.75 0.12 100 16EBX1019 EBX 192.7 -64.9 23.2 24.3 1.1 2.46 0.5 0.23 55 16EBX1019 EBX



211.6 216.2 4.6 2.96 0.5 0.03 100 16EBX1019 EBX



241.9 243.1 1.2 5.36 0.5 0.34 100 16EBX1020 EBX 125.7 -49.6 162.3 170.6 6.7 1.86 4.25 5.15 100 16EBX1020 EBX



166.3 167.7 1.1 7.93 13.20 20.12 100 16EBX1021 EBX 188.3 -54.7 No intercepts Au >2g/t

Note: True thicknesses were determined graphically by measuring the distance approximately perpendicular to the contacts. No values were capped.

Table 2: Carles- CNW Drill Results























Hole Zone Azimuth Dip From,

(m) To

(m) True

Thickness

(m) Au,

(g/t) Ag,

(g/t) Cu

(%) Recovery,

(%) 17CNW1051R CNW 302.6 -18.5 95.4 102.0 3.3 3.08 2.84 0.11 89 17CNW1052 CNW 300.8 -10.1 83.5 84.5 1.0 3.12 4.70 0.18 100 17CNW1053 CNW 299.8 5.9 64.1 66.1 2.0 3.12 1.28 0.11 97 17CNW1054 CNW 300.0 27.0 56.6 57.6 0.9 5.11 0.50 0.01 100 17CNW1055 CNW 306.3 -26.2 61.7 74.6 5.2 5.06 6.45 0.30 98 Including CNW



70.8 73.3 1.0 13.70 20.60 1.02 100 17CNW1056 CNW 306.6 -15.0 45.2 51.2 3.6 4.97 3.85 0.14 88 17CNW1057 CNW 307.3 9.2 31.5 37.2 5.7 4.10 2.75 0.13 98 17CNW1058 CNW 308.8 31.7 28.0 31.8 3.9 3.00 2.78 0.08 95 17CNW1059 CNW 281.2 -26.2 99.3 106.9 2.3 2.02 1.41 0.17 64 17CNW1060 CNW 280.5 -16.8 73.8 75.2 1.4 3.73 2.10 0.15 89 17CNW1060 CNW



88.3 89.6 1.3 2.27 0.50 0.01 100 17CNW1061 CNW 285.2 8.9 35.7 37.2 1.3 2.41 8.20 0.34 100 17CNW1061 CNW



38.0 40.9 2.6 9.41 7.95 0.47 90 17CNW1062 CNW 303.7 -33.8 89.9 115.5 10.2 12.54 4.74 0.15 96 Including CNW



101.2 115.5 5.7 20.09 8.06 0.26 98 17CNW1063 CNW 282.1 -8.5 46.3 47.3 0.7 2.43 0.50 0.00 100 17CNW1063 CNW



58.3 59.2 0.6 20.90 26.30 0.61 89 17CNW1064 CNW 300.3 -25.1 120.2 121.3 0.4 3.86 10.00 0.40 100 17CNW1064 CNW



125.7 128.9 1.3 5.25 15.39 0.70 100 17CNW1065 CNW 316.9 -23.3 115.0 116.6 0.8 2.85 4.00 0.17 100 17CNW1066 CNW 318.8 -6.1 77.6 82.2 4.7 2.17 0.50 0.00 90 17CNW1067 CNW 300.6 -12.8 48.4 50.4 1.2 2.31 0.50 0.00 98 17CNW1067 CNW



53.4 56.2 1.7 14.58 0.78 0.00 95 17CNW1067 CNW



62.2 63.2 0.6 2.82 0.50 0.00 68 17CNW1068 CNW 299.3 -32.9 106.4 133.2 10.7 3.72 1.98 0.11 94 17CNW1068 CNW



108.0 114.8 2.4 6.08 1.09 0.10 89 17CNW1069 CNW 281.1 -24.1 96.8 108.1 5.7 3.08 0.55 0.01 97 17CNW1069 CNW



121.5 124.4 1.5 2.49 0.50 0.01 93 17CNW1070 CNW 279.2 -11.1 61.5 63.7 1.3 4.75 1.44 0.00 100 17CNW1071 CNW 267.2 27.1 34.6 40.4 5.9 3.14 0.50 0.00 93 17CNW1072 CNW 298.8 -26.7 76.7 84.8 4.1 8.10 1.17 0.01 96 Including CNW



76.7 80.0 1.7 16.63 1.34 0.00 94 17CNW1073 CNW 299.7 -1.6 38.5 44.8 5.0 4.82 0.59 0.01 98 17CNW1074 CNW 279.6 -18.4 No intercepts Au> 2 g/t 17CNW1075 CNW 334.1 10.9 28.5 38.2 9.17 7.63 2.69 0.07 94 Including CNW



28.5 32.5 3.80 12.98 1.60 0.02 94 17CNW1076 CNW 318.6 4.9 No intercepts AU> 2 g/t 17CNW1077 CNW 319.4 -13.5 52.5 58.3 4.09 5.80 1.52 0.01 96

Note: True thicknesses were determined graphically by measuring the distance approximately perpendicular to the contacts. No values were capped.

The CNW area located in the northwest portion of the Carles deposit is a calcic continuous and well-defined skarn trending in the northeast-southwest direction. Drilling in the CNW area indicates that mineralization increases at depth (Figure 4: Hole 17CNW1062 - 10.2 m with 12.54 g/t Au). Evaluation is underway of the potential for incorporation in the fiscal 2018 mine plan of these CNW stopes with higher grade skarn ores, together with other recently drilled areas in the El Valle-Boinas deposit, which may positively impact projected unitary costs.

Further information related to the El Valle Mine and Carles Mine geology and mineralization can be found on the Company's website (www.orvana.com).

QA/QC and Data Verification

Security measures were taken to ensure the integrity and validity of the mineralization and proximal rocks in the new drill core under the supervision of Guadalupe Collar Menendez, Chief Geologist, Orovalle Minerals S.L., a qualified person for the purposes of NI 43-101. The core was sampled based on lithologic and alteration considerations. Assays were completed by the on-site laboratory at Orovalle Minerals S.L except DDH 17V1496 that was analyzed at ALS Laboratory Group SL Mineral Laboratories at Sevilla, Spain ("ALS"). The QA/QC protocol included internal and laboratory certified reference materials, blanks, duplicates and check assays. At the Orovalle Minerals S.L. laboratory, a 30-gram sample was analyzed by fire assay with an atomic absorption spectroscopy for gold, and copper, silver, arsenic, bismuth, mercury, lead, zinc, fluorine, selenium and antimony were analyzed by ICP-optical emission spectroscopy. Pulps were sent to the ALS laboratory for check analyses. A 30-gram sample was analyzed by fire assay methods for gold and a conventional Inductively Coupled Plasma Atomic Emission Spectroscopy (ICP-AES) analysis was used for the analysis of 35 elements at ALS. Copper values exceeding 10,000 ppm and silver values exceeding 100 ppm were re-analyzed by atomic absorption using a 4-acid digestion. In addition, Ms. Menendez has verified the sampling, analytical, and test data underlying the information or opinions contained herein by reviewing original data certificates and monitoring all of the data collection protocols.

Qualified Person

The technical information contained in this document was prepared under the supervision of Guadalupe Collar Menendez, a qualified person for the purposes of NI 43-101 and an employee of Orovalle Minerals S.L., a subsidiary of Orvana.

About Orvana

Orvana is a multi-mine gold and copper producer. Orvana's operating assets consist of the producing gold-copper-silver El Valle and Carles mines in northern Spain and the producing gold-copper-silver Don Mario mine in Bolivia. Additional information is available at Orvana's website (www.orvana.com).

Cautionary Statements - Forward-Looking Information

Certain statements in this information constitute forward-looking statements or forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities laws ("forward-looking statements"). Any statements that express or involve discussions with respect to predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions, potentials, future events or performance (often, but not always, using words or phrases such as "believes", "expects", "plans", "estimates" or "intends" or stating that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might", "will" or "are projected to" be taken or achieved) are not statements of historical fact, but are forward-looking statements.

The forward-looking statements herein relate to, among other things, Orvana's ability to increase mineral reserves and resources; Orvana's ability to convert existing inferred mineral resources to measured and indicated mineral resources; Orvana's ability to improve grade control of the mineralized material at its Spanish operations; Orvana's ability to reduce overall unitary costs;; Orvana's ability to optimize its assets to deliver shareholder value; the Company's ability to optimize productivity at El Valle; estimates of future production, operating costs and capital expenditures; mineral resource and reserve estimates; statements and information regarding future feasibility studies and their results; future transactions; future metal prices; the ability to achieve additional growth and geographic diversification; future financial performance, including the ability to increase cash flow and profits; future financing requirements; and mine development plans.

Forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon a number of estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable by the Company as of the date of such statements, are inherently subject to significant business, economic and competitive uncertainties and contingencies. The estimates and assumptions of the Company contained or incorporated by reference in this information, which may prove to be incorrect, include, but are not limited to, the various assumptions set forth herein and in Orvana's most recently filed Management's Discussion & Analysis and Annual Information Form in respect of the Company's most recently completed fiscal year (the "Company Disclosures") or as otherwise expressly incorporated herein by reference as well as: there being no significant disruptions affecting operations, whether due to labour disruptions, supply disruptions, power disruptions, damage to equipment or otherwise; permitting, development, operations, expansion and acquisitions at El Valle and Don Mario being consistent with the Company's current expectations; political developments in any jurisdiction in which the Company operates being consistent with its current expectations; certain price assumptions for gold, copper and silver; prices for key supplies being approximately consistent with current levels; production and cost of sales forecasts meeting expectations; the accuracy of the Company's current mineral reserve and mineral resource estimates; and labour and materials costs increasing on a basis consistent with Orvana's current expectations.

A variety of inherent risks, uncertainties and factors, many of which are beyond the Company's control, affect the operations, performance and results of the Company and its business, and could cause actual events or results to differ materially from estimated or anticipated events or results expressed or implied by forward looking statements. Some of these risks, uncertainties and factors include fluctuations in the price of gold, silver and copper; the need to recalculate estimates of resources based on actual production experience; the failure to achieve production estimates; variations in the grade of ore mined; variations in the cost of operations; the availability of qualified personnel; the Company's ability to obtain and maintain all necessary regulatory approvals and licenses; the Company's ability to use cyanide in its mining operations; risks generally associated with mineral exploration and development, including the Company's ability to continue to operate the El Valle and/or Don Mario and/or ability to resume long-term operations at Carles Mine; the Company's ability to acquire and develop mineral properties and to successfully integrate such acquisitions; the Company's ability to execute on its strategy; the Company's ability to obtain financing when required on terms that are acceptable to the Company; challenges to the Company's interests in its property and mineral rights; current, pending and proposed legislative or regulatory developments or changes in political, social or economic conditions in the countries in which the Company operates; general economic conditions worldwide; and the risks identified in the Company's Disclosures under the heading "Risks and Uncertainties". This list is not exhaustive of the factors that may affect any of the Company's forward-looking statements and reference should also be made to the Company's Disclosures for a description of additional risk factors.

Any forward-looking statements made in this information with respect to the anticipated development and exploration of the Company's mineral projects are intended to provide an overview of management's expectations with respect to certain future activities of the Company and may not be appropriate for other purposes.

Forward-looking statements are based on management's current plans, estimates, projections, beliefs and opinions and, except as required by law, the Company does not undertake any obligation to update forward-looking statements should assumptions related to these plans, estimates, projections, beliefs and opinions change. Readers are cautioned not to put undue reliance on forward-looking statements.

The forward-looking statements made in this information are intended to provide an overview of management's expectations with respect to certain future operating activities of the Company and may not be appropriate for other purposes.

For further information: Jeff Hillis, Chief Financial Officer, T (416) 369-6281, E jhillis@orvana.com

Photo - http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/610658/figure1.jpg
LONDON, ENGLAND / ACCESSWIRE / July 4, 2017 / Further to its announcement of June 29, 2017, Gabriel Resources Ltd. ("Gabriel" or the "Company")(1) confirms that on June 30, 2017 it filed its statement of claim (the "Memorial") against Romania before the World Bank's International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes ("ICSID"), in accordance with the provisions of the Canada-Romania and UK-Romania bilateral investment treaties (together the "Treaties"). Gabriel seeks compensation for all of the losses it has incurred as a result of Romania's breaches of the Treaties in an amount equivalent to $5.7 billion.(2)

For information on this press release, please contact:

Jonathan Henry

President & Chief Executive Officer

Mobile: +44 7798 801783

jh@gabrielresources.com

Notes to Editors



The move to arbitration follows exhaustive and diligent efforts by Gabriel to comply with all Romanian legal requirements in respect of the development of the Projects, complemented by the Company's substantial contributions to the region's social, environmental and historic preservation needs. Since January 2015, Gabriel has sought amicable resolution of this dispute.

As a member of the World Bank and a party to the ICSID Convention, Romania is bound by the terms of Treaties. Romania's treatment of Gabriel and its investments has clearly breached its obligations set forth in the Treaties. The three-member tribunal constituted to hear the ICSID arbitration claim against Romania ("ICSID Arbitration Claim") will determine the liability of Romania and any compensation due to Gabriel. The Memorial is subject to the confidentiality provisions of Procedural Order No.3 which can be found on the ICSID website(3). Gabriel anticipates that the Memorial will be published in due course in accordance with those provisions and the determination of the Tribunal as appropriate.

By failing to comply with its obligations, the Romanian Government has caused harm to Romania's national economy. Romania has sought, and badly needs, foreign direct investment. The Ro?ia Montana Project alone represented one of the largest proposed foreign direct investments in Romania, with the potential to contribute US$24 billion(4) into the country's economy. The Romanian Government's actions will likely be viewed with apprehension by prospective investors.

In addition to injecting badly needed economic stimulus into the poverty-stricken Apuseni region of Romania by providing crucially needed, long-term jobs, the Projects, if developed, were designed to help revive the area through desperately needed environmental clean-up and infrastructure investment. The Apuseni region, in which Ro?ia Montana is situated, has suffered, and continues to suffer, severe environmental degradation caused by historic and current State-owned mining operations. Through the utilization of modern mining technologies and a commitment to invest significantly in remediating pollution left behind by the State's past unregulated mining operations, the Projects would have had a positive impact on the environment in and around Ro?ia Montana. Gabriel has also spent and committed more funds for preservation of cultural heritage than the Romanian Government has offered to this languishing region.

About Gabriel

Gabriel is a Toronto Stock Exchange listed Canadian resource company. The Company's principal focus has been the exploration and development of the Ro?ia Montana Project. The Ro?ia Montana Project, one of the largest undeveloped gold deposits in Europe, is situated in the South Apuseni Mountains of Transylvania, Romania, an historic and prolific mining district that since pre-Roman times has been mined intermittently for over 2,000 years. The exploitation license ("License") for the Ro?ia Montana Project is held by Ro?ia Montana Gold Corporation S.A., a Romanian company in which Gabriel owns an 80.69% equity interest, with the 19.31% balance held by Minvest Ro?ia Montana S.A., a Romanian state-owned mining company. It was anticipated that the Ro?ia Montana Project could bring over US$24 billion (at US$1,200/oz gold) to Romania as potential direct and indirect contribution to GDP and have generated thousands of employment opportunities.

Since the grant of the License in June 1999, the Company has focused substantially all of its management and financial resources on the exploration, feasibility and subsequent development of the Ro?ia Montana Project. Despite the Company's fulfilment of its legal obligations and its development of the Ro?ia Montana Project as a high-quality, sustainable and environmentally-responsible mining project, using best available techniques, Romania has blocked and prevented implementation of the Projects without due process and without compensation. Accordingly, the Company's current core focus is the ICSID Arbitration Claim.

For more information please visit the Company's website at www.gabrielresources.com.

Forward-looking Statements

This press release contains "forward-looking information" (also referred to as "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking statements are provided for the purpose of providing information about management's current expectations and plans and allowing investors and others to get a better understanding of the Company's operating environment. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, are forward-looking statements.

In this press release, forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon a number of estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable by the Company at this time, are inherently subject to significant business, economic and competitive uncertainties and contingencies that may cause the Company's actual financial results, performance, or achievements to be materially different from those expressed or implied herein. Some of the material factors or assumptions used to develop forward-looking statements include, without limitation, the uncertainties associated with: the ICSID Arbitration Claim, actions by the Romanian Government, conditions or events impacting the Company's ability to fund its operations or service its debt, exploration, development and operation of mining properties and the overall impact of misjudgments made in good faith in the course of preparing forward-looking information.

Forward-looking statements involve risks, uncertainties, assumptions, and other factors including those set out below, that may never materialize, prove incorrect or materialize other than as currently contemplated which could cause the Company's results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Any statements that express or involve discussions with respect to predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions or future events or performance (often, but not always, identified by words or phrases such as "expects", "is expected", "anticipates", "believes", "plans", "projects", "estimates", "assumes", "intends", "strategy", "goals", "objectives", "potential", "possible" or variations thereof or stating that certain actions, events, conditions or results "may", "could", "would", "should", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved, or the negative of any of these terms and similar expressions) are not statements of fact and may be forward-looking statements.

Numerous factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements, including without limitation:

the duration, required disclosure, costs, process and outcome of the ICSID Arbitration Claim;







changes in the liquidity and capital resources of Gabriel, and the group of companies of which it is parent ("Group");







access to funding to support the Group's continued ICSID Arbitration Claim and/or operating activities in the future;







equity dilution resulting from the conversion or exercise of existing securities in part or in whole to Common Shares;







the ability of the Company to maintain a continued listing on the Toronto Stock Exchange or any regulated public market for trading securities;







the impact on business strategy and its implementation in Romania of: unforeseen historic acts of corruption, uncertain fiscal investigations; uncertain legal enforcement both for and against the Group and political and social instability;







regulatory, political and economic risks associated with operating in a foreign jurisdiction including changes in laws, governments and legal regimes and interpretation of existing and future fiscal and other legislation ;







volatility of currency exchange rates, metal prices and metal production;







the availability and continued participation in operational or other matters pertaining to the Group of certain key employees and consultants; and







risks normally incident to the exploration, development and operation of mining properties.

This list is not exhaustive of the factors that may affect any of the Company's forward-looking statements.

Investors are cautioned not to put undue reliance on forward-looking statements, and investors should not infer that there has been no change in the Company's affairs since the date of this press release that would warrant any modification of any forward-looking statement made in this document, other documents periodically filed with or furnished to the relevant securities regulators or documents presented on the Company's website. All subsequent written and oral forward-looking statements attributable to the Company or persons acting on its behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by this notice. The Company disclaims any intent or obligation to update publicly or otherwise revise any forward-looking statements or the foregoing list of assumptions or factors, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, subject to the Company's disclosure obligations under applicable Canadian securities regulations. Investors are urged to read the Company's filings with Canadian securities regulatory agencies including Gabriel's Annual Information Form for the year ended December 31, 2016, which can be viewed online at www.sedar.com.

________________________

1. The Company, and its wholly-owned subsidiary, Gabriel Resources (Jersey) Ltd. ("Gabriel Jersey") are claimants in the arbitration claim. For the purposes of this release both the Company and Gabriel Jersey are designated as "Gabriel" or the "Company".

2. The claim, based on a damages assessment performed by an independent expert, seeks compensation in the amount of US$4.4 billion, the Canadian dollar equivalent uses the closing foreign exchange rate on June 27.

3. https://icsid.worldbank.org/en/Pages/cases/casedetail.aspx?CaseNo=ARB/15/31

4. At an assumed gold price of US$1,200/oz



Source: Gabriel Resources Ltd.
TORONTO, CANADA / ACCESSWIRE / July 4, 2017 / Millstream Mines Ltd. (the "Company" or "MLM") (MLM TSX-V & NJD1 Frankfurt) is pleased to announce that the company has concluded a Memorandum of Understanding with Klondike Bay Resources ("KBR") to form a relationship with the express purpose of extracting all contained metals of economic value from the Potter Mine Tailings. KBR will be responsible for all permitting and metal recovery costs applicable to the Potter Tailings Project ("PTP"). MLM is to receive a 5% NSR on all payable metals derived from the PTP. Upon Ministry approval of the PTP, KBR is to advance to Millstream CDN $120,000 which will be deductible from future Royalty installments.

Millstream has drilled, sampled and assayed the tailings confirming a calculated average grade at 0.2% copper, 1.5% zinc and 0.05% cobalt contained within approximately 480,000 tons from past milling operations carried out between the years 1967 to 1972 (see PR dated Feb. 7, 2000). The zinc was never recovered from the mined ore. This potential asset has an in situ metal value based on current market prices for copper of US $2.60/lb., zinc at US $1.20/lb. and cobalt at US $25.00/lb. totaling CDN $ 42,840,000 (using 1.25 CDN conversion factor).

KBR is currently dealing with the Ministry directly in order to ensure that all necessary permitting is attained and all relevant regulations are adhered to. More information will be forthcoming as it becomes known.

As a result of this new development, the company will in short order be submitting an application to the TSX Venture Exchange for reinstatement of its trading status.

About Millstream Mines Ltd.:

Millstream Mines Ltd. is a Canadian-based mineral exploration company whose principle objective is to enhance and develop known mineral properties to production potential. The Company has projects in the Province of Ontario, Canada and in the State of Montana, USA. The past producing Potter Mine Property is host to a presently known quantity of eleven (11) copper-zinc-cobalt-gold-silver "stacked" mineralized zones located in the highly prolific Abitibi Greenstone Belt and more specifically in the Kidd-Munro Assemblage near the town of Matheson in north eastern Ontario. An initial resource estimate on the Potter, utilizing only seven (7) of the eleven total known mineralized zones, revealed an indicated resource of 3,028,767 tonnes at 1.45% copper, 1.19% zinc, 389.7 ppm cobalt, 11.1 ppm silver, and 127.5 ppb gold along with an inferred resource of 2,071,101 tonnes at 1.08 % copper, 1.05 % zinc, 301.4 ppm cobalt, 8.7 ppm silver, and 81.7 ppb gold. The Potter Resource was prepared in compliance with NI 43-101 guidelines by Mr. David Gamble, P.Geo, Qualified Person for the Property. The Tamarack Gold Property is a former past producing, high-grade gold operator found in the Tobacco Root Mountains of Madison County, Montana. The Property is presently permitted to operate as a gold mine under the Small Mines Exclusion Act of Montana. It is accessible year round, 4 miles from the town of Sheridan, on a well maintained gravel road.

For a more thorough synopsis on the Company please visit the following link: http://www.millstreammines.com/Millstream_brochure.pdf

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. Millstream seeks safe harbour with regard to forward looking statements.

Reader Advisory: Forward-looking Statements

This news release contains forward-looking information relating to the anticipated filing date of the 2014 financial information and other statements that are not historical facts. Such forward-looking information is subject to important risks, uncertainties and assumptions. The results or events predicated in this forward-looking information may differ materially from actual results or events. As a result, you are cautioned not to place undue reliance on this forward-looking information. Forward-looking information is based on certain factors and assumptions. While the Corporation considers these assumptions to be reasonable based on information currently available to it, they may prove to be incorrect.

Forward looking-information is subject to certain factors, including risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from what is currently expected. These factors include risks associated with preparation of the 2014 financial information, risks associated with instability of the economic environments in which the Company operates or owns interests, loss of markets, volatility of commodity prices, currency fluctuations, environmental risks, competition, failure to realize the anticipated benefits of acquisitions, delays resulting from or inability to obtain required regulatory approvals and ability to access sufficient capital from internal and external sources, reliance on key personnel, regulatory risks and delays, including risks relating to the acquisition of necessary licenses and permits, environmental risks and insurance risks.

You should not place undue importance on forward-looking information and should not rely upon this information as of any other date. While the Corporation may elect to, the Corporation is under no obligation and does not undertake to update this information at any particular time, except as required by law.

For further information contact:

Mr. Ernest Harrison, EM, Chairman and CEO Phone: 705-474-7282

Mr. Robert Chase, CFA, President and CFO Phone: 416-368-9595

Email: info@millstreammines.com

www.millstreammines.com





Source: Millstream Mines Ltd.
TORONTO, ON--(Marketwired - July 04, 2017) - Peeks Social Ltd. (TSX VENTURE: PEEK) (OTCQB: PKSLF) today provided additional discussion relating to the performance strategy for the Peeks product. The Peeks app was launched in November 2016. The Company has identified user sessions and user deposits as being key performance indicators ("KPIs") for monitoring the performance of the Peeks product (see press release dated June 30, 2017). Average monthly dollars deposited per user increased over 800% between November 2016 and May 2017 (to $1.27 in May). User sessions increased almost 500% over the same period to 2 million in the month of May 2017.

The Company has identified which services, features, and processes are the most efficient in driving the performance of these metrics and will now be directing significantly greater resources to the ongoing improvement of these KPIs.

"We are very happy with our performance to date. After 17 years of running tech companies, and as a paying shareholder with several million dollars of my own money in this Company, I believe in money spent efficiently. Each service, feature, and process is measured over time for its effectiveness in driving the business' KPIs. Once we've established what is most effective then we allocate greater resources to it and backburner other less performing initiatives. That's what I've done for years and that's what I'm doing here. To date we have studied what triggers user sessions and what encourages users to deposit. We are now going to allocate significant resources to drive those metrics aggressively. The 'beta' period is now over, and the results are encouraging. Like I've said recently, the time has come for us to step on the gas," said Mark Itwaru, CEO of the Company.

The Company also announced that Mark Itwaru, CEO, acquired an additional 79,500 shares of the Company's common stock on June 30, 2017, in open-market purchases. Details of the acquisition and Mark's holdings can be found on SEDI at www.sedi.ca. Following this acquisition, Mark Itwaru, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, has control and direction over an aggregate of 18,195,388 common shares (representing 29.4% of the Company's outstanding common shares on an undiluted basis), 3,555,555 warrants to acquire common shares and 1,205,000 options to acquire common shares, representing in aggregate 34.4% of the outstanding common shares of the Company on a partially diluted basis.

The Peeks app can be downloaded in either the Apple or Google app stores, or by visiting www.peeks.com.

Notes:

For additional information on Google Analytics' definition of "session" and the methods of calculating "sessions", please refer to https://support.google.com/analytics . Average monthly dollars deposited per user is calculated by dividing the total dollar amount deposited in the Peeks service by registered users in a calendar month by the number of registered users as at the end of that month. While the "dollars deposited per registered user" is an important KPI for the Peeks product, it is not a direct indicator of the Company's financial performance.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) has reviewed or accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this Release.

Forward-Looking statements:

The information and statements in this news release contain certain forward-looking information. This forward-looking information is subject to certain risks and uncertainties and may be based on assumptions that could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated or implied in the forward-looking information. Peeks Social Ltd.'s forward-looking information is expressly qualified in its entirety by this cautionary statement. Except as required by law, Peeks Social Ltd. undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking information.

For further information, please contact:



Peeks Social Ltd.



Mark Itwaru

Chairman & Chief Executive Officer

647-992-7727

mark@peeks.com
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - July 4, 2017) - Midnight Sun Mining Corp. (TSXV: MMA) is (the "Company" or "Midnight Sun") pleased to announce initial assay results from its spring 2017 Mitu drill program. The focus of this drill campaign was to expand and further define the extent of the previously announced ore-shale type copper-cobalt discovery at the Mitu area of the Solwezi Properties, Zambia (see news release dated January 12, 2017). Drill hole MDD-17-15 stepped out 3.72 kilometers ("km") southeast from discovery hole MDD-16-01, and reported 3.44% copper, 0.067% cobalt, 0.058% nickel and 331 parts per billion ("ppb") gold (4.23% copper equivalent) over 11.6 meters ("m").

"This was an ambitious program, with wide step out holes both along strike and down dip from known mineralization. Our aggressiveness was rewarded with the best hole we have drilled to date." said Robert Sibthorpe, President and CEO. "The fact that we continue to encounter strong copper and significant cobalt reinforces our belief that Mitu is worthy of our excitement. With the advancement in prices and increase in demand for cobalt, this project appears to be as important a cobalt discovery as it is a copper one."

The results from the first eight diamond drill holes received as well as significant results from Air Core drilling are presented in the Table below.

Hole # Type Dip Azi EOH

(m) From

(m) To

(m) Interval

(m) True

(m) Copper

% Cobalt

% Nickel

% Au ppb Cu Eq

(%) MDD-17-15 Diamond 60 30 200.7 151.6 163.2 11.6 11.6 3.44 0.067 0.058 331 4.23 MDD-17-01

including

and

including Diamond vertical 0 168.0 21.3

21.3

149.9

149.9 52.0

38.8

165.0

157.9 30.7

17.5

15.1

8.0 27.6

15.8

13.6

7.2 0.26

0.33

0.59

0.89 0.038

0.057

0.131

0.174 0.058

0.070

0.053

0.057 Pending 0.76*

1.04*

2.02

2.78 MDD-17-04

including Diamond 50 360 179.8 128.3

133.2 156.5

142.2 28.2

9.0 28.2

9.0 0.40

0.70 0.023

0.019 0.020

0.022 Pending 0.68

0.92 MDD-17-06 Diamond vertical 0 161.9 31.2 37.2 6.0 5.4 0.22 0.027 0.069 Pending 0.61* MDD-17-03 Diamond vertical 0 164.8 140.9 154.5 13.6 12.2 0.28 0.017 0.029 Pending 0.50 MDD-17-07 Diamond vertical 0 230.8 152.9 188.9 36.0 32.4 0.20 0.016 0.018 Pending 0.40 MDD-17-05 Diamond vertical 0 231.0 148.9 158.6 9.7 8.7 0.23 0.013 0.016 Pending 0.36 MAC-17-19

including Air Core vertical 0 60.5 15.0

31.5 60.5

60.5 45.5

29.0 45.5

29.0 0.52

0.72 0.033

0.047 0.041

0.047 Pending 0.85*

1.22* MAC-17-13 Air Core vertical 0 37.5 16.5 36.0 19.5 19.5 0.32 0.023 0.037 Pending 0.60*

Notes;

MDD-17-02 did not report any significant results.

True widths were estimated using cross-section analysis.

Copper equivalents were calculated using current metal price ratios and are presented only for ease of interval comparison. Recovery factors were assumed at 100% although the recovery factor for various metals may vary significantly. Metal prices used were $2.54/lb copper, $26.54/lb cobalt, $4.03/lb nickel and $1251/oz gold.

*Denotes near surface oxide mineralization.

To date, the 2017 work program at Mitu has comprised 37 line-km of natural source audio magneto tellurics ("NSAMT") geophysical surveying, air core and diamond drilling, and soil sampling. The NSAMT survey indicated the presence of a conductive anomaly over a strike length of approximately 17 km. This conductive anomaly is believed to be associated with ore-shale, the typical host rock for copper mineralization in the Zambia-Congo Copperbelt. Midnight Sun has taken 648 in-fill and step-out soil samples and First Quantum Minerals has continued soil sampling and geochemical work covering the Solwezi Properties as part of a larger regional program, of which the results are reported to Midnight Sun on a timely basis (see news release dated August 18, 2016). Prior to diamond drilling, using air core drills, the Company drilled 4,755 m in 119 shallow drill holes to bedrock for indications of ore-shale covering the conductive anomaly indicated by the geophysical survey. This air core drilling confirmed the ore-shale's correlation to the geophysical anomaly, extending the known strike length by more than 10 km, and assisted in collaring the diamond drill holes.

Qualified Control/Quality Assurance: Samples obtained during both core and AC drilling were transported directly to Genalysis Laboratory Services in Chingola, Zambia by Midnight Sun personnel for sample preparation. Samples were sorted, dried, crushed, and pulped before being sent to Perth, Australia for final chemical analysis using ICP-OE methods. All samples returning >10,000 ppm Cu were automatically re-checked by Genalysis which is a fully accredited laboratory. Standards and blanks were inserted regularly in the sample stream and checks were done for Au and Cu.

Qualified Person: Shastri Ramnath, P.Geo, a Qualified Person under NI 43-101, has reviewed and approved the technical data and contents of this release.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD



Robert Sibthorpe B.Sc.(Geology), M.B.A.

President & CEO



For Further Information Contact:



Al Fabbro

Director

Tel: 604-351-8850

NEITHER THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE NOR ITS REGULATION SERVICES PROVIDER (AS THAT TERM IS DEFINED IN THE POLICIES OF THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE) ACCEPTS RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS NEWS RELEASE.

This news release includes certain statements that may be deemed "forward-looking statements." All statements in this release, other than statements of historical facts, are forward-looking statements. Although the Company believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include, changes in market conditions, unsuccessful exploration results, changes in commodity prices, unanticipated changes in key management personnel and general economic conditions. Mining exploration and development is an inherently risky business. Accordingly, the actual events may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. This list is not exhaustive of the factors that may affect any of the Company's forward-looking statements. These and other factors should be considered carefully and readers should not place undue reliance on the Company's forward-looking statements. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking statement that may be made from time to time by the Company or on its behalf, except in accordance with applicable securities laws.
LONDON, July 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

Leading supplier of instant drinking water appliances, Zip Industries, an Australian company with a major presence in the UK market, today announced that it will join forces with Culligan International. Culligan has reached an agreement to acquire 100% of Zip for an undisclosed sum. The deal is expected to complete in August 2017.

(Photo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/530289/John_Doumani.jpg )



Zip has been manufacturing and marketing Australian-designed instant boiling water appliances and filtered drinking water systems since 1947, and began operating in the UK in 1991. The company is focused on the delivery of instant, boiling, chilled and sparkling drinking water appliances in an environmentally friendly way. Zip employs some 700 people and Zip appliances are installed in over 76 countries across the globe.

John Doumani, Chief Executive of Zip, said: "We are delighted to have been recognised by Culligan as an innovator in the global market for boiling, chilled and sparkling instant drinking water appliances.

"Our innovation programme over recent years has seen the successful launch of products such as the Zip HydroTap G4, the Design Range and our range of Platinum finishes. We look forward to continuing to drive innovation behind water quality, enhanced functionality, energy efficiency and aesthetic appeal with the strong support of the Culligan team.

"Furthermore, we are very excited at the prospect of accelerating the global expansion of the Zip HydroTap by being part of Culligan, an iconic quality water business with a strong presence across North America, Latin America, Europe, Middle East and Asia."

Culligan is a global leader in residential, office, commercial and industrial water treatment with more than 800 Culligan dealers in over 90 countries. Zip's business operations and footprint (focused on Australia, New Zealand and the UK) are complementary to Culligan's global presence.

Scott Clawson, President and Chief Executive Officer of Culligan International said:

"We're thrilled to bring Zip into the Culligan team. I believe these businesses are a great fit with a shared focus on water purity, convenience, technology and innovation. By working together, we look forward to exploring opportunities to expand Zip's product range, particularly the HydroTap, into new markets internationally."
WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Iranian cartoonist Hadi Asadi's image of U.S. President Donald Trump covered in dollars with his hair ablaze took first prize in a 'Trumpism' cartoon contest organized in Iran. Artists from all over the world were invited to submit artwork mocking the U.S. leader to the competition, and organizers received over 1,600 entries from artists hailing from 74 countries.They included four works from American cartoonists. Asadi's cartoon showing Trump wearing a suit made of dollar notes while drooling on books, a reference to cultural material, won him prize money of $1,500 and a trophy. Asadi, who produced the cartoon in two weeks using a stylus pen digital printing method, said he wanted to highlight the 'money-mindedness and war monger nature' of the businessman-turned politician. The Islamic Republic's 2017 International Trumpism cartoon and caricature contest was held in Tehran on Monday. The organizers said they sought to show the wrong behaviors by Trump in the framework of satirical portraits. Many of the cartoons compared the U.S. president to Hitler, while some others focused on Trump 's social media habits, with Twitter featuring in a number of works. The cartoons depicting Trump are at display at a week-long exhibition in the Iranian capital. 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.
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.
Research and Markets has announced the addition of the "Global Nuclear Control Rods Market 2017-2021" report to their offering.

The analysts forecast the global nuclear control rods market to grow at a CAGR of 2.11% during the period 2017-2021.

Global Nuclear Control Rods 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.

One trend in market is evolution of floating nuclear power plants. China has plans to build as many as 20 floating nuclear power plants. The first of these plants will be used for the acceleration of construction work of the oil rigs in the South China Sea. Russia has been constructing such power plants from 2000; China has taken up the initiative to build it first.

One driver in market is overdependence on fossil fuels. Today, energy security is one of the key areas on the national agenda of any country. Since the discovery of the commercial uses of oil and natural gas in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, the dominance of fossil fuels has only grown.

Fossil fuels, at present, account for more than 80% of the world's energy demand. Global energy demand is expected to increase by 35% by 2020, and fossil fuels are projected to meet 75% of this increased demand.

Key vendors

AREVA

GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy

KODA JS

Veridiam

Westinghouse Electric



Other prominent vendors

Curtiss-Wright

Fine Tubes

Godrej

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries

LARSEN TOUBRO

Rolls-Royce

VALLOUREC



Key Topics Covered:

Part 01: Executive summary

Part 02: Scope of the report

Part 03: Research Methodology

Part 04: Introduction

Part 05: Market landscape

Part 06: Market segmentation by reactor type

Part 07: Geographical segmentation

Part 08: Decision framework

Part 09: Drivers and challenges

Part 10: Market trends

Part 11: Vendor landscape

Part 12: Key vendor analysis

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/jmszvh/global_nuclear

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170704005241/en/

Contacts:

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

Related Topics: Nuclear Power
Emily Ratajkowski Says She Can't Get A Job Because Her Breasts Are Too Big

Trending News: The Ridiculous Reason Why People Won't Hire Emily Ratajkowski

Long Story Short

Model/actress Emily Ratajkowski said in an interview that she has trouble getting a job in the industry because her breasts are too big.

Long Story

Emily Ratajkowski has nearly 14 million Instagram followers, blows up the internet every time she walks outside (wearing lingerie) or heads on vacation somewhere  yet some industry execs think she's not worth hiring. Why? Because she's too voluptuous.

"People don't want to work with me because my boobs are too big," Ratajkowski said to Harper's Bazaar.

All this birthday love got me feeling like ???! Thanks guys! I am so grateful. A post shared by Emily Ratajkowski (@emrata) on Jun 7, 2017 at 6:41am PDT

Em Rata says she is being discriminated against as a woman, presumably because modeling is so focused on unnaturally skinny models.

"There's this thing that happens to me: 'Oh, she's too sexy'," she said. "It's like an anti-woman thing."

"What's wrong with boobs? They're a beautiful feminine thing that needs to be celebrated. Like, who cares?" she added, as quoted by Maxim.

"They are great big, they are great small. Why should that be an issue?"

Now, do I believe that she's telling the truth about being rejected for jobs because of her boobs? Sure. Just because millions of guys think a woman is insanely sexy sadly doesn't mean the modeling industry will give guys what they want.

Do I also believe this is at least partly a publicity stunt? I sure do.

But hey, who's complaining?

Own The Conversation

Ask The Big Question

Is this really a big issue for her now or was it just a publicity stunt?

Drop This Fact

During the 2016 election, Em Rata was feelin' the Bern.
MISSISSAUGA, ONTARIO -- (Marketwired) -- 07/04/17 -- CWB Franchise Finance, a division of CWB Financial Group, has provided a multi-product loan facility to Browns Restaurant Group, an award-winning Canadian franchisor based in Vancouver. The funds will be used to consolidate and refinance existing corporate debt as the company grows their presence across western Canada and enters the eastern Canada market.

"We're excited to partner with Scott Morison and the team at Browns Restaurant Group," said Jacob Mancini, Senior Manager of CWB Franchise Finance's restaurant division. "CWB Franchise Finance is committed to working through complex deals with our franchisor clients looking to grow their businesses. Opportunities like this one are an excellent example of how we can offer flexible accretive structures that make sense for our clients."

"Our growth across Canada has been fast and furious," said Scott Morison, founder and CEO of Browns Restaurant Group. "The broad range of products CWB Franchise Finance has provided gives us what we need to continue to grow, particularly into Ontario which is a new market for us. Their specialized and focused approach to lending in the restaurant space will be beneficial to us and our franchisees." Ranked by Foodservice & Hospitality Magazine as #35 in the Top 100 list, the company has been the fastest growing restaurant brand in Canada for four of the last five years.

About CWB Franchise Finance CWB Franchise Finance, a division of CWB Financial Group, specializes in financing for regional and national restaurants and hotels and is a leading lender to the Canadian restaurant and hospitality industries. Previously GE Capital Canada's franchise financing arm, CWB Franchise Finance was acquired by CWB Financial Group in 2016 following a successful track record of more than 800 clients with upwards of 1,525 property locations over 14 years. To date, more than $3 billion have been invested in the Canadian hotel and restaurant space. Learn more at www.cwbfranchise.com.

About CWB Financial Group CWB is a diversified financial services organization serving businesses and individuals across Canada. Operating from its headquarters in Edmonton, Alberta, CWB's key business lines include full-service business and personal banking offered through 42 branches of Canadian Western Bank and Internet banking services provided by Motive Financial. Highly responsive specialized financing is delivered under the banners of CWB Equipment Financing, National Leasing, CWB Maxium Financial, CWB Franchise Finance and CWB Optimum Mortgage. Trust Services are offered through Canadian Western Trust. Comprehensive wealth management offerings are provided through CWB Wealth Management, which includes the businesses of McLean & Partners Wealth Management and Canadian Western Financial. As a public company on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX), CWB trades under the symbols "CWB" (common shares), "CWB.PR.B" (Series 5 Preferred Shares) and "CWB.PR.C" (Series 7 Preferred Shares).

About Browns Restaurant Group (BRG) is a Vancouver BC based company dedicated to developing franchised casual dining concepts that address specific market opportunities. With over 60 locations throughout Canada, each Browns Socialhouse is owned and operated by a community-minded Franchisee. The first Ontario franchise is scheduled for Ottawa early in 2018. Whether it's for a business lunch, after-work cocktails, a celebratory get-together with family and friends or a comfortable, relaxed environment to watch the big game, Browns Socialhouse is the place to be. The word "socialhouse" is trademarked to protect the business identity. Scotty Browns offers the same great experience in 3 locations in Washington State. Liberty Kitchen is the latest addition to the brand portfolio. The first location Liberty Kitchen franchise is scheduled to open early in 2018. BRG is working on other concepts for future development. Visit www.brownsrestaurantgroup.com or find us on social media @brownssocialize.

Contacts:

Ed Khediguian

Senior Vice President

CWB Franchise Finance

(647) 465-0591

ed.khediguian@cwbfranchise.com



Bruce Fox

Executive Vice President - Business Development

Browns Restaurant Group

(778) 980-2440

bfox@brownsrestaurantgroup.com




Technavio market research analysts forecast the corporate online language learning market in the USto grow at a CAGR of more than 16% 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/20170704005286/en/

Technavio has published a new report on the corporate online language learning market in the US from 2017-2021. (Photo: Business Wire)

The market study covers the present scenario and growth prospects of the corporate online language learning market in the USfor 2017-2021. The report also lists online language learning programs and online language learning apps as the two main product segments, of which the online language learning programs segment accounted for close to 59% of the market share in 2016.

"The US holds various strategic, economic, and business relationships with many countries, such as countries in APAC and Europe, which results in diversified business communications. As a result, it is essential for companies in the US to invest in vital soft skills and language training programs to ensure efficiency of business activities," says Jhansi Mary, a lead analyst at Technavio for education technologyresearch.

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 corporate online language learning market in the US:

Deployment of analytics

Cloud-based language learning services

Need for employee engagement

Looking for more information on this market? Request a free sample report

Technavio's sample reports are free of charge and contain multiple sections of the report including the market size and forecast, drivers, challenges, trends, and more.

Deployment of analytics

Analytics-embedded foreign language learning programs are increasingly available for academic and non-academic learners. Analytics is a powerful tool for vendors as it can collect information pertaining to various aspects of learner interaction with the program. The online language learning methodology results in the creation of several trails, which are captured by these analytical tools. With the help of relevant granular information, vendors are applying adaptive learning and creating specific content that aligns with the learner's requirements.

The prevailing levels of competition among language learning service providers have compelled them to incorporate technologies through which they can gain a competitive advantage and remain abreast of the market changes. The analytical applications embedded in language learning programs are thus, helping to boost the overall growth of the market.

Cloud-based language learning services

Organizations in the US are rapidly embracing emerging technologies to facilitate workplace activities. Cloud computing has been accepted as a better alternative to on-premise and traditional modes of procuring solutions due to numerous advantages, such as scalability, cost reduction, and mobility. Using the cloud platform for delivering training, be it technical or non-technical training, such as language learning, is gaining traction among organizations. For instance, FluentFlixserves organizations in varied industries through its cloud-based language learning products and services.

"The popularity of cloud-based m-learning is propelling the demand for online language learning programs in the US. Cloud-based language learning content is automatically updated, and there is no need of purchasing the latest editions of training materials. This facility helps organizations in hassle-free use and maintenance of language learning programs," says Jhansi.

Need for employee engagement

Language learning programs are being offered at workplaces to drive the strategic expansion of organizations in various geographies. Moreover, studies reveal that language learning programs are also an effective means to engage employees and strengthen leadership while triggering their learning and development. Attaining proficiency in languages other than the native language acts as an addition of a new skill. Hence, it helps in their personal development.

Prioritized employee engagement activities yield positive impacts on the employee morale, retention, loyalty, and productivity. Consequently, this produces a conducive environment for organizations to achieve their business goals and profitability. Hence, on this account, language learning programs are witnessing high demand in the corporate sector in the US.

Browse Related Reports:

Corporate Online Language Learning Market in China 2017-2021

Global Programming Language Training Market 2017-2021

Global Green Technology Market in Construction Industry 2017-2021

About Technavio

Technaviois a leading global technology research and advisory company. Their research and analysis focuses on emerging market trends and provides actionable insights to help businesses identify market opportunities and develop effective strategies to optimize their market positions.

With over 500 specialized analysts, Technavio's report library consists of more than 10,000 reports and counting, covering 800 technologies, spanning across 50 countries. Their client base consists of enterprises of all sizes, including more than 100 Fortune 500 companies. This growing client base relies on Technavio's comprehensive coverage, extensive research, and actionable market insights to identify opportunities in existing and potential markets and assess their competitive positions within changing market scenarios.

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/20170704005286/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--(Newsfile Corp. - July 4, 2017) - Fairmont Resources Inc. (TSXV: FMR) ("Fairmont" or the "Company") announces that the First Instance Court No. 5, Badajoz, Spain has ordered that the Company pay Innovacion, Soluciones Y Servicios Para La Commercialiacion S.L. (commercial name Eureka Trading) EUR 575,000 (840,247.50 CAD) in connection with Eureka Trading's claim that the Company owes them a success fee for the unsuccessful acquisition of certain assets in Spain belonging to Granitos de Badajoz, S.A. ("Grabasa"), which is currently in liquidation. Further, the Badajoz City Court has also placed precautionary measures on the Company's' deposit of EUR 150,000 placed with the Spanish Mercantile Court No. 1. This EUR 150,0000 deposit formed part of the Company's original bid for Grabasa (See news release June 23 2016).

The Company and its Spanish legal counsel are currently considering whether to appeal the decision by the deadline of July 28, 2017.

Despite this judgment, the Company continues to actively seek partners to complete the acquisition of Grabasa.

Note: Exchange rate used 1 EUR = 1.4613 CAD

About Fairmont Resources Inc.

Fairmont Resources Inc. is a rapidly growing industrial mineral and dimensional stone company trading on the Toronto Venture Exchange symbol FMR.

Fairmont's Quebec properties cover numerous occurrences of high-grade titaniferous magnetite with vanadium, with the Buttercup property having a permit to quarry dense aggregate. Where these occurrences have been tested they have display exceptional uniformity with respect to grade. Fairmont also controls three quartz/quartzite properties, with the Forestville property having independent end user testing confirming the suitability of quartzite from Forestville for Ferro Silicon production. Fairmont is also in the process of acquiring the assets of Granitos de Badajoz (GRABASA) in Spain which includes 23 quarries and a 40,000 square metre granite finishing facility that has produced finished granite installed across Europe.

On behalf of the Board of Directors,

Michael A. Dehn

President and CEO, Fairmont Resources Inc.

Tel:647-477-2382

michael@fairmontresources.ca

www.fairmontresources.ca

For further information please contact:

Doren Quinton,

President QIS Capital

Tel:250-377-1182

info@smallcaps.ca

www.smallcaps.ca

Forward-Looking Statements

Information set forth in this news release contains forward-looking statements that are based on assumptions as of the date of this news release. These statements reflect management's current estimates, beliefs, intentions and expectations. They are not guarantees of future performance. Fairmont cautions that all forward looking statements are inherently uncertain and that actual performance may be affected by a number of material factors, many of which are beyond Fairmont's control. Such factors include, among other things: risks and uncertainties relating to Fairmont's ability to complete the proposed private placement financing, limited operating history and the need to comply with environmental and governmental regulations. Accordingly, actual and future events, conditions and results may differ materially from the estimates, beliefs, intentions and expectations expressed or implied in the forward looking information. Except as required under applicable securities legislation, Fairmont undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise forward-looking information.

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.
RIMOUSKI, QUEBEC -- (Marketwired) -- 07/04/17 -- Puma Exploration Inc. (the "Company" or "Puma") (TSX VENTURE: PUM)(SSE: PUMA) announces today it has closed the second and final tranche of a non-brokered private placement financing of flow-through units with qualified investors, employees and consultants as well as with existing shareholders. The company issued 462,500 units at an issue price of eight cents (0.08$) per unit for gross proceeds of $37,000. Each flow-through unit comprises one flow-through common share and one-half of one common share purchase warrant. Each full warrant gives its holder the right to purchase one common share at a price of 15 cents ($0.15) per share until July 04th, 2019.

In connection with this second and final tranche of private placement, the company has not paid any finders' fee. All securities issued to purchasers under the offering are subject to a four-month hold period from the date of issuance of the securities pursuant to applicable securities legislation and the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange. The placement has received the conditional approval of the TSX-V.

As previously announced on June 22nd, 2017, the Company completed the first tranche of the Offering and issued 2,160,000 million units at an issue price of eight cents ($0.08) per unit for gross proceeds of $172,800. Each flow-through unit comprises one flow-through common share and one-half of one common share purchase warrant. Each full warrant gives its holder the right to purchase one common share at a price of 15 cents ($0.15) per share until June 22nd, 2019.

The proceeds of the offerings will be used for the exploration and development of Puma's properties in New Brunswick in particular for the current trenching and drilling program on the Murray Brook East Property.

Murray Brook East (4925)

The Murray Brook East Property (4925) consists of 245 claims (5326 hectares). Its eastern boundary is contiguous to the Caribou Mining Lease (# 246) and is located only four kilometers west of the producing Caribou Mine owned and operated by Trevali Mining Corp.

The previous operators of the Murray Brook Property conducted extensive preliminary exploration work from 2012 to 2015 which included geophysical surveys (HeliTEM, Magnetic, Gravity) and geochemical surveys (1,853 soil samples), bringing the property to drill-ready targets. The surveys identified 5 first priority targets to be explored. The previous drilling operation along the 7 km long favorable horizon was conducted in 1956 and included only 10 short holes.

About the Murray Brook Project

The Murray Brook Project consists of three (3) distinct contiguous areas that cover more than 18 kilometers of the favorable rock hosting the operating Caribou Mine (Trevali Mining Corporation), the Murray Brook Deposit and the past operating Restigouche Mine. From east to west, they are the Murray Brook East Property (4925), the Murray Brook Mining Lease (# 252) and the Murray Brook West Property (7846). The Murray Brook East and Murray Brook West Properties have been subject to various degrees of exploration work and share the same potential of increasing the mineral resources defined at the Murray Brook Deposit.

About Puma Exploration Inc.

Puma Exploration is a Canadian mineral exploration company with advanced precious and base metals projects in Canada. The Company's major assets are the 100% per-cent beneficial interest in the Murray Brook Property, the Turgeon Zinc-Copper Project and the Nicholas-Denys Project located in New Brunswick as well as an equity interest in Black Widow Resources related to the Little Stull Lake Gold Project in Manitoba. Puma's objective for the coming year is to focus its exploration efforts in New Brunswick.

You can visit us on Facebook and Twitter.

Learn more by consulting www.pumaexploration.com for further information on Puma Exploration Inc.

The contents of this press release were prepared by Marcel Robillard, P.Geo., a Qualified Person as defined in 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.

Forward-Looking Statements: This press release may contain forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements involve a number of known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of Puma Exploration Inc. to be materially different from actual future results and achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements which speak only as of the date the statements were made, except as required by law. Puma Exploration undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties are described in the quarterly and annual reports and in the documents submitted to the securities administration.

Contacts:

Puma Exploration Inc.

Marcel Robillard

President

(418) 724-0901

president@explorationpuma.com

www.pumaexploration.com




MortgageGym, a UK-based regulated mortgage robo-adviser, received a personal investment of 500k from Henry Ritchotte.

Ritchotte, former Chief Operating Officer and member of the management board of Deutsche Bank AG, was also appointed as an adviser.

He has over 24 years experience in the investment banking and financial services industries. Since leaving Deutsche earlier this year, Ritchotte has been making early stage investments in financial services firms with a focus on disruptive regulatory- and technology-driven business models. He previously held the role of Head of Digital Bank at Deutsche. Ritchotte previously worked as Deutsches Chief Digital Officer on projects to digitalise banking services.

Other roles at Deutsche included Chief Operating Officer, Head of Global Markets and serving as a Member of the Management Board and Group Executive Committee. He initially joined Deutsche in 1995 from Credit Suisse First Boston having worked at boutique investment bank Recof Corporation and Merrill Lynch.

Formed in 2016 by entrepreneurs John Ingram and David Vertannes, MortgageGym is a regulated mortgage robo-adviser, allowing UK homebuyers to complete their entire application online in 15 minutes through a free, hybrid advice website offering mortgage eligibility matching within 60 seconds, regulated robo-advice and access to live advisors.

The platform is being brought to market in official partnership with Experian, the global information services group, and is fully integrated with users credit files and credit risk scorecards of leading mortgage lenders in the UK.

The business was authorized by the FCA in February 2017 and is due to launch to the public in the summer of 2017.

FinSMEs

04/07/2017
ottonova, a Munich, Germany-based insurtech startup, raised 10m in Series C funding.

Backers included Debeka, Holtzbrinck Ventures, Vorwerk Ventures, Tengelmann Ventures, BtoV and STS Ventures.

The company, which has raised approx. 40m in funding, intends to use the capital to launch its product and continue to expand its offering with additional features.

Co-founded by Roman Rittweger (CEO, Medical Officer & MBA), Frank Birzle (CTO, computer scientist) and Sebastian Scheerer (CDO, designer), ottonova provides a digital health insurance platform via a specially developed app which serves the users as a personal health partner.

The companys app provides all the information about the insurance at a glance. With the help of an integrated concierge function, users can have a medical consultation or a medical appointment by chat or telephone, around the clock. They can upload invoices and documents, which are immediately analyzed.

FinSMEs

04/07/2017
Two-wheeler major Bajaj Auto has firmed up a plan to start producing the Husqvarna range - one of the world's oldest motorcycle brands - at its Pune plant, media reports said.

The brand is owned by KTM of Austria, in which Bajaj Auto has a 48 percent stake.

According to an official statement, the decision to manufacture in India is part of a joint strategy of Bajaj and KTM to take the brand global.

In India, the bikes will be sold through the KTM outlets, according to a report in The Hindu BusinessLine. The bikes made at the Chakan plant will be shipped to other markets too, the report said citing S Ravikumar, president - business development, Bajaj Auto.

According to a report in The Economic Times, Bajaj Auto expects KTM and Husqvarna brands to bring in Rs 3,000 crore revenue going forward.

The Husqvarna is expected to help the Indian company have a stronger presence in the premium segment bike market.

According to the HBL report, the Husqvarna bike sales had hit 30,000 mark in 2016.

The arrangement also signals that better synergies are evolving between both the companies, which are celebrating 10th anniversary of partnership.

According to the company website, the first Husqvarnas motorcycle - a motorised cycle - was rolled out in 1903 in Sweden. It is claimed to be "the oldest motorcycle manufacturer with uninterrupted production".

In July 2007, BMW bought the brand and then in 2013 it was sold to Pierer Industries AG, headed by Stefan Pierer, current CEO of KTM.
New Delhi: Rekindling hopes, the Supreme Court on Tuesday asked the government and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to consider granting a window to those who have not been able to exchange scrapped Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes for genuine reasons, saying people should not lose their own money for no fault of theirs.

"You (Centre) cannot be allowed to deprive a person of his money if he couldn't deposit due to some genuine problems. Consider giving a window to a genuine problem. What if someone is terminally ill and couldn't deposit the money," a bench of Chief Justice JS Khehar and Justice DY Chandrachud asked.

The bench ignited the hope among such people for opening up of such a window to exchange demonetised currency for those who could not do so by 30 December, 2016 or by 31 March due to changes in conditions for depositing the scrapped notes in the banks.

"There can be a situation where a person has lost his/her money for no fault. Suppose a person was in jail during the period.... We want to know as to why you chose to bar such persons," the court said.

Solicitor General Ranjit Kumar, appearing for the Centre, initially said the policy was not individual-centric and later sought time to take instruction on the issue as to whether an opportunity, on a case-to-case basis, can be given to those who could not deposit the money due to valid reasons.

During a brief hearing, the bench said if there is a person who has "valid reasons" for not depositing the notes, then he should be given an opportunity to explain as to why he failed to deposit the money and "he must be given a window".

It then gave illustrations like that of a person who could be ill or in jail during the period when the window was provided to exchange scrapped notes and asked the government whether such people can be forced to lose their money without any fault of their own.

"You cannot take the money away" if a person says that it was his failing that he could not deposit the money and justify that "under no circumstance could he have deposited them", the apex court said.

The bench was hearing a batch of petitions, including one filed by Sudha Mishra seeking a direction to authorities to allow her to deposit demonetised notes as she could not do so during the period specified by the Centre and the RBI.

The Centre has already filed an affidavit saying that the government was not going to open any window now to deposit the old notes.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had on 8 November last year announced that Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes would no longer be a legal tender from the next day.

The government had assured the people that demonetised currency notes could be exchanged at banks, post offices and RBI branches till 30 December, 2016. If people were unable to deposit them by that day, they could do so till 31 March, 2017 at RBI branches after complying with certain formalities.

Earlier, the apex court on 6 March had issued notices to the Centre and RBI on the petitions alleging tweaking of rules on exchanging demonetised currency notes.

The Prime Minister's address to the nation on the evening of 8 November last year on demonetisation and subsequent notifications of the federal bank that the devalued currency notes can be exchanged at RBI offices even up to 31 March, 2017 were valid assurances which stood breached by the ordinance, the counsel for petitioner Sudha Mishra had said.

One of the pleas has also referred to the Specified Bank Notes Cessation of Liabilities Ordinance and said the government had breached the assurance.

However, the ordinance, issued on 30 December last, had specified that only those who were abroad or armed forces personnel posted in remote areas or others who could give valid reasons for not being able to deposit the cancelled notes at banks, could deposit the demonetised currency notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes till 31 March.

The deadline for the general public to deposit the scrapped currency in bank or post office accounts expired on 30 December, 2016.
Mumbai: The Maharashtra government has increased the one-time registration tax on private two- and four-wheelers by 2 percent.

The hike was approved by the Maharashtra Cabinet yesterday to compensate for the loss of revenue due to the abolition of octroi and local body tax following the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST), an official from the transport department said today.

The government has, however, capped the tax amount for high-end imported cars at Rs 20 lakh as against 20 percent of the total car cost that was being charged earlier.

"There were instances of imported vehicles (bought by people in Maharashtra) being registered in other states where taxes are lower. This was causing revenue loss to the state exchequer," the official explained.

"To avoid this, the government has decided to cap the tax on high-end imported cars at a maximum of Rs 20 lakh, irrespective of the car price," he said.

The official said that earlier, the registration tax on two- and three-wheelers was 8-10 percent, which has now been hiked to 10-12 percent.

The cars running on petrol were earlier levied 9-11 percent tax, which has been raised to 11-13 percent.

For the cars running on diesel, the registration tax was around 11-13 percent, which has been increased to 13-15 percent.

For CNG or LPG cars, the tax has been increased to 7-9 percent, from the earlier 5-7 percent, the official added.
Srinagar: Police on Tuesday detained several traders after they tried to march towards the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly to protest the implementation of GST in the state in its present form.

The traders were detained near the gate of the Civil Secretariat complex, which also houses the assembly, after they took out a protest march, police said.

The traders were scheduled to hold a sit-in near the assembly to protest the implementation of the new tax regime in the state in its present form, claiming that it would lead to the erosion of the state's special position and its fiscal autonomy.

Holding black flags and shouting slogans against the GST, several traders reached Jehangir Chowk in Srinagar to protest.

They tried to march towards the civil secretariat complex, but police swung into action and detained several of them outside the Civil Secretariat, the police said.

A special session of the state legislature began today to discuss the issue of implementation of GST in the state.
Firstpost had earlier reported that the Bombay High Court granted two weeks' time to the Maharashtra government to justify its decision to grant actor Sanjay Dutt early release from prison in the 1993 serial bomb blasts case on 3 July 2017. Dutt was released in February 2016, eight months early, on account of his good conduct while in Yerwada prison.

More details of the development have now surfaced. The court's decision to ask the Maharashtra government to file an affidavit explaining the leniency in Dutt's case, came after Pradeep Bhalekar, the chairperson of Samajik Karyakarta Saurakhan Samiti, filed a public interest litigation. As per The Hindu, In the PIL, Bhalekar claims that Dutt had been given special treatment while in jail and benefited from regular paroles. The petition also alleges that if the court were to apply the same standards to all prisoners, 27,740 inmates would become eligible to go scot free.

The PIL said that, The remission granted to Dutt was wrong and illegal. Appearing for petitioner, advocate Nitin Satpute said, What is the good behaviour and conduct that has been held as a ground for granting him remission and reducing his sentence? What about all the other convicts especially in petty offences who are rotting in jail. They have also filed applications seeking remission but there has been no order on those.

The government must file the affidavit in two weeks to rationalise the leniency shown to Dutt, defining 'good behaviour'. Dutt was convicted for illegal possession of arms which were a part of a consignment used in the 1993 Mumbai blasts.

With inputs from PTI.
Ex-Bigg Boss contestant Mandana Karimi has filed a case of domestic violence against her husband Gaurav Gupta. The news of this case comes a day after she reportedly filed for divorce from her husband. They have been married for six months.

The couple got engaged in July 2016 and married on 25 January 2017. She also alleged that she was not allowed to enter her house, and that she was harassed by her mother-in law.

She says that she was thrown out seven weeks ago, and despite attempts at reconciliation, her in-laws did not take her back. "I was thrown out of my matrimonial house seven weeks ago. I made desperate attempts to reconcile with them, but my in-laws didnt allow me back. Gaurav has cut me off," said Karimi, as quoted by Mid-Day.

She says that she was also forced to convert to Hinduism, which she refused to do. In her complaint, she has alleged that she was forced to quit her career because her job was "incompatible with his [Gupta's] family's status in the society".

Her lawyer has reported the matter in the court and it will be contested as per law. The case will be heard on 15 July at the Andheri metropolitan court. Apart from a compensation of Rs 2 crore, she has also sought monthly maintenance of Rs 10 lakh.

In her application for reality show Bigg Boss, she mentioned that she came to India from Iran in 2012 to pursue modelling and acting, and that she had met Gupta through a common friend.
New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Tuesday extended the bail granted on medical grounds to an 89-year-old convict serving life term in a 1984 anti-Sikh riots case, even as the CBI opposed it.

A bench of acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice C Hari Shankar granted the relief to retired naval officer Captain Bhagmal till 13 July as his plea seeking an extension of the interim suspension of his sentence is pending and issued a notice to the CBI on it.

The agency in its status report said Bhagmal's medical reports showed that he does not suffer from any chronic disease and the ailments were common at his age.

"The convict does not deserve any leniency and his application for extension of the suspension of sentence may kindly be summarily dismissed with cost in the interest of justice," the agency said while opposing the bail plea.

The convict is already on interim bail since 24 March on medical grounds.

Bhagmal, through his counsel, had stated that he was suffering from enlarged prostate for which he has to undergo surgery which would require him to remain hospitalised.

The bench had earlier directed Bhagmal to give the address where he would be available and mobile number on which he can be contacted by the CBI during the interim suspension of his sentence. It had asked the convict not to get in touch with any witness or the legal heirs of the deceased.

It had asked the convict not to get in touch with any witness or the legal heirs of the deceased.

"In case, there is a violation of this condition, it will be open to the CBI to move an application for recall of this order," it had said, adding that Bhagmal shall not leave the National Capital Territory of Delhi without its permission.

Bhagmal, former Congress councillor Balwan Khokhar, Girdhari Lal and two others were held guilty in a case relating to the murder of five members of a family in Raj Nagar area of Delhi Cantonment on 1 November, 1984, after the assassination of prime minister Indira Gandhi.

They had challenged their conviction and the sentence awarded by the trial court in May 2013. The trial court had acquitted Congress leader Sajjan Kumar but awarded life term to Bhagmal, Khokhar and Girdhari Lal and three-year jail term to two others  former MLA Mahender Yadav and Kishan Khokhar.

The convicts have filed appeals before the high court, while CBI filed an appeal alleging that they were engaged in "a planned communal riot" and "religious cleansing".

The agency has also appealed against the acquittal of Kumar.

The high court had on 29 March this year issued show cause notices to 11 accused including Khokhar and Yadav in five 1984 anti-Sikh riots cases.

The accused, who was acquitted of the charges, were asked why should the court not order reinvestigation and retrial against them as they faced allegations of "horrifying crimes against humanity".

The bench had issued notices on the complaints filed regarding the violent incidents on 1 and 2 November, 1984 in the Delhi Cantonment area.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Tuesday sought a life term for 1993 Mumbai serial blast case convict Abu Salem, a month after a Mumbai court pronounced him guilty, reported India Today.

In the report, it is mentioned that Salem was extradited from Portugal in 2005 under Section 34C of the Extradition Act under which he cannot be given capital punishment. Regardless of that, the special prosecutor said that Salem deserved death penalty.

CBI's counsel Deepak Salvi demanded life sentence for Salem, reports The Deccan Herald.

Zee News said that the submission was made by the special public prosecutor during an argument on the quantum of sentence before TADA Court.

On 16 June, a special Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act (TADA) court found prime accused Abu Salem, Mustafa Dossa, Firoz Khan, Tahir Merchant and Karimullah guilty of conspiracy, murder and terror charges.

Salem was accused of transporting weapons from Gujarat to Mumbai.

He also handed over actor Sanjay Dutt, who was an accused in the case for illegally possessing weapons, AK-56 rifles, 250 bullets and some hand grenades at his residence on 16 January, 1993. Two days later, on 18 January, 1993, Salem and two others went to Dutt's house and got back two rifles and some rounds.

The court had dropped certain charges against Salem in 2013 after the CBI moved a plea, saying those charges were against the extradition treaty between India and Portugal.
Lucknow: The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court has turned down the bail plea of former Noida Authority chief engineer Yadav Singh on technical grounds in connection with a money-laundering case registered by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) against him.

A bench of Justice Ramesh Sinha and Justice Rekha Dixit passed the order on Monday.

Singh, in his bail petition, had contended that since a chargesheet was not submitted by the investigating agency within the statutory period, he was technically entitled to bail.

The petitioner had also assailed the order of the special ED court, rejecting his bail plea earlier.

Opposing the plea, the ED counsel said the chargesheet was forwarded within the statutory time limit and hence, Singh's argument did not hold water.

Considering that the chargesheet was filed "in time", the court dismissed the petition.

In 2015, the ED had slapped money-laundering charges against Singh, who was the engineer-in-chief of the Noida Authority, Greater Noida Authority and Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority, on the basis of an FIR lodged by the CBI.

Earlier, an Income Tax raid in November 2014 had revealed that Singh's assets were hugely disproportionate to his income, following which he was suspended by the then Uttar Pradesh government.

The Allahabad High Court had directed the CBI, in July 2015, to investigate the case stating that the allegations were most serious.
At a time when New Delhi is vigilant of Beijing's slightest of moves amid the two neighbours' longest border standoff, China has again reacted aggressively, this time in the Indian Ocean.

According to a report in India Today, China has deployed an advanced Yuan class  conventional diesel electric  submarine in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR). The presence of the stealth submarine was detected recently by the Indian Navy.

In an interesting aside, Beijing also launched what it calls "the most advanced and largest warship in Asia," just days after the standoff was reported.

Although in an IANS report, sources have suggested that the moves have nothing to do with standoff between the Indian and Chinese troops along the Sikkim border, Beijing's increased interference in the backyard of India is hardly news, yet a reason enough to be concerned about.

Beijing has increasingly been assertive in the Indian Ocean, docking its warships at the ports of other countries in the region, bypassing Indian influence on it's neighbours.

Another Yuan class submarine was only recently "picked up" by Indian Navy's Poseidon-8I long-range maritime patrol aircraft as soon as it crossed the Malacca Strait on 19-20 April. The India Today report too states that this would be China's seventh submarine to be deployed in the area. Many more Chinese warships are prowling in the Indian waters. According to latest reports, at least 13 Chinese naval units were detected in the Indian Ocean over the last two months, The Times of India said  ostensibly in the name of anti-piracy operations.

What does it mean?

An article published in Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies, points out that the South and East China Seas are important arteries of trade in the entire Asia-Pacific region. The waterways are also a vital link between the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean. The article states that nearly 55 percent of India's trade passes through the crucial route while Japan and South Koreas energy and commerce are also heavily dependent on sea routes.

While China already commands control on East and South China Seas  despite unsettled disputes in the region  of late it is striking a more and more assertive posture in the IOR.

Besides this, past experience in South China Sea shows that China's policy of patient, stealthy but steady consolidation of power in disputed regions have paid up for Beijing in the past. Today, China has built "seven man-made islets in the hotly contested Spratlys, with the three boasting military-grade airfields. Beijing has also reportedly added anti-aircraft and anti-missile systems despite a 2015 pledge by Chinese President Xi Jinping not to further militarise the islands" in South China Sea, according to a report in The Japan Times. The newspaper report further claims it to be a part of a steady pattern of Chinese militarisation, irrespective of the stage at which its diplomatic relations were with its neighbours in dispute.

Therefore, a similar authoritarian attitude in the Indian Ocean should ring a bell for New Delhi, irrespective of the current shape of bilateral ties.

The String of Pearls theory

A popular theory, decoding the Dragon's foreign police, was mooted in 2005 by Booz Allen Hamilton, a US-based think-tank, called the String of Pearls.

The theory presumes that China seems to be buttressing it's naval strengths in Asia-Pacific waters by means of a number of civilian and military projects in Strait of Malacca, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, the Maldives, the Strait of Hormuz, Somalia, Bangladesh and Myanmar and which may, in the near future, allow China a foothold in the Indian Ocean region and some day become a Blue Water Navy. The purpose of such a move? To strategically control key trade routes, and thereby influence on most of it's rival countries, and encircle and isolate India.

However, an article in The Wire recently argues that Beijing may not even need a String of Pearls. The article states that China has openly stated that it would undertake a more proactive protection of its interests in open waters, apparently meaning the IRO. It is more interested in putting up peacetime replenishment with sea-bases for supplementing its naval capabilities than establishing military bases in Indian Ocean.

The threat to India

The IPCC articles quotes former Indian Air Force Chief Arup Raha's views who believes that China is the single major security challenge to Indias growing interest in the Asia-Pacific region. The article further quote another defence and experts views stating that China's rise should worry India because it not only seeks the status of the world power globally, but plans to do so by thwarting India.

It is also said that China is wary, rather displeased, of the yearly tri-party Malabar maritime exercise. This year, Maritime forces from India, Japan and the US would participate in the joint mid-summer exercise aimed at addressing shared threats to maritime security in the Indo-Asia Pacific region. And Beijing is known to have deployed spy ships in the region to monitor the naval exercise, as reported in this The Indian Express report from last year.

China has a long-standing border dispute that continues to simmer and talks have been largely inconsequential, despite several bouts of amicable relations. It is often argued that China patiently waits to settle its border disputes until such time that the power differential between the disputed parties overwhelmingly favours China, and the weaker state is forced to make significant concessions to Beijing to settle the disputes.

Writing for the South Asia Monitor, Delhi-based strategic analyst Jai Kumar Verma argued in late 2016: "China has lot of surplus funds which it spends on poor countries to gain their support. China is much ahead of India in military power; it has bigger armed forces, more and better nuclear warheads and is modernising its armed forces at a much faster pace than India, especially in cyber and space."

China's assertiveness is on a rise from all corners: PoK, Tibet, North East Indian border, and IOR. Unless India catches up fast, Beijing will always be at a strategic advantage to armtwist New Delhi on the border and try to impose a solution on its terms. Whether it chooses to do so, and when, only time will tell.
New Delhi: Concerned over traffic congestion in Delhi, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has written to the chief secretary asking him to direct the transport department to prepare a list of bottlenecks on city's roads by 5 August.

In his note to Chief Secretary MM Kutty, Kejriwal said due to traffic congestion and jams reaching office, college or home on time has become a "daily challenge".

"In the past, the approach has been haphazard and random, to say the least. The state of affairs cannot be allowed to remain as it is at the moment. We need systematic and planned efforts to ease the burden on the commuter," he said.

The chief minister said the reasons for traffic congestion in several parts of Delhi could be due to encroachments, poor traffic management, bad road design, enforcement, among others.

"These bottlenecks lead to traffic snarls, particularly during peak hours. Transport secretary should make a list of these bottlenecks across the city. Feedback from Delhi Police and public should also be taken to prepare this list," Kejriwal said.

He also said once the list was ready, authorities would need to find solution to each bottleneck.
Aizawl: The para-military Assam Rifles stepped up security on the India-Myanmar border along eastern Mizoram to stop drugs and arms smuggling, an official said on Tuesday.

"We have alerted our troops deployed along the (510 km long) India-Myanmar border with Mizoram. Vigil along the porous border was further intensified after reports of arms and drugs smuggling," an Assam Rifles official said.

He said that acting on a tip-off the Assam Rifles troopers seized five AK-56 rifles, some loaded magazines and ammunition between Farkawn and Vaphai villages in Mizoram adjoining Myanmar on Sunday.

"The troopers laid an ambush along Tiau river which divides the two countries. In the early hours of Sunday, two insurgents from Myanmar tried to cross Tiau towards India. When jawans challenged, the terrorists threw their bags containing arms into the river and managed to escape into Myanmar," the official added.

This was a major arms cache captured by the Assam Rifles in Mizoram. These weapons were likely to be traded to Manipur-based insurgent groups.

The Assam Rifles official said that though Mizoram is a peaceful state, the arms and drugs smuggling from Myanmar have become rampant.

Home Minister Rajnath Singh accompanied by his deputy Kiren Rijiju on June 12, held a meeting with the Chief Ministers and senior officers of four northeastern states, which shares borders with Myanmar.

Arunachal Pradesh (520 km), Manipur (398 km), Nagaland (215 km) and Mizoram (510 km) share the 1,643-km mountainous border.

There is a 16-km-wide free zone (eight km on either side) along the unfenced border.

Mizoram also shares 318 km borders with Bangladesh and the Border Security Force (BSF) is deployed along there.

Nagaland and few other northeastern states obstruct erection of fencing along the India-Myanmar borders referring destabilisation of the relations among the ethnic tribals living on both sides of the boundary.
New Delhi: The BJP on Tuesday alleged that over 2,000 Muslims attacked Hindu families in the North 24 Parganas district of West Bengal and its offices at several places were set on fire.

Accusing the state police of failing to control the situation, party general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya, who is also in-charge of the state, urged Home Minister Rajnath Singh to intervene in the matter.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has said communal violence broke out over an "objectionable" post on Facebook. The Centre too has sent 300 paramilitary personnel to the state.

Vijayvargiya blamed Muslims for the violence in his letter to Singh. "More than 2,000 Muslims attacked Hindu families. Bombs went off at many places and information of Hindu sisters and daughters being raped have also been received. Local workers (of BJP) have said many facilities including five BJP offices were set on fire," he wrote.

As the troubled spot is adjacent to Bangladesh, there is a possibility that "outsiders" were involved in this violence, he said. "The local police appears unable to control the situation," he said.

Banerjee said in Kolkata that clashes between members of two communities broke out in Baduria in the Basirhat sub-division of the district over the post.

Earlier, too, the BJP had accused groups of Muslims affiliated to the ruling TMC of targeting Hindus in the state where it is working overtime to emerge as a potent political force. It has projected itself as the protector of Hindu interests and accused Banerjee of pandering to Muslims.

The West Bengal chief minister has stoutly refuted BJP's allegations and accused it of "playing religious politics" to polarise votes for political benefits.
The Bombay High Court in June delivered a judgment that honoured the 'best interests of the child' doctrine. The court ruled that a child cannot be forced to meet his father against his wishes, rejecting a Mumbai doctor's plea to meet his son. The teenager, currently, is studying in the ninth standard and living with his mother and step-father, a naval officer, posted in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

The 'best interests of the child' doctrine is a child rights principle derived from Article 3 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, which states that "in all actions concerning children, whether undertaken by public or private social welfare institutions, courts of law, administrative authorities or legislative bodies, the best interests of the child shall be a primary consideration." The doctrine encourages the evaluation and balancing of all elements needed to make a decision in a specific situation for a specific child or group of children.

The division bench comprising Justices Rajendra Savant and Sadhana Jadhav was considerate and understanding to the teenager's wishes while delivering the judgment. "Though it is most unfortunate that things have come to such a pass, the fact remains that the child cannot be forced to meet his biological father when he does not desire to do so."

The judges also directed to the mother to communicate to the father every change of address, as well as about the progress and well-being of the child, with regard to his education. This was done as the well-being of the child would still be of concern to the father. The court declared that this direction was made in the best interest and welfare of the child.

The teenager's parents divorced in 2015, and the court had granted the custody of the child to the mother. The mother also subsequently married again. The father's plea was pending before the high court, and as an interim measure, the court had granted permission to the father to speak to his son on the phone, WhatsApp and Skype.

This January, however, the Bombay High Court was told that the teenager no longer wanted to speak with his father. A meeting of the father and son was arranged on 30 and 31 January at the Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) Centre in the District Court at Port Blair. But the meeting ended suddenly when the administrative officer of the ADR stated that the child was not comfortable in the presence of his father.

Following the perusal of the report of the administrative officer, the high court declined to give any relief to the father with regard to visiting his teenage son.

The judgment is progressive, considering it honours the 'best interests of the child' doctrine; however, it also remains true to the 'welfare of the child' principle, which is problematic. While the division bench states that the child should not be forced or coerced to meet his father, it also enforces a liability on the mother by way of a direction that forces her to communicate with her ex-husband because he might be concerned about the education and progress of his son.

In Common Law countries, tradition dictates that the father is the "sole guardian of the person and the property of the child". The authority of the father in all aspects of the child's life  conduct, religion, education and maintenance  is considered absolute; traditionally, mothers did not have authority over children because of their own dependent legal status, as her identity fuses with that of her husband's.

Therefore, the father was always considered to be the natural guardian of the child, and though, in several judicial decisions, the mother was allowed custody of the child, the rights of the father superseded the rights of the mother and the interests of the child.

Section 6(a) of the Hindu Minority and Guardianship Act, 1956, states that the father is the natural guardian of the child, and after the father, it is the mother who would have rights over the child. Section 6(a) provides, "(1) in case of a minor boy or unmarried minor girl, the natural guardian is the father, and after him, the mother; and (2) the custody of a minor who has not completed the age of five years shall 'ordinarily' be with the mother."

In the case of Gita Hariharan v Reserve Bank of India (1999), the Constitutional validity of this legal provision (Section 6(a)) was challenged, stating that it violated the equality of sexes under Article 14 of the Constitution. The Supreme Court stated that the word 'after' does not mean that the mother is disentitled from being the natural guardian of the child during the lifetime of the father; it means that the mother steps in "in the absence of the father".

Absence could mean "temporary or otherwise or total apathy of the father towards the child or even inability of the father by reason of ailment or otherwise". The Gita Hariharan judgment does not adequately address the problem that Section 6(a) poses  it enforces the best interests of the child but deems the guardianship of the father as stronger.

The Law Commission in 1989 brought up this matter and stated that there be an amendment to the legislation. "Thus, statutory recognition has been accorded to the objectionable proposition that the father is entitled to the custody of the minor child in preference to the mother. Apart from the fact that there is no rational basis for according an inferior position in the order of preference to the mother vis- a-vis the father, the proposition is vulnerable to challenge on several grounds. In the first place, it discloses an anti-feminine bias. It reveals age-old distrust for women and feeling of superiority for men and inferiority of women."

The Commission had suggested that Section 6(a) be amended to include "constitute both the father and the mother as being natural guardians 'jointly and severally', having equal rights in respect of a minor and his property". However, such an amendment has not been enforced yet.

The present Bombay High Court judgment is credible but full of lacunae. It calls for the best interests of the child concerned, but still indicates that the father is the natural guardian of the child, while the mother executes directives of the court, keeping the father  the natural guardian  abreast of the child's progress and education. Perhaps it is time to relook at the laws to pursue and actualise the goals of equality in family laws.
New Delhi: The CBI has questioned two army officers and two hawala operators in its ongoing probe into the alleged transfer racket being run from the Army Headquarters in New Delhi, an official said on Monday.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) recorded the statements of a Hyderabad-based army officer Purshottam and Bengaluru-based Barracks and Stores Officer S Subhas in the case at its headquarters in south Delhi's Lodhi Colony area.

The agency on 2 June registered an FIR in the case and the next day it arrested Lt Col Ranganathan Suvramani Moni, posted in the Personnel Department at the Army Headquarters, and a middlemen Gaurav Kohli in the national capital following a tip-off.

Both were arrested when Kohli visited the Lt Col's house to deliver him Rs 2 lakh, a part of the Rs 5 lakh bribe, for the transfer of army officer S Subhas.

CBI teams had also conducted raids on the premises of the accused and others at over 10 locations in Delhi, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Thiruvananthapuram, and seized Rs 10 lakh in cash and several incriminating documents.

The agency had registered the case against Moni, Purshottam, Subhas and Kohli.
New Delhi: China, Singapore, Canada and Belgium are among nine countries which have shown interest in joining the Indian Railways' ambitious station redevelopment programme across the country.

South Korea, Germany, UK, France and Malaysia are the other countries which have evinced keen interest in redeveloping stations in busy cities.

Railways have earmarked about 400-plus major stations for redevelopment to provide world-class passenger amenities involving investment of more than Rs 1 lakh crore in PPP model.

There has been immense interest globally in the station redevelopment plan and many countries have expressed keenness to join the programme, said a senior railway ministry official involved in the redevelopment project.

The redevelopment of stations envisage commercial exploitation of vacant land and air space in and around stations.

There would be malls, hotels, multiplex, parking lots, eateries and other business activities on rail premises while at the same time many passenger-related facilities at stations would be upgraded.

The financial model for redevelopment work across stations has been devised in a way that the government doesn't incur any expenditure as the developer would be rebuilding the railway stations and maintaining it for 15 years.

In return, the developer would be granted 45 years' leasing rights for the commercial properties developed at these stations.

While China is keen to develop Jhansi and Agra stations, South Korea has expressed interest in making New Delhi station a world class station.

France has agreed to redevelop Ludhiana and Ambala stations on Delhi-Chandigarh route.

Canada has shown interest in upgrading a few stations in Mumbai while Malaysia is keen to develop Howrah, Secunderabad, Udaipur, Faridabad, Indore and Pune stations.

The entire cost of station redevelopment is to be met by leveraging commercial development of vacant separable land and air space in and around the station.

Railways, which has not seen any major infrastructure development for long, have finalised plans for investment of at least Rs 8 lakh crore in the next five years to modernise the public transporter which still moved the bulk of the output from coal pits, cement silos, and steel factories.

For the current financial year, railways have earmarked Rs 1.31 lakh crore for capital expenditure.
The Honourable Justice CS Karnan is in the news again.

This time, the imprisoned former Calcutta High Court judge had his request for early hearing of his bail plea denied by a division bench of the Supreme Court.

This saga doesn't seem to have an expiry date and one doubts if it will die down any time soon. As the first Justice to be charged with and convicted of contempt of the Supreme Court, Karnan will take his place in India's legal history.

For those not in the know, a quick primer: The apex court held Karnan in contempt, proceeded to strip him of judicial work and then sentenced him to six months imprisonment. Though one defers to the findings of the Supreme Court as to contempt, one point needs to be considered: Is contempt the best way for the Supreme Court to enforce discipline?

Each high court gains its authority from the Constitution and the respective statute under which it was constituted. The Supreme Court also gains its powers from the Constitution. In terms of the judges though, it is not the case that the Chief Justice of India may exercise disciplinary powers over the high court judges. The Supreme Court's disciplinary jurisdiction does not extend to the judges of the high court, they are not subordinate to it in this aspect.

The Constitution is clear: If you want to get rid of a high court judge, you have to go through the process of impeachment. In effect, Karnan was impeached. Though the apex court didn't remove him from office, one would think it would be difficult to be a judge with no work and one doubts if prison officials would find themselves in a position to make a makeshift court room in the prison barracks.

The Supreme Court, by invoking contempt jurisdiction against a sitting judge has opened what could possibly be a Pandora's box. The high court and Supreme Court judges are equal. The Chief Justice of India is first among equals. This has been an accepted proposition.

But if the Supreme Court is now opening the door to disciplining members of the higher judiciary by invoking contempt there can be many outcomes:

1) High courts have their own contempt powers. An order by a high court judge against another high court judge invoking suo motu contempt proceedings is now a real possibility. The judge may not be from the same court, but another high court.

2) High courts can also theoretically now issue contempt proceedings against Supreme Court judges. As per the rules, when it comes to contempt of court, no person is above the law.

3) Supreme Court Justices can now initiate contempt proceedings against other apex court judges and possibly even the Chief Justice of India.

How these contempt proceedings will resolve themselves is anyone's guess, however, the door has now been opened.

Which is perhaps why systems all across the world don't allow judges to discipline other judges but leave it up to the appointing authority. Parliament has the power to remove a judge. This power can be exercised after what is a full trial before the Rajya Sabha. The judge has a right to present a statement in his defence, have counsel, submit arguments, and the Parliament orders are subject to judicial review.

But if a judge of the higher judiciary is facing contempt, he or she has few avenues. The institution determining the legality of contempt will, more often than not, be the same institution that accuses the judge of contempt. Which makes contempt the most tricky way of enforcing judicial discipline.

The contempt powers of the apex court and the high courts are wide, derived from the Constitution and their functions as a court of record. This makes it important to find a way to ensure that these powers are exercised appropriately and within guidelines.

Stripping a judge of his powers and sending him to prison is effectively impeachment via the exercise of contempt jurisdiction. It is a new thing for the Constitution. Something the framers didn't contemplate.

There must have been a better way of dealing with the Karnan situation. A trial before Parliament may not only have seemed more fair to Karnan's supporters, but would have perhaps saved the law from this labyrinth of judges charging each other with contempt. How this situation will be resolved remains to be seen.
London: A 16-week-long public consultation into caste discrimination in the UK is set to end soon and may help the government determine whether or not the existing equality legislation is adequate to deal with such incidents.

While NGOs and activists have called for stringent laws, many Hindu groups in the UK say the existing legislation is sufficient, and any laws that target caste may promote a negative perception of the diaspora.

Despite stating that legislation should be brought in to stop discrimination on the ground of case seven years ago, the government has been reluctant to do so.

Section 9 of the 2010 Equality Act stated that a Minister of the Crown may amend this section so as to provide for caste to be an aspect of race but also states that the same minister may by order amend the act to include exceptions.

The decision to legislate against caste discrimination was given extra weight following the 2012 Tirkey vs Chandhok case, where an Adivasi domestic worker was awarded compensation after suing her employers on grounds of discrimination by caste.

The case, which was the first successful one of its kind in the UK, saw Tirkey receiving 184,000 worth of compensation after she was subjected to 18-hour work days, was forced to sleep on a foam mattress in a small room and was not allowed to call her family back in Bihar.

In addition, her employer had confiscated her passport.

The case led to an amendment being passed by the House of Lords in 2013 which mandated that the change in legislation had to occur. But both the David Cameron and Theresa May governments have been reluctant to do so.

Part of the problem lies in there being no understanding of caste as practiced by members of the diaspora on the part of the British authorities.

Its a very difficult topic to research, admits Heather Rolfe, who co-authored a 2010 study into caste in the UK by the National Institute of Economic and Social Research at the behest of the government. Its not something that people will admit openly exists. Its a more subtle facet of cultural identity, and so its difficult to determine whether existing cases of discrimination are because of caste or because of another factor.

The public consultation also comes on the heels of a long fight between pro-caste legislation groups and conservative Hindu organisations who oppose any changes to the law on the grounds that it would be divisive for the community at large.

While I have issues with the ongoing public consultation, its about time the government starts acting on the 2010 recommendations, says Satpal Muman, from Castewatch UK. Caste in the UK is a very sophisticated social construct. It isnt overtly violent because that would not be tolerated. Instead, it mostly centres around the victimisation and harassment of people based on their caste in public spheres - like schools and places of work.

Caste operates like a hidden apartheid in the UK, says Meena Varma, director of the Dalit Solidarity Network UK, which has also been strongly supporting of legislation against caste discrimination. We are only campaigning for equality in public, not for restrictions on social forms of prejudice, like profiles on shaadi.com specifically asking for brides or grooms from a certain caste group.

The argument that it is covered by case law because of the Tirkey vs Chandhok case is also spurious, because that was essentially a domestic servitude case, she adds.

Hindu groups, however, argue that the legislation is misguided as caste does not exist in the UK.

The manner in which the legislation has been introduced has been deeply problematic, says Satish Sharma, general secretary of the National Council of Hindu Temples. Its clearly anti-Hindu from the start. It hasnt been introduced in a neutral manner, but instead as vilification.

Arguing that the legislation is indicative of politically vested interests in dividing the South-East Asian diaspora in Britain, Sharma says that we have found no evidence that caste exists as a practice in our community in this country. It was an artificial stratification constructed by the British Raj to divide and rule that has not survived within the diaspora.

While being completely opposed to an incident of discrimination such as the Tirkey vs Chandhok case, groups against the introduction of further legislation say that existing laws adequately protect members of the diaspora.

Let me be clear, those who discriminate against others should be prosecuted, says Sharma. But by introducing the word caste we are resurrecting a colonial construct that both vilifies and divides us as a community, hence why we will resist the introduction of any legislation that mentions it - because if you legislate against it you legitimise it.

If there truly was no caste discrimination there would be no cases like Tirkey or Begraj, argues Varma, referring to an alleged incident of discrimination by a solicitors firm when they discovered the so-called low caste of one of their employees. To say it doesnt exist is to denigrate all those who have suffered from it in any form.

Those opposing the legislation spuriously argue that their freedom of religion and their cultural identity are at risk, says Muman. Its a pack of lies to keep moderate members of the diaspora opposed to this piece of legislation.

The pro-caste legislation lobby is uncertain whether a post-Brexit government would be interested in pushing the issue further. Were dealing with the British here, says Muman. Of course they know what caste is. They understood it because of their empire. They dont want to upset a section of the community - though we also have to credit Parliament for recognising it as a problem in the first place.

Further complicating the issue is the sympathy shown by a few members of the ruling Tory party to the anti-caste legislation lobby.

Bob Blackman the MP for Harrow East, an area dominated by those of Indian-origin, even included a promise to keep caste legislation out of Parliament as part of his campaign during the recently concluded general elections.

Hes more Indian than actual Indians, remarks Varma wryly. But hes proof of how this issue has become essentially political ping-pong and a matter for getting support from potential voters.

With the public consultation set to close on 18 July, the UK may soon see renewed debates on the subject in Parliament.

Varma cautions against optimism, however. Id like to think it will become more of an issue in the future, but given the increasing importance on relations with India especially post-Brexit, I doubt the British government will be willing to openly legislate against it - because by doing so, it sends a signal to India, which has always argued that caste is an internal matter, that it isnt.
Mumbai: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has moved a special court in Mumbai seeking permission to attach some properties of controversial Islamic preacher Zakir Naik in Malaysia.

"We have moved the court seeking issuance of Letters Rogatory (LR) to attach some properties of Naik, which we have identified in Malaysia," special ED Counsel Hiten Venegaonkar said.

Letters Rogatory are formal request from a court in a country to a foreign court for judicial assistance.

The ED moved the special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court last week.

The televangelist is accused of spreading hatred through his provocative speeches, funding terrorists and laundering several crores of rupees over the years.

The court had in April issued a non-bailable warrant against Naik in connection with the money laundering case.

The ED had registered a criminal case against Naik and others last December after taking cognisance of a complaint by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.

The ED is looking into the charges of alleged illegal funds laundered by the accused in the case and the subsequent proceeds of crime thus generated.

In May this year, the NIA sources had said that Naik had applied for Malaysian citizenship.

Naik has been changing his base quite frequently after the NIA moved the Interpol for issuance of a Red Corner Notice (RCN), international arrest warrant, against him, they had said.

The controversial preacher had fled India on 1 July, 2016 after a terrorist involved in an attack in Bangladesh cafe last year had said he was "inspired" by his speeches.
Excuse the pun, but what the Supreme Courts latest remarks on its highway liquor ban mean is that it must be implemented in spirit but not in letter.

The apex court on Tuesday said that there is "nothing wrong" with "denotifying" highways running through cities or, in other words, reclassifying them as roads run by municipal bodies. When thats done, the "highways" in cities turn into "roads", and when turned into "roads", they automatically get exempted from the apex courts earlier ban on liquor outlets within 500 metres of highways.

This, of course, breathes fresh life into thousands of pubs, bars and liquor shops that shut shop in Bengaluru, Chandigarh and several other cities in India on the midnight of 30 June following the courts earlier order. Each of these establishments, thought to be dead and gone, will now come alive like the Phoenix rising from ashes. Some of the famed Bengaluru pubs that began to serve dosa and coffee from 1 July can now return to their earlier menus with the headier stuff.

The court said the original purpose of the liquor ban was only meant to ensure that high-speeding vehicles on highways didnt have drivers under influence of liquor. "There are no such issues when the roads are within the city," the court pointed out.

The courts remark came while it was hearing a petition by a Chandigarh NGO which accused Punjab authorities of bypassing the ban by denotifying highways. A verdict is yet to come on this petition  hearing will continue next week  but Tuesdays remarks make the courts position on the issue amply clear.

Common sense, plain and simple

Law experts can forget about calling the apex courts observation a splendid piece of judicial wisdom, a wonderfully path-breaking verdict or a memorable landmark in the annals of Indias legal history.

Forget it. The apex court merely used common sense.

If it makes you happy, call it "judicial common sense", a favourite expression among judges and lawyers across the world.

When the court first came up with the verdict on 15 December 2015 on a public interest litigation petition that sought to curb drunk driving on highways, officials across states ran around like headless chickens, at a complete loss on how to implement the order.

They were so busy measuring distances between bars and highways, huddling up with legal experts and drafting letters to the Union Surface Transport Ministry in their insufferable prose that they simply forgot to go back to the Supreme Court and tell the judges that the ban cannot possibly be applicable to highways crisscrossing cities.

By no stretch of imagination, drunk or sober, can the Mahatma Gandhi Road in Bengaluru, for instance, be called a highway for the purpose of the ban. This is, even though, technically, the road is part of National Highway No 44 that connects Sri Nagar and Kannyakumari. What sort of a brain can imagine that a truck driver can get drunk and mow down the passersby or other vehicles on a road where driving a car at 20 km is a tough job in the bumper-to-bumper chaos?

The situation was so ludicrous in Bengaluru that several important and arterial thoroughfares like the Mahatma Gandhi Road, Ballari Road and Hosur Road, clogged with city traffic, came to be officially regarded as highways. As a result, about 600 pubs, bars and liquor shops, including 19 hotels, which attract a steady stream of foreign business visitors every day, went dry from 1 July. This sent both the pub-hopping Bengalureans as well as the hospitality and software companies in Indias IT capital into panic of sorts.

In all, stretches of roads in Bengaluru, totalling 78 km, were almost overnight discovered to be parts of six national highways. The Siddaramaiah government wrote to Union Surface Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari and, while awaiting a reply, shut down pubs and bars, while it should have gone to the Supereme Court which it said would only be a last option.

The liquor-serving establishments that downed shutters along highways in cities may take a little time to resume business, since authorities will want to wait for the courts final verdict on the Punjab petition. In Karnataka, the process of their revival can only begin after the lapsed liquor licenses are once again revived.

But one thing is clear: Bengalureans can, once for all, end their needless debate on whether their city had lost its title as Indias Pub Capital, which it wouldnt have been deprived of anyway since the number of pubs that remained in business, even after the Supreme Court ban was enforced on 30 June, was still large enough to keep the honour.

Will ban on non-city highways work?

But all this still leaves unanswered a moot question  the same question that thinkers and drinkers have been raising ever since the Supreme Court came up with the ban. Will it  or can it  really curb, or at least reduce, drunk driving on highways?

As has been pointed out before, those who are bent on drinking and driving on highways can stock up and carry the liquor along and thumb their noses at the ban. The ban on selling or serving liquor on highways, like any other ban, will lead to illegal business and corruption. The key lies in stringent execution of existing laws against drunk driving.

But at least, as for now, the Supreme Courts earlier none-for-the-road ruling will go back to one-for-the-road at least as far as cities are concerned.

The author tweets @sprasadindia
Why accuse us? They did it too. More people were lynched during their time than ours.

Circular arguments are an ever-present issue, a device to make an argument a non-argument. And the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) super-charged party chief Amit Shah employed it just days earlier in Goa (which appears to have emerged as his party and the Sangh Parivar's go-to destination for conclaves that quite openly discuss ways for the Hindu ultra-right to dominate discourse and democracy in India).

Shah was in Goa for a two-day series of engagements, beginning 1 July. While describing an interaction with invitees in the capital Panaji, The Indian Express quoted him as responding to a query about the recent spate of lynching incidents:

"  There have been more lynchings in 2011, 2012, and 2013. Humaare teen saal main jitne lynching hue hain usse zyada hue hain ek ek saal main. Magar kabhi yeh sawaal nahi uttha thha (There have been more incidents of lynching in each of these years than in NDAs three years.)"

It is not clear what data and fact-sheet Shah was using from his partys convenient hoard of the fast-and-loose that it has employed for several things. These range from attempting to ram through land acquisition laws, to rapidly changing reasons for remonetisation (or demonestisation if you prefer) and its benefits, and claiming numerous schemes of the past governments as its very own.

A detailed article by Indiaspend on 28 June, just days before Shah's assertion in Goa, demonstrated the following:

"Muslims were the target of 51 percent of violence centred on bovine issues over nearly eight years (2010 to 2017) and comprised 86 percent of 28 Indians killed in 63 incidents."

And: "As many of 97 percent of these attacks were reported after Prime Minister Narendra Modis government came to power in May 2014, and about half the cow-related violence32 of 63 caseswere from states governed by the Bharatiya Janata Party when the attacks were reported, revealed our analysis of violence recorded until June 25, 2017."

For a moment, set aside Shahs data-dump to return to the initial point: Circular arguments.

It is simply ridiculous the manner in which the BJP and the Congress trade charges whenever matters of violence come up. The Congress accuses BJP of carrying a murderous agenda and point to Gujarat in 2002 and the structured killing of Muslims that followed the burning of Hindu pilgrims by Muslims in Godhra as dereliction of duty (and the weakest condemnation or whitewashing by partys leadership).

In turn, BJP leaders have always been quick to point to 1984 and the structured killing of Sikhs in northern India and elsewhere in the wake of Indira Gandhis assassination (and the whitewashing of it).

It amounts to circular justification, the oldest and most craven trick in the black book of politicians.

Vile as these events were, and several leaders of both parties have proven themselves to be utterly vile in the process, the point is: whose watch is it now? A person, a party, or a government has to stand up and be counted on its watch.

It is now the BJP's watch, for better or for worse. There can be no denying it. Only an absolute imbecile, blind supporters of the regime and trolls employed and guided by it, directly or indirectly would buy into the argument that the BJP leaderships deafening silence was statesmanlike. There was not a word against gau rakshak-related vigilantism in his Mann ki Baat radio speech broadcast on 25 June.

Only an imbecile, blind supporter and pet trolls, will buy that a coincidental condemnation of gau rakshak-related vigilantism by the prime minister was entirely adequate, after outrage in media, social media, and public forums not dominated by the BJP and its cohorts began to increase this year, and peaked in June with gau-rakshak butchery as well as the #NotInMyName campaign that translated from Facebook to in-your-face in several cities across India on 28 June.

Modi finally announced after returning from a trip to Europe and United States portrayed by his party as a triumph:

"(The) Constitution teaches us its (cow protections) importance. But do we get the right to kill a human (to save cow)? Is this how we worship cow? Is this cow protection?"

The prime ministers official handle @pmoindia tweeted early on 29 June:

Killing people in the name of Gau Bhakti is not acceptable. This is not something Mahatma Gandhi would approve: PM @narendramodi  PMO India (@PMOIndia) June 29, 2017

To be fair to Modi, he has made statements earlier against gau-rakshak violence. He did so twice in the space of two days in August 2016 but ran into charges of political opportunism with crucial assembly elections to Uttar Pradesh looming.

Charges of opportunism are not surprising, even though BJP and its core supporters may find it galling, because of the lengthy silences of its leadership, and the kind of wishing away of accusations and all ill news by either cavalierly brushing it away, or, as Shah did in Goa, by trying brazenly to pass on the blame to the Congress and state governments not run by the BJP by stating law and order was a state subject.

Then what of the states ruled by the BJP, as even BJP supporters like the columnist Tavleen Singh have pointed to.

She is not the only one among the band of salon-Sanghis, as it were, who greatly supported Modi and now find his government and him lacking in a way that upsets them, and who are beginning to transform into bleeding heart illiberals.

The band includes non-resident Indians and people of Indian origin, several of them acquaintances and some friends in influential places in global banking and finance, for instances, some of them influential commentators of the right-wing  not just Hindu right-wing, but right-wing, period  who drummed up support for Modi in the run up to elections. I have seen several such cautionary notes in quite vast private newsgroups that I have been privy to.

It doesn't also help the BJP and Sangh Parivars universal case that besides inconsistencies and perceived insincerity in response, there is also the entirely consistent rhetoric-rousing, hate-mongering and plain idiocy that the BJP and the so-called extreme right-wing fringe have practiced, without question when taken all together creating an atmosphere of disquiet and destructiveness.

What of the Sadhvi Kamal, who equated cow vigilantes to the left-leaning freedom fighter Bhagat Singh? Or the controversial BJP MLA Vikram Saini from Uttar Pradesh, a state run by a Yogi who has an unlovely record of religious hate-mongering, who threatens to break limbs?

What of idiocy that perpetuates blind belief? What of the Rajasthans education minister Vasudev Devnani who announced that the cow (presumably Indias holy cow) is the only animal that inhales as well as exhales oxygen?

Or the recently retired judge of Rajasthans High Court, MC Sharma who passionately argued that the cow be made Indias national animal, (presumably displacing the tiger) because it was a pious animal, in the same manner as the Indias national bird, the peacock is 'pious'  indeed, its a 'brahmachari'  refraining from sex, its tears adequate to impregnate a peahen? Or the religious leader Acharya Dharmendra who helpfully debunked the theory, only to dig a deeper logical and ideological hole for his kind?

The sell-by date for circular arguments employed in matters of structured political evil and structured death  the ready companions to circular arguments in matters of corruption, masking undelivered elections promises, obfuscating data, and maintaining dangerous silences until public pressure and debate forces a statement  has long passed.

In New Delhi, both the Congress and the BJP have paid the price for ignoring warnings. The Congress more than once, most recently in 2014. The BJP once, in 2004. It isnt too far to 2019, nearer still if there is a call for snap elections.

In any case, it will be interesting to read and hear what the BJPs mildly disillusioned drummer boys and drummer girls say this time around. They still maintain that despite all the wrongs, people like them still support the BJP that is Modi simply because there is no alternative.

There is no circular argument to that assertion. But that doesnt mean it lacks notes of concern and despair.

The author is an award-winning writer of several books, a columnist, and consultant to think-tanks and media. He tweets @chakraview
The Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly proceedings were temporarily disrupted on Tuesday when journalists boycotted proceedings of the House due to curbs on electronic media in the Assembly.

PTI reported that Opposition members also staged a protest against the curbs and the House was adjourned for half an hour.

According to Greater Kashmir, journalists staged a walk-out from the press gallery of the Assembly after the government barred them from taking mobile phones and cameras inside the Assembly.

However, another report in Greater Kashmir  published half an hour after the above  said that the government soon issued an order which lifted this curb and said that journaliss could carry their phones and cameras inside the Assembly.

PTI also reported that the media ended the boycott after the Assembly Speaker Kavinder Gupta intervened and persuaded journalists to return to the proceedings.

A special session of the Assembly was held on Tuesday to discuss the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST).

Meanwhile, the state police detained several traders after they tried to march towards the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly to protest the implementation of GST in the state in its present form.

The traders were detained near the gate of the Civil Secretariat complex, which also houses the assembly, after they took out a protest march, police said.

With inputs from PTI
On Monday, the Supreme Court refused an urgent hearing on a plea of former Calcutta High Court judge CS Karnan seeking bail and recall of the order convicting him for contempt.

Justice Karnan has the dubious distinction of being the first sitting high court judge to be awarded a jail term by the apex court and also the first to have retired as a fugitive.

While some have argued that the Supreme Court might have opened Pandora's box by sending Karnan to prison for contempt of court and that impeachment was the right way to go, history shows that no Indian judge has ever been impeached. Most simply resign quietly.

Here's a look at some previous cases:

V Ramaswami

In 1991, history was made after V Ramaswami became the first Indian judge against whom impeachment proceedings were initiated.

The Supreme Court Bar Association called for Ramaswami's impeachment and asked the Chief Justice of India to not assign him any judicial work. The impeachment failed after the motion did not pass the Lok Sabha in 1993 following the Congress pulling their support. Ramaswami retired the next year.

Soumitra Sen

In 2011, Soumitra Sen, another Calcutta High Court judge sent a letter tendering his resignation to President Pratibha Patil and the Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar just days before the Lok Sabha was preparing to take up an impeachment motion that had been passed by a large majority in the Upper House on August 18.

Sen was found guilty of misappropriating lakhs of rupees when he was a lawyer in the 1980s and had been appointed received by the Calcutta High Court and of misrepresenting facts.

In his letter to the president, Sen said that since the Rajya Sabha has decided, in its wisdom, that he should not continue as a judge, he was resigning and wanted to live as a common citizen.

PD Dinakaran

In January 2010, an impeachment motion was moved against Karnataka High Court Chief Justice PD Dinakaran by Opposition parties.

Allegations listed in the impeachment motion included possessing wealth disproportionate to his known sources of income, unlawfully securing five housing board plots in the name of his wife and two daughters, entering into benami transactions and possessing land beyond the agricultural ceiling limit.

Dinakaran was then transferred to Sikkim, where he took charge as Chief Justice of the Sikkim High Court. Dinakaran eventually stepped down from his post in July 2011, before impeachment proceedings could be initiated against him.

Dinakaran said he had lost faith in the fairness of the procedures adopted by an inquiry panel set up by the Rajya Sabha chairman and headed by Supreme Court Justice Aftab Alam.

JB Pardiwala

In 2015, more than 50 Rajya Sabha members petitioned Vice-President and Rajya Sabha Chairman Mohammad Hamid Ansari to begin impeachment proceedings against Justice JB Pardiwala of the Gujarat High Court for his unconstitutional remarks against reservations in a case connected with Patidar leader Hardik Patel.

The furore quickly died down after Pardiwala deleted the remarks from his judgment saying those were not relevant and necessary while deciding the petition.
United States Court of Appeals, Tenth Circuit. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff - Appellee, v. STEVEN FISHMAN, Defendant - Appellant. No. 17-5039 Decided: July 03, 2017

Before KELLY, BRISCOE, and LUCERO, Circuit Judges.

ORDER DENYING CERTIFICATE OF APPEALABILITY*

Steven Fishman, a federal prisoner appearing pro se, requests a certificate of appealability (COA) to appeal the district court's dismissal of his Motion for Relief from a Judgment or Order Due to a Disparity in Sentencing between Defendant Fishman and Co-Defendant Thornburgh, ostensibly filed under Fed. R. Civ. P. 60(b)(1) and (6). The district court determined the motion was in substance a second or successive motion for relief under 28 U.S.C.  2255, and dismissed it for lack of the circuit authorization required by 28 U.S.C.  2244(b)(3). Because the correctness of that disposition is not debatable by reasonable jurists, we deny a COA and dismiss this appeal. See Slack v. McDaniel, 529 U.S. 473, 484 (2000) (stating standard for COA).

I. BACKGROUND

Mr. Fishman was convicted by a jury of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering, for which he was sentenced to 262 months' imprisonment. See United States v. Fishman, 645 F.3d 1175, 1180 (10th Cir. 2011) (affirming conviction and sentence). In 2012, he filed a  2255 motion that included a sentencing challenge regarding the calculation of his criminal history. The disposition of that challenge is necessary to an understanding of the motion under review here.

The  2255 motion claimed, inter alia, that (1) the district court had erroneously relied on a prior obstruction-of-justice conviction to raise Mr. Fishman's criminal history from Category II to Category III, increasing his sentencing guideline range from 235-293 months to 262-327 months; and (2) his counsel had rendered ineffective assistance by failing to object to this error. Noting that the sentence for the obstruction conviction was imposed on the same day as the sentence for another prior conviction (for mail fraud) also counted in his criminal history, he contended that use of the obstruction conviction amounted to double counting precluded by United States Sentencing Guideline Manual (USSG)  4A1.2(a)(2). That section provides:

If the defendant has multiple prior sentences, determine whether those sentences are counted separately or treated as a single sentence [for purposes of calculating criminal history points under USSG  4A1.1]. Prior sentences always are counted separately if the sentences were imposed for offenses that were separated by an intervening arrest (i.e., the defendant is arrested for the first offense prior to committing the second offense). If there is no intervening arrest, prior sentences are counted separately unless (A) the sentences resulted from offenses contained in the same charging instrument; or (B) the sentences were imposed on the same day. Treat any prior sentence covered by (A) or (B) as a single sentence

(Emphasis added). The district court rejected this claim because, according to undisputed facts recounted in the presentence investigation report (PSR), there was an intervening arrest between the two offenses: Mr. Fishman committed the obstruction offense after his arrest on the mail-fraud charge (indeed, the obstruction involved an attempt to fabricate evidence supporting his defense in the mail-fraud prosecution). This court denied a COA and dismissed Mr. Fishman's ensuing appeal, in which he raised only new issues not included in his  2255 motion. See United States v. Fishman, 608 F. App'x 711, 712 (10th Cir. 2015).

In January 2017, Mr. Fishman's co-defendant, Joseph Thornburgh, successfully challenged his sentence on the basis of a double-counting violation under USSG  4A1.1(a)(2). Like Mr. Fishman, Mr. Thornburgh was assessed separate criminal history points for two convictions on which sentence had been imposed the same day. But in his case, the PSR stated that details about the convictions were unavailable, and the government conceded in response to Mr. Thornburgh's  2255 motion that the imposition of separate criminal history points was improper. On resentencing, Mr. Thornburgh received a substantially shorter term.

After learning of Mr. Thornburgh's success, Mr. Fishman filed the instant motion, ostensibly under Rule 60(b). He contended that his double-counting claim (which he insisted was indistinguishable from Thornburgh's) had been valid, that the district court mistakenly denied the claim in his prior  2255 proceeding, and that the resultant sentence disparity now evident between the two co-defendants required reconsideration of his sentence in light of 18 U.S.C.  3553(a)(6). The district court deemed the motion to be an unauthorized second or successive  2255 motion and dismissed it for lack of jurisdiction consistent with In re Cline, 531 F.3d 1249 (10th Cir. 2008), concluding that a transfer to this court for possible authorization under  2255(h) was unwarranted because there was no risk that a meritorious successive claim [would] be lost, id. at 1252.

II. DISPOSITION

The district court was, beyond debate, correct in treating Mr. Fishman's motion as an unauthorized second or successive  2255 motion. To the extent the motion reasserted the  4A1.1(a)(2) challenge to his sentence rejected in his prior  2255 proceeding, it fell squarely within the established rule that a prisoner cannot evade second-or-successive constraints by invoking Rule 60(b) if his motion in substance or effect asserts or reasserts a federal basis for relief from [his] underlying conviction [or sentence]. Spitznas v. Boone, 464 F.3d 1213, 1215 (10th Cir. 2006) (explaining and applying Gonzalez v. Crosby, 545 U.S. 524, 538 (2005)). To the extent the motion asserted that the district court wrongly decided the  4A1.1(a)(2) claim in the prior proceeding, it fell squarely within the associated principle that Rule 60(b) does not apply if a prisoner seeks to vindicate a claim denied in a prior  2255 proceeding by challenging the [district] court's previous ruling on the merits of that claim. Id. at 1216; see also Gonzalez, 545 U.S. at 532. And the associated objection regarding sentence disparity was inseparably tied to and dependent upon the underlying  4A1.1(a)(2) claim.

It is also beyond debate that the district court properly exercised its discretion to dismiss rather than transfer Mr. Fishman's motion to this court for possible authorization under  2255(h). Nothing in the motion suggests he could meet the requirements for authorization. His sentencing challenge, in contrast to a challenge to conviction, cannot satisfy the requirement in  2255(h)(1) that the prisoner present new evidence to show that no reasonable factfinder would have found him guilty of the [underlying] offense. (Emphasis added). Nor does his challenge rely on a new rule of constitutional law, made retroactive to cases on collateral review by the Supreme Court, as required to satisfy  2255(h)(2). Moreover, as the district court noted (and indeed determined in connection with Mr. Fishman's prior  2255 motion), his  4A1.1(a)(2) claim itself lacks merit.

The request for a COA is denied and the appeal is dismissed.

Entered for the Court

ELISABETH A. SHUMAKER, Clerk

FOOTNOTES

. Mr. Fishman's argument in the  2255 proceedings reflected a mistaken belief that the intervening-arrest condition in  4A1.1(a)(2) requires a second arrest for the subsequent offense (here the obstruction charge). But the plain terms of that provisionand common sensemake it clear all that is required is that the defendant [be] arrested for the first offense prior to committing the second offense.

. Section 3553(a)(6) specifies as one of the factors to be considered in sentencing the need to avoid unwarranted sentence disparities among defendants with similar records who have been found guilty of similar conduct.

. Gonzalez and Spitznas arose in the habeas context, but we have applied their holdings in the context of  2255 motions as well. See, e.g., United States v. Baker, 718 F.3d 1204, 1207 (10th Cir. 2013).

. Mr. Fishman challenged the previous denial of his claim on the merits; he did not challenge a procedural ruling  which precluded a merits determination or a defect in the integrity of the [ 2255] proceeding, Spitznas, 464 F.3d at 1216.

. In his appellate brief Mr. Fishman advances additional complaints regarding the disparity between his sentence and that ultimately imposed on Mr. Thornburgh when Thornburgh was resentenced. But our review here is limited to the grounds asserted by Mr. Fishman in the motion dismissed by the district court, in which he relied solely on the divergent outcomes of the  4A1.1(a)(2) objections asserted by the co-defendants in their respective  2255 motions, see Aplt. Opening Br. and App. for a COA, Ex. A.
Lucknow: The police on Monday said they have found no evidence to suggest that Sunday's acid attack on a gangrape survivor living at a working women's hostel in Aliganj was carried out by someone from outside.

In a press statement, the Lucknow SSP office said King George's Medical University doctors on Monday conducted a forensic examination of the burn injuries the 45-year-old woman had received on her face and neck. It also said an FIR was filed by the woman's husband and the field unit of the police visited the crime scene.

The police team found no evidence to suggest presence of acid at and around the spot the woman was found lying in the hostel, the release said. There is also no footprint on the walls of the hostel and the eye witnesses too said they had not seen anyone coming in or going out of the building, it said.

Therefore, it is clear no one from outside had come into the hostel and thrown acid on her, it concluded.

The woman, who hails from Raebareli, had on Sunday alleged she was attacked with acid at her hostel the previous night  the fourth alleged acid attack on her in eight years. She had alleged the attackers had fled by climbing the wall as she raised an alarm.

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had on Sunday expressed doubts over the incident, saying it may have been staged to defame his government.

"Ye ghatna sachmuch ghatna hai ya fir ghatna ke naam par kuchh log kewal badnaam karne ki sajish rach rahe hain (Has this attack really happened or are some people hatching a conspiracy to defame the state government)," he had said.
Chennai: The Madras High Court Tuesday sought the Tamil Nadu government's stand on a plea to ban the use of late chief minister J Jayalalithaa's photograph in government advertisements because she had been convicted in a corruption case.

While issuing notice to the government for its stand on the plea by 'Traffic' Ramaswami, a noted public interest litigant, a bench of Chief Justice Indira Banerjee and Justice M Sundar, however, refused to pass any interim order on the petition and adjourned the hearing on it for five weeks.

Seeking a direction to the state government not to use Jayalalithaa's photograph, the petitioner submitted that the Supreme Court had in its judgement stated that she was 'convicted' in the disproportionate assets case.

The government is openly giving advertisements with her photographs spending from public exchequer, he claimed. It gives a wrong signal as the successive governments may also follow the same in future by spending public fund, he added.

On 14 February, the Supreme Court had restored in toto the judgment and findings of the trial court in Bengaluru which held all the accused, including Jayalalithaa, guilty in the corruption case.

The apex court, however, had abated the proceedings against Jayalalithaa in view of her death on 5 December last year.

Jayalalithaa, her close aide and AIADMK general-secretary VK Sasikala and two others were accused of amassing disproportionate assets to the tune of Rs 66.65 crore during her first term as the chief minister from 1991 to 1996.
In June, after facing days of protests from farmers, the Maharashtra government announced a loan waiver to farmers with less than five acres of land. The decision was reportedly taken at a four-hour meeting at Sahyadri Guest House in Malabar Hill, Mumbai attended by ministers and farmer leaders.

Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis later said that Rs 34,000 crore debt relief would be given to financially distressed farmers and the BJP-led government would see debt of up to Rs 1.5 lakh per farmer being written off.

Three weeks on, Fadnavis took to Twitter to announce that 36 lakh people will benefit from the loan waiver under the Chhattrapati Shivaji Maharaj Shetkari Samman Yojna. According to the list posted by Fadnavis, Aurangabad, Ahmednagar and Beed in Marathwada will benefit most from the loan waiver.

CM @Dev_Fadnavis tells district wise number of beneficiary farmers of loan waiver (loan upto 1.5lakh) pic.twitter.com/Egt6GUJ21d  CMO Maharashtra (@CMOMaharashtra) July 3, 2017

District Total farmers benefited Ahmednagar 2,00,869 Aurangabad 1,47,322 Buldhana 2,49,818 Gadchiroli 29,128 Jalgaon 1,14,320 Latur 80,473 Nagpur 84,645 Nashik 1,36,569 Parbhani 1,63.760 Ratnagiri 41,261 Sindhudurg 24,447 Washim 45,417 Akola 1,11,625 Beed 2,08,480 Chandrapur 99,742 Gondia 68,290 Jalna 1,96,463 Mumbai City 694 Nanded 1,56,849 Osmanabad 74,420 Pune 1,83,209 Sangli 89,865 Solapur 1,08,533 Yavatmal 2,42,451 Amravati 1,72,760 Bhandara 42,872 Dhule 75,174 Hingoli 55,165 Kolhapur 80,144 Mumbai Suburb 111 Nandurbar 33,556 Palghar 918 Raigad 10,809 Satara 76,018 Thane 23,505

Earlier, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had stated that the Maharashtra government will come out with a loan waiver for farmers before 31 October and alleged that some political leaders were milking the ongoing agitation.

"Before 31 October, the distressed farmers who need help will be given a loan waiver. The modalities are being worked out and I can say with conviction that this will be the biggest loan waiver in Maharashtra's history," Fadnavis had told reporters after a meeting on urban development with Union minister Venkaiah Naidu.
Mumbai: The Congress on Tuesday demanded an apology from Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, for showing "fake" beneficiaries of the loan waiver scheme, thereby "misleading" farmers and playing with their emotions.

"We demand an unconditional apology from the chief minister as he has misled people by giving false data. He has played with the emotions of farmers," MPCC spokesperson Sachin Sawant told reporters.

He said the figures provided by Fadnavis are false, as Mumbai and its suburban region is an urban area and has no farming land whatsoever.

Surprisingly, according to a list of farm loan waiver beneficiaries released by Fadnavis, 694 farmers belong to Mumbai and 119 from its suburban districts.

Besides, the list includes 2,49,818 lakh farmers from Buldhana followed by 2,42,471 lakh farmers from Yavatmal, 2,08,480 lakh farmers from Beed - all of them being suicide prone districts.

Also, the list includes 2,00,869 farmers from Ahmednagar, 1,94,320 from Jalgaon, 1,63,760 from Parbhani, 1,48,322 from Aurangabad.

Sawant said that according to figures provided by the State Level Banking Committee, the number of farmers who will be eligible for a loan waiver in Buldhana is 2,35,839, and similar is the case in Yavatmal.

"This shows the government is lying. This is condemnable. How can the beneficiaries be more than the total number of farmers who have taken loans," he questioned.

Sawant further said that despite chief minister's decision of giving an immediate aid of Rs 10,000 to farmers owning less than 5 acres of agricultural land last month, the government has till now only helped 1,082 farmers.

Also, only 4 banks have started disbursing the money while others are waiting for the RBI's approval, Sawant said.
Kochi: A Kerala court on Tuesday extended the judicial remand of two persons arrested for their alleged roles in the abduction and assault of a prominent Malayalam actress.

An Angamaly magisterial court extended till 18 July the judicial custody of key accused 'Pulsar' Suni and his accomplice Vijeesh after they were produced in the court amid tight security following the expiry of their 14-day remand.

Meanwhile, Suni's counsel BA Aloor said he had no plan to seek bail for his client, who, he said, was facing threat.

There was a heavy police presence in the court premises as the media jostled to speak to the accused.

When Suni was asked if there was any conspiracy angle in the case as the name of well-known actor Dileep was being mentioned, he said, "Sharks have to be netted in the case."

The police had last week questioned Dileep and his director friend Nadir Shah for nearly 13 hours in connection with the case.

The accused also told the court that he had allegedly been assaulted by the police while in custody.

Additional Director General of Police B Sandhya, heading the investigation team in the case, said police was probing the conspiracy angle.

"We cannot give a time frame. The investigation is going on smoothly", she told television channels.

Officers of the special investigating team had a meeting this evening at the Aluva police club to review the progress in the investigation.

The police officials have also seized CCTV visuals of Suni speaking to someone from inside his cell in Kakkanad jail.

Fisheries Minister J Mercykutty Amma said the investigation was moving in the right direction.

"Wait for one or two days. The investigation is going on the right track. As far as the government was concerned, we want justice for the victim," she said.

The actress, who has also worked in Tamil and Telugu films, was abducted and allegedly molested inside her car for two hours by the accused, who had forced their way into the vehicle on February 17 and later escaped in a busy area in Kochi.
Mumbai: The Mumbai police on Tuesday seized around 700 kilograms of meat, suspected to be beef, from a tempo at Shivaji Nagar in suburban Govandi.

The tempo driver and cleaner have been detained, a senior police official said.

The meat was apparently brought for sale from Panvel in neighbouring Raigad district, he said.

Acting on a tip-off, the police searched the tempo parked on a roadside in Shivaji Nagar and seized the consignment.

Samples have been sent to the Forensic Science Laboratory in Kalina for examination, Deputy Commissioner of Police (zone-VI) Shahaji Umap said.

The seized meat has been handed over to the municipal authorities for disposal, he said.

"We have detained the driver and cleaner of the tempo and their interrogation is on," the DCP said, adding that appropriate action will be taken after they receive the chemical analysis report of the seized meat.

Under the Maharashtra Animal Preservation (Amendment) Act, the slaughter of bulls and bullocks, besides cows is banned in the state.
Mumbai's dream to have an underground metro may have reached a new roadblock. The line three of the Mumbai Metro between Colaba and Santacruz Electronic Export Processing Zone (SEEPZ) has encountered an unlikely problem this time.

The 33.5-kilometre underground metro system will be passing through a Parsi agyari (fire temple) in Marine Lines, which has raised concerns among the trustees of the fire temple.

To put this in context, a non-Parsi cannot enter an agyari, putting the contractors in a spot as they need to map the location as well as check the building condition before proceeding with the construction of the metro line.

While the trustees have assured support for the project, the religion factor threatens to delay the project. The trustees, however, have sorted a middle path to break the deadlock: Have a Parsi contractor survey the fire temple.

Realising the religious sentiment attached to the issue, the MMRC seems to be working with the temple trustees to resolve the issue.

"Our contractors are carrying out building condition survey in the area, including the Parsi fire temple. This request has been conveyed to us by the temple authorities and, respecting their sentiments, we are working in coordination with temple authorities. They are helping us in resolving the issue so that the building condition survey is carried out without infringing any religious beliefs and sentiments," Ashwini Bhide, Managing Director of the MMRC, told Firstpost.

Given the minuscule population of the Parsi community in Mumbai, which stands at around 57,000 as per the 2011 Census, it would be interesting to see whether the MMRC will be able to find any Parsi contractor. Or else, they may have to count on eminent architect Hafeez Contractor to rescue them.

The underground metro has already missed its deadline by two years and is now expected to begin only in 2022. The underground metro first encountered protests from locals in Aarey Milk Colony, where the MMRC would be building a shed. Since last two years, activists have been protesting against the project claiming that the project will affect the local environment.

The protest against the alleged encroachment also got traction on social media, with activists launching the 'Save Aarey Movement' to spread awareness on the issue.

Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis later appointed a panel to resolve the deadlock. However, the contentious issue has lingered, with the MMRC awarding the contract to a New Delhi-based construction firm on Thursday. The latest decision has angered activists, who claim that the project will lead to the cutting of over 3,000 trees.

The metro project had also come under attack from residents of Kalbadevi and Girgaum in 2015, who fearing displacement wanted a in-situ rehabilitation. A year later, the government later assured 737 families of the area with newer and bigger flats.
Aligarh : A body of Muslim intellectuals on Monday said it would extend full support to any proposal of the Centre for banning cow slaughter and declaring cow as the national animal.

"Our organisation has passed a resolution welcoming Prime Minister Narendra Modi's recent statement condemning the lynching of innocent people in the name of 'gau raksha' (cow protection) in different parts of the country," Director of Forum for Muslim Studies and Analysis (FMSA) Jasim Mohammad said in Aligarh.

"We will extend full support to any proposal of the Centre for banning cow slaughter and declaring cow as the national animal of India," he said.

Jasim said the repeated incidents of lynching of innocent people posed a serious threat to the right to life and the right to earn a living for a large section of the populace.

"Every Muslim in the country was interested in ensuring protection to the cow because of religious sentiments of the majority community. However, the lynching of Muslims involved in buffalo trade on any other pretext is now posing a serious threat to the internal security in the country," he said.

He urged the prime minister to take all necessary steps to ensure law and order to stop lynching incidents.
Tel Aviv: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday arrived on a three-day visit to Israel  the first by an Indian prime minister  and was warmly welcomed by Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who received him at the airport.

Modi, who landed at Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion Airport, was accorded a red carpet welcome and exchanged a warm hug with the Israeli prime minister.

"The Prime Minister has landed in Israel," the prime minister's office tweeted.

The Prime Minister has landed in Israel. @IsraeliPM @netanyahu will receive PM @narendramodi marking the start of a special visit.  PMO India (@PMOIndia) July 4, 2017

After Modi's arrival, the national anthems of India and Israel were played.

In Israel, Modi will also meet President Ruven Rivlin apart from paying his respects to courageous Indian soldiers who laid down their lives during the liberation of Haifa in 1918.

The visit coincides with India and Israel marking 25 years of their diplomatic relations.

Modi will be in Israel till 6 July before travelling to Hamburg, Germany, to attend the G-20 summit.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi left for his unprecedented trip to Israel on Tuesday. On the eve of his visit, he said he will discuss with his counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu common challenges like terrorism and ways to boost the economic ties.

Modi, the first Indian prime minister to visit Israel, will undertake a three-day trip to the Jewish nation till 6 July before travelling to Hamburg in Germany to attend the G-20 Summit.

In Israel, he will also meet President Reuven Ruvi Rivlin and address the CEOs of the two countries as well as the Indian diaspora.

He will also visit the Yad Vashem Memorial Museum to honour the memory of the victims of the holocaust that counts among the greatest tragedies in human history.

Modi will also pay his respects to the courageous Indian soldiers who laid down their lives during the liberation of Haifa in 1918.

"On Tuesday, I begin a historic visit to Israel, a very special partner of India's... As the first Indian prime minister to do so, I am greatly looking forward to this unprecedented visit that will bring our two countries and people closer," he said in a statement in New Delhi.

"I look forward to holding extensive talks with my friend, @IsraeliPM @netanyahu, who shares a commitment for vibrant India-Israel ties," he tweeted.

I look forward to holding extensive talks with my friend, @IsraeliPM @netanyahu, who shares a commitment for vibrant India-Israel ties.  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) July 3, 2017

The prime minister said he will have "in-depth talks" with Netanyahu "on the full spectrum of our partnership and strengthening it in diverse fields for mutual benefit. We will also have the chance to discuss major common challenges like terrorism."

This year, India and Israel are marking 25 years of their diplomatic relations.

"My programme during the visit gives me an opportunity to engage with a cross-section of Israeli society. I am particularly looking forward to interacting with the large vibrant Indian diaspora in Israel that represents an enduring link between our two peoples," Modi said.

On the economic side, he said, "I will join with leading Indian and Israeli CEOs and start-ups to discuss our shared priority of expanding business and investment collaboration on the ground."

In addition, he said, "I hope to get insights into Israel's accomplishments in technology and innovation through on-site visits."

On 6 July, the prime minister will travel to Hamburg for the G-20 Summit being hosted by Germany on 7-8 July.

The theme chosen for this year is 'Shaping an Inter-connected World'.

"I look forward to engaging leaders from other G-20 countries on the vital issues affecting our world today that have a bearing on economic growth, sustainable development, and peace and stability," he said.

"We will review progress on decisions since the Hangzhou Summit last year and deliberate on issues of terrorism, climate, sustainable development, growth and trade, digitalisation, health, employment, migration, womens empowerment, and partnership with Africa," Modi added.

As in the past, he said he looked forward to the opportunity to meet leaders on the sidelines of the Summit to exchange views on bilateral matters of mutual interest.

With inputs from PTI
United States Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. VERNARD JERICHO PEARSEY, Defendant-Appellant. No. 16-17378 Decided: July 03, 2017

Before TJOFLAT, WILLIAM PRYOR, and EDMONDSON, Circuit Judges.

Vernard Jericho Pearsey appeals his 180-month sentence for one count of felon in possession of a firearm. On appeal, Pearsey argues that his prior Georgia burglary convictions do not qualify as predicate violent felonies under the Armed Career Criminal Act (ACCA). He argues that Georgia's burglary statute is indivisible because it includes any type of building, vehicles, railroad cars, watercraft, or any structure used as a dwelling, and lists those locations as alternative means of committing burglary, rather than alternative elements.

We review de novo whether a prior conviction is a violent felony within the meaning of the ACCA. United States v. Howard, 742 F.3d 1334, 1341 (11th Cir. 2014).

Under the ACCA, a defendant convicted of being a felon in possession of a firearm who has 3 or more prior convictions for a serious drug offense or violent felony faces a mandatory minimum 15-year sentence. See 18 U.S.C.  924(e)(1). The ACCA defines a violent felony as a crime punishable by a term of imprisonment exceeding one year that

(i) has as an element the use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical force against the person of another; or

(ii) is burglary, arson, or extortion, involves use of explosives, or otherwise involves conduct that presents a serious potential risk of physical injury to another.

Id.  924(e)(2)(B). The first condition of this definition is referred to as the elements clause, while the second condition contains the enumerated crimes clause and the residual clause. United States v. Owens, 672 F.3d 966, 968 (11th Cir. 2012). The Supreme Court recently struck down the ACCA's residual clause as unconstitutionally vague. Johnson v. United States, 135 S. Ct. 2551, 255760 (2015).

In listing the crimes set forth in the enumerated crimes clause, Congress referred only to the generic versions of those crimes. United States v. Gundy, 842 F.3d 1156, 1161 (11th Cir. 2016). The generic, contemporary definition of burglary consists of these elements: (1) an unlawful or unprivileged entry into, or remaining in, (2) a building or other structure, (3) with intent to commit a crime therein. Id. at 1164. An enumerated crime qualifies as a violent felony under the ACCA if its elements are the same as, or narrower than, those of the generic offense. Id. at 1161.

To determine whether a prior conviction is a violent felony, sentencing courts generally employ the categorical approach and compare the elements of the statute forming the basis of the defendant's conviction to the elements for a violent felony under the ACCA. United States v. Braun, 801 F.3d 1301, 130405 (11th Cir. 2015). But if (and only if) the statute is divisible, the sentencing court can apply the modified categorical approach to determine if the conviction is a violent felony. Mathis v. United States, 136 S. Ct. 2243, 2251, 225354 (2016); see also Braun, 801 F.3d at 130405.

In Mathis v. United States, the Supreme Court stated that a statute is divisible only if it sets forth alternative elements of an offense, creating multiple crimes, rather than alternative means of committing a single offense. 136 S. Ct. at 2249. The Court concluded that Iowa's burglary statute, which defined the term occupied structure as any building, structure, or land, water or air vehicle, set forth a single crime with one set of elements, and provided alternative means of satisfying the locational element. Id. at 2250. Thus, the Court held that the defendant's prior Iowa burglary conviction was broader than generic burglary under the ACCA; so the conviction could not qualify as a predicate violent felony. Id. at 2251, 2257.

Under the modified categorical approach, the court may review a limited class of documents (including charging documents, plea agreements, transcripts of plea colloquies, or some comparable judicial record) to determine which of the statute's alternative elements formed the basis of the defendant's conviction. Braun, 801 F.3d at 130506; Gundy, 842 F.3d at 1168. These documents are known as Shepard documents. Gundy, 842 F.3d at 1168. Courts must next compare the elements of the identified crime of conviction to that of the relevant generic offense. Id. at 1162.

Under Georgia law, burglary occurs when without authority and with the intent to commit a felony or theft therein, [a person] enters or remains within an occupied, unoccupied, or vacant dwelling house of another or any building, vehicle, railroad car, watercraft, or other such structure designed for use as the dwelling of another. O.G.C.A.  16-7-1(b) (2011).*

In United States v. Gundy, we held that Georgia's burglary statute, which was broader than generic burglary, was divisible, stating that Georgia's statute uses three alternative locational elements, which are stated in the disjunctive. Gundy, 842 F.3d at 116468. We rejected the argument that the alternative locations in the statute were alternative means of committing the offense, rather than alternative elements, under Georgia law. Id. After determining that Georgia's burglary statute is divisible, we applied the modified categorical approach to determine the kind of burglary for which the defendant had been convicted. Id. at 1168. We reviewed the indictment for each of the defendant's prior Georgia burglary convictions, and we concluded that the indictments charged the defendant with burglarizing either the dwelling house or the business house of another. Id. at 116869. Therefore, we determined in Grundy that the defendant's prior convictions were for generic burglary and qualified as violent felonies under the ACCA's enumerated crimes clause. Id. at 1169.

The district court did not err in determining that Pearsey's prior Georgia burglary convictions were violent felonies under the ACCA: Georgia's burglary statute is divisible, and Pearsey's certified indictment and guilty plea for his burglary convictions show that he was convicted of three counts of burglary of a dwelling -- which has the same elements as generic burglary under the ACCA's enumerated crimes clause.

AFFIRMED.

FOOTNOTES

. Georgia's burglary statute was amended on July 1, 2012, and had not been amended prior to that since 1980. See 2012 Ga. Laws 899; 1980 Ga. Laws 770. Accordingly, the 2011 version of O.G.C.A.  16-7-1 was the statute under which Pearsey was previously convicted.

PER CURIAM:
Jerusalem: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday visited Israel's Yad Vashem memorial and honoured the victims of the Holocaust, among the greatest tragedies in human history as some six million Jews were killed by Nazi Germany.

Modi was accompanied by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Israel's largest Holocaust memorial.

Yad Vashem started as an organisation in 1953 on the slopes of the Mount of Remembrance near Jerusalem, as a form of reference to future generations, documenting the memory of Holocaust victims and the history of the Jewish people during the tragic time.

The museum occupies over 4,200 square metres  mainly underground  and emphasises the experiences of the individual victims through original artifacts, survivor testimonies and personal possessions.

Shaped as a prism penetrating the mountain, the new Yad Vashem opened in 2005. Its architecture sets the atmosphere for the nine chilling galleries of interactive historical displays which present the Holocaust in several ways.

The museum leads into the Hall of Names, which contains more than three million names of Holocaust victims submitted by their families and relatives.

The Holocaust was the killing of nearly six million Jews, including some 1.5 million children, by Adolf Hitler's Nazi Germany. Though the persecution of Jews began in 1933, the mass murder was committed during the more than four years of World War II.

On his arrival, Modi was greeted by Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu along with the top tier of Israel's leadership, known as segel aleph.

Modi's three-day visit to Israel is the first by an Indian prime minister to the Jewish state.
Starting his two-day visit to Israel and Germany, Prime Minister Narendra Modi left for Tel Aviv on Tuesday morning from New Delhi. Modi is the first ever prime minister to visit the Jewish state.

Official Spokesperson of Ministry of External Affairs, Gopal Baglay tweeted:

Intense week for bilateral & multilateral diplomacy. PM @narendramodi departs for Tel Aviv, the first leg of his tour pic.twitter.com/3ePikhvu8K  Gopal Baglay (@MEAIndia) July 4, 2017

Modi is expected to reach Israel at 6 pm (IST), The Statesman reported. In a special gesture, Netanyahu will receive Modi when he arrives at Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion Airport. Such a special gesture has been done only for US Presidents, including Donald Trump, and the Pope.

"I begin a historic visit to Israel, a very special partner of India. As the first Indian Prime Minister to do so, I am greatly looking forward to this unprecedented visit that will bring our two countries and people closer. This year, India and Israel are marking 25 years of our diplomatic relations", he had said in a Facebook post on Monday. He had also tweeted:

I look forward to holding extensive talks with my friend, @IsraeliPM @netanyahu, who shares a commitment for vibrant India-Israel ties.  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) July 3, 2017

Earlier on Monday, Benjamin Netanyahu had tweeted that he is honoured to host "his friend" in Israel:

Tomorrow, my friend Indian Prime Minister @NarendraModi will arrive in Israel; India is the largest democracy in the world.  PM of Israel (@IsraeliPM) July 3, 2017

In Israel, Modi will meet President Reuven Ruvi Rivlin and address the CEOs of the two countries.

He will also visit the Yad Vashem Memorial Museum to honour the memory of the victims of the holocaust that counts among the greatest tragedies in human history and will pay his respects to the courageous Indian soldiers who laid down their lives during the liberation of Haifa in 1918.

The two sides are expected to sign number of agreements in the field of water management, agriculture, science, technology , space and will discuss ways to strengthen people-to-people contact, air connectivity and investments.

The prime minister had said he will have "in-depth talks" with Netanyahu "on the full spectrum of our partnership and strengthening it in diverse fields for mutual benefit.

"We will also have the chance to discuss major common challenges like terrorism", he added.

On the economic side, he had said, "I will join with leading Indian and Israeli CEOs and start-ups to discuss our shared priority of expanding business and investment collaboration on the ground".

On 5 July, Modi will address a massive rally for Indians at Tel Aviv Fairgrounds. The event forms another link between India and Israel. Over 4,000 persons have registered for the event.

"My programme during the visit gives me an opportunity to engage with a cross-section of Israeli society. I am particularly looking forward to interacting with the large vibrant Indian diaspora in Israel that represents an enduring link between our two peoples", Modi had said.

Modi will also meet 26/11 Mumbai terror attack survivor Moshe Holtzberg, who was only two when he was rescued by his Indian nanny Sandra Samuel. Moshes father Rabbi Gavriel and mother Rivkah were among eight Israeli nationals killed in the 2008 terror strike.

Modi will then travel to Hamburg for the G-20 Summit being hosted by Germany on 7-8 July. The theme chosen for this year is 'Shaping an Inter-connected World'.

"I look forward to engaging leaders from other G-20 countries on the vital issues affecting our world today that have a bearing on economic growth, sustainable development, and peace and stability," he had said.

"We will review progress on decisions since the Hangzhou Summit last year and deliberate on issues of terrorism, climate, sustainable development, growth and trade, digitalisation, health, employment, migration, womens empowerment, and partnership with Africa", Modi had added.

With inputs from PTI
In what has been touted as a "very significant step" towards strengthening bilateral relations, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to be the first Indian prime minister to visit Israel on Tueday. Modi's trip is expected to bring in a new era in New Delhi-Tel Aviv ties.

The timing of Modi's trip is also significant because it marks 25 years of diplomatic ties between the two countries. Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu is going out of his way in assuring a comfortable and "historic" trip for his Indian counterpart.

According to a The Times of India report, the Modi-Netanyahu summit will be like no other. Modi is expected to get a unique welcome at Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion airport when he lands. Netanyahu, in a first and as a departure of normal practice, will accompany Modi throughout his three days in the country.

Living up to the title of a world leader in social media given by US president Donald Trump, Modi is expected to rely more on social media for public outreach during his trip to Israel. In a first, Modi and Netanyahu are expected to do either a Facebook live or a periscope chat with the people.

Further, Modi will also continue the tradition of interacting with Indians overseas. He will hold a mass rally in Israel, a first by any Indian leader travelling to Tel Aviv. The Jerusalem Post reported that Modi is expected to address around 4,000-5000 Indians at Tel Aviv Fairgrounds on Wednesday evening. "One thing our prime minister likes to do is connect with Indians overseas, not just Indian nationals, but people of Indian origin," India's ambassador to Israel, Pavan Kapoor said.

The Indian community has even launched a website in preparation of the visit.

Modi, in a special gesture, will meet Moshe Holtzberg, the Israeli child who was just two years old when he lost his parents in the 2008 Mumbai terror attack. Modi's decision to meet Moshe, now 10, has been welcomed by the child's family which said that the gesture made them realise that Indians share their pain and they have not been forgotten.

Another significant decision taken by the Modi government to the pleasure of Israel is not scheduling a trip to Palestine. According to BBC, India and Israel's diplomatic relations have always been a balancing act given India's sizeable Muslim population.

Since the NDA government came to power in 2014, both President Pranab Mukherjee and external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj visited Palestine during their Israel trip. Marking a tectonic shift in equations, Modi's visit will be the first time that an Indian leader has decided to skip the neighbouring country. Infact, AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi said that by doing so, the prime minister is "strengthening the Jewish state's occupation of Palestinian territories."

Although, it was Union minister Rajnath Singh who broke the tradition of visiting both Israel and Palestine together during his visit in 2014, as The Times of India reported, Modi will be the first Indian prime minister to do so.

Despite reiterating that "India believes in a two-state solution in which both Israel and a future Palestinian state coexist peacefully", Modi skipping a visit to Palestine is seen as a more powerful signal than all the courtesies that await him, writes PR Kumaraswamy for Institute of Defence Studies and Analyses.

Both countries share a deep civilisational, cultural and people-to-people bond but due to India's compulsions in balancing its West Asia policy, Israel was treated more as a 'mistress', this Firstpost article argues. Therefore, Kapoor termed Modi's trip as the first "formal coming out of the relationship" between the two countries, as The Indian Express reported.

Enamoured by the "most important prime minister of the world", Tel Aviv expressed its keenness to shift production lines of its weapons to India, keeping in line with Modi's 'Make in India' initiative. India is set to get its first armed drones  The Heron TP  that may aid in cross-border strikes and can also detect, track and take down targets with air to ground missiles.

Since Modi ascended to power in 2014, Israel has hoped for warmer ties with New Delhi. Modi, who had visited Israel as the chief minister of Gujarat, suggested, "as the possible next prime minister, he could make history by journeying to the Jewish state," according to The Times of Israel. Modi's trip to Israel is indeed making history but it remains to be seem how New Delhi will maintain its ties with Palestine after the much politicised Tel-Aviv trip.
Soon after he landed at the Ben Gurion airport, Prime Minister Narendra Modi mentioned Yonatan Netanyahu in his inaugural speech, elder brother of Israel prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who was killed exactly 41 years ago during Operation Entebbe at the Entebbe airport in Uganda on 4 July, 1976.

"Today is 4 July. Exactly 41 years ago, since Operation Entebbe. The day, when your prime minister and my friend Bibi lost his elder brother Yonatan while saving the lives of so many Israeli hostages," Modi said in his brief address at the Ben Gurion airport in tel Aviv. As Modi recalled the incident, Netanyahu listened impassively.

Yonatan laid his life at the prime age of 30 during Israel's tactically brilliant overnight raid on Entebbe airport in Uganda to release 100 hostages held for a week by German and Arab terrorists. Around 102 out of 106 people, who were held hostage, were rescued by Israel Defense Forces (IDF) but Yonatan was the one defence personnel who lost his life.

The 99-minute operation had become a byword for military daring, the subject of three hit movies, taught and studied by armies around the world. Uganda, which had fallen out with Israel and turned their former embassy building in Uganda into a Palestine Liberation Organisation office, was quick to give the hijackers affiliated to the Palestinian group permission to land the plane at Entebbe. Uganda went ahead to take part in negotiations for the hijacker's demands.

The eight-day ordeal started on 27 June, 1976, when Air France flight 139 Airbus A300B4-2013, left the Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv for Paris. Planning for the rescue took a week and while there was a political and a military solution, in the end, the military rescue operation seized the day.

Here's all you need to know about the hero of the operation to rescue Israeli hostages held by pro-Palestinian terrorists onboard the Air France flight.

Country before college

As the Israeli prime minister mentioned in a Guardian article, as children, the younger brothers had idolised Yonatan, better known as 'Yoni'; he was the one who led their games, who, they felt, had raised them. In 1967, Yonatan had considered college, but the constant threat of war made him stay back in Israel: "This is my country and my homeland. It is here that I belong," Yonatan wrote. Yonatan had taken part in the Golan Heights battle and decided to return to Harvard for studies after he was injured. However, in 1973, he decided to return to Israel again to serve his country.

Born in New York City to a professor of Cornell University, Yonatan was always clear about his priorities, "I should be defending my country, Harvard is a luxury I cannot afford."

Netanyahu's decision to return to Israel despite outstanding grades, of re-enlistment as an officer who was to become the youngest commander of a tank battalion in the armored corps, of a difficult marriage, of the Yom Kippur War, and finally, of his return to the old commando unit that he led to Entebbe.

A shining career

In 1970, Yonatan was heading an anti-terrorist reconnaissance unit of the Sayeret Matkal (Israeli special forces), and in the summer of 1972 was appointed as the section's deputy commander. He led his unit to the Golan Heights battle successfully. Yonatan was awarded the Medal of Distinguished Service, Israel's third highest military decoration, for his rescue of Ben Hanan in the Golan Heights battle.

When Israeli officials were planning the Entebbe operation, a key figure in forming it, former soldiers and officials said in New York Times' recent interviews, was Yonatan.

The Israeli army personnel had rushed in, shot all the terrorists, and saved more than 100 people who were being held at the airport. Three hostages were killed in the crossfire, and one person lay outside: Yoni, who had been shot in the chest.

A heroic funeral

The family flew in virtual silence from the US to Israel for the funeral of the son and brother who had already been garlanded as a military hero and was now about to enter the national mythology. The Netanyahu name would take its place in the Israeli pantheon and, in the process, open up a path that would take young Binyamin to the top of Israeli politics  a path that began in Entebbe.

After his death, a book published by siblings Benjamin and Ido compiled all the letters of Yonatan, the icon for Israel and Jewish diaspora across the world. ''To kill at such a very close range ... to the point of pressing the muzzle against the flesh and pulling the trigger for a single bullet to be released and kill accurately ... adds a whole dimension of sadness to a man's being. Not a momentary, transient sadness, but something that sinks in and is forgotten, yet is there and endures,'' Yonatan wrote in one of his letters.

Political legacy

As Benjamin Netanyahu told The New York Times about his brother, There are few like him in history, and Entebbe is always with me. It is deep in my heart.

As the article says, "The unusual partnership of the two brothers  one dead, one alive  has deeply changed the young country of Israel."

Benjamin, who rose as one of the longest serving prime ministers in Israel, has always maintained that his anti-terrorist stand is because of his brother's death. "Your heroes are an inspiration for the younger generations," Modi told Netanyahu, who was also a member of Sayeret Matkal.

With inputs from PTI
New Delhi: In the backdrop of the standoff between Indian and Chinese troops on the India-China-Bhutan tri-junction, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is going to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping when leaders of the BRICS nations hold a meeting on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Hamburg on 7 July.

"A meeting of BRICS leaders will take place in Hamburg on the sidelines of the G20 Summit on 7 July," a source said on Tuesday.

"The meeting is expected to have the presence of Modi and Jinping," the source said.

China on Monday said India was using Bhutan to "cover up" the illegal entry by Indian troops into "Chinese territory" and demanded their immediate withdrawal.

Earlier, seeing Chinese troops, personnel of a Bhutan army camp on a ridge at a place called Zompelri rushed down and confronted the Chinese and told them that they cannot unilaterally change the existing status quo in the tri-junction.

Indian Army personnel, who were present in the general area Doka La in Sikkim on the other side, too rushed to the spot to help the Bhutanese soldiers. However, by that time the PLA had pushed back the Bhutanese and then came to a face-to-face situation with the Indian Army personnel.

The Indian soldiers too made it clear to the Chinese soldiers that they had no business changing the existing unilateral status quo in the tri-junction.

There is no Chinese territory between India's border in the Sikkim sector with Bhutan.

India and China had in 2012 reached an agreement that the tri-junction boundary points between India, China and third countries will be finalised in consultation with the concerned countries. Both the countries share three international tri-junctions  with Bhutan, Myanmar and Afghanistan.

Bhutan too has written agreements with China of 1988 and 1998 stating that the two sides agreed to maintain peace and tranquility in their border areas pending a final settlement on the boundary question, and to maintain status quo as before March 1959.

Following the 16 June incident, Bhutan officially lodged a protest at the Chinese Embassy in New Delhi on 20 June. Beijing and Thimphu do not share diplomatic ties.

The matter also came up for discussion at a border personnel meeting (BPM) between India and China at Nathu La in Sikkim on 20 June.

Last Thursday, the Bhutanese Foreign Ministry issued a press release which stated Bhutan has conveyed to the Chinese side, both on the ground and through the diplomatic channel, that the construction of the road inside Bhutanese territory was in direct violation of the agreements and affects the process of demarcating the boundary between the two countries.

"Bhutan hopes that the status quo in the Doklam area will be maintained as before 16 June," the statement said.

Though the 16 June incident is being seen as forcing India's hand to change the status quo in the tri-junction, it is understood that New Delhi has been approaching the matter in a reserved manner so that Bhutan does not come under pressure despite the fact that the road being constructed near Indian defence lines posed serious security implications.

The Ministry of External Affairs in a statement on Friday said that India has taken up the matter with China at the diplomatic level both in New Delhi and Beijing.
By Chaitanya Mallapur

Defence, agriculture, trade, diplomacy and water management will dominate talks when Prime Minister Narendra Modi visits Israel from 4-6 July at the invitation of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the first Indian Prime Minister to visit the Jewish homeland.

Modi is also expected to meet Moshe Holtzberg, a survivor of the 2008 Mumbai 26/11 terrorist attack. Moshe was two years old when the attack happened.

"Ahead of the visit, both countries have prepared a roadmap of joint economic undertakings," The Haaretz reported on 29 June, 2017. The Israeli cabinet approved a 23-page document continuing scores of bilateral measures and a budget of 280 million shekels (about $79.6 million or Rs 514 crore)a bigger sum than Israel has ever set aside for China, Africa and Latin America combined. No fewer than 11 ministries were involved in preparing the program.

PM Netanyahu: Next week, the Indian Prime Minister, my friend, @NarendraModi will arrive in Israel, This is an historic visit to Israel.  PM of Israel (@IsraeliPM) June 25, 2017

Here are five things that define the India-Israel relationship today:

1) Defence: India is Israel's top destination for arms exports, buying 41 percent of Israels arms export between 2012 and 2016, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, an independent global conflict and arms-research institute. Israel is Indias third-largest source of arms, with a 7.2 percent share of imports between 2012 and 2016, next to the USA (14 percent) and Russia (68 percent).

India-Israel Defence Trade

Source: SIPRI Arms Transfers Database

India-Israel Defence Contracts 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16 Contracts Value Contracts Value Contracts Value 5 Rs 3751 crore

(US $650 million) 1 Rs 875.49 crore

(US $143.5 million) 4 Rs 2979.26 crore

(US $458 million)

Source: Lok Sabha

The earliest signs of collaboration came during the 1962 Sino-Indian war, when Israel provided India military aid. Israel also assisted India during two wars with Pakistan in 1965 and 1971, according to this 2009 article in the Stanford Journal of International Relations. India reciprocated during the six-day war in 1967 by providing Israel with spare parts for French-made Mystere and Ouragan aircraft as well as AX-13 tanks (also French-made), the Stanford report said.

The highlight of the partnership was Israels supply of artillery shells during the Kargil war in 1999 when India faced a shortage. In the late 1990s, a crucial defence deal was the Indian purchase of Barak 1, an air-defence missile, bought specifically for its capability to intercept US-made Harpoon missiles deployed by Pakistan.

India's imports of unarmed vehicles (UAVs) have almost all been from Israel. Of 176 UAVs purchased from Israel, 108 are Searcher UAVs and 68 are Heron UAVs, IndiaSpend reported in May 2015. In April 2017, India and Israel signed a $2 billion (Rs 12,878 crore) deal for advanced medium-range surface-to-air missile system, which will provide the Indian army the capability to shoot down aircraft, missiles and drones at ranges of up to 70 km. In September 2016, tests were conducted of the jointly developed Long Range Surface-to-Air Missile with a range of 70 km, intended to equip three guided-missile destroyers of the Indian Navy. India successfully tested the Israeli-made SPYDER quick-reaction surface-to-air missile in May this year. The Indian Air Force is planning to deploy this system on its western border, India Today reported on February 28, 2017. India and Israel also closely cooperate on counter-terrorism issues through a joint working group on counter-terrorism. 2) Diplomacy: Several ministerial and high-level official visits to Israel precede Modis tour. These include visits by LK Advani, former home minister, in 2000, former President APJ Abdul Kalam in February 2008, home minister Rajnath Singh in November 2014, President Pranab Mukherjee in October 2015 and external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj in January 2016. Three Indian naval ships, destroyer INS Mumbai, frigate INS Trishul and tanker INS Aditya, made a goodwill visit at the Haifa port in May 2017 to mark 25 years of full diplomatic relations between the two countries.

#BridgesofFriendship As the ships of EF are steaming in S Indian Ocean iaw #ActEastPolicy the WF ships (Mumbai& Trishul) enter Haifa, Israel pic.twitter.com/SnggjeaNLf  SpokespersonNavy (@indiannavy) May 9, 2017

Source: Embassy of India in Israel /Embassy of Israel in India

3) Agriculture: An Indo-Israel agriculture action plan for 2015-18 is operational, and 15 of the proposed 26 centers of excellence in agriculture are being developed in India with Israels help to showcase the latest technology to Indian farmers.

Phase-I (2010-12) and phase-II (2012-15) of the agreement are complete, according to this reply to the Lok Sabha (lower house of Parliament) on February 7, 2017.

India has benefitted from Israeli technologies in horticulture mechanisation, protected cultivation, orchard and canopy management, nursery management, micro-irrigation and post-harvest management, particularly in Haryana and Maharashtra.

Every year, more than 20,000 farmers visit the Agricultural Centre of Excellence at Gharaunda in Karnal, Haryana, where a nursery produces hybrid seedlingsincluding tomatoes, cherry-tomato, colored capsicum, cucumbers, eggplant and chilli peppergrown in small, individual cells, ready to be transplanted into containers or a field.

There was a five-to 10-fold increase in crop yields with an accompanying 65 percent reduction in use of water and noticeable decrease in the use of pesticides and fertilisers, according to this December 2014 report on the Indo-Israel Agriculture Project.

Source: Indo-Israel Agriculture Project

4) Water Management: On June 28, 2017, the union cabinet approved a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Israel on the National Campaign for Water Conservation in India. Technologically-adept Israel has developed water-management technologies, located as it is in a semi-arid region with limited sources of fresh drinking water.

India and Israel had earlier signed an MoU on water resources management and development cooperation in November 2016.

India and Israel will do wonders together in our future #Water cooperation, covering all relevant watee disciplines -including #Desalination https://t.co/rmsUzR7pEp  Daniel Carmon???? (@danielocarmon) June 6, 2017

5) Trade: Israel was Indias 38th largest trading partner, with trade of $5.02 billion (Rs 33,634 crore) in 2016-17, down 18 percent over 2012-13. The trade balance stood in Indias favour at $1.10 billion (Rs 7,370 crore) in 2016-17.

Source: Ministry of Commerce; Figures in $ billion

Mineral fuels and oils are Indias leading export to Israel, worth $1.01 billion in 2016-17.

Indias major imports from Israel in 2016-17 included natural or cultured pearls and precious stones, worth $1.11 billion.

Trade in diamonds accounts for nearly 54 percent of the bilateral trade. Nearly 40 diamond dealers from India have opened offices at the Israeli diamond exchange in Ramat-Gan. Some of these dealers have been active in Israel for nearly 30-40 years.

Israeli exporters complain about the difficulties in doing business in India because of its onerous regulations, corruption and the division of the country into multiple jurisdictions of 29 states each with their own policies and rules, The Haaretz reported.

The Israeli government has proposed measures such as offering export insurance, liberalising the aviation sector and granting longer-term visas. The aim is to boost Israeli exports to India by 25 percent over the next four years and tourists to 80,000 annually.

Relations with Israel are significant for India because of cooperation in agriculture, defence and science/technology, Uttara Sahasrabuddhe, professor of international relations at the University of Mumbai, told IndiaSpend.

Israel has been giving key weapons systems to India including missiles; it has given us those weapons which we could not directly buy from the US for ideological reasons; cooperation in counter-terrorism from information sharing to techniques/doctrine of counter terrorism, Sahasrabudde said. It is also an important source of foreign investment, if tapped with care. The visit of the Indian PM will indicate that New Delhi has come out of the old mindset.

Modis visit is of unprecedented importance with bilateral ties going through changing paradigm and changed architecture, Israeli Ambassador to India Daniel Carmon was quoted as saying in the Economic Times on June 28, 2017.  there is no zero sum game and commitments and good relations with both sides can be maintained without contradiction.

Modi will be received by his Israeli counterpart at the airport along with a top protocol team comprising Israelis from various fields including rabbis. This is a special gesture only accorded to the Pope or the US President, the Ambassador said.

The announcement has generated excitement among Israelis. The Israeli Embassy in India has tweeted a video where Israelis welcome the Indian Prime Minister in Hindi.

An estimated 85,000 Jews of Indian-origin live in Israel, the majority being from Maharashtra (Bene Israelis), with some from Kerala (Cochini Jews) and Kolkata (Baghdadi Jews).

While India recognised Israel on 17 September, 1950a year after it voted against United Nations membership for the Jewish statefull diplomatic ties were established only in 1992, the reticence flowing from Indias traditional backing for the Palestinian cause.

Since then, relationships have been defined by defence deals and the 35,000 mostly young Israelis who visit India each year to de-stress after their compulsory two-three years of military service.

The traffic isnt all one-way: As many as 44,672 Indian tourists visited Israel in 2016, a 13 percent increase over the previous year, Financial Express reported on April 24, 2017.
New Delhi: The Congress on Tuesday attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi on his foreign trips, saying they have not benefited India "even a bit" and that only time will tell about the gains from his current visit to Israel. The party's remarks came as the prime minister left on a three-day visit to Israel, the first by an Indian premier to the country.

Senior AICC spokesperson Ajay Maken claimed Modi's last "64 visits in more than 3 years" have catered only to domestic Indian audience through "televised shows" instead of ensuring concrete gains for the country. "Only the time will tell how India will benefit out of the 65th visit, but if you look at the track record, India has not benefited a bit out of his last foreign visits," he told reporters.

Modi on Monday said he will discuss with his counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu common challenges like terrorism and ways to boost the economic ties. In Israel, he will also meet President Reuven Ruvi Rivlin and address the CEOs of the two countries as well as the Indian diaspora.

He will also visit the Yad Vashem Memorial Museum to honour the memory of the victims of the holocaust that counts among the greatest tragedies in human history.

Modi will also pay his respects to the courageous Indian soldiers who laid down their lives during the liberation of Haifa in 1918.

The prime minister said he will have "in-depth talks" with Netanyahu "on the full spectrum of our partnership and strengthening it in diverse fields for mutual benefit. We will also have the chance to discuss major common challenges like terrorism."

This year, India and Israel are marking 25 years of their diplomatic relations.

On the economic side, he said, "I will join with leading Indian and Israeli CEOs and start-ups to discuss our shared priority of expanding business and investment collaboration on the ground."
New Delhi: The Election Commission wants disqualification of candidates facing charges of heinous crimes and bribing voters in a bid to cleanse the system and provide a level-playing field.

The Commission also disfavours the provision of parties not requiring to disclose their funding through electoral bonds and wants a review of the provision.

"One of the important challenges to the electoral process being free and fair has been the role of criminals in the electoral arena. So, we have recommended that those against whom charge sheets have been filed for heinous crimes like murder, rape, kidnapping, etc, which can result in jail for 5 years should be prevented even from contesting elections," Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi told IANS in an interview.

He said the EC had recommended this and the Law Commission had endorsed the view. "The Law Commission has also given a separate report on this subject. I think it is time this is taken up on a priority basis," Zaidi said.

In a similar vein, Zaidi, who demits office on Wednesday after almost five years at the Commission, also talked tough about candidates facing charges of bribing voters, particularly in the context of the recently cancelled bypoll in RK Nagar assembly constituency in Tamil Nadu following the death of chief minister J Jayalalithaa.

"We need representatives of integrity in our electoral system, which means our election campaigns should not be funded or tainted by abuse of money. Now the candidates have

Now the candidates have a statutory limit. They can spend legally on election expenditure and not on things like alcohol or paid news," he said.

The Commission has deployed huge resources to ensure that these abuses do not take place. At the assembly level, it has big expenditure monitoring mechanism with many departments like narcotics, excise and police working together.

"But even this is not enough and there are certain gaps," he said.

Zaidi said if the information is received that a candidate or his agents are distributing money to voters, they cannot be arrested under the existing law as bribe giving and taking is a non-cognizable offence. So is the paid news menace.

"We are saying make these cognizable offences with two years punishment," he said, adding that would automatically provide for disqualification in case of conviction and sentencing.

Zaidi also wanted to countermand elections in these cases with specific provisions in the Representation of the People Act.

"For example, in the RK Nagar bypoll, we did not have legal powers to countermand election on bribery charges so we resorted to the omnibus provision of Article 324 of the Constitution. But we cannot invoke Article 324 every time. So there should be a proper law. This has been examined and endorsed by the Law Commission," Zaidi said.

But we cannot invoke Article 324 every time. So there should be a proper law. This has been examined and endorsed by the Law Commission," Zaidi said.

The outgoing CEC said the proposals in this regard had also been sent to the government.

Asked why these proposals are not being acted upon, he said, "We hear there is a need for political consensus. We only make recommendations and highlight them. The Supreme Court has also ruled that heinous criminal cases should be closed within a year.

"There are concerns that this can lead to witch-hunting or the ruling party can expedite or slow the trial process. That is why we considered that ok only those cases filed one year before, or charge sheet filed one year before the impending elections (be taken up). All these discussions have taken place. I think it is time this is taken up."

On the electoral bonds issue, Zaidi said the Commission has asked the government to review this provision.

"Our limited point is transparency. We have written to the government that electoral bonds should not be taken out of the purview of RP Act. Section 29 C of the RP Act has been amended. Political parties don't have to include electoral bonds in their contribution report. So we will get no information on that," he said.

"Although money received in cash, if it is more than Rs 2000, has to be included in contribution report, electoral bonds, even if it is Rs 10 crore, will not be included in contribution report.

So we have recommended a review of this provision for the sake of transparency. If it doesn't come to us, we will not be able to show it on the website," the CEC said.

On the capping of the cash donation to political parties at Rs 2,000, Zaidi said that this is "something good that has happened", and added that the criticism that people can make multiples of Rs 1,900 will "only be tested by time".
Seoul: North Korea launched a ballistic missile on Tuesday, the South's military said, just days after Seoul's new leader Moon Jae-In and US President Donald Trump focused on the threat from Pyongyang in their first summit.

The launch, which came as the US prepared to celebrate its Independence Day on the Fourth of July, was the latest in a series of provocations that have ratcheted up tensions over the nuclear-armed North's weapons ambitions.

The "unidentified ballistic missile" was fired from a site near Panghyon in North Phyongan province, the South's Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement, and came down in the East Sea, the Korean name for the Sea of Japan.

It flew for "several hundred kilometres", they added. The device may have come down in Japan's exclusive economic zone, a spokeswoman for Tokyo's defence ministry told AFP  waters extending 200 nautical miles from its coast.

Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said the missile flew "for about 40 minutes"  an unusually long flight time.

"This launch of a ballistic missile can never be tolerated, and Japan strongly protested to North Korea and condemned it," he told a briefing. Pyongyang says it needs nuclear weapons to defend itself against the threat of invasion and has carried out multiple launches since Moon  who backs engagement with the North but also stresses the need for sanctions  was elected in May.

Moon called a meeting of the South's National Security Council in response to the launch. At their summit in Washington at the weekend, Trump declared that the US had run out of patience with North Korea over its weapons drive, which includes developing a missile capable of delivering a warhead to the US mainland.

"Together, we are facing the threat of the reckless and brutal regime in North Korea," Trump said. "The nuclear and ballistic missile programs of that regime require a determined response.

"The North Korean dictatorship has no regard for the safety and security of its people, for its neighbours and has no respect for human life."

He later discussed the issue in separate phone calls with Chinese leader Xi Jinping and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

Shea Cotton, a researcher at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies in the US, suggested Tuesday's launch was deliberately timed to coincide with the anniversary of the US declaration of independence.

"It's already 4th of July in North Korea," he said on Twitter. "I somewhat suspect they're shooting off some fireworks today specifically because of that."

Washington, South Korea's security guarantor, has more than 28,000 troops in the country to defend it from its Communist neighbour, which has been intensifying missile tests.

There was also deep anger in the United States after Otto Warmbier, an American student who was detained in North Korea on a tourist trip around 18 months ago, was returned home in a coma in June, dying days later.

Trump had been pinning his hopes on China  North Korea's main diplomatic ally  to bring pressure to bear on Pyongyang but declared last week that their efforts had failed.
Islamabad: Pakistan will not enter into any dialogue with India that excludes Kashmir, Prime Minister's Advisor on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz said on Monday, asserting that Islamabad wants to settle all contentious issues through "result-oriented" talks.

"India's belligerent posturing and their desire to conduct dialogue on their own terms i.e. without Kashmir, will never be acceptable," said Aziz briefing a 20-member delegation of 'Kashmir Journalist Forum' from PoK at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

He said UN chief Antonio Guterres has expressed his concern over tension between India and Pakistan, called for a dialogue and offered to play role to help resolve Kashmir issue.

Aziz said India's refusal to accept the role of the UN or good offices of the other leaders for reducing tension between the two countries by resolving the Kashmir issue reflects "Indian desperation to hide its crimes against humanity" in the valley.

"Pakistan wants to settle all contentious issues, particularly the Kashmir dispute with India through a sustained and result-oriented dialogue," he said. He asked the UN, Organisation of Islamic Cooperation and human rights organisations to step up efforts to stop the "bloodshed of Kashmiris" and ensure early implementation of UNSC Resolutions.

Aziz said that protest in Kashmir has now entered a "critical phase" and the "Indian propaganda of down-playing" the Kashmir issue is also being defeated.

"If there is nothing wrong then why there are over 7,00,000 fully armed Indian forces stationed? Why the entire media has been blocked? he said.

He said despite "the gravity of the situation on ground and persistent international pressure" on India to resume dialogue with Pakistan with particular focus on Kashmir issue, Indian government has been trying to "divert global attention" from the situation in the Valley by "heating up" Line of Control and Working Boundary.
July 4, Princess

Source: Catholicsaints.info

Also known as

 Elisabet of Portugal

 Elizabeth of Aragon

 Isabel of Portugal

 Isabella of Portugal

 The Peacemaker



Memorial

 4 July

 formerly 8 July



Profile

Princess. Daughter of King Pedro III of Aragon and Constantia; great-granddaughter of Emperor Frederick II. Great-niece of Saint Elizabeth of Hungary, for whom she was named. She had a pious upbringing with daily liturgy and praying of the hours, regular religious instruction and education. Married at age twelve to King Diniz of Portugal, and thus Queen of Portugal before she was a teenager.



The king was known for his hard work, his poetic nature, and his lack of morals. Elizabeth suffered through years of abuse and adultery, praying all the while for his conversion, and working with the poor and sick. Mother of two, Princess Constantia and Prince Affonso. She sometimes convinced the ladies of the court to help with her charity work, but most of the time she just incurred their jealousy and ill will. The king appears to have reformed late in life, though whether from Elizabeths faith or his imminent death is unknown.



Prince Affonso rebelled against the favours that King Diniz bestowed on his illegitimate sons, and in 1323 forces of the king and prince clashed in open civil war. Though she had been unjustly accused of siding with her son against the crown, Elizabeth rode onto the battlefield between them, and was able to reconcile father and son, and prevent bloodshed. This led to her patronage as a peacemaker, and as one invoked in time of war and conflict.



After the death of the king in 1325, she distributed her property to the poor, became a Franciscan tertiary, and retired to a monastery of Poor Clares she had founded at Coimbra.



In 1336 her son, now King Affonso IV, marched against his son-in-law, the King of Castile to punish him for being a negligent and abusive husband. Despite her age and ill health, Elizabeth hurried to the battlefield at Estremoz, Portugal, and again managed to make peace in her family, and thus maintain peace in her land.



Born

 1271 at Aragon, Spain



Died

 4 July 1336 at Estremoz, Portugal of fever

 buried at Coimbra, Portugal

 miracles reported at her tomb



Canonized

 25 May 1625 by Pope Urban VIII



Patronage

 against jealousy

 brides

 charitable societies

 charitable workers

 charity workers

 charities

 Coimbra, Portugal

 difficult marriages

 falsely accused people

 invoked in time of war

 peace

 queens

 tertiaries

 victims of adultery

 victims of jealousy

 victims of unfaithfulness

 widows
New Delhi: Calling recent protests against lynching "a conspiracy by a section of society" to malign the image of "gau rakshaks" (cow vigilantes), the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) on Tuesday demanded a central law for cow protection.

Addressing a press conference in New Delhi, VHP General Secretary Surendra Jain said: "Some placard-carrying groups have been trying to malign our image. They are the same people who sympathised with Yakub Memon, demanded proof of surgical strike, stood behind Kanhaiya Kumar and supported jihadis. The 'award wapsi brigade' is behind this."

The campaign against the VHP was apparently sponsored by the meat exporters' lobby, who were concerned over business losses, Jain said.

"We are of clear view that the vested interests are creating poisonous atmosphere in the country. It can be checked only through a strong anti-cow slaughter central law and its effective implementation. Once the law is implemented, there will be no need for a struggle," he said.

Jain added that Mahatma Gandhi had said that Swaraj was incomplete without "gau raksha" (protection of cows).

Reacting to allegations of involvement of gau rakshaks in recent lynching cases, Jain said: "You cannot be selective. Cow killers and jihadis have carried out over 120 deadly attacks on gau rakshaks. They even attacked police."

"Many gau rakshaks were hacked to pieces. Was it not lynching? The VHP does not support any kind of violence, but one cannot be selective."

When asked about his reaction to Prime Minister Narendra Modi condemning killings in the name of gau raksha, Jain dodged the question by sating: "Six months ago, Prime Minister had also said that gau seva is important."
As the search operation in Bahmnoo area of Pulwama in Jammu and Kashmir continued for the second day on Tuesday, another terrorist was killed and three security personnel were injured.

J&K: Search operation continues in Pulwama's Bamnoo (Visuals deferred by unspecified time) pic.twitter.com/zLVouiaT3R  ANI (@ANI_news) July 4, 2017

According to India Today, at least ten protesters have also been injured in clashes with the security force personnel near the encounter site.

Two militants were killed on Monday in an encounter with security forces in Pulwama district.

After the encounter, locals in the Malangpora area of Pulwama helped at least two to three militants escape, according to media reports.

India Today earlier reported that the terrorists, identified as top Hizbul Mujahideen commanders, escaped early Monday as locals disrupted the search operations being carried out since Sunday evening.

A stone-pelting mob clashed with the security forces, who launched a cordon and search operation after reports emerged that suspected militants were trapped in the area.

On Saturday, security forces killed top Lashkar-e-Taiba commander Bashir Lashkari who masterminded the gruesome murder of six policemen, including officer Feroz Dar last month, in an encounter following a cordon operation.

Two civilians were also killed near the site of the gunfight where stone-pelters had gathered to disrupt the operation.

With inputs from PTI
Kochi: Royal Australia Navy (RAN) ship HMAS Newcastle arrived in kochi on Tuesday on a four-day visit.

The Commanding Officer of the Ship MD Sirois accompanied by Captain Sheldon Williams called on Vice Admiral AR Karve AVSM, Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Southern Naval Command(SNC) for interactions on issues of common interest to both navies, a naval press release said.

A friendly volleyball match between teams from SNC and the visiting ship was also played.

During the ships stay, various activities such as guided tour for Indian Naval personnel onboard HMAS Newcastle, conducted tour of some of the training units under SNC at Kochi like the Navigation & Direction, Anti- Submarine Warfare School, Damage Control Training Facility Avinash, for the visiting ships crew have been planned.

On their departure on 7 July, the RAN ship is expected to participate in a passage Exercise with Indian Navy (IN) Ships off Kochi.

Recently, IN Ships Jyoti, Shivalik and Kamorta from Eastern Fleet had also visited Freemantle, Australia from 13-17 June and participated in the second edition of AUSINDEX- 17, a bilateral maritime exercise between the two navies, it said.
New Delhi: The Central Information Commission (CIC) has directed the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) to respond to an RTI applicant seeking details of Sonia Gandhi's Indian citizenship.

The RTI applicant from Ujjain had approached the external affairs ministry seeking details of acquisition of Indian citizenship by foreign nationals including Gandhi.

He had also demanded her citizenship application, certified copies of supporting documents, notification, order, rules, correspondence pertaining to Gandhi's Indian citizenship, and notesheets of the verification process.

Though the matter was transferred to the home ministry by the external affairs ministry, the former did not respond to the query.

Chief Information Commissioner RK Mathur has ordered the home ministry to respond to the application.

"Upon perusal of the record, it is seen that no reply of the Ministry of Home Affairs is available. The Commission observes that the MHA should give a reply to the appellant (applicant), within 15 days from the date of receipt of this order," Mathur said.

He has also directed the Central Public Information Officer of the home ministry to appear for hearing on the next date.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday said that roads within cities can be denotified as national highways, opening a window for numerous liquor shops that were set to lose their license after a blanket ban on alcohol shops within 500 metres of all highways.

According to a report by CNN-News18, the Supreme Court observed that the purpose of its judgement was to ensure that drivers under the influence of alcohol do not get on to high-speed national highways. It said that there was nothing wrong in denotifying state and district roads that were previously notified as part of national highways.

The move will benefit numerous bars in cities such as Bangalore, where vast stretches of important thoroughfares, totalling 78 kilometres, are actually parts of six national highways. Many five-star hotels, including ITC Windsor, Lalit Ashok, Le Meridien and The Oberoi, are located on Ballari Road, MG Road and Hosur Road, which were discovered to be highways.

The Karnataka government has requested the Centre to denotify over 700 kilometres of national highways and 1,476 kilometres of state highways passing through towns and cities.

The central government is yet to give its nod but the Supreme Court order is likely to iron things out a bit for a distraught state government.

According to Hindustan Times, the state government had only recently started serving notice to bars and hotels near Ballari Road and MG Road as they realised that Bengaluru's largest arterial roads were a part of state highways.

The Supreme Court had said that liquor vendors within 500 metres of national and state highways will have to shut from 1 April.

The court had given some exemptions to Sikkim, Meghalaya and Himachal Pradesh. It also held that areas with a population up to 20,000 may have liquor vends at a distance of 220 metres from the highways.

However, the state governments, as well as hotel and bar owners, had gone to all lengths to sidestep the apex court's order.

A report in The Times of India points out how hotels in Nagpur have relocated their main entrance to the other side of the building in order to increase their distance from highways. The report cites the example of Hotel Radisson Blu on Wardha Road in Nagpur, which has placed dividers on the path inside so customers would have to traverse the same road twice before making their way to the main entrance.

Another report states how vast stretches of arterial roads in states like Maharashtra, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan and others were quickly denotified and labelled as state or city roads, just days after the apex court's order. Most states did not specify any reason for changing the categories and some even denied that the step had been taken in view of the Supreme Court verdict.

With Tuesday's order, the trend is likely to be followed across the nation.
The Supreme Court, earlier this week, presented a judgment which was win-win for both the petitioner as well as the judiciary  the petitioner made a case for termination of pregnancy beyond the permissible limit, and the judiciary accommodated the argument. The court observed that a woman has a sacrosanct right to her bodily integrity and it's her choice while delivering a judgment on the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act.

The court permitted a Kolkata-based woman, who is in her 26th week of pregnancy, to abort her foetus and terminate her pregnancy because the foetus is suffering from severe cardiac ailments. The woman had approached the court when she was in her 23rd week of pregnancy.

The bench consisting of Justices Dipak Misra and M Khanwilkar ruled in favour of the woman stating that the termination of pregnancy should be carried out forthwith at the SSKM Hospital in Kolkata. Justices Misra and Khanwilkar have been prudent, understanding the life of the foetus after birth, and the mental, physical and emotional anguish of the mother.

The MTP Act does not allow abortion if the foetus is over 20 weeks old, and exceptions to this rule include grave danger to the mother or the baby. The bench perused the report of the medical board and the SSKM hospital, and following its recommendation, ruled in favour of the exception. The petitioner had claimed that the unreasonable restriction of 20 weeks on abortion under the MTP Act had caused her grave mental and physical anguish. It was in May during a fetal echo-cardiography that the petitioner discovered that her foetus suffered from Tetralogy of Fallot, a combination of four heart impairments. The medical board stated that the foetus, if carried to full-term and born, would have to undergo several complex medical procedures and that its chances of survival were immensely low. The court followed the recommendations of the board stating that this as a special case and would cause mental injury to the mother in case the MTP was not carried out  it is clear as crystal that the medical board is of the view that there is a case for termination of pregnancy as a special case

The petitioner also challenged the constitutional validity of Section 3 (2) (b) of the MTP Act, which restricts the period of termination of pregnancy to 20 weeks. Section 5 of the Act allows for an exception and allows for abortion after the permissible 20 weeks in case it is immediately necessary to save the life of the pregnant woman.

Many are not aware of the access to medical termination of pregnancy or abortion. The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare conducted a survey in 2007 that suggested that only 22.9 percent of men, and 28 percent of women were aware that medical abortions are possible and accessible. The MTP Act allows for termination of pregnancy up to 12 weeks with the approval of one medical practitioner, and beyond 12 weeks to 20 weeks with the approval of two registered medical practitioners, who are of the opinion, in good faith, that the continuance of pregnancy will cause grave injury to the physical or mental well-being of the pregnant woman, or if theres substantial risk to the childs life. However, the MTP Act does not allow for abortions at the request of the mother  a grave risk to the mothers or the foetus life is a necessary condition for the invoking of provisions of the MTP Act.

There have been several instances wherein the constitutional validity of the MTP Act and its provisions have been debated. Earlier this year, the Supreme Court rejected the plea of a 37-year-old woman who wanted to abort her 26-week foetus that showed signs of Downs Syndrome  the court made a strict and pedantic reading of the MTP Act, empathising that while they know that the child, when born, might suffer from mental and physical challenges, they were bound by the law  It is sad that the child may suffer from physical and mental challenges and its unfortunate for the mother but we cant allow an abortion. We have a life in our hands and we are also tied down by a law.

In 2008, the Bombay High Court rejected the petition of a woman to abort her 26-week foetus, who showed signs of a congenital heart defect. The court stated that it could not read down Section 5 of the Act as it would amount to usurping the power of the legislature. In R v. Haryana, the Punjab and Haryana High Court denied the petitioner  a rape survivor  permission to terminate her 25 week foetus as the medical board did not recommend such an action. During the course of the proceedings of this case, the petitioner gave birth to a baby born out of sexual assault.

However, what is not dealt with in the present judgment is the accommodation of womens consent and agency, irrespective of the situation of grave danger to the life of the pregnant woman or her foetus. In the debate between the right to life of the unborn child versus the right to life of the pregnant woman, the concept of liberty and agency of the woman is not deliberated.

In the United States of America, there is a pertinent debate between pro-life and pro-choice activists, but in India, the current legislation does not allow for a pro-choice argument. The concept of consent is diluted in conversations about procedure and recommendations on substantial risk to life (of the mother or the foetus). The MTP Act is 45 years old, and despite several suggestions, has not yet gone through amendments. A draft Medical Termination of Pregnancy (Amendment) Bill, 2014 by the Ministry of Health provides for termination of pregnancy beyond 20 weeks  to 24 weeks , under certain stipulated conditions. However, it has been reported that this Bill was delayed. Until the Bill moves through the labyrinthe of the legislature, fundamental rights will continue to be violated by the MTP Act and the judiciary shall persist to make decisions on this issue without adequate care about womens liberty and agency.
Mumbai: The Shiv Sena on Tuesday said lynching people in the name of cow protection was against Hindutva and urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to come up with a national policy on beef. A string of such incidents have been reported from several states, including BJP-ruled Jharkhand, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, prompting protests.

"The issue of beef is related to eating habits, business and employment. Hence, there should be a national policy over the issue," an editorial in Sena mouthpiece Saamana said. "Those who were safeguarding cows were Hindus till yesterday. Today, they have become murderers," it said. In a tough message against cow vigilantism and mob lynching, Modi last week said killing people on the pretext of protecting cows is not acceptable and warned that no one has the right to take law into his hands.

"We welcome the stand taken by the prime minister over the issue. Nobody has the right to take law in his hands in the name of cow protection. Lynching people is against the principles of Hindutva," the Sena said. "We thank him (Modi) for clearly defining Hindutva. He should now come up with a national policy on beef to ease tensions," the ruling alliance partner said. Under attack over mobs killing those suspected of cow slaughter or eating beef, BJP chief Amit Shah recently termed such incidents as "serious", but claimed more of these happened under the previous governments than the three years of NDA rule.

Recently, a 15-year-old boy, Junaid Khan, was stabbed to death by a group of men on a train when he was returning home to Ballabhgarh in Haryana after shopping for Eid. His assailants termed Junaid, his brother and friends as "beef eaters".

In Jharkhand's Ramgarh, a Muslim meat trader was beaten to death last week by cow vigilantes who alleged he was carrying beef in his vehicle. Nityanand Mahto, a local BJP leader is among those arrested in connection with the incident. In September 2015, Mohammad Akhlaq was beaten to death at Dadri in Uttar Pradesh over suspicion of storing and consuming beef.
New Delhi: Strongly hitting out at Pakistan, India on Monday asserted that the brazen admission by Hizbul terrorist Syed Salahuddin of perpetrating terror attacks on India and his confession of assistance from Pakistan was a proof of Islamabad's policy of cross-border terrorism.

The confession also affirms the complicity of Pakistan's state structure in using terrorist proxies as a matter of policy against the neighbours, External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Gopal Baglay said in response to a query regarding the interview by global terrorist Salahuddin, the Pakistan-based self-styled head of the United Jihad Council.

"The brazen admission by Syed Salahuddin of perpetrating terrorist attacks on India and having the capacity to carry out such attacks at any place and time in India is a further proof of Pakistan s continuing policy of cross border terrorism," he said.

Baglay demanded that Pakistan must give up its policy of cross-border terrorism, fulfil its obligations under international resolutions and stop all activities of terrorists from the territory under Pakistan's control.

Salahuddin, also chief of internationally designated terrorist organisation Hizbul Mujahideen, was declared a specially designated global terrorist by the US Department of State last week during the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi there.

In an interview to a Pakistani TV channel, Salhuddin said he "can strike anytime, anywhere in India" and that it was easy for him to get weapons in Pakistan for these terror strikes.

The MEA spokesperson further said that "the interview only highlights the unabashed manner in which terrorist organisations and leaders enjoy freedom of operations in Pakistan, including access to terror financing and procurement and supply of weapons for terrorism."

Baglay also added that "It is a matter of deep regret that senior Pakistan functionaries continue to justify and defend the activities of such internationally designated terrorist entities and leaders who are responsible for killing thousands of innocent civilians over the past three decades."

"Pakistan must give up its policy of cross-border terrorism, fulfil its obligations under international resolutions and stop all activities of terrorists from the territory under Pakistan's control."
Hyderabad: A 17-year-old student was allegedly raped by her four classmates in a house in Khammam city where she had gone to attend a friend's birthday party, police said.

The accused also videographed the incident that took place on Sunday.

The girl, a student of a private college, on Monday lodged a complaint at Khammam III Town police station accusing her four classmates, all major, of raping her at the birthday bash, police said.

According to a senior police officer, the girl stated in her complaint that the entire incident was filmed and she was threatened not to disclose the matter to anyone.

A case of gang-rape under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and under relevant sections of the POCSO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences) Act was registered.
Kolkata: Trinamool Congress MP Sugata Bose on Monday alleged that some people threatened and demanded money from him for carrying out renovation at his family residence in Kolkata after which six persons were arrested by police.

According to a senior officer of Kolkata Police, these six people were arrested after Bose lodged an FIR with the Ballygunge police station alleging that he was threatened by these people demanding extortion for the renovation work undergoing at their residence on Sarat Bose Road.

Sugata Bose, the Trinamool Congress MP from Jadavpur constituency is also the grand nephew of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose.

There has been renovation work going on at Bose's residence which is popularly known as the home of his father Netaji's nephew Shishir Bose. The renowned historian in his complaint alleged that extortionists threatened the family to stop renovation works if they are not paid, the officer said.

"The extortionists demanded money from Bose and his mother Krishna Basu following which there was an altercation between them. They fled when Bose enquired about their identity," the officer said. A quick investigation was initiated following which six locals from the area were arrested, he said.

"We are still investigating the matter and there could be more arrests also," he said. Following the incident, security has been beefed up at Bose's residence.
Scott Kramer, an autistic adult and program director of the GCA Centre for Adult Autism (Centre), will be launching the first adult autism conference east of the Mississippi River. The Inaugural Tri-State Adult Autism Symposium Conference is the first autism conference east of the Mississippi to focus fully on adult autism themes (employment, independent living, social relationships, health and wellness, and research). The conference will be taking place on Saturday, July 22, in Chattanooga at Red Bank Baptist Church, 4000 Dayton Blvd.



Mr. Kramer talked with about 25 executive directors in the disability community from Tennessee, Georgia, and Alabama. "The overwhelming responses that the directors gave convinced me that I had found a 'gold mine of an opportunity' to reach out to the adult autism community in those three states." Formed with the idea of building community, Mr. Kramer recognized the need for this type of conference. "Countless numbers of autistic adults never had their social needs met in childhood, so those needs exist to this day. What this conference does is have social networking events take place the day before and day of the conference. By doing so, the social needs of these individuals can be better met."



"Approximately one to one and a half percent of this country's population is autistic. According to the U.S. Census Bureau in 2015, just over 77 percent of the country's population is at least 18 years of age. With a population of just 22 million people in the states of Tennessee, Georgia, and Alabama, roughly 190,000 autistic adults live in the area that the conference is focusing to serve," officials said.

For more information, contact Scott Kramer at 423-598-9516 or by email at Scott.Kramer@chattanoogaautismcenter.org.
Washington: The US has started rolling out for India its Global Entry programme which allows for expedited clearance of pre-approved, low-risk travellers.

Indian Ambassador to the US Navtej Sarna on Monday became the first Indian national to enroll in the programme. With this India has becomes only the 11th country whose citizens are eligible to enroll in the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) initiative.

On landing at select airports, the programme members enter the United States through automatic kiosks, instead of queueing up to clear the immigration by meeting an immigration officer. At these airports, the members proceed to the Global Entry kiosks, present their machine-readable passport or US permanent resident card, place their fingerprints on the scanner for fingerprint verification and complete a customs declaration.

The kiosk then issues the traveller a transaction receipt and directs him or her to the baggage claim and the exit.

Travellers must be pre-approved for the Global Entry programme. All applicants undergo a rigorous background check and in-person interview before enrolment, the CBP website says.

"CBP is excited to offer our flagship Trusted Traveller programme to Indian citizens," said Kevin McAleenan, Acting Commissioner of US Customs and Border Protection. "By expanding Global Entry eligibility, CBP is transforming the international arrivals process, making it more secure, efficient and welcoming, for the millions of Indian citizens who visit the United States each year," he said.

Global Entry is currently available at 53 US airports and 15 pre-clearance locations.

It is now available to US citizens, Green Card holders and nationals from Argentina, Colombia, Germany, Mexico, the Netherlands, Panama, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom, besides India. Canadian citizens and residents enrolled in NEXUS may also use the Global Entry kiosks.

The NEXUS programme allows pre-screened travellers expedited processing when entering the United States and Canada.
Bhubaneswar: BJP president Amit Shah on Tuesday hailed the warriors of Paika rebellion in Odisha who fought the British as he launched the party's grassroots connect drive in Ganjam district, home turf of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.

On his way to Hugulapata area in Ganjam, Shah had a brief halt at Khordha and paid floral tributes to the fighters of Paika Rebellion of 1817.

"When the East India Company started tinkering with the revenue system in 1803, the farming community of Odisha rose in rebellion," the BJP president said in a Twitter post.

"The great Paika Rebellion in 1817 was led by Bakshi Jagabandhu Paika Bakshi projecting Lord Jagannath as the symbol of Odia unity," he tweeted.

As he launched the party's grassroots connect exercise 'Mo Booth Sabuthu Majboot', the BJP chief was accorded rousing receptions at a number of places during his journey from Bhubaneswar to Ganjam, the home district of Naveen Patnaik, who is also the president of ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) in the state.

Shah was accompanied by senior BJP leaders like Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and state party president Basant Panda.

Shah's three-day Odisha visit is aimed at expanding the party's base in the state ahead of the 2019 elections.

He is scheduled to visit Jajpur district on Wednesday to attend mass connect programmes. On 6 July, he is slated to attend similar programmes in Khurda district.

He is also slated to meet senior party leaders and hold a discussion on strategies to be adopted to further widen its base in Odisha during his visit, where Assembly elections are due in 2019 together with the Lok Sabha polls.

Shah's visit is part of BJP s strategy to strengthen the party in the state.

Buoyed by its impressive performance in the panchayat elections in the state in February this year, BJP gearing up to strengthen the party in Odisha.
Lucknow: Condemning police action against Dalit group planning to protest against the Yogi Adityanath government, the Congress on Tuesday accused the BJP regime in Uttar Pradesh of "adopting double standards" in its treatment of the community.

"Dalits, who were on their way to Lucknow from Gujarat to express their anger, were stopped and sent back from the Jhansi railway station on Monday. Those expressing solidarity with them in the state capital, including a retired IP officer, were also taken into custody... this spells out the double standards of the ruling party towards Dalits," allege Congress spokesman Ashok Singh.

Citing reports of shampoo and soaps being distributed in a Dalit locality before the chief minister's visit there, he said this was the "reality of BJP's Dalit prem." In Monday's incident in Lucknow, retired IPS officer R Darapuri and seven others were detained and later released by the police for attempting to take out a rally.

In another instance, a group of Dalits from Gujarat, on their way to the state capital with a plan to gift a 125-kilogram soap to Adityanath as a mark of protest, were stopped and sent back from the Jhansi railway station.

Singh said, "BJP president Amit Shah and other leaders of the party are now eating food with Dalit families in a bid to woo them... these are the same people who used to criticise Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi when he did the same thing."

"BJP is a party of double standards. It says one thin and does another," he alleged.
A recent statement by Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad, stating that 'some people follow different ideologies and take varying decisions', was clearly a jibe aimed at Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar  over his decision to support the candidature of Ram Nath Kovind for the upcoming presidential election.

This distressing statement was made in spite of several clarifications issued by both Nitish and I, on behalf of the JD(U), that support for Kovind can be regarded as an 'isolated incident' and a 'one time affair', making one wonder as to why such a senior Congress leader has chosen to do so.

Azad has held several important positions in the governments of Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, Narasimha Rao and Manmohan Singh. His statement has, therefore, made an impact on the Coalition Alliance.

Opposition parties coming together along with farmers' organisations during the recent farmers' agitations in Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh had provided traction to efforts for mobilising forces against the Narendra Modi government. After the death of six farmers at Mandsaur, farmers across the country rose up in agitation.

These issues provided an opportunity for the Congress leadership to place the government in the docks. However, instead of seizing the opportunity to amalgamate the Opposition forces, the Congress party instead chose to attack the very leader of the Coalition Alliance.

With his good governance peg and spotlessly clean image, Nitish has been steadily gaining recognition across the country as a leader to be reckoned with, who can pose a challenge to Modi. Several leaders, including HD Deva Gowda, Sharad Powar and Lalu Prasad Yadav have on several occasions appreciated his governance and pegged him as a potential challenger to Modi.

JD(U), as a party, adheres to and is devoted to the highest principles of socialism. For JD(U) members, dharnas, demonstrations and even going to jail, if necessary, is part of the tradition. Just after Independence, leaders like Ram Manohar Lohia, Jay Prakash Narayan and Narendra Dev had soon realised that the (then) ruling Congress party is distanced from both the farming and the industrial sectors.

Had the JD(U) leaders so desired, they too, by virtue of their stature, could have occupied positions of power and high office but they chose instead to abide by the call of their principles. Even though they had been imprisoned during the Emergency, JD(U) leaders continued to unwaveringly abide by their cherished principles. Therefore, when insinuations are raised against JD(U), it becomes necessary for the party to respond.

The freedom struggle was fought under the leadership of Gandhi. Jawaharlal Nehru was a leader of international stature with cherished principles such as secularism, non-alignment and development of the public sector. He was the first non-Arab leader who gave recognition to the state of Palestine and along with Chou-en-lai, Marshal Tito, Nasser and Sukarno, he strived to strengthen the non-alignment movement.

However, it was one of his later successors, PV Narasimha Rao who, in 1992, not only accorded recognition to Israel but also commenced procurement of military hardware from it. This was the period during which Congress began slipping away from its principles.

Bank Nationalisation, which brought banking into the ambit of the poor, was amongst Indira Gandhis progressive decisions. During UPA-1, a committee had been set up under the chairmanship of PJ Naik to examine how banks can once again be de-nationalised. Socialist policies initiated under Nehru and Indira were started only to be abandoned later.

Disinvestment was at a high and this was the very period when the Congress party was retreating from its erstwhile socialist ideals. Liberalisation, Privatisation and reckless foreign direct investments were encouraged, which demolished the dreams of Gandhi, Nehru and Indira.

Nehru and Indira had been paragons of secularism. Yet, in spite of a Congress government in Delhi, the nation had to witness the demolition of the Babri Masjid, which led to a sharp polarisation of society.

During the rule of VP Singh, who headed the United Front Government with outside support of BJP, Lal Krishna Advani, while on a tour of Sarnath, had sought to perform the placing of a symbolic foundation brick or sheelanyas at Ayodhya. The Janata Dal was in power and Nitish, Sharad Yadav and Ram Vilas Paswan were ministers in the government. Yet, history is witness to their being voted out of power rather than the laying down of thesheelanyas.

When the recommendations of the Mandal Committee were sought to be implemented under the leadership of VP Singh, it was as if an earthquake had struck. This was the single-most significant step after Independence to empower the socially and economically backwards classes of society and was in accordance with the tenets enshrined in the Constitution, that provided reservation in employment for these sections of society. It is a matter of regret that the Congress party had sided with the BJP to force the government of the time out of power and many Congress leaders had chosen to consider the agitation as a communal one.

Now, when JD(U) once again has a leader of that stature in Nitish, instead of strengthening his hands and providing him support, there is an attempt at indictment and fault finding. On his part, Nitish has himself announced unequivocally that he is not an aspirant for any top post and that his is a small party with a mere 15-20 seats, which does not suffice to support a claim for prime ministership.

Opposition parties must instead formulate and work on a common minimum programme. The JD(U) will not function on the dictates of another party. Yet Nitish, who has expressed strong remorse at Azad's statements has nevertheless appealed for the Coalition Alliance to be strengthened.
New Delhi: The Congress on Tuesday said "nothing concrete" has come out of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's previous foreign visits and added that only time will tell whether India will benefit anything out of his current visit to Israel.

"This is the 65th visit of the prime minister to a foreign country in last more than three years. What we have seen previously in his 64 official visits also is that it caters only to the domestic Indian audience.

"He goes there, it is telecast, publicised in India but nothing concrete comes out of the visit of the prime minister," said Congress spokesperson Ajay Maken.

"In last 64 visits, nothing concrete has come out, nothing beneficial has come out for our country. So, only time will tell how India will benefit out of this visit," he added.

"No investments have happened, the relations with neighbouring states have worsened, incursions are happening. What kind of foreign policy is this? No employment generation, it can't be a foreign policy of visits, we should get concrete benefits out of these," he added.
Srinagar: The Jammu and Kashmir government had invited journalists, working for different media outlets, to cover a special session of the state Legislative Assembly, which was going to debate the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) in the state. The BJP-PDP government in the state has been struggling to build a consensus with Opposition parties to implement the new tax regime in the state. Finance Minister Haseeb Drabu was to schedule a resolution on GST in the House.

The state government has been arguing that instead of an 'all India GST' it will have a special GST, though not a separate one, while also insisting that the state government has enough constitutional and administrative control over the overall taxation set-up. But the government failed to reveal the final details of its GST ideation.

On Tuesday morning, this author was about to enter the Jammu And Kashmir Civil Secretariat, which is housed inside the state Legislative Assembly in the heart of the summer capital Srinagar, when policeman outside the secretariat stopped the reporters' vehicles, despite a vehicle pass being issued by the information department, to enter the Legislative Assembly complex.

Instead, the journalists were asked to keep their mobile phones, laptops and cameras outside and were only allowed to enter on foot from the main gate of the Legislative Assembly complex.

This is perhaps for the first time in the history of the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly that journalists were thoroughly frisked, bringing back for many reporters memories of the numerous crackdowns in the early 1990s.

A poster pasted on the wall of the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly complex read, Media persons carrying cameras, both still and motion, and cell phones will not be permitted into the House. Only pen and paper. This is the direction of the speaker.

Journalists stood outside the main gate of the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly, wondering what would have led the BJP-PDP government to impose a gag on mobile phones, cameras, and even resort to tearing the passes of senior journalists on the main gate. What did it want to hide?

The proceedings inside the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly were temporarily disrupted when the Opposition boycotted the House due to curbs on electronic media in the Assembly.

The journalists as a mark of protest boycotted the session, refusing to enter without their cameras and mobile phones. An hour later Muneer ul Islam, Director of Information, asked the journalists to stop protesting and enter the Assembly. When the journalists refused to budge and, instead, asked for the reasons behind the gag, Islam told the journalists to lower the tone of their voices.

After the information director several ministers came out urging the journalists to abide by the dictat.

There are enough people who know how to write the proceedings of the House, including the armed forces. Why don't you get them here instead of inviting us and insulting the fourth pillar of the democracy, Masood Hussain, editor-in-chief of Kashmir Life, a weekly magazine, told information and public relations minister Chaudhry Zulfikar Ali.

"This premise is a state within a state, no House in the country is as much powerful as this House is. We have nothing against you. We want you to respect this House, Hussain, who is also a member of the Editors Guild of Kashmir, told the minister.

"What kind of democracy are you preaching when you don't believe in the biggest institution of democracy in state? he said.

The PDP-BJP led government in Jammu and Kashmir has had problems with the media after it took office in the politically volatile state. During the 2016 unrest that started after the killing of former Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani, the government banned Kashmir Reader, a leading daily published from the Valley after failing to bring semblances of normalcy on the streets.

"It is a larger constitutional issue. You work under a system that has given you responsibility to protect the fourth pillar of the democracy," a senior journalist told parliamentary affairs minister Abdul Rehman Veeri. He was send by the Assembly speaker to look into the journalists' protest.

When the journalists still refused to budge, Kavinder Gupta, Speaker, Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly, finally came out of the House and apologised to protesting journalists.

I have gone to jail for three months when I was in Class IX for press freedom. I apologies to you for what happened, Gupta told the reporters outside the Assembly, after which everyone went inside.

The PDP-BJP government has been struggling to mold the public opinion in favour of the new tax regime, especially the trader community. The traders have been against GST because they believe that its implementation compromises the financial autonomy of the state.

The authorities have arrested Yasin Khan, a trade union leader spearheading the anti-GST movement in the state. Khan was slated to lead an anti-GST protest in the city on Tuesday.

Inside the Assembly, the Opposition members wore black bands, registering their protest against the implementation of GST. According to Opposition parties, GST is the first step towards eroding Article 370 under which the state of Jammu and Kashmir enjoys a special status in the Constitution of India.

Meanwhile, information minister Ali termed the entire incident as a miscommunication.
The proceedings of the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly descended into complete chaos on Tuesday as MLAs clashed with each other over the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST).

Visuals from TV news channels showed MLAs assaulting and manhandling each other. MLAs from the National Conference and Congress opposed the implementation of the GST.

Ruckus in Jammu and Kashmir assembly over #GST bill. Assembly adjourned till 02:30 pm pic.twitter.com/0GL9eIcTvR  ANI (@ANI_news) July 4, 2017

National Conference, Cong protest against #GST in J&K Assembly;Independent MLA Engineer Rashid taken away by Marshals. @islahmufti with more pic.twitter.com/MuqcxKgHw3  News18 (@CNNnews18) July 4, 2017

Eventually, the condition in the Assembly became so bad that Engineer Rashid, Independent MLA, had to be marshalled out.

"What wrong have I done? PDP people got provoked and then threatened me," Rashid told News18. "We were asking them to resolve the problems in Kashmir and they are diluting the issues even further."

A special session of the state legislature had begun on Tuesday to discuss the issue of implementation of GST in the state.

Police had earlier on Tuesday detained several traders after they tried to march towards the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly to protest the implementation of GST in the state in its present form.

The traders were detained near the gate of the Civil Secretariat complex, which also houses the Assembly, after they took out a protest march, police had said.

The traders were scheduled to hold a sit-in near the Assembly to protest the implementation of the new tax regime in the state in its present form, claiming that it would lead to the erosion of the state's special position and its fiscal autonomy.

Holding black flags and shouting slogans against the GST, several traders had reached Jehangir Chowk in Srinagar to protest.

They tried to march towards the civil secretariat complex, but police swung into action and detained several of them outside the Civil Secretariat, the police had said.

With inputs from PTI
Hyderabad: Union Minister M Venkaiah Naidu on Tuesday said the presidential election was not an ideological fight as some Opposition parties were trying to project it.

Addressing a meeting organised by the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) in honour of NDA's presidential candidate Ram Nath Kovind, he said commitment to the Constitution and capacity of the candidate was the only criteria.

Dismissing the claim by the Congress and some other Opposition parties that it is an ideological fight, the senior BJP leader said the only ideology the President should have is the commitment to the Constitution.

"Other ideologies have no place," remarked Naidu, adding that the president has no power to take political decisions but only acts as a constitutional head and the supreme commander of the armed forces.

"The ideologies have already been decided in 2014 when people voted overwhelmingly for (Prime Minister) Narendra Modi," added the central minister.

He said some parties were trying to divert attention by speaking about commitment to democracy.

"Who are talking of commitment to democracy, those who imposed Emergency. They are also talking about social security. You had been in power for long but you could not provide social security. Now out of power, you are talking about it," he said targeting the Congress party.

Naidu said these parties were also speaking about social and economic disparities but these things had to be taken care of by those in power as the president can only give advice as an elderly person.

The central minister also slammed the Congress party for putting its candidate despite the NDA consulting it and the entire Opposition and taking their views before announcing its candidate.

He also defended the NDA fielding its own candidate in the past, saying then the ruling alliance had not consulted it before announcing its nominee.

Naidu exuded confidence that Kovind will get elected as he was getting wide support across the country.

Terming him as the most suitable candidate, the BJP leader said as Bihar governor he conducted himself in a non-partisan manner and hence Bihar's ruling party Janata Dal-United too, declared its support to him.

The minister said Kovind never advocated conflict between communities and always spoke for social harmony. He said because of his commitment to the Constitution and soberness, he was earning the goodwill of larger section of the country.

Naidu said major parties outside the NDA like JD-U, Telangana Rashtra Samithi, Biju Janata Dal, both factions of AIADMK, YSR Congress Party, Indian National Lok Dal and several other smaller parties have declared their support to Kovind.
Shillong: The NDA's presidential nominee Ram Nath Kovind and his rival Meira Kumar will visit the Meghalaya capital this week to drum up support for their candidature.

While Kumar, the former Lok Sabha Speaker and the joint opposition candidate, would arrive on Wednesday, Kovind was scheduled to arrive on Friday.

The former diplomat-turned politician would address Congress legislators at the Annexe Hall of the Meghalaya assembly within the premises of Brookside, the house where Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore began writing his "Shesher Kobita" in 1919.

"Kumar will be addressing members of the ruling coalition the Meghalaya United Alliance government at the Annex Hall where she would formally appeal to the legislators to vote in her favour for the July 17 presidential polls", Congress Legislature Party Secretary Kennedy Khyriem told IANS.

Exuding confidence that Kumar would be getting the maximum number of votes from Meghalaya, Khyriem said: "All 44 members (excluding the Assembly Speaker Abu Taher Mondal) in the Meghalaya United Alliance government have assured of their support to the former Lok Sabha Speaker".

In the 60-member assembly, the Meghalaya United Alliance comprises 30 Congress members, two from the Nationalist Congress Party, and 11 Independents and one member of the North East Socialist Democratic Party.

"We have spoken to members in the opposition to support the joint opposition candidate for the presidential poll. We are hopeful of their support", Khyriem said.

However, the Congress may lose the precious vote of one suspended Congress legislator P N Syiem during the presidential poll.

The share of votes from the 60 legislators of the Meghalaya assembly and three members of Parliament (two Lok Sabha members and one Rajya Sabha member) will be 3,144 for the presidential election.

While the vote share of 60 legislators is 1,020, that of three parliamentarians  Conrad Sangma, Vincent Pala and Wansuk Syiem is 2,124.

The value of the vote of an individual MLA from Meghalaya is 17 each due to the small population size, while that of an MP is 708 each, which is the same all over the country.

The Opposition National People's Party, which has two members in the 60-member House assembly, had announced to vote in favour of Kovind. The party is an ally of the BJP-led NDA government.

However, Meghalaya's Opposition parties, the United Democratic Party and the Hill State People's Democratic Party, are yet to decide if they would support the NDA's or the joint opposition nominee.

"We are yet to take a decision and moreover it is a secret ballot", UDP Chief Donkupar Roy told IANS. The UDP is also a constituent of the BJP-led North East Democratic Alliance.

Hill State People's Democratic Party supremo Ardent Miller Basaiawmoit said that his party would be meeting soon to take a decision.

The UDP has eight members, while the HSPDP has four besides two NPP and two Independents in the opposition bench in the Meghalaya Assembly.

The opposition MPF comprises eight United Democratic Party legislators and two from the Nationalist People's Party.

The opposition Hill State People's Democratic Party, which has four members, and two Independents is not part of the Meghalaya People's Front.
Agartala: Tripura TMC leader Sudip Roy Burman said on Monday that the party's state unit will request its chief Mamata Banerjee to reconsider her decision to vote for Meira Kumar in the presidential election as CPI-M too is supporting her.

"We cannot vote for a candidate who is being supported by the CPM. The CPM is our main enemy and we are fighting against its misrule for a long time. The TMC here has decided not to vote for someone who is being supported by CPI-M," he told a press conference in Agartala.

Burman, who was speaking in the presence of Tripura's Trinamool Congress president Asish Saha and other leaders, alleged that no central leader of the party had consulted the state unit before or after deciding to support Kumar.

"If Mamata Banerjee does not change her stand on support to Meira Kumar, TMC functionaries (in Tripura) will discuss the situation on Wednesday and decide the future course of action," he said.

Burman said the BJP national general secretary Ram Madhav and senior Assam minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, who is also the convener of the North East Democratic alliance (NEDA) have requested TMC MLAs of Tripura to vote for BJPs presidential candidate Ramnath Kobind.

"We will officially inform them about our decision after Wednesday's meeting."

"No party can issue a whip to their MLAs to vote for any candidate in the presidential election and we will decide on whom we will vote," he added.

The Tripura TMC's decision against voting for Meira Kumar was taken at a meeting of the party leaders including the five party MLAs. One Tripura TMC MLA Dilip Sarkar is now in Delhi and he too has supported the decision, he said.

Burman said six Congress legislators, including himself had defected before the West Bengal assembly election last year in protest against Congress-CPI(M) alliance there and had joined TMC because they had felt it was the only party which can oust CPI-M from power in Tripura.

But the TMC has begun coming closer to the CPI-M, a move which became evident after Mamata Banerjee called up Sitaram Yechuri on the issue of demonetization, he alleged.

Moreover TMC secretary general Partha Chaterjee has said the party in West Bengal has no relation with the TMC leaders in Tripura. "This is unfortunate," he said.

Burman said on several occasions he and other TMC leaders of Tripura tried to speak to Banerjee but she did not respond. "May be she remains very busy and has no time to speak to us."

Earlier in the day, Chatterjee said in Kolkata that the stand of the six MLAs in Tripura was not in any way the party's stand and it will have no truck with them in future.
County Clerk Bill Knowles announced that Tennessee law now authorizes issuance of an optional standard vehicle registration plate that includes the words "In God We Trust."



Clerk Knowles said, A supply of the plates has been received in the Clerks office and is ready for issuance upon request."



The law regulating the new plate calls for a one-time $2 fee to swap an existing plate prior to the plate expiration date plus the normal $2.50 registration fee. The $2 special fee is a one-time charge for swapping, renewing a current registration, or making application for a vehicle title.



Once the $2 fee is paid, a motorist may renew the special registration at the standard $29 registration fee stipulated in the IMPROVE ACT signed into law by Governor Haslam.

The new plate does not require higher fees as do other specialty plates.
Washington: US president Donald Trump discussed hot-button issues like climate change, trade and migration in calls with German and Italian leaders on Monday, before a summit this week of the G20 leading economies that could expose sharp policy differences.

Trump is preparing for the two-day Group of 20 meeting that starts in Hamburg, Germany, on Friday, just over a month after a G7 summit in Sicily showed deep divisions between Trump and other Western leaders on such issues.

A fractious first NATO summit with Trump also left European allies wondering where the military alliance goes next.

Trump will hold separate meetings with various leaders in Hamburg, including host German chancellor Angela Merkel, and a potentially difficult first meeting with Russian president Vladimir Putin.

A White House official said on Monday night that Trump held an "extensive discussion" by telephone with Merkel, focusing on issues including trade and climate change.

A little over one month ago, Trump said the United States was withdrawing from an international agreement aimed at reducing global carbon emissions that are blamed for climate change.

The Trump administration is also pressuring G20 nations to take steps to reduce global steel oversupply and other distortions in that market.

The White House said that in a separate conversation with Italian prime minister Paolo Gentiloni, Trump "underscored his appreciation for Italys efforts to address the significant Libyan migration crisis."

In remarks last week, Merkel raised the prospect of an open clash with Trump at the Hamburg summit, although some Trump administration officials have played down the discord.

Heather Conley, a State Department official during Republican president George W Bush's administration, said the United States' European allies were still shocked after the G7 and NATO summits with Trump cast doubt over Washington's relation with its allies.

"There's concern he could improve it  but could also do further damage," said Conley, who is now with the CSIS think tank in Washington.

Trump-Putin Meeting

Russia and the United States are still discussing the timing of the encounter between Trump and Putin, a Kremlin aide said on Monday.

Since Trump was elected last November, Russia has been keenly anticipating the Republican president's first meeting with Putin, hoping it would trigger a reset in US-Russia relations that plunged to post-Cold War lows under Trump's Democratic predecessor, Barack Obama.

But with Trump embroiled in controversy at home over his associates' potential links to Moscow, the session with Putin has become a minefield. Too warm a meeting would allow Trump's domestic opponents to accuse him of being a Kremlin stooge.

US diplomat Thomas Shannon met on Monday with Russia's ambassador to Washington, Sergei Kislyak, to prepare for the Trump-Putin meeting, the State Department said.

They also discussed scheduling a new meeting between Shannon and Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov, which Moscow cancelled in June in anger at expanded US sanctions on Russia.
Versailles: President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday promised a "profound transformation" of French politics, proposing to slash by a third the number of MPs, and telling lawmakers he would call a referendum if they do not agree.

In his first address to members of the National Assembly and Senate delivered in Versailles palace, the gilded former seat of French kings, Macron said he would move fast to restore France's "conquering spirit".

"Until now, we were too often on the wrong track," said the 39-year-old leader, who won office on a promise of political renewal.

"We preferred procedures to results, rules to initiative, a society where you live off inherited wealth, to a just society." He confirmed campaign plans to reform France's parliament.

These plans include shrinking the number of seats in both houses of parliament  there are 577 in the lower house National Assembly and 348 in the Senate  by a third and introducing a degree of proportional representation in the electoral system.

The centrist ex-banker said he hoped to pass legislation enshrining the changes within a year but reserved the right to organise a referendum "if necessary".

His decision to convene a sitting of both houses of parliament  a rare event which Macron wants to make an annual fixture  was criticised by the opposition, who said the sight of him holding court in Versailles was proof of a "monarchical" drift.

Some accused Macron of trying to steal the thunder of his prime minister, Edouard Philippe, who will deliver a key policy speech to parliament on Tuesday. The president's solemn, 1.5-hour-long speech contained few announcements.

It was his first major address in France since his inauguration in mid-May, when he promised a French "renaissance". In parliamentary elections held afterwards his year-old party won a resounding majority, scooping up votes from the traditional right and left.

Macron warned the new MPs any triumphalism faced with the "gravity of the circumstances" in France, which is battling unemployment of 9.4 percent, and in Europe which he said had "lost its way".

"The past decade has been cruel for Europe. We have managed crises but we have lost our way," he said, adding that France and Germany would launch a series of debates across the EU before the year's end to discuss the bloc's future.

On the security front, he confirmed plans to lift the state of emergency in place since the November 2015 jihadist attacks in Paris.

Macron said the emergency measures, which he wants to replace with a tough new anti-terror law, would be lifted "in the autumn."

Last month Macron had already rolled out the red carpet in Versailles, hosting Russia's President Vladimir Putin there for talks last month.

The radical leftist France Unbowed party, the Communist Party and some MPs from a small centrist faction boycotted his speech.

France Unbowed's firebrand leader Jean-Luc Melenchon accused Macron of "crossing a line with the pharaonic aspect of his presidential monarchy" and called for a demonstration in Paris today evening.

Several newspapers expressed unease Tuesday over the growing concentration of power in the presidency under Macron, a media darling during his campaign who has kept the press at arm's length since his election.

The cover of the left-wing Liberation newspaper mockingly depicted him as Jupiter, the Roman god of gods, and accused him of failing to share power  an accusation echoed by Le Monde daily.

A relative newcomer to politics who won election on a tide of disaffection with mainstream politics, Macron has enjoyed a honeymoon with voters so far, drawing

particular praise for standing up to US President Donald Trump and Russia's Putin.

But a Kantar Sofres-Onepoint poll published Thursday showed his approval ratings starting to dip, falling three points in a month to 54 percent.

"We're seeing a strange, almost schizophrenic mix, of goodwill and distrust (towards Macron)," Pierre Giacometti, a co-founder of the No Com polling firm, told Le Journal du Dimanche weekly, adding: "The French already want results."
Berlin: The German domestic security watchdog warned on Tuesday that the country's political system was likely to face cyber attacks from Russia in the run-up to September's general election.

The Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) said in its annual report that after suspected manipulation of the US and French elections by Moscow, it was to be expected that Germany would be next.

The report said that German politicians and parties targeted by Russia to spy "on confidential e-mails or other sensitive data must assume that explosive or compromising facts could be made public".

Presenting the findings, interior minister Thomas de Maiziere said Berlin was girding for a two-pronged attack of embarrassing leaks and fake news allegedly orchestrated by Moscow.

"We saw a probable influence on the election in America, we saw a probable influence on the election in France," he told reporters.

"There is every reason to believe that it came from Russia and thus it cannot be ruled out that there will be similar attempts on the election in Germany," he added.

BfV chief Hans-Georg Maassen said while he could imagine that Russian president Vladimir Putin "would be happier with another chancellor" than Angela Merkel, the true target of the cyberattacks was Germans' "faith in democracy".

Merkel, widely seen as the European Union's most powerful leader, is seeking a fourth term in the 24 September poll. De Maiziere noted that Germany's security services had already observed data from computers at the parliament being scooped up, which he said "could be published in the coming weeks".

He said Berlin was bracing for "a classic disinformation campaign with lies and half truths intended to shape opinions" spread by "bots"  algorithms with fake profiles on social media networks.

"The only thing that helps against that is staying calm, keeping a cool head, finding out the truth and presenting the facts," he said.

Hillary Clinton has said that Russian hacking of her campaign's emails was partly to blame for her defeat in last year's US presidential election to Donald Trump.

And now French president Emmanuel Macron was the victim of a "massive and coordinated" hacking attack blamed on Moscow on the eve of the run-off election.

Russia has steadfastly denied all accusations of state-sponsored cyber attacks.
Tehran: Iran will be allowed to set up temporary consulates in Saudi Arabia during the Haj pilgrimage despite the absence of diplomatic ties between the two rivals, the foreign ministry in Tehran said on Tuesday.

"Some officials from the foreign ministry's consular section will be deployed to Jeddah, Mecca and Medina to provide consular services to Iranian pilgrims during the Haj," spokesman Bahram Ghasemi was quoted by the ISNA news agency.

Iranians were unable to attend the Haj in 2016 after talks on security and logistics fell apart.

But an agreement was reached earlier this year to allow Iranians to take part in this September's Haj.

The two countries severed diplomatic ties in January 2016 after Iranians stormed Saudi Arabia's embassy in Tehran in response to the execution of a prominent Shiite cleric.

The region's two leading powers back opposing sides in several conflicts, including in Syria and Yemen.

More than 1.8 million faithfully took part in last year's Haj. The pilgrimage is one of the five pillars of Islam and all Muslims who must perform it at least once in their lives.
Doha: Qatar's foreign minister said on Tuesday that demands put to Doha by Saudi Arabia and its allies in the Gulf diplomatic crisis were impossible to meet.

"The list is unrealistic and is not actionable," Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani told reporters in Doha.

"It's not about terrorism, it's talking about shutting down the freedom of speech," he said at a joint press conference after talks with German counterpart Sigmar Gabriel.

Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt, who accuse Qatar of supporting extremism gave Doha an extra 48 hours to meet their demands after an initial 10-day deadline expired on Sunday.

These demands included Doha closing broadcaster Al-Jazeera as well as downgrading diplomatic ties with Iran.

Qatar officially handed its response to Kuwait on Monday, which is mediating in the dispute, but its contents have not been disclosed.

Sheikh Mohammed refused to give any further details on Tuesday, but said Doha was looking for a solution to the month-long crisis based on dialogue.

"The state of Qatar has adopted a very constructive attitude since the beginning of the crisis. We are trying to act mature and discuss the matter."

Gabriel, who visited Saudi Arabia on Monday, said he saw signs emerging of a chance to involve "international bodies" in the discussions and to get all sides involved in the dispute around the negotiating table.
Abu Dhabi: United Arab Emirates foreign minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahayan said on Tuesday that Arab countries boycotting Qatar over its alleged support for terrorism were still awaiting a response to their demands via mediator Kuwait.

Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt are pressing Qatar to shut its Al-Jazeera news TV station and scale back relations with Iran, Saudi Arabia's arch-rival in the Gulf region, part of 13 demands they want Doha to fulfill to end the crisis.

Qatar has said it delivered a response to mediator Kuwait, which will be discussed by the four countries at a meeting in Cairo on Wednesday after their deadline for Doha to accept the demands expires late on Tuesday.

"We are still waiting for the response from our brothers in Kuwait regarding the response that they received from Qatar and once we examine it among ourselves we will take the decision of course," Sheikh Abdullah said at a news conference with his German counterpart in Abu Dhabi.

Officials from the UAE and Saudi Arabia have suggested that further sanctions, including the possibility of kicking out Qatar from the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council, could be imposed if Doha failed to heed the demands.

Asked about any further sanctions, Sheikh Abdullah advised caution.

"I think it is premature to talk about the extra sanctions and steps and procedures to be taken by these countries," he said.

"This depends on what we will hear from our brothers in Kuwait and the dialogue and conversations among ourselves and the examination of these responses."
Geneva: More than 100,000 migrants and refugees have made the perilous journey across the Mediterranean to Europe since the beginning of the year, and 2,247 have died trying, the United Nations (UN) said on Tuesday.

Between 1 January and 3 July, more than 85,000 migrants landed in Italy, nearly 9,300 arrived in Greece, nearly 6,500 arrived in Spain and over 270 landed in Cyprus, the UN's International Organisation for Migration (IOM) said.

While the numbers are staggering, they remain far below last year's figures. During the same period in 2016, 231,503 people made the crossing to Europe, with the 100,000-mark passed already in February that year.

But at that time, most of the migrants were crossing from Turkey to Greece, and a European Union deal with Ankara in March last year effectively hit the breaks on that movement.

So far this year, Italy has meanwhile taken in nearly 85 percent of the people crossing the Mediterranean. Rome will on Thursday host an informal meeting of EU justice and interior ministers to discuss the migrant crisis.

Italy has been pushing for other European countries to open up their ports to rescue ships in order to share the burden.

IOM chief William Lacy Swing appealed Tuesday for more solidarity with Italy in handling the crisis. "The reception of rescued migrants cannot be seen as an issue only for Italy, but a matter for Europe as a whole," he said in a statement.

The UN refugee agency has also warned that Italy cannot continue absorbing the tens of thousands of migrants landing on its shores on its own.

"This is not sustainable. We need to have other countries joining Italy and sharing that responsibility," Vincent Cochetel, the agency's special envoy for the central Mediterranean, said Monday.
There are some interesting takeaways from Narendra Modi's recent interview to Israeli newspaper Israel Hayom. One expected slightly more intrepid responses to tricky questions from a man who has become the first Indian prime minister to visit Israel, casting aside one of the most sacrosanct axioms of India's foreign policy.

But if Modi's action is bold, his words were not. On key issues regarding India's West Asia policy, Modi's answers were unremarkable and cautious. It was almost as if there are two Modis. One is staying put in Delhi while the other is flying to Israel. The words didn't match a prime minister who is audaciously de-hyphenating India's diplomatic relations with Israel and Palestine by not going to Ramallah. It is an interesting paradox that gives us a glimpse into the direction where he wants to guide Indo-Israeli ties.

For instance, to a question from the newspaper on whether India will now take a more pro-Israel stance at the UN, Modi replied: "Our positions at the UN are based on the merit of specific issues and driven by our core values and principles. We remain engaged with all our partners, including Israel, in finding optimal outcomes at the UN and other multilateral fora that reflect our commonly shared priorities and concerns. India is not in favor of singling out any country at the UN." In short, no assurances.

In reply to another question on whether India will move its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, a sensitive issue that addresses Israel's sovereignty, Modi said: "We believe in a two-state solution in which both Israel and a future Palestinian state coexist peacefully. A final-status agreement should respect the sentiments and address demands of all affected parties India supports all efforts to find an acceptable solution to all the pending issues, including Jerusalem. I assume the question refers to our embassy in Tel Aviv. We will take a decision on that after both sides have come to an agreement on Jerusalem." In short, status quo.

Now put his words into the context of a painstaking outreach programme to the Arab world before his visit to Israel and Modi suddenly emerges as a man not willing to radically overhaul Nehruvian geopolitical approach  as is being assumed  but in favour of a more graduated, incremental deviation. This policy would match Modi's administrative traits in other, diverse fields such as reforms where he has appeared to be more of a constant tinkerer.

If we settle for the assumption that on Israel Modi is likely to be an incrementalist, that brings us again to the paradox mentioned above. How to reconcile Modi's courageous resetting of bilateral ties with his bland statements? It is obvious that he is trying to strike a delicate balance but it isn't clear how he intends to pull it off. Cozying up too much to Israel on geopolitical front might indeed offend countries like Iran no matter how many outreach programs are undertaken.

One likely clue to the paradox emerges from the very interview. The interviewer, Israel Hayom editor Boaz Bismuth who arrived in New Delhi for the assignment, mentions in the report that "throughout the interview, he (Modi) makes a conscious effort to point out the deep ties between the Indian and Israeli peoples. He believes the two nations are soulmates."

This, right here, is the cornerstone of Modi's Israel policy. The prime minister wants to place the burgeoning relationship within the paradigm of an ancient civilisational connect. A radical improvement in bilateral ties is very much on Modi's agenda but in executing the strategy, Modi will rely on a soft cultural approach than a hard geopolitical grand strategy. What better way to do it than to stress on ties that go back a few centuries?

In his piece titled Modi in Israel: A civilizational bond comes of age Shalom Salomon Wald, co-author of the book India, Israel And The Jewish People, writes: "The contacts between the Indian and Jewish civilizations are much older than most people appreciate. Words of Sanskrit origin appeared in the Hebrew Bible 3,000 years ago, while Jewish authors of Roman times, rabbis of the Talmud, which is the Jewish religious law compendium, and Jewish traders and philosophers in the Middle Ages spoke of India."

The link between Hinduism and Judaism is deep and enduring and has been the subject of much research. Professors William Scott Green and Douglas Renfrew Brooks, writing in Sunday Guardian, call them "two foundational religions of the East and the West" and propound that both these non-proselytising faiths have shaped much of human civilization in ways that we are yet to fully explore.

In their words: "Hinduism and Judaism both create an architecture that permits diverse, complex ideas and values, but this commitment to foundational principles invites further comparison. Some scholars think that the foundational role of Hinduism and Judaism accounts for their largely non-missionary character. Both religions travel principally with people, rather than beliefs, with customs and practices, rather than dogmas or evangelists."

Other studies such as Barbara A Holdrege's Transcending the Textuality of Scripture, which compares Vedas with Torah and interprets scriptures more as living symbolisms than dead texts, points to a subterranean, multi-layered connect between Hinduism and Judaism. Some studies have noted that there are remarkable semantic similarities between Sanskrit and Hebrew.

Sadly, these areas have not received any government attention at least from the Indian side as we remain largely oblivious of the bond between two ancient civilisations. This has prompted some scholars to advocate making Jewish studies a necessary part of our higher studies curriculum.

In his piece for Swarajyamag titled High Time Jewish Studies Got Introduced In Indian Academia, Navras Jaat Aafreedi, assistant professor of history in Kolkata's Presidency University, writes: "India is yet to reciprocate the introduction of Indian Studies in Israel with the launch of Jewish Studies in its academia. Although Indian Studies thrive at Israeli institutions of higher education, Jewish Studies are largely non-existent in India." He proposes that "a whole MA programme in Jewish Studies be established at an Indian institution, and offered as an alternative to Arab culture and Islamic studies", noting that Jewish studies are offered in courses around the world including in some Muslim nations.

A look at the prime minister's itinerary confirms the impression that rekindling the cultural connect, encouraging people-to-people ties and focusing on improved trade relations will be high on his agenda.

In a Facebook post ahead of the visit, Modi wrote about meeting "leading Indian and Israeli CEOs and startups to discuss our shared priority of expanding business and investment collaboration on the ground, engaging with a "cross-section of Israeli society" and "interacting with the large vibrant Indian diaspora in Israel that represents an enduring link between our two peoples."

His itinerary also includes visiting the Israel Museum on Wednesday where totems such as "reconstruction of the Kadavumbagam synagogue from the town of Cochin" are on display  a 16th-century wooden structure that has an exquisitely carved and painted ceiling directly influenced by the decorations of mosques and Hindu temples, according to a report in The Times of Israel.

His carefully calibrated programme also includes attending a community event that features a cultural programme and performances by Bollywood stars, meeting diamond merchants from Surat. He is also slated to meet members of the Jewish Indian community who are understandably looking forward to it.

"There's a lot of excitement," Elazar Ashtivker, owner of an Indian restaurant in the city of Ramla, south of Tel Aviv told news agency AFP. "Everyone has signed up and everyone is going. If you looked for Indians in Israel on the 5th you won't find any. They'll all be at the convention centre."

None of Modi's programmes are as significant as his proposed meeting with Moshe Holtzberg who lost his parents as a toddler during the 26/11 Mumbai terrorist attacks. It symbolises at once the threat both countries face from Islamist terrorism and opens up yet another channel of linkage  one which is decidedly recent but no less significant. Sandra Samuels, the Indian nanny who saved the toddler from certain death during the attacks, has been given honorary Israeli citizenship and she is regularly in touch with Moshe.

His grandparents, according to a report in The Hindu, were overwhelmed when Prime Minister's Office requested a meeting and has decided to hold Moshe's 'bar mitzvah' at 13 (which has some similarities to 'sacred thread' ceremony in Hinduism) in Mumbai where they will invite the prime minister. I could not believe my ears when I got a call from the Indian envoy saying that PM Modi wants to meet us. My immediate thoughts were that we have not been forgotten and that Indians share our pain, grandfather Rabbi Shimon was quoted, as saying in the report.

If terrorism provides a visceral connection between India and Israel, cultural and spiritual connect provides a more enduring one. Stressing on these commonalities is the most non-invasive, least controversial approach that entails no major changes in our foreign policy and yet intensifies the bond between two nations who go back a few millennia.
Jerusalem: Asserting that both India and Israel suffer from the "evil" forces of terrorism, the Jewish nation has said it completely supports New Delhi in its fight against terror emanating from Pakistan and within the country.

"Israel has never hidden the fact that it supports India hook, line and sinker on the subject of terrorism," the deputy director general of Israel's foreign ministry, Mark Sofer, told reporters in Jerusalem.

"We are not asking for a quid pro quo. You have suffered from terrorism from inside India, and not just emanating from Pakistan, which has been seen in recent history," he said.

Condemning terrorism in all forms, the Israeli official said outfits like Lashkar-e-Taiba and Hamas were no different from each other and added that both India and Israel have the right to defend themselves.

"We feel that India has a right to defend itself against terrorists in the same way as Israel has a right to defend itself from terrorists. We are both suffering from the same scourge. I really don't see any difference between the Lashkar-e-Taiba and the Hamas. I never did and i don't today. A terrorist is a terrorist is a terrorist," said Sofer, who has served as ambassador to India.

"Killing people for some sort of spurious or inexplicable ideological aim is terrorism, however you look at it. And that is what is happening from outside into India and coming from outside into Israel as well. We both clearly share the same struggle against the forces of evil," he said.
A Russian woman reads the Chinese version of Xi Jinping: The Governance of China on Monday at Chance Bookuu, a bookstore that sells Chinese books in central Moscow. [Photo by Ren Qi / China Daily]



China Culture Week was launched and a China-related book exhibition opened on Monday in Moscow, further stoking Russians' growing interest in China.

The opening ceremony was held at Chance Bookuu, a bookstore that sells China-related books in the city center.

"Chinese culture and books are inseparable overseas, and most foreigners get to know Chinese culture from these books," said Zhu Yongliang, deputy president of Zhejiang Publishing United Group.

Over 492 Russian-language books about China and Chinese culture, as well as more than 10,000 books in Chinese were on display during the exhibition, which was described as "the book road on the new Silk Road" by Mark Ulyanov, director of the Chinese studies faculty at Moscow State University.

"China-related books have been enthusiastically welcomed by Russian audiences in recent years, and many Russian people have come to Chance Bookuu to buy books about Chinese language, Chinese culture and Chinese food since the bookstore opened in July," Zhu said.

He said China and Russia have had strong ties in media for years, and the cooperation of publishing companies from both countries can be a new channel to increase mutual understanding.

Svetlana Anikeyeva, the publisher of Oriental Literature Publisher, said relations between China and Russia have reached the highest level in history, and the rights to China-related books are quite sought after in the Russian publishing industry.

Mu Ping, the publisher of Russia Chance International Publishing Corp, which owns the Chance Bookuu bookstore in Moscow, said as more Russian media introduce China to local people, Chinese culture is attracting more Russians to the bookstore.

The Chinese business executive, whose company is based in Russia, said starting a China-related bookstore in Moscow was not as easy as he had expected. He and his staff decided on using events to help attract customers.

Over 160 activities, such as cultural lectures, tea-making demonstrations and Chinese traditional skills training, have been held at the bookstore, Mu said.

"To our surprise, by holding these cultural activities, more Russians, whether young or old, come to our bookstore. More importantly, we have the chance to meet lots of Russian officials and professors, and are able to push China-related books to a higher stage," Mu said.

During Monday's activities, agreements were signed on training Chinese-Russian translators and publishing Russian textbooks by Zhejiang Publishing, Russia Chance International and Moscow Normal University.

Mu said Russian scholars and students who study Chinese are interested in China-related books, but more ordinary readers, who do not know any Chinese, also are interested in knowledge about China and Chinese culture.

"We believe that with Chinese and Russian publishing companies working together, more China-related books will be introduced to Russian readers," Mu said.
While it can be argued that China is virtually threatening India with a war on the mouth of the Chumbi valley, by reminding of the "1962" war, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has left for a state visit to Israel, which incidentally, had "married" China in March.

A marriage between China and Israel?

Before ridiculing the idea, let us recall how Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu had described his vision of the "marriage" between Israel and China during his three-day trip to China this March.

"There is an extraordinary capacity for China to assume its rightful place, as it's doing, on the world stage. We are your perfect junior partner for that effort," the Israeli prime minister said, adding, "We are eager to work with you I believe this is a marriage made in heaven."

On the other hand, Netanyahu has always described Modi as "my friend". In a cabinet meeting in late June, he had said, "Modi, my friend, will come to Israel... This is a historic visit, no Indian PM has come to Israel in 70 years."

During Modi's three-day visit, Netanyahu will escort him for almost all of his engagements  an unprecedented honour extended to a visiting dignitary in Israel  showing the importance attached to the Indian prime minister.

In other words, Netanyahu is now confronted with a situation in which his spouse (China) and friend (India) are in a war-like situation. Who will he side with? No doubt, it is a difficult choice for the Israeli prime minister, who wants both the relationships to flourish. This was evident from his decision early this year to create two separate bureaus for India and China at the Israeli foreign ministry.

There are some interesting facts surrounding Israel's relations with India and China. Both established diplomatic relations with Israel in 1992. In other words, 2017 marks 25 years since Israel normalised relations with the two Asian giants. If Netanyahu undertook a three-day visit to China in March, Modi is embarking on a three-day visit to Israel in July.

All these years, both India and China have tried to benefit from Israel's expertise not only in manufacturing arms and ammunitions but also in cutting-edge civilian technologies in agriculture, irrigation, satellites, satellite imagery, rockets and so on. Israel is not a country to look for big investments in huge infrastructures. But these limitations are more than compensated by Israeli technologies and expertise in setting up start-ups, the ultimate engines of a nation's development and wealth.

As of today, with an annual trade volume of over US $11 billion, China is Israel's largest trading partner in Asia and third largest in the world. China has surpassed even the United States as the top funder of joint ventures in Israel involving foreign companies, including Israel's famed hi-tech startup companies. Chinese investment into Israel jumped more than tenfold to a record $16.5 billion last year, with money flooding into the country's buzzing internet, cyber-security and medical device start-ups.

In contrast, India's annual trade with Israel is still around $5 billion ($ 4.5 billion in 2016), though this figure excludes the defence sector. With regard to investments, while foreign direct investment from Israel to India does not flow directly but through the United States, Europe and Singapore in pharmaceuticals, energy, renewable energy, telecom, real estate, and water technologies; Indias investments in Israel is almost nil  the only data that is available shows 100 percent acquisition of Israeli drip-irrigation company Naandan by Jain Irrigation, controlling stake in Taro Pharmaceuticals by Sun Pharma and Triveni Engineering Industries' investment in Israeli waste-water treatment company Aqwise.

In other words, China is way ahead of India in utilising the Israeli-connection in trade and investment. This explains why Modi's visit is being seen in terms of closer collaborations with Israel in the areas of agriculture, nonconventional energy (particularly solar and wind power) and water-management in areas of water scarcity, cyber technologies and automotive technologies such as navigation and self-navigation. As it is, Israel has already helped India build over 15 'centres of excellence' for the rapid transfer of technology to farmers in states such as Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Haryana.

However, where India scores over China with regard to the Israeli connection is in the area of defence. As pointed out above, the India-Israel trade figure that the officials cite does not include those pertaining to defence.

It is not that Israel does not sell arms and ammunitions to China. In fact, not long ago, Israel was China's second biggest foreign supplier of military equipment. But the problem now is that since most of the defence companies in Israel have American shares and collaborations, on the matter of technology transfer or sophisticated arms, Israel needs the clearance of the United States before exporting them to China. And that is not forthcoming. So much so, that in 2000, the US forced the Israeli government to cancel a $1 billion deal to sell China four Phalcon airborne early warning and surveillance systems. In fact, Israel had to return the Chinese advance money for the deal.

Since then, China-Israel relations have undergone a decisive non-military economic shift, based on Israeli high-tech. Of course, some analysts see some military dimensions in the Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) deciding last year to set up in China a branch to double the number of Chinas civilian fleet and add about 60 airports within that country in the next two decades  but technically, it is a civilian set up.

In contrast, the Americans have been far more liberal with Israel entering the defence market in India. In fact, Israel delivered $1.3 billion worth of arms and defence equipment to India between 2012 and 2016, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.

India is now Israels largest arms client, while Israel is Indias third-largest weapons provider after Russia and the United States. This April, India and Israel signed a weapons deal worth of nearly $2 billion in whats being described as the "largest defence contract" ever signed in Israels defence industries history.

The "mega" deal will provide India with an advanced defence system of medium-range surface-to-air missiles, launchers and communications technology.

Importantly, Israel is willing to cooperate under the "Make in India" framework, which commits overseas manufacturers to channel at least 30 percent of contract value into the Indian defence industry. For instance, firearms manufacturer Israel Weapon Industries and India-based private sector firm Punj Lloyd have begun to jointly produce a variety of small arms from the Israeli company's product line, of which some are pegged for use by Indian armed forces and some for exports. This is the first such collaboration between Israel and an Indian private firm.

It may be noted here that in essence, Israel's military collaborations in India are in small arms and various missile and anti-missile systems that are to be used by all three forces  army, air force and navy  with their separate characteristics. And herein lies the catch. Most of these systems are such that they do not represent an immediate danger to China.

For example, anti-missile systems with Israeli components or elements may not be that effective in blocking multiple rockets that are likely to come from the Chinese side in any future eventuality, but these are pretty efficient to counter possible threats from Pakistan. So is the case with Israeli missiles, that are of optimum strike-range; they may prove lethal for Pakistan but not so for China.

This, perhaps, is the trick that Netanyahu is playing to keep Israels marriage with China and friendship with India stable and enduring. Simultaneously.
Beijing: China defended its "relentless efforts" to resolve the North Korea nuclear issue on Tuesday following a Twitter outburst from United States president Donald Trump, as Pyongyang claimed to have tested an intercontinental ballistic missile.

Foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told a press briefing that China's contribution was well recognised  describing its role as "indispensable"  after Trump called on China to take more action on North Korea.

"Perhaps China will put a heavy move on North Korea and end this nonsense once and for all!" Trump tweeted earlier. "China has made relentless efforts for the settlement of the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue. China's contribution in this regard is well recognised, and its role is indispensable," Geng said.

He said China was following developments closely after North Korean television announced leader Kim Jong-Un had overseen the "landmark" test of a Hwasong-14 missile, which reached an altitude of 2,802 kilometres and flew 933 kilometres.

"China opposes the DPRK breaching UN Security Council resolutions to conduct launch activities," the spokesman said. "We hope all relevant parties can exercise restraint, avoid taking actions that may escalate tensions, and make efforts to bring the issue back to peaceful settlement through dialogue and consultation," Geng said.
Washington: US president Donald Trump on Tuesday slammed North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un for testing the country's first intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) and pressed Pyongyang's closest ally China to make a "heavy move" to "end this nonsense once and for all".

The missile test, which was conducted on the orders of the country's leader Kim reached an altitude of 2,802 kilometres, according to state broadcaster Korea Central Television (KCTV).

David Wright, director of the Global Security Programme at the Union of Concerned Scientists, said if US Pacific Command reports on the distance and flight time of the missile are correct, the missile could have a maximum range of 6,700 kilometres.

"That range would not be enough to reach the lower 48 states or the large islands of Hawaii, but would allow it to reach all of Alaska," Wright wrote on the All Things Nuclear blog.

North Korea's claim of testing an ICBM, however, contradicted earlier South Korean and US assessments that it had an intermediate range.

The single launch of a land-based, intermediate range ballistic missile occurred near the Panghyon Airfield, the US Pacific Command said.

"The President has been briefed on the latest report of a North Korean ballistic missile launch," according to the White House. Reacting to the development on Twitter, Trump said, "North Korea has just launched another missile. Does this guy (Kim) have anything better to do with his life?"

"Hard to believe that South Korea and Japan will put up with this much longer. Perhaps China will put a heavy move on North Korea and end this nonsense once and for all!" he tweeted.

Later, North Korea proclaimed that it had "successfully" tested an intercontinental ballistic missile.

A female announcer was quoted as saying on state KCTV that the "landmark" test of a Hwasong-14 missile was overseen by Kim.

The North was "a strong nuclear power state" and had "a very powerful ICBM that can strike any place in the world", the announcer said.

The US has been urging China  North Korea's closest diplomatic ally  to pressure the Pyongyang regime to end its nuclear and ballistic missile programmes.

According to United States Pacific Command (USPACOM), the missile was tracked for 37 minutes and landed in the Sea of Japan.

"We are working with our inter-agency partners on a more detailed assessment. We continue to monitor North Korea's actions closely," the PACOM said.

"US Pacific Command stands behind our iron-clad commitment to the security of our allies in the Republic of Korea and Japan," it said.

This was North Korea's 11th missile test this year and comes amid increasing frustration from Trump about the lack of progress in curbing Pyongyang's nuclear and ballistic missile programmes.

The United Nations has imposed multiple sanctions on North Korea over its nuclear and missile programmes.
Moscow: Russia's military said on Tuesday that a missile fired by North Korea appeared to be "medium-range", despite claims from Pyongyang that it had tested an intercontinental ballistic missile.

"The missile reached an altitude of 535 kilometres (330 miles) and flew 510 kilometres before falling into the central part of the Sea of Japan," the defence ministry said in a statement to Russian news agencies.

"The parametric flight data of the ballistic object corresponds to the tactical and technical characteristics of a medium-range ballistic missile," it said, adding that it did "not present" any danger to Russian territory.

North Korean state media proclaimed Tuesday that the country had successfully tested an intercontinental ballistic missile  potentially a watershed moment in its push to develop a nuclear weapon capable of hitting the United States.

The "landmark" test of a Hwasong-14 missile was overseen by leader Kim Jong-Un, an emotional female announcer said on state Korean Central Television, claiming that it reached an altitude of 2,802 kilometres and flew 933 kilometres.

The US military also confirmed the launch but said the missile was a land-based, intermediate range missile.
Seoul: North Korea successfully tested an inter-continental ballistic missile (ICBM) on Tuesday, it said, in the culmination of a decades-long ambition.

The "landmark" test of a Hwasong-14 missile was overseen by leader Kim Jong-Un, a female announcer wearing traditional dress said in a special announcement on state Korean Central Television.

Pyongyang launched what appeared to be its longest-range ballistic missile yet, with experts suggesting it could reach Alaska, triggering a Twitter outburst from US President Donald Trump who urged China to "end this nonsense once and for all".

If the test  which came as the United States prepared to mark its independence day on the Fourth of July  represents an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) it would force a recalculation of the strategic threat posed by Pyongyang.

The North has long had ambitions to build a rocket capable of delivering an atomic warhead to the continental United States  something that Trump has vowed "won't happen".

It said it would make an "important announcement" later on Tuesday, the South's Yonhap news agency reported. Analysts say the isolated, impoverished country has made great progress in its missile capabilities in the years since the ascension to power of young leader Kim Jong-Un, who has overseen three nuclear tests and multiple rocket launches.

In response to the latest, Trump asked on Twitter: "Does this guy have anything better to do with his life?" There are still doubts whether the North can miniaturise a nuclear weapon sufficiently to fit it onto a missile nose cone, or has mastered the technology needed for it to survive re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere.

But Tuesday's launch was the latest in a series of provocations that have ratcheted up tensions, and came days after Seoul's new leader Moon Jae-In and Trump focused on risks from Pyongyang in their first summit.

The United Nations has imposed multiple sets of sanctions on Pyongyang over its weapons programmes, which retorts that it needs nuclear arms to defend itself against the threat of invasion.

The "unidentified ballistic missile" was fired from a site in North Phyongan province, the South's Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement, and came down in the East Sea, the Korean name for the Sea of Japan.

It flew for "more than 930 kilometres", they added. US Pacific Command confirmed the test and said it was a land-based, intermediate range missile that flew for 37 minutes, adding the launch did not pose a threat to North America.

It was estimated to have reached an altitude of more than 2,500 kilometres, Japan said. "That's it. It's an ICBM," responded arms control

specialist Jeffrey Lewis on Twitter. "An ICBM that can hit Anchorage not San Francisco, but still."

David Wright, of the Union of Concerned Scientists, wrote on the organisation's allthingsnuclear blog that the available figures implied the missile "could reach a maximum range of roughly 6,700 km on a standard trajectory".

"That range would not be enough to reach the lower 48 states or the large islands of Hawaii, but would allow it to reach all of Alaska."

The device came down in the Sea of Japan within the country's exclusive economic zone, the defence ministry said in a statement, waters extending 200 nautical miles from its coast.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told reporters: "This launch clearly shows that the threat has grown." The US, Japan and South Korea will hold a summit on the sidelines of this week's G20 meeting on the issue, he added. "Also I will encourage President Xi Jinping and President

Putin to take more constructive measures."

South Korea's President Moon, who backs both engagement with the North to bring it to the negotiating table and sanctions, strongly condemned what he called an "irresponsible provocation".

North Korea's nuclear and missile programmes "threaten the lives of our people and the security of our allies", he told a meeting of the South's National Security Council.

Washington, South Korea's security guarantor, has more than 28,000 troops in the country to defend it from its Communist neighbour, and fears of conflict reached a peak earlier this year as the Trump administration suggested military action was an option under consideration.
Islamabad: Pakistan prime minister Nawaz Sharif's elder son Hussain Nawaz on Tuesday appeared before a Joint Investigation Team (JIT) for the sixth time in connection with the Panama Papers probe into his family's assets.

His younger brother Hassan Nawaz faced the JIT on Monday, while his sister Maryam Nawaz will appear before the team for the first time on Wednesday, reports Dawn.

Following Hassan's appearance, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar also faced the JIT on Monday in connection with the probe, which has entered its final week. The minister, who is also the father-in-law of Nawaz Sharif's younger daughter, is the eighth member of the extended Sharif family to be summoned for questioning.

On 15 June, Nawaz Sharif appeared before the JIT and became the first sitting Pakistani prime minister to appear before a probe team. The six-member JIT is due to present its report to the apex court on 10 July.

In its judgment of 20 April in the Panama Papers case, the Supreme Court had constituted the JIT and empowered it to summon the Prime Minister, his sons and any other person to investigate allegations of money laundering, Dawn reported.

The Sharif family is alleged to have purchased four apartments in London's Park Lane area through money laundering.
Perceiving the growing India-US ties as anti-China, Beijing's aggressive stance at Doka La could have been to test the waters after Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently remarked in Russia that not a single bullet has been fired at India-China border in the last 40 years.

The current standoff ostensibly commenced on 16 June. Following the standoff, the Ministry of External Affairs released a press statement on 29 June saying, On 16th June 2017, the Chinese Army started constructing a motorable road from Dokola in the Doklam area towards the Bhutan Army camp at Zompelri. Boundary talks are ongoing between Bhutan and China and we have written agreements of 1988 and 1998 stating that the two sides agree to maintain peace and tranquility in their border areas pending a final settlement on the boundary question, and to maintain status quo on the boundary as before March 1959. The agreements also state that the two sides will refrain from taking unilateral action, or use of force, to change the status quo of the boundary. Bhutan has conveyed to the Chinese side, both on the ground and through the diplomatic channel, that the construction of the road inside Bhutanese territory is a direct violation of the agreements and affects the process of demarcating the boundary between our two countries. Bhutan hopes that the status quo in the Doklam area will be maintained as before 16 June 2017."

But the current standoff is certainly not the longest after the 1962 India-China War. To cope with what later became famous as the Wangdung incident, India then airlifted and occupied the ridges surrounding the Sumdorong Chu. It was then that the Deng Xiaoping declared it was time to "teach India a lesson  in similar fashion when he directed the People's Liberation Army to invade Vietnam but received the lesson of his life. In a show of massive force, Deng Xiaoping moved forward 20,000 PLA troops of the 53rd Group Army and 13 Group Army along with guns and helicopters. India reacted by moving three divisions into the positions around Wangdung, maintaining them by air. In addition, some ten divisions were mobilised to the eastern sector with almost 50,000 troops in Arunachal Pradesh along with beefing up of air assets of the IAF. India also conducted massive move forward exercise called Chequerboard along the LAC that commencing October 1986 that continued till March 1987. This was, in addition, to exercise Brass Tacks conducted along the western borders facing Pakistan. Seeing the Indian resolve, the diplomatic moves by India started making headway. In August 1987, field commanders of the opposing forces at Wangdung met and agreed to move their posts apart. In November 1987, the eighth round of border talks was held calling for the end to confrontation, leading to its execution eventually. Finally, it was China that extended an invitation to then prime minister Rajiv Gandhi to visit China in a bid to normalise relations

So, the current standoff is nowhere close to the Wangdung incident that lasted through a year and a half. In fact, it would not be surprising if it prolongs beyond the length of the Wangdung incident. This is because Chinese president Xi Jinping having accumulated all power unto him has built an aura of invincibility to the Chinese public, he cannot afford to debase. Whether the 16 June intrusion by China, anchored on the slimy cartographic move by claiming the T-Junction couple of kilometres to the south, was an experiment by design or default leaves Xi in a fix.

Moreover, at the plenary session of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China held in March 2017, delegates were repeatedly told in no uncertain terms that their top priority is to Follow the leadership of the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core. National Congress of the Communist Party of China is a twice a decade that was last held in 2012. It sees through far-reaching changes in the makeup of the top leadership of the CPC; leadership transition. Also, a majority of the Politburo Standing Committee were expected to retire at this congress. Up for grabs are the memberships of the 25-member Politburo and the 200-plus member Central Committee, about 70 percent of whose members are due to retire.

Therefore, at such juncture, Xi, having taken on the mantle of core leader last year edging him closer to the cult personality of Mao Zedong, he cant afford to show any sign of weakness. In fact, he would like to showcase himself as a cross between Hitler, Hercules and Superman given the fact that China claims territories of 23 countries while sharing borders with only 14. On balance, we may witness a long haul, even enlarging beyond the current standoff in Sikkim. China can be expected to mount pressure on all fronts, indicative by her ships and submarines prowling the India Ocean. The rhetoric may go up beyond the Chinese media declaring that India needs to be taught the rules. Modi has already clarified that we are a peace-loving nation but if our resolve is put to test we are ready. The fact is that during the Wangdung incident also we were ready for any misadventure by China and Pakistan. There is no reason why we should not be ready today. Xi should realise that firmness by India is part of wisdom.

The author is a retired lieutenant-general of the Indian Army
Colombo: Lieutenant General Mahesh Senanayake, a battle-hardened officer who played a key role in defeating the Tamil Tigers during the three-decade-long brutal civil war, will be Sri Lanka's new army commander.

Senanayake was appointed by Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena as the country's new army commander after being promoted to the rank of Lieutenant General, presidential secretariat officials said.

He is also a graduate of the prestigious United States Army Command and General Staff College and holds a Bachelor of Science (BSc) degree in Civil Engineering from Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi.

He is currently serving as the Commander Security Forces in Jaffna. He was previously serving as the Chief of Staff (CoS) of the Sri Lanka Army.

He is a battle-hardened and illustrated officer from Sri Lanka's elite Special Forces who played a key role in defeating the Tamil Tigers in the three-decade-long civil war.

Senanayake's appointment was made a week after previous commander General Chrishantha De Silva was promoted to the post of Chief of Defence Staff of Sri Lanka, the country's top military post.

Three other appointments were also made by the Sri Lankan government.

Austin Fernando has been appointed to the post of Presidential Secretary.

Fernando previously held the post of the Governor of the Eastern Province. He played a crucial role as the Secretary to the Ministry of Defence during the peace negotiations between Sri Lankan government and the LTTE in 2002-2004.

Rohitha Bogollagama, the former foreign minister of Sri Lanka, has been appointed as the new Governor of the Eastern Province.

Bogollagama was previously chief organiser of Sri Lanka Freedom Party. He had also served as the Cabinet Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2007 until he was defeated in the General Elections held in 2010, losing his seat in parliament.

Kapila Waidayarathne has been appointed as the New Secretary to the Ministry of Defence.

Waidyarathna, former Senior Additional Solicitor General is the third secretary appointed to the Ministry of Defence since Sirisena, who is also the Minster of Defence, assumed office in 2015.
Colombo: Sri Lankan military on Tuesday said it has released 54 acres of land to nearly 190 families from the minority Tamil community and ended its control over a major fishing harbour after almost 30 years in the former war zone of Jaffna.

The release came as a positive response from the military to the long-standing demands of the Tamil people and supports the pledge of President Maithripala Sirisena, who vowed during his election campaign to work towards achieving reconciliation with the minorities.

The land and the fishing harbour border Sri Lankan military's Palaly Army Cantonment, the ColomboPage reported.

The Sri Lankan Army said in a statement that 187 families, who reside as Internally Displaced Persons since 1990 will now be able to return to their lands and resume their fishing livelihood after an absence of nearly 30 years.

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) ran a nearly three-decade separatist campaign leading to a bloody war with the Sri Lankan security forces.

According to the UN figures, up to 40,000 civilians were killed by the security forces during former president Mahinda Rajapaksa's regime that brought an end to the brutal conflict with the defeat of the LTTE in 2009.
The exhibition, Hall of Mental Cultivation of the Palace Museum: Imperial Residence of Eight Emperors, featuring items ranging from paintings and other art pieces to furniture, runs through Oct 15 at Hong Kong Heritage Museum. [Photo by Parker Zheng/China Daily]

A collection of precious items from the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) is currently on display in Hong Kong. The items have never left Beijing before, and have been made public only once at the Capital Museum last year.

The artifacts are from the Hall of Mental Cultivation in the Forbidden City, China's imperial palace from 1420 to 1911, now known as the Palace Museum.

The ongoing exhibition, called the Hall of Mental Cultivation of The Palace Museum: Imperial Residence of Eight Emperors, which began on June 29, is presented by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government and the Palace Museum.

It is one of the key events marking the 20th anniversary of Hong Kong's return to China.

When visitors enter the exhibition at the Hong Kong Heritage Museum, they see a space resembling the Hall of Mental Cultivation.
London: President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw the US from the Paris climate pact could "push the Earth over the brink" and turn it into a hothouse planet like Venus, renowned British physicist Stephen Hawking has warned.

Trump announced in June that the US would be withdrawing from the Paris Agreement, which has been signed by nearly 200 nations, claiming he wants to "renegotiate" the country's part in the agreement to ensure American businesses are not disadvantaged.

Hawking, arguably the world's most famous scientist, told the BBC that Trump's decision to pull out of the Paris climate agreement could lead to irreversible climate change. "We are close to the tipping point where global warming becomes irreversible. Trump's action could push the Earth over the brink, to become like Venus, with a temperature of two hundred and fifty degrees, and raining sulphuric acid," the 75-year-old physicist said.

He also feared aggression was "inbuilt" in humans and that their best hope of survival was to live on other planets. The Cambridge professor said climate change is one of the great dangers humanity was facing, but it could be prevented by acting now. "By denying the evidence for climate change, and pulling out of the Paris Climate Agreement, Donald Trump will cause avoidable environmental damage to our beautiful planet, endangering the natural world, for us and our children," Hawking said.

When asked whether he felt humans would ever solve their environmental problems and resolve conflicts, Hawking was pessimistic, saying that he thought humans' days on Earth were numbered.

"I fear evolution has inbuilt greed and aggression to the human genome. There is no sign of conflict lessening, and the development of militarised technology and weapons of mass destruction could make that disastrous. The best hope for the survival of the human race might be independent colonies in space," he said.

On Brexit, Hawking feared that UK research would be irreparably damaged. "Science is a cooperative effort, so the impact (of Brexit) will be wholly bad, and will leave British science isolated and inward looking," he said.

Asked about his legacy, Hawking said, "I never expected to reach 75, so I feel very fortunate to be able to reflect on my legacy. I think my greatest achievement, will be my discovery that black holes are not entirely black." Hawking has had motor neurone disease for most of his adult life. It has impaired his movement and ability to speak.

"When I was diagnosed at 21, I was told it would kill me in two or three years. Now, 54 years later, albeit weaker and in a wheelchair, I'm still working and producing scientific papers. But it's been a great struggle, which I have got through only with a lot of help from my family, colleagues, and friends," he said.
Istanbul: Turkey protested officially to Germany on Tuesday that an artist had been allowed to set up an installation in central Berlin offering a car as a prize in exchange for killing world leaders including President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The installation was set up outside the offices of Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin on Monday, comprising a Mercedes C-class car and banners with pictures of Erdogan, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Saudi King Salman.

"Do you want this car? Kill dictatorship!" said the slogan.

Erdogan is frequently accused by opponents of acting like a dictator, although he rubbishes the idea, noting that he is the first directly-elected president in Turkish history.

The action was staged by the art collective Centre for Political Beauty led bv Phillip Ruch, which has made several stunts in the past including displaying four tigers in the centre of Berlin to protest at refugee policy.

Turkey's embassy to Berlin said it was "incomprehensible and unacceptable" that Ruch had been allowed to set up such an installation with no intervention from the local security forces.

"It is clear that in such a sensitive time when communal peace and shared values need to be protected, these kinds of actions encouraging hatred and violence will not serve peace," the embassy said in a statement.

It said an "urgent note" had been sent to the German foreign ministry to make the protest.

All three leaders targeted in the stunt were due to attend the G20 summit in Hamburg this Friday and Saturday although King Salman has now cancelled his trip.

Turkey-German relations are going through a rocky period with Berlin stepping up its criticism of Ankara's rights record under Erdogan.

In another incident claimed by the Centre for Political Beauty, Turkish police at the weekend said they had seized from a hotel room in the centre of Istanbul a machine that was printing and distributing anti-Erdogan pamphlets onto the street below.

Reports on Turkish media said police were looking for a German citizen who had already left the country.

The Centre for Political Beauty said over 1,000 copies of an anti-Erdogan leaflet were thrown from a hotel window into Gezi Park in Istanbul.
Dubai, United Arab Emirates: The West Asia's biggest airline says it is working to implement increased security measures in response to the United States demands to reverse a ban on laptops and other electronics onboard its United States-bound flights.

Dubai-based airline Emirates said in a statement on Tuesday it is "working hard in coordination with various aviation stakeholders and the local authorities" to put the heightened security measures and protocols in place.

Emirates' Dubai hub has grown into the world's busiest airport for international traffic, in large part thanks to Emirates' expansion. It was one of 10 airports affected by the ban on cabin electronics put in place by the Trump administration in March.

Another Emirati airport, in Abu Dhabi, this week became the first to be exempted from the cabin electronics ban.

Homeland Security spokesman David Lapan said US officials already had seen that "the measures have been implemented correctly and to the full extent required" in Abu Dhabi. He said American monitors would make further visits to ensure the checks were being done properly.

"The enhanced security measures, both seen and unseen, include an enhanced screening of passengers and electronic devices," Lapan said, declining to elaborate. "We commend Etihad for working swiftly to implement these additional measures. Their efforts are a model for both foreign and domestic airlines."
Moscow: Russian president Vladimir Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping were due to hold formal talks on Tuesday against a backdrop of mounting tensions over North Korea ahead of G20 summit talks with Donald Trump.

The meeting in Moscow comes as North Korea claimed the launch of its first inter-continental ballistic missile, and US president Trump urged China to "end this nonsense once and for all".

Chinese state news agency Xinhua reported Putin and Xi "agreed to jointly push for a proper settlement of the peninsula issue via dialogue and negotiation" at a closed Kremlin meeting on Monday evening on the eve of the official talks.

Beijing  North Korea's closest diplomatic ally  and Moscow have called repeatedly for calm on all sides, but Trump has warned Washington's patience with Pyongyang is nearing an end.

Xi and Putin once again slammed the US THAAD missile system installed in South Korea to protect against the North, Xinhua said. Both leaders argue that it threatens the strategic balance in the region.

The Kremlin gave no details on what was discussed at the "informal" tete-a-tete Monday.

While the latest tensions over North Korea figured high on the agenda the main focus of the Putin-Xi meeting was set to remain boosting growing trade and political ties between the two increasingly close partners.

The giant neighbours are expected to oversee the inking of a raft of deals worth billions of dollars as Moscow continues a pivot towards China it has ramped up since ties with the West slumped over Ukraine.

Ahead of his arrival in Moscow Xi said that relations with Russia were currently enjoying their "best time in history" as he and Putin have struck up a close relationship.

The Kremlin strongman is set to present Xi with a prestigious Russian state award at the Kremlin.

After their meeting in Moscow the two leaders are set to head to the G20 summit in Hamburg where they will come face-to-face with Trump, a first meeting for Putin with the US president.

To check photos of their Moscow meeting here.
You are here: Home

China issued a grade-IV emergency response on Monday for rain and floods that have left 16 people dead and 10 missing in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

Soldiers clear away mud after a flood at Riverside Park in Liucheng County of Liuzhou City, south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, July 3, 2017. Works of epidemic prevention and mud-cleaning are underway as floods subsided in central China's Hunan Province and south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. (Xinhua/Deng Keyi)

Heavy rain started in parts of Guangxi on Saturday, forcing the relocation of 92,000 residents, according to the regional civil affairs department.

The disaster has caused around 2.9 billion yuan (430 million U.S. dollars) in direct economic losses.

The Ministry of Civil Affairs (MCA) and the China National Commission for Disaster Reduction have sent teams to assist relief work on the scene.

A grade-IV response, the lowest in China's emergency response system, requires a 24-hour alerts, daily damage reports, and funds and relief delivered within 48 hours.

Guangxi disaster response and civil affairs authorities have delivered relief supplies and fund of 3.6 million yuan to affected areas.
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Many investors are frustrated that Macy's (NYSE: M) hasn't moved more aggressively to sell its most valuable real estate. While the company has brought in nearly $1 billion of proceeds from real estate sales in the past two years, that's just a small fraction of its total real estate value. In early 2016, hedge fund Starboard Value estimated that Macy's real estate was worth $20.7 billion.

However, Macy's has been carefully pruning its store portfolio, selling only lower-performing stores and stores that clearly overlapped with other Macy's locations. Yet even among its stores in the worst malls, Macy's has sometimes found a meaningful amount of real estate value.

Macy's gets a windfall in Alexandria

One of Macy's bigger real estate transactions of the past year was a deal to sell its store building and the surrounding land at Alexandria, Virginia's Landmark Mall to developer The Howard Hughes Corporation (NYSE: HHC).

For several years, Howard Hughes has been working on a plan to redevelop the entire mall. It wants to knock down the main mall building -- which has been nearly vacant in recent years -- and replace it with a mixed-use "town center" development.

Originally, Macy's had planned to keep its store open as the mall was converted to a town center setup. However, Landmark Mall has become a classic "dead mall," and customer traffic isn't likely to improve until Howard Hughes finishes the redevelopment process. Furthermore, Macy's has two other locations within a 10-15 minute drive, both of which are among its 150 most profitable stores. As a result, Macy's announced in January that it would close the store.

Yet while Landmark Mall is virtually vacant today (it has a Sears store, but that's it) it is located in a wealthy area that has high potential. As a result, Macy's was able to sell the parcel to Howard Hughes for $22.2 million, according to local property records. That's a considerable sum to get for a store that may have been barely profitable.

Macy's sells another failing store

Another one of the dozens of stores that Macy's has closed this year was its Boulevard Mall location in Las Vegas. This is another struggling mall that is being killed by competition. Among the 10 malls in the Las Vegas metro area, it is the only one that gets a "C" or "D" grade from Green Street Advisors for sales productivity.

Closing the Boulevard Mall store was also a no-brainer. Macy's has several other stores in the Las Vegas metro area, including two at Fashion Show Mall, which is just two miles away. Fashion Show Mall has an A++ grade from Green Street Advisors, putting it among the top three dozen malls in the U.S. Not surprisingly, Macy's Fashion Show Mall stores are also among its 150 most profitable locations.

Last month, Macy's sold its store building at the Boulevard Mall for more than $3.5 million. While this wasn't as big a windfall as what Macy's got in Alexandria, it's still a significant sum, considering that the Boulevard Mall may be dying a slow death. (J.C. Penney also plans to close its store there within the next month.)

Macy's holds onto its best stores

While Macy's hasn't brought in billions of dollars from selling real estate -- as some investors had hoped -- that's because it has held on to nearly all of its top-performing stores.

Macy's management remains confident that the company can improve its profitability in the coming years by revamping its marketing strategy, focusing on more exclusive merchandise, and implementing a new loyalty program. If these plans succeed, investors will be glad that the company didn't auction off its best real estate to the highest bidder.

On the other hand, if Macy's turnaround efforts fall short in the coming years, the company can go back and start selling off its more valuable stores. The best malls have been increasing their dominance recently, so these properties are likely to retain their value quite well.

Considering how much money Macy's has brought in this year from selling real estate in dead and dying malls, it's clear that the company's best properties represent a gold mine of real estate value.

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Adam Levine-Weinberg owns shares of J.C. Penney and Macy's. The Motley Fool recommends Howard Hughes. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
Maine lawmakers said late Monday they had reached a tentative agreement that could end the state's government shutdown.

The state Legislature failed to enact a budget Friday, causing the shutdown. Democratic lawmakers and Republican Gov. Paul LePage had sparred over issues including education funding, taxes on high earners and a proposed increase to a lodging tax.

The new proposal would nix an increase to the lodging tax, which LePage has said is critical for him to sign it. Democratic lawmakers said Monday they were willing to make that change in exchange for concessions on Head Start and behavioral health programs.

A spokeswoman for Democratic House Speaker Sara Gideon said lawmakers would vote late Monday or early Tuesday on the new spending plan that repeals the lodging tax increase.

LePage said in a Facebook video on Monday that he was willing to extend the government shutdown if the Legislature handed him a budget that included a tax increase. He also made clear he would sign off on a budget that removed the lodging tax hike.

"We are in very good financial shape, and there's no reason why we should try to pass a tax when it's not necessary," LePage said.

Democrats, union activists and state workers spent the day calling for the shutdown to end and contended that it was hurting families and the state's image.

"This is about getting a job done," said Democratic Attorney General Janet Mills, a LePage foe, to a crowd of state workers. "Make the House Republicans do the right thing. There's nothing to be debating anymore."

The Legislature would need a two-thirds vote to pass the budget on its second vote. If the Legislature approves a budget, LePage would have 10 days to decide whether to sign or veto it.

LePage also created a stir on Monday when he suggested to several GOP senators that he was going to leave the state during the shutdown. Republican Sen. Roger Katz said LePage made clear he planned to leave "for 10 days."

LePage spokesman Peter Steele told several media outlets that the claim is "fake news." He didn't return a message from The Associated Press seeking further comment.

Monday was the first day the shutdown was tangible for many residents, because it began over the weekend. Residents could not renew driver's licenses, obtain vehicle titles and registrations or take road tests for new licenses. Numerous other government functions were similarly limited. Essential personnel such as a state police remained on the job.

Union members held a rally outside the State House on Monday morning to call for budget passage. Ray Heathco, an Auburn social worker, said his inability to do his job during the shutdown means child support enforcement cases can't go forward.

"The cases are just going to sit there languishing," Heathco said. "It's really about support for children."

All the budget proposals floated over the past several days have been in the area of $7 billion. Line items remained the sticking points.

The new budget proposal included $162 million in increased education spending to partially offset removal of a voter-approved 3 percent surcharge on the income of high-earning residents. The tax, approved in November, was designed to boost state spending on K-12 education.

Some Republican lawmakers said Monday they agreed with LePage's stance on rejecting any budget that raised taxes.

"I know we can do better. We can say no to new taxes," said Rep. Heather Sirocki, R-Scarborough, from the House floor.
Prosecutors want a judge to make "Pharma Bro" Martin Shkreli stop talking and filed a motion on Monday asking that he and all attorneys in his criminal case be ordered to refrain from making any statements outside court.

Shkreli, a former pharmaceutical company CEO most notorious for raising the price of a lifesaving drug by 5,000 percent while at another company, is on trial for charges of federal securities fraud.

In the motion, federal prosecutors told U.S. District Court Judge Kiyo Matsumoto that Shkreli has interacted with the media since the jury for his trial was picked, in the courthouse, outside and on digital media. They said his statements risk tainting the jury.

"Shkreli appears determined to ignore the instructions of defense counsel and to wage his own public relations campaign against the witnesses and the government during the trial," prosecutors said.

Defense attorney Benjamin Brafman objected to a gag order and said "certain representatives of the press have gone out of their way to try to 'bait'" Shkreli into making public statements. He said his client is "under enormous pressure that is compounded by his clearly frail emotional state."

Prosecutors said another alternative could be for the judge to semi-sequester the jury.
What happened

Shares of Palo Alto Networks Inc. (NYSE: PANW) jumped 12.8% in the month of June, according to data provided by S&P Global Market Intelligence, after the network security specialist revealed strong fiscal third-quarter 2017 results.

So what

Palo Alto stock skyrocketed nearly 17% on June 1, 2017, alone -- the first trading day after its official quarterly release. More specifically, Palo Alto Networks confirmed that quarterly revenue had climbed 24.9% year over year to $431.8 million, while adjusted earnings per share increased 32.6% to $0.61. Both figures compared favorably to guidance provided three months earlier, when Palo Alto Networks had told investors to expect significantly lower revenue of $406 million to $416 million and earnings per share of just $0.54 to $0.56. CEO Mark McLaughlin noted that Palo Alto Networks added the second-highest number of new customers in company history during the quarter.

McLaughlin elaborated, "The integrated and highly automated prevention capabilities of our next-generation security platform continue to differentiate us in the market as we help our customers protect our digital way of life."

Now what

In addition, Palo Alto Networks offered guidance for current-quarter revenue to increase 20% to 23%, or to a range of $481 million to $491 million, with adjusted earnings of $0.78 to $0.80 per share. Wall Street was looking for adjusted earnings of just $0.74 per share on revenue below the midpoint of that range.

Of course, we should also keep in mind this all but reversed Palo Alto Networks' losses after a disappointing earnings report on sales execution issues sent the stock plunging earlier this year. With strong customer additions last quarter indicating those execution issues are largely resolved, and with shares now up around 6% year to date, Palo Alto Networks stock may still have plenty of room to rise going forward.

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Steve Symington has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends Palo Alto Networks. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
Chinese President Xi Jinping and his wife Peng Liyuan arrive in Moscow, Russia, July 3, 2017. Xi embarks on a state visit to Russia. [Xinhua]

Chinese President Xi Jinping is in Moscow for a two-day official visit to Russia on July 3-4 at the invitation of Russian President Vladimir Putin. President Xis current Russia visit assumes considerable significance in the current situation of global complexity and uncertainty. Good relations between China and Russia are vital to the revitalization of both nations, as well as to world peace and stability. The development of China-Russia ties is inseparably linked with the strategic aspirations of the leaders of both countries. In the words of Xi Jinping, "China's relationship with Russia is at its best time in history."

This is Xis second state visit to Russia since taking office in 2013 and the two leaders had met twice in 2017: on the sidelines of the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation (BRF) held in Beijing in May and in Astana on June 8 where the 17th Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit was held. Deemed as the "event of the year" for the two countries, the third meeting between the two leaders is of great significance for China and Russia to maintain frequent high-level interactions under the current complex international situation.

In recent years, China and Russia have established closer ties under the leadership of President Xi Jinping and President Vladimir Putin, forging large-scale energy and economic ties, conducting joint naval exercises, and signing treaties to reaffirm their strategic partnership. President Xi himself believed that his visit to Russia will "inject new impetus to the development of China-Russia relations," within the alignment of the Belt and Road Initiative with the Russia-led Eurasian Economic Union.

According to the visits program, on July 4, President Xi Jinping will hold talks with Vladimir Putin. It is anticipated that the two leaders will discuss the full range of issues related to comprehensive partnership and strategic cooperation between Russia and China and pressing international and regional issues during their meeting. Both leaders will accelerate the synergy of their countries' respective economic strategies so as to further enrich the two countries' cooperation in the interest of developing China's western regions and Russia's Far East.

After the negotiations between Xi Jinping and Putin, the two leaders will release a communique and approve a document for the implementation of the Russian-Chinese agreement on good neighborly relations, friendship and cooperation for 2017-2020. According to Chinese Assistant Foreign Minister Li Huilai, $10 billion worth of contracts will be clinched during the Chinese leaders visit to Russia and over 10 interstate agreements would be signed. It is hoped that China and Russia would reach new agreements during the visit.

This year marks the 16th anniversary of the signing of the China-Russia Treaty on Good-Neighborliness, Friendship and Cooperation and the 21st anniversary of the establishment of the strategic cooperative partnership between the two nations. The past decade has seen the enhancement of bilateral relations, especially the strategic partnership which has been enjoying high level exchanges as well as cooperation in various fields.

Economic and trade cooperation is an important manifestation of the China-Russia comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination. The bilateral trade between China and Russia has improved significantly since 2016, thanks to better performing economies. China has maintained its status of Russias largest trading partner for the seventh year in a row and an important source of foreign investment in the country, while Russia is one of China's main sources of imports of energy and high technology.

According to the Chinese Ministry of Commerce, last year, the two countries managed to reverse a declining trend in bilateral trade, which achieved a 2.2 percent growth rate to reach US$69.5 billion. In the first four months of 2017, trade turnover between the two countries increased by 37 percent from the same period a year ago and exceeded US$24.5 billion. Russia has become the second largest player in cross-border e-commerce with China.

It is a good choice for China to enhance cooperation with Russia and observing the "Shanghai Spirit." In recent times, the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) installation in South Korea has jeopardized the strategic balance in the central Asia region and posed threats to strategic security interests of countries including China and Russia. Surely, Xis visit to Russia should focus on China-Russia mutual opposition to the THAAD missile deployment in South Korea to safeguard their national security interests and the regional strategic balance.

There is no doubt that the healthy and stable development of the Sino-Russia relations has a positive impact on the region and the world as a whole.

Invited by German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Chancellor Angela Merkel, President Xi Jinping will officially visit Germany, China's most important trade partner in Europe and attend the 12th meeting of the G20 summit due to take place in Hamburg, Germany on July 7-8, under the theme "Shaping an interconnected world."

Prior to Xi's visit to Germany, Premier Li Keqiang also visited Germany from May 31 to June 1. Chinese president and premier visiting Germany in the same year is a rarely-seen diplomatic move in Sino-German relations and even in China's history of foreign relations.

It is expected that the Hamburg G20 summit will help China to position itself the new global champion for globalization and a defender of free trade that other G20 members can follow when the Trump administration has stepped back from America's traditional role of dominance on trade and development.

Rabi Sankar Bosu, Secretary of New Horizon Radio Listeners' Club, West Bengal, India

Opinion articles reflect the views of their authors, not necessarily those of China.org.cn.
The S&P 500 (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC) has given investors a nice advance so far in 2017, climbing about 8% as of the end of June. However, some S&P 500 stocks have missed out on the gains and have lost considerable amounts of ground. Among the worst are Transocean (NYSE: RIG), Anadarko Petroleum (NYSE: APC), and Macy's (NYSE: M), with losses of about a third or more. Investors fear that if the same industry factors that have punished these stocks continue, then the shares could suffer even greater declines ahead.

Transocean struggles in a terrible energy environment

Transocean's decline comes as no surprise to anyone following the energy industry. Crude oil prices have once again resumed a downward trend in 2017, and that has hit offshore drilling specialists like Transocean especially hard. Because offshore projects tend to be more expensive, they're often the first projects that producers decide to suspend or delay during times of stress for the energy markets. Despite rebounding last year from their worst levels during 2015, crude oil prices haven't come close to recovering all of their declines.

Transocean has actually done a good job from a fundamental perspective in setting up its business to weather the storm in energy prices. Although many producers are still in no hurry to enter into new contracts for Transocean's rigs, the financial pressure on the entire offshore industry puts Transocean in a position in which it can consider poaching assets from weaker rivals at bargain prices. Transocean also has more than $10 billion in backlogged projects that it can work through during the dry spell, and strategic moves like selling off jack-up rigs to fund newer construction could end up being a smart move in order to preserve capital or use it for more productive purposes.

Anadarko deals with explosive issues

Anadarko Petroleum also has exposure to oil and natural gas prices because of its status as an exploration and production company. A poor price environment for energy has weighed on Anadarko stock, but the company also has some specific problems that it needs to resolve. In late April, a home just north of Denver exploded, and an Anadarko gas well ended being blamed for the explosion. Investigators found that a well connection hadn't been properly capped, allowing natural gas to move into the home and eventually cause the explosion. Colorado authorities ordered Anadarko to inspect all wells within 1,000 feet of existing structures, and another homeowner filed suit against the company.

Anadarko has a lot of potential to recover from its recent woes. It is one of the lowest-cost producers of energy from shale formations in the U.S., and Anadarko has made strategic moves to expand and take advantage of pressure on other companies in the sector. The stock is in good position to move higher if oil prices rebound, and even if they don't, Anadarko is stronger than many of its peers and could end up being a winner even after a prolonged downturn.

Macy's deals with retail woes

The retail sector has been under at least as much pressure as the energy sector, and department stores like Macy's have seen huge declines. Falling revenue, comparable-store sales, and profits have weighed on stock prices throughout the industry, and the result has been the need for store closures in order to try to find the right balance between shopper demand and available store supply. Macy's also hasn't yet been able to figure out a good response to the rise of online shopping, and its attempts to promote its own online sales haven't even kept up with those of its direct competitors, let alone online specialists.

There are still some reasons to be optimistic about Macy's future. The retailer has at least avoided suffering outright losses, and new leadership has the ability to take a fresh look at Macy's and try to figure out a better strategic path forward. Investors shouldn't expect better times to come quickly, but it's far too early to slam the door on Macy's prospects down the road entirely.

The S&P 500's gains have been impressive so far this year. If these stocks can finally rebound and start pulling their weight, then they could help the index produce even better returns for the full 2017 year and beyond.

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Moody's (NYSE: MCO) and S&P Global (NYSE: SPGI) primarily make their money by rating the quality of corporate and government bonds, but they also have lucrative side businesses that generate additional income. These side businesses are extraordinarily profitable.

S&P Global generates more than $100 million of operating income each quarter just by licensing out its indexes, primarily the S&P 500 index, to ETFs and other index funds that use it. In this segment of Industry Focus: Financials, join host Gaby Lapera and Jordan Wathen as they discuss S&P Global's lucrative index fund side business.

A full transcript follows the video.

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This video was recorded on June 26, 2017.

Gaby Lapera: The other thing to think about with these credit rating agencies is that they have access to all of the information. They have to, so that they can make these decisions. So, that actually translates into some of their side businesses, like Moody's Analytics or S&P market and commodities intelligence, which are subscription services which are sold to banks, insurance companies, The Motley Fool, sometimes.

Jordan Wathen: Right. So, once you collect all this information, as S&P, Moody's, and Fitch have done, they have all this information and another way to monetize it is to repackage it. S&P, this is a good one for a banking show, S&P recently bought out SNL Financial, which is basically the go-to bank information service provider. If you want to know what, say, Wells Fargo's non-performing loans looks like in 1982 and how that compared to other banks in the neighborhood, in California neighborhoods, they have that information. So, basically, these side businesses that they have, which aren't as important, for S&P, it's roughly half of their income, for Moody's it's only about 15% of their operating income. But these side businesses allow them to basically reuse information they've collected and resell it in different ways.

Lapera: Which is so smart. I have a coworker whose son is raising goats for a ritual that happens in Islam once a year. He's going to sell these goats to the local mosque. In the meantime, he's also hiring the goats out as lawn mowers, which is kind of the equivalent of the S&P and Moody's doing this with all the information they've collected. And congratulations to you, you're a very enterprising young man. The other thing that S&P does that I don't think Moody's does is the index funds.

Wathen: Right. Even if you don't know who Standard & Poor's is, you know S&P, and you probably just know it from the S&P 500, which is their premiere stock index. And because this has such a reputation, such a name as the large-cap index -- really there isn't a peer for it -- and because there's so much money willing to invest in the S&P 500 index, they've found it possible to license the S&P 500 name out to fund managers and charge a fee. It's usually 0.03% of assets under management, just to use the name and to use the index and the ETF name. So, every $100 that goes into an S&P 500 Index Fund, Standard & Poor's is collecting $0.03 on that, just for the rights to use its name. It's an amazing business. I would love to own that by itself, because it's truly incredible that they can basically collect royalties on index fund assets.

Lapera: Yeah, it's super cool to see all the ways that these companies are putting stuff together. And that's one of the reasons that CRAs is so interesting, is because they're using every part of the cow in order to make money. It's a very impressive business model.

Wathen: I wrote an article on this recently, it's really interesting, S&P really didn't realize, for a long time, just how valuable that brand is that it has, the S&P 500 brand. At one point, they actually gave Vanguard the license to use the S&P 500 name in one of its biggest funds for as little as $50,000 a year. It later turned out that they woefully underpriced that contract, and I think they've reworked it since. But this business of theirs is collecting over $100 million per quarter in pure operating income, just by skimming off the top of all these funds that are out there. It's truly incredible. If there's one business that I wish I could just own outright, it would be that, and I would just sit at home and check the mailbox every month for my next check. It's just an amazing business.

Gaby Lapera has no position in any stocks mentioned. Jordan Wathen has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Moody's. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
The decline in correspondent banking, a crucial channel for moving cash from one country to another, shows no sign of slowing despite measures agreed in 2015 to stem the slide, global regulators said on Tuesday.

Banks have been pulling out of the business for a variety of reasons from not making enough money to industry consolidation to the fear of falling foul of tougher new rules designed to prevent money laundering and terrorist financing.

The Financial Stability Board (FSB), which coordinates financial regulations for the Group of 20 countries (G20), said the places most affected tended to be small economies or those finding it difficult to apply the new rules.

The decline has raised concerns that some payments will pass through unregulated cash couriers instead, harming international trade and driving some people out of the world's financial system, the FSB said in a report.

The FSB unveiled a four-point action plan in November 2015 to curb the decline and has since made clear that correspondent banks don't have to know their local customer's customer but the fall has shown no signs of abating.

"The decline in the number of correspondent banking relationships is continuing," the FSB report said.

It said all regions had been hit to a varying degree, with the Caribbean and small states in the Pacific suffering the worst and Eastern Europe hit hard as well. The FSB said transactions in U.S. dollars and euros were the most affected.

In correspondent banking, a global bank typically channels payments in country to a local bank with no international network in another country.

PAYMENT VOLUMES STABLE

Heidi Toribio, global head of banks and broker dealers at Standard Chartered, a correspondent bank, said there was no simple solution to the decline.

But advances in technology were starting to automate payments processes, making it harder to manipulate invoices.

"Regulators globally and locally are coming together with the industry and were having the right conversations," Toribio said.

The FSB said its latest update for G20 leaders meeting this week in Hamburg, Germany, draws on better data after sampling 300 banks in 50 countries, and payment messages from SWIFT, a global network that links lenders.

"It is too early to tell what the effects of measures taken so far will be, and to what extent they will stem the decline," the FSB said.

The volume of payments remains roughly unchanged, but the involvement of fewer banks means longer payment chains and countries relying on fewer international lenders, the FSB said.

The FSB will convene a meeting of private and public sector bodies on the sidelines of the International Monetary Fund-World Bank annual meetings in October to discuss its findings so. Another progress report is due in December.

The watchdog will also obtain deeper and more frequent data on the sector from SWIFT over the coming year to monitor progress, while the World Bank is studying the impact of the decline on remittances to see if costs are being driven up.

Alexander Karrer, chair of the FSB's Correspondent Banking Coordination Group, and Deputy State Secretary at the Swiss Federal Department of Finance, said the banking industry and regulators would continue to work together to make improvements to simplify due diligence in correspondent banking.

(Editing by David Clarke and Alexander Smith)
Regardless of how you feel about the state of politics in the United States, there is unity across the political spectrum on one key issue: infrastructure investment. No detailed plan has emerged yet, but the figures being thrown around usually call for spending up to $1 trillion in the next 10 years to update American roads, bridges, waterways, airports, water distribution, and more.

A lack of details can't stop investors from fantasizing about how such a massive spending deal could benefit their portfolio or point to new opportunities. One group of companies that stand to benefit is water utilities, which are responsible for drinking water distribution and wastewater services. Here's how such a plan could aid water stocks such as American Water Works (NYSE: AWK) and Aqua America (NYSE: WTR).

American infrastructure 101

Every few years the American Society of Civil Engineers grades American infrastructure and issues a full report card complete with letter grades and estimated spending requirements. Spoiler alert: The country has never come close to passing (earning a D+ in 2013 and 2017). As if being stuck in summer school for eternity weren't bad enough for Uncle Sam, making all necessary infrastructure upgrades will cost an estimated $4.59 trillion in the next 10 years, with a funding gap of $2 trillion. Never before has $1 trillion seemed so inadequate.

The current environment is particularly poor for drinking water and wastewater infrastructure. Here are a few highlights:

Investments required to upgrade and meet growing demands for wastewater and drinking water exceed $1.27 trillion in the next 25 years.

The United States consumes 42 billion gallons of treated drinking water each day in homes and factories, but close to 6 billion gallons are lost from leaking pipes.

Just 5.5% of the nation's water systems serve 92% of the population.

The report goes on to list proposed solutions that, judging from the report card history, are usually ignored by those with decision-making power. The good news is the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has been increasing its attention on the problem, and companies such as American Water Works and Aqua America are planning to increase investments in their regulated infrastructure over the next three-, five-, 10-, and even 25-year periods.

Aqua America plans to invest $1.2 billion in its regulated water infrastructure in the next three years, while the larger American Water Works plans to spend that much in 2017 alone and up to $5.9 billion in between now and 2021. The latter says it could spend $15 billion in the next 10 years and up to $40 billion in the next 25 years. Both are ambitious targets but only meet a fraction of the nation's overall need.

So, what if the companies had a little boost from a national infrastructure investment bonanza?

Cash flows from Uncle Sam

Both American Water Works and Aqua America generate most of their top and bottom lines from regulated infrastructure in both water distribution and wastewater services.

Here, "regulated" means the rates are set at the state level and guaranteed for a period of time. That goes a long way to ensuring stable and predictable operating cash flow for each business, which allows for predictable levels of capital expenditures for years into the future.

Say what you want about government-funded water distribution, but it creates a sort of long-term positive feedback loop. Companies concentrate operations in regions with mandated rates (usually among the most densely populated), promise to make infrastructure investments with the extra cash from rate increases, use what's left to make acquisitions in other regulated markets, and gradually upgrade more and more of the nation's infrastructure over time.

Part of this cycle is enabled by access to cheap loans at the federal level, which allows American Water Works and Aqua America to make infrastructure investments without breaking the bank with uncontrollable capital expenditures.

For instance, the Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act provides access to $1.5 billion in federal loans in 2017. And because the funding pool can only fund 49% of a project's overall costs, those loans could ultimately lead to some $3 billion in federally funded infrastructure upgrades this year.

Imagine what could be possible if the federal government suddenly unloaded $1 trillion in funding to help, in part, speed up the rate of infrastructure improvements, rather than relying on slow-moving rate increases.

What does it mean for investors?

Water utilities are inherently slow-growing in large part because of the structure of the industry. They must wait for state-approved rate increases before they can pencil in infrastructure upgrades. While investments have been increasing and will continue to do so over time, the rate of upgrades is woefully inadequate to meet the country's needs. If the federal government does indeed agree to a $1 trillion infrastructure plan and allocates a sizable portion of that to water utilities, then it could result in an unusual stimulus -- and fast-paced growth -- for traditionally slow-growing water stocks. Whether a coherent plan is ever announced or enacted in Washington is another matter altogether.

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The Illinois Senate voted Tuesday to override Gov. Bruce Rauner's vetoes of a $36 billion budget package fueled by a $5 billion tax increase designed to start digging out of the nation's deepest budget crisis since at least the Great Depression.

The Democratic-controlled chamber completed its work within 30 minutes of the Republican governor's vetoes, sending the package back to the House for an override vote that would give Illinois its first annual budget since 2015.

Fifteen Republicans defied their governor Sunday to give the House a veto-proof 72-vote majority on the tax hike. Whether they'll stand firm against his influence and hefty campaign bank account to override the veto is the question.

It wasn't answered Tuesday. A quorum of House members failed to show up on the Fourth of July holiday, prohibiting work. The House returns Wednesday morning but its leadership gave no indication of whether overrides are in sight.

"The package of legislation fails to address Illinois' fiscal and economic crisis  and in fact, makes it worse in the long run," the first-term governor wrote in a veto message that claimed the Democrats' proposal remains $2 billion in the red. "It does not balance the budget. It does not make nearly sufficient spending reductions."

Rauner's role in stymieing a budget deal since taking office in 2015 has been to demand a freeze on local property taxes and "structural" changes to boost business. The governor acted about three hours after the Senate voted to hike the personal income tax rate by 32 percent. Individual rates would go from 3.75 percent to 4.95 percent. Corporations would pay 7 percent instead of 5.25 percent.

Democrats say it provides the revenue bridge to fund a $36 billion blueprint, which also includes $2.5 billion in spending reductions.

"We are faced today with the fierce urgency of 'now,'" the tax increase legislation's sponsor, Sen. Toi Hutchinson of Olympia Fields, said Tuesday morning before the first vote. "We don't have any more time. And too late is not good enough."

With the GOP defection, the House approved the tax increase with 72 votes on Sunday, one more than necessary to override a veto. But House Speaker Michael Madigan announced shortly after the Senate votes that there would be no House action to override Tuesday, but his spokesman said he couldn't answer why. Later, when only 54 members answered the House quorum call, Madigan and Republican leader Jim Durkin, of Western Springs, were among 64 absences.

Although there's no firm deadline, credit-rating houses have vowed to downgrade the state's creditworthiness to "junk," signaling to investors that buying state debt is a highly speculative venture. The bond houses predicted a downgrade without a fix by the July 1 debut of the fiscal year  the third consecutive fiscal year Illinois has opened without an approved budget plan. But Fitch Ratings and S&P Global Ratings gave Illinois some breathing room on Monday, issuing notices marking the House tax increase approval a day earlier and indicating they wouldn't take immediate downgrade action.

Government has limped along for two years on the strength of court-ordered spending, but the state comptroller says the treasury will be $185 million short of what's needed to cover basic services by August.

With a $6.2 billion annual deficit and $14.7 billion in overdue bills, the United Way predicts the demise of 36 percent of all human services agencies in Illinois by year's end. Billions of dollars in road construction work is shutting down. Public universities have been cut to the bone and face a loss of academic accreditation.

Sen. Dale Righter of Mattoon, who represents Eastern Illinois University in Charleston, was the lone Republican to support the tax increase. He said he'd like to have seen more spending reductions, "but in a Democrat-majority legislature, this is as good as we can get."

"The most important issue we face right now is the fiscal stability of our state," said Righter, a legislator since 1998. "We need to protect our critical state services and the citizens of Illinois who rely on them. This budget is balanced."

A third piece of legislation in the package, which authorizes implementing the budget, includes a provision allowing the state to borrow $6 billion to pay down the bill backlog  presumably at a lower interest rate than it pays in interest for past-due status.

If Rauner doesn't like the tax plan, the financial world does. On Monday, two of the nation's top credit-ratings agencies signaled it would be a good idea for Rauner to accept the results. Fitch Ratings and S&P Global Ratings, having earlier threatened to move Illinois' creditworthiness into "junk" status without swift action to approve a budget, smiled favorably on the financial outlook.

Rauner promised to veto the tax measure because Democrats who control the General Assembly have not agreed to resolve his pet issues, including statewide property tax relief, cost reductions in workers' compensation and benefits for state employee pensions, and an easier process for dissolving or eliminating local governments.

"It's regrettable that I stand here today not capable of being able to support this package, not because what's in the package is bad, but because it's incomplete," said the Senate's newly minted minority leader, Bill Brady of Bloomington. "We need a comprehensive budget package with reforms."

Democrats and Republicans have negotiated the issues that Rauner considers outstanding in the two weeks since the special session began. But the GOP claims talks broke down over the weekend in advance of Madigan calling the budget votes. Madigan said Monday that those talks were ongoing and Cullerton paid tribute to the cooperative pledge before leaving town Tuesday.

"I can't tell you when we'll be coming back; a lot of things depend on what happens in the House," Cullerton said, "but we'll continue to try to enact, and put on the governor's desk, many of the reforms that he's asked for."

___

The budget bills are SB6 and SB9 .

___

Contact Political Writer John O'Connor at https://twitter.com/apoconnor . His work can be found at https://apnews.com/search/john%20o'connor
Volkswagen says its flagship brand is returning to Iran after a 17-year absence.

The Wolfsburg-based carmaker said in a statement Tuesday it will start selling Tiguan SUVs and Passat sedans through importer Mammut Khodro.

Mammut Khodro is already selling trucks made by Volkswagen Group's Scania division.

Volkswagen began selling vehicles including the classic Beetle in Iran in the 1950s but withdrew in 2000.

Volkswagen said in a statement that restarting exports offers the company a chance to get to know local market conditions and re-establish the "Volkswagen" brand.

It cited Iranian government estimates of a car market with 3 million new vehicle sales per year.
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President Donald Trump's first face-to-face meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday will be brimming with global intrigue, but the White House says there's "no specific agenda." So in the absence of a set list of topics, what are two of the world's most famously unpredictable leaders to discuss?

Trump, who prefers to have neatly packaged achievements to pair with high-profile meetings, may be looking for some concessions from Russia to show he's delivering progress and helping restore a productive relationship between the two powers. Putin would almost surely want something in return, and there's a long list of "irritants" between the two countries that they could potentially resolve.

Ahead of the bilateral meeting, White House National Security Council and State Department officials have been reviewing possible gestures the U.S. could offer Russia as part of the meeting, a current and a former administration official said. They weren't authorized to comment publicly and requested anonymity.

Yet any outward sign of bonhomie between Trump and Putin would be immediately seized upon by the president's critics and Russia hawks eager to show he's cozying up to the Russian leader. The ongoing investigations into Russia's interference in the U.S. election and potential Trump campaign collusion won't be far from anyone's minds.

The two leaders will sit down in Hamburg, Germany, on the sidelines of a Group of 20 summit of leading rich and developing nations. Ahead of the meeting, Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak met Monday in Washington with the No. 3 U.S. diplomat, Thomas Shannon, to prepare.
North Korea said on Tuesday it successfully test-launched a first intercontinental ballistic missile, (ICBM), which analysts said could put all of the U.S. state of Alaska in range for the first time.

U.S. networks Fox News and NBC said U.S. officials had told them they believed Tuesday's test was of an ICBM, marking a worrying milestone in Pyongyang's missile development. CNN quoted officials as saying it was probably a two-stage ICBM.

The United States requested a closed-door meeting of the 15-member U.N. Security Council on the launch, a session likely to be scheduled for Wednesday, a spokesman for the U.S. mission to the United Nations said on Tuesday.

The launch, on the eve of U.S. Independence Day, took place days before leaders from the Group of 20 nations were due to discuss steps to rein in North Korea's weapons program, which it has pursued in defiance of Security Council sanctions.

North Korea's state media said the launch was ordered and supervised by leader Kim Jong Un and sent the Hwasong-14 933 km (580 miles), reaching an altitude of 2,802 km (1,741 miles) over a flight time of 39 minutes.

North Korea has said it is working to develop a nuclear-tipped missile capable of striking the U.S. mainland, something U.S. President Donald Trump vowed in January would never happen.

Some analysts said the flight details suggested the new missile had a range of more than 8,000 km (4,970 miles), which would put significant parts of the U.S. mainland in range, representing major advances in its program.

David Wright, co-director of the Global Security Program at the U.S.-based Union of Concerned Scientists, said the flight time and distance suggested the missile could travel about 6,700 km (4,163 miles), bringing all of Alaska into range.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in said the missile was believed to be an intermediate-range type, but the military was looking into the possibility it was an ICBM.

The Pentagon and State Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the TV network reports but said the U.S. government was working on a more detailed assessment of the launch. On Monday night, the Pentagon described the missile as an intermediate-range type that traveled for 37 minutes.

U.S.-based missile expert John Schilling, a contributor to the Washington-based North Korea monitoring project, 38 North, said the launch was both earlier and "far more successful than expected."

He said it would now probably only be a year or two before a North Korean ICBM achieved "minimal operational capability" and it was likely the initial test did not perform as well as an operational missile would.

"Still, this missile demonstrated a degree of performance that is beyond what is needed to reach Anchorage - or Pearl Harbor - but not quite sufficient to reliably reach targets on the U.S. West Coast," he said.

Schilling said the U.S. national missile defense system was "only minimally operational" and would take more than two years to upgrade to provide more reliable defense.

North Korea said its missiles were now capable of striking anywhere in the world.

Officials from South Korea, Japan and the United States said the missile landed in the sea in Japan's Exclusive Economic Zone after being launched on a high trajectory.

Kim Dong-yub, a military expert at Seoul's Kyungnam University, said that if launched on a standard angle, the missile could have a range of more than 8,000 km (4,970 miles).

TRUMP FRUSTRATION WITH CHINA

Trump has been urging China, North Korea's main trading partner and only big ally and the current chair of the U.N. Security Council, to press Pyongyang to give up its nuclear program. In an apparent reference to Kim Jong Un, Trump tweeted: "Does this guy have anything better to do with his life?"

"Hard to believe South Korea and Japan will put up with this much longer," he added. "Perhaps China will put a heavy move on North Korea and end this nonsense once and for all!"

Trump has indicated he is running out of patience with Beijing's efforts to rein in North Korea. His administration has said all options are on the table, military included, but suggested those would be a last resort and that sanctions and diplomatic pressure were its preferred course.

While China has responded to previous North Korean tests of suspected ICBM technology by agreeing to tougher U.N. sanctions, it emphasized on Tuesday its call for a return to talks with North Korea by signing a joint statement with Russia.

Under China's plan, North Korea would suspend its ballistic missile program in return for a moratorium on large-scale military exercises by the United States and South Korea, which Washington and Seoul say are essential to maintain defense readiness.

Trump is due to meet both Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin during the G20 in Germany this week.

Japan said on Monday it would have a trilateral summit with the United States and South Korea on North Korea at the G20. Its prime minister, Shinzo Abe, said he would ask the presidents of China and Russia to play more constructive roles.

North Korea was a major topic in phone calls between Trump and the leaders of China and Japan this week.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang called on Tuesday for calm and restraint, and reiterated China's opposition to North Korea's violation of U.N. resolutions on missile tests.

Responding to Trump's tweet, Geng said China had been working hard to resolve the North Korean nuclear issue.

"China's role is indispensable," he told a daily news briefing. "We hope all sides can meet each other halfway."

North Korea has conducted five nuclear tests, two since the beginning of last year, and the pace of missile tests has risen significantly. It says it needs to defend itself against U.S. aggression.

Analysts say it often conducts tests to show its defiance and to raise the stakes when it sees regional powers getting ready for talks or sanctions.

(Additional reporting by Soyoung Kim in Seoul, Kiyoshi Takenaka and Elaine Lies in Tokyo, Ben Blanchard in Beijing, David Brunnstrom, Ayesha Rascoe and Lesley Wroughton in Washington and Michelle Nichols in New York; Editing by Howard Goller and Peter Cooney)
Russia and China joined diplomatic forces on Tuesday and called on North Korea, South Korea and the United States to sign up to a Chinese de-escalation plan designed to defuse tensions around Pyongyang's missile program.

The plan would see North Korea suspend its ballistic missile programme and the United States and South Koreasimultaneously call a moratorium on large-scale missile exercises, both moves aimed at paving the way for multilateral talks.

The initiative was set out in a joint statement from the Russian and Chinese foreign ministries issued shortly after President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping held wide-ranging talks in the Kremlin.

"The situation in the region affects the national interests of both countries," the joint statement said. "Russia and China will work in close coordination to advance a solution to the complex problem of the Korean Peninsula in every possible way."

North Korea said on Tuesday it had successfully test-fired an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) for the first time, which flew a trajectory that experts said could allow a weapon to hit the U.S. state of Alaska.

Russia and China both share a land border with North Koreaand have been involved in past efforts to try to calm tensions between Pyongyang and the West.

Moscow and Beijing used the same joint declaration to call on Washington to immediately halt deployment of its THAAD anti-missile system in South Korea, a move Washington says is necessitated by the North Korean missile threat.

The statement said Washington was using North Korea as a pretext to expand its military infrastructure in Asia and risked upsetting the strategic balance of power in the area.

"The deployment ... of THAAD will cause serious harm to the strategic security interests of regional states, including Russia and China," the statement said.

"Russia and China oppose the deployment of such systems and call on the relevant countries to immediately halt and cancel the process of deployment."

(Reporting by Denis Dyomkin/Vladimir Soldatkin/Dmitry Solovyov; Editing by Andrew Osborn)
Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Geng Shuang [File photo]

An unsettled atmosphere prevails on the China-India border following accusations of trespass by Indian border guards in the Sikkim section, followed by an Indian attempt to obstruct ongoing construction activities by the Chinese frontier forces in the Donglang region.

Demanding an Indian troop withdrawal as a precondition to any further meaningful dialogue, the Chinese Foreign Ministry urged India to carry out a thorough investigation into the matter.

Reaffirming that the Sikkim section of the China-India border is well-defined by treaties, the ministrys spokesperson, Geng Shuang, pointed out that the Indian government has repeatedly confirmed these settlements in writing and has expressed no objections to them previously.

Urging India to respect boundary treaties and Chinas territorial sovereignty to maintain peace and stability, the foreign ministry also informed India through diplomatic channels that the entry of official Indian pilgrims at the Nathu La Pass, linking Sikkim and Tibet, had to be postponed for safety reasons.

Violating the consensus on border issues and agreements already in place between the Chinese and Indian governments is a worrisome development given the fact there is no officially-demarcated borderline.

Both countries usually work around their understanding of the Line of Actual Control. Keeping the fuzziness of this approach in mind, troops from both sides do stray across at times. However, this time round the transgression is more serious than ever before.

Unfortunately, the Indian media fed the fire by upping the ante with counter-allegations and a wilful misrepresentation of the facts.

As the face-off continued, Chinas Ministry of National Defence once again demanded India remove its trespassing troops from the Sikkim section, with spokesperson Senior Colonel Wu Qian declared: "Our border guards have taken necessary measures in response and they will resolutely preserve the country's sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Justifying the road construction activities on Chinese territory, the colonel criticized the Indian Army Chief General Bipin Rawats recent remark that the "Indian Army is fully ready for a two-and-a-half front war." The MOD spokesperson advised those responsible to "learn from the history and stop airing such dangerous, belligerent remarks."

Legally, the evidence of Chinas claim is found in article one of the Sino-British Treaty, formally titled the Convention between Great Britain and China relating to Sikkim and Tibet and signed between British viceroy Lord Lansdowne and Chinese Lieutenant Governor Sheng Tai in 1890. Detailing the boundary demarcation, this legal document has been adhered to by both India and China up till now as a settlement of disputes along their 3,488-km boundary.

The description of the boundaries is as follows: The boundary of Sikkim and Tibet shall be the crest of the mountain range separating the waters flowing into the Sikkim Teesta and [those] flowing into the Tibetan Mochu and northwards into other rivers of Tibet. The line commences at Mount Gipmochi on the Bhutan frontier, and follows the above-mentioned parting of the waters to the point where it meets Nepals territory.

There should not be any dispute in the Doklam (Donglang) area, as the Indian troops transgressed land containing the necessary separation of water flows, signifying it is Chinese territory. Holding some strategic importance, the region overlooks the Siliguri Corridor linking Northeast India to the rest of the country, colloquially known as the chickens neck.

However, the trespass is a clear violation of international law and basic norms governing international relations and a breach of commitment previously honored by successive Indian governments. Explaining that there has been no dispute over Donglong which belongs to China, and not to India or Bhutan, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lu Kang mentioned that pictures depicting the pattern of trespass would be available for perusal on the ministrys website.

Right now, the grey area is why India is attempting to alter its stance on already settled border issues. Interestingly, these border tensions have been generated over the land which India has conceded belongs to Bhutan, but now seeks to step in to free it.

The current Sino-Indian military face-off is the first confrontation worth mentioning in decades. Notwithstanding the ongoing scenario, India attended the first SCO plenary held in Dalian, in northeast China, to discuss anti-terrorism and border control mechanisms.

Ostensibly, relations between India and China remain unaffected and the air can be cleared with bilateral dialogue, important to end any mutual distrust regarding an already settled issue. It is believed that a meeting between President Xi and Indian Prime Minister Modi may be possible on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Hamburg on July 7-8.

Having said that, Chinas stance remains that the channels of communication are un-impeded but India has to retreat.

The author is a geopolitical analyst at think tank Katehon, Pakistan.

Opinion articles reflect the views of their authors, not necessarily those of China.org.cn.
President Donald Trump criticized North Korean leader Kim Jong Un after that country's latest missile launch, asking, "Does this guy have anything better to do with his life?"

Trump wrote on Twitter late Monday that it's "Hard to believe that South Korea ... and Japan will put up with this much longer."

And he urged North Korea's biggest ally, China, to "put a heavy move on North Korea and end this nonsense once and for all!"

South Korean officials said early Tuesday that North Korea had launched another ballistic missile toward Japan, part of a string of recent test-firings as the North works to build a nuclear-tipped missile that could reach the United States.

For its part, North Korea claimed to have tested its first intercontinental ballistic missile. But its declaration conflicted with South Korean and U.S. assessments earlier.

The U.S. Defense Department said U.S. Pacific Command detected and tracked the launch of a land-based, intermediate range ballistic missile from North Korea's Panghyon Airfield. The missile was tracked for 37 minutes and landed in the Sea of Japan.

A test launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile, if confirmed, would be a major step forward in developing a nuclear-armed missile that could reach the United States.

Shortly before Trump's tweets, the White House said he had been briefed on the South Korean report.

The missile launch comes as the Trump administration has displayed increasing frustration with China's reluctance to put more pressure on North Korea. Last week, the U.S. blacklisted a small Chinese bank over its business ties with North Korea.

The White House said Trump brought up the North Korean missile program during a phone call Sunday with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Chinese state media reported that Xi warned Trump that "some negative factors" are hurting U.S.-China relations.

The New York Times, citing anonymous administration officials, reported Monday that Trump told Xi the U.S. was ready to act on its own against North Korea.

A senior U.S. official told foreign policy experts last week that the U.S. has made clear to China that Chinese banks and companies conducting business with Pyongyang will face sanctions if there is no movement on North Korea's nuclear activities, a participant in the meeting told The Associated Press. The individual wasn't authorized to speak publicly on the matter and asked that his name and that of the senior official be withheld.
Actor Donal Logue is asking for the public's help in locating his teenage daughter, who was last seen a week ago in New York City.

The star of Fox's "Gotham" writes on Facebook that the "net had been flung far and wide" since 16-year-old Jade Logue disappeared. Logue says he has the New York Police Department, FBI and others involved.

He asks that whoever may be with Jade to "just drop her off." He says she'll be taken back "with hugs and no questions asked."

Jade Logue was last seen in Brooklyn on June 26. She is transgender and was previously known as Arlo Logue.

New York City police said Monday they've found no signs of foul play and that they so far consider the teen a runaway.
A Sydney hospital has banned its surgeons from using Snapchat during surgical procedures, due to fears they could be sued by patients over privacy or negligence issues.

The app has become a popular marketing tool for plastic and cosmetic surgeons, allowing them to show potential patients what really goes on inside the operating theatre.

The worlds most famous Snapchat surgeon, Michael Dr Miami Salzhauer, claims millions of viewers have tuned into broadcasts of his breast augmentations, tummy tucks and Brazilian butt lifts.

His Australian equivalent, Double Bay surgeon Kourosh Tavakoli, says his target market of 18 to 28-year-old women like to watch procedures and look at before-and-after photos on his Snapchat, before committing to undergoing treatment themselves.

But Sydney plastic surgeon Laith Barnouti from Westmead Private Hospital, which this week banned the popular app, said the risk to both patients and surgeons was too high.

5 MADE-IN-AMERICA BRANDS TO WEAR WITH PRIDE THIS 4TH OF JULY

He claims an Australian hospital and one of its surgeons are being taken to court by a former patient over privacy concerns involving the app.

There are privacy issues, because even if the patients does consent to being filmed beforehand, which doesnt always happen, they cant approve every live video thats being sent, Dr Barnouti told news.com.au.

Even if the patient consented for their photo to be taken, they might not consent for their pubic hair or their genitalia or their nipples or their face to be in it. They probably didnt know their whole face would be shown."

Also patient safety is compromised because the surgeons are distracted. its not always the support staff filming. I know at least five surgeons who do it themselves.

Dr Barnouti says there should be a national ban on any live marketing tool that could affect the progress of any surgery and compromise the safety of patients.

HOW TALL ARE MODELS, REALLY?

It will become more widespread unless the medical board takes action. Its only a matter of time before other hospitals will follow, he said.

A spokeswoman for the Royal Australian College of Surgeons said the industry body recommends its members refrain from posting images (whether identifiable or not) or information about patients, as well as posting comments or information which may breach any obligations to their employers.

Using Snapchat at all during any medical procedure is a bad idea, says NSW president of the Australian Medical Association, Professor Brad Frankum.

There are ways of creating educational images for patients that dont involve live streaming potentially vulnerable individuals, Professor Frankum said.

The whole consent issue is quite vexed. People sometimes feel theyre consenting to one thing and it turns out to be something else.

He said patients might also feel pressured to appear on a surgeons Snapchat.

The power relationship between the surgeon and the patient is very unique, Professor Frankum said.

FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK FOR MORE FOX LIFESTYLE NEWS

If the surgeon says This will be good, and you dont mind if I live stream it? a patient might feel a bit of an obligation to say yes, or if they dont agree, that they wont get the same level of care and attention that they would otherwise."

"You have to be careful with any form of intimate procedure that is being put out there on the internet. Some of the examples Ive heard involving breast augmentations or and genital surgeries are very close to exploitation.

This article orginally appeared on News.com.au.
About 25 Democratic lawmakers have signed on to a bill that would create an Oversight Commission on Presidential Capacity.

Their goal: declare the President of the United States mentally incompetent under Section IV of the 25th Amendment and remove him from office.

This is a distraction on so many levels, but it is disingenuous of those lawmakers  ini part, because they know they cant get bi-partisan agreement, and also because they would need the vice president to sign off on it, too. That wont happen.

Particularly disturbing is the fact that lawmakers would turn to this as Americans are coming together to celebrate the birth of our nation, this Independence Day.

When accusing the president of Russian collusion and misogyny didnt stick, it looks as though Democrats have sought a new low: declaring the President of the United States insane. This is a dangerous and petty sideshow. Not to mention it is unethical for anyone except health care professionals to give medical diagnoses.

John D. Feerick is a former Dean of Law at Fordham University who was a chief architect of the Section of Article 25 that the lawmakers are attempting to use. He cites the original congressional debate on the section that he spearheaded, and he says that policy and political differences are not grounds for enacting Section IV of Article 25 to declare the president mentally incompetent.

Only 24 percent of Americans approve of the job Congress is doing. Tactics like this are part of the reason why Americans dont trust Congress.

These lawmakers are 100 percent Democrat, and this is a partisan effort designed to undermine the work of this president.

In 1964, Democrats used this tactic against Barry Goldwater during his campaign. A news magazine called Fact published a pictorial of mental health professionals who declared Goldwater was unfit for office. Though his presidential bid did not prove victorious, his libel suit against the magazine was. This is commonly referred to as "The Goldwater Rule," and it is the reason why the mental competence argument is almost never asserted against a serving president.

It is unethical to attempt to make diagnoses on living public figures one has not clinically evaluated. This is commonly accepted across the medical and mental health professions.

A recent Gallup study said that 61 percent of Americans want tax reform. A FOX News poll said a majority of Americans want Obamacare fixed. Only 24 percent of Americans approve of the job Congress is doing. Tactics like this are part of the reason why Americans dont trust Congress.

This is low-brow, even for Democrats who worked with Russian nationals to create a now discredited dossier on the president. This is low for a party who has lost more than 1,000 state and local elections in the past eight years, and is 0-5 in special elections since this Republican president was inaugurated.

Democrats continue this witch hunt because as long as they do that, they excuse themselves from tending to the work of the American people in a bipartisan way. Their problem, in reality, isnt with this president. It is with the American people who elected him, and continue to support him despite their relentless smears and collusion against him.

This blatant, partisan attack speaks more to the despair of a broken Democratic party than it does to the sanity of a very productive president of the United States.

Dr. Loudon is a behavior analyst and bestselling author who often appears to talk about mental health issues on FOX News and FOX Business.
Two hundred and forty-one years ago, the values of our nation were enshrined in the Declaration of Independence  our countrys most important historical document. But this Independence Day, we should take time to remember the courage, virtue, and talents of our Founders, who turned its words to action and delivered our liberty.

I mean more than simply remembering the Founding Fathers. I mean reflecting on the qualities they each embodied, qualities which emboldened them to defy the English crown, overcome a well-organized, experienced British military, and forge a new country  one in which all men are created equal.

Consider our first three presidents.

Without the sheer courage of George Washington, the American revolutionaries would have faced an impossible struggle against the British forces. While there were other commanders who were brilliant tacticians and others with as much, or more experience in war. Washingtons contagious bravery and unwavering determination, battle after battle, helped a relatively small Continental Army persevere and ultimately defeat tens of thousands of British soldiers.

This Independence Day, we should all remember the courage, strength of character, and virtues of our Founding Fathers, because these virtues  more than any historical document embody the principles and values that will anchor the United States through the next 241 years.

Fearlessness was central to Washingtons character. Even decades before the Revolution, when Washington, served as a major in the French and Indian War at just 22, he sent a letter home to his brother, John. In it he wrote, The right wing, where I stood, was exposed to and received all the enemy's fire ... I heard the bullets whistle, and, believe me, there is something charming in the sound."

It is no surprise that Washington was unanimously chosen to be the first leader of our nation in 1789. He was a symbol of American courage, honor, and valor.

Next, consider the unshakable principles of John Adams, our nations second president and first vice president under Washington. Adams, a lawyer by trade, was an integral force in driving our country to seek independence from Britain. He was a member of both Continental Congresses and one of the chief political philosophers of our new Republic.

Yet, despite being one of our nation's most ardent revolutionaries, in 1770 Adams successfully defended eight of the British soldiers involved in the Boston Massacre  one of the sparks that led to the Revolution. This was a tremendously unpopular move for him at the time. However, Adams believed so much in the importance of an impartial, even-handed judicial system, where the accused have a right to sound legal defense, that he resolved to ensure that mob rule did not prevail. Six of the officers were acquitted, while the other two pleaded guilty to lesser charges.

Finally, Thomas Jefferson brought tremendous intelligence to Americas legacy. It was Jeffersons hand that penned the long list of charges against King George III and proclaimed Americas independence from Great Britain, saying governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.

John Adams insisted that Jefferson, who was then 33, write the declaration, saying Jefferson was a Virginian, popular, and you can write ten times better than I can, according to a letter Adams wrote to his former secretary of state, Timothy Pickering, on August 6, 1822.

In the letter, Adams wrote that when he and Jefferson presented the draft of the Declaration of Independence to the Committee of Five  those delegates of the Second Continental Congress charged with producing the document  It was read and I do not remember that Franklin or Sherman criticized anything.

After the revolution, Jeffersons love of scholarship and curiosity led him to found the University of Virginia, and late in his life he sold his vast library to the United States, starting what would later become the Library of Congress.

Our nation's first three presidents illustrate only a small share of the virtues held by our Founding Fathers.

Benjamin Franklin was an endlessly energetic entrepreneur and inventor, Alexander Hamilton had unmatched perseverance, John Jay brought wisdom that shaped our first Supreme Court, and James Madisons ability to lead earned him the title Father of the Constitution after he drafted the Constitution and spearheaded its ratification.

This Independence Day, we should all remember the courage, strength of character, and virtues of our Founding Fathers, because these virtues  more than any historical document embody the principles and values that will anchor the United States through the next 241years.

Callista and I hope you and your families have a very happy, safe, and reflective Independence Day.
Living close to Arlington National Cemetery, having family and friends there, I sometimes walk among the stones. I read them. I try to remember the life. I walk slowly, thankful.

It is a walk through history.The stones have something to tell me. I am never sure what. Sometimes, I have questions. They never reach my lips, but they are there.

Mostly the sacrifice around me makes me quiet. It seems to impose a serious responsibility for the future. It benefits anyone to take the walk.

Remembered dates always have meanings, birthdays, anniversaries, Easter, Christmas, Fourth of July, D-Day, Pearl Harbor, 9-11. Dates take on a different meaning inside Arlington. They reflect a lifetime.

The cemetery is filled with beginnings and endings, Alphas and Omegas, selfless Americans who gave us an enormous gift between those dates on their stone. Most are not famous, except to those who love them  for whom there is often no one more special.

Sometimes there are flowers. Some stones are large, some small. Some carry words. One picks up the 1932 poem by Mary Elizabeth Frye, a poem entitled Do not stand at my grave and weep. The stone reads simply: I am a thousand winds that blow, I am the diamond glints on snow.

World War II dates are well represented, along with World War I, the Civil War, Spanish American War, Vietnam, Korea, Gulf War, Afghanistan and Iraq. Some wives and children are buried here. I pass a marker labeled infant, child of a fallen veteran. The markers are overwhelming.

Americans, of course, are buried across the world, Normandy to American Cemeteries in 16 countries, all places we have defended freedom. Like this one, they are quiet, but prompt questions.

Another stone at Arlington has a book laid upon it. The book is weathering. It will be gone soon, pursuant to the Cemeterys rules of decorum. But I cannot just walk by.

The stone with the book is not far from my great, great grandfather, Ezra Westcote Clark. He fought in the Civil War, is buried with his wife and son, Ezra Westcote Clark Jr., who fought in World War I. The stone with the book is close to my grandmothers brother, Robert Duncan Clark, who fought in the European Theater during WWII, with his brother.

The book is open. Seeing a book on an Arlington grave is unusual. The book is entitled, The Jersey Brothers. I turn the pages. It commemorates three brothers, Navy heroes, World War II, one named Bill. Bill was apparently a Navy Intelligence officer, close to Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

A curling flyleaf speaks of brotherly love. I look at the headstone. It is Bills. Gently, I replace the book on Bills stone. A family member wrote this book. Obviously, it has been given to Bill. I will later get it myself, but this one is Bills.

I move to other sites. Questions are always the same. How short was that life? What did he or she see? Who did they leave behind? What did he miss? What drew him to serve? Could he have imagined  Yes, probably. What do we owe? Too much, a lot.

I get to another relatives marker. As if the date of this family members passing was yesterday, I recall them vividly. Only it was years. I visit the marker commemorating six Navy Intelligence friends. They left on 9-11. What can we now do? How can we be equal to their sacrifice? That is the real question.

I think about that question, as I walk. Summer heat and humidity pile up between stones. These Americans, to a one, would expect us  Americas living generations  to understand they gave, served and ended here, for high cause, with a passion for what was bigger than themselves. They are here, because they put America first.

Finally, I stand beside two stones. They are not famous. They both served with honor, one on USS Kittiwake, the other the USS Colorado. Their service was on the periphery, not like Bill and the Jersey Brothers. One was enlisted, the other Academy. Both gave all they could to America, counted themselves lucky to be Americans.

I ask the question that has gnawed. I feel I can ask them. It is the question of the day: Can you see where we are? Can you see the struggles our nation is facing? How do we recommit ourselves to being One Nation, under God, indivisible working faithfully for liberty and justice in our time? It sounds lofty, but is practical. It needs an answer.

My grandfather and father, vocal in life, are quiet. The other stones are, too. Gates will soon close. I am alone with them. There does seem to be a consensus. These stones expect something of us, of anyone who passes through, and any who know of this place. They expect us to understand what was passed forward.

In their silence, they speak. In the volume of headstones, dates, and reminders, they impose a burden. What they are saying is that the obligation rests squarely on us, to remember what it means to be American, to redouble work for consensus, preserve what they lived and died for, be equal to our time. They were.

There is something powerful and ineffable, deeply humbling, about a walk through Arlington. Inspiration and expectation spread as far as an eye can see. On the Fourth of July, we have marching orders. The stones give them to us. We must do a better job of listening, honoring, respecting and acting as One Nation, because it is upon that understanding that all else rests. Grateful for another walk. Tough talk, as always  but good.
My cell phone went off at 4:30am this Independence Day morning and judging by earlier reports late last night, I had a feeling the news was not going to be good.

North Korea claims to have successful tested an ICBM, what do you think? the reporter asked.

Yikes. I love some good old 4th of July fireworks, but this was not what I had in mind.

Those are the words I have hoped never to be woken up to, but such are the facts.

And to be fair, we really shouldnt be shocked by the news.

Missiles that go thousands of miles that can kill millions of people, while certainly scary, is a technology that is decades oldAmerica has possessed such weapons since the late 1950s. Many nations have such technology with others holding the knowhow to build such missiles if they so desire. For North Korea, if they invested the money and the knowhow it was going to get such a capability sooner rather than later.

While many in the foreign policy and defense community laughed at North Koreas test failures, clearly the Kim regime was learning from each failed launch, putting together important lessons learned to make tweaks and modifications later.

Now, to be clear, we dont know for certain if the pariah of Pyongyang, Kim Jong Un, has really tested a weapon that can bring atomic annihilation to the United Statesspeculation this early is simply that. Early reports do seem to indicate this latest test was certainly a step in the right direction.

At this point, however, we should worry less about the exact date of when North Korea gets an ICBM and worry more about the trend line. And the trend is clear: North Korea has or will soon have the ability to attack not just the U.S., but also most points in Asia and Europe with nuclear weapons.

Events have been building to such an eventuality for a long time now.

Pyongyang, in recent years, has been testing various new classes of missiles and even put a satellite into orbit some years ago, arguably the first sign a nation will soon have a crude ICBM capability. While many in the foreign policy and defense community laughed at North Koreas test failures, clearly the Kim regime was learning from each failed launch, putting together important lessons learned to make tweaks and modifications later. If the North doesnt have an ICBM now, we must begin to deal with the notion that it willand very soon.

So why is Kim building such a weapon, knowing the international community will now most certainly label him public enemy number one? Simple. He knows the world would like nothing more than to see the end of his regime, and nuclear tipped missiles go a long way to guarantee his survival.

In fact, if you want to understand North Korean national security strategy, you dont need a Ph.D. from Oxford or Yale. In fact, you can be an expert on North Korea in as little as 12 hours.

Just go watch The Godfather trilogy.

We all know the plot lineat least you shouldand it seems Kim Jong Un has made it his very own foreign policy doctrine. The Corelones, and specifically Michael Corelone, constantly battled for survival with other mob families. There was no action that was out of bounds. No amount of killing or bloodshed that was out of the questionas long it ensured the familys survival. Michael Corleone would murder his own brother, his brother-in-law, former alliesanyone who stood in the way of ensuring that he was in power. Sound familiar?

Indeed, Kim has taken the Corelone Doctrinesurvival at all coststo new heights. He has, by some estimates, 200,000 of his own people in what can only be described as concentration camps. Speak out in any way against the regime and youand three generations of your familycould be sent to the gulag. No dissent, in any form, is allowed. To the Korean people, the Kim family is a multi-generation version of Adolf Hitler.

Kim Jong Un, through the building of a powerful arsenal of not only nuclear weapons that can hit U.S. allies and now possibly the United States homeland, but chemical and likely biological weapons as well, is simply following a well worn strategydeveloping powerful weapons of mass destruction as the ultimate insurance policy. For if Washington did attack, even with massive force, if the Trump administration failed to destroy even one nuclear warhead, millions of people will likely perish, as Kim would have every incentive to unload what weapons he had left.

Knowing the stakes, what should President Trump do? The good news is that Washington does have cards to play.

First, we must reinforce our allies capabilities in the Asia-Pacific to defend themselves against any future North Korean provocations. That means increased missile defense platforms, especially by sending THAAD to Japan and making sure it stays put and is expanded in South Korea.

Second, we need to make sure North Korea is completely closed off from the international community in every way possible. We must make it clear we dont consider the Kim regime a nation, but nothing more than a mob-style state, and treat it as such. This means no more Americans travelling to North Korea, sanctions must be fully enforced and expanded with any country, company or individual helping Pyongyang build missiles or nukes outed as an international pariah.

Third, we need to do a better job of cutting off North Koreas ability to make trouble in other places around the world, and that means doing all we can to cut its dangerous ties to Syria and Iran. Pyongyang has been dealing arms to Damascus and Tehran for yearssomething that must stop now. Even more troubling, experts have been warning for some time about Iran and North Korea trading missile technology. We simple can no longer allow this to continue, and must do all we can to halt such transactions.

Fourth, China must be willing to help when it comes to this critical issueor begin to pay some sort of price. Beijing needs to understand that Washington will no longer allow it to turn a blind eye to the North Korean threat. If China will not act, then America must make clear we can simply no longer have the same relationship as in years past, and must begin to reconsider our stance on other points of contention where we take Chinese interests into accountand that means in the South and East China Seas, Taiwan, trade and other areas.

Finally, America needs to consider the long game when it comes to North Korea. We all know the only way to solve this issueno more North Korea. While regime change in a military sense is off the tablewe have learned democracy at the barrel of a gun does not workwe do have the power to weaken the regimes control over the population. Washington could take actions to back groups who are trying to get more information into the country. Tactics such as filling USB drives with current news and popular cultural have shown to be a smart strategy to achieve such aims. Clearly, taking away the power to control minds could be an important first step toward seeing this regime slip into the dust bin of history.

Like so many others, North Korea is a problem the Trump administration inherited  yet it has much work to do to contain the threat. While the road ahead is a long and dangerous one, it is one this administration must travel. The risks otherwise are too great.
In 49 B.C., Julius Caesars army crossed the Rubicon and changed history. So did Americas founding fathers, exactly 241 years ago. North Koreas launch of what it claims was an intercontinental ballistic missile  on July 4, of all days  could be another historic point of no return. Or it could be just another taunting gesture by that countrys head-case president, Kim Jong Un.

Either way, President Trump should react with extreme caution. Its one thing to tweet; its another to attack.

While the most-discussed nightmare scenario is a nuclear-tipped ICBM, an equally horrifying possibility is that North Korea has developed, and uses, a so-called super electromagnetic pulse weapon -- EMP  that could potentially take out Americas electric grid. We know that North Korea got the design plans for an EMP from Russia years ago, says Frank Gaffney, a former assistant secretary of defense under Ronald Reagan. If they have one, they could take us, overnight, from the worlds only superpower to a pre-industrial society. Everything we need to live today depends on electricity.

President Trump should react with extreme caution. Its one thing to tweet; its another to attack.

The timing of the Norths announcement that it had successfully test-fired a missile that South Korea confirmed travelled more than 500 miles before settling into the sea  was almost certainly intended to rattle the United States as it celebrates its own birthday. It also comes days before President Trump attends the G-20 summit in Hamburg. There, he will have to confront nervous U.S. allies like Germany and France, as well as potential adversaries like Russia and China.

Both groups will want reassurance that the leader of the free world  thats you, by the way, Mr. Trump  will not act impulsively, will consider the potential ramifications of his response, and will listen to advice from his military and national security team before ordering any action that cant be undone.

The greatest sense of alarm will doubtless come from South Korea and Japan, which lie within easy range of the Norths missile capability. They will want to know that the United States remains committed to their defense and will act against Kim if necessary.

By contrast, China, which provides economic support and diplomatic cover for the unhinged master of Pyongyang, will want Trump to reconsider his warning, delivered by phone directly to President Xi Jinping Sunday night, that the U.S. is ready to take unilateral action against the hermit kingdom.

Even China may not be able to stem Kims craziness. North Korea has shut the door on Chinas efforts to modify his behavior so far, says Sourabh Gupta, a senior analyst at the Institute for China-America Studies. He predicts that while China will allow the United Nations to impose yet more sanctions on North Korea, it will continue to push for a diplomatic solution.

And Russia, which is already at odds with the U.S. over its annexation of the Crimea in Ukraine, and its steadfast support for Syrian dictator Bashir Al-Assad, is unlikely to stand by quietly if the U.S. decides to administer a military punishment to one of Moscows erstwhile allies.

All these angles play against Trumps impetuous nature. But at this moment  the 241st anniversary of our nations declaration of independence  cool reflection of all our options is in order.

Our nation was founded by revolutionaries, yes. They knew what they believed in and what they wanted to achieve. Thank God, none of them was on Twitter.
As the first rays of morning light wash over the Eastern seaboard, a flag is unfurled with broad stripes and bright stars.

A soldier stands guard over sleeping heroes - known only to their Maker.

Click here for a FREE subscription to Todds newsletter  a must-read for conservatives!

A resting place for the Common Man.

A farmer in the heartland gathers his crop as golden wheat shimmers in the breeze.

A rancher gallops along the Texas Hill Country, herding his cattle to the stockyards.

A river boat captain pilots his boat down the muddy waters of the Mississippi, a carpenter hangs sheetrock in Fort Wayne, Indiana.

A job for the Common Man

To continue reading Todd's column from ToddStarnes.com, click here.


David Asman joined FOX News Channel (FNC) in 1997 and helped launch FOX Business Network (FBN) in 2007. He currently serves as guest anchor on programs across FNC and FBN.Read More

Previously, Asman served as the host of FBNs post-market program Bulls & Bears (weekdays 5-6PM/ET). In addition, Asman served as a co-anchor on FBNs After the Bell (weekdays 4-5PM/ET), which was number one in its timeslot. While at FNC, Asman anchored the weekday Fox News Live. In 2005, he was named head of FNC's documentary unit where he hosted a series of investigative specials, including Global Warming: The Debate Continues and U.N. Blood Money, a three-part series which examined the oil-for-food controversy.

Prior to joining FNC, Asman served as the Wall Street Journal's editorial features editor beginning in 1995. He joined the newspaper in 1983 as an editorial writer, where he edited the "Manager's Journal" and the "Americas" column. He also wrote editorials and over 100 articles from Latin America and elsewhere. In 1994, Asman was named senior editor for the Journal's editorial page, where his role was combined with administrative responsibilities.

A recipient of the 1986 Inter American Press Association's (IAPA) Tom Wallace Award for coverage of Latin America in the Americas column, Asman also was editor of the book, "The Wall Street Journal on Management: Adding Value Through Synergy." In addition, he received the IAPA's 1992 and 1995 Daily Gleaner Award for his articles on free trade and Cuba and Mexico's economy respectively.

Asman began his journalism career in 1978 as an assistant editor of Prospect Magazine and rose to executive editor within a year. In 1980, he was hired by George Gilder to start up an economic journal for the Manhattan Institute. Asman has also been a radio commentator for Perspective on the Economy, and was a consultant to the Ford Foundation on African organizations in the United States. He also served as host of Issues USA, a nightly televised public affairs show.
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Chinese President Xi Jinping and his wife Peng Liyuan arrive in Moscow, Russia, July 3, 2017. Xi embarks on a state visit to Russia. (Xinhua/Li Xueren)

Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived on Monday, embarking on his second state visit to Russia since taking office in 2013.

In a written speech released upon arrival, Xi noted that the China-Russia comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination is at its best in history.

The Chinese top leader said the two countries, both staunch supporters of each other's core interests, have engaged in aligning the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative with the Russia-led Eurasian Economic Union.

Beijing and Moscow, faced with complicated international situation, have played their due role in promoting win-win cooperation in international relations, and securing regional and global peace and stability, he said.

"This is my sixth tour to Russia since assuming office," Xi said, adding that he looks forward to in-depth exchange of views with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, on bilateral cooperation and major international and regional issues of common concern.

"One needs good partners to walk with, and good neighbors to live with," he noted.

Xi will hold talks with top Russian leaders during his stay, in a bid to deepen political trust and map out the future bilateral cooperation, Chinese Assistant Foreign Minister Li Huilai said at an earlier press conference.

China and Russia are each other's most trustworthy strategic partners, Xi told Russian media ahead of his visit, adding that the 4,300-km border line between the two countries has become a bond of friendship between the two peoples.

Xi and Putin, boasting close working relationship and intimate personal friendship, have met with each other for 22 times in five consecutive years. In an apparent gesture to support the Xi-proposed initiative, Putin came to Beijing in May to attend the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation.

Their closer-than-ever ties have become a "locomotive" for China-Russia relations, and kept boosting the bilateral comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination, said Chen Yurong, a senior researcher in Eurasian studies at the China Institute of International Studies.

"Literally, they can talk about anything, which is a reflection of the remarkable mutual trust between the two countries," Chen noted.

During Xi's visit, the two sides will also sign a slew of cooperation agreements in such fields as trade, economy, investment, connectivity, media and education, and approve guidelines to better implement the Treaty of Good-Neighborliness and Friendly Cooperation between China and Russia in 2017-2020.

Last year, the two countries managed to reverse a declining trend in bilateral trade, achieving a 2.2-percent growth to reach 69.5 billion U.S. dollars. In the first five months of this year, the trade volume increased by 26 percent to 32.4 billion dollars.

China remains Russia's largest trading partner for years, and Russia China's major exporter of edge-cutting machineries.

According to Maxim Oreshkin, Russia's economic development minister, the promotion of major joint projects is the best way to increase bilateral trade.

"There are good conditions for cooperation in creating transport corridors -- railways, highways and ports -- through the territory of Russia, connecting the markets of China and Europe," he said. "I'm convinced that Xi's forthcoming visit ... will bring us closer to the goal of 200 billion dollars' trade volume by 2020."

China and Russia are now jointly developing the Arctic region and working on the development of a wide-body long-haul aircraft.

"Considering the wide prospect of China-Russia economic cooperation, there is nothing to fuss about if something goes wrong in this process," Chen said.

"As long as the general direction is right, we can make strides more slowly, but more steadily. It is safe to say the two sides' confidence in each other cannot reach that high without the insight and foresight of Xi and Putin," Chen added.

The flourishing and ever-lasting friendship between Beijing and Moscow also contributes to regional and global peace and prosperity, said Chinese Ambassador to Russia Li Hui.

China-Russia coordination, he added, has played an important role in pushing for a peaceful settlement of the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue and the Syrian issue.

From Moscow, Xi will fly to Germany, where he will pay a state visit to the European country and attend the upcoming summit of the Group of 20 major economies.
Gov. Chris Christie signed a budget deal Tuesday effectively ending New Jerseys government shutdown.

The Republican governor ordered all closed state parks to reopen for the Fourth of July. State parks and beaches had been closed to the public, though Christie spent Sunday on a beach with his family.

Christie said the state government will open on July 5, after the holiday and that state workers will get paid a holiday at his request.

New Jersey Democratic Senate President Steve Sweeney and Assembly Speaker Vincent Prieto announced the deal earlier Monday.

The deal calls for $34.7 billion budget that includes more than $300 million in Democratic spending priorities and is part of an agreement to overhaul the states largest health insurer  Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield.

The Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield legislation calls for annual audits of the nonprofit's reserve level, sets a range for their reserves and requires excess to be spent on policyholders.

Christie shut down the government at midnight Friday after state lawmakers failed to send him a budget. As a result, state parks and beaches, as well as nonessential state offices have been closed, and more than 30,000 state workers were furloughed Monday.

Lawmakers spent Monday with the CEO of Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey, according to NJ Advance Media, reportedly discussing a possible compromise to the core issue that has created the stalemate between Republican lawmakers and the Democrat-controlled Legislature.

Sweeney and Christie originally agreed on legislation to overhaul Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield. But Prieto opposed the plan, saying that legislation could lead to rate hikes on the insurers 3.8 million subscribers and that the measure is separate from the budget. Christie blamed the shut down on Prieto.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Author and activist Jesse Lee Peterson told Fox News' "Tucker Carlson Tonight" Monday that black Americans were hurt the most by former President Barack Obama's policies.

"Black Americans got worse under Barack Obama than any other time in the history of America," Peterson, an author and founder of the BOND organization, told host Tucker Carlson. "If it was a race issue, why didnt they get better [when] we had a black president?"

MSNBC CONRIBUTOR SAYS 'FEARS OF BROWN PEOPLE' MOTIVATED TRUMP VOTERS

Peterson was responding to comments by MSNBC contributor Joan Walsh, who claimed over the weekend that Trump voters were driven by "fears of brown people, fears of losing the majority."

Peterson claimed that "most black Americans are not suffering due to racism, but the destruction of the family, and the lack of moral character.

"If we dealt with the family issue and the lack of moral character, black Americans lives would change overnight," Peterson added. "And they don't want that."
After the food stamp rolls swelled for years under the Obama administration, fresh figures show a dramatic reduction in states that recently have moved to restore work requirements.

States were allowed to waive those rules for able-bodied adults thanks to the 2009 economic stimulus. As the rules loosened and the economy sputtered out of the recession, food stamp enrollment soared to record levels  peaking at nearly 48 million nationwide in 2013.

But while that number has dipped gradually in recent years, some states have moved aggressively to push recipients who can work back into the job market and, in due time, off the program.

Alabama began 2017 by requiring able-bodied adults without children in 13 counties to either find a job or participate in work training as a condition for continuing to receive Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits.

SEATTLE MINIMUM WAGE HIKE HURTING WORKERS?

According to AL.com, the number of those recipients declined from 5,538 to 831 between Jan. 1 and the beginning of May  an 85 percent drop.

Similar changes were implemented in select counties in Georgia and by the end of the first three months, the number of adults receiving benefits in three participating counties dropped 58 percent, according to the Georgia Public Policy Foundation.

'Welfare was never intended to be a one-way handout, but a program based on the idea of reciprocity.'  Heritage Foundation fellow Robert Rector

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution recently reported that in 21 additional counties that restored the work requirement, there was a 62 percent drop in SNAP participants.

Work requirements have been enormously successful at reducing the number of people on food stamps. And while they made sense in the early part of the recession when unemployment was higher, that is no longer the case, said Robert Doar, a fellow in poverty studies at the American Enterprise Institute.

A key component of the 1996 welfare reform bill, the work requirement applies to able-bodied adults without dependents (ABAWD) between the ages of 18 to 49.

However, as part of his 2009 economic stimulus, then-President Barack Obama allowed states to waive SNAP work requirements, which resulted in the number of ABAWDs on food stamps more than doubling from 1.9 million in 2008 to 3.9 million in 2010, according to a 2012 Congressional Research Service study.

The number continued to rise but has since slipped to roughly 4.2 million. According to the USDA, most states still offer full or partial waivers.

Advocates for waivers argue that the flexibility is needed to help people get back on their feet in the wake of the economic crisis. And a call in the Trump administrations budget to resurrect the work mandate and scale back SNAPs budget has drawn fire from anti-hunger advocates.

Parents will work just as hard at unforgiving jobs and see less food on the table for their families. Children will become sicker without the proper nutrition, ending up in hospitals or on the rolls of what social services remain. Some children will die, Mariana Chilton, a professor of public health at Drexel University, predicted in a column for The Hill.

SNAP reform, however, could be bolstered by the developments at the state level.

Welfare was never intended to be a one-way handout, but a program based on the idea of reciprocity, said Robert Rector, a fellow at the conservative Heritage Foundation. Those who receive benefits from the government should be required to work or participate in work-training as a condition.

Doar and Rector cite reforms made by Republican Gov. Paul LePage of Maine.

In October 2014, LePage announced that able-bodied adults would have to find work, spend 20 hours per week in a work program, or perform community service for six hours a week.

Food stamp participation declined 14.5 percent from 235,771 in January 2014 to 201,557 in January 2015, according to the state.

An analysis of a group of 7,000 Mainers who left SNAP in 2014 found their total earnings increased from $3.85 million in the third quarter 2014 to $8.24 million in the last quarter of 2015.

Kansas saw a 75 percent decline after implementing work requirements in 2013. In addition, nearly 60 percent of former beneficiaries found employment within 12 months and their incomes rose by an average of 127 percent per year, according to the Foundation for Government Accountability.

The Maine model taken nationwide could save taxpayers over $8.4 billion per year, according to Rector.

That is the goal of Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, and Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, who have introduced a bill to require able-bodied adults without children to participate in work activation initiatives as a condition of their benefits. It also imposes time limits on SNAP participation.

We should be incentivizing work, not providing a disincentive to find a job, which is a good thing both for the taxpayer as well as for the beneficiary, Jordan said.

Jordan told Fox News he speaks with business owners in his district every day who cannot find workers to fill open positions.

The focus of these programs should be on how we can help adults get their families to a better way of life, Jordan said.
Visitors looking to pay their respects to Americas fallen this Independence Day by visiting Arlington National Cemetery may be surprised to learn that one of the most common displays of patriotism  waving the American flag  is technically banned on cemetery grounds.

The Washington Post reports that a 2006 law meant to block anti-military protests during Arlington burials has had the broad effect of banning the display of most flags.

Its an all-or-nothing proposition . . . Even if the results in practice may feel unjust, Lee Rowland, a lawyer with the American Civil Liberties Union, told the Post.

The law doesnt ban all American flags in all circumstances. It allows such displays if they are part of a funeral, memorial service, or ceremony  which explains how tiny flags are posted by headstones and markers for Memorial Day and other ceremonies.

But the U.S. code stemming from that 2006 bill makes it unlawful in most other circumstances to display any placard, banner, flag, or similar device at the cemetery unless pre-approved by officials.

According to the Post, former U.S. Rep. Mike D. Rogers, R-Mich., helped write the original law in response to protests by members of the Westboro Baptist Church  the members are notorious for showing up at military funerals to jeer grieving families.

The resulting bill banned such protests at Arlington and dozens of other sites  but according to Rowland, was written broadly to avoid violating First Amendment rights.
Dennis Kucinich, the former Democratic congressman and presidential candidate, blasted his party colleagues on Tuesday over a push to examine President Trumps mental and physical fitness for office  and potentially use the findings to seek his removal.

The campaign is being led by Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., who has tried to rally support for his bill in the wake of Trumps controversial attacks on various media outlets and personalities.

But Kucinich told Fox & Friends that Democrats arent doing the party any favors with proposals like this.

Its a political statement, not a medical statement, said Kucinich, a Fox News contributor. I think its destroying the party as an effective opposition.

He continued, People want political parties to be focused on Americas economic needs, jobs, wages, heath care, education, retirement security and peace -- and they want American politicians to be constructive, not destructive.

Kucinich speculated that some in his party are having a tough time trying to reconcile the results of the November election with their own politics but called for lawmakers to find common ground.

DEMS MAKE EARLY CALLS FOR IMPEACHMENT

Whats happening here is not good for the country, Kucinich said.

The bill in question would establish an Oversight Commission on Presidential Capacity, tasked with carrying out a medical examination of the President to determine whether the President is mentally or physically unable to discharge the powers and duties of the office. Under the bill, this determination could be made if the Commission finds that the President is temporarily or permanently impaired by physical illness or disability, mental illness, mental deficiency, or alcohol or drug use to the extent that the person lacks sufficient understanding or capacity to execute the powers and duties of the office of President.

WHAT IS THE 25TH AMENDMENT?

The bill cites the 25th Amendment, which states the vice president shall assume the powers of the presidency when the president is declared unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office.

The same section, though, makes clear that the vice president and others would need to sign off on such a decision  which could speak to why Kucinich and other critics view this as a purely symbolic effort.

Raskin introduced the bill in April, but revived the push amid the controversy over Trumps attacks on the media, including CNN and the hosts of MSNBCs Morning Joe.

The President should take a break from watching TV and read the #25thAmendment to the Constitution. There are ways out of this, Raskin tweeted on Friday.

The bill has nearly two-dozen cosponsors, including former Democratic Party leader Debbie Wasserman Schultz.
President Trump vowed during the campaign to deport millions of illegal immigrants, but his plans could be short-circuited by a massive backlog and looming judge shortage that threaten to slow deportation cases to a crawl.

While the administration is tackling the case backlog that built up during the Obama administration, the problem wont be easy to fix, according to a recent government audit. The report found it takes almost a year to bring a deportation case; more than a third of immigration judges are eligible to retire; and the process of hiring a new immigration judge takes nearly two years.

The findings also suggest the recruitment of new judges is not keeping pace with the increase in caseload.

Unless more court slots are filled, those individuals will not be removed from the United States, said Art Arthur, a former federal immigration judge who oversaw cases in York Immigration Court in York, Pa.

HOUSE PASSES KATE'S LAW AS PART OF ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT CRACKDOWN

The Government Accountability Office released the report on June 1 and two weeks later, Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced a third round of new immigration judge appointments, bringing the total to 326 immigration judges currently serving. Expediting the appointment process would be key, since 39 percent of current judges are eligible to retire -- and the GAO found it took an average of 742 days to hire new judges from 2011 through 2016.

Trumps proposed fiscal 2018 budget also would provide $80 million, a 19 percent hike from last year, to hire 75 new immigration judges.

But thats still not enough to cover the cost of the judges needed, argued Ira Mehlman, a spokesman for the Federation of Americans for Immigration Reform, a pro-border enforcement advocacy group.

The Trump administration still has to deal with a lot of what it inherited from the Obama administrations catch-and-release policy, he said. Instead of catch and release, it should have been detain or send across the border. To do that, you need more judges and more courtrooms.

The Justice Departments Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR), which is responsible for conducting immigration court proceedings and appeals, already has begun to address many of the problems outlined by the audit, Justice Department spokeswoman Kathryn Mattingly said.

For example, on April 11, 2017, the Attorney General implemented a new, streamlined hiring plan for immigration judges that requires just as much vetting as before, but reduces the timeline, Mattingly told Fox News.

She said the office is also working with its federal partners to make the immigration process more efficient, and ensuring that its resources are allocated in the most effective manner, while reviewing internal practices, procedures, and technology in order to identify ways in which it can enhance immigration judge productivity without compromising due process.

The GAO report looked at the challenges facing the immigration review agency between fiscal 2006 and 2015 and found:

The backlog was steady from 2006 through 2009, then rose each year starting in 2010, the first fiscal year under then-President Barack Obama. The backlog in 2006 was 212,000 cases, with a median pending time of 198 days. It dropped slightly in 2009 to 208,000. But from fiscal 2010 to 2015, the backlog skyrocketed an average of 38,000 cases per year and reached 437,000 cases, with a median pending time of 404 days.

In February of this year, half the immigration courts had a master calendar scheduled into January 2018 or beyond. Another calendar scheduled immigration hearings into May 2021, while yet another scheduled hearings into February 2022.

The number of immigration judges actually increased from 212 in 2006 to 247 in 2015. The 17 percent increase, though, was not enough to match the 44 percent caseload increase.

Median completion times for the cases went from 43 days in 2006 to 286 days in 2015. The median case completion time for non-detained cases (the vast majority of cases) rose from 96 days to 535 days over the decade. For detainee cases, the time rose from seven days to 28 days.

There are so many layers of review and a long vetting process, said Arthur, who also previously served as a Justice Department attorney.

Arthur, now a resident fellow in law and policy for the Center for Immigration Studies, told Fox News the problem with the backlog is that there is generally no downside for judges who grant a continuance of a case, since thats fewer cases to deal with on a given day.
President Trump landed here in the Polish capital Wednesday where he'll find an audience that's open to his brand of politics. But while the president will try to show he stands shoulder-to-shoulder with eastern European NATO allies, the visit comes just hours ahead of the biggest diplomatic test of his young presidency: his first meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Poland is a country with a government that's likeminded with Trump. They have a very conservative government that's also favored very restrictive immigration policies, said Jordan Tama, a professor at American Universitys School of International Service. I think Trump felt that this is a country where he would have a warm reception and he probably will have a warm reception there.

But Poland also exists in the shadow of Russian aggression and has been concerned the Trump administration isn't fully committed to helping NATO fight it.

Despite campaign rhetoric that questioned the U.S. financial commitment to the alliance, Trump shocked leaders during a May speech when he admonished many of them for not spending 2 percent of their gross domestic product on defense.

Though its a message thats been repeated for years by both Presidents Barack Obama and Trump, the way it was delivered surprised many of the leaders who stood alongside him during the speech at the grand opening of the new NATO headquarters in Brussels.

If NATO countries made their full and complete contributions, then NATO would be even stronger than it is today, the president said.

Poland barely meets the 2 percent minimum and is one of only five nations that cross that bar. While 24 others do not, NATO members have pledged an additional $12 billion this year after Trump challenged them.

But the U.S. is still heavily involved in the defense of NATOs eastern flank. There are at least 1,000 U.S. troops in Poland, a fourth of the total number dedicated to NATO's Operation Atlantic Resolve -- a show of force that ramped up after Russian-backed forces entered Ukraine in 2014. And a portion of a U.S.-backed missile defense system goes online here next year.

Still, the Polish government will want Trump to take a hard line with Putin when the two meet for the first time on the sidelines of the G-20 summit in Hamburg, Germany. The White House wont say what the two will talk about, but has confirmed the meeting is set for Friday afternoon.

Well theres no specific agenda, said White House National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster. Its really going to be whatever the president wants to talk about.

Analysts suggest the president will have a decision to make ahead of the bilateral meeting with Putin.

Trump has to choose really here to some extent, Tama said. He has to choose whether he is going to prioritize the NATO alliance, prioritize transatlantic security and standing with European countries to deter Russia or prioritize improved relations with Russia.

The president may look to improve relations with European allies too, specifically Germany, where Chancellor Angela Merkel will host the G-20 summit. After Trump touted his America First agenda at NATO and the G-7 summit last month in Taormina, Italy, Merkel indicated Europe was on its own.

"The times in which we can fully count on others are somewhat over, as I have experienced in the past few days, Merkel said. And that is why I can only say: We Europeans must really take our destiny into our own hands."

The president and the German chancellor clashed during the meetings over trade deficits and the U.S. withdrawal from the Paris Climate Accord. Administration officials have signaled the president is open to renegotiating the climate agreement or starting work on a new one.

But it will be the meeting with Putin amid allegations Russia influenced the 2016 U.S. election that will put the president's diplomacy to the test.

To the extent that it looks like Trump is too eager to smooth things over with Putin and just cooperate with Russia despite Russian bad behavior, he'll be subject to domestic criticism here at home, Tama said.

Asked specifically whether Trump will bring up allegations of Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, White House officials again declined to share an agenda.

Its an agenda that will be watched closely at home and around the world.
The Trump administration on Monday said it was opposed to opening the door to grandparents from six Muslim-majority nations who have grandchildren that are U.S. citizens, saying that the governments interpretation of the scaled-down travel ban is based on longstanding immigration law.

The Supreme Court ruled last week that parts of Trumps executive order that banned people from Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen for 90 days can go into effect despite blocks from the lower courts. The Supreme Court said the ban cannot apply to anyone with a bona fide relationship with a U.S. citizen or U.S. entity."

The White House clarified the Supreme Courts wording of bona fide relationship, saying it means close family members only: parents, spouses, siblings and children. Grandparents, grandchildren, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews and cousins would still be banned from entering the U.S.

The Justice Department argued in a court filing Monday that the governments definition hews closely to the categorical determinations articulated by Congress in the Immigration and Nationality Act," Reuters reported.

Refugee organizations had argued in Hawaii federal court that their work to resettle refugees qualified as a bona fide relationship between a person of the six banned nations and a U.S. entity.

However, the U.S. said workers with offers of employment from American companies and international students were different from refuges getting help from resettlement organizations, according to Reuters.

"A refugee's relationship with the agency flows from the government, not from an independent relationship between the refugee and the resettlement agency," the government said. "Indeed, resettlement agencies typically do not have any direct contact with the refugees they assure before their arrival in the United States."

The "bona fide relationship restriction also applies to refugees, regardless of their country of origin, unless they are able to obtain a so-called national interest waiver from the State Department or U.S. Customs and Border Protection. However, the U.S. has almost filled its quota of 50,000 refugees for the budget year ending in September and the new rules won't apply to the few remaining slots. With the Supreme Court set to consider the overall ban in October, the rules could change again.

Consular officers may grant other exemptions to applicants from the six nations if they have "previously established significant contacts with the United States;" "significant business or professional obligations" in the U.S.; if they are an infant, adopted child or in need of urgent medical care; if they are traveling for business with a recognized international organization or the U.S. government or if they are a legal resident of Canada who applies for a visa in Canada, according to the State Department guidance.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Click for more from Reuters.
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson vowed Tuesday that the U.S. would "never accept a nuclear-armed North Korea" while U.S. and South Korean forces held joint ballistic missile drills after the Communist nation successfully tested an intercontinental ballistic missile.

Tillerson also called for all nations to fully implement United Nations sanctions against North Korea, saying "global action is required to stop a global threat."

Meanwhile, the U.S. military said it had conducted a "precision firing" demonstration off the coast of the Korean Peninsula in response to what it called North Korea's "destabilizing and unlawful actions."

Pentagon spokesman Dana White also condemned the missile test and reiterated that, "we remain prepared to defend ourselves and our allies and to use the full range of capabilities at our disposal against the growing threat from North Korea."

President Trump did not directly mention North Korea or the missile launch during his Independence Day remarks at a picnic for military families on the South Lawn of the White House. However, he did note that "we do have challenges, but we will handle those challenges. Believe me."

U.S., South Korean and Japanese officials say the North Korean missile flew for about 40 minutes and reached an altitude of 1,500 miles, which would be longer and higher than any similar North Korean test previously reported. It also covered a distance of about 580 miles.

A veteran North Korea watcher told Fox News Tuesday that the missile was fired from a mobile launcher, making such tests more difficult for the U.S. to track and disrupt.

"This is the big story we have all been waiting for, Professor Bruce Bechtol of Angelo State University in Texas wrote in an email. All of the paradigms have changed. It is now time to see what action the USA will take."

Bechtol added that the mobile launcher "nearly destroys our warning time and also means that the North Koreans have a real shot at launching this system at us without us being able to destroy it on the ground."

Shortly after news of the test broke Monday night, Trump tweeted, "North Korea has just launched another missile. Does this guy have anything better to do with his life? Hard to believe that South Korea and Japan will put up with this much longer. Perhaps China will put a heavy move on North Korea and end this nonsense once and for all!"

"This guy" presumably refers to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. China is North Korea's economic lifeline and only major ally, and the Trump administration is pushing Beijing to do more to push the North toward disarmament.

The U.N. Security Council was due to hold an emergency meeting Wednesday afternoon to discuss its response to the launch. U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley tweeted her frustration at spending her Independence Day holiday in high-level meetings with the hashtag, "#ThanksNorthKorea."

The missile test could invite a new round of international sanctions, but North Korea is already one of the most sanctioned countries on Earth. U.N. Security Council resolutions ban it from engaging in any ballistic activities. Since late 2012, North Korea has placed two satellites into orbit with long-range rockets, each time triggering new U.N. sanctions and worldwide condemnation.

Earlier Tuesday, the Chinese and Russian foreign ministries proposed that North Korea declare a moratorium on nuclear and missile tests while the United States and South Korea refrain from large-scale joint military exercises. North Korea views the exercises as preparation for an invasion and has repeatedly demanded their cancellation. It says it needs nuclear weapons and powerful missiles to cope with what it calls rising U.S. military threats.

Moscow and Beijing issued the proposal in a joint statement after talks between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

They urged other nations to create a "peaceful atmosphere of mutual trust" to encourage talks between the two sides on commitments not to use force and to make the Korean Peninsula free of nuclear weapons.

Regional disarmament talks on North Korea's nuclear program have been deadlocked since 2009, when the North pulled out of the negotiations to protest international condemnation over a long-range rocket launch.

North Korea has a reliable arsenal of shorter-range missiles and is thought to have a small arsenal of atomic bombs, but is still trying to perfect its longer-range missiles. Some outside civilian experts believe the North has the technology to mount warheads on shorter-range Rodong and Scud missiles that can strike South Korea and Japan, two key U.S. allies where about 80,000 American troops are stationed. But it's unclear if it has mastered the technology needed to build an atomic bomb that can fit on a long-range missile.

Fox News' James Rosen and Lucas Tomlinson contributed to this report. The Associated Press also contributed to this report.
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Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang speaks at the press conference on July 3, 2017. [Photo / MFA]

A Foreign Ministry official described on Monday the trespassing by Indian troops across the China-India border at the Sikkim section as "essentially different" to previous standoffs with Chinese border troops, as this time they crossed a clearly demarcated borderline between the two countries.

This incident is "very severe" as it goes against a "legally binding" boundary treaty, as well as the Charter of the United Nations and the basic principles of international law, ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said.

Photos taken on June 18, which the ministry has published on its website, show Indian troops crossing the demarcated Sikkim section into the Chinese territory of Doklam.

Geng said earlier that the Indian troops obstructed Chinese border troops' normal activities in the area, and China had "taken proportionate measures in response".

The Sikkim section of the China-India boundary has been defined by the Convention Between Great Britain and China Relating to Sikkim and Tibet, which was signed in 1890, Geng reiterated on Monday.

Since the establishment of the People's Republic of China and the independence of India, governments of both countries have recognized the validity of the treaty, and have repeatedly confirmed it in a series of official documents and meetings, Geng said.

China has lodged protest over the incursion to India many times, asking it to observe the treaty, respect China's territorial sovereignty and move its troops back onto its side of the boundary, the spokesman said.
Prior to the impeachment and eventual acquittal of President Donald Trump, a bill calling for a presidential oversight commission to evaluate Trump -- and possibly deem him unfit for office -- had initially gained the support of multiple Democrats.

In April 2017, Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., introduced a bill in April for the Oversight Commission on Presidential Capacity Act. As part of the bill, an 11-member commission would include doctors and determine if the president "is mentally or physically unable to discharge the powers and duties of the office."

The bill says that the commission would "carry out section 4 of the 25th Amendment." Fox News breaks down what the constitutional amendment entails.

What is the 25th Amendment?

The amendment is made up of four sections, and lays out how the president would be succeeded in office.

KUCINICH RIPS DEMS FOR PROPOSAL TO EXAMINE TRUMP'S MENTAL FITNESS

Why do we have the 25th Amendment?

The Constitution had been unclear about presidential succession before the amendment was ratified, according to the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library and Museum. The amendment was debated following President John F. Kennedy's 1963 assassination, which left President Lyndon B. Johnson without a vice president, the U.S. Senate website explains. The amendment was ratified in 1967.

What does the first section of the amendment say?

It says that if the president is removed from office, resigns, or dies, the vice president becomes president.

What about the 25th Amendment's second section?

The president will nominate someone "who shall take office upon confirmation by a majority vote of both Houses of Congress" if there isn't a vice president.

DEMS DRAFT BILL THAT COULD ACTIVATE 25TH AMENDMENT POWERS TO REMOVE TRUMP

What does the amendment's third section say?

The vice president will serve as acting president, if the president tells the President pro tempore and the Speaker of the House of Representatives that he cannot "discharge the powers and duties of his office." The vice president would continue in the role unless the president says that he can serve.

What about the fourth section?

The vice president would serve as acting president if he "and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive departments or of such other body as Congress may by law provide" tell the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House that the president is unable to do his job. The amendment says that Congress would convene if there was a dispute over the president's ability to serve.
Music agents take note: There's an extraordinary drummer in town with impeccable rhythm, but instead of using drumsticks, this master of the beat bangs around seed pods and sticks, a new study finds.

That's because the percussionist isn't a human, but a bird: the palm cockatoo (Probosciger aterrimus) of Australia and New Guinea. The cockatoo is the only nonhuman animal on record to rhythmically drum with a customized "sound tool," but its reason for drumming isn't so different from that of many human musicians: These feathered Romeos are looking for love, the researchers found.

During courtship, male cockatoos search for drumsticks, sometimes breaking a sturdy branch off a tree and trimming it down to about 8 inches (20 centimeters) in length. Then, the cockatoos rhythmically strike the tool against their nesting tree, wooing potential mates with a steady beat, the researchers said. [Image Gallery: A Crafty Cockatoo Uses Tools]

"The female watches the male very closely, including the tool manufacture part, which demonstrates the power of the male's beak when he snips off the branch," said study lead researcher Robert Heinsohn, a professor in the Fenner School of Environment and Society at Australian National University.

Drumming solo

Heinsohn first came across the drumming cockatoos while studying a different parrot species on Cape York Peninsula in North Queensland, Australia, in 1997.

"I was walking through the rainforest and heard a clear tapping sound ahead," Heinsohn told Live Science in an email. "It was a beautiful male palm cockatoo striking the edge of a hollow in the tree trunk with a stick. I have never been so mesmerized by anything in nature, and swore that one day I would undertake the research necessary to understand why they do this."

Fulfilling that promise took seven years, as Heinsohn and his colleagues stealthily recorded video of the cockatoos before egg-laying season began in June and July (winter in the Southern Hemisphere). Before the researchers' study, a brief note in a 1984 bird journal was the only description of the cockatoos' rhythmic behavior, Heinsohn said.

After collecting 131 recordings from 18 male cockatoos, the researchers used computer software to convert the recordings into spectrograms (visual displays of sound). Statistician consultations showed "beyond any doubt that these birds are rhythmic," meaning that the beats weren't random, but rather were equally spaced apart, Heinsohn said.

Moreover, the statistical analysis showed that each of the 18 birds had its own distinct style. Some beats were faster and others were slower, and "interestingly, some males had a fast flourish of beats when they started and then slowed down to a steady beat," Heinsohn said.

These findings show that cockatoos share several key components seen in human instrumental music, including making a sound tool (the drumstick), performing in a consistent context (in this case, mating), making regular beats and creating individualistic styles, the researchers said in the study.

Other animals are known to drum, too, including rodents that stomp their feet, woodpeckers that peck , and chimps that drum their hands and feet on tree stumps. But none of these percussive sounds are rhythmic, nor do these animals make a special sound tool, Heinsohn said.

Mating scene

There's a reason why male palm cockatoos put on a spectacular show: Female palm cockatoos lay just one egg once every two years. [Pretty Bird: Images of a Clever Parrot]

During courtship, males try to attract females using different calls (screeches or whistles), movements (head bobbing or wing raising) and blushing to show they're sexually excited, Heinsohn said.

"The drumming and rhythm seems to be an extra component designed to impress the females further ," he said, noting that not all males drum. However, those that do tend to put on a solo act  there aren't any "drum circles" in the cockatoo world, Heinsohn said.

These avian drumming acts, some lasting up to 30 minutes, may shed light on how humans began producing rhythms, the scientists said. Perhaps drumming began as a sexual display among humans before it was used for other purposes, such as for interacting with large groups, the researchers said.

But there is one glaring difference between cockatoo and human percussive rhythm: While many humans dance to drum beats, there is no evidence that wild palm cockatoos do, the researchers said.

The study was published online June 28 in the journal Science Advances.

Original article on Live Science.
One person was injured following a shooting at a hotel in Far North Dallas on Monday.

The incident, involving Dallas SWAT, started at 2 p.m. at the Wyndham Hotel but wound up stretching past two hours. The person who was injured did not have life-threatening injuries, police told FOX 4.

DALLAS OFFICER CHARGED WITH ASSAULT IN DEATH OF WOMAN

The suspect was taken into custody.

It wasnt immediately clear what caused the standoff at the hotel. The incident prompted a partial evacuation of the hotel tower.
Syndicated columnist Charles Krauthammer told Fox News Monday night that American students are being taught "about all of the pathologies of the United States and very little of the glories."

Krauthammer was reacting to a Fox News Poll released last week, in which 45 percent of voters said they were not proud of the United States. When the voters were broken down by party, just 39 percent of Democrats said they were proud of the United States.

FOX NEWS POLL: MOST DON'T THINK FOUNDING FATHERS WOULD BE PROUD OF NATION

Krauthammer explained on "Tucker Carlson Tonight" that lack of American pride represented in the poll originated with the counter-cultural left in the 1960s.

"They werent just out there rioting and sitting in, they went into the professions  the teaching professions, and theyve essentially taken over," Krauthammer said. "That generation of radicals runs the universities, they run the teachers unions, they run the curricula."

Krauthammer went on to say that the antipathy bred by educators could have devastating consequences for the future of the United States.

"In the end what brings civilizations down is when the elites lose confidence in the rightness of their cause," he said. "We need a new generation of teachers who are not committed to this ... history of the sins of our ancestors.

"Look, every civilization is founded on sins, every single one," Krauthammer added. "Dispossession, violence, appropriation. What distinguishes civilizations are the ones who rise above it."
When disgruntled neighbors complained to police about a giant slip-and-slide taking up their local street, the responding cops joined in on the fun.

North Carolina police officers were responding to a complaint about a slip-and-slide that was built for an Asheville neighborhoods annual Fourth of July block party.

"We have 20 plus kids in the four blocks. So this year the dads built a slip and slide in the street for the kids (and adults)," Katlen Joyce Smith told FOX 46. "This year, someone called the police at 11:30 a.m. and said we were blocking the road."

NEWLY SWORN-IN NYPD OFFICER BECOMES FAMILY'S 4TH GENERATION TO WEAR SAME SHIELD NUMBER

After the officers stressed the importance of safety and addressed neighbors concerns, they joined in on the fun.

"When the female officer asked for a garbage bag, we almost didn't believe it. But she took off her radio and went for it!"

The police officers deemed the size of the slide as appropriate because it was small enough that vehicles could get past, according to WLOS. No citations were issued.
Massachusetts police are investigating after a 5-year-old girl died after falling through a window screen on an apartment buildings fourth-floor, Fox 25 Boston reported Tuesday.

It was the second falling accident involving a 5-year-old child in three days in suburban Boston. On Saturday a 5-year-old boy survived a fall from a seven-story window in Quincy.

The girl landed on cement after falling from an apartment building where she lived in Brookline Monday. She was taken to the hospital where she died of her injuries. Her name was not released.

"The child was actually in a different unit other than their own, playing with some friends," Brookline Police Lt. Phillip Harrington said, according to NECN-TV. "There were adults in the unit and there were adults on scene."

Residents wondered how the window screen popped out.

FIREFIGHTERS SAVE BABY DEER FROM ARIZONA WILDFIRE

Thats surprising to me that they could push through the screen because those screens are pretty good with that type of stuff, building resident Stephanie Wengel told the station in a report that aired Monday.

Another resident was quoted as saying that most of the window screens have been replaced recently.

In Quincy officials said the window screen popped out as the boy was leaning on it.

TAXI PLOWS INTO CROWD IN BOSTON

Police Sgt. Dan Flaherty says the boy held onto the screen and landed in a bush, which cushioned his fall. The childs parents were in another room at the time.

Paramedics said the boy had no broken bones. He was listed in stable condition at the hospital.

Click here for more from Fox 25 Boston.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
New York City police believe a New Jersey woman who disappeared after serving drinks at a trendy bar that just opened was killed and dismembered and her body parts dumped in the Hudson River.

Police say a womans torso and leg that washed ashore off Brooklyn and Manhattan last week appear to belong to the missing woman, 31-year-old Jennifer Londono, the New York Post reported Monday.

She was last seen June 25 at Luna Lounge, a bar and restaurant in Englewood, N.J., where she was a bartender and a manager.

The cops assigned to the grisly case are now questioning Londonos boyfriend, the paper reported, citing a police source.

The paper quoted police and other reports as saying that Londonos blood was found in the boyfriends bathtub.

So far there are been inconsistencies in his story, a source told the paper.

HUSBAND SHOOTS, KILLS WIFE IN THEIR UBER CAR, POLICE SAY

Londonos mother told cops that her daughters tattoo matches the one found on the torso recovered in the Red Hook section of Brooklyn on June 27.

The NYPD released an image of the bodys tattoo last week.

A couple walking a dog found the torso cut from the waist to the knees, The Post reported.

The leg washed up near a boat basin along Manhattans West Side Saturday.

DRUG DEALER CONVICTED OF KILLING FOX EXEC

Police said the body part was not decomposed and the toenails were painted pink, the paper reported.

Londono's friends want her killer brought to justice, WABC-TV reported Tuesday.

"I want this person to actually pay for everything, for every little bit of pain that we're all suffering, the people here, that the family is going through," one of the womans friends, Andres Giraldo, told the station.
An Ohio state trooper shot and killed a knife-wielding man "covered in blood" who rammed his car into the trooper's patrol vehicle early Tuesday.

Authorities subsequently identified the man as a suspect in the stabbing death of a woman near Cincinnati who had been killed a little more than an hour earlier.

Ohio State Highway Patrol Lt. Robert Sellers said the shooting occurred a little after 1 a.m., Tuesday in Vandalia, just north of Dayton.

The trooper was writing a ticket for a driver who ran a red light when another car rammed into the back of the cruiser, Sellers told WRGT-TV.

Sellers said the driver of the ramming car got out, covered in blood and "brandishing a knife." He advanced toward the trooper, who told him to drop the knife, Sellers said.

"The man continued to disregard verbal commands and lunged at the trooper with the knife extended," Sellers said. He said the trooper fired one shot, hitting the man. Emergency vehicles were called, but the man died at the scene.

SEATTLE MAN SHOOTS, KILLS WIFE IN UBER CAR, POLICE SAY

The man was identified as Dana Dubose, 36, of Cincinnati. Police said he was suspected in the fatal stabbing of a 32-year-old woman just before midnight Monday.

Police are investigating whether this is a case of suicide by cop, WRGT reported.

"It felt like he was practically prompting the cop to kill me, kill me, is what it seems like," Cody Allwood, a witness, told WRGT.

State corrections records show Dubose had served prison time for domestic violence and related charges.

CHICAGO POLICE: HEAVILY ARMED MAN SHOT, KILLED BY OFFICER

The trooper's name wasn't immediately released. Police said he was recovering from injuries. He is also reportedly on administrative leave  as is protocol.

The investigation was continuing.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
The Islamic State reportedly executed a top leader who revived suspicions that the groups runaway leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, may have been killed.

Abu Qutaiba was burned to death in Tal Afar, west of Mosul, Iraq, after being arrested for stirring sedition in a prayer sermon where he started crying and suggested Baghdadis possible death, Iraqi News reported.

The group had previously ordered a punishment of 50 lashes to whoever brought up the issue of Baghdadis survival, according to Alsumaria News.

ISIS GUNNED DOWN PREGNANT WOMEN, BABIES, FORMER NAVY SEAL RECALLS

Russia claimed last month that it was 100 percent certain of his death in a Russian airstrike in May; however, Pentagon officials have not confirmed it.

Meanwhile, Iraqi forces announced they have made significant gains in driving out ISIS from its Iraqi hub of Mosul, after recapturing the Mosul mosque last week.
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The Latest on a North Korean missile launch (all times local):

12:30 p.m.

The U.S military says it tracked a North Korean missile for 37 minutes before it landed in the Sea of Japan.

The Hawaii-based U.S. Pacific Command said in a statement Tuesday that an intermediate-range ballistic missile was launched from near an airfield in North Korea.

NORAD, or the North American Aerospace Defense Command, said the missile did not pose a threat to North America.

South Korean and Japanese officials reported the North Korean missile launch earlier Tuesday. It is part of a string of recent test-firings as the North works to build a nuclear-tipped missile that could reach the United States.

___

11:30 a.m.

President Donald Trump has tweeted about North Korea's latest ballistic missile launch.

He wrote in two consecutive tweets: "Does this guy have anything better to do with his life? Hard to believe that South Korea and Japan will put up with this much longer. Perhaps China will put a heavy move on North Korea and end this nonsense once and for all!"

South Korean and Japanese officials say North Korea launched a ballistic missile Tuesday morning that is believed to have landed in the Sea of Japan. It is part of a string of recent test-firings as the North works to build a nuclear-tipped missile that could reach the United States.

___

10:30 a.m.

Japanese officials say a ballistic missile fired from North Korea's western coast is believed to have landed in Japan's exclusive economic zone.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told reporters the missile was fired around 9:40 a.m. Tuesday and flew for 40 minutes before landing in the Sea of Japan within waters where Japan claims economic rights.

He said no damage to aircraft or ships has been reported. Japanese media said the coast guard had cautioned ships about potential falling objects.

___

10 a.m.

South Korean officials say North Korea launched another ballistic missile in the direction of Japan, part of a string of recent test-firings as the North works to build a nuclear-tipped missile that could reach the United States.

The South's Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement that the launch was made from North Phyongan province. Other details were scarce. It wasn't immediately clear if this was a routine firing of a short-range missile or an attempt to perfect North Korea's longer-range missiles.

Just last week South Korean President Moon Jae-in and U.S. President Donald Trump focused much of their first meeting on opposing North Korea's development of atomic weapons that threaten both allies.
North Korea reportedly launched a ballistic missile Tuesday as part of a string of test-firings in recent months, South Korea's military said. The missile was launched from a province near the border with China, according to Yonhap News Agency.

"North Korea fired an unidentified ballistic missile into the East Sea from the vicinity of Banghyon, North Pyongan Province, at around 9:40 a.m.," the Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement.

The launch was immediately reported to South Korean President Moon Jae-in, according to the statement.

CHINA WARNS RISING TENSIONS WITH NORTH KOREA COULD BE DISASTROUS

The test-firings in recent months come as the North works to build a nuclear-tipped missile that could reach the United States.

This new missile test comes more than a week after North Korea conducted a new rocket engine test, possibly for an ICBM.

It wasn't immediately clear if the missile launch was a routine firing of a short-range missile or an attempt to perfect the country's longer range missiles.

President Donald Trump tweeted a response to the missile launch, asking if North Korean leader Kim Jong Un had "anything better to do with his life?"

"Hard to believe that South Korea and Japan will put up with this much longer," Trump tweeted. "Perhaps China will put a heavy move on North Korea and end this nonsense once and for all"

Fox News' Lucas Tomlinson and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Arthur was still inside his mother's womb when he became Rio de Janeiro's latest victim of gun violence.

His mother, Claudineia dos Santos Melo, was almost nine months pregnant when she was hit by a stray bullet from a shootout in a Rio slum on June 30. During an emergency cesarean section doctors discovered that a bullet had also hit Arthur, damaging his lungs and spine.

Doctors say the mother is in stable, non-life threatening condition while her newborn is clinging to life in a case that has shocked Brazilians and underscored surging gun violence in Rio.

"We had never seen this before," Rafael Lopes, the head surgeon at the Moacyr Rodrigues de Carmo hospital where Arthur was delivered, said during a press conference Monday.

Doctors said it was a miracle Arthur was still alive, breathing with the help of machines and currently paraplegic, though they added it was too soon to say if he would remain so forever.

According to Fogo Cruzado," or "Crossfire," a free app created by Amnesty International Brazil, there have been an average of 13 shootings a day in the Rio metropolitan area over the past 11 months. Most of the shootings occur in hillside slums controlled by drug gangs.

On the same day Melo was shot, a mother and daughter were killed in the Mangueira favela near the iconic Maracana stadium as police and criminals exchanged fire for over three hours.

Marlene Maria da Conceicao, 76, was shot in the doorway of her home. Her 42-year-old daughter, Ana Cristina da Conceicao, was also hit when she tried to help her mother.

"The state government has abandoned the communities," said Mangueira community leader Washington Fortunato at the women's funeral.

Last year, 920 people died during police raids or patrols in Rio state according to its Public Security Institute. This year's figure is up by almost 60 percent over 2016.

"I hope no family has to go through what we are going through because it is too painful," said Arthur's uncle, Walter de Melo, as he accompanied the speechless father to register the child.
Sally Jones - the former punk rocker who became the leading female recruitment officer for IS, married a now-dead jihadist and took her son to Raqqa - wants to come home to Britain, it has been claimed.

That is, at least, the view of 'Aisha', the wife of another immigrant to the so-called Islamic caliphate now under Kurdish guard in a refugee camp in Syria.

In an exclusive interview with Sky News, Aisha (her real name is being withheld) insisted that very few immigrants to the "caliphate" wanted to join the war. And that includes Sally Jones.

I asked her: "Did you meet many British people?"

She replied: "I know one - Umma Hussain al Britani".

She used Jones' nom de guerre. Junaid Hussain was IS' chief of digital jihad. He was killed by a US drone in 2015 while planning terror plots against the West.

US DRONE STRIKE IN SYRIA REPORTEDLY KILLS TOP ONLINE ISIS RECRUITER

Aisha went on: "She lost her husband in a battle last year. She has one boy."

Jones' British-born son is now about 12. He is believed to have been forced to execute prisoners.

This does not appear to have registered with Aisha, who said that Jones was "about 50 years and she's very cute".

And then the remarkable assertion that Jones - a woman the international coalition dropping bombs on IS, also known as ISIS, would gladly see in their sights - wants to go back to the U.K.

"She was crying and wants to get back to Britain but ISIS is preventing her because she is now a military wife. She told me she wish to go to her country," Aisha said.

Click for more from SkyNews.
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An environmental watchdog group says its investigation has found that a little-known town in southern China is a major hub for ivory smuggling by organized criminal gangs.

The Washington, D.C.-based Environmental Investigation Agency said in a report Tuesday that it uncovered a network of ivory trafficking syndicates operating out of Shuidong in Guangdong province, near Hong Kong.

The group says its investigators worked undercover posing as buyers to win the trust of a smuggling group and tracked one of its shipments from Mozambique.

Syndicate members told the EIA theirs was just one of 10 to 20 ivory trafficking groups operating out of Shuidong, the group said.

They claimed that 80 percent of all poached ivory smuggled from Africa to China passes through the town  a startling figure that's impossible to corroborate.

China has taken steps to curb the demand for ivory that wildlife groups say fuels the mass slaughter of tens of thousands of elephants in Africa every year. It started shutting down ivory carving factories in March and is planning to ban all domestic retail sales by the end of the year. Hong Kong, a major transshipment hub for illicit wildlife trading, is preparing to ban local ivory sales by 2021.

The EIA said Beijing needs to follow up its policies with enforcement, though its decision to close down its domestic ivory market was "admirable."

"What EIA discovered in Shuidong, however, clearly shows transnational criminal networks are operating with near-total impunity," said Mary Rice, the group's executive director. "It is vital that enforcement agencies in Africa and China put these criminals out of business immediately."

The group said it shared its findings with the "relevant enforcement authorities." Local government officials said they weren't aware of the report while police in Maoming city, which includes Shuidong, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The EIA investigators encountered the Shuidong syndicate members last year in Mozambique, which has become more popular with Chinese smugglers after neighboring Tanzania cracked down. Shuidong emerged as an ivory trading hub thanks to its role as a center for the sea cucumber trade, the report said. As China grew wealthier over the past few decades, Shuidong traders fanned out to Africa to feed growing demand for the delicacy. They were well placed to move into the illegal ivory trade when demand in China soared starting in the late 1990s.

The EIA's report said three Shuidong syndicate members revealed details and methods about their operation to smuggle more than 2 metric tons of ivory from Mozambique's Pemba port to Shuidong by sea via Busan, South Korea.

They bribed customs officials and shipping agents along every step of the shipment's journey, it said.

The EIA said the syndicate has now moved on to Nigeria because "yellow ivory" from forest elephants native to West and Central Africa was becoming more profitable than "white ivory" from East Africa's savannah elephants.

___

Follow Kelvin Chan: www.twitter.com/chanman

___

Online:

EIA: https://eia-international.org
Nine people were killed in central Mexico in a series of shootings involving disputes between suspected fuel thieves, officials said.

It was the latest round of violence in an area east of Mexico City where theives who siphon fuel out of state-run pipelines have fought police, the army and each other.

Prosecutors in Puebla state said late Monday the shootings started when a gang of gunmen led by a man known as "El Cuije"  "The Lizard"  went looking for other thieves to extort money from them. They killed three people on the spot and kidnapped five others, whose bodies were found elsewhere, burned.

A local police official was also killed in circumstances related to the shootings in the township of Huehuetlan El Grande. Another policeman and a town official were injured.

Mexican drug and criminal gangs frequently charge other criminals for the right to operate in their territory and that part of Puebla state has come to be dominated by fuel thieves.

In May, gunmen using local residents as human shields opened fire on Mexican army patrols investigating fuel pipeline thefts, in clashes that left four soldiers and six attackers dead.
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Russia and China on Tuesday proposed a plan for defusing tensions over North Korea, suggesting that Pyongyang declare a moratorium on nuclear and missile tests while the United States and South Korea refrain from large-scale military exercises.

The Russian and Chinese foreign ministries made the recommendation in a joint statement after talks between President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping and another North Korean missile test.

The missile flew higher and longer than previous ones North Korea has launched, sparking concerns around the world. Moscow and Beijing called Tuesday's test "unacceptable."

The foreign ministries said that as a "voluntary political decision," North Korea should declare a "moratorium on testing nuclear devices and test launches of ballistic missiles." In turn, the U.S. and South Korea should "accordingly refrain from large-scale joint maneuvers," the joint statement added.

They said "the confronting parties" involved should sit down for talks to agree on principles that include a refusal to use force and a pledge to make the Korean Peninsula free of nuclear weapons.

At the same time, the document emphasized that the North's "sensible concerns" must be respected and urged other nations to create a "peaceful atmosphere of mutual trust" to help launch the talks.

In an apparent hint at the U.S., Beijing and Moscow spoke against the "non-regional powers' military presence in Northeast Asia and its buildup under the pretext of countering North Korea's nuclear and missile programs."

They specifically opposed U.S. missile defense systems in the region, saying their deployment "seriously damages strategic security interests of regional powers, including Russia and China" and hinders peace and stability.

Xi's visit to Russia came amid a flare-up of tensions between China and the U.S. over an American destroyer sailing within the territorial waters of a Chinese-claimed island in the South China Sea.

Before arriving in Moscow Monday, Xi warned President Donald Trump that "some negative factors" were hurting U.S.-China relations.

Putin hailed Xi during their Kremlin talks as a "big friend" and presented him with Russia's highest award for his efforts to strengthen ties.

Xi said "the Russian-Chinese relations are now the best ever."

After the talks, the two countries' officials signed several dozen agreements to bolster their cooperation.

Trump, Putin and Xi are scheduled to attend the Group of 20 summit in Germany this week. Putin and Trump are to hold their first meeting there.
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The European Union and Japan will hold a summit on Thursday in hopes of clinching a far-reaching trade deal, EU President Donald Tusk said Tuesday.

The EU said in a statement that EU leaders and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe "are expected to announce a political agreement" on the deal in Brussels, hoping to overcome final hurdles blocking a proposed Economic Partnership Agreement.

Japan and the EU have been working to reach an accord before a summit of the Group of 20 industrial nations later this week in Hamburg, Germany and to send a message in support of free trade, countering a U.S. backlash against broad trade pacts.

Tusk said in a tweet that the plan was "Ambitious free and fair trade deal in the making."

Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida is planning to travel to Brussels on Wednesday to help smooth the way.

Kishida told reporters he hoped the two sides could reach a "basic agreement" after failing to bridge differences blocking a proposed Economic Partnership Agreement during last week's negotiations in Tokyo.

"Based on the ministerial talks we had on June 30 and July 1, we are currently continuing tough negotiations," Kishida said. "Although we cannot be too optimistic about the prospect of the talks, I strongly hope to strike a basic agreement on Japan-EU EPA this time around as I head into the talks."

"I will work up until the last minute so that we can achieve the best results for our national interest," he said, noting there were "sensitivities" on both sides.

The EU's trade commissioner, Cecilia Malmstrom, said there was disagreement over "key technical issues, especially those referring to investment."

Japanese officials have said the main sticking points are over ending tariffs on imports of cheese and autos.

A deal would require finessing Japan's protections for its dairy farmers, whose home market is protected by tariffs of up to 40 percent on processed cheese.

Both Japan and the EU have a tradition of protecting their politically powerful farm sectors, and dairy products are an especially sensitive issue for the EU, with its long traditions and half the world's market share for cheese.

___

Associated Press writers Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo and Aritz Parra in Madrid contributed to this report.
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Look out below!

An Italian artist has created a huge portrait of Russian President Vladimir Putin with the help of a tractor.

Dario Gambarin transformed a field near Verona, Italy, ahead of this week's Group of 20 (G-20) summit in Hamburg, Germany. Putin is expected to meet with President Donald Trump at the summit.

The 443-foot wide Putin portrait can only be properly viewed from above due to its scale.

TRUMP, PUTIN TO MEET AT G20 SUMMIT IN GERMANY

Gambarin created similar land portraits of Donald Trump and Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton during the U.S. presidential race last year. He's previously created land portraits of Pope Francis and Jesus, among others.

The artist says he doesn't measure fields before he starts driving, but creates his giant images with a good eye and tractor skills.

Gambarin limits his creations to the brief period between the harvest of one crop and the planting of the next - which means that Putin's portrait will be cut down after a few days.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
North Korea successfully test-launched an intercontinental ballistic missile for the first time on Tuesday, U.S. officials confirmed to Fox News.

The ballistic missile flew longer than any North Korean missile test conducted by the rogue regime to date, U.S. Pacific Command said -- meaning Kim Jong Un's dictatorship may now possess the ability to strike Alaska.

North Korea launched previously a missile on Mother's Day that flew for 30 minutes and reached an altitude 1,000 miles higher than the international space station. But Tuesday's missile flew for 37 minutes and reached a height of 1,500 miles, leading missile experts to conclude it could have reached a target 4,000 miles away, putting Alaska in its cross-hairs.

The U.S. on Tuesday requested a closed-door United Nations Security Council meeting to deal with ramifications from the missile launch.

"The threat is much more immediate now," National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster told reporters prior to the launch. "So it's clear we can't repeat the same failed approach of the past."

He added: "So the president has directed us not to do that, and to prepare a range of options -- including a military option, which nobody wants to take, right?"

Vice Adm. James Syring, the director of the Missile Defense Agency, previously said, if it didn't already exist, it would only be a matter of time until North Korea was able to attack the U.S.

"We have to assume that the capability exists today to attack the United States," Syring said.

If the U.S. decides the threat posed by North Korea is too great, the nation has options.

For the first time since the 1990s, the Pentagon ordered two U.S. aircraft carrier strike groups to be positioned off the Korean Peninsula last month. Former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta also said the U.S. could use other means to undercut and diminish Pyongyang.

"We do have covert capabilities, and I think it would be wise for the United States to use those covert capabilities as a way to continue to undermine the North Korean government," Panetta said. "If they do anything stupid, it could end their regime, period."

Russia and China, in a joint statement released by each country's foreign ministry on Tuesday, tried to de-escalate the situation by proposing that North Korea declare a moratorium on nuclear and missile tests and the United States and South Korea refrain from large-scale military exercises.

The statement was issued following talks between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin, who is set to have a bilateral meeting with President Trump on Friday at the G-20 summit in Germany. The North Korea crisis is now likely to be one of the topics the two leaders will discuss.

North Korea claimed its launch marked the final step in creating a powerful nuclear state that can strike anywhere on Earth. State media said it was ordered and supervised by dictator Kim Jong Un, according to Reuters.

President Trump immediately responded to the launch in a flurry of tweets.

"North Korea has just launched another missile, Trump wrote. Does this guy have anything better to do with his life? Hard to believe that South Korea and Japan will put up with this much longer. Perhaps China will put a heavy move on North Korea and end this nonsense once and for all!

The launch sends a political warning to Washington and its chief Asian allies, Seoul and Tokyo, while also allowing North Korean scientists a chance to perfect their still-incomplete nuclear missile program. It came on the eve of the July 4 holiday, days after the first face-to-face meeting of the leaders of South Korea and the United States, and ahead of the G-20 summit set to take place in Germany.

TRUMP TWEETS ANGRY RESPONSE TO LAUNCH

The missile test could invite a new round of international sanctions, but North Korea is already one of the most sanctioned countries on Earth. U.N. Security Council resolutions ban it from engaging in any ballistic activities. Since late 2012, North Korea has placed two satellites into orbit with long-range rockets, each time triggering new U.N. sanctions and worldwide condemnation.

TRUMP: ERA OF 'STRATEGIC PATIENCE' WITH NORTH KOREA 'IS OVER'

Last year, North Korea conducted its fourth and fifth atomic bomb tests and claimed a series of technical breakthroughs in its efforts to develop long-range nuclear missiles. The fifth nuclear test in September was the North's most powerful atomic detonation to date.

In their meeting last week, South Korean President Moon Jae-in and Trump vowed to oppose North Korea's development of atomic weapons.

Fox News Lucas Tomlinson and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
The Canadian government will apologize and give millions to a former Guantanamo Bay prisoner who pleaded guilty to killing a U.S. soldier in Afghanistan when he was 15, an official said Tuesday.

An official familiar with the matter told the Associated Press that Omar Khadr will receive $8 million. The deal was negotiated with Khadrs lawyers and the Canadian government last month.

Khadr was 15 when he was captured by U.S. troops following a firefight at a suspected Al Qaeda compound in Afghanistan that resulted in the death of U.S. Special Forces medic, U.S. Army Sgt. First Class Christopher Speer. Khadr, who was suspected of throwing the grenade that killed Speer, was taken to Guantanamo and ultimately charged with war crimes by a military commission.

The Canadian-born Khadr pleaded guilty in 2010 to charges that included murder and was sentences to eight years plus the time he had already spent in custody. He returned to Canada two years later to serve the remainder of his sentence and was released in May 2015 pending an appeal of his guilty plea, which he said was made under duress.

The Canadian Supreme Court ruled in 2010 that Canadian intelligence obtained evidence from Khadr under oppressive circumstances, such as sleep deprivation, during interrogations at Guantanamo Bay in 2003, and then shared that evidence with U.S officials.

His lawyers filed a $20 million wrongful imprisonment lawsuit against the Canadian government, arguing the government violated international law by not protecting its own citizen and conspired with the U.S. in its abuse of Khadr.

The widow of Speer and another American soldier blinded by the grenade in Afghanistan filed a wrongful death and injury lawsuit against Khadr in 2014 fearing Khadr might get his hands on money from his $20 million wrongful imprisonment lawsuit. A U.S. judge granted $134.2 million in damages in 2015, but the plaintiffs acknowledged then that there was little chance they would collect any of the money from Khadr because he lives in Canada.

Khadr's lawyers have long said he was pushed into war by his father, Ahmed Said Khadr, whose family stayed with Usama bin Laden briefly when Omar Khadr was a boy. Khadr's Egyptian-born father was killed in 2003 when a Pakistani military helicopter shelled the house where he was staying with senior Al Qaeda operatives.

After his 2015 release from prison in Alberta, Omar Khadr apologized to the families of the victims. He said he rejects violent jihad and wants a fresh start to finish his education and work in health care. He currently resides in an apartment in Edmonton, Alberta.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
An orthodox Jewish girls elementary school in London has failed a government inspection for the third time because it refuses to teach students, who range in age from 3 to 8, about homosexuality and gender reassignment.

While the Vishnitz Girls School implemented several recommendations made by the Office for Standards in Education, Childrens Services and Skills, or Ofsted, during the first two inspections, it refused to abide by Ofsteds requirement that students be taught about sexual orientation and gender reassignment.

That led to a third failed inspection. An Ofsted report found that Vishnitz violated the Equality Act 2010 because it shielded from learning about certain differences between people, such as sexual orientation.

Ofsted officials told Fox News that the decision about what do to next is up to the Department of Education, which requested the inspections. One option is that the agency can close the school, according to published reports.

The standards require all independent schools to actively promote fundamental British values and equalities, including respect for those with different faiths and beliefs, Ofsted said in a statement. Ofsted inspects rigorously and impartially.

Inspectors visited the school for the third time in May and found that, while it has made some progress, it is still not paying enough regard to developing pupils tolerance and understanding of people with protected characteristics, as set out in the 2010 Equality Act, the statement continued. These standards are enshrined in law. Schools cannot choose which parts of the legislation they comply with. Parents have the right to expect an education for their child that conforms to their religious beliefs, as long as it is in compliance with the law.

The standards require all independent schools to actively promote fundamental British values and equalities...Schools cannot choose which parts of the legislation they comply with.  Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills

Vishnitz officials told Fox News that they are proud of their school and that children are being well-served.

Its not something that were embarrassed about, said a Vishnitz official who asked to be identified only as the head of the Early Years Unit. Were doing well for the children. The children are learning, theyre thriving, the care is well. Were getting lots of support.

The Ofsted report of the third inspection acknowledged that Vishnitz had made improvements in other areas cited as weak after the two prior evaluations.

The report noted that the students are well motivated, have positive attitudes to learning and are confident in thinking for themselves.

The Jerusalem Post said that the Vishnitz school is one of seven private ones that have failed Ofsted inspections in the last few weeks. It is unclear why the other schools failed the inspections.

Last year, an Islamic school for girls in Nottingham was ordered to shut down after an inspection by Ofsted found it did not adequately address a culture of bullying and that it promoted ideas that were anti-gay and that condoned aggression toward women.

Vishnitzs negative inspection results have fueled a debate about where to draw the line in trying to promote tolerance while respecting religious beliefs, such as the belief espoused in parts of the Bible that homosexual activity is sinful.

There are just two options  protect the right of individuals to live and raise their children in accordance with their faith, or make a mockery of the Equality Act by closing schools that fail to comply with your LGBT agenda.  Gill Robins, educator and blogger

Neil Levitan, director of programs at Jewish LGBT charity KeshetUK, told The Jerusalem Post, We know that young people of faith are more likely to have tried to take their own life than those that arent, and that pupils in faith schools are more likely than those in nonfaith schools to say that teachers and school staff never challenge homophobic, biophobic and transphobic language when they hear it.

[E]very Jewish institution, particularly those working with young people such as schools, needs to find a way to ensure young LGBT+ people feel safe and loved, Levitan said, to keep them safe from harm and ultimately to create a world where no one has to choose between their Jewish and LGBT+ identities.

But in a blog on the site by Christians in Education, educator Gill Robins said that while supposedly trying to promote tolerance, education officials in English were being intolerant of religious views that were in conflict with theirs.

Ofsted has revealed its true agenda, Robins wrote. It doesnt matter how good your school is in all other respects simply refusing to teach very young children about gender reassignment will lead to your closure. That is the possible outcome for not only this school, but other Jewish schools which refuse, as a matter of faith, to teach about LGBT issues.

There are just two options  protect the right of individuals to live and raise their children in accordance with their faith, Robins wrote, or make a mockery of the Equality Act by closing schools that fail to comply with your LGBT agenda.
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The Philippine Supreme Court upheld on Tuesday the president's declaration of martial law in the south in a legal boost to a military offensive that the defense chief said may soon succeed in quelling an uprising by Islamic State group-linked militants.

Supreme Court spokesman Theodore Te said 11 of 15 justices voted to dismiss petitions against the declaration of martial law, which President Rodrigo Duterte imposed across the country's southern third for 60 days after hundreds of gunmen waving IS-style black flags laid siege to southern Marawi city on May 23.

The petitioners argued the siege did not constitute a rebellion that could justify martial rule which might foster human rights abuses in a country that ousted dictator Ferdinand Marcos in a 1986 revolt for massive rights violations.

"We were hoping the Supreme Court would be our last line of defense against a patently absurd decision built on a failure of intelligence and a rhetoric of violent machismo," said Machris Cabreros of Akbayan, a left-wing political party whose officers were among the petitioners. "Instead they caved in and unwittingly opened the door to further creeping authoritarianism."

The government's top lawyer, Solicitor General Jose Calida, welcomed the decision, saying, "as the conscience of our nation, the Supreme Court did not sit idly to watch our country get dismembered."

Calida has said evidence showed that an IS-linked alliance of four local extremist groups plotted to seize predominantly Muslim Marawi as part of a plot to create an Islamic caliphate in Southeast Asia. Duterte's move helped troops capture militants and block their movement, security officials said.

After 43 days of intense ground assaults and airstrikes, troops have recaptured most areas of Marawi including parts of its central business district, where the gunmen turned buildings into sniper posts that slowed the military's advance for weeks. Troops regained control Monday of a key school compound where they recovered 15 assault weapons and found the remains of a foreign-looking fighter, probably a Singaporean, military officials said.

In a speech marking the air force's founding anniversary at Clark freeport north of Manila, Duterte said more than 40 Philippine aircraft were involved in the Marawi offensive.

"As we wrap up in our campaign to liberate Marawi, I am confident that the Philippine air force will once again take an active role in the rebuilding of the city," Duterte said.

Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana told reporters that troops may be able to recapture the last few areas held by the militants in a week but he added that if the gunmen "fight to the last, then it will be longer."

Defense officials hope the crisis will end before Duterte delivers his annual state of the nation address on July 24, but Lorenzana said he would let commanders set the pace of the battle to avoid adding pressure that could endanger troops.

The military says 300 to 500 residents may still be trapped in their homes by fierce street-to-street battles. More than 1,700 civilians have been rescued by troops and government volunteers, including many who were shell-shocked, starving or sick.

About 400,000 villagers have abandoned Marawi, a bastion of Islamic faith with hundreds of mosques, and outlying towns in Lanao del Sur province, about 800 kilometers (500 miles) southeast of Manila.

The unprecedented urban attack has alarmed Southeast Asian and Western governments, which fear that the Islamic State group's brutal rule in Syria and Iraq, now collapsing, may have galvanized Asian militants into attempting to create their own so-called Islamic caliphate in the region with funds from Middle East-based jihadis.

Despite Duterte's antagonism toward U.S. and Australian officials, who have criticized his bloody crackdown on illegal drugs, the Western allies have deployed surveillance planes to help Philippine troops track down the remaining militants in Marawi.

Lorenzana said Australia deployed two P3 Orion aircraft Friday in Marawi, where a similar U.S. surveillance plane started operating a few weeks ago.

European officials, also often a target of Duterte's verbal attacks, announced Tuesday they will provide 49 million pesos ($980,000) in emergency aid for displaced civilians.

Intense daily airstrikes have depleted the military's stockpile of bombs dropped by a new fleet of South Korean-made FA50 fighter jets so a Philippine air force cargo plane was dispatched to the United States to pick up new supplies, Lorenzana said.

___

Associated Press writer Jim Gomez contributed to this report.
A Bahraini human rights group says a female rights activist has been detained for the second time in two months amid a crackdown on dissent in the Gulf island kingdom.

The London-based Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy said on Tuesday that Ebtisam al-Sayegh was taken into custody by masked, armed police shortly before midnight the previous day.

The group says authorities presented no arrest warrant and did not say where the 48-year-old was being taken.

Amnesty International has expressed concern that al-Sayegh alleged she was tortured and sexually assaulted during a previous detention in May.

Bahraini authorities did not respond to a request for comment on Tuesday. The country, which hosts the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet, has previously said it is opposed to any kind of mistreatment.
A massive fire in a Syrian refugee settlement in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley early on Tuesday killed a young girl and injured 21 people, Lebanese medics and the country's official news agency said.

It was the second such deadly fire to hit refugee encampments in eastern Lebanon amid soaring temperatures. On Sunday, a fire ripped through another settlement near the town of Qab Elias, also killing one person.

George Ketteneh, of Lebanon's Red Cross, says Tuesday's blaze erupted in the nearby Tal Sarhoun camp. Among those injured, seven were reported to be in critical condition.

Lebanon's state-run National News Agency said 22 of the 185 tents in the informal settlement burned down.

Also in the Bekaa Valley, four Syrians who were taken into custody in a sweeping security raid last week died of poor health, the Lebanese army said Tuesday.

An army statement said the four were transferred to a hospital for medical treatment immediately after their arrest last Friday, after an army doctor noticed their failing health. They died before they could be referred for questioning, it said.

The raid in the border town of Arsal led to the arrests of 355 Syrians, prompting Syrian activists to complain that refugees were being humiliated. Five suspects blew themselves up before they could be taken into custody during the raid.

The U.N. says there are 1 million Syrian refugees in Lebanon. Some 70 percent of them live in poverty, according to the international body. Conditions in refugee settlements are abysmal.
Syrian Democratic Forces breached the Old City of Raqqa after overcoming heavy push back from Islamic State militants Monday, U.S.-led coalition officials said.

The U.S.-backed fighters were able to open up two small gaps in the Rafiqah Wall, which surrounds the Old City. Coalition forces conducted airstrikes on small portions of the wall to help the Syrian Democratic Forces get through ISIS prepositioned mines and IEDs, officials said.

Officials added that the U.S.-backed fighters would have been extremely vulnerable without the aid of the airstrikes. The forces faced vehicle-borne IEDs, heavy machine-gun fire and snipers as they moved into the Old City, officials said.

"Unlike ISIS who deliberately destroyed the ruins of Palmyra and the Al-Nuri mosque and uses sites such as the Rafiqa Wall, hospitals, schools and mosques as weapons storage facilities and fighting positions, Coalition forces are making a great effort to protect civilians and preserve these sites for future generations," Coalition spokesman Col. Ryan Dillon said.

The latest advance into Raqqa comes days after the U.S.-backed fighters seized the last road into Raqq and began their trek along a river south of the city Thursday.

The advance toward Raqqa city began last year, as Kurdish-led forces fought to clear rural parts of the province of the presence of ISIS militants.

Backed by airstrikes from the international coalition, the Syrian fighters captured the strategic town of Tabqa in May, and seized one of Syria's major dams that lies nearby. The battle for the city began in earnest on June 6, as the fighters moved in from east, west and north of Raqqa. The fight on the southern front began later this month. Scrocca warned that the fight for Raqqa city has only began.

Dillon said last week that ISIS fighters have been abandoned by their leadership as a steady stream of leaders attempted to escape the city, some succesffully. He said in the last week, the SDF have cleared seven and a half square miles of territory in and around Raqqa.

Fox News Jennifer Griffin and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Life Legal's Statement on the Plight of Charlie Gard

NAPA, Calif., July 3, 2017 / Christian Newswire / -- Ten-month old Charlie Gard has been sentenced to death by the highest courts in the UK for the crime of having been born with an extremely rare condition called mitochondrial depletion syndrome (MDS). Charlie is only one of 16 people ever known to have this disease.

When Charlie's parents learned that their son was sick, they searched for treatment and found a doctor in the U.S. willing to provide an experimental therapy that has been successful in similar cases. In a short time, Charlie's parents raised $1.5 million for Charlie's transport and treatment in America.

The hospital refused to release Charlie and instead filed a lawsuit so they could take Charlie off of the ventilator that is keeping him alive. The judges agreed with the hospital, ruling that Charlie should be made to die--with "dignity" of course.

The judge said Charlie shouldn't be made to "suffer," even though doctors could not produce a shred of evidence that Charlie was suffering. His parents, who spent thousands of hours with their son, testified that Charlie was not in pain. The judge, even as he commended Charlie's parents for their dedication, felt compelled to intervene in the case as the arbiter of Charlie's "best interest," which he determined to be the baby's death.

"Life Legal is appalled that a court of law would side with a hospital aggressively forbidding the loving parents of a sick baby to seek treatment that could have prolonged or even saved his life. What the judge in this case never bothered to consider is that the hospital's posturing against Charlie Gard's parents and the court's delay in adjudicating the case directly contributed to Charlie's decline," said Alexandra Snyder, Executive Director of the Life Legal Defense Foundation. "There is nothing dignified about a hospital holding a patient captive until he is unable to benefit from treatment that would not have cost the hospital a cent."

Life Legal has intervened in hundreds of cases involving the refusal to provide--or, as in this case, permit--life-sustaining treatment. What these cases reveal is alarming discrimination against the sick and disabled, who are sacrificed at the twin altars of utilitarianism and "death with dignity." We can only hope that Charlie Gard's case will serve as the catalyst for a long-overdue global conversation about what dignity actually entails.
The first time I ever questioned the appropriateness of a patriotic church service was when I was doing mission work in Romania.

After I had learned the language and settled into ministry in a village church, I remember asking a pastor friend why we didnt do a special service in December that celebrated Unification Day (Romanias national holiday). I also wondered why the Romanian flag wasnt in the sanctuary.

The pastor looked at me funny and then said: The only way wed bring a Romanian flag into our sanctuary is if we brought in flags from all over the world.

To show you do missions? I said, trying to find a reference point from my own culture.

No, to show we are the church.

The pastors point was well taken. The church transcends the state, a truth that should be proclaimed clearly in a worship setting.

Several years later, I attended a worship service on a Sunday morning, and we were singing patriotic songs. At one point, the congregation pledged allegiance to the American flag. My wife, who was a Romanian citizen at that time, did not participate in the singing or pledging, of course. Neither did a recently converted girl from overseas who was visiting that weekend.

In that moment, the oddness of the scene struck me. We were in a worship service with fellow believers, including one just-baptized, who could not participate. Something made me feel uneasy, but it took me a while to realize why.

WHY THE SENSE OF UNEASINESS IN A PATRIOTIC CHURCH SERVICE?

In my experience, I find that many younger evangelicals are turned off by God and country type services. And many younger evangelical leaders in established churches find themselves in a quandary whenever July 4 rolls around.

On the one hand, pastors want to demonstrate their gratitude toward those who have served their country well  heroes who put themselves in harms way for the good of their neighbors. They are patriotic citizens who love their country and dont want to be seen as contributing to cynicism or apathy.

On the other hand, pastors express reservations about incorporating patriotic songs and anthems into a worship service. They worry that too many people are already confused about the relationship between Christianity and the culture, the church and the country, and that such services exacerbate the problem.

1. Extreme Patriotic Church Service Experiences in the Past

Part of the unease may come from experiencing a sloppy melding of church and nation in the past. One doesnt have to look hard to find examples of excess: services where promises given to Gods people are applied to the U.S.A., worship gatherings where paeans to American freedom ring louder than praise for salvation, sermons in which pastors preach the glories of America more than the glories of Christ.

But its unfair to categorize all patriotic services by these extremes. Many pastors carefully explain why it is good for Christians, as citizens of two kingdoms, to be grateful for the blessings of God upon our nation. The service doesnt intend to wed church to state, but elicit gratitude for Gods good gifts. Other churches use patriotic services as a way of reaching out to the community. They may devote one part of the service to patriotic celebration, but then reserve the rest of the service to proclaim the kingdom that will never fade.

2. Decreasing Patriotism Among Millennials

Part of the unease may be rooted in a decrease in patriotism. Research shows that millennials are less likely to consider themselves patriotic than older generations. It could be that younger people, in general, tend to be less patriotic, and that this trend was also true of the Boomers when they were younger.

But I fear that the lack of patriotism among younger evangelicals today is not just generational, but a result of disillusionment, cynicism, and distrust. Is our generation so over-entertained and so comfortable that we dont see anything in our civilization worth fighting (or dying) for?

3. Shifting Cultural Currents

A couple months ago, I wrote down some observations and reflections on younger Southern Baptists  trends people told me are true of younger evangelicals in general, not just those who affiliate with the SBC. One of those observations concerned an approach to political engagement, and speaking within the context of generational shifts, I made this statement:

Older Southern Baptists are more likely to see the U.S. as Israel. Younger Southern Baptists are more likely to see the U.S. as Babylon.

If this statement is true (and I admit it is a generalization), then it may help explain why many millennial church leaders feel a sense of angst regarding a patriotic church service. As we witness the quickly shifting tides of morality in the United States, evangelicals who feel embattled in the cultural maelstrom are less likely to see the U.S. as the de facto good guy in all we do. The culture shift makes patriotic celebrations in church a sensitive issue.

4. Failure to Fully Appreciate Time and Place

Some younger evangelicals see any patriotic expression as a compromise with worldly power. Their approach is to take the flag out of the sanctuary, never sing a patriotic song, and never mention a patriotic holiday.

I think this overreaction has unfortunate and unintended repercussions. It lends itself to a Gnostic idea that downplays our embodied state (as humans) within a state (a nation). We are rooted in time and place, and this is according to Gods good plan.

Taking pride in ones hometown or the beauties of ones homeland should not be seen as a betrayal of Gods kingdom but a foretaste of the future, when Gods kingdom will indeed come on earth as in heaven. Too many of us look upon our situatedness with Nathanaels skepticism: Can anything good come from Nazareth? The testimony of the Gospels is, of course, yes.

Moving Forward

Overall, I believe thoughtful consideration of what we communicate through a patriotic church service is a healthy development. Here are a few additional ideas to consider:

American believers should give thanks to God for the blessings of our temporary earthly citizenship, as long as we emphasize blessings of belonging to the eternal, multinational family of God.

When people in our culture are celebrating the benefits of earthly citizenship, American believers should seize the opportunity to communicate solid, biblical teaching on the distinction between earthly and heavenly citizenship.

As American believers express gratitude for this nation, we should be careful not to diminish the value and worth of other nations.

Pastors and church leaders should make it clear that American believers have more in common with Arab believers in Iraq and Syria than they do with their unbelieving next-door neighbors.

There is something beautiful about a congregation that shows respect and gratitude to people who have served their neighbors well. When we recognize veterans or law enforcement officers, we are lifting up ordinary citizens doing extraordinary things for the good of their communities.

What about you? How do you handle Fourth of July services in your church?

How can we communicate our gratitude to God for His blessings to us and shine a spotlight on His grace that reaches people from every tribe, tongue, and nation?

This article about views of a patriotic church service originally appeared here.
Main police station in Bonn : Unacceptable conditions

Bonn Too small, too cramped and completely shabby: For decades, the federal police station at the train station has not been renovated. Police officers consider the conditions unacceptable.

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To describe the station of the federal police in the train station as getting a bit long in the tooth would be a strong understatement. The premises reveal an alarming picture: low ceilings, an ancient toilet and only one entrance area for people seeking help, rioters and criminals. Looking for a waiting area - a waste of time. The police officers also have to handle other adversities: There is only one interrogation room with three desks inside.

Separate interrogations are not possible. Two witnesses, who might make contradictory statements can not be separated for interrogation, explains chief of inspection, Helmut Langenbach.

An obvious situation for Wolfgang Wurm, president of the federal police: The police station is not acceptable due to various issues. The statement describes facts regarding the welfare of the employees as well as the matter of fire safety. And of course the expectations which citizens may have from the federal police. This building is only fit to be brought into the Haus der Geschichte brick by brick. A modernization would not suffice, Langenbach explains. Only a bulldozer and a new building will help.

The rooms are from the 1950s and 1970s, and the circumstances under which the police officers have to work there for the past 30 years, have been known for a long time. But the modernization was regularly postponed, with the new Haus der Sicherheit in mind, which the officers would have shared with the North Rhine-Westphalian state police and the city council.

But the project failed after years of talks. As reported, the city council announced the cancellation, because the administration and the Deutsche Bahn could not agree on a financing scheme. The Deutsche Bahn wanted to calculate the rent in a way that would refinance the building costs within 15 years, and then reduce the rent down to local rates. The city council as the main tenant refused and suggested renting the property long-term for 23 Euro per square meter. In turn, the Bahn refused.

The disappointment is written over Wurms and Langenbachs faces. We dont know the details of these negotiations, but the outcome does not satisfy us, says Wurm. It would have been a flagship project, something modern that doesn't exist often in Europe.

Agreements could have been easier, if internal synergy effects could have been used. If both police forces use the same lockers for their fire arms, only one team would have to look after that. The other one would have time for patrol, says Wurm. It should not be forgotten, that Bonn has not only political, economic and international affairs, but also crime and extremism. We dont live in a ideal world.

The hope for a Haus der Sicherheit isnt complete dead yet though. But the federal police doesnt want to rely on that. Thus they press ahead with the plan to build a new police station, first talks with the Deutsche Bahn have taken place already. We want a short planning period and for the building to start soon. If all goes according to plan, the new station could be finished in 2021.

There are no concrete plans, where the police officers shall work until then. There is no space for containers, it seems, according to Wurm. Possible alternatives could be the Dienstinspektion Cologne or the police station in Siegburg. We would patrol Bonn from there then. But again: The project is not guaranteed yet.

Asked by the General-Anzeiger, the Bahn did not comment on the plans. According to a spokesperson, there is no new progress.
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Copper Nokia 6 could be released on August 18 News oi -Abhinaya Prabhu Nokia 6 gets the Copper paint job.

HMD is busy with releasing the Nokia Android smartphones in the global markets. Last week, the company announced that the Nokia 6 will be officially released in the U.S. market early this month and will be available via Amazon.

Now, there is more information on this smartphone's availability in the U.S. Going by the Amazon listing, the Nokia 6 will be released on July 10 in the silver, black, standard and the Prime Exclusive models that will have lockscreen offers and ads from Amazon. In addition to these models, there will be a Copper variant of the smartphone that will be available with and without ads. However, the Copper Nokia 6 will be released on August 18. Eventually, Nokia fans have to wait for over a month to pre-order this edition.

While this is the scenario in the U.S. market, there is no word from HMD regarding the availability of the Copper Nokia 6 in the other markets. However, Nokia announced the Copper variant of the Nokia 6 on Monday.

Talking about the Indian market, the Nokia 6 will be exclusive to Amazon India and the pre-booking for the same will debut on July 14 with a slew of offers.

To refresh on the specifications, the Nokia 6 is made of aluminum and comes fitted with a 5.5-inch FHD 1080p display. The device is equipped with an octa-core Snapdragon 430 SoC coupled with 3GB RAM and 32GB internal memory capacity. Running on Android 7.1 Nougat out of the box, the Nokia 6 is slated to receive the Android O and Android P updates until the next year. The other aspects of the smartphone are a 16MP main camera, an 8MP selfie camera and a 3000mAh battery.

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Coalition Strikes Hit ISIS Terrorists in Syria, Iraq

From a Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve News Release

SOUTHWEST ASIA, July 3, 2017  U.S. and coalition military forces continued to attack the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria yesterday, conducting 19 strikes consisting of 63 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 21 engagements against ISIS targets:

-- Near Abu Kamal, three strikes destroyed three ISIS front-end loaders, two oil separator tanks and a wellhead.

-- Near Dayr Az Zawr, a strike destroyed an ISIS wellhead.

-- Near Raqqa, 14 strikes engaged 13 ISIS tactical units and destroyed 10 fighting positions and a mortar system.

Strikes in Iraq

In Iraq, coalition military forces conducted a strike consisting of 42 engagements against ISIS targets:

-- Near Mosul, a strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit; destroyed 15 fighting positions, seven medium machine guns and a heavy machine gun; and suppressed an ISIS tactical unit and a mortar team.

July 1 Strikes

Additionally, 12 strikes were conducted in Syria and Iraq on July 1 that closed within the last 24 hours:

-- Near Abu Kamal, Syria, a strike destroyed two ISIS oil tanker trucks, an oil trailer and a road grader.

-- Near Kisik, Iraq, a strike suppressed an ISIS mortar team.

-- Near Mosul, Iraq, a strike destroyed an ISIS-held building and damaged four supply routes.

-- Near Raqqa, Syria, five strikes engaged three ISIS tactical units, destroyed a fighting position and a heavy machine gun and suppressed 27 fighting positions.

-- Near Shadaddi, Syria, four strikes destroyed two ISIS command-and-control nodes, a staging area and a vehicle-borne-bomb facility.

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.

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MOFA: US warship sailing territorial waters a 'serious provocation'

People's Daily Online

By Wang Xuejing (CNTV) 08:10, July 03, 2017

China has dispatched military vessels and fighter planes to warn off the missile destroyer USS Stethem that had trespassed China's territorial waters off the Xisha Islands earlier on Sunday, according to a statement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China.

In the statement, spokesman Lu Kang said the act was "a serious political and military provocation."

Lu said the Xisha Islands are an inherent part of the Chinese territory and Chinese laws have explicit provisions on the entry of foreign military vessels' into the territorial.

The spokesman said the US sending a military vessel into China's territorial waters under the pretext of "navigation freedom" violated the Chinese law and relevant international law, infringed upon China's sovereignty, disrupted peace, security and order of the relevant waters and put in jeopardy the facilities and personnel on the Chinese islands.

China and ASEAN member states have worked together to improve the situation in the South China Sea, said Lu. He added the US were deliberately stirring up troubles in the South China Sea.

China has urged the US to immediately stop such kind of provocative operations, stressing it will take all necessary means to defend national sovereignty and security.

This is the second operation of its kind since US President Donald Trump took office in January. On May 25, US warship USS Dewey sailed within 12 nautical miles of Meiji Reef of China's Nansha Islands in the South China Sea, a maneuver which  according to the US  came under the "freedom of navigation" principle.

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China pledges more maritime patrols after US warship's 'provocation'

People's Daily Online

By Wang Xuejing (CNTV) 15:15, July 03, 2017

China's ministry of defense said on Monday that the country's armed forces will strengthen maritime patrols after a US destroyer sailed into Chinese territorial waters in the South China Sea.

On Sunday, China dispatched two missile destroyers, one minesweeper and two J-11B jet fighters to identify and warn off USS Stethem after it approached the Xisha Islands in the South China Sea.

In a statement, defense ministry spokesman Wu Qian accused the US of provocation and said extra patrols would help safeguard China's sovereignty and regional security.

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China offers more evidence over Indian border incursion

People's Daily Online

(Xinhua) 20:31, July 03, 2017

The act of Indian border troops recently crossing into Chinese territory was described as "very serious" by a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Monday.

"The current situation is totally different from previous confrontations between the two countries' border troops, which happened at an undefined China-India boundary," spokesperson Geng Shuang said.

The latest crossing occurred at the Sikkim section of the China-India boundary that had long-been demarcated, Geng said, noting this section had been defined in the Convention Between Great Britain and China Relating to Sikkim and Tibet in 1890.

According to the convention, the border line commences at Mount Gipmochi in the east and follows the water-parting until it meets Nepal, Geng told a routine press briefing.

Geng said successive Indian governments had acknowledged the demarcation in writing and agreed to the border between Sikkim and Tibet.

Documents between the Chinese and Indian governments show former Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru admitted several times that the Sikkim-Tibet border was defined by the 1890 convention, on behalf of the Indian government, Geng said.

In a letter to then Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai on March 22, 1959, Nehru said the border of India's protectorate Sikkim and China's Tibet was defined by the 1890 convention and marked by both sides on the ground in 1895.

In another letter from Nehru to Zhou on Sept. 26 the same year, Nehru repeated the information, adding there was no dispute regarding the border between Sikkim and Tibet.

"These documents show India's current move runs counter to the consistent position of the Indian government," Geng said.

Geng said that Indian border troops overstepped the mutually recognized boundary line and crossed into the Chinese territory, and that India's move violated the 1890 convention, as well as the basic norms of the UN Charter and international laws.

China has lodged protest to India several times, asking the country to observe the existing boundary convention, respect China's territorial sovereignty, and immediately withdraw its border troops that crossed into China, Geng said.

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Qatar given 48 more hours to respond to demands of boycotting countries

People's Daily Online

(Xinhua) 14:54, July 03, 2017

Four Arab states accusing Qatar of supporting terrorism agreed Monday to a proposal by Kuwait to extend the deadline for Qatar's response to the demands list by 48 hours, the official Saudi news agency SPA reported.

With the deadline expiring at the end of Sunday, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain and Egypt decided to give Doha an extension to respond positively to their demands after a request by Kuwait, which is acting as a mediator in the Gulf crisis.

The Kuwaiti government had requested the extension following Qatar's announcement that it was due to hand over its response to Kuwait's Emir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah on Monday.

On June 23, the four Arab states issued a list of 13 demands to end the rift with Doha including closing Al-Jazeera television and cutting diplomatic ties with Iran.

They severed ties with Qatar on June 5 over its alleged support for terrorism. One day later, the four Arab countries imposed a partial land, sea and air embargo on Qatari-owned means of transport, including state-owned Qatar Airways.

Qatar has called the charges baseless and its foreign minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani, said the stiff demands, which include ejecting Turkish troops based there, should be rejected.

However, the Qatari foreign minister noted that Qatar is willing to engage in providing the proper conditions for further dialogue.

The crisis has drawn worldwide concern. Further measures reportedly would be imposed if Qatar fails to yield, which might include steps against Qatari companies and financial institutions and expelling Doha from the Gulf Cooperation Council.

UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash on Wednesday reiterated in Germany that the stance of the four Arab countries is that Qatar must give in and fulfill the 13 demands.

It is reported that UAE Ambassador to Russia Omar Ghobash had said that 59 individuals and 12 entities based in Qatar have been accused of extremism and terrorism, and these people were also listed as terrorists by the United States, the European Union and the United Nations.

German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel has called for a dialogue to end the crisis as he is starting a tour of the Arab states on Monday, including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar.

He said that Germany is worried about the distrust and disunity in the region.

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Turkish freighter comes under Greece's fire after ignoring warnings

Iran Press TV

Mon Jul 3, 2017 6:11PM

The Greek coast guard has fired on a Turkish freighter after the ship failed to comply with an order to dock at a port in the Aegean Sea.

The captain of the Turkish M/V ACT ship said Monday that the Greek coast guard opened fire at the vessel after he refused their order to dock at the Greek island of Rhodes for inspection.

"The coast guard asked for the ship to be docked at the port at Rhodes immediately, and we did not accept this. They wanted to check (the ship), and we didn't accept that," said Sami Kalkavan, adding, "They said they would fire if we didn't stop, they did what they said."

Kalkavan said the firing put 16 bullet holes in the Turkish ship, but there was no risk of water intake. He would not say why he avoided the inspection. The captain added that the ship had set off from Turkey's southeastern city of Iskenderun near the Syrian border and confirmed that the ship had returned to the Turkish waters.

Media reports suggested that Turkey's coast guard ships were at the scene of the incident. Turkey's Foreign Ministry said it was investigating the case in cooperation with relevant authorities.

The coast guard in Greece said it decided to inspect the cargo of the Turkish freighter after it received an anonymous call. It said in a statement that warning shots were fired and that the ship returned to the Turkish waters.

Turkey and Greece have a history of rivalry and friction over territorial and diplomatic issues. The two almost began a war in 1996 over the islets known as Imia in Greek and Kardak in Turkish. Relations soured last year after Greece refused to extradite military personnel allegedly involved in an unsuccessful coup in July in Turkey.

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Fresh Saudi air raids against Yemen claim 15 civilian lives

Iran Press TV

Mon Jul 3, 2017 5:37PM

More than a dozen civilians have been killed when Saudi military aircraft carried out separate airstrikes against various areas across Yemen as the Saudi regime presses ahead with an atrocious military campaign against its crisis-hit southern neighbor.

Local sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, said fifteen people lost their lives on Monday when Saudi fighter jets bombarded a residential building in the Yakhtal area of the Red Sea port city of Mokha, situated 346 kilometers south of the capital, Sana'a, Arabic-language al-Masirah satellite television network reported.

The sources noted that the fatalities included seven children and eight women.

Earlier in the day, Saudi warplanes had carried out seven aerial assaults against a mechanized infantry camp in the Harf Sufyan district of Yemen's northwestern province of 'Amran. There were no immediate reports of casualties and the extent of damaged inflicted though.

Meanwhile, Yemeni army soldiers, backed by fighters from allied Popular Committees, struck Moannaq military camp in Saudi Arabia's southwestern border region of Jizan, located 969 kilometers south of the capital Riyadh, in response to Al Saud regime's deadly airstrikes against their conflict-stricken country.

A Yemeni military official, requesting anonymity, said several Saudi soldiers were killed and wounded as artillery rounds rained down on the camp.

Saudi Arabia has been incessantly pounding Yemen since March 2015 in an attempt to reinstate Hadi, a staunch ally of Riyadh, and to undermine the Houthi Ansarullah movement. The Riyadh regime has, however, failed to reach its goals despite suffering great expense.

The military aggression has claimed the lives of more than 12,000 people, mostly civilians.

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China accuses India of violating 1890 agreement in border standoff

Iran Press TV

Mon Jul 3, 2017 2:40PM

Beijing has accused New Delhi of violating an 1890 border agreement between Britain and China as a standoff on a plateau next to the mountainous Indian state of Sikkim, which borders China, has intensified tensions between the two neighboring countries.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told a news briefing on Monday that the Sikkim part of the border had been settled in the 1890 accord and that previous Indian governments had many times affirmed that in writing.

"Pacts must be respected - this is a basic principle of international law," media outlets quoted Geng as saying.

The spokesman added that the deal should be respected to end a "very serious" incursion by India.

The Indian troops' crossing onto the Chinese side was a violation of the agreement and the United Nations charter, the spokesman noted.

Geng also reiterated a demand for India to withdraw its troops to its side.

The developments come after China accused Indian guards of crossing into its Donglang region early in June and obstructed work on a road on a plateau.

Troops from the two sides then confronted each other close to a strategic valley controlled by China, which separates India from Bhutan and gives China access to the so-called Chicken's Neck, a thin strip of land that connects India to its remote northeastern regions.

Indian media have reported that the dispute began when China removed an old Indian bunker.

Bhutan said on Thursday that the road was being built inside its territory.

Senior authorities in Beijing have said that the road work was going on in an area that was on the Chinese not Bhutanese side.

China and Bhutan have yet to reach a final agreement on demarking their border.

India's Ministry of External Affairs warned China on Friday that construction of a road near their common border would have serious security implications.

Small incursions and troop standoffs are common along other parts of China and India's contested 3,500-kilometer frontier, but a flare-up near strategically positioned Sikkim is rare.

The developments come as India has deepened its military ties with the United States in recent years, worrying China, which is also unhappy with India's refusal to participate in Beijing's multi-billion-dollar Belt and Road infrastructure initiative. India is concerned the project could cement China's influence over Asia.

China says that unlike other parts of their shared border, the delineation of the frontier with Sikkim is settled, and it has the right to develop the area.

Ties between India and China have been strained over border disputes.

China and India, now nuclear-armed, fought a brief but bloody war in 1962 over the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh in the eastern Himalayas, and are still embroiled in a bitter dispute over the territory.

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Kuwait receives Qatar's response to Saudi-led bloc's demands

Iran Press TV

Mon Jul 3, 2017 1:58PM

Qatar has officially handed over its response to a list of demands requested by the siege countries, Saudi Arabia and its allies, after they agreed to extend the initial 10-day deadline for another two days to address their grievances.

According to Doha-based and state-funded Al Jazeera television network, Qatar's Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammad bin Abdulrahman Al Thani delivered Doha's official response to Emir of Kuwait Sabah al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah, who has been meditating the dispute, during a short visit to Kuwait on Monday.

No details of the response have been disclosed yet but Sheikh Mohammad had earlier asserted that the so-called list of demands was "made to be rejected."

The unprecedented crisis in the Persian Gulf region unfolded on June 5, when Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Egypt cut ties with Qatar, officially accusing it of "sponsoring terrorism" and destabilizing the region. Doha, however, has slammed the measures as unjustified, saying they are based on false claims and assumptions.

On June 24, Qatar officially announced that the four countries had sent it a list of 13 wide-ranging demands and given it 10 days to comply with them or face unspecified consequences. The deadline expired on Sunday night, but the Saudi-led bloc agreed to extend it for another 48 hours upon a request by Emir of Kuwait, which is acting as a mediator to resolve the diplomatic rift.

Al-Sabah made the request after Qatar said it would be presenting him with their response on Monday.

The demands include shutting down the Doha-based Al Jazeera broadcaster, a media network that has reportedly been critical especially of Saudi Arabia, scaling back cooperation with Iran, closing the Turkish military base in Qatar, and paying an unspecified sum in reparations. Qatar later said the demands were "unrealistic, unreasonable and unacceptable."

To further pressure Qatar, Saudi Arabia has totally closed its land border with its tiny neighbor, through which much of Qatar's food supply crossed. Iran and Turkey are now providing Qatar's required food supplies.

On Friday, Qatari Defense Minister Khalid bin Mohammad al-Attiyah reiterated his condemnation of the crippling blockade and called it a "bloodless declaration of war" against Doha.

It is, however, not clear what further punitive measures the siege countries will adopt if Doha fails to meet the demands. Last week, the UAE's ambassador to Russia Omar Ghobash, in an interview with Britain's Guardian newspaper, named some further sanctions likely to be imposed on Qatar.

The Saudi-led bloc, according to Ghobash, can expel Qatar from the six-member Persian Gulf Cooperation Council. The siege countries can also tell their economic partners to either carry on business with them or with Doha.

The punitive measures against Qatar have drawn condemnation from rights groups, including Amnesty International, which says the diplomatic dispute has been toying with thousands of lives.

The coordinated move against Doha is spearheaded by Riyadh, which often manages to have its vassal states fall into line. Saudi Arabia itself is known as the main sponsor of the violent Wahhabi terrorists it has accused Qatar of supporting. Some analysts believe the Saudi anger is rather because Qatar acts more independently of Riyadh, including in its relations with Iran.

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China slams new US Navy 'provocation'

Iran Press TV

Mon Jul 3, 2017 5:50AM

China has strongly condemned a recent move by a United States warship to sail near one of its islands in the disputed South China Sea, describing the move as a "provocation."

The USS Stethem, a guided-missile destroyer, sailed within 12 nautical miles of Triton Island, part of the Paracel Islands in the South China Sea, a US Defense Department official said, media reported on Sunday. China said in response that it had sent its navy battle ships and fighter jets to confront the potential threat.

China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs also said the US warship had made an unauthorized entry into the country's territorial waters.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang described the US move as a "serious political and military provocation."

"China strongly urges the US side to immediately stop this kind of provocative action, which seriously violates China's sovereignty and puts at risk China's security," Lu said.

He warned that China would take all necessary measures to defend itself against US aggression.

Meanwhile, the Global Times, a Chinese daily reflecting the views of the government, said on Monday that, "Washington [was] playing political games in the South China Sea" by sending the warships. The daily said that Washington's bid to destabilize the region would fail and would not change the territorial situation.

"US provocations cannot change the present situation in the South China Sea," it said.

The territorial limit of a sovereign region recognized internationally is 12 nautical miles. When a US warship sails within the 12-mile limit, it is meant to show disregard of sovereignty.

China fully took over the Paracel Islands in 1974 after forcing the navy of the-then South Vietnam off its holdings.

The US backs China's neighbors in their disputes with Beijing over its claims to the Paracel Islands.

The maneuver by the USS Stethem was the second of what the US refers to as freedom-of-navigation operations under US President Donald Trump. The first was conducted in May by the USS Dewey guided-missile destroyer, which sailed within 12 nautical miles of Meiji Reef in the Spratly Islands.

China repeatedly condemns the navigation of US warships in the disputed waters.

Courting and displeasing

Trump has praised Chinese President Xi Jinping, who was his guest at his private residence in Florida, where the US president promised his Chinese counterpart to make every effort to build "a very, very great relationship" between the US and China.

However, his administration continues the policy of not recognizing Chinese sovereignty over territory in the South and East China Seas.

Washington has also stepped up pressure on Beijing to force North Korea to stop its military nuclear program.

On Thursday, the US administration imposed sanctions on two Chinese nationals and a shipping company for allegedly aiding Pyongyang's nuclear and missile programs, and accused a Chinese bank of laundering money for Pyongyang.

The Trump administration has also recently approved a huge arms sale to Taiwan, angering China, which regards the self-ruled island as part of its territory.

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Saudi led-bloc extends Qatar demands deadline by 48 hours

Iran Press TV

Mon Jul 3, 2017 2:8AM

Saudi Arabia says it has decided along with its allies to extend a deadline for Qatar to accept a list of its demands by 48 hours.

According to the Saudi Arabia's official news agency SPA early on Monday, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt agreed to grant Doha an extension via a request by Emir of Kuwait Sabah al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah, who has been meditating the dispute.

Al-Sabah made the request after Qatar said it would be presenting him with their response on Monday.

The announcement was made after the former deadline expired on Sunday midnight.

Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Egypt, and the United Arab Emirates severed diplomatic ties and cut all land, sea, and air contacts with Qatar on June 5. The four countries accused Qatar of supporting terrorism and destabilizing the region, allegations denied by Doha.

The countries later issued a list of demands for Qatar to meet in return for the normalization of ties. Among them was that Qatar should shut down Al Jazeera, a media network that has reportedly been critical especially of Saudi Arabia, close a Turkish military base, limit its ties with Iran, and "compensate" the sanctioning countries.

Until now Qatar has stated that it will not be giving in to the demands, with Qatar's Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani stressing the requests were "meant to be rejected."

Qatar: Neighbors plotting to topple emir

Meanwhile, in an interview with Sky News, Qatar's Defense Minister Khalid al-Attiyah said that his country's neighbors were planning to change the government in the Persian Gulf state.

"In 1996 there was a hard coup attempt. In 2014 there was a soft coup attempt. In 2017 there's been a soft coup attempt," he said.

He added that Qatar is always ready to defend itself. "I hope we don't come to a stage where a military intervention is made but we always stand ready," he added.

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Macron Announces Bid To Reinvigorate 'Weakened' EU

RFE/RL July 03, 2017

French President Emmanuel Macron says he plans to launch "democratic conventions" across Europe in a bid to "refound" the European Union.

Macron made the announcement on July 3 during a rare joint session of the French parliament in which he called on a "new generation of leaders" to reinvigorate the 28-member bloc.

"The last decade was a cruel one for Europe," Macron told lawmakers. "We managed crises, but we lost our way."

"That is why a new generation of leaders must take up the European idea again at its origin, which is essentially political," he added.

Macron said France and Germany would launch "democratic conventions," in the form of national debates about the EU, across the continent by the end of the year.

He said that EU leaders need to battle skepticism among the public, which he said was not without merit.

"I firmly believe in Europe, but I don't find this skepticism unjustified," Macron said, saying the bloc has been "weakened by the spread of bureaucracy."

Macron soundly defeated far-right politician Marine Le Pen, a fierce EU critic, in a May 7 presidential runoff.

In the same speech, Macron also announced that "this autumn" he will lift a state of emergency implemented in 2015 following a terrorist attack in Paris that killed 130 people, adding that the government would also bolster security measures to combat Islamic extremism.

"I will reestablish the freedoms of the French people by lifting the state of emergency this autumn because these freedoms are the precondition of the existence of a strong democracy," he said.

He said that his government would "work to prevent any new attack" and fight extremists "without pity, without regrets, without weakness."

But he also stressed the importance of guaranteeing "full respect for individual liberties."

The state of emergency enacted after the November 2015 Paris nightclub attack has been extended five times. It is expected to be extended again in July by Macron's centrist government while a tough new antiterrorism law is being prepared.

Rights watchdogs have said French authorities are abusing antiterrorism measures to curtail legitimate dissent.

With reporting by Reuters, AFP, AP, and dpa

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/macron-france-refound- european-union-speech/28594130.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.

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Arab States Grant Qatar 48-Hour Extension To Meet Demands As Deadline Passes

RFE/RL July 03, 2017

Saudi Arabia and its Arab allies have agreed to grant Qatar a 48-hour extension to meet demands after Doha submitted a response to a 13-point ultimatum, Saudi state-owned TV says.

Al-Arabiya TV channel early on July 3 said the agreement to extend the deadline came in response to a request by the Kuwaiti emir, who is acting as a mediator in a dispute between Qatar and Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, and others.

The Saudis and their allies have cut all diplomatic and travel ties with Qatar, accusing Doha of supporting terrorism and of being too close to regional foe Iran. The Qataris have denied the allegations.

The countries set a list of 13 demands and imposed a midnight July 2 deadline for Qatar to respond, threatening further sanctions if it did not act.

Among the demands were calls to end financial support for terrorism, shutter the Al-Jazeera network, cut most ties with Iran, and close Turkey's air base as the price of ending a regional boycott of the small Persian Gulf state.

The Kuwaiti emir, Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah, early on July 3 said he had received the Qataris' formal response and immediately asked the Arab nations grant Qatar a 48-hour extension.

The Kuwaiti emir did not indicate the nature of Qatar's response. But during a July 1 visit to Rome, Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani again rejected the demands as an infringement on Qatar's sovereignty.

The Qatari added, though, said Doha was ready to discuss the issues raised by its Arab neighbors.

Among the potential further steps the countries could take against Qatar would be to suspend it from the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), which is closely allied to the United States.

It consists of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, and Oman.

Meanwhile, Egypt on July 2 said its foreign minister and his counterparts from Saudi Arabia, the U.A.E., and Bahrain will meet in Cairo on July 5 "to follow up on the developing situation regarding relations with Qatar."

The U.S. State Department has endorsed Kuwait's role in helping to settle the dispute and called for all sides to exercise restraint.

Late on July 2, the White House said President Donald Trump had spoken separately to the leaders of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Abu Dhabi and expressed "his concerns about the ongoing dispute."

It added that Trump reiterated the importance of stopping terrorist financing and the discrediting of extremist ideology.

With reporting by Reuters, dpa, and AP

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/qatar-saudi-arabia-egypt -uae-bahrain-boycotts/28591806.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.

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Ankara Condemns Greek Coast Guards' Attack on Turkish Freight Ship

Sputnik News

22:27 03.07.2017(updated 22:28 03.07.2017)

Ankara condemned the Greek coast guards' Monday fire against the Turkish cargo ship in the Aegean Sea, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said in a statement, obtained by Sputnik.

ANKARA (Sputnik)  The statement added Ankara hopes that similar incidents would never happen again.

"There were no reasons for opening fire on a unarmed trade vessel. Our only consolation is the fact that nobody was hurt in the incident. We strongly condemn this disproportionate action by the Greek authorities, who violated the everyone's right to live," the statement said.

Earlier in the day, Turkish media reported that the Turkish-flagged ACT freight ship, heading from the Turkish port of Iskenderun to the Izmit Bay in the Sea of Marmara, was attacked by Greece's coast guards boats after the vessel's captain refused to reroute to the Greek port of Rhodes Island for inspection. Greek authorities cited anonymous information that the Turkish freighter was carrying drugs to justify the move, and noted that the ship was in the Greek territorial water.

 Sputnik

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Pentagon Mulls Canceling Program Giving US Citizenship to Foreign Recruits

Sputnik News

20:36 03.07.2017

The Department of Defense is considering canceling a program that grants US citizenship to foreigners recruited by the US military for their specialized skills, a memorandum to Defense Secretary James Mattis showed on Monday, according to media reports.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik)  In the memorandum, high-level personnel and intelligence officials said they have security concerns because of inadequate vetting of recruits under the Military Accessions Vital to the National Interest (MAVNI) program, NPR reported.

The officials warned Mattis the program potentially increases the insider threat because individuals it recruits are more likely to have connections to Foreign Intelligence Services, NPR reported.

Any decision to dismantle the program would leave around 1,000 foreign-born recruits whose visas have expired in limbo, with no legal protection from deportation from the United States.

The MAVNI program was launched in 2009 to attract immigrants with special medical or language skills, such as surgeons or Arabic speakers. The program allows the recruits to bypass the permanent residency card process to become US citizens.

The Defense Department has frozen the program pending further review, NPR reported.

 Sputnik

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Indo-Chinese Tension Escalates as India Strengthening Defense Near Border

Sputnik News

19:23 03.07.2017

The war of words between India and China intensified even as the top leadership in both nations is likely to hold informal talks on the sidelines of the G-20 Summit meeting in Hamburg, Germany later this week.

New Delhi (Sputnik)  Experts say the confrontational tone doesn't bode well for both India as well as China. But they also see some linkage between the bonhomie achieved between US President Donald Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's recent visit to Washington.

A Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said India's latest position on the boundary dispute amid stand-off in Sikkim contravenes its traditional stance from the days of the country's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and successive governments.

"The border between the two nations in the Sikkim sector is well demarcated under the 1890 Sino-British Treaty. Former Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru endorsed the 1890 Sino-British Treaty on Sikkim in a letter to his then Chinese counterpart Zhou Enlai in 1959. Successive Indian governments have also endorsed this. I would like the Indian side to respect the 1890 treaty immediately and pull back the border troops which have crossed into Chinese territory back to the Indian side of the boundary. China will take all necessary measures to safeguard its territorial sovereignty," PTI quoted Geng Shuang, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson, as saying.

Geng also blamed India of using Bhutan to shield its "illegal entry" into the Doklam area with the Chinese government.

India has disputed the Chinese reference to the 1890 treaty, saying that a 2012 agreement between the two sides, requires the involvement of a third party (Bhutan, in this case) where dispute involves it. Bhutan has lodged a protest with China for attempting to change the status quo.

Meanwhile, India on Sunday deployed more troops in Sikkim in "non-combat mode", after the Chinese army attempted to build a road in the strategically located Doklam region, referred to as Donglang by the Chinese.

The face-off between the two sides is already being termed as the longest since fighting a war in 1962 with an escalation in war of words from both sides.

The Chinese foreign ministry also dismissed Indian defense minister Arun Jaitley's remarks that India of 2017 is different from what it was in 1962. Beijing said that China too is different and will take "all necessary measures" to safeguard its territorial sovereignty.

Jaitley had responded to China's oblique reference to the 1962 war and asking India to learn "historical lessons".

Indian experts said a confrontational tone between India and China will do no good to both nations.

"The repeated border conflicts doesn't do well either to China or India and their reputation as both are rapidly emerging as major global players. But the conflict is also a signal that both countries need a sustained mechanism to coordinate these issues. They should work on sustaining dialogue to resolve this longstanding dispute," Dr Swaran Singh, Professor at the School of International Studies, in New Delhi-based Jawaharlal Nehru University, told Sputnik.

Has Indian PM Modi's visit to the US and his meeting a factor in recent Chinese actions?

"It could have because as President Trump has broadly continued the US policy towards India as developed by his predecessors. This is when he has changed major policy stances of the Obama administration on major issues, but with India, the broad contours of cooperation such as freedom of navigation, strategic partnership etc remains unchanged," Singh added.

More hawkish thinkers questioned the Modi government's response to China's belligerence.

"In contrast to its army's action, India's political response to China's Doklam aggression shows a defensive, reactive mindset hasn't changed. China halts pilgrimages, but not trade, through Nathu-la because trade blockage will risk inviting broader Indian trade reprisals against it," Brahma Chellaney, Professor at the New Delhi-based Centre for Policy Research, tweeted.

 Sputnik

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Greek Coast Guard Opens Fire on Turkish Cargo Ship in Aegean Sea - Reports

Sputnik News

17:55 03.07.2017(updated 21:10 03.07.2017)

Turkish NTV channel reported that the Greek coast guard opened fire on a Turkish-flagged cargo ship in the Aegean Sea.

The ship was reportedly loaded at the Turkish port of Iskenderun and was moving toward the Izmit Bay in the Sea of Marmara.

According to preliminary data, during the passage of the Turkish ACT ship in the Aegean Sea, Greek coast guard boats demanded that the ship moor to the port of Rhodes Island to check the cargo. The captain of the ship allegedly ignored this demand. Then the Greek boats opened fire.

The Turkish ship's crew found 36 bullet holes on the ship's hull.

It is unclear yet whether there are injured in the incident.

NTV said the vessel continued to move along the route, while two boats of the Turkish Coast Guard arrived at the scene of the incident.

According to the Greek side, "the Turkish vessel was in Greek [territorial] waters, thus, when there was no reaction to the demand of the coast guard, warning fire was opened."

The Turkish Foreign Ministry said that the incident is being investigated.

The two countries have been locked in a dispute over a portion of territorial waters in the Aegean Sea, exclusive economic zones and a number of territories. The conflict nearly burst into violence in 1987 and in 1996, and until this day remains unresolved.

This February, Turkish Coast Guard vessels entered Greek territorial waters near the disputed Imia islets in the southeast Aegean, and were closely monitored by the Greek navy and coast guard.

Tensions flared up after the Greek court refused in January to extradite several Turkish servicemen, whom Ankara suspects of being linked to the July 2016 coup attempt.

 Sputnik

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Update: air strikes against Daesh

3 July 2017

The RAF are continuing to take the fight to Daesh in Iraq and Syria.

Summary

- Friday 30 June  Tornados and Typhoons destroyed a truck-bomb and a Daesh-held building in Raqqa.

- Saturday 1 July  A Reaper eliminated a mortar team and Typhoons dealt with a heavy machine-gun, both in Raqqa. Tornados hit three Daesh positions in Mosul.

- Sunday 2 July  Tornados and Typhoons struck four Daesh positions in Mosul, and two in Raqqa.

Detail

The RAF is continuing to support Iraqi forces in their effort to liberate western Mosul. While the operating environment in the city is very challenging, particularly given the closely-packed buildings, very narrow streets, and the density of the urban population, our aircrew have continued to deliver precision strikes in close support of Iraqi troops on the ground. Daesh's current tactics, including the illegal use of civilians as human shields, and fighting from sites such as schools, hospitals, religious sites and civilian neighbourhoods, increases the risk to innocent life. While no military operations come without risk, particularly in dense urban environments and against such inhuman Daesh tactics, the RAF continues to take all steps necessary to minimise civilian casualties.

Royal Air Force Tornados and Typhoons provided close air support to Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) pushing into Raqqa on Friday 30 June. The Typhoons worked closely with a coalition surveillance aircraft which had spotted a large truck-bomb. A direct hit from a Paveway IV removed the threat. A Tornado pair meanwhile bombed a Daesh-held building in the south-east of the city.

A Reaper remotely piloted aircraft patrolled over Raqqa on Saturday 1 July. A mortar was reported firing on the SDF, and the Reaper's crew spotted its muzzle flashes from a position concealed beneath a tree. A Hellfire missile destroyed the target. Typhoons were also active over the city, where they used a Paveway IV to silence a heavy machine-gun which was holding up an SDF advance. In northern Iraq, two Tornados assisted the Iraqi troops clearing remaining pockets of Daesh resistance in west Mosul. Paveway IVs were used to destroy two strongpoints from which the Daesh fighters were directing fire. The Tornados then responded to reports of a heavy machine-gun team and a group of suicide bombers preparing to attack the Iraqis  a third position was duly destroyed with a Paveway IV.

On Sunday 2 July, mixed pairs of Tornados and Typhoons operated over both Mosul and Raqqa. In Mosul, the Iraqi ground forces encountered three groups of snipers  all three positions, plus another Daesh-held building, were successfully struck with Paveways. In similar fashion, Paveway IVs were used against two terrorist firing points in Raqqa.

UK contribution to the fight against Daesh



Map of UK forces committed to Operation Shader

Campaign against Daesh



Map of Daesh losses and gains in Iraq and Syria since September 2014

Previous update

Friday 2 June: A mixed Tornado and Typhoon pair used a Brimstone to destroy an armoured truck moving along a main road on the outskirts of Raqqa. Two other flights operated over Mosul, where attacks were delivered in very close support to the Iraqi forces, hitting eight Daesh positions with a mix of Brimstones and Paveway IVs. The targets included three machine-gun teams and three groups of terrorists armed with rocket-propelled grenades. In addition, a truck-bomb, concealed close to one of the positions, was also fortuitously detonated by one of the attacks.

Saturday 3 June: A Reaper, operating south of Al Qaim in western Iraq, observed a group of dismounted terrorists, with an armed truck close by. One Hellfire missile killed several of the terrorists, a second destroyed the vehicle with a direct hit. West of Kirkuk, a pair of Tornados used a Paveway IV to destroy a Daesh strongpoint, whilst two mixed pairs of Tornados and Typhoons delivered five attacks in Mosul with four Brimstones and a Paveway against a truck-bomb, three sniper teams and a group with rocket-propelled grenades.

Sunday 4 June: A further mixed pair conducted three further attacks in Mosul, using a Brimstone to deal with a sniper, and two Paveway IVs against a pair of Daesh-held buildings from which fire was being directed at Iraqi troops.

Monday 5 June: Two Typhoons, supporting Syrian Democratic Forces close to Raqqa, used a Paveway IV to strike a Daesh-held building in the east of the city itself. Tornados meanwhile continued operations over Mosul, and employed a pair of Brimstone missiles to deliver pinpoint attacks on two firing positions located in a large multi-storey building, where the terrorists had stationed a recoilless anti-tank gun and a machine-gun.

Wednesday 7 June: A Reaper remotely piloted aircraft flew an armed reconnaissance patrol over northern Raqqa. It observed two extremists burying booby-traps along routes into the city. Hellfire missiles were deployed, killing both. Some 45 miles south-west of Raqqa, a mixed pair of Tornado and Typhoon fast jets used a Brimstone missile to hit one Daesh-held building. A Paveway IV guided bomb left a second target on fire.

Friday 9 June: Tornados struck a Daesh position in eastern Raqqa.

Saturday 10 June: A Reaper intervened in a fire fight in western Raqqa between the SDF and a group of Daesh fighters. The Reaper hit the latter with a very effective Hellfire attack. The same day, Paveway-armed Typhoons struck two entrances to a network of tunnels built beneath a factory in the north-east of the city.

Sunday 11 June: A Tornado flight patrolled the Mosul area and conducted two attacks. During the first, a Paveway IV was used against a mortar position some 20 miles west of the city. A Brimstone was then used against a Daesh firing point in western Mosul, close to the riverbank. A second Tornado flight, and two pairs of Typhoons, operated the same day over Raqqa. Paveway IVs accounted for four sniper positions and a Daesh-held building, while a simultaneous attack with two Brimstones eliminated two firing points in a building on the western edge of the city.

Monday 12 June: Royal Air Force Tornados patrolled over west Mosul. Despite Iraqi forces being exceptionally close to a target, a Tornado was able to use a single Paveway IV guided bomb to destroy a Daesh strong-point. Our aircraft then headed south to an area in the countryside near the small town of Karwi. A truck-bomb workshop had been identified in an isolated building, with three of its deadly products parked some distance away. The three truck-bombs were dealt with first. An attack with a pair of Brimstone missiles scored direct hits on two of the vehicles, and the secondary explosions from one of these then set off the third truck-bomb. A Paveway IV was then used to demolish the workshop.

Wednesday 14 June: A mixed pair of a Tornado and a Typhoon provided further assistance to the Iraqi forces in west Mosul, striking two terrorist-held buildings with Paveway IVs. Before returning to base at RAF Akrotiri, the aircraft struck a third Daesh building, some 24 miles west of Kirkuk.

Thursday 15 June: Reaper remotely piloted aircraft conducted armed reconnaissance in eastern Syria, some 35 miles north-east of Dayr az Zawr, and used a Hellfire missile to destroy a terrorist truck. Two Typhoons also struck three Daesh positions in Raqqa in support of the offensive by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). Elsewhere, two mixed pairs of Tornados and Typhoons operated over northern Iraq. A Daesh mortar was engaged east of Tal Afar, while six positions in Mosul, including machine-gun and sniper teams, were struck using a mixture of Paveway IVs and Brimstones.

Friday 16 June: Typhoons were again in action over Raqqa, when they bombed two further Daesh positions. Typhoons and Tornados, flying as mixed pairs, employed one Brimstone missile and four Paveway IVs to eliminate two machine-gun teams and three other Daesh strongpoints.

Saturday 17 June: Tornados and Typhoons suppressed a Daesh position in Raqqa, and struck six more positions in Mosul, again using a Brimstone and Paveway IV mix to deal with snipers and a machine-gun team.

Sunday 18 June: A Reaper patrolled over Raqqa. Its crew successfully spotted a Daesh mortar team and provided targeting assistance to a coalition air strike against them. The Reaper's crew then used Hellfire missiles to destroy a car-bomb and a second mortar team who were spotted in the act of firing at the SDF. The same day, Tornados and Typhoons were very active over Mosul. A Brimstone was used to target a group of terrorists engaged in a close-quarters firefight with Iraqi troops, while Paveways accounted for nine more targets, including two machine-gun teams, multiple snipers, and extremists armed with rocket-propelled grenades.

Monday 19 June: Flights of Royal Air Force Tornados and Typhoons operated over northern Iraq in support of the Iraqi security forces. Our aircraft conducted attacks in Mosul with Paveway IV guided bombs against six Daesh positions which the Iraqi forces had encountered, including a group of snipers and four machine-gun teams. Thirty miles west of Kirkuk, a Daesh weapons stockpile was also destroyed by a Paveway IV.

Wednesday 21 June: A pair of Typhoons assisted Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in Raqqa. Two buildings held by extremist fighters were hit with Paveway IVs. In Mosul, a Tornado flight used a Brimstone missile to destroy safely a car-bomb spotted by the Iraqi ground forces. The Tornado flight then used a Paveway IV to eliminate a medium machine-gun team. A mixed Tornado and Typhoon pair were also active that day over the city. A Brimstone attack was directed at a mortar position, while Paveways were used against three Daesh strongpoints, including two housing machine-guns.

Thursday 22 June: Tornados and Typhoons conducted attacks with Paveway IVs against six Daesh targets in western Mosul, with some strikes being called in by Iraqi forces positioned extremely close to the terrorist locations. Four machine-gun teams were amongst the threats successfully dealt with by our aircraft. The next day, a mixed Tornado and Typhoon pair used two Paveway IVs to target successfully a large group of Daesh fighters operating with a truck-bomb and an armoured personnel carrier in Raqqa, while in Mosul a Tornado flight conducted three precision attacks with Brimstone missiles on sniper positions.

Saturday 24 June: In similar fashion, a pair of Paveway IV-armed Tornados eliminated a terrorist sniper team in Raqqa.

Sunday 25 June: Operations against groups of Daesh extremists outside of Raqqa and Mosul have also been maintained. Tornados attacked a headquarters and mortar position in eastern Syria, some 55 miles north-east of Dayr az Zawr.

Monday 26 June: Careful intelligence analysis allowed a building on the outskirts of Al Mayadin, in eastern Syria, to be identified as a truck-bomb workshop. A flight of Royal Air Force Tornados struck the target, scoring a direct hit with a Paveway IV guided bomb which left the building ablaze. Two mixed pairs of Tornados and Typhoons, supported by a Voyager air refuelling tanker, meanwhile provided close air support to the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) pushing into Raqqa and to the Iraqi troops clearing remaining Daesh positions in west Mosul. A Brimstone missile accounted for a sniper team in Raqqa, and a Paveway similarly dealt with snipers in Mosul.

Tuesday 27 June: Our aircraft conducted invaluable reconnaissance operations during.

Wednesday 28 June: Two Tornado flights operated over Raqqa. At the north-western end of the city, at least one suicide bomber was known to be waiting inside a Daesh-held building, waiting for an opportunity to attack the SDF as they closed in. The building and the terrorists inside were struck with a Paveway IV. A second such weapon demolished a building in the east, from where heavy fire had been directed at the SDF. This successful strike allowed the SDF to resume their advance.

Thursday 29 June: A flight of Typhoons used a Paveway IV to silence a sniper team which had been firing on the SDF in eastern Raqqa. The same day, a pair of Tornados conducted a simultaneous Paveway attack on a group of three buildings, all occupied by Daesh extremists, in the south-east of the city. Another Tornado pair meanwhile supported Iraqi troops clearing remaining Daesh positions in the Old City in west Mosul. Our aircraft used Paveway IVs to deliver two successful attacks on strongpoints, using great precision with their munitions, given the extreme proximity of the Iraqi troops to the Daesh firing points.

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US Strike Targets Al-Shabab in Somalia

By Carla Babb July 03, 2017

The U.S. military has conducted a strike against al-Shabab militants in southern Somalia, officials tell VOA.

"We are currently assessing the results of the operation, and will provide additional information as appropriate," U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) spokesman Chuck Prichard said Monday.

Local sources said the strike on Sunday targeted vehicles in Kunya Barrow, in the lower Shabelle region. Sources also said the strike was conducted against a high-ranking al-Shabab militant, without going into further detail.

After the strike, U.S. AFRICOM said its forces "remain committed to supporting the federal government of Somalia, the Somali National Army and our AMISOM partners in defeating al-Shabab and establishing a safe and secure environment in Somalia."

The strike comes about two months after a Navy SEAL was killed during an operation against al-Shabab militants in Somalia, the first U.S. service member killed in the war-torn country since the battle in 1993 that inspired the movie "Black Hawk Down."

Senior Chief Special Warfare Operator Kyle Milliken was killed on May 5 by small arms fire near Barii, Somalia, approximately 65 kilometers west of Mogadishu, during an advise-and-assist mission alongside members of the Somali National Army.

"This was a Somali mission," Pentagon spokesman Navy Capt. Jeff Davis told reporters. "We were operating in support of them."

Davis said the mission targeted a compound that had been associated with attacks on a nearby facilities used by the U.S. and Somali military.

"We helped bring them in with our aircraft, and we were there maintaining a distance back as they conducted the operation. That's when our forces came under fire," Davis said.

Eight al-Shabab militants were killed in that operation, an official told VOA's Somali service, adding that the soldiers had likely seized radio station equipment.

VOA's Harun Maruf contributed to this report.

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Qatar Wins 48-hour Extension of Deadline Set by Saudis, Other Arab States

By VOA News July 03, 2017

Saudi Arabia and its allies involved in a prolonged diplomatic dispute with Qatar said Monday they would extend by 48 hours a deadline for Qatar to comply with their demands.

Kuwait, which has been trying to negotiate a peaceful end to the Gulf Arab states' blockade of Qatar, asked for the deadline extension Sunday, shortly before time for Qatar's reply to the Saudi-led coalition was due to expire.

A coordinated statement released early Monday by the state news agencies in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia confirmed the deadline had been extended until the end of Monday.

Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt severed diplomatic and commercial links with Qatar on June 5, accusing the government in Doha of supporting terrorism in an alliance with Iran.

Qatar has denied the accusations and said such charges are baseless. The small Gulf state's foreign minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani, has said the demands by the Saudis and their partners  including the withdrawal of Turkish troops in Qatar, closure of the Qatari-state-owned Al Jazeera news group and a downgrading of Qatar's relations with Iran  are impossible to meet without sacrificing Qatar's sovereignty.

Although al-Thani signaled the Saudis' demands were virtually certain to be rejected, Qatar has not yet formally responded to the Arab group. Kuwait's KUNA news agency and Al Jazeera said al-Thani was in Kuwait on Monday.

Egypt said on Sunday the foreign ministers from the four boycotting countries would discuss the situation with Qatar in Cairo on Wednesday.

US concerned

U.S. President Donald Trump discussed the situation by phone in separate calls Sunday with Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud, Qatari Emir Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani and Abu Dhabi's Crown Prince Mohamed bin Zayed al-Nahyan.

A White House statement said Trump addressed his concerns about the dispute, and also stressed the importance of regional unity, stopping terrorist financing and discrediting extremist ideology.

The United States has supported Kuwait's attempt to mediate the Gulf Arabs' dispute. Washington has strong ties to both sides: the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet is berthed in Bahrain and a land base in Qatar is the largest U.S. military facility in the region.

In addition, hundreds of billions of dollars' worth of pending arms deals between the United States and Saudi Arabia potentially could be affected by the outcome of the diplomatic dispute.

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Content of Qatar's Response to Saudi Arabia Not Yet Disclosed

By VOA News July 03, 2017

Qatar's top diplomat delivered a response Monday to a list of demands made by Saudi Arabia and its allies involved in a prolonged diplomatic dispute with Qatar after extending a deadline to comply by 48 hours.

Qatari foreign minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani was received by Kuwait's Emir Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Sabah on Monday to deliver a handwritten letter from Qatari Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, according to state-run Kuwait News Agency.

The content of the letter has not been revealed, though Al Thani had earlier said that the demands were virtually certain to be rejected.

Kuwait, which has been trying to negotiate a peaceful end to the Gulf Arab states' blockade of Qatar, asked for the deadline extension Sunday, shortly before time for Qatar's reply to the Saudi-led coalition was due to expire.

A coordinated statement released early Monday by the state news agencies in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia confirmed the deadline had been extended until the end of Monday.

Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt severed diplomatic and commercial links with Qatar on June 5, accusing the government in Doha of supporting terrorism in an alliance with Iran.

Qatar has denied the accusations and said such charges are baseless. Al Thani has said the demands by the Saudis and their partners  including the withdrawal of Turkish troops in Qatar, closure of the Qatari-state-owned Al Jazeera news group, and a downgrading of Qatar's relations with Iran  are impossible to meet without sacrificing Qatar's sovereignty.

The content of the letter and the four boycotting countries' next moves will be discussed Wednesday when their respective leaders are expected to meet in Cairo.

U.S. President Donald Trump discussed the situation by phone in separate calls Sunday with Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Qatar's Sheikh Tamim and Abu Dhabi's Crown Prince Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

A White House statement said Trump addressed his concerns about the dispute, and stressed the importance of regional unity, stopping terrorist financing and discrediting extremist ideology.

The United States has supported Kuwait's attempt to mediate the Gulf Arabs' dispute. Washington has strong ties to both sides: The U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet is berthed in Bahrain and a land base in Qatar is the largest U.S. military facility in the region. In addition, hundreds of billions of dollars' worth of pending arms deals between the United States and Saudi Arabia potentially could be affected by the outcome of the diplomatic dispute.

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African Union Summit Opens in Ethiopia

By VOA News July 03, 2017

The 29th biannual African Union summit opened in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Monday with Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe presenting a $1 million donation to the body in a push for self-sufficiency.

About 60 percent of the African Union's budget comes from foreign donors, including the European Union, World Bank and non-member countries.

Mugabe, who has ruled Zimbabwe since its independence in 1980, has repeatedly called on the bloc to become self-supporting.

"Africa needs to finance its own programs," he said in comments to Zimbabwe's state television. "Institutions like the AU cannot rely on donor funding as the model is not sustainable."

Mugabe pledged 300 cows from his personal herd to the AU last year. The cattle, along with hundreds more donated from his supporters, were auctioned off in May with the proceeds presented to the AU on Monday.

The African Union has a 2017 budget of $782 million. In July 2016, AU leaders agreed to impose a 0.2 percent levy on certain imports to cover its operational costs.

Meanwhile, AU chairperson Moussa Faki Mahamat said peace and security issues on the continent continue to cause worry.

"The situation in South Sudan, Somalia, Libya, the Central African Republic, the fragile relations between Djibouti and Eritrea, the difficulties in the application of peace accords in Mali, where the Jihadi terrorism is active, the political situations in certain African countries, such as the Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi, Guinea-Bissau, are sufficient in justifying these worries."

The two-day summit is centered on the theme of investing in youth.

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Trump To Urge European Allies To Dump Russia, Buy U.S. Gas

RFE/RL July 04, 2017

U.S. President Donald Trump will encourage Eastern European leaders who are wary about their dependence on Russian energy to take advantage of newly available supplies of U.S. natural gas when he visits Poland on July 6, White House officials say.

In recent years, Moscow has cut off gas shipments during pricing disputes with neighboring countries in winter months, prompting a drive in the region to seek out more secure sources of energy.

The United States recently began shipping liquefied gas to Poland for the first time, and Trump will tell allies in Poland that he wants to make it as easy as possible for U.S. companies to ship more gas to Central and Eastern Europe, the White House officials said.

While in Poland, Trump will be attending the "Three Seas" summit -- so named because several of its members border the Adriatic, Baltic, and Black seas.

Among the aims of the Three Seas project is to expand regional energy infrastructure, including liquefied-natural-gas (LNG) import terminals and gas pipelines. Members of the initiative include Poland, Austria, Hungary, and Russia's neighbors Latvia and Estonia.

The United States is in a position to start aggressively marketing gas exports to Europe because of its "fracking revolution," which has made supplies of gas plentiful and cheap.

After decades of consuming nearly all of the energy it produced, the United States is now expected to become the world's third-largest exporter of gas by 2020.

Trump last week proclaimed that a "golden era" of U.S. energy production will enable the country to develop a policy of "energy dominance" through exports to Europe and Asia.

But his ambitions in the European market run headlong into Russia, which relies heavily on oil and gas exports there to fuel its economy and generate government revenues.

Analysts say Moscow will be greatly concerned about any move by the United States to cut into its export markets in Eastern Europe, where it has dominated for decades.

While Trump has talked about wanting to improve relations with Russia, some Republican lawmakers in Congress would like to see him take a hard line against Russia on energy because of Moscow's aggression in Ukraine and alleged interference in the U.S. presidential election.

"It undermines the strategies of [Russian President Vladimir Putin] and other strongmen who are trying to use the light switch as an element of strategic offense," said Senator Cory Gardner, a Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

"In many ways, the gas exports by the U.S. is the most threatening U.S. policy to Russia," Michal Baranowski, a director at the German Marshall Fund think tank, told Reuters.

Cheniere Energy Inc, which opened the first U.S. gas-export terminal last year, delivered its first cargo to Poland last month.

A second American energy exporter that is hoping to tap into the European market is Tellurian, which recently told Reuters that it hoped to snap up contracts to supply gas to Poland after Warsaw's existing contracts with Russia's Gazprom expire in 2022.

Some analysts are doubtful about U.S. ambitions to supply the European market, however, as a glut of gas in world markets has been depressing prices and making it difficult to turn a profit exporting liquefied natural gas.

Russia has the advantage of lower costs in Europe because of its close proximity and pipeline connections. But analysts say concerns about security may ultimately overcome that advantage.

"Europe is going to be the great competitive arena between Russian gas and [LNG]," Daniel Yergin, a Pulitzer Prize-winning oil historian, told Reuters.

Any move by the United States to expand in the European gas market also could run up against opposition in Germany and other European countries involved in building a new pipeline to pump Russian gas to Germany through the Baltic Sea.

Germany's foreign minister last month questioned whether U.S. ambitions to export gas weren't behind the U.S. Senate's move to include a provision in its Russian sanctions bill that would penalize European firms involved with that pipeline, known as Nord Stream 2.

The U.S. State Department has maintained that Nord Stream 2 is undesirable because it would make Europe more vulnerable and dependent on Russia.

With reporting by AP and Reuters

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/trump-urge-eastern-european- allies-poland-dump-russia-buy-us- liquified-natural-gas-/28594789.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.

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THAAD jeopardizes regional strategic balance: Xi

People's Daily Online

(Xinhua) 14:41, July 03, 2017

The U.S. deployment of an advanced anti-missile system in South Korea gravely harms the strategic security interests of China, Russia and other countries in the region, Chinese President Xi Jinping has said.

In an interview with Russian media published Monday, Xi pointed out that the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) installation jeopardizes the strategic balance in the region and is unhelpful to denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula and maintaining regional peace and stability.

China and Russia have kept close communication and coordination at various levels on the issue, and hold very similar views on its essence and damage, said Xi, whose country has unequivocally rejected the move.

He added that Beijing and Moscow are steadfastly opposed to the THAAD deployment and seriously suggest that relevant countries stop and cancel the installation.

The two countries, he said, will take necessary measures, jointly or individually, to safeguard their national security interests and the regional strategic balance.

On the Korean Peninsula issue, Xi said his country is committed to denuclearizing the peninsula, safeguarding its peace and stability, and settling the question through dialogue and consultation.

To solve the long-standing and complicated issue, China has proposed a dual-track approach of advancing denuclearization and establishing a peace mechanism in parallel.

Meanwhile, Beijing has also put forward a suspension-for-suspension proposal that requires Pyongyang to suspend its nuclear and missile activities in exchange for the suspension of large-scale U.S.-South Korean military exercises.

Russia has explicitly voiced understanding and support of China's proposals, and more positive responses are coming from the international community, Xi said.

China, he added, hopes that other parties involved in the Korean Peninsula issue will join China and Russia's push for talks, take up their respective responsibilities, and place the issue on the right track of dialogue and consultation toward a negotiated settlement as soon as possible.

Xi travels to Moscow on Monday for a state visit to Russia, which is to be followed by one to Germany, where he will attend the upcoming summit of the Group of 20 major economies.

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Chinese Rocket Fizzles Out, Puts Other Launches on Hold

Sputnik News

17:54 03.07.2017(updated 17:56 03.07.2017)

Despite the failed launch of the Changzheng 5 (Long March-5) heavy-lift rocket on Sunday, China is pinning a lot of hope on this new generation booster, capable of carrying 25 metric tons of payload into low orbit - more than double the country's previous lift capacity.

The LM-5 rocket carrying the Shijan-18 telecommunications satellite lifted off from the Wenchang space center on Hainan Island, at 19:23 local time [11:23 GMT] on Sunday.

However, just moments after liftoff, something went wrong, forcing China's state-run television to break off its live coverage of the event.

"An anomaly occurred during the flight of the rocket," Xinhua news agency reported. A further investigation will be carried out," Xinhua reported, without elaborating.

It was the second launch of the LM-5, which made its successful debut last November.

In an interview with Sputnik, Alexander Zheleznyakov, a member of the Tsiolkovsky Academy of Cosmonautics in Moscow, said that space technology remains too unpredictable and too complicated for anyone to be sure that everything will go according to planl.

"The Long March line of carrier rockets differs from its predecessors in bother their technical characteristics and potential. The Chinese say these rockets feature over 200 new technical innovations, possibly also in the propulsion and flight control systems. The LM-5 is designed to launch lunar probes and elements of a Chinese space station," Zheleznyakov said.

He added that since the rocket is still in its experimental stage, mishaps simply can't be avoided, but they will have no serious impact on the development of the Chinese space program.

"In the field of space exploration, the Chinese come right after Russia and the US. Judging from the pace of their development, I don't think they will cede this spot to anyone, any time soon. They have learned much from us and the Americans; they even copied a lot of our technologyny, but now they are moving ahead and have a school of their own. China is a serious rival," Alexander Zheleznyakov noted.

He still added that even though Sunday's incident would have no serious negative impact onf China's space program, the failure could put on ice a number of launches, including that of the Chang'e-5 lunar probe.

The launch of the Chang'e-5 probe is scheduled for late-November. An the end of its month-long mission, the probe is to land on the Moon, collect samples of lunar rock and return to Earth.

 Sputnik

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China's Xi raises concerns with US's Trump

Iran Press TV

Mon Jul 3, 2017 9:29AM

Chinese President Xi Jinping has raised concerns with his American counterpart, Donald Trump, regarding "some negative factors" affecting Sino-American relations.

In a telephone conversation with US President Donald Trump on Monday and before setting off for Russia, President Xi enumerated several factors adversely affecting the Beijing-Washington ties.

Xi expressed Beijing's displeasure with the recent approval by the US to sell $1 billion worth of arms to Taiwan, a self-ruled island that China considers part of its territory.

The US State Department approved the massive arms sales on Thursday.

Xi told Trump that his government expected Washington to continue managing relations on the basis of the "One China" principle, i.e. recognizing Chinese sovereignty over Taiwan.

President Trump, who had previously questioned the "One China" policy, has reassured President Xi of continued US commitment to the practice. Trump has also more recently sought to court the Chinese president, including by inviting him and his wife to his private estate in Florida in May.

In the Monday telephone conversation, Xi also discussed the US sanctions against a Chinese bank over its dealings with North Korea.

The US Treasury Department imposed new sanctions on the China-based Bank of Dadong and several Chinese nationals on Thursday for having "illicit" financial activities with North Korea.

The recent sailing of a US destroyer within the 12-nautical-mile territorial limit of an island claimed by China in the South China Sea was also another issue raised by the Chinese president.

The maneuver by the US guided-missile destroyer USS Stethem was earlier denounced by Beijing as a "provocation."

Xi also expressed his opposition to the US deployment of an advanced missile system on South Korea. He warned that China and Russia would take "necessary measures" either together or independently to protect their interests with regard to the deployment of the system, according to Xinhua.

"The US deployment of an advanced anti-missile system in South Korea gravely harms the strategic security interests of China, Russia, and other countries in the region," Xinhua quoted Xi as having told Trump.

"Beijing and Moscow are steadfastly opposed to the THAAD deployment and seriously suggest that relevant countries stop and cancel the installation," he added, referring to the missile system, the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD), by its acronym.

Both China and Russia have repeatedly voiced their opposition to the deployment and argued that the controversial missile system disrupts the regional strategic balance.

South Korea decided to host the missile system last year to deter perceived threats from North Korea. The US opposes North Korea's missile and military nuclear activities, which Pyongyang says act as a deterrence against potential invasion by its adversaries.

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Chinese President Xi Jinping Arrives in Russia for 2-Day Official Visit

Sputnik News

15:23 03.07.2017(updated 16:35 03.07.2017)

Chinese President Xi Jinping has arrived in Russia for a two-day official visit at the invitation of Russian President Vladimir Putin and was met by Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Igor Morgulov as well as the ambassadors of the two countries.

MOSCOW (Sputnik)  This visit is Xi's sixth trip to Russia during his presidential tenure, and the planned meeting with Putin will be the 21st one.

According to the Chinese Foreign Ministry, the presidents will have a thorough exchange of views on bilateral issues, important international and regional issues, as well as issues of mutual interest. On July 4, there will be a separate meeting with Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, at which cooperation in trade, energy, industry and transport infrastructure will be discussed.

Two joint statements are expected to be the main political outcomes of the visit. The first agreement concerns bilateral relations and will be a plan for the development of China-Russia relations and cooperation in various fields. The second statement will deal with international issues, in which Russia and China will declare a common position on important regional and international issues.

Moreover, Chinese President Xi Jinping expressed hope that his two-day visit to Russia would contribute to the development of bilateral ties and would result in new agreements.

"I am sure that the current visit will be very fruitful and would contribute to the stable development of China-Russia relations, comprehensive partnerships and strategic cooperation," Xi said after the arrival.

The Chinese official added that he expected an effective conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"[I expect a] comprehensive exchange of views with President Putin aimed at deepening bilateral ties and promotion of multifaceted cooperation, as well as the actual issues of international and regional agenda of mutual interest," Xi said, expressing confidence that new agreements would be reached by the two leaders.

The ongoing visit is Xi's sixth trip to Russia during his presidential tenure, and the planned meeting with Putin will be the 21st between the two leaders.

 Sputnik

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To Some, Chinese Forays in Disputed Seas Ring of Harmless National Pride

By Ralph Jennings July 03, 2017

China's growing use of advanced technology in a disputed Asian sea may be meant more to inspire its citizens and get respect from abroad than to double down on disputed sovereignty claims as feared by other countries, scholars and Chinese media reports say.

Maritime scholars believe these scientific advances will hand information to the Chinese People's Liberation Army, bolstering control over its claims over about 90 percent of the 3.5 square-million-kilometer South China Sea. But China is also looking to show citizens it can make achievements, some believe.

It may also be trying to impress other countries after a sting from the world court last year.

"We shouldn't forget that tucked away there are these marine scientists, who they may not have control of policy, but they're scientists like anyone else," said Euan Graham, international security director with the Lowy Institute for International Policy in Sydney. "We shouldn't tar them as being foot soldiers or proxies."

When China announced last month it had finished five years of testing its Jiaolong bathyscaphe  an undersea observation vehicle -- with plans for a wide-reaching probe in 2020, the Chinese Academy of Sciences predicted the mission would "earn the nation a bigger say" in deep-sea resource exploration.

The academy quoted a government official in May calling Beijing's discovery of "combustible ice" natural gas hydrate in the South China Sea a "major breakthrough that may lead to a global energy revolution."

And when Chinese scientists said in February their country would build its first underwater observation platform, the state-controlled Global Times news website quoted one saying the plan "showcases that the country is actively joining in the international competition." The platform could be positioned in the South China Sea or East China Sea.

These cases suggest a Chinese effort to stoke domestic confidence in the Communist leadership to bring home resources through technology, scholars say. Even China's military and space hardware is described domestically as technological rather than military advances.

"Jiaolong and (the aircraft carrier) Liaoning, those are the pilot programs that China would put on stamp collections specifically for the National People's Congress," said Alexander Huang, strategic studies professor at Tamkang University in Taiwan, referring to the Chinese parliament.

Chinese officials hope to show citizens they can secure resources for a 1.37 billion population and an industrial economy forecast to grow 6.7 percent this year, analysts say. They need cleaner-burning fuel to offset the pollution from coal burning, Graham said. Undersea probes may turn up oil and minerals including rare ones, Huang added.

"There is a competition for rare earths that are mostly preserved in the seabed, so Jiaolong can detect some useful resources, not necessarily for military operations but for industries and new technologies," Huang said.

Deep-sea vehicles such as the Jiaolong bathyscaphe "offer new hopes of setting up deep-sea labs, where scientists can conduct biological, medical and genetic research and explore mineral, oil and gas resources," the official Xinhua News Agency said in March.

China is trying to improve its reputation abroad, as well, by emphasizing the science angle of undersea activities after a world arbitration court tribunal ruled in July 2016 that China lacked a legal basis for its sovereignty claims to the sea, analysts believe.

The tribunal said in its ruling it found "no doubt that China's artificial island-building activities on the seven reefs in the Spratly Islands have caused devastating and long-lasting damage to the marine environment."

The Spratlys are the most heavily contested chain in the sea. Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan, Vietnam and the Philippines claim tracts that overlap China's. Other countries resent the Chinese artificial buildup of islands in waters they call their own, usually based on exclusive economic zones 370 kilometers off their coasts.

That ruling contained "very pointed" language about Beijing's environmental damage, Graham said, so China may now be on "a positive PR offensive."

On that note, a city in China quickly declared off limits last year a geologically rare, 301-meter-deep (987-foot) ocean sinkhole inside one of the sea's Paracel Islands, which Vietnam also claims. The city said it would preserve rather than develop land around the hole.

But efforts to stoke public pride and overseas confidence would not preclude a military link to new marine technology, said Jay Batoncbacal, director of the Institute for Maritime Affairs and Law of the Sea at the University of the Philippines in Metro Manila. Technology, he said, can help a country "maintain, gain and exclude access" by staying ahead of rival inventions.

"China's technology and available resources and available manpower, it's just way too much," he said. "For even all of them (other claimants) combined, they simply cannot match it."

China has a record of using energy exploration projects "as a tool to stake a claim" in the South China Sea, American geopolitical intelligence platform Stratfor said in a 2012 commentary. "Indeed, deep-sea mining exploration could spread China's influence in the South China Sea, the East China Sea and the Indian Ocean," it said.

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Pyongyang Celebrates Its Rocket Forces in Wake of Seoul-Washington Summit

Sputnik News

22:21 03.07.2017(updated 22:23 03.07.2017)

While Americans prepare for the US' Independence Day on July 4, on the other side of the Pacific North Korea celebrated the 18th anniversary of the country's Strategic Rocket Forces with a level of restraint that has Korea watchers wondering whether the crisis could be at a turning point.

Pyongyang on Monday reiterated its warning that its projectiles will strike anywhere at the discretion of Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un, while prominent North Korean newspaper Rodong Sinmun celebrated the "beloved" Rocket Force as the "pride and power" of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK). The unit is responsible for the country's "reliable nuclear force," which Stanford University professor Siegfried Hecker estimates to be comprised of more than two dozen nuclear warheads.

A study by the Korea Economic Institute of America forecasted Pyongyang would test its missile program roughly every two weeks for the remainder of the year, but Kim's forces held off on displaying their rockets and missiles for this year's anniversary, the Korea Times reported on Monday.

Pyongyang may be biding its time, in anticipation of Washington and Seoul's next move, the Times noted. The North's missile proliferation was a key topic during last week's meeting between newly elected South Korean President Moon Jae-in and US President Donald Trump in Washington.

Kim and his advisers are likely mulling the best response to a joint address from Moon and Trump, which expressed that "under the right circumstances" the US administration would support "President Moon's aspirations to restart inter-Korean dialogue on issues, including humanitarian affairs."

"The two leaders called on the DPRK to refrain from provocative, destabilizing actions and rhetoric, and to make the strategic choice to fulfill its international obligations and commitments," the White House said in a June 30 release.

The allies have yet to pursue more intense military options on the Korean Peninsula. Nevertheless, on June 13 Moon reported the situation on the peninsula was "more dire than ever before."

The Strategic Rocket Force was founded in 1999, the same year Pyongyang acquired two light water nuclear reactors, the Guardian reported, noting that former US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld sat on the board of ABB, the engineering firm that made the reactors, from 1990-2001.

 Sputnik

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China Welcomes Proposals From Russia, Other States on N Korea - Envoy to UN

Sputnik News

21:27 03.07.2017(updated 21:38 03.07.2017)

China welcomes the Russian proposal on North Korea and is of the opinion the more countries try to offer constructive plans to settle the crisis, the better the chances to succeed, Chinese Ambassador to the United Nations and UN Security Council President for the month of July Liu Jieyi said in a briefing on Monday.

UNITED NATIONS (Sputnik)  Lieyi added that efforts outside the UN Security Council are equally important and expressed hope that involving more countries in the process will help generate greater political will to conduct negotiations.

"China put forward proposals for denuclearization and peace and stability on the Korean peninsula. Also, the Russian Federation has put forward proposals along the same lines," Liu Jieyi said. "We would welcome other constructive proposals from the international community; the more countries that work together to achieve a negotiated solution the better the chances will be that negotiations will take place."

The Chinese ambassador described the approach of his country to addressing the issue as being based on three pillars: denuclearization; peace and security; and dialogue and negotiations.

Earlier on Monday, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov told the Izvestiya newspaper that Russia elaborated a plan of a settlement on the North Korea issue, which stipulates the United States does not escalate the situation and move toward easing tensions.

 Sputnik

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Pyongyang Says N. Korean Rockets May Strike Anywhere Around World

Sputnik News

06:32 03.07.2017

North Korea celebrates the day of strategic forces of the Korean People's Army.

TOKYO (Sputnik)  North Korea celebrates Monday the day of strategic forces of the Korean People's Army (KPA) with a statement in its state-run newspaper that the country's rockets may strike anywhere in the world.

North Korean state Rodong Sinmun newspaper issued an article which said that the KPA's strategic forces can strike at any time and anywhere. The article provided the photos of the Pyongyang's rockets and said that the all the launches might be successful due to high-speed mobile missile launchers which make it impossible to detect them.

The newspaper reminded about recent successful launches of ballistic missiles Hwasong-12, Pukguksong-2, as well as cruise missiles.

The situation on the Korean peninsula has become aggravated in recent months due to a series of missile launches and nuclear tests conducted by Pyongyang, all of which are claimed to be in violation of UN Security Council resolutions. The most recent launch took place on June 8, when North Korea carried out a launch of short-range anti-ship missiles, reportedly flying some 124 miles before dropping into the Sea of Japan.

 Sputnik

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India Plans Next Generation Bombproof Shelter for 108 Fighter Jets

Sputnik News

17:39 03.07.2017

With tensions rising with its neighbors, the Indian Air Force (IAF) has once again asked India's defense ministry to approve funding for building next generation hardened shelters designed by state-owned research organization DRDO for every aircraft deployed in eastern and north-eastern airfields.

New Delhi (Sputnik)  The proposed shelter would be able to withstand missiles and 2000-pound bombs. The IAF has been waiting for defense ministry approval for last three years. In 2015, IAF had submitted a proposal of construction of 108 new generation hardened aircraft shelters for Sukhoi-30 class of aircraft but not find consent from the ministry.

"We want to build new generation hardened aircraft shelters in the North and Northeast which is critical for us so that we are not caught by surprise as has happened in different parts of the world," defense sources told Sputnik.

If approved by the defense ministry, these shelters based in forward areas, Leh, Ladakh and the Northeast, will cost $750 million to the exchequer. India has reconstructed, and operationalized six advanced landing grounds  Tuting, Mechuka, Along, Passighat, Vijaynagar and Ziro  along the India-China border and work is underway at Tawang and Dirang. The IAF has also built new weapon storage areas, hangars and labs in large numbers in all the forward bases.

In 2016, the standing committee of parliament on defense had raised its concerned about unavailability of hardened shelter for frontline aircraft Su-30MKI. "IAF is already short of planes and worse than that hardened shelters are not available for even the limited number of aircraft that is available with the servicethe committee desires that there should not be any delay in execution, as such delays have become a common feature of all the projects," committee had warned in 2016.

IAF had constructed 16 shelters for Su-30 class aircraft between 2004 and 2007, which are capable of withstanding a blast from a 1,000-pound bomb.

 Sputnik

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Zangeneh: July 3 deal with Total is JCPOA, election outcome

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Tehran, July 3, IRNA -- Minister of Petroleum Bijan Zangeneh says signing of a gas deal with French Total is outcome of the JCPOA and the May 19 Presidential Elections.

Addressing an audience after signing a deal for development of phase 11 of South Pars with Chinese CNPC, Iranian Petropars and French Total, Zangeneh hoped that the contract will pave the way for conclusion of other contracts and presence of foreign companies in Iran.

"We consider no restriction for presence of American companies in Iran; rather, the obstacle for their business has been created by the US government."

The minister said, "In May 19 election, people strongly supported the move by the 11th government."

"A long way was passed to sign the deal; but from now on, we will continue our way with joy and haste."

"Today, a contract worth about five billion dollars was signed. We will never forget Total's pioneering role in cooperation with Iran."

As for cooperation with the Chinese party, he said, "We will never forget our friends at difficult times; Chinese companies are strategic partners."

National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC), Total, CNPC and Petropars on Monday, July 3, signed a $4.8bn contract for development of South Pars gas field phase 11.

Total will operate the SP11 project with a 50.1% interest, while Iranian Petropars company will have a share of 19.9% and the Chinese CNPC 30%.

The contract was signed by the NIOC Chief Ali Kardor, Petropars Head Hamid Akbari, Total's Pouyanne and CNPC CEO in presence of Iran's Minister of Petroleum Bijan Zangeneh and the French and Chinese ambassadors to Tehran as well as parliamentary Energy Committee members and senior petroleum ministry officials.

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Total to return with 4.8-billion-dollar investment to Iran

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Tehran, July 3, IRNA -- Countdown to the signing of the $4.8 billion oil contract between Iran and the international consortium led by Total has started.

Being the first to be signed in the new format of Iran's oil contracts which lead to technology transfer to Iran, the Total deal is considered a turning-point to start a new era in the Iranian oil industry.

The deal is to be signed by Iranian Minister of Petroleum Bijan Zangeneh, the Total and other beneficiary managers.

The primary agreement to develop South Pars 11 project was signed on November 8, 2016 between the NIOC and the mentioned consortium, including the Total, the Chinese National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), Petropars, with the presence of Zangeneh, President Middle-East and North Africa of Total Exploration and Production Stephane Michel, and CEO of CNPC Middle East Zhu Junfeng.

The deal is the biggest natural gas contract Iran has signed after the January 2016 nuclear deal with G6 to lift the sanctions on Iran.

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FM Spokesman: JCPOA Joint Commission remains on schedule

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Tehran, July 3, IRNA -- Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman said on Monday that the Joint Commission of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOAC) will be held according to the schedule in July.

The 7th Iran-G5+1 Joint Commission session was held in April in Vienna.

In the session, all participants of the nuclear deal joint commission noted their continued adherence to Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action commitments and stressed the need to ensure its full and effective implementation.

The previous session had been held on January 10, ten days before the end of the former US President Barack Obama's presidency and on a call by Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad-Javad Zarif.

As to Astana talks on Syria, Qasemi said that the meetings were expected to be held after the specialized talks , the spokesman said.

"The meetings might be held with three countries, and I hope we could reach a final identification of the de-escalation zones agreed previously by the three countries, in order to have some mechanisms for security checking to establish a relative security, and therefore, to establish the full ceasefire,' Qasemi said referring to the plan of creating de-escalation zones in Syria.

9156**1771

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South Pars deal facilitates transfer of technology: Rouhani

Iran Press TV

Mon Jul 3, 2017 5:58PM

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani says a multi-billion-dollar gas deal signed between Iran and French energy giant, Total, will facilitate the "transfer of technological, scientific and managerial experience" between Iran and France.

In a meeting with Total Chairman and Chief Executive Patrick Pouyanne in Tehran on Monday, Rouhani said France enjoys a prominent position in the field of economy and energy technology.

"Signing and implementing this contract will be a positive step toward further expansion of economic and technological cooperation between the two countries," the Iranian president added.

He noted that his administration sought to sign the landmark nuclear agreement, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), with the P5+1 group of countries in order to lay the ground for the enhancement of Iran's economic cooperation with giant companies.

Iran and the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council  the United States, France, Britain, Russia and China  plus Germany signed the mammoth agreement in July 2015 and started implementing it in January 2016.

Under the JCPOA, Iran undertook to put limitations on its nuclear program in exchange for the removal of nuclear-related sanctions imposed against Tehran.

"Fortunately, the existence of political will [both] on the Iranian side and among the P5+1 countries led to the agreement with Total," Rouhani said.

The National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) and Total signed the contract, the first by a European firm in more than a decade, in Tehran on Monday to develop phase 11 of South Pars field, which is the world's largest gas field.

According to Total, the project will have a production capacity of 2 billion cubic feet per day or 400,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day including condensate. Total added that the produced gas would supply the Iranian domestic market starting in 2021.

The first phase of the South Pars gas field development will cost around $2 billion, the giant French energy corporation said.

The Iranian president further stated that big foreign companies can invest in projects in Iran's oil and gas sectors valued at around $200 billion.

Total seeks long-term ties with Iran

Pouyanne, for his part, stressed the importance of making efforts to implement the deal and expressed hope that it would prepare the ground for further cooperation among Iran and other European companies.

He called for bolstering cooperation between Iranian and European companies in various sectors, saying that Total had decided to boost long-term cooperation with Iran in the fields of gas, oil and petrochemicals.

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Total seals Iran's biggest gas deal in years

Iran Press TV

Mon Jul 3, 2017 11:27AM

French energy giant Total signed a multi-billion-dollar gas deal with Iran, the first by a foreign firm in more than a decade.

Based on the deal, Total would invest an initial $1 billion in the development of Phase 11 of South Pars offshore gas field.

The giant French energy corporation would lead a consortium over the project that would also comprise China's CNPC and Iran's Petropars. It will take a 50.1 percent stake in the South Pars Phase 11 project, while CNPC will own 30 percent and Iran's Petropars 19.9 percent.

It is by far the biggest vote of confidence in the Islamic republic since sanctions were lifted under a 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, AFP reported.

Total's CEO Patrick Pouyanne and Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namadar Zanganeh signed the 20-year deal, which would eventually see the consortium pour $4.8 billion into the project.

Pouyanne would later meet President Hassan Rouhani, the news service added.

The aim is to start pumping into Iran's domestic grid in 2021, eventually reaching above 56 million cubic meters (around 2 billion cubic feet) of gas per day.

Last November, Total signed a basic agreement, worth $4.8 billion to develop South Pars Phase 11 in cooperation with China's CNPC and Iran's Petropars.

The company's CEO and Chairman Patrick Pouyanne said in February that a final investment decision over the project hinges on whether the US would renew sanctions waivers against Iran or not.

Total had signed up to develop Phase 11 back in 2009 but was forced to abandon its projects in Iran in 2012 when France joined a US-led campaign to put sanctions, including an oil embargo, against the country.

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Iran Navy holds military drills in Caspian Sea

Iran Press TV

Mon Jul 3, 2017 10:7AM

The Iranian Navy has launched military drills in the Caspian Sea as a means of sending across the Armed Forces' message of "peace and friendship."

The five-day drills, codenamed Lasting Security and Authority 96, started in an area measuring more than 88,000 square kilometers across the waters on Sunday.

Speaking to reporters, Commander of the Navy's Northern Fleet Captain Ahmad-Reza Baqeri said the drills feature five stages. The first stage, which began four months ago, comprised scheduling and planning.

During the subsequent stages, naval forces practice briefing, naval drilling, battles with mock enemy forces, performance of calculated warfare tactics as well as joint operations enlisting vessels, aircraft, coastal and seaborne operational units and logistical teams.

"As before, our message, [which is meant to be communicated] by the exercise is that of peace and friendship under the aegis of authority and capability in the Caspian Sea," Baqeri stated.

According to the Northern Fleet, the main goal pursued by staging the drills is to show the Armed Forces' readiness to establish lasting security in the strategic waters and to cooperate with neighbors towards the enhancement of stability in the waterways.

The Islamic Republic's military doctrine holds that the country's armed capability solely serves defense purposes and poses no threat to other states.

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France's Total Signs $4.8 Billion Natural Gas Project With Iran

RFE/RL July 03, 2017

The French energy firm Total says it has signed a multibillion-dollar agreement with Iran on the development of an Iranian offshore natural-gas field -- the first major Western energy investment since international sanctions were lifted against Tehran under its nuclear accord with world powers.

The agreement on developing the South Pars offshore gas field also is Iran's largest business deal with foreign partners since international sanctions against Tehran were eased in 2016.

Total's Chief Executive Officer Patrick Pouyanne and Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namadar Zanganeh signed the 20-year deal in the presence of managers of the China National Petroleum Corporation and the Iranian firm Petropars.

"This is a major agreement for Total, which officially marks our return to Iran to open a new page in the history of our partnership with the country," Pouyanne said in a statement after the signing.

Pouyanne was scheduled to meet with Iranian President Hassan Rohani after the signing.

Total signed a preliminary deal with Iran in November, acquiring a 50.1 percent stake in the $4.8 billion project.

The deal includes 30 natural gas wells and two production units.

The China National Petroleum Corporation owns 30 percent and Petropars controls a 19.9 percent stake.

The offshore field -- the largest natural gas field in the world -- was first developed in the 1990s, when Total was one of the largest investors in Iran.

But Total effectively left Iran in 2012 when France joined European Union partners in imposing sanctions over suspicions that Tehran was trying to develop nuclear weapons.

Total said it plans to invest an initial $2 billion for the first stage of the 20-year project.

The Petropars development deal was initially meant to be signed early in 2017, but Total said in February that it would wait to see whether the U.S. President Donald Trump's administration would reimpose sanctions on Iran.

Trump had threatened during his 2016 presidential election campaign to cancel the nuclear accord between Iran and six world powers that came into force in January 2016.

Trump's administration has taken a tough line on Iran and imposed new U.S. sanctions related to its ballistic-missile program and military actions in the region.

But the White House has kept the nuclear agreement alive, continuing to waive the relevant sanctions every few months as required under the agreement.

With reporting by Reuters, AP, and AFP

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/iran-total-south- pars-project-signing/28593420.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.

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Daesh cornered in Mosul as Iraqi forces inch closer to final victory

Iran Press TV

Mon Jul 3, 2017 3:5PM

Iraqi government forces have pushed deeper into the last pocket of Mosul controlled by Daesh Takfiri terrorists as the battle for the country's second largest city approaches its end.

Commander of Nineveh Liberation Operation Lieutenant General Abdul Amir Yarallah stated on Monday that Iraqi army forces had recaptured al-Khatouniyah and al-Tawaleb neighborhoods in the Old City as Daesh terrorists have now been mostly dislodged from western half of Mosul, and are battling to hold on to the last few streets under their control, Arabic-language al-Sumaria television network reported.

Earlier in the day, Commander of Federal Police Forces Lieutenant General Raed Shaker Jawdat announced in a statement that security forces had liberated Bab al-Saray area, and raised Iraqi flags above several buildings there.

He said government forces had also taken over Zultawabeq garage and Khozam Mosque in addition to a terminal in Mosul's Old City.

Iraqi troops are now advancing towards Khalid ibn al-Walid and al-Nujaifi areas, Jawdat added.

Iraq's Joint Operations Command (JOC) on Monday said that members of the federal police were still fighting Daesh terrorists in the Old City of Mosul, and had not accomplished all of their objectives.

"Federal police forces continue to fight fierce battles... on the southern front and are advancing toward their targets," the JOC stated.

Meanwhile, fighters from the elite Counter-Terrorism Service (CTS) in the Old City have ordered fleeing civilians to remove some articles of clothing in the wake of two bomb attacks, one by a 14-year-old girl and another by a 12-year-old, which killed three soldiers.

Men are told to take off their shirts, while women have to remove veils covering their faces and hair, and flowing abaya robes before approaching CTS forces.

The state-run al-Iraqiya television network reported on Monday that thousands of people had fled the densely-populated Old City over the past 24 hours.

But thousands more are believed trapped in the area with little food, water or medicine, and are effectively being used as human shields by Daesh terrorists.

The recapture of Mosul, located some 400 kilometers (250 miles) north of the capital Baghdad, would mark the effective end of Daesh in Iraq.

Government authorities are planning a week of jubilation across the country and Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi is expected to visit Mosul to formally declare victory.

Iraqi army soldiers and volunteer fighters from the Popular Mobilization Units, commonly known by their Arabic name, Hashd al-Sha'abi, have made sweeping gains against Daesh since launching the Mosul operation on October 17, 2016.

The Iraqi forces took control of eastern Mosul in January after 100 days of fighting, and launched the battle in the west on February 19.

An estimated 862,000 people have been displaced from Mosul ever since the battle to retake the city began nine months ago. A total of 195,000 civilians have also returned, mainly to the liberated areas of eastern Mosul.

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EU urges Myanmar to protect free speech amid crackdown on journalists

Iran Press TV

Mon Jul 3, 2017 4:58PM

The European Union has urged Myanmar to protect journalists from "intimidation, arrest or prosecution" after a number of journalists were detained across the Southeast Asian country.

The EU said in a statement on Monday that the right to freedom of opinion and expression was a human right guaranteed to all.

"It constitutes one of the essential foundations of a democratic society," the statement read.

"We therefore call on the government of Myanmar to provide the necessary legal protection for journalists to work in a free and enabling environment without fear of intimidation, arrest or prosecution," it added.

The EU says that the arrest and prosecution of journalists has reached "a worrying number" in recent months.

The developments come after several cases of reporters running into trouble with the law, including three detained by the army last week. The reporters were accused of breaching the colonial-era Unlawful Associations Act.

The Myanmar military earlier said the three reporters had communicated with a group "currently opposing the country's rule of law using arms."

The reporters had covered the burning of drugs by the rebel Ta'ang National Liberation Army to mark the International Day Against Drug Abuse.

The three prominent journalists are in prison in the northeastern town of Hsipaw. The first hearing in their case is on July 11.

In one such case, Kyaw Min Swe, an editor at the Voice daily, was detained last month over an article mocking the military.

Most of the cases against journalists are for suspected violations of a broadly worded telecommunications law decried by rights monitors as a violation of free speech.

Reporters protesting the threat to press freedom say that military intelligence agents have taken their pictures.

They say the developments are a reminder of days of harsh military rule when no opposition was tolerated.

Journalists and rights groups say that the gains made in press freedom since the end of decades of strict military rule risk being reversed.

Myanmar's de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi has not herself commented on the three or on other cases of reporters running afoul of the law.

Reacting to the developments, Suu Kyi's spokesman, Zaw Htay, said that everyone "should be treated according to the law."

This comes as Myanmar has long faced international criticism for its treatment of the Rohingya, who are denied citizenship and live in conditions rights groups have compared to those of the Blacks under the former apartheid regime in South Africa.

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US senators discuss Afghanistan, Daesh with Pakistan civil, military officials

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Islamabad, July 3, IRNA -- A US senatorial delegation has visited Pakistan and met with top government and military officials to discuss peace in Afghanistan and threat of Daesh to the region.

Headed by Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Senator John McCain, the US team met with Pakisan Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa and acknowledged Pakistan's role in peace in Afghanistan.

The army chief reiterated that Pakistan has done its best despite constraints and shall continue its efforts for peace and stability.

The delegation also met Adviser to the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz at ministry of foreign affairs.

Sartaj Aziz in the meeting said that Pakistan remained committed to support efforts for lasting peace and stability in Afghanistan.

Adviser noted that Quadrilateral Coordination Group (QCG) process remains a credible and effective vehicle to facilitate reconciliation and restore peace, stability and economic prosperity in Afghanistan.

He said that Pakistan was also ready to strengthen and deepen its partnership with the US to counter the new and emerging terrorism threats including the expanding footprint of Daesh in the region.

China has initiated efforts to resume QCG process and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi last week visited Islamabad and Kabul for the purpose. It seems that the US senators visit to Pakistan has the same agenda.

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US Senate Delegation Visits Pakistan's Waziristan Region Near Afghan Border

By Ayaz Gul July 03, 2017

A U.S. congressional delegation has visited a troubled region of Pakistan and called on both Islamabad and Washington to continue working closely to combat regional terrorism and to promote peace and stability in neighboring Afghanistan. The delegation, led by Senator John McCain, includes fellow senators Lindsey Graham, Elizabeth Warren, David Perdue and Sheldon Whitehouse. The visit comes as the Trump administration is expected to unveil a new Afghan strategy later this month.

The five-member bipartisan delegation Monday was flown by Pakistan's military to the semi-autonomous South Waziristan tribal region bordering Afghanistan. South Waziristan and the neighboring North Waziristan district - part of what is known as the Federally Administered Tribal Area or FATA - have for years harbored local and foreign militants blamed for terrorist attacks in Pakistan and across the border in Afghanistan. The lawmakers' trip comes as Islamabad faces allegations that sanctuaries in Pakistan are giving Taliban-linked groups a venue to plot attacks in Afghanistan.

Before traveling to Waziristan, the senators met in Islamabad with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and top military officials. Sharif said a "strong partnership" between his country, the United States and Afghanistan is a "prerequisite" for achieving sustainable peace in Afghanistan. The Pakistani prime minister reaffirmed his country's commitment to supporting all efforts aimed at restoring lasting peace and stability in Afghanistan, according to an official statement issued after the meeting. Sharif said concerted efforts were needed for a politically negotiated settlement under an Afghan-led, Afghan-owned peace process.

The Pakistani military's alleged ties to the Afghan Taliban and the Haqqani terrorist network have long been at the center of tensions with the United States. The accusations have also strained ties between Islamabad and Kabul, even as Pakistani officials reject the charges. In recent years, the Pakistani military has conducted major counterinsurgency operations and officials say North and South Waziristan have been cleared of militants, with the exception of a few isolated pockets. The visiting U.S. lawmakers, however, said Pakistani troops have made progress in dismantling terrorist infrastructure and restoring peace to South Waziristan.

"My colleagues from the United States Senate and I have had a very informative and important visit, understating the challenges, the successes and remaining challenges that require close coordination and assistance from us and with us," Senator McCain said. "We had talked about many issues, including the importance of Afghan-Pakistan cooperation in relationship on the border and we are confident that with the right cooperation and the right strategy, we can see success here in this very long struggle."

The Pakistani army says the delegation received a briefing on security measures authorities are putting in place on the Afghan border, including fencing and enhanced surveillance, to deter terrorist infiltration. The U.S. senators were flown over the tribal district to view newly constructed forts and outposts and social development projects.

According to the U.S. embassy in Islamabad, the United States has given millions of dollars in financial assistance to Pakistan for some of the infrastructure projects to help in the rebuilding process. They included the Kurram Tangi dam project in North Waziristan, that will irrigate nearly 6,500 hectares of farmland, enough to benefit 100,000 people, and produce 18.4 megawatts of electricity. Washington has also provided funds for supporting law enforcement personnel in FATA and construction of more than 100 border outposts as well as defensive structures to support Pakistani counterterrorism operations.

After their visit, McCain and the rest of the delegation flew to Afghanistan, where they will spend time with U.S. troops for the U.S. Independence Day holiday on July 4 and meet with Afghan leaders.

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Kremlin Says Putin To Meet Trump On July 7

RFE/RL July 04, 2017

The Kremlin says Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet with U.S. President Donald Trump on July 7 in Hamburg, Germany, on the sidelines of the Group of 20 (G20) summit.

"It has been agreed for July 7," Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov told reporters in Moscow on July 4.

Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the event was "planned as a fully-fledged, 'seated' meeting" to discuss bilateral issues rather than a brief

on-the-go encounter.

The White House later confirmed that the bilateral meeting will be held in the afternoon of July 7, according to the Reuters and dpa new agencies.

It will be the first face-to-face meeting between the two men since Trump took office in January.

It comes as relations between Moscow and Washington sank to lows unseen since the Cold War amid rancor over Moscow's illegal annexation of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula in March 2014, its backing of separatists in eastern Ukraine, its alleged interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, the war in Syria, and other issues.

Trump's administration is under intense scrutiny over any links with the Kremlin following accusations by U.S. intelligence officials that Putin personally ordered a computer-hacking and public-opinion-manipulation campaign to try to help Trump win the November election.

The Kremlin rejects the allegation.

The White House had previously confirmed that a meeting between Trump and Putin would take place on the sidelines of the July 7-8 G20 summit but did not specify the date.

General H.R. McMaster, the White House national security adviser, said on June 29 that there was "no specific agenda" for Trump's meeting with Putin.

McMaster said Trump would emphasize "whatever the president wants to talk about."

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told journalists on July 4 that "both Syria and Ukraine will be in the focus, but the agenda will not be limited to this."

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said that it was especially important for Putin and Trump to discuss the war in Syria.

During his election campaign, Trump repeatedly praised Putin and vowed that he would work to improve ties with Russia.

But hopes have dimmed in Moscow for improved ties with the United States in recent months.

The G20 summit will bring together the heads of state and government from the world's leading economic powers to discuss the fight against terrorism, climate change, free trade, and other issues.

With reporting by Reuters, AP, AFP, dpa, Interfax, and TASS

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/us-russia-trump-putin-meeting- july-7-g20-hamburg/28595565.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.

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Tillerson says Assad's fate in hands of Russia: Report

Iran Press TV

Mon Jul 3, 2017 4:17PM

The United States reportedly wants Russia to influence the future leadership of Syria as Damascus regains full control of the Middle Eastern Arab state.

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson relayed this message to the United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres, according to Foreign Policy magazine.

During a private meeting last week, Tillerson told Guterres that President Bashar al-Assad's future now lies in the hands of Moscow, the report said Monday.

"What happens to Assad is Russia's issue, not the US government's," Tillerson told the UN chief in the private meeting, according to sources close to the magazine.

Nearly three months ago, the secretary of state had insisted that Assad must go because of his alleged use of chemical weapons.

But Tillerson's latest assurances to Guterres signaled the Trump administration's new understanding that it was up to Moscow to decide on the issue due to geopolitical links between Russia and Syria and Moscow's support to Assad.

He also signaled that US military attacks on Syrian government forces in recent months were of tactical nature and not meant to weaken the government or strengthen the opposition forces.

Tillerson's remarks are considered to be harbingers of the Syrian government's imminent victory against foreign-backed militants in the devastating six-year-long conflict.

Political observers assess the top diplomat's remarks as a compromise on behalf of the Trump administration.

Syrians to decide

"The Syrian people should determine their country's political future through a political process," said a US State Department official asked by Foreign Policy to comment on Tillerson's remarks to Guterres.

Tillerson had announced earlier this year that Assad's future "will be decided by the Syrian people."

Tillerson's recent remarks announcing the decision to let Russia decide Assad's future comes on the eve of President Donald Trump's first face-to-face meeting next week with President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Germany.

Tillerson said earlier this month that Trump had tasked him with repairing the broken US-Russia relationship.

The US Congress slapped sanctions against Russia for its alleged role in the US presidential election which ended with Trump at the helm.

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Syrian army declares combat cessation in south of country

Iran Press TV

Mon Jul 3, 2017 3:38PM

Syria says it has suspended military operations in the south of the Arab country, including in Quneitra Province, where the Israeli regime has targeted army outposts in recent days.

The Syrian Arab Army announced the news in a statement carried by the country's state television on Monday, adding that the ceasefire had taken effect from midday (0900 GMT) on Sunday and will continue until Thursday.

The army general command further said that the measure had been adopted in order to support "reconciliation efforts," in the second unilateral truce in the last two weeks.

Last week, armed opposition forces launched an attack against government-held Baath city, the provincial capital of the Syrian Golan Heights, seizing the southern and western fringes of the city. A counterattack launched by army troops, however, soon pushed back the armed militants from most of their newly-occupied areas.

Back in June 17, the army declared a two-day ceasefire, which only affected fighting in the southwestern city of Dara'a, capital of a province with the same name, along the border with Israel. The truce later extended to the whole of southern Syria.

During ceasefire talks in the Kazakh capital city of Astana in May, Russia, with backing from Turkey and the Islamic Republic of Iran, brokered a deal for establishing de-escalation zones in Syria's mainly militant-held areas.

The plan, which came into effect at midnight on May 5, calls for the cessation of hostilities between the militant groups and Syrian government forces.

It covers the northwestern Syrian province of Idlib, northeastern areas of the western coastal province of Latakia, western areas of Aleppo Province and northern areas of Hama Province.

The deal also applies to the Rastan and Talbiseh enclave in Homs Province, Eastern Ghouta district in the northern Damascus countryside as well as the militant-controlled southern part of the country along the border with Jordan.

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Syrian Army Declares Cease-Fire In South

July 03, 2017

The Syrian Army has declared a unilateral cease-fire in the south of the country, citing a bid to support "reconciliation efforts."

The July 3 announcement carried by state media came a day before fresh peace talks set to be held in Kazakhstan's capital, Astana.

The army statement said the cease-fire, the second in the last two weeks, impacts the southern provinces of Daraa, Quneitra, and Sweida.

"In order to support the peace process and national reconciliation, a cessation of hostilities took hold at 12:00 p.m. on July 2 and will last until midnight on July 6," the statement said.

The statement did not specifically mention the two-day talks in Astana, which are set to begin on July 4.

The talks are being brokered by Turkey, Russia, and Iran.

While Russia, the United States, and Turkey are all fighting against Islamic State (IS) militants in Syria, Moscow and Iran are backing Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's forces in the Syrian conflict. Washington and Ankara are supporting different rebel factions seeking to oust Assad.

Western officials have previously said that Russia's bombing campaign in Syria, which began in September 2015, has largely targeted opponents of Assad other than IS.

The cease-fire announced by the Syrian Army on July 3 was not expected to include operations targeting IS militants.

Based on reporting by AFP and Reuters

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/syrian-army-declares- cease-fire-in-south/28594086.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.

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Turkish Military Op Against Kurds in Syria's Afrin Could Begin 'Any Time Soon'

Sputnik News

20:58 03.07.2017(updated 21:57 03.07.2017)

A joint military operation between the Free Syrian Army (FSA) and the Turkish Armed Forces against Kurdish military units in the Syrian city of Afrin could take place any time soon, a FSA commander told Sputnik Turkey.

The commander of the Syrian opposition, who spoke to Sputnik on the condition of anonymity, said that the operation will have several stages.

"At the first stage, we plan to take control the city of Tall Rifaat, as well as the local airbase, and then we plan to begin with the siege of Afrin, which is under the control of Kurdish YPG forces. Our goal is not to enter the territory of Afrin, but rather to clear the territories located near the Turkish border from YPG," the commander said.

"We have been getting ready for the operation for 2 months; the last preparations are now underway," he added.

Around 20,000 members of opposition Free Syrian Army (FSA) and Turkish troops will participate in a new military operation in the northwestern Syrian Afrin region, which is under control of the Syrian Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG), Turkish Sabah newspaper reported on earlier.

"The operation can start at any moment. The Turkish forces are stationed in Marra, Azaz and in the north of Idlib. Only those FSA units which were previously involved in the Euphrates Shield will take part in the upcoming operation. The US-backed FSA militants won't participate in the fighting in the Afrin area. We don't trust them, as they can pass information on to the Kurdish self-defense units," the FSA commander said.

Afrin is located in the province of Aleppo and belongs to the de facto autonomous region of Rojava, which was proclaimed by the Kurds in the north of Syria. Turkey considers the Syrian Kurdish associations to be a wing of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which Turkey has banned.

Nuri Mehmud, an official representative of the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG), earlier said in an interview with Sputnik Turkey that the group will defend its territory if there is an attack on Afrin from Turkey.

 Sputnik

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Turkey Shells Kurdish Settlements Near Syria's Afrin

Sputnik News

16:43 04.07.2017

Syrian Kurdish settlements located near Afrin in the country's northwest came under artillery fire from Turkish troops, Rezan Hedo, a member of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Council, told Sputnik on Tuesday.

BEIRUT/ANKARA (Sputnik)  The official added that those injured had already been sent to the hospitals of Afrin.

"Turkish artillery has shelled the villages of Kastel Cindo, Maryamayn, Jalbul and Shagura on the outskirts of Afrin. Two children and a woman died following the shelling in the village of Kafr Antun," Hedo said.

At the same time Turkish media reported, citing military sources, that the country's armed forces had carried out 20 strikes against the positions of the Syrian Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) near Afrin.

Turkey has repeatedly bombed the positions of Kurds in northern Syria. Ankara views the YPG as an extension of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which is considered by the Turkish authorities as a terrorist group.

Afrin is currently an enclave in the northwestern corner of Syria, separated from the rest of the Kurdish de-facto Rojava autonomy by Turkish forces near Al Bab.

 Sputnik

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English French

With unparalleled detection and response times, the new solution thwarts cyberattacks before they happen

Paris, Brussels, July 4 2017 - Atos, a global leader in digital transformation, today announces the launch of its new prescriptive Security Operations Center (SOC). Combined with Atos Big Data analytics capabilities and powered by Bullion servers, the new security solution makes it possible for customers to predict security threats before they even occur. Detection and neutralization time is improved significantly compared to existing solutions.

Atos builds on its existing and proven assets to deliver the Prescriptive SOC. The Atos Data Lake Appliance powered by Bullion and Atos research in Artificial Intelligence are in the heart of what makes Atos Prescriptive SOC unique.

To face the increasing number of ever more sophisticated cyberattacks, (such as ransomware, DDos, botnet, Advanced Persistent Threats), customers require constant and efficient security solutions so that they can remain focused on their core business.

Security analytics and automated response to predict risks and neutralize cyberattacks

Based on Big Data analytics and Machine Learning technology and combined with McAfee Technologies, the prescriptive SOC continuously learns from previous threats and manages to orchestrate automated responses in real-time. The detection time can be reduced to less than a minute, versus an average of 190 days with existing solutions, and the total response and recovery time can be reduced to a few minutes compared to a couple of months today.

The prescriptive SOC leverages McAfee Open Data Exchange Layer (Open-DXL) and Threat Defence Life Cycle technologies to enhance automation, orchestration and the immediate reactivity of security responses in order to eliminate fragmented and time-consuming manual security responses.

Threat Intelligence for a 360 view

With its prescriptive security analytics capabilities, the solution analyses and correlates high volumes of structured and unstructured data from different sources (IT, OT and IoT), and monitors not only the internal customer network but also the social networks, the deep web and the dark web, for a full environment screening. The data is transformed into intelligence with deep packet analysis, pattern recognition and weak signal detection.

"By combining Big Data, security analytics and supercomputing, Atos offers its customers the opportunity to be one step ahead of cyberattacks. The deep data analytics and monitoring in real-time allow a unique and continuous prescriptive security. Our customers can now predict and neutralize threats before they reach their goal." says Pierre Barnabe, Chief Operating Officer, Big Data & Security at Atos.

Leveraging its experience of securing the Olympic Games for more than 20 years, Atos, through its 14 interconnected and follow-the-sun Security Operations Centers (SOC) worldwide, provides a unique 24/7 up-to-date protection, with innovative detection and response security services.

###

About Atos

Atos is a global leader in digital transformation with approximately 100,000 employees in 72 countries and annual revenue of around  12 billion. The European number one in Big Data, Cybersecurity, High Performance Computing and Digital Workplace, The Group provides Cloud services, Infrastructure & Data Management, Business & Platform solutions, as well as transactional services through Worldline, the European leader in the payment industry. With its cutting-edge technologies, digital expertise and industry knowledge, Atos supports the digital transformation of its clients across various business sectors: Defense, Financial Services, Health, Manufacturing, Media, Energy & Utilities, Public sector, Retail, Telecommunications and Transportation. The Group is the Worldwide Information Technology Partner for the Olympic & Paralympic Games and operates under the brands Atos, Atos Consulting, Atos Worldgrid, Bull, Canopy, Unify and Worldline. Atos SE (Societas Europaea) is listed on the CAC40 Paris stock index.

Press contact:

Sylvie Raybaud - sylvie.raybaud@atos.net - +33 6 95 91 96 71 - @Sylvie_Raybaud
TSX:ORV

TORONTO, July 4, 2017 /CNW/ - Orvana Minerals Corp. (TSX:ORV) (the "Company" or "Orvana") is pleased to provide an update on its efforts to extend the life of its Don Mario operation in Bolivia. Further, the Company announces that it has arranged debt financing in the aggregate amount of US$11.3 million (the "Facilities") from Banco BISA S.A. ("BISA") in Bolivia. The primary use of these proceeds will be used to construct a major tailings storage facility expansion project ("TSF Project") that will add sufficient capacity to support up to an additional three years of operations beyond Q2 2018.

Jim Gilbert, Chairman and CEO, stated "Don Mario was the foundational operation for Orvana, and has contributed significant gold production and free cash flow generation for many years. We are very pleased with the progress we are making to clearly define what we are hoping to be a profitable future for Don Mario. Currently, we are finalizing an open pit mine design for potential near-term mining of the Cerro Felix satellite deposit. In parallel, we are completing an advanced stage confirmatory test program on processing of significant existing surface mineral resource stockpiles. Management believes the conclusion of these projects at Don Mario will justify the planned TSF Project. In that regard, we have successfully arranged competitive debt financing with BISA, who continue to be a key local stakeholder of Don Mario, to fund the TSF Project. We are grateful for their ongoing support."

Don Mario Update

Mining activities are currently taking place in the Lower Mineralized Zone ("LMZ") that forms part of the existing open pit. The Company has been mining and processing LMZ ore since Q3 2016. Operational activities at LMZ are scheduled to end during Q2 2018. The Company is actively evaluating various projects that are at various stages of completion and management anticipates these will result in extension of operational life beyond Q2 2018. A summary of these ongoing projects is below:

Near-term projects:

Cerro Felix Mining:

Cerro Felix is a satellite mineral deposit located 500 m from the LMZ. The Company published resource estimates effective September 30, 2016. Estimates include an indicated mineral resource of approximately 490,000 tonnes grading 3.15 g/t gold, 0.09% copper and 2.53 g/t silver, containing approximately 49,600 ounces of gold, 0.97 million pounds of copper, and 40,000 ounces of silver 1 .

. From 2009 to 2011, approximately 207,000 tonnes of ore at an average grade of 1.77 g/t of gold was processed from mineralized zones north-west and south-east of the previously mined Upper Mineralized Zone ("UMZ"), including Cerro Felix.

Near surface mining activities have been undertaken in recent months. A total of 15,000 tonnes have been extracted and processed as part of a blended plant feed during FY 2017 to date.

An open pit mine design is currently being finalized, incorporating a recently completed geotechnical evaluation. The Company is aiming to commence pre-stripping activities during Q1 2018.

Mineral Stockpile processing:

As at September 30, 2016, Don Mario surface stockpiles contained a measured mineral resource of approximately 2.2 million tonnes, grading 1.84 g/t gold and 1.89% copper 2 .

. Don Mario has had a successful track record of processing this material as part of a blended feed into the processing plant (approximately 237,400 tonnes in FY 2016 and FY 2017 to date)

Initial test results have yielded positive indications towards the possibility of producing a copper concentrate from this material, and the Company is now completing further testing to optimize grade.

The Company has received positive commercial indications from potential third party off-takers for such copper concentrates.

Long-term projects:

Tailings re-processing:

Prior to commencement of mining from the LMZ, mining activities took place in the UMZ open pit from 2012 to early 2016. During this period, ore was processed through a flotation circuit and achieved an average gold recovery of approximately 55% in the production of copper concentrates. Management believes that tailings material deposited as a result of this process is therefore expected to contain significant gold content.

The Company has commenced an evaluation of reprocessing of tailings, to determine the viability of recovering gold from the material deposited in the tailings storage facility. Drilling is planned to obtain geotechnical and metallurgical parameters in order to select conceptual processing plan and develop a full economic case.

At the present time, the Company aims to execute this project subsequent to the completion of the near-term projects above.

Exploration  Las Tojas Deposit:

Las Tojas is a satellite deposit located approximately 12 km northwest from the Don Mario Mine.

Drilling of the Las Tojas deposit have been carried out by Orvana at various times between 1996 and 2008, during which 110 holes totalling 15,080 m of drilling was completed. Drilling was carried out along northeast-southwest oriented section lines spaced about 50 and 100 m apart. Orvana completed two additional drill holes at Las Tojas in 2015 and these tested depth extensions of the known mineralized zone. Both holes intersected narrow mineralized zones. The Las Tojas deposit is not included in any of the resource or reserve estimation work covered by the Company's most recent Don Mario 43-101 Report or Annual Information Form.

A limited amount of material from Las Tojas was mined from 2009 to 2011 and was successfully processed through the carbon in leach circuit at that time.

A new drilling campaign, testing the southern extensions of previously mined areas of Las Tojas, is planned to be completed in the coming months with the objectives of establishing a NI 43-101 compliant mineral resource.

TSF Project

The TSF Project is required to support processing activities at Don Mario beyond Q2 2018. The TSF Project will include the construction of a 4 meter raise to provide storage capacity for up to 3 additional years. The Company engaged Amec Foster Wheeler ("AMEC") to evaluate alternatives, provide design parameters and engineer the TSF Project. As a result, AMEC developed a capital cost estimate of US$9.7 million within 10% accuracy, including owner's costs and 10% contingency. Execution of the TSF Project is expected to commence immediately to take advantage of the favorable dry season in Bolivia, with expected completion in Q2 2018.

BISA Facilities

The BISA Facilities are comprised of two separate agreements, both of which are secured by certain assets of Don Mario without recourse to Orvana.

Term facility

Principal amount of approximately US$8.34 million (denominated in Bolivianos);

Annual interest rate of 5.3% (fixed rate);

Scheduled drawdowns between closing and December 2017;

Quarterly interest payments; equal quarterly principal repayments commence April 2018 until January 2021.

Revolving working capital facility

Principal amount of up to approximately US$2.97 million (denominated in Bolivianos);

Renewable every 6 months until November 2020;

Annual interest rate determined at date of drawdown and dependent on form of drawdown;

Drawdown may be in the form of cash for up to US$1.97 million, bank guarantees for up to US$2.97 million, or a combination of the two up to the limit of US$2.97 million.

The pre-existing bank loan with BISA (the "BISA Loan") is not affected by the BISA Facilities and will continue to be repaid in the normal course with full repayment scheduled for September 2017. The principal balance outstanding on the BISA Loan is $2.8 million as at June 30, 2017.

Scientific and technical information in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Gino A. Zandonai, a Qualified Person under the terms of National Instrument 43-101. Mr. Zandonai is independent of Orvana. Mr. Zandonai has verified the technical data disclosed in this news release not related to the current mineral resource estimates disclosed herein.

About Orvana

Orvana is a multi-mine gold and copper producer. Orvana's operating assets consist of the producing gold-copper-silver El Valle and Carles mines in northern Spain and the producing gold-copper-silver Don Mario mine in Bolivia. Additional information is available at Orvana's website (www.orvana.com).

Cautionary Statements  Forward-Looking Information

Certain statements in this information constitute forward-looking statements or forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities laws ("forward-looking statements"). Any statements that express or involve discussions with respect to predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions, potentials, future events or performance (often, but not always, using words or phrases such as "believes", "expects", "plans", "estimates" or "intends" or stating that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might", "will" or "are projected to" be taken or achieved) are not statements of historical fact, but are forward-looking statements.

The forward-looking statements herein relate to, among other things, Orvana's ability to achieve improvement in free cash flow; the potential to extend the mine life of Don Mario beyond their current life-of-mine estimates, including specifically, but not limited to in the case of Don Mario, the completion of the TSF Project, the mining of the Cerro Felix deposit, the processing of the mineral stockpiles and the reprocessing of the tailings material; Orvana's ability to optimize its assets to deliver shareholder value; the Company's ability to optimize productivity at Don Mario ; estimates of future production, operating costs and capital expenditures; mineral resource and reserve estimates; statements and information regarding future feasibility studies and their results; future transactions; future metal prices; the ability to achieve additional growth and geographic diversification; future financial performance, including the ability to increase cash flow and profits; future financing requirements; and mine development plans.

Forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon a number of estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable by the Company as of the date of such statements, are inherently subject to significant business, economic and competitive uncertainties and contingencies. The estimates and assumptions of the Company contained or incorporated by reference in this information, which may prove to be incorrect, include, but are not limited to, the various assumptions set forth herein and in Orvana's most recently filed Management's Discussion & Analysis and Annual Information Form in respect of the Company's most recently completed fiscal year (the "Company Disclosures") or as otherwise expressly incorporated herein by reference as well as: there being no significant disruptions affecting operations, whether due to labour disruptions, supply disruptions, power disruptions, damage to equipment or otherwise; permitting, development, operations, expansion and acquisitions at Don Mario being consistent with the Company's current expectations; political developments in any jurisdiction in which the Company operates being consistent with its current expectations; certain price assumptions for gold, copper and silver; prices for key supplies being approximately consistent with current levels; production and cost of sales forecasts meeting expectations; the accuracy of the Company's current mineral reserve and mineral resource estimates; and labour and materials costs increasing on a basis consistent with Orvana's current expectations.

A variety of inherent risks, uncertainties and factors, many of which are beyond the Company's control, affect the operations, performance and results of the Company and its business, and could cause actual events or results to differ materially from estimated or anticipated events or results expressed or implied by forward looking statements. Some of these risks, uncertainties and factors include fluctuations in the price of gold, silver and copper; the need to recalculate estimates of resources based on actual production experience; the failure to achieve production estimates; variations in the grade of ore mined; variations in the cost of operations; the availability of qualified personnel; the Company's ability to obtain and maintain all necessary regulatory approvals and licenses; the Company's ability to use cyanide in its mining operations; risks generally associated with mineral exploration and development, including the Company's ability to continue to operate Don Mario; the Company's ability to acquire and develop mineral properties and to successfully integrate such acquisitions; the Company's ability to execute on its strategy; the Company's ability to obtain financing when required on terms that are acceptable to the Company; challenges to the Company's interests in its property and mineral rights; current, pending and proposed legislative or regulatory developments or changes in political, social or economic conditions in the countries in which the Company operates; general economic conditions worldwide; and the risks identified in the Company's Disclosures under the heading "Risks and Uncertainties". This list is not exhaustive of the factors that may affect any of the Company's forward-looking statements and reference should also be made to the Company's Disclosures for a description of additional risk factors.

Any forward-looking statements made in this information with respect to the anticipated development and exploration of the Company's mineral projects are intended to provide an overview of management's expectations with respect to certain future activities of the Company and may not be appropriate for other purposes.

Forward-looking statements are based on management's current plans, estimates, projections, beliefs and opinions and, except as required by law, the Company does not undertake any obligation to update forward-looking statements should assumptions related to these plans, estimates, projections, beliefs and opinions change. Readers are cautioned not to put undue reliance on forward-looking statements.

The forward-looking statements made in this information are intended to provide an overview of management's expectations with respect to certain future operating activities of the Company and may not be appropriate for other purposes.

Cautionary Notes to Investors  Reserve and Resource Estimates

In accordance with applicable Canadian securities regulatory requirements, all mineral reserve and mineral resource estimates of the Company disclosed in this news release have been prepared in accordance with NI 43-101, classified in accordance with Canadian Institute of Mining Metallurgy and Petroleum's "CIM Standards on Mineral Resources and Reserves Definitions and Guidelines" (the "CIM Guidelines").

Pursuant to the CIM Guidelines, mineral resources have a higher degree of uncertainty than mineral reserves as to their existence as well as their economic and legal feasibility. Inferred mineral resources, when compared with measured or indicated mineral resources, have the least certainty as to their existence, and it cannot be assumed that all or any part of an inferred mineral resource will be upgraded to an indicated or measured mineral resource as a result of continued exploration. Pursuant to NI 43-101, inferred mineral resources may not form the basis of any economic analysis, including any feasibility study. Accordingly, readers are cautioned not to assume that all or any part of a mineral resource exists, will ever be converted into a mineral reserve, or is or will ever be economically or legally mineable or recovered.

-----------------------

1 Mineral resource estimates were prepared by DGCS SA under supervision of Gino A. Zandonai, who is an independent Qualified Person under NI 43-101. See "Don Mario Mine Operation 2016 Technical Report" dated January 27, 2017 filed on SEDAR under Orvana's profile.

2 Mineral resource estimates were prepared by DGCS SA under supervision of Gino A. Zandonai, who is an independent Qualified Person under NI 43-101. See "Don Mario Mine Operation 2016 Technical Report" dated January 27, 2017 filed on SEDAR under Orvana's profile.

SOURCE Orvana Minerals Corp.
A$7.5 million budget, including >22,000m drilling, planned on five high-potential gold and base metals projects across five projects in Canada and Australia in FY 2018.



A$5 million allocated to aggressive exploration at the East Cadillac and Kinebik gold projects, hosted in the prolific Abitibi Greenstone Belt, Quebec, Canada:



East Cadillac is 35km east of Val-d'Or and covers 16 kilometres of strike of the eastern part of the Larder-Lake Cadillac Fault, which has a gold endowment of +100M ounces. Kinebik covers 30km of strike of the Casa Berardi Fault, which hosts multiple gold deposits. Planned 9,500m drill program in H2 2017 to test multiple targets, including extensions of the existing high-grade gold mineral resource and along the prospective Larder-Lake Cadillac Fault corridor controlled by Chalice plus follow-up geochemical anomalies at Kinebik.



A$2.5M allocated across multiple high-potential projects in Australia:

Warrego North Iron Oxide Copper-Gold ("IOCG") Project, Northern Territory  drill program in H2 2017 to expand the recent Parakeet copper-gold discovery. Latitude Hill Nickel Project, Western Australia  9,000m drill program in H2 2017 to test multiple Spectrem EM conductors with Voisey's Bay and Nova-Bollinger style nickel-copper discovery potential. West Pilbara Gold and Base Metals Project, Western Australia  4,000m aircore and RC drill program at three gold and copper targets in H2 2017.



Chalice can rapidly escalate exploration activities based on success with cash and liquid investments of A$53M.

PERTH, Western Australia, July 4, 2017 - Chalice Gold Mines Ltd. ("Chalice" or "the Company") (ASX: CHN) (TSX: CXN) today announced a FY 2018 A$7.5 million exploration initiative to advance its high priority gold and base metals targets in its current property portfolio (Table 1 and Figure 1). Chalice's exploration strategy has focused on acquiring exposure to projects, either through direct ownership or joint venture, hosted in terranes with outstanding metal endowment that also have the key geological features to host Tier 1 deposits. These include the East Cadillac Gold Project in the prolific Abitibi gold district in Quebec, Canada; the Warrego North Iron Oxide Copper Gold project in the Tennant Creek gold  copper mineral field of the Northern Territory, the Latitude Hill nickel project and the gold and base metals districts of the West Pilbara in Western Australia (Figure 1).

Chalice's exceptional balance sheet of A$53 million in cash and liquid assets means the Company is well positioned to rapidly escalate exploration activities based on success.

Chalice's Managing Director, Mr Tim Goyder stated "Chalice has systematically assembled a global exploration portfolio that offers outstanding potential for new discoveries in some of the best exploration addresses in the world. It is now time to evaluate the potential of this portfolio and we are in the enviable position of having the balance sheet and the in-house technical expertise to support a mid-tier scale exploration effort without diluting our shareholders at the company or project level."

Table 1: Overview and approximate timeline for proposed FY 2018 exploration program

Project/Exploration Program September 2017 Quarter December 2017 Quarter East Cadillac Gold Project Sampling/trenching Extensive surface sampling and trenching

IP Geophysical Survey 390 line km

Drilling

7,700m diamond Kinebik Gold Project IP Geophysical Survey 55 line km

Drilling

1,800m diamond Latitude Hill Nickel Project MLEM Geophysical Survey Survey 7 anomalies

Drilling

9,000m RC

Warrego North IOCG Project IP Geophysical Survey 23 line km

Drilling 1,000m RC & diamond

West Pilbara Gold & Base Metals Projects IP Geophysical Survey 25 line km

Drilling 4,000m aircore, RC















EXPLORATION PROJECT OVERVIEWS

East Cadillac Gold Project, Quebec, Canada

The East Cadillac Gold Project covers 107km2 and is 35km east of the 20Moz Val-d'Or gold camp (Figures 2 and 3). With a strike length of 16km encompassing the Larder Lake-Cadillac Fault, the most prolifically gold endowed trend in southern Abitibi, the project is a located amongst some of the region's most significant mines and is adjacent to the historic Chimo gold mine (owned by Cartier Resources (TSX: ECR)).

The project includes an initial indicated mineral resources of 225,000t @ 4.17g/t gold for 30,200oz gold and an inferred mineral resource of 1,112,000t @ 4.09g/t gold for 146,300oz gold at the Nordeau gold deposit, which the Company considers to have substantial growth potential.

No modern surface geochemistry, geological mapping or structural analysis has been completed in the district. The Company has analysed historical exploration information and merged this data with results from recent exploration activities undertaken by Chalice. This compilation will provide the basis for an integrated approach to exploration targeting over the Company's consolidated land position.

The project comprises 100% owned Chalice claims and option and farm-in agreements with Globex Mining Enterprises (TSX: GMX) and Richmont Mines (TSX: RIC), refer to Appendix A for details.

Mineral resources that are not mineral reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability. Mineral resource estimates do not account for mineability, selectivity, mining loss and dilution. These mineral resource estimates include inferred mineral resources that are considered too speculative geologically to have economic considerations applied to them that would enable them to be categorised as mineral reserves. There is also no certainty that these inferred mineral resources will be converted to the measured and indicated categories through further drilling, or into mineral reserves, once economic considerations are applied.

Kinebik Gold Project, Quebec, Canada

The 100% owned Kinebik Gold Project covers 187km2, including 30km of strike of the Casa Berardi fault, which hosts Hecla Mining Company's (NYSE:HL) Casa Beradi multi-million ounce gold mine and numerous other gold occurrences (Figure 2). Chalice has identified three strong geochemical anomalies which will be prioritised with an IP survey and diamond drilling.

Warrego North IOCG Project, Northern Territory, Australia

The Warrego North Project is approximately 20km north-west of the historical high-grade Warrego copper-gold mine in the western part of the Tennant Creek Mineral Field in the Northern Territory, Australia (Figure 4). Warrego was the largest deposit mined in the area with historical production of 1.3Moz of gold and 90,000t of copper from 5 million tonnes of ore at 8g/t gold and 2% copper in a classic iron oxide copper gold ("IOCG") geological setting. Chalice can earn up to a 70% interest in the project from Meteoric Resources NL by sole funding $800,000 (refer to Appendix A for details).

The Company's first diamond drill hole at Warrego North, WND17-001, targeted a coincidental magnetic-gravity and IP chargeability anomaly (Figure 4) and intersected chalcopyrite in magnetite ironstones grading 8m @ 1.74% copper and 0.42g/t gold between 249-257m down-hole depth. Pervasive chlorite-sericite alteration indicates the potential for an extensive hydrothermal system, which is a characteristic of IOCG deposits. A follow-up ground Induced Polarisation (IP) survey will systematically test extensions to known copper-gold mineralisation and also assess the broader Parakeet magnetic-gravity anomaly for additional mineralised magnetite ironstone bodies.

Latitude Hill Nickel Project, Western Australia

The 990.5km2 Latitude Hill Project was acquired to provide Chalice with a counter-cyclical investment opportunity in an under-explored region that is highly prospective for massive and disseminated nickel-copper-platinum group metals sulphide deposits similar to the Nova-Bollinger nickel-copper sulphide deposit in the Albany-Fraser Orogen. The project is subject to a farm-in and joint venture whereby Chalice can earn up to a 70% interest with Traka Resources Limited (ASX: TKL) (refer to Appendix A for details). High quality Spectrem Airborne Electromagnetic (EM) survey completed in 2012 by Anglo American identified seven priority conductors that were not followed up (Figure 5) following Anglo American's withdrawal from Western Australia where a royalty was exchanged as consideration for their JV interest in the Latitude Hill Project. None of these priority conductors have been subject to ground-based exploration.

West Pilbara Gold and Base Metals Project, Western Australia

The 1,390km West Pilbara Project (Figure 6) is located approximately 160km south-southwest of Karratha and has contiguous coverage of 90km of strike of prospective geology along the contact between the Ashburton and Hamersley Basins, referred to as the Paraburdoo Hinge Zone and is defined by regional fault/shear zones. The region is under-explored for both gold and base metals and the southwest boundary of the property is approximately 8km from Northern Star Resources' (ASX: NST) Paulsens multi-million ounce gold mine. Chalice acquired the project based on the identification of numerous Carlin-style and vein/shear hosted gold prospects and breccia-hosted copper mineralization from previous work.

The Company looks forward to updating shareholders on and the results of this substantial exploration initiative as results are received.

TIM GOYDER

Managing Director

Competent Persons and Qualifying Persons

The information in this news release that relates to the East Cadillac Gold Project, Quebec mineral resource estimate is extracted from the news release entitled "Maiden JORC Resource for Nordeau West deposit provides foundation for expanded exploration program at East Cadillac Gold Project, Quebec" dated March 7, 2017.

The information in this news release that relates to the Warrego North, NT is extracted from the news release entitled "Chalice discovers copper-gold mineralisation at Warrego North Project, NT" dated June 16, 2017.

The information in this news release that relates to the Latitude Hill Nickel Project, WA is extracted from the news release entitled "Chalice secures farm-in agreement on west Musgrave Nickel-Copper-PGE Project, WA" dated September 22, 2016.

The information in this report that relates to the West Pilbara Project, WA is extracted from the news release entitled "March 2017 quarterly activities report" dated April 28, 2017.

The above news releases are available to view on sedar.com. The Company confirms that it is not aware of any new information or data that materially affects the information included in the original market announcement and that all material assumptions in the market announcement continue to apply and have not materially changed. The Company confirms that the form and context in which the Competent Person's and Qualifying Persons findings are presented have not been materially modified from the original market announcement. The Competent Person and Qualifying Person for the Company is Dr Frost, General Manager  Exploration.

Forward Looking Statements

This document may contain forward-looking information within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation and forward-looking statements within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (collectively, forward-looking statements). These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this document and Chalice Gold Mines Ltd. (the Company) does not intend, and does not assume any obligation, to update these forward-looking statements.

Forward-looking statements relate to future events or future performance and reflect Company management's expectations or beliefs regarding future events and include, but are not limited to, the estimation of mineral reserve and mineral resources at the East Cadillac Gold Project, the realisation of mineral reserve estimates; the likelihood of exploration success including results of future geophysical surveys, drilling at the East Cadillac Gold Project, the Latitude Hill Project, the Warrego North Project and the West Pilbara Project and other exploration activities; the timing and costs of future exploration activities on the Company's exploration projects; the potential to define future mineral resources and, if successful at any of the Company's exploration projects, the potential viability of any mineral resource so defined; planned expenditures and budgets and the execution thereof; the timing and availability of drill results; potential sites for additional drilling, that general business and economic conditions will not change in a materially adverse manner; the timing and amount of estimated future production, costs of production, capital expenditures, success of mining operations, environmental risks, unanticipated reclamation expenses, title disputes or claims and limitations on insurance coverage.

In certain cases, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as plans, planning, expects or does not expect, is expected, will, may, would, potential, budget, scheduled, estimates, forecasts, intends, anticipates or does not anticipate, or believes, occur, or be achieved, or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results may, could, would, might or will be taken, occur or be achieved or the negative of these terms or comparable terminology. By their very nature forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Such factors may include, among others, risks related to actual results of current exploration activities; changes in exploration programs based upon results of exploration; future prices of mineral resources; possible variations in mineral resources or ore reserves, grade or recovery rates; accidents, labour disputes and other risks of the mining industry; delays in obtaining governmental approvals or financing or in the completion of development or construction activities; as well as those factors detailed from time to time in the Company's interim and annual financial statements, all of which are filed and available for review on SEDAR at sedar.com. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements.



Shares outstanding: 261 million

Fully diluted: 272 million







Contact



Tim Goyder, Managing Director

Chalice Gold Mines Ltd.

Telephone +618 9322 3960


On Wednesday, June 28, Donald Trumps Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity sent letters to all 50 secretaries of state requesting voter names, addresses, dates of birth, party affiliations, voting histories back to 2006, active or inactive status, the last four digits of Social Security numbers, felony convictions and military status.And state responses began rolling in immediately, and continue to do so. As of July 6, 20 states are refusing to comply, 23 states are partially complying and 8 states are undecided. No state has yet agreed to full compliance.On June 29, California Secretary of State Alex Padilla released a statement saying that he would not provide sensitive voter information to a commission that "has already inaccurately passed judgment that millions of Californians voted illegally." He also said that it is his duty "to ensure the integrity of our elections and to protect the voting rights and privacy of our state's voters."On June 30, Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf tweeted that his state would be added to the list of states opting out of the request for voter data. "We will not participate in this systematic effort to suppress the vote," he wrote.Kentucky Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes spoke to NPR on June 30 about denying the White House's request for voter data.I do not intend to release Kentuckians sensitive personal data to the federal government, Grimes said in a written statement. The president created his election commission based on the false notion that voter fraud is a widespread issue  it is not.Wisconsin Elections Commission Administrator Michael Haas said in a release that Wisconsin statutes do not permit the state to release a voters date of birth, driver license number or Social Security number. The state will, however, provide the commission with the other requested voter data.Texas Secretary of State Rolando Pablos said his office will share publicly available information with the commission, but will not share partial Social Security numbers, as that information is not part of voter rolls. "The Secretary of State's office will provide the Election Integrity Commission with public information and will protect the private information of Texas citizens while working to maintain the security and integrity of our state's elections system," he said. "As always, my office will continue to exercise the utmost care whenever sensitive voter information is required to be released by state or federal law."Rejecting the request on privacy and states' rights grounds, Mississippi Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann said on June 30 that "they can go jump in the Gulf of Mexico. Mississippi residents should celebrate Independence Day and our state's right to protect the privacy of our citizens by conducting our own electoral process."
(TNS) -- Ford is making "great progress" towards its goal of deploying its first fully autonomous car in 2021, says Ken Washington, Ford's vice president of research and advanced engineering and chief technology officer.But Washington said Ford's development team, which is working alongside start-up artificial intelligence company Argo AI, isn't caught up in the race to be the first automaker."I think we are extremely well-positioned because weve got a technology company working with us that understands how to build the robot," Washington recently told the Free Press. "And weve got an automotive manufacturer underneath us ....with more than 100 years of experience of systems integration."Ford is relying on Argo AI  a company co-founded last year by Google car project veteran Bryan Salesky and Uber engineer Peter Rander  to take the lead on the development of the brains of its self-driving car. Ford acquired a majority stake in Argo AI in February."We dont worry too much about where the competitors are. What we are worried about is how do we bring this technology to market in a way thats a fit (for customers). And thats what we are focused on," he said on the same day that Ford offered members of the media rides in the company's self-driving Ford Fusion test car.Washington has been a top executive at Ford since joining the automaker in 2014 who now is taking on even more responsibility under Ford CEO Jim Hackett. At Ford, Washington oversees the automaker's advanced research and engineering efforts and gained the additional title of chief technology officer in May.That essentially gives Washington oversight of all of Ford's autonomous vehicle efforts as well as oversight of the development of a wide range of other new technology.Before joining Ford, Washington was vice president of the Advanced Technology Center at Lockheed Martin and was one of the most prominent African-Americans in aerospace. Now he is one of eight top executives at Ford who reports directly to Hackett.The Free Press spoke with Washington about his new role and Ford's autonomous vehicle programs. The following is edited for clarity and brevity, and includes some additional comments from Washington's recent blog post on Medium , which included an announcement that Ford is creating a new artificial intelligence research team.Answer: I kind of wear two hats for the company. I am the vice president of research and advanced engineering ... and that didn't change. And with Jim Hackett coming to our company as CEO, he really wants to put an emphasis on technology and its promise for enabling us to be a great business. And so he invited me to be the chief technology officer to help drive that vision. ... And so thats a new role. And in that new role, I am really just looking to do what naturally comes to any executive who oversees a group that does that kind of technology work."A: We recently welcomed Sherif Marakby back to Ford (from Uber). Sherif owns autonomous vehicles at Ford, and so his job is to define for us where we are going to play in the market, and how we are going to bring autonomous vehicle technology to bear and put it into the market.But building the autonomous vehicle has three parts  three big parts. There is the virtual driver, and thats Argos job. Thats the part that replaces the driver with a robot. And that includes software and sensors.Ford product development is building the vehicle and the autonomous vehicle team is part of that and we are working on the integration of the virtual driver into the vehicle.Washington elaborated on the role of Ford's internal autonomous vehicle team in his Thursday blog post on Medium:We are announcing the creation of the robotics and artificial intelligence research team as part of Ford research and advanced engineering. This move aligns multiple disciplines under one team for a more concerted effort as we increasingly come to understand the potential for robotics and artificial intelligence. The move also serves to further advance projects weve already presented  such as our autonomous vehicle development program, and those we arent quite ready to reveal.A: They are going great, they are absolutely going great.... They have some fabulous momentum. Bryan Salesky and Peter Rander, the cofounders of Argo AI, have attracted a really great team already. Over 100 employees are already on board at Argo. So, I am excited about the path they are on. They are making great progress.A: Well I would start by saying there is so much hype out there its hard to sort through it. And you said it well when you said it kind of doesnt matter. We dont worry too much about where the competitors are. What we are worried about is how do we bring this technology to market in a way thats fit. And thats what we are focused on.
According to the BBC , London has joined the likes of Las Vegas in testing its version of the smart street, which is meant to generate electricity from foot traffic. The general idea behind the pedestrian-driven technology is that downward pressure from footsteps actuates small electromagnetic generators beneath the tiles. The clean energy is immediately sent to power nearby lighting and other environmental features.The media outlet also reported a number of innovative and environmentally conscious ideas are at work on Londons Bird Street, including air-cleaning paint and park benches. Though officials told the BBC they dont believe the technology is going to fix all of the citys air pollution problems, it could be a step in the right direction if deployed at a large enough scale.
(TNS) -- Terri Bettinger paid close attention to the recent cyberattacks on the websites of Ohio government agencies, banks and other businesses. She hoped to learn lessons to better defend the information she oversees.Bettinger is the chief information officer for Franklin County and head of its Data Center, which collects, stores and protects government data from property tax bills to court and medical records. She knows the system will be hacked."It's when, not if. It's going to happen," Bettinger said.She saw Licking and Henry counties become recent victims of ransomware attacks, in which hackers stole information or locked their systems and demanded to be paid. Neither county paid the high-tech extortion, but both had some services hampered because their computer systems had to be restored.Bettinger is taking steps to try to ensure that doesn't happen in Franklin County, noting it has been subject to "a handful" of hacker incidents. She knows that despite all of her precautions, despite the defenses her team has built, it almost surely will happen."Someone is going to click on a link they shouldn't," Bettinger said.That's a reason why Franklin County's Data Center spends $3 million annually  21 percent of its overall $14.4 million budget this year  on cybersecurity.Experts stress that the best way to combat cyberattacks starts with individual users, so education and preparation are key.The FBI reported in its 2016 Internet Crime Report that the leading cyber crime in the U.S. in terms of monetary loss involved compromised email accounts. It accounted for $361 million in losses.If you don't know the sender of an email, don't click on its attachments."Most of the serious incidents," Bettinger said, "are generated internally."To help employees understand that, Bettinger plans a "phishing" campaign at work. Hackers can "phish" for information by sending fake emails, some very convincing, attempting to lure users into opening attachments that gives hackers access to the computer system and its information."Security is not an IT function. It belongs to everybody," Bettinger said.A good way to protect information is keeping it offline.That, Ed Leonard said, is how Ohio's counties are so effective in ensuring elections aren't hacked or victims of manipulation.The election system in Ohio's 88 counties isn't connected to the Internet, said Leonard, director of Franklin County's Board of Elections."We use a dedicated (computer) that is linked only to the Secretary of State's office," Leonard said.The voting machines also aren't online."There are no publicly accessible ports to load malware," Leonard said.Instead, the results are kept on paper, in the voting machines and on small, portable storage devices.Jeff Young, director of Franklin County Emergency Management and Homeland Security , helps plan for dealing with disasters such as floods and hurricanes. Lately, though, that's been expanded."Now," Young said, "we're applying it to the digital world."His office is a liaison between governments attacked online and statewide resources to help them, such as the Ohio Emergency Management Agency and the Ohio National Guard."They don't pay attention to security unless it happens to them," Maj. Gen. Mark Bartman, adjutant general of the Ohio National Guard, said of cyber victims.In terms of cybersecurity, Bartman's office is doing for Ohio what the U.S. Department of Defense does for the federal government.This month, Ohio is opening the first phase of its "cyber range," less of a geographical location and more of a concept. It's where cybersecurity is taught using exercises and competitions."We want Ohio to have a location for any of our citizens to have a place to go" to hone cybersecurity skills, Bartman said. It "will allow any entity to train, get certification to have access to operate on networks."That includes students, from kindergarten through college. Developing cybersecurity skills can't begin soon enough, Bartman said. That's vital for the future because so much now is connected online."We're trying to figure out how as we convert every school in Ohio," Bartman said.It's that type of public collaboration, Bettinger and Bartman agree, that will lead to the best cyberdefenses.In a recent attack that earned national headlines, Bettinger, by 7:30 that morning, had been contacted by 20 cyber professionals and compatriots warning of the attacks and discussing how to counter and destroy them."That is a powerful tool," Bettinger said. "Sometimes, our challenge is not to sound like Chicken Little."
Cyril Abiteboul has admitted that Renault might not be winning races by next year.

After buying the failing Lotus team, the French marque struggled in 2016 but has restored credibility this year.

"We wanted to establish ourselves in the midfield this year," team boss Abiteboul told Auto Motor und Sport. "We succeeded in that, even if we would like to climb a bit higher in the ranking."

But the Frenchman said it might take much longer before actual race wins start to come.

"Victories must be possible in 2019," said Abiteboul. "It sounds like a long time, but it is not. We know where the top teams are.

"Formula one is about people," he explained. "If I sign someone today, I have to wait one to two years before I can use that talent, so it only has an impact on the 2020 car."

(GMM)
COLUMBUS  A 49-year-old Columbus man wanted by authorities after skipping out on his jury trial last month apparently thought Friday morning was a good time to head to the county lockup  especially since he had a police officers flashing lights in his rearview mirror.

Ronald Stewart, who had multiple outstanding arrest warrants for failure to appear and driving during a 15-year revocation for DUI, was arrested Friday after being spotted about 6:30 a.m. driving eastbound on 23rd Street.

But the arrest didnt come when Officer Jason Romshek activated his cruiser's flashing lights at 23rd Street and Third Avenue. The eastbound 2000 Dodge Durango driven by Stewart switched from the inside to the outside lane of the street, but didnt stop.

The SUV continued east, then turned south on East 11th Avenue.

I continued to use my siren, however, Stewart kept motioning out his window that he was driving in the direction of the Platte County jail, Romshek wrote in his probable cause arrest statement. Stewart eventually stopped in the jail parking lot, the officer wrote.

He was being sought for failure to appear for a district court hearing just days before his jury trial was set to get underway June 19.

In that case, Stewart is accused of delivery of methamphetamine in connection with a Sept. 18 drug deal at a city residence that was recorded by an undercover informant. The Class II felony is punishable by up to 50 imprisonment.

Stewart appeared Monday morning in Platte County Court via video link from the county jail during a brief bond review stemming from Fridays driving during revocation arrest. His operators license was suspended for 15 years in 2015 for a third-offense DUI.

Judge Frank Skorupa set Stewarts bond at $75,000, 10 percent allowed for release.
Page Content

The European Parliament approved today the appointment of Bulgarian Mariya Gabriel as the Commissioner for the Digital Economy and Society. Markku Markkula, President of the European Committee of the Regions, affirmed that the new Commissioner will have the full backing of Europe's regions and cities in her mission to build Digital Europe.

We welcome the appointment of Mariya Gabriel as Commissioner for the Digital Economy and Society and look forward to working with her. The new Commissioner can count on our active support, know-how and bottom-up actions when moving towards a fully functioning Digital Single Market. Cities and regions are crucial partners in implementing the digital economy in Europe. The recent collaborative activities such as e-government, broadband deployment, open data and e-skills are speeding up the necessary European transformation towards sustainable growth. We will follow her work very closely, paying special attention to improving connectivity and closing the digital divide. In this regard, we are ready to join forces to launch the Participatory Broadband Platform together, based on the proposals in the European Commission's Gigabit Society initiative.
The supplement also adds the Fresno metro area as a focus for community charging investments; outlines an education and outreach proposal targeted at the unique barriers to ZEV use in low-income and disadvantaged communities; and presents a new strategy to explore the use of more affordable pre-owned ZEVs. ARB is initiating its review of the Supplement; the Board will conduct a public hearing later this summer to consider the approval or disapproval, in whole or in part, of the full Investment Plan, which now includes the Supplement.

Volkswagen subsidiary Electrify America last week submitted supplemental information to the California Air Resources Board (ARB) detailing its proposed charging investment in and benefit to underserved, low-income, and disadvantaged communities in the state as part of its court-mandated investment plan. ( Earlier post .)

Background. Background. As required by Appendix C to the 2.0-Liter Partial Consent Decree entered by the US District Court for the Northern District of California on 25 October 2016, Volkswagen Group of America is investing $1.2 billion over the next 10 years in zero emission vehicle (ZEV) infrastructure, education, and access outside California to support the increased adoption of ZEV technology in the United States, representing the largest commitment of its kind to date. Volkswagen Group of America created Electrify America LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary headquartered in Reston, Virginia, to fulfill its Appendix C commitments.

Earlier this year, Electrify America submitted the plan for the first tranche of spending, directed at 11 cities nationwideNew York, Washington, D.C., Chicago, Portland, Boston, Seattle, Philadelphia, Denver, Houston, Miami, and Raleighand several highway corridors.

Electrify America also released the California ZEV Investment Plan, outlining the plans for the first $200 million to be spent in California. In this plan, Volkswagen and ARB prioritized ZEV infrastructure build-out in areas with high anticipated ZEV demand and around disadvantaged communities throughout California, noting the potential for significant decreases in air pollution as a result of this ZEV build-out.

In May, ARB requested additional information from Electrify America, including:

A more complete description of the 10-year vision for its ZEV activities.

More detail on the investment in disadvantaged/underserved communities in California.

An estimated percentage of investments in disadvantaged/underserved communities for each spending category.

A bilingual and culturally sensitive awareness campaign (including marketing materials) that will run in disadvantaged/underserved communities or in media that target or serve disadvantaged/underserved communities.

A discussion of Electrify Americas commitment to gather statistics on resulting workforce training of and employment recruitment from disadvantaged/underserved communities served by implementation of the investment plan.

More information about Electrify Americas planning partnership with state agencies that will include environmental justice representatives, electric utilities, and local agencies for the purpose of coordinating the process of siting and installing EV charger stations.

Specifics on key decisions and planning processes.

Acknowledgment that Electrify America received and read the public, Board, and stakeholder comments; a high-level description of how Electrify America considered the comments in drafting the plan supplement; and a description of how Electrify America will continue to incorporate public feedback into its process moving forward.

Potential investment in hydrogen fueling stations over the 10-year investment period.

Heavy-duty hydrogen projects, such as freight fleet or shuttle programs, in this or future plans.

The potential for siting plazas that allow for both charging and hydrogen fueling stations, including planning elements such as permitting.

Creditable cost estimates broken out by the twelve required categories for the entire 30-month spending cycle, and for each spending category of projects.

A further description of Electrify Americas structure and proposed business model.

A commitment to provide CARB information and data regarding the cost, utilization, and performance of each of the approved projects within each eligible investment category.

A description of how Electrify America will monitor and maintain each proposed ZEV Investment.

The submitted supplement is in response to the requests.

The supplement. Volkswagen took pains in the supplement to clarify what it termed a misunderstanding regarding the requirements and intent of the ZEV Investment Commitment included in Appendix C of the Consent Decree, as well as Electrify Americas plans within this space.

The court-ordered, legally binding settlements reached between California, the Federal Government, and VW will result in VW providing the State of California with $688 million, which the state can spend as it desires, on the priorities of state government, without regard to investment prerogatives. This includes $25 million that Volkswagen specifically agreed to provide to CARB for its programs to advance ZEV deployment in low-income and disadvantaged communities, as well as $423 million for the NO x Mitigation Trust, including contributions specified in both the 2.0 Liter and 3.0 Liter settlements.

 The Consent Decree explicitly directs that this funding should be spentby the State and the Trustee without any influence or control by Volkswagenon action that mitigates the impacts of NO x emissions on communities that have historically borne a disproportionate share of the adverse impacts of such emissions.

In contrast, in Appendix C, Volkswagen committed to make an $800 million investment which would advance the use of ZEV technology in the state of California, but, in the words of CARB Chairman Mary Nichols:

Appendix C, the ZEV investment settlement, is not either a civil penalty or mitigation. It does commit Volkswagen to investing $800 million in California on ZEV infrastructure, brand-neutral public awareness marketing, increasing access to ZEVs, and green city projects. So if done well, this investment will benefit Volkswagen in their new ventures into the ZEV world without a doubt. But it will also benefit equally, if not more so just based on numbers, the other firms and stakeholders that are involved in ZEV as well [CARB Hearing]. Supplement to the California ZEV Investment Plan Cycle 1

10-year vision. Electrify America is investing $800 million over the next 10 years in zero emission vehicle (ZEV) infrastructure, education, and access (including the Green City Initiative) to support the increased use of ZEV technology in California, representing the largest commitment of its kind to date.

Electrify America intends to build a long-term, economically-sustainable charging network that provides services beyond the 10-year consent decree window.

The first cycle of investment will focus on establishing the largest nationwide network of non-proprietary charging infrastructure, deploying high power charging stations capable of refueling a ZEV at 10-20 miles of range per minute.

The stations will be compatible with EVs from all major brands, not just those produced by Volkswagen Group brands. Multiple technologies (L2, DCFC) and multiple nonproprietary connectors and charging protocols (e.g., CHAdeMO, CCS) will be offered to maximize public access to Electrify Americas charging infrastructure.

These stations will be designed to be interoperable with other charging networks, pending agreements with other charging providers. They will be deployed in metro areas and along high traffic corridors where ZEV charging infrastructure is projected to be most in demand, utilizing an analysis-based approach.

Electrify Americas goal of an economically sustainable charging network will be easier to realize if the ZEV consumer market expands. According to the National Academy of Sciences and UCLAs Luskin Center for Innovation, current ZEV consumers are predominantly well-educated males, the majority of whom purchase a ZEV as a secondary vehicle. Regardless of infrastructure, ZEV cost of ownership is and will continue to be a barrier to adoption for low-income consumers, as more than 95% of ZEV vehicle models projected to be on the market between now and 2021 are projected to sell for $30,000 or more.

These demographic realities are issues that Electrify America will work to address through its brand- neutral education and awareness efforts, and active engagement with auto dealers and local stakeholders, including the environmental justice community, provides an important opportunity to address this challenge. Supplement to the California ZEV Investment Plan Cycle 1

One vision, two implementations. Although Electrify America has a single visionpresented in both the EPA approved plan and the pending California ZEV planthe two plans differ in implementations.
AK Steel signed an agreement to acquire Precision Partners Holding Company, a leading North American automotive market company that provides engineering, tooling, die design and hot and cold stamped steel parts, for $360 million in cash. Precision Partners is headquartered in Ontario, and employs more than 1,000 employees, including about 300 engineers and skilled tool makers, across eight plants in Ontario, Alabama and Kentucky.

AK Steel said that the acquisition advanced its core focus on the high-growth automotive lightweighting space and its position in advanced high strength steels.

Precision Partners specializes in the design and engineering of tooling and die making, and the stamping of complex, hard-to-manufacture automotive components, with a broad portfolio of highly engineered solutions.

The transaction is subject to customary closing and regulatory approvals in the US and Canada. Subject to the conclusion of the regulatory review, the closing is expected to occur during the third quarter of 2017. Credit Suisse is acting as financial advisor to AK Steel and Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP is serving as its legal advisor.
POLLOCKSVILLE  The wife of a North Carolina chief deputy has been arrested on multiple drug charges.

WITN-TV reports authorities say 42-year-old Amanda Taylor was arrested by the State Bureau of Investigation in Jones County. She is facing several charges, including two felony counts of trafficking opium/heroin.

The SBI confirmed that Taylor is the wife of Jones County Chief Deputy Matthew Wineman.

The arrest warrant says Taylor had 28 grams or more of opiates and conspired with 37-year-old Michael Foley Jr. on June 20. Foley was arrested along with another man that day and accused of stealing 12,000 pills from a pharmacy. Officials haven't said if Taylor had any connection with the robbery.

Taylor is jailed under a $500,000 bond. Her attorney didn't immediately return a phone call seeking comment on Monday.

___
GREENSBORO  The technical experts behind this years Fun Fourth fireworks show at First National Bank Field describe their bombs and bursts in surprisingly quaint terms: willows, chrysanthemums and dahlias.

Theres probably no point in having a technical name for an effect thats made to look like a flower or a tree. Still, itll be pretty. And loud. And pretty loud.

This is going to be 20 minutes of bam, bam, bam, said President and CEO Zack Matheny of Downtown Greensboro Inc., which is co-sponsoring the event. Its gonna be pretty spectacular.

If youve seen the Grasshoppers play, youve probably seen fireworks at the ballpark.

But tonight will be different. It will be a bigger, longer fireworks display with thousands of shots launched from two flatbed trailers in the outfield just after sunset  a departure from last years show that DGI staged just to the east of downtown.

Some of those fireworks were big six-inch shells launched hundreds of feet into the sky and visible for miles around.

In the confined space of the ballpark, the fireworks wont shoot higher than 250 feet. The people from a Pennsylvania company called Pyrotecnico plan to launch thousands of smaller shots in a fast-paced show.

This show is about triple one of our (regular) shows and we dont scrimp, said Donald Moore, the Grasshoppers president and general manager. Its a low-level, close-proximity show.

Which means you may not see it if you dont find a good view of the ballpark on a nearby street, a parking deck or, best of all, in a nice stadium seat.

The way the ballpark is situated, if youre standing on Greene Street you can see them, Matheny said.

Moore and Matheny started working in March to set up the $12,000 show with Pyrotecnico, one of the nations largest fireworks companies.

Moore said it wasnt easy to get a spot on the companys Independence Day schedule, but the Grasshoppers are a big customer so they had a little negotiating power.

On Monday night, Pyrotecnicos Ryan Mathis handled some very explosive fireworks.

But he could just as easily have been unloading detergent as he pulled small cardboard boxes off the back of a Ryder truck.

He and Chaz Adams were setting up Mondays fireworks for the Grasshoppers, connecting electric wires to fire charges to burn fuses on cakes of fireworks  those small boxes, topped with foil, that are set to go off in a variety of different sequences.

The boxes came with exotic names: Fan Crack Tail Mines, Blue Tail Titanium Gold Palm and Quick Thunder Silver.

Quick Thunder Silver, for instance, is like the name sounds  a loud boom with a silver flash.

Mathis said he can apply creativity along with technical expertise to stretch out or compress a display for different effects.

As a member of the Grasshoppers grounds crew backed up a John Deere utility vehicle to the trailer he prepped for Mondays show, Mathis mapped out his strategy on a computerized firing panel which allowed him to write a script of sorts.

Then, he used a plastic trigger-grip to send an electrical charge to the cakes and the rest was shock and awesome.

Tonight he plans to fire off the fastest-burning cakes for maximum effect.

Im gonna use all the quick cakes tonight to have a big, exciting finale, he said.
North Carolina Republicans appeared to fall just short in Tuesdays General Assembly elections of gaining large enough majorities to override Gov. Roy Coopers vetoes on their own. But their seat gains eroded further the Democrats ability to block bills on abortion and other highly contested legislation. The Senate GOP increased their seats to the number needed to have a veto-proof majority. But Speaker Tim Moore said that House Republicans were one seat shy of a similar threshold. Moore said Wednesday he's confident House Republicans can get help from Democrats in an override. But that could be more difficult on abortion restrictions, which Cooper and other Democrats campaigned against.
GREENWICH  Greenwich High School freshman Julia Blank traveled to the Capitol in March to tell legislators how her advanced classes made her a successful student.

The gifted program fostered my desire to learn and taught me focus and discipline I didnt know I had, Blank said before the Legislatures Education Committee in Hartford. Gifted education challenges kids to find what they are passionate about learning and gives them experiences they cant conceive in honors-level classes.

Blanks testimony paid off when on June 28, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy signed An Act Concerning Services for Gifted and Talented Students into law.

The new law, which took effect Saturday, authorizes the Department of Education to retain a gifted and talented specialist. It also calls for state guidelines to be developed to help districts with best practices and staff training by Jan. 1.

Greenwich has had an Advanced Learning Program, providing more challenging classes for students, since 1961.

We have the oldest established continuous program in the state, said Bonnie ORegan, Advanced Learning Program coordinator for Greenwich Public Schools. We are considered an exemplary program across the nation.

In 2016-17, Greenwich had 896 students in the ALP program, or approximately 19 percent of students in grades 2-8. Students test into ALP based on multiple criteria.

In other parts of the state, top students have not been so lucky, advocates say.

Gifted and talented students academic and social emotional needs have long been neglected by our state, said Bianka Kortlan-Cox, a vice president of the Connecticut Association for the Gifted and former Greenwich PTA Council ALP Committee chair. This law, putting gifted and talented education on the legislative map, will hopefully, with time, level the playing field for all gifted throughout the state.

Kortlan-Cox said while statistically 10 percent of all students fall into the gifted category, nearly one-third of Connecticut school districts fail to report any, despite a state law requiring them to do so. A majority of districts have no gifted programs or activities.

For too long, these students have been overlooked. said M. Rene Islas, executive director of the National Association for Gifted Children. His group once characterized Connecticut as one of the most inhospitable states for high-potential kids.

With the new law, Islas said Connecticut is taking an important step in recognizing the special needs of bright students, particularly those who are economically disadvantaged, from minority groups or who are learning English as a second language.

Advocates hope the attention will reduce the so-called Excellence Gap between the performance of high-income and non-minority students on standardized tests and their low-income and minority counterparts.

I think Greenwich has the chance to become a real leader when it comes to gifted education because we are the real example of what you can achieve when you have gifted programs, said Kortlan-Cox. We have the best gifted program in the state and thats because we have the funds and parents who advocate for these programs.

As a result of the new law, Greenwich and districts across Connecticut will be able to access resources on best practices in gifted education from the state Department of Education for free, Kortlan-Cox said. Until now, Greenwich Public Schools have turned to the Connecticut Association for the Gifted and the National Association for Gifted Children for these resources, but has had to do extra research to ensure the resources comply with state law and state standardized tests.

In addition, the new law will organize state-wide professional development on gifted education for teachers. Greenwich Public Schools has previously hired the Connecticut Association for the Gifted and other experts to bring this kind of training to its teachers.

The provisions within the bill will be a welcome resource, said ORegan, who also testified in favor of the bill in Hartford.

In 2015, in anticipation of the new law, the state assigned Gilbert Andrada as head of gifted education for the Connecticut Department of Education. State officials said a good-faith attempt would be made to ensure gifted education guidelines are developed, as well as a list of best practices.

Through Andrada, a survey developed in partnership with UConns National Center for Research on Gifted Education has been sent to all district superintendents seeking information on what is being done for gifted and talented students. The surveys are due by July 21 and results should be available in August.

emunson@greenwichtime.com; Twitter: @emiliemunson
A naked, pesticide-wielding Houston man who bugged out at a Metro stop got zapped by police - and it was all caught on camera.

The clothing-free frolic that ended in chaos started around 5 p.m. on June 6, according to Houston police. A man - who authorities later identified as 49-year-old Keith L. Dean - was allegedly spotted running around in the buff.

A concerned citizen called police to report the nude wanderer. Before officers arrived, the caller drove closer and gave the man a towel to cover himself. But in return, the naked man allegedly demanded the caller's watch and punched him in the face.

When police arrived, witnesses told them the suspect had hopped in the train with a can of pesticide spray he'd lifted from Metro's ground crew.

Officers tried to approach him - but he allegedly spritzed them in the face with the bug spray. After following instructions to put down the can, the man then slapped one of the cops in the face in a sudden outburst caught on camera.

The pair of police tasered the suspect - although initially that didn't seem to have any effect. After tasering the man a second time, he was taken into custody and hit with two counts of assault on a public servant.

Although the strange skirmish happened back in June, it didn't start attracting attention online until nearly a month later - and YouTube commenters praised the police for not escalating the situation further.

His attorney, Markay Stroud, said the video offers insight into what was happening.

"By watching the video it is clear that there is much more going on than a man intentionally committing a crime," Stroud said. "From the actions and demeanor of Mr. Dean to the professionalism shown by the officers who arrested him it is obvious Mr. Dean is not acting rationally. I hope that once all the evidence is reviewed by the State they will realize that Mr. Dean was not acting with malicious intent toward anyone."

Currently, Dean is being held in the Harris County jail on $5,000 bail for each count of assault on a public servant.
It turns out there was more to Motorolas event yesterday than the 360 Camera Mod  there was a total of six new mods for the Moto Z series.

The DSLR Mod allows you to attach lenses in front of a Moto Zs regular camera (there is no mirror as the name might suggest). Thats not going to be cheap, but ZEISS ExoLens products for smartphones are hardly cheap either ($150-$200).



Moto DSLR Mod

The company resurrected the ROKR brand in partnership with Marshall  the ROKR Moto Mod is a speaker by the legendary guitar amp maker. Then theres the Studio Moto Mod, which features a high-qality mic for recording. This is mod also bears the Marshall logo.



ROKR Moto Mod  Studio Moto Mod

Phone-based TV never became popular in Europe or the US, but is a common feature on Korean and Brazilian phones. And yet the DirecTV mod targets US users with the AT&T-run digital TV service. This could be related to the Moto Z2 Force for AT&T.



DirecTV Moto Mod  Action Moto Mod

Then theres the Action Mod, though the event glossed over that one so details are scarce. It seems that the mod will have its own camera that can rotate to shoot either the action or yourself.

Source (taken down) | Via
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Haiti - Health : Optimism at ministry that talks about elimination of cholera by the end of 2018





Haiti could eliminate the 7-year-old cholera epidemic by the end of 2018, according to Donald Francois, Head of the National Cholera Program of the Ministry of Public Health, as the number of cases declined sharply, according to figures from the Government and United Nations officials.



The Ministry of Health said that as of the beginning of the year 7,400 new suspected cholera cases were reported compared to nearly 20,000 for the same period last year.



"We have never seen so few cases [...] With the cases weve seen we think we can eliminate cholera by the end of 2018," says Donald Francois.



Ronald Waldman, a global health professor at George Washington University abounds in the same sense "The number of reported cases can certainly decline dramatically and even fall to zero. Most likely, though, there will continue to be a low-level number of cases, maybe seasonally, maybe year-round," adding that Haiti could expect periodic peaks of cholera during natural hazards, such as hurricanes.



HL/ HaitiLibre






















Haiti - Politics : Signing of the UN Support Framework (2017-2021)





On Friday, the Government of Haiti and the United Nations signed the framework that will guide UN support for the sustainable development of Haiti for the next 5 years. The 2017-2021 Sustainable Development Framework supports Haiti in its goal of achieving the status of an emerging country by 2030 and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It is the first Sustainable Development Framework signed between Haiti and the UN since 2008.



This Framework will guide the Government of Haiti's partnership with the UN over the next five years to accomplish the MDGs and achieve the status of an emerging country by 2030. The achievement of Haiti's development objectives, supported by this framework, will require an estimated financial resource mobilization estimated at more than one billion dollars (1.108) to make specific and measurable actions possible in 5 priority areas: basic social services, poverty reduction and employment, resilience, gender equality and governance.



This Haitian partnership with the UN recognizes the leadership and responsibility of the Haitian institutions and people as key players in advancing the country's development. In this regard, the United Nations also supports Haiti's efforts to be less and less dependent on humanitarian assistance and to increase the resilience of institutions and the population to external shocks and other potential humanitarian situations.



This new framework is the result of the joint work of the Government of Haiti under the leadership of the Ministry of Planning and the United Nations Country Team (including 19 agencies, funds and programs, and Minustah), to align with national priorities and determine how the United Nations can better support Haiti's efforts towards sustainable development. As a result, the document was conceived within the framework of the Strategic Plan for the Development of Haiti (PSDH) and the Program of Sustainable Development to 2030, signed by 193 countries including Haiti. This participatory process was enriched by consultations with public institutions, civil society, specialists from different ministries and universities, paying particular attention to the voices of youth and the most vulnerable groups in order to leave no one away.



Aviol Fleurant, the Minister of Planning and External Cooperation, said "The essential thing is to see with the United Nations, a framework in harmony with the SDGs. This new strategy is a good substitute for what has prevailed for almost a decade. The old instrument, geared to a particular environment, could not meet the requirements of a national development operation."



For his part El-Mostafa Benlamlih, the Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General and the UN Humanitarian Coordinator in Haiti, highlighted "The progress achieved through the combined efforts of Haiti and the international community in the areas of the rule of law nd stability, offer the opportunity to move from a situation of vulnerability to a phase of stability and prosperity that make the goal of Haiti more accessible by 2030 with a status of an emerging country [...]"



HL/ HaitiLibre






















Haiti - News : Zapping...





Motorcyclist against truck, 3 victims

Monday afternoon, a motorcyclist died in an accident on National Road #6 in Dilaire, commune of Ouanaminthe. 2 others were injured in the accident.



25 people intoxicated

Between June 30 and July 1, 25 people were poisoned at Anse d'Hainault after consuming fish ("bequine" fish) purchased from street conservators. Health officials at the Anse d'Hainaut community hospital have already taken care of these patients who suffer from headaches, abdominal pain, diarrhea and vomiting. The Hospital asks the population to respect the rules of hygiene and prudence not to consume this fish during the summer period.



Strike, paralyzed justice

On Monday, almost all activities were paralyzed at the Port-au-Prince courthouse as a result of a 5-day strike by the clerks and bailiffs of the 18 jurisdictions to demand better working conditions and payment of wage arrears.



Dominican senior officer sentenced for murder of Haitian

St. Therese Terlin Beloved, the Head of Mission of Haiti in Dajabon, informs us that Captain Ruben Antonio Leclerc Peralta of the Dominican army, was sentenced by the Court of First Instance of Monte Cristi, to 20 years of prison and 500,000 pesos of damages for having murdered on March 16, 2015 our compatriot Kesner Bataille.



Explanatory memorandum to the Finance Bill

Following the tabling Friday of the bill of finances 2017-2018 in the office of the Chamber of Deputies https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-21395-haiti-flash-tabling-in-parliament-of-the-draft-budget-2017-2018.html , The Office of the Lower House will invite Jude Alix Patrick Salomon, Minister of Economy and Finance, to present to the Assembly the reasons for the Draft Budget 2017-2018, announced Cholzer Chancy. This exercise will precede the transmission of the document to the analysis of the Commission "Economy and Finance". Cholzer Chancy hopes his colleagues will vote the draft budget before the second regular session of the legislative year that closes on 11 September 2017.



Report of the CSS this week

Roosevelt Bellevue, the Minister of Social Affairs and Labor, promised that the Salary Council (CSS) will submit its proposals on the minimum wage this week and also warns the contractuals of the Ministry that they will receive their salary this week.



PM met with an ACP delegation

On Monday, Prime Minister Jean Guy Lafontant chaired a meeting with the delegation of the Africa, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) group led by its Secretary General Dr. Patrick Ignatius Gomes, who reaffirmed the ACP's commitment to Haiti in the framework of of its cooperation with the European Union.



HL/ HaitiLIibre


















Published on 2017/07/04 | Source

Added episodes 15 and 16 captures for the Korean drama "Bad Thief, Good Thief" (2017)

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Directed by Jang Joon-ho, Oh Kyeong-hoon

Written by Cha I-yeong, Son Yeong-mok

Network : MBC

With Ji Hyun-woo, Seohyun, Kim Ji-hoon-I, Lim Ju-eun, Ahn Kil-kang, Jung Kyung-soon,...

50 episodes - Sat, Sun 22:00

Synopsis

A story of thieves who affect the authorities that manipulate Korea. It serves to bring satisfaction to those who are frustrated at the reality of the world.

Broadcast starting date in Korea : 2017/05/13

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Published on 2017/07/04 | Source

Added episodes 7 and 8 captures for the Korean drama "Secret Forest" (2017)

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Directed by Ahn Gil-ho

Written by Lee Soo-yeon-I

Network : tvN

With Cho Seung-woo, Bae Doona, Lee Joon-hyuk, Yoo Jae-myung, Shin Hye-sun, Choi Byung-mo,...

16 episodes - Fri, Sat 20:00

Synopsis

A prosecutor who's lost his emotions delves into the secret of the District Attorney's Office to track down the real criminal.

Broadcast starting date in Korea : 2017/06/10

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EWP and UKVA to merge to form one unified UK wine body

By Jo Gilbert

The two organisations responsible for representing the needs and interests of the UK wine industry are pooling their resources, it has been announced.

Today, the vote was taken to merge the United Kingdom Vineyards Association (UKVA) and English Wine Producers (EWP), into a united national trade body which will act as a single voice for British vineyard owners and winemakers.

It has been revealed that the name of the new body will be UK Wine Producers Ltd (UKWP), and will act under a newly appointed board lead by Simon Robinson, currently chairman of EWP.

Robinson, of Hattingley Valley Wines, said today that merger comes at a key point in the growth of the industry, and said that the next step was to build a rapport with policy makers in order to drive the industry forward.

The vote that our members have taken today demonstrates a proactive and shared optimism in the future of English and Welsh wines and the many opportunities that lie ahead for us all. There is lots of work to be done  not least to reinforce our position with government and to build on the many services that we can deliver to all members, he said.

He also pointed to future potential for the body to build a strong generic brand for English and Welsh wines alongside growing opportunities for tourism, exports, research and training.

The new body will represent wineries and vineyards of all sizes, and will cover all aspects of winemaking in England and Wales, including regulation, legislation, education, growing tourism, and promotion of the industry at home and abroad.

The vote was taken at each of the industry bodies AGMs earlier today (July 4), and the merger will go ahead officially in the next few weeks.

In the interim, UKVA and EWP will continue to function as separate bodies but work closely together within the new structure, representatives said.

As part of the merger agreement, a new board has been created to represent the body and its members. They are:

Simon Robinson (Chairman)  Hattingley Valley Wines

Peter Gladwin (Deputy Chairman)  Nutbourne Vineyards

Barry Lewis (Chief Executive)- Amber Valley Wines

Mark Driver  Rathfinny Wine Estate

Guy Howard  Giffords Hall Vineyard

Tim Ingram-Hill  Southcott Vineyard

Tamara Roberts  Ridgeview Wine Estate

Frazer Thompson  Chapel Down Wines

Bruce Tindale  High Clandon Vineyard
Bangladesh garment factory explosion kills 10, injures 50

A boiler explosion at a garment factory at Kashimpur in Gazipur district, near the Bangladeshi capital, Dhaka, killed 10 people and injured 50, officials said on July 3. The number still missing remained unclear as of July 4 an police said the search for more victims was ongoing. This is the latest fatal incident to affect the sector, one of the countrys biggest employers.

Stock image

The accident happened at a plant owned by Multifabs Limited, which supplies knitted apparel to clients in Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Russia, Spain, Netherlands and Britain, including to Littlewoods, one of Britain's oldest retail brands, according to its website.

Bangladesh's garment-making industry, the biggest in the world after China's, employs four million people and generates 80% of its export earnings.



Bangladesh's garment sector came under scrutiny after the collapse of a factory complex in 2013 that killed more than 1,100 people, and a fire at a garment factory in 2012 that killed 112 workers.


Source: Medical Fair Thailand

Indicative of Southeast Asias vibrant medical and healthcare industry and Medical Fair Thailands strong drawing power, the healthy increase in exhibiting companies this year particularly seen with the participation of first time national group pavilions from Canada, European Union, India, the Netherlands and Russia also reflects the growing international appeal of the exhibition. With the debuting countries, this is further proof that the regions promising medical and healthcare industry continues to gain the attention of many of the worlds leading economies.

First Secretary of the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Mr Bernhard Kelkes said: The Netherlands Embassy will participate at Medical Fair Thailand 2017 with a Holland Pavilion for the first time. The country offers state-of-the-art technological infrastructure, premium medical services, excellent medical expertise and a wide range of world-class hospitals at affordable costs.

In addition, Thailand is also a prominent hub for medical tourism, and this has also provided the impetus for companies looking to expand into the booming medical industry. Yearly, more than 2.5 million international patients travel to Thailand for a variety of treatments, ranging from general treatments like dental care and basic health check-ups to advanced procedures, such as stem cell treatment. The country has developed several biotechnology programmes to support the medical sector especially in alternative disease solutions for emerging diseases, re-emerging diseases and tropical diseases. Thailand offers plenty of opportunities for Dutch companies providing medical equipment and services or pharmaceuticals, Mr Kelkes concluded.

Medical Fair Thailand 2017 will also see its biggest Japanese contingent to date with over 70 companies from all over Japan, including group participations from Tokyo, Kobe, Osaka and Fukushima. Mr Shunji Iizuka, Director General of Commerce, Industry and Labour Department of the Fukushima Prefectural Government said: In June this year, Fukushima Prefecture signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Department of Industrial Promotion, Ministry of Industry, Thailand, with the aim of providing mutual support to the medical industry in both regions. For the first time, eight companies from Fukushima will hold a joint booth representing the prefecture to showcase their products and cutting-edge technologies. It signals that with this partnership, there will be more Japanese presence in Thailands booming medical market.

The rising middle class of Southeast Asia is tech-savvy and more aware of the need for quality healthcare. Adapting with the changing consumer demands, the exhibition will prominently feature two special highlights on Connected Healthcare and Rehabilitative Care. These highlights will showcase the latest innovations and solutions in remote healthcare, tele-health, wireless healthcare, living aids and many others.

For instance, Almex System Technology Asia will be conducting a product demonstration to showcase their newly improved hospital kiosks for self-registration and payment, and queue management system. These kiosks will automate enhance the efficiency of every aspects of a healthcare institutes reception operations by reducing waiting time and improving reception procedures. Lundal (Thailand) will exhibit the industrys first hydraulic lift-type backrest bed. The bed features a back rest portion that can be moved up or down by a handle lever, providing the healthcare staff and users a convenient rehabilitation equipment. While rehabilitation product provider Alexandave Industries will present the Asian debut of the ALDA Balance Gear, a wearable device that improves body balance with real-time evaluation and training guideline. Medical mobility aids manufacturer Wus Tech is also introducing to the Asian market-their best-selling life chairs, mobility scooters and power wheelchairs, all aimed at enhancing the quality of life for individuals with limited mobility.

Medical Fair Thailand 2017 will also be a gateway of knowledge for trade visitors. Conferences and forums featuring industry thought leaders will present the latest trends and future demands of the industry. Returning once again is the 3rd Advanced Rehab Technology Conference (ARTeC), which will take place from 6  7 September, with topics centred on technological solutions for the ageing population. Speakers from leading institutions such as MIT and Fujita Health University will discuss topics on robotic rehabilitation, sarcopenia in the elderly, neurorehabilitation and others.

Conferences and forums dedicated to technology such as the Digital Imaging in Radiology and Patient Safety conference and TMI CIO Forum will cover a wide array of topics such as risk management in Radiology IT, current network technology, Hospital IT Outsourcing, Emerging Information Technologies in Healthcare and many others. Reflecting on the importance of technology, Thai Medical Informatics Association President, Dr Choosna Makarasara, said: Technology has been changing the landscape of the medical industry rapidly, and it is only appropriate that the industry adapts accordingly to these shifts. What the TMI CIO Forum aims to achieve at Medical Fair Thailand 2017 is to provide CIOs with the necessary knowledge on how to manage the challenges of technology while at the same time integrating it to ensure greater efficiency and productivity.

With a strong showing from leading companies and industry experts, Medical Fair Thailand 2017 is the preferred healthcare platform for trade visitors as well as practitioners.

More information can be found at www.medicalfair-thailand.com.

Source: Medical Fair Thailand
He is reacting to Syrian journalist Alaa Ebrahims comment about more than 300 wounded Free Syrian Army fighters being treated at Israeli hospitals before being sent back to continue fighting against the Syrian government.

Salim Hudaifah, Political Representative of the so-called Free Syrian Army, repositions himself in his seat and pulls his head towards the microphone. He seems strangely uncomfortable in the soft white armchair. "That's not true! he shouts. Most of them were civilians!

Hudaifah and Ibrahim would probably not talk to each other in everyday life. They support different sides of a conflict that has torn Syria apart for more than six years. Amazingly, they have been brought to Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan, to sit a few meters apart from each other in a panel discussion.

In addition to Hudaifah and Ibrahim, the panel includes Abdullah Gul, the 11th President of the Republic of Turkey, Kairat Abdrakhmanov, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan, and Kayhan Barzegar, the Director of the Institute for Middle East Strategic Studies from Iran. To have all these people, with vastly different points-of-view on the same topic, in one panel is pure intellectual pleasure. Most probably, if this panel were in Europe, Russia, or Iran for that matter, half of the participants would not be welcome. This is how Kazakhstan has been able to make use of the difficult but rewarding role of middle ground. Eurasia at its best.

Kazakhstan has played a major role in trying to do the impossible job of bringing the Syrian conflict to an end. Piece by piece!

The President of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev, has been able to achieve much more than the UN, with its Geneva peace talks, and all the other international organisations put together. Iran, Russia, the Syrian government and rebel factions have been able to agree on de-escalation zones in Syria during their time in Astana, and have also made deals that will swap civilians that are under siege. Each of these developments has been a small yet significant step towards more dialogue and less violence. The formula of success is not a secret. What Kazakhstan and president Nazarbayev see as natural is to get ALL relevant parties around one table without bias and prejudice, in an environment where they are away from political game playing.

The Syria Panel was one of several events on the programme of the 14th Eurasian Media Forum held in Astana from 22-24 of June 2017.

The opening plenary session of this years forum, which was titled Changes in World Order: Building Bridges or Walls, explored the new reality of a multipolar world and the role or absence of leadership. Members of the panel were Leonid Slutsky, Head of the International Committee of the Russian State Duma; Jose Manuel Barroso, ex-Chairman of the European Commission from Portugal; Abdullah Gul, the 11th President of the Republic of Turkey; Bill Richardson, ex-Ambassador of the USA to the United Nations; and Gilead Sher, ex-Chief of Staff of the Prime Minister of Israel and noted former peace negotiator. Veteran TV host and journalist, Nick Gowing, served as panel moderator.

Barroso, having witnessed the birth and infancy of the European Union and known for dealing with leaders like Francois Mitterrand and Margaret Thatcher, does not believe that the quality of leadership has decreased dramatically in our present time. On average, leaders are not better or worse than before, he comments. Its not true that the great times are gone. An overload of information has changed the exercise of power dramatically. Matters of reputation could destroy a politician in a very short time.

Gul blames populism for the downfall of leadership: Populism makes leaders take decisions which are dangerous for the people. People are depressed for being left behind.

Richardson had a fresh and different view on the multipolarity of the new world. The world has become tripolar. In one pole are the democracies, in another are near-democracies like Russia and China, while a third contains non-state actors such as terrorist groups, NGOs and multinational companies.

Other panels in this years forum included discussions on a variety of topics, such as cryptocurrency, future energy, the secret of the Asian economic miracle, capital, labour and intellect, and even happiness!

Open dialogue and a reciprocal exchange of ideas have been the essence of the Eurasian Media Forum since its creation. We are forced to admit that global peace is still under threat and that mankind has not yet realised the priority between dialogue and armed contradiction, between accordance and bloodshed. So said Kazakhstans President Nazarbayev in his opening remarks to the very first Eurasian Media Forum in 2002.

The world was a different place then. The September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center were a few months old, and as a result the USA had invaded Afghanistan. George W. Bushs regime had started its rendition programme and was transferring prisoners to Guantanamo. Saddam Hussein was struggling to convince UN weapon inspectors that he had no weapons of mass destruction. NATO was finalising an expansion that led to seven eastern European countries gaining membership.

President Khatami of Iran, the other prominent opening speaker of the first forum, was on the same trail as Nazarbayev: The fact is that the world is at an historical crossroads of fear and hope. It fears the dominance of the language of force, coercion, and violence in international relations, as well as a regression to the pre-Cold War trend of using intimidation and terror in order to enforce unipolar domination.

Presidents Nazarbayev and Khatami could not have imagined how right they were in their worries. Wars in Iraq, Syria and Libya, as well as the financial and refugee crisis, were all to unfold in the near future.

The role and importance of dialogue can never be emphasised enough, and events like the Eurasian Media Forum are essential in providing the means and platforms for that. A valuable dialogue, however, is one in which thinkers of different opinions and backgrounds come together not only to talk, but also listen.

The Eurasian Media Forum, brainchild of President Nazarbayevs daughter Dariga, has been about exactly that for the last 14 years. The EMF has certainly put Kazakhstan on the map for top media professionals and intellectuals.

The 15th Eurasian Media Forum will be held in April 2018 in Almaty, the birthplace of the event. Videos of the panel discussions and forum masterclasses will be available online and are free to watch on www.eamedia.org

Alexis Kouros  HT
Helsinki is working intensely on an application to host the European Medicines Agency. We have had to take initiative because the state cannot make up its mind. The application period is about to end, he tweeted on Monday.

The City of Helsinki is intent on applying to host the headquarters of the European Medicines Agency (EMA), reveals Mayor Jan Vapaavuori (NCP).

The EMA, along with its staff of 900 highly skilled medical and pharmaceutical experts, is set to be re-located from the United Kingdom following the countrys withdrawal from the European Union. As many as 20 EU member states have declared their interest in hosting the headquarters due to its projected impact on the medical and pharmaceutical industry of the host country, according to The Guardian.

The Finnish government has launched its campaign to make the case for Finland. The country, it has argued, would be the ideal location for the agency due to its high-level of pharmaceutical expertise and pharmaceutical product development operations.

The government, however, has yet to specify which of the several interested cities it believes would be the best-equipped to host the EMA, which is tasked with ensuring all medicines available in the single market are safe, effective and of high quality.

Aleksi Teivainen  HT

Photo: Emmi Korhonen  Lehtikuva

Source: Uusi Suomi
KIDMORE End Pre-School has retained its good rating by education watchdog Ofsted.

The pre-school, which is based at the parish room in Wood Lane, was inspected earlier this year.

It was rated good in all categories including effective leadership, quality of teaching and learning, behaviour, welfare and personal development and outcomes for children.

In her report, inspector Helen Robinshaw said: The manager steadfastly pursues the highest standards of service across every area of the provision.

Attentive staff enhance childrens enthusiasm for learning through good quality interaction and skilful teaching. Staff work particularly well with teachers from the local primary school to prepare all children for their moves to any new school. Children know what to expect and that they can rise to new challenges in new places.

The inspector said the school could improve by engaging more effectively with parents and challenging their highest-achieving pupils.

Emma Hawker, the pre-schools business manager, thanked her staff.

She said: The inspector was highly complimentary about all our wonderful staff, describing them as sensitive, observant and responsive. I am so proud of the hard work, dedication and professionalism shown by all of our team.

The pre-school was last assessed in 2015.
David ONeill said drug was fake heroin to sell to junkies

A Crumlin man has avoided jail after escaping from a garda station where he was being questioned over a heroin seizure.

David O'Neill (27) claimed the heroin he had in his possession was not genuine and he wanted to sell "fake heroin to junkies on the street".

He had been caught with more than 3,000 worth of heroin which was hidden in his bedroom at a house on Hughes Road, Walkinstown.

O'Neill appeared before Dublin Circuit Court where he was to be sentenced after pleading guilty to being in possession of a drug with intent for sale or supply.

Nervous

He also pleaded guilty to unlawful escape from garda custody.

Giving evidence, Gda Michael Muldoon, of Sundrive Road Garda Station, told the court he stopped O'Neill in a white van outside the defendant's house on June 4, 2014.

Gda Muldoon said the accused appeared nervous and agitated, and concerns were raised about a number of medicine bottles in the vehicle.

O'Neill was detained in relation to a separate matter, and Gda Muldoon obtained a search warrant for the property.

Officers recovered a quantity of brown material in two plastic bags in O'Neill's bedroom during the search.

Analysis of the substance later determined it was heroin with a street value of 3,253.

Weighing scales and a tick list were also recovered.

The court heard that O'Neill claimed it was "fake heroin to sell to junkies".

While in custody at Sundrive Road, the defendant was being taken from a cell to an interview room when he fled out of a fire escape.

He was apprehended shortly afterwards on Crumlin Road by Gda Muldoon after a foot chase and returned to custody.

The court heard he was afraid he would be in custody "all night".

He also claimed that the heroin seized was "store-bought powder".

O' Neill had 46 previous convictions, the majority of them for road traffic offences.

He had one previous conviction for possession, dating from August 2009.

Defence counsel told the court that his client had been living a "chaotic life" at the time of the offence and had not come to "adverse garda attention" since.

Judge Patricia Ryan applied the Probation Act on condition that O'Neill engage in a number of programmes and with the employment services.
Chamberlain did not put up any resistance when arrested

A young man caught trespassing in an office block in Dublin's International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) had got in to smoke cannabis, a court heard.

Jamie Chamberlain (22) and another man were arrested after gardai found them in the building following a call from security.

Judge Kathryn Hutton adjourned the case against the defendant for three weeks to see if he was suitable to complete a period of community service.

Chamberlain, of Kildare Park in Crumlin, pleaded guilty to trespassing at Exchange Place in the IFSC.

Garda Adrian Cahill told Dublin District Court that the incident happened on March 30.

Gda Cahill said he responded to an intruder call and, when he arrived, he was told by security staff that two men had entered the premises as trespassers.

When they were stopped, the pair told gardai they went into the office block to smoke drugs. They were arrested.

Questioned by defence barrister Emmet Nolan, Gda Cahill agreed that the accused was co-operative and gave "no trouble at all".

Resistance

The court heard that Chamberlain had 19 previous convictions for public order, drugs, control of dogs and other offences.

"Mr Chamberlain and his accomplice were entering the building in order to consume cannabis and in the process committed the offence of trespassing," said Mr Nolan.

The court heard Chamberlain "did not put up any resistance" to the gardai.

The defendant was single and was living at home with his parents.

Chamberlain had suffered from a drugs addiction, which was evident from his previous convictions, said Mr Nolan.

He added that Chamberlain had struggled with both cannabis and cocaine in the past but had been clean for the past four months.

Chamberlain was on job seekers' allowance, the court was told.

Mr Nolan asked Judge Hutton to give the defendant credit for his guilty plea and to be as lenient as she could.

The judge adjourned the case to July 24 and said she would impose a 100-hour community service order instead of a one-month prison sentence if the defendant was found to be suitable.

He was not charged with any drugs offence.
Gardai are hunting for a number of suspects who robbed 50 televisions from a shop in west Dublin in the early hours of last Thursday.

The burglary took place at the DID Electrical store in Lucan Retail Park at about 1.50am. Gardai reported that a car with ladders on the roof and a black van entered the car park.

A number of suspects then proceeded to take approximately 50 TVs and a safe containing a small amount of cash from the premises.

Gardai are asking members of the public to contact them if they have any information, or if they are offered a TV for sale.

They are appealing for any witnesses who may have been in the area between 1.30am and 3.30am on June 29 to contact Lucan Garda Station on 666-7300.

They can also contact the Garda Confidential Line on 1800-666-111 or any Garda Station.

Information

A Garda spokeswoman asked members of the public who are offered a TV for sale in the Co Dublin area to contact gardai.

"During this burglary a number of TVs were taken and we would again ask the public to contact gardai if they have any information or are offered a TV for sale," she said.

When contacted by the Herald, a store spokesperson said that nobody was injured during the raid.
Associates of the Hutch mob are using reputable buy-and-sell websites to target sellers of second-hand vehicles - and a major Garda crackdown on the lucrative and violent car theft operation is now underway.

There have been about two instances a week in Dublin and other counties in which the junior Hutch gang members have stolen cars to order and terrorised people who had offered the vehicles for sale on websites such as DoneDeal.

Reckless

The cars are then sold to a north Co Dublin car trader, who is related to a close friend of criminal Gerry 'The Monk' Hutch, and who uses parts from the stolen cars for legitimate customers of his second-hand car business.

Separately, it can now be disclosed that one of the main criminals involved in the crimewave has been locked up for separate offences.

Sources say that the lucrative enterprise is being organised by an associate of cartel murder victim Noel Kirwan, who was shot dead in Ronanstown last December.

This volatile thug, who is aged in his 20s, is classified as one of the capital's "most reckless up-and-coming criminals".

He cannot be named for legal reasons, as he is before the courts on other charges.

The arrest of an older north inner city associate of the volatile criminal is seen as a major blow to the mob's activities.

Last night, a source outlined the gang's modus operandi and said that gardai were investigating a number of suspected cases linked to the mob across the capital and beyond.

"Typically, this crew would identify a car being sold on DoneDeal or similar websites," the source said.

"They would then meet with the person selling the car in a location such as a supermarket car park.

"After meeting the seller, they would ask to go on a test drive with the unfortunate person and, after a short spin up the road, they would produce a weapon and force the seller out of the car before driving off."

While one criminal would be involved in the violent theft of the car, another would act as a "spotter" for the organised crime scam. It has emerged that the stolen vehicles are then taken to a "chop shop" in north Co Dublin, where parts are extracted from the stolen cars to be used on other vehicles.

It is understood that the car trader pays the criminals about 2,000 for each stolen car that they provide for him.

The car trader is a relative of a long-term friend of under-threat criminal Gerry 'The Monk' Hutch.

This pal of 'The Monk' was previously suspected of involvement in some of his most famous alleged crimes, including a Brinks Allied heist in Clonshaugh in 1995 - in which a gang's seizure of IR3m in cash was a record amount at the time.

Robbery

The pal of Hutch is aged in his mid-50s and is suspected of being a driver in the massive cash robbery.

Because of his long-standing friendship with 'The Monk', he has been under threat from the rival Kinahan cartel as part of the capital's deadly feud.

Balbriggan gardai and officers from specialist armed units had been conducting almost nightly armed checkpoints at the "peaceful rural location" where he lives.
The number of people left waiting on trolleys in hospitals in the first half of the year was the highest on record.

Figures from the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) show 51,321 patients, who were deemed sick enough to be in a hospital ward, were on trolleys in emergency departments or other areas of hospitals in the first six months of this year.

The figures show that hospital overcrowding is at its worst level since records began more than a decade ago.

Hospitals that are in the grip of a rise in patients on trolleys include the Mater Hospital, Tallaght Hospital and St James's Hospital in the capital.

In the first six months of 2017, 1,836 people were recorded on trolleys in Beaumont Hospital, although this was down significantly on the 3,918 recorded in the same period in 2016.

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In the Mater Hospital, however, the figure waiting on trolleys has risen from 2,265 in the first six months of 2016 to 2,864 for the same period in 2017.

Tallaght Hospital recorded 2,616 people on trolleys in the first six months of 2017, up from 2,290 on the same period last year.

Meanwhile, in St James's Hospital, figures increased significantly from 749 in the first six months of 2016 to 1,425 in the same period of 2017.

This comes as A&E overcrowding is threatening to grip two of Dublin's busiest hospitals - despite the summer weather.

The HSE confirmed yesterday that patient attendances were up 34.4pc in the Mater Hospital and 11pc in Beaumont Hospital in May, according to their own figures.

Health Minister Simon Harris said yesterday that extra staff and beds are needed.

He said 700 new nurses have been hired since the beginning of the year and the target is to employ 1,208 more.

He is also carrying out a bed capacity review, which will be ready in September.

"The population is growing and we are seeing more and more older people and people with chronic illness attending hospital," he said.

The HSE set a target last autumn that no more than 236 should be on trolleys on any day. But, earlier this year, the numbers surged to 612 and, even though it is mid-summer, there were 249 waiting for a bed yesterday.

Fianna Fail health spokesman Billy Kelleher said: "Over the month of June, we saw daily reports of between 300 and 350 people on trolleys across the country.

"From the end of August, these figures will start to increase until we reach the middle of winter, when the figure will be closer to 650.

"Unless action takes place in summer and autumn, we will be back to square one again, with minister Harris wringing his hands in despair and saying next year will be better.

"The minister has been in office for over 12 months and is now approaching his second winter. The health system cannot cope with any further escalation in the number of people on trolleys.

"It's at breaking point, and it urgently needs a minister that comes to the table with solutions and not empty gestures."

This comes as it emerged yesterday prefabs to provide accommodation for patients on the grounds of some of the hospitals suffering record levels of A&E trolley gridlock may not be ready for the winter overcrowding surge.

The prefabs were promised as part of a series of moves to ease the ongoing trolley crisis.

Many hospitals are now locked in a constant "winter crisis" all year round.

Consultation

Questioned on how far ahead are the plans in hospitals for the much-needed prefabs, a spokeswoman for the HSE said: "There are no definitive plans at the present time in relation to the coming winter months."

Significant "engagement and consultation has and is being undertaken" and the use of prefabs will be considered.
BRISTOL, Va.  Newly chosen Mayor Kevin Mumpower on Monday outlined a new direction for the city that began with replacing the city manager.

The council voted 4-1 to name City Attorney Randall Eads as the new manager, succeeding Tabitha Crowder. Eads was also reappointed as city attorney.

Crowder was selected city manager in June 2014, replacing Dewey Cashwell. She joined the city in 2010 as director of the citys Public Works Department and maintained those responsibilities but is also out there.

The shakeup unfolded during a more than two-hour reorganizational meeting that included a closed session that lasted an hour and 40 minutes.

It was a comprehensive decision, Mumpower said of ousting Crowder after the meeting. The city is going in a direction different than what weve done in the past and we felt like we needed some different leadership to allow us to do that properly. I dont think its anything negative about the city manager. If you look at where the city of Bristol, Virginia is and where were going, with the issues the city has had, were going to look deeper into what got us to this point to make sure we can manage our way out.  We feel like Randall gave us the opportunity with his leadership, his legal experience and his business background to provide what we needed to take us forward.

After selecting Mumpower as mayor and Kevin Wingard as vice mayor, council went into closed session to discuss appointments and personnel. Crowder was called in for about 20 minutes, followed by Eads. When Eads returned, he and Crowder stepped into another room for several minutes.

When council returned, Councilman Doug Fleenor made the motion to select Eads as city manager with Wingard providing the second. Councilman Bill Hartley cast the lone dissenting vote.

Eads was then unanimously named city attorney.

Afterward, Eads said the manager appointment was a total shock and that Crowder had been a great asset.

Crowder could not immediately be reached for comment Monday.

Eads described his appointment as interim.

Ive never shied away from a challenge and this will be a tremendous challenge, Eads said. Its a transition period for the city, a transition period for the employees and Im here to make that transition go smoothly. I want it to go smoothly and I want the citizens and the employees to know my goal is to make this city the best it can possibly be. I want to do this over the interim period  however long it takes for a city manager to be named.

Council didnt apply the interim tag during the meeting but, afterward, Mumpower said it is appropriate.

Its understood to be an interim for a couple reasons, Mumpower said. Randall has to have some time to understand what needs to be done over the next several months and we need to give him that time. If he gets in there and shows he understands it  the problems and the direction is very clear to him and he feels like he can accomplish it  the interim would go to a more permanent. It really depends on Randall and how well he does.

Council also selected Pam Venable to very temporarily fill the city clerk role shes performed for the past couple of years. Venable is leaving the citys employ on Friday after 17 years of working in its accounting department, so another clerk will have to be chosen at the councils July 11 regular meeting.

After the meeting, Mumpower outlined a number of real important objectives he hopes to complete in the months ahead.

They include a financial policy with more internal controls, policy on managing debt, managing disbursements and a review of all city contracts.

We will put out RFPs [requests for proposals] to do a financial audit of the city, going back several years and also a very thorough legal audit on contracts to make sure we understand exactly where we are legally and financially, so the decisions we make going forward are good ones, Mumpower said.

He also wants the city to act on its recently completed comprehensive plan.

One of the objectives is to establish five pretty solid goals that they [city staff] accomplish this year and they report how they do against those goals so the comprehensive plan is a true working document and we dont just lay it aside and talk about it, the mayor said.

Mumpower also wants the city to change the way it projects revenues and work more closely with the commissioner of revenues office  including generation of quarterly reports  to get those numbers.

Its very important for a city of any size to know how your revenues are looking -- not just for a few months but the next few years  so youve got to do some estimated projections, he said. Mumpower has repeatedly criticized retiring Commissioner Terry Frye for not providing timely information. Frye has repeatedly said some of the information Mumpower wants cant legally be shared with the council.

City leaders also intend to be more involved in economic development efforts, work more closely with the business community, adjoining governments and state lawmakers, Mumpower said.

The city cant do this by themselves so were looking to see if we can get surrounding municipalities and counties to partner with us so we promote this area as a region, so we do regional economic growth. That will be an interesting process, I think, but its important, Mumpower said. Were a small city and we dont have large leverage in terms of recruiting certain types of businesses. We need to work together to do that.
Northeast State Community College's cardiovascular technology programs recently earned reaccreditation from the Joint Review Committee on Education in Cardiovascular Technology, according to a news release.

The invasive and non-invasive CVT programs prepare students for a career in the healthcare field with special emphasis in cardiovascular catheterization labs and echocardiography labs.

A peer review conducted on site earlier this year by JRC-CVT proctors graded the programs' compliance with nationally recognized accreditation standards, according to the news release. The review was conducted in February at the Regional Center for Health-Professions building on the Northeast State at Kingsport campus. The committee notified the department of the accreditation earlier this month.

The Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs awarded continuing accreditation to both the Invasive and Non-Invasive Cardiovascular Technology programs at Northeast State. Upon completion of the review, all program areas complied with JRC-CVT standards with no deficiencies noted.

Cardiovascular Technology focuses on the diagnosis and treatment of patients with cardiac and peripheral vascular disease. Invasive Cardiovascular technologists assist in invasive cardiovascular catheterization and related procedures in laboratories of medical facilities. Non-Invasive/Echocardiography technologists assist in echocardiography and exercise stress testing in laboratories of medical facilities.

Northeast State is one of only two colleges in Tennessee to offer a CAAHEP-accredited program in this healthcare discipline. The next comprehensive evaluation of the colleges CVT program and on site review is scheduled to occur no later than 2027.
As we celebrate the declaration of our independence from the British empire, it is important to remember the history behind the holiday. While much of the focus is on BBQ, ball games and fireworks, it is important to reflect on the real meaning of the day.

July 4th is not just a day on the calendar or a day off from work. It is a date that marks a seminal event, not just in our history, but in the history of the world. The establishment of the American nation was unique in that it was the first nation in history to be about more than just blood and soil.

America is an idea as well as a concrete place and a distinct people. Our American revolution was not just a war against a tyrannical government. It was a revolution to become the embodiment of Enlightenment ideas. A nation dedicated to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness was revolutionary in every sense of the world.

And Tennessees role in securing this nation was a critical one  and one worth remembering.

While Tennessee was not a state at the founding of our nation, the region that would be become Tennessee was born in rebellion. Before independence had been declared, the British issued the Royal Proclamation of 1763 which stated that any settlement west of the Appalachian Mountain Chain was prohibited. Despite this edict, a few brave settlers put down roots in the land which would become our state.

The Watauga settlement, known as the Watauga Association, was the first free government in Tennessee. While it did not last long, the Association joined the fight against the British.

British Loyalists had given an ultimatum to the frontiersman living in the Appalachian Mountains: lay down your arms or their army would lay waste the country with fire and sword. The early Tennesseans refused  and the rest, as they say, is history.

One of Tennessees greatest heroes, John Sevier, made his name during the Battle of Kings Mountain fighting the British empire and the tribes loyal to the crown. Tennessees founding fathers and those of America were cut from the same cloth.

And on this day above all others, we should be proud of this history.

This day commemorates the first time in human history that a nation was organized not by race or ethnicity but around common ideals. What it means to be an American is not something passed on through our genes. It is something learned and taught. It is carried on in every Americans heart and mind.

Human beings want to be free. The founding of our nation made the dream of true freedom possible. We must remember today not only who we are and where we came from but what the existence of the American nation means to the world.

While many across the globe share our ideas and wish us well, there are those who oppose the very idea of America and wish to see it destroyed. These forces come both from within our own borders and from without.

We must keep the spirit of 1776 alive. We must remember and celebrate our proud history and heritage. The cause of freedom depends on it.
Nearly 80 PA people have been charged for Jan. 6 riot. Three are dead.
Theres nothing like breaking through a brick wall on the family tree.

I had one of those spine-tingling discoveries recently, thanks to Ancestry.com. That online service touts millions of records on-line. Information is digitized and uploaded regularly, so it helps to check back often.

A couple of weeks ago I logged on and proceeded to spent two days in 17th and 18th centuries. Thats how addictive genealogy can be.

Ive never been to New Marlborough, Mass., in the present day, but Ive definitely visited the village in 1771. I imagine the clapboard houses and white church steeple nestled in the Berkshires. In my minds eye, theres a town square with sheep grazing on the green, maybe a hat makers shop with a painted sign out front, and a tavern with a pewter flagon over the door. Men pass by in tri-cornered hats, ladies in sweeping skirts with pinafores and caps not unlike the outfit Ive worn for DAR re-enactments.

One of the passersby is my fourth-great grandfather, Jedediah Hoyt, who has just buried his wife, Anna Raynsford Hoyt. Apparently Jedediah is less than enchanted with life under the British crown. Five years later hes a sergeant in the Continental Army.

I sit at my computer, calling up searches to complete this story. I find Annas parents in Canterbury, Conn., a few miles from New Marlborough. Sure enough, there are Nathan Raynsford and his wife Esther, having baby Anna, baptized in 1743.

I tap into Nathans will, visible in 18th-century handwriting, thanks to digital images.

I trace Annas great-great-grandfather, Thomas Gardner, and learned that he arrived in 1624 as a young Englishman with the Dorchester Company, a group of merchants who pooled their money to make money in the Massachusetts Bay Colony.

Fourteen brave fishermen landed on Cape Ann and set up an outpost now called Gloucester, Mass. Their leader was Thomas who, like the others, was motivated by the profits from dried salted cod and herring.

I think of the voyage in an un-stabilized boat, the seasickness, the danger of capsizing, storms, fires on board, the danger of running out of food or fresh water, encountering pirates, contracting disease, suffering accidents and life-threatening infections.

Once in Massachusetts, mere existence was tough enough without Puritanical restrictions. Those unforgiving Massachusetts church leaders we idolize at Thanksgiving did what they could to make the Dorchester fishermen conform.

They cut down a Maypole that the settlers had erected on the green. Some were sent back to England for reading an Anglican prayer book. So much for religious tolerance!

This isnt to say that every session on Ancestry is successful. My recent good fortune was discovering documents that I hadnt seen before or had heretofore ignoredthose meticulous New England town records that have survived for nearly 400 years.

Which brings me to my next point. Colonial diaries, ships logs, contracts and other documents make the family search a bit easier than later periods when settlers scattered hither and yon.

Thats how I nailed these Raynsfords. In fact, Edward, Annas other great-great-grandfather, was elected deacon at First Church, Boston. I can picture him in his black pilgrim hat and wide collar.

In 1668, 20 years before the Salem witch trials, Deacon Edward got into a kerfuffle with the new preacher in town. That minister was none other than Rev. John Davenport, my 10th great grandfather on another family line.

I imagine the forthright minister and the cantankerous deacon arguing over theology thats footnoted in history books today. Eventually they died were buried in the same graveyard: Kings Chapel, Boston. Their 17th-century gravestones can be viewed online too.

Oh, and by the way, I will give a genealogy how-to workshop at 10 a.m. Aug. 26 at the Catawba County Library in Newton.

The presentation is free and open to the public. Its sponsored by the John Hoyle Chapter, DAR. Preregistration isnt necessary. Just show up with your curiosity and a notebook.

Tammy Wilson is a writer who lives near Newton. You may contact her at tamra@tamrawilson.com.
NEWTON  You dont have to go far to find links to the birth of the United States, a piece of history, dating back to the American Revolution in Catawba County.

Inside a display case in the countys History Museum in Newton, there is a weathered, scarred bullet mold, and not far from it is an elegantly decorated powder horn. Also, catching the eye as soon as you turn a corner, a pristine British Militia officers dress coat is on display; the historic relics are from the Revolutionary War era.

While the American Revolution would become a global conflict with the colonies along with their allies  the French, Spanish and eventually the Dutch  facing off against the British, these three museum artifacts remind people how personal any war is for everyone it touches.

In the region surrounding what is now Catawba County, the war became a brother versus brother, neighbor versus neighbor conflict starting with the hanging of 17-year-old Isaac Wise in 1776 for supporting colonial independence and culminating in 1780 with the Battle of Ramsours Mill less than 25 miles south of Hickory.

Pieces of history

The British officers coat (acquired in 1985) and bullet mold (1996) were donated by Stephen L. Lovekin, a former member of the military who retired in Catawba County. The powder horn (1986) was donated by Charles Pope.

These two individuals approached our museum and said these objects are important, and theyre early, Historical Association of Catawba County (HACC) Executive Director Amber Clawson Albert said. For a county that wasnt established until 1842, even though there were people here, its really significant.

Albert said the rarity of having a British Militia Officers dress coat is significant enough, but the added fact of its exceptional condition means the item is a true treasure of history for the museum and Catawba County.

The museum learned the reverse of the buttons have an imprint proving they were made in London around 1780. The design of the coat is a version of 1786.

One of the reasons its in such good condition is not only because it was stored for so long but because it was a dress coat, it didnt necessarily make it onto the battlefield, Albert said. Its important to our guests because its so personal, if you think about a person wearing this.

To think about someone wearing this at one of their proudest moments or, as the losing side, one of their hardest moments, is significant.

The iron bullet mold would have had a much different history as a much more utilitarian item.

It would have been carried in a pouch so that on the go, in between battles, theyre actually creating their ammunition, Albert said. They were melting what they could as they went.

The powder horn is equally as useful but as elegant in design because of the artwork the owner carved onto it, which displayed a proud loyalty to Great Britain and the king. The designs included the British coat of arms, portrait of King George III and Scottish thistle.

All three of these artifacts would have been part of the landscape in North Carolina during the American Revolution.

The British Militia officers dress coat certainly represented everything Isaac Wise stood against when he refused to align himself with the British (Tory) cause, which his own father staunchly supported, according to, A History of Catawba County, published by the Catawba County Historical Association.

After declaring his support for American independence, Wise was captured by loyalist to the British crown near the home of Pioneer Simon Haas. Wise was hanged on a tree near Haas homestead, two miles southeast of Newton, according to, A History of Catawba County.

Wise is buried at Haas Cemetery off Prison Camp Road in Newton. It is maintained by the Historical Association of Catawba County and St. James Lutheran Church.

The bullet mold and powder horn were certainly items both patriots and loyalist would have had on them in June of 1780 near Ramsours Mill in Lincoln County.

Cornwallis eyes Carolinas

British Commander Lord Charles Cornwallis, with an army of 8,345 men, had his sites on North Carolina after securing South Carolina and Georgia with the American surrender of Charleston, S.C., according to the Encyclopedia of North Carolina.

Cornwallis had two American officers, Lt. Col. John Moore and Maj. Nicholas Welch, who began recruiting local British loyalists to help secure the state. They eventually gathered 1,300 men from the surrounding counties.

American General Griffith Rutherford ordered Col. Francis Locke of Rowan County and Maj. Robert Wilson of Mecklenburg County to assemble a force to meet the oncoming threat, according the Encyclopedia of North Carolina. They were able to gather 400 colonial troops.

They hiked over night and surprised the forces at daylight in a fog  thus devastating the loyalist forces in the region and killing the support for the upcoming Cornwallis visit to Western North Carolina, Paul Beatty, a board member emeritus of the Historical Association of Catawba County, said. The importance of this is understated in the history of the region.

When the battle was over, there were more than 70 dead and 200 wounded between the two sides.

Among those lying on the field of battle was Grace Bowmans husband, American Capt. John Bowman. They moved to the Catawba Valley from Virginia in 1775 and both were strong supporters of independence from the British, according to information at the History Museum of Catawba County.

Grace Bowman also was skilled in making gun powder that she used to supply American militias in the surrounding area during the war. When she heard about her husband being wounded during the battle, Grace rode 25 miles to the site with her 15-month-old child.

The American victory at Ramsours Mill helped fuel an even bigger success for the patriots in the Battle of Kings Mountain in South Carolina on Oct. 7, 1780, which essentially cut North Carolina off from the British.

A year later, Cornwallis would see his time in the war and the war itself in the former British colonies end with his surrender in Yorktown, Va., to the combined forces of Gen. George Washington and the French.

The museum helps bring the Revolutionary Era to life for children, allowing them to dress as a Patriot, Red Coat or as Betsy Ross. The costumes are courtesy of the Hickory Tavern Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution.

The History Museum of Catawba County used to be part of county library in the 1950s until it burned in 1952 and all of the museums collections were lost along with all of the librarys holdings.

Since 1952 the (Historical) Association really had to build up its collection from scratch, which really began in earnest in the eighties by executive director Sydney Halma, Albert said. He was getting the word out, making connections, getting artifacts as old as the bullet mold and as recent as wheelchairs from the Polio hospital.

Along with the Haas Cemetery, the HACC helps maintain the Bunker Hill Covered Bridge, another site connected to the American Revolution.

For more information about the History Museum of Catawba County, visit catawbahistory.org or call 828-465-0383. The museum is located at 30 N. College Ave. in Newton.
The Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin) (SBM(G) has accomplished a lot. Building on the erstwhile Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan, SBM (G) has led to 2 lakh villages being declared open-defecation-free (ODF), and the construction of more than 40 million household toilets. There is increasing momentum to reach the missions goal of an ODF India by 2019. Still, there is much work to be done. About 60 million households in rural India do not have access to a toilet and four lakh villages are not yet ODF.

Given the sheer ambition of the goal, it is clear the government cannot do it alone. Financial institutions (FIs) have an important role. Even with SBM (G)s incentive (Rs 12,000 per household), financing remains a barrier for households. Many households are not eligible for the incentive because their income is too high or because they have already used a previous sanitation incentive. Other households want a toilet which costs more than the Rs 12,000 incentive. Lastly, many times the incentive is not paid until much after construction, and so households need a way of financing toilets in the meantime. Our recent research with rural households in Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh shows that there is indeed widespread demand for sanitation loans.

FIs, ranging from public sector banks, to new challenger banks, to MFIs are already lending in the sanitation space (albeit in a limited way). Banks such as Punjab National Bank (in partnership with India Post Payments Bank) and IDFC, as well as MFIs like Grameen Koota, CashPor, Guardian, and Satin have recognised the opportunity sanitation lending represents. DFIs like the Asia Development Bank are collaborating with banks like Janalakshmi to increase lending for toilets. For many of these banks, sanitation lending is an opportunity to tap a new market for lending and is a customer engagement and retention strategy. The government has recognised the importance that FIs could play in the SBM, and the programme guidelines give government at all levels the ability to work more closely with FIs.

Two years ago, sanitation became a priority sector lending (PSL) category, and the RBI relaxed rules allowing MFIs to lend more towards non-income generating activities. While good first steps, this has not unlocked capital for the sanitation lending space. Our analysis says current lending in the sanitation space is less than Rs 700 crore whereas the potential is nearly Rs 80,000 crore. Our research also shows that two additional regulatory changes could be game-changers for unlocking this market.

There has been little priority sector lending (PSL) lending for sanitation. Many banks find it difficult to fulfil their PSL requirements, and the sanitation lending market seems too small to meaningfully help them reach their PSL targets. Ticket sizes of sanitation lending are too small because there is only limited, though growing, lending in the space. One solution is to put a sub-limit in place which requires commercial banks to allocate some of their PSL towards sanitation. A 1% sub-limit for sanitation would unlock some Rs 90,000 crores for the sanitation lending.

Another option is to use an incentive based approach where water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) related lending is given a higher weight in PSL. For example, every 1% a bank willingly lends for WASH could count as 1.5% towards the banks total PSL requirements, up to a cap of 5% (the cap reduces the likelihood of banks abusing the policy). Thus, a bank that lends 3% towards sanitation would have that lending count as 4.5% towards PSL. The advantage of weighting is that it incentivises rather than forces banks to lend. It would allow banks that are more efficient and better able to lend towards sanitation to be the ones who lead sanitation lending. Voluntary participation means that there will be less resistance from banks. We recommend this as a temporary measure to align with the push for sanitation under SBM. The RBI may revisit this in two years time.

Another good solution is raising the limit on MFI lending for sanitation. Even though the RBI has allowed MFIs to allocate up to 50% of their lending towards non-income generating lending like sanitation, on average more than 90% of MFI portfolios are still for income-generating loans. MFIs can only make two loans to any given customer, and customers can only take up to Rs one lakh in debt.

For many MFIs and their customers, income-generating loans take precedence, and so they will first lend as much as possible for income generating purposes up to the current limit. This leaves not enough room for sanitation lending, even if the MFI finds it profitable and customers could afford it.

The RBI could allow a temporary exception on limits for sanitation lending. For example, customers could be allowed to take up a loan of up to Rs 25K for sanitation, that would not count towards the two-loan limit from any one MFI and the Rs one lakh from all MFIs. This will incentivise both consumers and MFIs to prioritize sanitation loans. This should also be a temporary change that the RBI may revisit in two years time.

If India is to achieve its ambitious goals under SBM, it will need the support of everyone in the country. FIs have an important role to play, and many are ready to do so. A few changes to existing regulations would go a long way in unlocking bank capital for improving sanitation in India.

Kishan Shah and Varad Pande are consultant and partner respectively at Dalberg, a strategic advisory firm focused on social impact, including water and sanitation.

The views expressed are personal
It is hard to find a single phrase that captures the mood of educated Indian Muslims today. On the one hand, there is no obvious threat to their safety. There have been few communal riots over the last three years. There has been nothing as divisive as LK Advanis Rath Yatra which sharpened anti-Muslim sentiment.

And when the Prime Minister does speak about communal issues, it is hard to fault anything he says, such as his recent reproach to gau-rakshaks who resorted to violence.

And yet, judging by the Muslims I have spoken to or interviewed on TV, there is a sense of discomfort, anxiety, uncertainty, and yes, insecurity. Many Muslims feel that something has changed in India over the last two years or so. And they worry that these changes, while creeping at first, will eventually transform the environment they live in forever.

One obvious reason for their discomfort is the beef agitation. This is not a new issue  it also flared up in the 1960s - but the fear is that this avatar of the agitation has less to do with worshipping the cow and more to do with targeting Muslims.

Most Indian Muslims are not great beef-lovers. Beef is not the primary meat in such great cuisines as Awadhi and Hyderabadi. The people who do eat beef fall into two categories. The first is Christians, in Kerala, Goa and the North East. These people have less reason to worry  the BJP has already announced that it has no love for North Eastern cows.

It is the second category that needs to worry: those on the margins of Indian society, the Dalits and Muslims who cant always afford chicken or goat and eat beef only because it is cheaper.

But all Muslims are now regarded as beef-lovers. And never before, even during the heated cow slaughter agitation of the 1960s, have Indian Muslims felt that their personal safety is under threat because of a food most of them dont like.

A prominent Muslim intellectual who is a friend told me about some relatives who were deprived of meat (goat) because their butcher had shut shop. They asked my friend if he could bring some for them. My friend agreed.

But then, he began to worry. Supposing his car had an accident? Supposing he was stopped along the way? If they found him carrying meat and discovered that he had a Muslim name, they would claim he was transporting beef. His life and safety could be at risk.

Such fears may strike Hindus as exaggerated and unrealistic. But such is the mood within the community that every Muslim I have told the story to, says they know exactly how my friend feels. Nor are these the only issues that worry them.

Most educated Muslims feel no particular kinship with Kashmiri Muslims. And many hate Pakistan, holding it responsible for many of their troubles. (If there was no Pakistan, then it would be harder to say that Indian Muslims had extra-national loyalties). They despise the mad mullahs. And they believe that practices such as triple talaq are medieval.

And yet, as they watch TV debates night after night, they begin to get increasingly uncomfortable. Is triple talaq really the biggest issue of our times or is it just another way of portraying Muslims as barbarians? Is the constant abuse of Pakistan a coded way of expressing communal anger against an acceptable Muslim target? The situation in Kashmir is tragic but complex. Do we need to see it mainly in Hindu-Muslim terms?

Much of this has less to do with the government and more with a mood of Hindu triumphalism, which the ratings-hungry media are eager to monetise. Indian news TV sees the world in black and white. So the Muslim position will be represented by some irrelevant mullah who will shout, on camera, at some equally medieval saffronite lout.

All this makes Muslims uncomfortable. Some Muslims wonder if this is just the beginning. With the public mood so ugly and the discourse poisoned beyond belief, will the attacks now move closer home? Will the focus shift from beef and talaq to the very patriotism of Indian Muslims?

Perhaps these fears are groundless. Perhaps things will die down. But to ignore the concerns of our single largest minority would be a mistake: India is built on the belief that we are all equal.

These days, however, you could be forgiven for thinking that India is a Hindu country where Muslims are welcome as long as they behave themselves.

The views expressed are personal.

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Heres why its a good time for the Indo-Israeli relationship to come out of the closet.

No other country has been given the sort of access to the Indian national security apparatus as Israel. Whether it is the countrys advanced weapon systems, counterterrorism, cybersecurity and even the nuclear arsenal  Israeli agencies and firms are there. At some point, what was common knowledge to everyone, including the Arab world, would have to receive an official stamp of approval.

But that is happening this week, with Prime Minister Narendra Modis state visit to Israel, partly because of an unusually conducive external environment.

One is that enmity to Israel is now overshadowed by the other battles tearing apart the Arab world. Just count them. There are the civil wars in Syria and Iraq that are being fought on roughly Shia-Sunni lines. Theres the larger struggle for Persian Gulf mastery between Tehran and Riyadh. Lets not forget the divide between the Muslim Brotherhood and the Arab monarchies and military rulers. And then there are the on and off interventions of Turkey, the United States and most recently Russia.

Some of the Arab governments concerned are not above trying to get Israel on their side. Saudi Arabia, for example, has been hoping Israel will use its famed air force to take out Irans nuclear weapons facilities. Even the Islamic State has avoided attacking Israel as its prime enemies are the Syrian and Iraqi regimes. Israeli officials say when Islamic State shells hit their soil, they often receive an apology from the local IS fighters. As a former Israeli national security advisor, Yaakov Amidror, wrote, The radical Sunni groups on the northern and southern borders pose no immediate threat, and while they may deliver unpleasant surprises, they have more immediate enemies to fight.

Two, New Delhi is in a position to manage its relations with the countries still hostile to Israel. Turkey, for example, switched from being a close friend of Israel to being an enemy and, most recently, to one of tense neutrality. Despite Modis predilection for Israel, Turkish President Recep Erdogan made it a point to visit India this year because of Turkish desire to enter the Indian market. Iran, like Turkey, has taken up anti-Israeli stances largely to win support among Arabs or shore up its Islamicist credentials.

Again India is unconcerned. As the Iranian ambassador to India said recently at a gathering, Iran will not dictate to India who it should be friends with and India should not allow its friends to dictate its relations with Iran. In other words, Indias relations with Israel and Iran will run on independent tracks  and Tehran accepts that.

Three, the Palestinian nationalist cause is an international orphan. The dominant strand, led by the Muslim Brotherhood inspired Hamas, is too Islamicist for New Delhi to stomach. The Brotherhoods rhetorical support for Kashmiri insurgents has not won it points. The secular nationalists, which rule the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank, are in an uneasy embrace with Israel  driven by a common opposition to Hamas.

India wont be budging on its support for a two-state solution. But Modis visit officially breaks any link between Indias relations with Israel and its relations with Palestine. Given how many West Asian governments have frozen out the Palestinians or even turned hostile, India actually comes out looking well.

Four, India has more diplomatic leeway because a number of Arab states seen it as a major geopolitical player. With Washington in Never-Never Land, Beijing too far away and Russia having tainted itself by allying with Iran, many Arab countries are looking for other external players to help stabilise their region.

The United Arab Emirates is among those who has anointed India as the geopolitical. Saudi Arabia and Qatar are also wooing New Delhi. Arab leaders from afar as Morocco and Oman to have come to India in the past few years attracted by Indias market and Modis political strength. None have cared what the prime minister thinks about Israel.

Modi believes India has become important enough to no longer hide what it actually believes. As a senior Indian diplomat said, The prime minister believes India can afford to bat with its front foot forward.
A woman sits on a classroom bench in Kolkata writing on a sheet of paper, a middle-aged woman with a bag full of purchases stands next to a butchers shop, a young woman poses in front of India Gate in New Delhi What strikes you as a bit weird is that the women are all wearing cow masks.

These images are part of Delhi-based photographer Sujatro Ghoshs (23) ongoing Instagram series where he highlights how womens safety is secondary to topics like cow vigilantism, lynching and peoples eating habits. We are living at a time when cows are protected but women are not. Issues pertaining to womens rights are suppressed while everyone is focussing on political concerns. Whats happening to our country? questions Ghosh.

Ghosh wanted to showcase how women are not safe in public spaces. (Photo courtesy: Sujatro Ghosh)

While Ghosh images feature women wearing a cow mask (picked up in New York during one of his trips), he is quick to clarify that his series is secular and not a critique on the political scenario in the country. This is a deep-rooted issue; the problem of womens safety has always been there. The photos were shot at different spaces (trains, at home, in the market, at tourist spots) to show how they are not safe anywhere, says Ghosh.

During the shoot, Ghosh recalls, there were curious glances from people, but no one came up to ask what he was doing. Once the images were uploaded, however, he started receiving death threats. But Ghosh chooses to remain unfazed. I dont take them seriously. This project is for the greater good, he says.

A post shared by Sujatro Ghosh (@sujatroghosh) on Jun 22, 2017 at 8:33am PDT

Ghosh funded the project from his savings but is now looking to crowdfund his journeys. So far, he has shot in Delhi and his hometown of Kolkata. Next up, Ghosh want to travel and shoot in Mumbai and Bengaluru, and in states of the North East and Kerala.

Along the way he hopes to gain new insights on the project. After all, it was thanks to his move from Kolkata to Delhi that he got the idea for the project. When I lived in Kolkata, I ate everything edible and didnt understand what the fuss about eating habits was about. Once I moved to Delhi, I was able to meet different kinds of people and put things in perspective. Each city has its own characteristic and thats why the project must be taken to different cities, says Ghosh.

To view all the images, check out instagram.com/sujatroghosh

You can contribute to Ghoshs crowdfunding campaign on bitgiving.com/cowmask

Follow @htlifeandstyle for more

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In a video gone viral, she looks helpless and uncomfortable as she tries to hide her face and turns around to escape shutterbugs who go clickety-click while she waits for the doors of an elevator to open at a theatres basement.

Thats Suhana Khan, Indian superstar Shah Rukh Khans 17-year-old daughter, experiencing the unwelcome attention of being a celebrity kid.

The growing paparazzi culture in Indias film industry is not sparing even the celebrities children from the prying eyes of the cameramen, who are always chasing the first and exclusive pictures to get more hits and eyeballs on flourishing digital media platforms.

Its often dismissed as the medias job, but actors and celebrities have been clear about where one needs to draw the line.

Exhausted after the little ones party!! Jumping Jacks r a killer. Phew. #Repost @gaurikhan with @repostapp  Gemini Gorgeousness... A post shared by Shah Rukh Khan (@iamsrk) on May 27, 2017 at 11:18am PDT

They are not movie stars. They just happen to be a movie stars children... Dont assume they will be able to handle the media like I do... They get awkward, Shah Rukh said in a tete-a-tete with journalists on Eid in June.

In 2016, Shah Rukh was left irate over cheap headlines after photographs of Suhana in a bikini were splashed all over.

Your website is not going to run on my daughters bikini body, he had said in an interview.

As a concerned parent, Shweta Bachchan Nanda -- daughter of Indian megastar Amitabh Bachchan -- in 2016 had reacted strongly about the intrusion of privacy in the life of her daughter Navya Naveli, whose personal photographs with friends keep getting circulated on social media.

She is not a public figure. Yes, she is related to some very famous people, but that is something completely out of her control, Shweta had written in her column.

Shweta also pointed out how Navya Navelis strong sense of self helps her remain unaffected even when people judge her, deride her, call her unattractive or scrawny.

Say hi baby  A post shared by Kareena Kapoor Khan (@therealkareenakapoor) on Jun 1, 2017 at 9:44am PDT

But you can well imagine what it would do to the self-esteem of a young, impressionable girl, who hasnt asked to be thrust into the spotlight in this way, added the mother of two, who feels helpless while being unable to plug the flow of this filth that is distributed in the name of information and journalism -- all in the pursuit of hits and likes.

How celebrity children handle this attention -- which is bound to come their way -- has a lot to do with their parenting, says well-known psychiatrist Samir Parikh.

It all comes down to how the parents are able to give them a normal upbringing. Social media is in nobodys control, but you can teach your child to ignore things and not to take things to heart.

Children can be impressionable by their own parents setting the example of how to handle the pressure of public life, explained Parikh, Director, Mental Health and Behavioral Sciences, at Fortis Healthcare.

Writer-entrepreneur-film producer-former actor Twinkle Khanna has son Aarav and daughter Nitara with Bollywood star Akshay Kumar. Being the daughter of Indias first superstar Rajesh Khanna and evergreen screen icon Dimple Kapadia herself, she has lived the life her children are now living -- albeit with lesser attention.

She realises its a different age.

Their life is different, they are on Instagram, Snapchat and have a whole different version of reality than we did. I think they are a lot more comfortable and easy with that sort of a life than we ever were. I think they can handle it... Every generation has handled their challenges well, and so will they, Twinkle said at a conclave here earlier this year.

Pool time with missy. #besttimes A post shared by Shahid Kapoor (@shahidkapoor) on Apr 25, 2017 at 10:14pm PDT

But for some celebrities, whats irksome is the rat race to get their childrens photographs right from their birth. Whether it was Shahid Kapoors daughter Misha or Kareena Kapoor Khans son Taimur -- there was a rush for their first photographs.

According to Public Relations specialist Archana Sadanand, who has worked closely with the film industry, paparazzi has become highly intrusive in the celebrities lives as well as their kids.

Ideally, the media themselves should take out a mandate and not click infants as harsh lights, clambering for the best picture, can hurt them... (But) I guess the celebs have come to terms with the paparazzi culture and have slowly got their kids also accustomed to the same.

Happy Birthday Rahyl... everytime I need to see a miracle,I look into your eyes and believe I created one.. You are soooo special lil one, you always will be and your mine that's all that matters.. God Bless You Always A post shared by Genelia Deshmukh (@geneliad) on May 31, 2017 at 9:47pm PDT

Once the child grows up, he/she starts understanding the media and the fact that their parents are celebrities and its a part of the day-to-day lives.

Aaradhya Bachchan, 5, is a clear example -- she smiled and posed like a pro while travelling with her mother Aishwarya Rai Bachchan to Cannes -- much to the actress and former beauty queens surprise.

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Pahlaj Nihalani has a problem. Will you be comfortable using the word intercourse in front of your children? is what the Central Board of Film Certification chief has asked, defending the boards decision to not allow the word on Indian television.

In one of the web promos of Jab Harry Met Sejal, Shah Rukh Khan and Anushka Sharmas upcoming film, Sharma uses the word intercourse. The scene has been disapproved by the censor board for airing on television.

Sofia Ashraf, rapper and activist, of Kodaikanal Wont fame, has released a short adult film taking a dig at Nihalani. Fit for viewers over 36 years of age only, the video differentiates an adult film from a pornographic film.

If youre 36 years of age, you probably have a 12-year-old child and unlike what the censor board thinks, your primary duty is not to protect your child from harmful words like intercourse but to actually talk to your child about it. Whether you like it or not, your teenager is going to be talking about intercourse and probably in the near future, having sexual intercourse.

Ashraf stresses on the importance of parents talking to their children about sex, a view Nihalani isnt very encouraging of.

If your child is going to be exposed to this world, wouldnt you rather the information came from you? Who else is going to talk to your child about intercourse? Friends or the internet? asks Ashraf.

Talk to your children about sex because clearing things up is better than blurring them out.

In an interview to a TV channel on June 24, Nihalani had stood by his decision to ban the word. You take voting from the public and I will clear the word (intercourse) on the promo and the film also. I want one lakh votes and I want to see that India has changed and Indian families want their 12-year-old kids to understand the meaning of this word (intercourse).

Nihalani had earlier ordered a ban on Lipstick Under My Burkha because he thought the film was too lady-oriented.
Microsoft is planning layoffs as it refocuses its sales force on making the software colossus a pivotal part of businesses relying on cloud computing, according to media reports.

While many reports forecast the changes would result in thousands of job cuts, Microsoft only confirmed to AFP that changes were on the way.

Microsoft is implementing changes to better serve our customers and partners, a Microsoft spokesperson told AFP.

Tech news website GeekWire published what it indicated were excerpts from the Microsoft memo, which referred to an enormous business opportunity helping its customers with digital transformations.

Chief executive Satya Nadella has sought to reduce the tech giants focus on software, shifting to cloud computing and business services.

From large multinationals to small and medium businesses to non-profits all over the world, organizations are using Microsofts cloud platforms to power their digital transformation, Nadella said when the company reported its earnings for the first three months of this year.

Microsoft reported revenue gains in cloud and business service operations, which offset a drop in personal computing, which includes the Windows operating system that once made up its core business.

Microsoft said revenue from its Intelligent Cloud rose 11% from a year earlier to US $6.8 billion.

Microsoft said its Office commercial products and cloud services revenue increased seven percent.

Office consumer products and cloud services revenue rose 15%, as the number of Office 365 consumer subscribers increased to 26.2 million.

Microsoft is to release its earnings for the recently- ended quarter on July 20.

Microsofts cloud platform, called Azure, faces competition from technology powerhouses Amazon and Google.

Each of the companies has also been investing in artificial intelligence which can make services hosted in the internet cloud more intuitive and insightful when it comes to handling data or catering to needs of users.

Redmond, Washington-based Microsoft has announced thousands of jobs cuts in recent years, the most severe being 18,000 positions eliminated in 2014 related from its acquisition of Nokia and failed efforts in the smartphone market.

The technology giant cut 7,800 jobs in 2015, and 4,700 last year.
India placed 88th in money hoarded in Swiss banks

Published: July 4, 2017

As per analysis of the latest figures compiled by the Zurich based SNB (Swiss National Bank) as on 2016-end, India has slipped to the 88th place in terms of money parked by its citizens with Swiss banks.

The analysis shows that the money officially held by Indians with banks in Switzerland now accounts for a meagre 0.04% of the total funds kept by all foreign clients in the Swiss banking system.

The latest data from the SNB comes ahead of a new framework for automatic exchange of information singned between Switzerland and India to help check the black money menace. The funds mentioned are the official figures and do not indicate the quantum of black money.

Key Facts

The total money held in Swiss banks by foreign clients from across the world, incidentally rose by a small margin to 1.42 trillion Swiss francs (CHF) during 2016 from 1.41 trillion CHF in 2015.

In terms of individual countries, United Kingdom accounted for the largest chunk at about CHF 359 (over 25%) of the total foreign money with Swiss banks. The US came second with nearly CHF 177 billion (about 14%). Besides, UK and US, no other country accounted for a double-digit percentage share. The top-ten countries included West Indies, France, Bahamas, Germany, Guernsey, Jersey, Hong Kong and Luxembourg.

India was ranked in top-50 continuously in terms of holdings in Swiss banks between 1996 and 2007, but it started declining after that and was placed at 55th in 2008, 59th in 2009 and 2010 each, 55th again in 2011, 71st in 2012, 58th in 2013, 61st in 2014 and 75th in 2015. It was ranked highest at 37th place in 2004.

Among the five BRICS nations, India was also the lowest ranked. Russia was ranked 19th (CHF 15.6 billion), China 25th (9.6 billion), Brazil 52nd (2.7 billion) and South Africa 61st (2.2 billion). Among them only China has moved up.

Among Indias neighbouring countries, Pakistan was ranked 71st place (with about CHF 1.4 billion), Bangladesh was 89th (667.5 million), Nepal was 150th (312 million), Sri Lanka was 151st (307 million) and Bhutan was 282nd (half a million Swiss francs).

The total money belonging to the developed countries fell to CHF 824 billion, while those from developing nations actually rose marginally to CHF 208 million. The money from developing economies in Asia-Pacific region rose to CHF 50 billion.

The funds parked in Swiss banks from offshore financial centres rose to CHF 389 billion. The offshore financial centres that ranked higher including Cayman Islands, Panama, Marshall Islands, Cyprus, Bermuda, Seychelles, Isle of Man and Gibraltar.

Month: Current Affairs - July, 2017

Topics: Banking  black money  Business  Economy  National  Switzerland  Tax Havens

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DEHRADUN: The Uttarakhand police has rescued 331 missing children from different parts of the state and outside in a month-long drive Operation Smile held in June.

This was informed by the team members of Operation Smile in an interaction with state police chief MA Ganpathy on Tuesday at the police headquarters in Dehradun. According to the search teams, missing cases were registered for 51 children only while 280 were unregistered recoveries.

As many as 280 children were reunited their families while the remaining sent to child rehabilitation centres. Efforts are being made to trace whereabouts and locations of their parents in order to send them to their homes, the DGP told the media after reviewing the month-long drive.

Uttar Pradesh accounts for 75 rescued children, Bihar and Jharkhand (3 each), Delhi, Rajasthan, Haryana (4 each), Punjab 8, Chhattisgarh 2 and Assam and West Bengal (1 each). Thirty of the rescued children are from Nepal.

Police officers informed Ganpathy that 14 search teams were constituted and sent to different states, including Maharashtra , Haryana, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh, in coordination with respective district police heads for rescuing the missing children from places such as dhabas, factories, railway stations and bus stations.

Meanwhile, the DGP maintained that security preparations for the upcoming Kanwar festival were over and Kanwarias will be monitored at every places. Ganpathy asserted no one will be allowed to create law and order problems during the month-long festival after decision was taken in an interstate police meet recently held to discuss security issues.
Many Delhi University colleges said they would come out with a third cutoff list on Friday, with a dip of up to two percentage points in most courses.

Seat are available even in sought-after courses such as BA programme, which had the highest number of applicants, BCom and Economics (hons) programmes, among others. Students will have until July 10 to seek admissions under the third list.

But Shri Ram College of Commerce (SRCC), which closed admissions to Economics (hons) in the general category after the first list, may not come out with a third list for general students in BCom (hons).

At Sri Venkateswara, though admission to Chemistry (hons) is likely to be shut, seats are available for Economics and BCom. The cutoff across courses could go down by 0.25-1 percentage points in our college. We have seats left in Economics and BCom but the dip would be marginal, said a member of the admission committee.

Kamla Nehru College could bring down the third cutoff list by 0.25-0.75 percentage points. We have seats left for honours courses in some subjects such as Economics, English and Political Science, said an official.

There could be a dip of up to 2 percentage points at the College of Vocational Studies, said principal Inderjeet Dagar.

At Miranda House, principal Pratibha Jolly said BA (hons) courses in Sociology and Philosophy would be most likely be closed for admissions, and science courses are almost filled up.

There will be a very minor drop, of less than one percent, or we may even call for the same cutoff as the last list for some of the (science) courses. However, in humanities, we still have seats in BA programme, BA (hons) in Political Science and History (hons) among others, said Jolly. For the humanities courses still open, the cutoff may drop by up to two percentage points.

Ramjas too has said they have a few seats left in BA programme and BCom. There will definitely be a third list but the cutoff will only drop by 0.25 to 0.5 percentage points, said PC Tulsian, principal.

In Daulat Ram, seats are open for almost all their courses. Zoology, Biochemistry and certain combinations under the BA Programme are closed for admissions. However, we have at least 1 or 2 seats left in most courses, and we will have a third list. The cutoff will drop by one or 1.5 percentage points, said Savita Roy, principal.

Principals, however, said they would be cautious with the drops in cutoffs as they are not allowed to turn away any student even if the seats are full.

We will bring our cutoffs down very gradually. We do not want over admission, said the principal of a North Campus college.
Expediting the process of clearing the funding mechanism for metro Phase IV project, the Delhi government is going to prepare a cabinet note agreeing to the payment pattern as stated by the Centre.

The move comes a day after Hindustan Times highlighted that differences over funding of the 104km project between the Centre and the Aam Aadmi Party government could delay construction of six new metro corridors.

Speaking to HT, transport minister Kailash Gahlot said, There wont be any delay in the phase IV project. We are taking it to the cabinet and most likely it will be cleared.

Sources said, chief minister Arvind Kejriwal held a meeting on Monday evening at his residence where the issue was discussed. The transport department has now been asked to prepare a fresh cabinet note accepting that the city government is ready to pay the 50% Central taxes as subordinate debt which amounts to 3,098 crore.

Following the news report, the CM made it clear that it should not look like the metro project is getting delayed because of the AAP government. As other states are following the same framework on equity, the government is going to accept it too, a source said.

While approving the Rs 50,000-crore project in January, the city government had sought exemption from paying its share of the subordinate debt for central taxes. Or, it wanted Delhis share of state taxes for the project (2121 crore) written off.

A subordinated debt is a loan or security. The Centre and state equally share the taxes to be paid for loans from foreign institutions for Metro projects. That means each of them will pay Rs 3,098 crore in Delhis case.

However, the demand was rejected by Union urban development minister M Venkaiah Naidu in a letter written to the CM on June 8.

The disagreement between the Centre and AAP government could escalate costs as contractors working on Phase III project, which is nearing completion, will wind up their workforce and machinery.

Engaging fresh teams could take six months more, thereby delaying initiation of the Phase IV project, a Metro official said.

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It is impossible to dump human waste from aircraft tanks mid-air, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) told the National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Tuesday.

On October 2016, a Delhi resident Lt Gen (retd) Satwant Singh Dahiya had filed a case, alleging that houses in his neighbourhood were damaged by faeces dumped by airlines from planes at night.

The DGCAs counsel told the tribunal that a three-member committee prepared a report on whether human poop could be dumped when the flight was in air. The report said it was impossible to do that.

He told the green body that the tanks had to be emptied manually to release the waste and could be operated only after the flight landed. The cabin crew cannot operate it during the flight.

We cannot risk the lives of numerous passengers by opening the tanks mid-air. The cabin crew does not have access to the human waste tank as it is operated manually, DGCAs counsel informed the bench.

The NGT had earlier directed the aviation watchdog to issue a circular that aircraft would be subjected to surprise inspection upon landing to see that the human waste tanks were not empty. The DGCA, however, refrained from issuing any such orders and had didnt issue any such directions.

It is for this reason that we have yet not passed any direction to the airlines. We would become a laughing stock by asking them something which is not possible, the DGCA counsel told the tribunal.

The bench headed by NGT chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar on Tuesday directed the DGCA and the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) to file an affidavit in this regard before August 2.

DGCA and CPCB, after consultation with experts, would file an affidavit and state whether in any circumstances - intentionally or unintentionally - is it possible for an aircraft to release any waste during flights, the bench observed.

The complainant, who had file the plea seeking action against the airlines for dumping human excreta, said the DGCA was deliberately trying to delay the implementation of the NGT order by referring to instances in foreign countries.
Uniformed or not, getting fresh with a woman is sure to land you in the soup, and a man from Punjab learned this the hard way.

The man, in his fifties, was arrested at the Delhi airport for making a lewd gesture at a woman, who turned out to be a CISF constable. She was on duty in plain clothes and had been posted to keep an eye out for suspicious passengers at Terminal 3.

The incident took place on the night of June 27, when the passenger from Punjab reached the check-in area to board his Kuwait Airways flight. At around 2am, the passenger approached a help desk near check-in counters of the airlines. He casually approached our woman constable who was in plain clothes. He started chatting with her and soon, he started misbehaving. He even made a lewd gesture, said a senior officer of Central industrial Security Force, that manages security at Delhi and other airports.

The woman constable caught him and called her seniors and got him arrested.

After preliminary investigation the police said that the man was drunk.

Based on a complaint by the woman constable, a case under section 509 (word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman) of IPC was registered against him. The accused arrested was in a drunk state and was departing for New York through Kuwait Airways. The CCTV footage of the incident was procured and investigation is in progress, a senior police official said.

The CISF said that they have deployed women in plain clothes in the terminal to check suspicious passengers as well as cases of women harassment.

There have been few cases earlier and we have our staff deployed in plain clothes for the security of the terminal. The passengers are being watched, the official added.

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A Delhi-based NGO has written to lieutenant governor Anil Baijal and chief minister Arvind Kejriwal over alleged illegal constructions on the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) campus.

The letter, which has also been sent to the Delhi chief secretary, deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia, Union environment and forest minister Harsh Vardhan and state environment minister Imran Hussain, among others, demands immediate attention and intervention by the authorities.

The so-called premier university Jawaharlal Nehru University has carried out multiple constructions on the campus which is a protected forest without mandatory prior environmental clearance. The buildings of DELNET and AICTE have also been constructed on Protected Forest without mandatory prior environmental clearances, illegally and both have not filed any response till date, the letter written on Tuesday by Anil Sood, president of NGO CHETNA, said.

The letter, a copy of which is with HT, alleges that the university has concealed these material facts both from the Supreme Court-empowered committee as well as from the apex court while seeking approval to fell 113 trees for construction of multiple buildings.

It has also concealed this material fact from NGT while filing the status of compliance of order passed by Honble Supreme Court It is the case of fence eating the crop which it is supposed to protect, Sood said in the letter.

A senior JNU official, however, said there was nothing illegal in any construction on the university premises. We have already filed the reply at the National Green Tribunal. Everything done here is legal, the official said.

The NGT had last year issued notices to the Ministry of Environment and Forests, JNU, Delhi Development Authority, the Delhi government, and others, and had asked for a response within two weeks on this alleged illegal construction on the university campus in the ecologically sensitive southern Ridge area.

The notices were sent while hearing a plea by the NGO, CHETNA, society for protection of culture, heritage, environment, traditions and promotion of national awareness, which had claimed that the university, national intelligence grid and the CRPF had illegally constructed buildings in the reserve forest area, and had failed to acquire the necessary environmental clearances. However, the plea was focused on the constructions in JNU.

The petition has alleged seven buildings on the JNU campus, including 24 type-III flats for staff at Paschimabad, sewage treatment plant in Saraswatipuram, new hostel building near Shipra hostel, Trans-Disciplinary academic building, Yamuna hostel warden flats and dining hall, are in violation of the norms and threats to the areas ecology.

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The South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) has issued challans to 91 properties, occupied by important institutions, where mosquito breeding has been detected.

The properties included Supreme Courts car-parking lot near Nizamuddin, Airport Authority of Indias guest house, Delhi Metro Rail Corporations Tilak Nagar station, an under construction Metro site at Gulabi Bagh, five Delhi government schools, Delhi Transport Corporations depots, CRPF Mahila Battalion Camp at Dwarka and Central Public Works Departments engineering office at Nanakpura. These agencies are being penalised up to Rs 50,000 and amount will be paid in the court.

We will not spare anyone. Wherever breeding will be noticed, we will take appropriate action. In last one month, we have challaned 91 VIP properties which included the SC car-parking lot where challan has been issued to the parking contractor, said senior official from public health department.

Apart from this, the department has issued 25,184 legal notices and 1,617 prosecutions to residential properties and offices in south Delhi.

During a high level meeting on Tuesday, south Delhi commissioner Puneet Goel has directed officials to intensify checking of mosquito breeding at big establishment, institutions and offices.

Public health hazards cannot be overlooked and all possible steps will be taken to prevent and control dengue and malaria. We will revisit the sites to ensure that they are maintaining cleanliness and preventing the scope for the mosquitoes to breed in future, said Goel. He has also asked all employees to remain alert.

So far, around 1,200 dengue breeding checkers have visited 14 lakh residential units at least 3-5 times. During these visits, mosquito breeding was found in 23,657 houses. The department has also collected 10,231 samples for malaria at these places, said the official.

The corporation is also carrying out a sensitisation programme called Dengue/ malaria prevention month during which they will educate residents about water-borne diseases.

A total of 153 cases of chikungunya and 99 cases of dengue have been reported by Delhi hospitals since January this year, according to report for the week ending on July 1, released by the Municipal Corporations of Delhi (MCD) on Monday. The number of malaria cases have also gone up, with 125 cases having been reported since January.

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No government programme can succeed fully without the support of citizens. Unfortunately, political leaders and bureaucrats often forget this critical input while drawing up ambitious plans. The result: Lower-than-expected outcomes of projects. In such a scenario, it was heartening to read what Prerana Deshbhratar, CEO, Pune Smart City Development Corporation Ltd (PSCDCL) and additional municipal commissioner told HT: Citizen engagement is the number one priority on our list and we set up our [smart city] projects only after several deliberations with the residents of this city. What came across on top of everyones list were water and transport and accordingly we prioritised our projects.

In 2015, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the Smart Cities Mission (SCM) to enable the holistic development of cities. This initiative aims to drive economic growth and improve the quality of life of people by enabling local development and harnessing technology as a means to create smart outcomes for citizens. It has also set up a platform ---- www.mygov.in ---- for better consultation between the government and citizens. But as cities launched their multi-crore urban renewal programmes, a few faltered badly on citizens participation. Take for example, Dehra Dun. Last year Doonites bulldozed their way into a smart city project and demanded their right to have a say in the planning process because they did not agree with the local governments environmentally-destructive plans. Then there are examples of Bhubaneswar and Chennai: Both cities successfully demonstrated the positive impact of citizens participation in planning for SCM.

Much of the success of such citizen engagement, say experts, depends on whether city leaderships have appetite for it. Others such as Swati Ramanathan, chairperson of Jana Urban Space and co-founder of Janaagraha, say that in this age of open data, open information, open digital, and open governments, getting citizens on board and making the planning process transparent is important. Those governments that recognise early enough that this is a genie that is not going back in the bottle, will survive and then thrive if they encourage more transparency and more participation, she told HT in an earlier interview. Along with bringing transparency in the planning process, local governments also has to keep in mind that citizens participation must include not just the upper end of society but also include poorer sections of the city.
Lucknow An order that no woman official or employee of Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University (BBAU) will work beyond 6 pm unless for a specific reason has drawn flak for not including students and teachers.

BBAU vice chancellor Prof RC Sobti issued the order on Monday evening, stating the rule is to be strictly adhered to. In case of an emergency, prior permission has to be obtained from the V-C. This step has been taken for security reasons, reads the order.

Women employees criticised the order, asking why female students and women teachers were not included. If the office is unsafe for women, then the campus must also be unsafe for the girls studying here, said a woman officer who did not want her name to be disclosed.

The university library is open from 8 am to 8 pm. The vice-chancellor should shut that down as well, said another.

Yet another employee questioned why the university thought that security was essential for women alone. It is strange that BBAU is unable to ensure safety for women officers after 6 pm, but has made no mention of security for male officers. Wont they require security too, if they have to work till late? she asked.

Clarifying matters, university spokesperson Govind Pandey said, In the recent past, there have been incidents involving safety of women employees. The decision was taken in the interest of women officers, and one should not read too much into it.

Some students also alleged it was meant to target the woman registrar, Sunita Chandra. She has constantly fought for justice for students, unlike other administration officials, said a Dalit student.

On June 15, Chandra had alleged that the finance officer had misbehaved with her. Based on the complaint, the police had registered an FIR against the accused officer, Rama Shankar Singh. He was charged under the SC/ST Act and IPC section 323, said Sudhakar Pandey, inspector, Ashiana police station.

Later, Singh also lodged a counter complaint against Chandra.

According to Chandra, she went to meet the finance officer at 5.50 pm, but he was not there and came in only after a staff member telephoned him. Then, the two had an argument, and Singh left the office followed by Chandra. She said it was at this point that the officer tried to hold her hand and misbehaved with her.

A university official said the order was issued to put an end to such incidents. If women employees notify about their presence (in advance), the university will ensure security for them.

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Taking drugs commonly prescribed to treat heartburn, indigestion and other stomach problems for a long time may increase the risk of death by about 50%, a study warns. Researchers from Washington University in the US examined medical records of about 2,75,000 users of proton pump inhibitors (PPI) and 75,000 people who took another class of drugs  known as H2 blockers  to reduce stomach acid.

No matter how we sliced and diced the data from this large data set, we saw the same thing: Theres an increased risk of death among PPI users, said Ziyad Al-Aly, assistant professor at Washington University. When we compared patients taking H2 blockers with those taking PPIs for one to two years, we found those on PPIs had a 50% increased risk of dying over the next five years, researchers said.

People have the idea that PPIs are very safe because they are readily available, but there are real risks to taking these drugs, particularly for long periods of time, Al-Aly said. Previous studies have linked PPIs to kidney disease and researchers reasoned that since each of the side effects carries a small risk of death, together they may affect the mortality rate of PPI users.

2The team identified 275,933 people who had been prescribed a PPI and 73,355 people prescribed an H2 blocker between October 2006 and September 2008, and noted how many died and when over the following five years. They found a 25% increased risk of death in the PPI group compared with the H2 blocker group. For every 500 people taking PPIs for a year, there is one extra death that would not have otherwise occurred, researchers said.

They also calculated the risk of death in people who were prescribed PPIs or H2 blockers despite not having the gastrointestinal conditions for which the drugs are recommended. They found that people who took PPIs had a 24% increased risk of death compared with people taking H2 blockers.

A lot of times people get prescribed PPIs for a good medical reason, but then doctors do not stop it and patients just keep getting refill after refill, Al-Aly said. Both PPIs and H2 blockers are prescribed for serious medical conditions such as upper gastrointestinal tract bleeding, gastroesophageal reflux disease and esophageal cancer. Over-the-counter PPIs are most often used for heartburn and indigestion. The study was published in the journal BMJ Open.

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Indias defence commitment to Bhutan

Published: July 4, 2017

The present standoff between Indian and Chinese troops in Doklam (located at the tri-junction of India, China and Bhutan) has highlighted Indias very special relationship with Bhutan, including military responsibilities.

Background

In June 2017 Chinese Army (Peoples Liberation Army) construction party had entered the Doklam area and attempted to construct a road. Royal Bhutan Army (RBA) patrol had attempted to dissuade them from this unilateral activity. Later Bhutan underlinined that the construction of the road inside Bhutanese territory was a direct violation of the 1988 and 1998 agreements between Bhutan and China and affected the process of demarcating the boundary between these two countries. Since these developments, India and Bhutan have been in continuous contact, giving a view of Indias role in Bhutans security and matters of mutual interest.

Indias defence commitment to Bhutan

Under the 2007 India-Bhutan Friendship Treaty, both countries have agreed to cooperate closely with each other on issues relating to their national interests. It provides that, neither Government will allow the use of its territory for activities harmful to the national security and interest of the other.

Under the previous treaty, India was to guide Bhutan on foreign and defence policies. The 2007 treaty is meant to respect the sensitivities of Bhutan regarding its sovereignty. In reality, it gives India virtual responsibility to protect Bhutan from the kind of external threat including threat from Chinese military.

Moreover, the Eastern Army Command and the Eastern Air Command of India have integrated protection of Bhutan into their role. The Indian Military Training Team (IMTRAT), headed by a Major General also plays a critical role in training Bhutanese security personnel.

Month: Current Affairs - July, 2017

Category: Defence Current Affairs

Topics: Defence  Doklam Standoff  India China  India-Bhutan  International Relations

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A gorgeous looking, smoke-emitting cocktail that promises you a unique multi-sensory delight has now become a part of your bar experience. Such a cocktail has a surreal, fantastical feel to it, it is also modish and totally Instragram-worthy. And its always fun when an exuberant bartender tops it with a gimmick or two, and addresses you with your name to make you feel special while serving it.

All of this sounds great only till the time you are ignorant of the fact that the fuming drink can land you in a hospital with a hole in your stomach if it has not been done rightly. A 30-year old Delhiite had this nightmarish experience when he tried one such smoky drink in a bar and was rushed to the hospital with his stomach open like a book. The man had complained of extreme pain, abdominal swelling and breathlessness right after having the drink.

YouTube-trained bartenders using liquid nitrogen are like quacks performing a critical surgery.

While this seems like the first case of its kind in Delhi, a similar case was reported in UK in 2012. A bar in Lancaster, England was fined 100,000 after they served 18-year-old Gaby Scanlon, a smoking liquid nitrogen cocktail on the house, on her birthday. The drink exploded in her stomach. She was rushed to the hospital in extreme pain, and a surgery was performed to remove her stomach. Following the incident, an MP called for a ban on liquid nitrogen cocktail.

There are few trained and experienced mixologists in Delhi. People have learnt mixology by simply watching other bar artists. Amateur bartenders are copying global trends and getting it all wrong. Liquid nitrogen is like a toy for them.

Both the cocktails consumed by Scanlon and the 30-year-old Delhiite contained liquid nitrogen, brought into vogue by the likes of chef Heston Blumenthal, who used it to make his much-talked about egg and bacon ice cream. Apparently, in both the cases, the guests hurriedly consumed the drink, when the liquid nitrogen had not completely evaporated from the drink, and the fumes had not vanished.

What is liquid nitrogen?

Liquid nitrogen has an extraordinary low boiling point -196 degrees Celsius, or -321 degrees Fahrenheit. It is used as coolant for superconductors, vacuum pumps and computers, or by surgeons to remove warts and precancerous cells. Liquid nitrogen is so cold that it leads to serious frostbite or cryogenic burns when it comes in contact with any living tissue. In the food industry, it is often used for frosting and slushing cocktails, alcohol and garnishes, or to create vapour or fog when exposed to air.

Liquid nitrogen must completely evaporate before any food or drink containing it is consumed. Consuming even a small amount of liquid nitrogen can have catastrophic consequences.

Liquid nitrogen is kept in a container designed for the purpose, and it is important for those handling it to wear goggles, waterproof gloves and waterproof apron. Those who use it regularly wear specialised cryogenic gloves and apron, and use it with extreme caution.

Is it legal to use it?

Liquid nitrogen is permitted as a process additive in frozen food by the national regulatory body, Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI). The Food Safety and Standards Act permits the use of liquid nitrogen only for freezing. It plays the role of a process additive. The liquid nitrogen totally evaporates by the time the food or drink reaches the consumer. So it is safe for consumption. But thats not the case with cocktails because they are made and served immediately. The use in cocktails would come under novel process which requires approval from the authority but sadly this is not happening. I hope the authority will implement some control after this unfortunate incident, says Dr Saurabh Arora, founder, foodsafetyhelpline.com.

Delhis dhuan dhuan obsession

Liquid nitrogen is being increasingly used in bars and kitchen by novice bartenders and chefs in Delhi, which is a deeply worrying trend. Mixologist Kama K M says, Liquid nitrogen is being used freely and excessively in bars and restaurants. Its also a mega trend in city weddings and private parties. Delhiites are obsessed with the dhuan dhuan thing. A canister containing 55 litres of liquid nitrogen is used up in a wedding that has a guest list of 500 guests. And its again one canister per party on an average, says Kama.

Liquid nitrogen is being used freely and excessively in bars and restaurants. (Picture used for representational purpose only)

Theres no such thing as food grade liquid nitrogen

Whats even more disturbing is that there is no food grade liquid nitrogen available in the market. The same liquid nitrogen that is used by tyre manufacturing companies to harden soft rubber in being used in restaurants. It means that it doesn't come with any kind of safety manual for bars or hotels. Ill-trained people are using it freely in cocktails and ice-creams. They are emptying the canisters on everything they are fancying. Such blind use of liquid nitrogen can be extremely dangerous, he says.

Bartending is in a state of mayhem in the city. There are no regulations and checks. An amateur bartender using liquid nitrogen is like a guy without a driving license driving on an accident prone road or a quack performing a serious surgery . While you have licensed bartenders in most parts of the world, there is no regulatory law in India.

Kama says that it is the prime responsibility of bartenders to tell the guests how to have the drink safely. Liquid nitrogen is used to change the texture of the drink and add fumes to it. When it is passed through the drink, it quickly evaporates into its vapour at room temperature, leaving the drink frozen cold. The drink can be consumed only when the fumes completely vanish so that not even a small quantity of liquid nitrogen is consumed. If they are serving it, they must explain this to guests. But unfortunately, they themselves get over excited about this whole smoky thing and they do not tell the guests about the risks, says Kama.

Bartending is in a state of mayhem in the city

The absence of knowledgeable bartenders also makes the situation scary. Molecular mixology is detailed study of chemistry. Only those who have proper knowledge of ingredients should be allowed to work in a mixology bar. There are very few trained, licensed and experienced mixologists, and some people have learnt mixology by simply watching other bar artists. Amateur bartenders are copying global trends and getting it all wrong. Liquid nitrogen is like a toy for them, says Kama.

Experts says that its wiser to do away with the use of liquid nitrogen in mixology (Picture used for representational purpose only)

The blatant absence of training and licensing in the field of bartending has created a situation where novice bartenders are using their whims instead of knowledge to create cocktails . Bartending is in a state of mayhem in the city. There are absolutely no regulations and checks. An amateur bartender using liquid nitrogen is like a guy without a driving license driving on an accident prone road or a quack performing a serious surgery . While you have licensed bartenders in most parts of the world, there is no regulatory law in India. Just like a doctor or a pathologist, whoever is dealing with health and safety needs to be certified. Bartenders are also dealing with human safety but they work without any license, says mixologist Sandeep Verma.

Verma says that the curriculum in bartending schools is also not controlled, which leaves bartenders with half-baked knowledge. Bartenders watch videos on Youtube and try to imitate gimmicks without any expertise, says Verma.

Choose creativity over chemicals

Many experts says that its wiser to do away with the use of liquid nitrogen in mixology. I would not recommend the use of liquid nitrogen for making cocktails in the very first place. Why serve something that can be so dangerous? I would not use it, and if I really have to, I will not hand it over to my guest until the fumes totally subside. I can let them watch how I make it but I wont hand it over to them in an incomplete state, says Sandeep Verma. Chef Manish Mehrotra too believes that it is better to give up liquid nitrogen completely.  I remember a case in a Mumbai bar last year where a celebritys tongue got stuck with a spoon dipped in liquid nitrogen for 25 minutes. He was in agonizing pain. There are better ways of showcasing creativity and enhancing the flavour, texture and looks of your drink and food than relying on liquid nitrogen, he says.

 I remember a case in a Mumbai bar last year where a celebritys tongue got stuck with a spoon dipped in liquid nitrogen for 25 minutes. He was in agonizing pain. There are better ways of showcasing creativity and enhancing the flavour, texture and looks of your drink and food than relying on liquid nitrogen.

Beware of quackery

Mixologist Yangdupt Lama that it is also important for guests to be aware about drinks: While there is a lot of interest in alcohol and there is a will to experiment, people have very limited knowledge about consuming alcohol and the safety precautions that they need to take. They get carried away by what they see and they dont ask any questions, so they can be fooled by anyone, he says.

You must choose your bar carefully, and interact with the bartender to see where he stands. Unless you trust the guy, dont risk your safety. Also, while hiring bartenders for a private party, find out about their credentials. Ask for feedbacks from those who have hired their services earlier. Go through a reliable source and hire a reputed and experienced company , says Lama.

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Over a hundred members of Gorkha community took out a rally in support of a separate Gorkhaland state, in Gurgaon on Tuesday. The community has over 70,000 people from Darjeeling working and staying in the city. The protesters, who gathered under the banner of Gorkha Youth Gurgaon, said they were upset with the manner in which the West Bengal government was treating fellow members of the community there and demanded that the Union government intervene in the matter at the earliest.

Holding up placards and shouting slogans, the protesting Gorkha men and women first gathered at Sahara Mall at MG road and held a meeting. From there,the rally snaked towards CyberHub before returning to MG Road via Sikanderpur metro station.

The Gorkha community is very upset with the manner in which our people are being treated by the West Bengal government. Our language is recognised by the constitution and the identity of the Gorkhas must also be recognised, Rahul Lama, executive member, Gorkha Youth Gurgaon, said.

Another protestor said that the reason they were holding this protest was to ensure that their voice reached the government in Delhi. We work so hard to earn our living and have been loyal to the nation and served it with dedication. Why are we being denied our right? a protester said.

Read I Gorkhaland stir gets support from Nepali groups living in Northeast

Rebecca Rai, an activist from Delhi, said that the Gorkhas across Delhi and NCR will hold protests to highlight this demand of the community. As we dont have political recognition, people from our community suffer discrimination and harassment. People outside our community are indifferent to us. They dont even speak to us. There are numerous cases in Delhi NCR where we were targeted because of looks and way of livig, Rai said.

Majority of protesters, particularly women, were of the opinion that if Gorkhas had political backing like people from the Northeast, their problems would also have been highlighted and addressed. It would be better if we have a state of our own. We deserve it, Ruby said.

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Twenty-two states, including West Bengal, Delhi, Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu have abolished check posts to expedite a smooth changeover to the new tax regime for business and consumers.

Eight states including Assam are yet to abolish the check posts.

Until now, trucks had to wait for hours at border check posts to get required approvals for moving to their destinations which resulted in unnecessary delays in transporting goods which also impacted the economy negatively.

On Monday, top government officials met to review the implementation of the new tax and its impact on the consumers. The meeting chaired by cabinet secretary P K Sinha was attended by revenue secretary Hasmukh Adhia, senior members of the central board of excise and customs (CBEC) and other secretaries from key departments.

Sinha asked all officials present in the meeting to take responsibility and ensure that the benefits of the new tax structure that came into effect from July 1 were passed on to the end consumers.

Read more: Snarls on Mumbai roads soon? More cars may be registered at RTOs after GST abolishes Octroi

The Centre has also underlined the need to keep monitoring the prices of all essential commodities so that they were not inflated. It was a stock taking meeting to understand the ground reality, a senior finance ministry official said.

The problem is the miscommunication and rumours floating around social media..things are becoming more complicated due to this, the official said.

On Sunday, Adhia had tweeted urging people not to spread rumours.

Also on Sunday, the finance ministry issued a statement saying that the GST roll out has been smooth and no major problems have been reported. However, there have been problems relating to the billing process and many other issues are expected to emerge in the coming days.

We are prepared and there are bound to be teething problems, the official added.
BJP president Amit Shah is in Odisha to deliver a message to chief minister Naveen Patnaik: That the bonhomie the Bharatiya Janata Party has with his Biju Janata Dal at the Centre will have no bearing on the saffron partys expansion plans in the coastal state.

And the BJP chief has chosen Patnaiks turf this time to make his intentions clear ahead of the elections to the 147-seat Odisha assembly and Lok Sabha scheduled to be held in 2019.

Shah, who reached the state on Monday night for a three-day visit aimed at reviving the partys infrastructure at the grassroots level in the eastern state, will spend Tuesday in Ganjam, the district in which Patnaiks Hinjili assembly constituency falls. BJP workers will give Shah a grand reception on the way to Ganjam.

The visit is part of Shahs 110-day countrywide tour to strengthen the party, partys chief spokesperson Anil Baluni said.

The party chief will embark on a door-to-door campaign at Hugulapata village of Kukudakhandi Block in Ganjam district and later hold a meeting with booth workers in the same village. Shah will meet five families in the village and discuss various welfare programmes implemented by the Narendra Modi government. As part of the partys Dalit outreach programme, he will also eat lunch with a Dalit family.

A grand reception is also planned at Berhampur, his second stop of the day. Shah will address booth workers conference from four districts at Berhampur. Shah will be in Jajpur on Wednesday to offers prayer at the historical Biraja Temple. Similar door-to-door campaigns are also planned at Jajpur and Dhauli.

These exercises will be followed by a meeting of booth level workers. On Thursday, he will meet BJP zila parishad members, block presidents and vice-presidents in Khurda district and wind down his trip by meeting senior party leaders at the state office.

He will review the programmes being carried out under Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya birth centenary Karya Vistarak Yojana in Odisha, Baluni said.

The party, which is on a high after winning 297 of the 851 zila parishad seats in Februarys panchayat polls, has booth-level workers in just about one-third of the 92,000-odd polling booths in the state. With Shahs programme, it now aims to kickstart the process of recruiting booth-level workers before they take on the BJD late next year.

Odisha is one of the states we aim to win in 2019, the partys general secretary Arun Singh said. The mass contact programme is aimed at strengthening the party at the booth level.

Shah would visit the state again in August to connect with booth-level workers and strategise the plan for strengthening the party.

State BJP vice-president Sameer Mohanty said Shahs three-day programme would send a message that strong booths would ensure the development of Odisha.

When the partys national president visits booth-level workers in their homes and lunches with them it would send a clear signal about the partys intention of taking everyone along. The aim of the programme is to find out how far the support rendered by the PM Modi in last three years has reached the people of the state, said Mohanty.

The election for the Odisha assembly and the Lok Sabha were held simultaneously. In 2014, the BJP polled 46-lakh plus votes (21.88%) for the Lok Sabha and nearly 39 lakh votes (17.99%) for the state assembly. This was a jump from its performance in 2009  about 27 lakh votes with a 15.05% share in the assembly.

At its conclave in Odisha in April, Shah had set a target of winning those 120 Lok Sabha seats that the BJP never won.

He asked party workers to dedicate themselves to booth level activities. The party claimed more than four lakh party workers in the country have variously pledged to give 15 days, six months or one year as full-timers to strengthen the party at the booth level.

The ruling BJD played down the impact of Shahs trip and the state food supplies and cooperation minister Surya Patro said the visit may enthuse the BJP workers only temporarily.

Odisha is still solidly behind Naveen Patnaik, he said.

According to political analyst Rabi Das, despite its relative success in the panchayat polls, the BJD is still a much stronger party.

The problem with BJP is that there is no leader in the party who can stand up to Naveen Patnaik. Its an unequal fight as of now, said Das.
Apparently distressed over debts, one more farmer allegedly killed himself today in Madhya Pradesh, which saw an agitation by cultivators last month.

The latest incident took place in Sehore, the home district of Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan. In this district alone, the number of farmers suicides has gone up to 10 (since the agitation).

The body of Suraj Singh Gurjar was found hanging from the branch of a tree in his agricultural field in Pathariya village (of Sehore district) this morning, Ahmedpur police station in-charge B D Singh said on Tuesday.

A case was registered and a probe was launched, the officer said adding that the exact reason behind his extreme step would be known after the inquiry.

However, Jaswant Singh, brother of the deceased, claimed that Gurjar was under a lot of stress due to debts.

Our family jointly owned 45 acres of land, but poor agricultural produce and inability to repay the loan of Rs 10 lakh forced him to take the extreme step, Jaswant said.

Since June 8, farmers suicides were reported from Sehore, Hoshangabad, Raisen, Dhar, Neemuch, Mandsaur, Sagar, Chhatarpur, Narsinghpur, Sehore, Tikamgarh and Vidisha districts.

In the first fortnight of June, western Madhya Pradesh witnessed a major farmers agitation over loan waiver and remunerative prices, which was fuelled further by the death of five persons in police firing in Mandsaur district on June 6.

The Congress on Monday claimed that over 50 farmer suicides had taken place within a month.

Over 50 farmers have ended their lives since June 8. Farmers are in a dejected mood and killing themselves after the police firing which left five dead and six injured in Mandsaur on June 6, state Congress spokesperson Pankaj Chaturvedi had said.
NAWADA

Priyanka Devi is expecting her first child and the doctor wants her to eat well during pregnancy. But she deliberately cuts down on food during the day. I have no choice. Eating during the day would mean venturing into the fields in the night to attend natures call, says the 24-year-old housewife.

For that matter, no house in her Ghazipur village of Nawada district has a toilet. It causes immense inconvenience for the 2,000-odd residents, but superstition that constructing a toilet will invite ill luck and perhaps a tragedy, stops them from having one at home.

The superstition took roots in 1984 when Siddheshwar Singh, an affluent farmer of the villager, lost his son to a mysterious disease while he was constructing a toilet at home. It got further ingrained following the death of another villager Ramparvesh Sharmas son in 1996 while a toilet was being built at their home.

Since then, villagers have been reluctant to construct toilets, despite the governments Swachh Bharat campaign against open defecation with the objective of promoting cleanliness and improving hygiene.

Life comes first, hygiene can wait, says Uday Kumar, a Ghazipur resident.

They cite other instances of perceived misfortune that have befallen those trying to build toilets in the village in the past. According to them, Kumar Arvind, a local youth, took the initiative to persuade villagers to build toilets but ended up with a hip and leg fracture in an accident in 2009.

One Mundrika Singh died within a day after using a community toilet at the local government primary school in 2015. The toilet has been lying unused since then.

Earlier this week, the local block development officer was involved in a road accident shortly after visiting Ghazipur in an effort to popularise better sanitation.

Not willing to take chances, residents like Priyanka Devi, therefore, make difficult compromises such as eating less. Hers is an affluent family owning modern facilities like refrigerator, TV, inverter and air cooler. But a toilet isnt one of them. Its absence has put to jeopardy the marriage prospects of her young brother-in-law. The family of a prospective bride backed out recently after coming to know that the Ghazipur family goes to the fields to relieve themselves.

My youngest son, Chandan, is still single after the family we were negotiating with for his marriage backed out after coming to know about our drawback, admits Manju Devi, Priyankas mother-in-law.

Bihar ranks poorly in terms of sanitation with its coverage standing at a dismal 30.62%, compared to Jharkhands 56.31% and Odishas 42.9%. It has made strides with 17.99 lakh toilets being built against a target of 1.66 crore to be built by October 2, 2019 under the Swachh Bharat campaign, points out rural development secretary Arvind Kumar Chaudhary.

But improving sanitation across the state will also involve overcoming superstitions such as in Ghazipur.

Nawada district magistrate Manoj Kumar says he is up for the challenge. I will personally visit Ghazipur to try and convince the people to construct toilets. If they want the government to make toilets for them, I will try and facilitate it by taking up a cluster of 20-25 households in one go. I am sure the people will agree, he says.

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Tripura governor Tathagata Roy on Tuesday said dams built by China upstream of Brahmaputra and other rivers will hit Bangladesh harder than India.

He also took a swipe at West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee for her opposition to sharing the Teesta river water with Bangladesh.

Roy was speaking at the 8th India-Bangladesh Friendship Dialogue where a Guwahati Declaration was announced for greater cooperation between the two countries in security, communication and trade.

China building a series of dams on Yarlung Zangbo (upstream of Brahmaputra) and working on river diversion are serious issues that will affect Bangladesh the most. India does not divert water and there are no barrages on Brahmaputra, Roy said.

Read | Sikkim standoff: China says situation grave, no scope for compromise with India

Bangladesh, he pointed out, depends a lot on river transport and irrigation that Chinas plans will eventually kill.

I am a civil engineer and I know laws pertaining to international rivers that China ignores. But India cannot deny water to Bangladesh, and the issues need to be resolved through arbitration, joint commission or other such mechanisms, Roy said, adding he did not reflect Indias official stand.

A major river-related issue between India and Bangladesh is Teesta. Banerjee insists the river does not have enough water to share.

It is not only about Teesta but about many rivers that flow from India into Bangladesh, a lower riparian state. The two countries should share water as well as share shortage of water, he said.

Roy also asked Dhaka to rethink its opposition to the proposed Tipaimukh dam on river Barak in Manipur. Barak flows into Bangladesh.

Since water from Tipaimukh will not be diverted, Bangladesh does not have a valid reason to oppose it, the governor said.

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Sant Gopal Das, who has been sitting on a hunger strike for the past 32 days seeking protection of cows, on Monday warned of intensifying his protest if the government did not take any concrete step on his demands within three days.

Das has been demanding the government to hand over gauchar bhoomi (pasture land) in villages to develop gaushalas and grazing grounds for cows. The regular incidents of stray cows being killed and injured in road accidents in Haryana have allegedly upset him.

He has also demanded the government to set up a Gauchar Vikas Board on the pattern of the Gujarat government.

The government should come up with a plan to protect the grazing land meant for cows within three days or I will take a concrete step, Das warned.

Haryana state minister for cooperation Manish Grover had earlier announced to hand over common land of five villages for gaushalas. The minister had also accepted the demand of giving cow milk to students in mid-day meal, but Das remained firm on his other demands.

Let them announce in public they are setting up Gauchar Vikas Board and I will get up from here, he said.

On Monday, Congress state president Ashok Tanwar visited Das for second time to extend his support to his struggle for cow protection.
Patna Five persons returning from a wedding were killed when a speeding SUV rammed into a stationary truck in Bihars Patna district early on Tuesday, a police officer said.

The incident took place near Mahadevsthan under the jurisdiction of Maner police station .

There were five passengers in the SUV.

While three passengers died on the spot, two succumbed to their injuries at Patna Medical College and Hospital, Maner police station in-charge Rajiv Ranjan Singh said.

They were returning home after attending a marriage ceremony at Moudehi Bigaha village near Bihta in Patna district, Singh said.
The Union government modified the process of appointments to the National Green Tribunal, bringing in clauses that experts say will considerably weaken the countrys environmental watchdog.

The NGT has in the past struck down projects that threatened the ecology and forced slacking government officials to take action in the interest of public health, but ran into trouble with the government that accused it of judicial overreach.

The new rules do away with a condition that the NGT can only be headed by a former Supreme Court judge or the chief justice of a high court, and takes away the judiciarys control on the process to appoint the tribunals members.

Opposition parties and constitutional experts say such a move chips away at the independence of these institutions, and reflects the governments desire to ride roughshod over opponents and control even autonomous bodies.

The amendment is bound to render the National Green Tribunal ineffective for adjudicating on environmental disputes and protecting fundamental rights, environment lawyer Ritwick Dutta said.

How the rules have changed Then: Only retired SC or retired HC chief justice could be made chairperson Now: Anyone with at least 25 years of experience in law can be chosen, in addition to retired judges Then: Chief justice had final say in appointment of chairperson and judicial members Now: Five-member panel, with most of members appointed by government, will choose chairperson and members Then: Chairperson can be removed only after consultation with the chief justice Now: The Union ministry can remove the chairperson or a judicial member after conducting an inquiry Then: Chairperson and members were appointed for five years, and paid salaries of a SC or HC judge Now: Term reduced to three years, and salary will be of a grade one officer

Its chairperson will now be recommended by a five-member panel that will be led by the chief justice of India (CJI) or a nominee of the CJI, but a majority of the other members  four out of five  in the panel will be recommended by the environment ministry.

Previously, the chief justice could exclusively recommend a judge for the post of the chairperson.

The National Democratic Alliance government has since 2014 attempted to dilute the powers of the green tribunal, currently headed by retired Supreme Court judge Swatanter Kumar. Ministers have accused it of taking over policy-making powers, after cases such as when the NGT struck down environment clearances issued by the government.

The new uniform appointment rules for 19 tribunals were notified on June 1 as per the Tribunal, Appellate Tribunal and other Authorities (Qualification, Experience and Other Conditions of Members) Rules 2017.

While passing the Finance Bill for the year, the government had in April merged eight autonomous tribunals with other tribunals, and also gave itself the power to appoint and remove the members in another 17 such bodies.

They (the new rules) are a disaster, said former environment minister Jairam Ramesh, who got the NGT bill passed in both houses of Parliament in 2010. The rules make a complete mockery of a law passed by Parliament after extensive debate in both the houses.

Dutta said the new rules will affect the independence, authority and capacity of the NGT to adjudicate on environmental issues and lead to a complete executive takeover of a judicial function.

Rules of appointment were changed for 18 other tribunals as well.

Tribunals such as NGT are given a quasi-judicial status  giving them a power to stop executive orders and order punitive action. Orders by NGT can only be challenged in the Supreme Court.

The National Green Tribunal started with a principal bench in Delhi in 2010 and has now expanded to four zonal benches in each region of the country and four circuit benches ---- Shimla, Shillong, Jodhpur and Kochi.

Thousands of appeals against the Centre, state governments and corporate bodies are listed with the tribunal, which has forced the governments --- Centre and states --- to take corrective measures. The tribunal has issued orders against use of polluting vehicles in the National Capital Region and also polluting water bodies including Ganga and Yamuna.

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Making a return to the Parkland, author and pastor Robert D. Rogers will hold a book signing of his newest book at the Farmington Public Library from 2 to 6 p.m. on Thursday.

Rogers, who will be signing copies of his new book titled How God Works in the Earth, is the Pastor Emeritus of Oak Crest Church of God in Muskegon, Michigan, but at one time pastored a church in Bonne Terre.

I use to be the pastor at the Bonne Terre Church of God back in 1970 or so, Roger said. So I am very familiar with the area, but I have been in Michigan since 1980.

The pastor and author is excited about discussing his newest book with some familiar faces.

The premise behind the book is many people wonder why their prayers go unanswered, Roger said. Gods primary way of working in the Earth is to find a person who can agree on what He wants done, and then work with that individual. So people who are waiting for God to do something may find out they are waiting for a very long time.

According to Rogers, the book is primarily based the Book of Job. God speaks once, yeah twice, yet man perceives it naught. In a dream, a vision of the night, he opens our ears and seal our instructions.

Most of us do not interpret dreams as the Bible treats them, as an important means of communication, because we dont understand the language of dreams. Dreams have a language, and just like any other language you have to learn how to understand and interpret it.

Although the topic may seem daunting, Rogers believes people will enjoy the nature of the subject.

It is a fun book, Roger said. It helps people to discover, Hey, God wants me to participate in the answered prayers.

For Rogers this is not his first book signing, in fact the pastor has authored five books and several booklets. Yet, he says, he's never considered himself a writer. It began as a way to help him express his thoughts.

This may sound strange, but I write to discover instead of discovering and then writing, Roger said. When I write, my thoughts become clear. As a speaker you only have so many minutes to get your point across. So, writing became a wonderful way for me to totally express a thought I want to get across."

Roger foray into writing may have been divine intervention than actually a planned career move.

I would write these articles and an English teacher came to me and said, You should write in a series, until you have a book. Then she asked if she could put a book together for me.

The Lord must have known what I needed and sent me this teacher ... we kind of just went from there.

For more information about Rogers book signing contact the Farmington Public Library at 573-756-5779.
An Indian Air Force (IAF) chopper engaged in flood rescue mission went missing near Sagalee in Papum Pare district of Arunachal Pradesh on Tuesday.

Tezpur-based defence spokesperson Lt Col Sombit Ghosh said the advanced light helicopter with three crew members aboard lost contact immediately after take-off around 3:50 pm.

The chopper was evacuating people stranded due to rainfall-induced landslides, he said.

Officials in Arunachal Pradesh said chief minister Pema Khandu has been monitoring the situation and has alerted the local administration and police to locate the chopper. Villagers have also been asked to help.

The day also saw a Mi-17 helicopter carrying Union minister of state for home Kiren Rijiju landing at a college ground in Itanagar instead of the helipad at Raj Bhavan due to poor visibility.

The pilots of the chopper, belonging to the Border Security Force (BSF), managed to manoeuvre for about 10 minutes before landing on the playground of Rajiv Gandhi Polytechnic here under emergency situation.

The chopper had to land as the visibility was low due to continuous downpour. The situation is absolutely normal, Komjum Riba, additional private secretary to Rijiju said.

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India on Monday lodged a strong protest with British authorities for allowing a rally to be held in Birmingham on July 8 to commemorate the day Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani was killed in 2016, asking them to stop the event.

A note verbale in this regard was issued by deputy high commissioner Dinesh Patnaik to the Foreign Office, reflecting a toughening of New Delhis position on events seen as anti-Indian in the United Kingdom. The July 8 event is billed as Burhan Wani Day and Kashmir Rally.

The development comes less than a week after high commissioner Y K Sinha delivered an unusually strong speech at a book release event here, when he said post-Brexit Britains eagerness to intensify trade with India cannot happen at the cost of Indias core concerns.

Read | Lets Talk About Kashmir: Number of homegrown militants swells after Burhan Wanis death

Sinha said: The way the UK permits anti-India activity on its soil, in Delhi people are quite perturbed about that. We are also a democratic society but we do not discuss issues that affect our friends and allies.

Allowing anti-India elements to flourish here in the name of democracy will not do, he said in the speech that caused ripples and raised eyebrows in diplomatic and political circles, but was welcomed in Indian quarters.

It was conveyed in the note verbale that allowing an event to commemorate an individual considered by India as a terrorist was not expected of the Theresa May government. Wani was photographed with an AK-47 rifle, seeking dismemberment of India, it was pointed out.

Wani, who was an associate of Syed Salahuddin (recently branded a global terrorist by the United States) was killed on July 8, 2016, leading to a prolonged phase of unrest in the Kashmir valley.

The July 8 event is scheduled to be held outside the Council House in Birmingham.

Posters announcing the event have been circulated across the social media, featuring a photograph of Wani and mentioning figures about alleged human rights violations in Jammu and Kashmir, including injuries caused by pellets fired by security forces.

Read | Hizbul chief Salahuddin admits to having carried out terror attacks in India

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Barely hours before Narendra Modi was greeted by Benjamin Netanyahu at the Ben Gurion airport, a group of Indian industrialists arrived in Tel Aviv to participate in the India-Israel CEOs Forum and listen to the two Prime Ministers at the power lunch on July 6.

Modi is the first Indian prime minister to visit Israel.

Over the next two days, 13 CEOs of Israeli companies -- including Joseph Weiss of Israeli Aerospace Industries (IAI) and Uzi Landau of RAFAEL Advance Defense Systems -- will interact with 18 Indian CEOs to hammer our new business deals.

The Indian delegation led by Pankaj Patel of Cadilla comprises, among others, Baba Kalyani of Bharat Forge, Dilip Shangvi of Sun Pharma, AB Jain of Jain Irrigation Systems, Harshavardhan Neotia of Ambuja Neotia, Kris Gopalakrishnan of Infosys and Pratik Kumar of Wipro.

Read | PM Modis Israel trip shows Indias mature approach with focus on economic, security gains | Opinion

The India-Israel CEOs forum are likely to sign a number of MoU in areas of defence, agriculture, irrigation and information technology.

Talking to Hindustan Times, one of the CEOs said that they were looking forward to PM Modis power lunch and his vision for Make in India with Israel before he departs for the G-20 meeting in Germany on July 6 afternoon.

A large number of Indian CEOs are looking for tie-ups in manufacture of defence material and latest agricultural technologies.

Already a number of Indian companies like Wipro have tied up or invested into Israeli company with an eye towards the Make in India pie.

Read | Modis historic visit to de-hyphenate relations with Palestinians, says Israeli media

The Indian CEOs will also be interacting with the Israeli government for understanding the process involved in setting up of new joint ventures.

Modi will hold talks with Netanyahu to advance sales and production of missiles, drones and radar systems under the Make in India drive. India is now Israels biggest arms market, buying weapons at an average of $1 billion each year.

The two sides are also expected to announce strategic partnerships in areas including water, agriculture and space technology.

Modi will be discussing a plan for Israeli help in boosting Indias food security.

Read | Support India hook, line and sinker on terror, says Israeli official ahead of PM Modis visit

The plan is to expand 26 agriculture expertise centres that Israel has set up in 15 Indian states to help increase output of everything from vegetables to mangoes and pomegranates.

Modi wants Indian companies involved in turning these small centres into commercial entities that would help tens of thousands of farmers to boost productivity.

(With agency inputs)

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The administration in Damuadih Advasi tola in Jharkhands Jamtara district has deployed a police contingent following tension after a tribal girl married a Muslim man from a neighbouring village.

Agitated by the marriage, tribal villagers on Sunday sealed the doors of the house of the girls parents with barbed wire after the family expressed its inability to cough up 12 maunds (one maund is approximately 37 kgs) each of rice and mutton as fine for her crime.

The tribals also threatened to ostracize the family and kill them if they did not pay the penalty. The village is about 60 km from Dhanbad.

However, timely intervention by the police saved the lives of the parents and brother of the girl who had married Sabbir Ansari from a neighbouring village on June 30.

Officer-in-charge of the Naraianpur police station Surendra Singh, who reached the village before the family could be lynched, said it took few hours to persuade the agitated tribal leaders who then agreed to remove the barbed wires.

They, however, insisted that the girls family will have to pay the fine imposed by the local panchayat.

Following police intervention, the panchayat is likely to meet on July 5 to reconsider the quantum of fine.

Its a difficult task to convince tribals to budge from their rules but certainly not impossible, Surendra Singh.

He said armed police personnel have been deployed in village since Sunday afternoon to prevent any untoward incident.

Trouble started on June 30 when the news spread that sister of Jogeshwar Hembrom had married Ansari and that the couple was living at the grooms house at Lakhanpur village.

Angry tribal leaders of the village met the family and sought explanation, terming the marriage as an insult to tribal society.

The girls family expressed its helplessness as she was rigid on marrying him and had left home for Ansari.

We are being penalised for a fault committed by my sister, who is an adult and not ready to split with her husband, said Jogeshwar, who pleaded with the police to save his parents and his own life from the agitated villagers.

He said attempts to persuade the panchayat to reduce quantum of fine keeping in mind their financial status had failed.

My parents even offered to break all relations and perform last rites of my sister and treat her as dead but they refused and still are adamant that we would have to pay fine, rued Jogeshwar.

Jharkhand has been rocked by a spate of lynchings in the recent past with Muslims mainly being the targets of tribals.

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The separatist leadership in the Kashmir Valley has called a week-long protest to mark the first death anniversary of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani, whose death plunged the restive region into unprecedented public unrest.

The programme includes a complete shutdown on July 8, the day the militant leader was killed last year, and July 13 when 22 Kashmiris died during protests against the regime of Maharaja Hari Singh in Srinagar in 1931.

More than 100 people lost their lives in prolonged clashes with security forces after Wanis death.

The protest call came from separatist hardliner Syed Ali Shah Geelani, moderates Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and JKLF leader Yasin Malik and more.

The leadership asked people to visit homes of slain militant leaders on July 9. Kashmiris, especially those living abroad, are asked to mount a social media campaign on July 11.

The separatist protest coincides with a similar call by the United Jehad Council (UJC), an umbrella group of militant outfits, to mark Wanis death.

The twin programmes have the potential to aggravate the situation in the Valley, where anti-India sentiments are running high over alleged heavy-handed action by security forces to quell the separatist movement.

The Pakistan-based Hizbul chief Syed Salahuddin, whom the US declared a global terrorist this June, said in a video message that Hafta-e-Shuhuda, or week of the martyrs, will be observed on both sides of the Line of Control (LoC). The LoC is the de-facto border in Kashmir between India and Pakistan.

It is the first time militant organisations, including those based in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, have issued calendar of protest.

Salahuddin asked the people to begin the programme on July 7, followed by shutdowns on July 8 and July 13 across the state. On July 10 and 11, he wants people to visit families of militants and help them with money.

The Hizbul leaders schedule is similar to that of the Hurriyat separatist leadership.

The Hurriyat has been taking the lead in calling protests and strikes in Kashmir since militancy gripped the region in the 1990s. But this time, the militant leader has allegedly prodded the separatists to modify their programme.

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Trinamool Congress MP and grandnephew of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, Sugato Bose and his octogenarian mother Krishna Bose have been threatened by extortionists linked to construction syndicates, a growing menace the state is grappling with.

Police said a group of youths stormed into Boses residence on 90, Sarat Bose Road, a landmark in Kolkata, on Monday afternoon and demanded money from the mother and son duo for not procuring construction materials for the renovation of their house from the syndicate.

Based on Boses complaint, police arrested six persons. Incidentally, they live close to Boses residence.

Sugato Bose is a reputed historian, and his mother Krishna Bose, is a former MP.

It was a small incident. But it has left me wondering if this is the state of affairs where even a family of an MP is not spared, what is happening to ordinary citizens? Sugato Bose, 61, told a section of the media.

The syndicate raj is thriving in the state for long under political patronize. The syndicate is an extortion racket runs by unemployed men backed by the ruling party. They use the clout and the threat of violence to force contractors into buying inferior building materials from them at a premium.

Chief minister Mamata Banerjee has been repeatedly cautioning her party men to stay away from syndicates but to no avail as many top guns of the ruling TMC are often associated with these syndicates.

The activities of these syndicates have flourished to such an extent that after the collapse of a section of the under-construction flyover on Vivekananda Road on March 31 last year killing 27 persons, it was found that some of the building materials were supplied by one such syndicate run by a brother of a former Trinnamool MLA.

Wife of one of the arrested persons in connection with the Mondays incident too claimed that her husband is a Trinamool supporter.

My husband is a Trinamool supporter. He deals in building materials like bricks and sand. Local Trinamool leaders encourage him to carry on the business, said Rupali Mondal, the wife of Raju Mondal, one of the arrestees.

Police have slapped IPC sections 385 (extortion), 506 (criminal intimidation) and 448 (trespass) against the youths.
The Dal Lake shimmers under the summer sun and the waves lap at the bank in a never-ending procession; a quintessential picture-postcard setting at one of Kashmirs most iconic tourist destinations.

But for Mohammad Amir, who takes tourists for rides on his shikara  a canopied paddle boat  this natural beauty has no meaning if there is no one to admire what Mughal emperor Jahangir once described as a paradise.

Tourist inflow to the Valley has come down to a trickle after months of unrest in 2016, crippling one of the pillars of Kashmirs economy that is still struggling to recover from the blow.

Amir, 35, said he cant even repay Rs 20,000 he had taken from the in-laws of his sister to repair his boat damaged in the devastating floods of 2014.

2015 was so-so but in 2016, due to the unrest starting July, business was miserably down. Today, I am ashamed to face the in-laws of my sister as I have no money to repay them, Amir said.

He had hoped that the tourist seasons in the next few years will give him a good business and help him re-build his house, which was also damaged in the floods.

Kashmir went through a series of curfew and shutdowns for almost five months since Hizbul Mujahideen militant Burhan Wani was killed by security forces on July 8 last year.

Over 90 people were killed and thousands were injured in the protests that followed. Shops and offices remained closed, students sat at home as school and colleges remained locked and businesses collapsed.

Our economy is not on track. The major problem is investments are not happening. The only investment I see in J-K is construction work. Unless we have peace and stability, you will not be able to create anything, finance minister Haseeb Drabu said on Wednesday.

Read | Kashmirs disturbing new reality

Though Kashmir kicked back to life towards the end of 2016, the Valleys political and law and order situation have remained on the edge, dotted by frequent gun-battles, shooting down of civilian protesters, cordon and search operations, curfew and shutdowns.

The biggest blow due to the unrest was the industry. The state economic survey report 2016 said the estimated loss suffered by the sector is Rs 13,291 crore, out of which Rs 6548 crore is of the private sector.

The tourism sector was badly hit. In 2016, around 6.2 lakh tourists  including 2.2 lakh pilgrims to Amarnath  visited Kashmir, a more than 50% dip from the 13 lakh-odd visitors in 2015, the report said.

Read | His arms and legs were bent: Fearing trouble, J-K govt bought video of cops lynching, destroyed it

Read | Thousands attend funeral of LeT commander Bashir Lashkari amid Kashmir shutdown

The tourist season had started during 2016 in April and was in full swing up to end of July 7. The remaining about 4 months... remained completely tense and registered closure of all activities due to turmoil, resulting in almost zero arrival of tourists in the valley, the report added. The revenue loss for four months was estimated at around Rs 752 lakh.

Sources in the tourism department said this year too, there was a reduction of almost 60% visitors between January to June, compared to the corresponding period last year.

Drabu said in his presser the governments thrust was to build infrastructure but its efforts to attract investments not been successful for various reasons.

I had advanced the budget to January and 50% of the money was released by February 10 so that we could spend more but honestly speaking we are not able to do so. The situation is not (suitable), Drabu said.

A Kashmiri boatman rows his shikara amid dense fog on Dal Lake. (Waseem Andrabi/HT Photo)

Mushtaq Wani, president of the Kashmir Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said the state lost almost Rs 100 crore every day during the unrest. Every sector of the economy including tourism, handicraft and horticulture suffered miserably due to the unrest. There is still no revival of the suffering economy. And the way 2017 is appearing, if it continues this way, then all businesses and trade will die in Kashmir, he added.

To make matters worse, the one of the cable cars in Gulmarg  a major tourist attraction  crashed last month, killing seven people. Four of them were tourists from Delhi.

Read | The unforgiving intelligence war in Kashmir | Column

For the industry, this unfortunate accident could not have come at a worst time, said Mahmood Ahmad Shah, director of the tourism department.

For people like Mohammad Amir, who survive on tourism, the situation is one of desperation.He used to earn anything between Rs 1,500 to Rs 2,000 daily when things were normal. Now he barely manages Rs 400 in two days. His boat now mostly remains moored at the bank.

Read | Part 1 of Lets talk about Kashmir: Number of homegrown militants swells after Burhan Wanis death

A special series by Hindustan Times takes a deep look at the ground reality in the Valley as it braces itself for the first death anniversary of militant commander Burhan Wani and increasing violence in J-K.
Prime Minister Narendra Modis visit to Israel has received wall-to-wall coverage in the Israeli media, which has described it as a historic development that will help de-hyphenate New Delhis relations with the Palestinians.

The first visit to Israel by an Indian prime minister since the two countries established diplomatic ties a quarter century ago figured extensively on Israeli news websites, with some providing live updates on special sections devoted to Modis three-day trip.

Modis visit will mark a significant warming up of bilateral ties and also express the fulfillment of a long-unrequited desire, dating back to the early days of the Jewish state, for close ties with, and recognition from, India, said an opinion piece on the Haaretz website titled How Israel went from contaminated by colonialism to Indias strategic ally.

A report by The Times of Israel noted Modis decision not to visit the Palestinian Authority and said this was an exceedingly rare move for countries with good ties in the Arab world. It added, New Delhi explains this anomaly as part of a desire to de-hyphenate its relationships with Jerusalem and with Ramallah.

An opinion piece in Haaretz detailed the evolution of India-Israel relations in more colourful terms: Israel has long complained that India treats it like a mistress: glad to partake of its defence and technology charms, but a little embarrassed about the whole thing and unwilling to make the relationship too public.

With Narendra Modis visit to Israel starting on Tuesdayit will be like the two countries arriving hand in hand to opening night of the opera season, lit by a barrage of flashing cameras.

The Time of Israel also noted that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had cleared his schedule to be at Modis side throughout almost the entire visit in view of its importance. This kind of attention by an Israeli prime minister is usually reserved for American presidents, it said.

The Israeli media also noted that though much has been made of the security and defence cooperation between Israel and India, the Israeli government was focussing on boosting collaboration in areas such as water management and agriculture.

Haaretz reported that economic issues would be at the heart of talks and both countries had prepared a roadmap of joint economic undertakings. The Israeli cabinet approved a document with scores of bilateral measures and a budget of 280 million shekels (about $79.6 million)  a bigger sum than Israel has ever set aside for China, Africa and Latin America combined, the report added.

The centerpiece of the proposals drawn up is to deploy Israeli water and agricultural technology in India. Thanks to its monsoons, India is home to some of the rainiest places in the world, but many of its water sources are polluted. Cleaning up the Ganges River alone will be a 25-year project, said the report headlined Wake up, Israel! Indian PM Narendra Modis visit will make history.

However, the report also compared the childish awe that accompanied US President Donald Trumps visit to Israel in May and the relative indifference among the people to Modis arrival. It said aspects of Trumps visit were covered live on radio and TV even though his problematic performance in office has already undermined his credibility.

In contrast, Modis visit will mark an historic occasion as he presides over an economy that is growing at a dizzying pace and could one day emerge as the worlds largest.

Another piece in Haaretz questioned whether Israel should pivot towards India because of Trumps instability. Since Israel is uncertain of Trumps stand on key issues, the article asked whether redemption would come via New Delhi.

Besides meetings with senior Israeli leaders and businessmen, Modis itinerary includes meeting a Jewish victim of the 2008 terror attacks in Mumbai, visiting a flower farm run by one of Israels leading floriculture firms and a desalination plant, addressing a rally for thousands of people of Indian-origin in Israel and paying tribute at a military cemetery in Haifa to Indian soldiers who died in World War 1.
In a red carpet welcome to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu said Apka swagat hai mere dost. We have been waiting for you for a long time.

Modi became the first Indian Prime Minister to visit Israel.

The two leaders embraced heartily and gave brief speeches, pledging to work together on issues including security, agriculture and energy.

During a joint statement, Modi called opposing evils of terrorism, radicalism and violence while Netanyahu sought support to together do great things for betterment of future of our people.

Modi also laid a wreath at the Yad Vashem Memorial museum and paid tributes to over six million Jews killed by Nazi Germany.

Modis visit to Israel has received wall-to-wall coverage in the Israeli media, which has described it as a historic development that will help de-hyphenate New Delhis relations with the Palestinians.

Read | Why no one protests against Modis Israel visit

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the visit, which marks 25 years since the two countries established diplomatic relations, a further expression of the state of Israels military, economic and diplomatic strength.

Over the next two days, 13 CEOs of Israeli companies will interact with 18 Indian CEOs to hammer out new business deals.

Here are live highlights of PM Modis visit:

11.42pm: Indian Jews are a living and vibrant connect to this shared history, says PM Modi during press statement.

11.40pm: India is using technology and innovation for the progress of the nation, says PM Modi, adding: We want to frame our relationship that transforms the landscape of our economic engagement.

11.36pm: India-Israel ties have seen rapid growth over the last several years, Prime Minister Narendra Modi says during joint statement with Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu.

11.35pm: PM Modi says must resolutely oppose evils of terrorism, radicalism and violence.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi speaks during joint statement with Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu. (ANI )

11.33pm: Prime Minister Narendra Modi thanks PM and his wife for opening their home to me today.

11.31pm: We also face common challenges, first of it is to defeat forces of terror. Need to stand and work together, says Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu.

11.30pm: Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu during press statement: We believe we can together do great things for betterment of future of our people.

9.20pm: Prime Minister Narendra Modi signs Visitors Book at Yad Vashem, memorial to victims of the Holocaust.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi visits Yad Vashem, memorial to the victims of the Holocaust, in Israel. #ModiInIsrael pic.twitter.com/Pagwft7jzv  ANI (@ANI_news) July 4, 2017

8.55pm: Prime Minister Narendra Modi visits Yad Vashem, memorial to the victims of the Holocaust, in Israel.

8.50pm: Crysanthumun flower will be named in honour of PM Narendra Modi. The flower will be called Modi.

7.30pm:

Prime Minister Narendra Modi visits Danziger Flower Farm in Israel. (ANI)

7.12pm: Israeli PM says the formula for success is simple, its I-squared & T-squared, equals Indian talent & Israel technology, equals India-Israel ties for tomorrow.

7pm: Prime Minister Narendra Modi says building a strong and resilient relationship with Israel will be his intent and focus.

6.58pm: Modi says they are cooperating to secure societies against common threats such as terrorism.

6.55pm: Alongside building a partnership for shared economic prosperity, we are also cooperating to secure our societies, says PM Modi after red carpet welcome at Israel airport.

6.52pm: PM Modi says he is keen to interact with Indian diaspora in Israel, including large number of Jews of Indian origin.

6.49pm: Prime Minister Narendra Modi speaks at the Ben Gurion airport , says: It is my singular honor to be the first ever PM of India to undertake this groundbreaking visit to Israel.

6.47pm: We can do even better together, welcome to Israel my friend PM Modi, says Israeli PM Netanyahu.

6.46pm: Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu welcomes PM Modi, says: We love India, admire your culture, history, democracy and commitment to progress.

#WATCH: PM Narendra Modi arrives in Israel in the first-ever visit to the country by an Indian PM, received by Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu pic.twitter.com/mCWD1UDMTD  ANI (@ANI_news) July 4, 2017

6.45pm: I am confident of the real mathematics of life, of success of our partnership for many reasons; talent of our people, Israeli PM Netanyahu.

6.38pm: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu welcomes PM Modi at the Ben Gurion Airport.

6.25pm: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has reached the Ben Gurion Airport to welcome PM Modi.

6.24pm: Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrives at the Ben Gurion airport in Israel.

PM Narendra Modi arrives in Israel in the first-ever visit to the country by an Indian PM pic.twitter.com/UDwLMfKFaL  ANI (@ANI_news) July 4, 2017

(With agency inputs)
At a curry house in central Israel, a poster welcoming Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi greets patrons even before they encounter the rich scent of spices wafting from the kitchen.

Modis three-day visit beginning Tuesday -- the first ever of an Indian premier to Israel -- is a landmark moment for the Jewish state, a country seeking the friendship of powerful allies and customers for its advanced military equipment.

But for members of the small Jewish Indian community in Israel, the trip is a cause of genuine excitement and a unique opportunity to increase their visibility.

Theres not a single (Indian) household thats not talking about it. This is all people are talking about, said Elazar Ashtivker, owner of the Maharaja restaurant in the city of Ramla, south of Tel Aviv.

Its historic, he said.

The fast-talking 33-year-olds parents, who were born in India, opened the restaurant in its first incarnation in the 1980s because they felt the community was in decline.

Initially, the restaurant served the Indian community nearly exclusively.

But in the 1990s the trend of Israelis travelling to Asia after completing their military service became wildly popular, and many returned home with a taste for the Maharajas spicy delicacies.

The restaurant serves what Ashtivker calls mainstream Indian food but also sells peppers, vegetables and imported spices.

Elazar Ashtivker, owner of a curry house in the Israeli city of Ramla, puts the finishing touches to an Indian dish on July 2, 2017. (AFP Photo)

The wording on the poster is in the colours of the Indian flag and invites members of the Indian community, in Hebrew and English, to a July 5 meeting with Modi in Tel Aviv.

Theres a lot of excitement, Ashtivker said. Everyone has signed up and everyone is going.

If you looked for Indians in Israel on the 5th you wont find any. Theyll all be at the convention centre, he said with a laugh.

Invisible Jews

Estimates put the number of Jews of Indian origin in Israel at about 100,000, according to Eliaz Dandeker, a historian and author documenting the community.

Even those of Indian origin born in Israel maintain a deep connection to their ancestral homeland, said Dandeker, including through music, cinema, food and cultural events.

Events in Israel have featured appearances by Indian actors.

Jews made their way to India over the course of the last 3,000 years, and by and large have not suffered religious and racist persecution in the country.

They began coming to Israel en masse in the late 1940s and early 1950s for religious and other reasons.

Many of them settled in rural communities to become farmers, while others moved to peripheral towns throughout the country.

In the first years following the creation of the state of Israel in 1948, many Indian immigrants abandoned their names and traditions as part of the eras melting pot ideal.

Theres more openness today to Indian culture, the 34-year-old Dandeker said. The younger generations want to know more.

Hes special

In his spice shop near the Maharaja, Shaul Divekar, who emigrated from India as a child, scoops red lentils from a sack into a plastic bag, chatting from behind his counter with two customers.

The conversation fluctuates between the goods that arrived from India and the prime minister who is about to.

Divekar proudly notes he is in charge of one of the seven buses taking Indian Israelis from Ramla to Wednesdays meeting with Modi.

Hes special, Divekar said of Hindu nationalist Modi, a Bollywood music video playing on a laptop behind the cash register.

He likes Jews, proudly offers a tall bearded man in his 30s standing nearby the Indian DVD collection in Divekars store, his Hebrew heavy with an Indian accent.

Israelis eat at the Maharaja Indian restaurant in the city of Ramla on July 2, 2017. (AFP Photo)

Dandeker, the historian, notes that Jewish Indians in Israel have been called the invisible Jews since they are neither Ashkenazis from Europe nor Sephardis from Africa and the Middle East.

While members of the community have reached prominence in Israel in fields including medicine and the military, a lot of them dont stress their origins.

And with many of them having changed their last names to sound more Israeli, its hard to spot them, said Dandeker.

Modis visit and its potential to generate interest among Israelis in Indian culture could help raise the profile of the Indian community.

We expect it to help advance our community, said Ashtivker, the restaurateur. Were a small community here and dont really stand out.
In one area school district teachers are embracing Google Hangout as a way to expand the walls of their classroom by discovering new and exciting ways to teach their students.

It's important for us to think about what is best for our students and technology opens up so many options for our kids, said Farmington R-7 Superintendent Matt Ruble. It allows them to explore, to use their creativity and show us their many talents. Technology will never replace a great teacher but it does allow that great teacher to be more creative and make more connections to the world around us.

A Google Hangout is a unified communication service that allows participants to communicate - typically through video chats - either in a one-to-one or group setting.

The potential for education is endless, said Mindy Southern, educational technology facilitator for the district. We can teach kids about outer space or any number of things, and that is great. We should be doing this, but where else can you learn more about weather than from a weather man, or outer space from someone who works for NASA. It really brings education to life for our students.

Southern gave a quick tutorial recently on how easy it is to hold a hangout when she reached out to a former student. Trent Magill is a meteorologist with WATE TV in Knoxville, Tennessee and Southern asked him to discuss the upcoming solar eclipse, allowing students to see it through his perspective.

Its that different perspective you get from knowing someone who has more expertise than you, Southern said. Trent sees the eclipse with a whole different set of eyes, and he has a whole different take on what is going to take place on that day. You get to see what he has to do to prepare for the eclipse and how he is going to share it with the rest of the world.

Southern cited other examples of how teachers from kindergarten to the high school have used Google Hangout in their classrooms.

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We have parents who have joined us and read a book to a kindergarten class, Southern said. We also had a third grade class meet up with two guys who were in Peru getting ready to travel the Amazon (River). They were studying animals at the time, so (the students) asked about what types of animals they will see.

According to Southern, they even had a government class at the high school interview Congressman Jason Smith.

In addition to "enlarging" the classroom, Southern states students are learning much more than what is in the lesson plan. They are using technology to learn how to communicate more effectively.

This is a tech skill that works at building communication skills as well, Southern said. We discuss things like etiquette. We talk to them about enunciating and speaking up when they talk. We teach them about what they should do prior to a hangout, what should be in background, the lighting and where to place the camera. So there are a lot of things they are learning beyond their lesson plan.

For the most part, teachers are able to find "hangout" options in many different ways - whether reaching out to people they know or using Google Plus Communities.

One of the districts best resources for Google Hangouts are the school librarians. According to Southern, teachers explain what they want to do and the librarians work to make it happen.

The district is also using hangouts for more than just classroom tools. The technology is also used to facilitate meetings between buildings and conduct interviews.

Google Hangouts are a great example of how we can use technology, Ruble said. It is an amazing and powerful opportunity for all of us.
Early on Tuesday, the Kerala Police arrested dry fruit magnate J Rajmohan Pillai, who is suspected of raping his domestic help.

According to J Sparjan Kumar, the police commissioner of Thiruvananthapuram, a local court subsequently sent Pillai into judicial custody for 14 days.

Kumar said that the allegation came to light after the victim, 22, tried to get an abortion. A native of Odisha, she found a doctor who was a fellow Odia and confided in him the circumstances of her pregnancy. He, in turn, alerted the police.

The victim said to authorities that Odia is the only language she can speak, which prevented her from reporting the incident earlier. She was apparently hired as a maid by the businessman six months ago, and was sexually assaulted regularly during that period. The police are investigating how she got the job with a view to the possibility of human trafficking.

Pillai told the investigating team that the sex was consensual, which the victim denies. Police said that Pillai had earlier tried to hush up the case to no avail.

He is the chairman of the Beta Group, which owns the brand Nut King, the source of Pillais moniker. According to one of his senior business partners, Pillai is worth Rs 10,000 crore. His brother was the late Rajan Pillai, a famously flamboyant businessman who, in the 1980s and early 90s, ran Asia operations for corporate giants Nabisco and Huntley & Palmers. The latter group controlled Britannia Industries, Indias largest manufacturer of biscuits, earning the other Pillai brother his own flashy nickname: biscuit baron.

In 1993, Rajan was convicted of cheating and criminal breach of trust in Singapore. He fled the country on the day of his sentencing. Two years later, he was arrested in a hotel in New Delhi, and soon thereafter died in prison after being denied treatment for a chronic liver condition.

It is now Rajmohan who finds himself jailed and facing a serious criminal charge.

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India and Israel on Tuesday took historic steps towards a new engagement, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu welcoming his visiting Indian counterpart Narendra Modi by saying the future of the bilateral relationship lay in Israeli technology being wedded with Indian talent.

Modis visit, the first by an Indian prime minister since the two countries established diplomatic ties in 1992, is expected to elevate the relationship built on the bedrock of defence and security cooperation to a higher level by boosting collaboration in high technology, agriculture, water management and trade.

Netanyahu personally received Modi at Tel Avivs Ben Gurion airport, an honour previously accorded only to the Pope and the US President. He greeted Modi in Hindi, saying: Aapka swagat hai, mere dost (Welcome, my friend). Modi responded in Hebrew, Shalom, ani sameah lihyot kan (Hello, I am happy to be here).

Read | Why no one protests against Modis Israel visit

The two prime ministers hugged three times and referred to each other as my friend several times, with their mutual bonhomie openly evident to a large crowd that included the entire Israeli cabinet and heads of Abrahamic faiths.

Describing Modi as a great world leader, Netanyahu said Israel had waited for the past 70 years for a visit by an Indian premier. It is truly a historic visit, he said, adding, We love India and we view you as kindred spirits in our journey.

#WATCH: PM Narendra Modi arrives in Israel in the first-ever visit to the country by an Indian PM, received by Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu pic.twitter.com/mCWD1UDMTD  ANI (@ANI_news) July 4, 2017

Netanyahu referred to Indian talent and Israeli technology as I-squared and T-squared during the red carpet welcome and added: I-squared plus T-squared is the future of our bilateral ties. When I and Prime Minister Modi met on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in September 2014, we decided to break down the final walls that separate us. Prime Minister Modi said the sky was the limit but today we have reached space with the two countries joining hands.

Modi reminded the gathering that Tuesday was the 41st anniversary of Operation Entebbe, Israels daring mission to rescue more than 100 passengers of an airliner that was hijacked to Entebbe airport in Uganda. Netanyahus elder brother, Col Yonatan Yoni Netanyahu, was killed during the operation.

Netanyahu also referred to the importance of IT in both countries, saying the two most spoken languages in Silicon Valley are Hindi and Hebrew. This, he said, was evidence of the skills and talents possessed by both the people.

Read | Modis historic visit to de-hyphenate relations with Palestinians, says Israeli media

Talking to Hindustan Times after the ceremonial welcome, Micheal Oren, deputy minister in the Israeli Prime Ministers Office, said with India and the US as friends of Israel, a close trilateral relationship would be the future. As the US withdraws from the region, India, as a country with democratic values, should join hands with Israel, he said.

In his welcome speech, Modi said the people of Israel had built a nation on democratic principles and marched forward despite adversarial conditions.

Alongside building a partnership for shared economic prosperity, we are also cooperating to secure our society against common threats such as terrorism, he said.

Read | Pak media on Modis Israel visit: Need to checkmate Indias aggressive moves



During the drive from Ben Gurion airport to Jerusalem, Netanyahu escorted Modi to the Danzinger flower farm in Mishmar Hashiva, a showcase for agro-technology and one of Israels leading floriculture firms, where a new fast-growing chrysanthemum flower was named after the Indian premier.

At a joint address later, Modi he called for resolutely opposing the evils of terrorism, radicalism and violence that has plagued the world. Yad Vashem is a reminder of the unspeakable evil inflicted generations ago, he said in a press statement along with his Israeli counterpart Netanyahu.

Modi, who laid a wreath at the Yad Vashem Memorial museum and paid tributes to over six million Jews killed by Nazi Germany, said the memorial is a tribute to your unbreakable spirit to rise above the depths of tragedy, overcome hatred and forge ahead to build a vibrant democratic nation.

Netanyahu said the two countries must stand together to fight the menace of terrorism.

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Narendra Modi becomes the first Indian prime minister to visit Israel when he arrives on Tuesday, the result of growing ties that have led to billions of dollars in defence deals.

Israel, in constant search of allies to vote in its favour at UN bodies as well as business partners, has been portraying the visit as historic.

Israeli analysts have also noted Modi is not scheduled to travel to Ramallah to meet with Palestinian leaders during his three-day stay, as is common for many foreign dignitaries.

Modi did however meet Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas in New Delhi in May.

Read | Modi leaves for Jerusalem: Five things that define India-Israel relationship

Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the visit, which marks 25 years since the two countries established diplomatic relations, a further expression of the state of Israels military, economic and diplomatic strength.

This is a very significant step in strengthening relations between the two countries, the Israeli leader said.

India is a huge country with over 1.25 billion people and is one of the worlds largest, growing economies. Ties between Israel and India are on a constant upswing.

Netanyahu said Monday that, in an unusual move and a sign of the importance Israel is placing on the trip, he would accompany the prime minister at many events during his visit as befits the leader of the largest democracy in the world.

But while Israel, with a population of some eight million, has held the visit up as a diplomatic victory, both countries have practical reasons for the trip.

Read | PM Modis Israel trip shows Indias mature approach with focus on economic, security gains | Opinion

India is the worlds biggest importer of defence equipment, and Israel has become one of its major suppliers.

Israeli media have reported that the two countries see an average of more than $1 billion in defence deals each year.

Largest ever contract

India has been investing tens of billions in updating its Soviet-era military hardware to counter long-standing tensions with regional rivals China and Pakistan.

It has signed several big-ticket defence deals since Modis Bharatiya Janata Party stormed to power in 2014.

In April, state-owned Israel Aerospace Industries said India would buy nearly $2 billion worth of weapons technology, making it the military exporting giants largest ever defence contract.

The deal will see IAI provide India with an advanced defence system of medium-range surface-to-air missiles, launchers and communications technology

The two countries have also cooperated on issues such as water and agriculture technology.

Modi is to arrive at 4:00 pm (1300 GMT) on Tuesday and will have dinner with Netanyahu that evening.

He will hold talks with Netanyahu and President Reuven Rivlin on Wednesday before meeting with members of Israels Indian community.

Thursdays schedule includes a business lunch with CEOs from both countries.

More than defence

I think its more than defence contracts, Efraim Inbar, a former head of Israels Begin-Sadat Centre for Strategic Studies think-tank, told AFP.

It is a common strategic agenda which includes a fear of Islamic radicalism, fears about Chinese assertiveness and in addition, of course, you cannot ignore the huge economic potential for both countries.

Inbar added: But for us its a huge market.

Israels 50-year occupation of the West Bank and failure to reach a peace deal with the Palestinians have been major stumbling blocks in its efforts to boost relations with certain foreign countries.

India has traditionally voiced its support for Palestinian statehood, initially shunning diplomatic relations with Israel.

But the frost has thawed in recent years, with India seeking closer defence ties with Israel, particularly as New Delhi turns increasingly away from traditional ally Russia for its military hardware.

Hindu nationalist Modi makes the trip after his visit last week to Washington, where he and US President Donald Trump embraced each other as friends, vowing to work more closely on combatting terrorism, the war in Afghanistan and defence cooperation.

While ties with some US allies have been strained by Trumps complaints that Washington has been the loser in trade agreements, Modi appeared sensitive to his hosts emphasis on transactional diplomacy.

Modi may find similar common ground with Netanyahu, Israels longtime right-wing prime minister who hosted Trump in May.

India is currently the worlds fastest growing major economy, a status that Modi is hoping to cement by drawing in more foreign investment.

He has sought to do that in part by encouraging manufacturers to do business in Asias third-largest economy.

Israels defence deals have included components that will be assembled in India.
Defence, agriculture, trade, diplomacy and water management will dominate talks when Prime Minister Narendra Modi visits Israel from July 4-6 at the invitation of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the first Indian Prime Minister to visit the Jewish homeland.

Modi is also expected to meet Moshe Holtzberg, a survivor of the 2008 Mumbai 26/11 terrorist attack. Moshe was two years old when the attack happened.

Ahead of the visit, both countries have prepared a roadmap of joint economic undertakings, The Haaretz reported on June 29, 2017. The Israeli cabinet approved a 23-page document continuing scores of bilateral measures and a budget of 280 million shekels (about $79.6 million or Rs 514 crore)  a bigger sum than Israel has ever set aside for China, Africa and Latin America combined. No fewer than 11 ministries were involved in preparing the program.

Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi departs for his two-nation visit to Israel and Germany pic.twitter.com/7ZJjzV375z  ANI (@ANI_news) July 4, 2017

Here are five things that define the India-Israel relationship today:

1) Defence

India is Israels top destination for arms exports, buying 41% of Israels arms export between 2012 and 2016, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, an independent global conflict and arms-research institute.

PM Modis Israel trip shows Indias mature approach with focus on economic, security gains | Opinion

Israel is Indias third-largest source of arms, with a 7.2% share of imports between 2012 and 2016, next to the USA (14%) and Russia (68%).

The earliest signs of collaboration came during the 1962 Sino-Indian war, when Israel provided India military aid. Israel also assisted India during two wars with Pakistan in 1965 and 1971, according to this 2009 article in the Stanford Journal of International Relations.

India reciprocated during the six-day war in 1967 by providing Israel with spare parts for French-made Mystere and Ouragan aircraft as well as AX-13 tanks (also French-made), the Stanford report said.

The highlight of the partnership was Israels supply of artillery shells during the Kargil war in 1999 when India faced a shortage.

In the late 1990s, a crucial defence deal was the Indian purchase of Barak 1, an air-defence missile, bought specifically for its capability to intercept US-made Harpoon missiles deployed by Pakistan.

Read | Modis Israel visit: Defence and fighting terror are pillars of bilateral ties

Indias imports of unarmed vehicles (UAVs) have almost all been from Israel. Of 176 UAVs purchased from Israel, 108 are Searcher UAVs and 68 are Heron UAVs, IndiaSpend reported in May 2015.

In April 2017, India and Israel signed a $2 billion (Rs 12,878 crore) deal for advanced medium-range surface-to-air missile system, which will provide the Indian army the capability to shoot down aircraft, missiles and drones at ranges of up to 70 km.

In September 2016, tests were conducted of the jointly developed Long Range Surface-to-Air Missile with a range of 70 km, intended to equip three guided-missile destroyers of the Indian Navy.

India successfully tested the Israeli-made SPYDER quick-reaction surface-to-air missile in May this year. The Indian Air Force is planning to deploy this system on its western border, India Today reported on February 28, 2017.

India and Israel also closely cooperate on counter-terrorism issues through a joint working group on counter-terrorism.

2) Diplomacy: Several ministerial and high-level official visits to Israel precede Modis tour. These include visits by LK Advani, former home minister, in 2000, former President APJ Abdul Kalam in February 2008, home minister Rajnath Singh in November 2014, President Pranab Mukherjee in October 2015 and external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj in January 2016.

Three Indian naval ships, destroyer INS Mumbai, frigate INS Trishul and tanker INS Aditya, made a goodwill visit at the Haifa port in May 2017 to mark 25 years of full diplomatic relations between the two countries.

3) Agriculture: An Indo-Israel agriculture action plan for 2015-18 is operational, and 15 of the proposed 26 centers of excellence in agriculture are being developed in India with Israels help to showcase the latest technology to Indian farmers.

Phase-I (2010-12) and phase-II (2012-15) of the agreement are complete, according to this reply to the Lok Sabha (lower house of Parliament) on February 7, 2017.

India has benefited from Israeli technologies in horticulture mechanisation, protected cultivation, orchard and canopy management, nursery management, micro-irrigation and post-harvest management, particularly in Haryana and Maharashtra.

Every year, more than 20,000 farmers visit the Agricultural Centre of Excellence at Gharaunda in Karnal, Haryana, where a nursery produces hybrid seedlingsincluding tomatoes, cherry-tomato, colored capsicum, cucumbers, eggplant and chilli peppergrown in small, individual cells, ready to be transplanted into containers or a field.

There was a five-to 10-fold increase in crop yields with an accompanying 65% reduction in use of water and noticeable decrease in the use of pesticides and fertilisers, according to this December 2014 report on the Indo-Israel Agriculture Project.

4) Water Management: On June 28, 2017, the union cabinet approved a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Israel on the National Campaign for Water Conservation in India.

Technologically-adept Israel has developed water-management technologies, located as it is in a semi-arid region with limited sources of fresh drinking water.

India and Israel will do wonders together in our future #Water cooperation, covering all relevant watee disciplines -including #Desalination https://t.co/rmsUzR7pEp  Daniel Carmon (@danielocarmon) June 6, 2017

India and Israel had earlier signed an MoU on water resources management and development cooperation in November 2016.

5) Trade: Israel was Indias 38th largest trading partner, with trade of $5.02 billion (Rs 33,634 crore) in 2016-17, down 18% over 2012-13. The trade balance stood in Indias favour at $1.10 billion (Rs 7,370 crore) in 2016-17.

Mineral fuels and oils are Indias leading export to Israel, worth $1.01 billion in 2016-17.

Indias major imports from Israel in 2016-17 included natural or cultured pearls and precious stones, worth $1.11 billion.

Trade in diamonds accounts for nearly 54% of the bilateral trade. Nearly 40 diamond dealers from India have opened offices at the Israeli diamond exchange in Ramat-Gan. Some of these dealers have been active in Israel for nearly 30-40 years.

Israeli exporters complain about the difficulties in doing business in India because of its onerous regulations, corruption and the division of the country into multiple jurisdictions of 29 states each with their own policies and rules, the Haaretz reported.

The Israeli government has proposed measures such as offering export insurance, liberalising the aviation sector and granting longer-term visas. The aim is to boost Israeli exports to India by 25% over the next four years and tourists to 80,000 annually.

PM Netanyahu: Next week, the Indian Prime Minister, my friend, @NarendraModi will arrive in Israel, This is an historic visit to Israel.  PM of Israel (@IsraeliPM) June 25, 2017

Relations with Israel are significant for India because of cooperation in agriculture, defence and science/technology, Uttara Sahasrabuddhe, professor of international relations at the University of Mumbai, told IndiaSpend.

Israel has been giving key weapons systems to India including missiles; it has given us those weapons which we could not directly buy from the US for ideological reasons; cooperation in counter-terrorism from information sharing to techniques/doctrine of counter terrorism, Sahasrabudde said. It is also an important source of foreign investment, if tapped with care. The visit of the Indian PM will indicate that New Delhi has come out of the old mindset.

Read | PM Modi shouldnt have skipped Palestine during Israel visit, says Owaisi

Modis visit is of unprecedented importance with bilateral ties going through changing paradigm and changed architecture, Israeli Ambassador to India Daniel Carmon was quoted as saying in the Economic Times on June 28, 2017.  there is no zero sum game and commitments and good relations with both sides can be maintained without contradiction.

Modi will be received by his Israeli counterpart at the airport along with a top protocol team comprising Israelis from various fields including rabbis. This is a special gesture only accorded to the Pope or the US President, the Ambassador said.

The announcement has generated excitement among Israelis. The Israeli Embassy in India has tweeted a video where Israelis welcome the Indian Prime Minister in Hindi.

An estimated 85,000 Jews of Indian-origin live in Israel, the majority being from Maharashtra (Bene Israelis), with some from Kerala (Cochini Jews) and Kolkata (Baghdadi Jews).

While India recognised Israel on September 17, 1950a year after it voted against United Nations membership for the Jewish statefull diplomatic ties were established only in 1992, the reticence flowing from Indias traditional backing for the Palestinian cause.

Since then, relationships have been defined by defence deals and the 35,000 mostly young Israelis who visit India each year to de-stress after their compulsory two-three years of military service.

The traffic isnt all one-way: As many as 44,672 Indian tourists visited Israel in 2016, a 13% increase over the previous year, Financial Express reported on April 24, 2017.

Published in arrangement with Indiaspend, a non-profit organisation. Chaitanya Mallapur is an analyst with IndiaSpend.
Police officer Shreshtha Thakur is a hero in Bahraich even before starting her stint in the border district of Uttar Pradesh. And many feel the no-nonsense officer could bring a sense of security for women in the district.

Thakur was transferred from Bulandshahr, seen as a punishment for taking on some leaders of the ruling BJP. She had fined a BJP leader for riding a motorcycle without a helmet and also arrested five other party workers for allegedly obstructing police.

A video clip showing Thakur standing up to the BJP leader had gone viral, with many praising her for standing up to political pressure.

Thakur told HT over phone she will join duties in Bahraich on Thursday. An MBA, she has been appointed as a deputy superintendent of police in Bahraich.

Saniya, a college student, said she was sure that Thakur will check crime against women.

Others were equally hopeful.

I am happy to know that a brave and upright officer is coming to Bahraich, said Rashmi, a school teacher.

Read | UP woman cop who stood up to BJP leaders considers her transfer a reward

Ranjeeta Shrivastava, a social activist, said the women of the town stood by Thakur for her courage. Earlier, Shrivastava said, she had only seen such brave women in films.

Jitendra Chaturvedi, a social activist and executive officer of Dehat, a social organisation, said Thakur could be a role-model for young girls in the district and will enhance feeling of security among women.

Her posting in Bahraich, an educationally backward district, was a positive sign, he added.

Communal tension over petty issues, cow slaughter and murders over land dispute are common in Bahraich.

Residents said Thakurs new assignment would be challenging for her and they were waiting to see how she handles it.

BJP district president Shyam Karan Tekriwal, however, said the government had not taken any action against Thakur as she was only transferred.

Thakur was transferred a week after the incident and following a meeting of a delegation of the partys 11 MLAs and MP with chief minister Yogi Adityanath over the issue. They said their pride had been hurt by the officer.

Superintendent of police Sunil Kumar said he was yet to receive official confirmation of Thakurs joining. A circle would be allotted to her once she joins duty, he said.

In Facebook posts, Thakur seemed unperturbed by the chain of events.

Wherever a lamp goes, it will spread lightit doesnt have a fixed address, she wrote on Sunday. U all are invited to Bahraich.

Although the post was deleted, it circulated by other users and liked by hundreds on Facebook. People also commented on her post, saying they will stand up for her.

A page was also created on Facebook in her support after she was transferred, which has been followed by over 2000 people till now.

Real life lady dabangg. Full power. Hats off to you.. your transfer shows that movies are no different.. As a cop when you are honest and do good job you are either transferred or suspended.. More power to you, Eikram Baig posted on the page.

We must salute the courage of this officer... the BJP goons have not only tarnished the image of the party but have also confirmed that the BJPs claim about ensuring respect to women is false, Amit Sharma said.

Take on the system with valour. We are with you Shrestha Singh, social activist Abha Singh tweeted.

Read | Upright officers transfer will send wrong message, say residents of UPs Syana
The gun-battle between militants and security forces in south Kashmir's Pulwama district ended on its second day with the killing of the third militant.

Jammu-Kashmir police tweeted from its official handle #Bahmnoo Pulwama encounter update. Body of the third militant recovered. Identity is being ascertained."

On Monday, two militants namely Were gunned down in the gun-battle.

Security forces had launched a search operation in Bahmnoo area of Pulwama on Monday morning following information about presence of militants in the area, a police spokesman said.

On Saturday, Lashkar-e-Toiba commander Bashir Lashkari -- who was behind the killing of SHO Feroz Dar last month -- and his accomplice were gunned down in an encounter in south Kashmir.

In a separate incident, a policeman and a woman were injured when militants attacked a police party in Anantnag town of south Kashmir on Monday morning.

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The anti-terrorism squad (ATS) of the Rajasthan Police on Tuesday detained a man in Chennai who allegedly transferred funds to the Islamic State through a hawala network, said officials.

According to senior ATS officials, the detained person has been identified as Harun and is engaged in money exchange business.

Our teams were sent to Chennai after we got to know about possible involvement of Harun in hawala money trail leading up to the Islamic State. We have detained him and he is being brought to Jaipur for further interrogation, Vikas Kumar, superintendent of police, ATS told HT.

Harun is likely to be arrested once he lands in Jaipur in the afternoon.

Kumar also said that preliminary investigation suggests that Harun had links with Muhammed Iqbal who was arrested by the Rajasthan ATS in February this year.

Iqbal, who also used the alias of Travel Haq was a smuggler and was arrested for his connections with Jamil Ahmed, another suspected IS operative who was arrested by the Rajasthan police in November last year.

Preliminary investigation suggests that Harun was acquainted with Iqbal and helped send hawala money intended to fund the Islamic State to UAE, said Kumar.

The officials said that the role that Harun allegedly played in sending funds to the IS was unearthed while the agency investigated the various connections of Iqbal, who was also based in Chennai.

After the money would be sent to UAE, Ahmed, who worked in a finance company in Dubai, would allegedly transfer it to the IS.

Ahmed was also allegedly directly in touch with guerrilla fighters of the terrorist organisation in Iraq and Syria.

ATS officials had revealed that Ahmed, who wanted to permanently move to Syria, recently purchased properties worth crores of rupees in Mumbai recently to ensure that his family would live comfortably.
China has ruled out a compromise in the military standoff with India in the Sikkim section, and put the onus on New Delhi to resolve the grave situation.

In unusually blunt remarks, Chinas ambassador to India Luo Zhaohui said on Tuesday, the ball is in Indias court and it was for the Indian government to decide what options could be on the table to resolve the standoff.

Asked about remarks by official Chinese media and think- tanks that the conflict can lead to a war if not handled properly, the ambassador said: There has been talk about this option, that option. It is up to your government policy (whether to exercise military option).

The Chinese government is very clear that it wants peaceful resolution at current state of the situation for which withdrawal of Indian troops from the area is a pre- condition, he asserted.

The first priority is that the Indian troops unconditionally pull back to the Indian side of the boundary. That is the precondition for any meaningful dialogue between China and India, he said.

China and India have been engaged in a standoff in the Dokalam area near the Bhutan trijunction for past 19 days after a Chinese armys construction party came to build a road.

Doka La is the Indian name for the region which Bhutan recognises as Dokalam, while China claims it as part of its Donglang region. China and Bhutan are engaged in talks over the resolution of the area. Bhutan, however, has no diplomatic ties with China and it is supported militarily and diplomatically by India.

The situation is grave and made me deeply worried. It is the first time that Indian troops have crossed the mutually recognised boundary and trespassed into Chinas territory, triggering a close range face off between Chinese and Indian border troops. Now 19 days have passed, but the situation still has not eased, Luo said.

He also asserted that India has no right to interfere with the China-Bhutan boundary talks, nor is it entitled to make territorial claims on behalf of Bhutan.

On the standoff, the ministry of external affairs had said India was deeply concerned at the recent Chinese actions and has conveyed to the Chinese government that such construction would represent a significant change of status quo with serious security implications for India.

As for the so called security concerns of the Indian side, India has crossed a delimited boundary into other countrys territory in the name of security concerns, no matter what kind of activities it conducts there, which will not acceptable to any sovereign state.

India cannot encroach upon the territory of other countries on the ground of its security concerns. Otherwise, the world would be in chaos, the Chinese envoy added.

He also asserted that it is critical that India shall withdraw its troops immediately to minimise the negative impact. It serves the interests of the two sides.
Yogi Adityanath-led BJP government in Uttar Pradesh is planning to initiate a probe into the grant sanctioned by the previous Samajwadi Party-led dispensation to an NGO run by former chief minister Akhilesh Yadavs sister-in-law Aparna Yadav.

An indication to this regard was given by states dairy development minister Lakshmi Narayan Chaudhary while addressing a programme at Sahibabad industrial area on Monday.

Nearly 86% of the grant sanctioned by the previous government for organisations working for cow welfare in the state went to Aparna Yadavs Jeev Ashraya, an RTI reply has revealed recently.

Aparna is the wife of Prateek Yadav, the step-brother of Akhilesh Yadav.

Her NGO runs a gaushala, Kanha Upvan, at Amausi on the outskirt of Lucknow, which Adityanath visited in March, days after taking over as chief minister. He also lauded the facilities provided to bovines there.

To a query by activist Nutan Thakur, the UP Gau Sewa Aayog replied that during the tenure of the previous government, it sanctioned Rs 9.66 crore, of which Rs 8.35 crore (86.4%) went to Jeev Ashraya.

During 2017-18, till now, Rs1.05 crore has been given to various gaushalas. But Jeev Ashraya was not one of the recipients.

During the Samajwadi Party regime, criminals and mafias were given political protection. In this case, the former CM sanctioned 86% funds meant for organisations working for cow welfare to only one NGO being run by his sister-in-law, Chaudhary said.

The issue cannot be taken lightly as it indicates an organised loot of public money, he said, hinting the government is contemplating to probe the charges of nepotism.

The development comes at a time when several projects launched by the Akhilesh government are under scanner.

There have been reports of misappropriation of Waqf properties. We have referred the probe to the CBI, Chaudhary said.

Talking to a news agency, Aparna Yadav denied getting any undue favour, there was nothing wrong if works of an active NGO were recognised by the government.

If an organisation is doing good work, it should get 100 per cent funds, she said.

There are approximately 462 gau shalas (cow shelters) in UP and of them Jeev Ashray is the most active. Anyone can go there and check, she said.

Stating that the RTI should not be used to terrorise people, Aparna said she would give a befitting reply to the people who were trying to malign her image.
NDAs presidential candidate Ram Nath Kovind has little association with Karnataka but his name reverberates in BJP meetings in the state. Kovinds Dalit identity and the surety of becoming Indias next President have given the BJP a reason to reach out to nearly 18% of the states population that owes allegiance to the Congress.

The BJPs chief ministerial candidates common refrain at public meetings nowadays is, A Dalit (Kovind) as president and OBC (Narendra Modi) as PM is a first for India. This can happen only under BJP.

Karnataka is the last Congress bastion in south India and the only big state now in its kitty. The BJP polled 19.8% votes and won 40 of the total 224 assembly seats in 2013, behind Congress tally of 122 seats with 36.59% votes. BS Yeddyurappas Karnataka Janata Paksha won just six seats but polled 9.8% votes. He merged his outfit with BJP ahead of the 2014 Lok Sabha election.

Read | Karnataka: Central BJP leadership stands by Yeddyurappa in intra-party feud

The former CM, who battled a series of corruption allegations in his last stint between 2008 and 2011, is now preparing a recipe to cook up victory for the BJP.

I breakfast with Dalits and lunch with OBCs, he told HT before leaving for a Jana Samparka Abhiyana, a mass contact programme that has taken him to 80 out of 224 assembly seats of the state before ending at Bijapur on June 29. By June, BSY travelled nearly 9,500km and covered 26 districts to hold about 40 programmes targeted only at SCs and OBCs. The second leg begins from Bagalkot on July 6 and BSY plans to visit the rest of the 144 constituencies in July before Amit Shahs visit in August.

Even if 40% of the SC community votes for BJP, we will touch the 150 mark in state assembly, Yeddyurappa told HT. Dalits accounts for nearly 18% of the states population.

But isnt his tainted past a baggage for the BJP? I have been cleared of the charges, he replied. Narendra Modi and Amit Shah have placed their trust in me. Its my duty to win Karnataka for them.

Read | BJPs defeat in Karnataka assembly bypolls a setback for state chief Yeddyurappa

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The Fredericktown R-I Board of Education met for a special meeting recently. The board discussed or accepted various bids for several projects.

The board first reviewed the four bids received for work on the Intermediate School addition project. Superintendent Brett Reutzel said architect Bruce Dell of Hoehner & Associates would conduct a post bid interview with Brockmiller Construction, Inc. on June 15 to further discuss the project.

The project is on track to get underway in late July or early August and is expected to take around ten months to complete. Dell will make present the results of the post bid interview at a June 27 school board meeting, at which time he will make a recommendation regarding accepting a bid.

The board next opened two received bank bids from New Era Bank and First State Community Bank. After discussing the proposed terms, the board voted to maintain the school districts relationship with New Era Bank.

Reutzel then described two bids received on new buses, one from Midwest Bus Sales and the other from Central States Bus Sales. After discussion, the board voted to approve the purchase of a 2018 Blue Bird bus at the price of $80,540.

The board then approved the seeking of bids in surplus school district property. Reutzel said the school district had unused lumber and metal roofing from the previous modular buildings, as well as band uniforms, choir robes and other miscellaneous items. He said the items would be advertised in the Democrat News before taking bids from the public for the items.

The board voted to adopt the Madison County All-Hazard Mitigation Plan, which Reutzel said included showing the school district has taken preparation for emergency situations. Adopting the plan and showing the districts preparation would keep the school district eligible to receive SEMA and FEMA funds.

In his Superintendents Report, Reutzel discussed the Fairness in Public Construction Act, which was recently signed into law in Missouri. He said the law would not affect current district construction projects, but is intended to keep public entities from mandating that certain percentages of construction work be completed by union labor.

Reutzel also discussed an upcoming Missouri School Boards Association meeting, as well as preschool funding questions. Reutzel also gave the board a financial update, saying that the school district is currently $540,000 in the black.

The board then voted to adjourn and enter into closed session for a personnel matter.

The next meeting of the Fredericktown R-I Board of Education will be at 5 p.m. on June 27 at the school district offices.
When Anandpal Singh was gunned down in a controversial police encounter last month in northern Rajasthans Churu, he was a dreaded gangster with six murder charges and little social traction.

But in a month, the 45-year-old has been transformed into an icon who has galvanised the influential Rajput community, generated a snowballing demand for a CBI probe into his death and potential embarrassment for the ruling BJP.

Rajput bodies across the state have blocked roads, vandalised public property and demonstrated against police to press for an inquiry into what they allege was a staged encounter. The body is lying in his native Sanvrad village, as his family has refused to cremate him without a CBI probe. On Monday, around 2,000 Rajputs reached the village.

Community bodies such as Shree Rajput Sabha, Rajput Karni Sena and Pratap Foundation have joined the protests. At a gathering outside Rajput Sabha Bhavan in Jaipur on Sunday, nearly 30 men courted arrest shouting Long live Anandpal. Hundreds of college students changed their profile photos on Facebook and wrote Long Live Anandpal.

But how did a notorious criminal become the focal point of such demonstrations? The answer lies in Rajputs fraught history with Jats, the other big community in Rajasthan, and Anandpals own meteoric rise from a relatively backward background.

Anandpal was a Ravana Rajput, a community born from the concubines of Rajputs and regarded as inferior by the Rajputs, especially for matrimony.

Anandpal made a powerful point by riding a horse to his wedding  a symbol of Rajput pride that is off-limits for lower castes.

In Jail, Anandpal became a power icon because of his rugged appearance, his glamorous life photographs of him in gym and showing off his toned muscles often found its way to social media platforms.

The Rajputs also saw in him an answer to the Jat gangsters whose reign Anandpal ended. Jats resent Rajputs for the latters historical domination in a region where the Jats are the numerical majority.

His death also sparked a rush to appropriate his legacy with Rajput bodies, who had earlier kept a distance from Anandpal, coming out in solidarity.

Rajiv Gupta, retired professor of sociology from University of Rajasthan, has a better way to put it. When power disintegrates, there arises an opportunity for others to consolidate that power. What we see now is the same phenomenon, the same question arising as to who or what will replace that power centre, said Gupta.

Furthermore, Anandpals image echoed the aggression shown recently by Rajput bodies such as the Rajput Karni Sena, members of which disrupted the shooting of film Padmavati and slapped director Sanjay Leela Bhansali, claiming the movie insulted Rajputs.

The unrest might have political fallout too. With Rajput leaders questioning the silence of 28 Rajput MLAs and publicly threatening to give a befitting response to the ruling BJP in the next assembly election, the partys prospects might take a blow. Rajputs have been traditionally BJP loyalists and constitute 8-10% of the voters in the state.

In addition, the growing demand for CBI probe into the encounter - the latest to voice support for it being ex-chief minister Ashok Gehlot - has upped the pressure on government.

If the Anandpal case goes to the CBI and lapses emerge, it will be a major embarrassment for chief minister Vasundhara Raje.

There have been two police encounters in the state in recent past: Dara Singh, a Jat, killed in 2006; and Chatur Singh, a Rajput, killed in 2016  both during BJP rule.

Rajendra Rathore, the Rajput leader who is BJP MLA from Churu and a senior cabinet minister, went behind bars for a few days for his alleged role in the encounter of Dara Singh, a Jat bootlegger in the Shekhawati region, in 2006.

Rajasthan police also faced Rajput anger for Chatur Singhs death.

In addition, Rajasthan home minister Gulab Chand Kataria and police were under the scanner for the killing of Sohrabuddin Sheikh in Gujarat in 2005. MN Dinesh, the police officer who led the team that killed Anandpal, was in jail for seven years in the Sohrabuddin case.

But not everyone is convinced by the protests. In a recorded conversation circulating on social media, a prominent Rajput politician is heard asking why the community was backing a man who killed Rajputs, too. As a criminal, he spared none, the leader says in the audio. Why did the community not stand with widows of three Rajput men Anandpal killed? he questioned.

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A district court in West Bengal has issued arrest warrants against three police officers -- two of them are IPS officers -- for their role in the 2007 police firing in Nandigram killing 14 villagers. incident.

The court also issued arrest warrants against eight CPI(M) leaders. The warrants were issued by additional chief judicial magistrate Subhadip Chatterjee on Monday following the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) submitting the supplementary charge in the court on Friday.

Read: A decade later, family members of Nandigram victims still seeking justice

The Nandigram firing was a watershed in the recent history of Bengal since it became the single most important incident that contributed to the fall of the 34-year Left rule in Bengal.

A Trinamool Congress poster in Nandigram before the 2016 Bengal Assembly polls. The court order will also come as a relief to the ruling party, who were often accused by the victim families for not doing enough to bring the culprits to book. (HT Photo)

The IPS officers against whom warrants were issued are Satyajit Bandhopadhyay, an additional commissioner of Kolkata Police, and Debasish Boral, who was joint commissioner (crime) in Kolkata Police and is now in compulsory waiting. The third officer is Shekhar Roy, an assistant commissioner in Howrah.

On March 14, 2007, when the firing took place, Satyajit Bandhopadhyay was the additional superintendent of police of Howrah district, Debasish Boral was additional superintendent of police in East Midnapore and Sekhar Roy, the officer in charge of Nandigram police station.

Sources told HT that the three police officers were charged with culpable homicide not amounting to murder, attempt to culpable homicide not amounting to murder, voluntarily causing grievous hurt with dangerous weapons and causing disappearance of evidence or providing false information to screen offenders.

If the charges are proved, they may even face prison for life.

Read: Bhangar children guard villages after sundown, cant attend school

Eight CPI(M) leaders such as Rabiul Hossain, Himangshu Das, Bijan Roy and Badal Garudas were named in the charge sheet.

The police firing in Nandigram on March 14, 2007 was easily the single biggest incident that contributed to the downfall of the 34-year Left rule in Bengal. Former chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee was keen to set up an SEZ for chemical and petrochemical units in Nandigram. (HT Photo)

The court issued arrest warrant against 11 persons. As Badal was arrested earlier and now is in bail, the warrant was not issued against him, said government pleader Abdul Mohit.

However, Alok Rajoria, district police chief in East Midnapore said they are yet to receive any papers from the court. We will take steps after receiving the papers from the court, he said.

As many as 14 people were killed in firing on March 14, 2007 when police opened fire on land agitators.

Read: MP farmers protest: An echo of what happened in Nandigram a decade ago

After the charge sheet and the warrants issued by the couort, it is proved that CPI(M) and police jointly fired on the people. After being denied justice for 10 years, we are now sure that the people of Nandigram will get justice, said Suvendu Adhikari, the MLA from Nandigram and state transport minister.

To oppose the plan of the state government to acquire land for a Special Economic Zone (SEZ), the villagers formed a committee named Bhumi Uchched Pratirodh Committee (BUPC) and started agitations. Later they got support from Trinamool Congress, the principal opposition party at that time.
In June 2015, the transgender community in West Bengal was elated after the Mamata Banerjee government set up the state transgender development board -- the first in the country -- with the first transgender college principal in the country, Manabi Bandopadhyay, as its vice-chairperson. It was a step, members of the completely marginalised community thought, that might become a watershed moment helping them channelise a few state benefits towards them, and on a broader plane, initiate the process of bringing them closer to the mainstream.

But two years after its formation, that air of excitement and expectancy has given way to despair and despondency, with the board members themselves telling HT that there has been little progress in any of the four promises made by the chairperson of the board, Dr Sashi Panja, who is also the state minister of women & child development and social welfare minister.

Read: IGNOU announces course fee waiver for transgender students

Tired of waiting, the board members have finally spoken out to HT, highlighting how the functioning of the board has suffered since its high-profile creation in May 2015.

Transgender activist and film personality Tista Das alleged that despite repeated appeals and promises, sex reassignment surgery facilities are yet to be introduced in any state-run hospital in Bengal. (Samir Jana)

Not known to mince words, board member Ranjita Sinha, told HT, The first basic flaw is conducting a proper census of people from transgender community, which include trans-women (male to female), trans-men (female to male) and hijras or eunuchs. According to the boards record, the number is just 700. But as far figures compiled by different activist groups, the number is at least 30,000 and I think, it is even higher if a proper census is conducted.

There are also complaints of lackadaisical attitude to even holding regular meetings. While the board members are supposed to meet once a month, there has only been five meetings in 24 months, said Sinha.

The board that was the first development board for transgenders by any Indian state has 15 members of whom six are from the community, an officer each from the departments of health, education, police, women & child, social welfare and two film personalities (actor Churni Ganguly and scriptwriter Leena Ganguly) apart from the chairperson and vice chairperson.

Read: Social inclusion: Bengal govt rains sops on transgenders

Tamil Nadu was the first state to set up a welfare board for the community in 2008. Maharastra set up its welfare board in 2014. Then followed Bengal with a development board in 2015. Andhra Pradesh is in the process of setting up its board now.

Members of the transgender community in Kolkata allege that the development board has failed to carry out awareness campaigns about equal rights for them. (Samir Jana)

Interestingly, two years ago the Bengal government began on a moral high ground. The word welfare indicates an attitude of charity, while development confers a sense of rights among the marginalised community, Panja remarked when the board was announced in Bengal.

All that seems to be a distant past now. Though we emphasise the need to hold regular meetings, the constant refrain is that the government officers have other preoccupations, alleged Sinha, who runs an NGO for transgenders in Kolkata.

The second promise, that is yet to be fulfilled, pointed out transgender rights activist and a trans-woman cinema silver screen personality, Tista Das, is introduction sex reassignment surgery (SRS) facilities in all the 17 state-run medical colleges and hospitals in the state.

Read: Fund crunch forces Bengal to shelve sex change surgery facilities in govt hospitals

Had it been introduced, the cost of SRS would have come down to a great extent. Second, the health hazards related to these complicated surgeries would have been taken care of to a great extent. Till today, forget about introduction of SRS facilities and allotment of special units for it, even the system of pre-surgery counseling has not been introduced in a single state- run medical college & hospital, said Tista Das. She runs an agency called SRS Solutions to take care of pre-surgery counseling.

Vice chairperson of the development board, Manabi Banerjee, thinks that is any member has so many grievances about the functioning of the board, she should resign and stop accepting the monthly honorarium. (HT Photo)

Echoing Tista, Sinha said that she, along with some other board members from the community has raised this issue several times in different board meetings. However, the government always has excuses like fund-crunch or lack of availability of doctors, Sinha said.

Repeated attempts by this correspondent to contact minister and board chairperson, Dr Sashi Panja for her comments failed as she chose not to respond to phone calls and text messages.

The board vice-chairperson, Manabi Bandopadhyay, however, came forward in defense of the board. Initial work has started to introduce SRS facility at SSKM and R G Kar Medical Colleges & Hospitals. This is a complicated process and cannot happen overnight. My suggestion the complaining board members that they should resign from the board first and forego the monthly honorarium of Rs 10,000 before approaching the media to malign the board, said Bandopadhyay.

Read: Is Delhi University transgender-friendly? No way, say students seeking admission

Joe Dutta, a trans-man and an employee of state agriculture department, said that the third important promise that is yet to be fulfilled is setting up separate public toilets for people from transgender community. Over two years have passed since the promise was made and not a single such toilet has been set up anywhere in the state, Dutta said.

In a counterargument, Manabi Bandopadhyay said that the board deliberately did not go ahead with the idea of special toilets, since it apprehends that these toilets might turn out of dens of unsocial activities.

Trans-woman Bharat Natyam dancer, Shreya Karmakar, who has to do some odd jobs since she is unable to get suitable employment said the board has also failed to secure jobs that were promised in the civic police force. Not a single one from the community is yet to get a job in the civic police, Shreya said.

Manabi Bandyopadhyay rebutted saying there was not a single application from the community, and therefore, neither the board nor the government can be blamed for it. Ranjita Sinha claimed that she and some other board members recommended a panel from the community. But a single one among those recommended by us received interview calls, Sinha said.

Aavya Nath, a trans-woman fashion designer and National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) graduate said that the creation of the board brought hopes for the people of the community for a better life. But after two years of its formation we have realized that the board is good-for-nothing and we have to solve our own problems without waiting for any support from the board, she said.

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Dozens of shops and houses, and at least six police vehicles, were torched by a mob in West Bengals North 24 Parganas district over the past two days after a class 11 student posted a blasphemous message on Facebook.

The Hindu student was arrested on Sunday night and prohibitory orders clamped, but vandalism continued throughout Monday and Tuesday as the administration did not inform people about the arrest, claimed Quazi Abdur Rahim, the MLA of Baduria, where the incident happened.

Chief minister Mamata Banerjee blamed BJP for inciting the violence, and also alleged that the governor Keshari Nath Tripathi had threatened her and said he was acting like a BJP block president.

He telephoned me and threatened me. The governor cannot threaten me. He should know that he is a nominated person. I have told him that you cannot talk to me like that, the visibly angry CM told reporters in Kolkata.

On the communal violence, she warned leaders of both communities that I wont spare anybody fuelling communal clashes.

BJP may provoke, but why will you walk into the trap? Those who have destroyed government property will have to pay for it, she said.

The governor, however, expressed surprise at Mamatas attitude and language.

The talks between the Honble Chief Minister and the Honble Governor were confidential in nature and none is expected to disclose it, said a statement issued by the governors office, adding that there was nothing in it by which the CM may have felt insulted, threatened or humiliated.

It is proper for the Honble Governor to bring to the notice of the Honble Chief Minister any serious grievance made by any member of public or any serious event happening in the state. The Honble Governor cannot remain a mute spectator of the affairs in the state, the statement said.

BJP state president Dilip Ghosh said the governor can certainly interfere if there are repeated incidents of violence.

Efforts to Quell Violence

Angry Muslim mobs set fire to shops and houses belonging to Hindus in Baduria, Swarupnagar and Taki blocks of the district bordering Bangladesh. The car of the additional police superintendent of the district was also attacked on Tuesday.

The Centre rushed 300 paramilitary personnel to the spot, which is about 50 km from Kolkata.

State food minister Jyotipriyo Mullick said he was at the spot tackling the situation whereas the district police superintendent, Bhaskar Mukherjee was not available for comment immediately as he was in a meeting.

MLA Rahim accused the administration of not making any efforts to spread the news of the arrest, and said, Some fundamentalist forces are behind this vandalism. The moment we manage to quell agitation at one place, it starts somewhere else.

He also said that the central paramilitary forces were deployed late, due to which the situation went out of control.

On Monday morning, All India Sunnat Al Jamayat, a non-political Islamic social welfare trust in the area, appealed to Muslims through social networking sites to refrain from erecting road blockades as it was the day of ulta-Rathyatra.

At many places, the procession, which concludes the nine-day Jagannath yatra, could not take place.

In nearby Basirhat South, Trinamool MLA Dipendu Biswas said they were maintaining close contact with the people to avoid any untoward incident.

We took precautionary measures and managed to avoid clashes and violence in my constituency, said Rafiqul Islam, MLA of Basirhat North.

Some people blocked roads in my constituency on Monday and Tuesday. But after much persuasion we managed to lift it, he said.

Leaders reactions

We demand an all-party meeting an army deployment. The debate on phone call is unwarranted, twitted CPI(M) state secretary Suryakanta Mishra.

Union minister Babul Supriyo described the pieces of information coming from the areas as dangerous facts.

State BJP secretary Sayantan Basu said there was a total collapse of law and order in Baduria, and called for the immediate deployment of central to protect Hindus there.

On Tuesday afternoon, police prevented BJP state general secretary Debashri Chowdhury from reaching the spot. In protest, BJP workers started a roadblock at the district headquarters Barasat.

Communal Incidents in Bengal

The Baduria clashes are the latest communal incidents in the state. Since October last year, at least 10 districts of West Bengal have seen similar communal incidents which are proving to be a major challenge for the state government.

Riots took places at Kaliachak and Chanchol (Malda district), Jalangi (Murshidabad), Chandannagar and Bhadreshwar (Hooghly), Bhagabanpur (East Midnapore), Kharagpore (West Midnapore), Hajinagar and Kanchrapara (North 24 Parganas), Sankrail and Dhulagarh (Howrah), Katwa, Jamuria and Kanksha (Burdwan).

North 24 Parganas district has the distinction of being the most populous district in the country. According to 2011 census, Muslims constitute 26% of the population.

Incidentally, in May this year, Mamata had told senior police officers that they should beat up anybody who foments communal trouble in the state.

Dont see their colour or political affiliation. If anybody dares to foment communal trouble, give him a sound thrashing, she had said.

(With PTI inputs)

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In an unprecedented outburst, chief minister Mamata Banerjee launched a scathing attack on Bengal governor Keshari Nath Tripathi on Tuesday, saying she has never faced more humiliation than she did during a telephone call with him during which Tripathi hauled her up for the communal flare-up in different areas of North 24 Parganas district.

The governor telephoned me and said certain objectionable things. He spoke like a block president of BJP. He always takes one side. I have made it clear to him that he cannot speak to me in that manner. He cannot threaten me, a visibly furious Mamata Banerjee said at the state secretariat on Tuesday evening.

Read: West Bengal Governor urges Mamata to stop post-poll violence

Tripathi, 83, has been the governor of West Bengal since July 2014.

One of the police vehicles that was set on fire in front of Baduria police station by the mob on Monday night. (HT Photo)

Though Trinamool Congress ministers have alleged partisan behaviour on the part of the governor in the past, never did the chief minister lash out at him publicly in the manner she did on Tuesday.

There was no comment on the chief ministers outburst from the Raj Bhavan till Tuesday evening.

Mamata Banerjee revealed that Tripathi called her to speak on the communal violence in Baduria and adjoining areas in North 24 Parganas district, where Muslim mobs went on a rampage setting fire to shops, houses and torching police vehicles.

I felt humiliated in the way the governor spoke. His has a Constitutional post and so have I. I dont owe my position to his munificence. He should remember he was nominated by the Centre, but Ive been elected to this chair, Banerjee fumed.

Read: Dont defame the army, says Bengal governor; Mamata hits back

He acts proactively whenever BJP leaders submit memorandums to him over small affairs... But he cannot lecture me on law and order situation, Banerjee said.

The Honble Governor is surprised at the attitude and language used by the Honble Chief Minister during the Press conference today. The talks between the Honble Chief Minister and the Honble Governor were confidential in nature and none is expected to disclose it, said a statement issued by the governors office.

There was nothing in the talks for which the Honble Chief Minister may have felt insulted, threatened or humiliated.... It is proper for the Honble Governor to bring to the notice of the Honble Chief Minister any serious grievance made by any member of public or any serious event happening in the State. The Honble Governor cannot remain a mute spectator of the affairs in the State, the statement read.

However, the chief minister herself expressed concerns over the law and orders situation and said she could not sleep last night.

We stayed awake whole night, she revealed.

Mamata Banerjee also said that she could not have asked the police to open fire as it could have led to the loss of lives. The plan was to pacify agitators and that was why it took time. I admit the police could have done better but our priority was to ensure no life is lost, she said.

She threatened those involved in the violence with strict action.

Those who with their acts of vandalism gave the governor the opportunity to insult me will not be spared. I will make them pay from their own pockets for the damage of property. Those who have set police vehicles ablaze will be taught lessons, said Banerjee.

BJP state president Dilip Ghosh said, The governor can certainly interfere if there are repeated incidents of violence.

We demand an all-party meeting an army deployment. The debate on phone call is unwarranted, twitted CPI(M) state secretary Suryakanta Mishra.

The car of the additional police super of the district was also attacked on Tuesday.

ends

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In what is seen as return of the terror of dacoits in Patha region after eight years, Lalit Patel gang shot three men and burned them after tying them to a tree in Bharat Coop forests of Chitrakoot, police said on Tuesday.

The area is near Banda, the home district of state police chief, Sulkhan Singh.

The victims were kidnapped from different places of Bundelkhand, in Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, in the last two-three days.

The Patel gang, it is believed, suspected that the victims were sympathisers of the rival Goppa gang.

The gang carried out the killings on Monday morning, but the bodies were recovered on Tuesday as the police of two states reportedly argued over border issues, said sources.

Senior police officials, including Chitrakoot DIG, Gyaneshwar Tiwari and Chitrakoot SP, Pratap Gopendra, entered the jungles from Kolhua and travelled about 15 km on jeep and seven km on foot to get to the spot.

The charred bodies were recovered and sent for autopsy.

Both Patel and Goppa gangs are engaged in a fierce rivalry for over six months now and have been exchanging fire in MP and UP.

They are targeting people they believe could be helping the rival gang, locals told police.

While Patel is a rising dacoit leader, Goppa carries a reward of Rs 1 lakh on his head.

Those kidnapped included Ram Narayan Yadav from Tharpahad village, Dadu Bhai from Tedi Patvan village of Nayagaon police limits of Madhya Pradesh, and one unidentified man in early thirties.

The family members had not informed the police fearing backlash from the dacoit gang.

Officials said empty bullet shells on the spot indicated that they were first shot, and then burnt after being tied to a bamboo tree.

SP Gopendra said the police would go for DNA identification of victims and necessary samples had been collected. The identities of two victims were established through the MP polices inputs about two men kidnapped by an armed gang.

Police have launched a massive combing operation in the region, which once was home to UPs most fearsome dacoits like Shiv Kumar Patel Dadua, Ambika Patel Thokia, Sudesh Kol and many others.
Terming the cycle tracks made across Uttar Pradesh during the SP regime a cause for traffic congestion, BJPs urban development minister Suresh Khanna said such tracks on narrow roads will be demolished to make way for vehicular traffic.

The cycle tracks in many areas lie unused and cause traffic congestion. We have decided to remove the tracks from narrow roads across the state, Khanna said during a function in Bareilly on Sunday.

Cycle tracks of various distances were constructed in Lucknow, Noida and Bareilly by the SP government. In Bareilly, a kilometre long track was built along the Bareilly-Pilibhit highway originating from Satellite bus stop. An ambitious cycle highway was also constructed from SP patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav home district Etawah to Agra in 2016. The project, which was highlighted as one to broaden the tourist viability in the state, reportedly cost over 100 crore INR.

All these tracks never became popular in public and are rarely used even by cyclists. But on other hand they take up a lot of space and inhibit easy traffic movement, said Khanna. The minister who was selected from Shahjahanpur city seat also informed that the decision to remove such tracks will be taken as per the advice of local development officials.

Though the step is being seen as a mean to undo the work done by previous governments, Khanna said if cycle tracks from a particular road was removed, it will only be for the ease of common people. Our Government doesnt believe in building or destroying symbols. we are only working for the development of the state, Khanna said.
The UP Employees Welfare Corporation has urged the state government to find a way out to continue the facility of providing tax-free goods to government employees and pensioners through the corporations stores.

The move comes in the wake of the Goods and services tax (GST) regime having done away with the provision whereby the state government allowed the welfare corporation exemptions from the VAT on the commodities it sold to government employees and pensioners.

Read more| GST launched in India: A look at tax rates and how it will impact your basic expenses

We have written a letter to the government to find a way out to continue the facility for the government employees and pensioners, corporations executive director Ashok Srivastav told the HT.

The corporation used to sell VAT-free goods to more than two million state government employees and pensioners through its 160 depots across the state and two family bazaars--one each in Lucknow and Varanasi--with the state governing bearing the loss of around Rs 200-250 crore every year.

After the GST came into force from July 1, the corporation has stopped selling goods as it is not clear to it whether to clear the old stock with or without the indirect tax. We have asked the commercial tax department to clarify if we can continue to sell the old stock without charging any tax or the old stock too will attract the GST, Srivastava said.

He said the staff had been asked to do the listing of the consumables and other items available in the stores and family bazaars as per the four GST slabs. Sources said the old stock worth around Rs 50 crore was available in the corporations stores. Srivastava said it was difficult to say anything about the cost at this juncture.

Commercial tax commissioner, Mukesh Meshram, however, hinted the employees welfare corporation was unlikely to get the permission to clear the old stocks without levying GST on them.

Read more: With GST, domestic LPG gets costlier but commercial LPG is cheaper

I am not aware of the corporation having sought any clarification but common sense says that it will be violation of the GST law to sell even the old stock without levying the tax on goods that are not tax-free under the GST, he said.

Meshram said doing away with tax exemptions was the GST Councils decision and the state government, he said, had nothing to do with the new provision.

More than 850 employees who are engaged in running the corporations depots/stores and family bazaars in UP are worried for their future since ending the provision of selling tax-free goods to the state government staff and pensioners through these outlets may risk their job.

The GST provision has put at risk jobs of more than 850 government employees who are employed at the corporations depots, UP state employees association president Satish Pandey said, demanding the government to continue the facility of providing tax-free goods to state government employees.

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Recently, a Delhi-based man was rushed to a hospital after he consumed a cocktail that was made using liquid nitrogen. A popular component in cocktails at some bars and restaurants that use molecular gastronomy, liquid nitrogen gives a smoky effect to drinks by creating a cloud of vapour or fog. However, at most bars this effect is often created with the help of dry ice (frozen carbon dioxide) and smoke guns, which are considered relatively safe.

The 30-year-old man was later diagnosed with a hole in his stomach caused by consuming the drink before the smoke settled. Liquid nitrogen can be used to flash freeze food, for instance I use it to freeze herbs like mint or rosemary to get more flavor out of them for my cocktails. However, liquid nitrogen should never be consumed directly. These days, bartenders tend to add it to the drinks to give it a dramatic effect, says Binny Dhadwal, owner, DrinQ, a Mumbai-based bartending company.

Like with any chemical, liquid nitrogen needs to be handled with care, he says. Drinks that have a liquid nitrogen component should be served with a straw, says Dhadwal.

Heres a list of bars and restaurants that serve molecular cocktails:

Farzi Apple Foamtini.

Farzi Cafe: For its Farzi Apple Foamintini, nitrogen is poured on the syrup to turn it into mint foam. This vodka-based drink comes with muddled granny apple, lime juice and elder flower syrup. This way, the chemical doesnt come in contact with the drink.

Bobs Bong at Social.

Social: This popular chain of bars is a go-to spot for youngsters for its quirky food and decor. Here, smoke guns with wood chips and dry ice is used to give cocktails like the Blueberry Julep and Bobs bong.

Tamasha: This bar has outlets in Delhi and Mumbai. Here, drinks such as the bubbling cosmo and Tamasha black tea come with a smoky effect.

Sunset at Carter.

Masalabar: A lot of molecular gastronomy tricks are used at this popular Mumbai bar. For instance, the Sunset at Carter cocktail is made with rosemary infused whiskey, and almond foam that is made with liquid nitrogen.

Hummus Ice Cream.

Papacream: This multi-outlet ice cream brand uses liquid nitrogen to instantly freeze its popular dishes such as pani puri sorbet and hummus ice cream.

Snapchat cocktail at Amanzi.

Amanzi Skydeck and Bar: Here the Snapchat cocktail is a mix of vodka and watermelon gomme mixed with ginger juice, mint and sour mix all instantly frozen using liquid nitrogen. For Campfire, whiskey is stirred with coffee bitters and anise liquor is smoked with star anise and liquid nitrogen.

Desi Culture: At this fusion restaurant dishes such as Hajmola dahi bhalla and rose kulfi make use of liquid nitrogen to freeze ingredients such as beets, tamarind and jalapenos.

Follow @htlifeandstyle for more

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The prosecution on Tuesday concluded the arguments on quantum of sentence against six convicts in the 1993 Mumbai blasts case.

After seeking capital punishment for four convicts, which included Mustafa Dossa who died of cardiac attack last week, the prosecution on Tuesday sought life imprisonment for extradited gangster Abu Salem and Riyaz Siddique. Apart from Dossa, the prosecution has sought death penalty for Firoz Khan, Karimmulla Khan and Tahir Merchant.

While seeking life imprisonment for Salem, special CBI counsel Deepak Salvi said that Salem deserved nothing but death penalty for his role of transporting a car full of ammunition from Bharuch to Mumbai.

Salvi termed Salem as one of the conspirators of the 1993 blasts. In 1993, Salem was a member of Dawood and Anees Ibrahims gang and held a position of authority, he said.

He argued that Salem had two passports which he used to escape.

Salvi accused Salem of being a habitual offender and that the Indian government had submitted a list of his crimes to the Portugal government while taking his custody in 2005. Salem was brought to be tried in nine cases. He was sentenced to life imprisonment in extortion and murder of builder Pradeep Jain last year.

However, Salvi said that he was constrained by section 34(c) of the Indian Extradition Act. Under this, Salem cannot be sentenced to death or for more than 25 years of imprisonment. However, Salvi urged the court to mention that Salem deserves nothing but death penalty. On a question by judge GA Sanap on such a demand, Salvi said the  country should know the serious offences Salem had committed.

The defence lawyers will begin their arguments on the quantum of sentence on Wednesday.

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LINDEN, VIRGINIA - About an hour and a half's drive from the White House, a cloistered nun tells me, from behind the grille that separates her physically from the world, about the freedom of her life.

Outside, St. Dominic's Monastery is nestled in fog overlooking the Shenandoah Valley, as I talk to her downstairs in a meeting room made for such encounters with family, friends and inquisitors.

She explains to me how one "can live externally free, but internally bound." In the monastery, these contemplative nuns live in utter transparency with God and one another, even as they spend most of their days wrapped in total silence. Their vocal cords are mostly used for the set prayers of their life together, although there also is designated time for recreation and the needs of community life.

Her comment brings to mind a sentence in a book about modern martyrs by Robert Royal: "Willingness to die liberates."

The nun in the cloister has chosen a kind of death to the world, certainly the world most of us operate in. She does so quite radically.

At the monastery, we're not all that far from Dulles airport. So, my thoughts wander -- it can happen when you discover that the Wi-Fi doesn't work in the basement of the monastery where your guest quarters are -- to Avery Dulles, the Catholic cardinal who was the son of former U.S. Secretary of State John Foster Dulles, for whom the airport is named, and an article he wrote about freedom and truth. In it, he quoted Pope John Paul II, a saint who fought for freedom in his personal life and on the world stage; "For freedom on the one hand is for the sake of truth and on the other hand it cannot be perfected except by means of truth. Hence the words of our Lord, which speak so clearly to everyone: 'The truth will make you free' (John 8:32). There is no freedom without truth."

Just days before the Independence Day holiday, the Oxford English Dictionary added the word "post-truth" to its mix. An entry to put us on guard about our freedom.

Royal also writes about truth in his "Catholic Martyrs of the Twentieth Century." In part by way of explaining his above remark about death and liberation, he writes: "Martyrs do more than entertain various possibilities; they put their lives behind the truth." He quotes from Bishop James Edward Walsh, a missionary in China who spent nearly two decades in captivity: "Christianity is not a private way of salvation and a guide to a pious life; it is a way of world salvation and a philosophy of total life. This makes it a sort of dynamite. So when you send missionaries out to preach it, it is well to get ready for some explosions."

The word "martyr," like religion itself, has had its manipulations. During a week that marked the martyrdom of saints Peter and Paul and other early Church martyrs, the pope told his weekly Wednesday crowd at St. Peter's Square how the martyrs are icons of hope. They imitate Christ's self-sacrifice and love. They are what this world needs, "a witness to the sure hope that faith inspires."

"The martyrs who even today lay down their lives for the faith do so out of love," Pope Francis said. "By their example and intercession, may we become ever more convincing witnesses, above all in the events of our daily lives, to our undying hope in the promises of Christ."

Royal wrote his book about 20th-century martyrs so that their examples would not go unnoticed and so that we would see Christianity at its truest, at its most liberating. The monastery in Linden may not be the best spot for Fourth of July fireworks viewing -- you're not going to find a TV to watch, even in the priest's apartment. But it is a place to take a few hours away from the constant headline bombardment -- in which the issue of religious freedom plays a part -- to consider what it is about religion that we need and what about it is worth so many different kinds of radical sacrifice.

It was just about a year ago that Pope Francis was in John Paul II's native land, Poland. In the days before his visit, I went to Auschwitz accompanied by nuns, the Sisters of Life, some of New York's finest. They were walking, praying contrasts to the brutality still in the air there, a community of women dedicated to helping everyone know that they're loved, can live in that love and give it to others. That's why religious freedom matters, because it's the greatest gift that does the greatest honor to humanity -- restoring its dignity, like fireworks. An explosion of the kind we need for some respite from the kinds we are plagued by.

Kathryn Jean Lopez is senior fellow at the National Review Institute, editor-at-large of National Review Online and founding director of Catholic Voices USA. She can be contacted at klopez@nationalreview.com
A 24-year-old man, Paramjeet Kohli, died after jumping off Mumbais Bandra-Worli sea link at 3am on Sunday.

According to Khar police, Kohli told his friends, with whom he spent the entire evening drinking, that he was depressed after his ex-girlfriend got engaged to another man.

As Kohli didnt return home, his father Jaspal approached the police.

After scanning the CCTV footage from the area, the police realised Kohli hailed a taxi from his house and left for the sea link.

He got off on the Worli side of the bridge.

Read more: Mumbai students posts on suicide show he was asking for help, say cops

The police then traced the taxi driver who told them the man asked him to drop him in the middle of the bridge as he wanted to vomit.

Kohlis friends told us that as he was drunk and depressed, they dropped him at his doorstep. But Kohli left home in a few minutes, said an officer from the Khar police station.

The police have filed an accidental death case and are checking if Kohli committed suicide or fell into the sea when he bent to vomit.

Read more: Mumbai family suicide: Couple couldnt pay house rent, teens school fees
When Rishad Surti, a chartered accountancy aspirant, applied for Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis Fellowship programme in 2015, little did he know that one year of work experience with the Maharashtra government would lead to a career in the development sector.

Surti, a consultant with United Nations Development Programme is keen on getting the CA degree, but these skills will now be put to use as he negotiates public-private-partnership projects in social and development projects.

Surti was among the 50 fellows in the inaugural batch of Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis fellowship programme that kicked off in 2015.

On Monday, nearly 4,121 candidates across 26 states took the online exam  the first tier of screening  for the 2017-2018 batch, with exam centres opened even in Delhi and Bangalore. Nearly, 17,000 had registered for the exam, but only 4,121 met the eligibility criteria.

Eligibility criteria for the fellowship Candidate should be a graduate with first class from any discipline. Post-graduate or professional degrees have added advantage Candidate should have a minimal one year work experience Candidate should be between 21 to 26 years old Screening : Online exam with multiple-choice questions based on current affairs, economics, general knowledge 200 shortlisted candidates will have to submit three essays on given topics The shortlisted candidates will have to appear for interviews before a government panel

The fellowship gives the selected 50 candidates one-year work experience in the state government. From working in the field at the district level to getting a preview of policy planning and execution at the state secretariat, fellows in the last two years have worked across departments from finance to agriculture.

We have been getting tremendous response for the programme and so this year we opened exam centres in Bangalore and Delhi. It is an initiative by the CM to get youngsters to understand government functioning and processes. We benefit by many out of the box ideas; they get an unique experience difficult to find on most resumes and increasingly appreciated across higher universities and work places, said Priya Khan, Officer on Special Duty (OSD) to CM, who runs the programme.

In the past two years, fellows have taken a shot at working on public sector undertakings, women empowerment policies, social welfare, drought management and urban infrastructure. The fellows this year have been running the CMs war room on infrastructure that prioritises and co-ordinates speedy implementation of key big ticket projects.

A majority of the candidates, who applied this year are engineers (1,904), followed by commerce graduates (804), then science graduates (519) trailed by arts graduates and others. As many as 1,175 candidates are keen on placements in the social sector followed by 855 in Information Technology.

Before the fellowship, my perception about the government was not too positive. Like many citizens, I faulted it for corruption and inefficiency. But, one year work in drought-prone Solapur district working on water conservation schemes taught me that administration can work as effectively as the private sector, if there is intent and strategy. I am not preparing for civil services because I believe I can work in the system and bring change, said Priyanka Kulkarni, civil engineer and 2015 fellow.

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A 65-year-old man went into a fit of rage and murdered his 57-year-old wife because she would fight with him constantly over selling their ancestral bungalow in Kalina in Santacruz (east). The accused confessed to his crime.

According to the Vakola police, the incident took place at 9.20pm on Sunday. Rock DSouza lived with his wife Salin Violet at Sundarnagar in Kalina,. They were childless.

Rock and Violet wanted to sell the bungalow they lived in. They were looking for a good builder who could give them the best deal, but got into fights over it frequently.

A police source said, The woman used to tell him that he had no brains and would get them a bad deal.

Cops said that the man is diabetic and also had high blood pressure.

On the day of the incident, the couple fought again. To shut her up, the man strangled her. When she lost consciousness, he got scared and alerted the neighbours, said a police source. She was rushed to VN Desai Hospital but was declared dead. DSouza confessed to his crime. He has been booked for murder under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code. He has been remanded in police custody by a magistrate court.
The Bombay high court on Tuesday barred a man from meeting his 10-year-old daughter because he had not paid for her maintenance for the past 15 months.

We are not inclined to consider your plea to modify the order or your request for access to the child, unless you clear the arrears, said the division bench of Justice RM Savant and Justice Sadhana Jadhav. You must show bona fides, they said.

The court added, This is not the question of maintaining your wife, it is about the maintenance of your daughter.

The court was hearing appeal filed by the man challenging a January 6, 2016 order of the family court at Bandra. The court had ordered the man to pay Rs15,000 as monthly maintenance to his daughter and a certain sum to his wife. Besides, he has also sought access to his 10-year-old daughter, whose custody has been given to the wife.

He has sought that the order be modified and the amount for maintenance be reduced. On Tuesday, the wifes lawyer said that he had not paid maintenance, as ordered by the Family Court, for a long time and it was creating problems in the childs education. The lawyer added that Rs 6,000 was her monthly school fee.

The husband, who appeared in person, said that he had paid maintenance up to April 2016.

Your daughter stays with your estranged wife, but you are equally responsible and must provide for her, said the bench.

The court has now posted the husbands appeal for further hearing on July 27 and warned him that his appeal would be dismissed if he failed to deposit Rs1.5 lakh to the court.
Two days after Hindustan Times reported that University of Mumbai (MU) students were still waiting for their results, almost two months after their final-year degree exams ended, the Governor Ch Vidyasagar Rao, as Chancellor of all varsities, directed MU to declare all pending results by July 31.

In a meeting on Tuesday, the governor directed MU vice-chancellor Sanjay Deshmukh to prepare a daily progress report with detailed reports explaining the future strategy and road map for declaring results on time. The VC was also instructed to constitute a war room for this purpose and monitor its progress.

MU introduced the On-Screen Marking (OSM) system in May this year and all manual assessment of papers were stopped. According to the rules, the assessment of papers should start three days within the conclusion of exams,but assessment began in mid-May, two months after the first few exams were held.

According to section 89 of the Maharashtra Public Universities Act, the varsity is required to declare results preferably in 30 days and in no case beyond 45 days. According to the information shared by the vice-chancellor with the Governor on Tuesday, of the 477 examinations conducted by the Mumbai University, results of only 51 examinations have been declared so far, resulting in delay of more than 45 days and chaos among students.

It must be noted that none of these results are of fresh candidates. All results declared as of now are of repeater candidates, which is a smaller number compared to fresh candidates. More than 3 lakh students gave their exams between mid-March and end of April this year.

Taking this seriously, the Governor called for a meeting with MU VC and senior officials from the state higher and technical education department on Tuesday and discussed the issue in detail. He also took officials to task by reminding them the delay in declaration of results could hamper the career of students, the officials said. This might cause anxiety and hardships to students and their parents, the Governor reportedly told officers at the meet.

He then directed the VC to make available all human resources and infrastructure to carry out the task and declare results by July 31. To ensure this, the Governor even asked Sitaram Kunte, additional chief secretary, higher and technical education to depute a government representative for real-time monitoring of the progress and submit its feedback to the state government and his office.

Read

Lifes hell for Mumbai University teachers, but theyre determined to get results out soon
The residents of Nevali have decided to conduct a meeting on July 6 (Thursday) on the Nevali land row.

Since there is no decision by the government regarding our land, we have decided to conduct a meeting with villagers and farmers on how to carry forward our demands, said Hemant Bhal, a resident of Bhal village.

After the June 22 violent protests, the villagers are tensed.

The residents of the village are living in fear. The police are arresting them from their workplace which is wrong. They are not criminals, added Bhal.

We fear of the police and political leaders. They all are against us. We cant sleep unless there is a solution, said Shyam patil, another resident of Nevali pada.

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Five years after stopping work on the Kondhane dam in Raigad following the multi-crore irrigation scandal, the BJP-led Maharashtra government has now decided to revive the controversial project by transferring it to the City and Industrial Development Corporation (Cidco).

The state cabinet on Monday approved a proposal to hand over the project to Cidco to supply water to the proposed city of NAINA (Navi Mumbai Airport Influence Notified Area) around the planned Navi Mumbai International Airport. The city is proposed to be bigger than Mumbai, spanning 644 square kilometres and comprising 270 villages.

The Kondhane dam project was the first of several irrigation projects sanctioned during the previous Congress-Nationalist Congress Party regime that came under the scanner for alleged corruption and cost escalations.

Cidco will have to take over the project from the Konkan Irrigation Development Corporation (KIDC) in its current state, paying it the cost incurred so far. The state government has asked the corporation to draw up fresh plans with the help of the Nashik-based Maharashtra Engineering Research Institute, and obtain the requisite clearances for the project. Cidco will also have the independence to choose an implementing agency for the project.

The agency will, however, have to ensure that the ongoing Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) inquiry into the project is not hindered in any way, a senior official said. The ACB has so far filed an FIR in the project and charged six KIDC officials besides the contractor of the project.

Cidco will also have to set aside 10.55 thousand million cubic (TMC) of water from the dams capacity of 105.97 TMC of water for agricultural use.

State water resources minister Girish Mahajan said, The project will not be handed over to the same contractor, FA Enterprises, as before. The government has blacklisted the company and has also held back a payment of Rs100 crore owing to irregularities. Cidco will get all the necessary clearances, draw up fresh plans and float tenders to complete the project.

KIDC first took up the project in 2011 with a height of 39 metres and a cost of Rs56.16 crore. The state water resources department had tried to push the project twice earlier with a much higher cost of Rs 443.94 crore and a height of 74 metres, but could not pass the scrutiny of government agencies.

Within months of the KIDC taking up the project, the project scope was widened and the cost escalated. By 2012, the project cost climbed to Rs614 crore from Rs 56.16 crore.

The KIDC stopped work in 2012 and terminated the contract with FA Enterprises following a public interest litigation by activists Mayank Gandhi and Anjali Damania in the Bombay high court against several dams in the Konkan region, including Kondhane.

Damania said, Kondhane dam was a classic case of fraud. No environmental permissions were taken, no technical evaluation done. We had a strong objection to the way the contract was awarded and the illegality and irregularities in tendering process. The feasibility study should be undertaken along with other permissions.

READ

Six KIDC officials charged in Kondhane dam probe

Govt scraps Kondhane dam project

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Bandras Lucky Junction is an unfortunate crossroad.

Here, hundreds of autorickshaws and pedestrians from the Bandra station road meet cars driving in from Hill Road and the arterial SV Road that connects the suburbs to the city.

Its a constant fight for space during the peak hours (8am-1pm, 5.30pm-10pm).

And, while the junction is always manned by traffic personnel, problems persist on one of Mumbais busiest roads.

The first problem is the little used skywalk at the junction. Pedestrians, put off by the climb, prefer to cross despite the rush of vehicles on both sides of SV Road, adding to the congestions.

The second issue, paver blocks. At the junction, the road is partially made of paver blocks that are easily displaced by heavy traffic.

READ: Heavy rains continue to lash Mumbai, lead to traffic snarls, delayed trains

This slows down cars and the effect is seen beyond the Bandra lake on the southbound stretch and up to the Western Express Highway junction on the opposite side.

And finally, the problem of honking motorists.

Constables at the junction said this noise made their job difficult.

We cannot take action against drivers who honk needlessly because that would mean stopping traffic. This is not practical. Our priority is to keep the traffic moving, one constable said.

HT checked sound levels at the junction and found it was 77 decibels.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), prolonged exposure to noise levels above 70dB can lead to hearing loss.

What could help? Afreen Maple, 22, said, If there was an underground subway for pedestrians, things would change for the better. The CCTV cameras have pushed motorists to follow the rules the rules.

If you solve problems at Lucky junction alone, we will only end up diverting the jam to another spot. Also, roads need to be designed making pedestrians the priority. Signal timings keeping in mind the patience levels of pedestrians will also help. Unless this is done, the problem of motorists honking at pedestrians will continue, said Dhawal Ashar, urban transport expert, World Resources Institute.

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A Mumbai-based non-governmental organisation has accused a South Mumbai college of denying admission to a student with learning disability on the grounds that the student took Class 12 exam at National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS) instead of a regular college.

According to Child Reach, the NGO, the student, whose identity wasnt revealed, and her parents were turned away by KC College in Churchgate although the students name was in the third merit list of BA.

The student was refused admission and spoken to rudely. The student was disheartened and went home in tears. Parents were not allowed to be with her in the office when she had to get her admission form signed by the authority, said Priya Deshpande, founder member of Child Reach.

College principal Hemlata Bagla claimed ignorance about the incident but said that the college prefers regular students over those who appear privately for Class 12 examination.

We first admit the regular students and there is any vacant seat, private candidates are admitted. This is because the students may not have studied in Class 11 and may have directly appeared for Class 12 exam, she said, adding that the college also defers admission of students who take a break after Class 12 examination.

KC College is not the only higher education institute in the city to have such a policy.

Ashok Wadia, principal of Jai Hind College in Churchgate, said they also prefer regular students. Many a times, students dont have the necessary background for a course. They wouldnt have studied some important subjects. In such cases, we counsel the students and make them understand that they may not be able to cope up with the degree course. The colleges have the discretion to decide whether to admit a student, he said.

However, Parag Thakker, principal of HR College, also in Churchgate, said that it the decision is discriminatory. If they make it to the merit list, we have to admit them, he said.

An official from the University of Mumbai (MU) said it accepts students from all the boards, including NIOS, without any preference. Its wrong to deny admission to a student on the basis of their board. The aggrieved student must approach the university Student Grievance Redressal Cell to resolve the matter, he said.

MA Khan, MU registrar, said, If a college denies admission to a meritorious student, they must have a valid reason. There must be no discrimination among students from regular boards, but NIOS students may not have been subjected to the same level of testing as students from other boards. The university has decentralised the admission process. Theres a thin line of admission rules around which the colleges are deciding the matters. However, if someone complains, we will look into it.

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Your travel between Mumbai and Pune would soon get smoother and faster as the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation has got a crucial go-ahead to construct the missing link between Khalapur and Kusgaon.

This will reduce the travel time between the two cities by close to 30 minutes.

As part of the plan, the expressway will get tunnels and additional lanes that will reduce the snarls.

It will help motorists avoid the ghat section, which is the most critical section where heavy vehicles slow down the traffic.

According to senior MSRDC officials, the state urban development department issued a notification permitting land acquisition of the stretch, which falls under the Lonavala Municipal Corporation.

The MSRDC has got a go-ahead from the cabinet committee on infrastructure, while the clearance from forest department is in advanced stages.

The project requires 266 acres, of which 106 acres is private land owned by farmers and 160 acres forest land.

The work on the project, which is estimated to cost Rs4,798 crore, will start by November

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An 18-year-old died after he lost control of his bike while riding over a pothole in Bhiwandi late on Saturday. He was not wearing a helmet, said the police.

Rahul Ahuja was driving the bike while his elder brother Amit rode pillion.

According to the police, the brothers were travelling from Ulhasnagar to Thane to buy notebooks when the incident occurred. We took a U-turn from Bhiwandi naka as it was raining heavily and as we reached Mankoli naka in Bhiwandi, Rahul tried to avoid a pothole and turned left but he saw a truck approaching and turned right, driving right into the pothole, said Amit.

Rahul then lost control of the bike and it skid and we fell off. He fell on the side of the pothole where his head hit a stone and I fell on a divider and hurt my leg, he said.

Amit added while Rahul was crying in pain, he tried to stop passing cars to help get to a hospital but none did. Amit finally convinced an auto-rickshaw driver to take them to the nearest hospital.

There too, the siblings received little help. Even though Rahul was bleeding profusely, the doctors asked us to wait, said Amit. When the doctors finally operated on Rahul, they could not save him. Moreover, Amit alleged that after Rahul was brought out of the operation theatre, his iPhone worth Rs57,000 was missing.

When Rahul was being taken into the room, his phone was ringing so we know that he did not lose it during the accident, said Amit.

Their father Shankar Ahuja, 52, a businessman from Ulhasnagar said, The doctors delayed Rahuls treatment and made Amit wait for an hour before giving him two stitches on his legs.

Meanwhile, the Narpoli police filed a case against Rahul .

We registered the case under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code against Rahul as he was riding the bike and neither of them was wearing helmets, said M Kature, investigating officer from Narpoli police station. He added that since it was raining heavily at the time of the accident, Amit could not identify which pothole caused it.

We could not fill the potholes earlier as we were waiting for the traffic polices approval and then it became difficult for us to fix the potholes once the rains set in, said a PWD official. But will fill them up as soon, he added.

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The Maharashtra government has decided to allow people to directly elect sarpanchs or village heads. Though the Opposition has termed the move anti-democratic, political analysts believe the Bharatiya Janata Party will reap the benefits of this decision during panchayat elections later this year.

A majority of gram panchayats  village level local self-government bodies  have traditionally been controlled by workers of the Congress and Nationalist Congress Party despite the fact that elections are not contested on party symbols.

The state cabinet decided to amend the Grampanchyat Act 1958 to make the direct election of village heads a reality.

It has also said that contestants should have studied until Class VII pass. The sarpanch will also have more administrative powers and present the annual budget in the gramsabha on August 15 every year. The gram panchayat will not be able to move a no-confidence motion against the sarpanch in the first two years after his or her election and six months before of the next election.

The decision to give more powers to village heads and the introduction of budget assumes significance as 28,332 gram panchayats in the state have been allocated about Rs15,000 crore as development funds.

The direct elections will lead to more competition and spending during elections, according to experts. Though the government maintains that it will provide a level playing field to all candidates, observers believe that candidates with the backing of the ruling parties will benefit.

The government has said that the decision would curb horse trading that takes place while electing sarpanches from elected representatives of gram panchayats.

The decision comes after the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government succeeded in installing the highest member of municipal council chairman in elections held earlier this year. After the government decided to elect municipal council presidents directly, the BJP won the highest number of seats (71 seats of 191 councils that went to election in three phases). The Congress, which had the highest number in councils, could win only 35 seats.

In some of the councils such as Karad municipal council, the president does not enjoy a majority in the house.

This will lead to confusion and chaos, and the democratic system will be hit badly. In some councils, the presidents are in a minority. This has hampered development, Congress state president Ashok Chavan said.

Rural development minister Pankaja Munde said: It is in the interest of democracy that a common worker without any political background can contest the election. The decision was taken only after the studying the system in Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat.

She said that decision to fix minimum qualification for the election will help in improving the administration.

Analysts have reacted cautiously on the decision, saying it could prove a dual-edged sword. It is a welcome move as it gives a level playing field to all keeping dynasty and party politics at bay. But it could also be favourable to the ruling parties, especially the BJP. This has been proved in the municipal council elections, said Vishvambhar Chaudhary, a political analyst.

The elections to 8,439 gram panchayats will be held from October. More than 11,500 gram panchayats will face election till December 2019.

READ

Maharashtra civic elections: Now, you can check candidate details at booths on poll day

Election commission asks Maha colleges to give students voter enrolment forms during admission

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The Shiv Sena on Tuesday slammed the recent lynchings in the name of protecting cows, saying it was not the definition of Hindutva, and praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for condemning the attacks.

In an editorial in the partys mouthpiece, Saamana, the Shiv Sena said the party is thankful to Modi for making it clear that killing of people in the name of gau bhakti (devotion towards cows) will not be tolerated and this is not what Hindutva stands for.

The party urged the PM to also clarify the nations policy on beef and cow protection laws.

Modi has come down heavily on cow vigilantes, but should we protect cows in this country? What should be done with the old cattle that farmers are saddled with? Modi has not given his guidance on these issues yet, the Shiv Sena said in the editorial.

In states such as Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal and in the north east, eating beef is common . Even if a BJP government comes to power there, this habit will not change all of a sudden, the party said.

Read more: Modi warns cow vigilantes, says killing people in the name of gau bhakti not acceptable

Why should a cow not be considered a holy mother in the northeast and only in Gujarat and Maharashtra? All these subjects are closely related to the countrys employment and economy and there needs to be a national policy on this, the Shiv Sena said.

The party also taunted BJP president Amit Shah for recently being on the back foot when he said more incidents of lynching took place between 2011 and 2013 during the Congress regime.

Shah made these statements in Goa where there is no ban on cattle slaughter. Even if more incidents have taken place during the Congress government, it does not belittle the seriousness of the killings taking place today, the party said.

The Shiv Sena, the BJPs warring ally, has been taunting the BJP over its selective implementation of cattle protection laws in the country, in states where the party has a government, and demanding a national policy on the same.

However, this is the first time that the Sena has condemned the lynchings taking place in the name of cow protection.

Read more: Cant kill in cows name, says PM but as CM gau rakshaks thrived in his Gujarat

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Senior officials of the Delhi and Uttar Pradesh police met here on Tuesday to hold a review meeting over arrangements and information sharing about criminals ahead of upcoming Kanwar Yatra  the annual pilgrimage which passes majorly through western UP.

The meeting was held at Harsaon police lines in Ghaziabad where inspector general (Meerut range), joint commissioner (Delhi police) and other top police officials from Ghaziabad, Baghpat and Gautam Budh Nagar were present.

The meeting was largely meant to discuss information sharing about criminals and their activities during the Kanwar season. The police of both the states will share information and their control rooms will also be connected on a new wireless channel for passing information. Apart from this, the traffic arrangements on NH-24 were also discussed to ensure that commuters do not face issues, said Akash Tomar, superintendent of police (city).

To keep an eye over the Kanwar route, the Ghaziabad police will use a helicopter and drones.

We have sent a proposal for a helicopter to the state government. Apart from keeping an aerial eye, we will also share information about drug peddlers who try to supply drugs to pilgrims during the event. The new tenants in border areas will be under scrutiny, the official said.

The officers also coordinated for joint border checking and patrolling and verification of auto drivers who ply adjacent to border areas near Delhi-Ghaziabad border.

The Kanwar yatra during which lakhs of devotees go to Haridwar to fetch Ganga water, will start on July 8. The devotees return with water carried on their shoulders in jars and cans and offer it to deities at Shiva temples in their localities on the day of Shiv Ratri.

Since the number of devotees is likely to swell this year, the administration and police officials are gearing up to tackle the large rush in sensitive western UP region.
A Ghaziabad court on Tuesday rejected the bail plea of Jet Airways head of security, Colonel (retired) Avneet Singh Bedi, who faces allegations of forgery and cheating in connection with a land grabbing case lodged against him by the Ghaziabad municipal corporation on June 21.

Naveen Tyagi, the lawyer who argued for Colonel Bedi on Tuesday, said the bail plea was rejected and they will soon move a higher court with a fresh petition.

The bail at the court of the chief judicial magistrate was rejected. We will now move another application before the court of the district judge. The police had added sections of forgery and cheating to the FIR. We had contended that no case of cheating or forgery is made out, Tyagi said.

In his argument, the defence lawyer said that the land in question was not in the name of his client, but that of his mother. He told court that only a case of trespassing was made out against Colonel Bedi and not of forgery and cheating.

Read more: Ghaziabad: Hearing on bail plea of Jet Airways staffer accused of land grab deferred

However, prosecution lawyer Ram Avtar Gupta told the court that Colonel Bedis mother had purchased the land from one Desraj Khurana in 1959 and later had got a power of attorney made, which was also registered, in her sons name.

In 1959, she purchased nearly 250 square metres, but the power of attorney was made for around 557 square metres. This land belongs to the corporation, but was later rented out to a transport company. According to a 1994 government order, land belonging to 74 villages, including Chikambarpur, was vested with the corporation, Gupta told the court.

Colonel Bedi, who had been sent to judicial custody following his arrest on June 2, was also present at the hearing.

The FIR lodged by corporation officials named six private persons and five members of the Bedi family, including his wife, mother, father and son. The corporation claimed that the land belongs to the agency and was grabbed by Colonel Bedi and his family.

The retired colonel was arrested by a team of Ghaziabad police from his residence at Panchsheel Park in Delhi and later produced before the Ghaziabad court.

Bedi has a corporate and military experience of more than 40 years. His last assignment before Jet Airways was as senior vice president of Walmart India Limited. His family has denied the allegations against him and said they suspect it to be a conspiracy by a former employee of the airline who had been pressurising Colonel Bedi for reinstatement.

They had also said that they had bought the land in 1959 and have proper documents in their name.
The 18-year-old man, who sustained severe burn injuries after his motorcycle was hit by a speeding truck on NH-24 on June 29, succumbed to injuries at the GTB Hospital in Delhi on Tuesday early morning. He was battling for life for four days with over 70% burns.

Iqbal, the son of a tailor from Dudhiya Peepal locality in Dasna town of Ghaziabad, was on his way to Delhi on June 29 when the speeding truck rammed his two-wheeler from behind. His family said he was going to Trilokpuri, Delhi, Delhi to meet his sister.

The bike skidded for more than 50 metres near Vijay Nagar and later its petrol tank caught fire. Iqbal told us that he tried to get away but his legs got stuck below the burning bike. So he could not move away and his body caught fire, said Shahzad, Iqbals brother.

He was recovering and was telling us that he will get well and go home soon. On Monday, his condition suddenly deteriorated and he did not recover. He died around 1.30pm on Tuesday, he said.

The accident took place near the Vijay Nagar bypass police post. The truck involved in the accident was speeding and laden with cement bags due to which the driver could not control the vehicle after it hit Iqbals bike from the rear.

It took local residents and police nearly 15 minutes to rescue Iqbal from the burning motorcycle. The bike was charred and was brought to the police post later.

We will now convert the IPC sections to 304a (causing death due to negligence) once the post-mortem report is received. The truck was seized soon after the incident. The truck bears a Haryana registration number but its driver fled the spot after the incident. Our teams will trace him and arrest him, said Naresh Singh, station house officer, Vijay Nagar police station.

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The family of a 55-year-old man, who died on Tuesday, claimed that he suffered health complication following a demolition notice sent by the Uttar Pradesh State Industrial Development Corporation (UPSIDC).

The notice was also sent to other residents of Vijay Nagar area under anti-land mafia drive directed by the state government.

Family of Lal Singh, the victim, said that he went anxious after he heard about the notice being served for demolition of the house at Ambedkar Nagar.

When we received the notice for demolition, we told our father about it on Tuesday afternoon. He was a daily wager and had just returned from work. As soon as he heard about the demolition, he collapsed and started vomiting and suffered loose motions. We rushed him to a nearby hospital where doctors referred him to a higher hospital but he died midway, said Sonu Kumar, Lal Singhs son.

Read | Man kills self after Ghaziabad authority serves notice to demolish his house on green belt

Hundreds of residents have built houses over the land in Ambedkar Nagar.

We have been staying here for past 40 years but we never came to know that our house was illegal. We approached the police too, but they refused to help us, he said.

However, district magistrate Ministhy S said she will order an inquiry into the death to know whether it had any connection with the notice or not.

I will ask an additional district magistrate to check up the incident. The agency served notice as per governments directions and as per law and has no role in the death. The notices are being served by different agencies for encroachers on government land. The land mafias have sold the valuable land to people and escaped. But this drive will figure out encroachers and people who sold land illegally, she said.

The notice, dated June 30, was served by UPSIDC for illegal encroachment on its plot number A 11 and 12 at South Side GT Road adjacent to NH-24. The 15 days notice to residents said that permanent constructions were illegal and should be demolished within 15 days, else the corporation will take up demolition activity and charges will be levied on the occupants.

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The Greater Noida police said it arrested a sharpshooter belonging to the Anil Dujana gang after a gunfight on Tuesday afternoon.

The alleged sharpshooter, Aneet Bhati alias Tota, sustained a bullet injury in the leg and was nabbed by the police, but two others accompanying him managed to flee, police said. Two policemen were also injured in the shootout, they added.

Bhati has been admitted to the district hospital. The police said he has multiple cases of loot, extortion, kidnapping and murder against him and carries a reward of Rs15,000 on his arrest.

Head constable Tejpal Singh and constable Varun Veer Singh of the anti-extortion cell were also injured while chasing the men as they tried to escape, police said.

The anti-extortion cell of the police received information about the whereabouts of Bhati and his accomplices and came to know that they were planning something. The cell, along with Kasna police, immediately formed a team and searched a house in Junpat village where the men were hiding, around 11am on Tuesday, said Suniti, superintendent of police (rural), Gautam Budh Nagar.

Trying to flee, the gangsters opened fire at the police party, which returned the fire. Bhati was shot in leg and overpowered by the police. However, his two accomplices managed to escape, she said.

She added that the police team chased the two till the ATS roundabout where a second, brief gunfight took place between the police team and the two men, but they managed to give police the miss. Multiple rounds were fired from both sides, the SP said.

We have been continuously monitoring the situation and a wide search has been launched to nab the absconders, Suniti said. The alleged sharpshooter, Bhati, is a 28-year-old repeat offender involved in many cases. He was arrested by the Surajpur police in July 2015 and is also alleged to be involved in the killing of Samajwadi Party (SP) functionary and Dadupur village headman Harendra Nagar in 2015.

He was also involved in a shootout in Chhapraula village along Gautam Budh Nagar and Ghaziabad border and his name also figures in a 2015 double-murder case in Junpat village, from where he was arrested on Tuesday. In the case, more than 10 people launched an attack and allegedly killed two people despite police protection.

According to the police, Bhati belongs to the gang run by Anil Dujana, an alleged gangster from Dujana village in Greater Noida with over two dozen criminal cases lodged against him. These cases include those of murder, attempt to murder, smuggling and other serious crimes.

While he is currently in Banda jail, police said his gang members are still trying to carry out extortion activities in his name.
Divisional forest department staff are on the lookout for cluster fig trees, popularly known as Gular, that they have been directed to prune ahead of the Kanwar pilgrimage that starts on July 8. The action comes following the June 30 directions by chief minister Yogi Adityanath at a meeting held in Lucknow to supervise arrangements for the Kanwar yatra.

In a first of its kind direction, the chief minister had directed pruning of Gular or cluster fig trees that are considered inauspicious by pilgrims participating in the Kanwar yatra.

The forest department is now looking for such trees on all Kanwar routes in the district.

So far, we have found three trees on the Kanwar route at Chudiyala and they have been pruned. These trees, spread over a large area, pose a hindrance to pilgrims. We are also clearing dense bushes on different routes, said BP Singh, district forest officer.

As part of the Kanwar yatra, around three crore pilgrims (kanwariyas), who are devotees of Lord Shiva, travel to Haridwar to collect water from the Ganga river that they then carry to their respective home towns in UP, Delhi, Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan and other states.

This is the first time that a chief minister has supervised arrangements for the Kanwar yatra, held annually during the Shravan month of the Hindu calendar.

Taking a cue from the chief minister, Ghaziabad police and administrative officials also recently held a meeting in Meerut to review the arrangements. Another meeting took place in Ghaziabad on Tuesday.

The Gular tree is considered inauspicious because its fruit grows directly, without the process of blooming of a flower that later grows into a fruit. According to the beliefs of Shiva devotees, the growth of a fruit should be preceded by the blossoming of a flower, which is not the case with Gular, said Mahant Narayan Giri from the Dudheshwar Nath temple in Ghaziabad.

It is also considered inauspicious as hundreds of small insects are found inside its fruit. Such insects may prove impure for the Ganga water if they fall in it. So, devotees avoid sitting under or even touching Gular trees. It is not mentioned in religious books, but it is a belief, he added.

Ficus racemosa (Gular), is popularly known as the cluster fig tree, Indian fig tree or Gular, and is native to Australia, Malaysia, Southeast Asia and the Indian subcontinent. The Gular fruit has medicinal value and is also used in yagnas.

Ghaziabad district is a major route for kanwariyas and during the Kanwar yatra, traffic on all major roads and the former NH-58 is diverted to ease passage of kanwariyas, who mostly travel on foot. Traffic congestion is a regular feature during the Kanwar yatra.

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With the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) completing 95% of civil work of the elevated track and 21 stations of the Noida-Greater Noida metro link, the Noida Metro Rail Corporation (NMRC), which owns the project, has begun the process of staff appointment, officials said.

The 30km link will take metro connectivity deeper into Noida and Greater Noida to dozens of housing societies that are to be occupied in the next one year. DMRC has also started work on laying electrical network on the track.

Our work on this project is on in full swing and we will complete it as per schedule. We will prepare the track for trial by the end of 2017, said Pramit Garg, project director, DMRC.

NMRC, which owns the Rs5,400-crore project, is set to recruit more staff to control operations of the project slated to be opened to public by April 2018.

At present, the NMRC has nine staff members, apart from peons, and one executive director to manage administrative work.

We need a robust team to control the operations and maintenance of this project, which will be ready by the end of 2017. Therefore, we have finalised a human resource policy for recruitment of staff. I will finalise the number of staff members required to manage administrative functioning smoothly, said Keshav Kumar, executive director, NMRC.

Once the NMRC finalises its administrative staff requirement, the proposal for the same will be sent to the state government for necessary approvals. The NMRC is yet to fix the exact number of permanent, contractual or deputation employees it will need for administrative work.

The state government and the NMRC have already given DMRC the green signal to select 750 staff members to manage the projects operations. The DMRC is likely to hire these 750 employees in a phased manner so that they can be trained for the project.

The DMRC will handle these 750 employees who will look after operations at the ground level. They will be stationed at the depot in Greater Noidas Delta Metro station and other stations as well. The NMRCs staff, who will monitor the operations, will be housed in the existing Sector 29 office until a new office is ready, said another NMRC official.

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As a form of geopolitical chess, the current India-China military standoff over a piece of territory that Bhutan claims, is fascinating. Nations do not wage outright war nowadays but they initiate crises that gives them strategic advantage, bolster (or weaken) the standing of political leaders, influence the perceptions of nations around them and test the global balance of power. The situation alongside Sikkim may be one such moment that contains such possibilities, if the current drama continues indefinitely.

The ground situation is murky but it is clear that China has initiated this confrontation by trying to build a road through the Doklam plateau in Bhutan. The Bhutanese and Indian military challenged the move in turn, leading to the faceoff. Strategic specialists note that the situation has come about because the three countries have different perceptions as to where the trijunction is  with Beijing saying it is 15 kilometres south of where Thimphu believes it is.

This raises the question as to why China is taking such an aggressive posture publicly, rather than addressing it through diplomatic channels. Both the Chinese foreign ministry and the People Liberation Army (PLA) are providing sharp briefings  there have been more than 10 statements in as many days. India has been accused of betrayal and ignoring international law, the PLA told Indias army chief Gen. Bipin Rawat to stop clamouring for war. Beijing says withdrawal of Indian troops is a precondition for settling the current dispute; it is releasing pictures and maps that allegedly show Indian incursion. India, on the other hand, has issued a statement spelling out that it is an incursion on Bhutanese land and that a change in status quo would have serious security implications.

It is difficult to discern Chinas motivations. It can either be a ploy to improve its negotiating position or it may be about achieving other political objectives. One possibility is that it is indicating its displeasure to India for not attending the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) summit in May. The reason it would take it that seriously is because the BRI was not just any summit for Beijing. It was an occasion to celebrate Chinas intent to remake Asias geography and transform the course of global trade over the next few decades. It was an event about status, a meeting crafted to symbolically affirm its primacy in Asia with the presence of many nations.

For India not to show up at the summit and instead periodically cast doubts on BRIs viability is presumably an affront that Beijing felt needed to be addressed. India is now becoming the herald of opposition to the One Belt One Road project and now that the summit has been held and the buy-in of other nations secured this may have been seen as the right time to put India in its place and demonstrate to the world the limits of Delhis power. In his book Choices, former National Security Adviser Shivshankar Menon writes that the PLAs incursion into Ladakh during Xi Jinpings 2014 India visit could (among other reasons) be seen as an early attempt to establish psychological dominance over the then new Modi government. The Sikkim standoff could also be a similar act of dominance, aimed at showing the world whos in charge in Asia.

Picking on Bhutan to make the point is thus no coincidence because the incursion into Doklam suddenly puts India in a position of having to defend its small neighbour. What the current situation does is to unsettle the equation between Delhi and Thimphu; the latter will be keen not to get drawn into an open conflict and there will likely be a debate within the kingdom about having diplomatic ties with China and any sign of that will unnerve India.

What unfolds hereon depends on what Beijing wants to get out of this crisis. If it only wants more diplomatic engagement with Bhutan (which India disapproves of) it can keep maintaining that this is essentially a dispute between China and Bhutan and insist that more contact is imperative for resolving differences with Thimphu. That way Beijing will have communicated to the world that it has prised open Indias exclusive sphere of influence without firing a shot. India will lose face but may consider it a better price than armed hostilities.

But what if it is territory that China really wants in order to eventually move armour to the region to threaten the narrow Siliguri corridor or the chickens neck that connects Northeast states to the rest of India? That is an objective which Beijing may be keen on but it is not easy to achieve because India will contest a Siachen-like takeover. India has rushed in more troops to fortify an already strong ground position. Gen. Syed Ata Hasnain has tweeted that the PLA would be quite crazy to launch an offensive thru Chumbi Valley and a corridor dominated by India and Bhutan either side. That said there may still be elements within the PLA clamouring for conflict  and there is really no telling how the next India China war will turn out. Strategic planners anticipate that it will be limited in scope and short in duration, rather than a protracted, large-scale, force-on-force campaign because of the nuclear overhang. India can do some damage with horizontal escalation and using special forces but it will be up against its own difficult terrain and Chinas faster mobility and coordination.

Scholars do not rule out war but it is not in either countrys interest to start one. Financial markets will react badly and China may not want to be seen as initiating one since it wants to allay apprehensions in the world about its rise and now sees itself as a champion of globalisation. These considerations, however, may not be enough to prevent it from extending the military standoff with India as it generates other effects that may be beneficial to Beijing.

The standoff serves as an opportunity to test Donald Trumps administration and the robustness of India-US relations. Trump is proving to be distracted and wholly incompetent President; an escalated India-China crisis can help China discern how the US national security apparatus led by NSA Gen. HR McMaster and secretary of defense James Mattis would respond to a crisis with an unhinged president at the helm.

This could be crucial to shaping the balance of power in the region. Its worth recalling that President Barack Obama was faulted for not being adequately committed to Asia; he signalled a pivot but did not commit resources to challenge Beijing  a fact that allowed the latter to underline its dominance in the region through assertions in the South China Sea. Likewise, Beijing could be now looking to see to what extent Washington will back India in a crisis. The US may choose to intervene as failing to do so would harm its standing in Asia.

But what kind of support the Trump administration can offer in the face of a land-based dispute remains unclear. The US could signal, for example, by repositioning naval assets in the Indian Ocean but that would provide China the excuse to send an aircraft carrier to Gwadar in Pakistan and thereby alter the force structure in Indias neighbourhood. A steady escalation with India therefore contains the possibility of creating more strategic space for China.

An extended crisis also works to weaken the political authority of Narendra Modi. A strongman who has undertaken surgical strikes against Pakistan cannot be seen as tolerating a brazen land grab in a country that is effectively under Indias protection. The Chinese would know that Modi would not want to be politically damaged by coming off second best with Beijing, as Jawaharlal Nehru was after the 1962 war. In fact, a China policy that goes horribly wrong may be the only political weakness that Modi has given his current dominance in the Indian political scene  and that is a pressure point that Beijing could look to exploit in the future. What makes it awkward for Modi is that many of his supporters demand quick action and reprisals from his government. His government may need to discourage febrile commentary on television and social media and even if it does theres no guarantee that China will scale back its information offensive.

As indicated, the other way the standoff damages India is that it is now a part of the global theatre, eliciting interest of countries in Southeast Asia and those further afield who are keen to see if a country like India can stand up to Chinese aggression. If prolonged it is also the kind of crisis that can expose Indias weak leverage in world affairs. With the US, Europe and Africa needing China in different ways, Southeast Asian nations backing OBOR and Muslim countries aggrieved about the situation of Indian Muslims and Kashmiris under BJP rule, it remains unclear as to who will stand up for India when push comes to shove. Overdue aggression by Beijing can certainly accelerate anti-Chinese banding efforts over time but there are short-term reputational and tangible risks for India.

This situation thus has implications for both Modis political career and Indias image abroad. What is not clear at the moment is how China plans to scale back the situation after demanding Indian troop withdrawal. But the standoff indicates what Beijing expects from Asian neighbours: active support to OBOR, substantive economic ties with all but no symbolic challenge to Chinas dominance in the region. PM Modi wants to focus on his internal priorities and can do without a showdown with a bigger neighbour that has the potential to undercut him domestically. In theory, Modi may be best served by a stalemated short war with China, which he can represent as a victory at home. But that may not be on offer in reality.

He needs to find a way to restore status quo with honour.

(Views expressed are personal. The Twriter tweets as @SushilAaron)

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National highways and state highways in Bihar are not only prone to accidents, but also vulnerable to criminal activities.

What is alarming is that crime on highways does not wait for darkness to fall. It happens even during daylight  with impunity  raising serious questions about security and safety measures.

Statistics compiled by the State Crime Records Bureau reveals that Patna topped the list of road robbery incidents as also road dacoity in the past four months. The difference between robbery and dacoity is in the number of criminals involved in the crime - the latter involving five or more persons.

As many as 360 incidents of road robbery were reported in the state between January 1 and April 30 this year. Of these, state capital Patna recorded 40 incidents of road robbery, followed by Muzaffarpur (26), Rohtas and Saran (19 each), Gaya (15), Saharsa and Purnia (14 each).

At 19, Patna recorded the maximum number of road dacoities.

Bihar recorded 1,081 highway robberies and 191 dacoities in 2012. The figures in 2013 were 1281 robberies and 240 dacoities. For 2014, these were 1347 robberies and 264 dacoities. As many as 1195 robberies and 175 dacoities were recorded in 2015. In 2016, 1119 cases of road robberies and 169 of road dacoities were lodged with different police stations of the state.

National highways (NHs) passing through Patna, Rohtas, Gaya, Saran, Muzaffarpur, Vaishali and Sitamarhi have been identified as most crime prone. Over two dozen drivers and cleaners have also lost their lives in highway crimes since January 2016.

Road robbers, who have spread their tentacles in West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, looted goods worth over Rs 2 crore in Bihar between January 2016 and June 30.

Alarmed over the spurt in the incidents of crime on NHs passing through Bihar, the police headquarters have asked superintendents of police in the districts concerned to intensify patrolling on vulnerable roads. ADG (headquarters) Sanjiv Kumar Singhal said instructions had been issued to all SSPs/SPs to intensify patrolling on national highways.

Many criminal gangs involved in highway crime have been busted in the recent past. There is need to intensify patrolling on busy roads, he said, adding that additional vehicles had been provided to districts for carrying out round-the-clock patrolling on highways.

Patna SSP Manu Maharaaj told HT, Police are preparing data on loot cases and have initiated a fresh operation to combat the crime. Policemen are also taking help of CCTV footages to catch criminals and even upload such films on social networking sites for assistance.

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A three-member inquiry committee set up by the Punjab prisons department has cleared Nabha jail superintendent Karanjeet Singh Sandhu of sexual harassment charges levelled by a woman inmate from Mohali who is under trail for the murder of her husband.

The woman had called ADGP (prisons) Gaurav Yadav from the jail premises and complained that Sandhu tried to molest her. Yadav formed a committee comprising DIG (prisons) Surinder Singh Saini, jail superintendent of Ludhiana womens jail Damanjit Kaur Walia and superintendent, headquarters, Pamajit Kaur.

The committee, after recording statements of other inmates, jail staff, wardens, and checking CCTV footage, gave a clean chit to Sandhu, it is learnt. In the report, the committee said it found no evidence to support the allegation.

While refusing to divulge details, inspector general (prisons) Roop Kumar Arora said the inquiry report has been received and he will comment on it after discussing it with senior officials.
Among the most-anticipated Tamil releases of the year, Vijays Mersal is one of the top contenders. Ever since the film was launched, it has been surrounded by terrific buzz, thanks to the successful reunion of Vijay and director Atlee after the blockbuster success of their film, Theri, in 2016. With the film gearing up for grand release this Diwali, reports have surfaced that the films satellite rights has been bagged for a whopping Rs 30 crore by Zee Network, which had earlier this year snapped the rights of Rajinikanths 2.o for Rs 100 crore.

In Mersal, Vijay plays triple roles. According to reliable sources, he will be seen as a panchayat head, a doctor and a magician. The actors comic timing will be brought forth on screen through the magicians role. His portions are intended to evoke laughter and lighten up the mood. In the films first poster, released recently, Vijay can be seen as the panchayat head, sporting a twirled mustache, and this role will be seen in the period portion. There is Jallikattu reference in this poster and it could be perceived that the film may address the recent Jallikattu row in Tamil Nadu. Vijay is seen as a magician in the second poster and although it wasnt as well received as the first, fans still celebrated both the posters.

Bankrolled by Sri Thenandal Studios, the film stars Kajal Aggarwal, Samantha Ruth Prabhu and Nithya Menen as Vijays love interests. Actor-filmmaker SJ Suryah is playing the antagonist and since his terrific performance in 2016s Iraivi, audiences are keenly looking forward to see him lock horns with Vijay. Double Oscar-winning composer AR Rahman is composing the music.

Follow @htshowbiz for more

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Television personality Stevie Ryan was found dead at her residence in what the LA County Coroners Office has ruled as a suicide by hanging. She was 33.

Ryan, best known for YouTube channel and VH1 comedy series Stevie TV, died on Saturday, according to the coroners offices online confirmation, reported Deadline.

The actor first rose to fame through her YouTube series called Little Loca. She then went on to do several celebrity parodies on the video platform.

The news of Ryans death comes days after the actor revealed on her podcast that her grandfather had died recently.

Me and @StevieRyan as #LittleLoca. October 2007. Sending so much light to her loves ones.  pic.twitter.com/yliaPCn8a1  Perez (@ThePerezHilton) July 3, 2017

Ryans ex-boyfriend and actor Drake Bell reacted to her death on Twitter.

He posted an old photo of him with Ryan on the red carpet of the 2006 MTV Movie Awards along with a heartfelt caption.

No no no!!! I can NOT BELIEVE THIS IS HAPPENING!!! Please wake me from this nightmare @StevieRyan I loved you and will forever miss you, he captioned the picture.

No no no!!!! I can NOT BELIEVE THIS IS HAPPENING!!!! Please wake me from this nightmare @StevieRyan I loved you and will forever miss you! pic.twitter.com/hNFvM6tDpW  Drake Bell (@DrakeBell) July 3, 2017

The two dated from 2005 to 2006.

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Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of Tibetans in exile, is all set to celebrate his 82nd birthday in Ladakh on July 6, less than a year after the Chinese and Indian soldiers engaged in a major stand-off in the area when Chinese troops stopped work on the construction of an irrigation canal being built under the rural development or MNREGA scheme.

This years celebrations come in the backdrop of Indo-China standoff near the border in Sikkim. China has accused India of betraying a British-era territorial understanding of their border in Sikkim.

Dalai Lama who fled Tibets capital Lhasa in 1959 after the Chinese intrusion, will turn 82 on July 6. Fondly referred to as  His Holiness by the Tibetan community, Tenzin Gyatso is currently on retreat at Leh.

His Holiness will be offered a long life offering by the Tibetan Community in Ladakh followed by the official celebrations of His Holiness 82nd birthday organised by the Tibetan Community in Ladakh and the Ladakh Buddhist Association, said Dalai Lama itinerary posted on his official website. The event will be held at the Shewatsel Teaching Ground. Tibetan prime minister, Sikyong Lobsang Sangay, will also attend the long life prayers.

Dalai Lama fled Lhasa in 1959 after a failed uprising against the Chinese. The Indian government granted asylum to Dalai Lama along with scores of his followers. He denounced the 17-point agreement with China and set up a Tibetan government in exile. Though he gave up his political responsibility in 2011, he is still the face of Tibets freedom movement . While Dalai Lama is in favour of greater autonomy for Tibet, other Tibetan organisations such as the Tibetan Youth Congress want complete independence. Dalai Lamas envoys held eight rounds of talks with China until these were stonewalled in 2008 after turmoil in the Tibetan Autonomous region for which the Chinese blamed Dalai Lama.

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President Donald Trump on Monday offered US help to a British baby with a rare genetic disorder who is due to be taken off life support after courts ruled further treatment would prolong his suffering.

If we can help little #CharlieGard, as per our friends in the UK and the Pope, we would be delighted to do so, he said in a tweet.

The parents of Charlie Gard, who is 10 months old and has brain damage, had been fighting to take him to the United States for an experimental treatment for his extremely rare form of mitochondrial disease, but lost their case in British courts and the European Court of Human Rights.

President Trump has offered to help the family in this heartbreaking situation, Helen Ferre, White House director of media affairs, said in a statement.

Although the President himself has not spoken to the family, he does not want to pressure them in any way, members of the administration have spoken to the family in calls facilitated by the British government.

The babys plight has also attracted the attention of Pope Francis, who on Sunday expressed his support for Chris Gard and Connie Yates, saying he hoped doctors would allow them to care for their child until the end.

The Italian term used -- curare -- can be translated as care for or treat but the Vatican press office could not provide an official translation into English.

Charliesfight.org, a page set up to solicit donations for the babys treatment in the United States, noted, Two of the most powerful men in the world want to give Charlie Gard his chance, while @Fight4Charlie, an associated account, responded: Thanks @realDonaldTrump for your support -- @theresamay do the right thing and #savecharliegard.

The case has tugged at heart strings in Britain, where more than 1.3 million pounds ($1.68 million) have been raised through GoFundMe to pay for the experimental treatment.

A hundred protesters held a demonstration outside the gates of Buckingham Palace in London on Sunday, shouting Save Charlie Gard next to a banner that read Murder.

The courts had ruled that keeping the baby on life support would only prolong his suffering as there was no hope of his recovering from the disease which causes progressive muscle weakness, including in key organs such as the heart.
Indias armed forces will not have the upper hand if the military standoff in the Sikkim sector triggers an armed conflict with China, an article on the Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) website warned on Tuesday.

The article, written by strategic analyst Wang Dehua, recalled the 1967 conflict in the same region and said the Chinese army had launched two destructive counterattacks against Indian armed forces.

The Indian side didnt get the upper hand in the past. And it wont get an advantage today when the Chinese military has made remarkable progress on modernisation over the past few decades, Wang, head of the Institute of South and Central Asia, Shanghai Institutes for International Studies, wrote in the piece titled Expert: no winner in armed conflicts.

The article, posted in the opinion section of China Military Online, the English news website of the PLA, reiterated the Chinese accusation that Indian troops had illegally crossed the border and entered Donglang or Doklam region that Beijing says is part of the Tibet Autonomous Region.

Wang wrote that those in India who still uphold confrontation in this event should be fully aware of the fact that if a solution isnt reached through diplomatic or military communication or the issue isnt handled properly, another armed conflict between China and India is not completely out of the question.

Wang said Indians should not misjudge Indias strength and Chinas bottom line, otherwise it will shoot itself in the foot.

He referred to the brief conflict between Chinese and Indian forces near Nathu La in the Sikkim sector in 1967.

With the conflict at Nathula and Daggi in September and October 1967 respectively reaching a peak, when the Indian side assigned its No 112 mountain infantry brigade and No 17 artillery brigade to attack Chinese troops stationed at Nathula mountain pass on the China-Sikkim border. In self-defense, Chinese troops launched two destructive counterattacks against the Indian side, Wang wrote.

However, it is widely accepted that Indian troops gave the Chinese a bloody nose in the clashes of 1967, killing some 300 to 400 Chinese soldiers while losing about 80 soldiers.

Wang also referenced the 1962 border conflict that ended in defeat for India, and said Indian border troops had continued to provoke the Chinese military after the war. He contended that China had not wanted to fight in the 1962 war, which he described as the counterattack in self-defence.

He wrote that after the 1962 Counterattack in Self-Defence on China-India, Indian troops made many provocations to Chinese border troops in Yatung (a frontier county situated in the mouth of the Chumbi valley near the China-India border) and Nathula (a mountain pass in the Himalayas which connects the Indian state of Sikkim with Chinas Xizang (Tibet) Autonomous Region) in 1965-1967.

Wang said China had shown restraint by not using force to drive back Indian troops in the current standoff. As the event fermented, many people wonder why China didnt drive away the trespassing Indian troops by force since it was its legitimate right to build a road in its own territory, he wrote.

It is believed that China has exercised self-restraint because it still adheres to the long-term state policy of good-neighbourly friendliness and maintains the usual stance on handling China-India disputes.

Wang also tacitly referred to defence minister Arun Jaitleys recent remarks that circumstances had changed since Indias defeat in 1962.

Some Indians dare to provoke China and even claim that its not 1962 anymore probably because they dont think China has military advantages at the border sector where the event took place, he wrote.

They mistakenly think that India is able to revenge itself by using the favorable terrain and its advantageous mountain division and air force on the border. But the India had better not forget the historical lesson.
Russian President Vladimir Putin is set to hold a first meeting with US leader Donald Trump on Friday on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Hamburg, the Kremlin said on Tuesday.

It has been agreed for July 7, top Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov was quoted as saying by Russian news agencies, without giving further details.

The much-hyped maiden encounter between the two leaders comes as Trumps camp is under intense scrutiny over any links to the Kremlin.

Ties between Washington and Moscow plunged to their lowest point since the Cold War after the Kremlins seizure of Crimea from Ukraine in 2014.

Trump repeatedly pledged to work to improve ties with Russia during his presidential campaign, lavishing praise on strongman leader Putin.

But hopes have waned in Moscow of an imminent improvement in ties with the US, as accusations Putin ordered a hacking and influence campaign to get Trump elected have made any links to Moscow politically toxic for the White House.
Iconic scientist Stephen Hawking, whose field-defining work has enhanced knowledge in physics and cosmology, had a special message for academics and students who gathered to celebrate his 75th birthday: Remember to look up at the stars and not down at your feet. Be curious.

He recalled his struggle with motor neurone disease during the event at the University of Cambridge on Sunday. Our picture of the universe has changed a great deal in the last 50 years, and Im happy if Ive made a small contribution, he said.

And however difficult life may seem, there is always something you can do and succeed at. It matters that you just dont give up, he said.

The event was held at the Centre for Theoretical Cosmology, where Hawking is based. Some of the biggest names in science were present.

Hawking, born on January 8, 1942, reflected on his life and career in his lecture and discussed his current research. As a PhD student at Cambridge, he was given just two years to live when he was diagnosed with the debilitating disease.

At first I became depressed. There didnt seem any point in finishing my PhD, because I didnt know if Id be alive long enough to finish it. But after my expectations had been reduced to zero, every new day became a bonus, and I began to appreciate everything I did have, he said.

Where there is life, there is hope, he said at the event themed Gravity and Black Holes.

Referring to the writing of his bestseller A Brief History Of Time, Hawking said: I thought I might make a modest amount, to help support my children at school, and help with the rising costs of my care. But the main reason is I enjoyed it.

I think its important for scientists to explain their work, especially in cosmology. I never expected A Brief History Of Time to do as well as it did. Not everyone may have finished it, or understood everything they read. But at least they would have gotten the idea that we live in a universe governed by rational laws that we can discover and understand.

The event included public lectures from Brian Cox, Gabriela Gonzalez and Martin Rees. Many of Hawkings current and former students and colleagues were in attendance to celebrate his life and career in science.

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Jawaharlal Nehru did not fully endorse the 1890 treaty between British India and China over the borders with Tibet and Sikkim, letters written by Indias first Prime Minister show.

In letters written to Premier Zhou Enlai, then arguably Chinas second most powerful man after Communist party chief, Mao Zedong, in 1959, Nehru had given enough indications of the differences that that New Delhi had with Beijing on the boundary question in the mountainous tri-junction of China, Bhutan and India -- where the current standoff between Chinese and Indian militaries is going on.

On Monday, ministry of foreign affairs (MFA) spokesperson Geng Shuang cited the letter from Nehru to Enlai, written on March 22, 1959, that Indias protectorate state Sikkims border with China was confirmed by a treaty signed between China and Britain in 1890, and that the border was demarcated in 1895.

The treaty in question was the Convention between Great Britain and China relating to Sikkim and Tibet and signed between colonial Britain and Chinas Qing dynasty in then-Calcutta in 1890.

Citing the treaty and another letter, Geng said: On September 26, 1959, Nehru confirmed with Zhou that there was no dispute on the China-Sikkim border.

That letter from Nehru to Zhou on September 26, actually, said more than what China is telling the world: broadly, India stood by the 1890 agreement only as far as northern Sikkim was concerned.

This Convention of 1890 also defined the boundary between Sikkim and Tibet; and the boundary was later, in 1895, demarcated. There is thus no dispute regarding the boundary of Sikkim with the Tibet region. This clearly refers to northern Sikkim and not to the tri-junction which needed to be discussed with Bhutan and Sikkim and which is today the contentious area. And once more, let us not forget that the 1890 Treaty was an unequal treaty as Tibet, Sikkim and Bhutan were not involved, Nehru wrote to Zhou in the letter, which has been accessed by the Hindustan Times.

But Nehru pointed out in the,letter that boundaries of Sikkim and Bhutan needed to be included in the discussions.

It is not clear to us what exactly is the implication of your (Premier Zhou) statement that the boundaries of Sikkim and Bhutan do not fall within the scope of the present discussion. In fact, Chinese maps show sizeable areas of Bhutan as part of Tibet, Nehru wrote.

Under treaty relationships with Bhutan the Government of India are the only competent authority to take up with other Governments matters concerning Bhutans external relations, and in fact we have taken up with your Government a number of matters on behalf of the Bhutan Government, Nehru wrote.

The rectification of errors in Chinese maps regarding the boundary of Bhutan with Tibet is therefore a matter which has to be discussed along with the boundary of India with the Tibet region of China in the same sector, Nehru added.

Nehrus letter seems to refer to northern Sikkim and not to the tri-junction which needed to be discussed with Bhutan and Sikkim and which today is the contentious area.

On Monday, spokesperson Geng said India had betrayed Chinas trust on the boundary question.

The India-China boundary in the Sikkim section is well demarcated. The action taken by India is a betrayal of the position taken by the Indian governments, Geng said, adding that India needs to follow the treaty and pull back troops immediately from Doka La.

Doka La is located on the margins of the Doklam plateau, also known as Donglang in Chinese.

On Friday, the Indian government said New Delhi was deeply concerned at the recent Chinese actions of trying to construct a road at Doklam (Donglang), which is situated at the strategic tri-junction between India, China and Bhutan. China and Bhutan have an ongoing territorial dispute in the region.

Geng had also cited a letter from Nehru to Zhou dated March 22. Again, the full text  or the picture  wasnt presented.

Nehru did mention the 1890 treaty and wrote: The boundary of Sikkim, a protectorate of India, with the Tibet Region of China was defined in the Anglo-Chinese Convention 1890 and jointly demarcated on the ground in 1895. Of course, in the September letter, he clearly talked about the differences.

What Geng didnt mention was that Nehru talked about the McMahon line in Bhutan in the same letter.

The McMahon Line -- as you are aware, the so-called McMahon Line runs eastwards from the eastern borders of Bhutan and defines the boundary of China on the one hand and on the India and Burma on the other. Contrary to what has been reported to you, this line was, in fact, drawn at a Tripartite Conference held at Simla in 1913-1914 between the Plenipotentiaries of the Governments of China, Tibet and India, he wrote.

The former Indian PM added: At the time of acceptance of the delineation of this frontier, Lonchen Shatra, the Tibetan Plenipotentiary, in letters exchanged, stated explicitly that he had received orders from Lhasa to agree to the boundary as marked on the map appended to the Convention.

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Pakistan dismissed the US designating Hizbul Mujahideen chief Syed Salahuddin a global terrorist on Monday, saying it was not a UN decision but a move by the Trump administration to appease India.

Alleging that India was offering its services to the US to pressurise China, Pakistan Prime Ministers adviser on foreign affairs Sartaj Aziz said India has been trying to downplay the Kashmir issue for a very long time.

Talking to a delegation from the Kashmir Journalists Forum, he said Salahuddin being designated a terrorist by the US was an attempt by the American administration to appease India.

Pakistan was not bound to follow the decision as it was not a United Nations (UN) declaration, Dawn newspaper quoted Aziz as saying.

The US declared Salahuddin a global terrorist just before Prime Minister Narendra Modis first meeting with President Donald Trump on June 26 in Washington.

In a notification, the State Department said Salahuddin, who hails from Kashmir and is based in Pakistan for the last 28 years, has committed, or poses a significant risk of committing, acts of terrorism.

Aziz said that India has been trying to downplay the Kashmir issue for a very long time, but the agitation at the local level had completely changed the Indian narrative.

Aziz reiterated that the struggle was being led by Kashmiris and Pakistan was only providing political, diplomatic and moral support to them.

Aziz also highlighted ceasefire violations by India, claiming that India had violated the ceasefire more than 400 times in the past years, which was a violation of a 2003 agreement between the two nations.

He said that Pakistan was willing for a dialogue on all issues with neighbouring countries as a part of its vision for a peaceful neighbourhood, but a dialogue with India without Kashmir on the agenda was out of the question.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modis visit to Israel is being viewed with suspicion by the Pakistani media, with some commentators saying the exercise is aimed at countering Pakistans military strength.

Though several TV news channels have focussed on the visit, most English and Urdu newspapers reported on it only briefly in their Tuesday editions. Pakistan does not recognise the state of Israel.

The influential Dawn newspaper used a wire copy for its report headlined Modi set to become first Indian PM to visit Israel, while The Express Tribune headlined its report Modi visit holds special meaning for Indian Jews in Israel.

Khawar Ghumman, a commentator on Channel 42, referred to what he described as the nexus between New Delhi and Tel Aviv and contended the two countries were working against Islamabad.

This is an old nexus and we know that in the past, Israel has actively worked with India to counter Pakistan, Ghumman said.

Read | Modi leaves for Jerusalem: Five things that define India-Israel relationship

Security analyst Brig Ghazanfar Ali said there were similarities between Hindu nationalism and Jewish nationalism. The meeting of national interests between India and Israel means Pakistan should pay greater attention to the security cooperation between the two countries as this will directly affect Islamabads security interests.

At the same time, Ali said Pakistan has to also look at its own national interests and act accordingly.

At a time when Saudi Arabia is thinking of establishing relations with Israel, Pakistan has to see what is good for its interests in the region, he said. We need to check mate Indias aggressive diplomatic moves.

While the sentiments expressed by Ali are not common, there is a growing debate in Pakistan on how it needs to change its foreign policy parameters to cope with changes in the region, including the Saudi Arabia-Qatar row.

Most Urdu newspapers, which have a larger readership, used wire copies to inform their readers of Modis visit, the first by an Indian prime minister to Israel after the two countries established diplomatic relations 25 years ago. However, there was little commentary on the visit in the newspapers, which also did not carry any editorials on the issue.

Opinion | PM Modis Israel trip shows Indias mature approach with focus on economic, security gains

Under former military ruler Pervez Musharraf, Pakistan had established contacts with Israel in 2005 after it withdrew from the Gaza Strip. Pakistans then foreign minister Khurshid Kasuri held talks with his Israeli counterpart Silvan Shalom in the Turkish city of Istanbul.

Shalom had then described the talks as a historic meeting but the two sides were unable to make any headway and the contacts stopped soon after.
External affairs minister Sushma Swaraj will visit Nepal next month to participate in the BIMSTEC foreign ministers meeting to be held in Kathmandu during August 10-11.

Swaraj confirmed her participation in the meet during talks with her Nepalese counterpart Krishna Bahadur Mahara in New Delhi on Monday. Nepal is the current chair of the BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation) and will convene the groupings fourth summit in Kathmandu later this year.

I had a very productive and fruitful meeting with Swaraj, Mahara said in Kathmandu on Tuesday on his return from New Delhi. She congratulated us for holding successful local elections in Nepal.

Mahara and Swaraj noted that bilateral relations were making steady progress and had been reinforced by the exchange of visits at various levels, a statement from the Nepalese side said. Both leaders reviewed and discussed a wide range of matters, including development cooperation, trade and transit, cross-border infrastructure and hydropower projects.

India has been pushing BIMSETIC - whose other members are Bangladesh, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Bhutan - as Pakistan is not a member of the regional bloc. Differences between India and Pakistan have impeded progress under the umbrella of the Saarc grouping.

The meeting of the BIMSTEC foreign ministers is expected to finalise the date for the fourth summit and to assess and review progress made by the grouping. It will also chart the future course of the organisation whose secretariat is in the Bangladesh capital.

Established on June 6, 1997 through the Bangkok Declaration, BIMSTEC comprises seven states in the littoral and adjacent areas of the Bay of Bengal.
Police have arrested an 11-year-old boy in Pakistans Lahore city for killing his minor sister for teasing him over his poor handwriting, the media reported on Tuesday.

Nine-year-old Eman Tanvir was found strangled at her grandmothers house in the citys Shalimar area on June 30, reports Dawn news.

Earlier, the police had taken the victims stepmother Saba into custody for interrogation but she was released later.

A senior police official on Monday said the victim and her elder brother Abdul Rehman had come to spend Eid holidays at their grandmothers house.

The siblings held a handwriting competition when their grandmother was not home, the official said.

He said Eman teased Abdul for having poor handwriting. This annoyed the boy who put a scarf around his sisters neck and strangled her to death.

The official said Abdul also cut his arm and locked the door of the room from inside to conceal his crime.

Later when the boy was interrogated he confessed to killing his sister.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Tuesday that his country and Ireland should seize the opportunity to be open and progressive as their big neighbours, the US and Britain, turn inward.

Trudeau said there are tremendous opportunities for countries like Canada and Ireland at a time where perhaps our significant allies and trading partners ... are turning inward or at least turning in a different direction.

He said the two nations should make the pitch that Canada and Ireland are places that are exciting and open to the world in a positive, progressive way.

Trudeau spoke after meeting Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar in Dublin. Both leaders face tricky times with their neighbours  the US under President Donald Trump and the UK as it leaves the European Union.

The two politicians are among a crop of young, centrist Western leaders seen by some as a counterweight to the populism that fueled Trumps election victory and Britains decision to leave the EU.

Varadkar said more and more people will want to come to Ireland because of Brexit. Dublin hopes to lure financial institutions from London after Britain quits the bloc.

Varadkar wore colorful maple leaf socks for Tuesdays meeting, in a salute to Trudeaus fondness for bold, statement ankle-wear.

Trudeau travels to Scotland Wednesday to meet Queen Elizabeth II, and is due to attend a summit of G-20 leaders in Hamburg, Germany on Friday and Saturday.
Letters reveal pain of those left behind

[dropcap]I[/dropcap]n the weeks following the July 1863 Battle of Gettysburg, tens of thousands of families waited anxiously for word of the fate of their loved ones and friends serving in the contending armies. Had they been killed in the fighting? Had they survived only to suffer from agonizing wounds in crude, makeshift hospitals? The vivid contemporary evidence, found in the pension files for two Pennsyl-vania soldiers who fell at Gettysburg, sheds light on two different families ordeals in the aftermath of the Civil Wars largest battle.

In July 1862, the U.S. Congress passed the Pension Act, which provided a monthly stipend to former soldiers who had suffered service-related disabilities. In addition, if a soldier was killed in action, died of wounds, or had succumbed to a disease determined to have been incurred as a result of his military service, a monthly sum would be paid to the descendants widow and minor children, or orphan, as applicable. If the deceased had no spouse or children, the survivors pension would be issued to another family member, such as parents or siblings.

The National Archives and Records Administration in Washington, D.C., holds thousands of these pension files. The documents there provide a brief glimpse into the lives of the men who fought for the Union and their families. Many files include poignant letters of condolence sent to a soldiers next of kin, give details of a loved ones passing, and sometimes even his place of burial. Following are two such letters, found in the mothers/widows pension files, concerning two men who served in the 68th and 69th Pennsylvania Infantries, and fell fighting at Gettysburg. These letters are presented unedited with the original documents grammar and spelling.

Private Peter Hilt

68th Pennsylvania, 1st Brigade,

1st Division, 3rd Corps

Before enlisting as a private in Company G of the 68th Pennsylvania in August 1862, 23-year-old Peter Hilt (or Hill, according to some records) worked as a moulder in Albany, N.Y., where he lived with his widowed mother, Sibylla, age 55. Unmarried, and the only one of Sibyllas five children still residing at home, Peter contributed his $10 weekly earnings to the household, which his mother used for rent and necessities. While serving in the Union Army, Hilt sent most of his pay home to Sibylla, who, despite her age and physical infirmities, supplemented her sons contributions by cleaning several neighbors homes.

Late on the afternoon of July 2, 1863, the 68thpart of Maj. Gen. Daniel Sickles 3rd Corps, recognizable by the diamond patches (left) soldiers wore on their uniformswas posted just south of Gettysburg in the Peach Orchard, where they would face the onslaught of Brig. Gen. William Barksdales Mississippi Brigade. During the fierce fighting, one of Hilts thighs was shattered by a gunshot wound. Several comrades carried the suffering private to the nearby Jacob Schwartz Farm and left him in a barn before returning to duty.

Several days later, volunteer nurse Mary Morris Husband discovered Hilt in the barn and, as she later wrote to his mother, took an interest in him. The 42-year-old Husbanda Philadelphia native and granddaughter of Declaration of Independence signer Robert Morrishad worked as a volunteer nurse for the Army of the Potomac at Harrisons Landing, Va., in the summer of 1862, following the Peninsula Campaignand after the subsequent battles of Antietam, Fredericksburg, and Chancellorsville. On July 3, upon hearing of the fighting at Gettysburg, Husband again left her Philadelphia home to tend to the needs of her boys. She arrived on the field the following day and began working at the Schwartz Farm, which served as the hospital for the 1st Division of the 3rd Corps.

On July 17, Peter Hilt died of his wounds. One month later, Husband, by now back in Philadelphia and herself suffering from a fever that she had contracted in the fetid atmosphere of the Schwartz Farm, sent the following letter to Sibylla.

Phila. Aug. 18th [1863]

Mrs. Hill [sic];

My dear friend

I call you so because I was attached to your son. I have nothing of his but some hair, he probably lost everything on the battlefield. I took charge of some 300 wounded, principally Rebels, in a barn out houses, etc. and the under part of the barn. I spoke to your boy thinking him a confederate but one of the rebels said do try & get that fellow out of this place, he is very badly wounded & one of your men, so I at once went & got some boys to help me & carefully moved him to the piazza of a house nearby. He told me about you & said he was anxious to get well on your account, so I became much interested in him & urged the surgeons to examine the wound, but they pronounced it hopeless.

I was not satisfied however, and the following day, Dr. Hays, Surg. In Charge of 1st Div. Hosp. came over & I got him to examine he said there was a hope, if he could get him over to the Hosp. to operate on him. I got my boys to carry him on a stretcher, & Dr. H. operated himself, laying open the leg & removing the crushed pieces of bone (the leg was fractured too high up for amputation.) I went to see him the next day & he was doing nicely, everything favorable, & was very grateful to me for accomplishing what I did, as well as getting him in more comfortable quarters. I promised to come & see him as often as possible, but was half a mile from him with a creek between that rose rapidly & cut me off whenever it rained, so I did not see him but once afterward, still doing well, but the weather became warmer & mortification set in, he died very easily, I heard for I knew nothing of it, until all was over, when one of the boys came to tell me & I sent for some of his hair not even having time to go & see him. You have no idea how hard we have to work, after a battle. There are so many who need help & so few to give it, that those who go as I do [volunteer nurse] have scarce time to attend to individual cases or to remember them-but your son particularly interested me & therefore I saved his hair for you & knowing a Mothers feelings knew that you would like to have as much of an account as I can give you it is not much but shews he did not die without an effort to save him, as alas! many of our brave boys do.

He had comfortable food & good nursing during his last days & you may yet obtain more particulars about him, as there were some of his own Regt. in the same ward.

God bless & comfort you

Yours truly

Mary M. Husband

On September 22, 1863, Sibylla Hilt filed for a pension with the federal government, using as part of her evidence the above letter from Mary Husband. In March 1864, her pension request was granted and she began receiving $8 a month, the maximum amount then allowed under the law. Today, the remains of Peter Hilt, the sole support of his widowed mother, lie in Grave B-48 of the Pennsylvania section of the Gettysburg National Cemetery. Sibylla died in early 1894; by that time, her monthly government stipend had increased to $12.

Husband managed to recover from her illness and returned to nursing with the army in the winter of 1863, serving in assorted military hospitals for the rest of the war. She died in Philadelphia on March 3, 1894.

Serving With Honor Charles McAnally, who was born May 12, 1836, in Ireland and came to the United States in 1852, served with the 69th Pennsylvania Infantry until the end of the war, eventually rising to the rank of captain. He incurred cuts and gunshot wounds to his left shoulder, head, and face at the May 1864 Battle of Spotsylvania Court House, Va., early in Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grants Overland Campaign. McAnally suffered additional wounds to his leg at the horrific Battle of Cold Harbor less than a month later. McAnallys Medal of Honor citation for the Spotsylvania fighting reads: In a hand-to-hand encounter with the enemy captured a flag, was wounded in the act, but continued on duty until he received a second wound. On July 28, 1897, McAnally received notification that President William McKinley had approved him for the Medal of Honor. Charles McAnally, aged 69, died on August 8, 1905. J.S.

Sergeant James Hand

69th Pennsylvania

2nd Brigade (Philadelphia Brigade)

2nd Division, 2nd Corps

In July 1860, a federal census taker visited a dwelling at 1319 N. 16th St. in Philadelphia and recorded that a married immigrant couple from IrelandJames and Jane Hand, ages 25 and 24, respectivelyresided there with their two daughters, 3-year-old Lucy and a newborn named Mary Jane. James, who worked as a printer, had only $100 of personal property. A little more than a year later, he left behind his wife and young children and enlisted in Company D of the 69th Pennsylvania to fight for his new country.

On July 3, 1863, Company D was posted in the right-center of the 69ths line of battle on Cemetery Ridge at Gettysburg, located just in front of a small cluster of oak treesthe now-famous Copse of Trees. Hand, by then a sergeant, was killed instantly during the brutal combat that raged that afternoon at the height of Picketts Charge. Initially interred on the G. Herting (or Herling) Farm, the present resting place of Hands remains is unknown.

Two days after the battle, Lieutenant Charles McAnally, a fellow Irish immigrant, company-mate, and close friend, wrote the following letter to Hands wife:

Camp of 69th Regt. P.V.

near Gettysburg Pa.

July 5, 1863

Mrs. Jane Hand

It is a painful task for me to Communicate the sad fate of your husband (my own Comrade) he was killed on the 3rd inst he received a ball through the breast & one through the heart & never spoke after. I was in Command of the Skremeshers about one mile to the front & every inch of ground was well contested untill I reached our Regt. the rebels made the attack in 3 lines of Battle as soon as I reached our line I met James he ran & met me with a canteen of watter I was near palayed he said I was foolish dident let them come at once that the ol 69th was waiting for them I threw off my Coat & in 2 minutes we were at it hand to hand they charged us twice & we repulsed them they then tried the Regt on our Right & drove them which caused us to Swing back our right then charged them on their left flank & in the charge James fell may the Lord have mercy on his Soul he never flinched from his post & was loved by all who knew him he was intered along side of Sergt James McCabe Sergt Jeremiah Gallagher of our Co & 5 others of our Co that you are not acquainted with our Co lost in killed wounded & missing Twenty as follows killed 8 wounded 10 & missing 2 although we fought the Rebels 10 to one on the 2nd & killed or captured a whol Corps our Co had only one man wounded that day the loss in the battle of the 3rd was heavy but all did not discourage the boys we were determined that as long as a man lived he would stand to be killed too rather than have it said that we left on the battle field in Pennsylvania the Laurels that we so dearly won in Strange States the loss in the Regt killed wounded & missing was one hundred & fifty eight & our Colonell & Lieut Colonell & 2 Capts Duffy & Thompson killed & Lieut Kelly & 6 officers wounded we killed 6 Rebel Generals & nearly all the line officers & killed or captured every man that attacted us & both days fighting there was never a battle fought with more determination in the first days fight the Rebels had our battery on the first charge & we retook it again Mrs Hand please excuse this letter as I am confused & I hope you will take your trouble with patience you know that God is mercifull & good to his own no one living this day was more attached than Jas & my self when I was engaged in front he wanted to get out to my assistance I lost a loyal comrade in him no more at present from your Sorrowing friend

Chas McAnally

Lieut Co D 69th

Regt P.V.

P.S. this letter will answer for Sergt McCabe he was shot through the head he died in 2 minutes after McCabe had 35 cents of money & $20 he lent to Lieut Fay of our Co. C. M. A. we got no mail since the 19th until the rebs retreated last night

Jane Hand filed for a survivors pension with the federal government on July 18, 1863. A week later, the new widow gave birth to her third child, a son she named James Charles. It took six months for her pension request to be granted. She then began receiving the sum of $8 per month, plus an additional $2 each per month for her three children, backdated to the date of her husbands death.

Heartbreak continued to stalk the family, however, as the infant died from unknown causes in February 1864, and the Hand family pension was reduced by $2 per month. The records in the Hand pension file end with that tragedy.

Jeffrey Stocker, a retired attorney, is the author of three books on the Civil War. His most recent is We Fought Desperate: A History of the 153rd Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry Regiment.
Losing Binh Dinh: The Failure of Pacification and Vietnamization, 1969-1971 By Kevin M. Boylan, University Press of Kansas, 201

Whether the Vietnam War was ultimately winnable has long divided historians. Revisionists, unlike their orthodox counterparts, insist the war was indeed winnable, and some claim that the war had been won by the early 1970s, only to be squandered by feckless politicians in Washington. Losing Binh Dinh, written by former Defense Department analyst Kevin M. Boylan, challenges the lost victory thesis in this compelling account of the war in a strategically vital South Vietnamese province.

Boylans thoughtful study examines the conflict in Binh Dinh province, primarily through the prism of Operation Washington Green. The fertile, rice-producing province, which abutted the South China Sea and extended west to the rugged Central Highlands, was regarded as the heartland of the Communist insurgency in that region. The U.S. Armys 173rd Airborne Brigade initiated Washington Green in the restive province in April 1969 to promote pacification (a program to push out the Viet Cong through economic development efforts and enhanced security) and to advance President Richard Nixons Vietnamization policy of transferring more combat responsibility to South Vietnamese forces.

Dispensing with the large, multibattalion sweeps that had characterized the 1st Cavalry Divisions search-and-destroy operations in Binh Dinh, the 173rd Airborne dispersed across the northern districts of the province in small detachments to improve security and train struggling local militia forces. Washington Greens planners hoped that with more training, local forces would be able to assume responsibility for village and hamlet security, freeing South Vietnamese regulars to take on the North Vietnamese Army. This, in turn, would allow American troops to stand down and gradually withdraw from the country.

Reluctantly, the wary Sky Soldiers of the 173rd partnered with the militias and pushed into dozens of Communist-dominated hamlets. Within months, the security situation in Binh Dinhs four northern districts had improved. By the end of the year, 90 percent of the population in the 173rds area of operations was living under allied military control. The Nixon administration would tout Washington Green as a successful example of Vietnamization.

The militia forces, however, were ineptly led and dependent on American logistical support. They performed unevenly alongside the Sky Soldiers and in some respects had grown more reliant on American assistance and initiative. Absent the prodding and cajoling of their U.S. advisers, the poorly motivated militiamen appeared unable or unwilling to act. Similar charges were leveled against the provinces civil administration. Washington Green, Boylan astutely observes, was failingdespite the 173rd Airbornes best efforts.

Nevertheless, Boylan occasionally overreaches. He writes that despite the growing volume of supplies shipped down the Ho Chi Minh Trail or by sea through the Cambodian port of Sihanoukville, Communist regular military units operating in South Vietnam remained highly dependent on food collected by the [Viet Cong] and transported by civilian porters. Although it is true that Communist regulars in South Vietnam in the early 1960s relied heavily on the civilian populations support, the logistical situation had changed in 1965-1966. Thereafter, a number of Communist main force units depended on North Vietnam for their logistical survival.

In the fall of 1969, the North Vietnamese Army returned to Binh Dinh, prompting the 173rd to pull some battalions off pacification duty to counter the new threat. Almost immediately, the Viet Cong challenged the hard-won security gains in the northern districts. That trend continued into 1970. While an argument can be made for a more charitable interpretation of the war nationwide, Boylan demonstrates that the war had not been won by December 1971, when Operation Washington Green officially concluded.

Considerable in scope, Losing Binh Dinh provides additional intellectual grist to the ongoing Revisionist-Orthodox debate.

Published in the August 2017 issue of Vietnam magazine.
A Maine Artilleryman describes his July 1, 1863 Gettysburg wounding

[dropcap]W[/dropcap]hen Charles O. Hunt, a lieutenant in Captain Greenlief Stevens 5th Maine Light Artillery, marched into Gettysburg, Pa., with the Army of the Potomacs 1st Corps in the summer of 1863, it must have felt like a homecoming. Hunt was from Gorham, Maine, but after graduating from Bowdoin College in 1861 he had spent time in Gettysburg visiting his sister, Mary Carson. From September through the end of 1861, Hunt stayed in the Pennsylvania crossroads town with Mary and her husband, Thomas, a clerk for the Bank of Gettysburg on York Street. Hunt contemplated his future as he became familiar with the town and the surrounding countryside. He hiked the Round Tops, rode across the yet-to-be-bloodstained Wheatfield, and collected hickory nuts on Culps Hill.

Hunts contemplations led him to decide to fight for the Union, and he returned to his home state and joined the 5th Maine Artillery, then under the command of George Leppien, a Pennsylvanian who had received military training in Germany. On December 16, 1861, Hunt was promoted to quartermaster sergeant of the battery. After Leppien was mortally wounded at the Battle of Chancellorsville in May 1863, Stevens was promoted to captain and took command of the battery; Hunt was promoted to 2nd lieutenant. He was one of three lieutenants in the 5th Maine, each responsible for a section, or two cannons, of the six 12-pounder Napoleons that made up the battery.

As the 5th Maine marched north to Pennsylvania on July 1, Hunt joked to Stevens that if he were to get hit, he hoped it would happen in Gettysburg, as he knew the people there would take good care of him. The Maine gunners were quickly sent to Seminary Ridge after reaching Gettysburg and deployed in two locations. One was on a ridge just south of the Chambersburg Pike in the vicinity of the C.P. Kranth house.

Stevens battery was heavily engaged at that point, with Brig. Gen. Alfred Scales North Carolinians having the misfortune of charging against the belching muzzles of the 5th Maines Napoleons. The Pine Tree State artillerymen lobbed case shot and then blasted 57 rounds of canister at the Tar Heel mob struggling toward the western face of Seminary Ridge, and Scales noted in his official report that his brigade weathered a most terrific fire ofgrapein our front. Every discharge made sad havoc in our line. Scales Brigade suffered 545 casualties during the attack.

[dropcap]A[/dropcap]s the battle continued to roar and their guns continued to deal out destruction, Hunt and the rest of the 5th Maines gunners had a hard time seeing the enemy approach through a thick layer of gunsmoke that had settled into the swale at the western foot of Seminary Ridge. That literal fog of war caused Hunt to move forward for a better look, and a Rebel bullet found the lieutenant just after he returned to his guns, as he described in the following account.

On July 1st, at an early hour, we marched with the rest of the 1st Corps towards Gettysburg. [Brig. Gen. John] Buford, with his cavalry, was having an unequal fight with the enemys advance, and [Maj. Gen. John] Reynolds hurried the 1st Corps up to his relief. As we approached Gettysburg we turned off from the Emmittsburg road to the left towards the Seminary ridge. At first we went into position some distance south of the Seminary buildings but we were not engaged at this place. Later we were moved to the North side of the seminary buildings. By the time we were in position the enemy were coming over the ridge which runs parallel with the Seminary ridge. We opened with case shot at first, firing over our Infantry who were in front of us on lower ground. As they fell back to the line of the guns we used canister. While we were using case shot I found it very difficult, on account of the smoke, to see whether they were exploding in the right place. To get out of the smoke, I climbed over a fence at the left of my section and went behind the house. I remember very well the sound of the bullets on the brick house, reminding me of a shower of hail on the roof. Soon after I returned to my position with my section, I was wounded in the upper part of the right thigh. I did not at first realize what had happened. I felt a sharp sting, as if I had been struck a slight blow with a light cane. On looking down I saw a jagged hole in my pistol holster, which was on my belt. On trying my leg I found, to satisfaction, that the bone was not broken. Feeling that the wound was too serious to admit of my doing any further service in that fight, I limped to the capt. and reported, and asked permission to go to town to see my sister while I was able to do so. In the morning, before going into action, I had remarked jokingly to the capt. that if I was ever going to be hit I hoped that it would come there, for I would be sure of being well taken care of. So my wish was granted.

With help I was able to mount my horse and I rode slowly into town. Even then the enemys shells were beginning to rake the road, and the ride was anything but a pleasant one. On my arrival at Marys, I think Tom and Dr. Charles Herner were at the door, and I found that the rest of the family, with many neighbors had sought shelter from the enemys shells in the bank vault. The bank adjoined the house, with a private door from the hall for the convenience of the cashier. Some time before this a recently spent shell had come in through an attic window and, after going through the stairs, had dropped down the well of the staircase to the front hall. This had frightened them not a little and had caused their retreat to the vault. The contents had been sent to Philadelphia when it was found that Lee was to invade Pennsylvania. I believe there were nineteen women and children and two dogs in the vault when I arrived.

Soon after this our lines fell back, retreating through the town towards Cemetery Hill. While they were passing through the town, the enemys shells came down the streets and overhead in great numbers. There was much excitement among the occupants of our house. The women and children went to the vault, and for my safety they carried a mattress to the cellar and I lay there for some time. While I was there the rebels occupied the town and, soldier-like, the first thing they thought of was something to eat. Through a crack in the door, I saw two Rebs come into the back cellar and strip the pantry of everything eatable. I did not care to remonstrate.

But in a very short time the town was quiet and my friends came out of their hiding place and soon had me put to bed in the front chamber where Dr. Herner dressed my wound. When I had first arrived he had recovered with his fingers a flattened ball from the superficial part of the wound. But on probing he found that there was something more there, which, on extraction, proved to be about an inch and a quarter of the iron rammer of my Colts revolver. The ball had struck the pistol between the barrel and the rammer, knocking out this portion of the latter and bending the barrel (this pistol is one of my relics). On account of this piece of rammer being driven into my thigh, the wound was a large and jagged one.

While the doctor was engaged in dressing the wound, two Rebel officers came into the house. Mary saw them coming up the stairs. They asked her if there were any soldiers in the house. Mary, with many misgivings, had to confess that she had a brother there. They said they were sorry, but they would have to take him. Then she mentioned the fact of my being wounded. This altered the case, and they said they wanted to see me. So Mary brought them into the chamber. They were very courteous and expressed regret for my hurt. One of them said to the other, Had we not better parole him? To which the reply was, We can do that some other time. There will be plenty of time. From which I judged that they thought they had come to stay. On leaving they said to Mary Take good care of your brother and dont let him fight us any more. Mary replied that she would take good care of me but she could not promise as to the rest of it.

This first night I spent in the front chamber. There was an occurrence in the street below my window which illustrates the rigid discipline they maintained while they were in possession of the town. Across the street was a grocery store, and the owner also carried quite a large stock of liquors. Sometime in the night I was awakened by hearing someone sternly command come out of there. ThenThrow it down which was succeeded by a crack on the pavement, and this was repeated over and over again. I could imagine the procession of disappointed Johnnies coming out of the cellar, each with his bottle, jug, or demijohn, which he was obliged to smash on the pavement. I will say right here that there was surprisingly little disorder during the two days and a half that they held the town. I think they cleaned out provisions and grocery stores pretty generally, but the private houses were not disturbed. The men were not allowed to get at the liquors, and I never heard of any drunkenness. On the evening of the 3d[,] a man came to the front door and rather roughly demanded food. Mary refused on the ground that she had very little in the housea very short supply for her own family. He was quite abusive and tried to enter the house, but Mary managed to get the door shut and locked it in his face. He swore he would come back and burn the house down before morning.

My recollections of the details of the events of July 1st, 2d & 3d are not very distinct on this late day, but there are certain features that can be recalled very vividly. One was the horrible crash of musketry at the time of the attack on Culps hill near the close of the 1st. As that was quite near our part of the town, it came to us with great distinctness. The sound of musketry is always more apalling [sic] than the roar of artillery.

The great artillery fight, which preceded Picketts charge on the 3d, was also something not to be forgotten. As the town lay, in a sense, between the two fires, the uproar seemed more terrible to us than it would if we had been on either line. At that time I was lying on a mattress in the dining room, as houses in our immediate vicinity had been occasionally struck by shells, and it was felt that it would be safer there. The house was an old fashioned brick house of solid construction but it trembled to the very foundation. The earth literally shook.

Seminary Ridge to Stevens Knoll The 5th Maine Battery kept up its July 1 fight on Seminary Ridge for several hours after wounded Lieutenant Hunt went to the rear. But Union resistance west of Gettysburg finally collapsed late in the afternoon, and the Maine gunners hitched up their cannons and moved to a knoll to the right and rear of Cemetery Hill, as it was described in the batterys official report. The Maine soldiers restocked their empty limber chests and to protect their Napoleons threw up earthworks with the help of infantrymen. On July 2, some of the roaring artillery that Lieutenant Hunt undoubtedly heard while confined in his sisters house came from his batterymates, who were engaged throughout the day. That included a fierce bombardment against Brig. Gen. Harry Hays and Colonel Issac Averys Confederates as they attacked the eastern face of Cemetery Hill after sunset. Captain Greenlief Stevens had been wounded by a sharpshooter, leaving Lieutenant Edward N. Whittier in command. Whittier later wrote that his battery unleashed blasts of spherical case and shell, and latersolid shot and canister as the Confederates swept toward the Union defenses on Cemetery Hill. The rapid fire emptied the entire contents of the limber chests, he recalled, and after the Rebel attack had been repulsed, he temporarily pulled the battery back to acquire new ammunition. In his report, Whittier thanked the soldiers of the 33rd Massachusetts and the Iron Brigades 24th Michigan for helping serve the cannons and running ammunition when some of the artillerymen became temporarily exhausted by the hours of prolonged firing on July 2. The battery also sparred with Confederate artillery the morning of July 3, but otherwise had a comparatively quiet day. The 5th Maine would suffer 23 casualties at Gettysburg, and fired a whopping 979 roundsmostly on Days 1 and 2. Captain Stevens would heal and rejoin his command, and later served on the state of Maines Gettysburg Monument Commission. His name forever became part of the battlefields lexicon when the hillock the 5th Maine sternly defended on July 2 was renamed Stevens Knoll. D.B.S.

History tells us that Gen. [Henry] Hunt, Chief of Artillery for our army, after this artillery duel had been kept up for a considerable time, ordered our batteries to cease firing in order that the guns might cool, and all things be made ready for the Infantry charge, which he knew must soon come. The rebels also ceased firing very soon after thinking that they had silenced our batteries. The suddenness in the cessation of the tumult filled us with apprehension. The silence was awful. What can it mean? was the question that everyone asked, but none could answer. We had not long to wait before it all began again, and soon to the roar of artillery was heard the crash of musketry.

The most trying feature of our situation was our ignorance of how the battle was going. I could generally know that our guns were still in position by noting the explosion of shell, but beyond that we could learn nothing. During the whole period of the battle we were oppressed with the most intense anxiety.

On the morning of the 4th, as soon as it began to be day light Marys old servant went out to a neighbors on some errand, and soon came back saying that she believed the rebels had gone; that not one was to be seen in the streets. The good news was soon confirmed and the strain of the anxious three days gave way to rejoicing. Before long cavalry came in and occupied the streets, and they were followed by infantry, and we knew that the battle of Gettysburg had been won.

Before very long it was discovered that, although the enemy had left the town, they had not taken their departure for good. They had a strong line of artillery posted on the Seminary ridge facing the town. In some way the rumor was circulated that they proposed to shell the town and destroy it. This caused greater excitement among the citizens than there had been during the fight. A great many started at once for the country in the opposite direction, carrying in their hands what seemed to them most valuable. Many amusing stories were told of the curious selection that some made in their excitement.

What to do with me, worried Thomas and Mary more than it did me. I did not believe the rumors, and even if it should be true, I felt that we would be quite safe in the cellar. But I could not convince them. The only conveyance they could find was a wheelbarrow, owned by their next neighbor Mr. Creasy, and I believe he volunteered to do the wheeling. I protested against such an undignified exit and persuaded them to postpone the start till there was some certain evidence that the enemy would carry out their supposed threat. It is needless to add that the wheel-barrow was not called into requisition.

[dropcap]O[/dropcap]n July 4 Hunt wrote a letter to his mother, also named Mary. Here I am lying on my back in Marys back parlor making myself as comfortable as possible, he wrote. I suppose before this reaches you, you will have heard that I was one of the victims of the great fight of Gettysburg, but I hope you have heard an exaggerated account. My wound is very slight and I shall be about again in two weeks at most.I think I shall be just comfortably convalescent in time for commencement at Brunswick. I think I am the luckiest dog that ever lived. To think that I should have been wounded here! I have managed to get here every time that anything has been the matter with me.

Lieutenant Hunt recuperated in Gettysburg until July 28. After healing, Hunt returned to Maine and rejoined his battery in the fall. On June 18, 1864, he was captured outside Petersburg. With the exception of an escape attempt from Columbia, S.C., in November 1864, he remained in Confederate prisons until he was paroled in February 1865. Hunt became the Maine General Hospitals superintendent after the war and married Cornelia Carson. Together they raised a daughter, Helen.

But his old leg wound never let him forget July 1, 1863. He received a military invalid pension in 1869, and his pension file at the National Archives contains several surgeons certificates that describe the deleterious impact of his wound. One claimed his thigh was very painful at times. Hunt was awarded a pension of $7.50 a month. In 1904, a surgeon said the injury had left a scar one inch in diamerter [sic].There is loss of tissue around the scar, and much anesthesia, or nerve loss. Hunts pension was increased to $10 a month. In 1909, Hunt dropped dead at a Portland, Maine, railway station, according to a local newspaper, 46 years after he suffered his Gettysburg wound. He was 70 years old. Hunts handwritten memoirs and the transcriptions of his letters fill two bound volumes in the George J. Mitchell Department of Special Collections & Archives at Bowdoin College.

Tom Huntington is the author of Searching for George Gordon Meade: The Forgotten Victor of Gettysburg, and numerous magazine articles. His newest Civil War book The Guns of Maine will be published by Stackpole Books in 2018.
Alt-pop duo to drop Ultralife next week

London-based duo, Oh Wonder, will release their next album, Ultralife, on July 14. Josephine Vander Gucht and Anthony West took an unconventional approach to their self-titled first album, releasing a song a month and eventually compiling the tunes together. The origins of Oh Wonder are equally unassuming  the group didnt even picture themselves starting out as a band. Weve never pushed this project, says Vander Gucht. It has always felt like its pulling us along. We initially put our songs on Soundcloud hoping to pitch them to other artists. What happened next surprised us as much as anyone. Even the upcoming sophomore album was recorded in their own home studio in Brockley, and completely self-produced by Vander Gucht and West.

Our album is out in 11 days and we are mad excited about it!! Have you pre-ordered got your copy of ULTRALIFE yet? https://t.co/kfXillewbN pic.twitter.com/zOSkpqFXk9  Oh Wonder (@OhWonderMusic) July 3, 2017

The alt-pop group have already begun introducing the album through releases of several singles. Oh Wonder dropped their newest single, 'High On Humans' on 29 June, complete with a fun, quirky music video.

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Oh Wonder was in Dublin just last weekend, supporting Walking On Cars at their biggest headline show in the RHK. The duo will return to play at The Academy on November 1.

So happy to announce a show in Dublin at @academydublin on November 1st! Tickets go on sale this Friday at 9am! ??? pic.twitter.com/gqaRuzk71G  Oh Wonder (@OhWonderMusic) June 27, 2017
The Heino flowed as Ross celebrated Drico, Donnybrook and multiculturalism, but highlighted all that's wrong with Terenure, Ringsend and Love/Hate.

The new Best Of Dublin includes an exclusive powwow with Donnybrook Renaissance man Ross OCarroll Kelly who, over several pints of Heino in Kiely's, casts a steely-eye over the current state of the capital.

Asked whether hes happy with the citys new multiculturalism, Ross nods enthusiastically and says:

Meeting people from different countries has definitely broadened my mind. Ive cheated on my wife with women from Poland, Latvia, Lithuania, Westeros. All these new people have made Dublin feel bigger and more, I dont know, anonymous? And because theyve no connection to Sorcha, theres very little chance of her finding out about my foreign affairs.

His Ten Year Plan for Dublin suggests that Ross would make a brilliant City Manager.

Id like to see more time dedicated to slum clearance  and by that I mean Id like to see Terenure totally wiped off the map, he resumes. I think its time we gave serious consideration to surrendering Ringsend to the sea.

Thats just a little taster of an explosive interview in which Ross also holds forth on puritanical speed limits (Ive gone on sponsored bed pushes that moved faster than 30kph); Love/Hate (It reinforced everything Ive ever said about the Northside), and his favourite Dublin literature (I would have to say Brian ODriscolls autobiography), and songs (Ive been known to sing a few bars of Au lait, au lait, au lait, au lait.)

You can buy Best of Dublin 2017 directly from hotpress.com
The Moonlight and House of Cards actor is in early discussions for a role in the anthology series

Nic Pizzolatto's crime anthology True Detective has inspired adulation and disappointment in equal measure. Its first season was a confounding classic, but the second resulted in disappointed critics and smaller audiences.

The dark crime drama has always been able to pull in serious star power however, and that pattern seems set to continue with insider sources telling the Tracking Board that Oscar-winner Mahershala Ali is in early talks to appear in the third season.

Pizzolatto has been joined in writing the newest instalment by veteran TV writer David Milch, but no details of the script have been released.

This means that the characters and plots that Ali mght be embroiled in are anyone's guess at this stage.

Twitter reaction to the news has been largely positive.

Mahershala Ali and True Detective season 3 in the same sentence.. And all was well in the world pic.twitter.com/NyQdjJhUpA  Firas (@Aldo7heApache) July 1, 2017

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The inclusion of the Moonlight star might even expand the show's audience.

I've finally decided to watch True Detective https://t.co/ZWfOwtvO9C  Ashley C. Ford (@iSmashFizzle) July 1, 2017
The city of Los Angeles last week ordered Carl's Jr., the fast-food chain perhaps best known for its formerly racy ads, to pay nearly $1.5 million in back wages, fines and penalties for allegedly paying its workers less than the minimum wage.

The city says Carl's Jr. failed to pay 37 employees at seven area restaurants the city's minimum wage of $10.50 an hour, accounting for $5,400 in unpaid wages between July and December of last year. During that time, the fast-food chain was led by Andrew Puzder, President Trump's original nominee for labor secretary. (Puzder withdrew his nomination in February.)

"L.A. law is clear: Employees must be paid at least the minimum wage," City Attorney Mike Feuer said. "Anything less is a slap in the face to workers struggling to make ends meet. This is a major corporation that should know the rules."

For its part, CKE Restaurants, the parent company of Carl's Jr. and Hardee's, says it made "an inadvertent payroll error" and called the penalty excessive.

In all, Los Angeles is ordering the company to pay about $900,000 to the employees within the next month. The company is also being fined $541,000 in penalties for allegedly violating the minimum wage law, failing to post required notice of the current minimum wage rate and employee rights in its restaurants, and for blocking investigators from interviewing employees at two restaurants. (A city ordinance states that companies that fail to pay workers the minimum wage will owe extra penalties of $100 for each day of the violation.)

Workers' rights advocates and legal experts said the penalty for underpayment, which the city began investigating after a tip from a Carl's Jr. employee, is justified.

A study released this spring by the Economic Policy Institute, a left-leaning Washington think tank, found that in many parts of the country, roughly 17 percent of low-wage workers report being paid less than the minimum wage, accounting for more than $8 billion in lost wages annually. Nationally, the institute estimates wage theft accounts for roughly $15 billion a year in lost income, more than the total value of all robberies, burglaries, larceny and motor vehicle theft in the United States.

"This is a serious problem that affects a very vulnerable population," said Debra Katz, a Washington lawyer who represents workers. "These are people who are living very close to the edge. This is not just a mom-and-pop shop that can say, 'whoops.' Carl's Jr. is a very sophisticated employer."

Puzder, who served as chief executive for CKE Restaurants for 17 years before stepping down this spring, has been a vocal opponent of minimum-wage increases.

"The point is simple," he wrote in a 2014 op-ed in the Wall Street Journal. "The feds can mandate a higher wage, but some jobs don't produce enough economic value to bear the increase."

In an interview with Business Insider in March, he also advocated for replacing workers with robots: "They're always polite. They always upsell. They never take a vacation. They never show up late. There's never a slip-and-fall, or an age, sex, or race discrimination case," he said.

CKE Restaurants is privately owned by private-equity firm Roark Capital Group and does not disclose its financial results. In fiscal year 2013, when the company was still publicly traded, it had $1.33 billion in revenue and about $200 million in profits.
A federal appeals court on Monday dealt a blow to the Trump administration's bid to cast aside environmental regulations that restrict the energy industry, ruling that the Environmental Protection Agency cannot delay an Obama-era rule limiting methane emissions from oil and gas drilling.

The ruling, a split decision by a three-judge panel of the Circuit Court of Appeals in Washington, was the first major legal setback for EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt, who has moved quickly to unravel tighter regulations adopted under the previous administration, and another sign that undoing the climate change legacy of former President Barack Obama won't happen easily.

Earlier this year, the Senate rejected legislation that would have repealed the methane rule, which aims to reduce the amount the potent greenhouse gas escaping from oil and gas production.

Methane is the main component of natural gas, and it is often flared or released during drilling and sometimes escapes through leaks in pipelines. Along with carbon dioxide, it is considered a major factor in accelerating climate change.

The oil and gas industry lobbied heavily to pare down methane regulations, arguing that requiring them to report leaks and repair, replace or add equipment would drive up expenses at a time when commodity prices are at historic lows.

Oil industry groups, including the American Petroleum Institute and Texas Oil and Gas Association, asked the EPA to revoke the regulations.

In Texas, oil and gas interests had hoped that Pruitt, a former Oklahoma attorney general who frequently sued the EPA over rules affecting energy production, would make President Donald Trump's promises to unshackle the energy industry from regulation reality.

With the methane rule seemingly moving ahead, companies will need to resume efforts to reduce a form of pollution that had long been considered part of doing business.

Ed Longanecker, president of the Texas Independent Producers and Royalty Owners Association, sharply criticized the appeals court ruling, calling the methane regulations "excessive" and "uneconomic" measures that fall disproportionately on the small to midsize drillers that make up a large share of his group's 3,000 members.

The trade group is party to a lawsuit challenging the methane rules.

The court decision, Longanecker said, "claims Secretary Pruitt overstepped his authority in trying to delay implementation of the methane rules. This is ironic considering the consistent regulatory overreach oil and natural gas operators endured under the previous administration."

Monday's decision does not mean the methane rule cannot be reversed. But EPA must go through a formal, and usually lengthy, rulemaking process to undo the rule. It also must comply with the regulation in the meantime.

Pruitt announced in April that he would delay by 90 days the June deadline for oil and gas companies to follow the new rule as agency reconsidered it. Last month, Pruitt announced he intended to extend the 90-day stay for two years, and a coalition of six environmental groups went to court to block Pruitt's decision.

In a 31-page ruling, the court disagreed with Pruitt's contention that industry groups had not had sufficient opportunity to comment before the 2016 rule was enacted. The judges also said Pruitt lacked the legal authority to delay the rule from taking effect.

The appeals court ruled that the agency's decision was "unreasonable," "arbitrary" and "capricious." The agency, it said, did not have authority under the Clean Air Act to block the rule.

"EPA's stay, in other words, is essentially an order delaying the rule's effective date, and this court has held that such orders are tantamount to amending or revoking a rule," Judges David Tatel and Robert Wilkins wrote. The third member of the three-judge panel, Janice Rogers Brown, dissented.

An EPA spokeswoman said the agency was still reviewing the decision and evaluating its options, which could entail taking the case to the U.S. Supreme Court.

The decision was a victory for environmental groups, which had sued to block Pruitt's attempt to delay the methane rule.

"The ruling recognizes that EPA lacks the authority to simply scrap these critical protections. And it shows the courts are going to enforce the rule of law on health and environment," said David Doniger, an attorney with the Natural Resources Defense Council.

"The Trump administration's war on the environment and our health has hit a brick wall."

James Osborne and David Hunn contributed to this report. Material from the Associated Press andNew York Times also was used.
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France's Total and China's CNPC signed a landmark deal with Iran on Monday to drill into a giant gas field, Iran's first gas production pact with foreign companies in a decade.

Total and its partners could ultimately spend $5 billion drilling dozens of wells and assembling platforms in a bid to pump 400,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day from the South Pars gas field in the Persian Gulf.

The companies expect to start collecting natural gas in 2021. The contract, which gives Total a 50.1 percent stake in the South Pars field, lasts 20 years. The pact marks "our return to Iran to open a new page in the history of our partnership with the country," Total chairman and CEO Patrick Pouyanne said in a statement.

"This project is in line with the group's strategy to expand its presence in the Middle East and grow its gas portfolio by adding low-cost, long-plateau assets," he said.

Total, like many international energy companies, has a significant presence in Houston. Total's U.S. oil production unit has its main office in Houston. Earlier this year the company announced plans to invest $1.7 billion in a petrochemical joint venture along the Gulf Coast, which would create 1,500 new jobs, though most are temporary construction jobs.

Total will hold the majority stake in the Iranian project, 50.1 percent. CNPC will own 30 percent, and Iran's Petropars 19.9 percent. Total was considered the front-runner for the project, in part because it was working on South Pars until international sanctions required it to leave Iran.

Iran has the world's largest gas reserves, according to estimates by British oil major BP. Iran is OPEC's third-biggest oil producer.

Iran hopes the contract with Total and CNPC could draw other international companies to the oil and gas fields it has been trying to develop over the past 18 months, a potential economic boon for the country after Western powers lifted economic sanctions in January 2016, said Homayoun Falakshahi, an analyst at energy research firm Wood Mackenzie.

The project's first phase will cost $2 billion as the companies drill 30 wells and build two wellhead platforms and subsea pipelines running to facilities on land.

They'll build the region's first offshore compression facilities in a later phase.

Bloomberg News contributed to this story.
NEW YORK - While hiking in the Himalayas for three weeks, Mike Scanlin had no cellphone service much of the time and no way to charge his phone. Running his business - a one-man operation - became a very sporadic proposition.

It was a calculated risk.

"I felt I was going to lose customers, lose some business if they couldn't get a response for three days," says Scanlin, owner of Born to Sell, a business software company in Las Vegas. "But it's worth maybe losing a bit of business to accomplish the items on your bucket list."

Changes in technology have made it possible for vacationing small-business owners to never be out of touch - unless they decide to go to a part of the world without enough cellphone towers, bandwidth or electricity. Sometimes they find out by surprise. But many understand that they're losing their tether to their companies. Some leave the business in the hands of trusted employees, or have projects and pressing matters dealt with so being out of contact won't be a problem.

Scanlin was able to check emails when the hiking group made it to the top of inclines during his 2012 trip. But in valleys where they camped, there was no service. And even when Scanlin could get a connection, he couldn't download documents or photos, and the nine hour-plus time difference with the U.S. meant a lag between emails and replies. He couldn't go online to fix any problems that might come up with his website, and there was no one back home who could do it.

It did make Scanlin, whose company was a year and a half old when he made the trek, a little uneasy. Born to Sell survived, however, and he has since visited places like Peru and Easter Island, located nearly 2,200 miles off the coast of Chile, where cellphone and internet service were often unavailable.

Checking in is the norm for most owners. With tablets or smartphones in hand, many set aside time on a trip to at least read important emails or touch base with employees and important clients.

Aaron Hockel knew before he left on his two-week honeymoon to Peru last summer he would have minimal access to a cellphone network or the internet. So he decided to just be offline and leave the digital marketing company, AltaVista Strategic Partners, in the care of his three business partners and 15 staffers. They would deal with customers and issues that were his domain.

"It was a scary proposition at first because two weeks is a long time to disconnect," says Hockel, whose company is based in Glen Burnie, Md.

At places like Machu Picchu, the historic Incan mountain fortress, there wasn't any connectivity. But even at a hotel with Wi-Fi, Hockel ignored his email inbox.

"I knew, if I open this, I'm opening a Pandora's box," Hockel says. When he returned home, he found he'd made the right choice: "Our staff did an incredible job communicating and tackling issues."

Corey Kupfer, an attorney for 30 years who also has a speaking and consulting business, called his office several times a day from vacations in the early years of his practice. By about 15 years ago, he was calling just once a day, and Kupfer realized the problems his staff talked to him about were things they could handle on their own. He told them he wouldn't call in on his next vacation.

"People figure things out when they don't have you as a crutch. It empowers them and helps your team to grow," says Kupfer, who's based in New York.

Kupfer has traveled in recent years to Ecuador, the Utah desert and the West Bank, had no cellphone service and no worries because his staff and partners can handle the business without him. His mantra: "I'm not that important."

Still, for some owners, being out of touch isn't part of the plan.

"There was a bit of a gulp," Chris Brantner recalls about his Rocky Mountain backpacking trip this spring when he had virtually no cellphone service. His brothers, who work with him at his Houston-based company, CutCableToday.com, were doing their jobs, but "I'm the guy who gets the call at 8 p.m. if the website's down. That was probably the most worrisome part, if things stopped functioning."

Brantner, whose website provides information about cable TV alternatives, was able to give one brother a heads-up that he wouldn't be able to access the website if needed. After that, with nothing more he could do, he went back to hiking.

"It was nice to get away for a few days and turn off my brain," Brantner says. When he reconnected, he found the website hadn't crashed and no harm was done.
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Low gasoline prices, an improving economy and a holiday weekend stretching over four days has Texas tourist destinations enjoying large crowds, full hotels and bustling business as the nation celebrates its founding 241 year ago.

A record 2.7 million Texans were expected to travel to beaches, parks, campgrounds and other popular spots across the state as many took an extended weekend to travel farther and, local businesses and tourism officials hoped, spend more. From the Gulf Coast to Hill Country to the South Texas plains, retailers stocked up on T-shirts, sandals and other merchandise, restaurants added extra staff and hotels quickly sold out.

In San Antonio, home to the Alamo, Riverwalk and two major amusements parks, SeaWorld and Six Flags Fiesta, nearly all of the city's 45,000 hotel rooms were booked, said David Gonzalez, spokesman for the visitors bureau. Along the Guadalupe River, where people drift lazily in inner tubes for hours, the Rio Guadalupe Resort in New Braunfels was sold out for the weekend and holiday, said John Guenzel, a co-owner. And in Galveston, many hotels were booked through the weekend providing a strong start to the peak summer season, said Steve Cunningham, president of the hotel and lodging association there.

"June and July (so far) has been busier than last year," he said. "Occupancies have been very high on the island."

Even in Houston, better known for attracting heat and humidity than visitors, tourism officials hoped the long weekend would bring more people into town for the city's museums, restaurants and holiday festivities, including fireworks, the Freedom Over Texas concert and a free performance by the Houston Symphony Orchestra.

"People only have to burn one day of vacation to get four days off," said Patrick Jankowski, regional economist with the Greater Houston Partnership. "We have the potential to bring in more people from farther away."

More luxurious vacations

The high hopes in Texas for a banner summer tourist season were reflected across the country as lower unemployment, rising wages and the lowest gasoline prices in more than decade encouraged people to travel and spend on longer and more luxurious vacations.

Nationally, spending by domestic and international travelers is expected to reach $1 trillion this year, up about 1 percent from $990 billion last year, according to U.S. Travel Association, a trade group.

In Houston and Texas, still shaking off the effects of an oil bust, the economy is clearly on the mend. The state's unemployment rate, after ticking up earlier this year, is again on the decline, falling to 4.8 percent in May, according to the Labor Department. Job growth is accelerating in the state, increasing more than 2 percent over the past year, and so are wages.

In May, the average hourly wage in the state jumped 5 percent from May 2016, after climbing just 1 percent in the previous year and falling the year before that.

Add local gas prices averaging $2 a gallon, and it's good news for the state's tourism industry, which has grown substantially in recent years. In 2015, the most recent year for which figures are available, visitors to Texas destinations spent nearly $60 billion, up from $49 billion 2010.

Rebuilding after Ike

In Galveston, where beach-goers have long powered local economy, tourism has surged in recent years after a concerted effort to rebuild and add restaurants and shops after Hurricane Ike, which devastated the island in 2008.

About 6.5 million people visited the area last year, up from 5 million in 2010.

Leah Cast, a spokeswoman for the Galveston visitor's bureau, said the island attracts as many as 500,000 tourists during three-day weekends, and she anticipates the extra day this year will boost crowds well above that figure.

Joyce McLean, who owns a women's boutique in the Strand district called Head to Footsies, prepared for a weekend surge in shoppers by stocking more sundresses and sandals and extending her normal closing time from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. through the holiday. Business has ticked up in recent years, she said, mirroring the overall growth of the downtown area.

"There's been a renaissance of locally owned unique stores and attractions," she said.

She played a considerable role in the area's transformation by heading various efforts to redevelop it after the hurricane destroyed her first boutique. She opened a new, larger shop and tapped friends at Disney for ideas for other attractions that might lure tourists off the beach and into the downtown district.

She then established the Haunted Mayfield Manor and a museum called Pirates! Legends of the Gulf Coast, both of which riff on the island's history and lore. She sold the businesses last year to a new operator after years of success, particularly in the summer months, she said.

"I think the world is still fascinated by the concept of Texas," she said.

South Texas hospitality

The holiday rush is anticipated to benefit other coastal destinations such as Corpus Christi and South Padre Island, which has one of the largest fireworks shows in the state.

And further inland, the appeal of shady rivers and South Texas hospitality are expected to draw thousands of visitors to the San Antonio-Austin area.

The Rio Guadalupe Resort supplies tubes for floating down the Guadalupe River, a Hill Country tradition that often involves beer and barbecue. Guenzel, the co-owner, said days after the holiday are filling up quickly in what could be a harbinger for the summer.

"It's going to be busy and crowded," he said. "We've been getting lots of phone calls."
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NEW YORK - Sexism in Silicon Valley has been an open secret for years. What's changing: A growing number of women are coming forward with personal stories of sexual harassment and discrimination, prompting apologies, resignations and plenty of hand-wringing.

It's too soon to tell whether the incidents will lead to meaningful long-term change. But the revelations, many implicating industry big shots, are at least leading to some humbled self-reflection in an industry long criticized as arrogant and self-centered.

In the latest example, prominent venture investor Dave McClure apologized over the weekend for making "inappropriate advances" toward several women. His apology - titled "I'm a Creep. I'm Sorry" - follows a New York Times report that described offensive behavior by McClure and other prominent venture investors, as related by female entrepreneurs. On Monday, he resigned from the venture capital fund he co-founded, 500 Startups.

Reports of sexism in the industry are not new, as the male-dominated tech and venture capital industry has often downplayed or turned a blind eye to issues of discrimination and worse.

So what's prompting more women to speak out? Credit Susan Fowler, a former Uber engineer who outlined a culture of harassment at the company. Uber CEO Travis Kalanick resigned in the aftermath , and the company has promised to institute broad changes.

Last month, meanwhile, several female entrepreneurs told the trade publication The Information about harassment by a partner at the VC firm Binary Capital. He and another partner resigned in late June. The accused partner, Justin Caldbeck, issued an apology, but that itself drew criticism from others in the tech industry.

"It feels like you're trying to nudge us to feel sorry for you that you need to leave your precious firm behind. YOU CAUSED THIS," Google product manager Brenden Mulligan wrote in a post on Medium.

After the allegations against Caldbeck came to light, LinkedIn co-founder and former CEO Reid Hoffman lamented a "lack of outrage and commentary" following the VC harassment reports.

In a post on LinkedIn, Hoffman urged venture capitalists to establish human resources policies - just as companies and other institutions do - "so that venture capitalists who engage in such behavior face the same sort of consequences that they would if their overtures were directed at an employee."
A year ago, as the Republican Party was preparing to head to its convention in Cleveland to officially nominate Donald Trump for president, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) issued an analysis of Trump's policy proposals.

That analysis, "Donald Trump: A One-Man Constitutional Crisis," concluded that his proposals to deport millions of undocumented immigrants, ban Muslims from entering the country, surveil American Muslims and their houses of worship, revise libel laws and bring back the Bush-era torture program would blatantly violate the Constitution.

It was a terrifying report. Still, many thought that this country  whose ideals have inspired people from all over the world to come here and become Americans, united not by ethnicity, language religion or culture, but by the ideas and ideals laid out in our Constitution  wouldn't elect a man whose proposals were seemingly so in conflict with it.

But we did.

And the election of a man who is openly hostile to minorities, immigrants and particularly to individuals of Latino descent has struck me, the son of Colombian immigrants, in a personal way.

I worry that my parents will be accosted at the grocery store for speaking Spanish. I worry that my two boys will be told by classmates to "go back where they came from" because their skin is brown.

As Trump's political rhetoric turns into policy, our fundamental American values are being put to their greatest test.

MORE ON TRUMP ON GRAY MATTERS: How Trump's threats have evolved

Thankfully, our system of checks and balances is serving to curtail many of the administration's efforts to run roughshod over our constitutional freedoms. Courts throughout the country have ruled against several of the Trump administration's most blatantly unconstitutional efforts  to defund cities that have chosen to limit participation in federal immigration enforcement and ban people from six predominantly Muslim countries from entering the country.

But the Trump administration is making headway with some its most problematic proposals. The president's stated goal of deporting millions of undocumented people has already resulted in widespread fear in immigrant communities. In his first week in office, President Trump issued an order giving agents the green light to prioritize the arrest of many immigrants who had been afforded some humanitarian discretion, including parents of U.S. citizen children who had been reporting annually to authorities.

But nowhere is this problematic headway more apparent than in Texas, where our legislature has passed Senate Bill 4. The law has been widely criticized by law enforcement and community leaders for harming public safety by removing discretion from local officials to determine how best to use limited police resources. It has effectively mandated that local agencies engage in immigration enforcement, and subjects law enforcement to heavy fines, criminal penalties and even removal from office.

Ricardo Brazziell/MBO

These policies will have devastating consequences for our society  school attendance rates will decrease, families will be separated and an even greater number of individuals will fear reporting crimes or cooperating with federal or local officials out of concern that they or their family members might be targeted for deportation.

Immigration is one thing. But the Trump administration has also adopted retrograde policies on criminal justice. For example, before the election, there was bipartisan recognition that this country had a problem with incarceration; that 2.3 million people behind bars was too many; and the fact that a hugely disproportionate percentage of those people are black or brown was a serious problem. (The rate of imprisonment for black men is nearly six times that of white men.) It was generally accepted by both political parties that we needed to reduce the prison population by eliminating mandatory minimums and reducing sentences for drug offenses.

Instead of building on this consensus or paying heed to experts on criminal justice reform, the administration is reducing federal oversight over police departments accused of abuse. Whereas previous administrations  both Republican and Democrat  have responded to reports of systemic police abuse by investigating and entering into consent decrees to assist police departments in developing 21st century best practices, the Trump administration is on the record opposing these decrees, leaving many communities without needed federal protections. In short, it has sent the message that the status quo is acceptable and that black and brown people are not entitled to the same protection.

GRAY MATTERS: Can we stop saying Trump's presidency is an 'existential crisis'?

And then there is the most fundamental right to our democracy  the right to vote. In May, Trump created a Presidential Commission on Election Integrity, with the mission of combating purported "voter fraud." Despite that numerous studies have shown that voter fraud is virtually nonexistent here, President Trump continues to insist that he lost the popular vote because 3 million to 5 million undocumented residents cast ballots.

Such propaganda about illegal voting has been used to justify unnecessary and discriminatory restrictions on voting. And since Trump appointed Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach as vice-chair of that commission, there should be little doubt of his motives: Last year, Kobach was rebuked by a federal court for disenfranchising thousands of motor-voter applicants whom he claimed might not be citizens, based on what the court found was "pure speculation."

This list is not exhaustive. We are seeing increased attacks at both the federal and state level on reproductive rights and the rights of the LGBTQ community and people with disabilities. My colleagues and I are doing everything we can to challenge these constitutional violations, but there is a limit to what lawyers and courts can do to protect our constitutional values.

On this Independence Day, I hope Texans, who welcomed my parents here with open arms, will speak up against policies that threaten our most fundamental values.

Andre Segura is the new legal director of the ACLU of Texas.





Bookmark Gray Matters. There should be little doubt of its motives.


Harris County's long-trumpeted new system for setting bail for people awaiting trial will be up and running by the end of July, nearly a month later than the July 1 effective date the county had promised a federal judge, officials said Monday.

The new approach won a green light late Friday from Chief U.S. District Judge Lee H. Rosenthal, who issued an order saying the new system did not violate an April ruling that threw out the previous system as unconstitutional.

'LIBERTY IS PRECIOUS': Read about the federal judge's April ruling

But Rosenthal warned in a blunt 200-word footnote that the new rules "do not change much," indicating county judges must stop requiring cash bail for low-level, misdemeanor defendants who can't afford it.

The new rules will be based on a risk-assessment tool designed to help the county's judges determine a defendant's likelihood of appearing in court and staying out of trouble. The system imposes a fee schedule ranging from $500 to $5,000 for misdemeanors and recommends upfront payment from most people.

"Like the old schedule  secured money bail is the standard recommendation for most categories of misdemeanor arrestees," the judge wrote. "The approved changes are hardly different."

A lead attorney for the people suing over the bail system said Rosenthal's order showed frustration with the county.

"The interesting thing is that she notes the county has not done what it said it was going to do," said Neal Manne, a partner at Susman Godfrey, a law firm providing its services at no charge.

County Commissioner Rodney Ellis, who has supported changes to the bail system, said the judge's order puts the county on notice.

"Judge Lee Rosenthal's recent order goes to the crux of the matter in this case: It doesn't matter what Harris County's rules say if its judges are violating the Constitution by imprisoning people before trial because they can't pay money bail," he said.

The order stems from a federal civil rights lawsuit filed on behalf of Maranda ODonnell, a young mother who was held in the Harris County Jail because she couldn't afford to post $2,500 bail after she was arrested for driving with a suspended license. Similar lawsuits filed on behalf of two other people were merged into the case in August.

Rosenthal ordered a temporary halt to the county's bail system to accommodate indigent defendants until the lawsuit is resolved. The order went into effect after the U.S. Supreme Court in early June refused to stop it.

READ MORE: First low-level defendants released without bail under judge's order

As of June 23, nearly 1,000 indigent defendants had been released on personal bonds without posting cash bail for a limited group of misdemeanor offenses, even as county officials worked to implement the new risk-assessment system.

'Not a significant delay'

Officials have argued that cash-free releases increase the likelihood that defendants will commit new crimes, though opponents say the numbers are too small to measure.

The county already has spent more than $3.5 million in legal fees - including the hiring of a $550-an-hour Washington lawyer - to fight the suit.

On Monday, officials said the new system should be fully in place by July 29.

"It was delayed approximately two weeks," said Robert Soard, the first assistant county attorney who coordinates the county's defense in the case. "It's not a significant delay."

Kelvin L. Banks, director of Harris County Pretrial Services, said the new rules will be rolled out in stages across the division's 114 employees. An average of 200 new defendants enter the system each day.

"It's a huge undertaking, but we welcome it," Banks said, noting that he took the job last year to take part in a change that would "set a benchmark  that is going to be echoed across the country."

Banks said the monthlong implementation began Monday for pretrial services workers, who have a new standardized form for obtaining information from defendants, including sworn statements about whether they can afford cash bail.

Next week, staffers will get training on how to use the public safety assessment, a standardized formula developed in partnership with the Laura and John Arnold Foundation, a Houston nonprofit, and funded by the Chicago-based MacArthur Foundation, he said.

The following week, county officials will start to recommend varying supervision levels based on the risk assessment, such as requiring people with a history of not showing up for court to check in more frequently than those who regularly appear as needed.

DETAILS: Harris County's director of pretrial services explains rollout of new bail process

The county has added 13 new employees in recent months to help keep up with the new demand, Banks said.

Whether the county's approach is constitutional depends on how it's implemented, Rosenthal noted in the two-page order Friday. She said the county had a "consistent custom and practice" to require cash bail.

Rosenthal praised the county's new rules, however, for instructing judges who set bail that they should ensure that "liberty is the norm, and detention prior to the trial or without trial is the carefully limited exception," as the U.S. Supreme Court instructed in a decision 30 years ago.

Nine factors considered

Matt Alsdorf, the Arnold Foundation's vice president of criminal justice, has told the Houston Chronicle the risk assessment was developed using more than 1.5 million cases across the country. The research determined factors that are most likely to predict a defendant's likelihood of missing a court appearance or committing another crime.

The nine factors considered include age, prior convictions - including misdemeanors, felonies and information about whether the offenses were violent - and whether the defendants showed up for court in previous cases. The assessment does not consider race, gender, drug use, national origin or income.

Note: This article was updated to correct the headquarters city of the MacArthur Foundation. It is Chicago, not New York.
A Texas City commissioner was charged with two counts of intoxicated manslaughter with a vehicle early Monday morning after her pickup hit and killed two men standing on the side of the road near the Galveston Causeway.

According to investigators, the driver charged with manslaughter was identified as Texas City Commissioner Dee Ann Haney, 54.

Police arrested Haney after she admitted she was under the influence of marijuana and had smoked it before her crash, according to Galveston County charging documents.

Galveston police officers, paramedics and firefighters were dispatched to the crash in the 8000 block of Avenue J.

Police say Haney was driving a white Ford F-150 when she hit and killed two men on the side of the road. The men and a witness were attempting to secure items in the bed of their black Toyota Tacoma as Haney drove north in the far right lane.

Haney's vehicle left the lane, veered onto the shoulder and struck the two men, according to police. They were pronounced dead at the scene.

Police have not released the names of the two men who died, but county court records identify them as Van Le, 58, and Phue Le, 32.

Haney was detained on suspicion of driving while intoxicated. After a series of tests conducted by both Galveston police and Texas state troopers, Haney was arrested and charged, with bonds totaling $100,000.

Haney is a safety engineer with more than 25 years of experience in health, environmental and emergency management. She took office in 2004.
Today we associate the Fourth of July with fireworks, barbecues, parades and picnics. But on this national day of celebration, let's never forget the Declaration of Independence was signed 241 years ago by a remarkable group of men, a gathering of great minds the likes of which our republic hasn't hosted in centuries.

All of which should give us pause when today's politicians talk about assembling a convention of contemporary partisans to mess with the Constitution of the United States.

At the urging of Gov. Greg Abbott, Texas recently became the 11th state in the nation to adopt a resolution calling for convention of states to amend the Constitution. The governor declared this one of his "emergency" priorities for the last session of the Legislature, suggesting this proposal was less about changing the way our nation is governed and more about raising a politician's national profile.

Anybody who witnessed the behavior of some of state lawmakers in the last session of the Legislature needs to think twice about whether these are the kind of people we want monkeying around with the U.S. Constitution. We don't have many Washingtons, Jeffersons or Hamiltons in Texas government these days, so it's hard to imagine what kind of delegates we would choose to revise our nation's most sacred governing document.

The Texas resolution specifically mentions term limits, limiting federal spending and limiting the power Washington exerts over the states. But the goals are much the same in resolutions passed by other states controlled by Republican legislatures. So people who otherwise see themselves as conservatives are embracing this radical notion.

That agenda is part of the reason this is a bad idea. If our country is going to hold a convention to consider fundamental changes to our Constitution, such a gathering should have widespread support from a broad swath of the citizenry. Instead, this is a movement spawned by a fringe group on one side of the nation's political spectrum.

Given the hyper-partisanship and incendiary nature of civil discourse today, this seems like an especially bad time to revisit the governing document bequeathed to us by our nation's founders. When people start talking about changing the Constitution, you never know where the discussion will lead.

On this Fourth of July, let's remember how we've always governed our country. If the Constitution needs amending, it can be changed through Congress and the state legislatures. It's a process that's worked just fine 27 times.

When all else fails, all we need to do is read the instruction manual: The Constitution of the United States.
Punching Putin

Regarding "Disbelief as Trump posts video of him 'wrestling' CNN" (Page A12, Monday), President Trump made his first priority to assault the news media and has repeatedly proposed changing the U.S. Constitution to destroy any news that isn't complementary of him. He made the attack literal this weekend with a video showing himself repeatedly beating a news reporter until dead or dying. This after many ugly remarks on social media about reporters, and women in general.

He now is traveling to meet this dictator of Russia who orchestrated the brilliant assault upon the U.S. electoral process, which assured his election. Will Trump use his celebrated fists to punch the nose of this dictator for his remarkable debunking of our democracy? Don't count on it.

Mike McClure, Sugar Land

Fireworks

Regarding "Why is Houston siding with a dictatorship?" (Page A15, Thursday), how ironic that the leaders of the city of Houston chose Citgo as the primary sponsor for the "Freedom Over Texas" Fourth of July celebration. It's "real," not "fake," news that Citgo, while based in Houston, is owned 100 percent by Venezuela's state-run oil company. Last year, that state-owned Venezuewwlan oil company used a 49.9 percent stake in Citgo as collateral on a loan from Russia's state-owned oil company, Rosneft. Given the crises in Venezuela, it's entirely possible, probably likely, that Russia would wind up owning Citgo.

Terry Johnston, Baytown

Our liberty

Regarding "Architect of liberty" (Page A29, Sunday), our Founding Fathers, who offered their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor to establish the United States of America probably never dreamed it would last this long. The Declaration of Independence, Constitution and Bill of Rights have protected this country though so many crises.

Today, certain forces are determined to destroy this form of government. They do not and will not accept the fact that our election system works. We now have a president who sees the nation's problems and faults, and is willing to stand up to correct what is wrong.

President Trump has been in office more than five months, and it's time for people to let him do his business.

James E. Muecke, Houston
Several years ago a reader, Wallace Hooper, wrote this letter to the late Chronicle Publisher Richard J.V. Johnson:

In these divisive times, may I offer a suggestion to help all Americans remember where they came from?

To celebrate this and every July Fourth, print the entire text of the Declaration of Independence.

Since your editorial pages are filled every day with the narrowly partisan views of special pleaders, perhaps once a year we would all benefit from re-reading this indisputably authentic American voice.

On this Independence Day, we agree with Mr. Hooper.

When in the course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. - That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, - That whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all 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. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. - Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former systems of government. The history of the present king of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute tyranny over these States. To prove this, let facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his assent to laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has forbidden his governors to pass laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of representation in the legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

He has dissolved representative houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected, whereby the legislative powers, incapable of annihilation, have returned to the people at large for their exercise; the state remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.

He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these states; for that purpose obstructing the laws for naturalization of foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new appropriations of lands.

He has obstructed the administration of justice by refusing his assent to laws for establishing judiciary powers.

He has made judges dependent on his will alone for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of new offices, and sent hither swarms of officers to harass our people and eat out their substance.

He has kept among us, in times of peace, standing armies without the consent of our legislatures.

He has affected to render the military independent of and superior to the civil power.

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his assent to their acts of pretended legislation:

For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:

For protecting them, by a mock trial from punishment for any murders which they should commit on the inhabitants of these states:

For cutting off our trade with all parts of the world:

For imposing taxes on us without our consent:

For depriving us in many cases, of the benefit of trial by jury:

For transporting us beyond seas to be tried for pretended offences:

For abolishing the free system of English laws in a neighbouring province, establishing therein an arbitrary government, and enlarging its boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies:

For taking away our charters, abolishing our most valuable laws and altering fundamentally the forms of our governments:

For suspending our own legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

He has abdicated government here, by declaring us out of his protection and waging war against us.

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.

He is at this time transporting large armies of foreign mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation, and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the head of a civilized nation.

He has constrained our fellow citizens taken captive on the high seas to bear arms against their country, to become the executioners of their friends and brethren, or to fall themselves by their hands.

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian savages whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these oppressions we have petitioned for redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have we been wanting in attentions to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, enemies in war, in peace friends.

We, therefore, the representatives of the united States of America, in general congress, assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the name, and by authority of the good people of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, that these united Colonies are, and of right ought to be free and independent states, that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the state of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as free and independent states, they have full power to levy war, conclude peace, contract alliances, establish commerce, and to do all other acts and things which independent states may of right do. - And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor.

Signers of The Declaration Of Independence according to the authenticated list printed by order of Congress Jan. 18, 1777.

Signed by order and in behalf of the Congress,

John Hancock, President

Attest: Charles Thomson, Secretary
Three persons were injured Monday night in a single-vehicle crash near Highways Y and 137 in southern Texas County, the Missouri State Highway Patrol said.

Tpr. Jason Sentman said a westbound 2004 Chevrolet Trailblazer driven by Dawn M. Sikes, 39, of Licking, failed to stop at an intersection, travelled off the roadway and overturned.

Sikes and two passengers, Jamie A. Bolden, 33, and Chasity N. Sikes, 22, both of Houston, were injured. Sentman said Boldens injuries were moderate. The other two had minor injuries. The three were transported by ambulance to Texas County Memorial Hospital in Houston.

The vehicle was totaled. Assisting at the scene were Cpl. Curtis Haden and the Clear Springs Fire Department.
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.
inda Jefferys, group executive people and culture at the Bank of Queensland, details how her HR career went from strength to strength



1980  Takes a stand



In the year before starting university, while seeking a job to fund her education, Belinda Jefferys sees a job listing that sounds perfect  except it specified applicants had to be male.



I knew that in 1975, legislation had been passed that you couldnt discriminate on the basis of gender, so I asked to be put forward for the job. It was pivotal for me. I didnt get angry; I just worked through the problem. I got the job in the end.



1981  Studies industrial relations



Raised in a working class suburb by parents with high aspirations for their children, Belinda, the daughter of a union man, pursues a business degree as it enables her to major in IR and personnel.



The [British] miners strike was underway  it was a clash between working people and the state. I saw industrial relations as an area that could have an impact on peoples lives.



1994  Helps launch a new business concept



A move to Sydney with her then husband kicks Belindas career into high gear with a series of high-profile contracts. The stand-out assignment comes when Belinda is contracted by Westpac to set up its first call centre, a concept which at the time was a brand new proposition.



Ive done a lot of different things; Ive seized a lot of opportunities. [Contract work in] Sydney really turned my career around.



1997  Consults for Foxtel (and others)



Belinda establishes a successful consultancy, which goes on to perform across industries as diverse as defence, tertiary education, and cable television.



I was the second person in HR at Foxtel; it was special to be part of a team of people starting something brand new. We were motivated by the power of a go-live date that would not change regardless of what happens.



2009  Transforms Bankwest



Within the first four months of taking the top HR role at Bankwest, while Belinda was living in Sydney and commuting across the continent to Perth, the sudden sale of Bankwest to CBA necessitated a total restructuring of the company and downsizing 400 roles.



It was an enormous challenge. We had to take it apart to rebuild it  and we did so successfully. What we had to do was tough, but I was proud of the way we went about it.



2011  Returns to Adelaide



An out-of-the-blue call from a head hunter sees Belinda returning to Adelaide to work for Elders, an ASX listed company. It is a period of restructuring for the venerable company, which is returning to its core business of agriculture. Belinda is tasked with a people strategy that supports the delivery of the organisations three year strategic plan.



Crucial for Belinda is the new experience of reporting through a boardroom committee as part of the governance required of a listed company.



2016  Joins Bank of Queensland



Settled in Adelaide, Belinda receives an unexpected call seeking advice that culminates in her joining the Bank of Queensland as group executive people and culture. These days, a home base in Adelaide co-exists with an apartment in Brisbane and a weekly commute.



With that leadership team in place, with the skills, enthusiasm, passion, and drive to achieve, I thought how could I let the chance to be part of something like this pass me by?
French President Emmanuel Macron has started of his presidency by presenting himself as the new Sun King. He has already succeeded in dismantling and remaking the French political establishment. Will he now also manage to remodel the French economy or will he drown in the political morass like so many before him?

Reservations

Let's start off with some sobering observations:

> Macron's party LREM and its ally MoDem may have achieved a clear majority in the National Assembly, but it isn't as overwhelming a majority as some of the polls had suggested in the days leading up to the vote.

> Almost 6 out of 10 French voters didn't feel strongly enough one way or the other about Macron's revolution and reform pledges to head to the polls. That could turn out to be a serious obstacle to the president's agenda, as he will surely need broad popular support if he wants to remake the French state according to his vision.

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> According to one poll just before the elections, just 48% of people wanted Macron to have a majority in parliament. The explanation could be that the French feared that Macron would simply have too much power, since he was forecasted to win with an overwhelming majority. However, it could also be because of people simply not being supportive of Macron's reform agenda. Perhaps voters were happy to kick the old guard in the teeth, but were also reluctant to enable Macron to overhaul society too much.

> When President Hollande tried to pass a less ambitious jobs bill than the one envisioned by Macron, Hollande faced street protests and strikes. France has a long history of resistance to structural reforms and it remains to be seen if it stays quiet on the streets this time when Macron will give it a shot.

> LREM will bring a group of disparate newcomers into parliament. This could complicate work for Macron. They will soon have to learn the dirty, muddy and necessary art of compromise. This could disappoint the people who voted for Macron and his party to shake things up and turbocharge a new way of doing politics. Also, tensions within LREM are bound to emerge too.

> Macron could run into trouble because of his new presidential personality. Macron clearly opted for an entirely new way of acting when he moved from presidential candidate to president. He had concluded long ago that the French don't want a buddy to lead them, they want someone distant and mysterious. Hollande had promised to be a "normal president" but quickly discovered that the French didn't like that. Now Macron is trying the opposite. However, this could come back to haunt him if the French decide that Macron is taking the emperor/king-like role too far.

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> Macron's programme in some ways could be interpreted as a belated Third Way for France. The US, UK, Germany and the Netherlands had their market-friendly leftish political leaders in the 1990s, but France had never joined the fray. Up until now that is. It could turn France into a more competitive country, but the evidence from the countries that followed the path of the Third Way also shows that Third Way politics had some serious flaws.

Macron the Saviour?

The above factors could hamper Macron's success. Yet, there are also a number of reasons why Macron could turn out to be the reformer he promises to be:

> Improving economic conditions and a clear majority in parliament provide the president with a window of opportunity for reforms. Business confidence reached its highest level for six years in May, jobs are picking up, and France is bound to grow at a pretty decent rate this year.

> Contrary to popular belief, France has some great economic basics going for it, namely a growing native working-age population and high productivity. The average French worker produces in four days what a British worker produces in five. The high quality of France's infrastructure and education play a substantial role in this.

> Hollande faced the opposition of trade unions when he attempted structural reforms. Macron could be luckier as the more moderate CFDT has supplanted the CGT - which made life hard for Hollande - as the nation's largest union in the private sector.

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> The abstention rate being very high could indeed mean that the French are indifferent to Macron's reform agenda. Yet, it could also point towards a wait-and-see approach. The polls indicated that Macron would win big, so the French could have decided to stay home and enjoy the sunny weather being already convinced that Macron would win.

> Macron aims for a government of national unity, a radical centrist administration. Historians point towards two instances of leaders who ran governments of national unity in French modern history. Both were successful and produced lasting improvements: Raymond Poincare in 1926 and Charles de Gaulle in 1945.

> Macron's first month as president looked promising. He wasn't afraid to engage in a handshake "dual" with American president Trump and to be critical of Russian president Putin when standing next to him. He will need that strength and courage to attack the paralysis within his own country.

France and Europe on a roll?

Despite the previously mentioned strengths of the French economy, Macron has his work cut out for him. Unemployment has stood for five years at 10%. Businesses are bogged down by mind-numbing, elaborate and complex labor laws which protect permanent jobs and keep firms from creating new jobs.

Macron has promised to pass job market reforms in the next two months. It is supposed to provide employers more freedom to negotiate working hours, overtime and salaries with their workers. Layoffs would be made easier and damages awarded to employees made redundant would be capped. By September, we should be able to tell if Macron's reformist agenda is off to a good start and if the hype is justified.

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Taking a European perspective, Macron's clear mandate improves the chances of a stronger Eurozone and EU since the French leader is an outspoken supporter of the EU and of strengthening and deepening the monetary union. Should German Chancellor Angela Merkel win re-election at the end of September, the most important members of the Eurozone and the EU will have pro-European, business-friendly leaders in the driver's seat. These two will have a couple of years where they won't be distracted by elections and where they can focus on building stronger national and European economies.

For Merkel, this would be even more so. If she will start her fourth term, it will almost certainly be her last. She will then care most about the legacy she leaves behind, and she would like that to include leaving behind a resilient Europe. Therefore, a stronger Berlin-Paris axis seems likely in the quarters and years ahead.
Caiaimage/Sam Edwards via Getty Images

A damning report published today by the Children's Commissioner for England reveals millions of children in England are living vulnerable or high risk lives.

Whilst the report provides us with new analysis confirming the immense scale of the problem, it confirms what we already know - that the Government are systematically failing our youngest, most vulnerable members of society.

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The report finds over half a million children are so vulnerable that the state has to step in, whilst 670,000 children in England are growing up in 'high risk' family situations; that 1000s of children are living with adults in treatment for drink or drugs; that over 800,000 children are suffering from mental health difficulties; that tens of thousands of children are involved with gangs; that there are over a thousand new child victims of slavery each year and that many more children are living under the radar and are simply not being seen.

Shocking though this data is, it should not come as a surprise to anyone doing their job properly in Government.

Evidence of Government failure and inaction on these issues has been emphasised in several reports over the years.

An NAO report into Children in Need of Help or Protection, published in October last year revealed a systemic failure in children's care services, rather than local failure. It deemed child protection services to be 'unsatisfactory and inconsistent', and indicated Government initiatives and reforms have resulted in no good outcomes for children in need. Unsurprising, given that local authority budgets have been slashed across the board despite a sharp increase in demand for help or protection.

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The UN Convention Rights of the Child (UNCRC) issued a horrifying review in June last year accusing the UK Government of failing in its responsibility to prioritise children. The Committee provided over 150 recommendations to the UK Government to 'introduce a statutory obligation' in considering children's needs, including getting to grips with children's mental health services; taking measures to provide stability for children in care; and reviewing asylum policy to help unaccompanied and separated children.

The Government then reneged on their promise to bring in 3000 unaccompanied Child refugees, abandoning the Labour led Dubs scheme after admitting only 350.

Action for Children, Barnardo's, The Children's Society and others echoed concerns that children are too often bearing the brunt of spending cuts and decisions are being taken without due consideration of the consequential effects on children.

Government attempts to address issues have been shambolic and ill-thought through. The Troubled Families agenda launched by David Cameron in 2011 with the stated aim of helping troubled families turn their lives around was actually an explicit attempt to reduce the high costs struggling families placed on the public sector.

In 2012, Louise Casey, the 'Troubled Families Tsar' said: "We are not running some cuddly social workers programme...we should be talking about things like shame and guilt...we have lost the ability to be judgmental because we worry about being seen as nasty to poor people."

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In the same year, Eric Pickles, then Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, said "we have sometimes run away from categorising, stigmatising, laying blame. We need a less understanding approach."

Costing over a billion pounds, the four-year scheme went way over budget and proved to be an unmitigated failure.

An Independent evaluation showed 'improvements in safeguarding, school attendance, employment or health among participating families were, on average, no better' than those seen in similar families who didn't partake in the programme. It was deemed to have made 'little impact' to the lives of vulnerable children and families.

This Children's Commissioner report shows that the Government's failure to tackle these issues then, and now is a problem which is escalating dramatically under their watch. Tory austerity measures have exacerbated this problem, and failures in public policy from public sector pay, to public services and public health are now coming back to haunt them.

As the report claims, these findings are merely the tip of the iceberg. It is a manifestation of Government neglect. What we are left with is a never-ending, exhaustive list of internal and external reports, APPG findings, charity analysis and evidence signalling the Government's role in neglecting its basic duty of care to our children. All the while, the Government refuse to measure the true scale of the problem, a first step in tackling the issue at hand.

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Your home is your private place for recuperation, your sanctuary to retreat to, a safe self-made fairy-light ridden haven, cave or fort. A place all the stressors of the big bad world melt away. For most people, this is the one place where you get to choose who enters your space. Imagine, you're having a moment of privacy, whatever that may be, in your home in the dark of the night, you're disturbed by a highly charged rude awakening. Loud bangs at the door so strong you can hear the crackling of the wood as it splits in the middle. Your anxiety is triggered tenfold, questions racing through your mind: who can it be? Shouts from behind the door, you worry in your rage and British etiquette how embarrassing all this racket is, what will the neighbors say? With one final push, they are in your home.

They are scaling the rooms like Alsatian dogs on the hunt for meat.

They find you in your bedroom half-dressed, feeling vulnerable, with no way to protect yourself. Fear engulfs your stomach and you can feel the acid and bile reach your mouth. They slam you to the ground face down. All you can hear is shouting. They're all dressed in black, like a matrix re-run. You hear yourself ask, I see the stories on the news, I read the cases online, why me? You are whisked away into a van, semi-clothed in the freezing cold, and taken to a police station for further questioning. You are extremely tired after a long day, your nerves are shot, you're heavily confused and full of fear as to what is to come next, held without answers for hours, held for questioning for more, your body begins to cave. You find out you are not charged with anything, you are being released, it was something to do with a family member, someone you relied on; the charges laid against him have not been mentioned to you. All you now know is a life of fear, without answers.

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Looking over your shoulder at any given moment, more so that you're back in your now unsafe shelter. Expecting another bang at the door at all times, never at rest. You cannot sleep, even after your GP prescribed multiple combinations of anxiety, PTSD and sleeping pills. This causes hallucinations; the stress is causing you to lose your hair. The reality sets in, your brother, your pillar of support, your financial provider, your friend, your solace and protector is now gone. You miss him, a great deal, your bank account has been frozen, your papers taken, no way to access the benefits going into your account, how are you going to keep up with the rent, the electricity bills? You ask yourself, will I have to choose between eating and heating? You cannot even help yourself out as you cannot find work anywhere, all employers have blackballed you. Your name has been dragged through the mud; journalists call your phone all day long, every ring a trigger of more anxiety ringing in your head reminding you of that first night. You're unsure how they even got your number or address? The intrusive crowd outside your home looking for answers as to why you are linked to such a high profile criminal?

Everyone is using your name as a hashtag without knowing the truth.

Your tight-knit group of friends isolate and ostracize you. They don't believe you - or even if they do, they don't want to be associated with any of it, they don't want the 'stigma'. Some of your relatives are no different. They wouldn't dare handing you cash or transferring money to you to help, in case they will be dragged into your story. You watch them from afar, on social media, all the gatherings they have together, all the parties, sharing food, and religious festivities. You are alone, isolated and still afraid, no one there to hold your hand. You can't visit your brother because he's in a prison cell 200 miles away in a remote area in another city. You can't pull together funds for a train ride. You are worried about his health and mental well being, if you're this afraid, he must be terrified. You find solace in hearing about others online who bravely share how they too have been abandoned by all they once knew, and found the light at the end of it.

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"This might be the only table in the world where two African American Nobel Peace Prize winners sat down together." says Mrs Jackson.

It's my 8th day in Alabama and I'm on a civil rights tour of Selma, the city famous for being the birthplace of the modern civil rights and voting rights movements. I'm sitting at the table inside the Jackson Home where marches were planned and history was made.

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It was in this home in historic Selma, Alabama where Martin Luther King Jr. stayed for many weeks while planning the voting rights marches to the State Capitol in Montgomery.

As I stood in the bedroom he stayed in, staring at the bed he once slept in, my eyes glazed over as I imagined the long nights he stayed awake worrying about what lay ahead, weeping about foot soldiers brutally murdered in previous marches he had organised or writing speeches that would be broadcast around the world and forever remembered.

It was in this home that Martin Luther King would converse with President Johnson, urging him to stop the bloodshed, to protect his peaceful protests and to back the quest for the right to vote for African Americans. It was also in this home that the Jackson family would have wept upon hearing of the assassination of Martin luther King Jr, an event that threatened to ruin King's lifelong advocacy for peaceful protests over outright violence.

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It can be difficult to adequately describe one's experiences in a place like this. A destination where it is not the culture, the food, nor the beautiful architecture we are visiting, but more an exact time in an exact place where history was made.

Many people say travelling to Europe's great cities is more of an emotional feeling the a physical connection, and I believe the same can be said for Selma. I was excited about visiting Alabama but had no idea it would have such a profound effect on my emotions.

Sadness welled up inside of me at the thought of the innocent lives lost and the hardships and fear encountered by African American who simply wanted to vote. Anger was the overwhelming emotion when I saw white cloaks worn by the KKK hanging up inside of the museums we visited or knowing that one of the most famous bridges in the state is named after a KKK grand master.

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Finally, there was a shimmer of hope to be found for the future of Selma, and Alabama. Hope that things will get better, that tourism will develop further, that more people will make the pilgrimage here and actually care about the significance of the events that took place in a tiny town in Alabama in the spring of 1965.

A lot of blood was spilled here, a lot of innocent lives taken. Reading about the levels of police brutality here in the 60's sent shivers down my spine. Hearing about it first hand, however, shook me to the core. Children blown up in churches, young men kidnapped and beaten to death. Both black and white civil rights marchers murdered for standing up for what they believe in.

Mrs. Dianne Harris is walking me down the street marchers set out from in the Spring of 1965, as they left the church walking peacefully two by two towards the bridge, scared about what lay ahead.

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When marchers approached the bridge they were faced by state troopers, and possemen on horses, men who had permission to do "whatever it takes" to break up the protest march. With tear gas, batons and even guns, police enforcers would attack before protestors were given a chance to return.

"I held my younger brothers hand and we ran. We ran faster than we had ever run before and the only reason we ran that fast was that we were holding on to each other, spurring each other on," Mrs Harris recounts.

"We never made it to the bridge. I'm not going to lie and say I marched over it. I tell it like it is. We saw those possemen and we ran."

Hearing stories about the famous Selma to Montgomery Civil Rights marches, while standing on the bridge where it all began, helps to paint a picture of what life must've been like living here in the early 1960's. Mrs Harris was just 15 years old at the time, and as we near the end of our historic walking tour we come across a framed photo of young student protestors and instantly recognise Mrs Harris standing alongside her childhood friends, marching for what she knew was right.

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I arrived in Alabama with an open mind, hoping to be educated and left with a head full of questions but hope for the future.
JackF via Getty Images

Walking out of a small restaurant in Tblisi, Georgia I try to ignore the sleazy stares of the men at the nearby tables. But I can feel them. The men are sat slouched in their chairs and they're leering with what appears to be an incredible sense of entitlement. They don't seem to be concerned at all that the way they were staring, was making us uncomfortable.

I was with two other women and I wanted to complain. However, having experienced this type of behavior from men for many years throughout many parts of the world, I have learnt that complaints are often not met well. People seem to get annoyed that you are complaining, regardless of the fact that you have something to complain about.

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Or they blame you, they suggest that maybe you did something to make the man behave in this lecherous, aggressive, disrespectful way. This is obviously painful, to be blamed for something happening to you, that you do not want to happen to you.

So you stay quiet.

But as we walked out of the restaurant I heard the girls talking behind me, they had felt the sleazy stares too. 'They're so arrogant,' I heard one of the women say.

I decided to say something and turned around and said, 'this is how it has been for me in all of my travels around the world, they're like that everywhere.'

'Oh god,' said one of the other girls, 'that would make you want to kill yourself.'

Being the subject of such relentless sleaze and disrespect certainly does cause a tremendous amount of pain and discomfort.

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And I know there are certainly plenty of cases around the world, where women do kill themselves, unable to live with the horrific levels of violence and discrimination perpetrated against them.

In Northern Iraq I learnt about the phenomenon of self-immolation. Women and girls set themselves on fire as a way to protest the extreme forms of violence and discrimination they have been subject to.

'Does it work?' I asked Diana Kako, a woman's rights activist in Erbil, Northern Iraq who explained the phenomenon to me. 'Do the men get the message that they're causing harm?'

'No,' she said, 'they'll just say that she's a stupid woman.'

So why don't so many women speak out against this very uncomfortable, offensive behavior from men?

Well, the above mentioned example may be one of the reasons. Fear of not being listened to or not having their complaints taken seriously. Women fear being dismissed, being told that they are exaggerating or that they are 'crazy'. Or just not being believed at all.

So women choose not to speak out.

Fear of shame is also a major perpetrator of silence.

Throughout the world, shame is very unfairly placed on women who are victims of violence, particularly those who are victims of sexual violence. Women are blamed, stigmatised and criticised for the very horrific crimes that are perpetrated against them, regardless of the fact that they did not want these acts to happen to them.

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In Georgia, I was told by several women's rights activists that honor killings are prevalent. An honor killing comes from the idea that a woman should have no sexual rights. She is only allowed to engage in a sexual relationship with her husband. Should she break this rule, or in certain cases, even be suspected of breaking this rule, then she has supposedly destroyed the family honor. The only way to restore the honor, is to kill her.

Honor killings are found not only in Georgia but throughout the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia. Such concepts of honor and shame play a fundamental role in controlling women's sexual behavior and justifying extreme violence against women.

However, these ideas of honor and shame around women's sexuality are prevalent world wide. They suggest that a woman who has multiple sexual partners or who is 'too sexual' in any way, should be criticised. Even in cases where she has been the victim of sexual abuse or assault.

So women stay quiet about acts of violence and harassment committed against them, out of fear that they will be shamed, criticised or in some cases, killed, for the violence perpetrated against them.

If we are going to have any hope to bring an end to these shameful attitudes that blame women for the violence perpetrated against them to an end, it needs to become just that, shameful.

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The type of men that harass and intimidate women need to be criticised. They need to be criticised by their friends and they need to be criticised by their family.

Despite the discomfort of doing so, women also need to speak up more. They need to make a fuss and demand respect. Because as long as women remain silent, these 'men' will think that discrimination and disrespect is tolerable and acceptable.

And tolerable and acceptable it's not.
Laura Rutherford

I doubt anyone's parenting journey is the one that they envisaged when they counted down the weeks on their pregnancy app, filled with those eagerly awaited fruit and veg. But when your child has disabilities you have to disregard those annoying milestone emails all together, forget that dreaded red book that the Health Visitor handed you and well, quite frankly wing it, following your own child's pace and family's new path.

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There are so many things that I've learned in the five years that our son Brody has been in our lives. Although there have been more good times than bad, a lot of things I've learned have chipped away at me. Not because of him. He is perfectly imperfect after all. Simply because of the way the world works - people, businesses - and my non-stop worrying mum brain.

If you're new to the world of parenting and you're wearing similar shoes (Brody has no primary diagnosis, epilepsy, autism and some mobility problems), then this is what I've learned so far.

There Is So Much Happiness In Finding Members Of The Tribe

Those friends who walk similar paths are worth their weight in gold. We're part of an exclusive club and sometimes members are hard to find, but look out for them as chances are they're looking for you too. Online forums, local SEND (Special Educational Needs and Disabilities) play groups (if you're lucky enough to have one), at school or on the meet a mum section of Netmums.

Sometimes the friends we never meet but chat to behind our computer and mobile phone screens are the best kind of therapy there is.

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And you'll walk past fellow tribe members and find yourself wanting to high five them or give them a knowing wink.

I've got a handful of mum friends locally and online, all members of the tribe, who I can only describe as a relief. They make me feel like my normal is normal. They get it. All of it. And we can offload until the cows come home without any feelings of guilt.

Word to the wise - sometimes you'll come across a competitive; "my child is more disabled than your child" mum. I know - go figure. There is just no need. Just move along.

Applying For DLA Will Make You Feel Like Shit

Let's be honest, every DLA form you fill in is a complete bitch. But nothing compares to filling in that first one.

The day that our Health Visitor suggested I apply for DLA I cried like a baby. It was the first time I had heard the word disabled associated with my son, who was then just 2 years old. The reality of him not magically catching up was presented to me with quite possibly the.worst.form.ever. Not to mention the uncomfortable awkwardness of applying for a benefit just because of Brody being just Brody.

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Listing everything that is "wrong" with your child in black and white, over and over again, is soul destroying. But it gets easier every time and you get used to clinical terms and harden to the fact that being painfully clear on paper is essential in getting the help and support your child needs.

That said, in my experience so far, stark and emotionless clinical letters from consultants and doctors will always sting a little - because your child is much more than a list of symptoms and disabilities.

Heard About That Place Called Holland Yet?

Every so often someone will send you a poem about Holland* or tell you about a friend of a friend whose child was just like yours and miraculously caught up. Or someone will act like they have a degree in your child's disabilities and you'll listen to them telling you what you should do, whilst trying not to grind your teeth and mentally poke them with an imaginary voodoo doll.

It's important to remember that 99% of these people genuinely do it with good intention. Even though it can be completely draining.

*And if you haven't read Welcome to Holland, which will inevitably come your way at some point, I can guarantee tears the first time you read it.

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You'll Become Friends With Dr Google

You will become a dab hand in Googling, knowing all sorts of medical terminology and diagnosing your child. Abbreviations will roll off of the tongue and you won't even notice when people look at you like you're speaking another language. Well, to most you might as well be! You'll attend appointments and at least once get asked if you work in a hospital*.

*You might feel a little smug.

You'll Notice That Exclusion Is Everywhere

Exclusion will hit you the first time you notice your child no longer fits on a baby changing table or when you go to the park and their legs suddenly drag on the floor because they have become too long for the toddler swings.

It'll hit you when your child is the only one not invited to a party or when you notice that all goods labelled disability have an extortionate price tag made to make life a little harder.

You'll encounter it in so many ways and in so many places, it will make you feel pretty pissed off with the world.

But when you've got the strength, fight for inclusion and accessibility. It's a battle we can all take on together.

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Got A Quote On Your Wall Yet?

Ha my friend, well - it's perhaps only now a matter of time. This includes your Facebook wall.

I've always been partial to the odd quote but since having Brody, they've taken on a new meaning. They help me put things into perspective and sometimes they just make me feel less alone with the emotional rollercoaster that is my brain.

Except that is, "God only gives special children to special parents". Nope. Nope. Nope. That one can fuck right off.

Like It Or Not, You Will Become "That Mum"

None of us signed up for being "that mum", but unfortunately situations force us in to taking up the position. It just comes with the territory.

I'm the type of person who wants people to like me. That includes the professionals involved in Brody's care. But at times you'll have to chase people up, leave yet another ignored message and question some decisions.

They're just not all going to like you. But it's got to be done.

Keep on being "that mum". Confide in the tribe. They're that mum too remember.

Remember That Life Is Never Like The Controlled Content Of Someone Else's Facebook

Until I started writing, I don't think many of my friends on social media knew that Brody had disabilities. Not because I was ashamed or didn't want anyone to know. Trust me; I post way too much kid spam. But way back when, in the days where he still fit in a buggy, his disabilities weren't particularly visible. And I wasn't really the type to tag myself at his latest hospital appointment.

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My point here is that nobody knows what goes on behind closed doors and Facebook newsfeeds. Remember one of my favourite quotes - comparison is the thief of joy.

We all post the good photos. Not the tears, tantrums (unless they're particularly amusing) and hours spent where we're just trying to muddle through and figure it out.

We're all just trying our best to keep our kids happy and act like we can actually adult.

You Will Realise Who Your Friends Are

For every friend who you naturally drift apart from.

For every friend who is now awkward around you.

And for every friend who acts like your biggest champion on social media, but in reality is never actually there.

You will find so much joy in the ones who stick around through the tough times and the ones that you meet on the journey. They are truly priceless.

You'll Witness Beautiful Things

You will learn that happiness can be found in the simplest things.

You'll celebrate the mini and the milestones.

And you'll know the beauty of love as it was made to be.

Your family.

Simple as.

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You can follow my blog, Brody, Me & GDD on Facebook and www.brodymeandgdd.com.

HuffPost UK Lifestyle has launched EveryBody, a new section calling for better equality and inclusivity for people living with disability and invisible illness. The aim is to empower those whose voices are not always heard and redefine attitudes to identity, lifestyle and ability in 2017. We'll be covering all manner of lifestyle topics - from health and fitness to dating, sex and relationships.

We'd love to hear your stories. To blog for the section, please email ukblogteam@huffingtonpost.com with the subject line 'EveryBody'. To flag any issues that are close to your heart, please email natasha.hinde@huffingtonpost.com, again with the subject line 'EveryBody'.
Lisa Werner via Getty Images

Two years ago this month, a wealthy American dentist using a bow and arrow shot a magnificent black-maned lion called Cecil who had been lured from the safety of Hwange National Park in Zimbabwe. The injured lion was only finally killed some hours later.

The incident sent shock waves around the world. Associated media stories reached nearly 12,000 per day, and social media mentions peaked at nearly 90,000, as the international community woke up to the realities of the cynical, profit-driven business of trophy hunting, and the damaging impacts it has on individual animal welfare and the conservation of many endangered populations.

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The global outrage generated huge pressure on the trophy hunting industry. Petitions accumulated massive numbers of signatories. Celebrities endorsed calls for an end to the controversial practice. Several major airlines announced bans on the transport of hunting trophies. The World Conservation Congress passed a Resolution calling on South Africa to end the practice of 'canned hunting' where intensively bred lions and other predators are killed by paying 'hunters' in enclosures.

But two years on, little appears to have changed on the ground. Hunting proponents continue to claim their activities benefit species conservation, in spite of mounting evidence to the contrary. Many thousands of animals continue to be targeted each year by wealthy hunters who seem to care little for the suffering and disruption they cause, and little if any of the money they pay for the 'privilege' of their bloody endeavours benefits wildlife conservation or local communities. Canned hunting continues in South Africa, and the powerful predator breeders have even managed to persuade the authorities there to endorse a massive quota for the export of skeletons from captive-bred lions to help prop up their commercial activities.

There are fears that the administration in the United States might even try to roll back protections achieved under the Endangered Species Act, which currently restrict the ability of American hunters to bring home trophies from certain species. The European Union, itself a centre for trophy hunting and a source of hunters who target animals all over the world, shies away from strictly interpreting its own rules on the import of trophies from threatened species, which ought to require far greater scrutiny of the impacts of trophy hunting operations than they do.

While there are people willing to pay large amounts of money for the 'privilege' of killing a wild animal, bringing an end to the practice will be an uphill struggle. After all, money talks. However, as our knowledge of the impacts trophy hunting on individual wild animals and the communities to which they belong expands, the pressure on authorities around the world to increase transparency and regulation will continue to grow.

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The legacy of Cecil the lion is as important as ever, and will continue to be so until trophy hunting has been consigned to history where it belongs.
Jim Bourg / Reuters

If this happens to be true, then Donald Trump has reached the first major foreign policy crisis of his administration as what he publicly claimed he would never let happen seems to have occurred regardless of his solemnly tweeted vow and on Independence Day to add insult to injury. There are few options that the Trump administration can now take, and they range from bad to catastrophic. They could downplay the incident and carry on business as usual, but being the whole purpose of the North Koreans in doing this was to force the Americans to recognise it as a nuclear power then the chances are that North Korea would conduct future tests in a way to avoid all doubt over the range of their missile.

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The easiest thing would be to accept North Korea as a nuclear power, but that would mean America and Trump admitting to public humiliation and thus failure. Trump said he'd make America great again. Kowtowing to North Korea's fait accompli would be in no way achieving this and at any rate would give the message to other rogue regimes that America can be bullied into submission. If North Korea was accepted as a nuclear power, it would also be the most untrustworthy one, judging by its overreaction a few years ago to a Hollywood comedy about its leader. Does America want to be in a position where nuclear war is threatened over fictional depictions in the media and who knows what else? The answer is obviously no.

Trumps latest tweet suggests that: "Perhaps China will put a heavy move on North Korea and end this nonsense once and for all!" Given Chinese views on a collapsing North Korean state being a bigger threat to it than a nuclear one, this is unlikely. And it is especially unlikely given that large columns of trucks full of military hardware have been crossing the Chinese-North Korean border in the last week, something China cannot be unaware was happening. The only other choice and perhaps the likeliest if Trumps actions match his bellicose reputation is further escalation. The best of a bad bunch of possible moves is if America further increase sanctions and the pressure on North Korea without resorting to military action but even this is a temporary fix as North Korea would continually up the ante until either America accepted it as a nuclear power or we moved to the most extreme of actions, that being war.
Pool via Getty Images

If Donald Trump plans a supposed sneak visit, progressives in Britain are already whipping up plans for a major protest. He really doesn't know how quickly the left can organise a protest. If people descend onto the streets of London to protest, I'll be there, placards and all. I usually dislike protests because it usually draws disgusting groups like the SWP and I see it as ineffective compared to lobbying your local MP. But there is something deeply important in not just protesting Trump, but being seen protesting him.

It sends a message out importantly to the far right white extremists creeping back into mainstream society over here. It reminds them that they will never be the many because lately it feels as though they are everywhere. We thought far right movements in Britain today were just dying remnants lurking on the fringes of a society becoming increasingly diverse. Some will point to the defeat of the British National Party as proof of far-right extremism in demise. Yet consider the growth of Britain First, the persistence of the EDL, the refusal of UKIP to completely fade and the very manner in which Brexit is discussed, and it's unquestionable that white nationalism is here, and still a potent threat.

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Islamophobia has surged in recent years and particularly on the streets of London it has grown. Muslims, most frequently women, are routinely attacked and abused. Hijabs are pulled off, they are spat at - often in presence of children - abused on public transports, and in some cases have acid thrown at them. Mosques are regularly threatened, as Finsbury Park Mosque was in the wake of the terrorist attack on it. Many Muslim women are now genuinely afraid of simply walking within their communities, worshippers are mosques feeling increasingly uncertain and insecure, and generally speaking there is huge fear that at any moment a bigot could do something.

Across western society white nationalism is being normalised at the detriment of minorities and Muslims. "Take back control" and "Make America great again" were all slogans for white nationalists, an attempt to reclaim some lost sense of power in an increasingly liberal and globalised world. The messages aimed by the politicians galvanized and emboldened the far right. They believed that Brexit and Trump legitimised their actions and rhetoric, encouraging them to increase their hostilities towards minority groups. To them, their country once again belonged to them, and Brexit was proof that this time wider society stood with them.

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Maybe Brexit really was about jobs but there was the sense of a cultural war brewing within it too. It was heavily based on immigration, and what communities looked like. There are lessons in here for politicians and journalists in how they speak about entire groups of people. For several years we have seen immigrants' dehumanised, portrayed poorly by newspapers and politicians despite the economic prosperity they have helped in creating. If you continuously describe Muslims, Romanians and Poles as threats then that is how they will simply be seen by sections of society. When newspapers employ neo-fascists like Katie Hopkins who occasionally slips into genocidal rhetoric, whether it's in describing refugees as cockroaches deserving of having a gunship sent towards them, or calling for a "final solution" against Muslims (the words of which were later sprawled over the house of a Muslim man who was attacked) they are legitimising the language of the far right, making them an acceptable part of political discourse.

And if newspapers and politicians can make extreme anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim rhetoric seem normal then the far right will latch onto this as vindications of their own messages. They will march on streets trying to intimidate. And if Trump arrives, they will feel like they have won.
andykatz via Getty Images

Shortly after Trump was elected, and periodically since, my grandmother has asked - nay, begged - me to be careful about what I write. She was concerned the president, or his cronies, would target me. I had written it off as her typical overprotectiveness, but after the last week's events, I no longer can.

From Kellyanne Conway's "alternative facts" to Trump's regular outright lies and gaslighting (whether on Twitter or at the podium), this administration's attempts to circumvent and curtail the free exercise of the press are dangerous. In May the Guardian reported that Trump suggested the FBI should jail reporters. The President remained silent when the Republican candidate for Montana's at-large congressional seat body-slammed a reporter. Given his incendiary rhetoric against the press over the past two years, though, we shouldn't expect it. Hell, given the gif of him body-slamming CNN, we can almost assume he approves.

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This is what made Brian Karem's takedown of Deputy White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee-Sanders so noteworthy. After directing people to a video of dubious accuracy to justify her boss' behaviour, Karem - of the Sentinel - firmly reminded her that journalists "are here to ask the questions" and that she was "there to provide the answers." It's a fairly easy concept, one fundamental to a functioning democracy, yet this administration doesn't seem to grasp it.

Over the past seven days, though, the battle between the president and the free press has reached fevered pitch. Last week, after she made a joke at his expense, Trump attacked Mika Brzezinski (the presenter of Morning Joe, a cable morning news programme) on Twitter with, as her fiance and fellow presenter Joe Scarborough noted, the sexist vitriol he almost exclusively reserves for women. Brzezinski and Scarborough revealed in an op-ed for the Washington Post that the president, by way of his cronies in the White House, had threatened them with an unflattering story in the tabloid the National Enquirer unless they called and apologised to him.

The Enquirer - long known for unsubstantiated stories and an allegiance to Trump - harassed Brzezinski's children, friends, and ex-husband, yet she and Scarborough remained defiant. They didn't go public until last week, following Trump's latest Twitter rant about them.

Then, over the weekend, the president shifted focus to CNN, tweeting a gif of him bodyslamming the CNN logo (a reworked clip from his time with the WWE that was created by an account widely reported to generate antisemitic memes). Trump has routinely attacked CNN as "fake news" and "low-rated," but this took his feud with the press to a new low. The insinuation was clear: CNN should toe the president's line or risk the full weight of his presidency crashing down upon them. Similarly, CNN was defiant.

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I wasn't sure I was going to write about any of this. My beat is British politics, and I've addressed Corbyn's and May's reluctance to talk to the press before. This is another level entirely, and though my beat isn't the White House, I am an American journalist. I can't sit by and watch my peers and colleagues attacked for doing their jobs - one so vital for democracy.

A free and open press is what sets democracies apart from dictatorships like Russia, China, and North Korea where the only approved line is the government's line. The Trump camp, since the days of the campaign when then-candidate Trump regularly vilified the press and treated us - and by extension the American people - with contempt.

That today is the 4th of July makes this even more prescient. Americans across the country will be celebrating Independence Day and the freedoms that supposedly set us apart from the rest of the world. But unless we stand up for the rights our foremothers and forefathers fought for, we might as well put the hot dogs and fireworks away, because there will be nothing to celebrate.

Without a free press to hold the government accountable, we will easily and quickly devolve into an authoritarian hellhole so many Americans claim we defend against. "Liberty cannot be preserved without a general knowledge among the people," John Adams wrote in 1765, and it remains true today. It is the job of journalists to hold the feet of those in power to the proverbial fire and get that knowledge disseminated among the masses. If Trump and his cronies can't stand it, to paraphrase another American president (Truman), they should get out of the kitchen.

I'm not going to lie, it's a scary time to be a journalist. The president's threats (and the threats of his supporters) don't go unnoticed. But I won't stop writing critically of this administration because the president threatens journalists with jail time or a beating. That's not the way we do things in this country. It's not the way any civilised democracy does things. Our free press, bolstered by the First Amendment, is part of what makes America special. If we allow ourselves to lose it, we allow ourselves to lose something fundamental and exceptional to the American experiment.

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So here's my challenge to all Americans, but especially those who support President Trump: instead of vilifying the press, stand up for us, even when you don't like what we have to say. We're trying to do an increasingly impossible job in service to the republic, and we need your help. It isn't patriotic to demonise us. It is patriotic to fight for our continued right to write without fear of imprisonment or bodily harm.

Britain, I don't want to leave you out of this either, though I also don't want to lump you in to this mess. You've got your own issues to sort out, but Lord knows this ain't one of them. Still, as Brexit gets underway, you're going to need journalists more than ever before. So subscribe to a newspaper. I don't care if it's the Telegraph, the Guardian, or your local paper (so long as it isn't the S*n). But throw some money to the hardworking journalists who try to keep British democracy transparent, too.
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Catherine Deneuve is asking her entourage to make the hotel room in Berlin as comfortable as possible. In French she states, Can you lower the temperature, its hot. It is snowing outside.

They quickly appease the iconic French actress. One of the pleasures of interviewing Deneuve is that she is always to the point, sometimes blunt and very astute. She says what she means and is happy to contradict questions if she deems that they are missing the point, or more accurately, her point of view.

These are fabulous attributes for an actor, and an interviewee, might not be so good if youre in her employ. In any case, something seems to be bothering Deneuve, who starts off the interview about her new film, The Midwife, in a decidedly frosty mood.

Deneuve (right) as Beatrice with Catherine Frot (left) as Claire strike up a close relationship in 'The Midwife'

The Midwife is a story of an unlikely friendship between two women who are connected through the deceased father of the midwife. Deneuves character Beatrice, had an affair with the man, three decades previously, and now after a health scare, she decides to get in touch with his daughter, Claire, played by Marguerite star Catherine Frot. They are at the opposite ends of the personality spectrum. Beatrice likes gambling in casinos and in her own life. Frots Claire is a single mother, who frets about the future and the demise of the small practice where she works.

Behind the main friendship there is a tale of hospital closures and a fear about the direction that health care policy is heading. The story has particular resonance for director Martin Provost whose film Seraphine swept the Cesar awards in 2008, as the efforts of the midwife stopped him from dying at birth. The film is even dedicated to that midwife.

But Deneuve, who transfers to perfect English once the interview starts, dismisses any deeper reading of the movie: Why does the movie have to mean something? Its just a story of a friendship and quite an unusual encounter of two women. You just have to take the characters as they are, one is trying to accept the other one; the other one is trying to fit in, with a lot of unusual situations.

In 'Belle de Jour' in 1967 (Rex)

Deneuve is on top form as Beatrice, who lives life on overdrive and becomes a surrogate mother to the more mundane Claire. But Beatrice is not a character close to her own heart: I cannot identify with the character, but I do understand her and I do like her.

Its no surprise to hear the 73-year-old say this. After all, Beatrice is driven by a sense of nostalgia for a single moment in her life and seems full of regrets. Whereas Deneuve doesnt like to talk about the past, she lives in the present and as such she doesnt do regrets. She says that the public image of Catherine Deneuve is a cultivated illusion, another arm to her acting.

I am not living with Catherine Deneuve anyway. This is not part of my life. Its part of my actors life. But Im not living as Catherine Deneuve, what do people think, that I take two hours with myself in the morning before I go out, its not like that.

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Deneuve and photographer David Bailey emerge from the registry office after their wedding in 1965 (Getty)

But such an attitude may also be the secret to her career longevity - if Deneuve doesnt wallow in her own past its hard for others to do so. She doesnt correct or reply to any of the plethora of comments made about her life and career.

She was born Catherine Fabienne Dorleac in Paris in 1943, the daughter of stage actors. She took the name Deneuve, which is her mothers maiden name, to differentiate herself from her sisters, who were also acting. So in this way, its both metaphorically and literally true that Catherine Deneuve is a construction.

Deneuve is a character that the public have been infatuated with ever since she made her debut as a teenager in Andre Hunebelle's Les Collegiennes (1957). The big influence on her early career was director Roger Vadim, with whom she had a son, Christian Vadim, when she was 19.

In a still from Jacques Demy's film 'Parapluies de Cherbourg', also known as 'Umbrellas of Cherbourg' (Getty)

In 1964, she became an international superstar after appearing in Jacque Demys seminal The Umbrellas of Cherbourg. In 1965, she married photographer David Bailey, two weeks after they met on a photo-shoot for Playboy. She had an affair with Francois Truffaut who was said to be so depressed after the end of their affair in 1970 that he was on medication for months as he waited for her to call.

Bailey and Deneuve divorced in 1972, just as Deneuve was having her second child, Chiara Mastroianni, with the great Italian acting maestro Marcello Mastroianni. She lived with the man 20 years her senior for four years. But she has said she wont write a memoir, so well probably never get to know her perspective on these romances and the years she filled up gossip columns around the globe.

But as her personal life became less high profile, its given Deneuve a freedom to be herself, away from the camera: I suppose you learn so much through life about what you want and more importantly what you dont want.

Deneuve attends the 70th annual Cannes Film Festival in 2017 (Getty)

She is far happier when talking about cinema. Indeed as the interview progresses, she becomes more warm as the room cools. She says she misses the great Franco-Italian co-productions of the past, many of which she lighted up, including Belle de Jour and Un Flic. She talks fondly about the films of Luchino Visconti. But the movie business has changed drastically over the last 25 years, not least in the movie from analogue to digital. She says that the new technology has, probably changed the way that actors do their work.

This is because The preparation is not as long, the cameras are smaller, the sound is more easy to take and the camera is much closer. You have to adapt to that. Before there was always a distance between the camera and the crew, now they came be 50 centimetres from your face. So I remember when it started it was difficult to forget about the camera and the technicians, but nowadays to make a film with small camera is cheap.

She isnt a big fan of the crispness of the digital image, Im not so in favour of the perfection of the image, which is a little hard. Technically its too perfect. Its almost too much. I prefer the image of Technicolour. Some people do like that still, such as Quentin Tarantino.

She is also clear about what she expects to happen on set. I like to be directed. But its also true that I have my own image of the character. I think an actor has their own sensibility, so they know what they are doing most of the time. When you rehearse, you discuss that with the director. She says that sometimes she even concedes to the directors point of view.

Before our time runs out, and the room reaches boiling point, the actress talks about the pay disparity between men and women in film. She says of women being paid less for the same work, Cinema is the reflection of life. That is a fact of society. It is not just cinema. Its like that in life. Every week we have stories about the salary in industry and they are paid less than men. Its something that is unfair.

'The Midwife' is out 7 July
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Thanks to various stars wrapping filming on Avengers: Infinity War, numerous snippets of information regarding the monumental superhero flick have emerged through interviews.

Talking on Bravos Inside the Actor's Studio, Scarlett Johansson revealed some tantalising new details about her character, Black Widow, reuniting with Age of Ultron love interest Bruce Banner, AKA The Hulk, played by Mark Ruffalo.

"I just finished Avengers: Infinity War. The first one, she said. My character has this ongoing relationship with Mark Ruffalo's character. I had such devastation that day. I don't know why. I was so devastated.

"It was something about this character that Mark plays, and this is something that should feel so solid and suddenly doesn't or there's  and it reminded me of so much of the things going on in my own life at the time.

Films to get excited about in 2017 Show all 13 1 /13 Films to get excited about in 2017 Films to get excited about in 2017 Star Wars: The Last Jedi Director: Rian Johnson Rian Johnson Cast: Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Adam Driver, Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, and Lupita Nyong'o Plot: No details yet, but it will continue directly on from Rey coming face-to-face with Luke at the end of The Force Awakens. Release Date: 15 December 2017 Films to get excited about in 2017 Thor: Ragnarok Director: Taika Waititi Taika Waititi Cast: Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston, Cate Blanchett, Tessa Thompson, Jeff Goldblum, Karl Urban, and Mark Ruffalo Plot: Story details are minimal as of now, but Thor's third return to screen has already been teased to feature a loose adaptation of the famous 'Planet Hulk' storyline. Release Date: 27 October 2017 Films to get excited about in 2017 You Were Never Really Here Director: Lynne Ramsay Lynne Ramsay Cast: Joaquin Phoenix, Alessandro Nivola Plot: A war veteran's attempt to save a young girl from a sex trafficking ring goes horribly wrong. Release Date: Unknown Films to get excited about in 2017 Annihilation Director: Alex Garland Alex Garland Cast: Natalie Portman, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Tessa Thompson, and Oscar Isaac Plot: A biologist's husband disappears. She thus puts her name forward for an expedition into an environmental disaster zone, but does not quite find what she's expecting. The expedition team is made up of the biologist, an anthropologist, a psychologist, and a surveyor. Release Date: Unknown Films to get excited about in 2017 Wonderstruck (image from Far From Heaven) Director: Todd Haynes Cast: Julianne Moore, Michelle Williams, and Amy Hargreaves Plot: The story of a young boy in the Midwest is told simultaneously with a tale about a young girl in New York from fifty years ago as they both seek the same mysterious connection. Release Date: Unknown Films to get excited about in 2017 Mother (image of Darren Aronofsky) Director: Darren Aronofsky Cast: Jennifer Lawrence, Javier Bardem, Michelle Pfeiffer, Domhnall Gleeson, and Ed Harris Plot: A couple's relationship is tested when uninvited guests arrive at their home, disrupting their tranquil existence. Release Date: Unknown Films to get excited about in 2017 The Killing of a Sacred Deer (image from The Lobster) Director: Yorgos Lanthimos Cast: Colin Farrell, Nicole Kidman, and Alicia Silverstone Plot: A surgeon forms a familial bond with a sinister teenage boy, with disastrous results. Release Date: Unknown Films to get excited about in 2017 Blade Runner 2049 Director: Denis Villeneuve Denis Villeneuve Cast: Ryan Gosling, Harrison Ford, Robin Wright, and Jared Leto Plot: Thirty years after the events of the first film, a new blade runner, LAPD Officer K, unearths a long-buried secret that has the potential to plunge what's left of society into chaos. K's discovery leads him on a quest to find Rick Deckard, a former LAPD blade runner who has been missing for 30 years. Release Date: 6 October 2017 Films to get excited about in 2017 Lady Bird (image of director Greta Gerwig) Director: Greta Gerwig Cast: Saoirse Ronan, Laurie Metcalf, and Lucas Hedges Plot: The adventures of a young woman living in Northern California for a year. Release Date: Unknown Films to get excited about in 2017 The Kidnapping of Edgardo Mortara (image of director Steven Spielberg and star Mark Rylance) Director: Steven Spielberg Cast: Mark Rylance, Oscar Isaac Plot: The Kidnapping Of Edgardo Mortara recounts the story of a young Jewish boy in Bologna, Italy in 1858 who, having been secretly baptized, is forcibly taken from his family to be raised as a Christian. His parents' struggle to free their son becomes part of a larger political battle that pits the Papacy against forces of democracy and Italian unification. Release Date: Unknown Films to get excited about in 2017 How to Talk to Girls at Parties Director: John Cameron Mitchell John Cameron Mitchell Cast: Elle Fanning, Ruth Wilson, and Nicole Kidman Plot: An alien touring the galaxy breaks away from her group and meets two young inhabitants of the most dangerous place in the universe: the London suburb of Croydon. Release Date: Unknown Films to get excited about in 2017 The Dark Tower Director: Nikolaj Arcel Nikolaj Arcel Cast: Idris Elba, Matthew McConaughey, and Tom Taylor Plot: Gunslinger Roland Deschain roams an Old West-like landscape in search of the dark tower, in the hopes that reaching it will preserve his dying world. Release Date: 28 July 2017 Films to get excited about in 2017 Suburbicon Director: George Clooney George Clooney Cast: Matt Damon, Julianne Moore, Josh Brolin, and Oscar Isaac Plot: A crime mystery set in the quiet family town of Suburbicon during the 1950s, where the best and worst of humanity is hilariously reflected through the deeds of seemingly ordinary people. When a home invasion turns deadly, a picture-perfect family turns to blackmail, revenge and betrayal. Release Date: 24 November

How exactly The Hulk returns to Earth following Thor: Ragnarok remains unknown, but expect some revelations come the forthcoming Marvel films release this November.

Avengers: Infinity War, and the as-yet-untitled fourth Avengers, will be the final chapter for various Marvel characters, widely expected to be both Robert Downey Jr. and Chris Evanss last flicks as Iron Man and Captain America. Infinity War reaches UK cinemas 27 April.
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A Swedish festival has been cancelled for 2018 following reports of four rapes and 23 sexual assaults that allegedly took place on site.

Bravalla, which bills itself as the "biggest music festival in Sweden", took place this year from 28 June - 1 July and featured acts including The Killers, The Chainsmokers, Prophets of Rage, Linkin Park and System Of A Down.

One woman said she was forced to have sex with a man after changing her mind.

Between the Thursday and Sunday, four rapes and 23 sexual assaults were reported. Organisers then announced that the 2018 festival had been cancelled.

They told AFP: "Certain men... apparently cannot behave. It's a shame. We have therefore decided to cancel Bravalla 2018."

Swedish prime minister Stefan Lofven told the Swedish daily Expressen: "This must stop."

He said that the government is in talks with police about increasing surveillance at large-scale music events.

In 2016, five rapes and 12 sexual assaults were reported at the same festival.

Mumford and Sons, who were on the bill last year with The 1975, Wiz Khalifa and Biffy Clyro, wrote a statement expressing dismay at the reports and said they would not play the festival again until they had assurances that fans could be protected.

Glastonbury 2017 Show all 48 1 /48 Glastonbury 2017 Glastonbury 2017 Ed Sheeran woos the crowd during his Pyramid Stage performance on the final day of the festival, 25 June 2017 PA Glastonbury 2017 PC Small wearing a fairy costume sits on top of her horse Sedgemoor who is wearing garlands as she and her colleague interact with the public at Glastonbury, 25 June 2017 Getty Images Glastonbury 2017 Barry Gibb performs on the Pyramid Stage at the Glastonbury Festival, 25 June 2017 AFP/Getty Glastonbury 2017 Festival-goers queue to charge their mobile phones at the Glastonbury Festival, 25 June 2017 AFP/Getty Images Glastonbury 2017 Rag'n'Bone Man performs on day 4 of the Glastonbury Festival, 25 June 2017 Getty Images Glastonbury 2017 Jamie Cullum performs on the Pyramid Stage during day 4 of the Glastonbury Festival, 25 June 2017 Getty Images Glastonbury 2017 Musician Jarvis Cocker plays a DJ set from a wooden tree structure in the Greenpeace are at Glastonbury Festival, 25 June 2017 Getty Images Glastonbury 2017 Dave Grohl of the Foo Fighters performs at the Glastonbury Festival, 24 June 2017 Getty Images Glastonbury 2017 One of the 'Lords of Lightning' harnesses high-voltage electricity in a performance during the Metamorphosis Show in the Arcadia area at the Glastonbury Festival, 24 June 2017 AFP/Getty Images Glastonbury 2017 Katy Perry performs on day 3 of the Glastonbury Festival, 24 June 2017 Getty Glastonbury 2017 Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn addresses the crowd alongside Glastonbury organiser Michael Eavis on the Pyramid Stage as he makes a guest appearance at the Glastonbury Festival Site, 24 June 2017 Getty Images Glastonbury 2017 Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn meets festival goers as he visits the Green Fields at the Glastonbury Festival site at Worthy Farm in Pilton, 24 June 2017 Getty Images Glastonbury 2017 Craig David performs on the Pyramid Stage at the Glastonbury Festival, 24 June 2017 AFP/Getty Images Glastonbury 2017 Gabrielle Aplin performs on the Other Stage during day 3 of the Glastonbury Festival 2017 at Worthy Farm, Pilton, 24 June 2017 Getty Images Glastonbury 2017 Lights illuminate the Glastonbury Festival site at Worthy Farm at night in Pilton, 23 June 2017 Getty Images Glastonbury 2017 The Flaming Lips perform on The Park Stage at the Glastonbury Festival, 23 June 2017 AFP/Getty Images Glastonbury 2017 People gather to watch the Arcadia landing show at the Glastonbury Festival site at Worthy Farm in Pilton, 23 June 2017 Getty Images Glastonbury 2017 Lorde performs on day 2 of the Glastonbury Festival 2017 at Worthy Farm, 23 June 2017 Getty Images Glastonbury 2017 Thom Yorke of Radiohead performs on the Pyramid Stage at the Glastonbury Festival of Music and Performing Arts on Worthy Farm near the village of Pilton in Somerset, South West England, 23 June 2017 AFP/Getty Images Glastonbury 2017 Romy Madley Croft and Oliver Sim of the XX perform on day 2 of the Glastonbury Festival 2017 at Worthy Farm, Pilton on June 23 Getty Images Glastonbury 2017 Former Labour MP Ed Balls attends Glastonbury Festival on 23 June 2017 Getty Images Glastonbury 2017 Dua Lipa performs on the John Peel Stage on day 2 of the Glastonbury Festival 2017 at Worthy Farm, Pilton on June 23, 2017 Getty Images Glastonbury 2017 Revellers dance as they listen to Circa Waves perform on the Other Stage at Worthy Farm in Somerset during the Glastonbury Festival in Britain, June 23, 2017 Reuters Glastonbury 2017 Festival goers at Glastonbury Festival Site on June 21, 2017 in Glastonbury, England Getty Glastonbury 2017 Reuters Glastonbury 2017 Festivalgoers watching Blossoms on the Pyramid Stage at the Glastonbury Festival, at Worthy Farm in Somerset PA Glastonbury 2017 EPA Glastonbury 2017 Actor Johnny Depp poses on a Cadillac before presenting his film The Libertine, at Cinemageddon at Worthy Farm in Somerset during the Glastonbury Festival Reuters Glastonbury 2017 Fans cheer as American actor Johnny Depp makes his entrance at Cinemageddon during the Glastonbury Festival at Worthy Farm, near Pilton, Somerset EPA Glastonbury 2017 US actor Johnny Depp attends the Cinemageddon event as part of the Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts 2017 at Worthy Farm EPA Glastonbury 2017 Cineramageddon ushers Daisy Peters (left), from Shepton Mallet, and Tamsin Walton, from Pilton, before an appearance by Johnny Depp for a screening of The Libertine, during the Glastonbury Festival PA Glastonbury 2017 Festival-goers pose at the Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts 2017 at Worthy Farm on 22 June EPA Glastonbury 2017 Revellers sleep in front of a food stand at Worthy Farm in Somerset during the Glastonbury Festival on 22 June, 2017 Reuters Glastonbury 2017 An aerial view of the Glastonbury Festival site at Worthy Farm in Pilton, Somerset on 22 June, 2017 PA Glastonbury 2017 People gather to watch the sun set as temperatures reach record levels at the Glastonbury Festival at Worthy Farm in Pilton on 21 June, 2017 Getty Glastonbury 2017 Festival goers enjoy themselves as the gates open at the Glastonbury Festival amid heightened security at Worthy Farm in Pilton Getty Glastonbury 2017 A festival goer arrives at Glastonbury Festival Site on 21 June in Glastonbury, England Getty Glastonbury 2017 A festival goer at Glastonbury Festival Site on June 21, 2017 in Glastonbury, England Getty Glastonbury 2017 Festival goers enjoy themselves as the gates open at the Glastonbury Festival amid heightened security at Worthy Farm in Pilton on June 21, 2017 near Glastonbury, England Getty Glastonbury 2017 Festival goers at Glastonbury Festival Site on June 21, 2017 in Glastonbury, England Getty Glastonbury 2017 Revellers sing and dance by the Stone Circle at Worthy Farm in Somerset Reuters Glastonbury 2017 Festival founder Michael Eavis arrives to attend a screening of film maker Julian Temple's Glastonbury documentary Getty Glastonbury 2017 People attend a screening of film maker Julian Temple's Glastonbury documentary being shown at the new night time area Cinemaggedon on June 21, 2017 Getty Glastonbury 2017 People attend a screening of film maker Julian Temple's Glastonbury documentary being shown at the new night time area Cinemaggedon on June 21, 2017 Getty Glastonbury 2017 People gather to watch the sun set as temperatures reach record levels at the Glastonbury Festival at Worthy Farm in Pilton on June 21, 2017 Getty Glastonbury 2017 The sun sets at the Glastonbury Festival 2017 at Worthy Farm in Pilton on 21 June, 2017 Getty Glastonbury 2017 Fireworks illuminate the night sky at the end of the first day at the Glastonbury Festival on 21 June Getty Glastonbury 2017 A reveller smokes by the Stone Circle at Worthy Farm in Somerset during the Glastonbury Festival on June 22, 2017 Reuters

"Festivals are a celebration of music and people, a place to let go and feel safe doing so," they wrote. "We won't play at this festival again until we've had assurances from the police and organisers that they're doing something to combat what appears to be a disgustingly high rate of reported sexual violence."

Zara Larsson added: "Damn you people who shamelessly rape a girl in public. Damn you guys who make a girl feel unsafe when they go to a festival."

Anti-rape charities in Sweden have accused festival organisers of failing to protect their guests. In 2016 the anti-rape charity Nattskiftet said in a statement: "Festival organisers must take this seriously. After quite some time, they're on their way to understanding it. But very little is happening."
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Google is taking time to celebrate the stunning and sublime beauty of America's national parks, on the country's birthday.

It was on this day 241 years ago that the US famously adopted the Declaration of Independence, and the United States of America was born. But less famously it's also the birthday of Stephen Mather, the conservationist who was the first director of the National Parks Service.

Google said that it was celebrating the two events together because the National Parks Service is hailed as "America's Best Idea", and that they were such a perfect place to celebrate the country's birthday.

There are 59 national parks, and they stretch right across America. Each of them contains unique wonders and their diversity is a perfect expression of the beauty of the country.

Here's a selection of some of the most stunning spots from some of 59 national parks.

National parks Show all 9 1 /9 National parks National parks MARK RALSTON/AFP/Getty Images National parks Getty Images National parks Lance King/Getty Images National parks Doug Pensinger/Getty Images National parks Ethan Miller/Getty Images National parks Sean Gallup/Getty Images National parks Getty National parks REUTERS/Jim Urquhart National parks Marco Garcia/Getty Images

Yellowstone was established as a national park in 1872, and became the country's first  and perhaps the first in the world. Since then, many more have joined, and the US government has given more important protections to the areas.
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Youve got the cocktail shaker. You dutifully made a stash of ice. And although you remembered the lemon and lime wedges, somehow the good intentions to blend a passion fruit and muddle some mint went awry.

Infusing your own spirits and making cocktails with fresh ingredients is lovely. But lets face it, sometimes you just want a shortcut. Packed with flavour and easy to mix, flavoured vodkas can offer a tasty, straightforward option. Add to that a recent trend for increasingly premium flavours, and there are now a wide number of simple drinks to be made at home.

So, what makes a good flavoured vodka? Firstly, with vodka being a particularly good flavour carrier, were looking for it to actually taste of its namesake ingredient. Intense, well-rounded, bold  were looking for flavours with impact, and that dont taste overly artificial. And lets not forget the underlying vodka itself. Were looking for quality and some discernible character showing through.

So, from coffee to ginger, heres our round-up of the best.

1. Chase Espresso Vodka, 40%: 40 for 700ml, John Lewis

If youve ever had Patron XO Cafe youll know what a heavenly combination booze and coffee can be. And this limited edition from Herefordshire distiller Chase is just as heavenly, perhaps more so in many ways. Light in colour and not overly sweet, it delivers that intense burst of coffee but without being excessively bitter. Made from Ethiopian coffee and a base of Chases English Potato Vodka, its slowly distilled through a copper gin still, then cold brewed, chill filtered and blended with more coffee. Were just going to get the cliches out of our system because this vodka warrants them; smooth as silk, soft as velvet, etc etc. Sip on its own and let the flavours of muscovado sugar and bitter coffee slowly unfold. You may want to set aside an evening to slowly savour this one.

Buy now

2. Zubrowka Bison Grass Flavoured Vodka, 40%: 17 for 700ml, Waitrose

Throw this in the freezer, buy some cloudy apple juice and mix for a drinks nirvana. This is what its all about, especially on a hot summers day. This Polish vodka is 100 per cent grain, and having been distilled seven times is exceptionally smooth. Not the most overtly flavoured, each bottle contains a blade of bison grass, giving the liquid a subtle green tinge. Taste-wise, theres a lot of almond up-front, with a big, rich, oily mouthfeel and a big burst of fruit (similar to grapefruit) followed by beautiful marzipan notes. Honestly, try the apple juice mix. Perfection.

Buy now

3. Ciroc Pineapple, 37.5%: 38.50 for 700ml, Tesco

Who needs rum? Make ours a vodka Pina Colada! This gorgeous offering from the French vodka house is made, quite fittingly, with grapes. But its bursting with the juiciness of ripe pineapples, followed by just a hint of coconut. A flavour match made in heaven, its ideal for all your summer drinks. However, if you want that coconut dialled-up a touch, go for the new limited-edition flavour, Ciroc Summer Colada.

Buy now

4. Absolut Raspberri, 40%: 16 for 700ml, Asda

Big and fruity, this gorgeously rich raspberry vodka smells like jam. But, whereas some fruit-flavoured vodkas can be overly sweet and a little synthetic tasting, this one is made from ripened raspberries harvested in the Swedish hillsides, and contains no added sugar. Mix with a cranberry juice for a refreshing summer drink. Or if you want to bust out that cocktail shaker to impress any guests, add lemon juice, simple syrup and soda water and garnish with raspberries for an Absolut Raspberri Collins.

Buy now

5. Whitley Neill Blood Orange Vodka, 43%: 25.85 for 700ml, The Whisky Exchange

This Sicilian-inspired vodka from the much-lauded gin maker is pretty new having launched just under a year ago. Though the bottle is orange, the liquid pours clear. Theres tangerine, and a slightly sherbet nose, and to sip, its zesty and slightly lemony. But overall, theres a satisfying orange intensity. Though perfect in summer cocktails due to its underlying hint of spice, were going to stash this one away for some warming winter cocktails when the weather turns. Meanwhile, just throw in a quality tonic for a burst of Sicilian summer.

Buy now

6. Curio Cocoa Nib Vodka, 40%: 30.45 for 700ml, The Whisky Exchange

The beautifully packaged vodkas from Cornish distiller Curio endear themselves before youve even tasted them, with their sweet squat bottles and pared-back design. But as you know, were not ones to judge books by their covers. And though we have to acknowledge the brands very aromatic and floral Cardamom Vodka, its the Cocoa Nib Vodka that has us salivating. With a slightly milky chocolate nose, theres no heat or spice from the triple-distilled vodka spirit, which has been infused with Peruvian Cocoa Nibs. Its kind of like a boozy version of the chocolate milk you have left after your Coco Pops, but with a hint of lemon cutting through it. Its nostalgia and refinement all in one. Good enough to sip neat, though we can imagine this in an Espresso Martini. Mocha Martini anyone?

Buy now

7. Nelsons Gold Caramelised Vodka, 26.5%: 29.13 for 500ml, Master of Malt

This is decadence bottled. The good folk at Norfolk premium vodka brand, Wild Knight, must have been feeling naughty when they put this delightful concoction together. Technically a liqueur (due to its abv and the addition of sugar) we had to include it in our list due to its stand-out deliciousness. Made in small batches using Norfolk-grown barley, this rich delight still retains the sippable smoothness of the original vodka, but the addition of caramelised Norfolk sugar beet makes this akin to drinking pure caramel. You can mix with apple juice, but to be honest, this is one thats best enjoyed chilled and sipped.

Buy now

8. Hophead Hop Vodka, 45%: 35.95 for 750ml, The Whisky Exchange

From the same company behind US craft beer legends, Anchor Brewing, comes this hopped vodka. In fact, its the Anchor Distilling company based in San Francisco, California that is responsible for this inspired tipple. Pot-distilled and unfiltered, this is very robust in flavour. While the vodka itself is very smooth, peppery and oily, the hops add earthiness and some mineral-like, menthol notes. Certainly an acquired taste, but we love it.

Buy now

9. Virtuous Vodka Organic Ginger, 38%: 27.95 for 700ml, The Whisky Exchange

Organic. Check. Preservative free. Check. No added sugars, flavours or aromas. Check. This Swedish rye-based vodka ticks all the boxes when it comes to its all-natural credentials. In fact, Virtuous Vodka claims to be a grown-up and crafted take on flavoured vodkas. There are two things of note when it comes to the taste though. Firstly, because its unfiltered, the liquid is cloudy and may contain a natural sediment. And  as with the other flavours in the range  the ginger taste is very true to life. Weve chosen Ginger over the Raspberry and Bitter Lemon flavours, as while theres a wealth of ginger drinks available, few manage to capture the authentic taste of ginger root. Tangy, with a little heat, its in a word, delicious.

Buy now

The Verdict: Flavoured vodkas

Winning brownie points for its richness, stand-out full coffee flavour and easy mixability, we simply love this latest release from Chase. Though there are some considerably lower-priced vodkas on our list, we truly think Espresso Vodka is worth every penny.
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A candid interview in which British Vogues former fashion director said she was fired from the title has been mysteriously removed from the internet.

Ever since the announcement that long-standing editor Alexandra Shulman was to be replaced by stylist Edward Enninful, it became clear that a new era was dawning at the glossy title. Especially as two other departures swiftly followed: managing editor of 24 years Frances Bentley left on the same day, and fashion director Lucinda Chambers announced that she was to step down four months later.

But now, in an extremely open interview with Vestoj, Chambers has said that she was fired - a decision which she said took bosses just "three minutes" to carry out.

Recommended British Vogue announces its first ever black editor

In an article published on the "critical thinking" fashion website, Chambers, 57, said she had been fired six weeks ago by Enninful.

"A month and a half ago I was fired from Vogue," she says. It took them three minutes to do it. I didn't leave. I was fired."

British Vogue has since responded, saying: "It's usual for an incoming editor to make some changes to the team," the publication told The Independent.

"Any changes made are done with the full knowledge of senior management."

The interview was promptly taken down as soon as it began to gain traction on social media - a move the site says was due to the "sensitive nature" of the article.

But, Vestoj has since re-published it in its entirety with the hopes that it will spark a discussion which might, in the words of Chambers, "lead to a more empowering and useful fashion media."

Entitled, "Will I Get a Ticket?", Chambers went on to slam some of the magazine's decisions - particularly when it came to advertising.

"The June cover with Alexa Chung in a stupid Michael Kors T-shirt is crap," she admits.

"Hes a big advertiser so I knew why I had to do it. I knew it was cheesy when I was doing it, and I did it anyway."

Then, she shed light on the employment of a fashion editor who, according to Chambers, was employed despite being a "terrible stylist".

"In fashion you can go far if you look fantastic and confident  no one wants to be the one to say 'but they're crap'."

But, perhaps the most revealing extract of the entire interview came when Chambers exposed the reality of the publication she had worked for, for 36 years.

Here, she admitted that she hadnt "read Vogue in years", slating the clothes as "irrelevant" and "ridiculously expensive".

"There are very few fashion magazines that make you feel empowered. Most leave you totally anxiety-ridden.

"Truth be told, I haven't read Vogue in years. The clothes are just irrelevant for most people  so ridiculously expensive.

"I know glossy magazines are meant to be aspirational, but why not be both useful and aspirational? That's the kind of fashion magazine Id like to see."
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Samsung is set to release a smaller and cheaper version of the Galaxy S8, it has been reported.

Its latest flagship smartphones, the S8 and S8+, came out earlier this year and feature 5.8-inch and 6.2-inch screens, respectively.

Both handsets rock a bezel-less design, with Samsung managing to maximise screen-to-body ratio by squeezing as large a display as possible into an unusually compact body.

Having spent time using both devices, I found that the S8+ was unnecessarily large.

The S8 Mini Samsung is claimed to be working on could actually prove more appealing to many consumers than the original releases, despite being slightly less powerful.

Samsung Galaxy S8 Show all 10 1 /10 Samsung Galaxy S8 Samsung Galaxy S8 Samsung Galaxy S8 Samsung Galaxy S8 Samsung Galaxy S8 Samsung Galaxy S8 Samsung Galaxy S8 Samsung Galaxy S8 Samsung Galaxy S8 Samsung Galaxy S8 Samsung Galaxy S8

It will feature a 5.3-inch display, claims IT Home, though it will actually feel like a 4.7-inch handset, thanks to that bezel-less design.

This should make it easy to use one-handed, something that cant be said about the S8+ and, to an extent, the S8.

The S8 is the most attractive smartphone on the market at present, and the S8 Mini is said to look exactly the same, only smaller.

Its said to feature the same 12-megapixel camera too, which should satisfy the majority of consumers, as well as iris-scanning technology.

However, the S8 Mini is expected to come with a Snapdragon 821 processor, 4GB of RAM and 32GB of storage, a slight step down from the S8s Snapdragon 835 processor and 64GB of internal storage.

Thats not a combination to be sniffed at, however, as it matches the excellent Google Pixel, and that storage will be expandable via a microSD card slot.

It will likely keep prices relatively low too. The S8 costs 689, and the S8 Plus costs a staggering 779.

Samsung has released mini variants of its flagship smartphones in the past, but theyve tended to be significantly pared-down options. The S8 Mini sounds very different.

The company is yet to confirm or deny the existence of the Galaxy S8 Mini, which is claimed to be coming out later this year, but we should gain a clearer understanding of its plans in the next few weeks.

The Samsung S8 and S8+ are available on contract or sim-free from Carphone Warehouse here
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Children of Russian oligarchs are expected to celebrate weddings in the most extravagant methods possible and the latest celebration did not disappoint.

Lolita Osmanova chose LAs iconic Dolby Theatre - where the Oscars take place - as the venue for her wedding to Gaspar Avdolyan, that cost a total of $10m (7.7m).

No expense was spared on the extravagant occasion and Lady Gaga and Jason Derulo were flown in to perform. The wedding celebration included a ten-tier golden cake and the flowers alone are believed to have cost a total of $500,000 (386,000), according to Russian newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda.

Lolita Osmanova is the daughter of tycoon Eldar Osmanov, owner of the energy sales company Mezhregionsoyenergo. Albert Avdolyan, a Russian telecommunications magnate is the father of her husband Gaspar, and is among Russias richest businessmen with capital of $750m (580m) according to Forbes.

Wedding guests were greeted by several rows of classic violinists, a symphony orchestra and a ballet performance.

Lolita, 22, wore a dramatic floor-length gown designed by Zuhair Murad, with resplendent jewels and intricate lace. Opulent flower arrangements adorned the gold aisle and every table had centrepiece displays of red roses.

Chimney sweeps at weddings - in pictures Show all 4 1 /4 Chimney sweeps at weddings - in pictures Chimney sweeps at weddings - in pictures Kevin Giddings has been a chimney sweep since he was 21 Chimney sweeps at weddings - in pictures Giddings has been appearing at weddings to wish couples luck for over three decades Chimney sweeps at weddings - in pictures The sweep has had over 12 cats during his career Chimney sweeps at weddings - in pictures He admits some couples aren't sure how to respond when he appears at their big day

The bride changed into a second dress featuring elaborate feathered decoration for Lady Gagas set - believed to have cost 1.6m.

Lady Gaga was flown in to perform at the wedding

One of the guests was couture jeweller Loren Rodkin, who wrote on Instagram: "I'm in Russia or Armenia or in an episode of Armenias Got Talent?I cant tell. Wedding at the Dolby theatre."

Moscow TV stars Andrey Malakhov and Kseniya Sobchak hosted the wedding with Russian celebrities Svetlana Loboda, Stas Mikhailov and Nikolai Baskov also attending.

The KP report said: "It's hard to imagine, but if someone decides to outdo this celebration - then, apparently, the wedding will have to be celebrated on Mars."
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UK manufacturing firms could begin cutting investment and jobs within months unless the Government radically clarifies its aims for the Brexit deal, an industry body has said.

Terry Scuoler, chief executive of EEF, which represents the UKs manufacturers, is addressing the President of the European Parliament, Antonio Tajani, in Strasbourg on Tuesday.

He will say that British firms face a tipping point well before March 2019 when the negotiations are supposed to be complete and must make decisions on investment and jobs within months.

Mr Scuoler will say: The UK Chancellor, Philip Hammond, speaking in Germany last week, set out a vision for growth in the UK and in Europe. He was right to highlight our joint interests amid the complexity of the Brexit negotiations. Many of our industries are interconnected.

UK businesses need to know soon what arrangements will be in place after March 2019, to be able to plan, make investment decisions and have confidence that an orderly and carefully managed approach to Brexit is under way.

If they dont have that assurance there will come a tipping point, sometime in 2018, when boards in the UK and elsewhere will need to make decisions based on the state of the negotiations at that point. They cannot wait until the end of the process for confirmation of a deal on our departure or future trading relationship.

They need to know much sooner what transitional arrangements will be in place, and for how long. A failure to do so will damage our collective economic interests, a situation which would be as tragic as it would be harmful.

The news comes just a day after manufacturing data showed activity came in below expectations in June, with the latest snapshot survey showing a moderation in the rate of growth.

The Purchasing Managers Index was 54.3 in the month, below the 56.3 recorded in May and the 56.3 pencilled in by City of London analysts.

Business news: In pictures Show all 13 1 /13 Business news: In pictures Business news: In pictures Flybe collapses Airline Flybe has collapsed. All future flights on the Exeter-based airline have been cancelled  leaving more than 2,300 staff facing an uncertain future, and wrecking the travel plans of hundreds of thousands of passengers. The chief executive, Mark Anderson, said: Europes largest independent regional airline has been unable to overcome significant funding challenges to its business. AFP via Getty Business news: In pictures Future product placement will be 'tailored to individual viewers' Marketing executives say that product placement in films and televison shows on streaming services such as Netflix may be tailored to individuals in future. For instance, if data shows that a viewer is a fan of pepsi, a billboard in the background of a shot would host an advert for pepsi, while for a viewer known to have different tastes it could be for Coca-Cola Paramount Business news: In pictures Corbyn wishes Amazon a happy birthday In a card sent to Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos on the company's 25th birthday, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn writes: "You owe the British people millions in taxes that pay for the public services that we all rely on. Please pay your fair share" Business news: In pictures No deal, no tariffs The government has announced that it would slash almost all tariffs in the event of a no-deal Brexit. Notable exceptions include cars and meat, which will see tariffs in place to protect British farmers Getty Business news: In pictures Fingerprint payment NatWest is trialling a new bank card that will allow people to touch their hand to the card when paying rather than typing in a PIN number. The card will work by recognising the user's fingerprint NatWest/PA Wire Business news: In pictures Mahabis bust High-end slipper retailer Mahabis has gone into administration. 2 Jan 2019 Mahabis Business news: In pictures Costa Cola Coca-Cola has paid 3.9bn for Costa Coffee. A cafe chain is a new venture for the global soft drinks giant PA Business news: In pictures RIP Payday Loans A funeral procession for payday loans was held in London on September 2. The future of pay day lenders is in doubt after Wonga, Britain's biggest, went into administration on August 30 PA Business news: In pictures Musk irks investors and directors Elon Musk has concluded that Tesla will remain public. Investors and company directors were angry at Musk for tweeting unexpectedly that he was considering taking Tesla private and share prices had taken a tumble in the following weeks Getty Business news: In pictures Jaguar warning Iconic British car maker Jaguar Land Rover warned on July 5, 2018 that a "bad" Brexit deal could jeopardise planned investment of more than $100 billion, upping corporate pressure as the government heads into crucial talks AFP/Getty Business news: In pictures Spotif-IPO Spotify traded publically for the first time on the New York Stock Exchange on Tuesday. However, the company isn't issuing shares, but rather, shares held by Spotify's private investors will be sold AFP/Getty Business news: In pictures French blue passports The deadline to award a contract to make blue British passports after Brexit has been extended by two weeks following a request by bidder De La Rue. The move comes after anger at the announcement British passports would be produced by Franco-Dutch firm Gemalto when De La Rues contract ends in July. The British firm said Gemalto was chosen only because it undercut the competition, but the UK company also admitted that it was not the cheapest choice in the tendering process. Business news: In pictures Beast from the east economic impact The Beast from the East wiped 4m off of Flybes revenues due to flight cancellations, airport closures and delays, according to the budget airlines estimates. Flybe said it cancelled 994 flights in the three months to 31 March, compared to 372 in the same period last year.

Any reading above 50 indicates growth and the long-run average for the series is 51.6.

Uncertainty around Brexit has caused firms to stockpile unprecedented levels of savings while investment has stagnated, according to a recent research note by Pantheon Macroeconomics.

Government assurances that the UK is heading for a soft Brexit with continued access to the EU single market would encourage firms to release some of the 648bn they now have stashed in banks, delivering a significant windfall to the UK economy Pantheon said.

(Pantheon Macroeconomics (Pantheon Macroeconomics)

The Treasury and business voices have been boosted since the election, which has been read as a rejection of Prime Minister Theresa Mays hard line on Brexit.

Civil servants are now reportedly telling ministers there will have to be a trade-off between access to the single market and political control.

Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson had previously claimed Britain could have its cake and eat it suggesting there would be no need to make any concession over immigration or court jurisdiction to get full trade access.
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A private faith school in London has failed an Ofsted inspection after inspectors accused school leaders of breaking equality laws and leaving pupils "at risk" through lack of safeguarding.

Yesodey Hatorah School in Stamford Hill, north London, is the latest of a number of ultra-Orthodox Jewish schools to be rated inadequate by the schools watchdog for displaying a lack of fundamental British values.

Inspectors visiting the independent, fee-paying school said safeguarding procedures must urgently be put in place, including necessary checks on the accountability and suitability of staff.

The report stated: Aspects of the schools promotion of fundamental British values are weak, particularly in relation to tolerance of people who have protected characteristics under the Equality Act (2010)."

The school has previously been subject to no-notice inspections as part of a round of unannounced Ofsted visits across England.

Previous inspections have earned the school a good rating, and in its most recent assessment, inspectors said the overall quality of teaching, learning and assessment remained up to standard.

But leaders "have not ensured that safeguarding procedures have been sufficiently robust to keep pupils safe at all times," inspectors found.

The schools leaders have not ensured that all staff employed at the school have routinely undergone the necessary vetting checks, which compromises pupils welfare.

UK news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 UK news in pictures UK news in pictures 11 November 2022 City workers attend a Remembrance Day ceremony at Lloyd's of London, in the City of London, to mark Armistice Day, the anniversary of the end of the First World War PA UK news in pictures 10 November 2022 A grey heron lands on the river Dodder in Dublin on a sunny autumn morning PA 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 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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. 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Of great concern, they said, were the unsanitary toilet conditions for boys in the secondary school.

Boys in the secondary school have been placed at risk due to the unacceptable arrangements to share both toilet and washroom facilities with male members of staff.

The school had failed to provide hot water facilities and secondary-age boys did not have access to showers, the report added.

Senior leaders preclude the teaching of certain protected characteristics of people defined in the Equality Act 2010.

The school is of the view that this would be considered unacceptable by the Charedi community that the school serves. This prevents pupils from having sufficient experiences that help them prepare for their future lives in British society.

Complaints were also made about a lack of access to outdoor space and poor maintenance of school buildings, also said to be damaging for pupil welfare.

Pupil attainment was markedly good, however, with pupils in both the early years and secondary schools noted as having good behaviour.

The school, which teaches 671 pupils aged between five and 15, teaches boys and girls separately from reception class upwards.

Families pay between 3,016-3,796 per year, with no alternative provisions or disadvantaged pupils in attendance.

While independent schools such as Yesodey Hatorah are not obliged to follow the same curriculum as mainstream local authority schools, they must meet two separate sets of standards outlined by the Department for Education and Ofsted.

Last week, Vishnitz Girls School - another Orthodox Jewish school in the same area of London  was failed for the third time by Ofsted inspectors for failing to teach LGBT issues such as sexual orientation, which is in breach of the Equality Act.

The school also failed to give its pupils a full understanding of fundamental British values- an issue Ofsted chief Amanda Spielman had spoken out on as a matter of priority within schools.

An Ofsted spokesperson said DfE standards require schools to actively promote fundamental British values such as democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty and respect and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs.

Parents have the right, on behalf of their children, to expect an education that conforms to their religious beliefs and is in compliance with the law.

Children living in England deserve the best - the law expects schools to demonstrate that they are encouraging pupils to take a respectful and tolerant stance towards those who hold values different from their own. Ofsted acts robustly and impartially to ensure children in England receive a good education.

A spokesperson for Yesodey Hatorah Junior School said: We are disappointed by this Ofsted report but are pleased that the effectiveness of our teaching staff and behaviour of our pupils were praised.

"The wellbeing of our children was never in question with many of the points raised by Ofsted being rectified following the inspection and a number were in hand before the inspectors visit.

"Nonetheless, we will continue to work hard to ensure the school will meet the independent schools criteria at its next inspection.
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Simone Veil survived the Holocaust to become one of Frances most influential stateswomen, shepherding the 1975 law that allowed abortion, pushing prison reform and other social causes, and promoting continental unity as the first female president of the European Parliament.

Veil stood at the centre of French politics for more than four decades, ever since President Valery Giscard dEstaing elevated her from the civil service to serve as health minister from 1974 to 1979. It was in that role that she overcame political obstacles and, at times, personal insults, to establish abortion rights with the provision still today commonly called the Veil law.

She led the European parliament from 1979 to 1982, a role that made her, along with Margaret Thatcher and Indira Gandhi, among the highest-ranking elected women in the world at the time. She served again as health minister from 1993 to 1995 under Prime Minister Edouard Balladur.

Veil rose to political power at a time when most governments, including her own, were dominated by men. It was also a time of reckoning, as much of Europe confronted the slaughter of six million Jews in the Holocaust. The process was particularly searing in France, where the Vichy regime had collaborated with Nazi Germany.

Veil, who was Jewish, had been deported at 16 to Auschwitz with much of her family. She represented the reconciliation both of French and West Germans and of European Christians and Jews, a Washington Post reporter wrote when Veil became president of the European parliament.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy (L) shakes hands with French former minister and European Parliament President Simone Veil after she was awarded with the Grand Officier of the Legion d'Honneur during a ceremony at the Elysee Presidential Palace in Paris in 2009 (AFP/Getty)

Her experiences during the war years informed her political positions, particularly her efforts to improve the lives of prisoners, with whom she said she identified, and to defend children and the mentally ill, two classes targeted by the Nazis. She spoke compellingly of the need to never forget the crimes of the Holocaust. But it was often noted that she tended to wear long sleeves to cover the number, 78651, that had been tattooed on her forearm when she arrived at Auschwitz. It was perhaps a too-constant reminder of a darker Europe.

The idea of war was for me something terrible, she said in 2007. The only possible option was to make peace.

Simone Annie Jacob was born in Nice in 1927. Her father was an architect but was expelled from the profession by anti-Semitic Vichy regulations. Simone, her parents, a sister and a brother were arrested in 1944. The women were deported to Auschwitz and later transferred to Bergen-Belsen in Germany, where Simone's mother died shortly before the camp was liberated in 1945.

Simones sister survived, as did another sister who had served in the Resistance and was interned at Ravensbruck in Germany. Their father and brother were sent elsewhere and did not return.

I found myself thrown into a universe of death, humiliation and barbarism, she once wrote. I am still haunted by the images, the odours, the screams, the humiliation, the blows and the sky, ashen with the smoke from the crematoriums.

After the war she studied law at the Institute for Political Studies in Paris, where she met Antoine Veil, a future businessman, whom she married in 1946. She raised their three sons while pursuing her career, first as a magistrate and then in the civil service. She was an unexpected choice for Giscards cabinet but quickly established herself as a powerful centrist force.

She helped increase access to contraception before addressing the matter of abortion. It was an explosive issue in largely Catholic France, engendering often explosive rhetoric. One legislator asked her, So, Madame Minister, do you want to send children to the ovens? Veil was said to have welled up in tears.

Simone Veil, then-President of the European Parliament, shaking hands with British Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Lord Carrington, at the Foreign Office in London, November 7th 1980 (Getty)

The law, the first legalising abortion in a Catholic country, passed the National Assembly by 284 votes to 189. It allowed the procedure in the first 10 weeks of pregnancy, mandating that it be performed in a medical facility and that minors obtain parental permission. Abortion is never a victory, Veil said at the time. I would rather say that this is progress.

In foreign affairs, Veil used her moral authority to speak out on behalf of victims of communist oppression in the Soviet Union, right-wing oppression in Latin America and the boat people of Vietnam. She confessed to having faced challenges as a woman in public life, referring to political parties in France as mens clubs.

It's difficult for a woman to be a figure of authority, she said in 1980, because the very thing people admire in men becomes a point of criticism in women.

She none the less continued to hold high posts, serving for nearly a decade on Frances constitutional council, until her retirement in 2007. In 2008, she joined the Academie Francaise, the literary academy and guardian of the French language.

Her husband died in 2013. Their son Claude-Nicolas died in 2002. Survivors include her two other sons, Jean and Pierre-Francois.

As a Jew, as a concentration camp survivor, as a woman, you feel very much that you belong to a minority that has been bullied for a long time, Veil said when she became president of the European parliament.

As for the deportation, what remains with you most is the memory of humiliation, and thats a feeling many women have too, of trampled dignity. If this parliament has a Jew, a woman, for its president, it means everyone has the same rights. That means a lot to me.

Simone Veil, politician: born 13 July 1927; died 30 June 2017

 Washington Post
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The Grenfell Tower inquiry chairman is prepared to consider "broader" issues when investigating the cause of the fire as Kensington and Chealsea council chose a new Tory leader.

Sir Martin Moore-Bick previously suggested that his investigation would be limited to the causes of the deadly fire, why it spread so quickly and how it could be prevented in the future.

But survivors reportedly put pressure on the retired judge to broaden the scope of the inquiry and look into building regulations at the time the tower was built in the early 1970s.

One source said Sir Martin was prepared to investigate why some alleged warnings about the building were not listened to.

The revelation came as the new leader of Kensington and Chelsea council, Elizabeth Campbell, a former member of the council's cabinet, was under pressure from campaigners who said they had no confidence in her.

Sue Caro, a co-ordinator of the Justice 4 Grenfell group that represents survivor, called for the new leadership of the council to be dissolved saying the council previously proved it was "not fit" for the task.

Ms Cambpbell was nominated by Kensington Conservatives to replace Nicholas Paget-Brown, who resigned on Friday over the handling of the aftermath of the Grenfell fire disaster.

In her first public statement, Mc Campbell, who stepped down as cabinet member for family and children's services in May, said she was "truly sorry" and pledged to "heal the wounds in the community".

But campaigner Ms Caro told the Press Association her track record was "not considered to be particularly good" and that her nomination was "unacceptable".

She said: "I know that she was a cabinet member already - it's completely unacceptable. It's like rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.

"They have shown they are not fit to run a council or deliver the services that are needed and I don't really think it matters who is the leader."

Ms Campbell must be formally elected by a meeting of the full council but one Tory councillor said the election was a "formality".

Speaking to reporters following her nomination, she said: "The first thing I want to do is I want to apologise. This is our community and we have failed it when people needed us the most. So, no buts, no ifs, no excuses - I am truly sorry."

"As new leader, I will appoint a new cabinet tomorrow and things are going to change."

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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 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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

She added she would also phone Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government Sajid Javid and ask for more help.

The investigation into the Grenfell Tower disaster, which saw 80 people die, is now understood to be a broad interpretation of what caused the fire which will extend beyond "the physics of what happened".

The probe is also likely to consider the response of authorities since the blaze was not brought under control for more than a day.

A three-week consultation is underway with victims' families and survivors likely to play a role in the inquiry.

Sir Martin came under pressure from campaigners when he emerged from a meeting with survivors and said he was "doubtful" the inquiry would be broad enough to satisfy them all.

Additional reporting by agencies
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A 22-year-old student from Sheffield Hallam University has died after taking MDMA for a final fling to celebrate the end of her degree.

Joana Burns had just completed her maths degree and was celebrating at The Foundry at the University of Sheffields Students Union, when she took the drug for the first time.

The substance is commonly known as ecstasy and was bought by Ms Burns and her friends for 7 each, a police report said.

Ms Burns was apparently not a regular drug user and it has been reported there was an understanding that her group of friends would use the substance on this one occasion.

"It was just supposed to be a one-off, 'final fling' to finish university, a friend told the BBC.

Ms Burns was rushed to hospital after falling ill, while another woman is in critical condition after also taking the drug.

Police chiefs have called for a review into the clubs licence after a large quantity of drugs was seized at the venue on the night Ms Burns died.

UK news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 UK news in pictures UK news in pictures 11 November 2022 City workers attend a Remembrance Day ceremony at Lloyd's of London, in the City of London, to mark Armistice Day, the anniversary of the end of the First World War PA UK news in pictures 10 November 2022 A grey heron lands on the river Dodder in Dublin on a sunny autumn morning PA 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

A total of 1,275 has been raised in donations for Ms Burns memorial fund, which will provide drug awareness education for students at Sheffield Hallam University.

A tribute on the JustGiving page says: "Joana was a wonderful young woman with so much to look forward to.

"She will be missed not only by her family and friends but by everyone who knew her."
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The Government must take action to protect thousands of children in England facing slavery and abuse, the childrens commissioner has warned.

Millions of children in England are vulnerable and living in potential danger, including tens of thousands of young people involved in gangs and hundreds more falling victim to slavery each year, said Anne Longfield.

Publishing a new report analysing the scale of vulnerability among children in the country, the commissioner raised concerns that as many as 700,000 children are living in high risk families where parents or guardians suffer from drinking problems, drug abuse, ill health or unemployment.

Some 580,000 children  equivalent to the population of Manchester  are so vulnerable that the state has had to step in and provide care, intervention or support in the past year.

The report highlighted that 800,000 children aged five to 17 suffer from mental health disorders, and 200,000 children are judged by their local authority to have experienced trauma or abuse.

There are also 1,200 newly identified victims of modern child slavery per year in England alone.

Ms Longfield said, however, that the figures were only the tip of the iceberg since many of the countrys most vulnerable children are unknown to authorities or fall through the cracks.

Work out how many vulnerable children there are in this country today Four months, 12 experts, 500 pages and four spreadsheets later, and our answer is: we dont know, she explained, adding that the figures they did have would serve as a wake-up call for the Government.

She told The Independent: Weve got hundreds of thousands of children here already whom we know are very vulnerable. But weve been quite conservative in the estimate that weve put forward.

If you look at children who live with parents who have high-risk behaviour around alcohol, for instance, some of the estimates for children who are living in families who drink too much are up to a million children.

Actually, weve retained this back down to those children living with families who are getting treatment for alcohol  which is a much, much smaller number, down to 20,000.

UK news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 UK news in pictures UK news in pictures 10 November 2022 A grey heron lands on the river Dodder in Dublin on a sunny autumn morning PA 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 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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. 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So you can see the difference there; theres a whole spectrum of vulnerability and the Government has been in the dark about it for absolutely too long.

A vulnerable child is most often defined as having complex needs, requiring extra help from public agencies, such as social care workers, often but not always living below the poverty line.

The extent of the problem is difficult to quantify, Ms Longfield explained, as not all groups of vulnerable children are measured  for example, those receiving poor parenting unknown to the state.

National Crime Agency figures published earlier this year revealed child trafficking in the UK is at a record high  something Ms Longfield aims to address as part of a programme of work on childrens vulnerability.

The programme will start by tackling the confusion over the term vulnerable, something the commissioner will consult broadly on to help develop a framework that can be used widely.

Responding to the report, an NSPCC spokesman said: Its horrifying that each year 1,200 more children are found to be victims of slavery.

Our Child Trafficking Advice Centre helps professionals to protect children who have been moved across borders and made to do things beyond our worst nightmares.

Its vital that organisations work together to prevent this terrible abuse, pursue the abusers, and any trafficking or slavery victim is protected and given support to overcome their traumatic experiences.

Ms Longfield called on the Government to ensure better data is collected, questioning how effectively the problems outlined in the report can be tackled if departments and agencies do not know how many children are affected or cannot agree on how to define and, therefore, identify them.

Robert Goodwill, minister for children and families, said: Every single child should have their voice heard and receive the care and support that they need to realise their potential.

Across government, we are taking action to address this issue  whether through reforming childrens social care, prioritising mental health, or better protecting victims of domestic violence and abuse.

For some of the most vulnerable, our new What Works Centre for childrens social care will ensure social workers across the country are able to learn from best practice in keeping children safe.

We recognise the scale of this challenge  and, while the number of children in need has remained relatively static since 2010, there is always more to do. We will look carefully at these exploratory statistics and I am looking forward to working with the childrens commissioner as this important work continues.
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A Northern Irish woman has spoken about the barbaric law that forced her to carry her baby to full term even though it had a fatal abnormality and would not survive.

Ashleigh Topley was told at her 20-week scan that her baby daughters lungs and limbs would not grow properly as she had a severe case of osteogenesis imperfecta.

Ms Topley was forced to continue her pregnancy for another 15 weeks until her waters broke because abortion is illegal in Northern Ireland, even if the baby has a fatal abnormality or if the mother was raped.

Recommended Court to rule whether NI abortion laws violate human rights

The law in Northern Ireland is barbaric, Ms Topley, from outside Belfast, told the Mirror.

Women who need abortions need support, not judgement and prosecution. I couldnt grieve for my little girl while I could feel her kicking inside me.

The idea that these politicians and their inhumane views could be part of the UK government is a nightmare.

When her daughter Katy was born at 35 weeks, her heart had not been beating for two days. Ms Topley decided to tell her story in an attempt to change the abortion law.

Ms Topley and her husband Geoff now have a healthy one-year-old girl, Robyn.

The UKs 1967 Abortion Act does not apply in Northern Ireland, and women can only get a termination if they can prove that continuing the pregnancy would be an immediate threat to her physical or mental health.

Ms Topley said she suffered from depression and was taking anti-depressants when she became pregnant.

Thousands march in Dublin for Irish abortion rights Show all 5 1 /5 Thousands march in Dublin for Irish abortion rights Thousands march in Dublin for Irish abortion rights REUTERS Thousands march in Dublin for Irish abortion rights REUTERS Thousands march in Dublin for Irish abortion rights REUTERS Thousands march in Dublin for Irish abortion rights REUTERS Thousands march in Dublin for Irish abortion rights REUTERS

The abortion ban is supported by the DUP, the Northern Irish party that received 1 billion investment in return for propping up a minority Conservative Government in Westminster.

DUP MP Ian Paisley Jr said his party would not compromise its stance on abortion, even if it risked the deal with the Tories.

Many women travel to England for a termination but had to pay as much as 2,000 for the procedure, as well as travel and accommodation.

For those who could not afford it, women could be jailed for using abortion pills that were smuggled into the country via drones. On International Womens Day, police carried out abortion pill raids.

 Hammond: Government will fund abortions in England for Northern Ireland women

Three women have been prosecuted and more women have been arrested. They face life in prison.

More than 700 women came to England from Northern Ireland for abortions in 2016.

Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond announced last week that Westminster would now pay for women to have the procedure with the NHS in England, but campaigners said they were disappointed that the money was provided from the Equalities Office and not part of a central healthcare proposition.

The Welsh Assembly and the Scottish Parliament also announced on Tuesday that they will offer free abortions to women from Northern Ireland. A timeline and the funding is yet to be clarified.
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Ministers have been accused of double standards after admitting that UK farmers benefit from EU free movement rules which the Governments critics say are incompatible with its net migration target.

Brandon Lewis, the Immigration Minister, told the Commons that the agricultural sector would continue to benefit from free movement of labour until Britain leaves the EU as he tried to allay MPs fears about a shortage of EU migrant workers.

He promised talks with farmers leaders as the Government works out a post-Brexit migration regime.

Open Britain, the successor to the Remain campaign in last years referendum, seized on the ministers remarks as evidence that the Governments plan to end free movement means its target to reduce annual net migration below 100,000 is unworkable.

Recommended New immigration controls may not be imposed straight after Brexit

Labour MP Chuka Umunna, a leading supporter of the group, said: When the Immigration Minister himself admits that the free movement of labour has been good for Britains farmers, it clearly shows that ministers themselves do not believe their own rhetoric.

In a letter to Amber Rudd, the Home Secretary, Mr Umunna said the National Farmers Union estimated that the sector will require 90,000 seasonal workers a year from the EU, which he claimed would make the Governments tens of thousands target impossible to achieve.

The letter asked whether the Government officially accepts that British farmers benefit from free movement, as Mr Lewis said. If so, why are you, the Prime Minister and the rest of the Cabinet committed to ending a system which you believe to be beneficial? Mr Umunna asked.

In pictures: European parliament Brexit discussions Show all 12 1 /12 In pictures: European parliament Brexit discussions In pictures: European parliament Brexit discussions European commission member in charge of Brexit negotiations with Britain, French Michel Barnier listens at the President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker speaking at the European Parliament in Strasbourg Getty Images In pictures: European parliament Brexit discussions Frank-Walter Steinmeier, President of the Federal Republic of Germany, delivers his speech at the European Parliament in Strasbourg EPA In pictures: European parliament Brexit discussions European Union's chief Brexit negotiator Guy Verhofstadt, President of the Group of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE), addresses the European Parliament during a debate on Brexit priorities and the upcomming talks on the UK's withdrawal from the EU Reuters In pictures: European parliament Brexit discussions Michel Barnier, European Chief Negotiator for Brexit reacts during a meeting at the European Parliament in Strasbourg EPA In pictures: European parliament Brexit discussions Member of the European Parliament and former leader of the anti-EU UK Independence Party (UKIP) Nigel Farage wears socks with Union Jack flag at the European Parliament in Strasbourg Getty Images In pictures: European parliament Brexit discussions Nigel Farage, United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP) member and MEP, addresses the European Parliament during a debate on Brexit priorities and the upcoming talks on the UK's withdrawal from the EU Reuters In pictures: European parliament Brexit discussions European commission member in charge of Brexit negotiations with Britain, French Michel Barnier gestures during speeches at the European Parliament in Strasbourg Getty In pictures: European parliament Brexit discussions The President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker (L) speaks with European commission member in charge of Brexit negotiations with Britain, French Michel Barnier at the European Parliament in Strasbourg Getty In pictures: European parliament Brexit discussions European Union's chief Brexit negotiator Guy Verhofstadt, President of the Group of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE), addresses the European Parliament during a debate on Brexit priorities and the upcomming talks on the UK's withdrawal from the EU Reuters In pictures: European parliament Brexit discussions Getty In pictures: European parliament Brexit discussions German president Frank-Walter Steinmeier delivers a speech during a plenary session at the European Parliament in Strasbourg Getty In pictures: European parliament Brexit discussions The European Parliament in Strasbourg, eastern France Getty Images

Do you accept that hitting the target would do significant damage to British agriculture, other sectors of our economy and our public services (not least the NHS), which are dependent on workers from the EU?

He told the Home Secretary: Government policy remains committed to cutting net migration to levels that we all agree will be intensely damaging to businesses and public services alike. This Government has no mandate to leave the EU in a way which will destroy peoples livelihoods. So I urge you and the Prime Minister to be honest with the country and drop the target.

The Independent and Open Britain are running a Drop the Target campaign urging the Government to abandon its goal.

 David Davis suggests immigration target won't happen during next parliament

The Immigration Minister was replying to Tory MP Helen Whately, who said farmers in her Faversham constituency in Kent needed thousands of workers to pick their fruit every summer but only 705 local people were claiming Jobseekers Allowance.

Its very difficult for them to recruit enough workers locally, she said, calling on the Government to bring in a permit scheme for seasonal agricultural workers.

Mr Lewis replied: As we continue as full members of the EU we have that free movement of labour that farmers can benefit from.

Although several ministers believe the Governments target will never be hit, Theresa May has stuck to it.

Mr Lewis is the latest in a line of ministers who have acknowledged the vital role played by EU migrant workers in the areas for which they have responsibility.

Others include Jeremy Hunt, the Health Secretary and Philip Hammond, the Chancellor. David Davis, the Brexit Secretary, has conceded that migration levels might rise from time to time according to the economys needs.

Business groups are lobbying hard for a flexible approach to EU migration when the Government sets outs its plans in an Immigration Bill, which is likely to include a work visa scheme.

The Home Office said: We are working across government to identify and develop options to shape our future immigration system and will ensure businesses and communities are given the opportunity to contribute their views.
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British citizens living in Europe could have their rights cut after Brexit, a leading MEP has warned.

Claude Moraes, the chair of the European Parliaments civil liberties committee and a member of the parliaments Brexit steering committee, said that Theresa Mays controversial offer to EU citizens in the UK could be matched by Europe, leading to diminished rights for the 1.2 million UK citizens living on the continent.

The Prime Ministers proposals would see anyone who has already lived in the UK for five years given a new settled status, securing their position in the country. Anyone arriving after the triggering of Article 50, but before a notional cut-off date, yet to be set, would also have the chance to stay for five years and gain the status.

However, the proposals would restrict the right of EU citizens in the UK to bring over family members and also would mean they would lose the protection of the European Court of Justice.

When asked if UK citizens living in Europe would have their rights similarly reduced in return, Mr Moraes said, although a response had not yet been issued by the EU 27, a similar plan should be expected.

I think it is inevitable if this sticks and there is no upgrading of this offer by Theresa May, he told The Independent.

This is often reported as being just about the three million EU citizens in the UK but it is also about the 1.2 million UK citizens in Europe. I dont know exactly how the EU 27 will respond but one aspect will have to be reciprocity.

They wont be able to put the 1.2 million people in the better position than the three million EU citizens in the UK.

In pictures: European parliament Brexit discussions Show all 12 1 /12 In pictures: European parliament Brexit discussions In pictures: European parliament Brexit discussions European commission member in charge of Brexit negotiations with Britain, French Michel Barnier listens at the President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker speaking at the European Parliament in Strasbourg Getty Images In pictures: European parliament Brexit discussions Frank-Walter Steinmeier, President of the Federal Republic of Germany, delivers his speech at the European Parliament in Strasbourg EPA In pictures: European parliament Brexit discussions European Union's chief Brexit negotiator Guy Verhofstadt, President of the Group of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE), addresses the European Parliament during a debate on Brexit priorities and the upcomming talks on the UK's withdrawal from the EU Reuters In pictures: European parliament Brexit discussions Michel Barnier, European Chief Negotiator for Brexit reacts during a meeting at the European Parliament in Strasbourg EPA In pictures: European parliament Brexit discussions Member of the European Parliament and former leader of the anti-EU UK Independence Party (UKIP) Nigel Farage wears socks with Union Jack flag at the European Parliament in Strasbourg Getty Images In pictures: European parliament Brexit discussions Nigel Farage, United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP) member and MEP, addresses the European Parliament during a debate on Brexit priorities and the upcoming talks on the UK's withdrawal from the EU Reuters In pictures: European parliament Brexit discussions European commission member in charge of Brexit negotiations with Britain, French Michel Barnier gestures during speeches at the European Parliament in Strasbourg Getty In pictures: European parliament Brexit discussions The President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker (L) speaks with European commission member in charge of Brexit negotiations with Britain, French Michel Barnier at the European Parliament in Strasbourg Getty In pictures: European parliament Brexit discussions European Union's chief Brexit negotiator Guy Verhofstadt, President of the Group of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE), addresses the European Parliament during a debate on Brexit priorities and the upcomming talks on the UK's withdrawal from the EU Reuters In pictures: European parliament Brexit discussions Getty In pictures: European parliament Brexit discussions German president Frank-Walter Steinmeier delivers a speech during a plenary session at the European Parliament in Strasbourg Getty In pictures: European parliament Brexit discussions The European Parliament in Strasbourg, eastern France Getty Images

Mr Moraes also added that he believed Ms May had done this while in full knowledge that there will be reciprocity, leaving UK citizens living in Europe worse off.

Critics had already branded Ms Mays offer as vague and not sufficient, with senior figures in the Brexit negotiations publicly speaking out against her proposal.

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker called her offer a first step, but not sufficient, while the European Parliament's Brexit co-ordinator Guy Verhofstadt underlined that the offer "does not fully guarantee the rights of EU citizens living in the UK".

He added on Twitter: Hopefully the UK position paper ... will deliver what we are looking for.

Leading figures in the UK also criticised Ms Mays offer with both Labour and the Liberal Democrats saying it was not good enough.

Sir Keir Starmer, the Shadow Secretary of State for Exiting the EU, said: Labour has been clear that people should not be bargaining chips in the Brexit negotiations. The Prime Ministers offer is too little too late and falls far short of the full and unilateral guarantee Labour would make.

We believe there must be a clear commitment that there will be no change to the status of EU nationals in the UK. This is not only the right thing to do, but it will also help deliver a reciprocal agreement for the 1.2 million UK nationals living in the EU.

Tim Farron, the Liberal Democrat leader, said: These proposals are frankly too little too late, and leave millions of people still facing unanswered questions over their futures here. It is simply not good enough.
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Confidential cabinet papers reveal serious splits at the heart of Government over Brexit, as Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt was photographed entering No 10 Downing Street for this mornings cabinet meeting holding notes including the phrase: Hard Brexit means people fleeing UK.

Mr Hunts notes are headed with the question: What recent discussions have been had with Home Secretary on ensuring the NHS has the workforce it needs after UK leaves the EU?

In his answer, Mr Hunt states: "Hard Brexit means people fleeing UK."

Elsewhere in Mr Hunts notes are statistics on the number of EU nationals working in the NHS.

They include 10,700 doctors, estimated at 9 per cent of the total. It also states that 2,200 doctors joined the NHS in the year up to March 2017. It states that 62,000 nurses are EU nationals, approximately 19 per cent of the total, 4,000 of whom joined the NHS in the year to March 2017. The photographer who took the picture later tweeted: Trust me, it was no accident.

During health questions in the House of Commons later, Mr Hunt said he only wanted to give the 150,000 EU nationals working in the NHS the opportunity to continue doing their brilliant job.

He later wrote on Twitter: For avoidance of doubt I have never been advised or believed Brexit means people 'fleeing UK'. I was anticipating a question along those lines from MPs at health orals  which is why the phrase appears in my briefing note.

Cabinet heard an announcement from Brexit Secretary David Davis that the crucial Repeal Bill, paving the way for Britain's withdrawal from the EU, will finally be tabled next week.

The bill will repeal the 1972 European Communities Act, which took the UK into the EU's predecessor, the European Economic Community, and will transpose relevant EU law onto the UK statute book so it can then be removed or amended as the UK Parliament wishes.

But it is expected to face a rocky ride through Parliament over the coming two years.

Meanwhile, Downing Street indicated that Prime Minister Theresa May gave her blessing to a call from Mr Hunt and Business Secretary Greg Clark for continued close collaboration with the EU on the regulation of medicines after Brexit.

The EUs European Medicines Agency is currently based in London, but will leave the country after Brexit, creating uncertainty for UK-based pharmaceutical firms about the regulatory regime for drugs in future.

In a letter to the Financial Times, the ministers said: The UK is fully committed to continuing the close working relationship with our European partners.

Our aim is to ensure that patients in the UK and across the EU continue to be able to access the best and most innovative medicines and be assured that their safety is protected through the strongest regulatory framework and sharing of data.

If the Brexit talks fail to achieve the desired relationship, the UK will set up a regulatory system that protects patients and supports the UK life science industry, they said.

Ms May's official spokesman confirmed that the letter was shared with 10 Downing Street in the usual way before publication.

And the spokesman said: What they set out was that we are committed to the close working relationship we have with our EU partners and beyond that, everything else is a matter for negotiation.

Figures from the Health Foundation indicate there has been a 96 per cent drop in the number of nurses from EU countries joining the NHS since the referendum last summer, leaving hospitals 40,000 nurses short.

Only 46 nurses arrived to work in the UK in April.

In comparison, 1,304 EU nurses applied to work in the NHS in July 2016, just after the vote.

In recent years, hospitals have undertaken major recruiting drives across Europe in order to plug massive gaps.

This was after hospitals had struggled to recruit British nurses after the coalition government cut nurse training places by 10 per cent in 2010.

Since Theresa Mays disastrous election result, pro-single market, soft Brexit forces within the Cabinet are wielding greater influence, particularly Chancellor Philip Hammond, who was sidelined during the election campaign and widely expected to be sacked.

In the Financial Times this morning, former Deputy Prime Minister and EU trade negotiator Nick Clegg said that a path can be found to allow limits of free movement while staying within the EU single market.

In pictures: European parliament Brexit discussions Show all 12 1 /12 In pictures: European parliament Brexit discussions In pictures: European parliament Brexit discussions European commission member in charge of Brexit negotiations with Britain, French Michel Barnier listens at the President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker speaking at the European Parliament in Strasbourg Getty Images In pictures: European parliament Brexit discussions Frank-Walter Steinmeier, President of the Federal Republic of Germany, delivers his speech at the European Parliament in Strasbourg EPA In pictures: European parliament Brexit discussions European Union's chief Brexit negotiator Guy Verhofstadt, President of the Group of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE), addresses the European Parliament during a debate on Brexit priorities and the upcomming talks on the UK's withdrawal from the EU Reuters In pictures: European parliament Brexit discussions Michel Barnier, European Chief Negotiator for Brexit reacts during a meeting at the European Parliament in Strasbourg EPA In pictures: European parliament Brexit discussions Member of the European Parliament and former leader of the anti-EU UK Independence Party (UKIP) Nigel Farage wears socks with Union Jack flag at the European Parliament in Strasbourg Getty Images In pictures: European parliament Brexit discussions Nigel Farage, United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP) member and MEP, addresses the European Parliament during a debate on Brexit priorities and the upcoming talks on the UK's withdrawal from the EU Reuters In pictures: European parliament Brexit discussions European commission member in charge of Brexit negotiations with Britain, French Michel Barnier gestures during speeches at the European Parliament in Strasbourg Getty In pictures: European parliament Brexit discussions The President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker (L) speaks with European commission member in charge of Brexit negotiations with Britain, French Michel Barnier at the European Parliament in Strasbourg Getty In pictures: European parliament Brexit discussions European Union's chief Brexit negotiator Guy Verhofstadt, President of the Group of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE), addresses the European Parliament during a debate on Brexit priorities and the upcomming talks on the UK's withdrawal from the EU Reuters In pictures: European parliament Brexit discussions Getty In pictures: European parliament Brexit discussions German president Frank-Walter Steinmeier delivers a speech during a plenary session at the European Parliament in Strasbourg Getty In pictures: European parliament Brexit discussions The European Parliament in Strasbourg, eastern France Getty Images

He cited Belgium, which aggressively deports EU migrants without a job after six months, and Germany, which has moved to protect its nationals in particular industries such as construction.
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Labours position on the Grenfell Tower inquiry chairman is mired in confusion after the partys fire spokesman called for him to be sacked  while Jeremy Corbyn backed him.

Retired judge Sir Martin Moore-Bick is under growing pressure after some survivors of the tragedy said they had no confidence in his leadership of the investigation.

Suspicions have grown after Sir Martin said the inquiry would be limited to the causes of the deadly fire, why it spread so quickly and how fires could be prevented in future.

Recommended Combustible cladding used on Grenfell Tower still approved for use

Angry Grenfell residents argue that will leave unanswered vital wider questions about the devastating effects of local authority cuts, deregulation, outsourcing and weaker building regulations.

Arguing the judge had lost the confidence of local people, Chris Williamson, Labours fire spokesman, said: I think he should step down.

And, if he isnt prepared to do that, then I think the Government need to sack him and find someone else.

But The Independent has been told that the Labour leader did not support his own fire spokesmans call for the judge to be dismissed.

A source said Mr Corbyn did want a two-part inquiry, transparency and the full involvement of the residents to get the inquiry back on track.

Mr Williamson said Sir Martin had come down on the side of the establishment in some previous rulings. Judgments on housing and immigration have been controversial.

As I understand it, the survivors of this appalling tragedy dont want him to continue and have called for his resignation, he told BBC Radio 4s World at One programme.

Arguing their views had been ignored for years and years, Mr Williamson added: Its really important the Government listens now and puts someone in place that the community has confidence in.

Kensington MP Emma Dent Coad echoed Mr Williamson, telling the BBC: I have been talking to hundreds of people who have been affected.

They need somebody they can talk to, somebody with a bit of a human face. I don't think he should do it. I don't think there will be any credibility.

And a group called BME Lawyers 4 Grenfell called the appointment of Sir Martin astonishing, in a letter sent to the Prime Minister.

Your lack of consultation has increased the mistrust of both the Grenfell community and the wider community and led to firm opposition to the appointment, the group wrote.

But David Lidington, the Lord Chancellor, said he had complete confidence in Sir Martin to lead the inquiry  at the same time as hinting at a rethink on its narrow terms.

He said: People have every right to feel passionate about this. The community  and the whole country  want answers following such a horrific tragedy.

That is why it is right that there should be a judge-led inquiry into the disaster, and that the residents are consulted before the terms of reference are decided.

I have complete confidence that Sir Martin Moore-Bick will lead the inquiry into this tragedy with impartiality and with a determination to get to the truth and see justice done.
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Theresa May has been accused of burying a report about Saudi Arabian funding of Islamist extremism in the UK for fear it may damage relations with their ally.

The report, which was originally commissioned by David Cameron in January last year, was due to be completed by last Easter and is believed to have been in Ms Mays possession for at least six months.

The study, which began while Ms May was still Home Secretary, was designed to examine the origins and scale of funding of terror groups in the UK with an additional remit to follow international funding streams.

It is believed the report was commissioned as part of a deal struck with the Liberal Democrats to gain their support for British airstrikes against Syria in December 2015.

In a response to a parliamentary question asked by Green MP Caroline Lucas, Ms May said: The review into the funding of Islamist extremism has improved the Governments understanding of the nature, scale and sources of funding for Islamist extremism in the UK.

Ministers are considering advice on what is able to be published and will report to Parliament with an update in due course.

Last month, a spokesman for the Home Office admitted to The Guardian that the report may never be published as its contents were very sensitive.

Since coming to power in July last year Ms May has courted the conservative kingdom, which is one of the main buyers of UK-made arms.

Earlier this year, the Government approved 3.5bn-worth of arms exports licences to the Gulf state.

Several British ministers have visited Saudi Arabia over the last year to cultivate trading relationships as the UK looks for post-Brexit trading partners and the kingdom, under new Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman, is trying to diversify its economy away from oil.

The 10 developed countries suffering the most deaths from terrorism Show all 10 1 /10 The 10 developed countries suffering the most deaths from terrorism The 10 developed countries suffering the most deaths from terrorism 10: Greece AP The 10 developed countries suffering the most deaths from terrorism 9: Denmark Shutterstock The 10 developed countries suffering the most deaths from terrorism 8: Austalia Getty Images The 10 developed countries suffering the most deaths from terrorism 7: Sweden Ola Ericson/imagebank.sweden.se The 10 developed countries suffering the most deaths from terrorism 6: Mexico Reuters The 10 developed countries suffering the most deaths from terrorism 5: Germany Anthony Faiola/The Washington Post The 10 developed countries suffering the most deaths from terrorism 4: Israel AP The 10 developed countries suffering the most deaths from terrorism 3: US Getty The 10 developed countries suffering the most deaths from terrorism 2: France Getty The 10 developed countries suffering the most deaths from terrorism 1: Turkey AP

Ms Lucas called the delay astonishing, telling The Guardian: To defeat terror its vital that politicians have full view of the facts, even if they are inconvenient for the government.

Several political leaders have condemned the delay with Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn castigating the government for not addressing Saudi Arabia when talking about the need to tackle Islamist extremism.

In a speech in Carlisle on the election trail he said the "difficult conversations" Ms May wants to have about extremism need to start with "Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states".

It is no good Theresa May suppressing a report into the foreign funding of extremist groups. We have to get serious about cutting off the funding to these terror networks, including Isis, here and in the Middle East, he said.
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Theresa Mays future is in fresh jeopardy after a dramatic collapse in support among Conservative Party members.

The Prime Minister is now the second most unpopular Cabinet minister among the partys grassroots, according to a survey by the ConservativeHome website.

It gave her a net satisfaction rating of -26.1  an extraordinary decline from +89.1 just a few weeks ago, before her general election disaster.

The calculation is reached by subtracting the far larger number of respondents who believe Ms May is doing a bad job from those who still back her performance.

ConservativeHome described the results as a record fall in support  even larger than that experienced by Chancellor Philip Hammond, after his Budget U-turn earlier this year.

The survey laid bare Tory members support for hardline Brexiteers, making Brexit Secretary David Davis (+78.4) and Michael Gove, now back as Environment Secretary (+57.7) the most popular Cabinet ministers.

But Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson has dropped to 13th place, only just ahead of Andrea Leadsom, who pulled out of last years leadership race.

It is the second ConservativeHome survey to find Tory members turning against the Prime Minister after she destroyed her Commons majority.

Immediately after the election, almost 60 per cent of grassroots said Ms May must fall on her sword.

However, the latest research found that most Conservative members (56 per cent) believe the Prime Minister should go before the next election, rather than immediately (15 per cent).

Paul Goodman, the editors website, wrote: May falls from first and a score of 89.1 into negative territory: -26.1. Party members want her out as leader  though not yet.

That verdict appears to mirror the view taken by Conservative MPs, who have stepped back from mounting an immediate leadership challenge.

The consensus, for the time being, is that the Prime Minister should stay on, perhaps until Britain formally leaves the EU in March 2019.

Tory MPs are desperate to avoid another general election, fearing Jeremy Corbyn would win it, and suspect a change of leader would make that more likely.

Ms May appears to have steadied the ship  at Westminster, at least  since striking the controversial 1bn deal for the Democratic Unionist Party to prop her up in power.

However, she is seen as being at the mercy of events  in particular, a Commons revolts if she continues to pursue a hard Brexit.

The other hugely popular Conservative is Ruth Davidson, the Scottish leader, who enjoys a satisfaction rating of +84.5.

However, Ms Davidson  probably to the Prime Ministers relief  has shown no interest in seeking a seat at Westminster.

She outperforms every member of the Cabinet, and clearly would be very competitive for a leadership election were she in the Commons, Mr Goodman added.

Only party chairman Patrick McLoughlin (-29.3) is more unpopular than the Prime Minister, apparently sharing the blame for the election gamble backfiring.
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Many Americans gathering to celebrate Independence Day will mark the holiday at Arlington National Cemetery. But for visitors feeling patriotic, there is one item that is banned on the hallowed grounds: a waving American flag.

Earl Granville, a retired Army staff sergeant and veterans advocate who lost his leg in a bombing in Afghanistan, said that he was surprised to learn about the obscure federal law that prohibits visitors from carrying an unfurled US flag at the cemetery.

There's absolutely, positively nothing disrespectful whatsoever about carrying the colours to the cemetery where our fallen armed forces are buried, Granville said.

The law - 38 U.S. Code  2413 - emerged in 2006 when former US Representative Mike Rogers, Republican-Michigan, grew angry after watching mourners at a military burial face chants and taunting and some of the most vile things I have ever heard, Rogers told the Associated Press at the time.

Rogers was referring to protests by members of the Topeka, Kansas-based Westboro Baptist Church, who showed up at Arlington burials with posters chiding mourners with messages such as Thank God for dead soldiers. They picketed military funerals, claiming that combat deaths represented God's anger for the country's tolerance of homosexuality.

In response, Rogers helped write the Respect for America's Fallen Heroes Act, a bill that made it illegal to protest funerals held at Arlington Cemetery and the 135 burial grounds run by the National Cemetery Administration. In its broad definition of demonstration, the legislation specifically made it unlawful to display any placard, banner, flag or similar device.

A violation carries a penalty of up to a year in prison.

Families deserve the time to bury their American heroes with dignity and in peace, Rogers told the Associated Press in 2006. Rogers did not respond to repeated requests for comment from The Washington Post.

The bill received widespread bipartisan support and passed easily.

The American Civil Liberties Union opposed the law, saying it raised the possibility of government censorship.

But Lee Rowland, an ACLU lawyer, said that when it comes to flags, the law is written carefully. By banning all flags, the law purposely avoids violating a visitor's First Amendment right to free speech.

In the eyes of the law both an American flag and a Nazi flag express a clear message and thus are both worthy of First Amendment protections no matter how much we may disagree with one of them, Rowland said. It's an all-or-nothing proposition... Even if the results in practice may feel unjust.

Tim Marshall, the author of the 2017 book, A Flag Worth Dying For: The Power and Politics of National Symbols, said that the American flag has represented, liberty, loyalty and rebellion. Although hoisting the flag can be a form of patriotism, Marshall said, burning it can also be an expression of freedom.

The law that prevents Arlington visitors from carrying the flag, Marshall said, has a paradoxical logic in it. That to uphold one freedom, you curtail another.

Arlington spokeswoman Barbara Lewandrowski said that before Memorial Day, members of the Army's 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment place small flags in front of each of the cemetery's 280,000-plus headstones and burial markers. These small flags are exempt from the law, which allows for displays as part of a funeral, memorial service, or ceremony.

Arlington National Cemetery staff works diligently to honour and respect all families who come to pay their respects to loved ones and we tirelessly ensure a safe and peaceful environment for our visitors, Lewandrowski wrote in a statement to The Post.

Several regulations tightly govern decorum at the cemetery to preserve the sanctity of the burial ground. Flowers left at graves are removed as soon as they become wilted and visitors are not allowed to affix anything to the headstones, including photographs of the deceased. It's all part of the tradition of Arlington, said Joe Davis, a spokesman for the Veterans of Foreign Wars.

There is no more patriotic and revered place in America than Arlington National Cemetery, Davis said. But being a military installation, rules must still be abided by.

Six years ago, Keith Jolly, a former Marine, founded the Ruck to Remember, a commemorative 60-mile march to the cemetery's Section 60, where a majority of the casualties of Iraq and Afghanistan are buried.

In May, more than 150 people participated in the charity event, Jolly said. But before entering the cemetery, he said, participants were told to roll up their flags or fold them and place them inside their rucksacks. Jolly said that he does not agree with the law, but he won't let it interfere with the spirit of the Memorial Day weekend march, which is about those laid in there in the cemetery.

I wish there was a way, to carry flags on the grounds, Jolly said. It's not ideal... It'd be perfect if we could.

Paul Rieckhoff, founder and president of the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, said that the law banning flags at Arlington Cemetery is ripe for adjustment or amendment to provide flexibility for respectfully presenting the colours.

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. 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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. 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Rieckhoff said that the law remains largely unknown, noting that if members of the IAVA network were aware of it they'd be outraged.

If someone is in there with the colours in a respectful way, or paying homage in a respectful way, then they should allow it, Rieckhoff said.

The Washington Post
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A US hospital has reportedly offered to treat British baby Charlie Gard for free in a last-ditch effort to save the terminal ill childs life.

It comes after Donald Trump intervened and said the US would be delighted to help the 10-month-old, who suffers from the rare genetic condition mitochondrial depletion syndrome, which causes brain damage and muscle weakness.

The unnamed hospital has reportedly offered to give the baby a new experimental treatment at no cost if he is able to travel to the US.

Recommended Donald Trump offers to help terminally ill child Charlie Gard

Charlie has been the subject of a lengthy legal battle after Great Ormond Street Hospital doctors proposed switching off his life support machine. His parents, Connie Yates and Chris Gard, challenged the decision but lost their battle when the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) refused to intervene, effectively confirming that the machine could be turned off.

Doctors have agreed to give the parents a few more days with their son.

The offer of help from a US hospital, reported by The Sun, came a day after Mr Trump wrote on Twitter: "If we can help little Charlie Gard, as per our friends in the UK and the Pope, we would be delighted to do so."

The Pope had earlier said he was praying for Charlies parents and was following the situation with affection and commotion.

A White House spokesperson added: Upon learning of baby Charlie Gards situation, President Trump has offered to help the family in this heartbreaking situation. Although the President himself has not spoken to the family, he does not want to pressure them in any way. Members of the administration have spoken to the family in calls facilitated by the British Government.

The President is just trying to be helpful if at all possible.

Due to legal issues, we cannot confirm the name of doctor or hospital where the baby could be treated in the United States.

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

Charlies parents, who are both in their thirties and live in west London, have already raised more than 1.3m to take their son to the US for treatment.

In a video posted on Facebook, they said they felt massively let down by a legal process that has seen three UK courts and the ECHR rule against them. "We are utterly heartbroken, spending our last precious hours with our baby boy, they said.

"We're not allowed to choose if our son lives and we're not allowed to choose when or where Charlie dies. We, and most importantly Charlie, have been massively let down throughout this whole process.

Charlies doctors have said he is in continued pain, suffering and distress and that the experimental treatment in the US would continue to cause significant harm with little benefit.
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Donald Trump has responded to North Koreas latest ballistic missile test on Twitter, suggesting it could prompt a retaliatory move from China that would end this nonsense once and for all.

Following the news of the missile launch, the President tweeted: North Korea just launched another missile. Does this guy have anything better to do with his life?

Hard to believe that South Korea and Japan will put up with this much longer. Perhaps China will put a heavy move on North Korea and end this nonsense once and for all!

Recommended North Korea claims successful intercontinental ballistic missile test

The missile launched by North Korea on Monday was first reported as a single, land-based intermediate range ballistic missile that was tracked for 37 minutes before it landed in the Sea of Japan.

The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) said in a statement that the missile launch did not pose a threat to North America, adding that the weapon had been fired from North Koreas Panghyon Airfield.

North Korea has since claimed the event was it test-launching its first intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM).

ICBMs are designed to transport nuclear warheads thousands of miles.

The country has previously conducted satellite launches that critics say were disguised tests of long-range missile technology.

South Koreas president Moon Jae-in has since said the launch may have been an intercontinental ballistic missile, while a spokesman from the Chinese foreign ministry has called for restraint following North Koreas claim.

 Trump says US patience with North Korea 'is over'

If confirmed as an intercontinental ballistic missile, the move would be considered a game-changer by countries looking to check North Koreas push for a nuclear-armed missile that can reach anywhere in the United States.

Chinas ambassador to the UN has already warned that further escalation of tensions with North Korea would risk the situation getting out of control, claiming that the consequences would be disastrous.

Additional reporting by Associated Press
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Any resident in Florida can now challenge what kids learn in public schools, thanks to a new law that science education advocates worry will make it harder to teach evolution and climate change.

The legislation, which was signed by Governor Rick Scott (Republican) last week and went into effect Saturday, requires school boards to hire an unbiased hearing officer who will handle complaints about instructional materials, such as movies, textbooks and novels, that are used in local schools. Any parent or county resident can file a complaint, regardless of whether they have a student in the school system. If the hearing officer deems the challenge justified, he or she can require schools to remove the material in question.

The statute includes general guidelines about what counts as grounds for removal: belief that the material is pornographic or is not suited to student needs and their ability to comprehend the material presented, or is inappropriate for the grade level and age group.

Proponents of the new law say it makes the challenge process easier for parents and gives residents a greater say in their children's education. And state Representative Byron Donalds, Republican-Naples, who sponsored the bill, told Nature in May that his intent wasn't to target any particular subject.

But Glenn Branch, deputy director of the National Council for Science Education, said that affidavits filed by supporters of the bill suggest that science instruction will be a focus of challenges. One affidavit from a Collier County resident complained that evolution and global warming were taught as reality. Another criticised her child's sixth-grade science curriculum, writing that the two main theories on the origin of man are the theory of evolution and creationism, and that her daughter had only been taught about evolution.

It's just the candour with which the backers of the bill have been saying, 'Yeah, we're going to go after evolution, we're going to go after climate change,' that has him worried, Branch said.

Recommended Kentucky to allow public schools to teach from the Bible

Based on the affidavits, it seems likely that the law will also be used to request the removal of library books that parents find objectionable.

The Florida statute is one of 13 measures proposed this year that Branch and his colleagues consider anti-science. In Idaho, the legislature rejected several sections of the state's new public school science standards related to climate change - the standards committee was asked to rewrite those sections and resubmit them for approval this fall. Alabama and Indiana both adopted nonbinding resolutions on teacher's academic freedom, which are generally understood as encouraging educators to teach the controversy around subjects like climate change.

Whether it be evolution or the argument about global warming, we don't want teachers to be afraid to converse about such things, state Sen. Jeff Raatz, Republican-Centerville, a supporter of the resolution, told Frontline.

Similar measures in other states didn't make it into law, but a number of them have advanced farther than we really expected, Branch said. He called 2017 a busy year for this type of legislation.

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In Florida, a group called Florida Citizens for Science urged people keep an eye on challenges to school instructional materials in the coming year.

At this point the fight is at the local level, the group's communication director, Brandon Haught, wrote in a blog post. If you're not there and willing to stand up for sound science education, then we're done.

The Washington Post
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Today the US celebrates 246 years of independence from colonial British rule, the end of the Revolutionary War and the day a global superpower was born.

Millions of Americans will gather to enjoy fireworks, parades, picnics and barbecues with their loved ones, an occasion free of coronavirus restrictions for the first time since 2019.

To mark the occasion, we look back at the history of the Fourth of July and the men who made it all possible.

America lost its second and third presidents on the same day

Three US presidents have died on 4 July, all Founding Fathers and two on the same day: 4 July 1826, the 50th anniversary of the countrys foundation.

Thomas Jeffersons later years were riddled with ill health and debt. The third president died at home in Virginia, aged 83, surrounded by his family.

That same day, John Adams, who had succeeded George Washington and masterminded the Declaration of Independence, also passed away at home in Quincy, Massachusetts, aged 85.

Tragically, Adams consoled himself with the final words Thomas Jefferson survives, the statesman mercifully unaware that his friend and fellow nation-builder had himself expired just hours earlier.

These men would be joined by the fifth president, James Monroe, who died on 4 July 1831. The Adams legacy lived on, however. John's son, John Quincy Adams, served as the sixth.

The Boston Tea Party and a fight for freedom

American independence was the product of years of souring relations with Great Britain, as the citizens of the Thirteen American Colonies grew increasingly frustrated with Parliamentary rule from across the Atlantic and the notion of "taxation without representation".

Discontent began brewing in 1763 as the House of Commons introduced measures to increase revenue from its imperial subjects, with the Stamp Act of 1765 and the Townshend Acts of 1767 sparking particular anger across the pond.

Matters came to a head with the Boston Tea Party in 1773, when a political protest group known as the Sons of Liberty dressed as Native Americans and dumped an entire shipment of British tea leaves imported by the East India Company into the harbour. The demonstration was both a gleeful satire of the ruling powers obsession with its national beverage and a call to arms against the decadence and entitlement of empire.

The bloody War of Independence broke out in earnest two years later.

(Library of Congress/Wikimedia Commons)

The signing of the Declaration of Independence

A year into the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War, delegates from the Thirteen Colonies gathered to compose a statement formally declaring their sovereignty from London.

Known as the Second Continental Congress, the meeting saw the leaders come together at the Pennsylvanian State House in Philadelphia to sign a document that would both renounce British imperial control and introduce a new nation: the United States of America.

Drafted by the Committee of Five  John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman and Robert Livingston  the document established citizens "unalienable" rights, observing that "all men are created equal" and enshrining the individuals entitlement to "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness".

The draft was submitted to Congress on 28 June 1776, voted into law on 2 July and formally ratified on 4 July, a date that has been celebrated by patriotic Americans ever since.

Among the most famous statesmen to sign the declaration was John Hancock, whose name lives on as a synonym for signature, as well as Adams and Jefferson, both then future presidents in waiting.

Benjamin Franklin: Enlightenment polymath

While the Founding Fathers were all men of grand vision, none was more so than Benjamin Franklin.

Later celebrated as the First American, Franklin embodied the Puritan work ethic of the 18th century, serving as political campaigner, diplomat, ambassador to France, postmaster-general and newspaper publisher while still finding time to dabble in freemasonry, music, chess and scientific experimentation. It is in this final capacity that he is best remembered outside of the political sphere today.

Franklin first experimented with electricity in 1746 and successfully trapped lightning by flying a kite in a storm from a Philadelphia hillside in 1752, therein establishing both the principle of battery storage and the lightning rod.

Franklins other inventions included bifocal glasses, a metal-lined cooking stove and a flexible urinary catheter. Truly a remarkable man.

Thomas Jeffersons not-so-secret mistress

Although hailed as the author of independence, Jefferson was no saint.

The third president of the United States kept slaves, among them Sally Hemings (1773-1835), a mixed-race servant girl whose six children Jefferson is widely believed to have fathered following the death of his wife Martha in 1782.

A DNA study in 1998 established a direct genetic link between the revered politician and Eston Hemings, Sallys youngest son.

(Getty Images)

Hemings lived and worked on Jeffersons Monticello plantation home in Charlottesville, Virginia, and travelled with him to Paris, where their relationship is thought to have first been consummated.

The affair was controversial at the time and used to discredit Jefferson by political journalist James T Callender, though the president himself never confirmed or denied it.

Hemings four surviving teenage children were released from slavery upon Jeffersons death as stipulated in his will, as was Sally herself, who lived the final nine years of her life as a free woman, residing near Monticello with her two sons until her death.
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The US may still meet carbon emissions reduction targets laid out in the Paris Agreement despite Donald Trump's withdrawal from the pact, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said.

Mr Trump took the US out of the global agreement signed by nearly 200 countries in the US as an effort to control global warming and help poorer countries adapt to an already-changed planet in December 2015.

He stated repeatedly that the agreement put American workers at an "economic disadvantage," particularly in the natural gas and coal sectors.

Recommended Barack Obama makes dig at Donald Trump over Paris climate deal

Mr Guterres' optimism is likely due to the nearly 1000 mayors, state governors, and CEOs who have signed their own pact to keep fighting climate change.

Twenty Fortune 500 companies, including Apple, eBay, Gap Inc., Google, Intel, Microsoft, Nike, and several universities are among the signatories. A separate mayoral pledge was signed by over 200 cities to build a clean energy economy.

Michael Bloomberg, the former New York Mayor and now UN Special Envoy on Climate Change and Cities, is "convinced" that this will be enough for the US to meet the targets.

Though the Paris deal includes national plans for climate action, those countries all have authority over their own targets. The agreement is not legally binding for the US. In fact, Mr Trump did not necessarily need to formally withdraw the US in order to simply change or not meet the federal targets.

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

Cities and states can set their own goals, though given the Trump administration's proposed budget cuts to the Environmental Protection Agency and other climate-related programmes in the State Department, they will likely have to use state funds or private sector investment in order to meet them.

Another factor that may have prompted Mr Guterres to say the US is likely to meet its targets is the US military, which has done extensive work in protecting coastlines where military bases are located and researching the connections between conflict and climate. Defence Secretary James Mattis has said in the past that climate change is a national security threat.

Mr Guterres said in a speech in Lisbon, Portugal, that Mr Trump's decision to withdraw from the global Paris agreement last month actually strengthened the deal to fighting global warming by prompting other major countries to reaffirm their commitment to it.

China and India are now leaders in renewable energy, particularly solar power. Countries like France, Germany, and Italy banded together to say that despite Mr Trump's declaration that the Paris Agreement needed to be renegotiated - they were not interested in doing so. They and the EU will continue to work on promoting more "green" policies and economic growth around the world.

Leaders from all the countries are set to meet for the G20 meeting 7-8 July in Hamburg, Germany.
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Donald Trump will soon come face-to-face with the man US intelligence services believe directed an unprecedented plot to meddle in the 2016 presidential election and help the US leader take power, Russian President Vladimir Putin.

It is believed that the war in Syria and the conflict in Ukraine will be the main talking points when Mr Trump meets with Mr Putin later this week at the G20 summit in Germany. But it is uncertain whether Mr Trump will bring up how Russian attackers attempted to interfere in the US election. The Russian President continues to deny any involvement in the cyber attacks.

Mr Trump warmed up his visit to Hamburg by speaking to both German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni over the telephone on Monday. Ms Merkel has made it clear that she is displeased with the US's withdrawal from the Paris climate change agreement, and climate was one of the main topics on the call. She and Mr Trump may also clash over the issue at the summit.

However, it appears that Mr Trump's sideline meeting with Mr Putin will be the main attraction at the summit for many. Mr Trump  whose campaign advisers are facing several investigations into whether they colluded with the Russian government  has a difficult task. If he appears too friendly, critics will leap on the meeting as an example of the President being too soft with Mr Putin and the Kremlin. But, if he is too frosty, Mr Trump could lose the chance to try and repair relations that he has admitted are at a low.

It is not clear whether this will even be the first meeting between Mr Trump and Mr Putin. During a presidential debate in October, Mr Trump denied that he has ever met the Russian President, despite having claimed several times in the past that they have crossed paths. Mr Trump has previously praised Mr Putin in public, and the Russian president has described the US leader as bright and talented.

The White House has, perhaps understandably, been cagey about discussing the subject matters potentially on the table. Two Trump administration officials told CNN that the main issues Mr Trump and Mr Putin will discuss will be the complex civil war in Syria and the situation in Ukraine. Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014, eliciting international outrage that led to the Obama administration and other countries sanctioning Russia.

Mr Trumps national security advisor HR McMaster told reporters last week: Theres no specific agenda. Its really going to be whatever the president wants to talk about.

Mr McMaster did say administration officials had been instructed to draw up options to confront Russia over destabilising behaviour such as cyber threats and political subversion. Other topics of conversation could include how the two countries might cooperate over North Korea.

While the White House has mostly been tight-lipped about what the two leaders will discuss in Germany, the Russians have offered more hints.

The Kremlin has said Mr Putin will demand the return of two diplomatic compounds that were closed by the US last December as part of the retaliation over the election meddling.

The Russian Presidents foreign affairs adviser, Yuri Ushakov, said on Monday that his government had shown unusual flexibility by not retaliating when then-President Obama confiscated the two compounds in New York state and Maryland and expelled 35 Russian diplomats, but that Moscow's patience "has its limits".

Mr Ushakov urged Washington to free Russia from the need to take retaliatory moves.

The compounds were formally used by the Russian embassy as recreational facilities, but US intelligence agencies have asserted they were bases for espionage.

A statement from the Russian government said the Kremlin expected that Mr Putin would convey the need to find the most rapid resolution on the issue, describing it as an irritant in Russian-US relations.

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

During Mr Obama's presidency, relations between Moscow and Washington were deemed to be at their worst since the Cold War  and they do not appear to have warmed much under the Trump administration.

Congress is currently attempting to pass legislation that would toughen sanctions on Russia. The Senate's bill would also establish a new congressional review process that would allow Congress to block Mr Trump if he tries to ease sanctions on Moscow.

However, despite the tension between the two governments, the Kremlin has listed areas in which it believes Russia could cooperate with the US. These issues include Russias dissatisfaction with US sanctions, its desire to cooperate on international terrorism, the crisis in Syria and improving efforts around nuclear arms control.

There is significant potential for coordinating efforts, the Kremlin said, adding our countries can do much together in resolving regional crises.

In Syria, Russia and the US are on opposite sides of the war, with the Kremlin supporting the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Last month, Russian officials threatened to treat US-led coalition planes flying in Syria, west of the Euphrates River, as targets after the US shot down a fighter jet belonging Syrian Government.

But not all may be lost, with work already beginning on ties ahead of the meeting between Mr Trump and Mr Putin.

Russian Ambassador Sergei Kislyak, under immense scrutiny in the US over his contacts with Trump campaign associates, met in Washington with Undersecretary of State Thomas Shannon on Monday. Their meeting focused partially on preparations for the G20 summit.

Mr Shannon and Mr Kislyak also used their time together to discuss the possibility of a new meeting between Mr Shannon and Russia's deputy foreign minister, Sergey Ryabkov, the State Department said, a move that would signal the two powers were again focused on trying to establish a functioning relationship. It was unclear if and when such a meeting would take place.

Mr Ryabkov and Mr Shannon had been slated to host an ongoing series of discussions aimed at addressing irritants that have thwarted efforts to get the US-Russia relationship back on track. The goal was to resolve smaller issues first, in hopes of restoring a base level of trust that could clear the way for broader discussions about Syria, Ukraine and other global crises. But Moscow nixed the second session last month to protest against new Trump administration sanctions over Russia's actions in Ukraine.
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A woman from Las Vegas who died of brain injuries after being beaten into a coma by her ex-boyfriend predicted her own death on social media.

Stella Martinez, 39, was attacked and choked on the ground in her back yard on 3 June by 41-year-old Christopher Wood, who had broken into her home, according to police. She died in hospital three weeks later.

Mr Wood was arrested on attempted murder, attempted burglary and domestic battery by strangulation charges that are expected to be upgraded before a 14 July preliminary hearing of evidence against him.

It has now emerged that Ms Martinez had predicted her death online, recounting her failed efforts to get help from police in a series of chilling Facebook posts documenting the couples tumultuous relationship.

Ill be dead before (they) do anything, she wrote in a Facebook comment in January, according to Las Vegas Review-Journal.

Although I have no doubt (youre) still going to try to kill me but you will never find me, she added.

Social media posts suggest the pair began dating around May 2016. They are in a number of photographs together throughout 2016 and can be seen in August and October exchanging expressions of love on each others pages.

But in January 2017, Ms Martinez posted on Mr Woods page calling him a sociopath.

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

I wish I never met you, I did everything for you, she wrote, before accusing him of destroying her life. She added that she was calling him out on social media to take back her power and warn other women about him.

In one comment, she described failed efforts to seek help from authorities, saying police had taken his side in previous disputes and would not help her.

Jessica Avras, Ms Martinezs sister-in-law, told the Review-Journal she had called the police several times, but that after one fight, North Las Vegas officers booked Ms Martinez, not Mr Wood, on a domestic violence charge.

After this, she stopped calling the police because she was afraid they would turn against her, Ms Avras said
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A baby boy who was shot and severely injured while still inside his mothers womb, is fighting for his life in a case doctors say they have never experienced before.

We had never seen this before, Rafael Lopes, the head surgeon at the Moacyr Rodrigues de Carmo hospital in Brazils Rio de Janeiro, told reporters.

The baby, named Arthur, became the latest - and youngest - victim of the citys unrelenting gun violence when his mother was hit by a stray bullet during a shootout in one Rios favelas.

The baby's mother was struck in crossfire during a gun fight (Facebook)

While his mother, Claudineia dos Santos Melo, is in a stable and non-life threatening condition, doctors said the little boys lungs and spine had been badly injured in the shooting on June 30. According to the Associated Press, doctors said it was a miracle Arthur was still alive. He is breathing with the help of machines and is currently paraplegic. They said it was too soon to say if he would remain so.

According to Fogo Cruzado, or Crossfire, a free app created by Amnesty International Brazil, there have been an average of 13 shootings a day in the Rio metropolitan area over the past 11 months. Most of the shootings occur in poor, hillside communities controlled by drug gangs.

 Brazilian plane crash survivor starts walking again

On the same day Ms dos Santos was shot, a mother and daughter were killed in the Mangueira favela near the Maracana stadium, as police and criminals exchanged fire for more than three hours.

Marlene Maria da Conceicao, 76, was shot in the doorway of her home. Her 42-year-old daughter, Ana Cristina da Conceicao, was also hit when she tried to help her mother.

World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. Firefighters have brought the fire under control but they expected to keep working through the day EPA World news in pictures 15 September 2020 Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posing for a selfie with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital. In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. Thousands of asylum seekers on the island of Lesbos are now homeless AFP via Getty World news in pictures 9 September 2020 Pope Francis takes off his face mask as he arrives by car to hold a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 8 September 2020 A home is engulfed in flames during the "Creek Fire" in the Tollhouse area of California AFP via Getty World news in pictures 7 September 2020 A couple take photos along a sea wall of the waves brought by Typhoon Haishen in the eastern port city of Sokcho AFP via Getty World news in pictures 6 September 2020 Novak Djokovic and a tournament official tends to a linesperson who was struck with a ball by Djokovic during his match against Pablo Carreno Busta at the US Open USA Today Sports/Reuters World news in pictures 5 September 2020 Protesters confront police at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, during an anti-lockdown rally AFP via Getty World news in pictures 4 September 2020 A woman looks on from a rooftop as rescue workers dig through the rubble of a damaged building in Beirut. A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. Dozens of fires are burning out of control throughout Northern California as fire resources are spread thin AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 August 2020 Students use their mobile phones as flashlights at an anti-government rally at Mahidol University in Nakhon Pathom. Thailand has seen near-daily protests in recent weeks by students demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha AFP via Getty World news in pictures 17 August 2020 Members of the Kayapo tribe block the BR163 highway during a protest outside Novo Progresso in Para state, Brazil. Indigenous protesters blocked a major transamazonian highway to protest against the lack of governmental support during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic and illegal deforestation in and around their territories AFP via Getty World news in pictures 16 August 2020 Lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes over Oakland AP World news in pictures 15 August 2020 Belarus opposition supporters gather near the Pushkinskaya metro station where Alexander Taraikovsky, a 34-year-old protester died on August 10, during their protest rally in central Minsk AFP via Getty World news in pictures 14 August 2020 AlphaTauri's driver Daniil Kvyat takes part in the second practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo near Barcelona ahead of the Spanish F1 Grand Prix AFP via Getty World news in pictures 13 August 2020 Soldiers of the Brazilian Armed Forces during a disinfection of the Christ The Redeemer statue at the Corcovado mountain prior to the opening of the touristic attraction in Rio AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 August 2020 Young elephant bulls tussle playfully on World Elephant Day at the Amboseli National Park in Kenya AFP via Getty

The state government has abandoned the communities, said Mangueira community leader Washington Fortunato at the women's funeral.

Arthur was born by emergency caesarean. Gynaecologist Jose Carlos Oliveira, called his survival a miracle happening before our eyes.

Today, he is paraplegic, but anything can happen in the life of this child, he told the BBC.

The babys father, Klebson da Silva, 27, has visited the pair in hospital and told reporters that he was filled with hope after seeing his victorious son.

Ms dos Santos may give her testimony to police from hospital on Tuesday, according to O Globo newspaper.

The childs uncle, Leonardo dos Santos, also expressed hope over the situation.

I want to see the baby grown strong and walk and run alongside the family, he said. The relatives here are all praying together.
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Joey Jaws Chestnut and powered his way to a 10th title, continuing his record-setting reign as the eating champion at the annual Nathan's Famous July Fourth hot dog eating contest.

Shoving water-soaked buns and wriggling franks into his mouth on a hot, sunny day on the Coney Island boardwalk, he downed 72 dogs and buns in 10 minutes to beat his own record and hoist the Mustard Belt for a 10th time. The San Jose, California, man bested up-and-comer Carmen Cincotti, of Mays Landing, New Jersey, who ate 62 franks and buns on his 24th birthday.

Miki Sudo notched a fourth straight win in the women's competition. The Las Vegas woman ate 41 hot dogs and buns to beat Michelle Lesco of Tucson, Arizona, who downed 32 franks and buns.

Recommended The history of the hot dog and other strange food tales

During the men's competition, five people were taken into custody for trying to disrupt the event, police said. The people appeared to be attempting to unfold a black banner before police stopped them and took them away. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (Peta) members had been giving away free vegan hot dogs outside the event, but spokeswoman Tricia Lebkuecher said the people arrested inside weren't affiliated with Peta.

Joey Chestnut arrives for the Nathan's Famous hot dog eating contest (Bebeto Matthews/AP)

Mr Chestnut has dominated the chowdown throwdown for years, eating 70 franks and buns last year to top his then-record and take back the title from Matt The Megatoad Stonie. The 25-year-old Stonie came in third on Tuesday, with 48 franks and buns.

Michelle Lesco, left, Miki Sudo, centre, and Sonya Thomas compete in the Nathan's Famous Hotdog eating contest (Michael Noble Jr/AP)

There's no secret, I love to eat, and I love doing it, I love to win, so I had to figure out my body and push it to the limit, a sweating Chestnut said after his win. The 33-year-old said he'd hoped to down even more dogs but was leaving feeling good.

Joey Chestnut prepares for the start of the Nathan's Famous hot dog eating contest (Bebeto Matthews/AP)

Mr Cincotti said he'd eaten a thousand hot dogs since May in preparation for his second try at the Mustard Belt. Getting to even second place is surreal  I grew up watching this contest, he said.

Police remove activists as they try to protest the hot dog eating contest (Bebeto Matthews/AP)

Meanwhile, the women's side has featured a yearslong rivalry between Ms Sudo and record-holder Sonya The Black Widow Thomas, of Alexandria, Virginia. Thomas, who's 50, came in third on Tuesday with 30 dogs and buns, well shy of her record 45.

Ms Sudo told ESPN she just came back better than ever this year. She's 31; Lesco is 33.

Miki Sudo celebrates her fourth Nathan's Famous Hot dog eating contest win (Michael Noble Jr/AP)

One of America's most outlandish July Fourth traditions, the contest dates to 1972, though the company has for years promoted what a former president acknowledged was a legendary start date of 1916.

Leigh Brown and her husband brought her 11-year-old sons, Carter and Corbyn, all the way from Florida to see it.

They really wanted to come. They always watched it on TV, so it's pretty special for them, Ms Brown said.

Associated Press
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US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has said "global action" is required to stop the "global threat" posed by North Korea as tensions rose following the rogue state's successful test of its first intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM).

Ratcheting up the pressure on Pyongyang, Mr Tillerson said the US would "enact stronger measures" against the North, adding Washington would never accept it as a nuclear power.

South Korea also warned the North's leadership would face "destruction" as it and the US carried out tests of missiles with "deep-strike, precision capability".

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said that its ICBM test-firing completed the country's strategic weapons capability, adding that it would not negotiate with the United States to give up the long-range missiles until Washington abandoned its hostile policy against the North, the country's KCNA news agency said. Mr Kim was said to have described the missile as a "gift" for the "American bastards".

Mr Tillerson's statements were the first official confirmation that the US authorities believe the North's claim about its ICBM capabilities to be true. He said the US would discuss its proposals at the United Nations Security Council and a meeting was due to take place on Wednesday.

"Global action is required to stop a global threat," Mr Tillerson said.

"Any country that hosts North Korean guest workers, provides any economic or military benefits, or fails to fully implement UN Security Council resolutions is aiding and abetting a dangerous regime."

The US "will never accept a nuclear-armed North Korea", he stressed.

The US Department of Defence backed up Mr Tillerson's remarks with bullish talk of its own.

"We remain prepared to defend ourselves and our allies and to use the full range of capabilities at our disposal against the growing threat from North Korea," said Pentagon spokeswoman Dana White.

"Our commitment to the defence of our allies, the Republic of Korea and Japan, in the face of these threats, remains ironclad."

In a further sign of the increased tensions, the US and South Korea conducted an offensive ballistic missile drill early on Wednesday, defying a call for a freeze on such activity by Russia and China.

The American military said the exercise  which fired missiles into the sea off South Korea's coast  demonstrated "deep strike precision capability".

In a statement about the missile drill, the office of the South Korean President, Moon Jae-in, said: "President Moon said North Korea's serious provocation required us to react with more than just a statement and that we need to clearly show our missile defense readiness to North Korea."

South Korea's military also warned the North's leadership would face "destruction" if it threatened the security of the South or its allies, the Yonhap news agency reported.

The US President and his South Korean counterpart met in Washington this week to discuss further sanctions against the North with Donald Trump saying the era of strategic patience with the North Korean regime has failed.

Efforts by Russia and China to ease tensions were set out in a joint statement from the two countries' foreign ministries, issued shortly after President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping held talks in the Kremlin.

The situation in the region affects the national interests of both countries, it said.

Russia and China will work in close coordination to advance a solution to the complex problem of the Korean Peninsula in every possible way.

The statement said Washington was using North Korea as a pretext to expand its military infrastructure in Asia and risked upsetting the strategic balance of power in the area.

In pictures: North Korea military drill Show all 8 1 /8 In pictures: North Korea military drill In pictures: North Korea military drill North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un watches a military drill marking the 85th anniversary of the establishment of the Korean People's Army (KPA) KCNA/Handout via REUTERS In pictures: North Korea military drill A military drill marking the 85th anniversary of the establishment of the Korean People's Army (KPA) is seen in this handout photo by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) KCNA/Handout via REUTERS In pictures: North Korea military drill A military drill marking the 85th anniversary of the establishment of the Korean People's Army (KPA) is seen in this handout photo by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) KCNA/Handout via REUTERS In pictures: North Korea military drill A military drill marking the 85th anniversary of the establishment of the Korean People's Army (KPA) KCNA/Handout via REUTERS In pictures: North Korea military drill A military drill marking the 85th anniversary of the establishment of the Korean People's Army (KPA) KCNA/Handout via REUTERS In pictures: North Korea military drill This image made from video of still images broadcast in a news bulletin by North Korea's KRT, shows what was said to be a 'Combined Fire Demonstration' held to celebrate the 85th anniversary of the North Korean army, in Wonsan, North Korea. KRT via AP Video In pictures: North Korea military drill This image made from video of still images broadcast in a news bulletin by North Korea's KRT, shows what was said to be a 'Combined Fire Demonstration' held to celebrate the 85th anniversary of the North Korean army, in Wonsan, North Korea. KRT via AP Video In pictures: North Korea military drill This image made from video of still images broadcast in a news bulletin by North Korea's KRT, shows what was said to be a 'Combined Fire Demonstration' held to celebrate the 85th anniversary of the North Korean army, in Wonsan, North Korea. KRT via AP Video

North Korean state television said the test of the Hwasong-14, which took place early on Tuesday morning local time, was overseen by the country's leader. It said the projectile had reached an altitude of 1,731 miles and flew for 39 minutes before hitting a target in the sea.

It added North Korea was now a full-fledged nuclear power that has been possessed of the most powerful intercontinental ballistic rocket capable of hitting any part of the world.

The North's state-run KCNA news agency reported that after Mr Kim witnessed the tests "he said American bastards would be not very happy with this gift sent on the July 4 anniversary".

Experts said the capabilities of the missile remained unclear  with some disgreement over the potential range of the missile  but said it marked a potential milestone in North Koreas efforts to project its nuclear capability.

David Wright, of the Global Security Programme at the Union of Concerned Scientists, said if the reports were true, the missile would have a maximum range of around roughly 4,160 miles on a standard trajectory.

That range would not be enough to reach the lower 48 states or the large islands of Hawaii, but would allow it to reach all of Alaska, he said in a blog post.

Karl Dewey, an analyst with Janes Information Group, said a successful development of an ICBM by North Korea, would give decision-makers in Washington reason to pause for thought before deciding to strike the communist regime.

Some have suggested the missile could even travel further, if launched in an easterly direction given the Earths rotation. This would technically enable North Korea to target not just all of Alaska, but a small part of northwestern Canada.

Jean Lee of Wilson Centre in Washington said the latest test was cause for people to be worried. Test-firing a ballistic missile just days after the Trump-Moon summit, where the two leaders discussed tightening sanctions against North Korea, is Pyongyangs way of sending a message of defiance to the US and South Korean leaders, she said.

Its also strategic: if the US and South Korea are going to step up sanctions, North Korea will certainly move faster in getting its illicit nuclear and ballistic missile programmes as far along as they can before any negotiations on a freeze or dismantlement.

Reuters and the Associated Press contributed to this report
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A police officer who rescued an abused young boy he found tied up in a bin has adopted him.

Jody Thompson first came into contact with his now son when he was off duty in 2015. He was pulling into the car park at the Poteau Police Department in Oklahoma to drop off his partner when he overheard a dispatch about a case of physical child abuse.

Despite not being on duty, Mr Thompson offered to respond to the call, given his experience handling child abuse cases during his time working at the district attorneys office.

"I've investigated child abuse cases before. I thought I'd better go ahead and respond, Mr Thompson told CBS News.

He arrived at the scene to find a severely underweight boy, called John, whose wrists had been bound by belts and who was covered in bruises.

The eight-year-old, who weighed just over four stone at the time, had been immersed in a dustbin full of cold water.

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 did not have a spot on his body that didn't have a bruise or abrasion. It was the worst thing I've ever seen, Mr Thompson said.

The officers then took John, covered in a blanket, to an Oklahoma Childrens Advocacy Centre so detectives and investigators could take photos. He then drove him to hospital, where he sat by his side all night as the child recovered in the intensive care unit.

"I sat with him. And when he was admitted to the intensive care unit, I sat all night until the next day," he said.

The following day Mr Thompson contacted the Oklahoma Department of Human Services (DHS) to request he become the child's foster parent. Within just a few days, he had brought John into the safety of his own home.

"When I'd seen him in that house shivering and his hands tied - just soaking wet and confused - I knew at that moment the only time I would be satisfied and sure that he was safe is if he was with me," he said.

The officer, who already had 15-year-old and 8-year-old sons, said he did not tell his family initially but that they had faith he was doing the right thing before they heard the harrowing story.

In another extraordinary twist, just two days after bringing him into the family home, he found out his wife was pregnant with their third biological son.

In another unlikely turn seven months later, DHS called the Thompson family to ask them if they wanted to foster Johns newborn sister, Paizly, who had been born in prison with his mother.

They picked her up from the hospital the next day - when she was just a day old - and brought her straight home.

Although John's biological parents, who are both in prison and awaiting criminal trials, had relinquished their parental rights to their son, they refused to do so for their daughter, which led to a jury trial, where John testified on his own behalf.

It was not until February of this year that the Thompson's were formally allowed to adopt Paizley.

Last week, Mr Thompson received a certificate of commendation from the Oklahoma Bureau of Investigations, with John standing by his side as he accepted it.

Poteau Police Chief Stephen Fruenr released a statement, saying: "Jody's actions as well has his families are second to none. The example of love and compassion he has shown to this young man and his sister is an example everyone should follow.

"It's men like you that make me proud of our law enforcement brothers and sisters. You are very deserving of this commendation. I am proud to serve with you."

The inseparable father and son duo only recently opted to share their story with the world in the hope of helping other victims of abuse.

The NSPCC is a leading childrens charity fighting to end child abuse in the UK and Channel Islands. Adults can contact the free 24/7 helpline for advice and support or to share concerns about a child.

Adults can contact the NSPCC Helpline on 0808 800 5000, by emailing help@nspcc.org.uk or by visiting our website.

The NSPCC-run Childline service provides a safe, confidential place for children with no one else to turn to, whatever their worry, whenever they need help.

Children can contact Childline 24 hours a day, 365 days a year on by calling 0800 1111, or by visiting www.childline.org.uk
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A bipartisan delegation of US senators have called for a new strategy in Afghanistan from the Trump administration to turn the tide against an increasingly strong Taliban insurgency and end the longest war in US history.

The delegation led by Senator John McCain was in Kabul on a regional trip that included two days in neighbouring Pakistan.

The visit preceded an expected review later in the month of the strategy for the United States longest war, now in its 16th year, a subject that was largely absent from last year's presidential campaign.

Recommended New Afghan coalition to push President Ghani for reforms

Since the exit of most foreign troops in 2014, Afghanistan's US-backed government has lost ground to a Taliban insurgency in a war that kills and maims thousands of civilians each year and has made Afghanistan the second-ranking country in people seeking refugee status abroad last year, behind Syria.

Mr McCain said in a Kabul press briefing on Tuesday at NATO-coalition headquarters that none of us would say that we are on a course to success here in Afghanistan.

That needs to change and quickly, added Senator McCain, a sharp critic of Trump within their Republican party.

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. 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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

Mr McCain was accompanied by US senators Lindsey Graham, Elizabeth Warren, Sheldon Whitehouse and David Perdue on the regional tour.

Ms Warren, a Massachusetts Democrat, said she came to get the view on the ground about what is happening in Afghanistan. We need a strategy in the United States that defines our role in Afghanistan, defines our objective and explains how we can get from here to there, Ms Warren said.

US officials have said that Defence Secretary Jim Mattis will present Mr Trump with strategic options for Afghanistan by mid-July. Last month, Mr Trump gave Mr Mattis the authority to set American troop levels in Afghanistan, but as commander in chief Mr Trump must sign off on an overall strategy for the war.

US security officials have privately said the most likely options will be to increase training and air support by 3,000 to 5,000 troops for still-inexperienced Afghan security forces, while also tracking down al-Qaeda, Isis and other global Islamist groups based in Afghanistan.

The commander of US and Nato forces in Afghanistan, General John Nicholson, has said several thousand more foreign troops - mostly trainers - are needed to break a military stalemate with the Taliban.

In 2001, a US-backed military intervention in Afghanistan toppled the Taliban regime, whose ultra-hardline interpretation of sharia law banned most women from public life and executed people not seen as sufficiently pious, such as men with beards not considered long enough.

More than 15 years later, around 10,000 US and allied troops remain in Afghanistan to support an elected government that has increasingly been losing ground to a Taliban insurgency that now controls or contests some 40 per cent of territory in the country.

Reuters
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A village in north west India has reportedly banned women from wearing attractive clothes and using mobile phones to protect them from molestation.

The village council of Baldiyapura, near Dholpur in the state of Rajasthan, told parents to stop their daughters wearing jeans and other Western clothing and said mobile phones were ruining our culture.

It warned that these decisions would be forcibly implemented in the village.

The council also banned alcohol consumption  imposing a fine of R1,000 (12) on anyone found with it as well as offering a R500 (6) reward for anyone who reports its sale and disruption, the Hindustan Times reported.

Council leader Kanasil Hariom Singh said: Good decisions were taken by the panchayat (village council) to eradicate social evils. Incidents of rape and molestation are on the rise as women wear attractive clothes.

Our aim to do away with all bad habits in the village. We have put a ban on girls wearing jeans and attractive clothes for the overall development of the village, said Dhaniram Kushawaha, another member.

The council will appoint village elders to enforce the ban and will hold a meeting on the first day of every month to discuss developments.

The decision was widely reported by the Indian media after a video from the local council meeting was published online by the ANI news agency.

It has been met with condemnation from women's groups in the wider district, and regional officials said they were investigating the reports.

An official in Dholpur, which oversees the surrounding villages, Vinod Kumar Meena praised the alcohol ban but said the restrictions on female dress were against the law.

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He said: We have not received any complaint, but will consider legal action against them after getting a complaint.

The reported ban comes amid a national debate about the way women are treated across the country.

An Indian photographer, Sujatro Ghosh, launched a new series of pictures this week which show women wearing cow masks to emphasis how the animal has more rights than they do.

Cows, which are considered sacred in Hinduism, are protected under Indian law.
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China and Russia have called on the US and one of its key allies to freeze large scale military exercises in an attempt to cool tensions, after North Korea test-fired a missile it claimed could hit America.

The two countries joined diplomatic forces to demand North Korea suspend its ballistic missile programme and for the US and South Korea to agree to put off military exercises, that have heightened tensions on the Korean peninsula.

After months of sabre-rattling from Donald Trumps administration and a series of defiant weapons tests by Pyongyang, North Korea claimed it had successfully fired an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) for the first time, which flew a trajectory some experts said that could eventually allow a weapon to hit the US state of Alaska. The test came days after Mr Trump and South Korean President Moon Jae-in met in Washington to discuss further sanctions against its northern neighbour, and the US President said the era of strategic patience with the North Korean regime has failed.

US media said US officials believed the test was of an ICBM, while the US also requested an urgent UN Security Council session to discuss the launch.

North Korean state television said the test of the Hwasong-14, which took place early Tuesday morning local time, was overseen by leader Kim Jong-un. It said the projectile had reached an altitude of 1,731 miles and flew for 39 minutes before hitting a target in the sea.

It said North Korea was now a full-fledged nuclear power that has been possessed of the most powerful inter-continental ballistic rocket capable of hitting any part of the world.

Experts said the capabilities of the missile remained unclear - with some disgreement over the potential range of the missile - but said it marked a potential milestone in North Koreas efforts to project its nuclear capability.

David Wright, of the Global Security Programme at the Union of Concerned Scientists, said if the reports were true, the missile would have a maximum range of around roughly 4,160 miles on a standard trajectory. That range would not be enough to reach the lower 48 states or the large islands of Hawaii, but would allow it to reach all of Alaska, he said in a blog post.

 Trump says US patience with North Korea 'is over'

Karl Dewey, an analyst with Janes Information Group, said a successful development of an ICBM by North Korea, would give decision-makers in Washington reason to pause for thought before deciding to strike the communist regime.

Some have suggested the missile could even travel further, if launched in an easterly direction given the Earths rotation. This would technically enable North Korea to target not just all of Alaska, but a small part of northwestern Canada.

Jean Lee of Wilson Centre in Washington said the latest test was cause for people to be worried. Test-firing a ballistic missile just days after the Trump-Moon summit, where the two leaders discussed tightening sanctions against North Korea, is Pyongyangs way of sending a message of defiance to the US and South Korean leaders, she said.

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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. 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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. 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Its also strategic: if the US and South Korea are going to step up sanctions, North Korea will certainly move faster in getting its illicit nuclear and ballistic missile programmes as far along as they can before any negotiations on a freeze or dismantlement.

Efforts by Russia and China to ease tensions was set out in a joint statement from the Russian and Chinese foreign ministries, issued shortly after President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping held talks in the Kremlin.

The situation in the region affects the national interests of both countries, it said. Russia and China will work in close coordination to advance a solution to the complex problem of the Korean Peninsula in every possible way.

Mr Trump and South Korean Moon Jae-in discussed options for more sanctions on North Korea (AP)

The statement said Washington was using North Korea as a pretext to expand its military infrastructure in Asia and risked upsetting the strategic balance of power in the area.

On Tuesday, Heather Nauert, a spokeswoman for the State Department, said the US was working with interagency partners on a detailed assessment of the launch.

On Monday night, Mr Trump had written on social media: North Korea has just launched another missile. Does this guy have anything better to do with his life? Hard to believe that South Korea.

Mr Trump was warned by Barack Obama in one of their final conversations before he took office, that dealing with the threat of North Korea would be one of his most pressing challenges as president. Mr Trump has been seeking to push China, which has traditionally exercised influence over North Korea, to do more to get it to halt its missile tests.

In recent weeks, however, the President appears to have grown frustrated over Chinas lukewarm attitude. In a phone call on Sunday night, Mr Trump is said to have told Mr Xi, during what was described as a cordial conversation, that the US was prepared to act on its own if Beijing was unwilling.

He later wrote on Twitter: Perhaps China will put a heavy move on North Korea and end this nonsense once and for all.

Mr Trump is due to meet both Mr Xi and Mr Putin during the G20 in Germany this week.

Japan said on Monday it would have a trilateral summit with the United States and South Korea on North Korea at the G20. Its Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said he would ask the presidents of China and Russia to play more constructive roles.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang called on Tuesday for calm and restraint, and reiterated China's opposition to North Korea's violation of U.N. resolutions on missile tests.

Responding to Trump's tweet, Mr Geng said China had been working hard to resolve the North Korean nuclear issue.

China's role is indispensable, he told a daily news briefing. We hope all sides can meet each other half way.

North Korea has conducted five nuclear tests, two since the beginning of last year, as well as a number of rocket tests. The pace of missile tests has risen significantly, with the country's regime saying it needs to develop its weapons in the face of what it sees as US aggression, with tests often conducted to showing its defiance when it sees regional powers getting ready for talks or sanctions.
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Former Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard has weighed in on the debate about Donald Trumps mental health, claiming that there is "genuine concern for the president".

Speaking to ABCs Lateline, Gillard warned about the dangers of attempting to judge a persons mental health from the outside, but acknowledged that the Presidents public behaviour, such as on Twitter, had caused commentators actual concern.

I would worry that a charge of being mentally ill ended up being thrown around as an insult - that would worry me, she told the programme.

I know that some people in the US, some commentators, are not proffering that analysis by way of insult, theyre actually saying it because they are genuinely concerned. From the outside I think it is very difficult to judge someone elses mental health.

But I do think President Trump continues with some of the tweeting etc that weve seen, that this will be in the dialogue.

Gillard has been appointed the chair of mental health charity Beyond Blue, and also spoke about her own experience of anxiety while serving as the Prime Minister.

She said that experiencing moments of anxiety is common and that she made an effort to protect her own mental health while in the rigours of public life, especially while being the subject of negative headlines or attacks on social media.

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

The status of President Trumps mental health has been the subject of many headlines, with Washington insiders claiming that it keeps getting worse.

The claims were made at the time of reports that Mr Trump had revealed highly classified information to the Russian Foreign Minister during a meeting at the White House.

Some experts have raised concerns over the Presidents behaviour, with a group at a conference at Yale University warning in April he has a dangerous mental illness and is not fit to lead the country.

In February, 35 mental health professionals, including psychiatrists, psychologists and social workers, signed an open letter warning Mr Trumps mental state makes him incapable of serving safely as president.
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EU chief executive Jean-Claude Juncker called European lawmakers ridiculous on Tuesday for failing to turn up to an address by Malta's prime minister, saying they should show more respect for smaller members of the bloc.

Mr Juncker, himself from the small Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, was visibly annoyed as he watched the proceedings in the near empty parliamentary chamber in Strasbourg.

You are ridiculous, the European Commission president told the gathering called to listen to a speech by Malta's Joseph Muscat, in a blunt public rebuke of another EU institution.

The fact that there's about 30 members of parliament present in this debate only really illustrates the fact that parliament is not serious, he said. The European Parliament is ridiculous, very ridiculous.

Mr Juncker said Malta, the EU's smallest country that had just completed a stint running the bloc's presidency, deserved better.

If Mr Muscat was Mrs Merkel, difficult as that is to imagine, or Mr Macron... we would have a full house, Mr Juncker said, referring to the leaders of Germany and France.

Parliament president Antonio Tajani did not address the low attendance, but told Mr Juncker himself to take a more respectful tone.

You may criticise the parliament, yes, but the Commission does not control the parliament, it's the parliament that should be controlling the Commission, he said, to a smattering of applause.

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

Slightly more than 400,000 people live on Malta, putting it just behind Luxembourg whose population comes in over the half-million mark.

Mr Muscat, who smiled during the exchanges, gave parliament a briefing on his country's presidency, focused on the challenges of migration and called Brexit a disastrous creature which all of us should have seen coming but none of us acted to stop.

Reuters
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Malta is on the verge of legalising gay marriage after the government brought forward legislation to scrap gendered references to marriage in the countrys legal system.

The draft law, which has received the backing of the centre-right opposition Nationalist Party, will abolish gendered terms such as husband, wife, mother and father from the countrys Marriage Act and other laws and replace them with gender-neutral terminology.

It will also be made legal for gay couples to adopt children.

It marks the latest in a series of reforms designed to increase equality in the traditionally Catholic country.

Last year, Malta became the first nation to ban so-called gay cure conversion therapy, making it illegal to try to change, repress or eliminate a person's sexual orientation, gender identity and/or gender expression.

Recommended Serbia welcomes first female and openly gay Prime Minister

"Malta wants to keep leading on LGBT issues and civil liberties, to serve as a model for the rest of the world," Maltese prime minister Joseph Muscat, who leads the Labour Party, told the BBC.

However, some MPs have voiced concerns at the changes to marriage law. Despite the reforms being backed by his party leader, one Nationalist Party whip, David Agius, claimed the law would stop people using the words mum and dad.

"From now on, you cannot call your parents 'mum' or 'dad' because it is not in the law. Will we be celebrating 'person who gave birth today' instead of Mothers Day? he said.

Maltas archbishop, Charles Scicluna, said the church was not against gays but criticised the proposed changes.

"The suppression of the cherished terms 'husband and wife', 'mother and father' in Maltese law is lamentable, he said.

The top 15 worst countries to be gay in Europe Show all 15 1 /15 The top 15 worst countries to be gay in Europe The top 15 worst countries to be gay in Europe 15. Italy Getty Images The top 15 worst countries to be gay in Europe 14. Macedonia The top 15 worst countries to be gay in Europe 13. Poland Getty Images The top 15 worst countries to be gay in Europe 12. Liechtenstein The top 15 worst countries to be gay in Europe 11. Lithuania The top 15 worst countries to be gay in Europe 10. Latvia This content is subject to copyright. The top 15 worst countries to be gay in Europe 9. San Marino The top 15 worst countries to be gay in Europe 8. Moldova The top 15 worst countries to be gay in Europe 7. Belarus Getty Images The top 15 worst countries to be gay in Europe 6. Ukraine Getty Images The top 15 worst countries to be gay in Europe 5. Monaco The top 15 worst countries to be gay in Europe 4. Turkey Getty Images The top 15 worst countries to be gay in Europe 3. Armenia The top 15 worst countries to be gay in Europe 2. Russia Getty Images The top 15 worst countries to be gay in Europe 1. Azerbaijan Getty/AFP

Some Maltese MPs have proposed keeping the traditional, gender-specific references in law while adding new terminology that would enable a same-sex couple to marry.

This has been ruled out by the government, with equality minister Helena Dalli arguing that introducing some form of new terminology is not equality.

A traditionally Catholic country, Malta only legalised divorce in 2011 following a public referendum on the issue but a series of recent reforms have seen it rise to the top of international rankings of LGBT-friendly countries.

Should the proposed changes be passed by its parliament, Malta will become the 13th EU state to legalise gay marriage.

A number of others allow gay couples to form legal partnerships with similar rights to a husband and a wife.

However, gay marriage remains illegal in a number of EU countries, including Poland, Bulgaria and Romania.
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German leader Angela Merkel no longer considers the US a friend, according to her partys campaign material produced ahead of a September election.

The German Chancellor has had an often tense relationship with President Donald Trump since he took office in January. Earlier this year, after Mr Trump said he would pull the US out of the Paris Accord and following the UKs vote to leave the EU, she said European countries could no longer rely on their traditional allies.

Now Ms Merkel appears to have demoted the US in election material prepared jointly by her Christian Democratic Union (CDU), and its its Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU).

According to Reuters, four years ago, their election material referred to the United States as Germanys most important friend outside of Europe. The 2013 programme also described the friendship with Washington as a cornerstone of Germanys international relations.

 German parliament votes to legalise same-sex marriage, Angela Merkel votes against

But the news agency said the words friend and friendship were missing from the latest election programme, entitled For a Germany in which we live well and happily.

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

Rather, the programme now calls the US Germanys most important partner outside of Europe.

After talks with Mr Trump at the G7 summit in Italy in May, Ms Merkel described the discussions with the US President on climate change as unsatisfying. Last week, she told Germanys parliament she was ready to confront Mr Trump again on the topic at the upcoming Group of 20 summit in Germany.

Mr Trump frequently criticised Ms Merkel during the presidential campaign last year, attacking her immigration policy as insane.

He has also repeatedly denounced Germanys trade surplus with the United States and accused Berlin and other European partners of owing massive amounts of money to Nato.

A survey by the Pew Research Centre last week showed just 35 per cent of Germans had a favourable view of the US, down from 57 per cent at the end of President Barack Obamas term.
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A Ukrainian beauty queen livestreamed the crash that killed her and her friend while the pair of them were drinking alcohol in the car.

Sofia Magerko, who won a beauty contest in her home city of Izyum, was vlogging on a live Instagram feed while her friend Dasha Medvedeva was driving at high speeds before they smashed head-on into a lamp-post.

The pair were both heavily intoxicated and drinking from wine bottles in the video.

The women were seen saying Hi boys to the camera and laughing and joking about how much they enjoyed life seconds before the crash in Izyum.

The screen goes black at the moment of impact but the sound of the crash can still be clearly heard, the Daily Mail reported.

Bystanders are heard shouting there is a dead body there... another one fell out of the car.

Ms Magerko, 16, was killed almost instantly and Ms Medvedeva, 24, died on the way to hospital.

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

Their deaths are the latest controversy for live streaming software hosted by Instagram's parent company Facebook and other similar platforms.

There have been numerous incidents of people streaming themselves murdering ex-partners or killing themselves on the platform which has led Facebook to announce it would hire 3,000 more staff to take down videos when they appear.

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg said: If were going to build a safe community, we need to respond quickly.

"Were working to make these videos easier to report so we can take the right action sooner  whether thats responding quickly when someone needs help or taking a post down.
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Narendra Modi is arriving in Tel Aviv for the first ever visit of a sitting Indian prime minister to Israel in a sign that the once aloof ties between the two countries are thawing.

India, which is home to a religious minority of 172 million Muslims, has always been a vocal supporter of the Palestinian cause.

At the same time, however, the state has quietly built up counter-terror and trade relations with Israel since diplomatic ties were restored 25 years ago and Indias politics has leaned to the right.

 Trump: Israelis and Palestinians are 'reaching for peace'

Starting from Tuesday Mr Modi and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will sit down for three days of talks to seal military and cyber security deals worth billions, including drones, missiles and radar systems and the creation of a new jointly-built missile-defence system - Indias second.

India is already Israel's biggest arms market, worth $1bn (770,000) a year, as the country races to keep up militarily with China and Pakistan.

It is usual for visiting world leaders to also travel to Ramallah in the West Bank to meet with the Palestinian Authority to maintain a balance of ties - a trip Mr Modi is not making.

Israel: From independence to intifada Show all 7 1 /7 Israel: From independence to intifada Israel: From independence to intifada 26973.bin Israel: From independence to intifada 26974.bin Israel: From independence to intifada 26975.bin Israel: From independence to intifada 26976.bin Israel: From independence to intifada 26977.bin Israel: From independence to intifada 26985.bin Robert Capa/Magnum Israel: From independence to intifada 26986.bin Robert Capa/Magnum

The snub has not gone unnoticed at home, where the prime minister has drawn sharp criticism for his decision to skip meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

Many Indian Muslims have already accused Mr Modis Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of sidelining the concerns and needs of Muslim citizens since he took office in 2014.

Narendra Modi's visit to Israel will only strengthen its occupation of Palestine, Asaduddin Owaisi, a member of India's federal parliament from a regional group that promotes Muslim rights, told Reuters.

 Kashmiri Pilot, 21, Could Become First Indian Woman To Fly MIG-29

We have a wide ranging partnership with Israel that ranges from agriculture cooperation to homeland security, Bala Bhaskar, head of the Indian foreign ministry's West Asia division, told media, adding that India's ties with Israel and the Palestinians were important in their own right and neither should viewed through the prism of the other.

Nonetheless, Mr Modi is being given the red carpet treatment during his trip to Israel. Mr Netanyahu will accompany him for almost all the entire duration of his visit - an honour usually reserved for visiting US presidents.

Speaking earlier this week the Israeli prime minister said Mr Modis trip is historic and would deepen co-operation in a wide range of fields - security, agriculture, water, energy - basically in almost every field Israel is involved in."
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The Isis poster girl from Kent who took her young son to wartorn Syria has been "crying and wants to get back to Britain", it has been claimed.

Former punk rocker Sally Jones - nicknamed the White Widow - became a key recruiter for the extremist group after travelling to Raqqa to marry jihadist Junaid Hussain.

But the wife of another Isis jihadist, who only gave her name as Aisha, told Sky News that Jones wanted to come home but was being prevented from doing so by group leaders.

"She was crying and wants to get back to Britain but Isis is preventing her because she is now a military wife. She told me she wish to go to her country," Aisha said.

"She lost her husband in a battle last year. She has one boy."

Jones became infamous after fleeing Britain for Syria with her 10-year-old child in 2013. Her husband, who ran digital operations for the jihadi group, was killed in drone strike last year.

In a Twitter post after his death she claimed she was proud my husband was killed by the biggest enemy of Allah, may Allah be pleased with him.

A Muslim convert from Kent, Jones is another prolific propagandist for Isis and has published kill lists of targets and announced her wish to behead Christians online.

In pictures: Isis' weapons factories Show all 11 1 /11 In pictures: Isis' weapons factories In pictures: Isis' weapons factories A mortar round fin manufactured by Isis in Gogjali, Mosul, November 2016 Conflict Armament Research In pictures: Isis' weapons factories Isis rocket components discovered in Gogjali, Mosul, Iraq in November 2016 Conflict Armament Research In pictures: Isis' weapons factories Isis mortars discovered near Karamlais, Iraq, in November 2016 CAR In pictures: Isis' weapons factories An Isis rocket launch frame in Qaraqosh, November 2016 Conflict Armament Research In pictures: Isis' weapons factories A memo from Isis' COSQC on quality control at a manufacturing facility in Gogjali, Mosul, November 2016 Conflict Armament Research In pictures: Isis' weapons factories Electrically-operated initiators manufactured by Isis in forces Gogjali, Mosul, November 2016 Conflict Armament Research In pictures: Isis' weapons factories Isis mortar tubes at a manufacturing facility in Karamlais, November 2016 Conflict Armament Research In pictures: Isis' weapons factories An Isis mortar production facility discovered in Gogjali, Mosul, in November 2016 Conflict Armament Research In pictures: Isis' weapons factories An Isis weapons manufacturing facilities near Mosul in November 2016 Conflict Armament Research In pictures: Isis' weapons factories Stocks of French-manufactured Sorbitol, Latvian potassium nitrate and Lebanese sugar at an Isis weapons factory in Iraq Conflict Armament Research In pictures: Isis' weapons factories A destroyed Isis weapons facility in Qaraqosh, Iraq, November 2016 Conflict Armament Research

Also known as Umm Hussain al-Britani, the 48-year-old has issued repeated terror threats against the UK, US and Europe and called for supporters to carry out attacks.

Before converting to Islam and fleeing to Syria, she worked as a perfume saleswoman, previously claiming benefits and playing guitar in a punk band.

In September 2015, the United Nations sanctioned Jones as an agent operating on behalf of a terrorist organisation. She is also on a drone target list drawn up by the US and Britain.
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Combat operations in Syrias south have been suspended for three days as a new round of peace talks in the Kazakh capital of Astana get underway, the Syrian armys general command has said.

Rebel leaders, however, have already accused government forces of breaching the ceasefire by bombing the towns of Deraa and Naima since the agreement went into effect at midday on Sunday ahead of the Tuesday talks.

The Syrian air force reportedly dropped barrel bombs  banned under international law because they cause indiscriminate damage over a large area. No comment was forthcoming from the military.

 US backed fighters make progress in driving Isis out of Raqqa

The second Russian, Iranian and Turkish brokered peace talks in Astana in May resulted in the creation of de-escalation zones across the country, including Syrias south. However, the region has increasingly been targeted by government air strikes, and ground fighting has extended towards the borders with Jordan and Israel.

Stray rocket fire has led the Israeli army to launch strikes against Syrian army outposts in the south-west, where the Iranian-backed Hezbollah has a strong presence.

A rebel official told Reuters the latest ceasefire is a ploy to drag the opposition to Astana.

Syrian children hold Pokemon Go pictures in the hope people will find them and save them Show all 13 1 /13 Syrian children hold Pokemon Go pictures in the hope people will find them and save them Syrian children hold Pokemon Go pictures in the hope people will find them and save them RFS Media Office Syrian children hold Pokemon Go pictures in the hope people will find them and save them RFS Media Office Syrian children hold Pokemon Go pictures in the hope people will find them and save them RFS Media Office Syrian children hold Pokemon Go pictures in the hope people will find them and save them RFS Media Office Syrian children hold Pokemon Go pictures in the hope people will find them and save them RFS Media Office Syrian children hold Pokemon Go pictures in the hope people will find them and save them RFS Media Office Syrian children hold Pokemon Go pictures in the hope people will find them and save them RFS Media Office Syrian children hold Pokemon Go pictures in the hope people will find them and save them RFS Media Office Syrian children hold Pokemon Go pictures in the hope people will find them and save them RFS Media Office Syrian children hold Pokemon Go pictures in the hope people will find them and save them RFS Media Office Syrian children hold Pokemon Go pictures in the hope people will find them and save them RFS Media Office Syrian children hold Pokemon Go pictures in the hope people will find them and save them RFS Media Office Syrian children hold Pokemon Go pictures in the hope people will find them and save them RFS Media Office

Rebel forces have already expressed deep misgivings about the de-escalation zones, which they say benefit the Syrian army by freeing forces to allow them to make territorial gains elsewhere  efforts they say are aided by Damascuss ally Russia. Several factions are expected to boycott the talks.

Elsewhere in Syria, Arab and Kurdish forces have managed to penetrate the Old City walls of the northern Isis-held city of Raqqa, US Central Command said on Monday night.

Coalition forces supported the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) advance into the most heavily fortified portion of Raqqa by opening two small gaps in the Rafiqah Wall that surrounds the Old City, a statement said.

The US-backed fighters pierced Raqqa from the south for the first time on Sunday, crossing the Euphrates River to enter a new part of the Syrian city, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

The SDF has spent months tightening its siege around Raqqa, but now fighting has begun it earnest it appears the city will fall quicker than Isiss Iraqi capital of Mosul. When the militants are ousted from Raqqa the so-called caliphate will effectively be over, although pockets of fighting continue in Iraq and Isis has also besieged the Syrian city of Deir Ezzor.

Analysts expect the group to morph into a full-blown insurgency across the two countries, and for Isis to step up terror attacks around the world in future
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Cold beer, hotdogs, fireworks and flags. Theres nothing as American as the Fourth of July, the countrys annual celebration of its independence from the British Empire in 1776. Most places mark the occasion with the Star Spangled Banner and red, white and blue fireworks streaming across the night sky, but a small Rhode Island town devotes three weeks to the occasion.

Bristol, Rhode Island, is an idyllic New England town of 23,000 people, and for most of the year it flies under the radar. Then, as mid-June approaches, flags begin appearing in the windows of historic homes as Bristols residents prep for Americas oldest, longest-running, and most elaborate Fourth of July celebration.

Founded in 1680, the township (then called Mount Hope) suffered during its early years. The first battle of King Philips War took place nearby, and during the Revolutionary War with Britain, Bristol endured two attacks that decimated much of the town. Hardship inspired grit and the countrys first outward commemoration of the Revolutionary War, which is said to have occurred on the morning of 4 July 1777 with 13 gunshots (one for each American colony) echoing across the serene Bristol harbour. On the same day in Philadelphia, Congress adjourned early to celebrate independence with bonfires and fireworks (in a letter dated 3 July 1776, John Adams explained that independence should involve Pomp and ParadeBonfires and Illuminations).

Bristol has held some form of Fourth of July celebration since 1785, but no one can pin down precisely when its annual Military, Civic, and Firemens Parade  which draws an estimated 200,000 enthusiasts  first took place. Kevin Jordan, a Rhode Island historian, believes the parade began as early as the 1790s with locals spontaneously filing towards Bristols waterfront.

Bristol is a charming historic town (Ed King) (Millie Kerr)

The parade remains the highlight of Bristols Independence Day, but as I witnessed on holiday several years ago, the small seaside town expends tremendous time and energy celebrating the countrys birth. House decorating, historic tours, concert series, and high school competitions are all among Bristols patriotic events, and many require months to plan. Official Independence Day celebrations kick off weeks before 4 July on 14 June, Flag Day, which means that Bristolians are already knee-deep in revelry as the rest of the country stockpiles sparklers. In fact, Bristol takes the Fourth so seriously that lawmakers passed a resolution instituting year-round red, white and blue medians on its main street, which are annually repainted.

The crowning glory, however, is the citywide parade  held on the Fourth  which involves the usual fanfare but also features men dressed like Colonial American militia. They process down the red, white, and blue-paved road firing off vintage muskets as casually dressed parade-goers drink beer from the side-lines.

Already a charming town, Bristols unique traditions set it apart. Emily Westridge Black, an attorney from Austin, Texas, who visited Bristol a few years ago says, The town is beautiful even without all the finery. But decorations take it to the next level. Picture a Fourth of July celebration in the most lovely, most-New England beach town imaginable, and then imagine that Martha Stewart personally designed the whole thing.

Bristol's Fourth of July celebrations go on for three weeks (Ed King) (Millie Kerr)

Albert Mayer grew up in Rhode Islands capital, Providence, but spent weekends and summers visiting his grandparents in Bristol. Hes attended Bristols Fourth of July parade countless times but is no match for his grandfather whos been going consecutively for at least 40 years. Ive never seen any parade that can match Bristols when it comes to local flavour or patriotism, says Mayer. And Bristols commemorations reflect the towns year-round vibe. Bristol isnt a place where things are choreographed; its an authentic, historic town on an old harbor that coastal resorts wish they could replicate, says Mayer.

Having lived in North Carolina, Washington, D.C. and New York City and travelled extensively across the Eastern seaboard, I can attest to this fact. Popular coastal destinations typically feature chain resorts and restaurants and a social scene that attracts big city types looking for a bit of fresh air, but Bristols charm is down to earth and organic; and peaks over the Fourth.

Red, white and blue stripes are painted on Bristol's roads year-round (Millie Kerr)

Independence Day (or, in Bristols case, month) is Bristols crowning achievement, says Kevin Jordan. Former town administrator Tony Teixeira adds, The saying in Bristol is The summer is over after the Fourth. Residents need a break after three weeks of parades and parties, but Bristols Independence Day committee never quits. As Jordan explains, they get together on 5 July to go over that years festivities  and beginning planning for the next.

Travel essentials

Getting there

The closest international airport is Providence, RI (30 minutes from Bristol by car); fly to Providence via Dublin on Norwegian Air (norwegian.com/uk/).

Staying there

Hotel rooms sell out a year in advance so booking early is advised. The four-star Bristol Harbor Inn (bristolharborinn.com) has doubles from $89, room only.

The more secluded Point Pleasant Inn (pointpleasantinn.com), which sits on the opposite, less developed side of the harbour, has doubles from $295, all-inclusive.

More information

explorebristolri.com
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Positioning my camera to capture the sunset over Burmas ancient city of Bagan from the top of Shwe Leik Too temple, I catch my guide, Joseph, inspecting some ancient bricks on the edge of the terrace that look newly broken.

This has only happened during the last fortnight, sighs Joseph, who schooled our group on pagoda etiquette before we carefully ascended the interior staircase of the ancient structure. Many visitors arent aware, or just forget, how fragile these monuments are.

Its an all-too-common occurrence in the Bagan Archaeological Area, which, according to Burmas Department of Archaeology, houses the remains of more than 3,500 Buddhist monuments within a 24-square-kilometre area. Due to the size of the site combined with the countrys limited resources, only a handful of Bagans monuments have some sort of security. Visitors are free to roam the site virtually unchecked. Hundreds  sometimes thousands  clamber atop monuments to take in the sunrise and sunset each day, at great risk to the integrity of the structures, and also to themselves.

But as the Ministry of Culture prepares to submit a proposal to Unesco in September that is expected to see the site listed as a World Heritage Site by 2019, Thein Lwin, Deputy Director General of the Ministrys Department of Archaeology, confirms this must-do tourist activity will soon be phased out.

They are very old monuments, and some could collapse at any time, says Thein Lwin. Banning climbing is a necessary precaution to protect our cultural heritage.

A ban is also supported by Aung San Suu Kyi, the nations de facto leader, who told local media during a January visit to Bagan that sunset viewing from the pagodas will have a negative impact on the long-term sustainability.

Tourists are desperate to capture the iconic hot air balloon shot above Bagan (Getty Images)

Its not the first time Burmas government has tried to ban climbing; a ban was announced in February 2016 before being swiftly reversed following fierce backlash from local tour operators. Since an earthquake in August last year damaged more than 400 of Bagans buildings, however, the Ministry has quietly banned climbing at a handful of popular temples. Thagyarhit and Thagyarbone were closed to climbers soon after the quake, followed by Pyathada in January, and Thitsarwady in March. While there is no date set for a complete ban on climbing all other temples, including Shwesandaw, the most famous sunset-viewing temple, its only a matter of time.

But tourists neednt give up on Instagramming the iconic image of hot air balloons rising over the pagodas at sunrise  which requires photographers to be in an elevated position  just yet. Thein Lwin says that sunrise and sunset viewing will soon be available from a tethered helium balloon in a suitably atmospheric spot within the archaeological area, which is expected to be more affordable than the $300 and upwards charged by Bagans sunrise hot air balloon operators.

The government is also planning to create more lookout spots, says Thein Lwin  man-made hills which have recently sprouted in the archaeological area. These are just a few of the conservation initiatives that the Ministry hopes will help to bump Bagan off Unescos Tentative List (a list of properties which a country intends to put forward for nomination to the World Heritage List), on which it has languished since 1996 when its nomination was rejected largely due to bungled restoration attempts.

The ancient city of Bagan is an Instagrammer's dream (Getty /iStockphoto) (Getty/iStock)

Built on a seismic fault, Bagan has regularly been damaged, renovated and rebuilt since the bulk of its monuments were constructed during the 11th and 13th centuries. But things started to get messy when Burmas generals got involved in the 1990s. Viewing Bagan as a project that could deliver much craved legitimacy, the nations military rulers launched an aggressive beautification of the site, which had been badly damaged by a 1975 earthquake. Unfortunately, the job was carried out with little consideration for the archaeological integrity of the monuments: elaborately frescoed temple walls were whitewashed, and Disneyfied new concrete pagodas were built on the ruins of the ancient originals. So poor was the workmanship that it prompted some archaeologists to claim that the smaller earthquake near Bagan last August, which saw newer reinforcements suffer the most damage, as something of a blessing. Having led a tour in Bagan several days after the 6.8-magnitude quake, Joseph saw why first hand.

We could see where they had used PVC pipes to hold up the umbrella [ornaments that top most Burmese pagodas] of Sulamani temple, he says. Unsurprisingly, Sulamani was the first temple earmarked for renovation by Burmas current government, which has been working closely with UN restoration experts. One year on, many temples are still covered in tarpaulins where concrete spires have smashed through the roofs of temples like Sulamani, damaging priceless frescos.

Many of Bagan's temples have suffered earthquake damage (AFP/Getty Images)

Restoration is not easy, but recent renovations have been much more successful than repair works carried out in the past, says Thein Lwin, whos confident theyll clinch the coveted Unesco status.

Planned upgrades also include beefing up security, improving access roads, and removing all billboards that block views of pagodas. Following a ban on new developments in the archaeological zone in 2014, a new hotel strip is currently taking shape near Bagans airport.

Having watched a second Bagan sunset from one of the new lookout spots south of the Pyathada temple, I admit it wasnt as atmospheric as taking in the view from a temple rooftop the previous evening. And the idea of sleeping by the airport is hardly appealing.

But if thats what it takes to help preserve this extraordinary site for generations to come, its time for Bagan  and its tourists  to get on board.

Travel essentials

Getting there

British Airways (ba.com) flies to Rangoon via Bangkok from 788. The writer travelled with Intrepid (intrepidtravel.com), whose 15-day Best of Myanmar tour, including three nights in Bagan, starts at 1,549.

Staying there

In nearby Nyang U, New Wave Guest House (booking.com) is arguably Bagans most characterful hotel. Doubles from 28, B&B.

More information

A five-day Bagan Archaeological Zone ticket costs 25,000 kyat (14.40). Its easier to get around the zone on an electric scooter, rather than a bicycle, both of which can be rented cheaply from guesthouses.
Jimgorn said:



I stayed up all night wondering why you use the screen name Hollywood... Hollywood's (the DTT urchin) favorite tactic....derail the argument with inane quibbling about some minor detail in the post and totally ignore the point.....Here it is again.....Hollywood, California has been a cesspool of left-leaning Communist fellow travelers since the 30s....They are a bunch of fools who are simply actors, most with very little education, who actually believe what they are acting...They make enormous sums of money, which they use to support left-leaning causes, and people think that their opinions have merit.... I am not convinced they know jack ****.....Rob Reiner in particular...I stayed up all night wondering why you use the screen name Hollywood... Click to expand...

********. Now you're just whining.I derailed NOTHING I simply pointed out that no one was required to accept your definition of what "Hollywood" meant.If you people REALLY mean "some" "many" or a "few" in Hollywood believe such and such then SAY that in the first place. If you mean an individual then say so. Hardly my fault you people have poor communication skills.What? Now you boys are going to call anything you don't want to deal with "derailing" or a distraction. When will you get it through your collective heads you do not "own" the dictionary or the English language? Nor do YOU decide exclusively what is a "minor detail" or minutia.Right now you are little more than a kid calling people whose politics you don't like names. Nothing more.Had you been just a bit more civil and polite I would have been happy to tell you why my nic is Hollywood, it's hardly a big secret. But no, you have to act like an *** and call names.
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Climbing temples in the ancient Burmese city of Bagan will soon be phased out according to the countrys Ministry of Culture.

Tourists often head to the top of the famed pagodas at sunrise and sunset in order to snap the coveted shot of countless hot air balloons rising above the city.

But with Bagan lobbying to become a Unesco World Heritage Site by 2019, authorities have said the practice is damaging to buildings and should be prohibited.

They are very old monuments, and some could collapse at any time, says Thein Lwin, Deputy Director General of the Ministrys Department of Archaeology. Banning climbing is a necessary precaution to protect our cultural heritage.

Recommended Why banning temple climbing is a good thing for Burma

Thein Lwin says that sunrise and sunset viewing will soon be available from a tethered helium balloon. The government is also planning to create more lookout spots, man-made hills in the archaeological area from which tourists can still enjoy the view without risking the pagodas.

Burmas government tried to ban climbing in February 2016 before swiftly reversing the move following fierce backlash from local tour operators. However, since an earthquake in August 2016 damaged more than 400 of Bagans buildings, the Ministry has banned climbing at a handful of popular temples, including Thagyarhit, Thagyarbone, Pyathada and Thitsarwady. There is no date set for a complete ban on climbing all other temples, including Shwesandaw, the most famous sunset-viewing temple. However, it cant be long  Aung San Suu Kyi, the nations de facto leader, said in January that sunset viewing from the pagodas will have a negative impact on the long-term sustainability.

Other improvements are in the works to help Bagan secure Unesco status. These include beefing up security, improving access roads, and removing all billboards that block views of pagodas. Following a ban on new developments in the archaeological zone in 2014, a new hotel strip is springing up near Bagans airport.
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Thousands of passengers at Britains busiest airport faced delays and disruption after a fire alarm was triggered at Terminal 3.

Travellers waiting to board flights were evacuated onto the apron, while those who had been in the check-in area were ordered to leave the building.

The emergency evacuation began at around 12.30pm. Passengers who had already passed through security were told to follow staff out of the gate area and on to the apron.

Thirty-five minutes after the alarm first sounded, Heathrow said: Our teams have investigated and there is no fire in T3 despite the alarm. Passengers will be directed back into the terminal shortly.

Some flights which had already boarded passengers were able to depart, but many more were delayed.

Philip Baum, editor of Aviation Security International, was waiting to board Qantas flight 10 to Dubai, which was due out at 1.30pm. He told The Independent: From an incident management point of view its not impressive, to put it mildly. There is absolutely no information.

Recommended EasyJet diversion shows the travel industry is deeply afraid

Nobody other than the automated system has made a single announcement. People are milling around. If you stop to look at the flight boards you are told not to congregate.

His flight eventually left over an hour late.

On Twitter, many passengers complained about the manner of the evacuation. Giuseppe Sollazzo tweeted: Now you can turn back. 30 minutes stuck. If this was a test, has definitely proved the point that #Heathrow T3 cannot be safely evacuated.

Rob Platt echoed the response: Fire alarm going off at #Heathrow and people are just been left to stand around with no idea where to go and airport staff have no idea #WTF. Helena Dix reported: Ushered towards emergency exit at snails pace. No staff seem to help or assist! Poor form!. Neale Lewis said: No one at airport taking any leadership into communicating where to go.

But Dominic Rushe said: Smoothly handled back inside. Peeps v calm and patient.

The cause of the alarm remains unclear. Harry Bullivant, who had touched down from Salt Lake City, tweeted: Waiting on DL50 plane for deboarding. Busses just arrived for terminal. Pilot said 'bomb scare.

Around 250 flights arrive and depart at the terminal each day.

Dozens of flights were delayed while order was restored. British Airways' departures to Las Vegas and Miami were over an hour behind schedule, while Virgin Atlantics flight to San Francisco was 90 minutes late.

A spokesperson for Virgin Atlantic said: The terminal is now returning to normal. Were anticipating some knock on delays to flights this afternoon and advise customers to make their way through security and wait for updated information on their departure. Well get this information to them as quickly as we can.
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Five months ago Donald Trump tweeted that North Korea would never be allowed to possess a nuclear weapon capable of hitting the US. This morning, Pyongyang launched what it claimed was its first ever intercontinental ballistic missile. The state TV channel declared that Kim Jong-un now ruled over a strong nuclear armed state with a very powerful ICBM which can strike anywhere in the world.

Taking away the customary hyperbole, what we saw, say international analysts, was a missile reaching an altitude of 1,741 miles and flying 580 miles before crashing into the sea. This would have reached Alaska, but no other part of the continental US. It could, however, also hit American military bases and forces in a wide arc in the Pacific.

Looking at the pace of development and pattern of the tests, one can conclude that North Korea would be able to produce a missile with a longer range in the not too distant future. It remains unclear whether Pyongyang can mount a nuclear warhead on the missile. But US officials acknowledge that this too is likely to happen. Lt Gen Vincent Stewart told a Senate Committee recently: The regime is committed and is on a pathway where this capability is inevitable. The only hurdle left, he continued, was perfecting re-entry of the ballistic missile into the atmosphere. But he continued: They understand the physics, so its just a matter of design.

World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. Firefighters have brought the fire under control but they expected to keep working through the day EPA World news in pictures 15 September 2020 Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posing for a selfie with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital. In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. Thousands of asylum seekers on the island of Lesbos are now homeless AFP via Getty World news in pictures 9 September 2020 Pope Francis takes off his face mask as he arrives by car to hold a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 8 September 2020 A home is engulfed in flames during the "Creek Fire" in the Tollhouse area of California AFP via Getty World news in pictures 7 September 2020 A couple take photos along a sea wall of the waves brought by Typhoon Haishen in the eastern port city of Sokcho AFP via Getty World news in pictures 6 September 2020 Novak Djokovic and a tournament official tends to a linesperson who was struck with a ball by Djokovic during his match against Pablo Carreno Busta at the US Open USA Today Sports/Reuters World news in pictures 5 September 2020 Protesters confront police at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, during an anti-lockdown rally AFP via Getty World news in pictures 4 September 2020 A woman looks on from a rooftop as rescue workers dig through the rubble of a damaged building in Beirut. A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. Dozens of fires are burning out of control throughout Northern California as fire resources are spread thin AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 August 2020 Students use their mobile phones as flashlights at an anti-government rally at Mahidol University in Nakhon Pathom. Thailand has seen near-daily protests in recent weeks by students demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha AFP via Getty World news in pictures 17 August 2020 Members of the Kayapo tribe block the BR163 highway during a protest outside Novo Progresso in Para state, Brazil. Indigenous protesters blocked a major transamazonian highway to protest against the lack of governmental support during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic and illegal deforestation in and around their territories AFP via Getty World news in pictures 16 August 2020 Lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes over Oakland AP World news in pictures 15 August 2020 Belarus opposition supporters gather near the Pushkinskaya metro station where Alexander Taraikovsky, a 34-year-old protester died on August 10, during their protest rally in central Minsk AFP via Getty World news in pictures 14 August 2020 AlphaTauri's driver Daniil Kvyat takes part in the second practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo near Barcelona ahead of the Spanish F1 Grand Prix AFP via Getty World news in pictures 13 August 2020 Soldiers of the Brazilian Armed Forces during a disinfection of the Christ The Redeemer statue at the Corcovado mountain prior to the opening of the touristic attraction in Rio AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 August 2020 Young elephant bulls tussle playfully on World Elephant Day at the Amboseli National Park in Kenya AFP via Getty

The question is what can the US and the international community do to stop Kim Jong-un acquiring a nuclear arsenal with ICBMs? The answer is that options are quite limited. There has been some tough talk from Washington about carrying out military strikes. But that is a highly risky path. Targets would not be easy to track down and hit while retaliation would put the South Korean capital, Seoul, nor far from the border, directly in the firing line. The numbers of casualties are likely to be massive.

Gen James Mattis, the US Defence Secretary, has warned: If this goes to a military solution, it is going to be tragic on an unbelievable scale. So our effort is to work with the UN, work with China, work with Japan, work with South Korea to find a way out of the situation.

There was little of his usual bombast in Trumps tweet following the latest missile test. There was no threat of American action against Kim Jong-un or his regime. Instead the President was seemingly leaving it to others to deal with the crisis. North Korea has just launched another missile. Does this guy have anything better to do with his life? Hard to believe that South Korea and Japan will put up with this much longer. Perhaps China will put a heavy move on North Korea and end this nonsense once and for all!!.

South Korea is emerging from a period of political upheaval and the new President, Moon Jae-in, favours a diplomatic solution. He has asked the UN Security Council to take steps against Pyongyang, but is unlikely to go further than that. Punitive economic measures, however, has proved relatively ineffective against a regime that is prepared to let its people suffer privation in return for achieving its nuclear ambitions.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has long voiced his concern about North Korea. He said repeated provocations like this are absolutely unacceptable and that his country would unite strongly with the US and South Korea to put pressure on Pyongyang, without specifying what these pressures would be.

 North Korea claims to fire first intercontinental ballistic missile

China, as North Koreas main trading partner, is supposed to have influence over Pyongyang. But for all the talk of Chinese heavy move in his tweet, Trump has been increasingly critical over what he sees as Beijings inaction on the matter. Today Chinas ambassador to the UN warned of  disastrous consequences if there is a failure to ease tensions with North Korea. We cannot afford to wait for too long without dialogue taking place said Liu Jieyi.

The North Korea problem will feature prominently at the G20 summit in Hamburg at the end of the week. But Pyongyangs key aim has always been to have direct bilateral talks with the US, something that successive administrations in Washington have steadfastly refused as it would show that Pyongyang has won by playing hardball.

During his presidential election campaign Trump had stated that he would be prepared to receive Kim Jong-un in Washington and have hamburgers with him ... What the hell is wrong with speaking? And you know what? Its called opening a dialogue.

Trump was derided across the American political spectrum, but North Koreas state media praised him as a very wise politician. Now, with the military option seemingly off the table, and economic sanctions having little impact, Trump may well find that "hamburger diplomacy" is the way to fulfil his pledge that North Korea will not have nuclear missiles which can hit America.
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No stranger to exaggeration, North Koreas claim that its latest missile test demonstrated that its armaments could reach the continental United States should be taken with the usual dosage of scepticism. This one, after all, made it no further than the Sea of Japan, and South Korean and American experts suggest that it is merely an intermediate range weapon, and not an especially accurate one at that.

None of that, however, contradicts the prediction vouchsafed by President Obama to the then-President-elect Trump a few months ago that the North Koreans will probably have some sort of weapon, and possibly with a nuclear warhead that could hit the American west coast inside the next few years. It is that that is concentrating minds in the region and around the world.

This test is merely the latest in a series of missiles and warheads lobbed almost at random by Kim Jong-un, the only logic and consistency behind their uneven record of success being his determination to ensure that America and allies South Korea, Japan and Australia know that he has the means and the unpredictability to strike them at will possibly regardless of the consequences.

Key to understanding the policy is the fact that Mr Kim sees the best guarantee of his dynasty remaining in power is the possession of weapons of mass destruction and the apparent willingness to use them. He has watched the demise of other despots, such as Saddam Hussein and Muammar Gaddafi, who either exaggerated or gave up their own arsenal of weapons, only be toppled by the Americans, and drawn his own conclusions.

That is why pressure from China, North Koreas only friend in the world, has not proved particularly effective over many years. Even Donald Trump now accepts that there are limits to what Beijing can do to pressure its turbulent and paranoid neighbour. Presently the economic sanctions are so tough that the Chinese are refusing, at least officially, to buy the only valuable export North Korea has to offer, coal.

President Trump, like everyone else, should also sympathise with the Chinese fear of a failed state on the southern border, with our without a war, leading to a mass exodus of starving refugees. It would be a humanitarian disaster and economic shock that the world does not need.

The dilemma of North Korea is no nearer resolution. It may be that some measured and proportionate military intervention by the US to knock out certain facilities could work, as President Trump found to his satisfaction in his air strike on Syria. It might, however, be wise to first follow the guidance of the new South Korean administration and resume diplomatic initiatives. It is true that these have failed in the past and that the sunshine policy that sought to coax North Korea into a more conventional and civilised pattern of behaviour achieved very little that was sustainable. It is also true that the clock is ticking towards the moment when North Korea manages somehow to make a bomb than can cross the Pacific Ocean.

Yet while the world still has time to think and talk, and the effects of the latest round of sanctions may not yet have fully worked through, engagement with Pyongyang may be the least worst option. If it meant, in due course, an admittedly bizarre visit to the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea by President Trump and his family, and them doing so from an undoubted position of US military superiority, then that historic event should be welcomed.

We are a long way from that, but some radical, even wacky, thinking is needed to frame an imaginative solution to the problem of Kim Jong-un. President Trump is quite good at thinking such thoughts.
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Im a guy who once turned up draped in a Union Jack to a Fourth of July barbecue. My disdain for Americas political and cultural attitudes towards race, immigration, labour, LGBT people, and, well, most things is well documented. You can hardly blame me; growing up gay in south-eastern Kentucky, I saw the worst of America every single day.

There are many progressive Americans who, with Trump as president, feel this isnt the country they knew. That they are largely white, straight, and middle-class is telling. For those of us from marginalised communities, this is the America weve known our entire lives. Forgive us if theres little love lost.

The story of America is the story of slavery, of Jim Crow, of disenfranchising women and raiding gay bars. America has always been hateful. Trump didnt cause this, he just embodies it.

Still, my feelings are complicated. Despite deeply hating parts of it, I love this country  not for what it is, but for what it purportedly strives to be. We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal, Thomas Jefferson wrote. It seems such a simple premise now, but in 1776 it was nothing short of revolutionary.

Of course at the time black people werent considered people  they were considered chattel. Women werent considered people, but their husbands property. Weve come a long way since then, as Congresswoman Barbara Jordan  herself a Black lesbian  pointed out back in 1974.

 Trump renews attack on media with video showing him 'beating up CNN'

Referring to the Preamble of the Constitution of the United States, she said I was not included in that We, the people. I felt somehow for many years that George Washington and Alexander Hamilton just left me out by mistake. But through the process of amendment, interpretation, and court decision, I have finally been included in We, the people.



The story of America is of some outright cruelty towards women, black people, Native people, gay people, and immigrants. But it is also the story of people who fought against and overcame this. Its the story of Nat Turner, who led a slave rebellion in 1831. Its the story of August Spies and Albert Parsons, who were executed for the Haymarket Riots though they were likely innocent  and Lucy Gonzalez Parsons, who carried on her husbands labour activism and organising.



The story of America is the story of Alice Paul, who went on a hunger strike and was tortured in prison to win votes for women, and of Harvey Milk and Matthew Shepherd who both died blazing a trail so I could live as an openly gay man. It is the story of Gus Garcia and Cesar Chavez who fought to include Latinos in the American narrative. It is the story of Wilma Mankiller and countless Native Americans throughout history who have fought to preserve their sovereignty and culture. It is the Freedom Riders, Malcolm X, Diane Nash, Ella Baker, and all the unsung heroes of the Civil Rights Movement.



We have a long way to go, but we stand on the shoulders of giants. Its so important to remember them and celebrate their legacy today. Progressive America cannot become so easily forlorn, mourning for a country that never existed. You cannot divorce Trumpism and American values anymore than you can Dr King and American values. They are two parts of a whole.



The question is which part will we allow to grow. If progressives throw up their hands in despair, authoritarianism and bigotry win. But if we fight back, we win.



This Independence Day, its important to remember that Donald Trump may be as American as apple pie, but so are we. And if we keep fighting, in the words of the old Civil Rights anthem, we shall overcome. We always do.
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For the first time in Indian history today, a sitting Prime Minister will enthusiastically meet the leader of Israel. And unusually Benjamin Netanyahu will accompany Narendra Modi for most of his 48 hours in the country. It is a historic visit and we ascribe a lot of importance to it, an official told the Haaretz newspaper.

This is more than a historic visit. Prime ministers from India always took a balanced and sensitive approach to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in the past. Not Modi. He wont even bother meeting with Palestinians during his visit.

What we are watching, in slow motion, is the biggest realignment of the global order since the Second World War.

Before Netanyahu, Modi was in the United States giving Donald Trump a hug. The Indian PM wasnt reticent or embarrassed in meeting Trump, unlike other world leaders, he relished it. And when Modi went to meet Putin last month, he called him a natural ally.

We need to zoom out and take a look at the bigger picture. Western Europe has already become hostile to Donald Trump. The view from Germany was widely echoed by the editor of Der Spiegel when he wrote: The United States President is becoming a danger to the world. In fact resisting Trump is essential to Europes survival. Confidence in Trumps ability to lead the world is at historically low levels across the continent.

 Modi escapes Trump handshake with ingenious move

This is an unprecedented shakeup of global affairs. The transatlantic alliance between Western Europe and the US has been the lynchpin of world politics since 1945. And yet it is crumbling before our very eyes.



Thirty years ago the world was broadly split between liberal democracies and communist countries. Now the world is increasingly divided between liberal democracies and authoritarian strongmen.



Europe largely sees Trump as an isolated figure, vociferously criticised for his authoritarian tendencies. He hates the free press and democratic norms, he does or says little about escalating violence against minorities at home. He talks about jobs but has little to show for it.



These criticisms of Trump also apply to Narendra Modi too. They also apply to Netanyahu. The same traits are embodied by Putin in Russia, Erdogan in Turkey, Duerte in the Philippines, Sisi in Egypt and the royal family in Saudi Arabia. There are minor differences of course but what binds them together is greater than what separates them. Imagine a G7 not with Merkel, Macron or Trudeau, but with Putin, Netanyahu, Modi and Trump backslapping each other.



The Prime Ministers of India and Israel are getting together for more than just arms trading (2017 will likely be a record year for arms sales)  they also share an ideological worldview. As one Indian writer put it, Indian nationalists not only envisage India following Israels apartheid model to deal with the minorities at home, but also always dream of turning India into an aggressive state like Israel.



Whats unclear in all this is Britains role. Already suffering from a Foreign Secretary widely seen as an incompetent buffoon, the Prime Minister is trying to follow the mantra of having her cake and eating it too.



May wants to distance herself from Britains closest ideological and trade allies, the EU, and instead embrace Trump and Modi. Abandoning the club of liberal democracies to ally with authoritarians is perhaps the most foolhardy approach to foreign affairs that Britain can take. And May is taking it.

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

Of course there are caveats here. Turkey doesnt see eye-to-eye on everything with Putin or Sisi. And China is more interested in trade with Europe than cosying up to Modi. But dont underestimate the ideological similarities between the worlds authoritarian strongmen, or their willingness to strike deals. After all, Erdogan and Putin patched up their difference very quickly last year.



Most of all, do not underestimate their desire to hang on to power and bend the world to their will.
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From what passes these days for the anti-Corbyn resistance, the hush could rupture an eardrum. The Great Leader has reshuffled his front bench team for the first time in far too long (late June to be precise)  and though he has again snubbed those known to the pundits as Labours big beasts, youd need a bloodhounds nose to pick up a scent of rebellion.

Nothing endures for five minutes in this dazzlingly turbulent era, and most of us have learned to avoid predicting anything beyond tomorrow lunchtime. The one vague likelihood is that things will change dramatically, and in the way least expected. No one, as the scriptwriter William Goldman said about the movies, knows anything. But for now at least, Corbyns internal dominance appears to verge on the absolute.

The kamikaze election Theresa May expected would give her the authority to remove Philip Hammond from the Treasury has left her too enfeebled to shove the undersecretary of state for paperclips sideways to ring-binders.

Corbyn, on the other hand, could appoint Roger de Courcey and Nookie Bear as joint Shadow Defence Secretaries with barely a squeak of outrage. If he ennobled Jim Davidson and made him Labours race and womens equality supremo in the Lords, his best prime minister? rating would nudge up a couple of points.

 Thousands of anti-austerity protesters show support for Jeremy Corbyn

Although the appointments he has made  and more revealingly the ones he hasnt made  look almost mundane, the recall for Roberta Blackman Woods (nope, me neither) qualifies as a minor curiosity. In her dramatic resignation letter after the failed post-Brexit coup  what a JFK moment that was  Blackman Woods informed Jez: I no longer have confidence in you as a leader  You could, and should, have shown more decisive and visionary leadership and your failure to step down means that I must.

The Corbyn Imperium having arisen despite that grievous blow, Blackman Woods has heroically overcome those doubts to join Labours International Development team.

And if youre wondering about all that street party bunting, and why the fatted calf is being lowered onto the barbie, hallelujah and hosanna, another prodigal daughter is welcomed home. Gloria De Piero returns as a spokesperson at Justice. The second Shadow minister to resign after Brexit has also adroitly reprogrammed herself into a true believer. So gloria in excelcis for that.

Yet while Corbyn shows that he loveth some sinners that repenteth by bringing back half a dozen reformed refuseniks, unlike heaven he cannot bring himself to loveth them all.

If Chuka Umunna is a big beast, the role model for the guy who quit the 2015 leadership election in terror of being doorstepped is the Cowardly Lion. After Umunnas pro-UK single market Commons manoeuvre of last week, the Mighty Jez has chosen to leave him on the hard shoulder of the Yellow Brick Road.

Angela Eagle, whose splendidly hapless 2015 leadership campaign suggested she should have followed Umunnas lead, indicated her gracious consent to a return. But Corbyn feels he can struggle on without her, and also without soldier Dan Jarvis who remains confined to barracks.

You might be more perplexed about a couple of the overlooked. Radio 2s Ed Miliband is a clever, thoughtful man, and has become popular in the way losers do in Britain when they plough pluckily on through the quagmire of public derision. He would be a useful addition.

Finally, after all her years as a Brownite android, Yvette Cooper has developed into a recognisably human politician. She may lack the incumbents mastery of fine detail. Even so, and without too many magic mushrooms, you can imagine Cooper making a more persuasive Shadow Home Secretary than Diane Abbott had she returned to her previous job.

It could be that at the next election, whether in a few months or years, Corbyn could use some reliable old hands in key positions to reassure those who voted Labour last time in the misguided assumption that the party couldnt win this side of Doomsday. Voting for a party without a prayer isnt the same as voting for one on the edge of power.

But doubting Corbyn has become a riskier participation sport than surfing with sharks. For the moment he is the omnipotent, omniscient god of Labour, and as such the reshuffle strikes a nice biblical balance.

 Jeremy Corbyn: Grenfell Tower has exposed the disastrous effect of austerity

He has played the cheek-turning Jesus by doling out minor jobs to De Piero and the rest. So far as the grander posts, albeit in a quieter and more benign way than his more lavishly bearded Old Testament predecessor, he has been a vengeful Lord towards false prophets who forsook him.

A hunch says that the identity of those in the shadows count for very little in an age of presidential politics when the leaders gobble up all the sunlight, though he may pay a price for favouring obscure rookies over hardened pros. If only we had the recent precedent of a little-known Labour backbencher being vaulted into the public eye.

Either way, Jeremy Corbyn has more than earned the right to do just as he pleases, and leave the mewling self-entitled pygmies of neo-Blairism to keep their stuck pig squealing about the folly of it all to themselves.
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar is setting a target for 20 women to win seats for Fine Gael in the next election.

Amid criticism over his cabinet appointments and the lack of more women in senior ministerial positions in Government, Mr Varadkar said he sought advice from Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau on the issue.

Mr Trudeau has a 50:50 gender balance among his ministers and has described himself as a feminist.

Mr Varadkar defended his promotions, adding there are 12 female TDs who support the Fine Gael minority Government, 10 of whom have ministries or chair Oireachtas committees.

The Taoiseach said he believes diversity leads to better decision making and that diversity is about more than gender.

"We should try to have a government and a parliament that looks like the country that it tries to represent," he said.

And outlining his ambitions for the next election, he added he wants to get more women to run for parliament and win seats over the next few years.

"Fine Gael already has more female TDs than any other party at 11," he said.

"But I want it to be much higher.

"I'd like it to be 50:50 but certainly at least 20 after the next general election thus giving me more scope to promote even more women than are promoted already.

"That's very much the space I want to be in."

Mr Varadkar added: "Being asked whether you are a feminist or not can often be a trick question because I think other people have to judge that of you, not to make that decision for yourself.

"Certainly if feminism is defined as supporting equal opportunity between men and women, which I do, then I consider myself a feminist but I totally accept that other people may have a different definition of that and therefore not agree."

Mr Trudeau said it takes a deliberate effort to encourage women into frontline politics and he said he encouraged Mr Varadkar to get to gender balance.

He said: "When you ask a women if she'll step for and run her first question is really, 'do you think I should, do you think I can, am I qualified enough?'

"When you ask a man to run for politics his first question is 'well what took you so long to ask me?'"

Mr Trudeau added: "Getting more women into positions of power and authority and success is not just the right thing to do it's the smart thing to do and that's something we both agreed on."
Justin Trudeau arrives at Dublin airport with his wife Sophie Gregoire Trudeau and their son Hadrien

Canada and Ireland should cash in on Brexit and Donald Trump's US presidency by encouraging people and businesses to relocate, Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau has said.

After talks with Irish Taoiseach Leo Varadkar in Dublin, Mr Trudeau said migration should be seen as a positive.

"There are tremendous opportunities for countries like Canada and Ireland at a time where perhaps our significant allies and trading partners, in the case of the UK and US, are turning inward or at least turning in a different direction, to make the pitch that Canada and Ireland are places that are exciting and open to the world in a positive, progressive way," Mr Trudeau said.

Trade issues were high on the agenda when Mr Trudeau and Mr Varadkar met in Farmleigh House in Dublin, with the CETA agreement between the Europe Union and Canada a key focus.

The deal, which has yet to be ratified by national parliaments, took seven years to negotiate.

But it has controversial clauses, including concerns about giving companies the right to sue governments and questions about workers' rights.

Mr Varadkar said the CETA deal is progressive and not just about big business, citing its focus on environmental protections.

"I understand that there are concerns," the Taoiseach said.

"People always have concerns about free trade agreements.

"But there are many more benefits for our country and our people, our economy than there are downsides.

"It's not just an agreement for big business.

"It's also an agreement for small business, for workers and has huge potential for Ireland."

During the Canadian PM's trip, Mr Trudeau was being hosted by President Michael D Higgins at Aras an Uachtarain.

He has several other engagements in Dublin including a business lunch and a visit to see the Famine memorial statues in the city centre and a dinner hosted by the Taoiseach.

Mr Trudeau is accompanied on the trip by his wife Sophie Gregoire Trudeau and their young son Hadrien.

The visit has been arranged two months on from when Mr Varadkar's predecessor Enda Kenny met the Canadian leader in Montreal.

Mr Trudeau will leave Ireland on Wednesday for engagements in Scotland, including meeting the Queen at the Palace of Holyroodhouse on Wednesday to "honour her importance to Canada's history".

Mr Trudeau is attending the G20 summit in Hamburg later in the week.

On Brexit, Mr Varadkar said more people will want to come to Ireland as a result.

"What I anticipate, because of our economic recovery, because we are the fastest-growing economy in Europe now for two years in a row, and potentially because of Brexit, more and more people will want to come to Ireland," he said.

"We will actually have more inward migration into Ireland.

"We will be able to import the skills that we need and the knowledge that we need and the new experiences we need through a positive, open, managed migration policy."
The prosecution case in the trial in Egypt of a 21-year-old Irishman is to end later this month.

Ibrahim Halawa was incarcerated after being detained during Muslim Brotherhood protests in Cairo in 2013, and hearings have been adjourned and delayed numerous times over the last four years.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney said: "I welcome the indications that the trial is now progressing into its final stages."

At the latest hearing in Cairo, more police witnesses were called and the court was told another five more will be called.

The prosecution case will be completed on July 9, Mr Coveney said.

"A team of official Irish observers will again be present in court for that hearing," he said.

"The Irish Government cannot intervene in a case that is before the Egyptian courts.

"What we can do, and what we are doing, is redoubling our efforts to ensure that the Egyptian authorities fulfil the clear commitment which they have given us to resolve this issue as soon as the trial ends, and return Ibrahim Halawa to Ireland."

Mr Halawa, the son of a prominent Muslim cleric in Dublin - Sheikh Hussein Halawa, was imprisoned after being detained in a mosque near Ramses Square in Cairo as the Muslim Brotherhood protested over the removal of elected president Mohamed Morsi in August 2013.

He has been tortured and gone on hunger strikes during his imprisonment.

Mr Coveney said he would speak to Egyptian foreign minister Sameh Shoukry "as soon as possible to impress upon him how important I believe this matter is, and to reinforce the need for its early resolution".

He added: "I and my officials are working hard towards that goal and we will continue to do so. I am determined to do everything I can as Minister for Foreign Affairs to make sure that Ibrahim Halawa is back home in Ireland with his family as soon as possible."

Former taoiseach Enda Kenny wrote to Egyptian president Abdel Fattah el-Sisi pleading for Mr Halawa's release on humanitarian grounds.

Mr el-Sisi said he could be released, but only once the trial has run its course.
Brexit will be used by "bad bosses" as an excuse to drive down wages, a conference of the country's unions will hear.

The leader of the trade union movement - Patricia King - warned that there are unlikely to be "many upsides for working people on this island" as a result of the UK's EU departure.

Six motions have been tabled on the Brexit issue at the Irish Congress of Trade Unions' biennial conference, which begins in Belfast today.

In one motion, Unite says even if tariff-free trade is delivered, there are still many concerns for workers.

It says these include the risk of "bad bosses" using the opportunity to push down pay, the rights of EU workers in the UK, UK workers in the EU, and domestic cross-border workers, as well as "economic dislocation".

It has already been estimated that 200 jobs have been lost in the Republic due to the referendum's unsettling impact on the value of sterling, while the ESRI has warned wages could fall by up to 10pc in vulnerable sectors.

The union umbrella body wants EU directives which govern crucial workers' rights to be upheld.
The briefing notes that 50pc of beef and more than a third of dairy exports go to the UK market including 80pc of the cheddar cheese imported by Britain. Stock Image: PA

The beef and dairy industries face combined costs of almost 1.2bn in the event of a 'hard' Brexit, Department of Agriculture officials have warned.

The stark estimate is contained in briefing documents prepared for the Department's ministers which summarises the challenges of Brexit and efforts to counter the risks it poses.

Officials state that the agri-food sector is "of critical importance" our economy and how 39pc of exports - worth 4.8bn - went to the UK in 2016.

The briefing notes that 50pc of beef and more than a third of dairy exports go to the UK market including 80pc of the cheddar cheese imported by Britain.

Officials listed potential tariffs on trade among long-term challenges posed by Brexit and say that estimated World Trade Organisation (WTO) tariff rates for beef and dairy exports at 61pc and 52pc respectively.

WTO rates would apply if Britain left the EU without a trade deal or transition arrangements in place, one possible 'hard' Brexit scenario.

If WTO rates came into effect there could be "an estimated cost to those sectors of 687m [beef] and 502m [dairy]", the document states.

"These difficulties would be compounded by the increased cost associated with the implementation of border controls, particularly if there is a divergence from EU regulations and standards in the UK after Brexit," the officials add.

They also highlight the dependency of the mushroom and forestry industries on the UK market with around 90pc of exports by value going there.

Read More

The briefing material lists Ireland's key 'asks' from Brexit talks as including "continued free access to the UK market, without tariffs and with minimal additional customs and administrative procedures".

In terms of the general response to Brexit the document outlines "steps taken to date" including the establishment of a dedicated unit in the Department to coordinate all activities and increased engagement between Agricultue Minister Michael Creed (pictured) and his British and European counterparts.

Mr Creed has met with the chief executives of major UK retailers, like Tesco, Sainsburys and ASDA.

The document outlines increased funding for Bord Bia and how additional resources have been allocated to the department's market access activities "in order to further improve Ireland's agri-food footprint globally".

The department is said to be active in developing new business opportunities in non-EU countries, including the United States, Mexico and Saudi Arabia.

The briefing documents were prepared in case Taoiseach Leo Varadkar changed the ministerial team at the department as part of his reshuffle upon assuming office last month.

Mr Varadkar left both Mr Creed and the department's junior minister Andrew Doyle in their roles.

Separately, an emergency fund worth an estimated 1.5m is set to open for tillage farmers in the west hit by poor weather during last year's harvest.

The 'Crop Loss Compensation' scheme, expected to be launched in the coming weeks, will make a maximum of 5,000 available to up to 300 private tillage farmers.

A spokesperson for the Department of Agriculture confirmed the new scheme but said it will only support private tillage farmers whose damaged crops had no commercial value and where upwards of 30pc "verified crop loss" volume occurred.

"This was a challenging scheme to put tougher in terms of quantifying and verifying dreadful losses to farmers"

"It will be a maximum payment of 5,000 per applicant with a ceiling of 200 per hectare. It will be limited to a max area of 25 hectares per applicant," said the spokesperson.

IFA President Joe Healy welcomed the announcement.

"The IFA has fought hard for farmers that were very badly affected. The losses threatened livelihoods. What's important now is that the final details are published without delay," he said.
Milk prices will remain strong through the second half of the year despite the sharp rise in supplies, Dairygold chief executive Jim Woulfe has predicted.

But the co-op boss warned that a butter price "bubble" could destabilise markets. Butter has more than doubled in value over the past 12 months, with Dutch prices hitting 6,000/t last week.

Mr Woulfe told the Farming Independent he was "cautiously optimistic" for milk prices over the next six months.

CSO figures show that May milk deliveries were up 7.3pc on 2016, while the year-to-date supplies are running 6.8pc ahead of last year.

"I think this year is going to be a good year and there is a lot of positivity," said Mr Woulfe.

"We don't want to be bullish, but we are cautiously optimistic about prices from here on inside the next six months," he added.

The Dairygold chief executive said global dairy markets had recovered strongly from the demand and price volatility of 2015-16.

"If we look at the market overall it has steadied. We've come out of a season where New Zealand production was back about 2.5pc," he explained.

"We've seen in Europe that the Germans haven't picked up to the volume that was expected and neither have the French.

The UK are still down year-on- year with last year," said Mr Woulfe.

This assessment is backed up by the latest EU figures which show that milk production across the Union is back 1.4pc compared to 2016 for the January to April period.

Deliveries

German milk production is back 4.1pc on 2016 levels, France is down 3.3pc, the UK is 2.4pc lower, Danish output is down 2.2pc, while Dutch milk supplies are back 0.5pc.

In contrast, Irish milk deliveries up to the end of April were 6.6pc higher than 2016.

Polish output increased by 3.6pc and Italian milk supplies are up 1.1pc.

Cypriot farmers recorded the highest lift in output, with production up 14.4pc compared to 2016.

Meanwhile, CSO figures confirm that Irish milk production for May was up 7.3pc compared to 2016, increasing from 930m litres to 997m litres.

Milk supplies for the five months to the end of May are up 6.8pc, rising from 2.72 billion litres to 2.9 billion litres. This is an increase of 180m litres.

"The supply globally is more balanced and the demand has picked up slightly; so from that perspective there is a more positive feel in the market," Mr Woulfe maintained.

This improvement in market sentiment has been reflected in farmers' milk cheques.

"The milk price is up 10.5c/l on this time last year, if you are looking at April-May last year compared to April-May this year. Percentage wise that is very high of course, it's up 45-47pc, so it's a much better year," said Mr Woulfe.

However, the Dairygold boss cautioned that the sharp hike in butter prices was a cause for concern.

"Butter has gone from about 2,400/t in April-May 2016, to over 6,000t at the moment - that's a bubble in any cycle," Mr Woulfe said.

The increased returns for butter has been reflected in a sharp lift in production. Irish dairies produced over 28,000t in May, up 15pc on 2016.

Mr Woulfe said it was great for the dairy sector that butter was in vogue and that this had helped lift milk prices after a difficult 24-month period.

"It's the fashionable, nutritious fat that is good for you. And from that perspective all the major national food companies are using dairy proteins and fats in their formula now," he said.

However, Mr Woulfe stressed that market upturns always come to an end at some stage.

"It's not sustainable, but it's a matter of how long the bubble will last."

Dairy analyst Kevin Bellamy said the market was in a good position, with most European players talking about raising prices. "Demand is still pretty weak but the Chinese will buy a lot more in the second half," said the Rabobank analyst.

"Nobody has got any butter at the moment and bakeries are panicking over it," he said. "Irish farmers are going to have quite a good year - I think butter prices will come down a bit. I don't think it is a bubble I think it is a lifestyle change."

Mr Bellamy said some of the heat will be taken out of the market as countries such as Germany, France and Holland will produce less.

On the question of milk proteins, Mr Woulfe welcomed the EU Commission's handling of intervention stocks.

The commission has close to 300,000t of skim milk powder in intervention stores, however, it has refused to release it at bargain basement prices with just 100t sold to Belgium.

"The European Commission are to be commended because they have handled the stock of intervention well. They haven't released it, they haven't done damage to the market. And what they have released were at prices that haven't influenced negatively on the current fresh product," he said.

Mr Woulfe said the overhang of intervention stocks was becoming less of a threat and it was now likely to go for animal feed rather than for human consumption.
Lucky the fawn should be dead. It was nothing but good luck that saw farmer Les Conboy cutting a meadow in Sligo when he came upon the injured fawn.

The drystock farmer was cutting silage on Friday at Ballygawley, west Sligo, when he saw "a wee brown thing moving in the ditch."

He hopped down off his tractor and found the little fawn stuck in sheep wire. "Her leg was caught and she was bleeding and I thought if I let her go the foxes would get her."

So, with a struggle, he managed to get the fawn in the tractor and brought her back to his house where he put her in a barrel he usually uses for tending to sick lambs and called the vet.

"She is only around three weeks old and held her good and tight but there was blood all over the tractor."

Luckily, on examination the vet said there were no broken bones, just damaged tendons and she bandaged up Lucky's leg.

Since then Les has been feeding the fawn with milk replacer, including for two days through a stomach tube, until she got used to her surroundings and Les. Now she's taken to the bottle and is very comfortable with Les and his jack russell Jack.

The plan is to keep her indoors for a few days more at least, until she's back on all four feet and then move her outdoors where she can eat grass.

According to Les she won't be out in the wild for six months as she needs milk and is too young to survive on her own. Meanwhile, Lucky is keeping Les, his nephew Trevor and Jack on their toes!
TELECOMS watchdog ComReg is seeking to impose penalties on Eircom, running into millions of euro, over the company's alleged failure to comply with its obligation on access to its network for other telecommunication providers, the Commercial Court heard yesterday.

The claim was made by Maurice Collins SC, for Eircom (now known as Eir), as he opposed an application by the Commission for Communications Regulations (ComReg) to have the case entered into the High Court's fast-track commercial list.

Paul Gallagher SC, for ComReg, said the case was entirely suitable to be dealt with in the commercial list because of its very significant implications for market-place competition.

The court ruled that it was an appropriate case for the commercial list.

In its proceedings, ComReg is seeking a declaration of non-compliance by Eir with a 2011 EU regulation governing access the electronic communication networks and services.

It is also seeking an order for payment of a financial penalty, under those regulations, for this asserted breach of Eir's access obligation.

Under EU regulations, Eir must provide reasonable access to other providers which request use of access products, services, features, or additional associated facilities in the markets, which enable those providers to offer equivalents in the retail market to products offered by Eir.

Mr Gallagher, in applying for admission of the proceedings, said Eir had claimed that this case did not come within the rules for admission to the commercial list and because of delay in bringing the action.

Mr Gallagher rejected both claims and said there was clear precedent for such cases in the past, including cases brought by Eir itself.

He also disputed that there had been any delay and said a final decision to bring the case had only been made at the end of June.

While it was true that last November ComReg had said it would be bringing these proceedings, it (ComReg) also had to determine the penalty and that involved a considerable amount of work on what was a complex matter, he argued.

Mr Collins, for Eir, said his client had issued separate proceedings, challenging the validity of the EU Electronic Communications Networks and Service regulation, under which ComReg was bringing its case. Eir believes that case should be heard before ComReg's Commercial Court case.

ComReg, he said, was a public authority, with significant powers, seeking to impose what are "quasi-criminal penalties and financial sanctions" on Eir running into the millions.

Mr Collins said this case differed from other cases which had been admitted in that ComReg is a public authority seeking to impose significant penalties on a private law entity such as Eir.

Mr Justice Brian McGovern said Commercial Court rules give a very wide discretion and he was going to exercise that discretion in this case and admit it to the list. He adjourned it for two weeks for further directions on how it should proceed.
Loretta Brennan Glucksman, the prominent Irish-American philanthropist, has become the second recipient of the Kennedy-Lemass medal.

The medal honours a US Leader of Irish heritage that has helped strengthen the Irish-US relationship.

Ms Brennan Glucksman, Chairman Emeritus of the Ireland Funds, was awarded the medal for her outstanding contribution to US-Ireland relations by the Board of the American Chamber of Commerce Ireland at its annual Independence Day lunch in Dublin this afternoon.

More than 700 people attended the ceremony.

Dignitaries included Reece Smyth, Charge dAffaires of the U.S. Embassy who said that the philanthropic efforts by Ms Brennan Glucksman in the educational and cultural space were profound.

"If we are looking for a testament to the fine traditions of Irish America, we need look no further than Loretta Brennan Glucksman," said Mr Smyth.

Tributes were paid by Taoiseach Leo Varadkar who, in a message read out at the ceremony, said Ms Brennan Glucksman had made a remarkable contribution to Ireland.

"She has inspired us all and it is very fitting she should be honoured in this way," said Mr Varadkar.

A message from Anne Anderson, outgoing Irish Ambassador to the U.S., was also read out.

Ms Anderson described Ms Brennan Glucksman as a "towering figure in Irish America".

Ms Brennan Glucksman, who attended the ceremony with her daughter Kate and son John, said she was "overwhelmed" by the award.

Ms Brennan Glucksman paid tribute to her close friends, broadcaster Gay Byrne and his wife Kathleeen Watkins, who also attended the ceremony.

Addressing current changes in global politics, Ms Brennan Glucksman said: "We will prevail, we have prevailed through so many tumultuous times."

The inaugural Kennedy-Lemass Medal was awarded last year to Kevin O'Malley, the former U.S. Ambassador to Ireland.

During her 18 year tenure as Chairperson of the American Ireland Fund, Ms Brennan Glucksman oversaw contributions of over 300 million - of some more than 500m raised to date - in support of peace and reconciliation, arts and culture, education and community development on the island of Ireland.

The Chamber made the announcement of the award on May 29th last to coincide with the centenary of President Kennedys birth.

Chamber President James OConnor said the medal was awarded to Ms Brennan Glucksman to recognise her leadership in education and skills, her work as a champion of the creative arts and for her work removing barriers between communities.

She has worked tirelessly to deepen the ties between our two countries, said Mr OConnor.

In the spirit of those great leaders, Kennedy and Lemass, she embodies the idea of our kinship.

Alongside her late husband Lewis, Ms Brennan Glucksman has been a generous supporters of the University of Limerick for over 20 years, helping to fund many key projects and serves as Chairman of the University of Limerick Foundation.

She has served on numerous boards including IDA Ireland, The National Gallery of Ireland, The National Library, The National Concert Hall, The Abbey Theatre, Trinity College, University College Cork, The Royal College of Surgeons, Smurfit School of Business at the University of Dublin, and Cork Airport Authority.

In his address, Mr O'Connor highlighted the many opportunities that exist for Ireland in its central role driving connections between the United States and Europe. However, he remarked that amidst these opportunities that will continue to exist also lies risk.

Brexit will bring changing relationships between global trading blocks and the threat of protectionism. We are in no doubt this could cause real harm to the extraordinary transformation that has occurred since President Kennedy set out his powerful vision for alliance between the US and Europe," said Mr O'Connor.

In the face of this challenge, we believe our country must remain focused on improving the elements that we control and which will help us to maintain our key position at the forefront of Foreign Direct Investment.
Toshiba is considering an initial public offering in Switzerland of the Landis+Gyr smart-metering company business it bought six years ago from investors led by Irish executive Cameron O'Reilly.

The sale is to raise much-needed cash to bankroll the Japanese group's own turnaround. Irish-Australian investor Cameron O'Reilly led the earlier $2.3bn sale of Landis+Gyr to Toshiba in 2011, having taken control of the Swiss business through his Bayard Capital investment business. Cameron O'Reilly is a son of Tony O'Reilly Snr, the former Heinz and INM boss, who was an early backer of Bayard Capital. He built up the Landis+Gyr business, including through acquisitions, before exiting in a deal that valued his own 7pc stake at $140m.

Landis+Gyr, which has its headquarters in Switzerland, makes equipment to track household power consumption - so-called 'smart meters' - and is just one among several assets that Toshiba has put up for sale as it tries to make up for multibillion-dollar losses at its Westinghouse nuclear-energy unit. The company selected a Japanese-led group last month as preferred bidders for its prized memory-chip business.

An IPO on the SIX Swiss Exchange is one of several options on the table and a sale of the business remains an alternative, the Japanese company said in a stock exchange filing yesterday.

Toshiba is considering listing the business in Switzerland or a potential trade sale.

Managers in Japan are said to have courted acquisition bids for the Swiss subsidiary, which had been expected to fetch about $2bn (1.75bn). CVC Capital Partners and Hitachi had made a joint offer to buy Landis+Gyr from Toshiba and Innovation Network of Japan, according to a person familiar with the matter.

"No decisions have been made with regard to either the IPO or the dual-track potential trade sale," Landis+Gyr CEO Richard Mora said. (Bloomberg)
Motorists have been warned that fake motor insurance brokers are going door to door offering cover.

The scammers, who operate with a laptop in hand, claim they can arrange discounted cover. But the policies are invalid because the fraudsters make up the details when they buy policies from insurance companies.

It is understood one bandit broker is about to be arrested - but not before they sold more than 100 dodgy policies in the Dublin area.

The Irish Independent yesterday revealed how in a new development in this country, fraudsters claiming to be insurance brokers are selling fake motor insurance policies to motorists.

They are charging people up to 300 and then leaving the drivers with no cover.

The "insurance sharks" are operating online and in pop-up shops, often targeting youngsters. They are known as 'ghost brokers' in the industry.

But now it has emerged they are also turning up on people's doorsteps claiming they can secure discounted policies - which will be particularly worrying for older drivers.

The most brazen of the ghost brokers are calling to houses, according to insurance sources.

Read More

It is understood that one bandit broker alone has sold more than 100 invalid policies in the Dublin area, with an arrest understood to be imminent.

A number of reports about ghost brokers have now been made to the Garda National Economic Crime Bureau by insurers.

Major insurer Liberty has warned drivers to be on the look-out for people claiming to be brokers, but who are not authorised by the Central Bank.

These people take insurance discs and documents, or secure policies from mainstream insurers. A key to the scam is the ghost broker creating a fake five-year no-claims bonus.

They are exploiting the fact that motor insurance premiums have shot up in the last three years, with young people suffering in particular.

The fraudsters pose as legitimate middlemen, claiming they can cut costs.

However, they are not regulated and often operate from home addresses using mobile phone numbers.

A spokeswoman for Liberty Insurance warned: "In the past 12 months alone, we have seen a dramatic increase in the number of ghost brokers, including one who has already provided in excess of 100 quotes to unsuspecting motorists."

She added that Liberty was aware that other insurers were being hit by the bandit brokers trying to scam them.

However, a spokesman for representative body Insurance Ireland claimed it was not aware that there was a widespread problem with ghost brokers.

One insurance expert said the problem was widespread.

Jonathan Hehir, of CoverInAClick.ie, said there was an emerging problem of unauthorised brokers claiming they can get people discounted cover.

He said fake brokers do this by falsifying a no-claims bonus, often without the knowledge of the motorist.

Drivers are under huge pressure from costly premiums, which had been rising for two-and-a-half years. They finally dropped slightly in April.
Insurance companies, brokers and representative bodies for the industry were raided this morning as part of a probe into alleged price fixing in the motor insurance industry.

It is understood that 45 officers from the States competition watchdog, the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) and the European Competition Directorate raided the main motor insurance providers.

It is part of an ongoing probe into alleged cartel activity in the insurance industry.

Also raided in the search for documentary evidence was the representative body for the industry, Insurance Ireland, the Irish Independent has learned.

The Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) initiated a probe into the insurance industry at the end of last year.

The CCPC issued witness summonses and information requests to major motor insurance providers and industry groups representing insurers and brokers.

The investigation, started almost 10 months ago, relates to industry participants openly signalling up-coming increases in motor insurance premiums in the State.

The raiding of offices is a major step-up in the investigation.

The European Competition Directorate is concerned that the single market for insurance operates without hindrance.

Read More

Politicians and consumer groups had called for the probe after the cost of motor premiums shot up by almost 60pc in the past three years, with some drivers being hit with higher rises.

Back in September, when it announced its probe into the industry, CCPC chairperson Isolde Goggin said it wanted to ensure there was no breach of competition law.

She said the CCPC had been engaging with consumers who told them that the sharp rise in motor insurance premiums has had a significant impact on them.

She said it would take action to stop specific anti-competitive practices in the motor insurance sector.

Read More

Sinn Fein Finance spokesperson Pearse Doherty TD has said news of raids by competition enforcement officials of offices linked to the Irish insurance industry are welcome although they have come late in the day.

Deputy Doherty said: I welcome news this morning of raids being carried out by Competition Enforcement officials investigating possible cartel behaviour. This is good news for consumers that concerns I have voiced for some time about cartelism now are being taken seriously.

The dramatic spikes in insurance prices across the board, and the fact that the Central Bank has accused the insurers of providing false information to it, point to sound grounds for investigation. The industry has been warned before about price signalling.

The news this morning will offer hope to drivers and others reliant on insurance that there is some protection for them even if it is coming very late in the day.
The nearly five-year legal battle is over (Anthony Devlin/PA)

JRR Tolkiens family have settled an 80 million dollar (62 million) lawsuit with Warner Bros over the rights of Lord Of The Rings and The Hobbit.

The British authors daughter Priscilla Tolkien and the estate teamed up with publishers HarperCollins to sue over merchandising rights.

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Warner said on Monday they have amicably resolved the legal battle that had lasted nearly five years.

Tolkiens estate argued that when they sold the rights to the films in 1969 merchandising of goods such as figurines, stationary and clothing was allowed.

But they said the studio overstepped the mark by producing video games and apps based on the books.

To make matters worse, they said, Warner outraged Tolkiens fans by using his characters in gambling games online and even planned to take them to casino slot machines.

They sued in California in November 2012 for damages exceeding 80 million dollars and asked for legal fees to be paid as well as the maximum rate of interest.

Warner counter-sued, claiming the estate had made an about face and had previously consented.

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A Warner Bros spokesman said: The parties are pleased that they have amicably resolved this matter and look forward to working together in the future.

The spokesman did not comment on the outcome of the settlement made on Thursday.

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Legal papers showed Warner dropped the counter-claim and no parties were entitled to recover fees or costs.

Tolkien, an Oxford University professor, died in 1973 at the age of 81.
THE High Court has dismissed a barrister's application to be allowed to represent clients without having to be instructed by a solicitor.

Eugenie Houston, president of the newly formed Association of Barristers in Ireland, had asked the court to clarify provisions of a new law, passed in 2015, in relation to the question of direct access of members of the public to barristers.

Mr Justice Paul Gilligan ruled on Tuesday there is "simply no proposition" that a barrister can act and conduct contentious litigation on behalf of a party to such proceedings without being instructed by a solicitor.

Traditionally, and currently, in order to appear before a court, a barrister can only receive instructions from a solicitor. Barristers are usually members of the Law Library and/or the Society of Kings Inn.

Ms Houston, who is not a member of the Law Library, is seeking to act for two men who has so far have represented themselves in High Court injunction proceedings being brought against them over alleged trespass on a bog in Co Offaly.

She said that under the 2015 Legal Services Regulation Act, as a qualified barrister, she should be entitled to represent the two men directly rather than having only to act after receiving instructions from a solicitor.

While only two parts of the 15-part 2015 Act have so far been enacted, she believed she can do so under Section 13.5, which is law which is in operation.

That provides legal practitioners shall act with independence and integrity, in the best interests of their clients, and maintain proper standards of work.

It states they should also comply with such duties as are "rightfully owed to the court" and keep the affairs of clients confidential.

A section of the new Act, which has not been enacted yet, provides that no professional code should operate to prevent a barrister providing legal services "other than a contentious matter" where instructions were not received through a solicitor, he said.

She believed it was proper that she should bring the application before the court to clarify whether direct access was permissible rather than "act behind the scenes" for a person as that would be entirely wrong.

Ms Houston also said she also had professional indemnity insurance and did not handle clients' money.

Lawyers for the Legal Services Regulatory Authority, which was set up under the Act, the Kings Inn, and the plaintiffs in the case being brought against Ms Houston's potential clients, disagreed she was entitled to directly represent.

The law as it stands does not permit direct access and the rules of the superior courts did not authorise it, they argued.

They also said access was a matter which was covered during a recent public consultation process by the Regulatory Authority and on which a report has yet to issue.

It was further argued that as part of being admitted to the degree of barrister-at-law in July 2008, Ms Houston signed a declaration to the Benchers of the Honourable Society of Kings Inn that she would comply with the rules and regulations of the Bar Council.

They provide a barrister may not act in contentious litigation except on the instructions of a solicitor.

Mr Justice Gilligan, is rejecting Ms Houston's application, said it was clear to the court the Oireachtas intended, in passing the 2015 Act, that professional codes applicable to barristers should continue to apply "unless and until replaced or revised by regulatory action of the Authority".

He also found the rules of the superior courts do no permit a party to defend an action by counsel alone.

As the rules are secondary legislation, and have the force of law, jurisdiction vested in the court regarding practice and procedure must be exercised in accordance with those rules, he said.

There was no basis for the court to consider, in exercising its discretion, to issue a direction that would enable the defendants in this case, to be represented by a barrister who is not instructed by a solicitor, he said.
Garda Dermot Byrne, with an address in Arklow, Co Wicklow, pictured leaving the Four Courts after he was awarded over 25,000 damages following a High Court Garda Compensation hearing (Picture: Collins Courts)

A garda, who suffered injuries to his thumbs in an assault 11 years ago, had to have his wife knot his tie this morning before attending a Garda Compensation hearing in the High Court, a judge heard.

Garda Dermot Byrne, of Ballyrahan, Tinahely, Arklow, Co Wicklow, told Mr Justice Bernard Barton that he still suffered pain today as a result of both his thumbs having been forced back over his wrists while making an arrest in August 2006.

He told his barrister Brid OFlaherty that he and a colleague were patrolling the Camden Street area of Dublin at a time when the night clubs were emptying onto the streets and a young man twice struck the garda car.

Garda Byrne said he had given chase and was arresting the man on a public order offence when he was attacked from behind by a second man. His had been grabbed in a neck-lock and his head pulled backwards.

He told Ms OFlaherty, who appeared with Hughes Murphy Solicitors, that as he was handcuffing the first man his assailant grabbed his thumbs and forcefully hyper-extended them.

Garda Byrne, who was attached to Kevin Street Garda Station at the time, stated that the second man was screaming get off my fucking friend you pig I am going to kill you. He had then aimed a kick at the gardas head shouting: I will kick your fucking head in you bastard.

The court heard that Garda Byrne, now aged 40, had also suffered neck, shoulder and back injuries but, while these had cleared up after a matter of months, the pain symptoms in his thumbs had lasted until this day.

Even lifting and using a remote can be painful, he said. When I was dressing this morning my wife had to knot my tie for me. I couldnt do it myself.

Garda Byrne said that while he had not been disabled as a result of the incident in 2006 the pain continues to make life difficult for him. He had been medicated by doctors and had undergone a series of physiotherapy sessions.

Judge Barton awarded Garda Byrne 25,000 compensation for his injuries.

I absolutely accept that this officer did sustain soft tissue injuries directly related to the incident in August 2006, Judge Barton said. He has not made the case that he is disabled but that he does have pain and ongoing difficulties.

Judge Barton said Garda Byrne had to prove on the balance of probability that his current problems and difficulties with his thumbs were connected with the assault and he felt he had fallen short of that proof.

The judge said Garda Byrne had suffered injuries to both his thumbs which, for a significant period afterwards, would have been very painful as well as having suffered soft tissue injuries to his neck, shoulders and back.

I dont know what the cause of his present troubles are. I have to be satisfied there is a direct correlation with the incident and I cannot say I am, Judge Barton said.

Garda Byrne was awarded his costs as well as just over 400 for expenses.
A garda colleague of whistleblower Sgt Maurice McCabe identified him to a social worker as the alleged abuser of his young daughter.

The Disclosures Tribunal has been told by Tusla social worker Rhona Murphy that Sgt McCabe was named by the father of a girl known as Ms D.

The tribunal is investigating the circumstances surrounding a false allegation of sexual abuse against Sgt McCabe and whether it was subsequently used by senior gardai to smear the whistleblower.

Ms Murphy, the first witness to be heard by the tribunal, was an intake social worker involved in the HSEs child protection team in Cavan.

She told the tribunal she was allocated the case of a 14-year-old girl, known as Ms D, in 2005.

Ms Ds parents had been concerned she was running away from home and engaging in sexual activity.

Under examination from tribunal counsel Kathleen Leader BL, Ms Murphy said Ms Ds mother had called saying her daughter had made a complaint about "a man".

She said the complaint was that during a game in the house of the man, the man held her over the sofa. Everyone was fully clothed, but there was an allegation "humping" occurred.

The incident was said to have happened when Ms D was six or seven.

Ms D subsequently made a statement to gardai on December 6, 2006.

Ms Murphy said a meeting of a HSE social worker team was convened and it was agreed to refer Ms Ds case to the HSEs child sexual abuse (CSA) team.

During the course of a subsequent meeting with Ms D and her parents, the girls father identified Maurice McCabe as the person against whom the allegation was being made, Ms Murphy said.

Ms D was asked at the meeting if she would be happy for a copy of her statement to go to the CSA team so she would not have to go through the detail again. The girl said she was happy for this to happen.

Ms Murphy told the tribunal that Noel Cunningham, a garda inspector in the Cavan/Monaghan division, would have provided the team with a copy directly.

She said she was also aware Ms Ds father had a copy of the statement.

Ms Murphy said that on December 14, 2006 she sent handwritten notes to members of the CSA team, Emer ONeill and Orla Curran.

Ms Leader said it appeared that the notes were intended to be shared with Inspector Cunningham, as there was a note attached saying: FAO Noel Cunningham.

But Ms Murphy said she had no recollection of sending any documentation herself to the inspector.

She said there was phone contact with Insp Cunningham in April 2007 in relation to him sending the girls statement.

The tribunal heard documents show that the same month Ms D informed the CSA team that Sgt McCabe had inappropriately touched her.

There was also a note that a file had been sent to the DPP, but a prosecution was not recommended.

Ms Murphy said she closed the file on Ms D in October 2007 and sent letters to two of her superiors about this decision.

The letters noted that Sgt McCabe had not been met by the social worker team.

She told the tribunal it was intended he be met by social workers from Meath as Sgt McCabe acted as a liaison officer with the HSE in Cavan/Monaghan.

She said it was fair procedure for an alleged perpetrator to be made aware of an allegation of sexual abuse against them. Such meetings would also be arranged in the context of making a child protection risk assessment.

Ms Murphy said Sgt McCabe should have been met by a team from Meath, but was unaware if this happened.

Michael McDowell SC, counsel for Sgt McCabe, said no such meeting ever took place.

He also said that Sgt McCabe was not a designated liaison officer.

Conor Dignam SC, for An Garda Siochana, said it would be the forces evidence that Sgt McCabe was not a liaison officer.

Ms Murphy said she had believed he was a liaison officer as there had been contact with him in relation to a number of cases previously.

Under questioning, she confirmed no assessment of Ms Ds credibility was ever made by the CSA team.

Ms Murphy said this was because they felt that putting the young person through the finer detail of that allegation would be to the detriment of the young person.

She said it was not unusual of her to close a file when there was outstanding work to be done.

She said her responsibility was solely in relation to Ms D.

No other concerns were received. Therefore the case was closed, she said.
As housing and neighborhoods coordinator for the city of Corvallis, Tracy Oulman spends a lot of time in the streets.

And she wouldnt have it any other way.

When you are out walking with them and looking at the places where they live and helping them tell their stories  that gives you insight into whats important to them, said Oulman, who started in her position in November.

Oulman has been on walking tours with members of about 20 neighborhood associations and also has embarked on a pair of guided tours of neighborhoods with Todd Easton, the citys new code compliance supervisor.

Were both kind of newbies, Oulman said. The walkabouts were a brainchild of Todd from his experience in Bloomington (Indiana).

Easton and Oulman both came to Corvallis, home of Oregon State University, from college towns. Bloomington is the home of Indiana University, while Oulman worked for five years as a neighborhood coordinator in Bozeman, Montana, home of Montana State University.

I knew that I was going to like the neighborhood part of the job, she said. Corvallis is similar in size to Bozeman. They are the type of town in which people are still accountable to each other. There is a community fabric. They treat each other right and that helps get things done.

Oulman also said that engaging with people in the neighborhoods where they live is a better approach than waiting for people to roll into City Hall. You have to get out into the community and hear it from the people themselves.

And there as many types of neighborhood associations as there are neighborhoods, Oulman said.

They all have their own style, she said. Some are live-and-let-live. Some are more structured.

Some similar themes have emerged, Oulman said. Methods of communication, recruiting, and how do you get new leaders?

And everyone Oulman has talked to says the city needs more meeting spaces for groups.

Oulman hopes to organize joint meetings of neighborhood groups in the fall to talk about issues and share ideas. Neighborhood associations have expressed an interest in exchanging information on emergency preparedness and learning about how to keep their neighborhoods fire-safe.

Oulman also manages the citys rental housing program. She produces a quarterly newsletter and attends the monthly meetings of the Corvallis Rental Property Managers Group. The group has been working since 2013 to try to solve livability issues in the neighborhoods near OSU and to provide training and professional educational opportunities to property managers and landlords.

Its a really unique group, Oulman said. I dont know of any other community that has that sort of collaborative effort. They are a key asset.

Oulman said that the calls her office receives on rental housing are evenly split between those from property managers and those from tenants.

You really get a chance to look at it from every perspective, she said. There are two sides to every story.

Oulman, who grew up in South Dakota, majored in English and biology at the University of New Mexico. She migrated toward public service after two stints with AmeriCorps.

So why did Oulman come to Corvallis? The answer is simple: Because it is closer than Montana to the ocean  and her husband, Tom Rudolph, surfs.

Surfing safaris used to involve trips to Mexico, but now that Oulman and Rudolph are in the mid-valley, regular trips to the Newport area are easy because Rudolphs job as a physicians assistant is structured on a two-days-on, three-days-off basis.

Does Oulman surf?

I dont even swim, she said. I supervise from the shore.
Karen Middleton who is homeless pictured with her son Luke (6)

A WOMAN and her young son who spent a number of weeks living in a tent outside a county council have launched a legal challenge over a refusal to provide them with emergency accommodation.

The High Court action has been taken by Karen Middleton and her six year old son Luke Middleton.

On Monday, their barrister David Leonard told the court the two have been in the tent since June 12 after Carlow Co Council refused to provide them with any further emergency accommodation.

Mr Leonard, instructed by solicitor Sinead Kerin of Mercy Law Resource Centre, said Ms Middleton left Dublin in late March for her native Carlow following a breakdown in her relationship.

They had stayed with relatives for a period but they were no longer able to provide them with shelter.

Her son also has health needs, counsel said.

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On one occasion, local councillor John Cassin paid for one nights accommodation in a local hotel.

While on other occasions members of the public have also paid for her and her son's accommodation.

Counsel said his clients have sought private rented accommodation but have not been able to secure anywhere to stay.

Last April, Ms Middleton and her son presented as being homeless at Carlow County Council's offices.

They were provided with emergency accommodation at B&Bs for short periods.

In early May, after she was told she had to leave emergency accommodation, she held a sit in at the council's offices with volunteers from the Carlow Housing Network.

She said she was arrested by the gardai after she refused to leave, before being released.

Eventually, she and her son were given emergency accommodation in B&B's which lasted between May 9 and June 12.

When the council stopped providing them with accommodation on June 12, she staged another sit in before again being removed by the gardai.

She has since taken up residence in a tent outside the council's offices.

Due to her fears that her son may be taken off her, friends have allowed him sleep on their sofas.

She is concerned to be living in a tent.

On one occasion, she said people started throwing items including eggs at her tent. Fearing for her safety, she called the gardai.

In their action, the Middletons seek an order directing Carlow Co Council to consider their outstanding application for emergency homeless accommodation by way of social housing support or by any other means.

Her counsel said the action has been brought on grounds including a challenged to the lawfulness of the council's decision that Ms Middleton could rent a property.

They claim the decision fails to take into account the information she gave the council why alternative accommodation options were not available.

Counsel said the refusal to provide the Middletons with emergency accommodation is unlawful as it breaches their constitutional rights and rights under the European Convention on Human Rights.

The matter came before Mr Justice Seamus Noonan who said the application for permission to bring the challenge should be on notice to the council.

He adjourned the matter to Wednesday.
Gardai are appealing for information after a criminal damage spree was carried out in an Irish town in the early hours of this morning.

Gardai in Edenderry, Co Offaly arrested the 20-year-old at a school in the town this morning.

They are now investigating a number of criminal damage incidents which occurred.

There were a number of windows damaged in Edenderry Garda Station and damage also occurred at a filling station on Tullamore Road, gardai report.

The suspected offender then continued to cause damage to a school in Edenderry and, when he gained entry into the school, started a small fire.

Gardai arrested the young man at the scene and he is currently detained under Section 4, Criminal Justice Act, 1984 at Tullamore Garda Station.

They are appealing for any witnesses who may have been in the area at the time to contact Edenderry Garda Station on 046-9731290.
Prefabs to provide accommodation for patients on the grounds of some of the hospitals suffering record levels of A&E trolley gridlock may not be ready for the winter overcrowding surge, it emerged yesterday.

The prefabs were promised as part of a series of moves to ease the trolley crisis which has been the worst in a decade in the first six months of this year, new figures revealed yesterday.

Many hospitals are now locked in a constant "winter crisis" all-year-round and yesterday 24 patients were waiting for a bed in South Tipperary Hospital, which has been earmarked for a prefabricated "patient hotel".

However, asked about progress, a spokesman for the hospital said while it has "received approval to proceed with enablement work on the site, it is now awaiting funding approval to progress the tender".

Questioned on how far ahead are the plans in other hospitals for the much-needed prefabs, a spokeswoman for the HSE said: "There are no definitive plans at the present time in relation to the coming winter months."

Significant "engagement and consultation has [been] and is being undertaken" and the use of prefabs will be considered.

It comes as damning figures from the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) show 51,321 patients, who were deemed sick enough to be in a hospital ward, were on trolleys in emergency departments or other areas in the first half of the year.

Hospitals which are in the grip of a rise in patients on trolleys include the Mater Hospital, Beaumont Hospital, Cavan Hospital, Letterkenny General Hospital and St Luke's, Kilkenny.

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Health Minister Simon Harris said yesterday that extra staff and beds are needed.

He said 700 new nurses have been hired since the beginning of the year and the target is to employ another 1,208 this year.

He is also carrying out a bed capacity review and this will be ready in September.

"The population is growing and we are seeing more and more older people and people with chronic illness attending hospital," he added.

Surged

The HSE set a target last autumn that no more than 236 should be on trolleys on any day. But earlier this year the numbers surged to 612, and even though it is mid-summer there were 249 waiting for a bed yesterday.

Fianna Fail spokesman on health Deputy Billy Kelleher said: "Over the month of June, we saw daily reports of between 300 and 350 people on trolleys across the country.

"From the end of August, these figures will start to increase until the middle of winter when the figure will be closer to 650.

"Unless action takes place over the summer and autumn, we will be back to square one again with Mr Harris wringing his hands in despair and saying that next year will be better.

"The minister has been in office for more than 12 months and is now approaching his second winter. The health system cannot cope with any further escalation in the number of people on trolleys.

"It's at breaking point, and it urgently needs a Health Minister who comes to the table with solutions and not empty gestures."
One paramedic said the situation is causing low morale among workers who are determined to do their best for patients in trying circumstances. Stock picture

Rural based paramedics are facing aggression and sometimes even assault when they arrive at the scene of an emergency, it has been claimed.

Ambulance drivers often face anger and hostility at the scene of accidents due to service delays outside their control.

One paramedic said the situation is causing "low morale" among workers who are determined to do their best for patients in trying circumstances.

"Morale is dropping week on week. Our normal shift is meant to be 12 hours but the minimum is often 13 to 15 hours with some very late finishes. People aren't happy.

"Under the Working Time Act there is meant to be no less than an 11-hour rest period between shifts for health and safety reasons, but we are regularly put under pressure," he claimed.

But he said he fears that "if something goes wrong, if one of us falls asleep at the wheel, the onus is on us not the HSE, we are the ones who will end up in court."

He said it is common for ambulance drivers to be sent to incidents up to 80km away.

"We are the ones on the ground who are left to explain to families why it took so long for us to arrive and why there is such a backlog.

"These are highly sensitive life and death situations and there have been scenarios where paramedics have been assaulted on site because of delays," he said.

The paramedic spoke to the Irish Independent on condition of anonymity.
Irish Rail is planning to place its last order for diesel trains before moving to an all-electric and hybrid fleet, the Irish Independent can reveal.

Tenders to be published in the coming weeks will call for companies to refurbish existing diesel trains to provide an additional 17,000 trips a day, with a further order of 41 new rail cars due to be placed next year. The total cost is estimated at 108m.

After that, chief executive David Franks said, the semi-State planned to move to an all-electric and hybrid fleet.

"We're driving towards an emission-free railway and electric is at the heart of that," he said. "These short-term solutions are adding to what we already have. But as you start thinking about replacement trains, the future really is electric and not diesel."

The company expects to place the first orders for electric or hybrid trains between now and 2020, as part of an expansion of the Dart network. But he said he would prefer to extend the network first into Maynooth in Kildare instead of Balbriggan in north Dublin as proposed by the Government.

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Mr Franks said it was "more difficult" to electrify the line to Balbriggan because it shared track space with mainline services to Belfast.

"We're arguing (with the National Transport Authority) that Balbriggan would be great, but Maynooth would be better," he said.

"We're really under pressure in terms of capacity (in Maynooth). We've been talking to the National Transport Authority on all these issues. Balbriggan will be part of the expanded Dart network. In terms of priorities, our suggestion is Maynooth would be more sensible."

The cost of upgrading Maynooth would be 350m, which includes re-signalling works and elimination of level crossings. The works to Balbriggan would cost 170m.

The company has set out a fleet strategy out to 2040 which includes the replacement of the existing Dart fleet, in place since 1984, and replacement of the Belfast Enterprise fleet.

It also wants to install more efficient engines in the existing fleet, at a cost of 40m, with the costs to be repaid over five years in fuel savings. A gradual move from diesel engines to electric and diesel hybrid is planned out to 2040, at a total cost of 1.8bn.

Mr Franks said hybrid technology was useful as trains could run under electric power, but in cases where it would be too costly to erect overhead wires, they could switch to a diesel engine for short bursts.

A second advantage was that these hybrids could continue into the outer commuter belt where the line was not electrified, he added.

Electrifying Dublin-Belfast and Dublin-Cork was also planned, which would reduce journey times.
Fr. Chris ODonnell has spoken of his appreciation of his parish after a social media campaign was started to keep the priest in Limerick.

I appreciate the passion and affection that theyve shown

The social media is successful whether or not it works, because it has brought people together.

The Priest, who is due to move to Dublin shortly to work on a book aimed to help young people, spoke to Independent.ie to reassure the members of the community that the move is not permanent.

Fr ODonnell spoke highly of the young members of his community, who started the petition which now has over 1000 signatures.

Its youngsters being as good as they are.

They are naturally responding to the program that connects them to their community, to their church and their faith

I have a great affection for them, and its been a privilege to work with them, and it will be to work with them again.

Ill be back within a year, but they probably felt as if I will be gone for ever.

Anois, the program that Fr. ODonnell runs have become a huge part of many young people lives in Limerick. The Limerick priest spoke about what the church offers to its community.

The world is a difficult place and what we are doing is building them up so they are ready for it.

This is where theyve made some of their best friends, and where they have learned that there is more to life than just themselves.

Fr ODonnell took a moment to thank the young members of his community, but urged them to not be to upset if the move still happens.

If they dont hear back from the Pope, I hope they arent too disappointed. 

But it would be great if the Pope did tweet them back, I think theyd really enjoy that
Housing Minister Eoghan Murphy has refused to rule out bedsits as a means to house homeless people.

Mr Murphy said bedsits were one "suggestion" he was considering during the review of the Rebuilding Ireland programme.

"I think it's important as I approach this review that I don't take anything off the table too soon, until I've looked at it properly to see if it could be a part of the solution.

"This is about supply, so if we can find new sources of accommodation that suits the needs of people, that are up to the required standards, then we have to be very robust," he said.

Mr Murphy said that there were around 25,000 vacant homes in Ireland that had the potential to house families, which he said would bring the vacancy rate in line with other cities in Europe.

Mr Murphy said his department is also "looking into solutions" around the possibility of using empty spaces above shops for suitable housing.

"I used to live above a shop when I lived in Vienna and it's a lot more common in European cities than in towns in Ireland, so there's a huge opportunity here," he said.

The minister was speaking at the AGM of the Irish Council of Social Housing (ICSH) in Dublin, where he said the need for social housing was an "obligation" for the State.

Dr Donal McManus, CEO of the ICSH, said there was a need for at least 50,000 more social housing units over the next five years.
April 3, 1935  June 16, 2017

Bill was born in Bakersfield, California to Edward and Margaret Steele, joining an older brother, John, who passed away in 1974.

When Bill was in his early teens, he moved to New Braunfels, Texas to live with an uncle. There he attended school through high school, after which he joined the Air Force, launching a 20 year career as a Communication Specialist, requiring Top Secret Clearance.

It was when Bill was stationed in Oslo, Norway that he met his first wife, Berit. They were married Oct. 22, 1955, and together had five children  Janet White, Lucie Adams, Terry Brumly, Dawn Hartsfield and Robert Steele, all of whom currently live in San Angelo, Texas. Sadly, military life took its toll on the marriage, and they divorced.

In 1971, Bill was stationed at Adair Air Force Station near Corvallis, and took a part time job at the Corvallis Country Club where he met Sherry Steele, a widow with three young sons. He subsequently was transferred to Elmendorf Air Force Base in Alaska. Sherry and her roommate Pat, decided to visit a friend who had moved to Anchorage, and were surprised when they ran into Bill when shopping at the commissary. Thus the relationship began, and they were married on May 7, 1972.

On March 31, 1974, Bill retired from the Air Force with an honorable discharge, and subsequently moved his new family back to Oregon where they ultimately purchased a country house in Lebanon, where they lived at the time of his passing.

As a person, Bill presented a quiet demeanor with a quick wit. He was demanding in his expectations of others, but followed the Golden Rule.

At his request no services will be held.

Huston-Jost Funeral Home is handling arrangements.
A WOMAN hailed as a hero for saving a 10 year old girl's life off an Irish beach admitted she prayed to two deceased relatives during the rescue because she feared they would both die in the treacherous rip-currents.

Mother of two Michelle Cremin was hailed as a hero by Ann-Marie Mulrooney for her fearless efforts to save her daughter, Grace (10), off Inch Beach in Co Cork.

Ann-Marie from Nenagh, Co Tipperary said she believes she owes her daughter's life to Michelle who battled a notorious rip-current off the East Cork beach to save the child on June 24.

"I couldn't bring closure until I had found Michelle - I tried to find her in the days after the incident but I couldn't find her."

"I wanted to thank her for what she did. Michelle bought that girl enough time for other people to come and help."

Ann-Marie eventually contacted Joe Duffy on RTE's Liveline show and contact was made with Michelle.

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The Tipperary woman publicly thanked Michelle on the show for saving her daughter's life.

"It was a very traumatic and very dangerous situation - but I was so touched by the fact she put her life at risk for a total stranger. She didn't know me or my children but she put her life at risk for us," Ann-Marie said.

Michelle played down her role in the rescue - but admitted the seas were so rough and the current was so overwhelming that she feared both she and Grace would drown that day.

"I was not going to let her drown in front of me - I wasn't going to let that happen," she said.

Michelle, who is from East Cork, was on the beach with her own two children when she heard Ann-Marie's agonised cries for help as Grace was being swept away by a notorious rip-current.

"I am a good strong swimmer and I know that beach like the back of my hand," Michelle said.

"I knew this was a very, very serious situation and that that child was in real danger."

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Michelle dived into the sea and battled waves and currents to successfully reach Grace.

The child was wearing a life-vest but was being swept offshore by the notorious current.

"The waves were unbelievable - they were very powerful and the current was overwhelming," Michelle said.

She reached Grace but the child's frantic efforts to save herself kept pushing the woman underwater.

The waves and currents meant Michelle was unable to get the child away from the rip-current and back into shallow water.

At one point, barely able to breath and virtually exhausted, she briefly let go of Grace.

Michelle revealed she then began to fear the worst.

"I was being swamped by the water and the waves. They were overwhelming," she explained.

The mother then prayed to two relatives of her partner who both died in drownings.

"I prayed to Fintan and Ger and said 'please help get us out of this.' I didn't know what else to do," she said.

The father and son, Fintan and Ger O'Driscoll, both died in Cork drownings - but, within seconds of praying to them for help, Michelle found others had battled their way through the waves to reach her and Grace.

One young man tossed a boogie board to them and that proved critical in the rescue.

"I want to thank that young man who threw the boogie board because that made all the difference," she said.

Ann-Marie also managed to reach the scene and the rescuers were able to help Grace and an exhausted Michelle to shore.

Michelle reached safety near rocks by the shoreline.

"I wasn't prepared to let her (Grace) drown - not right there in front of me. I wanted to get back to shore to my own children," she said.

Now, both Michelle and Ann-Marie have contacted Cork Co Council about getting additional warning signs erected on Inch Beach to warn of the rip-currents.

There is one warning sign on the strand but both women believe the currents are so dangerous that other warning notices need to be erected.

"It is an absolutely stunning beach - but it can be so, so dangerous. You need to be very careful of the currents," she said.

Michelle said she was so shocked by the near-tragedy that she brought her own two children to the scene to explain to them the dangers of rip-currents.
DUP leader Arlene Foster has confirmed that no deal has been reached to restore power-sharing in Northern Ireland, but talks are due to continue throughout the summer.

Speaking to a group of reporters outside Stormont, the former First Minister said that her party was "disappointed" an agreement couldn't be reached, but dismissed the idea that the summer break would create a "vacuum".

"We are going to continue talking throughout the summer, I want to send that message very firmly to the people we represent. I think what we want to see is an agreement that everyone can buy into, whether youre a nationalist or a unionist," she said.

"I hope others involved in this process are looking at the bigger picture as well and are saying if we want devolution, then you need to find an accommodation that everyone can feel comfortable with."

She added that the decision by Secretary of State James Brokenshire to allow further time for the talks was to "give the parties some space" and that "he knows how much progress we have made".

Speaking a short time after Mrs Foster, Sinn Fein's leader in Northern Ireland Michelle O'Neill said that her party were "disappointed but not surprised that a deal had not yet been done", noting a lack of urgency at the talks.

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"What this constitutes is a monumental failure on behalf of Theresa May, she has set back decades of work that has been done here throughout the years," O'Neill said.

"It is a consequence as we all know of the DUP supporting the PM, and in turn the PM supporting the DUP."

She said that her party were focused on "delivering rights that are available to citizens in other parts of these islands" and added "the reason we dont see those rights afforded and the reason that Theresa May is sitting back and allowing that to happen is because she is in hock to the DUP".

Commenting on the talks process, SDLP leader Colum Eastwood said: "The most depressing commentary on today's 'pause' is that no-one will be surprised by it - least of all the public."

"However, just because we are well versed in the hugely frustrating pattern of these talks, it shouldnt make us any less angry at what amounts to another failure. "

The British and Irish governments are expected to announce the suspension of the Stormont power-sharing talks on Tuesday afternoon.

Secretary of State James Brokenshire, in the House of Commons on Monday, said a deal could be reached this week. However, sources have said the two main parties are "poles apart".

Sinn Fein sources said they expect the UK and Irish governments to suspend the negotiations, potentially later today, with the aim of restarting the process in a number of months. The party said it didn't expect a deal until the autumn.

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Discussions continued inside Stormont Castle on Tuesday, but no substantive progress was made.

In a statement Irish Affairs Minister Simon Coveney said:

Having met the parties and the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland again this morning and talked through the detail of the outstanding issues, it now seems clear that agreement will not be forthcoming this week.

The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland said yesterday that he stands ready to introduce the necessary legislation at Westminster to allow an Executive to be formed once the necessary political agreement is reached between the parties.

The Governments can support and encourage but, in the final analysis, it is only the parties themselves that can make an agreement with each other. All sides may now wish to reflect on how progress can best be made and I would encourage the parties to maintain dialogue with each other over the coming weeks.

The Irish Government remains steadfast in our commitment to the Good Friday Agreement and to the success of its interlocking institutions. We are determined to play our part in supporting the resumption of the power-sharing government in Northern Ireland  and the sooner that happens the better.

Stalled

The talks have stalled over the failure by the DUP and Sinn Fein to reach agreement on key issues such as an Irish language act, a Bill of Rights and legacy issues with sources saying the two main parties have not moved any closer and there is no expectation of a deal until after the summer.

Daithi McKay spoke of the "urgency" of resolving the outstanding issues and called for a new mediator. While recognising that there's not much point continuing talks during the first two weeks of July holiday and marching period, he said there was "no reason" why the negotiations couldn't continue after that.

Mr McKay said: "I think the format has to change because, after the election, when James Brokenshire was returned as the secretary of state, he didn't go into the process, nobody went into the process, doing anything differently.

"Not only do we need a summit, I think we need to look back to the work of the Good Friday Agreement and the work of George Mitchell.

"We do need somebody more independent [to chair the talks] because James Brokenshire was not viewed by nationalists as independent before the election, he certainly isn't now.

"We do have the evolving relationship between the Tories and the DUP and that will certainly continue to impact on relations between all the parties here.

"I do think we need some sort of summit to demonstrate that both governments are actually serious about resolving the difficulties at Stormont and we do need an independent mediator there to do it."

Former Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Labour's Shaun Woodward, also said that the negotiations had been "complicated" by the Tories deal with the DUP, "if only because of suspicion that they might not be willing to put pressure on the DUP".

He commented: "What I feel would really help now would be a real, honest independent broker, like a George Mitchell."

Also agreeing that new energy is needed, Mr Woodward said: "For very complex reasons, the government has overseen drift happening. Neither side feels they have to move and they are waiting for the other side to move.

"By all, means have a summit. The two governments should be working hand in glove on this. A summit could help but I think what we have to be very clear about is what are the consequences if the summit should fail," he also stated. "What happens if the summit fails. That has to very clearly laid out for people Otherwise, this could drift on and on and on and that would be very bad."

Lord Reg Empey said he that bringing in prime ministers could be a risky strategy.

"We have done it in the past and it has been successful - but you may recall David Cameron came in one evening a couple of years ago - he found that the situation wasn't sufficiently ready and he scarpered away.

"The prime ministers is basically the last card you can play.

"Sometimes they can make a difference but, if they fail, then you're really in serious difficulty."

Lord Empey also called for all five of the parties in Northern Ireland to be brought together. "Let us not forget that the last time the five parties sat down together at the table was last Tuesday."

Prime ministers should not be brought in until "a lot of pressure" had already been brought to bear on the parties locally, he said.

"We're 19 years past the Belfast agreement, surely we would be showing respect to the people who are on waiting lists and in trouble in all sorts of ways if we were actually sorting things out ourselves instead of having somebody to hold our hand all the time.

"It's only in the last resort that you bring the prime ministers in and, as Shaun Woodward rightly points out, if that fails, we're in serious difficulty."
The law is already strong enough to deal with contempt of court through social media, Fianna Fail has insisted amid growing focus on online comment in criminal trials.

The party's justice spokesperson also said that the rules of contempt must apply to individuals as well as the media.

The use of Facebook and Twitter in the build up to, and during, jury trials is in the spotlight in the wake of the Jobstown verdict.

Fine Gael's Josepha Madigan has begun work on new legislation that would make it a statutory offence to comment on an ongoing criminal trial.

She has described some of the posts by Solidarity TDs during the trial of Paul Murphy and six others as "very menacing".

However, Fianna Fail's Jim O'Callaghan said current laws "can deal with any contempt that is calculated to undermine the administration of justice".

While not addressing the Jobstown case directly, he said the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) has the powers to take action where breaches have taken place.

Mr O'Callaghan said the rules of contempt must apply both to individuals and media organisations.

"Responsibility for ensuring that contempt does not occur rests in criminal trials on the DPP and the court.

"Although we will consider any legislative proposal that will be published, the law that exists at present can deal with any contempt that is calculated to undermine the administration of justice," he said.

The senior barrister said contempt arises when statements are published in a bid to undermine evidence or pressurise a jury. "The law on contempt is well established, and statements can constitute contempt irrespective of where they are published - on social media or otherwise," he said.

In the latter stages of the trial, Mr Murphy was warned by the DPP about his use of Twitter to comment on events in the courtroom. He subsequently deleted a series of tweets, including some posted while the judge was charging the jury.

During the trial his colleague Ruth Coppinger used social media to urge people to take time off work to fill the courtroom in order to send the jury as message that "the eyes of the world are watching them".

All of the accused were found not guilty of falsely imprisoning former tanaiste Joan Burton.

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Fine Gael member of the Oireachtas Justice Committee Alan Farrell said he also believes the use of social media in the context of a trial is already covered in law. He added that there's "no harm in reviewing laws" but questions over any case "is a matter for the DPP. That's what it is there for".

The DPP's office did not respond to queries from the Irish Independent on its monitoring of social media.

Meanwhile, the Garda Representative Association has claimed it suits the agenda of certain individuals to cast gardai as "the State's bully boys".

It comes after officers gave evidence to the trial which was contradicted by video footage.

Rejecting claims there was a conspiracy against the accused, GRA spokesman John O'Keeffe said: "All we can explain is the rule of law, cases are prepared by gardai, they go to the DPP, the DPP proffers the charges.

"The outcome of those cases are of no interest to frontline gardai," he told RTE radio.
Children could be given free access to theatres under plans being considered by the Government's newest minister.

Independent Alliance TD Kevin 'Boxer' Moran said he is considering the initiative as part of a push to improve young people's knowledge of Irish heritage.

Last week, Mr Moran announced that all children under the age of 12 will be given free access to all heritage sites across the country managed by the OPW, which falls under his responsibility.

The initiative, which began last week, opens up sites such as the Rock of Cashel, Newgrange and the Glendalough heritage centre for free.

Speaking to the Irish Independent, Mr Moran said he will consider extending the initiative to theatres under the OPW's remit if it proves successful.

He said that he has asked his officials to consider initiatives that will help families who remained hard-pressed as well as helping to boost tourism in light of Brexit.

"I think our heritage has an awful lot to offer," Mr Moran said.

"So I looked at my department and asked how could we encourage tourism. I believe kids have an awful lot to offer. If we want to talk about our future, we need to get our kids educated on their heritage.

"Maybe next year maybe looking for a point of view of our theatres, that we may look to allow kids in there for free up to a certain age."

Mr Moran was appointed OPW Minister last month having agreed to split the role with his Independent Alliance colleague and Galway East TD Sean Canney.
A trade deal between Europe and Canada will damage Irish agriculture and put the State at risk of being sued, it has been claimed.

The visit of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has stoked protest at the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (Ceta), which has been approved by the EU but has yet to come into force.

Those behind the deal say it will remove tariffs, boost trade and create employment on both sides of the Atlantic.

However, a coalition including representatives of the farming community, environmental groups and civil society met yesterday to stress its opposition.

Independent TD Maureen O'Sullivan told the Irish Independent there are many reasons why Taoiseach Leo Varadkar should express concern about the agreement when he meets with Mr Trudeau today.

"Our agriculture sector could be majorly affected.

"There are real, serious concerns about this opening the floodgates to genetically modified food," she said.

The Dublin Central TD also raised questions about a proposed arbitration system, known as investor court settlement (ICS), which will allow businesses to sue a government if they believe its actions impacted on profitability.

"Any company can sue a government on what's perceived of future imagined profits. That's the jargon. There are examples where that has happened," Ms O'Sullivan said.

She said the Dail has yet to have a full debate on the issue.

"There isn't a public awareness of it, but yet if it goes through it'll have a major impact on so many areas of life."

President of the Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers' Association (ICSA) Patrick Kent said Ceta "will be disastrous for the Irish beef sector".

"The last thing Irish beef farmers need is for more competition to be introduced when we are struggling to keep our existing markets," he said.

The Irish Congress of Trade Unions (Ictu) said Ceta is "anti-democratic" and "privileges investors over EU citizens and will lead to the opening up of key public services to privatisation".

However, Tanaiste Frances Fitzgerald said she believes the agreement will bring "considerable benefits" to Ireland.

She said it will bring the elimination of virtually all tariffs between Ireland and Canada, the creation of new opportunities for farmers and enable Irish firms to bid for public contracts in Canada.

Ms Fitzgerald added that Ceta will make it easier for Irish professionals to work in Canada.

"I am of the view that there should be no impediment to Irish companies immediately taking advantage of the provisions of Ceta, including eliminating tariffs on almost all key exports, access to the Canadian procurement market, easing regulatory barriers and ensuring more transparent rules for market access," she said.

Mr Trudeau arrived in Dublin last night ahead of meetings with the Taoiseach and President Michael D Higgins today.

He is Mr Varadkar's first international visitor since taking over the office of Taoiseach.

A spokesperson for Mr Varadkar said their bilateral meeting will focus on the close ties between Ireland and Canada, and how to build on this through trade and multilateralism.

"The Taoiseach will emphasise the role that Irish people have played in developing Canada and in particular Mr Trudeau's hometown of Montreal," he said.

Deal arrived with baggage

The Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, or Ceta, is a trade agreement between the EU and Canada.

The deal took seven years to negotiate, amid complaints from opponents that most of the work was done in secret.

EU governments say it will allow for easier and cheaper business transactions between the member states and Canada.

It will remove the vast majority of taxes that companies from the EU have to pay at Canadian customs. Technical and regulatory barriers will also be reduced.

Those against the deal claim it will negatively impact on workers' rights, food standards and the environment.

It will be at least the autumn before it comes into force.

The Government here has indicated that it will be put to a vote in the Dail, but not the Seanad.

The EU Court of Justice is also currently considering the legality of the agreement.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his wife Sophie Gregoire-Trudeau are greeted by Canadian Ambassador to Ireland Kevin Vickers at Dublin Airport. Photo: Arthur Carron

Justin Trudeau. Just the mere mention of his name will prompt a collective snort of derision from my male colleagues.

Why? Because the Canadian prime minister appears to be, well, the perfect man.

We have all read the stories and have definitely seen the images; the family dynasty; his love for his wife Sophie and their three young children; the pictures of him kayaking, surfing, posing with a couple of high school kids or a newly-wed couple as he's jogging shirtless on a beach.

He has a tattoo, practises yoga and boxes - what a guy!

Politicians are never meant to look this effortlessly good - especially a leader. He makes politics look glamorous - and anybody standing next to him basks in his glow.

Former Taoiseach Enda Kenny appeared tickled by him when he visited Canada in May - and there's no doubt Taoiseach Leo Varadkar will be equally charmed.

I mean he has had most world leaders eating out of the palm of his hand.

Trudeau even managed to charm Donald Trump when he visited the White House in February - and daughter Ivanka appeared smitten when she was sat beside him.

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Barack Obama and Donald Trump aside, no other world leader has appeared so often on the world's top showbiz site TMZ.

Pictures of him marching during Pride, or charming Charles and Camilla during last week's Canada Day festivities graced millions of sites and publications around the world.

He's the kind of guy everyone wants to hang out with.

I've no doubt that Trudeau is stage managed to within an inch of his life - but look at who we have on the world stage. Donald Trump? Vladimir Putin? Kim Jong Un? Isn't it just nice to have someone like Trudeau up there?

But don't dismiss Trudeau as just a pretty face - he has some seriously hard work to do.

Ireland is the first stop of his major EU charm offensive.

Behind the show, Trudeau needs support for the Canadian EU Trade deal (CETA) ratified in Brussels last February.

Now the deal is set to go to each parliament in the EU's 27 member countries for more votes. It could take years to fully ratify - and just one vote against it by any of the EU's parliaments could set the agreement back years.

So Trudeau needs Ireland - and with a face like that, how could we possibly say no?
Above is Irishman Ibrahim Halawa, who has been in an Egyptian jail for four years without trial

The prosecution case in the trial in Egypt of a 21-year-old Irishman is to end later this month.

Ibrahim Halawa was incarcerated after being detained during Muslim Brotherhood protests in Cairo in 2013, and hearings have been adjourned and delayed numerous times over the last four years.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney said: "I welcome the indications that the trial is now progressing into its final stages."

At the latest hearing in Cairo, more police witnesses were called and the court was told another five more will be called.

The prosecution case will be completed on July 9, Mr Coveney said.

"A team of official Irish observers will again be present in court for that hearing," he said.

"The Irish Government cannot intervene in a case that is before the Egyptian courts.

"What we can do, and what we are doing, is redoubling our efforts to ensure that the Egyptian authorities fulfil the clear commitment which they have given us to resolve this issue as soon as the trial ends, and return Ibrahim Halawa to Ireland."

Mr Halawa, the son of a prominent Muslim cleric in Dublin - Sheikh Hussein Halawa, was imprisoned after being detained in a mosque near Ramses Square in Cairo as the Muslim Brotherhood protested over the removal of elected president Mohamed Morsi in August 2013.

He has been tortured and gone on hunger strikes during his imprisonment.

Mr Coveney said he would speak to Egyptian foreign minister Sameh Shoukry "as soon as possible to impress upon him how important I believe this matter is, and to reinforce the need for its early resolution".

He added: "I and my officials are working hard towards that goal and we will continue to do so. I am determined to do everything I can as Minister for Foreign Affairs to make sure that Ibrahim Halawa is back home in Ireland with his family as soon as possible."

Former Taoiseach Enda Kenny wrote to Egyptian president Abdel Fattah el-Sisi pleading for Mr Halawa's release on humanitarian grounds.

Mr el-Sisi said he could be released, but only once the trial has run its course.
US President Donald Trump has warned Pyongyang that "all options are on the table" after North Korea fired a missile over Japan early Tuesday.

Tuesday's launch was particularly provocative as it was North Korea's first ballistic missile to fly over Japan. Kim Jong Un's regime regularly fires missiles into the sea between its own territory and Japan.

The launch comes as the US and South Korea conduct joint military drills on the peninsula and a day after drills ended between the US and Japan on the northern island of Hokkaido.

It also follows a fiery exchange of threats and insults between Trump and the North Korean regime, commenting through state media.

"The world has received North Korea's latest message loud and clear: this regime has signaled its contempt for its neighbors, for all members of the United Nations, and for minimum standards of acceptable international behavior," Trump said in a statement, taking a more measured tone than in his previous remarks.

"Threatening and destabilizing actions only increase the North Korean regime's isolation in the region and among all nations of the world. All options are on the table."

Minutes after the missile was launched, residents in northern Japan received a text message urging them to seek shelter in a strong structure or a basement.

"We were awoken by sirens and messages from the government telling us to take cover," one local resident told CNN.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe -- who had a 40-minute phone call with Trump on Tuesday -- described the launch as a "reckless act."

"This launch of a North Korean missile is an unprecedented serious and grave threat to Japan," Abe said after the call, adding that Trump said "the US stands with Japan 100%."

"I would like to make the utmost effort to protect the lives and assets of the Japanese people under a strong alliance between Japan and US."

What happened?

The missile was fired just before 6 a.m. Japan time (Monday 5 p.m. ET), and the launch set off warnings in the northern part of the country urging people to seek shelter.

The unidentified missile flew over Erimomisaki, on the northern island of Hokkaido, and broke into three pieces before falling into the Pacific Ocean, about 1,180 kilometers (733 miles) off the Japanese coast.

The missile was in flight for about 15 minutes, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said at an emergency press conference.

"There is no immediate report of the fallen objects and no damage to the ships and aircraft," he said.

News had still not been broadcast to people in North Korea by Tuesday evening in Pyongyang.

The missile was fired from a location near Pyongyang, in a provocative and rare move by the regime. It may have been intended to deliver a message that pre-emptive US strikes on missile launch facilities could land uncomfortably close to civilians.

It was the fourth missile North Korea fired in four days -- Pyongyang tested three short-range ballistic missiles, one of which failed, from Kangwon province that landed in water off the Korean Peninsula.

South Korea responded by conducting a bombing drill at 9:30 a.m. local time to test its "capability to destroy the North Korean leadership" in cases of emergency, an official with the country's Defense Ministry told CNN.

Why Japan?

Tuesday's launch is the first time North Korea has successfully fired a ballistic missile over Japan. Various stages of launch vehicles have overflown Japan during Pyongang's attempts to launch satellites into space in 1998, 2009, 2012 and 2016.

While the missile flew over Japanese territory, one analyst said it wasn't necessarily intended as a threat to the country.

"If they're going to launch to a distance they've got to go over somebody. It looks to me like a risk reduction measure, they want to reduce the populated areas they fly over just in case anything goes wrong," said Joshua Pollack, a senior research associate at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies.

The launch also comes just over two weeks after North Korea threatened to fire a series of missiles in the waters around the US Pacific territory of Guam.

The country has not followed through with that threat, but firing a missile over Japan and into the Pacific is in Guam's direction, even if nowhere near the island.

David Wright, co-director of the Global Security Program at the Union of Concerned Scientists, told CNN that Tuesday's launch shows a new level of confidence from the North Koreans.

"It is a big deal that they overflew Japan, which they have carefully avoided doing for a number of years," he said.

He added that the country had in the past tested missiles upwards on high trajectories and launched their satellites to the south to avoid firing missiles over Japan.

CNN's Will Ripley reported from Pyongyang. Yoko Wakatsuki reported from Tokyo, K.J. Kwon reported from Seoul. CNN's Brad Lendon, Michael Callahan, Barbara Starr, Ryan Browne, Zachary Cohen, Yazhou Sun, Richard Roth and Angela Dewan contributed.
Put simply, Brexit is a disaster for Ireland. Despite assertions of some commentators, there are very few - if any - positives for Ireland.

Minimising and managing the impact on Ireland of this decision will be arguably the most significant challenge the State has faced in its short history.

In recognition of the potential consequences of the UK's decision, the Seanad established a special select committee to consider the implications for Ireland and to suggest some possible solutions to identifiable problems. In order to support its thinking and considerations, the committee organised more than 50 hours of public hearings with former Taoisigh, former ministers, sectoral experts, representative organisations, local authorities, all-island bodies and many more.

In issuing invitations to witnesses, the committee specifically asked them to focus on potential solutions to the many challenges faced. Any relevant precedents and the manner in which potential solutions might be implemented were also asked for.

In looking at solutions, the committee was determined to remain open to all of them.

There are many challenges ahead, and we need to be innovative when it comes to finding solutions.

This committee believes all options should remain on the table, nothing should be ruled out.

The problems posed by Brexit are many and have been well documented elsewhere. While many might complain about Brexit fatigue, this is just the start of what will be a very long and perhaps inconclusive process. While it is clear the European side of negotiations is prepared and has clear goals, it is not clear what the UK side wants, nor is it clear who will be doing the negotiating throughout the process against a backdrop of political instability.

Some solutions are unclear, others will need to be teased out and compromise will be required from both sides to find a workable solution. A no-deal scenario would be the worst case for everyone involved, regardless of some ideological utterances from a fringe in the British Conservative Party.

From the work of our committee, it was clear there is quite a bit of low-hanging fruit, some relatively easy solutions that do not require any party to compromise and that will be of benefit to all concerned.

The following five are obvious solutions to problems posed by Brexit and which should be put in place quickly regardless of what a complete, final deal might look like, or how much of a transition period is going to be needed.

1) An EU-UK-US open skies agreement

Separate EU-UK and US-UK open skies agreements will need to be worked out to replace the current EU-US open skies arrangements, to which the UK will no longer be a party. A new agreement is needed before spring 2018.

2) German model for all-island trade

Using the example of a trade arrangement between East and West Germany before its reunification in 1990 and referenced in the Treaty of Rome. Under the 'German model', trade on the island of Ireland would be considered as all-island trade and within the one economy.

3) Anglo-Irish relations

Though no bilateral negotiations are permitted with regard to Brexit, both the British Irish Council and the British Irish Parliamentary Assembly can be expanded and used as tools to allow for this, both formally and informally.

4) Movement of goods

A pre-clearance model for goods may function as part of a solution, whereby trucks and drivers can pass through the UK land-bridge without incurring duties or checks.

5) Energy supply

In the event of a hard Brexit, the most obvious solution is the completion of the Celtic Interconnector between Ireland and France, which would reduce Ireland's reliance on the UK.

These are just five possible solutions out of nearly 100 in the report published by the Seanad committee.

They are not the answer to all the problems Brexit will present, but are examples of the imaginative solutions needed in order to overcome this huge issue for Ireland, the UK and the EU.

Senator Neale Richmond is the chairman of the Seanad Special Committee on the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union.
The latest household spending survey shows we're an inconsistent people. The spend on booze has the biggest drop and there's a kind of smugness in thinking, "Good, I knew I had cut down on the old weekday glass of wine", while the rational bit of you is sensing it's all a con. I mean, have we cut back? Are we really spending less? The truth, naturally, is that we're not.

What we are doing, as the research points out, is simply buying cheaper and drinking more of it at home. Sorry, I know that's a bit deflating, but there you have it.

The statisticians also dryly point out that people "tend to under-report their expenditure on alcohol".

The other 'surprise' element is food bills are down. In fairness, if we're not scoffing crisps and kebabs because we're no longer drinking, that would explain it, but the truth is a little more worrying.

Those in less affluent areas have a far higher proportionate spend on food than the people with more money. Confused? Obesity and poverty have always gone hand in hand. It might seem at odds that some people struggling on benefits are sporting beer bellies and folds of fat, but food poverty isn't about volume; it's about nutrition.

Those on very low incomes need to spend a quarter of what they have to acquire the same 'basket' of healthy, nutritious foods that a higher earner can buy for 10pc of their income. If you're on your uppers, frozen chicken nuggets, pizza and chips become very tempting to the pocket compared to organic hummus, Tuscan tomatoes and avocados.

It's not all fun and games at the CSO. They do actually produce some interesting stuff too. For instance, Dubliners spend the most on takeaway coffee, with the barista-free West spending the least. Mind you, if we city slickers woke up to the magnificent views across Inchydoney every morning instead of gridlock at Inchicore, we wouldn't need that double espresso either.

Taken to excess

A former world Irish dancing champion has had to defend herself against charges of coercing a fellow adjudicator to mark down candidates they were judging at a competition recently. But that's not the most bizarre element of the crazy, twilight world of Irish dancing. For that, you need to visit a Feis to see it in all its, ahem, glory.

You'd imagine the thoroughly wholesome world of jigs and reels requires a rigout of a plain T-shirt and skirt and laced soft shoes, whereas the reality is you'll feel you've stepped off planet Ireland and into an American child beauty pageant with high kicks.

It's a million-euro business with the worst excesses of stage moms in the wings. It is utterly bonkers.

You'll find parents kitting out their daughter in an outfit costing more than a wedding dress, gluing her socks to her legs over the spray tan (yes!), applying glitter eye shadow, and covering her lovely hair not with a ribbon, but a nylon curled wig which wouldn't look out of place in the 17th century Palace of Versailles. And all before she's 10. It is abhorrent and daft and I scarpered before mine got 'into' it, fearing for both my bank account and my sanity.

I'm told the 'wig', truly the most unnecessary element, is needed as points are awarded for 'height'. It doesn't appear to have occurred to anyone in charge that they could simply stop awarding points for this (or do so based on height of feet in ratio to ground), thus saving all the girls looking utterly ridiculous. But it's tradition, innit?

Welcome return of the bedsit...

The bedsit might be making a comeback. New Housing Minister Eoghan Murphy is set to reverse the premature ban on the 'all in one' living space unbeloved of students and poorer singletons. And not before time.

No, they're not perfect, and far from ideal, but at a time of housing crisis it seemed absurd to rule out a form of housing, which suited a cohort of people who lived contentedly in a doer-upper in Rathmines or Gardiner Street, just because the loo was in the hall.

We're all for fire safety standards, proper walls and en-suites, but to cull hundreds of flats because they're not dual-aspect apartments with kitchens and baths, was a sledgehammer-to-nail approach. Landlords simply boarded up their buildings.

Over half of all those on housing lists are singletons. I daresay quite a number would prefer a self-contained flat they could call their own, rather than a hotel room with their belongings in plastic bags.
A dress rehearsal has taken place at Capitol Hill ahead of the official July 4 celebrations.

The holiday commemorates the adoption of the Declaration of Independence.

And huge crowds gathered in Washington DC to watch legendary acts such as The Beach Boys and The Blues Brothers rehearse their sets ahead of the big day.

President Donald Trump is observing his first Independence Day in office by hosting a White House picnic for military families, followed by a fireworks viewing event for military families and staffers.

Elsewhere in the US, Independence Day will be marked by big-time fireworks, small-town parades and, well, competitive hot dog eating.

Nathans Famous frankfurter-chomping contest on Coney Island, in New York, will see nine-time champion Joey Jaws Chestnut defending his title. He downed a mighty 70 franks and buns in 10 minutes last year.

Meanwhile, more than 15,000 new citizens will be sworn in during more than 65 Independence Day-themed naturalisation ceremonies across the country.
The head of the European Unions executive called its parliament totally ridiculous during a spat over low MEP attendance.

Heres exactly what went down during the exchange at the legislature in Strasbourg, France.

So, Juncker said what exactly?

After EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker thanked the few dozen of the 700-plus MEPs for attending a plenary session, he insisted that parliament is not serious for failing to show up in large numbers for the keynote debate of the day.

EU Parliament President Antonio Tajani rebuked Juncker and asked for a more respectful attitude, adding: The commission does not control the parliament. It is the parliament that should be controlling the commission.

To which Juncker retorted: There are only a few members in the parliament to control the commission. You are ridiculous.

Bit awkward, no?

Expand Close EU Parliament President Antonio Tajani (AP) / Facebook

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Uh-huh  especially as Juncker and Tajani belong to the same EPP Christian Democratic group.

But the views of the parliament bore out Junckers assertion  there was row after row of empty seats.

Philippe Lamberts of the Greens group, one of the few to show up, was seen applauding the rebuke of Mr Juncker.

And what was the session actually about?

It centred on the Maltese presidency of the EU which ended on July 1, and Prime Minister Joseph Muscat was attending the plenary.

While Muscat was still in the hall, Juncker referred to the German and French leaders while scolding the parliament.

If Mr Muscat would have been Mrs Merkel  tough to imagine  or Mr Macron  easier to imagine  we would have had a full house. The parliament is totally ridiculous, Mr Juncker said.

Though the European Parliament has increased its clout over the past years after earning a bigger say in a host of issues, it is often still perceived as an easy job for politicians without a big national portfolio and veterans seeking a leisurely path to retirement.
North Korea test-launched an intermediate-range ballistic missile on Tuesday, South Korean and U.S. officials said, days before leaders from the Group of 20 nations are due to discuss steps to rein in Pyongyang's weapons programmes.

The missile flew 930 kilometres (580 miles) before landing in Japan's Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), the South Korean military and Japanese government said. Tokyo strongly protested what it called a clear violation of UN resolutions.

The U.S. Pacific Command said it detected and tracked the "single launch of a land-based, intermediate range ballistic missile" for 37 minutes near an airfield in Panghyon, about 100 km (60 miles) northwest of the North's capital, Pyongyang.

North Korea said it will make a major announcement on Tuesday at 3:30 pm local time (0630 GMT), South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported.

North Korea has just launched another missile. Does this guy have anything better to do with his life? Hard to believe that South Korea.....  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 4, 2017

....and Japan will put up with this much longer. Perhaps China will put a heavy move on North Korea and end this nonsense once and for all!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 4, 2017

South Korean President Moon Jae-in, who convened a national security council meeting, said the missile was believed to be an intermediate range type, but the military was also looking at the possibility it was an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM).

North Korea has been working to develop a nuclear-tipped ICBM capable of hitting the United States, ignoring repeated warnings from the international community.

President Trump responded to the incident, writing online; "North Korea has just launched another missile. Does this guy have anything better to do with his life? Hard to believe that South Korea.... and Japan will put up with this much longer. Perhaps China will put a heavy move on North Korea and end this nonsense once and for all!"

Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Tuesday he will ask the presidents of China and Russia to play more constructive roles in efforts to stop the Pyongyang's arms programme.

"Leaders of the world will gather at the G20 meeting. I would like to strongly call for solidarity of the international community on the North Korean issue," Abe told reporters.

Japan said on Monday the United States, South Korea and Japan will have a trilateral summit on North Korea at the G20. China's leader Xi Jinping will also be at the July 7-8 meeting in Hamburg, Germany.

North Korea has conducted four missile tests since South Korean President Moon Jae-in took office in May, vowing to use dialogue as well as pressure to bring Pyongyang's nuclear and missile programmes under control.

U.S. President Donald Trump, responding to the latest launch, wrote on Twitter: "North Korea has just launched another missile. Does this guy have anything better to do with his life?" an apparent reference to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

"Hard to believe South Korea and Japan will put up with this much longer. Perhaps China will put a heavy move on North Korea and end this nonsense once and for all!", Trump said in a series of tweets.

White House officials said Trump has been briefed on the latest launch, which took place hours before Independence Day celebrations in the United States. North Korea has previously fired missiles around this holiday.

Pyongyang has conducted missile-related activities at an unprecedented pace since the start of last year. Analysts say it is years away from having a nuclear-tipped ICBM.

But Pyongyang is also trying to develop intermediate-range missiles capable of hitting U.S. bases in the Pacific. The last North Korean launches before Tuesday were of land-to-sea cruise missiles on June 8.

David Wright, co-director of the Global Security Program at the U.S.-based Union of Concerned Scientists, said the assessments of the flight time and distance suggest the missile might have been launched on a "very highly lofted" trajectory of more than 2,800 km.

The same missile could reach a maximum range of roughly 6,700 km on a standard trajectory, Wright said in a blog post.

"That range would not be enough to reach the lower 48 states or the large islands of Hawaii, but would allow it to reach all of Alaska," he said.

North Korea is banned from testing or developing missiles under a series of U.N. resolutions.

It has conducted nuclear and missile tests to show defiance in the face of international pressure and to raise the stakes when Pyongyang sees regional powers getting ready for talks or sanctions, analysts say.

South Korea's Moon said on Monday in a meeting with former U.S. president Barack Obama that North Korea now faces its "last opportunity" to engage in talks with the outside world.

Earlier this week, North Korea was a key topic in phone calls between U.S. President Donald Trump and the leaders of China and Japan. Leaders of both Asian countries reaffirmed their commitment to a denuclearised Korean Peninsula.

Trump has recently suggested he was running out of patience with China's modest steps to pressure North Korea.

In his meeting in Washington on Friday with Moon, Trump called on regional powers to implement sanctions and demanded that North Korea "choose a better path and do it quickly".
North Korea said on Tuesday it successfully test-launched an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), which flew a trajectory that an expert said could allow a weapon to hit the U.S. state of Alaska.

The launch comes days before leaders from the Group of 20 nations are due to discuss steps to rein in Pyongyang's weapons programmes, which the North has pursued in defiance of U.N. Security Council sanctions.

The launch, which North Korea's state media said was ordered and supervised by leader Kim Jong Un, sent the rocket 933 km reaching an altitude of 2,802 km.(580 miles) over a flight time of 39 minutes.

Officials from South Korea, Japan and the United States said the missile landed in Japan's Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) after being launched near an airfield in Panghyon, about 100 km (60 miles) northwest of the North's capital, Pyongyang.

"The test launch was conducted at the sharpest angle possible and did not have any negative effect on neighbouring countries," North Korea's state media said in a statement.

The North also said its missiles were now capable of striking anywhere in the world.

North Korea has just launched another missile. Does this guy have anything better to do with his life? Hard to believe that South Korea.....  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 4, 2017

....and Japan will put up with this much longer. Perhaps China will put a heavy move on North Korea and end this nonsense once and for all!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 4, 2017

South Korean President Moon Jae-in, who convened a national security council meeting, said the missile was believed to be an intermediate range type, but the military was also looking at the possibility it was an ICBM.

Stock markets in both South Korea and Japan fell after the missile launch, with the Kospi ending down 0.6 percent and Japan's Nikkei share average ending down 0.1 percent.

Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Tuesday he will ask the presidents of China and Russia to play more constructive roles in efforts to stop the Pyongyang's arms programme.

"Leaders of the world will gather at the G20 meeting. I would like to strongly call for solidarity of the international community on the North Korean issue," Abe told reporters.

Japan said on Monday the United States, South Korea and Japan will have a trilateral summit on North Korea at the G20. China's leader Xi Jinping will also be at the July 7-8 meeting in Hamburg, Germany.

U.S. President Donald Trump, responding to the latest launch, wrote on Twitter: "North Korea has just launched another missile. Does this guy have anything better to do with his life?" an apparent reference to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

"Hard to believe South Korea and Japan will put up with this much longer. Perhaps China will put a heavy move on North Korea and end this nonsense once and for all!", Trump said in a series of tweets.

China's Foreign Ministry on Tuesday called for calm and restraint after the launch.

Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said United Nations Security Council resolutions had clear rules on North Korean missile launches and China is opposed to Pyongyang violating those rules. He was speaking at a daily news briefing.

North Korea has conducted nuclear and missile tests to show defiance in the face of international pressure and to raise the stakes when Pyongyang sees regional powers getting ready for talks or sanctions, analysts say.

White House officials said Trump was briefed on the latest launch, which took place hours before Independence Day celebrations in the United States. North Korea has previously fired missiles around this holiday.

Pyongyang has conducted missile-related activities at an unprecedented pace since the start of last year, but analysts had thought it was years away from having a nuclear-tipped ICBM. capable of hitting the United States.

North Korea is also trying to develop intermediate-range missiles capable of hitting U.S. bases in the Pacific. The last North Korean launches before Tuesday were of land-to-sea cruise missiles on June 8.

David Wright, co-director of the Global Security Program at the U.S.-based Union of Concerned Scientists, said the assessments of the flight time and distance suggest the missile might have been launched on a "very highly lofted" trajectory of more than 2,800 km.

The same missile could reach a maximum range of roughly 6,700 km on a standard trajectory, Wright said in a blog post.

"That range would not be enough to reach the lower 48 states or the large islands of Hawaii, but would allow it to reach all of Alaska," he said.

South Korea's President Moon Jae-in said on Monday in a meeting with former U.S. president Barack Obama that North Korea now faces its "last opportunity" to engage in talks with the outside world.

North Korea has conducted four missile tests since Moon took office in May, vowing to use dialogue as well as pressure to bring Pyongyang's nuclear and missile programmes under control.

Earlier this week, North Korea was a key topic in phone calls between U.S. President Donald Trump and the leaders of China and Japan. Leaders of both Asian countries reaffirmed their commitment to a denuclearised Korean Peninsula.

Trump has recently suggested he was running out of patience with China's modest steps to pressure North Korea.
North Korea has carried out a series of test-firings in recent months, including on May 22 when a solid-fuel "Pukguksong-2" missile was launched (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP, File)

North Korea's latest missile test was with an intercontinental ballistic missile, US secretary of state Rex Tillerson has confirmed.

He said the launch on Tuesday morning was a new escalation of the threat posed to the United States and the world by North Korea.

Mr Tillerson said the US will bring North Korea's action before the United Nations Security Council.

His statement provided the first confirmation of the US conclusion that the missile was an ICBM.

The US military's initial assessment was that North Korea fired an intermediate-range missile.
US President Donald Trump returns to Europe this week and will have his first encounter with Russia's Vladimir Putin.

Mr Trump's first visit to the continent in May stirred anxieties among European allies when he declined to endorse Nato's common defence treaty explicitly and scolded world leaders for not spending more on their armed forces.

This time, Mr Trump will use stops in Poland and Germany to try to pull off the tricky balancing act of improving ties with Moscow at a time of particularly fraught relations while also presenting the US as a check against Russian aggression.

Mr Trump is leaving Washington for Europe on Wednesday. In what may be the most-watched event of the four-day trip, the president will meet Mr Putin on Friday on the sidelines of an international summit in Hamburg, Germany.

Every aspect of the meeting between the two unpredictable leaders is sure to be closely scrutinised as investigations press on into alleged Moscow meddling in the 2016 election and potential Trump campaign collusion.

With those investigations hanging in the air, there is little expectation the meeting will produce significant progress on difficult issues such as the crisis in Ukraine or the conflict in Syria.

"I can't imagine any issue they can actually make major headway on, given the poison that surrounds the relationship," said Michael O'Hanlon, a senior fellow in foreign policy at The Brookings Institution, who suggested it might lay the groundwork for future cooperation.

The Trump-Putin encounter will be one of at least nine meetings the US president will have with foreign leaders while in Hamburg for a G-20 summit of industrial and emerging market nations, beginning on Friday.

But first Mr Trump will stop in Poland, where leaders are looking for reassurance that the presence of US and Nato troops there will continue as long as the region's security is threatened by a resurgent Russia.

In return, Mr Trump will be expecting a warm reception as he pays homage to Polish resolve with a speech in Krasinski Square, his first major outdoor address in a foreign country.

Poland's leaders are closely aligned with Mr Trump's worldview, and ruling party politicians and pro-government activists plan to bus in groups to help ensure an enthusiastic crowd for the president.

Previewing the trip, White House officials said Mr Trump would reiterate the US commitment to Nato's Article 5, which says an attack on one member is an attack on all - something he did not do at Nato headquarters in Brussels during his first overseas trip but eventually endorsed last month. The president is also expected to cite the need to develop "a common approach to Russia," his advisers said.

"He'd like the United States and the entire West to develop a more constructive relationship with Russia," said the White House national security adviser, HR McMaster. "But he's also made clear that we will do what is necessary to confront Russia's destabilising behaviour."

Preparing for the trip, Mr Trump spoke on Monday with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni. Earlier in the holiday weekend, he had conversations with Chinese President Xi Jinping, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and the leaders of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar.

After this trip, the president will be back in Europe soon for a mid-July visit to France to celebrate Bastille Day alongside new French President Emmanuel Macron. And in late July, he will send vice president Mike Pence to Estonia and Georgia - two former Soviet satellites straddling the Russian border - and new Nato member Montenegro.

Poland has been a staunch US ally in Iraq and Afghanistan and is home to about 5,000 US troops serving in separate American and Nato missions.

"They're betting that this relationship with the United States on defence will balance their concerns about the possible directions of US-Russia policy," said Jeff Rathke, a senior fellow and deputy director of the Europe Programme at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies. Sharing a border with Russia "is of the highest concern for Poland".

US-Russian relations remain tense - Mr Trump said in April they may be at an "all-time low" - and Moscow has denounced the recent decision by the US to impose sanctions on more than three dozen Russian people and firms over Russian activities in Ukraine. But Mr Trump has expressed hopes of improved relations with the global power.

White House aides said Mr Trump did not have a specific agenda for the meeting with the Russian president and they have yet to provide details on the staging for the encounter.

Mr Trump has had three phone calls with Mr Putin since taking office. In the past, he has offered contradictory descriptions of his connections with Mr Putin, insisting during the campaign he had no recollection of meeting him but earlier stating that they spoke around the 2013 Miss Universe pageant in Moscow.

Mr Trump's overseas trip will be his first since he announced that he was withdrawing the US from the landmark Paris climate agreement, to the regret of a number of world leaders who had lobbied Mr Trump to remain in the 2015 pact. The White House said Mr Trump and Mrs Merkel discussed the climate issues in their conversation on Monday.

Mrs Merkel, host of the G-20 summit, has been open about her disappointment in Mr Trump's decision and told the German parliament "we cannot expect easy talks in Hamburg" on climate issues.

AP
The head of the European Union's executive called its parliament "totally ridiculous" during a spat over low MEP attendance.

After EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker thanked the few dozens of the 700-plus MEPs for attending a plenary session, he insisted that "parliament is not serious" for failing to show up in large numbers for the keynote debate of the day.

EU Parliament President Antonio Tajani rebuked Mr Juncker and asked for "a more respectful attitude", adding: "The commission does not control the parliament. It is the parliament that should be controlling the commission."

To which Mr Juncker retorted: "There are only a few members in the parliament to control the commission. You are ridiculous."

The exchange at the legislature in Strasbourg, France, was even more amazing since Mr Juncker and Mr Tajani belong to the same EPP Christian Democratic group.

Though the European Parliament has increased its clout over the past years after earning a bigger say in a host of issues, it is often still perceived as an easy job for politicians without a big national portfolio and veterans seeking a leisurely path to retirement.

The views of the parliament bore out Mr Juncker's assertion with row after row of empty seats. Philippe Lamberts of the Greens group, one of the few to show up, was seen applauding the rebuke of Mr Juncker.

The session centred on the Maltese presidency of the EU which ended on July 1, and Prime Minister Joseph Muscat was attending the plenary.

While Mr Muscat was still in the hall, Mr Juncker referred to the German and French leaders while scolding the parliament.

"If Mr Muscat would have been Mrs Merkel - tough to imagine - or Mr Macron - easier to imagine - we would have had a full house. The parliament is totally ridiculous," Mr Juncker said.

AP
The Grenfell Tower inquiry is prepared to consider "broad" issues including why residents' concerns about fire safety were allegedly ignored by authorities, a source has said.

Martin Moore-Bick previously indicated his investigation would be limited to the causes of the deadly fire, why it spread so quickly and how it could be prevented in future.

Survivors have suggested they were prepared to abandon the process unless the parameters were broadened to consider systemic issues.

A source said the former Court of Appeal judge was looking to scrutinise issues traced back to building regulations at the time the block was erected.

"He is very happy to look at why there were warnings that weren't listened to, these were the allegations," the source said.

It is understood the inquiry into the blaze, which killed at least 80 people, will be a "broad interpretation of what caused the fire", which extends beyond the "physics of what happened".

While it will not look at building regulations on a national scale, it is likely to examine what restrictions were in place when Grenfell Tower was built in the early 1970s. The warnings about safety and the construction and refurbishment of the tower are believed to be considered by Mr Moore-Bick to fall within his remit.

As the blaze was not brought under control for more than a day, it is also likely to consider the response of authorities, the source added.

A three-week consultation is under way with parties likely to play a role in the inquiry, including victims' families and survivors.

Justice 4 Grenfell, which has been representing survivors, cited concerns on Sunday about the scope of the probe, adding: "The whole thing needs to start again."

Mr Moore-Bick stoked controversy when he emerged from a meeting with survivors to say he was "doubtful" the inquiry would be broad enough to satisfy them all.

Sue Caro, a co-ordinator for Justice 4 Grenfell, told the Press Association: "His comments revealed the remit he had been given was the cause of the fire and why it spread so quickly and ensuring it didn't happen again. Well, that is not good enough.

"We met with one of the public inquiry team last week on Friday and he told us they would start consultation from tomorrow for three weeks.

"However, we don't know if that is going to be an exercise, whether it will be meaningful, whether, having done three weeks of consultation, the remit remains exactly the same, we won't know.

"Our view is the whole thing needs to start again - there is no confidence in the process.

"He has already said he doesn't think it is going to satisfy what residents want. Why set up an inquiry that you know is not going to do what is required before you've even started?

"People who have had the most awful experience ever are not really inclined to keep giving the government the benefit of the doubt."
US President Donald Trump has made an 11th-hour intervention in the case of a terminally-ill British baby, Charlie Gard, by offering help to save him.

On Twitter, Mr Trump said: "If we can help little Charlie Gard, as per our friends in the UK and the Pope, we would be delighted to do so."

It comes as Chris Gard and Connie Yates are spending the last days of their 10-month-old son's life with him, after being given more time before his life-support is turned off.

Charlie, who suffers from a rare genetic condition and has brain damage, is being cared for at Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH).

The little boy has been at the centre of a lengthy legal battle between his parents, who wanted him to undergo a therapy trial in the US, and specialists at the hospital who said the treatment was experimental and would not help.

Following Mr Trump's tweet, Theresa May's official spokesman said the British Prime Minister's thoughts are with Charlie and his family but declined to comment on Mr Trump's tweet.

On Friday a picture of the couple sleeping on either side of their son in hospital was posted on their Twitter account. The couple released an emotional video a day earlier saying they had been told Charlie would die on Friday.

They said they had been denied their final wish to be able to take their son home to die and felt "let down" after losing their legal fight.

The hospital later confirmed it was "putting plans in place for his care".

Charlie's plight has touched many people and the family received donations totalling more than 1.5m to take him to the US for therapy.
Former FBI director Robert Mueller, the special counsel probing Russian interference in the 2016 US election (AP)

An ongoing special counsel investigation is drawing attention to Russian efforts to meddle in democratic processes.

The US government has long warned that Russian organised crime posed a threat to democratic institutions, including "criminally linked oligarchs" who might collude with the Russian government to undermine business competition.

Those concerns, ever-present if not necessarily top priorities, are front and centre once more.

It is not clear how much the probe by former FBI director Robert Mueller will centre on the criminal underbelly of Moscow, but he has already picked some lawyers with experience fighting organised crime.

And as the team looks for any financial entanglements of Trump associates and relationships with Russian officials, its focus could land again on the intertwining of Russia's criminal operatives and its intelligence services.

Russian organised crime has manifested itself over the decades in more conventional forms of money laundering, credit card fraud and black market sales. US Justice Department prosecutors have repeatedly racked up convictions for those offences.

In recent years, though, the bond between Russian intelligence agencies and criminal networks has been especially alarming to American law enforcement officials, blending motives of espionage with more old-fashioned greed.

In March, for instance, two hired hackers were charged along with two officers of Russia's Federal Security Service in a cyber attack on Yahoo in 2013.

It is too early to know how Russian criminal networks might fit into the election meddling investigation, but central to the probe are devastating breaches of Democratic email accounts, including those of the Democratic National Committee and Hillary Clinton's campaign chairman.

US authorities have blamed those hacks on Russian intelligence services working to discredit Mrs Clinton and help Mr Trump - but have said the overall effort involved third-party intermediaries and paid Internet trolls.

Former law enforcement officials say Russian organised crime has been a concern for at least a couple of decades, though not necessarily the most pressing demand given finite resources and budget constraints.

The threat is diffuse and complex, and Russia's historic lack of cooperation has complicated efforts to apprehend suspects. And the responsibility for combating the problem often falls across different divisions of the FBI and the Justice Department, depending on whether it is a criminal or national security offence - a sometimes-blurry boundary.

"It's not an easy thing to kind of grasp or understand, but it's very dangerous to our country because they have so many different aspects, unlike a traditional cartel," said Robert Anderson, a retired FBI executive assistant director who worked on counter intelligence cases and oversaw the criminal and cyber branch.

"You have to know where to look, which makes it more complicated," he added. "And you have to understand what you're looking for."

Federal prosecutors continue to bring traditional organised crime cases, such as one last month in New York charging 33 members and associates of a Russian crime syndicate in a racketeering and extortion scheme that officials say involved cargo shipment thefts and efforts to defraud casinos.

But there is a heightened awareness about more sophisticated cyber threats that combine the interests of the government and of criminals.

"An organised criminal group matures in what they do," said retired FBI assistant director Ron Hosko. "What they once did here through extortion, some of these groups are now doing through cyber attack vectors."

Within the Justice Department, it has been apparent since the collapse of the Soviet Union that crime from that territory could affect national security in Europe and the US.

A 2001 report from the Justice Department's National Institute of Justice, a research arm, called America "the land of opportunity for unloading criminal goods and laundering dirty money". Three months later came the September 11 attacks, and the FBI, then under Mr Mueller's leadership, shifted resources to focus on terrorism.

"I recall talking to the racketeering guys after that and them saying, 'Forget any focus now on organized crime,'" said James Finckenauer, an author of the report.

Besides cyber threats, Justice Department officials in recent years have worried about the effect of unchecked international corruption, creating a kleptocracy initiative to recover money plundered by government leaders for their own purposes.

In 2014, then-attorney general Eric Holder pledged the Justice Department's commitment to recouping huge sums believed to have been stolen by the ousted Russian-backed government of Viktor Yanukovych, the Ukrainian president chased from power earlier that year.

That effort led to an FBI focus on Paul Manafort, the Trump campaign chairman who lobbied for Yanukovych's government and who remains under investigation now.

But those same foreign links have also made cases hard to prove in court. In many instances, foreign criminal hackers or those sponsored by foreign governments - including China, Iran and Russia - have remained out of reach of American authorities. In some cases, judges have chastised US authorities for prosecutorial overreach in going after international targets.

A San Francisco federal judge, for instance, in 2015 dismissed an indictment involving two Ukrainian nationals who had been accused of trying to bribe an official at a United Nations agency responsible for creating standards for machine-readable international passports.

The judge said he could not understand how the government could apply a foreign bribery law to conduct that had no direct connection to the US.

AP
Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan's comments suggest Arab countries are prepared to take further action against Qatar (AP)

The United Arab Emirates' top diplomat has said Arab nations are yet to receive details on Qatar's response to demands they made as part of a diplomatic crisis gripping the Gulf.

Emirati foreign minister Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan declined to say what action the countries may take against Qatar. The Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Egypt cut ties with Qatar early last month over its alleged support for extremist groups and ties with Iran.

Qatar denies supporting extremists and has defended its warm relations with Iran. The two countries share a massive undersea natural gas field.

Al Nahyan's comments suggest the countries are prepared to take further action against Qatar.

"To defeat terrorism, we must confront extremism, we must confront hate speech, we must confront the harbouring and sheltering of extremists and terrorists, and funding them," he said. "Unfortunately we in this region see that our sister nation of Qatar has allowed and harboured and encouraged all of this."

"Enough is enough," he added.

The four countries cut off diplomatic ties to Qatar on June 5 and restricted its access to their airspace and ports while sealing its only land border, with Saudi Arabia. They issued a 13-point list of demands on June 22, giving Qatar 10 days to comply.

After the deadline expired early on Monday, the countries said they would give Qatar another 48 hours. The extension came at the request of Kuwait's 88-year-old ruler, Sheikh Sabah Al Sabah, who has been trying to mediate, as he did during a similar dispute in 2014.

Qatar's foreign minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, travelled to Kuwait City on Monday carrying a handwritten note from Qatar's ruler, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, according to the state-run Kuwait News Agency.

Kuwaiti and Qatari officials did not respond to questions about what the letter said.

"We are still waiting for the response from our brothers in Kuwait regarding the paper they received from Qatar," the Emirati foreign minister said.

"Once we examine it among ourselves, we will take the decision. We will not do it through the media, but through a Kuwaiti mediator or our own direct contacts with His Highness," an apparent reference to the Qatari emir.

Bahrain, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the UAE are scheduled to meet on Wednesday in Cairo to discuss the crisis.

"Any steps taken by these countries in case Qatar fails to respond will be taken within the framework of international law, including the procedures that sovereign states have the right to take against another country," Sheikh Abdullah said, without elaborating.

The nations could impose financial sanctions or force Qatar out of the Gulf Cooperation Council, a regional body known as the GCC that serves as a counterbalance to Iran.

Some Arab media outlets have suggested a military confrontation or a change of leadership in Qatar could be in the offing, but officials have said those options are not on the table.

The Emirati foreign minister spoke alongside German foreign minister Sigmar Gabriel, who said Germany supported the UAE's efforts at confronting those who fund extremists.

"We now have this opportunity to reach good results for the benefit of the whole region. The matter is not related only to the sovereignty of Qatar," Mr Gabriel said.

"We have to come back to common work at the GCC and for the Europeans this is a very important matter. For us, the GCC is the guarantor of stability and security in the region."

AP
US President Donald Trump is set for his first face-to-face meeting with Russian's Vladimir Putin this week (AP)

The Kremlin says Russian President Vladimir Putin's first meeting with US President Donald Trump will take place on Friday in Germany.

Russian news agencies say Mr Putin's foreign affairs adviser, Yuri Ushakov, said the two leaders will meet on the sidelines of the G-20 summit being held in Hamburg.

Mr Ushakov has previously said the two are likely to discuss the fight against terrorism, the war in Syria and the crisis in Ukraine.

He added that the Kremlin also expects the US to quickly return the Russian Embassy's compounds, which were closed by the previous Obama administration.

He noted that Russia has demonstrated a remarkable restraint by refraining from a tit-for-tat response, but added that its patience is running out.

AP
A disbarred personal-injury lawyer who had offices in Winston-Salem, Greensboro and Raleigh was convicted Monday on charges he embezzled about $100,000 from clients.

Devin Ferree Thomas, 47, who lists a Charlotte address in court documents, pleaded guilty in Forsyth Superior Court to six counts of embezzlement. Judge David Hall of Forsyth Superior Court gave Thomas five suspended sentences totaling two years and six months to seven years and one month. Hall placed Thomas on five years of supervised probation, with a number of conditions. Those included a 10-day active jail sentence to be served in the first 100 days and 50 hours of community service that must be completed in the first 180 days.

Thomas is also subject to random drug tests and warrantless searches and seizures. According to Forsyth County District Attorney Jim ONeill, Thomas embezzled thousands of dollars partly to support an addiction to crack cocaine.

Thomas also paid $100,000 in restitution to the N.C. State Bar Client Security Fund, which reimbursed the people Thomas embezzled money from. Hall ordered Thomas to pay the remaining balance of $3,338 over the next year.

ONeill said in court that he requested an investigation by the State Bureau of Investigation in March 2016 after Thomas was disbarred. Special Agent Andrew Pappas, who specializes in financial crimes, was called in, ONeill said.

Pappas did an audit of Thomas law firm and found discrepancies with the accounts of four or five of Thomas clients. Much of the money came from settlements in civil lawsuits. The law firm, Devin Thomas Law, focused on automobile accidents, personal injury and workers compensation cases.

ONeill said the SBI investigation found that Thomas embezzled about $103,000 from clients. He said Thomas used some of the money to support a drug addiction. Thomas would spend $1,000 a day on his drug addiction, ONeill said.

According to a March 18, 2016 bar filing, Thomas was accused of transferring at least $109,500 from clients that had been placed in attorney trust accounts to two personal accounts from Oct. 28, 2014, through Feb. 20, 2015. Thomas used some of that money for personal expenditures, including making rental payments for his residence at Winston Factory Loft Apartments, the bar said.

David Freedman, Thomas attorney, said Thomas has gotten in-patient treatment and now has a full-time job as director of operations for Thrive Integrated Health. Thomas had a wife and has three children. Freedman said Thomas is working to repair his relationship with his children.

Freedman said Thomas drug addiction problems resulted from depression and that Thomas didnt know how to seek proper treatment.

Hall told Thomas that the conditions of the probation are structured in a way to ensure that Thomas continues to succeed and that if he fails to comply, he could face prison time.

You need to understand that this is not going to be easy, he said. This is going to be a second job for you.
In this edition of India Briefing Magazine, we make the case for why now is the right time for foreign firms t...
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Kamal Haasan is one of the few actors from down South who has a major influence on people. The popular actor had earlier spoken about regional cinema being the pride of the country. Before GST was formally announced, Kamal had already announced how movies should not be pressurized through taxes.

Kolly Talk

However, after levying 28% GST by the Central government, an extra 30% is being charged by the Municipal corporation. As expected, the cinema halls in Tamil Nadu have gone on indefinitely strike and the actor too has slammed the changes.

Speaking to DNA, Kamal said, Our neighbouring states like Kerala have totally desisted from levying anymore state-tax on cinema over and above GST. The film industry requested the CM of Kerala Mr Pinarayi Vijayan and he through his Finance Minister quickly announced that Kerala will not be levying any more taxes on the already beleaguered film business. Karnataka has gone even further to facilitate the well-being of the film Industry. Telangana and Andhra Pradesh are also doing their best for their film industries.

Twitter/Kamal Haasan

The actor is wondering why despite so many taxes, Tamil Nadu is getting difficult for cinema since that is the only state that has brought the tax to 30%.

Film industry is one among the many industries asphyxiated by the prevailing systemic corruption in the state. I anticipate even stronger protests soon,  the actor adds.

Twitter

Regional cinema is made on a small budget in comparison to Bollywood and Hollywood movies and released in specific states. Charging more tax will only mak things difficult for the filmmakers in future.

What do you think?
1. Kamal Haasan Is Unhappy With TN Government For Levying GST And Higher Taxes On Regional Cinema

KOLLY TALK

Speaking to DNA, Kamal said, Our neighbouring states like Kerala have totally desisted from levying anymore state-tax on cinema over and above GST. The film industry requested the CM of Kerala Mr Pinarayi Vijayan and he through his Finance Minister quickly announced that Kerala will not be levying any more taxes on the already beleaguered film business. Karnataka has gone even further to facilitate the well-being of the film Industry. Telangana and Andhra Pradesh are also doing their best for their film industries.

2. PCs Pout Selfie Sparks A Debate Online, Gets Trolled For Allegedly Getting A Lip Job. Again!

Our desi girl uploaded a pout selfie recently and became the eye of the storm as people started to troll her for allegedly getting a lip job done.

Twitter

Geeta, the daughter of gangster-politician Arun Gawli met Arjun Rampal and the entire team and requested them to push the movie's release on a later date. She hopes that her father will be out on a parole in September and can speak about the film as much as she can.

4. Piku Director Urges For Ban On Kids Reality Shows, Feels Theyre Destroying Them Emotionally

The Pink producer recently requested the authorities on Twitter to ban the shows that involve kids.

5. Former Bigg Boss Contestant Mandana Karimi Files Domestic Violence Case Against Husband Gaurav

Miss you guys #family #throwback #mangoesgupta  A post shared by Mandanakarimiofficial (@mandanakarimi) on May 27, 2017 at 4:19am PDT

In her petition, she has asked for a monthly maintenance of Rs.10 lakhs, besides compensation of Rs.2 crore for the trauma and agony caused, and loss of career and business.
We all know how important vitamin D is to keep our immune system strong, but there are other health benefits as well of vitamin D that can help us in several ways that we may be unaware of.

combiboilersleeds.com

Reduces Appetite

Vitamin D has been shown to trigger the production of the hormone leptin, which is a hormone that is responsible for giving signals to our brain and stomach that we are full.

Helps our muscles function better

Past research has shown that there is a link between vitamin D and muscle function. Low level of vitamin D can cause muscle fatigue.

www.canadianpharmacymeds.com

Helps prevent seasonal flu

In a study published in American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, researchers studied almost 167 school children, to find out whether vitamin D reduces the occurrence of the flu. Scientists concluded that vitamin D3 supplementation did help those children and reduced the incidents of the flu.

Helps protect your DNA

Vitamin D is responsible for at least 2,000 genes in our body, so getting sufficient amount of it does help in the proper functioning of those genes and are protected from potential damage.

healthination.com

Reduced Risk of Heart Disease

In a study published in the medical journal Circulation in 1739, researchers found that vitamin D deficiency can increase the risk of heart disease. If you want to prevent heart diseases it is important to correct the deficiency.

Lowers Blood Pressure

A study conducted by the American Heart Association found that a vitamin D deficiency in premenopausal women increases the risk of getting high blood pressure even many years later.

www.madrascourier.com

Lessens Obesity

In a study at Aberdeen University, scientists found that women with the highest body-mass index (BMI) also had the lowest blood levels of vitamin D, suggesting a connection between obesity and vitamin D deficiency.
At least two people have been confirmed dead after a 30-metre span of a steel footbridge adjacent to an old bridge in the Zuari river collapsed on Thursday evening.

ap

Around 50 people were standing on the bridge watching a man, who jumped into the river allegedly to commit suicide, being rescued when it collapsed.

Onlookers crowded on the footbridge to watch the operation when the structure gave way, sending a large number of people crashing into the river. While several swam ashore to safety, eye witnesses said those who tried to save the drowning people, were also carried away by the strong current.

ap

Navy has been called in for rescue operations and Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar is also tracking the situation.

9 Navy Divers with Geminis boats & associated equipment rush to Curchorem, South Goa bridge collapse site for Search & Rescue operation pic.twitter.com/I5yCxW51a8  SpokespersonNavy (@indiannavy) May 18, 2017

ap

Chief minister Manohar Parrikar said Union home minister Rajnath Singh asked him whether the national disaster management authority team needed to be deputed to Goa. "I informed him that it was an accidental tragedy and doesn't require the team to be deputed here," he said. "We cannot predict the number of persons missing," he said.

ani

PWD minister Ramkrishna `Sudin' Dhavalikar said people ignored the warnings put up at the footbridge, leading to the tragedy. "People were warned not to use the bridge. But on Thursday, almost 100 jumped over from the old bridge to this footbridge They invited the calamity," he said.
Zaheer*, 28, is a conflicted man. A Kashmiri, currently working in Nagpur, he remembers his childhood days, when he hated everything about India and didn't consider himself a part of the country. All that changed after he moved to Delhi for higher education.

In Kashmir, we largely feel that the Army represents India- and they are against us. Now that I know better, I try very hard to explain to my fellow Kashmiris, that it isnt true. The people of the country are warm and welcoming and just like us. We are a part of this nation. His task isnt easy.

BCCL

For a majority of the local population that hasnt ventured out of Kashmir, they are at loggerheads with the Indian Army. They believe them to be oppressors instead of protectors.

It isnt a correct opinion, but it has been perpetuated by many unfortunate incidents. I remember one -when, as a school kid, my friend and I were walking through an area where stone pelting was underway.

In the commotion, an Army man accidently shot my friend dead. We were 7-8 years old. Then in a bid to save his skin- he planted a stray rifle on my friends body and claimed that he was a terrorist in the making. It scared me., claims Zaheer.

A high ranking Army official placed in Kashmir explains, We are not allowed to fire at random. There is a protocol. As far as shooting terrorists are concerned, we work on information provided by people living in the villages. They come and inform us out of duty, and are rewarded.

We keep their identity secure, and take great measures to provide security to them and their families. Only once we are sure, do we proceed.

BCCL

He continues,  Army personnel do not operate alone, they operate in groups  the smallest being that of 6-7 boys. It is difficult for one of them to be able to get away with murder without being reported by the others.

He further explains- we are very strict with the use of bullets, each and every fired one is to be accounted for. Also, we do not encourage killing from a military perspective also, as a captured terrorist is more valuable as he can provide us with information.

Moreover, we have a strong chain of command, wherein every decision goes top-down and every action is reported bottom-up; and everybody along this chain is affected and answerable. If an allegation is made against an officer, the army court considers him guilty, unless he can prove his innocence. Therefore, it is a very strict system with little room for error.

He does however also adds, In the early 90s, the borders were very porus, and lots of infiltrators would sneak in and hide in the villages. There would be lots of Army combing of these areas, and the area was large with fewer personnel. There could have been some instances of misconduct then, but I can assure there have been none in over a decade now.

AP

Ali, who has been living in Srinagar with his family agrees, We do feel a lot safer with the Army around. I am sure there are some stories of wrongdoing, but on the whole I believe there would be too many inquires if an army-man indulged in a personal vendetta.

He goes on to add that a greater part of the Kashmiri populace identifies themselves as Indians, but the level of education isnt very high, so sometimes separatist agenda does brainwash them. At times their sons join the infiltrators, often for money, and then tend to convert the rest of their villages or families too.

However, this constant tussle between the government and the separatists really takes a toll on our lives, our business and our peace of mind. Nobody is safe here during periods of agitation.

The Kashmir issue, started during independence, when the Hindu ruler of Kashmir  Hari Singh- was unable to side with Pakistan or India, as a majority of his population was Muslim. In the subsequent years, the two countries have fought three wars over Kashmir, and have been involved in numerous war-like conflicts.

Insurgency started in Kashmir in about 1988, at a time when the people of Kashmir largely started losing sympathy with the Indian government. Different extremist groups pushed different ideas of either Kashmir aligning with Pakistan or of a free and independent Kashmir. The death toll on both sides has been enormous, and the other severe causalities have been the loss of normalcy for the people of Kashmir.

AP

The large scale displacement of Kashmiri Pandits has been a topic of heated debated. The rise of Islamic militancy has forced them to leave their motherland. A Kashmiri Pandit, Adeer*, remembers how they were systematically pushed out.

They would announce on loudspeakers that they were coming for us, our women and our children. They started burning down houses- one area at a time. They were in no mood to spare any of us. We had no option but to leave our houses, businesses and to flee to save our lives and culture.

The loss of normalcy of life for the residents of Kashmir, both Hindu and Muslim, is also a disastrous impact of the prevailing situation. The Armed Forces Special Powers Act has been in force in Jammu and Kashmir since 1990. It allows the army various powers that are necessary to control the situation in disturbed areas.

Amongst one of its factors, it increases military checking and patrolling in the areas. It also curbs basic democratic rights of people such as allowing an arrest without a warrant, or to the power to enter and search any premises at any time.

Often emergency is declared in the state. This leads to massive inconvenience for the people. They are restricted in being able to procure food. Children are deprived of schooling and other childhood pleasures. Most of all, people with health conditions suffer greatly.

Patients have to go through numerous barricades to reach hospitals, and often health care professionals are unable to reach hospitals. They are stopped by both- the security forces, as well as the protestors.

AP

The ongoing clash is between two countries, between forces on two different sides; but the price is being paid by innocents caught in the crossfire. As Zaheer concludes, I am not condemning the Indian Armed forces.

They are, on the whole, trying to help the valley, they have some great education and other development programs... but what can you expect from children who grow up around bombings and pelting, and seeing dead bodies and violence? It was a daily occurrence for us, hearing gunshots. It is nothing like the movies; its just a constant and very scary tak-tak sound. 

Ishaan, 30, an Army combat trainer says; It is really heartbreaking that the situation in Kashmir is the way it is. We work to try to protect the people. Unfortunately, some of them end up getting injured in conflict.

He recounts an incident where he and his team of 5 officers were surrounded by about 50 odd protestors in Baramullah, our immediate reaction was that our hands were on our weapons. But we kept our calm, as we are trained. We spoke to them and they let us pass peacefully. We never want to hurt innocents.

AP

On the mob mentality of stone-pelters, he continues often these mobs place young children and women in front. Though we are sure to avoid them, there can be stray incidents where some of them may sustain injuries. This is an agenda pushed by the perpetuators, to taint the army. It is also a defense mechanism for them to try to escape after their nefarious activities.

Many peace talks by the two countries have failed. Many international mediation efforts have failed. The status of the valley fluctuates from being very peaceful to highly volatile constantly. Lives are being lost, and there is little security.

As it stands, It is living hell on the heaven on earth.
Wife of Colonel Santosh Yashwant Mahadik, who died battling militants in Kupwara region of Jammu and Kashmir in November 2015, is set to become an Army officer herself. She will soon get her first posting as a Lieutenant in the Indian Army.

She cleared the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) examination last year and joined the Officers Training Academy (OTA) in Chennai for her training, says a report by India Today.

Indian Express

Mahadik decided to join the Army during the last rites of her martyred husband. She aims to fulfil her husbands dream to help misled youth of Kashmir and retain peace in the Valley.

She is a Satara College graduate and started her physical training at the Pune University playground.

The passing out parade (POP) at OTA is scheduled for the second week of September this year.
China remains Vietnam's top rice importer

China is importing 46.5% of Vietnam's rice, a huge increase from the previous 35-36% seen in previous years.



Worker looks over the rice



According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Vietnam exported 2.8 million tonnes of rice valued USD1.2bn in the first six months of 2017. Both the volume and value increased by 6.3% and 4.9% respectively compared to last year.



However, average prices in the first five months decreased by 0.9% to USD445.5 per tonne compared to last year.



China continues to be Vietnam's top importer. In the first five months, Vietnam exported 1.1 million tonnes of rice to China for USD488m as demands from China is huge. Chinese traders often buy rice directly from the firms' storage and then imported into China via border gates or commissioned another importer. They also re-export the rice to other countries.



Pham Thai Binh, director of Trung An Hi-tech Farming JSC, said requirements from Chinese traders were getting tighter, similar to other markets like the US and Japan. Not only the rice must be safe but their origin could also be tracked. Currently, only 22 out of 150 Vietnamese firms were able to export to China.



Despite exporting huge volumes of rice to China, Vietnam is still unable to build a recognisable brand name there as most of the rice is repackaged by Chinese traders.



Loc Troi Group is the only firm that have a contract with Hunan Leading Science and Technology Development Co Ltd to officially distribute rice and other agriculture products in an attempt to build a Vietnamese rice brand in China.
Khushbu Kaushal had no inkling that her solo trip to Georgia would turn into a nightmare. Kaushal, a resident of Mumbai, wrote a hard-hitting Facebook post, addressed to Georgian Ambassador to India, where she narrates the ordeal she was subjected to by the immigration officials.

Khushbu Kaushal/facebook

Kaushal had all the necessary and legitimate documents on her that were required for her travel to Georgia,

My flight for Georgia took off from Mumbai on 29th June at 5am IST and I reached Tbilisi by 5pm Georgia time. I was carrying approved e-visa, letter from my employer stating I was on a holiday and will be joining back after my vacation, my bank statement to prove my financial stability, my hotel bookings to prove my stay in the country is legit and health and travel insurance in case anything happens to me while I am in your country.

To her horror, upon her arrival at the Georgian airport, she was subjected to a night of ordeal by the immigration officers,

One of the sane mind would think that my preparations should amount to easy passage to your country however to my surprise on the passport check in the immigration I was asked to move to an unmarked counter for the officers to take a look at my papers. After half an hour of wait, one of the officers took my interview asking me my purpose of the visit, he had a look at all my papers and cracked a joke as well. Since all of it was pleasant so far I was expecting quick approvals and started doing a mental calculation of how long it will take me to get to the hostel and explore a bit before I retire for the night.

airlines-airports

But this was not to be, your officers asked me to wait which turned out to be two hours wait in the cold steel uncomfortable chairs of immigration. After three hours of my arrival to Tbilisi I was not yet given any information or attended to, so I went to ask for my status and was then told that I am being sent back. When I requested for a reason I was shouted at and told to sit in a corner.

The humiliation she faced kept getting worse by the hour,

This was the beginning of the most humiliating night of my life. Every time, after being told I was being sent back, when I tried approaching one of your immigration officers to get any answer, I was shouted at, told rudely to sit in a corner and that I will not be given any reason of inadmissibility to your country. I didn't know what was my fault, where did I go wrong, how long will I be held up in the immigration and when will I be sent home. And worse of all I was alone and realised I was fed nonsense information about your country having friendly citizens and it being considered top rated for solo woman travellers.

Khushbu Kaushal/facebook

To top this, some six hours into this ordeal I was not even offered water to drink, even after constantly begging for the same to your officers. Not a request sir, it was literal begging. I was dehydrated, hungry, with a terrible headache and body ache all thanks to no water, food or rest on account of travelling for about more than 12 hours.

Kaushal was deported to India without her passport. Once she was back and decided to investigate the case - which her friends also took up with the MEA - she found even a deep-rooted problem that was the cause behind her deportation.

I was informed by Sharjah transit officers and Indian immigration officers that your immigration officers have been sending almost 90% of Indian travellers with evisa back everyday at random. Be it families, couples or solo travellers like me.

Kaushal then cites the reason behind the sudden hatred toward Indians,

I wanted to check what might be the reason of sudden hatred towards Indians, considering in 2015 the tourism from Indian sector to Georgia had increased to 80% amounting to considerable income being generated for your country through people of my country.

al jazeera

Guess what I found out? Georgian government had invited Indian farmers to come and cultivate the lands which Georgian people were not able to work at. This sudden influx of Indians, as invited by your Government, has increased discontent and hatred towards Indians in general which I guess has resulted in your immigration officers being racists and playing God with regular Indians travel plans.

You can read her entire post here.
PTI

When Prime Minister Narendra Modi begins his journey towards Germany for the G20 Summit, he will mark it by creating history. By setting foot on the red carpet rolled out at Ben Gurion International Airport, Tel Aviv, Modi will become the first ever Prime Minister of India to visit Israel. Read more

Here are more top news of the day:

1) Soon Registering Marriages May Become Compulsory, You Can Get Fined For Any Delay On Daily Basis

representational image

In its report, titled Compulsory Registration of Marriages submitted this month, the Commission also prescribed a penalty of rupees five per day in case of non-registration of marriage without a reasonable cause; for providing false information regarding the registration of marriage; and for refusal to furnish certain information, such as name and address. Read more

2) Tea Stall In Gujarat Where PM Modi Served Tea To Customers To Be Transformed Into A Tourist Spot

reuters

The Centre will declare the tea stall in Gujarat's Vadnagar railway platform - where Prime Minister Narendra Modi served customers in his childhood - a tourist spot, after renovating it. Read more

3) Martyrs Widow Clears SSB Exam To Become Army Officer, Wants To Help Misled Youth Of Kashmir

Indian Express

Wife of Colonel Santosh Yashwant Mahadik, who died battling militants in Kupwara region of Jammu and Kashmir in November 2015, is set to become an Army officer herself. She will soon get her first posting as a Lieutenant in the Indian Army. Read more

4) Ahead Of G20 Summit, North Korea Test Fires Ballistic Missile Capable Of Reaching Alaska

Reuters

Elevating tension, North Korea test-launched an intermediate-range ballistic missile on Tuesday, days before leaders from the Group of 20 nations are due to discuss steps to rein in Pyongyangs weapons programmes. Read more

5) Uttar Pradesh Govt Denies Compensation To Acid-Attack Survivor Saying Her Acid Burns Are Minor

afp/representational image

An acid attack survivor has been denied compensation by the state government after her claim was dismissed on grounds that the acid burns were minor in nature. The survivor had so far alleged she had been attacked thrice by the same persons, the latest incident being reported on July 1. Read more
On his maiden visit to Israel, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to meet Moshe, the survivor of 2008 Mumbai 26/11 terrorist attack.

Moshe was barely two when his parents Rivka and Gavriel Holtzberg were killed along with six others, by Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Toiba terrorists in the Chabad House attack in Mumbai in 2008.

afp

Moshe is 10-year-old now. During the deadly 26/11 attacks, he was saved by his Indian nanny, Sandra, who managed to escape the scene.

The Nariman House, also known as the Chabad House, was one of 5 locations that were targeted by the terrorists. Moshe and his nanny were later brought to Israel to live with his maternal grandparents, Shimon and Yehudit Rosenberg.

ap

"PM Modi is expected to meet Moshe who was just a baby at the time...now he is all grown up. I think it will be a very emotional meeting with a very strong message," said Israel's ambassador to India Daniel Carmon in an exclusive chat with ANI.

Counter-terrorism will be one of the key focus areas of Prime Minister Modi's visit to Israel.

"Terrorism is a plague which many countries suffer. India and Israel are victims of terror, 3 years ago we have signed a landmark agreement on homeland security and counter terrorism and we are doing a lot in this field," added Carmon.

reuters

Nine years have passed since the 26/11 attacks, however, no arrests have been made. When asked if this issue will figure in talks with India the Israeli envoy had added, "both our countries have to face terror threats, as long as these threats remain it will always be on the table."

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is currently visiting Israel at the invitation of his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu.

This is the first-ever visit of an Indian Prime Minister to Israel.
Days after PM Narendra Modi strongly condemned the lynching in the name of cow protection, Shiva Sena has also condemend lynchings and declared them against Hindutva. The BJP ally in Maharashtra also urged PM to formulate a policy on beef.

The Sena said said lynching people in the name of cow protection is against Hindutva and urged PM Modi to come up with a national policy on beef.

BCCL/Representational Image

Shiv Sena in its mouth piece ' Saamna' condemned lynchings. Commenting in an editorial in 'Saamana' today, the Shiv Sena said, "The issue of beef is related to eating habits, business and employment. Hence, there should be a national policy over the issue." "Those who were safeguarding cows were Hindus till yesterday. Today, they have become murderers."

Shiv Sena also welcomed the PM Modi's comments from last week when Modi took on self-proclaimed 'gau rakshaks' and said that killing in the name of cow is not acceptable.

BCCL/Representational Image

"We welcome the stand taken by the prime minister over the issue. Nobody has the right to take law in his hands in the name of cow protection. Lynching people is against the principles of Hindutva," the Sena said in its editorial.

"We thank him (Modi) for clearly defining Hindutva. He should now come up with a national policy on beef to ease tensions," the Sena said.

BCCL/Representational Image

Modi comments came after a slew of lynching incidents sparked nationwide protest. Recently Junaid, a boy was lynched in a moving train in Haryana. In April this year, Pehlu Khan, a farmer from Haryana was killed by gau-rakshaks in Rajasthan.
All of us are so caught up in the rat-race that the meaning of humanity has faded into oblivion. However, every now and then we come across stories that remind us the true meaning of it.

When it comes caring about people, personal gain doesn't come into the picture. It's all about being selfless and striving to help the person in need, in whatever way possible.

Meet Bouncy Mehta, from Mumbai is showing the world how it is done. In an interview with Humans Of Bombay, Mehta, shared a hearwarming story of the time he rescued an abandoned girl during the devastating Nepal earthquake.

During the earthquake in Nepal, Mehta, who was involved in relief work, chanced uponan 8 year old girl. The girl came running and hugged him and that one embrace changed her and Mehta's life.

Later, Mehta learned that she had no family, her father was a helpless drunk and mother eloped with another man leaving her alone. The little girl had lost her speech after she hurt her head and had no one to take care.

"In the village she was treated like cattle  it broke my heart the most when they said, she doesnt have a name," said Mehta

Moved by her story, Bouncy Mehta was determined to help the little girl, after the second earthquake he somehow got in touch with the girls uncle and helped admit her to a Special Education and Rehabilitation Center. He then named her  the girl who changed his life with a smile  Anaya.

"Its been a few years since that first day I met her and shes come a long way. Shes the life of the centre, always laughing, always happy."

After therapy, the little girl called him 'Baba' and that changed Mehta's life forever! He says, "she changed my life with her smile." The satisfaction of selfless acts of kindness is truly priceless!

Read the full story below:

A few years ago, when there were terrible earthquakes hitting NepalI was a part of the relief operations set up in a Nepali village called Sakhwa.

One of those days while I was working, I happened to notice this child, not more than 8 years old, playing around us. She was muddy, shabby and the villagers kept shooing her awayasking her to leave, poking fun at her and dissing her every move. Out of the blue, she came towards me and gave me the tightest hug all she was craving was some form of affection because she gave me the biggest smile when I hugged her back.

She ran away soon after, but it was when I asked around a little more that I realised that she had no real family. Her father was a drunk and never around; her mother abandoned her and ran away with another man and her uncles who cared for her werent financially able to send her to a special school and provide for her more than basic food and water. In the village she was treated like cattle  it broke my heart the most when they said, she doesnt have a name.

When I asked why she didnt speak, they said that a few years back, she had hurt her head but because no one attended to her injury she lost her speech and her right hand shrivelled up.I dont know what took over me, but I knew that I had to get her outI couldnt leave her there like village cattle. Before I could come up with a plan, we were stuck in the second quake while distributing supplies.

After a 30 hour wait we were rescued by the Chinese army. I was lucky to be alive and to be transported back home in one piece, but even though I had barely just survived  the image of that girl and her beautiful smile stayed with me. As soon as I got back to Bombay, my friend Rajeena from Kathmandu and I started making phone calls to these villagers, asking for the nameless girl. It was tough  the lines werent always connecting, the villagers were indifferent to her existence and didnt care enough to make the effort but we kept pushing.

Finally after a month, one villager finally got hold of her uncle and her and we had our first breakthrough conversation. We put a plan in place, and within a few days we arranged for her uncle and her to travel to Kathmandu where Rajeena received them and she was finally admitted to a Special Education and Rehabilitation Center. I finally named her  Anaya; caring, guardian, protected. Its been a few years since that first day I met her and shes come a long way. Shes the life of the centrealways laughing, always happy.

Her hand is healing and shes started saying a few words. Ive made around 10 trips to Nepal to make sure that she knows theres someone whos looking after her and every time she sees me, she runs to give me a hug. Shes learnt to say the word baba and for me, thats enough. So thats the story of Anaya, and how she changed my life with her smile.
For generations, racism has stuck around as a fundamental right for those who think it's okay to school people about their colour - as if, it can be changed.

Far defined by the violence of far-right extremists, this insidious stigma is guided by prejudices, favouritism for white skin, and deeply rooted insecurities.

Every now and then we secretly identify a 'white' skinned person as our beauty icon, and diss someone who's more extravagant, talented, skilled, smart, erudite,

In a similar vein, when this 24-year-old burgeoning fashion icon was shamed publicly and told to bleach her skin by a random cabbie, she didn't take his hatred for no reason, instead, she decided to embrace it.

My chocolate is elegant. So is what I represent A nation of warriors she says.

Meet Nyakim Gatwech, the South Sudanese model who is now a super successful name in the field of modelling.

Her deeply pigmented skin, which is often deemed a setback in her profession is being used as a shield by her.

With her fierce determination, shes breaking down the barriers of conventional beauty, and encouraging others to do exactly the same.



But her beauty is the least of her famed possessions. Nyakim is now an advocate for diversity in the fashion industry and is also representing black women across platforms.

A lot of people now refer her as the Queen of the Dark" - a title she's more than happy to accept.

Before the South Sudanese model found success, her unique beauty wasnt celebrated by all but she became a model anyway. So let no one stop you from being what you want to be.
Harpy Eagles are known to be among the worlds largest and most powerful eagles. To show the world just how massive these birds, a Redditor posted a picture posing with the giant bird and the Internet is flummoxed!

Reddit/MissDankk

These eagles can grow up to 42 inches long, with their wingspan reaching a record 7.5 feet.

Bored Panda/Harpy Eagles/Facebook

Among the birds of prey around the world, Harpy Eagles are the most intimidating and also pretty rare to spot.

Photo/Discovery Channel UK

They are known as the most powerful raptor in the Americas; while hunting they can touch speeds of 50 miles per hour. These birds are huge that their talons are as big as that of a grizzly bear's!

Photo/ DecorahPagent

According to Live Science, due deforestation and hunting, harpy eagles have disappeared from most of Central America's rain forests. They are designated as "near threatened" by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and considered "critically endangered" in Belize.

Watch the video below:
Serial entrepreneur Elon Musk is considered a modern-day legend in the tech industry. Not only does he have his hand in a series of mega corporations, hes also known for his seemingly impulsive investments that still manage to churn out success stories.

However, Musk isnt just in it for the money. Time and again, hes said he doesnt create companies for the sake of it but to get things done. When I was in college, I wanted to be involved in things that would change the world, hes said in the past. I'm interested in things that change the world or that affect the future and wondrous, new technology where you see it, and you're like, 'Wow, how did that even happen? How is that possible?'

So here are some of Musks companies that are looking to change the way the world works.

Tesla

Most people assume Musk founded Tesla, but it was in fact set up by Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning in July 2003. Musk later joined the board of directors in 2004, after he was the lead investor in the first round of funding. Eventually, he became CEO in 2008. Hes leveraged his engineering background to lead the company to huge success, with customers today willing to put down over a $1,000 in a deposit despite the waiting list for a Tesla car being close to two years. Musk has since been compared to the legend Henry Ford for his work on advanced vehicle powertrains powered by electricity, a development that has changed people's attitude towards electric cars the world over.

Few people know that we started Tesla when GM forcibly recalled all electric cars from customers in 2003 & then crushed them in a junkyard  Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 9, 2017

Obviously Tesla is about helping solve the consumption of energy in a sustainable manner, but you need the production of energy in a sustainable manner, hes said in the past. Which leads us to another endeavour of his...

SolarCity

SolarCity was founded in 2006 by Musks cousins Lyndon and Peter Rive, currently COO and CTO respectively. SolarCity is one of the largest solar panel manufacturers in the world. The company was officially bought over by Tesla in November 2016 for $2 billion, two years after Musk invested his own money to build a Gigafactory in New York, to produce 10,000 panels every day. We're running the most dangerous experiment in history right now, which is to see how much carbon dioxide the atmosphere can handle before there is an environmental catastrophe, Musk says.

Of course, he wasnt happy with just building solar panels, seeing as how they depend on sunlight. So Tesla in 2016 announced a new device called the Powerwall 2.0, basically a souped up rechargeable battery. The device was based on Teslas own lithium-ion car batteries, except storing the solar energy captured by SolarCitys panels in order to turn homes and small business fully-electric.

SpaceX

In 2001, Musk and a delegation of his advisers travelled to Russia to buy Intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM). His plan was to use the missiles to deliver a payload to Mars, where he planned to set up an experimental greenhouse to grow food crops. The idea was that Musk felt the publics interest in space exploration, and NASA missions was waning, and he wanted to recapture their imagination. Unfortunately, the Russian delegation believed him to be a novice and he was forced to return home empty handed. A second visit in 2002 saw him being offered a single ICMB for $8 million, a price he felt was altogether too high. It was after that meeting, that Musk decided he would set up a company to just build the affordable rockets he needed.

Sorry to hear about China launch failure today. I know how painful that is to the people who designed & built it. https://t.co/iOkj6egF3O  Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 2, 2017

Fifteen years later and SpaceX has proven to be the biggest competitor in the newly privatised space race. Not only has it been the first to successfully test and put its reusable rockets into use (including for NASA missions), but its aims have diversified alongside Musks own. His latest effort involves a long term campaign aiming to send humans to Mars for lower prices than ever imagined possible. Using a combination of reusable rockets, spacecraft, and a complex launch system, Musk plans to settle over a million people on Mars within the next 50 to 100 years.

It's starting to feel kinda normal to reuse rockets. Good. That's how it is for cars & airplanes and how it should be for rockets.  Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 4, 2017

Musk himself has said he would like to take that flight, once its been perfected and is deemed safe enough. I would like to die on Mars. Just not on impact.

Hyperloop

In 2013, Musk took the public by surprise when he announced his concept plans for Hyperloop, an advanced system of high-speed travel across vast distances. The idea is to have passengers sitting in a pressurised capsule, transported through vacuum tubes using magnetic levitation. This combination of technologies would let the pod travel at speeds up to 1,200 kmph, letting you, for instance, travel from Delhi to Mumbai in 80 minutes. That kind of trip would take you at least two hours even if you were flying.

Even better, Musk later then had his engineers publish a whitepaper, posted to the Tesla and SpaceX blogs, unveiling the early design for the system they came up with. Since then, hes hosted regular design competitions to encourage startups and student teams alike to tackle his plans, on the chance they may be able to improve the design and build a better Hyperloop than hes ever imagined. And yet, thats not Musks only plan to solve our travel woes.

The Boring Company

In December 2016, after tweeting he was fed up with Los Angeles traffic, Musk joked about digging a massive tunnel network under the city to tackle vehicle congestion. At least, thats what people thought. However, by January 2017, Musk was announcing his latest venture dubbed, The Boring Company, whose sole purpose would be to dig those tunnels under LA. A few months after that and the Boring Company has already finished the first section of tunnel, with many more planned over the next decade.

What I love about The Boring Company are the low expectations. Nowhere to go but down.  Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 17, 2017

Google DeepMind

Elon Musk is also an early stage investor in Googles artificial intelligence research team, DeepMind. When quizzed about it at the time, he answered that he wasnt interested in making money but was actually keeping an eye on developments. Musk has since established that he, and other science and technology leaders like Stephen Hawking, are wary of AI, even going so far as to form the watchdog group OpenAI. While researchers like those at DeepMind arent trying to create weapons, Musk still believes they could produce something evil by accident, possibly even (at worst) creating a fleet of artificial intelligence-enhanced robots capable of destroying mankind.

Probably closer to 2030 to 2040 imo. 2060 would be a linear extrapolation, but progress is exponential. https://t.co/e6gyOVcMZG  Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 6, 2017

Neuralink

Its this wariness of AI that led Musk to his latest venture, called Neuralink. Founded in 2016, and still in its early stages, the idea is to come up with a way to integrate the human brain with artificial intelligence. Musk believes that, if AI one day rises up against humans, the only way well be able to survive is with similar processing capabilities. The end goal is to turn humans into pseudo-cyborgs so we can seamlessly integrate with technology without needing a physical interface.

Not just for fighting robots, Neuralink would also be able to help people suffering from chronic conditions like epilepsy and Parkinsons. The idea is that, by supplementing the human brain with machine learning algorithms, not only will we be able to think on a more advance level, but it would also negate the effects of neurodegenerative diseases completely.

Clearly, Elon Musk has a lot of things planned for humanity. Most impressive however is that, no matter who may help fund his various companies, every one of them also bears his own personal investments. I always invest my own money in the companies that I create, hes said.  I don't believe in the whole thing of just using other people's money. I don't think that's right. I'm not going to ask other people to invest in something if I'm not prepared to do so myself.

And if this genius manages to get us settled on Mars, turns our homes and cars fully electric, and lets us communicate with our electronics telepathically, we can probably forgive his occasional eccentricities.
Dreaded cult gang, Badoo reportedly killed a family of five at Ayelala, Olopomeji, back of MRS filling station (formerly Kadesh filling station) close to the Army Barracks, Odogunyan, Ikorodu, yesterday June 27th.

According to reports, four of the five family members were found dead, while the last born was still alive when people found the other corpses and was been rushed to the hospital where he reportedly died.

Members of the murdered family are from Igede, Benue State but they reside in Odogunyan, Ikorodu.

(Graphic photos below  Viewers discretion advised)
The National Drugs Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), has confirmed the conviction of 240 suspected drug users in Kano State in the last six months.

According to the commandant, Mr Hamza Umar, who made this known to newsmen in Kano on Tuesday in commemoration of UN International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking.

He said the UN day, with the theme Listen First, was marked globally on June 29.

According to him, 768 suspects were arrested out of which 505 of them were counselled and 68 rehabilitated during the period.

Umar explained that the 240 drug users were convicted and sentenced to various jail terms, while over 39.224 kilograms of different hard drugs including 6451.976 kilograms of cannabis were also seized.

He added that among the illicit drugs seized were 327.15 kilograms of psychotropic substances, 358.3 kilograms of cocaine and 31.8 kilograms of methamphetamine.

According to him, measures taken by the command have led to drastic decrease in terms of supply and consumption of hard drugs in the state.

The agency in Kano had commissioned a 16 man committee to steer and coordinate all plans and strategies aimed at curtailing the menace.

It is my belief that in preventing and controlling drug abuse, the community must be mobilised to be part of the war.

The major factors leading to drug abuse are in our community, the abusers are in our community, therefore, the full support and involvement of the various groups in the community is necessary, the commandant said.

The event was supported the Kano State Government, Society for Family Health and Taimako Support Group.
Since the arrest of the alleged notorious billionaire kidnapper  Chukwudumeje Onuamadike George, popularly known as Evans, his case has shown us different sides of life and the aspect that really touches me is that of his wife who claimed not to know that her husband is into kidnapping.

This is the springboard to this write-up so as to open the eyes of women to what to watch out for so as to detect if your husband is a kidnapper.





1. He has too many phones:

Its a normal thing to have two phones in Nigeria due to the bad network but seeing a man with four phones and above, this calls for concern. It takes a man who is involved in a dubious business to be using many phones at the same time.

2. His phones are always switched off:

Another sign that will help you detect if your husband is a kidnapper is when you notice that he has some phone he often switched off whenever he is at home just like Evans normally do. This should signal to you that he is using those phones to call the family of the victims whenever he wants to negotiate a ransom with them after which he switches the phone off to make it difficult for law enforcement agents to track him.

3.He has too many sim cards:

If the man in your life is not a sim card seller nor an agent of a device provider, then you should be bothered about what he is doing with many SIM cards of different service providers. Like Evans, he may be using different SIM for family, wife, accomplices, Victims family, bank and others. Dont be fooled, it takes a kidnapper to have a such number of phones.

4. He hardly receives calls in your presence:

When your husband doesnt make calls nor receive calls in your presence, then you need to be suspicious what kind of business he is into

5. He is always on phone with strange people:

Through his phone conversations, you will be able to deduce the kind of deal he is into. If he is always on phone with strangers talking about money or using coded language, that should give you a prompting that he may be a kingpin.





6. He uses many satellite phones

Satellite phones are very expensive and they are made for security operatives and government officials like presidents, governors, service chiefs and ambassadors. Seeing your husband using satellite phone like Thuraya may be a pointer that he is a kidnapping headmaster.

7. He has too much cash at home which he never deposits at the bank:

When a man turns his house to a bank where he keeps a huge sum of money running into millions in local and foreign currency, you need nobody to tell you that it either your husband is into kidnapping or armed robbery.

8. You dont know what he does for a living:

Like Evans when your husband is so secretive about his means of livelihood, dont just enjoy the boom with, u will soon face the doom of public disgrace with him.

9. He never allows you to know his office, work or workshop:

Having a husband whose office, shop and workshop you do not know and anytime you make a move, he keeps giving you excuses, then you should know that you have housed a kidnapping, drug baron or armed robbery syndicate. Wives, get to know what your husband does for a living and the location of his office or business.

Unknown Writer
The picture of a man who wishes to contest during the next presidential election in 2019 has just surfaced online. The picture of a man who wishes to contest during the next presidential election in 2019 has just surfaced online.

The man who was identified as Christopher Chinedu Eze is fast becoming a social media sensation as he did not only show his interest in ruling Nigeria but also released his campaign poster.

According to his campaign poster Chinedu Eze is contesting under the All Progressives Congress (APC) which is led by former governor of Lagos state Asiwaju Bola-Ahmed Tinubu.

A look at his campaign poster Eze stated his slogan as: THE MAN WHO KNEW TOMORROWCHRISTOPHER CHINEDU EZE FOR NIGERIA PRESIDENT 2019. The poster carried the APC logo.
Daredevil ritual cult group, Badoo, which has been terrorising Ikorodu and other parts of Lagos State over the past month, has struck at Owode Ajegunle, killing at least three people.

Tuesdays mayhem comes after the bloodthirsty cultists attacked Crystal Church of Christ (C&S) Aladura at no 4, Victor Anibaba Street, Owode Weighbridge, along Ikorodu Road, Punch writes.

According to an eyewitness who spoke on condition of anonymity, one woman and two girls were killed during the attack.

It is understood that the unfortunate victims in the latest onslaught by Badoo are the wife of the founder of the church, Mrs. Ajidara, her two-year old daughter and another single mum who lived in the church with her daughter.

This attack is a serious setback to hopes of a return to peaceful living in Ikorodu and environs after no fewer than 100 members of the ritualists were nabbed by the Odua Peoples Congress (OPC) and local vigilante groups at the weekend.

The wanton destruction of lives and property wrought by the group has forced residents to take laws into their hands, leading to the lynching of three suspected cult members recently.
An unfortunate BRT driver has been left with severe injuries after suspected cultists unleashed mayhem at Ketu area of Lagos stabbing him in the process.

A Lagos Bus Rapid Transit driver, identified as Semiu Ogundele, who reportedly ran into the rampaging gang members, was cut with cutlasses and machetes, according to Punch.

The 32-year-old driver was rushed to a private hospital in the area where he was admitted. Speaking to newsmen, a resident, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the community had been peaceful until the cult members had a disagreement which culminated in the fight.

He said, I cannot tell what the bone of contention was. I just arrived in the community and noticed that some vehicles had been vandalised, with broken bottles all over the place.

I was told that many people were injured and beaten up, while others were robbed.

The case was reported at the Ketu Police Division, and operatives from the station have been patrolling the community. No suspect has been arrested because the hoodlums disappeared after the attack.

Another resident, who identified herself simply as Opeoluwa, said peace had returned to the community.

She urged the police to beef up security and end activities of cult members in the area.

Punch, while speaking to Ogundele on the hospital bed, learnt that he was returning from work when he was attacked.

I was going home when they surrounded me and stabbed me in different parts of my body. There were many of them. I bled from where they stabbed me. I managed to get to the hospital. I am getting better, he added.

The Police Public Relations Officer, ASP Olarinde Famous-Cole, promised to call back, but had yet to do so as of press time.
A Catholic Priest has shocked people with his rash actions after shooting his own assistant in an Imo State community.

Rev Father Christian Amusuo, the parish priest in charge of Saint Marys Catholic Church, Eziama  Osuama in the Isiala Mbano Local Government Area of Imo State, has been arrested by the operatives of the state police command for allegedly shooting his assistant, only identified as Rev Father Precious.

According to Punch Metro, it gathered that the priest is being held and interrogated at state Criminal and Investigative Department of the command for alleged attempted murder case.

Rev Father Amusuo had on June 23 allegedly shot his assistant at the parish house after a prolonged argument and weeks of acrimony between the two priests, it was learnt on Tuesday.

The source explained that the clerics have been having issues, which the parishioners had noticed but could not trace it to anything tangible.

According to the source, the alleged shooting was a last minute resort by the parish priest to decisively deal with his assistant who he allegedly accused of being disobedient and flouting his orders.

Angered by the ensuing crisis, Rev Father Amusuo reportedly went into his room and brought out his gun and fired his assistant, but luckily the victim did not die as people, especially the parish workers came to his rescue.

Confirming the incident, the state Police Public Relations Officer, Andrew Enwerem, said that upon the receipt of the information, the commissioner of police, Chris Ezike, ordered an investigation of the circumstances surrounding the allegation.

Enwerem confirmed that the priest was being held at the state CID in Owerri and his firearm has been recovered by the police.

The Police spokesperson said upon the receipt of the information, the state Commissioner of Police, Chris Ezike, quickly ordered for full-blown investigation into the matter. The parish priest is with us and the firearm has been recovered. We are investigating.
A Federal High Court sitting in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, has imposed a fine of N50,000 on the former First Lady, Patience Jonathan, for withdrawing a suit instituted against the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.

In the suit, Mrs Jonathan sought an order of the court for the enforcement of her fundamental human rights to own property, fair hearing, human dignity, private and family life and freedom from discrimination.

In a defence led by I. A. Adedipe, SAN, she prayed the court to retrain the EFCC from encroaching on those rights.

Prosecution counsel, Kayode Oni, faulted Jonathan on her prayers before the court, arguing that her suit was an abuse of court processes. At the resumption of hearing on the matter on Monday July 3rd, one of the defense counsels, Sammie Somiari, addressed the court on a notice of discontinuance of the suit, saying that he had an instruction of his client to discontinue the matter.

He said that an application had been filed before the court to that effect. Counsel to the EFCC submitted that Mrs. Jonathan has a right of discontinuance but pressed for a charge of N500,000( Five Hundred Thousand Naira only) as costs of filing processes in response to the suit.

Justice Seidu struck out the suit and awarded a cost of N50,000 (Fifty Thousand Naira only) as a fine against Jonathan. Dame Patience Jonathan instituted the suit against the EFCC in February, 2017.

Source: ( Linda Ikeji )
While Evans was speaking with New Telegraph at Police custody, he confessed that he does his works only in Enugu, Abia, Lagos and Edo states.

As posited by the billionaire kidnapper, Evans does not operate in other states like Oyo, Ogun over demographical unfamiliarity.

He said: Police tracking located me in Anambra State, but it was not because I committed robbery or even kidnapped

anyone there.

As quoted:

I have never operated in any Yoruba state, let alone Oyo State. I have never operated there; Lagos is my state. I mostly operated from Lagos.

Moreover, I also didnt like operating in Yoruba states because I dont know my way around there. I dont know the

terrains.

It is not right to go where you dont know, except you have someone that can lead you, Evans said.

If I kidnapped someone in Lagos, I sometimes go to Anambra state to collect the ransom, just to avoid detention, he added.

The Nigerian Police have however revealed that the suspect will soon be charged to court on charges of alleged murder, kidnapping and armed robbery.
Neighbours of a family of six living at the Rumuomosi area of Port Harcourt in Rivers State, have discovered their decomposing bodies in the sitting room.

The residents of Rumuomosi in Obio/Akpo Local Government Area of Rivers State, were left in total shock on Monday with the discovery of the decomposing bodies of a family of six in their sitting room who were suspected to have been killed of the fumes emitted by their generator.

According to a report by DailyTimes, the decomposing bodies were found, at their residence on Salvation Street by concerned neighbours who had gone in search of them when they realized that not one of them had been seen since last Friday.

The discovery has thrown the residents in a mourning mood. The family is made up of the father, mother, and four children. The ages of the children were said to be 6, 4, 3 and 2. The police evacuated the bodies on Monday afternoon.

While speaking to a correspondent, the landlord of the house who asked for anonymity because the police was investigating the matter, said he saw the family last on Friday morning.

Their generator was on when I returned home on Friday evening and I presumed they were inside the house. I didnt see them on Saturday. I also did not see any of them on Sunday, the landlord told journalists.

He continued: My junior brother called me this afternoon while I was at work to intimate me that something was happening at my house, so I rushed down here. I am in shock.

One of the neighbour who saw the bodies when the police arrived to evacuate them said they were lying down on the floor which suggested that the family might have been watching television and perhaps slept off in the process, leaving the television and generator on.

The Police Public Relations Officer, of the Rivers State Police Command, Nnamdi Omoni, who confirmed the incident, said the Police had evacuated the bodies and taken them to the mortuary for post morten examination.

The speculation is that the family may have died from carbon monoxide which emanated from their generator. But that has not been scientifically proven. So, we are waiting for the autopsy report to make our findings, the police image maker said.
Nigerian Musician, 2shotz, who is now a photographer in the United States, have been slammed by his followers who called him out for celebrating the United States Independence since hes not an American yet.

2shotz who shared a photo of the American flag, wrote; FREEDOM.LIBERTY.DREAMSOPPORTUNITY... However his follower tagged him lame for this, leading to the face-off.
The Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, has been summoned by the House of Representatives before it over his recent comments about the National Assembly and the 2017 budget. The minister has been in war of words with the National Assembly in the last one week, over the adjustment of the Ministries 2017 budget presented to the house for screening.

Fashola had challenged the authority of the National Assembly members to insert projects that his ministries did not include in the 2017 budget.

He accused the National Assembly of slashing N21 billion off the N31 billion proposed for the LagosIbadan Expressway. In one of his recent statements released in this regard, he accused the lawmakers of having stark and worrisome knowledge of the budget process.

During plenary today, one of the members of the House, Hon. Sadiq raised a point of order on comments made by Fashola and asked that the Minister should be summoned to appear before an ad-hoc committee of the House. He accused Fashola of breach of privilege and incitement of Nigerians against their representatives.

Speaker Dogara called for a vote and majority of the lawmakers voted in support of the motion. The date for his appearance was however not announced.

Source: ( Linda Ikeji )
The Edo Command of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) says no fewer than 56 persons have died in various road accidents across the state between January and June.

The state Sector Commander of the Corps, Mr Samuel Odukoya, disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Benin on Monday.

Odukoya, who said that the figure comprised 45 males and 11 females, added that 397 persons also recorded injuries within the period under review.

He also disclosed that 1, 017 people recorded fatal cases from 125 reported road crashes within the period, and that 1, 021persons were involved in the road crashes.

The sector commander said that road crashes had reduced in the state as more commercial vehicles had complied with the installation of the Speed Limiting Device on their vehicles.

He said the exercise was ongoing and would soon be extended to private vehicles.

Source: ( PM News )
The National Hajj Commission of Nigeria, NAHCON, has confirmed that airlift of Nigerian Pilgrims to Saudi Arabia for Hajj 2017 will begin On Friday, July 30.

The commission also said it has started processing visa for about 40,000 intending pilgrims that have so far completed their payments in various states of the federation.

The states with the highest number of registered pilgrims are Kaduna 6,335, followed by Niger with 4,129 while Zamfara, Kano and Sokoto each has about 3,000 pilgrims.

This was revealed in a press release signed by the spokesperson of the commission, Uba Mana, on Tuesday.

Mr. Mana said all states are urged to immediately commence the inoculation of intending pilgrims and issuance of Basic Travel Allowance, BTA.

He also called on all intending pilgrims wishing to travel for the 2017 Hajj to complete their payments to their respective States before the Saudi E-portal for visa approval is closed.

Source: ( Premium Times )
First Daughter of the United States, Ivanka Trump took to her Instagram page to celebrate her meeting with two Chibok girls who escaped from Boko Haram.

Ivanka Trump met with Joy and Lydia at the White House last week. The two Chibok girls also met with US President, Donald Trump.

Read what Ivanka Trump wrote after the cut..

Honored to have welcomed Joy and Lydia, two incredible young women from Chibok, Nigeria to the White House last week. They shared with me their remarkable journey in overcoming tremendous adversity, and I am in awe of their courage and heart. I look forward to watching them flourish as they begin a new chapter at Southeastern University this fall. Joy and Lydia, I am so proud of you both! Thank you for inspiring us with your story.

Here are other photos:
A nurse who allegedly killed off her own patient to get a hold of their insurance benefits, has landed in serious trouble.

Renica Chakabvapasi, a Zimbabwean nurse at Kwekwe General Hospital, who is already serving a five-year jail term following her conviction on two counts of defrauding Old Mutual of $10 000, was back in court yesterday facing a count of murdering a patient.

According to The Chronicle, Chakabvapasi, who made headlines last year following her arrest together with her lover  Godwin Mugwangi  who skipped bail and is now on the run, is accused of killing a terminally-ill patient under her care in order to cash in on his benefits.

Chakabvapasi appeared before Shurugwi magistrate Mr Tayengwa Sangster for confirmation of her warned and cautioned statement.

She was not asked to plead and was remanded in custody to August 24.

Chakabvapasi,who came to court holding a new born baby that she gave birth to while in prison, was given long remand by Mr Sangster to allow the baby to grow before she returns to court.

I deny the charge, thats all she said.

Chakabvapasi was found guilty by Kwekwe magistrate Mr Ngoni Nduna of defrauding Old Mutual of $10 000 in a scam in which she fraudulently opened funeral cash benefit policy accounts for two terminally-ill patients, who she allegedly targeted at the hospital.

Mr Nduna found Chakabvapasi guilty on two counts, which have so far been brought before him, and sentenced her to two-and-a-half years in jail on each count.

The court suspended two years of the sentence on condition that she refunds $10 000 to Old Mutual.

Chakabvapasi and Mugwangi face a murder charge and five more counts of fraud involving $5 000 each.

Prosecutor, Ms Bertha Boore, told the court that Chakabvapasi in the course of her duties, would identify terminally ill patients admitted at Kwekwe General Hospital and use them to swindle Old Mutual Life Assurance Company.

She said Chakabvapasi would secretly obtain their particulars which she would supply to her boyfriend Mugwangi who would use them to open cash back insurance policies without the knowledge of the beneficiaries.

They allegedly stole Lee Mazarires particulars and Mugwangi claimed that he was his cousin before opening a cash back funeral plan for him when in fact they were not related.

Chakabvapasi on September 3 visited Mazarire and gave him some medication which he consumed.

On September 6 the court heard that Mazarire died and Chakabvapasi is alleged to have speedily facilitated the acquisition of a burial order, which she handed over to Mugwangi, who claimed $5 000 from the insurance company.
INFINIX, Nigerias leading and preferred smartphone brand unveiled the new look Infinix Note series with the launch of Infinix Note 4/Note 4 pro today.

Infinix Note 4 is designed for the youths to empower and enable them to go beyond, it is also the 4th Generation of the Infinix Note Series, with the first of its kind Stylus pen Xpen. It also comes with the Infinix Note series innovation of super-fast charge. The Note 4 has the theme 5 minutes charge 250 minutes talk time and a battery life of 4500MAH, which charges five times faster and is equipped with Xcharge 4.0.

Infinix Note 4 comes in 2 versions the Note 4 & Note 4 Pro, which are both budget friendly and runs on 7.0 Android. It also comes with other remarkable features such as 5.7FHD screen, 13MP AF back camera, 8MP-mega pixels front camera, Xpen, Octa-core 1.3GHz 64bits, 32GB ROM, with expandable storage space to 128gb and 3GB RAM, 4G enabled and XOS 2.3.

This is an historic moment for Infinix as we bring about a new era for our Note series, says Bruno Li, Regional Manager Infinix Africa as he took questions at unveiling in Lagos.

With a promise to customers to retain its DNA of stylish Design, big screen, big battery and super fast charge. Infinix Mobility pioneered the powerful smartphone series with the successful launch of Infinix Note 3 in 2016. The launch, which received a massive reception, also led to the smartphone becoming Nigerias most searched Android smartphone on Google  the first time a mid-range smartphone has taken the search lead.

The Note 3 was a huge success last year which tells us we have passed the threshold of being a new brand to being a strong household name in this market, with the Infinix Note 4 we want to empower customers to take charge and make the needful change with their lifestyle, Bruno adds.

The Infinix Note 4 and Note 4 Pro comes in 3 unique colors, champagne Gold, Ice Blue and Milan Black. To be a part of the new Infinix Note revolution, customers can pre-order the new Infinix Note 4 at all partner stores in Nigeria and get free Dual-Noise cancelling earphones or 3D speakers when they pre order before the 7th of July.

Infinix Note 4 and Note 4 Pro will be available at all retail stores nationwide online and offline on the 7th of July 2017.

About INFINIX The future is now

Infinix mobility is Africas preferred premium smartphone brand established in 2012 by Transsion Holdings.

Infinix offers users across the continent a unique smartphone experience connecting consumers with its product portfolio ranging from Hot, Hot S, and Note & Zero. Infinix is considered a leader in its market segment for mid-ranged smartphones in Nigeria.

Infinix Mobility Nigeria won the best Mobile phone brand at Beacon of ICT awards 2016 and most preferred smartphone brand at Titans of Technology Africa 2016. More information: http://www.Infinixmobility.com
Mavin artiste, Reekado Banks who has collaborated with Lawyer turned musician, Falz, on some songs has waded in into Falz utterance that sparked outrage on social media, where he advised Nigerian entertainers to stop promoting fraud in their songs.

In his interview with HipTV, Reekado Banks said people should mind their own business and allow relevant government authorities take up cases against people doing things that might be considered illegal.

Heres the video
An intercontinental ballistic missile has been successfully tested by North Korea on Tuesday  a watershed moment in its push to develop a nuclear weapon capable of hitting the United States.

According to US experts, the device could reach Alaska, the launch, which came as the United States prepared to mark its Independence Day, triggered a Twitter outburst from US President Donald Trump who urged China to end this nonsense once and for all.

The North has long sought to build a rocket capable of delivering an atomic warhead to the continental United States  something that Trump has vowed wont happen.

Its possession of a working ICBM will force a recalculation of the strategic threat it poses.

The landmark test of a Hwasong-14 missile was overseen by leader Kim Jong-Un, an emotional female announcer said on state Korean Central Television.

It reached an altitude of 2,802 kilometres and flew 933 kilometres, she added.

The North was a strong nuclear power state and had a very powerful ICBM that can strike any place in the world she said.

There are still doubts whether the North can miniaturise a nuclear weapon sufficiently to fit it onto a missile nose cone, or whether it has mastered the technology needed for it to survive the difficult re-entry into the Earths atmosphere.

But the isolated, impoverished country has made great progress in its missile capabilities since the ascension to power of Kim, who has overseen three nuclear tests and multiple rocket launches.

In response to the launch but before the announcement, Trump asked on Twitter: Does this guy have anything better to do with his life?

The United Nations has imposed multiple sets of sanctions on Pyongyang over its weapons programmes, which retorts that it needs nuclear arms to defend itself against the threat of invasion.

 All of Alaska 

The unidentified ballistic missile was fired from a site in North Phyongan province, the Souths Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement, and came down in the East Sea, the Korean name for the Sea of Japan.

Source: ( Punch Newspaper )
A man has been disgraced after he was reportedly caught at a bank after he had used tricks to defraud unsuspecting customers.

A notorious thief who specializes in defrauding unsuspecting people in banks while pretending to change money for them has been nabbed in Sapele, Delta State.

Reporting how the incident happened, Sapele Oghenek revealed that the suspected thief operates by confronting people after they make withdrawals and tells them that he wants to change money.

After changing the money for him, the owners money will drastically reduce on getting home.

Things took a new twist for him after he had used the same trick to defraud a man of N30,000 at UBA, he got a shocker after using the same trick to defraud one Mr. Chuks the sum of N23,000.

On discovering discovering that his money had reduced, Chuks stormed GT Bank angrily where he caught the fraudster. The man has reportedly been in the business of defrauding people for a long time and was disgraced in public.

Source: Tori
The leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Sen. Ahmed Makarfi, has described the death of Alhaji Maitama Sule as a great lost to the Africa continent.

This was made in a statement on Monday in Abuja by the PDP National Caretaker Committee National Publicity Secretary, Mr Prince Dayo Adeyeye, described him as a great Nationalist, great Orator, Politician, and Diplomat.

Makarfi said that the PDP received with great shock, the news of passing away of the elder statesman, who on Monday passed-on at 87 in Cairo, Egypt.

He commiserated with the government and people of Kano State, the family of the deceased and the Nation over the demise of Sule.

The Late Maitama Sule was the Pioneer Chairman of the Public Complaint Commission (PCC) in 1975, an office created by the Regime to hear complaints from Nigerians on all issues of governance.

He carried out this responsibility diligently and reduced corruption index in the country by using the PCC Platform to expose corrupt officers in government.

Late Sule was a two-time Minister in the Ministries of Internal Affairs and the Nigerians Permanent Representative to the United Nations (UN) in 1979.

He also served the Chairman of the UN Special Committee on Apartheid during the first tenure of Alhaji Shehu Shagari, a position which Makarfi said he discharged with great responsibilities, especially in the Apartheid discussions of South Africa.

Alhaji Maitama Sule has left us at a time his wise and experienced counsel is still needed. His demise is not only a loss to the Nation but also to Africa.

We will miss his astute contribution on various issues of national development.

We pray Allah rest his Soul; and pray the fortitude for his family to bear this great loss.

Source: ( PM News )
A twitter user @lanaakintola has shared his sad experience with officers of the Nigerian Police Force (NPF) after they stopped him for no reason.

H narrated in a series of tweet, stating that he was stopped near a roundabout at Ogudu, Lagos at about 7.30PM.

He said the policemen accused him of being a fraudster after seeing a photo of Amber Rose on his phone, before extorting him of money.

Read the tweets below:
The Governor of Kano State, Abdullahi Ganduje received a letter of condolence from President Muhammadu Buhari, in which the President expressed profound shock over the death of elder statesman, Yusuf Maitama Sule.

The letter, said to have been personally signed by the President, also described the death of Mr. Sule as a heavy loss.

It will be delivered by the federal government delegation to the burial as constituted by the Acting President, a statement by Garba Shehu, the senior special assistant to the president on media and publicity, said.

The Presidents letter reads thus:

I have heard this morning, the death of the venerable Alhaji Maitama Sule, Dan Masanin Kano, and one of Nigerias famous sons. Although, I knew he was in poor health for some time, his death nonetheless, came as a profound shock.

As a Minister in the First Republic, he was one of those who assisted our Founding Fathers, Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Alhaji Ahmadu Bello and Alhaji Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, to fashion Nigeria politically and lay the grounds of national co-existence.

Maitama Sule was blessed by God with a wonderful voice and outstanding eloquence. He served with distinction in the First Republic, the Second Military regime, as well as the Second Republic, without him being tainted with the remotest hint of scandal.

As a person, I found him personable with unceasing good humour. Nothing personified his faith more than the fact that on losing his sight, he did not retreat in himself sulking on account of his ill-fortune. Quite to the contrary, he honoured virtually all invitations extended to him and spoke as usual with singular eloquence and unparalleled with.

In my discussions with him, I greatly valued his counsel, and I never ceased to be amazed by his concern for the well-being of his country rather than his personal interests.

Let me extend my sincere condolences to Your Excellency, family and friends, the Government and people of Kano, and Nigerians as a whole, for this most heavy loss. We shall not soon see the like of him. May God forgive his sins and admit him to Paradise, Amin.
It is the end of the road for an alleged female kidnapper caught, beaten up and set ablaze in Ikorodu by an irate mob.

A suspected female kidnapper has met her untimely death in the hands of an angry mob after she reportedly tried to kidnap some school children along Etunrenren road in Ojubode, Ikorodu, this afternoon.

She was nabbed by an angry mob who lynched her to death immediately. She was stripped and beaten mercilessly before she was set on fire.

Ikorodu is now a hot zone as people have been warned to be very careful not to fall victim to this uncontrolled mob action.
James Ayatse,the Tiv ruler on Monday advised his subjects against high bride price, saying that the practice was hindering young people from settling down.

Mr. Ayatse gave the advice in a statement issued by his Media Assistant, Freddie Adamgbe, and made available to the News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, in Makurdi.

According to the statement, the monarch spoke against the practice at a reception organised in his honour by his kinsmen, the Shangev-Ya Development Association in Kwande Local Government Area.

Mr. Ayatse said that the Tiv Area Traditional Council would soon partner the church and relevant stakeholders to cut down the exorbitant bride price in the land.

He also said that the council would make a law to prevent people from lavishing money for burial ceremonies.

He further said that only cultural values of economic and social benefit to the people would be promoted while those with retrogressive tendencies would be discouraged.

He challenged preachers of the Gospel to intensify the spread of the word of God in Tiv nation.

The Tor Tiv also cautioned youth against disrespecting elders and perpetrating violence in Tiv land and called for the cooperation and understanding of all and sundry.

He gave an assurance that the multifaceted challenges confronting Tiv nation would be properly addressed during his tenure.

The traditional ruler reiterated his earlier stance to remain apolitical and a father to all Tiv sons and daughters while urging other traditional chiefs to also remain neutral.

While enjoining his subjects to stand on truth and justice always, the Tor Tiv warned the warring communities of Mbaikyaa and Dzer to sheathe their swords or face sanctions.

Meanwhile, the National President, SHADA, Terkimbi Ulaka, described the emergence of Mr. Ayatse as the fifth Tor Tiv as divine.

Mr. Ulaka said that his antecedents are proof that he would take Tiv nation to the desired level.

Source: (NAN)
The Police on Monday arraigned Abdullahi Umar, 25, and Bashiru Usman, 30, in an FCT High Court, Jabi for snatching a Bajaj Motorcycle from one Ahmed Zubairu on Feb. 23.

The prosecutor, Mr John Ijagbemi, told the court that the matter was reported at Dutse Police Station on the same day and was later transferred to the FCT Police Command.

The prosecutor said that the defendants, who pretended to be passengers, stopped the victim and asked him to take them to Bwari Area Council from Dutse Alhaji.

According to the prosecutor, on getting to Usman Dam along Bwari area, the defendants asked the victim to stop, hit him on the head with a stick, tied him with a rope and carried out the criminal act.

Ijagbemi said that apart from collecting the motorcycle, the defendants also collected N3,000 from the victim which was later recovered from them.

The prosecutor said that the offence contravenes the provision of section 2 (a)(b) and section 6 of the Robbery and Firearms Special Provision Act, Law of the Federation of Nigeria 2004.

The defendants, who could not speak English language admitted to have committed the offence after the interpretation was made to them in Hausa.

Mr Oladapo Adeya, the lawyer who offered to defend the accused, prayed the court to temper justice with mercy, saying that all necessary documents would be forwarded to defend the case.

Justice Yusuf Halilu, however, entered a not guilty plea for the defendants.

The judge ordered the defendants to be remanded in Kuje Prison and adjourned the matter till Oct. 3 for hearing.

Source:( PM News )
A Nigerian man has allegedly been beaten up by a white man because of his resistance to the disconnection of his electric wife after he failed to pay his bills.

This report below was given by Eko Civil Society Group.

WHITE MAN ORDERS SOLDIERS TO BEAT UP A NIGERIAN OVER ELECTRICITY BILL IN EDO STATE

Earlier today, a white man working with the Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC) orders Military personnel attached to him to beat up one Mr. Innocent Okpara over resistance of the electricity company officials to take his expensive wires after disconnection for non payment of electricity bills. This happened behind Santana Market, Sapele Road, Benin City in the presence of the Business Manager, a Nigerian in charge of the business unit that covers the area. The man has been disconnected for owing the company an amount he said could not be justified, his argument was that, he bought the wires with his money and that it does not belong to the private company hence, he was not going to allow them to take away the expensive wires. Similar reports have reached the human rights community of the activities in the past of same white men who go about with military personnel to harass, intimidate, humiliate, brutalize and in some cases threaten to shoot citizens of the Federal Republic of Nigeria over electricity issues. Such case was that of one Mr. Owas Evbuomwan about a month ago in Oluku-Iguosa axis who was threatened by military personnel attached to another white man working with BEDC to shoot if he dares question the authority of a white man in threatening a Nigerian like him. It should be noted that there are three of them working with BEDC and they all exhibit the habit of creating fear and tension in the minds of Nigerians thereby making Nigerians look like cowards in their own land.
An online fraudster identified as, Okechukwu Brown, who is also a father of three, was on Monday sentenced to three years imprisonment for defrauding an American of 3,650 dollars in an online romance scam.

The judge who presided over the case, Justice Josephine Oyefeso of an Ikeja High Court handed down the verdict after Brown pleaded guilty to the charge.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Brown was sentenced after entering into a plea bargain with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

As part of the terms of the agreement, he plead guilty to a one-count amended charge of obtaining money by false pretences.

The EFCC had also recommended a one-and-a -half year prison term in the plea bargain.

Following his plea, Mr Uche Chikelue, the counsel to the defendant, quoting the Holy Bible, asked the court for mercy in sentencing Brown.

In Mark 10: 46-52, is the story of blind Bartimaeus, who was delivered by one word  mercy. Like blind Bartimaeus, we are standing on the word  mercy.

My Lord, the defendant has been well behaved and has co-operated with the prosecution throughout the investigations.

He has no past criminal record, has never been involved in any crime, he is a first-time offender, and he has refunded all the money stated in the information and has shown great remorse for his actions.

He has aged parents, who due to his present incarceration, are having serious health challenges.

He is the first born of the family and the breadwinner, he also has a wife and three children, the last, a toddler.

My Lord, mercy is not qualified for, we humbly urge the court to temper justice with mercy because we know the court has a discretion to show mercy, Chikelue said.

Sentencing Brown, Justice Oyefeso said:In passing my sentence, I have taken into consideration the allocutus (plea) of the defence counsel.

The court observes that this crime has taken ground in Nigeria and this court has to send the right signals to the public.

This crime is a dishonour to our country and paints our great country in a bad light; there must be justice for the defendant, complainant and the country.

I have also taken into consideration that the Criminal Law of Lagos prescribes 15 years in prison for the offence of obtaining money by false pretences.

I hereby sentence the defendant to three years in prison on the one-count charge of obtaining money by false pretences.

This sentence begins from March 13, the day he was first arraigned.

According Mrs V.O. Aigboje, the counsel to the EFCC, Brown committed the offence between Aug. 22, 2013 and Nov. 23, 2013 at Ikeja.

The convict obtained 3,650 dollars online from Mr Thomas Nublin of the United States of America.

The Lagos office of the EFCC in July 2014, received a petition from the U.S. Army alleging that some persons traced to Nigeria defrauded some members of the U.S. Army of over 13,000 dollars in a romance scam.

The EFFC investigated and was able to trace some of the funds amounting to 3,650 dollars to EcoBank Plc via Moneygram which was received by the convict.

The convict, in the course of the investigation, refunded to authorities, the said sum of 3,650 dollars, the money received from the crime, she said.

The offence contravened Section 312 (3) of the Criminal Law of Lagos State 2011.
Yesterday, I sat in a coffeeshop and installed two Linux distributions on my Windows development PC. They werent virtual machines or dual-boot systems, and I didnt have to go through the usual route of finding download pages and uncompressing installer files. Instead, I went to the Windows Store, searched for Linux, picked the distros I wanted, and clicked Install for each. Once theyd downloaded, all I needed to do was open a terminal window and add a username and password; I was ready to go.

It was all possible because Im running the latest preview build of the upcoming Windows 10 Fall Creators Update, which has added new features to the Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL). Introduced in the Windows 10 Anniversary Update (version 1609) and significantly updated in the recently released Windows 10 Creators Update (version 1703), WSL is part of Microsofts answer to the question How do we get developers using Windows again?

How Microsoft got Windows to where the developers are

The answer to the How do we get developers using Windows again? question was simple: Go to where the developers are.

But getting Windows to that answer was not as simple. Where developers were was on MacOS and Linux, using command-line tools to work on Linux servers in the cloud. They already had their tool chains, applications, and scripts that worked with services like Docker, GitHub, Jenkins, Ansible, Chef, and TravisCI. So how to bring those developers to Windows?

The first step was to bring Unix to the familiar Windows desktop in a seamless way. MacOS had an intrinsic advantage for Unix users, because its built on a microkernel implementation of BSD Unix, accessed via the Terminal app on every Mac.

But Windowss NT kernel has a heritage that goes another direction, back to DEC, with a history of being able to run multiple personalities. Instead of having to build new versions of familiar tools, then recompiling them for Windows, why not run Linux binaries on Windows directly? Using the work in Project Astoria that had been done to deliver a cancelled Android compatibility layer for Windows Phone and Windows 10s pico-process model, Microsoft could deliver a new OS subsystem that can translate Linux system calls to Windows, allowing code to run without any changes.

An initial release in partnership with Ubuntu offered a Bash shell running in Windowss familiar terminal (as used by both cmd and PowerShell). The first test builds for Windows Insiders were, unsurprisingly, limited, but as the Windows 10 Anniversary Update got nearer release they quickly improved, allowing complex console applications to run, with support for Ubuntus apt-get installer for quick access to a library of tools and services. With the Creators Update, Microsoft and Canonical were able to move WSL to Ubuntus most recent long-term support release, version 16.04.

WSL: Linux binaries in a Linux console

Technically, WSL is for console-only applications, providing shell support for developer tools and remote access to Linux servers running on-premises and in the public cloud. But its turned out to be a lot more flexible, and although this is not officially supported, users have installed and run X-based GUI applications, using Windows X Servers to bring a full Linux desktop experience to WSL.

Working with any of the WSL personalities is like working with native Linux. Youve got access to a shell, and through it the command line. Installing applications is as simple as using apt-get on Ubuntu or yast and zypper on Suse. When Fedora makes its way to Windows, youll use yum .

Early WSL builds had problems running some applications, because the key dependencies werent supported. But since the Windows 10 Anniversary Update release, its been a lot easier, and now even complex packages like Docker install and run.

That, of course, is what WSL should be all about: getting the tools you need to do cross-platform development and management on your PC.

With native Linux containers coming to Windows Server later this year, WSL will become increasingly important as a key component of your enterprise systems tool set. In fact, you should already be installing it on your development and operations Windows PCs as a matter of course. (WSL on Windows Server wont support large-scale Linux workloads or servers, but it will give you a direct management connection to hosted Linux containers, supporting existing management scripts and tools.)

How to integrate the Linux and Windows tool chains

Microsoft has made it easy to go from WSL to Windows and vice versa. You can call Linux binaries from the Windows command line, using the WSL default user. You can call Windows binaries from Bash (and theres access to Bash from the terminal inside Visual Studio Code, letting you test Unix code without leaving your development tools and without leaving Windows).

Tip: WSL does treat Windows directories as a mounted file system, so you may want to set up symlinks to commonly used files or add the Windows program files directories to your Bash path.

Its good to see tools like Visual Studio Code supporting WSL. If Microsoft is to succeed at bringing its platform to where the developers are, its tools need to work with Windowss Linux personality directly, offering a hybrid way of working that brings the best of Windows and Linux together. Its easy to imagine a future release of the full Visual Studio hosting Linux terminals and calling out to webhooks and other APIs on services running inside WSL.

WSL is expanding the Linux distros that Windows runs

A promised expansion of the Windows Subsystem for Linux recently took a new step forward, with the release of two new Linux distributions to run alongside the existing Ubuntu release: OpenSuse and Suse Enterprise Server. Both Suse releases are in the Windows Store, available for users in the Insider program.

Adding more variants of Linux is a good thing; not everyone likes how Ubuntu does things. With Suse and, soon, Fedora joining WSL, theres scope for you to use the Linux tools, services, and ways of working youre familiar with, bringing scripts and binaries over from existing tool chains to Windows PCs. WSL even can host several Linux personalities at once, each in a separate terminal.

Supporting many different Linux distributions makes a lot of sense. Over the last few years, different vendors and teams have focused on different use cases, building different platforms from the same virtual kit of parts. Older distributions like Fedora and Ubuntu are very much general-purpose operating systems, and using them makes sense from a developer perspective. Where things will get interesting is if in future WSL supports more specialized releases, like the container-focused CoreOS.
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THOMPSON, CT (July 04, 2017)  1991 Daytona 500 Champion, Ernie Irvan, is planning several appearances in Connecticuts Quiet Corner, in conjunction with the Inaugural Busch North Throwback at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park. Irvans son, Jared, announced last week that he would be driving for Martin-McClure Racing, in the No. 4 Kodak car, identical to what his father drove in a Busch North/South combination event at Waltkins Glen International. Together, the father-son duo will be making several appearances in the week leading up to the race.

Beginning on Thursday, July 6, at 8am, Ernie and Jared will be appearing on WINY Radio with Thompson Speedway Motorsports Parks Chief Operating Officer& General Manager, Josh Vanada. Later on that day, the Irvans will be visiting KING Cadillac-GMC in Putnam, CT, to meet and greet fans from 4p-6p.

On Friday, July 7, Ernie will be signing autographs in Thompson Speedway Motorsports Parks garage, as part of the Fan Fest scheduled from 5-7p. Both Ernie and Jared will join all the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East drivers, as well as former Busch North Series Champions, in the driver autograph session. Scheduled for 7:15pm behind the Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park grandstands, fans will have an opportunity to meet the former Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series driver, as well as the future stars of NASCARs top series.

Its a great honor for us to have Ernie Irvan coming to Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park. We are glad to have the McClure family reuniting with the Irvan family with this special paint scheme, remembering the history that the two have together. Its been a while since we have had a former Cup driver at our facility, and this is a great opportunity for fans to meet one. We are grateful to Ernie for coming, and for Eric McClure for working so hard to make this happen, Josh Vanada explained.

The NASCAR K&N Pro Series East returns to Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park on Friday, July 7, with a Fan Fest, running from 5p-7p. The Fan Fest is open to the public at no charge. The main event will take place on Saturday, July 8. Pit gates open at 12p. Practice begins at 2:00p, and racing begins at 5p. For more information, visit thompsonspeedway.com.
CARSON CITY  Nevadas ACT scores remained flat for the third straight year with a composite score of 17.4, indicating only 10 percent of the states high school juniors are college ready.

I remain very disappointed in our overall results, said Steve Canavero, Ph.D., Superintendent of Public Instruction. These results are unacceptable and for the benefit of our kids future, we must begin to improve.

However, the Nevada Department of Education has identified four high schools that have showed significant growth on their ACT results over the past three years that can be directly attributed to interventions taken at those schools.

Leadership Academy of Nevada rose 3.7 percentage points for a composite score of 22.6 in 2017.

Carlin High School in the Elko County School District rose 1.4 to 17.5.

Southeastern Career Technical Academy in the Clark County School District rose 1.2 to 19.6.

Wells High School in ECSD rose 1.1 to 18.5.

Nevada began offering the ACT, for free, to all 11th graders in our state because we knew the new Nevada economy would require more from our students to be successful and competitive, Canavero said. These schools are demonstrating that with the right strategies and preparation the sky is the limit for Nevada students.

Wells Principal Chris McAnany attributes the rise at his school to changing the school day from seven periods to four so that teachers can dive deeper on subjects. There was one 90-minute block that was created to specifically focus on remediation in core subjects.

As a staff we focused on what we had to do to get students who were scoring 14s on the ACT up into the 18s, McAnany said. The way we organized the school day benefited everyone because we know the top-flight kids are doing great, but this allowed us to focus on the rest of the kids who needed extra help. Im just grateful that we had the support from the district and buy-in from our staff because it worked.

Janice Alexander, the Principal at Carlin, said her schools strategy has been to focus on core competencies in reading and writing.

Pushing English is a key to success no matter what the subject matter, Alexander said. Weve also emphasized how important it is to be prepared for some kind of post-secondary education after they leave here, whether its career education or college.

For the third straight year, 10 percent of Nevadas 11th graders who took the ACT met all four of its College Readiness Benchmarks Scores.

Nevadas composite benchmark remained at 17.4, for the third straight year. Nevadas scores versus the national benchmark are: English, Nevada 16.1, national 18; Math, Nevada 17.6, national 22; Reading, Nevada 17.6, national 22; Science, Nevada 17.7, national 23.
ASIC has announced that it has banned Perth insurance broker Jeffrey Bailey from the financial services industry.



Bailey was a director and former Australian Financial Services licensee of Winley Insurance Group, from 6 July 2009 to 18 April 2016, and was the key person and responsible manager for Winley between 9 February 2010 and 19 May 2016.



ASIC found that Bailey was involved in breaches of legal requirements including failure to lodge audited financial accounts for FY14 and FY15 and failure to lodge a breach report with the regulator within the appropriate timeframe.



ASIC found that Bailey was an integral factor in Winley failing to do all things necessary to ensure that the financial services covered by their licence were provided efficiently, honestly and fairly .



The regulator also found that Bailey was integral in Winley failing to comply with the conditions of their licence or have adequate risk management systems.



Directors, key persons and responsible managers of licensees should have an appropriate compliance culture that supports the integrity of Australia's retail and wholesale markets, John Price, ASIC commissioner said.



ASIC will act to remove people from the insurance industry that fail to discharge the duties and obligations imposed upon them by the financial services laws.



Bailey has the right to appeal to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal for a review of the regulators decision.










A U.S. doctor is headed to federal prison for insurance fraud after accepting kickbacks of at least $2.3 million, a report from NBC affiliate WJAC said.John H. Johnson, 55, was sentenced to seven years in prison and ordered to pay restitution of $2.3 million to the Department of Health and Human Services and $722,476.55 to the Internal Revenue Service.The Pennsylvania doctor pleaded guilty last month to accepting kickbacks as part of a scam orchestrated by medical laboratory Universal Oral Fluid Labs (UOFS), WJAC reported. Johnson, who owned a string of pain-management clinics throughout Western Pennsylvania, accepted millions in kickbacks for referring patients  including Medicare and Medicaid patients  to UOFL for drug testing and screening.According to prosecutors, UOFL, in turn, made millions from third-party payers because of Johnsons referrals. The lab made about $3.4 million from Medicare and $1.1 million from Medicaid, WJAC reported.
An independent delegation in the UK headed by former city minister Mark Hoban will try to close a free-trade deal in Brussels, according to people familiar with the unofficially supported plan.The City of London delegation will make its way to Brussels in hopes of convincing countries such as France and Spain of the merits of the plan, which is based on the mutual access principle or barrier-free operations even with Britains departure from the European Union, according to a report by the Financial Times.As negotiations are politically sensitive, details of Hobans free-trade plan are said to be closely guarded. However, it has supposedly gained support not only from German officials but from Whitehall or the British civil service as well.It is believed the free-trade plan will make a credible blueprint for the Brexit negotiations amid fears of a hard or no-deal Brexit. Aside from being based on mutual access, what Hobans delegation is proposing will also involve joint dispute resolution and shared regulatory supervision.Huw Evans, director general of the Association of British Insurers (ABI), has recently called for an orderly Brexit, citing the need for a sensible and mutually beneficial future trading relationship. ABI is also in favour of formal cooperation between political parties as well as between the houses of parliament so that an arrangement is reached during Brexit negotiations.Meanwhile, Allianz subsidiary Euler Hermes has warned of a three-year recession from 2019 if no transition deal is agreed upon when negotiations end. More than 3,000 firms are forecast to go bankrupt and the GDP is feared to contract by 1.2%.The new government must endeavour to settle on a transition deal as it will be next to impossible for the UK and EU to finalise and ratify a free-trade agreement in the next two years at the same time as finalising the EU exit, said Ana Boata, European economist at Euler Hermes.
The insurance industry needs to be more creative in the way it finds and attracts talent, an expert has said.Chenoa Daley, general manager of people and performance at Gallagher Bassett, said that finding and securing new talent is an issue that the industry needs to approach from a new way.I think it has always been a challenge and will continue to be a challenge but I think what we need to do is be a bit more creative in the way that we attract talent and where we source that talent pool from, Daley toldGallagher Bassett were recently recognised by the Australian Association of Graduate Employers (AAGE) for having one of the top internship programs in the country, regardless of industry.Gallagher Bassett joined Suncorp as the only insurance entities on the annual list and Daley said that running a successful internship program not only benefits the business, but the wider industry.If we get two years out of someone and they move on to even a competitor or a partner, then we have done our bit for the industry, Daley continued.By attracting and marketing and branding ourselves to a completely different mindset and generation and people with completely different skill sets, we are actually bringing a higher calibre of candidates and talent into our industry.Now in its second year, Gallagher Bassetts internship program sees 11 interns join the firm in a variety of roles and Daley said that giving these junior members of staff actual responsibilities is an important step to developing younger workers.As an industry that many see as dated or stale, Daley said that highlighting how the industry gives back to both communities and the economy strikes a chord with younger interns and job applicants and could be key to attract more talent to the industry in the long run.Daley also noted that starting small is a good way to form an internship program, as is selecting a project manager for the program.For those thinking of setting up their own internship program, Daley said that it is important to get buy-in from the business from the top down.If executives have an understanding of the program and its aims, it has a better chance of being successful for the employer, interns and clients.
Winnie Chen of HWL Ebsworth: Judgment day: will robots terminate humans in the insurance industry?;

Riley Gay of Norton Rose Fulbright: Weird and wonderful claims; and

Rumesh Gnanaseelan of Minter Ellison: No fault compensation for medical injury: exploring the patient safety potential.

Jane-Elise Harabopoulos of Wotton + Kearney, Sydney: We cant insure you, you smell: the science of detecting disease through smell and its impact on the insurance industry;

Elise Holmes of Minter Ellison, Adelaide: The blame game: the relationship between doctors and nurses in private hospitals and implications for private health insurance; and

Jackson McDonald of GSA Insurance Brokers, Sydney: Insuring autonomous technology.

Fergus Geary (McInnes Wilson): Kidnap, ransom & extortion insurance: insuring the unimaginable

Naazihah Jamal (Gilchrist Connell): Pilates, people & productivity: the need for flexibility and diversity in the insurance industry

William Wilson (Cunningham Lindsey): Teaching the cat to sit

The Australian Insurance Law Association ( AILA ) will be holding the finals for its annual Ron Shorter Memorial Award for Professionalism in Public Speaking in four states.The award, conceptualised by the late Ron Shorter to give young professionals (YPs) in the insurance and legal industries invaluable public speaking skills, has trained almost 250 YPs since its inception in 2012.The award began in NSW in 2012 and expanded to Victoria in 2015 and Queensland in 2016. This year saw the competition being opened for the first time to entrants from South Australia, Tasmania, and Western Australia.The Victoria/Tasmania final will be held at Colin Biggers & Paisley in Melbourne on July 18, and will feature the following finalists:The NSW/South Australia final is set to take place on July 25 at Colin Biggers & Paisley, Sydney, and will include the following finalists:The Queensland final is on August 03 at Colin Biggers & Paisley, Brisbane, and will feature the following finalists:The final for the Western Australian award will be held in Perth in late August or early September, the finalists to which are yet to be selected.Each of the four winners will receive a Ron Shorter trophy and a trip to the AsiaPacific Insurance Conference in Singapore on October 18-20.AILA national president Angus Kench said AILA members and guests are welcome to attend the finals.
With drastic changes set to occur to the existing 457-work visa, an insurance start-up commits to providing cover to non-residents traveling to Australia, as it holds that travel insurance is for all Australians, temporary or permanent.The Federal government announced in April that it would officially replace the 457 program with a Temporary Skill Shortage Visa effective March 2018 and strip the list of jobs available to visa applicants.Along with the new employment rules, 457 visa holders may also face stricter criteria when applying for some financial services once the reforms take effect.Zoom Travel Insurance said that despite the reforms, it will continue to provide cover to non-residents wishing to travel to Australia, including 457 visa holders, non-residents on 417 working holiday visa, as well as those on partner/defacto or student visas.Non-residents without access to Medicare is a demographic often excluded cover by a majority of Australian travel insurers.Kate Smith, marketing manager of Zoomtravelinsurance.com.au, said: The status of 457 visa holders is about to change significantly. In addition to employment restrictions, visa holders will be tasked with stringent requirements when accessing provisions like loans and credit cards. However, were happy to say that Zoom travel insurance will continue to cater to non-residents despite the new reforms.She continued: Until now, options were really very limited for non-residents trying to find protection for their overseas trip. Many providers claim they will cover non-residents wanting to travel outside of Australia but only in so far as they are eligible for Medicare benefits.At Zoom, we believe that temporary residents have just as much a right to travel safely and securely, regardless of their country of origin. So long as your visa is valid, youre currently residing in Australia, intending on travelling temporarily overseas, and have private health insurance (a requirement of your visa to be in Australia in the first place), Zoom will cover your overseas travels.
European legacy specialist Compre is putting up an insurance company in Malta, but not because of Britains departure from the bloc.Compre  which has operations in the UK, Finland, Germany, Sweden, and Switzerland  has announced it has received the Maltese Financial Services Authority approval for the establishment of the firm."This is the culmination of plans we have had for many years. With the added ability to transfer new and existing portfolios into Malta, Compre becomes a far more agile business," said chief executive Nick Steer, who stressed that the move had been intended long before the UK referendum and was not a Brexit reaction.The insurer said the new entity will be formed by transferring London & Leith Insurance SEs domicile from the UK to Malta and will be established as a protected cell company. According to Compre, this will allow the firm greater flexibility to undertake transactions.London & Leith Insurance acquires portfolios of discontinued non-life insurance and reinsurance business, and the relocation will enhance its ability to provide finality for customers transferring portfolios or selling books of business or entire companies."Gaining permission to provide finality solutions out of Malta, and the ability to use individual cells for particular business, marks an important step in the next phase of Compres development," noted Steer. He said the company is in a stronger position to meet demand and capitalise on new run-off opportunities.Compre has also secured additional funds for further acquisitions through a revolving credit facility with the Royal Bank of Scotland.
Patrick T F Schrievers Gert-Jan Hop

According to estimates, more than 30% of all investments into India have been structured through Mauritius or Singapore. Following the amendments to the India-Mauritius double tax treaty (DTA), the interaction thereof with the India-Singapore DTA (via the Protocol), the amendments to the India-Cyprus DTA, and the impact of the Multilateral Instrument (MLI) on treaties, foreign investors, structured funds and MNEs may look at exploring other jurisdictions such as the Netherlands for hosting investments into India.

To start off the treaties between India and Mauritius, Singapore and Cyprus had provided for residence-based taxation of capital gains. With the revision of these treaties, capital gains should (in principle) be taxed in India for entities resident in these countries. In other words, India should have the right to tax capital gains arising in India. Before foreign investors, structured funds or MNEs start exploring alternatives they should take note that the amendments to (for instance) the India-Mauritius DTA may (at least) theoretically have a limited scope and offer grandfathering provisions. In addition, any alternatives selected require careful consideration and possible revision of the upper-tier fund structure including the loss of beneficiary corporate law benefits.

Observing these conditions and taking notice of the recent international tax climate, as well as the MLI, the India-Netherlands DTA offers the following (beneficiary) ingredients that are valued when setting up companies in the Netherlands:

The India-Netherlands DTA provides for an exemption from Indian capital gains tax if a Dutch shareholder holds: a) less than 10% in an Indian company; b) in case of the sale of shares to a non-Indian resident purchaser; or,c) as a corollary from a group restructuring;

The India-Netherlands DTA includes a most favoured nation (MFN) clause. The MFN clause binds India to apply to the Netherlands any lower rate of withholding tax (WHT) or a scope more restricted than the rate or scope provided for in the India-Netherlands DTA on the said item of income. Hence, the most limited definition of, for instance, fees for technical services (FTS), in all treaties concluded by India can be applied by Netherlands residents; and

With respect to the definition of FTS, the language contained in the India-Netherlands DTA is restricted in comparison to other treaties. Further, the 10% rate mentioned in the India-Netherlands DTA is also the lowest rate applicable to FTS payments in Indian treaties. We would like to note that the wording of the India-Singapore DTA is more or less similar. Unfortunately this treaty has a service PE provision and has no MFN clause.

As a main benefit of the Netherlands we would also like to note that typically any dividends received and capital gains realised on active companies (regardless of the application of a treaty or directive) should be exempted by virtue of the Netherlands participation exemption (without a minimum holding period). Typically this is regarded as a strong feature of Netherlands taxation. Moreover the proposed amendments to the dividend WHT may benefit many investors into the Netherlands. The Netherlands government has proposed to extend the existing withholding exemption for participation dividends (involving active business structures) to parent companies established in countries with which the Netherlands has concluded a tax treaty. To avoid abusive situations the exemption will not apply to artificial arrangements and will only apply to active business structures. The legislative proposal is intended to become effective from January 1 2018. Without having to meet some of the stringent conditions under tax treaties (such as the limitation of benefits (LOB) provision in the Netherlands-US DTA) foreign investors and MNEs might (i.e. active business structures) end up with a full elimination of dividend WHT (together with the existing WHT exemption for interest and royalties). As a result, US companies may want to explore hosting their Indian investments via the Netherlands.

Attention is, however, required in respect of the impact of the effect of the MLI on (among others) the India-Netherlands DTA. Based on Indias and the Netherlands (provisional) list of reservations and notifications we expect the insertion of the principle purpose test (PPT) as a minimum standard. As per the PPT, the benefit of the tax treaty shall not be granted if obtaining such a benefit was one of the principal purposes of any arrangement or transaction. In addition to the PPT rule, it could be that also a simplified LoB clause (SLOB) is installed. The SLOB seeks to create supplementary conditions to be satisfied to avail the benefit of the Netherlands-India DTA. It is not fully certain, however, whether the Netherlands government followed this position. In any case, new structures need to be set-up with sufficient substance (i.e. active business structures). From a legal point of view the Netherlands or perhaps Luxembourg fund regimes might be helpful as well to support the economic rationale of setting up holding companies.
What Is Arbitrage?

Arbitrage is the simultaneous purchase and sale of the same asset in different markets in order to profit from tiny differences in the asset's listed price. It exploits short-lived variations in the price of identical or similar financial instruments in different markets or in different forms.

Arbitrage exists as a result of market inefficiencies and it both exploits those inefficiencies and resolves them.

Key Takeaways Arbitrage is the simultaneous purchase and sale of an asset in different markets to exploit tiny differences in their prices.

Arbitrage trades are made in stocks, commodities, and currencies.

Arbitrage takes advantage of the inevitable inefficiencies in markets.

Understanding Arbitrage

Arbitrage can be used whenever any stock, commodity, or currency may be purchased in one market at a given price and simultaneously sold in another market at a higher price. The situation creates an opportunity for a risk-free profit for the trader.

Arbitrage provides a mechanism to ensure that prices do not deviate substantially from fair value for long periods of time. With advancements in technology, it has become extremely difficult to profit from pricing errors in the market. Many traders have computerized trading systems set to monitor fluctuations in similar financial instruments. Any inefficient pricing setups are usually acted upon quickly, and the opportunity is eliminated, often in a matter of seconds.

A Simple Arbitrage Example

As a straightforward example of arbitrage, consider the following. The stock of Company X is trading at $20 on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) while, at the same moment, it is trading for $20.05 on the London Stock Exchange (LSE).

A trader can buy the stock on the NYSE and immediately sell the same shares on the LSE, earning a profit of 5 cents per share.

The trader can continue to exploit this arbitrage until the specialists on the NYSE run out of inventory of Company X's stock, or until the specialists on the NYSE or LSE adjust their prices to wipe out the opportunity.

Types of arbitrage include risk, retail, convertible, negative, statistical, and triangular, among others.

A Complicated Arbitrage Example

A trickier example can be found in currencies markets using triangular arbitrage. In this case, the trader converts one currency into another, converts that second currency to a third bank, and finally converts the third currency back to the original currency.

Suppose you have $1 million and you are provided with the following exchange rates: EUR/USD = 1.1586, EUR/GBP = 1.4600, and USD/GBP = 1.6939.

With these exchange rates there is an arbitrage opportunity:

Sell dollars to buy euros: $1 million  1.1586 = 863,110 Sell euros for pounds: 863,100  1.4600 = 591,171 Sell pounds for dollars: 591,171 x 1.6939 = $1,001,384 Subtract the initial investment from the final amount: $1,001,384  $1,000,000 = $1,384

From these transactions, you would receive an arbitrage profit of $1,384 (assuming no transaction costs or taxes).

What Is Arbitrage? Arbitrage is trading that exploits the tiny differences in price between identical assets in two or more markets. The arbitrage trader buys the asset in one market and sells it in the other market at the same time in order to pocket the difference between the two prices. There are more complicated variations in this scenario, but all depend on identifying market "inefficiencies." Arbitrageurs, as arbitrage traders are called, are usually working on behalf of large financial institutions. It usually involves trading a substantial amount of money, and the split-second opportunities it offers can be identified and acted upon only with highly sophisticated software.

What Are Some Examples of Arbitrage? The standard definition of arbitrage involves buying and selling shares of stock, commodities, or currencies on multiple markets in order to profit from inevitable differences in their prices from minute to minute. However, the word arbitrage is also sometimes used to describe other trading activities. Merger arbitrage, which involves buying shares in companies prior to an announced or expected merger, is one strategy that is popular among hedge fund investors.

Why Is Arbitrage Important? In the course of making a profit, arbitrage traders enhance the efficiency of the financial markets. As they buy and sell, the price differences between identical or similar assets narrow. The lower-priced assets are bid up while the higher-priced assets are sold off. In this manner, arbitrage resolves inefficiencies in the markets pricing and adds liquidity to the market.



CorrectionApril 9, 2022: A previous version of this article had miscalculated the complicated arbitrage example.


As Mosul is liberated from IS caliphate, rumors have emerged in social media that end of ISIS is also nearing at Syria.



From the year of 2011, unrest in Syria is going on. The unrest in Syria has clearly indicated that Daesh is a 'transnational' of terror that emerged from the economic interests of the big powers and the interventionist arrogance that characterizes them.



The extremists of that organization, which 'technically and ideologically' exceeded the myth of Al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden, appeared in Syria to occupy, in the first place, the strategic and vital oil and gas fields in the northeast of the country. With ringleaders and chiefs of operations, traitors and corrupt, above all of Iraqi origin, trained and advised by western intelligence services, especially from the United States, Daesh recruited thousands of mercenaries from at least 30 nationalities.



Abu Bakr al Baghdadi is the supreme caliph of Daesh, whose post he proclaimed for himself in 2014 at the great mosque of Mosul, although the United States was besieging that region and had been granting ten million dollars for his head since 2011.



No one knows exactly why and how the U.S. occupation forces in Iraq released him from prison and gave him 'a free pass', in addition to allowing him to define the absolute independence from Al Qaeda.



Whoever thinks that that the documents on the top leader of Daesh from intelligence agencies provide concrete elements on mutual implications denies the intentionality of those 'institutions' to create confusion and alternative stories. In the last few hours of June, Iraqi authorities noted that Baghdadi was killed in an air raid and not precisely by the U.S.-led international coalition, which was looking for him intensively.



Daesh operated in Iraq, where it achieved precise goals and, in a certain way, was defeated, but it is still present in Syria, where it is fighting against the National Army and the allied militias in key positions in the vast eastern desert. 'Masters' in smuggling cultural and historic assets that they stole from Iraq and Syria, bank robbers, 'tax' negotiators with companies such as Lafargue Olcim in the large fields of phosphate in northern Syria, Daesh is still far from being 'dismantled'.



Present in social networks, on the Internet, with thousands of Twitter accounts, magazines like Dabiq, despite being blocked, the Islamic State continues to be the option for horror and terror in Syria, a main objective pursued by the United States and its allies in the Middle East, without taking into consideration confessional foundations but the vast economic options that create petrodollars.



| Soruce: PL English | By S.Seal
Amidst airstrikes on the last pockets of territory held by the Islamic State group in Mosul, hundreds of civilians are fleeing. A large portion of them are badly injured and obviously they require quality medical attention.



Iraqi special forces Maj. Gen. Sami al-Aridi reported that the civilians  mostly women and children  are fleeing the city in waves of displacement as Iraqi forces push toward the Tigris River.



Iraq's special forces are now some 450 meters from the river's bank, al-Aridi said. He expects to reach the Tigris within days. After a strike, groups of civilians appeared covered in dust. Dozens were injured with what appeared to be shrapnel wounds. One woman collapsed trying to climb through a destroyed home, apparently suffering from dehydration.



Civilians are trapped in the Old City, where temperature has gone up to 45 degree Celsius. The temperature is expected to climb in coming days. Moreover, food as well as water shortage is a big problem for the civilians right now.



The United Nations estimates that tens of thousands of civilians are still trapped inside the Old City. Iraqi forces launched the operation to retake the Old City in mid-June. After eight months of grueling battles to retake Mosul, the dense west Mosul neighborhood is IS' last stand in Iraq's second-largest city.

Iraq's Prime Minister declared an end to the IS' so-called caliphate in June after Iraqi forces retook the landmark al-Nuri mosque in the Old City and pledged victory was "near."



| Soruce: Arab News |
On last week, State Department Spokesperson Heather Nauert described the referendum on Kurdish independence as an internal Iraqi matter. This has come up as a clear indication that the stand towards Kurdish independence is gradually shifting.

The State Department has been a bastion of Americas long-standing one-Iraq policy. That is partly a function of the Departments own biases. As its name implies, it is oriented toward states. It is also a function of the Bureau under which the Kurdistan Region falls: Near Eastern Affairs. Most of the countries that fall under its purview are Arab, and it has long been known for its orientation toward them.



Thus, Nauerts remark on Thursday marks a significant advance in the State Departments attitude toward Kurdish political aspirations.



We would like to see the Islamic State (IS) defeated, she replied. Then, once Iraq has stabilized and people can go back to their homes, a referendumif Iraq decides to do that, if the Kurds decide to do thatthat would be an internal Iraqi matter.

That language stands in contrast to the State Departments position a mere three weeks ago, the last time that the issue of the independence referendum arose during a press briefing. Following that briefing, the State Department Press Office distributed a written statement that began, The United States supports a unified, federal, stable, and democratic Iraqlanguage that signaled a continued commitment to a one-Iraq policy.

The statement further stated, We understand and appreciate the legitimate aspirations of the people of Iraqi Kurdistan.



The two statements are clearly contradictory. The statement, in its entirety, left the impression that the State Department believed the referendum should be postponed to an unspecified time in the future. As such, it was indistinguishable from opposition to the referendum, particularly given its stress on the importance of a unified and federal Iraqlanguage that was absent three weeks later, when Nauert again characterized the US position.

The State Departments new position brings it much closer to the Pentagons position, which was articulated, most recently and most authoritatively, by General Joseph Dunford, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Americas top military officer.

A couple of weeks ago, speaking at the National Press Club, Dunford was asked his view of the independence referendum.



Our stated objective at this point is a stable, secure, and sovereign Iraq, Dunford said. Were supporting Iraqi security forces in defeating ISIS inside of Iraq.

He added, I think the issue of the Kurdish referendum is one that will have to be worked out between President Barzani and Prime Minister Abadi and the Iraqi people.



Dr. Bilal Wahab, a Fellow at The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, whose work focuses on the Kurdistan Region, and who himself is from the Kurdistan Region, recently remarked that what the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) hopes to get from Washington is neutrality.

When the US is involved in a conflict zonelike Iraqthe presence of the military dwarves that of all other US agencies, including the State Department. There are simply more soldiers in Iraq than there are diplomats. The US military recognizes that to establish stability after defeating an enemy like IS, it is necessary to stand up a political authority acceptable to the local population. After all, it was the extreme sectarianism of the previous Iraqi government that generated the dissatisfaction among Sunni Arabs which paved the way for IS.



In such circumstances, the military is likely to understand popular sentiment better than any other government agency. A month ago, the Director of National Intelligence, Daniel Coats, and the head of the Defense Intelligence Agency, Lt. Gen. Vincent Stewart, testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee.



Stewart explained that Kurdish independence is on a trajectory, where it is probably not if, but 'when.'

The greatest challenge to the Baghdad government, he said, will be to reconcile the differences between the Shia-dominated government, the Sunnis out west, and the Kurds in the north.

Failure to address these challenges, Stewart warned, will ultimately result in conflict among all of the parties, which could deteriorate into civil strife in Iraq despite IS military defeat.

Presumably, it is an intelligence assessment like that on which Dunfords view of the independence referendum is based, and, perhaps, even helps to explain the State Departments evolving position.



| Soruce: Kurdish24 | By S.Seal
The rainbow flag will fly at half-mast above Cork City Hall tomorrow for leading gay rights campaigner Dave Roche, whose funeral cortege is due to pass the building, writes Eoin English.

Mr Roche, a founder member of the Cork LGBT Pride Festival, the CEO of the Cork Gay Project, a board member of the National LGBT helpline, and a driving force behind the Yes Equality Cork campaign and LGBT Awareness Week, died from a suspected heart attack at his home near Macroom in Co Cork, on Saturday. He was in his 50s.

Cork City Council, which in 2014 became the first civic or public building in Ireland to fly the rainbow flag, has now offered to fly it at half-mast from City Hall tomorrow as a mark of respect to Mr Roche.

The council's social inclusion unit has also encouraged council staff who worked with, or who knew Mr Roche, to form a guard of honour outside the building as the cortege passes.

LGBT Awareness Weeks have been held in Cork for seven years but the rainbow flag has only been flown from the building for the last four years.

At the time, the council said only national flags and the flag of the city could be raised over the building.

But following extensive research, Mr Roche discovered that if the flag was presented formally to the city, it could be flown from the building.

In 2013, then Lord Mayor Cllr John Buttimer was in San Francisco during LGBT Week and it was arranged, through community connections, that he would be presented with a rainbow flag by the Mayor of San Francisco.

The following year, it was that flag which was raised above City Hall, making it the first civic or public building in Ireland to fly the rainbow flag.

Mr Roches funeral cortege is due to travel from Mayfield via City Hall on route to the crematorium in Ringaskiddy at 2pm.
A homeless family of seven who sued for family appropriate accommodation after living in hotels for 18 months will be housed within two months, the High Court has been told, writes Ann O'Loughlin.

As a result the case was adjourned at the High Court today. The case raised significant issues about the extent of duties of local authorities and the State to homeless people in acute housing need.

The unemployed couple and five children aged up to seven years , including a baby born last year into homelessness, have been in ten temporary accommodations in four years and in their current hotel since February.

Their case opened yesterday morning but Mr Justice Seamus Noonan was later told, after South Dublin County Council said housing accommodation will be made available to them within two months, the sides had agreed to adjourn it to September.

If the adjournment signalled a measure of agreement, he was delighted, the judge said. On a human level, one can only have great sympathy for this unfortunate family.

In their action, the family, represented by Cormac O Dulachain SC, claimed the hotel was not an adequate home and failed to meet the Councils responsibilities under the Housing Acts.

While the Council had offered them up to 1,950 monthly towards rent payments under the HAP (Housing Assistance Payments) scheme, they were unable to get either private rented or social housing accommodation, the court heard.

If the court found the Council has met its statutory responsibility, they argue the court should find the Minister for Housing has failed to vindicate their rights, particularly the childrens, under the Constitution and European Convention on Human Rights Act.

It was alleged the Minister has failed to ensure families in acute housing need are not forced to live long-term in conditions wholly incompatible with the normal enjoyment of family life and has not adequately considered the childrens educational, social, emotional, psychological and physical development needs.

The Minister has an overarching responsibility to address the homeless situation and ensure adequate provision is made for the family in family appropriate accommodation, Mr O Dulachain argued. The statutory provisions requiring the Council to provide accommodation contain no reference to the quality or condition of that accommodation, he also said.

The court heard the family were allocated two hotel bedrooms but, because the rooms were not adjoining and the youth of the children, they effectively lived in one room since February.

The case was initiated last May and Mr Justice Noonan directed a speedy hearing because of evidence the familys health and welfare is compromised and the significant issues raised.

After the judge queried whether the court could make orders directing the Minister to allocate more resources to the problem, Mr O Dulachain said the courts have previously directed ministers to ensure more resources are provided to address particular situations.

An independent social worker consultant who assessed the family said their living conditions in a small stuffy hotel room would almost certainly have a detrimental effect on the childrens development and the parents' ability to provide a stable family environment.

The children's health problems included asthma and various infections, some exhibited behavioural issues, the oldest had missed school due to frequent moves and distance from their school, and the parents suffer stress-related illness. Because they are not allowed cook, they eat a lot of fast food and there was also no space or nearby park for the children to play.

The parents, both from the South Dublin County Council area, have three children together. The two oldest are the mothers. They were designated homeless in early 2016 and are on the Council's housing list.

They were evicted from other hotel accommodation at an hours notice three days before Christmas last, days after the youngest was born. The Council alleged they were subject of "multiple warnings" regarding their behaviour but they claimed they got no opportunity to address the complaints before the Council acted.
A telecoms company has been fined 2500 at Dublin District Court for making unsolicited calls to a member of the public, writes Niamh ODonoghue.

Virgin Media Ireland Limited pleaded guilty to making the calls for the purpose of direct marketing.

Solicitor Clare McQuillan for the Data Protection Commissioner told the court that there were two charges.

The company, with offices at Eastpoint Business Park, Clontarf, Dublin 3, was charged with making two phone calls on March 16, 2016 and May 27, 2016.

Assistant Data Protection Commissioner Tony Delaney told the court that he got a complaint from a member of the public who received a call from the company in January, 2015.

The woman told them not to call her again but they rang her all of the week beginning March 14. The court heard the woman is a Virgin Media customer but is entitled to opt-out.

Defence solicitor Peter McCarthy said due to human error the process was not properly followed but that they now have procedures in place.

He told the court that a full investigation took place and hoped a conviction could be avoided.

Judge John Brennan said the charges were serious but noted the plea of guilty.

He also noted that the charges arose out of human error and immediate action had taken place.

However he said that he would have to record a conviction and imposed fines of 2500 in total for the two charges against the telecommunications firm.
The United Nations will today hear how survivors of institutional abuse in Ireland have been treated, following the Ryan Report.

'Reclaiming Self' is a report which is being submitted to the UN Committee Against Torture, ahead of Ireland's appearance before the committee at the end of the month.
A gay man in central China has successfully sued a mental hospital over the use of forced conversion therapy.

Activists are hailing the win as the first such victory in a country where the LGBT rights movement is gradually emerging from the fringes.

A court in Zhumadian in Henan province ordered a city mental hospital to publish a public apology in local newspapers and pay the 38-year-old man 5,000 yuan in compensation, according to a copy of the June 26 judgment seen by The Associated Press.

The man, with the surname Yu, had been forcibly admitted to the institution in 2015 by his wife and relatives and diagnosed with "sexual preference disorder", court documents show. He was forced to take medicine and receive injections before finally walking free after 19 days.

In its relatively narrow ruling, the court did not weigh in on the practice of gay conversion therapy or account for Mr Yu's sexual orientation. The court said forcing Mr Yu into a mental institution if he did not pose a danger to himself or others amounted to "infringing on the plaintiff's right to individual freedom."

Mr Yu's lawyer expressed satisfaction with the outcome but declined to discuss the case, saying his firm asked him not to speak to the media. Mr Yu declined to comment.

China removed homosexuality from its list of recognised mental illnesses more than 15 years ago, but stories are rife of families admitting their relatives for conversion therapy.

Gay rights activists say the case marks the first victory against a public mental institution for compulsory therapy against a patient's will. In 2014, a Beijing man named Peng Yanhui checked himself into a private conversion clinic to investigate its advertised electroshock treatments.

Mr Peng, a gay rights activist, then sued the clinic and won a 386 decision from a Beijing court for the suffering he endured in treatment.

The recent ruling in Zhumadian "confirmed the illegality of forced treatments", Mr Peng told the AP. "It's time for China to enact laws to prohibit forced gay conversion therapy."

While few Chinese have religious objections to homosexuality and homophobic violence is rare, the country's authoritarian politics and conservative society's preference for marriage and childbearing create subtle barriers that keep most gays in the closet.

Vibrant gay scenes do exist in a few large cities including Shanghai, which has an annual gay pride parade, and depictions of same-sex relationships are increasingly seen in Chinese films and television. China's internet censors have also tolerated increasingly open debate about LGBT issues.

AP
North Korea has claimed to have successfully test-launched its first intercontinental ballistic missile.

The move is a potentially game-changing development in what may be the world's most dangerous nuclear stand-off and, if true, a direct rebuke to US President Donald Trump's earlier declaration that such a test "won't happen".

The launch appeared to be North Korea's most successful missile test yet. A US scientist examining the height and distance said the missile could potentially be powerful enough to reach Alaska.

In typically heated rhetoric, North Korea's Academy of Defence Science said the test of an ICBM - the Hwasong-14 - marked the "final step" in creating a "confident and powerful nuclear state that can strike anywhere on Earth".

It will be difficult to confirm many details about what happened. North Korea's weapons programme is perhaps the most closely held state secret in one of the world's most suspicious nations. US, South Korean and Japanese officials earlier assessed that North Korea fired an intermediate-range missile into waters near Japan.

Japan's chief cabinet secretary Yoshihide Suga declined to comment on whether Japan thinks it was an ICBM, and South Korea's Defence Ministry said it was analysing whether the North's statement was accurate.

North Korea has previously launched satellites in what critics said were disguised tests of its long-range missile technology. A test-launch of an ICBM, however, would be a major step in developing nuclear-armed missiles that could reach anywhere in the United States.

The launch sends a political warning to Washington and its chief Asian allies, Seoul and Tokyo, while also allowing North Korean scientists a chance to perfect their still-incomplete nuclear missile programme.

It came on the eve of the US Independence Day holiday, days after the first face-to-face meeting of the leaders of South Korea and the United States, and ahead of a global summit of the world's richest economies.

Most outside and North Korean analyses of the missile's height, distance and time in the air were roughly similar.

US, South Korean and Japanese officials say it flew for about 40 minutes and reached an altitude of 1,500 miles, which would be longer and higher than any similar North Korean test previously reported. It also covered a distance of about 580 miles.

North Korea said the missile flew as high as 1,741 miles before hitting a designated target in the ocean about 579 miles away from the launch site in the North's north-west. It said the missile flew for about 39 minutes and was made at the highest possible angle.

Russia's military, however, said the missile flew considerably shorter and lower than others reported.

Before North Korea's announcement of an ICBM, South Korean analysts said it was likely that it was a retest of one of two intermediate-range missiles launched earlier this year.

One US missile scientist, David Wright, estimated that the highly lofted missile, if the reported time and distance are correct, could have a possible maximum range of 4,160 miles, which could put Alaska in its range, if fired at a normal trajectory.

North Korea has a reliable arsenal of shorter-range missiles and is thought to have a small arsenal of atomic bombs, but is still trying to perfect its longer-range missiles.

Some outside civilian experts believe the North has the technology to mount warheads on shorter-range Rodong and Scud missiles that can strike South Korea and Japan, two key US allies where about 80,000 American troops are stationed. But it is unclear if it has mastered the technology needed to build an atomic bomb that can fit on a long-range missile.

Soon after the morning launch, Mr Trump responded on Twitter: "North Korea has just launched another missile. Does this guy have anything better to do with his life? Hard to believe that South Korea and Japan will put up with this much longer. Perhaps China will put a heavy move on North Korea and end this nonsense once and for all!"

"This guy" presumably refers to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. China is North Korea's economic lifeline and only major ally, and the Trump administration is pushing Beijing to do more to push North Korea towards disarmament.

After North Korea claimed earlier this year it was close to an ICBM test launch, Mr Trump tweeted: "It won't happen!"

The missile test could invite a new round of international sanctions, but North Korea is already one of the most sanctioned countries on Earth. UN Security Council resolutions ban it from engaging in any ballistic activities. Since late 2012, North Korea has placed two satellites into orbit with long-range rockets, each time triggering new UN sanctions and worldwide condemnation.

Last year, North Korea conducted its fourth and fifth atomic bomb tests and claimed a series of technical breakthroughs in its efforts to develop long-range nuclear missiles. The fifth nuclear test in September was the North's most powerful atomic detonation to date.

In their meeting last week, South Korean President Moon Jae-in and Mr Trump vowed to oppose North Korea's development of atomic weapons.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe sharply criticised North Korea for the launch. "The latest launch clearly showed that the threat is growing," he said.

Mr Abe, who talked by phone with Mr Trump on Monday, said they plan to seek cooperation from world leaders when they attend a G-20 summit in Germany.

On May 14, North Korea launched a Hwasong-12 missile which its state media said flew as high as 1,310 miles and landed in a targeted area in the ocean about 490 miles from the launch site. On May 21, North Korea tested a Pukguksong-2, which travelled about 310 miles.

The Korean Peninsula has been divided since before the 1950-53 Korean War. Almost 30,000 US troops are stationed in South Korea.

Since taking office on May 10, Mr Moon has tried to improve strained ties with North Korea, but the North has continued its missile tests. North Korea says it needs nuclear weapons and powerful missiles to cope with what it calls rising US military threats.

Since taking office after his dictator father Kim Jong Il's death in late 2011, Kim Jong Un has overseen three nuclear weapons tests and a slew of missile tests.

Regional disarmament talks on North Korea's nuclear programme have been deadlocked since 2009, when the North pulled out of the negotiations to protest international condemnation over a long-range rocket launch.

AP
Update: North Korea's has claimed to have launched its first intercontinental ballistic missile in what is seen as a potential game-changing development in its push to militarily challenge Washington.

The declaration conflicts with earlier South Korean and US assessments that it had an intermediate range.

The North has previously conducted satellite launches that critics say were disguised tests of its long-range missile technology.

But a test-launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile, if confirmed, would be a major step forward in developing a nuclear-armed missile that can reach anywhere in the United States.

Still, the launch appeared to be the North's most successful missile test yet.

A weapons analyst said could be powerful enough to reach Alaska.

The launch seems designed to send a political warning to Washington and its chief Asian allies, Seoul and Tokyo, even as it allows North Korean scientists a chance to perfect their still-incomplete nuclear missile programme.

It came on the eve of the US Independence Day holiday, days after the first face-to-face meeting of the leaders of South Korea and the United States, and ahead of a global summit of the world's richest economies.

US, South Korean and Japanese officials said the missile fired from North Phyongan province, in the North's western region, flew for about 40 minutes and reached an altitude of 1,500 miles, which would be longer and higher than any other similar tests previously reported.

It also covered a distance of about 580 miles.

South Korean analysts said it was likely that it was a retest of one of two intermediate-range missiles launched earlier this year.

US missile scientist, David Wright, estimated the missile, if the reported time and distance are correct, would have been on a very highly lofted trajectory and could have a possible maximum range of 4,160 miles, which could put Alaska in its range, if fired at a normal trajectory.

North Korea has a reliable arsenal of shorter-range missiles, but is still trying to perfect its longer-range missiles.

Some analysts believe North Korea has the technology to arm its short-range missiles with nuclear warheads, but it is unclear if it has mastered the technology needed to build an atomic bomb that can fit on a long-range missile.

Soon after the morning launch, President Donald Trump responded on Twitter: "North Korea has just launched another missile. Does this guy have anything better to do with his life? Hard to believe that South Korea and Japan will put up with this much longer.

"Perhaps China will put a heavy move on North Korea and end this nonsense once and for all!"

China is North Korea's economic lifeline and only major ally, and the Trump administration is pushing Beijing to do more to push the North toward disarmament.

Japanese chief cabinet secretary Yoshihide Suga suggested the altitude of this missile might have been higher than earlier tests.

He did not give further details, including the distance of the flight and where in Japan's exclusive economic zone in the Sea of Japan the missile landed.

Just last week South Korean President Moon Jae-in and Mr Trump met for the first time and vowed to oppose North Korea's development of atomic weapons.

Japan's prime minister Shinzo Abe sharply criticised North Korea for the launch.

"The latest launch clearly showed that the threat is growing," Mr Abe said.

Mr Abe, who talked by phone with Mr Trump on Monday, said the two leaders plan to seek cooperation from world leaders when they attend a G20 summit in Germany.

Lee Illwoo, a Seoul-based military commentator, said the missile travelled for a far longer period of time than if it would have been fired at a normal angle.

A North Korean scud-type missile, with a range of 800-900 kilometres, would land in its target site within 10 minutes if fired at a standard angle of 45 degrees.

Mr Lee said it is likely North Korea fired either a Hwasong-12 missile or a solid-fuel Pukguksong-2, both of which were tested in May.

On May 14, North Korea launched the Hwasong-12 missile, which its state media later said flew as high as 1,310 miles and landed in a targeted area in the ocean about 490 miles from the launch site.

On May 21, North Korea also tested the Pukguksong-2, which travelled about 310 miles.

China's UN ambassador, Liu Jieyi, warned on Monday that further escalation of already high tensions with North Korea risks getting out of control, "and the consequences would be disastrous".

The Korean Peninsula has been divided since before the 1950-53 Korean War.

Almost 30,000 US troops are stationed in South Korea.

Tuesday's launch is the first by the North since a June 8 test of a new type of cruise missile that Pyongyang says is capable of striking US and South Korean warships "at will".

Since taking office on May 10, Mr Moon has tried to improve strained ties with North Korea, but the North has continued its missile tests.

Pyongyang says it needs nuclear weapons and powerful missiles to cope with what it calls rising US military threats.

Reporting - AP

Earlier: North Korea launched an intermediate-range ballistic missile on Tuesday that flew for a longer time than previous such projectiles, landing in waters near its bitter rival, Japan.

The test is the latest in a string of recent similar launches as the North works to build a nuclear-tipped missile that can reach the US mainland.

It came on the eve of the US Independence Day holiday, days after the first face-to-face meeting of the leaders of South Korea and the United States, and before of a global summit of the world's richest economies.

Some specifics are still unclear, but the launch seems designed to send a political warning to Washington and its chief Asian allies, Seoul and Tokyo, as well as put North Korean scientists a step closer toward perfecting their still-incomplete nuclear missile programme.

The Japanese government estimates that the missile fired from the North's western region flew for about 40 minutes, which would be longer than any other such previous reported tests.

South Korean analysts say it is likely the North again tested one of two intermediate-range missiles it launched earlier this year.

The South's Joint Chiefs of Staff said the launch was made from North Phyongan province and flew about 580 miles.

The US Pacific Command said a single, land-based, intermediate range ballistic missile was tracked for 37 minutes and landed in the Sea of Japan.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga indicated this missile's capability exceeded previous ones, and suggested the altitude might have been higher than earlier tests.

People watch a TV news programme showing a file image of a missile being test-launched by North Korea on Tuesday.

Just last week South Korean President Moon Jae-in and President Donald Trump focused much of their first meeting on opposing North Korea's development of atomic weapons that threaten both allies.

The White House briefed Mr Trump on the missile launched, and he then criticised North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

The president tweeted: "North Korea has just launched another missile. Does this guy have anything better to do with his life? Hard to believe that South Korea ... and Japan will put up with this much longer. Perhaps China will put a heavy move on North Korea and end this nonsense once and for all!"

Japan's government said the missile was believed to have landed in its exclusive economic zone in the Sea of Japan but no damage to ships or aircraft in the area was reported.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe sharply criticised North Korea for the launch, adding it was a reminder that Pyongyang's missile development is a growing threat.

"The latest launch clearly showed that the threat is growing," he said.

Mr Abe, who talked by phone with Mr Trump on Monday, said the two leaders plan to seek further co-operation from world leaders when they attend the G20 summit in Germany.

China's UN ambassador, Liu Jieyi, warned on Monday that further escalation of already high tensions with North Korea risks getting out of control "and the consequences would be disastrous".

The Korean Peninsula has been divided between the American-backed South and the authoritarian North since the 1950-53 Korean War.

Worries have increased as the North pushes to expand its nuclear arsenal and develop ballistic missiles that can carry nuclear warheads.

Tuesday's launch is the first by the North since a June 8 test of a new type of cruise missile that Pyongyang says is capable of striking US and South Korean warships "at will".

Since taking office on May 10, Mr Moon has tried to improve strained ties with North Korea, but the North has continued its missile tests.

Pyongyang says it needs nuclear weapons and powerful missiles to cope with what it calls rising US military threats.
Forty-four states have refused to provide certain types of voter information to the Trump administration's election integrity commission, according to a CNN inquiry to all 50 states.

State leaders and voting boards across the country have responded to the letter with varying degrees of cooperation -- from altogether rejecting the request to expressing eagerness to supply information that is public.

Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, vice chairman of the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity, which President Donald Trump created by executive order in May, sent a letter to all 50 states last Wednesday requesting a bevy of voter data, which he notes will eventually be made available to the public.

The order came months after Trump claimed without evidence that millions had voted illegally in the 2016 presidential election. When states began to express concerns about the legality of his administration's efforts to investigate voter fraud, Trump called them out on Twitter on Saturday, questioning whether they were hiding something.

"Numerous states are refusing to give information to the very distinguished VOTER FRAUD PANEL. What are they trying to hide?" Trump tweeted.

The information the commission is seeking includes registrants' full names, addresses, dates of birth, political parties, the last four digits of their social security numbers, a list of the elections they voted in since 2006, information on any felony convictions, information on whether they were registered to vote in other states, their military status, and whether they lived overseas.

The vice chairman's letter twice requests only "public" voter information, and Kobach clarified the specifics of his request Friday: "Every state receives the same letter, but we're not asking for it if it's not publicly available," he told The Kansas City Star.

Kobach also told CNN's Anderson Cooper last week, "Whatever a person on the street can walk in and get, that's what we would like."

Kobach cited a Pew Center on the States study from February 2012 that called for revisions of state voter registration lists.

"The Pew Center estimated last year that 1.8 million deceased people are still on the voter rolls throughout the states," Kobach told Cooper. "They said that's an estimate. They think it's a low estimate. Now, for the first time, we can actually bounce the states' voter rolls against the Social Security administration's own database to find out how many of those people actually are on the voter rolls."

The Kansas secretary also addressed the criticism from several secretaries of state over the past few days that the commission might be seeking to legitimize Trump's assertions that widespread voter fraud cost him votes last November.

"First of all, the commission is not to prove or disprove what the President speculated about in January," Kobach said. "The purpose of the commission is to find facts and put them on the table. Importantly, it's a bipartisan commission."

But the commission, which is chaired by Vice President Mike Pence, seemed to misunderstand voter privacy laws nationwide. Every state that responded to the commission's letter said it could not provide Social Security numbers, for example. Others said they consider information such as birth dates and party affiliations to be private.

What's more, Kobach asked states to supply the information through an online portal. Many states have rejected this specific request, noting that the commission should file a voter information request through established state websites, as any other party would.

As of Tuesday afternoon, two states -- Florida and Nebraska -- are still reviewing the commission's request. Another two states -- Hawaii and New Jersey -- have not returned CNN's request for comment. And while six states are still awaiting a letter from the commission, four of them -- New Mexico, Michigan, South Carolina and West Virginia -- have already pledged not to provide voters' private information. The other two of those six states, Arkansas and Illinois, have not released statements ahead of receiving the letter.

Just three states -- Colorado, Missouri and Tennessee -- commended Kobach's attempt to investigate voter fraud in their respective statements.

"We are very glad they are asking for information before making decisions," said Colorado Secretary of State Wayne Williams, a Republican. "I wish more federal agencies would ask folks for their opinion and for information before they made decisions."

Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft, also a Republican, echoed Williams' sentiment in a statement Friday: "The commission's questions are fair and we will be glad to assist in offering our thoughts on these important matters," he said. "I look forward to working with Sec. Kris Kobach and the commission on its findings and offer our support in the collective effort to enhance the American people's confidence in the integrity of the elections process."

Other states were more critical. Nineteen openly criticized the commission's request.

"The President's Commission has quickly politicized its work by asking states for an incredible amount of voter data that I have, time and time again, refused to release," said Louisiana Secretary of State Tom Schedler, a Republican, on Monday afternoon. "My response to the Commission is, you're not going to play politics with Louisiana's voter data, and if you are, then you can purchase the limited public information available by law, to any candidate running for office. That's it."

Mississippi's Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann, also a Republican, took the criticism a step further.

"My reply would be: They can go jump in the Gulf of Mexico, and Mississippi is a great state to launch from," Hosemann said in a statement Friday. "Mississippi residents should celebrate Independence Day and our state's right to protect the privacy of our citizens by conducting our own electoral processes."

Three state leaders also raised doubts about the integrity of the commission itself, and many questioned the existence of widespread voter fraud.

"This entire commission is based on the specious and false notion that there was widespread voter fraud last November," Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe, a Democrat, said Thursday. "At best this commission was set up as a pretext to validate Donald Trump's alternative election facts, and at worst is a tool to commit large-scale voter suppression."

"Given Sec. Kobach's history we find it very difficult to have confidence in the work of this Commission," Connecticut Sec. of State Denise Merrill, also a Democrat, said in a statement Thursday, pointing to what she alleged was Kobach's "lengthy record of illegally disenfranchising eligible voters in Kansas."

As Kansas' secretary of state, Kobach backed a national cross-referencing system to allow states to check their voter rolls for overlaps, which drew criticisms that the system was too prone to allowing legitimate voters to be purged from voting systems. Kobach also fought unsuccessfully in court for the ability to require verification of citizenship on voter registration forms.

State of Play: Where do the states stand?

Alabama: "This office will not share any information not already available to the public. ..." Secretary of State John Merrill said in a statement Friday. "The Secretary of State's Office will comply with the request if we are convinced that the overall effort will produce the necessary results to accomplish the Commission's stated goal without compromising the integrity of the voter rolls and the elections process in Alabama,"

Alaska: The Division of Elections will release only public information, according to a press release from Lt. Gov. Byron Mallott Friday. "State law allows only some information to be public. Public information does not include: last four numbers of SSN, date of birth, or residence address," among other data.

Arizona: "We will only make available the same redacted information that is available to the general public through a public records request," Secretary of State Michele Reagan said in a statement Friday. "Social security numbers, Date of Birth and identifying information such as Mother's maiden name will not be transmitted. Arizona's voters can expect to have their personal information remain private and safe."

Arkansas: "We have not yet received a letter. When we do, we will review it," Assistant Director of Communications and Education Chris Powell told CNN Monday, adding, "We're keeping an eye out for it."

California: "I will not provide sensitive voter information to a commission that has already inaccurately passed judgment that millions of Californians voted illegally. ..." Secretary of State Alex Padilla said in a statement Thursday. "California's participation would only serve to legitimize the false and already debunked claims of massive voter fraud made by the President, the Vice President, and Mr. Kobach. The President's Commission is a waste of taxpayer money and a distraction from the real threats to the integrity of our elections today: aging voting systems and documented Russian interference in our elections."

Colorado: "We are very glad they are asking for information before making decisions. I wish more federal agencies would ask folks for their opinion and for information before they made decisions," Secretary of State Wayne Williams said in a press release Thursday, which noted that his office will release voter-roll information that is public under state law but withhold data that is confidential.

Connecticut: "Given Secretary Kobach's history we find it very difficult to have confidence in the work of this Commission," Secretary of State Denise Merrill said in a statement Thursday.

Delaware: "Releasing this information to the White House would not serve the mission of safeguarding the fairness and integrity of elections in Delaware and would not be in the best interests of Delaware voters," said State Election Commissioner Elaine Manlove said in a statement Monday. Sec. of State Jeffrey Bullock echoed the sentiment in the same statement: "Delaware will not be a party to this disingenuous and inappropriate campaign against one of the nation's foundational institutions."

Florida: "We have received the letter. We are reviewing it," Director of Communications Sarah Revell told CNN Monday. The Florida Senate, meanwhile, has written letter in opposition to the commission's request.

Georgia: "The Georgia Secretary of State's Office will provide the publicly available voter list," Press Secretary Candice L. Broce told CNN Friday. "As specified in Georgia law, the public list does not contain a registered voter's driver's license number, social security number, month and day of birth, site of voter registration, phone number, or email address."

Hawaii: No response to CNN.

Idaho: "We are interpreting this as a public records request from the Commission," Secretary of State Lawerence Denney said in a statement Monday. "As such, Idaho law requires me to respond ONLY with the non-exempt public records available under the request." The statement also noted that "while additional information is requested in the letter (such as driver's license and the last 4 of a voter's social security number), that information is NOT considered public and Secretary Denney could not be compelled, outside of a specific court order detailing the need for and intended use of such data, to provide that information under Idaho Public Records statutes."

Illinois: The Illinois State Board of Elections has not yet received the letter, a spokesperson told CNN Monday.

Indiana: "Indiana law doesn't permit the Secretary of State to provide the personal information requested by Secretary Kobach," Secretary of State Connie Lawson tweeted Friday. "Under Indiana public records laws, certain voter info is available to the public, the media and any other person who requested the information for non-commercial purposes. The information publicly available is name, address and congressional district assignment.

Iowa: "We will follow that process if a request is made that complies with Iowa law. ..." Secretary of State Paul Pate tweeted Friday. "However, providing personal voter information, such as Social Security numbers, is forbidden under Iowa Code."

Kansas: "Only "publicly available" information will be shared with the Commission," Secretary Kobach's spokeswoman Samantha Poetter told CNN Friday. "Any person in Kansas can obtain it. It is the basic information -- name, address, etc. -- not the sensitive information like last four SSN. That information is not publicly available, and therefore it is not part of the request."

Kentucky: "As the Commonwealth's Secretary of State and chief election official, I do not intend to release Kentuckians' sensitive personal data to the federal government. ..." Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes said in a statement Friday. "The president created his election commission based on the false notion that "voter fraud" is a widespread issue -- it is not. Indeed, despite bipartisan objections and a lack of authority, the President has repeatedly spread the lie that three to five million illegal votes were cast in the last election. Kentucky will not aid a commission that is at best a waste of taxpayer money and at worst an attempt to legitimize voter suppression efforts across the country."

Louisiana: "The President's Commission has quickly politicized its work by asking states for an incredible amount of voter data that I have, time and time again, refused to release," Secretary of State Tom Schedler said in a statement Monday. "My response to the Commission is, you're not going to play politics with Louisiana's voter data, and if you are, then you can purchase the limited public information available by law, to any candidate running for office. That's it."

Maine: "Maine citizens can be confident that our office will not release any data that is protected under Maine law, to the commission or any other requesting entity," Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap said in a press release Friday. The statement noted that Maine law allows the release of the voter's name, year of birth, residence address, mailing address, voter status, voter record number and any special designations indicating uniformed service voters, overseas voters or township voters, but not Social Security number.

Maryland: "The assistant attorneys general representing SBE have considered the request and have determined the disclosure is prohibited by law," Attorney General Brian Frosh said in a tweet Monday, adding in a second tweet, "I find this request repugnant; appears designed only 2 intimidate voters and 2 indulge the President's fantasy that he won the popular vote."

Massachusetts: The state's voter registry is not a public record and information in it will not be shared with the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity, Communications Director Brian S. McNiff told CNN Friday.

Michigan: "As in most other states, Michigan law does provide for disclosure of some basic public voter information," Secretary Ruth Johnson's office said in a Facebook post Monday. "Political parties, candidates and news organizations routinely request and receive this data. State law for decades has allowed anyone to review voter lists to ensure election integrity. ... Michigan will certainly not go beyond what is legally required in any response to this data request, and we are highly sensitive to people's desires to keep what is private as private."

Minnesota: "I will not hand over Minnesota voters' sensitive personal information to the commission," Secretary of State Steve Simon said in a statement Friday. "As I've said before, I have serious doubts about the commission's credibility and trustworthiness. Its two co-chairs have publicly backed President Trump's false and irresponsible claim that millions of ineligible votes were cast in the last election. They, along with other recent appointees, appear to have a strong interest in steering the commission toward their predetermined conclusions and outcomes. I fear that the commission risks becoming a partisan tool to shut out millions of eligible American voters."

Mississippi: "My reply would be: They can go jump in the Gulf of Mexico, and Mississippi is a great State to launch from," Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann said in a statement Friday. "Mississippi residents should celebrate Independence Day and our State's right to protect the privacy of our citizens by conducting our own electoral processes."

Missouri: "The commission's letter asks for 'publicly-available' information, which we would share with any person or organization making an open records request,"Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft said in a statement Friday. "We will protect Missourians' private information. The laws of each state are different, and in Missouri, some of the data requested by the commission is open to the public. We plan to comply by providing publicly-available information per state law. The commission's questions are fair and we will be glad to assist in offering our thoughts on these important matters. I look forward to working with Sec. Kris Kobach and the commission on its findings and offer our support in the collective effort to enhance the American people's confidence in the integrity of the elections process."

Montana: Secretary of State Corey Stapleton won't release voters' birthdays or Social Security numbers to the president's commission on election integrity, director of elections and voter services Derek Oestreicher told the Independent Record Friday.

Nebraska: "The Secretary of State has not had a chance to review the request submitted," a spokesperson told CNN Monday.

Nevada: "While this request has understandably raised concerns with privacy advocates, voter registration information in Nevada is generally available for public inspection under state law, including name, address, date of birth, and whether the voter participated in a prior election," Secretary of State Barbara Cegavske said in a statement Friday. "Election officials in Nevada do, however, collect certain information that is not considered a public record under state law and is therefore not available for public inspection. This information includes: Social Security Number; Driver's License Number; DMV Identification Card Number; and Email Address."

New Hampshire: "There's no information (here) someone can't publicly get anyway," Secretary of State Bill Gardner told the Concord Monitor Friday. "People have the right to purchase it, only what's public by law."

New Jersey: No response to CNN.

New Mexico: "My office has not yet received the letter from President Trump's election commission requesting the personal information of New Mexico voters," Democratic Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver said in a statement Friday. "That being said, I will never release the personally identifiable information of New Mexico voters protected by law, including their social security number and birthdate. Further, I will not release any other voter information like names, addresses or voting history unless and until I am convinced the information will not be used for nefarious or unlawful purposes, and only if I am provided a clear plan for how it will be secured."

"It seems to maybe be a fishing expedition or a witch hunt of some kind, and I'm very concerned about that," Toulouse Oliver said Tuesday on CNN's New Day.

New York: "The electoral process is sacred and New York law has strong safeguards in place to prevent sharing of sensitive voter data and harassment against those who exercise their right to vote...New York refuses to perpetuate the myth voter fraud played a role in our election...We will not be complying with this request and I encourage the Election Commission to work on issues of vital importance to voters, including ballot access, rather than focus on debunked," said Governor Andrew Cuomo in a statement Friday.

North Carolina: "Integrity of our elections is critical, and a recent State Board of Elections investigation already found there was no evidence of significant voter fraud in North Carolina," Gov. Roy Cooper said in a statement on Twitter Friday. "My staff has told the State Board of Elections that we should not participate in providing sensitive information beyond what is public record as it is unnecessary, and because I have concerns that it is an effort to justify the President's false claims about voter fraud."

North Dakota: In an email to CNN Friday, Deputy Secretary of State Jim Silrum said: "We will answer those questions on the survey that North Dakota law allows us to answer."

Ohio: "After each of the last three federal elections, I instructed the bipartisan boards of elections to conduct a review of credible allegations of voter fraud and voter suppression" Secretary of State Jon Husted said in a statement Friday. "The results of this review is already in the public domain and available to the Commission. Additionally, voter registration information is a public record and is available online. The Confidential information, such as the last four digits of a voter's Social Security number or their Ohio driver license number is not publicly available and will not be provided to the Commission. In responding to the Commission, we will have ideas on how the federal government can better support states in running elections. However, we will make it clear that we do not want any federal intervention in our state's right and responsibility to conduct elections. Every Sec. of State in the country should welcome the opportunity to describe what they do to ensure the integrity of the elections in their respective states."

Oklahoma: "Full or partial Social Security numbers are not publicly available under Oklahoma law," said Bryan Dean, public information officer for the Oklahoma State Election Board, in an email to CNN Friday. "We will provide the Commission with the publicly-available information they requested, just as we would anyone who requested the information. We are required to provide public information upon request under the Oklahoma Open Records Act. We commonly get requests for our voter list. I would estimate I get at least two or three requests per day for it. We have instructions available on our website for requesting that data."

Oregon: "Oregon policy prohibits disclosure of some of the information you requested, such as social security numbers and drivers' license numbers ..." Secretary of State Dennis Richardson said in a letter Friday. "It is my duty to follow these statutes. Oregon law provides that any person may receive a statewide list of electors upon payment of $500. It is a violation of Oregon law for voter registration data to be used for commercial purposes."

Pennsylvania: "In addition, I have serious reservations about the true intentions of this effort in light of the false statements this administration has made regarding voting integrity, the historical suppression of voting rights, and the way that such data has been used in the past ..." Gov. Tom Wolf said in a letter Friday. "That said, like any citizen, you are welcome to purchase the publicly available voter file from the Pennsylvania Department of State. It can be purchased at pavoterservices.pa.gov for $20."

Rhode Island: "We are reviewing Secretary Kobach's request for information" Secretary of State Nellie M. Gorbea said in a statement Friday. "I will safeguard the privacy of Rhode Island voters and respond only with data that is already publicly available. I will not release social security information or any information that was requested by Secretary Kobach regarding felony status, military status, or overseas citizen information."

South Carolina: "By law, the SC Election Commission maintains the list of registered voters for all 46 counties (1/3) ... They are required to make the list available to the public upon request and Social Security numbers are never disclosed (2/3) ... Constitution ensures voters ballot choices will always be secret. Americans have died protecting this freedom (3/3)," Gov. Henry McMaster tweeted in a string of statements Monday. According to The Post and Courier, however, South Carolina officials had not received a letter from the commission as of Friday. A senior official confirmed to CNN Monday evening: "The SC Elections Commission is responsible for the data but the governor is supportive of making all public information available to the president's advisory committee. All information that is readily available to the general public should be made available to the committee."

South Dakota: Secretary of State Shantel Krebs' spokesman, Jason Williams, said in an email to the Associated Press that Krebs "will not share voter information with the commission."

Tennessee: "Although I appreciate the commission's mission to address election-related issues, like voter fraud, Tennessee state law does not allow my office to release the voter information requested to the federal commission," tweeted Secretary of State Tre Hargett.

Texas: According to the Associated Press on Friday, Texas election officials will provide public voter information to the election commission. While Secretary of State Rolando Pablos didn't list what records would be sent to the commission, he said in a statement he will protect private information.

Utah: "Ensuring the integrity of the election process is the highest priority of my office," Lt. Gov. Spencer J. Cox said in a statement Friday. "There has been no evidence of mass voter fraud in Utah and we look forward to helping the federal government better understand the steps we have taken to ensure the security and validity of Utah's elections. ... While my office is required to provide public records to this Commission, as we would to any other person or entity, I assure the voters of Utah that we will only provide information that is otherwise available to the public."

Vermont: "I wholeheartedly disagree with premise of this Commission: namely, that there is widespread voter fraud," Secretary of State James C. Condos said in a statement Friday. "There is no evidence of the kind of massive fraud alleged by President Trump, Vice President Pence or Secretary of State Kobach. I believe these unproven claims are an effort to set the stage to weaken our democratic process through a systematic national effort of voter suppression and intimidation. ... My focus is to protect Vermont citizens from bogus attacks on our democracy. I will not release any more information about Vermont voters than is available to any citizen requesting our voter file."

Virginia: "I have no intention of honoring this request," Gov. Terry McAuliffe said in a statement Thursday. "Virginia conducts fair, honest, and democratic elections, and there is no evidence of significant voter fraud in Virginia. This entire commission is based on the specious and false notion that there was widespread voter fraud last November. At best this commission was set up as a pretext to validate Donald Trump's alternative election facts, and at worst is a tool to commit large-scale voter suppression."

Washington: "We are required by law to provide public records upon request," Sec. of State Kim Wyman tweeted Thursday. "Other requests from fed elections commission will be considered thoughtfully. ... Info that is NOT public record=your SS# (even last 4), DL #, phone #, email, language preference. We ensure this info remains private."

West Virginia: "Number one, we've never received a letter," Secretary of State Mac Warner's communications director, Mike Queen, told the Charleston Gazette-Mail Friday. "Number two, we can't see whether every state has received a letter, I don't know what states were selected or anything like that, but we haven't received it. Number three, we would never release Social Security numbers."

Wisconsin: "Wisconsin statutes do not permit the state to release a voter's date of birth, driver license number or Social Security number," said Michael Haas, administrator of the Wisconsin Elections Commission, said in a statement Friday. "State statutes permit the WEC to share confidential information in limited circumstances with law enforcement agencies or agencies of other states. The Presidential Commission does not appear to qualify under either of these categories. The WEC does not have the discretion to deny a request for the public information in the voter registration database if the required fee is paid. By administrative rule, the price is $12,500 for the entire statewide voter file, and Wisconsin law does not contain any provision for waiving the fee for voter data."

Wyoming: "I'm going to decline to provide any Wyoming voter information," Secretary of State Ed Murray told the Casper Star-Tribune on Monday. "It's not sitting well with me. ... Elections are the responsibility of states under the Constitution. I'm wondering if this request could lead to some federal overreach. ... I have not experienced any secretary of state who has expressed any concerns or worry about fraud or some type of nefarious activity occurring that jeopardizes their respective election process."

This story is being updated as new information comes in, and added background on the origins of the commission.
The property group confirmed it will be making the appeal to An Bord Pleanala for reasons that its Aqua Vetro tower should go-ahead after all.

Dublin City Council refused planning permission after concluding the 22-storey building would seriously injure the urban character and visual amenities of the city.
The grocery sector grew by 80m over the past 12 weeks  a 3.5% increase on the year before, according to Kantar.

Price deflation, which has held steady at -0.2%, has been offset by an increase in overall volume sales of 4.6%.

While SuperValu managed to hold onto top spot by 0.2% with 22.3% of the market share up mid-June, rival Tesco is growing ahead of the market with sales up by 3.8%. It had 22.1% of market share.

A spokesperson for Tesco said: We opened our 149th Tesco store at the Airside Retail Park in Swords creating 85 new jobs which contributed to Tescos growth in the period.

Tescos fortunes in the Republic, where it employs 13,000, is in contrast to its operations in the UK with the retail giant announcing a cull of 1,100 jobs at a call centre in Cardiff last month in a bid to cut costs and improve margins by 1.5bn (1.7bn).

The UKs biggest retailer, which employs 300,000, followed up the Cardiff announcement by cutting a further 1,200 jobs at its head office at Hatfield and Welwyn.

Dunnes Stores was in third with 21.6% while German retailers Lidl had 11.7% and Aldi 11.2%.

Despite a drop in shopper numbers Dunnes Stores remains the strongest-growing retailer, increasing value sales by 4.5%.

SuperValu customers spent an extra 60c on each shop, the latest survey found.

Kantar consumer insight director Cora Campbell said: On average SuperValus shoppers are spending an extra 60c each time they shop with the retailer, and while this may not seem like much, its been enough to contribute to an increase in overall sales of 2.5%.

She said none of the top three of SuperValu, Tesco or Dunnes could afford to become complacent.

With the battle for the top spot hotly contested over recent years and only 0.7% separating the top three retailers, there cant be any guarantees that youll stay in position, she said.
Solidarity-People Before Profit and Sinn Fein issued the threat at a protest outside Dublin City Council last night as Culture Minister Heather Humphreys insisted the Government would not back down on its environmental education reforms.

Speaking before a Fianna Fail Dail motion on the issue tonight which will call for an independent waste regulator to oversee the new fees regime, Solidarity-People Before Profit TD Ruth Coppinger said the bin charges changes must not be implemented.

Asked about the issue on Newstalk, she said her party certainly will apply massive political pressure at local authority level but also in the Dail and that the unfair fees will become the new water charges stand-off.

The view was repeated by Sinn Fein councillors at a Dublin City Council meeting last night, which took place as protesters gathered outside to warn they will not accept the new pay by weight system due to be implemented this autumn.

The Sinn Fein councillors put forward an emergency motion last night seeking to scrap the new system and establish a waste regulator, moves which would have to be backed by the Dail and Seanad in order to pass.

The issue is due to be discussed in the Dail this evening during a Fianna Fail motion on the same issue, which Sinn Fein members have privately claimed was put down to block the partys own motion calling for the fees to be scrapped completely.

Speaking about the stand-off in Kerry yesterday, Ms Humphreys said she, the Government, and more than half of the population are very comfortable with the new pay-by-weight system.

The Fine Gael TD said the fee changes are about educating more people on environmental matters, and are not necessarily about paying more charges.
The Republic could opt to remain with the UK in a customs and free-trade area, while negotiating as favourable as possible trade and investment terms with the remaining 26 member states, Policy Exchange added.

Former taoiseach Enda Kenny firmly rejected any suggestion of leaving the EU, saying membership was the foundation of the countrys prosperity and the bedrock of its modern society.

However, a report by the influential British research organisation said: In the circumstances, Ireland must give serious consideration to other options, including Irexit.

The document was drawn up by former Irish diplomat and commentator Ray Bassett. It said Ireland faced a huge choice.

Whatever the outcome of the Brexit negotiations, there will be a price to pay. For Ireland, there is really no upside to Brexit, it said.

The question to be raised is what price is Ireland willing to pay to stand in solidarity with the remaining 26 EU countries?

If the Irish Government is willing to pay that price, will the Dail, and possibly the population in a referendum, be equally willing to do so?

The report also said:

Access to the Single Market need not be synonymous with full EU membership;

The EU is facing huge problems and its future direction is unlikely to be in Irelands interests;

The DUPs central role in Brexit negotiations as part of its relationship with the Tories should facilitate co-operation across Ireland.

Simply sitting on the sidelines and allowing the EU to negotiate for Ireland is essentially untenable, said the report.

The first duty of the EU negotiators is to act on behalf of the EU as an institution. This is prioritised in their guidelines, approved by the European Council.

The type of deal that Irelands interests requires, however, including free trade with the UK, is directly in contradiction with the Union negotiators mandate that anything relating to Ireland and her border which emerges from the Brexit negotiations, must maintain the integrity the Unions legal order, i.e., no exceptions to the customs union.
A Mass will be celebrated and a plaque unveiled in Castlelyons in north Cork on Sunday in honour of Fr Thomas Ferris, who served as parish priest from 1880 until his death in 1891.

He was evicted from the parochial house in 1883 for refusing to pay the demanded rent and lived in a hut, built on church grounds by parishioners, until his death eight years later.

James Ronayne, who is part of the organising committee, said Fr Ferris was an inspirational figure whose brave stance against the landlords is still remembered today.

We hope these events will keep his memory alive, and help write his name into the history books properly, he said.

He may not have gone out with a gun on his shoulder, but what he and people like him did was just as important. They werent just taking on British landlords.

"They were taking on a whole regime. And it came at some cost.

Fr Ferris was appointed parish priest of Castlelyons in early 1880, and within months, he was elected chairman of the Irish Land League in Castlelyons soon after its first meeting on June 5, 1880.

Three years later, he followed Land League rules and withheld payment of a rent demand from the owner of the parochial house, offering instead to pay the lesser so-called Griffiths valuation. This was refused and a writ of eviction was issued.

On August 30, 1883, an eviction party, including four bailiffs, 50 policemen, and 40 men of the 37th Regiment from Fermoy, arrived at the parochial house where they were met by a large but peaceful crowd, and the eviction was completed by 2pm.

Parishioners had built a three-room hut for Fr Ferris in the churchyard, where he lived until his death on February 7, 1891, aged 60. He was buried inside the church. The hut was demolished in 1935.

The Mass of Remembrance will be celebrated by Fr Gerard Coleman at 11.30am this Sunday at St Nicholas Church in Castlelyons.

The community is also organising a number of marquee concerts in Fr Ferris Park, named in his honour, across August with acts including Michael English, and Red Hurley and Castlelyons Gospel Choir.

Tickets, priced 20, are available through Eventbrite or at Centra Castlelyons on Saturday, from 10am to 12noon.
The UK signalled over the weekend that it wished to withdraw from the London Fisheries Conventions, which, if implemented, would mean Irish trawlers would no longer be allowed to fish within 12 nautical miles of the British coastline.

Agriculture Minister Michael Creed described the move as unwelcome and unhelpful, but fishing bodies have gone further, with Castletownbere Fishing Co-operative in West Cork declaring that the move could be the start of a dirty battle.

The assistant manager of Castletownbere Fishing Co-op, Donal OSullivan, said it was too early to say whether the UK would follow through with the threat or how it would affect future negotiations, but he said that it appeared to be a case of the UK government, and its secretary of state for environment, food, and rural affairs, Michael Gove, in particular, getting their retaliation in first.

It could have a huge effect, said Mr OSullivan. If they do this and it succeeds, what would happen to the displaced vessels?

There is only one place they can go  the west coast of Ireland, which is already saturated.

He said this would have a huge effect on fish stocks that were already under pressure and would without doubt threaten jobs in the fishing industry here.

Mr OSullivan said it remains to be seen what system of taxes or surcharges would be put in place and that this signal has been sent out that it is going to be a dirty battle regarding fishing.

He said Irish fishermen would be seen as strongly in favour of leaving the EU and that the onus was now on the Government to play as pronounced a role as possible in any tough negotiations that follow between the EU and the UK to ensure that the fishing industry here does not lose out.

Sean ODonoghue of the Killybegs Fishing Organisation in Donegal said he was not surprised, but disappointed by the British move.

He struck a more optimistic note by claiming the EU had fishing rights as a top priority in any negotiations, stating: This is an unmitigated disaster if a hard fisheries Brexit happen, but we are sure that will not happen.

He said Ireland is 30% dependent on access to UK waters for fish, but when it comes to mackerel stocks, the figure jumps to 60%; and for prawns and related species it is 40%.

As such, he said the Dublin Bay prawn supply could be threatened.

We would not be able to fish it in the UK zone. It could put the whole stock in jeopardy, he said.

Mr ODonoghue said UK fishermen also stand to lose out and tough negotiation is needed to ensure the future of the industry.

We are making it very clear that the priority for us is fisheries negotiations cannot be separated from trade negotiations, he said.

Mr ODonoghue said the EU had already signalled that it was focused on the importance of fishing in any future deals regarding Brexit and its impact.
After touching down at Dublin Airport with his wife and young family last night , Mr Trudeau will hold a full day of engagements around the capital today, including meetings with Mr Varadkar and President Michael D Higgins.

His meeting with Mr Varadkar will take place at Farmleigh this morning ahead of a press conference.

He will then host a business roundtable in the city centre ahead of his meeting with President Higgins at Aras an Uachtarain.

Mr Trudeau will be the guest of honour at a state dinner in Dublin Castle this evening hosted by Mr Varadkar, the first such occasion for the new Taoiseach. The two leaders are expected to address the invited guests before dinner commences.

As he left the tarmac in Canada, Mr Trudeau tweeted a picture of himself and his family boarding the Canadian government jet, setting out his agenda for the week.

After Ireland, he will travel to Scotland and on to Germany to attend a meeting of the G20.

Wheels up this morning  Ireland, Scotland and Hamburg for the G20 summit, he tweeted.

In a formal statement released ahead of his arrival here, Mr Trudeau spoke warmly of the robust relationship that exists between the two countries.

Ireland and Canada share a strong and vibrant relationship, based on shared cultural heritage and strong family ties, he said. With the Canadian-European Trade Agreement [CETA], we have the opportunity to collaborate further through a progressive trade agenda that will create good, middle-class jobs on both sides of the Atlantic.

An alliance of farmers, businesses, workers, and environmental activists held a press conference in opposition to CETA yesterday, saying:

We are opposed to CETA because it contravenes three articles of the Irish Constitution and under the ICS mechanism would transfer power from the Irish courts to an arbitration court outside of the Irish jurisdiction leaving future Irish governments vulnerable to compensation claims from multinational corporations for loss of future profits.

Representatives from the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, the Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers Association, the Environmental Pillar and the Anti-CETA Alliance, together with a number of civil society organisations, are opposed to the agreement for fear of its impact on the Irish market.
Mr Trump, who announced the talks on Twitter, is preparing for the two-day G20 summit that starts in Hamburg on Friday, just over a month after a G7 summit in Sicily showed deep divisions betweenhim and other Western leaders on climate change, trade, and migration.

A fractious first Nato summit with Mr Trump also left European allies wondering where the military alliance goes next.

Mr Trump will hold separate meetings with various leaders in Hamburg, including host German chancellor Angela Merkel, and a potentially difficult first meeting with Russian president Vladimir Putin.

The White House said in a statement that Mr Trumps phone calls last night would be with Ms Merkel and Italian prime minister Paolo Gentiloni, but did not mention French president Emmanuel Macron.

Mr Trump and Mr Macron spoke last week when the US president accepted an invitation to attend Bastille Day ceremonies in Paris on July 14.

In remarks last week, Ms Merkel raised the prospect of an open clash with Mr Trump at the Hamburg summit, although some Trump administration officials have played down the discord.

Heather Conley, a state department official during the George W Bush administration, said European allies of the US are still shocked after the G7 and Nato summits, where Mr Trump cast doubt over Washingtons relationship with its allies.

Theres concern he could improve it  but could also do further damage, said Ms Conley, now with the CSIS think tank in Washington.

Russia and the US are still discussing the timing of the encounter between Mr Trump and Mr Putin, said a Kremlin aide.

Since Mr Trump was elected president, Russia has been keenly anticipating his first meeting with Mr Putin, hoping it would trigger a reset in US-Russia relations that plunged to post-Cold War lows under Mr Trumps predecessor, Barack Obama.

However, with Mr Trump embroiled in controversy at home over his associates potential links to Moscow, the session with Mr Putin has become a minefield. Too warm a meeting would allow Mr Trumps domestic opponents to accuse him of being a Kremlin stooge.

Kremlin foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters the Trump-Putin meeting would happen on the sidelines of the G20 summit, but it was not yet finalised how it would fit into the summits schedule.

We will be looking for certain breaks, windows to hold this, the most important, meeting, said Mr Ushakov.

We have a lot of issues, which should be discussed at the highest level... Thats why this meeting, this first personal contact, is so important.

Asked about the agenda for the meeting, Mr Ushakov said: Ive heard the Americans want to raise the issues of terrorism and Syria. It seems to me that would be pretty reasonable.

Mr Ushakov said that ties between Russia and the US were at zero level.

Meanwhile, Mr Trump is not planning a surprise visit to the UK, his spokesman has said, ending uncertainty about whether he would drop in on one of his golf courses.

Reports had suggested Mr Trump could make an unannounced visit to one of his Scottish golf resorts during his official visit to Europe. There are Trump golf courses in Aberdeenshire and Ayrshire.

However, White House press secretary Sean Spicer said Mr Trump would not visit the UK in the coming weeks.

While he looks forward to visiting the UK, it will not be in the next two weeks, Mr Spicer told the Financial Times.

The Sunday Times had reported that Mr Trump could give as little as 24 hours notice to the government of any planned trip, leaving ministers including Theresa May only a brief period to arrange possible meetings.

The prime ministers official spokesman said: I am not aware of any plans for the president to visit the UK in the next few weeks.

Ms May invited Mr Trump on a state visit to the UK shortly after he took office, but speculation that it may have been put on hold was fuelled by its absence from last months Queens Speech.

Reports suggested Mr Trump wants it delayed until it can take place without mass protests.

Asked whether a state visit would take place during 2017, the PMs spokesman said: We have extended an invitation, it has been accepted and we will set out plans in due course.

Mr Trump is crossing the Atlantic for visits to Poland, the G20 summit in Germany, and Bastille Day celebrations in France.

Presidential use of social media changes the rules

By Rachael Burnett

Donald Trump recently described his use of social media as modern-day presidential.

He abused TV hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski, branding him psycho and her crazy, and claimed she was bleeding badly from a facelift when he saw them at his Florida estate in December.

He has criticised the mainstream media and fake news a number of times, saying in one tweet: The Fake News Media hates when I use what has turned out to be my very powerful Social Media  over 100 million people! I can go around them.

Mr Trump sparked a backlash over his comments about London mayor Sadiq Khan in the wake of the capitals terror attacks.

He tweeted: At least 7 dead and 48 wounded in terror attack and Mayor of London says there is no reason to be alarmed!

Some of his posts have caused confusion, including one which featured the mystery word covfefe.

Despite the constant negative press covfefe, his tweet said.

In another tweet he lashed out at Meryl Streep, saying: Meryl Streep, one of the most over-rated actresses in Hollywood, doesnt know me but attacked last night at the Golden Globes.

He later added: She is a Hillary flunky who lost big.

Mr Trump attacked comedian Rosie ODonnell in a series of tweets, calling her sad, angry and pathetic, and fat.

It came after she mocked his hair and called him a snake-oil salesman.

He has criticised other countries, including one post about Germany which said: 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.

Mr Trump posted an angry tweet about Snoop Dogg after the rapper shot a toy gun at his likeness in a music video. 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! he wrote.

He also accused former president Barack Obama of having Trump Tower telephones wire tapped during last years election, a claim that an Obama spokesman said was false.

In a series of tweets he said he had just found out that Obama had my wires tapped in Trump Tower just before the victory. Nothing found. This is McCarthyism!

Department store Nordstrom came under fire in another tweet, after the shop stopped selling his daughter Ivanka Trumps clothing.

Mr Trump posted: My daughter Ivanka has been treated so unfairly by @Nordstrom. She is a great person  always pushing me to do the right thing! Terrible!

He threatened legal action after an appeal court refused to reinstate his controversial ban on travellers from seven Muslim-majority nations, tweeting: SEE YOU IN COURT, THE SECURITY OF OUR NATION IS AT STAKE!

Tweets mask the realities of agenda

By Bette Browne

As Americans celebrate their independence today, many are still obsessing over a video shared by Donald Trump showing the US president wrestling someone representing CNN to the ground, yet far more serious threats to the lives of Americans are playing out inside the White House.

The most significant is a new plan the president is promoting among US senators that would effectively throw 22m people off health insurance without putting alternative coverage in place because that is proving too difficult a task and is stalling the presidents agenda.

Another concern is a decision by a White House voting fraud panel to demand states reveal peoples voting patterns and personal details, a move that is all but sparking a revolution among many states, which are refusing to hand over such information, fearing it would infringe on voters rights.

Meanwhile, against this volatile background, a sinister video by one of Mr Trumps strongest support groups, the National Rifle Association (NRA), is urging gun owners to save America by fighting those who oppose his agenda.

The only way we stop this, the only way we save our country and our freedom, is to fight this violence of lies with the clenched fist of truth, says the controversial video.

Given that the exhortation is coming from an organisation that promotes gun ownership to the extent that there are now enough guns in the country for every man, woman, and child among the 300m population, the implication was lost on no one that the clinched fist would probably be most effective if holding a gun.

Critics called it a declaration of war. Bloomberg News, for example, went so far as to say the video all but announces civil war.

Mr Trump previously appealed to the gun lobby in the build-up to last years election, saying the Second Amendment people might act if his rival, Hillary Clinton, threatened to alter the right to bear arms.

Enough political fireworks here, it seems, to match the festive kind around the US today.

Then again, some contend, Americans dont need to be too worried because, as Mr Trump says about his tweets, it may all just be part of modern-day presidential politics.

Others, however, including a growing number in Mr Trumps own Republican Party, say its time for the president to uphold the dignity of the office.

Many of his tweets may not be dignified  such as a recent one attacking a reporters looks by saying that when he met her once she was bleeding badly from a facelift  but their likely purpose is proving highly effective.

Instead of trenchant coverage of the fact that Mr Trump is pushing senators to go ahead and leave millions without health coverage by repealing the healthcare plan crafted by his predecessor, Barack Obama, and parking any replacement, the media, with few exceptions, is obsessed with analysing the presidential tweets.

Neither is most of the media that concerned about the fact that on the same week he tweeted about the MSNBC reporter, the White House commission looking into what the president terms voter fraud, sent a letter to all 50 US states, requesting that all voter roll data be sent to the White House by July 14.

Most of this is publicly available information but many voters and state officials have expressed alarm that the White House has asked that the information should include the names, addresses, birth dates, political party affiliation, last four digits of the voters social security number, and which elections the voter has voted in since 2006.

In a defiant response, state officials from both parties and in at least 27 states have either refused to hand over information or expressed reservations about doing so.

At best, this commission was set up as a pretext to validate Donald Trumps alternative election facts, and at worst it is a tool to commit large-scale voter suppression, said Virginia governor Terry McAuliffe.

So while all of that was unfolding, Mr Trumps early-morning tweet about a reporter was driving the news agenda.

This time, Republicans were alarmed that he was going too far.

Mr President, your tweet was beneath the office and represents what is wrong with American politics, not the greatness of America, tweeted South Carolina Republican senator Lindsey Graham.

Please just stop, pleaded Nebraska Republican senator Ben Sasse.

But do Republicans really want Mr Trump to stop?

Like the president, they, too, are benefitting from the fact that they are able to continue to plough ahead with plans to axe taxes on the very wealthy that have been helping to subsidise the Obama healthcare plan.

They say they are simply keeping a promise to repeal Obamacare  and thats certainly true because they have been trying to do that since it was introduced seven years ago.

But whether voters quite realised it would be repealed without being replaced is rather unlikely.

The Democrats call it making America sick again. And maybe they will be proven right. But then again the only reason that Trumps agenda is being implemented in the first place is because Ms Clinton, was defeated.

And what if most of the media changes tack by deciding to comprehensively cover the complexity of issues in Washington that affect the lives of Americans? Will it by then have any credibility left or enough credibility to matter?

Or will a president who has been underestimated from the very start win that one too?

Not to dampen the fireworks too much on this Fourth of July, but perhaps Americans are already seeing the triumph in their country of modern day presidential politics.

Image based on tactics of bad-guy wrestlers

By Jake Pearson

US president Donald Trumps attacks on television personalities, journalists, and political rivals come straight from the wrestling ring.

Grapple fans say the president has borrowed the tactics of the ring to cultivate the ultimate anti-hero character, a figure who wins at all costs, incites outrage, and follows nobodys rules but his own.

In our terminology, hes playing it to the hilt, said former World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) writer Dan Madigan.

On Sunday, Mr Trumps apparent fondness for wrestling emerged in a tweeted, mock video. It shows him pummelling a man in a business suit, his face obscured by the CNN logo, outside a wrestling ring.

American writer Jared Yates Sexton yesterday revealed that the person who made the brief video, a doctored version of Mr Trumps 2007 appearance on World Wrestling Entertainment, also made significant amounts of racists and anti-Semetic material.

The video was tweeted from the presidents official Twitter account.

Mr Madigan was first struck by the parallels last summer, when Mr Trump was introduced at the Republican national convention.

There was a backlit Mr Trump, unveiled in stark silhouette, sauntering onto stage at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, just like wrestlings most infamous antihero, The Undertaker.

His demeanour, duration of his walk to the podium, his playing to the crowd... Pure Undertaker, said Mr Madigan.

Mr Trumps tiger-like pacing on stage behind Hillary Clinton during the second presidential debate last autumn in St Louis resembled the way wrestlers stalk their opponents during pre-match taunting sessions.

In the subsequent months of Mr Trumps tweets and public feuds, it became clear to Mr Madigan and other former WWE writers that, consciously or not, Mr Trump was channelling professional wrestling in his politics.

The parallels are uncanny, said Domenic Cotter, a producer who, in the mid-2000s, worked on backstage segments for WWE.

The Undertaker: Has Donald Trump copied his presentation?

Depending on your political affiliation, the writers said, Mr Trump is playing one of two classic wrestling characters: The heel, or ultimate bad boy, who wins at all costs, or the modern-day wrestling protagonist, dubbed a face or baby face, in wrestling parlance.

I think of Donald Trump as the ultimate baby face, Mr Cotter said, almost in the ilk of Stone Cold Steve Austin, who was this rage-against-the-machine, anti-authority and establishment figure.

Mr Cotter saw Mr Trump employ a classic pro-wrestling tactic during his first news conference as president-elect, when he ordered CNN reporter Jim Acosta to be quiet and barked: You are fake news!

In wrestling terminology, he cut a promo on that CNN reporter and got over him, basically, Mr Cotter said.

Mr Trump hosted back-to-back WrestleMania events in his Atlantic City, New Jersey Trump Plaza, in 1988 and 1989.

And then, most famously, there was a mock Battle Of The Billionaires, in 2007, when he body-slammed WWE boss Vince McMahon and shaved his head.

Most recently, he picked Mr McMahons wife, Linda, who twice ran unsuccessfully for the US Senate, in Connecticut, to head the Small Business Administration.

In wrestling, writers create season-long dramas that turn the mat into a stage for fantasy.

Narratives pit good against evil, stronger personalities win over more subdued ones, and commenators legitimise the at-any-costs tactics of the heels.

When Mr Trump publicly supports Russias president Vladimir Putin, depicted by the US intelligence services as a sort of global heel, he is effectively playing the role of the announcer who builds up the bad boy in the ring, justifying his alpha-dog behaviour, Mr Madigan said.

And when Mr Trump assigns prefixes to his political rivals names (think low I.Q. Crazy Mika Brzezinski or Crooked Hillary Clinton), he is effectively emulating the longtime wrestling announcer, Bobby The Brain Hennan, who cheered on heels over rule-following baby face wrestlers, whom he disparaged.

The hero is boring. He does the same vanilla thing, Mr Madigan said.

You always watch what the bad guy says and does.
The Sex Workers Alliance Ireland had called the meeting last week in light of what it claimed was a number of violent attacks against sex workers, and more specifically, some that appeared to target Brazilian trans sex workers.

SWAI spokeswoman Kate McGrew said the meeting, held at an undisclosed location in Dublin, had been called due to a spate of attacks, some of which involved money being taken and many involving violence.

Ms McGrew said some but not all of the attacks had been reported to gardai and that these were being investigated.

Gardai confirmed yesterday that a man had been arrested over the weekend and detained for questioning.

A statement issued later by the Garda Press Office said: Gardai in Pearse Street have arrested and charged one man (21 years) in relation to an assault and robbery that occurred in May 2017. This man was charged and was remanded in custody to appear before Cloverhill District Court on Friday, July 7, 2017. Investigations are ongoing.

Ms McGrew said as many as 10 sex workers had been attacked in recent months at different locations around Dublin city centre.

SWAI on Twitter issued a number of warnings in recent days, urging sex workers to take precautions, such as only dealing with established clients or working in pairs or groups.

It was claimed the attacks involved two men, who would arrange to meet sex workers online before then robbing them.

Ms McGrew asked anyone with information about any incidents to come forward and report them to gardai, regardless of any concerns they might have over their immigration status.

It is understood that a number of complaints are being investigated by gardai.

Ms McGrew also said there should be more legislation to cover hate crimes in Ireland.

The SWAI was a vocal campaigner against new laws introduced this year which criminalised the buying of sex, claiming it would push the sex trade further underground.
Patrick OShea was one of the passengers on board Norwegian Airs inaugural Cork to Providence flight on Saturday  the airports first direct scheduled service to the US.

Prof OShea has extensive contacts in the US, where he was vice-president and chief research officer at the University of Maryland before returning to Cork.

He is a fellow of the American Physical Society, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and a University of Maryland distinguished scholar-teacher.

Speaking from the US last night, Prof OShea said: As the first stop in America for our emigrants, New England has been the historic western hinterland our region. This new physical connection makes Cork their eastern suburb. The Boston/Providence area is home to several of the worlds great colleges and universities.

When I meet university leaders there I will be telling them that Cork is now their most convenient European university city.

Prof OShea hailed Corks first direct transatlantic air link and said its low price and ease of connection will be hugely beneficial in enhancing existing and growing new scholarly and economic relationships for students and staff at institutions across our regions.

There will be more student and staff exchanges, more impactful research collaborations, which will broadly benefit the cultural and economic lives across our regions, he said.

He said he believes the new service will be supported for three main reasons: Low fares, convenient flight times, and easy-to-use airports.

Leaving Cork in late afternoon and arriving in early evening is just perfect, said Prof OShea. No more early-morning drives to/from Shannon or Dublin, or long transfers at Heathrow. Cork and Providence airports are very similar: Easy in, easy out  10 minutes from front door to check-in and through security.

Prof OShea said the lack of US pre-clearance in Cork is not an issue because there are no long queues at the friendly customs and immigration desks in Providence.

With the first inbound flight from Providence due to land at Cork Airport this morning, plans are being finalised for a Cork delegation to fly out on Thursdays flight for a 24-hour blitz on their US counterparts.

The delegation, led by Cork Airport, will include minister of state Brendan Griffin, Cork Chamber, the Cork Business Association, representatives from the city and county councils, and local tour operators and travel agents.

Cork Chamber CEO Conor Healy said they plan to meet officials from the economic development unit of local government in Providence to finalise plans for their visit to Cork in September.
I was recently contacted by a mortgage-holder who has been annoyed by recent ads from their bank promoting their options for existing customers. They felt the bank suggests the process is far more straightforward than is actually the case. This customer is far from alone in feeling like this.

The Competition & Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) recently published a Mortgages Options Paper, aimed at helping to develop a better-functioning mortgage market. Switching was one of the key areas of research. Research found just 6% of mortgage holders have considered switching their mortgage provider over the past 5 years and only 2% have actually switched.

"We were looking at ways of making the switching process easier," CCPC Director of Communications Aine Carroll said. "We did a lot of research, including focus groups with consumers in Dublin, Galway and Cork. There were different groups represented, some had experience of switching, others not. What we wanted was to find out what worked and what didn't."

For some people switching is not an option. But many who could benefit from a switch cited not knowing how to go about it, the costs or the effort and time involved as reasons why they didnt.

It is important to acknowledge that switching your mortgage is not like switching other financial products. If you switch utilities or car insurance and you do not like the new provider or their service, you will have an option to switch again. Even a more complex product like health insurance, which has many variables to compare, comes up for renewal again in a year.

"Mortgage switching is not something you are going to do repeatedly," Ms Collins said. "Consumers should think of it as getting a new mortgage, which it basically is. That way you will be more accepting of the level of paperwork involved. And at least it is getting a new mortgage without the stress of buying a new house. So yes it is a lot of work but it comes with a big reward, potentially saving thousands."

The CCPC has a mortgage rate change calculator at consumerhelp.ie, allowing homeowners to see exactly what they could save and compare different switching options.

But even allowing for the justifiable complexity, the CCPC believes a lot more could be done by both banks and regulators.

Of those they surveyed who had switched their mortgage the main negatives identified were it involved too much paperwork, it was a complicated process and took a long time. 35% estimated that the switching process took between one and two months and 24% estimated that the process took longer than two months. The CCPC proposed that they work with the Legal Services Regulatory Authority to facilitate the introduction of e-conveyancing. It also suggested the Department of Finance and the CBI with the CCPC should establish a working group to facilitate the development of automated switching processes.

Another issue is around the sweeteners offered for switching. There is no doubt that cashback offers are distracting and exploit the fact that consumers can be swayed with short-term savings, Ms Carroll said. But in the long run, a better rate will save people far more. You could be talking 2000 to 3000 cashback versus tens of thousands over the lifetime of a mortgage. The CCPC has suggested a working group to examine the appropriateness of such offers.

Hopefully the relevant government departments and the banks will take the CCPC suggestions on board and make the whole process easier for consumers. But for the moment, if you are considering switching the advice is - go in with a clear understanding of the work and time involved. There is no doubt it currently involved quite a lot of hassle but in the long run, it could still save you substantial amounts of money.

DEAL OF THE WEEK

Parents planning to use public transport for their families as the school holidays get underway have been handed a boost by Leap Card.

Their Kids Go Free promotion started yesterday and run until Sunday July 16 (inclusive).

Child Leap Card holders can travel free on all Dublin Bus scheduled services, all Luas services, all DART services and on all Commuter Rail services in Dublins Short Hop Zone and on the Cork to Cobh/Midleton train lines.

They can also use Bus Eireann services where Leap Card Validators are available. This includes Bus Eireann Services in Cork city, Limerick city, Galway city, and Waterford city and Bus Eireann services in Dublin and nearby counties.

Anyone with a child Leap Card (4-15 or 16-18) can simply use their card as normal. Those who dont yet have a card can get one at leapcard.ie.

There is a limited stock of free cards for 4-15 year olds available at Dublin Bus Head Office and at the main stations in Cork, Galway, Limerick and Waterford.
Tuesday, July 4th, 2017 (12:24 pm) - Score 1,900

Alternative network provider County Broadband has contracted the John Henry Group to deploy a new 1Gbps capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) network in the rural Cambridgeshire village of Broughton, which has for many years been forced to suffer sub-2Mbps ADSL speeds.

The deployment, which already claims to have gathered initial sign-ups from 60 of the 90 local premises in Broughton and has been funded by private investment, is understood to be a 10 year project and the roll-out phase has already reached School Road (credits to the John Henry Group, who kindly sent us the picture and some other details).

A quick check of local postcodes confirms that the current situation is pretty dire, although Openreachs (BT) website does perhaps misleadingly suggest that the local street cabinet has been enabled for Superfast fibre. In fact that cabinet is situated in Warboys, which is a 3 mile drive away and thus not able to deliver superfast broadband to homes and businesses in Broughton.

Lloyd Felton, MD of County Broadband, said: Its all about matching the company to the market. You have to look at Broughton as a village of approximately 90 houses, its a big investment, and quite frankly if youre a major corporate company youd probably just look straight past Broughton and look for the higher urban dense areas where youre going to get a much bigger return on your investment. Youve got to look at companies that can take a longer term view of the investment being made. The investment in Broughton is a 10 year project and its very hard to raise money for projects like that  our business model is exactly focused in this market.

Interestingly Lloyd now expects that their development in the village will without doubt result in bigger competitors taking a second look at the area and indeed weve seen that happen in other locations where altnets have deployed, which often prompts the big boys like BT to make a return.

A quick check of the state aid supported Connecting Cambridgeshire scheme appears to confirm that Openreach already intend to deploy an FTTP service of their own into the village (details). The last update was posted in May 2017, when the same page said, installation of the fibre network is underway and at the time the deployment was expected to take between 4-6 weeks.

A waste of tax payers money or simply more competition? Whatever your view, its clear that residents in one of the countrys rural slowspots are about to benefit from the kind of choice that even those in many urban areas can only dream of. Yesterdays BBC News (Radio) for Cambridgeshire also carried a short report on the roll-out (here).
Tuesday, July 4th, 2017 (2:51 pm) - Score 827

The Internet Service Providers Association UK (ISPA) has today published a short-list of people and companies that could win this years annual Internet Hero and Internet Villain awards, which will be held at Cafe de Paris in Londons West End on 13th July 2017.

At this point I must admit to a certain degree of shock because my own name has been added among the nominations for Internet Hero, although I strongly feel as if Marcus Hutchins (he found the killswitch for the WannaCry malware) and all of the others short-listed are far more deserving. Generally I dont get time for such events so hopefully Im not the winner  .

Meanwhile in the lair of Internet Villains we find the likes of President Erdogan (Turkey), who has been busy cracking down on online freedom of expression, and the Valuation Office Agency (+HM Treasury) for adding to the cost of broadband rollout with its excessive business rates revaluation.

Nicholas Lansman, ISPA Secretary General, said: The Internet Hero and Villain awards are a fun and light-hearted way of recognising the great and good (and the not so good) in the Internet Industry. With Brexit looming, the UKs thriving digital economy has never been more important, which is why we at ISPA are so pleased to recognise those who enable and drive the UKs digital economy. The rather less coveted Internet Villain award is also a valuable opportunity to look at those who hinder this vital industry. We at ISPA look forward to finding out who will win on the evening of July 13th.
Tuesday, July 4th, 2017 (2:18 pm) - Score 3,211

Building a major new ultrafast broadband network isnt easy and sometimes contractors dont do the work properly. The latest example of this stems from Virgin Medias street works in South Ayrshire, some of which have been described by local councillors as horrendous.

As most people know the cable (HFC DOCSIS) and FTTP operator is currently investing 3bn (Project Lightning) to expand the reach of their ultrafast broadband and TV network, which aims to cover around 65% of UK premises by 2019 (i.e. an extra 4 million premises on top of their existing footprint). This is a brilliant project, although like most major infrastructure builds its also attracted a few complaints (example).

This week councillors in South Ayrshire (Scotland) heard a report from the Ayrshire Roads Alliance, which has been overseeing Virgin Medias roll-out in the region. The group noted that it had received various complaints about the quality of the operators street works and has already put in place a performance plan to resolve the problems, which appears to be showing improvement but some issues remain.

Councillor Ian Cavana, South Ayrshires Partnership Panel, said (Daily Record): Some of the work has been horrendous. Its not so much what theyre doing but how theyre doing it. Our roads team are now having to go around and fix the problems, which is of obvious concern. My worry is that sooner or later, someone is going to get really hurt.

Local councillors appear to be concerned that they could be left exposed to compensation claims if somebody hurts themselves as a result of the operators street works, although the article doesnt offer a lot in the way of detail with regards to precisely what mistakes have been made.

Nevertheless the situation is such that Virgin Media will shortly be hauled before Scotlands Roadworks Commissioner, Angus Carmichael, who will question the operator in Edinburgh about the conduct of their contractors. Carmichael has form in this area and only a few months ago he fined Cityfibre 35,000 for a number of serious failures to comply with road works legislation (here), its possible that Virgin Media could suffer the same.

However, unlike the fines imposed by Ofcom, Scotlands Roadworks Commissioner is rather limited in the size of financial penalties that he can set. The Commissioner has statutory powers to issue financial penalties up to a maximum 50,000 where a utility company, or a roads authority, demonstrates a systematic failure to comply with their statutory duties. Hardly a big concern for a company of VMs size.

Like it or not big network builds have a natural tendency to cause a lot of disruption and thats particularly true when working in dense urban areas where a lot of people will be affected, especially if the work isnt conducted properly. Local authorities usually order corrective work to take place, which is itself a costly exercise, but persistent failings can result in direct fines (as above).

In the longer term some disruption is usually a small price to pay for better connectivity. ISPreview.co.uk has asked the operator for a comment and we are awaiting a response.
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Statement by the Spokesperson on the conflict resolution and reconciliation efforts

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

Google Ad

I call on Armenian and Azerbaijani parliamentarians to use this Assembly as an agora of opportunities President Tiny Kox

UCOMS SPECIAL OFFER OF THE UNLIMITED INTERNET IS NOW TERMLESS

There is no place for the death penalty in a State that respects human rights: PACE General Rapporteur

EU and CoE call on two Member States that have not yet acceded to this Protocol  Armenia and Azerbaijan  to do so without delay

An urgent debate requested on "The military hostilities between Armenia and Azerbaijan".

UCOM AND PES-PES CONTINUE COOPERATION WITHIN THE FRAMEWORK OF EDUCATIONAL PROJECT

The statement of the meeting between Prime Minister Pashinyan, President Aliyev, President Macron and President Michel of October 6, 2022

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
Azerbaijani Silk Way Airlines carries out 350 diplomatic flights transporting weapons for terrorists  scandalous investigation

A scandalous investigation has been published in the Bulgarian newspaper Trud on July 2 which reveals the Azerbaijani state circles direct engagement in supplying weapons to Islamic terrorist groups at different parts of the world, Armenpress reports. Dilyana Gaytandzhievas investigative article mainly focuses on the illegal and largescale export and sale of arms to Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Congo by Silk Way Airlines (an Azerbaijani state-run company) under the cover of diplomatic flights. Documents implicating Silk Way Airlines in arms supplies were sent to the author of the article by an anonymous twitter account  Anonymous Bulgaria. Dilyana Gaytandzhieva says over the past three years at least 350 diplomatic Silk Way Airlines flights transported weapons for war conflicts across the world. The state aircrafts of Azerbaijan carried on-board tens of tons of heavy weapons and ammunition headed to terrorists under the cover of diplomatic flights. The author of the investigation notes that some of the weapons that Azerbaijan carries on diplomatic flights were used by its military in Nagorno Karabakh. The facts reveal that the Azerbaijani Defense Ministrys 2016 statement according to which the Armenian side used white phosphorus is nothing more than disinformation. By using the address of the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry the state-run company carried out illegal operation which would be impossible without the permission of the Baku leadership. According to the documents, Azerbaijans Foreign Ministry has sent instructions to its embassies in Bulgaria and many other European countries to request diplomatic clearance for Silk Way Airlines flights. The requests for diplomatic clearance included information about the type and quantity of the dangerous goods  heavy weapons and ammunition. However, the responsible authorities of many countries (Bulgaria, Serbia, Romania, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia, Poland, Turkey, Germany, UK, Greece, etc.) have turned a blind eye and allowed diplomatic flights for the transport of tons of weapons, carried out by civil aircrafts for military needs. This incident is not only a violation of international law, but also that of norms of the International Air Transport Association (IATA). Among the main customers of the diplomatic flights for weapons service provided by Silk Way Airlines are American companies, which supply weapons to the US army and US Special Operations Command. According to the register of federal contracts, over the last 3 years American companies were awarded $1 billion contracts in total under a special US government program for non-US standard weapon supplies. All of them used Silk Way Airlines for the transport of weapons. In some cases when Silk Way was short of aircrafts due to a busy schedule, Azerbaijan Air Force aircrafts transported the military cargo, although the weapons never reached Azerbaijan which reveals the states direct engagement in the illegal sale of weapons. The deliveries of American companies were mainly sent to Afghanistan. Another country that has purchased huge quantities of Eastern-European weapons and exported them on Silk Way Airlines diplomatic flights is Saudi Arabia. The Kingdom does not buy those weapons for itself, as the Saudi army uses only western weapons and those weapons are not compatible with its military standard. Therefore, the weapons transported on diplomatic flights end up in the hands of the terrorist militants in Syria and Yemen that Saudi Arabia officially admits supporting. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is another Arab country that has purchased Eastern European weapons which are not compatible with its military standards and were apparently re-supplied to a third party. Its worth mentioning that the company has also been engaged in supplying weapons to Kurds in Northern Syria. According to the author of the investigation, such favor is linked with the fact that Azerbaijans leader is also an ethnical Kurd. The author reached out to all sides concerned involving the investigation, however, received no comment yet.
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TABQA, Syria -- For this Independence Day, at a moment when the tone of our political life would probably shame our Founders, here are snapshots of some brave American soldiers and civilians I met inside Syria last week who should make us all proud.

Let's start with a bearded sergeant major from Oklahoma. He's driving an armored SUV down a dusty road toward Tabqa. He's got a radio headset on to talk to the other vehicles in the convoy, but he's playing country music from a speaker up front, too.

The sergeant major weaves the vehicle around ruts and potholes. Islamic State (ISIS) fighters who controlled the town until six weeks ago like to pack the potholes with explosives. Most mines have been cleared, but still, it's not a ride in the park.

As the vehicle bumps along, the sergeant major talks about a comrade who was killed about 40 miles north of here last November by an improvised explosive device in a house. Navy Senior Chief Petty Officer Scott C. Dayton was assigned to defuse such ordnance. It's said he died trying to shield U.S. and Syrian partner soldiers from the blast. So far, miraculously, he's the only American who has died in combat in Syria as the U.S. and its allies have routed ISIS from town after town.

The sergeant major drives these roads near Raqqa every day. He's part of a Special Operations Forces team that is advising the Kurdish-led "Syrian Democratic Forces" that is clearing ISIS from its capital, training a separate internal security force that will maintain security after the terrorist group is gone, and supporting the local civic councils that will rebuild water, electricity, schools and other services. He's one of about 500 U.S. Special Operations Forces now serving in Syria; the first 50 arrived about 18 months ago.

Sometimes these roads are crowded with desperate refugees fleeing the battle with their families, carrying furniture and, occasionally, herding livestock. The sergeant major calls it "goatlock," with so many sheep and goats blocking the road,

The Syria mission is usually secret, little seen or understood by the American public. But these anonymous warriors are some of the best soldiers I've encountered anywhere. They're living rough, in forward outposts in the towns and in a few simple bases in the countryside. Working alongside their Syrian partners, they're accomplishing something U.S. forces haven't experienced enough over the past two decades: They're winning.

"The best fighters in the world are the ones who are trying to get home," explains a Special Operations Forces commander who runs training for the Syrian security troops who will protect Raqqa and the surrounding towns as the Islamic State collapses. He plans to graduate 250 trainees every two weeks, building toward a force of 3,500 to 5,000. This is very basic training. I listened to a rangy American soldier bark out to the Syrian recruits through a translator, "How to shoot: There are five positions ... ." The recruits paid rapt attention, as if understanding that their instructor represented the best fighting force in the world.

Like every soldier I met, the sergeant major is passionate about his mission. I ask him how many ISIS fighters were killed in Tabqa. "Not enough," he answers. "The worst thing anyone could ever do when they're on our bad side is to give themselves a ZIP code," he says. The "caliphate" made that mistake.

When these soldiers finish business, they go back to camps that are simple, to put it mildly. This is not the "Green Zone" occupation life, with three choices of entree. If you're not ready to deal with regular digestive-tract problems, stay away. Like American soldiers everywhere, they're super-fit. Nearly every facility has a makeshift gym, and you find men and women pumping iron morning and night.

These elite units are the pride of the U.S. military. The forces I saw were the train-and-assist part of the mission. But there is another, super-secret part of the Special Operations Forces mission here that seeks to capture or kill extremists. What they all share is toughness and good judgment.

Not all the American heroes I saw here are soldiers. Al Dwyer, the chief coordinator of emergency relief assistance, illustrates what civilians are doing. Dwyer, a USAID official, has led every major American humanitarian mission in recent years, from the 2010 Haiti earthquake to the 2014 Ebola breakout in West Africa. He is a stone-cold pro at the logistics of assisting desperate people.

How did Dwyer get started in the humanitarian-aid world? It's a basic American story. He was running a freight terminal in Boston when someone gave him an order he thought was inappropriate, and he decided: Take this job and shove it. He has worked in 100 countries since then, helping people survive. It's Americans like Dwyer and the sergeant major that I'm thinking about this July 4th week.

The Washington Post
Only in Washington, D.C. will you find politicians so wrapped up in themselves, their party, crazed ideology, or something -- that they will not come together to pass legislation for the sake and safety of the American people.

Even though the House managed to pass two common sense, safety-focused bills on June 29, it is beyond comprehension that most Democrats voted against Kate's Law and the No Sanctuary for Criminals Act. The GOP did have a handful of rogue nays, but very few in comparison.

What were they thinking?

Whatever they were thinking, it had little to do with safety and security of Americans. Leftists do their best to hoodwink normal Americans into accepting their San Francisco-style values like the absurd presumption that it is moral to break federal immigration law and shelter those who illegally cross our borders instead of following the rule of law to protect U.S. citizens.

A little background on the two bills. Lawmakers introduced Kate's Law after an illegal immigrant killed a beautiful, young San Francisco woman named Kate Steinle. Although her killer, Juan Francisco Lopez-Sanchez, had a lengthy list of felony convictions and multiple deportations, sanctuary city policies meant the San Francisco Sheriff's Department would not honor a detainer issued by U.S. Immigration and Customs [ICE]. Sheriff officials said they found no active warrant for his arrest, so rather than contacting ICE to pick him up, they released him and the rest is history.

The San Francisco which Lopez-Sanchez found sanctuary in, Miss Steinle did not. Kate's Law serves to enforce immigration laws already on the books, imposing mandatory minimum prison sentences for lawbreakers like Lopez-Sanchez should they reenter the U.S. post-deportation.

The No Sanctuary for Criminals Act cuts off federal grant money to safe harbor cities and forces sanctuary city leadership to take responsibility for their actions, opening the way for victims of illegal immigrant crimes to sue.

You would never know it from the uproar by the left, but we are only talking about illegal immigration, not legal immigration, albeit Washington Democrats and their corporate media sidekicks have an astonishingly tough time differentiating between the two.

The left's obsession with protecting lawbreakers at taxpayers' expense is baffling. Taxpayers in San Francisco are set to foot the bill for a $190,000 lawsuit brought by an illegal immigrant who sued because a police officer had the audacity to obey federal immigration laws and report his whereabouts to ICE, reports CBS's KPIX-TV.

It comes as no surprise that a Harvard-Harris Poll survey taken earlier this year found that 80 percent of voters surveyed reject sanctuary cities because they believe "local authorities should have to comply with the law by reporting to federal agents the illegal immigrants they come into contact with."

Regardless of surveys or polls or public opinion, Senate Democrats will try to defeat these two bills using the lame excuse they have already raised that supporting this legislation might somehow ramp up fear in the immigrant community.

Apparently, there is nothing more petrifying than obeying the law.

Democrats' fear of ramping up fear in the immigrant community is misdirected. They should instead focus on the fact that besides the Almighty, the only thing Democrats should fear is themselves. They alone are responsible for the mess they are in and the chaos they have created.

It would be nice to believe Senate Democrats will set aside their partisanship and emotions long enough to do what's right by the American people to vote "yes" on this legislation. But, if history is a prognosticator, don't hold your breath.

So, with countenances drawn and somber defeat on their faces, Democrats will march lockstep into the 2018 midterm elections as weak on crime and weedy on principles as ever.
Florida Governor Rick Scott on Monday scheduled [npr report] the execution of Mark Asay which will be the states first execution in nearly two years. The execution of death row inmates in Florida had been halted after their sentencing procedure was deemed unconstitutional [opinion, PDF] by the US Supreme Court. Initially the sentencing system involved a jury that recommended the sentence with a judge that was free to disregard the recommendation in finalizing the sentence. The procedure has since been amended [bill, PDF] in an attempt to fix the defects. A unanimous jury decision is now required for a recommendation of the death penalty. The execution of Asay is scheduled to take place on August 24.

The death penalty has become an increasingly controversial issue in recent years. In June, a federal appeals court reversed [JURIST report] a lower court decision and found Ohios execution protocol to be constitutional. In that same week, a federal judge ordered [JURIST report] major changes to Arizona death penalty procedures due to prisoner complaints. Earlier in June, the US Supreme Court ruled [JURIST report] that psychiatric assistance must be provided for indigent defendants sentenced to the death penalty. In May, the Delaware House of Representatives passed a bill [JURIST report] that would reinstate the death penalty. Floridas new bill [JURIST report] declaring that the death penalty may only be imposed by a judge upon unanimous recommendation from the jury was signed into law in March. In January the US Supreme Court refused [JURIST report] to consider a challenge to Alabamas death penalty system.
The Peru Congress [official website] on Monday unanimously voted [press release] to remove the Comptroller, Edgar Alarcon, from office. The vote [Reuters report] to remove Alarcon was initiated over accusations that he gave public funds to the mother of his children, violated ethical rules by running a business while in office, and coerced an auditor to withhold information from Congress. Alarcon has denied any wrongdoing and claims that his removal was a tactic designed to distract the people from the governments mistakes. Although Alarcon was dismissed, audits that were started under his guidance will continue to be executed. After the vote to remove Alarcon, Peruvian opposition leader Keiko Fujimori wrote a letter to President Pablo Kuczynski asking him to meet and open a dialogue about issues facing Peru such as the economy and corruption. It is unclear whether the President accepted this invitation or not.

Corruption is an issue that has been plaguing the Peruvian government. In February, a judge ordered [JURIST report] the arrest of former president Alejandro Toledo for his alleged involvement with a bribery scandal involving the Brazilian construction company Odebrecht SA. The arrest of Toledo came only days after the Attorney General made it public that he sought the arrest [JURIST report] of Toledo for laundering of assets and influence trafficking. In July 2016, former president Alberto Fujimori made a presidential pardon request [JURIST report] for the incumbent President Kuczynski. Fujimori was currently serving a 25 year prison sentence for human rights abuses during his ten year rule. Fujimori was convicted [JURIST report] of the human rights abuses by a special court in 2009.
How does the younger generation of experts in the EU see the current state of the Union and its future? A report from a panel discussion at the University of Wrocaw, Poland

The largest political turmoil in the history of the Union and its causes

There are people who live somewhere and people who live anywhere, said Miriam Lexmann, Director of the EU Regional Programmes at the International Republican Institute. This distinction, which Lexmann borrows from David Goodharts recent book The Road to Somewhere, offers some form of explanation for Brexit and, more generally, the rise of nationalism and populism all over the world.

The majority of people, including those living in the UK, have never moved away from the part of the country where they were born. At the same time, there is an increasing number of people who are able to live anywhere, see the world from their perspective and shape it according to their understanding, added Lexmann. Accordingly, Brexit might be understood as a revolt of the settlers against the emerging elite class of global cosmopolitan nomads.

The appearance of these elites goes hand in hand with that of poor mobile migrants. The British vote to abandon the project of European unification, as both an aspect of and an answer to globalisation, cannot be understood without addressing the dual nature of increased mobility and rootlessnessperhaps, the most striking feature of globalisation. The end of history, proclaimed by Francis Fukuyama in the 1990s, thus seems to be a much more dynamic phenomenon than one would expect.

According to Lexmann, Fukuyama is largely misunderstood: He did not claim that the end of history would mean a global triumph of liberal democracy; he was actually describing a certain decline of democracy. If the trends he observed were to continue, idealism, courage and imagination would be replaced by economic calculation and the endless solving of purely technical problems.

The original meaning of the words democracy and solidarity is often lost in technical implementations.

For Lexmann, Brussels contemporary decision-makers embody that kind of technocratic governance. It is not limited, however, to the institutions of the EU but has spread to all levels of political decision-making. The original meaning of the words democracy and solidarity is often lost in technical implementations. A colleague of mine looked into the social situation of some of the young men behind the terrorist attacks in Paris and Brussels. They were often unable to find a job and lived on state benefits. While thus benefiting financially from the states solidarity system, they eventually turned against this solidarity, since it was empty at its core, Lexmann added.

Brexit and the question of sovereignty

The issue of immigration played a major role in the Brexit referendum campaign. But it wasnt simply about immigration, said Christian Davies, Warsaw correspondent for The Guardian. The surge in the Leave vote was created just about a month before the vote, when the Leave campaign played on linking immigration with the idea of regaining sovereignty.

According to Davies, there had been no honest conversation in the UK on what the decision to leave the EU would really entail, which left public opinion demanding the impossible: both the regaining of sovereignty and the maintenance of current levels of economic growth. Even within the British government, including in some very high circles, said Davies, people still hope that Britain could restrict the freedom of movement while remaining in a single market of one kind or another  the most unlikely scenario to happen.

People now begin to see what sovereignty really means, he added. Philip Stephens from the Financial Times once called perfect sovereignty a mirage: Think of a man walking alone in a desert  this person is entirely sovereign in the decisions he takes and yet entirely powerless. This seems particularly true in the age of globalisation.

Although it will be politically impossible not to leave the EU, it may also be technically impossible to implement the leaving.

But the problem goes far beyond dashing hopes. For Davies, the referendum vote was fair and the result clear: Even the people who didnt vote to leave say that we have to leave in one form or another. The problem is that although it will be politically impossible not to leave the EU, it may also be technically impossible to implement the leaving.

Theresa Mays government, now based on a weakened coalition, will be facing the 27 remaining EU countries, who despite their differences, were able to put together a single, united front. The negotiations are not simply about going to Brussels and coming back with a deal, said Davies. Hundreds of bills will need to be passed in the House of Commons to transfer EU legislation into domestic law, and a government propped up by a minor regional party might not have the necessary majority to do that.

Davies also warned that instead of officially leaving the single market, the customs union and the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice (ECJ), as would be the case in a so-called hard Brexit, Britain is facing the very real possibility that negotiations will fail altogether, resulting in no exit agreement  a cliff-edge Brexit, as Davies called this scenario.

While there seems to be no way around Brexit, the post-Brexit future is as uncertain as the outcome of the negotiations. Davies believes that we could witness some kind of Bregret or Breturn. But the mood could also become more anti-European if people see their country being bullied by the EU.

Brexit and support for the EU on the continent

As for the rest of Europe, Brexit might even have some positive effects. Without being too complacent about it, it seems that so far Brexit has been strengthening solidarity across the European Union rather than damaging it, said Davies.

Brexit has been strengthening solidarity across the European Union rather than damaging it.

Natacha Faullimmel, policy assistant to the deputy head of the European Political Strategy Centre, the European Commissions in-house think tank, agrees: Support for the EU is growing. Its quite stunning and true even in Greece, where the views towards the EU has been less favourable, for many reasons.

Europe might be realising that it is shrinking, both in size and in global significance. In terms of population, Europe used to comprise a quarter of the worlds in the 1900s, but by 2060 it is expected to be around 4%, added Faullimmel. And in spite of Europes relative strength at the moment, similar trends can be observed in the realm of economy.

People understand that if the Union were to collapse everybody would be worse off.

Lexmann, too, was unsurprised that support for the EU should be growing after Brexit: True, people are worried that the politico-economic system is not sustainable, that important decisions are made undemocratically, but they also understand that if the Union were to collapse everybody would be worse off.

Unequal distribution of the Brexit fallout

What would be the effects of Brexit on the Unions peripheral countries, some of which are increasingly perceived as trouble-makers? asked Katarzyna Sobieraj, the panels moderator, assistant at the European Parliament and a PhD researcher in political communication and media studies.

Compared with other parts of Europe, Brexit might have its most significant and long-lasting repercussions on the countries of the Central and Eastern Europe.

According to Wojciech Przybylski, Editor-in-Chief of Visegrad Insight, a magazine on Central Europe, and Chairman of Res Publica Foundation in Warsaw, the consequences of Brexit would not be the same for all member states: Compared with other parts of Europe, Brexit might have its most significant and long-lasting repercussions on the countries of the Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) and especially on Poland and Slovakia. The CEE is anxious about Brexit for strategic reasons: the UK has been perceived as a counterbalance to the dominant political tandem in the EU between France and Germany, especially with regard to advancing a single market and opening its labour market, which attracted many Poles and Slovaks coming to work in Britain. Additionally, the UK has been especially sensitive to CEE interests when it came to the EUs eastward policies in defence and security, Przybylski added.

Also, the previous Polish government had been improving relations and aligning with Germany for around eight years, while on the eve of Brexit the discourse from the current PiS government showed that its top priority for strategic partnership in Europe was the UK. And it will take some time for Poland to admit that its key partner is still Germany, said Przybylski.

A window of opportunity for needed reforms?

Brexit has caused a major identity crisis for the EU but also a window of opportunity to reform its institutional framework. What kind of integration should Europe follow? Is it a deepening of integration around the eurozone, that President Macron seems to favour, or one of the other scenarios on the table: flexible differentiation, a club of clubs, variable geometry, Europe of the regions? asked Sobieraj.

In reply, Davies stressed the need to admit that two-tier membership or multispeed Europe has existed for many years. The question is whether to properly and institutionally acknowledge it or pretend it does not exist. While the eurozone reforms will most certainly be radically integrationist, something equally radical needs to be done to address both the EUs currently insufficient political capital and its democratic deficit.

Above all, the EU needs to reform the subsidiarity principle, added Lexmann. Some decisions should be brought back to the national level. The EUs crisis management and its sly accumulation of competences during repeating crises must stop.

The future of the EU is about various sorts of groupings.

I agree that the future of the EU is about various sorts of groupings, more future discussions will be held on the national level and then on the level of neighbouring countries, said Przybylski. But I dont like this talk of Brussels as the ivory tower which people cannot access or the centre of dismantling sovereignty. The EU actually keeps a watchful eye on the oligarchisation of some national governments, and it is acting much more in favour of local populations than expanding supra- and multinational corporate interests.

Brexit was a wake-up call, and with its recent White Paper, the European Commission has started a long overdue conversation on the future of the EU. Its message to the member states in the Council: Now the ball is in your court. Its up to you to tell us how you want us to move forward as an institution: what powers you want to give us and what powers you want to take away from us, said Faullimmel.

The problem is not so much a lack of listening on the part of the Institutions but a lack of leadership.

Jan Jakub Chromiec, a researcher at the Jacques Delors Institute in Berlin, shared the view that information exchange between the EU institutions and European citizens is very important. However, I also see a problem with the excessive dynamics of public opinion, he said, commenting from the audience. In 2015, two thirds of Poles were for accepting refugees, while in 2016 two thirds were against accepting them. Which figure should one take as the basis for a democratic policy? In my opinion, the problem is not so much a lack of listening on the part of the Institutions but a lack of leadership. The results of the election in France show that a candidate with an aggressively pro-European platform can mobilise a big part of the electorate.

One should nevertheless remember that Brexit wouldnt necessary make EU reforms any more likely to happen, reacted Davies. Britain was never blocking EU reforms. The opposite is true. I would be happy to see France and Germany working closer together, but its far from certain that the German government would be ready to accept Emmanuel Macrons proposed reforms.

The panel discussion took place during YPIN  Young Polish International Networks Annual General Meeting on the 24th of June 2017. Katoikos.eu participated in the event as a media partner.
One person is dead and two others injured following a single vehicle rollover crash in Winneshiek County.

According to the Winneshiek County Sheriff's Office, it happened about 4:20 p.m. Sunday on County Road A14 between the town of Hesper and Locust Road. All victims are from Spring Grove, Minnesota.

Deputies said 24-year-old Casey Buxengard was driving east on County Road A14 at a high rate of speed when he lost control of his SUV and entered the north ditch. The vehicle rolled several times across a field, coming to rest on its side.

Casey Buxengard and a passenger, 25-year-old Justin Vincek, were ejected during the crash. Another passenger, 26-year-old Lindsey Buxengard was able to crawl out of the SUV after the crash.

Emergency crews drove Lindsey Buxengard to a hospital, and flew Casey Buxengard to a hospital. Investigators said Justin Vincek died at the scene.

The Iowa State Patrol has taken over the investigation and will release a report after it is completed.
For many years now, the Essential Air Service program included in Federal Aviation Administration funding has made it possible for airports in small communities, including Grand Island, to continue to provide air service to rural areas.

At the Central Nebraska Regional Airport in Grand Island, EAS funding encouraged American Airlines to begin providing air service between Grand Island and the Dallas/Fort Worth airport in 2011 and passenger numbers on those flights have continued to increase.

Earlier this year, the airports executive director, Mike Olson, said the airport has either the second or third lowest per-passenger subsidy in the country. Hall County Airport Authority attorney Ron Depue called the airport a poster child for the EAS program because boardings continue to increase and the per-passenger subsidy therefore keeps dropping.

Olson has said the airports ultimate goal is to get off the subsidy. But right now, it is the impetus for American Airlines to be flying American Eagle jets out of Grand Island airport. Its even more important to the other Nebraska airports receiving subsidies, in Alliance, Chadron, McCook, North Platte, Kearney and Scottsbluff. Overall, EAS serves 173 airports in 46 states.

Yet, when the Trump administration released its fiscal 2018 budget proposal earlier this year, it called for an end to EAS funding.

Sen. Deb Fischer, R-Neb., and a bipartisan group of senators sent a letter to Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao emphasizing their concerns. This would significantly reduce support for rural communities in our states, the letter says. A reduction in support could lead to a reduction in services and ultimately in jobs for rural America.

When Fischer questioned Chao during a Senate Commerce Committee hearing earlier this month, the secretary assured our senator that she was working on a way to keep the subsidy program.

The end of EAS could mean the end of air service in several rural Nebraska communities, as well as many other rural communities across the country.

Grand Island Independent
How trustworthy would a Nebraska State Patrol investigator consider a civilian witness whose story shifted after three tellings?

Odds are, such a witness wouldnt get the benefit of the doubt. But the State Patrol expects the public to trust its shifting explanations for what led to a fatal crash that ended an Oct. 3 pursuit.

Six and a half minutes before the crash near Gordon, Trooper Tim Flick received approval to disable the fleeing suspects vehicle by using a tactical vehicle intervention. He then radioed dispatch to say he was carrying out the maneuver, which involves ramming the rear quarter panel of the vehicle being chased.

Flick radioed afterward to say he had carried out the TVI. He told someone the same thing by phone. Then something changed. Capt. Jamey Balthazor, the troop areas commander, wrote a memo saying Flick told him a different account hours later: that the fleeing vehicle had moved into him.

Dashboard camera footage appears to confirm Flicks original version. In the footage, the Patrol cruiser appears to initiate contact with a Mercury driven by Antoine LaDeaux, 32, who died in the crash.

Authorities say LaDeaux was booze cruising with friends that night when he ran a stop sign and tried to outrun Flick, who pursued him.

Internal investigators and others who reviewed the incident later determined that Flick initiated the vehicle contact and that the trooper had used the TVI technique appropriately.

But some Patrol officials disagreed with that conclusion and argued internally about what the accident and internal reports should say.

A grand jury, after watching the cruiser video and hearing conflicting accounts from Flick and others, expressed confusion but blamed the wreck on LaDeaux, not the trooper.

Its possible everything in this case was above board. Its also possible the Patrol hoped to avoid the public scrutiny of a use-of-force investigation.

Two important principles are at stake: public safety and public trust.

Omaha World-Herald
Omar Khadr leaves court after a judge ruled to relax bail conditions in Edmonton on Sept. 18, 2015. The federal government has paid former Guantanamo Bay inmate Omar Khadr $10.5 million as part of a deal to settle his long-standing lawsuit over violations of his rights, The Canadian Press has learned.Speaking strictly on condition of anonymity, a source familiar with the situation said the Liberal government wanted to get ahead of an attempt by two Americans to enforce a massive U.S. court award against Khadr in Canadian court. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Amber Bracken
FILE - In this May 26,m 2017 file photo, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, accompanied by European Council President Donald Tusk, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, talks with President Donald Trump during a family photo with G7 leaders at the Ancient Greek Theater of Taormina in Taormina, Italy. President Donald Trump will learn this week whether he gets a second chance to make a first impression as he returns to Europe and has his first encounter with RussiaAos Vladimir Putin. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)
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A guest column by the American College of Physicians, exclusive to KevinMD.com.

For many years, Ive wanted to visit Cuba. When travel restrictions to Cuba were relaxed a few years ago, I hoped that I would get there before the first Burger King opened in Havana. I had my chance in May, as a member of a delegation representing the American College of Physicians (ACP) that visited Cuba to meet with government health officials, physicians, and other participants in the Cuban health care system. Most of the delegation members were current and former leaders of ACP, all of whom paid their own way to be part of this historic visit.

This is not ACPs official summary of the visit; instead, I will share some of my reflections from the five days that we spent in Havana.

Like the cars in Havana, their medical home is also antique. Primary care offices located in communities, with teams of doctors and nurses supported by specialists, dentists, physical therapists, and others, managing populations of patients, providing basic preventive care and coordinating specialty care for that population. Sound familiar? We thought we were innovative in the mid-2000s when we rolled out the patient-centered medical home (PCMH), but the Cubans were way ahead of us.

Its not all about tropical diseases. I suspect that most people believe the greatest health care challenges on a tropical island such as Cuba are malaria, dengue, chikungunya, and other infectious diseases. However, the most common medical diagnoses affecting Cubans are non-communicable diseases. When it comes to medical conditions, the US and Cuba have the same leaders: hypertension, diabetes, cancer, and cardiovascular disease (even though you cant buy a Whopper and fries there, yet).

They lack resources, not medical knowledge. Over the years, Ive had the privilege of representing ACP in several countries, and on each of my journeys Im reminded that while physicians in economically disadvantaged countries lack the resources to provide the kind of medical care that they would like to provide, they are not lacking in knowledge of the science of medicine. Acquiring that knowledge is costly, as we learned that journal subscription fees are a significant barrier for the Cuban physicians, who must be selective about which journals or online databases they will purchase. (Some academic institutions accept donations of medical journals and books for distribution to developing countries  if yours doesnt, a list of programs can be found online.)

Quality counts, even where there is no competition (or EHR). Despite the absence of a health information technology infrastructure and the continued use of paper records, the Cuban health system tracks various metrics similar to ones we follow, such as immunization and cancer screening rates. They do it manually. At a visit to a primary care office, we saw a clipboard with a sheet of paper listing the days patients and the services provided. At the end of the day, the report was taken to the regional health clinic, where it would be compiled. No online registries, health information exchanges, or electronic health records. Interestingly, despite the fact that the Cuban system has no competition, its providers still want to score as high as possible on their measures.

Internists in other countries seem to be better able than us to define our specialty. I have participated in two extensive efforts by ACP to develop a definition of internal medicine, culminating in statements about the specialty that went beyond just saying what we were not or what we didnt do. In Havana, I was struck by how easily the internists there could describe what an internist is and what one does, as I also observed during my visits to Dhaka and Caracas. Moreover, they showed great pride in their being internists. Next time we consider a PR campaign for our specialty, we should consider outsourcing it to our international colleagues.

They dont seem to hold a grudge  why do we? Before I venture into what may be interpreted as a political statement, I will remind readers that what follows is my personal view and not official ACP policy. From the start of our visit to Havana, I was moved by the great hospitality that we received from the Cuban people, especially the members of the Cuban health care community. This, even though the embargo is still in effect, and the resulting harm to the average Cuban continues. We heard stories of medical equipment having to travel through several European countries to sidestep embargo rules, of shortages of basic medications such as insulin, of having to import from Asia items that could be easily obtained a couple of hundred miles and an hours flight away in the US. We saw an infrastructure in need of modernization and many beautiful buildings and historical sites in disrepair. Scientific exchanges between our two countries occur, but with great difficulty because of onerous rules. Yet, despite this, I did not sense any bitterness on the part of our hosts. Frustration, yes, but no blame  just hope.

This was truly a historic trip, as our Cuban internist colleagues pointed out to us, and we felt it throughout our time there. I am grateful that I was invited to participate and look forward to returning someday.

Yul Ejnes is an internal medicine physician and a past chair, board of regents, American College of Physicians. His statements do not necessarily reflect official policies of ACP.

Image credit: Shutterstock.com
Population:

20,455

Nearest large city:

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MinneapolisSt. Paul

What $300,000 will buy:

4-bedroom, 2-bath 1920s bungalow with detached garage close to downtown

The Cannon River runs through town, and several parks and walking paths provide access to fishing, canoeing and kayaking. Fitness buffs have plenty of options: In the snowy Minnesota winter, you can cross-country ski along miles of groomed trails or snowshoe through Carletons Cowling Arboretum. Too cold outdoors? Run, swim or take exercise classes at the YMCA Community Center. No need to worry about health care, either. If you need access to specialists not available at Northfield Hospital & Clinics, the Mayo Clinic is 50 miles away, in Rochester.

The median home price in Rice County is $217,300, but the inventory of homes for sale is tight, says Jan Stevens, a real estate agent who helped the Davises. A few condos have been built downtown on the river, but theyre multilevel and tend to be high-end, she says. When the Davises couldnt find what they wanted, they built a three-bedroom, two-and-a-half-bath home that will allow them to age in place. The median annual property tax paid in Rice County is $2,057.

Minnesota isnt a tax-friendly state for retirees. Income and sales tax rates are high, and Social Security income is taxed to the same extent it is on your federal return. The state also has an estate tax, which excludes up to $2.1 million in 2017; the exclusion will increase to $2.4 million in 2018.
SHANGHAI, July 4 (Reuters) - Chinese state-owned banks were seen selling dollars at the 6.80 yuan per dollar level in the onshore foreign exchange market on Tuesday, two traders said.

"Major state-owned banks were selling dollars in morning trade," said a trader at a Chinese bank in Shanghai.

State-owned banks have offered dollar liquidity regularly over the past two months in what traders believe is part of efforts to support the yuan from falling too fast.

(Reporting by Winni Zhou and Adam Jourdan; Editing by Jacqueline Wong)
BRUSSELS, July 4 (Reuters) - Belgium sold 1.69 billion euros ($1.92 billion) of short-term debt at an auction of three and six-month treasury bills with yields on both maturities falling further below zero, the country's debt agency said.

Three-month paper, the most regularly auctioned maturity, sold for a negative yield of 0.643 percent, down from the negative 0.610 percent in June.

Six-month treasury bills sold for a yield of -0.636 percent, also below the -0.603 percent during the last auction of this maturity in late May.

Belgium has received rather than paid interest on its short-term borrowings almost three years. ($1 = 0.8815 euros)

(Reporting by Robert-Jan Bartunek)
KINSHASA, July 4 (Reuters) - Democratic Republic of Congo said late on Monday that its Inga 3 hydroelectric project is not expected to begin producing power until 2024 or 2025, not 2020 or 2021 as originally planned.

The $14 billion, 4,800 megawatt project has struggled to attract financing and was dealt another blow last year when the World Bank said it had suspended funding after the presidency took control of the project, raising transparency concerns. .

Last month, Congo asked the final bidders - one consortium led by China Three Gorges Corporation and another that includes Spain's ACS (Actividades de Construccion y Servicios SA) - to submit a joint bid. "We are working for this timing (in 2024 or 2025) now that the potential developer has been identified," Bruno Kapandji, the head of the government agency overseeing development of Inga 3, told Reuters.

The project along the Congo River will expand on two existing Inga hydroelectric dams and is part of an eight-stage Grand Inga project that would produce a record 44,000 MW at an estimated cost of $50 billion to $80 billion.

Proponents say it could one day power half of Africa but critics argue the money would be better spent supporting smaller local plants.

The project's future is also clouded by the tenuous political situation in Congo, where President Joseph Kabila refused to step down at the end of his constitutional mandate last December.

That has fuelled growing insecurity in the perpetually unstable Central African country, including an increase in militia violence and a spate of prison breaks.

Of the project's 4,800 MW, 2,500 MW are earmarked for South Africa, 1,300 MW will support Congo's mining sector and the remaining 1,000 MW will go toward meeting domestic power demand. Only about 15 percent of Congo's population has electricity.

(Reporting by Aaron Ross; editing by Nellie Peyton and Jason Neely)
TOKYO, July 4 (Reuters) - Japanese oil refiner Idemitsu Kosan Co said it would invest to build C8 splitter distillation columns at Aichi refinery in central Japan to make mixed xylene from gasoline distillate.

A C8 splitter, which separates components in gasoline by distillation to produce mixed xylene, would boost annual production capacity of mixed xylene by 170,000 tonnes, the company said in a regulatory finding to issue new shares. [ ]

A company spokesman declined to comment on details such as the schedule for construction or operations.

The move comes as Japanese oil refiners shift to petrochemical production amid a continued fall in domestic oil demand.

Xylene can be used in the manufacture of plastic bottles and polyester textiles, and it is also used as a solvent and as a component of rubber, ink and glues.

Former TonenGeneral Sekiyu KK, now part of JXTG Nippon Oil & Energy Corp, and Showa Shell Sekiyu have made mixed xylene units in recent years to cope with falling gasoline demand.

(Reporting by Osamu Tsukimori; Editing by Amrutha Gayathri)
DUBAI, July 4 (Reuters) - Gulf stock markets look set to move sideways on Tuesday with the international environment mixed and uncertainty prevailing over the diplomatic dispute around Qatar.

Brent oil jumped 3.7 percent on Monday, its biggest one-day gain since December 2016, but has fallen back 0.5 percent to $49.41 in Tuesday's Asian trade. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan is down 0.6 percent.

Foreign ministers from the four Arab countries sanctioning Qatar will meet in Cairo on Wednesday to discuss the dispute. Kuwaiti state media reported Qatari foreign minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani had submitted to Kuwait Doha's formal response to the Arab states' demands, but the contents of the response have not been revealed. Recent comments by Qatari officials suggest it is unlikely to acquiesce to enough of the demands by the late Tuesday deadline to avoid further sanctions. But Monday's buying by foreign investors in the Qatari stock market suggests some funds do not think the additional sanctions would be crippling and there is now value in the market.

Dubai-listed GFH Financial said it had obtained approval from the central bank of Bahrain to buy back up to 5 percent of its issued treasury shares. Much of this good news may already be reflected in the share price, however; the stock jumped 6.3 percent on Monday.

(Reporting by Andrew Torchia)
DUBAI, July 4 (Reuters) - Qatar's stock market continued rebounding early on Tuesday from lows hit because of the diplomatic crisis surrounding Doha, while profit-taking in a few Saudi Arabian blue chips dragged down that market.

A deadline set by four Arab states for Doha to comply with their demands will expire late on Tuesday, and recent comments by Qatari officials suggest it is unlikely to acquiesce to enough of the demands to avoid further economic sanctions.

But net buying by foreign investors in the Qatari stock market over the last few days suggests some funds do not think the additional sanctions would be crippling, while they believe there is now value in the market.

Qatar's stock index , which had rebounded 1.3 percent on Monday, added a further 1.1 percent in early trade on Tuesday. Some blue chips remained weak, with Qatar National Bank down 0.2 percent, for example.

But companies linked to Qatari gas production were strong as the chief executive of Qatar Petroleum outlined plans to raise output and capacity in coming years. Gulf International Services , the most heavily traded stock, surged 4.0 percent and Qatar Gas Transport soared its 10 percent daily limit.

Saudi Arabia's index fell 0.5 percent as a few blue chips, which had surged last week after MSCI said it would consider Riyadh for emerging market status and economic reformer Mohammed bin Salman was promoted to crown prince, pulled back.

National Commercial Bank , the largest lender, was the biggest loser, dropping 3.1 percent. Miner Ma'aden slipped 0.6 percent.

Second- or third-tier stocks accounted for much activity and some rose strongly; Wafa Insurance gained 5.3 percent after the central bank said it would let the company accept new subscribers in vehicle insurance, lifting a suspension on this activity.

Dubai's index fell 0.5 percent as blue chip Emaar Properties slid 1.1 percent. But GFH Financial , the most heavily traded stock, rose 1.8 percent after saying it had obtained approval from the central bank of Bahrain to buy back up to 5 percent of its issued treasury shares.

Builder Arabtec surged 4.1 percent after saying it had won a 353 million dirham ($96 million) contract from to build the United Arab Emirates pavilion at Expo 2020 world's fair in Dubai.

(Reporting by Andrew Torchia; Editing by Richard Balmforth) Keywords: MIDEAST STOCKS/
DUBAI, July 4 (Reuters) - Qatar's central bank said on Tuesday it had sold 1 billion riyals ($275 million) of Treasury bills in its monthly auction, with yields rising sharply from the previous month's sale.

It sold 500 million riyals of three-month bills at a yield of 2.05 percent, 300 million riyals of six-month at 2.22 percent and 200 million riyals of nine-month at 2.50 percent.

At the previous sale, the central bank sold 690 million riyals of bills: 300 million riyals of three-month at 1.85 percent, 200 million riyals of six-month at 2.05 percent, and 190 million riyals of nine-month at 2.18 percent.

A central bank source had told Reuters early this week that the bill auction was being suspended this month. There was no immediate explanation of why plans apparently changed.

(Reporting by Andrew Torchia)
(Cuts extraneous words from headline)

TOKYO, July 4 (Reuters) - Japan's top currency diplomat has been appointed for another one-year term in a regular finance ministry reshuffle, underscoring a desire to maintain policy consistency as Tokyo faces potentially tough economic talks with the United States.

Masatsugu Asakawa, a 59-year-old policy veteran with policymaker contacts inside and outside of Japan, played a key role in setting up Japan's bilateral economic dialogue with the United States, which kicked off in April.

The Ministry of Finance said on Tuesday that Asakawa will serve another year as vice finance minister for international affairs, a position he has held since July 2015.

The role oversees Japan's currency policy and international diplomacy and includes representing Tokyo in Group of Seven (G7) and Group of 20 (G20) meetings.

Asakawa's reappointment will help Tokyo negotiate with consistency in the second round of the bilateral economic dialogue with the United States, which is expected to be held later this year, analysts said.

U.S. President Donald Trump campaigned for office on an "America First" platform, saying he would boost manufacturing jobs and shrink the country's trade deficit with the likes of Japan.

Not many officials have held the post for more than two years. Those that have done so include Haruhiko Kuroda, the governor of the Bank of Japan since 2013.

Asakawa is close to Finance Minister Taro Aso, having served as his executive secretary when Aso was prime minister in 2008-2009, and as his executive assistant when he became finance minister in 2012.

Japan has not intervened in the currency market under Asakawa's stewardship, though he has frequently jawboned markets to stem yen spikes that risk hurting the export-reliant economy.

Some analysts see Asakawa as a dark-horse candidate to replace Kuroda at the BOJ when the incumbent's five-year term ends in April next year.

(Reporting by Leika Kihara and Takaya Yamaguchi; Editing by Neil Fullick)
By Chandini Monnappa

July 4 (Reuters) - Southeast Asian stock markets fell on Tuesday tracking weak regional markets after North Korea test-fired a missile that landed in Japanese waters, pressuring riskier assets. The missile, launched days before leaders from the Group of 20 nations are due to discuss steps to rein in Pyongyang's weapons programmes, flew a trajectory that an expert said could allow a weapon to hit the U.S. state of Alaska. "North Korea's missile deployment to Sea of Japan is a sign of increasing intensity of security risk in the region," said Jim McCafferty, head of equity research for Asia ex-Japan at Nomura in Hong Kong.

Global equity markets were weighed down late last week by worries that major central banks were turning hawkish, possibly signalling a coordinated end to years of ultra-loose monetary policy on both sides of the Atlantic. Asia, however, has had its bright spots, as this week's manufacturing surveys showed. Private sector surveys of manufacturers in Asia showed the factory sectors of China, South Korea, Japan, Singapore and Taiwan picked up in June, driven largely by a recovery in exports. In southeast Asia, Indonesian shares ended the day 0.8 percent lower as telecommunication and consumer shares weighed on the index.

Telekomunikasi Indonesia (Persero) Tbk PT dropped as much as 4.2 percent, posting its biggest intraday percentage loss since Nov. 2016.

Malaysian shares ended the day 0.4 percent. Petronas Gas Bhd was down as much as 1.60 percent.

Malaysian palm oil futures fell on Tuesday from a two-week high on profit-taking and as the market tracked a weaker performance in related oils on China's Dalian Commodity Exchange. Philippine shares closed 0.4 percent lower, hurt mostly by financials, real estate and industrial stocks.

Index heavyweight JG Summit was the biggest drag with a drop of 1.5 percent.

The Philippines has been one of the best performing equity markets in southeast Asia this year when adjusted for local currency, according to Thomson Reuters data. ( )

Singapore closed 0.4 percent lower, posting its third straight session of decline.

Financials dragged the index lower, with Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation slipping as much as 1.5 percent.

For Asian Companies click; SOUTHEAST ASIAN STOCK MARKETS Change on the day Market Current Previous Close Pct Move Singapore 3211.17 3223.46 -0.38 Bangkok 1574.11 1579.41 -0.34 Manila 7833.96 7866.52 -0.41 Jakarta 5865.364 5910.237 -0.76 Kuala Lumpur 1762.08 1768.67 -0.37 Ho Chi Minh 775.54 778.88 -0.43

Change on year Market Current End 2016 Pct Move Singapore 3211.17 2880.76 11.47 Bangkok 1574.11 1542.94 2.02 Manila 7833.96 6840.64 14.52 Jakarta 5865.364 5296.711 10.74 Kuala Lumpur 1762.08 1641.73 7.33 Ho Chi Minh 775.54 664.87 16.65

(Reporting by Chandini Monnappa; Editing by Vyas Mohan)
HANOI, July 4 (Reuters) - Here's a snapshot of Vietnamese dong exchange rates in the official and unofficial markets, indicative SJC gold prices in Hanoi and interbank offered rates at 0636 GMT.

July 4 USD/VND mid-point 22,440 USD/VND interbank 22,734/22,737 USD/VND unofficial 22,790/22,810 SJC gold (mln dong/tael) 36.06/36.28

Interbank offered rates Overnight 1.7-2.3

1 week 2.0-2.5

1 month 3.1-3.4

3 months 4.0-4.5

NOTES: As of Jan. 4, 2016, the State Bank of Vietnam has begun setting the mid-point rate on daily basis, allowing dollar/dong transactions to move in a band of +/- 3 percent around the mid point. The dong's exchange rate against other currencies is not restricted by a band. Interbank offered rates are the latest indicative bid/ask prices, quoted from market sources.

One tael is equivalent to 37.5 grams or 1.21 troy ounces. SJC gold prices are quoted by state-owned Saigon Jewelry Co.

For more interbank rate fixings released at 0400 GMT, click on .

For Vietnam market overview click on: Vietnam's bonds market auctions: Bonds auction results: (Compiled by Hanoi Newsroom; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)
JOHANNESBURG, July 4 (Reuters) - South Africa's rand firmed in early trade on Tuesday after three straight session of losses, supported by an easing dollar, with market focus on the ongoing policy conference of the ruling African National Congress (ANC).

* At 0645 GMT, the rand traded at 13.1700 per dollar, 0.38 percent firmer than its New York close on Monday.

* "The rand is very edgy and still has a bias for weakness but should find some stability today given the U.S. holiday and lack of global event risk," Rand Merchant Bank currency strategist John Cairns wrote in a note.

* He added: "Global risks may be low but local risks are high because of the policy conference."

* Stocks were set to open lower at 0700 GMT, with the JSE securities exchange's Top-40 futures index down 0.63 percent.

* In fixed income, the yield for the benchmark government due in 2026 fell 1 basis point to 8.815 percent.

(Reporting by Olivia Kumwenda-Mtambo; Editing by Andrew Heavens)
ZURICH, July 4(Reuters) - The Swiss blue-chip SMI .SSMI was seen opening 0.1 percent higher at 9,017 points on Tuesday, according to premarket indications by bank Julius Baer JBPRE01.

The following are some of the main factors expected to affect Swiss stocks.

CLARIANT Activist investor Corvex and roofing maker Standard Industries' investment arm have teamed up to take a 7.2 percent stake in Clariant CLN.S in a bid to scuttle the Swiss chemical maker's proposed merger with Huntsman Corp For more click COMPANY STATEMENTS * Cham Paper Group said it sees H1 operating profit of 9 million francs to 10 million francs. * Hochdorf Holding said its unit Uckermaerker Milch will reposition itself on the market, including plans to stop curd production at the end of October. * DormaKaba Holding said it bought Australia's Kilargo Pty Ltd to expand in the Pacific region. Kilargo has 55 employees and about 13 million Swiss francs in annual sales. * AMS said it has completed its purchase of Princeton Optronics. * Lifewatch said BioTelemetry has now acquired 96.67 percent of shares in the Swiss company at the end of the additional acceptance period. It said it expected settlement of the offer on July 12. ECONOMY (Reporting by Zurich newsroom)

Daily Swiss stock market report in German................ All SMI constituent stocks............................ News on major Swiss stock price moves.................. FTSE Eurotop 300 index................................ DJ STOXX index........................................ Top 10 STOXX sectors............................. Top 10 EUROSTOXX sectors........................ Top 10 Eurotop 300 sectors....................... Top 25 European pct gainers... , losers... Swiss mid-cap index SMI futures Swiss all-share index Market statistics Swiss market digest Sector overview All Swiss news Swiss research news All equity news INTERNET ADDRESSES: Swiss Exchange / Eurex STOXX Ltd SPEED GUIDES: ))

Keywords: MARKETS SWISS STOCKS/
By Phil Stewart and David Brunnstrom | WASHINGTON

The United States now believes North Korea probably test-launched an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), but is still reviewing the data, two U.S. officials told Reuters on Tuesday, as experts cautioned the U.S. state of Alaska may now be within range.

If confirmed as an ICBM, it would mark a major milestone for North Korea's missile program and would heighten concern in Washington about Pyongyang's declared pursuit of a nuclear-tipped missile that can reach the United States.

U.S. President Donald Trump vowed in January that North Korea would never achieve that goal.

The United States requested a closed-door meeting of the 15-member U.N. Security Council about the launch, a session likely to be scheduled for Wednesday, a spokesman for the U.S. mission to the United Nations said on Tuesday.

The launch, on the eve of Tuesday's U.S. Independence Day, took place days before leaders from the Group of 20 nations were due to discuss steps to rein in North Korea's weapons program, which it has pursued in defiance of Security Council sanctions.

North Korea's state media said the launch was ordered and supervised by leader Kim Jong Un and sent the Hwasong-14 933 km (580 miles), reaching an altitude of 2,802 km (1,741 miles) over a flight time of 39 minutes.

Some analysts said the flight details suggested the new missile had a range of more than 8,000 km (4,970 miles), which would put significant parts of the U.S. mainland in range, representing major advances in its program.

David Wright, co-director of the Global Security Program at the U.S.-based Union of Concerned Scientists, said the flight time and distance suggested the missile could travel about 6,700 km (4,163 miles), bringing all of Alaska into range.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in said the missile was believed to be an intermediate-range type, but the military was looking into the possibility it was an ICBM.

The Pentagon and State Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

On Monday night, the U.S. military described the missile as an intermediate-range type that traveled for 37 minutes, and the United States has not yet officially changed that assessment.

The two U.S. officials, who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity about the ongoing review of data on the test launch, said no conclusion had yet been reached. But the evidence increasingly suggested a two-stage ICBM, as opposed to an intermediate-range missile, they said.

U.S.-based missile expert John Schilling, a contributor to the Washington-based North Korea monitoring project, 38 North, said the launch was both earlier and "far more successful than expected."

He said it would now probably only be a year or two before a North Korean ICBM achieved "minimal operational capability" and it was likely the initial test did not perform as well as an operational missile would.

"Still, this missile demonstrated a degree of performance that is beyond what is needed to reach Anchorage - or Pearl Harbor - but not quite sufficient to reliably reach targets on the U.S. West Coast," he said.

Schilling said the U.S. national missile defense system was "only minimally operational" and would take more than two years to upgrade to provide more reliable defense.

North Korea said its missiles were now capable of striking anywhere in the world.

Officials from South Korea, Japan and the United States said the missile landed in the sea in Japan's Exclusive Economic Zone after being launched on a high trajectory.

Kim Dong-yub, a military expert at Seoul's Kyungnam University, said that if launched on a standard angle, the missile could have a range of more than 8,000 km (4,970 miles).

TRUMP FRUSTRATION WITH CHINA

Trump has been urging China, North Korea's main trading partner and only big ally and the current chair of the U.N. Security Council, to press Pyongyang to give up its nuclear program. In an apparent reference to Kim Jong Un, Trump tweeted: "Does this guy have anything better to do with his life?"

"Hard to believe South Korea and Japan will put up with this much longer," he added. "Perhaps China will put a heavy move on North Korea and end this nonsense once and for all!"

Trump has indicated he is running out of patience with Beijing's efforts to rein in North Korea. His administration has said all options are on the table, military included, but suggested those would be a last resort and that sanctions and diplomatic pressure were its preferred course.

While China has responded to previous North Korean tests of suspected ICBM technology by agreeing to tougher U.N. sanctions, it emphasized on Tuesday its call for a return to talks with North Korea by signing a joint statement with Russia.

Under China's plan, North Korea would suspend its ballistic missile program in return for a moratorium on large-scale military exercises by the United States and South Korea, which Washington and Seoul say are essential to maintain defense readiness.

Trump is due to meet both Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin during the G20 in Germany this week.

Japan said on Monday it would have a trilateral summit with the United States and South Korea on North Korea at the G20. Its prime minister, Shinzo Abe, said he would ask the presidents of China and Russia to play more constructive roles.

North Korea was a major topic in phone calls between Trump and the leaders of China and Japan this week.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang called on Tuesday for calm and restraint, and reiterated China's opposition to North Korea's violation of U.N. resolutions on missile tests.

Responding to Trump's tweet, Geng said China had been working hard to resolve the North Korean nuclear issue.

"China's role is indispensable," he told a daily news briefing. "We hope all sides can meet each other halfway."

North Korea has conducted five nuclear tests, two since the beginning of last year, and the pace of missile tests has risen significantly. It says it needs to defend itself against U.S. aggression.

Analysts say it often conducts tests to show its defiance and to raise the stakes when it sees regional powers getting ready for talks or sanctions.

(Additional reporting by Christine Kim and Soyoung Kim in Seoul, Kiyoshi Takenaka and Elaine Lies in Tokyo, Ben Blanchard in Beijing, David Brunnstrom, Ayesha Rascoe and Lesley Wroughton in Washington and Michelle Nichols in New York; Editing by Peter Cooney and Jonathan Oatis)
(Adds background, comments)

BRASILIA, July 4 (Reuters) - Industrial output in Brazil rose for a second straight month in May, government data showed on Tuesday, underpinning hopes that the economy will not fall back into recession despite an escalating political crisis.

Industrial production rose 0.8 percent in May from April after seasonal adjustments, statistics agency IBGE said. The median estimate in a Reuters poll projected an increase of 0.6 percent, following a rise of 1.1 percent in April.

Production in May grew 4.0 percent from a year earlier, the fastest increase since February 2014.

Output grew on a monthly comparison in 17 of the 24 sectors covered by IBGE. Automobile production jumped 9.0 percent, supported by strong exports that also helped Brazil's trade balance record their two largest monthly surpluses on record in May and June. Brazil's economy is expected to grow 0.4 percent in 2017 after two years of deep recession, according to a weekly central bank poll of economists. Analysts and policymakers have cut their estimates for this year's growth after a graft scandal threatened to topple President Michel Temer's year-long administration. Industrial output, despite its recent improvement, remains 18.5 percent below its June 2013 peak, IBGE said.

"This increase needs to be put into context," IBGE economist Andre Macedo said. "There is a lot to be done for industry to recover the losses of its recent past."

(Percent change) m-m y-y Capital goods 3.5 7.6 Intermediate goods 0.3 2.9 Consumer goods 1.3 5.0

Durable consumer goods 6.7 20.7

Semi-durable and non-durable consumer 0.7 1.4 goods Industrial output 0.8 4.0 (Reporting by Silvio Cascione; Editing by Chris Reese)
* July-Sept crude steel output seen falling Y/Y for 2nd quarter in a row

* Local demand expected to rise in auto and construction areas

* July-Sept export demand likely to drop 5.7 pct Y/Y

(Adds comments and details)

By Yuka Obayashi

TOKYO, July 4 (Reuters) - Japan's crude steel output is expected to fall 0.2 percent in the July to September quarter from a year earlier, as maintenance and problems at some mills will cap production and reduce exports, the government said on Tuesday.

That comes despite recent signs that a recovery in the world's third-largest economy is gaining pace thanks to solid factory output and exports. The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) estimated crude steel output would slip to 26.29 million tonnes during July to September, which would be the second quarterly decline in a row on a year earlier.

But July to September output is forecast to be 0.5 percent higher than the previous quarter, the ministry said, citing an industry survey.

"Exports are expected to drop due to lower output at some mills because of maintenance and trouble," Yasuji Komiyama, director of METI's metal industries division, told a news conference.

Japan's biggest steelmaker, Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corp , has had a series of fires at its Oita plant in western Japan since January. The company plans to resume production of heavy plates at the crippled plant in August. "Overall domestic demand is fairly strong in both construction and manufacturing. Once capacity issues at mills are solved and demand related to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics starts increasing, steel output will likely pick up," Komiyama said.

Demand for steel products, including those for export, is expected to drop 1.6 percent, compared with the same quarter last year, the ministry said.

Local demand is forecast to climb 0.7 percent while export demand is predicted to slip 5.7 percent.

(Reporting by Yuka Obayashi; Editing by Aaron Sheldrick and Richard Pullin)
* IPO estimated to raise $878 mln, Malaysia's biggest since 2012

* Institutional portion of IPO all allocated -source

(Releads with Lotte's confirmation of pricing; adds background)

By Liz Lee

KUALA LUMPUR, July 4 (Reuters) - Malaysia's Lotte Chemical Titan Holding said on Tuesday its initial public offering (IPO) was priced at 6.50 ringgit ($1.51) per share, the bottom of an indicative price range.

At 6.50 ringgit apiece, the IPO is set to raise $878 million, still Malaysia's biggest stock flotation since 2012.

The integrated petrochemical producer, part of South Korean conglomerate Lotte Group, was to have priced its offer last week but relaunched it on Monday at a lower range of 6.50-8.00 ringgit to institutional investors after tepid investor interest resulted in an undersubscribed book. One source familiar with the matter said the institutional offer, which constituted the bulk of the IPO, was all allocated, and that demand should now be sufficient to cover earlier shortfalls in the subscription of offer shares.

The source added that the institutional portion of the offer was about 80 percent supported by domestic entities, and the remainder by foreign funds. "Ninety percent of the institutional investors are long-only funds," the person said, declining to be named as the process was private.

Lotte Chemical Titan was not immediately reachable for a comment.

Sources had told Reuters that retail interest for the IPO was weak as investors had deemed the offer overvalued.

In response to the soft overall demand, Lotte Chemical Titan cut its IPO shares on offer by a fifth to 580 million from the initially planned 740.5 million.

The offering had attracted five cornerstone investors - Permodalan Nasional, Eastspring Investments, Great Eastern Life Assurance Malaysia, Maybank Asset Management and Maybank Islamic Asset Management. Credit Suisse, JPMorgan and Maybank are joint global coordinators for the IPO. Bookrunners are CIMB, HSBC and Nomura.

($1 = 4.2965 ringgit)

(Reporting by Liz Lee; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)
A North Korean Hwasong-14 intercontinental ballistic missile is launched in this photo released by the North's state-run Korean Central TV, Tuesday. The launch took place near Banghyon, North Pyongan Province, at 9:40 a.m. / Yonhap



Moon denounces provocation, vows stern response

By Jun Ji-hye

North Korea claimed Tuesday that it had successfully launched an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) capable of striking the continental United States.

This marked the first time for the North to launch such a missile, believed to be able to fly more than 10,000 kilometers.

The "special" announcement made by Pyongyang's state-run Korean Central TV came hours after South Korea and the United States as well as Japan detected the launch of the missile.





The latest provocation came a few days after President Moon Jae-in and his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump agreed to open the door for dialogue during their summit Friday.

The militaries of Seoul and Washington presumed, after a preliminary analysis, that the North may have launched an intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM), believed to have a maximum range of 5,000 kilometers.

But the reclusive states' media claimed it was an ICBM, called the Hwasong-14, adding that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un observed the test.



The Korea Central News Agency (KCNA) said the missile made a "39 minute flight along its pre-set trajectory before accurately hitting the target waters in the open sea in the East Sea." It also said, "The rocket was boosted to a maximum height of 2,802 kilometers and traveled a distance of 933 kilometers."





North Korean leader Kim Jong-un signs an order for the test-firing of an intercontinental ballistic missile, Monday, a day before the North conducted the test. / Yonhap

The media noted that the North fired the missile at a high angle as it did in previous launches to exert "no adverse effect on the security of neighboring countries."

The launch took place near Banghyon, North Pyongan Province, at 9:40 a.m., according to Seoul's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS).

After the North's announcement was made, President Moon urged the repressive state not to reach "the point of no return."

"If the North crosses a red line and does not respond to a method agreed on by the leaders of South Korea and the United States to peacefully denuclearize the Korean Peninsula, nobody will know how we (Seoul and Washington) will react," Moon said during a meeting with former British Prime Minister David Cameron at Cheong Wa Dae, according to Moon's chief press secretary, Yoon Young-chan.

Moon also called on China to play a more powerful role in resolving the issue, Yoon added.

Earlier in the day, Moon presided over a National Security Council session, during which he also strongly denounced the provocation, the sixth since his inauguration and the second in less than a month.












Moon to discuss NK with Abe, Trump, and Xi in Germany

By Kim Rahn

President Moon Jae-in will seek reinforced cooperation with the international community in resolving the issue of North Korea's nuclear program during his visit to Germany for the G20 summit, Cheong Wa Dae said Tuesday, after the North allegedly test-fired an inter-continental ballistic missile (ICBM).

In the G20 summit to be held in Hamburg July 7 and 8, Moon will have a summit with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, July 7, and a trilateral dinner with Abe and U.S. President Donald Trump, July 6. He is also seeking to have a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

It will be his first meetings with the Japanese and Chinese leaders since his May 10 inauguration.

Moon is expected to explain to Xi, Abe and other heads of states his stance over North Korea, with which he seeks to reopen dialogue if the conditions are right.

During his summit with Trump last week, the two said in a joint statement that although Seoul and Washington would continue to impose maximum pressure on Pyongyang, they could open talks with Pyongyang. Trump also supported South Korea's leading role in making an environment for peaceful unification and in restarting inter-Korean dialogue.












British Chamber of Commerce in Korea (BCCK) CEO Sean Blakeley, fifth from right, and the chamber's delegates pose for a picture during their visit to the Myongdo Welfare Center in Mokpo, South Jeolla Province, June 20. / Courtesy of BCCK



By John Redmond

As part of its efforts to give back to the local community, the British Chamber of Commerce in Korea (BCCK) has distributed about 70 million won ($60,800) to four good causes.

The BCCK selects and funds nonprofit organizations on an annual basis to help support the development of services the organizations provide to the local community.

These include the Myongdo Welfare Center, the Jeon Jin Sang Center, Angels' Haven and the Chevening Scholarship.

Established in 1992, the Myongdo Welfare Center supports the needs of over 700 children and adults with various learning disabilities. The center aims to provide services for children and adults that reflect individual needs and choices, while empowering them to become active and valued members of their communities.

A BCCK delegation visited the center in Mokpo, South Jeolla Province, to tour the organization's facilities and meet local staff, June 20.

The delegation included CEO Sean Blakeley; BCCK Events Senior Manager Ko Min-jung; BCCK Executive Committee members Martin Fryer, who heads the British Council in Korea; Graeme Salt, the headmaster at Dulwich College Seoul; and Daniel Barron, the head teacher at the British International Kindergarten (BIK) Hannam.

Blakeley said, "We are particularly proud of our support for the Myongdo Welfare Center, which provides unique services to a section of Korean society that has long been ignored. We look forward to continuing our support for the organization in the future."

The Myongdo Welfare Center's Manager Sister Gerardine Ryan said: "The support of the BCCK has helped to build our new workshop which will allow us to expand our services, hire more people in need of work and further contribute to the local community. We are indebted to the members of the BCCK for their kind contributions."

The BCCK's other causes include Angels' Haven, which is an organization focused on providing nurseries, youth centers, senior welfare centers and group homes for under-served children, families and communities, and the Chevening Scholarship.

The scholarship awards one Korean student with a grant to study in the U.K. once per year. The BCCK's two annual flagship events, the Queen's Birthday Ball (QBB) and Christmas Lunch, both help raise funds for these good causes.

The BCCK accepts applications on an annual basis from organizations seeking funding for their activities. Any organization that is registered as a charity is eligible for funding. The BCCK places a call for applications on its website in September each year.

For more information, visit www.bcck.or.kr.
By Choi Ha-young





Hong Joon-pyo

Hong Joon-pyo, newly elected chairman of the main opposition Liberty Korea Party (LKP), has vowed to rebuild the party that was hit hard by former President Park Geun-hye's corruption scandal. But chances for fundamental change seem slim given the lingering influence of the Park loyalists.

Members of the LKP's newly formed Supreme Council, a decision-making body, decided to organize renovation and ethics committees as their first tasks Tuesday, after they were elected the previous day.

Hong, who beat pro-Park rival Rep. Won Yoo-chul and clinched the leadership with a landslide victory, also said that he will exclude pro-Park figures from the party's core posts. "The renovation committee, consisting of outsiders, will screen those related to the influence-peddling scandal," the tough-talking anti-Park figure said.

But two of the four Supreme Council members  Lee Jae-man and Rep. Kim Tae-heum  are from the pro-Park faction. Another council member Rep. Lee Cheol-woo is a former National Intelligence Service officer. He is famous for his hawkish stance against North Korea and has allegedly spearheaded "McCarthyist" tactics against liberal politicians.

The other member Ryu Yeo-hae drew public attention for her eccentric behavior during the election. Although she is branded as a pro-Hong member, she has actively advocated for the disgraced former president through the party's podcast program.

The number of pro-Park members is small compared to the former council formed in August last year when it was led by former party Chairman Lee Jung-hyun, a staunch Park loyalist, and the whole council was dominated by the pro-Park faction.

However, the ideological gap between Hong and the pro-Park group is not so palpable, thus there won't be visible change in the party's policy lines said Yoon Tae-gon, senior political analyst at The MOA Agenda & Strategy.

"It's hard to say whether Hong is less conservative or more reformist than pro-Park lawmakers," Yoon said. "There could be fights for hegemony between Hong and the pro-Park faction. However, Hong doesn't have enough loyalists to replace the pro-Park figures in party posts."

Therefore, Hong's remarks to reform the party by excluding pro-Park lawmakers could be an empty threat without available action plans. "Further, most of the pro-Park lawmakers have already stepped back from significant posts. There are some pro-Park individuals but they are not so influential without the head of the faction, meaning Park," Yoon added.

The party's daily meeting Tuesday was not so different from the previous ones. Hong vowed that he will not recklessly oppose what the Moon Jae-in government does, but party floor leader Chung Woo-taik remained stern against Moon's picks for ministers. Chung defined newly-appointed Education Minister Kim Sang-gon as a "socialist," echoing a Cold War-style confrontation.
By Kwon Bong-woon





Jeju is the largest island off the south coast of the Korean Peninsula. Jeju Island has long been the country's favorite domestic holiday destination, thanks to its beautiful beaches, lush countryside and seaside hotels designed for rest and relaxation. Tourists, for a less-demanding nature experience, meander along one of the Jeju Olle Trails and explore tangerine- trimmed country roads, jagged coasts and narrow lanes dotted with cottage-style homes made from black lava rock.



The ocean is never far away, so plunge into the blue seas to view coral as colorful as the sunsets and dig into Jeju Island's unique cuisine, including seafood caught by haeneyo (female free divers).



Jeju Island's exotic charms make it a favored honeymoon destination for Koreans and, recently, Japanese and Chinese tourists looking for a nice gateway.



It is no wonder then that international conferences are frequently held in scenic places, such as Jeju. Recently, Jeju successfully hosted the second annual meeting of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank's board of governors, which lasted from June 16 through June 18. Jeju Island is a Korean version of Hawaii, Haian or Okinawa. It is well known today as the nation's top tourist magnet for its volcanic beauty and seclusion. It is a great honor for us to host the various international conferences. Scenic Jeju Island is our pride and joy. Jeju Island has eventually become a competitor of Monaco in France and Basel in Switzerland.



Jeju Island's tourists will enjoy multiple topics for the good of all humanity, not just for their own interest. Then, global citizens will come up with support.



Furthermore, the island is also one of South Korea's best places for public diplomacy. Public diplomacy is seen as a manifestation of soft power _ the ability to shape a perception through attraction. Joseph Samuel Nye, who is an American political scientist, states that soft power is associated with intangible assets. In other words, the soft power of a country rests on its resources of culture, values and politics. In international relations, public diplomacy or people's diplomacy, broadly speaking, is communication with and dissemination of propaganda to the foreign public to establish a dialogue designed to inform and influence. However, there is no definition of public diplomacy, and it may be easier to describe than to define it, as definitions vary and continue to change over time.



''Jeju Island will also meet all of our power demand via renewable energy such as solar and wind power without resorting to thermoelectric or nuclear power," Jeju Governor Won Hee-ryong said. We need to pay attention to Won's remarks. The world keeps an eye on Jeju's eco-friendly energy strategy, which was demonstrated at a series of international conferences. The model can be benchmarked by thousands of citizens across the world. As a result, half of the electric cars in Korea are being operated on Jeju, and the island is seen as the fastest and most innovative region in Korea in terms of dealing with energy demand.



Remarkably, Jeju Island is operating "an eco- friendly energy strategy" that can heighten the synergy between electric cars, energy storage systems and renewable energy. An eco-friendly energy strategy is expected to make Jeju the host of an eco-friendly green city that involves futuristic technologies including homes, plants, roads and information technology.



The world will envy Jeju as not only a treasure island of the world but also as a green city of power via renewable energies.





The writer resides in Dongjak-gu in Seoul. Write to kbw 8234664@ naver.com.
Korea foots fair bill in FTA, defense



U.S. President Donald Trump is not known for his manners. During the joint press conference with President Moon Jae-in, Trump confirmed his lack of etiquette blurting out complaints about a trade deal and about sharing the burden in maintaining the U.S. Forces Korea (USFK). This was not even discussed during their summit, so it came as a "diplomatic ambush" that shouldn't have taken place in the meeting between the two leaders.



Not only was the way he aired his complaints discourteous but also his claims are far from the truth. To the point, Trump cherry picked from statistics on the five years of the Korea-U.S. free trade agreement (KORUS FTA) to portray it as a one-sided deal that only benefits Korea. Also about the ROK-U.S. special measures agreement (SMA) for sharing the cost of USFK, Korea pays about half of the total tab plus billions of dollars in other expenses. But Trump talked as if Korea makes no contributions. All told, Trump's arbitrary selection of facts and his way of putting his own spin on them is a textbook case of fake news based on alternative facts.



Regarding the 2011-2016 period when the FTA was in effect, Trump said in the press meeting, " our trade deficit with South Korea has increased by more than 11 billion dollars. Not exactly a great deal."



What he didn't mention includes 1) Korea has suffered from a $12.5 billion annual deficit with U.S. in the services sector, up 30 percent. 2) Korean firms made direct investments of $36.9 billion in the U.S. _ up 60 percent from before FTA effectuation _ and created tens of thousands of jobs for Americans. 3) Korea has purchased $36 billion in U.S. weapons.



Also noteworthy is the U.S. federal International Trade Commission report in June last year that showed the FTA had an effect of slashing the U.S. trade deficit with Korea by $15.8 billion. In other words, the U.S. could have had a more than $36 billion 2016 deficit with Korea in 2016.



During the five years, Korean goods exported to the U.S. rose 95 percent, far lower than the overall increase of 338 percent with all trading partners.



Trump also said, "we are working together to ensure a fair burden sharing in support of the US military presence in South Korea." This statement is true if it pertains to the present but borders on fake news if it is aimed at finagling more contributions from its ally. The two sides conduct negotiations every five years and according to their 2014 agreement that covers until 2019, Korea pays 951 billion won or $830 million, about half of the costs. Plus, as President Moon mentioned to influential U.S. Senator John McCain, Korea also has paid about $10 billion for the construction of the new U.S. base in Pyeongtaek. Trump is either misinformed or trying to extort money from the U.S.'s traditional ally. If the first is the case, he should get the facts right. If it is the second, he should be in a business other than being the leader of the free world. If left to his own devices in both cases, it is his fellow Americans who will end up paying.




Hong should show he can change himself completely



The main opposition Liberty Korea Party (LKP) elected former presidential candidate Hong Joon-pyo as its new leader at the National Convention, Monday. Hong's election ended the six-month leadership vacuum at the former ruling party, which has reeled from the impeachment of former President Park Geun-hye last December.



In his acceptance speech after the victory, the former provincial governor vowed to regain public trust by reforming the party drastically. But given the party's dire straits, it remains to be seen whether his promise can be translated into reality.



In fact, conservative forces, which led the country's phenomenal industrialization, are in their worst state. After the Constitutional Court confirmed Park's removal from power in March, the then-ruling Saenuri Party split into the LKP and the Bareun Party.



A Gallup Korea poll last week put the LKP's approval rating at an all-time low of 7 percent. Given that the party has 107 of the National Assembly's 299 seats, the approval rating is shameful. It is similar to the approval given to the minor liberal Justice Party, which has only six seats.



A bigger problem is that the second-largest party has been met with outright indifference and derision since the Choi Soon-sil scandal that eventually led to the first presidential impeachment. The result is: the party is failing to rally support even among the conservatives.



Now Hong is tasked with reinventing the party in crisis and drawing support from voters in local elections scheduled for next June. Toward that end, he reiterated his pledge to establish reform and ethics committees consisting of outsiders.



But what is needed first is for the prosecutor-turned-politician to show he can change himself completely. During the presidential election and the race to elect the party leader, Hong took a lot of flak for being foul-mouthed. As a result, he and his party have often been subject to mockery. Should this remain unchanged, rebuilding the conservatives will be all but impossible.



More important, surely, is that he must take the lead in reestablishing new conservative values conforming to the spirit of the times. These values refer to the rule of law, separation of legal, administrative and judicial powers, dedication and sacrifice to the nation and a fair market-driven economy.



Needless to say, Hong should do whatever he can to realize these values. In doing so, voters might be able to appreciate the conservative party's sincerity and provide it with another chance to be reborn so it can check the Moon Jae-in administration's unilateral moves.



To win the hearts and minds of the public, opposition parties might need to lend a helping hand to the ruling camp. A blind pursuit of "opposition for opposition's sake'' is no longer tenable.








By Stephen Costello





We should probably give President Moon Jae-in the benefit of the doubt. No amount of preparation can ensure that a foreign leader will escape the random and unpredictable urges of President Donald Trump. Just ask Angela Merkel, Malcolm Turnbull, or Xi Jinping, to name a few. The treatment of Moon by the US president and his advisors on trade issues, as well as on military burden-sharing and policy toward North Korea, should be a scandal. But we have lowered the bar for behavior by Trump and his team, so such disrespect and tone-deafness are pretty much to be expected.



The South Korean President is new at this. Not as new as Trump, a somewhat accidental president, but new nonetheless. And he cannot manage policy development, personnel decisions, and message management by himself.



He needs a very good team, and they need to work together. It may be that the summit in Washington was conducted prematurely, but there are reasons to be glad that it is over with, so that the hard work of governing Korea in the 21st century can be refocused.



The Seoul government can certainly say that it has gone the extra mile to assure its US ally that basic bonds will hold up just fine, and that even contentious issues can be discussed and debated. President Moon also carried a message to Washington that may be more important than policy issues. His repeated references to Korea's democratic system, to its unprecedented civic involvement, and to his personal and political debt to the Candlelight Movement, marked him more sharply than his policy positions, which seemed to be in a state of evolution.



It was left unsaid that basic systems in the US are broken, from the electoral process to health care to infrastructure, while the presidential candidate who got 3 million fewer votes than his rival now occupies the White House. That may partly explain the repeated congratulations to Moon, and the unusual and noteworthy acknowledgement by senior officials, including President Trump, of Korea's transparent and relatively orderly process of impeaching a corrupt leader and replacing them in a matter of under six months. For Washington and for Korea's profile among policy professionals, this was a big deal.



On policy, much work needs to be done. Moon's approach to Trump and his team was only one of several ways he could have strategically dealt with the US. Since he chose to do it this way he should now have multiple channels through which to attempt to influence the tactics, goals and vision on the US side. Language in the "Joint Statement" referred to a "high-level strategic consultation mechanism" on the North Korea issues, and to several existing useful channels for coordinating policies.



The problem with this is that the summit provided little if any confidence that the Trump team could understand how Moon would like to alter US and ROK goals and strategies to achieve results that both want. Beyond that, it provided no confidence that the US administration would agree to any changes, even if it did understand them, which remains unlikely in any case. The Korean president's language  when referring to what he wanted to achieve with the DPRK, how he wanted to proceed, and what time-frame would be appropriate  was embarrassingly vague.



At the same time, when talking about North Korean motivations, power relationships among key actors, and threat perceptions and realities, he embraced language and concepts which are based on false assumptions or are inaccurate, and which have been used for decades by opponents of the efforts of Kim Dae Jung, Roh Moo Hyun and Bill Clinton.



Many of these are matters of policy development, coordinated implementation and public diplomacy. They will surely be refined and adjusted as the Moon team is filled out and its structures begin to work better. There may also be opportunities to switch senior officials in or out of different positions in order to be sure capabilities match responsibilities.



But the summit revealed that basic concepts must be examined to see if they fit Moon's strategy. For instance, is the main source of instability in the region the "threat" from North Korea's missile and nuclear programs, or from its continued isolation and lack of security and development? Does the THAAD issue really come down to placating some residents of Songdu and explaining its technical details to the Chinese, or does it fundamentally hurt Korea's security and diplomatic interests, regardless of its military capabilities?



Are the North Koreans really confused about which "path" to take between peace and development, or are they credibly worried about their security, and waiting for the ROK and US to return to mutually beneficial arrangements? Are the Chinese really confused about joining the US, Japan and the ROK in a pressure-only campaign against North Korea, or have they accurately concluded that it won't work, and that in any case the campaign's consequences are against their economic and security interests?



President Moon should know the answer to these questions. In his campaign he seemed to know what would be practical and realistic and what would not. His advisor and friend Moon Chung-in had a detailed grasp of these issues, and urged US specialists to begin thinking about how to change their tactics. That is why the mainstream in Washington policy circles attacked him so severely. As we know, the Trump group is significantly less knowledgeable and less moderate than the mainstream here.



There is a lot we don't know. As former Defense Secretary Rumsfeld memorably pointed out, you need to know what you don't know. So there is time for increased organization and clarity on the Korean side. These cannot be expected, however, on the US side. It was assumed from before this summit that if many of the realistic changes to policy required by Korea were to be achieved, then Seoul would have to carefully pull the US to change course. The US needs Seoul to do this more now than ever before, since it is so profoundly incapable of leading on these issues now.



This may be what President Moon is trying to do.



And that may work. But Trumps "support" for Korea's leading role in "fostering an environment for peaceful unification" is empty if Moon does not soon make clear what he will do, and what he expects his ally to do. That is the only way this works. Trump's maximum pressure campaign will prevent Moon's engagement with North Korea. The THAAD deployment will complicate if not prevent honest improvement of Korea-China relations. Both will prevent Korea from playing a leading role in stabilizing the Peninsula and guiding development in the region. Both will also prevent a long-delayed rebalance in the Korea-US relationship, so that Seoul can help Washington escape its long vacation from responsible policy toward Korea.



Michelle Obama recently observed that the presidency doesn't change a person. Rather, it reveals who they are. President Moon seems to be able to see the opportunities ahead. His US friends spoke up loudly this week, from William Perry to Robert Gallucci to Senators Markey and Franken and many others, all in support of the US changing its tactics. They need the Korean side to lead.





Stephen Costello is a producer of AsiaEast, a web and broadcast-based policy roundtable focused on security, development and politics in Northeast Asia. He writes from Washington, D.C. He can be reached at scost55@gmail.com.
By Bernard Rowan





This week I'm discussing the mythical figures of the tiger and rabbit. Recently, I visited Busan and stayed at a hotel that featured the remarkable portrait of a tiger with a rabbit smoking a pipe. The image surprised me a bit, and I've done some more reading about this pair.



In general, the tiger is a powerful figure that doesn't do good. He's eager to kill and eat humans, and he appears as a source of danger and force without reason. His hunger represents the power of nature to destroy the human without aid of reason. The rabbit is a figure of good using his wits and trickery. The rabbit helps humans and overcomes the powerful, the tiger included.



We need the rabbit because this world has the tiger  in spades. We don't see that we've idolized this old enemy and in doing so have become too much like him!



Consider the story of the tiger stuck in a forest pit. A man brings over a fallen tree for the tiger so he can escape his prison. The tiger then pounces on the man to eat him. First the man asks a pine tree to help, but the pine tree says that humans disrespect them, using the wood, burning trees, and the like. The pine tree tells the tiger to eat the man. Then, an ox appears. The man begs for his help, but again to no avail. The ox is no different. Humans load oxen with heavy chores and have them do all of their hard labor. Again, the man feels the fangs of the tiger near his throat! Then a rabbit appears. He plays the part of the sage. The rabbit says the tiger and the man should return to their original positions. The tiger and the man return; the tiger goes back to the pit. The rabbit restores the original positions and leaves the matter as it is. The human is safe.



Because of the rabbit's cleverness, the human does better. Humans need to respect the power of reason to defeat force. Recognize first things we need to correct for our tendency to best nature.



There are other stories. Sometimes the rabbit induces the tiger to sit near a freezing pond so the tiger's tail freezes. Other times, the rabbit tricks the tiger into swallowing a hot rock. The rabbit beats the tiger's power with trickery and resourcefulness.



In another story, a turtle seeks the forest rabbit. The Dragon King of the Sea, who needs a rabbit liver, sends the emissary. The rabbit eventually senses the trick, and he uses his trickery or cleverness to impress the king. He promises to give his liver but says it's in the forest, as it's an important organ and not one he carries around lightly. The King allows the turtle to escort the rabbit back for his liver. Once there, the rabbit tells the turtle of his tomfoolery and exits stage right.



In this case, the rabbit uses prudence and the noble lie to escape cunning and deceit. He outwits the unjust, powerful King.



Humans need to respect the rabbit. We need not succumb to idolatry of force and its cousin, power. Like the tiger in the book, The Jungle Book, we can't think that Shere Khan is All. But sadly we do!



A final story tells this point. A man catches rabbit and gives it to his wife. In the pot goes rabbit, only to escape while the woman stokes the fire. The rabbit places the couple's baby in the pot. They cook and eat their child while the rabbit sleeps in the baby's bed. The rabbit runs to tell the couple their child's thief is on the roof. The couple set the roof on fire and burn down the house.



Humans should beware of hubris. We see in force, power and authority a refuge beyond their places in the universe. The rabbit is man's friend, as the better part of prudence. The rabbit also stands for an enforcer of nature's limits on human reason when men and women aspire to better nature or to go too far.



How do we hold the tiger? Mirror the rabbit. We're just mere mortals in the end! Korean folktales suggest we ignore this truth at our peril.





Bernard Rowan is associate provost for contract administration and professor of political science at Chicago State University. He is a past fellow of the Korea Foundation and former visiting professor at Hanyang University. Reach him at browan10@yahoo.com
Chairwoman Pany Yathotu is accompanied by head of the Lao NAs Committee for External Relations Echxavang Vongvichit; head of the Lao NAs Committee for Economics, Technology and Environment Bunpon Xixulat; and head of the Lao NAs Committee for Planning, Finance and Audit Vilayvong Butdakham, who is also the President of the Laos  Vietnam Friendship Association, among others.



Lao National Assembly Chairwoman Pany Yathotu (Source: VNA)



The delegation is scheduled to attend activities celebrating the 55th anniversary of the establishment of Vietnam-Laos diplomatic ties and marking 40 years since the signing of the Vietnam-Laos Treaty on Amity and Cooperation in Son La province.

Vietnam and Laos have recorded fruitful development in their relationship in various fields in recent years, especially in politics. They two sides have cooperated closely at regional and international forums, contributing to each nations development and maintaining peace, stability, cooperation and development in the region and the world.

Joint statements and high-level agreements reached by leaders of the two Parties and States have been implemented, with the two sides exchanging high-raking visits, helping to enhance mutual trust between the Parties, Governments and people of Vietnam and Laos.

Bilateral defence cooperation has also improved, while the two countries have built a Vietnam-Laos borderline of peace, stability and cooperation, and fought hostile forces and transnational and drug crimes.

Vietnam now has 408 projects worth USD3.7 billion in Laos, contributing to the countrys socio-economic development and creating jobs for many local labourers.

Vietnam and Laos have also cooperated in transport, education and training, and links among their ministries and sectors and border localities have been strengthened.

The two sides have fostered affiliation in science, technology, natural resources and environment, agriculture, telecommunications, labour, culture, museum and tourism, health care, and human resources development./.
Following a negotiation session that dragged on until the early morning hours, SAG-AFTRA reached a tentative agreement Tuesday with the major Hollywood studios on a new three-year contract.

The actors union had been in talks since May 31 with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, the bargaining organization that represents studios, broadcast networks and major cable networks.

In a statement sent shortly after 6:30 a.m. on Tuesday, AMPTP spokesman Jarryd Gonzales said that the two sides have concluded negotiations and have reached a tentative agreement on terms for a new three-year collective bargaining agreement.

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The two sides didnt elaborate on the terms of the deal or when ratification will take place.

SAG-AFTRA had extended its negotiations with the producers alliance after the Friday deadline passed without an agreement. The talks were extended three days before a deal was reached.

The union had earlier threatened a strike authorization from its members after the two sides failed to make sufficient progress on our most critical issues. But it remains unclear if the referendum was ever sent to the unions more than 160,000 members.

SAG-AFTRA is the last of the three big Hollywood unions to negotiate a new contract. Both the Writers Guild of America and the Directors Guild ratified their new three-year contracts earlier this year.

Labor talks in Hollywood have focused this year on issues including residuals for streaming media, health care and base compensation.

SAG-AFTRA represents actors, announcers and broadcast journalists. The union is several 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
A battle is coming to a head that may have major implications for the solar energy industry.

In one corner is a bankrupt maker of solar panels from Georgia that says a flood of inexpensive imports from China and other countries is harming U.S. solar equipment manufacturers and a global tariff needs to be imposed.

In the other corner is just about every other sector of the industry, saying a hike in the price of solar panels will lead to a dramatic downturn in sales that will result in thousands of lost jobs, especially in California.

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Ultimately, the decision may end up in the hands of President Trump.

This is a big deal, said Morten Lund, a San Diego attorney who specializes in energy cases for the Stoel Rives law firm. I guarantee you, anybody that works in solar at any level above hammer and nail knows about this. In my daily news briefing, its the top story every day.

At the center of the dispute is a company named Suniva. Based outside of Atlanta, it made high-efficiency solar cells and modules and was considered an industry success story. The company that employed 350 workers was praised by the Obama administration and last year was named Georgias manufacturer of the year.

But in April, Suniva filed to reorganize under Chapter 11 of the U.S. bankruptcy code, complaining that competitors in Southeast Asia have driven prices so low that the company could not make a profit. By some estimates, prices of panels have dropped 60% in the last five years.

U.S. solar manufacturing jobs and the industry as a whole are on the brink of extinction, Sunivas executive vice president of commercial operations, Matt Card, said in an email.

Just days after the bankruptcy announcement, Suniva filed a petition with the U.S. International Trade Commission calling for a price floor of 78 cents a watt for solar panels made outside the United States and import duties of 40 cents a watt on solar cells.

Experts say solar cells sell for 25 cents to 33 cents a watt.

Suniva believes that with a global safeguard, all aspects of the U.S. solar industry  including manufacturing and its research and development  will have the opportunity to succeed, Card said.

But critics within the solar industry say imposing tariffs will have negative effects across the business chain.

We think it would cut demand significantly and create job losses all across the country, said Abigail Ross Hopper, president and CEO of the Solar Energy Industries Assn., the industrys biggest trade group. This has the potential to be devastating.

The solar industry employs an estimated 260,000 workers nationwide, with California accounting for more than one-third of that amount.

Forecasting that 88,000 jobs, including 15,800 in California, would disappear if the ITC grants Sunivas petition, the solar trade group says increased prices for panels will scare homeowners away from installing rooftop solar systems and make utility-scale projects less affordable.

A crew from Sunrun home solar company installs a solar system on a Van Nuys house. Some in the industry fear that tariffs on foreign panels could increase costs and hurt sales and employment. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

Theres also a potential political element involved in the case.

When Suniva filed its petition with the ITC, it invoked a little-used provision in trade cases called Section 201. Rather than basing a complaint against a specific country  such as China  Section 201 cases look to determine if a global safeguard is warranted.

According to the rules, if the ITC decides domestic solar manufacturers deserve sweeping protection and recommends relief, its findings are then passed on to the U.S. president, who has final say.

Since President Trump has long complained about trade policies with China hurting U.S. manufacturers, there is plenty of speculation that should the ITC rule in Sunivas favor, Trump will OK the tariffs.

The last time a president accepted a Section 201 recommendation from the ITC was in March 2002, when George W. Bush imposed a tariff on steel. He lifted the tariff in December 2003.

We have a president who clearly likes tariffs and doesnt like China and is not afraid of isolationist trade policies, Lund said. Also, he doesnt have to follow the recommendation of the ITC. They might recommend a 79-cent price and he could put in a $2 minimum price.

Another financially ailing solar manufacturer, SolarWorld, earlier this month joined Suniva as a co-petitioner in the case.

SolarWorld has gone to the ITC twice, complaining about trade dumping, and won each time, although the company did not invoke Section 201.

Tim Brightbill, SolarWorlds trade attorney, says the predictions of thousands of job losses nationally and in California are overblown.

Critics earlier claimed putting duties on China would lead to 50,000 American job losses in solar installation. Brightbill said. That never happened. Instead, demand for solar continued to increase, solar installations continued to increase and solar jobs continued to increase.

But SEIAs Ross Hopper said Suniva and SolarWorld should have filed an anti-dumping case, rather than employing Section 201.

Im not persuaded that this method, this broad stroke and blunt instrument, is the right way to go about this, Ross Hopper said.

ITC commissioners will hold a hearing Aug. 15 at their headquarters in Washington, where the parties involved will make their cases. The ITC will vote on the merits of the case by Sept. 22 and both sides are looking at the date anxiously.

We cannot just be a nation of installers of foreign solar panels, Brightbill said. If we want the next generation of solar products to be developed here in the United States, then we have to have manufacturing as an important part of our solar industry.

Opponents say the real economic punch will be particularly felt in California.

California has the most number of people employed in the solar industry because you have the most amount of solar, Ross Hopper said. So the impact is pretty significant in your state.  If youre in the solar industry, your livelihood is at risk.

Card said Suniva has based its argument on the fact that solar cells and modules are being shipped to the United States from all over the world, not just from one or two countries.

Once U.S. solar manufacturing jobs and the industry as a whole are gone, they are not likely to come back because the investment in the industry will dry up, leaving behind only fluctuating project-to-project and part-time construction jobs for solar panel installation, Card said.

Ross Hopper said she would push back on the narrative that manufacturing is on the decline, pointing to a census conducted by the Solar Foundation that reported there are 38,000 workers in solar manufacturing in the United States. We actually have cell and module manufacturers in our organization, so they are similarly situated with Suniva and SolarWorld, and they are opposing this case.

For now, Sunivas factories are idle, but Card said they can be restarted if the ITC and Trump rule in the companys favor.

People [in the solar industry] are quick to say that something must be done to protect U.S. manufacturing, but when it comes to ideas on how to do that, all we hear is silence, Card said.

The ITC case comes at a crucial moment for solar.

The industry has been boosted by a 30% federal tax credit, but those supports are scheduled to be reduced. The credit drops to 26% in 2020, 22% in 2021 and 10% in 2022 and beyond.

Generation from rooftop and other small-scale solar projects across the country nearly doubled between 2014 and 2016 and utility-scale installations have gone up 72% between 2010 and 2016, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

As prices have come down, solar is the economically rational decision so we can compete on price against wind, against natural gas, against other forms of fuel, Ross Hopper said. Obviously, if you change the input on the price and double the price of solar panels, its not going to be an economic option.

rob.nikolewski@sduniontribune.com
My wife and I were chatting the other night about Republican efforts to reboot the U.S. healthcare system as a horror movie  stripping health coverage from more than 20 million Americans, boosting premiums for many and gutting Medicaid.

She finally brought the conversation home by asking: What happens if something happens to you?

Its a question that should resonate with many families. As of 2015, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation, nearly a quarter of women in the United States under age 64 received health coverage through their spouses employer-sponsored plan.

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Because women are more likely than men to be covered as dependents, a woman is at greater risk of losing her insurance if she becomes widowed or divorced, her spouse loses a job, or her spouses employer drops family coverage or increases premium and out-of-pocket costs to unaffordable levels, the foundation noted.

My family is no different from millions of others. Health, dental and vision coverage are provided by my employer (though not as affordably as once was the case). My self-employed wife and our teenage son are covered through my plan.

And I confess: When my wife asked what would happen if something happened to me, my answer was, Im not sure.

Amy Bach, executive director of the advocacy group United Policyholders, said my uncertainty wasnt surprising. She said there are a lot of variables when it comes to spousal benefits, and often it comes down to whether or not your employer is generous.

Your family might be protected, Bach told me. Or it might not be.

The Affordable Care Act was intended in part to mitigate such concerns. As originally conceived, a surviving spouse and any dependents would still be able to obtain affordable coverage on a state-run insurance exchange.

Things havent worked out that way. Premiums for Obamacare policies have risen much faster than expected because program enrollees were sicker than insurers had anticipated. A relatively weak coverage mandate made it cheaper in many cases for younger, healthier people to avoid joining the risk pool.

Now, of course, Republican lawmakers are determined to scrap Obamacare and replace it with a system that, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, would result in as many as 23 million more Americans being uninsured within a decade.

Worse, President Trump and some GOP senators have floated the idea of repealing the Affordable Care Act without any replacement plan in sight  a move that would cause millions to lose insurance and wipe out all protections provided by the law, such as guaranteed coverage for people with pre-existing conditions.

The upshot, Bach said, is that the spouse of a deceased person is in as much jeopardy as the Affordable Care Act. Its a pretty serious concern.

The first thing a familys breadwinner should consider is life insurance. If youre the sole or primary source of your households financial security, youll want to make sure your loved ones are protected in the event of your early demise.

That doesnt just mean sufficient cash for housing, food and whatnot, but also enough for healthcare, which can be pricey.

For the surviving spouse  and heres where Im getting to the news-my-wife-can-use part  the law says a deceased employees company health plan can be maintained for up to three years.

The Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act, a.k.a. COBRA, requires that group health plans offer continued coverage for up to 18 months for workers and their dependents who lose their jobs or retire.

That coverage extension rises to 36 months for a plans dependents in the event of the death of a covered spouse (or a divorce, but thats not a thing were worried about, honey). Keep this in mind, though: COBRA isnt cheap.

Once the employee is gone, theres no longer any obligation for the employer to pay anything, said James Milber, a San Francisco insurance broker specializing in health coverage.

That means some super-cool businesses may keep paying the bulk of their late employees coverage, at least until his or her family is back on its feet. But most probably wont.

Average annual premiums for an employer-sponsored family plan totaled $18,142 last year, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. Of that amount, workers contributed an average of $5,277.

Under COBRA, in other words, the surviving spouse would likely have to pay the full $18,000.

The most straightforward alternative, obviously, is to find work that comes with health benefits.

If thats not possible, the smart move  at least for the time being  is to skip COBRA and turn instead to Covered California, the states Obamacare health-insurance exchange.

The health-insurance website eHealth says the average monthly premium for an individual Obamacare policy was $393 in the first two months of this years open enrollment, with an average deductible of $4,328. The average rate for a family plan was $1,021 a month, with an average $8,352 deductible.

The Affordable Care Act provides generous subsidies for people with limited incomes, relative to whats called the federal poverty level. Basically, youre eligible for some measure of financial assistance if your income is up to 400% of that limit.

What that means in practice is that an individual making between $16,644 and $47,520 a year would qualify for tax credits under the program. The subsidy eligibility for an adult and two kids, say, would be an annual income ranging from $28,181 to $80,640.

An estimated 85% of Americans and 90% of Californians qualify for some degree of financial assistance under the Affordable Care Act. The average Covered California subsidy last year was $499 a month, representing about 70% of total premiums.

An individual making $16,643 or less, or a family of three with an income less than $28,180, would look to Medicaid (Medi-Cal in California) for health coverage. A third of Californians are insured by the program.

Medi-Cal requires no premiums, just co-pays. The big downside is that many doctors wont see Medi-Cal patients because of relatively low reimbursement rates.

The wild card here is Republican efforts to improve the U.S. healthcare system by cutting coverage requirements and Medicaid spending so they can lower taxes for rich people, which is about as vicious a goal as youll likely see from lawmakers who otherwise consider themselves decent, churchgoing people.

Janice Rocco, deputy California insurance commissioner, said its unclear how things would shake out if pending Republican healthcare legislation became law.

The proposals weve seen so far would leave millions of people without affordable healthcare options and be devastating to a lot of people, she said.

As such, Ive decided the best way I can protect my family is by not dying.

For as long as I can, that is.

David Lazarus column runs Tuesdays and Fridays. He also can be seen daily on KTLA-TV Channel 5 and followed on Twitter @Davidlaz. Send your tips or feedback to david.lazarus@latimes.com.
If you went to Catholic school, you remember the nuns. But you definitely dont remember nuns like the ones played by Alison Brie, Aubrey Plaza and Molly Shannon in the quirky comedy The Little Hours.

Based on Giovanni Boccaccio's 14th-century classic The Decameron, the film is a straight-faced sex romp from indie director Jeff Baena (Life After Beth, Joshy) and also stars Dave Franco as a stable boy who comes between three ladies of the habit played by Brie, Plaza and Kate Micucci.

Shannon plays the convents mother superior, while John C. Reilly , Nick Offerman, Jemima Kirke, Lauren Weedman, Fred Armisen and Paul Reiser costar in the project, which is equal parts bedroom farce and exploitation satire. Its also surprisingly grounded in an understanding of the period; Baena, who is Plazas off-screen partner, minored in medieval studies at New York University, and he shot The Little Hours on location in Tuscany.

On a hot day in mid-June, Brie, Plaza and Shannon sat down with The Times at the Four Seasons in Beverly Hills to talk about wardrobe challenges, Catholicism and working with the ones you love (Brie and Franco were married earlier this year).

This is not the typical movie about nuns. Is that because its based on The Decameron?

Alison Brie: Yes, and we read books on nuns and nunneries and medieval times to prepare for this film. In medieval times women were made to be nuns. [Maybe] because they reached a certain age and they weren't wed, or because their family couldn't afford to keep them home. Parents sent their daughters there just to have socioeconomic gains. What we're sort of playing with in this movie is the idea that these women are trapped in this lifestyle that they didn't choose, and they do have sexual desires and anger and resentment and different things, which at first we see them taking out on each other. Then when Dave Franco's character arrives at the convent, there's a new outlet for them to channel these frustrations.

What was it like to work on a movie with so many female leads?

Molly Shannon: It was fantastic. It's such a great idea to have a movie taking place in a convent  what a great place to have a bunch of super-talented women. It reminded me of movies in the 1930s and 40s with so many strong females in the cast. Old Rosalind Russell movies  it reminded me of that. We need to make more of these kinds of movies.

Brie: It's nice that the women have the upper hand in the movie. Dave's character is the perfect foil for their aggressions, but really, it's about the inner workings of their relationships with each other and things they're trying to discover about themselves. That, I find empowering.

History and comedy collide in Sundance premiere 'The Little Hours' 

Tell me about the process of making the movie and the language. Theres a lot of cursing.

Brie: There was no script for this movie. There was a 20-page outline, so in a way, it was fully improvised. But it was really much more like collaborative dialogue, where we would spend our first couple takes improvising dialogue, and Jeff would come in and streamline what we were saying and direct it in the very specific direction that he wanted it to go.

Shannon: You would have to remember not to say modern things, like "OK" or "cool."

Brie: We had a lot of rules.

Shannon: That is a lot harder than when you're improvising in modern day.

Brie: You couldn't say "like," you couldn't say "you guys." So there was still a reverence for the way that these people were speaking.

Aubrey Plaza: But you could say pretty much every curse word.

Brie: Oh, yeah.

Plaza: Those were encouraged.

Brie: Jeff described [the approach to dialogue] as it should just sound normal to us. It should feel accessible, rather than us doing British accents, which wouldn't make any sense, or trying to speak in old English or something. This is Italy, if we were going to go there we'd be speaking Italian.

Dave Franco and Aubrey Plaza in The Little Hours. (Gunpowder & Sky) (Gunpowder & Sky)

What was it like wearing a habit?

Brie: Terrible.

Shannon: You're really neutered. You feel like the only part of you, all your expression, is just in this little window, so it's all your eyes and your face, and everything else is cloaked. So you feel kind of cut off from your body.

Plaza: It's very oppressive.

Brie: But it did pose an interesting challenge, as Molly said. Using your face in a minimal way a lot of the time to convey emotion. And not really having your body as a tool.

Plaza: It's an equalizer, where you kind of feel like, OK, we're all kinda in this together.

[The movie] is based on a historical book, literature. It's not an attack on Catholicism in any way. It's just about a couple of nuns.  Aubrey Plaza

Alison Brie, Molly Shannon and Aubrey Plaza spent springtime in Italy shooting The Little Hours. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times) (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)

Are any of you Catholic?

Shannon: I was raised Catholic, but I'm not a practicing Catholic. I went to Catholic school for eight years.

Plaza: Me too. Same.

Do you think you'll get excommunicated for this?

Plaza: No. [The movie] is based on a historical book, literature. It's not an attack on Catholicism in any way. It's just about a couple of nuns.

Brie: Just a fun story.

Alison and Aubrey, what was it like to work with your partners?

Brie: I love it. More than anything it's just nice to be together. You spend so much time apart when you're shooting on location and in different cities, so to be able to go together to Italy for a month in the springtime was great. The same thing just even about working with friends and people that I know and love  it's just so much more fun, you get to skip that period of time where you're trying to get to know everyone and being polite. You just get to be intimate with each other and have a great time.

Plaza: Yeah, I feel the same way. This is our third time [Baena and I] have worked together, so I feel like our working relationship is always evolving and changing. It's really rewarding to get to see him totally in his element and to be a part of it, and to collaborate with him. It can be challenging at times, but I think working together sometimes makes you stronger by the end of it.
A man with a gun barricaded himself inside a downtown Los Angeles apartment for several hours Monday, prompting evacuations of neighboring buildings in Little Tokyo, police said.

Officers were called about 1:25 p.m. to a report of an armed man in a fourth-floor apartment in the 600 block of East 2nd Street, said Officer Mike Lopez, a spokesman for the Los Angeles Police Department.

The man was refusing to exit and a SWAT team was summoned. Police urged the public to stay clear of the area.

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By 5:30 p.m., police said the standoff had concluded and the man was not taken into custody. Officers instead provided him with information about health resources.

The man had weapons that were legally registered to him, and police determined that there was no legal reason for officers to go inside the home, Lopez said.

No crime was committed, Lopez added.

The incident prompted police to shut down streets. A property manager in the area sent an email to residents saying that garages near 2nd Street and Hewitt and Rose streets may not be accessible during the standoff.

matt.hamilton@latimes.com

Twitter: @MattHjourno

UPDATES:

7:15 p.m.: This article was updated with the conclusion of the standoff.

This article was originally published at 5:50 p.m.
Its the Fourth of July, and communities across Southern California will be celebrating the adoption of the Declaration of Independence 241 years ago with festivals, carnivals, live music and, of course, fireworks.

Here are some of the events on tap:

An estimated 60,000 people are expected at Warner Center Park in Woodland Hills, where guests can enjoy a free concert by the San Fernando Valley Symphony Orchestra starting at 6 p.m. and a fireworks show after 8 p.m.

In downtown L.A.s Grand Park, a block party starts at 2 p.m., with two stages featuring live music and a special kids playing area between Spring Street and Broadway. At 9 p.m., fireworks will rocket from the roof of the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion.

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The Rotary Club of Simi Valley is once again hosting a festival with carnival rides, a pie-eating contest, a mix of craft beers and food trucks starting at noon in Rancho Santa Susana Community Park. The fireworks begin at 9 p.m., according to organizers.

The Rose Bowl in Pasadena is staging the 91st annual AmericaFest, with live music including a performance by the Beatles tribute band Liverpool Legends. The fireworks show starts at 9 p.m. General admission is $15; children 5 and younger get in free.

The Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, the U.S. Air Force Band of the Golden West and the a cappella group Pentatonix make up the patriotic spectacular at the Hollywood Bowl, which includes fireworks.

Huntington Beachs annual Fourth of July parade through the streets starts at 10 a.m., followed by live performances including a Beach Boys tribute band, and a fireworks show launching off the Huntington Beach Pier at 9 p.m.

In Malibu, residents and visitors can see fireworks right off the coast at two spots: Paradise Cove and Malibu Colony Road, where fireworks will be shot from barges.

Marina del Reys Independence Day show also starts at 9 p.m., and the 20-minute display is synchronized to music playing at two locales: Burton Chace Park and Fishermans Village. Those on a boat can also enjoy the show.

After the Dodgers game against the Arizona Diamondbacks, plan to stay in your seats for a fireworks show.

Dozens of other shows across the area are planned for about 9 p.m.: West Los Angeles College in Culver City; Exposition Park; Calabasas High School; and York Field in Whittier.

matt.hamilton@latimes.com

Twitter: @MattHjourno
On July 4, 1831, James Monroe died from heart failure and tuberculosis at his daughters house in New York City. The fifth U.S. president had attempted to write an autobiography, but was unable to complete it as his health slowly deteriorated after his wife died the year before.

Thousands of mourners crowded the narrow New York City streets to see the 73-year-olds hearse make its way to the family vault in Marble Cemetery.

With his death came an eerie coincidence that many people couldnt ignore: Monroe had become the third president and Founding Father to die on the Fourth of July.

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Five years earlier, on the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, longtime friends and occasional rivals Thomas Jefferson and John Adams also died.

Thomas Jefferson survives, were rumored to be among Adams last words from his deathbed in Quincy, Mass. He was unaware that his friend died that day, July 4, 1826, at his beloved Monticello estate more than 500 miles away in Virginia.

To many Americans in the early 19th century, the timing of the deaths of three men who helped found and guide the young United States went beyond sheer coincidence.

Again our national anniversary has been marked by one of those events, which it may be scarcely permitted to ascribe the chance, the Boston Traveler newspaper wrote on July 8, 1831.

Three of the four presidents who have left the scene of their usefulness and glory expired on the anniversary of the national birthday, a day which of all others, had it been permitted them to choose [they] would probably had selected for the termination of their careers, wrote the New York Evening Post the day after Monroes death.

Adams served as the second president from 1797 to 1801, followed by Jefferson, who served until 1809. But long before the 13 colonies had won their independence, Adams and Jefferson played vital roles in creating the document that declared men were created equal and entitled to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

Adams, in a letter to a friend in 1822, recalled how Jefferson was placed on the committee to write the document. Mr Jefferson came into Congress in June 1775 and brought with him a reputation for literature, science, and a happy talent at composition. Writings of his were handed about, remarkable for the peculiar felicity of expression, Adams wrote.

The irascible Adams also described why he insisted that Jefferson write the draft:

Jefferson proposed to me to make the draught. I said I will not; You shall do it. Oh No! Why will you not? You ought to do it. I will not. Why? Reasons enough. What can be your reasons? Reason 1st. You are a Virginian, and Virginia ought to appear at the head of this business. Reason 2d. I am obnoxious, suspected and unpopular; You are very much otherwise. Reason 3d: You can write ten times better than I can. Well, said Jefferson, if you are decided I will do as well as I can.

The importance of July 4 might have surprised some Founding Fathers. The Continental Congress declared freedom from Britain on July 2 and approved the Declaration on Independence on July 4. Most members signed the document in August.

Adams thought Americans would remember July 2 as their Day of Deliverance from Britain. In a letter to his wife, Abigail, he wrote, It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more.

While Adams and Jefferson represented their states in the Continental Congress, a teenage Monroe dropped out of college in 1776 to fight in the Revolution, enlisting in the 3rd Virginia Regiment, where he rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel. Many historians consider Monroe the last president from the Founding Fathers.

Adams and Jefferson would live to see the country expand well beyond the original 13 states. Adams was 90 when he died of a heart attack. Jefferson had been in declining health for years before dying at 83.

People interpreted their deaths in a religious manner, said Michael Meranze, a U.S. history professor at UCLA. It was clearly taken symbolically as both the birth and growth of the early republic.

In 1826, for instance, Rep. Daniel Webster of Massachusetts delivered a two-hour-long eulogy in Boston suggesting their deaths were a sign that God was protecting the nation.

As their lives themselves were the gifts of Providence, who is not willing to recognize in their happy termination, as well as in their long continuance, proofs that our country and its benefactors are objects of His care? Webster said.

Religion played a prominent role in the lives of many Americans during the early 19th century  an era known as the Second Great Awakening that took off around the late 1820s and early 1830s. It was only natural that many Americans of the era saw religious significance in the timing of the deaths of Adams, Jefferson and Monroe.

Although scholars are typically weary of analyzing unexplained phenomena, in 2005 historian Margaret P. Battin entertained the meaning behind the same-day deaths of Adams and Jefferson by offering six possibilities:

Coincidence.

Divine intervention.

Hanging on to life in order to ensure death on July 4.

Caused to die by others.

Allowing oneself to die.

Causing oneself to die.

Each of these theories, she said, lacks historical evidence.

Its been 186 years since the last U.S. president died on the Fourth of July. And history tells that only one president was ever born on the nations birthday: Calvin Coolidge in 1872.

melissa.etehad@latimes.com

Follow me on Twitter @melissaetehad

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On this Fourth of July, when Americans are supposed to be celebrating the creation of a vibrant, enduring and inclusive democracy, forgive us if we take a moment to discuss a move in the opposite direction by the Orange County Board of Supervisors. Last month, the supervisors rejected  without any discussion or clear explanation  a proposal that would have made it easier for people to vote, and would have saved the county millions of dollars in the process.

Supervisor Todd Spitzer, who made the motion to kill the election reforms, told a reporter later that he was concerned about voter fraud. What kind of fraud hes worried about, he didnt say. His staff said last week that Spitzer would not comment further and suggested that questions be addressed to the Orange County Republican Party. All five county supervisors are Republicans and the referral to the party suggests the move might have been politically motivated.

The reform package was part of the Voters Choice Act, adopted by the state Legislature last year as a way to make voting easier and encourage more people to participate. Fourteen California counties, including Orange County, were invited to participate for the 2018 elections; the rest of the state becomes eligible in 2020. Orange County Registrar of Voters Neal Kelley helped craft the state law based on reforms made in Colorado and other states. Data from Colorado showed a 40% decrease in election costs for counties over three years along with a 3% increase in people voting. Whats not to love?

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Under the reform proposal, the county would have sent mail ballots to every registered voter, set up ballot drop-off stations and consolidated its election day polling stations into fewer centralized voting centers that any voter could use. (Those centers would have been open for 10 days before election day, including weekends.) Kelley estimated that Orange County would have saved between $10 million and $20 million up front as well as hundreds of thousands of dollars in each statewide election going forward.

The reality is that this is the way people want to vote. For example, about 61% of Orange Countys voters have chosen permanent vote-by-mail status. Voting at the countys 1,100 polling stations has decreased overall by 20% since 2004  and in some places by as much as 75%. In the last two elections held in the city of Los Angeles, 62% of ballots were cast by mail.

Orange Countys rejection of the proposal might be an aberration  or a sign of things to come. It would be unfortunate if other counties take its example and also reject the Voters Choice Act over unfounded fears of voter fraud, of which there is little evidence, or because they believe Republican candidates benefit from depressed turnout. So far, only five of the 14 eligible counties have agreed to participate, including Sacramento and Nevada counties.

The whole state should be moving toward reform. Boosting turnout by making it easier to vote leads to a better, stronger democracy. Perhaps the Legislature was wrong to have made the Voters Choice Act voluntary, but frankly, most legislators assumed that counties would be glad to embrace a system that improved the voting experience, increased turnout and saved taxpayer dollars at the same time.

Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and Facebook
Mr. Le Thanh Hai (left) presented congratulatory flowers at the meeting (Photo: VNA)

Implementing the labor cooperation program between Vietnam and Eastern European countries and the Soviet Union, including the German Democratic Republic, Vietnam sent generations of officials and employees to Germany.

In July 1987, hundreds of people were sent to the VEB Textile Union, shoe factories, combine harvester factories, candle production factories and garment factories. At that time, this was a major industrial area with the largest Vietnamese population in the German Democratic Republic.

At the meeting, Mr. Michal Herfort, Mayor of Wilthen city, appreciated the contributions of the Vietnamese community to the development of Wilthen city and its surrounding areas.

According to him, the generations of staff sent to Germany under the Vietnam-German Democratic Republic labor cooperation program have deeply integrated and greatly contributed to strengthening the friendship and cooperation between the two countries.

Mr. Le Thanh Hai, First Secretary of the Vietnamese Embassy in Germany, emphasized that the staff of the labor cooperation program have made many contributions to the friendship and labour cooperation between Vietnam and Germany, their lives have developed and are more stable to quickly integrate and assert their role and voice in the social life of the host country in general, and with the Vietnamese community living in Germany in particular.

The meeting was also a meaningful time for the staff to review the difficult times and efforts to overcome in the life during their first days arriving in Germany./.
Five years ago, the Los Angeles Unified school board overrode the recommendations of its top staff and renewed the contract of a particularly low-performing charter school in El Sereno. Monica Garcia led the charge on the board, saying that the school should be allowed to remain open because parents liked sending their children there, and that the decision should be theirs.

Wrong. Schools should be judged on how good a job theyre doing of educating  thats what the public is paying for  not on popularity contests.

Why bring this up now? Because Garcia has been reelected to the board, and for the first time in several years, she will be part of a strongly pro-charter majority. One of the new members of that majority, Nick Melvoin, recently expressed a similar sentiment, saying that rather than limiting charter growth in any way, he would depend on the market forces of parent choice.

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Melvoin won The Times endorsement, as did Kelly Gonez, a charter school teacher. The previous boards negative take on charter schools, under Chairman Steve Zimmer, was problematic. Melvoin appealed to us because he expressed support for charters  but also said he thought they should receive strong oversight and truly be open to all students. He needs to stick by that thinking.

The boards most important job is to set the direction for the superintendent to do her job.

When the new board members take their seats Thursday, its a good time to outline hopes and expectations on several important fronts:

Charter schools

No, public education is not a free-market system, nor should it be. It is paid for by taxpayers with the specific goal of producing knowledgeable, thoughtful graduates well-prepared for further schooling or for the workforce. Charter schools should be helping to achieve that goal by providing a clearly superior education to what families would find at the district-run schools their children otherwise would be required to attend.

The new board should immediately vote to roll back a recent decision that left charter schools out of the new unified enrollment system for schools. The system is intended to streamline the complicated and frustrating system by which students find and apply to magnet and pilot schools. Thats a great goal, but the board voted to keep charter schools out in hopes that the new system would keep more families in district-run schools, thus keeping the state funding for those students flowing to the district. The unified enrollment system should exist for the benefit of students, not for the benefit of the district.

What shouldnt be changed is the boards recent emphasis on tighter oversight of charter schools. If charter schools arent accepting their full share of students with learning disabilities, or arent providing an obviously better education than nearby neighborhood schools, they shouldnt be allowed to stay in business. Further, when it comes to sharing campuses, district schools should not be squashed into cramped spaces to make room for charters.

Budget

Charters have stirred up most of the controversy, but budget planning is by far the bigger area where the new board majority needs to step in. The district is expected to face serious shortfalls within a couple of years, and kicking the can down the road, as its been doing, is not an acceptable strategy. If the district wants to retain students, it needs the money to offer reasonable class sizes and enticing programs.

The district needs to cut the size of its administration, and already is in the process of doing so. But the big-ticket item looming over its head is the ever-increasing bubble of teacher retirement benefits. This isnt an easy one to fix: Schools need to attract talented teachers, not turn them off. And teachers cant be stripped of benefits they already were promised. But the district will need to be somewhat less generous to newly hired teachers, and it cant afford to wait five or 10 more years to make those changes while its pension obligations build.

Board meetings

The boards infamously long meetings need to be streamlined so that members are focused on the important business to be accomplished. As obvious as that sounds, the board has long wasted time on lengthy and detailed discussions of issues that dont require its attention, such as where the food services department is sourcing the ingredients for its school lunches. There are too many symbolic resolutions that dont affect the education of students. Board members should be encouraged to express themselves succinctly; there are too many rambling speeches that feel more targeted to the video cameras than to the creation of strong policies. The board isnt just wasting its own time. Highly paid staff members sit in attendance, and parents and other interested parties take precious time away from their jobs to attend.

Clear direction

One of the most depressing moments of the past year was when the board was (justifiably) dissatisfied with the strategic plan proposed by Supt. Michelle King but would neither adopt it nor reject it. This was an embarrassing failure. The boards most important job is to set the direction for the superintendent to do her job. That means forming a clear picture of what it wants to achieve for the next two years and making up its mind on a strategic plan to bring about those achievements.

A related problem is that the board has agreed to too many ambitious new policies without figuring out how to accomplish them. Thats how the iPads-for-all initiative quickly fell apart, and its how the district came to rely on too-easy online courses to bring up graduation rates. The board had decided years ago to require college-prep courses for graduation without figuring out how the district would accomplish that or checking in once in a while to see whether the district was on schedule. (It wasnt.) No more grand goals without a plan for getting there.

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Is the Fourth of July just a day off work or a day of patriotism? Chances are your answer will vary depending on what your parents did for a living.

A yawning class divide is driving American politics, a chasm between the top 20% of American households and those in the middle. For one thing, Middle America tends to be more patriotic than the top 20%  the college-educated elite. J.D. Vance in Hillbilly Elegy writes that his grandmother always had two gods: Jesus Christ and the United States of America. I was no different, and neither was anyone else I knew.

Flag waving went out of fashion in the 1970s among the college-educated, particularly progressives, not least because of their objections to the Vietnam War. But overt love of country remains robust in the group called the white working class. (Actually theyre the middle 53% of Americans, median income $75,144; most are among the two-thirds of Americans who are not college graduates.) Their patriotism reflects the way we all stress the high-status categories we belong to. For them, being American helps assuage the hidden injuries of class.

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Closely intertwined with working-class patriotism is respect for the military. This makes sense in a country where military service yields instant honor to a group whose blue- or pink-collar jobs often dont. Joining up also entitles them to free college tuition, training for blue-collar jobs, good healthcare and quality child care. Elite families can pay for all this; for non-elites, the military offers Nordic-style socialism.

Working-class people typically place a higher value on family and community, and may interpret career drive as narcissism.

Respect for the military also reflects working-class whites focus on self-discipline and personal responsibility. Alfred Lubrano, a journalist whose father was a bricklayer, described his dads well-developed work ethic, the kind that gets you up early and keeps you locked in until the job is done, regardless of how odious or personally distasteful to task in Limbo: Blue-Collar Roots, White-Collar Dreams. In The Dignity of Working Men, a printer tells sociologist Michele Lamont, Sometimes I wish I could be more carefree. And then I say no. I like people who are responsible. If these men were free spirits, their families might soon be homeless.

In addition to the military, non-elites of all races tend to value religion, another institution that aids self-discipline. The Southerners Arlie Hochschild interviewed for her book Strangers in Their Own Land were proud of their Christian morality and wounded when it was depicted as homophobic ignorance. We try to be right living, clean living people, a former pipe fitter told her. For non-elites, religion often provides the mental exercise, stability, hopefulness, impulse control and social safety net that elites get from their therapists, jobs and bank accounts.

If self-discipline defines the white working-class, self-development defines the elite. Success in professional jobs requires a life that revolves around career, ambition and individual achievement. Working-class people typically place a higher value on family and community and may interpret career drive as narcissism. In a Stanford/UC Santa Barbara psychology experiment, subjects were told the car they wanted to buy also had been chosen by a friend. People from elite backgrounds were disappointed; the lack of individual distinction felt like a loss. People from non-elite backgrounds were happy; they saw the overlap as a sign of connection with others.

The different values represented by self-discipline and self-development deeply shape American politics. Take abortion rights: For elites, abortion is fundamental to a womans ability to pursue a rewarding career and create a family of high-human-capital children born when the parents can pour time and resources into them. When family comes first and your job is primarily what you do to support your spouse and children, abortion rights may seem part and parcel of the elites strange and unhealthy tendency to place career ahead of more important things.

The way past the class divide on abortion and many other issues is to see how each viewpoint reflects the specific inner logic of lives lived. Neither represents dark ignorance. Had establishment Democrats held this view in 2016 they wouldnt have condescended to deplorable non-elites.

For the Democratic Party to re-connect with blue-collar whites, it must return to economic justice as the cement binding the traditional progressive-working class coalition. Americans without college degrees have borne the brunt of the hollowing out of the middle class. What those in the white working class want is what college grads already have: a job that yields their vision of a middle-class life. Thats what poor and working-class communities of color want, too.

Donald Trumps powerful appeal as a candidate stemmed in large part from his promise of decent work for, as he put it, the poorly educated. But the proposal his administration is most excited about so far looks to be a massive tax cut for the rich. That wont fund a trillion-dollar job-creating infrastructure program, nor will it set up the kind of education-to-employment system that could retrain Americans for millions of good, middle-skill positions available now.

Nonetheless, a lot of blue-collar and pink-collar voters think Trump is not just listening to them, but doing something about their plight. If the elites in the Democratic Party dont get off their high horse, show the working class some respect and provide a clear alternative to Trump, well all be reading bizarre and inappropriate tweets for seven more very long years.

Joan C. Williams is a professor and founding director of the Center for WorkLife Law at UC Hastings College of the Law. She is the author of White Working Class: Overcoming Class Cluelessness in America.

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The White House confirmed only on Tuesday that the most highly anticipated meeting of President Trumps tenure  with Russias President Vladimir Putin  will take place Friday in Germany. But among advisors mindful of the many pitfalls, both domestic and global, preparations have been intense for some time.

The meeting of the two presidents, whose mutual admiration during the 2016 American presidential campaign stoked allegations of collusion that are now at the center of a criminal investigation in Washington, is certain to be a highlight of a summit of the worlds 20 wealthiest countries starting Thursday in Hamburg.

With issues of North Koreas continued nuclear threats, Syria, Islamic State and global terrorism on the agenda  and Trumps political future on leaders minds  the eyes of the world are trained toward the two mens meeting on the sidelines of the Group of 20 summit.

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I worry a little about this meeting because Putin is going to walk into the room very well prepared, and Im not certain Trump will come into that room prepared, said Steven Pifer, a former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine and career diplomat who now is a senior foreign policy fellow at the Brookings Institution think tank in Washington.

Should Trump prove unprepared, that wont be for lack of effort on the Americans side.

Leading up to his first face-to-face meeting with Putin, U.S. intelligence officials have prepared a detailed psychological profile of the long-serving Russian strongman, a former KGB officer who spent decades recruiting spies for the Soviet Union and mastered the art of bending people to his will.

The profile, according to two U.S. officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the preparations, is part of a thick binder prepared for Trump. The president often doesnt read the usual briefing books and relies on in-person briefings, the officials said, so aides also have written a list of tweet-length sentences that summarize the main points Trump could bring up with Putin.

Putin was and is a KGB officer, and KGB officers are specialists at one thing: seduction, how to persuade others to do what you want.  John Herbst

Yet senior aides have been mute on exactly what the two men will discuss. Theres no specific agenda, Trumps national security advisor, H.R. McMaster, told reporters. Its really going to be whatever the president wants to talk about.

Trump should expect a strong backlash if he doesnt tell Putin to keep out of future U.S. elections, warned the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, Rep. Adam B. Schiff (D-Burbank), in a telephone interview.

If he doesnt have the courage to raise the issue, Putin will conclude he can walk over our affairs and the president wont object, Schiff said. That would be a big mistake.

Advisors including Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Defense Secretary James N. Mattis are trying to carefully script Trumps interaction to head off any attempt by Putin to manipulate the encounter to his advantage, the U.S. officials said.

Putin is known to prepare assiduously for such high-stakes encounters with foreign counterparts, developing a command of policy objectives and honing a strategy to extract concessions, one U.S. official said.

Putin was and is a KGB officer, and KGB officers are specialists at one thing: seduction, how to persuade others to do what you want, said John Herbst, a foreign policy expert at the Atlantic Council and a U.S. ambassador to Ukraine under President George W. Bush.

The odds are the atmosphere will be good because our president seems to love Putin, even though it is bad policy, Herbst said.

Herbst, who as a career foreign service officer helped prepare presidents and secretaries of State before such high-stakes interactions, suggested that Putin will try to establish a personal connection with Trump, who is widely seen among his global counterparts as particularly susceptible to flattery. And Putin will want to convince Trump that Russia is not a danger and NATO is not as important as Trumps advisors say, Herbst said.

The White House said Tuesday that Trump and Putin will have a normal bilateral meeting Friday afternoon during the G-20 summit. That implies a longer, more formal meeting than the conversation he will have with German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Friday, as well as other pull aside meetings with the leaders of Mexico, Japan and several other countries that day.

Trump is also scheduled to meet with Chinas President Xi Jinping at the gathering and is sure to keep pressing Xi to use Chinas considerable influence over North Korea to get Pyongyang to cease its nuclear program. Trump could well raise North Korea with Putin too amid evidence that Russian firms have been selling arms and oil to the rogue state.

The session will be the first formal conversation between Putin and a U.S. president in nearly two years, since the Obama administration moved to isolate Moscow after Russias annexation of Crimea and its interference elsewhere in Ukraine.

It comes amid tension over Moscows efforts to influence the 2016 presidential election and its support for the government of Syrian President Bashar Assad. A special counsel is directing an FBI investigation into whether people associated with Trumps campaign colluded with Russia to help Trump by hurting Hillary Clintons chances of being elected.

Besides preparing Trump for the Putin dialogue, administration officials are seeking to bolster his leverage with Putin going into the talks. The presidents schedule calls for him to speak on Thursday in Warsaw and to meet with leaders of other Eastern European countries in an effort to highlight the U.S. commitment to stand with them to counter Russias efforts to regain influence there.

Russian President Vladimir Putin gestures speaking to the media after his annual live call-in show in Moscow, Russia. (Alexander Zemlianichenko / Associated Press)

Trump will deliver his speech Thursday in front of a monument to the 1944 Warsaw Uprising against Nazi occupation. During the uprising, the Soviet army did not aid the Poles and many blamed Moscow for standing by as the Nazis crushed the rebellion and emptied the city.

Trumps initial stop in Poland also suggests at least implicitly the continued significance of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, contrary to his denigration of the alliance as obsolete while campaigning. Russian and European leaders will be watching closely to see whether he underscores the U.S. commitment to protect other NATO states under Article 5 of the alliances founding charter.

Defense Secretary Mattis called the U.S. obligation ironclad during a speech in Germany last week. But Trumps failure to endorse it during a NATO conference in Brussels in May deeply unsettled allies, though he subsequently voiced support at a news conference in Washington.

Trumps show of solidarity with Eastern Europe going into the meeting with Putin could complicate his stated desire to usher in a new era of good U.S.-Russian relations.

Putin is expected to look for ways to further undermine NATO and exploit divisions within, such as the tension between Trump and Merkel evident at the NATO summit and after Trumps disavowal of the Paris accord on climate change. She told reporters in Germany that the G-20 meetings would be thorny.

Russian officials have also made overtures to the Trump administration about regaining two properties previously used by Russian intelligence services: a mansion on Long Island, N.Y., and a large house in Maryland. The Obama administration demanded the Russian government vacate both properties in December and kicked out 35 alleged spies in retaliation for Russian interference in the U.S. election.

Audiences in the U.S. and Russia will be watching closely to read any signs that one president got the better of the other, said Pifer, the former ambassador.

Seemingly small things could make a huge difference.

When Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Ambassador to the U.S. Sergey Kislyak met with Trump in the Oval Office in May, only a photographer from the Russian state news agency Tass was allowed to take pictures. To the chagrin of the White House, which expected the photos would not be shared, the images were released and showed Trump and the two Russians smiling and apparently laughing together  a day after Trump had fired FBI Director James B. Comey out of frustration about the Russia investigation.

My fear would be Putin comes out and says something that on the face of it looks like a pretty good deal, Pifer said, but when you look at the pieces, there are some hidden downsides that dont appear until after the president has said yes.

Twitter: @ByBrianBennett

brian.bennett@latimes.com

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Trump called him my African-American. But he has few kind words for the president. By Mark Z. Barabak (Mark Z. Barabak/Los Angeles Times) On the day that changed his life, Gregory Cheadle almost stayed in bed. He was tired  he traveled a lot in his long-shot bid for Congress  but asked himself: How often does a candidate for president come to the far reaches of Northern California? And why pass up a crowd and the chance to hand out more fliers? So Cheadle roused himself that June 2016 morning and secured a spot up close when Donald Trump swooped in for a rally at Reddings municipal airport. It was hot, the atmosphere was loose and Trumps patter seeming more stand-up comedy than campaign spiel. He went into one of those sidelong digressions, about protesters and an African American  great fan, great guy  and, by the way, whatever happened to him? It was then, Cheadle said, he raised his hand and jokingly shouted, Im here. Trump looked and pointed, his voice a throaty rumble. Look at my African-American over here! he exclaimed. Are you the greatest? In the days and weeks that followed Cheadle was attacked on social media and harassed by people who dug up his phone number and email address. For a time he stayed home, too nervous to venture outside. All, he said, because the media portrayed him as something he was not and never has been: a Trump sycophant. Read More Facebook

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Trump quietly signs Russia sanctions bill By Noah Bierman President Trump quietly signed legislation Wednesday that imposes new sanctions on Russia and limits his ability to remove them, according to two White House aides. Trump signed the bill without cameras or an immediate press release. He had opposed imposing new sanctions on Moscow but had little choice after a nearly unanimous Congress approved the bill, guaranteeing they would override a veto. The bill, which also imposes new sanctions on Iran and North Korea, prevents American companies from investing in many energy projects that are funded by Russian government interests. It also prevents Trump from unilaterally lifting the sanctions. It thus marked an unusual move by Congress to tie the presidents hands on foreign policy. Trump did not want to give up that leverage. But the vote in Congress was a strong sign that lawmakers do not trust Trump to stand up to Russian President Vladimir Putin, whom Trump has repeatedly praised, and the widening federal investigation into possible coordination last year between his presidential campaign and Moscow. Passage of the sanctions bill already has sparked a harsh reaction in Moscow. Putin announced last week that the United States would need to shed 755 personnel, including U.S. diplomats, from its embassy and consulates in Russia. President Obama expelled 35 Russian diplomats, said to be spies, from the United States last December. A White House aide said a statement would be issued later Wednesday. Facebook

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Senior GOP senators serve notice: No action on healthcare at this point By David Lauter Trump administration officials continue to push the Senate to take another run at healthcare legislation, but on Monday senior Republican senators pushed back, making clear that theyre done with the topic for now. Theres just too much animosity and were too divided on healthcare, Sen. Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah), the head of the Senate Finance Committee, said in an interview with Reuters. I think we ought to acknowledge that we can come back to healthcare afterward, but we need to move ahead on tax reform, Hatch said. His remarks were quickly followed by others in GOP leadership positions. I think its time to move on to something else, Sen. Roy Blunt of Missouri told CNN. If the question is do I think we should stay on healthcare until we get it done, I think its time to move on to something else. Sen. John Thune of South Dakota also chimed in. Until someone shows us how to get that elusive 50th vote, I think its over, he told reporters. The remarks seemed a coordinated effort to respond to administration officials, including budget director Mick Mulvaney and Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price, who said over the weekend that they wanted the Senate to keep working on healthcare. Last week, the Senate defeated several different Republican plans to repeal all or part of the Affordable Care Act. The votes made it clear that with unified Democratic opposition to repeal, and divisions among Republicans, the campaign to overturn the law has stalled out, at least for now. Congress faces several other pressing issues that will be demanding lawmakers attention, including deadlines at the end of September to raise the federal debt ceiling and fund government agencies for the coming fiscal year. And the administration is eager to move on tax proposals, with officials rather optimistically saying they hope to see votes by November on a tax package that is not yet written. Facebook

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Good news for Atty. Gen. Sessions: Trump has 100% confidence in Cabinet By Noah Bierman To Q re Sessions, spox Sanders says Trump has 100% confidence in Cabinet. Last wk she wouldn't say if he had it in Sessions. Kelly effect?  Jackie Calmes (@jackiekcalmes) July 31, 2017 President Trump has called Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions beleaguered and even VERY weak, but Sessions seemed to get good news from the White House press secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, on Monday. Trump has 100% confidence in all of his Cabinet secretaries, Sanders said in response to a question about Sessions job status during the daily White House briefing. Last week, when speculation about Sessions was rife, Sanders repeatedly declined opportunities to provide assurances that the attorney general enjoyed the presidents full confidence. Trump himself said time will tell when he was asked last week about Sessions. The willingness to tamp down speculation about Sessions may reflect the arrival Monday of retired Gen. John F. Kelly as the new White House chief of staff. He is tasked with restoring order to the administration. Sanders also batted down reports that the White House was discussing moving Sessions to another post, as secretary of Homeland Security. That job became vacant Monday after Kelly was sworn in as Trumps new chief of staff. Sanders said the White House has had no conversations about any Cabinet members switching jobs. Republican senators have publicly opposed firing Sessions, and a couple have objected to shifting him to another post as well, given that it could appear that Trump is trying to affect the investigations of himself and his campaign in the context of Russias election interference. Trump has said publicly that his frustration with Sessions, once among his closest allies, stems from Sessions decision to recuse himself from the Russia investigation, an act that led to the appointment of a special counsel. Facebook

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Can Trump really cut health insurance payments for members of Congress and their staff? It would be easy By Lisa Mascaro Reeling from the failure to repeal the Affordable Care Act, President Trump now threatens to block federal funding that lawmakers and their staff rely on to help buy health insurance. Trumps threats are not empty. The administration could simply stop the payments -- which are provided to Capitol Hill lawmakers and staff much the way many employers help pay employees monthly insurance premiums -- by dashing off new federal regulation. But the easy attack on lawmakers skims over what many say was a complicated, but fair-minded, compromise made during the Obamacare debates several years ago. Under Obamacare, if lawmakers want insurance through their employer - the federal government - they are required to buy policies through the ACA exchanges. There had been great criticism at the time, largely from opponents of the healthcare bill, that lawmakers and congressional staff should not be exempt from the law. The argument was they should have to live under it. So they did. Usually those buying individual insurance on the exchanges can apply to see if their income and geographic area allow them to qualify for a federal subsidy. For lawmakers, though, that was prohibited. Instead, they get the regular employer contribution they did before, much in the same way other workers do when their companies buy insurance. For federal workers, the government covers about 70% of the costs, about the same paid by employers in the private sector, according to Kaiser Family Foundation. The administration affirmed that federal support for lawmakers and their staffs in an Office of Personnel Management regulation issued in 2013. To cut those funds off, Trump administration could simply reverse course, and issue another regulation changing the rules. Trump appeared ready to do so in a series of weekend tweets. Why should Congress not be paying what public pays, Trump tweeted over the weekend. If a new HealthCare Bill is not approved quickly, BAILOUTS for Insurance Companies and BAILOUTS for Members of Congress will end very soon. But such a move would likely cause an uproar in Congress. Its not just members of Congress, but also their staffs, who would have to pay full price for their insurance. Stopping Trumps action, though, seems tough. It would require Congress to pass legislation ensuring the federal payments would continue to be made. Few lawmakers would likely take up that cause. And even if Congress were able to pass a bill protecting the payments, it seems doubtful Trump at this point would sign it into law. Facebook

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U.S. hits Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro with sanctions By Associated Press Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro celebrates the results of Sundays election in Caracas. (Ronaldo Schemidt / AFP/Getty Images) The Trump administration has hit Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro with financial sanctions. The move comes after Venezuela held a weekend election that will give Maduros ruling party virtually unlimited power in the South American country. The Treasury Departments Office of Foreign Assets Control announced the sanctions against Maduro in a brief statement on Monday, a day after the Venezuelan vote to elect a constituent assembly that will rewrite the constitution. A longer explanation from the White House was also expected. The administration imposed sanctions on more than a dozen senior current and former Venezuelan officials last week, warning the socialist government that new penalties would come if Maduro went ahead with Sundays election for the assembly. Facebook

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Anthony Scaramucci is out as White House communications director By Brian Bennett Anthony Scaramucci, the brash New Yorker who was announced little more than a week ago as President Trumps White House communications director, was ousted Monday before he had even officially taken the job. John F. Kelly, the newly sworn-in White House chief of staff, told Scaramucci around 9:30 a.m. EDT that he was going to be replaced, according to a person close to White House. In a statement officially announcing the move, the White House said Scaramucci felt it was best to give Chief of Staff John Kelly a clean slate and the ability to build his own team. While Scaramuccis time at the center of the presidents circle was short, it was consequential, prompting the resignations of first Sean Spicer as White House press secretary and then Reince Priebus as chief of staff. The most notable firings and resignations in the Trump administration >> A former hedge fund executive on Wall Street, Scaramucci, who enjoyed media attention, also had come on strong stylistically, highlighted by a profane tirade against colleagues Priebus and Trump strategist Steve Bannon in an exchange last week with a New Yorker reporter. The abrupt shift in Scaramuccis status seemed to reflect Kellys mission to bring order to the chain of command within the chaotic administration. In getting Scaramucci to leave, Kelly was undoing Trumps own hiring decision. Scaramucci had told reporters when he was hired that he would be reporting directly to the president at Trumps request, bypassing the normal chain that would have the communications director -- like all staff -- report to the chief of staff. Scaramuccis unusually short tenure reflects a moment of extreme turbulence in the White House, which has been embroiled in infighting as it confronts low poll numbers for the president, a floundering legislative agenda and the investigations involving Russian meddling in last years presidential election. After word spread of Scaramuccis ouster, Spicer, who resigned when Scaramucci took over but was still working in the White House, walked out of his office to a throng of reporters. Is this a surprise party? he asked. UPDATE 12:15 p.m.: This story has been updated throughout with additional details and background. This article was originally published at 11:49 a.m. Facebook

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Trump swears in John Kelly, says ex-secretary of Homeland Security will do an even better job as chief of staff By Noah Bierman President Trump swore in his new chief of staff, John F. Kelly, on Monday morning, formalizing a shake-up in his top ranks that was announced Friday evening with word of the resignation of Reince Priebus. We look forward to - if its possible - an even better job as chief of staff, Trump said to Kelly, formerly the secretary of homeland security. Ill try, sir, Kelly replied. JOHN KELLY is now chief of staff. Sworn in during ceremony in Oval Office minutes ago. pic.twitter.com/dMEQ4rhpFA  Jennifer Jacobs (@JenniferJJacobs) July 31, 2017 Trump is hoping that Kelly, a retired general, will retool and bring order to a White House that has struggled with low poll numbers, staff infighting, a faltering legislative agenda and an investigation into Russian election meddling and potential collusion and obstruction of justice. Yet Trump said the administration has done very well after a reporter asked what would be different under Kelly. He cited the unemployment rate, the thriving stock market and unnamed polls that, he said, show high business confidence. Were doing very well. We have a tremendous base, he said.The country is optimistic. And I think the general will just add to it. Trump praised Kellys performance at the Department of Homeland Security, where Kelly focused on immigration issues at the southern border, as record-shattering, with very little controversy. There was no word on whom the president might name to replace Kelly at the department. Trump reportedly has considered moving Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions there from the Justice Department, reflecting his unhappiness with the attorney general, but Republican senators preemptively have signaled their opposition to such a move. Facebook

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Risky investigation, stalled agenda  Trumps in trouble, so heres his strategy By Noah Bierman (Spencer Platt / Getty Images) Hosts of Southern Californias Morning Answer radio show were wrapping up a two-hour live broadcast from a white tent just outside the West Wing last week and marveling at their access to Cabinet secretaries and prominent administration figures. If youre a Trumpkin, host Brian Whitman told his listeners on AM 870, this is like fantasy camp. The White Houses daylong hospitality for Salem Radio Network, a nationwide chain of Christian and conservative stations, underscored President Trumps continued courtship of  and increased dependence on  core supporters as he confronts a stalled agenda and increasingly perilous investigations into whether his campaign colluded with Russia and he subsequently sought to obstruct the inquiries. Read More Facebook

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Obamacare vote isnt the only sign of GOP resistance to Trump By Noah Bierman In the year since Donald Trump won the Republican presidential nomination, party leaders have been reluctant to challenge a man who has formed a tight bond with conservative voters, even when he upset party orthodoxies and norms of presidential behavior. But that reticence is breaking down. A convergence of contentious issues, as well as embarrassing infighting and shake-ups at the White House, have a number of Republicans suddenly in open resistance to Trump on a number of fronts. Read More Facebook

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Trump ousts Reince Priebus as chief of staff in latest White House shake-up By Noah Bierman John Kelly (Susan Walsh / Associated Press) President Trump ousted his beleaguered chief of staff, Reince Priebus, naming Homeland Security Secretary John F. Kelly to replace him Friday in the latest White House shake-up as the administration struggles to emerge from bitter staff infighting and a stalled legislative agenda. Trump announced the abrupt reshuffle in three posts on Twitter hours after the Senate killed his latest plans to rewrite President Obamas signature healthcare law, dealing another harsh blow to the White House. The tweets, sent as Trump was returning on Air Force One with Priebus after a speech on gang violence in New York, caught Capitol Hill and others off guard even though Priebus stature in Trumps inner circle has been in sharp decline for some time. Read More Facebook

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Putins spokesman accuses U.S. of political schizophrenia By Associated Press Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov attends a meeting in Moscow on June 21. (Sergei Karpukhin / EPA) Russia urged the United States on Monday to show political will to mend ties even as it ordered sweeping cuts of U.S. embassy personnel unseen since Cold War times. President Vladimir Putins spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said it will take time for the U.S. to recover from what he called political schizophrenia, but added that Russia remains interested in constructive cooperation with the U.S. We are interested in a steady development of our ties and are sorry to note that we are still far from that, he said. Peskovs statement followed Sundays televised comments by Putin, who said the U.S. would have to cut 755 of its embassy and consulate staff in Russia, a massive reduction he described as a response to new U.S. sanctions. The Russian Foreign Ministry had previously said that the U.S. should cut its embassy and consular employees to 455, the number that Russia has in the United States. Along with the caps on embassy personnel announced Friday, it also declared the closure of a U.S. recreational retreat on the outskirts of Moscow and warehouse facilities. Moscows action is the long-expected tit-for-tat response to former President Obamas move to expel 35 Russian diplomats and shut down two Russian recreational retreats in the U.S. over reports of Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election. Facebook

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White House urged to refrain from Obamacare sabotage as Trump mulls subsidy cutoff By Laura King A pair of prominent lawmakers urged President Trump on Sunday not to sabotage the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, in the wake of failed Republican efforts to scrap his predecessors signature legislative achievement. But Trump urged GOP senators to try again to push through some version of repealing and replacing the law, even though Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said last week it was time to move on to other matters. Trump senior advisor Kellyanne Conway said the president would decide in coming days whether to block subsidies that are a crucial component of the existing healthcare law. Hes going to make that decision this week, and thats a decision that only he can make, Conway said on Fox News Sunday. Two of the lawmakers who blocked the Senate GOP repeal plan last week, however, criticized the administrations continued efforts to overturn the law. Sen. Susan Collins, the Maine Republican who steadfastly rejected a series of GOP healthcare measures last week, blamed the Trump administration for encouraging instability in the insurance markets by continuing the uncertainty over whether the subsidies  cost-sharing payments that reduce out-of-pocket healthcare costs for poorer Americans  would continue. Im troubled by the uncertainty that has been created by the administration, Collins said on NBCs Meet the Press. She contested Trumps characterization of the payments as an insurance company bailout. Thats not what it is, she said, calling the reduction payments vital assistance to low-income Americans. And Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska said further action on healthcare should be done in a bipartisan manner and not rushed. You cannot do major entitlement reform singlehandedly, and you wouldnt do major legislative initiatives singlehandedly, she told reporters in Alaska. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) echoed Collins criticism of Trumps threat to stop making the cost-sharing payments. You know, I really think its incomprehensible that we have a president of the United States who wants to sabotage healthcare in America, make life more difficult for millions of people who are struggling now to get the health insurance they need and to pay for that health insurance, he said on CNNs State of the Union. Prior to heading out for a day at his Virginia golf property, Trump tweeted that Republican senators should press ahead with efforts to scrap Obamacare -- a day after he tauntingly exhorted them not to be quitters in the quest for a legislative victory for him. Don't give up Republican Senators, the World is watching: Repeal & Replace...and go to 51 votes (nuke option), get Cross State Lines & more.  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 30, 2017 The White House budget director, Mick Mulvaney, on CNNs State of the Union, said it was official Trump administration policy that the Senate should keep working to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, eschewing an August recess if necessary. Senators, he said, need to stay, they need to work -- they need to pass something. Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price, while acknowledging a responsibility to follow the law -- Obamacare -- also signaled that Trump was not accepting defeat in efforts to get rid of the measure. Our goalas well as the presidents goal, is to put in place a law, a system, that actually works for patients, he said on Meet the Press, adding, You cant do that under the current structure. Facebook

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Frustrated in defeat, Trump threatens healthcare of voters  and lawmakers By Joseph Tanfani Frustrated by the failure of the Obamacare repeal in the Senate, President Trump on Saturday threatened to end federal subsidies for healthcare insurance  for Congress as well as the rest of the country. After seven years of "talking" Repeal & Replace, the people of our great country are still being forced to live with imploding ObamaCare!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 29, 2017 If a new HealthCare Bill is not approved quickly, BAILOUTS for Insurance Companies and BAILOUTS for Members of Congress will end very soon!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 29, 2017 If a new HealthCare Bill is not approved quickly, BAILOUTS for Insurance Companies and BAILOUTS for Members of Congress will end very soon! Trump tweeted, fuming about Congress failure to repeal the Affordable Care Act, which he said was imploding. Such a move could cause havoc and much higher premiums in insurance markets, since many low- and moderate-income people depend on those subsidies to help cover the cost of their policies. Through a series of administrative maneuvers by Congress and the Obama administration, members and their staffs also benefit from those subsidies. Targeting congressional healthcare might score Trump some populist points with his base, but it would likely come at a cost of poisoning his relationship with Congress. Just making the threat on Saturday highlights how far things have eroded between Trump and top GOP lawmakers. And it comes a day after Trump pushed out former Chief of Staff Reince Priebus, an establishment Republican who was the GOP congressional leaderships trusted liaison in the White House. Trump actually has a jarring amount of leverage over thousands of congressional staff who depend on employer health care contribution. https://t.co/lRPmrmDIJs  Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) July 29, 2017 Trumps longstanding threat to let the health insurance plans fail would come with its own political price. The federal government sends about $600 million a month to insurance companies to help cover the cost, and Trump is threatening to cut that off to allow Obamacare markets to collapse. His goal is to pressure Congress to send him a repeal bill, but so far the strategy has failed. The confidence Trump has expressed that if he followed through with the threat the fallout would land not on him but on Democrats, because they created Obamacare, is not widely shared in Washington. If health care collapses, voters will blame Trump and the GOP.



That's what happens when you control the White House and Congress. pic.twitter.com/iEjEGyapAL  Sahil Kapur (@sahilkapur) July 29, 2017 Facebook

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Iran condemns new U.S. sanctions, vows to pursue missile program By Ramin Mostaghim Iran defied Washington and condemned new U.S. sanctions over its development of missiles capable of being armed with nuclear warheads. We will continue with full power our missile program, Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Ghasemi told state television IRIB on Saturday, dismissing new sanctions passed by Congress last week as, hostile, reprehensible and unacceptable. Its ultimately an effort to weaken the nuclear deal, Ghasemi said, adding, The military and missile fields  are our domestic policies and others have no right to intervene or comment on them. Iran had agreed to limit its nuclear activities under the 2015 agreement with the U.S. and other world powers in exchange for sanctions relief. Ghasemi argued Saturday that the U.S. had violated that agreement by linking the missile program to the nuclear deal and restricting Iranian banking activities in the U.S. He argued that Irans latest missile tests dont break the agreement because the weapons are defensive. The new wave of pressure on missile projects in Iran will push the Islamic theocracy into a corner, predicted Iran analyst Hojjat Kalashi in Tehran, noting that the government of President Hassan Rouhani, who was reelected in May, is coping with an economic downturn and may step back from the compromise nuclear deal. The new Iran sanctions bill, which also targets Russia and North Korea, was passed by the House and Senate this week. It would penalize those involved in Irans ballistic missile program as well as those who do business with them, impose an arms embargo on Iran and label its Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps a terrorist group. White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders has said President Trump will sign the bill. On Friday, the U.S. was joined by Britain, France and Germany in condemning Irans recent launch of a satellite-carrying rocket and warned that it violated a United Nations resolution implementing the 2015 nuclear deal. In a joint statement, they urged Iran to stop developing missiles and rockets capable of carrying nuclear warheads that have a destabilizing impact on the region. In response to a rocket launch Thursday, the U.S. Treasury Department imposed sanctions on subsidiaries of an Iranian company involved in Tehrans ballistic missile program. But Nader Karimi Juni, an analyst close to Rouhanis government, said Iranian leaders dont believe the U.N. and European powers will ultimately back the U.S., and so Iran will not compromise on missile projects and will remain defiant. Facebook

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Trump jabs U.S. mayors, who push back, calling president out of touch with cities By Kurtis Lee (Spencer Platt / Getty Images) President Trump wants police to know that he  not mayors  has their back. Ive met police that are great police that arent allowed to do their job because they have a pathetic mayor or a mayor that doesnt know whats going on, Trump said Friday in a speech before police officers in Brentwood, N.Y. The comments from Trump, who in his address highlighted crime in cities like Chicago and Los Angeles, drew applause from some in attendance. In a statement following Trumps remarks, the United States Conference of Mayors, a bipartisan group, released a statement pushing back against the president. The presidents comments today prove how out of touch he is with the realities of life in American cities. Mayors number one priority is  and always will be  the safety and protection of their residents, said New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu, the groups president. There is no daylight between the mayors of our cities and the uniformed officers who work tirelessly to keep us safe every single day. During the speech Trump called on police and immigration officials to be rough with suspected gang members in cities nationwide. In a recent interview with The Times, former New York Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, who recently launched a $200-million initiative to empower city governments and mayors, stressed the key to good governing is experience as a manager  something, he said, Trump was not. Bloomberg added that the mayors are much more in tune with the needs of residents than the federal government. You got to remember a mayor and the local city council are much closer to the public than the governor and the state legislature, or the president and the federal legislature. So if the public is in favor of something, the local officials know it and they get held responsible, he said. Facebook

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The growing parade of exits under Trump administration By Len de Groot A lot of people have left President Trumps early administration  Chief of Staff Reince Priebus was replaced Friday. The White House communications department has been the scene of many of the recent turnovers as it wrestles to craft a message sometimes at odds with Trumps frequent tweeting. At the National Security Council, there has been a leadership struggle since Michael Flynn resigned in the face of pressure over undisclosed contacts with Russia. One appointee was fired over comments he made at a private function. Others have been removed as Flynns successor, H.R. McMaster, has moved to add loyalists to the council. Here are the most noteworthy departures: Read More Facebook

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Trump urges officers and immigration officials to be rough on animals terrorizing U.S. neighborhoods By Barbara Demick ( (Evan Vucci / Associated Press)) President Trump on Friday called for police and immigration officials to be rough with suspected gang members in order to rid the country of animals he said are terrorizing communities. Please dont be too nice, Trump told police recruits at Suffolk County Community College in Brentwood, a heavily Latino suburb of New York City. Like when you guys put somebody in the car and youre protecting their head, you know the way you put the hand  like, dont hit their head, and theyve just killed somebody?  You can take the hand away. He implied that he was satisfied with rough handling of suspects by the police. When you see these thugs being thrown into the back of a paddy wagon  you just see them thrown in, rough, he said. Scoffing at calls for what he describes as political correctness, Trump also renewed his pledges to build a wall along the Mexican border. He accused the Obama administration of admitting criminals into the United States. Read More Facebook

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Analysis: In a Washington run by men, two overshadowed Republican women make their point on healthcare By Cathleen Decker In a Washington that has grown demonstrably more testosterone-fueled since President Trumps inauguration, it took two Republican women to secure the end of a long effort to repeal and replace Obamacare. They were the same two women  Maine Sen. Susan Collins and Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski  who had been excluded from the 13-member working group drafting the Republican bills. Nobodys being excluded based upon gender. Everybodys at the table, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell had said of his all-white-males group. In the early hours of Friday, the duo was overshadowed by the more dramatic and unexpected no vote from Sen. John McCain of Arizona. There was reason for the attention lavished on McCain  a war hero and veteran senator returns to the Capitol days after a dire cancer diagnosis. But without both Collins and Murkowskis steadfast opposition, his vote would have been meaningless. Also largely overlooked: Hawaii Sen. Mazie Hirono, a Democrat who like McCain made an arduous trip to Washington despite her recent diagnosis of late-stage kidney cancer. Social media buzzed Friday with praise for the women senators from many fronts, including from men. But from many women, there was also a sense of familiarity at being ignored or taken for granted. Read More Facebook

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Clinton Foundation donor who was denied a visa settles leak case against the U.S. By Joseph Tanfani A billionaire Nigerian businessman and major Clinton Foundation donor banned from entering the U.S. two years ago on terrorism grounds has settled a lawsuit against the U.S. government. Gilbert Chagoury last year sued the FBI and other government agencies in U.S. District Court in Washington, saying he had been damaged by what he described as improper government leaks to the Los Angeles Times. The Times reported last year that Chagoury had been denied a visa to travel to the U.S. in 2015 on suspicion that he had provided aid to terrorist groups. One document, citing unverified information from an unnamed source, said that Chagoury  who is of Lebanese heritage  had funneled funds to Hezbollah, the Lebanese militia and political group designated a terrorist organization by the U.S. Chagoury, an ardent Lakers fan who for decades lived part of the year in Los Angeles, angrily denied that he ever provided funds for terrorism. He said the publicity forced him to sell his Beverly Hills mansion at a loss and caused a bank to close his account. A philanthropist, Vatican ambassador and longtime friend of Bill Clinton, Chagoury once was invited to the White House after contributing to a Democratic get-out-the-vote campaign. He donated at least $1 million to the Clinton Foundation. Emails released last year showed that a Bill Clinton aide pushed Hillary Clintons aides at the State Department to get Chagoury access to top U.S. diplomats. In the settlement filed in court on Friday, the Justice Department said Chagoury has never appeared on the list of Specially Designated Nationals, figures such as terrorists and narcotics traffickers who are generally barred from doing business in the U.S. The government did not grant Chagourys request for a court hearing to dispute the reports that led to his exclusion from the U.S. As I have often said, I have loved America my whole life because it was the land of freedom and justice, he said in a statement, adding that he hopes the agreement will help repair his reputation. The Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Chagoury, who lives most of the time in Paris, has not applied for another visa, said his spokesman, Mark Corallo. Facebook

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Trump ousts Priebus, announces John Kelly as new chief of staff President Trump announced via Twitter on Friday that he had named retired Gen. John Kelly, head of the Department of Homeland Security, as White House chief of staff, replacing Reince Priebus. I am pleased to inform you that I have just named General/Secretary John F Kelly as White House Chief of Staff. He is a Great American....  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 28, 2017 ...and a Great Leader. John has also done a spectacular job at Homeland Security. He has been a true star of my Administration  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 28, 2017 I would like to thank Reince Priebus for his service and dedication to his country. We accomplished a lot together and I am proud of him!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 28, 2017 Read More Facebook

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Rep. John Delaney of Maryland to run for president By Associated Press Rep. John Delaney of Maryland says hes running for president, instead of governor or reelection, in 2018. Delaney, a Democrat, announced his plans in a statement Friday. The politically moderate banking entrepreneur is in his third term in Marylands 6th Congressional District, which includes western Maryland and a large section of Montgomery County, the states largest county. The 54-year-old is worth roughly $90 million and is one of the Houses wealthiest members. He spent about $2 million to help finance his first House race in 2012. His consideration of a possible Maryland gubernatorial bid months ago quickly drew interest in his House seat. Several candidates already have expressed interest in running for the seat. Facebook

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McCain set to head back to Arizona to undergo chemotherapy and radiation treatments By Kurtis Lee (Shawn Thew / EPA) Sen. John McCain is headed home. Hours after McCain spurned his party and voted in opposition to a GOP measure to repeal the Affordable Care Act, the senators office announced Friday he will return to Arizona to undergo chemotherapy and radiation treatments for his recent diagnosis of brain cancer. McCain, 80, was found this month to have a brain tumor known as a glioblastoma. He is scheduled to return to Washington in September after his initial treatments. The glioblastoma  an aggressive type of cancer  was discovered when McCain had a blood clot removed from above his left eye. According to the Mayo Clinic, which is overseeing McCains treatment, glioblastoma is difficult to treat. After returning to Washington this week and voting in favor of opening Senate debate on repeal, McCain was among three Republicans early Friday morning to vote in opposition to a so-called skinny bill that would repeal the ACA, known as Obamacare. The move by McCain, who has served in the Senate since 1987, has drawn the ire of members in his own party and some in the right-wing media. Facebook

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McCains surprise vote doomed GOP healthcare bill, but did it open the door for Senate bipartisanship? By Lisa Mascaro Sen. John McCain is usually happy to spar with reporters, but he ducked into an elevator ahead of the Senate healthcare vote late Thursday without saying a word about how he would vote. Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer, though, already knew the answer. The Democratic leader had been talking with the Arizona Republican all week  four, five times a day  ever since McCain returned to work after being diagnosed with brain cancer. Earlier in the week, McCain had dramatically salvaged the stalled GOP bill by voting to begin debate, only to go on to deliver a blistering speech against his own party leaders partisan, closed-door process in crafting it. Weve been spinning our wheels on too many important issues because we keep trying to find a way to win without help from across the aisle, he told them. Were getting nothing done. Schumer and McCain have been longtime colleagues, a kind of frenemies who seem like throwbacks to an earlier era of Congress. They worked together on big legislation, including the 2013 immigration overhaul  grand ideas that seem all but impossible in todays Congress. They had plenty to discuss. About the Senate, about it working again, about working together, and about how this bill was so poor for the American people, Schumer said. And he knew that, so did half his colleagues, but he had the courage to vote no. The moment stunned the Senate when McCain stepped up to cast his vote  a single down-turned finger  dooming the healthcare bill. Audible gasps filled the galleries, which were packed with onlookers. But his vote  along with no votes from Republicans Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska  did more than shelve the long campaign to repeal the Affordable Care Act. It cracked open a new divide in the Senate, which seems to be split not so much between Republicans and Democrats, but by those senators who want to work together versus those stuck in hardened partisan tribes. Read More Facebook

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U.S. hits Iran with more sanctions in response to satellite launch By Associated Press The United States is slapping Iran with new sanctions in response to its launch of a satellite-carrying rocket into space this week. The sanctions target six Iranian subsidiaries of the Shahid Hemmat Industrial Group. The Treasury Department says that group is central to Irans ballistic missile program. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin says the sanctions illustrate deep U.S. concerns about Irans missile testing and other actions. He says the U.S. will continue countering Irans ballistic missile program, including Thursdays provocative space launch. The U.S. has said that launch flouted a U.N. Security Council resolution because the technology is inherently designed to be able to carry a nuclear payload. The sanctions come as the Trump administration continues debating its Iran policy and whether to scrap the 2015 multilateral deal that limits the development of Irans nuclear capabilities. Facebook

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Political betrayal. McCain vote against Obamacare repeal draws ire from conservative writers By Kurtis Lee (Cliff Owen / AP) Though John McCain was one of three Republicans who helped Democrats squash the legislation to repeal Obamacare, conservative media is homing in on the Arizona senator for spurning his party in the healthcare vote. Here are some of todays headlines: John McCain: Traitor to the conservative cause (Washington Times) McCain, who was recently diagnosed with brain cancer, has been a staunch opponent of Obamacare, but in the end he could not support the so-called skinny repeal measure put forward by his colleagues in the Senate. In this piece, Cheryl K. Chumley, jabs McCain for his vote. For American voters expecting their Republican-dominated House, Senate and White House to honor their years of repeal promises and actually, well, repeal Obamacare, McCains thumbs-down was a face-slap moment that will be remembered in history as a textbook classic case of political betrayal, she writes. McCains odd definition of leading the fight to stop Obamacare (National Review) This article is simple  its a quick compare-and-contrast of McCains recent comments versus his vote on Friday. Last year, during a tough reelection, McCains campaign ran a television ad that boasted the senator is leading the fight to stop Obamacare. But last night his office put out a statement noting the GOP Senate bill did not offer a replacement to actually reform our health care system and deliver affordable, quality health care to our citizens. The author of this piece, Jim Geraghty, concludes: Its very difficult to characterize McCains decision as leading the fight to stop Obamacare. Thats more like leading the fight to keep Obamacare in place while you continue to look for a replacement that you like better. John McCain burns Mitch McConnell sides with Democrats (American Spectator) When McConnell, the majority leader, stood on the Senate floor Friday after the bills failure, he was clearly annoyed. McCains no vote had led to applause moments earlier from Democrats. In a move thats no surprise to anyone, John McCain voted against the embarrassingly named Skinny Repeal, voted against his party (or is it his party?) and voted to keep Obamacare going as is, writes Melissa Mackenzie. Facebook

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Meet the two female GOP senators who opposed the healthcare bill from the start By Kelcey Caulder Sen. John McCain shocked Republicans and Democrats alike with his vote early Friday morning to kill the latest Republican effort to repeal Obamacare. But McCain was not the only Republican to play a role in blocking the final version of the overhaul bill. Two female Republican lawmakers, Sens. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, also voted against the bill. Collins has opposed repeal and replace efforts from the beginning, and Murkowski has also been critical of much of what the Senate Republican leadership has proposed. Collins said it would be a big mistake for Republicans to pass legislation without trying seriously to work with Democrats to reach bipartisan solutions. Instead, she called for both parties to work together to improve the healthcare system. Murkowski and Collins were the first from their party to come out against repealing the ACA without having new, replacement legislation on the table. In statements posted on Twitter, Collins, who voted against the same proposal in 2015, said she did not think it was constructive to repeal the law without a replacement, while Murkowski encouraged senators from both sides of the aisle to work together to address healthcare issues. I will vote no on the motion to proceed to repeal the Affordable Care Act without a replacement. I voted against this same proposal in 2015. pic.twitter.com/Szuke5zYNL  Sen. Susan Collins (@SenatorCollins) July 18, 2017 My recent statement on the Senate Healthcare Process: pic.twitter.com/j19Ok1KwWw  Sen. Lisa Murkowski (@lisamurkowski) July 18, 2017 The two senators were also the only Republicans to vote against opening debate on repeal of Obamacare earlier this week. Their opposition to Republican healthcare efforts has drawn a lot of criticism within the party, some of it expressed in vulgar, even violent terms. Georgia Rep. Buddy Carter said in an interview Wednesday with MSNBC: Somebody needs to go over there to that Senate and snatch a knot in their ass. A Texas congressman said the female senators narrowly avoided an Aaron Burr-style showdown with him. President Trump publicly rebuked Murkowski on Twitter for her vote. Senator @lisamurkowski of the Great State of Alaska really let the Republicans, and our country, down yesterday. Too bad!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 26, 2017 Trump has not criticized Collins by name for her vote, but warned Tuesday at a rally in Ohio that any senator who votes against repeal and replace is telling America that they are fine with the Obamacare nightmare, and I predict theyll have a lot of problems. Facebook

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The current Senate GOP effort to repeal Obamacare is dead. Now what? By Noam N. Levey (J. Scott Applewhite / Associated Press) The sudden collapse of the GOPs Senate campaign to repeal or replace the Affordable Care Act does not mean the issue disappears. Significant problems and challenges remain, particularly for Obamacare insurance marketplaces. The defeat increases the odds that Congress will begin to look at a more limited approach to shore up the current law and stabilize markets. The GOPs repeal effort may return, but in the meantime heres a look at what a temporary fix might look like: Read More Facebook

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Paul Ryan responds to the failure of the GOP healthcare bill By Associated Press House Speaker Paul Ryan said Friday that hes disappointed and frustrated by the failure of Republican healthcare legislation in the Senate. But Ryan said in a statement that we should not give up after promising for years to repeal and replace Obamacare. We were sent to Washington to fulfill the pledges we made to our constituents, the statement said. While the House delivered a bill to repeal and replace Obamacare, unfortunately the Senate was unable to reach a consensus. At the same time, the speaker said that overhauling the tax code is at the top of the Houses list of priorities. He pledged to pursue historic tax reform in the fall. He issued his statement as the House prepared to leave Washington for its annual August recess. The House passed legislation repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act in May. But after a failed vote early Friday in the Senate, its not clear if GOP leaders will be able to resuscitate the efforts. Facebook

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Economic growth rebounded to 2.6% annual rate in second quarter By Jim Puzzanghera The Port of Los Angeles (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times) The U.S. economy rebounded this spring after a weak winter, expanding at a solid 2.6% annual rate as consumers picked up their spending pace, the Commerce Department said Friday. Total economic output, also known as gross domestic product, for the April-through-June period was in line with analyst expectations for a bounce-back based in part on pent-up demand. The economic growth rate was more than double the 1.2% pace in the first quarter. That figure was revised down Friday from an earlier estimate of 1.4%. After the winter blues, the economy has rebounded, said Sung Won Sohn, an economist at Cal State Channel Islands. Read More Facebook

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Never mind healthcare. President Trump has made slogans great again By Mark Z. Barabak ( (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)) His promise to repeal and replace Obamacare has crashed and burned. Tax reform hasnt gotten far. The White House is in disarray, and big plans to rebuild the nations infrastructure have hit a brick wall. But there is one unimpeachable triumph President Trump can point to: Hes made great again great again. The Make America Great Again 2016 campaign slogan  limned in block letters and emblazoned on countless cherry-red ball caps  has been reimagined, repurposed and cheekily appropriated for countless pitches and commercial products. Apart from the now-familiar caps, mercantile options include aprons, beanies, beer cozys, coffee mugs, hoodies, leggings, swimsuits, T-shirts, water bottles and, for the special someone, Donald Trump Make America Great Again Womens Booty Shorts. But MAGA, as the president short-hands the phrase in Twitter posts, is also popping up in places having little or nothing to do with politics: on a catwalk at New Yorks Fashion Week, high in the sky promoting classical music in Phoenix, on the menu at an Italian restaurant in Atlanta. Read More Facebook

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If Adam Schiff is Californias next U.S. senator, he might want to thank President Trump By Mark Z. Barabak (J. Scott Applewhite / Associated Press) The road to elected office can be long and winding and is not always paved with the best of intentions. Some politicians  think of the Kennedys or the Bush family  are born to the trade. Others are borne by tragedy. Former Santa Barbara Rep. Lois Capps succeeded her husband when he died of a heart attack. Former New York Rep. Carolyn McCarthy was spurred to run when her husband was killed and her son gravely wounded in a mass shooting on the Long Island Rail Road. Typically, though, the ascension is more methodical, one rung after the next, often with a pinch of right-place, right-time fortune thrown in for good measure. Lately that bit of luck has visited itself on Adam B. Schiff, in the form of Russian meddling and a president who hurls tweets like poison thunderbolts. Read More Facebook

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Kris Kobach says Trumps voter fraud panel will keep voter data secure. Some states arent buying it By Kurtis Lee (Jessica McGowan / Getty Images) After weeks of legal battles and bipartisan pushback from top election officials nationwide, President Trumps voter fraud commission has renewed a message for the states: Its safe to pass along your data about voters. Individuals voter registration records will be kept confidential and secure throughout the duration of the commissions existence, Kris Kobach, vice chairman of the commission, wrote in a letter sent late Wednesday to all 50 secretaries of state. Even so, by Thursday, much of the criticism that greeted an earlier request from the commission was repeated by election officials and activists, who have expressed concerns about privacy and have called the panel both a sham created by an insecure president and a tool to suppress votes. Trump  without evidence  has repeatedly alleged that 3 million to 5 million illegal votes were cast in last years presidential election. (Trump prevailed in the electoral college, while Democrat Hillary Clinton won the popular vote by about 3 million votes.) Read More Facebook

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President Trump said our guys are rougher than the violent gang MS-13. What did he mean? By Brian Bennett (SAUL LOEB / AFP ) When President Trump said this week his administration is going after bloodthirsty criminal gangs like the notoriously violent MS-13, he added a menacing flourish: Our guys are rougher than their guys. The comment raised concerns that Trump was instructing immigration agents to use excessive force when going after suspected gang members. Not so, Trumps top spokeswoman said on Thursday. I think the president means that our guys are going to do whatever it takes to protect Americans, protect American lives, protect our borders, White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in response to a question about what Trump meant by rougher. Trump wants people to do their jobs, not go beyond the scope of what they should do, Sanders said. Trumps comment came during a rally in Youngstown, Ohio, on Tuesday night. We are throwing MS-13 the hell out of here so fast, he said, boasting that his administration is liberating towns and cities from gangs. And, well, I will just tell you this, were not doing it in a politically correct fashion, Trump added. Were doing it rough. Our guys are rougher than their guys. Trumps comment was meant to boost morale among immigration officers looking to arrest and deport gang members, said one senior administration official, who would speak only without being identified to discuss the presidents thinking. As part of Trumps crackdown on immigrants in the country illegally, he has instructed the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency to target a suspected gang member for deportation before that person has been convicted of a crime, said ICE director Thomas Homan. Homan joined Sanders at her daily briefing at the White House. The two spoke to preview the presidents Friday trip to Long Island, N.Y., where he will tout his administrations efforts against MS-13 and other gangs. For Trump, who grew up in Queens, recent headlines about MS-13 violence in central Long Island have hit close to home. In April, four young men were found hacked to death in a park in Central Islip, N.Y., a senior administration official told reporters Thursday night. He is a New Yorker and he knows New York, the administration official said. It is absolutely a personal issue. And he knows whats happening in New York -- and its not just Long Island -- is a tragedy and there are communities like that all across America. Facebook

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Boy Scouts chief apologizes for presidents political rhetoric at national Jamboree. Trump wont By Brian Bennett President Trump wont apologize for a surprisingly political speech this week to Boy Scouts that provoked a backlash for his attacks on his predecessor, his election rival, dissident Republicans and the news media. White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders delivered that word on Thursday, just after a top executive of the Boy Scouts of America issued an apology on behalf of the organization for allowing the political rhetoric to occur during Trumps address Monday evening at the National Scout Jamboree held in West Virginia. Michael Surbaugh, the organizations chief executive, in a statement extended his sincere apologies to those in our Scouting family who were offended by the political rhetoric that was inserted into the jamboree. He noted that the groups invitation to the president to speak was in keeping with a long-standing tradition since 1937; eight of 11 incumbent presidents have attended. But, Surbaugh wrote, we have steadfastly remained non-partisan and refused to comment on political matters. We sincerely regret that politics were inserted into the Scouting program. At the White House, however, Sanders indicated that neither she nor Trump saw any reason to apologize, or considered his remarks in any way out of line. I was at that event and I saw nothing but roughly 40,000 to 45,000 Boy Scouts cheering the president on throughout his remarks, Sanders said. I think they were pretty excited that he was there and happy to hear him speak to them, she added. Sanders said she had not seen the statement from the Boy Scouts chief. During his rambling 38-minute speech to the Scouts in Glen Jean, W.Va., Trump criticized Hillary Clinton and President Obama and singled out congressional Republicans who were not in lockstep with him on healthcare. He got much applause and supportive chants from his audience, and even credited the Scouts -- who are too young to vote -- for being among the millions who elected him. But almost immediately, the Boy Scouts organization was inundated with protests from former Scouts, parents and others angered by the presidents partisan words. Facebook

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Trumps words kind of hurtful, Sessions says, but he has no plans to resign By Joseph Tanfani President Trumps scathing criticisms have been kind of hurtful, Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions said Thursday, even as he again signaled that he wants to stay on the job. He wants all of us to do our job, and thats what I intend to do, Sessions said in an interview with Tucker Carlson of Fox News. Separately, Sessions told the Associated Press that it hasnt been my best week  for my relationship with the president. He made the comment in El Salvador, during a visit to highlight joint efforts to take on the MS-13 gang. The attorney general said he hadnt met with Trump but looked forward to talking to him about it. If he wants to make a change, he has every right, Sessions said. I serve at the pleasure of the president. Ive understood that from the day I took the job. But, he said, I believe with great confidence that I understand what is needed in the Department of Justice and what President Trump wants. I share his agenda. The comments were the first this week on the subject from Sessions, who has been subjected to harshly critical tweets from Trump for three days. The president has called him weak and said he wasnt aggressive enough in going after leakers. Last week, after Trump criticized Sessions in a New York Times interview, Sessions told reporters he planned to stay on as long as it was appropriate. Sessions has seemed to redouble his attempts this week to win back the presidents favor. He announced another crackdown on so-called sanctuary cities that dont cooperate with immigration enforcement and on Friday traveled to El Salvador to highlight arrests of MS-13 gang members, both favorite topics of the president. The Justice Department also plans to address leaks next week. Sessions said his department was stepping up leak investigations. Some people need to go to jail, he said. The president has every right to ask the DOJ to be more aggressive on that, and we intend to. On Wednesday evening, after Anthony Scaramucci , Trumps incoming communications director, falsely claimed in a tweet that hed been the victim of a leak, Sessions chief spokeswoman released a statement agreeing that leaks are undermining the government and promising to aggressively pursue leak cases wherever they may lead. Trump has made it clear that he is most angry with Sessions for recusing himself from supervising the ongoing investigation into his administrations ties with Russia. But Sessions defended that decision. I understand his feeling about it because this has been a big distraction for him, he said on Fox. Im confident I made the right decision, the decision thats consistent with the rule of law, and an attorney general who doesnt follow the law is not very effective at leading the Department of Justice, he said. In the interview, Sessions reached back to Trumps campaign slogan to praise the president as a strong leader. He is determined to move this country in the direction that he believes it needs to go to make it great again, he said. Sessions has received considerable support in recent days from conservative Republicans, including many of his former Senate colleagues. On Thursday, Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) went to the Senate floor to discourage Trump from moving against Sessions, saying that the Senate would not allow the president to make a recess appointment that would bypass the normal confirmation process. A recess appointment would allow Trump to appoint a person who could serve without confirmation until the start of 2019. Such appointments can only be made if the Senate formally takes a break, which senators of both parties have said they will avoid in order to prevent Trump from avoiding confirmations. If youre thinking of making a recess appointment to push out the attorney general, forget about it, Sasse said. The presidency isnt a bull, and this country isnt a china shop. 1:55 p.m.: This post was updated with additional remarks by Sessions and remarks by Sen. Ben Sasse. 5:50: This post was updated with additional quotes from Sessions interview. Facebook

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For Trump White House, cable television becomes the venue for intramural sniping By Noah Bierman President Trump and his aides love to complain about leaks from within the White House. But on Thursday, the infighting was out in the open. The incoming communications director, Anthony Scaramucci, in a morning phone call broadcast on CNN, compared the West Wing to a fish that stinks from the head down, implying that White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus is responsible for at least some of the leaks. Later, Trump press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders declined to come to Priebuss defense and say whether Trump has full confidence in his chief of staff. Another Trump advisor, Kellyanne Conway, used a prison analogy for the broader backstabbing among aides, telling Fox News that her West Wing colleagues were using the press to shiv each other. While the knifings might suggest a new level of chaos in a White House known for it, the style is all Trump. As a businessman, he has a history of fostering rivalries among his employees. He always did sort of like competition, backstabbing, infighting kind of stuff, said Barbara Res, who spent nearly two decades as a top executive in Trumps real estate business. He set people up to do that. Trump led the charge this week, using his Twitter account and an interview with the Wall Street Journal to ridicule his attorney general, Jeff Sessions, one of Trumps first and most prominent campaign supporters. By Thursday, both Priebus and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson were seeing their fates publicly debated, less than a week after Sean Spicer was forced out as press secretary after months of speculation and presidential slights. The Priebus intrigue was amplified by Scaramucci on Twitter and in the CNN interview. He blamed Priebus for leaking Scaramuccis personal financial disclosure forms -- which are publicly available -- and suggested that Trump encouraged Scaramuccis offensive in a phone conversation the two men had just before the aide dialed into CNN. When Sanders was asked about the Scaramucci-Priebus dustup, she said that the president likes healthy competition on his staff. The president likes that kind of competition and encourages it, Sanders said. The result is a White House that increasingly suggests the presidents former way of life. As the star of a reality TV show, he fomented internal competition and firings among apprentices; their cable television appearances, meanwhile, recall the confessionals familiar to reality show fans, in which characters confide directly to the camera their anger or enmity toward others on the show. The primary attribute for a successful tenure in the Trump White House is masochism, tweeted Rick Wilson, a longtime Republican operative and Trump critic. The repeated evidence of dysfunction and the high level of insecurity among Trumps core aides help explain the White Houses inability to focus on its agenda. Trumps critics voiced suspicions on Twitter that the public staff blow-up was a deliberate distraction from the struggle in Congress to pass a healthcare bill, as well as from the ongoing investigations into potential collusion between his presidential campaign and Russia and the backlash to Trumps surprise Twitter announcement on Wednesday that transgender people will be barred from military service. But those issues also were being heavily covered on cable news. The stories that were overshadowed were those Trump was trying to promote: a deal his administration helped strike with Foxconn to build a production facility in Wisconsin, possibly creating thousands of new jobs, and nascent efforts to craft a tax overhaul plan. Facebook

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Democrats criticize financial industry backgrounds of two Trump bank regulator nominees By Jim Puzzanghera Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.). (Joe Raedle / Getty Images) Senate Democrats on Thursday criticized the financial industry backgrounds of President Trumps nominees for two key banking regulatory positions, arguing they would not protect the interests of average Americans. Sens. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and others sharply questioned Joseph Otting, the former chief executive of Pasadenas OneWest Bank, and investment fund manager Randal Quarles during a confirmation hearing by the Senate Banking Committee. Trump nominated Otting to be the comptroller of the currency, a powerful regulator of national banks. Quarles has been tapped to be the Federal Reserves vice chairman for supervision, who is in charge of the Feds oversight of the nations largest bank holding companies and other regulatory efforts. The two are expected to be friendlier to the banking industry than recent Democratic appointees. Read More Facebook

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Senator warns Trump there will be holy hell to pay if he fires Sessions By Joseph Tanfani A prominent Republican Senator issued a blunt warning to President Trump not to interfere with the Russia investigation, saying any effort to get rid of special counsel Robert S. Mueller III could be the beginning of the end of the Trump presidency. Sen. Lindsey Graham, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, told reporters Thursday that there will be holy hell to pay if Trump fires Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions, a favorite of conservatives who represented Alabama in the Senate for 20 years. Grahams warning was the sternest yet from Senate Republicans to Trump about the potential consequences of firing either Sessions or Mueller. The chairman of the Senate judiciary committee, Sen. Charles Grassley, (R-Iowa), issued his own warning in a tweet Wednesday night, saying his committee would not take up a nomination of a replacement attorney general this year, which is required before the Senate can vote to confirm. Everybody in D.C. Shld b warned that the agenda for the judiciary Comm is set for rest of 2017. Judges first subcabinet 2nd / AG no way  ChuckGrassley (@ChuckGrassley) July 27, 2017 Starting with an interview in the New York Times last week and continuing with a three-day barrage of critical tweets, Trump has raged at Sessions for his decision to recuse himself from supervising the investigation into the Russian attempts to influence the election, and into whether anybody involved in Trumps campaign participated in the scheme. Trump also has bitterly complained about Mueller, whom he has accused of leading a witch hunt, and Deputy Atty. Gen. Rod J. Rosenstein, who appointed Mueller and who is now supervising the probe. Justice Department regulations say that only the attorney general, or in this case Rosenstein acting in his place, can fire the special counsel. If Sessions were gone, Trump could try to appoint a replacement willing to carry out the firing. Graham said he will introduce a bill next week that would require court review if anyone tried to fire a special counsel who was investigating the president. I think Ill get all the Democrats and I hope to get a good number of Republicans, he said, adding that the enacting such a law is not just for Trump but for any future president. We need a check and balance here. Graham said Trumps campaign to marginalize and humiliate the attorney general is not going over well in the Senate or among conservatives. He also said Trump, who has called on Sessions to investigate his former rival Hillary Clinton, has gone way beyond what is acceptable in a rule of law nation. This is not draining the swamp, he said. What hes interjecting is turning democracy upside down..taking 200-year-old concepts that were a nation of laws and not men and trying to turn it upside down. Sen. Graham: "Any effort to go after Mueller could be the beginning of the end of the Trump presidency." https://t.co/6Pd60LrGRU pic.twitter.com/EXBOwBC35C  ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) July 27, 2017 Facebook

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Watch live: White House news briefing with Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders Facebook

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Trump administration threatens to retaliate against Alaska for GOP senators Obamacare repeal vote, news site reports By Noam N. Levey The Trump administration threatened to block federal aid to Alaska in an effort to bully one of the Republican senators opposed to the current Senate GOP push to roll back the Affordable Care Act, according to a report by the Alaska Dispatch News. The news site reports that Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke on Wednesday called Alaska Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan with a warning that Murkowskis vote had put Alaskas future with the administration in jeopardy. According to the report: Sullivan said the call from Zinke heralded a troubling message. Im not going to go into the details, but I fear that the strong economic growth, pro-energy, pro-mining, pro-jobs and personnel from Alaska who are part of those policies are going to stop, Sullivan said. I tried to push back on behalf of all Alaskans.  Were facing some difficult times and theres a lot of enthusiasm for the policies that Secretary Zinke and the president have been talking about with regard to our economy. But the message was pretty clear, Sullivan said. The threat followed disparaging comments made by the president about Murkowski, including a Twitter attack Wednesday morning Senator @lisamurkowski of the Great State of Alaska really let the Republicans, and our country, down yesterday. Too bad! Trump wrote. Murkowski dismissed the presidents attacks in an interview with MSNBC. Were here to govern. Were here to legislate, she said. Were here to represent the people who sent us here. And so every day shouldnt be about campaigning. Every day shouldnt be about winning elections. How about just doing a little bit of governing around here? Thats what Im here for. Murkowski and Maine Sen. Susan Collins were the only Republicans who voted against a procedural motion Tuesday to begin debating legislation rolling back the 2010 healthcare law, often called Obamacare. Sullivan, also a Republican, voted in favor of advancing the bill. Murkowski has urged a more open process to develop the legislation, which Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky) has put together behind closed doors without committee hearings or input from Democrats. A spokeswoman for Zinke did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Facebook

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Iran angered by report that Trump wants additional nuclear inspections By Shashank Bengali Iran responded angrily Thursday to reports that the Trump administration would push for inspections of military facilities to ensure Tehran is complying with the 2015 nuclear deal. Iran will not succumb to further pressure, Hamid Reza Taraghi, a hard-line analyst who is close to Irans leadership, told The Times. Taraghi did not say whether Iran would refuse inspectors access to military facilities but insisted the Islamic Republic was complying with the agreement, which required Iran to shelve its nuclear program in exchange for relief from economic sanctions. President Trump has said he wants to tear up the deal and doesnt believe Iran is complying, although his administration certified it was in a report to Congress this month. The Associated Press reported Thursday that Trump was pushing for inspections of suspicious Iranian military sites, either to prove that Iran was violating the deal or force it to refuse, which could cause the agreement to collapse. Iranian officials have argued in the past that inspections of military sites would be off-limits. But under the agreement it signed with the United States and five other world powers, Iran agreed to the so-called Additional Protocol, which allows U.N. inspectors limited access to any site where illicit nuclear activity is suspected. Taraghi, a former lawmaker, said the Additional Protocol allowed for snap inspections and that international inspectors had installed closed-circuit cameras in all nuclear-related facilities. They have access to everything going on here on the ground, Taraghi said. What else do they want to know? It was not immediately clear what military sites the Trump administration was seeking to have inspected, or whether it had evidence that Iran was breaching the terms of the deal. U.N. inspectors monitoring Irans compliance had not requested access to military facilities as of July 25, according to a paper published Thursday by Mark Fitzpatrick, executive director of the International Institute for Strategic Studies in Washington. If US has good evidence of #Iran violations, then an inspection request is warranted, Fitzpatrick tweeted. A request designed to trap Iran into saying no isnt. Facebook

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Top U.S. general says Pentagon will not change policy on transgender troops until White House acts By W.J. Hennigan The nations senior military officer said Thursday that there will be no modifications to Pentagon policies for now despite President Trump social media posts declaring a ban on transgender troops in uniform. Marine Gen. Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, wrote in a memo to commanders and senior enlisted leaders of the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines that the military will continue to treat all of our personnel with respect. Dunford said Pentagon policy on transgender troops would not change until the White House has issued Trumps directive to Secretary of Defense James Mattis through formal channels  not on Twitter  and the secretarys office issues guidance on implementation to the service chiefs. Its unclear when that might happen. The unusual memo appeared intended to calm widespread confusion and concern at the Pentagon, which was blindsided when Trump wrote Wednesday that Pentagon would not accept or allow transgender troops to serve in any capacity. The presidents posts appeared to reverse a year-old Pentagon policy that allowed transgender soldiers to openly serve for the first time, and to seek sex reassignment surgery, hormone therapy and other treatments at military hospitals. Trumps surprise announcement not only marked a retreat for the Pentagon push to bar gender-based discrimination. It also was an about-face for Trump, who had repeatedly vowed his support for the LGBT community during the campaign last year. The posts raised questions about the fate of thousands of transgender service members, including some deployed overseas, and whether they would be kicked out of the military under Trumps directive. Dunfords memo appeared to address those fears, at least for the short term. There will be no modifications to the current policy until the Presidents direction has been received by the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary has issued implementation guidance, he wrote. In the meantime, we will continue to treat all of our personnel with respect, he added. As importantly, given the current fight and the challenges we face, we will all remain focused on accomplishing our assigned missions. In his tweets, Trump said he had decided to bar transgender troops because the military cannot be burdened with the tremendous medical costs and disruption that transgender in the military would entail. Experts said neither justification was accurate or fair since the expected medical costs were negligible and transgender troops have been openly serving for the past year without disruption. The sweeping declaration drew rebuke from war veterans and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender advocacy groups, who vowed to challenge Trump in federal court if self-identified transgender service members are forced out of the military. VoteVets, a liberal military veterans advocacy group, said Thursday it had collected more than 20,000 signatures from veterans, military families and other supporters to oppose the ban. Facebook

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Analysis: Trumps war against elites and expertise By Cathleen Decker (Saul Loeb / AFP/Getty Images) When President Trump campaigned this spring at the Hermitage, the home of Andrew Jackson, one part of his predecessors approach got a special endorsement. It was during the Revolution that Jackson first confronted and defied an arrogant elite. Does that sound familiar? Trump asked to laughs from his audience. When Trump ally and National Rifle Assn. President Wayne LaPierre teed off six weeks later on Americas greatest domestic threats, he cited not homegrown terrorists but what he termed the three most dangerous voices in America: academic elites, political elites, and media elites. The rhetoric against elites came from two men who would seem to be card-carrying members of the club: LaPierre made more than $5 million in 2015, the most recent year for which his compensation was publicly released. Trump lived before his inauguration in a gold-plated home in the sky above New Yorks Fifth Avenue, a billionaires luxurious domain. Yet for Trump and his allies, a war on elites has been central to the campaign which put him in the presidency and has maintained the loyalty of his core voters. Trump has taken particular aim at entities that could counter his power, which has helped stoke the ardor of his political backers. Read More Facebook

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Top Trump advisor Kellyanne Conway says colleagues using the press to shiv each other By Noah Bierman White House staffers continued their angry campaign against leaks -- and each other -- as top advisor Kellyanne Conway used vivid language in a Fox interview Thursday to denounce colleagues who are using the press to shiv each other in the ribs. The comments came shortly after Anthony Scaramucci, the new White House communications director, delivered his own attack on leakers -- all but blaming Reince Priebus, the White House chief of staff -- in an interview on CNN. If the Trump White House at times resembles a reality show, cable television has become the confessional booth where the players vent their anger at each other. That dynamic was on vivid display Thursday morning. Kellyanne Conway: "Now, there are leaks, and then there are people using the press to shiv each other in the ribs. Thats different." (Fox)  David Wright (@DavidWright_CNN) July 27, 2017 Conway largely backed Scaramucci without explicitly taking sides in his public war against Priebus, whom he publicly suggested leaked Scaramuccis financial disclosure forms to the press. The forms are public and available through a request. We just have to cut down on people thinking its cute and its popular and it somehow enhances their resume and their portfolio for later on to curry favor with folks who are more interested in covering the style and not the substance here, Conway said of those who leak to he press. Asked specifically whether she agrees with Scaramucci that Priebus leaked the financial forms, Conway passed on the opportunity to defend Priebus. Leakers are easier to figure out than many think, she said, perhaps ominously given Scaramuccis threats to fire suspects. This West Wing is a very small place. Facebook

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Warfare in the West Wing breaks into the open as Scaramucci takes aim at Priebus By Brian Bennett A knife fight for control of the West Wing broke into the open Thursday morning as President Trumps new communications director Anthony Scaramucci lashed out at White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus in a televised interview, accusing Priebus of leaking and standing in the way of Trumps agenda. The fish stinks from the head down, I can tell you two fish that dont stink, OK, and thats me and the president, Scaramucci said, calling in to CNNs morning show New Day. I dont like the activity thats going in the White House, he said. Scaramucci, who had said the day he was named to the White House job that he and Priebus were like brothers, drastically amended that in the interview, comparing the two of them to the brothers who, in the Bible, were the characters in the first murder. Some brothers are like Cain and Abel, other brothers can fight with each other and get along. I dont know if this is reparable or not  that will be up to the president, he said. Scaramucci on his relationship with Reince: "Some brothers are like Cain and Abel." Uh, Cain killed Abel. https://t.co/UQ8F9HiXLx  Dan Merica (@merica) July 27, 2017 President Trump has a track record of encouraging rivalries among people who work for him. Scaramucci said he had spoken with Trump for 15 minutes to go over what he was going to say before he called CNN, implying his warning to Priebus carried Trumps backing. Trump, Scaramucci said, has given me his full support and his full blessing. When Scaramucci was hired, Trump told him he would report directly to the president, bypassing the chief of staff, and setting up the clash that played out Thursday on national television. If you want to talk about the chief of staff, we have had odds, we have had differences. When I said we were brothers from the podium, thats because were rough on each other, Scaramucci said. The tension between Scaramucci and Priebus flared after Politico published a story Wednesday about Scaramuccis publicly available financial disclosure form showing he still stands to profit from his stake in an investment firm he founded. The disclosure form was available to the public because Scaramucci had been nominated earlier this year for a job at the Export-Import Bank of the U.S., and the forms become public 30 days after they are filed. But Scaramucci, in a tweet Wednesday night, seemed to imply Priebus had leaked the form to make him look bad, or knew who did, and called for an FBI investigation. He later deleted the tweet, apparently after being informed that the form was not leaked. Over the last five days, Scaramucci said to CNN, he has done a major amount of work interviewing assistants to the president and communications staff. He also had dinner with Trump on Wednesday night in addition to his phone conversation with the president Thursday morning. The two of them want everyone to know we have a very, very good idea of who the leakers are, who the senior leakers are, in the White House, he said. Scaramucci took aim specifically at Priebus for leaking details about internal White House discussions and maneuvers. If Reince wants to explain that hes not a leaker, let him do that, Scaramucci said. Scaramucci appears to be giving voice to Trumps frustration with people in the White House the president believes are slowing down policy efforts, even though Trump has shown a pattern of repeatedly stepping on his own efforts on healthcare, job creation and other initiatives with unplanned tweets on topics such as Russia, transgender troops and unfounded allegations of voter fraud. There are people inside this administration who think its their job to save America from this president, Scaramucci said. Its not their jobs ... to rein him in or do things to him that slow down his agenda. People in the Washington are back-stabbers, Scaramucci said. Im more of a front-stabbing person. Facebook

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Scaramucci tweets, then deletes, confusing statement that referred to information in Politico report as a leak By Colleen Shalby In a now deleted tweet, incoming White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci sent out a confusing statement Wednesday night, addressing information reported earlier by Politico as a leak. The article reported on Scaramuccis financial disclosures. According to Politico, those details had been filed with the Office of Government Ethics, so its unclear what  if anything  was leaked information. Scaramuccis tweet further confused as it ended with White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus Twitter handle. Just before those characters, he noted that he intended to contact the FBI and the Justice Department. Some speculated that Scaramucci was implying that Priebus was behind the leak. But in a new tweet roughly two hours after the original, he tweeted what appeared to be a clarification, correcting a headline of news site Axios. Wrong! Tweet was public notice to leakers that all Sr Adm officials are helping to end illegal leaks, he tweeted, ending it  once again  with Priebus handle. Wrong! Tweet was public notice to leakers that all Sr Adm officials are helping to end illegal leaks. @Reince45 pic.twitter.com/AB0reseuX1  Anthony Scaramucci (@Scaramucci) July 27, 2017 Five days ago, Scaramucci, responding to a question about reported tensions between him and the chief of staff, said he and Priebus are a little bit like brothers, where we rough each other up a little, which is totally normal for brothers. 10:15 p.m. PT: This post was originally published at 8:52 p.m. It was updated with information from Scaramuccis new tweet. Facebook

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Senate Judiciary chair fires off warning to Trump about Sessions By David Lauter Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa), the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, fired off an unmistakable warning to President Trump on Wednesday evening: Dont even think about trying to get a new attorney general confirmed this year. Trump has been publicly tormenting Jeff Sessions, appearing to want to push the attorney general into stepping down from his job. But in a tweet, Grassley made it clear that if Trump pushed Sessions out, he would have to live with an acting attorney general for a long time. Everybody in D.C. Shld b warned that the agenda for the judiciary Comm is set for rest of 2017. Judges first subcabinet 2nd / AG no way  ChuckGrassley (@ChuckGrassley) July 27, 2017 Any nominee for attorney general would have to pass through the Judiciary Committee before getting a confirmation vote, so Grassleys no way would be a formidable barrier. Grassley has been an administration loyalist on nearly all issues so far, but as a veteran senator, he has a strong independent streak and, as previous administrations have found, he can be implacable if angered. His message comes as conservative allies rally support for Sessions. Several other Republican senators have spoken out in favor of the attorney general, a former colleague who was well liked during his years as senator from Alabama. Senate Democrats already have said they would use procedural motions to prevent the Senate from formally going on a recess this summer, blocking Trump from making a recess appointment that would bypass the Senate. Republicans used similar maneuvers to block recess appointments by President Obama. If Sessions were to step down and not be replaced, Deputy Atty. Gen. Rod Rosenstein would become acting attorney general. Trump has been critical of Rosenstein as well as Sessions, so that option presumably would not appeal to him. Facebook

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Under fire from Trump, Sessions should stay focused on his job, White House says By Joseph Tanfani (Alex Brandon / Associated Press) In spite of a daily barrage of Twitter attacks from President Trump, the White House press secretary said Wednesday that Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions should stay focused on performing his duties as the nations top law enforcement officer. You can be disappointed in someone and still want someone to continue to do their job, Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Wednesday, hours after Trump criticized Sessions for the third straight day  this time for not replacing acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe. Sessions was one of Trumps earliest and most loyal supporters, but the relationship has turned icy as Trump continues to seethe about Sessions decision to step aside from supervising the investigation into alleged Russian interference with last years election. Sessions was at the White House for meetings Wednesday, the second time this week hes visited the West Wing, but once again did not see Trump, Sanders said. Sanders did not clear up the main question surrounding Trumps strategy of publicly battering the attorney general: If the president is so unhappy, why doesnt he simply fire Sessions? Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said Wednesday that Trumps apparent attempt to humiliate Sessions into quitting was a sign of weakness. To me, weakness is when you play around the edges, and you dont use the power you have, Graham said in an interview on CNN. Sanders said that Trump wants Sessions to continue to lead the Department of Justice. He wants him to focus on things like immigration, leaks and a number of other issues, she said. One of Trumps public complaints has been that Sessions hasnt been aggressive enough in pursuing leakers of classified information. In fact, the Justice Department is expected to announce next week some leak prosecutions. On Tuesday, Sessions also announced new measures to cut off some federal funds to so-called sanctuary cities that dont cooperate with immigration enforcement, another favorite issue for the president. But Sanders added that, at this point, a leak investigation would not salvage Sessions standing with Trump. I dont think thats the nature of the relationship, she said. In two tweets Wednesday morning, Trump criticized Sessions for not replacing McCabe, whose wife ran for office as a Democrat in Virginia in 2015. He suggested that McCabe had a conflict of interest in his duties as deputy director of the FBI during the investigation of Hillary Clintons handling of classified emails as secretary of State, although McCabe did not move into that job until months after his wifes campaign was over. McCabe took over the bureau as acting director when Trump fired James B. Comey in May. Sanders also declined to answer a question on why Trump did not fire McCabe himself, saying only that Trump looked forward to seeing his nominee as FBI director, Christopher Wray, be confirmed by the Senate soon. Facebook

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Trump, on Twitter, announced a ban on transgender service members. Now the military has to figure out what he means By Brian Bennett (Alex Brandon / Associated Press) President Trump surprised even the Pentagon on Wednesday morning by his unexpected announcement, via Twitter, of a ban on transgender service members. The military has not had a chance to decide how to put such a ban into effect, acknowledged Trumps top spokeswoman, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, as she fielded numerous questions on the topic later from White House reporters. Secretary of Defense James Mattis, who was on vacation, wasnt informed until Tuesday that Trump had decided to bar transgender service members from serving in any way. Sometimes you have to make a decision and once he made a decision, he didnt feel it was necessary to hold that decision, Sanders said. The president concluded, based on consultations with his national security team, that allowing transgender individuals to serve erodes military readiness and unit cohesion, she said. White House and Pentagon officials had been discussing details of medical coverage for transgender service members on active duty. But Trump went far beyond that with his series of tweets that the military will not accept or allow transgender individuals to serve in any capacity in the military. It will be up to the Defense Department to determine the specifics of the policy, including whether active-duty transgender service members will be kicked out of the military, Sanders said. Estimates of the number of current service members who are transgender range from 1,300 to about 16,000. The implementation policy is going to be something that the White House and Department of Defense will have to work together to lawfully determine, Sanders said. I would imagine the Department of Defense will be the lead on that, she added. Trumps tweets overshadowed other announcements he had planned to make Wednesday about adding manufacturing jobs to the economy and donating $100,000 of his second-quarter paycheck to the Department of Education to support science and math education. The president has expressed concerns since this Obama policy came into effect, Sanders said. She added that the president considered allowing transgender people in the ranks is a very expensive and disruptive policy. At one point, an exasp
Call it a nerdfest, an introduction to nerdology, or just a gathering of those who love all things nerd-centric, when Bonnie Gordon and Xander Jeanneret perform as the comedy/musical duo the Library Bards, it is sure to be an evening of nerdtastic fun.

That is exactly what a standing-room-only audience enjoyed as the comedic song parodists delivered a satchel-full of their geektastic tunes at the Buena Vista Library this past Thursday.

Receiving an overwhelming positive response when Gordon polled the audience for sci-fi fans, the couple then performed a number of hit songs with parody lyrics that paid tribute to Star Trek, Star Wars, and Harry Potter.

Among the special guests in attendance at last weeks performance were Bernie Bregman, who owns and operates Nerds Like Us, a company whose mission is to spread nerd culture by producing and promoting all sorts of nerd activities; cartoonist Lindsay Carrozza, who is also a voice actress, and her husband Kyle, who is creator of Cartoon Networks Mighty Magiswords.

Along with appearing as one half of the Library Bards, Gordon, who is a Louisiana native, is an actress and voice-over artist who has provided character voices on the video game Street Fighter V, has appeared on ABCs fantasy reality show The Quest, and whose voice characterizations can be found on many popular video games and animated productions.

Her partner Jeanneret, originally from Florida, has performed in just about every corner of the globe from Europe to the Far East. An artist of numerous disciplines, from graphics and dance, to singing and acting, he played the lead role of Joe Cohen-Lewis in the 2012 comedy feature film Camp Virginovich, about two helpless high school geeks who travel to Russia in hopes of having their first romantic experience.

He also had a role in director Christopher Showermans 2015 film Radio America, which chronicles the lives of two young farmers who are discovered at a talent show and go on to become rock stars who lose track of their true selves until a tragic accident brings everything back into focus.

Last weeks performance was part of the librarys ongoing Summer Reading Club for Grown-Ups program, which will run through July 27. The program includes the librarys Sounds of Summer concert series that will continue on July 13 as the Mariachi Divas perform at the Burbank Central Library, 110 N. Glenoaks Blvd., and then conclude on July 27 as the Innisfree Irish Band performs at the Northwest Branch Library, 3323 W. Victory Blvd.

Both of those performances will begin at 7 p.m.

For more information, visit burbanklibrary.com or call (818) 238-5600.

DAVID LAURELL may be reached by email at dlaurell@aol.com or (818) 563-1007.
Glendale Adventist Medical Centers recent partnership with a nonprofit group is designed to make access and delivery of electronic medical records more efficient for those in its network.

Glendale Adventist and White Memorial Medical Center  both part of the health system called Adventist Health  have signed two-year contracts with the Los Angeles Network for Enhanced Services, or LANES, an L.A. County-based nonprofit that provides a platform for the exchange of electronic patient data among public and private healthcare providers.

The digital system allows participating and eligible hospital staff across the county to query a database for information about Medi-Cal and uninsured patients who may not already be in their local system for improved care coordination.

For example, if a patient had a procedure performed in Glendale Adventists emergency room and is later readmitted to a different emergency room in L.A. County with a healthcare provider that has never seen the patient before  the provider can then access the LANES network to search for data on the patient.

The LANES healthcare-information-exchange system pulls data from existing standard healthcare protocols that carry electronic medical records from local hospitals, which can include a patients lab, pharmacy and image data.

Patients must consent to having their data exchanged, and there is an electronic trail left behind on whoever accessed the data if needed for an audit.

Sharon Correa, chief information officer for Adventist Health, said the LANES partnership is a project that has the potential to help connect the community and provide the best care possible.

Its about making information available more broadly so that it can be used at the point of care to provide better, faster and less duplicative care, Correa said.

Although serving all of Adventist Healths hospitals, Correa said her focus is on White Memorial, located in east Los Angeles because it often oversees distressed populations such as those living in poverty or experiencing homelessness.

According to a statement about the LANES partnership released Friday, the support for better healthcare coordination will come with a special emphasis on underserved populations.

To enable coordinated and high-quality care for patients in the safety net, doctors and nurses from different clinics and hospitals need easy access to each others medical records, said Anish Mahajan, LANES board chair, in the statement.

jeff.landa@latimes.com

Twitter: @JeffLanda
For months, Charlie Gards parents have held out hope for a miracle.

Doctors at Londons Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children have said there is nothing more they can do for the infant, who suffers from an extremely rare genetic condition that has left him blind, deaf and unable to move or breathe on his own.

But Connie Yates and Chris Gard, who are both in their 30s, want to bring Charlie to the United States, where they say there is an experimental drug treatment available that might give him more time.

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Three British courts have supported the hospitals request to withdraw life support against the parents wishes. Then came the crushing news that the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg had declined to take up the case.

He will fight to the very end, and hes still fighting, but were not allowed to fight with him anymore, Charlies father said in a tearful video released by the couple last week. Our parental rights have been stripped away.

The heart-wrenching case, which pits the opinion of a highly regarded British medical institution against the wishes of the childs distraught parents, has brought into sharp relief the difficult ethical and legal questions that arise when doctors and families disagree about the care of a terminally ill child.

Pope Francis expressed support for the family Friday declaring in a tweet that to defend human life, above all when it is wounded by illness, is a duty of love that God entrusts to all.

Officials at the Rome-based Bambino Gesu Hospital said they would ask their Great Ormond Street counterparts if Charlie might be transferred to their care for the time that he has left to live."We know that this is a desperate case and, apparently, there is no effective therapy, the hospitals president, Mariella Enoc, told the Italian news agency ANSA.

On Monday, President Trump weighed in.

If we can help little #CharlieGard, as per our friends in the U.K. and the Pope, we would be delighted to do so, Trump tweeted, although it was not immediately clear what he had in mind.

Neither the parents, nor the hospital, could be reached for comment late Monday.

However, the hospital has posted a statement on its website in which it gives its reasons for objecting to the transfer to the U.S., namely that the childs medical team does not believe that the treatment available there will improve his quality of life.

One of the factors that influenced this decision was that Charlies brain was shown to be extensively damaged at a cellular level, the statement said. The clinician in the U.S. who is offering the treatment agrees that the experimental treatment will not reverse the brain damage that has already occurred.

Charlie, who will be 11 months old Tuesday, appeared to be perfectly healthy when he was born in August. But within weeks, his parents noticed that he was less able to lift his head and support himself than other babies his age.

By the time Charlie was admitted to the hospital in October, court records show, he had stopped gaining weight, had become lethargic, and his breathing had become shallow. Tests revealed an inherited condition known as infantile onset encephalomyopathic mitochondrial DNA depletion syndrome, which prevents energy from getting to the childs muscles, kidneys and brain.

By March, Charlies doctors had concluded that to prolong treatment would cause the child unnecessary suffering, so the hospital asked a court for permission to take him off a ventilator.

But his parents found an American doctor who was willing to give Charlie an experimental treatment known as nucleoside therapy that had shown some promise with children afflicted with another form of mitochondrial depletion. They set up a GoFundMe page and raised more than $1.7 million to take Charlie to the U.S.

We strongly feel as his parents that Charlie should get a chance to try these medications, Charlies mother wrote on the page. He literally has nothing to lose but potentially a healthier, happier life to gain.

In a ruling in April, Justice Nicholas Francis of the Family Division of the High Court of Justice said it was with the heaviest of hearts that he acceded to the hospitals request to withdraw all treatment, save for palliative care, to permit Charlie to die with dignity.

Although he agreed with the parents that it would be possible (though problematic) to transfer Charlie to the U.S., he said the therapy was unknown territory  it has never even been tested on mouse models.

It is the view of all those who have treated and been consulted in relation to Charlie in this country and also in Barcelona that such treatment would be futile, by which I mean would be of no effect but may well cause pain, suffering and distress to Charlie, the judge said.

Britains Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom agreed with that assessment.

Bioethicists in the U.S. said they were not surprised at the courts reluctance to force a course of treatment on a hospital that its doctors view as prolonging the death of a patient or causing undue suffering without any meaningful benefit.

I think it is in all of our interests to have doctors who are solemnly committed to the core commitment of medicine: Do no harm, said Dr. James Hynds, senior clinical ethicist at the UCLA Health Ethics Center.

But they said both the medical and legal establishments in the U.S. would be reluctant to get in the way of a family that wants to transfer a patient to another credible facility  provided one can be found.

While we have our own medical judgments here, and we may believe very firmly in them, we also recognize that were not infallible, said Dr. Aaron Kheriaty, director of the medical ethics program at UC Irvine. Someone else may take a different treatment approach.

n the video Thursday, the parents said doctors intended to withdraw life support the following day and had denied their request to bring Charlie home to die.

We want to give him a bath at home. We want to sit on the sofa with him. We want to sleep in the bed with him. We want to put him in the cot that hes never slept in. But we are now being denied that, the father said, as he clutched his wifes hand and fought back tears. Do you not think weve been through enough?

On Friday, Charlies mother told reporters that the hospital had agreed to give the family more time to say their goodbyes.

Were making precious memories that we can treasure forever with very heavy hearts, she said.

alexandra.zavis@latimes.com

Twitter: @alexzavis

Special correspondent Boyle reported from London and Times staff writer Zavis from Los Angeles.
French President Emmanuel Macron vowed Monday to lift a state of emergency that has been in place since 2015, but also to harden permanent security measures to fight Islamic extremism and other threats.

Laying out his political, security and diplomatic priorities at an extraordinary joint session of Parliament at the Palace of Versailles, Macron said his government will work to prevent any new attack, and we will work to fight [the assailants] without pity, without regrets, without weakness.

At the same time, he insisted on the need to guarantee full respect for individual liberties amid concerns that new measures would allow police too many powers.

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Macron vowed to maintain Frances military interventions against extremists abroad, especially in Africas Sahel region and in Iraq and Syria. He also insisted on the importance of maintaining the path of negotiation, of dialogue for long-term solutions.

In his bid to strengthen the European Union after Britains vote to leave, he announced Europe-wide public conferences this year to try to reinvigorate the bloc.

He said he understood why many Europeans see the EU as bureaucratic, distant and uncaring.

I firmly believe in Europe, but I dont find this skepticism unjustified, he said.

He added that European countries should work more closely to help political refugees while fighting migrant-smuggling and strengthening borders against illegal migration.

Macron has pledged to fulfill his campaign promise to bring about deep changes in France, notably through labor reform and a series of measures to increase transparency and ethics in politics.

Critics who fear Macron is trying to amass too much power organized protests over Mondays event.

Lawmakers from the far-left party of Jean-Luc Melenchon and communists decided not to attend the speech in protest against what they call a presidential monarchy.

After his new centrist party dominated parliamentary elections and split the opposition, political rivals are comparing Macron to Napoleon, or the Roman king of the gods, Jupiter.

They are especially angry that he wants to strip worker protections through a decree-like procedure, allowing little parliamentary debate.

Critics have complained about the cost of the Versailles event and accused Macron of convening it for reasons of self-interest instead of national need. The last such joint Parliament session was after the November 2015 Islamic extremist attacks, the deadliest violence to hit France in half a century.
The events operate as part of the Youth, Skills & the Workforce of the Future Challenge, a global competition trying to answer the question: How can disadvantaged youth learn the skills they need to prepare them for the workforce of the future and thrive in the 21st century?

The beginning of the 21st century has been marked by rapid advances in technological innovation. While new technology can generate jobs and increase labor productivity, it also creates job displacement and widens the skills gap. Todays generation of young people now face a world in which nearly half of todays jobs globally are at risk of becoming obsolete due to automation and technological advancement in the coming decades.









Photos: Hieu Thao/Australian Consulate-General in Ho Chi Minh city

"It's not just jobs disappearing, the World Bank studies suggest that 4 out of 5 people born today will work in jobs that don't even exist yet. We need to be teaching flexible and transferable skills that will prepare the next generation for any future," Australian Consul-General to Ho Chi Minh city, Ms Karen Lanyon said.

The Australian Government and Atlassian Foundation are each contributing AUD1.4 million (USD1.1 million) to crowd-source expertise and innovative ideas from the region. Contributions from Vietnam include enabling technology that connects separated families through games that instill shared values and increased training opportunities in sectors least threatened by automation such as care-giving.

"We are putting the perspective of vulnerable and disadvantaged youth at the centre of these discussions and it's fantastic to see the creative ideas coming from Vietnamese talent. We really hope some of these innovators make it the the next round and have the opportunity to pitch their ideas in New York at the UN General Assembly in September," the Consul-General added.

This challenge is just one example of the way Australias development assistance program is looking to new partners and approaches to deliver aid more effectively and sustainably to support sustainable economic growth in the Indo-Pacific region. We encourage people with relevant expertise or with an innovative idea to participate in this Solve Challenge.

Applications are open until August 1st, 2017 and further details on the Challenge, including how to apply, can be found here./.
Six months ago, North Koreas dynastic leader, Kim Jong Un, announced in clear terms his nations resolve to develop a ballistic missile capable of reaching the continental United States.

Such an accomplishment would surely shift the power dynamic in Northeast Asia  and help cement the governments long-sought status as a nuclear state.

It appears Kim has gotten his wish.

North Korea announced Tuesday that it had, at long last, test-launched an intercontinental ballistic missile  a glistening miracle, as state news described it.

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Secretary of State Rex Tillerson condemned what he acknowledged was an ICBM test, saying the launch represents a new escalation of the threat to the United States, our allies and partners, the region and the world.

The news means an already intractable problem posed by Pyongyangs advancing nuclear and missile programs just became more difficult for the United States and its regional allies.

Its really, really significant from a technological and political standpoint, said Melissa Hanham, a senior research associate at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies in California who studies North Koreas missile program.

A report in North Korean state media on Wednesday said a smiling Kim, speaking to his scientists, referred to the package of gifts they had delivered on the U.S. Independence Day, and urged them to frequently send big and small gift packages to the Yankees, according to the Associated Press.

The report said Kim stressed that the protracted showdown with the U.S. imperialists has reached its final phase and it is the time for [North Korea] to demonstrate its mettle to the U.S., which is testing its will in defiance of its warning.

American and South Korean officials, while confirming the launch and expressing concern, said in their initial assessments that the missile appeared to be somewhat less capable than North Korea announced.

Tillerson called upon all nations to publicly stand together against North Koreas pursuit of nuclear weapons  as diplomats from the United States, Japan and South Korea requested an emergency U.N. Security Council meeting to discuss the launch.

Global action is required to stop a global threat, Tillerson said in a statement. Any country that hosts North Korean guest workers, provides any economic or military benefits, or fails to fully implement U.N. Security Council resolutions is aiding and abetting a dangerous regime.

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley and her counterparts from Japan and South Korea called for a Security Council meeting Wednesday.

As we, along with others, have made clear: We will never accept a nuclear-armed North Korea, Tillerson said.

The U.S. Army and South Korea military conducted a combined missile exercise Tuesday as a show of force in response to North Koreas test.

Multiple Hyunmoo-2 missiles, capable of striking any target in North Korea, were blasted from launchers along South Koreas eastern coastline into the Souths territorial waters. The exercise took place within 10 miles of the demilitarized zone separating North and South.

The deep strike precision capability enables the [South Korean]-U.S. alliance to engage the full array of time critical targets under all weather conditions, the U.S. Army said in a statement.

The initial questions about North Koreas claim appeared to be about the performance and range of the missile  not the fact that Pyongyang had significantly improved its capability. By any measure, the missile appeared to be the longest-range military device North Korea has tested.

The apparently successful test wasnt a surprise for security analysts and military officials like Hanham, who were watching in the fall when North Korea suffered two mysterious and explosive missile failures at the same launch facility.

North Korea has also recently released images from rocket engine tests and displayed what appeared to be several intercontinental ballistic missiles at a massive military parade in Pyongyang this spring. The government has accelerated the pace of its missile testing program in recent years under Kim, a grandson of Kim Il Sung, the nations late communist patriarch.

But the new capability  a clear violation of Security Council resolutions  seems to have crossed a psychological threshold. It already has led to widespread alarm that other, shorter-range ballistic missile tests this year havent provoked.

Politically, its a game changer, said Go Myong-hyun, a research fellow at the Asan Institute for Policy Studies in Seoul.

Tuesdays test, conducted about 9:40 a.m. from Banghyon airfield near the northwestern town of Kusong, was North Koreas 12th and most significant launch this year.

North Korean media released images of a smiling Kim, who reportedly watched the test nearby on a panel of computer monitors. Other images showed the leader surrounded by celebrating military commanders.

The device, which North Korea called the Hwasong-14, flew on a trajectory more than 1,700 miles into the atmosphere  farther than the International Space Station  for about 40 minutes. It landed more than 500 miles east, in the Sea of Japan, which Koreans call the East Sea.

In theory, the missiles range could have allowed it to reach Alaska on a flatter trajectory, though such a flight path would have introduced other technical complexities and physical hurdles for the Norths scientists.

Still, its a significant accomplishment for the government. When I heard it was a 40-minute flight, Hanham said, my stomach just dropped.

Newly elected South Korean President Moon Jae-in, who recently discussed North Korea at a summit with President Trump in Washington, convened an emergency security meeting. He also called on the international community to take action.

But for South Korea and the United States, which has 28,000 troops on the Korean peninsula, a list of bad options for slowing or stopping North Korea now appears even more limited.

Pyongyangs nuclear and missile programs have perplexed the last three American presidents. They have tried negotiation, economic aid, international sanctions, diplomatic pressure and even covert action.

The strategies have failed. Experts now believe North Korea is an established nuclear state with more than a dozen devices. A key question had been whether the government could deliver its weapons globally.

Experts believe North Korea needs more time to miniaturize its warheads so that they can be launched on missiles. And scientists there still would need to figure out how to get the warheads to safely and accurately reenter the atmosphere en route to a target.

Still, the aim of long-range delivery now appears within sight despite Trumps pre-inauguration tweet in January vowing, It wont happen!

The Trump administration has announced a new policy of imposing maximum pressure on North Korea, calling for sanctions but also dialogue if the regime ends its program. The administration has left open the possibility of a military strike, but that could prove catastrophic.

North Korea, for example, could retaliate with its masses of conventional weapons, such as artillery, along the border that is about 40 miles from Seoul, a metropolitan area of more than 20 million residents.

Some believe the United States and other countries that have concerns about North Koreas nuclear and missile programs should negotiate a freeze on testing and perhaps a return of international inspectors to North Korean laboratories.

With all the focus on missiles lately, its easy to forget that the North could perform its sixth underground nuclear detonation test any day  another provocation that would further increase the sense of crisis in the region, said John Delury, a North Korea expert at Yonsei University in Seoul.

There are some diplomatic options  theyre not great  but theyre probably what we should do, he said.

Trump had hoped that China  North Koreas only significant trading partner  would help solve the problem. But in recent weeks his administration has grown frustrated with what it claims is a lack of pressure by Beijing on Pyongyang, concerns Trump reportedly expressed in a phone call with Chinese President Xi Jinping this week.

Perhaps China will put a heavy move on North Korea and end this nonsense once and for all! Trump tweeted after the launch.

North Korea has just launched another missile. Does this guy have anything better to do with his life? Hard to believe that South Korea.....  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 4, 2017

....and Japan will put up with this much longer. Perhaps China will put a heavy move on North Korea and end this nonsense once and for all!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 4, 2017

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang insisted China has already made relentless efforts to stem North Koreas nuclear ambitions. And he repeated Chinas usual refrain, calling for a stop to actions that violate United Nations resolutions but emphasizing a need for calm and restraint.

Some question whether theres much more that can be done by China, which also fears that a leadership change in Pyongyang could lead to a North Korean refugee crisis or even a unified Korea that counts the United States as an ally.

Even if you cancel most of the trade between China and North Korea, I think Kim Jong Un would still be determined to do these nuclear activities, said Shi Yinhong, an international relations professor at Peoples University in Beijing. I think the problem from Chinas perspective is quite serious. And the issue is that China still cant find a way out of this predicament.

China announced in February that it would ban North Korean coal imports for the rest of 2017, in line with United Nations sanctions. Yet visitors to the China-North Korea border have witnessed coal trucks crossing, casting doubt on the bans efficacy, and Chinas trade with North Korea grew nearly 40% in the first quarter of the year, according to Chinese official figures.

North Korea announced Tuesdays launch on state television, using a familiar news anchor seen in other major announcements, a middle-aged woman in a pink hanbok, the traditional Korean dress.

The success of the last stage of becoming a nuclear power state is developing an intercontinental ballistic missile, she read in a booming cadence familiar to North Korea watchers.

Her report added that the test shows the unwithering power of our state, our strong independence and defense in the world, and will be marked as a significant mark in our history.

The announcement came after a nearly 30-minute montage featuring soaring socialist songs and patriotic imagery, including panoramas of the Pyongyang skyline and Mt. Paektu, a volcano included in the countrys national emblem.

The montage also briefly included a soaring missile, which perhaps has now given North Korea an advantage it might retain for some time.

At this point, its no longer about denuclearizing the Korean peninsula, Hanham said. Now its just about containing North Korea as best we can.

Special correspondent Stiles reported from Seoul and Times staff writer Kaiman from Beijing. Special correspondent Jessica Meyers contributed from Beijing and Times staff writer W.J. Hennigan from Washington.

jonathan.kaiman@latimes.com

For more news from Asia, follow @JRKaiman on Twitter

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UPDATES:

8:05 p.m.: This article has been updated with Kim Jong Uns remarks.

5:25 p.m.: This article was updated with comments from the secretary of State, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, U.S. Army and South Korea military.

This article was originally published at 7:45 a.m.
WA-based Godsil previews V16-powered coupe

Jul 4, 2017, 4:20am ET

The Manhattan will compete against the world\'s most exclusive cars, for the attention of the world\'s most discerning motorists.

A Washington-based company named Godsil Motorcars wants to bring back the American halo car. The company recently unveiled a design study named Manhattan that could morph into a Rolls-Royce-rivaling coupe.

Founder Jason Godsil asked himself "what would a Duesenberg look like today if the company was still in business?" The Manhattan is inspired by the design trends of the 1920s and the 1930s, but it doesn't get a full-on retro look. It boasts a long hood, suicide doors, and a low roof line that flows into a boat-tail rear end.

The most fascinating part of the car is under the hood. Instead of using an existing engine, Godsil decided to develop its own from scratch. The Manhattan will boast a V16 engine with a displacement of about 13 liters, and an output of roughly 1,000 horsepower. The 16-cylinder runs on compressed natural gas (CNG), so it's a lot more eco-friendly than its displacement suggests.

So far, Godsil has been funding the project on its own. After failing to secure grants from 48 states, the company is turning towards investors to make its dream a reality.

Once it has enough money in the bank, the company affirms it can build a fully-functional prototype in about a year, and it can start production between three and five years later. Pricing for the Manhattan is expected to start in the vicinity of $650,000. In other words, it will compete against the world's most exclusive cars, for the attention of the world's most discerning motorists.

Ultimately, Godsil wants to launch a full lineup of high-end cars including a four-door sedan, the obligatory SUV, and a mid-engined supercar. All of them will use the same V16 engine.
It is not a bad thing for us, that the route known as the Goldene Strae or the Golden Road as we will get to know it- has escaped the attention of so many. It has been spared being overrun by hordes of tourists and as you will discover the
A Lehigh Valley Hospital-Muhlenberg patient entered an area of the hospital he was not allowed to be in when he approached and stabbed a male nurse who previously treated him, according to court records.

The records on the case, which happened shortly after 9 p.m. Friday at the hospital in Bethlehem, were made public Monday and offered more details into an attack that the hospital previously described as an "isolated incident."

Charged is Joshua Rafael Santos, 19, of the 4700 block of Kathi Drive in Hanover Township, Northampton County.

City police say in records that Santos at 9:05 p.m. Saturday walked into the hospital's emergency room, 2545 Schoenersville Road. He waited in a general area there until a member of the housekeeping staff unlocked a door in a secured area.

As the housekeeping staff member was walking into the secured area, Santos allegedly followed. He continued to walk through the hallways of the emergency department for a brief period until stopped by a female nurse, police said.

That nurse questioned Santos, reportedly asking if she could help him. She told police Santos appeared to be "wandering" in the halls.

Santos allegedly replied, "No," to the female nurse's inquiry and walked toward a male nurse, who court records state lives in Bethlehem. The male nurse was speaking with another employee at the end of the hallway at the time of the incident.

Multiple witnesses reported Santos then walked behind the victim, pulled out a sharp object from his sweatshirt pocket, raised his arm and made a stabbing motion. Santos continued to stab the male nurse on the back of his neck, court records say.

The victim began bleeding "profusely," according to police, and complained of feeling a "sharp pain" where he was stabbed. Police said the victim was losing blood at a rapid pace with a witness describing the wound as deep. There was a concern among medical staff the knife punctured the jugular, police said.

The victim was rushed to Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest in Salisbury Township for treatment, where he underwent emergency trauma surgery and was listed in stable condition by Saturday evening.

A medical professional told police the victim would have died if he didn't receive fast proper treatment because the wound was in a "vital area." Santos then ran out of the hospital and was apprehended within about 10 minutes near Martin Tower on Eighth Avenue, Police Chief Mark DiLuzio had said.

A female nurse recognized Santos as being a former patient of herself and the victim sometime in early June. Hospital surveillance video footage captured the entire stabbing incident, which provided investigators with a description of Santos, according to court records.

Investigators later seized the weapon -- a 5.5-inch kitchen knife -- used in the crime from where Santos was arrested. Santos was wearing the same clothing he wore during the crime when found, records say.

The Lehigh Valley Health Network issued a brief statement on social media Saturday calling the stabbing an "isolated incident" and saying the network's hospitals are operating normally.

Santos is charged with felony attempted homicide, two counts of felony aggravated assault and one count of misdemeanor simple assault. He was arraigned and sent to Lehigh County jail in lieu of $100,000.

Pamela Sroka-Holzmann may be reached at pholzmann@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow her on Twitter @pamholzmann. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
Even the Washington Township Police Department couldn't help but have a little fun with this case, but that's not to say the officers there are condoning the actions of the immature group that started it all.

Early in the morning of June 18, likely not coincidentally around the time the bars closed, the group was caught on surveillance camera stealing a 4-foot, decorative chicken statue from the front of Hometown Fried Chicken at 25 E. Washington Ave., in Washington.

The police department, which has jurisdiction over the borough, took to Facebook to ask for the public's help finding the poultry pilfers and the chicken joint's prized property.

The bird has been found, the department posted in an update on its Facebook page.

Washington Township police Lt. John Kaufmann said Tuesday that an officer about 3 a.m. Saturday spotted it in a narrow walkway between two buildings on East Washington Avenue, not far from where it was stolen.

And yes, it was across the road from the business, so in this case no one needs to scratch their head when asked: "Why did the chicken cross the road?

The answer: At least two people, possibly after imbibing several alcoholic beverages, picked it up and carried it across the road.

Kauffmann said the culprits haven't been identified and the case is still under investigation.

The chicken's recovery, however, came with a grain of bad news. The bird's legs were broken off. The department, per Facebook, apparently wanted to find a way to fix the statue before sending it back to its owners at Hometown.

That's a tall order on a holiday weekend so officers instead embraced the humor in having a 4-foot chicken statue hanging out among them at police headquarters. They even took a picture and posted it on Facebook.

Chicken Update! Good news! The chicken was found. It will be returned to its rightful owners soon. While here it... Posted by Washington Township Police Department on Saturday, July 1, 2017

"While here, it wanted to apply for the part-time police secretary position," the post says. "Her typing skills were impressive, unfortunately she is difficult to understand when answering the phone. So our search continues."

By Monday, a local business - Stew's Autobody Towing & Recovering - had stepped forward to offer help repairing the statue.

Our good friends at Stew's Auto Body heard the chicken's legs were broken when it flew the coop of its captors. They... Posted by Washington Township Police Department on Monday, July 3, 2017

"We brought the chicken to them and they performed emergency 'surgery' successfully re-attaching the legs," the police department wrote on Facebook.

The chicken has since been returned, Kaufmann said.

A man who answered the phone at Stew's on Tuesday said he had heard about the "surgery," but said no one from the business would be available to speak until Wednesday. No one answered the phone Tuesday at Hometown Fried Chicken.

"The owner is happy that the chicken is returned." the police lieutenant said.

Nick Falsone may be reached at nfalsone@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @nickfalsone. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
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Leicestershire police officers arrested a man in Leicester on Sunday on suspicion of committing a murder in Belgium.

Officers detained the 30-year-old after executing an European Arrest Warrant on behalf of Belgian police.

Leicestershire police officers also arrested a 41-year-old man in Leicester last Thursday on suspicion of committing a robbery in Poland.

Both men have appeared at Westminster Magistrates Court and have been remanded in custody.

A Leicestershire police spokeswoman said: We were called upon to execute two European Arrest Warrants. Both men were arrested in Leicester.

Both men appeared at Westminster Magistrates Court as that is the court that deals with extradition cases.

The legal process will be ongoing now as both countries seek to extradite the men to their respective countries.

The European Arrest Warrant (EAW) is an arrest warrant valid throughout all member states of the European Union (EU). Once issued, it requires another member state to arrest and transfer a criminal suspect or sentenced person to the issuing state so that the person can be put on trial or complete a detention period.
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Detectives investigating an assault at Cineworld in Hinckley have released pictures of three women they want to speak in connection with the incident.

During a film showing on Monday 1 May, the victim and her teenage son asked some people sitting behind them to stop talking.

These people then became aggressive and abusive to the victim and a fight broke out, the police force said in a statement.

The mother and her teenage son were both punched.

Leicestershire Police are now appealing for the public to help identify the three women in the released pictures.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the police on 101.

For all of the latest Leicester news, get the latest at leicestermercury.co.uk/news or follow us on Facebook and Twitter .
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Detectives are investigating an assault in Victoria Park which left a woman with serious head injuries.

A Leicestershire police spokeswoman said: "Detectives are investigating an assault which happened in Victoria Park Leicester.

"Police were called shortly before 12.40am by the ambulance service.

"A woman was taken to hospital with serious head injuries.

"Investigations are on their very early stages and a cordon is in place on the park.

"Officers would like to hear from anyone who was in the park between 11pm and 12.40am to call us on 101."

(Image: Alex Hannam)

A regular user of Victoria Park expressed her shock at the assault in the early hours of the morning.

A woman, who asked not to be named, said: "I'm a dog walker, I use the park every day.

"It's sad but it's one of those things that happens. Everywhere is the same.

"It won't put me off, I have a Doberman."

Anyone with information on the assault should call Leicestershire Police on 101.
The actions of three Laois men caught with a stolen jeep and trailer containing various items stolen during a number of burglaries have contributed to the destruction of trust in rural Ireland.

So said Judge Keenan Johnson, in the sentencing of Thomas McInerney (40), Twomey Park, Mountmellick; William McInerney (37), Newline Close, Mountrath; and Gerard McInerney (38), Moanbaun Close, Mountrath.

The items in respect of which the accused have pleaded guilty to having possession of were stolen in different robberies from different farms over a three-week period, said Judge Keenan.

While there is no evidence that the accused perpetrated the robberies and the court will certainly not sentence on that basis, nevertheless the court cannot but be conscious of the fact that without people like the accused to take possession of stolen goods, the perpetrators of such robberies and burglaries would find it much more difficult to operate.

He went on to say that the culpability of the receiver or possessor of stolen property is often equated with the culpability of the person who perpetrated the robbery or theft.

The court is acutely conscious of the plague of robberies and burglaries that are afflicting rural Ireland and in particular farms on the Midlands Circuit, he continued.

The growth of these types of burglaries and robberies are an attack on the foundations of rural society. Rural Ireland has traditionally been built on trust, which permitted farm machinery, livestock and tools to be left unsecured in sheds and unoccupied farmyards. Unfortunately, in recent years due to an upsurge in robberies and burglaries, that trust has now been completely and utterly shattered.

Farmers are now obliged to secure all of their property, including livestock, machinery and tools. It is a sad state of affairs that it has come to this, he said.

There can be no doubt, but that the types of offences to which the accused pleaded guilty have contributed to the destruction of trust in rural Ireland.

Judge Johnson said the court was mindful that in structuring a sentence, it could not be seen to unfairly punish the accused for the actions of others. However, the court could impose a significant sentence to ensure it contained an appropriate deterrent element.
This year eight Laois schools have won awards from Science Foundation Ireland, for their work to promote Science Technology, Engineering and Maths subjects.

The Science Foundation Ireland Discover Science and Maths Awards were announced on June 28 by Tanaiste and Minister for Jobs Frances Fitzgerald.

The Laois recipients are; Scoil Mhuire Fatima in Timahoe, Arles NS, Scoil Bhride, Ballyadams NS, Camross NS, Naomh Padraig NS, St Paul's NS and Scoil Fionntan Naofa.

In Timahoe, they were presented with their award by Arles woman and science graduate Deirdre O'Shea of Agri Aware.

The school has shown exceptional interest in science for many years, and submitted this year's many events for the SFI prize.

Those included an Engineers Week visit from a mechanical engineer, hosting the Exploration dome in the school for Midlands Science Festival, Aoife Fitzpatricks National Final award at the Intel Mini Scientist, the Young Scientist award-winning HIIT or LISS project, a nutritionist-guided supermarket-safari', a visit to Carlow IT for Science Week and meeting President Higgins to present a bog project at YS 2018.

Fifth class teacher Anna Moore said the the award brings a range of benefits.

It provides a structure for STEM work and it raises the profile of science in the school and among parents. It recognises the hard work put in by students and teachers in the school, she continued.

On presentation day Deirdre visited all classes to talk about healthy eating, and and the huge role farmers play in everyday lives. We need them three times a day every day, she told them.

The children displayed their Farm Safety posters and slogans to the VIP guest, such as Eoin Shortall's "Slurry Gas ain't class" and Caoimhe Ramsbottom's "You are the key to farm safety".

Junior and Senior Infants impressed Ms OShea with their healthy lunch boxes and 1st and 2nd classes were thrilled to learn about the Family Farm in Dublin Zoo as they were preparing to go there on their School Tour.

To everyones delight Deirdre brought three family passes for Dublin Zoo to raffle. They were won by Kate Ramsbottom, Oisin McDonald and Daniel Tynan.

John Hanley, 3rd class, had some social media tips for the Agri Aware Executive Director, suggesting the use of Vlogging while exhibiting his tractor sketches from his art portfolio.

For more on the Discover Science and Maths Awards and the DPSM programme, see www.primaryscience.ie.

Speaking about the announcement, Tanaiste and Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Frances Fitzgerald TD, said: I am delighted to congratulate these young Laois students and their teachers on this wonderful achievement. The Science Foundation Ireland Discover Science and Maths Awards guide and inspire the next generation of inventors, problem solvers and creative thinkers. I am confident these students will lead the way and continue to make us proud in the future.

The awards recognise the achievements of children and teachers in the application of STEM in their classrooms.

To qualify, schools are required to keep a log of STEM activities that they have undertaken throughout the academic year and which involved the whole school. Schools are awarded credit for visiting Discover Science Centres, carrying out their own experiments, using digital technology and maths, going on STEM-related field trips, hosting visits from scientists and engineers, and holding a science open day in the school.

Commenting on the Discover Science and Maths Awards, Dr Ruth Freeman, Director of Strategy and Communications at Science Foundation Ireland said: Science Foundation Ireland is committed to making STEM accessible to all, so encouraging students, particularly girls, to engage with science and maths in a fun and interactive way early on is key. I commend these teachers for their passion and commitment to STEM and congratulate them on achieving the award for their school.
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Participants in the Kildare Water Babies classes recently helped raise 28,000 for the Nazareth Ward at Our Ladys Childrens Hospital Crumlin.

Carol McNally from Water Babies presented the cheque to nurses Liz Sweeney and Mary Matthews from The Nazareth Ward, with the assistance of Bubba, Water Babies cuddly whale.

Kildare Water Babies and their amazing mums and dads who attend classes at Enable Ireland in Jigginstown and the Westgrove Hotel in Clane raised funds during Splashathon 2017, a sponsored swim for babies and toddlers which took place over two weeks.

The tiniest patients are cared for in the Nazareth ward, which is one of the oldest wards in the hospital. It was never designed to treat the number of patients it currently does and whilst each and every patient receives world class care from the hero doctors and nurses, there just isnt enough room in the tiny 1960's cubicles for parents to be with their precious children.

To make matters worse, when there is an emergency and a baby needs urgent treatment, there is no room to get life- saving equipment to a baby in their bed  the bed needs to be brought to the door.

Carol McNally said We are so proud of little Water Babies and their parents who took part in Splashathon and raised much need funds for Crumlins Nazareth Ward. Our bi-annual Splashathon is a fantastic fun way to make a real and lasting difference to sick babies and their families from across Ireland.
Writing in the Financial Times, Nick Clegg shows how, as on many other issues, British politicians are wrongly blaming the EU for the consequences of decisions taken in Britain affecting immigration from EU member states.

Crucially, there is far more latitude for member states to apply restrictions to freedom of movement than is commonly appreciated. The Belgian authorities aggressively deport EU citizens who do not work and cannot support themselves. Under EU law, the UK authorities could do the same for EU citizens who have failed to find work after six months. Access to Spanish healthcare requires registering with the social security authorities and showing residence and identity documents. The German authorities, in an attempt to protect domestic pay deals, are tightening up access to the construction and other sectors by EU workers. Several EU leaders have told me of their irritation that UK politicians blame them for a decision taken in Westminster, not Brussels: opening up the UK labour market in 2004 to workers from central and eastern Europe. They point out that the UKs non-contributory welfare benefits, unqualified access to healthcare and absence of administrative residence checks, mean that the UK takes a far more lax approach than they do.

He goes on to argue that there is a deal available, offering the UK the control of immigration it demands and while in the Single Market.

There is an obvious solution: with goodwill and a little imagination, EU governments could agree an emergency brake on the free movement of EU citizens, allowing governments to impose quotas and work permits in response to unusually high levels of EU immigration (similar to the trigger in the Cameron package). It is still not too late to pull back from the hard Brexit cliff edge. The circle of single market participation and reformed free movement can be squared.

For me, the government first needs to be clear what it actually wants to do with immigration, EU and non-EU. If it were to prioritise economic strength over nativist sentiment, then it should jump at this kind of deal. On the other hand if it were serious about the tens of thousands target, we should already have seen policy to achieve this with regard to non-EU migration.

Read the whole piece here.

* Joe Otten was the candidate for Sheffield Heeley in June 2017 and Doncaster North in December 2019 and is a councillor in Sheffield.
MEMBERS of the panel who advise the LGBTI youth strategy will lead Limericks Pride parade this year.

Set for Saturday, July 15, the parade will form the centrepiece of Limericks annual festival celebrating lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex culture (LGBTI+) culture.

The theme of this years pride festival, which will launch on Monday. July 10, is focused on LGBTQ youth.

The event will specifically focus on young gay people in the city  but the organisers have called on Pride to be an inclusive, open and integrated event, welcoming all regardless of their sexual or gender orientation ,religion or race.

The aim of the LGBTI youth strategy is to address the challenges and needs faced by young members of Irelands LGBTI community.

Working with youngsters from across Ireland, the strategy, it is hoped, will ensure all young LGBTI people can realise their potential in terms of their physical and mental well being.

Richard Lynch, festival PRO said: I picked these people because I firmly believe the youth are our future. I wanted to give them a platform to speak about the issues affecting them not just now but into the future. They are being given a voice in shaping their own future. And this is what pride is ultimately about: empowerment, inclusivity and equal rights for all people.

At least eight parade grand marshals will descend on Limerick from the panel, aged between 16 and 23.

Separately, the Limerick Youth Service has teamed up with Goshh to host the citys only Pride Youth Party the night before the parade, on Friday, July 14. Aimed at 14 to 19 year olds, the party takes place between 6pm and 9pm at the Lava Javas youth cafe at Lower Glentworth Street.
A JUDGE has said two brothers were wrong to investigate a violent incident which resulted in one of their daughters being hospitalised.

Ger McCarthy, aged 43, of Lenihan Avenue, Prospect and David McCarthy, aged 40, of OCallaghan Avenue, Kileely pleaded guilty to violent disorder relating to an incident at Hyde Road, Prospect on July 9, 2015.

Limerick Circuit Court was told by Detective Garda Conor McNamara that gardai were alerted to an altercation at around 2pm and that when they arrived they encountered another man  Mr Y  who was bleeding from a head wound.

Witness statements were taken and CCTV footage obtained which showed the defendants arriving at the home of Mr Y who was alleged to have assaulted Ger McCarthys daughter the previous night.

He said an altercation involving the defendants and a number of other men  Mr X, Mr Y and Mr Z  then erupted on the street outside Mr Ys home.

David McCarthy can be seen on the footage assaulting Mr Z with a hammer while at one point Ger McCarthy briefly retrieves a shovel from the back seat of the car.

Detective Garda McNamara said both defendants fully cooperated with gardai when questioned and that there have been no further incidents since.

He agreed the defendants are not known as violent men and that what happened was out of character.

While accepting that emotions had been high, Judge Tom ODonnell said the use of weapons and the discommoding of members of the public were aggravating factors.

It was wrong of them to go to investigate matters themselves, he added. He imposed suspended prison sentences in each case.
NOTORIOUS Limerick criminal Wayne Dundon has been reportedly removed from Portlaoise Prison after contraband was recently found in his cell.

It was reported at the weekend that the 39-year-old Prospect man  serving a life sentence for the murder of businessman Roy Collins in 2009  was found with phones, steroids, weapons, syringes, and SIM cards in his cell.

Portlaoise is the States only maximum security prison. And, according to the Sunday World newspaper, the convicted killer is currently in a cell in the basement of Mountjoys C-wing, and is under close supervision, 24-7.

A source told the weekend newspaper that the decision to move Dundon was taken in view of the fact that security had failed to prevent his accessing contraband phones and drugs.

In March this year, Dundon, of Lenihan Avenue, failed in his attempt to get a different panel of judges to hear an appeal against his conviction for the murder of Mr Collins.

The murder of Roy Collins, 35-year-old father of two, took place at the Coin Castle amusements arcade in Roxboro, on April 9, 2009.

In July 2014, a three-judge Special Criminal Court found Dundon had ordered the murder from prison and that Nathan Killeen, 27, was the getaway driver for the gunman, James Dillon.

It was believed that Steve Collins was the intended target of the murder, due to his involvement in a previous successful prosecution against Dundon for a threat to kill.

In an application before the Court of Appeal, Dundons lawyers sought a differently constituted court, made up of different judges, to hear his appeal.

Lawyers for Killeen had also supported the application.

Throughout the the 29-day trial in 2014, it was the States case that both Dundon and Killeen were involved in a common design and joint enterprise, which resulted in the killing of Roy Collins.
OVER 6,700 permits for munitions or weapons of war have been granted for flights accessing Irish airspace, and in some cases landing at Shannon and Dublin Airports in the past seven years.

There have been repeated concerns raised about Irelands neutrality given the use of Shannon Airport, in particular, as a stop-over for US military aircraft.

However, senior gardai in Limerick said they have no intelligence whatsoever to suggest it is at risk as a terrorist target.

Minister for Transport Shane Ross has confirmed that 22,465 US troops have passed through the airport from January 1 to May 31 this year.

He was also questioned by Independents4Change deputy Clare Daly on whether any flights were transiting arms or munitions through Shannon.

The Air Navigation (Carriage of Munitions of War, Weapons and Dangerous Goods) Order 1973 provides that no munitions or weapons of war may be carried by an aircraft in Irish airspace  without an exemption granted under the order.

Minister Ross said that he recently decided that his department should conduct an internal review of this Order, given the changes to international law in the past 44 years.

Figures obtained by the Limerick Leader from the Department of Transport show that a total of 6,761 permits for munitions of war were granted from 2010 up to this May.

The highest number granted  1,372  was in 2011.

To date this year, 377 exemptions under this order have been granted, 16 have been refused and two have been withdrawn, with 393 applications processed.

In addition, there were six flights which landed in Ireland with munitions classified as dangerous goods on board.

There were 229 overflights in Irish airspace with munitions on board so far this year.

Of the 377 exemptions granted, 46 flights carried weapons en route to Kuwait, while others were destined for Jordan, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Israel, Turkey and Qatar.

Deputy Catherine Connolly raised concerns in relation to the use of Shannon Airport by the US military, particularly at a time when international law has gone out the window with the election of President Trump.

More than three million American troops have gone through Shannon based on reassurances from them that they are carrying no arms.

They are going through Shannon to refuel in order to wage war in countries that are innumerable at this point and the loss of life is appalling. We have a duty to live up to our neutrality and the Minister is simply not doing that and neither is the Government, she said.

Minister for Justice Charlie Flanagan said that Ireland's traditional and longstanding policy of military neutrality is in no way adversely affected or threatened.

Minister Flanagan said that successive Governments have made landing facilities available at Shannon to the US for well over 50 years.

These arrangements, he said, are governed by strict conditions, including that the aircraft must be unarmed, carry no arms, ammunition or explosives, that they do not engage in intelligence gathering and that the flights concerned do not form part of military exercises or operations.
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Traffic stop leads to felony charges

QUEENSBURY  Two downstate and one New Jersey resident are facing felony charges following a traffic stop in Queensbury.

State Police in Latham said Monday that Genesis Moreno, from Passaic, N.J., Keith Brewley, from the Bronx, and Christopher Clark, from the New York City area, all were charged with felony criminal possession of a controlled substance after a traffic stop on Saturday revealed the three had quantities of heroin, Ecstasy, marijuana and Fentanyl.

Brewley also was charged with unlawful possession of marijuana and Clark was charged with misdemeanor criminal possession of a controlled substance, false impersonation and obstruction of governmental administration, police said.

All three were arraigned and returned to Warren County jail. While Clark was remanded on no bail, both Moreno and Brewley were remanded on $20,000 cash, or $40,000 bond, police said.

The Warren County Sheriff's Office and their K-9 unit assisted State Police.

Cops: Camera put in bathroom ceiling

MAYFIELD  A Gloversville man recently was accused of making holes in a bathroom ceiling for a cellphone camera at an undisclosed location in Mayfield, according to Fulton County Sheriff's deputies on Monday.

Joshua Adamkoski, 19, was charged on Thursday with felony unlawful surveillance after law enforcement found Adamkoski had made the holes and installed a cellphone camera and extension cord to record activities in the bathroom, deputies said.

Deputies did not say where the incident took place.

Adamkoski was arraigned in Mayfield Town Court and returned to Fulton County jail on $2,500 bail, officials said. He will appear in town court at a later date.

Man charged with having loaded gun

ALBANY  Officers found a 31-year-old man with a loaded handgun on Dove Street on Sunday evening, city police said Monday.

Someone called 911 at about 8:50 p.m. to report a man with a weapon near the intersection of Dove Street and Myrtle Avenue. Officers arrived and found a man matching the suspect's description walking down Dove street, police said.

When officers tried to stop the man, he ran off, police said. One city officer suffered an injury to his foot during the chase but restrained the man within minutes, police said.

Officers found a loaded .357 caliber handgun on the man, identified as Brandon Upton, during a search, police said.

Upton is charged with felony criminal possession of a weapon, felony assault and misdemeanor resisting arrest. He was arraigned in Albany City Criminal Court.

 Staff report
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A Texas City commissioner was charged with two counts of intoxicated manslaughter with a vehicle early Monday morning after her pickup hit and killed two men standing on the side of the road near the Galveston Causeway.

According to investigators, the driver charged with manslaughter was identified as Texas City Commissioner Dee Ann Haney, 54.

Charging documents obtained from Galveston County reveal that police arrested Haney after she admitted she was under the influence of marijuana and admitted to smoking it before her crash.

According to the Galveston Police Department, police officers, Galveston EMS and firefighters were dispatched to the crash in the 8000 block of Avenue J.

Police say Haney was driving a white Ford F-150 when she hit and killed two men on the side of the road. The men and a witness were attempting to secure items in the bed of their black Toyota Tacoma as Haney was traveling northbound in the far right lane.

Haney's vehicle left the marked right lane, entered the shoulder and struck the two men, according to police.

They were pronounced dead at the scene, according to a police report.

Police authorities have not released the names of the two men who died, but the county court records reveal them to be Van Le, 58, and Phue Le, 32.

Haney was detained on suspicion of driving while intoxicated. And after a series of tests conducted by both Galveston Police and Texas DPS Troopers, Haney, was arrested and charged with bonds totaling $100,000.

Haney is a safety engineer with more than 25 years of experience in safety, health, environmental and emergency management. She entered office in 2004.

This story is developing.
Kevin Brady, who heads up the powerful House Ways and Means Committee in the U.S. House of Representatives and has represented The Woodlands and the surrounding 8th congressional district since 1997, will be having at least a couple of challengers in the upcoming election.

A Tomball man has announced his plans to seek election to the seat that Brady has held since 1997. Steven David filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission electronically Saturday saying he would be running as a Democrat against Brady, who is a Republican.

The 32-year-old David, who works as an internal business consultant for the City of Houston, has served as a director on a MUD board, but otherwise has no political experience. He faults Brady for his support of the Republican healthcare plan, saying the proposal was the "straw that broke the camel's back." He also claims Brady hasn't spent enough time in the district.

"Kevin Brady has been an absentee congressman from his district," David said.

Brady's office said because of the holiday, he could not immediately be reached for comment, but a Brady spokeswoman disputed David's comments.

"Congressman Brady lives in The Woodlands and commutes to Washington," Tracee Evans said.

Brady, who has long been a critic of the Affordable Care Act, commonly known as Obamacare, has argued that it has hurt more people than it has helped.

"We had to unravel a current law that, frankly, is collapsing and put in place the first steps of a new law," Brady told The Courier in an interview last month. Also with his hat in the ring to challenge Brady is Todd Carlton, a 32-year-old crop consultant from Madisonville. Carlton had filed paperwork to challenge Brady in last fall's election, but says because of a paperwork issue with his filing, he did not proceed in his challenge and his name was never placed on the ballot.

Carlton, a 32-year-old crop consultant from Madisonville, is running as an Independent and as a fiscal conservative.

"If we're not financially responsible, we're going to be in a lot worse shape," Carlton told The Courier. "I want a balanced budget and more conservative financial moves."

Carlton says except for some Facebook Live events likely held this summer, he has no formal campaign plans. He has not previously held office before, and so far has not raised any money for mounting an election campaign.

"I'm really not about raising any money," he said. "I don't want to feel obligated to anybody."

Both David, who also has not raised any campaign money yet, and Carlton are facing uphill challenges in their attempts to unseat Brady. Besides being a veteran and powerful politician who holds a key position in Congress, Brady also has the advantage of having represented what is traditionally a conservative district in Congress for nearly two decades.

Former Texas Rep. Steve Toth had challenged Brady in the March 2016 Republican primary, but Brady prevailed in a tight race, winning 53 percent of the vote. In the fall, Brady won re-election to the district seat without any Democratic challengers.
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Sporting an array of red, white and blue tops and shorts, residents from all over the area converged at Woodlawn Lake to enjoy the Fourth of July, sipping on aguas frescas, dancing and daring to ride a mechanical bull.

Even the portable toilets were sporting patriotic decorations.

Both country and Latin music played at the citys official celebration. The culmination of the daylong event: a dazzling evening fireworks show.

Hours before the fireworks were set to go off, Tierra Harris was watching her 3-year-old girl run around the Dragon Tales play area in the carnival section, making her way around the hanging punching bags and over the bridge.

Although shed been a regular at Woodlawns holiday festivities until recently, this year was the first time she had checked out the carnival games. It also was the first year she brought her daughter to the annual event.

The carnival section included bungee jumping, swings and duck hunting games. Although business was slow in the early afternoon, several ride operators said it usually picks up as it gets later in the day.

We used to come when we were kids, Harris said. Its really fun for the kids. They get to go crazy.

The Woodlawn Lake Fourth of July celebration is a tradition for many families, some of whom stake out their spots days in advance. By late afternoon, more than 100 tents had been set up around the parks perimeter.

Robert Rodriguez and Thomas Zurita used yellow caution tape to mark out their families spots on the edge of the dam. The sites offered plenty of shade  and nothing blocking their view of the fireworks.

This was their 12th and eighth years, respectively, for staking out prime fireworks-viewing spots.

We already know where to go, Rodriguez said. The park has always been our spot, so when they started having fireworks, it was even better. Youll see people you havent seen in a long time. I dont see my cousins, so this is a get-together, too.

For Aaron Perciado, Shannon Osoria and their family, securing a good spot hasnt been a problem.

Osoria, 33, owns a house right on the edge of the lake. She said her family and friends have been getting together at the house for at least 10 years to enjoy what she considers to be the best Fourth of July festival in town. This year, about 20 people made it.

This is the spot to be at right here, Perciado, 52, said, adding that the only complaint would be the scorching temperature. But this event only happens once a year, we can take the heat. Its always a big event here.

The group started the holiday with a spread of breakfast tacos and planned to end it with a barbecue dinner, Osoria said.

Its just great being with family, Osoria said. This is what freedom is all about.

A newcomer to the holiday event was the San Antonio Water System, which had employees stationed at the entrance to hand out free water bottles filled from a 5,000-gallon tanker-trailer the utility had hauled out to the park.

There also was a parade of vendors, offering ice cream, corn, other snacks or knickknacks. Some vendors were bicycling around the park peddling their wares while others, such as Jamie Garza and E.J. Veliz, had set up homemade wooden carts.

Garza said it was the first time their company, We Can Italian Ice, had been to Woodlawn Lake for the Fourth.

We try different events, Veliz said. This is probably our fifth event.

Garza said it was paying off for the company, but his favorite part was being able to put a smile on a kids face. He was planning to don a penguin suit at the end of the night in a quest for some of those smiles.

The festivities started to slow down heading into the evening  just as an influx of more visitors flocked to the park, bringing with them lawn chairs, ice coolers and anything else they needed to fully enjoy the fireworks display.

Joshua Palacios, 21, was among those entering the park in time for the fireworks. It was his fourth consecutive year meeting up with his family at holiday event. While there are several other parks to choose from for July Fourth festivities, he and his family frequent Woodlawn during the year for barbecuing and camping, Palacios said.

Its like a tradition, man, Palacios said. The citys just getting bigger, and the fireworks display here is unbeatable.

Earlier in the day, about 100 people gathered for another traditional July Fourth event in San Antonio.

Dressed in layers of uniforms from the American Revolution and onward, about 30 men and women held a patriotic ceremony at San Antonio National Cemetery to celebrate the United States birthday.

It was the 33rd annual celebration for the order of the Granaderos y Damas de Galvez, which promotes the vital role colonial Spaniards played in the American Revolution.

We thought it was a very fitting way to honor those who came before us and served our country in the revolutionary era as well as all the other conflicts since then, attendee and fourth-generation Texan Cheryl Hagenson said.

jpolcyn@express-news.net
South Texas law enforcement officials nabbed six people accused of selling fake designer products to undercover agents, according to criminal complaints obtained by mySA.com.

The following people were arrested in Hidalgo County and charged with trademark counterfeiting June 25:
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Local News, Crime

By Long Island News & PR Published: July 04 2017

Sheldon Whittingham, 38, allegedly set a mattress on fire, authorities report.

SCPD arrested Sheldon Whittingham, 38, for setting a fire at a group home in Port Jefferson Station on Tuesday, July 3.

Port Jefferson Station, NY - July 4, 2017 - A Sixth Precinct Police Officer extinguished a fire at a group home in A Sixth Precinct Police Officer extinguished a fire at a group home in Port Jefferson Station , New York, on Tuesday, July 3, 2017 at approximately 1:25 p.m.

Sixth Precinct Patrol Officer Joanna Westrack responded to call of a house fire at a congregate care facility, which is operated by Options for Community Living, located in Port Jefferson Station, New York, at approximately 1:25 p.m.

Within minutes, Officer Westrack arrived on scene and observed smoke emanating from the second floor of the home. As smoke streamed from the door, she entered the room and used a fire extinguisher to put out a mattress that was fully engulfed by fire. There were no injuries to staff or residents of the home.

Arson Section detectives, personnel from the Terryville Fire Department, and a Fire Marshal from the Town of Brookhaven also responded. An investigation by Arson detectives revealed the fire was intentionally set.

A resident of the home, was arrested and charged with Arson 2nd Degree. The resident is being held at the Sixth Precinct and is scheduled to be arraigned at first District Court in Central Islip , New York, on July 4.
Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have entered the Old City of Raqqa, according to the US military and posts on the SDFs social media. Combined Joint Task Force  Operation Inherent Resolve (CJTF-OIR) announced the breach in a statement.

SDF fighters, who have faced heavy ISIS resistance, streamed into the Old City after the US-led coalition created two holes in the Rafiqah Wall, a historic barrier that dates back to the 8th Century Abbasid caliphate. CJTF-OIR emphasizes that great care was taken to avoid destroying the entire wall, in contrast to the Islamic States own tactics.

ISIS fighters were using the historic wall as a fighting position and planted mines and improvised explosive devices at several of the breaks in the wall, CJTF-OIR said in its statement. SDF fighters would have been channeled through these locations and were extremely vulnerable as they were targeted with vehicle-borne IEDs and indirect fire as well as direct fire from heavy machine guns, rocket-propelled grenades and snipers as they tried to breach the Old City.

Therefore, the US-led coalition conducted targeted strikes on two small 25-meter sections of the 2,500-meter wall.

Unlike ISIS who deliberately destroyed the ruins of Palmyra and the Al-Nuri mosque and uses sites such as the Rafiqa Wall, hospitals, schools and mosques as weapons storage facilities and fighting positions, Coalition forces are making a great effort to protect civilians and preserve these sites for future generations, military spokesman Col. Ryan Dillon said.

The Old City is the most heavily fortified portion of Raqqa, meaning that the battle for the Islamic States capital is entering a new stage. Press reports indicate that the SDF reached the outskirts of the Old City in mid-June. But they were evidently stalled there, and in a nearby neighborhood, for more than two weeks since.

The self-declared caliphate continues to produce propaganda from the battle for Raqqa. One video, released on July 3, features an Australian jihadi known as Abu Yousuf al-Australi. He was previously identified in the Australian press as Tareq Kamleh after he first appeared in Islamic State productions more than two years ago. In his latest appearance, Abu Yousuf is first shown (see the screen shot above) attending to a child purportedly wounded during coalition airstrikes. The scenery changes and he is then depicted as a fighter stationed in one of the jihadists tunnels.

Abu Yousuf calls on Muslims in the West to either join the Islamic States cause overseas, or lash out at home  a recurring theme in the groups propaganda.

Is there no shame in those Muslims still in the West, sitting in the West, even the doctors in the West? he asks.

These kids are still only here, and their families are only here, because they wanted to live under the law of Allah, Abu Yousuf says, as he is standing over the wounded child. And they dont want to live under this concept of democracy.

There are hints of desperation in Abu Yousufs propaganda video. Even though the Islamic State mushroomed into a global menace, Abu Yousuf expresses his dismay with the limited support the organization receives throughout the broader Muslim-majority world.

It really surprises me of [sic] how the Muslim nation is acting at the moment and how stagnant you have all become, Abu Yousuf says. We are under continuous bombing here and we are fighting hard to try to hold the lands of Islam. He adds that only the law of Allah is implemented in these lands.

What more will it take for it to be a justified cause for you to come here to fight for Allahs sake? the Australian jihadi asks. He continues: And if you cantmake hijrah, you cant come here, jihad itself isnt only in the lands of Syria, or only in the lands of Iraq. Fighting for the cause of Allah is anywhere. You are living in the countries that are sending us rockets. You are living in the countries that are killing [Muslims] here. You are paying taxes still to them. You have no honor. You have no self-respect. You have no love for fellow Muslims. You cant undertake anything in your own countries, if you cant come here.

Abu Yousuf directly addresses President Trump, claiming that the jihadis cant wait to battle American forces in northern Syria. He references the increased presence of US Special Operations forces, which are supporting the SDF in its head-to-head match with Abu Bakr al Baghdadis men.

We were so happy, because for a long time we have been waiting for your soldiers to meet us on the ground here, Abu Yousuf says while dressed in fighting garb. And your effeminate predecessor Obama danced around this subject for too long. He refused to send us your soldiers. And now we know they are on the lands, wanting to enter our lands. We are really eagerly awaiting for them to enter our cities.

We love death more than you love life, the Australian says, repeating a common jihadi concept.

While Abu Yousuf claims he cant wait to face off with American soldiers, the truth is that the bulk of the fighting is carried out by the SDFs fighters. The Islamic State frequently refers to the SDF as the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), a US-designated terrorist organization. For instance, Amaq News Agency released an infographic on July 1 claiming that that 74 PKK fighters had been killed in the Islamic States sniping operations between June 6 and June 30.

The SDF draws many of its fighters from the Kurdish Peoples Protection Units (YPG) and Womens Defense Units (YPJ). The PKK is affiliated with the YPG/YPJ.

The SDF has played a key role in taking territory from the Islamic State in Raqqa province and elsewhere. With American support, the SDF helped liberate the city of Tabqah, the Tabqah Dam and an airfield from the Islamic State in May. The battle for Tabqah was a key part of the US strategy for capturing Raqqa, which is less than 30 miles away. The Islamic State has continued to launch attacks near Tabqah, including to its south, in the weeks since.

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.
PrivatBank board chairman Oleksandr Shlapak, who has announced his intention to resign, has states he is not ready to head the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU).

"Thank you, I'm not ready to head the NBU today and I do not want to do this," he said during a press conference at Interfax-Ukraine.

As reported, Shlapak in late June announced his intention to terminate his anti-crisis term in the bank. He has submitted the relevant statement to the bank supervisory board, it could be considered at the next meeting of the bank's supervisory council at the end of July.

Shlapak continues to manage the bank.
If youre looking for things to do in Cartagena, Colombia , youll love the old city tour we took on our ten day cruise to the Panama Canal!

Cartagena, Colombia was the second port with our Panama Canal Cruise on the Coral Princess (thank you so much for hosting us, Princess !). Our first stop was Aruba  if you missed it, go back and take a look . Dont worry, Ill wait!

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To me, Cartagena felt like a beautiful mix of Spain, St. Augustine, and South America. We chose a bus and walking tour that took us into the Old City. As a lover of city centers and old European influenced architecture, I found it very enjoyable. And bonus, we had time to try some of the local food and shop. Yay!

After driving through the newer part of town from port, we arrived at Castillo de San Felipe de Barajas, also known as the San Felipe Fortress. It was a beautiful Spanish constructed fortress built on the top of a hill. Buyer beware  lots of inclined walking on this one. Perfect for earning a good lunch later!

The gentleman in uniform livened up the atmosphere with his horn  he could play any countrys anthem on demand. It was quite impressive!

Majestically standing guard on a hillside overlooking the city and harbor is Castillo de San Felipe, a fortress built by the Spanish for protection against pirates while shipping gold out to Europe. Princess Cruise Website

We werent the only ones from our cruise group to choose this tour. We had the pleasure of sharing our day with Erin of Dinner, Dishes, and Dessert and Sandra. Erins the sensible one posing in a doorway, and Sandras the one who will do literally anything for a good picture. Including giving us all heart attacks! I do wonder how that shot turned out.

At the top of the castillo was a small gift shop and incredible views. Which makes sense, because the structure was built for defense and it would be awfully hard to defend against something you couldnt see!

Princess Cruise Website After the castillo, we visited The Historical Museum of Cartagena. Where, behind a charming, colonial facade, the palace museum displays instruments of torture from the Spanish Inquisition, pre-Columbian, colonial and independence-era art.

Before leaving the museum we enjoyed a short show with traditional music and dancing. Im going to be totally honest. I was skeptical when we first sat down, and a little eager to be on our way to the next place. Im so glad I didnt sneak out though, because the artists were super talented and I really and truly enjoyed the show!

Next up was Cartagenas Cathedral we had to sneak in quietly because mass was going on, but the altar and stained glass work were so beautiful, it was worth a stop even if we didnt stay for long. I took a really really lot of pictures because I looooooove stained glass. But Ill only bore you with a few. Hah!

Cartagenas Cathedral is one of the largest in a series of fortresses with a massive exterior and simple interior. Partially demolished by Sir Francis Drakes cannons, it was completed in 1602.

Some of the folks on our tour were put off by looking at a church while mass was in session, but I can say as someone who has visited many churches around the world, this is totally normal and fine so long as youre quiet and respectful. (Other folks were just glad to get a reprieve from the heat!)

San Pedro Claver Sanctuary was our next stop, and while it was beautiful in its own right, the patio was also being decorated for a wedding and it had an extra air of romanticism that I just could not get enough of. What I did get more than enough of though was people complaining about the heat and asking for air conditioning. Heres a pro tip  dont take a walking tour in South America if being hot makes you miserable. I know, sounds obviously right?

This is my face when I hear someone complain about the heat for the eleventy billionth time. Hey folks, were practically on the equator. Get you some shaved ice and calm down.

As much as I loved the tour (and I really did!), my favorite part of the day was sneaking off with Wesley, Sandra, and Erin to do a bit of exploring on our own. We tried arepas from a street cart, chocolate tea from a local cocoa shop, and sausage empanadas at a gorgeous little bakery. And best of all we wandered and took in all the beautiful architecture, vibrant colors, and unique culture.

The bright colors you see throughout the Caribbean, Central, and South America make everything look so joyful and happy. I could take pictures of the gorgeous buildings in Cartagena all day and not get bored!

I also find the culture of sales and bartering so intriguing. The ladies with fruit on their head would offer to take a picture with you for a dollar. There were vendors lined up and down the streets and sidewalks with everything from spices, to jewelry, and clothing. If we had more time in Colombia, I would have gladly spend a full day collecting treasures to bring home.

But mostly, mostly it was the colors. And I can say this (and did say it above already), the splendid colors throughout the city just made me so happy. And it made me want to come back and paint my whole house. Be gone beige! Its aqua, and yellow, and red, and allllll the colors!!!

Have you been on a cruise before? This was my eight cruise (I know!), and I fall in love with cruising more each time. Only having to unpack your bag once. Never having to search for a place to eat lunch or dinner, and having all the amenities right there, moving from location to location with you. Im a junkie. Thats all there is to it. Call me Mama Loves Cruises from now on. Hah!
The first tranche of funds for capitalization of PrivatBank (Kyiv) is expected within two or three days, head of the financial institution Oleksandr Shlapak has said.

"We expect the first tranche of UAH 22.5 billion in a few days. Today the government had to make the decision, having approved the order of the Finance Ministry to increase the charter capital of PrivatBank. Accordingly, on Thursday or Friday, we will obtain the funds," he said at a press conference at Interfax-Ukraine.

As for the second tranche, according to Shlapak, the bank and the Ministry of Finance agreed that these funds will be delivered by the end of autumn.

"PrivatBank by this time will try to return a significant part of the funds or to form insurance reserves at the expense of profit it will get to minimize the amount of the tranche," the banker said.
Tropical Popsicles are a delicious refreshing treat made with whole fresh fruit and unsweetened juice. The perfect guilt free snack!

After recently returning from an amazing ten day cruise through the Panama Canal, Ive been super inspired to create a slew of tropical recipes. This Whole Tropical Fruit Popsicles recipes is the perfect snack to follow our post about Cartagena Colombia.

Tropical Popsicles

Tropical Popsicles {With Whole Fruit!} Pin For Later Click the button above to save this recipe!

Tropical Popsicle Ingredients

Blueberries  Frozen or fresh. (If you like blueberries, try this blueberry muffin recipe too!)

 Frozen or fresh. (If you like blueberries, try this blueberry muffin recipe too!) Raspberries  Small diced.

 Small diced. Strawberries  Small diced.

 Small diced. Unsweetened pineapple juice  Apple or grape juice also work well.

Tropical Popsicles Recipe, Directions:

layer fruit into popsicle mold (this is my very favorite popsicle mold ever) pour in pineapple juice (tap to get bubbles out), and push sticks in about half way freeze overnight and ENJOY!

Upon arriving home from our cruise (thank you so much for hosting us, Princess!), I craved fresh fruit (especially pineapple!) like crazy. And living in Florida, I thought what better than to turn my fruit obsession into popsicles.

I didnt want to go crazy on the sugar  fruit being naturally sweet and all  so we only used whole fruit and a little bit of unsweetened juice. Verdict = DELICIOUS.

Silly us, in Cartagena we didnt have any shaved ice or cold foods  but we did try some delicious arepas con queso from a street vendor (corn dough from the griddle with melted cheese inside), chocolate tea (yes! yum!), and sausage empanadas (definitely need to recreate that one!). I absolutely love sampling local foods  do you?

Have you ever considered a cruise? Definitely check out all the incredible destinations and itineraries Princess Cruises has to offer. We took a ten day Caribbean cruise to the panama canal on the Coral Princess as a (very) belated honey moon and it was absolutely magical.

More delicious popsicle recipes

Other tropical treats to enjoy

Tools we love

Popsicle mold  This is my very very favorite popsicle mold.

Juicer  I love fresh juice. Yum.

Get our FREE Easy Casseroles Ebook! Delivered to your inbox (we will never ever sell your email!) Follow us below! Use #mamalovesfood on Instagram!









How to Make Tropical Popsicles

Tropical Popsicles Tropical Popsicles are a delicious refreshing treat made with whole fresh fruit and unsweetened juice. The perfect guilt free snack! 5 from 1 vote Print Pin Prep Time: 10 minutes Freezing Time: 4 hours Total Time: 4 hours 10 minutes Servings: 6 Calories: 70 kcal Author: April Woods Ingredients blueberries

raspberries small chopped

strawberries small chopped

unsweetened pineapple juice Cook Mode Toggle to green to prevent your screen from going dark while you cook! Instructions layer fruit into popsicle mold (this is my very favorite popsicle mold ever)

pour in pineapple juice (tap to get bubbles out), and push sticks in about half way

freeze overnight and ENJOY! Video Notes Calories are automatically generated. For best results calculate based on your exact ingredients. If you love cookbooks, CLICK HERE to check out our subscriber special! Nutrition Calories: 70 kcal Want even more? Follow Mama Loves Food on Pinterest!

Need another easy dessert? Try these quick shortbread cookies.
PrivatBank has obtained 74 oil depots on demand from borrowers and started guarding the facilities, PrivatBank Board Chairman Oleksandr Shlapak said at a press conference at Interfax-Ukraine on Tuesday.

"We had to demand 74 oil depots back to ownership of the bank, as the borrowers stopped paying on their loans," he said.

Shlapak said that a total of 120 oil depots and 248 filling stations are in financial leasing.

"A part of the portfolio in the amount of UAH 6.6 billion linked to filling stations is being serviced now. The situation with oil depots is worse," he said.

As reported, Ukrainian Prosecutor General's Office opened a case over bringing PrivatBank to insolvency.
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Long hailed as a success story and as a model for the future of Serbian industry, the Fiat factory in Serbia stopped working a few days ago, when its production workers went on an all-out strike.

For decent working conditions!

Their demands are the following:

1) Increase in wages from 38,000 to 45,000 dinars;

2) Financial compensation for transport costs incurred by going to work outside of regular working hours, when public transportation is unavailable.

3) Payment of bonuses that were agreed upon previously

4) Employment of new workers due to the workload

Bearing in mind that the car industry entails hard manual labour and that the cost of living is constantly rising, what the Kragujevac workers presently earn is in no way sufficient for a decent living. The crisis in the car market caused the factory to fire hundreds of workers, while maintaining the strict pace of labour and the same production quota. Workers are becoming ill and their colleagues are forced to take over for them, because the bosses refuse to hire enough workers to meet the production goals.

The way foreign investment works in Serbia and neighbouring countries goes well beyond standard bourgeois exploitation. The term investment here has truly turned into its opposite. Most of the expenses are paid out of the state budget, leaving the private owners to accumulate more and more super-profits without any serious risk to their businesses.

It would be an understatement to describe the conditions in the factory as catastrophic. There isnt sufficient heat in the production halls in winter, while in the summer they become unbearably hot due to the absence of adequate heating and ventilation systems. Even the existing ones are often switched off, so that the bosses can save money. Operations which normally require two or three people are often performed by a single worker, under constant pressure to meet the norm. The examples of pressurising and blackmailing the workers to stay after hours, even beyond the legally allowed overtime period, are numerous.

Since this kind of work leads to frequent illness, the management has reportedly made deals with local doctors and infirmaries, driving the worker to the absurd position of having to prove to the doctor that they are indeed ill. The management and the HR are always finding new ways to bend and stretch the already draconian anti-worker Labour Law, in order to more easily squeeze the workers out of their jobs. Disciplinary proceedings and warnings are forged easily and fake witnesses are found to testify for peanuts. These are the conditions in the new factories the tycoons and their politicians from Democratic and Progressive parties and their satellites are always bragging about.

The workers in Kragujevac arent the only ones who decided to intensify the class struggle. More and more strikes are being reported throughout Serbia and other former-Yugoslav lands. Falk East in Knjazevac, Gosa in Smederevo, the Railways of the Serb Republic (Serb part of Bosnia and Herzegovina), and the list goes on As the economic crisis deepens and the cost of living grows, the purchasing power and working conditions are deteriorating at a rapid pace. The intensification and expansion of class struggle is becoming the only way to survive.

Nationalisation of risk

For several years now, the privatisation of the Zastava (Flag, formerly Crvena zastava, i.e. Red flag) factory in the Serbian city of Kragujevac, to the Fiat corporation, has been presented as one of the success stories of capitalist restoration. It was paraded as a master move and a huge opportunity for Serbia to reboot its car industry and begin exporting motor vehicles. A free trade agreement with Russia meant that Serbian made cars would very soon flood the Russian market, drastically increasing our countrys GDP, as well as the living standard of Kragujevac Fiat workers and many other businesses that collaborate with the factory. According to the bourgeois politicians and press at the time, the deal with Fiat was nothing short of salvation for one of the many dying cities in Serbia.

At the height of the election campaign in 2008, Fiat suddenly showed interest in buying the Zastava factory, promising 10,000 jobs and a yearly output of 300,000 vehicles, according to Zoran Mihajlovic, who at the time led the union of Zastava workers. However, subsequent experience has proven to be very different from their promises. Their biggest contribution was the electoral victory of President Boris Tadic. As for the jobs, they didnt even hire half of the initial promise. Of course, the national television later boasted in an Orwellian manner about the 4,750 new jobs Fiat would create. The Memorandum on Joint Investment, signed by the Serbian government and Fiat, however, mentions only a number of 2,433 workers, less than a quarter of the initial promise[1] and less than a quarter of what the old, self-managing and, later, state owned enterprise used to employ. Zastava used to be an industrial giant, the pride of Yugoslav industry, producing locally made cars, as well as top quality weaponry. Their cooperation with Fiat dates back to Titos time, when it was on a relatively equal basis, which allowed most of the surplus value to go back to the workers and society at large.

For those 2,433 lucky workers, social security would be paid for not by the Fiat company, but by the Serbian government. In addition, Fiat was exempt from paying income tax for ten years, starting with the first year in which they made taxable profits, as well as from real estate tax, tax on the implementation of the urban planning requirements and others. The way this tax exemption worked was that Fiat delivered a tax report to the Serbian government and received refunds based on that report. Not only did the government exempt Fiat from numerous taxes, it also turned out that they paid Fiat a 10,000 euro subsidy for every worker they hired[2]. That doesnt mean that those funds were actually used to create new jobs, however. According to Slobodan Ilic, former state secretary in the Ministry of Finances, during the government of Prime Minister Mirko Cvetkovic, those subsidies were used to finance a discount for 48,000 sold cars. According to Bogdan Petrovic, advisor on foreign investment to the Minister of the Economy (2005-2007), the Serbian state has invested over 400 million euros in the Fiat Automobiles Serbia Company. In comparison, the total capital to be invested in manufacturing was to be 709 million euros, with Serbia being officially required to invest a third.

Essentially, the Serbian government remained in charge of financing Fiat as if it were a state owned enterprise, while any profits made would go to the so-called investors. Such practice can only be described as the nationalisation of risk. Serbian workers work for a foreign company and receive salaries from the government budget, i.e. from themselves as taxpayers! Big foreign and domestic investors of so-called late capitalism have proven to be nothing but scammers, even by their own bourgeois standards. But the reader would be mistaken if they concluded that this meant that Serbias workers work for free. They dont. They pay to work there. Under the thin veneer of investment in industry lies a policy of investment in subsidies.

Serbian Detroit indeed

As with everything else in the Balkans, there is an element of dark humour in the pompous nicknaming of Kragujevac as the Serbian Detroit. Like the Detroit of old, Kragujevac depends heavily on the automobile industry. And like Detroit today, it is also being bled dry by the joint attacks of the government and the private sector. The disgracefully low wages of Fiat-Chrysler workers and the obscene subsidies to the corporations from the government have brought the city to the edge of bankruptcy. That danger is very real and even the mainstream media will admit as much.

However, what do those ladies and gentlemen tell us of the causes of the citys dire economic situation? What are they proposing as a solution? Should there be some kind of tax, even minimal, for the vast areas of land used by FCA? Should there be a revision of subsidies? Should the city, at the very least, ask for some kind of sponsorship from the corporation, in accordance with the logic and rules of capitalism?

It would seem not! According to a news item on one of the leading pro-opposition media houses, TV B92, titled Kragujevac facing bankruptcy because of its citizens?", later changed to How the Serbian Detroit went under", probably due to popular outrage, the main culprits are none other than the very denizens of Kragujevac, who have failed to pay their taxes on real estate and who have accumulated debts.

These ladies and gentlemen never dared ask what kind of prosperity is it where the majority of the population needs to get deeper and deeper into debt in order to make ends meet. Serbian Detroit revealed the hollowness of the capitalist mode of production even more rapidly than Detroit proper. Unlike its (nick)namesake, it never even got the chance to experience a golden age of reformism. One might even say it was a Serbian Flint, Michigan, painted over to resemble Detroit.

Moreover, since the main culprits are apparently those who make the least money and pay the highest taxes, it is becoming ever more clear that the proposed solution from all sides of the Serbian parliament is a continued expropriation of the working class  a call for them to pay their taxes, when it is obvious theyll never be able to pay all they owe, is nothing short of a call for the foreclosure of their homes and seizure of what little assets they have left. It is a call for another round of expropriation of the workers by the bourgeoisie. The arrival of foreign investors in Serbia is not just motivated by the desire to exploit cheap labour. It isnt just about squeezing out all the work they can and giving the workers as little back as possible. It goes beyond that. The capitalists are here to rob the workers blind, to plunder not just the industrial plants and resources, but every single piece of workers property they can get their hands on. When theyre done with budget subsidies, theyll begin looting houses and private accounts. It is already happening with the increase of foreclosures.

We dont want to be cheap labour

It is no wonder, then, that the workers in the FCA factory clearly see the writing on the wall and have begun fighting against this plunder by refusing their assigned role as underpriced labour. Though it may appear to be a statement of common sense, of something that should go without saying, the slogan against being cheap labour put forward by the strike committee of the FCA workers in Kragujevac has much more radical implications in the context of Serbia and the rest of Eastern Europe. It is a clear challenge to the dominant ideology, which has been shoved down our throats for almost two decades.

The singing of praises of Serbias highly skilled, but cheap, workforce has been the cornerstone of neoliberal ideology since the democratic overthrow of Milosevic by the right-wing opposition in 2000. The low cost of our labour, together with its high value for the employers, has been praised as our comparative advantage in the global market by every single government, especially by the handful of pro-IMF experts which had the same or similar ministerial positions for over a decade, regardless of which party had the parliamentary majority. It became obvious that people and subsidies were planned to become our chief export. Under the banner of our own local version of TINA, this colonial position, forced upon us after 10 years of international sanctions and a bombing campaign, which left millions of people on the verge of destitution, was presented as the straw of salvation, as an opportunity for the best of us (i.e. those who can prove theyre genuine) to rise above the destitute status and gradually share in the new colonial masters wealth. Any form of resistance to this ideology and the policies and relations it justified was decried in unison as populism, demagogy and refusal to move with the times. The restoration of capitalism, referred to as the transition, was not for the weak and the losers, we were told.

Naturally, most people never really found these notions acceptable, but it was an open secret  something to talk about in cafes, after a few glasses of beer or rakia, and something to shyly forget once you went back to the real life at work  definitely not something to articulate into a public position. It was the youth in radical leftist organisations that first put forward this refusal to be super-exploited and for years it was limited to a somewhat narrow circle of students, young workers and older labour activists, most of whom had lost the battles for their old enterprises.

However, with the deterioration of living conditions and the growing dissatisfaction, which found its political expression in the anti-Vucic protests in April of this year. The liberal opposition called for protests against the election of the former prime minister, now president, Aleksandar Vucic, citing electoral irregularities, voter extortion and theft, hoping to gain momentum and increase their political support. However, in the most massive rallies, the opposition was completely side-lined and pushed out and the masses used the election as an excuse to articulate growing social frustrations and resistance to the attacks on the welfare state and workers rights. In the absence of any organised leadership, and with the rejection of both liberal and far right opposition parties, the masses adopted the slogans put forward jointly by various groups on the radical left, including the IMT's Yugoslav section, Marxist Organisation Crveni (Reds). The reason for such a disproportional success of leftist slogans (bearing in mind our weak infrastructure and low financial capabilities) was the simple fact that what we had to say resonated with the people, that they recognised their own grievances in our slogans. One such slogan, seen on many a banner in Belgrade and Novi Sad rallies, was precisely We dont want to be cheap labour.

After the protests died down, the ideas put forward by leftist organisations continued to brew in peoples minds, only to resurface as one of the leading slogans for one of the largest industrial strikes in the last decade. In this context, this slogan is a clear (albeit maybe not entirely conscious?) nod to the leftists and the April protest and a sign of the times. The slogan and the demands may seem to some as merely economic, but even such mere economism was nowhere in sight just a couple of years ago. We can imagine what the slogans will be a couple of years down the road.

Without any right-wing social democratic political party to take advantage of it, without any support from the mainstream, with the workers facing clear ice-cold hostility from both the government and the opposition, it is becoming apparent that the mood behind the seemingly moderate slogans is becoming more and more radical and that the battle lines for the class war are being drawn more clearly by the month. It is only a matter of time before the ideas crystallise and the demands become political and, yes, revolutionary. The pressure cooker has all but lost its proverbial vent  the capitalist system itself has clogged it. It is time to turn up the heat.

[1] http://www.srbija.gov.rs/extfile/sr/179492/ugovor_o_zajednickom_investicionom_ulaganju.pdf

[2] https://insajder.net/sr/sajt/tema/4886/Novi-model-Fijata-stari-sistem-dr%C5%BEavnih-subvencija.htm
Former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych may take part in a trial over the high treason case against him only in Ukraine, which guarantees his safety, Prosecutor General of the country Yuriy Lutsenko said.

"Yanukovych insists on his wish to participate in the trial, interrogate people and make statements. He has only one legal option for this, that is, to arrive to Ukraine. Our law does not stipulate other options of active involvement in the court proceedings. He is apparently afraid of doing so, at the same time he contrives fantastic stories that he should be killed while crossing the border and other ones," Lutsenko said in an interview with the 5 TV Channel on Monday.

Yanukovych should not be allowed "to be a party to the trial via a TV link-up from Moscow," he said. "He can only hear the trial and communicate with his defense team via a TV link-up. But sitting in Moscow, one cannot interrogate witnesses. The defendant can interrogate witnesses, but in Kyiv, at the trial," he said.

The prosecutor general pledged that the Ukrainian state can ensure defense to Yanukovych, even when he is accused of such a heinous crime. "Ukraine guarantees him sufficient protection so that he will be able to attend the trial," he said.

Judge of the Obolonsky District Court of Kyiv Vladyslav Deviatko, who is presiding in the high treason case versus Yanukovych, is holding the trial in compliance with Ukrainian and European legislation and is independent in making decisions, Lutsenko said.

"The judge should be given a credit, as he precisely adheres to Ukrainian and European legislation. Someone, in particular me, possibly does not like that it is dragged out for a long time, but the judge is doing everything in line with the law. And he is independent in making his decisions," he said.

The documents and other pieces of evidence will be studied at the next court sessions, "very well-known witnesses" will be summoned, Lutsenko said. Yanukovych's defense team enjoys all rights, he also said.

At the same time, the prosecutor general said that after the hearings of the high treason case are over, a bill of indictment on the Maidan shootings case will be immediately filed with the court. "We have updated the accusation as part of this case owning to titanic efforts made by the department of special inquiries, a group of prosecutors and investigators. It was appropriately handed to the defense team of Yanukovych and several other people. Investigators and prosecutors report that a bill of indictment in this case may be prepared in autumn," he said.

Provided that several cases against one person are filed with the court they can be combined in line with the legislation, and their hearing will be thus dragged out, the decision was made to submit the cases in court, as long as the hearing of the previous ones is completed, Lutsenko said.
ESPN's Chris Haynes reported the Boston Celtics feel "really, really good" about their chances of landing top free agent Gordon Hayward.

After meeting with the Celtics, Miami Heat and Utah Jazz, Hayward reportedly slept on his decision Monday night. He is expected to reveal his choice either Tuesday or Wednesday.

"I will say this: I'm hearing Boston is feeling really good about their chances of getting him," Haynes said on television. "I don't know what that means, but I've been talking to people in Boston. They feel really, really good about their shot. So it's going to be tough. He met with Utah in San Diego for over three hours last night. Ricky Rubio actually flew from Spain to go down there and be present in that meeting. So they're laying it all out. And like I said, it would be really tough on the Jazz faithful if he were to bolt, knowing what the Jazz did to try putting themselves in position."

Another report suggested Hayward is "genuinely torn." The three teams vying for his services all have different positives to offer.

Here's a video of Haynes' comments:
Not so fast, my friends?

Despite several reports that top free agent Gordon Hayward intends to sign with the Boston Celtics, the All-Star's agent is indicating no decision has been made:

Gordon Hayward's agent, Mark Bartelstein, tells ESPN: "Gordon hasn't made a decision yet. We are still working through it."  Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 4, 2017

What's going on here? It's possible Hayward didn't notify the Utah Jazz and Miami Heat of his decision yet and wanted to inform the teams before the news leaked. It's possible he really hasn't chosen where to play next season, though a number of rock-solid reporters, including ESPN's Chris Haynes, USA Today's Sam Amick and ESPN's Zach Lowe all heard Hayward had agreed to sign with Boston.

And some Celtics, like Isaiah Thomas, have already celebrated the news, though they might have heard it on Twitter like anyone else:

Isaiah Thomas' wife just posted this. I'm shaking...  pic.twitter.com/V7tbbdHkqV  Only In Boston (@OnlyInBOS) July 4, 2017

Whatever the case, it's a strange situation right now. More clarity should come soon.
A former MBTA transit police officer was found guilty of assault and battery after she pepper-sprayed a woman at a T stop in March 2014.

Jennifer Garvey, 34, was also found guilty of filing a false police report as a public employee, the Associated Press reports.

Garvey was previously acquitted of a civil rights violation charge. Mary Holmes, who filed the ACLU lawsuit against Garvey, said she witnessed the transit officer beat and scream at a black woman at an MBTA station.

When Holmes tried to intervene, Garvey knocked a cellphone out of her hand and doused her with pepper spray. The incident was captured on surveillance video, however.

"In response, Officer Garvey and her partner, Officer Alfred Trinh, pepper-sprayed Ms. Holmes in the face, beat her with a metal baton, and arrested her, handcuffing her hands behind her back while forcing her to the ground," the ACLU said.

She was fired from her job with the MBTA.

"There was a severe lack of accountability," said Carl Williams, staff attorney at the ACLU of Massachusetts. "Officer Garvey had a history of complaints that were regularly ignored. Police departments must police their own officers. That is what Ms. Holmes' case is all about."

Garvey is expected to be sentenced on July 8.
CHICOPEE - Two new police officers have joined the city's department after graduating from a six-month training at the Massachusetts State Police Municipal Academy in New Braintree.

Brett Salamon and Aaron West, of Chicopee, were sworn in last week. They will now start a 14-week training where they will work on the streets with experienced officers who are formally taught to train new patrol officers, said Michael Wilk, Chicopee Police public information officer.

The two follow a group of four other officers, Victoria Lopez, Nicholas Stone, Micky Dumais and Matthew Lemieux, who joined the department in May after graduating from the Police Academy. In addition, a larger group of new officers entered the Police Academy at Springfield Technical Community College in June for training.

Salamon previously worked at the Hampden County Sheriff's Department. He holds a bachelor's degree in political science from Westfield State University, according to Mayor Richard J. Kos.

West worked as a counselor for the Northeast Center for Youth and Families. He holds an associate's degree in criminal justice from Columbia-Greene Community College and a bachelor's degree in sociology from Westfield State University, Kos said in a written statement.

The two were sworn in by City Clerk Keith Rattell as Kos, Police Chief William Jebb and other city officials while family and friends watched.
A report compiled for a Washington, D.C.-based association of manufacturers and distributors of generic pharmaceutical products puts annual savings from generic prescription drugs in Massachusetts at $5.7 billion.

The Association for Accessible Medicines' 2017 report, "Generic Drugs Access and Savings in the U.S.," said that, in 2016, this translated into total savings of $159 million for non-insured consumers in the commonwealth who paid in cash; $2.8 billion for those commercially insured; $1.8 billion for those insured through Medicare, and $1 billion in Medicaid savings.

For Medicare enrollees nationwide, the report said, this represents an annual savings of $1,883 per person; $512 for each Medicaid enrollee.

The savings for the commonwealth was substantially more than the reported averaged state savings of $4.9 billion in 2016.

The report highlights the fact that a number of brand name drugs have come off patent in recent years, and been manufactured at substantially lower costs to consumers and taxpayers as the generic equivalent.

The report quotes one prescription price index showing prices for brand name drugs have increased substantially, especially in comparison to the consumer price index, over the last 10 years, although actual prices for brand name drugs can be lowered for some consumers by the use of rebates and coupons.

The prices of some generic drugs, like digoxin tablets, have also increased in recent years due to lack of competitive brands and other factors, like drug acquisitions, according to the U.S. Department of health and Human Services' 2016 brief, "Understanding Recent Trends in Generic Drug Prices."

What consumers end up paying is also influenced by the role of pharmacy benefit managers, something proposed legislation in the U.S. Congress aims to make more transparent in terms of how these managers negotiate with drug companies.

According to the association report, the greatest savings for generics in 2016 were for mental health, hypertension, cholesterol and ulcers drugs.

The Food and Drug Administration has said manufacturers of generics are able to sell their products at lower costs compared to brand names because "they are not required to repeat the costly clinical trials of new drugs and generally do not pay for costly advertising, marketing, and promotion."

The association's report cites the federal government as the country's largest purchaser of generic drugs, saying that "without generics Medicaid and Medicare spending on prescription medicines would nearly double."

The FDA has acknowledged that eight out of 10 prescriptions filled in the country are for generic drugs and said that, in 2010, that translated into a weekly savings of $3 billion.

The new generic drug report said those savings in 2016 have increased to $5 billion weekly.

The report calculated state Medicaid savings in the country averaged $744 million, with state Medicare averaged savings, $1.5 billion, in 2016.

Medicines taken by those aged 40 and above represent the population most likely to benefit from 79 percent of generic drug savings, according to the report.

The report also found that new patient abandonment rates for generics to be three times lower than branded abandonment.

Abandonment means a patient requests a prescription be filled by a pharmacy, but never collects the medication.

The report cites cost of medication as the possible primary reason for abandonment, saying "studies show that patient cost sensitivity is similar for branded and generic products, but across copays, the distribution of claims significantly favors generics."

The report said 89 percent of the nearly 3.9 billion prescriptions dispensed last year in the United States were for generics, but said this only makes for 26 percent of total medicine spending.

Generic medicines must be shown to be "bioequivalent" or "biosimilar" to brand name counterparts in order to be approved by the FDA for sale in the United States.

This means a generic must match the brand name in such ways as active ingredient, maximum amount of medicine in the blood at any time and strength and dosage, but does not need to repeat clinical trials in order to be approved.

As explained on the FDA website, "New drugs, like other new products, are developed under patent protection. The patent protects the investment in the drug's development by giving the company the sole right to sell the drug while the patent is in effect. When patents or other periods of exclusivity expire, manufacturers can apply to the FDA to sell generic versions.

"The abbreviated new drug application process does not require the drug sponsor to repeat costly animal and clinical research on ingredients or dosage forms already approved for safety and effectiveness. This applies to drugs first marketed after 1962."

A number of drugs have come off patent in recent years.

As listed in the report, these include Lipitor (atovastatin), said to have cost $3.29 per unit when it came off brand in 2011, and is now 11 cents per unit; Prilosece (omeprazole), which was $3.31 when it came off brand in 2002, and now sells for 8 cents per unit; and Zofran (ondansetron), which was $21.67 when it came off brand in 2006, and now sells for 20 cents per unit.

First-time generic drug approvals for 2017 from the FDA include for the HIV drug sold under the brand name Truvada, for delayed-release tablets of prednisone, a drug whose uses include for inflammation or immunosuppression, and the Suprep Bowel Prep Kit.

The report was compiled by the QuintilesIMS Institute for Healthcare Informatics.

Some manufacturers of bulk active pharmaceutical chemicals have expressed concern that Congressional efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act could prompt insurers to reduce coverage of new medicine and also impact manufacturers and plans for expanding capacity.

Highlights in the report include:
SPRINGFIELD -- If it's any consolation to Emmanuel Soto, at least he was stopped by real cops this time.

Along with four others, Soto, 30, of Springfield, was charged with drug trafficking Friday, one day after investigators announced one of Greater Springfield's largest heroin seizures.

More than 20,000 packets of heroin, $13,000 in cash, seven firearms and several vehicles were confiscated during raids in Springfield and West Springfield, Hampden County District Attorney Anthony Gulluni announced at a press conference.

Soto was identified as the leader of the operation, which had ties to Connecticut, New York, New Jersey and Florida, investigators said. Four others -- Luis David Ramirez-Perez, 29, Joel Pacheco, 28, John Shukes, 26, and Jose Cedeno, 26, Springfield -- were also charged with drug trafficking.

The crackdown marked the second business reversal in recent weeks for Soto, who allegedly made frequent trips to New York City and returned with large amounts of heroin for sale to mid-level dealers across the region.

The first setback took place when Soto's 2014 Cadillac was carjacked as he was returning from New York, according to a search warrant application filed by Springfield police Detective Thomas Kakley. Thieves impersonating police officers pulled the vehicle over on Interstate 91, according to Kakley. The report does not detail what happened after the stop, though it does say the vehicle was later abandoned in the Bronx.

The theft was something of gift to local investigators, who had Soto's alleged drug operation under surveillance for six months.

Once the vehicle was found, state and city detectives traveled to New York to inspect it, Kakley said. They discovered that a hydraulically-controlled hidden compartment, called a "hide," had been installed beneath the driver's seat. The thieves gained access to the compartment and whatever was hidden there, Kakley said.

In April, after the Cadillac was returned to Soto, agents conducting surveillance watched him and Pacheco open and inspect the compartment at Restless Towing, one of two West Springfield business used by the group, the records said.

On Thursday, after police pulled over Pacheco's Honda Pilot, they found a similar compartment, according to the arrest report. Inside they found 21,500 packets of heroin, stamped with the "My Back" logo, the report said.

On Friday, Pacheo's bail was set at $250,000 while Soto was released on $5,000 bail, the figure he posted following his arrest Thursday. All five defendants are due back in court for a pretrial hearing on July 28.
WEST SPRINGFIELD -- It was a ceremony of remembrance, sadness and joy as old friends and comrades gathered Tuesday, the Fourth of July, on the grounds of the Eastern States Exposition.

Sixty years ago, on the same day and in the same place, 100 young men from Western Massachusetts, southern New Hampshire and northern Connecticut were sworn into the U.S. Navy.

The members of Navy Company 125 would become known as the Greater Springfield Honor Guard, returning to The Big E that fall to serve as a ceremonial unit for the governors of all six New England states during their visits to the exposition. What may have started as a sort of publicity gimmick by the Navy wound up establishing a connection that would quite literally last a lifetime.

Seventeen members of the unit and their families attended Tuesday's gathering. Richard Greene of West Broofield, a member of the unit and a speaker at the ceremony, thanked all who attended.

"Sixty years ago today, and I think it was in the evening, 100 of us, 18 years old and older, joined the Navy and came out of Union Station," Greene said. "Here we are 60 years later and we are looking at each other with a lot of great memories that we can attest to."

During the brief ceremony, a wreath was placed at the Navy Company 125 monument at the foot of the flag plaza.
Japan North Korea Missile

A man walks past a public TV screen broadcasting news of North Korea's ballistic missile which landed in the waters of Japan's economic zone (EEZ) in Tokyo on Tuesday, July 4, 2017.

(Shizuo Kambayashi / AP)

SEOUL, South Korea -- North Korea conducted what may be its most successful missile test yet on Tuesday, firing an intermediate-range weapon that could be powerful enough to reach Alaska. It's Pyongyang's latest step in a push for nuclear weapons capable of hitting any part of the United States.

While some details are still unclear, the launch seems designed to send a political warning to Washington and its chief Asian allies, Seoul and Tokyo, even as it allows North Korean scientists a chance to perfect their still-incomplete nuclear missile program. It came on the eve of the U.S. Independence Day holiday, days after the first face-to-face meeting of the leaders of South Korea and the United States, and ahead of a global summit of the world's richest economies.

Officials say the missile fired from North Phyongan province, in the North's western region, flew for about 40 minutes, which would be longer than any other similar tests previously reported, and covered about 930 kilometers (580 miles). South Korean analysts say it's likely that it was a retest of one of two intermediate-range missiles launched earlier this year.

Once U.S. missile scientist, David Wright, estimated that the missile, if the reported time and distance are correct, could have a possible maximum range of 6,700 kilometers (4,160 miles), which could put Alaska in its range if fired at a normal trajectory.

North Korea has a reliable arsenal of shorter-range missiles, but is still trying to perfect its longer-range missiles. Some analysts believe North Korea has the technology to arm its short-range missiles with nuclear warheads, but it's unclear if it has mastered the technology needed to build an atomic bomb that can fit on a long-range missile. It has yet to test an ICBM, though it has previously conducted long-range satellite launches that critics say are covers meant to test missile technology.

Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga suggested the altitude of this missile might have been higher than earlier tests. He did not give further details, including the distance of the flight and where the missile landed.

Just last week South Korean President Moon Jae-in and U.S. President Donald Trump met for the first time and vowed to oppose North Korea's development of atomic weapons.

Japan's government said the missile was believed to have landed in Japan's exclusive economic zone in the Sea of Japan, but no damage to ships or aircraft in the area was reported.

Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe sharply criticized North Korea for the launch. "The latest launch clearly showed that the threat is growing," Abe said.

Trump also responded on Twitter Monday with the following:

North Korea has just launched another missile. Does this guy have anything better to do with his life? Hard to believe that South Korea.....  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 4, 2017

....and Japan will put up with this much longer. Perhaps China will put a heavy move on North Korea and end this nonsense once and for all!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 4, 2017

Abe, who talked by phone with Trump on Monday, said the two leaders plan to seek cooperation from world leaders when they attend a G20 summit in Germany.

Lee Illwoo, a Seoul-based military commentator, said the missile traveled for a far longer period of time than if it would have been fired at a normal angle. A North Korean scud-type missile, with a range of 800-900 kilometers, would land in its target site within 10 minutes if fired at a standard angle of 45 degrees. Lee said it's likely that North Korea fired either Hwasong-12 missile or a solid-fuel Pukguksong-2, both of which were tested in May.

On May 14, North Korea launched the Hwasong-12 missile, which its state media later said flew as high as 2,111 kilometers (1,310 miles) and landed in a targeted area in the ocean about 787 kilometers (490 miles) from the launch site. On May 21, North Korea also tested the Pukguksong-2, which traveled about 500 kilometers (310 miles).

China's U.N. ambassador, Liu Jieyi, warned Monday that further escalation of already high tensions with North Korea risks getting out of control, "and the consequences would be disastrous."

The Korean Peninsula has been divided between the American-backed South and the authoritarian North since the 1950-53 Korean War. Worries have increased as the North's leader Kim Jong Un pushes to expand his nuclear arsenal and develop ballistic missiles that can carry nuclear warheads.

Tuesday's launch is the first by the North since a June 8 test of a new type of cruise missile that Pyongyang says is capable of striking U.S. and South Korean warships "at will."

Since taking office on May 10, Moon has tried to improve strained ties with North Korea, but the North has continued its missile tests. Pyongyang says it needs nuclear weapons and powerful missiles to cope with what it calls rising U.S. military threats.
PITTSFIELD -- Nearly 200 community groups, fire departments, veterans organizations and marching bands paid homage to "heroes" of all stripes Tuesday, as they took to the streets for Pittsfield's annual 4th of July parade.

The 2017 event, which featured 187 groups and organizations from across Western Massachusetts and the Northeast, centered around the theme of "Celebrating Our Heroes."

Pittsfield Parade Committee President Peter Marchetti said the topic was chosen after combining themes suggested from the community.

"Each year we ask people via Facebook or our website to give us some ideas and we had two different themes going: one, somebody actually wanted a superhero theme, and others wanted it to be kind of patriotic with veterans and EMS, police, fire," he said in an interview. "And so we said, well if we did celebrating our heroes generically, a hero could be whatever you wanted it to be."

Marchetti, the Pittsfield City Council president, said the parade committee sought to reflect that broad scope in two of the parade's five giant helium balloons -- one of a firefighter and one of Sesame Street character "Super Grover" -- as well as its selection of Pittsfield Police Officer Darren Derby to serve as grand marshal.

"This year's theme is celebrating our heroes, and we celebrated him for his unique approach of being a police officer and interacting with the youths of Pittsfield," he said.

Several Berkshire County-based community groups, local fire departments, veterans organizations and 20 musical units, including drum corps from across the Northeast, participated in the 2017 parade.

Local elected officials, as well as state representatives and senators, also marched in the parade, as did State Auditor Suzanne Bump.

Marchetti estimated that the annual event costs close to $80,000 for the city to put on.

The Pittsfield Parade Committee had a fundraising goal of $85,000 for this year's event.

The parade began around 10 a.m. near the intersection of South and West Housatonic Streets and ran about 1.5 miles along North and Wahconah Streets before concluding at Wahconah Park.

Marchetti said the parade, which dates back to 1824, has been estimated to draw up to 60,000 people to downtown Pittsfield in recent years, but noted the difficulty of ascertaining an actual crowd count.

"We debate this every year. We say around 50,000 to 60,000 (people every year) and then some tell me I'm overestimating, some tell me I'm underestimating," he said. "So I don't really have clue."

Elizabeth Hanlon, 61-year-old Richmond, Vermont resident who was among the thousands of people who turned out for the 2017 parade, lauded the annual event.

"It's a great parade, it's a great day, and just being with everyone, it's pretty patriotic," she said, adding that her favorite part of the event was its focus on honoring military service members and veterans.
A Vermont farmer whose escaped bull caused a fatal crash on Rt. 4 in Killington has reached a plea deal and will avoid jail time in the 2015 death of a 62-year-old motorist from Connecticut.



The case in Rutland Superior Court sparked heated public debate in Vermont over the the rights and responsibilities of livestock owners.



Craig Mosher, 63, pleaded guilty last week to reckless endangerment, reports the online VTDigger. He will serve a suspended sentence, two years probation, pay $500, and perform 50 hours of community service.



Mosher had been indicted for manslaughter, a felony that carries up to 15 years behind bars. At his initial arraignment, outraged farmers packed the courtroom, saying the criminal charge was unprecedented and inappropriate.



On the night of July 31, 2015, Jon Bellis of Waterford was killed when his westbound car hit Mosher's 1,800-pound Scottish Highland bull. The vehicle careened downhill and hit a tree. Bellis' wife, a passenger, was injured.



State attorney Rose Kennedy, in justifying the criminal charge, said Mosher's bulls had escaped multiple times, and that he was aware of the problem but did nothing. Police had been called to the Killington property a number of times for livestock on the loose.



Thirty minutes before the crash, a milk truck owner even drove to Mosher's farm, leaned on the horn, and told him his animal was on the highway. The truck driver later called police on his cell phone, saying "If it wanders back out into the road, somebody's going to die."



Mosher later told police he looked for the bull, could not find it, and went home to sleep. On his way to investigate, a Vermont state trooper received word that the bull had been hit and there were injuries.

The next morning, police found a hole in Mosher's electric fence, caused by a tree branch. The bull was killed in the crash.



Mosher's lawyer said he was prepared to argue that Bellis was speeding when he hit the bull. He said his client, who owns excavators, rebuilt washed-out roads after Hurricane Irene at no cost to the town. He remarked that in his decades of law practice, he had never seen such a criminal prosecution.



Speaking briefly in court, Mosher offered condolences and prayers to the Bellis family: "It's broken my heart, and I live it every day."



A related civil case was settled for an undisclosed sum.
Next Sunday, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will visit Ukraine, Ukrayinska Pravda online newspaper has reported.

"Rex Tillerson will arrive in Ukraine on July 9. It will be a short visit planned for two hours or two hors and a half. It is not known yet with whom the U.S. Secretary of State will meet in Kyiv," the source said told the Internet ezine on Tuesday morning, citing sources in diplomatic circles.

The information indicates that this visit is considered an achievement of Ukrainian diplomacy, it is important against the backdrop of a meeting between Russian and U.S. Presidents Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump, which will be held on the sidelines of the G20 summit.

Earlier, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko reported that during Tillerson's visit to Kyiv "our developments in Washington would continue." Also this month, the visits of UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg are expected.

In addition, Poroshenko announced the visit to Ukraine in August by U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry and also the visit of U.S.Secretary of Defense James Mattis in the coming months.
North Korea's successful test launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile has changed the equation.

What had been merely theoretical - as frightening as it was to contemplate - has become the world's new reality.

The impoverished, isolated nation, ruled by the grandson of its founder, has been working toward developing a missile program - despite the wishes of the rest of the world.

But North Korea listens to no one. Not to friend, and not to foe.

Economic sanctions haven't worked. Threats of more haven't worked. Pressuring China to do something - though what, exactly, that would be - hasn't worked.

Are there military options? Yes, but no good ones.

And diplomacy has proved completely unsuccessful.

So, what to do? Fret. Talk. Try to come up with a new, workable plan. And, if you are President Donald Trump, post to Twitter, of course.

Back in January, a bit more than two weeks before Trump was inaugurated, North Korea's leader, Kim Jong Un, said his nation was in the final stages of developing an ICBM.

Trump's response on Twitter the following day: "It won't happen!"

Well, it has happened. And it happened, not coincidentally, in the early hours of July 4 in North Korea. The ICBM was launched with a clear message to the United States: Happy Independence Day. And speaking of the rockets' red glare, look at what we've got.

Trump's response came in a two-part tweet. He first wrote:

"North Korea has just launched another missile. Does this guy have anything better to do with his life? Hard to believe that South Korea ..."

Minutes later he added:

"....and Japan will put up with this much longer. Perhaps China will put a heavy move on North Korea and end this nonsense once and for all!"

What, exactly, a "heavy move" would be is anyone's guess.

The leaders of the world's leading industrialized nations will gather in Hamburg, Germany, on Friday and Saturday. If North Korea's missile program wasn't high on the agenda for most folks heading into the meeting, it will be now.

Though there are no simple solutions, it would be best for everyone to at least be on the same page concerning how to proceed.

North Korea is likely still years away from being able to deliver a nuclear warhead to our shores. But the clock keeps on ticking. It wasn't so long ago when North Korea was still years away from successfully test launching an ICBM.

Eventually, if nothing is done, North Korea will very likely have the capability of launching a nuclear-tipped ICBM that could reach Seattle or Los Angeles.

At that point, Kim will feel stronger, perhaps emboldened, even.

The rest of the world would do well to face the facts about what's ahead, and set to work now to develop a sensible, practical, unified response.
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Non-affiliated deputy and ex-secretary of the Kyiv City Council Oles Dovhy has appealed to members of the Verkhovna Rada regulatory committee with a request to support the request of Ukraine's Prosecutor General Yuriy Lutsenko to strip him of parliamentary immunity.

He said this on Tuesday morning during the meeting of the said committee of the parliament, where the motion of Prosecutor General Yuriy Lutsenko on granting the consent of the Verkhovna Rada to bring Dovhy to criminal liability is considered, the Kyiv-based Interfax-Ukraine news agency has said.

"I appeal to you: support the request and give me the opportunity to make these speculations final once and for all in court," Dovhy said after Lutsenko had presented the PGO's position on this motion.
The case on the so called "Boiko oil rigs" (the matter concerns the purchase of drilling rigs for oil and gas extraction on the Black Sea shelf at an overestimated price, in which co-chairman of the Opposition Bloc faction Yuriy Boiko is allegedly involved) is ongoing, the investigation in relation to the incumbent people's deputy under the testimony of Oleksandr Katsuba, the former deputy head of Naftogaz Ukrainy, who concluded a deal with the investigators, is underway, Prosecutor General Yuriy Lutsenko has said.

"We are advancing in the high profile case on the so called "Boiko rigs." Oleksandr Katsuba, the son of ex-people's deputy Serhiy Katsuba, has spent a long time in custody, behind the bars, and after all he made a deal with the investigators. In this rather voluminous text of the agreement, he legally prescribed the facts known to him about the leadership of the criminal group that plundered state funds on an especially large scale during the purchase of oil drilling rigs," he said in an interview with Channel Five.

According to Lutsenko, now the investigation is proceeding in accordance with the testimony of Oleksandr Katsuba in relation to the "incumbent people's deputy."
President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko and Prime Minister of Ukraine Volodymyr Groysman have congratulated the U.S. on Independence Day.

"USA is a true strategic partner of Ukraine. Happy Independence Day to all our American friends!" the president wrote on his Facebook page on Tuesday.

Groysman also posted his congratulation to the American people on Facebook: "U.S. has always been, and will remain our reliable partner and true friend. Grateful for your constant support and desire to deepen cooperation between our two nations to reach peace, well-being and prosperity."
When the allergy season strikes, you may get that familiar feeling of itchy eyes. But for many, it is more than just a nuisance  so what is the culprit causing you such distress? Share on Pinterest Itchy eyes caused by allergy affect people both young and old. Its histamine. You might already know this if you are taking antihistamine-containing medication for your allergies, which just so happen to be the number one cause of itchy eyes. But what does histamine actually do? The front of the eye, much like the outer layer of the skin, protects us from environmental harm. When potentially harmful substances come into contact with our eyes, our response is to blink so that we can wash away these perpetrators. But this process isnt foolproof, as anyone who has had something irritating in their eye can attest. If the offending irritant is something that you are allergic to, then a whole host of biochemical processes can occur. Unfortunately for you, immune cells in your eye called mast cells are on the lookout for allergens, which are molecules that you are allergic to.

The mast cell as main player Mast cells come from the bone marrow and are sent to places such as the eye as part of the first defense mechanism against invading pathogens. In a person with allergies, the body has become hypersensitive to harmless substances, including pollen and grass, so the immune system must treat them as if they are pathogens. Allergy in the eye is called allergic conjunctivitis, and it can range from mild to serious. When an allergen comes into contact with the eye, it binds to the antigen molecules on the surface of the mast cells. Mast cells are quick to react, releasing a number of chemical messengers, such as histamine, in a process that scientists call degranulation . Histamine then activates specific itch nerve cells by binding to histamine receptors on the surface of these cells. Scientists are still unsure about how exactly this works, but much progress has been made in recent years to further our understanding of the mechanism and biological purpose of itch .
People with Alzheimer's disease who experience psychosis - including delusions and hallucinations - are five times more likely to be misdiagnosed with dementia with Lewy bodies compared to patients who do not, new research suggests.

Alzheimer's disease is a type of dementia characterized by protein deposits in the brain including twisted fibers found inside brain cells. Dementia with Lewy bodies is believed to be caused by the buildup of a different abnormal protein aggregate found in nerve cells in the brain. Effective treatments for these conditions are still under development, but will almost certainly be different, according to the authors.

Researchers also found that Alzheimer's disease was misdiagnosed in 24 per cent of all cases, with false positive and false negative rates both being 12 per cent. Previous research suggested that the rate of misdiagnosis in Alzheimer's disease ranged from 12-23 per cent.

The findings, published online in Alzheimer's & Dementia: Translational Research & Clinical Interventions, raise concern that there may be an under appreciation of how common psychotic symptoms are in Alzheimer's disease, said Dr. Corinne Fischer, director of the Memory Disorders Clinic at St. Michael's Hospital in Toronto and lead author of the study.

"Psychosis can be a symptom of Alzheimer's disease, but it is a defining clinical feature in other types of dementia, including Parkinson's disease related dementia and dementia with Lewy bodies," she said. "Consequently, clinicians are more reluctant to diagnose a patient with Alzheimer's disease when they present with delusions or hallucinations."

About 36 per cent of people with Alzheimer's are thought to have delusions and 18 per cent have hallucinations. Psychotic symptoms are significant in Alzheimer's patients because they have been shown to be associated with increased burden on caregivers, increased functional decline and more rapid progression of the disease.

Researchers examined 961 people using data from the National Alzheimer's Coordinating Centre database, collected from 29 Alzheimer's disease centres in the United States between 2005 and 2012. They included participants who had been clinically diagnosed with Alzheimer's while they were alive, as well as those whose autopsies showed they the signature physical signs of Alzheimer's in their brains.

Patients who experienced psychosis had a higher rate of false negative diagnosis and a lower rate of false positive diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease compared to those who did not. Whether patients experienced delusions, hallucinations, or a combination of both did not affect the rate of misdiagnosis, according to the authors.

The Alzheimer's Society of Canada estimates there are 564,000 people living with dementia in Canada, and that number is expected to almost double over the next 15 years, thus reinforcing the relevance of the study's findings according to Winnie Qian, a Master's student in the Neuroscience Research Program at St. Michael's and an author on the study.

"An advantage of our study is that we used the final clinical diagnosis after years of follow-up, so the rate of misdiagnosis we described is the rate under ideal conditions," she said.

"This means that it should be considered a minimum. If you extrapolate that and apply it to the general population, the magnitude of the problem could be much greater."

Dr. Fischer said when patients do not present with psychosis, clinicians should be more careful when considering alternative diagnoses to Alzheimer's disease.

"Many dementia patients never receive a definitive clinical diagnosis while they're alive, so the hope is that by understanding what factors can lead to a misdiagnosis, we can be more accurate and provide patients with the best possible care," she said.

Article: Determining the impact of psychosis on rates of false-positive and false-negative diagnosis in Alzheimer's disease, Corinne E. Fischer et al., Alzheimer's & Dementia: Translational Research & Clinical Interventions, doi: 10.1016/j.trci.2017.06.001, published online 21 June 2017.
Men, unlike women, do not have a menopause or a predictable and detectable decline in their fertility. Female age is thus the dominant factor in predicting (or explaining) a couple's chance of conception, whether natural or assisted.

A few studies have found that the chance of natural conception can be affected by the age of the male partner, particularly in the genetic health of sperm cells, but the celebrity examples of Charlie Chaplin or Luciano Pavarotti have kept alive the notion that male fertility goes on forever.

Now, a new study from the USA in IVF couples shows quite clearly that live birth outcome is clearly affected by the age of the male partner and that in certain younger female age groups, where the effect of age is less potent, the chances of live birth can be appreciably reduced by the man's increasing age. "Our study found an independent effect of male age on the cumulative incidence of live birth," said investigator Dr Laura Dodge from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA. Dr Dodge will present the study's results at the 33rd Annual Meeting of ESHRE in Geneva.

The study was an analysis of all IVF cycles performed at a large IVF centre in the Boston region between 2000 and 2014, a total of almost 19,000 cycles performed in 7753 couples. The female partners in these cycles were stratified according to four age bands: under 30, 30-35 years, 35-40 years, and 40-42. Men were stratified into these same four age bands, with an additional band of 42 and over.

As expected, the cumulative live birth rate1 (measured from up to six cycles of treatment) was lowest in those couples where the female partner was in the 40-42 age band, and in this group the age of the male partner had no impact, demonstrating the dominant detrimental effect of female age. However, within the other bands of female age, the cumulative incidence of live birth was significantly affected by male partner age and was found to decline as the man grew older.

For example, in couples with a female partner aged under 30, a male partner aged 40-42 was associated with a significantly lower cumulative birth rate (46%) than a male partner aged 30-35 (73%). Similarly, in couples with a female partner aged 35-40 years live birth rates were higher with a younger than with an older male partner.

"Generally," explained Dr Dodge, "we saw no significant decline in cumulative live birth when women had a male partner the same age or younger. However, women aged 35-40 did significantly benefit from having a male partner who is under age 30, in that they see a nearly 30% relative improvement in cumulative incidence of live birth when compared to women whose partner is 30-35 - from 54% to 70%.

"Where we see significant decreases in the cumulative incidence of live birth is among women with male partners in the older age bands. For women age 30-35 having a partner who is older than they are is associated with approximately 11% relative decreases in cumulative incidence of live birth - from 70% to 64% - when compared to having a male partner within their same age band."

Commenting on the results, Dr Dodge noted that in natural conceptions increasing male age is associated with a decreased incidence of pregnancy, increased time to pregnancy, and increased risk of miscarriage. The mechanisms, she added, are unclear but may include impaired semen parameters, increased DNA damage in sperm, and epigenetic alterations in sperm that affect fertilisation, implantation, or embryo development.

"However," said Dr Dodge, "both the results of this study and prior work show that female age has a larger effect on fertility than male age. While the effect of female age on fertility is overwhelmingly due to increased rates of chromosomal abnormality, the proposed mechanisms in the effect of male age on pregnancy are more subtle. When we looked at the effect of female age alone, we saw a 46% relative decrease from ages under 30 to 40-42, but when we looked at male age alone, we saw a 20% relative decrease over the same age span."

Can men with younger female partners do anything to compensate for this age effect in IVF? "It's hard to say without knowing the precise mechanisms involved," said Dr Dodge. "Most preconception advice for men focuses on semen quality, though studies suggest that this likely cannot fully ameliorate the effects of male reproductive ageing. So in the absence of clear evidence of the mechanisms, the best preconception advice we can offer is to maintain a healthy lifestyle."

This is the first study to calculate the cumulative incidence of live birth while jointly stratifying on multiple bands of both male and female age, allowing calculation of both male and female age simultaneously.

Abstract O-178, Tuesday 4 July 2017 - The impact of male partner age on cumulative incidence of live birth following in vitro fertilization.
For the first time, researchers at the University of Zurich have demonstrated a surprising effect of microglia, the scavenger cells of the brain: If these cells lack the TDP-43 protein, they not only remove Alzheimer's plaques, but also synapses. This removal of synapses by these cells presumably lead to neurodegeneration observed in Alzheimer's and other neurodegenerative diseases.

Similar to other neurodegenerative disorders, Alzheimer's is a disease in which the cognitive abilities of afflicted persons continuously worsen. The reason is the increasing loss of synapses, the contact points of the neurons, in the brain. In the case of Alzheimer's, certain protein fragments, the -amyloid peptides, are suspected of causing the death of neurons. These protein fragments clump together and form the disease's characteristic plaques.

Voracious microglia cells destroy brain synapses

Together with researchers from Great Britain and the United States, the group of Lawrence Rajendran from the Institute for Regenerative Medicine of the University of Zurich now shows that dysfunctional microglia cells contribute to the loss of synapses in Alzheimer's and other neurodegenerative diseases. These scavenger cells usually monitor the function of neurons in the brain by removing excess synapses during development or toxic protein aggregates. Until now, their role in neurodegenerative disorders remains controversial.

In an initial step, the researchers looked at the effect that certain risk genes for Alzheimer's have on the production of the -amyloid peptide. They found no effect in neurons. This led the researchers then to examine the function of these risk genes in microglia cells - and made a discovery: If they turned off the gene for the TDP-43 protein in these scavenger cells, these cells remove -amyloid very efficiently. This is due to the fact that the lack of TDP-43 protein in microglia led to an increased scavenging activity, called phagocytosis.

The TDP-43 protein regulates the activity of scavenger cells

In the next step, researchers used mice, which acted as a disease model for Alzheimer's. In this case, as well, they switched off TDP-43 in microglia and observed once more that the cells efficiently eliminated the -amyloid. Surprisingly, the increased scavenging activity of microglia in mice led also to a significant loss of synapses at the same time. This synapse loss occurred even in mice that do not produce human amyloid. This finding that increased phagocytosis of microglia can induce synapse loss led researchers to hypothesize that perhaps, during aging, dysfunctional microglia could display aberrant phagocytic activity. "Nutrient deprivation or starvation-like mechanism during aging could enhance phagocytic mechanism in microglia and this could lead to synaptic loss" Lawrence Rajendran assumes.

Direct role in neurodegeneration

The results show that the role of microglia cells in neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's has been underestimated. It is not limited to influencing the course of the disease through inflammatory reactions and the release of neurotoxic molecules as previously assumed. Instead, this study shows that they can actively induce neurodegeneration. "Dysfunction of the microglia cells may be an important reason why many Alzheimer's medications reduce the amyloid plaques in clinical testing, but the cognitive functions in patients do not lead to improvement," Rajendran says.

This work was supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation, Velux Foundation, Synapsis Foundation, Cure Alzheimer Fund and the Forschungskredit of the University of Zurich.
For patients with colorectal cancer that has metastasized to the liver, having a primary tumour on the left side, as opposed to the right side of the colon, is known to be a significant advantage in terms of treatment response.

But now a new study, presented here at the ESMO 19th World Congress on Gastrointestinal Cancer, suggests this imbalance may be at least partially redressed.

Reversing the usual pattern, patients whose liver metastases had spread from right-sided primary tumours (RSP) had a 36% better survival rate after treatment with a combination of first-line chemotherapy and selective internal radiation therapy (SIRT) using Y-90 resin microspheres, compared to chemotherapy alone, according to the study.

This same treatment combination was no better than chemotherapy only in patients with left-sided primary tumours (LSP).

"These findings are good news for patients with right-sided primary tumours, who have a much worse prognosis and fewer treatment options than patients with left-sided tumours," said study investigator Guy van Hazel, MD, from the University of Western Australia in Perth, Australia.

We are excited because hitherto no treatment apart from the addition of bevacizumab to chemotherapy has improved the dismal outcome of liver metastases coming from right-sided primary tumours."

The analysis included 739 patients from two completed studies called SIRFLOX (SF) and FOXFIRE-Global (FFG).

All patients had liver-only or liver-dominant metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC), and had been randomised to receive either standard chemotherapy alone, or combined with SIRT. The chemotherapy regimen was mFOLFOX6, and most patients received bevacizumab as well.

Information on the patients' primary tumour location was recorded at the start, with 24% having right-sided and 73% left-sided disease (the remaining 3% had primary tumours on both sides of the colon, or the primary tumour site was unknown).

Overall, outcomes were not different between the chemotherapy alone and chemotherapy plus SIRT groups, with median overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) around 24 months and 11 months, respectively.

However, when the investigators examined patients with RSP and LSP separately they saw a clear difference.

Patients with liver metastases from RSP had significantly better OS when SIRT was added to their chemotherapy compared to those who had chemotherapy alone (22.0 vs. 17.1 months, respectively; p=0.007; Hazard Ratio [HR]: 0.64 [95% CI: 0.46-0.89]), but this was not the case for patients with LSP (24.6 vs. 25.6 months; p=0.279; HR: 1.12 [0.92-1.36]).

"That means that RSP patients treated with chemotherapy plus SIRT have a 36% reduced risk of dying at any time point," said van Hazel.

There was also a 27% improvement in PFS, although this was not statistically significant.

"This is the first time that location of primary tumour has been linked to radiation therapy," said van Hazel, and although it's possible that it may only apply to patients receiving first-line therapy, he said it opens a new treatment option for these patients.

There were no differences in side effects between patients with RSP and LSP tumours, and although patients who had both chemotherapy and SIRT did experience more side-effects than those who had chemotherapy alone, these were "predictable and manageable," said van Hazel.

Commenting on the study, ESMO spokespersons Dirk Arnold, from Instituto CUF de Oncologia in Lisbon, Portugal and Eric Van Cutsem, University Hospitals Leuven, Belgium, said that these findings contribute to the recent debates on both the biological heterogeneity of colon cancers and tumour localisation.

"It remains to be confirmed whether these results mean that right-sided tumours are more sensitive to this kind of radiotherapy - or whether this is simply related to the fact that the molecular characteristics of right-sided tumours allow less treatment options, because they have more mutations," they explained. "Additionally the well-known worse prognosis of right-sided tumours increases the relative importance of a non-systemic treatment option. More data on the molecular factors determining these results are warranted."

Abstract LBA-006 - 'Impact of primary tumour location on survival in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer receiving selective internal radiation therapy and chemotherapy as first-line therapy' will be presented by Dr Van Hazel Guy during 'Session XIX: Colorectal Cancer' on Saturday, 01 July, 12:30 to 12:55 (CEST) in Auditorium A.
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Non-compliance with the ceasefire by Russia and its militants leads to a complete lack of progress in resolving humanitarian and security issues in Donbas, First Deputy Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine's representative in the humanitarian subgroup of the Trilateral Contact Group, Iryna Gerashchenko, has said.

"Since our last meeting [the meeting of the Trilateral Contact Group in Minsk], today we have an absolute zero in the progress of the solution of key humanitarian and security issues for Ukraine - in the context of Russia's non-fulfillment and militants controlled by it of the Minsk Agreements," she said during the conference in Kyiv on Tuesday.

Gerashchenko said that the enemy continues shelling the positions of the ATO forces with the use of heavy weapons.

"This is the answer to the question whether it is possible to believe at least one word of Russia and the militants who at the last meeting in Minsk promised that a "grain" truce would be established from June 24. Not a single day on the line of demarcation passed without violating the first and key provision of the Minsk agreement - a ceasefire regime, "she said.
GUANGZHOU, China

July 4, 2017

July 3

Guangzhou, China

Guangzhou

Guangzhou

China's

Guangzhou

Guangzhou

Guangzhou

Guangzhou

52.3 billion yuan

China

Xia Jian

China's

Guangzhou

/PRNewswire/ --The 10th China Bio-Industry Convention and the first Guanzhou International Bio-Forum was held onin. As an emerging strategic developmental focus of, the output value of the biomedical industry is expected to reach trillions yuan by 2025.is one ofthree largest medical centers; relying on the vast medical market of the Pearl River Delta, biomedical industry has developed rapidly in recent years. In 2016, the added value of biological and health industry accounted for over 20 percent in the city's strategic emerging industries,is fully capable of becoming the leading platform for bio-industrial development," said Chen Zhiying, deputy mayor ofIn recent years,has been implementing the IAB program, i.e. new generation of information technology, artificial intelligence, bio-pharmaceutical technology and other strategic emerging industries. Guangzhou Development District, as the biomedical industry development hub of, has established bio-industry clusters including Guangzhou International Bio Island, Guangzhou Science City, and Sino-Singapore Guangzhou Knowledge City, of which, Guangzhou Science City is home for more than 430 biomedical enterprises, and Sino-Singapore Guangzhou Knowledge City has attracted major projects such as GE Biotech Park and BeiGene.Sun Xuewei, deputy director of the administrative committee of the Guangzhou Development District said, the total number of biomedical industry enterprises in Guangzhou Development District reached 1,000, with total output value of enterprises above designated size stood at. Precision medical industry clusters such as genetic testing services, accurate diagnostic reagents production, research and development of targeted drugs are all covered and top R&D teams in the stem cell field ofincluding Pei Duanqing, Pei Xuetao and Deng Hongkui are attracted to the District. "By 2020, the output of biomedical industry in Guangzhou Development District will reach hundreds of billions," He added.On the same day,, vice director of the Science and Technology Department of Guangzhou Development District revealed that Guanzhou International Bio-Forum will permanently settle in Guangzhou International Bio Island (Guanzhou Island), which will be held annually and committed to forge a "Davos Forum" for global bio-industrial development.In fact, asnational bio-industrial base and Sino-Israel bio-industrial cooperation base, International Bio Island is a miniature of the development of the bio-industry in. Since 2011, the Island has been home to regional headquarters, operation centers, R&D centers of the domestic and international enterprises in biomedical and health industries. Currently, KingMed Diagnostic, Saliai and other 150 projects have settled in the Island, which is becoming a well-known biomedical research and development center featuring precision medicine.

To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/guanzhou-international-bio-forum-permanently-settling-in-guangzhou-international-bio-island-300483176.html



SOURCE The Guangzhou Development District




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In this study, the researchers focused primarily on small bowel adenocarcinomas (SBAs) and compared them with parts of the upper digestive tract that precede it and follow it the gastroesophageal area and right-sided colon cancers, respectively.Each section of the gastrointestinal, or GI, tract plays a role in digestion of food and hence has distinct structural as well as molecular differences.The finding was presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology gastrointestinal meeting in Barcelona, Spain."Our study was undertaken primarily because SBAs are greatly understudied, as well as increasing in incidence nationwide, and we wanted to determine what may make them unique," says Mohamed E. Salem, MD, assistant professor of medicine at Georgetown Lombardi, and principal investigator for the study."We really didn't have good data on SBAs so we've been treating the tumors as if they were colon cancers and we really need to start treating them based on their unique properties."The investigators looked at 4,278 tumor samples from a tissue repository of patients with GI tract cancers. The researchers were able to clearly identify 531 SBAs; 2,674 gastroesophageal cancers; and 1,073 right-sided colon cancers.Using a variety of genetic sequencing techniques, they ascertained how well the genes were expressed, or "turned on" to make proteins. They also calculated what is called the tumor mutational load, or TML, which can be a marker for how responsive a tumor is to immunotherapy - which, paradoxically, could indicate that immunotherapy more effective when a higher TML is found.The researchers found a set of frequently mutated genes in SBAs that could be helpful to clinicians when they are looking to use targeted therapies that work best in cancers with specifics mutations. In this case, KRAS, BRAF, BRCA2 and a few other genes were identified in SBAs. Mutations to these genes can affect the choice of therapy as well as how to better target the mutations.Next, the investigators compared the SBA mutations with mutations in the two other parts of the GI tract and found higher and lower mutation frequencies across a wide array of genes. They were able to discern that SBAs were more like colon than gastric cancers.More importantly, though, they found about a two-fold higher PD-L1 expression level for gastroesophageal cancers compared to right-side colon cancers but did not find such a marked difference between those tumors and SBAs. PD-L1 is often used as a marker to indicate if a cancer might be responsive to immunotherapy, and usually the higher the PD-L1 level, the more responsive a cancer would be to certain immunotherapies."With this study we now have what I think is one of the biggest datasets on SBAs," says Salem. "Previously, investigators studying the colon found very unique differences between the left and ride sides, and our study therefore took advantage of those findings by exploring the differences between ride-sided colon cancers and SBAs. We now see a continuum of molecular changes that occur as these regions of the digestive tract transition from one area to the other."The next step, says Salem, will be to try to correlate these findings with patient treatment outcomes, initially as a retrospective, or backward looking study, and then hopefully design a forward looking clinical trial to determine which treatments may be best for patients with SBAs.Source: Eurekalert
Spider Man fans are looking forward to know the fate of the next Homecoming' movie. Tom Holland is the lead and the reason why it is trending in India is because Tiger Shroff is the voice of Spider Man in the Hindi version.

While Tiger was extremely excited to lend his voice for his childhood superhero, it was interesting to know what Tom felt about Tiger dubbing for him. So in an interview with Rajeev Masand, Tom was shown a video clip of Tiger and was told that he was his voice in Hindi.

Thank you so much @rajeevmasand sir for sharing! Saw #SpiderManHomecoming and @tomholland2013 was phenomenal. The film is epic! A post shared by Tiger Shroff (@tigerjackieshroff) on Jul 3, 2017 at 7:53am PDT

Tom was pretty happy to have Tiger do it for him. Needless to say this whole episode left Tiger grinning big time. The movie is all set to hit the screens this Friday.
News is just getting weirder day by day.

The latest bizarre one to add to the list comes from the villages bordering the Pilibhit Tiger Reserve. Authorities in the area are suspicious that the families living in villages around the Tiger Reserve are intentionally sending older members into the forest as tiger prey, and then are relocating their dead bodies to fields, in order to fake attacks. This would entitle the families to claim lakhs in compensation from the government.

Since the villagers won't be eligible for any compensation if their kin die in the reserve, people have reportedly started resorting to such extreme and downright illegal measures.

 Twitter

Authorities based their speculation behind the fact that there has been a string of fatal tiger attacks on the elderly in the area, with seven reported deaths in the proximity of the Mala forest range alone since February 16.

Kalim Athar of the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau examined the tiger attacks in the vicinity of PTR, looking into all the individual cases, with the location of the bodies, and the accounts of locals. After this thorough examination, he apparently arrived at this conclusion. "Bureau authorities have decided to refer the matter to the National Tiger Conservation Authority for further action," Athar told TOI.

 Pilibhit Tiger Reserve

Locals, however, have a different take on the matter, and claimed that family elders were willingly participating in the whole affair. "They think that since they can't get resources from the forest, this is the only way their families can escape poverty," farmer Jarnail Singh, 60, told TOI.

The last reported attack occurred on July 1st, where a 55-year-old woman was killed by a tiger in her field. But after further inspection, conservator of forests, V K Singh, dismissed the claim. Instead, he said that since the woman's clothes were found elsewhere and there was evidence of tractor treads leading into and out of a forest nearby, she probably died about 1.5km inside the forest, and her body was relocated.

 Pilibhit Tiger Reserve

This may be one of the weirdest news we've heard, but this also brings out the condition of poverty in our country, our sad reality. People have become so desperate that they are willing to do anything, even if that includes their elder family members dying in a brutal tiger attack.
1. Google Lunar X is a 30 million dollars competition held for privately funded teams. The wining entrant will take away 20million dollars worth of prizes and the second team to succeed will get $5 million. And a bonus of 5 million dollars is also available.

 Facebook

2. The criteria is pretty straightforward and precise and that is to travel 500 meters, place the rover on the moon's surface, transmit high definition videos & images back to Earth. Also, to develop low-cost methods of robotic space exploration.

3. Team Indus is a private company from Bangalore, which is led by Rahul Narayan, also the Founder of Axiom Research Labs, and are one of the 5 finalists who received verification and approval for their launch. And it's a team of youngsters, just like us, betting on the chance to land on the moon.

 Facebook

4. It's a huge deal for not just our country but other countries as well. Why? Because our Government's space Agency, i.e, ISRO hasn't been successful in setting up a spacecraft to the moon. Furthermore, there have been only 3 countries to have soft landed on the moon - US, USSR (which doesn't even exist) and China. So it's a big deal even in the 21st century. But, since it's such an immense task to complete, Team Indus has partnered up with ISRO and plans to launch the lunar rover on the 28th December of 2017.

 Twitter

5. The estimated cost for the project is around 65 million dollars and Team Indus has managed to raise about $15 million till now.

6. 75 investors or sponsors are associated with the Team, among them are Ratan Tata, Rajiv Mody, Chairman and MD of Sasken Communication technologies; Nandan Nilekani, the co-founder of Infosys; Subrata Mitra (partner at Accel Partners, India) are a few other big names.

7. Team Indus has secured a launch contract from ISRO for a PSLV - the third generation launch vehicle which was behind the launch of both - Chandrayaan 1 back in 2008 and Mars Orbiter Spacecraft in 2013. It's another approval from our government's agency, so the team is all set to shoot for the moon.

 Twitter

8. Indus will not only carry the country's rover, but also a robotic rover which weighs 4kg and is developed by the Japanese team 'Hakuto'. Well, isn't that amazing?

9. ECA Ek Choti si Asha' (a small dream) - the four wheeled rover is completely made of aluminium. Yeah, aluminium, in which we pack our lunch rotis (bread). Don't believe us? Check their page out to know more about it.

10. So far, the team is set to start its qualification model testing this month (July) and is expected to complete its Protoflight model testing by October & will head out to Sriharikota High Altitude Range (SHAR) which is a rocket launch centre operated by ISRO.

 Twitter

11. Let's meet the team now. Rahul Narayan who calls himself Fleet Commander' is not the only one who's designated with a Star Wars' inspired name but the whole team is designated (in descending hierarchical order)  Fleet Commander, Jedi Master, Jedi Commander, Jedi Knights, Jedi Trooper, Skywalker, & Ninja.

12. The expected landing date is 26th January, 2018.

 Twitter

13. An IIT graduate, who had no experience in Aerospace, Rahul approached Krishnaswamy Kasturirangam, a former ISRO scientist who also headed the Government's space agency and convinced him to support Rahul's idea of constructing the rover and was also quoted as saying, You (TeamIndus) are the outcome of ISRO. Bengaluru is a tech town because of what ISRO does. Hence, ISRO should be proud of what you're doing simply because this is the first time that you are coming up with an end-to-end machine.

14. The team also consists of 14 female engineers.

15. Team Indus is already planning on building Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) for communication & observing purposes along with building nano satellites.
A European Parliament delegation will visit the Anti-Terrorist operation (ATO) zone in Donbas, including Mariupol, this week, Verkhovna Rada First Deputy Speaker Iryna Gerashchenko has said.

"A large delegation of the European Parliament will visit Mariupol and the ATO zone this week," Gerashchenko said at a conference in Kyiv on Tuesday. The purpose of the trip is to familiarize the European Parliament deputies with the humanitarian and economic situation and security levels in Donbas.
Gone are the days when Christian priests were looked up to as the grim and strict ones, under whose presence one would highly feel the pressure of succumbing to decorum and discipline. Fast forwarding to the new-age priest, we have a video surfacing on the internet of a Kerala priest, in the quintessential white robe, dancing to the tune of 'Nothing my God cannot do', that is going viral all around social media.

 Twitter

Father Merton D Silva, who serves at St Ambrose Church in Kerala's Vypeen district, joined a bunch of youngsters dancing to a Christian song. This probably would have left his church members' mouths wide open as he began dancing during the flashmob.

Along with other kids, the priest lets loose his inner Hrithik Roshan, as he breaks into some of the coolest moves you probably have never seen a priest dance to! The video has garnered over two lakh views in just three days on Facebook and Whatsapp already.
Apple is reportedly working on a new feature that will let users unlock the latest iPhone using facial recognition. This feature may not be as ground-breaking as Samsung has already implemented the same feature with their flagship Galaxy smartphones. However, the latest move by Apple is said to replace to the Touch ID.

The brand new and redesigned iPhone is supposed to go on sale later this year and they are currently testing facial recognition technology that will let users unlock their phones, make payments and even secure certain apps. The said technology will be powered by a new 3D sensor and is still under development.

 Twitter

Apple is testing out the speed and the accuracy of the technology, something that would be the company's primary concern at this point. According to sources, the 3D technology will not exclusively work while the iPhone is held up as it will also be designed to work when kept flat on a table. The feature is currently being tested and there is no confirmation on whether the feature will make it to the next flagship device.

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The new technology is said to be more secure as it can detect more data points as compared to a fingerprint scan. Apple has been using the fingerprint scanning technology on their smartphones since they first introduced the technology on the iPhone 5S, back in 2013. It was later used for making payments and signing into certain apps that required additional authentication.

Samsung has included facial recognition in addition to iris scanning capabilities and it can also be used to make payments via Samsung Pay. It was first introduced on the Galaxy Note 7, however, it became a marquee feature on the Galaxy S8. Apple is working on a sensor that has 3D depth perception, which means it cannot be tricked by a photograph, unlike on the Galaxy S8.

 Youtube

Apart from 3D sensors that use facial recognition, Apple is also testing a new chipset that works in synergy with the iPhone to process artificial intelligence tasks. The revamped iPhone will also utilise an OLED screen which is a first for any Apple product. The 3D sensor is being tested with the OLED screen in mind. Apple will also update the current generation of iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus that will feature the usual LCD screen. The OLED iPhone will, however, be in limited supply due to supply chain complications whereas the regular iPhone 7s and 7s Plus will be readily available.

Source: Bloomberg
Kyiv has no info about more than 400 people missing in Donbas

The Ukrainian side in the Contact Group is trying to obtain information about the fate of 408 people, servicemen and civilians, who went missing in Donbas, Verkhovna Rada First Deputy Speaker Iryna Gerashchenko, who represents Ukraine in the Contact Group's humanitarian subgroup, said.

"The lists that we are working with in Minsk contain 132 hostages - both civilian and military. Plus 408 missing people, also civilian and military. This is on the Ukrainian side. And we don't know the fate of these people," Gerashchenko said at a news conference in Kyiv on Tuesday.

Gerashchenko went on to note that about 10,000 civilians have been killed on both sides of the contact line since the conflict began in Donbas.

"This is obviously not a final figure. When the conflict is over, we must find everyone," she said.

Gerashchenko also drew attention to the fact that some representatives of international organizations are being denied access to Donbas.

For two years, the Ukrainian president has been using every meeting in the Normandy Formant to raise the issue of access for the International Committee of the Red Cross to the 'occupied territories', to captives held in prisons, and also of access in terms of the search for missing people and the identification of those killed, Gerashchenko said.
There should be no search for an alternative to the negotiations conducted in the Trilateral Contact Group for Donbas, yet these negotiations should be given a fresh impetus, German Ambassador to Ukraine Ernst Reichel said at a conference in Kyiv on Tuesday.

"The opinion that the Minsk process has grown obsolete is now popular in Ukraine. Yet I invite you to speak up if you have a better idea than the Minsk process. These ideas should be realistic and aim to regain Donbas... What I think actually needs to be done is to give fresh impetus to the Minsk process rather than to think on its substitutes," Reichel said.

"It would be wrong to terminate or negate the Minsk process," he said.

Agreements to cease fire and pull back heavy weapons from the Donbas contact line have been breached more than once, he said.

Reichel also said that international efforts towards settling the Donbas conflict should be stepped up whenever possible.
Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine deputy from the People's Will group Oles Dovhy is suspected of flooring land sales in the Kyiv City Council in flagrant violation of the rules, Ukraine's Prosecutor General Yuriy Lutsenko has said.

"The [former] Secretary of the Kyiv City Council flagrantly broke the rules. He knew full well what was on the line was not just the communal living area Tekhnolog plot with 100 hectares. What was on the line were 20 communal living areas, the land of which was auctioned off during the course of one day by violating the rules. That's what Dovhy did," Lutsenko said during a Rada rules committee meeting on Tuesday to discuss stripping Dovhy of deputy immunity.

Lutsenko said flooring issues in the Kyiv City Council at extraordinary sessions required written documentation from the entity being discussed. He said this Kyiv City Council deputies were not presented with written materials.

Dovhy, meanwhile, told journalists that Kyiv City Council rules, unlike parliament rules, do not have the force of law. He said he was simply acting as a politician.

"Everything presented here today by Lutsenko is nothing more than the start of his personal campaign in future elections," the MP said.

Head of the Rada's rules committee Palvo Pynzennyk said Rada rules are confirmed as law but are systemically ignored, especially when it comes to providing people's deputies with written materials, as well as during voting.

"If [we use Lutsenko's logic], we can create a situation when in our personal interests the Verkhovna Rada chairman, violating Rada rules, introduces changes to the law on the Prosecutor Generals Office (PGO), knowing who will be appointed to this post and who will be the beneficiary of this decision . The chairman would put the measure to a vote in violation of such and such rules, such and such norms, etc.," Pynzennyk said.
The land reform will not be among the principal reforms Ukraine has to implement to receive another tranche from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Oleksiy Mushak of the Petro Poroshenko Bloc parliamentary faction said on Facebook.

"The IMF won't insist on the land reform anymore. The president worked 'miracles of diplomacy' during his voyage to Washington and had this issue removed from the agenda," Mushak said.

Mushak said a team of people sharing common views on the matter, to which he belongs, will continue moving towards establishing a free land market. He said he intended to present one basic bill and five supporting documents on the land reform in the fall.

A source close to the negotiations in the United States told Interfax-Ukraine "President Petro Poroshenko asked that the launch of the land market be removed from the agenda, and [IMF Managing Director] Christine Lagarde agreed."

The provision on launching the land market will be removed from the IMF-Ukraine memorandum, he said.

As reported, the Ukrainian-IMF Memorandum of Economic and Financial Policies under the Extended Fund Facility agreement envisioned the adoption of legislation on the circulation of agricultural land.
Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko will meet with U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on July 9 of this year, the press service of the head of the Ukrainian state reports.

"In accordance with the agreements of the presidents of Ukraine and the United States, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will visit Ukraine on July 9. While in Kyiv, the head of the U.S. foreign policy department will be received by President Petro Poroshenko to discuss strengthening the strategic partnership between Ukraine and the United States and continuing coordination of efforts to counter Russian aggression against Ukraine," reads a statement released on Tuesday afternoon.
The Prosecutor General's Office (PGO) of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea has sent conviction notices against five more former deputies of the peninsula's parliament who are charged with state treason. The measure was taken following special preliminary investigations.

"During the investigations of criminal cases incontrovertible evidence was gathered attesting to the fact that in March 2014 these deputies assisted in and facilitated the occupation of Crimea. They illegally issued resolutions, as a result of which the illegitimate Republic of Crimea was created," the PGO's press service said.

Inasmuch as the accused carried out criminal activities pursuant to Part 1 of Article 111 (state treason) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, they can be jailed for a term lasting from 12 to 15 years.

The prosecutor's office has already sent 47 criminal acts involving former deputies of the Crimean parliament," the press service said.
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...
Lt. Gen. Jon "Dog" Davis will retire this month after presiding over one of the bumpiest eras of Marine Corps aviation in recent history. During his tenure as the Corps' deputy commandant of aviation, which began in June 2014, the enterprise began to experience grave consequences due to a decade-and-a-half of combat. Hard-flown airframes received emergency overhaul, pilot flight hours plunged as flyable aircraft became scarce due to maintenance needs and parts shortages, and officials in 2016 resorted to pulling aircraft from the "boneyard" at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Arizona to accomplish vital missions.

On top of that, the Marine Corps experienced a rash of high-profile aviation tragedies, most notably a January 2016 collision of two CH-53E helicopters off the coast of Hawaii that claimed the lives of 12 Marines.

Ahead of turning over his post to Maj. Gen. Steven Rudder, outgoing commander of 1st Marine Aircraft Wing, Davis sat down with Military.com at the Paris Air Show in late June for a brief interview in which he reflected on the current state of the Marine Corps and its future challenges. Some answers have been edited for brevity.

Q: You now have three weeks left at your post. How do you compare and contrast Marine Corps aviation when you came in versus now: what's different, what's changed?

A: Marine aviation, we're always in a quest for better readiness. I think we've done five, we're in our sixth independent readiness review right now, basically just, I think, understanding the science of readiness. I think [we had] kind of a perfect storm -- I think some of the fiscal hits, the budget hits were just kind of dumping at the time that we came in. It's understanding that, really going back and explaining to our elected leadership and others, understanding what that does to you.

And then for the Marine Corps, being good stewards of the taxpayers' money and taking care of our stuff. I would say it's not just the materiel readiness, it's the personal readiness of our enlisted maintainers. So things that I've learned as deputy commandant for aviation is the imperative to have high-quality enlisted, highly trained motivated incentivized marines in the right density, right qualification density, to make your readiness requirements.

And then the imperative to have your readiness accounts filled up. You can't operate at 20 percent of the 80 percent requirement for a long period of time and expect to be a force in readiness. So the imperative to go fill your enabler accounts, which we did, spare parts accounts with this budget cycle, five years out ... filled all those up. We paid a little bit of a price for that, but that's going to pay big dividends a couple of years from now. So we're working hard to make readiness for Marine Corps aviation. I'm very proud that we got our flight hours up. We still have some work to do with some type-model-series but we're getting better by hook and crook.

Q: So you came in during a perfect storm ... is the storm over?

A: I think we're doing what we need to do to be as efficient as we can be with the resources we have to make the readiness we need. I think that, as long as our elected leadership stays the course ... I think a continuing resolution would be a disaster for the Marine Corps. We need the help that's kind of projected to stay on track and if we don't have that, we're going to have a very hard time to get the nation's force in readiness.

So I think there's an imperative right now to get this right. If we can accelerate any of that, we should accelerate that. That would be buying the new stuff faster. Our stuff's older than anyone else, certainly our [tactical air], heavy-lift helicopters.

Q: What was your goal for where you wanted flight hours to be at your point of retirement, and where are we now in comparison to that goal?

We're shy. We're shy and frankly, the only way it would be possible to be better was to have more money three years ago dumped into the budget so I could buy more stuff faster. But that didn't happen. I think Congress has been very helpful with, 'hey, we codified our requirements, we used independent readiness reviews to lay out exactly what we needed to do,' ... but it still takes time to get some of the things laid in there. And then all the enlisted manpower stuff the officer stuff that we had to do to make changes to basically shore up the base from a foundational perspective, that just took time.

I didn't underestimate the time, I knew it was going to be difficult, I just like to close the deal and be as healthy as we need to be. I would love to be able to turn over to Gen.Rudder and [Marine Corps Commandant] Gen. [Robert] Neller the fully ready Marine Corps aviation department that they need today.

I'll be shy of my objective. But we're on the right path to get there and I've got the perfect guy coming in to replace me. Steve Rudder, he's really a phenomenal talent, great guy, very focused. We've got exactly the right commandant to put this together and recover that readiness and keep it on track. While we're a little shy of the finish line, we'll get to the finish line. But I would rather be at the finish line, and I'm not.

Q: What is the Marine Corps' average for pilot flight hours right now?

A: They are 16.9 per pilot. [By comparison, some communities were averaging under ten hours a month last summer.] You say, 'wow, you're making your goals, but I would say, some communities are a little bit above the target and F-18 [Hornets] are a little below. They're still about two hours shy of where they should be. And that won't get better until the inventory numbers get better in F-18 and the reliability gets better with the old airplanes. Right now we have a pretty high break rate on the legacy F-18.

Now we have an independent readiness review being run on the legacy F-18, both Navy and Marine Corps, being run by a retired Air Force 3-star, somebody who has never flown an F-18. We hired an outsider to look at it, and he'll tell us what we need to do to get the reliability up on the legacy Hornets and get our numbers up. We're going to get out of legacy F-18 faster, not as fast as we can, but I can't just walk away from our requirements. I've still got additional metal I've got to put on the line for these units.

Q: What does faster mean?

A: We changed up the sequence of squadrons that we're going to transition [to the F-35] a little bit inside the margins. So the next five TacAir squadrons to transition will be F-18 squadrons. So that will go from 11 Hornet squadrons to six, which we think with the inventory that's remaining will be a lot more doable than what we have right now.

With declining inventory, aging airplanes ... [we] police up the last good airplanes and fly the snot out of them until the end. That could be right now designed as 2030, but if Congress gives us more airplanes a little bit faster, the ramp rate could move back to 2026, which I think would be the perfect time to get out of legacy F-18s and legacy [AV-8B] Harrier totally.

Q: While the Navy has grappled with physiological cockpit episodes affecting pilots, the Marine Corps seems to have been fortunate in that regard. Do you believe that's accurate, and if so do you have any thoughts as to why?

A: The F-18 A through D has been primarily pressurization challenges. I think we're now attacking that holistically, pressurization stuff. On [on-board oxygen generation system] contamination, we're not flying [F/A-18] Super Hornets, but T-45 [Goshawk] we are, so we're very concerned about that. We do have Marines who have been impacted by that, and we're aggressively attacking that. That box inside the T-45 is same box inside AV-8B [Harrier]. But we pull air from a different part of the motor, we don't know why that's happening. But there's no better admiral than [Commander of Naval Air Systems Command Vice Adm.] Paul Grosklags to figure that out. He's a good friend; he's really good at what he does, and he's attacking it really aggressively.

Q: Finally, what do you think the biggest challenge for Marine Corps aviation is going to be in the next five years?

A: Manpower retention's going to be a big issue for us. It takes me a long time to build flight leads, instructors. I think the demand signal from the airline is going to continue to pull our guys if deployment tempo stays high. We're fixing the readiness bit, that will help. But I think the demand from the airlines is going to be something we're going to have to deal with to keep our people in the cockpit that have the qualifications, to keep our training base strong.

-- Hope Hodge Seck can be reached at hope.seck@military.com. Follow her on Twitter at @HopeSeck.
ANN ARBOR, MI - Ann Arbor officials are now on record stating how they intend to make use of millions of additional dollars if a new countywide tax is approved later this year.

The City Council voted 8-3 Monday night, July 3, to approve a resolution outlining a tentative plan to put a potential influx of new tax money toward three city priorities: pedestrian safety, affordable housing and fighting climate change.

The resolution was sponsored by Mayor Christopher Taylor and Council Members Zackary Ackerman, Jason Frenzel and Chip Smith, who say those three areas are underfunded right now.

The council spent more than an hour debating the timing and appropriateness of the resolution before approving it, with Jack Eaton, Sumi Kailasapathy and Jane Lumm opposed.

Eaton, D-4th Ward, raised legal concerns about the council's action, citing confidential advice from the city attorney's office that he believed warranted postponing the matter.

Political opponents of Frenzel and Smith, who are defending their seats in the August primary, also spoke out.

The Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners is considering putting a 1-mill tax proposal before voters in November.

The main purpose is to provide more sustainable funding for public safety services through the Washtenaw County Sheriff's Office, as well as for county mental health services, a move other Michigan counties are making due to cuts in state funding.

County officials point out there's a close link between mental health and public safety, so they're combining the two issues together into one tax proposal, though that makes it more complicated.

As currently proposed by county officials, it would be a 10-year tax raising an estimated $15.4 million in the first year, with 37 percent going to Washtenaw County Community Mental Health, 38 percent going to the Sheriff's Office and 25 percent being rebated to municipalities that have their own local police agencies.

Returning some of the money to municipalities with their own police is intended to keep them from subsidizing public safety services for townships served by the Sheriff's Office.

Other municipalities that would get a rebate of some of the money their taxpayers would pay under the new tax include Chelsea, Milan, Saline, Ypsilanti, Pittsfield Township and Northfield Township.

If the tax is approved, city officials estimate as much as $2.5 million could come into the city's general coffers in the form of a rebate in the first year, with similar annual windfalls for 10 years.

The resolution the council approved states the city intends to put 20 percent of that money toward pedestrian safety, 40 percent toward affordable housing and 40 percent toward climate action.

Council members who supported the resolution said they want to be upfront with voters and the county about how the city intends to spend the city's share if the tax is approved, and they wanted to approve the resolution now in case it helps county commissioners decide on July 12 whether to put the tax proposal on the ballot.

Lumm, an independent from the 2nd Ward, argued the resolution was premature since the county board hadn't put the question on the ballot yet, and she said the city should be making decisions about allocating funds during the city's annual budget process.

Other council members said more details would be hashed out later with specific allocations ultimately decided during the budget process, and what's being approved is merely a statement of intent.

Some, including Eaton, Kailasapathy and Lumm, are suggesting the county should separate the mental health and public safety issues so they're not lumped together in one tax proposal.

Separating the two issues would allow voters throughout the county to consider approving a tax for mental health services, as other Michigan counties have done recently, without getting into the other issues of rebates and the city redirecting millage proceeds toward other purposes not specifically stated in the ballot proposal.

Though, those same issues still could come into play if a separate countywide public safety tax was proposed.

County Board Chairman Andy LaBarre, D-Ann Arbor, said he thinks it's unlikely the two issues will be separated.

Caleb Poirier, a local affordable housing advocate, spoke out in support of the council resolution Monday night, saying he supports creating a new longterm funding source for affordable housing.

Poirier said providing people who are not housed with affordable housing is good for their mental health and results in fewer police calls and emergencies, so there are mental health and public safety benefits that fit with the intent of the county's proposal.

He acknowledged he had some concerns about the complicated nature of what's being proposed, with voters potentially having to consider funding for mental health, public safety, affordable housing, pedestrian safety and climate action all together.

"The reason I feel a great deal of angst about this is the five different issues that are mixed together," he said. "It's not that I dislike any one of them. It's my fear that the voter will see bathwater in one of the issues and decide to throw out baby and bathwater."

Anne Bannister, who is running against Frenzel in the 1st Ward, also spoke out Monday night, saying she supports the county seeking a new tax to fund mental health services, and she thinks voters would approve new taxes for both mental health and public safety, but she thinks those should be separate ballot proposals.

She argued the council's resolution stating an intent to put money toward purposes other than what's stated in the county's ballot language undercuts the county's efforts.

Frenzel, D-1st Ward, said he thinks it's important for the council to send a signal to the county about its intentions. He said he also doesn't want voters to think the city is "asking for a double dip on policing," so he thinks it's appropriate to clearly state the money the city would get would fund other projects and priorities.

David Silkworth, who is running against Smith in the 5th Ward, said he agrees pedestrian safety, affordable housing and climate action are very important needs that have been underfunded.

But he argued the council could be doing a better job prioritizing those needs in the city's budget. One way of doing that, he suggested, is to reduce the amount of downtown tax revenues captured by the Downtown Development Authority. Doing that would take money away from downtown infrastructure projects and send it instead to entities such as the library, transit authority, community college and the county, while a portion would go to the city.

Council members who supported the resolution Monday night said they've tried to set aside funding for various competing priorities during the city's budget process, but there's just not enough money right now to fund pedestrian safety, affordable housing and climate action at the levels they want.

They said the resolution simply states it's the city's intention to put the city's share of the proposed county tax toward those areas and they don't see the harm in stating that upfront.

"Having the ability to make a statement of intent is important because words do matter," said Smith, D-5th Ward. "It is important that we respond to the public that asks us why aren't we doing these things. You know, there's only so many times you can say, 'Well, we don't have money.' I mean, stuff costs money to do. We can't somehow magically make these things happen without the staff to do them or people to help us enact these things."

In response to Silkworth's remarks, he added, "We can't simply reduce away the DDA, because that's going to have other budgetary impacts that mean that money is not going to be available to do these things. We actually have to find money to do them, and I think this is a straightforward statement of intent. And I think it's important for us to get this out there, because I think as the largest municipality in Washtenaw County, we have the ability to help set some direction for some of our neighbors to see how seriously we take these issues."

Eaton and Lumm both said significant questions have been posed and council members haven't gotten answers yet, which is one of the reasons they wanted to hold off on the resolution.

Eaton said he's an enthusiastic supporter of funding mental health services, saying that gets at the core of many issues ranging from homelessness to substance abuse, unemployment and crime, but he's less enthusiastic about the law enforcement portion of the proposal that involves rebates to various municipalities.

Eaton said he's afraid that stating an intent to use some of the money for pedestrian safety, affordable housing and climate action could hurt the tax proposal's chances on the ballot.

The resolution states mental health and public safety are fundamental community needs and the city encourages the county board to seek additional funds if county officials determine they're necessary.

Ann Arbor taxpayers would pay more than a third of the $15.4 million the county expects would be collected in the first year of the tax, so less than half of the amount city taxpayers would pay under the proposed tax would be rebated to the city.

That means city taxpayers still would be supporting the proposed county services with the new tax.

Council Member Chuck Warpehoski, D-5th Ward, said the county's mental health system is facing a world of hurt without additional funds. He said the city also has a responsibility to pay its fair share for the county public safety services it uses, including housing people in the county jail, though not road patrol in other municipalities.

In addition to pedestrian safety and affordable housing being matters of public safety, Warpehoski said he would argue climate change is a threat to public safety, so there's a public safety link there as well.

He said the council can either tell voters how the city intends to use their money, or ask them to go on blind trust that it will be put toward good purposes, and he favors the statement of intent.

The resolution indicates the money for pedestrian safety would support police traffic enforcement, crosswalk improvements, pedestrian-activated crosswalk signals known as rapid rectangular flashing beacons or RRFBs, and streetlights.

The portion that would go toward affordable housing would help the city with its goal to significantly increase the availability of affordable housing in the city, including workforce housing for people with decent-paying jobs in addition to low-income housing.

The portion that would go to fighting climate change would help with the city's goal to significantly reduce the community's greenhouse gas emissions, potentially including efforts to embrace solar and other forms of renewable energy. City officials are discussing putting solar panels on city buildings and parking garages.
ANN ARBOR, MI - Ann Arbor's next public art installation will take shape along Stadium Boulevard later this year.



On Monday night, July 3, the City Council voted 8-3 to approve the creation of "Leaven," a $100,000 piece of public art, as part of the Stadium Boulevard reconstruction project.



Brian Brush of New York-based Brush Design LLC is the artist hired to create the piece and was recommended by the Ann Arbor Art Center, the city's Public Art Commission and city staff.



Brush will create a running pattern of reflective, diamond-orientated aluminum plates doubling as "leaves" along the new retaining walls that run along the south side of Stadium Boulevard from Main Street to Kipke Drive, across from Michigan Stadium and Crisler Center.

In the proposal for the artwork, the artist describes Leaven (pronounced lev-uhn) as a "vine-like relief sculpture that mimics and magnifies the adjacent natural elements," taking cues from the repetition of stones, leaves and branches and creating "windows" to nature with "flowing tendrils of reflective aluminum 'leaves' nestled in the recessed pockets of the wall."



"The myriad reflections on the aluminum 'leaves' intend to embody Ann Arbor's many colors at different times of the day and year, while also mediating the contrast between the surrounding natural material and the built environment," the description states.



The three council members who opposed the project were Jack Eaton, Sumi Kailasapathy and Jane Lumm.



Lumm, an independent from the 2nd Ward, acknowledged the council has approved more expensive public art projects in the past, but her ultimate concern was whether the $100,000 cost of this artwork, plus the $35,000 already spent in the selection process, could be better spent on capital improvement projects that need funding.



She also expressed concerns about the lack of private funding for public art projects.



"If any community can fund a public art program privately, it would be Ann Arbor, and I continue to believe we've not pursued that opportunity nearly as aggressively as we could and should," she said. "Instead, we just default to taxpayer funding because it's easier."



Council Member Julie Grand, D-3rd Ward, spoke in defense of the Public Art Commission, saying, "I'm continually troubled with this expectation that the art commission, which is made up of private citizen volunteers, be the ones who figure out how to privately fund art."



As for the aesthetics of the piece, there was some debate. Eaton, D-4th Ward, expressed disdain, saying it's just going to be "triangles of aluminum" hanging off a cement wall.



"And it's really not going to be the kind of art we should be seeking for this kind of money," he said.



However, the majority of council members were in favor of the project, some saying they wanted to honor the time and energy put into the selection process, and the public that voted on different proposals.



"We set this process up a long time ago, and to simply say we're not going to follow through on it because, you know, we've suddenly become art critics and know what's good and what's bad, I think is disrespectful," said Council Member Chip Smith, D-5th Ward.



See full schedule for Stadium Boulevard road work in Ann ArborStadium Boulevard trees cut down to make way for new sidewalk
ANN ARBOR, MI - Ann Arbor is getting some new voting equipment that's expected to make elections go more smoothly.

On Monday night, July 3, the City Council unanimously accepted a $355,257 grant from the Michigan Department of State for new vote-counting tabulators and accessible ballot-marking devices.

The grant was made available through funding from the Help America Vote Act.

The money will provide the city with 58 tabulators, 40 accessible ballot-marking devices for voters with disabilities and one battery charger that can charge up to six units at once.

The council also authorized spending $125,000 for an additional 15 tabulators, three spare accessible devices, more battery chargers, as well as other necessarily supplies such as memory cards.

The Michigan Secretary of State approved three vendors to provide new voting equipment for the state.

Washtenaw County Clerk Lawrence Kestenbaum selected Hart InterCivic, which describes itself as a full-service election solutions innovator, as the provider for the county.

Ease of use for both voters and election inspectors was one of the reasons for the switch from the city's AccuVote tabulators to Hart InterCivic tabulators, according to a memo from City Clerk Jacqueline Beaudry to the City Council.

"The county clerk has indicated that with the transition to Hart, election night results reporting will be faster and the new software will allow ballot programming to be done in-house, eliminating vendor costs," Beaudry wrote in the memo.

The clerk's memo also makes note of a planned expansion of the number of voting precincts in the city to 53 precincts. The city had 49 precincts as of the November 2016 election.
UPDATE: Coast Guard suspends search for man-overboard on Lake Erie

DETROIT - The U.S. Coast Guard is searching western Lake Erie for a potential man-overboard after receiving a distress call from a child, according a Coast Guard Press release.

The distress call was received by the Coast Guard's Detroit Sector at 10:45 a.m. on Monday, July 3.

The call appears to have been made by a child on the boat saying:

"My papa fell in the water. I need help."

Attempts to hail the vessel have been unsuccessful.

Coast Guard officials are asking any boaters on western Lake Erie to keep an eye out for either an adult in the water or a child on a stranded boat.

Anyone with any tips regarding this incident are encouraged to call 313-568-9560 or hail VHF channel 16.

Canada's Royal Canadian Air Force is assisting the Coast Guard with the search.
ALLEGAN COUNTY, MI -- A man's body was recovered from the Kalamazoo River Monday night on July 3.

Boaters noticed the body, and Allegan County Sheriff's Dive/Rescue and Recovery Team and Marine Division responded to their 911 call, arriving at the river at about 8:45 p.m. Divers and marine deputies recovered the body of the man, believed by Allegan City officers to be in his sixties and from the area.

The cause of the incident is unknown and being investigated by Allegan City Police. There were no outward signs of significant injury, according to police. The victim's body will be further examined to determine a cause of death.
GRANDVILLE, MI - Vice President Mike Pence walked down Wilson Avenue in Grandville today, making a splash during a patriotic display and taking a victory lap in a key state that helped him secure the office.

Pence was a member of Tuesday's annual City of Grandville 4th of July Parade and was met with mostly cheers of approval during his one-and-a-half-mile Independence Day stroll through the Grand Rapids suburb.

As he walked, the vice president waved and smiled at paradegoers, stopping along the route several times to shake hands and speak briefly with residents.

As Pence greeted a group of excited residents huddled near Grandville Christian School to get a closer look, one man shouted from the sidewalk, "Thank you for making America great again!"

Pence, the former governor of Indiana and a hero of religious conservatives in the Midwest, was flanked during the parade by Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder on one side and U.S. Rep. Bill Huizenga, R-Zeeland, on the other.

"This visit shows the political significance of the State of Michigan," Huizenga said. "This is the sitting Vice President of the United States and hopefully people will be respectful."

Thank you Walker & Grandville PD, and to all our law enforcement officers who are keeping everyone safe on the 4th! pic.twitter.com/j2UyxNB0Ja  Rick Snyder (@onetoughnerd) July 4, 2017

Some critics of Pence and President Donald Trump made their presence known.

One man held a sign along the parade route displaying an arrow under the word "Pence" going one way, and another arrow labeled "reality" going another.

Near the middle of the parade route, another woman stood stone-faced while the vice president walked by. She held a sign with the words "stop pretending your homophobia and racism is patriotism."

Thanks to all in Grandville for a patriotic 4th of July parade. Karen & I loved visiting. Happy Independence Day! #VPinMI pic.twitter.com/aJhGyKlMe1  Vice President Mike Pence (@VP) July 4, 2017

"Karen and I are just excited to be back in Michigan, and to see the patriotism on display here is just truly inspiring," Pence told WOODTV-8 in an exclusive interview given to the station. "We just so enjoy the Fourth of July, to see the outpouring of pride in our nation and it's evident on the streets of Grandville today. It's just a joy for our family to be a small part of it."

When the parade had concluded, Pence and his wife Karen hopped in a Secret Service limousine and followed a motorcade away. Air Force Two was seen leaving the Gerald R. Ford International Airport just before 2 p.m.
LANSING, MI -- Changes making it easier for gas stations to get a license to sell beer and wine resulted in a deluge of applications to Michigan Liquor Control Commission earlier this year and 567 new license approvals.

It was two bills that laid the groundwork for more gas stations to sell beer and wine. The first, House bill 4895 of 2016, loosened the requirements for gas stations seeking Specially Designated Merchant, or SDM, licenses allowing them to sell beer and wine.

Under the old rules, most gas stations had to sell the alcohol at least 50 feet from the gas pumps, maintain an inventory of merchandise other than alcohol and gas totalling $250,000 and be located in a shopping center.

The new law shrunk that 50 feet to five, expanded a provision letting some gas stations maintain only $10,000 in merchandise and allowed retailers to expand their beer and wine licenses to a nearby secondary location with fuel pumps.

And then Senate bill 929 created a cap on beer and wine licenses, stipulating one could be issued per 1,000 people in a city, incorporated village or township. But it also gave gas stations a 60-day free-for-all, meaning they could apply without regard for the 1-per-1,000 quota starting Jan. 4.

The Michigan Liquor Control Commission typically approves 975 licenses allowing establishments to sell beer and wine per year, according to information provided by the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs.

But as of mid-June they'd issued 567 specifically under the section allowing gas stations to bypass the quota. And 1,191 businesses have applied for SDM licenses under that portion of the act.

During the committee process last year, Dan Papineau, director of government relations for the Associated Food and Petroleum Dealers, which represents a broad array of groceries, convenience stores and gas stations, testified in support of Senate bill 929.

"We believe SB 929 creates a fair and level playing field for all of our members to compete in whether they are a gas station, convenience store, supermarket, etc.," Papineau said in written testimony.

"Eliminating arbitrary criteria for a gas station to meet in order to sell beer and wine makes sense."

But Mike Tobias, a member of the steering committee for the group Michigan Alcohol Policy Promoting Health and Safety, said a greater number of licenses could lead to more societal harm.

"We're very concerned about the expansion of licenses. We feel there's too many already, and certainly we don't need any more," Tobias said.
Update, 7/27: Congress members defend sanctuary boundary

ALPENA, MI -- A 3,850 square-mile expansion of the Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary in Lake Huron could be rolled back under President Donald Trump's order to reconsider protections for offshore waters that could be opened to oil and gas drilling.

The 30-day public comment window began June 26 on the Department of Commerce review of 11 national marine sanctuaries and monuments following Trump's April 28 executive order, called "Implementing an America-First Offshore Energy Strategy."

The order targets any marine sanctuaries or monument established or expanded since April 2007 and halted the government from naming any more. It includes designations made under President George W. Bush and President Barack Obama.

The order aims to expand offshore drilling, but questions remain about how that might pertain to the Great Lakes, which have been off-limits to oil & gas drilling since 2005. Michigan banned drilling in its Great Lakes waters in 2002.

(Comment on the review here).

The Thunder Bay sanctuary and preserve in Lake Huron was designated in 2000 and expanded from 448 square miles to 4,300 square miles in 2014. The sanctuary is a destination which draws shipwreck divers and tourists to Alpena. It's the only National Marine Sanctuary in the Great Lakes or fresh water.

The boundary, which extends from Cheboygan to Alcona counties and east to the mid-lake border, protects from disturbance several hundred known and suspected shipwrecks in Lake Huron. The Alpena headquarters features a shipwreck museum and provides a staging area for scientists and researchers studying ecology, natural resources and maritime archaeology.

Thunder Bay researchers are busy this summer conducting an extensive review of the expanded area for undiscovered shipwrecks.

Environmental groups called the federal review a continuation of Trump's "war on the Great Lakes."

Trump's White House has taken several actions seen as hostile to the ecology and economy of Great Lakes states, most notably eliminating the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative cleanup program in the administration's 2018 budget proposal and blocking the release of a plan to stop Asian carp in the Illinois Waterway.

"The Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary in Lake Huron had broad Michigan public stakeholder and bipartisan support when it was expanded in 2014," said Howard Learner, director of the Environmental Law & Policy Center in Chicago. "Scaling back the Thunder Bay Sanctuary is misguided and counterproductive."

Inquiries with Thunder Bay officials were referred to public affairs staff at the Department of Commerce, which did not return messages.

Trump's order has also thrown into confusion efforts to develop a sanctuary around a 1,260-square mile area of shipwrecks on the Wisconsin side of Lake Michigan. The designation was in the public comment phase before the final proposal draft.

Before Trump was inaugurated, the Wisconsin-Lake Michigan Sanctuary was one of five such projects under various stages of development around the Great Lakes, including two in Lake Superior, two in Lake Erie and one in Lake Ontario.

A proposed Maryland sanctuary along a 52-square-mile stretch of the tidal Potomac River had also reached the public review phase.

According to NOAA personnel not authorized to publicly comment about the review, neither Thunder Bay nor Wisconsin-Lake Michigan officials have received any specific guidance yet about how to proceed during the review period.

According to the Federal Register notice, marine reviewers must analyze the acreage and overhead costs of managing each sanctuary on the list, the adequacy of tribal consultations beforehand and any "opportunity costs associated with potential energy and mineral exploration and production from the Outer Continental Shelf, in addition to any impacts on production in the adjacent region."

In several cases (though not with Thunder Bay), the marine sanctuary review overlaps with another Trump-ordered review of national monuments designated under the Antiquities Act since 1996. The Department of Interior is conducting that process.

The oil and gas industry praised Trump's order in April, hailing its potential to create jobs and expand access to offshore deposits, particularly in the Gulf of Mexico.

A temporary ban on Great Lakes oil drilling passed Congress in 2001 and was signed by President Bush, who made the ban permanent in 2005. The bipartisan move was opposed by then-Gov. John Engler and the Republican-controlled Michigan legislature. Prior to 2002, there had been 13 directional wells angled to reach beneath Michigan's Great Lakes bottomland permitted since 1979.

In 2005, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated there is 312 million barrels of untapped oil, 5.2 trillion cubic feet of natural gas and 122 million barrels of natural gas liquids under the Great Lakes. Michigan waters account for most of those totals; 90 percent of the oil, 41 percent of natural gas and 68 percent of natural gas liquids.

Lake Huron covers the most undiscovered oil and natural gas liquid, according to the USGS report, which did not assess Minnesota or Lake Superior. An estimated 141 million barrels of oil are untapped under the lake, about 45 percent of the Great Lakes total.

Across the border, Canada does not allow offshore oil drilling in the Great Lakes, but it does permit directional oil drilling under the lakebed from onshore, as well as offshore gas drilling. The Canadian production takes places in the central-eastern part of Lake Erie.

Erin McDonough, president of the Michigan Oil and Gas Association, did not immediately return a message seeking comment on the Thunder Bay review.

Under the review, sanctuaries that could be reduced in size:

- Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary in California, which was expanded to 9,600 acres in May 2007.

- Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuary in California, which was expanded to 484,480 acres in March 2015.

- Greater Farallones National Marine Sanctuary in California, which was expanded to nearly 1.3 million acres in March 2015.

- Marianas Trench Marine National Monument in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, which was designated in January 2009 at 60 million acres.

- Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary in California, which was expanded to 496,000 acres in November 2008.

- National Marine Sanctuary of American Samoa, which was expanded to nearly 8.7 million acres in July 2012.

- Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument in the Atlantic Ocean was designated in Sept. 2016 at 3.1 million acres.

- Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument which was designated in 2009 and expanded to 55.6 million acres in Sept. 2014.

- Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument in Hawaii, which was expanded to 283 million acres in August 2016.

- Rose Atoll Marine National Monument in American Samoa, which was designated in January 2009 at 8.6 million acres.

- Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary in Michigan, which was expanded to more than 2.4 million acres in September 2014.
HURON COUNTY, MI -- Cypress Creek Renewables, a California-based company that sells renewable energy in the form of solar farms, is looking to build vast tracts of solar energy arrays in Huron County.

According to Sami Khoury, chairman of the Huron County Board of Commissioners, Cypress Creek pitched the idea to the residents of the county, which is how the county heard about it.

"After that all unfolded, they reached out to us," Khoury said. "The board voted on a one-year moratorium to develop a solar farm ordinance. The plan is to develop the solar energy ordinance. We have a wind energy ordinance, so this way they just don't put them wherever."

Each project's overall size for Cypress Creek is between two and three megawatts and will provide power throughout the county, according to Cypress Creek Director of Development Casey May. Cypress Creek would do the installation and sell the energy to DTE Energy.

There won't be specific locations where the solar farms are placed since the planning commission has to go over that criteria first, Khoury said. But Cypress Creek is willing to give landowners a negotiated payment per acre of land used.

If all goes as planned, there will be about a dozen solar farms installed throughout the county, May said.

"It is imperative for us to work collaboratively with the counties to do solar development in a way that is neighborly and a good fit for the counties we are operating in," May said. "We are working with planning boards and groups trying to put together zoning codes that make sense for everybody.

"Fundamentally, we are really excited to do business in Michigan."

May said there are three primary factors that make a certain geography work for the solar farms -- availability of usable land, amount of sunlight and the infrastructure.

"The availability of flat, usable land was of significance," May said. "Even though there are a lot of cloudy days, the amount of solar resource available to use is paramount to our calculations. It's not the Arizona desert up there, but it's still enough to make it work. Having good electrical infrastructure in place is important, as well."

Each solar farm, which takes up 20 to 25 acres, would cost Cypress Creek between $3 to $4 million to build, according to May.

Khoury describes the proposal as "early stages" of Cypress Creek reaching out to residents to see if they would be interested in having them built on their land. Some residents have already signed on for the idea, but Khoury highly recommends landowners speak to an attorney before signing off on something.

"Don't rely on your neighbors telling you it's OK," he said. "Everyone has to do their own due diligence so people aren't mad about it 10 years from now."

"If residents want them on their property -- yeah, why not? There are vast amounts of property out here, but at the same token we want to develop our ordinance to get it right."

May said Cypress Creek hopes to build projects "in a staggered fashion" throughout very late-2018 through 2019 and 2020 as time allows.

The board's plan, for now, is to develop the solar energy ordinance. There will be no approvals for the project until that is done, Khoury said. After that, the application for approval will be submitted and if it meets the ordinance, it will get approved.
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Pursuant to Regulation 30 read with Part A of Part A of Schedule III to the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Listing Obligation and Disclosure Requirement) Regulation, 2015 ('Listing Regulations'), please find enclosed herewith the Notice of 23rd Annual General Meeting of the Company scheduled to be held on Friday, 28th July, 2017 at the Auditorium, 'Godrej One', Pirojshanagar, Eastern Express Highway, Vikhorli (East), Mumbai- 400 079, Maharashtra at 3.00 p.m. (IST). The Notice is also displayed on the website of the Company www.astecls.com.We further wish to inform that pursuant to Section 91 of the Companies Act, 2013 and Regulation 42 of the Listing Regulations, the Register of Members and the Share Transfer Books of the Company will remain closed for the purpose of the 23rd AGM and payment of Final Dividend from Wednesday, 19th July, 2017 to Friday, 21st July, 2017 (both days inclusive).Kindly take note of the above.Source : BSE
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In continuation of our letter dated 26th April 2017 intimating the date of the 23rd Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Bank, please find attached herewith a copy of the Notice of the 23rd AGM of the Bank to be held on Wednesday, 26th July 2017 at J. B. Auditorium, Ahmedabad Management Association, AMA Complex, ATIRA, Dr. Vikram Sarabhai Marg, Ahmedabad - 380 015, Gujarat, in terms of Regulation 30 read with Para A of Schedule III of SEBI Listing Regulation.The Notice of 23rd AGM, Annual Report for the financial year 2016-17 and Business Responsibility Report for the financial year 2016-17 are also available on the website of the Bank at: https://www.axisbank.com/shareholders-corner/shareholder's-informationSource : BSE
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Pursuant to Regulations 30 of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2015 (the 'Listing Regulations'), please find enclosed Notice of the forthcoming Twenty-Sixth Annual General Meeting of the Company scheduled to be held on Thursday, August 3, 2017, at 3:00 pm at Air Force Auditorium, Subroto Park, New Delhi?110010. This is for your kind information and record.Source : BSE
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In compliance with Regulations 29(1) & 29(2) of the SEBI (LODR) Reg, 2015, we hereby inform you that the 118th Board Meeting of IDFC Ltd will be held on 27.07.2017 at Chennai to discuss and approve, among other items, the Unaudited Financial Results (subject to Limited Review by Auditors) for the quarter ended 30.06.2017.Further, pursuant to IDFC Code of Conduct for Prevention of Insider Trading in shares of the Company, the Trading Window shall remain closed for dealing in the equity shares of IDFC Ltd and IDFC Bank Ltd for all the Board Members and Employees and their respective Dependent Family Members from 17.7.2017 to 1.8.2017 (both days inclusive).The Company will hold investor/analysts call on 31.7.2017. During the aforesaid call, the management will comment on the Unaudited financial results of the Company for the quarter ended 30.06.2017. Details of the call will be intimated to the Stock Exchanges and will be published on the Company's website www.idfc.com in due course.Source : BSE
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The Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the equity shareholders the Company was held on Tuesday, July 4, 2017 at 11.00 a.m. IST at the Registered Office of the Company at E 1, MIDC Industrial Area, Waluj, Aurangabad -431 136, Maharashtra, India. The voting results as per Regulation 44 of SEBI (Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2015 alongwith the Scrutinizers' Report thereon, will be submitted separately within the prescribed timelines.Further, the proceedings of the AGM will also be submitted after the declaration of voting results.Kindly take this on your record and acknowledge the same.Source : BSE
Trucks wait in a queue for the border customs control to cross into U.S. at the World Trade Bridge in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, November 2, 2016. Picture taken November 2, 2016. REUTERS/Daniel Becerril - RTX2T319

Defence public sector utility Bharat Earth Movers Limited (BEML) today signed an agreement with the defence ministry for production of various weapons platforms for the armed forces in 2017-18, setting a revenue target of Rs 3,000 crore for the year.

The annual memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed between Ashok Kumar Gupta, Secretary Defence Production, on behalf of the Ministry and CMD of BEML D K Hota.

The MoU outlines targets on various performance parameters for the company during the year.

"The revenue from operations has been targeted at Rs 3,000 crore, which is 16 percent increase over the previous year," the defence ministry said in a statement.

BEML manufactures and supplies to armed forces various ground support equipment such as high-mobility trucks, vehicles for missile projects, tank transportation trailers, mine ploughs, snow cutters and aircraft weapon loading trolleys.

The company also plans to take up overhaul and upgrading of battle tanks with a view to assemble and roll out the products.
Mitessh Thakkar of miteshthacker.com told CNBC-TV18, "There are very strong breakouts on most of the tyre stocks. I have two of them as my buy recommendations. The first one is Apollo Tyres, where we have seen good intraday signals, so I would buy that with a stop loss at Rs 247. Look for target of Rs 270 and Ceat as well, very similar set up to Apollo Tyres, that is a buy with a stop loss at Rs 1,820 for targets close to about Rs 1,950."

"The other three calls that I have are also on a buy side. Adani Ports bounced back from a very strong support zone of around Rs 360, so keep a stop below Rs 359.50 and look for targets close to about Rs 390 there. Bharti Infratel had a very good swing breakout, managed to finally get past Rs 390-392 zone. So keeping a stop at Rs 389, this is a buy for target of Rs 415. Maruti Suzuki amongst the auto pack is suggesting continuation signals on the upside, so the trend should extend on the upside and I would look at now targets of around Rs 7,500 and buy this one with a stop at Rs 7,270," he said.

"I would continue backing the tyre stocks and the auto stocks. I like TVS Motor as well as Hero MotoCorp. So I think two-wheelers should also see positive price action apart from Maruti Suzuki, which is the trading call and tyre stocks should do very well. Some of the consumer names look very appealing. Marico could be breaking into fresh highs finally beyond Rs 325 and that could be an interesting trade apart from ITC and HUL."

"I would want to see Reliance Industries stabilise above Rs 1,405-1,410. Once it does that, there is a good chance that we will look at Rs 1,430-1,440 being tasted. Having said that, the other stock which has come into my focus is Jubilant Foodworks. It is showing good continuation from breakout yesterday and I would look at targets close to about Rs 1,070 over there."

"Buy Shriram Transport Finance with a stop of Rs 1,018, look for target of Rs 1,090 and Tata Elxsi is a buy as well. Keep a stop at Rs 1,620 and look for targets of around Rs 1,730. We have recommended both these stocks to our clients, so we have interest in them," he added.

: Reliance Industries Ltd. is the sole beneficiary of Independent Media Trust which controls Network18 Media & Investments Ltd
Chandan Taparia of Motilal Oswal Securities told CNBC-TV18, "First trade is buy on LIC Housing Finance. The stock has managed to hold its immediate support of Rs 727 after the profit booking decline of last two trading sessions. So, it is a classical example of resistance becoming as a support and recent level provides a fresh opportunity to go long. So, recommending to buy with a stop loss of Rs 737 and expecting it to head towards Rs 780-785 kind of levels."

"Second trade is from auto ancillaries - Bharat Forge. This stock has tendency to move in a trading range and recently it is turning from the lower band of the rising channel. We have seen some built up of long position and the stock has bottomed out with the support of Rs 1,065-1,070 kind of zone. So expecting this stock to rally towards Rs 1,180 zone and that is why I am recommending to buy with a stop loss of Rs 1,067," he said.

"Third trade is buy on Maruti Suzuki. This is the strongest stock in the entire auto space. Longs are intact, we have seen better rollovers, and roll cost is also positive. It has respected its multiple support of Rs 7,150 zone and surpassed the multiple hurdle of Rs 7,300 zone which is working from last 3-4 trading sessions. So, overall the trend is positive and recent consolidation breakout has given fresh opportunity to head towards new lifetime high territories. So one can buy with a stop loss of Rs 7,250 for an upside target of Rs 7,515."

"The last trade is buy on Yes Bank . After the long consolidation, the stock has finally surpassed its falling supply trend line above Rs 1,470. So, expecting this stock to witness short covering as well as built up of long position. One can buy with a stop loss of Rs 1,465 and I am expecting it to rally towards Rs 1,540-1,545 levels in next one to two trading sessions."
Essar Steel on Tuesday moved the Gujarat High Court against the insolvency proceedings initiated against its lenders, according to sources privy to the matter.

Contesting the liquidation of the company, Essar Steel challenged validity of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI)'s directive under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC). The company told the Gujarat High Court that it is making an effort to arrive at a satisfactory resolution with lenders, sources told CNBC-TV18.

It also said that Rs 3,200 crore were paid as interest to lending banks including the State Bank of India (SBI) in last eight months, according to sources.

Essar said that they are confident of a turnaround in its business.

The Gujarat High Court will be hearing Essar Steel's plea on July 7, sources said.

On June 23, lenders led by the State Bank of India (SBI) had decided to begin insolvency proceedings against Bhushan Steel, Essar Steel and Electrosteel Steels by referring them to the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) for recovery under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC).

Essar Steel has a debt now at Rs 37,300 crore.

Essar Steel is among the 12 accounts identified by the RBI earlier this month for immediate reference to NCLT under the IBC.

The internal advisory committee (IAC) formed under the RBI after its first meeting on June 13 had recommended 12 accounts totalling about 25 percent of the gross NPAs of the banking system for immediate reference under Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code.
The Rural Electrification Corporation (REC) management spoke to CNBC-TV18 from London on the listing of the company's Green Bond Issuance. The 10-year dated green bond raised USD 450 million, with an annual yield of nearly 4 percent on the London Stock Exchange's new International Securities Market.

Throwing more light on the above development, PV Ramesh, CMD, REC said the issue received an overwhelming response and was oversubscribed 6 times.

He said they managed to raise USD 450 million of Green Bond with a tenor of 10 years and it was a first ever issue by an Indian corporate for a 10 year tenor. The money raised would be used for financing renewable energy projects only, he said.

The issue saw participation from Asia, North America and European investors.

Rural Electrification Corporation Limited (REC), a listed Navratna Public Sector Enterprise under Ministry of Power, Government of India, was incorporated on July 25, 1969 under the Companies Act 1956. REC is a Non-Banking Financial Company with 'Infrastructure Finance Company' status with the main objective to finance and promote power sector projects all over the country.

Ramesh said they intend to grow their loan book by 20-25% in FY18, adding that the current loan book stands at Rs 2.04 lakh crore, he added.

He said margins for the company have been at 3.5 percent and the net interest margins have been in the range of 4.4-4.6 percent and would remain over 4 percent in the next 3-4 years.
Ratan Tata

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Ratan Tata, chairman emeritus of the Tata Group, one of the largest employers in the country, has warned that artificial intelligence like robots and analytics could replace human intervention and hurt jobs of the future.

The Tata patriarch also highlighted that group companies will have to reinvent themselves to the changing times even as new-age intelligence of the future would in some way replicate human thinking. Tata was speaking to an in-house publication of the Tata Group.

Technology is going to decide how businesses are run, and that's not a new phenomenon. We are many decades into information technology and the automation that it has enabled. Interestingly, artificial intelligence and analytics may replace the information technology tools of the past. We don't think much of it when we go to Google and ask a question and get immediate responses, sometimes before we finish asking the question. That kind of capability is going to becoming widespread, eliminating human inputs and impacting jobs. Tata companies in this space will need to reinvent themselves, said Tata.

Tata group company TAL Manufacturing Solutions, a 100 percent of subsidiary of Tata Motors has a facility in Pune that can make 3,000 robots a year. The company, in April this year, launched a highly indigenized robot called Brabo priced in the range of Rs 5-7 lakh.

Brabo is used in small foundaries, for machining, by auto comp vendors, for sealant application, packing and end-of-line inspection. At least 25 such robots are operational in automotive and non-automotive sectors requiring chamfering, testing and validation, assembly and vision-based inspection and a further 30 are installed as samples in various factories.

Tata Capital, the financial services arm of the Tata group, recently unveiled its artificial intelligence (AI) based online Chatbot which, through its unique natural language and cognitive learning capabilities, understands and provides a response to individual online queries around its financial services products.

According to Tata Consultancy Services Global Trend Study almost one-third of companies believe that by 2020 artificial intelligence (AI) will have a significant impact on sales, marketing or customer service while one in five see AIs impact being largest in non-customer facing corporate functions, including finance, strategic planning, corporate development and HR.

On being asked if there were any apprehension about the way technology is changing the very nature of human beings Tata said This has been happening for a while now, except that different skills were being created, or that different skills were being demanded of humans. Now we are going beyond human beings and building intelligence that can in some way replicate human thinking. Automation will surely become a big part of the running of businesses, even the making of business decisions of a limited nature.
The number of prosecution cases filed by the Income-Tax Department against tax evaders has jumped 3000 percent this year, an official told Moneycontrol.

The official said the department was filing for prosecution aggressively to clampdown on the menace of black money, ever since the government announced demonetization last year.

The department is taking the prosecution route as we want to send out a strong signal to tax evaders, the official said, adding, we dont want to settle the case with a simple penalty.

According to Income Tax officials, most tax evaders dont mind paying a penalty if their undisclosed income is caught.

They know that the benefits will still exceed the penalty amount; we want that mindset to change, the official said.

In the Mumbai region, between December last year and now, the I-T department has filed more than 60 prosecution. Compared to that, historically, the department typically files two-three prosecution cases in a year.

Another senior official told Moneycontrol that the number of number of prosecution filings have risen across the country.

We may have information that a person has evaded Rs 50 crore of tax, but often we are able to seize a portion of that as the rest of the money has been spent; according to rules, we can only levy penalty on the amount seized, the official said.

Once we initiate proceedings on a large scale, it will hurt the psychology of tax evaders, the officials said.

The prosecution cases have been filed in local magistrate court. Income tax department feels that the in coming years, number of prosecution will increase exponentially since they will be focusing more on benaami property.

Already, there is a nationwide crackdown on shell companies which help individuals and corporations evade taxes.

Earlier this week, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the government has identified over 3 lakh companies for indulging in dubious transactions after last years demonetisation drive.
Hasmukh_Adhia_revenue_Secretary_Adhia

In a press briefing on Tuesday, Revenue Secretary Hasmukh Adhia said that the government will hold a six-day GST masterclass for traders, chartered accountants and others.

The classroom for the Goods and Services Tax (GST) will be telecast live on Doordarshan and other news outlets are also free to show it on their channels, Adhia said.

GST Explained In 30 Seconds

Another Tryst With Destiny! How GST Will Change Your Life After July 1

Apart from television, there will be a live webcast on Facebook and YouTube as well, he added.

For the first three days the classroom will be conducted in Hindi and for the remaining three it will be in English.

During the session the government will answer the most frequently asked questions.
(Photo: CGTN)

China's central bank on Tuesday halted open market operations for an eighth day in a row, stopping trade of reverse repos.

Reverse repos are part of a process in which the People's Bank of China purchases securities from banks, with an agreement to sell them back in the future.

In a statement released Tuesday, the central bank said the decision was based on the fact that liquidity in the banking system remains at a high level.

Having been suspended for eight consecutive days, an accumulated 45 billion yuan (6.6 billion US dollars) of cash was drained from the market.

Altogether 250 billion yuan (36.8 billion US dollars) of reverse repos will mature this week.

Rising fiscal spending near the end of June offset maturing reverse repos, the PBOC said in statement last week.

In Tuesday's interbank market, the benchmark overnight Shanghai Interbank Offered Rate (Shibor), the cost at which Chinese banks lend to one another, declined by 3.03 basis point to 2.6897 percent. The decline in the Shibor represents an improvement in liquidity.

China has set the tone of its monetary policy in 2017 as prudent and neutral, keeping an appropriate liquidity level but avoiding excessive liquidity injections.
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Private life insurance company ICICI Prudential Life Insurance has begun valuation of liabilities of Sahara Life Insurance. Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) had, in June, appointed an administrator to look into the business of the insurer and later had instructed them to not write any new business.

A senior IRDAI official told Moneycontrol that based on certain criteria about six insurers were approached to assess their interest in buying policyholder liabilities. Of them ICICI Prudential Life Insurance gave a favourable consent.

A mail sent to ICICI Prudential Life Insurance remained unanswered.

Officials at Sahara Life could not be reached. Sahara Group has been reeling under financial troubles ever since its chief Subrata Roy was arrested in 2014 in a case of non-refund of almost Rs 20,000 crore to investors. Sahara mutual fund's licence was cancelled by Securities and Exchange Board of India in 2015.

IRDAI had sent a formal letter to the insurer on this issue. On Monday, ICICI Prudential Life has begun the process of valuing the policyholder liabilities of Sahara Life. They have been given three weeks time to assess it.

Once they submit the report, IRDAI will revalidate it and if it is found okay, the policyholder liabilities and assets will be transferred to ICICI Prudential Life, the official added.

However, Sahara Life has the option to approach the Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT) and challenge the decision of the insurance regulator. Further, they can also approach the Lucknow High Court (their headquarters are in Lucknow) or the government to seek a resolution.

In June, IRDAI said that the insurer has been acting in a manner likely to be prejudicial to the interests of holders of life insurance policies. It had also said that all the policies issued by Sahara Life will now be managed by an administrator.

Proposals for insurance pending with the insurer would be processed as per the terms & conditions of proposal and a decision on the same would be communicated not later than 15 days from the date of receipt of the proposal.

As per their public disclosures, the insurer posted losses of Rs 4.57 crore for the third quarter ended December 31, 2016 as compared to a profit of Rs 3.05 crore posted in third quarter of previous fiscal. The insurer had earlier been issued warnings of non-compliance with respect to rural and social obligations which they had not fulfilled.

The insurer had collected new business premiums of Rs 44.68 crore for FY17, a rise of 3 percent over previous fiscal. However, they saw an almost 18 percent drop in the number of policies, as per data from the Life Insurance Council.

Under the current scheme, only policyholder assets and liabilities will be transferred to ICICI PruLife. The rest including employee liabilities, shareholder reserves, gratuity, share capital and other assets will remain with company. IRDAI officials said that they can sell this off and pay third-party liabilities including employees liability, while the rest will go back to the promoters/shareholders.

As per the Insurance Act, 1938, an insurance company cannot be wound up voluntarily except for the purpose of effecting an amalgamation or a re-construction of the company, or on the ground that by reason of its liabilities it cannot continue its business.
Kalpataru Power Transmission | Company incorporated wholly owned subsidiary in Republic Of Senegal.

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Power distribution equipment maker Jyoti Structures has become the first of the 12 large stressed companies identified by the Reserve Bank of India to be admitted at the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) under the insolvency and bankruptcy law.

The Mumbai bench of the NCLT admitted an application against Jyoti Structures filed by its lead lender State Bank of India. The company owes lenders around Rs 7,000 crore.

The total amount due to SBI stands at about Rs 1,600 crore, after it was restructured in September 2014.

As per the NCLT order issued on Tuesday, the board of directors of the company will be suspended and consultancy firm, BDO would manage the company. The company has not opposed the action by the banks so far and has informed the court about a potential buyer interested in taking over the firm, according to reports.

BDO will take control of the companys management and be responsible for its day-to-day operations. It will work with the committee of creditors to come up with a resolution plan within 270 days, and get the approval of 75 percent of the creditors committee and supervised by the overseeing committee and then the nod from the NCLT. Failing this, the company will be liquidated according to the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code rules.

In the financial year 2017, the company made a loss of Rs 1,482 crore on revenues of Rs 852 crore.

After failure to get a restructuring package from banks, it was set to be resolved through invocation of the Strategic Debt Restructuring Scheme (SDR) in terms of the extant RBI guidelines. Since then, the lenders decided to restructure the debt and evaluate investment proposal submitted by a strategic investor, outside SDR, the company had informed its shareholders last year.

Jyoti Structures is among the 12 companies that account for 25 percent of Indias bad debt of about Rs 9.6 lakh crore.

Earlier this year, the government amended the Banking Regulation Act to empower the RBI to get directly involved in the resolution of non-performing assets (NPAs), Post this, RBI identified 12 large bad loan accounts having exposure of over Rs 5,000 crore each, with 60 percent or more classified as NPAs by banks as of March 2016, to be referred to the insolvency court.

RBI is further working on top 50 stressed accounts with an exposure of more than Rs 500 crore each.
Several vehicles from Andhra Pradesh and Telangana are currently crossing the border into Karnataka to refuel at a cheaper rate.

Fuel prices in Karnataka have become cheaper by Rs 3-4 per litre after the state government's decision to abolish entry tax on petrol and diesel from July 1, in line with the uniform tax code.

The revenue loss seen by Telangana in just three days has left concerned state officials to call for review meetings.

This may force Andhra Pradesh and Telangana to also do away with entry tax on vehicle fuels.

At the moment petrol and diesel have been kept out of the Goods and Services Tax's (GST) ambit for now.
The Reserve Bank of India may release a new Rs 200 note soon, according to reports. A government official told ANI that a printing order has been placed.

However, a official statement about a new currency note is yet to be made.

The decision to introduce Rs. 200 notes was taken by the RBI with the consultation of Finance Ministry in March, reports said. A may be issued by the Reserve Bank of India regarding a new note.

This comes on the day the Supreme Court has pulled up the central government for announcing December 30, 2016, as the deadline for depositing demonetised notes. The apex court has given the government and the Reserve Bank of India two weeks time to reply to its concern.

Stating that the government could not take away someone's money 'for no fault of his/her', the apex court said, "You can't be allowed to deprive a person of his money if he couldn't deposit it due to genuine problems. There will be a serious problem if you don't look into it. Give a window to a genuine problem. What if someone is terminally ill and couldn't deposit the money? Don't force us to pass a three-line order and quash your December 30 notification."

The new Rs 200 denomination notes may improve the currency situation in the country.

After the announcement of demonetisation in November last year, the RBI had introduced new notes of Rs. 500 and 2,000.
Under the Goods and Services Tax (GST), over 1,200 goods and 500 services have been divided in the tax bracket of 5, 12, 18 and 28 percent. From July 1, these rates are applicable countrywide except Jammu and Kashmir.

The all-powerful GST council used the merits of goods and services to divide them into essential, non-essential and Luxury goods, according to which the tax rates for respective goods have been decided. Essential goods attracting zero or five percent, luxury goods at 28 percent and rest in between.

However, for a few goods, the classification makes it difficult to digest. It is hard to gauge what could have been the thought process behind putting following items in their respective tax slabs.

Human hair or waste of human hair: This attracts zero percent tax rate which is reserved for daily used and essential items.

Human hair or the waste of human hair is used primarily for wigs and testing hair care products. Most of the hair waste in India is exported and it has negligible domestic usage. Ergo, it is hard to understand the rationale behind classifying human hair as essential.

Watch: Another Tryst With Destiny! How GST Will Change Your Life After July 1

Sanitary pads: Despite repeated appeals by various activists and politicians, sanitary napkins are put under non-essential goods and 12 percent tax is levied on them. This is actually higher than what it was earlier: around six percent.

In contrast, sindoor, bangles and bindis have been classified as essential and have been exempt from any taxes.

According to a 2011 study by AC Nielsen, only 12% of India's 335 million adult women can afford sanitary pads. Therefore, making it even more costly is a discouragement and may hamper female hygiene in the country.

Stationery: Most of the stationery itemsnotebooks, register, paper, boards etc. have been put in the 18 percent tax bracket. Only books are exempts from any taxes.

Provided the literacy rate in India, the decision may not be a right step for a better future of the country.

Read: GST impact: What may get costlier, what may get cheaper

Toothpaste and soap: Two of the things used by a majority of the population, every morning, has been put under 18 percent tax slab.

Given Prime Minister Narendra Modis emphasis on cleanliness and hygiene, this decision is surprising.

Shampoo and detergents: These two things, perhaps, used in every house in the country has been classified as luxury items and attract 28 percent tax.

Contrastingly, diamonds, gold and other precious metals which are bought be a minuscule population has been put under a special tax bracket of 0.25 percent and three percent.
Public sector lenders are likely to require an additional Rs 25,000 crore in recapitalisation funds as RBI's directive on higher provisioning is seen weighing heavily on their finances, reports CNBC-TV18. Although the government is likely to recapitalise the banks up to Rs 10,000 crore, the rest will have to be raised by the banks themselves.

There is an urgent need for banks to look for alternative sources of funding as Indradhanush scheme, or government's ambitious plan to infuse money into PSBs, comes to an end this year. Under this scheme, lenders were given Rs 25,000 crore in FY16. Also, Rs 10,000 crore each would be given to the banks in 2017-18. But the beleaguered banks might need a top-up of about Rs 25,000 in addition to this government injection, learns CNBC-TV18.

The channel has also learnt that the government is keen for PSBs to tap the markets to raise funds and monetise their non-core assets. govt will t

The provisioning for banks has increased after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had asked banks to set aside a higher portion of their funds under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 (IBC) to deal with the non-performing assets (NPAs).

After the success of SBIs QIP (Qualified Institutional Placement) banks like Bank of Baroda and Canara Bank are planning to raise Rs 5,000 crore each from the market. Vijaya Bank is also likely to mop up Rs 1,500 crore and Bank of India will also hit the market to raise funds.

Ashvin Parekh, Managing Partner at Ashvin Parekh Advisory Services, said that the government recognises that the PSBs need to be recapitalised.

Foreign banks, which were recapitalised during the global financial crisis by the sovereign, have yielded good return to them, he said.
business Expect crude at $68-77/bbl and gold at $1500/oz by year-end: David Lennox In an interview to CNBC-TV18, David Lennox, Analyst at Fat prophets shared his views and outlook for crude and gold prices.
Giant 9-ton aluminium ingots are seen at the Rusal Sayanogorsk aluminium smelter outside the Siberian town of Sayanogorsk, Russia, March 15, 2017. Picture taken March 15, 2017. REUTERS/Ilya Naymushin - RTX3196N

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Hindalco Industries gained more than 1 percent on Tuesday after research firm Jefferies retained its buy rating with a target price of Rs 237, saying China's aluminum supply reforms execution, if happens, could be a potential trigger.

Aluminum LME has been rangebound, but proposed aluminum supply cuts in China, if executed may tighten aluminium markets, the research house feels.

It said chinese aluminum output has been stable, but uptick in aluminum exports (7 percent MoM) and lower alumina prices (lower cost support) likely contributed to the softness in prices early June.

However, news flow around capacity cuts have picked up in recent weeks, as deadlines around Chinese supply reform plans approach, it added.

Costs at Chinese smelters have also increased around USD 90 per tonne from recent lows.

Chinese government is clamping down on non-compliant aluminum smelters. Smelters that stay non compliant in October may potentially be shut. Separately, Chinese government's plan to suspend 30 percent of aluminum capacities in 4 provinces during winters, may hit Chinese Al output by 1.2-1.4 million tonnes.

Execution of these measures could be positive for aluminum prices, Jefferies feels.

There may be some disappointment, if supply cuts are not implemented, but higher costs at Chinese smelters should limit downside risk to prices, it said.

Hindalco sources 35 percent of its coal needs (5.5 million tonnes) through e-auction. Potential coal linkage wins at a discount to e-auction prices during coal linkage auctions may lower aluminum cost of production, the research house feels.

Meanwhile, US government has launched a probe on aluminum imports on national security concerns. Novelis imports part of its aluminum inputs (estimates to be around 30-40 percent) through imports (mainly Canada) and is thus exposed to potential broader tariff on aluminum imports by US.

However, Jefferies thinks Novelis should be unaffected as US aluminum industry has stated that trade measures should focus only on China and imports from Canada would be exempt, even if US imposes any tariff measures. It expects Novelis EBITDA to rise to USD 352 per tonne in FY18 from USD 344 per tonne in FY17.

At 14:24 hours IST, the stock price was quoting at Rs 198.55, up Rs 2.30, or 1.17 percent on the BSE.

Posted by Sunil Shankar Matkar
Do you know the total accumulated balance in your employees provident fund (EPF)? In case you are keen to know the balance and are unable to do so, it is an easy process if you have been allotted an Universal Account Number (UAN) by the EPFO.

In case you do not have your 12-digit UAN, you can get it activated through your employer to know the summary of PF deducted through EPFO portal. All employees need to have only one UAN throughout their working life irrespective of the number of companies they change. It is a universal account number (UAN) which facilitates in linking of multiple EPF accounts of a member.

To see your EPFO account and view your provident fund passbook online, you need to follow these simple steps:

Step 1

Employees need to login the member portal by visiting the EPFO website (unifiedportalmem.epfindia.gov.in/memberinterface/). You need to enter your 12 digit Activated UAN number and the password to view your account details. If you have not activated your UAN, you can also activate it by clicking on the tab below. Once you have entered the right credentials, it takes four days to activate your UAN.

Step 2

Once you have entered into the portal, you can find all kind of online services that are available on the EPFO website. From there you can track your queries related to claim status, transferring request, which is required in case your current employer has created another UAN number to track your PF account.

Step 3

You can see various tabs present on the dark green ribbon above. Clicking on the view tab will take you to visit your profile, service history, UAN card and your passbook address. This passbook address is a separate website link where you can view your PF account.

Step 4

To view your PF passbook, you need to visit epfindia.gov.in website. This is a different website where you can view various other details related to EPFO. You need to go to the our service tab and under our service tab, you need to click on the for employees link. To view the EPF contributions done by your employer every month you need to then click on the member passbook link.

Step 5

After clicking on the member passbook link, you will be redirected to a separate tab, where you need to re-enter your activated UAN and the same EPFO passwords which you used it for the EPFO member login portal.

Step 6

Once you have entered your credentials, you can visit your EPF passbook and view your PF contribution made by the company.

The government has come up with various other benefits where they are giving special benefits to employees who had to leave their current job due to some physical incapacitation. If you want visit the office, you may even locate the nearest EPFO office through this EPFO website, you can also view the eligibility for making online claims and obtain lots more service facilities through this online portal.

One should also know that the accumulated amount is payable on retirement, resignation or death. You can also make partial withdrawals for financing life insurance policies, acquiring a house, wedding of self or dependents, child's education planning or any treatment of illness etc.
Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk today ruled out giving financial support to Adani Group for its controversy-hit 21.7 billion dollars Carmichael mine project but the Indian energy giant asserted that it is moving forward on "all fronts".

"My government has always said that it is a matter for Adani to get the finance. This is a private investment," Palaszczuk was quoted by Australian Associated Press news agency.

She said, "But I haven't heard any reports from Adani themselves that they've indicated anything to the contrary".

Following Palaszczuk's statement, Adani Australia said it maintained that it was moving forward on "all fronts", including organising finance for its project.

"As was the case with Australian banks, Adani has not approached the Queensland Government for financing. The Queensland Government has, however, delivered every licence and approval necessary for the project," according to the company's spokesperson.

Stating that the Adani Group has an enviable record of rapid growth, strategic vision, financial stability and project execution, the spokesperson said the company would ensure the Carmichael coal mine and rail projects proceed.

"A great message for north Queensland and a great future now that we can all get along and work on," he said.

Last month, Palaszczuk opened Adani's head office in Townsville after Adani Group gave the final investment approval to the project which had hit several roadblocks over environmental concerns. The company's decision was welcomed and hailed by the state and federal government.

For the last six years, Adani has fought 10 appeals in courts filed by environmentalists and stressed that its project will create 10,000 direct and indirect jobs in Australia.

The Carmichael project has been facing opposition from environmentalists and indigenous groups. The Indian energy giant has for more than five years battled the opposition to any expansion of the Abbot Point port, saying it will cut into the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area.

The company has also been trying to secure a USD 1 billion loan from the federal government's Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility to build the rail line linking the mine with the Abbott Point coal terminal.

The future of the so-called biggest mine in the world and largest in Australia was earlier put on hold after the state cabinets split on the royalties payment.

Adani wanted the Queensland government to delay the start of royalty obligations on the coal mine it hopes to build in Queensland's Galilee Basin.

The project involves dredging 1.1 million cubic metres of soil near the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, which will then be disposed off on land.

The Adani Group entered Australia in 2010 with the purchase of the greenfield Carmichael coal mine in the Galilee Basin in central Queensland, and the Abbot Point port near Bowen in the north.
Airbus' heavy twin-engine H215 helicopter has started its maiden demonstration tour in China, eyeing the burgeoning aviation market, Airbus China said Tuesday.

The H215 helicopter is a member of the world-renowned Super Puma helicopter family, which includes the H225 and H215.

It will demonstrate its multi-mission capabilities for firefighting, power line monitoring, law enforcement, and passenger transportation during the debut demonstration tour.

"Airbus foresee great potential for this helicopter in the Chinese market," said Marie Agnes Veve, general manager of Airbus Helicopters China, adding that the H215 perfectly meets China's growing demand for heavy helicopters.

The H215 is a multipurpose helicopter, combining advanced avionics and a reliable platform for rugged multi-mission capabilities. It can provide precision and automatic hover stability in harshest operating conditions.

The two-week-long tour starts from July 4 in southern China's Zhuhai, and the H215 will then travel to the cities of Shenzhen and Lijiang.

It will cover more than 2,000 kilometers across China, attesting in real time to its long range capabilities, speed, and large useful payload.

Local customers will be invited on-board the helicopter to experience its performance and advanced technologies.

China has seen a surging demand in helicopters, which can serve multiple missions such as the Emergency Medical Services (EMS), law enforcement, fire fighting, and tourism. By the end of 2016, the country's civil helicopter fleet was around 800.

Airbus Helicopters is the leader in the civil turbine helicopter market in China with a market share of about 40 percent. In 2016, China became its largest civil market in terms of annual bookings.

In May 2017, Airbus Helicopters broke ground on its H135 Final Assembly Line (FAL) in east China's Qingdao. It became the first Western helicopter manufacturer to establish a FAL in China.
Samsung Electronics Co Ltd said on Tuesday it plans to invest at least 21.4 trillion won ($18.63 billion) in South Korea as it seeks to extend its lead in memory chips and next-generation displays for smartphones.

The world's biggest memory chip maker by revenue said the spending includes 14.4 trillion won by 2021 on its new NAND factory in Pyeongtaek. It will invest 6 trillion won in a new semiconductor production line in Hwaseong, but did not elaborate on timing or product.

The firm will also add a production line to its NAND plant in Xi'an, China, in response to booming demand for long-term data storage chips. It has not set an investment amount or time frame.

Samsung and other memory makers are widely expected to post record profit in 2017 as a persistent shortage and demand for more capability in smartphones and servers lift prices. Industry sources and analysts said the shortage is more acute for NAND chips due to increasing adoption of high-end storage products.

Some analysts said Samsung's production technologies are at least a year ahead of rivals such as Toshiba Corp and SK Hynix Inc. Samsung routinely invests more than $10 billion in semiconductors annually, helping build its lead, and analysts said the latest investment seeks to widen the gap.

Samsung, Toshiba and SK Hynix have committed tens of billions of dollars to boost NAND output in recent years, yet analysts and industry sources said shortages are likely to persist at least through 2017 as new facilities will not make meaningful supply contributions until next year.

Some analysts said the additional capacity could cause slight oversupply in early 2018, but that price crashes are unlikely as smartphone makers opt for greater internal storage. Demand for high-end server storage for cloud computing and virtual reality applications will also continue to grow.

"I believe NAND market conditions will continue to favour suppliers until 2020," said HMC Investment analyst Greg Roh. Any oversupply issues will be temporary and limited to seasonally weaker periods, he said.

Samsung's investment plan comes as new South Korean President Moon Jae-in calls on local businesses to create more jobs and help reinvigorate the economy.

Samsung said its South Korea investment could create up to 440,000 jobs through 2021 and will help boost the economy.

In China, some South Korean firms have suffered from sales decline or have been forced to scale down operations after retaliatory measures from Beijing over the deployment of a U.S. anti-missile defence system outside Seoul, but components makers such as Samsung have not yet been affected. Chinese smartphone makers are among the biggest buyers of memory chips and displays, many from Samsung.

The South Korean firm accounted for 40.4 percent of global memory chip revenue in January-March, showed data from researcher TrendForce, making it difficult for electronics makers to entirely avoid buying its chips.

China is trying to grow its own memory chip producers but it may take several years before Chinese companies can compete with existing makers.

Samsung on Tuesday also said unit Samsung Display plans to invest around 1 trillion won on a new organic light-emitting diode display complex in South Korea
It seems that nationwide lockdown has not much impacted the fertilizer sector. In May 2020, the Indian Fertiliser industry has witness sales growth of 25% to 5 million tonnes as compared to 4 million tonnes in the same month last year. Coromandel International and Chambal Fertilisers have seen major sales growth in the sector. The research firm Prabhudas Lilladher is bullish on 5 stocks in the sector and among that they expect stock Insecticides India may see the upside of 82 percent, report dated June 09, 2020.

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Deutsche Bank has put buy rating on GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare as the government is considering a lower Good and Service Tax (GST) rate for malted food drinks, which get sold in small unit packs as it is consumed by mid-low income groups.

The research firm says, if lower GST rate get implemented, then it will be a net positive for the company as it can drive penetration-led growth and it will also give the company a breather in correcting the price-value equation.

The stock is trading at 26x FY2019 earnings and it has underperformed Sensex by 27 percent and 4 percent over last one and three years and Deutsche Consumer basket by 32 percent and 52 percent respectively, the research firm said.

The firm has a price target of Rs 6500 over the next 12 months.

At 11:26 hrs GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare was quoting at Rs 5370, up Rs 2.05, or 0.04 percent on the BSE.
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Indo Rama Synthetics share price added more than 4 percent intraday Tuesday as the founder & promoter is in talks to buy Haldia plant from Tatas.

"The Tatas are in advanced negotiations with Indian-born Indonesian billionaire Sri Prakash Lohia of Indorama Corporation to sell the Haldia unit, West Bengal on a slump sale basis for Rs 600-800 crore," The Economic Times said quoting multiple officials aware of the development.

Tata Chemicals is set to exit fertiliser business, which is a part of an ongoing mega restructuring that would strengthen the company's focus on consumer and inorganic chemicals and deleverage its balance sheet, the report added.

The Indo Rama Group has focussed business activities in the field of textiles, polyesters and industrial chemicals.

At 12:50 hours IST, the stock price was quoting at Rs 30.85, up Rs 0.65, or 2.15 percent on the BSE.
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Sun Pharma, India's largest drug maker on Tuesday, said it has entered into a strategic agreement with Samsung BioLogics to manufacture the former's psoriasis drug Tildrakizumab.

According to the agreement, Sun Pharma has appointed Samsung BioLogics to manufacture Tildrakizumab, an investigational IL-23p19 inhibitor which is being evaluated for the treatment of moderate to severe plaque psoriasis.

Filings for this drug has been accepted for review by US FDA in May 2017 and the European Medicines Agency (EMA) in March 2017.

The agreement was signed at Samsung BioLogics headquarter in Incheon, South Korea. The approximate value of the contract is pegged at USD 55.5 million. Other financial details of the agreement are confidential.

Samsung BioLogics is a globally renowned CMO (contract manufacturing organisation)," said Kirti Ganorkar, Global Head, Portfolio Management & Business Development, Sun Pharma.

"Through this partnership we will leverage Samsungs manufacturing knowledge and world-class quality systems to provide high quality products for the Tildrakizumab pipeline, Ganorkar said.

Sun Pharma said it expects to launch Tildrakizumab drug next year.

"Our collaboration with Sun Pharma is an important milestone for Samsung as it is a testament of our ability to provide reliable supply through its GMP-certified manufacturing facility to pharmaceutical companies, which aim to expand their global market, said TH Kim, President and CEO of Samsung BioLogics.

With this precise targeting, Tildrakizumab has the potential to help control the pathogenic cells responsible for the inflammatory process of psoriasis with limited impact on the rest of the immune system.

Sun Pharma has been developing a pipeline of specialty drugs that include Tildrakizumab (Merck), Odomzo (Novartis), MM-II (Moebius), Seciera (Ocular), Elepsia/Xelpros (SPARC), BromSite/DexaSite (Insite), Absorica (Ranbaxy), and Dusa drug products.

Sun Pharma acquired worldwide rights to Tildrakizumab from Merck - known as MSD outside the US and Canada - in 2014 for an upfront payment of USD 80 million.

Funded by Sun Pharma, Merck is responsible for the completion of phase-3 trials in patients with mild-to-moderate plaque psoriasis, and submission of a Biologics License Application to the US FDA.

Sun Pharma's key manufacturing facility at Halol, Gujarat has been under US FDA scanner for a while and the company has been working on resolution.
asean_300_86364502

The ninth ministerial level summit between the leadership of India and ASEAN countries being held today at New Delhi has immense significance in advancing Indias look east policy.

The meet aptly nick named as the Delhi dialogue is attended by important leaders including Deputy Prime Minister of Vietnam Pham Binh Minh and Singapore's Senior Minister of State for Defence and Foreign Affairs Maliki Bin Osman.The meet is aimed at bringing the think tanks from both sides to find common ground and expand their scope of co-operation.

The conference will see intellectuals, media personalities, academicians, business leaders, political leadership, researchers and policy makers joining hands to expand the relation between the two sides.

The rising interest in the India-ASEAN relationship acquires significance on the backdrop of not just the historical and cultural ties that both the sides possessed but more recently with the rising strategic significance the region acquires in the context of rise of Chinese power along with the threat of extremism.

India in order to tackle these two threats have followed a multi faced approach were both military might and economic co-operation have significant roles.The seven year old free trade agreement between both the sides have seen significant leap in the bilateral trade and co-operation on one hand while the rising relation on the defense front between India and Vietnam , an ASEAN member is seen as a game changing policy in the south China sea region.
The Reserve Bank of India will soon start issuing new Rs 200 notes, sources told CNBC TV18. The regulator has already placed orders for the new bills to be printed, reveal sources. The decision to introduce the new currency was taken in consultation with the Finance Ministry in March. These new notes, it is believed, will come with additional security features which will help curb counterfeiting.

An Economic Times article, however, says that the central bank has already begun printing Rs 200 notes. One of two people who spoke to the newspaper said that the printing is taking place in one of the government-owned facilities of the RBI. These notes have gone through different levels of security and quality checks at the government's press unit at Hoshangabad (Madhya Pradesh), reports the newspaper, quoting sources.

Printing of Rs 200 notes is widely expected to ease daily transactions, as the recent Rs 2000 note is a very large denomination for day-to-day expenditures. By June 9, the currency circulation stands at Rs 14.6 lakh crore which is at least 18.4 percent lower than what it was before demonetisation.

The Modi-led government had also proposed the idea of introducing a new Rs 1000 note post-demonetisation but there have been no talks about it yet.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi today left for Israel, first by an Indian prime minister to the Jewish nation, where he will discuss with his counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu the common challenges like terrorism and ways to boost the economic ties.

Modi will be in Israel till July 6 before travelling to Hamburg in Germany to attend the G-20 Summit.

In Israel, he will also meet President Reuven Ruvi Rivlin and address the CEOs of the two countries as well as the Indian diaspora.

He will also visit the Yad Vashem Memorial Museum to honour the memory of the victims of the holocaust that counts among the greatest tragedies in human history.

Modi will also pay his respects to the courageous Indian soldiers who laid down their lives during the liberation of Haifa in 1918.

"I begin a historic visit to Israel, a very special partner of India's... As the first Indian prime minister to do so, I am greatly looking forward to this unprecedented visit that will bring our two countries and people closer," he had said in a statement here yesterday.

"I look forward to holding extensive talks with my friend, @IsraeliPM @netanyahu, who shares a commitment for vibrant India-Israel ties," he had tweeted. The prime minister had said he will have "in-depth talks" with Netanyahu "on the full spectrum of our partnership and strengthening it in diverse fields for mutual benefit. We will also have the chance to discuss major common challenges like terrorism."

This year, India and Israel are marking 25 years of their diplomatic relations. "My programme during the visit gives me an opportunity to engage with a cross-section of Israeli society. I am particularly looking forward to interacting with the large vibrant Indian diaspora in Israel that represents an enduring link between our two peoples," Modi had said.

On the economic side, he had said, "I will join with leading Indian and Israeli CEOs and start-ups to discuss our shared priority of expanding business and investment collaboration on the ground."

On July 6, the prime minister will travel to Hamburg for the G-20 Summit being hosted by Germany on July 7-8.

The theme chosen for this year is 'Shaping an Inter- connected World'.

"I look forward to engaging leaders from other G-20 countries on the vital issues affecting our world today that have a bearing on economic growth, sustainable development, and peace and stability," he had said.

"We will review progress on decisions since the Hangzhou Summit last year and deliberate on issues of terrorism, climate, sustainable development, growth and trade, digitalisation, health, employment, migration, womens empowerment, and partnership with Africa," Modi had added.
The Supreme Court today granted the Centre and the Reserve Bank of India two weeks to consider the option of granting a window to those who could not deposit their demonetised Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes for a compelling reason.

A bench comprising Chief Justice J S Khehar and Justice D Y Chandrachud asked Solicitor General Ranjit Kumar, representing the Centre, to take instructions on the issue.

"There can be a situation where a person has lost his/her money for no fault. Suppose a person was in jail during the period... We want to know as to why you chose to bar such persons," the bench said.

The solicitor general then sought time to seek instructions for granting an opportunity to persons to deposit their money on a case-by-case basis.

The bench was hearing a batch of petitions, including one filed by Sudha Mishra seeking a direction to authorities to allow her to deposit demonetised notes as she could not do so during the period specified by the Centre and the RBI.

The Central government had on November 8 last year announced that Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes would no longer be legal tender from November 9.

The government also assured the people that demonetised currency notes could be exchanged at banks, post offices and RBI branches till December 30, 2016. If people were unable to deposit them by that day, they could do so till March 31, 2017 at RBI branches after complying with certain formalities.
India Economy

India's growing ties with powerful grouping ASEAN and ways to further bolster the relationship will be deliberated upon at a two-day annual dialogue beginning today.

The 9th edition of Delhi Dialogue with the theme "ASEAN- India Relations: Charting the Course for the Next 25 Years" will be attended by political leaders, policy makers, senior officials, diplomats, business leaders and think tanks from India and several ASEAN member countries.

ASEAN is considered one of the world's fastest growing regions and there has been an upswing in ties between the bloc and India in the last few years.

The Ministerial Session to be held tomorrow would be hosted by External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj.

The session is scheduled to be attend by Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Vietnam Pham Binh Minh, senior leader from Myanmar U Kyaw Tint Swe among others.

Senior Minister of State for Defence and Foreign Affairs, of Singapore Maliki Osman, Thailand's Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Virasakdi Futrakul are also attending the event.

This dialogue is being organised by the Ministry of External Affairs in collaboration with a number of think tanks and industry chambers.
Ahead of the G20 Summit in Germany, US President Donald Trump has held "extensive discussions" with German Chancellor Angela Merkel over the key issues of climate change and trade.

"In an extensive discussion (over phone), the two leaders addressed climate issues, the Women's Entrepreneurship Financing Initiative, and trade, including global steel overcapacity," the White House said in a statement yesterday.

"The president said that he looks forward to helping Chancellor Merkel make the Summit a success," it said.

The White House' statement comes ahead of the two-day G20 Summit to be held on July 7-8.

Last week, Merkel had said discussions at the G20 Summit would be difficult given Trump's climate scepticism and "America First" stance, but that she was determined to seek a clear commitment to the Paris Agreement on climate change against global warming and a pledge against protectionism.

When Trump had announced in early June that he would withdraw from the historic Paris Agreement, "we knew that we could not expect discussions to be easy" at the G20 Summit, Merkel had told the German parliament.

Trump also spoke with Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni to discuss the agenda for the upcoming G20 Summit and to renew his appreciation for the Prime Minister's efforts in hosting the exceptional G7 Summit in May.

President Trump also underscored his appreciation for Italy's efforts to address the significant Libyan migration crisis, the statement said.

The 12th G20 Summit, a major port city in northern Germany, will also discuss issues like free and open trade, climate change, migration, sustainable development and global stability.

Counter-terrorism and economic reforms will dominate the discussions amongst the leaders of the world's 20 largest economies at the G20 Summit which will also be attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The 'Group of Twenty' is made up of 19 countries and the European Union. The countries are Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, the UK and the US.
(Photo by CGTN)

E-commerce is set to change the existing trade patterns between China and Russia. AliExpress, a global online shopping platform by China's Alibaba Group, is the biggest online shopping platform in Russia, generating over half a million orders per day, but it wants to do more than just sell "Made in China" products to the region.

Shen Difan, the general manager of AliExpress said the AliExpress team shifted their focus in Russia to localization, such as providing localized customer services.

China has been Russias top trading partner for 6 years consecutively, and Russia is a major crude oil and heavy hi-tech equipment exporter to China.
Baleswar : Interceptor missile being test fired from Chandipur in Baleswar on Saturday. PTI Photo (PTI2_11_2017_000263B)

North Korea launched a ballistic missile today, the South's military said, just days after Seoul's new leader Moon Jae-In and US President Donald Trump focused on the threat from Pyongyang in their first summit.

The launch, which comes as the US prepares to celebrate the Fourth of July holiday, was the latest in a series of provocations that have ratcheted up tensions over the nuclear-armed North's weapons ambitions.

The "unidentified ballistic missile" was fired from a site near Banghyon in North Phyongan province, the South's military said in a statement, and came down in the East Sea, the Korean name for the Sea of Japan.

The device may have come down in Japan's exclusive economic zone, a spokeswoman for Tokyo's defence ministry told AFP -- waters extending 200 nautical miles from its coast.

Pyongyang has carried out multiple launches since Moon -- who backs engagement with the North but also stresses the need for sanctions -- was elected in May.

At their summit in Washington at the weekend, Trump declared that the US had run out of patience with North Korea over its weapons drive, which includes developing a missile capable of delivering a warhead to the US mainland.

"Together, we are facing the threat of the reckless and brutal regime in North Korea," Trump said. "The nuclear and ballistic missile programs of that regime require a determined response.
Baleswar : Interceptor missile being test fired from Chandipur in Baleswar on Saturday. PTI Photo (PTI2_11_2017_000263B)

The US today confirmed that North Korea has carried out a ballistic missile test with President Donald Trump slamming Kim Jong-Un for the provocative action and urging China to make a "heavy move" on Pyongyang to "end this nonsense once and for all".

The single launch of a land-based, intermediate range ballistic missile occurred near the Panghyon Airfield, the US Pacific Command said.

"The President has been briefed on the latest report of a North Korean ballistic missile launch," according to the White House.

Reacting to the development on Twitter, Trump said, "North Korea has just launched another missile. Does this guy (Kim) have anything better to do with his life?"

"Hard to believe that South Korea and Japan will put up with this much longer. Perhaps China will put a heavy move on North Korea and end this nonsense once and for all!" he tweeted.

The US has been urging China -- North Korea's closest diplomatic ally -- to pressure the Pyongyang regime to end its nuclear and ballistic missile programmes.

According to United States Pacific Command (USPACOM), the missile was tracked for 37 minutes and landed in the Sea of Japan.

"We are working with our interagency partners on a more detailed assessment. We continue to monitor North Korea's actions closely," the PACOM said.

"US Pacific Command stands behind our iron-clad commitment to the security of our allies in the Republic of Korea and Japan," it said.
Turkish Airlines chief executive Bilal Eksi said he expected the ban on large electronic devices from the cabin of US-bound flights from certain countries to be lifted on July 5.

"We expect the electronic device ban applied to American flights to be lifted on Wednesday July 5," Eksi said on Twitter late yesterday without giving further detail.

In March, Washington barred all electronic devices larger than a mobile phone on direct flights to the United States from 10 airports in Turkey, the Middle East and North Africa, only allowing them to be transported in hold luggage.

Flag-carrier Turkish Airlines responded to the ban by offering laptops to business-class travellers in May.

The US on Sunday lifted a ban on passengers taking such devices on Etihad Airways flights from its base in the Emirati capital Abu Dhabi, the first airliner to benefit from a lift of the ban.

The decision came after the airline implemented enhanced security measures, a spokesman for the US Department of Homeland Security said.

The ban was put into place after intelligence officials learned of efforts by Islamic State jihadists to produce a bomb that could be secreted inside such devices.
Jarrett Coleman goes from school board to statehouse with win in 16th Senate District race
July 04, 2017

"... And the rocket's red glare ..." - North Korea Wishes A Happy 4th of July

In recognition of the U.S. Independence Day the Democratic People's Republic of Korea launched some remarkable fireworks.

DPRK State TV confirmed a successful launch and the basic data others had measured (video).

The announcement comes nearly exactly six month after President Donald Trump issued this prediction.

That forecast turned out to be false.

Jonathan McDowell @planet4589 - 7:02 AM - 4 Jul 2017

Recap: North Korea launches Hwasong-14 ICBM at 0040 UTC Jul 4 from Kusong's Panghyon Airport 933 km eastward to Sea of Japan, 2802 km apogee

More official pictures of the launch were published. The North Korean head of state Kim Jong-Un attended.

North Korea fired the missile at a steep trajectory reaching a very high apogee. This limited the range of the test launch. The flight time of 37 minutes was extremely long. Recalculating the data into a more normal trajectory the maximum flight range of the missile is estimated to be 6,700 kilometers with a normal payload. Launched from North Korea it could cover Alaska but not the lower 49 states. With a light warhead, possibly a small nuclear load, the range could be up to 10,000 kilometer and cover at least the north-western states.

Trump will be rightfully blamed for the braggadocious formulation of his tweet. But one can not blame him for not stopping North Korea's missile development. A war on North Korea would also destroy South Korea and have implications far beyond the peninsula. Only the end of U.S. military maneuvering around Korea and the perspective of a full peace agreement could have achieved a stop of North Korea's development. The U.S. Congress would support neither. Trump tried to press China to reign in North Korea, But China has no reasonable way to do that. One could just as easy blame former U.S. presidents - Clinton for breaking his agreements with North Korea, Bush for his general hostility and Obama for his do-nothing excuse of "strategic patience".

North Korea has very good reasons to perceive the U.S. as vicious enemy and to never trust any U.S. statement or agreement. It needs nuclear weapons for its self-defense. As it can not trust any of its neighbors it needs strategic independence. That has now been achieved.

The U.S., and Trump personally, has been just been "shown the finger" by a small underdeveloped state. One wonders how Trump and the official U.S. it will react to that.

Posted by b on July 4, 2017 at 8:25 UTC | Permalink

Comments
The Rotary Club of Valdese recently recognized club president Beth Zimmerman Heile as its Rotarian of the Year for 2016-2017.

A native of Valdese, with a Waldensian heritage, Heile has a long history of community involvement, especially with the Valdese Parks and Recreation Department. She founded The Friends of the Valdese Rec to help procure 300 acres for the Valdese Lakeside Park. She also helped to restore the water wheel at McGalliard Falls and continues to organize groups to help clean up and maintain the town and its parks.

Heile is a member of the Burke Womens Fund, the Valdese Main Street Program and is a youth leader at the First United Methodist Church of Valdese. As an active member of the Rotary Club of Valdese, she delivers Meals on Wheels once a month to homebound residents, has helped redesign the clubs website (www.valdeserotary.org), created a new club blog and assists with fundraising for the group.

Heile returned to her hometown after college with her husband, Eric Heile, to raise their son, Zakk.

The Heiles own Noteworthy Artware, Inc.
A Chinese expert on Central Asia said Chinas neighbors bordering northwestern Chinas Xinjiang pose no imminent threat to the Belt and Road Initiative, hitting back at Western comments that play down Chinas ambitious plan.

Speaking at a seminar in Beijing on July 1, Zhu Yongbiao, an associate professor at the Institute for Central Asia Studies at Lanzhou University, said Central Asias terrorism situation hasnt worsened, even though the number of terrorist attacks saw a slight increase.

In 2016, when several major world powers were shaken by multiple attacks, Central Asia only reported a total of four terrorist attacks in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. From 1992 to 2016, there were some 250 attacks, dozens of which occurred between 1994 and 1997 when Tajikistan was fighting a civil war, Zhus data showed.

Central Asian countries were given a relatively low ranking on the 2016 Global Terrorism Index, issued by the Institute for Economics and Peace of Australia, which shows that their security situation is controllable. Specifically, China ranked 23rd on the index and Afghanistan, 2nd. Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan sat at 94th, 56th, and 84th, respectively, while Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan ranked at the bottom of list, 114th and 130th, respectively.

Compared with neighboring regions, the risk of terrorism is low, Zhu said. The threat actually comes from peripheral areas, such as Afghanistan. In general, the security situation is not worsening, as some Western scholars argue.

But the threat of attacks in the region is real, and Chinese companies or personnel could become targets.

The Belt and Road Initiative can actually help speed up economic growth in Central Asia with expanded investment in the region, Zhu said.
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To further protect the integrity of our editorial content, we keep a strict separation between our sales teams and authors to remove any pressure or influence on our analyses and research.

Read our editorial policy to learn more about our process.
'The big truck is still on ...
Chinese bike-sharing service provider 3Vbike declared bankruptcy due to a large number of stolen bikes. The bike-sharing service recently announced that operations have been suspended since June 21.

It is the second bike-sharing provider in China that has gone bust, following the fall of Wukong Bike, the countrys first bike-sharing provider to go bankrupt.

We have refunded nearly 95% of our users deposit, but about one or two hundred customers still havent applied for the refund, said Wu Shenghua, the founder of 3Vbike.

Investing nearly one million RMB and building 1,000 bikes, Wu only has a small number of bikes available on the market. The companys loss rate in some regions even reached 100%.

According to public data, 3Vbike was established in December 2015 with a registered capital of 100,000 RMB. The first batch of shared bikes was released in Baoding, northern Chinas Hebei province, on February 26.

Wu planned to make profits by renting the bikes and using them for advertising. He said the business would have been profitable if the loss rate stayed under 30%. My investment could have been recovered within a year if each bike had been ridden once a day, Wu said, adding that any advertisements would be pure profit.

Though our company was registered in Beijing, our target customers were in second- and third-tier cities, Wu explained. He believes it was better for the company to avoid competition with the big players.

However, the companys development did not go according to plan, as some cities urban management departments forbid his bikes.

But what really astonished Wu was the large number of bikes that were stolen. We placed more than 1,000 bikes on the market, but only less than 10 were in operation before we declared the suspension, Wu said.

Wu believes that a lack of anti-theft measures was the main reasons for the loss. According to him, the absence of smart locks on the bikes was out of consideration for cost control.

He attributed his failure to the high number of bike losses, saying his business scale was not large enough and the loss was totally not affordable for him.
ALBANY  Paul Grondahl caught a firsthand glimpse of Turkey's recent slide into authoritarianism in the summer of 2015, when he visited the offices of the country's largest independent daily newspaper, Today's Zaman.

Then a reporter for the Times Union in Albany, he interviewed a fellow journalist  a woman who had been threatened, harassed, vilified and sued for printing words critical of the Turkish government, an outlandish series of events to an American journalist used to some of the world's best press freedoms.

Two years later, Grondahl recalls that visit and wonders if it wasn't ominous.

Donald Trump is president, and threats of prosecution and verbal attacks on the press are a regular occurrence. The administration has offered the public "alternative facts," and warned citizens not to trust the "dishonest" news media.

"It was shocking to be in Turkey, to turn on the TV or pick up a paper and not be able to get an actual realistic perspective of events because it was all state-run, state-generated and state-approved content," Grondahl said. "It's frightening to think, but it's entirely possible we could slip into that."

It's a concern Grondahl wants to address head-on in his new role as director of the New York State Writers Institute. This fall, the institute will delve into the debate around alternative facts, fiction and fake news at a star-studded symposium titled "Telling the Truth in a Post-Truth World."

More than two dozen panelists will be in town for the two-day event, including CBS News anchor and presidential debate moderator Bob Schieffer, former New York Times' executive editors Jill Abramson and Bill Keller, Huffington Post editor-in-chief Lydia Polgreen and New York Times White House correspondent Glenn Thrush.

In addition to journalists, audience members will hear from preeminent attorneys, scholars and authors like Floyd Abrams, Douglas Brinkley and Kurt Andersen on the role and responsibility of social media when it comes to fake news, the history of fraught relationships between presidents and the press, and cybersecurity in an age of Russian hacking.

The symposium will be held Oct. 13-14 at Page Hall, an 850-seat event space at the University at Albany's downtown campus. A kickoff reception will be held the night of Oct. 12.

"I think Trump has been fairly consistent in his language and provocative statements toward the press, and I don't think the conversation is going to change much before this event," said Grondahl.

As a hub for writers, poets, artists and thinkers, the Writers Institute  known for its visiting writers series, summer writers institute and biennial selection of a state author and state poet  is the exact kind of venue that should be holding these conversations, he said.

"I think we can be a force for these really important conversations beyond just bringing in writers to read from their work and talk about their craft," he said. "We are a hub for thought leaders, for people who ask tough questions."

The last time the Writers Institute held an event of this size was in 1991, and its topic was eerily similar.

"Telling the Truth: A Symposium on the Craft of Nonfiction" drew 5,000 guests and assembled 38 of the nation's most esteemed nonfiction writers  including Maureen Dowd, Doris Kearns Goodwin, Norman Mailer and Gay Talese  to discuss the ambiguous boundaries between fiction and history, and journalism and autobiography.

"This event will be a sort-of followup to that '91 conference," Grondahl said. "Time Magazine asked on their cover recently asked, 'Is Truth dead?' So it's in the air. That's why we think this is a really important time for a followup, but one focused less on craft and more on these big social issues."

The symposium won't be entirely Trump-focused, he says, though he contends the administration has revived longstanding concerns that journalists and others have had regarding constitutional rights. Conversation will go back to the founding of America and the writing of the Constitution, and explore how presidents have interacted with the press throughout time.

It will also feature a diverse array of voices, including conservative columnist Kathryn Jean Lopez, Hungarian-American author and journalist Kati Marton and Emory University professor Carol Anderson, known for her research and writings on race, criminal justice and civil rights.

"We want to offer something for everything," Grondahl said. "We want to appeal to teenagers and college students who are hopefully thinking about these issues, our longtime loyal supporters, and really smart, deep, thoughtful people who want to dig into these issues beyond just a 140-character tweet or soundbite."

Additional panelists are still being invited and confirmed. More information will be posted about the event as it nears at http://www.albany.edu/writers-inst/.
WASHINGTON  At 49, Marshall May Jr. could not remember whether he had ever taken his mom out for a meal.

Certainly not in the past 20 years when he was in and out of prison, serving seven separate terms for crimes such as stealing to support his drug habit. He last held a regular job in 1994, as a front desk clerk in a Los Angeles hotel.

But this spring May was hired as a part-time street sweeper by Chrysalis, a nonprofit serving the homeless, and that helped him land full-time work as a health care peer specialist position for which he is now getting trained. He still does not have a place of his own, but May figures he at least has a shot now. After getting back on his feet, he took his 83-year-old mom to dinner on Mothers Day.

It was an incredible feeling, he said. I spent a lot of time at the table crying.

As the nation enters its ninth year of economic expansion, the low unemployment and tightening labor market have begun to open doors for people like May, who not long ago had all but given up any hopes of returning to the workplace.

Thus far the improvement for the hard-to-employ has been relatively small and spotty, confined mostly to places with exceedingly low unemployment, such as in the Midwest and Colorado, where the 2.3 percent jobless rate is the countrys lowest. The nationwide unemployment figure was 4.3 percent in May, a 16-year low.

During the Great Recession and immediate aftermath, joblessness surged and reached a high of 10 percent. Millions of people in the prime of their work lives, mostly men, lost jobs in manufacturing, construction and other industries. Since then some have returned to the labor market, but many remain unaccounted for, as if they had vanished from the economy. An opioid epidemic in rural America and swelling numbers who are incarcerated or on government disability have added to the startling decline in employment levels.

But if decent job growth keeps up as most economists expect, groups with historically high unemployment  people with criminal records, disabilities, low skills or little education  could make some real gains, as they did in the late 1990s.

Already, the jobless rate for adults with less than a high school diploma is down to 6.1 percent, less than half the level five years ago and close to a quarter-century low of 5.8 percent, according to government data. For workers with just a high school education, unemployment most recently was 4.7 percent, compared with an all-time low of 3.2 percent in November 1999. These two groups represent about one-third of Americas workforce of 160 million.

The labor shortage is pronounced in booming metros such as Austin. Businesses are so desperate for workers there that they recently teamed up with community colleges, labor unions and nonprofit organizations to train people for jobs such as light industrial work, nursing assistants, information technology support and office clerical help.

We have employers more open to hiring people with criminal backgrounds than weve ever seen before, said Traci Berry, a senior vice president at Goodwill Central Texas, part of the nationwide network of nonprofit community job-training and placement services.

Even in California, where unemployment statewide is typically higher than the national average, the latest jobless rate of 4.7 percent in May  the lowest since November 2000  has begun to benefit job developers such as Chrysalis. Last year it secured positions for 2,350 homeless, ex-offenders and other long-term unemployed, up 17 percent from 2013 and double the number placed into jobs in 2008. Chrysalis support from private donors also is sharply higher.

Its great that theyre finding success now. Its great that employers are more open to bringing them on, said Chrysalis chief executive, Mark Loranger. But I do wonder, have they really changed their attitudes on hiring people with backgrounds? ... When the economy turns on our clients, will things go back to being extraordinarily difficult?

History is not too encouraging. Even during the record-long expansion of the 1990s, when unemployment was lower, productivity higher and wage growth stronger than the current growth period, hopes that rose toward the end of the decade were dashed as the economy tipped into recession in early 2001 with the tech-stock bust and later, the effects from 9/11.

Georgetown University economist Harry Holzer is less optimistic today than at the turn of the last century. More workers have multiple barriers to re-entry, such as dependence on drugs and government disability programs, he said. And the labor market is not red hot as it was back then, when unemployment was below 4 percent during much of 2000.

A lot of employers were so desperate for bodies that anyone who was marginally employable, they were willing to look at, said Holzer, who was chief economist in the Clinton administrations Labor Department in 1999.

More recently, Holzer and fellow researchers have advocated a range of policy steps, including changes in disability programs and expanded wage subsidies, to help jobless men get back to work.

How long the current job gains will last for those at the bottom is anybodys guess. Employers such as Norm Sedelbauer, a manufacturer of electronic locks in Grand Rapids, Mich., isnt making any promises. Recently he hired Allen Helmer, 48, who is blind in one eye and has been mostly unemployed since he was laid off from a book-binding company in 2007.

Helmer said he hopes he can stay on at Bauer Products for a while. He makes $10 an hour, barely enough to pay for groceries and the mortgage on a house his parents once owned.

I have to choose between eating and having fun, he said.

At work, Helmer stands from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. assembling and jiggering locks with his muscular hands, but said he feels good at the end of the day when he takes the bus back home.

I like working with my hands, I like putting things together, he said. It doesnt pay extremely well, but its well

The jobless rate for workers with disabilities reached nearly 17 percent in the summer of 2011 but has since dropped to 9.5 percent.

Helmer got his job at Bauer through Goodwill in western Michigan, but many job developers worry about cuts in public dollars to help people re-enter the labor market. President Donald Trumps budget has proposed substantial reductions, for example, in job-training funds that support efforts by outfits such as Goodwill, although some of that federal money would be diverted to enhance apprenticeship programs.

Now we ride the economic waves again, but the funding is not there today, said Kathy Crosby, a 38-year veteran of Goodwill.

Even so, Crosby and other experts are hopeful, especially for those coming out of prison. Budget-conscious states and counties are increasingly looking at early-release programs and tying them to jobs, figuring that helping them find work will make it much less likely that they will return to prison.

Maine, for example, released a small number of inmates with nonviolent offenses to fill job openings that swell in the summer tourism season. Maines unemployment is 3.2 percent.

In many parts of the country a worsening labor shortage in construction could open up job pathways for men with records. Employer attitudes toward hiring ex-offenders also seem to have softened somewhat as a growing number of states and cities have sought to remove employment barriers for former prisoners since the Great Recession.

Isaac Vallejo, 53, used to operate his own auto body shop in Austin. He lost the business when he went to prison several years ago for illegal possession of a firearm. Vallejo said he had carried it because he often had a lot of cash on him. It was his second felony offense, and he was sentenced to three years.

After his release about two years ago, Vallejo bounced around in halfway houses and then with help from Goodwill picked himself up.

Last year he was hired at a paint and body shop, not far from where Vallejo had his shop. He makes $18 an hour now, and he is going to school two nights a week at a community college for a certificate in auto refurbishing technology.

Im proof that it does work, he said.
The slaying of a 79-year-old woman inside her Hedwig Village home has shaken the well-to-do city that hasn't seen an active murder investigation in roughly two decades.

Reminders of the recent violence reverberated down the streets Tuesday morning as reporters swarmed the scene and police re-canvassed the area, looking for leads in the killing of Janeil Bernard.

"This is a very big hit to this community," Sgt. Marvin Collins of Hedwig Village Police Department told reporters.

But days later, it's not clear exactly what happened - or when. And the suspected killer is still at large.

It was Bernard's maid who first reported the slaying Monday afternoon, after she walked into the ranch home on the 11000 block of Capri and made a gruesome discovery.

The elderly woman appeared to have been beaten and stabbed, and parts of the house were ransacked.

"It was a very brutal scene," Collins said, adding that it appeared Bernard had fought back against her attacker.

Collins said it appears robbery may have been the motive.

After Monday's find, police realized the woman's car and wallet appeared stolen. The vehicle - a red Cadillac sedan with a Texas license plate - turned up in southwest Houston, near Genoa and State Highway 288. The keys were found about 200 feet away.

Houston police, who tipped off Hedwig Village about the recovered vehicle around 10:30 p.m. Monday, have offered to process the car for evidence.

Despite the chaos inside, some parts of the home were untouched, as if the robber had a specific goal in mind.

"Whoever did this didn't spend a lot of time in the house," Collins said. 'There's a lot of electronics that weren't taken. Whoever did this was looking for a particular - possibly cash or jewelry."

It's still not clear what all may have been taken at the time of the slaying.

"Because she's a very independent person, there's not a lot of information as to what all she actually had," Collins said.

There were no signs of forced entry at the home, and Bernard typically kept her doors locked, so police said it's possible the woman may have known her attacker.

Although Bernard's body was found around 1 p.m. Monday, it's not clear when she was killed.

Authorities have narrowed the timeline to sometime between 2:30 p.m. Sunday and 9 a.m. Monday - but they're still asking the community to come forward with any additional information that could help reconstruct a chain of events. Bernard did not have a surveillance system, but police said neighbors have provided footage of the night.

"I'm told she's a real giving person, that she helps a lot of people that are in need," Collins said. "Now's the time to help her."

Bernard had a "very scheduled life," Collins said. She didn't work but was involved in a number of activities. Authorities are hoping for tips about her Sunday night routine.

Police said they have no record of any past calls for service at the home, though Bernard's son told officers the house had been burglarized some 20 years ago.

"I don't think we've had an active homicide in this city since the 90s," Collins said. "We have an older resident population in this area, and that has people worried, that has people concerned."

But he said the community should stay calm.

"I don't think this is a cause for alarm," he told reporters. "There's no panic in the area."

Mike Glenn contributed to this report.
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New York

Joey "Jaws" Chestnut gulped, chomped and powered his way to a 10th title on Tuesday, continuing his record-setting reign as the chowing champion at the annual Nathan's Famous July Fourth hot dog eating contest.

Shoving water-soaked buns and wriggling franks into his mouth on a hot, sunny day on the Coney Island boardwalk, he downed 72 dogs and buns in 10 minutes to beat his own record and hoist the Mustard Belt for a 10th time. The San Jose, Calif., man bested up-and-comer Carmen Cincotti, of Mays Landing, N.J., who ate 60 franks and buns on his 24th birthday.

Miki Sudo notched a fourth straight win in the women's competition. The Las Vegas woman ate 41 hot dogs and buns to beat Michelle Lesco of Tucson, Ariz., who downed 32 franks and buns.

During the men's competition, five people were taken into custody for trying to disrupt the event, police said. The people appeared to be attempting to unfold a black banner before police stopped them and took them away. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals members had been giving away free vegan hot dogs outside the event, but spokeswoman Tricia Lebkuecher said the people arrested inside weren't affiliated with PETA.

Chestnut, 33, has dominated the chowdown throwdown for years, eating 70 franks and buns last year to top his then-record and take back the title from Matt "The Megatoad" Stonie. The 25-year-old Stonie came in third on Tuesday, with 48 franks and buns.

"There's no secret, I love to eat, and I love doing it, I love to win, so I had to figure out my body and push it to the limit," a sweating Chestnut said.

One of America's most outlandish July Fourth traditions, the contest dates to 1972, though the company has for years promoted what a former president acknowledged was a legendary start date of 1916.
The companies that manufacture and distribute highly addictive painkillers are facing a barrage of lawsuits for the toll their product has taken on communities across the country as the worst drug epidemic in U.S. history continues to escalate.

Within the past year, at least 25 states, cities and counties have filed civil cases against manufacturers, distributors and large drugstore chains that make up the $13 billion-a-year opioid industry. In the past few weeks alone, the attorneys general for Ohio and Missouri, along with the district attorneys for three counties in Tennessee, filed suits against the industry - and the attorney general for Oklahoma filed suit on Friday.

The strategy echoes the effort against major tobacco companies in the 1990s and is born of similar frustration over rising death rates and the increasing costs of addressing the continuing public health crisis. After years of government and pharmaceutical firms failing to control the problem, some lawyers say the suits have the potential to force the industry to curb practices that contribute to it.

"If they're not going to do it voluntarily, we're going to drag them to the table and make them," said Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine, who sued five drug manufacturers for the costs of the opioid epidemic.

Dozens of other state, county and city governments and local law enforcement agencies are considering legal action. Some states are interviewing law firms.

Delaware is among a handful of states that are even issuing "requests for proposals" from law firms.

In addition, more than half the country's state attorneys general - Republicans and Democrats - have banded together to investigate the industry.

Two congressional panels also are examining the industry - the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee and the House Energy and Commerce Committee. The Justice Department's Inspector General is investigating why the Drug Enforcement Administration slowed enforcement efforts against drug distribution companies.

Representatives of the companies deny wrongdoing and vow to vigorously defend themselves. They said they have taken steps to prevent the diversion of their drugs to the black market. Stemming the epidemic, they said, will take a coordinated effort by doctors, the industry and federal and local government agencies.

"As we look to prevent abuse and misuse in the future, it will require a forward-looking, systemic approach that calls on greater coordination and collaboration between health-care, law enforcement, and state and federal regulatory authorities,"said the Healthcare Distribution Alliance, which represents companies that distribute drugs.

But in a blow to the industry, the D.C. Court of Appeals on Friday rejected arguments from a drug distributor, Masters Pharmaceutical, that would have undermined the DEA's ability to hold companies responsible for pain pills that are diverted to the black market.

The lawsuits come as states and communities grapple with the economic impact of a prescription drug epidemic that has resulted in nearly 180,000 overdose deaths between 2000 and 2015 - more than three times the number of Americans who died during the Vietnam War. The epidemic has led to thousands more deaths from overdoses of heroin and fentanyl, which are becoming easier and cheaper to obtain than prescription drugs.

But winning the lawsuits will not be easy, according to Richard C. Ausness, a professor at the University of Kentucky College of Law who studies product liability litigation. He said it is more likely that the companies will settle rather than try to defend themselves against dozens, perhaps hundreds, of lawsuits.

"I think what's going on, and this is what happened in the tobacco litigation, is that the plaintiffs never actually won a case," Ausness said. "What they did is they drove up the cost of litigation so much that the defendants finally settled."

Manufacturers, distributors and pharmacy chains are expected to argue that they cannot be held responsible for what happens to pain pills once they travel down the supply chain.

"They ship a drug that's approved by the FDA (Food and Drug Administration), and then a bunch of bad actors intervene - pill mills, doctors who overprescribe and the addicts themselves," Ausness said. "It's a pretty strong argument."

The suits are reminiscent of the tobacco cases filed two decades ago. In the 1990s, 46 attorneys general eventually combined their resources to sue the tobacco companies. In 1998, the industry settled those suits, paying more than$200 billion.

"These pharmaceutical companies should be scared as hell," said Richard Fields, an attorney who has filed suit on behalf of the Cherokee Nation in Oklahoma.

The suit alleges that the nation's top six drug distributors and pharmacy chains flooded the state with hundreds of millions of pain pills, decimating the Cherokee Nation's 14 counties.

During a meeting of the Democratic Attorneys General Association in May in Portland, Ore., industry officials said they were not to blame for the epidemic. Instead, they said during a panel discussion that they were part of the solution and had put programs in place to prevent the illegal use of pain pills.

Grant Woods, a former Arizona attorney general who was the first Republican to sue the tobacco companies, said he was appalled by what he heard. As the officials finished their presentations, Woods stood from his seat in the crowded sixth-floor ballroom of The Nines resort hotel and told them they all deserved to be sued.

Woods has joined forces with another veteran of the tobacco lawsuits, Mike Moore, who served as the attorney general for Mississippi and filed the first of the tobacco suits. The two attorneys, along with other high-profile lawyers, are now working for Ohio and Mississippi on their opioid cases, and they are signing up other states to sue the companies.

Woods said the similarities between the opioid and tobacco suits are striking.

"They are big companies that knew their product was doing harm," he said. "Instead of helping to solve the problem, they promoted the irresponsible use of their product to improve their bottom line."

At the same time, prescription narcotics, when used appropriately, can eliminate pain without deadly health consequences - a claim cigarette manufacturers could not make.

The suits target some of the biggest names in the business, including McKesson, Johnson & Johnson and CVS.

Some of the suits allege that the companies fraudulently marketed opioids to the public. Others claim that the companies failed to report suspiciously large orders of prescription pain pills placed by distributors and pharmacies.

McKesson, the largest drug distribution company in the country, said in a statement: "While McKesson doesn't manufacture, prescribe, or dispense opioids, we have taken steps to play a leadership role in combatting this epidemic in close partnership with doctors, pharmacists, the DEA and other organizations across the supply chain."

Johnson & Johnson's pharmaceutical unit, Janssen Pharmaceutical, issued a statement saying the company is "continuing to work with stakeholders to support" the "safe and appropriate use" of opioids.

CVS said it has "stringent" procedures to keep prescription pain pills out of the hands of drug addicts and dealers.

"CVS Health is committed to the highest standards of ethics and business practices, including complying with all federal and state laws governing the dispensing of controlled substance prescriptions, and is dedicated to reducing prescription drug abuse and diversion," the company said in a statement.

As the epidemic spreads, more states are declaring states of emergency and filing suits.

In New York, eight counties have filed suits. Salvatore Badala, who filed a suit on behalf of Nassau County on June 12, said his client needs financial help. "It's getting worse every day," he said.

In Missouri, Attorney General Josh Hawley filed suit June 22 against three manufacturers of opioids. In 2015, 500 people died from opioid-related overdoses, not counting heroin, and there were 30,000 opioid-related emergency room visits that same year, a 200 percent increase over the previous decade.

In West Virginia, seven counties filed suit in March. "It's outrageous," said Paul Farrell Jr., who filed the suits.

He and other attorneys say they expect industry lawyers to delay the suits.

"They can drag it on for a very long time," said J. Gerard Stranch IV, a lawyer who is part of the Tennessee suit. "But there will come a day when they have to stand up in front of a jury and explain themselves. And that day of reckoning is coming."
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - The fireworks Bryant Moore hears exploding nearby are making him jittery. The pops that pierce through the apartment walls rattle Moore, forcing him to remember what happened days earlier: The flashes of the gun. The pow pow pow.

Moore, 22, dropped to the ground as more than 50 bullets sprayed across the Power Ultra Lounge nightclub in downtown Little Rock, Arkansas, early Saturday morning, according to police estimates. In total, 28 people were injured - 25 by gunshots wounds - in the nation's largest mass shooting since the Pulse nightclub attack a year earlier in Orlando, Florida.

"Like a damn movie," Moore says, describing the scene. He was shot three times, in his thigh and in both feet, which are now wrapped with black, boot-like contraptions.

"I ain't never been scared of no guns," he says. "And now I'm like, damn. . . . I guess it had to take me being shot to just come to a realization that this is not a damn game. Life is not a game."

Authorities have said all the injured people are expected to survive. Still, the lack of fatalities doesn't make the incident less shocking. It is the third mass shooting in Arkansas this year, as many mass shootings as the state experienced in all of 2016, according to the Gun Violence Archive.

"It's gotten a lot of attention, and I think rightfully so," said Lt. Steven McClanahan, Little Rock Police Department spokesman. "Because 25 peopleshot at one scene, I mean that's never happened in our city before."

The shootingtouched off the flurry of speculation and questions: Had Little Rock become the latest victim of terrorism? Were the state's gun laws to blame?

Instead, city leaders say the incident appears to be a more familiar story of violent crime, similar to what other big-city mayors and police chiefs have highlighted in recent years.

Little Rock has seen a bump in violent crime over the past few months, officials say. There have been 29 homicides in this year, compared with 15 at this time last year, McClanahan said Monday. The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, citing preliminary data, reported this week that violent crime in the city in 2017 had increased more than 20 percent when compared with the 2016 figures from the same time period.

Saturday's shooting unfolded around 2:30 a.m. during a performance by Finese 2Tymes, a rapper from Tennessee whose real name is Ricky Hampton. Hampton was arrested Sunday on outstanding charges of aggravated assault with a gun in an unrelated shooting in Forrest City, Ark., according to news reports.

Police say gang members were present at Saturday's shooting, and some in attendance "have been on our radar screen," McClanahan said.

No one has been charged in connection to the shooting.

Mayor Mark Stodola said violence in the city has been "focused primarily with two small groups of people," describing a Hatfields-and-McCoys scenario, involving warring families. McClanahan described the situation as a bit more complex but said authorities think the city's jump in crime can be linked to gang activity.

"We think a lot of these are second-generation gang members, that are now coming of age, and contributing to violence in our city," he said.

Stodola said an early morning phone call about the incident on Saturday left him with a "sickening feeling in my stomach."

He expressed concerns about "too many guns in the hands of the wrong people." He mentioned felons in possession of firearms, saying officials need to more vigorously monitor how felons get possession of firearms.

A law allowing concealed handgun permit holders who have taken up to eight hours of active-shooter training to carry their weapon in certain bars will take effect in September, according to the Associated Press. In this case, though, Stodola doubted the law would have mattered.

"The people who had weapons in that lounge, I'm only surmising, but I would imagine that they had those guns regardless of what the law was that was passed," Stodola said.

He said Little Rock's surge in violent crime is "not unlike what's happening in other cities around the country." He said he has spoken with other mayors who have relayed stories of what is happening in their communities.

"What drives it? Obviously, illegal activity," he said. "Whether it's an epidemic of illegal drugs and somebody cheating somebody out of some money, or obviously somebody disrespecting another individual."

On Monday, there were reminders of the chaos at Power nightclub. Gloves, presumably from police or paramedics, remained outside the club. Bits of glass were on the sidewalk, and a "Notice to Vacate" sign was posted on the door. Inside, a woman's shoe could be seen on the ground.

"I'm in Power, and my best friend just got shot," a woman's voice says on a 911 call from Saturday's shooting, released to The Washington Post on Monday.

"Hello, they just shot up the club. Oh my God," another woman tells a dispatcher, on another call.

As Moore contemplates the experience nearly two days later, he resolves to start carrying a gun when he goes out.

"I ain't going to be in no predicament like that again," he says.
A San Antonio woman was found dead on a beach at Padre Island National Seashore over the weekend.

Julianne Julie Elizabeth Shaw, 59, may have been the victim of a possible drowning, according to a Padre Island National Seashore news release. It was unclear if authorities are still waiting for autopsy results to determine the official cause and manner of Shaws death.

RELATED: Alamo Heights HS graduate, mother killed in rollover crash

Shaws body was found Saturday at Malaquite Beach. No further details were available Monday from the Kleberg County Sheriffs Office or from Padre Island National Seashores office.

Shaws husband, Jeffrey Akins, told the San Antonio Express-News that Shaw took a trip to the beach by herself Saturday morning. No one saw anything, he said of his wifes death. It appears  something happened when she was out in the water.

pohare@express-news.net
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A teenage girl was shot and killed Tuesday afternoon by a younger playmate in an apparent accident on the Southwest Side.

The Bexar County Medical Examiner on Wednesday identified the girl as 15-year-old Caroline Guzman.

At about 4 p.m. Tuesday, three children were outside a house in the 3100 block of Mission Gate when Guzman was shot in the chest at about 4 p.m., said San Antonio Police Lt. Brian Head.

There were no parents in the house at the time, Head said.

READ ALSO: Police: Man drowns on Fourth of July at Comal River

One of the children, a 12-year-old boy, told police that the three children were playing by a field next to the house when Guzman was shot in the chest. The third child was a 2-year-old.

"He is saying it was a stray bullet that came from that open field and struck the (15-year-old)," Head said.

However, Head said the preliminary search of the crime scene "doesn't seem to match" what the 12-year-old described.

Police confirmed that the boy "finally stated the location of a handgun after stating that he was playing with a bullet and it went off."

READ ALSO: SAPD officer in squad car runs over, kills 63-year-old woman after responding to fireworks call

The boy and his parent were transported to police headquarters for further questioning, police said.

Head said the mother told police there were no guns in the house. However, SAPD officials confirmed that a weapon was found in the house.

Guzman, who was previously reported as being 14 years old, was transported in serious condition to University Hospital via AirLife, where she died.

Smartinez-beltran@express-news.net

Twitter: @SergioMarBel
A woman who drowned on Padre Island National Seashore over the weekend was a volunteer at Robert E. Lee High School in San Antonio, officials told mySA.com Tuesday.

Julianne "Julie" Elizabeth Shaw's body was found Saturday near the water on Malaquite Beach, where officials believe she drowned. Shaw's husband, Jeffrey Akins, told the San Antonio Express-News that Shaw took a trip to the beach by herself Saturday morning.

"No one saw anything," he said of his wife's death. "It appears ... something happened when she was out in the water."

RELATED: San Antonio woman found dead at beach on Padre Island

North East Independent School District officials said Shaw, 59, was an administrative assistant for Robert E. Lee High School's STEM program and volunteered there.

In a letter sent out to Lee High School volunteers, STEM Director Jennifer Jensen said "It is with a heavy heart that we share the news that we lost a member of our volunteer family this past weekend.

"Please continue to lift them up in your thoughts and prayers during this very difficult time," she said.

Those who knew Shaw took to social media Tuesday, expressing their shock and sadness at her sudden passing.

"My heart is heavy to hear such sad news of a dear friend and colleague passing away so unexpectedly," said one commenter on Facebook. "Julie Shaw, you are amongst (sic) angels!"

Officials at the Padre Island National Seashore issued a swimming warning Monday due to a possibility of strong rip currents in the area through Tuesday.

"We strongly urge all visitors not to swim! Rip currents can sweep even the strongest swimmers out to sea," officials said.

Staff writer Peggy O'Hare contributed to this report.

kbradshaw@express-news.net

Twitter: @kbrad5
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NASA denied that it has a child slave colony on Mars after a guest on Alex Jones' "Infowars" channel claimed that agency had kidnapped kids and sent them on a two-decade mission to the Red Planet.

"There are no humans on Mars. There are active rovers on Mars. There was a rumor going around last week that there weren't. There are," Guy Webster, spokesman for Mars exploration at NASA, told The Daily Beast. "But there are no humans."

But of course that's what you'd expect a space agency with a secret interplanetary child slave operation to say, right, Fox Mulder?

Jones' guest Robert David Steele, whose Wikipedia page describes him as a former CIA clandestine services case officer, did not disappoint listeners tuning in Thursday to Infowars' 118 stations for their daily conspiracy theory fix.

"We actually believe that there is a colony on Mars that is populated by children who were kidnapped and sent into space on a 20-year ride," he told Jones. "So that once they get to Mars they have no alternative but to be slaves on the Mars colony."

Besides providing the slave labor, children are also being harvested for their blood and bone marrow, Steele says.

While Jones said he didn't "know about Mars bases," he did take the opportunity to hype his own NASA theories.

"Look, I know that 90 percent of the NASA missions are secret and I've been told by high level NASA engineers that you have no idea, there is so much stuff going on," he said. "But then it goes off into all that, that's the kind of thing media jumps on.

"But I know this: we see a bunch of mechanical wreckage on Mars and people say, 'Oh look, it looks like mechanics.' They go, 'Oh, you're a conspiracy theorist.' Clearly they don't want us looking into what is happening. Every time probes go over they turn them off."

Why should we care about any bat guano theory spouted on Infowars? Well, for one reason, Jones has a very powerful fan.

In December 2015, as his campaign was getting started, President Donald Trump told Jones that "your reputation is amazing."

Infowars' Washington bureau chief Jerome Corsi received one-day press credentials to the White House in May and said it would apply for permanent credentials "in about three months," Snopes reported.
(Photo by CGTN)

The Chinese mainlands Taiwan affairs chief, Zhang Zhijun, met with Taipei mayor Ko Wen-je in Shanghai on Monday, where Ko was leading a delegation to attend an annual forum.

Zhang said Chinese mainland welcomes any parties, groups or individuals from Taiwan as long as they have the right understanding of the nature of cross-Strait relations and are willing to promote the peaceful development of ties. Ko said Taiwan and the mainland, with the same culture and origin, should strengthen exchanges and cooperation for the benefit of the people.
PUBLIC Service minister Paul Mavima has admitted that the government does not have a budget for free primary school education yet, but was hopeful that funds will be made available next year.

Speaking at the World Autism Day event last week in Harare, Mavima said: I want to thank the President (Emmerson Mnangagwa) that, even though we have legislated for State-funded basic education, we have not been able to implement that provision within our Act because of inadequate resources that were allocated to education.

I am glad to announce that the President is committed and starting in 2023 there is going to be free primary education. So those attending public schools will not be required to pay basic tuition fees while the State continues to support vulnerable children with uniforms, examination fees, and stationery. So we are happy about that development.

Government has not only reneged on its promise for free primary education, but has also failed to honour its pledge to pay tuition fees for children of teachers and is owing huge amounts of money for students under the Basic Education Assistance Module.

Mavima decried what he called a lack of co-ordination between the Public Service ministry and the Education ministry in expediting the free education programme.

It is a matter that should be expedited by the head of the Primary and Secondary Education ministry. The permanent secretaries should take it upon themselves and speedily implement that provision. So there is no discussion whatsoever on that issue, Mavima said.

Amalgamated Rural Teachers Union of Zimbabwe president Obert Masaraure said government was failing to offer free education due to corruption which has made education inaccessible to over 7,9 million children who are being forced to drop out of school.

Obert Masaraure

The government has enough resources to deliver on the mandate of free education. One easy source of revenue is our mineral wealth which has the capacity to fund all social services in Zimbabwe if managed well. There are multiple potential revenue streams for funding free education, Masaraure said.

 NewsDay

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Time for a fluffy post, in both senses of the word.

I know some animals have been nominated for elected office and even polled well, which is not surprising given the alternatives. But I had a different angle in mind, prompted by this e-mail from reader Pat:

Adorable kitties isnt the first thing that comes to mind when you have to make a trip to the DMV. I was dreading registering my car this week, but a friend turned me on to the Department of Licensing agency in Aberdeen, Wa., where we were greeted at the door by two adorable and very friendly cats. There were three more in the waiting area. When it was our turn at the agents window, we were astonished to see that the office behind her was more like an animal shelter. There were chickens, ferrets, a parrot, a magnificent cockatiel, a perky young German shepherd, and others I cant recall. Mind you, the office isnt that big, and they were all getting along with each other. Greeting apparently is a demanding job, though, requiring periodic catnaps. Seeing these two on my way out the door made me forget momentarily that Id just paid hundreds of dollars in registration fees and taxes.

I also recall reading some years ago, perhaps in the Wall Street Journal, about a law firm that had 13 cats in its office. They found them to be a big net plus for business.

Weve had decades of right-wind financed demonization of government, to the point that a lot of people are prejudiced against it even though many agencies function well. Even though bureaucracies are, well, bureaucratic because they have to operate with laws and regulations, given how much crapification and looting goes on in the private sector on a routine basis, its not as if businesspeople have a valid basis for claiming a moral or efficiency high ground, save with respect to lining their own pockets.

More animals in government offices would produce a lot of side benefits:

More relaxed employees Calming/distracting effect on citizens, particularly if they are having to wait Good imaging/branding Reduction in the number of uncared-for strays

Just imagine how much less unpleasant dealing with airports would be if the TSA has some cats hanging around, or were allowed to have tanks of calming dentist office exotic fish. Of course the cats would like hanging out on the X-ray machines, which would probably be bad for them, so nix that idea

Now of course there are many practical issues to solve. People in the office would need to take care of the critters. If they were government pets, as opposed to personal pets allowed to hang out in and live overnight in government offices, the kibble and litter and vet expenditures would need to be budgeted. But this could wind up being cheaper than other forms of PR. And if they were personal pets allowed to play a dual role as daytime government greeters, how would they be screened to make sure they were calm and well behaved enough?

More serious is that some people (both government workers and citizens visiting offices) might be allergic or phobic. But Ive regularly seen cats in stores (health food and news stands seem to be the biggest users of store cats) so this doesnt seem to come up often as an issue. However, citizens cant necessarily avoid going to certain government offices, while cat (or dog or ferret or parrot) haters have the luxury of boycotting stores with animals they dont like.

So I hope this idea gets traction, but I doubt it will get beyond offices in small to medium sized communities that tolerate a certain amount of character. Readers?
A new plan to breath life back into Tipperary towns struggling retail sector was presented at this months Cashel Tipperary Municipal District meeting.

Town centre revival expert David Fizsimons, CEO of Retail Excellence Ireland (REI), told councillors that the main ways to revive a town are to concentrate at all times on doing things which will motivate locals to use their own town, define where the inner core of the town is and start there, establish a Town Team involving all stakeholders, and to design a deliverable town plan.

Mr Fizsimons said he would ban discussion regarding rates, parking fees, and pedestrianisation.

Cllr Tom Wood pointed out that in Cashel, 21 businesses had closed in the town centre: 20 years ago there were 26 pubs in town, now there are only 10.

Some 16 beauticians or hairdressers operate in the town of Cashel, and while were delighted to have them its a sign that other businesses have left leaving empty premises.

In the next 20 years there will be little or less small businesses in the town centre. People simply cannot make a living. You have online shopping, which is massive.

In Cashel, the four major retailers in the country are located in the town centre, outcompeting smaller local shops. Our towns have to be residential. We have to get more people living in the town centre, said Cllr Wood.

Some solutions include boosting online support for small busineses, said Mr Fizsimons. Cllr Martin Browne said they need to think outside the box, and generate different types of business to attract shoppers back into the town core.

Cllr Denis Leahy said consumers want variety. That variety has declined.

If you have economic stagnation, you will not have variety in the shops. We need to start from the beginning. We are a patient that is critically ill, that needs all the help we can get.

Mr Fizsimons said parking charges need to be commensurate with the offer, and at the moment the offer in Tipperary is substandard.

Cllr Mary Hanna Hourigan said she had tried to help a Limerick businessman set up shop in Tipperary town, but rates of 20,000 meant he couldnt afford to.

Cllr Roger Kennedy said rates across the county are being harmonised, but Limericks are cheaper.

Mr Fizsimons said the problems impacting towns include: out of town retail preference, a weak town centre mix, greater consumer mobility, car parking charges and enforcement, mixed landlord base, accessibility, changing consumer behaviour, E-Commerce competition, planning policy, and being over-retailed.

Improving the town offer would include three strands, firstly: motivating retail and hospitality providers to open for business, innovative uses of buildings such as town creches, visitor offices, town galleries, and designating a part of the inner core as a rent and rates controlled zone and invite small artisan providers to come and trade.

Secondly, improving the public realm by appointing street ambassadors who would conduct street standard audits; painting, planting, and awning schemes, street furniture, and civic spaces.

Thirdly, create a citizen database and a town brand, send texts and alerts outlining reasons to come into town, and develop reasons for citizens to use their town, such as outdoor cinema nights, food events, and family days.
Tuesday, July 04, 2017 by: Bridgette Wilcox Tags: Colorado , smartphone , smartphone use This article may contain statements that reflect the opinion of the author

(Natural News) The country may see the first legal age limits on smartphone sales as Colorado officials approve the language of a ballot proposing to restrict the sale of smartphones to children below 13 years of age. The proposed measure will need 300,000 signatures to be certified for the November 2018 ballot, Coloradoan.com reported.

If the measure were to take effect, smartphone retailers will be banned from selling smartphones  defined in the proposal as any handheld device with internet, data or Wi-Fi connectivity  to children belonging to that age bracket. Businesses will also be required to check the valid ID of the intended primary user to ensure that he or she is of age, as well as submit reports to the Colorado Department of Revenue every month. Those found in violation of the law could be fined a minimum of $500.

The proposal, also known as Initiative 29, was spearheaded by a non-profit group called Parents Against Underage Smartphone Use (PAUS), and was led by Denver anesthesiologist Tim Farnum.

Eventually kids are going to get phones and join the world, and I think we all know that, but little children, theres just no good that comes from that, Farnum told Coloradoan.com, sharing that he experienced problems with his own children when they were given access to smartphones.

(With smartphones), the internet is always begging for your attention. The apps are all designed to addict youFor children, its not a good thing, he said.

The proposal comes as children continue to be introduced to and use mobile technology at an increasingly early age. One study, according to DailyMail.co.uk, has found that over half of all toddlers can use a tablet at the age of one, and 90 percent of them master the device by the time they turn two.

Studying hundreds of YouTube videos, researchers from the University of Iowa found that over 50 percent of toddlers between 12 to 17 months displayed a moderate ability to use a tablet. Researchers defined moderate as being able to use apps with help from an adult, but having some difficulty when it comes to basic day-to-day functions.

The researchers also found that by the time babies turned one, they interacted with the tablet in much the same way that adults do, using only their index finger as opposed to using both hands and fingers, as babies younger than one have been observed to do.

Experts have warned against introducing digital media to children at an early age. Children under two years of age learn best from real-world experiences and interactions, Carolyn James, a learning designer for Leapfrog Enterprises, told PBS Parents. Each minute spent in front of a screen-based device is a minute when your child is not exploring the world and using their senses, which is extremely important in their development process.

PBS Parents recommends that children be allowed to use smartphones to try educational programs and games under close supervision only after they enter preschool. At the same time, unsupervised use and ownership of smartphones should be held off until the child is between 11 to 13 years old, depending on when parents deem they are ready.

Ensuring good content and limiting screen time to no more than 30 minutes per sitting for younger kids, one hour per sitting for older kids, and two hours per sitting for teenagers was also suggested to ensure the healthy incorporation of video tech into kids daily activities.

Get more news like this on GreenLivingNews.com.

Sources include:

Coloradoan.com

DailyMail.co.uk

PBS.org
A San Diego woman is accused of child endangerment after her three children were involved in a collision in Spring Valley Monday.

The incident occurred at approximately 3 a.m. on Bancroft Drive near the intersection with Koonce Drive, south of State Route 94 and east of State Route 125.

A truck veered onto the sidewalk and slammed into a fountain and a concrete wall, California Highway Patrol officers confirmed.

The driver, identified as Grace Esparza, was in the vehicle with her three children ages 7 years old, 3 years old and 5 months old, CHP officers said.

The 7-year-old girl was unrestrained in the front passenger seat, officials said. She underwent surgery at Rady Children's Hospital for facial and spleen lacerations, they added.

The 3-year-old girl was in the backseat unrestrained and suffered a minor cut to her head, CHP officers said.

An infant boy was restrained in a car seat in the backseat of the truck and was uninjured.



Esparza, 26, was hospitalized with broken vertebrae and a broken nose, officials said. She will be booked into the Las Colinas Detention and Reentry Facility once she is released from the hospital.

She will face felony driving under the influence and child endangerment charges, investigators said.



San Diego County Child Protective Services employees were called to advise on the placement of the children, CHP officers said.
San Bruno and Pacifica are the last remaining places to legally launch your own fireworks on the Peninsula. But following fireworks bans around Bay Area cities, including San Francisco, the Fourth of July brings large crowds annually to show off their patriotic pride in these cities.

>> Fourth of July Bay Area Events Guide

Here are both cities' regulations on fireworks use on the Fourth of July, including designated places safe for launching "safe and sane" fireworks:

Pacifica

Beaches: On Pacifica's Linda Mar Beach, "safe and sane" fireworks are allowed immediately west of the north parking lot to just 10 feet east of the tide. This area stretches from markers immediately north of Taco Bell to the north end of the parking lot. On South Pacifica State Beach and South Rockaway Beach, fireworks are allowed on the asphalt areas of the parking lots. At all other beaches, fireworks are prohibited, and those caught with illegal fireworks will be cited and can be sentenced up to one year in jail.

On Pacifica's Linda Mar Beach, "safe and sane" fireworks are allowed immediately west of the north parking lot to just 10 feet east of the tide. This area stretches from markers immediately north of Taco Bell to the north end of the parking lot. On South Pacifica State Beach and South Rockaway Beach, fireworks are allowed on the asphalt areas of the parking lots. At all other beaches, fireworks are prohibited, and those caught with illegal fireworks will be cited and can be sentenced up to one year in jail. Hours of Use: From noon to 11 p.m. on June 28 and 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. from June 29 to July 5, it is legal to shoot fireworks off at designated locations.

From noon to 11 p.m. on June 28 and 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. from June 29 to July 5, it is legal to shoot fireworks off at designated locations. Permissions : You must obtain permission from homeowners that you are shooting fireworks over and stay within 10 feet of any home. Fireworks are also not allowed in city parks. The city also requires a permit from its fire chief.

: You must obtain permission from homeowners that you are shooting fireworks over and stay within 10 feet of any home. Fireworks are also not allowed in city parks. The city also requires a permit from its fire chief. Adults-Only: Those launching fireworks must be at least 18 years old.

To report individuals using, possessing or selling illegal fireworks, the city asks that you call its non-emergency Pacifica Police dispatch line at (650) 738-7314.

San Bruno

Hours of Use: Fireworks are legal from noon to 9 p.m. from June 28 to July 3 and noon to 11 p.m. on the Fourth of July.

Fireworks are legal from noon to 9 p.m. from June 28 to July 3 and noon to 11 p.m. on the Fourth of July. Permissions: San Bruno has banned fireworks on public property such as parks and schools as well as private open areas such as parking lots or vacant property without the consent of the owner. Similar to Pacifica, reworks are also required to be launched at least 10 feet away from any residence, building or structure. Anyone found using illegal reworks within the city limits will be ned up to $1,000.

San Bruno has banned fireworks on public property such as parks and schools as well as private open areas such as parking lots or vacant property without the consent of the owner. Similar to Pacifica, reworks are also required to be launched at least 10 feet away from any residence, building or structure. Anyone found using illegal reworks within the city limits will be ned up to $1,000. View more guidance on which fireworks are allowed on the city website.

To report individuals using, possessing or selling illegal fireworks, the city asks that you call (650) 616-7100.
Ahead of one of the largest professional fireworks shows on the West Coast, public safety officials in San Francisco on Tuesday are finalizing security measures along the Embarcadero to keep the Fourth of July celebrating crowd safe.

Police have stockpiled barracades at the two primary viewing sites along the waterfront to keep people out of the street. And they will have extra patrols along the entire Embaracadero.

"You may see more officers that are armed, as you did during Pride," San Francisco police spokesman Officer Robert Rueca said. "I mean more armed. Officers with rifles, on foot, in SUVs and on dirt bikes. And more on standby."

Rueca added that the San Francisco police force is prepping to handle any unexpected demonstrations.

"Usually, for July Fourth, thats not what we expect, but we are prepared for that," he said.

Preparations were underway Monday for San Franciscos Fourth of July fireworks show, one of the biggest displays on the West Coast. Mark Matthews reports.

Some celebrations started earlier Tuesday

at Golden Gate Park. where families were scraping down the grills and setting the tables well before lunchtime. The Fourth of July menu included all the usual suspects: chicken wings, corn, hot dogs, pork and beans, chili beans, tacos, carne asada and pastas.

Ten thousand fireworks will explode over a 25-minute show Tuesday night, about 400 per minute, on average. A couple of dozen technicians on Monday were carefully loading the mortar tubes with the fireworks shells on two barges that will be towed into place out on the bay Tuesday afternoon.

Each one of the 10,000 shells is wired to a computer that is programmed to coordinate the pyrotecnics with patriotic music, show producer Jeff Thomas said. The two prime locations are Pier 39 and Aquatic Park.

The biggest challenge, Thomas said, is getting everything wired in properly. The biggest headache is the fog. So Thomas said he's preparing shells to explode at different altitudes.

"So that even if there is some fog way up high, well still have a viewing area at the lower levels," he said.

Thomas says he can remember only a couple of years when the fog came in so thick it spoiled the show.

The fireworks go off at 9:30 p.m. Tuesday. The best viewing area will be between Aquatic Park and Pier 39, near the old cannery building. That's where Thomas will be stationed, so he can watch both shows simultaneously.
A manhunt has ended in Northern Virginia after a man escaped from immigration officials.

Marlon Carlos Rivas-Mendez, 27, fled from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody as he was facing deportation and being driven to Washington Dulles International Airport, law enforcement sources tell News4.

He is now in law enforcement custody, ICE told News4 Monday afternoon.

Rivas-Mendez escaped from a car traveling south on Dulles Toll Road near Old Ox Road in Sterling, sources say. He ran into a wooded area.

Loudoun County police say Rivas-Mendez is a Sterling resident who initially was arrested Monday morning. He was transferred into ICE custody about 11:10 a.m. without incident.

But in federal custody "Rivas-Mendez assaulted the transport personnel and escaped custody on the Dulles Toll Road," a statement from the Loudoun County Sheriff's Office said.

ICE, Virginia State Police, Fairfax and Loudoun county police and Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority officers all hunted for Rivas-Mendez.

Video from Chopper4 showed the extensive search underway.



Finally, more than three hours after he was taken into ICE custody, he was found about four miles away, near Mercure Circle and Old Ox Road.

He was taken back into custody without incident, Loudoun County police say.

Rivas-Mendez now faces local charges of assault and battery, and he is in ICE custody.

Sources said Rivas-Mendez stands 5-foot-11, is Hispanic with fair skin and was wearing a white T-shirt, camouflage shorts and no shoes. He had a handcuff around one wrist.

Anyone with information on Rivas-Mendez's whereabouts was asked to call 911 or 703-777-1021.
Hundreds gathered at the vacant Dallas home Monday evening where the bodies of 13-year-old Shavon Randle and 19-year-old Michael Titus were discovered over the weekend, bringing a tragic end to a desperate search for the young girl.

Shavon Randle's mother, Shaquna Randle, spoke publicly for the first time since her daughter's death, visibly shaken while looking at the home where her body was discovered.

"If y'all have kids, cherish them," Randle said. "Hold them and don't let them go, y'all. Don't let them go."

The boarded-up house is surrounded by brightly colored balloons, flowers and stuffed animals as the memorial grows.

One cousin spoke at Monday's vigil and said she had just surprised Shavon with a cell phone last week. Arrest warrant affidavits show that police tracked Shavon's phone until it was turned off, linking it to two people currently in custody.

Shavon had been living with her aunt in Lancaster, about 16 miles south of Dallas, at the time she was kidnapped, apparently taken as ransom for a drug dispute a family member was involved in but that Shavon had nothing to do with.

Her mother thanked those gathered  and those who couldn't make it.

"Thank you all for the love, the support and the prayers. I need all of that," Randle said. "She meant a lot to this family. She was like that piece."

One of Shavon's teachers, Crystal Spain, said the little girl was known for her "puffy little ponytail." Their last conversation was about how excited Shavon was to go into seventh grade this fall.

"She just wanted to live another day. Just wanted to live another day, and she can't because of some foolish people," Spain said. "It hurts. And I hurt for her mother. I hurt for everybody in the community. I hurt for all of them because if you don't feel something out of this, something is wrong with you."

The vigil and march were organized by the Next Generation Action Network.
The Illinois Senate voted to override Gov. Bruce Rauner's vetoes of a budget plan and income tax hike sent to his desk on Tuesday.

Rauner vetoed the measures shortly after the Senate sent them to his desk, taking particular issue with the tax increase that was part of a revenue plan among three bills passed in ongoing negotiations to enact the state's first budget in over two years.

"I just vetoed Speaker Madigan's 32% permanent income tax increase," Rauner tweeted Tuesday afternoon.

[[432510453, C]]

"This budget package does not provide property tax relief to struggling families and employers," Rauner said in a statement. "It does not provide regulatory relief to businesses to create jobs and grow the economy. It does not include real term limits on state elected officials to fix our broken political system."

The Illinois Senate then quickly moved to override the Republican governor's veto, while Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan has also said he will push to override.

The General Assembly came together to seek compromise, Democratic State Sen. Jacqueline Collins said in a statement. It was not easy to make this deal, which contains many items I, too, deeply dislike. It was nevertheless the responsible course of action, and one we should have carried out years ago. I urge the governor to sign these measures into law and end the budget impasse.

Still, some Republicans called it a "disappointment."

"Raising taxes and failing to address any of the fundamental issues that plague our state is detrimental to taxpayers," State Sen. Dan McConchie said in a statement. "Weve seen this before and it doesnt work. This is the exact same failed approach the state took in 2011increase taxes without addressing the underlying issues hurting our state. Continuing the mistakes of the past will not bring us a brighter future. This budget plan is bad for businesses and especially bad for families, and it certainly isnt attracting people and businesses to Illinois. We had a real opportunity to come together and find bipartisan compromise. Unfortunately, today was a missed opportunity."

What Happens If Illinois Lawmakers Don't Pass a Budget?

The state narrowly avoided a downgrade to junk bond status with the House's passage of the budget plan on Monday.

The measure would raise the personal income tax rate from 3.75 percent to 4.95 percent and the corporate tax rate from 5.25 percent to 7 percent.

The tax hikes are projected to raise roughly $5 billion at a time when Illinois has a $6.2 billion annual deficit and a $14.7 billion backlog of overdue bills.

Dozens of lawmakers in the House left Springfield before session, eliminating the chance of an override vote on Tuesday. They will likely vote on Thursday when they're scheduled to return.
Hundreds of people gathered outside a federal courthouse Monday as the suspect in the kidnapping of a Chinese scholar at the University of Illinois made his first appearance since being arrested last week.

During the nine-minute hearing, 28-year-old Brendt Christensen acknowledged to the judge that he understood his rights, but did not say anything else. U.S. Magistrate Eric Long ordered Christensen held without bond in the kidnapping of Yingying Zhang. Authorities say facts in the case indicate the 26-year-old Zhang is dead, although her body hasn't been found.

Long ordered Christensen to return to the court in Urbana on Wednesday to determine bond. A preliminary hearing was set for July 14, but that would be waived if a grand jury returns an indictment before then. The federal kidnapping charge carries a maximum sentence of life in prison, according to a U.S. attorney's office spokeswoman.

The (Champaign) News-Gazette reported that about 45 people attended the hearing Monday morning, with another crowd in the courthouse lobby and yet more people across the street, many chanting "Justice for Yingying."

After the hearing, Christensen's attorney Evan Bruno said he has talked to Christensen a few times, but that "this case is very young and we haven't had a really full opportunity to develop everything yet."

Bruno asked the public to "be patient, to keep an open mind, wait till the evidence comes in."

He described his client as a "very intelligent guy" who has no criminal history. "He has a speeding ticket, I think, but that's about it," Bruno said.

Bruno added that Christensen is married, but that he and his wife do not have any children, according to the newspaper. He said Christensen, who recently earned a master's degree in physics from the University of Illinois, is not employed but has been looking for a job.

Zhang, who received her master's degree in environmental engineering in China last year and hoped to eventually land a professorship and help her family financially, went missing on June 9. Her father traveled from China to Illinois in June for the search.

Authorities announced that they believed she was abducted after viewing surveillance video showing her climbing into a vehicle. Authorities charged Christensen on Friday after federal agents heard him tell someone that he'd kidnapped Zhang and held her against her will.

Authorities say Zhang was trying to hurry to an apartment to sign a lease and had been unsuccessful in flagging down a bus when a car stopped. The video shows a woman authorities have said is Zhang climb into the vehicle in Urbana, 140 miles (225 kilometers) southwest of Chicago.

Since then, details have emerged about Christensen and the events leading up to Zhang's disappearance.

According to authorities, a website that hosted an "Abduction 101" forum linked Christensen to the kidnapping of Zhang. The federal complaint says Christensen's phone was used April 19 to visit that website, FetLife.com, including to view threads titled "Perfect abduction fantasy" and "planning a kidnapping."

FetLife describes itself as "the Social Network for the BDSM, Fetish & Kinky Community," stressing in online policy statements that it is a place for consenting adults to trade advice and images of themselves, and to arrange to meet. The acronym BDSM stands for bondage, dominance, sadism and masochism. Users provide their ages, genders and roles they wish to play, but otherwise remain anonymous.
The originator of the famous Ice Bucket Challenge, Pete Frates, is back in the hospital and still alive despite a false report otherwise.

Frates, who has raised millions for Lou Gehrig's disease research, tweeted a video Monday showing himself in a hospital bed as the Pearl Jam song "Alive" plays in the background.

"In the words of my friend ed," he tweeted, in a reference to Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder.

in the words of my friend

ed pic.twitter.com/g7iIR4rfmT  Pete Frates (@PeteFrates3) July 3, 2017

The tweet came after journalist and commentator Mike Barnicle had incorrectly tweeted that Frates had died. He later said a family friend had given him bad information and he was "doubly wrong to tweet it."

On Sunday, Frates' mother Nancy shared a post on the Team FrateTrain Facebook page asking that supporters keep Frates in their prayers while he battles "this ALS like a Superhero."

On Monday morning, she shared another Facebook post saying Frates was resting comfortably.

[[432252923, C]]

Frates, 32, was diagnosed with ALS in March 2012, at the age of 27. Since his diagnosis, the entire Frates family has taken an active role in raising awareness and funds for ALS research.

There is no known cure for ALS, a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord and weakens muscles. The disease affects about 20,000 Americans.

Frates' Ice Bucket Challenge helped raise $220 million to fight the disease since the campaign took off on social media in 2014, The Associated Press reported.

Boston Mayor Marty Walsh was among those tweeting a show of support for Frates.
Two children walked into an overworked Chester County police department Monday and thanked officers for their long hours leading up to the arrest of a suspect in the high-profile Pennsylvania road rage murder of Bianca Roberson.

West Goshen police posted this photo of a card giving thanks from two kids named Emma and Trevor. The gracious children also brought in some donuts and coffee for the cops.

We want to thank Emma and Trevor who brought in a thank you card and treats for the Officers. pic.twitter.com/C9Ds3w3REI  WestGoshenPD (@WestGoshenPD) July 3, 2017

Roberson, 18, of West Chester, died from a gunshot wound to the head during rush hour last Wednesday along Route 100. The man arrested for allegedly shooting her, David Andrew Desper, of Trainer, was taken into custody Sunday after a four-day manhunt.

That dragnet spanned three states and tips poured in from the public as West Goshen police and Chester County law enforcement released several images and video clips of the red pickup truck that at least one witness identified as allegedly driven by Roberson's killer.

Life of Teen Fatally Shot in Road Rage

Those tips stretched from New Jersey to Texas.

But the epicenter of that search was West Goshen, a suburban Philadelphia town of roughly 20,000 that hasn't made national news since it was previously called one of the best places to live in America by Money Magazine. It's most known locally as home of the television sales giant, QVC.

"West Goshen Township has a lush, suburban feel, with quiet, tree-shaded residential areas, lovely parks, and a full slate of community activities," Money said of the township in 2013, when it was ranked 10th best place to live in the country.

Desper, 28, is being held without bail on a first-degree murder charge and other related charges. His preliminary hearing is set for July 13.

Roberson's parents sat quietly in the room, sobbing, while officials announced the arrest. They lost another child, an adult son, four years ago to heart disease.

On June 28, Desper and Roberson played what investigators previously called a game of "cat and mouse" while attempting to merge into the same lane on Route 100 in Chester County around 5:30 p.m., officials said. Roberson was heading home from a shopping trip. She would have left for college later this summer.

The shooters car fled the scene "at a high rate of speed on the shoulder of the spur before eventually crossing traffic and continuing southbound on the shoulder of Route 202," charging documents said.
A city commissioner from Texas City was charged with two counts of intoxication manslaughter Monday after authorities said her pickup truck veered to the shoulder of a highway and struck and killed a father and son.

According to her arrest affidavit, 54-year-old Dee Ann Haney told troopers she had been smoking marijuana. Haney was detained on suspicion of driving while intoxicated, and was then arrested and charged after undergoing testing, Galveston police said.

The crash occurred early Monday on an entrance ramp to Interstate 45 where it becomes the Galveston Causeway. Galveston Police Capt. Joshua Schirard said the men were on the ramp shoulder trying to secure items in their own truck when they were hit.

The Galveston County Medical Examiner's office identified the victims as 58-year-old Duoc Van Le, of Houston, and his 22-son, Hong Phuc Le, from Dickinson.

Haney said nothing to reporters as she was released from jail midday Monday after posting $100,000 bond.

She's been a commissioner in Texas City, just northwest of Galveston, since 2004 and was most recently re-elected in May 2016. The Galveston County Daily News reports she works as a laboratory safety and training coordinator at Texas A&M University at Galveston.

Haney could receive up to 20 years in prison and a $10,000 fine for each count if convicted.


Prosecutors want a judge to make "Pharma Bro" Martin Shkreli stop talking.

They filed a motion in U.S. District Court on Monday, asking that Shkreli and attorneys for all parties refrain from making statements outside court.

Shkreli is on trial for charges of federal securities fraud. He's most notorious for raising the price of a life-saving drug by 5,000 percent while at another company and has been nicknamed Pharma Bro and "the most hated man in America."

Federal prosecutors say Shkreli has interacted with the media since the jury for his trial was picked, in the courthouse, outside and on digital media. They say his statements risk tainting the jury.

Defense attorney Benjamin Brafman objects to a gag order and has accused reporters of baiting his client.
A Broward County judge ordered the sheriff's office on Monday to release a critically ill woman from custody so her mother can visit her in the hospital.

Circuit Judge Barbara Duffy ordered the Broward Sheriff's Office to release 26-year-old Kristin Carare, the Miami Herald reported.

Lucy Moss told the Herald the sheriff's office had allowed her to visit Carare twice at the hospital last week, but then barred her from further immediate visits, threatening her with an arrest for trespassing if she tried.

Sheriff's spokeswoman Keyla Concepcion told The Associated Press on Monday that the sheriff's office had bent its rules by letting Moss visit outside its normal procedures, but she wanted to spend the night with her daughter and visit any time of the day. She said the fault lies not with the sheriff's office, but with "the judicial system'' for not releasing Carare from custody sooner.

Carare had been jailed for three months awaiting trial on drug possession charges before becoming ill last week. Her mother says she is a heroin addict. Carare will remain at the hospital but she will no longer be an inmate.

Moss traveled to Fort Lauderdale from Cleveland after learning of Carare's illness, saying it was a "nightmare'' when she was not allowed further visits with her daughter.

Moss said Carare became a drug addict as a teenager after her father was fatally shot two hours after she argued with him. Carare moved to Fort Lauderdale in 2014.

"She's not a criminal. She had an apartment, a car, a job. She started getting high on weed then went to pills just to keep numb,'' Moss said.

But then Carare disappeared for a time before being arrested last September on drug possession charges. She was released on bail but was again arrested after a Florida Highway Patrol trooper found her with drugs. A judge ordered her jailed.

"When you are poor and you either have addiction or mental health issues, the number one treatment provider is the jail,'' said Howard Finkelstein, Broward County's head public defender. He said she should have been released again after the second arrest.

"At the very worst, she is somebody that suffers from addiction and has committed the most minimal of criminal offenses,'' he said.

Carare's public defender, Lien Lafargue, said she seemed healthy when he last spoke to her June 18, but a week later she was in the hospital. Her mother said Carare has a heart valve problem, but it hasn't been determined what has caused her illness.

Moss said her daughter's 111-pound frame has become bloated and even though she is hooked up to numerous machines and monitors, she was also cuffed to her bed.

"I told the deputy, 'She doesn't need to be shackled. She's not going anywhere,''' said Moss about one of her visits. "I want her to pass with dignity. I don't want her chained to the bed. The deputy said, 'If she passes, we'll take them off.'''

The cuffs were removed under the judge's order.
Photo by CGTN

Chinese Liu Qiao, the father in a viral photo that featured him holding an umbrella over his son in rain, has sought legal advice after finding the image was used inappropriately by companies for commercial purposes, reports The Paper.

A soaked Liu was snapped in 2015 while holding an umbrella for his son while they were their way home in Flushing, New York City. Since then, many variations and memes based on the image have been shared widely, mostly for non-commercial, public purposes.

However, Liu has found that the photo was recently being used by some enterprises for commercial purposes. Wine producer Wuliangye and e-commerce giant JD.com have both used the image in an advertising campaign.

Photo from The Paper, showing the Wuliangye advert.

According to The Paper, the poster, which prominently uses Lius photo, has been seen at stations of the Shanghai Metro since the middle of June, captioned Imperfect Father, Perfect Love. A bottle of alcohol and a QR code at the bottom of the image explicitly suggest the advert is solely for commercial purchases.

Having seen his photo being indiscriminately used without his permission, Liu decided to resort to his lawyer, because he felt uncomfortable seeing the photo being used in commercial advertisements, especially for wine.

It is acceptable to me that this photo is used for public benefits, but there have been an increasing number of companies using it and even photoshopping it. My lawyer has delivered a letter to these companies, Liu explained to The Paper, adding he hoped a legal move would stop companies from using the photo.

Photo from The Paper

Wang Zhiyong, Lius lawyer, also cited a report from the Peoples Daily, saying that advertisements for medicines and wines should not contain any images of children.

According to the countrys law on copyright, civil law and criminal law, we require Wuliangye, together with JD to pull down the poster, Wang said adding that Liu Qiao is entitled to image rights.

Photo from The Paper

Together with the wine poster, some other commercial uses have also been spotted, like telecommunication ads, insurance marketing and movie posters.

Chinese netizens showed their support for Lius decision online.

It is an infringement if users do not ask for permission, @Shiya posted on Weibo.

Support protection of rights. Do not let misuse affect the connotation the photo implies, @Liuyiqiu commented.

I would be unhappy if my kid was photoshopped into a hedgehog in a photo, @Jiyunchun commented, agreeing it was unacceptable to edit the photo without Liu's permission.
As airstrikes pound the last pockets of territory held by ISIS in Mosul Sunday, hundreds of civilians are fleeing, many so badly injured they had to be carried over the mounds of rubble clogging the Old city's narrow streets.

The civilians  mostly women and children  are fleeing the city in waves of displacement as Iraqi forces push toward the Tigris River, according to Iraqi special forces Maj. Gen. Sami al-Aridi.

Iraq's special forces are now some 450 meters from the river's bank, al-Aridi said. He expects to reach the Tigris within days.

After a strike, groups of civilians appeared covered in dust. Dozens were injured with what appeared to be shrapnel wounds. One woman collapsed trying to climb through a destroyed home, apparently suffering from dehydration.

Civilians trapped inside the under-siege Old City  where temperatures have soared to 45 degrees Celsius and are expected to climb in the days ahead  have suffered water and food shortages for months.

The United Nations estimates that tens of thousands of civilians are still trapped inside the Old City.

Iraqi forces launched the operation to retake the Old City in mid-June. After eight months of grueling battles to retake Mosul, the dense west Mosul neighborhood is ISIS' last stand in Iraq's second-largest city.

Iraq's Prime Minister declared an end to the ISIS' so-called caliphate in June after Iraqi forces retook the landmark al-Nuri mosque in the Old City and pledged victory was "near."
A handful of animal rights activists who were taken into police custody as they tried to unfold a banner at the annual July Fourth hot dog eating contest at Nathan's Famous in New York have been released without charges.

The demonstrators say they're from a group called Direct Action Everywhere, and want Nathan's to stop holding the contest.

Police say they took five people into custody on Tuesday, brought them to a precinct for questioning and then released them.

Another group, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, separately had members giving away free vegan hot dogs outside the event.

Joey "Jaws" Chestnut won the men's division for the 10th time, by eating 72 hot dogs and buns. Miki Sudo won the women's division with 41 hot dogs and buns.
Friends of a missing New Jersey woman held a vigil for her on Monday night after body parts believed to be hers were discovered in waters off Brooklyn and Manhattan over the past week.

Authorities believe a leg found in the Hudson River over the weekend and part of a torso found in Brooklyn last week may belong to 31-year-old Jennifer "Jenny" Londono, who has been missing since June 25.

Dozens of people came out to light candles, place flowers and demand justice for their friend. They gathered at a memorial outside the Luna Lounge in Englewood, New Jersey, where Londono was a manager.

"Personally, I won't rest until I hear who did this," Andres Giraldo, a friend of Londono, said.

A jogger discovered a woman's lower leg as she was running beside the Hudson River near West 79th Street on Saturday afternoon, according to The New York Post. Police said the leg found in the Hudson wasnt badly decomposed and that its toenails were painted pink, the Post reported.

Saturday's grisly discovery came less than a week after a headless and partially legless torso was found in Brooklyns Red Hook Channel by a couple walking by the water on Tuesday.

Police have not identified the body parts as belonging to Londono. Police are counting on the medical examiner to solidify the identity through DNA testing.



After the torso was recovered in Brooklyn, police released an image of a tattoo found on the body in the hopes of identifying the woman.

On Friday, NYPD Chief of Detectives Robert Boyce said a New Jersey woman identified the torso as belonging to her daughter, who had a similar tattoo dedicated to her late aunt.

Londono was on the verge of making her professional dreams come true when she went missing, opening the lounge in Englewood just a month ago. She had saved her money working as a bartender and at other jobs for many years, her friends and family said.

"For the past few days, I try to close my eyes every night, just to think that this is a dream and she's gonna come back," Londono's friend, Marcela Toro, said.
Portable toilets have finally been installed for Uber and Lyft drivers at JFK, according to Port Authority officials.

For nearly a year, for-hire drivers, such as those for Uber and Lyft, have campaigned for bathroom facilities at cell phone lots where they wait for ride requests from airline passengers.

A member of the Independent Drivers Guild said the group has been motioning for a permanent set of toilets with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which run the airport, since August 2016. The group is an affiliate of the Machinists Union, the worlds largest airline and aerospace union.

No workers should have to suffer years without a restroom facility. This step is a testament to the power of drivers coming together with one voice to demand action, e-hail driver Michele Dottin told Gothamist in a statement.

Previously, the lack of lavatory options forced driversparticularly mento relieve themselves outside. Drivers told The New York Times that they resorted to urinating behind their cars or on grassy patches, but, As a female, we dont have that option, Dottin said.

While there are bathrooms at nearby gas stations and at the Central Taxi Hold lot for traditional cab drivers, leaving the lot to use those facilities means losing ones place in line.

If you leave the parking lot area and lose your position after youve been waiting there three hours, all that time is wasted, driver Sohail Rana explained to the New York Times.

Drivers see the porta-potties at JFK as a step in the right direction; they emulate portable toilets set up in the cell phone lot at LaGuardia. However, drivers are calling for even more.

This is a temporary solution and we will continue to urge the Port Authority to put in place a restroom with running water as soon as possible, Dottin told Gothamist.

Along with hygiene, running water is crucial to the many drivers who are practicing Muslims. Their religious ritual requires them to wash their hands and face before they pray five times per day. Currently, drivers bring their own water or share with each other. There is also a communal rug for prayer kept in a plastic bin on the lot.
A taxi crashed into a group of pedestrians Monday at Logan International Airport in East Boston, injuring 10 other cab drivers, according to Massachusetts State Police.

The cab hit the victims, who were in a sitting area by the airport's taxi pools on Porter Street at Tomahawk Drive.

Ten people were injured after a taxi plowed into a crowd of people at Logan International Airport Monday.

State police said none of the injuries were believed to be life threatening. The most seriously injured was a 43-year-old Cambridge man who was taken to Massachusetts General Hospital in serious but stable condition.

The other 9 victims were also taken to Boston area hospitals for treatment. Two victims at Tufts Medical Center are said to be in good condition and two are in serious condition. One victim has been released.

Four victims were taken to Boston Medical Center where their exact conditions are unknown.

[NATL-BOS] Taxi Crashes Into Group of Pedestrians at Logan Airport

The driver, 56-year-old Lutant Clenord of Cambridge, is employed by Metro Cab. He remained on the scene and is cooperating with police.

Clenord tells NBC Boston it was an accident, and that there was some kind of mechanical problem with his car that caused it.

In 23 years of driving a cab, Clenord says he has never experienced anything like this. He says as he was pulling into the taxi pool, his car suddenly accelerated and the brake would not work, appearing to be stuck.

"When I see Im going to hit something... I thought Im going to die," Clenord recalled. "I cant stop. More spinning."

Within seconds, he says he was speeding toward the building, unable to swerve before he crashed into the crowd in front of him.



State police said the cause of the crash is ongoing but it does not appear that the incident was deliberate.

Police said the investigation will determine if charges are warranted against Clenord.

"I tried to explain everything, what happened, not my fault, they have to find out what the problem was in the car," Clenord said.


A day after an arrest was made, the father of an 18-year-old girl who was killed in an apparent road rage shooting is speaking out and demanding answers.

Were still upset and angry and we still want answers as to why this happened to our daughter, Rodney Roberson said.

Robersons daughter Bianca Roberson was driving on Route 100 in Chester County on June 28. As she tried to merge into a single lane, a driver of a red pickup truck identified by police as David Desper, 28, also tried to merge, investigators said. Desper then allegedly pulled out a .40 caliber handgun and opened fire, shooting Roberson in the head before fleeing the scene. Roberson died instantly.

After a four-day manhunt that stretched across New Jersey, Delaware and Pennsylvania, Desper turned himself in to police early Sunday morning.



While investigators have said they believe Desper shot Bianca in a fit of road rage, her father believes he had a different motivation.

To shoot her in the head. It wasnt road rage, Rodney Roberson said. To me it was a hate crime.

For now, Chester County District Attorney Tom Hogan hasnt said the crime was racially motivated. Officials still continue to investigate why the shooting occurred however.

I want them to throw the book at this guy, Rodney Roberson said. Throw him under the jail. He took my daughter.

Investigators collected evidence at Despers home in Trainer, Pennsylvania. Police are also going through thousands of tips.

Roberson told NBC10 he had no indication his daughter was in trouble before she was shot and killed. He also said she had driven down that stretch of Route 100 several times and wasnt aggressive enough to ride side by side with another driver.

My daughter is too scary to do anything like that, he said. She wouldnt have done that.

A roadside memorial made up of flowers and keepsakes was created at the mile marker where Bianca was killed. The teen girl would have attended Jacksonville University in the fall. Bianca's older brother died of heart disease in 2013 at the age of 22. A GoFundMe was created to raise money for her family.



Life of Teen Fatally Shot in Road Rage
A man was arrested at Newark Airport on Monday after TSA agents found a handgun concealed in the lining of his suitcase, officials said.

The man was heading to Jamaica when he checked the bag with a .22 caliber gun hidden inside. The weapon was not loaded, according to officials.

TSAs routine screening of checked baggage immediately flagged the suitcase. After inspecting the contents, officials unzipped the bags lining to find the gun strapped to the frame.

Port Authority Police immediately confiscated the weapon. Police arrested the man on weapons charges at the airport terminal before he boarded his flight.

TSA regulations allow travelers to travel with firearms in checked baggage as long as they are unloaded and properly packed in a locked, hard-sided case. All weapons must also be declared with paperwork.

It wasnt immediately known why the man didnt declare the weapon beforehand.
A fire that injured one person and displaced 11 people from their homes began when someone put charcoal in a propane grill, officials say.

Montgomery County Fire and Rescue crews were called to the 9200 block of Bluebird Terrace in Gaithersburg, Maryland, about 8:45 p.m. for reports that the back of a house and a deck were on fire.

When they arrived, they found a huge plume of black smoke and a middle-of-the-row townhouse ablaze.

Dramatic cellphone video shows flames shooting from the house. Neighbors were forced outside on the eve of Independence Day.

"The whole back side just looked like it was burst into flames," one neighbor said. "It started to come out of the roof. There was popping sounds."

The homeowner who was using the grill was taken to a hospital with minor injuries.

Firefighters said the blaze serves a reminder to use grills safely, and never put charcoal in a propane grill.
A Maine man was killed on Monday afternoon in a crash in Charleston, according to state police.

Troopers said Joshua C. Long, 29, of Kenduskeag, was traveling east on Main Road at 2:44 p.m. when his Mazda sedan somehow veered off the right side of the roadway and struck several trees.

Long was killed as a result of the crash.

The exact cause of the crash remains under investigation. Anyone with information is asked to contact Maine State Police at 207-973-3700.
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As the UKs go-to destination for the latest, high-end special watches, Harrods can always be counted on for some exceptional pop-up events. Last summer, for example, the London department store transformed its entire Fine Watch Room into a horological mecca celebrating craft and precision. This year it follows suit with Re-editions, where from 30 June to 24 July, the Fine Watch Room will be home to exclusive pieces that pay tribute to the past  with Harrods entire Brompton Road windows especially decked out for the occasion.



Ten brands (Cartier, Panerai, Audemars Piguet, Vacheron Constantin, Jaeger-LeCoultre, IWC, Harry Winston, Hublot, Roger Dubuis and Richard Mille - whose 996,500 RM 50-03 McLaren F1 is limited to 75 pieces) are presenting new watches - all exclusive to Harrods for the campaigns duration  and which take their cue from icons in the brands archives. A vintage vibe was unmistakable at SIHH and Baselworld this year, which Harrods has fully embraced.





Weve really noticed the trend for celebrating old as new, says Beth Hannaway, Harrods divisional merchandise manager of fine jewellery and watches. Iconic pieces resonate especially well with our clients, which is magnified with these new references that allude to history but have been updated and refined for todays customer.



Audemars Piguet, for example, has unsurprisingly paid homage to its original 1972 Royal Oak and created an exceptional yellow gold open-worked Offshore chronograph tourbillon (257,000) thats limited to 25 pieces. Panerai has revived its Luminor Marina, which, while first making a splash in the 1990s, in fact dates back to the world war two watches that it made for the Italian navy. The blue-dialled Luminor Marina 1950 3 Days Automatic Titanio (7,300) has the date at 3 oclock and small seconds at 9, while the back of the titanium watch is engraved with the Harrods logo. Only 100 pieces are being produced and was selected, says Panerai CEO Angelo Bonati, as one of our most iconic due to the unique crown protecting device and sandwich dial.

Womens watches also make a strong showing. Cartiers beautiful Panthere Joueuse (157,000) pairs the iconic cat  playfully rendered in black lacquer, emeralds and 185cts of diamonds  with an entirely new calibre 9918 MC. The watch showcases how Cartiers workshops have joined forces to channel its jewellery expertise and flair, and render strikingly lifelike three-dimensional creatures, says Laurent Feniou, Cartiers UK managing director.



Jaeger-LeCoultre presents a supremely feminine, pink gold Reverso One Duetto jewellery watch (54,000) that, with its graphic lozenge motif and criss-cross of diamonds, oozes art deco glamour. Zahra Kassim-Lakha, the brands UK director, aptly describes the watch as a silk bow around your wrist, and while it encapsulates all the elegance and surprise of the first 1930s Reverso watches, [its also] for a modern, busy, social woman in 2017.

Some brands are offering more than one model, such as Hublots trio of titanium Classic Fusions (a three-hander 45mm version limited to 40 pieces, 7,600; a 45mm chronograph limited to 20 pieces, 10,200; and 38mm diamond bezel model limited to 20 pieces, 10,200). Reminiscent of its original 1980s predecessor, the watches come in a Racing Grey hue with matching sunray satin-finished dials that are unique to Harrods. Its classic British with an international influence, says Benoit Lecigne, Hublots brand director, which truly captures the essence of Harrods' and Hublots history and charm.

Slate-grey is also the colour of the opaline dials on Vacheron Constantins three Geneva-hallmarked, Traditionelle pieces for Harrods, selected to suit a range of mechanical tastes: a self-winding date (23,200), day-date and 40-hour power reserve (40,100), and the 14-day, 336-hour power reserve tourbillon (POA).

Harrods, 87-135 Brompton Road, London SW1 (020-7730 1234; http://www.harrods.com).
A teenager has been arrested after what police are calling a violent encounter with an officer in Attleboro, Massachusetts.

Cristofer Veloz, 19, is facing charges including assault and battery on a police officer and carjacking. He's expected to be arraigned in his hospital room Monday.

Officer Joseph Daday is recovering after an apparent carjacking attempt. According to court documents, he was responding to County and Read Streets in Attleboro for reports of a man trying to get into passing cars.

Daday approached Veloz, who was barefoot and speaking incoherently, according to documents. That's when Veloz allegedly tried to jump in the driver side of the police cruiser.

Dadday pulled him out and they struggled. Veloz got back into the car and was unfazed when Daday tried to subdue him with a stun gun, court documents say.

Veloz allegedly put the cruiser in drive with Daday hanging from the car.

The cruiser crashed into a utility pole across the street, apparently trapping them in the car with the officer's leg jammed in the cruiser door.

Daday suffered several injuries from the crash. He and Veloz were taken to nearby hospitals.

It was not immediately clear if Veloz had an attorney.
Not made your Christmas pudding yet? Don't know where to start? Come along to a Christmas pudding workshop at Norwich Central Baptist Church on November 21 with MasterChef contestant Jane Wyndham.

Not made your Christmas pudding yet? Don't know where to start? Come along to a Christmas pudding workshop at Norwich Central Baptist Church on November 21 with MasterChef contestant Jane Wyndham.

Norwich Foodbank provides over 4,700 food parcels Norwich Foodbank gave out 4,793 emergency food parcels to people across Norwich in the last year  with 1,790 of these going to children. Read more

Poppies cascading in Sheringham church A fall of poppies cascades from the pulpit in St Andrews Methodist Church in Sheringham, and anyone is welcome to come and see them. Read more

Bishop Graham's prayers for COP27 climate conference Bishop Graham is publishing daily prayers on social media for the current COP27 climate conference, and is asking all to join. Read more

Discovering the Orange in your life The vibrant colours of autumn have been inspiring regular contributor Jane Walters to focus on the positive. Read more

YMCA annual celebration set to inspire YMCA Norfolk is set to hold its much anticipated 2022 annual celebration and awards ceremony on November 17, after almost 3 years since the last event due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Read more

Hub manager vacancy at community shop Earlham Community Shop Community Interest Company is looking to appoint a manager for this new venture being developed in the heart of NR5 Norwich. Read more

Abbey Days brings Christmas Magic to Wymondham Visitors to Wymondham Abbeys Christmas fair will be able to treat their children to a magic show and fun baking workshop while they browse more than 60 stalls. Read more

Salvation Armys new Christmas Appeal in Norfolk The Salvation Army has launched their new Christmas appeal across Norfolk which, this year, has evolved from the much-loved Toys and Tins appeal. Read more

Are we storing up treasures on earth? Rising prices affect us all, and Anna Heydon urges us to spare a thought for those who will be struggling with the cost of living this winter. Read more

Latest Norfolk Christian community events Events of interest to the Norwich and Norfolk Christian community happening over the next few weeks are listed. Read more

Covid leaf memorial at Norwich church St Peter Mancroft Church Norwich Presents The Leaves of the Trees an installation by sculptor Peter Walker which provides a memorial for those who died of Covid-19 Read more

Community Chaplaincy Norfolk begins a new chapter Community Chaplaincy Norfolk (CCN) celebrated the beginning of a new chapter this week, as the new chair of trustees Chris Tomlinson led his first annual meeting. Read more

Lowestoft Christians launch on-line bible helps app The Lowestoft and Great Yarmouth branch of Good News for Everyone (GNFE), formerly the Gideons, have introduced a new mobile phone app called On-line Bible Helps. Read more

Addicts' rehabilitation centre plan for Drayton Hall Christian addiction charity Teen Challenge London is planning to turn Drayton Hall near Norwich into its headquarters and a rehabilitation centre for men, after it was gifted the freehold of the hall by its owner, the Lind Trust. Read more

The power of positive protest Philip Young encourages us to take a stand for what we believe, and has just written to Therese Coffey regarding climate change and the forthcoming COP 27. He explains why we should be prepared to protest. Read more

Norwich church celebrates with cribs and trees Rosebery Road Methodist Church in Norwich will be holding its annual Cribs and Trees Festival in December. Read more

Transforming Norwich lunch offers ministry tips Ex-Brighton vicar, Rev Phil Moon, will offer tips on how to keep going in ministry to the Transforming Norwich leaders lunch on Wednesday November 16. Read more
Kennet School's Mel Poyda one of 56 teachers in the country to win

AN inspirational Kennet School teacher has been recognised as one of the best in the country.

Head of IT Mel Poyda was one of 56 teachers nationally to be presented with a prestigious Pearson Teaching Awards.

Mrs Poyda was handed the outstanding use of technology in education award at the school last Tuesday.

The awards celebrate exceptional teaching across the country and recognise the life-changing impact an inspirational teacher can have on their pupils.

Speaking to the at the surprise ceremony, Mrs Poyda said: The whole thing has been a bit surreal. Im just doing my job and I love what I do.

I cant believe they kept it a secret because Im so nosy. Ive got an amazing team and the kids  theyre what you do it for.

I get so much joy just seeing them start on a subject and get on with it and go on to succeed; thats what drives you, seeing pupils go on to that success in the subject and sharing your passion. Thats inspiration.

Mrs Poyda joined Kennet in 2010.

There could be further accolades for her as she has also been put forward as a finalist for one of 11 Gold Plato Awards, the UKs Oscars for teachers, in October.

Mrs Poyda has been using Eva, a robot created by Aldebaran, for pupils to see the results of their coding and programming in real-form.

One pupil said that Mrs Poyda makes you strive to be the best.

The technology award is sponsored by Google and the companys head of education for Europe, Middle East and Africa, Liz Sproat, attended the ceremony at the school.

She said: Shes inspirational. She feels its her responsibility to help her students achieve.

Teachers should be inspiring creative, inquisitive minds.

Headteacher Paul Dick said: Im especially proud of Mel Poyda because she came into teaching the hard way and showed enormous capacity and ambition every minute of every day, but for her pupils and not for herself.

This award could not be more fitting and Im confident of gold in the finals.

The mayor of Thatcham, Ellen Crumly, said: We are very proud of Kennet Schools excellent exam results and outstanding Ofsted and now we have a nationally-recognised teacher and we wish her all the best for October.
By PTI

BENGALURU: A city-based startup which recently started a first-of-its-kind door delivery of diesel here, has hit a roadblock, after Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organisation directed state-run oil marketing companies and private retailers not to sell fuel to it, citing "safety."

In a letter to Union Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and PESO, Mypetrolpump CEO Ashish Kumar Gupta has requested them to pass an interim order for certain limited quantity of delivery which would allow the firm to resume its operations on pilot basis until PESO notifies guidelines for doorstep fuel delivery businesses.

Pradhan had in April tweeted that the government was exploring ways to facilitate home delivery of petroleum products.

ANB Fuels, under the brand MyPetrolPump, had launched its operations from June 18 with three delivery vehicles, each with a capacity of 950 litres, but had to suspend the delivery within four days of launch due to a circular issued by PESO to Oil companies to stop providing fuel to it.

The circular, Gupta said, has resulted in the nascent firm losing over Rs 30 lakh per month.

"The firm had sourced its funds from their hard-earned savings," he said.

In a letter, dated June 22, to IOCL General Manager Amarendra Kumar, PESO asked him to intimate oil companies not to allow and fill such vehicles for doorstep delivery of fuel because the act of supply of petroleum products is "illegal and fraught with danger" to the public and property in the absence of guidelines pertaining to safety and procedures.

PESO, an agency entrusted with the responsibility to ensure safety of public and property from petroleum products, said the vehicles used by the firm are not approved by it.

It also noted that as per Petroleum Rules 2002, petroleum shall not be filled from the tank or the pump into a container or receptacle other than those securely clamped or fitted to a motor vehicle.

In a letter to PESO on July 1, Gupta had clarified that "since petrol pumps are licensed under Form XIV therefore, filling of containers less than 1000 litres in petrol pumps, securely clamped to the motor vehicle is in absolute adherence to the rules."

Gupta, who shared the letters, also said the firm's refuellers are built and tested by fabricator and competent persons certified by PESO as listed in its website.

On the response to his business, Gupta said, the firm received 4,000 calls and 600 order requests for delivery within three days of the launch.

"We had delivered close to 5,000 litres of diesel until our business was suspended," he said.

The firm has got more than 100 customers including 30 schools and a few apartments, in Bengaluru, Gupta added.

BENGALURU: A city-based startup which recently started a first-of-its-kind door delivery of diesel here, has hit a roadblock, after Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organisation directed state-run oil marketing companies and private retailers not to sell fuel to it, citing "safety." In a letter to Union Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and PESO, Mypetrolpump CEO Ashish Kumar Gupta has requested them to pass an interim order for certain limited quantity of delivery which would allow the firm to resume its operations on pilot basis until PESO notifies guidelines for doorstep fuel delivery businesses. Pradhan had in April tweeted that the government was exploring ways to facilitate home delivery of petroleum products. ANB Fuels, under the brand MyPetrolPump, had launched its operations from June 18 with three delivery vehicles, each with a capacity of 950 litres, but had to suspend the delivery within four days of launch due to a circular issued by PESO to Oil companies to stop providing fuel to it. The circular, Gupta said, has resulted in the nascent firm losing over Rs 30 lakh per month. "The firm had sourced its funds from their hard-earned savings," he said. In a letter, dated June 22, to IOCL General Manager Amarendra Kumar, PESO asked him to intimate oil companies not to allow and fill such vehicles for doorstep delivery of fuel because the act of supply of petroleum products is "illegal and fraught with danger" to the public and property in the absence of guidelines pertaining to safety and procedures. PESO, an agency entrusted with the responsibility to ensure safety of public and property from petroleum products, said the vehicles used by the firm are not approved by it. It also noted that as per Petroleum Rules 2002, petroleum shall not be filled from the tank or the pump into a container or receptacle other than those securely clamped or fitted to a motor vehicle. In a letter to PESO on July 1, Gupta had clarified that "since petrol pumps are licensed under Form XIV therefore, filling of containers less than 1000 litres in petrol pumps, securely clamped to the motor vehicle is in absolute adherence to the rules." Gupta, who shared the letters, also said the firm's refuellers are built and tested by fabricator and competent persons certified by PESO as listed in its website. On the response to his business, Gupta said, the firm received 4,000 calls and 600 order requests for delivery within three days of the launch. "We had delivered close to 5,000 litres of diesel until our business was suspended," he said. The firm has got more than 100 customers including 30 schools and a few apartments, in Bengaluru, Gupta added.
By Express News Service

VIJAYAWADA: Women from across the State staged demonstrations on Monday, protesting permissions to liquor shops in residential areas. At places, they broke liquor bottles to express their ire against the government for giving such permissions. Their indignation appeared justified as the shops have been opened in front of schools in some places. In Srikrishnadevaraya Nagar in Kadapa, a group of women ransacked a liquor shop located near a school and two temples.

The women first asked the owner to relocate the shop. As the latter did not pay a heed, the women lost their cool and attacked the shop. Police had a tough time in controlling the mob which included girl students too. Only after an assurance that the shop would be relocated soon, the protesters dispersed.

Following the Supreme Court orders that there should not be any liquor shops or bars within the 500-meter radius of national highways and 220 meters of state highways, several retailers relocated their shops to residential localities.

Such a change attracted the ire of the women, who expressed concern over their security pointing out the unruly incidents that happen at the liquor shops. Women, in large numbers, also protested at Prasadampadu, Kannur and Yanamalakuduru, demanding that the liquor shops permitted in their areas be shifted. Several women organisations also joined the protest.

In response to the objections, the Excise Commissioner has promised that the liquor shops in Prasadampadu and Yanamalakuduru would be shifted once they received objections with regard to Kannur. When contacted, excise officials maintained that there were no liquor shops on the national and state highways.

Roads which are not highways will be identified: Cabinet

Vijayawada: The Cabinet on Monday wanted the officials to identify the roads that are neither state nor national highways and notify them so that those who obtain licence for liquor shops and bars could set up their units. It noted the growing resentment among women against the location of liquor shops in residential areas, near temples and schools and decided that their sentiments should be respected. The Cabinet wanted the shops not be located in the midst of houses. It asked officials to issue orders to licence holders not to name the shops and bars after Gods.

VIJAYAWADA: Women from across the State staged demonstrations on Monday, protesting permissions to liquor shops in residential areas. At places, they broke liquor bottles to express their ire against the government for giving such permissions. Their indignation appeared justified as the shops have been opened in front of schools in some places. In Srikrishnadevaraya Nagar in Kadapa, a group of women ransacked a liquor shop located near a school and two temples. The women first asked the owner to relocate the shop. As the latter did not pay a heed, the women lost their cool and attacked the shop. Police had a tough time in controlling the mob which included girl students too. Only after an assurance that the shop would be relocated soon, the protesters dispersed. Following the Supreme Court orders that there should not be any liquor shops or bars within the 500-meter radius of national highways and 220 meters of state highways, several retailers relocated their shops to residential localities. Such a change attracted the ire of the women, who expressed concern over their security pointing out the unruly incidents that happen at the liquor shops. Women, in large numbers, also protested at Prasadampadu, Kannur and Yanamalakuduru, demanding that the liquor shops permitted in their areas be shifted. Several women organisations also joined the protest. In response to the objections, the Excise Commissioner has promised that the liquor shops in Prasadampadu and Yanamalakuduru would be shifted once they received objections with regard to Kannur. When contacted, excise officials maintained that there were no liquor shops on the national and state highways. Roads which are not highways will be identified: Cabinet Vijayawada: The Cabinet on Monday wanted the officials to identify the roads that are neither state nor national highways and notify them so that those who obtain licence for liquor shops and bars could set up their units. It noted the growing resentment among women against the location of liquor shops in residential areas, near temples and schools and decided that their sentiments should be respected. The Cabinet wanted the shops not be located in the midst of houses. It asked officials to issue orders to licence holders not to name the shops and bars after Gods.
By Express News Service

Actresses Sruthi Hariharan and Shanvi Srivastava are satiating their wanderlust in Italy while shooting for Tarak.

The film starring Darshan is being directed by Prakash Jayaram. City Express caught hold of a few pictures of the two actresses in Italy. Both have been seen exploring every nook and corner of the beautiful European country. Though I am here for work, I am managing to make a fantastic trip out of it. The beauty of this country is breakthtaking, says Sruthi.

Director Milana Prakash and team

The two have travelled to Alberobello and Assisi so far. Some places in Switzerland are nothing less than surreal, Sruthi mentions and adds, I am amazed by the culture and hospitality of the people we are meeting. The food, the system, the lifestyle, are all so different from what we grew up with back in India.

Shanvi is in awe of Italy and Switzerland. There are many beautiful places in Italy that are unexplored such as small villages that are really beautiful, she says.

The actress is using sign language to communicate with the locals. Our shooting spot has turned into a major attraction for the locals. Since they see us dressed nicely, they come and click pictures and say Bello, which means beautiful, says Shanvi. Her travel experience are teaching her a lot too, she adds.

The team will be back from Italy on July 5. The films major shooting schedule is set in Bengaluru.

Tarak, produced by Dushyanth has music by Arjun Janya and cinematography by AV Krishna Kumar.

Actresses Sruthi Hariharan and Shanvi Srivastava are satiating their wanderlust in Italy while shooting for Tarak. The film starring Darshan is being directed by Prakash Jayaram. City Express caught hold of a few pictures of the two actresses in Italy. Both have been seen exploring every nook and corner of the beautiful European country. Though I am here for work, I am managing to make a fantastic trip out of it. The beauty of this country is breakthtaking, says Sruthi. Director Milana Prakash and teamThe two have travelled to Alberobello and Assisi so far. Some places in Switzerland are nothing less than surreal, Sruthi mentions and adds, I am amazed by the culture and hospitality of the people we are meeting. The food, the system, the lifestyle, are all so different from what we grew up with back in India. Shanvi is in awe of Italy and Switzerland. There are many beautiful places in Italy that are unexplored such as small villages that are really beautiful, she says. The actress is using sign language to communicate with the locals. Our shooting spot has turned into a major attraction for the locals. Since they see us dressed nicely, they come and click pictures and say Bello, which means beautiful, says Shanvi. Her travel experience are teaching her a lot too, she adds. The team will be back from Italy on July 5. The films major shooting schedule is set in Bengaluru. Tarak, produced by Dushyanth has music by Arjun Janya and cinematography by AV Krishna Kumar.
Murali Krishna CH By

Express News Service

Pawan Kalyans new film, popularly known as #PK25, has been hogging the limelight ever since its inception.

The film directed by Trivikram Srinivas is progressing at a swift pace in a swanky house in Shamshabad, Hyderabad.

The latest update is that the team is planning a schedule of the film on Pawan Kalyan, Keerthy Suresh and Anu Emmanuel in Bulgaria.

Pawan Kalyan

The filmmakers have kick-started the visa process and will be heading to Bulgaria for a fresh schedule in the last week of July. They will be filming some crucial scenes and a couple of duets on the lead actors for 30 days, informs a source in the film.

The entire shooting will be wrapped up by mid-September to ensure a smooth release around Diwali. Produced by S Radha Krishna under Harika Haasine Creations banner, the film has music by Anirudh Ravichander.

Pawan Kalyans new film, popularly known as #PK25, has been hogging the limelight ever since its inception. The film directed by Trivikram Srinivas is progressing at a swift pace in a swanky house in Shamshabad, Hyderabad. The latest update is that the team is planning a schedule of the film on Pawan Kalyan, Keerthy Suresh and Anu Emmanuel in Bulgaria. Pawan KalyanThe filmmakers have kick-started the visa process and will be heading to Bulgaria for a fresh schedule in the last week of July. They will be filming some crucial scenes and a couple of duets on the lead actors for 30 days, informs a source in the film. The entire shooting will be wrapped up by mid-September to ensure a smooth release around Diwali. Produced by S Radha Krishna under Harika Haasine Creations banner, the film has music by Anirudh Ravichander.
By PTI

NEW DELHI: Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh, his wife and son today failed to get relief in a money laundering case, with the Delhi High Court rejecting their pleas to quash it on the ground that the Enforcement Directorate's case was the result of "political vendetta."

The high court, which said that the argument of political vendetta was not supported by any material, also turned down the pleas of the Chief Minister, his wife Pratibha Singh, son Vikramaditya Singh and two others seeking quashing of the summons and subsequent proceedings initiated in the case.

"Suffice it to observe in this context, and at this stage, that those in public life are expected to be open to probity. Higher the position in life (or polity), higher the obligation (moral, if not legal) to be accountable," Justice R K Gauba said.

Maintaining that no person is entitled in law to evade the summons on the ground that there was a possibility that he may be prosecuted in the future, it said those in public life are expected to be open to probity.

"The prime argument of the petitioners is of political vendetta. This argument is not supported by any material.

"These proceedings are not the appropriate forum for the court to examine such plea which, in the interest of the petitioners themselves, must be left for it to be pressed, if they were so advised and if they have material to substantiate the same, at some appropriate stage in future," the judge said.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) had summoned 83-year-old Singh, his wife and son for questioning in connection with the allegation that the leader and his family members had amassed assets worth Rs 6.1 crore between 2009 and 2011, which were disproportionate to his known sources of income at the time.

During that period, Singh was Union steel minister.

The summons were issued after the law enforcement agency had in September 2015 lodged the case against Singh and others under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) after taking cognisance of a criminal complaint filed by the CBI.

On March 31, the High Court had also refused to quash the CBI case against them following which the probe agency had filed the charge sheet in the Special Court which later granted bail to all of them.

While dismissing their plea in the ED case, the court observed that the PMLA "is a complete code which overrides the general criminal law to the extent of inconsistency. This law establishes its own enforcement machinery and other authorities with adjudicatory powers and jurisdiction.

"The enforcement machinery is conferred with the power and jurisdiction or investigation, such powers being quite exhaustive to assure effective investigation and with built-in safeguards to ensure fairness, transparency and accountability at all stages."

It said the powers conferred on the enforcement officers for purposes of complete and effective investigation include the power to summon and examine any person.

"The law declares that every such person who is summoned is bound to state the truth. At the time of such investigative process, the person summoned is not an accused," the court said, adding that mere registration of Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) by the ED does not make a person an accused.

"He may eventually turn out to be an accused upon being arrested or upon being prosecuted. No person is entitled in law to evade the command of the summons issued under Section 50 PMLA on the ground that there is a possibility that he may be prosecuted in the future," it added.

The court said that endeavours to stall the probe, particularly on technical grounds, "have the potency of giving the impression that there is something to hide."

"There is nothing shown to the court from which it could be inferred that the issuance of summons by the respondents to the petitioners for investigation into the ECIR, in exercise of statutory powers, has caused, or has the effect of causing, any prejudice to any of them.

"The petitions are found devoid of substance and, consequently, dismissed," it added.

The Delhi High Court had paved the way for criminal proceedings which were stalled due to an October 1, 2015 order of the Himachal Pradesh High Court restraining the CBI from arresting, interrogating and filing the charge sheet against the accused.

In July 2016, LIC agent Anand Chauhan was arrested by the ED under provisions of the PMLA as he was allegedly not cooperating with the investigating officer of the case.

The probe agency had alleged that Singh, while serving as the Union minister, had invested huge amounts in purchasing LIC policies in his and his family members' names through Chauhan.

NEW DELHI: Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh, his wife and son today failed to get relief in a money laundering case, with the Delhi High Court rejecting their pleas to quash it on the ground that the Enforcement Directorate's case was the result of "political vendetta." The high court, which said that the argument of political vendetta was not supported by any material, also turned down the pleas of the Chief Minister, his wife Pratibha Singh, son Vikramaditya Singh and two others seeking quashing of the summons and subsequent proceedings initiated in the case. "Suffice it to observe in this context, and at this stage, that those in public life are expected to be open to probity. Higher the position in life (or polity), higher the obligation (moral, if not legal) to be accountable," Justice R K Gauba said. Maintaining that no person is entitled in law to evade the summons on the ground that there was a possibility that he may be prosecuted in the future, it said those in public life are expected to be open to probity. "The prime argument of the petitioners is of political vendetta. This argument is not supported by any material. "These proceedings are not the appropriate forum for the court to examine such plea which, in the interest of the petitioners themselves, must be left for it to be pressed, if they were so advised and if they have material to substantiate the same, at some appropriate stage in future," the judge said. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) had summoned 83-year-old Singh, his wife and son for questioning in connection with the allegation that the leader and his family members had amassed assets worth Rs 6.1 crore between 2009 and 2011, which were disproportionate to his known sources of income at the time. During that period, Singh was Union steel minister. The summons were issued after the law enforcement agency had in September 2015 lodged the case against Singh and others under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) after taking cognisance of a criminal complaint filed by the CBI. On March 31, the High Court had also refused to quash the CBI case against them following which the probe agency had filed the charge sheet in the Special Court which later granted bail to all of them. While dismissing their plea in the ED case, the court observed that the PMLA "is a complete code which overrides the general criminal law to the extent of inconsistency. This law establishes its own enforcement machinery and other authorities with adjudicatory powers and jurisdiction. "The enforcement machinery is conferred with the power and jurisdiction or investigation, such powers being quite exhaustive to assure effective investigation and with built-in safeguards to ensure fairness, transparency and accountability at all stages." It said the powers conferred on the enforcement officers for purposes of complete and effective investigation include the power to summon and examine any person. "The law declares that every such person who is summoned is bound to state the truth. At the time of such investigative process, the person summoned is not an accused," the court said, adding that mere registration of Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) by the ED does not make a person an accused. "He may eventually turn out to be an accused upon being arrested or upon being prosecuted. No person is entitled in law to evade the command of the summons issued under Section 50 PMLA on the ground that there is a possibility that he may be prosecuted in the future," it added. The court said that endeavours to stall the probe, particularly on technical grounds, "have the potency of giving the impression that there is something to hide." "There is nothing shown to the court from which it could be inferred that the issuance of summons by the respondents to the petitioners for investigation into the ECIR, in exercise of statutory powers, has caused, or has the effect of causing, any prejudice to any of them. "The petitions are found devoid of substance and, consequently, dismissed," it added. The Delhi High Court had paved the way for criminal proceedings which were stalled due to an October 1, 2015 order of the Himachal Pradesh High Court restraining the CBI from arresting, interrogating and filing the charge sheet against the accused. In July 2016, LIC agent Anand Chauhan was arrested by the ED under provisions of the PMLA as he was allegedly not cooperating with the investigating officer of the case. The probe agency had alleged that Singh, while serving as the Union minister, had invested huge amounts in purchasing LIC policies in his and his family members' names through Chauhan.
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In 1980, against everyones advice, Carlos Fuente set up his cigar factory in the Dominican Republic, near the town of Santiago - a place that bore a strange resemblance to the Pinar del Rio, the valley in which the best tobacco is grown in Cuba. After several attempts, he a succeeded in growing tobacco plants that produced wrapper leaf of the highest quality, with a uniquely powerful and rich flavour. Thus was born the Chateau de la Fuente, the first of the Fuente factories on Hispaniola, the continuity of the Fuente & Cie business that his grandfather had founded in Cuba in 1912.



To celebrate this success, he decided to produce the king of cigars, for which no concession would be made in terms of quality: the Fuente Fuente Opus X: the torcedores - the cigar rollers - had to undergo an additional 10 months of specific training; the cigar had to be composed of 9 leaves of tobacco, while other factories would make do with 5 for their prestigious models ; once rolled, they were laid down for at least 2 years before export to let their different aromas blend harmoniously through maturation.



"I wanted to reproduce something that already existed in my memory" said Carlos Fuente. "I wanted to go back in time, to my childhood. I wanted to go back to the happiest episodes of my life. I wanted my grandfather to be proud of me, my father too, and for my children to be so too one day. It was something that I owed to myself to do." 20 years later, the Fuente Fuente Opus X has achieved success among connoisseurs The rarest cigar in the world according to purists, the Fuente Fuente Opus X is celebrating its 20th anniversary., who fall over themselves to get hold of it.



The partnership between Hublot and the Arturo Fuente cigar began in 2012, on the occasion of the Fuente Foundations centenary. It is the result of a friendship between the men presiding over the destiny of two houses which share common values of meticulousness, manufacture, selection of the finest materials, production organised into workshops and, of course the quest for excellence. This partnership has already produced two horological creations.





Carlito Fuente and Ricardo Guadalupe at the Chateau-de-la-Fuente  Hublot



Today Hublot is joining the 20th anniversary celebrations for the Opus X, by launching three commemorative watches in limited editions, marking the third collaboration between the two brands. These three Hublot Classic Fusion 45mm Fuente 20th Anniversary Special Edition models will be limited to a production of 20 watches each.



The first has a satin-finished black ceramic and bezel. Its blue dial is adorned with the famous X decorating the rings of the legendary puro, doubled for the occasion to become the number 20 in Roman numerals. It is topped by red gold plated hands and indexes with a 20 Years mention apposed at 6 oclock. Its back is engraved with an exclusive illustration of the Fuente family with the Chateau de la Fuente, Fuente Fuente Opus X 20 Years mention, as well the models limited edition series number. Its black alligator strap is lined with rubber to provide the wearer greater comfort.





Classic Fusion 45mm Fuente 20th Anniversary Special Edition, black ceramic model  Hublot

The second version has a brushed titanium case. Its case and bezel are finely embossed with engravings reproducing tobacco leaf motifs interlinked into the letter X. The engravings on its back are partially lacquered in blue. The strap in grey alligator, with a deployant buckle clasp, is stitched in blue and is also lined with rubber.

Classic Fusion 45mm Fuente 20th Anniversary Special Edition, titanium version.  Hublot

The third version is in King Gold, the precious red gold developed by the Hublot house. It has the same engravings and features as the titanium model, while adding a brown strap.

Classic Fusion 45mm Fuente 20th Anniversary Special Edition, version King Gold  Hublot

All three feature the HUB1112 calibre, an automatic movement with a 42-hour power reserve. They are delivered in a case that serves as a humidor, a cigar box specially designed by Hublot so as to regulate the humidity and allow the correct conservation of the modules.
By PTI

SRINAGAR: The death toll in the ongoing Amarnath pilgrimage went up to nine today with three more pilgrims dying of various reasons, police said.

Banki Lal (59), hailing from Uttar Pradesh, died at the Baltal base camp in central Kashmir, a police official said.

He said Lal fell ill yesterday morning and was admitted to the Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences in Soura here.

Lal was later discharged from the hospital and brought back to Baltal by his companions, the official said.

However, at about 10:30 last night, Lal again complained of ill health and was brought to the Baltal Base Hospital, where he died.

Susheel Kumar Baige (22), a resident of Madhya Pradesh, fell unconscious at the holy cave today, the official said.

He said Baige was brought to a nearby medical camp where doctors declared him brought dead.

Another Amarnath pilgrim, hailing from Andhra Pradesh, was killed when a cooking gas cylinder exploded in his bus in South Kashmir's Kulgam district today.

With these three deaths, the toll in the ongoing yatra has gone up to nine -- eight pilgrims and an assistant-sub inspector of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP).

The ITBP officer died at Brarimarg on June 28.

The 40-day yatra is scheduled to end on August 7, coinciding with Raksha Bandhan.

The yatra has been going on smoothly from the two routes -- the traditional Pahalgam track in Anantnag district and Baltal.

On the eighth day of the yatra today, 15,335 yatris paid obeisance at the cave shrine.

Since the beginning of the pilgrimage on June 29, as many as 1,05,380 yatris have paid obeisance at the naturally-formed Ice Shiva Lingam inside the cave shrine.

SRINAGAR: The death toll in the ongoing Amarnath pilgrimage went up to nine today with three more pilgrims dying of various reasons, police said. Banki Lal (59), hailing from Uttar Pradesh, died at the Baltal base camp in central Kashmir, a police official said. He said Lal fell ill yesterday morning and was admitted to the Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences in Soura here. Lal was later discharged from the hospital and brought back to Baltal by his companions, the official said. However, at about 10:30 last night, Lal again complained of ill health and was brought to the Baltal Base Hospital, where he died. Susheel Kumar Baige (22), a resident of Madhya Pradesh, fell unconscious at the holy cave today, the official said. He said Baige was brought to a nearby medical camp where doctors declared him brought dead. Another Amarnath pilgrim, hailing from Andhra Pradesh, was killed when a cooking gas cylinder exploded in his bus in South Kashmir's Kulgam district today. With these three deaths, the toll in the ongoing yatra has gone up to nine -- eight pilgrims and an assistant-sub inspector of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP). The ITBP officer died at Brarimarg on June 28. The 40-day yatra is scheduled to end on August 7, coinciding with Raksha Bandhan. The yatra has been going on smoothly from the two routes -- the traditional Pahalgam track in Anantnag district and Baltal. On the eighth day of the yatra today, 15,335 yatris paid obeisance at the cave shrine. Since the beginning of the pilgrimage on June 29, as many as 1,05,380 yatris have paid obeisance at the naturally-formed Ice Shiva Lingam inside the cave shrine.
By IANS

AIZAWL: The para-military Assam Rifles stepped up security on the India-Myanmar border along eastern Mizoram to stop drugs and arms smuggling, an official said on Tuesday.

"We have alerted our troops deployed along the (510 km long) India-Myanmar border with Mizoram. Vigil along the porous border was further intensified after reports of arms and drugs smuggling," an Assam Rifles official said.

He said that acting on a tip-off the Assam Rifles troopers seized five AK-56 rifles, some loaded magazines and ammunition between Farkawn and Vaphai villages in Mizoram adjoining Myanmar on Sunday.

"The troopers laid an ambush along Tiau river which divides the two countries. In the early hours of Sunday, two insurgents from Myanmar tried to cross Tiau towards India. When jawans challenged, the terrorists threw their bags containing arms into the river and managed to escape into Myanmar," the official added.

This was a major arms cache captured by the Assam Rifles in Mizoram. These weapons were likely to be traded to Manipur-based insurgent groups.

The Assam Rifles official said that though Mizoram is a peaceful state, the arms and drugs smuggling from Myanmar have become rampant.

Home Minister Rajnath Singh accompanied by his deputy Kiren Rijiju on June 12, held a meeting with the Chief Ministers and senior officers of four northeastern states, which shares borders with Myanmar.

Arunachal Pradesh (520 km), Manipur (398 km), Nagaland (215 km) and Mizoram (510 km) share the 1,643-km mountainous border.

There is a 16-km-wide free zone (eight km on either side) along the unfenced border.

Mizoram also shares 318 km borders with Bangladesh and the Border Security Force (BSF) is deployed along there.

Nagaland and few other northeastern states obstruct erection of fencing along the India-Myanmar borders referring destabilisation of the relations among the ethnic tribals living on both sides of the boundary.



AIZAWL: The para-military Assam Rifles stepped up security on the India-Myanmar border along eastern Mizoram to stop drugs and arms smuggling, an official said on Tuesday. "We have alerted our troops deployed along the (510 km long) India-Myanmar border with Mizoram. Vigil along the porous border was further intensified after reports of arms and drugs smuggling," an Assam Rifles official said. He said that acting on a tip-off the Assam Rifles troopers seized five AK-56 rifles, some loaded magazines and ammunition between Farkawn and Vaphai villages in Mizoram adjoining Myanmar on Sunday. "The troopers laid an ambush along Tiau river which divides the two countries. In the early hours of Sunday, two insurgents from Myanmar tried to cross Tiau towards India. When jawans challenged, the terrorists threw their bags containing arms into the river and managed to escape into Myanmar," the official added. This was a major arms cache captured by the Assam Rifles in Mizoram. These weapons were likely to be traded to Manipur-based insurgent groups. The Assam Rifles official said that though Mizoram is a peaceful state, the arms and drugs smuggling from Myanmar have become rampant. Home Minister Rajnath Singh accompanied by his deputy Kiren Rijiju on June 12, held a meeting with the Chief Ministers and senior officers of four northeastern states, which shares borders with Myanmar. Arunachal Pradesh (520 km), Manipur (398 km), Nagaland (215 km) and Mizoram (510 km) share the 1,643-km mountainous border. There is a 16-km-wide free zone (eight km on either side) along the unfenced border. Mizoram also shares 318 km borders with Bangladesh and the Border Security Force (BSF) is deployed along there. Nagaland and few other northeastern states obstruct erection of fencing along the India-Myanmar borders referring destabilisation of the relations among the ethnic tribals living on both sides of the boundary.
By Express News Service

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi met US President Donald Trump at the White House a week ago, came back home to roll-out the Goods and Services Tax and will take off to Israel on his maiden visit today. However, Beijing now feels India planned the intrusion at Doklam to impress the Trump administration. This, and a series of other developments on Monday further escalated tension across the Sikkim border.

For example, Indian troops crossed the undisputed Sikkim section of China-India border and impeded Chinese workers from building roads a few days before Modis visit to the US, said an editorial in State-run Global Times, adding that India has sought Washingtons support at the cost of India-China ties.

The article also blamed the Indian government of starting an anti-dumping probe into Chinese products. Because the border face-off and the announcement of anti-dumping probe occurred around the same time as Modis two-day visit to the US, people link Indias bravura with the Modi-Trump meeting.

Through the diplomatic channel, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang asked India to withdraw its military presence at Doklam to end the standoff. By entering Chinese territory and obstructing our troops normal activities, India has violated existing convention on the boundary and basic principle of international law, he claimed at a press conference.

China and India have been engaged in a standoff in the Doklam area near the Bhutan trijunction for almost a month in what has been the longest such impasse between the two armies since 1962, when the two countries fought a brief war. Geng also dismissed Defence Minister Arun Jaitleys remarks that India of 2017 is different from what it was in 1962, saying, China too is different and will take all necessary measures to safeguard its territorial sovereignty.

Meanwhile, at another maritime border, Beijing scrambled its naval ships and military jets to warn off a US missile destroyer sailing close to an artificial island built by it in the disputed South China Sea. It termed Washingtons move as a serious political and military provocation.

Cant use Bhutan as excuse: China

We have no objection to bilateral relations between India and Bhutan but firmly opposed to Indian side infringing in Chinese territory using Bhutan as an excuse. Bhutan does not know that the Indian troops entered into the Doklam area, which is not in line with what is claimed by Indian, Chinas foreign ministry said.

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi met US President Donald Trump at the White House a week ago, came back home to roll-out the Goods and Services Tax and will take off to Israel on his maiden visit today. However, Beijing now feels India planned the intrusion at Doklam to impress the Trump administration. This, and a series of other developments on Monday further escalated tension across the Sikkim border. For example, Indian troops crossed the undisputed Sikkim section of China-India border and impeded Chinese workers from building roads a few days before Modis visit to the US, said an editorial in State-run Global Times, adding that India has sought Washingtons support at the cost of India-China ties. The article also blamed the Indian government of starting an anti-dumping probe into Chinese products. Because the border face-off and the announcement of anti-dumping probe occurred around the same time as Modis two-day visit to the US, people link Indias bravura with the Modi-Trump meeting. Through the diplomatic channel, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang asked India to withdraw its military presence at Doklam to end the standoff. By entering Chinese territory and obstructing our troops normal activities, India has violated existing convention on the boundary and basic principle of international law, he claimed at a press conference. China and India have been engaged in a standoff in the Doklam area near the Bhutan trijunction for almost a month in what has been the longest such impasse between the two armies since 1962, when the two countries fought a brief war. Geng also dismissed Defence Minister Arun Jaitleys remarks that India of 2017 is different from what it was in 1962, saying, China too is different and will take all necessary measures to safeguard its territorial sovereignty. Meanwhile, at another maritime border, Beijing scrambled its naval ships and military jets to warn off a US missile destroyer sailing close to an artificial island built by it in the disputed South China Sea. It termed Washingtons move as a serious political and military provocation. Cant use Bhutan as excuse: China We have no objection to bilateral relations between India and Bhutan but firmly opposed to Indian side infringing in Chinese territory using Bhutan as an excuse. Bhutan does not know that the Indian troops entered into the Doklam area, which is not in line with what is claimed by Indian, Chinas foreign ministry said.
Ramananda Sengupta By

Express News Service

Narendra Modi will make history when he arrives in Israel early Tuesday, becoming the first Indian Prime Minister to do so. The three-day visit, aimed at commemorating 25 years of diplomatic ties between the two countries, is also historic because Modi will not be visiting either Palestine or an Arab State immediately before or after this trip.

This marks a radical shift from the earlier visits by senior Indian leaders to Israel, who would always make it a point to visit Ramallah in Palestine immediately afterwards to reassure them about Indias motives and support for their cause, said a senior foreign ministry official who requested anonymity.

It was this concern over not just alienating Muslims in India, but also the Arab world --where a lot of Indians work, and where most of our oil and natural gas comes from--- which led to the delay in establishing a diplomatic relationship. Despite having formally recognised Israel in 1950, full diplomatic relations were launched only 1992, under (then PM) Narasimha Rao. But he too did so after convincing the PLO of Indias commitment to the Palestinian cause.

India and Israel cooperate in a wide range of areas including agriculture and water conservation, science and technology, trade and investment. Both sides also view each other as victims of Islamist terror, and the largest area of cooperation is defence.

In a rare gesture usually reserved only for the US President or the Pope, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will personally receive Modi at the airport. After a meeting with Israeli President Reuven Rivlin, who visited India in November 2016, Netanyahu will host a banquet for Modi, and is expected to accompany him to most other events. These include a community reception on July 5, expected to be attended by over 4,000 Indians living in Israel, and later with Indian students there.

One can expect mega defence and security deals, and perhaps some tie ups in water management and agriculture. But the thing to watch out for, quipped a senior official, is whether Modi will mention Palestine at all during his visit, bar the usual platitudes about support for a two-state formula.

WATCH THIS: PM Modi gets a red carpet welcome in Israel

What PM told the Israeli media

My visit comes at a special moment- we mark 25 years of establishment of India-Israel relations this year, Modi said on the eve of his visit. In an interview to pro-government daily Israel Hayom, Modi said his visit was based on the deep centuries- old connection between our two peoples.

The progress of a wary friendship

Ahead of Narendra Modis 3-day visit to Israel, a look at ties between the two countries...

1947: India votes against the plan to partition Palestine

1949: India votes against Israels admission to the UN

1950: India officially recognises the state of Israel

1975: India becomes first non-Arab country to recognise PLO

1980: Full diplomatic status granted to PLO

1992: Two sign agreement to establish diplomatic relations

1997: Ezer Weizman becomes the first Israeli president to visit India

1999: Israel supplies weapons to help India in Kargil war

2003: Ariel Sharon becomes the 1st Israeli PM to visit India

2013: India-Israel trade touches $6 billion mark

2014: PMs of the two nations meet for the first time at UNGA

Narendra Modi will make history when he arrives in Israel early Tuesday, becoming the first Indian Prime Minister to do so. The three-day visit, aimed at commemorating 25 years of diplomatic ties between the two countries, is also historic because Modi will not be visiting either Palestine or an Arab State immediately before or after this trip. This marks a radical shift from the earlier visits by senior Indian leaders to Israel, who would always make it a point to visit Ramallah in Palestine immediately afterwards to reassure them about Indias motives and support for their cause, said a senior foreign ministry official who requested anonymity. It was this concern over not just alienating Muslims in India, but also the Arab world --where a lot of Indians work, and where most of our oil and natural gas comes from--- which led to the delay in establishing a diplomatic relationship. Despite having formally recognised Israel in 1950, full diplomatic relations were launched only 1992, under (then PM) Narasimha Rao. But he too did so after convincing the PLO of Indias commitment to the Palestinian cause. India and Israel cooperate in a wide range of areas including agriculture and water conservation, science and technology, trade and investment. Both sides also view each other as victims of Islamist terror, and the largest area of cooperation is defence. In a rare gesture usually reserved only for the US President or the Pope, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will personally receive Modi at the airport. After a meeting with Israeli President Reuven Rivlin, who visited India in November 2016, Netanyahu will host a banquet for Modi, and is expected to accompany him to most other events. These include a community reception on July 5, expected to be attended by over 4,000 Indians living in Israel, and later with Indian students there. One can expect mega defence and security deals, and perhaps some tie ups in water management and agriculture. But the thing to watch out for, quipped a senior official, is whether Modi will mention Palestine at all during his visit, bar the usual platitudes about support for a two-state formula. WATCH THIS: PM Modi gets a red carpet welcome in Israel What PM told the Israeli media My visit comes at a special moment- we mark 25 years of establishment of India-Israel relations this year, Modi said on the eve of his visit. In an interview to pro-government daily Israel Hayom, Modi said his visit was based on the deep centuries- old connection between our two peoples. The progress of a wary friendship Ahead of Narendra Modis 3-day visit to Israel, a look at ties between the two countries... 1947: India votes against the plan to partition Palestine 1949: India votes against Israels admission to the UN 1950: India officially recognises the state of Israel 1975: India becomes first non-Arab country to recognise PLO 1980: Full diplomatic status granted to PLO 1992: Two sign agreement to establish diplomatic relations 1997: Ezer Weizman becomes the first Israeli president to visit India 1999: Israel supplies weapons to help India in Kargil war 2003: Ariel Sharon becomes the 1st Israeli PM to visit India 2013: India-Israel trade touches $6 billion mark 2014: PMs of the two nations meet for the first time at UNGA
By PTI

Defence, agriculture, trade, diplomacy and water management will dominate talks during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ongoing visit to Israel -- the first Indian Prime Minister to visit the Jewish homeland.

Apart from from his scheduled official engagements, Modi is also expected to meet Moshe Holtzberg, a survivor of the 2008 Mumbai 26/11 terrorist attack. Moshe was two years old when the attack happened.

"Ahead of the visit, both countries have prepared a roadmap of joint economic undertakings," The Haaretz reported on June 29, 2017. "The Israeli cabinet approved a 23-page document continuing scores of bilateral measures and a budget of 280 million shekels (about $79.6 million or Rs 514 crore) -- a bigger sum than Israel has ever set aside for China, Africa and Latin America combined. No fewer than 11 ministries were involved in preparing the programme."

Here are five things that define the India-Israel relationship today:

Defence: India is Israel's top destination for arms exports, buying 41 per cent of export between 2012 and 2016, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, an independent global conflict and arms-research institute.

Israel is India's third-largest source of arms, with a 7.2 per cent share of imports between 2012 and 2016, next to the US (14 per cent) and Russia (68 per cent).

The earliest signs of collaboration came during the 1962 Sino-Indian war, when Israel provided India military aid. Israel also assisted India during two wars with Pakistan in 1965 and 1971.

India reciprocated during the six-day war in 1967 by providing Israel with spare parts for French-made Mystere and Ouragan aircraft as well as AX-13 tanks (also French-made).

The highlight of the partnership was Israel's supply of artillery shells during the Kargil war in 1999 when India faced a shortage.

In the late 1990s, a crucial defence deal was the Indian purchase of Barak 1, an air-defence missile, bought specifically for its capability to intercept US-made Harpoon missiles deployed by Pakistan.

India's imports of unarmed aerial vehicles (UAVs) have almost all been from Israel. Of 176 UAVs purchased from Israel, 108 are Searcher UAVs and 68 are Heron UAVs.

In April 2017, India and Israel signed a $2 billion deal for an advanced medium-range surface-to-air missile system, which will provide the Indian army the capability to shoot down aircraft, missiles and drones at ranges of up to 70 km.

In September 2016, tests were conducted of the jointly developed Long Range Surface-to-Air Missile with a range of 70 km, intended to equip three guided-missile destroyers of the Indian Navy.

India successfully tested the Israeli-made SPYDER quick-reaction surface-to-air missile in May this year. The Indian Air Force (IAF) is planning to deploy this system on its western border.

India and Israel also closely cooperate on counter-terrorism issues through a joint working group on counter-terrorism.

Diplomacy: Several ministerial and high-level official visits to Israel preceded Modi's tour. These included visits by then Home Minister L.K. Advani in 2000, former President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam in 2008, Home Minister Rajnath Singh in 2014, President Pranab Mukherjee in 2015 and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj in 2016.

Three Indian naval ships, destroyer INS Mumbai, frigate INS Trishul and tanker INS Aditya, made a goodwill visit at the Haifa port in May 2017 to mark 25 years of full diplomatic relations between the two countries.

Agriculture: An Indo-Israel agriculture action plan for 2015-18 is operational, and 15 of the proposed 26 centres of excellence in agriculture are being developed in India with Israel's help to showcase the latest technology to Indian farmers.

Phase-I (2010-12) and phase-II (2012-15) of the agreement are complete, according to a reply to the Lok Sabha.

India has benefited from Israeli technologies in horticulture mechanisation, protected cultivation, orchard and canopy management, nursery management, micro-irrigation and post-harvest management, particularly in Haryana and Maharashtra.

Every year, more than 20,000 farmers visit the Agricultural Centre of Excellence at Gharaunda in Karnal, Haryana, where a nursery produces hybrid seedlings -- including tomatoes, cherry-tomato, colored capsicum, cucumbers, eggplant and chilli pepper-grown in small, individual cells, ready to be transplanted into containers or a field.

There was a five-to 10-fold increase in crop yields with an accompanying 65 per cent reduction in use of water and noticeable decrease in the use of pesticides and fertilisers, according to a December 2014 report on the Indo-Israel Agriculture Project.

Water Management: On June 28, 2017, the Union cabinet approved a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Israel on the National Campaign for Water Conservation in India.

Technologically-adept Israel has developed water-management technologies, located as it is in a semi-arid region with limited sources of fresh drinking water.

India and Israel had earlier signed an MoU on water resources management and development cooperation in November 2016.

Trade: Israel was India's 38th-largest trading partner, with trade of $5.02 billion (Rs 33,634 crore) in 2016-17, down 18 per cent over 2012-13. The trade balance stood in India's favour at $1.10 billion (Rs 7,370 crore) in 2016-17.

Mineral fuels and oils are India's leading export to Israel, worth $1.01 billion in 2016-17.

India's major imports from Israel in 2016-17 included natural or cultured pearls and precious stones, worth $1.11 billion.

Trade in diamonds accounts for nearly 54 per cent of the bilateral trade. Nearly 40 diamond dealers from India have opened offices at the Israeli diamond exchange in Ramat-Gan. Some of these dealers have been active in Israel for nearly 30-40 years.

The Israeli government has proposed measures such as "offering export insurance, liberalising the aviation sector and granting longer-term visas". The aim is to boost Israeli exports to India by 25 per cent over the next four years and tourists to 80,000 annually.

"Relations with Israel are significant for India because of cooperation in agriculture, defence and science/technology," Uttara Sahasrabuddhe, professor of international relations at the University of Mumbai, told IndiaSpend.

"Israel has been giving key weapons systems to India, including missiles; it has given us those weapons which we could not directly buy from the US for ideological reasons; cooperation in counter-terrorism from information sharing to techniques/doctrine of counter terrorism," Sahasrabudde said. "It is also an important source of foreign investment, if tapped with care. The visit of the Indian PM will indicate that New Delhi has come out of the old mindset."



Defence, agriculture, trade, diplomacy and water management will dominate talks during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ongoing visit to Israel -- the first Indian Prime Minister to visit the Jewish homeland. Apart from from his scheduled official engagements, Modi is also expected to meet Moshe Holtzberg, a survivor of the 2008 Mumbai 26/11 terrorist attack. Moshe was two years old when the attack happened. "Ahead of the visit, both countries have prepared a roadmap of joint economic undertakings," The Haaretz reported on June 29, 2017. "The Israeli cabinet approved a 23-page document continuing scores of bilateral measures and a budget of 280 million shekels (about $79.6 million or Rs 514 crore) -- a bigger sum than Israel has ever set aside for China, Africa and Latin America combined. No fewer than 11 ministries were involved in preparing the programme." Here are five things that define the India-Israel relationship today: Defence: India is Israel's top destination for arms exports, buying 41 per cent of export between 2012 and 2016, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, an independent global conflict and arms-research institute. Israel is India's third-largest source of arms, with a 7.2 per cent share of imports between 2012 and 2016, next to the US (14 per cent) and Russia (68 per cent). The earliest signs of collaboration came during the 1962 Sino-Indian war, when Israel provided India military aid. Israel also assisted India during two wars with Pakistan in 1965 and 1971. India reciprocated during the six-day war in 1967 by providing Israel with spare parts for French-made Mystere and Ouragan aircraft as well as AX-13 tanks (also French-made). The highlight of the partnership was Israel's supply of artillery shells during the Kargil war in 1999 when India faced a shortage. In the late 1990s, a crucial defence deal was the Indian purchase of Barak 1, an air-defence missile, bought specifically for its capability to intercept US-made Harpoon missiles deployed by Pakistan. India's imports of unarmed aerial vehicles (UAVs) have almost all been from Israel. Of 176 UAVs purchased from Israel, 108 are Searcher UAVs and 68 are Heron UAVs. In April 2017, India and Israel signed a $2 billion deal for an advanced medium-range surface-to-air missile system, which will provide the Indian army the capability to shoot down aircraft, missiles and drones at ranges of up to 70 km. In September 2016, tests were conducted of the jointly developed Long Range Surface-to-Air Missile with a range of 70 km, intended to equip three guided-missile destroyers of the Indian Navy. India successfully tested the Israeli-made SPYDER quick-reaction surface-to-air missile in May this year. The Indian Air Force (IAF) is planning to deploy this system on its western border. India and Israel also closely cooperate on counter-terrorism issues through a joint working group on counter-terrorism. Diplomacy: Several ministerial and high-level official visits to Israel preceded Modi's tour. These included visits by then Home Minister L.K. Advani in 2000, former President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam in 2008, Home Minister Rajnath Singh in 2014, President Pranab Mukherjee in 2015 and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj in 2016. Three Indian naval ships, destroyer INS Mumbai, frigate INS Trishul and tanker INS Aditya, made a goodwill visit at the Haifa port in May 2017 to mark 25 years of full diplomatic relations between the two countries. Agriculture: An Indo-Israel agriculture action plan for 2015-18 is operational, and 15 of the proposed 26 centres of excellence in agriculture are being developed in India with Israel's help to showcase the latest technology to Indian farmers. Phase-I (2010-12) and phase-II (2012-15) of the agreement are complete, according to a reply to the Lok Sabha. India has benefited from Israeli technologies in horticulture mechanisation, protected cultivation, orchard and canopy management, nursery management, micro-irrigation and post-harvest management, particularly in Haryana and Maharashtra. Every year, more than 20,000 farmers visit the Agricultural Centre of Excellence at Gharaunda in Karnal, Haryana, where a nursery produces hybrid seedlings -- including tomatoes, cherry-tomato, colored capsicum, cucumbers, eggplant and chilli pepper-grown in small, individual cells, ready to be transplanted into containers or a field. There was a five-to 10-fold increase in crop yields with an accompanying 65 per cent reduction in use of water and noticeable decrease in the use of pesticides and fertilisers, according to a December 2014 report on the Indo-Israel Agriculture Project. Water Management: On June 28, 2017, the Union cabinet approved a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Israel on the National Campaign for Water Conservation in India. Technologically-adept Israel has developed water-management technologies, located as it is in a semi-arid region with limited sources of fresh drinking water. India and Israel had earlier signed an MoU on water resources management and development cooperation in November 2016. Trade: Israel was India's 38th-largest trading partner, with trade of $5.02 billion (Rs 33,634 crore) in 2016-17, down 18 per cent over 2012-13. The trade balance stood in India's favour at $1.10 billion (Rs 7,370 crore) in 2016-17. Mineral fuels and oils are India's leading export to Israel, worth $1.01 billion in 2016-17. India's major imports from Israel in 2016-17 included natural or cultured pearls and precious stones, worth $1.11 billion. Trade in diamonds accounts for nearly 54 per cent of the bilateral trade. Nearly 40 diamond dealers from India have opened offices at the Israeli diamond exchange in Ramat-Gan. Some of these dealers have been active in Israel for nearly 30-40 years. The Israeli government has proposed measures such as "offering export insurance, liberalising the aviation sector and granting longer-term visas". The aim is to boost Israeli exports to India by 25 per cent over the next four years and tourists to 80,000 annually. "Relations with Israel are significant for India because of cooperation in agriculture, defence and science/technology," Uttara Sahasrabuddhe, professor of international relations at the University of Mumbai, told IndiaSpend. "Israel has been giving key weapons systems to India, including missiles; it has given us those weapons which we could not directly buy from the US for ideological reasons; cooperation in counter-terrorism from information sharing to techniques/doctrine of counter terrorism," Sahasrabudde said. "It is also an important source of foreign investment, if tapped with care. The visit of the Indian PM will indicate that New Delhi has come out of the old mindset."
By IANS

KOLKATA: In an unprecedented move, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today accused Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi of threatening her and said that he was acting like a "BJP block president". "He (Governor) threatened me over phone.

The way he spoke taking the side of BJP, I felt insulted. I have told him that he cannot talk like this," Banerjee told reporters at the state secretariat.

"He (the governor) is behaving like a block president of BJP. He should understand that he has been nominated to the post...," she said.

"He talked big on law and order. I am not here at the mercy of anyone. The way he spoke to me, I once thought of leaving (the chair)," she said.

KOLKATA: In an unprecedented move, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today accused Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi of threatening her and said that he was acting like a "BJP block president". "He (Governor) threatened me over phone. The way he spoke taking the side of BJP, I felt insulted. I have told him that he cannot talk like this," Banerjee told reporters at the state secretariat. "He (the governor) is behaving like a block president of BJP. He should understand that he has been nominated to the post...," she said. "He talked big on law and order. I am not here at the mercy of anyone. The way he spoke to me, I once thought of leaving (the chair)," she said.
By IANS

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday left for his three-day trip to Israel -- a first by an Indian Prime Minister -- to discuss with his counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu the common challenges like terrorism and ways to boost economic ties.

"PM Narendra Modi emplanes for a historic visit to Israel, the first ever by an Indian Prime Minister," the Prime Minister's Office tweeted.

WATCH THIS: Agriculture, water management to come under focus during PM Modi's Israel visit: Daniel Carmon

In a special gesture, Netanyahu will receive Modi when he arrives at Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion Airport. Such a special gesture has been done only for US Presidents, including Donald Trump, and the Pope.

In Israel, Modi will also meet President Ruven Ruvi Rivlin apart from paying his respects to courageous Indian soldiers who laid down their lives during the liberation of Haifa in 1918. The visit coincides with India and Israel marking 25 years of their diplomatic relations.

Modi will be in Israel till July 6 before travelling to Hamburg, Germany, to attend the G-20 summit.



NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday left for his three-day trip to Israel -- a first by an Indian Prime Minister -- to discuss with his counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu the common challenges like terrorism and ways to boost economic ties. "PM Narendra Modi emplanes for a historic visit to Israel, the first ever by an Indian Prime Minister," the Prime Minister's Office tweeted. WATCH THIS: Agriculture, water management to come under focus during PM Modi's Israel visit: Daniel Carmon In a special gesture, Netanyahu will receive Modi when he arrives at Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion Airport. Such a special gesture has been done only for US Presidents, including Donald Trump, and the Pope. In Israel, Modi will also meet President Ruven Ruvi Rivlin apart from paying his respects to courageous Indian soldiers who laid down their lives during the liberation of Haifa in 1918. The visit coincides with India and Israel marking 25 years of their diplomatic relations. Modi will be in Israel till July 6 before travelling to Hamburg, Germany, to attend the G-20 summit.
By Express News Service

NEW DELHI: Scores of Swadeshi Jagaran Manch members protested outside the embassy of China situated in the national capital on Tuesday.

Demanding people to boycott China-made goods, members of the organisation shouted slogans against China's decisions in the recent past, especially stopping of pilgrims to Kailash Mansarover.

" China's anti- India policy will not be accepted by us anymore. They sent back the pilgrims who were going to Kailash Mansarovar, this shows that China is not a friend of India, people should boycott their products", said Jaspreet Singh Matta, State executive member of Swadeshi Jagran Manch.

Disputes between the two countries have recently escalated due to border disputes.

NEW DELHI: Scores of Swadeshi Jagaran Manch members protested outside the embassy of China situated in the national capital on Tuesday. Demanding people to boycott China-made goods, members of the organisation shouted slogans against China's decisions in the recent past, especially stopping of pilgrims to Kailash Mansarover. " China's anti- India policy will not be accepted by us anymore. They sent back the pilgrims who were going to Kailash Mansarovar, this shows that China is not a friend of India, people should boycott their products", said Jaspreet Singh Matta, State executive member of Swadeshi Jagran Manch. Disputes between the two countries have recently escalated due to border disputes.
By Express News Service

Even as the Chinese accuse India of betrayal leading to current crisis, Narendra Modi will become the first Indian Prime Minister to land in Israel

Tension Highway

It started with the stand-off in the Doklam area near the Sikkim sector where Indian troops along with Bhutanese Army foiled Chinese Armys attempts to encroach on a disputed enclave. It even bulldozed an Indian bunker in the border area

This is not 1962!

Responding to Chinas threat that India should learn from historical lessons, Defence Minister Arun Jaitley hit back saying India of 2017 is different from what it was in 1962 and blamed Beijing for triggering tensions

Friendship triangle

Chinese media claim that Indias objection to China building a road in the Sikkim sector ahead of PM Narendra Modis visit to the US was aimed at demonstrating to Washington its firm determination to constrain Chinas rise

A new journey

On Tuesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will reach Israel on a three-day visit aimed at strengthening diplomatic ties between the two counties. He will hold discussions with his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu. It will also be the first ever visit by an Indian Prime Minister to the Jewish nation

Tiger, dragon meet

Modi will also meet Chinese President Xi Jinping later this week at the G20 summit at Hamburg in Germany amid a military standoff between the two countries with Chinese experts saying war could be a possibility. A Chinese deputy foreign minister said the meeting would be part of informal talks among BRICS nations

Even as the Chinese accuse India of betrayal leading to current crisis, Narendra Modi will become the first Indian Prime Minister to land in Israel Tension Highway It started with the stand-off in the Doklam area near the Sikkim sector where Indian troops along with Bhutanese Army foiled Chinese Armys attempts to encroach on a disputed enclave. It even bulldozed an Indian bunker in the border area This is not 1962! Responding to Chinas threat that India should learn from historical lessons, Defence Minister Arun Jaitley hit back saying India of 2017 is different from what it was in 1962 and blamed Beijing for triggering tensions Friendship triangle Chinese media claim that Indias objection to China building a road in the Sikkim sector ahead of PM Narendra Modis visit to the US was aimed at demonstrating to Washington its firm determination to constrain Chinas rise A new journey On Tuesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will reach Israel on a three-day visit aimed at strengthening diplomatic ties between the two counties. He will hold discussions with his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu. It will also be the first ever visit by an Indian Prime Minister to the Jewish nation Tiger, dragon meet Modi will also meet Chinese President Xi Jinping later this week at the G20 summit at Hamburg in Germany amid a military standoff between the two countries with Chinese experts saying war could be a possibility. A Chinese deputy foreign minister said the meeting would be part of informal talks among BRICS nations
Namita Bajpai By

Express News Service

LUCKNOW: Yogi Adityanath has said no to a proposal by his staff to buy him two brand new Mercedes SUVs.

The Estate Department put the idea  likely to cost the cash-strapped state Rs 3.5 crore -- to the chief minister on Tuesday. He shot it down in a trice. He said he is happy to use the car Akhilesh Yadav had. That too is a Merc, which is now likely to go down in UPs history as the only legacy of Akhilesh Yadav that Yogi Adityanath thinks is worth keeping.

Although his own hand-me-down Merc did cost quite a packet, the austere chief minister of UP has been advising the states ministers to forswear Fortuners for humble Innovas instead.

BSP chief Mayawati, when she was chief minister, drove around in Land Cruisers and her successor Akhilesh upgraded to the aforesaid Mercedes worth Rs 1.5 crore.

In fact, the young Yadav bought two Mercs, one for himself and one for his father Mulayam Singh Yadav, which Dad still drives.

Sources said officers did whisper to the new chief minister that the Samajwadi Party patriarch might be asked to return his state-provided Mercedes, but Adityanath shushed them. "If he returns it on his own, then its ok. Otherwise don't ask him to return the car," he is reported to have said.

Swank cars are not new to UP. A fleet of luxury cars and chartered planes crisscrossed the state during Mayawatis time, and then Akhilesh Yadav thought nothing of buying party heavyweight Azam Khan a top-end Skoda worth Rs 37 lakh.

But then Adityanath is a yogi. Austerity is his fancy. When he moved into 5 kalidas Marg in Lucknow, he had all ACs removed except the ones in his living room and office, where they hum for the benefit of his visitors.

LUCKNOW: Yogi Adityanath has said no to a proposal by his staff to buy him two brand new Mercedes SUVs. The Estate Department put the idea  likely to cost the cash-strapped state Rs 3.5 crore -- to the chief minister on Tuesday. He shot it down in a trice. He said he is happy to use the car Akhilesh Yadav had. That too is a Merc, which is now likely to go down in UPs history as the only legacy of Akhilesh Yadav that Yogi Adityanath thinks is worth keeping. Although his own hand-me-down Merc did cost quite a packet, the austere chief minister of UP has been advising the states ministers to forswear Fortuners for humble Innovas instead. BSP chief Mayawati, when she was chief minister, drove around in Land Cruisers and her successor Akhilesh upgraded to the aforesaid Mercedes worth Rs 1.5 crore. In fact, the young Yadav bought two Mercs, one for himself and one for his father Mulayam Singh Yadav, which Dad still drives. Sources said officers did whisper to the new chief minister that the Samajwadi Party patriarch might be asked to return his state-provided Mercedes, but Adityanath shushed them. "If he returns it on his own, then its ok. Otherwise don't ask him to return the car," he is reported to have said. Swank cars are not new to UP. A fleet of luxury cars and chartered planes crisscrossed the state during Mayawatis time, and then Akhilesh Yadav thought nothing of buying party heavyweight Azam Khan a top-end Skoda worth Rs 37 lakh. But then Adityanath is a yogi. Austerity is his fancy. When he moved into 5 kalidas Marg in Lucknow, he had all ACs removed except the ones in his living room and office, where they hum for the benefit of his visitors.




Social Justice



Two years after Pope Francis launched Laudato Si, the Vatican's plea to save the Earth, Trump rejected its tenets and the Paris Agreement. But people of all faiths are unified globally to beat climate change. Two years after Pope Francis launched Laudato Si, the Vatican's plea to save the Earth, Trump rejected its tenets and the Paris Agreement. But people of all faiths are unified globally to beat climate change.

















Publish date:Jun 13, 2017



Two years after Pope Francis launched Laudato Si, the Vatican's plea to save the Earth, Trump rejected its tenets and the Paris Agreement. But people of all faiths are unified globally to beat climate change.







Activists display banners calling for action on climate change and against world poverty as they arrive on St. Peter's Square prior to Pope Francis' Sunday Angelus prayer at the Vatican.



(Photo: Gabriel Bouys/Getty Images)



On May 24th, a grim-faced Pope Francis handed a signed copy of Laudato Si to President Donald Trump during his visit to Rome. The United States president, who has called climate change "a hoax," promised to read the papal encyclical, a spiritual and secular plea to save the Earth from environmental destruction.









A week later, Trump announced plans to yank the U.S. out of the 2015



Two years after the release of Laudato Siand long after its intense global attention has fadedit's worth asking: is the uncompromising and unprecedented Catholic teaching document fulfilling Vatican expectations by uniting leaders of all faiths, along with their billions of congregants, to take decisive climate action "in care for our common home"?



The answer is a qualified "yes"based on evidence from interviews with a range of faith leaders, recent conferences, signed pledges, and a host a concrete actions, large and small, in congregations and seminaries around the world.



"There is an assumption that if religious leaders let the pope talk about [environmental protection], it will usher in rapid, large-scale change," said Fletcher Harper, executive director of GreenFaith, a U.S.-based interfaith environmental activism organization with an international reach.



"That's magical thinking. It's not how the world works. What matters is discipline in determining long-term work by faith groups. It's not happening as fast as I'd like it to, but it's underway," he said.



Harper offered up his own organization as an example of incremental progress. GreenFaith conducted a training session in Brazil in May with 55 "emerging faith leaders" from 17 countries. The goal: Promote environmental awareness and identify realistic renewable energy and sustainability projects that can be achieved in each country. But harvesting the fruits of the seeds planted at that international meeting will take considerable energy and time. Two years after Pope Francis launched Laudato Si, the Vatican's plea to save the Earth, Trump rejected its tenets and the Paris Agreement. But people of all faiths are unified globally to beat climate change.Activists display banners calling for action on climate change and against world poverty as they arrive on St. Peter's Square prior to Pope Francis' Sunday Angelus prayer at the Vatican.(Photo: Gabriel Bouys/Getty Images)On May 24th, a grim-faced Pope Francis handed a signed copy of Laudato Si to President Donald Trump during his visit to Rome. The United States president, who has called climate change "a hoax," promised to read the papal encyclical, a spiritual and secular plea to save the Earth from environmental destruction.A week later, Trump announced plans to yank the U.S. out of the 2015 Paris Agreement , whose prologue was influenced by the principles embodied in Laudato Si. In doing so, Trump repudiated 195 nations' pledges to reduce their carbon footprint to mitigate the worst effects of climate change; he repudiated Pope Francis and his encyclical as well.Two years after the release of Laudato Siand long after its intense global attention has fadedit's worth asking: is the uncompromising and unprecedented Catholic teaching document fulfilling Vatican expectations by uniting leaders of all faiths, along with their billions of congregants, to take decisive climate action "in care for our common home"?The answer is a qualified "yes"based on evidence from interviews with a range of faith leaders, recent conferences, signed pledges, and a host a concrete actions, large and small, in congregations and seminaries around the world."There is an assumption that if religious leaders let the pope talk about [environmental protection], it will usher in rapid, large-scale change," said Fletcher Harper, executive director of GreenFaith, a U.S.-based interfaith environmental activism organization with an international reach."That's magical thinking. It's not how the world works. What matters is discipline in determining long-term work by faith groups. It's not happening as fast as I'd like it to, but it's underway," he said.Harper offered up his own organization as an example of incremental progress. GreenFaith conducted a training session in Brazil in May with 55 "emerging faith leaders" from 17 countries. The goal: Promote environmental awareness and identify realistic renewable energy and sustainability projects that can be achieved in each country. But harvesting the fruits of the seeds planted at that international meeting will take considerable energy and time.



Push and Pull Among Catholics



The Catholic church in the U.S. has been slow to embrace the encyclical and its call for action. The pope's popularity there dropped with the encyclical's release on June 18th, 2015; too few pastors are preaching environmental protection from the pulpit, Catholic insiders say; and polls revealed that a majority of American Catholics voted for Trump.



Cardinal Peter Turkson, president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, which oversaw the research and writing of Laudato Si, said in a 2016 interview: "We are not unaware of the tensions the encyclical has presented in some places." Noting that wealthy U.S. Catholic donors tend to be conservative politically, Turkson lamented, "You cannot bite the hand that feeds you, but we hope to change that."



Slowly, that change in coming.



On May 10th, nine large Catholic organizationsone global, five from Italy, two from the U.S., and one from the United Kingdomannounced their divestment from coal, oil, and gas stocks in what was deemed "the largest Catholic fossil fuel divestment to date," by the Global Catholic Climate Movement.



"This statement aims to be the first concrete commitment in the logic of the integral ecology and the care of our common home, which Pope Francis called us to," said Archbishop Tomasso Valentinetti of Pescara-Penne, Italy.



Sister Sheila Kinsey, who is based in Rome and is on the steering committee of the Global Catholic Climate Movement, added, "Laudato Si and its spirit are still alive, and more and more relevant, considering that climate action is a crucial issue on the international political agenda."



She noted that, on January 27th, more than 125 international organizationsincluding a host of Catholic congregations, universities, along with environmental groups such as Greenpeace and 350.orggathered in Rome for a conference titled "Laudato Si and Catholic Investing."



Meanwhile, in Benin in East Africa, where each Catholic diocese maintains its own farm, sustainable agricultural training centers inspired by the encyclical are growing in number. And across Australia, a number of Catholic schools are heeding the Vatican call to invest in solar panels to cut carbon emissions and save energy costs.



Interfaith Appeal



"The pope doesn't expect this movement to just be a Catholic thing," said longtime Vatican observer Robert Mickens, English editor of La Croix International in Rome. "What is extraordinary about the encyclical is that it is a project that the whole human race can engage in together. What unites all of humanity? The environment. It's our common home; our common interest."



As if to underscore that point, 33 faith-based groups from around the world signed the Interfaith Statement to World Leaders at the 22nd United Nations Climate Summit in Marrakesh, Morocco (COP22), last November. They pledged their commitment to the goals of the Paris Agreementand, by extension, Laudato Si.



Gopal Patel is director of the London and India-based Bhumi Project, launched in 2009. Among its goals, the project promotes ways for Hindu communities to jettison coal for renewable energy, and to improve waste management and reduce pollution around temples. He signed the interfaith statement at COP22.



"All religions have been doing environmental work for a long time," Patel said. "What Laudato Si did, and continues to do, is ensure that faith voices are heard in the broad climate space. It was the biggest kind of support that the faith movement could get to show that we have something to say about caring for the Earth."



Patel couldn't help but mention Pope Francis' gift to Trump: "The pope could have given him many things. A punch in the face? Whatever. But he gave Trump Laudato Si, right? That's another opportunity for the faith community to say, 'We're still relevant and so is this message.'"



Patel also believes that the document written by Catholic thought leaders aligns well with core Hindu beliefs: "Hinduism believes that there is a universal ecosystem, not only on this planet but in all of creation. There is a universal structure and order to the world. People are a part of that. So are the trees and mountains and birds and fish."



Echoing a persistent theme in Laudato Si, he added, "One of the primary responsibilities of human beings to is ensure the maintenance of that universal harmony and balance that is creation."

Inspiration for Muslims



Nana Firman, co-founder of the Global Muslim Climate Network, recalled that, in early 2015before Pope Francis made known his intention to produce Laudato SiMuslim environmental leaders were drafting a statement in support of the U.N. climate negotiations to occur in Paris at year's end.



"We were discussing how to bring our position to the forefront. Then the pope released Laudato Si [in June of 2015] and we were, like, perfect! It stimulated and inspired us," Firman said. "Two months later, we released the Islamic Declaration on Climate Change."



Since then, she stressed, "a lot has been going on, even if it hasn't received much media attention."



"We are launching a campaign of clean-energy mosques in the Middle East and North Africa," she said. "The government of Morocco committed to transforming its 15,000 mosques around the country to renewable energy by 2019. Jordan has the same commitment to transform to solar energy."



Firman described hardware (projects) and software (Muslim leaders) that are being mobilized to help the poor and those most vulnerable to climate change. She spoke of joining the battle to fight rampant deforestation in Indonesia, and of the need to take action in low-lying Bangladesh, which is threatened by sea-level rise. More challenges await in drought-prone sub-Saharan Africa, she acknowledged.



"We are training imams as environmental scholars to speak from the pulpit to the community and to the public," she said. "When people come to the mosque, they see solar panels and they learn about why they are important. All of this is connected to our faith. We are stewards upon this Earth."



Faith and the Pace of Change



For all the anecdotal evidence of progress, an undertone of impatience resonates in the faith-based community, just as it does among environmental leaders. Carbon emissions are still increasing; the Earth experiences record temperatures year after year; sea-level rise and extreme weather are the norm.



Almost everywhere, the scale of investment and the pace of social change trails the quickening march of climate change.



In the U.S., dozens of seminariesmostly Protestantare integrating environmental education into their theological training. A younger and bigger generation of clergy is being urged to ramp up the urgency in their parishes for local and governmental climate action.



But the hope and promise of Laudato Si could remain beyond human reach without even more aggressive and engaged faith leaders mobilizing the billions they represent in all corners of the globe to pressure their governmental leaders and to act on their own.



"My students are excited and they want to take this on, but the challenges are so big," said Tim Van Meter, an associate professor of ecology and justice at the Methodist Theological School in Ohio. "People are just tired. It seems inevitable that we will drive ourselves to collapse."



Then, in an instant, Van Meter shook off that gloomy perspective: "One of the core understandings of what it means to be a person of faith is that you can't give in to despair. You have to live out of hope. As tired as we might get, I know we are working toward a greater good. And we will continue in this work."



This For all the anecdotal evidence of progress, an undertone of impatience resonates in the faith-based community, just as it does among environmental leaders. Carbon emissions are still increasing; the Earth experiences record temperatures year after year; sea-level rise and extreme weather are the norm.Almost everywhere, the scale of investment and the pace of social change trails the quickening march of climate change.In the U.S., dozens of seminariesmostly Protestantare integrating environmental education into their theological training. A younger and bigger generation of clergy is being urged to ramp up the urgency in their parishes for local and governmental climate action.But the hope and promise of Laudato Si could remain beyond human reach without even more aggressive and engaged faith leaders mobilizing the billions they represent in all corners of the globe to pressure their governmental leaders and to act on their own."My students are excited and they want to take this on, but the challenges are so big," said Tim Van Meter, an associate professor of ecology and justice at the Methodist Theological School in Ohio. "People are just tired. It seems inevitable that we will drive ourselves to collapse."Then, in an instant, Van Meter shook off that gloomy perspective: "One of the core understandings of what it means to be a person of faith is that you can't give in to despair. You have to live out of hope. As tired as we might get, I know we are working toward a greater good. And we will continue in this work."This story originally appeared at the website of global conservation news service Mongabay.com . Get updates on their stories delivered to your inbox , or follow @Mongabay on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter.












A Surya Prakash By

The current face off between the Karnataka Legislative Assembly and the media over the formers decision to sentence two journalists to imprisonment for one year and a fine of `10,000 each for writing defamatory articles against some MLAs could end if both the institutions follow the advice and directions given by the Karnataka High Court and if the state legislature is aware of the Supreme Court decisions in regard to exercise of its plenary power.

The state Assemblys decision on June 21 last to imprison Ravi Belagere and Anil Raj, the editors of two Kannada publications, has come as a rude shock to the media, not just in Karnataka but all over the country. The legislatures move, which is unprecedented, is seen as too stringent and an assault on freedom of expression. Following the Assemblys resolution, the two journalists moved the Karnataka High Court. The court has directed the two editors to appear before the Speaker and appeal for reconsideration of the Assemblys decision. Following this, the Speaker could ask the Assembly to reconsider its decision at the next session. The court has also observed that if the legislators felt aggrieved, they could file defamation cases in courts.

The legislature would do well to follow the advice of the High Court. It must also understand that the countrys judiciary has never allowed a legislature to use its plenary power in a harsh and unreasonable manner. When it comes to over-sensitive legislatures and the media, there are several cases. But, in all the major cases, the legislatures have had to bow to judicial opinion and tone down their desire to punish journalists.

In 1952, the acting editor of Blitz, Dinshaw Homi Mistry, was arrested and detained for a week on the orders of the Speaker of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly for publishing an article that questioned the impartiality of the Speaker. Acting on a habeas corpus petition moved by Mistry, the Supreme Court ordered his release. In 1964, the same Assembly jailed Keshav Singh for publishing a pamphlet which it felt was derogatory of a member of the House. The Allahabad High Court ordered that Keshav Singh be released from jail. But the legislature decided to take on the judiciary. It held Keshav Singh, his advocate and the two judges of the Allahabad High Court who had passed the order, guilty of contempt of the House and directed that all of them be arrested and produced before the House! The two judges moved the High Court for relief. The full bench of the High Court admitted these petitions and ordered stay of execution of the Assemblys resolution.

Anxious to end the conflict between the two estatesthe legislature and the judiciary the President made a reference to the Supreme Court under Article 143 (1) of the Constitution. This matter was heard by a seven-judge bench of the Supreme Court headed by Chief Justice P B Gajendragadkar. The Chief Justice wrote the majority view on behalf of five judges on the bench and himself. The fundamental principles laid down by the court in this case has often come to the rescue of journalists and others who have had to face the wrath of legislatures.

The main points made by the court in this case are as follows: In India, the Constitution is supreme and Indian legislatures cannot claim sovereignty similar to the Parliament in England; the judiciary has the exclusive power to interpret Article 194(3) from which legislatures draw their powers and privileges; and finally, legislatures must use their plenary powers with circumspection. If legislatures step beyond the legislative fields allotted to them, or ... trespass on the fundamental rights of the citizens ... their actions are liable to be struck down by courts.

On March 10, 1983, Eenadu carried a report about a ruckus in the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Council. The reports headline said Peddala Galaba ( Elders Commotion!). Rather innocuous, you would think, but not so to the legislative council. The members of that House felt that the headline was derogatory of the House. The House issued a warrant to the Commissioner of Police, Hyderabad to produce Ramoji Rao, the Editor before the Bar of the House. Rao immediately moved the Supreme Court, which directed that he shall not be arrested.

On hearing the apex courts order, the Commissioner of Police sought fresh directions from the House. The legislative council reiterated its instructions to the Commissioner of Police. Caught between two conflicting directions, the Commissioner of Police went to the office of Ramoji Rao and asked him to accompany him to the Legislative Council. Rao refused to do so, and instead gave the Commissioner of Police a letter stating that he cannot be arrested unless the orders of the Supreme Court are modified or vacated. Two days later, the Governor prorogued the Legislative Council and the matter ended there.

How far can a legislature go in these matters? It is best to quote Chief Justice Gajendragadkar in the Keshav Singh Case: The power to punish for contempt, large as it is, must always be exercised cautiously, wisely and with circumspection. Frequent or indiscriminate use of this power in anger or irritation would not help to sustain the dignity of the court but may sometimes affect it adversely. Wise judges never forget that the best way to sustain the dignity and status of their office is to deserve respect from the public at large by the quality of their judgements, the fearlessness, fairness and objectivity of their approach, and by the restraint, dignity and decorum which they observe in their judicial conduct. We venture to think that what is true of the judicature is equally true of the legislature. This should be food for thought for the Honourable Speaker!

A Surya Prakash

Chairman, Prasar Bharati

Email: suryamedia@gmail.com

The current face off between the Karnataka Legislative Assembly and the media over the formers decision to sentence two journalists to imprisonment for one year and a fine of `10,000 each for writing defamatory articles against some MLAs could end if both the institutions follow the advice and directions given by the Karnataka High Court and if the state legislature is aware of the Supreme Court decisions in regard to exercise of its plenary power. The state Assemblys decision on June 21 last to imprison Ravi Belagere and Anil Raj, the editors of two Kannada publications, has come as a rude shock to the media, not just in Karnataka but all over the country. The legislatures move, which is unprecedented, is seen as too stringent and an assault on freedom of expression. Following the Assemblys resolution, the two journalists moved the Karnataka High Court. The court has directed the two editors to appear before the Speaker and appeal for reconsideration of the Assemblys decision. Following this, the Speaker could ask the Assembly to reconsider its decision at the next session. The court has also observed that if the legislators felt aggrieved, they could file defamation cases in courts. The legislature would do well to follow the advice of the High Court. It must also understand that the countrys judiciary has never allowed a legislature to use its plenary power in a harsh and unreasonable manner. When it comes to over-sensitive legislatures and the media, there are several cases. But, in all the major cases, the legislatures have had to bow to judicial opinion and tone down their desire to punish journalists. In 1952, the acting editor of Blitz, Dinshaw Homi Mistry, was arrested and detained for a week on the orders of the Speaker of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly for publishing an article that questioned the impartiality of the Speaker. Acting on a habeas corpus petition moved by Mistry, the Supreme Court ordered his release. In 1964, the same Assembly jailed Keshav Singh for publishing a pamphlet which it felt was derogatory of a member of the House. The Allahabad High Court ordered that Keshav Singh be released from jail. But the legislature decided to take on the judiciary. It held Keshav Singh, his advocate and the two judges of the Allahabad High Court who had passed the order, guilty of contempt of the House and directed that all of them be arrested and produced before the House! The two judges moved the High Court for relief. The full bench of the High Court admitted these petitions and ordered stay of execution of the Assemblys resolution. Anxious to end the conflict between the two estatesthe legislature and the judiciary the President made a reference to the Supreme Court under Article 143 (1) of the Constitution. This matter was heard by a seven-judge bench of the Supreme Court headed by Chief Justice P B Gajendragadkar. The Chief Justice wrote the majority view on behalf of five judges on the bench and himself. The fundamental principles laid down by the court in this case has often come to the rescue of journalists and others who have had to face the wrath of legislatures. The main points made by the court in this case are as follows: In India, the Constitution is supreme and Indian legislatures cannot claim sovereignty similar to the Parliament in England; the judiciary has the exclusive power to interpret Article 194(3) from which legislatures draw their powers and privileges; and finally, legislatures must use their plenary powers with circumspection. If legislatures step beyond the legislative fields allotted to them, or ... trespass on the fundamental rights of the citizens ... their actions are liable to be struck down by courts. On March 10, 1983, Eenadu carried a report about a ruckus in the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Council. The reports headline said Peddala Galaba ( Elders Commotion!). Rather innocuous, you would think, but not so to the legislative council. The members of that House felt that the headline was derogatory of the House. The House issued a warrant to the Commissioner of Police, Hyderabad to produce Ramoji Rao, the Editor before the Bar of the House. Rao immediately moved the Supreme Court, which directed that he shall not be arrested. On hearing the apex courts order, the Commissioner of Police sought fresh directions from the House. The legislative council reiterated its instructions to the Commissioner of Police. Caught between two conflicting directions, the Commissioner of Police went to the office of Ramoji Rao and asked him to accompany him to the Legislative Council. Rao refused to do so, and instead gave the Commissioner of Police a letter stating that he cannot be arrested unless the orders of the Supreme Court are modified or vacated. Two days later, the Governor prorogued the Legislative Council and the matter ended there. How far can a legislature go in these matters? It is best to quote Chief Justice Gajendragadkar in the Keshav Singh Case: The power to punish for contempt, large as it is, must always be exercised cautiously, wisely and with circumspection. Frequent or indiscriminate use of this power in anger or irritation would not help to sustain the dignity of the court but may sometimes affect it adversely. Wise judges never forget that the best way to sustain the dignity and status of their office is to deserve respect from the public at large by the quality of their judgements, the fearlessness, fairness and objectivity of their approach, and by the restraint, dignity and decorum which they observe in their judicial conduct. We venture to think that what is true of the judicature is equally true of the legislature. This should be food for thought for the Honourable Speaker! A Surya Prakash Chairman, Prasar Bharati Email: suryamedia@gmail.com
By Express News Service

BERHAMPUR/BHUBANESWAR: Amit Shah is in Odisha to do his booth-level business, and he got down to the job straightaway in a village bang beside Naveen Patnaiks constituency of Hinjili.

It was a shot across the BJDs bow in Odisha: roll over, Naveen, the Narendra Modi juggernaut has begun to roll in Odisha. It is a three-day mission meant to get the feet dirty, the sort of which was prescribed by Shah to all Union ministers when they assembled in Bhubaneswar for the BJP national executive back in May. That was where the booth-level offensive to capture frontiers hitherto unconquered - such as Odisha - was unfurled, and Shah is here to lead by example.

As is par for the course for Amit Shah atmospherics these days, a poor man was found whose meal the BJP boss would partake in sight of popping flashbulbs. That man this time was Benu Swain, a 50-year-old farmer of Hugulapata village in Kukudakhandi block in whose hut Shah and his missionaries sat down to a suitably spartan meal served on plantain leaves.

The meal of rice, dal, ghaanta (a mix of greens and lentils) and fried vegetable may have been simple for the guests - Shah, Dharmendra Pradhan and retinue - but princely for Swain, a widowed man with four sons to provide for.

As a backdrop for the point Shah is trying to make here in Odisha, the house was perfect. With gaping holes in the roof and walls with their entrails showing, Swain's house is crying out for repairs but he has no money. The local administration has not been able to help him out.

Yet, the rural housing scheme is Naveen Patnaiks pet tactic to beat off the BJP advance in his state. So just 20 km from pampered Hinjili, this poverty lunch provided ideal ammo for Amit Shah.

It even had a huge lotus painted on the wall.

The meal provided the fuel for Shah to go on all day long in his busy trip to Odisha. At a public meeting at Hugulapata village, he declared forth, "The BJP is going to form the next government in Odisha with two-thirds majority in 2019."

The BJP boss said as a Gujarati he welcome Odiyas who go over to the west coast in search of livelihood. But should they have to? "It will be better if the youth of Odisha find jobs here, and contribute their mite to the development of the state and take care of their parents, he said.

Amit Shah said he owed Odisha. I have not come here as president of the BJP, but as a vistarak (propagator). I became president of the party after becoming an active primary member from Odisha, and it is my job to strengthen the party here like any other BJP worker."

BERHAMPUR/BHUBANESWAR: Amit Shah is in Odisha to do his booth-level business, and he got down to the job straightaway in a village bang beside Naveen Patnaiks constituency of Hinjili. It was a shot across the BJDs bow in Odisha: roll over, Naveen, the Narendra Modi juggernaut has begun to roll in Odisha. It is a three-day mission meant to get the feet dirty, the sort of which was prescribed by Shah to all Union ministers when they assembled in Bhubaneswar for the BJP national executive back in May. That was where the booth-level offensive to capture frontiers hitherto unconquered - such as Odisha - was unfurled, and Shah is here to lead by example. As is par for the course for Amit Shah atmospherics these days, a poor man was found whose meal the BJP boss would partake in sight of popping flashbulbs. That man this time was Benu Swain, a 50-year-old farmer of Hugulapata village in Kukudakhandi block in whose hut Shah and his missionaries sat down to a suitably spartan meal served on plantain leaves. The meal of rice, dal, ghaanta (a mix of greens and lentils) and fried vegetable may have been simple for the guests - Shah, Dharmendra Pradhan and retinue - but princely for Swain, a widowed man with four sons to provide for. As a backdrop for the point Shah is trying to make here in Odisha, the house was perfect. With gaping holes in the roof and walls with their entrails showing, Swain's house is crying out for repairs but he has no money. The local administration has not been able to help him out. Yet, the rural housing scheme is Naveen Patnaiks pet tactic to beat off the BJP advance in his state. So just 20 km from pampered Hinjili, this poverty lunch provided ideal ammo for Amit Shah. It even had a huge lotus painted on the wall. The meal provided the fuel for Shah to go on all day long in his busy trip to Odisha. At a public meeting at Hugulapata village, he declared forth, "The BJP is going to form the next government in Odisha with two-thirds majority in 2019." The BJP boss said as a Gujarati he welcome Odiyas who go over to the west coast in search of livelihood. But should they have to? "It will be better if the youth of Odisha find jobs here, and contribute their mite to the development of the state and take care of their parents, he said. Amit Shah said he owed Odisha. I have not come here as president of the BJP, but as a vistarak (propagator). I became president of the party after becoming an active primary member from Odisha, and it is my job to strengthen the party here like any other BJP worker."
By Express News Service

CHENNAI: The Chennai Metropolitan Planning Area is set to become the biggest in the country, after the Tamil Nadu government gave its nod to amalgamate the neighbouring districts, Kancheepuram and Thiruvallur, and Arakkonam taluk in Vellore, to form an 8,878 square km megapolis.

As first reported by Express 23 months ago, the urban planning authorities first mooted the creation of a planning area that would encompass the suburban, peri-urban and even the extended areas so as to regulate growth.

By bringing these areas under comprehensive planning guidelines, the concentration of population in the core city area would reduce and quality infrastructure could be developed in these areas before development there hits it at breakneck speed.

This measure would ensure integrated urbanisation in the extended planning area and would ensure uniform growth. For this purpose, the new areas poised for economic growth would be selected and a Strategic Regional Plan (SRP) will be prepared, said Housing and Urban Development Minister Udumalai K Radhakrishnan, discussing the demands for grants for his department in the State Assembly on Monday.

CHENNAI: The Chennai Metropolitan Planning Area is set to become the biggest in the country, after the Tamil Nadu government gave its nod to amalgamate the neighbouring districts, Kancheepuram and Thiruvallur, and Arakkonam taluk in Vellore, to form an 8,878 square km megapolis. As first reported by Express 23 months ago, the urban planning authorities first mooted the creation of a planning area that would encompass the suburban, peri-urban and even the extended areas so as to regulate growth. By bringing these areas under comprehensive planning guidelines, the concentration of population in the core city area would reduce and quality infrastructure could be developed in these areas before development there hits it at breakneck speed. This measure would ensure integrated urbanisation in the extended planning area and would ensure uniform growth. For this purpose, the new areas poised for economic growth would be selected and a Strategic Regional Plan (SRP) will be prepared, said Housing and Urban Development Minister Udumalai K Radhakrishnan, discussing the demands for grants for his department in the State Assembly on Monday.
By Express News Service

HYDERABAD: Former Lok Sabha speaker Meira Kumar, who is on a visit to the state to campaign for her candidature as the nations President, said on Monday that they had their own strategies to get the votes of the public representatives of non-Congress ruling parties across the nation.

She, however, refused to divulge more on the strategy but on the day she began her campaign in the south India, the presidential candidate could not get in contact with TRS chief and CM K Chandrasekhar Rao. She did also not get a positive response from AIMIM.

Speaking to media at Gandhi Bavan, Meira Kumar said she was contesting the election only for ideals.

Meira Kumar said she had addressed letters to all opposition parties including MIM and TRS. Telangana CM K Chandrasekhar Rao was not available to respond to my phone call, she said. It would be a rare occasion for the public representatives to create history by casting their vote in her favour, she remarked.

When asked about the lynchings, Kumar said the NDA government was deciding as to what people are to eat and what to speak. Asked about pitting one Dalit against another in the election, she said it was sad to term the contest as Dalit (Meira Kumar) versus Dalit (Ramnath Kovind). Later, Meira Kumar, who was supposed to fly to Bhubaneswar from here, took a flight to Kolkata instead.

After Meira, Kovind to campaign in Hyd today

Hyderabad:A day after UPAs presidential candidate Meira Kumar campaigned in TS, NDAs candidate Ramnath Kovind will visit Hyderabad on Tuesday. A grand reception is being organised to welcome Kovind not just by the BJP but also TRS. CM K Chandrasekhar Rao will host a lunch for the presidential candidate at Jal Vihar. Kovind will reach Begumpet airport in the morning and will proceed to a hotel in Begumpet. He is will meet BJP members.

HYDERABAD: Former Lok Sabha speaker Meira Kumar, who is on a visit to the state to campaign for her candidature as the nations President, said on Monday that they had their own strategies to get the votes of the public representatives of non-Congress ruling parties across the nation. She, however, refused to divulge more on the strategy but on the day she began her campaign in the south India, the presidential candidate could not get in contact with TRS chief and CM K Chandrasekhar Rao. She did also not get a positive response from AIMIM. Speaking to media at Gandhi Bavan, Meira Kumar said she was contesting the election only for ideals. Meira Kumar said she had addressed letters to all opposition parties including MIM and TRS. Telangana CM K Chandrasekhar Rao was not available to respond to my phone call, she said. It would be a rare occasion for the public representatives to create history by casting their vote in her favour, she remarked. When asked about the lynchings, Kumar said the NDA government was deciding as to what people are to eat and what to speak. Asked about pitting one Dalit against another in the election, she said it was sad to term the contest as Dalit (Meira Kumar) versus Dalit (Ramnath Kovind). Later, Meira Kumar, who was supposed to fly to Bhubaneswar from here, took a flight to Kolkata instead. After Meira, Kovind to campaign in Hyd today Hyderabad:A day after UPAs presidential candidate Meira Kumar campaigned in TS, NDAs candidate Ramnath Kovind will visit Hyderabad on Tuesday. A grand reception is being organised to welcome Kovind not just by the BJP but also TRS. CM K Chandrasekhar Rao will host a lunch for the presidential candidate at Jal Vihar. Kovind will reach Begumpet airport in the morning and will proceed to a hotel in Begumpet. He is will meet BJP members.
By PTI

JERUSALEM: India and Israel will elevate their ties and sign several agreements during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit here, the first ever by an Indian premier, hailed as a "very significant step" in strengthening bilateral relations that are on a "constant upswing".

Modi's three-day visit beginning tomorrow is aimed at commemorating 25 years of establishment of diplomatic ties between the two countries and will also see discussions between him and his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu to explore ways to enhance cooperation in key strategic areas.

The two sides are expected to sign number of agreements in the field of innovation, development, science and technology and space.

Apart from boosting cooperation in the water and agriculture sectors, India and Israel will also discuss ways to strengthen people-to-people contact, air connectivity and investments.

During the visit, a deal with the Uttar Pradesh government is also likely to be signed to clean-up a patch of river Ganges apart from setting up of industrial research and development fund of USD 40 million.

Before the visit, the External Affairs ministry in New Delhi said it will provide an impetus for deeper bilateral engagement in areas of mutual interest.

Modi will be received by Netanyahu at the airport. This is a special gesture only accorded to the Pope or the US president. The Israeli prime minister will also host a dinner for Modi tomorrow.

Netanyahu will accompany Modi to most of the events, including the community reception on July 5.

Modi will also pay homage to Indian soldiers at the Indian Cemetery in Haifa.

Modi will also meet 26/11 Mumbai terror attack survivor Holtzberg Moshe, who was only two when he was saved by his Indian nanny Sandra Samuel. Moshes father Rabbi Gavriel and mother Rivkah were among eight Israeli nationals killed in the 2008 terror strike. Netanyahu earlier hailed Modi's visit as a "very significant step" in strengthening bilateral relations that are on a "constant upswing".

"Next week, the Indian Prime Minister, my friend, Narendra Modi will arrive in Israel, This is a historic visit to Israel. In the 70 years of the country's existence, no Indian Prime Minister has ever visited and this is further expression of the state of Israel's military, economic and diplomatic strength," Netanyahu had said.

"This is a very significant step in strengthening relations between the two countries," he had said.

The two leaders have already met twice on foreign soil on the sidelines of UN-related events and are said to be constantly in touch with each other over the phone. The defence ties between India and Israel have often drawn worldwide attention and acquired strategic dimensions. It is believed that Modi's visit would further solidify security ties as Israeli defence industries have shown greater inclination towards participating in joint ventures to give a boost to the National Democratic Alliance government's 'Make in India' campaign.

The Indian prime minister would also be meeting Israeli President Reuven Rivlin and the leader of opposition Isaac Herzog on July 5.

The Israeli Cabinet on Sunday approved major decisions to deepen Indo-Israel ties. Among the measures proposed include the establishment of a 40 million US dollars joint fund to encourage Israeli and Indian business cooperation, agreements permitting and extending incentives to Bollywood filmmakers looking to shoot in Israel, efforts to promote growth in tourism and a joint government project in the fields of water and agriculture.

Modi will not be travelling to neighbouring Palestine during the visit, a clear signal of de-hyphenation of its ties with the two West Asian nations.

President Pranab Mukherjee in 2015 and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj in 2016 visited both the countries. Modi's visit will be the first by an Indian premier to Israel.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and President Ezer Weizman visited India in 2003 and 1997 respectively. Israeli President Reuven Rivlin had also paid a visit to India in November last year.

JERUSALEM: India and Israel will elevate their ties and sign several agreements during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit here, the first ever by an Indian premier, hailed as a "very significant step" in strengthening bilateral relations that are on a "constant upswing". Modi's three-day visit beginning tomorrow is aimed at commemorating 25 years of establishment of diplomatic ties between the two countries and will also see discussions between him and his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu to explore ways to enhance cooperation in key strategic areas. The two sides are expected to sign number of agreements in the field of innovation, development, science and technology and space. Apart from boosting cooperation in the water and agriculture sectors, India and Israel will also discuss ways to strengthen people-to-people contact, air connectivity and investments. During the visit, a deal with the Uttar Pradesh government is also likely to be signed to clean-up a patch of river Ganges apart from setting up of industrial research and development fund of USD 40 million. Before the visit, the External Affairs ministry in New Delhi said it will provide an impetus for deeper bilateral engagement in areas of mutual interest. Modi will be received by Netanyahu at the airport. This is a special gesture only accorded to the Pope or the US president. The Israeli prime minister will also host a dinner for Modi tomorrow. Netanyahu will accompany Modi to most of the events, including the community reception on July 5. Modi will also pay homage to Indian soldiers at the Indian Cemetery in Haifa. Modi will also meet 26/11 Mumbai terror attack survivor Holtzberg Moshe, who was only two when he was saved by his Indian nanny Sandra Samuel. Moshes father Rabbi Gavriel and mother Rivkah were among eight Israeli nationals killed in the 2008 terror strike. Netanyahu earlier hailed Modi's visit as a "very significant step" in strengthening bilateral relations that are on a "constant upswing". "Next week, the Indian Prime Minister, my friend, Narendra Modi will arrive in Israel, This is a historic visit to Israel. In the 70 years of the country's existence, no Indian Prime Minister has ever visited and this is further expression of the state of Israel's military, economic and diplomatic strength," Netanyahu had said. "This is a very significant step in strengthening relations between the two countries," he had said. The two leaders have already met twice on foreign soil on the sidelines of UN-related events and are said to be constantly in touch with each other over the phone. The defence ties between India and Israel have often drawn worldwide attention and acquired strategic dimensions. It is believed that Modi's visit would further solidify security ties as Israeli defence industries have shown greater inclination towards participating in joint ventures to give a boost to the National Democratic Alliance government's 'Make in India' campaign. The Indian prime minister would also be meeting Israeli President Reuven Rivlin and the leader of opposition Isaac Herzog on July 5. The Israeli Cabinet on Sunday approved major decisions to deepen Indo-Israel ties. Among the measures proposed include the establishment of a 40 million US dollars joint fund to encourage Israeli and Indian business cooperation, agreements permitting and extending incentives to Bollywood filmmakers looking to shoot in Israel, efforts to promote growth in tourism and a joint government project in the fields of water and agriculture. Modi will not be travelling to neighbouring Palestine during the visit, a clear signal of de-hyphenation of its ties with the two West Asian nations. President Pranab Mukherjee in 2015 and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj in 2016 visited both the countries. Modi's visit will be the first by an Indian premier to Israel. Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and President Ezer Weizman visited India in 2003 and 1997 respectively. Israeli President Reuven Rivlin had also paid a visit to India in November last year.
By PTI

WASHINGTON: The US today confirmed that North Korea has carried out a ballistic missile test with President Donald Trump slamming Kim Jong-Un for the provocative action and urging China to make a "heavy move" on Pyongyang to "end this nonsense once and for all".

The single launch of a land-based, intermediate range ballistic missile occurred near the Panghyon Airfield, the US Pacific Command said.

"The President has been briefed on the latest report of a North Korean ballistic missile launch," according to the White House.

Reacting to the development on Twitter, Trump said, "North Korea has just launched another missile. Does this guy (Kim) have anything better to do with his life?"

"Hard to believe that South Korea and Japan will put up with this much longer. Perhaps China will put a heavy move on North Korea and end this nonsense once and for all!" he tweeted.

North Korea has just launched another missile. Does this guy have anything better to do with his life? Hard to believe that South Korea.....  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 4, 2017

....and Japan will put up with this much longer. Perhaps China will put a heavy move on North Korea and end this nonsense once and for all!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 4, 2017

The US has been urging China -- North Korea's closest diplomatic ally -- to pressure the Pyongyang regime to end its nuclear and ballistic missile programmes.

According to United States Pacific Command (USPACOM), the missile was tracked for 37 minutes and landed in the Sea of Japan.

"We are working with our interagency partners on a more detailed assessment. We continue to monitor North Korea's actions closely," the PACOM said.

"US Pacific Command stands behind our iron-clad commitment to the security of our allies in the Republic of Korea and Japan," it said.

WASHINGTON: The US today confirmed that North Korea has carried out a ballistic missile test with President Donald Trump slamming Kim Jong-Un for the provocative action and urging China to make a "heavy move" on Pyongyang to "end this nonsense once and for all". The single launch of a land-based, intermediate range ballistic missile occurred near the Panghyon Airfield, the US Pacific Command said. "The President has been briefed on the latest report of a North Korean ballistic missile launch," according to the White House. Reacting to the development on Twitter, Trump said, "North Korea has just launched another missile. Does this guy (Kim) have anything better to do with his life?" "Hard to believe that South Korea and Japan will put up with this much longer. Perhaps China will put a heavy move on North Korea and end this nonsense once and for all!" he tweeted. North Korea has just launched another missile. Does this guy have anything better to do with his life? Hard to believe that South Korea.....  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 4, 2017 ....and Japan will put up with this much longer. Perhaps China will put a heavy move on North Korea and end this nonsense once and for all!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 4, 2017 The US has been urging China -- North Korea's closest diplomatic ally -- to pressure the Pyongyang regime to end its nuclear and ballistic missile programmes. According to United States Pacific Command (USPACOM), the missile was tracked for 37 minutes and landed in the Sea of Japan. "We are working with our interagency partners on a more detailed assessment. We continue to monitor North Korea's actions closely," the PACOM said. "US Pacific Command stands behind our iron-clad commitment to the security of our allies in the Republic of Korea and Japan," it said.
By Online Desk

Leading Israeli newspaper Haaretz, which represents the secular Left in the country

1) An opinion in the newspaper asked: Modi Visit: Does Trump's Instability Mean Israel Should Pivot Toward India? It said, As well as billion-dollar defense deals, Israel and India have another key feature in common: a large diaspora. The Jewish Diaspora is India's model for cultivating investment and supporting its foreign policy.

2) An analysis said the public in Israel werent as enthused by PM Modis visit as they were about US President Donald Trumps trip, but remarked that at least the Israeli government knew how vital bilateral economic, defence and tech ties were. The headline said: Wake Up, Israel! Indian PM Narendra Modi's Visit Will Make History

3) Another piece in the Haaretz analyses why despite Israel having wooed India strongly all these decades from the time of founder David Ben-Gurion, why New Delhi had rebuffed it, with the article titled: Modi Visit: How Israel Went From 'Contaminated' by Colonialism to India's Strategic Ally

4) Haaretz even went so far as to examine Why Indias Narendra Modi can afford to ignore the Palestianians. It said Modis visit did not mean that India had turned its back on the Palestinian cause but the cold war was over and he had a billion people to feed.

The Jerusalem Post (formerly Palestine Post), which evolved into a Centrist competitor to Haaretz

1) As Modi visit approaches, Israel And India seem closer than ever, said an opinion in the paper. It talked about the commonalities between the two countries majority religions of the country not being practised in large numbers in any other part of the world, while having Muslim minorities; dealing with the constant threat of terrorism; economical shift from socialist beginnings to neo-capitalist present and so on. It also pointed out that, The prime minister is, significantly, visiting only Israel and skipping the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

2) The Jerusalem Post has dedicated a section on their site to the Historic First Visit by an Indian Prime Minister, and at least two Indian journalists have written for the website.

3) In a light side-story, the Jersusalem Post reported that Modi would be sleeping in the same bed as US President Donald Trump when he was in Israel on a recent visit. He will be given the same luxury suite at the King David Hotel that Trump stayed in during his visit, the website reported.

Hamodia (which has an English language daily edition in the US) is a paper targeted at Orthodox Jews

1) The paper quoted officials as saying that India-Israel trade had grown 2,000 per cent in the 25 years since trade ties were first established, after the Indian economy opened up, from USD 200 million in 1992 to USD 4.17 billion in 2016.

2) The paper pointed out in an article last month when talking of the impending visit that Indian PMs Israel Itinerary Excludes Palestinians.. It quoted an official as saying to The Times of Israel: This is going to be a purely bilateral visit. He is coming to visit us, and only us. Its a great achievement for us.

3) Narendra Modi is making a first visit to Israel by an Indian prime minister next week, in a public embrace of a country that he has long admired for its military and technical expertise but which his predecessors kept at arms length, the paper said. The article also took note that At home (India), the apparent shift in what has long been a bedrock of Indias foreign policy risks sharpening criticism that the countrys 180 million Muslims are increasingly being marginalised under Modis Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government, which swept to power in 2014.

Leading Israeli newspaper Haaretz, which represents the secular Left in the country 1) An opinion in the newspaper asked: Modi Visit: Does Trump's Instability Mean Israel Should Pivot Toward India? It said, As well as billion-dollar defense deals, Israel and India have another key feature in common: a large diaspora. The Jewish Diaspora is India's model for cultivating investment and supporting its foreign policy. 2) An analysis said the public in Israel werent as enthused by PM Modis visit as they were about US President Donald Trumps trip, but remarked that at least the Israeli government knew how vital bilateral economic, defence and tech ties were. The headline said: Wake Up, Israel! Indian PM Narendra Modi's Visit Will Make History 3) Another piece in the Haaretz analyses why despite Israel having wooed India strongly all these decades from the time of founder David Ben-Gurion, why New Delhi had rebuffed it, with the article titled: Modi Visit: How Israel Went From 'Contaminated' by Colonialism to India's Strategic Ally 4) Haaretz even went so far as to examine Why Indias Narendra Modi can afford to ignore the Palestianians. It said Modis visit did not mean that India had turned its back on the Palestinian cause but the cold war was over and he had a billion people to feed. The Jerusalem Post (formerly Palestine Post), which evolved into a Centrist competitor to Haaretz 1) As Modi visit approaches, Israel And India seem closer than ever, said an opinion in the paper. It talked about the commonalities between the two countries majority religions of the country not being practised in large numbers in any other part of the world, while having Muslim minorities; dealing with the constant threat of terrorism; economical shift from socialist beginnings to neo-capitalist present and so on. It also pointed out that, The prime minister is, significantly, visiting only Israel and skipping the West Bank and Gaza Strip. 2) The Jerusalem Post has dedicated a section on their site to the Historic First Visit by an Indian Prime Minister, and at least two Indian journalists have written for the website. 3) In a light side-story, the Jersusalem Post reported that Modi would be sleeping in the same bed as US President Donald Trump when he was in Israel on a recent visit. He will be given the same luxury suite at the King David Hotel that Trump stayed in during his visit, the website reported. Hamodia (which has an English language daily edition in the US) is a paper targeted at Orthodox Jews 1) The paper quoted officials as saying that India-Israel trade had grown 2,000 per cent in the 25 years since trade ties were first established, after the Indian economy opened up, from USD 200 million in 1992 to USD 4.17 billion in 2016. 2) The paper pointed out in an article last month when talking of the impending visit that Indian PMs Israel Itinerary Excludes Palestinians.. It quoted an official as saying to The Times of Israel: This is going to be a purely bilateral visit. He is coming to visit us, and only us. Its a great achievement for us. 3) Narendra Modi is making a first visit to Israel by an Indian prime minister next week, in a public embrace of a country that he has long admired for its military and technical expertise but which his predecessors kept at arms length, the paper said. The article also took note that At home (India), the apparent shift in what has long been a bedrock of Indias foreign policy risks sharpening criticism that the countrys 180 million Muslims are increasingly being marginalised under Modis Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government, which swept to power in 2014.
By ANI

LAHORE: Hizbul Mujahideen Chief Syed Salahuddin, who has been branded as a global terrorist by the United States, admitted in a TV interview to having carried out terror attacks on Indian soil.

Till now our focus was on Indian occupation forces. All the operations that we have done or are underway, we focus only on the installations of these occupational forces, Salahuddin said in an interview with Geo TV.

Asserting that Kashmir was his home, the Hizbul chief stated that the Valley was witnessing an uprising since the killing of Burhan Wani.

Further revealing that he has many supporters in India, Salahuddin admitted to purchasing weapons from international markets, adding that he has the capacity to deliver weapons at any place if he is paid for it.

Informing that he carried out many operations in India, Salahuddin stated that the international scenario changed after 9/11.

If we would have taken our operations out of Kashmir at that time, India would get a chance to label Kashmir-e-Tehreek a terrorist organization. We have support and we can target any place in India, at anytime, he said.

On June 26th, the U.S. Department of State designated Salahuddin, as a 'Specially Designated Global Terrorist'.

"Department of State has designated Mohammad Yusuf Shah, also known as (AKA) Syed Salahuddin, as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) under Section 1(b) of Executive Order (E.O.) 13224, which imposes sanctions on foreign persons who have committed, or pose a significant risk of committing, acts of terrorism that threaten the security of U.S. nationals or the national security, foreign policy, or economy of the United States. As a consequence of this designation, U.S. persons are generally prohibited from engaging in transactions with Salahuddin and all of Salahuddin's property and interests in property subject to United States jurisdiction are blocked," the State Department said in a statement.

Salahuddin is the senior leader of the militant group Hizbul Mujahideen. In September, 2016, Salahuddin vowed to block any peaceful resolution to the Kashmir conflict, threatened to train more Kashmiri suicide bombers, and vowed to turn the Kashmir valley "into a graveyard for Indian forces."

Under Salahuddin's tenure as senior Hizbul leader, the terror outfit has claimed responsibility for several attacks, including the April 2014 explosives attack in Jammu and Kashmir, which injured 17 people.

LAHORE: Hizbul Mujahideen Chief Syed Salahuddin, who has been branded as a global terrorist by the United States, admitted in a TV interview to having carried out terror attacks on Indian soil. Till now our focus was on Indian occupation forces. All the operations that we have done or are underway, we focus only on the installations of these occupational forces, Salahuddin said in an interview with Geo TV. Asserting that Kashmir was his home, the Hizbul chief stated that the Valley was witnessing an uprising since the killing of Burhan Wani. Further revealing that he has many supporters in India, Salahuddin admitted to purchasing weapons from international markets, adding that he has the capacity to deliver weapons at any place if he is paid for it. Informing that he carried out many operations in India, Salahuddin stated that the international scenario changed after 9/11. If we would have taken our operations out of Kashmir at that time, India would get a chance to label Kashmir-e-Tehreek a terrorist organization. We have support and we can target any place in India, at anytime, he said. On June 26th, the U.S. Department of State designated Salahuddin, as a 'Specially Designated Global Terrorist'. "Department of State has designated Mohammad Yusuf Shah, also known as (AKA) Syed Salahuddin, as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) under Section 1(b) of Executive Order (E.O.) 13224, which imposes sanctions on foreign persons who have committed, or pose a significant risk of committing, acts of terrorism that threaten the security of U.S. nationals or the national security, foreign policy, or economy of the United States. As a consequence of this designation, U.S. persons are generally prohibited from engaging in transactions with Salahuddin and all of Salahuddin's property and interests in property subject to United States jurisdiction are blocked," the State Department said in a statement. Salahuddin is the senior leader of the militant group Hizbul Mujahideen. In September, 2016, Salahuddin vowed to block any peaceful resolution to the Kashmir conflict, threatened to train more Kashmiri suicide bombers, and vowed to turn the Kashmir valley "into a graveyard for Indian forces." Under Salahuddin's tenure as senior Hizbul leader, the terror outfit has claimed responsibility for several attacks, including the April 2014 explosives attack in Jammu and Kashmir, which injured 17 people.
By AFP

JAKARTA: Muslims in Indonesia and Malaysia were urged to boycott Starbucks today by major Islamic groups accusing the coffee chain of being pro-gay rights, as concerns grow over rising religious conservatism in both nations.

Leaders from Muhammadiyah, Indonesia's second biggest mass Muslim organisation, also urged the government to revoke the company's business licence for its stance on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) issues.

"The ideology, business and view that they support are against our ideology," Anwar Abbas, Muhammadiyah's head of economic affairs, told AFP.

Another Muhammadiyah leader, Yunahar Ilyas, said the group was calling on "Muslims to not drink in Starbucks so that the income is not used to strengthen LGBT campaigns".

Starbucks Indonesia did not immediately respond to AFP requests for comment.

The firm is among a slew of US companies to have spoken up against discrimination in the US, with representatives signing a letter to North Carolina's Republican governor protesting legislation targeting transgender people last year.

Hardliners and Islamic groups have led a growing backlash against Indonesia's LGBT community over the past year, which activists believe was triggered by widespread media coverage of a decision in the United States to legalise same-sex marriage.

The group Pribumi Perkasa Malaysia this week also called on the government to "re-evaluate the trading licence given to companies that support same-sex marriages and LGBT," spokesman Amini Amir Abdullah said in a statement.

The Muslim leaders said concerns about Starbucks arose after reading Starbucks chairman's comment when tackling a shareholder's complaint in 2013 that the company were losing customers due to the firm's stance on LGBT.

At the time, chairman Howard Schultzman, then the chief executive, responded by asking the shareholder to sell the shares.

Homosexuality has long been taboo in Malaysia, where 60 percent of the population is Muslim, and where sodomy is a crime punishable by up to 20 years in prison.

JAKARTA: Muslims in Indonesia and Malaysia were urged to boycott Starbucks today by major Islamic groups accusing the coffee chain of being pro-gay rights, as concerns grow over rising religious conservatism in both nations. Leaders from Muhammadiyah, Indonesia's second biggest mass Muslim organisation, also urged the government to revoke the company's business licence for its stance on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) issues. "The ideology, business and view that they support are against our ideology," Anwar Abbas, Muhammadiyah's head of economic affairs, told AFP. Another Muhammadiyah leader, Yunahar Ilyas, said the group was calling on "Muslims to not drink in Starbucks so that the income is not used to strengthen LGBT campaigns". Starbucks Indonesia did not immediately respond to AFP requests for comment. The firm is among a slew of US companies to have spoken up against discrimination in the US, with representatives signing a letter to North Carolina's Republican governor protesting legislation targeting transgender people last year. Hardliners and Islamic groups have led a growing backlash against Indonesia's LGBT community over the past year, which activists believe was triggered by widespread media coverage of a decision in the United States to legalise same-sex marriage. The group Pribumi Perkasa Malaysia this week also called on the government to "re-evaluate the trading licence given to companies that support same-sex marriages and LGBT," spokesman Amini Amir Abdullah said in a statement. The Muslim leaders said concerns about Starbucks arose after reading Starbucks chairman's comment when tackling a shareholder's complaint in 2013 that the company were losing customers due to the firm's stance on LGBT. At the time, chairman Howard Schultzman, then the chief executive, responded by asking the shareholder to sell the shares. Homosexuality has long been taboo in Malaysia, where 60 percent of the population is Muslim, and where sodomy is a crime punishable by up to 20 years in prison.
By AFP

SEOUL: North Korea's declaration that it had successfully tested its first intercontinental ballistic missile able to reach the US mainland triggered a joint Chinese-Russian appeal for a military freeze to lower the tension between Pyongyang and Washington.

Experts said the device could reach Alaska. The launch came as Americans prepared to mark Independence Day and sparked a Twitter outburst from President Donald Trump who urged China to act to "end this nonsense once and for all".

The North's possession of a working ICBM -- something that Trump has vowed "won't happen" -- could be a game-changer for countries seeking to thwart the military goals of the isolated state.

China and Russia called for a moratorium on further missile and nuclear tests by Pyongyang after a meeting between leaders Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping in Moscow. They also called for a simultaneous suspension of large-scale US-South Korea military exercises.

"The opposing sides should start negotiations and affirm general principles of their relations including the non-use of force, rejection of aggression and peaceful coexistence," the joint statement said.

British foreign minister Boris Johnson asked the international community to "redouble its efforts to impose a price on this regime, which strains every nerve and sinew to build nuclear weapons and launch illegal missiles."

The "landmark" test of a Hwasong-14 missile was overseen by leader Kim Jong-Un, an emotional female announcer said on state Korean Central Television.

The broadcaster showed his handwritten order to carry out the launch, and pictures of him grinning in celebration, clenching his fist.

The rocket was "a very powerful ICBM that can strike any place in the world", the announcer said, and "a major breakthrough in the history of our republic".

The North's Academy of Defence Science, which developed the missile, said it reached an altitude of 2,802 kilometres and flew 933 kilometres, calling it the "final gate to rounding off the state nuclear force".

There are still doubts whether the North can miniaturise a nuclear weapon sufficiently to fit it onto a missile nose cone, or if it has mastered the technology needed for it to survive the difficult re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere.

But it has made great progress in its missile capabilities since Kim came to power. He has overseen three nuclear tests and multiple rocket launches.

In response to the launch but before the announcement, Trump asked on Twitter: "Does this guy have anything better to do with his life?"

The United Nations has imposed multiple sets of sanctions on Pyongyang, which retorts that it needs nuclear arms to defend itself against the threat of invasion.

'All of Alaska'

US Pacific Command confirmed the test and said it was a land-based, intermediate range missile that flew for 37 minutes before splashing down in the Sea of Japan, adding the launch did not pose a threat to North America.

Moscow's defence ministry called it medium-range. But Tokyo -- in whose exclusive economic zone it came down -- estimated the maximum altitude to have "greatly exceeded" 2,500 kilometres, prompting arms control specialist Jeffrey Lewis to respond on Twitter: "That's it. It's an ICBM. An ICBM that can hit Anchorage not San Francisco, but still."

David Wright, of the Union of Concerned Scientists, wrote on the organisation's allthingsnuclear blog that the available figures implied the missile had "a maximum range of roughly 6,700 km on a standard trajectory".

"That range would not be enough to reach the lower 48 states or the large islands of Hawaii, but would allow it to reach all of Alaska."

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told reporters: "This launch clearly shows that the threat has grown."

The US, Japan and South Korea will hold a summit on the issue on the sidelines of this week's G20 meeting, he added. "Also I will encourage President Xi Jinping and President Putin to take more constructive measures."

South Korea's President Moon Jae-In warned the North against crossing "the bridge of no return."

'Not wise'

Washington, South Korea's security guarantor, has more than 28,000 troops in the country to defend it from its communist neighbour. Fears of conflict reached a peak earlier this year as the Trump administration suggested military action was an option under consideration.

There has also been anger in the United States over the death of Otto Warmbier, an American student detained in North Korea for around 18 months before he was returned home in a coma in June.

Trump has been pinning his hopes on China -- North Korea's main diplomatic ally -- to pressure Pyongyang.

Last week he declared that Beijing's efforts had failed, but returned to the idea on Twitter following the launch: "Perhaps China will put a heavy move on North Korea and end this nonsense once and for all!"

SEOUL: North Korea's declaration that it had successfully tested its first intercontinental ballistic missile able to reach the US mainland triggered a joint Chinese-Russian appeal for a military freeze to lower the tension between Pyongyang and Washington. Experts said the device could reach Alaska. The launch came as Americans prepared to mark Independence Day and sparked a Twitter outburst from President Donald Trump who urged China to act to "end this nonsense once and for all". The North's possession of a working ICBM -- something that Trump has vowed "won't happen" -- could be a game-changer for countries seeking to thwart the military goals of the isolated state. China and Russia called for a moratorium on further missile and nuclear tests by Pyongyang after a meeting between leaders Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping in Moscow. They also called for a simultaneous suspension of large-scale US-South Korea military exercises. "The opposing sides should start negotiations and affirm general principles of their relations including the non-use of force, rejection of aggression and peaceful coexistence," the joint statement said. British foreign minister Boris Johnson asked the international community to "redouble its efforts to impose a price on this regime, which strains every nerve and sinew to build nuclear weapons and launch illegal missiles." The "landmark" test of a Hwasong-14 missile was overseen by leader Kim Jong-Un, an emotional female announcer said on state Korean Central Television. The broadcaster showed his handwritten order to carry out the launch, and pictures of him grinning in celebration, clenching his fist. The rocket was "a very powerful ICBM that can strike any place in the world", the announcer said, and "a major breakthrough in the history of our republic". The North's Academy of Defence Science, which developed the missile, said it reached an altitude of 2,802 kilometres and flew 933 kilometres, calling it the "final gate to rounding off the state nuclear force". There are still doubts whether the North can miniaturise a nuclear weapon sufficiently to fit it onto a missile nose cone, or if it has mastered the technology needed for it to survive the difficult re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere. But it has made great progress in its missile capabilities since Kim came to power. He has overseen three nuclear tests and multiple rocket launches. In response to the launch but before the announcement, Trump asked on Twitter: "Does this guy have anything better to do with his life?" The United Nations has imposed multiple sets of sanctions on Pyongyang, which retorts that it needs nuclear arms to defend itself against the threat of invasion. 'All of Alaska' US Pacific Command confirmed the test and said it was a land-based, intermediate range missile that flew for 37 minutes before splashing down in the Sea of Japan, adding the launch did not pose a threat to North America. Moscow's defence ministry called it medium-range. But Tokyo -- in whose exclusive economic zone it came down -- estimated the maximum altitude to have "greatly exceeded" 2,500 kilometres, prompting arms control specialist Jeffrey Lewis to respond on Twitter: "That's it. It's an ICBM. An ICBM that can hit Anchorage not San Francisco, but still." David Wright, of the Union of Concerned Scientists, wrote on the organisation's allthingsnuclear blog that the available figures implied the missile had "a maximum range of roughly 6,700 km on a standard trajectory". "That range would not be enough to reach the lower 48 states or the large islands of Hawaii, but would allow it to reach all of Alaska." Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told reporters: "This launch clearly shows that the threat has grown." The US, Japan and South Korea will hold a summit on the issue on the sidelines of this week's G20 meeting, he added. "Also I will encourage President Xi Jinping and President Putin to take more constructive measures." South Korea's President Moon Jae-In warned the North against crossing "the bridge of no return." 'Not wise' Washington, South Korea's security guarantor, has more than 28,000 troops in the country to defend it from its communist neighbour. Fears of conflict reached a peak earlier this year as the Trump administration suggested military action was an option under consideration. There has also been anger in the United States over the death of Otto Warmbier, an American student detained in North Korea for around 18 months before he was returned home in a coma in June. Trump has been pinning his hopes on China -- North Korea's main diplomatic ally -- to pressure Pyongyang. Last week he declared that Beijing's efforts had failed, but returned to the idea on Twitter following the launch: "Perhaps China will put a heavy move on North Korea and end this nonsense once and for all!"
Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry discussed developments in the Qatari crisis with his US counterpart Rex Tillerson on Monday evening.

In an official statement, foreign ministry spokesman Ahmed Abu Zeid said Shoukry received a phone call from Tillerson, during which each side spoke about updates in the Qatari situation, as well as relations between Egypt and the US.

The two also agreed to continued consultation and coordination on developments in the region, and to work on bolstering bilateral ties in all fields.

Tillersons phone call comes only hours after countries who decided to boycott Qatar -- Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt -- extended the deadline by which they insist Qatar must meet certain demands to Wednesday, at the request of mediator Kuwait.

Qatar sent its response via Kuwait on Monday, but details of the response were not made public.

Ten days ago the bloc of boycotting countries presented Qatar with a 13-point list of demands, and a deadline of the evening of 2 July to decide whether or not to comply. In them, Qatar is required to cut ties with Iran, halt support for groups such as Hezbollah and Daesh and shut down the Al Jazeera TV network.

On 5 June, the four countries severed diplomatic relations with Qatar, accusing the gulf country of supporting Iran and terrorism, which Doha has denied.

A quartet meeting is set to be held on Wednesday between the foreign ministers of the four countries in Cairo to discuss next steps with Qatar.

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By AFP

TOULOUSE: One person was shot dead and six others injured, two seriously, when a gunman opened fire in the southern French city of Toulouse late Monday, a local source said.

Local press reported that a gunman on a scooter opened fire at around 9:00 pm (1900 GMT) in the La Reynerie district of Toulouse.

"No possibilities are ruled out, but there is at this stage no indication of any terrorist element" connected to the incident, the official added.

The favoured theory is that the shooting was a revenge killing, a source close to the enquiry said.

Local officials, meanwhile, said extra security had been deployed to the area.

Last year La Reynerie district, in the southwest of Toulouse, was the scene of two shooting incidents, both believed to be a settling of scores.

In one incident last July a Russian man of Chechen origin was shot dead by an unknown gunman on a scooter.

TOULOUSE: One person was shot dead and six others injured, two seriously, when a gunman opened fire in the southern French city of Toulouse late Monday, a local source said. Local press reported that a gunman on a scooter opened fire at around 9:00 pm (1900 GMT) in the La Reynerie district of Toulouse. "No possibilities are ruled out, but there is at this stage no indication of any terrorist element" connected to the incident, the official added. The favoured theory is that the shooting was a revenge killing, a source close to the enquiry said. Local officials, meanwhile, said extra security had been deployed to the area. Last year La Reynerie district, in the southwest of Toulouse, was the scene of two shooting incidents, both believed to be a settling of scores. In one incident last July a Russian man of Chechen origin was shot dead by an unknown gunman on a scooter.
By PTI

COLOMBO: Sri Lankan military said today it has released 54 acres of land to nearly 190 families from the minority Tamil community and ended its control over a major fishing harbour after almost 30 years in the former war zone of Jaffna.

The release came as a positive response from the military to the long-standing demands of the Tamil people and supports the pledge of President Maithripala Sirisena, who vowed during his election campaign to work towards achieving reconciliation with the minorities.

The land and the fishing harbour border Sri Lankan military's Palaly Army Cantonment, the ColomboPage reported.

The Sri Lankan Army said in a statement that 187 families, who reside as Internally Displaced Persons since 1990 will now be able to return to their lands and resume their fishing livelihood after an absence of nearly 30 years.

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) ran a nearly three-decade separatist campaign leading to a bloody war with the Sri Lankan security forces.

According to the UN figures, up to 40,000 civilians were killed by the security forces during former president Mahinda Rajapaksa's regime that brought an end to the brutal conflict with the defeat of the LTTE in 2009.

COLOMBO: Sri Lankan military said today it has released 54 acres of land to nearly 190 families from the minority Tamil community and ended its control over a major fishing harbour after almost 30 years in the former war zone of Jaffna. The release came as a positive response from the military to the long-standing demands of the Tamil people and supports the pledge of President Maithripala Sirisena, who vowed during his election campaign to work towards achieving reconciliation with the minorities. The land and the fishing harbour border Sri Lankan military's Palaly Army Cantonment, the ColomboPage reported. The Sri Lankan Army said in a statement that 187 families, who reside as Internally Displaced Persons since 1990 will now be able to return to their lands and resume their fishing livelihood after an absence of nearly 30 years. The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) ran a nearly three-decade separatist campaign leading to a bloody war with the Sri Lankan security forces. According to the UN figures, up to 40,000 civilians were killed by the security forces during former president Mahinda Rajapaksa's regime that brought an end to the brutal conflict with the defeat of the LTTE in 2009.
By PTI

WASHINGTON: Ahead of the G20 Summit in Germany, US President Donald Trump has held "extensive discussions" with German Chancellor Angela Merkel over the key issues of climate change and trade.

"In an extensive discussion (over phone), the two leaders addressed climate issues, the Women's Entrepreneurship Financing Initiative, and trade, including global steel overcapacity," the White House said in a statement yesterday.

"The president said that he looks forward to helping Chancellor Merkel make the Summit a success," it said.

The White House' statement comes ahead of the two-day G20 Summit to be held on July 7-8.

Last week, Merkel had said discussions at the G20 Summit would be difficult given Trump's climate scepticism and "America First" stance, but that she was determined to seek a clear commitment to the Paris Agreement on climate change against global warming and a pledge against protectionism.

When Trump had announced in early June that he would withdraw from the historic Paris Agreement, "we knew that we could not expect discussions to be easy" at the G20 Summit, Merkel had told the German parliament.

WATCH THIS: Trump preps for G20 with calls to European leaders

Trump also spoke with Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni to discuss the agenda for the upcoming G20 Summit and to renew his appreciation for the Prime Minister's efforts in hosting the exceptional G7 Summit in May.

President Trump also underscored his appreciation for Italy's efforts to address the significant Libyan migration crisis, the statement said.

The 12th G20 Summit, a major port city in northern Germany, will also discuss issues like free and open trade, climate change, migration, sustainable development and global stability.

Counter-terrorism and economic reforms will dominate the discussions amongst the leaders of the world's 20 largest economies at the G20 Summit which will also be attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The 'Group of Twenty' is made up of 19 countries and the European Union. The countries are Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, the UK and the US.

WASHINGTON: Ahead of the G20 Summit in Germany, US President Donald Trump has held "extensive discussions" with German Chancellor Angela Merkel over the key issues of climate change and trade. "In an extensive discussion (over phone), the two leaders addressed climate issues, the Women's Entrepreneurship Financing Initiative, and trade, including global steel overcapacity," the White House said in a statement yesterday. "The president said that he looks forward to helping Chancellor Merkel make the Summit a success," it said. The White House' statement comes ahead of the two-day G20 Summit to be held on July 7-8. Last week, Merkel had said discussions at the G20 Summit would be difficult given Trump's climate scepticism and "America First" stance, but that she was determined to seek a clear commitment to the Paris Agreement on climate change against global warming and a pledge against protectionism. When Trump had announced in early June that he would withdraw from the historic Paris Agreement, "we knew that we could not expect discussions to be easy" at the G20 Summit, Merkel had told the German parliament. WATCH THIS: Trump preps for G20 with calls to European leaders Trump also spoke with Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni to discuss the agenda for the upcoming G20 Summit and to renew his appreciation for the Prime Minister's efforts in hosting the exceptional G7 Summit in May. President Trump also underscored his appreciation for Italy's efforts to address the significant Libyan migration crisis, the statement said. The 12th G20 Summit, a major port city in northern Germany, will also discuss issues like free and open trade, climate change, migration, sustainable development and global stability. Counter-terrorism and economic reforms will dominate the discussions amongst the leaders of the world's 20 largest economies at the G20 Summit which will also be attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The 'Group of Twenty' is made up of 19 countries and the European Union. The countries are Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, the UK and the US.
By PTI

President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw the US from the Paris climate pact could "push the Earth over the brink" and turn it into a hothouse planet like Venus, renowned British physicist Stephen Hawking has warned.

Trump announced last month that the US would be withdrawing from the Paris Agreement, which has been signed by nearly 200 nations, claiming he wants to "renegotiate" the country's part in the agreement to ensure American businesses are not disadvantaged.

Hawking, arguably the world's most famous scientist, told the BBC that Trump's decision to pull out of the Paris climate agreement could lead to irreversible climate change.

"We are close to the tipping point where global warming becomes irreversible. Trump's action could push the Earth over the brink, to become like Venus, with a temperature of two hundred and fifty degrees, and raining sulphuric acid," the 75-year-old physicist said.

He also feared aggression was "inbuilt" in humans and that their best hope of survival was to live on other planets.

The Cambridge professor said climate change is one of the great dangers humanity was facing, but it could be prevented by acting now.

"By denying the evidence for climate change, and pulling out of the Paris Climate Agreement, Donald Trump will cause avoidable environmental damage to our beautiful planet, endangering the natural world, for us and our children," Hawking said.

When asked whether he felt humans would ever solve their environmental problems and resolve conflicts, Hawking was pessimistic, saying that he thought humans' days on Earth were numbered.

"I fear evolution has inbuilt greed and aggression to the human genome. There is no sign of conflict lessening, and the development of militarised technology and weapons of mass destruction could make that disastrous. The best hope for the survival of the human race might be independent colonies in space," he said.

On Brexit, Hawking feared that UK research would be irreparably damaged.

"Science is a cooperative effort, so the impact (of Brexit) will be wholly bad, and will leave British science isolated and inward looking," he said.

Asked about his legacy, Hawking said, "I never expected to reach 75, so I feel very fortunate to be able to reflect on my legacy. I think my greatest achievement, will be my discovery that black holes are not entirely black."

Hawking has had motor neurone disease for most of his adult life. It has impaired his movement and ability to speak.

"When I was diagnosed at 21, I was told it would kill me in two or three years. Now, 54 years later, albeit weaker and in a wheelchair, I'm still working and producing scientific papers. But it's been a great struggle, which I have got through only with a lot of help from my family, colleagues, and friends," he said

President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw the US from the Paris climate pact could "push the Earth over the brink" and turn it into a hothouse planet like Venus, renowned British physicist Stephen Hawking has warned. Trump announced last month that the US would be withdrawing from the Paris Agreement, which has been signed by nearly 200 nations, claiming he wants to "renegotiate" the country's part in the agreement to ensure American businesses are not disadvantaged. Hawking, arguably the world's most famous scientist, told the BBC that Trump's decision to pull out of the Paris climate agreement could lead to irreversible climate change. "We are close to the tipping point where global warming becomes irreversible. Trump's action could push the Earth over the brink, to become like Venus, with a temperature of two hundred and fifty degrees, and raining sulphuric acid," the 75-year-old physicist said. He also feared aggression was "inbuilt" in humans and that their best hope of survival was to live on other planets. The Cambridge professor said climate change is one of the great dangers humanity was facing, but it could be prevented by acting now. "By denying the evidence for climate change, and pulling out of the Paris Climate Agreement, Donald Trump will cause avoidable environmental damage to our beautiful planet, endangering the natural world, for us and our children," Hawking said. When asked whether he felt humans would ever solve their environmental problems and resolve conflicts, Hawking was pessimistic, saying that he thought humans' days on Earth were numbered. "I fear evolution has inbuilt greed and aggression to the human genome. There is no sign of conflict lessening, and the development of militarised technology and weapons of mass destruction could make that disastrous. The best hope for the survival of the human race might be independent colonies in space," he said. On Brexit, Hawking feared that UK research would be irreparably damaged. "Science is a cooperative effort, so the impact (of Brexit) will be wholly bad, and will leave British science isolated and inward looking," he said. Asked about his legacy, Hawking said, "I never expected to reach 75, so I feel very fortunate to be able to reflect on my legacy. I think my greatest achievement, will be my discovery that black holes are not entirely black." Hawking has had motor neurone disease for most of his adult life. It has impaired his movement and ability to speak. "When I was diagnosed at 21, I was told it would kill me in two or three years. Now, 54 years later, albeit weaker and in a wheelchair, I'm still working and producing scientific papers. But it's been a great struggle, which I have got through only with a lot of help from my family, colleagues, and friends," he said
By Associated Press

LONDON: Britain's senior official for Northern Ireland said today that he remains hopeful a deal can be struck this week to break an impasse that has left residents there without a functioning government for six months.

Northern Ireland Secretary James Brokenshire said "time is short" to reach a deal between the two main parties a the Irish nationalists Sinn Fein and the pro-British loyalists the Democratic Unionist Party.

The Catholic-Protestant power-sharing administration has been on ice since January, and several government-imposed deadlines to reach a deal have passed.

The parties have blamed each other for the impasse that threatens power-sharing, the key achievement of Northern Ireland's 1998 peace accord.

Brokenshire said "some progress has been made" in talks, but "gaps remain."

"I believe that a deal remains achievable," he said. "But time is short."

Britain has warned it may restore direct rule if the talks fail, but Brokenshire set no new deadline Monday.

Both parties appeared pessimistic about the prospects of a deal. Sinn Fein negotiator Conor Murphy said a "lack of urgency" from the DUP was impeding an agreement.

Democratic Unionist leader Arlene Foster accused Sinn Fein of having "a shopping list which seems to get longer every time we meet with them."

One sticking point is Sinn Fein's demand for an act protecting the Irish language a a major totem for Irish nationalists that has raised the hackles of loyalists.

Tensions have also been inflamed by a deal between British Prime Minister Theresa May's Conservative Party and the DUP, which has promised to support May's minority government on key parliamentary votes.

Sinn Fein leaders have complained that the DUP's new role means the British government is no longer impartial as required by the Good Friday accord.

LONDON: Britain's senior official for Northern Ireland said today that he remains hopeful a deal can be struck this week to break an impasse that has left residents there without a functioning government for six months. Northern Ireland Secretary James Brokenshire said "time is short" to reach a deal between the two main parties a the Irish nationalists Sinn Fein and the pro-British loyalists the Democratic Unionist Party. The Catholic-Protestant power-sharing administration has been on ice since January, and several government-imposed deadlines to reach a deal have passed. The parties have blamed each other for the impasse that threatens power-sharing, the key achievement of Northern Ireland's 1998 peace accord. Brokenshire said "some progress has been made" in talks, but "gaps remain." "I believe that a deal remains achievable," he said. "But time is short." Britain has warned it may restore direct rule if the talks fail, but Brokenshire set no new deadline Monday. Both parties appeared pessimistic about the prospects of a deal. Sinn Fein negotiator Conor Murphy said a "lack of urgency" from the DUP was impeding an agreement. Democratic Unionist leader Arlene Foster accused Sinn Fein of having "a shopping list which seems to get longer every time we meet with them." One sticking point is Sinn Fein's demand for an act protecting the Irish language a a major totem for Irish nationalists that has raised the hackles of loyalists. Tensions have also been inflamed by a deal between British Prime Minister Theresa May's Conservative Party and the DUP, which has promised to support May's minority government on key parliamentary votes. Sinn Fein leaders have complained that the DUP's new role means the British government is no longer impartial as required by the Good Friday accord.
By AFP

MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping were due to hold formal talks Tuesday against a backdrop of mounting tensions over North Korea ahead of G20 summit talks with Donald Trump.

The meeting in Moscow comes as North Korea claimed the launch of its first inter-continental ballistic missile, and US President Trump urged China to "end this nonsense once and for all".

Chinese state news agency Xinhua reported Putin and Xi "agreed to jointly push for a proper settlement of the peninsula issue via dialogue and negotiation" at a closed Kremlin meeting Monday evening on the eve of the official talks.

Beijing -- North Korea's closest diplomatic ally -- and Moscow have called repeatedly for calm on all sides, but Trump has warned Washington's patience with Pyongyang is nearing an end.

Xi and Putin once again slammed the US THAAD missile system installed in South Korea to protect against the North, Xinhua said. Both leaders argue that it threatens the strategic balance in the region.

The Kremlin gave no details on what was discussed at the "informal" tete-a-tete Monday.

While the lastest tensions over North Korea figured high on the agenda the main focus of the Putin-Xi meeting was set to remain boosting growing trade and political ties between the two increasingly close partners.

The giant neighbours are expected to oversee the inking of a raft of deals worth billions of dollars as Moscow continues a pivot towards China it has ramped up since ties with the West slumped over Ukraine.

Ahead of his arrival in Moscow Xi said that relations with Russia were currently enjoying their "best time in history" as he and Putin have struck up a close relationship.

The Kremlin strongman is set to present Xi with a prestigious Russian state award at the Kremlin.

After their meeting in Moscow the two leaders are set to head to the G20 summit in Hamburg where they will come face-to-face with Trump, a first meeting for Putin with the US president.



MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping were due to hold formal talks Tuesday against a backdrop of mounting tensions over North Korea ahead of G20 summit talks with Donald Trump. The meeting in Moscow comes as North Korea claimed the launch of its first inter-continental ballistic missile, and US President Trump urged China to "end this nonsense once and for all". Chinese state news agency Xinhua reported Putin and Xi "agreed to jointly push for a proper settlement of the peninsula issue via dialogue and negotiation" at a closed Kremlin meeting Monday evening on the eve of the official talks. Beijing -- North Korea's closest diplomatic ally -- and Moscow have called repeatedly for calm on all sides, but Trump has warned Washington's patience with Pyongyang is nearing an end. Xi and Putin once again slammed the US THAAD missile system installed in South Korea to protect against the North, Xinhua said. Both leaders argue that it threatens the strategic balance in the region. The Kremlin gave no details on what was discussed at the "informal" tete-a-tete Monday. While the lastest tensions over North Korea figured high on the agenda the main focus of the Putin-Xi meeting was set to remain boosting growing trade and political ties between the two increasingly close partners. The giant neighbours are expected to oversee the inking of a raft of deals worth billions of dollars as Moscow continues a pivot towards China it has ramped up since ties with the West slumped over Ukraine. Ahead of his arrival in Moscow Xi said that relations with Russia were currently enjoying their "best time in history" as he and Putin have struck up a close relationship. The Kremlin strongman is set to present Xi with a prestigious Russian state award at the Kremlin. After their meeting in Moscow the two leaders are set to head to the G20 summit in Hamburg where they will come face-to-face with Trump, a first meeting for Putin with the US president.
By Associated Press

MOSUL: With the fight for Mosul in its final stage today, Islamic State militants sent female suicide bombers hidden among fleeing civilians, while Iraqi forces and the US-led coalition unleashed punishing airstrikes and artillery fire that set dozens of buildings ablaze.

At least one Iraqi soldier was killed and five were wounded in the two separate suicide attacks, the military said. On Sunday, a bomber in women's clothing killed 14 people at a camp for displaced residents in Anbar province, a provincial official said.

"These tactics don't surprise me," said Sgt. Ahmed Fadil, who patrolled Mosul's Old City just 50 meters (yards) from the front.

The militants "have nowhere to go. They're trapped," he said.

Today's two suicide bombings against Iraqi soldiers followed three other such attacks by women some of them teenagers in the previous two days, said Sgt. Ali Abdullah Hussein.

A soldier displayed the school ID card retrieved from the body of one of the bombers, showing her to be only 15. The photo was of a serious young woman in a white hijab and indicated she had studied in Bangladesh.

"Most of the people who blew themselves up today are women," said special forces Lt. Col. Salam Hussein. He added that seven women strapped with explosives approached the troops Monday, "but thank God, our units stopped (them)."

Government troops advancing through the Old City were using rougher tactics to clear the remaining pockets of IS forces.

The tempo of airstrikes was so great today that coalition aircraft couldn't keep up with the requests for air support from Iraqi ground forces. Instead, they sought approval for artillery strikes.

Associated Press drone footage showed the result: dozens of buildings burning in the Old City.

While shops have reopened and civilian traffic fills streets in retaken neighborhoods, thick black smoke continued to rise just a few kilometers away from the IS-held territory on the bank of the Tigris River that divides Iraq's second largest city. The area controlled by the militants is less than a square kilometer (less than half a square mile).

Islamic State militants swiftly overran Mosul in 2014.

The US-backed offensive to retake the city was launched in October and has proceeded slowly, even though Iraqi political and military officials had vowed to declare victory by the end of 2016.

Iraqi forces began their push to retake the Old City in mid-June.

Even though the militants are squeezed into smaller and smaller territory, the danger remains for units like Fadil's.

When they heard cries from civilians just around the corner, he and his colleagues rushed their commanding officer to safety into a nearby home that already had been cleared.

They yelled at the group of sobbing women and children to hurry past.

Fadil explained the reason for their caution.

"They cry and then boom! They explode themselves," he said. "The closer we get to victory, the more suicide bombers they will send."

At one screening point, soldiers anxiously held civilians back at gunpoint, shouting at men and boys to strip to their underwear.

Hussein, of the special forces, and a group of about a dozen men searched on foot Monday for more suicide bombers. An informant pointed out a house occupied by IS fighters.

A solider kicked in a door, shouted a warning and threw two grenades into the front room. A second soldier stuffed a rag into a plastic jug of gasoline, lit it and threw it inside.

"There are some suicide bombers who refuse to leave the houses, so we're forced to deal with them with smoke and fire and hand grenades," Hussein said, noting that the troops burned only the basement, not the house.

His men seized five suspected IS fighters, binding their hands with electrical wire and blindfolding them with scraps of cloth. At least one of the five was arrested.

For most of the soldiers in Mosul, the final days of the grueling battle caps more than three years of fighting the militants.

Hassan Ahmed, a solider with the special forces deployed in the Old City, said he can't deny that the war has changed him.

"It's like I'm heartless I don't feel anything," he said.

"But we are still good people. We have mercy."

MOSUL: With the fight for Mosul in its final stage today, Islamic State militants sent female suicide bombers hidden among fleeing civilians, while Iraqi forces and the US-led coalition unleashed punishing airstrikes and artillery fire that set dozens of buildings ablaze. At least one Iraqi soldier was killed and five were wounded in the two separate suicide attacks, the military said. On Sunday, a bomber in women's clothing killed 14 people at a camp for displaced residents in Anbar province, a provincial official said. "These tactics don't surprise me," said Sgt. Ahmed Fadil, who patrolled Mosul's Old City just 50 meters (yards) from the front. The militants "have nowhere to go. They're trapped," he said. Today's two suicide bombings against Iraqi soldiers followed three other such attacks by women some of them teenagers in the previous two days, said Sgt. Ali Abdullah Hussein. A soldier displayed the school ID card retrieved from the body of one of the bombers, showing her to be only 15. The photo was of a serious young woman in a white hijab and indicated she had studied in Bangladesh. "Most of the people who blew themselves up today are women," said special forces Lt. Col. Salam Hussein. He added that seven women strapped with explosives approached the troops Monday, "but thank God, our units stopped (them)." Government troops advancing through the Old City were using rougher tactics to clear the remaining pockets of IS forces. The tempo of airstrikes was so great today that coalition aircraft couldn't keep up with the requests for air support from Iraqi ground forces. Instead, they sought approval for artillery strikes. Associated Press drone footage showed the result: dozens of buildings burning in the Old City. While shops have reopened and civilian traffic fills streets in retaken neighborhoods, thick black smoke continued to rise just a few kilometers away from the IS-held territory on the bank of the Tigris River that divides Iraq's second largest city. The area controlled by the militants is less than a square kilometer (less than half a square mile). Islamic State militants swiftly overran Mosul in 2014. The US-backed offensive to retake the city was launched in October and has proceeded slowly, even though Iraqi political and military officials had vowed to declare victory by the end of 2016. Iraqi forces began their push to retake the Old City in mid-June. Even though the militants are squeezed into smaller and smaller territory, the danger remains for units like Fadil's. When they heard cries from civilians just around the corner, he and his colleagues rushed their commanding officer to safety into a nearby home that already had been cleared. They yelled at the group of sobbing women and children to hurry past. Fadil explained the reason for their caution. "They cry and then boom! They explode themselves," he said. "The closer we get to victory, the more suicide bombers they will send." At one screening point, soldiers anxiously held civilians back at gunpoint, shouting at men and boys to strip to their underwear. Hussein, of the special forces, and a group of about a dozen men searched on foot Monday for more suicide bombers. An informant pointed out a house occupied by IS fighters. A solider kicked in a door, shouted a warning and threw two grenades into the front room. A second soldier stuffed a rag into a plastic jug of gasoline, lit it and threw it inside. "There are some suicide bombers who refuse to leave the houses, so we're forced to deal with them with smoke and fire and hand grenades," Hussein said, noting that the troops burned only the basement, not the house. His men seized five suspected IS fighters, binding their hands with electrical wire and blindfolding them with scraps of cloth. At least one of the five was arrested. For most of the soldiers in Mosul, the final days of the grueling battle caps more than three years of fighting the militants. Hassan Ahmed, a solider with the special forces deployed in the Old City, said he can't deny that the war has changed him. "It's like I'm heartless I don't feel anything," he said. "But we are still good people. We have mercy."
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EgyptAir is set to begin flights from Cairo to El-Alamein's city airport on the North Coast for the first time, as part of a plan to encourage internal tourism and link touristic attractions all over the country, the chairman of Egypt's flagship airliner Safwat Mosalam announced in a statement.

Mosalam, who did not clarify the start date of the new flights but said they would begin soon, said that the direct flights would run twice weekly on Thursdays and Saturdays.

Thousands of vacationers travel on holiday every year to Egypt's North Coast cities and resorts on the Cairo-Alexandria desert road during the months of July and August.

The northern coast of Egypt extends roughly 1,050 kilometres along the Mediterranean Sea from the eastern border of the Sinai Peninsula to the western village of Sallum on Egypt's border with Libya.

El-Alamein's city airport lies 112 kilometres from Alexandria, the central hub of Egypt's Mediterranean coastline.
UClean looking to infuse Laundromat culture in India

New Delhi , July 2 : The Laundromat culture is one that has a distorted presence in the Indian market. However, with the hassles of living a metropolitan life, consumers are now exploring quick options to get their laundry done on time, preferably from places that offer pick-up and drop as well. This is where a firm like UClean can gain momentum.





(Posted on 02 July 2017, 1668201198 173O212O198O32) https://www.newkerala.com/business-india-news.php  (Posted on 02 July 2017, 1668201198 173O212O198O32)

Launched in 2016 by Arunabh Sinha, this chain of technology-enabled laundry helps in making laundry convenient, non-cumbersome and time saving. The main focus of UClean is to foster the DIY (Do It Yourself) culture across India.With technology at the heart of the brand, UClean also enables the time crunched customer to avail pick-n- drop service from the comforts of his home or office. To make it more convenient for their customers, UClean has several options from scheduled bookings at app, website, store or call centre to anytime walk-ins at the store."A quick analysis of the South East Asian laundry industry will show that the boom in the Laundromat culture has taken place only in the last seven years. There was always the demand but unsatisfactory quality supply. This is the situation in India as well, where there is a tremendous amount of demand which is lying in a dormant state and there is an inertia which needs to be overcome. With 'quality supply', there is this huge opportunity to quickly win over the audience and build the early adopters," told Founder UClean, Arunabh Sinha in an email conversation to ANI.Built around the concept of Laundromats, the company offers services like laundry, dry-cleaning, ironing, carpet cleaning, sofa cleaning and shoe cleaning.It also gives its customers an option to visit the stores and do their laundry, or avail the full-fledged 'pick-n-drop' services.For other services like carpet and sofa cleaning, the team goes to the premise of the customer and executes the service directly at his home. These services can be directly booked through the website or by dialing the call-centre number."The initial couple of months were tough from business perspective as we had to try and win the confidence of customers who had previously burnt their fingers while availing the services from local mom-n-pop operators. These customers also happened to be the lowest hanging fruits since they understood the concept well but were unsure of trying out 'yet another' operator," added Arunabh.Adding to this he said that he had to dole out a lot of 'free trial services' initially to convince customers and get them to use our services."Fortunately for us, every customer without exception, decided to continue with our services which has helped us tide over the initial couple of tough months," he added.On the financial front, the company raised an initial round of funding of USD one million from Franchise India, using which the first couple of stores were set up in Delhi NCR around mid-January this year.Subsequently, over the next five months, the company has over nine stores spread across six cities and as many as 6,000 customers.To further build the brand equity, UClean has partnered with Alliance Laundry System, USA and Franchise India to develop "Customer Service Manuals" to guide each Franchisee on delivering 100 percent customer satisfaction.UClean has plans to develop about 300 to 350 stores on a pan India basis over the next three years, with Alliance Laundry Systems supplying equipment worth about Rs. 35 crores to UClean during this time frame.
Opposition parties trying to divide Mahagathbandhan: JD (U)

New Delhi July 3 : The Janata Dal (United) on Monday said that party chief and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar will definitely attend the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) rally if he gets an invitation, adding the Opposition parties are trying to create a rift between the two political parties.





(Posted on 03 July 2017, 1668201200 173O212O198O32) https://www.newkerala.com/more-news.php  (Posted on 03 July 2017, 1668201200 173O212O198O32)

"Nitish Kumar is absolutely right. It is obvious that i.f he will receive the invitation then he will go. The Opposition parties are trying to create misunderstanding between these two parties which will not be fulfilled," JD (U) leader Ali Anwar told ANI.Meanwhile, another JD (U) leader K. C. Tyagi said that the RJD and their party are on very good terms and any invitation from them will be accepted by party chief Nitish Kumar."We will definitely take part in the event," Tyagi added.The rising tensions between Bihar's ruling JD (U) and RJD eased to a large extent on Sunday after Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said he would attend the latter's proposed anti-BJP rally next month in which many parties are likely to participate.Nitish Kumar said that he would attend the August 27 'BJP Hatao, Desh Bachao' rally if the RJD invited him, ending days of speculation that the JD (U) might boycott the event owing to their differences over the support of presidential candidates.Previously, on Saturday, the ties between the two allies hit a new low after JD (U) general secretary Shyam Rajak said that the party would not take part in the RJD rally.Speaking at the JD(U)'s day-long state executive meeting as the party's national president, Nitish Kumar hit out at their other ally, Congress."Congress has given up Mahatma Gandhi's path. They (Congress) have also ditched Jawaharlal Nehru's ideologies," said Kumar.Kumar criticised BJP, emphasising that JD (U) would not be a part of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) again.He said the saffron party had nothing to do with the country's freedom movement and yet it was now ruling the country.
Max presents Elite Model Look 2017

New Delhi , July 3: Max Fashion, the country's largest fashion forward brand and Elite, global talent management company, is back with 'Elite Model Look 2017'.





(Posted on 03 July 2017, 1668201201 173O212O198O32) https://www.newkerala.com/fashion-news.php  (Posted on 03 July 2017, 1668201201 173O212O198O32)

Modelling is not just a hobby anymore. It's a serious career option. The modelling world is constantly evolving and today there are enormous opportunities for models. There has never been a better time than now, to get noticed by a top International modelling agency and live your dream of becoming an international model.Max brings this opportunity to your door step by collaborating with Elite Model Look, a contest that will help streamline career paths for aspiring models. This is the fourth year of the contest in India. For the past three years, Max has been nurturing and guiding young models who want to make it big on both Indian as well as International runways.For the 34th consecutive year, Elite is organising the most prestigious modeling contest in the world offering thousands of girls and boys (between the age of 16 and 22), the opportunity to achieve their dreams and follow in the footsteps of top models such as Cindy Crawford, Stephanie Seymour, Gisele Bundchen, VittoriaCeretti, Constance Jablonski, Benjamin Benedek, Matthew Bell and Serge Rigvava.Max Fashion and the Elite team are touring India (Hyderabad, Bangalore, Delhi, Kolkata, Pune, Mumbai and Goa) with seven castings that will take place from July 16 to August 19, 2017, aiming to offer a maximum of opportunities for girls and boys to participate in the most renowned modelling contest and become a part of the world's most prestigious agency.At the end of the regional castings, selected contestants will participate in the national casting that will be held on August 30 at Mumbai. The winners are not only selected based on their photogenic qualities, their personality and their natural beauty but also for their potential to correspond to current fashion trends.At the end of the casting, the Elite Model Look jury will choose contestants who will participate at the Grand Finale at Goa September 15. The ultimate goal is to win a place in the prestigious Elite Model Look World Final and to secure a 2 year contract with the Elite agency worldwide.To take part in one of the Elite Model Look castings, applicants must be -Female between the ages of 16 and 22 - At least 5'7 in or 172cm tallMale between the ages of 16 and 22 - At least 6' or 183cm tallIf the candidates are under eighteen, they must bring a parental authorisation letter with them to the casting. The girls should have as little make-up as possible and wear something close fitting such as skinny jeans or leggings and a t-shirt. Male applicants should wear something close fitting such as skinny jeans, a t-shirt and no cap or hat.Casting Dates -July 16 - Hyderabad - Forum Sujana MallJuly 23 - Bangalore - Phoenix Market CityJuly 28- Delhi - DLF Promenade, VasantKunjAugust 6 - Kolkata - Salt LakeAugust 9 - Pune - Max Store, Phoenix Market CityAugust 12 - Mumbai - Infiniti MaladAugust 19 - Goa - Mall De GoaFor more details visit - http://www.elitemodellook.com/in/en/home/index.htm
Congress calls on Nitish to reconsider support to Kovind

New Delhi , July 03 : The Congress Party on Monday advised Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to reconsider his decision for supporting National Democratic Alliance's (NDA) presidential candidate Ramnath Kovind.





(Posted on 03 July 2017, 1668201202 173O212O198O32) https://www.newkerala.com/india-news.php  (Posted on 03 July 2017, 1668201202 173O212O198O32)

"He was one of the architects of the opposition unity. Suddenly, for some strange reason he decided to support Kovind. He needs to reconsider. He needs to support Meira Kumar as she is a better candidate," Congress leader Manish Tewari told ANI.Earlier, the Janata Dal (United) confirmed they will support the presidential candidate Kovind."All the leaders have decided that we will support Ram Nath Kovind for the post of president. He is Bihar's first Governor who has been nominated for this post. We are very happy with this, it is the matter of Bihar's development," Senior JD (U) leader Ratnesh Sada said after meeting all the party leaders.Earlier on June 19, Chief Minister Nitish said that a thorough discussion will be held on the matter within the Janata Dal (United) party.Bharatiya Janata Party ( BJP) president Amit Shah announced Bihar Governor Ram Nath Kovind would be the government's candidate for the country's top post.After this announcement, Nitish had met Kovind at Raj Bhawan in Patna and extended his wishes.The opposition is against Kovind's name being finalised for the post of president on grounds that they were not consulted prior to the announcement.The election for the next President of India is to be held on July 17. President Pranab Mukherjee will demit office on July 24.
Related Egypt's State Council approves law to increase penalties for illegal organ transplants Egypt's Attorney General Nabil Sadek referred on Tuesday 41 defendants involved in an organ transplant and trafficking network to the criminal court, state news agency MENA reported.

Investigations in the case found that the defendants had performed illegal operations between January 2011 and December 2016 as an organised criminal group, exploiting poor Egyptians in need of money by paying for and removing their organs, mainly kidneys, and transplanting them into foreign recipients. These operations violate medical laws and were performed in unauthorized places.

The prosecution charged the network members with profiteering, bribery, money laundering, dereliction of duty and causing permanent disabilities.

The group's illegal operations resulted in the death of one of the victims and permanent disabilities in others, according to investigations.

The suspects accused of running the illegal network -- including Egyptians and foreigners -- were arrested in December 2016.

According to an official statement issued by the Ministry of Health, the network included university professors, doctors, nurses, medical centre owners and brokers involved in illegal organ trafficking.

Organ trafficking is explicitly forbidden in Egypt according to article 60 of the countrys 2014 constitution.

Egyptian law incriminates the trade of organs and penalises traffickers with up to seven years in jail.

In March, the Egyptian State Council approved a draft law to further regulate organ transplant operations, which includes harsher sentences up to and including the death penalty if an illegal or forced operation resulted in the death of the victim.

The Egyptian parliament is set to vote on the draft law.

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Bahuda Yatra: The Trinity returns to their abode

New Delhi , July 3 : Completing the Pahandi rituals, the sibling deities, Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra and Devi Subhadra, are returning to their abode today.





(Posted on 03 July 2017, 1668201203 173O212O198O32) https://www.newkerala.com/orissa-news.php  (Posted on 03 July 2017, 1668201203 173O212O198O32)

Thousands of devotees, mostly from the adjoining villages, on Monday thronged the coastal city of Balasore to witness Bahuda Rath Yatra that marks the ceremonial procession of return of Lord Jagannath and his siblings from Gundicha Ghar to Shree Shree Jagannath temple, Emami Nagar after a nine-day sojourn.They congregated in the holy coastal town, since early morning, to witness grand return journey of God to its abode to seek blessings. Around 1,000 devotees danced raising their hands amid chanting of 'haribol' and vedic hymns as the Bahuda Rath was pulled on the streets to its original resting place after nine days sojourn.Founders of the Emami Temple and their family members performed 'Chhera Pahanra' or sweeping on the chariots with a golden broom.Whilst their way back home, the holy chariot stopped for a while, where they were offered Odisha's popular dish 'poda pitha,' made of rice, jaggery, coconuts and lentils."The temple administration had taken care for timely observance of all rituals of the deities during the Bahuda Yatra. It is believed that whoever participates in the bahuda yatra, offers aarti and pulls the rath will gain unlimited devotion and all his sins will be wiped out," said Sushil Goenka, Trustee of the TempleThis is the second year that the magnificent Emami Jagannath Mandir is organising the Jagannath Rath Yatra."Bahuda Rath Yatra is one of the most sought-after and popular religious events in Odisha. The deities would enter into the sanctum sanctorum of the main temple after offering of Rasagola Bhog called Niladri Bije, marking the end of the festival. The next day, the Lord will be ready for darshan to people in the temple and it is known as 'Suna Besha'," said Sushil Goenka.
Kerala: CPM worker attacked by masked assailants in Kannur

Kannur (Kerala) , July 3 : A Communist Party of India (Marxist) worker was attacked by nine unknown assailants on Monday.





(Posted on 03 July 2017, 1668201205 173O212O198O32) https://www.newkerala.com/kerala-news.php  (Posted on 03 July 2017, 1668201205 173O212O198O32)

As reported, CPM activist and Eranjoli Panchayat president Remya's husband Sreejan Babu was attacked by nine masked people.He sustained injuries on his head and leg, following which he was admitted in the Calicut medical college.The CPM has alleged the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) of being behind the attack.Earlier this year, 20 RSS workers were allegedly attacked by a group of CPM workers in Payyanur here.
Chinese President arrives in Russia to hold bilateral talks

Moscow [Russia], Jul 4 : Chinese President Xi Jinping has arrived in Russia for an official visit at the invitation of his counterpart Vladimir Putin. This is Jinping's sixth visit to Moscow as head of state.





(Posted on 04 July 2017, 1668201207 173O212O198O32) https://www.newkerala.com/world-news.php  (Posted on 04 July 2017, 1668201207 173O212O198O32)

Jinping, whose plane landed in Moscow's Vnukovo airport on Monday, met Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Igor Morgulov, Russian Ambassador to China Andrei Denisov and Chinese Ambassador to Russia Li Hui, reports TASS.On July 4, the Chinese President will hold talks with Putin, and will discuss issues related to comprehensive partnership and strategic cooperation between Russia and China and pressing international and regional issues.According to Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov, the two leaders will also meet with representatives of the Russian and Chinese public, business circles and media community.Later in the day, Jinping will meet Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev. During the top-level meeting it is planned to discuss bilateral cooperation in trade, investment, energy sector, industry, transport infrastructure and agriculture.China's Assistant Foreign Minister Li Huilai had said that contracts worth nearly USD 10 billion will to be signed during the visit.
Egypt's Court of Cassation upheld a final death sentence Tuesday for two defendants found guilty of murder and violent attacks in Alexandria following the forced dispersal of two sit-ins in Cairo in support of ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in August 2013, state news agency MENA reported.

The court also upheld jail sentences ranging from 10 to 25 years for 59 defendants in the case and acquitted three others.

The court of cassation verdicts are final and cannot be appealed.

The lower court had convicted the defendants of the murder of 18 people, including two policemen, as well as the attempted murder of 80 others.

On Sunday, a Cairo criminal court sentenced 20 defendants to death for their involvement in an attack on Kerdasa police station in August 2013 in which 12 policemen were killed, Al-Ahram Arabic website reported.

The court also handed life sentences to 80 defendants, 15-year terms to 35 defendants, and acquittals to another 21.

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Trump tears into Kim Jong-un, as North Korea provokes again

New York [U.S.], July. 4 : With North Korea launching yet another ballistic missile that landed in waters near Japan, U.S. President Donald Trump called on China to take action and end this nonsense once and for all!

North Korea has just launched another missile. Does this guy have anything better to do with his life? Hard to believe that South Korea.....  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 4, 2017

....and Japan will put up with this much longer. Perhaps China will put a heavy move on North Korea and end this nonsense once and for all!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 4, 2017





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Maintaining his trademark streak on Twitter, Trump minced no words as he literally mocked North Korean leader Kim Jong-un asking "Does this guy have anything better to do with his life?"Reckoning that South Korea and Japan will not put up with these repeated provocations for much longer, the U.S. President put the full onus on China to take some concrete action and put a stop on Pyongyang's aggravations.According to officials in Seoul and Tokyo, North Korea launched a ballistic missile that landed in waters near Japan.South Korea's military confirmed that North Korea had fired an "unidentified ballistic missile" into the Sea of Japan from Banghyon in North Pyongan, a province near its border with China, the Guardian reported.
Qatar responds to Saudi-led blockade demands

Doha [Qatar], July 4 : Qatar's foreign minister has delivered a written response to a list of demands from Saudi Arabia-led Arab alliance, which early Monday gave Doha an extra 48 hours to think twice.





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Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani brought a handwritten letter from Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and handed it over to Kuwait's Emir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah on Monday.Kuwait is playing the role of mediator to resolve the crisis between Qatar and each of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and the Kingdom of Bahrain.The contents of the letter are not yet known.Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt agreed late Sunday to a request from the Emir to extend by 48 hours the deadline for meeting their demands, CNN reported.Envoys are working intensely to tackle the crisis that began on June 5, as the countries cut off diplomatic ties to Qatar over their allegations that Doha is funding extremist groups and destabilizing the Gulf region.The four countries abruptly suspended diplomatic relations and cut off land, sea and air travel to Qatar on June 5.The coalition later gave Qatar 10 days to meet its list of 13 demands including reducing diplomatic ties to Iran and cutting ties with terrorist organizations with a deadline of July 3.The Saudi-led alliance also imposed economic blockade over Qatar which included closing the only land border with Qatar. Several banks, foreign exchange companies in the Gulf have refused to exchange Qatari riyals and also stopped accepting them, following the economic blockade announced by Saudi Arabia and its Arab allies.
PM Modi to meet President Jinping on sidelines of G-20 in Germany

New Delhi , July 4 : :Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the G-20 Summit on July 7 in Hamburg, Germany, amid escalating tensions between both nations.





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Leaders of the five emerging economies Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa will hold informal talks on the sidelines of the G-20 Summit next week in Hamburg.According to sources, the two leaders met last month in Astana, Kazakhstan, on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit and their meeting in Germany is expected to be focused on bilateral apprehensions over the right to construct a border road in the Sikkim sector.China has said the area where the road is to be constructed falls on their side as per an 1890 treaty signed between Britain and China. India says it does not and is wary of Beijing taking control of the area which overlooks the strategically located Chumbi Valley.Consequently, China has suspended the annual Kailash Manasarovar Yatra due to the border stand-off."According to the usual practice, BRICS leaders will hold an informal meeting ahead of the G-20 summit in Hamburg,"Sputnik quoted Li Baodong, China's Vice Foreign Minister.China is holding the rotating chairmanship of the BRICS and will host the September summit in the port city of Xiamen.U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin will also meet at the summit, and Germany will try to push climate change and free trade to the top of the agenda.National Security Adviser Lt. Gen.H.R. McMaster confirmed "the two leaders would meet on the sidelines of the G-20 Summit in the northern German city and that President Trump's journey would also include a stop in Poland."
Nepal vice president Pun on seven-day visit to China

Kathmandu [Nepal], July 4 :Nepal Vice-President Nanda Bahadur Pun is on a visit to China on Tuesday to attend the 23rd China-Lanzhou Investment and Trade Fair being held in Lanzhou, the capital city of Gansu Province.





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During his week- long visit to China, the vice president will also meet senior Chinese leaders in Lanzhou and hold talks on strengthening Nepal-China ties.Pun is leading a business delegation to attend the 23rd China-Lanzhou Investment and Trade Fair on July 6 and will also address a meeting on cooperation and development along the ambitious Silk Road project.The vice president is scheduled to address the high-profile Forum for Cooperation and Development along the Silk Road on 6 July and also deliver a keynote speech to the business community on the theme "Nepal- China (Gansu) Economic and Trade Cooperation Exchange Conference" on July 7, said a press release issued by MoFA .Nepal is the guest of honour country to the 23rd China-Lanzhou Investment and Trade Fair. Pun will return home on July 10. He ill also visit two historical cities of Shaanxi Province of China - Xi'an and Yan'an, where the provincial Chinese leaders will call on him, the Himalyan Times reported.Senior officials of the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Commerce, Secretary at the Office of Vice-president are accompanying the vice president.Nepal has signed a Memorandum of Understanding on the framework agreement on China's One Belt One Road Initiative (OBOR) in May, becoming part of Beijing's ambitious plan to revive ancient Silk Road trade routes.
Cairo agrees with the countries of the Visegrad group on the importance of combating terrorism and addressing the refugee crisis, President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi said in a speech at the European Visegrad summit in Hungarys Budapest.

The Visegrad Group  which constitutes Poland, Slovakia, Hungary and the Czech Republic  was formed in 1991 with the aim of having member countries work together in a number of fields of common interest within the all-European integration, according to the groups website.

El-Sisi said in his speech that a meeting held with the leaders of the Visegrad groups four countries witnessed discussions on working to combat extremism and stop countries and individuals that support terrorist groups.

The president said that the leaders also talked about bolstering cooperation to put an end to the humanitarian tragedy that is the refugee crisis, stressing the importance of putting an end to the conflicts that create this crisis through political solutions.

Egypt is currently home to some five million refugees, including 500,000 Syrians who have fled the countrys civil conflict.

The Egyptian president has repeatedly raised the issue of irregular migration during his international visits. Egypt recently introduced a law that raises penalties against human trafficking amid a spike in the number of migrants leaving Egypt for Europe.

The meeting between El-Sisi and the European leaders also saw an exchange of viewpoints on the latest developments in the Middle East, especially the conflicts in Syria, Libya, Yemen and Iraq and the ongoing efforts for peaceful settlements.

We agreed that the international community needs to exert more effort to end such conflicts, and discussed pushing forward the [Israeli-Palestinian] peace process for a permanent and fair resolution based on international accords that would help accomplish a two state solution, El-Sisi said.

El-Sisi hailed the member-countries of the Visegrad group, saying that Egypt has historical friendships [with the four countries] that should lead to close cooperation in a large number of fields.

The president said that the group plays an important role in the EU, stressing the value of the partnership between Egypt and the Visegrad countries in strengthening stability and security in the southern Mediterranean.

The leaders of the Visegard countries expressed in a statement their appreciation for the cooperation between their countries and Egypt, whether politically, culturally or socially.

The Visegard leaders also praised the progress Egypt has achieved politically in recent years, expressing their willingness to offer their expertise in political and social transition and establishing a democratic system.

The leaders also praised Egypts economic reform programme, describing it as the "complete economic development that would best guarantee the stability of the society."

The Visegard countries also expressed their support of the Egyptian government in its war against terrorism.

This is the second visit by the Egyptian president to Hungary since 2015.

Egypt aims to benefit from the large industrial base of the four Visegrad Group countries, as well as attract new investments and tourists from Central Europe.

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GST a blessing, will bring uniformity: Videocon CEO

New Delhi , July 4 : With the launch of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) taking centre stage, Videocon Telecom CEO Arvind Bali while hailing the same as a 'blessing' said it will eliminate the chances of manipulation with regards to varying rates of Value Added Tax (VAT).





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"The GST is a blessing to the industry, since it will bring in some uniformity in taxation across the country. There can't be anything better that we can expect. States were putting up their own taxations slabs, because of which our distribution channels and traders also indulged in manipulation. With the GST coming in, these will be stories of the past," Bali told ANI.The company, which has now forayed into the surveillance sector with the launch of their new range of 'Make in India' CCTV camera range 'WallCam', is looking to emerge on top of the market, with high-end technology-enabled solutions such as face recognition in video surveillance.In addition to basic video surveillance products such as AHD (Analogue high definition), IP (Internet Protocol ) and wireless cameras, video-door phones and intrusion alarms, the brand will also offer customised security solutions to institutional, corporate and government sector including PTZ (Pan, Tilt and Zoom) and vandal proof cameras, mobile vehicle cameras, access control systems, scanners and detectors, number plate reader solution, central monitoring system, boom barriers, X-Ray baggage inspection system and cloud storage with secure remote access.The products are being manufactured in various pockets of India, with Chandigarh being the IT hub for the company. Manufacturing units have also been set up in Pune and other cities."Most of our investment comes from internal resources, and is channelised into marketing, manufacturing and retail. Our network is spread across print and digital media campaigns, and we will be using both online and offline retail modes for sales. However, the product line for the two will vary," said Bali.Among its customers, Videocon will also be supplying devices to various public sector enterprises in order to enhance their surveillance product line."The time has gone for us to take funding from the government. However, we will be supplying to the government and catering to their needs," he added.The firm is also looking to further strengthen their hold in the broadband sector, with wireless broadband, FTTH, and other technologies being provided to their customers, apart from GSM services."Penetration of fixed line services has been the lowest in India. World over, there still exists fixed line phones. However, India directly migrated to wireless. In the foreseeable future, I think in India too, people would like to have a broadband line to their phones," said Bali.With the launch of its own brand, Videocon WallCam is eyeing 15 percent of the organised player market share by the end of FY 2019, and aims to be among the top three players in the category by 2021.
Iggy Azelea to work with Azelia Banks despite long feud

New Delhi , July 4 : Much shock to their fans, it seems like everything is fine between Iggy Azalea and Azelia Banks now.





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Iggy Azelea revealed that the highly controversial rapper, whom she's had a long and storied feud with, would be making an appearance on Iggy's upcoming album 'Digital Distortion'.The 28-year-old rapper announced this news on her Snapchat as she wrote, "Public service announcement. Azealia is going to be on DD. We are collaborating. Burn your wigs now or preserve them in your freezer for release day."For the unversed, the two had an explosive and racially charged Twitter feud in 2014 after Azealia dissed Iggy's talents or lack thereof.Recently, the 'Black Widow' posted a note on social media saying she wanted to get past all the hate, as she wrote, "I just want to say FYI; re A. Banks. Call me crazy but girl. I don't hate you. I don't know you to hate you."Adding, "I believe you may want to meet me in person so you can steal a lock of my hair and cast a spell hoping I die (lol) I don't agree with many of your opinions but honestly, at times I empathize with you as a creative Gemini woman. I wish you had spoken to me before deciding I was out to get you when we first came on the scene, but that's also typical Gemini reaction shit (I get it). As a 27 year old adult woman just know: I wish you well from one human to another and joke collaboration or not as adults we should move past trivial beef with strangers."Many of Iggy's loyal fans responded to her announcement today with outrage, but the performer tried to spin the collab in a positive light, writing, "If you cant understand my desire to turn YEARS worth of negativity into a positive interaction then that's your loss my dear. peace! I don't expect you guys to understand why i would collaborate with someone who has publicly said they hope I die."
Arunachal CM directs SJETA dept to avoid delay in releasing scholarships to tribal students

Itanagar (Arunachal Pradesh) , July 4 : Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu directed the Department of Social Justice, Empowerment and Tribal Affairs (SJETA) to draw a foolproof mechanism to avoid delay in releasing scholarships to tribal students.





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The state government had released Rs. 28.50 crore from its own sources to SJETA on June 27, for releasing the pending scholarship of the students in anticipation of funds to be received from the central government, after Khandu initiated.From the money sanctioned to the department, Rs. 19.35 Cr has already been released to the students in their respective accounts. Rest of the amount is being released simultaneously after following the due procedures.The held a meeting with the delegates of All Arunachal Pradesh Students Union and other student's representatives yesterday.The secretary and director of SJETA informed the delegates of All Arunachal Pradesh Students Union and other students' representatives that the central government has recently released 40.30 crore as a grant in aid for post metric scholarship to Schedule Tribe Students as arear grant for the year 2016-17, in a meeting yesterday.The centre also released another Rs. 2.84 crore as adhoc grant for the year 2017-18 for the same purpose.The department made it very clear that the due procedure to ensure that 'no duplication' in receipt of scholarship must be followed in letter, and spirit to which the students body appreciated.The department further appealed that proper documentation should be complied with to ensure that the department is in position to release the scholarship to the students at the earliest possible.Khandu had earlier issued specific directives to the department to immediately release the scholarship to the students.He meanwhile appealed the students' community to make judicious use of the scholarship money for academic pursuit and furthering studies.
India's engagement with ASEAN reflected by our 'Act East Policy': Sushma Swaraj

New Delhi , July 4 : External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Tuesday highlighted the efforts of India to tighten its ties with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), while maintaining that New Delhi's engagement in South-East Asia is reflected by their 'Look East Policy' becoming 'Act East Policy'.





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"We have enhanced our engagement in South-East Asia. This was reflected in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's remarks in 2014 at the India-ASEAN Summit in Myanmar where he declared that India's 'Look East Policy' has become 'Act East Policy'," Swaraj said while addressing the ministerial session of 'Delhi Dialogue-IX'.Swaraj reiterated the same, saying that India places ASEAN at heart of its 'Act East Policy' and center of its dream of an Asian century.The External Affairs Minister stressed on the future focus areas of cooperation between India and ASEAN countries, describing them in terms of three Cs."Future focus areas of cooperation between ASEAN member states and India can be described in term of 3Cs- Commerce, Connectivity and Culture," she said.Talking about the very recent Goods and Service Tax (GST) rollout by the Centre, Swaraj invited companies from ASEAN countries to invest in India and thereby, gain advantage out of it."Recently, the Government launched the GST, the biggest tax reform since Independence. These steps opened new opportunities for trade, investment into India. I invite companies from the ASEAN countries to take advantage of these opportunities for investment in India, in numerous sectors," she said.Swaraj also highlighted the initiatives undertaken by the Government in the recent times."Today, India is one of fastest growing major economies in the world. In the last three years, the Government of India has undertaken a number of initiatives. We have also introduced a series of reforms to improve the business environment in India," Swaraj said."We are making efforts on all fronts to enhance physical and digital connectivity," she added.Very shortly, India will launch the India-ASEAN women business forum which will establish a network of women entrepreneurs and professionals, thereby facilitating regular engagement and contribution of women leaders in enhancing trade and investment."We have planned a youth summit in August to bring our young leaders together," Swaraj further said.The ninth edition of Delhi Dialogue is underway in New Delhi, the theme of which is 'India-ASEAN relations: Charting the Course for the Next 25 Years'.
India-China issue needs to be handled patiently: Ram Madhav

Guwahati (Assam) , July 4 : Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) general secretary Ram Madhav on Tuesday said the issue with China requires greater attention and needs to be handled in a balanced and patient way.





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"The issue with China needs to be handled in a balanced and patient way. There are issues that require greater attention by all the concerned countries and leaders and that will be done," Madhav said.The Chinese and Indian security forces posted at Doklam, an area near the Sikkim border, are locked in a standoff for almost a month now.On July 2, the Indian Army rushed additional troops to the area to engage the Chinese People's Liberation Army in a "non-combative mode".This was in response to the Chinese transgression in Doklam where the PLA destroyed two Indian Army forward bunkers, claiming that India was violating its territorial sovereignty.Releasing details of the events that preceded the current impasse, the Indian Army had said its troops prevented the Chinese servicemen and machines from furthering damage or transgressing into the area.Additional forces from nearby brigade headquarters, located 20 km from the face off point, were moved in on June 8 during which a scuffle led to soldiers on both sides suffering minor injuries.This is the longest standoff between the two Armies since 1962.
Two policemen were killed and 10 were injured in a bombing attack on a police armoured vehicle on Tuesday in North Sinai, security sources told state news agency MENA.

The policemen were conducting a patrol in the southern part of the provincial capital of El-Arish.

Security forces have been battling an Islamist insurgency for several years in North Sinai that has killed hundreds security personnel.

The Islamist militants have also recently launched a number of deadly suicide bombings outside North Sinai, most notably on churches in Cairo, Alexandria, and Tanta.

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What's next for Chase Marina? RIDEM has received plenty of proposals

Bob Ballou, assistant to the director of RIDEM, spoke about the goal of establishing a state port in Tiverton similar to Newports State Pier #9.
Columnist

Tom Kacich is a columnist and the author of Tom's Mailbag at The News-Gazette. His column appears Sundays. His email is tkacich@news-gazette.com, and you can follow him on Twitter (@tkacich).
In a breach of patient trust, a British hospital shared the personal information of around 1.6 million patients with Google's DeepMind. This was reported by a British data protection watchdog - Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) yesterday, creating a stir. The deal between the Royal Free NHS Trust and Googles DeepMind first became known to the public in February 2016.

Image Credit: Guschenkova / Shutterstock

Google is developing a new smart phone app to help diagnose and detect kidney injuries for which they assimilated this data from the patients. The Royal Free NHS Trust thus breached the Data Protection Act by complying with their request for the data.

Elizabeth Denham, head of the ICO said that no one would argue about the immense benefit this data could bring about in overall understanding, diagnosis and detection of the conditions and also improve clinical aspects, management and patient care. However the price of this innovation need not be erosion of fundamental privacy rights she said. The result of the medical trial that utilized the patient information was an app called Streams. It can help doctors detect patients who are at risk of acute kidney injury.

The data from these patients was provided in a clinical trial that began in November 2015, utilized the information from the systems and protocols used by the Royal Free NHS Trust to alert the physicians and healthcare personnel regarding the signs and symptoms of a potentially worsening patient with Acute Kidney Injury (AKI). This information was to be used to create the app that could help detect similar situations for other patients as well.

Lab Diagnostics & Automation eBook Compilation of the top interviews, articles, and news in the last year. Download a copy today

What was unacceptable was the fact that most patients were not aware that their personal information was part of the trial. The Trust has issued a statement that they accept the findings of the ICO and are doing everything in their power to address the areas where concerns and red flags have risen. As a first and most important step, the trust has signed an agreement to make changes in the handling of the data it has on its hands. The trust has agreed to find a legal basis for any future trials not only with DeepMind but also with other agencies and companies. The trust has outlined in the agreement how the patient confidence would be maintained in future clinical trials and also assess and audit this trial and its results to see what impact it has had on the privacy of the patients. All such details of the assessment and the audit would be shared with the ICO, the trust promised in the agreement. As of now it has not been fined for this transgression after the results of the investigation are out.

Googles Deepmind  a part of the artificial intelligence arm has also accepted responsibility for the breach in privacy laws said the ICO officials. Google has agreed that there are complexities in the Britains state funded National Health Service and its data protection laws which they had not anticipated. Google DeepMind said in a statement that they were focused entirely on making tools for health care personnel and doctors and had not considered that the tools had to come from patients and had to be accountable to them, the public and the NHS as well. They admit they got it wrong and promise to do better. DeepMind, was founded in 2010.
Iran will be allowed to set up temporary consulates in Saudi Arabia during the hajj pilgrimage despite the absence of diplomatic ties between the two rivals, the foreign ministry in Tehran said Tuesday.

"Some officials from the foreign ministry's consular section will be deployed to Jeddah, Mecca and Medina to provide consular services to Iranian pilgrims during the hajj," spokesman Bahram Ghasemi was quoted as saying by the ISNA news agency.

Iranians were unable to attend the hajj last year after talks on security and logistics fell apart.

But an agreement was reached earlier this year to allow Iranians to take part in this September's hajj.

The two countries severed diplomatic ties in January 2016 after Iranians stormed Saudi Arabia's embassy in Tehran in response to the execution of a prominent Shia cleric.

The region's two leading powers back opposing sides in several conflicts, including in Syria and Yemen.

More than 1.8 million faithful took part in last year's hajj. The pilgrimage is one of the five pillars of Islam and all Muslims who can must perform it at least once in their lives.

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Patients with Alzheimer's disease have a higher risk of developing glioblastoma and a lower risk of lung cancer. A paper published in Scientific Reports by researchers from the Spanish National Cancer Research Centre (CNIO), headed by Alfonso Valencia, a researcher affiliated to the CNIO and to the Barcelona Supercomputing Centre (BSC), describes the biological processes that underlie this comorbidity.

The increase in life expectancy has resulted in many people developing multiple diseases. This phenomenon is known as comorbidity, and there may be a direct relationship, when in the presence of one pathology, there is a higher risk of another emerging; or an inverse relationship, having a certain condition implies a lower risk of developing another. Epidemiology has identified a number of relationships of this type, such as a lower incidence of cancer in people with certain diseases that affect the central nervous system.

A paper published in 2014 in the journal PLoS Genetics by researchers from the revealed that over-expressed genes in central nervous system diseases (Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease and schizophrenia) were under-expressed in cancer (lung, colon, and prostate) and vice versa. Understanding the molecular bases of these processes provides important information regarding the study of the causes of each disease and the possible design of new therapeutic strategies (drug repositioning).

The paper published now in Scientific Reports delves into the relationship between Alzheimer's disease and brain tumors (glioblastoma, in particular), using lung cancer data as reference and applying a new meta-analytical method explicitly developed for this case.

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MITOCHONDRIAL ALTERATION AND CHRONIC INFLAMMATION

"The analysis of glioblastoma, which has a direct comorbidity link with Alzheimer's and that, in addition, originates in the same organ, has allowed us to better understand the molecular comorbidity between Alzheimer's disease and cancer, and eliminate tissue-dependent bias," says Jon Sanchez-Valle, leading author of the paper.

The analyses conducted on more than 1000 samples from patients with these diseases have identified 198 genes whose function is altered significantly in the three cases. Of these, 112 had a similar pattern in Alzheimer's disease and glioblastoma and the opposite pattern in lung cancer.

By comparing the biological processes altered through the deregulation of these genes, the authors confirmed that mitochondrial dysfunction plays a key role in the development of Alzheimer's and could also lead to an increased risk of brain tumours in patients with Alzheimer's disease, through the emergence of chronic inflammation in the brain. The decrease in the energy supply and the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) due to alterations in the mitochondrial function would, in turn, be related to the protection against lung cancer in patients with Alzheimer's disease.

These results, the authors point out, could help in the search for new uses for existing drugs and new therapeutic combinations to treat these diseases based on patient-specific genomic information.
Large-scale changes to the structure of the genome are often seen in cancer cells. Scientists at the Babraham Institute in Cambridge, UK, have found a way to detect these changes, which could enhance cancer diagnosis and aid the use of targeted treatments.

The report, in the journal Genome Biology, outlines a new application of a technique called Hi-C, which allows scientists to map how genetic material is arranged inside cells. By analyzing this information, researchers can reliably identify major genetic changes that other methods may miss. This all comes at a lower cost than standard DNA sequencing methods.

Genetics & Genomics eBook Compilation of the top interviews, articles, and news in the last year. Download a copy today

Hi-C can detect chromosome rearrangements - where large sections of DNA are exchanged or moved between pieces of the genome called chromosomes - and also copy number variation - where genetic material gets copied or deleted. Both of these changes can have drastic effects on how the cell behaves.

First author on the paper, Dr. Louise Harewood, said: "Chromosomal rearrangements are seen both in the general population and in the majority of cancers. Detection of chromosome rearrangements in patients can be troublesome and many can be missed. This can be detrimental, particularly in oncology where rearrangements can play both diagnostic and prognostic roles."

The scientists, led by Professor Peter Fraser, used Hi-C to examine the genome of cancer cells from six people with brain tumors. They were able to identify major genome changes, often with pinpoint accuracy. Uniquely, this approach allows doctors and scientists to study genetic changes in the wider context of the whole genome. Hi-C could become a powerful tool for understanding the complex genetic changes found in many cancers.

Professor Fraser, said: "Hi-C could play a pivotal role in the detection of chromosomal abnormalities and may aid the discovery of new fusion genes. The technique works with much lower quality samples than current techniques and has the additional advantage of being able to provide copy number information from the same data. This all comes at a significantly lower cost than standard methods that use DNA sequencing."
Thought Leaders Prof. David Rollinson Merit Research Scientist, Natural History Museum

An interview with Professor David Rollinson, Natural History Museum, conducted by April Cashin-Garbutt, MA (Cantab)

What is schistosomiasis and how many people is it thought to affect each year?

Schistosomiasis is a parasitic disease, sometimes called bilharzia or snail fever. The disease impacts a huge number of people around the world, over 230 million people are infected with one of the schistosome species, the parasitic worms that causes the disease.

Most of those cases, over 90%, are found in Africa, particularly in rural areas of Africa where people don't have access to good sanitation or a clean water supply.

Schistosomiasis: how does this neglected tropical disease spread? | Natural History Museum Play

What are the main symptoms of schistosomiasis? Can it be fatal?

The worms that infect humans can be male or female, and are quite large, they're about 1cm long. This group of parasites live within the blood vessels around by the gut for some species, or down by the blood vessels surrounding the bladder for others. Many worms can infect an individual patient at one time and they live for quite some time.

The worms themselves don't cause much damage, but the eggs that they produce do. The parasites living within the body continue their life cycle and produces eggs, which pass through the bladder or gut wall and into the urine or feces. When they come into contact with water, this will enable transmission of the parasites.

The eggs that dont escape cause the symptoms of schistosomiasis, this is body reacting to the eggs, because many of the eggs will get trapped in other nearby tissues, particularly the liver and the bladder wall.

Granulomas form around the eggs, which causes the pathology seen. Symptoms include anemia, because there's loss of blood, as well as growth stunting, decreased physical fitness, and then also symptoms related to the specific organ affected, such as portal hypertension, kidney failure, bladder cancers, in cases of long term infection. WHO estimates that there are about 200 000 deaths globally each year due to schistosomiasis

How can people become infected with schistosomiasis?

People are infected through water, it's a trematode parasite, and it spends part of its life in fresh water snails. The parasites and the snails have a very specific relationship. Only some snails are responsible for the transmission of the schistosome parasite.

Adult worms live in people, primarily in children, as part of their life cycle. As I mentioned, eggs are produced and are expelled, either in urine or feces, depending upon the species of Schistosoma, which then continue their journey to a water supply, where the eggs will hatch. They are then in free-swimming form, which we call a miracidium, and at this stage of its life cycle, the parasite actively seeks out and penetrates a fresh water snail.

Once within the snail, it multiplies and reproduces via asexual reproduction. Twenty eight to 30 days later, for every infective stage that went into the snail, many hundreds and thousands of further infective stages we call cercariae emerge, and these cercariae move back into the next human host by penetrating directly through the skin. They're tiny, they're microscopic, people wouldn't notice.

Populations living in rural areas often have daily contact with water, either for collecting drinking water, or for washing clothes, washing themselves, children playing. When people are in contact with the water, the schistosome parasite is able to penetrate through the skin.

Once back in the human host the parasite grows and develops, male and female worms pair together and migrate to the egg laying sites, the bladder or intestines, and thats the life cycle. It's a disease that doesn't go from child to child, it can't pass from person to person, it has to go through the snail host.

Why is infection especially high in children?

It's most likely because children, in these rural areas, have a lot more water contact through playing. When it's very hot and there's not a lot to do, it's fun to go and splash around in the local pools and rivers.

There's very little immunity to the disease and to the parasites at the young age. Unfortunately, it's a disease that can infect the preschool age child, so we can see infections at young ages, one or two years of age.

How can schistosomiasis be prevented?

It can be prevented by trying to break the life cycle. We can do that in a number of ways such as, chemotherapy using the drug praziquantel, which can be used and is used extensively to treat infected human populations, so that kills the adult worms. The drug doesn't always get a 100% cure rate, but it kills most of the worms in most places.

Other prevention methods include stopping people from coming into contact with water in high risk areas, and by making sure that health education is good.

We can also try and take the snail out of the equation, and try and control snails in some of these areas. However, this is an extremely difficult thing to do, but it's something that has been successful in some places.

Another important way is through improvement of water and sanitation, to minimize the time that people need to go into the local water etc.

What more needs to be done to tackle schistosomiasis?

Schistosomiasis affects many people, mainly in poor regions of the world where there is a lack of clean water and toilets. We have a drug that works and there's a massive drug donation from Merck, who are supplying up to 250 million praziquantel tablets a year and donating those tablets to endemic areas. This provides the opportunity to treat 100 million school children.

Merck also developing a pediatric formulation of the drug because at the moment, the tablet itself is big and chalky, which is difficult to swallow, especially for young children.

Although this is great progress, improvements for other interventions are also required, for example, can we do more to control snails and break that life cycle? Can we do more to improve water and sanitation? Can we change behavior so there is less water contact?

Do you think it will be possible to eliminate schistosomiasis one day? How far away are we from this goal?

We're working towards elimination. The drug donations that have taken place are great. There has been a lot of interest from some of the big foundations to control and eliminate this debilitating disease.

My work, for example, is funded in part by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation through the University of Georgia SCORE programme. We've got good investment coming in from the UK government, from DFID (Department for International Development), and USAID (United States Agency for International Development).

Schistosomiasis is a neglected tropical disease (NTD) and a couple of weeks ago, there was a five-year celebration of the achievements that have taken place in WHO Geneva, since the London Declaration on Neglected Tropical Diseases in 2012. There's a big momentum at the moment for control of NTDs, and that gives us some hope that we can provide more resources and move towards elimination of schistosomiasis.

Control programmes run by Ministries of Health use a process called mass drug administration (MDA) whereby drugs are given to all children without diagnosis. Many programmes run through the schools and MDA has to be done on a regular basis because in many of these rural settings, children rapidly become reinfected. Of course there are challenges especially reaching the children who do not attend school.

We have a program in Zanzibar where theyre using different interventions, snail control and behavior change, we are also increasing the mass drug administration from once a year to twice a year, so the whole population gets the possibility of treatment every six months.

After about five years, we're getting down to some very low levels of infection using these different interventions, which is good news. However, we know that across Africa, and not just in Zanzibar, this disease is highly focal. It depends heavily on where the snails are and where the people-water contacts are, and so you often need to develop different approaches in different areas. In Zanzibar and elsewhere, we see what we call hot spots.

Hot spots of infection are where the disease persists despite our disease prevention methods. We need to look at those areas more carefully, so that even in a very small island like Zanzibar, we'll get places where we're doing very well and we may no longer be seeing cases in some of the schools, for example. But there'll be one or two places where disease prevalence is still higher than it should be and those areas need to be more heavily scrutinized.

What are the main challenges to overcome?

There are a lot of challenges to overcome, now we've got this massive donation from Merck we need to get more resource for implementation. There is one group in London, the Schistosomiasis Control Initiative (SCI), which does a lot of implementation across Africa and raises money from government and a lot of philanthropic private money goes into SCI, but there is lot to do and many countries need help to improve implementation.

We need to make sure that the governments are fully informed because all of the work is implemented with the Ministry of Health and it's them who are giving the tablets. We need to make sure that control programs, integrate schistosomiasis control with other diseases. We have other parasites, especially the worms that live in the gut, the soil-transmitted helminths, that can be treated with different drugs at the same time as treatment for schistosomiasis.

It also comes back to resources, governments need to take some responsibility and not rely completely on donations and external help. When resources are extremely limited, there needs to be correct prioritization of different diseases, but that's a huge challenge. We need better capacity building in country and more people on the ground, people who can understand the transmission, and some of the snails involved and help expand some of the control programs.

Egypt has been a country that's had a long history of control. Some of the records in Egypt go back to the hieroglyphics in ancient Egypt, and so it's been there for a very long time. Now Egypt is just about to embark on an elimination program, which illustrates a good example that things can be done in some settings.

Schistosomiasis was found in Japan many years ago, but with development, improved water supplies, and the quality of life improvements in general, that has been overcome. China is doing a very good job at elimination and is hoping to achieve that by 2025. It's very high on their priority list and there's a lot of resource and manpower going into control in China.

What impact do you hope your research will have?

We'd like to eliminate schistosomiasis. Here at the Natural History Museum, we have a research group which is also a World Health Organization collaborating center, and part of our interests stem from being interested in biology, looking at what we call the host parasite interactions, and looking to see how different parasites interact with their snail hosts. How can we identify schistosomes, the parasites that cause schistosomiasis? How can we diagnose those infections? How can we identify the snails that carry the infection from others? What can be done about it?

There has just recently been a Nature Communications paper out on the snail genome. This is the first big paper on the snail genome, a snail called Biomphalaria, which transmits intestinal schistosomiasis. Learning more about the genomes of both parasites and snails is one of the things we try and do at the Natural History Museum. We hope this will lead to better interventions and better control.

At present there is only one drug available for treatment and there is the potential to get future resistance to it. We need to be aware of alternatives. There are currently no vaccines for schistosomiasis and so there's still a huge amount to do. Trying to control a very complicated parasite with a large genome, it's a large worm, living in a very hostile environment. It lives in the blood vessels of man and it can survive all the immune responses that are thrown against it.

Our research and other research that's going on is trying to find better ways to undertake control, to find better tools. Better tools to diagnose the disease, better tools for snail control, better tools for treatment, and also better ways of implementing treatment.

The Zanzibar elimination study I mentioned is interesting in the sense that we have to look very carefully at the use of the drug and how is it delivered. The MDA programs, take a lot of work on the ground. There is a a lot of logistical work necessary for a Ministry of Health in distributing tablets to many different people at one particular time.

Here at the Natural History Museum, we are primarily biologists interested in host-parasite interactions, some of the evolutionary questions associated with how these parasites have diverged and what's taking place now. At the same time, we have become quite heavily involved with what we would call operational research, working with Ministries of Health to implement better control and move towards elimination of schistosomiasis.

Changes in climate and environment and movement of people will impact on the distribution of schistosomiasis. There's recently been an outbreak of schistosomiasis in Corsica. The snail host has been present in Corsica for a very long time, but the infection has not. With the movement of people, the parasite has been introduced, and we suspect the parasite came from Senegal. We can tell that from molecular typing studies.

There were over a hundred French and German tourists and some local people that became infected with schistosomiasis, unexpectedly. That's of concern, the parasite is primarily found in Africa, with tropical regions, but if the snail is there, you've always got the possibility of introduction.

Where can readers find more information?

Nature communications paper on the snail genome - https://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms15451

WHO fact sheet - http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs115/en/

GSA - http://www.eliminateschisto.org/

About Professor David Rollinson

David Rollinson is a Merit Research Scientist at the Natural History Museum in London and is the Director of a WHO Collaborating Centre for schistosomiasis. He will shortly be taking up the role of Director of the Global Schistosomiasis Alliance (GSA).

David and his team work with colleagues in many parts of Africa including Senegal, Niger, Cote dIvoire, Tanzania and Zanzibar to better understand schistosome parasites and their freshwater snail hosts in order to control and eventually eliminate this debilitating disease. David is a biologist by training with a long term interest in parasites and their fascinating life cycles.
2017 Hyundai Accent from the U.S. (Image: Hyundai U.S)

Hyundai India is all set to launch the all-new 2017 Verna mid-size sedan in the coming weeks and we have learnt that the launch can take place as early as mid-August. Hyundai India has been teasing the upcoming car for a while now and the South-Korean auto giant has dropped a new teaser image revealing the interior details through a sketch.Hyundai India did drop a teaser earlier too revealing the headlights and grille of the new Verna , along with launching the micro site for potential buyers. The latest teaser shared reveals a lot of details pertaining to the interiors of the new Verna, but through a sketch mode.But the image gives us a fair bit of idea on how the new Verna cabin would look like. As per the image, theres no funky cabin this time around and like exteriors, Hyundai is working to achieve more mature looks on their cars, as compared to outlandish designs from the previous models.The cabin will now come equipped with a touchscreen infotainment system with bluetooth, USB, Apple CarPlay, Android Auto support. The interior features a two tone dashboard with chocolate brown colored top dash and a beige lower half. Expect the 2017 Verna with loads of features to give tough competition to rivals.As for the exteriors, the Verna will look like the 2017 Hyundai Accent, with a more mature and straight lines, LED Drls, hexagonal grille, dual square tail lamps, raised body line, increased wheelbase and much more.Hyundai will showcase the updated car to the select media coming August and this is when we expect the car to be launched in India. Hyundai Verna has to compete against the giants of Honda City and the Maruti Suzuki Ciaz and so, pricing has to be a winning factor here.
Warner Bros. has unveiled further plot details for the highly anticipated sequel to J.K. Rowling's Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, as principal photography kicks off for the film.



The as-yet-untitled feature - which started shooting in the U.K. Principal photography on Monday at Warner Bros. Studios Leavesden outside London on Monday - will pick up months after the events of Fantastic Beasts, with Gellert Grindelwald (Johnny Depp) having escaped and "gathering more followers to his cause - to elevate wizards above all non-magical beings."



The only one who might be able to stop him is the wizard he once called his dearest friend - the young Albus Dumbledore (to be played by Jude Law) - who calls upon his former student, magical beasts lover Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne) to help him defeat the villain.



The alliance also sees the return of original characters such as Tina (Katherine Waterston), Queenie (Alison Sudol), and Jacob (Dan Fogler), and Ezra Miller as Credence, who "makes a mysterious return", in addition to some new faces including - Zoe Kravitz, who will play Leta Lestrange, as well as Green Room actor Callum Turner (as Newt's brother Theseus Scamander, a "war hero and Auror") and The Avengers: Age of Ultron actress Claudia Kim (as an unnamed woman who is introduced "as a featured attraction at a wizarding circus").



The "Fantastic Beasts" sequel will also move the action from New York to London to Paris, with the film to also include "some surprising nods to the Harry Potter stories that will delight fans of the books and film series", according to the studio. David Yates, who helmed the original feature, is also back behind the camera to direct from a script penned by Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling.



The as-yet untitled sequel to Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is slated for a debut in theatres November 16, 2018.
Mumbai: The Esplanade Metropolitan Magistrate's Court on Tuesday took cognisance of the defamation complaint filed by Tata Trusts' R Venkatramanan against the ousted Tata Group chairman Cyrus Mistry and others, and directed them to appear before it on August 24.



"The court has summoned Mistry and others in the criminal defamation case filed by us, wherein we have demanded a compensation of Rs 500 crore," Parvez Memon, who appeared for Venkatramanan, said. Venkatramanan, the managing trustee of Tata Trusts, had filed a Rs 500 crore criminal defamation complaint against Mistry for making "false" statements against him.



According to Venkatramanan, Mistry's mail sent to the directors of Tata Sons and the trustees of Tata Trusts, contained "defamatory statements" against him.



After he was ousted as the chairman of Tata Sons on October 24, 2016, Mistry, in an e-mail, alleged that fraudulent transactions worth Rs 22 crore had taken place at the group's aviation venture AirAsia India and accused Venkatramanan of having tried to cover it up.



The issue, however, is now being probed by the Enforcement Directorate and the outcome of the investigation is pending. Venkatramanan further said the mail, which was also leaked to the media, had caused irreparable damage to his reputation among his colleagues, family, friends and the society.



On April 17, the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) had dismissed a petition by two firms belonging to Cyrus Mistry's family, seeking waiver of an eligibility condition for moving the forum against Tata Sons.



Mistry later moved the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) challenging the same. The two firms had sought to challenge Mistry's ouster from Tata Sons and alleged that there was mismanagement and oppression of minority shareholders.



They urged the NCLT to use its discretion and waive an eligibility condition for filing such a petition. Meanwhile, a statement issued by Mistry's office said, "The attempt to initiate criminal prosecution for alleged defamation is an ill-advised and immature proxy battle through Mr Venkataramanan, whose role in Air Asia is subject matter of several investigations by law enforcement agencies."



"The move by the Tata Trustees to attempt to muzzle and interfere with legal proceedings faced by them, now before the NCLAT, will be effectively and appropriately dealt with.

The petitioners in the NCLAT proceedings and Mr Mistry will continue to do the right thing...and protect it from oppressive conduct and mismanagement," it said.


Raj Panjabi, who fled to the United States to escape civil war in his native Liberia, eventually returned to his shattered homeland to find rural communities desperate for adequate health care.



The trained physician co-founded Last Mile Health in Liberia, which aims to recruit, train, equip and manage people in communities to serve as local health care workers.



He spoke about his organization at the TED Conference famous for "ideas worth spreading," sharing his dream of revolutionizing health care.



The innovators, entrepreneurs, influencers, and artists known as 'tedsters' picked his innovative health care project as the winner of a coveted million-dollar TED Prize awarded each year to a visionary idea.



"It has always been true in history that illness has been universal and access to care has not," Panjabi said during an interview before speaking to the TED audience late Tuesday.



"This is a story of people in rural areas around the world," he said.



Seed money Dr. Panjabi used to start Last Mile Health came from cash he had received as a wedding gift.



The operation has grown to provide care for tens of thousands of people, and win support from Liberia's health ministry, according to TED.



During the Ebola crisis, Panjabi's organization supported the Liberian government's response, training more than 1,300 health workers on infection prevention and control at clinics.



"As global citizens, we're living in a tumultuous moment," said TED Prize director Anna Verghese.



"Raj understands more than anyone that disease adheres neither to borders nor to nationalities."



A health care army



Panjabi wished for help creating a global academy, recruiting the "largest army of health care workers the world has ever known."



People with middle- or high-school level educations would be hired from their communities, then given training, medicines and support to provide health care to neighbors.



"The challenge is, we can't do that without technology," Panjabi said.



"A lot of people worry about technology these days; in this case technology is creating jobs."



The academy will start in Liberia, where Last Mile Health has operated for a decade, with a goal of expanding around the world, according to Panjabi.



Smartphones, inexpensive testing kits, and online education would be key components for realizing the grand vision, according to the doctor.



"We would like to see a collision between the digital education revolution and the digital health revolution," Panjabi said.



The vision for the academy involves with governments to enable trained volunteers to qualify for accreditation that could lead to careers.



The academy would also collaborate with entrepreneurs to put innovations, such as solar power for medical clinics, to work in remote areas.



"There is a chance to transform health care around the world," Panjabi said.



For any policy maker interested in expanding access to health care, and saving money in the long term, this is a "no-brainer" because stopping illness early cuts costs and can curtail outbreaks, he reasoned.



The goal is to have rural care paid for with public funds or insurance schemes, the Liberian prize winner said.
Bengaluru: The Kannada Development Authority on Tuesday issued notice to the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Ltd (BMRCL) asking for an explanation at whose behest they are following a three-language policy.



"Is there any order on this? Give us a clarification on this if no government has asked you to do it, what powers do officials have to take a policy decision on a three language policy?" read the notice.



There has been no response to the notice issued last week.



"I have asked officials to check out what is the policy followed in Kerala and West Bengal and other places. After that we will take a decision," said CM Siddaramaiah



The city woke up on Monday to find Bengaluru Metro signboards with Hindi letters on them vandalised. Hindi letters on the boards of Chickpete and Majestic stations were covered with paper and taped carefully.



These metro boards were in Kannada, English and Hindi but only the parts with Hindi were covered.
This 86-year-old UK Man Wants to Rent a Garden to Frolic Around Naked
The minister of state for home affairs, Kiren Rijiju, had a close shave on Tuesday afternoon as the BSF chopper he was travelling in had to make an emergency landing in a small field in Itanagar, Arunachal Pradesh, due to bad weather.According to reports, the helicopter was caught in heavy rain and fog, which made navigation difficult due to the low visibility. The experienced BSF pilots managed to keep the chopper steady and manoeuvre it around for 10 minutes amid the rain, before finding a small strip for a safe landing.Rijiju was surrounded by locals.The Mi-17 helicopter with Rijiju and seven other passengers and crew members on board was flying from Guwahati to Ziro in Arunachal Pradesh when it faced heavy rains and fog this afternoon.The chopper landed around 3:30pm and within half an hour, the SP of Itanagar rushed to the spot. Kiren Rijiju was evacuated from the scene safely. Local residents too came forward to help Rijiju and others. The minister was travelling to Ziro to attend the Dree harvest festival.Kiren Rijiju was travelling to Ziro to attend the Dree harvest festival."Miraculous escape. My chopper had an emergency landing near Itanagar. Due to heavy rain chopper was caught in a very heavy fog & rain. The experienced BSF Pilots manage to manoeuvre for around 10 minutes and landed at small field. I was lucky to be landed safely," Rijiju said.This is not the first time that the MoS (Home) has had a lucky escape. On February 9 last year, a chopper carrying Rijiju and a BJP MP made an emergency landing at Hindon airbase near Ghaziabad following engine trouble after being airborne for nearly 20 minutes.Heavy rain and fog forced the chopper to land in a small field in Itanagar. (Photo: CNN-News18)There were eight people on-board the helicopter, including officials of the Ministry of Home Affairs and two television journalists. Rijiju had said he was travelling to Tehri to review disaster preparedness and to meet paramilitary personnel deployed along the Sino-India border.
Eritrea's ambassador to the African Union said on Tuesday that Qatar must mediate with neighbouring Djibouti over the two countries' disputed border.

The Gulf nation brokered a peace deal between the two countries in 2010 over the disputed Red Sea region of Doumeira, which has been the site of disagreements and clashes between Eritrea and Djibouti for decades.

Qatari troops withdrew from the contested border last month when the Horn of Africa nations signalled their support for Saudi Arabia after it accused Doha of supporting terrorism.

Djibouti claims Eritrean troops moved into the disputed territory for one day after the Qatari withdrawal, raising fears of an armed confrontation such as the one that broke out in 2008.

While Djibouti has called on the AU to demarcate the border to avoid a resurgence of conflict, Eritrea's ambassador to the AU Araia Desta told AFP Qatar was the original negotiator of the peace deal, and so it is up to that country to settle this latest dispute.

"So far as Djibouti is concerned, we know Qatar is the mediator," Desta said.

The AU has sought to play an active role in tackling dispute, with chairman Moussa Faki Mahamat asking both countries to "exercise calm and restraint" and announcing he would send the body's commissioner for peace and security to Eritrea.

A previous fact-finding mission was allowed into Djibouti, but Faki said Eritrea denied permission for them to access its territory.

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I look forward to holding extensive talks with my friend, @IsraeliPM @netanyahu, who shares a commitment for vibrant India-Israel ties.

 Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) July 3, 2017

From boosting economic ties to furthering people-to-people interactions, my Israel visit has a wide range of programmes.  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) July 3, 2017

Prime Minister Narendra Modi termed his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu as a friend who shares a commitment for vibrant India-Israel ties ahead of his three-day visit of the country. Modi said he was committed to boosting economic ties and furthering people-to-people interactions during his visit.Israels ambassador to India, Daniel Carmon, said that terrorism was one of the key topics that would be discussed during the meetings. This is the first time an Indian Prime Minister was visiting the country.On Monday, Yuval Rotem, Director General of Foreign Affairs, Israel said that the country was looking forward to welcoming Prime Minister Narendra Modi.In an unprecedented move, Rotem said that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will accompany PM Modi during his visit. "This is not a practice we extended to other dignitaries," he said, adding the visit will also see "a lot of digital diplomacy" between the two countries.Israeli Prime Minister was the first foreign dignitary to congratulate PM Modi when he arrived at the helm of affairs in India in 2014.PM Modi, in an interview to an Israeli newspaper, Israel Hayom, said that the two countries were ready to "take the relationship to a new level", calling Israel a "technological powerhouse." "Israel has braved many odds, and has many accomplishments to his credit," he said, adding that bilateral ties between India and Israel had always been strong.Modi's three-day visit is aimed at commemorating 25 years of establishment of diplomatic ties between the two countries and will also see discussions between him and his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu to explore ways to enhance cooperation in key strategic areas. The two sides are expected to sign number of agreements in the field of innovation, development, science and technology and space.The defence ties between India and Israel have often drawn worldwide attention and acquired strategic dimensions. It is believed that Modi's visit would further solidify security ties as Israeli defence industries have shown greater inclination towards participating in joint ventures to give a boost to the National Democratic Alliance government's 'Make in India' campaign.The Indian prime minister would also be meeting Israeli President Reuven Rivlin and the leader of opposition Isaac Herzog on July 5. Modi will not be travelling to neighbouring Palestine during the visit, a clear signal of de-hyphenation of its ties with the two West Asian nations.President Pranab Mukherjee in 2015 and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj in 2016 visited both the countries. Modi's visit will be the first by an Indian premier to Israel. Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and President Ezer Weizman visited India in 2003 and 1997 respectively. Israeli President Reuven Rivlin had also paid a visit to India in November last year.
Amiruddin Shah has been described as Indias Billy Elliot - a young lover of dance who rises from humble beginnings to great things on the ballet stage.It is strangely appropriate. Shah, the 16-year-old son of a metal welder, dared to give up his studies a few years back to chase his ballet dreams.He has now received an invitation from the American Ballet Theatres Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School in New York City for a four-year course.And all because of a video clip.The 16-year-old's dance instructor calls Amiruddin a rare talent. (Photo: Reuters)Some months ago, Yehuda Maor, Shahs instructor at the Danceworx Performing Arts Academy in Mumbai, sent the artistic director of the school a clip of Shah dancing.The director, Cynthia Harvey, jumped at the idea, insisting Shah turn down a rival offer from the Royal Ballet School in London and attend her school's pre-professional programme.In Maor's estimation, Shah, the youngest of five siblings, is an unusually rare talent."I don't believe in reincarnation, but if I did he is Rudolf Nureyev," Maor said, referring to the ballet great once described as juggling "his weight on his feet the way magicians juggle objects with their hands".Amiruddin speaks to his instructor Yehuda Maor during a practice session at his academy. (Photo: Reuters)Not long ago, Shah was in a different kind of school, one run by the Mumbai municipality. He studied up to the 10th grade, but said he "wasn't interested in school anymore".Enter Maor, who signed up on Twitter and has since tweeted eight times asking for financial assistance for Shah and another gifted dancer.The appeals have brought - among other things - a scrum of reporters and photographers to the dance studio, a development that annoys Maor."We're trying to work here," he told two reporters before turning them away and as New York-bound Shah watched a news clip of himself twirling on a rooftop.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi visit to Israel comes at a time when the country has become one of Indias key weapons suppliers after Russia and the US. India can learn counter-terrorism strategies from Israel and it can give a boost to agricultural, water technologies and start-ups.



Here is everything you need to know about the relationship between the two countries:



September 18, 1950: India recognised Israel



1956: Israeli Foreign Minister Moshe Sharett visits in the middle of the Suez crisis



1968: Visit by Ruth Dayan, wife of Defence Minister Moshe Dayan



1977: Foreign Minister Moshe Dayan visits India



1992: Diplomatic ties between India and Israel were formally established by the Narasimha Rao government



February 1992: Israel opened its embassy in New Delhi



May 1992: India opened its embassy in Tel Aviv



In 1996: India acquired from Israel, 32 IAI Searcher unmanned aerial vehicles, or UAVs



December 1997: Israeli President Ezer Weizman led a 24-member business delegation to India. Weizman was the first Israeli head of state to visit India. He finalised a weapons deal involving the purchase of the Barak-1 vertically-launched surface-to-air missiles



2000: Jaswant Singh became the first Indian foreign minister to visit Israel. India and Israel set up a joint anti-terror commission



2003: Ariel Sharon became the first Israeli PM to visit India



November 2016: Israeli President Reuven Rivlin visited India for six days



How has Israel helped India through the years?



India reportedly purchased arms and ammunition from Israel both after the Sino-Indian War of 1962 and the India-Pakistan Wars of 1965 and 1971. Israel was ready to sell the weapons to India amid embargoes in the UK, the US and France. Indias security agency, the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) and Israel's spy agency Mossad have been tacitly collaborating since the 1960s.



India acquired drones, electronic support measure sensors, air combat manoeuvring instrumentation simulator system. Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) has worked on several large contracts with the Indian Air Force, including upgrading MiG-21 ground attack aircraft.



Trade has diversified into several sectors such as pharmaceuticals, agriculture, IT and telecom, and homeland security in recent years. The greatest success has been in the diamond industry which accounts for 50% of India-Israel non-defence trade. The bilateral trade between the two countries is pegged at around $4.5 billion.
Mumbai: Israel has expressed its willingness to share advanced digital technology in the health sector, which can be used for integration, analysis and processing of patients data, with India.



Since Aadhar number is linked to most of the health related treatments it is generating huge data related to treatment of patients and Israel can provide expertise on how to handle and process it, Davis Akov, consul general of Israel told PTI on Tuesday on the sidelines of an event.



"Aadhaar number is widely used in India including in the health sector. It is generating huge database of patients health, treatment, medical history. Israeli technology can help in how to handle and use it (database) for better purpose of finding out trends in the health sector," said Akov.



Israel is also keen on supporting digital transportation where available data on transportation can be processed, Akov said.
Tel Aviv: Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday together vowed to fight the "evils of terrorism and radicalism" that both countries face.



"We face common challenges, first of it is to defeat forces of terror that has ravaged both our countries. We need to stand and work together," Netanyahu said at a joint press conference in Jerusalem.



Modi, who became the first Indian prime minister ever to visit Israel, said both countries resolutely fight the evils of terrorism, radicalism and violence.



Earlier in the day, PM Modi touched down at Tel Aviv's Ben-Gurion Airport to a thunderous welcome, with PM Netanyahu personally receiving him as he stepped out of Air India One.



The two leaders hugged each other, followed by a long handshake as the photographers captured the historic moment. Netanyahu introduced PM Modi to a legion of other dignitaries who were present at the airport.



As Netanyahu and Modi marched towards the stage through a guard of honour, the attendees stood in respect. It was the Israeli Prime Minister who walked up to the dais, stood at the podium, his hands joined, and said: "Aapka swaagat hai, mere dost."



"In this visit, your Make in India initiative, meets my Make with Israel policy. We are setting up a $40 million innovation fund as the seed for even greater cooperation on technology between us," the Israeli Prime Minister said.



Hailing Modi as "a great leader of India and a great world leader", Netanyahu said, "we have been waiting for the last 70 years" for a visit by an Indian prime minister.



The two leaders vowed to give a push to the bilateral relationship in all aspects and jointly deal with the common threats like terrorism.



"I remember what you told me in our first meeting - when it comes to India and Israel relations, the sky is the limit. But now, prime minister, let me add even sky is not the limit. We are also cooperating in space," Netanyahu told Modi.



Reflecting on the nature of the relationship that the two countries share, Netanyahu said: "Formula for success in the relationship between India and Israel is I square and T square... Indian talent and Israels technology. This is India-Israel ties for tomorrow."



Narendra Modi, the first Indian Prime Minister to undertake a visit to Israel after two countries established diplomatic relations in 1992, and the fact found space in Netanyahu's welcome address. "We have waited for you for a long time, we receive you with open arms," Netanyahu said, adding, "I know that we can do even better, together."



After the Israeli Prime Minister finished speaking, PM Modi, overwhelmed by the warm welcome, took the podium, thanking Israel and Netanyahu for gestures extended to him. "It is my singular honour to be the first-ever Prime Minister of India to undertake this ground-breaking visit to Israel," he said.



Declaring is visit "groundbreaking", PM Modi said that "Israeli heroes are an inspiration to India's youth, who are talented and a driving force."



"India is an old civilisation but a young nation," PM Modi continued, adding that his visit was about "the strength of our societies and our strong partnership."



Describing Israel as an "important development partner", he said, "This is an exciting journey that we will undertake together, for the good of our people and our society."



"My visit marks the beginning of a pathbreaking relationship between the two countries," PM Modi said, "I thank you once again for the tremendous welcome. Thank you, thank you."



At the joint press conference before dinner, Netanyahu thanked PM Modi for having already visited a number destinations of historical significance in Israel.



"You have only been here a few hours, but have already honoured Holocaust victims and paid respects. You have also seen our technological advancements," Netanyahu said.



Alluding to the history of Israel, PM Netanyahu said: "You have seen our painful past and our exciting future," adding that India is a great country... "We are unequal in size, we are equal in spirit. We are sister democracies."



PM Netanyahu ended his press address with another hug to PM Modi, who started his address extending heartfelt thanks to the Israeli PM and the first lady.



I thank PM Netanyahu and his wife for opening his home to me today. Their warmth is overwhelming. I feel this is a home away from home, the PM said.



PM Modi, then, reflected on the glorious history that the two countries share, saying the first Jews arrived on India's southern coast almost 1000 years ago.



Talking about his visit to the Holocaust memorial, Yad Vashem, PM Modi said that it was "a mark of the unspeakable evil committed against 6 million Jews" "Since then, Jews have flourished. Their religion and practices have also thrived in India."



Prime Minister Modi also talked about the most important field the two countries look forward to cooperating in. "In modern times, we have seen our diplomatic ties expand over the last 25 years. Indias focus on using tech provides wide scope to create links between our countries."










New Delhi: The Law Commission has recommended the Centre to enact a law to make registration of marriages compulsory within 30 days for people of all religions.



In a report titled Compulsory Registration of Marriages, the panel backed a uniform law, calling it a necessary reform. It also recommended a per-day penalty for non-registration of a marriage without sufficient cause, keeping in view the prevailing conditions in our country.



In support of the recommendation, the Law Commission said that it would help in better implementation of already existing laws that aim at preventing child marriage, bigamy and polygamy. Supreme Court had also asked the government to frame a law for compulsory registration in 2006.



It would also aid in eliminating practices such as early and forced marriages. It can be helpful in achieving gender equality and empowering women, the report reads.



The Law Commission also clarified that the government does not intend to interfere with personal laws, but simply wants to ensure that marriages under all customs and religions were registered.



The recommendation is not aimed at eliminating diversity of personal laws and instead accepts prevailing customs/ or personal laws concerning solemnisation of marriage; provided that these marriages are registered under the Compulsory Registration of Births Deaths and Marriages Registration Act or any other law for the time being in force in the State. The report does not aim to nullify the existing provisions for registration of marriages under different state laws," said the Commission in its 270th report.



For this, the law panel has sought an amendment to the Registration of Births and Deaths Act, 1969, which only regulates registration of births and deaths currently. The amendment was first pushed during UPA governments second tenure. While Rajya Sabha had passed the amendment, it could not be passed by the Lok Sabha, and later lapsed.



Under the new norms, a completely automated process with paperless documentation will be introduced for registration. It added that the idea is not to lay down a procedure recognised for solemnisation of marriage but only for registration of marriages.



"Thus, in effect, the Compulsory Registration of Marriages Bill aims to recommend changes along the lines of Compulsory Registration of Births and Deaths, with no effect on different Marriages Acts or personal law, clarified the Commission.
Imphal: Armstrong Pame is famously known as the IAS officer who built a 100 kilometre road through community initiative, without any active help from the government. The now District Collector of Manipur's Tamenglong has yet another maverick plan up his sleeve  opening his house for the children of the district.



Pame has decided to invite 10 students from Class V to X for dinner, every Friday. These selected children will be be given a chance to observe the working of the district administration during post lunch office hours. The students shall be selected school-wise on a rotation basis.



The circular issued by the officer says, 'they shall be given an opportunity to express their dreams/visions and shall also be asked to express their desire as to how they wish to see the district in future days to come.'



Pame wrote on social media about how he as a child always wondered about what happens inside government buildings. As a kid I used to walk past the deputy commissioner's building and office... really wanted to see what's there but never got to... now being here as DC let me invite the school kids to share a dinner table with me... hope this will give them a zeal to do well to live their dreams, he said.



For the work that he has done in the area he is often called the 'Miracle Man'  Pame is the first Indian Administrative Service officer from the Zeme Naga tribe. Based in the hills of Manipur, Tamenglong, his home district, is one of the most backward in the country.



Named after Neil Armstrong, he graduated from St Stephen's College in 2005. But his journey to St Stephen's is no ordinary feat. He was the fifth of eight siblings born in a remote village, had neither electricity, nor proper roads. Thus when he moved back to Tamenglong, as a sub-divisional magistrate of Tousem, he knew the difference a proper road can make.



It took two days for anyone in the region to make it to the nearest hospital on foot and hundreds of patients had to be carried on makeshift bamboo stretchers. Death often arrived faster than hospitals.



That is when Pame decided to not wait for the government fund and got the community to help build 'People's Road'. The project began in 2012, with him and his family pooling in over Rs 4 lakh. They asked for a help through social media and funds soon started pouring in.



The first task was to connect the 60-kilometre stretch from Tousem sub-divisional headquarters to the district headquarters. The next part was to connect to the nearest highway running between Nagaland and Assam, and then to a railway station at Mohur (Assam). It involved cutting across hilly terrain to make the road.



This mammoth task was completed within a year's time.



Apart from this, Pame has been actively associated with various charitable institutions, including orphanages and schools. He is also known to better the quality of the government's services, wherever he has been posted.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived at Ben-Gurion International Airport at 4:00 pm on Tuesday on his historic visit to Israel. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was at the airport to welcome PM Modi, a rare gesture that Israel reserves only for the Pope and the US President. The two sides are expected to sign number of agreements in the field of innovation, development, science and technology and space. This is the first ever visit by an Indian PM to Israel.

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New Delhi: The Indian Army on Tuesday maintained that no bulldozers were used when its bunkers were destroyed by Chinese soldiers amid the current standoff with China in the Sikkim sector.



The army also denied that the border stand-off with China is the longest since 1962.



"The incident is not the longest standoff between the two nations," said a statement issued by the Army spokesman here while reacting to a PTI story which had given details of the stand-off.



The spokesman also said that no bulldozers were "ever employed" for destroying the Indian bunkers and that no physical scuffle had occurred between the personnel of Indian Army and the People's Liberation Army(PLA). A senior government functionary had earlier said that bulldozers were used to destroy the Indian bunkers.



The spokesman also claimed that no such incident ever happened on June 6 and referred to a statement made by the Ministry of External Affairs in which the date of incident was mentioned as June 16.



Meanwhile, sources said that the presence of a Chinese submarine in the Indian Ocean region has nothing to do with stand-off between the Indian and Chinese troops along the border in Sikkim.



They confirmed the presence of a conventional Chinese submarine in the Indian Ocean region for a while.



The spokesman went on to clarify that "India-China relations as also the relationship between both the armies are extremely well managed by a host of mechanisms.



"The MoD (Ministry of Defence) or the Indian Army has neither issued any official statement nor has undertaken any unofficial briefings due to the fact that such sensitive issues are best dealt between two nations away from the media glare," the spokesman said.



He said that in this situation "as some of the acts have happened involving Bhutan, therefore, Ministry of External Affairs has already given a substantial briefing on the issue."
Narendra Modi is the first Indian prime minister born after Independence in 1947. Benjamin Netanyahu is the first Israeli prime minister born in the Jewish nation after it was founded in 1948. It is appropriate then that their generation is writing a new chapter in the bilateral relationship and overcoming  if one were borrow Modis words from another context  the hesitations of history.



The key achievement of Modis visit to Israel is the visit itself. Everything else is peripheral. The defence and intelligence bond is strong. Israel is embedded in several developmental programmes  ranging from drip irrigation to growing olives, dairy farming to desalination and water management  in a variety of states, headed by governments under different parties.



Israeli tourists, particularly young Israelis immediately after they have done their compulsory military stint and are taking a short break before going to college or embarking on a civilian career, see India as a popular holiday and backpacking destination. Some 50,000 Indians are expected to visit Israel this year, and the outbound tourism numbers are growing impressively.



Such a wide and deep relationship was not predicted when India and Israel established full-fledged embassies in 1992. Yet, this engagement has been one of the miracles of the post-Cold War age. It has proved agnostic to political change in India. With the exception of one or two chief ministers  who must remain nameless  no senior Indian political functionary has refused an Israeli official or delegation a meeting.



The BJP has been open in talking up the relationship. Its government hosted Ariel Sharon, then Israels prime minister, on a historic visit in 2003. A return visit was on the cards and would have taken place quickly if Atal Bihari Vajpayee had been re-elected in 2004. The Congress-led government that followed instead was wary of showcasing the Israel relationship, even though military and economic cooperation flourished. The Israelis persevered but were hurt by the absence of top-level and public commitment from the Indian side.



The Congress was unsure of how an Israel visit would play out in domestic politics, particularly among Muslim communities. The UPA government was also decorated with a few Kerala politicians for whom foreign policy didnt extend beyond Malayalee diaspora affairs in the Gulf. As such, Manmohan Singh was never allowed to undertake that visit to Israel or announce the friendship proudly. That task has fallen on Modi.



The fallacy of the Gulf/Arab and domestic Muslim veto on engagement with Israel has also been exposed. The BJP governments Think West approach has partnered a number of Arab countries in a very meaningful manner. None of this has been even remotely jeopardised by the Israel trip. Indeed, among sensible Arab countries there is more cooperation with Israel than is realised, particularly in intelligence sharing.



Some of it is becoming transparent. For example, there is an Israeli ambassador in Abu Dhabi, accredited to the International Renewable Energy Agency, an institution created under the auspices of the United Nations and headquartered in the emirate. Gulf countries see merit too in Indias proximity to Israel and are beginning to use the potentiality of those ties.



A few weeks ago, the ambassador of a leading Arab country met this writer. He spoke about cooperation between India and his country. We are keen to work with India on irrigation and water issues. You are learning a lot from the Israelis, and we can work with them indirectly through you. In the summer of 2015, India hosted an unusual Saudi Arabia-Israel track II meeting in Lucknow, with very high-level participation.



All of what has been described above could have continued unabated. None of it is dependent on a prime ministerial visit for advance. It is not as if Modi and Netanyahu will sign any earth-shattering documents and agreements without which the relationship will be seriously jeopardised. In any case, no military deals are going to be finalised; this is not the occasion.



The focus of the trip is on a civilisational camaraderie  going back to the time when the Jews at Masada, preparing for suicide rather than surrender to the invading Romans, took inspiration from the Hindu belief in the imperishable nature of the soul. It will be on agriculture and water management, on innovation as a contributor to the digital economy and to Indias modernisation. Much, much more than that it will be on an Indian friend visiting the Promised Land, as a pilgrim, an admirer, a history buff, and an equal and steadfast partner.



(The author is distinguished fellow, Observer Research Foundation. He can be reached at malikashok@gmail.com )
Russia may deploy its military to police the borders of planned de-escalation zones in Syria within two to three weeks after finalising an agreement with Turkey and Iran, Russian negotiator Alexander Lavrentyev said on Tuesday.

Moscow hopes to sign the final documents with Ankara and Tehran on Wednesday, he told reporters after a series of meetings in the Kazakh capital, Astana.

Russia and Iran, which back President Bashar Assad's government, and Turkey, which supports some of the rebels, agreed in principle to create four "de-escalation zones" in Syria in a previous round of talks in May, but put off a planned June meeting where they were supposed to work out the details.

Since the May agreement was announced, the rebel-held stronghold of Idlib province in the northwest of Syria has been mostly calm.

But fighting has continued on other frontlines in western Syria, including Eastern Ghouta of Damascus and the southwestern city of Deraa, where government forces and their allies are trying to crush remaining pockets of rebellion.

Lavrentyev told reporters that Moscow and its partners were still discussing detailed maps and other conditions related to the Idlib and southern zones, while the borders of two other zones, in Homs province and near Damascus, had been agreed.

"Overall, (the agreement) provides for the presence of Russian military police in the buffer zones, but once again this matter has not been agreed yet," he said.

"Depending on when the documents on safe zones are signed, I think one should expect concrete measures on the deployment of forces within 2-3 weeks."

Opposition Sceptical

The Syrian opposition, some of whose delegates walked out of the previous round of talks in protest against Iran's participation, has routinely criticised Russia for failing to enforce the ceasefire and was sceptical of Moscow's plan.

Armed opposition leader Muhammad Alloush, who led the opposition delegation in earlier rounds of the Astana process, is not attending the current talks.

A Syrian opposition official said the aim of Astana "is to set out the areas of influence between the three states that sponsor it, and it embodies the interests of these states and their areas of influence on the ground, unfortunately with an intended American absence and suspicious European silence".

"It will succeed in the north because the desire of the states and their interests dictate that, and if we want to interpret it on the Syria-wide level, it represents the strengthening of Russian and Iranian influence on the ground.

Riyad Nassan Agha, a member of the opposition Saudi-backed High Negotiations Committee, told Reuters the opposition feared the Astana talks aimed to undermine the U.N.-backed peace talks in Geneva, reiterating the oppositions view that Iran could not act as a guarantor of any deal because "it is a hostile state".

"What they are talking about (de-escalation) did not happen. So the Syrian people no longer have faith in these agreements that happened in Astana," he said.

Lavrentyev, who earlier on Tuesday met Stuart Jones, acting U.S. assistant secretary of state for the Near East, said he would meet Syrian opposition delegates on Wednesday.

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: Less than a month ago, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj extensively explained how India was learning the art of handling antagonistic relationships with diplomatic deft. She said "ye Bharat ki prabhavi kootneeti ka parinaam hai ki Bharat ke rishte dono deshon se bahut achhe hain" (It is a result of Indias effective diplomacy that it enjoys good relations with both countries). She cited the example of Palestine and Israel. But it is the Prime Minister's visit to Israel alone, without it being clubbed with an engagement with Palestinian leaders in Ramallah, that is giving the first sure indication of Indias attempt at de-hyphenating Israel and Palestine.From SM Krishna to Sushma Swaraj and President Pranab Mukherjee, all Indian dignitaries have always visited both Palestine and Israel together, never stand-alone. The Israeli side is naturally enthused that India has has made this exception but there is a political backlash in India. AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi said "PM Modi has abdicated the 70 year old foreign policy by choosing not to visit the occupied territories. Why does the PM have no time to go to Palestine to show India stands firmly with the the cause of the oppressed? "India has tried to clarify it's position on the issue with the PM stating quite clearly that the Indian embassy will remain in Tel Aviv in an interview to Israeli newspaper Isreal Hayom. He said the a decision to have one in Jeruselum can not take place until a final agreement between the two parties. He said, "we believe in a two-state solution in which both Israel and a future Palestinian state coexist peacefully."Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu receives PM Modi at Ben Gurion Airport.Former MoS External Affairs, Shashi Tharoor, said India should be cautious that the wrong message should not go out during this visit that India is backing off from its support to the Palestinian cause. In the same breath he also said that it was time the India-Israel relationship "should stand on its feet."Even as India does the tightrope walk walk in West Asia, this is a carefully considered decision. The visit by the Prime Minister has been in the offing for over 2 years now. A discussion was on since Modi took over in 2014 and a formal announcement was made in 2015 in Sushma Swaraj's first annual press conference. Over this period India has had time to not just guage the response from Palestine and the Arab world but also had time to pay visits and host dignitaries from these countries to assauge any concerns.In fact, Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas was in India only in May this year. According to Sushma Swaraj the Palestinian President had expressed the desire that India would use its good offices with Israel to resolve the situation. Speaking to, Dana Kursh, the Deputy Chief of Mission in the Israeli embassy in India said that India is its friend and that India's support for a mutually agreed solution between Israel and Palestine will be very valuable.
New Delhi: Former Union Minister and Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Tuesday had a word of appreciation for Prime Minister Narendra Modi for undertaking a visit to Israel but cautioned the government against losing the sight of India's longstanding support to the Palestinian cause.



Emphasising the importance of Indo-Israel relationship, the former Minister of State Foreign Affairs said that erstwhile UPA regime strengthened the relationship, adding that the current government had rightly briefed Arab countries that the visit was only to Israel.



"The government of India has made sure that the right balance between our relationship with Arab countries and Israel is struck," Tharoor said, adding that India was "grateful to Israel for its cooperation in defence sector".



Tharoor, however, sheds light on India's decades-long support to the Palestinian cause, urging the government not to overlook the matter and strive towards "a just solution to the Israel-Palestine" conflict.



PM Modi embarked on a 3-day visit, first by an Indian Prime Minister, to Israel on Tuesday, but his decision met with stern criticism at home. AIAMIM President Asaduddin Owaisi said that Prime Minister's visit defeated the purpose of India's long-standing espousal for the Palestinian state.



When asked about these apprehensions, Tharoor said: "It was the duty of the government to attend to the concerns of domestic and international voices, and make them understand that the relationship with Israel was as important as our relationship with Arab countries."


New Delhi: Today is July 4, exactly 41 years since Operation Entebbe. The day when your Prime Minister, and my friend, Bibi, lost his older brother Yoni, while saving the lives of so many Israeli hostages. Your heroes are an inspiration for the younger generations.



Prime Minister Narendra Modis tarmac speech on his arrival in Tel Aviv, Israel, contained this passing reference to Entebbe. What did he mean exactly?



Entebbe is a city in Uganda and is famous for being the site of a successful strike by the Israeli Special Forces to free a plane that was hijacked by a group called the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.



Now consider the significance of the reference in Modis speech: The raid happened exactly 41 years ago on July 4, 1976; Air France flight 139, the hijacked airline, had taken off from Tel Aviv; Lt. Col Yonatan "Yoni" Netanyahu, the commander of the crack Israeli team that stormed the aircraft and killed all the Palestinian hijackers, was the brother of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, who received Modi at Tel Aviv Airport.



It signals a convergence of security interests between India and Israel at the highest level and that the threat will be dealt with by cooperation between the two countries, Ashok Behuria, a fellow at the Institute for Defence Studies and Analysis told News18. It is a continuation of Modis message in Washington D.C. against terrorism, he added.



The Raid of Entebbe has attained mythic status in the annals of counter terrorism. The hijacked airline which was headed to Paris was instead diverted to Entebbe airport in Uganda by 2 Palestinians and 2 Germans from the Deutsche Revolutionary Cells. Many of the passengers were Israeli Jews. The hijacked flight was welcomed by Idi Amin, the then ruler of Uganda.



The hostage situation carried on for several days, during which the Israeli Defence Forces, acting on information provided by Mossad, planned a meticulous hostage rescue operation. A team of 100 crack Israeli commandoes took off in planes from Israel and flew south towards Uganda. The route they took avoided many of the Arab nations in the Middle East and their air craft flew no higher than 30 m, to avoid radar detection by Egypt, Sudan and Saudi Arabia.



The Israelis landed at Entebbe on July 3 and launched the raid immediately. They stormed the terminal where the hostages were being held and shot dead all the hijackers. In the meantime, 3 Hercules C-130 transport aircraft, which had followed from Israel, landed at Entebbe and the team started to load the hostages onto the aircraft. They also destroyed Ugandan MiGs to deter pursuit.



By this time the Ugandan military had scrambled soldiers who shot at the Israelis, who returned fire inflicting casualties. During this brief, but intense firefight, the Ugandans managed to injure five commandos. Yoni Netanyahu was shot dead, the only Israeli commando who died in the line of fire.



The Israelis finished evacuating the hostages, loaded Netanyahu's body into one of the planes and left the airport. The entire operation lasted 53 minutes  of which the assault lasted only 30 minutes.



Prime Minister Modi is the first Indian Prime Minister who is visiting Israel and it marks a paradigm shift. Indo-Israeli engagement is no longer in the shadows and the visit dehyphenates Israel and Palestine. It is also significant that Modi is skipping the occupied territories of Palestine.



Dr. Khinvraj Jangid, an Assistant Professor at the Jindal Center for Israel Studies told CNN News18 that the visit signifies that Indias decades-long stance of ideological solidarity with Palestine has been replaced by a recognition of the two countries convergent interests on a wide range of issues, including terrorism.
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi disembarked Air India One and took a reassuring step towards his Israeli counterpart at Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv. Benjamin Netanyahu had set aside all protocol to receive the visiting head of the government, the first visit by an Indian Prime Minister.



In that brief moment, India shed decades of denial and inhibition in having covert ties with the state of Israel.



Modi in an off-white bandhgala, carefully choosing to wear a satin pocket-square to match the dark sky blue star of David on the Israeli flag - the sartorial symbolism in diplomacy.



The two leaders shook hands, and then Modi embraced his Israel counterpart with his already famous bear-hug. In the process, the two countries took a big stride forward, coming a long way since establishing diplomatic ties twenty-five years ago



Thats forty years after India refused to send its Davis Cup team to Israel, a beaming Bibi Netanyahu greeting Prime Minister in Hnidi: Aapka swagat hai mere dost. (Welcome, my friend)"



"Make in India, make with Israel"; continued the Israeli PM.



Prime Minister Modi returned the compliments, calling it a groundbreaking visit. My visit is about the strength of our societies and our strong partnership. Your heroes are an inspiration for our younger generation. Modi continued.



The two leaders followed up the inaugural speech with introduction of their respective delegation. Bibi Netanyahu, reserving an extended and warm hand-shake for NSA Ajit Doval who has played a key role doing the groundwork for the historic visit.
Going beyond the literary world, the eighth edition of Mountain Echoes Literary Festival will showcase collections by Bhutanese and Indian designers reflecting the textile heritage of both nations.



The stories from the world of fashion will take centrestage at the literary, arts and cultural festival, which will be held in Thimphu from August 24-27, read a statement.



Fashion will be one of the key themes at this year's edition of the Mountain Echoes literary festival.



Designers from across Bhutan and India will come together to curate collections which intersperse their nation's textile heritage with contemporary fashion, with the aim to build a common thread between the two countries and their shared cultures.



With celebrated names such as Chandrika Tamang and Chimmi Choden from Bhutan and designer duo Abraham & Thakore (David Abraham and Rakesh Thakore) from India, the festival will give a glimpse into the intricacies of design from both countries.



There will be a specially curated fashion show too, which will see models walk the ramp wearing weaves designed by Chimmi Choden's CHIMMI House of Design. Tamang will present an exclusive line of outfits from her eco-friendly label CDK.



Elaborating on the fashion element of the festival, Tamang said: "Bhutan and India's design traditions are closely linked. Our shared history has inspired designers across both nations... My collection will be a mix of traditional Bhutanese designs, created using an amalgamation of both Indian and Bhutanese fabrics."



Abraham & Thakore will exhibit their contemporary designs and present their interpretation of traditional Indian textiles at the specially curated fashion show. The collection will focus on designs created by the two for the 2016 Rajasthan Heritage Week. Their line gives khadi a modern spin and encourages its use as a central fabric for modern designs.



In a joint statement, Abraham and Thakore said: "It is encouraging to see that handloom fashion is one of the threads that ties India and Bhutan together."



There will be discussions around global evolution of textiles and design traditions too. The festival will also host a unique exhibition, titled Handmade in Rajasthan', curated by Prasad Bidapa that will celebrate the indigenous craft forms that give Rajasthan its distinctive identity.



Mountain Echoes literary festival is an initiative of the India-Bhutan Foundation, in association with India's literary consultancy Siyahi.


Aami ekhon ekonishhtho BJP kormiI do what my Party & Seniors ask me to do BhaiDont read too much into it https://t.co/UYSIREeLNS  Babul Supriyo (@SuPriyoBabul) July 3, 2017

All may not be well within the Bengal unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party. BJP MP Babul Supriyo took to Twitter on Monday and said that state party president Dilip Ghosh has asked him not to interfere in partys organisational work at Asansol.Asansol is Babuls constituency and trouble began after BJP councilor Emmanuel Wheeler also known as Bapi (in Asansol) joined Trinamool Congress.A party insider told News18 that Wheeler was unhappy with the district leadership and discussed the matter with Babul. Some of the local leaders told us that Babul tried to put forward his view in this matter, which was not liked by many in the organizational level. Therefore our president has asked him not to interfere in partys work, the senior BJP leader said.Dilip Da (state BJP chief Dilip Ghosh) has told me that running the organisation is not the job of an MP or MLA. So I do not interfere in the organisation any more. You carry out your work. I was with you, I will be with you, Babuls tweet reads.While hinting at Wheeler, he tweeted, Let them leave the party. I could not meet his expectation. I wish I could have. I am sure he got some assurance from TMC. I wish him all the best.While claiming that he is no longer a new entrant in this political world, his another tweet reads, I never interfere and do what my senior told me. I know what to say and when to say and where to say. Please dont read too much into this.BJP, state General Secretary, Sayantan Basu, said, Media is unnecessary creating a controversy. There is nothing to read between the lines here. Everybody knows that our party office bearers and organisational committees look after the organisation.
Bhubaneswar: BJP President Amit Shah on Tuesday hailed the warriors of Paika rebellion in Odisha who fought the British as he launched the party's grassroots connect drive in Ganjam district, home turf of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.



On his way to Hugulapata area in Ganjam Shah had a brief halt at Khordha and paid floral tributes to the fighters of Paika Rebellion of 1817.



"When the East India Company started tinkering with the revenue system in 1803, the farming community of Odisha rose in rebellion," the BJP President said in a Twitter post.



"The great Paika Rebellion in 1817 was led by Bakshi Jagabandhu Paika Bakshi projecting Lord Jagannath as the symbol of Odia unity," he tweeted.



As he launched the party's grassroots connect exercise 'Mo Booth Sabuthu Majboot', the BJP chief was accorded rousing receptions at a number of places during his journey from Bhubaneswar to Ganjam, the home district of Naveen Patnaik, who is also the president of ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) in the state.



Shah was accompanied by senior BJP leaders like Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and state party president Basant Panda.



Shah's three-day Odisha visit is aimed at expanding the party's base in the state ahead of the 2019 elections.



He is scheduled to visit Jajpur district tomorrow to attend mass connect programmes. On July 6, he is slated to attend similar programmes in Khurda district.



He is also slated to meet senior party leaders and hold discussion on strategies to be adopted to further widen its base in Odisha during his visit, where Assembly

elections are due in 2019 together with the Lok Sabha polls.



Shah's visit is part of BJPs strategy to strengthen the party in the state.



Buoyed by its impressive performance in the panchayat elections in the state in February this year, BJP gearing up to strengthen the party in Odisha.
: The Congress-led Opposition's Presidential candidate Meira Kumar termed West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee as a fighter and a mass leader."I had a word with her and she promised to extend her support to me," Kumar said in Kolkata while adding that she was overwhelmed with the affection she got from the Congress MPs and MLAs in Bengal.Meira Kumar on Tuesday sought support from the legislators and MPs of Trinamool Congress, Left and Congress parties in the state."Leaders in Bengal have given me an immense strength and inspiration because it is the land of fighters. The leaders here have always fought against injustice and worked hard for the poor people," Kumar said.The former Lok Sabha Speaker while recalling her old association with Bengal, said, "This state has always remained my favourite because of the warmth here."Kumar is contesting against Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance's (NDA) nominee Ram Nath Kovind in the July 17 presidential election.On June 19, hours after BJP sprung a surprise by announcing Bihar Governor Ram Nath Kovind as its pick for the presidential elections on July 17, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday hinted that TMC is not going to support him."I am not, for a moment, saying that the Bihar Governor Ram Nath Kovind is unfit to be the President. I have spoken to few other Opposition leaders, they are also surprised. There are other big Dalit leaders in the country. Just because he was the leader of Dalit Morcha of BJP they have made him the candidate," she had said.A presidential election will be held in India on July 17 and counting will be done on July 20, five days before the incumbent President's term expires.The total strength of electoral college for the presidential polls is 11,04,546 votes and BJP-led NDA's currently standing is nearly 5.38 lakh votes.
: Slamming the " culture of vigilante violence ", Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday said it was being "actively supported" by those who are supposed to enforce the law and that the nation was facing a great challenge in the form of "domestic misrule".She said India has reached "a crossroads marked by increasing threats of authoritarianism and bigotry" and the "inclusive conception" of the country was "under attack"."We are in a war of ideas. We wage this war to preserve our ideals, which have built India up as a model of democracy, diversity and co-existence. When these ideals are threatened , India itself is in danger. And if we do not raise our voices, if we do not speak up, our silence will be taken as consent," Gandhi said.She said the press was being "pressured to obey and applaud" rather than to question and speaking the truth was the imperative of the present age.Gandhi was speaking at a function here where President Pranab Mukherjee released a commemorative publication of the National Herald newspaper, which was run by the Congress, on '70 years of India's Independence'."The National Herald evokes a time when nationalism fought foreign rule. But domestic misrule is as great a challenge for our country," she said."At a time when the inclusive conception of our nation is under attack, and the press is pressured to obey and applaud rather than to question, speaking truth to power is the imperative of our age," she said.Gandhi said "the tried and tested idea of India has been thrown fundamentally into question by rising intolerance, by malevolent forces that tell Indians what they cannot eat, who they cannot love, what they cannot say-indeed, what thoughts they cannot hold".All this, she said, was "being encouraged by a culture of vigilante violence actively supported by those who are supposed to enforce the law. Such examples assault our consciousness almost daily."The Congress chief said the 'National Herald' was a reminder of "what is precious about the India which its founders fought to free".File photo of a man is being thrashed by cow vigilantes.The Congress chief called for working together "to safeguard an India in which each person's voice can be raised and heard -- most of all the voices of those who question and disagree."She recalled the rich legacy left behind by Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Sardar Patel, Maulana Azad and BR Ambedkar, saying it has stood the test of time."It is the irony of present times that their work is now sought to be either obliterated or in some cases appropriated by individuals and groups who are in direct opposition to their beliefs and principles."Those who stood aside when history was painfully made by sacrifice and struggle, those who, indeed, had little faith in the Constitution adopted by our country, are now seeking to create an India completely at odds with the one that saw the light of Independence on August 15, 1947," Gandhi said.In remarks apparently aimed at the BJP, she said, "Let us not forget that they made no sacrifices to shape India's destiny."She said though their language is modern, they seek to take India backward, to further their narrow sectarian vision."Their modern jargon conceals pre-modern beliefs, concepts that are at odds with progressive and inclusive thought... It is our duty to pull away the hypocrisy and reveal the reality lurking beneath," the Congress chief said.Calling for "preserving the flame of our national ideals", she said, "If we accept without scrutiny, without question, without a challenge the fallacies and follies we are witness to today, we will leave for our children a land of injustice, a legacy of trauma, and a country divided and broken."Gandhi said one has to fight the daunting battle against injustice, against poverty, against prejudice, against patriarchy, against malnutrition, against illiteracy, against communalism -- "but we must also prevail in this greater war for the soul of our nation"."Ours is a mission to preserve the credibility and sanctity of our institutions in their democratic design", she said, adding "we must fight for Mahatma Gandhi's ideas of truth, Jawaharlal Nehru's celebration of pluralism, Sardar Patel's vision of unity, Dr Ambedkar's legacy of social justice."Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi, her daughter Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and a host of Congress leaders, former Ministers and chief ministers, besides former and sitting MPs were present at the function.
Asserting that both India and Israel suffer from the "evil" forces of terrorism, the Jewish nation has said it completely supports New Delhi in its fight against terror emanating from Pakistan and within the country."Israel has never hidden the fact that it supports India hook, line and sinker on the subject of terrorism," the deputy director general of Israel's foreign ministry, Mark Sofer, told reporters here."We are not asking for a quid pro quo. You have suffered from terrorism from inside India, and not just emanating from Pakistan, which has been seen in recent history," he said.Condemning terrorism in all forms, the Israeli official said outfits like Lashkar-e-Taiba and Hamas were no different from each other and added that both India and Israel have the right to defend themselves. "We feel that India has a right to defend itself against terrorists in the same way as Israel has a right to defend itself from terrorists. We are both suffering from the same scourge. I really don't see any difference between the Lashkar-e-Taiba and the Hamas. I never did and i don't today. A terrorist is a terrorist is a terrorist," said Sofer, who has served as ambassador to India."Killing people for some sort of spurious or inexplicable ideological aim is terrorism, however you look at it. And that is what is happening from outside into India and coming from outside into Israel as well. We both clearly share the same struggle against the forces of evil," he said.
Catalonia will declare independence "immediately" if a majority of the Spanish region's voters opt for independence in a Scotland-style referendum called for October, its ruling coalition said Tuesday.

"If the majority of votes are for creating a Catalan republic, obviously independence will have to be declared immediately," said Gabriela Serra, a member of the separatist coalition that governs Catalonia.

Her comments came as the coalition presented a law aimed at extracting the northeastern region from Spain's legal system in a bid to circumvent all legal and practical challenges to organising a referendum -- a move that will deepen tensions with Madrid.

The law will be submitted to a vote in the Catalan regional parliament, where separatists hold a majority, at the end of August.

Lluis Corominas, another regional lawmaker from the coalition, announced the law would "prevail" over other rules in place.

But while the lawmakers unveiled the broad direction of the law, they did not reveal the text itself, nor the details.

Catalonia, a wealthy region of 7.5 million inhabitants with its own language and customs, has long demanded greater autonomy.

For years separatist politicians in the region have tried to win approval from Spain's central government to hold a vote similar to Scotland's 2014 independence referendum from Britain -- which was approved by London -- and resulted in a "no" vote.

But Madrid has remained steadfast in its opposition to such a vote, considering it a threat to Spain's unity, and this time is no different.

The Constitutional Court has already quashed a resolution approved by Catalonia's parliament calling for the referendum to take place.

It has also warned Catalonia's elected officials that they will face legal consequences if they take any steps towards holding such a vote.

Challenges from Madrid aside, Catalans themselves are divided on the issue.

Some 48.5 percent are against independence and 44.3 percent are in favour, according to a recent regional government poll -- although a large majority want a referendum to take place to settle the matter once and for all.

On top of this, the Catalan executive has been wracked by internal debate over the issue, unable to find a way to guarantee the credibility of such a vote, if it ever manages to hold it in the face of Madrid's refusal.

It has no regional election authority to oversee the vote, for instance, and has not found any companies willing to provide ballot boxes.

Aside from the legal bans of the Constitutional Court, the central government has also threatened civil servants with sanctions if they help organise the referendum, and has warned companies against any involvement.

In an interview on Monday, Jordi Baiget, the regional councillor in charge of business, expressed doubt over whether the referendum could take place, given the power of Madrid.

But this was not to the liking of Catalonia's President Carles Puigdemont, who promptly announced Baiget's departure on Monday evening -- a decision that was criticised by some of the most fervent supporters of independence.

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Short link:


Seoul: North Korea appeared to use a Chinese truck originally sold for hauling timber to transport and erect a ballistic missile that was successfully launched on Tuesday, highlighting the challenge of enforcing sanctions to curb its weapons programme.



North Korea state television showed a large truck painted in military camouflage carrying the missile. It was identical to one a UN sanctions panel has said was "most likely" converted from a Chinese timber truck.



Since 2006, UN sanctions have banned the shipment of military hardware to North Korea. But control of equipment and vehicles that have "dual-use" military and civilian applications has been far less stringent.



The vehicle was imported from China and declared for civilian use by the North Korean foreign ministry, according to a 2013 report by the UN panel. Tuesday's launch was the first time the truck had been seen in a military field operation in pictures published in state media.



China, North Korea's largest trading partner and its sole major ally, is under increasing pressure from US President Donald Trump, who has said Chinese efforts to rein in North Korea's weapons programmes have failed.



The truck had been previously on display at military parades in 2012 and in 2013 carrying what experts said appeared to be developmental models or mock-ups of North Korea's intercontinental ballistic missiles.



Images on the North Korea's state television showed soldiers working on the vehicle mounted with a missile, which was then erected and off-loaded ahead of the launch at a hillside location. Leader Kim Jong Un supervised the test.



The transporter-erector-launcher (TEL) is a vehicle designed to move a ballistic missile and stand it upright, allowing for a mobile system that makes surveillance difficult for spy satellites.



In its 2013 report, the UN panel of experts said the features of the vehicle in the 2012 parade exactly matched those of a vehicle sold by China's Hubei Sanjiang Space Wanshan Special Vehicle Company.



DELIBERATE BREACH?



The company is a subsidiary of China Aerospace Science and Industry Corp, a state-owned company that makes the Shenzhou rocket as well as missiles.



A company manager reached by telephone declined to comment citing the sensitivity of the issue.



China submitted to the UN panel a copy of the end user certificate provided by the North stating that six of the vehicles were being imported for the purpose of transporting timber.



The panel said it "considers it most likely that the (North) deliberately breached" the certificate and converted the trucks into transporter-erector-launchers.



This year, North Korea used another Chinese-made truck model to tow submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBM) at a military parade on the 105th anniversary of the birth of state founder Kim Il Sung.



Last year, state media published photos showing Chinese-made trucks being used in a new North Korean mobile rocket artillery system.



Both vehicles showed the logo or had markings specific to the Chinese company Sinotruk.



A Sinotruk sales official said in April he was not aware the company's trucks were used in the military parade.



North Korean state media has in the past released images of Sinotruk chassis and cabins related to construction or mining.



The Chinese Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday, after the launch, it was opposed to North Korea contravening rules laid out in U.N. Security council resolutions. China was working hard to resolve the issue and urged all sides to meet each other half way, it added.
Kuwait City: Qatar on Monday responded to a list of demands from Saudi Arabia and its allies after they agreed to give a defiant Doha another 48 hours to address their grievances.



Details of the response were not immediately available, but a Gulf official told AFP that Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani had delivered it during a short visit to Kuwait, which is acting as a mediator in the crisis.



Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt had announced today they were pushing back a deadline for Qatar to agree to a list of 13 demands they issued on June 22.



A joint statement said they were extending the ultimatum, which had been due to expire at the end of the day on Sunday, at the request of Kuwait's emir.



The demands included Doha ending support for the Muslim Brotherhood, closing broadcaster Al-Jazeera, downgrading diplomatic ties with Iran and shutting down a Turkish military base in the emirate. Sheikh Mohammed had earlier said the list of demands was "made to be rejected" and on Monday British lawyers for Qatar denounced the demands as "an affront to international law".



"They are reminiscent of the extreme and punitive conduct of 'bully' states that have historically resulted in war," said the lawyers.



In the evening, Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir expressed hopes for a "positive response to be able to resolve the crisis".



Qatar's reply would be "examined with precision", Jubeir told a news conference with German counterpart Sigmar Gabriel in the Red Sea city of Jeddah.



Saudi Arabia and its allies announced on June 5 they were severing ties with their Gulf neighbour, sparking the worst diplomatic crisis to hit the region in decades.



They accused Qatar of supporting extremism and of being too close to Saudi Arabia's regional arch-rival Iran, which Doha has strongly denied.



The crisis has raised concerns of growing instability in the region, home to some of the world's largest energy exporters and several key Western allies who host US military bases.



Gabriel, who will also visit the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Kuwait, on called for "serious dialogue" to end the crisis.



"We are worried that the distrust and the disunity could weaken all the parties concerned as well as the entire peninsula," said the German minister.



Riyadh and its supporters have already severed air, sea

and ground links with Qatar, cutting off vital routes for imports including food.



They also ordered Qatari citizens to leave their territories and took various steps against Qatari firms and financial institutions.



It is unclear what further measures will be taken if Qatar fails to meet the demands, but the UAE's ambassador to Russia Omar Ghobash warned last week that further sanctions could be imposed.



As well as taking steps to expel Qatar from the six- member Gulf Cooperation Council, Riyadh and its allies could tell their economic partners to choose between business with them or with Doha, he told Britain's Guardian newspaper.



Qatar has long pursued a more independent foreign policy than many of its neighbours, who tend to follow the lead of regional powerhouse Saudi Arabia.
CONCORD  Cub Master Laurella Williams quickly spun around and evaluated the members of Concord Pack 155.

The four cubs  Terry Mason, Ethan St. John and brothers Jordan and Aiden Hudson  were about make their debut in Tuesdays Fourth of July Parade in Concord. They had just minutes before the parade started at 10 a.m., and with it, their leading role in the parades color guard.

Before them, more than 200 people lined the 1.25-mile parade route.

Where they nervous?

Nope.

They had practiced holding the flag.

Plus, they had candy to give out.

They also knew the parade honored something important.

Theyd already learned in Cub Scouts to support the troops, emergency teams and police officers, Williams explained. Honoring them, leaders tell the boys, is honoring our country.

And thats what Tuesdays community parade was all about.

It was a red, white and blue salute to the nations birthday, with laughter, screaming, blaring horns and a dozen jarring sirens creating a cacophony of freedom.

Children scampered into the streets, darting between parade vehicles to gather candy before returning to the sidewalk and negotiating trades with others. One woman jogged alongside a farm tractor, talking with the driver. Dogs pulled at leashes as the trucks drove by, barking their protest at the friendly intrusion.

The procession included 3-year-olds Lilly Carwile and her cousin Eli Bullock, who drove the route in a Disney Frozen Power Wheels Jeep Wrangler with a No Guts, No Glory flag; Thomas Evans, also known as Uncle Sam, who brought up the rear of the parade and was decked out in red, white and blue and driving a vehicle that carried a large donkey and elephant; and Lauren Chandler, Brianna Ellington and Jolie Mayhew, who all rode horses decorated with red and blue paint.

The CFVD, Brookville-Timberlake Volunteer Fire Department, Rustburg Volunteer Fire Department, Concord Rescue Squad, Gladstone Volunteer Fire Department, Gladstone Fire and Rescue Service and the Pamplin Volunteer Fire Department paraded down the route, throwing candy to the crowded sidewalks.

Hosted by the Concord Volunteer Fire Department (CVFD) and the departments auxiliary, the parade has been an annual event since 1961 when the department was founded, CVFD Assistant Chief Jerame Edwards said.

Though the route  which stretches down Village Highway from Concord Elementary School to CVFDs station on U.S. 460  has stayed the same for the past 56 years, the number of people participating has grown, CVFD Public Information Officer Brandon Bradley said.

The average number of entries in the parade is around 50, Bradley said, and this year the department had more than 75 participants.

Edwards said the parade is open to anyone, and CVFD Auxiliary President Charlotte Bryant said those who participate always come back.

We call the participants from the previous years and invite them to come back to the parade the following year, she said. We never get turned down.

Bryant said the department works with the Virginia Department of Transportation, the Appomattox Sheriffs Office, the county administrator and the Virginia State Police to get approval for the parade and make sure the route is safe and clear.

Bradley said the parade isnt just about the holiday.

We put on the parade to show our community our appreciation, Bradley said.

Edwards echoed that and said the goal of the event was to celebrate the countrys independence as well as the community.

Thats what were here for: the community, he said.
Anna was a beautiful young woman. She was born in Lynchburg on May 29, 1986. She died unexpectedly on Friday, June 30, 2017. She left us suddenly, but will be missed forever. She loved her family and her four cats, taking long walks on Blackwater Creek Trail and at Percival's Island, painting her beautiful nails, all things zombie, and watching VanossGaming on YouTube. She owned her home at 1002 North Grand Avenue in Lynchburg. She was preceded in death by her Paw and Nannie, Sidney M. White, Sr. and Flossie R. White; and her uncle, Sidney "Marty" White, Jr. She is survived by her mom, Terri S. White; aunts, Joyce R. White of Lynchburg, and Gail W. Conley (George), of Fredericksburg; her uncles, Roger D. White (Nayda) of Lakewood Ranch, Florida and Jeffrey H. White (Jackie), of Madison Heights. She is also survived by her cousins, John (Melissa) and Aaron (Shelly) Conley, Tony Hoeffer of Fredericksburg, and Anjel and Axel White of Madison Heights. She will also be sadly missed by her many coworkers at Stroobants Cardiovascular Center, her many friends, both online and those living nearby, and her four beautiful rescue cats, Gumby, Woogie, Sam and Dean. A memorial service will be planned later, and a notice will be placed in the newspaper. Donations in memory of Anna should be made to the Lynchburg Humane Society. She loved animals, especially cats and kittens, and she had made several donations of food, money and toys to the Society to help them care for her furry friends. The family wishes to thank the EMS personnel, the staff of the Emergency Department, the Neurological Intensive Care Unit and the Medical Intensive Care Unit at Lynchburg General Hospital. Special thanks go to Drs. Michael Dunlop, Joseph Khoury, Jeremy Hardison and Edward Bonyak. Anna, you will be missed so much, Precious One. To Mom and Joyce, you were not only our daughter and niece, you were also our best friend. Tharp Funeral Home & Crematory, Lynchburg, is assisting the family. To send condolences please visit tharpfuneralhome.com.
NO INTEGRITY

This was Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowleys description yesterday of the countrys premiere watchdog institution which he attacked for its previous treatment of both himself and Port of Spain South MP Marlene Mc Donald, whom he hired last Friday as Public Utilities Minister and fired on Sunday.

In a fighting mood at a media briefing at his office in St Clair, Rowley recounted his own experience of investigations against him by the Commission, leading him to conclude that the role of the Commission, was a dark story in matters of political investigations where people have been harmed.

At times, the PM became so agitated that he had to take several gulps of water to clear his throat.

Rowley sought to separate Sundays firing of McDonald from his decision to re-appoint her, which ended an almost two-year hiatus from the Cabinet. Rowley fired McDonald 16 months ago when he was confronted with allegations of misconduct in public office against her.

THEY FOUND NOTHING Referring to the Commissions investigations of the Calabar matter which centered on McDonald during her stint in the then Patrick Manning administration, Rowley noted that the body issued a position to McDonald that they found no wrongdoing on her part on the related allegations.

There was a government subsequent to the Manning government for five years that was hostile to all of us in the PNM and Ms McDonald, that found nothing to further it, Rowley said. Then the government changed again under my administration and it was said we have new information on Calabar and that formed part of a package of investigations and the Integrity Commission is investigating it. I as Prime Minister responsible for putting people in or out of the Cabinet, took the position that if it is the Calabar matter which dated back to the Manning government, which up to now the Integrity Commission cannot conclude whether the person has a charge to answer or not, that I will reinstate her.

And I made it quite clear on the day I made that press conference (last Friday), that in the event that anything comes up in the future, I will not hesitate to deal with it. Explaining why he took the position and re-instated Mc Donald, as he called on the country to pay attention to his actions, the Prime Minister said: In Trinidad and Tobago, unfortunate as it is, there is an Integrity Commission that has no integrity.

And therefore, when I look at the overall situation of this particular matter in my own experience and the record of the Integrity Commission, I cannot but understand that it could very well be a situation where the Integrity Commission is playing in the politics of Trinidad and Tobago and people are being hurt in the process. Rowley said the record will show, the said Integrity Commission that is now saying, I (the Commission) exonerate this member of all charges identified, but there is another unnamed matter I am looking at, is the same Commission that ended prematurely, an investigation into the email matter.

This resulted in resignations of certain members of the said Commission after allegations of improper conduct levelled by other members of the Commission. As an Opposition MP, Rowley presented to Parliament a swathe of e-mails between members of the then PP government which was accused of, among other things, wanting to harm a journalist.

And that action of the Commission is an action which resulted in a letter being made available to the then prime minister who was able to go to the Parliament and move a unique motion which has never been moved in any other parliament for a hundred years, and which resulted in the (then) Opposition Leader (Rowley) being expelled on the basis of a letter provided by the Integrity Commission, Rowley said.

I DID NOT MISLEAD TT Rowley said it is against this background, that he took the position that if the Commission could not tell him what they were holding over McDonalds head, while exonerating her on specific allegation which they investigated, then I will put her back in Cabinet and whenever they are able to determine what exactly they are investigating and what she is guilty of, I will then act. He said this is his position, adding, I stand in front of the people of Trinidad and Tobago on that.

Because we have a history. We have experience and we know exactly how far down the totem pole we have fallen in this country. So I am not prepared to accept from anybody that I have misled the population or I have lied to the population. What I did was an action I was prepared to defend. Rowley pointed out that being under an Integrity Commission investigation does not automatically result in resignation or dismissal from office. He said the record will show that serious allegations were made against him as a Minister of government under the Manning administration.

It triggered two investigations, Rowley recounted. One was an Integrity Commission investigation for criminal conduct. Two , I was under a Commission of Inquiry for the same matter. Rowley said he stood his ground and told the population that his accusers were not speaking the truth.

He said the outcome of the investigation was a notification from the Commission that there was no basis to support the charges made against him. But Rowley said this did not prevent the Commission from sending a package of lies to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) which they could not defend in court. He added that when he took the Commission to court, members had to resign in disgrace for having conducted themselves improperly against him, a citizen of Trinidad and Tobago
No One Will

Ever Smash

Stuff Quite

Like He Did
Arthritis causes pain and suffering for millions of people around the world, but it's also the byproduct of an evolutionary mutation that allowed early humans to make the move from Africa to colder climates tens of thousands of years ago. Researchers at Stanford University have discovered that a genetic variation made humans shorter and more compact as a means of protecting them against frostbite in the colder temperatures of northern climates, Newsweek reports. In addition, their limbs got shorter, making them less vulnerable to breaking if people should, say, slip on ice. The downside of this evolutionary adaptation was an increase in the likelihood of osteoarthritis.

The Stanford study, published Monday in Nature Genetics, shows how a variation in the GDF5 gene became more prevalent in humans moving out of Africa into colder climates 50,000 to 100,000 years ago. This variation doubles the chances of developing painful joint problems while also reducing height by about 0.4 inches on average, the Telegraph reports. And since arthritis generally doesn't develop until after the age of reproduction, the gene mutation was passed on from generation to generation. The Stanford researchers discovered that the genetic variation causing this increase in arthritis is common among Europeans but rare in African populations. (A Canadian woman's arthritis may qualify her for euthanasia.)
A Chinese woman was live-streaming herself eating what she thought was aloe vera (said to have health benefits when eaten raw) when she abruptly realized something was very wrong. It turns out the 26-year-old, named in the media only as Zhang, was actually eating Agave Americana or "American aloe," a poisonous plant from Mexico, Shanghaiist reports. Though video of the woman shows her initially proclaiming the first bite as "great," Zhang quickly changed her tune, proclaiming the plant "really bitter." She later said her mouth went numb and her throat started burning, the Mirror reports. She ended up rushing herself to the hospital, having broken out in rashes and blisters, and doctors reportedly had to pump her stomach to save her life. (Read more strange stuff stories.)
"We are just all praying for a miracle," a churchgoer tells WBBH in Fort Myers, Fla., where a woman delivered a baby boy after being struck by lightning. Meghan Davidson was just seven days from her due date when lightning struck her in the head as she walked near her home in Fort Myers on Thursday. Paramedics found Davidson on the ground, barely breathing. She was rushed to a hospital where doctors delivered a son, named Owen. His condition is unknowna family friend posted that it will take time for doctors to assess his injuriesthough his mother appeared to be doing better.

Davidson, who was initially listed in critical condition in an intensive care unit of Lee Memorial Hospital, was upgraded to serious condition on Monday, the News-Press reports. "Meghan is showing signs of improvement," a member of Davidson's church told WBBH. "They have lowered the amount of oxygen that she is getting and they have lowered the sedation." The 26-year-old mother of three also was reportedly able to react to her husband's voice using her eyes. (This man was struck by lightning at his desk.)
Former University of Alabama student Megan Rondini would still be alive if not for the "mishandling" of her alleged rape, her parents say. In a wrongful death lawsuit filed Sunday, Rondini's parents accuse the university, school officials, sheriff's deputies, and Rondini's alleged rapist of enabling her suicide in February 2016. Rondini had been a 20-year-old student at the University of Alabama in July 2015 when she alleged she was raped by local businessman TJ Bunn Jr. But authorities "wrongfully acted or failed to act in response," the lawsuit alleges, per Buzzfeed. It adds deputieswho found the case didn't meet Alabama's legal definition for rapedidn't test Rondini's rape kit or interview witnesses, an "intentional" behavior that was due to Rondini's gender.

Rondiniwho allegedly stole $3 and a gun from Bunnwas "treated as a crime suspect," not a victim, the suit continues, per the AP, also alleging a school counselor refused to see Rondini unless she took anxiety medication. Rondini later dropped out of school, moved back to Texas, and suffered "extreme depression, anxiety, PTSD, fear, panic attacks, decline of cognitive functions and general well-being  all of which directly led to Megan's loss of life," the suit states. Per AL.com, two days before her suicide, she sent a text reading, "I wonder what I could've accomplished if one man didn't completely rip everything away from me." Bunn, who claimed the sex was consensual, was never charged with a crime. His lawyer tells AL.com that the lawsuit is "baseless" and "simply false." (Read more wrongful death stories.)
"North Korea has just launched another missile. Does this guy have anything better to do with his life?" President Trump tweeted Monday night after Pyongyang's latest missile launch. The Japanese government estimates that the intermediate-range missile launched early Tuesday local time flew for around 40 minuteslonger than similar recent launchesbefore landing in Japan's exclusive economic zone, the AP reports. "Hard to believe that South Korea ... and Japan will put up with this much longer," Trump tweeted. "Perhaps China will put a heavy move on North Korea and end this nonsense once and for all!"

US Pacific Command says NORAD "assessed that the missile launch from North Korea did not pose a threat to North America," CNN reports, though David Wright at the Union of Concerned Scientists says that according to distance and flight time estimates, the missile had a maximum range of around 4,160 milesenough to reach Alaska, though not Hawaii or the lower 48 states. Sources tell the New York Times that Trump's call for a "heavy move" from Beijing comes after a phone call with Chinese President Xi Jinping Sunday night, in which Trump warned that the US is ready to act on its own to pressure North Korea if China is unwilling to take action. (Read more North Korea stories.)
A Coast Guardsman murdered his wife during an Uber ride early Sunday and told the terrified driver to keep going, police in Seattle say. Police say Jennifer Espitia was in the front passenger seat when she was shot in the head by husband Cameron Espitia during an argument, KOMO News reports. The driver thought the noise was a blown tire before he saw the woman slumped over, police say. The driver told police that he feared he would be shot next and obeyed Espitia's instructions to keep driving. After Espitia asked to be let out, the driver called 911. Police say that when they found the 31-year-old Coast Guardsman, he told them he "was not having a good night with his wife." They found a small pistol in an ankle holster.

Espitia told police he had been drinking, woke up in bushes, and barely remembered being in the vehicle, according to court documents seen by the AP. He was charged with second-degree murder and bail was set at $3 million during a court appearance Monday. At the hearing, prosecutor David Glindmeyer told the judge he had received an email from the King County Medical Examiner's Office describing the killing as an "execution," the Seattle Times reports. Coast Guardsman Elliot Felix asked the judge to consider a lesser bail amount, saying he didn't believe Espitia, a Petty Officer First Class, was capable of such a crime. (Read more Uber stories.)
The Canadian government is going to apologize and give millions to a former Guantanamo Bay prisoner who pleaded guilty to killing a US soldier in Afghanistan when he was 15, with Canada's Supreme Court later ruling that officials had interrogated him under "oppressive circumstances." An official familiar with the deal tells the AP that Omar Khadr will receive the equivalent of $8 million US under a deal the government and Khadr's lawyers negotiated last month. The Canadian-born Khadr was 15 when he was captured by US troops in 2002 following a firefight at a suspected al-Qaeda compound in Afghanistan that resulted in the death of an American special forces medic, US Army Sgt. First Class Christopher Speer.

Khadr spent 10 years at Guantanamo Bay and was the youngest and last Western detainee before he was sent to Canada in 2012 to serve the remainder of his sentence. He was released in 2015 pending an appeal of his guilty plea. The Supreme Court of Canada ruled in 2010 that Canadian intelligence officials obtained evidence from Khadr under "oppressive circumstances," such as sleep deprivation, during interrogations at Guantanamo Bay in 2003. His lawyers filed a $20 million wrongful imprisonment lawsuit, arguing the Canadian government violated international law by not protecting its own citizen. (Khadr is now engaged to an activist who campaigned for his release.)
Cuba wants to help its citizens have sex  in private. As the BBC reports, it's not unusual to see couples getting intimate in Havana's public areas, like parks and beaches, because they don't have the privacy to do so at home. The nation's housing crunch means that multiple families often have to share the same apartment and divorced couples sometimes must continue living together, reports Reuters. While private facilities do offer rooms for rent by the hour, at a fee of $5 for three hours, that's not in the budget for many in a nation with an average monthly salary that's less than $30. To help, Cuba says it will bring back state-run "posadas" or "love motels," which were common some three decades ago.

The state will start by opening a 16-room motel in Havana, named Hotel Vento, before converting another hotel, a rep for the Provincial Housing Company of Havana tells trade union weekly Trabajadores. "To think about how to diversify options for love is not farfetched," per Trabajadores. "It is a reality that concerns everyone, and cannot become a luxury." Some of the dozens of posadas in use in the city until the 1990s, when hurricanes necessitated that they be converted into housing for the homeless, will also be restored. Havana's La Monumental will reportedly be among them. "We want to revive this service that is in high demand, has a big social impact and without a doubt is very profitable," the housing rep says. Adds a hotel administrator, "The city needs this." (Havana now has a luxury mall.)
The head of the European Union's executive body denounced the bloc's parliament as "totally ridiculous" during a spat over the meager attendance at Tuesday's plenary session. After EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker thanked the few dozens of the 700-plus legislators in the huge atrium for showing up, he insisted "parliament is not serious" for failing to show up in large numbers for the keynote debate of the day. EU Parliament President Antonio Tajani chided Juncker and asked for "a more respectful attitude," reports the AP. Tajani added: "The Commission does not control the parliament. It is the parliament that should be controlling the Commission." Juncker retorted: "There are only a few members in the parliament to control the Commission. You are ridiculous."

Juncker is a key leader of the 28-nation bloc. The exchange in Strasbourg, France, was even more amazing since Juncker and Tajani belong to the same EPP Christian Democratic group. Though the European parliament has increased its clout in past years after earning a bigger say in a host of issues, it is often still perceived as an easy job for politicians without a big national portfolio and veterans seeking a leisurely way to retirement. The session centered on the Maltese presidency of the EU which ended on July 1, and PM Joseph Muscat was attending the plenary. While Muscat was still in the hall, Juncker referred to the German and French leaders while scolding the parliament. "If Mr. Muscat would have been Mrs. Merkeltough to imagineor Mr. Macroneasier to imaginewe would have had a full house. The parliament is totally ridiculous," Juncker said. (Read more Jean-Claude Juncker stories.)
In what is sure to be a closely watched event, President Trump will have his first official meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday. Announced by a Russian official Tuesday, and later confirmed by the White House, the meeting will take place as the leaders attend the G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany, reports CBS News. Although CBS has noted that Trump would like the encounter to be accompanied by "full diplomatic bells and whistles," not everyone in his administration agrees. What to expect:

"It is planned as a fully fledged, 'seated' meeting," as opposed to an informal one, a Kremlin rep says. Typically, such a meeting "includes a handshake and brief public remarks" in front of the press, reports CNN.

The White House says no agenda has been set, but it's not expected that any discussion of Russian meddling in the 2016 election will take place. Administration officials tell CNN that Trump will instead focus on Syria and Ukraine.

That could be a wrong move that will "give fuel to Trump's critics who say he's blatantly ignoring a major national security threat," reports Time, which also lists possible demands that could come up.

Russia, for example, may demand the return of two compounds in Maryland and New York. Speaking on the topic Monday, per the AP, Putin's foreign affairs adviser noted that Moscow, whose patience "has its limits," will be forced to retaliate if the seized properties aren't handed over soon.

At the Washington Post, Michael McFaul, who served on the National Security Council under President Obama, says Trump should aim to appear as "a tough negotiator" who "is not willing to offer concessions simply to win Putin's praise." He offers other advice for Trump, too.

It's not just the topics of discussion, but the meeting itself, that's an issue for some. CBS reports State Department and National Security Council officials believe Trump should keep Putin at a distance. Reuters notes the "pressure" on Trump, as well as the complexity of the situation. "Trump is like a horse with his front legs tied," a German diplomat says. "He can't make any big leaps forward on Russia. If he tried, people would immediately suspect it was all part of some big conspiracy."

Trump may be keen on the meeting, but he'll likely be less keen on the protesters. Foreign Policy reports both Trump and Putin are expected to draw angry crowds in Hamburg.

(Read more Donald Trump stories.)
The Tulsa County Sheriff's Office says one person is dead after a shootout at a fireworks stand on the Fourth of July. The sheriff's office says the shootout happened after "two young males" tried to rob the Oklahoma fireworks stand Tuesday. Deputy Justin Green says both the suspects and the owners of the fireworks stand had guns, and shots were exchanged before the suspects drove off in a truck. Green says that moments later, a 911 caller reported seeing a man slumped over in a green truck not far from the fireworks stand. Green says deputies found a young manwho's believed to be one of the robbery suspectsdead from a gunshot wound. The AP reports authorities are searching for the second suspect involved in the robbery. (Read more shooting stories.)
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New Delhi:

Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani has joined hands with venture capital veteran Sanjeev Aggarwal in order to build a USD 100 million fund that will focus on building 'enduring technology companies' out of India, specially consumer technology.

Called the The Fundamentum Partnership, the platform will lead investment rounds ranging between USD 10-25 million in companies that are looking at scaling up and have attained a certain product market fit.

"In a marked departure from industry practice, Fundamentum founders will not be charging any fund management fee or carried interest," it said in a statement.

Aggarwal -- who had also founded of BPO firm Daksh -- will continue to also actively manage the portfolio of Helion Venture Partners (which he co-founded) along with other co- founders.

"Fundamentum will have an initial corpus of USD 100 million but it will be extended to USD 200 million if good opportunities come along," the statement said.

It added that the capital will also be contributed by a select set of long-term institutional investors.

Also Read: D Sundaram appointed as independent director for Infosys

While the focus is on consumer technology businesses, a portion of the capital will also go into enterprise technology/outsourcing companies serving global corporations.

Both Nilekani and Aggarwal have played key roles in building technology companies.

Nilekani has made personal investments in a clutch of start-ups including ShopX, RailYatri, LetsVenture, Sedemac and Power2SME.

Going forward, he will not make any more direct start-up investments and Fundamentum will be the sole platform for his engagement with the start-up ecosystem.

Nilekani will be actively engaged in selecting and mentoring the chosen companies.

"India continues to be blessed with phenomenal entrepreneurial talent and the attempt with this platform will be to see how we can amplify their success," he said.

Aggarwal, on the other hand, has a strong record of scale up investing at Helion with names like MakeMyTrip, ShopClues, BigBasket among others.

Also Read: Visa row: Infosys reaches USD 1 million settlement with New York

"Ten years ago, with Helion, the attempt was to participate in creating a startup ecosystem in India and now with Fundamentum, we want to help build a much needed scale up ecosystem in the country," he said.

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New Delhi:

Former Bigg Boss finalist and model Mandana Karimi who was recently seen grilling Lopamudra Raut on BB10, has once again made it to the headlines.

This time the Iranian beauty has filed a domestic violence case against her husband.



It was this year that she got married to beau Gaurav Gupta. It was a hush-hush ceremony when the both love birds tied the knot in January. But as every girlas dream, Mandana too had a big dream to have a big Indian fat wedding.

The 31-year-old model turned actress said in her application that she came to India in 2012 to pursue modelling and acting and met Gaurav through a common friend. After dating for some time, the two got engaged in July 2016 and then tied the knot in January 2017.Mandana has alleged that she was asked to quit her career after marriage.

In her petition, the model-actress asked for maintenance to the extent of Rs 10 lakh per month for her basic needs, necessities and requirements, besides a compensation of Rs 2 crore for the trauma and agony caused, and loss of career and business.

She has also claimed that she was thrown out of the house by in-laws and was insulted and not allowed to meet her friends. She is currently staying in a service apartment.

Here's her latest post on Love:

Words.. A post shared by Mandanakarimiofficial (@mandanakarimi) on Jul 2, 2017 at 4:22am PDT

It's not exactly love at first sight.Its more like soul recognition. Lynette Simeone ai #mangoesgupta A post shared by Mandanakarimiofficial (@mandanakarimi) on Jun 5, 2017 at 1:02am PDT

Love:The irresistible desire to be irresistibly desired.Mark Twain ai #throwback #mangoesgupta A post shared by Mandanakarimiofficial (@mandanakarimi) on Jun 4, 2017 at 9:44am PDT
Mumbai:

Lakhs of devotees gathered at Pandharpur, located in Solapur district of western Maharashtra, on the occasion of 'Ashadhi Ekadashi'. Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and his wife Amruta performed a 'maha-puja' (grand prayer) at the Lord Vitthal temple in Pandharpur early on Tuesday.

"Feeling blessed and positive," Fadnavis said, after the early morning ritual. 'Ekadashi' marks the culmination of pilgrimage, called 'waari', that devotees under take from across the state on foot to reach the temple town.

In Mumbai, large crowds gathered at the Vitthal temple in Wadala to perform 'puja' on the auspicious occasion. Arrangements were made to ensure smooth traffic flowin the area.

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Beijing:

Contrary to the Chinese government's assertion that Jawaharlal Nehru had accepted the 1890 Sino-British treaty over Sikkim to buttress Beijing's claim over the Dokalam area, the former prime minister had pointed out to China that it is claiming sizeable part of Bhutan's territory.

"It is not clear to us what exactly is the implication of your statement that the boundaries of Sikkim and Bhutan do not fall within the scope of the present discussion," Nehru wrote in a letter to his then Chinese counterpart Zhou Enlai on September 26, 1959.

"In fact, Chinese maps show sizable areas of Bhutan as part of Tibet," Nehru said in the letter.

In the lengthy letter highlighting India's stand on the boundary dispute, Nehru wrote that under treaty relationships with Bhutan, the Government of India is the only competent authority to take up with other Governments matters concerning Bhutan's external relations, and in fact it has taken up with China a number of matters on behalf of the Bhutan Government.

"The rectification of errors in Chinese maps regarding the boundary of Bhutan with Tibet is therefore a matter which has to be discussed along with the boundary of India with the Tibet region of China in the same sector," he wrote.

After asserting that Chinese maps are showing sizable areas of Bhutan as part of China, Nehru referred to the 1890 Sino-British treaty granting India's sovereignty to Sikkim.

"As regards Sikkim, the Chinese Government recognised as far back as 1890 that the Government of India 'has direct and exclusive control over the internal administration and foreign relations of that State'.

This Convention of 1890 also defined the boundary between Sikkim and Tibet; and the boundary was later, in 1895, demarcated. There is thus no dispute regarding the boundary of Sikkim with the Tibet region," Nehru said.

At the same time, he pointed out that "it is wrong to say that the frontier east of Bhutan as shown on Chinese maps is the traditional frontier. On the contrary, it is the McMahon Line which correctly represents the customary boundary in this area. The water-parting formed by the crest of the Himalayas is the natural frontier which was accepted for centuries as the boundary by the peoples on both sides."

China and India have been engaged in a standoff in the Doka La area near the Bhutan trijunction for almost a month.

Sikkim, which became a part of India in May 1976, is the only state which has a demarcated border with China. The lines are based on a treaty signed with the Chinese in 1898. Doka La is the Indian name for the region which Bhutan recognises as Dokalam, while China claims it as part of its Donglang region.

Chinese are making attempts to build a road which was objected to by Bhutan.

The Ambassador of Bhutan has a lodged a protest with the Chinese Government through their Embassy in New Delhi on June 20. Bhutan has no diplomatic relations with China.

The Ministry of External Affairs in its first statement on this standoff on June 30 referred to the Foreign Ministry of Bhutan statement "underlining that the construction of the road inside Bhutanese territory is a direct violation of the 1988 and 1998 agreements between Bhutan and China, and affects the process of demarcating the boundary between these two countries. They have urged a return to the status quo as before 16 June 2017".

"In coordination with the RGOB, Indian personnel, who were present at general area Doka La, approached the Chinese construction party and urged them to desist from changing the status quo. These efforts continue," the MEA statement said, highlighting Bhutan's claim over the area.

Apparently, this is the first time that China attempted to build a major road which could carry heavy defence equipment in Dokalam, close to the tri-junction called chicken neck where the Indian, Bhutan as well as Chinese borders converge.

Highlighting India's concerns, the MEA statement said the road "construction would represent a significant change of status quo with serious security implications for India".

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang in his press briefing yesterday cited Nehru's letter as a piece of historical evidence without, however, referring to Nehru's remarks over China staking claims over Bhutanese territory.

He said the Chinese side has stated many times that the Sikkim section of the China-India boundary was defined by the Convention Between Great Britain and China Relating to Sikkim and Tibet (1890).

"According to the documents between China and India, since the independence of India, the then Prime Minister Nehru, on behalf of the Indian government, explicitly recognised many times that the Convention has defined the boundary between Xi Zang (Tibet) of China and Sikkim.

"On March 22, 1959, in his letter to Premier Zhou Enlai, Prime Minister Nehru said, 'the boundary between Sikkim, the protectorate of India and Xi Zang, China was defined by the 1890 Convention and demarcated by the two sides on the ground in 1895'.

"On September 26 of the same year, when writing back to Premier Zhou Enlai, Prime Minister Nehru unequivocally stated 'the boundary between Sikkim and Xi Zang, China was defined by the 1890 Convention.' This boundary was demarcated in 1895.There is no dispute over the boundary between Sikkim and Xi Zang, China," the spokesperson said.

"However, we firmly oppose India's attempt to justify its trespass on and invasion of China's territory under the pretext of 'upholding Bhutan's interests'," he added.

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New Delhi:

During a discussion on the Goods and Services Tax (GST) implementation, Jammu and Kashmir minister Imran Ansari told National Conference leader Devender Rana that he can lynch the latter in the Assembly itself. I can lynch you here, he said.



A heated argument was going on in the Assembly when Ansari made this remark.



It is to be noted that Jammu and Kashmir is the only state where GST is yet to be implemented. The rest of the country welcomed one of the biggest tax reforms in the country on July 1.



Members of the House should rise above political considerations and agree upon what is good for the state and its people, Rana said while he was taking part in the discussion related to GST.

ALSO READ | GST row in J&K: Govt moves resolution on 101st amendment sans affecting state's special status



Opposing the GST in its current form, Rana said that it would render the special status of the state. The minister for information technology, technical education and youth services and sports, interrupted and accused Rana of double standards.



Ansari accused Rana saying that he has already migrated his businesses to the new taxation regime. He also read out the provisional GST registration numbers of various businesses owned by Rana and his family.



Nazir Ahmad Gurezi, the Deputy Speaker of the J&K Assembly hit out at both saying that they were wasting the public money. Stop attacking each other. People might strip you when you go out. This is nonsense. Stop it! he said.



With PTI inputs.

ALSO READ: J-K Assembly proceedings on GST delayed due to media boycotts

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Srinagar:

The Jammu and Kashmir Assembly on Tuesday started debate on a resolution moved by the government for implementing the GST regime without affecting the special status of the state.

Finance Minister Haseeb Drabu moved the resolution seeking suggestions from the lawmakers on how to implement the 101st amendment of the Constitution of India pertaining to GST in the state with modifications to ensure that the special status under Article 370 of the Constitution is not affected.

This House resolves that the Government of Jammu and Kashmir may give consent to the adoption of GST regime by application of relevant amendments made to the Constitution of India in a modified form to safeguard existing constitutional position of J&K in the Union of India and the legislative powers under Constitution of J&K, Drabu read from the resolution.

He said it was a very sincere effort of the government to get the sense of the house on the issue of GST implementation.

There is no devious game plan, we want a sense of the house and communicate it to the government of India for implementing GST while safeguarding the special status of the state, he said.

Drabu said as part of these efforts the government has convened all-party meeting and also formed an all-party panel to build consensus on the issue.

There are apprehensions about GST across India, much more in Jammu and Kashmir.Every MLA has right to voice his opinion. The government will try to allay their apprehensions, he said.

Also Read: Tamil Nadu govt warns of action against those charging rates beyond GST

Speaking on the issue, NC MLA and former finance minister Mohammad Shafi Uri sought a ruling from speaker Kavinder Gupta on the admissibility of the resolution moved by the government.

Citing rules of the Jammu and Kashmir legislative assembly, he said a resolution can only be brought on a specific issue but the present resolution covered multiple issues including constitutional matters.

There is confusion about which rule was followed while presenting the resolution. This resolution is vague and does not fulfill requirements. There are multiple issues.Some taxes are not applicable to J and K but extending 101st amendment of the constitution will make these applicable to the state, he said.

Responding to Uris query, the speaker said the parliamentary procedure maintains that the order given by the chair is final and reasons cannot be asked.

Congress MLA Nawag Rigzin Jora said while section three defines the relation between the state and the union of India, section 5 gives the powers to the state for framing laws including tax laws.

Also Read: There was no invitation for GST launch, where is question of attending or skipping, says Bihar CM Nitish Kumar

Sections 3 and 5 (JK constitution) cannot be amended, then how do you bring this resolution.Does it not violate the constitution, Jora asked.

He said the state government should have brought in its own law on GST after consulting legal luminaries, without affecting the special constitution position of the state.

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New Delhi:

An Indian Air Force chopper with three on board went missing near Sagalee in Papum Pare district of Arunachal Pradesh on Tuesday, PTI quoted a Defence source as saying. The incident of the chopper missing happened hours after a helicopter carrying Union Minister Kiren Rijiju made an emergency landing in a village near Itanagar due to inclement weather.

Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju chopper on Tuesday made an emergency landing in Arunachal Pradeshs Itanagar. Bad weather was the cause of the landing. Earlier, a helicopter carrying Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah made an emergency landing at the HAL Airport Bengaluru after suffering a bird hit on April 24.

MoS Home Kiren Rijiju while talking about the incident said, Weather turbulent in North-East.Im safe but whole State machinery geared up to locate IAF ALH chopper missing almost at same time. He further added, AP CM Pema Khandu & state govt mobilising local people to locate missing IAF helicopter which was on a rescue mission in AP.

The Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) lost contact soon after taking off from Sagalee at around 3.50 pm, Defence PROLt. Col. Sambit Ghosh said. The chopper was evacuating people, stranded at Sagaleedue to landslides triggered by rains.

Chief Minister Pema Khandu was monitoring the situation, sources in his office said. Directives have been issued to the administration and the police to extend all help in the operation to trace and rescue the crew members. Villagers have also asked to help the administration in locating the missing chopper, the sources said.

Also Read: Kiren Rijijus chopper makes emergency landing in Itanagar due to bad weather

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New Delhi:

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday arrived in Tel Aviv on a three-day visit to Israel to commemorate 25 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries. On his arrival, PM Modi got a grand welcome at the Ben Gurion Airport in Israel.

Here are the live updates:

#11:50 PM

Indian Jews are a living and vibrant connect to this shared history, said PM Modi

#11:49 PM

India is a fast growing economy and we are using technology and innovation for the progress of our nation: PM Modi

#11:47 PM

India-Israel ties have seen rapid growth over the last several years: PM Modi

#11:45 PM

We must resolutely oppose evils of terrorism, radicalism and violence, said PM Modi

#11:41 PM

Most grateful to their warm and generous hospitality, says PM Modi to Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu during press statement

#11:40 PM

We also face common challenges, first of it is to defeat forces of terror. Need to stand and work together: Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu

#11:40 PM

We believe we can together do great things for betterment of future of our people: Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu

#11:39 PM

PM Modi and Israeli PM Netanyahu issue press statements, in Israel

#9:50 PM

Prime Minister Narendra Modi visits grave of Benjamin Ze'ev Herzl in Jerusalem



#9:27 PM

Prime Minister Narendra Modi signs Visitors' Book at Yad Vashem, memorial to victims of the Holocaust



Prime Minister Narendra Modi signs Visitors' Book at Yad Vashem, memorial to victims of the Holocaust, in Israel #ModiInIsrael pic.twitter.com/l82RY9t3ml  ANI (@ANI_news) July 4, 2017

#9:17 PM

Prime Minister Narendra Modi pays tribute, lays wreath at Yad Vashem, memorial to victims of the Holocaust



#8:57 PM

Prime Minister Narendra Modi visits Yad Vashem, memorial to the victims of the Holocaust in Israela a a



Prime Minister Narendra Modi visits Yad Vashem, memorial to the victims of the Holocaust, in Israela a a a . #ModiInIsrael pic.twitter.com/UFdbbPWlyP  ANI (@ANI_news) July 4, 2017

#7:40 PM

Prime Minister Narendra Modi visits Danziger Flower Farm, in Israel #ModiInIsrael pic.twitter.com/8BR7flMRDY  ANI (@ANI_news) July 4, 2017

#7:30 PM

PM Narendra Modi to visit Danziger Flower Farm shortly



#6:45 PM: PM Narendra Modi speaks:

-A progressive partnership in all these areas would shape the scope of my conversation with my friend PM Benjamin Netanyahu



-We are cooperating to secure our societies against common threats such as terrorism



ALSO READ: PM Modi gets heartwarming welcome by Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu at Ben Gurion Airport, Tel Aviv

-Alongside building a partnership for shared economic prosperity, we are also cooperating to secure our societies



-We have to secure our societies against the common threat of terrorism

-I am keen to interact with Indian diaspora in Israel, including large number of Jews of Indian origin

-It is my singular honor to be the first ever PM of India to undertake this groundbreaking visit to Israel

-I thank my friend PM Netanyahu for receiving me. My visit is about strength of our societies and our strong partnership

#6:40 PM: Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu speaks:

#WATCH Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu says, 'Aapka swagat hai mere dost' welcoming Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Israel pic.twitter.com/QjtsoCek2R  ANI (@ANI_news) July 4, 2017

-We can do even better together, welcome to Israel my friend PM Modi



-I am confident of the real mathematics of life, of success of our partnership for many reasons; talent of our people

-We love India, admire your culture, history, democracy and commitment to progress

-Aapka swagat hai mere dost: Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu welcomes Prime Minister Narendra Modi

#6:32 PM

#WATCH: PM Narendra Modi arrives in Israel in the first-ever visit to the country by an Indian PM, received by Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu pic.twitter.com/mCWD1UDMTD  ANI (@ANI_news) July 4, 2017

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu receives PM Modi at Ben Gurion Airport #ModiInIsrael pic.twitter.com/6hZnQF45cJ  ANI (@ANI_news) July 4, 2017

PM Narendra Modi arrives at Ben Gurion Airport in Israel #ModiInIsrael pic.twitter.com/QFGnRIayPQ  ANI (@ANI_news) July 4, 2017

#6:30 PM

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at Ben Gurion Airport in Israel as PM Modi arrives #ModiInIsrael pic.twitter.com/RanScy7XkD  ANI (@ANI_news) July 4, 2017

#6:25 PM

PM Narendra Modi arrives in Israel in the first-ever visit to the country by an Indian PM pic.twitter.com/UDwLMfKFaL  ANI (@ANI_news) July 4, 2017

#6:20 PM

Prime Minister Narendra Modi to arrive at Ben Gurion Airport in Israel shortly: Visuals from Ben Gurion Airport #ModiInIsrael pic.twitter.com/kUZvuoOIeS  ANI (@ANI_news) July 4, 2017

PM Modi to arrive in Tel Aviv shortly, to be welcomed by his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu



Modis three-day visit beginning today is aimed at commemorating 25 years of establishment of diplomatic ties between the two countries and will also see discussions between him and his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu to explore ways to enhance cooperation in key strategic areas.

On Monday, PM Modi had described Indias ties with Israel as special and said his visit - the first-ever by an Indian premier to the country - will lead to further cementing of bilateral ties and cooperation in key areas including counter-terrorism.



My visit comes at a special moment- we mark 25 years of the establishment of relations between India and Israel this year, Modi had said on the eve of his three-day visit to Israel.



In an interview to the pro-government daily Israel Hayom, Modi said his visit was based on the deep centuries-old connection between our two peoples.



I share the opinion of many of my people, who see Israel as a beacon of technology, as a country that has managed to survive even though the odds were against it.



Modis visit is expected to focus on forging new defence and cyber security ties, two areas in which Israel has sought to portrays itself as a world leader, the daily said.



(With inputs from PTI)

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Mumbai:

Lynching people in the name of cow protection was against Hindutva and urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to come up with a national policy on beef, said Shiv Sena on Tuesday.

A string of such incidents have been reported from several states, including BJP-ruled Jharkhand, Haryana and UP, prompting protests.

The issue of beef is related to eating habits, business and employment. Hence, there should be a national policy over the issue, an editorial in Sena mouthpiece Saamana said.

Those who were safeguarding cows were Hindus till yesterday. Today, they have become murderers, it said.

In a tough message against cow vigilantism and mob lynching, Modi last week said killing people on the pretext of protecting cows is not acceptable and warned that no one has the right to take law into his hands.

We welcome the stand taken by the prime minister over the issue. Nobody has the right to take law in his hands in the name of cow protection. Lynching people is against the principles of Hindutva, the Sena said.

We thank him (Modi) for clearly defining Hindutva. He should now come up with a national policy on beef to ease tensions, the ruling alliance partner said.

Under attack over mobs killing those suspected of cow slaughter or eating beef, BJP chief Amit Shah recently termed such incidents as serious, but claimed more of these happened under the previous governments than the three years of NDA rule.

Recently, a 15-year-old boy, Junaid Khan, was stabbed to death by a group of men on a train when he was returning home to Ballabhgarh in Haryana after shopping for Eid. His assailants termed Junaid, his brother and friends as beef eaters.

In Jharkhands Ramgarh, a Muslim meat trader was beaten to death last week by cow vigilantes who alleged he was carrying beef in his vehicle. Nityanand Mahto, a local BJP leader is among those arrested in connection with the incident.

In September 2015, Mohammad Akhlaq was beaten to death at Dadri in Uttar Pradesh over suspicion of storing and consuming beef.

Also read: Lynching, rape, murder incidents increased under BJP rule: Congress

Also read: Chhattisgarh: BJP leader arrested for lynching a meat trader in the name of gau raksha



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New Delhi:

Trinamool Congress on Tuesday alleged that West Bengal Rajbhawan has converted into RSS Shaakha. The remark comes after West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee accused Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi of threatening her.

Derek O Brien, TMC leader said Tripathi used unacceptable language in telephone call to Mamata Banerjee. Unfortunately, Raj Bhawan in WB converted into 'RSS Shaakha', he said.

West Bengal Governor K N Tripathi expressed surprise over Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's "attitude and language" and said there was nothing in his talks for which she felt insulted, threatened or humiliated.

WB Guv used unacceptable language in telephone call to WB CM. Unfortunate, Raj Bhawan in WB converted into 'RSS Shaakha': Derek O Brien, TMC pic.twitter.com/AFeAXgEMCR  ANI (@ANI_news) July 4, 2017

"The Hon'ble Governor is surprised at the attitude and language used by the Hon'ble Chief Minister during the press conference.

"The talks between the Hon'ble Chief Minister and the Hon'ble Governor were confidential in nature and none is expected to disclose it," a statement issued by Raj Bhawan said.

Also Read: WB Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi threatened and insulted me, says Mamata Banerjee

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New Delhi:

Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijijuas chopper on Tuesday made an emergency landing in Arunachal Pradeshas Itanagar. Bad weather was the cause of the landing. More details are awaited on this.

#WATCH MoS Home Kiren Rijiju's chopper made preventive landing in Itanagar, due to bad weather. pic.twitter.com/b4SkcIN8mm a ANI (@ANI_news) July 4, 2017

#ArunachalPradesh: MoS Home Kiren Rijiju's chopper makes an emergency landing in Itanagar, due to bad weather. pic.twitter.com/6sBnpmSJ73 a ANI (@ANI_news) July 4, 2017



Earlier, a helicopter carrying Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah made an emergency landing at the HAL Airport Bengaluru after suffering a bird hit on April 24.



Siddaramaiah and four others, including Home Minister G Parameshwara who were also on board, were safe, Assistant Commissioner of Police P Nagesha Kumar told PTI.

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New Delhi:

The Cabinet of Uttar Pradesh government will be meeting on Tuesday. During the meeting, along with industrial policy, the decision on setting up separate police stations for checking electricity theft can be discussed. The meeting will be held in Lucknow.

During the meeting, the Cabinet is likely to give nod to the industrial policy draft which will be happening a week before the Yogi government is due to present its maiden budget in UP assemblys budget session slated for July 11.

According to the draft, the Adityanath government aims at creating facilitating infrastructure like multi-modal logistics hubs, specialised industrial zones in the state.

Also read: UP CM Yogi Adityanath to watch movie 'Ek Thi Rani Aisi Bhi'

Also read: Need to improve 'poor condition' of farmers, says Adityanath



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New Delhi:

Security forces in Pulwama shot down another terrorist, taking the toll to 4. The police on Tuesday confirmed that total 4 terrorists have been killed in the encounter, which started on Monday morning. Three bodies have been recovered, fourth is yet to be recovered.

A third militant was killed on earlier on Tuesday in an encounter with security forces in Pulwama district of south Kashmir as the operation entered the second day, police said. One more militant was killed this morning and the body has been recovered, a police official said.

He said three militants have been killed in the encounter so far. The search operation was on in the area, the official said. Security forces launched a search operation in Bahmnoo area of Pulwama yesterday following information about the presence of militants there.

The gunfight ensued after the militants fired upon the security forces during the search operation. The identity of the slain ultras has not been ascertained yet, the official said.

#UPDATE Bamnoo Encounter (Pulwama, J&K): Firing stopped. One AK- 47 and one INSAS rifle recovered. Search operation continues  ANI (@ANI_news) July 4, 2017

On Monday, the army, police and CRPF killed two terrorists, while six other people were injured, including two army personnel.



The gunbattle began on Monday morning after the security forces launched a search operation following a specific tip-off about the presence of militants in Bahmnoo area of Pulwama, police said, police spokesman said.



Two militants have been killed so far while operation is still in progress, the spokesman said in the afternoon.



The identity of the slain ultras could not be ascertained immediately, he added.Two army personnel sustained minor injuries when the third militant hurled a grenade while the security forces were retrieving the bodies of two killed ultras, a police official said.



The official said four persons sustained injuries as security forces used force to chase away stone-pelting protestors near the encounter site.

Read | Pulwama CASO ends: Two terrorists killed, one other flees as stone-pelting by locals distract security forces

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New Delhi:

Israel on Tuesday expressed its willingness to share advanced digital technology with India in health sector. It can be used for integration, analysis and processing of patients data.



David Akov, consul general of Israel on Tuesday told PTI that since Aadhar number is linked to most of the health related treatments, it is generating huge data related to treatment of patients and Israel can provide expertise on how to handle and process it.



Akov sid, Aadhaar number is widely used in India including in the health sector. It is generating huge database of patients health, treatment, medical history. Israeli technology can help in how to handle and use it (database) for better purpose of finding out trends in the health sector.



Israel is also keen on supporting digital transportation where available data on transportation can be processed, he further added.



With PTI inputs.

ALSO READ: PM Modi's 'Shalom' to Israel as Netanyahu lays red carpet for 'dost' from India

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New Delhi:

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will meet 11-year-old Moshe Holtzberg during his landmark visit to Israel starting from Tuesday. Moshe is the boy who survived the horrific 26/11 attack in Mumbai.



Two-year-old at the time, Moshe Holtzberg's father, Rabbi Gavriel, and mother Rivka, who was six months pregnant at the time, were killed by Pakistani terrorists at the Nariman House, Mumbai's Chabad Lubavitch Jewish centre.



Little Moshe was in the same building during the 26/11 carnage. When Sandra Samuel, Moshe's Indian nanny, found him, he sitting next to his parents' bullet-riddled bodies, crying and alive. Samuel risked her life and fled the Nariman House with the baby.



The visuals of his nanny's daring escape and his face crying on national television had brought tears in the eyes of the entire nation, which was already shaken badly by the attack.



Nine-years-on Moshe's name has once again come to limelight over Pm Modi's decision to meet the boy during his Israel visit. After his parents' demise, his grandparents had taken him back with them alongwith his nanny Sandra Samuel.

Suggested read: Modi to become first Indian PM to visit Tel Aviv, Israel awaits in anticipation



According to a 2016 report published in Israel National News, Moshe's grandmother Yehudit Rosenberg raises him more like a son than a grandchild.

"He's a son-grandson," she said. "Our eldest grandson is 20, but I feel like Moshe is my son. God gave us the important mission of raising him the way his parents would have wanted to raise him, and we pray that we're doing it successfully, that we'll be healthy and have the energy and wisdom to educate Moshe the right way so that he'll continue the chain."



The little survivor also has the loving company of his Indian nanny, who the family insisted on bringing alongwith after the carnage.



"Once I said I'd stay with Moshe until he turned five, then I said I'd stay with him until he turned ten. Now I say until his bar mitzvah. We just can't stand to be separated," said Samuel, the nanny who hasn't been able to stay away from Moshe since she rescued him.



Sandra said, "Moshe looks serious, but he's a ball of energy. I hope I can lead him to the marriage canopy when he's 22."

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Islamabad:

Pakistan Prime Ministers Advisor on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz on Tuesday said that Pakistan will not enter into any dialogue with India that excludes Kashmir. He asserted that Islamabad wants to settle all contentious issues through result-oriented talks.

Indian belligerent posturing and their desire to conduct dialogue on their own terms ie without Kashmir, will never be acceptable, said Aziz briefing a 20-member delegation of Kashmir Journalist Forum from PoK at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

He said UN chief Antonio Guterres has expressed his concern over tension between India and Pakistan, called for a dialogue and offered to play role to help resolve Kashmir issue.

Aziz said Indias refusal to accept the role of the UN or good offices of the other leaders for reducing tension between India and Pakistan by resolving the Kashmir issue reflects Indian desperation to hide its crimes against humanity in the valley.

Pakistan wants to settle all contentious issues, particularly the Kashmir dispute with India through a sustained and result-oriented dialogue, he said.

He asked the UN, OIC and Human Rights Organisations to step up efforts to stop the bloodshed of Kashmiris and ensure early implementation of UNSC Resolutions.

Aziz said that protest in Kashmir has now entered a critical phase and the Indian propaganda of down-playing the Kashmir issue is also being defeated.

If there is nothing wrong then why there are over 700,000 fully armed Indian forces stationed? Why the entire media has been blocked?, he said.

He said despite the gravity of the situation on ground and persistent international pressure on India to resume dialogue with Pakistan with particular focus on Kashmir issue, Indian government has been trying to divert global attention from the situation in the Valley by heating up Line of Control and Working Boundary.

Also read: Pakistan approaches UN, international community to stop violence in Kashmir

Also read: Sushma Swaraj tells Pakistani man to get Azizs letter for medical visa



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Washington:

For expedited clearance of pre-approved, low-risk travelers, the US has started rolling out for India its Global Entry programme.

Indian Ambassador to the US Navtej Sarna on Monday became the first Indian national to enroll in the programme.

With this India has becomes only the 11th country whose citizens are eligible to enroll in the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) initiative.

On landing at select airports, the programme members enter the United States through automatic kiosks, instead of queueing up to clear the immigration by meeting an immigration officer.

At these airports, the members proceed to the Global Entry kiosks, present their machine-readable passport or US permanent resident card, place their fingerprints on the scanner for fingerprint verification and complete a customs declaration.

The kiosk then issues the traveller a transaction receipt and directs him or her to the baggage claim and the exit.

Travellers must be pre-approved for the Global Entry programme. All applicants undergo a rigorous background check and in-person interview before enrolment, the CBP website says.

CBP is excited to offer our flagship Trusted Traveller programme to Indian citizens, said Kevin McAleenan, Acting Commissioner of US Customs and Border Protection.

By expanding Global Entry eligibility, CBP is transforming the international arrivals process, making it more secure, efficient and welcoming, for the millions of Indian citizens who visit the United States each year, he said.

Global Entry is currently available at 53 US airports and 15 pre-clearance locations.

It is now available to US citizens, Green Card holders and nationals from Argentina, Colombia, Germany, Mexico, the Netherlands, Panama, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom, besides India.

Canadian citizens and residents enrolled in NEXUS may also use the Global Entry kiosks.

The NEXUS programme allows pre-screened travellers expedited processing when entering the United States and Canada.

Also read: Donald Trump backs India's permanent membership of UNSC and NSG; PM Modi thanks US President

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New Delhi:

The upcoming G20 Summit in Germanys Hamburg this week could become the diplomatic battlegrounds for India and China to resolve the Sikkim Standoff. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping will both be present at the summit, giving hopes to a bilateral talk on the contentious issue.



Despite the rising tension between the two nations over the Doka La area, the diplomatic channel between the two nations remains smooth and open, said Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang, who termed Indian activity on the border area as a betrayal to China.



Asked if there was a possibility of a meeting between PM Modi and President Xi during the G20 Summit, Geng on Monday said he has no information at the moment about the arrangements for bilateral meetings between Xi and leaders of other countries.



He, however, said the line for diplomatic communication between India and China is open and smooth.



What is Sikkim Standoff?



The standoff came to notice when China denied Indian pilgrims entry for Kailash Mansarovar Yatra through the Nathu La pass in Sikkim. At first, Beijing said it stopped the Yatra due to damage to roads in Tibet after rains and landslides.



Later China signalled the matter was related to the standoff between the two armies near Sikkim. The Sikkim route to Mansarovar was opened in 2015, enabling pilgrims to travel the 1500-km long route from Nathu La to Kailash by buses.



On Monday, Geng said the other route to Tibet through Lipulek pass is open as it is located in the middle section where there is no dispute over boundary between India and China.



On the Indian Ministry of External Affairs statement on Friday that the construction road by Chinese troops in the disputed Doka La area would represent a significant change of status quo with serious security implications for India, the Chinese foreign ministry official said they have noted the statement by India.



This is not the first time that such a transgression has happened at Doka La. The Chinese forces had in November 2008 destroyed some makeshift Indian army bunkers there.



Defence experts believe China wants to exert its dominance over the Chumbi Valley, which is a part of the southern reaches of Tibet. By claiming the Doka La area, Beijing wants to maximise its geographical advantage so that it can monitor all movements along the India-Bhutan border.



Since the standoff on June 6, when PLA bulldozers destroyed bunkers of the India Army claiming the area belonged to China, Chinese media have carried several peices warning India over escalating tension and reminding the Indian Army about the 1962 war.



Chinese accusations on India



Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said that the Sino-India border in the Sikkim sector is well demarcated.



By entering into the Chinese territory and obstructing Chinese troops normal activities, India has violated the existing convention on the boundary and basic principle of international law and obstructed peace and stability of the boundary area, Geng told reporters at a briefing.



We require the Indian side to withdraw their troops to the Indian side of the boundary and create conditions for the restoration of peace and stability in the relevant areas.China and India have been engaged in a standoff in the Doka La area near the Bhutan trijunction for almost a month in what has been the longest such impasse between the two armies since 1962, when the two countries fought a brief war.



Sikkim, which became a part of India in May 1976, is the only state which has a demarcated border with China. The lines are based on a treaty signed with the Chinese in 1898. Doka La is the Indian name for the region which Bhutan recognises as Dokalam, while China claims it as part of its Donglang region.



Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng said India needs to observe the treaty and pull back its troops immediately. He dismissed Defence Minister Arun Jaitleys remarks that India of 2017 is different from what it was in 1962, saying China too is different and will take all necessary measures to safeguard its territorial sovereignty.

Suggested read: Indias actions in Doklam effort to show US its firm determination to constrain Chinas rise



Former Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru endorsed the 1890 Sino-British Treaty on Sikkim in a letter to the then Chinese counterpart Zhou Enlai in 1959. Successive Indian governments have also endorsed this, he said.



The India-China boundary in the Sikkim section is well demarcated. The action taken by India is a betrayal of the position taken by (successive) Indian governments, he said.What has happened is very clear, the Sikkim section of the boundary has already been defined by the 1890 convention between Great Britain and China. Doklam belongs to China.



It evaded the 1890 convention between Great Britain and China relating to Sikkim and Tibet. But it is this convention which has confirmed the alignment of the boundary between the two sides at the Sikkim section. This convention has been recognised by successive Chinese and Indian governments and has been confirmed by the Indian governments in written form, Geng said.



Prime Minister Nehru has affirmed in his letters to the Premier Zhou Enlai that the convention must be observed. That is the basic principle of international law. It is an obligation must be fulfilled by the Indian side, he said.



He also accused India of using Bhutan as a cover.



In order to cover up the illegal entry of the Indian border troops, to distort the fact and even at the expense of Bhutans independence and sovereignty, they try to confuse right from wrong, that is futile, Geng said.



We have no objection to normal bilateral relations between India and Bhutan but firmly opposed to Indian side infringing up Chinese territory using Bhutan as an excuse. The Bhutan side does not know previously that the Indian troops entered into the Doklam area, which is not in line with what is claimed by the Indian side, he said.

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REDDING  Emily Mulhern rode Griffin, a horse rescued from a kill pen, around the riding circle at Moonlight Farm on Monday morning before bringing him to the barn to be hosed down.

Volunteers with Rising Starr Horse Rescue, a new nonprofit, werent able to do any of that with Griffin when he arrived at the farm in September after spending a week in the kill pen in Missouri. He was too sick or scared to cooperate, but after a few weeks of compassionate care, he was nursed back to health and started training. He is now eligible for adoption.

Its amazing, said Kelly Stackpole, owner of Moonlight Farm and founder of Rising Starr. He didnt know what a treat was, and now hes spoiled rotten.

Griffin, believed to be a six-year-old Rocky Mountain Horse, is Rising Starrs first rescued horse, but based on the enthusiasm around the animal, he wont be the last.

Last summer, Rising Starr volunteers collected money outside of Stop & Shop and held other fundraisers to generate the $750 needed to rescue a horse from a kill pen, as well as the associated transportation costs.

Keira Finke, 11, was among the volunteers, most of whom are children or teenagers.

When raising money, I couldnt actually picture the horse here, but when we got him off the trailer it felt really good, said Finke, who also rides at Moonlight Farm.

She said she wanted to get involved because she values horses and didnt want them to be slaughtered.

Several businesses also helped Rising Starr, several by donating money or materials to build a separate stall at the back of Moonlight Farms to quarantine rescued horses.

Stackpole had wanted to have a rescue operation for years. She had spent a lot of time in the show-horse circuit, including owning a 40-stall barn in Greenwich, and was dismayed by the practice of discarding horses when they werent earning money or otherwise failing to meet owners expectations.

We decided we needed to give back and do something, Stackpole said.

In 2005, she opened Moonlight Farm on the Ridgefield-Redding border to offer riding lessons to children. About a decade later she was able to start the rescue organization.

Rising Starr was incorporated in 2015, but it didnt get off and running until last year. It now has 22 volunteers, ranging in age from 6 to 58, and working to find Griffin and another horse new homes.

We want to rescue, rehabilitate and re-home, Stackpole said.

She said its important to educate people about the slaughter of former race horses. She said horses deteriorate while theyre kept in the kill pens without food or water, waiting to be shipped in cattle cars to Mexico or Canada to be slaughtered.

Griffin went in healthy and of good flesh and came out with pneumonia and 50 pounds lighter, Stackpole said.

Rising Starr is able to save one to four horses annually. The organization also focuses on hands-on educational programs for adults and children about the responsibilities and realities of horse ownership. Stackpole hopes to raise $5,000 so they can buy a used trailer and bring the rescued horse to schools or other functions.

Stackpole also hopes to raise money to support horse sanctuaries where horses can go when they can no longer work.

Rising Starr doesnt offer riding lessons, but many of the volunteers come from Moonlight Farm, which does. Several ride at other farms and four dont ride at all and are interested more in taking care of horses.

While the two organizations are separate, Stackpole hopes to have some cross over beyond the volunteers.

The next time we need to get a new Moonlight School horse, I hope to adopt it from Rising Starr, she said.

To volunteer or donate, please email RisingStarr100@gmail.com or call 203-257-8345.

kkoerting@newstimes.com; 203-731-3345
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Simply listing all 50 U.S. states would make for a tedious Fourth of July speech, at best. But the concept appealed to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for his big Canada Day address on Saturday: He would name each province and territory of Canada - with gusto.

After all, there weren't that many of them. How bad could it go?

The prime minister stood before a crowd in Ottawa, waved his arm and began in rapture: "British Columbia!"

Trudeau waited a moment for the applause to stop. Then on to "Yukon!" and "The Northwest Territories!"

That was a nice touch. The sparsely populated northern territories tend to get overlooked, but Trudeau was going geographically, from west to east.

"Saskatchewan!" he said. Hmm. Technically, Alberta would come first, but -

"Manitoba!" Wait, stop.

But Trudeau continued, all the way to the eastern coast of Newfoundland and Labrador, then added: "We embrace the diversity while knowing in our hearts that we are all Canadians."

An announcer would have to point out that he had forgotten Alberta.

Twitter has not yet stopped reminding him.

Trudeau awkwardly walked back onto the stage after finishing his speech and realizing what he'd done.

"I'm a little embarrassed. I got excited somewhere over the Rockies," he said. "Alberta, I love you. Happy Canada Day!"

But of all his country's 13 provinces and territories, Trudeau may have forgotten the one least likely to forgive him.

Some reminded the prime minister that his father, Pierre Trudeau, had been widely loathed in Alberta in the 1980s, when he led Canada and forced federal energy policies on the oil-rich province, as the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. reported.

The mayor of Calgary, Alberta, at the time coined a phrase that became a popular bumper sticker across western Canada: "Let the eastern bastards freeze in the dark."

Decades later, Global News noted, Alberta is a stronghold of opposition to the younger Trudeau and his Liberal Party.

Witness Michelle Rempel, a Conservative member of Parliament representing Calgary, who got on Facebook soon after Saturday's speech.

"The prime minister of our country - on Canada Day! - forgot that Alberta exists," she said. "I don't think this was an accident."

Rempel was not alone in her suspicions.

It took no time for Albertans to remember a previous mini-scandal, long before Trudeau became prime minister, when he blamed Canada's woes on "Albertans who control our community and socio-democratic agenda."

He said this in French, as CBC reported, and added for good measure that all the best prime ministers hailed from Quebec.

So does Trudeau. And when he began his own ascent to the country's highest office in 2012, his campaign tried to explain away that old interview.

"Justin knows that Calgary, Alberta and all of Western Canada are at the very heart of Canada's future," reads the statement. "We need to get beyond the divisive politics of the Conservatives and include all Canadians."

So he said, and became prime minister of all Canadians. Then, in a speech on the country's birthday, he forgot about 4 million of them.
Symbol: ASX: CHNTSX: CXN

Shares outstanding: 261 million

Fully diluted: 272 million

Highlights

A$7.5 million budget, including >22,000m drilling, planned on five high-potential gold and base metals projects across five projects in Canada and Australia in FY 2018.



A$5 million allocated to aggressive exploration at the East Cadillac and Kinebik gold projects, hosted in the prolific Abitibi Greenstone Belt, Quebec, Canada :



East Cadillac is 35km east of Val-d'Or and covers 16 kilometres of strike of the eastern part of the Larder-Lake Cadillac Fault, which has a gold endowment of +100M ounces.



Kinebik covers 30km of strike of the Casa Berardi Fault, which hosts multiple gold deposits.



Planned 9,500m drill program in H2 2017 to test multiple targets, including extensions of the existing high-grade gold mineral resource and along the prospective Larder-Lake Cadillac Fault corridor controlled by Chalice plus follow-up geochemical anomalies at Kinebik.



A$2.5M allocated across multiple high-potential projects in Australia :

Warrego North Iron Oxide Copper-Gold ("IOCG") Project, Northern Territory  drill program in H2 2017 to expand the recent Parakeet copper-gold discovery.



Latitude Hill Nickel Project, Western Australia  9,000m drill program in H2 2017 to test multiple Spectrem EM conductors with Voisey's Bay and Nova-Bollinger style nickel-copper discovery potential.



West Pilbara Gold and Base Metals Project, Western Australia  4,000m aircore and RC drill program at three gold and copper targets in H2 2017.



Chalice can rapidly escalate exploration activities based on success with cash and liquid investments of A$53M .

PERTH, Western Australia, July 4, 2017 /CNW/ - Chalice Gold Mines Limited ("Chalice" or "the Company") (ASX: CHN) (TSX: CXN) today announced a FY 2018 A$7.5 million exploration initiative to advance its high priority gold and base metals targets in its current property portfolio (Table 1 and Figure 1). Chalice's exploration strategy has focused on acquiring exposure to projects, either through direct ownership or joint venture, hosted in terranes with outstanding metal endowment that also have the key geological features to host Tier 1 deposits. These include the East Cadillac Gold Project in the prolific Abitibi gold district in Quebec, Canada; the Warrego North Iron Oxide Copper Gold project in the Tennant Creek gold  copper mineral field of the Northern Territory, the Latitude Hill nickel project and the gold and base metals districts of the West Pilbara in Western Australia (Figure 1).

Chalice's exceptional balance sheet of A$53 million in cash and liquid assets means the Company is well positioned to rapidly escalate exploration activities based on success.

Chalice's Managing Director, Mr Tim Goyder stated "Chalice has systematically assembled a global exploration portfolio that offers outstanding potential for new discoveries in some of the best exploration addresses in the world. It is now time to evaluate the potential of this portfolio and we are in the enviable position of having the balance sheet and the in-house technical expertise to support a mid-tier scale exploration effort without diluting our shareholders at the company or project level."

Table 1: Overview and approximate timeline for proposed FY 2018 exploration program

Project/Exploration Program September 2017 Quarter December 2017 Quarter East Cadillac Gold Project Sampling/trenching Extensive surface sampling and trenching

IP Geophysical Survey 390 line km

Drilling

7,700m diamond Kinebik Gold Project IP Geophysical Survey 55 line km

Drilling

1,800m diamond Latitude Hill Nickel Project MLEM Geophysical Survey Survey 7 anomalies

Drilling

9,000m RC

Warrego North IOCG Project IP Geophysical Survey 23 line km

Drilling 1,000m RC & diamond

West Pilbara Gold & Base Metals Projects IP Geophysical Survey 25 line km

Drilling 4,000m aircore, RC















EXPLORATION PROJECT OVERVIEWS

East Cadillac Gold Project, Quebec, Canada

The East Cadillac Gold Project covers 107km2 and is 35km east of the 20Moz Val-d'Or gold camp (Figures 2 and 3). With a strike length of 16km encompassing the Larder Lake-Cadillac Fault, the most prolifically gold endowed trend in southern Abitibi, the project is a located amongst some of the region's most significant mines and is adjacent to the historic Chimo gold mine (owned by Cartier Resources (TSX: ECR)).

The project includes an initial indicated mineral resources of 225,000t @ 4.17g/t gold for 30,200oz gold and an inferred mineral resource of 1,112,000t @ 4.09g/t gold for 146,300oz gold at the Nordeau gold deposit, which the Company considers to have substantial growth potential.

No modern surface geochemistry, geological mapping or structural analysis has been completed in the district. The Company has analysed historical exploration information and merged this data with results from recent exploration activities undertaken by Chalice. This compilation will provide the basis for an integrated approach to exploration targeting over the Company's consolidated land position.

The project comprises 100% owned Chalice claims and option and farm-in agreements with Globex Mining Enterprises (TSX: GMX) and Richmont Mines (TSX: RIC), refer to Appendix A for details.

Mineral resources that are not mineral reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability. Mineral resource estimates do not account for mineability, selectivity, mining loss and dilution. These mineral resource estimates include inferred mineral resources that are considered too speculative geologically to have economic considerations applied to them that would enable them to be categorised as mineral reserves. There is also no certainty that these inferred mineral resources will be converted to the measured and indicated categories through further drilling, or into mineral reserves, once economic considerations are applied.

Kinebik Gold Project, Quebec, Canada

The 100% owned Kinebik Gold Project covers 187km2, including 30km of strike of the Casa Berardi fault, which hosts Hecla Mining Company's (NYSE:HL) Casa Beradi multi-million ounce gold mine and numerous other gold occurrences (Figure 2). Chalice has identified three strong geochemical anomalies which will be prioritised with an IP survey and diamond drilling.

Warrego North IOCG Project, Northern Territory, Australia

The Warrego North Project is approximately 20km north-west of the historical high-grade Warrego copper-gold mine in the western part of the Tennant Creek Mineral Field in the Northern Territory, Australia (Figure 4). Warrego was the largest deposit mined in the area with historical production of 1.3Moz of gold and 90,000t of copper from 5 million tonnes of ore at 8g/t gold and 2% copper in a classic iron oxide copper gold ("IOCG") geological setting. Chalice can earn up to a 70% interest in the project from Meteoric Resources NL by sole funding $800,000 (refer to Appendix A for details).

The Company's first diamond drill hole at Warrego North, WND17-001, targeted a coincidental magnetic-gravity and IP chargeability anomaly (Figure 4) and intersected chalcopyrite in magnetite ironstones grading 8m @ 1.74% copper and 0.42g/t gold between 249-257m down-hole depth. Pervasive chlorite-sericite alteration indicates the potential for an extensive hydrothermal system, which is a characteristic of IOCG deposits. A follow-up ground Induced Polarisation (IP) survey will systematically test extensions to known copper-gold mineralisation and also assess the broader Parakeet magnetic-gravity anomaly for additional mineralised magnetite ironstone bodies.

Latitude Hill Nickel Project, Western Australia

The 990.5km2 Latitude Hill Project was acquired to provide Chalice with a counter-cyclical investment opportunity in an under-explored region that is highly prospective for massive and disseminated nickel-copper-platinum group metals sulphide deposits similar to the Nova-Bollinger nickel-copper sulphide deposit in the Albany-Fraser Orogen. The project is subject to a farm-in and joint venture whereby Chalice can earn up to a 70% interest with Traka Resources Limited (ASX: TKL) (refer to Appendix A for details). High quality Spectrem Airborne Electromagnetic (EM) survey completed in 2012 by Anglo American identified seven priority conductors that were not followed up (Figure 5) following Anglo American's withdrawal from Western Australia where a royalty was exchanged as consideration for their JV interest in the Latitude Hill Project. None of these priority conductors have been subject to ground-based exploration.

West Pilbara Gold and Base Metals Project, Western Australia

The 1,390km West Pilbara Project (Figure 6) is located approximately 160km south-southwest of Karratha and has contiguous coverage of 90km of strike of prospective geology along the contact between the Ashburton and Hamersley Basins, referred to as the Paraburdoo Hinge Zone and is defined by regional fault/shear zones. The region is under-explored for both gold and base metals and the southwest boundary of the property is approximately 8km from Northern Star Resources' (ASX: NST) Paulsens multi-million ounce gold mine. Chalice acquired the project based on the identification of numerous Carlin-style and vein/shear hosted gold prospects and breccia-hosted copper mineralization from previous work.

The Company looks forward to updating shareholders on and the results of this substantial exploration initiative as results are received.

TIM GOYDER

Managing Director

Competent Persons and Qualifying Persons

The information in this news release that relates to the East Cadillac Gold Project, Quebec mineral resource estimate is extracted from the news release entitled "Maiden JORC Resource for Nordeau West deposit provides foundation for expanded exploration program at East Cadillac Gold Project, Quebec" dated March 7, 2017.

The information in this news release that relates to the Warrego North, NT is extracted from the news release entitled "Chalice discovers copper-gold mineralisation at Warrego North Project, NT" dated June 16, 2017.

The information in this news release that relates to the Latitude Hill Nickel Project, WA is extracted from the news release entitled "Chalice secures farm-in agreement on west Musgrave Nickel-Copper-PGE Project, WA" dated September 22, 2016.

The information in this report that relates to the West Pilbara Project, WA is extracted from the news release entitled "March 2017 quarterly activities report" dated April 28, 2017.

The above news releases are available to view on sedar.com. The Company confirms that it is not aware of any new information or data that materially affects the information included in the original market announcement and that all material assumptions in the market announcement continue to apply and have not materially changed. The Company confirms that the form and context in which the Competent Person's and Qualifying Persons findings are presented have not been materially modified from the original market announcement. The Competent Person and Qualifying Person for the Company is Dr Frost, General Manager  Exploration.

Forward Looking Statements

This document may contain forward-looking information within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation and forward-looking statements within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (collectively, forward-looking statements). These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this document and Chalice Gold Mines Limited (the Company) does not intend, and does not assume any obligation, to update these forward-looking statements.

Forward-looking statements relate to future events or future performance and reflect Company management's expectations or beliefs regarding future events and include, but are not limited to, the estimation of mineral reserve and mineral resources at the East Cadillac Gold Project, the realisation of mineral reserve estimates; the likelihood of exploration success including results of future geophysical surveys, drilling at the East Cadillac Gold Project, the Latitude Hill Project, the Warrego North Project and the West Pilbara Project and other exploration activities; the timing and costs of future exploration activities on the Company's exploration projects; the potential to define future mineral resources and, if successful at any of the Company's exploration projects, the potential viability of any mineral resource so defined; planned expenditures and budgets and the execution thereof; the timing and availability of drill results; potential sites for additional drilling, that general business and economic conditions will not change in a materially adverse manner; the timing and amount of estimated future production, costs of production, capital expenditures, success of mining operations, environmental risks, unanticipated reclamation expenses, title disputes or claims and limitations on insurance coverage.

In certain cases, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as plans, planning, expects or does not expect, is expected, will, may, would, potential, budget, scheduled, estimates, forecasts, intends, anticipates or does not anticipate, or believes, occur, or be achieved, or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results may, could, would, might or will be taken, occur or be achieved or the negative of these terms or comparable terminology. By their very nature forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Such factors may include, among others, risks related to actual results of current exploration activities; changes in exploration programs based upon results of exploration; future prices of mineral resources; possible variations in mineral resources or ore reserves, grade or recovery rates; accidents, labour disputes and other risks of the mining industry; delays in obtaining governmental approvals or financing or in the completion of development or construction activities; as well as those factors detailed from time to time in the Company's interim and annual financial statements, all of which are filed and available for review on SEDAR at sedar.com. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements.

SOURCE Chalice Gold Mines Limited

For further information: Tim Goyder, Managing Director, Chalice Gold Mines Limited, Telephone +618 9322 3960
RAPID CITY, SD (Black Hills), July 4, 2017 /CNW/ - An assembly of Tribal leaders of the Great Sioux Nation along with leaders of the Ponca Nation in Nebraska and Oklahoma today met, in the sacred Black Hills in South Dakota, with a large delegation of Chiefs of First Nations from Canada who have signed the Treaty Alliance Against Tar Sands Expansion. The tribal leaders and chiefs sent a clear message on this July 4th US "Independence Day" about their independence as Sovereign Indigenous Nations and to announce a new cross-border alliance to stop the Keystone XL pipeline. The historic gathering challenging the power of Canada and the US to harm their lands and pollute their water comes on the heels of widespread Indigenous resistance in Canada challenging the July 1st celebrations of Canada's "150th anniversary".

The Treaty Alliance Against Tar Sands Expansion, after the signing today of the 10 Tribes and First Nations from the Great Sioux Nation, Ponca Nation and Blackfoot Confederacy, now counts over 130 First Nations and Tribes who have signed the Indigenous Treaty barring the passage of each of the four pipelines that the Tar Sands industry of Alberta is hoping to build in order to expand production: TransCanada's Keystone XL, Enbridge's Line 3 pipeline through Minnesota, Kinder Morgan's Trans Mountain Expansion through British Columbia and TransCanada's Energy East.

"If you don't think we're nations, if you think we're isolated remnants of a bygone era, just watch us exercise our sovereign right to protect our land and our people by stopping these pipeline abominations from threatening our water and our very future," said Casey Camp-Horinek on behalf of the Ponca Tribe of Oklahoma, who will in fact be organizing a similar type ceremony in Nebraska in the coming weeks where the broad cross-section of opponents of the Keystone XL will be invited to sign a declaration against KXL first signed on May, 17 in Calgary, AB. "Today is not just about our independence as Nations, but also everyone's much needed independence from the shackles of oil, and especially Keystone's dirty tar sands oil."





Present for the formation of this cross-border Indigenous alliance against Keystone XL were most of the Tribes whose lands the pipeline would cross, from Piikani Nation of the Blackfoot Confederacy at the start of the pipeline in Canada to the Great Sioux Nation and then finally the Ponca Nation in Nebraska and Oklahoma where the pipeline would end.

Also signed on this day was The Grizzly: A Treaty of Cooperation, Cultural Revitalization and Restoration, an Indigenous Treaty spearheaded by the Piikani Nation in Alberta which now also counts over 130 signatory First Nations and Tribes from across the continent. The leaders present at the ceremony today pledged to work together to safeguard the sacred Grizzly Bear and combat the recent move by the Trump administration to delist the grizzly of Greater Yellowstone from the Endangered Species Act.

"Indigenous People in Canada, led by our women and youth grassroots water protectors, just finished crashing the July 1st 'Canada 150' celebrations, letting Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and all of Canada know that not only can they not whitewash history, but they cannot continue to run roughshod over our Nations by looking to ram pipelines like Kinder Morgan's Trans Mountain Expansion through our lands," said Grand Chief Stewart Phillip, President of the Union of BC Indian Chiefs on behalf of the Treaty Alliance Against Tar Sands Expansion. "We were honored to be invited to come support Tribes in the US as they likewise reclaim this July 4th national anniversary to mark their own independence as sovereign nations."

"The Tribes of the Great Sioux Nation are gathered here today on this most historic occasion on this most sacred of sites, surrounded by our trusted allies, to make it clear, in honor of Crazy Horse, that we, as a sovereign nations, have not consented to and will all together fight to the end some of President Trump's most grotesque actions, including illegally ramming through the Dakota Access Pipeline, trying to raise Keystone XL pipeline from the dead and just recently, trying to get away with delisting our sacred Grizzly bear from the Endangered Species List," said Chairman Brandon Sazue of the Crow Creek Sioux Tribe who invited leaders to the event in the spirit of "Remaking of the Sacred Hoop", a rekindling of the alliance between the Great Sioux Nations and the Blackfoot Confederacy.

"These tar sand pipeline fights like Keystone XL, or Enbridge's Line 3 which passes through our lands in Manitoba, are about protecting our Mother but will also end up being the turning point for relations between our Nations and state powers  the point where we say no more," noted Kevin Hart, Assembly of First Nations Regional Chief for Manitoba, on behalf of the Treaty Alliance Against Tar Sands Expansion. "These are more than pipelines: they are lines in the sand for our Nations."

SOURCE Treaty Alliance Against Tar Sands Expansion

For further information: For more information, please contact: Treaty Alliance Against Tar Sands Expansion, [email protected], Cell: 514-445-4414; Grand Chief Stewart Phillip, President of the Union of BC Indian Chiefs, Cell: 250-490-5314; Chairman Brandon Sazue, Crow Creek Sioux Tribe, Cell: 405-448-6630; Casey Camp-Horinek, Ponca Tribe of Oklahoma Tribal Council, Cell: 580-716-7015; Kevin Hart, AFN Regional Chief for Manitoba, Cell: 613-290-6283
Lowe's and RONA volunteers will contribute to the Edmonton and Winnipeg builds

BOUCHERVILLE, QC, July 4, 2017 /CNW/ - Lowe's Canada will be part of Habitat for Humanity Canada's biggest build project ever. Habitat for Humanity's 34th Jimmy & Rosalynn Carter Work Project will be taking place in every province and territory across Canada with a goal to collectively build 150 homes to mark Canada's 150th anniversary of Confederation. Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and his wife Rosalynn, will be visiting Canada from July 9-14, 2017, focusing their efforts in Edmonton, Alberta, and in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Volunteers from some 15 Lowe's and RONA stores as well as from Lowe's Canada head office will work alongside the Carters and contribute to both the Edmonton and Winnipeg builds.

Habitat Canada has a long history of creating affordable housing opportunities in the country. People living in Habitat homes not only help to build their own houses, they also pay affordable mortgages. Habitat for Humanity's innovative approach helps working families on a new path to better, affordable living conditions that lead to improved health and stronger childhood development, as well as a decrease in reliance on food banks.

"At Lowe's Canada, our shared purpose is to 'help people love where they live.' We are therefore extremely proud to support Habitat for Humanity Canada's important work because we believe that everyone in Canada has the right to a safe, affordable and decent place to live in," said Sylvain Prud'homme, president and CEO of Lowe's Canada. "Being involved in the communities we serve is important to all our employees across our various banners. Through this project and the several others to which we contribute each year, including through our Lowe's Heroes program, we strive to build stronger, more sustainable communities."

Since 1984, President and Mrs. Carter have traveled around the world with Habitat, to build and improve homes. Their time and effort helps to raise awareness of the critical need for affordable home ownership around the world. Inspiring millions over the last three decades, President and Mrs. Carter have worked alongside nearly 100,000 volunteers in 14 countries to build, renovate and repair more than 4,000 homes.

To donate or learn more about the 34th Jimmy & Rosalynn Carter Work Project, please visit habitat.ca/cwp.

About Lowe's Canada

Lowe's Companies, Inc. (NYSE: LOW) is a FORTUNE 50 home improvement company serving more than 17 million customers a week in the United States, Canada and Mexico. With fiscal year 2016 sales of $65.0 billion, Lowe's and its related businesses operate or service more than 2,370 home improvement and hardware stores and employ over 290,000 people. Based in Boucherville, Quebec, Lowe's Canadian business, together with its wholly owned subsidiary, RONA inc., operates or services more than 600 corporate and independent affiliate dealer stores in a number of complementary formats under different banners. These include Lowe's, RONA, Reno-Depot, Marcil, Dick's Lumber and Ace. In Canada, the companies have more than 25,000 employees, in addition to nearly 5,000 employees in the stores of RONA's independent affiliate dealers. For more information, visit Lowes.ca.

About Habitat for Humanity Canada

In Canada, Habitat for Humanity has been working since 1985 toward a world where everyone has a decent and safe place to live. With the help of over 70,000 volunteers every year and 56 local organizations from coast to coast to coast, we believe in bringing communities together to help families build strength, stability and independence through affordable homeownership. Worldwide, more than 9.8 million people have partnered with Habitat for Humanity to build or improve a place they can call home. For more information, visit habitat.ca.

About Habitat for Humanity

Driven by the vision that everyone needs a decent place to live, Habitat for Humanity began in 1976 as a grassroots effort on a community farm in southern Georgia. The Christian housing organization has since grown to become a leading global nonprofit working in more than 1,300 communities throughout the U.S. and in more than 70 countries. Families and individuals in need of a hand up partner with Habitat for Humanity to build or improve a place they can call home. Habitat homeowners help build their own homes alongside volunteers and pay an affordable mortgage. Through financial support, volunteering or adding a voice to support affordable housing, everyone can help families achieve the strength, stability and self-reliance they need to build better lives for themselves. Through shelter, we empower. To learn more, visit habitat.org

SOURCE Lowe's Canada

For further information: Sarah Austin, Habitat for Humanity Canada, 800-667-5137 ext. 302, [email protected], www.habitat.ca/cwp; Valerie Gonzalo, Lowe's Canada, 514-626-6976, [email protected], www.lowes.ca

Related Links

www.lowes.ca


ALGONQUIN PARK, ON, July 4, 2017 /CNW/ - The Friends of Algonquin Park, a non-profit Canadian registered charity for those passionate about Algonquin Park is pleased to announce the presentation of their prestigious Directors Award posthumously to famous Canadian artist Tom Thomson.

The Friends of Algonquin Park Directors Award is given to an individual who has made a significant contribution to the appreciation of Algonquin Park. The Directors Award will be presented by acclaimed author Roy MacGregor at the Algonquin Art Centre on July 8, 2017. "There is no doubt that Tom Thomson shared his enthusiasm for Algonquin Park with his fellow artists who called themselves the "Algonquin Park School" and who eventually formed the Group of Seven, just a few years after Thomson's death in 1917. Tom Thomson continues to foster appreciation of Algonquin Park through his hundreds of striking Algonquin Park paintings that are today known the world over." says Kim Smith, Chair of The Friends of Algonquin Park.

As part of the Directors Award celebration in memory of Tom Thomson, The Friends of Algonquin Park will also be unveiling the new outdoor Tom Thomson Legacy Path. This outdoor exhibit includes interpretive panels that share the story of Tom Thomson's time in Algonquin Park. See this new permanent exhibit starting July 9, 2017 at the Algonquin Art Centre.

About The Friends of Algonquin Park

The Friends of Algonquin Park is a Canadian registered charity and non-profit, non-governmental organization established in 1983 for people passionate about Algonquin Park. It operates retail locations, recruits members, and fundraises to support the natural and cultural educational goals of Algonquin Park. In addition, The Friends of Algonquin Park is a book and map publisher and distributor with over 90 Algonquin Park titles in its collection. For more about The Friends of Algonquin Park, visit www.algonquinpark.on.ca

For more about Celebrating Tom Thomson events in Algonquin Park and to see past Directors Award Recipients see www.algonquinpark.on.ca

SOURCE The Friends of Algonquin Park

For further information: Lee Pauze, General Manager, The Friends of Algonquin Park, Tel: 613 637-2828 ext. 234, [email protected]

Related Links

http://www.algonquinpark.on.ca


Trump's promise of jobs from Saudi deals may fall flat

President Donald Trump, right, meets with Mohammed bin Salman, deputy crown prince and minister of defense of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, on March 14, 2017 in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, D.C. Saudi Arabia is negotiating arms deals with the U.S. worth more than $110 billion. (Mark Wilson/Pool/Sipa USA/TNS)

(Mark Wilson/Pool)

WASHINGTON -- A subsidiary of PAR Technology Corp. of New Hartford has been awarded a subcontract worth up to $10.9 million to provide electronic security systems for the Royal Saudi Air Force in Saudi Arabia.

The PAR Technology subsidiary, Rome Research Corp., will monitor Paveway IV precision-guided bombs and F-15SA fighter jets at various Royal Saudi Air Force locations throughout Saudi Arabia, the company said.

Scientific Research Corp. of Charleston, S.C., selected Rome Research Corp. for the subcontract for up to five years of work.

Matt Cicchinelli, president of PAR's Government Business, said the contract will open new opportunities for the company in the Middle East as it seeks to expand its services globally.

President Donald Trump visited Saudi Arabia in May and signed an agreement that could lead to $110 billion in American arms sales and other investments. Last week, U.S. officials approved a $3.8 billion contract for Sikorsky Aircraft to supply UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters to Saudi Arabia.

PAR Technology is best known for its point-of-sales devices, the high-tech cash registers used by the restaurant, retail and government sectors. But the company and its subsidiaries have been growing as a defense contractor and provider of government services.

In 2013, the U.S. Army awarded subsidiary PAR Government Systems a contract worth up to $85 million for technology integration involving intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance work. The three-year contract was the largest in the history of the company.

Contact Mark Weiner anytime: Twitter | Facebook | 571-970-3751




A mild drama occurred on the floor of the Senate, on Tuesday, when a point of order was raised, that the Senate President, Abubakar Bukola Saraki was the Acting President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.The Senate, upon resumption from its 3 weeks break, received a communication from Professor Yemi Osinbajo, the Acting President of Nigeria, seeking the confirmation of Mr. Lanre Gbajabiamila, as the Director General of National Lottery Regulatory Commission.The lawmakers, however, subjected the letter to deliberations, owing to the fact that the Acting President, had earlier reportedly said the Senate had no power to confirm nominees.Senator Eyinanya Abaribe (Abia South), had raised a motion that the country had no President or Acting President at the moment, adding that, President Muhammadu Buhari and Professor Yemi Osinbajo were neither in the country, as at the time.This was greeted with a counter point, coming through order 53 rule 4 of the Senate standing rules, by Senator Kabiru Marafa (Zamfara Central).Marafa who cited relevant sections of the Nigerian constitution, said, if the President is not around, the Vice President should act, and if the Vice President is not around, the Senate President, who is the number 3 citizen should become acting President.The Senate President, however, didnt allow any seconder or more comments, even when Senators were agitating to support the motion. He quickly ruled Senator Marafa out of order.
The face of the Nigerian internet fraudster who defrauded an American the sum of $3,650 has been revealed.

Okechukwu Brown

A father of three, Okechukwu Brown was on Monday in Lagos sentenced to three years imprisonment for defrauding an American of $3,650 in an online romance scam.

Justice Josephine Oyefeso of an Ikeja High Court handed down the verdict after Brown pleaded guilty to the charge. Brown was sentenced after entering into a plea bargain with the EFCC.

As part of the terms of the agreement, he pleaded guilty to a one-count amended charge of obtaining money by false pretences.

The convict obtained 3,650 dollars online from Mr Thomas Nublin of the United States of America. The Lagos office of the EFCC in July 2014, received a petition from the U.S. Army alleging that some persons traced to Nigeria defrauded some members of the U.S. Army of over 13,000 dollars in a romance scam.

The EFFC investigated and was able to trace some of the funds amounting to 3,650 dollars to EcoBank Plc via Moneygram which was received by the convict. The convict, in the course of the investigation, refunded to authorities, the said sum of 3,650 dollars.
Alexandre Lacazette is in London ahead of a club-record move to the Premier League, and he is set to be confirmed as an Arsenal player in the next 48 hours.The Frenchman was due to undergo his Gunners medical at their London Colney training ground on Tuesday prior to finalising a 44million switch from Lyon.The transfer fee eclipses the 42.5m spent by Arsenal on Mesut Ozil in 2013.Arsenal made an unsuccessful 29m bid to sign the 26-year-old a year ago and saw an opening offer of 39.5m rejected this summer, before reaching an agreement with Lyon owner Jean-Michel Aulas.'The deal will happen for something between that and 43.8m. To be close to 50m is something unique, and will be a record for Arsenal and a record for Lyon,' Aulas said of the impending transfer.'One must also take into account that traditionally, a club like Arsenal do not have the habit of spending so much for one player.'We will without a doubt hit a record. It is not a small transfer, 50m for a player who was produced by our club.'Lacazette has been with Lyon since the start of his career, scoring 129 goals in 275 games for his hometown club. Last season he scored 37 times in 45 appearances.
Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose has said that the trip to London by First Lady, Mrs Aisha Buhari was a confirmation that President Muh...

Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose has said that the trip to London by First Lady, Mrs Aisha Buhari was a confirmation that President Muhammadu Buharis health had deteriorated.





He said that it is six days since I addressed the press and today, I still insist that the President is indeed on life-support.

Special Assistant to the Governor on Public Communications and New Media, Lere Olayinka, quoted the governor as saying The worsened condition of the Presidents health necessitated the hurried trip of our First Lady, Her Excellency Aisha Buhari to London and it is hoped that she will have the courage to tell Nigerians the truth this time around.

He said no one is interested in President Buharis death. Rather, we are interested in freeing Nigeria from the hands of these few individuals who are presently holding the country to ransom.

Governor Fayose, who maintained that President Buhari must resign, said; Today is the 184th day of 2017. Out of these 184 days, our President has spent 107 days abroad taking care of his health.

How does a nation move forward when its President is spending the better part of his time abroad for Medicare?

For how long can Nigeria and its people wait for a President who is incapacitated? For how long can our people continue to suffer just because some people want to hold on to power at all cost?

That was the reason I raised the issue of President Buharis age, health and mental capacity in 2015 and warned against electing President him.

Speaking further, the governor said; Nigerians should be reminded that in 2010 when there was uncertainty over the health of the then President Umaru Musa YarAdua, President Buhari called on the National Assembly to impeach YarAdua.

The Minister of Information, Alhaji Lai Mohammed who was the Spokesperson of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) also said Nigerians should be briefed daily on YarAduas health status. Lai Mohammed said then that the health of the President, as a public figure cannot be of interest only to his family and friends. Nigerians have a right to know.

Just the same way President Buhari asked the National Assembly to remove YarAdua in 2010; I am also insisting that the President must be made to bow out of office so that Nigeria and its people can be saved from this state of uncertainty.

No doubt, it has been argued that since Vice President Yemi Osinbajo is already functioning as Acting President, President Buhari can be bedridden for as long as his illness last, but the reality that Nigerians must accept is that the Acting President cannot fully exercise the powers of the President.

However, pending his resignation, I am also aligning myself with what Lai Mohammed said in 2010 on YarAduas health by demanding that he (Lai Mohammed) should begin a daily briefing of Nigerians based on authentic details provided by the Presidents doctors.

Nigeria belongs to all of and its collective interest remains greater than those of any individual or group and together, we must save Nigeria.
A former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Mr. Bala Mohammed, on Tuesday asked a High Court of the FCT in Gudu, Abuja, to grant him entry into his house in Abuja sealed off by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission since May 2016 to enable him and other members of his household to retrieve some personal effects trapped in the property.The personal effects which Mohammed and his family members are seeking to retrieve from the house include 35 sets of babaringa, 15 pieces of perfumes, 50 sets of leather handbags, 65 pairs of shoes, over 35 boxes of clothes, bed sheets, kitchen utensils and a BMW car.The EFCC is prosecuting Mohammed before the court presided over by Justice Abubakar Talba on six counts bordering on abuse of office, receiving of gratification and making false assets declaration of some of his properties.In the application filed on June 7, 2017, Mohammed contended that he and his entire family members, as well as his domestic aides, were residing in the six-bedroom duplex at 1, Mariam Mukhtar Street, Asokoro, Abuja, until it was sealed off by the EFCC sometime in May 2016.According to a supporting affidavit deposed to by a domestic aide to the ex-minister, Mr. Umar Usman, the sealing off of the property was impromptu, and as a result, the family members moved to a guest house and have been surviving on few personal effects they had to purchase out of desperation.Usman stated, That there are numerous items belonging to the family members trapped in the property, which if not recovered would be lost and constitute a huge economic loss to the respective owners.That further to that, the personal effects of the defendant/applicants children namely: Fatima Bala Mohammed, Hauwa Bala Mohammed and Maimuna Bala Mohammed are trapped in the property.That numerous gifts secured by the defendant/applicants wife, Mrs. Lami Bala Mohammed in respect of her charity/humanitarian works, meant for distribution to the less-privileged during this Ramadan period are currently trapped in the property.The affidavit also stated that none of the personal properties of the defendant/applicant was connected with the charges preferred against the ex-minister and the proof of evidence.That the defendant/applicant and his family have been suffering a lot of hardship as a result of the deprivation, it added.The ex-minister lawyer, Mr. Frank Molokwu, who is of the law firm of Chris Uche (SAN), therefore prayed for, an order granting the defendant/applicant and his family members entry to his premises located at No. 1, Mukhtar Street, Asokoro, Abuja, currently sealed off by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, in order to retrieve his personal effects and those of other members of his family.At the Tuesdays proceedings, EFCCs prosecuting counsel, Mr. Ben Ikani, informed the judge that the application should not be allowed to stall proceedings.While saying he could help to facilitate how the items requested could be released to the defendant, he sought to respond to the application.He, therefore, requested that he be allowed to call his first witness.When his request was granted, he called the investigative officer, Mr. Ishaya Dauda, as the first witness.Dauda had taken his oath, when the lead defence counsel, Chief Chris Uche (SAN), noted that the investigators statement was not made to be part of the proof of evidence served on his client.Although, Ikani said, in response, that the law did not make it mandatory for him to include the investigators statement in the proof of evidence, he requested an adjournment to enable him to file an additional proof of evidence to exhibit the investigators written statement.Justice Talba, therefore, fixed Thursday for the hearing of the motion seeking the retrieval of personal effects from the sealed house.The judge then fixed October 17 for the commencement of trial.The defendant was arraigned by the EFCC on May 10, 2017.The former minister was remanded in Kuje Prison, Abuja, shortly after he pleaded not guilty to the charges read to him on May 10.But he was granted bail in the sum of N500m two days later on May 12, 2017.The anti-graft agency, in the six counts preferred against him, specifically alleged that Mohammed, while being the Minister of Federal Capital Territory Abuja, had in 2014 in Abuja did accept gratification of a house worth N550m situated at No. 2599 and 2600 Cadastral zone AO4 Asokoro District Abuja from Aso Savings and LoanLoans Bank PLC.The EFCC claimed the said house was a reward for performing his official duties, an act said to be an offence contrary to Section 18(b) of the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Act 2000, and punishable under Section 18(d) of the same Act.Mohammed was also accused of abusing his office while being FCT Minister and Chairman Board of Directors, Aso Savings and Loans Bank Plc.He allegedly used his office and position to confer corrupt and undue advantage to his associates by allocating four numbers fully detached duplexes and eleven numbers semi-detached duplexes valued at N314m through the Presidential Taskforce on the sale of government houses to them.The act was said to be an offence punishable under Section 19 of ICPC Act 2000.Some of the charges read, That you Bala A. Mohammed on October 24, 2016 in Abuja within the Judicial Division of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, in the course of filling Asset Declaration Form at Economic and Financial Crimes Commission did knowingly fail to make full disclosure of your property to wit: your property at No. 54 Mike Akhigbe Street, Jabi Abuja and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 27(3)(a) of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (Establishment) Act 2004 and punishable under Section 37(3)(c) of the same Act.
Imo State Governor Rochas Okorocha yesterday called for the list and identities of Igbo sons and daughters in various prisons and detent...

Imo State Governor Rochas Okorocha yesterday called for the list and identities of Igbo sons and daughters in various prisons and detention facilities across the world.The governor also requested for the particulars of the offences they committed to enable his administration see if it can play any role to secure their freedom.He noted that the possibility of some of them being unjustly imprisoned could not also be ruled out.Okorocha spoke in Owerri, the state capital, when he hosted defence advisers and attaches from various countries serving in Nigeria during their visit to the Government House.Defence Advisers and attaches in attendance were: Brigadier-General Augustine Agundu (Director Foreign Liaison at DIA), Col. Patrick Doyle (U.S.A), Snr. Col. Wang Runxu (China), Col. Thomas Ludulla (Germany), Col. Moussa Labbo (Niger Republic), Commodore Luciano Conegela (Angola), Col. Michael Shatamuka (Zambia), Col. Mark Nuson (Ghana), Col. Kuttche Rogger (Cameroon), Lt.-Col. Daislike Nagatani (Japan), among others.The governor noted that furnishing his administration with the particulars of such Igbo sons and daughters and the nature of the offences, which warranted their incarceration, would make his administration know the right action to take.He said: Many Igbo sons and daughters are languishing in the various prisons of the world with some for obvious reasons and some unlawfully imprisoned. I beg, as a governor of the state, that if you go home, especially those from China, Korea, Turkey and the United States of America (U.S.A) and you facilitate their release, I will be ready to come over and pick them and reintegrate them into our society.Imo is where you have the brain box of the nation: the literacy rate is very high here. We are very industrious people; we control the commerce of this nation. You have come to the right place for cultural interaction and exchange. You will meet the right people.Often than not, Nigeria receives a misconception and we suffer a very bad image across the world. Yet, this is the place everyone wants to come to. Believe me, among the foreigners who have come to Nigeria, 90 per cent of them dont normally want to go back. So, the question is: if Nigeria was bad, why are those coming in finding it difficult to go back? I think it is rather what I may call the media misinterpretation and the media war we suffer in this country.
The United States President, Donald Trump, and his daughter, Ivanka, met with two Chibok girls, Joy Bishara and Lydia Pogu on June 27 at the White House. Bishara, 20, and Pogu, 19 were among 57 girls who escaped from Boko Haram in Borno State by jumping off the back of a truck in 2014.They graduated from Canyonville Christian Academy in Oregon in February 2017.With the assistance of the Jubilee Campaign, a human rights group in Virginia, the pair relocated to the United States in August 2014. They then transferred to Canyonville Christian Academy in the state of Oregon, where they graduated.The pair will attend Southeastern University on a full scholarship at the beginning of the upcoming school year.Ivanka Trump earlier today shared more photos from their meet with the words below;
Former Aviation Minister said this in a new article titled "The Lion of the East" which he shared on his Facebook page this morni...

Former Aviation Minister said this in a new article titled "The Lion of the East" which he shared on his Facebook page this morning. Read the article below and tell us what you think.

"Let me make this abundantly clear right from the outset. I love and respect Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, the supreme leader of the Biafran movement, the founder and convener of the Indigenous People Of Biafra (IPOB) and the man that I have appropriately dubbed as the Lion of the East.

I do not however agree with him on EVERYTHING and neither do I share his views about President Goodluck Jonathan.

I do not believe that Jonathan was weak or that he was incompetent. As a matter of fact I believe that the contrary is the case.

I believe that he exhibited immense strength and courage by letting go of power even though he did NOT lose the 2015 presidential election but was rather rigged out of it and even though he did NOT need to do so.

If Jonathan had been a lesser man and if he had wanted to do so he could have knuckled down, called the bluff of the then opposition and held on to power even if it meant that the bloodthirsty sociopath that threatened to soak the nation in the "blood of dogs and baboons" if he was not declared winner of that election went ahead and carried out his threat.

Instead of calling the bullying beasts bluff and thereby endanger the lives of millions of Nigerian people, Jonathan said "my being President is not worth the drop of blood of one Nigerian" and he let go.

Only a strong and disciplined man who is not in the grip and under the power of satan and who is not driven by a primitive, bestial and compelling lust for power can do that.

Jonathan was not weak: he was strong.

Secondly I believe that his record of infrastructural development throughout the nation is second to none.

Most importantly in this context I believe that Jonathan, more than ANY other President in the history of Nigeria, did more to rehabilitate and empower the Igbo whilst he was President.

Having said this I must confess that, other than his past remarks about the Yoruba people which he made a number of years ago and which he has told me privately and said publicly that he no longer holds, I am on all fours with Nnamdi Kanu on virtually everything else.





The truth is that I have a soft spot for him and no matter what he says or does I will always love him like a brother because he has managed to do, in a very short space of time, what most cannot do in a lifetime: he has won my respect and rekindled my hope in Africa and African leaders.

I believe that he is a courageous, strong and dynamic young man and indeed the greatest thing that has happened to the Igbos in the last 103 years.

As I alluded to in an earlier essay which I wrote after meeting him for the first time in Kuje prison in 2016, he is an Ojukwu, an Nzeogwu and an Azikiwe all rolled into one.





Despite the contrived and sponsored disinformation and rubbish that his many detractors are saying and writing about him, today he remains focused on his objectives and clear about his mission: nothing appears to move him and or distract him from his calling.

He has a date with history and destiny and no matter what his enemies do to him or say about him he shall keep that date.

Most important of all is the fact that I understand what drives him and kindles his extreeme passion for the cause that he serves.

I understand his burning yet clearly repressed anger at the shoddy and inexcusable plight of his Igbo people in the contraption called Nigeria.

I can feel his pain and when you sit with him for a long period of time, to the discerning and the sensitive in the spirit, that pain is not only contagious but also literally tangible.

Rarely have I met a man that has so much genuine love and concern for his people. My admiration and respect for him remains intact and it cannot easily be diminished.

And frankly if I had been born an Igbo person, given the history and what they have been through in the hands of Nigeria over the last 57 years, I would have been far more radical and uncompromising than even he is.

The truth is that Nigeria should count herself lucky that he is a pacifist who has not called for and neither is he interested in an armed struggle.

If that had been the case and if he had made his battle-cry "blood for blood", things would have been very different today and our country would have been in the terrible vice-like grip of another civil war.

Yet despite his pacifist and non-violent approach in this struggle there are still so many that simply hate this rising young star for no just cause.

And there are thousands within the intelligensia and ranks of the Nigerian ruling elite both from the north and the south who oppose what he stands for and despise the very idea of the establishment a new, sovereign and independent Biafran nation.





As a matter of fact they find such an idea and notion deeply offensive. They believe in freedom, the rule of law, the right of self-determination, the concept of restructuring and the cause of freedom for themselves and their own but they do not believe that the Igbo people deserve the right to have such freedoms or to make such choices.

What a contradiction and what a tragedy. You are comfortable in your chains but when your Igbo brothers say they wish to break theirs and become free you seek to deny them that right and you join forces with the slave-masters and tell them that you will help them to keep the igbo in chains by force.

Can this be considered as being fair and just? Can it be right before God? Can it be sustained? Can it be justified and defended?

Is it not an intellectually dishonest, spiritually jaundiced and utterly flawed position?

Should we not bow our heads in shame when we think and talk like this? Are the Igbo not human beings too? Do they not share the same rights that we do and that we cherish?

You believe that the people of Scotland have the right of self-determination but you don't believe that the people of Biafra have that right as well.

You believe that the people of Hong Kong have the right of self-determination but you don't believe that the Biafrans have that right as well.

You believe that the Palestinians have the right of self-determination but you don't believe that the Biafrans have that right as well.

You believe that the people of Northern Ireland have the right of self-determination but you don't believe the Biafrans have that right as well.





You believe that the Basques and the people of Catalan in Spain have the right of self-determination but you don't believe the Biafrans have that right as well.

You believe that the people of the United Kingdom, Italy, France, Germany, Japan, South Korea, Canada, Israel, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, South Africa, Egypt, Iraq, Syria, Australia, Ghana, Kenya, Benin, East Timor, Ireland, Europe, the former Yugoslavia, the former Soviet Union, the former Czechoslovakia, the former Malaya, Taiwan, the Sudan, the countries of South America and South East Asia and hundreds of other nation states throughout the world and over the years have the right of self-determination but you don't believe that the people of Biafra have that right as well.





O Nigerians, who has bewitched you? And who, like Apostle Paul's Galatians in the Holy Bible, has put you under a spell?

You scream "restructuring" when you know very well that the owners of your nation and the "born to rule" will never allow it and that it is an idea and concept that ought to have been accepted, established and implemented many years ago.





What burns in the hearts and souls of most young Nigerians today, and this is especially and understanderbly so with the young people of the east, is total liberation and independence from Nigeria. That is what they want and not just restructuring. (TO BE CONTINUED)




The leader of Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu, has said that IPOB did not give any deadline for the actualization of the sovereign state of Biafra and neither did he say there would be no election without a referendum on Biafra, but government is using media to spread false information about him and the agitation for Biafra.The IPOB leader said it was the people of Biafra who said they did not want the November 18, 2017 election in Anambra State and not himself.This is even as the Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra, MASSOB, yesterday, insisted that the South-East governors and the leadership of Ohanaeze Ndigbo cannot decide for the over 50 million Igbo in the country on issues affecting the collective interest of the people.Kanu said in an interview that the people in power were employing all means to make him lose the support of his people.He said: The media has an interest in maintaining one Nigeria with those that loot, steal and cheat in the political landscape. The more Nigeria continues, the more these criminals and rogues get fatter.All those spreading nonsense about Nnamdi Kanu know that Nnamdi Kanu is the only person capable of articulating a policy that can get people out of the mess that we are in. The government wants us to remain poor, they know what they are saying is false but they continue to say so.He also advised Biafrans and Nigerians to disregard any form of false information being shared by the government. He, however, stated that he is in no position to determine how people consume information.The IPOB leader challenged the people to question the government on main issues affecting the country.He said: People should be more concerned with the gross abuse of human rights being perpetrated by DSS, Police, and Army. They should ask questions on amnesty report, the mass grave in army barracks in Onitsha, bad roads across the country despite the resources allocated to their maintenance and unemployed graduates.Kanu reiterated that nothing can make them reverse on their decision from breaking away from Nigeria.He said: There is absolutely nothing anybody can do. We have crossed the point of no return and there is nothing anybody can do. If I am alive or dead, wherever I may be, Biafra will come. If I die, it will be better because it will even make it come quicker.
The Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt.-Gen. Tukur Buratai has said over 700 Boko Haram insurgents have surrendered to troops of Operation L...

The Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt.-Gen. Tukur Buratai has said over 700 Boko Haram insurgents have surrendered to troops of Operation Lafiya Dole in Borno State.Gen. Buratai spoke yesterday at the Nigeria Army Day Celebration (NADCEL) and Photo/Art Exhibition in Abuja.According to him, remnants of the insurgents surrendered following an intensive bombardment of their hideouts on the fringes of Sambisa Forest by the Army.His words: Just a short while ago, I received the good news that about 700 Boko Haram terrorists, in the fringes of the Sambisa forest, have surrendered.It is a clear indication that the war on insurgency and terror is being won. I want to congratulate our gallant troops, Navy, Air force and Nigerians.The terrorists are surrendering because of concerted efforts of the military. They are in total disarray; they are hungry and are looking for a way out.Gen. Buratai described the exhibition as a true way of capturing facts on the ground, saying documented history acts as a bridge between the past and present for effective future planning.It is an effective way of allowing the populace relate with the feeling of truth.While we continue to fight for the unity of our country, while we continue to fight and defend territorial integrity, while we equally operate to maintain law and order in support of the civil authority, there is one very important aspect of the soldiers life, and this is what we will be showing to you today.That is the artistic side of soldiering, he said.Head of Service of the Federation Mrs. Winifred Ekanem Oyo-Ita, who was the special guest of honour, noted that the role of the Army cannot be understated.Mrs Oyo-Ita said the exhibition is an avenue to enlighten the public about the uniqueness of the Army, and make them appreciate their sacrifices,The Army Spokesman, Brig.-Gen. Sani Usman, said 70 of the surrendered terrorists were being profiled.According to him, preliminary investigation showed that among them were key commanders and influential members of the group.One of the insurgents match suspect number 225 on the terrorists most wanted list. The surrendered terrorists have been making useful statements and it is expected that many more will surrender, Usman said.
Governor of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola has on Tuesday stated that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has lost its relevance in the Sou...

Governor of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola has on Tuesday stated that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has lost its relevance in the South-Western part of Nigeria with the turning into shreds of the partys membership card by the former President, Olusegun Obasanjo who brought the party to the region.This was even as the Governor warned the opposition party against importing into the state hoodlums and mercenaries for the purpose of unleashing mayhem during the coming Osun West Senatorial by-election.Aregbesola stated these when the campaign train led by him to solicit votes for Senator Mudashir Husain moved to Ikire, in Irewole Local Government Area of the state.Aregbesola who had earlier paid a courtesy call on Akire of Ikire, Oba Olatunde Falabi, said the emergence of the All Progressives Congress at the centre has been the end of PDPs reign in the country.He said the PDPs era has gone in Nigeria particularly in the South-west as many of the partys founding fathers have dumped the party.Aregbesola held that the PDP has become a dead party in Nigeria, saying whoever returns to the party now could only meet vanity.The Governor described the move to revive the PDP through the forthcoming bye-election as an exercise in futility, saying the former President who brought PDP to the South-west openly before members of the part tore his membership card of the PDP into shreds.According to him, Why will any sensible politician at this time will want to associate with a party that is not only drowning but dead in the South-West.It will be an exercise in futility for anybody to now want to wake up a dead horse through the July 8 Osun West Senatorial bye-election when founding fathers of the party have not only deserted the party but wouldnt want to be associated with it.We are all living witnesses to how the former President openly at his ward declared that the the PDP has gone beyond redemption, hence his declaration of the obituary of the party with the symbolic trashing of his membership card , he stressed.He also took the opportunity of the campaign to warn troublemakers especially the opposition parties who are nursing the ambition of bringing in militants to unleash mayhem should people resist their underhand tendencies during the July 8 bye-election.Aregbesola, however, warned suspected militants who PDP might have engaged to turn down the offer as the state in collaboration with security agencies will do everything possible to ensure that Osun remains peaceful as ever.He said, Why will anybody think that the people of Osun who stood firm even in the face of provocation during the last general election under the supervision of the PDP led government then, would now waiver from such determination?.It is on record that despite the intimidation by the then security apparatus who invaded the state with weird looking officers who had strange looking dogs still could not deter our people from associating with our good governance, why will they be deterred by militants?.We use this medium to warn any militant who the opposition had contracted to think twice before coming to Osun as government is ever ready to use every lawful means at its disposal to smoke them out of the state, the Governor told the gathering
About nine persons, mostly secondary school boys, have been arrested for organizing India hemp festival in Kwara State.The arrested persons...

About nine persons, mostly secondary school boys, have been arrested for organizing India hemp festival in Kwara State.The arrested persons were of secondary school age.





According to the Sun, police of the Adewole Divisional station, said the culprits were rounded up in Aiyetoro ASA Dam area of Ilorin, on Tuesday.

The state Police Public Relations Officer, Ajayi Okasanmi, confirmed the incident.

He said, I have just received the report and I cannot confirm the number of those that were arrested. It happened under the jurisdiction of the D Division under Adewole but by tomorrow (Wednesday), the issue will be clearer.

Also speaking on the development, National President of Ilorin Emirate Descendant Progressive Union, IEDPU, Alhaji Abdulhamid Adi, said, About few days ago, the organisers pasted posters informing that they wanted to hold an Indian hemp festival where they will smoke hemp for a whole day.

When we heard of it, we wrote them that they should not do such and also informed the police who also wrote to them but they insisted.

 On the said day, they started smoking hemp and the police swung into action and arrested nine of them. Since then, we have been having pressures from high quarters to release them but we refused.

 We later gave them three options which include for them to be handed over to NDLEA for them to be rehabilitated; for them to be locked up with the police and charged to court the following day but they opted for the last option.
The House of Representatives has summoned the Minister of Works/Power/Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, to explain why he described members of the National Assembly as having stark and worrisome knowledge of the budget process.Lawmakers are angry over Fasholas comments on the 2017 budget, which they say are meant to incite Nigerians against the legislature.The House said the minister was part of the discussions that produced the budget.
Dennis Just, an astronomy professor from Parsippany, took home $50,000 as winner of the latest installment of "Superhuman," the new Fox competition series dedicated to people with extraordinary abilities.

In his challenge, which aired on Monday, Just had to spot the differences between two grids containing 3,440 letters. He eyed the grids at some distance, and at first worried that his vision wouldn't be sharp enough to distinguish the minute variations in the letter sequences.

"Well, ironically enough, I don't have the best eyesight," Just told host Kal Penn, a Montclair native, as he squinted behind his glasses. "That is a lot of letters."

But Just, 33, was more than qualified for the task. He demonstrates what's called (enhanced) stereoscopic vision, which means he can use each of his eyes to simultaneously focus on different objects.

"In fact, The Star-Ledger is a kind of part of it," Just told NJ Advance Media last week. Growing up in Morris County, he'd read the Sunday comics section and would instantly notice the differences between the panels in each comic.

"Basically I split up the work of my eyes," he said, making him an unstoppable force in a game of Photo Hunt. And sure enough, he didn't falter once in swiftly reporting the three tiny differences between the two grids.

An astronomy professor at the University of Arizona (no, he doesn't really use his special ability to do the job, he says), Just, who lives in Tucson, is one of two "Superhuman" contestants from New Jersey with supercharged stereoscopic vision.

The other is Jeff Hollis of Wood-Ridge, who will compete in the July 31 season finale of the show, which debuted as a special last year and is based on the German series "The Brain," or "Super Brain," which has expanded to countries including China.

In the show, panelists Mike Tyson, Jersey City's Christina Milian and Rahul Jandial, a neurosurgeon and neuroscientist, select the top three contestants. Milian called Just "handsome" and compared the bespectacled contestant to Clark Kent before the panel selected him as one of the top three and the studio audience voted him top "Superhuman."

Just bested four other contestants, including a Rubik's Cube whiz, a teen with a top-notch memory and a woman with ultra-keen muscle memory, to take the $50,000 prize.

Amy Kuperinsky may be reached at akuperinsky@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @AmyKup or on Facebook.
NEWARK -- A man was arrested Monday at Newark Liberty International Airport after Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agents caught him trying to sneak a gun through security, officials said.

The unloaded .22-caliber handgun was found by TSA officers underneath the lining of a piece of checked luggage at a security checkpoint at Newark airport, according to a statement from the TSA.

"During routine screening of checked baggage, TSA's baggage scanning system alarmed which required that the suitcase be opened and inspected," the statement said. "Once all of the contents were removed from the luggage, TSA officers unzipped the bag's lining and discovered the unloaded .22 caliber gun strapped to the frame of the suitcase."

The man, who was attempting to take the gun with him to Jamaica, was arrested by police officers with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, officials said. He was charged with weapon offenses.

The man's identity was not included in the statement. A spokesman for the Port Authority police did not immediately respond to an email seeking further information on the arrest.

Firearms are permitted in luggage if they are "properly packed and declared," the TSA said.

Alex Napoliello may be reached at anapoliello@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @alexnapoNJ. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
Here's how Hudson County state legislators reacted to the agreement reached on the state budget agreement and the Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield legislation that restructures the state's largest health insurer, that held up adoption of the $34.7 billion budget:

Assembly Speaker Vincent Prieto (D-Secaucus):

"I stood my ground for good reason - we must always put the people of New Jersey first. With this agreement, we have done exactly that.

"We are protecting ratepayers in this time of great health care uncertainty. We are protecting progressive budget priorities important to working families. We are bringing more transparency to our largest health insurer, and doing it effectively, based on what we've seen work in Pennsylvania and elsewhere.

"A key step forward was the input I sought from Horizon, which is a key player in our state's health care universe, like it or not. This agreement protects Horizon's ratepayers from unreasonable last-insurer-of-resort demands and ensures excess reserves go to either ratepayers or to reduced premiums. Horizon ratepayers - a significant part of our state's population - will not be unfairly taxed, as previous plans allowed.

"Our focus needs to be on quality health care for all residents, not creating conflict. Hopefully now we will put the focus on quality health care in this time of great national uncertainty.

"These were my goals, and I'm more than pleased to see this come to fruition.

"Insisting upon good public policy is seldom simple and rarely easy. We worked hard and moved this bill away from the governor's proposal and the bill approved by the Senate. This agreement is sound public policy that is a win for everyone."

Assembly members Raj Mukherji (D-Jersey City) and Annette Chaparro (D-Hoboken):

"The people of New Jersey deserve a budget that employs their tax dollars in a manner that is fair, judicious and aimed at making their lives better. The Democratic budget meets those criteria, and we are pleased that Speaker Prieto was able to broker a deal that makes upholding forward-looking values possible. The new Horizon legislation protects the insurer's 3.8 million policyholders while presenting a compromise that will ensure progressive ideals are a priority in New Jersey. This is a win for the people of our state."

Assembly members Angela McKnight (D-Jersey City) and Nicholas Chiaravalloti (D-Bayonne):

"We have been committed to doing what is right for New Jerseyans throughout this budget process. That is why we stood in solidarity with Speaker Prieto. We're glad that after the governor's shutdown, we have a compromise that protects Horizon policyholders and our Democratic principles. Our concerns were always with the impact on taxpayers and Horizon ratepayers who would have been impacted by the governor's callousness."

Assemblywoman Angelica Jimenez (D-West New York):

"Reopening state government has been the immediate priority since July first. New Jerseyans should not have had to endure a shutdown of state services, parks and beaches. The shutdown was an unnecessary disruption to the lives of our fellow New Jerseyans.

"The budget we released from committee and eventually passed in the Assembly put working families first, as they should be. With its passage, we put residents affected by the shutdown back to work, thankfully, limiting any further repercussions."
A man in his late-20s was gunned down in Jersey City late Monday, a spokesman for the Hudson County Prosecutor's Office confirmed.

The man was fatally shot at around 11 p.m. on Clinton Avenue near West Side Avenue -- about a half hour before a separate shooting about a mile and a half away left multiple victims wounded.

The Clinton Avenue victim was pronounced dead at the scene, Hudson County Prosecutor's Office spokesman Ray Worrall said.

Photos taken at the scene by freelance photographer Joe Shine show a white sheet that was hung up to cover the man's body.

At around 11:30 p.m., police responded to a shooting near Ocean and Bidwell Avenues, where three males -- a 35-year-old, a 17-year-old, and a 16-year-old -- had all been shot in the lower body, a source with knowledge of the investigation said.

All three were taken to the hospital and are in stable condition, the source said.

Meanwhile, the fatal shooting on Clinton Avenue is Jersey City's 13th homicide of the year, and Hudson County's 15th. That stretch of Clinton Avenue is the same block where 28-year-old Javon Murray was killed last July.
MORRIS PLAINS -- A borough resident is accused of threatening a Washington State college embroiled in a controversy over allegations of institutionalized racism and free speech suppression.

Robert W. Kerekes Jr., 53, allegedly phoned in threats to Evergreen State College on June 2, resulting in a two-day shutdown of the college, the Morris County prosecutor's office said.

Evergreen State College

He was arrested Monday and charged with terroristic threats, criminal coercion and false public alarm.

Authorities did not state what prompted the alleged threats, but Evergreen State College in recent weeks has been the focus of protests and counter-protests drawing national attention.

The demonstrations escalated after a college professor objected to a "Day of Absence, Day of Presence" demonstration in which whites were asked to leave campus for the day, USA Today reported.

The college's police chief did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Kerekes was being held in the county jail.

Hs arrest was jointly announced by Morris County Prosecutor Fredric M. Knapp, Federal Bureau of Investigation Assistant Special Agent in Charge Timothy Gallagher and Morris Plains Police Chief Jason Kohn.

Rob Jennings may be reached at rjennings@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @RobJenningsNJ. Find NJ.com on Facebook
ELIZABETH -- A 17-year-old fugitive from Texas, who was wanted by the U.S. Marshals Service on a capital murder charge, was arrested Friday in Elizabeth, according to reports.

Taymor McIntyre. (Photos provided by the U.S. Marshals Services)

Taymor Travon McIntyre, who U.S. Marshals had described as a "violent fugitive," was arrested without incident, according to the Star-Telegram in Fort Worth, Texas. He is being held in New Jersey pending extradition to Texas, the newspaper reported Friday.

Officials with the U.S. Marshals Service could not be reached for comment Tuesday by NJ Advance Media.

In a statement June 26, U.S. Marshals said McIntyre was believed to be in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. The agency released a description and photos of the fugitive, but did not disclose any information about the crimes for which he is wanted.

The Star-Telegram has reported that McIntyre, a rapper who goes by the name "Tay-K 47," is a suspect in a separate murder case.

In March, the fugitive cut off his ankle monitor while on house arrest in connection with the murder and a robbery, the newspaper reported. The rapper on March 27 tweeted, "they gn hav 2 catch me on hood."

Luke Nozicka may be reached at lnozicka@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @lukenozicka.

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ISLAND BEACH STATE PARK -- Colorful umbrellas occupied the sand as far as the eye could see as beachgoers soaked up the sun Tuesday on Island Beach State Park, celebrating what's left of the Fourth of July weekend following a three day shutdown.

But that doesn't mean tourists and locals forgot who was on that beach just two days ago when they couldn't be -- Gov. Chris Christie.

Patrons of the beach weren't shy in voicing their anger toward the governor shutting down beaches and then using the beach adjacent to his state-owned vacation home.

Some cursed at the notion, while others called him "arrogant," "a disgrace," and "disturbing."

While the state shutdown closed state parks and some services to the public, Christie unfairly took advantage, said beachgoer Marianne Tennpenny.

"I'm sorry I voted for him. He's the most arrogant politician we have right now," said Tennpenny, of Bayville.

Tenpenny's family was in town from Washington Township and Texas, and planned a beach day for the weekend. Due to the shutdown, she was unable to go to Island Beach State Park, for which she bought season passes.

"We get a season pass every year, we paid $175 for them and we couldn't use them. We had to pay for passes at Ortley Beach," she said. "What about all the families who came from out of the state?"

Tenpenny said she wanted to go down to the boardwalk where she often sees Christie to find him and express her feelings of frustration.

"I know he didn't want to show his face. This is the biggest blunder since Bridgegate," she said. "It's just unbelievable how arrogant he is. He's just plain arrogant."

Island Beach State Park was lined with umbrellas after a three day government shutdown stopped patrons from entering.

She called the photos of him on the beach "ridiculous," as did Barbara Kakalecik.

"It was inconsiderate and selfish. He's not thinking about the people he represents," she said.

Kakalecik and her husband John come biking to Island Beach State Park from Lavallete every weekend. They were turned away on Saturday, though John said he isn't mad at the government.

"I understand why he did what he did. I back what he did," he said.

He said the pictures of Christie on the beach didn't bother him, since using the mansion is part of the privilege of being governor.

George Sarle of Chatham said he worries about how much revenue the state lost by turning away tourists on one of the most profitable weekends of the year.

"He lost the state a lot of money," he said. "If you close the state during the biggest weekend this year you're going to have a budget issue."

Merchants near the entrance to the bathing area said business was non-existent this weekend, but hope for a big turnout Tuesday to make up for the weekend.

The shutdown also affected more than 30,000 state workers.

The park reopened after Christie signed a budget just after midnight on Tuesday. The compromise after the budget impasse lifted the shutdown as state services returned to normal business hours.

"I'm just happy to be back at Island Beach," said John Kakarecki. "It's better late than never, right?"

Sophie Nieto-Munoz may be reached at snieto-munoz@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @snietomunoz. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
Mushrooms grow well in the shade. Democracy, not so well.

The state Supreme Court acknowledged that universal truth last week, ruling that New Jersey's Open Public Records Acts - OPRA - extends to information stored electronically, as in e-mails or databases.

The decision comes as good news for journalists, researchers and everyday citizens seeking access to electronic data from the public bodies with which they do business.

The justices unanimously reversed a lower-court ruling that had made it harder to obtain such information - information that by all rights belongs to you, members of the public.

Advocates for open government, such as the New Jersey Press Association and the Reporters Committee for the Freedom of the Press, joined voices in the case.

Together with the Electronic Frontier Foundation and the New Jersey Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, they argued that "information extracted from a computer database - whether called a list a log or a response to a request - is not new information or a new record, but a government record, as defined by OPRA."

Thomas Cafferty, counsel to the New Jersey Press Association, celebrated the ruling, terming it particularly significant since more and more records are kept electronically.

Since 2002, OPRA has mandated that, with certain exceptions, government records must be readily accessible for inspection, copying or examination. This works not only to the benefit of journalists, but also to that of private citizens who need to know what their elected and appointed officials are up to.

We've seen as recently as this week how government secrecy can be both toxic and dangerous.

Working behind closed doors, far from public oversight, 13 GOP senators stealthily turned out a health-care bill which threatens to throw millions of Americans into the ranks of the uninsured.

Contrary to what Donald Trump and his followers famously believe, members of the media are not the enemy. Rather, they are the watchdogs, tasked with keeping the government accountable to the people they serve.

The relationship at times may be adversarial, and it should be. There's a good reason the crafters of the Bill of Rights included freedom of the press in the First Amendment to the Constitution.

As Justice Barry Albin wrote in last week's welcome decision: "An informed citizenry is essential to a well-functioning democracy."

With their nod to the country's founders, the justices have presented the people with one more tool to keep that democracy flourishing.

Bookmark NJ.com/Opinion. Follow on Twitter @NJ_Opinion and find NJ.com Opinion on Facebook.
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So far this summer, its been pretty quiet on the insect front.

But with the outdoor activities of July Fourth and plenty of summer yet to come, health officials say the time is right to get in the habit of protecting ourselves from mosquitoes and ticks.

Both can carry diseases  West Nile virus and others in the case of mosquitoes. While tick-borne illnesses arent as common in Nebraska and western Iowa as in other parts of the country, officials still urge people to take precautions.

Travelers also should beware, particularly those heading to areas where such diseases are more common.

Iowa officials detected the West Nile virus in captured mosquitoes last week for the first time this season.

Nebraska officials received their first report of West Nile from any source on Friday. The Four Corners Health Department, which covers Butler, Polk, Seward and York Counties, reported its first human case in a blood donor by routine screening conducted by blood collection agencies.

Health agencies also have added traps for mosquitoes that carry the Zika virus. While most who are infected suffer mild illness, the virus has been linked to severe birth defects in children of women infected while pregnant.

The primary mosquito responsible for transmitting Zika, however, is not established in Nebraska. Another species considered a less-effective carrier has been found previously in very limited numbers in southeast Nebraska.

Surveillance in Iowa last year found neither species established there.

In addition to trapping mosquitoes, the Douglas County Health Department also is using larvicide briquettes to kill mosquitoes in breeding ponds and collecting dead birds, where the virus spends part of its life cycle, for testing.
The train that moved through downtown Council Bluffs late last month on a bright Saturday morning didnt seem extraordinary at first glance  just another Union Pacific freighter with different types of cargo and railcars slowly crossing the railroad tracks in a town crisscrossed with railroad tracks.

But it was notable in one respect: It was 142 cars long. And for a manifest train  the industry term for trains with mixed cargoes and car types  it was 45 percent longer than the average Union Pacific manifest train in 2016.

The extra length was no accident. Trains are getting longer, as the nations freight railroads seek out greater efficiency  lower expenses mean higher profits  by grouping more railcars into fewer trains.

The railroads say their crews are well-equipped to handle longer trains, and that they spur a more flexible and productive transportation system, the cost of which ultimately gets passed on in the price of everything that gets moved on the nations rails, from auto parts to zinc.

Union Pacifics professional train crews receive detailed information for each train they operate, including train length and weight, and receive ongoing training to ensure they are prepared for unique train-handling situations, said Calli Hite, a spokeswoman for Omaha-based Union Pacific, the second-largest U.S. freight railroad.

But safety concerns have been raised, so far mostly by the labor unions representing the engineers, conductors and other rail workers who toil on, in and around the steel behemoths.

Some industry watchers say longer trains might mean less need for railroad labor, as more freight gets moved with fewer trains  which would be a negative for employees.

Railway labor groups still say their complaints are valid, ranging from the sheer physics of starting, stopping and handling a longer and heavier train to the amount of time that road-level crossings are blocked to emergency-response vehicles.

The various railroads are running ever-longer trains, some as long as three miles, said John Risch, national legislative director for the Sheet Metal, Air and Rail Transportation union, or SMART, which represents about 90,000 rail-industry workers. Long trains create both safety and operational concerns, and we have asked the Federal Railroad Administration to investigate the problem of long trains, he said of the government regulator.

Risch said longer trains spend more time blocking road-level crossings than shorter ones; the one in Council Bluffs late last month blocked traffic for about 11 minutes at the intersection of Second Avenue and South 12th Street.

The longer the train, the more crossings you block, and they are blocked for a longer period of time, said Risch, who spent about 30 years as a locomotive engineer for BNSF Railway. This doesnt just mean blocking people like you and me, but blocking emergency vehicles as well.

Not all of the Class I railroads disclose train length information to investors (all are publicly traded or part of a publicly traded parent company). And among those that do, some do so by number of cars, others by overall length. Industry insiders say trains of 8,000 feet, or about 1.5 miles, are common, and anything longer is somewhat atypical.

But each of the seven Class I railroads  the largest freight carriers operating in the United States  has its own guidelines on making up trains into their final configurations.

And the Federal Railroad Administration, the nations train-safety regulator, doesnt collect train-length data on a routine basis. Precise details on train length are part of accident investigations, spokeswoman Tiffany Lindemann said, such as after a derailment. But notably, there are no rules on length. It seems freight trains can be about as long as they want.

Train length data is not collected by FRA regularly, and there are not regulations over the length of Class I freight trains, Lindemann said.

What is known is that length has been increasing, albeit slowly, in some freight categories on an average basis, and on a trial basis in others.

 At Union Pacific, the average grain train last year was five cars longer than in 2013, at 101 cars; coal trains rose by two cars to 130. The manifest trains, which accounted for almost one-third of the companys freight volume last year, climbed by nine cars to 98 cars. (Railcars come in varying lengths, from about 40 feet to about 80 feet.) Train length hit an all-time record in four of the six major freight categories last year, according to the 2016 Investor Fact Book published by Union Pacific, which employs about 8,000 in Nebraska, 42,000 people overall and operates 32,100 miles of track west of the Mississippi River.

 In August 2016, Florida-based Class I freight railroad CSX announced the average length of CSX trains would increase on a route in Indiana due to track and signal improvements. In September, CSX said 14,000-foot trains would begin running between Louisville, Kentucky, and Seymour, Indiana. For comparison, 14,000 feet is about 2.7 miles, or the distance via roads from TD Ameritrade Park in downtown Omaha to Eppley Airfield.

 At Texas-based BNSF Railway, owned by Omahas Berkshire Hathaway and the largest U.S. railroad by ton-miles, longer trains are being tried out on an experimental basis, spokeswoman Amy Casas said. She said the railway is still exploring what types of productivity and efficiency gains can be achieved.

The trains of BNSF remain about 8,000 feet long on average, and longer ones arent something that we are looking at strategically for our railroad, Casas said. According to the SMART union, BNSF ran a train in April from Superior, Wisconsin, that had 246 cars and was almost 14,000 feet long.

 At Canadian Pacific Railway, train length has risen more than 1,000 feet since 2011, to 7,143 feet this year. The railroad, once considered one of North Americas least efficient, has garnered investor approbation for turning things around via such productivity maneuvers.

 Virginia-based Class I Norfolk Southern said in January 2016 train length rose 2.2 percent from a year earlier, and reached a corporate all-time record.

Risch said all the talk and statistics are one thing, and what his union members see on the ground is another: trains of up to three miles long, sometimes with hazardous materials, such as chlorine or ammonia. This year, the SMART union sent a letter to the Federal Railroad Administration asking for an investigation and an order ending excessive train length.

The letter cited what the union said was higher likelihood of mechanical failure, difficulty maintaining brake pressure when a trains exceed three miles and communications problems. A loss of brake pressure, the letter said, would require the conductor to inspect the entire length of the train  a six-mile round trip.

If a conductor must walk to the rear of the train that is two-and-a-half miles long, he is oftentimes no longer able to communicate via portable radio with the locomotive engineer due to the long distance, reads the April letter from SMART to the federal regulator. Portable radios regularly lose communications beyond a mile-and-a-half, depending on the terrain.

That communications gap, the letter states, has led railroad managers to order crews to use their personal cellphones to supplement the portable radios, orders SMART says are at odds with company policies banning mobile phones that are set higher up in the management chain.

The SMART union isnt alone in its objections. As long ago as 2014, the Railroad Workers United, a coalition of union-represented train employees from many different unions, passed a resolution condemning long trains for many of the same reasons cited by SMART.

There are so many ways that trains of greater size are more hazardous than one of lesser size that it would be like writing a novel to try to categorize all the issues with long, heavy trains, said Jeff Kurtz, a recently retired BNSF engineer working with Railroad Workers United. What is truly amazing to me is that the FRA has never really addressed the size issue.

The Federal Railroad Administration has taken no position on train length amid the objections by the labor groups, spokeswoman Lindemann said.

And even though it is only inching up at Union Pacific in some freight categories, the company talks a lot about train size. Spokeswoman Hite said in response to World-Herald inquiries about train length that increases improve productivity because more cars can be moved with fewer individual trains.

For example, it is more efficient to add a few railcars to every train rather than holding all of those same railcars to build an additional train, Hite said. This has a networkwide impact by adding capacity and increasing velocity. In short, longer trains equals fewer trains and allow us to provide better service for our customers.

It also adds to the bottom line, a topic Union Pacific executives have often mentioned to analysts and investors at conferences and on quarterly earnings teleconferences. One reason is the companys goal of achieving a 55 percent operating ratio, a cost-control benchmark closely watched by Wall Street.

Operating ratio measures a companys operating expenses as a percentage of revenue. Said another way, an operating ratio of 70 percent would mean 70 percent of the companys revenues were used for operating expenses  so the lower, the better.

Union Pacific is currently one of the leaders in the field among the seven Class I railroads operating in the United States, with an operating ratio of 63 percent last quarter, trailing only Canadian Pacific and Canadian National, which are the leaders at both just under 60 percent.

But the drive now is for a 55 percent ratio at Union Pacific, and increasing train size appears to be one path to the destination.

There is plenty of headroom inside our network, almost across the board between our three regions, for more train size opportunities, and we will, on a case-by-case, line-by-line basis, take advantage of that, Union Pacific Chief Operating Officer Cameron Scott said on a conference call with investors and analysts in May.

Scott also said on the call discussing first-quarter earnings that Union Pacific continued realizing gains in other key productivity initiatives such as train size, with records attained for the length of trains carrying grain, mixed cargoes and vehicles and vehicle parts.

Union Pacific Chief Financial Officer Rob Knight told an investor conference in June that the companys efficiency ratio has improved 24 points in the past 13 years, to 63 percent, good for the industrys top tier. Productivity, or getting more done with less, has been the way forward, Knight said.

For example, if we can find ways, which is usually not just our own decision  its working closely with our customer base  to run longer trains, Knight told attendees at a conference sponsored by Deutsche Bank in Chicago last month.

The motivation behind rail-network efficiency drives is perfectly rational, said Daniel Sherman, a transportation industry analyst for St. Louis-based wealth adviser Edward Jones who follows Union Pacific and other railroads. He said longer trains mean more cargo can be handled by fewer people and less time railcars full of valuable freight spend idling about in terminals and yards.

That does not mean that train is actually going at higher speeds or that crews are working faster, Sherman said. Instead, it means better planning and physical changes to the network, such as longer sidings, or subsidiary tracks where long trains can pull over and let other trains pass.

He said the guts of the system is car planning, or grouping railcars into trains, cargoes and destinations that maximize each train trip. Rail companies are now attempting to get it down to a cold science, like FedEx and UPS do with packages.

Better car planning means physically reworking yards and using more technology in tracking and planning routes, Sherman said. The end result of the changes should be shipping more freight on fewer trains, meaning fewer crews are needed.

A lot of it just common sense, said Larry Gross, a consultant at FTR Transportation Intelligence. He said the cost of staffing a freight train is the same regardless of how many cars are in it. So, the bigger the train, the lower the crew-cost per car, Gross said.

Managing costs is something the railroads excelled at during the recent freight slump  quarterly shipments at the seven Class I railroads fell for two straight years, a skein that ended only last quarter. Though shipments fell, trains got longer, productivity was boosted and profits remained as the companies furloughed workers, mothballed locomotives and raised prices to remain in the black.

Union Pacific, for example, remained solidly profitable throughout 2015 and 2016, when volumes fell 6 percent and 7 percent, respectively. Despite the slack demand, in 2015, the company had net income of $4.8 billion, and $4.2 billion last year. At BNSF, 2015 net income was $4.2 billion, on shipments that were little-changed from a year earlier, while 2016 profit was $3.6 billion on a 5 percent drop in volume.

But the law of diminishing returns is important when it comes to train size, Gross said: Going from 10 cars to 11 reduces the per-car cost by 10 percent, but going from 100 cars to 101 cars reduces the per-car cost by only 1 percent, he said.

Longer trains are often slower trains, Gross added, because they take longer to move through curves and other areas where speed limits are lower than on open track.

But Gross said he sees no inherent safety dangers to longer trains. Unmanned, radio-controlled locomotives in the middle or rear of trains can supply power as needed, reducing the physical forces bearing on longer trains and improving braking over what can be provided without them.

Big trains can be operated safely, Gross said. But at the risk of stating the obvious, mega-trains are generally unpopular with the towns that they pass through to the extent that there are highway-grade crossings as they take considerably longer to clear.

And as with train length, there is no federal limit as to how long trains are permitted to block traffic crossings. Cities and states often have statutes prohibiting trains from blocking a crossing for more than 10 minutes, but they are considered to be unenforceable as the matter is considered to be one of federal jurisdiction that pre-empts state law.

The issue of a states authority to legislate or regulate blocked crossings is highly contentious and still being defined in the courts, is how the Federal Railroad Administration sums it up in a Q&A on its website.

As for emergency response  as in if a blocked crossing prevents a firetruck from crossing the tracks  the new trend toward longer trains hasnt posed a problem so far. That is according to Council Bluffs Fire Chief Justin James, whose city is festooned with railroad tracks on the surface streets operated by Union Pacific and BNSF.

James said that while the department works closely with the railroads on responding to accidents involving hazardous materials, there hasnt been any discussion on train length. He said planning and training are an emergency crews best response to a blocked crossing.

Obviously, being in a city where train tracks basically divide our territory both north to south and east to west, we have become accustomed to dealing with them during an emergency response, James said. We spend a lot of time with our personnel on understanding both the streets and rail layouts in an effort to ensure we are not delayed.

Likewise, the issue of longer trains doesnt seem to have percolated throughout the emergency response community. The International Association of Fire Chiefs, based in Washington, hasnt developed a position on the matter, a spokesman said.
Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds touted wind and other renewable resources in the state during a recent trip to Washington.

Last year Iowa generated 36.6 percent of its electricity from wind, the most ever for any state. That figure is expected to keep growing, with the states two largest utilities having already started $4 billion in additional wind expansion projects.

Iowa became a national leader in wind-energy generation through early investments. Iowans reap the benefits with some of the lowest electric rates in the nation, Reynolds said in a statement after a meeting in Washington with President Donald Trump.

During a rally in Cedar Rapids last week Trump dumped on wind energy, saying, I dont want to just hope the wind blows to light up your homes and your factories. He paused before adding, as the birds fall to the ground, a reference to birds killed by turbines.

Environmentalists and politicians said the presidents suggestion that wind is unreliable was outdated and off-base, and noted that bird deaths have been minimized and arent a source of controversy in Iowa.

During his last press call before the July 4 recess, Sen. Chuck Grassley said he told a member of the White House that he was the author of the wind energy tax credit.

The number of birds killed by wind turbines is miniscule compared to birds killed by cars. There are probably more birds fly into trump tower than are killed by windmills in Iowa, Grassley said. So I hope they tell him that.

Des Moines-based MidAmerican Energy, a leader in wind, said that using a balanced mix of traditional and renewable energy sources allows the company to deliver power to customers regardless of whether the wind blows.

MidAmerican says its adoption of wind has helped make its rates among the lowest in the nation. That has also made Iowa an attractive state for companies that use lots of power but want it to be clean. Microsoft, Facebook and Google have each built large data centers in Iowa in recent years.

A recent state report says 6,000 Iowa workers are employed in the wind energy industry, including those who manufacture and install wind turbines. Farmers also benefit from receiving payments for leasing their land to host them.

Reynolds recently helped develop a state energy plan that calls for building upon the tremendous growth of Iowas wind energy industry. The plan recommends developing more energy storage infrastructure to house excess wind energy generated by turbines, which operate best during daylight.

Reynolds said the state would continue to work toward diversified energy production.

While in Washington Reynolds and Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts touted the importance of ethanol to Trump, while also meeting with EPA administrator Scott Pruitt. Reynolds discussed the renewable fuel standard with Pruitt. Ricketts and Reynolds made the case for allowing certain ethanol blends to be sold in the summer.

Were not stopping there, Gov. Reynolds said. We want to take our renewable generation to the next level by converting Iowas abundant biomass resources into energy.

Reynolds listed animal waste, farming byproducts and industrial waste among the biomass resources that could be reborn as fuel.

Iowa is a leader in energy innovation, Reynolds said. We have a solid track record of smart investments in a diversified energy portfolio.

 Joseph Morton of the BH News Service and Ryan J. Foley of the Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Nottingham Forest will make Barrie McKay their second new signing of the summer within the next 24 hours.

The 22-year-old has agreed the basic terms of a 750,000 switch from Rangers that will reunite him with Reds boss Mark Warburton.

The winger or forward completed a medical at the City Ground on Tuesday afternoon and has agreed personal terms on a four-year contract.

Having completed the majority of the formalities of his move from the Scottish Premier League club, McKay is expected to join the rest of the Forest squad on their pre-season training camp in the USA.

There has been late interest from Cardiff City in the speedy, versatile McKay, but his existing relationship with Warburton  who steered Rangers to promotion back into the Scottish top flight  looks to have worked in the Reds favour.

Once confirmed by the two clubs, Forest look to have got themselves a good deal for the Scotland international, with the player having made it clear he would not sign an extension to his deal north of the border, which was due to expire in just less than a year.

He was left out of the Rangers squad for their Europa League qualifier against Progres Niederkorn as a result  and made to train with their Under-20s squad.

But his future is now almost certainly at the City Ground, where McKay will become the second bright young talent to arrive from Scotland, following the signing of 21-year-old Jason Cummings from Hibernian.

McKay was part of the Rangers side that climbed all the way back from the Scottish Second Division into the Premier League, following their relegation over financial irregularities.

He has made 137 appearances for Rangers, including 100 starts, scoring 17 goals.

He scored five goals in the top flight last season, in 28 starts and seven sub appearances.

With Cummings, who netted 71 goals in 148 appearances for Hibs, having signed last month, Forest have now landed two of Scotlands most highly regarded young talents for a combined total of around 1.5m.
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Jobs created to support a local five-year plan to plug a 628m funding gap in health services will cost hundreds of thousands of pounds.

A Freedom of Information request, submitted by the British Medical Association, shows that Nottinghamshire County Council approved five job roles to support the Sustainability and Transformation Plan (STP) in February.

The STP - devised by local health bosses in Nottingham's hospitals, councils and other authorities - sets out draft guidelines on how services must change before 2021, and warns that there could be a 628m difference between Nottinghamshire's budget and the money required to meet the demands of the population.

The job roles include an STP director, finance lead and communications and engagement lead.

The director post is banded as a very senior manager (VSM) role, for which NHS Improvement guidance suggests a salary of 142,500 or above.

The banding for the finance lead role is yet to be confirmed but information from the STP suggests that it will either be VSM or Band 9, which pays between 79,415 and 100,431 a year.

A spokeswoman for the Nottingham and Nottinghamshire STP was unable to give a definite cost of the jobs but suggested that the total would be around 285,000.

She was unable to say whether the amount is the same as the 285,527 spent on consultancy fees while developing the STP as reported by The Post in March, or in addition to it.

The spokeswoman said: "This is an ambitious programme of work to streamline and integrate health and social care services.

"Working together across organisations we want to reduce fragmentation and duplication and support people to stay as independent as possible into later life. This will help us to reduce reliance on hospital services and residential care by shifting resources to support people at home and in the community.

"Where possible we have used existing staff from within the local health and care system to support the development of our joint five-year plan for health and social care.

"These roles include responsibility for managing STP governance processes, co-ordinating information for national assurance, communicating and engaging on our plans with the public and workforce, engaging with stakeholders outside the statutory health and local authority organisations and monitoring of implementation against timescales and budgets."

Mike Scott, spokesman for Nottingham and Notts Keep Our NHS Public, was surprised that the amount was not higher.

He said: "None of these people are actually going to be carrying out any of the services.

"All our original concerns are still very much live. We don't believe this is really about improving services. We believe it's really very much a wish list of what they hope will happen."
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A Nottinghamshire man who groomed teenage girls as young as 13 on social media has been jailed for almost five years.

Luke Atkinson, of Exchange Street, Retford, was jailed for four years and eight months at Nottingham Crown Court on Monday (July 3).

He was also made subject to a sexual harm prevention order, a restraining order not to contact his victims and ordered to sign the Sex Offenders' Register for life.

It came after the 29-year-old pleaded guilty to sexual offences, including inciting sexual activity with a child and possessing indecent images of children.

The court heard that Atkinson contacted his victims on social media and encouraged them to send him graphic images and videos of themselves.

Then, when the girls decided that they didn't want to send any more pictures of themselves, Atkinson threatened them and blackmailed them by saying he would post the pictures he already had online unless they sent more.

Nottinghamshire Police launched an investigation in April 2015, after Durham Constabulary told the force that it had received a complaint from the mother of a 14-year-old girl who had been contacted by a person on Facebook making "inappropriate sexualised comments".

Atkinson was eventually identified as the suspect and was arrested on suspicion of inciting a child into sexual activity in September 2015.

Officers identified a number of other victims after examining Atkinson's phone and he was arrested for further offences in June 2016.

In total, five girls - two from Doncaster and the others from Leeds, Gainsborough and Rotherham - came forward to give evidence against Atkinson. They were all aged between 13 and 16 years old.

One of the girls - a 13-year-old - told officers that her "heart sank" whenever Atkinson made contact with her and she feared that he would never go away.

Another victim - a 15-year-old - said she only sent graphic videos to Atkinson because he was blackmailing her and threatening to post pictures of her on Facebook if she didn't.

Detective Constable Richard Hewitt, of Nottinghamshire Police, praised Atkinson's victims for coming forward.

He said: "The girls who were subject to Atkinson's offending were so brave to come forward and speak out, giving some very upsetting interviews about their traumatic experiences.

"They showed great courage in keeping it together during a lengthy court process and that's great credit to them.

"Atkinson is a loathsome individual who threatened his victims into adhering to his demands. His actions were nothing short of disgusting but thankfully this sexual deviant is now behind bars."
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A Nottinghamshire MP has been handed a key role in Jeremy Corbyn's Labour opposition.

The leader of the opposition has announced 20 appointments to Labour's frontbench in the House of Commons, including a space for Ashfield MP Gloria De Piero.

Mr Corbyn said the appointment of "a wealth of talent" to roles outside the shadow cabinet was "further evidence that Labour is not just the opposition - we are the government in waiting".

But Tories said the changes were a sign of "chaos" within Labour.

Ms De Piero returns to the frontbench a year after joining the mass resignation of shadow ministers in the wake of the EU referendum in June 2016, as did Makerfield MP Yvonne Fovargue and Great Grimsby's Melanie Onn.

The appointment to the justice team comes after last year telling Mr Corbyn she was quitting because she did not believe he could deliver victory.

Speaking after the announcement, she said: "I am looking forward to holding this Conservative government to account and to taking up issues such as fair access to legal aid, reoffending rates and making sure victims of crime are protected and looked after properly."

Ms Onn becomes a housing spokeswoman and Ms Fovargue local government.

Holly Lynch (Halifax) takes an environment brief less than a year after resigning as an opposition whip in protest at the sacking of Rosie Winterton as chief whip, while Rachael Maskell (York Central) joins the transport team five months after quitting the frontbench to defy a three-line whip and vote against the invocation of Article 50 to take Britain out of the EU.

There were also jobs for Nick Thomas-Symonds, Louise Haigh, Roberta Blackman-Woods and Karl Turner, who took part in the mass resignation of June 2016 but returned to the frontbench later that year after Mr Corbyn's re-election as leader.

New MPs joining the frontbench less than a month after their arrival in the Commons were Paul Sweeney (Glasgow North-East), Afzal Khan (Manchester Gorton) and Anneliese Dodds (Oxford East).

Left-wingers David Drew and Chris Williamson, who lost their seats at earlier elections before returning to the Commons last month, were fast-tracked back on to the frontbenches.

There were also slots in the shadow team for Chris Ruane, returning as Vale of Clwyd MP after two years away, and Tony Lloyd, who was a minister under Tony Blair and chairman of the Parliamentary Labour Party before quitting Parliament in 2012 to run for Manchester Police and Crime Commissioner, and is now MP for Rochdale.

Former Coronation Street actress Tracy Brabin, who won Batley and Spen in the by-election forced by Jo Cox's murder last year, and retained it in the 2017 election, takes up her first frontbench post in the education team.

Labour said further appointments would be made "in due course".

Conservative MP Luke Hall said: "This reshuffle was forced on Jeremy Corbyn because of the chaos within the Labour Party which saw 49 of his own MPs defy him over Brexit.

"Labour are so divided that Corbyn is resorting to appointing a string of 'has-beens' who have previously resigned or been sacked from his frontbench. The rest have only been in parliament for a few weeks."

The Post has launched a Whatsapp group to help you keep up to date with the latest news. If you'd like to receive one daily message with the main headlines, as well as breaking news alerts, text NEWS to 07790 586202. Then add the number to your phone contacts book as 'Nottingham Post'. Your phone number won't be shared with other members of the group.
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A Polish man has been found guilty of forcing a caravan dweller into slavery.

Dariusz Parczewski has fled the country but the trial went on without him at Nottingham Crown Court.

The jury found him guilty of making a Polish man undergo forced labour between February 2013 and March the following year. He was also found guilty of three acts of fraud.

Another man, Krystian Parczewski, was found guilty of two acts of fraud.

A woman, Bozena Parczewska, who is said to have mental health problems, was found by the jury to have done acts which amounted to forced labour and three counts of fraud.

Judge James Sampson adjourned the case until August 1.

Nottinghamshire Police say they will now seek arrest warrants for the three, who are believed to be in Poland.

They fled their addresses in Aspley shortly before the trial began.

Dariusz, 48, lived at Keverne Close while Bozena, 47, lived at Tiverton Close.

Their son Krystian, 29, lived at Harwill Crescent.
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Nottingham Forest target Barrie McKay has reportedly not travelled with Rangers to Luxembourg for tonight's Europa League tie, with the Reds said to be closing in on his signature.

Cardiff City have also been linked with the winger, but the Scottish Sun claim McKay is understood to prefer a switch to the City Ground.

Forest are currently in America for a pre-season training camp until July 14, but it is reported the 22-year-old could even join up with the squad in Florida, if the finer details of a deal are thrashed out in time.

Should he make the move, McKay would link up again with Reds boss Mark Warburton, after the pair worked together at Ibrox.

The Scot has found himself frozen out at Rangers, with manager Pedro Caixinha telling him to train with the club's under-20s.

And he is said to have stayed behind as Gers make the trip to face Progres Niederkorn in the second leg of their Europa League qualifier this evening holding a 1-0 lead.

In his pre-match press conference, Caixinha had nothing to add to McKay's situation. But with Joe Garner and Andy Halliday having already gone, he said: "We want to take the team to a new level."

McKay's team-mate James Tavernier has also been linked with Forest, but is focused on tonight's clash as Rangers look to make the next round of the competition.

"We want to come over here and win comfortably. We want that early goal and then possibly more - we have looked at it and the early goal means they need three to get past us," said Tavernier.

"We are looking to keep a clean sheet at the back and the forward men are looking to score as many goals as they can."
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 ...
Thunderbirds visit North Platte Regional Airport

Even staff at the North Platte Regional Airport was surprised when the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds stopped in for fuel Monday  the day before Independence Day, to boot.

We got maybe an hour, hour-and-a-halfs notice, said Jay Niles, director of operations for Trego-Dugan Aviation in North Platte.

Niles said the Thunderbirds  the demonstration squadron of the Air Force, often performing in air shows  typically refuel in the air.

Something transpired, he said, and they werent able to.

Public relations personnel for the Thunderbirds asked the airport to let the public onto the tarmac to tour the planes during the stop. As word spread, the tarmac filled with people.

By 1 p.m., crowds had gathered outside the airports gate, as well as around the parking lot fence. Many plugged their ears and their childrens ears as the seven planes roared. Then one by one, pilots circled their planes around the tarmac for takeoff. Each of the seven jets zoomed over the airport about 1:30, and other residents reported seeing them fly over North Platte.

Niles said the Thunderbirds were flying from Michigan to Nevada. In Nevada, the Thunderbirds are stationed at Nellis Air Force Base.

Niles didnt call for extra security during the high-profile visit, he said, though the usual security personnel kept a close eye on the crowd of visitors. While Niles was unsurprised that word took off about the Thunderbirds visit, he said his employees follow rules against posting on social media about public figures visits until after they have left.
Lack of opportunity, poor hours, pay cited as common obstacles in most recent state labor report

Lack of job opportunities is the most common obstacle locally for people trying to improve their employment situation, according to a recent state report.

Potential job seekers also cited inadequate pay and inadequate hours offered by area employers as obstacles, according to the Labor Availability Report for North Platte from the Nebraska Departments of Labor and Economic Development.

The study, done in fall 2016, estimated that there were 5,007 potential job seekers, ages 18 and older, and 1,226 active job seekers in North Platte. Most potential job seekers  82.8 percent  were employed at the time. Others were out of work or seeking to re-enter the workforce after time spent in retirement or homemaking.

I briefly went through the results and will certainly be analyzing the findings even more closely in the coming weeks, said Gary Person, executive director of the North Platte Area Chamber and Development Corporation. For the most part it certainly validates the concerns we hear daily from our Chamber business members  regarding a labor shortage, frustration trying to hire new employees as well as the lack of skills from so many who are seeking employment and in some cases even among the existing workforce.

The survey indicated that more than 28 percent of potential job seekers reported having a bachelors degree or higher. However, Person said, there is a gap left by a lack of vocational trades skills because of reductions in school programs.

I know our local education systems are trying to adapt to encouraging students into skills pathways at a younger age, Person said. As a society we have to do a better job reaching the younger generation and encouraging them to go into the vocational trades as well as learning basic life skills.

Person said Americans are paying a heavy price for the lack of vocational training in todays labor force.

(It is) because so many school systems over the past couple of decades across the country de-emphasized or got completely away from vocational education because of the expense of the training, lack of teachers in those areas, and the mindset most students needed to have a four-year college degree, Person said. There are great careers and financial reward out there in the trade sector, and you dont have to have a mountain of college debt to accomplish it.

Job seekers who responded to the survey indicated they would need an hourly wage of $15 or more or a yearly salary of at least $44,500 in order to change jobs. Many said other important factors included health insurance and a work schedule that fits their needs, as well as retirement benefits.

The North Platte Chamber initiated a project to help businesses meet some of those demands.

Its one of the reasons we launched our new

WorkNP.com workforce recruitment plan to partner with local Chamber businesses to recruit additional skilled labor to Lincoln County, Person said.

Person said the chamber will study the findings.

We plan to have a Department of Labor official visit with our economic development committee in the near future regarding the labor study and its findings, Person said.
Sunday was a day of firsts for Christian Urugutia of Kearney. In the morning, he gave his first sermon at Summit Church in Kearney. In the afternoon, he accepted a first-place award in his first writing competition at the Nebraska Writers Guilds Six Corners of Nebraska event in North Platte.

During an award presentation for the Future Great Writers of Nebraska contest, Urugutia read his winning piece, titled A Message Longer than a Text to My Fellow Millennials.

The poem, which earned him a $350 prize, looks at the negative impact that social media and technology can have on peoples ability to communicate.

Urugutia is a philosophy major at the University of Nebraska at Kearney and was inspired to write the piece after walking into a classroom and greeting other students.

Every single person was on their cellphones and no one responded back, Urugutia said. In fact, people looked at me oddly for simply trying to have a conversation.

Urugutia said hes always enjoyed expressing his thoughts, opinions and feelings through writing but didnt start writing poetry until college. There are some similarities between writing a poem and writing a sermon, Urugutia said.

I try to use images that come to my mind that can speak into the hearts of every reader and listener, Urugutia said. Jesus of Nazareth was a prime example of a man who knew his audience, what was going on in their society, and used images/parables to best convey his message. I would say that I try to have the same approach.

Urugutia said hed like to enter more writing competitions. Hes grateful for those who coordinated the Six Corners event for their work recognizing young writers.

Wayne Anson, president of the Nebraska Writers Guild, said bringing attention to young writers is just as important as recognizing writers who are more established. Reading a piece out loud can be difficult for the author, so writers tend to keep their work to themselves, Anson said. By having young writers read and receive attention for their work, theyll be encouraged to write more and hopefully become more comfortable with reading later.

More authors, young and old, will be reading at the final Six Corners event in Kimball on Aug. 6. For more information, visit nebraskawriters.org.
Beef sizzling on the grill, laughter and conversation with friends and family by a bonfire, and fireworks booming in the night sky. Americans all over our great country are celebrating our nations independence. Throughout our history, the Fourth of July has offered us a chance to reflect on the things that bring us together. It stands as a reminder that our shared values are why we live in an exceptional nation.

This year is no different.

The fireworks celebrations from Boston, Massachusetts to Seattle, Washington to Seward, Americas Fourth of July City, show how the fabric that binds our nation together is stronger than any distance or disagreement that may appear to be pulling us apart. Through good times and bad, the belief that we have God-given rights has guided our country. America has been called the city on a hill, and our Declaration of Independence is what fuels the beacon of hope in a world filled with challenges and uncertainty.

Our founding document brings us together. It reminds us that the United States is a force for good, and its words give us direction as we work to make the world better.

No state has illustrated this more than Nebraska. 150 years ago, our state celebrated the first Independence Day as a full member of the Union. Our statehood helped the country take one step closer to fulfilling the principles our founders set out in the Declaration.

Nebraska was the first state admitted to the Union by Congress after the Civil War, but our admission was contested. President Johnson vetoed our entry. He disagreed with a fundamental condition of Nebraska statehood: that African-American men be allowed to vote and hold the same standing as their white counterparts.

A legislative battle soon followed. Fortunately, the forces for equality prevailed. Congress overrode Johnsons veto, and on March 1, 1867, Nebraska became a state with its fundamental condition intact.

Our state joining the Union served as a pivotal moment for our country. Nebraska gave America a chance to be better  to take one more step toward creating the more perfect Union mentioned in the Constitutions preamble.

With Nebraska statehood, America reached for a future more closely aligned with ideals we declared to be universal. Although there was, and still is, more work to be done, Nebraskas star on the American flag serves as a piece of evidence to the world that Americans really do hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

Happy Independence Day! Please remember that our shared values will hold our communities together and remind us how lucky we are to live in the best nation on Earth.

Thank you for participating in the democratic process. I look forward to visiting with you again next week.
It's the hottest topic north of the border but New South Wales players don't seem too fussed when it comes to the debate surrounding where Maroons duo Cameron Munster and Michael Morgan will line up for the State of Origin decider on July 12.

Queensland announced their Game Three squad in alphabetical order sparking a million theories as to who would replace Johnathan Thurston (shoulder) at five-eighth, and who would fill in for centre Darius Boyd (thumb) for the Suncorp Stadium showdown.

Morgan is no stranger to the representative scene having proven himself as the ideal utility for Queensland and Australia in recent years; his value on full display in Game Two when he produced a stunning offload at right centre to send Dane Gagai over for the match-levelling try.

His form for the Cowboys in Thurston's absence has been nothing short of sublime, but that doesn't guarantee him the No.6 jersey with Melbourne's Cameron Munster also in fine form for his club.

The 22-year-old was at his electrifying best against the Broncos last week and is more than capable of playing at centre or in the halves, but according to Blues centre Josh Dugan  who will line up against whichever Maroon is named in the three-quarter line  there's no point speculating about the unknown.

"They're both quality players but there's no point for us to speculate on who they're going to bring out," he told NRL.com.

"We're probably not going to know until Tuesday so our job is to worry about ourselves and what we can fix up from Game Two."

While Morgan has seven State of Origin caps under his belt, the July 12 decider will be Munster's first appearance for his state. It's a scenario that would daunt most rookies, but Blues winger Blake Ferguson is backing the Storm star to handle the occasion.

"I think he's capable of playing. He's played in big games before  he's played in a grand final  so it's not going to be too much of a hassle for him," Ferguson said.

"We havent sat down and spoken about it or anything. We'll see what happens, it's no big deal."

Wade Graham took down both Morgan and Munster en route to Cronulla's drought-breaking premiership last year and knows that each of them will ask plenty of questions of the Blues' defence.

"I haven't really thought too much about it to be perfectly honest but I know that they're two great players," Graham told NRL.com when asked how he thought the Maroons would line up.

"Morgan is an international who has really stepped up at the Cowboys with 'JT' going down, and Munster is a hell of a player as well. He's been in that Melbourne team for a few years now and he's a super player.

"Whatever role they're given they'll be hard to handle and we'll have to be at our best to stop them."



Munster, Hunt in for Maroons

Munster: Berserker St to the big time

NSW team for Origin III

Scans reveal Frizell's fresh injury

Bird keen for more action in Origin III


Fair Oaks Farms is enhancing visitors' experience with more space for kids to eat and a safe place for dogs to roam.

The FeedBarn childrens dining hall and the Central Bark Dog Park recently were added with the help of donors and business partners.

As a destination for families, we are proud to expand our offering to four-legged family members too, said Julie Basich, chief operating officer of Fair Oaks Farms. Our goal is to make this farm a pet-friendly experience for all  especially for travelers with dogs to get some exercise in a fun, safe environment.

Mars Petcare US, a pet nutrition and health care business, helped build the one-acre dog park, which features two separate fenced-off areas for small dogs and larger dogs to run around off the leash while their owners are visiting the popular agritourism attraction at the border of Jasper and Newton counties.

The Central Bark Dog Park features water troughs, exercise equipment, benches, shade shelters and cans to dispose of excrement.

At Mars, we know that pets make life healthier, happier and safer, said Jam Stewart, director of corporate communications at Mars Petcare. We are thrilled to partner with Fair Oaks Farms to create more access for people with pets to visit, eat and play."

Farm Credit and Cargill helped the working farm open its new dining hall, where school children can eat during field trips.

Telling agricultures story is increasingly important in a society where more generations of Americans are removed from the farm,  says Bill Johnson, president and CEO of Farm Credit Mid-America. Fair Oaks Farms provides guests the opportunity to learn about 21st century agriculture in engaging and entertaining ways.

The dining hall will serve both lunch and dinner to children touring Fair Oaks Farms' Dairy, Pig and/or Crop Adventures.

Cargill is a proud supporter of Fair Oaks Farms, and we are excited to see the vision of the FeedBarn become a reality, said Charles Shininger, Cargill managing director. We feel a responsibility to teach future generations about agriculture, and Fair Oaks provides the perfect environment to foster learning for children of all ages.

More than 500,000 people a year visit Fair Oaks Farms, which bills itself as "the nation's premier agritourism destination." Fair Oaks also is expected to break ground this summer on a new 100-room hotel at an estimated cost of between $8 million and $12 million.

Fair Oaks Farms serves as an educational resource regarding current and future farming practices and a center for dialogue between students, teachers and the farmers who produce the food they eat, Basich said. With over 40,000 school kids visiting annually, we are thrilled to be able to offer this new facility that better facilitates their field-trip experience.
HIGHLAND  Indiana's senior United States senator talked health care, veterans issues and opioids before marching in Monday's Fourth of July Twilight Parade.

U.S. Sen. Joe Donnelly, D-Ind., and the rest of Congress are on recess for the Independence Day holiday. But the Senate has important work ahead of it next week, as it could vote on the bill to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, as soon as then.

Donnelly and his fellow Democrats are all expected to vote against the bill in its current form because it is predicted to cause millions of Americans to lose their health insurance.

"What we're trying to do is make sure we can protect health care for every citizen, for everybody in the Region and every Hoosier," he said. "I'm willing to work with the president and anyone in the Senate to work together to make sure we can make the Affordable Care Act better."

He said July Fourth is a great time to recognize the sacrifice of America's veterans. He said he is developing a plan to institute a three-digit number, a la 911, that veterans can call to talk to someone if they're in a mental health crisis.

He is also working to reduce the country's opioid overdose epidemic by trying to reform opioid prescribing practices and get the painkiller Opana off the market. But he said the possible Obamacare repeal puts many Americans at risk of losing their coverage for addiction treatment.

"If this Senate health care bill passes ... that inevitably results in more people dying," he said.

Donnelly is up for re-election next year, in a state that voted overwhelmingly for President Donald Trump in 2016. He was asked what message Democrats should bring to voters in 2018.

"We'll fight for your health care. We'll fight for your jobs. We'll work to grow the Region," he said. "And we'll make sure that every child has a chance at a great education, a great job and to see their hopes and dreams come true."
GARY  Sondra Ford's Fourth of July celebration got off to an extra festive start Monday when her son flew in from his overseas military assignment for a surprise visit.

"Oh, my God!" she said after being rendered momentarily speechless upon walking in to see her eldest son waiting in a conference room at the Calumet Township assessor's office.

Staff Sgt. Christopher Morris, an 11-year active duty member of the U.S. Air Force currently deployed at the Al Udeid Air Base in Doha, Qatar, was granted leave and decided to surprise his mom with a visit.

A deputy assessor at the office, Ford thought she was heading into the conference room to help handle a special project for her boss, but instead Morris and a group of his siblings were there to surprise her.

"I was just overwhelmed," she said. "I had no idea. They actually kept a secret for the first time."

It has been about 3 1/2 years since Morris, 31, last saw his mom.

Ford said she recently had told Morris they should tell his superior officers to let him come home, but he told her he couldn't get home yet. As a result, she said, she was resigned to wait until November when his current tour of duty will be over.

"But this is like Christmas in July; literally, Christmas in July," she said. "This is great, this is awesome. I have no words and I'm never rendered speechless."

Morris' leave was granted by his supervisor, Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Harrigian, Combined Forces Air Component commander. Morris is currently on special duty assignment serving as an enlisted aide to Harrigian but his primary job is medical administration.

Morris arrived at O'Hare International Airport late Sunday afternoon where he was picked up by his brother and U.S. Navy veteran Leslie Morris, who currently works as a security guard at West Side High School in Gary.

On Monday, Calumet Township Assessor Jacquelyn "Jackie" Collins helped set up the joyous, surprise reunion at her office.

Grateful for service experience

For Christopher Morris, the surprise reunion, like his military career, far exceeded his initial expectations.

When he joined 11 years ago, Morris said he was looking for an education, financial stability and to experience the world.

"It wasn't until I joined the service that I learned discipline, character and comaraderie beyond what I expected. My experiences with joint base Honor Guard especially moved me in a mighty way in caring for others," he said. "We live and breathe the core values of integrity first, service before self and excellence in all we do."

He is highly cognizant of the sacrifices made by those who have come before him.

Morris said veterans in all the branches of service "earned the right for me to wear this uniform, so I must honor their memory and give back to the country that made me the person I am today."

Ford said she was worried when her son first joined the military in December 2005 because the country was involved in the Iraq conflicts, and she was afraid he would get deployed to an overseas battle area.

"I love my son and I don't want him in harm's way, but I do want him to serve his country because that was in his heart to do; to serve his country," she said. "And you know our country's great because of the men and women who fight for us and our freedoms."

Morris' initial wish to experience the world appears to have come true. He has served tours in South Korea as well as Qatar, been on humanitarian missions to the Phillipines, and temporary duty assignments in Japan, Germany and England as a medical administrator.

"I've enjoyed the joys of Hawaii and the pain of UAE (United Arab Emirates), but I would not change a thing," Morris said. "And the crazy part is that I'm only half my way into it. My goal in the military is to finish my bachelor's degree in health care management and transition from being enlisted to becoming an officer."

Strong family ties, influence

Born in Chicago, but a resident of Gary from the third grade, Morris is hoping to complete 20 years in the military.

He hopes to eventually buy a home suitable for his wife, Aleasha, who is an Air Force veteran and a woman he refers to as his queen, he said. She also is seeking her degree in business administration.

"She's been through a lot assisting me in my career along with juggling school and (taking care of) our three children," which includes 7-year-old Alayna and 5-year-old twins Ayden and Ryan.

Morris said he will meet up with his wife and children, who are residing with her parents in DuBois, Pennsylvania, on July 7 at a family reunion in South Carolina.

"These will be the best two weeks of my life," he said.

It all started with seeing his mother, who with "unconditional love, style and grace," he said, raised a group of productive children. His words were echoed by the children and stepchildren who joined Morris for the surprise visit.

In addition to Morris and his brother, Leslie, another brother Jeremy, is a Navy veteran, and brother Antione Ford has been in the Navy for 11 years. Other family members also are military veterans, including his stepfather Anthony Ford, a Navy veteran, and uncle Omar Menson Sr., an Army veteran who is the main reason he joined the military, Morris said. His wife's brother, Devin Kohr, also serves in the military.

Morris has some big plans for his future that include continued appreciation for the woman who raised him. He said he would like to buy his mother a house to show his appreciation for all she has done. Even that would not be enough, he said, when compared to "how she believed in me and told me as a child that through Christ all things are possible."

His mother is just as proud of Morris.

"Chris has never ceased to amaze me. He has grown into a man I can't ever take credit for  I have to give it to God. Because he's the kindest soul, he's the gentlest. He's an awesome father," she said.

Ford said her son has also always been a hard worker, even as a child.

"As a young child he just had a work ethic that was off the charts, so I knew that he would make an awesome soldier because he's just off the charts."
The members of Woodmar United Methodist Church are welcoming The Rev. Esta Y. Hoover de Rosario as their new pastor. The former pastor, Alex Stone, was transferred after 8 years at Woodmar.

Throughout her childhood, Rosario was actively involved in the church through attending worship, Sunday School, youth group, singing, playing the piano and, as a teen, preaching on Youth Sunday. Rosario heard a call to pastoral ministry when she was in high school, but said no way. Being a pastors daughter, she had witnessed firsthand how draining it was to deal with people in the church and wanted no part of it, so she decided to pursue music as a career.

Rosario began her undergraduate studies in piano pedagogy and piano performance at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music in Bloomington. Following her graduation from IU in 1988, she pursued a Masters of Music at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign.

In 2002, Rosario joined the staff of the Valparaiso First United Methodist Church as the director of music, where she combined her passion for music and her call to ministry. Ten years later, in 2012, she became a certified candidate for ministry on the elder track. Rosario earned her Masters of Divinity from Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary in 2016 and was commissioned as a Provisional Elder in the Indiana Conference of the United Methodist Church on June 10.
The members of Woodmar United Methodist Church are welcoming The Rev. Esta Y. Hoover de Rosario as their new pastor. The former pastor, Alex Stone, was transferred after 8 years at Woodmar.

Rosario was raised as a theological offspring and grew up surrounded by various rural church families in the South Indiana Conference. She began her musical studies as a piano student at the age of 7 and was accompanying her schools choir by fifth grade. Throughout her childhood, she was actively involved in the church through attending worship, Sunday School, youth group, singing, playing the piano and, as a teen, preaching on Youth Sunday. Rosario heard a call to pastoral ministry when she was in high school, but said no way. Being a pastors daughter, she had witnessed firsthand how draining it was to deal with people in the church and wanted no part of it, so she decided to pursue music as a career.

Rosario began her undergraduate studies in piano pedagogy and piano performance at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music in Bloomington. Following her graduation from IU in 1988, she pursued a Masters of Music at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign. Her work experience in the area of music includes teaching private and group piano lessons in The Young Pianist's program at IU for seven years, teaching private studio piano lessons for 17 years, accompanying ballet classes for ballet majors at Indiana University and the University of Illinois, accompanying the Columbus, Indiana, Philharmonic Chorus, accompanying school choirs, accompanying instrumental and vocal recitals and teaching early childhood music classes.

Serving on the team for the first walk of the Midwest Crossroads Emmaus Community in the fall of 1999 gave Rosario the opportunity to once again hear Gods call to pastoral ministry. This time, the answer was not yet. In 2002, Rosario joined the staff of the Valparaiso First United Methodist Church as the director of music, where she combined her passion for music and her call to ministry. Being on a church staff helped to clarify and strengthen her call to ministry, and 10 years later, in 2012, she became a certified candidate for ministry on the elder track. Rosario earned her Masters of Divinity from Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary in 2016 and was commissioned as a Provisional Elder in the Indiana Conference of the United Methodist Church on June 10.

Rosario is married to Miguel Rosario, director of bands at Valparaiso High School, and they have four children.
EAST CHICAGO  The EPA continues to work toward securing funding to complete the cleanup at the USS Lead Superfund site, particularly at properties in zone 2 that do not meet "priority" standards for remediation this year.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency entered into an administrative settlement agreement in March with Atlantic Richfield Co., E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Co., The Chemours Co. and U.S. Metals Refining Co. for cleanup this year in residential cleanup zones 2 and 3 of the Superfund site.

The settlement secured about $16 million for various activities, including excavation of soil at zone 2 properties that qualify for priority status.

Zone 2 priority properties include those where the concentration in the top 6 inches of soil exceeds 1,200 parts per million for lead or 68 ppm for arsenic; where the lead concentration exceeds 400 ppm in the top 6 inches and the property is occupied by a pregnant woman or child younger than 7; and where the lead concentration exceeds 400 ppm and at least one child on the property had had a confirmed blood lead level greater than 10 ppm since 2016.

A 2012 record of decision called for excavation at residential properties where concentrations exceed 400 ppm for lead and 26 for arsenic. The three residential cleanup areas include East Chicago's West Calumet, Calumet and East Calumet areas.

Lead poisoning can cause irreversible brain damage and other health problems; arsenic is a carcinogen that can cause nausea and vomiting, decreased production of red and white blood cells, an abnormal heart rhythm and other ailments.

An earlier 2014 consent decree with du Pont and Atlantic Richfield, a successor to the Superfund site's namesake USS Lead, allocated about $26 million for cleanup costs in zones 1 and 3, but not zone 2. Excavation work in zone 1 has been put on hold pending an updated feasibility study following a decision by the city and its housing authority to relocate residents at the West Calumet Housing Complex.

Settlement 'a bridge' to future

After a recent community meeting, EPA Region 5 Acting Administrator Robert Kaplan described this year's administrative settlement as "a bridge to that future consent decree." His statement was in response to a question about cleanup at zone 2 properties that meet residential cleanup standards but don't qualify for priority status this year.

The federal agency needs to evaluate its enforcement options, but the goal would be to bring the potentially responsible parties to enter into a new consent decree, Kaplan said.

"We would have done zone 2 at the same time we did zones 1 and 3, but we felt that we had some issues of proof and we wanted to leave it for later," he said.

During the meeting, EPA remedial project manager Thomas Alcamo offered a few more details regarding EPA's investigation of enforcement options. The federal agency is going after other responsible parties, he said.

"Of course, legally, its very tricky," Alcamo said. "Some people are actually going to California soon to look at records."

A total of 93 properties in zone 2 meet priority standards for excavation this year, said Dan Haag, an on-site coordinator for EPA.

EPA had completed excavations at 44 properties as of June 23, officials said. That is in addition to 17 zone 2 properties last year and 17 properties between 2008 and 2011, records show. There are a total of about 590 properties in zone 2.

A couple of parcels at the Cardinal Terrace apartment complex will require soil remediation, but the work will not be done this year because the contamination was found at depths greater than 12 inches, Haag said. Any sod placed between July 1 and Aug. 31 will be monitored for 60 days, he said.

Tough talk from Pruitt's office

Albert Kelly, a representative for EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt, said EPA Region 5 has been doing a good job trying to bring the responsible parties to the table.

"What the administrator is willing to do, if Mr. Kaplan says, 'You know, I really have a recalcitrant responsible party here,' then hes willing to lock arms with Mr. Kaplan and say lets go get those people talked to," Kelly said. "And I think thats probably more effective than anything else."

The exclusion of zone 2 from the 2014 consent decree factored into some of the arguments attorneys made as they sought to intervene in the case. A U.S. District Court magistrate judge in Hammond ruled against residents in May, saying they didn't seek to intervene quickly enough.

Residents' attorneys have asked a U.S. District Court judge to reconsider. Attorneys for the Department of Justice filed their objections to that request in June.

Kaplan said EPA could complete cleanup of the site by 2018. However, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development still must sign off on demolition plans for the West Calumet Housing Complex. Residents have raised objections to an engineering firm's demolition plans, specifically air monitoring and the possible use of groundwater during excavation activities at the site.

Limited groundwater sampling at the site detected elevated levels of lead, arsenic, chromium, and, in fewer instances, mercury and cadmium, documents show. HUD is accepting comments on the demolition plan until July 6.
SPRINGFIELD, Ill.  The Illinois Senate voted Tuesday to override Gov. Bruce Rauner's vetoes of a $36 billion budget package fueled by a $5 billion tax increase designed to start digging out of the nation's deepest budget crisis since at least the Great Depression.

The Democratic-controlled chamber completed its work within 30 minutes of the Republican governor's vetoes, sending the package back to the House for an override vote that would give Illinois its first annual budget since 2015.

The House adjourned late Tuesday without action. A quorum of members failed to show up, prohibiting work.

"The package of legislation fails to address Illinois' fiscal and economic crisis  and in fact, makes it worse in the long run," the first-term governor wrote in a veto message that claimed the Democrats' proposal remains $2 billion in the red. "It does not balance the budget. It does not make nearly sufficient spending reductions."

Rauner's role in stymieing a budget deal since taking office in 2015 has been to demand a freeze on local property taxes and "structural" changes to boost business. The governor acted about three hours after the Senate voted to hike the personal income tax rate by 32 percent. Individual rates would go from 3.75 percent to just less than 5 percent. Corporations would pay 7 percent instead of just over 5 percent.

Democrats say it provides the revenue bridge to fund a $36 billion blueprint, which also includes $2.5 billion in spending reductions.

"We are faced today with the fierce urgency of 'now,'" the tax increase legislation's sponsor, Sen. Toi Hutchinson of Olympia Fields, said Tuesday morning before the first vote. "We don't have any more time. And too late is not good enough."

The House approved the tax increase with 72 votes on Sunday, one more than necessary, with the help of 15 Republicans. Whether they'll continue to defy Rauner remains to be seen.

House Speaker Michael Madigan announced shortly after the Senate action that there would be no House action to override Tuesday, but his spokesman said he couldn't answer why. Later, when only 54 members answered the House quorum call, Madigan and Republican leader Jim Durkin, of Western Springs, were among 64 absences.

Tuesday was the fourth day into the third consecutive fiscal year Illinois has opened without an approved budget plan. Without swift action, credit-rating houses have vowed to downgrade the state's creditworthiness to "junk," signaling to investors that buying state debt is a highly speculative venture. Government has limped along for two years on the strength of court-ordered spending, but the state comptroller says the treasury will be $185 million short of what's needed to cover basic services by August.

With a $6.2 billion annual deficit and $14.7 billion in overdue bills, the United Way predicts the demise of 36 percent of all human services agencies in Illinois by year's end. Billions of dollars in road construction work is shutting down. Public universities have been cut to the bone and face a loss of academic accreditation.

Sen. Dale Righter of Mattoon, who represents Eastern Illinois University in Charleston, was the lone Republican to support the tax increase. He said he'd like to have seen more spending reductions, "but in a Democrat-majority legislature, this is as good as we can get."

"The most important issue we face right now is the fiscal stability of our state," said Righter, a legislator since 1998. "We need to protect our critical state services and the citizens of Illinois who rely on them. This budget is balanced."

A third piece of legislation in the package, which authorizes implementing the budget, includes a provision allowing the state to borrow $6 billion to pay down the bill backlog  presumably at a lower interest rate than it pays in interest for past-due status.

If Rauner doesn't like the tax plan, the financial world does. On Monday, two of the nation's top credit-ratings agencies signaled it would be a good idea for Rauner to accept the results. Fitch Ratings and S&P Global Ratings, having earlier threatened to move Illinois' creditworthiness into "junk" status without swift action to approve a budget, smiled favorably on the financial outlook.

Rauner promised to veto the tax measure because Democrats who control the General Assembly have not agreed to resolve his pet issues, including statewide property tax relief, cost reductions in workers' compensation and benefits for state employee pensions, and an easier process for dissolving or eliminating local governments.

"It's regrettable that I stand here today not capable of being able to support this package, not because what's in the package is bad, but because it's incomplete," said the Senate's newly minted minority leader, Bill Brady of Bloomington. "We need a comprehensive budget package with reforms."

Democrats and Republicans have negotiated the issues that Rauner considers outstanding in the two weeks since the special session began. But the GOP claims talks broke down over the weekend in advance of Madigan calling the budget votes. Madigan said Monday that those talks were ongoing and Cullerton paid tribute to the cooperative pledge before leaving town Tuesday.

"I can't tell you when we'll be coming back; a lot of things depend on what happens in the House," Cullerton said, "but we'll continue to try to enact, and put on the governor's desk, many of the reforms that he's asked for."
A doctor injured in Friday's deadly shooting rampage at Bronx-Lebanon Hospital has been released.

Oluwafunmike Ojewoye was discharged Monday after recovering from a gunshot wound to her neck.

Three other people are still being treated at Bronx-Lebanon, while two others are being treated at Mount Sinai. All are expected to make a full recovery.

Authorities say Dr. Henry Bello opened fire with an assault rifle at the Mount Eden hospital before turning the gun on himself.

The hospital says it took every possible step to protect patients as it was happening.

Staff members say they stayed with patients and continued to provide essential care.

"I had to get up from underneath the bed and put the oxygen on her face, and I told her just to breathe, just keep breathing," said Donnelly Perkins, a nurse at Bronx-Lebanon Hospital. "And then I looked outside, and all the police started coming. And as far as I could see on the Grand Concourse, there were police. So I said, 'The police are here. We're going to be fine.'"

Queens resident Tracy Tam, a 32-year-old physician, was shot and killed by Bello.

Bello was a former employee at the hospital and worked there for six months before he was forced to resign in 2015.
The gunman who opened fire at Bronx-Lebanon hospital obtained his weapon legally.

There are reports Dr. Henry Bello purchased the weapon at an upstate gun shop less than two weeks ago.

The New York Times says the military style rifle had been modified specifically to comply with New York's Laws.

Bello opened fire on former co-workers inside the hospital on Friday, before taking his own life.

He was a former employee, who had worked there for six months before being forced to resign in 2015.

One doctor was killed, six other people were wounded.

Among them Oluwafunmike Ojewoye who has been discharged from the hospital to continue her recovery from a gunshot wound to her neck.
New Yorkers who love life on the water have a chance at a job with the city's new ferry service.

Hornblower, the company that operates the boats, is looking to hire about 80 new deckhands over the next month.

Those who make the cut will be trained to safely dock the ships.

The company says no maritime experience is necessary. Interested applicants only need a high school diploma and people skills.

The first ferry launched in May between the Rockaways and Lower Manhattan.

Two additional routes are now open. The fleet will eventually have 20 boats traveling along six different routes.

If you're interested in applying for one of the new jobs, head to ferry.nyc/careers.
An American flag waves from the front porch of Wilson and Dot Lees home in Opelika. Its the Fourth of July, but the couple describe themselves as patriots, regardless of the time of year.

After all, they both had ancestors who fought in the Revolutionary War.

I grew up with my father saying that we had an ancestor that had nine sons, and most of them fought in the Revolutionary War, but he didnt have it proved or anything, said Dot Lee, whose maiden name is Gaston. Both my parents were very interested in the Civil War. I had four or five ancestors who fought for the South, and we all knew about that. But as for the Revolutionary WarDaddy would always say, We did (have ancestors), and they fought against the British.

Dot Lees aunt was interested in tracing the family heritage, however, and she worked with a genealogist to trace the Gaston family line back to the war for independence. So she applied to join her local chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution.

She said, Dorothy, you need to get into the DAR. Ive gotten in, and you need to, too! Dot Lee said. But we have five children, so I was very busy back during those years.

When one of the Lees daughters received the DARs Good Citizen Award during her time as a student at Lee Scott Academy, Dot Lee attended the recognition ceremony. The award was presented during a regular club meeting of the Light Horse Henry Lee Chapter in Auburn.

One of the ladies approached me and said, If you want to get into the DAR, you can. Well be glad to help you, she recalled. I got in in 1995, and I was just thrilled.

A place in history

Like his wife, Wilson Lee had grown up hearing rumors of ancestors who made their mark in colonial America.

Since I was little, I had heard that we had some relatives who fought in the Revolutionary War, but I never really could prove it, he said. My older brother got interested in genealogy, and he started to research. He found it, but he couldnt really document it. But I have a cousin who did our genealogy. She got into the DAR, and she wanted me to join the SAR.

So Wilson Lee joined the local Richard Henry Lee chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution in Auburn, where he currently serves as president.

Dot Lee was regent of Auburns DAR chapter for two three-year terms, the limit a member can serve in that position. Both members of the couple enjoy being active with their respective groups, which emphasize service, patriotism and historical preservation. Prospective members of each organization must be able to trace their lineage back to the Revolutionary War.

You have to have written proof, Dot Lee said. Just to say, Grandma said so and so, thats fine, but that wont get you into the organization.

During his childhood, Wilson Lee also heard stories about other important possible ancestors: Richard Henry Lee and Francis Lightfoot Lee, who both signed the Declaration of Independence.

I had heard that we came from the Lees in Virginia, he said. That particular bunch of Lees was very prominent during the Revolution period. We had (two) who signed the Declaration of Independence. I havent made the official connection with them, though.

A love of country

Regardless of where they came from, the Lees have a strong passion for patriotism and the United States that they believe is important to share.

We are very grateful to be Americans, Dot Lee said. Im grateful for those in the military, that they are willing to pay the price, some of them the ultimate price. My Revolutionary War ancestor did not pay the ultimate price. He came home and started a family and raised children. But a lot of people pay that ultimate price so that you and I can just have these freedoms that we take for granted.

Wilson Lee emphasized that while many people have made the ultimate sacrifice for the freedoms enjoyed by Americans, they can be easily taken away if they are not defended.

Im just a patriot anyway, he said. Its not because my ancestor fought in the Revolutionary War. I had two brothers in World War II, and our sons in the Air Force. I just think our main objective is patriotic, to remember why were free. [For] us, being able to do what we want to do and travel and go where we want to, a lot of people paid a very high price for that.
Secretary of State John Merrill addressed voter registration, voter fraud and other topics related to the election process during the Lee County Voters League Monday meeting at St. James Missionary Baptist Church in Opelika.

Merrill said he and his staff offer voter registration drives and even going to a persons house to make it convenient for someone to sign up to vote.

My goal is to ensure that each and every eligible citizen of Alabama is registered to vote and has a photo ID, Merrill said.

In 2016, 1.25 million voted in the primary and 2.1 million voted in the general election, according to Merrill.

Since 2015, there have been 320 instances of voter fraud in Alabama. Of those instances, 170 have been adjudicated, according to Merrill.

Weve had four convictions since 2015, Merrill said. If we got one instance, thats one too many.

During the meeting, Merrill also gave a response to the question of whether or not he would turn over Alabama voter data to President Donald Trumps commission investigating alleged voter fraud. The Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity last week asked secretaries of state provide voter information that included birthdays and Social Security numbers, according to published reports.

I want to have a reasoned response as to why I would say no, Merrill said. I am not going to put peoples information at risk. I want to try to find a way to end voter fraud.
Gatesman president

Shannon Baker

Gatesman scooped up medical-device startup Ebb Therapeutics, developer of a treatment for insomnia, and non-profit National Institute for Newman Studies, which focuses on the life, work and influence of John Henry Newman, a 19th-Century English cleric and cardinal. Gatesman will provide brand messaging, media relations, social media, content creation, influencer outreach and video production services to both clients.

Walt & Co. added FleetUp, a Silicon Valley provider of intelligent fleet management and compliance solutions to service and distribution companies. The shop will furnish FleetUp with product launch campaigns, media and analyst relations, industry leadership positioning and partner/customer relations. We look forward to working closely with FleetUp as its innovative SaaS technologies transform the fleet management industry, said W&C president Robert Walt.

The Dana Agency landed Pullman Miami Airport, the first Pullman hotel to debut in North America. Owned by AccorHotels, Pullman operates more then 120 properties worldwide. TDA is responsible for media relations, marketing and special events to position PMA as a top tropical destination for business and leisure travelers.
With thanks to Oisin O'Sullivan Furniture, O'Connor Square in Tullamore, we have this fantastic prize to give away to one lucky Offaly Express reader.

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Happy birthday, United States of America!

Today is the 241st anniversary of our nations founding. The name America, though, is much older, dating back at least 510 years.

America was named after Italian navigator Amerigo Vespucci (1454-1512.) He was born in Florence and named after his paternal grandfather.

Amerigo is the Italian form of the Germanic name Emmerich. The last syllable, ric, meant power. The first part is probably derived from amal (work), though ermin (whole) and heim (home) are also possible.

The Normans brought a French form of the name to England, where it became Amery or Emery. In Latin, Amerigo became Americus.

In 1490 Florences Medici rulers sent Vespucci to Seville, Spain, to look after ships being built for them. There he befriended Christopher Columbus.

After Columbus sailed to the New World in 1492, Vespucci led at least two voyages of his own. In 1500 he discovered the mouth of the Amazon River. In 1501 he returned to South America, sailing as far south as Argentina.

Vespucci concluded that the Americas were a new continent and not just Asias eastern edge, as Columbus believed.

In 1507 a group of German scholars in Strasbourg, France, including cartographer Martin Waldseemuller, published a world geography using information from Vespucci. The book featured a map with South America (shown much larger than North America) labeled America. The books Latin introduction said the new continent was named after Americus, who discovered it and who is a man of intelligence.

By 1538 Europeans had applied the name to both North and South America.

Theres a chance the story is a bit more complex. Its unclear from the Strasbourg book whether the authors are claiming they named the continent after Vespucci themselves, or were explaining a name heard elsewhere.

As early as 1875 it was pointed out that a mountain range in Nicaragua is called the Amerrisques. Columbus saw those mountains on his fourth voyage of discovery in 1502. Theres a small possibility his sailors heard Amerrisque from natives and brought it back to Europe.

Evidence against this is that no written record of Amerrisque or America has turned up before 1507. However, it would help explain why Waldseemuller used Vespuccis first name instead of his last  an unusual choice at the time. Even if the Strasbourg scholars had somehow heard the name Amerrisque, they probably wouldnt have given it to the whole continent without knowing about Vespucci.

At any rate, a few parents in the American colonies began naming children America around the year 1750. Perhaps it was their way to reject British rule.

In 1850 the first U.S. Census listing all by name included 5,326 women and 233 men named America. The two oldest, both born in 1774, were Mrs. America Clarke of Kentucky and Mr. America Fowler of Arkansas.

America peaked as a baby name during the Civil War. The 1880 Census found 9,817 women with the name America. By 1940, that number was down to 4,616.

In 1880, when Social Securitys annual baby names lists started, the 16 Americas born that year ranked the name 422nd. It then steadily fell, leaving the top thousand in 1910.

Americo is the Spanish form. America has been used as a womans name throughout Latin America  fittingly, since South America was given its name.

Hispanic immigration brought America back into the top 1,000 U.S. names in 1998. For unknown reasons it later boomed with Latino parents, peaking at No. 410 in 2002, when 704 children were given the name America.

Its tempting to link that surge with actress America Ferrera. Born to immigrants from Honduras in Los Angeles in 1984, she was named after her mother, America Griselda Ayes.

The names 2002 peak did coincide with Ferreras first starring role, in Real Women Have Curves, where she played a Mexican-American teen who defies a controlling mother constantly criticizing her looks to win a scholarship to Columbia University. The film made Ferrera a heroine to young Latinas.

Ferrera is best known for her role in televisions Ugly Betty (2006-2010), where she again played a talented Latina criticized for her looks. This didnt help popularize her name, though. The name America fell in the rankings, dropping out of the top 1,000 with 256 newborns in 2016.

Will America rise again? In 2011, Marvel Comics created the character America Chavez, a lesbian teen superhero. If she turns up in one of the films set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, perhaps parents will be inspired. After all, America would be a great name to give a girl born on the Fourth of July.

Cleveland Evans is a Bellevue University psychology professor and author of The Great Big Book of Baby Names.
Crime in Nebraska rose 2 percent in 2016 compared with 2015, state officials said Monday.

The Nebraska Crime Commission based its statistics on the crimes of murder and manslaughter, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny and theft, motor vehicle theft and arson. There were 47,560 such crimes reported in 2016.

The number of murder and manslaughter crimes in the state dropped by 21 percent, and robberies fell by nearly 6 percent.

Most other crime rates went up. The number of violent crimes reported in 2016 increased by 8 percent, with 5,193 crimes. Reports of aggravated assault went up nearly 11 percent to 3,406 crimes and the number of motor vehicle thefts increased by 19 percent to 4,650 incidents.

The number of reported rapes grew from 658 to 801 between 2015 and 2016, nearly a 22 percent increase. Part of this jump is attributed to the recently broadened definition of rape as required by the FBI.

Hate crimes also rose, from 19 reported incidents in 2015 to 26 incidents in 2016.

While crimes in Lincoln decreased by about 3 percent last year, the number of crimes in Omaha rose by about 4 percent, to 19,406 crimes.

In communities with fewer than 100,000 residents, crime rose by about 4 percent.

Arrests also increased by about 1 percent, to 71,478 arrests in 2016.

Most arrests made last year were for drug abuse violations, with 12,415 arrests. This was followed by arrests for larceny and theft, simple assault, driving under the influence and liquor law violations.

Arrests for DUI and liquor law violations dipped about 9 percent. Last year 7,425 people were arrested for DUI and 5,217 for liquor law violations.
A 20-year-old man will require facial surgery after allegedly being sucker punched Saturday while walking home from a store in north Omaha.

Doctors said Zachary Lewis suffered five fractures to his face, including the cheekbone and orbital bone on the left side, his mother, Kathy Speranzo, said Monday. He will undergo surgery on Friday.

Lewis was attacked just before 11 a.m. at the intersection of Fontenelle Boulevard and Fowler Avenue, according to an Omaha Police Department report.

He was in a lot of pain that first day, Speranzo said. The pain has been better since the swelling went down.

Lewis told police he was crossing Fowler Avenue when a red Dodge Challenger with black racing stripes drove through the intersection, nearly hitting him. Lewis yelled at the driver to slow down and let him finish crossing the street, the report said.

The driver allegedly shouted an expletive and stopped his car. Lewis, who is 5-foot-5 and 125 pounds, said he continued walking.

The driver, who was described as being 6 feet tall and skinny, then allegedly ran after Lewis and hit him from behind with a roundhouse punch. The blow landed on the left side of Lewis face.

Lewis made it home and called police. He was taken to the hospital, where he spent about seven hours, his mother said.

Lewis family is asking anyone who may have witnessed the incident to contact police.

Its really hard looking at what that guy did, Speranzo said. It kept me up last night just thinking about it.

Anyone with any information about this incident is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 402-444-STOP (7867) or go to omahacrimestoppers.org. Tipsters remain anonymous and may be eligible for a cash reward.
Keep Omaha Beautiful is encouraging people to use environmentally friendly methods to clean up fireworks debris.

Fireworks contain a variety of pollutants, including heavy metals, sulfur-coal compounds and other poisonous materials. To ensure that these pollutants do not end up in local waterways and hurt living organisms or aquatic ecosystems, the organization says, it is important to keep fireworks waste from entering storm drains.

Chris Stratman, executive director of Keep Omaha Beautiful, said the organization advises taking these steps for safe and proper disposal:

 Wait 20 minutes after lighting a device to collect it to ensure that any remaining flame has had time to burn out.

 Submerge all fireworks remnants  including damaged, misfired or unused fireworks  in water for 15 minutes or until completely saturated.

 Wrap fireworks waste in a plastic bag and place it in a trash receptacle, away from any potential fire hazards.

 Dump the water down a toilet, not a storm drain.

 Do not spray down your driveway with a hose; that water will wash fireworks debris into storm drains.

The organization also encourages people to pick up fireworks debris left by neighbors.

A group of students from Boys Town will be conducting a fireworks cleanup with Keep Omaha Beautiful in select Omaha neighborhoods on Friday.

And on Saturday, the Omaha Police Department will host an amnesty day from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. All fireworks, firearms and ammunition will be accepted  no questions asked  at these three sites:

 Omaha Fire Station #43, 5505 N. 103rd St.

 Seymour Smith Park, 72nd and Harrison Streets

 Pottawattamie County Sheriffs Office, 1400 Big Lake Road, Council Bluffs, west parking lot.
Downtown Omaha, October 1925, the worlds largest flag covered the Douglas Street side of the Brandeis Building.

The U.S. flag was 90 feet tall and 165 feet wide, stretching from a few feet off the sidewalk up to the buildings ninth floor. It was at the time believed to be the biggest banner ever made, according to World-Herald archives.

Each of the 48 stars was 4 feet wide, the stripes 7 feet tall. Made of heavy material, the flag weighed 700 pounds and had to be held up with a series of ropes at 20-foot intervals.

The flag stayed on the building for days, coming down for repairs after it was torn and soaked by the wind and rain of an ill-timed storm.

It was, to the best of our knowledge, the single biggest act of patriotism (in square footage, at least) in the citys history. An unforgettable sight. And nobody  nobody  knows what happened to it next.

Its origins, at least, are clear. The flag was made for the American Legions seventh national convention, which Omaha was hosting that year.

The convention, which ran the first week of October, spanned 104 blocks of Omaha. If all the decorations were laid end-to-end in a straight line, they would have stretched 8 miles, said H.W. Lewis, the conventions official decorator, in 1925. Lewis told The World-Herald that the decorations for Omahas convention would be the most elaborate of any national Legion convention.

To live up to such a claim, nothing less than the worlds largest flag would do.

Old Glory was J.L. Brandeis & Sons Department Stores contribution to the festivities. Brandeis designed the flag. Scott-Omaha Tent and Awning company made it.

Strangely, the final mention of the flag in World-Herald archives came on Oct. 5, 1925, in a news item regarding the storm damage it had suffered. After that, there was no word of whether the flag went back up on the building after repairs. No mention of it being saved or disposed of. No who or how or where.

Which raises the question: What does one do with a 700-pound, 15,000-square-foot flag once one is finished with it?

Surely the historical records at the Omaha Public Library would offer some answers.

They did not.

Martha Grenzeback, a librarian, and Mark Sorensen, a specialist, couldnt find information relevant to our search. Though not for lack of trying.

In helping us, they searched the librarys archives and those of the Nebraska State Historical Society. And ArchiveGrid. And WorldCat. Grenzeback also checked in with Gary Kastrick, curator of the South Omaha Museum. He has a large collection of Brandeis holiday display items, she said, but he had no knowledge of the flag.

Perhaps the company that made the flag knew something?

Well, there was a problem there. Scott-Omaha Tent and Awning is long gone. It changed ownership and name in 1964 to Scott Manufacturing, a company that has since closed and the former president of which could not be reached.

The family of Allen C. Scott  the president of the earlier company before his death in 1964  kept no records, said his daughter, Flo Scott Wells, who still lives in Omaha.

Maybe the family that owned Brandeis before it was sold to Younkers knew what happened to the flag.

Alan Baer was the last president of Brandeis before selling the business in 1987. He died in 2002, and his wife, Marcia Baer, died in 2010. The Baers son and daughter-in-law, Ted and Kathy Baer, now run a foundation in their name.

Unfortunately, we dont have any (store) records, Kathy Baer said. Back in the day, everything was given either to the Durham Museum or the Jewish Historical Society.

Maybe one of those museums had something  some unassuming document or a quickly scrawled note on the back of a photo that would indicate the flags fate.

Nebraska Jewish Historical Society: No, sorry.

Durham Museum: Sorry.

The Durham actually had enough in its Brandeis collection to host an exhibit a few years back: A Shoppers Paradise: The Brandeis Department Store.

The collection shows what shopping was like in the early and mid-1900s in downtown Omaha. But it revealed no knowledge of the flags whereabouts, said Emma Sundberg, Durhams curator of collections.

Another dead end.

We sought the advice of Kristine Gerber, executive director of Restoration Exchange Omaha.

Here are my educated guesses of what happened to the flag, Gerber wrote in an email. Her first idea: Omaha has always been a big Boy Scout town. I would say the Boy Scouts were called in to properly burn the flag after the event. Imagine that bonfire.

And so our search moved on to the Boy Scouts.

Omahas Troop 42, which is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year, possibly would have been the organization to burn the big flag.

But Larry McNichols, whos been active in Troop 42 for more than 60 years, said he has never heard any such story. And Tom Henriksen, retired Troop 42 committee chairman, said hes not aware of the troop retiring the flag, and he said no information about the flag could be found in the troop archives.

Gerber offered another possibility: The fabric was cut into scraps by the Red Cross to make bandages.

The first Nebraska Red Cross chapter came to Omaha in 1917, and the organization is now looking into its own history for its centennial celebration.

Weve uncovered several interesting Red Cross historical tidbits, said Richard W. Dinsdale, communications manager for the Red Cross regional division. But this is a new one.

His office couldnt turn up anything about the missing flag, but it would make sense that the Red Cross could have been involved, Dinsdale said. The main reason the Red Cross was founded in Omaha was to help make bandages for the war effort.

So, by this point, wed resigned ourselves to hypotheticals: Say you had a 700-pound flag to dispose of. How specifically might you retire such a thing?

Title 4 of the U.S. Code says that the flag, when it is in such condition that it is no longer a fitting emblem for display, should be destroyed in a dignified way, preferably by burning.

Fire is the preferred method, but not the only one.

Cloth flags get burned in a fire, and synthetic material flags get cut into smaller pieces and buried, said Henriksen of Troop 42. There are many different ceremonies and procedures if you do a Google search, but burning and burying are the short version.

Michael Buss, the staff member for flag education and etiquette at the American Legions national headquarters, said burning is of course a formidable task with larger flags, but we have no doubt some creative Legionnaire will come up with a way.

Would Buss want to speculate wildly about what happened to the flag? Offer a guess, even?

No, he said. No, he would not.

The flags whereabouts remains unknown. It might have been buried or burned. Or it might be sitting in a random barn or shed, in tatters, awaiting discovery. Waiting, specifically, for the people in possession of said flag to call or email a reporter and let him know what they know. Call him or email him.
Carrie Hoarty had never before been marshal of the Yankee Doodle Parade in southwest Omaha, but she was no rookie.

Decked out in stars and stripes from head to toe and toting an American flag on a pole over her shoulder, Hoarty launched the 40th annual Trendwood Toppers Fourth of July Celebration with a hearty, All right, lets march!

That was all the signal it took to send dozens of kids and pets on decorated bicycles, scooters and wagons and afoot in a dash up South 138th Street in the Trendwood subdivision south of Boys Town.

Three-year-old scooter-pushing Joshua Kenney, wearing black cowboy boots and a red T-shirt proclaiming him an American Boy, had a few tears of frustration as he tried to keep up with his 4-year-old brother, Fulton, during the sprint. He lost a boot but quickly rebounded.

Minutes later, the paraders circled back and  with hands on hearts  recited the Pledge of Allegiance for the raising of Old Glory on a neighbors front-yard flag pole. After a verse of God Bless America, they dismissed for doughnuts down the street in the front yard of Ed and Lois LeFebvre.

So went the first five minutes of one of Omahas longest-running neighborhood Fourth of July celebrations Tuesday. Neighbors along the quiet, two-block-long street tucked between Pierce and Walnut Streets have marked the holiday annually for 40 years.

Hoarty has been to nearly all of them.

Hoarty was born 40 years ago this week in Iowa. Her parents  John and Teena Beehner  moved to a house on the block when she was a few weeks old. Now shes raising her family in the same house.

There is no place like Trendwood and our Fourth of July, Hoarty said. Its a good mix of original and new homeowners and friends and relatives. Its very special.

The neighborhood celebration was one of many across the Omaha-Council Bluffs metropolitan area marking the Independence Day holiday with parades, picnics and parties.

In Ralston, thousands turned out in star- and stripe-speckled outfits for the citys 57th annual Independence Day parade.

Bands, clowns and politicians marched along with other parade entries from 80th and Highland Streets to 73rd and Main Streets.

While it started raining at the end of the parade, numerous spectators first opened their umbrellas to protect them from the sun and from the water the Valley Fire Department truck sprayed at giggling kids.

Megan Schubert, 13, and her sister Courtney, 7, twirled batons with Sues Stepper-ettes.

Megan has been in the parade for five or six years, she said. Watching the parade is fun, but its better to be in it.

You get to see everything. she said.

Among other celebrations, there were plenty of kids  and some pets  in costumes on parade in Omaha neighborhoods. Just north of Memorial Park, neighbors took part in the 67th annual J.E. George Boulevard Fourth of July parade, part of the citys oldest and largest neighborhood celebration. And the Field Club neighborhood, near 36th Street and Woolworth Avenue, held its 35th annual parade. Festivities included brunch and games.

Back in southwest Omaha, the Trendwood Toppers  the name reflects the streets location on a neighborhood hilltop  celebration started when Bill and Marion Johnson started a Fourth of July party on their end of the block for their children and others. Their backyard swimming pool was a popular gathering place.

It ballooned on us, Marion Johnson said.

The Johnsons are the last of the original homeowners on the block. They moved into their home in 1972. It was the last house built on the block.

This year, newcomer Josie Loza Wells organized yard games for all ages. A potluck dinner featuring pulled pork sandwiches wrapped up the block party. Neighbors capped the day by carrying lawn chairs across Pacific Street to watch fireworks at Boys Town.

Carrie Hoarty was nearly upstaged as parade marshal by neighbor John Seminara, who launched the parade for decades before giving up the role last year. Seminara showed up on roller blades and wearing a loud green plaid suit.

What? You dont like the 70s? Seminara said to fashion skeptics.

Seminara and his wife, Theresa, have lived at the end of the block for 37 years. Their grown children regularly return for the annual celebration.

Its a tradition Ive got to make it to, said daughter Angel Shuey of Fort Collins, Colorado, who brought her husband, John, and children Norah and Arthur.

Lois LeFebvre, who moved onto the block 31 years ago, decorated the red wagon that her children pulled in the parade years ago for her visiting grandchildren  Lucy, 3, and Anna, 1  to ride this year.

It was the best place for our kids to grow up, she said. Its wonderful. Were blessed.

World-Herald staff writer Marcella Mercer contributed to this report.
LINCOLN  A nonpartisan group that advocates on election issues is raising concerns about a federal commissions request for voter information.

Nebraskans for Civic Reform called into question the information that can be provided under Nebraska law and how the data might be used.

The Lincoln-based group also questioned the role of a key member of President Donald Trumps voting commission, which is tasked with investigating allegations of voter fraud.

In a letter sent Monday, Nebraskans for Civic Reform and the ACLU of Nebraska urged Secretary of State John Gale to reject the commissions request to protect the integrity of our voting records and the personal privacy of countless Nebraska citizens.

Gale has not made a decision on the commissions request, said spokeswoman Laura Strimple.

A spokesman for Gov. Pete Ricketts said the Governors Office has been in touch with Gales office. Taylor Gage noted that Ricketts had not received communication from Trumps administration on the matter.

Officials in at least 10 states as of Friday said they will not comply, and more than 20 states will share at least some information.

The commissions letter, dated June 28, asks for each states publicly available voter roll data, including names, party affiliations, addresses, voting histories and the last four digits of Social Security numbers.

Nebraskas public records laws allow for some voter information to be available upon request.

A list of registered voters names, addresses, birthdates and party affiliations is considered public information and is available for purchase under Nebraska law, said Bri McLarty Huppert, director of voting rights for Nebraskans for Civic Reform.

A voters voting record  whether he or she voted in an election, not who he or she voted for  is also available.

When they register to vote, Nebraskans have the option to keep their contact information private. Officials must withhold information about stalking and domestic abuse victims who have requested confidentiality.

Those who request voter registration information must take an oath saying that they will use it only for approved purposes, such as political activities, and that they wont make copies of the information.

Such limitations are in place to help protect voters personal information, McLarty Huppert said.

If the commission intends to post the information online and there is no control over how that data is used, by sharing it Secretary Gale would run afoul of the law and put Nebraska voters in jeopardy, she said.

While the data is commonly used by political parties, its unclear what Gale might share with a federal commission.

Its also unclear what the commission, which gave states until July 14 to respond, intends to do with the information.

McLarty Huppert said her group is concerned about the commissions vice chairman, Kris Kobach, saying that he has a history of pursuing controversial voter laws, including unconstitutional voter registration laws.

Jane Kleeb, chairwoman of the Nebraska Democratic Party, said the commissions request is an overreach and is a major red flag for Nebraskans.

If Trump truly cares about the integrity of elections, our country would ensure all of our county election offices have paper ballot backups and updated election equipment along with partisan gerrymandering fixed and open polling locations on the weekends for early voting, she said.

Nebraska Republican National Committeeman J.L. Spray said Kleebs statement reflects a misunderstanding about what is confidential under Nebraska election law and what is public.

While acknowledging there is a reason to review and revise our election procedures, she wants to obstruct the good work of the commission, he said.
LINCOLN  The Nebraska State Patrol currently operates with nearly 50 vacancies in its sworn ranks, a major factor in the more than $2 million the agency has racked up in annual overtime costs in recent years.

The information contained in a state audit released late last week shows Col. Brad Rice was struggling to maintain adequate staffing within the agency before he was fired by Gov. Pete Ricketts.

The governor made no mention of staffing shortages Friday when he announced that he had terminated Rice and suspended six other patrol employees over concerns about high-level interference in internal investigations. Ricketts said the preliminary findings of his personnel review have been turned over to the FBI and the U.S. Attorneys Office.

The patrol currently employs 434 sworn officers, which is 48 fewer than full authorization, said Cody Thomas, the agencys spokesman. He said the number of vacancies is comparable to recent years and that it fluctuates month to month, mostly from retirements.

Because of the time it takes to recruit and train viable candidates, the agency is not able to quickly fill open positions, Thomas said. In addition, past state budget concerns prevented the patrol from holding training camps in 2013, 2011 and 2009, he added.

Those missed years contributed to an increase in overall vacancies, he said, adding that the patrol expects a new class of 18 recruits to graduate in August. New troopers start at $46,000 per year.

The agencys primary goal is to keep the public safe, Thomas said in an email.

That job doesnt conform to a regular schedule, and overtime is an issue of operational discretion for commanders to meet public safety needs, he said.

The audit findings were not a factor in the governors decision to dismiss Rice, said Ricketts spokesman Taylor Gage.

Officials with the troopers union have been increasingly concerned about the number of officer vacancies within the agency, said Gary Young, a Lincoln attorney who represents the State Troopers Association of Nebraska.

They dont have enough people authorized right now to do the job, Young said Monday. I think everybody would tell you right now theyre understaffed very substantially.

Having fewer people to carry out road patrols, accident responses or criminal investigations makes an already stressful job more stressful, Young said.

And it also comes with a cost to the state budget.

The audit report released Friday showed the patrol has incurred overtime expenses of $3 million between July 1, 2015, and Dec. 31, 2016. That represented payment for close to 95,000 hours of overtime and compensatory time over the 1-year period, the report stated.

Reviews of state budget documents show that the patrol has been budgeting about $2 million annually for overtime in recent years.

The report identified the top 15 overtime earners in the patrol, who added between $16,000 and $25,000 to their annual incomes. Auditors did not calculate possible savings under different staffing levels, saying that was beyond the scope of the report.

We recommend the State Patrol review the appropriateness of the overtime and compensatory hours worked by its employees, the report stated.

In its official response to the audit, the patrol said the large number of vacancies results in the overtime.

It is also important to note that the strict qualifications for officer candidates has resulted in identifying a fewer number of qualified candidates than the number of existing vacancies, the patrol stated.

A recent climate survey by the union found low morale and deep dissatisfaction with the patrols management among rank-and-file troopers. Less than 20 percent expressed confidence in the patrols leaders to work in the best interests of front-line staff, and just under half said they would recommend a job at the agency to others.

The state auditors who reviewed the agency also recommended that the patrol adopt a system to better control access to supplies of range ammunition. The agencys shooting range administrators have no system in place to reliably track ammunition for training exercises, which makes it vulnerable to theft.

The audit pointed out that State Patrol Investigator Christopher Kober of Bellevue was recently charged with felony theft for allegedly receiving more than $5,000 worth of ammunition stolen from the patrol. At attorney for Kober has denied that his client did anything criminal.

The patrol responded to the audit finding by saying it would institute better controls over ammunition supplies, and would add a second employee to track the amount of ammunition used in range exercises.
18,760 dengue cases reported in India: Health Ministry

India

oi-Chennabasaveshwar

By Chennabasaveshwar

As many as 18,760 dengue cases reported in India till July 2, 2017, and the highest number of cases from Kerala, the Health Ministry announced the numbers on Tuesday.

National vector-borne disease control program statistics show that seven out of every 10 dengue cases reported in the country were from Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Kerala has recorded a total of 9,362 confirmed dengue cases this year so far and 17 confirmed dengue deaths. The number of probable dengue cases so far is 34,875. About 80 persons are also suspected to have died of dengue till date. Typhoid, leptospirosis, and H1N1 are also being reported in the state.

Yesterday BJP and KSU workers protested near Kerala Secretariat against health minister over growing incidences of chikungunya across the state. Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala has demanded the resignation of Health Minister KK Shylaja on moral grounds.

Last month Kerala government announced a series of measures, including an operation of mobile clinics and a mass cleanliness drive, to meet the situation following the spread of various types of fever cases.

OneIndia News

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Story first published: Tuesday, July 4, 2017, 14:06 [IST]
Why Punjab farmers burn stubble at this scale when others do not

30 per cent down: How Haryana aced the decrease in stubble burning

After vacation, Rahul Gandhi to start campaign against farmers distress

India

oi-Oneindia

By Oneindia Staff Writer

New Delhi, July 4: Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi is back from his 18-day-long vacation. Recently, Rahul visited Italy to meet his grandmother and other family members.

Wondering what Rahul is up to now? As per reports, the Congress VP is all set to be a part of farmers' protest rallies in states ruled by the Bharatiya Janata Party.

Some of the states, where Rahul will address farmers' rallies are Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra, to name a few. Along with the BJP-ruled states, the Congress plans to organise agitations and rallies in Tamil Nadu as well.

Rahul will kick-start a massive outreach programme on agrarian distress, Congress members told The Economic Times.

The Congress state units in these states will be holding public meetings and dharnas to highlight problems faced by farmers and the farm sector.

The Congress' campaign to address agrarian crisis will end with various public rallies of Rahul. "There was a break after Rahulji went abroad but the party has not lost any momentum.

The public meetings and protest marches are on in the states. These will continue and finally end with rallies of the Congress VP," a senior Congress leader told The Economic Times.

The issue of farmers' distress hogged the limelight in the early part of June when farmers across MP and Maharashtra conducted massive protests demanding loan waiver and better prices for their crops. The protests turned violent when five farmers were killed in a police firing in Mandsaur, MP.

In fact, Rahul tried to visit Mandsaur to meet the families of the deceased farmers, but the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government stopped his entry in the MP-Rajasthan border citing law and order problem.

In spite of farm loan waiver announced by states like Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu, farmers are committing suicides across various parts of the country. "Suicides are continuing. We need to bring out the distress," a Congress leader said.

During these protest rallies by the Congress, the issue of impact of Goods and Services Tax (GST) on farming community will be also addressed. According to the Congress, the new tax regime which was ushered in by the Narendra Modi government on the intervening night of June 30-July 1 is different from what the former UPA-government had given shape to.

Currenyly, Congress workers are analysing the cost impact of the GST on farm sector including cost of tractors, implements and agricultural inputs.

OneIndia News

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Story first published: Tuesday, July 4, 2017, 8:55 [IST]
'Pollution not a state problem': As Delhi chokes, AAP leader passes the buck to Centre

Why Punjab farmers burn stubble at this scale when others do not

In the killing of those protecting Hindus in Punjab, a massive ISI plot revealed

Amarinder to discuss cabinet expansion with Rahul

India

pti-PTI

Chandigarh, Jul 4: Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Tuesday said that he will be meeting Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi this week to discuss the expansion of the state Cabinet.

Singh told reporters that "he will be going to Delhi on Thursday and will discuss the matter with Rahul this week".

Earlier, the expansion was expected to take place this week but since Rahul was abroad, the Chief Minister had not been able to discuss the matter with him.

After steering the party to a stupendous victory, Amarinder Singh took oath as Punjab Chief Minister on March 16.

Amarinder was sworn in as the state's 26th chief minister along with nine ministers. He can induct nine more ministers in his cabinet.

PTI
Modi not to raise internal matter like J&K during annual UNGA session next month

Amid tension, PM Modi likely to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping at G20 Summit

India

ians-IANS

By Ians English

New Delhi, July 4: In the backdrop of the standoff between Indian and Chinese troops on the India-China-Bhutan tri-junction, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is going to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping when leaders of the BRICS nations hold a meeting on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Hamburg on July 7.

"A meeting of BRICS leaders will take place in Hamburg on the sidelines of the G20 Summit on July 7," a source said on Tuesday.

"The meeting is expected to have the presence of Prime Minister Modi and the Chinese President," the source said.

China on Monday said that "India was using Bhutan to cover up the illegal entry by Indian troops into 'Chinese territory' and demanded their immediate withdrawal."

Earlier, seeing Chinese troops, personnel of a Bhutan Army camp on a ridge at a place called Zompelri rushed down and confronted the Chinese and told them that they cannot unilaterally change the existing status quo in the tri-junction.

Indian Army personnel, who were present in the general area Doka La in Sikkim on the other side, too rushed to the spot to help the Bhutanese soldiers. However, by that time the PLA had pushed back the Bhutanese and then came to a face-to-face situation with the Indian Army personnel.

The Indian soldiers too made it clear to the Chinese soldiers that they had no business changing the existing unilateral status quo in the tri-junction.

There is no Chinese territory between India's border in the Sikkim sector with Bhutan.

India and China had in 2012 reached an agreement that the tri-junction boundary points between India, China and third countries will be finalised in consultation with the concerned countries. Both the countries share three international tri-junctions with Bhutan, Myanmar and Afghanistan.

Bhutan too has written agreements with China of 1988 and 1998 stating that the two sides agreed to maintain peace and tranquility in their border areas pending a final settlement on the boundary question, and to maintain status quo as before March 1959.

Following the June 16 incident, Bhutan officially lodged a protest at the Chinese Embassy in New Delhi on June 20. Beijing and Thimphu do not share diplomatic ties.

The matter also came up for discussion at a border personnel meeting (BPM) between India and China at Nathu La in Sikkim on June 20.

Last Thursday, the Bhutanese Foreign Ministry issued a press release which stated Bhutan has conveyed to the Chinese side, both on the ground and through the diplomatic channel, that the construction of the road inside Bhutanese territory was in direct violation of the agreements and affects the process of demarcating the boundary between the two countries.

"Bhutan hopes that the status quo in the Doklam area will be maintained as before June 16," the statement said.

Though the June 16 incident is being seen as forcing India's hand to change the status quo in the tri-junction, it is understood that New Delhi has been approaching the matter in a reserved manner so that Bhutan does not come under pressure despite the fact that the road being constructed near Indian defence lines posed serious security implications.

The External Affairs Ministry in a statement on Friday said that India has taken up the matter with China at the diplomatic level both in New Delhi and Beijing.

IANS

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Story first published: Tuesday, July 4, 2017, 14:04 [IST]
Another POCSO case reported from Bengaluru school, three-year-old allegedly assaulted

India

oi-Anusha

A driver employed with an international school in Bengaluru has been arrested on charges of sexually assaulting a three and a half-year-old child. The incident is said to have taken place on Monday when the child was returning from school.

On the basis of a complaint filed by the child's parents, the south-east division police rounded up the staff of the school. The child later is said to have identified the perpetrator. On Monday, the driver, whose identity has been withheld considering the sensitivity of the case, is said to have preyed on the three and a half-year-old child after school hours when she was returning home.

The police have also recovered CCTV footage from the school premises as part of the investigation. The child is said to have been assaulted in the school van. Officials are also questioning school authorities on why the child was allowed to go with the driver alone. Guidelines to schools mandate that a woman staff has to accompany children in schools buses. Owing to citizens' protest in earlier instances of children being abused in schools, the then Commissioner of Police, Bengaluru had issued guidelines for schools that also included verification of all staff.

The shocked survivor who informed her parents of te incident was immediately taken to a hospital where the assault was confirmed. The parents filed a police complaint immediately. Police officials said that the child identified the driver but he had claimed innocence. Investigations are currently underway.

OneIndia News

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Story first published: Tuesday, July 4, 2017, 17:39 [IST]
"As parents of an ailing child, every day we hope that god will grace us this one last miracle..."

India

oi-Madhuri

The waiting room at a hospital is a great equalizer. Families from different walks of life all huddle together talking and discussing the immediate issues on hand. There are tears, distressed faces, wailing kids and ailing grandparents. Intermittent murmurs break the silence that weighs heavy in the air and the smell of cheap disinfectant looms constantly in the backdrop.

In the sea of nameless faces that pace restlessly outside the ICU at Narayana Hrudalaya Health City in Bangalore, my husband and I patiently wait for our 8 year old daughter Syeda to come out.

She has not been keeping well, her body temperature has shot up and she has had continuous bouts of nausea and vomiting over the last few days. The course of our lives changed when we first moved from our family home in Mysore to a small room five minutes away from the hospital after our six year old was diagnosed with Acute lymphoblastic leukemia in the fall of 2015.

It was the month of October and the school year was on in full swing, I remember it was just before her mid-term exams, Syeda had already missed three days of school on the pretext of high fever.

My husband and I were very concerned. So after the fifth day when her fever did not reduce and stayed steady at a 104-105 degrees, we rushed her to the JSS hospital in Mysore. She had already lost a few kilograms and looked frail, her hands were covered in big bruise marks which she scratched at incessantly till blood oozed out.

The doctors were concerned about her sudden weight loss and put her on the drip immediately. They increased her dose of antibiotics and suggested that we run a few blood tests in the morning. Two days later we were summoned into the doctor's clinic - he told us that Syeda was diagnosed with Acute lymphoblastic leukemia - words that meant nothing to us, but from his tone and expression we knew that it was serious.

He explained that she was suffering from cancer of the blood and bone marrow which affected the rate of production of her red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets and that it needed to be treated immediately.

The very next day my husband quit his job, we gathered our belongings and left for Bangalore in the hope that more qualified doctors and better hospitals would save our darling daughter from the most dangerous of childhood cancers.

My husband Syed worked seven days a week as a saleman at a silk saree emporium in Mysore with a monthly income of Rs 15,000 which paid for the schooling of the kids and other household expenses. Savings were low and mostly in the form of gold that we acquired when we wed 17 years ago.

We have since sold our family home in Mysore to pay for Syeda's treatment and now live in a small rented room five minutes from the hospital and spend most of our days at the children's ward there.

Syeda has since, undergone multiple rounds of blood transfusions and three rounds of chemotherapy. The road to her recovery has been challenging, filled with equal measure of hope and despair. She was believed to be reacting positively to her treatment with an increase in her RBC count and low recorded number of leukemia "blasts" up until December 2016 when the bone marrow reported suggested a sudden relapse.

Her lymphoblasts were recorded at 80% - considerably high, reflecting the persistence of the disease. Dr. Sunil Bhat, the Head of Pedeatric Haemotology Oncology and Bone Marrow, who is overseeing her treatment, suggested that we opt for a Bone Marrow Transplant (BMT) as curative treatment.

We have already spent a total of Rs 6 lacs for her treatment and chemotherapies. We have exhausted every last resource available to us - mortgaged our home, sold our jewellery, borrowed from friends and family. The BMT suggested by the doctors costs staggering Rs 30 lacs - an amount we can't dream of collecting.

As a last resort we have decided to start a fundraising page in her name, in the hope that kind individuals will come forward and contribute to help fund this life saving surgery.

The money will be used to pay for the extensive surgery and other medical bills. Just yesterday we got a call from the doctor saying they have found a donor whose bone marrow matches that of Syeda's. The doctor also said that not every patient finds a willing matching donor so we feel truly fortunate and blessed to have found one for our little Syeda.

We now have one month to get the finances in place. We have found new hope in this long and painful battle and are prepared to go the extra mile to save her life. As parents of an ailing child, every day we hope that god will grace us this one last miracle and we will be able to take Syeda home, back to her family, her friends and her joyful school days.

Hajira Humerea

Help Syeda's family to pay for her BMT by logging on to Ketto.org
Would I have become MP at young age if my surname wasn't Gandhi': Varun Gandhi

Bizarre trend? Villagers sending elders as tiger prey to get compensation

India

oi-Chennabasaveshwar

By Chennabasaveshwar

With rising incidents of tiger attacks on senior citizens, authorities from the Pilibhit Tiger Reserve (PTR) suspect villagers of sending elders into the forest as tiger prey in order to get compensation.

Authorities are terming it as bizarre trend that is developing in the villages bordering PTR in Uttar Pradesh. Villagers aren't entitled to compensation if their kin die in the reserve.

There has been a string of recent fatal tiger attacks on the elderly, with seven deaths reported in the proximity of the Mala forest range alone since February 16, reports Times of India.

Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB), a central government agency, raised suspicion about the tiger attacks on villagers after examining tiger attacks in the area, attacks in the vicinity of PTR, the location of the bodies, and the accounts of locals. WCCB has submitted the report to National Tiger Conservation Authority for further action.

However, villagers say that elders were willing participants as the believe that this is the only way their families can escape poverty.

OneIndia News
Conspiracy by WB govt to accord 6th schedule status to Hills of North Bengal, says GJM

India

oi-Amitava

Darjeeling, July 4, 2017: Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) Chief Bimal Gurung on Tuesday stated that the ongoing indefinite bandh in the Hills of North Bengal will continue. He further stated that the State Government is conspiring to accord the 6th Schedule status to the Hills.

The collective movement for Gorkhaland sailed into choppy seas with these statements.

Barun Roy, the Jalpaiguri Divisional Commissioner and the present Principal Secretary of the GTA took charge as the Administrator, Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) on Tuesday. With Gurung and the GJM elected and nominated members resigning en masse from this autonomous administrative body, the State Government has appointed Roy as the administrator.

Incidentally the GJM along with 12 other political parties and apolitical outfits have formed a Gorkhaland Movement Coordination Committee (GLMCC) that is to spearhead the movement for Gorkhaland. On June 29 the GLMCC had resolved that the 30 member committee would spearhead the movement instead of the GJM and would announce joint programmes.

Turning volte face, Gurung in a press conference in Patleybash in the outskirts of Darjeeling town stated "There is a conspiracy to accord the 6th Schedule status to the Hills. This has to stop immediately. We will not lift the ongoing indefinite bandh even if the GLMCC decides to lift it in the scheduled meeting on July 6. We will further intensify our movement and will now shut down the hydel projects that till now have been functioning in the Hills."

The indefinite bandh hit the 20th day mark on Tuesday. People were speculating that the GLMCC meeting slated for July 6 would bring a relief to the indefinite bandh situation.

Gurung who has been constantly demanding Central intervention, on Tuesday claimed that the Centre is in touch with him and the GJM party. "The Centre wants to hold talks with us but we have apprised them that talks can be held over the single point agenda of Gorkhaland alone" claimed Gurung.

Gurung has written to Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh demanding a CBI inquiry into the alleged police firing on June 17 in Singamari near Darjeeling in which 3 GJM activists had died.

Though Gurung made the oblique remark (without naming the GNLF) about the state hatched conspiracy of pushing through the 6th Schedule, GJM Spokesperson Binita Roka trained guns at the GNLF alleging that the GNLF hand in glove with the State Government was trying to get the 6th Schedule status through.

"The State Government and the GNLF have hatched a conspiracy to get the 6th Schedule through. The GNLF have to make their stand clear before the Coordination Committee meeting on July 6" stated Roka.

The GJM will hold a rally on Wednesday at 10 am from Railway station to the Chowrasta and then demonstrate in front of the DM office. This will be followed by a public meeting at the Chowk Bazar" stated Roka, hinting at a unilateral programme and not a joint programme as decided earlier at the Coordination Committee meeting.

Reacting to these allegations GNLF Spokesperson Neeraj Zimba stated, "It is very unfortunate that such baseless and false allegations are being leveled against us. 6th Schedule is redundant now. Forgetting all past differences we have joined hands with the GJM for Gorkhaland. How can they make such allegations unilaterally before media persons. If they wanted any clarification they could have approached us directly."

The demand for Gorkhaland shot into prominence in 1986 with Subash Ghising led Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF) spearheading a 28 month long violent agitation which left 1200 people dead. The end result of the agitation was the formation of the Darjeeling Gorkha Hills Council (DGHC- an administrative setup) with Ghising at the helm of affairs.

DGHC failed to win the hearts of the people. Subash Ghising had then made a demand for the granting of the 6th Schedule status under the Indian Constitution to the Darjeeling Hills.

The 6th Schedule protects tribal interests, tribal autonomy and their rights over land. A Memorandum of Settlement was signed by the Union Government, West Bengal Government and Subash Ghising in December 2005 to incorporate the Darjeeling Hills in the 6th Schedule.

Bills to grant 6th Schedule status to the Darjeeling was introduced in the Lok Sabha was introduced in the Lok Sabha in 2007. The Bills were referred to the Standing Committee on Home Affairs which submitted its report on Feb 28, 2008.

Meanwhile Bimal Gurung, one of the GNLF strongman and DGHC Councillor broke away from the GNLF and floated his own outfit "The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha" (GJM) with the single point programme of Gorkhaland on 7th October 2007.

Gurung and the GJM riding piggyback on the Gorkhaland demand finally managed to oust Ghising and the GNLF from the Hills thereby seizing reins of the Hills spearheading an agitation. With the ouster of Ghising and the GNLF the 6th Schedule was also shelved. The agitation culminated in the formation of the GTA.

OneIndia News

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Story first published: Tuesday, July 4, 2017, 20:06 [IST]
CPI-M dubs Modi's Israel visit as an extension of Hindutva ideology

India

ians-IANS

By Ians English

New Delhi, July 4: Senior CPI-M leader Prakash Karat on Tuesday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Israel was a part of an overall Hindutva ideology which was coming into play both domestically and in terms of foreign policy.

The former Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) General Secretary also added that Modi's visit was also an open declaration that India doesn't stand by the Palestinian cause anymore.

"What the Modi government is doing within India, this foreign policy is an extension of that," said Karat at a public meeting organised by the Palestine Solidarity Committee, stressing there was a need to oppose this direction of foreign policy as well as the strategic alliance between India and Israel "which betrays the Palestinian cause".

Modi on Tuesday arrived in Tel Aviv for a three-day visit to Israel -- the first by an Indian Prime Minister.

The visit coincides with India and Israel marking 25 years of their diplomatic relations and 50 years of occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Karat said the visit would lead to "total identification" of the Indian government -- and through that of India -- with the Israeli occupying state and would "legitimise all atrocities" and the occupation of Palestinian territories by Israel.

"This is a complete reversal from India's long-held traditional stand the centre of which was Palestinian fight for independence.

"From (Mahatma) Gandhi's time till the 1980s, India stood firm with Palestinian struggle for freedom. And today that is completely abandoned," said Karat.

IANS
We cannot wait longer now: SC to hear Vijay Mallyas contempt case in January for final disposal

ED to approach 6 nations to get details on financial dealings of Vijay Mallya

India

oi-Vicky

By Vicky

In a bid to dig out more details on the financial transactions of former liquor baron, Vijay Mallya, the Enforcement Directorate will approach six countries. The ED has decided to approach the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the US, France, Singapore, Ireland and Mauritius for details on Mallya's properties, bank accounts and shell companies.

The special court for Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) allowed the ED's plea to send Letters Rogatory (letters of request) to authorities in the six countries.

The ED is probing allegations of money laundering against Mallya. It has also booked him for defaulting on loans. The ED has said that the loan amount was laundered for his personal consumption.

The ED has alleged that Mallya has several properties in the UAE and US. He has also incorporated several companies in the US where funds were allegedly diverted the ED has further claimed.

The agency has sought bank account details and details of the companies with which Mallya exchanged transactions in other four countries.

OneIndia News
Fai days are back: How journalists, writers fueled the ideological war in Kashmir

India

oi-Vicky

By Vicky

The Centre based on inputs prepared a detailed list of 20 persons including journalists, a retired High Court judge, writers, intellectuals and government officials who have been receiving money through hawala channels to fuel the unrest in Kashmir.

Operation Clean up which was launched by the Indian government will battle the Kashmir issue on two fronts. The bullets and the ideology will both be dealt with an iron fist and they both compliment each other said a Home Ministry official.

Operation Clean up Kashmir: Is Rajiv Mehrishi, next Governor of the state?

The situation is no different when compared to the Ghulam Nabi Fai episode. There are scores of people who fuel the unrest through ideology and this has resulted in youth coming out in huge numbers and taking to violence. These persons are also the ones who have urged the youth to come out in large numbers.

The funding of these journalists and writers is very similar to what one witnessed when the US released the document on Fai. It was said that many journalists enjoyed the hospitality of Fai who ran the Kashmiri American Council, also known as the Kashmir Center.

20 including journalists, retired HC judge paid through hawala to fuel Kashmir unrest

Fai was charged with conspiring to act as unregistered agents of the Pakistan government. In other words, they acted as Inter-Services Intelligence minions in the United States. Fai would invite these journalists for conferences and they in turn would take the all expenses paid trips. During the conferences they would forward their views on Kashmir. Moreover they also availed airfare, hotel accommodation among other perks which would run into lakhs of rupees.

Not that blatant this time:

This time around it has been found that the benefits being availed are not as blatant as they used to be. There is a proper funding channel through hawala, the Intelligence Bureau has learnt.

These persons are paid to provoke and give a different narrative on Kashmir. It all started with the death of Burhan Wani. It was the ideological war that was launched that led to the problem worsening. Selective narratives on television debates apart from terming a terrorist as a poor headmaster's son were all signs of a narrative change.

Burhan Wani had become a hero overnight in Kashmir. He had become the poster boy of Jihad. We learnt during our investigation that Wani's name was used as an excuse to fuel the unrest. We found during our probe that several persons in Delhi as well as Kashmir carried out a sustained campaign to ensure that Wani became a hero and the unrest was fueled in his name, the Intelligence Bureau official also said.

OneIndia News
Former UP cop who joined All India People's Front (Radical) arrested

India

oi-Vicky

By Vicky

A retired police officer was among the 8 persons to be arrested for staging a demonstration against the Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh on Monday.

"Retired IPS officer SR Darapuri and seven others were arrested as they attempted to take out a rally at a public place without permission. They were arrested from the Chowk area," said Additional Superintendent of Police (Lucknow West) Vikas Chandra Tripathi.

Over 20 protesters were also placed under arrest in Jhansi. "In all, 31 people have been arrested in connection with the protests so far," Tripathi said.

Those arrested were protesting against the recent violence in Saharanpur. Some of them had assembled at the Roomi Gate (in Old Lucknow), while the others, including

Darapuri had gathered near the UP Press Club, he added. After retiring from the police service, Darapuri had joined the All India People's Front (Radical), a political outfit. He had also contested the 2014 Lok Sabha election from Robertsganj.

OneIndia News
Man rapes 8-year-old to use her blood for removing obstacles to his marriage

From taking bribe to playing candy crush, cops caught on wrong foot

India

oi-Oneindia

By Oneindia Staff Writer

Policing is a demanding job. We all expect policemen to be honest and hardworking to keep us safe. But at times, men in khaki are themselves caught on the wrong foot, raising doubts about the integrity of the force itself.

On Tuesday, two stories from two different states of the country highlighted how at times (or often, we don't know) cops take advantage of their position and commit crimes without any fear of the law.

A traffic police constable was caught on camera taking bribe at Shinde Ki Chhawani, Gwalior, in Madhya Pradesh, reported ANI.

After the video went viral on social media, the police department has now ordered a probe into the matter.

#WATCH: Traffic police constable caught taking bribe in Shinde Ki Chhawani, Gwalior (Madhya Pradesh). SP orders probe (03.07.17) pic.twitter.com/VnSluU2Tid  ANI (@ANI_news) July 4, 2017

Likewise, in Patna, Bihar, two police officials were spotted playing games on their mobile phones while an important meeting was underway. Instead of listening to the speakers at a seminar on drug smuggling, the two policemen enjoyed candy crush games online.

While the cops were busy playing games, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and top police officials, including the Director General of Police (DGP), stressed on the need to curb drug menace in the state which has reached an exponential proportion.

After the incident was highlighted by the media, Additional Director General of Police (ADG) SK Singhal said that such behaviour is not expected of the senior police officers.

"Such conduct is not expected of senior police officers. We will be counselling them", Singhal said.

The two cases came close on the heels of another episode of dereliction of duty by police in Uttar Pradesh.

Recently, a police officer in UP was caught sleeping during the duty hours in a PCR van while he was on duty to investigate a gang rape case in Greater-Noida.

Because of these kinds of negatives stories, the police force itself has come under scrutiny, especially at times when citizens are battling against various crimes.

OneIndia News
Governor has insulted me, I wanted to resign, says angry Mamata Banerjee

India

oi-Oneindia

By Oneindia Staff Writer

Kolkata, July 4: Levelling a series of sensational allegations against West Bengal Governor K N Tripathi, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday accused him of threatening and insulting her. She also said she wanted to resign as she was humiliated by the Governor.

The Governor had sought a report on the law and order situation following communal tension in Baduria, West Bengal. A flare up took place following a Facebook post.

"He threatened me.. he insulted me today (Tuesday). He cannot do it. He is a nominated person. I have told him you cannot talk to me like this. I am an elected person," an angry Banerjee told media persons here.

She further accused the BJP of dividing the community. Prime Minister Narendra Modi speaks about unity and on the other hand the country is being divided, she said. On the Baduria incident she said that stern action was taken by the police. I had ordered them to take action. I am observing the situation, she also said.

Considering the rivalry between TMC and BJP in the state, the fight between the CM and Governor seems to have no end. Further adding, the Bengal CM alleged that the Governor spoke like a BJP Block President to her when they met today.

Oneindia News

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Story first published: Tuesday, July 4, 2017, 18:29 [IST]
Highway liquor ban: Karnataka Chief Minister, excise ministry accused of corruption

India

oi-Anusha

An activist in Bengaluru has filed a complaint against Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and the state's excise department. The complainant has accused Siddaramaiah and his excise department officials of indulging in brazen corrupt practices over renewal, cancellation of liquor licences throughout the state. The ministry is headed by Siddaramaiah himself.

In a complaint filed with the Anti-Corruption Bureau on Tuesday, Ravi Krishna Reddy, a member of Lanchamuktha Karnataka Nirmana Vedike alleged that widescale corruption had taken place in the last one week with excise department misusing confusion over Supreme Court order banning the sale of liquor on highways. "As anti-corruption activists, we have come across disturbing information that the Excise Department has already indulged in widespread corruption in the whole exercise of renewing and cancelling liquor licenses. In few cases the department headed by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has deliberately and wrongfully refused ti renew the licenses with the sole intention of subsequently extracting bribes from vendors," said Ravi Krishna Reddy.

The complaint also alleges that in some cases, the Excise department is extracting huge sums of money to renew licenses on the frivolous pretext of their shops violating Supreme Court's order despite there being no violation. "Under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, a public official owes a duty to explain why he would first refuse to renew a license only to change his stand a few days later, Failure to do so in a case where the beneficiary benefits illegally would amount to an act of corruption under sections 13(1) (d) (iii)," Reddy added.

The Complainant held that since the department came under the direct control of the Chief Minister, he should be held responsible for misdeeds of his officials. He sought the anti-corruption bureau's intervention which is incidentally also headed by Siddaramaiah after the Congress government disbanded Lokayukta police that probed corruption allegations earlier in the state. The complainant has asked ACB to probe the matter and question those involved including the Chief Minister. " Simply because it is headed by the Chief Minister, if the ACB refuses to take the complaint seriously or initiate a probe, we will approach the Supreme Court," the complainant said.

OneIndia News

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Story first published: Tuesday, July 4, 2017, 10:44 [IST]
FM Nirmala Sitharaman hints at possibility of Centre considering restoration of state status to J&K

J-K encounter: Operations continue to flush terrorists out in Pulwama's Bamnoo

India

oi-Madhuri

Jammu and Kashmir security forces on Tuesday morning conitnued their search operation following an encounter in Pulwama district's Bamnoo on Monday. One of the militants killed in the encounter has been identified as Kifayat. The operation is still ongoing.

"Two militants have been killed so far while operation is still in progress," a J&K Police spokesperson said.

Speaking to media, Brigadier H Singh, Commander 12 Sec RR said,''We have recovered 3 bodies & 3 weapons. The 2 bodies have been recovered have been identified.'' He further said,''Suspecting presence of another terrorist in the buildings around the site.''

The encounter began following a search operation in Pulwama's Bahmnoo area. The police force received specific tip-off about the presence of the militants in the area. A body of third terrorist was also recovered in Pulwama's Bamnoo.

The official said four persons sustained injuries as security forces used force to chase away stone-pelting protesters near the encounter site.

Two civilians had also sustained gunshot wounds as protesters engaged in clashes with the security forces by pelting stones at them to disrupt the anti-terror operation.

OneIndia News
"Xi Jinping emphasized that, since my meeting with the president at Mar-a-Lago, China-U.S. relations have achieved important outcomes," state broadcaster China Central Television reported, referring to Xi's meeting with Trump in Florida in April. "At the same time, bilateral relations have been affected by some negative factors. China has expressed its position to the U.S."

According to state media, Xi told Trump in their call that Beijing expects Washington to continue managing relations on the basis of the "one China" principle that rules out formal contacts with Taiwan, which China claims as its own territory.

Beijing was also miffed after the State Department gave Beijing a dismal grade last week in a new human trafficking report.

Xi's comments in a phone call with Trump follow Beijing's displeasure over U.S. arms sales to rival Taiwan, U.S. sanctions against a Chinese bank over its dealings with North Korea and, most recently, the sailing of a U.S. destroyer within the territorial seas limit of a Chinese-claimed island in the South China Sea.

Chinese President Xi Jinping warned President Donald Trump on Monday that "some negative factors" are hurting U.S.-China relations, as tensions flare anew over a slew of long-standing sore points.

Seeking to lighten the message slightly, Xi also said that China-U.S. relations had achieved "important outcomes" since the Florida meeting.

It's unclear whether any of those issues will come up in discussions at the G-20 summit in Germany this week, at which Trump and Xi are expected to hold a bilateral meeting.

But it now appears that China is pushing back against the U.S. pressure, setting the stage for a potential confrontation.

China's Foreign Ministry accused the U.S. of violating Chinese sovereignty and disrupting "peace, security and order of the relevant waters" after the U.S. Navy destroyer USS Stethem sailed Sunday within 22 km of tiny Triton island, which is claimed by China, Taiwan and Vietnam.

China's Defense Ministry issued a similar statement Monday, saying it would beef up patrols and take precautions commensurate with the threat level to safeguard "national sovereignty and security."

Trump and his top aides have done little to hide their irritation over what they see as the reluctance by China, North Korea's main economic partner, to tighten the screws on Pyongyang over its nuclear and missile programs.

Until recently, American officials had been describing China as a partner in their strategy to prevent North Korea from developing the ability to strike the U.S. mainland with nuclear weapons. While China has agreed to sanctions, it is wary of measures that could cause the regime's collapse, leaving a united, U.S.-backed Korea on its border.

However, Trump hinted last month at his loss of patience, tweeting that his bid to secure a tougher Chinese approach "has not worked out."

Asked about the state of ties, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said Monday that it was normal to encounter "some issues in the process of developing the bilateral relationship."

"We believe that the significance of our bilateral relationship has already exceeded the bilateral scope and is exerting important influence on the development of the whole world," Geng told reporters at a regularly scheduled press briefing.

"On our part, we are willing to develop the bilateral relationship based on non-confrontation, mutual benefit and mutual trust, expand cooperation and properly manage differences between the two countries so as to further advance the bilateral relationship."

Along with Xi, Trump also spoke with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, with whom he reaffirmed a shared commitment to dealing with North Korea, the White House said. It said the president also looked forward to meeting Abe at the upcoming G-20 summit in Hamburg.

Abe praised Trump for the recent U.S. sanctions on the small Bank of Dandong over its alleged support for North Korea's nuclear program, according to Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga. That severs the bank entirely from the U.S. financial system, pending a 60-day review period.

Suga said that during their 35-minute phone conversation, the two leaders reaffirmed close coordination between their countries and South Korea in stepping up pressure on North Korea.

The talks were meaningful for the two leaders "to be on the same page" about their approach to North Korea ahead of the G-20 summit, Suga said.


Modi in Israel: A watershed moment in India's foreign policy

India

oi-Prabhpreet

By Prabhpreet

"The people of Israel eagerly await your historic visit," Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tweeted in April this year, responding to Narendra Modi's message on the social network.

Well, the wait is over with Modi's visit to Israel, which is the first by an Indian Prime Minister. Though this might be enough to mark it as a historic visit, the importance of the trip comes from other important underlying factors as well.

The trip, which would be Modi's 66th foreign visit in his tenure of just over three years, is in many ways a watershed moment in terms of Indian foreign policy.

India's foreign policy, especially in terms of two countries, Israel and Sri Lanka, has been highly dependent on the equations of domestic policy. In particular, due to a segment of the population, Tamils in the case of Sri Lanka and Muslims on the Israel-Palestine issue.

It is thought by many, and not entirely without justification, that important foreign relations with countries important to India's strategic interest have been coming secondary to such domestic concerns. With the governments being highly concerned about, maybe too much so, on how the domestic population would react to a strengthening or cutting off of ties when it comes to both these countries.

Finally though, with Modi first reaching out and making multiple trips to Sri Lanka, unlike other prime ministers of the past not overly concern on the reactions in Tamil Nadu, and now with the trip to Israel, he seems to have broken the invisible restrictions, which had restricted India from openly reaching out to both.

It is in this background that Modi's trip to Israel should be seen as a major change with domestic politics and especially that of appeasement not coming in the way of foreign relations.

The late blooming of India-Israel relationship

Modi's latest visit by the very fact of it being the first such one, makes it a departure from the past, but in reality, it is a culmination of the slow but steady shift of the relationship between the two countries, which has seen them come closer after decades of almost non-existent meaningful diplomatic ties.

While India became independent in 1947, the state of Israel came into existence a year later. Even though born at almost the same time, the nature and timing of their relationships have not been the same and as strong as would be expected.

Though anti-colonialism was one of the reasons given by India's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, for not choosing to have ties with the country. The fact that Arab-Jew conflict with deep roots in history before and after what is termed Israel's occupation of a disputed territory, along with the huge Muslim population at home played a big part in the delay of strengthening of ties is not lost on anyone.

However, this started to change slowly beginning 1992 when India finally decided to establish full diplomatic ties with Israel. Such a change was also linked with the end of the Cold War, with the US rising as the sole superpower in the world. India which though in theory had mostly followed the principle of non-alignment when it came to picking sides between the US and the USSR, had had closer ties with latter till the 90's at least.

But following the shift in terms of balance in international politics and also that of political parties in control of the government in India- BJP led NDA coming to power under Atal Bihari Vajpayee and displacing the Congress at the centre of such policy making- the country began a journey of a closer relationship with US and Israel, both of which are each other's strongest allies in the world.

This is where the India and Israel's ties started developing further. An example of this is the defence deals, which supplied US arms to India coming from Israel, especially during the Kargil war, as the US-India ties were constrained at that time following India's testing of nuclear weapons.

Following this visible acts of growing ties came in the form of acts such as the visit to Israel by then Home Minister, L.K Advani, in 2000, which was the first such trip to the country by a senior minister of India.

Such opening up of ties were then followed up during the Congress-led UPA era. For example under the UPA, apart from increasing trade, India in 2009 took a milder stand on the Goldstone Report, which had shown Israel's blockade of Gaza to be illegal and termed its actions of violating international law.

What to expect under Modi

This stand has been continued under the current regime, with a major change in the form India's choices in the United Nations in regard to Israel. In 2015, India abstained on a United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) resolution which had called for an International Criminal Court probe into war crimes by Israel. This was followed up by a similar step by India on the resolution in 2016 and 2017.

Under Modi, the journey towards closer ties with Israel has not only continued but has done so at a faster pace and more openly. As can be seen by the current visit, which is just a culmination of closer ties since BJP came to power again in 2014. President Pranab Mukherjee, Home Minister Rajnath Singh, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj have already visited the country.

These visits, like those under the previous government, have been able to strengthen ties in a varied range of areas such as agriculture, water conservation, science and technology, trade and investment among others. But though these might be important, and more so for India, given the technology and methods it can learn in fields such as agriculture and water conservation, the biggest area of cooperation between the two will continue to be defence.

With India currently being one of the largest importers of defence equipment in the world and Israel being the second largest supplier to it, the ties in the area are just going to get stronger. This can be seen by Israel Aerospace Industries being awarded contracts worth 2 billion dollars for providing medium range surface to air missile systems to the Indian Army, the largest such contract for Israel's defence industry.

Along with this, the fact that both countries have been termed countries which are facing a grave threat of terrorism, the current relationship between the two are seen to be deeper than just based on bilateral trade.

And the bonhomie that Modi and Netanyahu have shown so far, the former's method of forming personal ties with the leaders as a method of getting the countries closer will in all probability be seen at its finest display yet during his three-day visit.

A Balancing Act will be required

All the bonhomie and closer ties through agreements in various fields aside, the fact that Modi can by no means go overboard in India's opening up of total agreement with Israel, will not be lost on him.

This is not only based on the reason of a large Muslim population at home, which like that of the whole world sees Israel as an occupying force in Palestine, and its action in the area as subjugation and attack on Muslims. But also due to India's ties with different Arab countries, and others such as Iran, who have very close ties with India.

Even in the case of Palestine, India has always be seen as a partner which has raised and helped voice concerns of the people of the area. A major change on this front will be seen as a diplomatic disaster given the importance of countries like Iran in terms of trade for India.

This seems to be the reason why the BJP government had taken steps such of ensuring that External Affairs Minister Swaraj and President Mukherjee visit Palestine as well on their respective trips to Israel. Such a pattern though will be broken in the latest visit, as Modi is not scheduled to visit Palestine.

And what can be seen as a clear to attempt calm fears of others due to such an open display of closeness with Israel, in a statement consistent with the stand of the Indian government's of the past, Modi said, "India believes in a two-state solution in which both Israel and a future Palestinian state coexist peacefully." He added, "A final-status agreement should respect the sentiments and address demands of all affected parties."

This is where the challenge of such a visible step in relation to an important strategic country which is disliked by other close allies of India, will be presented to Modi. And he will have to convey to such allies that growing relations with Israel is a not a negation of India's ties with them. Rather, they are a necessity for the country given the changing circumstances of its needs and that both relationships can run on a path parallel to each other instead of being a case of choosing between one or the other.

All said and done, the trip is quite clearly a coming out in terms of foreign relations as it has just made the point that foreign relations with other countries cannot be based on a domestic policy of appeasement. This is the reason why it is unlike any other foreign visit made by him so far.

OneIndia News
Modi, the man who dared to go to Israel

India

oi-Vicky

By Vicky

I begin a historic visit to Isreal, a very special partner of India, Narendra Modi who becomes the first Indian Prime Minister to visit the country said. All eyes are on the visit which has been termed by experts as one of extreme strategic importance.

Here are some important points regarding the visit:

"I will have in-depth talks with Prime Minister (Benjamin) Netanyahu on the full spectrum of our partnership and strengthening it in diverse fields for mutual benefit. We will also have the chance to discuss major common challenges like terrorism," the PM said in a Facebook post.

Modi said that Israel is perceived as a technological powerhouse and that it could be a technology partner in India's transformation. "Israel could be a technology partner in this process of transformation. Israel's capabilities offer a good match for our flagship schemes like Clean Ganga [the effort to clean the Ganges River] and Smart Cities," the PM told Israel Hayom in an interview.

India has treaded cautiously when it came to Israel. This is to do with the fact that India did not want to upset Arab states and Iran on which it depends on import of oil. While quietly pursuing ties with Israel, India has been a supporter of the Palestine cause.

During the visit, Modi will hold three days of talks with Benjamin Netanyahu, to advance sales and production of missiles, drones and radar systems under his signature "Make in India" drive, according to officials in New Delhi and Tel Aviv.

Both nations are expected to announce strategic partnerships in areas such a space technology, water and agriculture. There would be announcements in the defence sector as well and it must be noted that India is Israel's biggest arms market and spends an average of 1 billion US dollars a year on buying weapons.

The visit is also important as India is in the midst of a military modernisation programme worth over 100 billion US dollars. The programme is important in the backdrop of threats India faces from China and Pakistan.

Modi will be discussing a plan for Israeli help in boosting India's food security, officials said. The plan is to expand 26 agriculture expertise centres that Israel has set up in 15 Indian states to help increase output of everything from vegetables to mangoes and pomegranates.

Ahead of the visit Netanyahu, hailing it as historic. We have worked over the past few years to build a steadfast friendship he said. This visit will deepen cooperation in a wide range of fields - security, agriculture, water, energy - basically in almost every field Israel is involved in," Netanyahu also said.

In a bid to maintain a balance, Modi will also travel to Ramallah in Palestine.

OneIndia News

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Story first published: Tuesday, July 4, 2017, 6:47 [IST]
NEET 2017: Notice to TN on seat quota formula

India

oi-Vicky

By Vicky

The Supreme Court today issued notices to the Tamil Nadu government on a plea challenging a notification detailing the seat quota formula for medical admissions in the state post NEET 2017.

NEET 2017: KNRUHS Telangana rank list released, details here

The order of the Tamil Nadu government which had granted just 15 per cent reservation for CBSE students in the state in UG medical examinations was challenged.

NEET 2017: AP MBBS, BDS admission notification to be out today

Earlier the SC had rejected a plea seeking exemption from NEET for this year too for TN medical colleges. Following this the TN government sought for the postponement of a meeting at the MHA which was scheduled for 4 pm today. The meeting was being held to seek the consent of the President for the TN NEET exemption bills.

OneIndia News
In Delhi who were the 2 AAP MLAs who cross voted in favour of Kovind

Next President of India: Meira Kumar seeks support from TMC, Left

India

ians-IANS

By Ians English

Kolkata, July 4: The Congress-led opposition's Presidential candidate Meira Kumar on Tuesday sought support from the legislators and members of Parliament of West Bengal's Trinamool Congress, Left and her own party party.

"I have been given assurance that you are supporting me. You have given me so much strength. Kolkata and West Bengal have given me strength and inspiration because it is the land of fighters. You have always fought against injustice and atrocities," Meria Kumar told the legislators in the West Bengal assembly.

"In the last 8-9 years, India has seen a major political turn. Opposition parties came together. Parties who otherwise differ on so many different things (came together)," she added.

The former Lok Sabha Speaker said she has "an old association with Kolkata and Bengal". Meira Kumar is pitted against Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance's (NDA) nominee Ram Nath Kovind in the July 17 presidential election.

IANS
Guns and Roses: The job of the next Governor in Jammu and Kashmir

Operation Clean up Kashmir: Is Rajiv Mehrishi, next Governor of the state?

India

oi-Vicky

By Vicky

Will c replace N N Vohra as the next Governor of Jammu and Kashmir. With an all out offensive launched in Kashmir to crush militancy, the Government is looking for a person with expertise in the state.

Mehrishi as the Home Secretary has been closely associated with Kashmir. He has been involved in all important decisions taken in managing the Kashmir crisis. There have been a series of high level meetings held since July last when the unrest in the Valley began. Mehrishi has been part of all those meetings.

20 including journalists, retired HC judge paid through hawala to fuel Kashmir unrest

In fact he was also part of the decision making team which gave the security forces a free hand to deal with the issue in Kashmir.

Mehrishi completes his two month tenure next month. The Delhi circles are abuzz with the talk that his name is being considered as a replacement for Vohra. The government wants someone familiar with Kashmir. Moreover Mehrishi has vast experience in the field of internal security. Several Intelligence Bureau officials that we spoke with said that he is good at coordinating both with the intelligence and security officials. His hands on approach also makes him a favourite for the job.

Fai days are back: How journalists, writers fueled the ideological war in Kashmir

The name of Mehrishi is interesting in the backdrop of the Centre wanting the Governor of Jammu and Kashmir to oversee the security operations directly.

OneIndia News
Fact Check: Images falsely shared with claim that it is chopper that crashed in Uttarakhand

Over 1700 pilgrims leave for Amarnath from Jammu

India

pti-PTI

Jammu, Jul 4: Another batch of 1,786 pilgrims on Monday left Jammu for the high-altitude Amarnath cave shrine of Lord Shiva in south Kashmir Himalayas.

Escorted by the CRPF, the pilgrims comprising 1,485 men, 301 women left in 53 vehicles in a convoy for Baltal and Pahalagam base camps this morning, officials said. With today's batch a total of 17,146 pilgrims and sadhus have left Jammu for Amarnath since the yatra began from Jammu on June 28.

As many as 15,813 pilgrims paid obeisance at the holy cave shrine yesterday and 62,608 pilgrims have done the same till date. Amid multi-tier security, the 40-days-long yatra began from Jammu as the first batch of pilgrims left for twin base- camps of the 3,888-metre high cave shrine in south Kashmir Himalayas on June 28.

The government has mobilised a heavy security blanket of over 35,000 to 40,000 troops including the police, the Army, the BSF and the CRPF for the yatra. This years yatra will be eight days shorter against the last years' 48 days and it conclude on Shravan Purnima (Raksha Bandhan) on August 7.

Situated in a narrow gorge at the farther end of Lidder Valley, Amarnath shrine is 46 km from Pahalgam and 14 km from Baltal.

PTI
PETA to challenge President's assent to legalise Kambala

India

pti-PTI

Bengaluru, Jul 4: An animal rights body on Tuesday said it will challenge in court a state law that allows traditional buffalo race 'Kambala', a day after President Pranab Mukherjee gave his assent to an ordinance on it.

The president had on Monday approved the promulgation of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Karnataka Amendment) Ordinance, 2017 by the Karnataka governor. Bowing to public pressure, a bill to legalise 'Kambala' and bullock cart races in Karnataka was passed by the state Assembly in February, with all parties backing the move.

The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960, was amended with regard to Karnataka by the bill which was tabled after the clamour for Kambala grew, spurred by the success of pro-jallikattu (taming of bull) stir in Tamil Nadu.

The bill that was sent to the president for his assent was returned after some modifications were suggested. Following this, the state government modified the bill and sent it in an ordinance form as the assembly was not in session.

"...this cruelty stands in contravention of the intention of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960 and various articles of the Constitution of India. PETA India will challenge in court the Karnataka law that allows Kambala," People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, India said in a statement.

PETA said inspections carried out by the government body Animal Welfare Board (AWBI) prove beyond doubt that "without physically and mentally torturing bulls, they cannot be forced to run in races." It also noted that AWBI's reports contained photographic evidence and a description of different forms of cruelty inflicted on 'buffalo bulls.' The bullock cart races are held in parts of north Karnataka and Shivamogga and Kambala in the coastal districts of Udupi and Dakshina Kannada.

PTI
Indian-origin teenager stabbed to death in Israel after brawl at birthday party

PM Modi leaves for two-nation tour of Israel and Germany

India

oi-Deepika

By Deepika

New Delhi, July 4: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday left for his two-nation tour that will see him visiting Israel and Germany.

The trip began less than a week after he came back to India following the three-nation tour of Portugal, US and Netherlands and will take the tally of his foreign visits to 67.

PM Modi is expected to land at the Ben Gurion Airport outside Tel Aviv on Tuesday at 6 pm for a three-day trip before going to Germany, where he would attend the G20 Summit in Hamburg.

Ahead of the visit, Modi tweeted I look forward to holding extensive talks with my friend, @IsraeliPM @netanyahu, who shares a commitment for vibrant India-Israel ties. From boosting economic ties to furthering people-to-people interactions, my Israel visit has a wide range of programmes, he wrote.

I look forward to holding extensive talks with my friend, @IsraeliPM @netanyahu, who shares a commitment for vibrant India-Israel ties.  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) July 3, 2017

The visit termed as as 'important and landmark' for bilateral ties will celebrate 25 yrs of relationship between people, business and farmers of two countries. There will be emphasis on development, innovation, agriculture,water and the connect between our people.

The Indian prime minister is scheduled to have dinner with Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu following his arrival to Israel on July 4.

He would be meeting the Israeli Premier again for discussions the following day. Modi would also call upon Israels President Reuven Rivlin on July 5 and the leader of opposition, Isaac Herzog.

The two sides are expected to announce strategic partnerships in areas including water, agriculture and space technology during PM Modi's visit.

During his visit, Prime Minister Modi will address around 4,000 Indians settled in Israel and pay homage to Indian soldiers at the memorial in Haifa.

OneIndia News
Modi not to raise internal matter like J&K during annual UNGA session next month

PM Modi's yoga push for Middle East peace

India

oi-Deepika

By Deepika

New Delhi, July 4: On the eve of his historic visit to Israel, the first-ever by an Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi on Tuesday hinted that a little more time spent on yoga might help bring peace to the Middle East's problems.

During an interview with an Israeli television station, Modi heartily laughed, when the interviewer asked whether he would invite his Israeli counterpart, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, to join him in a yoga session.

The prime minister then recalled and said that many Israelis participated in International Yoga Day on June 21. Indeed, hundreds of Israelis stretched out their downward facing dogs (a form of yogasana) that day on the world's largest yoga mat artwork in Tel Aviv's Rabin Square, reports Channel 2.

He also advised the interviewer that the channel should have a 30-minute program on yoga every day, to popularise the discipline.

The interviewer then wondered whether this might lead to a solution to the problems in the Middle East. Modi laughed and said: "That would be great."

Modi began his speech with Hebrew greeting 'Shalom', which means 'peace' and ended it saying 'Todah Rabah', which means 'thank you'.

Why yoga?

Yoga is a powerful tool for promoting peace as it is a holistic practice, focusing not just on physical fitness, but also mental, emotional and spiritual strength.

Israel is all set to make Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the country, a memorable one with his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu planning to accompany him to major events.

OneIndia News

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Story first published: Tuesday, July 4, 2017, 12:07 [IST]
Protest breaks outside Chinese Embassy in Delhi after Beijing suspends Kailash Mansarovar Yatra

India

oi-Madhuri

Dozens of people held a protest outside the Chinese embassy in New Delhi after China suspended Kailash Mansarovar Yatra from Nathu La Pass on Tuesday. The Yatra was officially called off over a face-off between Indian and Chinese troops along the Sino-Indian border.

China has reportedly refused entry to the first batch of some 50 pilgrims, who were supposed to travel to Kailash Mansarovar, via Nathu La in Sikkim. But China said on Monday that it will continue to allow Indian pilgrims to Kailash Mansarovar through the Lipulekh pass in Uttarakhand.

The ministry permits over 1,000 pilgrims a year in 18 batches involving a 22-day arduous journey unlike the Nathu La route which enabled pilgrims to travel 1,500-km-long route from Nathu La to Kailash by buses.

The Nathu La route is the second one opened by China for the Indian pilgrims to visit Kailash and Mansarovar areas located at an altitude of 15,160 feet in Tibet.

China's move cancelling the Kailash Mansarovar yatra through Nathu La in Sikkim came as a disappointment to the 800 devotees hoping to visit the high altitude area, believed to be the abode of Lord Shiva.

The pilgrimage to Kailash Mansarovar, considered holy by Hindus, Buddhists and Jains, takes place from June to September every year.

OneIndia News (with inputs)
U.S. President Donald Trump has joined Pope Francis in offering any help they can for a terminally ill British infant.

Trump said in a Twitter comment Monday that if there was anything he could do for Charlie Gard, the 10-month-old child with a rare genetic disease, "we would be delighted to do so."

The baby's parents, Chris Gard and Connie Yates, have lost European court decisions to doctors who want to take the baby off life support at a London hospital after reaching the conclusion that he has no chance of survival.
'Sardar Sarovar dam will submerge Gandhi memorial at Badwani,' warns Medha Patkar

India

oi-Anusha

Noted Social activist, conservationist and the face of Narmada Bachao Andolan, Medha Patkar has warned that raising the Sardar Sarovar dam to its full height will submerge Mahatma Gandhi's memorial at Rajghat on the banks of Narmada river. Narmada Control Authority has approved raising the dam to its full height by ordering the closure of 30 gates. Once the dam is at full height, activists fear that it will submerge Gandhi's memorial in Badwani district along with one town, 176 villages and displace close to 20,000 families.

Sardar Sarovar will submerge Rajghat, Badwani where ashes of Gandhi, Baa, and Mahadev bhai are kept. Do we care for anything? #Narmada pic.twitter.com/1gUsNF4wQx  Medha Patkar (@medhanarmada) July 4, 2017

The Rajghat at Badwani houses the remains of not only Mahatma Gandhi but also Kasturba Gandhi and Mahadev Desai. The heritage site is now under threat, claimed Patkar who took to Twitter to raise awareness about the effects of raising the height of Sardar Sarovar Dam. Following the Narmada Control Authority's approval, the Gujarat government has closed 30 gates of the now 138 metres dam. The gates will remain closed till 31 of July and the dam threatens to submerge close to two hundred villages the valley in Madhya Pradesh.

The clearance by the NCA marks the completion of the controversial dam that has been opposed for displacing tribals and affecting the livelihood of farmers, disrupting wildlife and destroying forest covers. With the completion of the project, the dam's storage capacity will increase from 1,565 million cubic metres to 5,740 MCM. This will also translate into increased hydropower generation from the current 1,300 MW to 1,450 MW. Activists, villagers are, however, up in arms against the government.

OneIndia News

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Story first published: Tuesday, July 4, 2017, 14:01 [IST]
Rahul appears before ED: 'Bulldozers missing', says Karti as he takes dig over heavy deployment near Cong HQ

SC refuses early hearing of PMLA case against Karti Chidambaram

India

oi-Chennabasaveshwar

By Chennabasaveshwar

The Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to give an early hearing to a Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) case filed by Enforcement Directorate against Karti Chidambaram.

As part of the PMLA case, the ED booked Karti Chidambaram, son of former finance minister P Chidambaram after taking cognisance of CBI FIR against him.

The CBI, in May, had carried out searches at the homes and offices of Karti across four cities for allegedly receiving money from the media firm (INX media) owned by the Mukerjeas' to scuttle a tax probe.

The ED had recently filed a criminal case against the Mukerjea couple, INX media and others under various sections of the PMLA. Karti allegedly received money from INX Media for "using his influence" to manipulate a tax probe against it in a case of violation of Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) conditions to receive investment from Mauritius.

(With agency inputs)

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Story first published: Tuesday, July 4, 2017, 11:33 [IST]
Sikkim stand off: India spots Chinese intelligence gathering ship

India

oi-Vicky

By Vicky

The Sikkim impasse continue with the Indian Navy reporting an increase in activity of Chinese vessels in the Indian Ocean region. The Navy has learnt that an intelligence gathering ship, Haiwingxing, was spotted in Indian Ocean last month after the impasse in Sikkim began.

There is a face off between India and China after the latter tried to build a road in the sensitive Doklam, a disputed region between China and Bhutan. This is one of the longest show downs between the two countries after the 1962 war.

Meanwhile the Indian Army maintained that no bulldozers were used when its bunkers were destroyed by the Chinese army amid the current standoff with China in the Sikkim sector.

The Army however denied that this is the longest stand off since 1962. An Army spokesperson said, "the incident is not the longest standoff between the two nations."

The spokesman also said that no bulldozers were "ever employed" for destroying the Indian bunkers and that no physical scuffle had occurred between the personnel of Indian Army and the People's Liberation Army(PLA). A senior government functionary had earlier said that bulldozers were used to destroy the Indian bunkers.

The spokesman also claimed that no such incident ever happened on June 6 and referred to a statement made by the Ministry of External Affairs in which the date of incident was mentioned as June 16.

The spokesman went on to clarify that "Indo-China relations as also the relationship between both the armies are extremely well managed by a host of mechanisms.

"The MoD (Ministry of Defence) or the Indian Army has neither issued any official statement nor has undertaken any unofficial briefings due to the fact that such sensitive issues are best dealt between two nations away from the media glare," the spokesman said.

He said that in this situation "as some of the acts have happened involving Bhutan, therefore, Ministry of External Affairs has already given a substantial briefing on the issue."

OneIndia News
Ruckus in Jammu and Kashmir assembly over GST bill

India

oi-Madhuri

The Jammu and Kashmir assembly was on Tuesday adjourned till 2:30pm after noisy scenes were witnessed in a special one-day session called to discuss the implementation of Goods and Services Tax. Independent MLA from Langate, Engineer Abdul Rasheed was marshalled out of the Legislative Assembly. The government missed the June 30 deadline to pass the GST in the state assembly. The PDP-BJP-led government, however, is attempting to form consensus with opposition parties to pass the bill in the House.

Meanwhile, Police detained several traders after they tried to march towards the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly to protest the implementation of GST in the state in its present form. Terming the GST as 'Government Saving Tax', JKPCC Chief, G A Mir on Monday said that PDP-BJP government is trying every bid to implement the law here to save their chair.

The GST Bill has been passed by all states and union territories, except for Jammu & Kashmir. Earlier, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, on being asked about the Opposition to GST in the Valley, said, "GST will be beneficial for people in Jammu & Kashmir. I am hopeful that all political parties would be able to clear their doubts soon. GST would only ensure prosperity for the consumers, traders and businessmen in the Valley."

GST was rolled-out on Friday midnight by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Pranab Mukherjee in the Parliament. The taxation mechanism replaces all forms of incumbent indirect taxes across the nation.

OneIndia News
What made Kashmir separatist Geelani back GST?

India

oi-Vicky

By Vicky

Kashmir's separatist leader S A S Geelani who is into the habit of opposing everything India made a surprising statement when he backed GST. The National Conference was quick blast him and called it a tactic on his part to bail out the PDP-BJP government in Jammu and Kashmir.

In a detailed statement, Geelani said that the Kashmir issue and other interrelated problems are different with differing background. He said that the business community and civil societies have their role to find a solution regarding the implementation of GST and sort out problems relating to their business they face.

Geelani who is under the radar of the NIA in cases relating to funding the unrest said that it is important that extremely care must be taken to ensure that the discourse of their resistance is not changed.

The NC was however not amused and accused the hardliner of trying to bail out the Jammu and Kashmir government on the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax in the state.

Geelani has yet again gone out of his way to distort the history of the state in an effort to bail out the PDP-BJP government - this time on the crucial and sensitive issue of GST extension to the state," NC lawmakers said in a statement.

The deceptive posturing of Geelani on GST is a design to subvert the cause of the people of Jammu and Kashmir and to bail out the present rulers of the state, who are hell-bent on trampling the aspirations of the people of J&K at the behest of the powers that be in New Delhi," a NC leader said.

OneIndia News

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Story first published: Tuesday, July 4, 2017, 12:42 [IST]
Why Governor and not CM will 'directly' oversee Kashmir's clean up

India

oi-Vicky

By Vicky

The latest directive to the security forces from the Home Ministry makes it clear that Kashmir must be cleaned up. While the security forces have been given a free hand to clean up militancy in the Valley, it is important to note that the entire operation would be overseen by the Governor.

This would be the Governor will oversee all the security operations. Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti who holds the home portfolio will however be kept in the loop. This would however take place only when the security forces take on terrorists in an encounter.

These are clear signs that the Centre wants no politics to come in the way of the operation. Many security personnel especially the police personnel who have been targeted mercilessly in the Valley have complained about an appeasement policy.

The state government tends to go soft on certain issues and this has been a bane for the police personnel. The police who form the backbone of the intelligence in the Valley would prefer to work under the Governor directly as they feel they would have a free hand too, A source said that the Centre cannot afford to see the police force losing their morale. No unit in Kashmir can operate without the support of the local police. They are acclimatized to the area, have the local contacts and can provide pin-point intelligence to the Army.

Just look at the success rate of the Army in the recent days. It is the intelligence that is bring provided by the local police personnel that has resulted in the precise taking down of militants.

OneIndia News
Work afoot to complete APJ Abdul Kalam memorial in Rameswarm

India

oi-Chennabasaveshwar

By Chennabasaveshwar

As the second death anniversary of former President APJ Abdul Kalam nears, over 300 people are working hard to complete the Kalam memorial building at Rameswaram in Tamil Nadu. The construction work is afoot to meet the July 27 deadline as the Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to visit the place to pay homage.

A dozen supervisors - both from the defence ministry and private contractors are overseeing the work from 7 am to 9 pm. A company contracted with DRDO has undertaken the project to which the Centre has allotted Rs 50 crore, reports Indian Express.

Grass carpets have been brought to place it on red soil fields laid out amid sandy surroundings. All the green plants and shrubs, even palm saplings, have been brought from Delhi to give the memorial a green look.

Soon Rameswaram will have a new tourist spot, says one of the supervisors. Handful of tourists do vist the place to see the structure.

Abdul Kalam passed away in Shillong during a lecture at the Indian Institute of Management-Shillong (IIM-S). He was the 11th President of India from 2002 to 2007. He was a recipient of several prestigious awards, including the Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian honour.

OneIndia News
UP: 5, including a child, killed and 5 seriously hurt as car hits electric pole

Mubin did it in Coimbatore: Why do Islamist terrorists shave their body before a suicide mission

Factory boiler explosion leaves nine dead in Bangladesh

International

oi-Oneindia

By Oneindia Staff Writer

Dhaka, July 4: At least nine people were killed and about 50 others injured in a boiler blast at a garment factory in Bangladesh's Gazipur area, a police official said on Tuesday.

The explosion took place on Monday night at Multifabs Ltd, an export oriented knitwear factory, reports Xinhua news agency. The blast at the factory's dyeing section led to a massive blaze that swept through the building for hours, he said.

"Eight bodies were recovered from the accident site," the official said, adding that one more person succumbed to his injuries later in a hospital.

The death toll might increase as many people have sustained critical injuries, he said.

Ataur Rahman, a Fire Service and Civil Defence Headquarters official, told the media that the ground and first floors of the four-storey building partially collapsed due to the blast.

He said rescue operation was still under way. The cause of the accident is not yet clear.

Oneinida News
India's face off with us to impress Donald Trump says China

International

oi-Vicky

By Vicky

China has now accused India of staging the Sikkim impasse to impress Donald Trump. A state run daily in China has said that India's objection to China building a road in the Sikkim sector ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the US was aimed at demonstrating to Washington its "firm determination" to "constrain" China's rise.

"Modi took two measures to brace for his meeting with Trump. The first one was to seal a weapons deal with the US. For America, the weapons deal will not only reap enormous monetary gains from India, but also strengthen India's advantage in the Indo-Pacific region to check China," the article in the Global Times said.

"The other measure aimed to demonstrate to the US India's firm determination to constrain Chinas rise," the article written by Liu Zongyi senior fellow of the state-run think tank, the Shanghai Institutes for International Studies, said.

"For example, Indian troops crossed the undisputed Sikkim section of the China-India border and impeded Chinese workers from building roads a few days before Modi's visit to the US," it said on the ongoing stand-off in Doklam.

In addition, the Indian government has started an anti-dumping probe into Chinese products, the article said, adding the Modi administration sought US support at the cost of China-India ties and has taken a lead in containing China's rise.

As per the Ministry of External Affairs statement in New Delhi, the Doklam incident took place on June 16 whereas Chinese Foreign Ministry has maintained that the stand-off in which the Indian troops objected to the Peoples Liberation Army soldiers building a road occurred on June 18. Modi had visited US from June 25-27.

Ahead of the visit, US President Donald Trump had approved the sale of 22 Guardian MQ-9B drones for India.

Apart from the territorial dispute, India announced that it would initiate an anti-dumping probe against high tenacity polyester yarn from China, the article said.

"Because the border face-off and the announcement of the anti-dumping probe occurred around the same time as Modis two-day visit to the US, people link Indias bravura with the Modi-Trump meeting," it said.

The daily also downplayed Modis visit, saying it was "not a historic event, as some media outlets in India boasted, because of the limited results the meeting has achieved."

At the same time, it noted that Modi has established a "relatively harmonious" relationship with Trump.

"Both of them made keynote speeches to praise each other and did all they could to avoid touching on disputes between the two countries," it said.

"The two countries have aligned their interests in defence cooperation and counter-terrorism. The US supports India to counterbalance China, but tries not to offend China as Trump still needs Chinas help on many issues," it said.

About US designating Hizbul Mujahideen leader Syed Salahuddin as a "global terrorist", the article said it accords with the "US view that Pakistan is a source of regional disputes, rather than a catalyst for dispute settlement".

"Such an approach that separates the India-Pakistan dispute with the Afghan issue is likely to trigger more hassles," it said.

"Although Modi didnt mention the existing problems in Indias ties with the US, Trump reminded him of protectionism in trade and investment in India that jeopardises US interests," it also said.

OneIndia News

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Story first published: Tuesday, July 4, 2017, 6:05 [IST]
Imran Khan discharged from hospital, to resume long march from same point where he was shot

This cop from Pakistan became a millionaire overnight: Here is how

Kashmir can't be excluded from talks, says Pak foreign affairs advisor Aziz

International

oi-PTI

Islamabad, July 4: Pakistan will not enter into any dialogue with India that excludes Kashmir, Prime Minister's Advisor on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz said on Tuesday, asserting that Islamabad wants to settle all contentious issues through 'result-oriented' talks.

"Indian belligerent posturing and their desire to conduct dialogue on their own terms ie without Kashmir, will never be acceptable," said Aziz briefing a 20-member delegation of 'Kashmir Journalist Forum' from PoK at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

He said that UN chief Antonio Guterres has expressed his concern over tension between India and Pakistan, called for a dialogue and offered to play role to help resolve Kashmir issue.

Aziz said that India's refusal to accept the role of the UN or good offices of the other leaders for reducing tension between India and Pakistan by resolving the Kashmir issue reflects "Indian desperation to hide its crimes against humanity" in the valley.

"Pakistan wants to settle all contentious issues, particularly the Kashmir dispute with India through a sustained and result-oriented dialogue," he said.

He asked the UN, OIC and Human Rights Organisations to step up efforts to stop the 'bloodshed of Kashmiris' and ensure early implementation of UNSC Resolutions.

Aziz said that protest in Kashmir has now entered a 'critical phase' and the 'Indian propaganda of down-playing the Kashmir issue is also being defeated.

"If there is nothing wrong then why there are over 700,000 fully armed Indian forces stationed? Why the entire media has been blocked?" he said.

He said despite "the gravity of the situation on ground and persistent international pressure" on India to resume dialogue with Pakistan with particular focus on Kashmir issue, Indian government has been trying to divert global attention from the situation in the Valley by heating up Line of Control and Working Boundary.

PTI
Film hails help given to autistic children

From:Shanghai Daily | 2017-07-03 10:02

A charity program initiated by local musicians and dedicated to the music education of autistic children is to be made into a documentary.



The film will be shot by Barry Morrow, the Oscar-winning screenwriter of Rain Man  a movie centered on an autistic adult.

Morrow said the documentary, whose making was announced at a charity event in Shanghai on Saturday, will be part of an awareness and fund-raising effort to help autistic children worldwide.

So far, hundreds of autistic children have gone through Angel Confidant Salon, which was started in 2008 by Cao Peng, founder of Shanghai City Symphony Orchestra.

Members of the orchestra work as volunteers at the salon to teach children to play musical instruments, which parents said has made their children more sociable. Five of the children have gone on to play in the City Teenager Symphony Orchestra.

Music opens their ears and then their hearts, Cao said. Now we are increasingly training them to play in groups so they learn to interact with others.

Zhang Jinhong, the mother of a 14-year-old boy who has been attending the salon for two years, said the program has changed the familys life. He used to be very anxious and never blended with other kids, but now hes more and more confident and happy.

Cao Xiaoxia, a daughter of Cao Peng who is in charge of the weekly salon, said the next goal is to set up a school for autistic children.

There are about 230,000 autistic people above 14 years old in Shanghai, and that only one of them is formally employed.
Laptop Ban: Turkish Airlines CEO says US to lift restrictions on July 5

International

pti-PTI

Ankara, Jul 4: Turkish Airlines chief executive Bilal Eksi on Tuesday said that he expected the ban on large electronic devices from the cabin of US-bound flights from certain countries to be lifted on July 5.

"We expect the electronic device ban applied to American flights to be lifted on Wednesday July 5," Eksi said on Twitter late yesterday without giving further detail.

In March, Washington barred all electronic devices larger than a mobile phone on direct flights to the United States from 10 airports in Turkey, the Middle East and North Africa, only allowing them to be transported in hold luggage.

Flag-carrier Turkish Airlines responded to the ban by offering laptops to business-class travellers in May. The US on Sunday lifted a ban on passengers taking such devices on Etihad Airways flights from its base in the Emirati capital Abu Dhabi, the first airliner to benefit from a lift of the ban.

The decision came after the airline implemented enhanced security measures, a spokesman for the US Department of Homeland Security said. The ban was put into place after intelligence officials learned of efforts by Islamic State jihadists to produce a bomb that could be secreted inside such devices.

PTI
UK PM Liz Truss resigns after 45 days in office, successor to be elected next week

'We love India': Netanyahu on Modi's arrival in Israel

International

oi-Vikas

By Vikas

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday arrived at the Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv, Israel. This is the first ever visit by an Indian Prime Minister to Israel.

Modi was received at the airport by his Israel counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu and other senior ministers.

Israel is leaving no stone unturned to welcome Modi with Netanyahu terming the visit as 'historic'.

"We love India, admire your culture, history, democracy and commitment to progress...I am confident of the real mathematics of life, of success of our partnership for many reasons; talent of our people," Netanyahu said in his welcome address.

#WATCH Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu says, 'Aapka swagat hai mere dost' welcoming Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Israel pic.twitter.com/QjtsoCek2R  ANI (@ANI_news) July 4, 2017

Modi, in his address, said India and Israel are cooperating to secure both societies against common threats such as terrorism.

"It is my singular honor to be the first ever PM of India to undertake this groundbreaking visit to Israel," Modi said.

"Alongside building a partnership for shared economic prosperity, we are also cooperating to secure our societies...This is an exciting journey that we will undertake together, for the good of our people and our society," he added.

Modi earlier said that "going towards Israel is not unnatural for any Indian", making it clear that relations between the two countries "are at a turning point".

"We are in diplomatic relations since last 25 years, and 25 years in a relation is an important stage. Today, our relations are at a turning point. In such a time going towards Israel is not unnatural for any Indian," Modi told Israeli News Channel 2.

The visit considered to be 'important and landmark' for bilateral ties will celebrate 25 years of relationship between people, business and farmers of two countries.

There will be emphasis on development, innovation, agriculture,water and the connect between our people. The Indian prime minister is scheduled to have dinner with Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu following his arrival to Israel on July 4.

He would be meeting the Israeli Premier again for discussions the following day. Modi would also call upon Israels President Reuven Rivlin on July 5 and the leader of opposition, Isaac Herzog.

The two sides are expected to announce strategic partnerships in areas including water, agriculture and space technology during PM Modi's visit. During his visit, Prime Minister Modi will address around 4,000 Indians settled in Israel and pay homage to Indian soldiers at the memorial in Haifa.

OneIndia News with agency inputs
Solution to Israeli-Palestinian conflict not in sight

Indian-origin teenager stabbed to death in Israel after brawl at birthday party

Flower breed named after Modi in Israel

International

oi-Vikas

By Vikas

After being accorded a red-carpet welcome upon his arrival in Israel, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's first stop in the country was at Danziger Flower Farm, which is one of Israel's leading floriculture companies.

Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Agriculture Minister Uri Ariel accompanied Modi to the farm, which is located in Moshav Mishmar Hashiva, about 56 km from Jerusalem, in central Israel.

Advanced agriculture technologies were showcased by the Israeli Government during Modi's visit to the Danziger Flower Farm.

Danziger flower farm developed into a company of 200 employees from a small family business, growing and selling cut flowers.

Crysanthumun flower will be named in honour of PM @narendramodi. The flower will be called 'Modi.' pic.twitter.com/4qLALtxHzP  PMO India (@PMOIndia) July 4, 2017

The visit to the farm highlights that one of Israel's key interests in closer cooperation with India is its expertise in agricultural technology, PTI quoted officials as saying.

Modi's three-day visit to Israel is the first by an Indian prime minister to the Jewish nation.

Modi was received at the airport by his Israel counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu and other senior ministers.

Israel is leaving no stone unturned to welcome Modi with Netanyahu terming the visit as 'historic'.

OneIndia News with PTI inputs
UK PM Liz Truss resigns after 45 days in office, successor to be elected next week

Iraq gets a new government after a year of deadlock

Modi pays homage to Holocaust victims at Yad Vashem memorial in Israel

International

oi-Vikas

By Vikas

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday visited Israel's Yad Vashem memorial to pay homage to the victims of the Holocaust.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accompanied Modi to the Holocaust memorial which was built as a tribute to some six million Jews killed during Nazi rule in Germany.

Established in 1953, Yad Vashem is on the western slope of Mount Herzl, also known as the Mount of Remembrance in western Jerusalem.

The museum occupies over 4,200 square metres and contains Holocaust History Museum, memorial sites such as the Children's Memorial and the Hall of Remembrance, the Museum of Holocaust Art, sculptures, outdoor commemorative sites such as the Valley of the Communities, a synagogue, a research institute with archives, a library, a publishing house, and an educational center, the International Institute for Holocaust Studies.

Modi pays homage to Holocaust victims The Prime Minister laid a wreath to pay tribute and stood with his hands folded. "At @yadvashem, I paid tributes to the women, men and children whose sacrifices can never be forgotten," Modi tweeted after his visit. Hall of remembrance Modi was accompanied by Netanyahu to the memorial. The memorialdocuments the memory of Holocaust victims and the history of the Jewish people during the tragic time. Modi at Hall of Names Hall of Names contains more than three million names of Holocaust victims submitted by their families and relatives. Modi writing in the visitors' book at the memorial The Holocaust was the killing of nearly six million Jews, including some 1.5 million children, by Adolf Hitler's Nazi Germany. Though the persecution of Jews began in 1933, the mass murder was committed during the more than four years of World War II. Full text of what PM wrote in the visitor's book. PM Modi wrote thatYad Vashem serves as a mirror to the societies around the world.

OneIndia News with PTI inputs

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Story first published: Tuesday, July 4, 2017, 23:22 [IST]
Must resolutely oppose evils of terrorism, radicalism and violence, says Modi

International

oi-Vikas

By Vikas

Calling for a robust security partnership between India and Israel, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said evils of terrorism, radicalism and violence must be resolutely opposed.

During a joint press statement with Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Modi said India-Israel ties have seen rapid growth over the last several years.

"We want to put in place a robust security partnership to respond to shared threats to our peace, stability and prosperity," he said.

"I will work with PM Netenyahu to craft and build a clear action agenda to realise these objectives. Sincere gratitude for warm welcome," he added.

Modi said that India is a fast-growing economy that uses technology and innovation for progress.

"We want to frame our relationship that transforms the landscape of our economic engagement," he said.

PM Modi, who arrived in Tel Aviv earlier on Tuesday, visited Danziger Flower Farm and Israel's Yad Vashem memorial with Netanyahu.

Modi's three-day visit to Israel is the first by an Indian prime minister to the Jewish nation.

Modi was received at the airport by his Israel counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu and other senior ministers.

Israel is leaving no stone unturned to welcome Modi with Netanyahu terming the visit as 'historic'.

OneIndia News

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Story first published: Wednesday, July 5, 2017, 0:36 [IST]
N. Korea fires ballistic missile ahead of G20 summit

International

oi-IANS

By Ians English

Seoul, July 4: North Korea test-launched a ballistic missile from its western region into the sea off its east coast on Tuesday, ahead of a summit of leaders from the Group of 20 nations in Germany later this week.

"N. Korea fired an unidentified ballistic missile into the East Sea from the vicinity of Banghyon, North Pyongan province, at around 9.40 am.," Yonhap News Agency quoted the JCS as saying.

Army Col. Roh Jae-cheon, a spokesman for the JCS, told the media that the missile travelled several hundred kilometres, which means the firing was successful.

"But South Korea and the US are analysing the apogee of the missile and its exact flight distance," he said, adding "Our military is maintaining full preparedness against the possibility of North Korea's additional provocation."

A government source said that the missile is estimated to have flown 800-900 km.

Japanese media reported that the missile may have landed in the country's Exclusive Economic Zone.

Tuesday's launch comes after North Korea fired four surface-to-ship cruise missiles on June 8 in the wake of a ballistic missile launch about a week earlier.

It also comes amid signs that US President Donald Trump is growing increasingly frustrated with the lack of progress in curbing North Korea's nuclear and ballistic missile programmes, reports CNN.

On Friday, Trump declared US patience with North Korea was over and on Sunday he spoke with the leaders of both China and Japan, two important regional actors in the ongoing standoff with Pyongyang.

IANS
'PM Netanyahu speaks about you all the time': Israeli minister tells Modi

International

pti-PTI

Tel Aviv, Jul 4: "He speaks about you all the time," Israeli Communications Minister Ayoub Kara told Narendra Modi on Tuesday, reflecting the warm personal chemistry between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his Indian counterpart.

Kara made the remarks during his interaction with Modi who was being introduced to the Israeli ministers by Netanyahu at the Ben Gurion airport just after his brief speech.

"Welcome sir," Kara said when Netanyahu introduced him to Modi, who had brief chats with most of the ministers.

"We like you so much. He speaks about you all the time," he told Modi, pointing his finger to Netanyahu who described the Indian prime minister as his friend.

Modi laughed on hearing this and placed his left hand on the minister's shoulder.

When Modi introduced Netanyahu to National Security Adviser Ajit Doval, the Israeli prime minister said, "Good to see you again. I am glad the day came fruition. You have something to do with it."

Doval had travelled to Israel in early March to prepare the ground for the first-ever prime ministerial visit from India to the Jewish state. Religious leaders of different faiths in Israel also met Prime Minister Modi at the airport.

"God bless you," the justice minister told Modi.

When introduced to Modi, the agriculture minister said, "Salom, welcome. I want to make business (with India). Modi smiled and responded, "You're most welcome."

PTI
Internet Explorer to retire on June 15, 2022 after serving netizens for over 25 years: Microsoft

Software giant Microsoft plans layoffs in sales force shake-up: Report

International

oi-PTI

San Francisco, Jul 3: Microsoft is planning layoffs as it refocuses its sales force on making the software colossus a pivotal part of businesses relying on cloud computing, according to media reports.

While many reports forecast the changes would result in thousands of job cuts, Microsoft only confirmed to AFP that changes were on the way. "Microsoft is implementing changes to better serve our customers and partners," a Microsoft spokesperson told AFP.

Tech news website GeekWire published what it indicated were excerpts from the Microsoft memo, which referred to an enormous business opportunity helping its customers with "digital transformations." Chief Executive Satya Nadella has sought to reduce the tech giant's focus on software, shifting to cloud computing and business services.

"From large multinationals to small and medium businesses to non-profits all over the world, organizations are using Microsoft's cloud platforms to power their digital transformation," Nadella said when the company reported its earnings for the first three months of this year.

Microsoft reported revenue gains in cloud and business service operations, which offset a drop in "personal computing," which includes the Windows operating system that once made up its core business. Microsoft said revenue from its "Intelligent Cloud" rose 11 per cent from a year earlier to USD 6.8 billion.

Microsoft said its Office commercial products and cloud services revenue increased seven percent. Office consumer products and cloud services revenue rose 15 percent, as the number of Office 365 consumer subscribers increased to 26.2 million.

Microsoft is to release its earnings for the recently- ended quarter on July 20. Microsoft's cloud platform, called Azure, faces competition from technology powerhouses Amazon and Google.

Each of the companies has also been investing in artificial intelligence which can make services hosted in the internet cloud more intuitive and insightful when it comes to handling data or catering to needs of users.

Redmond, Washington-based Microsoft has announced thousands of jobs cuts in recent years, the most severe being 18,000 positions eliminated in 2014 related from its acquisition of Nokia and failed efforts in the smartphone market. The technology giant cut 7,800 jobs in 2015, and 4,700 last year.

PTI
Trump offers support for British baby with genetic disorder

International

oi-PTI

Washington, Jul 3: President Donald Trump on Tuesday offered US help to a 10 months old British baby with a rare genetic disorder who is due to be taken off life support after courts ruled further treatment would prolong his suffering.

"If we can help little #CharlieGard, as per our friends in the UK and the Pope, we would be delighted to do so," he said in a tweet.

The parents of Charlie Gard, who has brain damage, had been fighting to take him to the United States for an experimental treatment for his extremely rare form of mitochondrial disease, but lost their case in British courts and the European Court of Human Rights.

"President Trump has offered to help the family in this heartbreaking situation," Helen Ferre, White House director of media affairs, said in a statement. "Although the president himself has not spoken to the family, he does not want to pressure them in any way, members of the administration have spoken to the family in calls facilitated by the British government."

The baby's plight has also attracted the attention of Pope Francis, who on Sunday expressed his support for Chris Gard and Connie Yates, saying he hoped doctors would allow them to "care for their child until the end." The Italian term used -- "curare" -- can be translated as "care for" or "treat" but the Vatican press office could not provide an official translation into English.

Charliesfight.org, a page set up to solicit donations for the baby's treatment in the United States, noted, "Two of the most powerful men in the world want to give Charlie Gard his chance," while @Fight4Charlie, an associated account, responded: "Thanks @realDonaldTrump for your support - @theresamay do the right thing and #savecharliegard."

The case has tugged at heart strings in Britain, where more than 1.3 million pounds ($1.68 million) has been raised through GoFundMe to pay for the experimental treatment.

A hundred protesters held a demonstration outside the gates of Buckingham Palace in London on Sunday, shouting "Save Charlie Gard" next to a banner that read "Murder."

As there was no hope of his recovering from the disease which causes progressive muscle weakness, including in key organs such as the heart the courts had ruled that keeping the baby on life support would only prolong his suffering.

PTI
Trump's decision over Paris climate deal could lead to irreversible climate change: Hawking

International

oi-PTI

London, Jul 4: Renowned British physicist Stephen Hawking has warned that President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw the US from the Paris climate pact could "push the Earth over the brink" and turn it into a hothouse planet like Venus.

Trump announced last month that the US would be withdrawing from the Paris Agreement, which has been signed by nearly 200 nations, claiming he wants to "renegotiate" the country's part in the agreement to ensure American businesses are not disadvantaged.

Hawking, arguably the world's most famous scientist, told the BBC that Trump's decision to pull out of the Paris climate agreement could lead to irreversible climate change.

"We are close to the tipping point where global warming becomes irreversible. Trump's action could push the Earth over the brink, to become like Venus, with a temperature of two hundred and fifty degrees, and raining sulphuric acid," the 75-year-old physicist said.

He also feared aggression was "inbuilt" in humans and that their best hope of survival was to live on other planets. The Cambridge professor said climate change is one of the great dangers humanity was facing, but it could be prevented by acting now.

"By denying the evidence for climate change, and pulling out of the Paris Climate Agreement, Donald Trump will cause avoidable environmental damage to our beautiful planet, endangering the natural world, for us and our children," Hawking said. When asked whether he felt humans would ever solve their environmental problems and resolve conflicts, Hawking was pessimistic, saying that he thought humans' days on Earth were numbered.

"I fear evolution has inbuilt greed and aggression to the human genome. There is no sign of conflict lessening, and the development of militarised technology and weapons of mass destruction could make that disastrous.

The best hope for the survival of the human race might be independent colonies in space," he said. On Brexit, Hawking feared that UK research would be irreparably damaged. "Science is a cooperative effort, so the impact (of Brexit) will be wholly bad, and will leave British science isolated and inward looking," he said.

Asked about his legacy, Hawking said, "I never expected to reach 75, so I feel very fortunate to be able to reflect on my legacy. I think my greatest achievement, will be my discovery that black holes are not entirely black."

Hawking has had motor neurone disease for most of his adult life. It has impaired his movement and ability to speak.

"When I was diagnosed at 21, I was told it would kill me in two or three years. Now, 54 years later, albeit weaker and in a wheelchair, I'm still working and producing scientific papers. But it's been a great struggle, which I have got through only with a lot of help from my family, colleagues, and friends," he said.

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Story first published: Tuesday, July 4, 2017, 15:50 [IST]
US beef is back, but faces tough challenges

From:Xinhua | 2017-07-03 10:03

AS Chinese and US representatives cut into a rib in Beijing on Friday to mark the return of US beef to China after a 14-year absence, customers in Shanghai also started to receive the US beef they had pre-ordered online via domestic retailers.



The beef sent to Shanghai homes via retailers like FruitDay is of the highest quality in terms of tenderness, juiciness, and flavor according to US Department of Agriculture standards, and is known as Prime grade.

The reopening of the Chinese market to US beef, one of the first results from the China-United States 100-day action plan reached in May, ends a ban initially triggered by concerns over mad cow disease in 2003, and may well start a new chapter in bilateral economic and trade cooperation.

My colleagues and I will get busier as US beef is returning, said Lu Ruiqing, head of the Shenhong Cold Storage Company, as he inspected a refrigeration house in suburban Shanghai, where boxes of beef imported from Australia and some South American countries, as well as domestic beef are stored.

Lu has been in the industry for more than 30 years. US beef used to be extremely popular in China, he recalled, accounting for as much as 70 percent of beef imports at its peak.

Driven by an ever-expanding middle class, China, the worlds biggest pork consumer, is also a growing beef market fed by both domestic and foreign beef.

Data from China Customs showed that the countrys beef imports reached around US$2.5 billion in 2016, compared to 254 million dollars in 2012. But per capita consumption is still low compared to the United States and Australia.

The market has great potential. Beef is increasingly popular among Chinese. In my restaurant, about 70 percent of the customers are local and many are young people, said Liu Xin, owner of a steakhouse in downtown Shanghai.

We mainly serve dishes cooked with Australian beef, but we are ready to change the menu when US beef is available this month, said Liu, who is planning to open another steakhouse in the city.

In the last five years, China became the worlds second largest beef importer. Australia has enjoyed exceptional opportunities in exporting beef to China. Competition started in 2015 when Brazil and Argentina were also granted market access, said Yan Hongwei, vice president of Shanghai Haibo Logistics, a major meat dealer in China.

It remains to be seen how US beef will compete with products from the southern hemisphere.

Flavor comes first, said Liu, the chef-turned-restaurant owner. Over the years, Chinese consumers have been accustomed to eating and cooking with Australian, Argentine or Brazilian beef, but American beef might be meatier and juicier, he said.

Price also matters, said Tao Jun, CEO of Sizzle Market, a chain store focusing on beef sales. He considered the return of American beef as good news as the price of imported beef may drop.

Both Australian and American beef target the middle and high-end markets. Generally speaking, American beef is more cost-effective, said Tao, expecting that Australian dealers might try to make prices more competitive to avoid a market loss.

Seeing the great market potential, many Chinese companies are actively seeking cooperation with American beef dealers, while many beef processing plants in the United States are also very excited about the opportunities.

However, the picture is not fully painted yet.

China has published certain details for quality and quarantine checks: the age of the beef cattle should be less than 30 months; beef importers should be registered at the Certification and Accreditation Administration of China; cattle must be traceable to their birth farm; and China-bound beef will have to be free of residues of synthetic hormones and banned additive such as ractopamine.

Yet industry sources estimate that less than 10 percent of US beef meets the requirements, which means export volumes will be limited initially.

There hasnt been American beef coming here officially for more than 10 years. China has some requirements for American suppliers to comply with. So it will begin slowly, but I do believe theres a lot of potential here, said Kenneth Jarrett, president of the American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai.

In the short term, beef from Australia, New Zealand, and Brazil will probably still dominate the imported market in China. Over the long term, it is possible for US beef to perform well, with its taste, price and service, said Yan.

The return of US beef to China and, in reciprocity, Chinas cooked poultry to the US, is at the forefront of the China-United States 100-day action plan, which also covers areas including financial services, investment, and energy.

To achieve a win-win outcome, China and the United States should carry out structural reforms and strengthen economic cooperation rather than just narrow the trade deficit, said Bai Ming, a research fellow at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation.
Xi Jinping tells Chinese army to prepare for war, fight and win it

Xi in Russia to hold talks with Putin on boosting ties amid US-China tension

International

oi-IANS

By Ians English

Moscow, July 4: Visiting Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin agreed to further boost bilateral ties and strengthen coordination on the Korean Peninsula and other major issues.

China and Russia are comprehensive strategic partners of coordination, and it is quite important for them to intensify communication and coordination in dealing with major affairs, said Xi, who held talks with Putin in the Kremlin shortly after his arrival in Moscow, reports Xinhua news agency.

The two sides should strengthen cooperation, and steadfastly support each other in pursuing their own development paths and defending their respective sovereignty, national security and development interests, said the Chinese president.

They also need to step up policy communication and action coordination on major regional and global issues, so as to tackle risks and challenges and promote world peace, stability and prosperity, he added.

For his part, Putin said he agrees that the two sides should beef up mutual support and strengthen coordination on major regional and global issues.

It is important to boost head-of-state diplomacy, which leads and promotes the development of bilateral relations, said Putin, adding that Xi's ongoing state visit, the second of its kind since he took office in 2013, will further boost the two countries' partnership.

The two leaders also exchanged views on the Korean Peninsula and Syria issues. They agreed to jointly push for a proper settlement of the peninsula issue via dialogue and negotiation.

As for the US deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (Thaad) system in South Korea, Xi and Putin said the move concerns the strategic balance in the region.

China and Russia, they stressed, are both opposed to installing the Thaad in South Korea.

Trump, Putin and Xi will attend the Group of 20 summit in Germany later this week.

IANS
OK! Magazine 11 Nov 2022

Sara Haines appeared to warn 'The View' moderator Whoopi Goldberg about a step as she helped her during the Thursday taping.
by  Graham Pierrepoint



Fidget spinners  love them or hate them  they are fast becoming this summers hottest playground craze, likely already sending teachers and parents gaga. The devices are easily bought and are surprisingly inexpensive  and despite a few health warnings being raised in the UK about light-up devices, they are continuing to captivate kids all over the world. The toys beginnings, however, are somewhat complicated  and the creator of the fidget spinner, Catherine Hettinger, previously held onto the patent on the device for some time  but since its expiry in 2005, the product has found its way to many a manufacturers catalogue.

Hettinger, according to The Independent, had in fact gotten inspiration for creating the toy having made a trip to Israel  where she learned that Palestinian children would take to pelting rocks at police officers in defiance. The fidget spinner, therefore, was born as a device to help distract children with pent-up energy and frustration  and while it may not have gone on to resolve peace in the Middle East, it has at least earned a solid place in popular culture after only a few months as a playground craze.

The origins of the fidget spinner go back further than many think, too  having been patented by Hettinger in 1993. That makes the device nothing particularly new  its US creator had in fact lost the patent in 2005 after attempting to sell her idea to various toy companies over the years. Since this time, they have of course burst into the mainstream  with the gizmo becoming a highly addictive toy which could be used to help create calm and to distract those at risk of breaking attention. There have been thousands of YouTube videos published on how to perform certain tricks with the toys, and you can buy them in a plethora of colors, styles and with a host of extra surprises. Need your fidget spinner to connect via Bluetooth? Of course you do  and now you can.

How does a playground craze truly take off? Fidget spinners are 25 years old next year  there really is no telling which gadgets and gizmos are likely to take off nor when. Those who grew up in the late 1990s may see a similarity with the resurgence of the yo-yo  and who knows if they themselves will come back around again?
The State Council held its swearing-in ceremony to uphold the Constitution, where Premier Li Keqiang administered the oath in Beijing on July 3.

Sixty-two new heads of the 39 State Council departments and affiliated agencies, appointed between September 2016 and May 2017, swore to uphold the Constitution, as required by two documents that require officials to take an oath to the Constitution.

Facing the national flag, everyone attending the solemn ceremony stood up and sang the national anthem. The leader of the oath ceremony placed his left hand upon the Constitution, raised his right fist, and took the oath. Then others lined up, raised their right fists and repeated the oath.

Premier Li then urged everyone to fulfill the pledge to be committed, perform their duties according to the Constitution, serve the people, pledge to be diligent, honest and upright to live up to the expectations of the Party and Chinese people.

Also attending the ceremony were Vice-Premiers Zhang Gaoli, Liu Yandong, Wang Yang and Ma Kai, State Councilors Chang Wanquan and Wang Yong, and as senior officials from other departments under the State Council.
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A 65-year-old landlord, Samuel Adekoya, has been arrested by the Ogun State Police Command.

The man was nabbed for alleged child abuse and physical molestation of 11-year-old twins, Taiwo Olishe and Kehinde Olishe.

Adekoya was reported to have tied the victims with a rope and dragged them to the ground for excreting in his compound.

The Police Public Relations Officer in the state, Abimbola Oyeyemi, disclosed this in a statement on Friday.

Oyeyemi said the suspect was arrested following a complaint lodged at Ijebu-Ode Area Command by the twins mother, Gbenisola Olishe.

The PPRO explained that the victims mother reported that while she was away on her business, she received a phone call from a good Samaritan, informing her that her landlord was seen tying her twins hands and legs like goats and dragging them on the ground with the rope after beating them with a cable wire.



The suspect was also video recording the cruel act while carrying it out. She stated further that the twins sustained varying degrees of body injuries as a result of the wicked act meted on them by the landlord.



Upon the report, the Area Commander in Ijebu-Ode, Adeniyi Omosanyin, deployed some policemen to the scene where the two boys were tied on both legs and hands. They were rescued and taken to the hospital for treatment.

The suspect, who happened to be the landlord of the victims parents were promptly arrested and taken to the station.



On interrogation, the suspect explained to the police that he was informed that one of the twins excreted within the compound despite his warning that the compound must be kept clean always.



When asked to take policemen to where the point where the victim excreted, he said the boy had already washed it. One of the twins is currently on admission at Ijebu-Ode General Hospital due to injuries sustained while he was being dragged on the ground by the suspect.

Oyeyemi, however, said the Commissioner of Police, Lanre Bankole, had ordered that the case be thoroughly investigated and that the suspect must be arraigned in court as soon as the investigation was concluded.
The Nigerian Air Force (NAF) has confirmed the death of two officers in the crash involving one of its trainer aircraft in Kaduna State.

NAF Director of Public Relation and Information, Air Commodore Edward Gabkwet, in a statement on Wednesday, identified the officers as Flight Lieutenant Abubakar Alkali and Flight Lieutenant Elijah Karatu.

He revealed that the Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Oladayo Amao, visited Kaduna a day after the aircraft crashed, killing the officers onboard at the NAF Base in Kaduna.

Gabkwet explained that the air force chief was in Kaduna to commiserate with families, friends, and colleagues of the two pilots.

READ ALSO: Military Officers Feared Dead As Trainer Aircraft Crashes In Kaduna

Amao, according to the NAF spokesman, promised that the air force would ensure it thoroughly investigates the cause of the crash of the Super Mushshak trainer aircraft.

Upon receiving the sad news of the crash on Tuesday, the air marshal constituted an Accident Investigation Board to determine the immediate and remote causes of the crash.

While in Kaduna, he assured the officers, airmen, and airwomen of 401 Flying Training School that all measures would be emplaced to avert a similar occurrence in the future.

Amao, however, reminded them of the need to remain steadfast and focus on their assigned roles and responsibilities in view of the onerous task before the NAF and other security agencies to rid the North West and the entire nation of all criminal elements.

The unfortunate incident of yesterdays trainer aircraft crash is yet again a tragic reminder of the perilous nature of the military flying profession as well as the risks NAF pilots continually take, daily, to secure Nigerias territorial integrity, Gabkwet said.
Electronic Signature Software 2017 Global Key Players  RightSignature, HelloSign, DocuSign, Adobe Document Cloud, Microsoft, SAP Ariba Market Analysis and Forecast to 2022

Electronic Signature Software Market

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Electronic Signature Software Market 2017Wiseguyreports.Com Adds Electronic Signature Software Market  Market Demand, Growth, Opportunities, Analysis of Top Key Players and Forecast to 2022 To Its Research Database.Report Details:This report studies the global Electronic Signature Software market, analyzes and researches the Electronic Signature Software development status and forecast in United States, EU, Japan, China, India and Southeast Asia.This report focuses on the top players in global market, likeRightSignatureHelloSignDocuSignAdobe Document CloudMicrosoftSAP AribaAssureSignSertifie-SignLive by SilaniseSign GenieinkditSkySignatureSignNow (Barracuda)PandaDocSigPlus ProAuthentisignRequest for Sample Report @Market segment by Regions/Countries, this report coversUnited StatesEUJapanChinaIndiaSoutheast AsiaMarket segment by Type, Electronic Signature Software can be split intoOn-Premises Electronic Signature SoftwareMobile Electronic Signature SoftwareCloud Electronic Signature SoftwareMarket segment by Application, Electronic Signature Software can be split intoLarge EnterpriseMidsize BusinessPublic AdministrationSmall BusinessComplete Report Details@Table of Content:Global Electronic Signature Software Market Size, Status and Forecast 20221 Industry Overview of Electronic Signature Software1.1 Electronic Signature Software Market Overview1.1.1 Electronic Signature Software Product Scope1.1.2 Market Status and Outlook1.2 Global Electronic Signature Software 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 Electronic Signature Software Market by Type1.3.1 On-Premises Electronic Signature Software1.3.2 Mobile Electronic Signature Software1.3.3 Cloud Electronic Signature Software1.4 Electronic Signature Software Market by End Users/Application1.4.1 Large Enterprise1.4.2 Midsize Business1.4.3 Public Administration1.4.4 Small Business2 Global Electronic Signature Software Competition Analysis by Players2.1 Electronic Signature Software Market Size (Value) by Players (2016 and 2017)2.2 Competitive Status and Trend2.2.1 Market Concentration Rate2.2.2 Product/Service Differences2.2.3 New Entrants2.2.4 The Technology Trends in Future3 Company (Top Players) Profiles3.1 RightSignature3.1.1 Company Profile3.1.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.1.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.1.4 Electronic Signature Software Revenue (Value) (2012-2017)3.1.5 Recent Developments3.2 HelloSign3.2.1 Company Profile3.2.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.2.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.2.4 Electronic Signature Software Revenue (Value) (2012-2017)3.2.5 Recent Developments3.3 DocuSign3.3.1 Company Profile3.3.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.3.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.3.4 Electronic Signature Software Revenue (Value) (2012-2017)3.3.5 Recent Developments3.4 Adobe Document Cloud3.4.1 Company Profile3.4.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.4.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.4.4 Electronic Signature Software Revenue (Value) (2012-2017)3.4.5 Recent Developments3.5 Microsoft3.5.1 Company Profile3.5.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.5.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.5.4 Electronic Signature Software Revenue (Value) (2012-2017)3.5.5 Recent Developments3.6 SAP Ariba3.6.1 Company Profile3.6.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.6.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.6.4 Electronic Signature Software Revenue (Value) (2012-2017)3.6.5 Recent Developments3.7 AssureSign3.7.1 Company Profile3.7.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.7.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.7.4 Electronic Signature Software Revenue (Value) (2012-2017)3.7.5 Recent Developments3.8 Sertifi3.8.1 Company Profile3.8.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.8.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.8.4 Electronic Signature Software Revenue (Value) (2012-2017)3.8.5 Recent Developments3.9 e-SignLive by Silanis3.9.1 Company Profile3.9.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.9.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.9.4 Electronic Signature Software Revenue (Value) (2012-2017)3.9.5 Recent Developments3.10 eSign Genie3.10.1 Company Profile3.10.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.10.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.10.4 Electronic Signature Software Revenue (Value) (2012-2017)3.10.5 Recent Developments.Continued.Buy this Report @Contact Us:NORAH TRENTSales@Wiseguyreports.ComPh: +1-646-845-9349 (US)Ph: +44 208 133 9349 (UK)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
Camellia Oil Global Productions Supply Sales Demand Market Status and Forecast 2017-2022

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Camellia OilWiseGuyReports.com adds Global Camellia Oil Research Report 2022 to its Database.This report gives In-depth information :1. Production of Camellia Oil across Global according to Market Segments2. Consumption of Camellia Oil across Global according to Industry Use.3. Competition of Camellia Oil across Global by top manufacturers.4. Revenue Camellia Oil Analysis of IndustryCamellia Oil is an edible, pale amber-green fixed (nonvolatile) oil with a sweet, herbal aroma. It is cold-pressed mainly from the seeds of Camellia oleifera.For Sample Report @Scope of the Report:This report focuses on the Camellia Oil 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 coversJinhaoWilmar International LimitedGreen-seaGuitaitaiRunxinoilDeerleAcemeliaiWaltt Products Co.,LtdShanrunLaozhiqin (Fujian) Oil Co., LtdMarket 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, coversExtra Virgin camellia OilPure camellia OilPomace camellia OilMarket Segment by Applications, can be divided intoFoodCosmeticsOthersThere are 15 Chapters to deeply display the global Camellia Oil market.Chapter 1, to describe Camellia Oil Introduction, product scope, market overview, market opportunities, market risk, market driving force;Chapter 2, to analyze the top manufacturers of Camellia Oil, with sales, revenue, and price of Camellia Oil, 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 Camellia Oil, 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, Camellia Oil market forecast, by regions, type and application, with sales and revenue, from 2017 to 2022;Chapter 13, 14 and 15, to describe Camellia Oil sales channel, distributors, traders, dealers, Research Findings and Conclusion, appendix and data sourceFor any Enquiry or special requirement related to Camellia Oil you can write us @Table of ContentGlobal Camellia Oil Market Size, Status and Forecast 20221 Market Overview1.1 Camellia Oil Introduction1.2 Market Analysis by Type1.2.1 Extra Virgin camellia Oil1.2.2 Pure camellia Oil1.2.3 Pomace camellia Oil1.3 Market Analysis by Applications1.3.1 Food1.3.2 Cosmetics1.3.3 Others1.4 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 Force2 Manufacturers Profiles2.1 Jinhao2.1.1 Business Overview2.1.2 Camellia Oil Type and Applications2.1.2.1 Type 12.1.2.2 Type 22.1.3 Jinhao Camellia Oil Sales, Price, Revenue, Gross Margin and Market Share (2016-2017)2.2 Wilmar International Limited2.2.1 Business Overview2.2.2 Camellia Oil Type and Applications2.2.2.1 Type 12.2.2.2 Type 22.2.3 Wilmar International Limited Camellia Oil Sales, Price, Revenue, Gross Margin and Market Share (2016-2017)2.3 Green-sea2.3.1 Business Overview2.3.2 Camellia Oil Type and Applications2.3.2.1 Type 12.3.2.2 Type 22.3.3 Green-sea Camellia Oil Sales, Price, Revenue, Gross Margin and Market Share (2016-2017)2.4 Guitaitai2.4.1 Business Overview2.4.2 Camellia Oil Type and Applications2.4.2.1 Type 12.4.2.2 Type 22.4.3 Guitaitai Camellia Oil Sales, Price, Revenue, Gross Margin and Market Share (2016-2017)2.5 Runxinoil2.5.1 Business Overview2.5.2 Camellia Oil Type and Applications2.5.2.1 Type 12.5.2.2 Type 22.5.3 Runxinoil Camellia Oil Sales, Price, Revenue, Gross Margin and Market Share (2016-2017)Continued.Buy Now @Subscribe Our Youtube Channel @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.Contact Us:Company Name: Wiseguyreports.comContact Person: Norah TrentEmail: Send EmailPhone: +1 646 845 9349, +44 208 133 9349City: PuneState: MaharashtraCountry: IndiaWebsite:Wise Guy Reports is part of the Wise Guy Consultants Pvt. Ltd. and offers premium progressive statistical surveying, research reports, analysis & forecast data for industries and governments around the globe. Wise Guy Reports features an exhaustive list of research reports from hundreds of publishers worldwide. We boast a database spanning virtually every category and an even more comprehensive collection of research reports under these categories and sub-categoriesOffice No. 528, Amanora Chambers Magarpatta Road, HadapsarPune - 411028 Maharashtra, India
Pertussis Vaccine Market Overview - Key Futuristic Trends And Competitive Landscape 2024

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Pertussis vaccine is used for whooping cough. This vaccine is available only in combination with other vaccines. Pertussis vaccination is recommended for all children, babies, teens, and pregnant women. Diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis (DTaP) vaccines are given to children younger than seven years old, while tetanus, diphtheria, and pertussis (Tdap) vaccines are given to older children and adults. Childhood vaccination is one of the safest and cost-effective ways for pertussis-free environment. The World Health Organization (WHO) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommend all children should be routinely vaccinated for pertussis. According to WHO in 2015, about 86% of infants received three doses of diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis (DTP3) vaccine worldwide to protect them against infectious diseases. In 2015, procurement of DTwP vaccine through UNICEF had reached 5.8 million doses for 18 countries and territories out of which four countries such as Egypt, Morocco, Uzbekistan, and Zimbabwe accounted for more than 80% of UNICEFs total procurement.Obtain Report Details:Factors such as high birth rate, increase in number of geriatric population, government initiatives, growth in adoption of pertussis vaccination, and government insurance and reimbursement scenario are projected to drive the pertussis vaccine market globally. According to WHO in 2015, 126 countries had reached at least 90% coverage of diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis vaccine. On the other hand, factors such as vaccine injuries and adverse event are expected to hinder the growth of the pertussis vaccine market globally. In the U.S. in 2015, there had been 7 claims filed in the federal Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP) for injuries and deaths following pertussis vaccination, including three deaths and four serious injuries.The pertussis vaccine market has been segmented by product type, vaccine type, age group, end-user, and geography. In terms of product type, the pertussis vaccine market is classified into DTaP vaccine and Tdap vaccine. The DTaP vaccine segment includes products such as Daptacel, Infanrix, Kinrix, Pediarix, Pentacel, and Quaracel. The Tdap vaccine segment comprises products such as Boostrix and Adacel. In terms of vaccine type, the pertussis vaccine market is classified into whole-cell vaccine and acellular vaccine. The acellular vaccine segment is highly used owing to less side effect. The acellular vaccine is about 71%85% effective, whereas whole-cell vaccine is about 78% effective. In terms of age group, the pertussis vaccine market is classified into adult and pediatric. In terms of end-user, the market is classified into hospitals, clinics, and vaccination centers. Geographically, the pertussis vaccine market is classified into North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Middle East & Africa.Fill the form for an exclusive sample of this report:North America dominates the pertussis vaccine market due to growth in number of geriatric population and increase in pertussis death rate in the U.S, which drive the pertussis vaccine market. In 2014, according to the CDC, 28,660 cases of pertussis were reported in the U.S. The North America market is followed by the Europe and Asia Pacific markets. Asia Pacific is expected to grow at a higher rate due to rapid population growth, increase in adoption for vaccination, and growth in prevalence of infectious disease. These factors are expected to fuel the pertussis vaccine market. In the Asia Pacific region, Thailand accounts for 99% in pertussis vaccine coverage, followed by Japan and China with 98% and 97%, respectively. Developing countries such as Brazil, South Africa, and Mexico are estimated to create good opportunity for the pertussis vaccine market growth attributing to rise in number of government and private health care insurance coverage, increase in health care expenditure, and growth in awareness among people.Major players operating in this market include Sanofi Pasteur, GlaxoSmithKline, Protein Sciences Corporation, Novartis AG, Seqirus, Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp., and Astellas Pharma US, Inc.The report offers a comprehensive evaluation of the market. It does so via in-depth qualitative insights, historical data, and verifiable projections about market size. The projections featured in the report have been derived using proven research methodologies and assumptions. By doing so, the research report serves as a repository of analysis and information for every facet of the market, including but not limited to: Regional markets, technology, types, and applications.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:
Thrombin Market is Expected to Witness Highest Growth During 2016 - 2024

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Hemostasis is a medical condition, wherein blood vessel, platelets, and coagulation factors act together to arrest bleeding. It occurs by coagulation process, wherein blood is transformed from liquid to gel state through sequential enzymatic steps. During hemostasis process, thrombin plays a role of key enzyme. Thrombin is an enzyme called serine protease, which is synthesized from a precursor glycoprotein called prothrombin. During the clotting process, proteolytic cleavage of prothrombin produces thrombin. Insoluble fibrin is produced from soluble fibrinogen through a series of reactions catalyzed by thrombin. The production of thrombin in body is highly regulated, as the overproduction of thrombin may result in the blockage of normal blood flow a state called thrombosis. Under such condition, tissues may die due to unavailability of oxygen.Prothrombin is produced in liver and is passed into blood stream in an inactive form. Whenever a vascular injury occurs, collagen and tissue factor lead to activation of coagulation pathways. These pathways lead to activation of factor X, which, in conjugation with other factors, forms a complex. This complex cleaves the prothrombin protein into a thrombin molecule. Once thrombin is produced, it cleaves fibrinogen into fibrin. This result in platelet aggregation and thrombus formation, which help in the stoppage of bleeding.Obtain Report Details:Thrombin acts on different cell types. On smooth muscle cells, it causes vasoconstriction. It activates platelets to promote their aggregation at the site of injury. In activated state, thrombin plays a role of chemo-attractant and mitogen for neutrophils and fibroblasts. Thrombin also plays a role in regulating the endothelial cell functions. It also plays a role in the anticoagulant system, wherein it activates protein C upon interaction with thrombomodulin. This helps in improving circulation as an anticoagulant effect during the vascular injury. Thrombin are produced naturally in body and is also available in commercialized forms. In both the forms, it has two important functions. It helps in the process of coagulation wherein fibrinogen is converted into fibrin. This promotes platelet aggregation, which helps in clotting of blood at the site of injury. Secondly, it acts in the anticoagulation process by activating the protein C. Commercially produced thrombin is available in concentrated form, which, upon application, is capable of converting fibrinogen into fibrin. This helps in thrombus formation at the site of injury. The concentration of thrombin is directly promotional to the rate of clot formation. Types of commercially available thrombin differ in terms of dosage form and concentration. This factor is considered while selecting the product, as higher concentration speeds up the process of hemostasis.The global thrombin market can be segmented on the basis of product type, dosage form, end-user, and geographical region. Based on product type, the market has been segmented into bovine thrombin, human thrombin, and recombinant thrombin. The human thrombin segment is sub-segmented into alpha, beta, and gamma thrombin. The use of bovine thrombin generates antibodies, which cross-react with human coagulation proteins. This has been observed to result in severe complications and life-threatening bleeding. Hence, human thrombin was introduced, as an alternative to bovine thrombin. However, human thrombin is associated with the risk of transmission of viruses. The recombinant thrombin segment is anticipated to lead the market, as recombinant thrombin is free of risks associated with viral infection and it has potential efficacy.Fill the form for an exclusive sample of this report:Based on dosage form, the global thrombin market has been segmented into powder form, solution form, pad form, spray kits, and others. Based on end-user, it can be segmented into hospitals, diagnostics & clinics, and academic and research institutes. The hospitals segment is anticipated to lead the market, due to increase in the number of surgeries.Based on geography, the global thrombin market has been segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Middle East & Africa. North America is anticipated to lead the global market, due to increase in the number of surgeries and developed health care infrastructure.Key players operating in the global thrombin market are Baxter, Bayer, CSL, Grifols, GE Healthcare, Hualan Biological, Haematologic Technologies Inc., Pfizer, Octapharma, Omrix Biopharmaceuticals Ltd., and Shanghai RAAS.The report offers a comprehensive evaluation of the market. It does so via in-depth qualitative insights, historical data, and verifiable projections about market size. The projections featured in the report have been derived using proven research methodologies and assumptions. By doing so, the research report serves as a repository of analysis and information for every facet of the market, including but not limited to: Regional markets, technology, types, and applications.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:
Antibody Drug Conjugate Market Sales Revenue Opportunity Report

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Ever since the first attempt in the 1980's to use antibody-based drugs as therapeutic agents, the application and use of monoclonal antibody-drug conjugates has evolved in several ways. The major advantage of using Antibody Drug Conjugates (ADC) is that it brings together the best characteristics of both antibodies and the cytotoxic potential of chemotherapy. This offers significant opportunity for the future in terms of targeted accumulation of drug in the tumor cell or tissue.Download Report:For Report Sample Contact: neeraj@kuickresearch.com or +91-11-47067990" Antibody Drug Conjugate Market Opportunity Analysis" Table of Contents1. Introduction to Antibody Drug Conjugate2. Antibody Drug Conjugate Mechanism2.1 Components of Antibody Drug Conjugate2.2 Mechanism of Antibody Drug Conjugate3. Why Need for Antibody Drug Conjugate?4. Antibody Drug Conjugate Market Outlook4.1 Market Overview4.2 Anti Drug Conjugate Clinical Pipeline Analysis5. Antibody Drug Conjugate Market Dynamics5.1 Market Acceptability Drivers5.2 Issues to be Addressed5.3 Future Growth Opportunities6. Antibody Drug Conjugate Clinical Trial Insight by Phase & Target Indications6.1 Research6.2 Preclinical6.3 Phase I6.4 Phase I/II6.5 Phase II6.6 Phase II/III6.7 Phase III7. Marketed Antibody Drug Conjugate8. Competitive Landscape8.1 ADC Therapeutics8.2 Agensys8.3 Ambrx8.4 Amgen8.5 AREVA Med8.6 Bayer HealthCare8.7 Genentech8.8 Immunomedics8.9 ImmunoGen8.10 Seattle GeneticsFigure 2-1: Components of Antibody Drug ConjugateFigure 2-2: Mechanism of Antibody Drug ConjugateFigure 4-1: Global Antibody Drug Conjugate Market (US$ Billion), 2013-2020Figure 4-2: Global Adcetris Sales (Million US$), 2013 & 2020Figure 4-3: Adcetris Sales in US & Europe (Million US$), 2013Figure 4-4: Global Kadcyla Sales (Million US$), 2013 & 2020Figure 4-5: Kadcyla Market in US & Ex US (Million US$), 2013Figure 4-6: Antibody Drug Conjugate Clinical Pipeline by Phase (%)Figure 4-7: Antibody Drug Conjugate Clinical Pipeline by Phase (%)List of TablesTable 8-1: ADC Therapeutics Clinical PipelineTable 8-2: Agensys Clinical PipelineTable 8-3: Ambrx Clinical PipelineTable 8-4: Amgen Clinical PipelineTable 8-5: AREVA Med Clincal PipelineTable 8-6: Genentech Clinical PipelineTable 8-7: Immunomedics Clinical PipelineTable 8-8: ImmunoGen Clinical PipelineTable 8-9: Seattle Genetics Clinical PipelineNeed custom market research solution? We can help you with that tooKuick Research is a market research and analytics company that provides targeted information for critical decisions at business, product and service levels. We are quick, predictive and known by the recommendations we have made in the past. Our result-oriented research methodology offers understanding of multiple issues in a short period of time and gives us the capability to keep you full with loads of practical ideas. By translating research answers into strategic insight and direction, we not only rate the success potential of your products and/or services, but also help you identify the opportunities for growth in new demographies and find ways to beat competition.+91-11-47067990eeraj Chawlaneeraj@kuickresearch.comKuicK ResearchAvanta Business Center 4th Floor,Statesman House Barakhamba Road,Connaught Place New Delhi  110 001, India
Cancer Gene Therapy Market Sales Revenue Opportunity Report

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The gene therapy market has undergone series of transformation from the initial days of research to current clinical development of drugs for treatment of multiple diseases. The initial studies of gene therapy were conducted mostly on monogenetic diseases, but the focus of the researchers rapidly shifted towards the cancer. The increasing popularity of cancer therapeutics as a major interest for gene therapy applications led to it accounting for a dominant share of more than 60% in the overall number of clinical studies. The reasons for cancer to become a preferred area of application for gene therapy are the significant unmet medical needs in cancer therapy, coupled with the large size of its market. Additionally, the ethical acceptance of gene therapy as a therapeutic solution also contributed to the shift of focus from monogenetic diseases to cancer.Download Report:For Report Sample Contact: neeraj@kuickresearch.com or +91-11-47067990"Cancer Gene Therapy Market Analysis" Table of Contents1. Introduction to Gene Therapy1.1 History of Gene Therapy1.2 Vectors of Gene Therapy2. Global Gene Therapy Market2.1 Market Overview2.2 Emerging Trends in Gene Therapy3. Significance of Cancer Therapeutics in Gene Therapy4. Current Applications of Gene Therapy to Cancer Treatment4.1 Cancer Treatments Currently Available4.2 Approaches to Cancer Gene Therapy4.3 Gene Therapy Used in Cancer Treatment4.4 Methods of Inserting Genes into Cancer Patients5. Cancer Gene Therapy Market Dynamics5.1 Favorable Parameters for Cancer Gene Therapy5.2 Issued Involved with Application of Gene Therapy in Cancer Patients5.3 Cancer Gene Therapy Clinical Insight6. Regulatory Scenario for Gene Therapy Market6.1 EU6.2 US7. Cancer Gene Therapy Drug Clinical Trial Insight by Phase, Country & Target Indications7.1 Unknown Phase7.2 Research7.3 Preclinical7.4 Phase I/II7.5 Phase II7.6 Phase III8. Marketed Cancer Gene Therapy Drugs9. Suspended & Discontinued Cancer Gene Therapy Drug Pipeline9.1 No Development Reported9.2 Discontinued9.3 Suspended10. Competitive Landscape10.1 Advantagene10.2 BioCancell10.3 Celgene10.4 Cell Genesys10.5 Epeius Biotechnologies10.6 GenVec10.7 Introgen Therapeutics10.8 MultiVir10.9 ZIOPHARM Oncology10.10 Shenzhen SiBiono GeneTechFigure 3-1: Gene Therapy by IndicationFigure 5-1: Favorable Parameters for Cancer Gene TherapyFigure 5-2: Cancer Gene Therapy Drug Clinical Pipeline by Phase (%), 2014Figure 5-3: Cancer Gene Therapy Drug Clinical Pipeline by Phase (Number of Drugs), 2014Figure 5-4: Suspended Cancer Gene Therapy Drug by Phase (%), 2014Figure 5-5: Suspended Cancer Gene Therapy Drug by Phase (Number of Drugs), 2014Figure 5-6: Discontinued Cancer Gene Therapy Drug by Phase (%), 2014Figure 5-7: Discontinued Cancer Gene Therapy Drug by Phase (Number of Drugs), 2014Figure 5-8: No Development Reported Cancer Gene Therapy Drug by Phase (%), 2014Figure 5-9: No Development Reported Cancer Gene Therapy Drug by Phase (Number ofDrugs), 2014Kuick Research is a market research and analytics company that provides targeted information for critical decisions at business, product and service levels. We are quick, predictive and known by the recommendations we have made in the past. Our result-oriented research methodology offers understanding of multiple issues in a short period of time and gives us the capability to keep you full with loads of practical ideas. By translating research answers into strategic insight and direction, we not only rate the success potential of your products and/or services, but also help you identify the opportunities for growth in new demographies and find ways to beat competition.Neeraj Chawlaneeraj@kuickresearch.comKuicK ResearchAvanta Business Center 4th Floor,Statesman House Barakhamba Road,Connaught Place New Delhi  110 001, India+91-11-47067990
Latin America Carrageenan Market nalysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends, and Forecasts (20162021)

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The Latin America Carrageenan Market was worth $88.8 million in 2016 and estimated to be growing at a CAGR of 5.9%, to reach $118.27 million by 2021.View Full Report @For centuries, carrageenan has been used all over the region of which eatable species were the first. Advancement of their uses was preferred by their set accessibility and closeness to centres of human settlement, typically coastal areas. With human progress and discoveries, other species were also found to yield medicinal, pharmaceutical, cosmetic, industrial and agricultural use.Download Free Sample Report @One of the key drivers of the food grade carrageenan market is the increasing demand of treated foods. With growing awareness about the constituents of processed foods, the demand for organic ingredients is also on escalation. Other very significant factor for the progress of carrageenan market is the multi functionality of the product which substitutes a lot of other products used in processed foods. Lack of awareness in this region is obstructing the market growth.Avail Discount @Latin America market for Carrageenan is segmented by type into Kappa, Lota and Lambda. Based on application the market is segregated into Food Industry, Pharmaceutical Industry and Cosmetics Industry. Food industry is further sub segmented into Dairy, Meat, Beverages and Pet Food. On the basis of grade the carrageenan market is divided amongst Refined Carrageenan and Semi Refined Carrageenan. Market is also bifurcated based on seaweed source into Gigartina, Chondrus, Iridaea and Eucheuma. Pharmaceutical industry is one of the key end-use industries of carrageenan due to its expanding application as gelling agent.Buy now @Geographically the market is segmented into Mexico, Brazil and Argentina. Brazil having the highest demand for food products is leading the carrageenan market for Latin America region.The major players in the food grade carrageenan industry are AEP Colloids, Shemberg Marketing Corporation, Ingredients Solutions Inc., Gelymar SA, Soriano SA, Marcel Trading Corporation, Danisco A/S, Scalzo Food Industries, Altrafine Gums, TIC Gums Incorporation, Gum Technology Corporation, DuPont (U.S.), Cargill (U.S.), Kerry Group (Ireland), CP Kelco (U.S.), Ashland Inc (U.S.), Ingredion (U.S.), TIC Gums (U.S.) and Tate & Lyle (U.K.).Visit Market Data Forecast Blog @View latest Press Releases of MDF @About usMarket Data Forecast is a firm working in the areas of market research and business intelligence. We have rich experience in research across major industry segments like Healthcare, Agriculture, Food & Beverages etc. and we cater to the needs of both individual and corporate clients. Our research services contribute to key business areas like business process improvement, key decision making and developing appropriate corporate strategy. We are truly committed to our clients and other stakeholders for providing customized research services of the highest quality all the while being an organization thats trusted for its integrity, respected for its accountability, and admired for its excellence, by both clients and competitors alike.Contact:Abhishek ShuklaManager (International Business Development)Market Data ForecastDirect Line: +1-888-702-9626Mobile: +91 998 555 0206Mail: abhishek@marketdataforecast.com
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Single-use Bioprocessing Systems Market is expanding at a CAGR of 11.1% from 2016 - 2024

Single-use Bioprocessing Systems Market

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The highly consolidated single-use bioprocessing market is dominated by Thermo Fisher Scientific, Satorius AG, Merck KGaA, Pall Corporation, and GE Healthcare. Cumulatively, these companies accounted for a whopping 95.2% share in 2015, signaling the concentrated nature of the market by large and established players.Transparency Market Research notes that the threat of new entrants in the single-use bioprocessing systems market is moderate owing to the fact that existing players possess brand identity and have unique proprietary product offerings. Nevertheless, the degree of competition is expected to remain moderate to high in the market over the course of the forecast period.Transparency Market Research estimates that the global single-use bioprocessing systems market will rise from a value of US$2.3 bn in 2015 to US$5.9 bn by 2024, expanding at a robust CAGR of 11.1% over the forecast period.This 144 page report gives readers a comprehensive overview of the Single-use Bioprocessing Systems Market. Browse through 16 data tables and 50 figures to unlock the hidden opportunities in this market:Bioprocessing bags are projected to account for a 27.0% share by 2024, emerging as the leading product segment of the global single-use bioprocessing systems market. The robust growth of the bioprocessing bags segment can be attributed to frequent and recurring purchases for several upstream and downstream functions such as mixing, filtration, storage, transport, and media preparation and fermentation. The segment is also projected to expand at a strong CAGR of 14.8% from 2016 to 2024.Accounting for the major share in the overall single-use bioprocessing systems market, the monoclonal antibody production segment is projected to continue its lead throughout the forecast period, exhibiting a growth rate higher than the other segments. By end use, the pharmaceutical segment is projected to dominate the market for single-use bioprocessing systems. However, the CRO and CMO segment is expected to gain much traction in the coming years, registering a high CAGR from 2016 to 2024.Geographically, Europe was the leading market in 2015, accounting for a share of 29%. The region is likely to lose market share by 2024 but will continue its dominance throughout the forecast period. Registering a CAGR of 12.3%, Asia Pacific is projected to emerge as one of the fastest growing regions in the global single-use bioprocessing systems market.Get accurate market forecast and analysis on the Single-use Bioprocessing Systems Market. Request a sample to stay abreast on the key trends impacting this market:When it comes to single-use products, it is of utmost importance to customers that the use product in question be customized as per their requirements. Single-use bags, bioreactors, and bioprocess containers are all amenable to customer-specific customization requests depending upon the application, the TMR analyst states. This lends flexibility to the consumer, which is not always possible with capital equipment such as stainless steel bioprocess containers. This acts as a major growth driver.Other factors driving the single-use bioprocessing systems market include an overall reduction in cost, a reduction in clean-in-place (CIP) and steam-in-place (SIP) processes, minimized chances of cross-contamination, various technological advancements and innovations, and a growth in the production of monoclonal antibodies.In contrast, various technical difficulties, environmental concerns regarding the use of disposables, and continued preference for stainless steel products over single-use technologies have been limiting the growth of the market.About UsTransparency Market Research 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. Our 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.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:
Calendula Officinalis Extract Market Driven by Increasing Opportunities in the Food Industry & Textile Industry

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Calendula officinalis is an aromatic plant, which belongs to Asteraceae family, its flower is used to make medicines and health supplement. Calendula officinalis is a native plant in the Mediterranean area although it is found throughout the world. Calendula flower-heads is used to produce the calendula extract. Calendula officinalis Extract is also used as a coloring agent in the food industry, textile industry. Calendula officinalis Extract is used to prevent sudden involuntary contraction of a muscle. Calendula officinalis Extract is supposed to have rejuvenating properties which is why its oil is used in therapeutic massage to cure body ache and relax muscle.Browse Market Research Report @Market Segmentation:Calendula officinalis extract market is segment on the basis of form, end-user, application, and region. On the basis of form the market is segmented into powder form and liquid form. Liquid form is very much popular as compared to the powdered form. The demand for Calendula officinalis extract is also more as it is a rich source of flavonoid and offers many anti-oxidant properties. On the basis of end-user the market is segmented into industrial and retail. The retail segment is further sub-segmented into supermarkets/hypermarkets, convenience stores and online stores. It is expected that supermarkets/hypermarkets will hold a relatively higher share in the Calendula officinalis extract market compared to other distribution channels. On the basis of application the Calendula officinalis extract market is segmented into food industry, cosmetic industry, textile industry and pharmaceutical industry. Food industry and textile industry is expected to hold the major market share in the forecast period. The versatile properties of Calendula officinalis extract is also going to attract the cosmetic industry in the coming future and is anticipated to drive the Calendula officinalis extract market to a greater extent. On the basis of region the Calendula officinalis extract market is segmented into North America, Latin America, Asia Pacific, Europe and MEA.Market Regional Outlook:Regional segment for the market of Calendula officinalis extract is divided into five different regions: North America, Latin America, Asia Pacific and Japan, Europe and MEA. Among these segment Asia Pacific is expected to be the leader of Calendula officinalis extract market globally and is expected to dominant the market in the forecaster period. In North America region the country such as the U.S. is the key market for Calendula officinalis extract. In terms of revenue Europe is also expected to be the leading contributor in the Calendula officinalis extract market in the coming future.Enter your information below to receive a sample copy of this report @Market Drivers:The market is driven by the increasing awareness among the consumers about the health benefits associated with Calendula officinalis extract. Increasing opportunities in the food industry and textile industry is a key factor which is expected to drive the global Calendula officinalis extract. Calendula officinalis extract is popular as it offers various health benefits such as it helps to reduce pain and swelling (inflammation), helps in the treatment of wounds and ulcers, reduces the inflammation of the lining of the eyelid (conjunctivitis) as well as inflammation of the rectum (proctitis) which is expected to bolster the growth of the Calendula officinalis extract market. The demand for anti-aging cream is expect to boost the Calendula extract market as antioxidants present in the extract helps in preventing free radical damage of the body. Calendula officinalis extract is also known to cure poor blood circulation in the legs, dehydration, magnesium and potassium deficiency along with calcium deficiency in pregnant women. Furthermore, it contains flavonoid which keeps the level of bad cholesterol low, these factors are also going to drive the Calendula officinalis extract market to a great extent in the forecast period.Market Key Players:Some of the key players in Calendula extract market are Kiehl's, Oils4life, Telia Oils, Living Nature, Herba Oils, NHR Organic Essential Oils, Nature's Wonderland, Swanson Health Products , BIOHERBA R Ltd , Herb Pharm and Woodland Herbs among 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.US Office Contact90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Global Chip Power Inductor Market Research Report 2017 - SUMIDA, Murata

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This report studies Chip Power Inductor in Global market, especially in North America, Europe, China, Japan, Korea and Taiwan, focuses on top manufacturers in global market, with capacity, production, price, revenue and market share for each manufacturer, coveringSUMIDAMurataMISUMIMAX ECOHCHILISIN ELECTRONICSGAUSSTEKCHILISINSUNLORDTDKCoilcraftSAMSUNGAVXFill the form for an exclusive sample of this report @Market Segment by Regions, this report splits Global into several key Regions, with production, consumption, revenue, market share and growth rate of Chip Power Inductor in these regions, from 2011 to 2021 (forecast), likeNorth AmericaEuropeChinaJapanKoreaTaiwanSplit by product type, with production, revenue, price, market share and growth rate of each type, can be divided intoMulti-layer Chip Power InductorsWire Wound Chip Power InductorsSplit by application, this report focuses on consumption, market share and growth rate of Chip Power Inductor in each application, can be divided intoAutomotive ElectronicsPortable Electronic ProductsOthersTable of ContentsGlobal Chip Power Inductor Market Research Report 20171 Chip Power Inductor Market Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Chip Power Inductor1.2 Chip Power Inductor Segment by Type1.2.1 Global Production Market Share of Chip Power Inductor by Type in 20151.2.2 Multi-layer Chip Power Inductors1.2.3 Wire Wound Chip Power Inductors1.3 Chip Power Inductor Segment by Application1.3.1 Chip Power Inductor Consumption Market Share by Application in 20151.3.2 Automotive Electronics1.3.3 Portable Electronic Products1.3.4 Others1.4 Chip Power Inductor Market by Region1.4.1 North America Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.2 Europe Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.3 China Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.4 Japan Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.5 Korea Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.6 Taiwan Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.5 Global Market Size (Value) of Chip Power Inductor (2012-2022)2 Global Chip Power Inductor Market Competition by Manufacturers2.1 Global Chip Power Inductor Production and Share by Manufacturers (2015 and 2016)2.2 Global Chip Power Inductor Revenue and Share by Manufacturers (2015 and 2016)2.3 Global Chip Power Inductor Average Price by Manufacturers (2015 and 2016)2.4 Manufacturers Chip Power Inductor Manufacturing Base Distribution, Sales Area and Product Type2.5 Chip Power Inductor Market Competitive Situation and Trends2.5.1 Chip Power Inductor Market Concentration Rate2.5.2 Chip Power Inductor Market Share of Top 3 and Top 5 Manufacturers2.5.3 Mergers & Acquisitions, Expansion3 Global Chip Power Inductor Production, Revenue (Value) by Region (2012-2017)3.1 Global Chip Power Inductor Production by Region (2012-2017)3.2 Global Chip Power Inductor Production Market Share by Region (2012-2017)3.3 Global Chip Power Inductor Revenue (Value) and Market Share by Region (2012-2017)3.4 Global Chip Power Inductor Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)3.5 North America Chip Power Inductor Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)3.6 Europe Chip Power Inductor Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)3.7 China Chip Power Inductor Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)3.8 Japan Chip Power Inductor Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)3.9 Korea Chip Power Inductor Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)3.10 Taiwan Chip Power Inductor Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)Read Comprehensive Overview of Report @4 Global Chip Power Inductor Supply (Production), Consumption, Export, Import by Regions (2012-2017)4.1 Global Chip Power Inductor Consumption by Regions (2012-2017)4.2 North America Chip Power Inductor Production, Consumption, Export, Import (2012-2017)4.3 Europe Chip Power Inductor Production, Consumption, Export, Import (2012-2017)4.4 China Chip Power Inductor Production, Consumption, Export, Import (2012-2017)4.5 Japan Chip Power Inductor Production, Consumption, Export, Import (2012-2017)4.6 Korea Chip Power Inductor Production, Consumption, Export, Import (2012-2017)4.7 Taiwan Chip Power Inductor Production, Consumption, Export, Import (2012-2017)5 Global Chip Power Inductor Production, Revenue (Value), Price Trend by Type5.1 Global Chip Power Inductor Production and Market Share by Type (2012-2017)5.2 Global Chip Power Inductor Revenue and Market Share by Type (2012-2017)5.3 Global Chip Power Inductor Price by Type (2012-2017)5.4 Global Chip Power Inductor Production Growth by Type (2012-2017)6 Global Chip Power Inductor Market Analysis by Application6.1 Global Chip Power Inductor Consumption and Market Share by Application (2012-2017)6.2 Global Chip Power Inductor Consumption Growth Rate by Application (2012-2017)6.3 Market Drivers and Opportunities6.3.1 Potential Applications6.3.2 Emerging Markets/CountriesAbout UsQYReseachReports.com delivers the latest strategic market intelligence to build a successful business footprint in China. Our syndicated and customized research reports provide companies with vital background information of the market and in-depth analysis on the Chinese trade and investment framework, which directly affects their business operations. Reports from QYReseachReports.com feature valuable recommendations on how to navigate in the extremely unpredictable yet highly attractive Chinese market.Contact Us1820 AvenueM Suite #1047Brooklyn, NY 11230United StatesToll Free: 866-997-4948 (USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Web:Email: sales@qyresearchreports.com
Worldwide Autologus Tissue Repair Market Analysis, Trends and Forecast by 2016 - 2024

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Global Autologous Tissue Repair Market: OverviewThe report offers in-depth insights into the key drivers and restraints, notable trends and emerging applications, technological advancements, market share and size of various segments, and competitive landscapes. The insights offered in the study are useful in evaluating lucrative avenues across various regions.The growing therapeutic applications of regenerative medicines has made a mark in the area of wound care such as those in refractory injuries and chronic wounds. With rapid advances in regenerative medicines, stem cells have gained increased popularity across autologous tissue engineering methods. Apart from wide applications in surgical medicine, the evolution of the market has influenced multiple clinical areas such as cardiovascular medicines, refractory wound care, and orthopedics. Prominent clinical applications of autologous tissue repair include bone repair, cardiac repair, neural repair, skeletal muscle repair, and pediatric vascular conduits.Obtain Report Details @Technological advances have led researchers and clinicians in isolating, purifying, and re-injecting patients cells in refractory injuries with significant reliability and efficacy. In recent years, autologous tissue repair methods have emerged to be highly promising in abdominal wall reconstruction associated with chronic infections. These are mainly caused by intra-abdominal catastrophes and due to several technical constraints are difficult to close.Global Autologous Tissue Repair Market: Trends and OpportunitiesThe growing prevalence of intractable ailments in a rapidly increasing geriatric populations across various regions and the increasing number of road accidents are the key factors driving the analogous tissue repair market. In addition, the growing prominence of autologous tissue repair therapies in chronic wound care and orthopedics has boosted the autologous tissue repair market. The increasing adoption of components separation technique (CST) for autologous repair of abdominal wall defects is anticipated to catalyze the market growth.A growing number of therapeutic autologous therapies can also be accessed using point-of-care setting, thereby accentuating the autologous tissue repair market. However, the high cost of availing autologous tissue repair therapies is likely to hinder the market to an extent. In addition, strict regulatory compliance for the approval of these therapies has impeded the growth of the market in various regions. Nevertheless, recent progress in stem cell-based tissue engineering has further expanded the autologous approaches to tissue engineering. For instance, recent research in intervertebral disc regeneration shows that stem cells can be used to treat slipped discs. Furthermore, the growing popularity of multipotent stem cells is expected to accentuate the autologous tissue repair market. Clinical studies on improving the efficacy of CST and other similar methods are expected to create exciting opportunities in the coming years.Global Autologous Tissue Repair Market: Regional OutlookNorth America is a prominent market for the autologous tissue repair market. The substantial growth of this regional market is attributed to the large scale presence of several players in the region. Europe is another prominent regional market and the extensive demand for autologous tissue repair is propelled by a large chunk of elderly population.Asia Pacific is expected to grow at an impressive pace. The impressive growth of the market is driven by advances in healthcare infrastructure, frequent innovative product launches, and the swift pace of industrialization rate in emerging countries in the region. A major chunk of the demand is expected to come from countries such as India, Japan, Malaysia, and China.Global Autologous Tissue Repair Market: Companies mentioned in the reportSome of the prominent companies operating in the autologous tissue repair market are Vericel Corporation, Matricel GmbH, and Orthocell Limited. Several companies are launching innovative products and entering into partnerships to consolidate their shares across major regions.Fill the form for an exclusive sample of this report @About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. We have an experienced team of Analysts, Researchers, and Consultants, who us e proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.ContactTransparency Market Research90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA  Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:Browse market research blog:
Magnolia Bark Extract Market Driven by Rise in Demand for Anti-Ageing Cream

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Magnolia officinalis is an herbaceous perennial plant which belongs to Magnoliaceae family and its bark has been used as a traditional Chinese medicine to increase immunity of the body and cure plethora. Magnolia Bark extract is a rich source of vitamin E and D and has been used for the treatment of abdominal pain, abdominal blotting, nausea and indigestion. The flower buds of Magnolia officinalis has been used for the treatment of common cold as well. Magnolia Bark extract has powerful anti-oxidant properties which acts as a good anti-ageing and anti-allergic agent. Ongoing research has found that the two chemical found in magnolia bark extract namely honokiol and magnolol are thousand times more powerful than vitamin E in anti-oxidant activity. Traditionally it has also been used to treat thrombotic stroke, fever, muscular pain, abdominal fullness, constipation, and nervous disordersObtain Report Details @Market Segmentation:Magnolia bark extract market is segmented on the basis of form, distribution channel, and region. On the basis of form the market is segmented into solid and powder form. On the basis of application the magnolia extract is segmented into pharmaceutical industry and cosmetic industry. The growing demand for health supplement is boosting the pharmaceutical segment to a great extant and the on-going research on its anti-oxidant properties may further widen the scope in cosmetic industry as well. On the basis of distribution channel the market is segmented into supermarkets/hypermarkets, convenience stores, specialty store and online stores. Supermarket/hypermarket segment is expected to hold a relatively higher share in the magnolia bark extract market, followed by online store.Market Regional Outlook:Regional segment for the market of Magnolia Bark extract is divided into five different regions: North America, Latin America, Asia Pacific and Japan, Europe and MEA. Among these segment North America is expected to be the represent major share in terms of value and is expected to dominant the market during the forecast period. Europe region is expected to be the second leading contributor of the magnolia bark extract market. In Europe region countries such as Germany and France holds the key market for magnolia bark extract.Make an Enquiry @Market Drivers:Rise in demand for anti-ageing cream is expected to drive the growth of global magnolia bark extract market as antioxidants present in the bark helps in preventing free radical damage of the body. Magnolia bark extract is not only a rich source of resveratrol but it also exhibits some special properties such as enables in stimulating eNOS activity, prevents clotting of blood, prevents the oxidation of LDL cholesterol and reduces the risk of Alzheimers disease. It also helps in reducing obesity and slowing the rate of aging. These versatile properties of magnolia bark extract is expected to drive the magnolia bark extract market to a greater extant. Increasing awareness among the consumers about the health benefits associated with magnolia bark extract is expected to drive the market in the coming future. Magnolia Bark extract offers various health benefits such as it helps to reduce body fat, helps in the treatment of asthma, helps to reduce anxiety, depression and also promotes better sleep and also helps to improve glucocorticoid levels of the body which is expected to bolster the growth of the magnolia bark extract market during the forecast period. Magnolia bark extract is also known to improve cortisol levels which helps in the metabolism of body and maintain healthy brain functioning, which is further expected to fuel market growth in the near future.Market Key Players:Some of the key players in Magnolia bark market are: Swanson, Samsara herbs, Genesis Today, Planetary Herbals, Solaray, Active Herb, LiftMode, Life Extension, thepurehealth, Hawaii Pharm LLC, Piping Rock Health Products, and Now Foods Source Naturals among 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.US Office Contact90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Vision Positioning System Market Research, Share, Size, Growth and Competitor Strategy by Forecast to 2023

Vision Positioning System Market

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Market Highlights:A Vision Positioning System is the method of positioning of a system that uses optical sensors, ultrasonic and image data to help the various instruments to identify its current position. The advantage of optical sensors is the ability to provide the distance information needed for collision avoidance. The growth of the vision positioning system market is driven by the increasing use of vision positioning systems in industrial automation and indoor navigation to handle various kinds of operations. Being a new technology the Vision Positioning System market is also driven by the continuous evolution of CMIOS image sensor.The study indicates that the Vision Positioning System Market is method that provide the volume of information about the localization using vision information, extraction of visual features for positioning straightforward and representing the environment. However, it processes information from every sensor and completes complex calculations in real time. Camera system have become a predominant component of the Vision Positioning System. The Vision Positioning system industry is expected to grow during the forecast period due to rise in demand for automation in industrial applications. However, intensive training and education, an essential requirement to enable entry of machine vision in newer markets, restrain the vision positioning system market growth. Moreover, demand for miniaturization of machine vision system provides lucrative opportunities for the players operating in machine vision system industry.The global The Vision Positioning System market is expected to grow at USD 13.32 Billion by 2023, at 10.87% of CAGR between 2017 and 2023.Request a Sample Report @Major Key Players: DJI (China) Omron Corporation (Japan) Cognex Corporation (U.S.) Parrot SA (France) Pepperl+Fuchs GmbH (Europe) Senion AB (Europe) Sick AG (Germany) Seegrid Corporation (U.S) ABB (Switzerland)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 Vision Positioning System Market -Forecast to 2023.Vision Positioning System Market Segmentation:The Vision Positioning System Market has been segmented on the basis of t component, solution, location, platform, type, end-user and region. Looking through the end-user segment it has been observed that defense industry has shown a tremendous usage of Vision Positioning System market and holds the largest market share. The study indicates that the other sectors like government and defense sector is using optical sensors system and showing second largest position in this market.Regional Analysis:The regional analysis of Vision Positioning System market is being studied for region such as Asia pacific, North Americas, Europe and Rest of the World. Growing demand of innovative technology is driving the Vision Positioning System in North America and has become the leading in countries in the world as the highest usage in small drones, automated guided vehicles, and robotics for commercial and civil applications.The study reveals that Europe region is also showing a positive growth in the Vision Positioning System market during in present days and will reach to the highest point in forecast periods. Asia-Pacific countries like China, Japan and India have a fair share in the Vision Positioning System market due to the commercial segment is projected to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period.Market Research Analysis:On geographic basis, Vision Positioning System market is studied in different regions as North Americas, Europe, Asia-Pacific and Rest of world. It has been observed that North America region is leading in the Vision Positioning System market and is expected to grow with a high rate as well as hold the largest market share in the Vision Positioning System market, there has been a major focus into the commercials based low cost applications.Vision Positioning System market has the largest market size in the government and defense sector as well due to safety and security purposes. The study shows that Europe region is also showing a positive curve in growth graph in the Vision Positioning System market. The technological advancements in Vision Positioning system is widely used in aircraft and flight. The developing economies in Asia-pacific regions like China, Japan, India and others are showing high adoption in the Vision Positioning System market.Browse Full Report Details @Intended Audience System Security Software investors Defense and Government Police Departments BFSI Private Companies Component Suppliers Investors and Venture Capitalist Police Departments Vision Positioning System Service Provider Vision Positioning System Agencies Technology Integrators 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 structure:1.3.1 Global Vision Positioning System Market: By Component1.3.2 Global Vision Positioning System Market: By Solution1.3.3 Global Vision Positioning System Market: By Locations1.3.4 Global Vision Positioning System Market: By Platform1.3.6 Global Vision Positioning System Market: By Type1.3.7 Global Vision Positioning System Market: By End User1.3.8 Global Vision Positioning System Market: By Region2 Research Methodology2.1 Research Component2.2 Primary Research2.3 Secondary Research2.4 Forecast ModelContinuedList of TablesTable 1 Vision Positioning System Market, By ComponentTable 2 Vision Positioning System Market, By SolutionTable 3 Vision Positioning System Market, By LocationContinuedList of FiguresFigure 1 Research MethodologyFigure 2 Vision Positioning System Market: By Component (%)Figure 3 Vision Positioning System Market: By Solution (%)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 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 FutureMarket Research FutureOffice No. 524/528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, HadapsarPune - 411028Maharashtra, India+1 646 845 9312Email: akash.anand@marketresearchfuture.com
Global Influenza Medication Market 2017 - Bristol-Myers Squibb, AstraZeneca, Eli Lilly, Novartis, Celgene

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The Global Influenza Medication Industry report gives a comprehensive account of the Global Influenza Medication market. Details such as the size, key players, segmentation, SWOT analysis, most influential trends, and business environment of the market are mentioned in this report. The report features an up-to-date data on key companies product details, revenue figures, and sales. The business model strategies of the key firms in the Influenza Medication market are also included. Key strengths, weaknesses, and threats shaping the leading players in the market have also been included in this research report.Download Sample Report @Scope of the report:Influenza Medication Market Research Report 2017 Covers the following Manufacturers.Bristol-Myers SquibbAstraZenecaEli LillyRocheGSKNovartisPfizerSanofiBayerCelgeneInfluenza Medication market research report provides the newest industry data and industry future trends, allowing you to identify the products and end users driving Revenue growth and profitability also lists the leading competitors and provides the insights strategic industry Analysis of the key factors influencing the market. Additionally, the region-wise segmentation and the trends driving the leading geographical region and the emerging region has been presented in this report.Influenza Medication Market Research Report Split by TypeTypical Influenza MedicationLight Influenza MedicationPneumonia Influenza MedicationInfluenza Medication Market Research Report Split by ApplicationHospitalClinicPharmacyOtherGet Full Report With TOC @Table of ContentsGlobal Influenza Medication Market Research Report 20171 Influenza Medication Market Overview2 Global Influenza Medication Market Competition by Manufacturers3 Global Influenza Medication Production, Revenue (Value) by Region (2012-2017)4 Global Influenza Medication Supply (Production), Consumption, Export, Import by Regions (2012-2017)5 Global Influenza Medication Production, Revenue (Value), Price Trend by Type6 Global Influenza Medication Market Analysis by Application7 Global Influenza Medication Manufacturers Profiles/Analysis8 Influenza Medication Manufacturing Cost Analysis9 Industrial Chain, Sourcing Strategy and Downstream Buyers10 Marketing Strategy Analysis, Distributors/Traders11 Market Effect Factors Analysis12 Global Influenza Medication Market Forecast (2017-2022)13 Research Findings and Conclusion14 AppendixMethodologyAnalyst IntroductionData SourceREAD RELATED REPORT:If you have any special requirements, please let us know and we will offer you the report as you want.ABOUT USFior 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 ManagerOffice - 102, Sanskriti Aspirations,Near Post 91, Baner Road,Pune, MH, India - 411045Phone: (201) 465-4211Email: sales@fiormarkets.comWeb:Blog:
Global Salad Dressing Market 2017 - Nestle, KraftHeinz Company, Unilever, Kewpie, Cholula

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The report studies Salad Dressing in Global market Professional Survey 2017 : Size, Share, Trends, Industry Growth, Opportunity, Application, Production, Segmentation, Cost Structure, Company Profile, Product Picture and Specifications during the Forecast period by 2022The report titled Salad Dressing in Real Estate is an in-depth and a professional document that provides a comprehensive overview of the global Salad Dressing in Real Estate market.The report provides an executive-level blueprint of the Salad Dressing in Real Estate market beginning with the definition of the market dynamics. The analysis classifies the Salad Dressing in Real Estate market in terms of products, application, and key geographic regions. With focus on presenting a detailed value chain analysis, the study evaluates the set of region-specific approaches forged by the industry. To determine the market potential for Salad Dressing in Real Estate in the international scenario, the study delves into the competitive landscape and development landscape exhibited by the key geographic regions.Development plans and policies significantly impact the market dynamic. The report therefore studies in detail the impact of the strategies, plans, and policies adopted by leading vendors of the Salad Dressing in Real Estate market. Manufacturing cost of products and the pricing structure adopted by the market is also evaluated in the report. Other parameters crucial in determining trends in the market such as consumption demand and supply figures, cost of production, gross profit margins, and selling price of product and services is also included within the ambit of the report.To provide a detailed analysis on the competitive landscape, the report profiles the key players in the Salad Dressing in Real Estate industry. Information present in these chapters includes details of products manufactured by the leading companies, product specification and price, and production capacity. Using reliable analytical tools, the report evaluates the information sourced from both primary and secondary research. Results obtained through the detailed analysis helps in presenting refined forecasts regarding growth prospects of the Salad Dressing in Real Estate market. Apart from this, the analysts have also conducted upstream raw materials and equipment and downstream demand analysis to compile and present an exhaustive study on the Salad Dressing in Real Estate market.Download Free Sample Report @A detailed segmentation evaluation of the Salad Dressing in Real Estate market has been provided in the report. Detailed information about the key segments of the market and their growth prospects are available in the report. The detailed analysis of their sub-segments is also available in the report. The revenue forecasts and volume shares along with market estimates are available in the report.Fior Markets is a leading market intelligence company that sells reports of top publishers in the technology industry.Our extensive research reports cover detailed market assessments that include major technological improvements in the industry. Fior Markets also specializes in analyzing hi-tech systems and current processing systems in its expertise.Contact UsMark StoneSales ManagerPhone: (201) 465-4211Email: sales@fiormarkets.comWeb:Blog:
China Cosmetic and Perfume Glass Bottle Market 2017 - SGD, Pochet, Vitro Packaging, HEINZ-GLAS

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The report studies Cosmetic and Perfume Glass Bottle in China market Professional Survey 2017 : Size, Share, Trends, Industry Growth, Opportunity, Application, Production, Segmentation, Cost Structure, Company Profile, Product Picture and Specifications during the Forecast period by 2022The Cosmetic and Perfume Glass Bottle report is offers a clear picture of the current and future trends, developments and opportunities. The report, prepared by a highly seasoned team of analysts and data experts, carries an array of tables and graphs besides qualitative analyses. Starting with a discussion on the current state of the Cosmetic and Perfume Glass Bottle market, the report goes on to discuss the dynamics affecting each segment within it. The report segments the market to up to three levels and studies each of these in great detail. The result is a set of sharp insights and recommendations that will help companies stay ahead of the next new trend in the Cosmetic and Perfume Glass Bottle industry.A basic overview of the Cosmetic and Perfume Glass Bottle market is offered to readers through the use of market definition, segmentation, applications, and value chain analysis. The analysis for the Cosmetic and Perfume Glass Bottle market is not limited only to traditional or emerging markets. It also covers regions that have been hitherto unexplored but have white space that could be lucratively tapped. In order to do this, however, a clear understanding of ones competitors is imperative. The report provides just that through a section dedicated to key company profiles and news. Equipped with this vital information, players in the Cosmetic and Perfume Glass Bottle market will be in a better position to foresee opportunities and threats alike and make informed decisions.The regulatory environment, being such an intrinsic part of the Cosmetic and Perfume Glass Bottle market, does need special focus. The report collates information relating to current and future policies and regulations that could directly or indirectly affect business operations. The report is an invaluable business intelligence repository for new and existing players in the Cosmetic and Perfume Glass Bottle market.Download Free Sample Report @For technical data and manufacturing plants analysis, the report analyzes Cosmetic and Perfume Glass Bottle leading suppliers on capacity, commercial production date, manufacturing plants distribution, R&D Status, technology sources, and raw materials sources.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 Cosmetic and Perfume Glass Bottle new project SWOT analysis, investment feasibility analysis, investment return analysis, and development trend analysis. In conclusion, it is a deep research report on China Cosmetic and Perfume Glass Bottle industry.Fior Markets is a leading market intelligence company that sells reports of top publishers in the technology industry.Our extensive research reports cover detailed market assessments that include major technological improvements in the industry. Fior Markets also specializes in analyzing hi-tech systems and current processing systems in its expertise.Contact UsMark StoneSales ManagerPhone: (201) 465-4211Email: sales@fiormarkets.comWeb:Blog:
Global Detonation Synthesis Nanodiamond Powder Market 2017 - Sinta, Reishauer, Ray Techniques, Art Beam, Microdiamant

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The report studies Detonation Synthesis Nanodiamond Powder in Global market Professional Survey 2017 : Size, Share, Trends, Industry Growth, Opportunity, Application, Production, Segmentation, Cost Structure, Company Profile, Product Picture and Specifications during the Forecast period by 2022The study Global Detonation Synthesis Nanodiamond Powder Industry 2017 is a detailed report scrutinizing statistical data related to the Global Detonation Synthesis Nanodiamond Powder industry. Historical data available in the report elaborates on the development of the Detonation Synthesis Nanodiamond Powder market on a Global and national level. The report compares this data with the current state of the market and thus elaborates upon the trends that have brought the market shifts.The market forces determining the shaping of the Detonation Synthesis Nanodiamond Powder market have been evaluated in detail. In addition to this, the regulatory scenario of the market has been covered in the report from both the Global and local perspective. Market predictions along with the statistical nuances presented in the report render an insightful view of the Detonation Synthesis Nanodiamond Powder market.The demand and supply side of the market has been extensively covered in the report. The challenges the players in the Detonation Synthesis Nanodiamond Powder market face in terms of demand and supply have been listed in the report. Recommendations to overcome these challenges and optimize supply and demand opportunities have also been covered in this report.Growth prospects of the overall Detonation Synthesis Nanodiamond Powder industry have been presented in the report. However, to give an in-depth view to the readers, detailed geographical segmentation within the global Detonation Synthesis Nanodiamond Powder market has been covered in this study. The key geographical regions along with their revenue forecasts are included in the report.Download Free Sample Report @The competitive framework of the Detonation Synthesis Nanodiamond Powder market in terms of the Global Detonation Synthesis Nanodiamond Powder industry has been evaluated in the report. The top companies and their overall share and share with respect to the Global market have been included in the report. Furthermore, the factors on which the companies compete in the market have been evaluated in the report.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 Detonation Synthesis Nanodiamond Powder new project SWOT analysis, investment feasibility analysis, investment return analysis, and development trend analysis. In conclusion, it is a deep research report on Global Detonation Synthesis Nanodiamond Powder industry. Here, we express our thanks for the support and assistance from Detonation Synthesis Nanodiamond Powder 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.Contact UsMark StoneSales ManagerPhone: (201) 465-4211Email: sales@fiormarkets.comWeb:Blog:
United States Frozen Mushrooms Market 2017 - Okechamp, SCELTA, Lutece Holdings, Costa Group, Yuguan

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The report studies Frozen Mushrooms in United States market Professional Survey 2017 : Size, Share, Trends, Industry Growth, Opportunity, Application, Production, Segmentation, Cost Structure, Company Profile, Product Picture and Specifications during the Forecast period by 2022United States Frozen Mushrooms Industry 2017 is a comprehensive, professional report delivering market research data that is relevant for new market entrants or established players. Key strategies of the companies operating in the market and their impact analysis have been included in the report. Furthermore, a business overview, revenue share, and SWOT analysis of the leading players in the Frozen Mushrooms market is available in the report.Combining the data integration and analysis capabilities with the relevant findings, the report has predicted strong future growth of the Frozen Mushrooms market in all its geographical and product segments. In addition to this, several significant variables that will shape the Frozen Mushrooms industry and regression models to determine the future direction of the market have been employed to create the report.The report begins with a market overview and moves on to cover the growth prospects of the Frozen Mushrooms market. The current environment of the United States Frozen Mushrooms industry and the key trends shaping the market are presented in the report. Insightful predictions for the Frozen Mushrooms market for the coming few years have also been included in the report. These predictions feature important inputs from leading industry experts and take into account every statistical detail regarding the Frozen Mushrooms market.Download Free Sample Report @Statistical forecasts in the research study are available for the total Frozen Mushrooms market along with its key segments. The key segments, their growth prospects, and the new opportunities they present to market players have been mentioned in the report. Moreover, the impact analysis of the latest mergers and acquisition and joint ventures has been included in the report. The report also provides valuable proposals for new project development that can help companies optimize their operations and revenue structure.A detailed segmentation evaluation of the Frozen Mushrooms market has been provided in the report. Detailed information about the key segments of the market and their growth prospects are available in the report. The detailed analysis of their sub-segments is also available in the report. The revenue forecasts and volume shares along with market estimates are available in the report.Fior Markets is a leading market intelligence company that sells reports of top publishers in the technology industry.Our extensive research reports cover detailed market assessments that include major technological improvements in the industry. Fior Markets also specializes in analyzing hi-tech systems and current processing systems in its expertise.Contact UsMark StoneSales ManagerPhone: (201) 465-4211Email: sales@fiormarkets.comWeb:Blog:
China Magnesium Fireproof Board Market 2017 - Mago BP, TRUSUS, Huacheng, Framecad, Magnastruct

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The report studies Magnesium Fireproof Board in China market Professional Survey 2017 : Size, Share, Trends, Industry Growth, Opportunity, Application, Production, Segmentation, Cost Structure, Company Profile, Product Picture and Specifications during the Forecast period by 2022China Magnesium Fireproof Board Industry 2017 is an analytical research report that delves into the dynamics of the China Magnesium Fireproof Board industry. It presents an executive-level blueprint of the market with key focus on its operations in China. In a lucid chapter-wise format, the report presents the historical statistics of the Magnesium Fireproof Board 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 Magnesium Fireproof Board market to identify the opportunities that they can capitalize on to propel growth.The study analyzes the Magnesium Fireproof Board 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 Magnesium Fireproof Board 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 Magnesium Fireproof Board market and lays down the development status of key regions in Chinaly.The study progresses with a detailed, incisive analysis of the strategies and trends common in the Magnesium Fireproof Board 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 Magnesium Fireproof Board 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 Magnesium Fireproof Board market. Key findings of the study will help stakeholders gauge the growth prospects and understand the investment feasibility.Download Free Sample Report @The Magnesium Fireproof Board 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 China Magnesium Fireproof Board market has been mentioned in this report. This will give a clear perspective to the readers how the Magnesium Fireproof Board market will fare in China.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 Magnesium Fireproof Board new project SWOT analysis, investment feasibility analysis, investment return analysis, and development trend analysis. In conclusion, it is a deep research report on China Magnesium Fireproof Board industry. Here, we express our thanks for the support and assistance from Magnesium Fireproof Board 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.Contact UsMark StoneSales ManagerPhone: (201) 465-4211Email: sales@fiormarkets.comWeb:Blog:
Industrial Batteries Market by Technology, Application & Geography  Analysis & Forecast to 2025

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Global Industrial Batteries Market: SnapshotThe global market for industrial batteries is gaining traction from a number of factors, such as rising demand for grid-connected solutions for uninterruptable power supply, government incentives for clean energy sources, growing adoption of electric vehicles, and high requirement of lithium-ion batteries in various applications. On the other hand, safety issues pertaining to battery usage and high capital investment are the two most prominent factors obstructing the global industrial batteries market. Nevertheless, escalating demand from telecom companies and data centers is expected to open new opportunities for the vendors of this market, provided they cope up with the advent of new technologies including compressed energy storage, chemical energy storage, and pumped hydro technology. Increasing the power density of these batteries is another requirement for the companies to overcome.This report on the global industrial batteries has been created using proven research methodologies and aspires to serve as a credible business tool for targeted audiences such as manufacturers of industrial batteries, industrial battery traders and suppliers, government and research organizations, raw material suppliers, and shipping companies. The report provides detailed analysis of all driving and restraining factors that will impact the demand in the global industrial batteries market, gauges the potential of smaller segments, highlights the most lucrative geographical regions, and profiles a number of leading vendors in order to understand the competitive landscape, as well as their recent development strategies and activities.Request Sample Copy of the Report @Global Industrial Batteries Market: OverviewThe world industrial batteries market is projected to march its way along the path of a steady expansion while spreading its presence to different sectors. Telecom and data communication being the stallion end-user sector is foreseen to secure a larger share in the international market. A major part of the demand in this sector is foretold to take charge while riding on the need for high-efficient electricity backup and upswing in telecom growth. High capital investment and safety problems could check the expansion of the market but to a minimal extent. Howbeit, the soaring want of telecom businesses and datacenters for industrial batteries, adoption of powered automobiles, and clean energy sources supported by government incentives are envisaged to provide laudable opportunities.In respect of product type and end use, the report on the global industrial batteries market can provide a meticulous segmentation for the buyers to comprehend the forecasted share of each segment.Request TOC of the Report @In a customized form, the publication enlightens the interested parties about the vital dynamics of the global industrial batteries market, viz. industry-specific challenges, opportunities, restraints, and drivers. It also strategically profiles the important industry players and analyzes the crucial developments witnessed on a competitive platform. Apart from a compendious evaluation of the competitive landscape, the report has stood for its preciseness and usability by studying the top market leaders with SWOT analysis. It is well-addressed to a range of target audiences extending from manufacturers to industry associations.Global Industrial Batteries Market: Trends and OpportunitiesThe international market for industrial batteries could look forward to attain an imposing revenue growth on the back of a decent CAGR. With reference to energy density, industrial batteries offer a superior performance which is called for by the end users in different sectors. Lithium-based and lead-acid industrial batteries can be recycled with amplified efficiency. This has obtained support from the burgeoning growth witnessed in the renewable energy field. Besides this, the automotive domain has been counting on industrial batteries as one of the key operational components. All of these factors have pronounced the advancement of the global market.Although the lead-acid segment by type has been sitting at the apex of the world industrial batteries market, lithium-based industrial batteries are forecasted to advance as a faster growing segment in the near future. On the grounds of their impressive attributes, i.e. low emission, recyclability, and long life, lithium-based batteries have been swiftly adopted for a number of industrial applications. Applications which deem low maintenance, temperature sensitivity, weight, and volume more important than initial cost have found extreme suitability for lithium-based batteries.Read Comprehensive Overview of Report@Global Industrial Batteries Market: Regional OutlookThe world industrial batteries market is prognosticated to rest its tangible furtherance on the back of the demand for power backups boasting a higher capacity and multiplying industrial undertakings in North America and Asia Pacific. With countries such as Japan, China, and South Korea on the scene, the Asia Pacific region will look to capitalize on the implementation of renewable energy in various devices supported by the governments. The lengthening demand for industrial batteries in this region is expected to help it grow faster than other geographies such as Europe, Central and South America, and the Middle East and Africa.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 researh 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
Melissa Officinalis Extract Market Driven by Increasing Opportunities in the Food Industry

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Melissa officinalis is an herb which belongs to the Labiatae (mint) family commonly known as Lemon Balm. Melissa officinalis is a native herb of Europe and Latin America. In Brazil, Melissa officinalis appears to have a medicinal presence and is referred to as 'erva-cidreira'. Melissa officinalis extract is known to contain eugenol that in killing and suppressing the growth of the bacteria. Melissa officinalis extract is widely used in the treatment of digestive problems and helps in soothing stomach aches. Melissa officinalis extract is widely used as a supplement as it acts as an effective anxiolytic and sedative agent. Melissa officinalis is also known to have a positive effect on the patient suffering from Alzheimers disease.Browse Market Research Report @Market Segmentation:Melissa officinalis extract market is segment on the basis of form, distribution channel, application, and region. On the basis of form the market is segmented into powder form, liquid form and capsule form. The most popular form among the segment is the liquid form and is expected to dominate the segment in the coming future. Many health supplements are now a days available in the capsule form which makes it the second most dominated segment based on form. On the basis of distribution channel the market is segmented into supermarkets or hypermarkets, convenience stores and online stores. It is expected that supermarkets/hypermarkets as well as the online segment will hold a relatively higher share in the Melissa officinalis extract market compared to convenience stores. On the basis of application the Melissa officinalis extract market is segmented into cosmetic industry, pharmaceutical industry and food industry. Cosmetic industry is expected to hold the major market share in the forecast period, followed by the pharmaceutical industry. On the basis of region the Melissa officinalis extract market is segmented into North America, Latin America, Asia Pacific, Europe and MEA.Market Regional Outlook:Regional segment for the market of Melissa officinalis extract is divided into five different regions: North America, Latin America, Asia Pacific and Japan, Europe and MEA. Among these segment Europe is expected to be the leader of Melissa officinalis extract market and is expected to dominant the market in the forecaster period. In the region of Latin America, countries such as Brazil and Mexico is the key market for Melissa officinalis extract. In terms of revenue Asia Pacific is the third prominent contributor of the Melissa officinalis extract market.For more information on this report, fill the form @Market Drivers:Melissa officinalis extract is gaining its popularity in the global market because it offers various therapeutic benefits such as: it helps in strengthening the functions of the stomach as well as intestine and helps in the prevention of Alzheimers disease which is expected to bolster the growth of the Melissa officinalis extract market. Melissa officinalis extract is also used in mosquito repellant creams as from ancient time it is known to act against mosquito bites. The soothing effect of Melissa officinalis oil is in a great demand because it helps to relax the muscle and reduce body ache which is expect to boost the Melissa officinalis extract market. Melissa officinalis extract used in supplement is a good stress buster and as hectic lifestyle coupled with mental stress makes Melissa officinalis extract supplement a great lifestyle product, mental disorders, such as hysteria and melancholia can also be cured with the Melissa officinalis extract supplement, these compiled reasons is anticipated to bolster the growth of the Melissa officinalis extract market in the forecast period. Increasing opportunities in the food industry is also a key factor which is expected to drive the global Melissa officinalis extract market. Furthermore the market is also driven by the increasing awareness among the consumers about the health benefits associated with Melissa officinalis extract.Market Key Players:Some of the key players in Melissa officinalis extract market are Natures Bounty , NOW foods, New Chapter, Health and Herbs , Swanson Health Products , Brain Forza, Lotus Extracts, Vitacost, Natures way, Organica Biotech, Planetary Herbals, GNC Holdings Inc, Stakich, Inc and Solaray among 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.US Office Contact90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Aircraft Engines Market scrutinized in top research report for the forecast 2017-2022

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Many countries have been embarked on a program of military modernization which includes development of fighters, transport, reconnaissance, and aircraft covering multirole, bombers, training, and surveillance. During the forecast period, growing global expenses on military aircraft engines is driven by fleet replacement, upgrade projects and modernization programs. Due to fewer funds, as compared with previous aircraft, modern aircraft are required to be more versatile as it necessitates the need for more efficient and powerful engines. As top defense spenders are highly investing in the development of latest generation fighters, the segment of combat engines is projected to dominate the industry during the forecast period.The report tracks the major market events including product launches, technological developments, mergers & acquisitions, and the innovative business strategies opted by key market players. Along with strategically analyzing the key micro markets, the report also focuses on industry-specific drivers, restraints, opportunities and challenges in the aircraft engines market. The scope of this report covers the aircraft engines market by its major segments, which include the types, applications, and the major geographic regions.Download Free Sample:Regionally, the global market for aircraft engines is segmented into North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Middle East & Africa and Latin America. Followed by Europe, Asia-Pacific, and the Rest of the World (RoW), North America is anticipated to grow at highest market share in the near future. The Asia-Pacific region is growing fast in the aircraft engines market. This is due to increase in manufacturing of commercial aircraft in Japan and China. Also the growth in this region is projected to be high due to increase in passenger traffic and aircraft in India and China, among other regions.KEY MARKET PLAYERSKey players in the aircraft engines market include:1. General Electric Co.2. CFM International SA3. Rolls-Royce Holdings PLC.4. United Technologies Corporation5. International Aero Engines AG6. Safran SA7. Honeywell International Inc.8. Engine Alliance LLC9. Textron, Inc.10. MTU Aero Engines AGBrowse Full Report:About Scalar Market ResearchScalar Market Research Inc. aspires to assist organizations from around the world to achieve their business goal with premium market research reports and consulting services. Our real-time industry tracking with the help of advanced analytics offers a crystal clear view of all the activities in niche markets. Our team, with thorough global understanding, works relentlessly to gather the necessary market insights, including customer analysis, competitions and global forecast.Find out more about our services at:Contact:8770 W Bryn Mawr Ave.,Suite 1300Chicago, IL 60631Tel.: +1-800-213-5170 (U.S./Canada Toll-free)Email: sales@scalarmarketresearch.comFollow us on LinkedIn:
Milk Thistle Extract Market Driven by Increasing Opportunities in the Food Industry

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Milk Thistle is an herbal plant which is commonly found in Europe and North America. Milk thistle is also known as silymarin, it is being used to detoxify and protect various liver disorder. Milk thistle extract is used to make medicines. It is used to cure liver damage caused by Amanita phalloides, mushroom poisoning and hepatitis C. Milk thistle extract is also used as an ingredient in supplement such as weight loss. Milk thistle extract is not just limited to cure liver damage but it is also helpful to control diabetes, depression, high cholesterol and menopausal symptoms.Obtain Report Details @Market Segmentation:Milk thistle extract market is segment on the basis of form, distribution channel, application, and region. On the basis of form the market is segmented into powder form and capsule form. Capsule form is very much popular as compared to the powdered form. The demand for milk thistle extract is also more as it is a rich source of vitamin E and C. On the basis of distribution channel the market is segmented into supermarkets/hypermarkets, convenience stores and online stores. It is expected that supermarkets/hypermarkets will hold a relatively higher share in the milk thistle extract market compared to other distribution channels. On the basis of application the milk thistle extract market is segmented into food industry, cosmetic industry and pharmaceutical industry. Pharmaceutical industry is expected to hold the major market share in the forecast period. The versatile properties of milk thistle extract is also going to attract the cosmetic industry in the coming future and is anticipated to drive the milk thistle extract market to a greater extent. On the basis of region the milk thistle extract market is segmented into North America, Latin America, Asia Pacific, Europe and MEA.Market Regional Outlook:Regional segment for the market of milk thistle extract is divided into five different regions: North America, Latin America, Asia Pacific and Japan, Europe and MEA. Among these segment Europe is expected to be the leader of milk thistle extract market globally and is expected to dominant the market in the forecaster period. In North America region the country such as the U.S. is the key market for milk thistle extract. In terms of revenue Asia pacific is also expected to be the leading contributor in the milk thistle extract market, which is further followed by Latin America.For more information on this report, fill the form @Market Drivers:Increasing opportunities in the food industry is a key factor which is expected to drive the global milk thistle extract market. Milk thistle extract is popular as it offers various health benefits such as it helps to keep your heart healthy, reduces the growth of cancer cells in lungs, prostate, breast, colon, renal and cervical cancers, and helps in the prevention of Alzheimers disease which is expected to bolster the growth of the milk thistle extract market. The demand for anti-aging cream is expect to boost the milk thistle extract market as antioxidants present in the extract helps in preventing free radical damage of the body. Milk thistle extract is also known to block UVA and UVB, cure intestinal issues and reduces hot flashes and other related menopausal symptoms. Furthermore, it contains flavonoid which keeps the level of bad cholesterol low, these factors are also going to drive the milk thistle extract market to a great extent in the forecast period. Moreover, the market is also driven by the increasing awareness among the consumers about the health benefits associated with milk thistle extract.Market Key Players:Some of the key players in milk thistle extract market are Thompsons, Puritan's Pride, Swanson Health Products, Sundown Naturals, Solgar, Nature Made, Natures Bounty, Jarrow Formula, Good 'N Natural, Blackmores, 21st Century and Solaray among 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.US Office Contact90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Atorvastatin Market 2017 - Pfizer, Morepen, Combi-Blocks, Apotex Pharmachem, Cadila Pharmaceuticals, DSM Sinochem Pharmaceuticals

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Global Atorvastatin Market Report 2017 provides detailed analysis of Atorvastatin market, enclosing detailed study of Atorvastatin market for last few years and forecast up to year 2022. The Atorvastatin market report analyses the global Atorvastatin market from different angles to understand various factors impacting the global Atorvastatin market.The reports enlightens the user with various applications, product type, end user of Atorvastatin market. Moreover, the Atorvastatin market report helps to understand the market trends, Atorvastatin growth aspects, utilization ration, supply and demand analysis, manufacturing capacity, raw material price trend and Atorvastatin price trend during the forecast period 2017 to 2022.To Get Sample Report Click Here:Manufacturers Analysis and Top Sellers of Global Atorvastatin Market 2017:Combi-BlocksPfizerDSM Sinochem PharmaceuticalsCadila PharmaceuticalsSun Pharmaceutical IndustriesMorepenTeva Pharmaceutical IndustriesApotex PharmachemAtorvastatin Market Analysis: By ProductChemical SynthesisBiocatalysisAtorvastatin Market Analysis: By ApplicationHospital PharmacyRetail PharmacyOnline PharmacyInitially, the Atorvastatin market report provides detailed information about major industry active into this market across all regions including the U.S., Europe, China, Japan, etc. Furthermore the market is characterized based on top geographical regions.In the later part, the Atorvastatin market report shares information pertaining to the company profile, market share and contact details along with value chain analysis of Atorvastatin industry, Atorvastatin industry rules and policies, factors driving the growth of Atorvastatin Market development scope and various business strategies are also mentioned in this report.To Enquiry Report Click Here:Global Atorvastatin market report incorporates the major products which are in high demand currently along with their cost breakup, manufacturing volume, import/export scheme and contribution to the Atorvastatin market revenue worldwide.Finally, the report provides us with detailed market research finding and conclusion which helps the subscriber to develop profitable market strategies which will help to gain competitive advantage.About UsApexResearch offer reports from top publishers and update to serve you with immediate on-line access to professional insights on global industries, companies, products, and trends. Customers can buys different reports across various categories such as Chemical and Material, Biotechnology, Healthcare, Food and beverages, Automobile and various sectors. Our Website offers safe and secure online ordering experience, convenient payment options.Contact UsFrank ValadezBusiness Development Executive| sales@apexresearch.biz
Progressive Travel Recruitment expands amidst booming travel recruitment market

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UNITED KINGDOM, 5 July 2017  Global travel and hospitality recruitment leader, Progressive Travel Recruitment, is responding to the significant increase in demand for travel recruitment professionals worldwide by expanding its team of travel recruitment consultants.Rachel Chorlton, previously BDM at Flight Centre Travel Group, has joined Progressive in the role of Account Manager for Business Travel. Rachel will leverage her thorough understanding of business travel management and the business requirements of Travel Management Companies to assist travel companies in their search for talent.Tim Fuller also joins Progressive in the role of Account Manager for Business Traveller. An experienced sales and travel professional, Tim worked at Flight Centre as a First and Business Sales and Account Manager, serving as the point of contact for large corporate clients and luxury travellers.The new appointments come as Progressive Travel Recruitment relaunches its website and opens a dedicated Temps Division, run by Bianca Pinkney who for many years ran the Temp Team at C&M Travel Recruitment.Says James Roberts, General Manager: We have enhanced our team at Progressive Travel Recruitment to include travel professionals who have worked in travel previously and thus have an intimate understanding of the needs of both clients and candidates.With a growing requirement for travel recruitment globally, I am confident this enhanced and expanded team will assist travel candidates and travel companies in their efforts to find the right match.It also gives me great pleasure to announce that Fiona Morrison, our International Account Manager, has been promoted to Account Director. Fiona is well known in travel recruitment circles and has been an asset to our business, her clients and candidates. I look forward to the strategic role she will play at Progressive Travel Recruitment in the future.For more information about Progressive Travel Recruitment, contact James Roberts on james@progressivetravelrecruitment.com or visit our website ().Progressive Travel Recruitment is the leading travel recruitment agency worldwide. We pride ourselves on our ability to match people quickly and accurately with jobs. Because everyone at Progressive Travel Recruitment has worked in the travel and hospitality industries, we know the requirements and challenges of these sectors and our clients trust us to get it right first time. Our broad international experience allows us to fine-tune appointments at all levels from entry to managerial, all over the world, ensuring happy outcomes for both clients and candidates.To find out more about Progressive Travel Recruitment, please visitNatalia Rosa8th Floor, Westminster City Hall, 64 Victoria Street, London SW1E 6QP
Artificial Respirator Market 2017 -Ambu, Drager, Phillips, ResMed, GaleMed, CareFusion, HOFFRICHTER GmbH

Artificial Respirator

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Global Artificial Respirator Market Report 2017 provides detailed analysis of Artificial Respirator market, enclosing detailed study of Artificial Respirator market for last few years and forecast up to year 2022. The Artificial Respirator market report analyses the global Artificial Respirator market from different angles to understand various factors impacting the global Artificial Respirator market.The reports enlightens the user with various applications, product type, end user of Artificial Respirator market. Moreover, the Artificial Respirator market report helps to understand the market trends, Artificial Respirator growth aspects, utilization ration, supply and demand analysis, manufacturing capacity, raw material price trend and Artificial Respirator price trend during the forecast period 2017 to 2022.To Get Sample Report Click Here:Manufacturers Analysis and Top Sellers of Global Artificial Respirator Market 2017:CareFusionAir Liquide HealthcareFisher & Paykel HealthcareHOFFRICHTER GmbHDragerPhillipsResMedAmbuAcutronic Medical SystemsGaleMedArtificial Respirator Market Analysis: By ProductConstant Pressure TypeConstant Volume TypeArtificial Respirator Market Analysis: By ApplicationHospitalClinicHomeInitially, the Artificial Respirator market report provides detailed information about major industry active into this market across all regions including the U.S., Europe, China, Japan, etc. Furthermore the market is characterized based on top geographical regions.In the later part, the Artificial Respirator market report shares information pertaining to the company profile, market share and contact details along with value chain analysis of Artificial Respirator industry, Artificial Respirator industry rules and policies, factors driving the growth of Artificial Respirator Market development scope and various business strategies are also mentioned in this report.To Enquiry Report Click Here:Global Artificial Respirator market report incorporates the major products which are in high demand currently along with their cost breakup, manufacturing volume, import/export scheme and contribution to the Artificial Respirator market revenue worldwide.Finally, the report provides us with detailed market research finding and conclusion which helps the subscriber to develop profitable market strategies which will help to gain competitive advantage.About UsApexResearch offer reports from top publishers and update to serve you with immediate on-line access to professional insights on global industries, companies, products, and trends. Customers can buys different reports across various categories such as Chemical and Material, Biotechnology, Healthcare, Food and beverages, Automobile and various sectors. Our Website offers safe and secure online ordering experience, convenient payment options.Contact UsFrank ValadezBusiness Development Executive| sales@apexresearch.biz
Quit Smoking Drug Sales Market 2017  Global Strategy, Growth Analysis, Forecast 2022 Research Report

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Summary:Latest Research Report Global Quit Smoking Drug Sales Market Added by Orbis Research which covers Market Overview, Future Economic Impact, Competition by Manufacturers, Supply (Production), & Consumption AnalysisOrbis Research always aims to bring their clients the best research material and in-depth analysis of the information for any market. This new report Global Quit Smoking Drug Sales Market for 2017 aims to fulfil the needs of the clients looking for a fresh outlook towards the Global Quit Smoking Drug Sales Market, or fill in the knowledge gaps with the data available in the report. The well-presented and curated report is compiled by seasoned and professional research experts and subject matter experts in the field. The clients will find the report complete in all aspects as it covers all key components with valuable statistics and expert opinions in all regards.Download PDF Sample of Quit Smoking Drug Sales Market @The Global Quit Smoking Drug Sales Industry report contains a complete product overview and its scope in the market to define the key terms and provide the clients a holistic idea of the market and its tendencies. This is followed by the classification, applications, and the regional analysis of the market to ensure the clients are well informed about each section. The report also contains key values and facts of the Global Quit Smoking Drug Sales market in terms of value and volume, sales and its growth rate, and revenue and its growth rate.Global Quit Smoking Drug market competition by top manufacturers/players, with Quit Smoking Drug sales volume, Price, Revenue and market share for each manufacturer/player; the top players are analysed: Aradigm Roche BGP Group Boots Cochrane Collaboration Cambrex Johnson&Johnson Sopharma Ceejay Healthcare Celtic Pharma ZenaraBrowse Detailed Report on Quit Smoking Drug Sales Market at:One of the major mainstays of the Global Quit Smoking Drug Sales Industry report is the coverage on the competition. The report covers all key parameters such as market share, revenue generation, new products or marketing strategies of the competition, latest R&D, and market expert comments, along with the contact information. Key market trends, expert opinions, and a well curated forecast are all included in Global Quit Smoking Drug Sales Market report.Also, some key information such as the cost analysis, industrial chain, sourcing strategy, distributors, marketing strategy, and factor analysis of the Quit Smoking Drug Sales Market are all a part of the report. The report concludes with the customary SWOT analysis and the analysis on investment feasibility and returns.Geographically, this report split global into several key Regions analysed: United States China Europe Japan Southeast Asia IndiaAs always has been the aim at Orbis Research with every report put up, the information on offer is complete and true knowledge seekers will benefit from it. Irrespective of the interest, academic or commercial, the Quit Smoking Drug Sales Industry report curated and compiled by domain experts will definitely shed light on key information which the clients require.Enquiry about this report:Some Major Key Points Covered in this report: This Market Research Report of Quit Smoking Drug Sales Market demand, market size and forecast for deferent regions. On the basis of product, this report displays the sales volume, revenue, product price, market share and growth rate of each type, primarily split into:1. Capsule2. Spray On 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 Quit Smoking Drug for each application, including:1. Hospital2. Medical CenterReason to Purchase this Report?The report of Quit Smoking Drug Sales Market provides the detailed segmentation in terms of types, applications, manufacturers and regions. The current market scenario and future growth has also covered in this report. The research also offers manufacturing cost analysis, industry chain analysis in terms of upstream raw material sourcing and downstream buyers. Moreover, an extensive analysis of production, consumption, and revenue for each segment is offered for the forecast period.Table of ContentChapter One: Quit Smoking Drug Market OverviewChapter Two: Global Quit Smoking Drug Competition by Players/Suppliers, Type and ApplicationChapter Three: United States Quit Smoking Drug (Volume, Value and Sales Price)Chapter Four: China Quit Smoking Drug (Volume, Value and Sales Price)Chapter Five: Europe Quit Smoking Drug (Volume, Value and Sales Price)Chapter Six: Japan Quit Smoking Drug (Volume, Value and Sales Price)Chapter Seven: Southeast Asia Quit Smoking Drug (Volume, Value and Sales Price)Chapter Eight: India Quit Smoking Drug (Volume, Value and Sales Price)Chapter Nine: Global Quit Smoking Drug Players/Suppliers Profiles and Sales DataChapter Ten: Quit Smoking Drug Maufacturing Cost AnalysisChapter Eleven: Industrial Chain, Sourcing Strategy and Downstream BuyersChapter Twelve: Marketing Strategy Analysis, Distributors/TradersChapter Thirteen: Market Effect Factors AnalysisChapter Fourteen: Global Quit Smoking Drug Market Forecast (2017-2022)Chapter Fifteen: Research Findings and ConclusionChapter Sixteen: AppendixList of Tables & Figures:Figure Product Picture of Quit Smoking DrugFigure Global Quit Smoking Drug Sales Volume Comparison (K Pcs) by Type (2012-2022)Figure Global Quit Smoking Drug Sales Volume Market Share by Type (Product Category) in 2016Figure Capsule Product PictureFigure Spray Product PictureFigure Global Quit Smoking Drug Sales Comparison (K Pcs) by Application (2012-2022)Figure Global Sales Market Share of Quit Smoking Drug by Application in 2016Figure Hospital ExamplesTable Key Downstream Customer in HospitalFigure Medical Center ExamplesTable Key Downstream Customer in Medical CenterFigure Global Quit Smoking Drug Market Size (Million USD) by Regions (2012-2022)Figure United States Quit Smoking Drug Revenue (Million USD) and Growth Rate (2012-2022)Table Global Quit Smoking Drug Sales (K Pcs) of Key Players/Suppliers (2012-2017)Table Global Quit Smoking Drug Sales Share by Players/Suppliers (2012-2017)About Us:Orbis 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.Contact Us: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.comFor More PRs Visit @
WINAICO photovoltaic modules on floating solar system in UK Reservoir used to generate solar power



Creglingen, 04.07.2017  WINAICOs partner, East Green Energy Ltd. from UK, installed 192 WINAICO solar modules WST-260P6 on a floating solar system. The 50 kWp solar plant, which will generate over 43.500 kWh annually, is installed on a reservoir in Norfolk and is the first floating solar system in the East of England. This part of the country has a wealth of lakes and reservoirs on farms. A floating PV solar system not only generates an income from these untapped resources, but the green power generated on site can also be used to run irrigation pumps.



Solar PV is frequently in the news and headlines, but what is not well-known is that solar PV systems are ideal to float on lakes and reservoirs. We only use components of excellent quality, which makes it a reliable investment. The WINAICO modules can withstand winds of up to 118 mph so we are well suited to large exposed sites. As well as this, the system works with changes in water levels of up to 20 ft, says Linda Grave, Managing Director of East Green Energy.



According to East Green Energy, the floating solar system provides all the advantages of a ground or roof mounted PV array, although, being more efficient, requires fewer panels for the same output. Furthermore valuable land is kept free for crop growing. The panels are cooled by the surrounding water, which results in improved power production performance. The shade from the panels provided significantly reduces surface evaporation saving thousands of litres of water each year as well as reducing algae growth.



The floating mounting system is produced by the French company Ciel & Terre. The plastic floats used are both UV and corrosion-resistant.



WINAICO  Manufacturer and system supplier

As a global PV brand based in Taiwan, WINAICO manufactures and distributes crystalline high performance modules worldwide. Furthermore, as a systems house for photovoltaic, WINAICO delivers complete PV system packages.

Target customers include solar specialists, solar technologists, installation specialists and project developers. Installation specialists profit here from the superior product quality of products manufactured in Taiwan in accordance with the highest quality standards, as well as from the comprehensive consultation, planning and maintenance services from WINAICO. Generous stock levels ensure the rapid availability of WINAICO products.



WINAICO Deutschland GmbH

Industriestrae 68

97993 Creglingen

GERMANY



Marketing Europe: Katharina Link

Tel.: +49 7933 700 30-0

Fax: +49 7933 700 30-10

Mail: press@winaico.com

www.winaico.com



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Global Winter Tire Market 2017 by Manufacturers - Bridgestone, Michelin, Continental, Goodyear, Nokian Tyres, Hankook

https://www.fiormarkets.com/report-detail/11017/request-sample

https://goo.gl/eajaA5

www.fiormarkets.com

www.albaniantimes.com

Winter tires are tires designed for use in colder weather, snow and ice. Winter tires have more sipes than summer tires, increasing traction on snow and ice. Tires designed for winter conditions are optimized to drive at temperatures below 7 C (45 F). They are an alternative to the use of snow chains.Winter tires are usually tires with a different rubber composition from all-weather (all-season) tires. Cold-weather tires include a greater percentage of natural rubber and silica so there is not as much hardening as found in synthetic rubber in cold conditions: they provide better traction at lower temperatures. Winter tires provide more small-tread areas, increasing traction on snow and, in wet conditions, allowing water to escape from under the tire more easily. This reduces the risk of hydroplaning. Snow/winter tires start to perform better than summer or all-season tires if temperature falls below 7C (45F), as the rubber compounds in the latter harden resulting to decreasing grip even on dry pavement Interestingly one achieves maximum grip on packed snow if the slippage/wheel spinis 40-50%, i.e. one should turn off the traction control in most modern cars for maximum tractionRequest For Sample Report @Scope of the Report:This report focuses on the Winter Tire in Global market, especially in North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific, Latin America, Middle and Africa. This report categorizes the market based on manufacturers, regions, type and application.Market Segment by Manufacturers, this report coversBridgestoneMichelinContinentalGoodyearNokian TyresHankookNizhnekamskshinaPirelliCooper TireYokohamaToyo TireKumho TireJSC CordiantGITI TireTriangleApolloCheng ShinNexen TireMarket 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)Latin America, Middle and AfricaMarket Segment by Type, coversStuddedStudlessAccess Full Report With TOC @Market Segment by Applications, can be divided intoPassenger tiresLight truck/SUV tiresOtherThere are 10 Chapters to deeply display the global Winter Tire market.Chanter 1, to analyze the top manufacturers of Winter Tire, with sales, revenue, and price of Winter Tire, in 2015 and 2016;Chapter 2, to display the competitive situation among the top manufacturers, with sales, revenue and market share in 2015 and 2016;Chapter 3, to show the global market by regions, with sales, revenue and market share of Winter Tire, for each region, from 2011 to 2016;Chapter 4, 5, 6 and 7, to analyze the key regions, with sales, revenue and market share by key countries in these regions;Chapter 8 and 9, to show the market by type and application, with sales market share and growth rate by type, application, from 2011 to 2016.Chapter 10, Winter Tire market forecast, by regions, type and application, with sales and revenue, from 2016 to 2021.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 ManagerOffice-102, Sanskriti AspirationsBaner Road, Pune,MH 411045IndiaPhone: (201) 465-4211Email: sales@fiormarkets.comWeb:Blog:
Global and Philippines Fiber Cement Market 2017 by Manufacturers - James Hardie Building Products, SCG, TPI Polene Public Company

https://www.fiormarkets.com/report-detail/11021/request-sample

https://goo.gl/ottYAi

www.fiormarkets.com

www.albaniantimes.com

Fiber cement is a composite material made of sand, cement and cellulose fibers. It is a building material used to cover the exterior of a building in both commercial and domestic applications. It can also be utilized as a substitute for timber fascia and bargeboards in high fire areas. It is produced from a mixture of cement, special cellulose, fibers and synthetic cement to impart durability, toughness and water resistance. In this report, the fiber cement products include all kinds of fiber cement products.Scope of the Report:This report focuses on the Fiber Cement in Global market, especially in North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific, Latin America, Middle and Africa. This report categorizes the market based on manufacturers, regions, type and application.Request For Sample Report @Market Segment by Manufacturers, this report coversJames Hardie Building ProductsSCGTPI Polene Public CompanyHume Cemboard IndustriesEterton Multiresources CorporationMarket Segment by Type, coversExterior ProductsInterior ProductsMarket Segment by Applications, can be divided intoNew ConstructionRepair and ReplacementAccess Full Report With TOC @There are 9 Chapters to deeply display the Philippines Fiber Cement market.Chanter 1, to analyze the top manufacturers of Fiber Cement, with sales (sales volume), revenue (sales value), and price of Fiber Cement, in 2015 and 2016;Chapter 2, to display the competitive situation among the top manufacturers, with sales, revenue and market share in 2015 and 2016;Chapter 3, to analyze the Philippines market by type, with sales, price, revenue and market share of Fiber Cement, for each type, from 2011 to 2016;Chapter 4, to analyze the Philippines market by applications, with sales, market share and growth rate for major applications, from 2011 to 2016;Chapter 5, the Fiber Cement market forecast in Philippines, with sales forecast for USA market, by type and application;Chapter 6, to analyze the Fiber Cement Potential Market except Philippines, covering China, India, Southeast Asia and Latin America etc;Chapter 7, to analyze and research the market dynamics, market opportunities, market constraints and market driving force;Chapter 8, to research the marketing strategy, covering the marketing channel, market positioning, and the distributors or traders in Philippines;Chapter 9, to analyze the effect factors of Fiber Cement Demand, covering the technology progress, customer preference and the external economic environment;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 ManagerOffice-102, Sanskriti AspirationsBaner Road, Pune,MH 411045IndiaPhone: (201) 465-4211Email: sales@fiormarkets.comWeb:Blog:
Medicinal Spices Market is expected to grow at a CAGR over 3.7% post 2023

https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/3506

https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/medicinal-spices-market-3506

Market Research Future Published a Half Cooked Research Report (HCRR) on Global Medicinal Spices Market which is estimated to grow more than 3.7% after 2023Market OverviewIncrease in demand in overall health and wellness products with vitamins and other essential nutrients is driving higher demand for Medicinal Spices market. Globally, Medicinal Spices for anti-emetic and diuretic have witnessing huge demand which is driving higher private investments by companies for more R&D of products. Majority of medicinal spices used in powder form as it is more convenient and easy to consume. Growing acceptance of spices as a vital health product due to its medicinal properties will change the market dynamics in upcoming years.Competitive Analysis-The major key players in Medicinal Spices Market are Able Agro International (India) SOAP (Sapthsathi Medicinal Agriculture Project) (India) Frontier Natural Products Co-op (U.S) Sun Impex (Netherland) Earthen Delight (India) Yogi Botanicals (India) Live Organics Pvt Ltd (India)Request a Sample Report @Market ForecastGlobally the medicinal spices market is estimated to escalate at a higher growth rate which is supported by increasing demand of natural health products among consumers. Rising awareness among the consumers about health benefits of medicinal spices is supporting the market growth. The growing consumption of organic health supplements is playing key role to create demand for supplements made from spices from last few years. The developing economic conditions of various regions are fueling up the market demand for medicinal spices products.All these factors contribute to the calculated CAGR of 3.7% of Medicinal Spices market during 2017-2023.Downstream Analysis-Medicinal spices are used to treat various health condition and illness. Medicinal Spices which contains various unique properties which includes anti-arthritic, anti-oxidant, anti-cancer, anti-flatulent, anti-emetic, diuretic, anti-microbial, anti-bacterial, antispasmodic and others which is encouraging the key players to introduce more medicinal spices with unique formulation. It is difficult for local vendors to expand their business at global level as high investment is required for product development and bulk processing. Key players are focusing to expand their product portfolio to get an edge over competition. Medicinal spices which are helpful to reduce the weight are in high demand especially in developed countries like U.S., Germany and U.K.Access the market data and market information presented through more than 60 market data tables and 25 figures spread over 110 numbers of pages of the project report Medicinal Spices Market - Forecast to 2023Regional AnalysisThe Global Medicinal Spices Market is segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and rest of the world (ROW). Asia Pacific region has the major market share followed by Europe region. Increasing Rising demand of Medicinal Spices for different functions mainly as an antioxidant, anti-aging and beauty products is boosting the market in Asia Pacific region. North America region will witness significant growth backed by growing demand of high quality medicinal spices especially from developed countries like U.S. and Canada. Increasing health awareness about health benefits of Medicinal Spices will play major to gain consumer attraction across the globe.Access Report Details @Market Segmentation- Global Medicinal Spices market is segmented by type, form, medicinal properties and region. Medicinal Spices product has been segmented on the basis of type which includes medicinal spices (turmeric, chili, pepper, cumin, garlic, ginger, clove, cinnamon, nutmeg and others Medicinal Spices product has been segmented on the basis of form which includes whole, ground/powder, crushed/chopped, minced, flakes, and others Medicinal Spices product has been segmented on the basis of medicinal properties which includes anti-flatulent, anti-emetic, diuretic, anti-microbial, anti-bacterial, antispasmodic and othersAbout 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
Demand Of Pre-Packed Chromatography Columns Increasing Globally

http://www.sa-brc.com/Global-Pre-Packed-Chromatography-Columns-Market-Assessment--Forecast-2017-2021/up125

http://www.sa-brc.com/Global-Pre-Packed-Chromatography-Columns-Market-Assessment--Forecast-2017-2021/upcomingdetail125

www.sa-brc.com

Increasing popularity of pre packed chromatography columns has boosted the demand globally. These columns are easier to setup and do not require frequent column cleaning, sterilization and repacking prior to use. Professionally packed columns also increase efficiency of downstream processing. Inclination towards use of biological drugs and continuous research to discover novel biological therapeutic alternatives has been another driver for the pre packed chromatography columns market.Monoclonal antibodies are one of the most successful biological therapeutic drugs available today. Considering efficiency in cancer treatment, large numbers of research programs are focused on development of monoclonal antibody drugs. Launch of biosimilar drugs has further boosted the manufacturing of such therapeutic drugs. Considering various merits of pre packed chromatography column, its application in manufacturing monoclonal is increasing rapidly. Huge amount of cost saving, and shorter setup time for disposable pre packed columns has assisted adoption of the technology in large scale manufacturing. Although initially the adoption of pre packed columns was low, rise in publications advocating the flexibility, and time and cost advantage favored adoption globally. Currently pre packed chromatography columns are widely used for vaccine production, monoclonal antibody production, enzyme research and surface marker research.? Various types of pre packed chromatography columns currently in the market include ion exchange chromatography columns, hydrophobic stationary phase columns, gel filtration chromatography columns, affinity chromatography columns, and multimodal chromatography columns.? Large percentage of disposable columns are actually reused for cost advantages due to high cost resins. As the cost of resins decreases, use of genuine single use columns would increase.Request Free Sample Report@Majority of the pre packed chromatography columns market is consolidated with key players such as GE Healthcare which accounts for over half of the global market, Repligen, Atoll, Millipore, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Bio-Rad, Qiagen and others. Companies are introducing pre packed chromatography columns with new technologies to increase efficiency and purity of final product. In 2015, Repligen launched new product at the Bioprocess International Summit, Germany in its Opus range of offerings with an inner diameter of 60cm. Earlier in 2014, Grace announced the launch of ProVance pre packed Protein A column. Introduction of such chromatography columns would help in expansion of the overall market. Currently North America, Europe and Asia Pacific region account for majority of the pre packed chromatography columns market. Brazil, Mexico and other countries in Latin America do not have in house biopharmaceutical manufacturing and research capacity; this restricts the demand of pre packed columns.NOTE: This report is currently under research and will be made available to clients on request.Apply For TOC@About UsSpearhead Acuity Business Research & Consulting Private Limited (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.Contact UsJohn WhitmoreOffice No. 14,Hermes Kunj, Mangaldas Road,Pune, 411001IndiaPhone: +91-02041210872Email: sales@sa-brc.comWebsite:
Breast Imaging Technologies Market : Industry Trends, Growth Rate With CAGR Analysis 2017  2022

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Latest Report Available at Orbis research Breast Imaging Technologies Market provides pin-point analysis for changing competitive dynamics and a forward looking perspective on different factors driving or restraining industry growth.Request sample copy of this report @In our aim to provide our erudite clients with the best research material with absolute in-depth information of the market, our new report on Global Breast Imaging Technologies Market is confident in meeting their needs and expectations. The 2017 market research report on Global Breast Imaging Technologies 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 Breast Imaging Technologies Market report is a noteworthy.The Global Breast Imaging Technologies 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 Breast Imaging Technologies 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 Breast Imaging Technologies Industry. Accurate forecasts and expert opinion from credible sources, and the recent R&D development in the industry is also a mainstay of the Breast Imaging Technologies Market report.Purchase a copy of Breast Imaging Technologies Market visit @For more information contact sales@orbisresearch.com .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.Finally, the Breast Imaging Technologies 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 Breast Imaging Technologies 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.Browse Complete Report @Some points from TOC:Chapter One: Breast Imaging Technologies Market Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Breast Imaging Technologies1.2 Breast Imaging Technologies Segment by Type (Product Category)1.2.1 Global Breast Imaging Technologies Production and CAGR (%) Comparison by Type (Product Category) (2012-2022)1.2.2 Global Breast Imaging Technologies Production Market Share by Type (Product Category) in 20161.2.3 Ionizing Breast Imaging Technologies1.2.4 Non-Ionizing Breast Imaging Technologies1.3 Global Breast Imaging Technologies Segment by Application1.3.1 Breast Imaging Technologies Consumption (Sales) Comparison by Application (2012-2022)1.3.2 Hospitals1.3.3 Ambulatory Surgical Centers1.4 Global Breast Imaging Technologies Market by Region (2012-2022)1.4.1 Global Breast Imaging Technologies 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 Breast Imaging Technologies (2012-2022)1.5.1 Global Breast Imaging Technologies Revenue Status and Outlook (2012-2022)1.5.2 Global Breast Imaging Technologies Capacity, Production Status and Outlook (2012-2022)Chapter Two: Global Breast Imaging Technologies Market Competition by Manufacturers2.1 Global Breast Imaging Technologies Capacity, Production and Share by Manufacturers (2012-2017)2.1.1 Global Breast Imaging Technologies Capacity and Share by Manufacturers (2012-2017)2.1.2 Global Breast Imaging Technologies Production and Share by Manufacturers (2012-2017)2.2 Global Breast Imaging Technologies Revenue and Share by Manufacturers (2012-2017)2.3 Global Breast Imaging Technologies Average Price by Manufacturers (2012-2017)2.4 Manufacturers Breast Imaging Technologies Manufacturing Base Distribution, Sales Area and Product Type2.5 Breast Imaging Technologies Market Competitive Situation and Trends2.5.1 Breast Imaging Technologies Market Concentration Rate2.5.2 Breast Imaging Technologies Market Share of Top 3 and Top 5 Manufacturers2.5.3 Mergers & Acquisitions, ExpansionFor any enquires before buying, connect with us @ enquiry@orbisresearch.comAbout 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 Information:Hector CostelloSenior Manager  Client Engagements4144N Central Expressway,Suite 600, Dallas,Texas  75204, U.S.A.Phone No.: +1 (214) 884-6817; +9164101019Follow Us on LinkedIn:Follow us on Twitter:Like us on Facebook:
Choose the Shopify Developer to Boost Your E-commerce Business Presence

Shopify Website Development

In this 2017, entrepreneurs need to boost their E-commerce Business Presence on the web, since people today, look for a simple way to get the products and services they require and in this sense, only companies that have the technological tools to this end, will have a competitive advantage over the rest of the competition.Therefore, Shopify is the best alternative to performing any E-commerce operation in the present, as it not only allows interesting functions such as inserting descriptions, photographs, and titles to your products or services. In addition, you can create and manage your inventory products and manage the access of your team granting different levels of permissions in the administration of your online store.To that end, c and takes you further with the technical support you need to take advantage of Shopify to the fullest. This is a very important thing because although Shopify is a platform for easy understanding and management, there are many functions that must be managed by experts, to be well used and exploited for your benefit.That is why; we have the best Shopify development team in India, made up of Shopify developers and experts in Shopify website development. Coreyway Solution with this alliance seeks to optimize this tool for its customers, with the purpose that they can have all the necessary business information in real time to go one-step ahead of their competitors and always be a trend in the business world.Coreyway Solution is an innovative and daring company that seeks to satisfy the needs of its customers, to the point of exceeding their expectations, giving them a great technical support in real time and at all times, in order to solve any problems that are Can present. Another important point that has been the boost of the quantity and quality of customers, has to do with the optimization of the resources of Shopify so that the client can have in record time, all the information that it needs to design any business strategy that drives them to improve their entire service platform.All this is possible because, in Coreyway Solution, we understand that your business does not offer products and services; it sells dreams, fantasies, and promises! The promise of service is what made Shopify design possible for all its customers and in Coreyway Solution, we have been certified to provide you with all the services you need on this platform so that your store is not only widely recognized in India, but May the world enjoy your venture.We invite you to know all the possibilities offered by Shopify to your business to make it better and at the same time, you know everything related to the Shopify development offered by the Coreway Solution team. Therefore, if you want to boost your business and make your customers feel heard choose the Certified Shopify Development Company in India, we invite you to be part of the Coreyway Solution experience.Coreway Solution is a top-notch web and mobile app development company in India. We have rich experience of 6+ years in offering web development, eCommerce development, mobile app development, enterprise mobility and wearable device solution to business all statures whether you are a small business or a corporate company.A // 510- ATMA House,Opp. Old RBI bank,Ashram Road, Ahmedabad,Gujarat,India 380009
Global Ferrite Powder Market 2017 - Ferrite-Tech, DMEGC, TRIDELTA Hartferrite, Powdertech, ILPEA

https://www.fiormarkets.com/report-detail/59101/request-sample

https://goo.gl/tsWnQV

www.fiormarkets.com

www.universalmarketresearch.com

Focuses on top manufacturers in global market, with Production, price, revenue and market share for each manufacturerThe report firstly introduced the Ferrite Powder basics: definitions, classifications, applications and industry chain overview; industry policies and plans; product specifications; manufacturing processes; cost structures and so on. Then it analyzed the world's main region market conditions, including the product price, profit, capacity, production, capacity utilization, supply, demand and industry growth rate etc. In the end, the report introduced new project SWOT analysis, investment feasibility analysis, and investment return analysis.Download Sample Report @Scope of the report:Ferrite Powder Market Research Report 2017 Covers the following Manufacturers.Ferrite-TechDMEGCDOWAILPEAJapan Metals & ChemicalsTRIDELTA HartferritePowdertechHOOSIER MAGNETICSZhejiang Ante Magnetic materialThe report offers a holistic overview of global Ferrite Powder market with the help of application segments and geographical regions that govern the market currently. Further, the report delves deep into the value chain of the Ferrite Powder market so as to emerge with information specific areas that hold high revenue-generating potential. With the Ferrite Powder market having undergone certain inherent shifts in the past decades, the report discusses how these changes will impact the future.Moreover, the report also provides a realistic picture of the state of both traditional and emerging markets. The advantages and disadvantages of investing in these markets are discussed at length in the Ferrite Powder market report. Companies in the Ferrite Powder market have realized that innovation is of utmost importance for sustained growth. In keeping with this pressing need for innovation, the report tracks latest developments and analysts have dedicated substantial efforts toward spotting new business opportunities.Get Full Report With TOC @Which application segments will perform well in global Ferrite Powder over the next few years? Which are the markets where companies should establish a presence? What are the restraints that will threaten growth rate? What are the forecasted growth rates for the Ferrite Powder market as a whole and for each segment within it? All of these questions are answered using industry-leading techniques and tools as well as a vast amount of qualitative research.The report further focuses on the leading industry players that will steer the course of the Ferrite Powder market through the forecast period. Each of these players is analyzed in detail so as to obtain details pertaining to their product/services, recent announcements and partnerships, investment strategies and so on. A detailed segmentation evaluation of the Ferrite Powder market has been provided in the report. Detailed information about the key segments of the market and their growth prospects are available in the report. The detailed analysis of their sub-segments is also available in the report. The revenue forecasts and volume shares along with market estimates are available in the report.ABOUT USFior 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 ManagerOffice - 102, Sanskriti Aspirations,Near Post 91, Baner Road,Pune, MH, India - 411045Phone: (201) 465-4211Email: sales@fiormarkets.comWeb:Blog:
Robot Cleaner - Market Revenue, Major Players, and Forecast To 2021

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Publisher's Robot Cleaner market research report provides the newest industry data and industry future trends, allowing you to identify the products and end users driving Revenue growth and profitability.The industry report lists the leading competitors and provides the insights strategic industry Analysis of the key factors influencing the market.The report includes the forecasts, Analysis and discussion of important industry trends, market size, market share estimates and profiles of the leading industry Players.The Players mentioned in our reportIRobotSamsungLGSharpEcovacsMatsutekYujin RobotMamirobotInfinuvo (Metapo)Neato RoboticsFor More Information About This Report:Global Robot Cleaner Market: Product Segment AnalysisX-ray flaw detectorMagnetic flaw detectorUltrasonic flaw detectorOthers (e.g. penetrant flaw detection)Global Robot Cleaner Market: Application Segment AnalysisForensic EngineeringMechanical EngineeringPetroleum EngineeringElectrical EngineeringCivil EngineeringSystems EngineeringRequest Sample Copy At:Table of ContentChapter 1 About the Robot Cleaner IndustryChapter 2 World Market Competition LandscapeChapter 3 World Robot Cleaner Market shareChapter 4 Supply Chain AnalysisChapter 5 Company ProfilesChapter 6 Globalization & TradeChapter 7 Distributors and CustomersChapter 8 Import, Export, Consumption and Consumption Value by Major CountriesChapter 9 World Robot Cleaner Market Forecast through 2021Chapter 10 Key success factors and Market OverviewInquire For This Report At: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
Worldwide Battery Storage Inverter - Market Share, Analysis and Forecast To 2021

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Publisher's Battery Storage Inverter market research report provides the newest industry data and industry future trends, allowing you to identify the products and end users driving Revenue growth and profitability.The industry report lists the leading competitors and provides the insights strategic industry Analysis of the key factors influencing the market.The Players mentioned in our reportDynapowerBosh (VoltWerks)KACOParkerABBPrincetonEatonSUNGROWCLOUSMAFor More Information About This Report:Global Battery Storage Inverter Market: Product Segment AnalysisSingle-Phase Electric PowerThree-Phase Electric PowerGlobal Battery Storage Inverter Market: Application Segment AnalysisUtility ScaleCommercialResidentialGlobal Battery Storage Inverter Market: Regional Segment AnalysisUSAEuropeJapanChinaIndiaSouth East AsiaRequest Sample Copy At:Table of ContentChapter 1 About the Battery Storage Inverter IndustryChapter 2 World Market Competition LandscapeChapter 3 World Battery Storage Inverter Market shareChapter 4 Supply Chain AnalysisChapter 5 Company ProfilesChapter 6 Globalization & TradeChapter 7 Distributors and CustomersChapter 8 Import, Export, Consumption and Consumption Value by Major CountriesChapter 9 World Battery Storage Inverter Market Forecast through 2021Chapter 10 Key success factors and Market OverviewInquire For This Report At: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 Flexographic Ink Market 2017 - Sakata Inx Corporation, Flint Group, Nazdar Company Inc., The Braden Sutphin Ink Company, Color Resolutions International

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Focuses on top manufacturers in global market, with Production, price, revenue and market share for each manufacturerThe report firstly introduced the Flexographic Ink basics: definitions, classifications, applications and industry chain overview; industry policies and plans; product specifications; manufacturing processes; cost structures and so on. Then it analyzed the world's main region market conditions, including the product price, profit, capacity, production, capacity utilization, supply, demand and industry growth rate etc. In the end, the report introduced new project SWOT analysis, investment feasibility analysis, and investment return analysis.Download Sample Report @Scope of the report:Flexographic Ink Market Research Report 2017 Covers the following Manufacturers.DIC CorporationSiegwerk Druckfarben AG & Co.KGAAToyo Ink Sc Holdings Co., Ltd.Sakata Inx CorporationFlint GroupT&K Toka Co., Ltd.The Braden Sutphin Ink CompanyAlden & OTT Printing Ink CompanyNazdar Company Inc.Color Resolutions InternationalGlobal Flexographic Ink Industry 2017 is a comprehensive, professional report delivering market research data that is relevant for new market entrants or established players. Key strategies of the companies operating in the market and their impact analysis have been included in the report. Furthermore, a business overview, revenue share and SWOT analysis of the leading players in the Flexographic Ink market is available in the report.Combining the data integration and analysis capabilities with the relevant findings, the report has predicted strong future growth of the Flexographic Ink market in all its geographical and product segments. In addition to this, several significant variables that will shape the Flexographic Ink industry and regression models to determine the future direction of the market have been employed to create the report.The report begins with a market overview and moves on to cover the growth prospects of the Flexographic Ink market. The current environment of the global Flexographic Ink industry and the key trends shaping the market are presented in the report. Insightful predictions for the Flexographic Ink market for the coming few years have also been included in the report. These predictions feature important inputs from leading industry experts and take into account every statistical detail regarding the Flexographic Ink market.Get Full Report With TOC @Statistical forecasts in the research study are available for the total Flexographic Ink market along with its key segments. The key segments, their growth prospects and the new opportunities they present to market players have been mentioned in the report. Moreover, the impact analysis of the latest mergers and acquisition and joint ventures has been included in the report. The report also provides valuable proposals for new project development that can help companies optimize their operations and revenue structure.A detailed segmentation evaluation of the Flexographic Ink market has been provided in the report. Detailed information about the key segments of the market and their growth prospects are available in the report. The detailed analysis of their sub-segments is also available in the report. The revenue forecasts and volume shares along with market estimates are available in the report.ABOUT USFior 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 ManagerOffice - 102, Sanskriti Aspirations,Near Post 91, Baner Road,Pune, MH, India - 411045Phone: (201) 465-4211Email: sales@fiormarkets.comWeb:Blog:
Bio-implants Market is Expected to Cross US$ 134 Billion by 2022

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The Global Bio-implants Market is segmented on the lines of its application, origin, material and regional. Based on application segmentation it covers ophthalmic and neurostimulators implants, dental, orthopedics and trauma implants, spinal implants and cardiovascular implants. Cardiovascular implants are further segmented into pacing devices and stents.Browse Full Report:How Big is the Global Bio-Implants Market?The Global Bio-implants Market is expected to exceed more than US$ 134 billion by 2017 in the given forecast period.The report covers detailed competitive outlook including the market share and company profiles of the key participants operating in the global market. Key players profiled in the report include Stryker Corporation, Boston Scientific Corporation, Depuy Synthes, St. Jude Medical Inc, Wright Medical Group, Tornier N.V., Medtronic, Smith and Nephew, DENTSPLY International, Biomet Inc and Invibio Biomaterial Solutions. Company profile includes assign such as company summary, financial summary, business strategy and planning, SWOT analysis and current developments.Table of Contents1 INTRODUCTION2 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY3 MARKET OVERVIEW4 BIO-IMPLANTS MARKET, BY TYPES5 BIO-IMPLANTS MARKET, BY ORIGIN6 BIO-IMPLANTS MARKET, BY MATERIALS7 GEOGRAPHIC ANALYSIS8 COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE9 COMPANY PROFILES9.1 AAP IMPLANTATE AG9.2 ABBOTT LABORATORIES9.3 BAUSCH AND LOMB INCORPORATED9.4 BIOMET, INC.9.5 BIOTRONIK SE & CO.KG9.6 BOSTON SCIENTIFIC CORPORATION9.7 COOK GROUP, INC.9.8 C.R. BARD, INC.9.9 EDWARDS LIFESCIENCES CORPORATION9.10 ENDO HEALTH SOLUTIONS, INC.9.11 JOHNSON & JOHNSON9.12 INTEGRA LIFESCIENCES HOLDINGS CORPORATION9.13 INTEGRATED ORBITAL IMPLANTS9.14 LIFENET HEALTH, INC.9.15 MEDTRONIC, INC.9.16 MIMEDX GROUP, INC.9.17 ORTHOFIX INTERNATIONAL N.V.9.18 SMITH & NEPHEW, PLC9.19 SORIN S.P.A.9.20 ST. JUDE MEDICAL, INC.9.21 STRYKER CORPORATION9.22 THORATEC CORPORATION9.23 TORNIER N.V.9.24 W.L.GORE & ASSOCIATES, INC.9.25 WRIGHT MEDICAL GROUP INCORPORATED9.26 ZIMMER HOLDINGS, INC.About MarketResearchEngineMarket Research Engine is a global market research and consulting organization. We provide market intelligence in emerging, niche technologies and markets. Our market analysis powered by rigorous methodology and quality metrics provide information and forecasts across emerging markets, emerging technologies and emerging business models. Our deep focus on industry verticals and country reports help our clients to identify opportunities and develop business strategies.Media ContactContact Person: John BayEmail: john@marketresearchengine.comPhone: +1-855-984-1862Country: United StatesWebsite:Address: 3422 SW 15 Street, Suite #8942, Deerfield Beach, FL 33442, United States
Global Height-Adjustable Walking Aid Market 2017 - Drive Medical, HERDEGEN, Ergo Agil, AMG Medical, Besco Medical

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Focuses on top manufacturers in global market, with Production, price, revenue and market share for each manufacturerThe report firstly introduced the Height-Adjustable Walking Aid basics: definitions, classifications, applications and industry chain overview; industry policies and plans; product specifications; manufacturing processes; cost structures and so on. Then it analyzed the world's main region market conditions, including the product price, profit, capacity, production, capacity utilization, supply, demand and industry growth rate etc. In the end, the report introduced new project SWOT analysis, investment feasibility analysis, and investment return analysis.Download Sample Report @Scope of the report:Height-Adjustable Walking Aid Market Research Report 2017 Covers the following Manufacturers.YCHAMG MedicalApex Health CareBesco MedicalBischoff & BischoffChinesportDrive MedicalErgo AgilHERDEGENJiangsu Yuyue Medical Equipment & SupplyLapastilla Soluciones IntegralesMedpack Swiss GroupMerits Health ProductsMeyra - OrtopediaORTHOS XXIRoma Medical AidsThe report Global Height-Adjustable Walking Aid Industry 2017 is a professional, in-depth study that includes insights extracted from complex information, which clients can use for their business advantage. A large volume of precise, reliable market data has been distilled into clear and actionable insight for clients so that they can formulate their plans or make crucial business decisions with precision.The report begins with an overview of the Height-Adjustable Walking Aid market and defines the trends that have shaped the global Height-Adjustable Walking Aid market. The key market drivers, restraints and opportunities that will shape the dynamics of the Height-Adjustable Walking Aid market have been presented in the report. A detailed analysis of the key challenges the players in the market face has been also covered in the report. Key inputs from leading industry experts mentioned in the report address how these challenges can be turned into opportunities.A detailed segmentation analysis of the Height-Adjustable Walking Aid market is available in the report. The key segments in the Height-Adjustable Walking Aid industry along with their sub-segments have been covered in the report. The performance analysis of these segments and sub-segments has been included in the report along with detailed evaluation of the trends that will influence the growth prospects of these segments. Moreover, niche segments that demonstrate good growth potential and thus opportunities for new entrants and established companies in the market have been covered.Get Full Report With TOC @Market forecasts and estimates for each key segment and its sub-segments are available in the report. All estimates and forecasts in the Height-Adjustable Walking Aid market study have been verified by the exhaustive primary research with the KIPs (key industry participants), which include the markets leading participants, key consumers and clients and client distributors and vendors. A detailed company-wise analysis of the leading market players has also been covered in the Height-Adjustable Walking Aid market report.Analysis also covers upstream raw materials, equipment, downstream client survey, marketing channels, industry development trend and proposals. In the end, the report includes Height-Adjustable Walking Aid new project SWOT analysis, investment feasibility analysis, investment return analysis and development trend analysis. In conclusion, it is a deep research report on Global Height-Adjustable Walking Aid industry. Here, we express our thanks for the support and assistance from Height-Adjustable Walking Aid industry chain related technical experts and marketing engineers during Research Teams survey and interviews.ABOUT USFior 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 ManagerOffice - 102, Sanskriti Aspirations,Near Post 91, Baner Road,Pune, MH, India - 411045Phone: (201) 465-4211Email: sales@fiormarkets.comWeb:Blog:
Anti-Thrombin III Testing Market - Worldwide Industry Analysis 2023

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Global Anti-Thrombin III Testing Market: OverviewThe rising demand for coagulation testing, especially across developed regions such as North America and Europe has emerged as the chief driver of the global anti-thrombin III testing market. Anti-thrombin III is a K-dependent protease, non-vitamin that naturally helps in blocking any abnormal formation of blood clot in the bloodstream. Deficiency of anti-thrombin III can therefore cause various blood clot disorders. For instance, congenital anti-thrombin III is one of the common anti-thrombin deficiencies, which primarily affects individuals with a family history of the same. This condition can cause abnormal blood clots thereby blocking blood flow, which could damage organs.The report studies in detail prevalent prospects for the global anti-thrombin III testing markets. Hence for the purpose of the study the market is segmented based on end users and application. This is intended to help stakeholders identify the segments exhibiting most opportunities. The impact of recent research and development is studied in detail, besides gauging the impact of government policies enforced over the last few years.Obtain Report Details @Compiled to help readers identify opportunities exhibited by the global anti-thrombin III testing market, the market study includes insights from industry experts. Information thus obtained from various industrial sources is presented in a chapter-wise format and is interspersed with decisive data.Global Anti-Thrombin III Testing Market: Trends and OpportunitiesThe global anti-thrombin III testing market is expected to gain from the advent of novel testing methods. An increasing number of enterprises are offering effective and innovative diagnostic techniques, which is expected to stimulate the markets growth in the coming years. For instance, Berichrom Antithrombin III (A) reagent offered by Siemens AG is used for inhibiting thrombin factor and has found a considerable market. Besides this, the company has launched Sysmex CA-600, which provides advanced immunologic detection, clotting, and chromogenic methods. The system is integrated with easy-to-use features for simplified laboratory settings.Considering the features offered by the latest systems, using these devices is likely to simplify anti-thrombin III testing, thus positively influencing the markets overall trajectory. In addition, the launch of novel anti-thrombin III testing methods will boost the uptake of the technique, which in turn will bolster opportunities for the market in the forthcoming years.Global Anti-Thrombin III Testing Market: Regional OutlookRegionally, North America is expected to showcase the most lucrative opportunities for enterprises operating in the anti-thrombin III testing market. The demand for coagulation testing is significantly high among patient population in North America. This, coupled with the rising incidence of blood-related disorders has fuelled the demand for anti-thrombin III testing in North America. As governments in the region take increasing much interest in providing best healthcare, the demand for novel therapeutics has remain high in North America. This factor will in turn establish a healthy environment for the anti-thrombin III testing markets growth in the region.Europe is expected to demonstrate attractive prospects as well. The launch of new anti-thrombin III testing methods by prominent companies, will mark the regions strong hold in the overall market. In addition, the rising demand from India, China, and Southeast Asia will support the markets trajectory in Asia Pacific. The regions cost-effective production environment has helped in the growth of the anti-thrombin III testing market.Global Anti-Thrombin III Testing Market: Vendor LandscapeBesides analyzing growth prospects, the report also profiles some of the leading companies operating in the global anti-thrombin III testing market. This is intended at identifying the recent policies adopted by the companies and their impact on the markets overall trajectory. The report therefore includes detail profiles of companies such as Sysmex Corporation, Siemens AG, Trinity Biotech PLC, and others.Fill the form for an exclusive sample of this report @About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. We have an experienced team of Analysts, Researchers, and Consultants, who us e proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.ContactTransparency Market Research90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA  Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Asia-Pacific Smart Glass market Research Report, Forecast upto 2022

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Knowledge Sourcing Intelligence announces the publication of a new report: Asia-Pacific Smart Glass market- Forecasts from 2017 to 2022.Smart Glasses are special types of glasses which change themselves from transparent to opaque upon the creation of any disturbance. Being one of the largest energy consumers, the Asia-Pacific region is estimated to witness a high growth rate during the forecast period. Due to the high energy consumption, the government policies are encouraging any kind of activities towards saving energy.This research report segments the Asia-Pacific Smart Glass market By Technology (Thermochromic Glass, Suspended Particle Device (SPD) Glass, Electrochromic Glass, Liquid Crystal Glass, Photo Crystal Glass, Others), Applications (Automotive, Power Generation, Consumer Electronics, Transportation, Architecture and Construction, Others), Country (China, India, Japan, Others). The report provides in-depth and most accurately anticipated forecasts in a quantitative manner.Some of the major Asia-Pacific Smart Glass covered in the report are Saint-Gobain, PPG Industries and Asahi Glass Corporation along with several other playersSample request or complete report can be purchased through the link below:For purchase regarding inquiry- info@knowledge-sourcing.comThis 90 pages report contains a wide range of figures and data tables for the forecasted period based on the segmentations listed above.Brief TOC is as below: Market Dynamics Segmentation By Technology Thermochromic Glass Suspended Particle Device (SPD) Glass Electrochromic Glass Liquid Crystal Glass Photo Crystal Glass Others By Application Automotive Power Generation Consumer Electronics Transportation Architecture and Construction Others By Country China India Japan Others Competitive Intelligence Profiles of key companiesAbout Us:Knowledge Sourcing Intelligence is a market research and consulting firm based out of India. Driven by industry experts, the company provides syndicated reports, custom research, and consulting services. Our proprietary data analytics model blended with quality primary and secondary research data assists in generating quality reports providing crucial insights to managers and decision makers. The services offered by us help companies to gain required the competitive edge. Our expertise across 10 industries such as ICT, Chemicals, Semiconductors, Healthcare among others caters to diverse client needsContact Us:Knowledge Sourcing IntelligenceAscent Business CenterH-38, Sector 63NOIDA, IndiaContact: +1-866-714-4587
Petasites Japonicus Extract Market Driven by Increasing Health Awareness among the Consumers

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Petasites Japonicus is an herbaceous perennial plant which is also known as Japanese sweet coltsfoot and Japanese butterbur. Petasites Japonicus belongs to asteraceae family, primarily found in Japan, China, Korea and Europe. Petasites Japonicus was introduced to Western Europe by Japanese immigrants. The stalk of petasites japonicus is known as fuki, which is a rich source of potassium, manganese, copper, calcium, and vitamin. Now a days petasites japonicus extract has be used for the prevention of migraine and the treatment of allergic rhinitis. Petasites japonicus extract has anti- inflammable properties which instantly reduces inflammation caused by arthritis or immune response.Browse Market Research Report @Market Segmentation:Petasites Japonicus extract market is segmented on the basis of type, end-user, application, and region. On the basis of type the market is segmented into petasites japonicus leaf extract and petasites japonicus root extract. The demand for petasites japonicus extract is increasing as it offers many anti-oxidant properties as well as is a rich source of flavonoid. On the basis of end-user the market is segmented into industrial and retail. The retail segment is further sub-segmented into supermarkets/hypermarkets, convenience stores and online stores. It is expected that online store will hold a relatively higher share in the petasites japonicus extract market compared to other distribution channels. On the basis of application the petasites japonicus extract market is segmented into cosmetic industry, and pharmaceutical industry. Pharmaceutical industry is expected to hold the major market share in the forecast period.Market Regional Outlook:Regional segment for the market of petasites japonicus extract is divided into five different regions: North America, APAC, Europe, Latin America and MEA. Among these regions Asia Pacific is expected to be the major contributor of petasites japonicus extract market globally and is expected to dominant the market in the forecaster period. In Asia Pacific region countries such as China and Japan holds the key market for petasites japonicus extract. In Europe region countries such as Italy and Spain holds the key market for petasites japonicus extract. In terms of revenue Europe is expected to be the second leading contributor of the petasites japonicus extract market in the forecast period.Fill the form for an exclusive sample of this report @Market Drivers:Petasites Japonicus extract has been popular from ancient times and increasing awareness among the consumers about the health benefits associated with petasites japonicus extract is expected to drive the market in the near future. Petasites japonicus extract offers various health benefits such as it enables to reduce pain and swelling (inflammation), helps in the treatment of wounds, enables to reduce common cold, as petasites is an antihistamine element, therefore it helps to prevent allergic reactions, helps to reduce headaches and reduce fever and also helps to control the blood sugar level of the body which is expected to bolster the growth of the petasites japonicus extract market. The demand for anti-aging cream is further expected to boost the petasites japonicus as antioxidants present in the root extract helps in preventing free radical damage of the body. Petasites japonicus extract is also known to cure dehydration, potassium and magnesium deficiency along with calcium deficiency in pregnant women. Furthermore, it contains flavonoid which keeps the level of bad cholesterol low, these factors are also expected to drive the Petasites Japonicus extract market during the forecast period.Market Key Players:Some of the key players in petasites japonicus market are Swanson, Planetary Herbals, Solaray, Life Extension, Vitacost, Hawaii Pharm LLC, Piping Rock Health Products, Linpharma, Inc and Source Naturals among 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.US Office Contact90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Extrusion Coating Market Size  Industry Share Report 2025

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Global Extrusion Coating Market: SnapshotThe global market for extrusion coating is gaining traction from a number factors, such as increasing use of extrusion coating in numerous packaging applications, prosperity of the food and beverages industry, growing demand from emerging economies in Asia Pacific and the Middle East and Africa, continuous merger and acquisition, and development of new products by diverse companies. On the other hand, although the demand is expected to continue flowing in throughout the forecast period of 2017 to 2025, substitutes such as bio-based polymers and increasing carbon footprint are posing considerable challenge to the development of the market for extrusion coating. The use of some of the common polymers such as EVA, LDPE, PET, and PP can generates harmful by-products.This report on the global extrusion coating market provides quantitative and qualitative analysis of all factors that may influence the demand in the near future, as well as catching some of the latest trends that may open new opportunities for the early birds. The report segments the market into smaller aspects to gauge their potential, highlights the most lucrative regions as well as countries, and profiles a number of leading companies in order to understand the existent competitive landscape of the global extrusion coating market. The report has been prepared using proven research methodologies and aspires to serve as a credible document to the targeted audiences such as extrusion coating manufacturers, traders and distributors of extrusion coating materials and products, end-use entities connected to the different segments and aspects of the market, government and research organization, environment support agencies, investment banks, and private equity firms.Request Sample Copy of the Report @Global Extrusion Coating Market: OverviewThe world market for extrusion coating is forecasted to gain impetus from the soaring count of packaging applications in a diverse scope of end-use sectors. On a global platform, liquid packaging is prophesied to be a larger extrusion coating segment in terms of application. It finds application in the packaging of goods such as household cleaning products, spirits and wines, and beverages and liquids. Out of the miscellaneous forms of liquid packaging available to this day, stand-up pouches, caps and closures, bottles, and bag-in-boxes are the most prominent.The eminent areas of segmentation of the global extrusion coating market include application and type of material. These critical segmentation areas are further segmented and analyzed while considering the volume and value forecasts.All the reports published by TMR Research can be tailor-made as per the demands of the buyers. Our analysts have procured the vital findings of the world extrusion coating market while taking into consideration a wide compass of target audiences, including manufacturers, distributors, and investment and equity firms. The report authors have assessed different elements to carefully draw the competitive landscape of the global market.Request TOC of the Report @Global Extrusion Coating Market: Trends and OpportunitiesWith a moderate CAGR, the international extrusion coating market is expected to reach an admirable figure in terms of both value and volume. A number of activities performed by different players in the industry in relation to new product development apart from their acquisitions and mergers are prognosticated to encourage a tangible growth in the global market. The packaging sphere is foreseen to significantly contribute for the dilation of the market growth. One of the reasons for this is the driving demand for the process of extrusion coating and their application in various packaging procedures.For the forecast period, low density polyethylene (LDPE) is anticipated to stand as a dominating segment by material type in the global extrusion coating market. LDPE finds vigorous applications in a gamut of packaging domains such as commercial, flexible, and liquid. Preferable sealability properties and excellent moisture barrier are some of the astounding characteristics of LDPE that have given it much importance in the packaging sector. LDPE is anticipated to help the world market reach great heights of success on the back of its elevating number of applications. These applications belong to a range of end-use sectors such as pharmaceutical and medical, construction and building, and automotive, not just packaging.Global Extrusion Coating Market: Regional OutlookUntil the end of the forecast period, the Asia Pacific region is foretold to demonstrate supremacy in the international extrusion coating market. The food and beverage sector of developing countries such as Indonesia, Malaysia, South Korea, Japan, India, and China is witnessing a strong growth in the packaging domain. This has resulted into the extensive usage of extrusion coating in Asia Pacific. Besides this, the aggravating strength of the Asia Pacific population and aggressive economic growth in the region have upgraded the maturation of the global market. For the forecast years, China is predicted to be a faster rising market in the developing region.Read Comprehensive Overview of Report@Some of the regional markets associated with the global extrusion coating industry could suffer because of the pernicious by-products generated with the employment of certain polymer resins such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polypropylene (PP), ethylene-vinyl acetate (EVA), and LDPE. These polymers are mostly used during the process of extrusion coating. However, the towering growth opportunities birthed in emerging countries of the Middle East and Africa and Asia Pacific are envisaged to dilute the effect of the restraint. Moreover, the increasing number of applications in various innovative forms of packaging such as liquid packaging is envisioned to offer good opportunities in the long run.Global Extrusion Coating Market: Companies MentionedCompanies such as Bobst Group SA, Exxon Mobil Corporation, Mondi Plc., AkzoNobel N.V., and The Dow Chemical Company are profiled to possibly have taken to different strategies for securing their share in the global extrusion coating market. In this regard, new product launches, mergers, and expansions could be the go-to inorganic and organic schemes adopted by the top industry players for a substantial advancement.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
Industrial Wax Market share research by applications and regions for 2017  2025

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Global Industrial Wax Market: SnapshotThe usage of paraffin wax has been quite common over the years after its discovery and the ability to be synthesized at large scales. Waxes have been used in the manufacture of candles, as coatings on structural surfaces, as additives in packaging materials, and even in the food and beverages industry. Paraffin wax can be derived from coal, shale, or petroleum and is an assortment of hydrocarbons. Wax is generally solid at room temperature and on average, starts to melt above 99 degrees Fahrenheit. The discovery of wax was advantageous to the manufacturers of candles, who previously used tallow which was less reliable as well as expensive.The industrial applications of wax are already diverse and increasing at a slow rate over time. The most common applications of wax are created through the alteration of the crystals of wax, usually through the addition of branches to their current chains. The use of additives such as specific types of polyethylene can improve the functional properties, viscosity, and even the crystalline structure of wax. In the food industry, food-grade wax can be used to produce shiny coatings on top of candies. Food-grade wax is non-digestible, but is classified as edible and harmless and cannot be broken down in the body. Wax is also used as a protective coating for several types of cheese, which helps maintain their qualities.From the manufacture of candles to its use in coatings, packaging, polishing, food, and a vast variety of application areas and industrial products, the wax industry plays a key role in the smooth functioning of many industries. In the past few years, the rising application of candles manufacturing along with the increased use of wax across the packaging and personal care industries have significantly driven the global industrial wax market.Request Sample Copy of the Report @This report on the global industrial wax market presents a thorough overview of the present state of the markets growth dynamics and the future growth prospects over the period between 2017 and 2025.Global Industrial Wax Market: Scope of the ReportThe report analyzes the key indicators expected to have a notable impact on the markets growth prospects, including growth restraints, challenges, growth opportunities, and trends. Forward-looking statements in the report have been backed with vast qualitative and quantitative details about the market and its key segments.To provide a comprehensive analysis of the market, the report examines notable players in the market with the help of SWOT analysis, value chain analysis, and Porters five forces analysis. Analysis of key market vendors with the help of value chain and Porters five forces model allows the reader to gauge the state of competitiveness in the global modified bitumen market.The study also includes a thorough section covering the market attractiveness analysis, wherein key regional markets, product varieties, applications, and end-use segments have been analyzed on the basis of attractiveness of each key region analyzed in the report. Details related to aspects such as the availability of raw materials, growth rate, profit margin, market size, technological advancements, and environmental and legal liabilities have been examined so as to derive the general attractiveness of the global industrial wax market.Request TOC of the Report @Global Industrial Wax Market: Trends and OpportunitiesThe market for industrial waxes is largely dependent on the growth dynamics of the global oil and gas market as paraffin waxes, the most common variety of wax used across industrial applications, are derived from petroleum. Since the beginning of 2015, the global oil and gas industry has witnessed significant slowdown owing to overproduction, reduced global demand, and the consecutive reduction in prices. The resultant volatility in raw material prices, in addition to the stringent environment protection laws, has compelled companies to focus on sustainable raw materials such as polyethylene wax and beeswax.The trend is expected to have a moderate impact on the overall development of the industrial wax market in the next few years as the global oil and gas industry is expected to achieve stabilization in terms of prices in the near term. The application of candles is expected to remain the leading consumers of industrial wax over the reports forecast period as well. The packaging industry is also expected to be one of the leading consumers of industrial wax in the next few years.Read Comprehensive Overview of Report@Global Industrial Wax Market: Geographical and Competitive LandscapeThe report provides a detailed overview of the industrial wax market across regions such as North America, Asia Pacific, Europe, and Middle East and Africa. Of these, the Asia Pacific market is presently the leading contributor of revenue to the global industrial wax market and is also the region with the most promising future growth prospects. China accounts for a significant share in the Asia Pacific industrial wax market owing to the presence of some of the leading companies in the global industrial wax market. India is also steadily becoming one of the leading markets for industrial wax. The country is expected to emerge as one of the prominent consumers of the industrial wax over the reports forecast period.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
"Storm" in Siberia: a new collection of summer poems by Vitalina Strakhova

http://vitalina-st.ru

June 30 the popular online stores have published a mini-collection of summer poems "Storm". The author is Vitalina Strakhova, a young poet and writer from Novosibirsk. The publication includes lyrical works written from 2004 to 2016. In total, the collection contains 12 poems.This is the first poetic collection and already the second published book for the author. An unusual feature is the miniature format - 22 pages. A bright, memorable annotation and incredibly gentle and romantic image embodied on the cover of the publication create an atmosphere from the first moments. The reader slowly gets involved in sensual verses about the woman's love and after a few pages notes with surprise that they were replaced by civil lyrics, and later  landscape lyrics. Or is it not so simple?Poet Ernst Nepomnyashchiy noted that emotions and sensations of thunderstorms were transmitted very sensitively, picturesquely, figuratively and attributed the author to the number of the elect. Alentisia Alexandridi commented on the poems from the cycle "Caribbean Azure" laconically and emotionally: "How beautiful! Such bright images as I look at the sea!"The digital book can be easily and quickly purchased at online stores: OZON, LitRes, Amazon, and The Publishing Solutions is ready to print a color or black and white copy on request.Information: Vitalina Strakhova is a poet and writer from Novosibirsk (Russia), the nominee of the national literary prize "Poet of the Year - 2017" and a prize-winner of the international literary contest "DonorBook".6300099 Russian Federation, Novosibirsk, .  , 12-308vitalina-st@mail.ru
Nixxis is expanding its footprint with the opening of a new office in Turkey.

www.nixxis.com

Brussels, Belgium  July 4, 2017. Nixxis, a leading publisher of contact center software, active in 30 countries and with a growth of 20% in 2016, announced today the opening of a new office in Istanbul, Turkey. The new location enables Nixxis to broaden its international presence and supports the companys growth strategy.Turkey is currently still undergoing strong economic development and the contact center industry is one of the most dynamic sectors in the country. By establishing a new office in Istanbul, Nixxis will contribute to the development of the local outsourcing business and give an exceptional competitive advantage to its customers.With our new facility located in Istanbul business district, we are perfectly equipped to offer regional contact centers the support they need to delight their customers, says Nixxis CEO Luc F. Jacobs. Over the past 5 years, Nixxis has been operating in Turkey and thereby built a close partnership with a number of leading telecom and business process outsourcing companies. This is an exciting opportunity for Nixxis to expand to a market that will certainly benefit from the targeted solutions we are proud to provide.Nixxis has already a highly skilled team in place; Volkan Yilma is a Founding Partner of Nixxis Turkey. I am very glad to welcome Volkan to the Nixxis family, says Luc F. Jacobs. With Volkan we have gained a great professional who has a very valuable experience and a proven track record in the contact center industry.Nixxis solutions are outstandingly well-suited to meet the high demands of modern contact centers worldwide and particularly those which are based in Turkey. By using Nixxis Contact Suite cloud-based solutions, companies can improve the quality of every customers interaction, increase operational efficiency and over-achieve their business goals.Nixxis Contact Suite is the unified customer engagement software that provides contact centers with the tools they need to maximize their potential and earn ever growing customer satisfaction, commented Nixxis Turkey Founding Partner, Volkan Yilma. Nixxis Contact Suite is a complete solution for companies in our region which enables them to align to rapidly changing business environment in real time.Adding an Istanbul location is a strategic move that allows Nixxis to continue providing superior customer service and support existing customers in the country.Nixxis is a publisher of professional contact/call centre and customer interaction solutions. Thousands of users in the world trust the Nixxis team totalling more than 100 years of experience in customer interaction solutions. Nixxis Contact Suite software is a modular and visionary solution conceived by anticipating all the future needs of contact centres in customer interactions (phone, email, chat, sms, and social media). 80% of their customers are witnessing up to 20% of productivity increase.NixxisBoulevard de la Woluwe, 621200 BrusselsBelgiumTel: +32 2 307 00 00Fax: +32 2 452 62 21Website:Press contact: Darya StrooPress contact email: d.stroo@nixxis.comPress contact telephone: +32 2 307 00 00
Airport Retailing Market : New Business Opportunities & Investment Research Report 2017 - 2025

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Global Airport Retailing Market: SnapshotAirport retailing is basically the presence of many retail services of many products inside the airport for providing enhanced convenience to the people travelling. Airport retailing also delivers a broader variety of merchandizes and is a comparatively easy choice for travelers. As many retailers tend to think that airport retailing is just strategy diversification and market expansion. However, this kind of thinking is expected to lead to negative results related to the perception of airport business as the brands that are found in the airport are of high quality and are considerably the high-end ones.The factors that are expected to drive the growth of the market are rising retail promotion in airports, availability of products at low prices, and rising tourism. The market players can further gain from the rising customer airport experiences and fall in jet fuel prices. However, factors such as the prevalence of downtown retail stores, strict government regulations and rules and rising political unrest.In the last couple of years, airport retailing has witnessed a substantial rise across airports not only in developed regions but also in developing regions. In the last few years. Europe has seen a substantial rise in airport retailing owing to inexpensive air fare and rise in tourism. Furthermore, the growing disposable income of people in the Asia Pacific region and their inclination towards luxurious lifestyle is further expected to trigger the growth of the market in the region.Request Sample Copy of the Report @Global Airport Retailing Market: OverviewAirport retailing is referred to as the availability of retail services of various products within the airport in order to provide greater convenience to travelers. Airport retailing provides a wider variety of products and is an easy option for travelers. With value customer services as the top priority in the aviation industry, airport retailing is expected to gain momentum over the coming years owing to its feasible services to customers. The provision of goods and services in airports will vary depending on the type of travelers such as business travelers or vacationers and on the manner in which the airport manages domestic and international passengers. It is also subject to the economic, geographic, and demographic specificity of the location of the airport. In addition to the regional feature, airports retailers are also required to meet the unique and specific shopping patterns and needs of air passengers such as speed of the service, convenience, store layout, cleanliness and appearance, and product quality and variety.Many retailers assume airport retailing just as a market expansion and diversification strategy. However, this perception is likely to lead to negative results if the environment of the airport is not seriously taken into consideration. The quality business proposals in the airport are the ones which comprise a considerate and thorough evaluation of the product and how it visually appeals to the consumer.Request TOC of the Report @The market intelligence publication delves into the possible growth opportunities for the global airport retailing market and the chronological growth of the market throughout the forecast period. It also uniquely provisions required data related to facers such as dynamics influencing the progress in all possible retrospective manner. Several ubiquitous and non-ubiquitous trends have also been mentioned in the study. An outlook of extensive nature keeping in mind the Porters five forces analysis has been provided to make the vendor landscape transparent to the reader. The report further reaches out to point out accomplishments related to R&D, acquisitions, mergers, and crucial partnerships and verifications. The companies in limelight have been analyzed on market shares, products, and key strategies.Global Airport Retailing Market: Trends and OpportunitiesThe global market for airport retailing is projected to expand at a significant rate over the next couple of years owing to the growth in the tourism sector, rising income of the middle class across the globe, and easy accessibility of brands. By type, the global airport retailing market can be segmented into supermarkets, specialty retailers, department store, and direct retailer. The segment of direct retailer has been estimated to lead the market in the coming years accounting for the leading market share until 2025. Stores such as Levis, Hugo Boss, and Lacoste are known for generating maximum revenue. In terms of airport size, large airports are expected to emerge dominant in the global airport retailing market.Read Comprehensive Overview of Report@The global market for airport retailing is expected to grow tremendously owing to the rising promotional activities by companies and individual brands and incessantly growing passenger traffic. Retailing has turned out to be the leading source of income for airports across the globe. This can be attributed to the rise in the number of air travelers and enhanced duty-free shopping experience. The market for global airport retailing is also expected to be driven by the growing demand for local destination products.Global Airport Retailing Market: Regional OutlookOver the last couple of years, Europe has witnessed immense progress in the market for airport retailing owing rising investments in retail services in airports, feasible air fares, and upsurge in tourism. Moreover, due to several projects in pipeline such as refurbishments, renovation of current airports, and expansion and development of new terminals, the market is expected to witness tremendous growth. Owing to development of high-end airports in countries such as China and India, Asia Pacific is likely to grow at a significant rate.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
Cloud Computing in Education Market: Upcoming Demands and Growth Analysis 2017 - 2025

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Global Cloud Computing in Education Market: SnapshotAs the rapidly expanding education sector faces sustainability issues and budget restrictions, cloud computing is increasingly being seen as one approach to relieve these pressures. As capacity requirements of an educational institution begin to fluctuate and as new services and applications become available, the association with cloud allows institutions to meet the needs of their constituents in a cost effective and quick manner. As the trend of the greater usage of mobile computing devices gathers strength, cloud computing becomes a more obvious choice for educational institutions as it provides users the access to storage, applications, and a vast number of other resources from almost any device.Moreover, cloud computing provides an economical and highly flexible means to make the limited resources more useful for a larger set of consumers. The rising set of institutional sourcing options makes it necessary for IT leaders to analyze and integrate more providers and options. Cloud computing presents itself as a viable tool in the scenario owing to the several monetary and flexibility benefits it provides.Real-life classroom experiences show that cloud is a good tool for collaboration and teaching. As the technology is still emerging, it presents the need for implementation of customized and standardized services. Evaluation in the sector could help bring vast changes in the rural education sector, an application area that presents vast untapped opportunities that companies in the cloud computing sector should consider for promising returns. This report analyzes and discusses the present and the prospective future growth opportunities in the field of cloud computing in education.Request Sample Copy of the Report @Global Cloud Computing in Education Market: OverviewThe international market for cloud computing in education is envisioned to leverage the booming opportunities originated from the loud acceptance of upgradable cloud services in the education industry. A countable number of educational institutions have given the green light for cloud computing to meet the requirement of streamlining academic procedures such as evaluation, administration, and most importantly, learning. The global cloud computing in education market is prophesied to win lucrative perks from the demand to implement centralized systems for the purpose of effectively managing academic administration processes, thus curbing the burden on the management staff.The report offered here on the global cloud computing in education market could see a segmentation pattern which introduces classification criteria such as deployment model, service model, and end user.The global cloud computing in education market report is a crucial guide for businesses wanting to ensure a visible progress in the industry. With customizations procured as per the needs of the interested parties, the publication holds the potential to rightly direct the existing as well as budding players to penetrate the global market.Request TOC of the Report @Global Cloud Computing in Education Market: Trends and OpportunitiesAcross the world, the cloud computing in education market is anticipated to gain a strong impetus due to the elevating adoption of the technology in higher education and K-12. For the forecast period, higher education is predicted to mark a larger share in the global market amongst other end users. The domination of this possible end user segment could continue until the end of the forecast period.Since most end users prefer the services offered by platform as a service (PaaS) providers, this service model market is expected to gain traction over markets in the category. The important change in the cloud ecosystem is principally attributed to the implementation of PaaS. However, software as a service (SaaS) is foreseen to hold a significant percentage of share in the global cloud computing in education market.Owing to the amplified number of security features offered at a reasonable price, the community cloud as a probable deployment type segment is foretold to grasp a marked share in the world cloud computing in education market.Global Cloud Computing in Education Market: Regional OutlookSpecifically in the developed countries of Canada and the U.S., the demand for cloud computing in education is prognosticated to move levels higher as they look to ride on the elevating focus on production innovations. Most innovations in this field are judged to receive a strong push from the rigorous research and development activities performed in the cloud computing sector. As a result, North America is expected to leave no doubts in the minds of the research analysts for coming forth as a larger revenue holder in the global cloud computing in education market.Read Comprehensive Overview of Report@The Asia Pacific market is forecasted to be propelled by the shift toward cloud solutions for sophisticated services such as tracking, sharing, and collaborating sundry variants of a document. Much of this demand is expected to birth from end users such as universities and schools.There could be a few challenges that the top regions of the cloud computing in education market could face, i.e. rigidly designed cloud-based systems and account management and data protection risks. Nevertheless, such constraints are estimated to lose their effect eventually with the advent of momentous opportunities such as developing potential markets, employment of adaptive cloud services, and application of cloud-based enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems.Global Cloud Computing in Education Market: Companies MentionedAmong others, the sovereign brands operating in the worldwide cloud computing in education market could be Ellucian, Amazon Web Services, NetApp Inc., NEC Corporation, Microsoft Corporation, VMware Inc., IBM Corporation, Cisco System Inc., and Adobe System Inc. With the intention of popularizing their offerings at a global platform, the major vendors in the market are envisaged to take advantage of acquisitions and mergers and inauguration of novel products.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
Smart Controllers Sales Industry 2017  International Major Market Players Analysis

Reportsweb

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Global Smart Controllers market competition by top manufacturers/players, with Smart Controllers sales volume, Price (USD/Unit) , revenue (Million USD) and market share for each manufacturer/player; the top players includingInvensysDiehl AKO StiftungComputimeFLEXTRONICSDensoHoneywellWuxi Hodgen TechnologyShenzhen HeTYITOASanhua Holding GroupShenzhen TopbandXiamen Hualian ElectronicsShenzhen Gold Corolla ElectronicsLongood IntelligentReal-Design IntelligentBeijing Fuxing Xiaocheng Electronic TechnologyRequest a Sample atGeographically, this report split global into several key Regions, with sales (Million Units) , revenue (Million USD) , market share and growth rate of Smart Controllers for these regions, from 2012 to 2022 (forecast) , coveringUnited StatesChinaEuropeJapanKoreaTaiwanBrowse Complete Report atOn the basis of product, this report displays the sales volume (Million Units) , revenue (Million USD) , product price (USD/Unit) , market share and growth rate of each type, primarily split intoElectronic Smart ControllersStandard Smart ControllersCommunication Smart ControllersOn 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 Smart Controllers for each application, includingHousehold AppliancesAutomotive ElectronicsHealth and CareElectrical ToolsSmart Building and Smart HomeOthersGet discount on report purchase atKey Point from Table of Contents:1 Smart Controllers Market Overview2 Global Smart Controllers Competition by Players/Suppliers, Type and Application3 United States Smart Controllers (Volume, Value and Sales Price)4 China Smart Controllers (Volume, Value and Sales Price)5 Europe Smart Controllers (Volume, Value and Sales Price)6 Japan Smart Controllers (Volume, Value and Sales Price)7 Korea Smart Controllers (Volume, Value and Sales Price)8 Taiwan Smart Controllers (Volume, Value and Sales Price)9 Global Smart Controllers Players/Suppliers Profiles and Sales Data9.1 Invensys9.1.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Competitors9.1.2 Smart Controllers Product Category, Application and Specification9.1.2.1 Product A9.1.2.2 Product B9.1.3 Invensys Smart Controllers Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)9.1.4 Main Business/Business Overview9.2 Diehl AKO Stiftung9.2.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Competitors9.2.2 Smart Controllers Product Category, Application and Specification9.2.2.1 Product A9.2.2.2 Product B9.2.3 Diehl AKO Stiftung Smart Controllers Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)9.2.4 Main Business/Business Overview9.3 Computime9.3.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Competitors9.3.2 Smart Controllers Product Category, Application and Specification9.3.2.1 Product A9.3.2.2 Product B9.3.3 Computime Smart Controllers Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)9.3.4 Main Business/Business Overview10 Smart Controllers Maufacturing Cost Analysis11 Industrial Chain, Sourcing Strategy and Downstream Buyers12 Marketing Strategy Analysis, Distributors/Traders13 Market Effect Factors Analysis14 Global Smart Controllers Market Forecast (2017-2022)15 Research Findings and ConclusionPurchase Complete Report atContact Information: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. 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
Rising Consumer Disposable Income and Awareness Spurs Spending on Pet Wearables

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Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "Pet Wearable Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2016 - 2024" to its huge collection of research reports.This market research study analyses the Pet Wearable market on a global level and provides estimate in terms of revenue (USD million) from 2016 to 2024. The report segments the market based on the technologies which include Sensors, GPS and RFID. All these segments have been estimated on the basis of geography in terms of revenue (USD million). In addition, the market is segmented by applications such as medical diagnosis & treatment, behaviour monitoring & control, facilitation, safety & security, identification and tracking.Pet wearables essentially refer to devices designed for pets, which perform crucial functions including but not limited to identification, tracking, controlling and monitoring of pets. Furthermore, with the advancementof technology pet wearable devices for enabling medical diagnosis & treatment and facilitation, safety and security is fast emerging as a popular product segment globally. These devices are designed specifically for dogs, cats and other pets and pet owners use the information generated to gauge their pets health conditions and whereabouts in real time. Additionally, innovative features such as setting up geo fencing for pets, setting up an alert mechanism if a pet crosses the designated geo fence, gauging the amount of rest and activity of pets have become essential features to pet wearable devices.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @The report elaborates on the type of technologies based on which pet wearable devices are designed. Primarily technologies used in the devices include (GPS) Global Positioning Systems, (RFID) Radio Frequency Identification and sensors. Moving along the study highlights the share of these technologies of the global pet wearable market. The report features the growth rate and market size of these technology segments along with the projected market sizes for the forecast period. The study also explains the factors driving or hindering the growth of individual technology segments. The study finds that the market is mainly dominated by GPS based trackers and RFID receivers however, devices equipped with temperature sensors, motion sensors and accelerometers among others, which monitor heat patterns of the animals body and environment and daily activity patterns such as playtime, walks, and rest duration are gaining significant demand in the global market.The research further segments the market in terms of application areas of pet wearable devices. It is segmented into identification & tracking, facilitation, safety & security, behaviour monitoring & control and medical diagnosis & treatment. So far, majority of the demand in the market has been in the form of products capable of providing identification and tracking of pets and dairy animals. However, the adoption of these devices is expected to decline over the next couple of years, primarily due to the availability of other feature rich products capable of providing same benefits along with other advanced features. It is anticipated that the demand for devices providing medical diagnosis will experience the strongest demand mainly because of the rising awareness about pet health and fitness among pet owners especially in the mature and developed markets of North America and Europe region.The report segments the market on the basis of geography into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific (APAC), MEA and Latin America, and these have been estimated in terms of revenue (USD million).For a better understanding of the pet wearable market, we have provided a detailed analysis of the supply chain. A comprehensive analysis of the market dynamics that is inclusive of market drivers, restraints and opportunities is included in the purview of the report. Market dynamics are the distinctive factors which impact the market growth, thereby helping to understand the ongoing trends of the global market. Therefore, the report provides the forecast of the global market for the period from 2016 to 2024, along with offering an inclusive study of the pet wearable market.The report offers company market share analysis of the various industry participants. Key players have also been profiled based on company overview, financial overview, business strategies, SWOT analysis, and recent developments in the field of Pet Wearable. Major market participants profiled in this report include DeLaval Inc. (Sweden), Loc8tor Ltd. (United Kingdom), Nedap N.V. (Netherlands), PetPace Ltd. (Burlington), Whistle Labs Inc. (United States) and IceRobotics Ltd (United Kingdom) among others.The pet wearablemarket has been segmented into:Global Pet Wearable Market, by Technology Type- GPS- RFID- SensorsGlobal Pet Wearable Market, by Application- Medical diagnosis & treatment- Behavior monitoring & control- Facilitation, safety & security- Identification and trackingGlobal Pet Wearable Market, by Geography: The market is broadly segmented on the basis of geography into:- North America- U.S.- Rest of North America- Europe- U.K- Germany- France- Rest of Europe- Asia Pacific- Japan- India- China- Rest of APAC- Middle East and Africa- U.A.E- Qatar- South Africa- Rest of Middle East & Africa- Latin America- Brazil- Argentina- 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 Policing Technologies Market By Type - Aviation Technology, Communication Technology, Detection and Surveillance Technology & Less Lethal Technology 2017

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Albany, New York, July 4, 2017 : Recent research and the current scenario as well as future market potential of "Policing Technologies Market (Type - Aviation Technology, Communication Technology, Detection and Surveillance Technology, Less Lethal Technology) - Europe Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends, and Forecast 2016 - 2024" globally.Technology has been an integral part of police departments and has shaped it in many important ways. Advancements in technology have created enormous potential for enhancing police work. Often technologies have been adapted from the commercial marketplace as in the case of radios, cars, and computers among others. Crime control can be strengthened by using technology, for example, enhancing the ability of the police in identifying and monitoring offenders and also facilitate in identifying the places and conditions that can contribute disproportionately to crime. Enhancement in technology has also resulted in improving evidence collection, speeding up of the detection process, and also response to crimes. Furthermore, technological advancements pertaining to weapons, protective gear, and surveillance capabilities has reduced fatalities and deaths of officers, bystanders, and suspects drastically. The policing technologies market on the basis of type has been segmented into five segments; aviation technology, communication technology, detection and surveillance technology, less lethal technology and others.Get PDF for more Professional and Technical insights @The policing technologies market in Europe is primarily driven by factors such as increase in terrorist attacks coupled with increasing crime rates. Europe has been a victim of several terrorist attacks in recent years which have positively impacted the policing technologies market in the region. There has been increasing demand to make law enforcement departments more efficient in order to counter the terrorist attacks. Moreover, there has been an increase in crime rate across various countries in Europe. Issues such as drug related crimes are on the rise and countries such as Greece have been a victim of the same. For example, Omonoia Square in Greece has been an epicenter for drug-related activities.However, lack of proper training is one of the major restraints hindering the growth of the policing technologies market. The rapid growth in technology has resulted in an overwhelming number of products, services, and requirements which further results in additional staff training. The incorporation of new technology into police work also requires the need to thoroughly test, develop policy, investigate, and train. There are varied complexities associated with the adoption and use of various new policing technologies as a result of which there is often a long time gap in the adoption of these technologies. Police agencies need extensive training to become familiar with latest technologies such as facial recognition software, DNA testing, driverless cars, and gunshot locating detection systems among others.The competitive profiling of the key players in the Europe policing technologies market and their market shares across six countries which include U.K., France, Germany, Italy, Russia and others have been exhaustively covered under the purview of the study. Moreover, the distinct business strategies that have been adopted by the major players in the market have also been included in the report. For providing a detailed insight into the Europe policing technologies market, the market attractive analysis has been provided in the report.A comprehensive analysis of market dynamics, which include the market drivers, restraints and opportunities, is included under the scope of the report. Market dynamics are the distinctive factors that influence the growth of the specific market and therefore help to study the current trends in the global market. Additionally, Porters Five Forces analysis has also been included under the scope of the research. Thus, this report provides an inclusive study of the Europe policing technologies market and also provides the forecast of the market for the period from 2016-2024.Some of the major players in the market are: PredPol, Inc., Aventura Technologies, Inc, Reveal Media Ltd., Zepcam B.V., Basler AG, SmartWater Technology Limited, Computer Sciences Corporation, Brite-Strike Tactical Illumination Products Inc., Aeryon Labs Inc. and Taser International Inc.Make an Enquiry of this report @The Europe policing technologies market has been segmented into:Europe policing technologies market, by TypeAviation TechnologyCommunication TechnologyDetection and Surveillance TechnologyLess Lethal TechnologyOthersEurope policing technologies market, by Country: The market is broadly segmented on the basis of country into:U.K.FranceGermanyItalyRussiaOthersResearchMoz 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.ResearchMoz90 State Street,Albany, NY 12207,United States
Global Aircraft Refurbishing Market 2016-2020 - Key Vendors AAR, Ameco, Aviation Partners Boeing, L-3 Communications Aviation Recorders, ST Aerospace

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Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "Global Aircraft Refurbishing Market 2016-2020" to its huge collection of research reports.Airline companies across the world seek to refurbish their aircraft with the latest upgrades to improve their operational efficiency, increase the lifespan of aircraft, and to perform cost-effective operations. Depending on the type of aircraft, different kinds of upgrading and modernization can be carried out on avionics as well as in aircraft cabin interiors like seats, galley, food storage equipment, windows, windshields, lavatory, and aerodynamic retrofit. Development of lightweight materials with the use of titanium has also led the airlines to achieve optimum payload to range ratio of an aircraft.Technavios analysts forecast the global aircraft refurbishing market to grow at a CAGR of 5.24% during the period 2016-2020.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @Covered in this reportThe report covers the present scenario and the growth prospects of the global aircraft refurbishing market for 2016-2020. To calculate the market size, the report considers the revenue generated in the overall market.The market is divided into the following segments based on geography:AmericasAPACEMEAGlobal Aircraft Refurbishing Market 2016-2020, has been prepared based on an in-depth market analysis with inputs from industry experts. The report covers the market landscape and its growth prospects over the coming years. The report also includes a discussion of the key vendors operating in this market.Key vendorsAARAmecoAviation Partners BoeingL-3 Communications Aviation RecordersST AerospaceOther prominent vendorsGlobal AirWorksHAECOHoneywellLufthansa TechnikRockwell CollinsZodiac AerospaceMarket driverGrowing demand for premium economy classFor a full, detailed list, view our reportMarket challengeComplexities in decision-makingFor a full, detailed list, view our reportMarket trendIncreasing popularity of VIP cabinsFor a full, detailed list, view our reportKey questions answered in this reportWhat will the market size be in 2020 and what will the growth rate be?What are the key market trends?What is driving this market?What are the challenges to market growth?Who are the key vendors in this market space?What are the market opportunities and threats faced by the key vendors?What are the strengths and weaknesses of the key vendors?Make 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 @
Data Center Management Software Market Type, Application, Specification, Technology and Forecast to 2022

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ReportsWeb.com added Global Data Center Management Software Market Size, Status and Forecast 2022 to its vast collection of research Database. The report is spread across 91 pages and supported by 10 company leaders.The Global Data Center Management Software Market Size, Status and Forecast 2022 is a professional and in-depth study on the current state of the Data Center Management Software industry. In a word, This report studies Data Center Management Software in Global market, especially in United States, EU, Japan, China, India and Southeast Asia, 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 Datadog, Microsoft, ConnectWise, Sunbird, ManageEngine, Kaseya, BMC, Asset VUE, Cisco and Device42.Browse complete report @Market Segment by Region, this report splits Global into several key Region, with sales, revenue, market share and growth rate of Data Center Management Software in these regions, from 2011 to 2022 (forecast), like United States, EU, Japan, China, India and Southeast Asia. Firstly, Data Center Management Software Market segment by Type, Data Center Management Software can be split into PC and Cloud. Market segment by Application, Data Center Management Software can be split into SMEs, Large Organization and Other.Request for Sample @Major points from Table of Contents:1 Industry Overview of Data Center Management Software2 Global Data Center Management Software Competition Analysis by Players3 Company (Top Players) Profiles3.1 Datadog3.1.1 Company Profile3.1.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.1.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.1.4 Data Center Management Software Revenue (Value) (2012-2017)3.1.5 Recent Developments3.2 Microsoft3.2.1 Company Profile3.2.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.2.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.2.4 Data Center Management Software Revenue (Value) (2012-2017)3.2.5 Recent Developments3.3 ConnectWise3.3.1 Company Profile3.3.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.3.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.3.4 Data Center Management Software Revenue (Value) (2012-2017)3.3.5 Recent Developments3.4 Sunbird3.4.1 Company Profile3.4.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.4.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.4.4 Data Center Management Software Revenue (Value) (2012-2017)3.4.5 Recent Developments3.5 ManageEngine3.5.1 Company Profile3.5.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.5.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.5.4 Data Center Management Software Revenue (Value) (2012-2017)3.5.5 Recent Developments4 Global Data Center Management Software Market Size by Type and Application (2012-2017)5 United States Data Center Management Software Development Status and Outlook6 EU Data Center Management Software Development Status and Outlook7 Japan Data Center Management Software Development Status and Outlook8 China Data Center Management Software Development Status and Outlook9 India Data Center Management Software Development Status and Outlook10 Southeast Asia Data Center Management Software Development Status and Outlook11 Market Forecast by Regions, Type and Application (2017-2022)12 Data Center Management Software Market Dynamics13 Market Effect Factors AnalysisList of Tables and FiguresFigure Data Center Management Software Product ScopeFigure Global Data Center Management Software Market Size (Million USD) (2012-2017)Table Global Data Center Management Software Market Size (Million USD) and Growth Rate by Regions (2012-2017)Figure Global Data Center Management Software Market Share by Regions in 2016Figure United States Data Center Management Software Market Size (Million USD) and Growth Rate by Regions (2012-2017)Figure EU Data Center Management Software Market Size (Million USD) and Growth Rate by Regions (2012-2017)Figure Japan Data Center Management Software Market Size (Million USD) and Growth Rate by Regions (2012-2017)Figure China Data Center Management Software Market Size (Million USD) and Growth Rate by Regions (2012-2017)Figure India Data Center Management Software Market Size (Million USD) and Growth Rate by Regions (2012-2017)Figure Southeast Asia Data Center Management Software Market Size (Million USD) and Growth Rate by Regions (2012-2017)Figure Global Data Center Management Software Market Share by Type in 2016Figure Web-Based Market Size (Million USD) and Growth Rate (2012-2017)Figure Installed Market Size (Million USD) and Growth Rate (2012-2017)Figure Global Data Center Management Software Market Share by Application in 2016Table Key Downstream Customer in EnterpriseFigure Data Center Management Software Market Size (Million USD) and Growth Rate in Enterprise (2012-2017)Table Key Downstream Customer in PersonFigure Data Center Management Software Market Size (Million USD) and Growth Rate in Person (2012-2017)Figure Data Center Management Software Market Size (Million USD) and Growth Rate in Applications 3 (2012-2017)Table Data Center Management Software Market Size (Million USD) by Players (2016 and 2017)Figure Data Center Management Software Market Size Share by Players in 2016Figure Data Center Management Software Market Size Share by Players in 2017Table HubSpot Basic Information ListTable Data Center Management Software Business Revenue (Million USD) of HubSpot (2012-2017)Figure HubSpot Data Center Management Software Business Revenue Market Share in 2016Table Pro Rank Tracker Basic Information ListTable Data Center Management Software Business Revenue (Million USD) of Pro Rank Tracker (2012-2017)Figure Pro Rank Tracker Data Center Management Software Business Revenue Market Share in 2016Table SEMrush Basic Information ListTable Data Center Management Software Business Revenue (Million USD) of SEMrush (2012-2017)Figure SEMrush Data Center Management Software Business Revenue Market Share in 2016Table SEOmoz Basic Information ListTable Data Center Management Software Business Revenue (Million USD) of SEOmoz (2012-2017)Figure SEOmoz Data Center Management Software Business Revenue Market Share in 2016Table NinjaCat Basic Information ListTable Data Center Management Software Business Revenue (Million USD) of NinjaCat (2012-2017)Figure NinjaCat Data Center Management Software Business Revenue Market Share in 2016Table LInk-Assistant.Com Basic Information ListTable Data Center Management Software Business Revenue (Million USD) of LInk-Assistant.Com (2012-2017)Figure LInk-Assistant.Com Data Center Management Software Business Revenue Market Share in 2016Place a Direct Purchase Order of Complete Report @Contact 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
Global Power Sockets Market Report - Manufacturers Business Overview from 2017 to 2022

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This report focuses on top manufacturers in global market, with production, price, revenue and market share for each manufacturer, coveringZ.S.E. OspelDoug Mockett6ixtes PARISGIRAEVOlineRetrotouchKOMTECH KommunikationstechnikJungMELJACSimonBerkerR Hamilton & Co LtdGotessonsLEGRANDHeinrich KoppTheben AGMertenClipsalMainline PowerGROUPE ARNOULDAtelier LuxusVIMARWandsworthBOCCIFEDEGi GambarelliGrasslinCJC SystemsSwitch PrestigeTheben AGRequest a Sample atBy types, the market can be split intoWall-mounted Power SocketsSurface-mounted Power SocketsBrowse Complete Report atBy Application, the market can be split intoHouseholdCommercialPublic UtilitiesBy Regions, this report covers (we can add the regions/countries as you want)North AmericaChinaEuropeSoutheast AsiaJapanIndiaGet discount on report purchase atKey Point from Table of Contents:1 Industry Overview of Power Sockets2 Manufacturing Cost Structure Analysis of Power Sockets3 Technical Data and Manufacturing Plants Analysis of Power Sockets4 Global Power Sockets Overall Market Overview5 Power Sockets Regional Market Analysis6 Global 2012-2017E Power Sockets Segment Market Analysis (by Type)7 Global 2012-2017E Power Sockets Segment Market Analysis (by Application)8 Major Manufacturers Analysis of Power Sockets8.1 Z.S.E. Ospel8.1.1 Company Profile8.1.2 Product Picture and Specifications8.1.2.1 Product A8.1.2.2 Product B8.1.3 Z.S.E. Ospel 2016 Power Sockets Sales, Ex-factory Price, Revenue, Gross Margin Analysis8.1.4 Z.S.E. Ospel 2016 Power Sockets Business Region Distribution Analysis8.2 Doug Mockett8.2.1 Company Profile8.2.2 Product Picture and Specifications8.2.2.1 Product A8.2.2.2 Product B8.2.3 Doug Mockett 2016 Power Sockets Sales, Ex-factory Price, Revenue, Gross Margin Analysis8.2.4 Doug Mockett 2016 Power Sockets Business Region Distribution Analysis8.3 6ixtes PARIS8.3.1 Company Profile8.3.2 Product Picture and Specifications8.3.2.1 Product A8.3.2.2 Product B8.3.3 6ixtes PARIS 2016 Power Sockets Sales, Ex-factory Price, Revenue, Gross Margin Analysis8.3.4 6ixtes PARIS 2016 Power Sockets Business Region Distribution Analysis9 Development Trend of Analysis of Power Sockets Market10 Power Sockets Marketing Type Analysis11 Consumers Analysis of Power Sockets12 Conclusion of the Global Power Sockets Market Professional Survey Report 2017Purchase Complete Report atContact Information: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. 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
Digital Subtraction Angiography Market Worldwide Industry Volume by 2023

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The digital subtraction angiography market is expected to show a healthy growth in the near future primarily due to technological advancements and launch of new products in this market space. Moreover, rising interest of people for precise and accurate diagnosis is another factor expected to increase the market for digital subtraction angiography. A growing aging population is regarded as one of the most prominent factors responsible for increasing the risk associated with vascular disorders such as. It has been estimated that currently, the number of people aged over 60 years have doubled as compared to the early 1980s. This number is further expected to quadruple by 2050. Hence, accelerated growth in elderly population is poised to be a major driver for this market. Furthermore, rising incidences of cardiovascular diseases (atrial fibrillation) has led to corresponding increase in the number of patients suffering from stroke. For instance, according to the Asia-Pacific Stroke Conference (APSC) held in Japan in 2012, nearly 8 million people were diagnosed with atrial fibrillation (abnormal heart rhythm) in China. This high number of patients suffering from cardiovascular disorders would increase the demand for DSA.Obtain Report Details @Digital subtraction angiography (DSA) is a radiographic or fluoroscopic technique which is used for the diagnosis of various vascular disorders. The technique is also utilized for the visualization of blood vessels in the soft dense tissue environment or a bone. Digital subtraction angiography is applied for obtaining clear images of the arteries and is also highly effective in contrasting arterial structures with the surrounding bone and tissue material. Digital subtraction angiography has proven to be efficient in the identification of abnormalities such as ulcerated plaques, stenosis, occlusions and aneurysms. In addition to its application in carotid arteries this technique is also widely used in the evaluation of vascular by-pass grafts, aortic arch anomalies and aortic coarctation. The technique is being replaced by computed tomography angiography (CTA) as CTA is a less invasive test which produces 3D images.The report of global digital subtraction angiography can be classified based on the types of procedures and end users. The type of procedures category can be subdivided into intravenous digital subtraction angiography and intra-arterial digital subtraction angiography. The end users segment could be further classified into diagnostic centers, hospitals and academic research laboratories. The report on digital subtraction angiography could be also subdivided into regions namely North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific and Rest of the World. Of these geographies, currently North America account for the largest share of the market followed by the European region. In the future these two regions are expected to witness slow growth rate due to market saturation and would only be driven due to replacement of old systems by the new systems. On the contrary, Asia-Pacific region is expected to witness highest growth rate during the forecast period. This could be witnessed due to increasing number of patients with cardiovascular disorders and aging population. Asia countries such as Brazil, China and India are expected to witness impressive growth due to increasing disposable income and presence of large population base. Moreover, increasing investment of the on the healthcare infrastructure and many manufacturers entering in these market.Some of the major players operating in this global digital subtraction angiography market include GE Healthcare, Siemens AG, Philips Healthcare, Toshiba Corporation, Medtronic, Inc., Boston Scientific Corporation, Abbott Vascular, St. Jude Medical, Shimadzu Corporation, Cordis Corporation and other prominent players.Fill the form for an exclusive sample of this report @About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. We have an experienced team of Analysts, Researchers, and Consultants, who us e proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.ContactTransparency Market Research90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA  Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:Browse market research blog:
Thermoplastic Polyurethane (TPU) Films Market share research by applications and regions for 2016-2023

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Global Market Insights has a new study based report titled "Thermoplastic Polyurethane (TPU) Films Market Size, Potential Industry Outlook Report, Regional Analysis (U.S., Germany, UK, Italy, Russia, China, India, Japan, South Korea, Brazil, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, UAE, South Africa), Price Trend, Application Development, Competitive Landscape & Forecast, 2016 - 2023".Order This Report by calling Global Market Insights, Inc. at 1-888-689-0688 (Toll Free) or 1-302-846-7766.Thermoplastic Polyurethane (TPU) Films Market size is mainly driven by the major construction applications including commercial, industrial, residential and office buildings. Innovations and modern technologies have created a new space for durable and high-performance cladding systems.Global Thermoplastic Polyurethane (TPU) Films market size was estimated at 2.07 million tons in 2014 and is likely to exceed 3.1 million tons by 2023 growing with an expected CAGR of over 5.5%. Super absorbent polymer market revenue is likely to be valued at over USD 11 billion by 2023.Request for Detailed Table of Contents of this report@Reasons to Buy This Report1. Thermoplastic Polyurethane (TPU) Films Market size & forecast by product & application2. Growth drivers, pitfalls & industry challenges3. Key Thermoplastic Polyurethane (TPU) Films Market growth opportunities & emerging businessmodels4. Competitive benchmarking with market share analysis and company profilesOffice buildings dominated the Thermoplastic Polyurethane (TPU) Films Market size over the forecast timeframe. Stainless steel, anodized aluminum, terracotta, fiber cement, composite and glass materials are used in these systems to protect the buildings. Steel & glass facades and glazed walling systems are often used in multi-storied office buildings to provide natural lightning & shading, weather-tightness and thermal insulation which may drive the industry growth.Global synthetic (Thermoplastic polyurethane) TPU films market size was estimated at over 47 kilo tons in 2015 and is likely to grow with a CAGR of more than 5% up to 2023. TPU film market revenue is likely to be valued at more than USD 750 million by 2023.Automotive applications dominated and accounted for more than 24% of the total demand in 2013. Aerospace applications are likely to witness high gains, at an estimated CAGR of over 6.5% up to 2023.The Thermoplastic Polyurethane (TPU) Films Market Report Consists of,1. Methodology and Scope2. Executive Summary3. Thermoplastic Polyurethane (TPU) Films Market Industry Insights3.1 Industry segmentation3.2. Industry size, forecast and growth expectations, 2012 - 20233.3. Industry ecosystem analysis3.4. Raw material insights3.5. Technology insights3.6. Regulatory framework3.7. Industry dynamics3.8. Key growth opportunities3.9. Porter's analysis3.10. Company market share, 20153.11. PESTEL analysis3.14. Regional price trends4. Thermoplastic Polyurethane (TPU) Films Market Product Insights5. Thermoplastic Polyurethane (TPU) Films Market Application Insights6. Thermoplastic Polyurethane (TPU) Films Market Regional Insights7. Competitor ProfilesInquire About to purchase this research report@Increasing awareness of light weight material demand in automobile applications in order to increase fuel efficiency and reduce carbon emissions is likely to drive TPU films market growth. They are used in automobile component manufacturing which helps in reducing the weight of the vehicle (by almost 40%). Also, they are used for substituting rubber components in vehicles.They are used for automobile applications such as door & acoustic panels, Instrument & anti-vibration panels, seats and airbags. Replacement or after sales market are expected to become an important focal point for TPU films demand in automobile industry.Pricing plays an important role in the market with consumers being price sensitive. TPU films market price trend is relatively higher by 25% to 35% in Europe and North America in comparison to prices in Asia Pacific.Growing construction spending in emerging economies of Asia Pacific is likely to drive demand. Asia Pacific dominated the construction spending and accounted for 40% of the global revenue spending in 2012.Global TPU films market share is fragmented with top four companies catering to over 40% of the total demand in 2013. Presence of large number of domestic manufactures & suppliers mainly in China is responsible for high fragmented market.Browse Thermoplastic Polyurethane (TPU) Films Market report summary@Key companies involved in this market include Covestro, PAR Group, Huntsman, MH & W International and 3M Company. Other prominent manufactures include Avery Dennison, Nippon Polyurethane, BASF, Lubrizol and Permali Gloucester.About Global Market Insights, Inc.: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:
Chatbots Market Size, Share, Growth, Demand, Key Manufacturers Analysis and Forecasts to 2022

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ReportsWeb.com has announced the addition of the Global Chatbots Market Professional Survey Report 2017 The report focuses on global major leading players with information such as company profiles, product picture and specification.This report studies Chatbots 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, covering Apple, Baidu, Applied Voice & Speech Technologies, CogniCor, Google, Facebook, Microsoft, Artificial Solutions, Botego, CodeBaby, Living Actor (Cantoche), Creative Virtual, CX Company, EasilyDo, IBM, Inbenta Technologies, Interactions, IPsoft, Ivee, Jibo, MindMeld, Next IT and Nuance.Get free sample copy of report atBy types, the market can be split into TalkBot, Elbot and Elise. By Application, the market can be split into Phone, Pad, Desktop PC and Laptop. By Regions, this report covers (we can add the regions/countries as you want) North America, China, Europe, Southeast Asia, Japan and India.Browse complete report atTable of Content1 Industry Overview of Chatbots2 Manufacturing Cost Structure Analysis of Chatbots3 Technical Data and Manufacturing Plants Analysis of Chatbots4 Global Chatbots Overall Market Overview5 Chatbots Regional Market Analysis6 Global 2012-2017E Chatbots Segment Market Analysis (by Type)7 Global 2012-2017E Chatbots Segment Market Analysis (by Application)8 Major Manufacturers Analysis of Chatbots8.1 Apple8.1.1 Company Profile8.1.2 Product Picture and Specifications8.1.2.1 Product A8.1.2.2 Product B8.1.3 Apple 2016 Chatbots Sales, Ex-factory Price, Revenue, Gross Margin Analysis8.1.4 Apple 2016 Chatbots Business Region Distribution Analysis8.2 Baidu8.2.1 Company Profile8.2.2 Product Picture and Specifications8.2.2.1 Product A8.2.2.2 Product B8.2.3 Baidu 2016 Chatbots Sales, Ex-factory Price, Revenue, Gross Margin Analysis8.2.4 Baidu 2016 Chatbots Business Region Distribution Analysis8.3 Applied Voice & Speech Technologies8.3.1 Company Profile8.3.2 Product Picture and Specifications8.3.2.1 Product A8.3.2.2 Product B8.3.3 Applied Voice & Speech Technologies 2016 Chatbots Sales, Ex-factory Price, Revenue, Gross Margin Analysis8.3.4 Applied Voice & Speech Technologies 2016 Chatbots Business Region Distribution Analysis9 Development Trend of Analysis of Chatbots Market10 Chatbots Marketing Type Analysis11 Consumers Analysis of ChatbotsGet discount on Purchase report atList of Tables and FiguresFigure Picture of ChatbotsTable Product Specifications of ChatbotsTable Classification of ChatbotsFigure Global Production Market Share of Chatbots by Type in 2016Figure TalkBot PictureTable Major Manufacturers of TalkBotFigure Elbot PictureTable Major Manufacturers of ElbotFigure ELise PictureTable Major Manufacturers of ELiseTable Applications of ChatbotsFigure Global Consumption Volume Market Share of Chatbots by Application in 2016Figure Phone ExamplesTable Major Consumers in PhoneFigure Pad ExamplesTable Major Consumers in PadFigure Desktop PC ExamplesTable Major Consumers in Desktop PCFigure Laptop ExamplesTable Major Consumers in LaptopFigure Market Share of Chatbots by RegionsFigure North America Chatbots Market Size (Million USD) (2012-2022)Figure China Chatbots Market Size (Million USD) (2012-2022)Figure Europe Chatbots Market Size (Million USD) (2012-2022)Figure Southeast Asia Chatbots Market Size (Million USD) (2012-2022)Figure Japan Chatbots Market Size (Million USD) (2012-2022)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
Automotive Tappets Worldwide Market by End-User, Trends, Analysis and Forecasts to 2019

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Tappets, also termed as cam follower or valve lifter, run on the camshaft that is made to move vertically by the action of the rotating cam. These are small member interposed between each camshaft lobe for valve lifting mechanism. The side valves lift upwards where the overhead valves are depressed to lift or open the side valves or vice versa. As the camshaft rotates, each lobe produces both a vertical and a side thrust. In an overhead valve engine, the tappet is fitted in the engine block.Publisher's analysts forecast global automotive tappets market to grow at a CAGR of 3.87% over the period 2014-2019.For more informationThis report covers the present scenario and the growth prospects of the global automotive tappets market for the period 2015-2019. The market size has been calculated based on the number of tappet units produced globally. The tappet market is directly proportional to the automotive vehicle market growth. The report presents five key vendors and a detailed analysis of these vendors. Based on types, the market can be segmented into flat tappets and roller tappets. In addition, the market can be segmented on the basis of end-users, and geographies (the Americas, APAC, and EMEA).Publisher's report, Global Automotive Tappets Market 2015-2019, has been prepared based on an in-depth market analysis with inputs from industry experts. The report covers the global automotive tappets market landscape and its growth prospects during the forecast period. The report also includes a discussion of the key vendors operating in this market.Key vendors- Crower- Comp cams- Lunati- Schaeffler- SM GermanyRequest Sample CopyOther prominent vendors- Jinan- Rane Engine Valve- Wuxi Xizhou- Yuhuan HuiyuMarket driver- Increase in demand for high-performance vehicles- For a full, detailed list, view our reportMarket challenge- Emergence of GDIs- For a full, detailed list, view our reportMarket trend- Production shift to low-cost countries- For a full, detailed list, view our reportMake an enquiry:PART 01: Executive summaryPART 02: Scope of the reportPART 03: Market research methodologyPART 04: IntroductionPART 05: Market landscapePART 06: Market segmentation by end-userPART 07: Market segmentation by typePART 08: Geographical segmentationPART 09: Market driversPART 10: Impact of driversPART 11: Market challengesPART 12: Impact of drivers and challengesPART 13: Market trendsPART 14: Vendor landscapePART 15: Key vendor analysisPART 16: AppendixPART 17: Explore PublisherPurchase 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
2017-2022 Food Processing Machinery Report On Global And United States Market, Status And Forecast, By Players, Types And Applications

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ReportBazzar has released its latest research-based report entitled Food Processing Machinery market.' This comprehensive report provides a holistic approach to the market growth with a detailed and precise analysis of the overall competitive scenario of the Food Processing Machinery market worldwide along with the key trends and latest technologies, playing a prominent role in the Food Processing Machinery market growth over the next eight years.It also takes into account the market trends, aspects such as drivers, constraints, challenges, and opportunities that impact the market and presents statistical and analytical account on it. This research report features a comprehensive discussion about the current scenario to estimate trends and prospects of the Food Processing Machinery market. Moreover, it provides dynamic and statistical insights pertaining to the market at both regional as well as global level.Get Free Sample Copy of this Report @Application segments such as demolition and construction as well as products used in the manufacturing of engineering equipment come under heavy industries. In addition, heavy industries also include ancillary industries that have their relation with these applications. These industries are mostly capital intensive in nature, have huge barriers to entry and low transportability. The industry mostly includes heavy electrical, huge buildings and machine tools. Rising construction of high rise buildings is one of the primary growth factors of Food Processing Machinery market.Recognizing the rising prevalence of Food Processing Machinery market, this research report proves to be a primary source of guidance and detailed data on the market at global scale. The report evaluates the present scenario and status as well as changing trends in the market to project its outlook and prospects. This report is a systematic research study based on the market and analyzes the competitive framework of the global Food Processing Machinery industry. A holistic report covers exhaustive information obtained from reliable industrial sources and through proven research methodologies. The data thus obtained is then combined with relevant tables and graphs to support the information revealed. Thus the report features graphs, figures, and data and provides a high-level blueprint of the global market.Browse full report with Table of Content @Various competent analytical tools have been used to offer a comprehensive assessment of the market. The report comprises of each aspect of the global market for Food Processing Machinery. Here, the market is basically segmented by its product type, application and region. It starts with the basic information and then advances to the market classification and segmentation based on different criteria. It analyses the key segments and the regional subdivision of the market and helps determine the future of the market in the global arena.Major regions, countries, and sub-segments have been analyzed for providing the better understanding of the market scope worldwide. The report studies the market by evaluating the manufacturers, manufacturing chain, contribution in the industry, regulations, prevalent policies and cost structures. The regional markets for the Food Processing Machinery market are analyzed by evaluating the raw material price trend analysis, logistics, demand, and supply, production capacity, as well as the historical performance of the market in the given region.The report also provides insights on the competitive landscape of the global Food Processing Machinery industry with the leading players profiled in the report. The company profiles, trends, tactics, merger & acquisitions, business strategies, financial metrics of the major participants operating in the global Food Processing Machinery market have been reviewed in this study.Ask for Discount @Some Points Of Table Of Content:2017-2022 Food Processing Machinery Report on Global and United States Market, Status and Forecast, by Players, Types and Applications1 Methodology and Data Source1.1 Methodology/Research Approach1.1.1 Research Programs/Design1.1.2 Market Size Estimation1.1.3 Market Breakdown and Data Triangulation1.2 Data Source2.1.1 Secondary Sources2.1.2 Primary Sources1.3 Disclaimer2 Food Processing Machinery Market Overview2.1 Food Processing Machinery Product Overview2.2 Food Processing Machinery Market Segment by Type2.2.1 Depositors2.2.2 Extruding Machines2.2.3 Mixers2.2.4 Refrigeration2.3 Global Food Processing Machinery Product Segment by Type2.3.1 Global Food Processing Machinery Sales (K Units) and Growth (%) by Types (2012, 2016 and 2022)2.3.2 Global Food Processing Machinery Sales (K Units) and Market Share (%) by Types (2012-2017)2.3.3 Global Food Processing Machinery Revenue (Million USD) and Market Share (%) by Types (2012-2017)2.3.4 Global Food Processing Machinery Price (USD/Unit) by Type (2012-2017)2.4 United States Food Processing Machinery Product Segment by Type2.4.1 United States Food Processing Machinery Sales (K Units) and Growth by Types (2012, 2016 and 2022)2.4.2 United States Food Processing Machinery Sales (K Units) and Market Share by Types (2012-2017)2.4.3 United States Food Processing Machinery Revenue (Million USD) and Market Share by Types (2012-2017)2.4.4 United States Food Processing Machinery Price (USD/Unit) by Type (2012-2017)3 Food Processing Machinery Application/End Users3.1 Food Processing Machinery Segment by Application/End Users3.1.1 Frozen Food3.1.2 Prepared Food3.1.3 Snacks3.1.4 Bakery3.1.5 Others3.2 Global Food Processing Machinery Product Segment by Application3.2.1 Global Food Processing Machinery Sales (K Units) and CGAR (%) by Applications (2012, 2016 and 2022)3.2.2 Global Food Processing Machinery Sales (K Units) and Market Share (%) by Applications (2012-2017)3.3 United States Food Processing Machinery Product Segment by Application3.3.1 United States Food Processing Machinery Sales (K Units) and CGAR (%) by Applications (2012, 2016 and 2022)3.3.2 United States Food Processing Machinery Sales (K Units) and Market Share (%) by Applications (2012-2017)About Us:Reportbazzar.com is your trusted source for the most inclusive and informative assortment of market research reports designed to empower you with the latest in industry information that translates to time and cost savings for your business. We not only help you give wing to your latent business ideas but also facilitate you in taking the best informed and strategic decisions that guarantee success in your most promising business endeavors. Our intelligence database comprises of vast arrays of strategically analyzed and high-level market research reports that encompass all major industries worldwide. All the specialized research reports available at Reportbazzar.com are tailor-made to suit your every business need, no matter how diverse or demanding it is.Contact for more details:Report BazzarUnited States30 Wall Street, 8th floor,New York, NY 10005.US: +1 (212) 389-6363Email: sales@reportbazzar.comWeb -Visit Blog:
Data Center Cooling Market Size, Share, Trends, Analysis and Forecast Report 2017-2025

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Data centers are used by organizations for large database storage, processing and distribution. . Data centers generate excessive heat from the processors that can result in damage of the system, discontinued information flow and loss of database. To avoid such damage and to manage temperature, cooling systems are used in data centers. These cooling systems are mainly used to control humidity and maintain specific temperature and it also helps in securing the level of temperature and humidity in a recommended specification.Complete Report is Available atGlobally there is high increase in the number of data centers due to growing demand for advancement in storage of information and data processing power. Due to high consumption of power and enormous amount of heat generation in data centers, almost half of the total energy consumption in the data center goes for cooling solutions. An enterprise have various perks of having efficient and economical data centers, therefore enterprises are now concentrating on such solution which can provide them high power saving.The technological improvements and changes in the data center infrastructures resulting in the demand for efficient and effective data center cooling equipment will can results operators in the reduced operational cost. The growing demand for cloud computing across the globe is creating a market for data center cooling systems. The obstacle in the growth of data cooling market is the high cost involved in the setup and the consumption of huge energy. To solve this problem, the service providers are introducing greener cooling systems.Request sample copy atThe data cooling center market is segmented on the basis of solution which includes chillers, air conditioning, cooling towers, economizers, servers cooling and management systems. The data center cooling market is further segmented on the basis of services such as monitoring service, system integrators and professional services. Furthermore, the market is segmented by application type that includes telecom & IT, energy, education, healthcare, BFSI and government. It is segmented on the basis of end-users which is large scale, medium scale and small scale enterprises. The global data center cooling market is further bifurcated on the basis of regions into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, South America and Middle East & Africa.Currently North America holds the highest revenue share in the global data center cooling market and Asia Pacific is expected to be the fastest growing region in data cooling center market across the globe. Fujitsu Ltd., American Power Conversion Corporation, Emerson Network Power, Coolcentric, Hitachi Ltd., IBM Corp., Rittal GmbH & Co. KG, Hewlett-Packard Co., Intel Corp. and Stulz A/C Solutions are some of the major players in the data center cooling industry.Make an Inquiry atFew Key Points from Table of ContentGlobal Data Center Cooling Market Revenue and Forecasts to 2025  Solution Chillers Air Conditioning Cooling Towers Economizers Servers Cooling Management SystemsGlobal Data Center Cooling Market Revenue and Forecasts to 2025  Services Monitoring Service System Integrators Professional ServicesGlobal Data Center Cooling Market Revenue and Forecasts to 2025  Application Type Telecom & IT Energy Education Healthcare BFSI Government.Global Data Center Cooling Market Revenue and Forecasts to 2025  End-Users Large Scale Enterprises Medium Scale Enterprises Small Scale EnterprisesGlobal Data Center Cooling Market Revenue and Forecasts to 2025  Geographical Analysis North America Europe Asia Pacific (APAC) Middle East & Africa (MEA) South America (SAM)Key Company Profiles - Key Facts, Business Description, Financial Overview, SWOT Analysis and Key Developments Fujitsu Ltd. American Power Conversion Corporation Emerson Network Power Coolcentric Hitachi Ltd. IBM Corp. Rittal GmbH & Co. KG Hewlett-Packard Co. Intel Corp. Stulz A/C SolutionsInquire about discount on this report atContact Us:Call: +1-646-491-9876Email: sales@theinsightpartners.comAbout Us:The Insight Partners is a one stop industry research provider of actionable intelligence. We help our clients in getting solutions to their research requirements through our syndicated and consulting research services. We are a specialist in Technology, Media, and Telecommunication industries.Pune, India
Increasing Demand Of Cognitive Systems, Content Analytics and Discovery Software In Global Market Over The Period 2017 - 2025

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Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "Increasing Demand Of Cognitive Systems, Content Analytics and Discovery Software In Global Market Over The Period 2017 - 2025" to its huge collection of research reports.Increasing demand of connected healthcare systems is also an important trend in the global market. Connected healthcare systems are likely to collect real time data and information which helps in assisting clinicians in delivering better care and empower people to make better choices. It helps in reducing medical errors and enhances medical administration efficiency. Adopting cognitive systems in healthcare is likely to help physicians to find connections and correlations and identifying new patterns and insights to quicken treatments, discoveries and insights.Cognitive Systems, Content Analytics and Discovery Software: Drivers and RestraintsIncreasing demand of artificial intelligence is a key trend in the market. Demand for artificial intelligence is increasing significantly with the advancement in technologies, and it is an important trend in the cognitive systems, content analytics, and discovery software market. Artificial intelligence is witnessing market growth due to the rise in large and complicated data sets. The biggest revolution is machine learning, where instead of providing linear instructions to a computer, considerable amount of data is supplied and let the computer learn and interpret on their own.Increasing use of competitive intelligence and advanced analytics escalating data driven decision making is one of the key driving factors in the cognitive systems, content analytics and discovery software market globally. It is very difficult to access and keep track of each and every individual data due to the rise of big data. Therefore, it is necessary to implement competitive intelligence and advanced analytics tools that are likely to help gather, examine, and distribute intelligence of products, competitors, and customers, and also help discover deeper insights, generate recommendations, and make predictions. These tools help identify potential opportunities and risks beforehand. Advanced analytics techniques comprise data mining, text mining, pattern matching, graph analysis, and neural networks. Competitive intelligence is focused on external business environment and is involved in collecting information and converting it into intelligence, which is then employed for making decisions. Presently, business intelligence tools require very less support from the IT department. The changes in how data is visualized and mined allows the business activities to work with analytics tools and make data driven decisions with or without any technological background. Increasing volume of data tends to increase the need of data driven decision-making software that easily derives actionable data in real-time. Utilizing the analytics and discovery software is likely to support organizations in making decisions and anticipate the market trends and possible risks.The factor responsible for setting back the growth of this market is due to the prediction based on the past data. The cognitive systems, content analytics and discovery software technologies are at the budding stage due to which they faces various restraining factors. Past-based predictions is a major limitation in the market. Market dynamics are changing over time due to which predictions and analysis based on past data might not be helpful. Chances are that the analysis of the last ten years data is irrelevant to the current market scenario. These technologies when anticipating human behavior sometimes fail to consider certain variables that influence customer purchasing patterns.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @Cognitive Systems, Content Analytics and Discovery Software: SegmentationBased on application, the global cognitive systems, content analytics and discovery software market is bifurcated into machine learning, natural language processing, automated reasoning, speech analytics, text analytics, social media analytics and others. On the basis of industries, the market has been bifurcated into banking, retail, healthcare, IT and telecom, transportation and others. Moreover on the basis of deployment type, the market has been bifurcated into on premises and cloud. The regional split of the market encompasses North America, Asia Pacific, Europe, Middle East and Africa and Latin America.Some of the key companies in the global cognitive systems, content analytics and discovery software market includes Microsoft Corporation (U.S.), International Business Machines Corporation (U.S.), Google Inc. (U.S.), Symantec corporation (U.S.), SAP SE (Germany), Adobe Systems Inc.(U.S.), Palantir Technologies, Inc. (U.S.), Oracle Corporation (U.S.), OpenText Corporation (Canada),SAS Institute, Inc. (U.S.) among others.The market has been segmented as follows:Cognitive Systems Content Analytics and Discovery Software Market, by Application:Machine LearningNatural Language ProcessingAutomated ReasoningSpeech AnalyticsText AnalyticsSocial Media AnalyticsOthers?Cognitive Systems Content Analytics and Discovery Software Market, by Industries:BankingRetailHealthcareIT and TelecomTransportationOthers?Cognitive Systems Content Analytics and Discovery Software Market, by Deployment Type:On premisesCloud?Cognitive Systems Content Analytics and Discovery Software Market, by Geography:North AmericaU.S.CanadaRest of North AmericaEuropeU.K.GermanyFranceMake 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 @
Homecare Oxygen Concentrators Market Size Is Projected To Be Around $1.6 billion By 2025

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A research study titled, Homecare Oxygen Concentrators Market by Product, Technology, and Application - Global Industry Analysis and Forecast to 2025 published by Crystal Market Research, states that the homecare oxygen concentrators market is projected to be around $1.6billion by 2025.Chronic respiratory diseases are infections of airways and other parts of lungs. Respiratory disorders are becoming a severe social and health problem in the elderly population. Hence, growing geriatric population base is propelling the need for homecare oxygen concentrators, as this age group of people is more prone towards developing respiratory disorders such as asthma and COPDs. According toa study Global Burden of Diseases Study (GBD) published in 2012 conducted by Global Asthma Network, around 334 million people worldwide were suffering from Asthma. These chronic respiratory disorders are not completely curable, though they can be minimized by various available forms of treatments such as use of oxygen concentrators, liquid oxygen, and oxygen pumps. Homecare oxygen concentrators market is expected to witness high growth during the forecast period, due to number of factors such as increase in incidences of respiratory disorders especially COPDs and asthma, continuous exposure to pollutants and dust, and changes in lifestyle.Browse full research report with TOC on Homecare Oxygen Concentrators Market by Product, Technology, and Application - Global Industry Analysis and Forecast to 2025 at:Portable oxygen concentrators dominated the overall market in 2016. This can be attributed to number of benefits such as ease of handling and ability to offer effective care for COPD patients at home. Compressed gas oxygen segment is poised to witness high growth during the forecast period as they are available in different sizes. Moreover, pulse dose technology is preferred in most of the oxygen concentrators as they are more reliable and safe compared to other technologies. Therefore, this technology is leading the global market and is projected to continue its lead over the forecast period. Additionally, the use of these concentrators is growing rapidly for homecare settings as the population is aging at global level.North America dominated the global market in 2016.This can be attributed to various factors such as increasing prevalence of respiratory disorders, rise in geriatric population, and favorable reimbursement scenario in this region. Increase demand for homecare oxygen concentrators and affordable medical devices will further enhance the growth of the market in North America. Asia-Pacific is expected to grow at high CAGR during the forecast period, due to presence of huge elderly population, increasing disposable income of people, and rise in demand for homecare medical devices.Some of the key players in marketincludeCovidien, Teijin, Precision Medical, Invacare, AirSep, Yuwell, BOC Healthcare, Nidek Medical, Drive DeVilbiss Healthcare, Inogen Inc., and Philips Healthcare. Various players are focusing on new product development through technological innovations. For instance, in May 2016, Inogen launched Inogen One G4 portable oxygen concentrator, which is smallest and lightest oxygen concentrator. This helped the company to gain a competitive edge in the global market.Request a sample copy of Homecare Oxygen Concentrators Market Research Report @Key Findings of the Research Study: Portable homecare oxygen concentrators accounted for three-fourth of global market in 2016, due to compact size and light weight. Pulse dose technology dominated the global market in 2016, owing to being more reliable and safe as compare to other technologies. U.S. homecare oxygen concentrators segment accounted for more than three fourth of regional revenue in 2016 due to increasing elderly population and increasing incidence of respiratory devices. Germany accounted for one-third share of the European market in 2016. Countries such as India and China are poised to experience high growth during the forecast period, owing to increase in demand for better healthcare solutions and increasing geriatric population.Inquire more about this report at:Homecare Oxygen Concentrators Market is Segmentation as follows By Technology Continuous Flow Pulse DoseBy Product Compressed Gas Oxygen Cylinders Compressed Gas Oxygen Cylinders Portable Home Oxygen ConcentratorsBy Application Homecare Settings Non-Homecare SettingsBy Region: North Americao U.So Canadao Mexico Europeo Germanyo Franceo UKo Italyo Spaino Rest of Europe Asia-Pacifico Japano Chinao Australiao Indiao South Koreao Rest of Asia-Pacific Rest of the Worldo Brazilo South Africao Saudi Arabiao Turkeyo United Arab Emirateso OthersGet Customization in the Report At:Related Reports:Portable Homecare Oxygen Concentrators Market by Product and End User - Global Industry Analysis and Forecast to 2025:Homecare Medical Devices Market by Product Type and Distribution Channel - Global Industry Analysis and Forecast to 2025:About Crystal Market ResearchCrystal Market Research is a U.S. based market research and business intelligence company. Crystal offers one stop solution for market research, business intelligence, and consulting services to help clients make more informed decisions. It provides both syndicated as well as customized research studies for its customers spread across the globe. The company offers market intelligence reports across a broad range of industries including healthcare, chemicals & materials, technology, automotive, and energy.Contact:Akhil V.304 South Jones Blvd, Suite 1896,Las Vegas NV 89107,United StatesToll Free: +1-888-213-4282Email: sales@crystalmarketresearch.comBlog:Website:
Global Organic Celery Market  Share, Size, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2017-2025

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IndexBox has just published a new report "U.S. Organic Celery Market. Analysis and Forecast To 2025". (This report provides an in-depth analysis of the U.S. organic celery market. It presents the latest data of the market size and volume, domestic production, exports and imports, price dynamics and turnover in the industry. The forecast reveals market prospects to 2025.Countries coverage: the U.S.Product coverage:Organic CeleryData coverage:- Market value- Volume and dynamics of production- Key market players and their profiles- Volume and dynamics of exports/imports- Producer prices, import/export prices- Forecast of the market dynamics in the medium term- Per Capita ConsumptionReasons to buy this report:- Take advantage of the latest data;- Find deeper insights into current market developments;- Discover vital success factors affecting the market.TABLE OF CONTENTS1. INTRODUCTION1.1 REPORT DESCRIPTION1.2 REPORT STRUCTURE1.3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY2. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY2.1 KEY FINDINGS2.2 MARKET TRENDS3. MARKET OVERVIEW3.1 MARKET VALUE3.2 TRADE BALANCE3.3 MARKET OPPORTUNITIES3.4 MARKET FORECAST TO 20254. DOMESTIC PRODUCTION4.1 PRODUCTION IN 2008-20154.2 PRODUCTION BY STATE4.3 PRODUCER PRICES5. IMPORTS5.1 IMPORTS IN 2007-20155.2 IMPORTS BY TYPE5.3 IMPORTS BY COUNTRY5.4 IMPORT PRICES BY COUNTRY6. EXPORTS6.1 EXPORTS IN 2007-20156.2 EXPORTS BY TYPE6.3 EXPORTS BY COUNTRY6.4 EXPORT PRICES BY COUNTRY7. COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE7.1 INDUSTRY SNAPSHOTS7.2 INDUSTRY LIFE CYCLE7.3 BUSINESS LOCATIONS7.4 EMPLOYMENT7.5 ANNUAL PAYROLL7.6 INDUSTRY PRODUCTIVITY7.7 ESTABLISHMENT SIZE AND LEGAL FORM8. COMPANY PROFILESDownload a free sample of the report now!Browse Related Reports:U.S. Organic Pea Market. Analysis and Forecast To 2025U.S. Organic Herb Market. Analysis and Forecast To 2025U.S. Organic Hazelnut Market. Analysis and Forecast To 2025IndexBox is a leading market research publisher in the world.You can find more than 25,000 research reports in our web store, which cover global industries and regional markets. All the worldwide marketing data you need is at your fingertips.We collect this data from hundreds of highly reliable sources, verify it and carry out market analysis, uncovering new business opportunities and empowering you with actionable insights.The structure of our reports is intuitive and clear. We do our best to allow you to make strategic decisions and take immediate action. If you want to go further and be a step ahead of the market, just tell us your goals and we will tailor a report to your needs.With IndexBox, simply take the data from our Box and think outside it.Company Name: IndexBoxContact Person: Kirill BezverhiEmail: kirill.bezverhi@indexbox.co.ukPhone: +44 20 3239 3063Adress: United Kingdom, 44 Main Street, Douglas, South Lanarkshire, Scotland, ML11 0QWWebsite:
IT Services In Global Market Expected To Grow At A CAGR Of 5.6% Over The Period 2016 - 2020

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Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "IT Services In Global Market Expected To Grow At A CAGR Of 5.6% Over The Period 2016 - 2020" to its huge collection of research reports.IT services help organizations to install IT infrastructure, which includes services such as support services, system integration services, application development and other IT related services. These services focus on providing a framework to structure IT-related activities. A wide range of IT services are now available with which organizations can streamline their processes and integrate their systems. These services help organizations reinvent, develop a more economical cost structure, and centralize their processes. IT services enable organization to align their business strategy with IT strategy to remain competitive in the market with enhanced efficiency and flexibility in their IT environment.Technavios analysts forecast the global information technology (IT) services market to grow at a CAGR of 5.6% during the period 2016-2020.Covered in this reportThe report covers the present scenario and the growth prospects of the global information technology (IT) services market 2016-2020. To calculate the market size, the report considers the revenue generated from project-oriented services, information technology outsourcing (ITO) services, IT support and training services, and enterprise cloud computing services.The market is divided into the following segments based on geography:AmericasAPACEMEATechnavio's report, Global Information Technology (IT) Services Market 2016-2020, has been prepared based on an in-depth market analysis with inputs from industry experts. The report covers the market landscape and its growth prospects over the coming years. The report also includes a discussion of the key vendors operating in this market.Key vendorsAccentureCSCHPFujitsuIBMTo Get Sample Copy of Report visit @Other prominent vendorsAlcatel-LucentAWSAtosCapgeminiCisco SystemsDellDeloitteEricssonEYHCL TechnologiesHitachiInfosysKPMGMicrosoftNTT DataOraclePwCSiemensTCSMarket driverIncrease in IT consolidation and modernizationFor a full, detailed list, view our reportMarket challengeLack of quality standards in SLAsFor a full, detailed list, view our reportMarket trendIncreased adoption of IT as a serviceFor a full, detailed list, view our reportKey questions answered in this reportWhat will the market size be in 2020 and what will the growth rate be?What are the key market trends?What is driving this market?What are the challenges to market growth?Who are the key vendors in this market space?What are the market opportunities and threats faced by the key vendors?What are the strengths and weaknesses of the key vendors?Make 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 @
Easy Collaboration of Medical Data to Augment use of Mobile Health Technology

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Latest Research Report titled " Mobile Health (mHealth) Technologies: Global Market Prospects - Featuring Expert Panel Views from Industry Survey 2017 " features Key Market Players, Segments, Applications. Report Presents Global Market Survey, Growth, Challenges and Forecast.The research publication is titled,  Mobile Health (mHealth) Technologies: Global Market Prospects - Featuring Expert Panel Views from Industry Survey 2017. The market intellect publication is a detailed examination of the global market with orientation to the undercurrents at play and the ones that are prospected to have a major impact, both constructive and destructive on the progress of the market. The impression of the issues can be both for the extensive and petite term contingent on the nature of the mentioned market and the factors in action. The summary of the foremost market companies have also been deliberated in the report with mention to their merchandises, advertising and publicity policies, and the level of rivalry among them.mHealth is a shortened form of mobile health. This term is basically employed for the practice of public health and medicine that is supported by mobile equipment. This terms is generally used with regards to employing devices of mobile communication such as smart watches, PDAs, tablets, and mobile phones for collecting data, information, and services related to healthcare. This particular field has surfaces as a sub-segment of the e-Health. The applications of mHealth include the employment of mobile devices in health data collection of a community or clinic, the delivery of healthcare related information and data to patients, researchers, and medical practitioners. It also helps in the real-time monitoring of the vital signs of patients and direct care provision.Get a Sample Research PDF with TOC:Although mHealth has applications for industrialized countries, this field has emerged prominently in many developing countries as well owing to the stemming of mobile phone use in many low income countries. This field has emerged as a mean for providing enhanced access to healthcare facilities to population in emerging economies and improve the capacity of the healthcare systems in these countries. Within this mHelath space, several projects operate with various objectives such as increasing healthcare access, transferring health related information, making public health information accessible, training health workers, diagnosing and tracking diseases, ad expanding access to medical education.The study provides excessive information related to mHealth and its use in various sectors and applications. This technology can have a large effect on the health sector and pharmaceutical sector and on consumers. The companies present in the market are investing largely on the leveraging and developing advanced technology related to mHealth and owing to this, its uptake is likely to rise in the coming years. The report also discusses the opportunities and challenges upcoming in the market in the near future. The market has also been broken down on the basis of region.Table of Contents:2 mHealth Technologies Overview 82.1 What are mHealth Technologies? 82.2 What Types of Services Can mHealth Technologies Provide? 92.3 What are the Main Objectives of mHealth Technologies? 92.4 Key Stakeholders Involved in the Funding and Provision of mHealth 102.5 Key Market Segments in the mHealth Market Space 122.5.1 Key Sub-segments of the Global mHealth Market 142.6 How Prevalent is the Use of mHealth Technologies by Healthcare Organizations? Results from Our Industry-Wide Survey 153 The Global mHealth Market: The Most Important Drivers and Restraints in 2017 183.1 What Are the Most Important Growth Drivers in the Global mHealth Market?  Results from our Industry-Wide Survey 183.1.1 Providing Cost-Effective Care to Patients through mHealth Solutions 193.1.2 Can the Value and Effectiveness of Treatments be Demonstrated through mHealth Solutions? 193.1.3 How Interested Are HCPs and Reimbursement Entities in mHealth? 203.1.4 Accelerated Penetration of Mobile Technology at a Global Level 203.1.5 mHealth Solutions Helping Pharma Companies Solve Gaps in R&D Productivity 203.1.6 Is Government Funding and Support for mHealth in Key Markets Making a Difference? 213.1.7 Other Important Growth Drivers in the mHealth Market in 2017 213.1.8 What Are the Most Important Growth Drivers in the mHealth Market by Region? Results from our Industry-Wide Survey 22Browse more details at:4 mHealth: Transforming Pharma R&D and Commercial Strategy 304.1 The role of mHealth Technologies in the Pharmaceutical Industry 304.1.1 What Specific Opportunities do mHealth Solutions Represent for Pharma Companies? Results from our Industry-Wide Survey 304.2 In Which Specific Areas Do Organizations Currently Utilize mHealth Technology? Results from our Industry-Wide Survey 324.2.1 Linking Early Research with Patient Data through Mobile Solutions 334.2.2 Will mHealth Technologies Solve the Patient Recruitment Bottleneck in Clinical Trials? 344.2.3 Improving Patient Compliance, Retention and Monitoring in Clinical Trials Through mHealth Solutions 354.2.4 How Will mHealth Solutions Improve Health Economic Analysis and Payer Engagement? 374.2.5 mHealth Opportunities for the Pharmaceutical Industry Beyond R&D 384.3 In Which Areas Will mHealth Have the Greatest Impact for Pharma Companies Over the Next Five Years? Results from our Industry-Wide Survey 41About 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:
Substantial Adoption of Enterprise Mobility Solutions to Boost IT spending market in Southeast Asia

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Latest Research Report titled " IT Spending Market in South East Asia 2017-2021 " features Key Market Players, Segments, Applications. Report Presents Global Market Survey, Growth, Challenges and Forecast.The comprehensive report on IT spending market in Southeast Asia offers in-depth insights into the key drivers and restraints, notable trends, and emerging opportunities, share and size of major segments, and competitive landscape. The research study offers an elaborate description of the factors affecting the demand for mobility solutions in major countries of Southeast Asia.The study highlights recent technology advancements and key product innovations in enterprise solutions, expected to significantly alter the competitive dynamics. It takes a closer look at key industry automation trends and their impact on the strategy of the key providers of IT mobility solutions. Witnessing burgeoning opportunities by the advent of a vast assortment of mobility solutions, the IT spending market in Southeast Asia is projected to rise at a CAGR of 6.17% from 2017 to 2021.Get a Sample Research PDF with TOC:The spiraling adoption of mobility solutions by enterprises in various countries of Southeast Asia has spurred IT spending in various organizations. The growing need for ensuring unhindered and continuous sharing of crucial enterprise data has stimulated several companies to implement cost-effective mobility solutions. The advent of mobile banking and m-commerce solutions has facilitated the goal of financial inclusion in developing and developed nations. In addition, the rapid pace of industrialization in countries such as Malaysia and Singapore has propelled the demand for mobility solutions thereby catapulting spending by CIOs to make IT more robust.The need for a variety IT services and the emergence of software development centers in developing nations of Southeast Asia are the factors catalyzing the market growth. The growing popularity of bring your own device (BYOD) trend and programs in enterprises of all sizes is expected to bolster investments in IT. The increase capability of BYOD to bring significant process improvements is expected to positively impact the IT spending market in Southeast Asia. The growing demand for implementing advanced IT solutions among forward-looking enterprises is expected to expand the prospect the market.The growing popularity of various cloud computing services, big data services, and Internet of Things (IoT) are expected to open up a wealth of exciting opportunities for market players. This has resulted several product innovations and advancements by vendors, consulting firms, and third-party players, which has amplified IT spending in various parts of Southeast Asia.The major countries of IT spending in Southeast Asia are Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Philippines, and Thailand. Of these, Malaysia contributes the major revenue in the market and is expected to maintain its lead throughout the forecast period. The surge in IT spending in the country is driven by substantial spending on hardware by consumers and burgeoning investment in implementing advanced software services among enterprises. A large part of the population actively upgrading their smartphones, thereby boosting the market. Prominent vendors vying for a sustained share in the IT spending market Southeast Asia include Oracle, Microsoft, IBM, Accenture PLC, Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., and Apple Inc.Browse more details at: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:
Baking Enzymes Market to Grow at a Healthy Rate with Single Digit Growth

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Enzymes is one of the most important ingredients used in majority of bakery products. Enzymes are used to change the functional characteristics of products. Some of the important uses of baking enzymes include fermentation and relaxation of dough, dough stability, prolonging crumb softness, providing flour enhancement, improving volume, texture and color. Enzymes today are considered as natural and innovative solution to baking business today due to its ability to increase the quality of products.Obtain Report Details @The global market for baking enzymes can be segmented on the basis of product type as protease, lipase, carbohydrase and others. On the basis of end user application the market can be segmented as cakes & pastries, cookies breads and biscuits. Geographically the global baking enzymes market is segmented as North America, APAC, Europe and Rest of the World.The major drivers for growth in baking enzymes market include declining use of emulsifiers, uncovering of health and nutritional values and high disposable income among consumers. Some of the restraints are response/inability of enzymes in changing temperature and pH level. North America is market leader for this market due to diverse consumption patterns and increasing concerns of health among consumers.The global market for baking enzymes is expected to grow at a healthy rate with single digit growth across all geographies from 2013  2019. Use of enzymes across the globe has gained popularity in recent past due to ban on use of chemical additives in baking and other fermented products. The market is expected to witness opportunity as a result of use of enzymes for development of gluten free products.Some of the major player in this market are Royal DSM, Stern Enzym, Aumenzymes, Maps Enzyme Limited, AB Enzymes Gmbh, Puratos Group NV, E.I.Dupont De Nemours&Company, Amano Enzyme Inc., and Dydaic International Inc.For more information on this report, fill the form @The report offers a comprehensive evaluation of the market. It does so via in-depth qualitative insights, historical data, and verifiable projections about market size. The projections featured in the report have been derived using proven research methodologies and assumptions. By doing so, the research report serves as a repository of analysis and information for every facet of the market, including but not limited to: Regional markets, technology, types, and applications.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.US Office Contact90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Lithopone Market by Manufacturers, Countries, Type and Application- Global Forecast to 2022

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A new research document with title 'Global Lithopone Market by Manufacturers, Countries, Type and Application, Forecast to 2022' covering detailed analysis, Competitive landscape, forecast and strategies. The study covers geographic analysis that includes regions like North & South America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Middle East and Africa and important players/vendors such as Hebei Yuhuan, Xiangtan Swallow, Union Titanium................The report will help user gain market insights, future trends and growth prospects for forecast period of 2022Request a sample report @SummaryLithopone is a mixture of inorganic compounds, widely used as a white pigment powder. It is composed of a mixture of barium sulfate and zinc sulfide. These insoluble compounds blend well with organic compounds and confer opacity. Related white pigments include titanium dioxide, zinc oxide (""zinc white""), and zinc sulfide.Scope of the Report:This report focuses on the Lithopone 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 coversXiangtan Red SwallowParis HorsesShanghai YuejiangLangfang HengzeLoman ChemicalHebei YuhuanXiangtan SwallowUnion TitaniumMarket 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, coversB301B311OthersMarket Segment by Applications, can be divided intoPaint & CoatingPlasticOthersBuy this report @There are 15 Chapters to deeply display the global Lithopone market.Chapter 1, to describe Lithopone Introduction, product scope, market overview, market opportunities, market risk, market driving force;Chapter 2, to analyze the top manufacturers of Lithopone, with sales, revenue, and price of Lithopone, 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 Lithopone, 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, Lithopone market forecast, by regions, type and application, with sales and revenue, from 2017 to 2022;Chapter 13, 14 and 15, to describe Lithopone 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 Lithopone Introduction1.2 Market Analysis by Type1.2.1 B3011.2.2 B3111.2.3 Others1.3 Market Analysis by Applications1.3.1 Paint & Coating1.3.2 Plastic1.3.3 Others1.4 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 Force....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:HTF Market Intelligence Consulting Private LimitedUnit No. 429, Parsonage Road Edison, NJNew Jersey USA  08837sales@htfmarketreport.com+1 (206) 317 1218 (US)
Global Baby Vitamin D Drops Sales Market 2017 Industry Share, Growth ,Forecast Research and Development

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SummaryOrbis Research delivers key insights on the Global Baby Vitamin D Drops Sales market in a new report titled Global Baby Vitamin D Drops Sales Market 2017 Industry Trend and Forecast 2022 In this report, Orbis Research sheds light on the various factors and trends impacting market growth over the forecast period (2017  2022).DescriptionOrbis Research always aims to bring their clients the best research material and in-depth analysis of the information for any market. This new report Global Baby Vitamin D Drops Sales Market for 2017 aims to fulfill the needs of the clients looking for a fresh outlook towards the Global Baby Vitamin D Drops Sales Market, or fill in the knowledge gaps with the data available in the report. The well-presented and curated report is compiled by seasoned and professional research experts and subject matter experts in the field. The clients will find the report complete in all aspects as it covers all key components with valuable statistics and expert opinions in all regards.Get a PDF Sample of Report at:The Global Baby Vitamin D Drops Sales Industry report contains a complete product overview and its scope in the market to define the key terms and provide the clients a holistic idea of the market and its tendencies. This is followed by the classification, applications, and the regional analysis of the market to ensure the clients are well informed about each section. The report also contains key values and facts of the Global Baby Vitamin D Drops Sales market in terms of value and volume, sales and its growth rate, and revenue and its growth rate.One of the major mainstays of the Global Baby Vitamin D Drops Sales Industry report is the coverage on the competition. The report covers all key parameters such as market share, revenue generation, new products or marketing strategies of the competition, latest R&D, and market expert comments, along with the contact information. Key market trends, expert opinions, and a well curated forecast are all included in Global Baby Vitamin D Drops Sales Market report.Also, some key information such as the cost analysis, industrial chain, sourcing strategy, distributors, marketing strategy, and factor analysis of the Baby Vitamin D Drops Sales Market are all a part of the report. The report concludes with the customary SWOT analysis and the analysis on investment feasibility and returns.To Browse the Entire Report, Visit :As always has been the aim at Orbis Research with every report put up, the information on offer is complete and true knowledge seekers will benefit from it. Irrespective of the interest, academic or commercial, the Baby Vitamin D Drops Sales Industry report curated and compiled by domain experts will definitely shed light on key information which the clients require.The Key Points Mentioned in Report are:Chapter One: Baby Vitamin D Drops Market Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Baby Vitamin D Drops1.2 Classification of Baby Vitamin D Drops by Product Category1.2.1 Global Baby Vitamin D Drops Market Size (Sales) Comparison by Type (2012-2022)1.2.2 Global Baby Vitamin D Drops Market Size (Sales) Market Share by Type (Product Category) in 20161.2.3 Granular1.2.4 bottled1.3 Global Baby Vitamin D Drops Market by Application/End Users1.3.1 Global Baby Vitamin D Drops Sales (Volume) and Market Share Comparison by Application (2012-2022)1.3.2 Infant1.3.3 3-12 Month1.4 Global Baby Vitamin D Drops Market by Region1.4.1 Global Baby Vitamin D Drops Market Size (Value) Comparison by Region (2012-2022)1.4.2 United States Baby Vitamin D Drops Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.3 China Baby Vitamin D Drops Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.4 Europe Baby Vitamin D Drops Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.5 Japan Baby Vitamin D Drops Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.6 Southeast Asia Baby Vitamin D Drops Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.7 India Baby Vitamin D Drops Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.5 Global Market Size (Value and Volume) of Baby Vitamin D Drops (2012-2022)1.5.1 Global Baby Vitamin D Drops Sales and Growth Rate (2012-2022)1.5.2 Global Baby Vitamin D Drops Revenue and Growth Rate (2012-2022)Chapter Two: Global Baby Vitamin D Drops Competition by Players/Suppliers, Type and Application2.1 Global Baby Vitamin D Drops Market Competition by Players/Suppliers2.1.1 Global Baby Vitamin D Drops Sales and Market Share of Key Players/Suppliers (2012-2017)2.1.2 Global Baby Vitamin D Drops Revenue and Share by Players/Suppliers (2012-2017)2.2 Global Baby Vitamin D Drops (Volume and Value) by Type2.2.1 Global Baby Vitamin D Drops Sales and Market Share by Type (2012-2017)2.2.2 Global Baby Vitamin D Drops Revenue and Market Share by Type (2012-2017)2.3 Global Baby Vitamin D Drops (Volume and Value) by Region2.3.1 Global Baby Vitamin D Drops Sales and Market Share by Region (2012-2017)2.3.2 Global Baby Vitamin D Drops Revenue and Market Share by Region (2012-2017)2.4 Global Baby Vitamin D Drops (Volume) by ApplicationChapter Nine:Global Baby Vitamin D Drops Players/Suppliers Profiles and Sales Data9.1 Ostelin9.1.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Competitors9.1.2 Baby Vitamin D Drops Product Category, Application and Specification9.1.2.1 Product A9.1.2.2 Product B9.1.3 Ostelin Baby Vitamin D Drops Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)9.1.4 Main Business/Business Overview9.2 Baby Ddrops9.2.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Competitors9.2.2 Baby Vitamin D Drops Product Category, Application and Specification9.2.2.1 Product A9.2.2.2 Product B9.2.3 Baby Ddrops Baby Vitamin D Drops Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)9.2.4 Main Business/Business Overview9.3 Shangdong Dayin haiyang shengwu zhiyao9.3.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Competitors9.3.2 Baby Vitamin D Drops Product Category, Application and Specification9.3.2.1 Product A9.3.2.2 Product B9.3.3 Shangdong Dayin haiyang shengwu zhiyao Baby Vitamin D Drops Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)9.3.4 Main Business/Business Overview9.4 Davitamon9.4.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Competitors9.4.2 Baby Vitamin D Drops Product Category, Application and Specification9.4.2.1 Product A9.4.2.2 Product B9.4.3 Davitamon Baby Vitamin D Drops Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)9.4.4 Main Business/Business OverviewPlace a Purchase Order for this Report at:About 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 Information:Hector CostelloSenior Manager  Client Engagements4144N Central Expressway,Suite 600, Dallas,Texas  75204, U.S.A.Phone No.: +1 (214) 884-6817; +9164101019Follow Us on LinkedIn:
Global Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNO) Market 2022 - LycaMobile, TracFone, Freenet AG, Virgin Mobile, GIV Mobile, AirVoice Wireless

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This report studies the global Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNO) market, analyzes and researches the Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNO) development status and forecast in United States, EU, Japan, China, India and Southeast Asia. This report focuses on the top players in global market, likeLycaMobileVirgin MobileTruphoneTracFoneBoost MobileFRiENDiGiffgaffLebaraFreedomPopFreenet AGUPP WirelessGIV MobileKDDI MobilePolkomtel PlusTesco Mobile LtdNet10 WirelessRedPocket MobileAirVoice WirelessMarket segment by Regions/Countries, this report coversUnited StatesEUJapanChinaIndiaSoutheast AsiaFull MVNOService Operator MVNOReseller MVNOMarket segment by Application, Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNO) can be split intoBranded ResellersService ProvidersFull MvnoRequest a Free Sample Copy of this Research Report @Table of Contents1 Industry Overview of Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNO)1.1 Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNO) Market Overview1.1.1 Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNO) Product Scope1.1.2 Market Status and Outlook1.2 Global Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNO) 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 Asia1.3.2 Full MVNO1.3.3 Service Operator MVNO1.3.4 Reseller MVNO1.3 Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNO) Market by End Users/Application1.3.1 Branded Resellers1.3.2 Service Providers1.3.3 Full MvnoQYresearchreports.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
Forecast Upto 2024 For Assisted Reproduction Technology Devices Market And New Research Report

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Global Assisted Reproduction Technology Devices Market: SnapshotAssisted reproduction technology (ART) devices have been designed and developed to solve issues pertaining to fertility. Ever since the initial introduction of IVF (in-vitro fertilization) in 1978, technique to resolve pregnancy related issues have come a long way. The advent of assisted reproductive technology offer solutions such as in-vitro fertilization (IVF), gamete intrafallopian transfer (GIFT), intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), zygote intrafallopian transfer (ZIFT), intrauterine insemination (IUI), and surrogacy. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) states that 208,604 ART cycles were conducted at 458 clinics in the U.S., of which 57,323 were live births and 70,354 were live born infants in 2014. Though the usage of ART is not significant, its demand has still soared in the recent past.Obtain Report Details @The research report by Transparency Market Research provides a comprehensive outlook of the global assisted reproduction technology devices market. The publication is aimed at providing a detailed analysis of the segments in the market, the competitive landscape, financial outlook of the companies operating in the market, and the supply chain analysis.Global Assisted Reproduction Technology Devices Market: Drivers and TrendsThe global assisted reproduction technology devices market is expected to witness a significant boost in the coming years due to the growing support by governments for research and development. The rise in funding for developing efficient and safe assisted reproduction technology devices is expected to make a positive impact on the global market.The high prevalence of male and female infertility due to poor lifestyle choices, deferred pregnancies, and health conditions have collectively boosted the demand for assisted reproduction technology devices. Infertility in males is observed due to poor sperm count, blocked sperm ducts, and poor sperm movement. On the other hand, female infertility is usually a result of dysfunctional fallopian tubes along with issues related to cervix or uterus.The growth of medical tourism and the possibility of surrogacy in emerging economies has been crucial to the growth of this market in recent years. The high cost of using these technologies and devices in developed countries has dissuaded several patients and made them migrate to developing countries, where seeking medical treatment is relatively cheaper.Global Assisted Reproduction Technology Devices Market: Regional OutlookThe global assisted reproduction technology devices market is segmented into Europe, North America, Asia Pacific, and Rest of the World. Of these, North America is expected to lead the global market in the coming years. The high rate of awareness amongst people about assisted reproduction technology devices market is expected to drive the regional market. Furthermore, incredible governmental support to the overall market in North America for in-vitro fertilization and high infertility rates are projected to boost the markets growth.Europe also expected to steady growth in the overall assisted reproduction technology devices market in the coming years. The rising rate of medical tourism and acceptance of IVF are expected to propel the regional market in the coming years. Asia Pacific is also projected to emerge as a significant market for the assisted reproduction technology devices due to the emergence of medical tourism industry. The rising disposable incomes, late pregnancies, and rising women employment are expected to fuel the growth of this regional market in the near future.Fill The Form To Gain Deeper Insights On This Market @Key Players Mentioned in this Report are:Some of the key players operating in the global assisted reproduction technology devices market are Microm UK Limited, Irvine Scientific, Parallabs, Cryolab Ltd., European Sperm Bank Cosmos Biomedical Limited, and Origio.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.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:
Bearings Market by Manufacturers, Countries, Type and Application- Global Forecast to 2022

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A new research document with title 'Global Bearings Market by Manufacturers, Countries, Type and Application, Forecast to 2022' covering detailed analysis, Competitive landscape, forecast and strategies. The study covers geographic analysis that includes regions like North & South America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Middle East and Africa and important players/vendors such as NTN, Federal-Mogul, NACHI ................The report will help user gain market insights, future trends and growth prospects for forecast period of 2022SummaryA bearing is a machine element that constrains relative motion to only the desired motion, and reduces friction between moving parts. The design of the bearing provides for free linear movement of the moving part or for free rotation around a fixed axis; or, it prevents a motion by controlling the vectors of normal forces that bear on the moving parts.Request a sample report @Scope of the Report:This report focuses on the Bearings 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 coversSKFSchaefflerNSKTIMKENJTEKTNTNFederal-MogulNACHINMBRexnordZWZC&U GROUPMarket 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, coversBall BearingRoller BearingMarket Segment by Applications, can be divided intoAutomotive IndustryIndustrial MachineAerospace IndustryOthersBuy this report @There are 15 Chapters to deeply display the global Bearings market.Chapter 1, to describe Bearings Introduction, product scope, market overview, market opportunities, market risk, market driving force;Chapter 2, to analyze the top manufacturers of Bearings, with sales, revenue, and price of Bearings, 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 Bearings, 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, Bearings market forecast, by regions, type and application, with sales and revenue, from 2017 to 2022;Chapter 13, 14 and 15, to describe Bearings 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 Bearings Introduction1.2 Market Analysis by Type1.2.1 Ball Bearing1.2.2 Roller Bearing1.3 Market Analysis by Applications1.3.1 Automotive Industry1.3.2 Industrial Machine1.3.3 Aerospace Industry1.3.4 Others1.4 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 Force....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:HTF Market Intelligence Consulting Private LimitedUnit No. 429, Parsonage Road Edison, NJNew Jersey USA  08837sales@htfmarketreport.com+1 (206) 317 1218 (US)
Terminal Block Market Evolving Industry Trends 2024

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A terminal block is defined as an electric connector in which the wires are clamped down to the metal part by a screw. It allows more than one circuit to connect to another and often contains two long aluminum or copper strips designed to link different components. These strips create a bus bar for power distribution which is sent to the connected components. Terminal blocks are modular, insulated blocks which unite two or more wires and are usually made of an insulating body and a clamping device to complete the connection. They include a broad range of fixed-mount and pluggable European cage clamps, U.S.-style screw clamps, spring clamp-style wire-to-board and wire-to-wire blocks, and related headers.Obtain Report Details @:The global terminal block market can be segmented on the basis of type, application, and geography. In terms of type, the market is divided into the following categories: barriers, sectional, printed circuit board (PCB), and power. The barriers segment is further split into the single row and double row divisions, the sectional segment into Nema (American style) and IEC (European style) divisions, and the PCB segment into fixed and pluggable divisions. Applications of terminal blocks include business equipment, HVAC, power supplies, industry controls, instruments, telecom equipment, and transportation.This market is driven by factors such as the increasing demand for multipurpose, multifunctional, intelligent, finger-safe terminal blocks; the ever-expanding PCB market; advancements in various connection technologies; and the products growing adoption in the telecom sector. Industry controls and HVAC are estimated to contribute a major market share during the forecast period. Developments in termination technologies of terminal blocks intended for usage in more rugged applications such as instrumentation, industry controls, and data acquisition spur their growth. Rapid urbanization, rising disposable incomes, strict energy regulations, financial incentives through tax credit programs for energy-efficient HVAC systems, and technological innovations also play a part in motivating the HVAC industry which eventually fuels the demand for terminal blocks in this industry.By geography, the market is distributed over North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East & Africa, and Latin America. The U.S. and Canada are expected to propel the terminal block market in North America. In Europe, countries such as the U.K., Germany, France, Russia, Spain, Italy, and Sweden are the leading players. China, South Korea, Japan, India, Thailand, Philippines, Malaysia, and Singapore are likely to dominate the terminal block market in Asia Pacific, with China being a rapidly developing country. Israel, Turkey, UAE, Iran, Egypt, Nigeria, Kenya, and Saudi Arabia are some of the leading countries in the market in Middle East & Africa, whereas Latin America is dominated by Brazil, Mexico, and Argentina.Fill the form for an exclusive sample of this report @:The global market comprises numerous companies operating at regional as well as global levels. Key players include Infineon Technologies AG, Phoenix Contact GmbH & Co. Kg, Microsemi Corporation, Weidmuller Interface GmbH & Co. Kg, Wago Kontakttechnik GmbH & Co. Kg, Wieland Electric GmbH, ABB Group, Rockwell Automation, Inc., Vicor Corporation, Crane Aerospace and Electronics, Weco Electrical Connectors Inc., Synqor Inc., Eaton Corporation PLC, Modular Devices Inc., Molex LLC, and Metz Connect.The report offers a comprehensive evaluation of the market. It does so via in-depth qualitative insights, historical data, and verifiable projections about market size. The projections featured in the report have been derived using proven research methodologies and assumptions. By doing so, the research report serves as a repository of analysis and information for every facet of the market, including but not limited to: Regional markets, technology, types, and applications.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.90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207
Global Chainsaws Sales Market 2017 - DeWALT, Dolmar, Husqvarna, Oregon, Makita, RedMax, Tanaka

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Report studies Chainsaws Sales in Global market that focuses on the top Manufacturers, Market Segment by Countries, Split by Product Types (with sales, revenue, price, market share of each type), Split by applications this report focuses on sales, market share and growth rate of Chainsaws Sales in each application.The report  Global Chainsaws Sales Industry presents an executive-level overview of the Global Chainsaws Sales market. The Global Chainsaws Sales market is expected to demonstrate a positive growth trend in the coming years. The market forces that will shape the growth of this market have been scrutinized in detail in this report.Get Free Sample Report @Comprehensive data related to the market trends has been included in this report. The market drivers that will fuel the growth of the market during the forecast period are mentioned in this report. Furthermore, the regulatory environment in the Global Chainsaws Sales market and its impact on the Global Chainsaws Sales industry performance has been assessed in this report. The restraining factors that will result in decline in popularity of certain product segments have also been covered in this report. The potential opportunities and their impact on the Global Chainsaws Sales market is also evaluated in the report.The key players are expected to tap onto these market opportunities to penetrate the market. Furthermore, the untapped opportunities in emerging economies will provide a considerable impetus to the small, medium, and large companies operating in the Global Chainsaws Sales market. These opportunities in turn are projected to have positive impact on the Global Chainsaws Sales market. Players in the market are focusing on innovation, which has resulted in a lot of mergers, acquisitions, collaborations, and partnerships. The prominent market players are also focusing to offer a broader range of products. Competitors often are competing on the basis of the cost of the products in the Global Chainsaws Sales market.Access Full Report With TOC @Around the world, industries are focusing on incorporating green practices in their manufacturing processes. Moreover, products that are manufactured using these green practices or include more eco-friendly ingredients are popular among consumers. This consumer preference will help companies operating in the Global Chainsaws Sales market to include greener products and services to their offering.Fior Markets is a leading market intelligence company that sells reports of top publishers in the technology industry.Our extensive research reports cover detailed market assessments that include major technological improvements in the industry. Fior Markets also specializes in analyzing hi-tech systems and current processing systems in its expertise.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: universalmarketresearch.com
Global Deformed Steel Rebar Sales Market 2017 - ArcelorMittal, Gerdau S.A, Posco SS-Vina, Steel Authority of India Limited

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Report studies Deformed Steel Rebar Sales in Global market that focuses on the top Manufacturers, Market Segment by Countries, Split by Product Types (with sales, revenue, price, market share of each type), Split by applications this report focuses on sales, market share and growth rate of Deformed Steel Rebar Sales in each application.The report  Global Deformed Steel Rebar Sales Industry presents an executive-level overview of the Global Deformed Steel Rebar Sales market. The Global Deformed Steel Rebar Sales market is expected to demonstrate a positive growth trend in the coming years. The market forces that will shape the growth of this market have been scrutinized in detail in this report.Get Free Sample Report @Comprehensive data related to the market trends has been included in this report. The market drivers that will fuel the growth of the market during the forecast period are mentioned in this report. Furthermore, the regulatory environment in the Global Deformed Steel Rebar Sales market and its impact on the Global Deformed Steel Rebar Sales industry performance has been assessed in this report. The restraining factors that will result in decline in popularity of certain product segments have also been covered in this report. The potential opportunities and their impact on the Global Deformed Steel Rebar Sales market is also evaluated in the report.The key players are expected to tap onto these market opportunities to penetrate the market. Furthermore, the untapped opportunities in emerging economies will provide a considerable impetus to the small, medium, and large companies operating in the Global Deformed Steel Rebar Sales market. These opportunities in turn are projected to have positive impact on the Global Deformed Steel Rebar Sales market. Players in the market are focusing on innovation, which has resulted in a lot of mergers, acquisitions, collaborations, and partnerships. The prominent market players are also focusing to offer a broader range of products. Competitors often are competing on the basis of the cost of the products in the Global Deformed Steel Rebar Sales market.Access Full Report With TOC @Around the world, industries are focusing on incorporating green practices in their manufacturing processes. Moreover, products that are manufactured using these green practices or include more eco-friendly ingredients are popular among consumers. This consumer preference will help companies operating in the Global Deformed Steel Rebar Sales market to include greener products and services to their offering.Fior Markets is a leading market intelligence company that sells reports of top publishers in the technology industry.Our extensive research reports cover detailed market assessments that include major technological improvements in the industry. Fior Markets also specializes in analyzing hi-tech systems and current processing systems in its expertise.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: universalmarketresearch.com
United States Solar-powered Light Tower Market 2017 - Top Players Including Generac, Atlas Copco, Terex, Wacker Neuson, Allmand, AllightSykes, Doosan Portable Power

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Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "United States Solar-powered Light Tower Market Report 2017" to its huge collection of research reports.In this report, the United States Solar-powered Light Tower 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 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 Solar-powered Light Tower in these regions, from 2012 to 2022 (forecast).To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @United States Solar-powered Light Tower market competition by top manufacturers/players, with Solar-powered Light Tower sales volume, price, revenue (Million USD) and market share for each manufacturer/player; the top players includingGeneracAtlas CopcoTerexWacker NeusonAllmandAllightSykesDoosan Portable PowerYanmarMultiquipJCBOceans KingWancoPramacPowerbabyIshikawaGTGTZhenghuiXuSheng IlluminationHangzhou MobowOn the basis of product, this report displays the sales volume, revenue, product price, market share and growth rate of each type, primarily split intoMetal Halide LampsElectrodeless LampsLED LampsOn 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 Solar-powered Light Tower for each application, includingRoad and Bridge ConstructionEmergency and Disaster ReliefOil and Gas WorkMiningOthersIf you have any special requirements, please let us know and we will offer you the report as you want.Make 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 @
United States Off-Shore Wind Power Installation Service Market 2017 - Top Players A2SEA, MPI-Offshore, Seajacks, Geosea, SEAFOX, Swire Blue Ocean

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Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "United States Off-Shore Wind Power Installation Service Market Report 2017" to its huge collection of research reports.This report studies sales (consumption) of Off-Shore Wind Power Installation Service in United States market, focuses on the top players, with sales, price, revenue and market share for each player, coveringA2SEAMPI-OffshoreSeajacksFred. Olsen WindcarrierGeoseaVan OordJack-Up BargeSEAFOXSwire Blue OceanGaoh OffshoreTo Get Sample Copy of Report visit @Market Segment by States, coveringCaliforniaTexasNew YorkFloridaIllinoisSplit by product types, with sales, revenue, price, market share and growth rate of each type, can be divided intoBase InstallationFan InstallationBlade InstallationSplit by applications, this report focuses on sales, market share and growth rate of Off-Shore Wind Power Installation Service in each application, can be divided intoApplication 1Application 2Table of ContentsUnited States Off-Shore Wind Power Installation Service Market Report 20171 Off-Shore Wind Power Installation Service Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Off-Shore Wind Power Installation Service1.2 Classification of Off-Shore Wind Power Installation Service1.2.1 Base Installation1.2.2 Fan Installation1.2.3 Blade Installation1.3 Application of Off-Shore Wind Power Installation Service1.3.1 Application 11.3.2 Application 21.4 United States Market Size Sales (Volume) and Revenue (Value) of Off-Shore Wind Power Installation Service (2012-2022)1.4.1 United States Off-Shore Wind Power Installation Service Sales and Growth Rate (2012-2022)1.4.2 United States Off-Shore Wind Power Installation Service Revenue and Growth Rate (2012-2022)2 United States Off-Shore Wind Power Installation Service Competition by Manufacturers2.1 United States Off-Shore Wind Power Installation Service Sales and Market Share of Key Manufacturers (2015 and 2016)2.2 United States Off-Shore Wind Power Installation Service Revenue and Share by Manufactures (2015 and 2016)2.3 United States Off-Shore Wind Power Installation Service Average Price by Manufactures (2015 and 2016)2.4 Off-Shore Wind Power Installation Service Market Competitive Situation and Trends2.4.1 Off-Shore Wind Power Installation Service Market Concentration Rate2.4.2 Off-Shore Wind Power Installation Service Market Share of Top 3 and Top 5 Manufacturers2.4.3 Mergers & Acquisitions, Expansion3 United States Off-Shore Wind Power Installation Service Sales (Volume) and Revenue (Value) by States (2012-2017)3.1 United States Off-Shore Wind Power Installation Service Sales and Market Share by States (2012-2017)3.2 United States Off-Shore Wind Power Installation Service Revenue and Market Share by States (2012-2017)3.3 United States Off-Shore Wind Power Installation Service Price by States (2012-2017)4 United States Off-Shore Wind Power Installation Service Sales (Volume) and Revenue (Value) by Type (2012-2017)4.1 United States Off-Shore Wind Power Installation Service Sales and Market Share by Type (2012-2017)4.2 United States Off-Shore Wind Power Installation Service Revenue and Market Share by Type (2012-2017)4.3 United States Off-Shore Wind Power Installation Service Price by Type (2012-2017)4.4 United States Off-Shore Wind Power Installation Service Sales Growth Rate by Type (2012-2017)5 United States Off-Shore Wind Power Installation Service Sales (Volume) by Application (2012-2017)5.1 United States Off-Shore Wind Power Installation Service Sales and Market Share by Application (2012-2017)5.2 United States Off-Shore Wind Power Installation Service Sales Growth Rate by Application (2012-2017)5.3 Market Drivers and Opportunities6 United States Off-Shore Wind Power Installation Service Manufacturers Profiles/Analysis6.1 A2SEA6.1.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Competitors6.1.2 Off-Shore Wind Power Installation Service Product Type, Application and Specification6.1.2.1 Product A6.1.2.2 Product B6.1.3 A2SEA Off-Shore Wind Power Installation Service Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)6.1.4 Main Business/Business Overview6.2 MPI-Offshore6.2.2 Off-Shore Wind Power Installation Service Product Type, Application and Specification6.2.2.1 Product A6.2.2.2 Product B6.2.3 MPI-Offshore Off-Shore Wind Power Installation Service Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)6.2.4 Main Business/Business Overview6.3 Seajacks6.3.2 Off-Shore Wind Power Installation Service Product Type, Application and Specification6.3.2.1 Product A6.3.2.2 Product B6.3.3 Seajacks Off-Shore Wind Power Installation Service Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)6.3.4 Main Business/Business Overview6.4 Fred. Olsen Windcarrier6.4.2 Off-Shore Wind Power Installation Service Product Type, Application and Specification6.4.2.1 Product A6.4.2.2 Product B6.4.3 Fred. Olsen Windcarrier Off-Shore Wind Power Installation Service Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)6.4.4 Main Business/Business Overview6.5 Geosea6.5.2 Off-Shore Wind Power Installation Service Product Type, Application and Specification6.5.2.1 Product A6.5.2.2 Product B6.5.3 Geosea Off-Shore Wind Power Installation Service Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)6.5.4 Main Business/Business Overview6.6 Van Oord6.6.2 Off-Shore Wind Power Installation Service Product Type, Application and Specification6.6.2.1 Product A6.6.2.2 Product B6.6.3 Van Oord Off-Shore Wind Power Installation Service Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)6.6.4 Main Business/Business Overview6.7 Jack-Up Barge6.7.2 Off-Shore Wind Power Installation Service Product Type, Application and Specification6.7.2.1 Product A6.7.2.2 Product B6.7.3 Jack-Up Barge Off-Shore Wind Power Installation Service Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)6.7.4 Main Business/Business Overview6.8 SEAFOX6.8.2 Off-Shore Wind Power Installation Service Product Type, Application and Specification6.8.2.1 Product A6.8.2.2 Product B6.8.3 SEAFOX Off-Shore Wind Power Installation Service Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)6.8.4 Main Business/Business Overview6.9 Swire Blue Ocean6.9.2 Off-Shore Wind Power Installation Service Product Type, Application and Specification6.9.2.1 Product A6.9.2.2 Product B6.9.3 Swire Blue Ocean Off-Shore Wind Power Installation Service Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)6.9.4 Main Business/Business Overview6.10 Gaoh Offshore6.10.2 Off-Shore Wind Power Installation Service Product Type, Application and Specification6.10.2.1 Product A6.10.2.2 Product B6.10.3 Gaoh Offshore Off-Shore Wind Power Installation Service Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)6.10.4 Main Business/Business Overview7 Off-Shore Wind Power Installation Service Manufacturing Cost Analysis7.1 Off-Shore Wind Power Installation Service 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 Off-Shore Wind Power Installation ServiceMake 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 @
Environmental Monitoring Instrument Market 2017 Company Profiles Analysis Report 2022

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Global Environmental Monitoring Instrument Market 2017 report spread across 117 pages gives Market Segment Analysis by Key Manufacturers, Regions, Types and Applications. Environmental monitoring instrument is a series of devices to monitor the environment. The devices are used for groundwater monitoring and sampling, indoor air quality, industrial hygiene, wastewater sampling, confined space entry, soil screening, and more.Complete report is available atScope of the Report:This report focuses on the Global Environmental Monitoring Instrument 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 covers: Danaher, Thermo Fisher, Xylem, Focused Photonics, Siemens, Horiba, Sailhero, SDL, Environnement, Shimadzu, ABB, Infore, Sick, Endress+Hauser, EcoTech, Lihero, LandunMarket Segment by Regions, regional analysis covers: North 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, covers: Portable, StationaryMarket Segment by Applications, can be divided into: Air, Water, Soil, NoiseRequest for discount atThere are 15 Chapters to deeply display the global Environmental Monitoring Instrument market.Chapter 1 to describe Environmental Monitoring Instrument Introduction, product scope, market overview, market opportunities, market risk, market driving force;Chapter 2 to analyze the top manufacturers of Environmental Monitoring Instrument, with sales, revenue, and price of Environmental Monitoring Instrument, 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 Environmental Monitoring Instrument, 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;Order copy of report atChapter 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 Environmental Monitoring Instrument market forecast, by regions, type and application, with sales and revenue, from 2017 to 2022;Chapter 13, 14 and 15 to describe Environmental Monitoring Instrument sales channel, distributors, traders, dealers, Research Findings and Conclusion, appendix and data source.ReportsnReports.com is your single source for all market research needs. Our database includes 500,000+ market research reports from over 95 leading global publishers & in-depth market research studies of over 5000 micro markets.Ritesh Tiwari,+ 1 888 391 5441sales@reportsandreports.com
Cosmetic Implants Market - Global Industry Insights, Trends, Outlook, and Opportunity Analysis, 20172025

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Cosmetic Implants Market Overview:Cosmetic Implants are substances placed under the skin or over the body to modify the beauty and physical appearance of an individual. Cosmetic implants are the specially designed medical devices which help individuals regain their appearance and aesthetically replace their damaged body parts after suffering from trauma or accidents. The implants can be placed subdermal or transdermal according to the type of surgical procedure. Cosmetic implants are prosthetics attempted to bring the desired portion of the body back to an acceptable aesthetic norm. Cosmetic implants have a wide applications in cosmetic industry providing higher psychological satisfaction to the people for decorative purposes. Tumor removal, laceration repair, maxillofacial surgery, scar revision and hand surgery are the common reconstruction procedures done by cosmetic implants. Breast augmentation continues to be the leading surgery technique while buttock augmentation, lower body lift and breast lift have shown rapid growth.Fill the form for an exclusive sample of this report :The exponential surge for cosmetic surgeries is expected to fuel growth of the global cosmetic implants marketAccording to the International Society of Plastic and Aesthetic Surgeons (ISAPS) 2013, around 23 million individuals underwent surgical and non-surgical cosmetic procedures globally. The key drivers are technological advancements such as injectable fillers and gummy bear breast implants, emerging minimally invasive reconstruction surgeries, rising number of tooth deformities, congenital face disorders and increasing awareness of aesthetic appearance. Biological cosmetic implant is a highly profitable segment owing to the health benefits of biological materials over synthetic materials. Also, the demand for polymer implant devices, demand for aesthetic procedures, emergence of innovative products like two form-stable silicone gel breast implants and hyaluronic acid facial filler are expected to boost the global cosmetic implants market size.Polymer based cosmetic implants is expected to contribute for a larger market shareThe global cosmetic implants market is segmented on the basis of material, application, end user and geography.On the basis of material, the global cosmetic implants market is segmented into:MetalsPolymersCeramicsBiomaterialsOn the basis of applications, the global cosmetic implants market is segmented into:Dental ImplantsRoot FormPlate FormBreast ImplantsSaline-FilledSilicone Gel-FilledFacial ImplantsOthersOn the basis of end user, the global cosmetic implants market is segmented into:HospitalsCosmetic ClinicsOthersIncreasing awareness of aesthetic appearance with minimally invasive surgeries dominates North America in cosmetic implants marketRegional segmentation of the global cosmetic implants market by Coherent Market Insights comprises North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Latin America and Middle East and Africa. According to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, an estimated 15.9 million surgical and minimally invasive cosmetic procedures were performed in 2015 where breast augmentation is the most common surgical cosmetic procedure with 290,467 surgeries in 2016, thus dominating the demand for cosmetic implants in North America. Additionally, changing lifestyle, high economic development, larger disposable incomes and emphasis on aesthetic appeal are the key factors driving the demand for cosmetic implants in North America. Asia Pacific presents lucrative growth opportunities for players in the cosmetic implants market, with the rapid economic development, inexpensive devices and improving healthcare infrastructure.Request to view table of content @Technological innovations like 3D printed facial implants is projected to have a positive impact on cosmetic implants market growthThe key players operating the global cosmetic implants market include Aesthetic and Reconstructive Technologies (AART) Inc., GC Aesthetics, Dentsply International Inc., Sientra Inc. The microchip implants, B lite implants are 30% lighter providing higher efficiency and reduced stress on the implanted organs. Other key vendors engage in continuous innovation with research and development for sustainable growth are Zimmer Holdings Inc., 3M Health Care, Implantech Associates Inc., Nobel Biocare Holding AG and Spectrum Designs MedicalAbout Coherent Market Insights:Coherent Market Insights is a prominent market research and consulting firm offering action-ready syndicated research reports, custom market analysis, consulting services, and competitive analysis through various recommendations related to emerging market trends, technologies, and potential absolute dollar opportunityContact Us:Mr.ShahCoherent Market Insights1001 4th Ave,#3200Seattle, WA 98154Tel: +12067016702E-mail:sales@coherentmarketinsights.comWebsite:
Internet of Things (IoT) in Healthcare Market Report Forecasts Impressive Growth by 2024

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Global Internet of Things (IoT) in Healthcare Market: OverviewThe proliferation of the Internet of Things (IoT) in the healthcare market, which comprises systems and software, medical devices, and services, has had a significant impact on the overall healthcare sector and been immensely beneficial in remote clinical monitoring, chronic disease management, preventive care, assisted living, and personal fitness monitoring. Termed as a true game-changer for the healthcare industry, the Internet of Things has transformed the sector by lowering costs, improving efficiency, and bringing the focus back to quality patient care.Read the Comprehensive Overview of Internet of Things (IoT) in Healthcare Market:The IoT in healthcare market includes a number of implanted, wearable, and stationary medical devices used in clinical research organizations, research and diagnostic laboratories, hospitals, clinics, and surgical centers, and defense and government institutions. In the healthcare industry, the Internet of Things can be put to several applications, including clinical operations and workflow management, inpatient monitoring, telemedicine, connected imaging, and medication management. Bluetooth low energy (BLE), ZigBee, satellite, Wi-Fi, near-field communication (NFC), and cellular are some of the key connectivity technologies involved in IoT in healthcare.The data in the report on the worldwide market for IoT in healthcare has been collated from several primary and secondary research sources, along with sharp insights and strategic recommendations from industry experts. The report is designed to help clients formulate profitable and actionable strategies to expand their businesses.Global Internet of Things (IoT) in Healthcare Market: Key Trends and OpportunitiesConsidering that the global healthcare industry has been undergoing several changes in a bid to provide accessible, affordable, and quality patient care, advanced and cutting edge technologies are being developed to help the industry cope with these changes. The introduction of IoT in the healthcare sector has transformed the way health services are being delivered.There are a number of factors driving the global market for IoT in healthcare. These include increasing global geriatric population, rising prevalence of various chronic diseases, the surging awareness levels pertaining to the availability of advanced disease management systems, the mounting demand for long-term and short-term healthcare services, and an overall improvement in data management, patient monitoring, and healthcare outcomes. The growing use of smartphones and the improved internet connectivity across the globe are also responsible for the expansion of the IoT in healthcare market.Global Internet of Things (IoT) in Healthcare Market: Regional OutlookThe global market for IoT in healthcare is geographically segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Rest of the World. North America continues to be the highest revenue generating region and analysts predict that the region is likely to retain its lead in the global IoT in healthcare market throughout the forecast period. The rapid growth of the North America IoT in healthcare market can be attributed to the presence of advanced and sophisticated healthcare infrastructure, major technological advancements in the field of healthcare software and medical devices, increased levels of R&D initiatives in IoT, and high levels of disposable income.The Asia Pacific market for IoT in healthcare has been identified as the most lucrative region and this geographical segment is projected to witness strong growth in the coming years. Rapid economic growth is one of the primary reasons for the future expansion of the IoT in healthcare in Asia Pacific, especially in countries such as China and India. Other factors impacting this regional market include improvement in healthcare infrastructure, rising disposable income levels, growing presence of IT-enabled healthcare services, increasing affordability of smartphones and various wearable medical devices, and changes in lifestyle habits.Request for the Sample Report:Global Internet of Things (IoT) in Healthcare Market: Vendor AssessmentAdheretech, Cerner Corporation, PhysIQ, Stanley Healthcare, Qualcomm Life Inc., Cisco Systems, Medtronic Inc., GE Healthcare, Proteus Digital Health Inc., Microsoft Corporation, Diabetizer Ltd. & Co. KG, Philips, SAP SE, IBM Corporation, and Honeywell Care Solutions are some of the top companies competing in the global IoT in healthcare market. The nature of this market is immensely oligopolistic, wherein a handful of large, established players dominate the scene with strategies such as collaborative research and development, development of specialized products for specific applications, and acquiring startups with immense potential. This in turn, makes it difficult for smaller players and new entrants to venture into the IoT in healthcare market.About TMRTransparency 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.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 Opportunities and Forecast by 2024

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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.Read the Comprehensive Overview of Tele-intensive Care Services 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.Request for the Sample 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.About TMRTransparency 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.US Office Contact90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Cardiac Output Monitoring Devices Market to Receive Overwhelming Hike in Revenues by 2024

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Cardiac output is known as the volume of blood is pumped by from the right or left ventricle of heart per minute and which is dependent on heart rate, and stroke volume. The cardiac output increases during acute exercise and mental stress, while decreased cardiac output might include physical exercise of a intensity that the patient is not able to bear because of decrease in oxygen supply, obesity, ingestion of large meals that place an added workload on the heart, retention of fluid, emotional stress, hypervolemia, and smoking. It is essential to assess the state of patients blood circulation. Low cardiac output usually leads to a common problem of low blood pressure which might surface occur during surgery, or during postoperative care in the intensive care units.Read the Comprehensive Overview of Cardiac Output Monitoring Devices Market:In high-risk surgical patients and critically ill patients the arterial blood pressure and cardiac output usually are monitored more comprehensively. Cardiac output monitoring devices are used to know the cardiac output of heart and arterial oxygen content which enable the circulation of continuous systemic oxygen supply to the body. Doubling the cardiac output leads to double amount of the oxygen supply to the tissues, while the low cardiac output leads to inadequate supply of oxygen to organs like brain and the low amount of cellular oxygenation can cause tissue and organ failure. The major observed causative factors for the decrease cardiac output are congenital heart defects, pathologic changes in the heart's muscle, blood dyscrasias, chronic pulmonary disease and electrolyte imbalances (as of potassium or calcium). According to North American Nursing Diagnosis Association, decreased cardiac output is defined as a state in which inadequate blood is pumped by the heart to meet the metabolic demands of the body. Cardiac output monitoring devices market is classified on the basis of product type, methods, end-user and geography.On the basis of product type the market is broadly classified into invasive, minimally-invasive and non-invasive cardiac output monitoring devices. The invasive cardiac output monitoring has been traditionally accomplished using the pulmonary artery catheter (PAC), but complications associated with PAC has markedly decreased the widespread use of the PAC. The market demand for the non- invasive devices is high followed by minimally invasive devices as compare to invasive devices, due to factors such as ease, accessibility and cost- effectiveness and fast response time. By methods the market is segmented as thermodilution method, pulse pressure analysis, Doppler method, bioimpedance and applied Fick principle. Each methods has its own merits and demerits. On the basis of end-user the market is segmented as hospitals, ambulatory care and critical care centers. By end-user hospitals covers the major market for cardiac output monitoring devices, because of reliability and conjunction of other therapeutic treatments. The factors such as raising incidences of cardiovascular diseases, increase in the number of people suffering from obesity, growing ageing population, and raising healthcare infrastructure facilities are the growth drivers of this market.By geography, the market can be segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Rest of the world. Geographically, North America was observed to have the major share of cardiac output monitoring device market due to high healthcare awareness, prevalence of cardiovascular diseases and technological advancement in the region. Europe contributes to the second largest share in the cardiac output monitoring device market growth with raising ageing population. However, Asia Pacific region is expected to be the fastest growing due to the gradual adoption of improved technologies, emerging health care infrastructures, and raising population with cardiac problems and obesity. Followed by Rest of the world.Request for the Sample Report:The major key players operating in cardiac output monitoring device market include Edwards Lifesciences Corporation, Cheetah Medical, PULSION Medical Systems SE, Philips Healthcare, LiDCO Group plc, Boston Scientific Corporation, GE Healthcare, and others. Bioreactance-based NICOM Cheetah Medical remains the topmost non-invasive market leader.About TMRTransparency 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.US Office Contact90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Global Insomnia Market 2023 Major Key Players- Eisai Co., Pfizer Inc., Merck & Co Inc., Sanofi, Takeda Pharmaceutical Company with CAGR of 4.5%

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Market Research Future adds new report of Global Insomnia Market Research Report Forecast to 2023 it contains Company information, geographical data and Table of ContentMarket Segmentation:Global Insomnia Market has been segmented on the basis of On the basis of Types of Therapy; which comprises Pharmacological therapy which is further sub segmented into benzodiazepines, non-benzodiazepines, and melatonin receptor agonists. Non Pharmacological therapy which is sub segmented into Relaxation therapy, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Sleep Hygiene Education, Stimulus Control, Paradoxical Intention and Other. On the basis of Drug Formulation; they are segmented as Capsules, Tablet and others. On the basis of Condition of Diseases; they are poor quality of sleep, sleep maintenance and other.Market Highlight:Insomnia is a common sleep disorder characterized by difficulties in sleep. Insomnia can exist as its alone or conjugated with other psychiatric problems. Insomnia is most common is women and the severity may increase in conditions like pregnancy, postpartum, and menopause. The exact cause of insomnia is still a mystery. Many researches have shown that biological, behavioral and psychological factors are responsible for initiating of insomnia. Different types of treatment are available in the market- Pharmacological and non-pharmacological treatment. Global Insomnia market is driving due to increase in the number of insomnia patient across the globe, technological advances and many others. While lack of education and awareness is the major restraining factor for the growth of market.Global insomnia market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 4.5% during forecasted period of 2017-2023.Request a Sample Report @Key Players: Eisai, Co. (Japan) Pfizer, Inc. (US) Merck & Co Inc. (US) Sanofi (France) Takeda Pharmaceutical Company (Japan) Meda Consumer Healthcare Inc. (US) Pernix Therapeutics (US) Purdue Pharma L.P. (US) Consumer Healthcare Inc. (Canada) Dainippon Sumitomo (Japan) ECR Pharmaceuticals (US) Flynn Pharma (UK) Johnson & Johnson (US) Astellas (UK) Biocodex S A (France) Neurim (Switzerland) SkyePharma (UK) Vanda Pharmaceuticals Inc. (US)Intended Audience Manufacturing and packaging industries. Insomnia devices and drug manufacturers Insomnia devices and drug suppliers Biotechnology Companies Bio-Pharmaceutical Companies Research and Development (R&D) Companies Government Research Laboratories Medical Research InstitutesBrowse Report Details @Study Objectives Global Insomnia Market Research Report To provide the Detail Overview of parent market. To provide In-depth market segmentation and sub segmentations. To provide insights about factors affecting the market growth To analyze the market based on various factors- price analysis, supply chain analysis, porters five force analysis etc. To provide Competitive landscape and key players in the market. 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 Pacific and Middle East and Africa. To provide country level analysis of the market with respect to the current market size and future prospective 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 insomnia market.Request Table of Contents for this Report @Regional AnalysisOn regional basis the global insomnia market is segmented into four regions- North America, Europe, Asia Pacific and Middle East and Africa. Due to introduction of new technology and new treatments North America is has the highest market for insomnia followed by Europe. Increasing stress is the major problem for increasing the insomnia market in North America and Europe. Asia Pacific and Middle East and Africa have the lowest market for insomnia.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.Contact:Akash Anand,Market Research FutureOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, Hadapsar,Pune - 411028Maharashtra, India+1 646 845 9312Email: akash.anand@marketresearchfuture.com
Global Pillow Market 2023 Major Game Changers  Hollander, American Textile Company, Wendre, Romatex

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Market Research Future adds new report of Global Pillow Market Research Report- Forecast to 2023 it contains Company information, geographical data and Table of ContentMarket Scenario of Pillow Market:Global Pillow Market has seen significant growth form last decade due to increasing application of pillow for decoration and sleeping purpose. The filling material used in pillow provides special features to pillow which is used for different application. Rising awareness among consumer about selection of a pillow which suits their sleeping position has changed the dynamics of pillow market. In North America, square and rectangle shaped pillow are dominating the market and it is anticipated to maintain their dominance during forecast period. Huge potential in Middle East and Africa region is attracting key players to enter in that particular market and pillow market in this region will witness significant growth in upcoming region.Key Findings: Pillows with therapy feature is growing at faster rate compare to pillows with other feature types Pillows made from hallow fiber is in high demand from developed countries like U.S., France, Canada and U.K.Request a Sample Report @Market Segments: Pillow market has been segmented on the basis of Material which includes 100% Cotton, 100% Bamboo Fiber, 100% Silk, 100% Polyester and Others Pillow market has been segmented on the basis of Filling Material which includes memory foam, hollow fibre, latex, microfiber and others Pillow market has been segmented on the basis of Shape which includes square, u-shape, rectangle, wave, round, convex and others Pillow market has been segmented on the basis of Feature which includes therapy, cooling, anit-static, anti-bacteria and others Pillow market has been segmented on the basis of Application which includes decorative, sleeping, bedding, travel, massage and othersStudy Objectives of Pillow 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 pillow market To provide insights about factors affecting the market growth To analyze the 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-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 material, filling material, shape, feature, application and region 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.Browse Report Details @Key PlayersThe key players profiled in the pillow market are as Hollander (U.S.) American Textile Company (U.S.) Wendre (Estonia) Romatex (South Africa) Hunan Mendale Hometextile Co. Ltd (China) Luolai (China) Dohia Home Textile Co. Ltd (China)Intended Audience Pillow manufacturers Cotton manufacturers Silk and Polyester manufacturers Latex and fiber manufacturers Agriculture Industry E-commerce Retailers and wholesalers Traders, importers and exportersRequest Table of Contents for this Report @Regional AnalysisThe Global Pillow market is segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and rest of the world (ROW). Asia Pacific has the major market share followed by Europe. Population in Asia Pacific region contributes around half of the worlds population which has created huge customer base for pillow market. Innovation by key players in pillow filling material and attractive designs and shapes of various pillows is attracting consumers from Europe and North America 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.Contact:Akash Anand,Market Research FutureOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, Hadapsar,Pune - 411028Maharashtra, India+1 646 845 9312Email: akash.anand@marketresearchfuture.com
Salmonella Testing Market | Key Growth Factors and Forecast up to 2024

Salmonella Testing Market

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Global Salmonella Testing Market: OverviewThe rising prevalence of salmonella infection is by far the leading factor driving the global salmonella testing market. This infection generally affects the gastrointestinal tract of humans and animals, which may turn life threatening if left untreated for a long period. Contaminated food items such as infected meat, eggs, and unpasteurized milk and dairy products are the major source of transmission of the infection. Over the past few years, there have been several outbreaks of salmonella in the U.S. and in those occasions, many companies in the meat and dairy business had to recall their products from the market.The commonly employed methods for the diagnosis of salmonella infection are stool culture method and real time PCR. In the former, stool of infected animal or human being is cultured, while the latter is done by intensifying and detecting targeted pathogens DNA sequence.The research report is a professional study offering invaluable insights into various important parameters of the global salmonella testing market. It provides a comprehensive description of the factors influencing the market and the extent to which they impact the growth. For a coherent understanding, the report divides the market on the basis of several criteria including diagnosis method, food type, and geography. It includes tools such as market attractiveness analysis and Porters five force analysis to derive vendor landscape of the global salmonella testing market. It reviews the market for the period between 2016 and 2024.View Report Global Salmonella Testing Market: Drivers and RestraintsThe implementation of food safety regulations worldwide along with their increasing stringency is escalating the growth of the global salmonella testing market. The several incidents of outbreaks of salmonella have compelled governments and regulatory authorities across the world to keep a strict check on food products during every stage of their production and processing. Moreover, the rising awareness among consumers regarding foodborne diseases and rapid technological advancements in bacterial detection technologies are augmenting the market. On the other hand, the lack of proper food control resources and infrastructure in developing nations is hindering the growth of the market.Global Salmonella Testing Market: Geographical SegmentationThe key segments analyzed in the report on the basis of geography are Asia Pacific, Europe, North America, and Rest of the World. North America will have a strong foothold in the market throughout the forecast period. The growth of the region is largely supplemented by the implementation of stringent food safety regulations, especially due to the high incidence of salmonella contamination. Moreover, rapid technological advancements in testing procedures and the presence of advanced healthcare infrastructure are contributing to the growth of the region.Asia Pacific is expected to register a noteworthy CAGR during the review period. The improving healthcare facilities and growing research and development activities in the field of salmonella testing are propelling the growth of the region. The increasing prevalence of foodborne diseases is boosting the adoption of salmonella testing in the region. Countries such as India and China are estimated to be at the forefront of the growth of the region.Global Salmonella Testing Market: Competitive LandscapeWith the sharp rise in the demand for advanced testing methods, key players in the global salmonella testing market are pouring large funds into research and development activities to consolidate their presence. They are aiming at expanding their market shares through mergers and acquisitions. Some of the key players are operating in niche segments to gain an edge over competitors. While Life Technologies, Eiken Chemical Company Limited, Romer Labs, and Neogen Corporation are some of the prominent companies operating in the real-time PCR techniques, DuPont Qualicon and Hardy Diagnostics are among key players targeting culture detection methods.Request a brochure of this report to know what opportunities will emerge in the rapidly evolving Salmonella Testing 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.US Office Contact90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA  Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Benzyl Chloroformate Industry Trends and Global Big Players Research Report to 2023

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Market ScenarioBenzyl chloroformate also called benzyloxycarbonyl chloride, benzyl chlorocarbonate, carbobenzoxy chloride, Carbonochloridic acid phenylmethyl ester, and z-chloride, and speak to with the straight formula ClCO2CH2C6H5, which is an clear light sleek fluid, and variations its shading to yellow to dry, despite the fact that It is likewise known for its impactful smell. Moreover, it is set up by dropping benzyl liquor into fluid phosgene at 20 C in the research facility. Benzyl chloroformate is utilized as a transitional for the combination of pharmaceuticals and agrochemicals particularly for a few carbamates, which are utilized as herbicides, bug sprays, grow inhibitors, fungicides, biocides, and others. Likewise, they are broadly utilized as reagents in natural science for example, benzyl chloroformate is utilized as a part of the generation of carboxybenzyl (Cbz) securing gathering. Additionally, they are likewise expanding application in the field of chromatography as multipurpose derivatization specialists.Market SegmentsThe global benzyl chloroformate market is majorly segmented on the basis of application, end users and region. Based on application of benzyl chloroformate the market is segmented into as insecticides, fungicides, herbicides, sprout inhibitors, biocides, and others. Based on the other hand, based on end user the market segmented into agricultural, pharmaceutical, plastic, and others industry Based on region market is segmented into North America, Europe, APAC, Latin America, Middle East & Africa.To Get Sample Copy of Report Visit @Study Objective of Benzyl Chloroformate Market To provide detailed analysis of the market structure along with forecast for the next 7 years of the various segments and sub-segments of the Global Benzyl Chloroformate Market To understand the supply and demand dynamics including supply and consumption concentration mapping To provide region level market analysis and future outlook for North America, Europe, Asia, and Rest of the World (ROW) and their countries To provide competitor positioning of the market To provide company profiling of major players in the market along with their production and capacity To provide regional trade analysis To evaluate historical market trends, patents and technologies, and current government regulatory requirements that are relevant to the marketRead the full report: @Key Players:Key players of the global benzyl chloroformate market are: Choice Organochem LLp (India) Paushak Limited (India) Nacalai Tesque (Japan) BASF SE (Germany) Tokyo Chemical Industry Co., Ltd. (Japan) Chemlin Chemical Industry Co., Ltd (China) MERYER CO., LTD (China) Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (US) Wako Pure Chemical Industries, Ltd. (Japan) J&K Scientific Ltd. (China)Intended Audience Benzyl Chloroformate manufacturers Traders and distributors of Benzyl Chloroformate Production Process industries Potential investors Raw material suppliers Nationalized laboratoryRegional Analysis of Benzyl Chloroformate Market:Asia Pacific is the largest market of benzyl chloroformate due to large consumption in agrochemical industry, in China region followed by India. Increasing demand for agrochemical industry in China, India, Japan, Taiwan, and South Korea has made Asia Pacific largest consumer of the global benzyl chloroformate market followed by increasing in the consumption of benzyl chloroformate market in North America region. In North America region, benzyl chloroformate market is drive by agricultural, pharmaceutical, plastic, and others industry. In addition, the third largest market of benzyl chloroformate is Europe region due to large consumption in agriculture and pharmaceutical industry. Moreover, Latin America and Middle East also observed in growth of benzyl chloroformate market due to various application such as insecticides, fungicides, herbicides, sprout inhibitors, biocides, and others.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.Akash Anand,Market Research FutureOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, Hadapsar,Pune - 411028Maharashtra, India+1 646 845 9312Email: akash.anand@marketresearchfuture.com
The External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj yesterday met the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs of Nepal Krishna Bahadur Mahara who landed in New Delhi on July 2 and will be here until 4th July.

It is his first visit after being appointed as the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs of Nepal in June 2017.Swaraj also hosted a dinner in the honour of Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs of Nepal.

Yesterday, the External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj also met Minister of Industry of the Republic of Belarus Vitaly Vovk. They duo discussed on various issues.

Also Read:

Prime Minister Narendra Modi to attend G-20 Summit in Germany

Prime Minister Modi to begin Israel visit from today

Fill administrative system with energy of New India said PM Modi to IAS Officers
Methylene Blue Market 2016 Trends, Research, Analysis and Review Forecast 2024

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Methylene blue is a versatile compound which has wide range of applications. It is known to be an aromatic compound which is used in various fields. It has molecular formula C16H18N3SCl. It was manufactured for the first time by a german chemist named Heinrich Caro. It appears as a dark green solid in the form of powder which has no odor. When dissolved in water, Methylene blue results in formation of a blue colored solution. The other names for Methylene blue include Desmoid piller, Panatone, Vitablue and urolene blue among others. Methylene blue is also known to be a basic aniline dye which is used by biologists to stain tissue samples and detect nucleic acids.View Report @The major areas which deal with methylene blue include medical, chemical, pharmaceutical and aquaculture among others. In chemical industry, methylene blue has application in analytical chemistry as a redox indicator. It detects the absence and presence of oxygen. It is also used in preparation in reaction of Fehlings solution and reducing sugars to make it clearly visible. It is also used in titrations and volumetric analysis. In the biological industry, methylene blue is used as a dye which helps in identification and detection of bacteria. As bacteria are colorless, a drop of methylene blue helps in identification of bacteria under the microscope. It is also used in detection of RNA sequences. Some tests such as northern blotting and western blots also make use of methylene blue. In the pharmaceutical industry, it is primarily used as medicine for treatment of disorder named methemoglobinema. This is a disorder in which oxidized hemoglobin levels gradually rise above the normal level in blood. Methylene blue reduces extra methmoglobin to hemoglobin in blood. Methylene blue is also used as drug for treating manic depressive psychosis, formation of bladder and kidney stones and infection caused by herpes simplex virus. Aquaculture is another field of application wherein, methylene blue is used as insecticide and to prevent fungal infection on freshwater fish eggs.Growing demand for methylene blue from the pharmaceutical industry is the major factor driving the global methylene blue market. Increasing demand from the chemical industry is also expected to boost demand for methylene blue in the market. Upcoming demand from aquaculture is also expected to fuel demand for methylene blue in the market. The biology industry contributes and will continue to create demand for methylene blue in the near future.The key segments profiled for methylene blue market include North America, Europe, Asia Pacific and Rest of the World (RoW). Asia Pacific is expected to dominate the methylene blue market owing to the growing demand from the medical and chemical industry in the region. North America and Europe are also expected to boost market for methylene blue due to growing demand from the pharmaceutical industry and end-user industries in the region.The key companies profiled for methylene blue market include: VANSHI CHEMICALS PVT. LTD., Sakshi Dyes and Chemicals, DAIICHI SANKYO COMPANY, LIMITED, Megha International, Shreeji Pharma International, Ashaway Line & Twine Mfg. Co., Belami Laboratory & Fine Chemicals, MACSEN GROUP, COSMO Pharmaceuticals, A & C American Chemicals Ltd., A&K Petro - Chem Industries Limited, ACP Chemicals Inc., Alfa Aesar, Bio-Rad Laboratories (Canada) Ltd., Caledon Laboratories Ltd., Canadawide Scientific Ltd., Cedarlane and Cleartech Industries Inc among others.The report offers a comprehensive evaluation of the market. It does so via in-depth qualitative insights, historical data, and verifiable projections about market size. The projections featured in the report have been derived using proven research methodologies and assumptions. By doing so, the research report serves as a repository of analysis and information for every facet of the market, including but not limited to: Regional markets, technology, types, and applications.Get accurate market forecast and analysis on the Methylene Blue Market Request a sample to stay abreast on the key trends impacting this market.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 analysisThe 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, and Luxembourg)Eastern Europe (Poland and Russia)Asia Pacific (China, India, Japan, ASEAN, Australia, and New Zealand)Middle East and Africa (GCC, Southern Africa, and North Africa)The report has been compiled through extensive primary research (through interviews, surveys, and observations of seasoned analysts) and secondary research (which entails reputable paid sources, trade journals, and industry body databases). The report also features a complete qualitative and quantitative assessment by analyzing data gathered from industry analysts and market participants across key points in the industrys value chain.A separate analysis of prevailing trends in the parent market, macro- and micro-economic indicators, and regulations and mandates is included under the purview of the study. By doing so, the report projects the attractiveness of each major segment over the forecast period.Highlights 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:
Continuous Positive Airway Pressure Devices Market | Value Chain Analysis and Forecast up to 2024

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Continuous positive airway pressure therapy is the most common treatment for obstructive sleep apnea that uses constant mild air pressure. These continuous positive airway pressure devices are used to keep the airways open while sleeping and also to control the output pressure by keeping the airflow pressure unbroken. The global continuous positive airway pressure devices market is growing at a steady pace and offers high growth opportunities for market players during the forecast period. One of the major drivers of the global market is high prevalence of sleep disorders. As per the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, it is estimated that over 350 Mn people worldwide suffer from sleep apnea. Thus, the growing awareness of sleep apnea and related comorbid conditions such as high blood pressure, and obesity have led to increased demand for continuous positive airway pressure devices. Similarly, advances in technology such as use of oxygen devices, improved mask design and oral appliances are expected to provide support and propel the growth of the global continuous positive airway pressure market.Though delivery of continuous positive airway pressure through a nasal mask is the most common modality of treatment, other systems exist for interfacing with adults and children. Nasal continuous positive airway pressure is regularly used in infants, however its use is debatable. Studies have revealed nasal continuous positive airway pressure reduces ventilator time but an augmented incidence of pneumothorax was also prevalent. Oral masks and naso-oral masks are frequently used when nasal congestion or obstruction is an issue. Devices which combine nasal pressure with maxillary advancement devices (MAD) also exist. The continuous positive airway pressure device requires to be used every night. Some patients complain of nasal congestion, mask discomfort, and nose and throat dryness when using continuous positive airway pressure. Others find the device to be too cumbersome and constrictive, particularly when travelling. Unfortunately, these complaints sometimes lead to inconsistent use or abandonment of the device altogether. Proper mask fitting and use of a humidifier can resolve these issues.View Report Geographically, continuous positive airway pressure devices market has been segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America and Middle East & Africa. The continuous positive airway pressure devices market is currently dominated by the Americas, accounting for more than half market share, followed by the Middle East & Africa region and the Asia Pacific region. In the Americas, the U.S. was the largest revenue contributor because of the increased diagnosis of sleep apnea in patients. Similarly, Asia Pacific expected to witness higher growth in continuous positive airway pressure devices market due to increasing disease prevalence in the countries like India and China. The market will typically witness a higher growth rate in countries such as the Germany, Spain, U.K., Italy and France. The continuous positive airway pressure devices market in the U.K. is developed and well-established, and is comparatively it is easier to enter the market for new players, making the positive airway pressure devices market in the country more prominent than in any other European countries. The growth of this market in Europe is attributed to well-defined regulatory guidelines and increasing prevalence of sleep apnea during the forecast period.Continuous positive airway pressure devices market is dominated by big players while the remaining market is fragmented. The dominating players compete based on factors such as product features, price and reliability. However, the emerging players are developing innovative devices to treat obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and other sleep related respiratory conditions, which could pose a threat to major players in terms of revenue during 2016-2024. The top vendors in the market are ResMed and Philips Healthcare. Other prominent vendors include Apria Healthcare, Apex Medical, Armstrong Medical, Bremed, BMC Medical, Cardinal Health, Dehaier Medical Systems, Curative Medical, DeVilbiss Healthcare, Genstar Technologies, Drager Medical, Hans Rudolph, Hersill, Heyer Medical, InnoMed Technologies, HOFFRICHTER GmbH, Intersurgical, Medtronic, Invacare, PAHSCO, Pneumocare, Penlon, Pulmodyne, Smiths Medical, Sleepnet, SOMNETICS, Sturdy Industrial, and Weinmann Gerate fur Medizin.Request a brochure of this report to know what opportunities will emerge in the rapidly evolving Continuous Positive Airway Pressure Devices 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.US Office Contact90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA  Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Automobile Additive Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share 2024 | Research Report

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The global automobile industry has been expanding rapidly, led by the high demand for automobiles across the world. Stringent government regulations such as those related to emissions, primarily in the U.S. and Europe, have encouraged automobile manufacturers to develop hybrid and electric vehicles. Automotive manufacturers are the primary adopters of additive manufacturing or 3D printing (3DP) technology. Increase in application of 3D printing among automotive manufacturers is driving the production and design of automobiles.Browse Market Research Report @The global automobile additive industry is expected to expand at a rapid rate during the forecast period. Economic recovery in the U.S. and Europe has led boosted the automobile market. This recovery has resulted in higher per capita income, easy credit facilities, and increased employment. This, in turn, is estimated to propel the automobile additive market. Automobile manufacturers are likely to increase their production capacities either through expansion of the existing facilities or installation of new facilities. Increase in usage of plastic in line with the changes in trend of using lightweight vehicles, implementation of stringent emission regulations, rise in the production of passenger cars, and electrification of vehicles are the major factors driving the automobile additives market.In terms of application, the automobile additive market can be segmented into exterior, interior, under the hood, and electronics & electrical. The interior application segment is anticipated to hold major share of the market due to the increase in usage of plastic. Demand for automobile additive is estimated to rise due to the increasing focus on safety, esthetics, comfort, quality, durability, and color. In line with this, the use of plastics in automobile has been rising due to the growth in demand for lightweight material vehicles and implementation of stringent emission regulations.Based on plastic additives, the automobile additive market can be divided into plasticizers, anti-scratch, stabilizers, antioxidants, and others. In terms of plastic, the automobile additive market can be segregated into polypropylene (PP), polyurethane (PUR), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), and acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS). Polypropylene is anticipated to be a rapidly growing segment, due to the increasing use of polypropylene plastics in the automotive industry. The application of polypropylene plastics is more than polyurethane, poly-vinyl chloride, and others. Furthermore, large production of passenger cars and electric vehicles in countries such as China, the U.S., and Japan is projected to augment the demand for polypropylene in these countries. In terms of vehicle type, the automobile additive market can be classified into passenger car, light commercial vehicle, heavy commercial vehicle, and electric vehicle.Based on geography, the global automobile additive market can be divided into North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Middle East & Africa. Asia Pacific is one of the key consumers of automotive additive across the globe. . Furthermore, demand of vehicle in developing countries and changing lifestyles also play a part in propelling the automobile additive market. Asia Pacific is estimated to be a rapidly growing region of the automobile additive market, as the region accounts for large production of passenger cars and electric vehicles. Major concern regarding fuel efficiency has also boosted the demand for automotive additives.Get accurate market forecast and analysis on the Automobile Additive Market. Request a sample to stay abreast on the key trends impacting this market @The Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) regulation emphasizes on lowering emission and increasing demand for lightweight materials in the automotive industry. This is likely to propel the automobile additive market. Growth in urbanization, rise in consumer spending, and rapid industrialization in Asia Pacific are estimated to augment the demand for additives used in automobiles. The automobile additive market in North America and Europe is projected to expand at a moderate pace during the forecast period due to the technological advancement and well established market.Key players operating in the global automobile additive market include ExxonMobil Corporation, BASF SE, Covestro AG, Sabic, Akzo Nobel N.V., and The Dow Chemical Company.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a global market intelligence company providing business information reports and services. The companys exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trend analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.TMRs data repository is continuously updated and revised by a team of research experts so that it always reflects the latest trends and information. With extensive research and analysis capabilities, Transparency Market Research employs rigorous primary and secondary research techniques to develop distinctive data sets and research material for business reports.ContactTransparency Market ResearchState Tower,90 State Street,Suite 700,Albany NY - 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Colorants Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share 2024 | Research Report

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A colorant can used either as a dye or a pigment subject to the binder involved in the manufacturing process. Pigment is a material that modifies the color of the transmitted or reflected light resulting from the wavelength-selective absorption. A pigment is required to have high tinting strength compared to the materials it colors. Most pigments used in the manufacture of paints, plastics, etc. are dry colorants, typically milled into a fine powder.Browse Market Research Report @This powder is further added to a binder, which is comparatively colorless and neutral material that suspends the pigment and gives the required adhesion to paints. Pigments are mostly used for coloring fabric, food, paint, inks, and other materials. There is a major difference between a pigment and dye. A pigment is insoluble in its binder, while a dye is mostly soluble in its binder or is itself a liquid.Colorants Market: Drivers and RestraintsColorants is a key sector of the specialty chemical industry. Increasing demand from the high performance pigments application, recent developments in end-user industries, and rising inclination toward environment-friendly products are the primary factors driving the colorants market. Pigments and dyes are employed in various applications such as textile, paints & coatings, construction, plastics, and printing inks. Overcapacity across the globe, volatility in prices of raw materials, and concerns regarding its environmental hazards are factors restraining the market for colorants.Colorants Market: SegmentationBased on application, the colorants market can be segmented into:-Automotive-Industrial-Decorative Paints & Coatings-Architectural Paints and Coatings-Plastic-Films-Fibers-Detergent Coloration-Cosmetics-Aluminum Finishing-Electronic DisplaysIn terms of type, the colorants market can be bifurcated into:-Dyes-PigmentsGet accurate market forecast and analysis on the Colorants Market. Request a sample to stay abreast on the key trends impacting this market @The global market for colorants was estimated to be valued at around US$ 27 Bn in 2016. The industry experienced average growth rate of 2% to 3% per annum in the last decade. Furthermore, exports account for approximately 68% of the colorants market in India in 2015.Based on product, the colorants market can be bifurcated into:-Synthetic Colorants-Natural ColorantsSynthetic colorants (polymeric colorants) offer various physical properties such as absorption, solubility, viscosity, and migration. Synthetic colorants are non-abrasive and relatively less toxic.Interest in natural food colors has resulted in new product development globally. Europe is expected to lead the natural colorants segment. However, Asia Pacific is predicted to witness the fastest growth rate in the natural colorants segment The colorants market has been expanding in Asia Pacific owing to the rise in media exposure, implementation of stringent regulations on synthetic products, and growth in consumer awareness about natural products. However, the natural colorants segment in the U.S. has been expanding at a comparatively sluggish pace. Recent Big Food broadcasts confirm that under rising pressure from health-interest groups and consumers, the natural colorants segment in the U.S. is anticipated to witness a revolution in the near future. For example, in 2015, companies such as Nestle USA and Hershey announced their decision to stop producing products made from artificial colors and flavorsColorants Market: Region-wise outlookAsia Pacific held the major share of the global colorants market in 2015. It is a key region for the production of dyes and pigments. India and China are expected to significantly contribute towards the growth of the colorants market in Asia Pacific. India has developed as a global supplier of pigments, intermediates, and dyes since the last few years. In terms of demand for colorants, India is one of the largest markets for dyes and pigments and contributes nearly 6% share of the global colorants market. During the last couple of years, there has been a remarkable growth in exports of colorants in Asia Pacific to other regions across the globe.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a global market intelligence company providing business information reports and services. The companys exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trend analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.TMRs data repository is continuously updated and revised by a team of research experts so that it always reflects the latest trends and information. With extensive research and analysis capabilities, Transparency Market Research employs rigorous primary and secondary research techniques to develop distinctive data sets and research material for business reports.ContactTransparency Market ResearchState Tower,90 State Street,Suite 700,Albany NY - 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Fire Protection Systems Market 2015  Potential Growth, Analysis, Strategies and Forecast 2023

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Risky Operations in Oil and Gas Sector Drive Global MarketThe rising oil and gas activities across the globe to cater to the ever-increasing energy demands are also leading to a need for improved fire protection systems at the site. The challenging working conditions and the high risk of fires at oil and gas exploration sites and within the overall industry have laid down a good ground for growth the global fire protection systems market. According to the Transparency Market Research report, the opportunity in the global fire protection market was worth US$5.08 bn in 2014 and is anticipated to reach US$8.93 bn by 2023, as the market paces ahead at a 6.48% CAGR between 2015 and 2023.Browse Fire Protection Systems Market Research Report:Comprised of fire detection equipment and fire suppression systems, this market includes solutions for operational sectors of the oil and gas industry such as upstream, midstream, and downstream. These systems are often installed at onshore drilling rigs, offshore platforms, drill ships, and offshore oil rigs. The majority of oil and gas companies have been showing significant interest in installing the various fire protection systems due to the high costs of operations and the equally high risk of fatalities.Downstream Activities in Asia Pacific to Lead MarketAs per the report, the fire protection systems market includes products such as gas detectors, smoke detectors, flame detectors, heat detectors, alarms, fire suppressing agents, and fire suppressing equipment. The rising number of safety standards are anticipated have made it obligatory for oil and gas companies to use fire protection equipment, thereby increasing their application in all operational sectors of the industry. The increasing downstream activities in Asia Pacific such as construction and expansion of existing and new plants will also boost the demand for fire detection and suppression systems. Furthermore, the emergence of midstream activities in Europe to meet the rising energy demands will also propel this market in the coming years.Get exclusive sample of this report:Growing Oil Sands Industries of Canada Create New OpportunitiesNorth America is leading the global fire protection systems market due to an influx of investments in the oil and gas sector. This region is further sub-segmented into the U.S. and Canada. The latter is leading the North America fire protection systems as the oil sands industry is indicating a promising future. Research also indicates that the numerous refineries in Asia Pacific will coax the players to increase their exploration activities, thereby creating a demand for fire protection systems.The important players operating in the global fire protection systems market include KEVTA Fire Systems, Inc., 3M, Blaze Manufacturing Solutions Ltd., Danfoss Semco A/S, Consilium AB Publ., Deluge Offshore & Marine Pte Ltd., Dragerwerk AG & Co. KGaA, Fike Corporation, Fire Protection Engineering A/S, Emerson Electric Co. (Net Safety Monitoring Inc., Spectrex Inc.), Gielle Srl, Johnson Controls plc, Honeywell International, Inc. A comprehensive outlook of the competitive landscape in the global fire protection systems market indicates that these companies will have to improve their services to maintain the customer base and win new customers. The effort of standardizing fire protection systems and services will create a plethora of opportunities for these players.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a global market intelligence company providing business information reports and services. The companys exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trend analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.TMRs data repository is continuously updated and revised by a team of research experts so that it always reflects the latest trends and information. With extensive research and analysis capabilities, Transparency Market Research employs rigorous primary and secondary research techniques to develop distinctive data sets and research material for business reports.Contact UsTransparency Market Research90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:Visit Blog : http://cmfeglobalreports.blogspot.com/
Europe Steroid-Corticosteroids Market 2017: Industry Demand, Insight & Forecast By 2022

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Steroid-Corticosteroids are a class of steroid hormones that are produced in the adrenal cortex of vertebrates, as well as the synthetic analogues of these hormones.Scope of the Report:This report focuses on the Steroid-Corticosteroids in Europe market, especially in Germany, UK, France, Russia, and Italy. This report categorizes the market based on manufacturers, countries, type and application.To Get Request Sample report visit @Market Segment by Manufacturers, this report coversSumitomoPfizerNovartisMerckSanofiJohnson and JohnsonGSKAstraZenecaCiplaMarket Segment by Countries, coveringGermanyUKFranceRussiaItalyMarket Segment by Type, coversCreamInjectionOtherTo Browse Complete report visit @Market Segment by Applications, can be divided intoHospitalClinicOtherAbout UsReports Monitor (ReportsMonitor.com) is a platform for companies looking to meet their market research and business intelligence requirements. Our aim is to change the dynamics of the Market Research industry by providing quality intelligence backed by data. Your requirement for market forecasting is fulfilled by our exclusive quantitative and analytics driven intelligence. We have a vast collection of reports, covering maximum industries worldwide. Our process is meticulously planned and executed in order to use maximum resources and explore the market for getting genuine insights. The prime focus is to get reliable data, Decision makers can now rely on our distinct data gathering methods to get factual market forecasting and detailed analysis.About UsReports Monitor (ReportsMonitor.com) is a platform for companies looking to meet their market research and business intelligence requirements. Our aim is to change the dynamics of the Market Research industry by providing quality intelligence backed by data. Your requirement for market forecasting is fulfilled by our exclusive quantitative and analytics driven intelligence. We have a vast collection of reports, covering maximum industries worldwide. Our process is meticulously planned and executed in order to use maximum resources and explore the market for getting genuine insights. The prime focus is to get reliable data, Decision makers can now rely on our distinct data gathering methods to get factual market forecasting and detailed analysis.Contact UsJay MatthewsDirect: +1 513 549-5911Email: sales@reportsmonitor.comWebsite:
WASHINGTON -- The Securities and Exchange Commission has settled its fraud case against ITT Educational Services, but it continues to pursue top executives from the defunct for-profit college firm for deceiving investors about high rates of late payments and defaults on student loans backed by the firm.

A final judgment order filed Friday resolves civil fraud charges brought against the company two years ago for false and misleading statements about the failure of two in-house student-loan programs. There is no monetary penalty, and the company did not admit any wrongdoing.

ITT chief executive Kevin Modany and former chief financial officer Daniel Fitzpatrick are still fighting the allegations made against them by the SEC, which declined to comment on those proceedings.

Regulators at the SEC have accused ITT's top brass of making secret payments on delinquent accounts to delay defaults instead of disclosing the tens of millions of dollars in impending losses to investors. According to the complaint, executives assured investors in conference calls that the programs were performing well, while ITT's obligations to pay out on soured loans began to balloon.

Company officials have denied the allegations from the outset.

The company ended operations at all of its ITT Technical Institutes in September after the U.S. Department of Education curtailed its access to federal loans and grants when an accrediting body threatened to pull the school's accreditation amid mounting lawsuits and investigations. Days after shutting down 137 campuses and leaving 35,000 students -- including roughly 555 in Oregon -- and 8,000 employees in the lurch, the company filed for bankruptcy protection to liquidate its business.

The bankruptcy is dragging on as creditors, federal regulators, state attorneys general, jilted employees and students lay claim to the remaining assets. For its part, the Education Department is seeking roughly $232 million to recover federal student aid funds extended to ITT and the student loans it has forgiven as a result of the closure. In court filings, the department estimates that those closed-school discharges will cost more than $460 million to complete.

Though students are seeking redress through the liquidation, a $639 million claim filed by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau could deliver them restitution. The CFPB claim arises out of a lawsuit alleging that ITT provided zero-interest loans to students but failed to tell them that they would be kicked out of school if they didn't repay in a year. When students could not pay, the CFPB says, ITT forced them to take out high-interest loans to repay the first ones.

The loan programs in that case are at the heart of the SEC lawsuit. ITT created the two in-house student-loan programs as private lenders retreated from the market at the height of the 2008 financial crisis. To get investors to finance the in-house loans, the company offered a guarantee to limit the risk of students not repaying the debt. If a certain percentage of loans soured, the company agreed to cover the principal, interest and fees, according to the SEC complaint.

The SEC said investors did not have direct information about the performance of the debt because ITT kept the loan programs off its balance sheet. All investors could rely on was the company's word when students began defaulting en masse around 2011.

Regulators said executives failed to tell investors that the company was facing $30 million in guarantee obligation payments at the end of 2012, and used accounting tricks to hide the financial time bomb. It wasn't until 2014 that ITT reported over $60 million in charges related to its loan programs, which sent shares tumbling.

When the SEC filed its lawsuit, ITT said it consulted with experts, including an independent auditor, to confirm that its accounting was appropriate. Company officials also said they informed state regulatory authorities, accrediting agencies and the Education Department.

Those assurances mean little to lawmakers and consumer advocates who want the company and its executives held accountable for what they say is blatant fraud.

In a letter sent Friday, Democratic Sens. Richard J. Durbin of Illinois and Sherrod Brown of Ohio urged SEC Chairman Jay Clayton to bar Modany from serving as an officer of any public company and to impose stiff penalties on him and Fitzpatrick. The lawmakers expressed outrage that Modany, who did not immediately respond to requests for comment, is seeking more than $3.3 million in deferred compensation and severance pay, after receiving more than $36 million in total compensation from 2007 to 2014 at ITT.

"Justice demands that any outcome in this matter include the highest applicable civil money penalties and disgorgement of the ill-gotten gains with which Mr. Modany and Mr. Fitzpatrick have thus far absconded," the senators wrote. "Preventing future misconduct in the for-profit college industry requires that the SEC hold executives in the ITT case accountable."

-- The Washington Post
By Gov. Kate Brown

As I was falling asleep last night, I heard the distant and familiar pop-pop-pop of early fireworks. It reminded me of being a kid, blowing a portion of my allowance money on sparklers and, in more flush years, spark-showering cones with names like "Flower of Vesuvius."



It was years later as a middle-schooler that I registered the significance of 4th of July fireworks as the symbol of the artillery and munitions of the revolutionary war, "the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air" that enabled our fore bearers to, as Lincoln so famously put it, "...brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the notion that all [men] are created equal."



Today, on the 4th of July, as I head off to the Oregon State Capitol to, hopefully, complete the last few days of this legislative session, I ponder the status of that noble vision.



Since 1776, our nation has made notable progress toward equality for all Americans. But overall, it's been a rough and rocky road forward, full of switchbacks and potholes.



The latest iteration of the Republican health care legislation in the U.S. Senate appears to be an intentional departure from that early vision of equity and opportunity for all. A departure intended to serve the privileged at the expense of everyone else.



It represents a deliberate abandonment of the social contract that, for decades, one generation of Americans has made with the next. This contract says, "We recognize the economic and societal value of taking care of one another; of providing for those who cannot provide for themselves; of seeing that people with disabilities and illnesses are safe and well cared for; that our children have the opportunity to reach their full potential; that we conserve and protect our natural resources, and that, as a nation made stronger by diversity, we welcome newcomers seeking to start new lives."



Instead, an attitude of entitlement and exclusion hangs like a smog over our nation's Capitol.



A lack of leadership at the national level is a call to action for our nation's governors. We are called upon to protect and serve our states like never before: A governor may be all that stands between the president and Congress, and her state's way of life.



Be assured, I have and will continue to stand up to anyone seeking to violate the sanctity of our social contract. I will continually fight to expand access to health care for all Oregonians; grow jobs for the economy of the future; invest in high-quality public education; and work to reverse and mitigate the effects of climate change.



I will continue to fight federal policies that undermine Oregon values and threaten our economic vitality.



Although today is the 4th of July, I don't spend my money on sparklers anymore. But I expect there will be plenty of fireworks this year and in the years to come.



Kate Brown is the governor of Oregon.
By Tom Kelly

The Legislature is just days away from adjournment. While many things are on the chopping block, a key investment in Oregon's clean energy future is also at risk: a modest incentive for residential roof top solar installations.

Our state policymakers talk about Oregon being a leader on climate change, especially in the aftermath of President's Trump's withdrawal from the Paris climate agreement. The discontinuation of this tax credit would fly in the face of those statements and throw some doubt on their commitment.

When other states withdrew support for the solar industry, they saw an immediate decrease in installations and a contraction of the solar industry. They lost valuable green jobs that cannot be outsourced. Oregon cannot afford to follow those footsteps and should instead learn from those mistakes.

Citizens who install rooftop solar are providing a huge benefit to their community. Distributed energy resources create a stronger, cleaner, and more resilient grid to the benefit of all consumers. Costs are continuing to come down, and in the future, we will not need financial incentives that entice consumers to go all in on solar. But incentives are critical at this time and place for the solar industry with payback periods still a little to long without them. Incentives, in the form of tax credits, are an important statewide tool to keep the solar industry going in Oregon right now.

Some legislators have worked hard to keep a residential solar incentive in place by scaling it back to fit within Oregon's budgetary realities. They have developed a balanced package that has widespread support. But the package is not yet in the final tax credit agreement.

If the legislature adjourns and lets the roof top solar tax credit die, we will miss a critical opportunity, an opportunity for a cleaner, more affordable energy future and a growing sector that provides the good green jobs that Oregonians want and need. If our state leaders don't keep the solar installation tax credit going, it could be counted as one of the greatest failures this session.

Tom Kelly is president of Neil Kelly.
Last Friday's Oregonian contained the headlines, "Dems give up on PERS, business tax." Is anyone surprised?

Oregon has a weak, seemingly clueless person occupying the big chair in Salem. The Senate is led by an elderly gentleman who needs to retire to a rocker on his porch. The house is led by a callow youth.

What happened to leaders like Tom McCall and Vic Aityeh? Oh that's right, Oregon is a Democrat state presently.

Allen Nesbitt, Northwest Portland
The Prime Minister Narendra Modi is all set to begin his two-nation tour which he will start from Israel. Here he will have a talk with his counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu in Tel Aviv.

The Prime Minster, in his Facebook post, said both leaders will also discuss major common challenges like terrorism.

PM Modi will also call on President Reuven Rivlin. In Tel Aviv, he will address the Indian community in an event. The Prime Minister will also visit the Indian cemetery in Haifa where he will pay homage to Indian soldiers.

After the Israel visit, PM Modi will visit Hamburg in Germany to attend the 12th G-20 Summit.

Also Read:

Nitish Kumar clears about speculation of becoming the Prime Ministerial candidate for the Opposition in 2019

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar states on presidential poll

Sushma Swaraj praises Shivraj Singh Chouhan for initiative to protect Narmada River
The Bridge Church unites a primarily unchurched community through small groups and other initiatives.

The Church: The Bridge Church in Brooklyn, New York

The Challenge: Planting a church among a primarily unchurched population.

One Big Idea: Unite the community through City Group Bible studies and other ministries.

In 2013, Pastor James Roberson; his wife, Natarsha; and their daughters were living a happy, comfortable life in Atlanta, Georgia, when he said, I feel a call to plant a church in New York.

Where in New York? Natarsha asked with trepidation.

James had no clue.

With no plan in mindonly a poignant pressing on his heartin February 2013 the family moved to the Big Apple, where James proceeded to prayer-walk the streets of Brooklyn daily.

One day he found himself in front of a church near the Barclays Center, home of the NBAs Brooklyn Nets. He went inside and introduced himself to the pastor, who graciously invited Roberson to lead a Tuesday-night Bible study at the church. At first, just a handful of people showed up.

It was very humble beginnings, recalls Roberson, who asked group members what it would take to get their friends and co-workers to attend. They said a frank discussion about love, sex and dating would be the draw. So, Roberson hosted an event where he delivered a 15-minute message and then answered questions about the Bible regarding sex and relationships.

We were blown away because 120 came that nightmostly young, unchurched professionals who had a genuine interest in learning about God, says Roberson. After that night, the Bible study quadrupled in size.

In April 2014, Roberson launched The Bridge Churcha name he had picked to reflect the churchs purpose. The whole point of a church, he says, is to reach people.

Josh Edney, who also relocated from the South, met Roberson and began researching assimilation plans to determine how best to retain visitors. Excelling in administrative ministry, Edney joined The Bridge Church as executive pastor in 2015. Soon after, the church started nine City Group Bible studies, which are essentially sermon-based, small-group ministries.

Its about feeling the heartbeat of the city though discipleship, says Edney. We wanted people to be able to take Sundays sermon, discuss it in a family context and share Gods Word with the community.

Roberson thinks City Groups caught on so quickly because of New York Citys highly competitive atmosphere. With the theater, the arts and Wall Street, the cutthroat culture tends to breed insecurities. City Groups provide love and acceptance.

The churchs mission statement involves connecting to God, growing as family and serving the city. To fulfill that mission, theyve grown several ministries, including the Do Justice and I Am Known initiatives.

Shootings around the country led to the formation of Do Justice. What began as a way for people who felt afraid and confused to process these events has become a means of improving community relations with the police.

In addition, the church designed sweatshirts that say I Am Known, which they distribute to the homeless community to let them know that they are seen, heard and loved by God. The first winter they gave out 250 sweatshirts. In 2016, they distributed 425. This past winter, the number grew to 700.

Because most of Brooklyn is immigrant-based, the 155-member congregation is primarily made up of millennials from Caribbean countries.

Were 80 percent single, 70 percent Caribbean, 15 percent Latino and 15 percent Anglo, which makes for a pretty diverse crowd on Sundays, says Roberson, who has delivered equally diverse messages on justice, homosexuality, Black Lives Matter, transgender issues, politics and the need for unity.

We always strive to be culturally relevant and doctrinally sound, says Roberson. And while we dont use the culture as a litmus test for what to preach about, we do use the Word of God as a vehicle to discuss whats happening in society.

For both Roberson and Edney, the greatest reward from planting The Bridge Church has been witnessing life change. For instance, they speak of Jorge Maldanado, a Puerto Rican who abandoned God as a teenager, and Maximilian Hernandez, a half-Cuban/half-Jewish man raised in an unchurched Puerto Rican household. Both men lived faithless lives plagued by internal struggles until they found Christ, who filled them with love, hope and mercy.

I have contemporaries who go to Puerto Rico and France. I may not get to visit these beautiful locales, but you know what I do get to do? Baptize Jorge and Maximilian, says Roberson. Seeing people go from being far from God to serving God is the most satisfying thing in the world.

THE BRIDGE CHURCH

Brooklyn, New York

BridgeChurchNYC.com
BLOOMINGTON  For a fifth summer, the Twin City community is sowing seeds of peace by uniting 10 teens from Israel  five Jews, five Arabs  in a program designed to improve understanding between the groups.

The effort is particularly relevant this year given recent world events, said Roger Schmidgall, who leads a coordinating team of local volunteers hosting the delegation making the trip through the Friends Forever global organization.

"I think that with the world situation  both the political tensions here in the United States regarding immigrants and refugees and Muslims, and the situation in the Middle East with wars and terrorism and tension there as well  it is a timely thing to try to find peaceful means to bring people from cultures in conflict together," said Schmidgall.

That's what Friends Forever has been trying to do for about 30 years with Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland and Jews and Arabs in Israel, he added.

"So I think it has great opportunities for both the teenagers and their schools and families from Israel as well as people in our community who have varying different perspectives on politics and religion," said Schmidgall.

The five Arab students come from a school near Nazareth in northern Israel and the five Jewish students attend a school about 30 minutes away in Haifa. A female Arab teacher and a male Jewish teacher are accompanying the students.

A highlight of the local events the students will participate in during their two-week visit is the 5K Peace Walk/Fun Run: From the Temple to the Mosque from 6 to 8 p.m. on Saturday.

Also, two of the teens will speak at the Normal City Council meeting, which, because of the Fourth of July holiday, will start at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Uptown Station.

The walk, mostly along Constitution Trail, will begin at the Moses Montefiore Temple, 102 Robinhood Lane, Bloomington, and end at the Islamic Center of Bloomington, a local mosque at 2911 Gill St.

Participants can register in advance or on the day of the walk at the temple. Fees are $20 for adults, $10 for students. The event is a fundraiser for the nonprofit organization.

Links to register for the walk or as a volunteer can be found at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/friends-forever-5k-walk-tickets-34723620283.

"It's great opportunity for people to come out and meet and talk and walk with these teenagers and their teachers," said Schmidgall. "It symbolically joins our own Jewish and Muslim communities with a lot of Christians and others along for the walk as well."
BLOOMINGTON  The day after Democrats and Republicans united to pass a permanent income tax hike in the state House, a Central Illinois legislator called it "the hardest vote Ive ever made."

"Ive never voted for a tax increase in my career, said state Rep. Bill Mitchell, a Forsyth Republican, on Monday. "I didnt enjoy it and dont like it. ... You can't have everything."

Mitchell was one of 15 Republicans to support the proposal, which passed 72-45 and would increase the state's income tax rate from 3.75 percent to just under 5 percent. Corporations would pay 7 percent instead of 5.25 percent.

No other area GOP lawmakers voted for the measure.

The state Senate did not act on the proposal Monday. Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner has promised to veto it, though the Legislature could override a veto.

The House also approved a $36 billion budget, funded by the hike. The state has not had a budget since July 1, 2015, largely because of a protracted struggle between Rauner and Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan, leading to $15 billion in unpaid bills and downgrades from credit rating agencies.

"If Gov. Rauner or Speaker Madigan presented a $32 billion budget, I would have voted for it, said Mitchell. Im an old-fashioned Republican. We shouldnt put things on our credit card and say its OK. Its not OK. Illinois is in the worst shape its ever been in.

There will have to be new revenue and spending cuts," he continued. "Youd have to lie to people to say anything else.

State Rep. Dan Brady, R-Bloomington, said the threat of a veto was a factor in his votes against the tax hike and the budget. Brady said a lack of cost-saving reforms, such as those promoted by Rauner, was another.

Rauner has pushed for workers' compensation reform, legislative term limits, a new education funding formula and property tax cuts since he took office in 2015. He hasn't signed a budget as governor.

A sign the stalemate is coming to an end is positive, but bringing it to an end this way was not something I felt was a good trade-off for everyone in my district, said Brady. I want to do as much as I can to get a budget, but also balance it and have structural reform that would bring money in instead of raising taxes so high.

Brady said he hopes to continue to work on workers' compensation reform.

I dont think youre going to see the other things the governor has been talking about, Brady said.

He also criticized the way the budget was passed, with late changes by the House's Democratic leadership.

To throw a wrench in the whole process yesterday, I was not in a mind where I could give my vote on that, he said. Its very difficult because there are some things in the bill that are needed ... but to do it this way, with a massive, permanent tax increase, was too much for me.
NORMAL  Several Illinois cities are banding together to pursue legal action after, they claim, a fire equipment maker stiffed them on warranty repairs.

Bloomington and Normal are among seven cities considering an alliance to "pursue any and all legal remedies" against Pierce Manufacturing of Appleton, Wis., according to a memo from Jessica Woods, an attorney with the town.

Of the town of Normal's five fire engines and two ladder trucks, six have corroded chassis, including two so badly damaged that they're out of service. Repairs are estimated at $90,000 per vehicle, which the town wants Pierce to pay for under a 50-year warranty on each chassis offered by the company.

"It is our understanding ... that Pierce has been denying similar claims, asserting that the apparatus were not properly washed, considering the salt that is present on our roadways during the winter," according to the memo. "Our fire department washes each fire apparatus every day."

In response, the town staff has requested it enter into an agreement with Bloomington, Champaign, Charleston, Decatur, Ottawa and Peoria to fight back. The City Council will consider that agreement when it meets at 7 p.m. Wednesday; the meeting was moved from Monday due to Independence Day on Tuesday.

"The collective power of these municipalities in reaching a positive legal resolution is presumably greater than the bargaining power of any one," according to the memo.

Legal costs, for the firm of Ancel Glink, would be split among cities by population. The town's estimated costs are $5,000.

Pierce Manufacturing could not be reached for comment on the allegations.

In other business, the council will consider:

 A plan for a new 74-unit townhouse development off Cottage Avenue.

 An agreement to have Crown Castle Communications relocate a cell tower from the Normal fire station site at 604 N. Adelaide St. to Fairview Park.

The town hoped to leave the tower in place after trading the fire station land to Illinois State University, but that proved prohibitively expensive, according to a memo from Brian Day, the town's chief attorney.

"The cost of relocating the easements was significantly higher than anticipated," according to the memo. "In exchange for moving the tower, the town would provide a free 35-year lease at the Fairview site for the new tower."
SPRINGFIELD  The Illinois State Capitol fell silent Wednesday for the first time in two weeks, but House Democrats pledged to continue their efforts to override Gov. Bruce Rauner's budget vetoes to give the state its first spending plan in two years.

The respite gave Republican Rauner an opening. He scheduled an afternoon discussion with community leaders in a Chicago neighborhood to discuss a possible 32 percent increase in the income tax rate, which he has pinned squarely on Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan.

Lawmakers were in session for 14 straight days, capped by a flurry of activity on Tuesday, when the Senate sent a $36 billion spending plan to the governor funded with a $5 billion income tax increase. Rauner rapidly vetoed it, only to have the Democratic-controlled Senate just as swiftly override him.

But the House, which had approved the fiscal blueprint Sunday night with veto-proof majorities, has failed to summon enough members the last two days to take action. Fewer than 60 of the House's 118 members answered quorum calls on Tuesday or Wednesday.

Deputy Majority Leader Lou Lang, a Skokie Democrat, said the House intends to proceed with an override Thursday, but it depends on attendance.

"I can't answer for every member who's not here," Lang said. "If they were all here, this would have been done already.

Lang mentioned instances in which members are dealing with a family member's or a friend's death and the terminally ill relative of another.

"Legislators are people, too," Lang said. "I expect that we'll gather the necessary people here" Thursday.

Illinois' budget crisis is the longest in the nation since at least the Great Depression.

With a $6.2 billion annual deficit and $14.7 billion in overdue bills, disaster is around the corner. The United Way predicts the demise of 36 percent of all human services agencies in Illinois by year's end. Billions of dollars in road construction work is shutting down. Public universities have been cut to the bone and face a loss of academic accreditation.

Although there's no firm deadline, credit-rating houses have vowed to downgrade the state's creditworthiness to "junk," signaling to investors that buying state debt is a highly speculative venture. The bond houses predicted a downgrade without a fix by the July 1 debut of the fiscal year.

But Fitch Ratings and S&P Global Ratings gave Illinois some breathing room on Monday, issuing notices marking the House tax increase approval a day earlier and indicating they would not take immediate downgrade action.

Government has limped along for two years on the strength of court-ordered spending, but the state comptroller says the treasury will be $185 million short of what's needed to cover basic services by August.

The budget bills are SB6 and SB9 .
The Senate health care bill, which was scuttled last week until after the holiday recess, was doomed by two narratives: Republicans are mean and poor people would be dropping like flies.

Assisting the opposition was none other than President Trump, who called the earlier version passed by the House "mean." Trump met with Senate Republicans last week afternoon to plot their move to repeal and replace Obamacare, which remains the GOP's objective.

The "mean" meme was easy enough to embrace given the bill's cuts to Medicaid, which provides coverage for the poor, disabled and elderly. Nearly two-thirds of nursing home-residents are supported primarily by Medicaid.

Adding insult to injury, the Senate bill included tax cuts for the wealthy, while also promising higher insurance premiums (in the short term) for middle-income earners. Get this: A family of four earning $56,800 a year would have seen annual premiums jump to $20,500, almost the same amount of a proposed tax cut for someone earning $1 million a year.

The image of the yachtsman polishing his brass fittings while children and elderly women tread water below springs to the minds of cartoonists and incumbents. Thus, a rising number of Republican senators were threatening to vote "no" on their own party's bill, which would have killed it.

While it's true that those insurance rates for middle-income earners would go up for the first couple of years  by a lot  it's also true that they'd soon thereafter drop to 30 percent of current rates. This is according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, which on any given day is a brilliant economic oracle or the crazy bird lady with canaries in her hair.

The media have been mildly rabid ever since Republicans went into a secret cave somewhere to hammer out their ill-fated plan. They've slammed the GOP for proposing to dump 22 million people from insurance coverage, despite the fact that millions of those would likely be dropping themselves  self-deporting now that coverage would no longer be mandated, as it has been under Obamacare. Otherwise, popular punditry doesn't permit much discussion of details and tends to favor nibbly nuggets of nonsense. I was surprised to hear MSNBC's Joe Scarborough go death-squad on "Morning Joe" Tuesday, saying that "poor people are going to be locked out of their doctors' offices." Obviously, he was speaking metaphorically, but such hyperbolic fulminations can become memes of their own.

Also rarely if ever mentioned, states already fund about 40 percent of Medicaid  and no one was forcing them to cut their programs, as James Capretta of the American Enterprise Institute pointed out. Moreover, the federal government will still spend about $5.2 trillion on Medicaid during the next decade. The Senate bill, meanwhile, proposed spending money on reducing premiums so that insurance would attract younger, healthy people to stabilize the market.

Would this work? Clearly, it hasn't under Obamacare. Having the young and healthy sign up was crucial to the success of the Affordable Care Act. Since they would likely be infrequent consumers of health services, their premiums theoretically could defray the cost of treating pre-existing conditions, as well as insuring the previously uninsured.

Despite a government mandate and penalties for failing to sign up, young Americans basically responded with "You're joking, right?"

The mandate's failure to be persuasive should have surprised no one. Government-enforced altruism doesn't sit right in a nation conceived during a tax revolt and born in the cradle of individual freedom. And, if I may stroke realism's head for a moment, health insurance and pre-existing conditions are fundamentally incompatible. Sick Person A gets insurance coverage only if Healthy Person B helps pay for it. Half the country is fine with this proposition. The other half would rather skimp on medical care than surrender a drop of freedom.

This, in essence, is what makes bipartisan reform so difficult.

To the conservative mind, the repeal-and-replace bill wasn't so much mean as tough. To the liberal mind, it was indefensibly heartless and cruel. But if one thinks reducing the debt and deficit is necessary, then isn't entitlement reform essential?

When would such cuts ever be popular  or painless?

Somewhere between the thorny cliffs of Dire Straits, where millions die from Republican meanness, and the gently sweeping shores of Obamaland, where everyone gets a lei and lives to 150, is a big enough boat to get us to market-based health care reform.

For now, go wash your hands.
Before Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or YouTube made their entry in the media market, the PatnaDaily had already registered its presence in...
Iranian FM decries France green light to activities of MKO terrorist

07/03/17

Source: Press TV

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has expressed regret that the terrorist Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO) has been given permission to carry out its activities in France.

All of these US officials got a few thousand dollars to appear on stage with a cult leader. It is so easy to buy an American politician. pic.twitter.com/hgc7NezFMJ  Arash Karami (@thekarami) July 1, 2017

The presence and activities of the MKO in France are regarded as "a moot point" in relations between Tehran and Paris, Zarif told IRIB in an interview published on Saturday, a day after he wrapped up his two-day visit to the French capital.



"During our talks with the French officials, we raised this issue as a moot point in our relations and they also emphasized that they have no connection with this group (MKO)," he said.

He added that the MKO's terrorist nature is not hidden to anybody, saying all regional and European countries are aware of the group's acts of terror.

The Iranian foreign minister expressed regret that some "reactionary regimes in the region are once again capitalizing on this group as they did so in the past."

Zarif added that the Islamic Republic is aware that Saudi Arabia has been colluding with the MKO and providing it with financial support since the Iraqi imposed war on Iran in the 1980s.



The Al Saud regime has decided to publicize its cooperation with the terrorist group since last year by attending its meetings, he said.



On Saturday, the MKO terror group held a meeting in Paris, which was attended by some of the former US, European and Saudi officials, including former Saudi spy chief, Prince Turki al-Faisal, who also delivered a speech.

Once again, Prince Turki speaks at the MEK terror org's conference, removing any doubt that Saudi is funding the MEKhttps://t.co/Wq8Fnafrlz  Trita Parsi (@tparsi) July 1, 2017

On July 9, 2016, Paris hosted another annual meeting organized by the MKO terrorist group, which was also attended by Faisal.



Zarif emphasized that all such moves show the desperation of the Islamic Republic's opponents who had no option but to resort to groups with no place among the Iranian nation in order to achieve their own "ominous objectives."



The MKO is the most hated terrorist group among the Iranians because of its dark history of assassinations and bombings and for siding with former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein in his eight-year war against Iran in the 1980s.



Out of the nearly 17,000 Iranians killed in terrorist assaults since the victory of Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution, about 12,000 have fallen victim to MKO's acts of terror.



The terrorist group also helped Saddam in his brutal crackdown on his opponents.


Economist and Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of Fiscal Studies, Dr. Said Boakye, has blamed the high cost of living in Ghana on the countrys voracious appetite for imported products.



Dr. Boakye made the remark on the Citi FM on Tuesday, on the back of a report that Ghana has been ranked as one of countries in the world with the highest cost of living.



The report by MoveHub factored the price of groceries, transport, bills, restaurants and renting a home into its calculations using New York as the benchmark.



Sharing his expertise on the issue Tuesday, Dr. Boakye explained that, the high cost of import duty and transportation accounts for high cost of products in the country.



Many of these items are not produced over here, they are imported and there is so much high cost of transportation. In US too, there is something similar, but the advantage America has is that, they import in large quantities and they have cost advantage. We import in bits and there is so much transportation cost involved. When you get over here, you add profit margin and particularly the cost of duty. When all these things are added, it makes prices of products which would have been bought relatively cheaper rates in USA, more expensive in Ghana.



When asked about whether traders were not seeking to make extreme profit hence the high cost of products, Dr. Boakye said such was not the case.



When it comes to profiteering, I dont believe in that. The seller is able to do so when the conditions are conducive for that; you cant just price anything that you want. Perhaps, if profit margins are higher, then it means there is a little competitiveness and there is some form of monopoly power in the system. But that might not be so much apparent, after all, many others are also importing. What is adding considerably to the cost is the cost of duty and transportation, he stated.



Two categories of Ghanaians



He further categorized Ghanaians into two saying there are the haves who live by international standards and non-haves who live in ghettos.



He lamented that, those who live by international standards pay exorbitant prices for rent as compared to the non-haves.



In Ghana, the society is divided basically into two; the haves, those who live in international setting, and non-haves who live in ghettos. Those who live in apartments of international standards, the rents they are pay are very high. Those who live in cantonments and surrounding areas, some charge in dollars. Of course New York and other places are very expensive, but if you move to other places in the United States, they are less expensive compared to rents that are charged in Cantonments, Osu and other places in Ghana.



What should be done?



He said to change the trend; Ghanaians should be encouraged to do more domestic production.



Domestic production is also costly, costly in terms of energy which is very high. When you want to manufacture, you also need to import machinery. All these make cost of local production very high. It is not that we love imports; it means cost of manufacturing is very high, the research fellow added.

Source: Citi News









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
Ghana risks missing the opportunity to access an estimated US$320 million Green Climate Fund (GCF), meant to mitigate effects of climate change, an Economic Officer of the Finance Ministry, Robert Mensah, has said.



This is due to the inability of organizations to submit workable proposals to access the fund and manage it.



The GCF, is an international financing mechanism under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), designed to assist developing countries to support low emission and climate-resilient programmes and projects.



The fund also aims to enhance the resilience of people, enterprises and ecosystems in developing countries to the adverse impacts of climate change.



Speaking to the Goldstreet Business at a Climate Finance and Integrity Seminar organized by the Ghana Integrity Initiative, Mensah explained that the major challenge for many institutions, that applied to manage the fund, was their inability to meet the proposal criteria.



Out of 50 institutions, which applied to manage the fund in 2015, only two, Ecobank and Social Investment Fund, were selected to go through accreditation to manage it. Only these two organizations, met the 60 percent requirement and were shortlisted to undergo an online training which, he added, may take close to two years to complete.



He said the National Designated Authority, out of 19 projects submitted to the GCF secretariat, was able to acquire approval for three which are the Ghana Shea Landscape Redd+, Climate Resilient Landscape for Sustainable Livelihood in Northern Ghana, and the Accelerating Solar Programme for Ghana.



These three projects have US$320 million budgetary allocation for their implementation, with US$50million each for the Shea project and the Sustainable Livelihood Programme whiles US$220million is budgeted for the solar project he disclosed.



He noted that, the National Designated Authority (NDA), which is a department of the Finance Ministry, is mandated to lead all correspondence between Ghana and the GCF secretariat to ensure that proposals submitted by National Implementing Entities are aligned with the countrys climate policies.



Mensah indicated, Its not encouraging that for more than a year the fund is yet to be accessed by any national implementing entity.



Chair of the event, Mary Addah of the Ghana Integrity Initiative noted that climate change may get worse if organizations fail to access designated funds to implement adaptation strategies to tackle the challenge.



She said, it was important that such funds, when acquired should not be diverted by organizations, but must be used for its purpose.

Source: Goldstreet Business









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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The Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has reiterated that the US$19bn being given to the Government of Ghana by the Republic of China is not a loan but a joint venture between the two countries.



Members of the minority had criticized the Nana Addo led-government for borrowing the huge amount from the Chinese which they said could plunge the nation into HIPC.



But speaking at a China-Africa Joint Research and Exchange Programme organised by the Institute for Democratic Governance (IDEG) on the theme: Building Resilient Industries and Infrastructure for Economic Transformation in Africa: The Role of China, Dr. Bawumia said we developed this new financing modelwe are saying we cant borrow, so essentially what we need was a new way forward and we sought to leverage less than 5 per cent of our bauxite to unlock close to 20 billion dollars.



The Vice President added We could not ask China to give us aid to finance this quantum of investment we needed. We could not borrow this quantum of money we needed, but we knew we had bauxite sitting in the ground.



The goal of government is to leverage our natural resources for economic transformation, Dr. Bawumia said on Tuesday.



According to Dr. Bawumia, Ghana has over 460 million metric tonnes of alumina, which could earn the country around 460 billion dollars when refined.



We have immediate infrastructure needs of say between US $15 to 20 billion in areas such as rail, water, energy and so on. So we have US $460 billion potentially sitting in the ground somewhere and we need US$ 20billion for our rapid economic transformation.



So we need development partners to refine this bauxite, but we want to develop it in Ghana. That is why we want to set up a refinery in Ghana so we can refine and export.









Source: starrfmonline.com









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A male model was found tortured and murdered with his body dumped in the street over his what is thought to be his good looks and tight clothes.



Karar Nushi, who was studying at the Institute of Fine Arts in Baghdad, was receiving death threats, according to his fans, because of his hairstyle and the outfits he chose to wear.



His body was dumped in Palestine Street, north of the capital, covered in stab wounds and showing signs that he was brutally tortured before being killed.



Read Full Story .... dailymail.co.uk >>> :

















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The President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, on Tuesday, July 4, 2017, appended his signature to eight Treaties, Protocols and Charters of the African Union, on the side-lines of the 29th AU Summit currently on-going in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.



The Treaties are: the Constitution for the African Civil Aviation Commission; Protocol on the establishment of the African Monetary Fund; the African Union Convention on Cyber Security and Personal Data Protection; and the Road Safety Charter.



The rest are: Protocol to the African Charter on Human Peoples Rights on the Rights of older persons; Statute of the African Minerals Development Centre Statute of the Pan African Intellectual Property Organisation; and the African Union Convention on Cross-Border Co-operation.



On behalf of the AU Commission, Mrs. Amira ElFadil, the Commissioner for Social Affairs, thanked President Akufo-Addo for the importance accorded to the key policies instruments for advancing the African Union agenda, in the fields and sectors of roads, maritime, transport, as well as ICT and cyber security.



By personally signing these instruments, you are, as always, giving us great inspiration to accelerate the implementation and I thank you, she added.



In his remarks, President Akufo-Addo noted that these are all important building blacks for us all to facilitate the integration of our continent, especially to deal with issues of economic development.



The President urged his colleague Heads of State to have an attitude that, once the obligations are made on paper, we sign them and bring them into life.





Source: Peacefmonline.com









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The press conference organised by the Majority in Parliament over the contaminated fuel has been described as shameful by Mr. Sammy Gyamfi, the spokesperson of former Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly (KMA) boss.



According to the NDC Communication Team member, it is disappointing to see Members of Parliament covering up crimes with politics; making it clear that the only way to escape punishment from committing any crime is to either join NDC or NPP.



He bemoaned that the moment an issue is politicized, the truth in the issue vanishes, helping the culprit to escape punishment; citing the BOST contaminated fuel saga as a classical case of using politics to free BOST MD, Alfred Obeng in this fraudulent deal.



Speaking on Okay FMs Ade Akye Abia Morning Show, Mr. Gyamfi expressed his disappointment in the NPP MPs for going in the direction of defence for the Managing Director before the commencement of the investigation inspired by Energy Minister, Hon. Agyarko.



The press conference organised by the Majority in Parliament over the contaminated fuel is very shameful. And so I am very disappointed that our Parliament is going in that direction, he jabbed.



Before the committee started its work of investigation into the matter, we had members of parliament from the ministers party coming to hold a press conference in effect to defend Alfred Obeng, the BOST MD who is under investigation, he stressed.



To him, it was clear from the press conference that the Majority in Parliament had declared the BOST MD innocent ahead of the investigation.



He however pleaded with the chairman for the Mines and Energy Committee in Parliament to tread cautiously; urging him to seek for clarification if he does not know and understand the constitution.



His comment on the section 13 of the companys code of 1963, Act 179 which he explained that a contract can be awarded to a company before it is incorporated is not true. We are not talking about advert here. The section 13 which the MP quoted talks about a company registered under Act 179, he elaborated.



He emphasized that Movenpinaa is not a company as the certificate of incorporation of Movenpinaa is rather under an enterprise or business than a company; stressing it is a sole proprietorship, therefore registered under the business name [Act 151].



So if an individual wants to do business, the person has to register under Act 151 and that is not the same thing as registering a company under the Companys Act. If it is a registered company under Companys Act and such company has directors and shareholders and has the various requirements, the law allows under section 13 that such a company even before it is incorporated can be operational, he explained.



But sole proprietorship business cannot operate before it is incorporated as Movenpinaa did in the contaminated fuel deal. Evidence shows that Movenpinaa was incorporated in June 1, 2017 but 11 days before its incorporation, they had written to BOST to do trade in contaminated fuel at a certain price, he emphasized.



He therefore described as fraudulent for an individual to engage in any business transaction using a letterhead of unregistered enterprise; registering his anger for the fact that MPs in the Majority side are defending this fraudulent company for using unregistered business letterhead to do business with state institution.



"Movenpinaa has no license of NPA to do business with BOST as the National Petroleum Authority (NPA) has indicated. Movenpinaa breached a law passed by Parliament and yet some members of Parliament are not condemning the business enterprise which has breached the law passed by Parliament under section 11 (1) of the NPA Act.



Rather, we have MPs coming out to defend this illegality of a business using a letter head of unregistered enterprise and also defending a business which has no license but trading falsely with state institution like BOST and MPs are not ashamed of this but coming out to defend them.

Source: Daniel Adu Darko/Peacefmonline.com/[email protected]









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Professor Kwabena Frimpong Boateng, Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation, has said a Presidential Advisory Council on science and technology would soon be established.



He said the Council would inform government on strategic priorities and policies to adopt to strengthen, sustain, attract and retain, leveraging science and technology and mainstreaming research for development as panacea for rapid growth

Prof Boateng said this at the opening of a three-day workshop and annual Grantees Meeting Programme under the Dev

eloping Excellence in Leadership, Taining and Science (DELTAS AFRICA) programme.

It was organised by the African Academy of Sciences (AAS) and the Alliance for Accelerating Excellence in Science in Africa (AESA) under the auspices of the West African Centre for Cell Biology of Infectious Pathogens (WACCBIP) of the University of Ghana. He said a Science and Technology Innovation (STI) fund would also be established to notch the needed finances support for research and development for accelerated growth. The Minister said government was re-modifying the existing science policy to meet the exigencies of the times, going forward.



Prof Boateng said government was resolved to meeting the recommendations of the African Union to commit one percent of its gross domestic product (GDP) to funding science and research, with efforts to this mandate hovering currently around 0.025 percent.



He called for attitudinal change, minimising corruption, getting rid of filth and developing the capacity for inventions in machinery as game changer.

"We need to believe in ourselves that we are eagles and can fly higher and detest being eaten as chicken" Prof Boateng added.



Mr Kingsley Aboagye-Gyedu, Deputy Minister of Health commended AAS, AESA, DELTAS Africa and partners for their collaboration to mobilise funding for research and development (R&D) for sustainable health outcomes in Africa.

He pledged government's efforts to creating more ecosystems to support R&D stating African health researchers should lead in the fight for Health for all.

Prof Ebenezer Oduro Owusu, Vice-Chancellor, Universitty of Ghana said WACCBIP and other related programmes had the potential to reverse the brain-drain syndrome by shifting the centre of gravity for science and technology to thrive.

Prof Thomas Kariuki, interim Executive Director of AAS and Director of AESA, said their corporate effort is to deliver a world-class research ecosystems, foster innovation and promote scientific leadership on the continent.



He expressed optimism that the DELTAS Africa programme would lead innovation into research through science-led and knowledge-based transformation for health outcomes.

A total of 175 delegates from the 11 DELTAS Africa programme zones, which has a target of training 1,288 researchers over five years period (2015-2020), are participating in the technology workshop, aimed at producing world-class scientific researchers to address African health and quality research priorities and excellence.

The $ 16 Million programme is funded by WELLCOME Trust, the Bill & Melinda Gates and UK Department for International Development (DFID).





Source: GNA









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A 12-week-old puppy has died of its injuries at an RSPCA in Perth after being severely beaten and left to die in a park by some monstrous cunts.

A person innocently walking their doggo through Strutt Way Reserve in Noranda discovered the dog, who is believed to be a ridgeback cross puppy, lying in the bushes.

Pup was taken to the RSPCA for immediate pain relief and assessment, where a vet found he had a fractured skull and potential herniation (a bulge or swelling) in his stomach. He passed away at about 3pm.

RSPCA WA chief inspector Amanda Swift said:

The poor puppy was screaming in pain when it arrived at our Animal Care Centre, so I believe someone in the vicinity of the park this morning must have heard it crying out. To see an animal in so much pain and hear it screaming because of the pain is extremely distressing. It disgusts me that someone could inflict such violence on an innocent animal and then leave it to suffer and just walk away.

Pup was not microchipped, and the RSPCA has not been able to find its owner. They are asking the public to come forward with any info on the owner and the person who dumped the dog.

Source: WA Today.

Photo: RSPCA.
The situation with North Korea continues to escalate as a result of the problem nations own doing, with the DPRK this afternoon claiming the successful test launch of a missile they assert is capable of striking anywhere in the world.

DPRK state television today confirmed the launch of the test missile, which they claim is an Intercontinental Ballistic Missile, which flew to a reported altitude of 2,802 kilometres, travelling for a total time of 39 minutes, before striking its target precisely in waters inside Japans exclusive economic zone.

South Korean military stated that the missile was launched at around 10:40am AEST from an airfield an hour north-west of Pyongyang.

BREAKING: North Korea announces it has successfully tested an intercontinental ballistic missile https://t.co/q5RCsurKfw pic.twitter.com/Clx7f1945b  CNN (@CNN) July 4, 2017

World officials have been quick to condemn the latest test from North Korea. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe asserted that they will align strongly with the US and South Korea, and he will urge both China and Russia to take a stronger stance against the nation to combat the growing animosity.

Japan will work to increase international pressure on North Korea by uniting strongly with the US and South Korea. Im also planning to call on the Chinese President, Xi Jinping, and the Russian President, Vladimir Putin, to play a more constructive role.

Meanwhile, Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop issued a statement calling the tests provocative, calling for the DPRK to act more proactively and focus on the welfare of their long-suffering people, rather than antagonise and threaten its neighbours.

North Korea continues to threaten its neighbours while undermining regional and global security. North Koreas long-term interests would be best served by ceasing its nuclear and missiles programs and focusing on improving the lives of its long suffering people.



US President Donald Trump earlier Tweeted about the situation in typically baffling, self-contradictory fashion, questioning whether or not Kim Jong-un had anything better to do. Huh.

North Korea has just launched another missile. Does this guy have anything better to do with his life? Hard to believe that South Korea..  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 4, 2017

.and Japan will put up with this much longer. Perhaps China will put a heavy move on North Korea and end this nonsense once and for all!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 4, 2017

Its the middle of the night in the US at the time of writing, so a more official response from the States is still yet to come.

Regardless, that North Korea chose July 4th of all days to test this new weapon cant exactly be viewed as a coincidence.

Source: ABC News.

Photo: Chung Sun-Jun/Getty.
Director and patron saint of geekdom Joss Whedon is currently in the midst of finishing up the DCs big shiny Justice League movie, but such is the insatiable need for Hollywood to churn out superhero movies on the reg, his attention has already begun to movie to his next red hot go at helming a blockbuster, the recently-announced Batgirl solo movie.



Plz bring back this fierce AF aesthetic.

Although not due for release until sometime in 2019, one of the first steps of making a movie with the heros name in the title, is figuring out who the heck should portray the all important epononymous figure (I studied film in uni for a semester, so trust me on this one) and thus the rumour mill has been achurning.

Whedon has only so far said hes keen to cast a semi-unknown actress, but today a super interesting and fairly solid looking bit of juice has leaked from Bat-camp on who the contenders for playing Barbara Gordon are, and stone the bloody crows Batman, the front-runner is our very own Katherine Langford.

Youll no doubt know Langford, from the equally popular and controversial Netflix show 13 Reasons Why so it only ~just~ fits Whedons claimed intention to cast a relative unknown, but shes Aussie, shes super talented and were just bloody chuffed for her if its true.

The leak comes via reddit user DCEUThrowaway89 who says they got their info from a concept artist, tapped on the shoulder by Warner Bros. Heres the main bulk of their post:

A friend of mine was recently contacted by WB to work on concept art for the upcoming Batgirl film. WB wants to get an actress signed by SDCC so they can make an surprise announcement on stage during their presentation. I spoke with him a couple days ago and he said that these are the actresses he was asked to develop concept art for.

Elle Fanning (Neon Demon, Live By Night)

Olivia Cooke (Bates Motel)

Bella Thorne (Shake It Up!)

Katherine Langford (13 Reasons Why)

Margaret Qualley (The Leftovers)

Jane Levy (Dont Breathe)

Emma Roberts (Scream Queens)

Haley Lu Richardson (Split, Edge Of Seventeen)

Naomi Scott (Power Rangers)

He wont tell me why but he believes Langford is currently the frontrunner with Fanning, Levy & Qualley behind.

Couple of other standouts on the list are Elle Fanning and Emma Roberts and not just because of their famous surnames, but their fairly high celebrity status themselves and the fact I think they could both crush the role of being Ben Afflecks butt-kicking Bat-team member.

Its a reddit leak so as per usual take this one with a grain of salt, but it certainly does sound plausible. Also, more Aussie superheroes? YES PLZ.

More Batgirl and DC/Marvel goodies will no doubt drop at San Diego Comic-Con later this month.

Source: Reddit.

Picture: Jon Kopaloff / Getty.
Its been awhile since weve seen supposedly-reformed Canadian pop-brat Justin Bieber go full insouciant toddler mode, with his last album Purpose coinciding with a newly responsible, seemingly mature approach to his public conduct.

Well thats all gone to shit as we are thrilled to announce that Bieber is back on his bullshit, baby!

Whilst its definitely not pissing-in-a-bucket or smuggling-monkeys-across-federal-borders levels of Biebering, the 23-year-old has apologised for his behaviour at the British Summertime festival in London, explaining he had a bad night on-stage, due to dealing with a head cold.

A few of the abnormal activities that constituted Biebs bad night include cracking the shits at his back-up dancers for talking whilst he was (What are you talking about that is more important than what Im saying?, he reportedly spouted), as well as threatening to throw the booger-covered snot rag hed been observed using to mop up his overflowing phlegm, at the crowd.

In further attempts to clog the flow of mucus, Bieber also apparently shoved a whole whack of Vicks vapo-rub up his schnoz, which, no, thats not how you use that, Juzzy.

Our favourite moment from the bizarre performance however, is a zinger from JB that can only be described as Bill Shorten levels of scathing, as he threw a barb at the festivals organisation at large, pointing to a merry-go-round on the site and noting That looks fun said no one ever!.



Hey Biebs, 2010 Twitter called, they want their joke format back.

How the merry-go-round industry will ever recover from such a scintillating and verbose takedown, we just will never know.

Admittedly the dude was a bit sick and struggled through to give his fans a full two-hour performance, which is admirable. We just love it when he goes off-chops and shows us that the true dirtbag Bieber is always sitting there under the surface.

Source: The Sun.

Picture: Brian Rasic / Getty.
Yo, this post contains GoT season six spoilers, so if youre behind on that shit, you might wanna close this. Or read ahead, whatever, Im not your dad.

Game of Thrones is one of the best series of all time, but lets not pretend it isnt confusing as all hell.

In the lead-up to season seven of the popular HBO drama, a London creative agency called Catch wants to help you get a grip on what each character is up to with GoTBot, a Facebook chatbot with a wealth of knowledge.

Well, kinda. The chatbot can answer basic questions about whos alive or dead, but dont ask for specifics. Youll only confuse it.

I uh what?

Along with facts about the characters of Westeros, GoTBot will also respond to your queries with GIFs and jokes. For example, what is Hodors favourite cereal? Raisin Bran. GEDDIT? RAISING BRAN. FUCK.

The bot apparently started as a simple game of dead or alive but has since morphed into a full-on chatbot thats capable of dishing out family trees, nicknames, what house a character belongs to and more.

You can give it a whirl right here if youre keen. Youll get the best results if you stick to the prescribed responses at the bottom of the chat, a lesson I learnt the hard way as youll see from my failures below.

Ah, forget it.

Source: Facebook.

Photo: HBO.
A gang member who was 15 when police say he shot a man in the head on a Philadelphia street doesn't deserve a new trial for the murder, a state Superior Court panel has ruled.

That decision means Marquise Walker-Womack will keep serving a 35-year to life prison term for the August 2009 assassination police said he performed to gain advancement in the Harlem Boys gang.

According to the state court opinion by Judge Paula Francisco Ott, Walker-Womack killed the victim, Niam Wilson Atif, as Atif was talking with a neighbor.

Atif had engaged in a running argument with a Harlem Boys member, police said. They said Walker-Womack belonged to the Greenway Gorillas, a juvenile spin-off of the Harlem Boys. Witnesses said Walker-Womack bragged about committing the murder.

The investigation of the slaying took years, during which police recovered the pistol used in the killing from a gang headquarters. A major break came when federal investigators charged two Harlem Boys members with racketeering and they agreed to cooperate with authorities in hopes of avoiding life prison sentences.

Another prosecution witness told police that while he and Walker-Womack were in prison, Walker-Womack described in detail how he had killed Atif. That witness recanted his claim during Walker-Womack's trial.

In his appeal to the state court, Walker-Womack, now 23, claimed he should receive a new trial because the Harlem Boys witnesses lied about him committing the murder to save themselves in the federal case. He also stressed the recantation of his former cellmate.

Those claims fall short, Ott found, because the jury heard that testimony and the recantation during the trial and still decided to convict Walker-Womack of Atif's murder.

She noted as well that Walker-Womack fit the description of the killer that witnesses to the slaying provided to the police.
HARRISBURG--A man apparently fatally shot his live-in girlfriend then killed himself Sunday night while the woman's 15-year-old son was home, Harrisburg Police Chief Thomas Carter said Monday.

The son ran to a neighbor's house to call for help after the 9 p.m. shooting and said in Spanish, "My stepfather shot my mother," according to a neighbor who did not want her name published.

The woman said she hugged the frantic boy.

The boy was staying with relatives on Monday.

The couple had hosted a cookout in front of their corner apartment in Hall Manor Row 43 earlier on Sunday, according to police and neighbors.

At some point, the woman wanted to go lie down upstairs, police said, and she apparently did. Her boyfriend eventually went upstairs and started an argument with her that apparently ended with him shooting her, according to initial reports.

The man then walked downstairs momentarily, before returning upstairs and fatally shooting himself, police said.

Neighbors on Monday said they heard noises from the apartment Sunday night that sounded like someone banged something against the walls. But they didn't immediately recognize the noises as gunfire.

It's unclear how long the couple had lived there.

Police did not release the names of the suspect and victim, pending notification of relatives. Police said the man was in his mid to late 30s. Neighbors said he wore an ankle monitor.

Police did not release any other additional details about the crime, including whether police had been called to the home before.

The Dauphin County Coroner could not be reached Monday for updates in the case.

The row of homes was quiet Monday with neighbors hanging out laundry to dry and asking about the boy, sharing their concerns for his future without his mother.

The woman has relatives who live in Puerto Rico, neighbors said.

Anyone with information about the incident is asked to contact Harrisburg police at 717-255-3154 or 717-255-3130 or email jpaul@harrisburgpa.gov or dhenry@harrisburgpa.gov.
WILLIAMSPORT -- A Lycoming County woman who for hours kept her dead newborn daughter in a box in the back seat of her car is headed to state prison.

Chesney Anne Wheeler, 38, was sentenced Monday to 20 months to four years after pleading guilty to charges of abuse of corpse and tampering with evidence.

Judge Nancy L. Butts recommended that Wheeler, an admitted heroin addict, receive drug and alcohol treatment in prison.

Wheeler, who told the judge she never intended to hurt anyone, gave birth to a 29-week-old fetus early on April 13 in the bathroom of her residence in Old Lycoming Twp., north of Williamsport.

She told police she had smoked cocaine and used heroin the day before.

After giving birth, Wheeler said she passed out. When she came to, she said, she wrapped the baby in a blanket and put it in a box in which she had clothes stored for the infant.

She claimed she knew it was dead was because it was stiff. Due to the stage of decomposition, it could not be determined whether the baby was born alive or dead, District Attorney Eric R. Linhardt said.

Instead of calling 911, Wheeler said, she put the box containing the baby in the back seat of her car and drove about, twice stopping at a local drug treatment facility.

At one point, she returned home and cleaned up the bathroom and washed the towels soiled during the birth, she said. That resulted in the tampering charge.

Because she feared she would be in trouble if she went to a local hospital, Wheeler said, a friend drove her to Wilkes-Barre General Hospital, where the body was found.

Wheeler, the mother of two sons, said she told staff at the Wilkes-Barre hospital she had had a miscarriage.

"I was not like myself," she said.

Wheeler, at times sobbing, repeatedly told Butts she was scared and, "I didn't know what I was supposed to do."

The judge told her she hopes she now realizes she should have called 911 and sought help.

Noting Wheeler's history of relapsing even after being in drug treatment court, Butts told her, "We gave you a path to do better."

Accusing Wheeler of being manipulative, the judge added, "You decided you knew what was right" and "you did not come back for help."

Wheeler blamed a bad marriage for her problems. Her husband, Richard H. Wheeler, 35, has been in jail since Jan. 1, when he was charged with assaulting her.

He is accused of punching her in the mouth in a neighbor's house, grabbing her by the hair, dragging her outside, putting her into his car, driving her home and ordering her to remove her belongings.

She says that while she was in the kitchen, he punched her in the head, knocking her to the floor ,and then kicked her several times in the stomach knowing she was pregnant.

Wheeler told Butts she has obtained a protection from abuse order against him and will testify against him when he stands trial later this year on charges of aggravated assault on an unborn child and aggravated assault.

In addition to the charges related to her dead daughter, Wheeler was sentenced to a concurrent term for violating her probation on two shoplifting charges.

Probation Officer Lucas Mahaffey recommended the concurrent sentence saying Wheeler is going to have to deal with her actions the rest of her life.

Linhardt said this is Wheeler's 12th conviction since 1997, but most have been for retail theft.
BETHLEHEM, Pa. (AP) -- Authorities say a nurse stabbed at a Pennsylvania hospital had earlier treated the man who was arrested and charged with attempted homicide.

Police in Bethlehem said the male nurse was stabbed at about 9:30 p.m. Friday at Lehigh Valley Health Network-Muhlenberg. A hospital spokesman said Saturday morning that he was listed in stable condition.

Authorities allege in court documents that 19-year-old Joshua Rafael Santos got into a secured area and stabbed the victim in the neck with a 5-inch kitchen knife. A nearby doctor who immediately administered treatment said the wound could have been fatal.

According to LehighValleyLive.com:

Santos then ran out of the hospital and was apprehended within about 10 minutes near Martin Tower on Eighth Avenue, Police Chief Mark DiLuzio had said.

A female nurse recognized Santos as being a former patient of herself and the victim sometime in early June. Hospital surveillance video footage captured the entire stabbing incident, which provided investigators with a description of Santos, according to court records.

Santos is charged with attempted homicide and aggravated and simple assault.
Pollster and political analyst Terry Madonna is quick to answer every time he gets the question - and he's been getting the question a lot during the last year.

"Is this the most divided we've ever been?" someone usually asks about the state of the union.

"No," Madonna replies. "Seven states didn't secede from the union after this election."

Madonna's comparison to the recent November decision refers to the 1860 election of former President Abraham Lincoln, whose anti-slavery platform was immediately rejected by Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina and Texas.

When the Civil War began in spring 1861, those secession states were joined by Arkansas, North Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia.

Two years later, that war touched southcentral Pennsylvania when the Battle of Gettysburg became the bloodiest conflict with more than 23,000 casualties and wounded soldiers. It's also regarded as the turning point in the war when the Union gained the upper hand over the Confederacy.

Some 154 years later, there are Americans who still demonstrate on that hallowed ground, waving the Confederate flag. Others rally for the flag's removal from our culture.

READ MORE:

READ MORE:

Part of the debate has ramped up during President Donald Trump's first term as his opponents accuse him of dividing the country by race and ethnicity.

A divided country can't be blamed on Trump though, with divisions growing for decades.

As Madonna put it, the country had a period of peace between the end of World War II and the start of the Vietnam War. "But it's been a little rocky since then," he said.

The present debates are as much a sign of what unites us as they are what divides us. Even if we disagree, we at least agree that we should be allowed to disagree, according to recent data.

And that's one reason we're not a divided nation: We still believe in the fundamentals of democracy, including the right to free speech and peaceful protest.

Some 79 percent of Americans say people have the right to nonviolent protest, and 74 percent say the rights of people with unpopular views are protected, according to the Pew Research Center.

But there are myriad issues on which Americans disagree so deeply that about half of all Democrats and Republicans think the other party is a threat to the nation, according to Pew. Those issues include healthcare, defense spending, abortion, foreign policy, the firing of former FBI Director James Comey, climate change and more.

Americans also disagree about the weight of Trump's tweets and what they really mean, including his recent slamming of CNN. But even that debate makes room for common ground with 64 percent of Americans agreeing news organizations are free to criticize political leaders.

News organizations do criticize Trump, just as they criticized his predecessors. That includes stories pointing out that former President Barack Obama, who gained notoriety in 2004 after a unity speech at the Democratic National Convention, actually did more to divide the country than unite it.

At the DNC in 2004, Obama said, "Now even as we speak, there are those who are preparing to divide us, the spin masters and negative ad peddlers who embrace the politics of anything goes. Well, I say to them tonight, there's not a liberal America and a conservative America. There's the United States of America. There's not a black America and white America and Latino America and Asian America. There's the United States of America."

Ten years later, a Washington Post-ABC News poll showed 55 percent of Americans believed Obama did more to divide the country than bring it together.

Obama conceded to that majority in his final State of the Union address: "It's one of the few regrets of my presidency - that rancor and suspicion between the parties has gotten worse instead of better."

That division did give Trump an opportunity as the change agent, but the current president was largely elected because of another unifying issue.

READ MORE:

Americans agree the economy is the most important issue facing the country.

That's been a clear result of each Franklin & Marshall College Poll for at least the last year and a half, and other polls have revealed the same.

"Voters agree the economy is the No. 1 issue," Madonna said. "There's just no agreement on how to fix it."

Americans are especially united in their view of how the tax system plays into the economy and personal wealth, according to Pew. Specifically:

62 percent of voters say some corporations don't pay their fair share

60 percent say some wealthy people don't pay their fair share

57 percent say the idea that poor people don't pay their fair share is untrue

There's also strong support for paid leave from work, according to Pew Research:

85 percent say workers should receive paid leave to deal with their own serious health condition

82 percent say mothers should receive paid leave following birth/adoption of their child

69 percent say fathers should receive paid leave following birth/adoption of their child

67 percent say workers should receive paid leave to care for a family member with a serious health condition

Americans also agree on another key issue: terrorism is one of the biggest problems facing the country.

But, again, the country is divided on how to handle the problem and who is most qualified to lead that effort.

Some polls give Republicans a slim edge, with voters choosing the conservative party to keep the country safe. Others choose Democrats, as they chose Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton over Trump during some election polls. Some voters applauded Obama's leadership in keeping the U.S. safe. And some still believe Trump is the leader who will be toughest on terrorism.

Nonetheless, Americans agree that while current fears aren't as high as the anxiety that immediately followed 9/11, terrorism is still a problem.

What can we learn from what unites us and divides us?

Fueling some of the agreements are millennials - a group of about 70 million people from ages 18 to 34 - who don't fully identify with either political party.

"They are the largest cohort of voters," Madonna said. "They will run this country in 15 years."

For that reason, pollsters focused a lot on millennials during the 2016 election, and they predicted a Clinton victory. Millennials in urban and suburban areas did help Clinton win the popular vote by about 3 million votes.

However, Trump won the Electoral College and 2016 election in rural areas and the Rust Belt.

If he wants to win re-election, and the Republican party wants to retain control long-term, millennials will need more attention, Madonna said.

"Millennials don't like big institutions," he said. "They're not enamored by either political party."

Though they're not committed to a political party, they are culturally liberal.

"With gay rights and transgender rights, don't even pick a fight," Madonna said. "Don't debate it. It's done."

Millennials helped grow support for same-sex marriage from 37 percent to 62 percent in the last 10 years, according to Pew Research.

Look no further than Pennsylvania to see the power of this voting bloc. Millennials are part of the 86 percent of voters who believe medical marijuana should be legal and helped paint Camp Hill blue during the last election when many other areas were turning red.

"Camp Hill is basically a suburb of Harrisburg, and Clinton did well in urban and suburban areas," Madonna said.

But that doesn't mean millennials will help Democrats or liberal agendas coast to victory in the next election - certainly not if Clinton is the candidate.

"The Democrats have to move on from Clinton, Bernie Sanders, (former Vice President Joe) Biden," Madonna said. "They need new leaders if they want to win."

Regardless of who challenges Trump in 2020, Pew Research shows 89 percent of Americans agree on another fundamental of democracy:

The election should be open and fair.
China's Ambassador to Canada Lu Shaye participates in an interview at the Embassy of the People's Republic of China in Canada, in Ottawa on Thursday, June 29, 2017. The Trudeau government should spend less time bowing down to Canadian journalists preoccupied with human rights and get on with negotiating an important free trade agreement with China, says the country's ambassador. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang
Conservative MP Steven Fletcher holds a press conference on Parliament Hill, in Ottawa Thursday March 27, 2014. A Manitoba politician who was kicked out of the governing Progressive Conservative caucus says he's planning a court challenge against a law that forbids him from joining another party's caucus. Steven Fletcher, who was dumped by the Tories last Friday, said Monday a provincial law that forbids him, or any other Manitoba politician, from crossing the legislature floor is unconstitutional. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Fred Chartrand
Kevin Rebeck, president of the Manitoba Federation of Labour, speaks to reporters about a legal challenge launched by the province's public-sector unions in Winnipeg on Tuesday, July 4, 2017. More than a dozen unions, representing 110,000 government workers, nurses, teachers and others across the public sector, are asking the Court of Queen's Bench to strike down a law that imposes wage freezes on their members.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Steve Lambert
Senior airport official at Kiev's Boryspil Airport Yevhenii Dykhne speaks to The Associated Press, Monday July 3, 2017, at the departure terminal of the airport outside of Kiev. Dykhne told the AP about a third of airport computers are still offline following the recent cyberattack, but the extent of the damage and disruption following the international ransomware cyberattacks is still unclear. (AP Photo/Dmytro Vlasov)
PHOTOS: Petoskey celebrates Veterans Day 2022

Petoskey's American Legion taught local elementary students how to fold the flag during the Veterans Day ceremony on Friday, Nov. 11 in Pennsylvania Park.
Brazil's ethanol and biodiesel from Argentina delay EPA's Quotas

Bloomberg/Dado Galdieri



EPA's Scott Pruitt said to order reconsideration of biofuel mandate. Imported supplies help refiners satisfy annual biofuel quotas

WASHINGTON/CHICAGO

Petroleumworld 07 04 2017

Concerns that refiners will import ethanol from Brazil and biodiesel from Argentina to fulfill renewable fuel requirements prompted U.S. environmental chief Scott Pruitt to reconsider quotas for those fuels, according to people familiar with the program.

The issue has delayed the Environmental Protection Agency 's publication of proposed mandates for 2018, as Pruitt seeks revisions, according to four people tracking the deliberations. That may include lowering the targets so refiners can rely mostly on U.S.-made biodiesel and corn ethanol, they said.

EPA had previously sent the White House proposed quotas that would require the use of 15 billion gallons of renewable fuel, but the new concerns are causing the agency to rethink that approach, according to the people, who asked for anonymity to discuss internal deliberations.

The EPA debate comes as President Donald Trump pushes an America-first approach to trade. The administration is considering slapping tariffs on foreign-made products such as steel and aluminum in a bid to help domestic producers and support national security. After a meeting with South Korean President Moon Jae-in Thursday, Trump said that nation must stop exporting dumped steel into the U.S. market.

As part of his American energy focus, Trump told an Iowa audience this month: "By the way, we're saving your ethanol industries." He also just spent this week touting "American energy dominance," and the ability of U.S. exports to supply the world's energy needs.

These trade issues have already seeped into the biofuel markets. U.S. biodiesel producers filed a trade complaint against imports from Argentina and Indonesia, asking the government to impose tariffs to counter what they say are unfair subsidies and dumping.

Read More: Trump Vows Support for Under Siege' Ethanol Amid EPA Delays

Unlike those trade investigations, the EPA has a limited ability to discourage the use of imported biofuels under the congressionally mandated program. That program aimed to spur production of American-made fuel, but its quotas apply to all renewable fuels -- no matter their origin.

If the EPA does take measures to restrict imports, the net result would be a spike in the price of credits tracking compliance with renewable fuel mandates and that would "drive up consumer cost significantly," said Mike McAdams, president of the Advanced Biofuels Association.

"If you want to stick it to the consumer, Mr. Administrator, just roll back the number for imported fuels with your misguided America-first policy," McAdams, whose members include Brazilian-based producers, said in an interview. "You need imports to satisfy targets."

The delays could also make it harder for the EPA to hit a Nov. 30 deadline in federal law to finalize biofuel quotas for the following year. The Obama administration missed that deadline repeatedly, until last year when they came out on time. Pruitt has promised to keep the program's timing on track and " honor the intent " of Congress in creating the mandates.

Representatives from the EPA did not respond to requests for comment.

Read More: EPA Faces Tough Questions From Judges for Slashing Biofuel Quota

Under the Renewable Fuel Standard , first created by Congress in 2005, refiners can use imports to help satisfy multiple mandates in the program and make up for domestic shortfalls. For example, while refiners use U.S. corn-based ethanol to fulfill the bulk of a 2017 requirement to blend in 15 billion gallons of conventional renewable fuels, they are turning to some foreign supplies to help them hit the target.

The U.S. imported 36 million gallons of ethanol from Brazil last year, down from more than 400 million gallons in 2012, according to the Energy Information Administration. U.S. distillers produced a record 15.3 billion gallons of ethanol in 2016, it said.

The EPA is tasked with dictating specific annual quotas, but the agency has limited authority to waive the statutory goals and set lower targets. And the breadth of the EPA's leeway is in doubt, as a federal court weighs a biofuel industry lawsuit challenging the agency's waivers issued under former President Barack Obama.

In addition to the overall biofuel target, the agency sets standards for biodiesel, typically derived from soybean oil; advanced biofuel, which has lower carbon emissions; and cellulosic ethanol, which comes from sources such as crop waste or algae.

Sugarcane-derived ethanol made in Brazil qualifies as an "advanced biofuel," which means it can satisfy quotas for two different types of fuel in the program -- both for advanced biofuel and total renewable fuel. Corn-based ethanol doesn't qualify as advanced.

Imported biodiesel is particularly useful because it can help satisfy quotas for three different required fuels -- advanced, total and biodiesel. Under the program, refiners receive 1.5 compliance credits for each gallon of biodiesel they blend into petroleum.








"Ch-ch-changes

There's gonna have to be a different man"  David Bowie

School of Rock, the suburban Los Angeles-based franchise for aspiring rockers, has long had ties to Philadelphia. Its current CEO and his predecessor were both Philly-area executives.

Rob Price, who will take the reins on July 6, was chief operating officer of Wawa, the expansive Delaware County-based convenience store chain with a cultlike following.

And Dzana Homan, whom he abruptly replaced at School of Rock amid complaints about her leadership, had been recruited from King of Prussia-based Goddard Schools, the private-school chain, in 2014.

Homan's departure "to pursue other interests" was announced to franchisees in a letter last week from School of Rock chairman David Zucker. It was made public on Sean Kelly's entertaining Lancaster County-based Website, Unhappy Franchisee, which has chronicled franchise owners' criticism of Homan's assertive management style.

SoR, founded in 1998, traces its roots to Paul Green's School of Rock on Race Street in Center City, the subject of a 2005 Don Argott-Sheena M. Joyce documentary, Rock School. And it's often assumed  though not acknowledged  to be inspiration for the 2003 Jack Black comedy movie, School of Rock.

Now owned by Chicago investment firm Sterling Partners, the school claims 185 franchises, mostly in North America, including in Center City and the suburbs.

Price holds an MBA from Harvard Business School, where he serves as an alumni board member. He left Wawa in 2006, and went on to work at drugstore giant CVS and most recently as CEO of Edible Arrangements, the fruit basket people. He was also a visiting Wharton professor. Price still claims "many warm memories from my Wawa days," he emailed me. Working at "the Red Roof," aka Wawa, Price says he learned "a brand is shaped primarily by what happens between the team members at each location and every guest."

For Price, great brands are "a living thing fed by the bonds" between customers and company people, like you and the Wawa person who pours your morning coffee or builds your fast-food hoagie facsimile according to computer-aided instructions.

"The most enduring companies are anchored in purpose. Wawa stores are fanatical" about their customers, and School of Rock franchisees and corporate team members are like that, too, Price affirms, with "a burning passion to help students perform on the stage and in their lives."

Burning passion, or something like it, was among the characteristics attributed, for better and worse, to Price's School of Rock predecessor, Homan. After joining SoR, she was showcased in a sympathetic Q&A in Forbes and an adoring column in Cosmopolitan. But what made Homan good magazine copy as a CEO who had risen far from her war-refugee background didn't help her last beyond three years atop the chain.

In his letter to franchisees, Zucker also called Price "a longtime fan of all music genres" who will work for franchisees "in support of rapid business growth."
This is the image the of the online Curalate interactive map showing where to watch the Philadelphia fireworks, in locations south of the Ben Franklin Bridge, on the Delaware River on July 4. Read more

Philly tech firm Curalate helps hundreds of brands from Urban Outfitters to Aldo shoes connect with online shoppers.

Now Curalate is using the same technology to help people find a spot to watch the Delaware River fireworks on July 4.

The 170-employee company, with headquarters at 2401 Walnut St., has posted an online map with tagged locations enabling viewers to sample various vantage points. Viewers can drag their cursor across the map, moving the image to display different angles from which to watch the fireworks display  from north of the Ben Franklin Bridge, or south of it, to various points in Center City.

Each location links to an address: Penn Treaty Park, Spruce Street Harbor Park, Penn's Landing, Independence Seaport Museum and 15 others. There also will be fireworks on the Ben Franklin Parkway on July 4, but the interactive map does not list the locations to watch those.

Jared Shelly, Curalate's head of content, who posted the map on his blog, said that "we were certainly excited to scope out the best places for fireworks. Then we thought, why not have a tool to do it?"

Retailers can use Curalate's technology to approximate the in-store experience for web shoppers, giving them the ability to turn in all directions and look around at the wares for sale. Its main e-commerce platform lets a person see a product's image on Instagram and click through to buy it, without having to find the item on a brand's online catalog.

For the fireworks, even if a person isn't interested in colorful bursts, the map lets a person click and drag to look at the city from 226 feet in the air.

The images were taken by a drone, controlled by the company's summer intern and University of Pennsylvania student Christopher Kao, who also has taken photos of the Comcast Corp.'s new tower.

The Curalate interactive map includes the top of One Liberty Place, to watch the city's fireworks on July 4.

Curalate has been scaling similar heights. In February 2016, it reported receiving a $27.5 million investment from past investors, including New Enterprise Associates, the largest U.S. venture capital outfit, based in Silicon Valley, and Josh Kopelman's Philadelphia-based FirstRound Capital, the biggest VC based on the East Coast. (Kopelman chairs the board of Philadelphia Media Network, which operates the Inquirer, the Daily News, and Philly.com.) The money came on top of the $40 million that those backers have made since 2012.

The cash infusion helped the company expand its tech, sales, marketing, and management staff. The company runs satellite offices in New York and Seattle and opened an office in London in May.

In February, Curalate announced a new partnership with social media giant Pinterest, enabling its 150 million monthly browsers to instantly "click through"  moving to the precise sale web pages where the items are featured  and then quickly close the deal.

Curalate tagged 19 places to watch the Delaware River fireworks:
Once upon a time, Roadside America was one of the countrys great off-highway family attractions. Read more

The village of Fairfield teems with life. Yet the ballplayers, canoeists and construction workers have been frozen in place for more than half a century.

America in miniature, the sprawling nano-village was the lifelong oeuvre of Laurence Gieringer, who began building models as a boy in Reading. He added on and on, until the village was big enough to fill nearly 8,000 square feet in a building in Shartlesville, Berks County. It opened in 1953 as Roadside America, "The World's Largest Miniature Village!"

And today, although fewer cars may fill the parking lot, the town of Fairfield stands open to visitors just as Gieringer left it when he died in 1963.

"I don't change," said Dolores Heinsohn, the 69-year-old granddaughter of Gieringer who keeps Roadside America running today. "That's the key to me."

And Roadside America's consistency is a draw for visitors. "They know when they come back they're not going to be disappointed and they know it's not going to change," she said. "I say it's comfort food for the soul."

From cast-metal carriage wheels to zippy trains to architecturally true bridges, the miniature village is a wonder of artistry: every person, car and building intentionally positioned and no detail left untended. A blue sign hangs across the front door: "Who enters here will be taken by surprises  be prepared to see more than you expect!"

"It's very hard to explain to people what it is," Heinsohn said. "People think it's nothing, but when they walk in that door, they're shocked."

People such as the Violantes. For four years, Pete Violante and his daughters, 22-year-old Amy and 14-year-old Emily, had been driving by Roadside America's signature Pennsylvania Dutch couple that beckons to motorists on I-78 as the family shuttled between their home in Easton and Gettysburg College, where Amy was a student.

Last week, the family finally stopped.

"I expected a flat, train-set setup," said Pete Violante, 44.

Instead, the family saw a carefully scaled topography of mountains, valleys and lakes. About 350 buildings and hundreds if not thousands of people populate Fairfield  all built at 3/8 of an inch to a foot.

The movie house perpetually advertises Boys Town, vintage 1938, starring Spencer Tracy and Mickey Rooney. A band plays in a gazebo to an audience sitting on benches. The cathedral stands as a beacon, with light shining out of 44 hand-painted windows.

Visitors can push buttons to animate trolleys on tracks, children on swings, or wells in an oil field. Real fish swim underneath fishermen in boats, their lines bobbing in the water.

"It's one of those things you have to see once in your life if you live in the region  and even if you don't," said Lisa Haggerty, the marketing manager at Berks County's visitors bureau.

Gieringer spent months constructing single buildings, using wood from old furniture or produce crates. He built fire escapes from the family's curtain rods and nicked his daughter's dollhouse furniture.

He began making models at 9 and made some of the first pieces of Roadside America when he was an adolescent, crafting in the workshop his father built him.

In 1935, Gieringer and his wife opened their home for the public to see what would become Roadside America, which was already big enough to take over their living room.

Two years later, the miniature village  now 700 square feet  drew 58,000 visitors in eight weeks displayed at a firehouse in Reading.

After showing "Hobbytown" in various locations, Gieringer  who built homes, sold oil paintings, and made tombstones to support his family  moved to the current location. After two months of setup, the family celebrated Roadside America's grand opening on Aug. 5, 1953.

Gieringer kept adding to his creation until his death from cancer in 1963 at age 69. But from the administrations of John F. Kennedy to President Trump, not much has changed inside Gieringer's village.

Today, visitors come from around the world and closer to home. Some people drive by for decades before their curiosity gets the best of them. Others are frequent visitors. A few years ago, a man proposed to his girlfriend in a tunnel behind the waterfall.

Heinsohn welcomes close to 100,000 guests each year. The site's roughly 200 parking spaces used to be full with families taking day trips and school buses packed with children.

But in the 90s, "it started to take on this kitschy persona," Heinsohn said; people mocked it. "It was unsettling to me."

Now, though, she is beginning to see a resurgence in the general public's appreciation for and understanding of the place.

"This is the kind of thing that's missing in this country nowadays," said Heinsohn. "That's why, to me, it's so important to hang on to it tenaciously."

On Wednesday, about 35 people were inside as the twice-hourly "night scene" began in the mid-afternoon: Thanks to 170 buttons pushed consecutively, night fell over the village as a spotlight appeared on the American flag, painted on a wall. As "The Star-Spangled Banner" and "God Bless America" played, Fairfield went to sleep, and then the sun rose for a new day.

John Herczeg strolled around the village with his daughter and her boyfriend's 7-year-old son. Herczeg, 70, had last visited Roadside America when he was in sixth grade. He brought the boy hoping it would "widen his horizons."

"It kind of looks the same," said Herczeg, of Whitehall. "It's nice. It's quaint."

After Gieringer died, his wife decided to sell the attraction. As she was about to sign the papers, lawyer present, Heinsohn's mother put her hand on the paper. "Think about it," she told the widow.

That was the end of the deal, recounted Heinsohn. "The lawyer said, 'We flew in from Texas for this!' And my mother said, 'Well, you can fly right back.'"

At just 14, Heinsohn already saw in Roadside America her life's work. As she watched her grandmother consider selling, she worried: "Where is my future?"

Heinsohn has never forgotten that close call, and has avoided temptation to sell. She is certain Roadside America would not be standing today had her grandmother signed that contract.

And since, Heinsohn has dedicated her life to keeping Gieringer's work intact; now, one of her daughters and her son-in-law run it with her.

"Like my mother and my grandfather used to say, you've got to have fun with it," she said. "You've got to have that inner child in you."
Arts and crafts time at Camp No Worries, June 29th, 2017. The Burlington County camp was created nearly two decades ago to give sick children a place just to have fun and be kids. Read more

As an aspiring engineer, Dave Uth was ready to accept his first job offer, but with one condition: He needed a week off in the summer to attend camp.

The prospective employer declined his request and Uth turned down the job in 2014. "I'm sorry. I'm going to keep looking," Uth said. He eventually landed a job that accommodated his request.

Uth has volunteered as a counselor at Camp No Worries in South Jersey every summer since 1998 and was not going to miss the special one-week retreat in the Pine Barrens for local youngsters with cancer and their siblings. He began going as a camper when he was 10 years old and this year returned as the camp's leader and counselor in training.

"It started off as a way to give back," said Uth, 28, of Seattle, a systems engineer who designs aircraft at Boeing. "It turned into something that was fantastic. It's just a special place."

Camp No Worries was started in 1995 by a former child cancer patient who wanted to create a comfortable and relaxing place for children who have gone through cancer treatment or are currently undergoing treatment and their siblings whose lives also have been touched by cancer.

Today, it is a special place not only for cancer patients, but former campers like Uth who return faithfully as volunteers to give a new generation of siblings the same experience that they had as youngsters during a difficult time in their lives.

"It's so hard to forget," said Nicole Fahs, who came to the camp when she was six years old. Her brother, Brett, was 10 when he was diagnosed with a brain tumor. "Whenever I think of my time in the Pine Barrens, I think about here."

With a busy schedule of daily fun activities such as swimming and arts and crafts, the weeklong camp provides cancer patients a much-needed respite from medical routines and puts them back on equal terms with their healthy siblings. It also gives the siblings, often confused by what his happening, a better understanding about the potentially life-threatening diagnosis their sibling may be facing.

"We provide hope, resilience, and friendship," said Kasey Massa, the camp's founder and executive director. "We really want it to be a week of no worries for the entire family."

Uth went to the camp with his younger brother Erik, who was eight years old when he was diagnosed with acute leukemia in 1997. Several years later when she was old enough, their younger sister, Amelia, joined them in the annual outing, which is provided free of cost to families. The siblings grew up in Medford.

This year, Erik, 26, and cancer free, returned to camp for the first time as a counselor following a six-year absence. Like many former campers, Dave has been a regular camp volunteer  for nine straight years, flying in from around the country.

"I'm not missing another year," vowed Erik, a Bordentown Township public works employee. "This was such a big part of my life for many years. It was a place where I could feel like a normal kid."

Located at Camp Inawendiwin in Tabernacle in Burlington County, the camp this year enrolled nearly 100 youngster, ages 6-to-16. Many were referred to the camp by area hospitals and cancer foundations. The campers traveled from across the region to attend the camp, which began June 25 and ended Saturday.

"It's been really fun," said Keira Oliver, 8, of Mount Laurel, a first-time camper. "You get to meet new friends."

Brooke Conklin, 12, of Medford, signed up for camp, along with a friend, Paige. Some of the campers were already friends because they undergo cancer treatment at the same clinic.

"Everybody is the same here. If you're bald you don't have to worry about anyone making fun of you," said Brooke.

There is no special time set aside for campers or their siblings to talk about their illness. Instead, the youngsters simply bring it up when they want to talk about it. Counselors are always close by to offer encouragement, a hug, or an ice pop. In a poignant exchange with a counselor this week, a girl whose sister had cancer shared, "I'm just grateful my sister didn't die."

"When you're a child you don't necessarily process what is going on around you," recalled Fahs, 22, a registered nurse who grew up in Southampton and has been a camp counselor for three years. Her brother survived his bout with cancer and has volunteered over the years, too. "It's scary when you're in the hospital all the time with your sibling."

The campers stay overnight and spend their days playing outdoors, singing, and bonding with other youngsters dealing with similar diagnoses. The camp has an infirmary and is staffed by about 70 volunteers including nurses who can administer medication if needed and monitor the medical needs of the children, social workers, and cabin counselors.

On a sunny afternoon last week, the campers enjoyed a special treat. Huge inflatable "bounce houses" were erected in the sandy parking lot and for several hours they could jump and play. A station was set up with an endless supply of water ice and they took turns trying to hit the mark on a dunking machine to drop a counselor into the tank.

"I really like this place," said Claire Koreck, 8, of Sicklerville, sitting at a picnic table under a shade tree during a break. " I have lots of memories here."

This was the third year at the camp for Claire, who has Ewing's sarcoma, a rare cancer that affects the bones or soft tissue. She was joined by her twin brother, Declin and two other siblings, Maeve, 11, and Sarah, 6.

The camp is sponsored by the YMCA of Burlington and Camden Counties, which underwrites the $1,000 cost for each child to stay for seven days and six nights. The funds are raised from private donations, foundations and fund-raisers.

Massa, 42, of Moorestown, founded the program as a 19-year-old while attending West Virginia University. She was diagnosed with a brain tumor at age 11 and wanted to start a program where young cancer patients and their siblings could have fun and not simply be told what they could not do, as she was while getting treatment.

"This is a week about the 'can-dos," said Massa, a mother of two and a social worker at Cooper University Hospital in Camden, where she was treated as a youngster. "We meet the children where they are. This is a happy place."

The camp began in 1995 at Camp Ockanickon in Medford with 14 campers and has grown every year. It was moved to Camp Inawendiwin in 2001.

Earlier in the week, the camp had a memorial service for campers who lost their battle. This year, they acknowledged a girl who attended camp last year and died about two weeks ago. About 30 campers have died since the program began, Massa said. A survivor's lunch celebrates the victorious battles against cancer.

"It makes you understand how grateful you are for the people around you," said Fahs, of Philadelphia.

For more information contact:

Pam Hall

YMCA of Burlington and Camden Counties

59 Centerton Road

Mount Laurel, NJ 08054
A child-size casket with a bag of organs inside, but no body, was found on a North Philadelphia sidewalk Monday night.

The discovery was made about 9 p.m. on the 3100 block of West Clearfield Street, across from Mount Peace Cemetery.

Police Chief Inspector Scott Small told CBS3: "According to the medical examiner, [they] were in fact human organs. They believed they belonged to an infant or a child. What's unusual is inside the coffin, other than the bag of organs, there was no body."

Small said police are investigating. "There have been cases where people take remains or human bodies for whatever unusual reasons they decide, but we're going to look into that," he said.

Also nearby are Mount Vernon Cemetery and Laurel Hill Cemetery.

Chris James, 25, of North Philadelphia, said in a phone interview Tuesday that he was at a gas station nearby when other people discovered the casket and called 911. He went to look. It was a "small casket wrapped in a trash bag," he said.

When officers arrived, James said, they opened the small, white casket. "At first, they thought it was a false alarm," he said. Then, inside, there was a black plastic bag, which had dirt in it and "something organic," he said.

"It did look like organs," said James.

Police on Wednesday said that an investigator with the Medical Examiner's Office who went to the scene Monday night confirmed that the contents of the casket were indeed embalmed internal organs and that no skeletal remains were found. The casket was taken to the Medical Examiner's Office for further investigation, said police, who released no further information Wednesday.

A spokesman for the Medical Examiner's Office referred questions on the case Wednesday to the police department.

A woman who answered the phone at Mount Peace Cemetery on Wednesday said no one would have any comment. A corporate official with Mount Vernon Cemetery said Wednesday: "We are no way involved in this matter." A woman who answered the phone at Laurel Hill Cemetery said they had checked their grounds and found nothing suspicious.

Editor's Note: This story was revised to clarify that the area of Clearfield Street where the casket was found is across from Mount Peace Cemetery, not Mount Vernon Cemetery as originally reported by police.
Even as friends and family still were coming to grips with the shocking death of 18-year-old Bianca Roberson, those acquainted with the man accused of her road-rage slaying say they were taken aback by the horrific allegations against someone they knew as "even-keeled."

"I never saw him as a hothead or in any way a threat to anyone," said Greg Parker, who worked with David Desper, 28, of Trainer, Delaware County, as a water-well contractor for a few years. He said the alleged actions would be "very uncharacteristic" of Desper, who remained jailed without bail on Monday on murder charges. He had no previous serious offenses, according to court records, just a few traffic violations for driving unregistered vehicles without proper inspection. In 2007 he was accused of drag racing in Philadelphia but was found not guilty, the records showed.

Desper is accused of shooting and killing Roberson at the height of the homebound commute on Wednesday along a stretch of the Route 100 bypass in West Goshen Township where the highway funnels into one lane.

The victim's friends, meanwhile, continued to mourn her death, and members of her family had asked for privacy.

On Monday, Diana Williamson, 18, of Brookhaven, who worked with Roberson at the White Horse Village retirement community, recounted what happened when she and her colleagues heard the news of the arrest.

Before their 11 a.m. shift. Sunday, a dozen White Horse dining-room employees huddled around 19-year-old Sydney Miller's cellphone, watching a live feed of the news conference. When it was announced that authorities had arrested Desper, a supervisor yelled, "Yes!"

"Everyone was so happy. Some of us started crying," Williamson said. "It was just a 'Thank God he is off the streets, and can't do this again.' "

Williamson said her first thought when she saw Desper's mug shot was "could this have been a racial thing?"

Chester County District Attorney Tom Hogan said Sunday that there was "no indication that we're aware of that this was a race crime or a hate crime."

Parker said his friend Desper was a people person who was "not in any way a racist, or nasty person, or threatening, or on drugs."

In Facebook posts and comment threads, Desper's friends described him as a calm and level-headed person who rarely seemed to get angry.

Karl Pritz, 30, of Bensalem, said he and Desper were tuning up a Camaro a few weeks ago when a window flew off the car as it was driving. Pritz said Desper remained completely calm and even joked about the misfortune, driving around Chester at night to try to find the window.

"Was a cool, calm guy," Pritz said. "Not on edge or snap personality. Seemed even keel even when he had something go wrong that cost him money.  He just shrugged it off and kept going."

If the allegations turn out to to be true, "Everyone that knows Dave is very disappointed in his actions, and we just want to know what led him to commit such an act," said Parker, 30, of Aston. "Because if you knew Dave, then you knew this wasn't like him."

Attempts to reach Desper's family were unsuccessful Monday, and his lawyer, Dan McGarrigle, declined to comment.

Desper surrendered at McGarrigle's office in Media around 2 a.m. Sunday. Shortly afterward, police hauled in his red pickup truck, which was found parked on Huntingdon Farm Drive in Glen Mills.

Bianca's father, Rodney Roberson, said last week that his daughter was driving home from a shopping trip in Exton when the confrontation occurred.

Roberson's green 2009 Chevrolet Malibu was trying to merge into the lane along with Desper's red Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck, police said. After Desper shot Roberson in the head, her car veered off the road and into a tree. Desper, meanwhile, sped off toward Delaware County.

In a search of Desper's home, police said, they found a .40-caliber Smith & Wesson semiautomatic handgun and .40-caliber ammunition, the same caliber weapon and ammo used in the shooting. Desper had purchased the gun legally three years ago, Hogan said, and had a license to carry it.

Desper's charges include first- and third-degree murder, possession of an instrument of crime, and reckless endangerment.

Williamson said she had one question about Desper's alleged behavior: "Why? No one had to lose their life over something so simple."

Williamson said she plans to get a tattoo of Roberson's signature on her rib cage as soon as possible to pay tribute to her friend.

Williamson said her close-knit friend group will never be the same without Roberson, a recent graduate of Bayard Rustin High School who was heading to Jacksonville University in the fall.

But, Williamson said, Desper's quick arrest brought her some closure.

Over the last few days, Williamson said she has become a more cautious driver, constantly thinking about what happened to her friend on a routine drive home from a shopping trip.

"If someone looks like they're starting something with me," Williamson said, "I back off anymore."
Elias Burstein, 99, formerly of Penn Valley, a longtime professor of physics at the University of Pennsylvania and a distinguished scientist whose research set the stage for the development of silicon semiconductors used in computer chips, died June 17, of heart failure at Beaumont in Bryn Mawr.

In 1958, he was appointed professor of physics at the University of Pennsylvania, where in 1982 he became the Mary Amanda Wood Professor of Physics. He retired in 1988 as professor emeritus.

At Penn's Department of Physics and Astronomy, he was one of the first to use lasers to conduct fundamental research on semiconductors and insulators. He came up with a way to increase the semiconductivity of the stable element silicon by combining it with impurities. The advance allowed the silicon to carry more charges than in the past, making it more efficient and thereby improving the performance of the computer chip.

"He's really more of a basic scientist in understanding the properties of silicon and how to manipulate the properties of silicon, the material that underlies all computer technology," said his Penn colleague A.T. Charlie Johnson. "This has paved the way for the modern computer chips that we have today."

Perhaps Professor Burstein's most high-profile contribution locally was as a member of the interdisciplinary team that in 1961 created the Laboratory for Research on the Structure of Matter at the University of Pennsylvania. The lab has hosted the annual Eli Burstein Lecture in Materials Science since 1994.

"This is one of the leading labs in the country," Johnson said. He said the lab has progressed from doctoring semiconductors to creating special carbon materials, and now is engaged in nanotechnology, the manipulation of individual molecules and atoms.

Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., Professor Burstein graduated from public high school there. He earned a bachelor's degree in chemistry from Brooklyn College in 1938, and a master's degree in chemistry from the University of Kansas in 1941.

He took graduate courses in chemistry and physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and in physics at Catholic University, but his doctoral studies were interrupted in 1945 during the last days of World War II.

Given a 4F draft classification, he couldn't serve in combat, but his skills were needed on war-related projects at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory in Washington. He remained there until 1958, becoming a member, then head, of the lab's crystal branch, and then head of its semiconductors branch. His specialty was exploring the optical physics of condensed matter, otherwise known as solid state materials.

Professor Burstein taught and published widely. At various times between 1967 and 1996, he was a visiting professor at the University of California, Irvine; Hebrew University of Jerusalem in Israel; University of Parma in Italy; Chalmers University of Technology in Gothenburg, Sweden; and the University of California, Berkeley.

Although he never completed his doctoral degree, he received honorary doctorates from Chalmers Institute of Technology in 1981, Brooklyn College in 1985, Emory University in 1994, and Ohio State University in 1999.

He was a member of the Franklin Institute's Committee on Science and the Arts starting in 1995. He was a fellow of the American Physical Society and also of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

He was founding editor of the international professional journal Solid State Communications. Over the course of his career, Professor Burstein mentored more than 30 doctoral and postdoctoral students.

"He influenced their careers, and collaborated with hundreds of scientists around the world," his family wrote in a tribute.

Professor Burstein loved music, especially classical guitar and opera. After moving in 2007 to Beaumont at Bryn Mawr, he initiated and ran an opera/musical theater program for the residents.

Because as an experimental physicist he had had to invent and build the equipment needed to carry out some experiments, he was a natural at home repairs, using whatever was available.

He and his family vacationed for 50 years in the northeast Pennsylvania community of Eagles Mere, where he loved to sail on a lake in small, swift boats.

He traveled many times to Europe, Israel, and Japan as part of his work, and became enamored of Japanese culture, including art, music, film, food, and literature. He and his wife had a small Japanese-style wing built onto their house in Penn Valley. It included a guest house and hot tub room, furnished and decorated with Japanese scrolls, mats, and a futon.

Professor Burstein outlived his three siblings and, in doing so, became the family patriarch. Many of his younger family members said that he and his wife, Rena Benson Burstein, a retired career counselor, acted as mentors to them.

"He was different and distinctive in every way," said his daughter, Mimi Burstein. "He was a very enthusiastic person, especially about music and the arts. He collected things, and he was quirky.

"He would get excited thinking about the way the mind works, in discussing intuition," she said. "A lot of his work was done in discussion with others. He liked to bat ideas around and shoot the scientific breeze."

Besides his daughter and his wife of 74 years, he is survived by daughters Joanna Mitro and Sara Donna, and two grandchildren.

Services were held on June 20. A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. on Wednesday, July 12, at Beaumont at Bryn Mawr, 601 N. Ithan Ave. Plans for a memorial event at Penn are pending.
Linda Mullaney (right), 68, of Forked River, at Island Beach State Park on Independence Day. The park was closed to the public for several days prior, due to the New Jersey government shutdown. Read more

BERKELEY TOWNSHIP, N.J.  "The nerve of him."

That was the general consensus Tuesday among beachgoers at Island Beach State Park managing to eke out at least a few hours on the strand before the Fourth of July weekend came to an end.

"We're still upset.  The nerve of him to rub people's noses in it," said Barbara O'Neill, 52, of Toms River. "This is our beach, we pay for it.  The nerve of him."

It was a sentiment expressed by many at the park who were some combination of disappointed, disgusted, and infuriated that Gov. Christie had lolled around the governor's official compound at Island Beach in Ocean County over the weekend while the rest of the state was locked out of all state parks and facilities during an impasse.

The shutdown ended after the governor and key Democrats resolved their differences and Christie signed the budget in the wee hours on Tuesday morning.

Despite the shutdown, Jersey Shore officials projected that the season  and even the holiday weekend  would be a winner when tallies are counted after Labor Day, adding as much as 5 percent to last year's $44 billion state tourism total, said Diane F. Wieland, director of tourism for Cape May County.

The middle-of-the-week placement of the Fourth of July created two "big" weekends for vendors at the beach, Wieland said.

"Despite a bit of a slow start in June because a lot of the Philadelphia-area schools didn't end the school year until close to the end of the month, we are seeing reservations up," Wieland said. "Heading into the prime season, we are optimistic, provided the weather is good."

And the weather  hot and sunny  Tuesday was perfect for the beach, although some were still stuck on what had transpired in government the previous few days.

It wasn't so much that some of their favorite places had been closed, they said, but that Christie seemed to have been thumbing his nose at the public, saying: "Run for governor and you can have the residence."

"I understand it's a perk of the job to have the beach mansion here," said Ben Quarne, 36, of Clinton, a municipal road department worker who brought his family to Island Beach for the day. "But I think his comments were outright disrespectful of everyone else."

David Cunha, 33, of East Brunswick, said that while most of the other beaches on New Jersey's 127-mile coastline had remained open throughout the weekend, Island Beach was one of the few affordable options.

The park charges $10 a carload and does not require beach tags. Most other Shore towns charge a minimum of $10 per person to set foot on the sand.

"And then you have to pay to park, on top of that. It's just not something that some people can afford," Cunha said. "And it was selfish and unfair for the state to handle it the way it did  especially the governor  on a holiday weekend."

Santo Bonelli, 73, of Bayville, felt the same way.

"They could have put the whole budget thing on hold and allowed the visitors and residents of this state to enjoy their holiday weekend, but instead they chose to thumb their noses at the common people while he's out their sunbathing like a king. That is disgraceful."

Wendy Creech, 51, of Westfield, Mass., said the whole thing would have left a bad taste in her mouth had she not been staying with relatives in nearby Island Heights for the weekend.

"We got here Friday and found out we weren't going to be able to go to the beach," said Creech. "If we were paying for a hotel, we'd have been very angry.  We'd probably have never come back to New Jersey."

The closure of state parks disrupted plans for hiking and camping as well.

"My daughter and I were really excited about getting into hiking. We had been waiting all weekend to do this," said Ryan Poletis, who brought 10-year-old Olivia to Batsto Lake in Wharton State Forest on Tuesday. "We bought hiking equipment the other day and really wanted to get out here," said Poletis, 40, who lives in Turnersville.

Janet and Bob Winters, of Millville, said they had planned to camp at Wharton but decamped instead to the private Chestnut Lake RV campground in nearby Port Republic. They went for a walk at Batsto on Tuesday.

"We love it here," said Janet Winters, 63. "I hope this doesn't happen again."
Two girls jump off the rocks at Devils Pool in the middle of the Wissahickon creek June 28, 2017. Area residents say the foot traffic has gotten out of control and some are calling for the 15-foot watering hole to be filled in with rocks. Read more

Suzanne Durand took her two small dogs for a walk last Sunday down Mount Airy Avenue, a block of million-dollar homes set back on pristinely manicured lawns in the city's Northwest corner. As she got to the base of her driveway, she was taken aback  trash lined the street up and down her block.

"Baby diapers, dirty clothes, beer bottles, vomit," Durand, 67, said in an interview at her home last week. "Today, I found a used applicator for a tampon."

The culprits? Visitors to Devil's Pool, a once-hidden Philadelphia gem nestled in Wissahickon Valley Park, now easily discovered in online articles, YouTube videos, and Facebook groups with directions on how to find the unmarked spot. To get there, visitors hike in through the park or take a narrow paved road down to the base of the Cresheim Creek, where small boulders overlook a 15-foot basin of water, shaded beneath a canopy of trees.

It's an attractive nuisance," said Friends of the Wissahickon executive director Maura McCarthy. "But it's an attractive nuisance we all love." Friends of the Wissahickon is a nonprofit volunteer group committed to the park.

Durand's block is one of the nearest streets for those looking to park near Livezey Lane  which is closed to vehicles  and walk down to the pool.

The influx of people heading to the swimming hole and resulting problems spilling into neighborhood yards has hit an all-time peak this year, Durand and fellow neighbors said. The last time a count was done by Friends of the Wissahickon, in 2011, upwards of 400 people would visit the pool on a summer weekend. McCarthy said unofficial anecdotal car and foot traffic estimates now suggest weekend turnout can be as many as 600. Residents say cars, many with out-of-state license plates, line their streets. And, for the first time, discarded needles are being found among the garbage people leave behind, police and neighbors say.

There have been reports of bad behavior: people urinating on lawns, having sex in public, and trying to swim in a neighbor's pool.

Dena Dannenberg, 84, who moved into her Mount Airy Avenue home in 1957 with her husband, Jim, 91, said she's asked every day how to get to the swimming hole.

"No amount of saying 'this is dangerous' or 'this is polluted' is going to dissuade them," she said. "They think they're in paradise and they need to be given options of other places to go."

Friends of the Wissahickon raised $10,000 to increase police presence over Fourth of July weekend. Police say they'll enforce the long-ignored no-swimming rule. The extra manpower will only last through the holiday, though, and residents at a meeting on Wednesday night expressed skepticism about long-term change.

"The cops say 'don't swim,' and the kids just stare back and keep swimming," said resident Jerry Izzard, as he cleaned up in front of his home on Wayne Avenue, where he's lived since 2001.

Down in the Wissahickon on Wednesday afternoon, about 60 people in swimsuits and water shoes or sneakers gathered along Cresheim Creek, which flows into Devil's Pool. The sounds of bodies hitting the water ran on a loop as jumper after jumper leapt from one of the large rocks hovering above the swimming hole.

Smack, plunge, whoosh.

"It's awesome here," said Brooke Regensburg, 16, of Princeton, water dripping down her face after her first jump.

Smack, plunge, whoosh.

"You have to try it," said Genesis Jimasiz, 18, of South Philadelphia.

Jimasiz, a recent Furness High School graduate, shrugged off some of the bad behavior reported.

"You cannot control the young people," Jimasiz said. "And it's not like anyone's coming here in the winter. It's three months. Maybe they should relax?"

Swimming is illegal in Devil's Pool, as it is throughout the Wissahickon. People have been seriously injured jumping from rocks  or, worse, a 60-foot-high stone bridge  into the narrow portion of the pool deep enough for such a leap. The oasis is also a dead spot for cell service, which adds to danger and wait time in the event of an emergency.

City officials say the water is too polluted to swim in. Devil's Pool hasn't been tested, but the creek that runs into it, the Cresheim, tested positive for fecal coliform bacteria, McCarthy said. A nearby, more shallow swimming area known as "the beach" is part of the Wissahickon, which connects with four wastewater treatment plants.

But the area, an amalgam of rocks and moss with the creek glittering in the sun beneath a canopy of trees, is alluring.

A check one day last week found visitors from Northeast and South Philadelphia, Camden, Norristown, Garnett Valley, and Vineland. The spot is primarily trafficked by high school- and college-aged young people of a range of backgrounds, although families hiking through the woods stop by and picnic as well.

Near the edge of the creek, Miguel Bonilla, 20, and a group of friends from North Philadelphia, passed around a joint, watching the jumpers.

Bonilla said his mother first brought him to the pool as a kid.

"I dunno, it's just like, in the hood, stuff like this doesn't exist," Bonilla said. "This is a spot you can chill in, get away from everything, get away from our troubles, and relax."

Some people are disrespectful, Bonilla said. "The bad people mess it up for the rest of us."

At Wednesday night's community meeting, neighbors, in conjunction with the city and Friends of the Wissahickon, talked about potential solutions, including more signs warning of the dangers of swimming, more trash bins, and bringing in portable bathrooms.

Some neighbors argued the only way to curb the influx of visitors is to take away the main attraction by filling the swimming hole with rocks.

"The solution is not to keep people out," McCarthy said in an interview. "And it's not to drive park visitors away. This is their park every bit as much as it is our residents', who we appreciate and honor, so our concern is making sure quality of access is our focus."
U.S. Rep. Brendan Boyle wants to require that voter registration forms be given to all new U.S. citizens at their naturalization ceremonies.

"Once someone becomes a citizen, making sure that they have the information on how to register to vote  is an important thing we can offer them," Boyle (D., Pa.) said Monday.

Boyle and Rep. Joe Crowley (D., N.Y.), chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, co-sponsored legislation that would require the Department of Homeland Security to allow chief election officers throughout the country to distribute voter registration forms "to each person who becomes a citizen of the United States at a naturalization ceremony."

According to Boyle, few states and municipalities, excluding Pennsylvania or Philadelphia, provide voter registration material to newly sworn U.S. citizens.

"It's completely haphazard," Boyle said, noting that some places include the information in new citizens packets, while others have a stand outside of the naturalization ceremonies. Boyle wants the process to be uniform.

The issue came up at a community meeting last fall in which Philadelphia City Commissioner Lisa Deeley was taking questions. One woman asked her if newly sworn citizens are registered to vote on the spot. Deeley, who is part of the three-member board of commissioners that oversee local elections, said she didn't know the answer to that.

She reached out to Boyle, who told her that voter registration wasn't a requirement. Boyle took it from there and created legislation that would require voter registration forms be given to every new citizen, Deeley said Monday.

"Certainly we want people who are becoming citizens of our great country  to be part of our voting process," she said.

The legislation, which was introduced last week, would also allow election officials to set up informational tables outside naturalization ceremonies. Philadelphia has four to six administrative naturalization ceremonies each week, according to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).

The USCIS announced last week that it will naturalize 15,000 new citizens on the Fourth of July in several dozen Independence Day-themed naturalization ceremonies across the country, including at the Betsy Ross House in Philadelphia.

"We should do all we can to provide all citizens a fair opportunity to participate in our democracy  and in fact encourage them to do so  regardless of the location they happen to be naturalized as a U.S. citizen," Boyle said.
Gov. Christie prepares to address the news media after New Jersey legislative leaders announced they had reached an agreement to end the government shutdown. Read more

Gov. Christie signed a $34.7 billion budget into law early Tuesday morning, bringing an end to New Jersey's three-day government shutdown.

State parks, which were closed over the weekend, were open to the public for the Fourth of July holiday.

That includes Island Beach State Park, just south of Seaside Heights, where Christie was photographed lounging on the beach with his family Sunday even as the park was closed to the public. That set off intense public backlash, especially on social media.

Government will reopen Wednesday. Now that the standoff in Trenton is over, here's a recap.

Q: Why did the government shut down?

A: The direct cause was the Legislature's failure to pass a budget by July 1, the start of the new fiscal year. The New Jersey Constitution says "all moneys for the support of state government  shall be provided for in one general appropriation law covering one and the same fiscal year." In other words, the Legislature and governor cannot pass a short-term funding bill to avert a shutdown. Without a balanced budget for the full fiscal year, Christie had to shut down government, though he was able to maintain essential services.

Technically, there was nothing Christie could do to reopen government until he received a budget. But it's more complicated than that.

Q: Why didn't the Legislature send Christie a budget on time?

A: The irony here is that the Democrats who control the Legislature actually agreed on the budget. It added $325 million in spending to what Christie proposed in February. Most significant is that those legislative add-ons included $150 million in additional school funding, with $25 million for expanded pre-K and $25 million for special education. The school-funding deal also shifted aid from historically "overfunded" districts to "underfunded" ones that had received flat aid for years, even as enrollment grew.

The real sticking point was over an entirely separate legislative debate: Christie wanted to restructure the state's largest health insurer, the nonprofit Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey.

And he told Democratic leaders that he would sign their additional spending into law only if they passed legislation that made substantial changes to Horizon.

One faction of Democrats, led by Senate President Stephen Sweeney (D., Gloucester), wouldn't send Christie a budget without also passing legislation on Horizon, because they feared he would follow through on his threat to veto their spending wish list.

Another faction, led by Assembly Speaker Vincent Prieto (D., Hudson), argued that the insurance company had nothing to do with the budget and that linking the two amounted to political "extortion."

Prieto was particularly concerned with a provision that would have required Horizon to dedicate "excess" surplus to benefit its 3.8 million policyholders and the general public health. Horizon's reserves didn't belong to the state, he said, adding that the Christie-backed proposal in the Senate amounted to a "tax" on the insurer's policyholders.

Q: What does the new Horizon law do?

A: It establishes a "cap" on Horizon's surplus; any amount of money that exceeds that surplus would be returned to policyholders. The cap applies to the amount of capital the insurer may maintain in its reserves to account for unexpected health-care costs. In the insurance industry, this is known as risk-based capital. Christie and lawmakers said this provision was modeled after Pennsylvania's regulations.

"We have finally capped the excess profits of Horizon," Christie said Monday night. Horizon's 2016 reserves were under the cap, which is 725 percent of risk-based capital.

The reserves won't be used to create a state fund for drug treatment and other public health programs  which is what Christie had originally proposed.

The legislation also adds two seats to the insurer's board, to be appointed by the Assembly speaker and Senate president. Christie argues that this will bring accountability to the insurer, which he has accused of hoarding profits at the expense of the poor.

It also requires Horizon to provide the state with annual reports that detail executive compensation.

"No more operating in the shadows for Horizon," Christie said late Monday.

Q: Why was the debate over an insurance company considered so important that it triggered a shutdown, disrupting the Fourth of July weekend?

A: No elected official has offered a good answer to this question. Over the weekend, we published an article explaining the political forces at work that helps explain the impasse. Ultimately, though, Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey has nothing to do with the state's $34.7 billion budget. The shutdown was an ego-driven mess that reflected poorly on everyone in Trenton.

Q: Politically, who "won" the shutdown?

A: No one. Christie and legislative leaders agree that the shutdown was avoidable and unnecessary.

Q: Does Christie regret lounging on the beach with his family while Island Beach State Park was closed to the general public?

A: Emphatically, no. "I think I've proven over the last eight years that I don't care about political optics," Christie said Monday night. He also said, "Shame on those people who wanted to make this as if we were taking advantage of something."

Speaking at length on the backlash he had incurred after NJ.com posted aerial photos Sunday of Christie and his family on the otherwise closed beach, where the governor has a residence, Christie said it was his right to be there, that he chose to spend time with his family, and that he wasn't going to cancel on his son, who a month earlier had invited friends to travel there.

Of his remark that he "didn't get any sun," Christie said he interpreted a reporter's question as "Were you like, out laying out getting a tan today?" He said he didn't count going out on the beach for 40 minutes "after I've been working all morning" as "getting sun."

The impression that he was vacationing instead of working is "the only thing  implied over the last 24 hours that bothered me," Christie said.

Dismissing the photo coverage as "B.S., kind of gotcha journalism," Christie reiterated that he was with his family. "If I was sitting next to a 25-year-old blonde  that would be a story," he said.
President Trump cited the recent job numbers as evidence of his effect on the economy. But the numbers were not better than last years under Barack Obama. Read more

WASHINGTON  President Trump on Monday touted the "great jobs numbers" since he took office  numbers that his own administration's official statistics show aren't all that great.

Trump said in a tweet that "at some point the Fake News will be forced to discuss our great jobs numbers, strong economy" and other successes of his administration.

From February through May  the latest data available  the U.S. economy has created 594,000 net new jobs, according to the Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics. That's fewer than the 659,000 created during the final four months of the Obama administration, which Trump criticized for its job growth.

Although the Bureau of Labor Statistics adjusted its figures for seasonal disparities, such as the increased hiring during the Christmas holiday season, some would argue that a better comparison would be February through May of 2016.

But the numbers under Trump fall short there, too, as the economy added 658,000 jobs during that period.

So if there have been "great jobs numbers" under Trump, then they were even greater under President Barack Obama.

Economists have described job growth this year as solid.

The average of 162,000 net new jobs a month so far is off last year's pace of 187,000. At this point, 2017 is on track to produce the fewest net new jobs since 2010.

That would continue a downward trend since the economy added nearly 3 million net new jobs  an average of 250,000 a month  in 2014 in the best year of labor market growth since the late 1990s.

It generally takes businesses several months to turn a decision to hire into new jobs, so Trump's influence might not be reflected in the first few jobs reports of his presidency.

Still, that didn't prevent Trump administration officials from touting February's strong job growth. White House press secretary Sean Spicer was so eager to trumpet the 235,000 net new jobs created (since revised down slightly to 232,000) that he broke an obscure federal rule by commenting on the data within an hour of its official release.

"Great news for American workers: economy added 235,000 new jobs, unemployment rate drops to 4.7 percent in first report for @POTUS Trump," Spicer tweeted.

Trump has tried to start the clock on his economic influence with his election in November, which led to a jump in consumer and business confidence readings.

On June 1, Trump said that since Election Day the economy "is starting to come back, and very, very rapidly."

"We've added $3.3 trillion in stock market value to our economy, and more than a million private sector jobs," he said during a White House speech announcing the U.S. was withdrawing from the Paris climate change accord.

He was correct. From November through April, the figures available at the time, U.S. businesses added 986,000 net new jobs. The figure was higher when he spoke, before the Bureau of Labor Statistics revised down job growth for March and April the next day.

But that private-sector job growth was less than the 1.16 million the sector added from November 2015 through April 2016.

The unemployment rate has declined under Trump to 4.3 percent in May from 4.8 percent when he took office. The latest figure is the lowest since 2001 and Trump noted that in a tweet on Sunday.

"Stock Market at all time high, unemployment at lowest level in years (wages will start going up) and our base has never been stronger!" Trump wrote.

But the decline in May was largely for the wrong reason  about 429,000 people dropped out of the labor force.

During the presidential campaign, Trump criticized the declining unemployment rate (it had been 10 percent in October 2009) as not reflecting the true state of the economy.

In a speech in August, Trump called the then 4.9 percent unemployment rate at the time "one of the biggest hoaxes in modern politics" because it didn't take into account the number of people who had dropped out of the labor force.
Pearl Bliss Olanoff, 91, of Philadelphia, a longtime teacher of deaf children, died June 29 of congestive heart failure at Atria Senior Living in Center City.

Ms. Olanoff dedicated herself to instructing children with hearing loss, first at the Friends of the Deaf Nursery School in North Philadelphia, later at St. Christopher's Hospital for Children, and finally within the School District of Philadelphia.

She also taught evening classes in sign language and lip reading to adults at the Cheltenham School District, said her daughter, Beth Olanoff.

After retiring in the 1980s, Ms. Olanoff continued teaching as a volunteer. She was a reading tutor to first graders at the Albert M. Greenfield Elementary School and worked informally with graduate students at Temple and Drexel universities from China and Taiwan who needed help with English skills to seek employment.

A reliable and much-loved mentor and friend, Ms. Olanoff stayed in contact with many of her students for years.

The Olanoff family had a long history of aiding those with hearing loss. The impetus came from Rose Olanoff, Ms. Olanoff's mother-in-law, a longtime interpreter for the deaf in the Philadelphia court system.

"My mother crossed over into my father's mother's world," daughter Beth Olanoff said.

It was Rose who organized the Friends of the Deaf in April 1936. The group wanted to establish a house where the Jewish deaf and their friends could hold meetings and religious services. In 1939, the group acquired and dedicated a building at 1516 W. Girard Ave. as the Friends of the Deaf Community Center.

The center sponsored a nursery school and a space for dances, interpreters, counseling sessions, and instruction in skills such as sign language, lip reading, speech development, and sense training. The school closed in 1975 due to lack of funding, and the building was sold in 1979.

When not in the classroom, Ms. Olanoff was a patron of the arts. Her home was filled with works by Philadelphia artists, such as painter and printmaker Itzhak Sankowsky, painter George Beach, and watercolorist Howard Watson. She often entertained artists in her home.

She expressed her own creativity as an accomplished seamstress. She also loved to knit, do needlepoint, throw pots, and weave.

Born in Philadelphia, Ms. Olanoff was the second daughter of Louis and Ida Bliss. The family lived on Franklin Street in the Northern Liberties section of Philadelphia. Ms. Olanoff's parents were immigrants who had arrived from Russia around 1900. Louis Bliss maintained a dental office in the front of the house on Franklin Street. The family lived in the rest of the home, and any spare rooms were rented out to friends and relatives.

Ms. Olanoff graduated in 1944 from Philadelphia High School for Girls. She remained an active alumna and, after marrying Richard L. Olanoff and having four daughters, she shepherded all four through Girls High. She told family she was proud to serve as a board member of the Girls High Alumnae Association.

Ms. Olanoff earned her bachelor's degree in liberal arts at the University of Pennsylvania. Although she looked back fondly on her years at Penn, she told family members that several buildings on campus were off-limits to women, which she viewed as gender bias.

"She didn't talk much about Penn, but when she did, that came up," her daughter said.

She earned a master's degree in early childhood education from Temple University by taking classes one at a time at night, while working full time with children still at home.

"It took a long time  maybe 10 years  but she never made a fuss about it," her daughter said. "She just did it. I never heard her complain."

Ms. Olanoff was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease two decades ago, and in later years it affected her speech and mobility. Early in her battle with the disease, she began participating in research activities through the Parkinson's Disease and Movement Disorders Center at Pennsylvania Hospital. Her last gift to science was a donation of brain tissue to further the group's research.

This past spring, although not in good health, she insisted on voting in the primary election.

The Olanoffs lived in Elkins Park and East Mount Airy. The couple divorced in the late 1970s. Richard Olanoff died in 1991.

In addition to her daughter, Ms. Olanoff is survived by daughters Rachel Kreimer, Dinah Olanoff, and Hannah Olanoff; six grandchildren; and a great-grandson.

A memorial service was held July 2. Shiva will be observed at the home of Rachel Kreimer at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, July 4.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Alumnae Association of the Philadelphia High School for Girls, Box 845, Mount Laurel, N.J. 08054, or through http://ghsalumnae.org/.
A&W Restaurants Returns to Singapore in 2018

For our Singaporean friends, you dont need to travel to Malaysia or Thailand for A&W anymore. A&W restaurants will return to Singapore in 2018!

According to Yahoo Lifestyle Singapore, A&W CEO Kevin Bazner has already built an office in Singapore in 2016 to prepare for this expansion and is currently looking for real estate for a flagship company restaurant in Singapore. They are planning to expand their chain of restaurants to Southeast Asia, with plans to open outlets in Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, and of course, Singapore.

There are plans to expand 30 to 40 new A&W restaurants a year in South East Asia.

Looks like Singaporeans will have their favourite A&W Root Beer, Hot Dogs and Mozza Burger as soon as in 2018. The A&W brand left Singapore in 2003.

Wilson Ng A Father and traveler who enjoys to eat, shop, travel and taking pictures with Samsung S22 Ultra and Sony ZV-1. Im a full time blogger, youtuber and father for two. I used to travel around 17 International trips per year but now staying at home. Remember to follow us at www.instagram.com/placesandfoods and www.youtube.com/placesandfoods. For advertisements or features, contact me at [email protected] See author's posts
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A plane flying over the New Jersey shore on Monday had some pointed advice for the Gov. Chris Christie: Get the hell off Island Beach State Park.

Video:

Beachgoers cheer as banner plane telling Gov. Christie to get the hell of the beach passes by. pic.twitter.com/7D4qXGqGRX  JSHN (@JSHurricaneNews) July 3, 2017

The large banner flying over the Jersey Shore is a direct response to Christie Fourth of July visit to Island State Beach State Park, one of the parks Christie ordered shut down because of the states government shutdown.

Despite his order, recently released photos show Christie and his family enjoying time on the beach, signaling that the governor  among the most popular in the country  simply doesnt care anymore.

After ordering state beaches closed to the public, Chris Christie took his family to the empty beach https://t.co/dRULtatCcg pic.twitter.com/A2tmTJ9nBJ  Brian Cassella (@briancassella) July 2, 2017

Not only are the people of New Jersey outraged by Christies beach day, but even his lieutenant governor, Kim Guadagno, is baffled by his visit to the closed park.

If I were governor, I sure wouldnt be sitting on the beach if taxpayers didnt have access to state beaches, she said. Its beyond words.

Of course, Guadagno isnt only Christies lieutenant governor; shes also in a campaign to succeed him, so shes not exactly showing courage by speaking out against Christie  shes simply making the politically wise decision.

In any case, beachgate is an appropriate bookend for Christies career in politics as he prepares to leave office.

From one-time presidential front-runner to a disgraced  soon-to-be former  governor of New Jersey, Chris Christie sure has come a long way.
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It appears there is no part of the Donald Trump White House that doesnt reek of corruption, as the presidents phony election integrity commission is in hot water after Kansas Secretary of State and vice chair of the group, Kris Kobach, allegedly used the commission to promote his gubernatorial candidacy.

Kristen Clarke, president and executive director of the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, announced that her organization officially filed a complaint on Monday.

BREAKING: We filed complaint today alleging Kris Kobach violated Hatch Act by using work w/ sham Pence-Kobach Comm. to promote his candidacy  Kristen Clarke (@KristenClarkeJD) July 3, 2017

As CNN pointed out on Monday, Clarkes group is calling on the Department of Justice to investigate whether Kobach violated the Hatch Act, a 1939 law intended to keep federal employees from directly supporting candidates, accusing him of using his role on the presidential commission to promote his campaign and solicit contributions.

More from CNN:

In its complaint, the legal group outlined several occasions in which it accused Kobach of improperly promoting his role on the commission to bolster his gubernatorial candidacy through social media accounts attributed to his campaign and through his campaign website, in addition to remarks he has made that the group says blurred the line between federal government worker and political candidate. In response to a query from CNN, Kobachs Kansas office blasted the legal group. We are certain that no Hatch Act violations have occurred, said his spokeswoman, Samantha Poetter. This is nothing but a bunch of liberal lawyers trying to create a story. The Hatch Act restricts federal employees from using their official positions to engage in electoral efforts. The legal group said Kobachs role on the commission makes him subject to the law and therefore necessitates an investigation from the Justice Departments Office of Special Counsel, which handles Hatch Act matters. The group also called on the Office of Government Ethics and the White House Counsels Office to look into any ethical breaches from Kobach.

Things are going so badly for the commission that it was reported on Monday that Maryland Deputy Secretary of State Luis Borunda is resigning from the presidents panel.

The controversy comes as the commission was already under criticism this week for requesting voter information from every state, which would put private voter information at risk. Most states have refused to give this information to the presidents panel.

As states denied to hand over the private data, the child-in-chief unhappily stomped to his Twitter account to throw a tantrum about it.

Numerous states are refusing to give information to the very distinguished VOTER FRAUD PANEL. What are they trying to hide?  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 1, 2017

This commission was already a sham, to begin with, as Trumps repeated claim that voter fraud cost him the popular vote is and always has been laughably false. Using taxpayer money to fund a panel based on that insane conspiracy theory has never been a good use of resources.

But now that the commission is being used to promote the political campaign of the man running it, its pretty clear that it has no credibility.

It should be shut down.
Charleston, SC (29403)

Today

Isolated thunderstorms this evening. Skies will become partly cloudy after midnight. Low 64F. SW winds at 15 to 25 mph, decreasing to 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 80%. Higher wind gusts possible..

Tonight

Isolated thunderstorms this evening. Skies will become partly cloudy after midnight. Low 64F. SW winds at 15 to 25 mph, decreasing to 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 80%. Higher wind gusts possible.
GRAND MEADOW  When Cathy Gehling was just a couple of weeks old, her brother, Donald Gehling, came home on a surprise leave from the U.S. Marine Corps to serve as her godfather at her christening.

That was in July 1967, and three months later, on Oct. 14, 1967, Donald Gehling was killed in action in Vietnam.

"It's been like a blessing to have him in heaven watching over me as my godfather," Cathy Gehling said Saturday. And while she naturally doesn't remember him, "I know him through my family. He's been a very big part of our family."

Donald Gehling was 20 when he was killed, and to mark what would have been his 70th birthday, and to commemorate the 50th anniversary of his death, the Gehling family held a picnic Saturday at the family farm near Grand Meadow. Representatives of the American Legion and VFW were to attend, along with some of the men with whom Donald Gehling shipped out to the Marines in 1966.

Gehling graduated from Grand Meadow High School in 1965, attended what is now Rochester Community & Technical College for a year, and then decided to join the Marines.

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"He said his reason was to keep his family and country safe from communism," Cathy Gehling said. "He felt the calling."

Gehling attended Marine Corps boot camp in San Diego, and then was stationed in Hawaii. It was from Hawaii that he came home that July of 1967 for his sister's christening.

"During that time, we found out later, he went to a lot of neighbors and friends, and told them, 'I will not be coming back alive,'" Cathy Gehling said. "It's like he knew."

Lance Cpl. Gehling was one of 21 Marines killed at what became known as the Battle of Bastard's Bridge . His body was returned to Grand Meadow for burial in the St. Finbarr Catholic Church cemetery.
The Federal Government says it will soon commence the mass vaccination of sheep and goats across the country to protect them against the Peste des Petits Ruminants (PPR) disease.

PPR is an acute viral disease of goats and sheep characterised by fever, necrotic stomatitis, gastroenteritis, pneumonia, and sometimes death.

Gideon Mshelbwala, the Director, Pests Control Services Department of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, disclosed this during an interview with journalists in Abuja on Tuesday.

Mr. Mshelbwala said that the exercise, which would last for the next seven years, would help extend the life span of animals across the country.

According to him, PPR disease accounted for about 40 per cent deaths in animals, adding that if tackled, 40 per cent of goats and sheep would be preserved.

The director said that EU, Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and the African Union (AU) were supporting the Federal Government to control the disease.

We currently have the most dangerous foot and mouth disease in addition to the PPR and these diseases are endemic in the country.

We want to eradicate these diseases in our animals, especially the PPR in sheep and goats.

We are committing a project for the next seven years to control PPR because sheep and goat are kept all over the country by women and youths.

There is a project coming up to start mass vaccination against the PPR for sheep and goats, Mshelbwala said.

The director however assured citizens and animal owners of governments commitment toward ensuring the phasing out of the disease.

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that in the last 15 years, PPR has rapidly expanded within Africa and to large parts of Central Asia, South Asia, and East Asia including China. (NAN)

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The Federal Government is planning to export processed yam products to Britain, the U.S. and the European Union, EU.

The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Audu Ogbeh, who disclosed this to News Agency of Nigeria on Tuesday in Lagos, said that the exportation of fresh yam tubers had already started.

The target markets are millions of Africans, especially Nigerians in the Diaspora, who want to buy and eat fresh yam.

For those who will prefer yam flour and pounded yam, the ministry has identified five companies to process yam tubers into those products.

We will get the UK certified standards for the exportation of those yam value chains.

We will also put in our own checks and balances to ensure that every export meets the set standard.

This is to ensure that the processed products are not rejected, once we start to export, he said.

Mr. Ogbeh said that Nigeria was under great pressure to export roasted cashew nuts to Japan and all categories of beans and sesame seeds, among others, to India.

He identified lack of organisation and planning as the bane of the nations agricultural exports potential.

The minister, however, said that the ministry was working with relevant agencies to facilitate exportation activities in the agricultural sector.

According to him, the ministry is putting modalities in place to ensure that all agricultural products for export meet the highest global standards.

Mr. Ogbeh said that the ministry had been sensitising the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) to the salient processes involved in the export of agricultural produce and its processed products.

According to him, every Nigerian should support the Federal Government in its efforts to create jobs, wealth and make everybody happy.

He assured the citizens that the nascent yam exports would not in any way affect local consumptions, noting that most of the yams produced in the country often rot away before the harvest of new ones.

Mr. Ogbeh, nonetheless, underscored the need for the youth to engage in farming in order to boost the countrys agricultural production and enable it to meet the emerging demands in the new frontier of crop exportation.

He assured the youth that the government would provide the enabling environment that would facilitate their agricultural production.

(NAN)

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Following shareholder approval received in January, Guinness Nigeria Plc has received clearance of the issue documents from the Securities and Exchange Commission and approvals from the Nigerian Stock Exchange to list the new Guinness Nigeria shares on The Nigerian Stock Exchange.

The funds raised will support the company in executing its strategy in the context of ongoing external economic challenges.

The company plans to raise N39,700,688,598 by way of rights to existing shareholders, on the basis of five new shares for every 11 shares held by shareholders, whose names appeared in the register of members of the Company as at 15 March 2017 at an issue price of N58 per share.

The issue price represents a discount of 15% per cent to the Companys closing share price on March 14, being the last day prior to the announcement of the proposed Rights Issue by The Nigerian Stock Exchange.

Peter Ndegwa, MD of Guinness Nigeria Plc said: This Rights Issue will allow the Company to deliver on its strategic objectives and give all our shareholders a unique opportunity to increase the number of shares they hold. Our expectation is that funds raised will help mitigate the impact of increasing finance costs, optimize our balance sheet and improve the companys financial flexibility.

Babatunde Savage, Chairman, Guinness Nigeria Plc, stated the process is part of the Companys long term plans to continue to invest in its business in Nigeria.

We have been here in Nigeria for 67 years and, while it has been challenging in recent times for many Nigerian businesses, we remain committed to this market as evidenced by our decision to offer this Rights Issue. We are grateful for the support that we have received from our shareholders and other stakeholders up to this point.

Last year, Guinness Nigeria Plc became the first total beverage alcohol company in Nigeria by acquiring the rights to distribute international premium spirits like Johnnie Walker whisky and Baileys liqueur in Nigeria and later commissioning a N4.7billion spirits line for locally manufactured spirits at its Benin plant.

Stanbic IBTC Capital Limited is acting for Guinness Nigeria Plc as Issuing House for the Rights Issue. Full terms of the Rights Issue will be set out in a Rights Circular to be mailed directly to shareholders of the Company, which contains a Provisional Allotment Letter and the Participation Form.

The Company urged investors to read the Rights Circular and where in doubt, consult their Stockbroker, Fund/Portfolio Manager, Accountant, Banker, Solicitor, or any other professional adviser for guidance before subscribing.

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The Nigerian Communications Commission, (NCC) on Tuesday indicated its support for the new management of the embattled telephone operator, Etisalat Nigeria, which is currently trying to restructure its management and operations.

NCCs support came shortly after a new board of the company emerged today, with Joseph Nnanna as the new chairman.

Mr. Nnanna succeeds Hakeem Bello-Osagie, who was the only surviving shareholder after the June 15 withdrawal of the major shareholder, Emirates Telecommunications Group Company, from the company.

The Emirates Group, also known as Etisalat Group, was represented by its affiliate, Mubadala Development Company, a United Arab Emirate, (UAE), development firm.

Mr. Bello-Osagie, the promoter of Emerging Markets Telecommunications Services, (EMTS), which controlled 15 per cent of the equity holding of the company, resigned on Friday in the wake of the deepening debt crisis with a consortium of banks.

Other members of the new Board and management of the company as announced by the its spokesperson, Ibrahim Dikko, include Oluseyi Bickersteth, Ken Igbokwe, Boye Olusanya and Funke Ighodaro.

Under the new management, Boye Olusanya was named Chief Executive Officer.

He would replace Mathew Willsher, while Funke Ighodaro would take over from Olawole Obasunloye as Chief Finance Officer.

The NCC said it was pleased that parties to the crisis were able to reach amicable terms that have set them on the path of resolving the crisis.

The Commission is pleased to note that Etisalat and its creditors have successfully reached an amicable resolution of key issues pertaining to its indebtedness, and that a smooth transitional process is currently ongoing on mutually agreed terms, said Director, Public Affairs of the Commission, Tony Ojobo, said in a statement.

He noted further that the Commission was confident the amicable resolutions reached by the parties will further strengthen Etisalats capacity to continue to provide services to its over 20 million customers and equally fulfill its obligations to its other stakeholders.

In its previous statement in the wake of the announcement of the formal exit of the major shareholder of the company, Emirates Telecommunications Group Company, and the threat by the banks to take over Etisalat, the NCC had warned that the operational license for the mobile telephone firm was not transferable to a third party.

One of the points that formed the core of the agreement on the restructuring of the $1.2 billion (about N377.4 billion) loan between the consortium of banks and Etisalat Nigeria was what all parties would do with the operating license.

Mr. Ojobo said the Nigerian Communications Act of 2003 empowered the Commission to take steps, by working with various interest groups to resolve the crisis and ensure the industry continued to play its critical role as a key driver of national socio-economic development.

He also said NCCs intervention, along with its financial sector counterpart, the Central Bank of Nigeria, (CBN), was informed by the need to sustain the telecommunication industrys significant contribution to national gross domestic product, (GDP), in terms employment and infrastructure development.

In 2013, Etisalat had obtained the syndicated loan from a consortium of 13 Nigerian banks.

These banks included Access Bank, Zenith Bank Plc, Guaranty Trust Bank Plc, First Bank Limited, Fidelity Bank Plc, First City Monument Bank, Stanbic IBTC, Ecobank, United Bank for Africa Plc and Union Bank of Nigeria Plc.

The loan, which involved a foreign-backed guaranteed bond, was to help the mobile firm finance a major network rehabilitation, upgrade and expansion of its operational base in Nigeria.

However, its alleged failure to meet agreed debt servicing obligations with the banks since 2016 triggered a major crisis which culminated in the crisis that has jolted the operations of the company, reputed to be Nigerias fourth largest telephone mobile operator.

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Tanzanian authorities ordered the detention of an opposition lawmaker on Tuesday for insulting President John Magufuli, days after the president ordered officials to take action against incitement.

The opposition has accused Mr. Magufuli, nicknamed the Bulldozer for his blunt leadership style, of presiding over an increasingly authoritarian government.

Kinondoni District Commissioner Ali Hapi ordered police to detain Halima Mdee, a lawmaker from the main opposition CHADEMA party, in the commercial capital Dar es Salaam and keep her for 48 hours pending criminal charges.

She should be questioned and sent to court to explain the insults she made against our president, Hapi told journalists. He did not say what the insults were.

Tanzanias laws allow regional and district commissioners to detain for 48 hours anyone who may disturb public tranquillity.

Mr. Magufuli warned opposition leaders on Sunday against reckless remarks and ordered authorities to take action against any opposition leader who incites violence.

No fewer than 10 people, including university students and a lecturer, have been charged in court over the past few months with insulting the president via social networking platform like WhatsApp.

Insulting the president was made a criminal offense under a cyber crimes law passed in 2015 before Mr. Magufuli came into office.

It is punishable by up to three years in jail, a fine of around three thousand dollars or both.

Mr. Magufuli ordered the immediate release of a popular local musician in March, a day after he was arrested for allegedly mocking the government in a song.

Tanzanian authorities banned a newspaper for two years in June over articles it published linking two former presidents to alleged improprieties in mining deals signed in the 1990s and early 2000s.

Activists and opposition leaders have accused the government of cracking down on press freedom.

The government said free speech had limits.

Mr. Magufuli remains popular with many voters for his anti-corruption drives and cutting wasteful government spending since coming to power in November 2015.

On Monday, the government passed two bills allowing it to renegotiate gas and mining contracts with multinationals.

Mr. Magufuli accuses many companies of tax evasion, charges the companies deny.(Reuters/NAN)

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The EU executives on Tuesday offered Italy more funding to help control migration across the Mediterranean from Libya among a set of proposals responding to complaints from Rome that Europe was failing to help out.

The Commission President, Jean-Claude Juncker, said in a statement that the plan agreed at the European Commissioners weekly meeting will be put to national interior ministers on Thursday in Tallinn.

The Italian officials wants the other 27 EU governments to do more to help them deal with thousands of people arriving weekly.

More than 85,000 have come this year.

The Commission plan calls for beefing up the Libyas coastal rescue services, something Europeans hope may curb the number of people picked up close to shore by international charities.

European governments are concerned that such groups may be encouraging people to take to the sea in flimsy rafts because those rescued are ferried to Italy.

Despite criticism of abuses by coastguards employed by Libyas shaky, U.N.-backed government, European officials argue that better local rescue services would mean more migrants being taken back to Libya.

The focus of our efforts has to be on solidarity with those fleeing war and persecution and with our Member States under the most pressure.

At the same time, we need to act, in support of Libya, to fight smugglers and enhance border control to reduce the number of people taking hazardous journeys to Europe, Mr. Juncker said.

The EU executive has an extra 35 million euros ready for Italy to help manage irregular immigration and renewed its readiness to mobilise EU agencies to help the Italians.

The statement said that 46-million-euro project with Italy would bolster Libyas ability to make good on promises to help curb migrant traffic.

The EU also pledged to step up or otherwise enhance a range of other measures, including deportations of failed asylum-seekers, combat smuggling networks and fund African countries from which people are fleeing poverty hoping for work in Europe.

Italy, the Commission said, should draft a code of conduct for non-governmental organisations carrying out search and rescue operations in the Mediterranean, as well as speed up its processing of asylum claims and deportations of those rejected.

(Reuters/NAN)

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Field epidemiologists from across Nigeria and beyond would be gathering in Abuja for a three-day training on public health disease detection to prevent epidemics.

The training with theme Strengthening One Health Through Field Epidemiology will start on Wednesday, July 5.

A press statement by the ministry of health stated that the training will be conducted by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) and the Nigeria Field Epidemiology and Laboratory Training Programme (NFELTP).

It will serve as a forum for both agencies to host their Second Annual Scientific Conference to provide a strategic platform for public health professionals.

During the conference, participants will have the opportunity to share their scientific work with key stakeholders and to drive a One Health agenda for public health.

The conference will also provide a training opportunity for the Field Epidemiology residents and graduates as well as all other colleagues working in intervention epidemiology on scientific communication, providing them an opportunity for epidemiological networking and partnership and a platform to engage strategically on public health issues.

The Executive Director, NCDC, Chikwe Ihekweazu, said the Local Organising Committee of the conference aims to build on the successes of the maiden conference and offer an engaging platform for all key stakeholders in the public health sector.

He said NCDC, Federal Ministries of Health, Agriculture and Rural Development, University of Ibadan, Ahmadu Bello University, and the African Field Epidemiology Network (AFENET), are all working together to develop public health capacity, strengthen health systems and respond to disease epidemics and other priority public health problems in the Nigeria and beyond.

The key target audience at the training are Senior health officials, universities, subject-matter experts and the wider public health community alongside the NFELTP trainees and graduates.

Oral and poster presentations, an NFELTP Alumni meeting and a Zoonoses workshop make up some of the highlights of the event.

NFELTP was established in October 2008 to develop a self-sustaining institutionalised capacity to train public health leaders in field epidemiology and field-oriented public health laboratory practice.

The programme also provides epidemiological services to the public health system at Federal, State, and Local levels.

Key note presentations are expected to be delivered at the training by Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu the National Coordinator and Chief Executive Officer of the NCDC, Dr Kariuki Njenga, Country Director of the Washington State University Global Health Programme in Kenya, Dr. Ebere Okereke, a global health consultant from Public Health England, Professor Oladipo Aboderin of the Department of Medical Microbiology and Parasitology, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Osun State and Dr. Akindele Olupelumi Adebiyi of the College of Medicine, University of Ibadan.

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The Abuja Division of the Federal High Court on Monday began hearing in the case of alleged medical negligence brought against the Federal Medical Centre Abuja and four others.

The matter, which was first slated to begin in January, has repeatedly been adjourned following the inability of the counsels to file processes to each other, and the failure of the court to sit during other adjournment dates.

The case was filed by Portia Sambo, whose daughter, Sandra David, died allegedly as a result of negligence by the hospital.

Mrs. Sambo is asking the hospital to pay N500 million in damages for its handling of her daughters ill health that led to her death in July 2016.

The suit was filed against the Ministry of Health, the Federal Medical Centre Abuja, the Chief Medical Director of the Hospital, Chinwe Igwilo; two medical practitioners at the hospital, Obed Dades and Amadi Ikechukwu, as well as the office of the Attorney General of the Federation.

On the first date of hearing on the matter, January 17, the case could not be taken beyond mention because the plaintiff counsel, Charles Abalaka, was yet to file the processes to all the defendants.

Later, the judge, Binta Nyako, adjourned the case to March 30 and June 1.

Still, the matter could not be heard on both dates.

When the case was called on Monday, the counsel representing the Ministry of Health, Ozoemelam Ikechi, prayed the court to allow him move a motion for extension of time, to file his statement of defence as well as a preliminary objection.

Mr. Ikechi however did not serve some of the defendants the motion he intended to move.

Also, the representatives of the second to the fifth defendants were not in court on Monday, making the judge to adjourn the case to October 18 for hearing.

The allegation of negligence, as brought forward by Miss Davids family is also being investigated by the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria

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The Nigerian Government has established an emergency centre to coordinate immunisation activities in the country, as part of the effort to meet the national target of 85 percent coverage for routine immunisation.

The National Emergency Routine Immunization Coordination Centre will govern routine immunisation programmes and projects in the country.

Speaking at its inauguration in Abuja on Tuesday, the Executive Director of National Primary Health Care Development Agency, NPHCDA, Faisal Shuaib, said the centre was established in line with the vision of the agency to strengthen primary health care in Nigeria.

Although routine immunization is a very vital pillar to eradicate polio and other vaccine preventable diseases, our expanded programme on immunization efforts have suffered from low uptake resulting in sub-optimal national coverage, Mr. Shuaib noted.

He said the centre was prompted by the aim to rebrand and rapidly revive routine immunisation performance in the country.

We are here to inaugurate a dedicated squad that would proffer solutions towards addressing the challenges and accelerate the control of vaccine preventable diseases, he said.

Mr. Shuaib urged the team to ensure the national target for coverage of routine immunisation is achieved and that kids are quickly reached for vaccination through innovative strategies.

He said although the Federal Government was responsible for funding the centre, additional support was expected from donors and development partners.

In her remarks, the director, Disease Control and Immunization at NPHCDA, Dorothy Nwodo, reaffirmed the governments aim to eradicate polio and increase the performance of routine immunisation in the country.

In his goodwill message, the Chief of Health, UNICEF, Modibo Kassougu, commended the NPHCDA for declaring routine immunisation and primary health care a priority in Nigeria.

He however called for the harmonisation of efforts of development partners, with respect to the goal of eradicating polio.

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The Abuja Division of the Federal High Court on Tuesday upheld the no-case submission of former majority leader of the Senate, Ali Ndume, who for six years stood trial for allegedly sponsoring terrorism.

The court said the prosecution failed to link the defendant with the allegation of collaboration with the terror group, Boko Haram.

Justice Gabriel Kolawole upheld Mr. Ndumes no-case submission and dismissed the four-count charge brought against him by the Nigerian government.

According to the judge, the prosecution failed to bring prominent personalities mentioned by the defendant to testify in the matter.

Mr. Kolawole said the prosecution should have invited a former vice president, Namadi Sambo, and other persons mentioned by Mr. Ndume as those he provided information to, by virtue of his appointment as a member of the presidential committee on security challenges in the North East.

Mr. Kolawole further said the failure of the prosecution to include the statements of the mentioned personalities, as part of their processes in court, was fatal to their case as it made it difficult for them to shift the burden of proof to the defendant.

Consequently, the judge said the prosecution failed to link the defendant with the allegations and dismissed the case against him.

Mr. Kolawole also ordered the immediate return of the international passports of the defendant.

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Some months before his death, Maitama Sule spoke extensively on the challenge of leadership facing Nigeria and what needs to be done.

The Octogenarian, who died on Monday, played host to a senator, Shehu Sani, and his team during which he spoke about diverse issues including the discovery of oil in Nigeria and the role of the Northern Region.

PREMIUM TIMES has obtained the audio of Mr. Sules speech.

Read the full transcription by Sani Tukur below.

My belief has always been that the best organisation is a combination of the two; the old and young. You need the experience, the maturity and the wisdom of the old as well as the dynamism, the radicalism and youthful exuberance of the young.

And that is why, I dont believe, I dont buy this idea of the new breed alone.

As you must have heard, I keep saying new breed without the old breed will breed greed. Throughout history you will find out that the best or the most successful governments or organisations have this kind of combination.

The old cannot do it alone, nor, can the young, you need a combination of the two. They compliment each other.

In the same vein, we have to go into history, the purpose of history is to know the past in order to adjust the present and plan for the future. If you ignore the old breed you are wiping out a whole generation and therefore, creating a vacuum. Nature does not want a vacuum. Life is a continues thing, there must be continuity. Because of the importance of history, it is necessary to go into the past. How did we start? What was the First Republic like? Who were our founding fathers? What did they do?

The First Republic, we know the problems that we had, we had problems, but because of the attitude of the founding fathers, because of their patriotism, they were able to overcome and we remain one. Those founding fathers worked together.

Before independence, I think in 1952, the motion moved by Chief Enahoro for immediate Independence of Nigeria. This motion was amended by the northern government and leaders. The norms and values, which they left for us, have been thrown overboard. We are no longer what we were. Ours was a decent country. There was respect for elders and constituted authority. Today, even the institution of family has broken down, respect for elders and constituted authority that used to be a cardinal principle in our society is now at its lowest ebb. Honesty while does not pay, has became meaningless, symptoms of revolt loom large on the horizon. In short today there is meaninglessness in philosophy, insecurity in polity, immorality in society, chaos in politics, corruption in economy, and even frustration in art and lack of creativity in literature. We have lost that leadership that made us great in the past. We are no longer what we were.

During the unfortunate civil war, may God grant that we may never experience such a thing again, I remember, Shagari and I were sent on a road to campaign for the federal cause. On our return, Shagari and I were comparing notes and he told me that a friend of ours in Geneva told him something very serious. He said, Look, we know why you are out, you have come to seek support and sympathy for your cause, but we dont care about you, all we care about are your resources. If we could get robots to exploit your resources for us to enable us to develop our economies we wouldnt mind getting you all eliminated. But remember one thing, you Nigeria are a special case if you could have 15 to 20 years of interrupted peace and stability you will be a great country. Because you have the resources, both human and mineral and your people are intelligent and hard working. Within that period of 15 to 20 years, you will use your brains, work hard, exploit your resources and develop your economy and in no time, Nigeria will be a strong economy to be reckon with. A developing economy needs a market, you have no problem looking for a market, your population alone in Nigeria will provide that market. But even the market at home will be expanded, the entire West African region will be your market, but that will not go well with us because you will be a thorn in our flesh.

You just need to develop your agriculture because it will be there forever. If you develop agriculture, you will be able to feed not only Nigeria but also the entire West African region. Any country that can feed itself has more than half its problem solved. You in the northern belt have great agricultural land.

Sardauna before he died had a master plan for developing agriculture. He said he wanted to make Northern Nigeria green throughout the year. During the rainy season, there will be rain; during the dry season, there will be irrigation because he planned to have all the major rivers in the north dammed to provide water for irrigation. In that case we will be green throughout the year. That is what we have been appealing to the governors, get that plan, update it, and implement it. Forget your political differences, come together, in politics, in the development of the economy of the country dont bring too much politics.

I remember in the First Republic, we used to have an economic council. The Prime Minister was the chairman of the council, the premiers of the regions -Sardauna, Okpara, Akintola  were members of that council and a comprehensive economic plan for the entire country will be discussed; a decision will be taken and every premier of every region will go and implement that part of the plan. Its a master plan embracing the whole country. That was what they used to do.

Now that we have northern governors, let them bring this. Audu Bako did it, this Kadawa irrigation scheme was not his idea, he got the idea from this master plan of Sardauna and he implemented that aspect which affected Kano and he made it. Luckily, he was very much interested in farming and he was a good farmer and a good intention. In fact, if what Audu Bako had started had been continued, we would have been feeding the entire country by now.

It is sad that when we look at our budget we find that very little is given to agriculture, very little. Sometimes when you have your, is it sports? World Sports. The amount of money you allocated to that sport is more than the amount allocated to agriculture.

Two things are necessary in a developing country: agriculture and education. As I said earlier, if any country can feed itself, more than half of its problem is solved. As regards education, the level of development of a nation is the level of its education. Unfortunately, we dont pay attention to this. As regards education, UNESCO recommended that developing countries should spend about 23 per cent of their budget on education. All the West African countries, both Anglophone and Francophone are spending much more than Nigeria. We are spending about 6 per cent instead of 23 per cent and that is why we have been having problem with ASUU. We have to do something about this; we have to do something about agriculture.

I went to Ghana sometime ago, I was with the vice president and he told me that they had got oil, but that before they started getting money from the oil, they had already got their own plan. We will not be like you. We will invest in agriculture, education, roads and hospitals and of course security, and we will keep some money reserved for a rainy day. In your own case, you got the money and you started enjoying the money and spending it, we will not do that.

I think we should do something. Nigeria would have been an industrial country. In 1960, when we went to the United Nations, the Prime Minister asked me to remain behind to attend the remaining session and discuss with an Iron and Steel company, Westinghouse. They agreed to establish an Iron and Steel industry for us. Of course, we agreed; back at home. But then there was a problem, there was a problem in the east again, they wanted the industry to be cited in the east. The experts recommended Ajaokuta because it has the Iron ore and had the coating coal, which they needed for melting the Iron ore. They argued that they too had coal but my argument was that your coal was not coating, but the end users, big companies are in the east, but all the same. This dragged on for a long time. One American ambassador advised me and said look this thing has become political and you need a political solution, all you can do is to break this industry into two; have the plant in Ajaokuta, produce the iron bars in Ajaokuta and send them to Ontisha where they would be rolled into various sizes and shapes. They too will have something. I went with that proposal and it was accepted. Unfortunately, before it was implemented, we had the civil war. The West turned their back against us, the Russians helped us, and at the end of the day we became too emotional and gave the Russians the contract to build our Iron and Steel industry and we havent got it up till now.

There was a time when I advised Babangida and said let us swallow our pride and invite the Americans to be either partners or to be management in order to build this industry because we need it as a developing country. If we had implemented it we would have been producing cars by now. We need sincere, good, responsible leadership with the interest of the country at heart. First thing we should do is to look at agriculture, education, power, so that you can have industries. For instance in Kano, 80 per cent of our industries have been shut down because there is no power. It is a shame driving from Kaduna to Kano, you would have seen it. Kaduna to Abuja is an eyesore; my Goodness! So we need to do this.

But I beg you please, you the politicians to please learn to respect one another in spite of your differences. This campaign of calumny, abuse, should not be allowed to continue because you cannot produce good leaders this way; you must be responsible. Let me tell you it is not for nothing that God has brought us together in Nigeria. Different tribes, different cultures, different religions and even different climatic conditions. I believe that God has brought us together so that we may learn to live together, cooperate with one another. Because of the role that God wants us to play in Africa and the world. Allah wants us to play the role of leadership. Unless if we are united at home, unless we live in peace with one another, nobody will respect us or accept our leadership outside. And when people keep saying we have different religions, has India not got different religions and other differences, up to a 100 times as many as we have in Nigeria? But they have been able to make it. As far as I am concerned, tribalism or religion should not be a barrier in our unity or development. Tribalism for example, if you go to the United Nations today, you will see in front of the UN building a big board with a verse from the Holy Quran and I believe that there is a similar verse in the Bible. That verse is saying, O you people; not O you Muslims or O you believers. God is addressing mankind, that is the verse in front of the UN building. Allah says I have created you as a man and a woman and divided you into tribes and races so that you may understand one another. Not that you may quarrel or fight one another. No one is greater than another in the eyes of God except he who is more pious and more useful to his fellow man. So the idea of creating us different tribes or different races belonging to different religions is not that we should fight one another, it is to understand one another. What is the wisdom in this? Allah is the all-wise. If all of us have been the same, and if all peoples of the world today have the same colour of the skin, if we wore the same costume, if we spoke the same language, nobody will want to know about another because we will assume after all we are the same. But the fact that we are different; in every man there is what is called inquisitive instinct; that inquisitive instinct will begin to urge you to find out why is this man different from me? Why is he wearing different clothes? Speaks a different language? In trying to find out, he too will be asking himself similar questions about you and in trying to find answers to your questions, you will come close together. There begins the understanding that you need cooperation. Variety is the spice of life. So people say, Allah (SWT) loves us so much, he wants us to enjoy this life and that is why you have different people with different ideas; it is the culmination of these ideas and differences that brings about development and progress. That is why you find cosmopolitan towns like Lagos, Kano, Onitsha are more progressive than other places. Kano is certainly much more progressive than Sokoto or Katsina or anyone because there are different peoples leaving in that area. The cross fertilisation of different ideas from different peoples brings about development and progress. So I refuse to agree that tribalism should be a barrier to our development.

That is why I continue to say that what we need in Nigeria today is leadership, to lead not only Nigeria but also the rest of Africa. We want leadership, not rulership. We want leaders with the fear of God. Leaders will not lie; leaders will accept in public what they have accepted in secret. Leaders with a vision, not a blurred vision, leaders who look at the plight of the common man with the eyes of a patriot no with the eyes of the privilege few. Leaders who know that they are no longer equal to the exigencies of their nations and will have the prudence of handing over to others before they forfeit the admiration of their country men. We want leaders who believe that they will one day stand before God and account, not those who would want to sit tight and remain there until dead do us part like Church marriage. We must have such leaders. To turn the table, we need to revisit the past and revive the past glory of Nigeria. We need such leaders; in order to have such leaders, we must have a revolution. I know the word revolution scares you (general laughter). We must have a revolution. I am not calling for a bloody or violent revolution. No! I am not calling for a Mao Tse Tsun kind of revolution in China where over 70 million people were killed.

I am calling for the kind of revolution led by Mahatma Ghandi with his philosophy of Satyagraha; non violent resistance. I am calling for a bloodless non-violent revolution. I am calling for a change of attitude, real re-orientation. Who are to bring about this? You are the answer. You are the panacea to our ills. You are the solution to our problems; you are the vehicles for change; you are the vanguard of this revolution.

The future is yours; you can make it or mar it. If you succumb to the machinations of greedy irresponsible political leaders, you will inherit a bad future and you will be bad leaders in the future. Make no mistake about it, you are the future leaders whether anybody likes it or not. You are the change, you are the future, and you are the answer. But, let this get into your head, you need the elders. As I said earlier, you alone cannot make it. Listen to the elders; seek their advise; in all countries of the world, there is what they call an invisible government. It is not the government, but there are some elderly experienced people who have no interest in getting any position or money but they have interest in their own country, they want to see their children and their grand children become good leaders, respected leaders. These are the people that sit together and discuss the country and advice the government. In every country of the world, they have this, you must have this too. Today, you have oil in Nigeria; I am sad because most people dont know how it all began. Before me, Pa Ribadu, the first Defence Minister was the Minister of Mines and Power in charge of oil. I succeeded him at independence. I was the First Minister of Mines and Power in charge of oil of Independent Nigeria and I lasted in that ministry longer than anybody. I was there from 1959 to 1966. I knew how it all started. Shell came to look for oil in Nigeria; Nigerian government had to give its contribution in the search for oil. The central government of Nigeria was told to hand that money. It was northern Nigeria money kept with the crown council that was used to pay Nigerias contribution.

The colonial masters said we should have this written either as a loan or a contribution or as a share in the oil, so that when oil was found eventually, we will get some benefit. Pa Ribadu and our leaders said No! We belong to the same country; if our money is used to develop any part of the country, then so be it, we are all brothers.

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Nigerian senators on Tuesday criticised Acting President Yemi Osinbajo for allegedly questioning their constitutional authority to confirm the nomination of appointees by the executive arm.

Senators also expressed concern about the refusal of the executive to drop Ibrahim Magu as the acting chairman of the EFCC after his nomination was rejected twice by the upper legislative chamber.

At the resumed plenary after the Eid-el-Fitr holidays, Senate President Bukola Saraki said Mr. Osinbajo must respect the laws of the country and the powers of the parliament as enumerated in the Constitution.

The senators backed a series of resolutions against the executive, including one that demanded an immediate retraction of Mr. Osinbajos comment, which some of them said was antithetical to a democratic system.

Mr. Osinbajo had sent a request for confirmation of Lanre Gbajabiamila as the Director-General of National Lottery Commission.

Sani Yerima, APC-Zamfara West, prayed that senators should not treat the request because Mr. Osinbajo had dismissed the powers of Senate to confirm nominees.

Acting President must respect the Constitution and laws enacted by the National Assembly as relating to the confirmation of nominees, Dino Melaye, representing Kogi West, said while contributing to the motion.

Mr. Melaye also demanded that the Senate should suspend all issues relating to the confirmation of nominees, according to a text of proceedings live-tweeted by the Senate handle.

The senators also stopped all confirmation hearings for nominees forwarded by Mr. Osinbajo until all contentious issues surrounding their powers to confirm appointees are resolved.

Other senators took turns to rebuke Mr. Osinbajo and the executive at large for alleged disregard of legislative authority.

Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, demanded that the law must be obeyed.

Olusola Adeyeye, APC-Osun Central, also said Mr. Osinbajo should not place himself above the law, adding that Nigerians must choose strong institutions over strong individuals.

Kabir Marafa, APC-Zamfara Central, said Mr. Osinbajo must retract his comments, a prayer that was granted after being seconded by Bassey Akpan, PDP-Akwa Ibom North-East.

Laolu Akande, spokesperson for Mr. Osinbajo, did not immediately respond to requests for comments by PREMIUM TIMES Tuesday afternoon.

Mr. Osinbajo drew the ire of lawmakers when he said in April that the Senates powers to confirm nominees were limited.

I fully agree with Mr. (Femi) Falana that there was no need in the first place to have presented Mr. Magu for confirmation, the acting president said, citing Section 171 of the Constitution as his authority.

The acting president was declaring the administrations full support for Mr. Magu, about a month after the anti-graft official was rejected a second time by the Senate.

Senators insisted that Mr. Magu, who has been functioning in an acting capacity since 2015, step down and warned the executive that they wont even consider listing him up for confirmation hearing if his name is forwarded again.

On the two occasions, the senators officially hinged their decision to reject Mr. Magu on a security report compiled by the State Security Service, a sister law enforcement agency which is also under the control of the executive. Many of the lawmakers are however being investigated or prosecuted for corruption by the EFCC, a situation many believe is influencing their actions against Mr. Magu.

Mr. Osinbajo has not forwarded Mr. Magus name again for confirmation, but his refusal to remove Mr. Magu and nominate another candidate for the position has continued to unsettle the lawmakers, who see the stalemate as an affront.

Mr. Magu has said he was prepared to die fighting corruption and rejected calls for his resignation.

The executive is also sparring with the legislature on matters of appropriation.

Last month, Acting President Yemi Osinbajo drew scriticism from Speaker Yakubu Dogara after he reportedly suggested that the power of the legislature to rework appropriation bills was limited.

The speaker said the parliament has absolute constitutional powers to make changes to the budget, admonishing the acting president to seek a judicial interpretation if he sees any ambiguities.

A declaration as to which of the arms has the power and rights, in as much as it is related to the interpretation of the law, is the function of the judiciary and not of the executive, Mr. Dogara said.

The Minister of Works, Power and Housing, backed the acting president, saying the legislature should not be making far-reaching amendments to budgets.

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A Nigerian senator accused of sponsoring the Boko Haram terror group has been cleared.

The Abuja Division of the Federal High Court on Tuesday upheld the no-case submission of former majority leader of the senate, Ali Ndume, who was accused of sponsoring terrorism.

Mr. Ndume was arraigned in 2011 for alleged sponsorship of the Boko Haram.

Justice Gabriel Kolawole upheld the senators no case submission on Tuesday and dismissed the case.

Details later

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As hundreds of dignitaries and other Nigerians gather in Kano for the burial of late Yusuf Maitama Sule, PREMIUM TIMES has learnt that his body will no longer arrive at the Kano international airport.

The presidential jet carrying the remains of the Dan Masini Kano will now land at the Nigeria Air force air strip.

Heavily armed security personnel have since been deployed to the Air Force strip.

Only few dignitaries were allowed access to it while there was heavy restriction of vehicular movement.

About seven governors were already at the air strip, as well as a former NSA, Aliyu Gusau and businessman Aminu Dantata.

The body of late Maitama Sule left Abuja for Kano aboard a presidential jet at about 2.40 p.m.

Officials who accompanied the body include Senate President Bukola Saraki, the Chief of Staff to President Muhammadu Buhari, Abba Kyari, and some ministers.

PREMIUM TIMES reported the arrival of the body earlier on Tuesday from Egypt.

Mr. Sule, Nigerias former permanent representative to the United Nations, died on Monday in Cairo, Egypt.

The body was received Tuesday afternoon by the Chief of Staff to the President, Abba Kyari, and the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, who leads the federal governments delegation to Mr. Sules burial.

The plane conveying the body arrived at about 1:54 p.m.

The Chief and Senate President walked from the presidential wing to Egypt Air at the tarmac to receive the corpse, a source at the airport said.

Some of the dignitaries already in Kano waiting for the corpse include Ango Abdullahi, governors of Jigawa and Bauchi states, as well as a delegation from Niger Republic.

The Kano State government had on Monday announced that funeral prayers will take place by 4 p.m. on Tuesday at the palace of the Emir of Kano.

The Federal Government delegation led by President Muhammadu Buharis Chief of Staff, Abba Kyari, has arrived Kano.

4.28pm: Maitama Sules corpse arrives Kano

4.50pm: Bukola Saraki arrives Kano via presidential jet

5.22pm: Remains of Danmasani convey by Senate President, Govs of Kano, Jigawa and others including Chief of Staff to president Muhammadu Buhari, Abba Kyari

6.40pm: The funeral prayers for Danmasanin Kano led by Chief Imam of Kano State, Sani Zahradeen, with Senate President Bukola Saraki, Governors, Ministers and Chief of Staff to President Buhari, Abba Kyari, in attendance. The prayer was conducted at the Emirs palace.

Maitama Sule buried at Abbature grave yard, Kano.

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One hundred and fifty people have been confirmed dead after a three-day war between two communities in Cross River over land.

The Director-General of the Cross River State Emergency Management Agency (CR-SEMA), John Inaku, confirmed the development in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria in Calabar on Tuesday.

Between June 27 and 29 the people of Wanikade and Wanihem communities both in Yala Local Government Area of the state were involved in a communal war.

As a result of the bloody war, 14,000 people have been displaced, 1,233 houses were destroyed, while over 150 persons have lost their lives.

Victims of the affected communities are now internally displaced and camping in over four camps in Benue State.

According to him, over 4,000 victims, who fled as a result of the deadly encounter are now taking refuge in Oju Local Government Area of Benue.

He said that the conflict had crippled farming and other socio-economic activities in the area.

Mr. Inaku said, however, that Governor Ben Ayade had provided food and non-food items to the displaced people.

CR-SEMA in collaboration with the states Food Bank Commission has distributed bags of rice, beans, groundnut and palm oil, beverages, cooking utensils, cartons of Indomie, mosquito net, among others to the victims.

Mr. Inaku thanked the Benue government for its show of love in caring for the people, who fled to Benue for safety.

The director-general appealed to the National Emergency Management Agency and the National Refugee Commission to act proactively with a view to providing succour to the displaced people.

Mr. Inaku, who condemned the conflict, appealed to youths in both communities to lay down their arms and embrace peace.

The Public Relations Officer of the Cross River State Police Command, Irene Ugbo, also confirmed the development.

She said that additional security operatives had been deployed to the warring communities to restore peace.

(NAN)

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The prosecuting team of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on Tuesday in Lagos confronted Joseph Nwobike, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, with various text messages he allegedly sent to court officials to unduly influence cases he was handling.

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that Mr. Nwobike is being tried by the EFCC on an 11-count charge bordering on perverting the course of justice and offering gratification to public officials at an Ikeja High Court.

The anti-graft agency alleged that Mr. Nwobike offered gratifications to some judges of the Federal High Court and the National Industrial Court to influence them to act contrary to their official capacities.

The EFCC also claimed that Mr. Nwobike engaged in sending illegal text messages with four registrars of the Federal High Court in a bid to unduly influence his cases being tried by the judges.

Mr. Nwobike, however, denied all the charges.

On July 3, while being led in evidence by his defence counsel, Olawale Akoni, Mr. Nwobike had told the court that the money he allegedly gave to the judges was not gratification but assistance.

He insisted that the judges were old friends whom he had been acquainted with while in the university long before they were assigned as judges.

A compact disc (Exhibit P21) allegedly containing text messages from the SANs seized mobile phone (Exhibit P18) was projected on a screen during the cross-examination of Nwobike.

Rotimi Oyedepo, the lead prosecution counsel of the EFCC during the proceedings on Tuesday, accused Mr. Nwobike of sending text messages to Mr. Baruwa, a clerk of the Federal High Court, Lagos.

He claimed that Mr. Nwobike was aware that Mr. Baruwa worked with one Mr. Jide, a Deputy Registrar of the court.

Responding, Mr. Nwobike said: I know Mr. Baruwa, he is a clerk of the Federal High Court, I do not know he works with Mr Jide, he told me that his office is directly opposite Mr Jides office.

I have had cause to send messages to Baruwa in the course of my duties just like any other legal practitioner.

Disputing Mr. Nwobikes claims, Mr. Oyedepo said that Mr. Nwobike was aware that the clerk shared office with the Deputy Registrar.

Would you be surprised if I tell you that Baruwa works directly with Mr Jide in the Federal High Court and that his desk is opposite Mr Jides desk.

Baruwa informed you in a text that Mr Jide is back in the office, he said.

Mr. Nwobike again denied reading the text message from Mr. Baruwa. Mr. Oyedepo, however, confronted him with the evidence on the screen in the courtroom that he actually read the text message.

Mr. Oyedepo showed him text messages in which details of lawsuits were allegedly sent by Nwobike to Baruwa in a bid to assign the cases to some specific judges.

On page 3984 of exhibit P21, there was a text from you to Mr. Jide in which you mentioned a case AMCON V Bizel Finance and Investment Ltd.

At 12.59 p.m. on September 4, 2015, you forwarded the suit details of First Bank V O.P.I International Ltd, you mentioned that the suits should be assigned to Justice Buba.

As at September 4, 2015 when you sent that text message, the matter was not yet assigned to any judge and on Nov. 27, 2015, at 10.46 am, you sent a text message to Mr Jide giving details of Godwin Ewekolu Vs Inspector General of Police.

When the text was forwarded, Justice Kurya was a judge of the Federal High Court and you impressed it on Jide that it was very urgent that the case be assigned to him.

In the suit between Skye Bank Plc and Brokeyard Marine Oil and Gas Services Ltd, you forwarded the suit details to Mr. Jide as shown on the screen.

As at the time you forwarded the suit details to Mr. Jide, Brokeyard Marine Oil and Gas Services Ltd were under investigation by the EFCC.

The Kurya J you mentioned in that text message is Hon. Justice Kurya of the Federal High Court, he said.

Denying Mr. Oyedepos accusations, Mr. Nwobike said The text messages I sent were just confirmation text messages.

On whether I knew that Brokeyard Marine Oil and Gas Services were under investigation by the EFCC, I dont know because I dont work for the EFCC.

Mr. Oyedepo accused Mr. Nwobike of obstructing the prosecution of Femi Thomas, his client, who was allegedly caught at the Muritala Muhammed International Airport with 200 million dollars.

On November 11, 2015, you sent a message to Mr. Jide of the Federal High Court about a criminal charge filed against your client Dr Femi Thomas asking that it should be assigned to Justice Seidu.

This suit was suit was eventually assigned to Justice Seidu and as at 1.23 p.m. on the day you sent the text, this matter was not assigned to any judge.

Are you aware as a SAN that it is an offence not to declare an amount exceeding $10,000, are you aware that the amount your client travelling with was 200 million dollars?

In a desperate bid to prevent the EFCC from continuing the investigation, you instituted a fundamental rights action (exhibit P23).

You forwarded details of this suit in a text to Mr. Jide and in the usual manner, you mentioned Justice Yinusa to handle the case.

Upon instituting this suit, the EFCC appeared before Justice Yinusa and the matter was resolved by His Lordship; you also did not file any process for the execution of the order you bought from Hon. Justice Yinusa.

On November 9, 2015, Felix Deckon your litigation officer forwarded a text message forwarded a text message to Mr Jide.

Text contained details of the charge preferred against your client by the EFFC, Mr. Oyedepo said.

I will not agree with you that in a desperate bid to stop the EFCC, I filed the fundamental rights action.

The money in question was $2.2million and not $200million and my client was asking for the return of the $2.2million seized from his agent at the airport.

I forwarded details of this suit to Mr Jide for confirmation purposes, Mr. Nwobike claimed.

The EFCC also accused the lawyer of undue interference in a case involving Beauty Akpobolokemi and the anti-graft agency.

Beauty Akpobolokemi is the wife of Patrick Akpobolokemi, the former Director General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, NIMASA, standing trial over alleged fraud.

On November 9, 2015, you received and read a message from Mr. Baruwa of the Federal High Court forwarding the details of a case between Beauty Akpobolokemi and the EFCC.

The text informed you that the case has been assigned to Justice Rita Ofili-Ajumogobia and you filed a suit against the EFCC.

You filed the suit against the EFCC in the middle of an EFCC investigation of Patrick Akpobolokemi.

Prior to November 9, 2015, you forwarded a text to Mr. Jide where the name of Justice Rita Ofili-Ajumogobia was mentioned.

At 8.50 a.m. on that day, you sent a text to Mr. Baruwa saying Okay please take the file there now.

At 5.32 p.m., you forwarded the particulars of the case to Jide and this matter was eventually assigned to Justice Ajumogobia,

Before Beauty Akpobolokemi suit was filed, you sent some names to Mr. Baruwa to monitor in case the EFCC prefers some charges against them, Oyedepo said.

I dont know when the case of Beauty Akpobolokemi Vs the EFCC was assigned, it is not correct that I sent some names to Baruwa to monitor in case the EFCC files some charges, Mr. Nwobike said.

Showing the SAN the documents on the screen in the courtroom, Mr. Oyedepo said At 9.38 a.m. on November 5, 2015 you received and read a text from Mr Baruwa.

The text read good morning sir, no charged have been filed against those clients by the EFCC

Your reply was Thanks I am grateful.

These instructions you gave to Mr Baruwa, were they for free, have you had cause to give him money through your juniors, money transferred to him in the exercise of his duties?

Responding, Mr. Nwobike said No I have not given him any money.

The EFCC prosecutor disputing the claim asked Mr. Nwobike if he knew any person called Zainab Kilani, and he answered in the affirmative, saying she is a junior in his law chambers.

You received and read a text from Mr. Baruwa saying Thank you sir, Kelani gave me your special package

On June 3, 2015 at 10.10am, you received a text from Mr. Baruwa saying Good morning Sir, I just got a golden handshake from Mr. Felix Sir.

Exhibit D2 is a statement of account from your law chambers, on Jan. 17, 2011 you transferred N50,000 to Mr. Baruwa, Mr. Oyedepo added.

Accusing the senior advocate further of obstructing justice, Mr. Oyedepo said Mr. Nwobike received photocopies of EFCC charges that were not yet filed in court.

Mr. Baruwa sent a text message acknowledging handing over the charges to Mr Felix Deckon, your litigation officer.

A charge that is not filed was given to you by your litigation officer without you applying for a certified true copy, Mr. Oyedepo said.

Denying the accusations, Mr. Nwobike said I did not apply for a certified true copy and I did not receive photocopy of the charge and I only received the charge when it was served on my clients.

Justice Raliatu Adebiyi adjourned the case until July 12 at 10.3 a.m. for continuation of trial.

(NAN)

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The International Civil Aviation Organisation, ICAO, Council has elected a Nigerian representative, Musa Nuhu, as the Second Vice-President of the Council.

Mr. Nuhu was appointed during the last meeting of the recently concluded 211th Session of ICAO Council, which held on June 30 at its headquarters in Montreal, Canada.

Mr. Nuhus election is in compliance with the Rules of Procedure for the Council (ICAO Doc 7559/10).

The tenure is a one-year term for the elected Vice President.

According to the Rules of Procedure for the Council, Rule 10 states that: In the absence of the President, the First Vice-President, the Second Vice-President or the Third Vice-President in that order shall exercise the functions vested in the President by these Rules of Procedure.

Mr. Nuhu started his career as an Airline Pilot with defunct Nigeria Airways Ltd, before serving for over 15 years as a captain and Safety Officer with Presidential Air Fleet.

He ventured into the private sector for 10 years as an Airline Captain, Safety Officer and Chief Pilot. He was Technical Assistant to the Minister of State Aviation, Hadi Sirika, before his appointment as the representative of Nigeria on ICAO Council.

In addition to Airline Transport Pilot License, Mr. Nuhu holds the International Aviation MBA Degree from Concordia University Montreal, Canada. He also obtained several professional and managerial certificates in Aviation Safety, Aircraft Accident Investigation, Audit, Quality Management Systems amongst others.

Mr. Nuhu is a member of several professional organisations including the renowned Royal Aeronautical Society, London, UK.

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A Nigerian aviation expert on Tuesday condemned the proposed plan to grant tax relief to Nigerian airline owners and operators.

John Ojikutu, an aviation expert and former military commandant at the Lagos airport, said government should be wary of supporting airline owners with public money that could be channelled to other social causes.

Earlier, the Chairman of Airline Operators of Nigeria, AON, Nogie Meggison, had appealed to the government to take a closer look into the issue of VAT for domestic air transportation in Nigeria.

Speaking in a meeting with the Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service, FIRS, Babatunde Fowler, Mr. Meggison had noted that if VAT was to be removed, it will make fares affordable for passengers with fewer funds to fly, thereby increasing turnover generated by airlines.

Accra has become the hub for doing business in West Africa today due to the fact that Ghana has adopted a deliberate economic policy to make Accra a hub for West Africa, he had explained.

And as a way of achieving this, it has adopted zero VAT for air transportation and lowered taxes on Jet A1 by 25 per cent which attracts more airlines to fly into the country for technical stops and for connections to cities around the world.

In his reaction, the FIRS boss had pledged to support domestic airlines to ensure they remain in operation and are able to meet their Value Added Tax (VAT) remittance obligations.

The Federal Government recognised the challenges being faced by domestic airlines and was willing to meet them half way with regards to tax laws, Mr. Fowler had said.

Mr. Fowler further advised the AON to engage the Presidency through the department on the ease of doing business, the Senate and the Minister of Finance to dialogue on how the laws could be amended.

But commenting on the development Tuesday morning, Mr. Ojikutu said the plan, if implemented, is in the wrong direction since most of the airlines are owned privately.

There they go again, they got government aviation intervention funds to pay off bank loans; they once in 2008 got concession on recurring debts owed government agencies; government conceded to them zero duties on imported spares; they got concession to obtain foreign exchange from CBN at official rate, and now government is considering tax reliefs for them, he said in an interview with our correspondent.

They and their proxies in government often forget that they are privately owned and mostly single ownership and not publicly owned enterprises that need regular government intervention for sustenance, Mr. Ojikutu added.

The aviation expert advised the airlines to consider mergers in the alternative, saying public funds should rather be channeled to other pressing demands of government.

Let these airlines merge and go to the NSE market for public fund and for public participation, he noted.

They need to make their financial statement transparent and public.

We cannot continue to feed them with public money that should go to other social services that will benefit majority of our people. Enough is enough.

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The participation of Nigeria at the yearly International Telecommunications Union, ITU, conference will focus on deepening the growing broadband segment of the market in the country.

Tony Ojobo, Director of Public Affairs at the Nigerian Communication Commission, NCC, made this known in a statement on Monday.

The event is due to hold in Busan, South Korea, from September 25 to 28.

Nigerias delegation to the conference will be led by the Minister of Communications, Adebayo Shittu.

Others on the delegation include Nigerias Chief Telecoms Regulator and Executive Vice Chairman (EVC) of Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC, Umar Danbatta, industry stakeholders and operators, among others.

The statement explained that the ITU Telecom World 2017 is a global platform for major industry players, Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), countries and organisations to network and share ideas about new developments and technologies that would lead to better connected societies.

Although Nigeria has had a very robust telecommunications sector with active connected subscribers in the region of 150million and about 110 per cent teledensity, the NCC believes that more efforts should be deployed to deepen broadband penetration, Mr. Ojobo said on Monday.

By the National Broadband Plan, NBP (2013  2018) the country is expected to attain 30 per cent broadband penetration by 2018, which currently stands at 21 per cent, he added.

Nigeria will host an investment forum at the conference and Broadband Nigeria will be at the focus of discussions, the statement said.

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President Muhammadu Buharis wife, Aisha, has condoled with the family of former minister, Maitama Sule, who died early Monday while on admission in Cairo hospital, aged 87.

The condolence message is in a statement by Mrs Buharis Director of Information, Suleiman Haruna, on Tuesday.

She said I received with shock, but total submission to the will of Allah, the death of Dr Yusuf Maitama Sule, Danmasanin Kano, a leading light of Nigeria.

The presidents wife described Mr. Sule, who had the traditional title of Danmasanin Kano, as epitome of humility, moderation, tolerance, patriotism and love.

She said Mr. Sule died at a time Nigeria needed his counseling.

He will be remembered for his stabilising role as an elder statesman and a national example whose life is worthy of commendation and emulation, she said.

I wish to extend my heartfelt condolences to the government and people of Kano State and his family in particular over this sad loss.

Mr. Sules body would be transported from Egypt to Nigeria on Tuesday and be buried at about 4 p.m. in Kano.

He was flown to an Egyptian hospital on Saturday after doctors at Kano Nasarawa Hospital diagnosed him of pneumonia and chest infection.

(NAN)

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Nigeria has adopted a new regimen that reduces the time required for the treatment of multi-drug-resistant (MDR) Tuberculosis from 20 months to about nine months.

According to a press statement, the Minister of Health, Isaac Adewole, on Monday flagged off the regimen when he commissioned the first extensive drug-resistant Tuberculosis ward and fully-equipped MDR ward at the University College Hospital, UCH, in Ibadan, Oyo State.

At the ceremony, Mr. Adewole called on all TB sufferers to present themselves for free treatment at any Federal government health facility nearest to them.

Formerly, when we treat people with drug-resistant TB, the drug regimen will last for as long as 20 months, and this is one of the challenges, he said according to the statement from his ministry.

What we are flagging off today is a new regimen that has been accepted worldwide. We will be able to reduce the period of treatment from about 20 months to between 9 and 11 months.

With the new drug regimen, we can improve our chances of achieving cure even with drug resistant TB, he added.

The Minister said the Nigerian government is committed to increasing funding for Tuberculosis control, noting that it is one of its priority areas.

He also challenged the National Tuberculosis, Leprosy and Buruli Ulcer Control Programme as well as the partners present at the event to accelerate case finding and collaborate to double the amount of cases found in Nigeria.

It is not the number of cases of TB that should bother us, but the fact that we are only able to detect about one-sixth of the cases of TB in Nigeria.

According to the minister, since TB is treatable, once cases are found and treated, it will encourage others to present themselves for treatment and help in stopping the disease in Nigeria.

Mr. Adewole also received equipment donated to the South-west zone TB reference laboratory located at the UCH, Ibadan.

He lauded the donors, including Damien Foundation Belgium, USAID and the Institute for Human Virology, Nigeria (IHVN), for their support for his agenda.

The MD/COO IHVNigeria, Charles Olalekan, in a tweet on the Federal Ministry of Health handle, said with this arrangement, Nigeria has met the WHOs guidelines for managing drug resistance TB.

Osman El Tayeb, Country-Director of Damien Foundation, in his goodwill message commended the government and called the flag off of the treatment regimen in Nigeria a great news.

The minister also unveiled two strategic documents at the ceremony. These are the National Standard Operating Procedures for Tuberculosis Laboratory Diagnosis and the National Guidelines on Biosafety for TB Laboratories.

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The five men, charged with illegally importing 661 pump-action rifles into the country in a 40-ft container, are to remain in prison as a Federal High Court, Lagos, has fixed July 6 for ruling on their bail applications.

The accused are: Mahmud Hassan, Oscar Okafor, Donatus Achinulo, Matthew Okoye (who is said be at large), and Salihu Danjuma.

They were arraigned before Justice Ayokunle Faji on June 14 on an eight-count charge bordering on conspiracy, importation of prohibited firearms, forgery, uttering of forged documents and bribery.

They had pleaded not guilty to the charges.

But at the resumed hearing of the case on Monday, the defence team comprising of Yakubu Galadima, Godwin Okaka, Olumide Oyewole and Adamu Ibrahim, applied for bails on behalf of the accused.

They urged the court to grant the accused bail on liberal terms, adding that they will not absent in court for trial.

Meanwhile, the prosecutor from the office of the Attorney-General of the Federation, K. A. Fagbemi, opposed the application for bail and urged the court to dismiss it.

Mr. Fagbemi pointed out that one of the accused was still at large and that it would be unsafe for the other accused to be released on bail as their lives might be at risk.

Justice Faji adjourned until July 6 for ruling on the application for bail.

The prosecution said the accused brought the firearms into the country from Turkey through the Apapa Port in Lagos, using a 40-ft container.

It alleged that the accused had earlier falsely claimed that the consignments were steel doors.

It said the accused allegedly forged a number of documents including a bill of lading, a Form M and a pre-arrival assessment report to facilitate the illegal importation.

According to the prosecution, in order to evade payment of customs duty, the accused allegedly forged a bill of lading issued at Istanbul on Jan. 9 and claimed that it was issued at Shanghai, China.

In the forged bill of lading, they allegedly filled steel doors as the content of the container instead of rifles.

They were also alleged to have offered a N400,000 bribe to an official of the Nigeria Customs Service attached to the Federal Operations Unit not to conduct a thorough search on the 40-feet container.

The prosecution also alleged that the first accused (Hassan), corruptly gave N1 million to government officials at the Apapa Port in order to prevent the search of the container by Customs officials.

The accused had between 2012 and 2016 illegally imported several double-barreled shotguns, pump-action rifles and single-barreled shotguns into the country, the prosecutor said.

The offences contravened the provisions of Sections 1(2), (c), 1(14) (a), (i) and 3(6) of the Miscellaneous Offences Act, Laws of the Federation 2014. (NAN)

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Amnesty International says it is seeking to enlist digital activists to help track oil spills in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria.

Amnesty, in a press release on Monday, called the project Decode Oil Spill Project which it described as a revolutionary crowd-sourcing platform to help the human rights group ensure justice for communities devastated by oil spills in the region.

The project is expected to engage thousands of digital volunteers, Amnesty said.

The Decode Oil Spills project means anybody with a mobile phone or laptop can contribute to vital research into human rights abuses, and marks a new chapter in the way people can hold companies to account, said Milena Marin, Amnesty Internationals Senior Innovations Campaigner.

Ms. Marin said the Niger Delta is one of the most polluted places on earth.

For far too long, wealthy oil companies have evaded justice for the utter devastation they have caused to the land and water of the Delta, and to the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of people in the region.

Shell has relied on demonstrably false claims to avoid accountability, but with the help of digital activists from around the world we are determined to uncover the truth, she said.

Amnesty said hundreds of oil spills occur in the Niger Delta every year and that they are rarely cleaned up properly, adding that decades of pollution linked to the oil industry has destroyed peoples livelihoods, undermined their rights to clean water and food, and put their health at serious risk.

The group said, for instance, there had been more than 1,700 oil spills from Shells operations in the region since 2007, while the Italian oil company ENI, though has smaller operations in the region than Shell, has reported even more spills  in excess of 3,000 since 2007.

Amnesty said there was a vast amount of publicly available data on Nigerian oil spills dating back to 2011  too much for its researchers to analyze alone.

Much of this information, according to Amnesty, is only available in scanned, handwritten documents, making it impossible to extract information at scale.

Amnesty said it was, therefore, inviting digital volunteers to help determine the cause and location of oil spills by analyzing photos and documents using their smartphones, tablets or laptops, so that it could help bring the companies responsible to account.

On average decoders will be required to spend one minute per task, the group said.

Amnesty said that Shell had in the past made false statements relating to spills; for example, claiming that they were caused by oil thieves or pipeline saboteurs when they were in fact due to corroded pipes, so they can pay less compensation, or avoid cleaning up the pollution.

Amnesty said, with the Decoders platform, it has started building a community of tens of thousands of digital activists who are able to work with large volumes of messy information and transform it into structured evidence of human rights violations.

It said it has so far mobilized 45,000 digital volunteers from 150 countries to support its research and has successfully completed three projects, since the launch of the Decoders platform in June 2016.

Shell is facing a lawsuit in the Netherlands over its alleged complicity in the 1995 execution of nine Ogoni men by the Sani Abacha-led military regime.

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The Federal High Court, Awka, and the ongoing multi-million naira Federal Secretariat complex both in Anambra are currently under threat of gully erosion.

The News Agency of Nigeria correspondent who visited the erosion site, reports that the tarred road to the state secretariat, through Ekwueme Square, is also endangered.

Furthermore, the gully is already eating off the perimeter fence of the moribund Anambra Secretariat building commenced under the Chinwoke Mbadinuju administration, thereby endangering the structure.

When contacted, Ifeanyi Ejikeme, the state Commissioner for Environment, said the situation was being handled within the limit of the resources available to the state.

Mr. Ejikeme, who is also the Head of Nigerian Erosion Water Shed Management Project (NEWMAP) Steering Committee in the state, told NAN that the site had been included in the list of NEWMAP approved sites.

According to him, intervention works will soon commence on the site, to curtail the enormity of the erosion activity there.

Meanwhile, a farmer in the vicinity expressed concern that a good portion of her farmland had been washed away, adding that the whole farm might be eroded before the rains ceased.

She said that the erosion began like a joke but had now assumed a monumental dimension.

We are in perpetual fear here; we are losing part of our farm to this erosion daily, especially during rains.

It could have been avoided, if the government had intervened early.

Also speaking, Chibuike Onyeama, a civil servant, expressed regret that no attempt had been made to control the menace.

He wondered how the Ministry of Environment could sit back and watch institutional buildings being eroded.

This is a disaster in the waiting; this Ekwueme Square to the secretariat is breaking down; across the road is Federal Secretariat building, and beside this erosion is the Federal High Court.

You can see this old state secretariat is already being washed off and these electric poles are just waiting for time to fall into the gully, he said.

NAN reports that Anambra is one of the states benefiting from NEWMAP intervention.

It would be recalled that the state recently got World Bank approval to commence intervention works at four sites including Umuoji, Ogidi, Enugwu-Ukwu and Nkpor.

(NAN)

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Polish President Andrzej Duda and US leader Donald Trump will together pay tribute to Polish people who took part in the 1944 Warsaw Uprising against the Germans, the Polish presidents chief of staff, Krzysztof Szczerski, said on Tuesday.

The ceremony, in front of the Warsaw Uprising Monument on the city's Krasinskich Square, will "give a symbolic dimension" to the US president's visit to Poland July 5-6, Szczerski said. May be of interest to you Minister Szczerski: Place of Trump's speech in Warsaw symbolic

Both first ladies will also attend the ceremony, along with a group of veterans, according to Szczerski.

Directly after the ceremony, President Trump will make a key speech in the Polish capital, Krzysztof Szczerski added. (PAP)
LOWER TOWNSHIP  A motor vehicle stop in the Erma section of the township resulted in the recovery of a car stolen from Burlington County, police said Monday.

On Saturday, Patrolman James Mathis was in the area of Railroad Avenue when he spotted a 2010 Honda Civic that was reported stolen the previous day from Mount Holly. Mathis attempted to pull over the car, but the car reportedly sped away.

According to police, Lower Township dispatchers received several 911 calls reporting the fleeing car was spotted behind a house on Shirley Avenue.

The driver and passenger, identified as Daniel D. Watts and Jaron J. Corbett, both of Camden, ran from the car and tried to hide. Police took them into custody without incident.

The Cape May County Sheriffs K-9 unit and Middle Township police assisted with the investigation.

The driver, Watts, was charged with eluding a police officer, possession of stolen property and resisting arrest.

Corbett was charged with resisting arrest, a disorderly persons offense and possession of a synthetic controlled dangerous substance. Corbett was also wanted on an outstanding warrant from Camden County, police said.

Both men were taken to the Cape May County jail in Cape May Court House.
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CAPE MAY  A man and woman suspected of an armed robbery in Mantua were tracked down by local police in Cape May Point, authorities said.

William Baberick, 21, of Haddon Heights, and Mercedes Stockton, 22, of Willingboro, face multiple charges after an investigation by the Cape May County Prosecutors Office and Cape May and Mantua police departments, Cape May County Prosecutor Robert L. Taylor and Cape May police Chief Anthony Marino said in a joint news release.

On June 26, police in Mantua, Gloucester County, handled an armed robbery outside a Lowes Home Improvement Store on Woodbury-Glassboro Road in Sewell. Stolen during the robbery was a credit card later found to have been used in Cape May on the same date, Taylor said. The robbery suspects were described as a man and woman driving a white Ford Taurus.

On June 27, Cape May detectives received a report of an SUV being stolen from the 400 block of Central Avenue in Cape May Point, Taylor said.

Also June 27, Cape May police received information that the two crimes may have been related, and the joint investigation started.

The stolen SUV and the car used in the Mantua robbery were recovered and search warrants were executed on both vehicles, authorities said.

Taylor said evidence was found in the car that led to the arrests of Baberick and Stockton, who were found in the 300 block of South Lake Drive in Cape May Point.

Baberick was charged with possession of a weapon for unlawful purpose, credit card theft, burglary and theft. He was held in the county jail.

Stockton was charged with credit card theft, burglary and theft. She was processed and released pending a court appearance.

Baberick faces three to five years in prison if convicted, Taylor said.

More charges are pending from Mantua police and the investigation is continuing, Taylor said.
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.
With state parks and beaches closed as the state government shutdown completed its third day Monday, Atlantic City Council President Marty Small wanted to reassure visitors and residents the resort was still functioning.

It was unclear Monday whether the man in charge of the Atlantic City state takeover, Jeffrey Chiesa, a close ally of Gov. Chris Christie, would be working during the shutdown.

It depends on whether Chiesa is considered an essential employee or not, Small said.

But residents and visitors should not worry even if Chiesa is not overseeing the resorts finances during the shutdown, Small said.

Im sure they would say he (Chiesa) is contracted through his law firm to do business for the state. I dont know how that interferes, but make no mistake about it, were still running the city. They just have oversight, Small said.

Monday was the first day the state government shutdown impacted weekday employees.

The chief justice of the state Supreme Court, Stuart Rabner, ruled Sunday the Supreme Court, the Appellate Division, the Superior Courts, the Tax Court and all supporting operations of the state courts shall be closed as of July 1 except for emergent court matters and such other essential functions and supporting operations as may be determined by him.

Essential court matters include juvenile detention hearings; adult and minor civil commitment hearings; residential foreclosure stays of eviction and stays of sheriffs sales; landlord/tenant stays of eviction; and monitoring of pretrial release defendants on electronic monitoring, including alerts, Rabner said.

Meanwhile, the Mid-Atlantic Center for the Arts & Humanities estimated it lost about $9,000 in revenues July 1 and 2 collectively at Cape May Lighthouse, located in Cape May Point State Park, and the World War II Lookout Tower on Sunset Boulevard near Cape May Point.

MAC anticipated the possibility of 3,000 visitors to the two sites over the four-day holiday weekend. A July 4 dinner and fireworks program has been canceled.

Each day they (the lighthouse and lookout tower) are closed means dollars lost in support of MACs historic preservation mission, Michael Zuckerman, MAC director, said in a statement. We are sorely disappointed this political impasse continues.

During the shutdown, state parks and beaches are closed, but all municipal, county, federal and privately operated life-guarded beaches are open for swimming.

On July Fourth and Wednesday, the humidity will be lower compared to Monday, and slight sea breeze and partly sunny skies will help temperatures stay comfortably warm from the upper 70s along the shore to the low 80s on the mainland, said Dan Skeldon, Press meteorologist.

WHATS OPEN AND WHATS NOT

Included in the essential functions that will remain in operation:

State Police, state correctional facilities, key child-welfare services, state hospitals and treatment facilities, NJ Transit and operations linked to the health, safety and welfare of the public, including certain environmental and health monitoring.

The state closing will not affect the state lottery, casinos or racetracks.

For details on nonessential services that will be closed as well as operations that will remain open, check the website of that department or agency.

STATE PARKS CLOSED

Belleplain State Forest

Byrne (formerly Lebanon)

Cape May Point Park

Island Beach

Corsons Inlet

Double Trouble

Forked River Marina

Barnegat Lighthouse

Wharton

Fortescue Marina

Penn

Bass River

Parvin / Centerton Golf Course

White Oaks Golf Course
DAMAC International Limited, today announced the appointment of Richard Choi as its London-based Senior Vice President of Business Development in its effort to accelerate expansion opportunities in the UK and Europe.

(Photo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/530127/Richard_Choi.jpg )



DAMAC is exploring further investment opportunities following the success of its AYKON London One residential tower, a Versace-branded luxury development in Nine Elms which has already presold over 45 per cent.

"DAMAC International Limited has enjoyed phenomenal growth by selectively choosing expansion markets that have helped position it as a major regional and international property developer," said Hussain Sajwani, Chairman of DAMAC. "The success of our AYKON London One development in Nine Elms clearly indicates the company's ability to deliver the right product to the right market, and Choi's appointment further extends our reach into the UK and Europe moving forward. We are pleased to have him onboard."

Choi brings over 22 years of global investment banking and real estate expertise. Based in London since 2000, Choi has been focused on real estate investments and developments across the European, US and Latin American markets, and has overseen in excess of US$ 40 billion in transactions.

Choi will be joining the DAMAC International executive team to spearhead expansion opportunities in the UK as well as in gateway cities across Europe, building on the success of its 50-storey AYKON London One development that is set to become one of London's most prestigious addresses and the first in Europe to be designed in partnership with Versace Home.

Last week, DAMAC was chosen by the Government of Oman to redevelop its Port Sultan Qaboos in Muscat, a historic USD 1 billion master development project which will see the port transformed into an integrated tourist port and lifestyle destination that includes hotels, residences, as well as a dining, retail and leisure offering.

DAMAC has delivered more than 18,500 homes and has over 44,000 units in various stages of development. The company's footprint extends across the Middle East with major projects in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Jordan, Lebanon, United Kingdom and Oman.

Further information is available at http://www.damacproperties.com

Notes to editor: DAMAC Properties has been at the forefront of the Middle East's luxury real estate market since 2002 - bringing luxury living experiences to residents from all over the world. Making its mark at the highest end of stylish living, DAMAC Properties has cemented its place as the leading luxury developer in the region, offering iconic design and the upmost quality. The company's footprint now extends across the Middle East with projects in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Jordan, Lebanon and the United Kingdom.

As of 31st March 2017, DAMAC Properties has delivered approximately 18,500 homes. The company has a development portfolio of over 44,000 units at various stages of progress and planning, comprising more than 13,000 hotel rooms, serviced apartments and hotel villas, which will be managed by its hospitality arm, DAMAC Hotels & Resorts. With vision and momentum, DAMAC Properties is building the next generation of Middle East luxury living.

Further information is available at http://www.damacproperties.com or join DAMAC Properties on Facebook, Twitter (@DAMACofficial) and YouTube.

SOURCE Damac Properties
LONDON, July 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

The advertising network of Marie Claire Group, GMC Media strengthens its existing partnership with ADYOULIKE with the launch of a new programmatic native advertising private marketplace (PMP) in France.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160901/403517LOGO )

With this new PMP, GMC Media will be able to offer its native programmatic inventory to advertisers as well as trading desks, through the use of ADYOULIKE's supply side platform (SSP). ADYOULIKE developed its SSP from its "Native Lab", for the commercialisation of its programmatic native campaigns. This PMP will allow trading desks to programme and optimise, in real time, their native campaigns.

GMC Media offers the advertising industry a unique offering within the female segment of the market by developing multichannel media offerings (in print and also digital) that are fully customised regarding major female-focused themes such as beauty, fashion, parenting, lifestyle and food.

This new initiative further consolidates a partnership of more than four years based around the creation of campaigns and the monetisation of the native advertising inventory of Marie Claire Group's websites, (including Marie Claire and Cosmopolitan).

This new collaboration reinforces the expertise of GMC Media in native advertising and programmatic, thereby benefiting from ADYOULIKE's know-how, leveraging its position as a commercial and technological leader in the French market of native advertising.

Elodie Bretaudeau-Fonteilles, Executive Director at GMC Media, Marie Claire Group, said: "We wanted to complete our programmatic offer with native advertising. This type of integrated format fully respects the user experience and is an essential element for brands. Seeing ADYOULIKE's high level of native expertise it seemed an evident choice to have them as our SSP to help us provide a new dimension to our native offer."

Yohan Elmaalem, Chief Operating Officer (COO) at ADYOULIKE, commented: "We are delighted to be launching this PMP with the Marie Claire Group, one of our historic partners. It is rewarding to see that both our expertise and technology will contribute to the group's development of generating sales through Native Advertising. Our SSP is already connected to a powerful demand with nearly 40 demand-side platforms (DSP)."

About GMC MEDIA

The Marie Claire Group is today of readership of 9.5 million influential women across 12 magazines, 17 sites, themed reports and dedicated events. The group has also a very strong presence internally bringing together a female readership of 70 million across 30 countries, through its editions, brand extensions, sites and digital applications.

In the era of the digital shift, the Marie Claire Group's advertising network is geared up to adapt to the expectations of the market. It responds in a global way by offering its expertise on women, its ecosystems, its archipelago of points of contact and its expertise.

About ADYOULIKE

ADYOULIKE is a global leading in-feed native ad platform. Launched in 2011, it is recognised for being a pioneer in native technology and creating advertising experiences for users that mirror the websites they are visiting. Using its own native supply-side platform (SSP) and native technology platform, the company enables brands to scale native advertising campaigns across premium and niche publishers, while publishers benefit from access to ADYOULIKE's marketplace.

In November 2016, ADYOULIKE launched the world's first semantic targeting capability for native advertising by integrating IBM's ground-breaking Watson artificial intelligence software with the ADYOULIKE platform. It is now, for the very first time, being used to create better semantic targeting for native advertising.

The fast-growing firm is now operating in more than 18 countries, has 65 employees and received series B funding in October 2016 to underwrite its continued international growth. Accolades for ADYOULIKE include: BPI France Excellence, Pass French Tech, The Everline Future 50 and The BIMA Hot 100. ADYOULIKE is a member of the IAB in the UK, US and Europe.

SOURCE ADYOULIKE
DUBLIN, July 3, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Allergan plc (NYSE: AGN) today announced it intends to release second quarter 2017 financial results on Thursday, August 3, 2017, prior to the open of U.S. Financial Markets.

Allergan will host a conference call and webcast at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time on Thursday, August 3, 2017 to discuss its financial results. The dial-in number to access the call is U.S./Canada (877) 251-7980, International (706) 643-1573, and the conference ID is 65876037.

A taped replay of the conference call will also be available beginning approximately two hours after the call's conclusion, and will remain available through 11:30 p.m. Eastern Time on September 4, 2017. The replay may be accessed by dialing (855) 859-2056 and entering the conference ID 65876037. From international locations, the replay may be accessed by dialing (404) 537-3406 and entering the same conference ID.

To access the webcast, please visit Allergan's Investor Relations website at https://www.allergan.com/investors. A replay of the webcast will also be available on Allergan's Investor Relations website.

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

SOURCE Allergan plc

Related Links

http://www.allergan.com


NEW YORK and CHARLOTTE, N.C., July 3, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Bankrate (NYSE: RATE), a leading online publisher, aggregator, and distributor of personal finance content, today announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by Red Ventures, a leading digital consumer choice platform, in an all-cash transaction that values Bankrate at an enterprise value of approximately $1.4 billion. Under the terms of the merger agreement, Bankrate shareholders will receive $14.00 per share in cash, which represents a premium of approximately 31 percent over Bankrate's three-month average closing share price. The merger agreement has been unanimously approved by Bankrate's Board of Directors.

The combination will create a scaled and diversified digital platform of consumer marketplaces. Bankrate is a leading consumer financial services company with online brands across personal finance categories, including credit cards, banking and senior care. Red Ventures uses advanced analytics, data science and integrated technology to cultivate digital connections between brands and consumers across the financial services, home services and healthcare industries. Bankrate's comprehensive platform and millions of users across multiple brands will deepen Red Ventures' footprint in the financial services industry and enhance relationships between financial services providers and consumers looking for trusted, authoritative information when making decisions about their personal finances and senior care.

"We're excited to join forces with the Bankrate team, which has built an impressive and powerful platform of consumer-facing financial services content and brands," said Ric Elias, CEO of Red Ventures. "Our capabilities are highly complementary. We see significant potential to leverage our technology, strategic partnerships and digital expertise and build on Bankrate's leading platforms to help more consumers find the financial services and products that meet their needs."

"We are thrilled to have reached an agreement that delivers immediate and significant value to our shareholders while joining with Red Ventures, a world-class organization that will take the Bankrate businesses to the next level of success," said Kenneth S. Esterow, President and CEO of Bankrate. "As a part of Red Ventures, Bankrate will be better positioned than ever to be the partner of choice for providers to acquire customers."

The transaction, which is expected to close in 2017, is subject to approval by Bankrate shareholders, regulatory approval and other customary closing conditions.

J.P. Morgan Securities LLC is acting as exclusive financial advisor and Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz is acting as legal advisor to Bankrate. Bank of America, Barclays, Citi, Credit Suisse, Fifth Third, MUFG and PNC are acting as financial advisors and are providing debt financing to Red Ventures. Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP is acting as legal advisor to Red Ventures.

About Bankrate

Bankrate (NYSE: RATE) is a leading online publisher, aggregator, and distributor of personal finance content. The Company's vision is to help consumers Maximize Your Money when they borrow, save or invest. With this in mind, RATE aggregates large scale audiences of in-market consumers by providing them with proprietary, fully researched, comprehensive, independent and objective personal finance and related editorial content across multiple vertical categories including credit cards, mortgages, deposits, senior care and other categories, such as personal and auto loans retirement, and taxes. RATE's flagship sites CreditCards.com, Bankrate.com, and Caring.com are leading destinations in each of their respective verticals and connect their vast audiences with financial service and senior care providers and other contextually relevant advertisers. RATE also owns and operates a number of specialist sites, apps and social platforms, including NextAdvisor.com, The Points Guy, Interest.com, Quizzle.com and Walla.by. Bankrate also develops and provides content, tools, web services and co-branded websites to over 100 online partners, including Yahoo!, CNBC and MarketWatch. In addition, Bankrate licenses editorial content to leading news organizations such as The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times.

About Red Ventures

Red Ventures is a leading digital consumer choice platform based in Charlotte, North Carolina. Through deeply integrated brand partnerships and consumer-facing assets, Red Ventures connects online customers with products and services across high-growth industries including home services, financial services, and healthcare. Founded in 2000, Red Ventures has more than 2,700 employees in offices across the Carolinas, Seattle, Washington, and Sao Paulo, Brazil. For more information, visit www.redventures.com.

Media Contacts

Bankrate

Ken Stelzer

[email protected]

917.438.9544

Red Ventures

Patricia Graue

[email protected]

212.333.3810

Additional Information and Where to Find It

This communication relates to the proposed merger transaction involving Bankrate, Inc. ("Bankrate"). In connection with the proposed merger, Bankrate will file relevant materials with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"), including Bankrate's proxy statement on Schedule 14A (the "Proxy Statement"). This communication is not a substitute for the Proxy Statement or any other document that Bankrate may file with the SEC or send to its stockholders in connection with the proposed merger. BEFORE MAKING ANY VOTING DECISION, STOCKHOLDERS OF BANKRATE ARE URGED TO READ ALL RELEVANT DOCUMENTS FILED WITH THE SEC, INCLUDING THE PROXY STATEMENT, WHEN THEY BECOME AVAILABLE BECAUSE THEY WILL CONTAIN IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT THE PROPOSED TRANSACTION. Investors and security holders will be able to obtain the documents (when available) free of charge at the SEC's website, http://www.sec.gov, and Bankrate's website, www.bankrate.com. In addition, the documents (when available) may be obtained free of charge by directing a request to Ken Stelzer by email at [email protected] or by calling 917-438-9544.

Participants in Solicitation

The Company and its directors and executive officers may be deemed to be participants in the solicitation of proxies from the holders of Bankrate common stock in respect of the proposed transaction. Information about the directors and executive officers of Bankrate is set forth in the proxy statement for Bankrate's 2017 annual meeting of stockholders, which was filed with the SEC on April 28, 2017, and in other documents filed by Bankrate with the SEC. Other information regarding the participants in the proxy solicitation and a description of their direct and indirect interests, by security holdings or otherwise, will be contained in the Proxy Statement and other relevant materials to be filed with the SEC in respect of the proposed transaction when they become available.

Cautionary Statements Regarding Forward-Looking Information

Certain statements contained in this communication may constitute "forward-looking statements." Actual results could differ materially from those projected or forecast in the forward-looking statements. The factors that could cause actual results to differ materially include the following: the occurrence of any event, change or other circumstance that could give rise to the termination of the merger agreement; the failure to obtain Bankrate stockholder approval of the transaction or the failure to satisfy any of the other conditions to the completion of the transaction; the effect of the announcement of the transaction on the ability of Bankrate to retain and hire key personnel and maintain relationships with its customers, providers, advertisers, partners and others with whom it does business, or on its operating results and businesses generally; risks associated with the disruption of management's attention from ongoing business operations due to the transaction; the ability to meet expectations regarding the timing and completion of the merger; and other factors detailed in Bankrate's Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2016 and Bankrate's other filings with the SEC, which are available at http://www.sec.gov and on Bankrate's website at www.bankrate.com. Bankrate assumes no obligation to update the information in this communication, except as otherwise required by law. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date hereof.

SOURCE Bankrate
SAO JOSE DOS CAMPOS, Brazil, July 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Embraer delivered today the first Phenom 100 business jet to Affinity Flight Training Services. The aircraft has been selected to provide Multi-Engine Pilot Training to UK Armed Forces as part of the United Kingdom Ministry of Defences Military Flying Training System (UKMFTS) programme. The contract with Affinity comprises a firm order for five Phenom 100s and services support, as well as an option for additional follow on aircraft.

"The departure of the first Embraer Phenom 100 from Brazil, en route to the UK, marks a significant milestone in preparation for delivering the MFTS Fixed Wing programme." said Iain Chalmers, Managing Director of Affinity. "Affinity is delighted this has been achieved ahead of the original programme schedule, and look forward to seeing the aircraft at RIAT 2017."

"We are very happy with our partnership with Affinity and for the opportunity to take part in the UKMFTS programme", said Jackson Schneider, president and CEO of Embraer Defense & Security. "The Phenom 100 delivers a sound combination of top performance, reliability, low operating costs and high availability. There is no doubt that the advanced technology of the Phenom 100 makes it the right solution for the Multi Engine Pilot Training of the UK Armed Forces, and will reduce costs whilst ensuring the proficiency of flight crews."

The Fixed Wing programme is intended to replace the Elementary, Multi-Engine and Basic Flying Training that is currently delivered on aging platforms with a new, fully integrated solution that provides state-of-the-art training aircraft, ground based training devices and courseware all derived from the training design developed by Ascent Flight Training, the Training Service Provider of the UKMFTS programme. In 2014, Affinity was selected by Ascent Flight Training to provide and maintain the aircraft selected for the UKMFTS programme.

The UKMFTS takes United Kingdom Armed Forces aircrew from initial training through Elementary, Basic and Advanced flying training phases preparing them for their arrival at their designated Operational Conversion Units.

Follow us on Twitter: @Embraer

Contacts:

Headquarters (Brazil)

Corporate Communications

[email protected]

Cell: +55 12 98152 4845

Tel.: +55 11 3841 6085



North America

Alyssa Ten Eyck

[email protected]

Cell: +1 954 383 0460

Tel.: +1 954 359 3847



Europe, Middle East and Africa

Guy Douglas

[email protected]

Cell: +31 (0)657120121

Tell: +31 (0)202158109

China

Mirage Zhong

[email protected]

Cell: +86 185 1378 5180

Tel.: +86 10 6598 9988



Asia Pacific

Nilma Missir-Boissac

[email protected]

Cell: +65 9012 8428

Tel.: +65 6305 9955



SOURCE Embraer S.A.

Related Links

http://www.embraer.com


GUANGZHOU, China, July 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

The 10th China Bio-Industry Convention and the first Guanzhou International Bio-Forum was held on July 3 in Guangzhou, China. As an emerging strategic developmental focus of Guangzhou, the output value of the biomedical industry is expected to reach trillions yuan by 2025.

"Guangzhou is one of China's three largest medical centers; relying on the vast medical market of the Pearl River Delta, biomedical industry has developed rapidly in recent years. In 2016, the added value of biological and health industry accounted for over 20 percent in the city's strategic emerging industries, Guangzhou is fully capable of becoming the leading platform for bio-industrial development," said Chen Zhiying, deputy mayor of Guangzhou.

In recent years, Guangzhou has been implementing the IAB program, i.e. new generation of information technology, artificial intelligence, bio-pharmaceutical technology and other strategic emerging industries. Guangzhou Development District, as the biomedical industry development hub of Guangzhou, has established bio-industry clusters including Guangzhou International Bio Island, Guangzhou Science City, and Sino-Singapore Guangzhou Knowledge City, of which, Guangzhou Science City is home for more than 430 biomedical enterprises, and Sino-Singapore Guangzhou Knowledge City has attracted major projects such as GE Biotech Park and BeiGene.

Sun Xuewei, deputy director of the administrative committee of the Guangzhou Development District said, the total number of biomedical industry enterprises in Guangzhou Development District reached 1,000, with total output value of enterprises above designated size stood at 52.3 billion yuan. Precision medical industry clusters such as genetic testing services, accurate diagnostic reagents production, research and development of targeted drugs are all covered and top R&D teams in the stem cell field of China including Pei Duanqing, Pei Xuetao and Deng Hongkui are attracted to the District. "By 2020, the output of biomedical industry in Guangzhou Development District will reach hundreds of billions," He added.

On the same day, Xia Jian, vice director of the Science and Technology Department of Guangzhou Development District revealed that Guanzhou International Bio-Forum will permanently settle in Guangzhou International Bio Island (Guanzhou Island), which will be held annually and committed to forge a "Davos Forum" for global bio-industrial development.

In fact, as China's national bio-industrial base and Sino-Israel bio-industrial cooperation base, International Bio Island is a miniature of the development of the bio-industry in Guangzhou. Since 2011, the Island has been home to regional headquarters, operation centers, R&D centers of the domestic and international enterprises in biomedical and health industries. Currently, KingMed Diagnostic, Saliai and other 150 projects have settled in the Island, which is becoming a well-known biomedical research and development center featuring precision medicine.

SOURCE The Guangzhou Development District
HOUSTON, July 3, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Hyperdynamics Corporation (OTCQX: HDYN) announced today that Ray Leonard, President and Chief Executive Officer, will host an investor conference call at 10:30 a.m. Central Time (11:30 a.m. Eastern Time) on Thursday, July 6, to provide a business update and to discuss the Company's drillings plans. Investors may participate either by phone or audio webcast and may submit questions in advance online to be answered during the call.

By Phone: Dial toll free 877-404-9648 in the U.S. and Canada or 412-902-0030 internationally. Please dial in at least 10 minutes early and ask for the Hyperdynamics conference call.





A replay will be available through July 13 by dialing toll free 877-660-6853 in the U.S. and Canada or 201-612-7415 internationally using the access code 13665897#.



By Webcast: To access the webcast and the accompanying presentation, visit the Events and Presentations page of Hyperdynamics' Investor Relations website at http://investors.hyperdynamics.com/events.cfm. Please log in at least 10 minutes early to register and download any necessary software.





A replay will be available shortly after the call.



Questions: Investors may submit questions in advance for Mr. Leonard to address during the call by clicking on the "submit a question" link under the July 6 call/webcast link.

About Hyperdynamics

Hyperdynamics is an emerging independent oil and gas exploration company that is exploring for oil and gas offshore the Republic of Guinea in West Africa. To find out more, visit our website at www.hyperdynamics.com.

Contacts:

Ray Leonard

President and Chief Executive Officer

713-353-9445

Anne Pearson / Jack Lascar

Dennard-Lascar Associates

713-529-6600

SOURCE Hyperdynamics

Related Links

http://www.hyperdynamics.com


CAPE TOWN, South Africa, July 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Despite economic pressures, investment by the South African retail sector into information and communication technologies (ICT) seems to be holding steady. New analysis by Frost & Sullivan titled "ICT Enterprise Spend in Retail, South Africa, Forecast to 2019" shows that cloud-based services, managed services and cellular connectivity are expected to represent close to ZAR1.8 billion in retail ICT spend by 2019. The focus of ICT spend, however, is now shifting from bigger capital expenditure to smaller operational models.

"The demand for lower-priced solutions within the retail sector presents IT and telecom service providers with an opportunity to differentiate their services portfolio by developing innovative usage- and value-based pricing models," says Digital Transformation Senior Industry Analyst Naila Govan-Vassen. "Flexible service-level agreement (SLA) contracts, along with focus on the client's business and IT strategy, will be crucial for the service providers to increase competitiveness."

Retailers are experiencing many issues along the value chain  from logistics from distribution centres to suppliers and retail stores, right through to customer delivery. Effective integration of legacy and new systems to garner timely and reliable data is a challenge for ICT service providers, while the perceived lack of flexibility in SLAs is a key restraint to uptake.

"Retailers often feel trapped by contracts that leave little scope to upscale or downscale according to changing needs," notes Govan-Vassen. "Essentially, this creates an opportunity for ICT service providers to become business partners as opposed to technology partners. They can increase industry expertise, build dedicated industry-focused teams to cross-sell, offer innovative branding and price strategies, and, most importantly, offer a full range of ICT solutions through flexible contracts."

Large enterprises are clear on how to implement IT to save cost and increase efficiency, but small and medium enterprises will need more guidance. This will also allow service providers to engage better and increase overall knowledge about their solutions. Key growth opportunities for ICT vendors will revolve around:

Cloud-based services as a measure to increase work effectiveness;

Workforce mobile solutions to nurture efficiency across key working groups along the value chain and ensure real-time communication; and

Retail analytics focussed on developing strategies and plans that aid in mitigating stock outage and stock layout challenges, while enabling track routing systems and store optimisations.

Overall, ICT vendors for retail enterprises must offer bespoke IT solutions. Cashless transactions, big data strategy, and cybersecurity will be influential trends shaping retail investment. Successful solutions will enhance customer experience for clients by creating an omnichannel platform that ensures two-way communications between the customer and the enterprise. Managed systems to provide a single view of sales, inventory, and customers will also be in demand.

"Although retail enterprises seek to implement IT solutions that empower employees and decision makers, reduced budgets will force them to accomplish more objectives with limited technology," concludes Govan-Vassen. "While cloud solutions are important, enterprises in the retail industry are also inclined to having third-party service providers manage non-core/centralised IT systems. In so doing, enterprises are better positioned to focus on developing strategies that enable exceptional services."

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

ICT Enterprise Spend in Retail, South Africa, Forecast to 2019

MC54-63

Contact:

Samantha James

Corporate Communications  Africa

P: +27 21 680 3574

F: +27 21 680 3296

E: [email protected]

http://ww2.frost.com

SOURCE Frost & Sullivan

Related Links

http://www.frost.com


#NZ murder suspect Court OKs extradition of 'suitcase' murder suspect to New Zealand A Seoul court on Friday approved the extradition of a woman believed to be the mother of two children whose bodies were found in suitcases in New Zealand in August. The Seoul H...

#KBO Landers starter Kim Kwang-hyun wins top KBO pitching award After making a successful return from a two-year stint in the majors, SSG Landers starter Kim Kwang-hyun was named the winner of South Korea's top professional pitching award on Fr...
DUBLIN, July 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

Research and Markets has announced the addition of the "Level Sensor Market by Technology (Contact ( Magnetostrictive, Vibratory Probe), and Noncontact), Monitoring Type (Continuous Level Monitoring, and Point Level Monitoring), End-Use Application, and Geography - Global Forecast to 2023" report to their offering.

The level sensor market is expected to reach 5.32 Billion by 2023, growing at a CAGR of 5.66% between 2017 and 2023

The growth of this market is propelled by the increasing advancement of the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) and Industry 4.0, the growing adoption of level sensors in the healthcare end-use application, and the market supportive government regulations. Moreover, the rise in vehicle production and the development of smaller, smarter, and cheaper sensors would drive the growth of the level sensor market.

This report covers the level sensor market based on technology, monitoring type, end-use application, and geography. In terms of technology, noncontact level sensors accounted for the largest share of the level sensor market between 2017 and 2023. The most widely used noncontact type level sensing technologies are ultrasonic, microwave/radar, optical, laser, MEMS, capacitive, conductivity, nuclear, and load cells. The noncontact level sensors segment is expected to hold a larger market size than that of contact level sensors, mainly owing to the increasing adoption of noncontact level sensors in various end-use applications such as water and wastewater, mining, and power stations. The noncontact level sensors are replacing contact level sensors because of their greater accuracy and flexibility in level sensing, as well as measurement. The major market for noncontact level sensor is covered by the ultrasonic level sensor and radar-based level sensors.

The level sensor market for industrial manufacturing end-use application is expected to grow at the highest rate between 2017 and 2023. The industrial manufacturing end-use application includes the automotive manufacturing, manufacturing and process industries, semiconductor manufacturing, and aerospace and defense manufacturing. Industrial manufacturing applications include liquid level sensing in water treatment tanks and transport and storage tanks. Level sensors play an important role in many automobiles applications such as light motor vehicles (LMVs); tank containers; aviation and air transport applications for fuel level indicators in airplanes and jets; as well as rail transport applications. Moreover, with the increase in defense and marine spending by developed countries, the demand for level sensors is likely to increase. With the high growth of industrial automation technology in Asia Pacific (APAC) or in developing economies such as China and India would facilitate the growth of level sensors in the industrial manufacturing end-use application.

Asia Pacific (APAC) is expected to hold a major share of the level sensor market between 2017 and 2023. APAC is a major market for various end-use application such as automotive, process industries, healthcare, petrochemicals and related process, chemicals, power generation, and consumer goods. India and China are considered a huge market for level sensors owing to their growing economy. Various governments initiatives in several APAC countries are striving to improve the wastewater treatment facility through stringent environmental regulations that support the demand for products required in water and wastewater treatment units such as level sensors. Moreover, factors such as a growing number of health issues, demand for oil, integration of sensors in automobiles and automation technology, and modernization of the armed forces contribute to the rising demand for level sensors in the growing economies of China and India.

Key Topics Covered:

1 Introduction

2 Research Methodology

3 Executive Summary

4 Premium Insights

5 Market Overview

6 Industry Trends

7 Level Sensor Market, By Technology

8 Level Sensor Market, By Monitoring Type

9 Level Sensor Market, By End-Use Application

10 Geographic Analysis

11 Competitive Landscape

12 Company Profiles

Abb Ltd.

Ametek, Inc.

Automated Sonix Corp.

Automation Products Group Inc.

Bin Master

Binmaster

Emerson Electric Co.

Endress+Hauser Ag

First Sensor Ag

Fortive Corporation

Gill Sensors & Controls

Honeywell International Inc.

Ifm Electronic Gmbh

Krohne Messtechnik Gmbh

Nohken Inc.

Pepperl+Fuchs Gmbh

Pic Gmbh

Senix Corporation

Sensirion Ag

Sick Ag

Siemens Ag

Ssi Technologies Inc.

Te Connectivity Ltd.

Texas Instruments Incorporated

Vega Grieshaber Kg

Waterline Controls

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/w7t4m7/level_sensor

About Research and Markets

Research and Markets is the world's leading source for international market research reports and market data. We provide you with the latest data on international and regional markets, key industries, the top companies, new products and the latest trends.

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


CHELTENHAM, England, July 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

Joanna James has partnered with Accucities to launch the most up to date 3D Models on the market, supporting projects of Architects, Civil Engineers and Planners. Prices start from 250.

The 3D Models can be commissioned for any site location in the UK, using data from 2016 onwards. Accuracy options range from 15-90cm. Formats include CAD (DWG), Sketchup (SKP), and Game Engine (FBX), etc.

Rob Stringer, Managing Director said: "These brand new 3D models represent a real step change for Architects, Civil Engineers and Planners, providing fantastic value, accuracy and currency."

Stringer further explained: "Obtaining a 3D model of the existing built environment for a relatively inexpensive outlay, in comparison to building from scratch in-house, offers genuine time and money savings for the construction industry. With prices starting from 250, it's a no-brainer for some of our existing clients."

The key focus of the new 3D models, available from Joanna James, is to offer a competitively priced solution that saves time and money whilst maintaining high levels of accuracy and using the most up to date data available.

Planning applications, site layouts, feasibility studies, sales particulars and simple massing models for tender purposes, are some of the most common uses of the new 3D Models.

For a 3D Model quote from Joanna James simply send a site plan with the boundary identified to [email protected].

For more information you can visit their website www.joanna-james.com/3d-models

Video link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sk77_8bxxv0

Media Contact:

Rob Stringer, Managing Director

Email: [email protected]

Mobile: +44-7809-535-316

Phone: +44-124-681140





Website: www.joanna-james.com

SOURCE Joanna-James
SAN DIEGO, July 3, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- TPT Global Tech (OTCBB:TPTW) announced today its Southern California based wholly owned subsidiary San Diego Media Inc. www.sandiegomedia.com is now Launching "Beachgrid" www.beachgrid.com its Do-It-Yourself online marketing, advertising social media platform for small to midsized business to increase visibility, rank, and communication reach. Just $279 a month gives a business owner control and affordable self-management. Beachgrid is a product that San Diego Media uses with its top eCommerce and Business Services clients. It helps their clients succeed online selling millions of products and services and provide incredible Email and landing pages for sales funnel automation, registration, and follow-up campaigns. San Diego Media now offers the DIY tool so that more businesses can get online doing the right things with less worry.

"It helps us as a business because more companies are then following best practice methods and are better able to work with us in the future," said Brian Kent CEO San Diego Media.

Beachgrid http://beachgrid.com/videos.html provides one tool to manage online business listings and profile feeds for the business address location, phone number, website address, store hours, contact information, business category, classification, and primary keyword search terms. Beachgrid is the fastest and easiest way to improve online results and update critical business information directly to the database level that feeds all major search engines, online business directories, and location based mapping tools.

Beachgrid also provides a stack of sophisticated tools for reputation management, customer comment monitoring, social media post management, and SEO & SEM visibility reporting. These tools, included for free, replace approximately $1500 a month of more complicated and expensive vendor offerings in the market place. Basically you can toss away all those extra costs and consolidate on one DIY tool platform.

Beachgrid includes a world class email platform which allows scalability as your marketing list grows. The Beachgrid eMail tool is great for running cutting edge marketing campaigns, providing registration forms for landing pages and includes a list management system. Beachgrid offers marketing automation and scheduled sending tools allowing A/B testing and reporting. The eMail platform is an upgrade option so that business can control spending and teaches the entire advertising process with the intent that a business will do marketing via email as a basic growth tactic.

This press release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of various provisions of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, commonly identified by such terms as "believes," "looking ahead," "anticipates," "estimates" and other terms with similar meaning. Specifically, statements about the Company's plans for accelerated growth, improved profitability, future business partners, M&A activity, new service offerings and pursuit of new markets are forward looking statements. Although the company believes that the assumptions upon which its forward-looking statements are based are reasonable, it can give no assurance that these assumptions will prove to be correct. Such forward-looking statements should not be construed as fact. The information contained in such statements is beyond the ability of the Company to control, and in many cases the Company cannot predict what factors would cause results to differ materially from those indicated in such statements. All forward-looking statements in the press release are expressly qualified by these cautionary statements and by reference to the underlying assumptions.

About TPT Global Tech

TPT Global Tech Inc. (OTC:TPTW) based in San Diego, California, is a Technology/Telecommunications Media Content Hub for Domestic and International syndication and also provides Technology solutions to businesses domestically and worldwide. TPT Global offers Software as a Service (SaaS), Technology Platform as a Service (PAAS), Cloud-based Unified Communication as a Service (UCaaS) and carrier-grade performance and support for businesses over its private IP MPLS fiber and wireless network in the United States. TPT's cloud-based UCaaS services allow businesses of any size to enjoy all the latest voice, data, media and collaboration features in today's global technology markets. TPT also operates as a Master Distributor for Nationwide Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNO) and Independent Sales Organization (ISO) as a Master Distributor for Pre-Paid Cellphone services, Mobile phones Cellphone Accessories and Global Roaming Cellphones.

CONTACT: Rick Eberhardt, 602-761-9477, [email protected]

SOURCE TPT Global Tech

Related Links

http://www.beachgrid.com


Commenting on the development, Dr. TH Kim, President and CEO of Samsung BioLogics said, "Samsung BioLogics is pleased to join hands with Sun Pharma and is looking forward to delivering best-in-class manufacturing services with global quality standards. Our collaboration with Sun Pharma is an important milestone for Samsung as it is a testament of our ability to provide reliable supply through its GMP-certified manufacturing facility to pharmaceutical companies, which aim to expand their global market."

Commenting on its agreement with Samsung BioLogics, Mr Kirti Ganorkar, Global Head -- Portfolio Management & Business Development, Sun Pharma said, "Samsung BioLogics is a globally renowned CMO. Through this partnership we will leverage Samsung's manufacturing knowledge and world class quality systems to provide high quality products for the Tildrakizumab pipeline."

About Tildrakizumab

Tildrakizumab is an investigational humanized, anti-IL-23p19 monoclonal antibody designed to selectively block the cytokine IL-23. With this precise targeting, tildrakizumab has the potential to help control the pathogenic cells responsible for the inflammatory process of psoriasis with limited impact on the rest of the immune system. Phase-3 tildrakizumab data provide further evidence for the role of the IL-23 pathway in helping to control the inflammatory process of psoriasis. The regulatory filings associated with tildrakizumab have been accepted for review by the FDA and EMA.

About Sun Pharma, Merck & Co., Inc., Kenilworth, NJ, USA, Agreement

Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd.'s wholly owned subsidiary received worldwide rights to tildrakizumab from Merck (through a Merck subsidiary), known as MSD outside the United States and Canada, in 2014. Funded by a Sun Pharma subsidiary, Merck is responsible for the completion of Phase-3 trials in patients with mild-to-moderate plaque psoriasis and, as appropriate, submission of a Biologics License Application to the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Merck is also responsible for manufacturing finished goods to support Sun Pharma's initial product launch. Post-approval in the U.S., Sun Pharma will be responsible for all other regulatory activities, including subsequent submissions, pharmacovigilance, post approval studies, manufacturing and commercialization of the approved product. Sun Pharma will also be responsible for all regulatory, pharmacovigilance, post approval studies, manufacturing and commercialization of approved products for all non-U.S. markets. Merck is eligible to receive milestone payments and royalties on sales of tildrakizumab.

About Sun Pharma, Almirall S.A, Europe, Agreement

Sun Pharma and its wholly owned subsidiary and Almirall (Spanish Stock Exchange ticker: ALM) closed on July 2016 a licensing agreement on the development and commercialization of tildrakizumab for psoriasis in Europe. Under terms of the license agreement, Almirall is able to lead European studies, and participate in larger Global clinical studies for psoriasis indication subject to the terms of the Sun Pharma -- Merck agreements, as well as certain cost sharing agreements. Sun Pharma will be eligible to receive development and regulatory milestone payments and, additionally, sales milestone payments and royalties on net sales. Sun Pharma will continue to lead development of tildrakizumab for other indications, where Almirall will have right of first negotiation for certain indications in Europe. The agreement between Sun Pharma and Almirall remains subject to the exclusive license agreement between Sun Pharma and Merck.

Disclaimer:

Statements in this "Document" describing the Company's objectives, projections, estimates, expectations, plans or predictions or industry conditions or events may be "forward looking statements" within the meaning of applicable securities laws and regulations. Actual results, performance or achievements could differ materially from those expressed or implied.

About Samsung BioLogics

Samsung BioLogics is a global full-service provider of quality-driven contract process development and cGMP manufacturing to the global biopharmaceutical industry. Our facilities are custom designed for monoclonal & recombinant production with maximum flexibility. Our one-stop services include cell line generation, process and analytical method development, analytical services, clinical and commercial bulk cGMP manufacturing of drug substance and drug product including quality assurance, quality control, regulatory compliance standards & support for our customers. For additional information about the company, please visit http://www.samsungbiologics.com

About Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (CIN - L24230GJ1993PLC019050):

Sun Pharma is the world's fourth largest specialty generic pharmaceutical company and India's top pharmaceutical company. A vertically integrated business, economies of scale and an extremely skilled team enable us to deliver quality products in a timely manner at affordable prices. It provides high-quality, affordable medicines trusted by customers and patients in over 150 countries across the world. Sun Pharma's global presence is supported by 42 manufacturing facilities spread across 6 continents, R&D centres across the globe and a multi-cultural workforce comprising over 50 nationalities. In India, the company enjoys leadership across 11 different classes of doctors with 30 brands featuring amongst top 300 pharmaceutical brands in India. Its footprint across emerging markets covers over 100 markets and 6 markets in Western Europe. Its Global Consumer Healthcare business is ranked amongst Top 10 across 3 global markets. Its API business footprint is strengthened through 14 world class API manufacturing facilities across the globe. Sun Pharma fosters excellence through innovation supported by strong R&D capabilities comprising about 2,000 scientists and R&D investments of approximately 8% of annual revenues. For further information please visit www.sunpharma.com & follow us on Twitter @SunPharma_Live

SOURCE Samsung BioLogics

Related Links

http://www.samsungbiologics.com


MOSCOW, July 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- On the night of July 3, the Moscow China Cultural Center, located in Moscow, was ablaze with lights. The opening ceremony of the "Experience China-Culture Exploration of Guangdong in Europe and 2017 'Belt and Road' World Brand Tour of China (Guangdong) in Russia" event co-organized by the Information Office of People's Government of Guangdong Province and Chinese Embassy in Russia, supported by Information Office of the State Council, was held in the capital city of Russia. Guo Weimin, Deputy Director of Information Office of the State Council, Shen Haixiong, Member of the provincial Party Standing Committee of Guangdong and Provincial publicity chief, and Zhang Zhonghua, Cultural Council of Chinese Embassy in Russia, attended the ceremony.

"China and Russia, with mountains and rivers connected, are good neighbors and friends to each other," said Guo Weimin in his remarks. The "Experience China-Culture Exploration of Guangdong in Europe" event held in Moscow is another fresh symbol of cultural exchange between the both countries. It will not only present the good books, beautiful pictures and oil paintings with a profound sense of history, but also exhibit the latest innovation and development achievements made by the Guangdong Province.

Shen Haixiong indicated in his speech that Guangdong delegation paid the first visit to Moscow to implement the spirit of important instructions, enhance the understanding of Russians towards Guangdong and promote the cooperation and communication on economy, trade and culture between China and Russia and deepen the traditional friendship between the two countries. It is hoped that the exchanges can make greater contributions to China-Russia relations.

Over 100 Russian government officials and public figures attended the opening ceremony. Among them, Lantzman, Vice-president of Culture and Mass Communications Development Committee of Moscow Parliament, Lubawin, Dean of Moscow State Academic Art Institute named after V.I. Surikov and Yuri Tavrovsky, Professor of Peoples' Friendship University of Russia gave opening remarks in a move to express welcome and appreciation to the event. Journalists from over 10 Russian mainstream media outlets that have attended the 3rd China-Russia Media Forum including Trud and Moscow-Beijing magazine and over 20 Chinese media representatives including China Daily, Xinhua News Agency, CCTV and CRI participated in the event.

On the opening ceremony, Guangdong enterprises' innovative products attracted extensive attention, including UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle), intelligent home appliances, porcelain paintings, herbal tea, and straw paintings, the intangible cultural heritage in the Chaozhou-Shantou region, South China. At the same time, the Information Office of the People's Government of Guangdong Province signed a cooperation agreement with Moscow China Cultural Center. Guangdong Provincial Publishing Group and Russian Science Publishing Group signed the co-publishing agreement of Beautiful China (Russian version).

On the afternoon of July 3, Shen Haixiong met with Alexey Volin, Vice Minister of Telecom and Mass Communications of the Russian Federation. The both sides discussed about and exchanged views on the potential cooperation in such fields as culture and media.

SOURCE The Information Office of People's Government of Guangdong Province
CAMBRIDGE, Mass., July 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- ButcherBox.com, the first subscription box service dedicated to 100 percent grass-fed and grass-finished beef, free-range organic chicken, and heritage breed pork, will host the first ever ButcherBox Bacon Day. On Thursday July 13, all new customers who sign up at www.butcherbox.com/bacon-day will receive free bacon in each box they get for the life of their subscription.

"Our customers are always telling us how much they love cooking with our bacon," said ButcherBox CEO and Founder Mike Salguero. "Not only does it taste amazing, it's uncured and free of sugar, nitrates, antibiotics and hormones. When you're getting a free pack of bacon for life, the possibilities are endless  so we crafted some recipes to take advantage of this offer."

"Who doesn't like to mix their bourbon with their bacon?" said ButcherBox Head Chef Yankel Polak. "Bacon can be prepared many different ways which is why it works with just about any dish."

ButcherBox delivers 100% grass-fed and grass-finished beef, free-range organic chicken, and heritage breed pork directly to subscribers' doors through a simple subscription system. Each month, ButcherBox curates a one-of-a-kind selection of the healthiest, tastiest meats, humanely raised and free of antibiotics and hormones. Each monthly box delivery is just $129, containing at least 20 individual meals and recipes from chefs, nutritionists and leading health and fitness experts to inspire cooking with naturally-raised meats. The price works out to less than $6.00/meal and shipping is free. Visit ButcherBox.com for more information.

SOURCE ButcherBox.com

Related Links

http://www.butcherbox.com


WASHINGTON, July 4, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Following is the daily "Profile America" feature from the U.S. Census Bureau:

JULY 4: TAKING LIBERTIES

Profile America  Tuesday, July 4th. Today is the signature American holiday, celebrating the date in 1776 when the Second Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence. Ours was the first successful colonial independence movement against a European power. From sea to shining sea, there will be parades, concerts, barbecues, and, of course, fireworks. Among the celebrations is the Boston Pops fireworks spectacular, featuring Tchaikovsky's "1812 Overture." In the United States of 1812, the population of 7.2 million had a median age of around 16 years old. Now, today's population is about 325 million. The median age is the highest in history at 37.8 years. You can find more facts about America's people, places and economy, from the American Community Survey, at www.census.gov.

Sources:

Independence Day/accessed 4/20/2017: www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/ourdocs/DeclarInd.html

Boston Pops/accessed 4/20/2017: http://www.boston-discovery-guide.com/boston-fireworks.html

1810 Census population: http://www.census.gov/history/pdf/History_1810.pdf

1810 median age: Historical Statistics of the United States: Colonial Times to 1970, p. 19: www2.census.gov/library/publications/1975/compendia/hist_stats_colonial-1970/hist_stats_colonial-1970p1-chA.pdf

Current population: http://www.census.gov/popclock/?intcmp=home_pop

Median age: https://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/15_1YR/B01002

SOURCE U.S. Census Bureau

Related Links

http://www.census.gov


(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160303/792302 )

Browse 76 Market Data Tables and 62 Figures spread through 180 Pages and in-depth TOC on "VVT & Start-Stop Systems Market"

http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/variable-valve-timing-vvt-market-1206.html

Early buyers will receive 10% customization on this report

Cam Phasing plus Changing System: Adoption of VVT Expected to Increase in Developed Regions

Owing to increase in performance-oriented fuel-efficient vehicles and stringent emissions regulations in developed regions, the penetration of advanced VVT systems such as Cam-Phasing plus changing systems is estimated to be higher in Asia-Pacific and North America. The market for VVT systems is further estimated to increase with the increasing production of automobiles incorporated with these advanced technologies. Owing to customer's preferences, the regional adoption of these technologies is varied. Europe is projected to witness moderate growth for VVT systems due to saturation of VVT technology in Germany, France, and Spain. High rate of technological adoption in regions like China, Japan, and South Korea is also a driving factor for the growth of these systems in Asian region.

Download PDF Brochure: http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/pdfdownload.asp?id=1206

Plug-in Hybrid and Hybrid Electric Vehicle (BEV): Promising Electric Vehicle segment for start-stop system

Electric vehicles are mainly divided into three major types on the basis of propulsion technology: battery electric vehicle (BEV), plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV), and hybrid electric vehicle (HEV). BEVs are totally powered by batteries, whereas HEVs and PHEVs also have the internal combustion engine. As of 2017, PHEV and HEV segments hold the largest share and are projected to grow at higher CAGR compared to other battery electric vehicle segments. The growth in PHEV and HEV segment is mainly driven by government initiatives for promoting emission-free technology.

Asia-Pacific: The largest market for VVT & start-stop system

Asia-Pacific was estimated to be the largest market for VVT & start-stop system in 2017. This is due to the increasing vehicle production in countries such as Japan, China, and India and stringent emission regulations in these countries. The region has the largest share of VVT systems globally because of increased manufacturing of vehicles equipped with these systems. The Indian market is growing at a rapid pace because of increased preference for diesel-powered vehicles, which has resulted in the demand for VVT system for diesel engines. In addition, improving socio-economic conditions in countries such as India, Thailand, and Indonesia have resulted in the growth of demand for premium segment passenger cars, which in turn has accelerated the market for VVT & start-stop system in these countries.

Make an Inquiry: http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Enquiry_Before_Buying.asp?id=1206

Many automotive manufacturers are focusing on Asia-Pacific region because of various benefits such as easy availability of economic labor, access to advanced machines, lenient regulations for environment & safety, and growing demand for vehicles due to increased FDI for automotive industry in countries like India, South Korea, and China.

The report covers all the major players in the global VVT & start-stop system market, such as Continental AG (Germany), Denso Corporation (Japan), Delphi Automotive, PLC (U.K.), Robert Bosch GmbH (Germany), and Magna International Inc. (Canada).

Browse related reports:

Automotive Solenoid Market by Application (Body Control & Interiors, Engine Control & Cooling System), Vehicle Type (PC, LCV, HCV), Electric Vehicle Type (BEV, HEV, PHEV, FCEV), Valve Design, Function and Region - Global Forecast to 2022

http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/automotive-solenoid-market-145703142.html

Automotive Fuel Delivery System Market by Component (Fuel-Pump, Injector, Pressure Regulator, Filter, & Rail; Air Control Valve, and Throttle Position Sensor), Alternative Fuel Vehicles (CNG, LPG, and LNG), and Region: Industry Trends & Forecast to 2019

http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/automotive-fuel-delivery-market-89885638.html

About MarketsandMarkets

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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.

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SOURCE MarketsandMarkets
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Name : drupal7

Product : Fedora 24

Version : 7.56

Release : 1.fc24

URL : http://www.drupal.org

Summary : An open-source content-management platform

Description :

Equipped with a powerful blend of features, Drupal is a Content Management

System written in PHP that can support a variety of websites ranging from

personal weblogs to large community-driven websites. Drupal is highly

configurable, skinnable, and secure.



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Update Information:



* [7.56](https://www.drupal.org/project/drupal/releases/7.56) * [SA-

CORE-2017-003](https://www.drupal.org/SA-CORE-2017-003)

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References:



[ 1 ] Bug #1464008 - CVE-2017-6922 drupal7: Files uploaded by anonymous users

into a private file system can be accessed by other anonymous users [epel-all]

https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1464008

[ 2 ] Bug #1464007 - CVE-2017-6922 drupal7: Files uploaded by anonymous users

into a private file system can be accessed by other anonymous users [fedora-all]

https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1464007

[ 3 ] Bug #1463856 - drupal7-7.56 is available

https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1463856

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This update can be installed with the "dnf" update program. Use

su -c 'dnf upgrade drupal7' at the command line.

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If you were looking for the Charlestown Democratic Town Committee website and ended up here, try this





Got news tips, gossip, suggestions, complaints?E-mail us: progressivecharlestown@gmail.com We strive to avoid errors in our articles. Our correction policy can be found here
Washington, June 30 : US President Donald Trump will meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin next week at the Group of 20 summit in Hamburg, Germany, the White House said.

US National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster made the announcement at a White House briefing on Thursday, adding that "there is no specific agenda. It's really going to be whatever the president wants to talk about".

The first face-to-face encounter between the two leaders will come amid tensions between the US and Russia as the two countries hold differences on a slew of issues, including the Syrian conflict, the Ukrainian crisis and the expansion of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), Xinhua news agency reported.

In April, Trump said the US was "not getting along with Russia at all" and the relations between the two countries "may be at an all-time low".

Meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Washington in mid-May, Trump expressed his desire to build a better relationship between the two countries.

Earlier this month, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said the US is working to stabilize its relationship with Russia, which is "at an all-time low".

"Our relationship is at an all-time low, and it's been deteriorating further. Our objective is to stabilize that," Tillerson told lawmakers at a Senate hearing.
Istanbul, June 30 : Turkey's Foreign Ministry criticized several German politicians who opposed the Turkish president's plan to hold a speech in Germany for ethnic Turks in another diplomatic spat between the two nations.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday requested permission to address a gathering of his compatriots on the sidelines of a G20 meeting set to be held in Hamburg starting July 7, but his request was met with opposition from several senior German lawmakers, Efe news reported.

The ministry statement focused its criticism on German opposition leader Martin Schulz, who said of the request: "Foreign politicians, who tread (on) our values at home, must not have a stage for speeches in Germany."

The ministry said Schulz's statement "reflects the true face of the mentality that we confront as well as the double standard of those who aim to lecture the others. We strongly condemn and refuse this person's unacceptable remarks targeting our President".

Germany's top diplomat Sigmar Gabriel also came out against the request, telling local media during a visit to Russia that he thought it was a "bad idea".

This was latest in a string of bilateral spats between Berlin and Ankara since the attempted coup d'etat that took Turkey by surprise in July 2016.

Ankara's unofficial requests for Berlin to extradite alleged coup plotters in hiding have been largely dismissed, while the arrest in Istanbul of a Turkish-German journalist accused of inciting terror sparked ire among Germany's officials.

A decision to ban Turkish rallies on its soil ahead of an April referendum on constitutional change prompted Erdogan to accuse the German government of "Nazi-style behaviour".

Germany also decided to pull its troops out of a NATO military base in southern Turkey after Ankara officials on several occasions blocked visiting access for German politicians.

Around 3 million ethnic Turks are thought to live in Germany, and about half those have the right to vote in Turkey.
New Delhi, June 30 : Senior Supreme Court lawyer K.K. Venugopal, an eminent constitutional lawyer who has five decades of practice in the apex court, was on Friday appointed the new Attorney General of India.

President Pranab Mukherjee signed the order of his appointment on Friday within 20 days of the resignation of Mukul Rohatgi, who was given an extension of tenure but declined it.

Venugopal, 86, is a veteran constitutional expert who was once an Additional Solicitor General appointed during the Morarji Desai regime after the Emergency.

Kottayan Katankot Venugopal is the son of a well-known barrister the late M.K. Nambiyar, who was a doyen of the Madras bar and who had practiced in the Supreme Court too.

Venugopal, who started appearing in the Supreme Court in the early 60s while based in Madras, was designated as a senior advocate by the apex court in 1972. Five years later, after the end of Emergency, he was appointed an Additional Solicitor General that necessitated his shift to Delhi.

Venugopal, who has often been called to be the amicus curiae to the Supreme Court for handling difficult cases, brings to the Attorney General's office the experience of 50 years' practice in the Supreme Court.

Apart from being involved in many important cases before constitutional benches of the apex court, Venugopal acted as amicus curiae in the infamous 2G spectrum scam case relating to irregular allotment of bandwidth to telecom operators during the tenure of the UPA-I government. He assisted the Supreme Court in monitoring investigations by the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate.

He had appeared for the Madhya Pradesh government opposing the challenge to the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) and L.K. Advani and other senior BJP leaders in the Babri Masjid demolition conspiracy case.

Venugopal had cautioned the top court against sentencing Justice C.S. Karnan to six months imprisonment for contempt. Appearing for the Madras High Court, he had tried to caution the bench that it would suffer the blemish of putting a sitting judge in prison.

Venugopal, one of the main advocates of judicial reforms in India, is against the creation of regional benches of the Supreme Court. Instead he favours Courts of Appeal to be established in four regions of the country to finally decide on appeals from High Court judgements in all cases, other than cases of national importance which affect the whole country, disputes between states and the Centre and substantial question of law relating to interpretation of the Constitution.

This, he feels, will relieve the burden on the Supreme Court.

His son Krishnan Venugopal is a senior lawyer in the Supreme Court.
Panaji, June 30 : Poll authorities in Goa on Friday contested Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar's allegation of excessive expenses by the state election body during the recently concluded state assembly polls.

Responding to the charge, made earlier this month by Parrikar, Chief Electoral Officer Kunal said his office was open to scrutiny and all expenses were strictly in accordance with the Election Commission of India (EC) guidelines.

"We have followed all EC guidelines on expenditure. All our expenses are audited by the CAG (Comptroller and Auditor General)... We are open to scrutiny," Kunal said when asked to respond to Parrikar's charge made on June 13.

Parrikar had then said that the Rs 16.86 crore expenses bill submitted by the poll authority was "seemingly exorbitant".

"I have asked that a team of CAs should be formed to audit the reimbursement claimed by the Electoral Office in Goa. They have submitted a bill of Rs 16.86 crore for hiring of vehicles for 15 days during the polls," Parrikar had said.

"I do not like to criticise constitutional authorities, but when they attain absolute power, they can become more corrupt than politicians," he had said.

During the run-up to the assembly polls earlier this year, Parrikar, then the Defence Minister, had been pulled up by the Election Commission for inducing voters to accept money from other political parties but vote for the BJP. Parrikar had contested the stricture.
New Delhi, July 1 : Stating that the number of voters in India is increasing, Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi on Saturday said a compulsory voting regime is not feasible to improve it further.

"India is one of the few countries where in reality, the voter turnout is increasing. Compulsory voting system can help increase the number of voters but the system is not feasible in India owing to its population," Zaidi said in an interview with Facebook's Public Policy Director Ankhi Das on Saturday.

"Model of compulsory voting is successful in small countries. They can manage it as the number of electorate is very small but bringing that system is not feasible in a hugely populated country like ours," he said.

He emphasised that the Election Commission cannot force people. "Constitutionally, people have the right to vote or not to vote," he said.

Noting that in the 2014 elections, of the 850 million people, 550 million had participated, he said that if there is a mandate to vote, "we will have to proceed against 300 million people".

"The cost of administrative compliance subjecting 30 crore people to action is not feasible. As an alternative to mandatory voting, voter education is the right method," Zaidi explained.

He said that there was a problem of a lower voter turn out in the country a few years ago and thus the ECI had to introduce the programme named Systematic Voter Education Electoral Participation (SVEEP) Programme.

"The important contributed factor to the increased voter turn out in the nation has been SVEEP. It is a household name under which we focus on voter registration as well as voter participation," he said.

"Under this programme, we undertake surveys that contain the knowledge of voters' attitude. Then we design specific measures categorised by those survey parameters."

"This programme goes down to the level of polling stations where we identify stations with the lowest number of registrations, the areas with less women participation etc. These aspects are taken into account to take specific initiatives," he said.

Zaidi also touched upon the issue of urban apathy. He suggested people's mundane interests as the reason behind it. "People in urban areas are more interested in mundane things. They only talk about the things that go wrong in the system. Young people in urban areas have attitude problems. They unnecessarily feel that nothing will change."
Agartala, July 2 : Six Trinamool Congress (TMC) legislators in Tripura are likely to cast votes in favour of NDA nominee Ram Nath Kovind in the July 17 presidential poll, a party leader said on Sunday.

"We have held a meeting here on Saturday night and decided not to cast our votes in favour of Congress-led opposition-backed presidential candidate Meira Kumar since she is also supported by the CPI-M," Tripura TMC President Ashish Saha told IANS here.

"Since there is no candidate other than Ram Nath Kovind and Meira Kumar, we might support the BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) led NDA (National Democratic Alliance) candidate. The picture would be clear within the next few days," he said.

Saha, one of the six TMC legislators, said that "it is final that all the six party legislators in Tripura would not cast their votes in favour of CPI-M (Communist Party of India-Marxist) supported nominee".

The TMC, led by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, is officially supporting opposition-backed contender Meira Kumar, the former Lok Sabha Speaker.

There are media reports that BJP General Secretary Ram Madhav and Assam's powerful BJP minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, who is also the convenor of North East Democratic Alliance (NEDA), have urged the TMC legislators in Trip-ura to vote for Kovind.

According to media reports, all the six TMC legislators ae likely to join the BJP this month.

Saha said: "It was not yet decided that the TMC MLAs would join BJP. We want a united fight in the next year's assembly elections in Tripura to oust the CPI-M led Left Front government from power."

"We might do any sacrifice to vote out the Left parties in the next assembly polls," he added.

Last week, BJP's Tripura unit President Biplab Kumar Deb said that the party's doors are shut for the nine TMC and Congress legislators.

Deb had told reporters: "In consultation with the party's central leaders, we had earlier announced a deadline of May 31 for the entry of the nine TMC and Congress MLAs into BJP. That deadline being over, the doors are also accordingly shut for them."

"It is, however, open for other leaders and workers of the TMC, Congress and other parties but not for the nine sitting MLAs," he added.

Six Congress MLAs, led by Sudip Roy Barman, resigned from the party last year and have joined the TMC in protest against the Congress' electoral alliance with the Left parties in the West Bengal assembly elections.

Another Congress legislator, Jitendra Sarkar, resigned from the Tripura assembly and re-joined the ruling CPI-M, reducing the Congress' strength in the state assembly to three. Sarkar joined BJP last month.

The TMC's Tripura unit former President and former Minister and also the former President of the Tripura Pradesh Congress Committee, Surajit Datta, party's Tripura unit coordination committee chief Ratan Chakraborty, TMC's Tripura unit's founder-chairman and incumbent Vice-President Arun Chandra Bhowmik and many other state committee members had joined the BJP in the past few months.

Besides, several thousand workers from the Congress, TMC and CPI-M also walked over to the BJP, making it (BJP) the main opposition party in Tripura. The state goes to elect a new assembly in about eight months.

Meanwhile, the Congress has also recently served a show cause notice to senior legislator Ratanlal Nath for "anti-party activities and meeting BJP leaders, including party President Amit Shah".

"We have served a show cause notice to Ratanlal Nath last month (May) for his closeness with BJP leaders, including Biplab Deb," Tripura state Congress President Birajit Sinha said.

According to Congress sources, Nath might be expelled from the party after the presidential election on July 17.
Doha, July 2 : Qatar faces possible further sanctions by Arab countries as a deadline to accept a series of demands from its Gulf neighbours, including closing down the Al-Jazeera television network, passes on Sunday night.

Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani on Saturday had effectively rejected the 13 demands tabled 10 days ago by Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Egypt and Bahrain to end the diplomatic standoff, the Guardian reported.

The demands were made by the Saudi-led allies last month over allegations of Qatari support for terrorism, which it denies. Doha called the demands an attack on its sovereignty.

The four nations severed their diplomatic ties with Qatar, closed their airspace to its jets and announced an economic blockade that included the closing of Qatar's border with Saudi Arabia -- its sole land link to the rest of the world and a key route for food imports.

Al-Thani said that the demands on Al-Jazeera, closing a Turkish military base and cutting relations with Iran had been framed "to be rejected".

"This list of demands is made to be rejected. It's not meant to be accepted or ... to be negotiated," he said in Rome, where he has been attempting to build western support.

"The state of Qatar, instead of rejecting it as a principle, we are willing to engage in [dialogue], providing the proper conditions for further dialogue."

The four anti-Qatar states have only hinted at how they will respond if their ultimatum is spurned, reported the daily. UAE diplomats suggested they will either suspend Qatar from the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), the regional trading bloc, or seek to impose sanctions on countries that continue to trade with Qatar.

UAE Foreign Affairs Minister Anwar Gargash played down suggestions of a military intervention.

"The alternative is not escalation but parting ways," he said, suggesting forcing Qatar out of the six-member GCC is at present the most likely outcome.

The body was formed in 1981 by Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman and Bahrain in the wake of Iran's Islamic revolution and the outbreak of the Iran-Iraq war.

Turkey increased its military presence in Qatar in support of the emirate and delivered food supplies to the country along with Iran, the Guardian reported.

In one of the first signs an extended blockade may have a significant impact on the country, some British banks ceased trading in the Qatari riyal for retail customers.

The US, with 10,000 troops in Qatar in its main Middle East base, was split in its response between the White House and Department of State.

US President Donald Trump had moved to rebuild Saudi ties and at a fundraiser last week again said he wanted Qatar to stop funding terrorism.

But the State Department had tried to take a more nuanced role as mediator, working alongside Kuwait.
Gandhinagar, July 2 : India on Sunday said it can be a reliable sourcing partner for natural and man-made fibres for the Asean countries.

"India being the largest producer of cotton and jute and the second largest producer of Man-Made Fabrics (MMF) has the potential to act as a reliable sourcing partner for Asean (Association of Southeast Asian Nations)," said Union Textiles Minister Smriti Irani addressing a conference on Asean-India Cooperation at Textiles India 2017 here.

The Minister said that Indian textiles and apparel exports to Asean in 2016 were worth over $1.2 billion.

"Export of textiles and apparels to Asean comprises 3 per cent of India's total exports to the world," she said.

Irani said there are enormous opportunities for collaboration between India and Asean in capacity building, sharing of knowledge and technology, and mutual assistance in education, research and development.

"Enhancing digital and infrastructure connectivity with Asean countries is a major priority for India," she added.

Speaking at the event, neighbouring Myanmar's Industry Minister U Khin Maung Cho said its textile and apparel sector offers huge opportunities for Indian business.

"Myanmar policies are attractive for foreign direct investment in various sectors, especially garments, textiles and agriculture," he said.

The conference organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) explored the value chains and institutional frameworks for collaboration in textiles between India and Asean countries under India's 'Act East' policy.

At least 65 memoranda of understanding (MoUs) were signed during the three-day textile trade fair that concludes on Sunday.

The MoUs, related to exchange of information and documentation, commercialisation of handloom and silk products, skill development, supply of cotton, and research and development and trade promotion with international partners were signed between various international and domestic organisations.
Kochi, July 2 : In a new development in the Kerala actress kidnap case, pictures surfaced on Sunday of Malayalam superstar Dileep with prime accused Pulsar Suni -- after the actor claimed he never knew the latter.

The probe into the February kidnapping has turned murkier ever since the name of superstar Dileep got linked in the case.

Not much headway has been made into the conspiracy angle though those involved in the crime were arrested in a week's time.

The latest pictures, shown in TV channels on Sunday, have come at a time when Dileep, during a 13-hour questioning by police last week, claimed he had no clue who Pulsar Suni was.

The pictures were taken at a club in Thrissur near here in November during the shooting of Dileep's film "Georgechettan's Poorem".

Last month, Dileep's name surfaced in a jail inmate's letter who shared the cell with Suni. Since then, Dileep is facing the heat.

While Suni and his accomplices were arrested within a week of the kidnapping, police stumbled upon the conspiracy angle last week.

In a related development, a police team reached the place of business of Dileep's wife and actress Kavya Madhavan and her home here to inspect business records and bank payments.

On Saturday night, newly appointed Kerala police chief Loknath Behra reportedly expressed displeasure over the way the probe was proceeding.
Riyadh, July 3 : Saudi Arabia and three other Arab countries that issued an ultimatum to Qatar over its alleged support to terrorism have extended by two more days the deadline for the country to accept their demands or face further sanctions.

The initial deadline for Qatar to agree to the group's 13 demands, including the shutting down of the Al Jazeera news network, expired on Sunday, BBC reported.

Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain and Egypt issued a joint statement late Sunday that they have extended the ultimatum for 48 more hours at the request of Kuwaiti emir Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah.

Qatar, which denies funding extremism, will submit a formal response on Monday. The country has already called the demands an "affront to international law".

The four Gulf countries in June severed diplomatic and trade ties with Qatar, which they accuse of supporting Iran and harbouring terrorist organisations like the Muslim Brotherhood, the Islamic State, and giving them a platform on the Al Jazeera channel.

The Foreign Ministers of these four nations will meet on Wednesday to discuss the situation. The list of demands to overcome the crisis comprised 13 points, including the end of diplomatic relations with Iran and the closure of a Turkish military base in the emirate.

Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdul Rahman al-Thani arrived in Kuwait on Monday to deliver a formal response in the form of a letter from the Emir of Qatar to the Emir of Kuwait.

In a statement, lawyers for Qatar denounced the demands and called for international condemnation.

They said the tactics were "reminiscent of the extreme and punitive conduct of 'bully' states that have historically resulted in war".

"The world must unite immediately to halt the singling out of Qatar for unjustified collective punishment and humiliation and to preserve peace, security and prosperity in the region," the statement said.

Qatar has been under unprecedented diplomatic and economic sanctions for weeks from Saudi Arabia and its allies.

The imposed restrictions have caused turmoil in Qatar, an oil- and gas-rich nation dependent on imports to meet the basic needs of its population of 2.7 million. As a result, Iran and Turkey have been increasingly supplying it with food and other goods, the report said.

UAE officials said that after the new deadline expires on Tuesday and then the offer for Qatar to return to the Arab fold will be off the table. The economic and political sanctions on it will become permanent and Qatar will be ostracised by its closest Arab neighbours.
Hyderabad, July 3 : Opposition presidential candidate Meira Kumar has written letters to all members of the electoral college, seeking their support in the July 17 election.

She visited Hyderabad on Monday as part of her campaign. After garlanding the statue of her father Babu Jagjivan Ram in the city, she told reporters that she wrote letters last week to all members of the electoral college.

The former Lok Sabha Speaker said that she had also made a written appeal to Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), the ruling party in Telangana which has already announced its support to her rival and NDA candidate Ram Nath Kovind.

Meira Kumar, who addressed the members f Parliament and state legislators of the Congress, said that she would take necessary steps as a follow-up to the letter sent to the TRS.

State Congress chief Uttam Kumar Reddy said they left a message with the personal secretary of TRS President and Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao that she would like to speak to him over phone.

The Congress has been demanding the TRS should vote for Meira Kumar given her role in the formation of a separate state of Telangana.

Recalling that she was the Lok Sabha Speaker when Telangana was formed, Meira Kumar said the formation of a separate state was a historic development and it fulfilled the long-pending demand of the people and met their aspirations.

While wishing the people of Telangana happiness and prosperity, she said no matter how much progress the state makes and the development it achieves in terms of infrastructure and Information Technology, it would mean nothing without social justice.

"What is important is how much respect we give to Dalits, poor, tribals and minorities. This is basic and we have to focus on this. These are the principles on which I am contesting the elections," she said.

Meira Kumar claimed the political history of India has witnessed a very important development during the last eight to nine days with 17 major opposition political parties coming together on one platform and unanimously deciding to contest the Presidential election.

"This Presidential election is going to be powerful articulation of the value system, the principles and the philosophy which has been held so dear by most of the people of this country and which is now under threat," she said.

She thanked the opposition parties for reposing faith in her and assured them that she would leave no stone unturned to fulfil the responsibility that they have given.

"They (opposition parties) came together on firm ideological position. This unity is welcome and it has been welcomed everywhere," said Meira Kumar, who started her campaign from Gujarat and has visited Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Kerala.

She said ideology was very dear to her and not empty words like for those in power today.

She claimed that three important goals -- political freedom, economic freedom and social emancipation -- were set on the agenda during the freedom struggle under Mahatma Gandhi's leadership.

The former Lok Sabha Speaker said while political freedom was achieved on August 15, 1947, they had been working for economic freedom and social emancipation.

"For us social justice means so much. It's justice for poor, Dalits, tribals, backwards and members of minorities in multi-religious country, for all humble, weak and feeble cutting across all caste and creed. We are working tirelessly for their dignity, their rights and for their welfare. This is our ideology and I have made this value system the plank of my campaign," she added.
New Delhi, July 3 : The Supreme Court on Monday stayed all proceedings against author and social activist Arundhati Roy, facing a contempt plea before the Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court for an article in an English magazine on Delhi University professor G.N. Saibaba.

The bench of Chief Justice Jagdish Singh Khehar and Justice D.Y. Chandrachud stayed the proceedings before the Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court after it was told that the matter was initiated by a lawyer.

The Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court had issued notice to Arundhati Roy on a contempt plea by the advocate who had contended that Roy's piece was interference in the administration of justice.

Roy in her article had said: "So afraid is the government of this paralysed wheelchair-bound academic (Saibaba) that the Maharashtra Police had to abduct him for arrest."

Saibaba was arrested by the Maharashtra Police in May 2015 for alleged links with an alleged front organisation of the banned CPI-Maoist.

The Supreme Court had on April 4, 2016 granted bail to Saibaba.
Jerusalem, July 3 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Israel from July 4 to 6, the first ever an Indian Prime Minister, will have huge symbolic significance, the Israeli Foreign Ministry said on Monday.

Addressing the media here, Mark Sofer, Deputy Director General of the Asia and Pacific Division of the Foreign Ministry and former Ambassador to India, said the visit -- coming as it does after 25 years of establishment of diplomatic ties -- will have huge symbolic significance.

"Yes, it is crucial that this visit is taking place," Sofer said. "There will be concrete ramifications of this visit."

He said his ministry has put "enormous emphasis" on this visit.

According to Sofer, both countries have identified agriculture and water management as a crucial area of the future of the bilateral relationship and a joint strategic partnership will be set up in this regard. Innovation and space cooperation are other areas of cooperation.

Sofer also said that during the course of the visit, an India-Israel CEOs Forum will also be set up.

Israel's Ambassador to India Daniel Carmon said that the trajectory of the relationship between the two countries has grown enormously.

"During this visit, we will look to the next 25 years of the relationship," Carmon said.

Stating that Israel would represent a new kind of diplomacy by looking at the priorities of the Indian government, the Ambassador said this will include developmental diplomacy and digital diplomacy.

He said Israel has set up 15 centres of excellence in the field of agriculture in India.

Regarding Jews of Indian origin living in Israel, Sofer said there are now second generation Indian Jews in Israel.

Most of the Indian-origin Jews that Modi will meet during his visit were born in Israel, he noted.

Carmon said when Modi met Israeli Premier Benjamin Netanyahu in Singapore in 2015 during the funeral of the city-state's first Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew, the Indian leader told Netanyahu that the Jewish community played an important role in the relationship between the two countries.

"Indian Jews in Israel are very proud of their Indian roots," he said.

To a question on cooperation in the fight against terrorism, Sofer said that both countries faced common challenges.

"What is needed is concerted international action. India is no exception," he stated.

He also said that Israel supported India in its fight against terrorism sponsored by Pakistan.

Giving an overview of Modi's programme, Sofer said that soon after his arrival in Tel Aviv on Tuesday, the Indian leader will visit an agricultural centre before meeting Netanyahu over a private dinner.

On Wednesday, the two Prime Ministers will lead delegation-level talks that may well last four hours.

Modi will also meet Israel's Leader of Opposition and later address a 4,000-strong gathering of Jews of Indian origin the same day.

On Thursday, the two Prime Ministers will fly by helicopter to Haifa where both will lay wreaths at the Indian Cemetery that contains the graves of Indian soldiers who died during the First World War defending Haifa.

The two leaders will travel back to Tel Aviv by car and on the way stop at a beach where Modi will be shown a state-of-the-art desalination plant.

Back in Tel Aviv, the two leaders will interact with Indian and Israeli business leaders, Sofer said.
Paris, July 3 : French President Emmanuel Macron proposed on Monday to reduce the number of representatives in both of France's legislative chambers by a third.

Speaking at the historic Palace of Versailles, Macron said that the proposed move would produce a more efficient government and put France on a "radically new path", BBC reported.

The French President also insisted that he would end "legislative proliferation", meaning that Parliament would be focused on evaluating and controlling laws that have already been approved, rather than proposing new ones.

"I want... us to avoid half-measures and cosmetic arrangements," he said. "These reforms will be submitted to a vote in Parliament but if necessary I will have recourse to a vote by our fellow citizens in a referendum," he said.

The proposed cuts would reduce the number of National Assembly members from 577 to 385, and the numbers of Senate members from 348 to 232.

In his 90-minute speech, the 39-year-old leader vowed to return a "collective dignity" to France.

"In the past, procedures have taken preference over results, rules over initiative, living off the public purse over fairness," he said.

He announced that the electoral system would be changed to allow more proportional representation, so more voices would be heard at government level.

Macron also said that he will lift the country's state of emergency later this year.

France has been in a state of emergency since the Paris terror attack which killed 130 people in November 2015. Macron said it would be lifted "this autumn", but did not specify a date.
Hyderabad, July 3 : NDA presidential candidate Ram Nath Kovind will be visiting Hyderabad on Tuesday as part of his election campaign.

A day after opposition parties' nominee Meira Kumar visited Hyderabad, Kovind will be in the city to bolster his support.

The BJP's Telangana unit has planned a grand reception to the former Bihar Governor, who is expected to reach Begumpet airport in the morning. He will then drive to a city hotel to meet the BJP's members of Parliament and state legislators.

Central Ministers M. Venkaiah Naidu and Bandaru Dattatreya will be present during the meeting, said state BJP chief K. Laxman.

Telangana's ruling party Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), which has already announced its support to the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) nominee, has decided to accord a warm welcome to Kovind.

Deputy Chief Ministers Kadiam Srihari and Mohammed Mahmood Ali besides several Ministers and TRS leaders will receive Kovind at the airport.

The TRS has erected huge hoardings at busy intersections to welcome him. The hoardings carry pictures of Kovind and TRS President and Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao.

Kovind will also address the TRS's members of Parliament and legislators as part of his campaign in the city.

Meira Kumar, who met the Congress MPs and MLAs here on Monday, said she had written a letter to Chandrasekhar Rao, seeking his party's support.

The Congress has been urging the TRS to reconsider its decision and vote for Meira Kumar given the role she played as then Speaker of the Lok Sabha in formation of a separate Telangana state.
New Delhi, July 3 : External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj will address the ninth edition of Delhi Dialogue, the premier annual track 1.5 event to discuss politico-security, economic and socio-cultural engagement between India and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) here on Tuesday.

"The ninth edition of Delhi Dialogue is scheduled to take place in New Delhi on July 4-5," the External Affairs Ministry said in a statement on Monday.

"The theme for Delhi Dialogue 9 is 'Asean-India Relations: Charting the Course for the Next 25 Years'," it stated.

"Political leaders, policy makers, senior officials, diplomats, business leaders, think tanks and academicians from both sides would be participating in the discussions."

This year's dialogue is being organised by the External Affairs Ministry in collaboration with the Observer Research Foundation (ORF), industry body Ficci, Institute of South Asian Studies (ISAS), Singapore, SAEA Group Research, Singapore, Economic Research Institute for Asean and East Asia (ERIA), Jakarta, Institute of Strategic and International Studies, Malaysia, Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam, Indian Council of World Affairs (ICWA) and Asean-India Centre.

It is supported by the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER), CII, Assocham, All India Association of Industries (AIAI), Mumbai, and Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC), Kolkata.

"The Ministerial Session to be held on July 4, would be hosted by Sushma Swaraj, Minister of External Affairs," the statement said.

It said those participating in the session will be Minister of State for External Affairs V.K. Singh, Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Vietnam Pham Binh Minh, Union Minister, Ministry of the Office of the State Counsellor of Myanmar U Kyaw Tint Swe, and Deputy Secretary-General for Asean Political-Security Community Department, Asean Secretariat, Hirubalan V.P.

V.K. Singh will also be participating in the panel discussion of the ministerial session titled "Waters of Asia: Cultural, Social and Political Ties" along with Senior Minister of State for Defence and Foreign Affairs of Singapore Maliki Osman, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Thailand Virasakdi Futrakul, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Laos Sengphet Houngboungnuang, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Brunei Dato Erywan Pehin Yusof, and Advisor to the Royal Government of Cambodia Sok Siphana.

The business and academic session will be held parallel to each other following a joint inaugural session on July 5.

The joint inaugural session will be addressed by Preeti Saran, Secretary (East) in the Ministry of External Affairs, as well as by the Presidents of Ficci, CII, Assocham, ICC, AIAI and Vice President of ORF.

"The academic session, organised by ORF, would feature panel discussions on the following themes: Regional Geopolitics: Great Power Politics in the Asia-Pacific; New Connectivity Paradigms in the Asia-Pacific; Technology, Innovation and Big Data; and Socio-Cultural Engagement and Diaspora Links," the statement said.
Los Angeles, July 4 : Actress Gwyneth Paltrows plan to build a 14,000 sq ft mansion in Montecito, California, has not gone down well with her neighbours.

"She's created an uproar with neighbours on all three sides," Andrew Rice, a spokesman for one neighbour, Michael MacElhenny, told pagesix.com.

The neighbours say the new building is too big, too tall and incompatible with the adjacent houses, and it blocks their views.

Rice said Paltrow - who has owned properties in Amagansett, London, Malibu, California, and Los Angeles' Brentwood area, where a complaint was filed against her for erecting an oversized nine-foot gate - has left "a trail of tears" on two continents.

"Michael and the other neighbours have tried to work with her, and they've gotten nowhere," Rice said.

The Montecito Board of Architectural Review voted in favour of the plans last month when her architect claimed the house had been lowered eight feet. Rice said the real shrinkage was just one foot and that the project was moving forward to the next step based on incorrect information, pagesix.com reported.
Washington, July 4 : SpaceX's Dragon cargo spacecraft returned to Earth from the International Space Station (ISS) on Monday, bringing back the first Chinese experiment ever to visit the orbiting laboratory.

The unmanned spacecraft splashed down in the Pacific Ocean at 8:12 a.m. EDT -- about five hours after leaving the space station. It wrapped up SpaceX's 11th contracted cargo re-supply mission for the US space agency NASA, Xinhua news agency reported.

"Good splashdown of Dragon confirmed -- completing first re-flight of a commercial spacecraft to and from the @Space_Station," the California-based company tweeted.

Dragon is returning more than 1,860 kg of cargo, including science samples from human and animal research, biotechnology studies, physical science investigations and education activities.

One of the science samples was the first-ever Chinese experiment brought to the space station, which is fully commercial, under an agreement with Houston-based NanoRacks, which offers services for the commercial utilisation of the orbiting laboratory.

The experiment from the Beijing Institute of Technology was aimed at studying the effects of the space radiation environment on DNA and the changes in mutation rate.

"Everything went according to our plan. All the data sent back looks good," Professor Deng Yulin, who led the Chinese experiment, was quoted as saying.

Deng said he will soon fly to Florida, where a ceremony of transfer of the experiment between NanoRacks and his team is scheduled for Friday.
New Delhi, July 4 : In a video gone viral, she looks helpless and uncomfortable as she tries to hide her face and turns around to escape shutterbugs who go clickety-click while she waits for the doors of an elevator to open at a theatre's basement.

That's Suhana Khan, Indian superstar Shah Rukh Khan's 17-year-old daughter, experiencing the unwelcome attention of being a celebrity kid.

The growing paparazzi culture in India's film industry is not sparing even the celebrities' children from the prying eyes of the cameramen, who are always chasing "the first" and "exclusive" pictures to get more hits and eyeballs on the flourishing digital media.

It's often dismissed as "the media's job", but actors and celebrities have come out clear about where one needs to draw the line.

"They are not movie stars. They just happen to be a movie star's children... Don't assume they will be able to handle the media like I do... They get awkward," Shah Rukh said in a tete-a-tete with journalists on Eid last month.

Just last year, Shah Rukh was left irate over "cheap" headlines after photographs of Suhana in a bikini were splashed all over.

"Your website is not going to run on my daughter's bikini body," he had said in an interview.

As a concerned parent, Shweta Bachchan Nanda -- daughter of Indian megastar Amitabh Bachchan -- had last year reacted strongly about the intrusion of privacy in the life of her daughter Navya Naveli, whose personal photographs with friends keep getting circulated on social media.

"She is not a public figure. Yes, she is related to some very famous people, but that is something completely out of her control," Shweta had written in her column.

Shweta also pointed out how Navya Naveli's "strong sense of self" helps her remain unaffected even when people "judge her, deride her, call her unattractive or scrawny".

"But you can well imagine what it would do to the self-esteem of a young, impressionable girl, who hasn't asked to be thrust into the spotlight in this way," added the mother of two, who feels "helpless" while being "unable to plug the flow of this filth that is distributed in the name of information and journalism -- all in the pursuit of hits and likes".

How celebrity children handle this attention -- which is bound to come their way -- has a lot to do with their parenting, says well-known psychiatrist Samir Parikh.

"It all comes down to how the parents are able to give them a normal upbringing. Social media is in nobody's control, but you can teach your child to ignore things and not to take things to heart.

"Children can be impressionable by their own parents setting the example of how to handle the pressure of public life," explained Parikh, Director, Mental Health and Behavioral Sciences, at Fortis Healthcare.

Writer-entrepreneur-film producer-former actress Twinkle Khanna has son Aarav and daughter Nitara with Bollywood star Akshay Kumar. Being the daughter of "India's first superstar" Rajesh Khanna and evergreen screen icon Dimple Kapadia herself, she has lived the life her children are now living -- albeit with lesser attention.

She realises it's a different age.

"Their life is different, they are on Instagram, Snapchat and have a whole different version of reality than we did. I think they are a lot more comfortable and easy with that sort of a life than we ever were. I think they can handle it... Every generation has handled their challenges well, and so will they," Twinkle said at a conclave here earlier this year.

But for some celebrities, what's irksome is the rat race to get their children's photographs right from their birth. Whether it was Shahid Kapoor's daughter Misha or Kareena Kapoor Khan's son Taimur -- there was a rush for their first photographs.

According to Public Relations specialist Archana Sadanand, who has worked closely with the film industry, "paparazzi has become highly intrusive in the celebrities' lives as well as their kids'".

"Ideally, the media themselves should take out a mandate and not click infants as harsh lights, clambering for the best picture, can hurt them... (But) I guess the celebs have come to terms with the paparazzi culture and have slowly got their kids also accustomed to the same.

"Once the child grows up, he/she starts understanding the media and the fact that their parents are celebrities and it's a part of the day-to-day lives."

Aaradhya Bachchan, 5, is a clear example -- she smiled and posed like a pro while travelling with her mother Aishwarya Rai Bachchan to Cannes -- much to the actress and former beauty queen's surprise.

All part of growing up in the limelight, perhaps!

(Radhika Bhirani can be contacted at radhika.b@ians.in)
New Delhi : The world's biggest banks are continuing to fuel climate change through the financing of "extreme" fossil fuels at a rate that will push the planet beyond the climate change limit agreed upon at the Paris Climate Change Conference in 2015, a new report has found.

In the three years ending December 31, 2016, as many as 37 international banks financed 158 companies $290 billion for their "extreme" fossil fuel activities, said the Banking on Climate Change: Fossil Fuel Finance Report Card 2017 released by Rainforest Action Network, BankTrack, Sierra Club and Oil Change International in partnership with another 28 organisations around the world.

The report ranks bank policies and practices around financing of the most carbon-intensive, financially risky, and environmentally destructive sectors of the fossil fuel industry that includes extreme oil (tar sands, Arctic, and ultra-deep water oil), coal mining, coal power and liquefied natural gas (LNG) export.

The analysis found that global banks funnelled $92 billion to extreme fossil fuels in 2014. The number rose to $111 billion in 2015 and fell to $87 billion in 2016. "While this 22% drop over the last year is a move in the right direction, the $290 billion of direct and indirect financing for extreme fossil fuels over the last three years represents new investment in the exact sub-sectors whose expansion is most at odds with reaching climate targets, respecting human rights, and preserving ecosystems," the report said.

"While the drop-off is a move in the right direction, it is vital that this becomes an accelerating trend and not a blip."

The recent fall in funding for extreme fossil fuels has run parallel to growing public pressure on banks to stay away from these projects and companies. It is also testimony to the fact that clean technologies are becoming increasingly cheaper and are increasing their market share. Solar and wind power are now the cheapest sources of new electricity supply in many parts of the world. Emerging markets are leapfrogging the developed world, thanks to cheap solar panels, according to a Bloomberg report.

Although investments declined in 2016, 12 of the 37 banks tracked in the report increased their financing to the top extreme fossil fuel companies from 2015 to 2016, after the Paris Agreement was inked. These include Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ), Bank of America, Bank of Montreal, Barclays, China Construction Bank, Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, Mizuho Financial Group, Santander, Toronto-Dominion Bank, UBS and UniCredit.

"Right now, the biggest Wall Street funder of extreme fossil fuels is JPMorgan Chase. In 2016 alone they poured $6.9 billion into the dirtiest fossil fuels on the planet," Lindsey Allen, executive director of Rainforest Action Network, said in a statement. "For a company that issues statements in favour of the Paris Climate Accord, they are failing to meet their publicly stated ambitions."

Amid the gloom and doom, the dramatic decline in coal power capacity under construction offers some hope. This decrease has been driven largely by severe restrictions imposed by the Chinese government and by rapidly shifting policies and economics in India, showed a survey by the Global Coal Plant Tracker. This construction slowdown is accompanied by a fast rate of coal plant retirements in wealthier nations, according to Boom and Bust 2017, a March 2017 report by CoalSwarm, Sierra Club and Greenpeace.

The shift means that the goals set in the Paris Agreement -- keeping global temperatures well below a 2AC increase and aiming for 1.5AC -- could now be possible, but only if thermal power plants are retired much faster and if on-hold construction are not restarted, said the latest Fossil Fuel Finance Report.

"Because of the plummeting cost of renewables, the growing reluctance of governments to pollute cities, and the continued international push to limit climate change, banks must take notice that financing companies that develop coal power anywhere is both risky and harmful," the report said.

World coal consumption peaked in 2013, according to a 2016 report of the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis, but by 2016, it had fallen for the third straight year. The chief driver of this trend is China, where the 13th Five-Year development plan for the country's coal industry stated that no new coal mining projects would be approved from 2016 to 2018. China also plans to spend more than $360 billion by 2020 on renewable energy. This is in part driven by public alarm about the heavy pollution inflicted on many major cities by the burning of coal, according to a 2016 study.

In India, concerns over the public health impacts of coal have led to dozens of coal plants being switched off, coal stockpiles rising, and a reality check for aggressive government plans to triple domestic coal mining by 2020. Currently about one-third of India's 211 GW of installed thermal power capacity, mostly coal plants, is lying idle. "Falling capacity utilisation translates into losses and inability of new power plants to service interest costs, leading to non-performing assets at banks," an anonymous analyst told the Economic Times newspaper.

There are now at least 14 major international banks that have ruled out direct financing for new coal mines. This is perhaps seen in the financing of the controversial Carmichael coal mine project in in Queensland's Galilee Basin in Australia proposed by India's Adani Group. Over a dozen banks have refused to bankroll the project. Another dozen have introduced coal mining policies that by default rule out support for the mine, the latest being the Australian bank Westpac, according to a report in the Guardian newspaper.

This is a significant indication of advancing bank policies on coal mining, the sector where the greatest number of such restrictions on financing are now in place, said the banking finance report.

(In arrangement with indiaclimatedialogue.net. Soumya Sarkar is Managing Editor, India Climate Dialogue. Views expressed are those of indiaclimatedialogue.net. Feedback at information@indiaclimatedialogue.net)
New Delhi : Defence, agriculture, trade, diplomacy and water management will dominate talks during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ongoing visit to Israel -- the first Indian Prime Minister to visit the Jewish homeland.

Apart from from his scheduled official engagements, Modi is also expected to meet Moshe Holtzberg, a survivor of the 2008 Mumbai 26/11 terrorist attack. Moshe was two years old when the attack happened.

"Ahead of the visit, both countries have prepared a roadmap of joint economic undertakings," The Haaretz reported on June 29, 2017. "The Israeli cabinet approved a 23-page document continuing scores of bilateral measures and a budget of 280 million shekels (about $79.6 million or Rs 514 crore) -- a bigger sum than Israel has ever set aside for China, Africa and Latin America combined. No fewer than 11 ministries were involved in preparing the programme."

Here are five things that define the India-Israel relationship today:

Defence: India is Israel's top destination for arms exports, buying 41 per cent of export between 2012 and 2016, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, an independent global conflict and arms-research institute.

Israel is India's third-largest source of arms, with a 7.2 per cent share of imports between 2012 and 2016, next to the US (14 per cent) and Russia (68 per cent).

The earliest signs of collaboration came during the 1962 Sino-Indian war, when Israel provided India military aid. Israel also assisted India during two wars with Pakistan in 1965 and 1971.

India reciprocated during the six-day war in 1967 by providing Israel with spare parts for French-made Mystere and Ouragan aircraft as well as AX-13 tanks (also French-made).

The highlight of the partnership was Israel's supply of artillery shells during the Kargil war in 1999 when India faced a shortage.

In the late 1990s, a crucial defence deal was the Indian purchase of Barak 1, an air-defence missile, bought specifically for its capability to intercept US-made Harpoon missiles deployed by Pakistan.

India's imports of unarmed aerial vehicles (UAVs) have almost all been from Israel. Of 176 UAVs purchased from Israel, 108 are Searcher UAVs and 68 are Heron UAVs.

In April 2017, India and Israel signed a $2 billion deal for an advanced medium-range surface-to-air missile system, which will provide the Indian army the capability to shoot down aircraft, missiles and drones at ranges of up to 70 km.

In September 2016, tests were conducted of the jointly developed Long Range Surface-to-Air Missile with a range of 70 km, intended to equip three guided-missile destroyers of the Indian Navy.

India successfully tested the Israeli-made SPYDER quick-reaction surface-to-air missile in May this year. The Indian Air Force (IAF) is planning to deploy this system on its western border.

India and Israel also closely cooperate on counter-terrorism issues through a joint working group on counter-terrorism.

Diplomacy: Several ministerial and high-level official visits to Israel preceded Modi's tour. These included visits by then Home Minister L.K. Advani in 2000, former President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam in 2008, Home Minister Rajnath Singh in 2014, President Pranab Mukherjee in 2015 and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj in 2016.

Three Indian naval ships, destroyer INS Mumbai, frigate INS Trishul and tanker INS Aditya, made a goodwill visit at the Haifa port in May 2017 to mark 25 years of full diplomatic relations between the two countries.

Agriculture: An Indo-Israel agriculture action plan for 2015-18 is operational, and 15 of the proposed 26 centres of excellence in agriculture are being developed in India with Israel's help to showcase the latest technology to Indian farmers.

Phase-I (2010-12) and phase-II (2012-15) of the agreement are complete, according to a reply to the Lok Sabha.

India has benefited from Israeli technologies in horticulture mechanisation, protected cultivation, orchard and canopy management, nursery management, micro-irrigation and post-harvest management, particularly in Haryana and Maharashtra.

Every year, more than 20,000 farmers visit the Agricultural Centre of Excellence at Gharaunda in Karnal, Haryana, where a nursery produces hybrid seedlings -- including tomatoes, cherry-tomato, colored capsicum, cucumbers, eggplant and chilli pepper-grown in small, individual cells, ready to be transplanted into containers or a field.

There was a five-to 10-fold increase in crop yields with an accompanying 65 per cent reduction in use of water and noticeable decrease in the use of pesticides and fertilisers, according to a December 2014 report on the Indo-Israel Agriculture Project.

Water Management: On June 28, 2017, the Union cabinet approved a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Israel on the National Campaign for Water Conservation in India.

Technologically-adept Israel has developed water-management technologies, located as it is in a semi-arid region with limited sources of fresh drinking water.

India and Israel had earlier signed an MoU on water resources management and development cooperation in November 2016.

Trade: Israel was India's 38th-largest trading partner, with trade of $5.02 billion (Rs 33,634 crore) in 2016-17, down 18 per cent over 2012-13. The trade balance stood in India's favour at $1.10 billion (Rs 7,370 crore) in 2016-17.

Mineral fuels and oils are India's leading export to Israel, worth $1.01 billion in 2016-17.

India's major imports from Israel in 2016-17 included natural or cultured pearls and precious stones, worth $1.11 billion.

Trade in diamonds accounts for nearly 54 per cent of the bilateral trade. Nearly 40 diamond dealers from India have opened offices at the Israeli diamond exchange in Ramat-Gan. Some of these dealers have been active in Israel for nearly 30-40 years.

The Israeli government has proposed measures such as "offering export insurance, liberalising the aviation sector and granting longer-term visas". The aim is to boost Israeli exports to India by 25 per cent over the next four years and tourists to 80,000 annually.

"Relations with Israel are significant for India because of cooperation in agriculture, defence and science/technology," Uttara Sahasrabuddhe, professor of international relations at the University of Mumbai, told IndiaSpend.

"Israel has been giving key weapons systems to India, including missiles; it has given us those weapons which we could not directly buy from the US for ideological reasons; cooperation in counter-terrorism from information sharing to techniques/doctrine of counter terrorism," Sahasrabudde said. "It is also an important source of foreign investment, if tapped with care. The visit of the Indian PM will indicate that New Delhi has come out of the old mindset."

(In arrangement with IndiaSpend.org, a data-driven, non-profit, public interest journalism platform, with whom Chaitanya Mallapur is an analyst. The views expressed are those of IndiaSpend. Feedback at respond@indiaspend.org)
Doha, July 4 : Qatar on Tuesday announced that it would increase its natural gas production by 33 per cent -- from 77 million to 100 million tonnes per year -- in response to the economic blockade imposed on it by several Arab states.

Saad al-Kaabi, Qatar Petroleum chief, said the state-owned company aimed to double production from the North Field, the world's biggest natural gas field, which is shared between Qatar and Iran, reports Efe news.

In April, the Qatari company had announced it would extract 56.6 million cubic metres per day from that project -- extraction is now set to reach twice that amount under the new plans.

Al-Kaabi said the company would seek international partners to develop this project that would consolidate Qatar as the largest exporter of natural gas in the world.

He stressed that the expansion of production would increase government revenues, stimulate the economy and support the Qatar National Vision 2030, under which the government aims to reduce dependence on hydrocarbons.

The company has not yet set deadlines to reach the production target of 100 million tonnes per year, a step that will depend, according to al-Kaabi, on the agreements signed by the company with its future partners.

Natural gas exports are the main source of foreign currency for the rich and small Gulf emirate, which has been subjected to an economic blockade by Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt since June 5.

Al-Kaabi stressed that the blockade had not affected Qatar's gas extraction or Qatari shipments to the UAE.

He added that Qatar had no interest in retaliating against the economic sanctions and ruled out that the UAE could break its agreement with Doha.
Islamabad, July 4 : A leader of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) has asked Pakistan's Supreme Court to order the immediate extradition of Raymond Davis, a contractor with the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) who killed two men in Lahore in January 27, 2011, and that he be tried for the murder of Pakistanis under local penal laws, a media report said.

Written in Urdu, the five-page petition moved before the apex court by Zafar Ali Shah, also seeks a 'lifetime disqualification' for a number of persons named as respondents in the petition, so that none of them is vested with any constitutional, political or state responsibilities in the future, Dawn online reported.

CIA contractor Raymond Davis, former president Asif Ali Zardari, former Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gillani, Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, former army chief retired Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, former Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) Director General retired Gen Shuja Pasha, the controller general of military accounts, former ambassador to US Husain Haqqani, former US ambassador Cameron Munter and the federal government have been named as respondents in the petition.

Former PML-N lawmaker Zafar Ali Shah, who has been critical of the government for the past few months over multiple issues including Panama Leaks, has also asked the apex court to order that these respondents be booked for treason by invoking Article 6 of the Constitution, and that their names be placed on the exit control list (ECL).

The petition asked the court to constitute a full bench, consisting of all available judges of the Supreme Court, to take up the petition since the matter involved the national security of Pakistan.

The application comes in the wake of the recently released book of Raymond Davis exposing how the civil-military bigwigs helped him leave Pakistan despite facing murder charges.

Davis' memoir, 'Contractor: How I Landed in a Pakistani Prison and Ignited a Diplomatic Crisis', hit the book stands recently.

In his book, Davis acknowledged that he was a contractor with the CIA and that he killed two men in Lahore on Jan 27, 2011. A car coming to his rescue also killed a third man, Ibadur Rahman, while speeding down the wrong side of the road.

On March 16, 2011, Davis was released after the families of the killed men were paid $2.4 million in blood money. After his acquittal of all charges, Davis returned to the US.

The petition has asked the court to summon the complete case record from the antiterrorism court which eventually released Davis.

Moreover, the court should order an inquiry to ascertain the role of all those characters mentioned by Davis as being instrumental in his release from the Kot Lakhpat jail.

Davis' release on the basis of Islamic laws on Qisas and Diyat has impinged upon and breached the fundamental rights of the people of Pakistan, the petition argued, Dawn reported.
Ankara, July 4 : Turkey's main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) on Tuesday announced its appeal to the European Court of Human Rights over alleged irregularities in the April referendum on expanding the powers of the presidency.

"I should sadly state that the referendum has become illegitimate due to the decision by the Supreme Election Board," CHP leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu said as he continued a so-called Justice March with thousands of followers from Ankara to Istanbul.

"I am putting my first signature here now. The petitions will be sent today," Xinhua news agency quoted Kilicdaroglu as saying on the 20th day of the march in Kocaeli province.

The CHP failed in its bid for annulment of the April 16 referendum, in which constitutional amendments were passed by a slim majority to enable Turkey to switch to an executive presidency, though the opposition and international observers challenged the acceptance of unstamped ballots and other alleged frauds.

The Justice March was launched right after CHP lawmaker Enis Berberoglu was convicted and imprisoned by an Istanbul court on June 15 over espionage charges.
Kolkata, July 4 : The Congress-led opposition's Presidential candidate Meira Kumar on Tuesday sought support from the legislators and members of Parliament of West Bengal's Trinamool Congress, Left and Congress parties.

"I have been given assurance that you are supporting me. You have given me so much strength. Kolkata and West Bengal have given me strength and inspiration because it is the land of fighters. You have always fought against injustice and atrocities," Meria Kumar told the legislators in the West Bengal assembly.

"In the last 8-9 years, India has seen a major political turn. Opposition parties came together. Parties who otherwise differ on so many different things (came together)," she added.

The former Lok Sabha Speaker said she has "an old association with Kolkata and Bengal".

Meira Kumar is pitted against Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance's (NDA) nominee Ram Nath Kovind in the July 17 presidential election.
New Delhi, July 4 : Election Commissioner Achal Kumar Joti has been appointed the next Chief Election Commissioner, the Law Ministry said on Tuesday. Joti will assume office on July 6, the day the incumbent Nasim Zaidi demits office.

Joti, a 1975-batch former Indian Administrative Service officer of the Gujarat cadre, will have a short tenure of around six months since he is scheduled to retire in January 2018 after attaining the age of 65.

Joti joined the Election Commission on May 13, 2015. Earlier, he served as the Gujarat Chief Secretary under the then Chief Minister Narendra Modi.
Moscow, July 4 : A meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump will take place on the sidelines of a G20 summit in the German city of Hamburg on July 7, the Kremlin announced on Tuesday.

"(It's been) agreed for the seventh [of July]," Russian presidential aide Yury Ushakov was quoted as saying by Sputnik news agency.

Putin's Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov told Tass news agency that it has been planned as a "fully-fledged" bilateral meeting rather than a brief on-the-go contact.

This contact on the sidelines of the G20 summit will be the first personal meeting between the two Presidents, who have only spoken over the phone until now.

Ushakov said it would be a very important meeting "and everybody has been waiting for it". He added that the meeting "will be particularly important for ensuring global stability".

The White House assured that no formal agenda had been set out for the talks between the two heads of state, though Trump was said to want to promote cooperation in dealing with the North Korean threat, Syria or the campaign against the Islamic State terror organisation.

Trumps' advisers refused to comment on whether he and Putin were scheduled to discuss alleged Russian involvement in the last US elections and the suspected connections between the Kremlin and the Trump campaign.
Tel Aviv, July 4 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday arrived here on a three-day visit to Israel -- the first by an Indian Prime Minister -- and was warmly welcomed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who received him at the airport.

Modi, who landed at Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion Airport, was accorded a red carpet welcome and exchanged a warm hug with the Israeli Prime Minister.

"The Prime Minister has landed in Israel," the Prime Minister's Office tweeted.

After Modi's arrival national anthem of India and Israel were played.

In Israel, Modi will also meet President Ruven Rivlin apart from paying his respects to courageous Indian soldiers who laid down their lives during the liberation of Haifa in 1918.

The visit coincides with India and Israel marking 25 years of their diplomatic relations.

Modi will be in Israel till July 6 before travelling to Hamburg, Germany, to attend the G-20 summit.
Mumbai, July 4 : Taking serious note of delays in announcing of results of various examinations of the University Of Mumbai, Governor C.V. Rao on Tuesday ordered Vice Chancellor Sanjay Deshmukh to declared all pending results by July 31.

In what was described in academic circles as an unprecedented step, the Governor, who is Chancellor of the varsity, also directed Deshmukh to submit a detailed strategy and roadmap for declaration of examinations results on schedule, under the provisions of Maharashtra Public Universities Act's Section 89.

Additionally, Rao has asked Additional Chief Secretary, Higher & Technical Education Sitaram Kunte to depute an official to monitor the progress in the university closely in real time and give a feedback to both, the state government and the Chancellor's office.

Deshmukh will have to set up a "war room" at his level along with other functionaries of the premier university to monitor the progress regarding declaration of results in real time, and also submit a daily report to the Governor's office.

A life sciences professor, Deshmukh, 51, who took over the post on July 7, 2015, was summoned by the Governor for a meeting at Raj Bhavan, along with Kunte and the Governor's Secretary Venugopal Reddy, on Tuesday.

The governor said that out of 477 examinations conducted by University of Mumbai, results of only 51 have been declared so far, and out of these, results of only 23 exams were announced within 30 days while the rest were declared within 45 days, which is the statutory limit.

As per the universities act, the university is mandated to declared results within 30 days, but in no case beyond 45 days.

Rao reminded Deshmukh that the delays in declaration of results could hamper the career of students, cause anxiety and hardship to them and their parents, and directed him "to make all out efforts" to declare all pending results by July 31.

The developments took place in the wake of reports in media and other sources of the inordinate delays in declaration of examinations results which affected students' admission to higher classes, professional or technical courses and even to foreign institutions.
Ghaziabad, July 4 : The bail of a Jet Airways official who was arrested on Sunday on charges of grabbing municipal land in Ghaziabad was rejected by the Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) court here on Tuesday.

The defence lawyer argued that since the accused possesses the legal sale deed papers and the nature of crime is civil, so he must be granted bail.

But the prosecution opposed and demanded the rejection of the bail since the applicant was found guilty of building and subletting the premises on the land whose ownership lies with the municipal corporation. And since the applicant had forged the government papers, the crime is covered under heinous nature. Therefore the police have added four more sections 467, 468, 471 and 420 of IPC in addition to the already applied sections of 447 448 of IPC, the prosecution said.

Earlier, the retired colonel and presently Vice President security Jet Airways Avneet Singh Bedi was arrested from his Panchsheel Park residence on charges of illegally grabbling municipal land in Ghaziabad.
New Delhi, July 4 : A CPI-M delegation along with the sons of Mohammed Akhlaq and Pehlu Khan, both victims of lynch mobs, and other affected families met Home Minister Rajnath Singh here on Tuesday.

A memorandum was submitted before the Home Minister, asking for justice and prevention of such cases, the CPI-M said.

The delegation raised the issues of Junaid's lynching on June 22, gang-rape of two girls of a poor Muslim farmer in Dingarheri, Haryana, in August last year, the killings of Pehlu Khan in April this year and Mohammed Akhalq in September 2015, and the beating up of truck driver Rizwan carrying buffaloes by a mob in Delhi on April 24 this year.

The Home Minister assured the delegation of action on the issues raised but pointed out that law and order was largely a state subject.

The delegation requested the Home Minister to direct officials to collect information about the cases of cow related violence from the states as there is a "pattern in this violence".

"There is a pattern in the violence which indicates that these are not spontaneous cases of mob violence, but there are organised groups of so-called 'gau rakshaks' behind each of these cases," the delegation said in its memorandum.

"In almost all these cases, the accused, if and when arrested, are easily given bail; charges are not framed even after months if not years. On the contrary, in most cases victims or their families are faced with false cases; compensation is not given in many of the cases," the delegation told Singh.

"Our request is to monitor and follow up on each of these aspects so as to bring justice to the victims and also to send a strong message to ensure prevention of such crimes," it said.
Tel Aviv, July 4 : Narendra Modi on Tuesday became the first-ever Indian Prime Minister to step on Israeli soil, undertaking a 'ground breaking' visit and declaring cooperation in tackling terrorism, while his host Benjamin Netanyahu affirmed that they want to forge a historic partnership with India for which even sky is not the limit.

Israel rolled out a red carpet welcome as the Air India One aircraft landed at Tel Aviv's International Airport on a warm afternoon with Netanyahu setting aside protocol and receiving Modi, who is making the visit 25 years after India established diplomatic ties with the Jewish nation, with a handshake and a hug.

Normally Israeli Prime Ministers go to the airport to receive only the US Presidents and a few western leaders. As Gujarat Chief Minister Modi has visited Israel on an earlier occasion.

"Excellency and friends, my visit marks a path breaking journey of engagement, a journey that we are excited to undertake together for the good of our people and societies. As we march together a strong and resilient partnership with Israel will be my intent and focus," he said in a brief speech after he was welcomed warmly by his host.

"It is my singular honour to be the first Prime Minister to undertake this ground breaking visit to Israel," Modi, clad in an off-white bandhgala suit, said in a brief speech to reciprocate the welcome given by Netanyahu and his cabinet.

"I want to thank my friend Prime Minister Netanyahu for the invitation and receiving me with so much warmth," he said, adding this symbolises the centuries-old links between the two societies.

India, he said, has maintained a strong and sustained upswing in the ties after establishing full relationship 25 years ago.

He said people of Israel have built a nation on democratic principles and nurtured it with hard work, grit and spirit of innovation. They have marched on regardless of adversity and converted challenges into opportunities. "India applauds your achievements," he said.

He also recalled that on July 4, 41 years ago, Netanyahu's elder brother, Yonatan was part of the commandos in the Operation Entebbe in Uganda to rescue over 100 Israeli civilians in the airport, and in the process sacrificed his life. He became an inspiration for the younger generation.

Modi said in India, a very old civilisation, there were 800 million people below the age of 35 years and they were the driving force and propelling his vision to transform India, its industry, its economy, its way of doing business and its interface with the world.

Modi said in India's path of sustained high growth and all round development India counts Israel among its important partners. They need to rely on science, technology, innovation and hard technical education to overcome the developmental challenges that are common to both the countries.

He said alongside building a partnership for shared economic prosperity, India and Israel are also cooperating to secure their societies against common threats such as terrorism. "A progressive partnership in all these areas would share the scope of my conversation with the Prime Minister, my friend Netanyahu," he said.

Modi said he was also keen to interact with the Indian diaspora in Israel, including a large number of Jews of Indian origin who have enriched both the societies.

In his welcome address, Netanyahu said Israel has been waiting for a long time for this visit. "Apka swagat hai mere dost. We have been waiting almost 70 years, in fact, because your's is a truly historic visit. It is the first time that an Indian Prime Minister is visiting Israel. We receive you with open arms. We love India. We admire your culture, your democracy and your commitment to progress."

Recalling his first meeting with Modi three years ago at the United Nations, Netanyahu said both of them agreed to breakdown the remaining walls between India and Israel.

"We shook each others' hand and forged a historic relationship. We met again in Paris and since then we have spoken many times on the phone. But I remember my friend what you said in that first meeting.

"You said when it comes to India-Israel relations, the sky is the limit. But actually my friend the sky isn't the limit because today even our space programmes are working towards reaching even greater heights," he said.

The host Prime Minister said that the ties between the talented and innovative peoples of both the countries is natural. "It is so natural that we can ask what took so long for them to blossom. Well, it took a meeting of minds and hearts. it took a commitment of our governments we have that today," he said.

Netanyahu said in this visit Modi's 'Make in India' initiative meets his 'Make with India' policy. "We are setting up a $40 million innovation fund as the seed for even greater cooperation on technology between us," he said.

Hailing him as a great leader of India and a great world leader, Netanyahu said, "Your visit to Israel is a testimony to that."

Earlier, the two leaders inspected a guard of honour by Israeli defence forces in honour of Modi. Netanyahu introduced his ministers, officials, including the present and former ambassadors of Israel in India and his National Security Advisor.
Mumbai, July 4 : A court here has initiated process against industrialists Cyrus P. Mistry, Shapoor Mistry and others in a criminal defamation complaint lodged last month by Tata Trusts' Managing Trustee R. Venkataramanan, an official said on Tuesday.

The process was issued by Metropolitan Magistrate K.G. Paldewar and accordingly, Mistry, the ousted former Chairman of Tata Sons, and other directors of Cyrus Investments Pvt Ltd and Sterling Investments Pvt Ltd, will be tried for criminal defamation.

They will have to appear before the court and execute bail bonds, said the official.

Later, the charges would be framed against the accused under sections dealing with criminal defamation and criminal conspiracy under the Indian Penal Code.

Venkataramanan has accused Mistry and others of making false and defamatory statements against him and thus damaging his reputation.
Mumbai, July 4 : A court here has initiated process against industrialists Cyrus P. Mistry, Shapoor Mistry and others in a Rs 500 crore criminal defamation complaint lodged last month by Tata Trusts' Managing Trustee R. Venkataramanan, an official said on Tuesday.

The process was issued by Metropolitan Magistrate K.G. Paldewar and accordingly, Mistry, the ousted former Chairman of Tata Sons, and other directors of Cyrus Investments Pvt Ltd and Sterling Investments Pvt Ltd, will be tried for criminal defamation.

They will have to appear before the court and execute bail bonds, said the official.

Later, the charges would be framed against the accused under sections dealing with criminal defamation and criminal conspiracy under the Indian Penal Code.

The court has posted the matter for further hearing on August 24 and directed the accused to appear before it for bail.

Venkataramanan has accused Mistry and others of making false and defamatory statements against him and thus damaging his reputation.

At the hearings, the court upheld the arguments of Venkataramanan's counsel, Parvez Memon that under the Constitution's Article 21 protecting a citizen's right to life is inclusive of the right to live with dignity and that all are equal in the eyes of the law under it.

Memon further argued that while Mistry is a man with substantial wealth and might, the value of Venkataramanan's dignity is much more, and the accused cannot be let loose with impuity for his reckless and irresponsible insinuations which were all false and baseless.

"All such allegations were hurled irresponsibly against Venkataramanan, Ratan Tata, Tata Sons and others only after his unceremonious ouster from Tata Sons. Why was he otherwise silent for his entire tenure, not to speak about several of his own wrongdoings against which Tata Sons may have its own cause of action," he told the court.

The court was apprised of the defamatory insinuations in Mistry's letter of October 25, 2016 following by the petition filed in the National Company Law Tribunal filed through his brother and his companies, in which he is a director and 50 percent shareholder, and strategically made respondent No. 11.

The email letter, written a day after Mistry was removed as the Tata Sons Chairman, alleged "certain fraudulent transactions of Rs 22 crore" involving some parties in India and Singapore, at AirAsia India, which is owned in part by the Tatas.

It was alleged that Venkataramanan considered these as non-material and didn't encourage any further study and also hinted at some foreign bank accounts.

The counsel further argued that Mistry further exaggerated the baseless insinuations through his affidavit in reply, supporting the original allegations in the petition before NCLT, Mumbai, which was subsequently dismissed.

Now, the matter has come up before the NCLT Appellate Tribunal in New Delhi where the hearing have begun on Monday.

Memon cited several case laws of the Supreme Court and other high courts to substantiate issuance of the process by the magistrate.
Bengaluru, July 4 : Karnataka would provide Rs 400 crore fund to mentor 100 start-ups with idea validation, incubation facilities and expertise in accounting and legal norms, said state IT and BT Minister Priyank Kharge on Tuesday.

"We will identify 100 innovative start-ups from across the state through the 'Elevate 100 Programme' and provide them seed fund, venture capital, networking and mentors to convert their ideas into businesses," he told reporters here.

Kharge said that his department will soon hold open houses to select the start-ups for seed funding at Hubbali, Kalaburgi, Mangaluru and Mysuru besides Bengaluru after they pitch their innovative ideas to experts from the IT industry's apex body Nasscom.

"We have identified 46 start-ups and sanctioned Rs 15.68 crore to fund them in diverse fields, including IT, biotechnology and tourism," he said.

Of the 46 start-ups, 26 in biotechnology were given Rs 10.7 crore, 12 in IT Rs 3.18 crore and 8 in tourism Rs 1.8 crore.

Start-ups can register with the department till July 18 for the unique Programme, said to be the first in the country by a state government.

"Venture Capitalists will fund the start-ups after they develop products or services for the global and domestic markets," said Nasscom Product Council Chairman Ravi Gururaj.

Besides Nasscom, the Indus Entrepreneurs and Desphande Foundation are partnering with the Start-up Cell of the Karnataka Biotechnology and Information Technology Services (KBITS) to implement the Programme.

The Programme will zero-in on innovative start-ups in IT, Electronic System Design Manufacturing, Animation Visual Gaming & Comics, Biotechnology, Pharmaceuticals, Agriculture and Life Sciences.
New Delhi, July 4 : France on Tuesday inked an 80 million euro credit facility agreement with India for the development of two hydroelectric power plants in Himachal Pradesh, an official statement said.

Department of Economic Affairs (DEA) J\oint Secretary Selvakumar and the French Development Agency (AFD) Deputy Director in India HervA Dubreuil signed the credit facility agreement of 80 million euros for the development of hydroelectric power in Himachal Pradesh, said a statement from the French Embassy.

The programme will finance two run-of-river hydroelectric plants, namely Deothal Chanju HEP (30 MW) and Chanju III HEP (48 MW) situated in the Chanju river basin.

The project aims to provide 78MW of renewable energy, which will generate 280 GWh of electricity per year and reduce annual greenhouse gas emissions.

The project will be developed by the Himachal Pradesh Power Corporation Limited (HPPCL), which has been allotted hydroelectric projects aggregating to 3,111 MW and has a target of installing 934 MW of new hydropower capacity in Himachal Pradesh by 2022.

The government of Himachal Pradesh is bringing 20 per cent equity to the project, it said.
Mumbai, July 4 : Textile major Arvind Limited is focusing on a multipronged strategy for its growth and intends to become a strategic partner with its customers, a top company official said on Tuesday.

"Our strategy will be built on four planks -- sustainability, innovation, verticalisation and multi-fibre," company's Chairman and Managing Director Sanjay Lalbhai told BTVi in an interview.

He said sportswear is the fastest growing segment and clothing is going to become "intelligent". "We have identified ten major buyers and are making large amounts of fabrics -- about 25 million metres a month. If your company offers one stop solution, it should be strategic to its customers," he said.

Lalbhai, however, said the textiles industry has got the flexibility in the labour laws it was looking for.

"One of the biggest problems was the labour laws and luckily it is a concurrent law. All the progressive states have given us the flexibility that we were looking for. There are fixed term contracts available. That means you do not have to have labour liability on your balance sheet," he said.

He said in the world market, Indian textiles industry is competing with Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Pakistan. These three countries have free trade agreement with the European Union (EU).

"The largest share of India's exports is with the EU. If we strike a free trade agreement with it, there will be a huge upside which India can hope to achieve in the immediate future," Lalbhai said, adding that country should sign an free trade agreement with the United Kingdom in order to boost textile exports.

He said a competitive and logical exchange rates could be an enabler for the industries.
Mumbai, July 4 : A court here has initiated process against industrialists Cyrus P. Mistry, Shapoor Mistry and others in a Rs 500 crore criminal defamation complaint lodged last month by Tata Trusts' Managing Trustee R. Venkataramanan, an official said on Tuesday.

The process was initiated by Metropolitan Magistrate K.G. Paldewar and accordingly, Mistry, the ousted Chairman of Tata Sons, and other directors of Cyrus Investments Pvt Ltd and Sterling Investments Pvt Ltd, will be tried for criminal defamation.

They will have to appear before the court and execute bail bonds, said the official.

Later, the charges would be framed against the accused under sections dealing with criminal defamation and criminal conspiracy under the Indian Penal Code.

The court has posted the matter for further hearing on August 24 and directed the accused to appear before it for bail.

Venkataramanan has accused Mistry and others of making false and defamatory statements against him and thus damaging his reputation.

At the hearings, the court upheld the arguments of Venkataramanan's counsel Parvez Memon that the Constitution's Article 21 protecting a citizen's right to life is inclusive of the right to live with dignity and that all are equal in the eyes of the law under it.

Memon argued that while Mistry is a man with substantial wealth and might, the value of Venkataramanan's dignity is much more, and the accused cannot be let loose with impuity for his reckless and irresponsible insinuations which were all false and baseless.

"All such allegations were hurled irresponsibly against Venkataramanan, Ratan Tata, Tata Sons and others only after his unceremonious ouster from Tata Sons. Why was he otherwise silent for his entire tenure, not to speak about several of his own wrongdoings against which Tata Sons may have its own cause of action," he told the court.

The court was apprised of the defamatory insinuations in Mistry's letter of October 25, 2016, following the petition filed in the National Company Law Tribunal through his brother and his companies, in which he is a director and 50 percent shareholder, and strategically made respondent No. 11.

The email letter, written a day after Mistry was removed as the Tata Sons Chairman, alleged "certain fraudulent transactions of Rs 22 crore" involving some parties in India and Singapore, at AirAsia India, which is owned in part by the Tatas.

It was alleged that Venkataramanan considered these as non-material and didn't encourage any further study and also hinted at some foreign bank accounts.

Counsel argued that Mistry further exaggerated the baseless insinuations through his affidavit in reply, supporting the original allegations in the petition before NCLT, Mumbai, which was subsequently dismissed.

Now, the matter has come up before the NCLT Appellate Tribunal in New Delhi where the hearing has begun on Monday.

Memon cited several case laws of the Supreme Court and high courts to substantiate issuance of the process by the magistrate.

On its part, the office of Cyrus Mistry said: "The attempt to initiate criminal prosecution for alleged defamation is an ill-advised and immature proxy battle through Venkataraman, whose role in AirAsia is subject matter of several investigations by law enforcement agencies."

"The move by the Tata Trustees to attempt to muzzle and interfere with legal proceedings faced by them, now before the NCLAT, will be effectively and appropriately dealt with."

The New Delhi-based NCLAT will continue to hear arguments in the case till July 7, 2017.

On October 24 last year, Tata Sons' Board ousted Mistry as its Chairman and appointed Ratan Tata as the interim Chairman.
New Delhi, July 4 : The proposed Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) offers immense possibilities for trade between India and the countries of the Asean bloc, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said on Tuesday.

"Our economic relations have grown over the years," Sushma Swaraj said while addressing the ninth edition of the Delhi Dialogue here, the premier annual track 1.5 event to discuss politico-security, economic and socio-cultural engagement between India and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean).

"Trade is back on track and registered an 8 per cent increase in 2016-17 as compared to the previous year," she stated.

Stating that Asean and India have given a major boost to trade and services, she said that a meeting is scheduled for next week to explore means to further enhance trade and economic ties "We are actively engaged in negotiations for the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership," Sushma Swaraj said.

"We look forward to a positive outcome to the next round of negotiations that will commence in Hyderabad next monrh," she said.

"When finalised, RCEP offers immense possibilities as the largest regional trade arrangement accounting for about 30 per cent of the world's trade."

RCEP is a proposed regional free trade agreement between the 10 Asean member states -- Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam -- and the six countries with which Asean has existing free trade agreements -- Australia, China, India, Japan, South Korea and New Zealand.

Sushma Swaraj said that in order to improve market access, a project development fund has been created to facilitate Indian companies to set up businesses and investments in the CLMV (Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Vietnam) countries.

Stating that Asean and India were natural partners, she said that the region's cultural highway was linked by the rivers Ganga, Brahmaputra, Meghna, Irrawaddy, and Mekong.

"It is important to note that this inter-mingling happened without any conquest or colonisation," she stressed.

Stating that economic progress and well-being of India and the Asean nations were interlinked, Sushma Swaraj aid that after the two sides upgraded the relationship to a strategic partnership, New Delhi put Asean at the heart of its Act East Policy.

She said that the future focus areas of cooperation between India and Asean could best be described in terms of three Cs - commerce, connectivity and culture.

"Freedom of navigation and respect for international law, notably Unclos (UN Convention for the Law of the Sea), is therefore imperative in this context," she said.

"Equally, we remain committed with Asean to enhance our maritime cooperation, to realise the full potential of our ocean economy. We will continue to step up cooperation in countering terrorism, cyber security, anti-piracy and other transnational crimes."

Stating that connectivity between India and Asean and within Asean was a core focus area, Sushma Swaraj said development of infrastructure to enhance connectivity, both within India and in the northeastern region of India in particular and extension of these connectivity linkages into Asean was a priority for New Delhi.

"The economic and geo-political centre of gravity of the world is shifting towards our region," she said. "India and Asean represent a combined population of 1.85 billion (a quarter of the global population) with a GDP of over $3.8 trillion, creating one of the largest economic spaces in the world."

Stating that the government has taken a series of initiatives, including the recently launched Goods and Service Tax (GST), to improve the business environment in India, she invited companies from Asean countries to take advantage of these opportunities for investments in numerous sectors such as smart cities, roads, highways, ports, railways, power and urban infrastructure.

Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs Pham Binh Minh said that the Asean-India partnership was key to stability in the Asia-Pacific region.

He said that both Asean and India should implement infrastructure projects like highways and seaports and enhance air connectivity.

He also urged both sides to promote cooperation in the areas of education, tourism and people-to-people ties.

Myanmarese Union Minister in the Ministry of the Office of the State Counsellor U Kyaw Tint Swe appreciated India for undertaking key connectivity projects like the Kaladan multi-modal transport project and the India-Myanmar-Thailand trilateral highway.
New Delhi, July 4 : Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal on Tuesday urged countries of the Asean grouping to open consulates in Guwahati to promote business and tourism.

"I request the Asean countries to open their consulates in Guwahati," Sonowal said while addressing the ninth edition of the Delhi Dialogue here, the premier annual track 1.5 event to discuss politico-security, economic and socio-cultural engagement between India and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean).

"This will help in promoting tourism and business of both Asean and the northeast," he said.

He said that the northeast, a land of huge potentialities, can be a top investment destination for Asean nations, considering geographical proximity and cultural ties.

"The newly formed Act East Policy Affairs Department of Assam government will work towards mutual growth and development of the entire region," Sonowal said referring to New Delhi's Act East Policy that has Asean as its heart.

He said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision of Act East and creating the northeast as a new engine for India's growth "has given us a new direction".
Kolkata, July 4 : Criticising West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for levelling a series of sensational allegations against Governor K.N. Tripathi, the state's opposition parties on Tuesday accused her of breaking constitutional norms by bringing out the private conversation into a public forum.

"Governor is the constitutional head in the state. The way the Chief Minister has openly talked about her conversation with the Governor in a public forum, in spite of swearing in to follow the constitution, is untenable. This is an insult to constitutional norms," Left Front legislature party leader Sujan Chakraborty told IANS.

"This was a private phone conversation between two constitutionally superior persons and no one knows what was the exact conversation," he said.

Stating that no one wants the Chief Minister to be threatened, Chakraborty however said all the statements made by Banerjee cannot be trusted.

On the other hand, the state Bharatiya Janata Party held Banerjee responsible for the recent lapse in law and order in the state and said people are being compelled to go to the Governor due to this.

"These incidents of communal violence are frequently occurring now. Today the people are forced to go to the Governor due to the Chief Minister's failure to maintain law and order in the state," alleged state BJP president Dilip Ghosh.

"If the Governor asks her why the state administration is not able to maintain the law and order situation properly, what is there to feel insulted? Why is she terming this as an insult?" he asked.

In a scathing attack on the Governor, Banerjee on Tuesday accused him of insulting and humiliating her. She also claimed that Tripathi spoke like a functionary of the BJP, and not like the state's constitutional head.

Responding to her accusations, the Raj Bhavan came out with a press release, expressing surprise at the "attitude and language" used by the Chief Minister at the media meet, but said the "Governor cannot remain a mute spectator of the affairs in the state".
Kolkata, July 4 : Communal violence broke out in West Bengal's North 24 Parganas district following a Facebook post, triggering arson, and torching of vehicles, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said here on Tuesday.

There were reports that the central government has rushed 300 paramilitary personnel to control the violence which spread to a few more areas on Tuesday.

"We support social media but the central government has an agenda. Sometimes it is to create a hate group and cause riots via Facebook. Yesterday's incident is like that. There have been false posting of pictures which don't have any link to reality," Banerjee told the media here while replying to questions about rumours being spread through social media posts about incidents at Baduria under Basirhat sub-division.

She said the person who posted the objectionable matter on Facebook was arrested immediately.

"After his arrest things should have been controlled. But we saw another group went on rampage and increased the communal rift. I condemn this incident.. After the youth was arrested, road blockades were put up," she said.

Banerjee said cars were also torched.

Eyewitnesses said police were attacked and one of their vehicles torched.

"We could not sleep the whole night yesterday. But I say this with regret that after doing so much there is still communal rioting. How many Facebook posts will you stop? If a Facebook post leads to communal riots, there won't be worse times than this," said Banerjee, urging both sides not to do politics with religion.

"Some religious leaders are doing this for the sake of money. I am sorry to say. Don't play with fire. We have the list of cars that have been torched."

She warned the rioters that nobody would be spared and said Facebook posts should be countered on Facebook itself and not by rushing on to the streets.

"Why are you on the streets and not countering it (the Faebook post) there (on Facebook)? If police had opened fire, 100 people would have died. I cannot fire on the masses.

"I warn both the community leaders, my patience should not be taken as my weakness. I will not tolerate this hooliganism. It is because of you that I had to face so much insults," she said.

Banerjee, who holds the Home portfolio, also minced no words in criticising police for the violence.

"Police is also at fault to some extent.. I had told police to be careful. Facebook should have been blocked when this happened yesterday."

Banerjee also blamed Hindu outfits like the Bajrang Dal, as well as some miscreants backed by the BJP.

"some BJP miscreants are there and their leaders are spreading this. Who are these people?"

Taking an indirect dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his "sweet talk" during his foreign visits, she said: "They have divided this country and on foreign soil there is all sweet talk."

State BJP president Dilip Ghosh said: "These incidents of communal violence are frequently occurring now."

On the other hand, the Left parties demanded an all-party meeting and deployment of the army, if necessary, to control the trouble.
Hyderabad/Vijayawada, July 4 : NDA's presidential candidate Ram Nath Kovind on Tuesday promised to keep the office of the President above party politics as he campaigned in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.

Speaking both in Hyderabad and Vijayawada, he said the office of the President should be kept above party politics and assured the parties supporting him that he will uphold the highest esteem of the prestigious office.

Stating that he is not associated with any political party, Kovind appealed to all members of the presidential election collegium to support his candidature.

Kovind addressed meetings of ruling parties in both the Telugu states, besides meeting MPs and MLAs of Andhra Pradesh's main opposition party YSR Congress and leaders of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), an opposition party in Telangana.

He spoke at the meeting of the leaders of ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) in Hyderabad and a joint meeting of Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and its alliance partner BJP in Vijayawada.

"Ever since I became Governor of Bihar, I have been working throughout in a non-partisan manner, keeping every citizen of Bihar with equal status without any discrimination. I can assure you that I will continue to keep the position of the President above party," he told the meeting attended by TRS President and Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao, Union Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu and some other BJP leaders in Hyderabad.

"As on today I am not associated with any political party. Of course my earlier background had been with the BJP. I had the privilege of working in the team of Venkaiah Naidu. Even after resigning the governorship, I did not join any party," Kovind said.

At Vijayawada, Kovind said that for President, the Constitution is the "Geeta", "Quran", "Ramayana" and the "Bible". "It is the only guide book by which the President is supposed to work," he said.

He said for President the well being of every citizen of the country, irrespective of caste, region, religion and geographic location was important.

Stating that the President is also the supreme commander of the armed forces, he said security of "our international borders should be our topmost priority".

"I can assure you I will always strive for all round development of the nation irrespective of caste, creed, language, region and geographical situations."

He said he would also do his best to fulfil the aspirations of youth and for development of modern education.

"We have to fulfil dream of new India which our honourable Prime Minister has been advocating till 2022 when we celebrate completion of 75 years of our independence."

He expressed his gratitude to NDA and non-NDA parties especially TRS and TDP and noted that TRS and TDP chiefs had extended him the support even before his candidature was announced.

During his speeches in both Hyderabad and Vijayawada, he pointed out that many luminaries adorned the post of the President and referred to Zakir Hussain, who was born in Hyderabad and Neelam Sanjiva Reddy, who hailed from Andhra Pradesh.

In Vijayawada, he paid tributes to TDP founder, the late N.T. Rama Rao and recalled his contributions to both the cinema and politics.

In Hyderabad, Kovind thanked Rao for having installed many hoardings in the city in his honour and for delivering his speech in Hindi.

KCR, as Rao is popularly known, said Telangana would look towards Kovind for his blessings for development. Stating that TRS is extending full support to him, he said Kovind was sure to get elected with a huge majority.

TDP president and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, in his speech, said that he feels that it is a good fortune to vote for Kovind. Stating that Kovind joined BJP 26 years ago, he said he was never involved in any controversy.

Kovind, who arrived in Hyderabad in the morning, also addressed the MPs and state legislators of BJP and YSR Congress Party. YSR Congress chief Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy introduced his party leaders to the NDA nominee.

In Vijayawada, Kovind along with Venkaiah Naidu and Chandrababu Naidu attended 'Sri Venkateshwara vaibhotsavam' and performed 'puja' at the model TTD temple.

Addressing the meetings in both the states, Venkaiah Naidu said the presidential election was not an ideological fight as some opposition parties were trying to project it.
The city of Memphis is home to countless real estate opportunities for all kinds of buyers, sellers, and investors to discover...

Realty firm 901 Real Estate Services has just launched 901res.com. The website makes finding, buying, and selling some of the finest homes and condos in Downtown, Midtown, and East Memphis a lot easier.

"The city of Memphis is home to countless real estate opportunities for all kinds of buyers, sellers, and investors to discover," said Kendall Haney, founder and owner of 901 Real Estate Services.

"Our website's goal is to make it easy for potential homebuyers to find those properties. Whether it's a great place to raise a family, a prime investment property, or a condo in downtown that's close to jobs and vibrant urban amenities, theyre all represented in 901res.com."

The best of Memphis at your fingertips

The website's main highlight is its MLS search engine. It allows buyers to browse thousands of available home listings in and around the city of Memphis. Users can filter their search by price range, lot size, features, and location.

A curated array of the companys most desirable properties is showcased in 901res.coms Featured Listings page.

The Featured Communities page, on the other hand,provides users with a detailed overview of the areas 901 Real Estate Services covers, which includes available homes and amenities.

ABOUT KENDALL HANEY

Kendall Haney has helped buyers and sellers successfully close deals throughout the city of Memphis for over 33 years.

In 2012, he received his designation from the National Association of Expert Advisors and co-authored the book, "The New Rise in Real Estate."

He is also a Certified Real Estate Brokerage Manager (CRB), Certified Residential Specialist (CRS), Graduate, REALTOR Institute (GRI), and a Senior Advantage Real Estate Council (SRES) designee.

More information on Kendall Haney and his team can be found on 901res.com, along with their contact details, and guides to buying and selling properties in Memphis.

# # #
Realogics Sothebys International Realty (RSIR), the exclusive listing broker for Rock & Roll Hall of Famers $14.8 million Friday Harbor Estate on San Juan Island announced today this exclusive property will be the host property for a luxury lifestyle showcase on July 6th from 12pm to 5pm. Prospective buyers and invited guests attending the yacht rendezvous will be invited to tour the shy 39-acre compound, which includes an 11,686-sq. ft. home along with a yacht showcase by Ocean Alexander. The promotion is targeting the bounty of affluent families and yacht owners that frequent the San Juan Islands during the 4th of July celebrations that pack Roche Harbor Resort, Friday Harbor and the surrounding islands.

Our rendezvous will provide a fun and well-timed opportunity to explore the ultimate lifestyle that is possible in the San Juan Islands, said Mary Norris, a Global Real Estate Advisor with RSIR and the listing broker for Friday Harbor Estate. Its easy to see why Mr. Miller built this exceptional estate here  its far from lights and cameras of his rock & roll career  yet its so close to global gateway cities. He created a private sanctuary unlike any other and its now being offered for a new family to own its legacy.

Norris suggests the estate is a relative bargain considering the replacement costs would likely exceed the current asking price, assuming you could acquire the land. She notes a recent Wall Street Journal (WSJ) article claiming the San Juan Islands are the Hottest Luxury-Home Market in the Country on data from Realtor.com as the priciest 10-percent of the areas real estate market rose faster last year than any other county in the US.

In an exclusive interview with WSJ, Steve Miller said The essence or soul of my music is the inspiration I feel living in America. And the home I built above Friday Harbor is another expression of my soul with precision craftsmanship, authentic materials and a passion for whats beautiful in life.

Friday Harbor Estate was noted by Ocean Home Magazine among the Top 20 Coastal Homes in 2016 and has been revered by global media for good reason. The main house is gently perched atop a rocky hilltop for privacy yet remains an entertainers dream with voluminous living spaces framed in clear Fir and massive sliding doors on three elevations that seamlessly connect interior and exterior environment in one of the most beautiful regions in the world. The estate also includes one of the most envied superyacht moorage facilities nestled in the protected bay of Friday Harbor. The 110-foot long, deep water dock is connected to the island by a 360-foot causeway. It is here where Mr. Miller kept his yacht, ABRACADABRA, when he was in residence.

Prospective buyers wishing to preview the property are encouraged to visit the dedicated website at http://www.FridayHarborEstate.com.

During the planned rendezvous on July 6th the dock will be home to a luxury motor yacht showcase by Ocean Alexander. The leading manufacturer cites success promoting their latest lines and select resale vessels during the holiday week in nearby Roche Harbor.

This is a great opportunity to display a yacht in residence and complete the island lifestyle experience, said Niel Steenkamp, a broker with Alexander Marine USA. Its actually quite common to meet new owners of our yachts whether they are walking the docks in Roche Harbor or joining us as a guest at private events like this. Were proud to partner with RSIR on yet another showcase.

Steenkamp suggests the Pacific Northwest is a mecca for yachting, not just because the protected waterways are beautiful but because Washington residents pay no state income tax, helping to make yacht ownership more affordable while they qualify as second homes for mortgage interest tax deductions. This is particularly attractive to current residents of California, which has one of the highest combined tax rates in the US. Norris suggests that for some high-income earners, the collective tax savings alone could very well pay for a luxury yacht while spending the majority of the year in Friday Harbor and wintering back in California.

I think our buyer will be another family legacy in the making from the Pacific Northwest or perhaps a tech titan from the Bay Area seeking to escape the city and the taxes, adds Norris. In any case, its compelling to acquire this type of asset thats move-in ready, rather than investing the year and countless millions to build  for our buyer the value of time is a major consideration. A new owner could very well enjoy this lifestyle this summer, yacht and all.

In addition to the real estate and yacht tours, guests will enjoy fine wine and food pairings by DeLille Cellars, acoustical music by Orcas Island native Robbie Christmas, dockside fashion by Annette Dresser of J. Hilburn and lawn games by the bay.

This is my happy place, for sure said Greg Lill, CEO and Co-Founder of DeLille Cellars, a property owner on San Juan Island who will be offering wine tastings during the rendezvous. Weve been celebrating the 4th of July here for many years and we hope this event will inspire new families to discover why this region has become so popular.

Invited guests will be welcomed by land, sea and air. Special arrangements to accommodate larger vessels require advance registration. For more information, visit here. Guest registration is required.

###

About Realogics Sothebys International Realty (http://www.RSIR.com) - Realogics Sothebys International Realty is a leading global sales and marketing brokerage firm in the Pacific Northwest. Recognized by the Puget Sound Business Journal amongst the fastest-growing private companies in Washington State for 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016 the boutique real estate firm of 200+ brokers consistently rank among the top producing firms within the markets that it serves with branches in downtown Seattle, Bainbridge Island, Kirkland, Issaquah and Madison Park.

EDITORS NOTES: For high-resolution photography and floor plans contact Krista Dunn at 206.448.5752 or email Krista(dot)Dunn(at)RSIR.com.
BeaverTails, makers of unique and delicious BeaverTails pastries, today announced that it has been included in the Interbrand 150: Iconic Canadian Brands Report.

In honour of the 150th anniversary of Canadian Confederation, this report showcases the influence and impact of Canadian brands, and celebrates 150 authentically Canadian companies, organizations and institutions. To read the full report, please visit http://interbrand.com/ca/newsroom/150/.

Based on an old family recipe, BeaverTails pastries are a Canadian icon  a unique and delicious treat. Served hot and topped with numerous choices, including cinnamon & sugar, chocolate hazelnut spread, Reeses Pieces and peanut butter, BeaverTails pastries satisfy indulgences of all tastes. BeaverTails also offers a menu of favorite snack foods, including Beaver Bites treats, BeaverDogs, poutines, and moozoo smoothies, frozen yogurts and gelatos.

We are very proud to have been included in the Interbrand 150 report, says Pino Di Ioia, CEO, BeaverTails. The Interbrand team use rigorous selection criteria and methodology. Three of their key considerations are: clarity, engagement and authenticity. For BeaverTails to be recognized in this context is very gratifying because it is a validation of our vision and an acknowledgement of our hard work.

To be identified as a brand that touches Canadians lives and is part of the fabric of the Canadian identity is a very satisfying experience. So, as BeaverTails approaches its 40th anniversary, please allow me to thank the Interbrand team and wish all Canadians a belated Happy Canada 150! concludes Mr. Di Ioia.

Media contact: Mark Lowe, PRagmatic Communications for BeaverTails.

mark(dot)lowe(at)pragcom(dot)com / (514) 499-9632 / (514) 576-2519

For more information, please visit http://www.beavertails.com.

BeaverTails and Beaver Bites are registered trademarks of BeaverTails Brands Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
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Movehub considered variables such as price of groceries, transport, bills, restaurants and renting a home in its rankings

The calculation was then placed on an index with New York as the benchmark.

READ ALSO: Ghana ranks high in investor confidence

New York was rated 100 as other countries were ranked in relation to New York.

If a country score higher than the New York rate then it means that particular country is more expensive than New York and vice versa.

Ghana hit the 20th position out of 21 countries from different continents.

The last five countries on the list, including Ghana, were Italy (which shared the 20th rank with Ghana), Israel, Kuwait, Japan, and New Zealand.

Bermuda, Switzerland, Hong Kong, Iceland, and Singapore were the top five countries most expensive countries by rank.

Although New York was the standard for measuring the cost of living in countries, the USA as a country ranked number 15 because it is considerably less expensive to live in areas outside of large cities like New York.
The South's Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement that Tuesday's launch came from an airfield in North Korea's northwestern Phyongan province, according to Reuters.

The missile was said to have landed in Japan's Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), according to a Japanese defense official cited in a CNN report. Another Japanese official also corroborated the final destination of the missile, adding that it flew for about 40 minutes before landing in Japan's EEZ.

South Korean military officials claimed that the missile flew over 580 miles, Reuters reported. If the initial reports are correct, one estimate shows that the same missile could reach a maximum range of around 4,160 miles on a standard trajectory  enough distance to reach Alaska.

Shortly after the launch, President Donald Trump called out North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Twitter: "North Korea has just launched another missile. Does this guy have anything better to do with his life?"
The committee is expected to review the existing policy which permits Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to charge fees for certain services.

The Director of Revenue Policy Division at the Finance Ministry, Anthony Dzadzra told Accra-based Starr FM that the idea is to look really at the kind of fees we are charging Ghanaians.

He added that they will also find out if Ghanaians must continue paying such fees and whether the charges are relevant to the operations of the MDAs.

The fees are taken by the MDAs to help them fund their operations.

Dzadzra said the committee is expected to report back to the Ministry of Finance with a tangible policy before the next budget statement is read in Parliament.

However, he said considering the enormity of the work I doubt whether they can finish before the budget is read.
According to to the controversial counsellor, our daily life activities will not take us to heaven rather, our last moment before we depart from this earth will determine whether we will go to heaven or not, Atinkafmonline.com reports.

He stressed that there will be three surprises in heaven; the surprise to see yourself in heaven, the surprise to see someone you least expected to be in heaven and the surprise of not seeing someone you thought should have been there.
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!
The Judge, Justice Alfred Benin, said that the application had no basis.

Mr Woyome was seeking to stop the Attorney General from orally examining him in connection with attempts by the state to retrieve GHS51.2million from him.

The judge announced last week that he would rule on Woyomes application today [July 4] and therefore the oral examination that was billed for Thursday, June 29, did not come off.

The oral examination would border on whether Mr Woyome owed the state any debt and whether he had any property for satisfying the judgement of this court, dated July 29, 2014.

The oral examination would also be based on whether the businessman has any means of satisfying the judgement of this court, dated July 29, 2014 and the manner in which he used the money paid to him by the Republic of Ghana.

READ ALSO: AG to orally examine Woyome on June 29

But Mr Woyome filed a review of the decision of the court for the state to orally examine him.

At the Supreme Courts hearing last week, Woyome's lawyer, Mr Ken Anku , prayed the court to temporary halt the oral examination pending the review.

He based his argument on Article 134(b) of the 1992 Constitution which allows a review of the decision of a single judge of the Supreme Court by three other justices of the court.

But the Deputy Attorney, Mr Godfred Dame, in a response argued that the application was a ploy by Woyome to delay execution of the court's order.
Woyome last week filed an application seeking to stop an order of a single Justice of the Supreme Court, Justice A.A Benin that granted the Attorney General the go-ahead to orally examine him.

READ MORE: Woyome runs to African Court of Justice over human rights

It is Woyomes contention that Article 134 (b) of the 1992 Constitution provides him the right to apply for a stay of the decision of a single Justice of the Supreme Court and to ask for a panel of three Justices of the Supreme Court to vary, discharge and or reverse the order of the single Justice of the Supreme Court. Article 134 (b) of the 1992 constitution.

The oral examination would also be based on whether the businessman "has any means of satisfying the judgement of this court, dated July 29, 2014" and the manner in which he "used the money paid to him by the Republic of Ghana."

The State represented by the Deputy Attorney General, Godfred Dame contended that the provision in Article 134 (b) does not apply because the State is simply seeking to enforce the judgement of the Supreme Court against the Applicant (Mr. Alfred Woyome).
The Treaties are; the Constitution for the African Civil Aviation Commission; Protocol on the establishment of the African Monetary Fund; the African Union Convention on Cyber Security and Personal Data Protection; and the Road Safety Charter.

READ MORE: Nana Addo attends 29th AU Summit in Ethiopia

The rest are: Protocol to the African Charter on Human Peoples Rights on the Rights of older persons; Statute of the African Minerals Development Centre Statute of the Pan African Intellectual Property Organisation; and the African Union Convention on Cross-Border Co-operation.

On behalf of the AU Commission, Amira ElFadil, the Commissioner for Social Affairs, thanked President Akufo-Addo for the importance accorded to the key policies instruments for advancing the African Union agenda, in the fields and sectors of roads, maritime, transport, as well as ICT and cyber security.

In his remarks, President Akufo-Addo noted that "these are all important building blacks for us all to facilitate the integration of our continent, especially to deal with issues of economic development."
The Alliance Creativity Community Project International (ACCP), a member of the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations, nominated him for the award at a ceremony held at the Golden Tulip Kumasi City last Sunday.

The African Gold Awards ceremony seeks to honour Africans who have excelled in their various scopes of work.

Antwi Boasiako is known for his humanitarian service to society and is also credited with the party's outstanding performance in the 2016 elections.

A plaque honouring his performance cited the NPP Regional Chairman 'as a selfess contributor to humanity through his entrepreneurial skills, charity and dedication to the general development of society'.

READ ALSO: Chairman Wontumi to be honoured with Doctorate degree in Humanity

He said he was very humbled to receive the award.

He has, however, dedicated the honour to some fallen heroes of the NPP.
He said the perpetrators of lawlessness who are members of the party must be disciplined.

There have been pockets of political violence and acts of lawlessness in some parts of the country.

After the 2016 general election results were announced, some militant groups affiliated to the NPP have engaged in acts of impunity all in the name of protecting party interest. The Invincible and Delta Forces, both NPP vigilante groups, have assaulted persons purported to be members of the past National Democratic Congress (NDC) government.

There have also been attacks on members of the NPP with that of the Ashanti Regional Security Coordinator, George Agyei by members of the Delta Force causing outrage. Some 13 persons are currently standing trial in respect of that attack.

READ ALSO: Wontumi cautions Haruna Iddrisu against hypocrisy

Some Ghanaians take the law into their own hands and administer instant justice on people they suspect to have committed crimes. This type of justice, while not an everyday occurrence, is common in both the rural and urban areas of Ghana.

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.

The MP addressing the press after a delegates' conference at Pankrono in the Ashanti Region on Sunday, he said the indiscipline in the party regarding demonstrations on how members receive announcements of appointments was unacceptable.
Dropping offers Taxi, Private and Elite car services.

READ ALSO: How Ghanaian drivers may be cheating Uber and car owners

This enables users or riders to choose the way they want to ride.

The Taxi category offers people the usual painted taxis in Ghana, the Private includes private car hire while Elite offers high-end, luxury option for those who prefer luxury cars.

The app offers advance booking for all its services.

The ride-hailing company does not charge commissions on rides. They only take GHS1 booking fee per ride.

Taxi and private car hire drivers can be registered on the app for free in any city or town in Ghana.

According to Mr. Frederick Sarfo, Cofounder and Director of Operations/Finance, Dropping is free to register and charges no commissions on drivers earnings. Dropping will take only one Ghana cedi from drivers per each ride irrespective of the value of the ride. All monies are paid directly to drivers by passengers.

We have partnered with Peoples Pension Trust and Gold Coast Fund Management to grow with our driver partners. We do this by paying weekly pensions and welfare for the first three months a driver registers with Dropping when they achieve 20 trips every week, said Mr. George Akomeah, Cofounder and Director of Marketing/Business Development.

We are encouraging the drivers to contribute voluntarily to their pensions for the future and also empower themselves through the welfare provident fund Mr. Akomeah added.

The event was organized by Dropping Apps Limited in partnerships with Ghanas energy giant, GOIL, Peoples Pension Trust (PPT), Gold Coast Fund Management (GCFM) and Interpay Africa.

GOIL is offering Dropping access to some of its service stations across the country so that drivers can register on the app.

Additionally, the energy giant has also partnered with Dropping to offer taxi drivers GOILs GoCard to enable them buy fuel conveniently and safely.

By using these cards, drivers can win free oil service, fuel, lubricants and other souvenirs from GOIL.

Several taxi drivers were given free fuel coupons, lubricants, T-shirts, caps and other souvenirs from GOIL at the launch.

The app is available for Android and iOS smart phones.
The Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on the credit facility, which was signed at the 24 Annual General Meeting of the Bank in Kigali, Rwanda, stated as part of the banks move to empower and expand viable businesses in Africa through payout of $25 billion in the next five years.

Dr Paul Oramah, the President of the bank said that the deal was part of the bank's bid to expand businesses in Africa through the disbursement of N9 trillion ($25) billion in the next five years.

The bank, had set for itself target of strengthening businesses in various sectors of the economy within the region to bring a major change in the prevailing situation whereby once there was a crash in commodity prices, it would send economies of most countries into recession, he stated.

Oramah also commended the President of Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote for his business development quest across the continent.

Mr Aliko Dangote thanked the bank for the loan and stated that it would be deployed towards the expansion of the groups investment in Africa.

He further stated that the group, at present, had investments in 14 African countries adding that its main business in those countries was cement.

The bank also during the event signed a MOU of $100 million facility for Hiers Holdings to expand its cross-borders investment programme in 20 African countries in major sectors  Energy, financial services, real estate and hospitality.
"Wanted to say thanks to all that own or ordered a Tesla," Musk tweeted on Monday evening. "It matters to us that you took a risk on a new car company. We won't forget."

Musk's gratitude is especially poignant here, with the first 30 production units of the Model 3 due to make their world debut in about three weeks.

The Tesla CEO just hours earlier announced plans to deliver the entry-level cars would be delivered on July 28 and said the company was on schedule to produce another 1,500 by September and 20,000 Model 3s by December.
The Boston Globe reported at least 10 people were injured in the incident, which occurred near a Logan International Airport taxi pool in East Boston just west of the airport. Massachusetts State Police spokesman David Procopio said some of the victims were injured seriously.

Witnesses told The Globe the incident occurred in an area where other taxi drivers take breaks and play cards, and that the victims were all fellow drivers. Video from the scene showed the car plowed into at least one picnic table.

Victims are being sent to three hospitals in the area  Boston Medical Center, Tufts Medical Center, and Massachusetts General Hospital. Rescuers could be seen loading at least one person into a stretcher, according to the Associated Press.

Boston police, fire firefighters, and emergency personnel are on the scene, state police said.

The Globe cited a law enforcement who said the incident does not appear related to terrorism, and other officials do not believe the crash was intentional.

Procopio said the driver is believed to have mistaken the car's gas pedal for the brake, adding "
As Guzman stews in his cell, largely isolated from the outside world, the cartel he guided to the top of Mexico's narco hierarchy has seen its power and reach erode, according to Mexican government data.

No Mexican criminal organization has spread as far as the Sinaloa cartel or been as successful at resisting government efforts to bring it down.

At its most powerful, it was thought to have had influence in 24 of Mexico's 32 states and reportedly had operations in up to 50 countries.

At the time of Guzman's capture in January 2016  the third time he was arrested, after his second jailbreak  the cartel was present in 11 states, according to Animal Politico, citing data from the Mexican attorney general's office.

In the year and a half since, that presence has shrunk to seven states. The cartel has lost territory in Colima, Nayarit, and Jalisco states on the Pacific coast as well as in the state of Yucatan on Mexico's Caribbean coast.

The Sinaloa cartel functions more like a federation of allied groups rather than a traditionally hierarchical cartel. Those groups tended specialize in specific areas of the drug trade, with Guzman and some of his close associates in leadership positions, often refereeing disputes. But since 2015, the Sinaloa cartel has also seen the number of criminal groups partnered with it fall from 10 to seven, according to Animal Politico.

The territory the Sinaloa cartel has lost on the Pacific coast has largely been taken over by the Jalisco New Generation cartel. The CJNG is a relative newcomer among Mexican cartels. It emerged from a split within a faction of the Sinaloa cartel led by the uncle of Guzman's current wife after he was killed in 2010.

The CJNG has used a mix of brutality, financial cunning, and corruption to speed its rise, turning against the Sinaloa cartel after Guzman's capture in February 2014.

After its initial expansion east into the state Veracruz (a faction of the cartel called Los Mata Zetas, or the Zetas killers, is thought to have executed 35 members of the Zetas cartel there in 2011), the CJNG has moved north, sparking violence and increased homicide levels in states like Guerrero, Colima, Baja California.

The fight for influence between the CJNG and elements of the Sinaloa cartel has been exacerbated by the battle for succession within Sinaloa.

Since Guzman's 2016 arrest, several factions have been vying to assume command, including one led by Guzman's former right-hand man, Damaso Lopez Nunez, and another helmed by Guzman's sons, nicknamed Los Chapitos. (Lopez was captured in Mexico City in May.)

Guzman's mother came under attack last summer in a Beltran Leyva-led assault on Guzman's hometown in Sinaloa state. His sons have also come under fire. Two of them were kidnapped in Jalisco state in August, reportedly at the behest of the CJNG and Lopez, and they say Lopez led a near fatal ambush on them in Sinaloa in February.

Some of the most intense violence related to this feud has taken place in Sinaloa state, where the CJNG and remnants of the Beltran Leyva Organization, a one-time Sinaloa partner that went to war with Guzman in the 2000s, have joined with factions of the Sinaloa cartel to fight for control of the organization Guzman left behind.

The hours between June 30 and July 1 appear to have been some of the most deadly in the state in years.

At least 30 people were killed in different locations in the state over that period, though some reports put the total around 35.

The violence started on Friday night, when gunmen arrived a community near Mazatlan, in southwest Sinaloa, where they attempted to kidnap a local man, killing two or three people in the process.

Local police were alerted to the incident, and military and federal forces arrived soon in support. The resulting clash on a nearby high left 17 gunmen dead and five police wounded.

Authorities called the confrontation one of the fiercest the state has seen in recent months, and Sinaloa's state-security secretary attributed the initial incident to a dispute between local traffickers.

Relatives of the 17 killed have alleged the deaths were in fact police executions.

On Saturday, a man and a woman  and by some accounts a child  were reportedly gunned down with assault rifles in a car near Culiacan, the state capital.

That was followed by gunmen entering a private clinic in the city and killing a patient. Other bodies  some with signs of torture  were found throughout the day in Culiacan and the nearby city of Navolato.

According to the state prosecutor, Sinaloa had 182 homicides in June, the second most in a month this year after May's 184, pushing the state's total to 907 homicides this year. If that total is confirmed when official homicide data for June is released at the end of July, it would be a roughly 73% increase over the 524 homicides during the same period last year.

Local authorities have been overwhelmed and are not equipped to deal with the rising violence.
The CBO previously estimated that the House bill, the American Health Care Act, would result in roughly $880 billion in cuts over the same period.

But what is Medicaid, how does it work, and why are Republicans so intent on changing the program?

What is Medicaid?

Medicaid is the government-run health program that provides insurance primarily to pregnant women, single parents, people with disabilities, and seniors with low incomes. The goal of the program is to provide medical coverage to people with insufficient income to purchase commercial health insurance.

The program was established in 1965 during the presidency of Lyndon B. Johnson with the Social Security Amendments Act, which also established Medicare, the government-run healthcare program for the elderly.

Medicaid is a joint program between states and the federal government. States manage their own program and set eligibility requirements and benefits for its recipients, as long as it meets certain quality, funding, and eligibility standards set by the federal government and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The federal government, through CMS, sets the rate of payment for services that Medicaid covers and monitors state programs to make sure they adhere to the federal government's standards.

The program is considered an open-ended entitlement program, meaning anyone who meets the eligibility requirements has a right to enroll. And if costs go up because of new, expensive treatments or increasing healthcare needs, states receive more federal money.

While states fund a big portion of their individual Medicaid programs, the federal government matches up to a certain percentage, with bigger matches for poorer states.

Who is on Medicaid?

All Medicaid recipients must be US citizens or legal permanent residents. Nearly 74 million Americans, or about 20% of the population, is currently on Medicaid.

All state programs are required to cover pregnant women, children, elderly, and disabled people who make under a certain amount annually. Some states choose to cover those groups at higher household incomes than is federally required.

How did Obamacare affect Medicaid?

The Affordable Care Act, the law better known as Obamacare, provided states with the option to expand their Medicaid programs to new groups.

New federal requirements established that any adult living under 138% of the federal poverty level  an income of $27,821 for a family of three in 2016  was eligible. Before the expansion, eligibility was usually set at 100% of the federal poverty level, or about $20,420 for a family of three.

States that expanded Medicaid under the new ACA requirements received federal funds to do so. Thirty-two states and the District of Columbia have taken advantage.

The expansion has led more than 11 million new people to join the program, a number that continues to grow.

Because the Medicaid expansion opened care to any adult living under 138% of the poverty line, it has become a major tool in providing drug treatment and continuing care for those suffering from the opioid crisis.

Overall, 1.29 million people are receiving treatment for substance-use disorders or mental illnesses thanks to the Medicaid expansion, according to research conducted by Harvard Medical School Health Economics professor Richard Frank and New York University dean Sherry Glied. About 220,000 of those people are receiving treatment for opioid abuse.

How would Republican plans in the Senate and the House affect Medicaid?

In essence, both the House GOP's American Health Care Act and the Senate GOP's Better Care Reconciliation Act would overhaul the Medicaid program, cut future spending growth, and shift the burden of care onto the state governments.

Both bills would slice billions of dollars in federal funding from Medicaid over the next 10 years and kick millions off the rolls, according to the analysis by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.

There are two ways the bill would do this: by undoing the Medicaid expansion and by changing the formula for how the federal government determines how much funding it will give states.

The first part is straightforward  both bills would eventually end federal funding for the ACA expansion. The House bill would end all funding in 2020, while the Senate bill would slowly phase out the funding from 2020 to 2023.

Either way, many people would be left without insurance, the CBO said, as costs for coverage in the individual market  where former expansion enrollees would be forced to get coverage  would most likely be too high for many people.

The second part of the GOP's funding overhaul is a bit more complicated.

Right now, the federal government simply matches a percentage of states' Medicaid spending. The federal funding for poorer states with more enrollees and higher healthcare costs is greater than its funding for richer states.

Under the two Republican plans, Medicaid funding would be set on a per capita basis  meaning the federal government would send states a fixed amount of money per Medicaid enrollee in the state, regardless of whether that would cover needs or care.

In addition, the per capita system would divide Medicaid recipients into different categories, such as elderly people or people with disabilities, to determine the size of payments. Some categories, like disabled people, would generate a larger payment than others.

Experts say the per capita system would lead to less funding for states' Medicaid programs than the current system and place strain on already stretched state budgets to try to cover the difference.

For instance, a study from The Brookings Institution found that if the Senate's per capita limits were in place in 2011, there would have been a huge burden shifted to the states.

"The Senates proposed per-capita cap would have reduced federal funding to state Medicaid programs by $27 billion in 2011, requiring states to increase their spending by an average of 17 percent to maintain their programs in their then-current form," the study found.

Another difference in the Senate bill is how quickly the caps for funding would grow. Under the House bill, the per capita amount would increase at the pace of the consumer price index for medical care  plus another percentage point. The Senate bill would use that formula until 2025, when it would shift to the CPI for all goods, a formula that would leave the amount much lower than the CPI just for medical care.

Cuts under the House bill would be harsher up front, but the Senate's bill has a greater potential long-term effect. Either way, the GOP plan "fundamentally changes the kind of contract that exists between the states and the federal government," Richard Frank, a Harvard Medical School professor, told Business Insider in May.

"It's no longer an open-ended matching program," Frank said.

The AHCA would slice $834 billion from funding and lead to 14 million fewer Americans on the rolls over the next decade, the CBO projected. The BCRA would slice $772 billion in funding with 15 million fewer enrollments during the same time frame, the CBO said.

President Donald Trump and his surrogates have suggested that the bills do not in fact represent a cut to Medicaid, arguing that the number of dollars going into the program from the federal government would still increase over time.

What do Americans think of the GOPs plan to change Medicaid?

A tracking poll released in February from the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonpartisan health-policy organization, found that a significant majority of Americans supported the new Medicaid program expanded by the ACA.

According to the poll, 65% of Americans said Medicaid should continue largely in its existing form.

Even more Americans support the use of federal funds for the Medicaid expansion.

According to the survey, 87% of Americans living in a Medicaid expansion state run by a Republican governor support continued federal funding for the Medicaid expansion; 85% of Americans with a Democratic or independent governor are in support. And 80% of Americans in states without the expansion  19 in total  support keeping the expansion.
TMZ sources reporting to TMZ cited that the money was given to Kanye to cover costs of production of the rapper's "Life Of Pablo" album, tour expenses and staff payments.

In a separate report TMZ sources claimed that Jay's supposed West criticism on Kill Jay Z was in response to comments West made during a Saint Pablo Tour stop last November. "JDays later, the remainder of the tour had been canceled and West was hospitalized.

It's been earlier reported that Kanye West has allegedly left Jay Z's Tidal music streaming service.

The 'Stronger' rapper is said to be severing all ties with the music service over claimed unpaid entitlements he expects to have got from Tidal, reportedly being in the sum of $3million, including bonuses for attracting paying subscribers to Tidal upon release of his "Life Of Pablo" album .

Tidal in turn released a statement claiming that Kanye hasn't delivered the videos he is expected to be out with based on contract signed.

This fall out has led to lawyers representing both sides sending letters, with threat to sue, according to a TMZ report.

Tidal has had its fair share of criticisms from fellow industry artists and fans for its exclusivity model, management reshuffles among other issues.
She used the opportunity to ask the public to refrain from asking her not to talk about domestic violence on her social media.

Since their marriage came to a bitter end, Aigbe and her estranged husband, Lanre Gentry have been embroiled in a back and forth on social media, each trying their best to outdo the other.

Speaking at the walk, Mercy said:

"Violence should not be an option irrespective of whatever the situation is. Nobody should resort to violence because, at the end of it all, it doesn't solve anything. It actually makes things worse. So I am here to say no to domestic violence, no to assault, no to battery.

"Under any circumstance, a man should never hit his wife. Only weak men, only cowards hit their wives. To women who are going through such, I would say please come out, speak about it. Stop protecting that man. Stop shielding that man because any man that hits you, he doesn't love you. The minute the man raises up his hand to slap or hit or punch you, that means there is no more love in that relationship.

"There is no more love in that marriage. So stop shielding the man. Come out. Speak about it and if possible make sure you prosecute such a person and the person is brought to book. Violence is a no no. It should not be condoned. It should not be tolerated and also by making sure that whoever is found wanting is brought to book. Please people, Let us stop shaming the victims. There is no shame in our pain. I am a victim and I am proud to say that I am a victim. I am talking about it because I have chosen to talk about it. A lot of people say she is a celebrity.

"Yes, I am a celeb according to you guys, but I am also a human being. I have blood flowing in my veins. I have feelings. If I choose to talk about it, leave me let me speak out it. Do not come shaming me and telling me how I should not come to social media to say what I want to say. I have the right and I am a human being. So let me talk about it because I feel my talking about it will actually give voice to the voiceless.

"My talking about it will encourage one woman out there who is going through such a thing and who cannot stand up to come out and be bold enough and be courageous about it and to stand up to that bully who she calls her husband." she said.
While there, the Vlogger was interviewed on "Real Talk With Anele" where she spoke about her failed marriage.

In the interview, Toke talked about Maje Ayida describing him as a great guy but they weren't right for each other.

"I have no regrets because I feel like everything happened the way it was supposed to happen for me to get to where I am now because if I did not get married, perhaps Id be that girl who will always wonder what it felt like to be married to him.

Hes a great guy, were just not great people for each other."

This comes in the wake of her loosing a sponsorship deal because of Maje Ayida.

Meanwhile, the radio presenter seems ready to give love another chance but she is keeping her cards close to the chest.

Makinwa, who is rumoured to be dating US-based Oluseyi Kuye shared a picture of herself and an anonymous man rocking a pair of Gucci shoes on Snapchat back in June.
The Accra, Ghana based Ivorian fashion label launched officially in 2013 kicked off the rebrand with a vibrant debut SS'17 collection tagged 'Colors of Earth' telling the brand's "story of evolution".

Inspired to give a stronger identity and a deeper meaning to the successful brand, the brand's creative director and CEO Marie Kipre chose a more personal meaning for the brand's new identity.

She told Pulse; "Nadrey in Bete (a language in Cote DIvoire) my dialect means My heart, My love while Laurent is my Father, My Strength and My Pride. Bold, serene and always elegant, my father, Nadrey Laurent has become my inspiration".

"Nadrey Laurent is a story of evolution, our inspiration for a new fashion brand, a more personal meaning and a stronger identity. On this new journey, we are propelled to dream bigger, push further, achieve greater. Nadrey Laurent is an invitation to an effortlessly chic yet undeniably refined lifestyle".

The debut 'Colors of Earth' collection for Nadrey Laurent features an electrifying pop of colour and the expert lavish tailoring the brand is synonymous with.

The collection takes on earthy tones like mustard, orange, brown and desert sand in African fabrics including batik and 'faso dan fani' with rich lace, crepe, satin and knit fabrics amongst others.

Colors of the Earth collection revolutionizes Nadrey Laurents mission to create apparels with appealing inspiration that convey Elegance, Luxury and Essence the creative director Marie Kipre shares about the collection.

"This collection initiates the new journey by showcasing our potential to embrace a more unique personality. It shows the warmth and beauty of our persona through colorful prints, orchid appliques, sequins and other embellishments" she says as she breaks down the collection for Pulse.

See the looks off the debut collection below.

Credits:

Photography- KlassyFilms

Models - Naadei, Kenza & Nii Otoo

MUA- Makeup by Asare

Stylist- Sarah Ferdjani

Accessories- Odara, Muggs Jewellery

Director- Mareep Production

Designer- Marie Kipre

Brand- @nadreylaurent
Vanguard reports that the teachers allegedly took turns in raping the students after threatening to fail them in their subjects till the bubble burst when one of the students was diagnosed to have been infected with the disease.

It was gathered that none of the students knew they were infected until one of them complained of an unusual discharge from her private part to her mother and when she was taken to a hospital, she was discovered to have been infected with STD.

Another student who was said to have confided in one of her friends of a similar discharge discovered that her friend had the same problem.

That was when they opened up to the serial rape they had been suffering in the hands of the teachers.

A staff of the school narrated that during an investigation by the school after the case was reported, other victims confirmed that they were also raped by the teachers on different occasions.

When contacted, the Director of the Office of Public Defender [OPD], Mrs. Olubukonla Salami, confirmed the report, saying that the case has been reported to them and that investigation has begun in earnest.
However, when the case came up for mention, the court declined to take the plea of the accused persons for want of jurisdiction.

The Magistrate, Mrs Franca Yuwa ordered that two of the accused persons  Ifeoma Aboniyi and Ngunnan Agber  be remanded at the Federal Prisons, Makurdi.

The other accused person, Mlumun Agber, aged 11, was remanded in Gboko Juvenile Home.

Yuwa, thereafter, adjourned the case till Aug. 17, 2017, for further mention.

Earlier, the Police prosecutor, Sgt. Adama Owochio, had told the court that the case was reported to A Division police station Gboko by one Kwaghbee Ajiya on June 22.

Ajiya told the police that while she was inside Obangaji village market trading, she left her seven year old daughter Ngusulu Ajiya to take care of her 9 months old brother Tordue Ajiya in the same market.

She said that her daughter came running to her and crying, explaining that two women sent her with N100 to buy sweet for them but when she came back, she did not see either the women or her little brother.

When the case was reported to the police, they immediately swung into action and caught up with Ifeoma Abonyi and Mlumun Agber at Guila village while trying to run away, the prosecutor said.

He said that during investigation, Ifeoma Aboniyi aged 32, Mlumun Agber aged 11, and Ngunnan Agber aged 33 were arrested.

The prosecutor claimed that the three had confessed to committing the crime.

Owochio told the court that investigation into the matter was still in progress and prayed it to assign another date for mention.
He, however, pleaded not guilty to the charges.

But the prosecutor, Sgt. Kehinde Olatunde, told the court that the accused committed the offences on June 30 about 7.20 p.m. along Badagry Expressway by Suru-Alaba Bus Stop.

He said Nwuike, who drove a luxury bus with registration no. LND 922 XN recklessly and hit Gladys.

Olatunde said accused hit the deceased while she was crossing the highway.

The offences contravened Sections 19 and 20 of the Road Traffic Laws of Lagos State, 2012.

In her ruling, the Magistrate, Mrs Bola Folarin-Williams admitted the accused to a bail of N500, 000 with two responsible sureties in like sum.

She directed the court officials to duplicate the case file and send a copy to the State Director of Public Prosecutions for advice.
Magistrate Olalekan Ijiyode, who handed down the sentence, said it would serve as a deterrent to others.

The magistrate, however, ordered that the sentence should start from the time of the convicts arraignment.

Ijiyode had granted the convict bail in the sum of N1 million with two sureties in like sum.

The Prosecutor, Insp Sunday Osanyintuyi, had informed the court that the convict fraudulently obtained one Toyota Hummer Bus marked XA 401 FFE and valued at N5.8 million, property of one Oladiji Olayemi.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Brown was sentenced after entering into a plea bargain with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

The EFCC had also recommended a one-and-a -half year prison term in the plea bargain.

Following his plea, Mr Uche Chikelue, the counsel to the defendant, quoting the Holy Bible, asked the court for mercy in sentencing Brown.

In Mark 10: 46-52, is the story of blind Bartimaeus, who was delivered by one word  mercy. Like blind Bartimaeus, we are standing on the word  mercy.

My Lord, the defendant has been well behaved and has co-operated with the prosecution throughout the investigations.

He has no past criminal record, has never been involved in any crime, he is a first-time offender, and he has refunded all the money stated in the information and has shown great remorse for his actions.

He has aged parents, who due to his present incarceration, are having serious health challenges.

He is the first born of the family and the breadwinner, he also has a wife and three children, the last, a toddler.

My Lord, mercy is not qualified for, we humbly urge the court to temper justice with mercy because we know the court has a discretion to show mercy, Chikelue said.

Sentencing Brown, Justice Oyefeso said:In passing my sentence, I have taken into consideration the allocutus (plea) of the defence counsel.

The court observes that this crime has taken ground in Nigeria and this court has to send the right signals to the public.

This crime is a dishonour to our country and paints our great country in a bad light; there must be justice for the defendant, complainant and the country.

I have also taken into consideration that the Criminal Law of Lagos prescribes 15 years in prison for the offence of obtaining money by false pretences.

I hereby sentence the defendant to three years in prison on the one-count charge of obtaining money by false pretences.

This sentence begins from March 13, the day he was first arraigned.

According Mrs V.O. Aigboje, the counsel to the EFCC, Brown committed the offence between August 22, 2013 and Nov. 23, 2013 at Ikeja.

The convict obtained 3,650 dollars online from Mr Thomas Nublin of the United States of America.

The Lagos office of the EFCC in July 2014, received a petition from the U.S. Army alleging that some persons traced to Nigeria defrauded some members of the U.S. Army of over 13,000 dollars in a romance scam.

The EFFC investigated and was able to trace some of the funds amounting to 3,650 dollars to EcoBank Plc via Moneygram which was received by the convict.

The convict, in the course of the investigation, refunded to authorities, the said sum of 3,650 dollars, the money received from the crime, she said.
The comedian, according to reports, had just featured on a television talk show hosted by Ikponmwosa Osakioduwa also known as IK, when he and his friends met their untimely deaths.

Demshak who has been crying her eyes out since her lover was killed, took to her Facebook page to pay tributes to the deceased and shared photos of their times together before he was brutally murdered by mistake.

read what she wrote and the photos she shared as a tribute to him:

"I can't type anything

Cus my hands are frozen

Thank you, Jesus

Baby, I love you.I will still tag you cus I always tag you in all my posts Chinedu Paul."

She further shared their posts earlier on the day Think Twice was gruesomely killed.

"Baby u posted this in the morning

U got back home just to see ur life taken.

U said u have a gift for me before u went to fix our car

Don't worry, I came to collect the gift at Odogunyan.

Don't explain to me again, I understand

I love u, baby."
According to Punch, the hoodlums also stabbed to death a civilian, who was allegedly a rival cult member.

The incidents were said to have occurred last Sunday along Ojokor Street and Isoko Road of the town.

Recently, renewed activities of cultists have been on the increase in Ughelli.

The policemen were reportedly drinking at a bar when the suspected cultists, who were believed to be on the trail of a rival cult group members, attacked them.

One of the police victims said, "My phone was collected from me with a gun placed on my head at about 9p.m along Isoko Road while my colleagues who had gone to a drinking spot at Ojokor Street, suffered the same fate by a gang of hoodlums who were returning from a reprisal on a rival cult members."

The policemen could not challenge the bandits in the separate attacks because they were not armed, the report said.

ALSO READ: Ikorodu resident narrates how Badoo cult gang started

It was gathered that the same cult group members also responsible for the stabbing of the deceased along Ahwinahwi Street beside Ughelli Market.

The deceased was identified as Edirin, who was said to be in his late 20s.
The young kids, Yusuf Farouk, Ramon Isiaka, Pelumi Philips, Peter Jonas, Adebanjo George and Judah Agbaosi were whisked away from their hostels on May 25, 2017, by the gunmen dressed in police uniforms who scaled the school fence to kidnap them.

And since then, they have been with the kidnappers with no one knowing what has become of them just as their parents seem to have resigned themselves to fate.

To make matters worse, the state government had initially played the ostrich, pretending as if the lives of the kids did not matter, leaving the parents in distress. It took a loud cry by Nigerians for Governor Akinwunmi Ambode to even address the parents who were in serious distress.

The vulnerability of students in government schools and the deafening silence displayed by the government and the security agencies have become worrisome though the police have continued to assure that the children would be returned safely to their parents.

Despite managing to pay the sum of N10 million ransom to the gunmen, they have continued to detain the pupils, waiting for more money to be paid to them.

The parents say they have not been contacted by the kidnappers any longer since they could not pay the amount they demanded and now resort to reading updates about their children from the media since the kidnappers stopped communicating with them.

If the parents had the money to pay to get their children back, there is no gain-saying that they would have paid immediately the kidnappers contacted them.

The government has made it categorically clear that they are not ready to negotiate any ransom demand from the kidnappers but won't it be wise to go into such negotiations, pay whatever the abductors want, get the children out and then go after them?

A parent reportedly told a news media that they have not heard anything from the kidnappers since they collected the N10million and told them to go and get more money.

"They have stopped contacting us since then. I do not know where those who reported that the kidnappers have threatened to relocate our children to Niger Delta got their information.

I think the police should invite them for questioning. Maybe, they are in touch with the kidnappers. I read it online that the kidnappers said they will not release our children.

That the police were after them and so, they are using the children as shields and will move them to Niger Delta.

I am so tired. We all are tired. It is over 40 days now and we do not even know what is happening to the children. We have prayed, consulted and now, we are only waiting. We hope that our childrens case does not turn to another Chibok Girls.

Another parent was quoted as saying:

A friend told me that there was a story that the kidnappers would relocate the boys. He said the kidnappers said they will not release them and I was surprised.

I asked him how the people who wrote the story heard. They should stop aggravating our pains.

We have not heard from the kidnappers and we are praying that our kids return home safely. All we can do now is wait. We are all confused. We havent heard from them.

It is so sad that students in schools run by the Lagos State government and indeed other states in the country have become endangered species as they are now left at the mercy of the vagaries of life like kidnappers, rapists, ritual killers and many other predators that lurk around.

But the question is for how long will the kids be with their abductors? If those children were children of politicians or rich men in the society, will they be allowed to stay for this long in the hands of the kidnappers?

Will the government go about their businesses as if nothing has happened? Would the silence on their parts be this deafening? Have they put themselves in the shoes of the traumatized parents of these children who do not have the wherewithal to pay the huge money the kidnappers have demanded?

Though the Chairman of the Lagos State Neighbourhood Safety Agency (LNSA), Mr. Israel Ajao, a retired Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG), has continued to reassure the worried parents that security agencies were doing everything humanly possible to rescue their children, it is still worrisome that they are still being held by the kidnappers.

Ajao had disclosed that Governor Ambode was working hard to ensure the kidnapped students were freed unhurt from their abductors and even the Governor himself has continued to say the kids will be rescued in due time but how long will they be held and traumatized?

Tied to the abduction of the Igbonla College students is the fact that pupils have become very vulnerable and at the receiving ends from predators which include their own teachers.

Only a few days ago, news broke that two useless teachers raped and infected 10 students of a government school in Lagos with sexually transmitted diseases while threatening to fail them in their subjects.

Recently, a vice principal in a school in Ekiti State was sentenced to life imprisonment for allegedly raping a 12-year-old pupil inside his office while another vice principal in Niger State was arrested for raping and impregnating a student.

Stories abound of teachers raping and defiling their students and many of them are allowed to go scot-free because the justice system in the country has failed to protect the innocent minors.

What manner of people do we allow to mold the futures of our children? How could such mindless bastards be allowed to teach our students?

We hear cases of female pupils being raped in schools almost on a daily basis and it is quite alarming.
The prosecutor, Mr John Ijagbemi, told the court that the matter was reported at Dutse Police Station on the same day and was later transferred to the FCT Police Command.

The prosecutor said that the defendants, who pretended to be passengers, stopped the victim and asked him to take them to Bwari Area Council from Dutse Alhaji.

According to the prosecutor, on getting to Usman Dam along Bwari area, the defendants asked the victim to stop, hit him on the head with a stick, tied him with a rope and carried out the criminal act.

The prosecutor said that the offence contravene the provision of section 2 (a)(b) and section 6 of the Robbery and Firearms Special Provision Act, Law of the Federation of Nigeria 2004.

The defendants, who could not speak English language admitted to have committed the offence after the interpretation was made to them in Hausa.

Mr Oladapo Adeya, the lawyer who offered to defend the accused, prayed the court to temper justice with mercy, saying that all necessary documents would be forwarded to defend the case.

Justice Yusuf Halilu, however, entered a not guilty plea for the defendants.
Akinduro was, however, released on a bail of N500,000.

Akinduro, whose residential address was not provided, is standing trial on a charge of stealing to which he pleaded not guilty.

The Magistrate, Mrs J.O. Awope, who gave the ruling, also asked the accused to produce two sureties as part of the bail condition.

She said the sureties must be gainfully employed and should show evidence of two years tax payment to the Lagos State Government.

According to the Police Prosecutor, Insp. Ezekiel Ayorinde, the accused committed the offences on Dec. 2, 2016 at Agege, a Lagos suburb.

He said the accused stole a 20 KVA generator valued at N2 million, property of the complainant, Mrs Sidikatu Oyeleye.

Ayorinde said the complainant employed the accused as a guard to protect the generator, but the generator was stolen the day he started work.

The following morning after the accused started work, the complainant discovered that the generator was missing and the accused was nowhere to be found.

All efforts made by the complainant to find her generator and the accused were unsuccessful as the accuseds phone was switched off.

He was later arrested on May 22 by the police, he told the court.

The offence contravened Section 287 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015 (Revised).

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the section stipulates three years imprisonment for offenders.
The UNFPA National Programme Specialist, Mrs Olanike Adedeji, disclosed while briefing journalists on the line up programme to mark 2017 World Population Day in Abuja.

Adedeji explained that the Nigerian government committed only $2 million for the procurement of contraceptives for FP until 2011, when the government proclaimed such FP commodities to be free in public health facilities.

She said that since that declaration, many donors like USAID, DFID and UNFPA contributed resources to ensure this pronouncement became reality.

According to her, all this effort was to ensuring that the commodities were all over public facilities in the country.

After the proclamation and MoU was signed, Nigeria started having between $12 to $16 million every year, she said.

The programme specialist said that UNFPA intervened to assist in distribution from the national warehouse to states to local government health facilities.

She added that USAID was also supporting in five to seven states in the country.

She said that UNFPA has engaged 5,000 health care workers to provide the services across the country.

Adedeji stated that in 2012, Nigeria had a golden moment in London when it proposed to give $11.5 million annually, pointing out that the Federal Ministry of Health was expected to give $3 million while the then Sure-P programme would dole out $8.5.

She noted that due to fall in oil prices Sure-Ps commitment was not realisable but had been depending on contribution from the ministry of health.

From 2012 till date what we have been getting is $3 million from the ministry of health and we have been pushing for review and recently we learnt the Federal Executive Council had increased it to four million dollars, she said.

The official explained that FP was not meant to reduce population as widely perceived in the country.

She said that it was meant to ensure basic needs of life like education, health infrastructural facilities were adequate or commensurate to the growing population.
Mr Victor Omoshehin, the National Coordinator of NEPWAN, revealed this at the candlelight memorial organised by the organisation on Monday in Abuja for those that die in the course of HIV/AIDS.

He noted that Nigerians that died due to the scourge would not have died if the government had taken up ownership of the fight by ensuring availability and accesses to HIV prevention, testing, treatment and support programme.

The coordinator who noted that HIV response was largely donor driven with about 93 per cent of HIV funding sourced from external sources, however, said Nigeria only contributed seven per cent of the funding.

He described poor funding and lack of ownership of HIV treatment and care by the country as being responsible for its high prevalence in the country.

According to him, the only way to address this burden was for the Federal Government to take ownership of the fight against HIV scourge rather than relying solely on donor agencies.

The problem of Nigeria can never be solved by foreigners except for Nigerians and by Nigerians with adequate and realistic budget.

Budget in all AIDS, Tuberculosis, Malaria control, prevention and treatment for all the Ministries, MDAs could make big difference if is been released 100 per cent in the life of persons living with HIV in and lives of Nigerians who are not infected, he said.

This, he said, could be achieved by dedicating adequate funding through budgetary allocation by all tiers of government for its prevention, treatment and care and implementing 100 per cent of such funds in fighting the scourge.

He described the treatment gaps in AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, control, prevention, treatment and care support services in the country as worrisome noting that this has led to the increase in HIV prevalence in the country.

Omoshehin who discouraged the view of some segment of the society that those in the legislative arm of government among other wellmeaning Nigerians are immune to HIV/AIIDS however said HIV/AIDS is not a respecter of any persons.

The coordinator however called on the federal and state governments to take ownership and sustainability of HIV/AIDS programmes in Nigeria.

He said: Evidence has shown that just a government commitment and dedication can change the story of any country health burden.

Our government can demonstrate ownership and sustain our own burden through increasing the health budget to 15 per cent of the total national budget in accordance with the Abuja declaration 2001.

Nigeria is the giant of Africa, the most popular Black Country in the world, deposited with various Gods gifted natural and human resources.

Prompt release of 100 per cent budget for AIDS control, prevention, treatment and care for the relevant MDAs could make the difference between life and death for a pregnant, among others.

According to the National Guideline on Care and Support Development by the country, Persons Living with HIV (PLHIV) in Nigeria should receive support to cope with the burden of the infection.

It is the responsibility of government and all groups engaged in providing such services to act within the purview of their individual mandates to ensure that PLHIV access care support and services suitable to their needs in a sustained manner.

Similarly, Mr Abdulkadir Ibrahim, the National Secretary of NEPWAN, noted that about 3.1 million people are currently living with HIV/AIDS in Nigeria based on the 2015 report by the UNAID and National Agency for the Control of AIDS.

He lamented that less than one million of the number are currently on treatment, adding that 900,000 of the number on Anti-Retroviral Therapy (ART) are funded by donor agencies including free lifesaving antiretroviral drugs.

According to him, these donor efforts had ensured these people live a quality life and can provide for their families and contribute to Nigeria economy and development.

There is dwindling of donor support to Nigeria and this has led to increase in the call for improved ownership and sustainability by the government.

Recently, Global Fund and the U.S. Presidents Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) are re-prioritising their interventions and activities they will fund. PEPFAR is currently supporting 32 LGAs in Nigeria with the comprehensive HIV and AIDS services.

The Global funds as well inform the government that they will continue to support HIV prevention leaving the Nigerian government to take responsibly of treatment, care and support services.

If the government does not step up her game and take full responsibility of treatment, care and support majority of HIV clients will not be able to access ARVs.

And if this happens the clients will become sicker and develop resistance to the first line ARVs putting heavier financial burden on the country to acquire the far more expensive second and third line drugs.
Mr David Onoja, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Gov. Yayaha Bellos free health care initiative known as GYB Grassroots Connect Screening For Life, disclosed this at the screening centre in Lokoja.

He explained that the governor introduced the programme to address high mortalities arising from hypertension and diabetes especially at the grassroots level.

He noted that most of the health interventions from World Health Organisations (WHO) and other health partners focus more on infectious diseases, but little or no attention was given to silent killer diseases such as hypertension and diabetes, among others.

He added that the silent killer diseases had sent scores of people to their untimely graves.

He lamented that many people in rural communities out of ignorance often attributed sudden deaths arising from hypertension to activities of witches and wizards.

There are no more witches and wizards again; prayers have sent them away. What we have now is the silent killer hypertension.

What people need to do is to access the services provided by the government free to get screened and access necessary drugs, he said.

Onoja, therefore, urged people of the state to avail themselves the opportunities provided through the ongoing exercise by coming to the Lokoja Township Stadium each day to be screened and get needed medications.
The judge delivered his ruling today, July 4, 2017, upholding the no-case submission of the senator and thereafter dismissing the case.

The former majority leader was arraigned by the federal government in 2011 and re-arraigned in 2013 on a four-count charge of sponsoring the terrorist group.

The offence contravened Sections 3, 4 and 7 of the Terrorism Prevention Act 2011.

In the no-case submission filed by the senator, his counsel, Ricky Tarfa (SAN) argued that the prosecution had failed to prove the allegations beyond reasonable doubt.

The senator argued that the contact he had with the terror group was established after his appointment into the Presidential Committee on Security Matters to negotiate for peace with the group.
The affected farmers incurred huge losses during the outbreak of the disease two years ago.

Alhaji Umar Kibiya-Usman, the Secretary, Poultry Association of Nigeria (PAN), Kano State Chapter, disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Kano on Tuesday.

He said all those farmers whose farms were hit by the disease between 2015 and 2016 had been verified by the Federal Governments Committee which visited the state last week.

We have a total of 132 poultry farmers who are waiting for the outstanding payment. They have since been verified by the committee from the Federal Ministry of Finance, Kibiya-Usman said.

He said the committee which had completed its assignment and returned to Abuja, was expected to submit its report to the Federal Government, for immediate payment.

Kabiya-Usman commended the Federal Government for resolving to pay the affected farmers not only in Kano state but across the entire country.

Over one million birds were killed by the disease in 2015 and 2016 and we are happy that the government will compensate the affected farmers, he said.

The PAN scribe said the Federal Governments gesture would go a long way in encouraging the affected farmers to restock their farms and continue with the business.
Speaking at plenary on Tuesday, July 4, 2017, Melaye decried the failure of the Federal Government to relieve Magu of his duty after his rejection by the Senate.

The lawmaker urged the federal government to send the name of another individual for confirmation as EFCC chairman.

It was in the Senate that the we invited Magu," Melaye began.

Magu came for a job interview and failed and a result, he was rejected by the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. As I speak to you, Magu is still parading himself as the chairman of the EFCC despite the rejection by the Senate.

Those who have failed should go back. Magu is not the only Nigerian angel. They should bring another person, we will examine him and pass him if qualified. Magus mates are Area Commanders and DPOs. He can serve this country in other capacities, the lawmaker suggested.

Melaye further advised Senate President Bukola Saraki to desist from reading letters from the executives seeking the confirmation of nominees.

It is time for the Senate to tell the executive that they must stop playing blues and dancing reggae. It is time to stop approbating and reprobating. The Senate that our forefathers fought for is about to be completely destroyed. May it not be recorded in history that it was in the time of Bukola Saraki that the powers of the Senate were completely eroded.

The same executive that has allowed Magu to continue to stay in office now wrote you a letter that we should confirm somebody I raised my voice on the floor on the Senate about that went to resume without confirmation. He was chased out and they have now they have submitted his name for confirmation.

Before we went on break, we confirmed the nomination of some RECs but the executive only swore in some and left the others.

Mr President, I am moving a motion that it becomes abominable for you to even read another confirmation letter from the executive. We dont want to hear any letter from the executive again until the integrity and position of this Senate is respected by the executive arm of government. They cannot do our job for us and we wont do theirs.

The integrity of the Senate is at test on the inconsistencies of the executive in hiring and firing. It is time we apply breaks. This Senate cannot be insulted, Melaye added.
The former Lagos state Governor had described the members of the National Assembly as having "stark and worrisome knowledge" of the budget process.

The motion was raised by Honourable Sodiq Ibrahim (Adamawa), and it was unanimously backed by the House.

A war of words broke out between the two parties after the minister said the budget for the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway was slashed by more than two-thirds from N31 billion to N10 billion.

He went further to claim they had no right to do so, saying, "I am not saying that the legislature cannot contribute to the budget, but I hold the view that it cannot increase the budget because they do not collect the revenue with which to run or implement the budget.

"It is unconstitutional for the National Assembly to legislate on state roads."

In a statement issued on Friday, June 23, by the Senate spokesperson, Sabi Abdullahi, he said the picture the minister was painting was "a deceit of the highest order."

ALSO READ: Minister says lawmakers want borehole projects over capital projects

He went further to say, "What we reduced from Lagos-Ibadan Expressway in the 2017 budget estimates was spread on Oyo-Ogbomoso Road in the South-West, Enugu-Onitsha Road in the South-East, and two other critical roads in the North-East and North-West. This was done to achieve equity."

In the comments that has invited the summon, Fashola said on Monday, June 26, 2017, that it was sad lawmakers could resort to name-calling even without understanding the facts of the discourse.
Fayose said the recent trip by the President's wife, Aisha Buhari to London confirms his statement.

"It is six days since I addressed the press and today, I still insist that the President is indeed on life-support," the Governor said while speaking to newsmen in Lagos on Monday, July 3.

"The worsen condition of the Presidents health necessitated the hurried trip of our First Lady, Her Excellency Aisha Buhari to London and it is hoped that she will have the courage to tell Nigerians the truth this time around.

"No one is interested in President Buharis death. Rather, we are interested in freeing Nigeria from the hands of these few individuals who are presently holding the country to ransom," he stated.

Fayose maintained that Buhari must resign.

He said, "Today is the 184th day of 2017. Out of these 184 days, our President has spent 107 days abroad taking care of his health.

"How does a nation move forward when its President is spending the better part of his time abroad for Medicare?

"For how long can Nigeria and its people wait for a President who is incapacitated? For how long can our people continue to suffer just because some people want to hold on to power at all cost?

"That was the reason I raised the issue of President Buharis age, health and mental capacity in 2015 and warned against electing President him."

Speaking further, the governor said; "Nigerians should be reminded that in 2010 when there was uncertainty over the health of the then President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua, President Buhari called on the National Assembly to impeach Yar'Adua.

"The Minister of Information, Alhaji Lai Mohammed who was the Spokesperson of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) also said Nigerians should be briefed daily on YarAduas health status. Lai Mohammed said then that 'the health of the President, as a public figure cannot be of interest only to his family and friends. Nigerians have a right to know.'

"Just the same way President Buhari asked the National Assembly to remove YarAdua in 2010; I am also insisting that the President must be made to bow out of office so that Nigeria and its people can be saved from this state of uncertainty.

"No doubt, it has been argued that since Vice President Yemi Osinbajo is already functioning as Acting President, President Buhari can be bedridden for as long as his illness last, but the reality that Nigerians must accept is that the Acting President cannot fully exercise the powers of the President.

"However, pending his resignation, I am also aligning myself with what Lai Mohammed said in 2010 on YarAduas health by demanding that he (Lai Mohammed) should begin a daily briefing of Nigerians based on authentic details provided by the President's doctors.

"Nigeria belongs to all of and its collective interest remains greater than those of any individual or group and together, we must save Nigeria."

ALSO READ: Why Fayose has so many enemies

Speculations about the deteriorating health of President Buhari ran rife shortly after he returned to the United Kingdom on May 7 for medical follow-up.

The Presidency tried to quench the flame of the viral death and life-support rumours by releasing an audio message of Buhari to mark the end of Ramadan fast in June, but this did not change the minds of many Nigerians.

Some critics observed that the President's frail voice in the audio further confirmed that all is not well with him, while others, including Fayose claimed the audio was fake.

On June 28, 2017, the Governor alleged that the day made it 20 days that Buhari had been on life support.
The new Flag Officer Commanding (FOC) Western Naval Command (WNC), Rear Adm. Sylvanus Abba, said this after taking over the command from his predecessor, Rear Adm. Ferguson Bobai.

Kidnappers are not ghosts and they live within the society, he said.

The FOC also said the command would ensure that oil thieves would also no longer find a ready market within Lagos area by blocking all their gateways.

Navys job is a constitutional responsibility that must be carried out.

We have sworn to defend this nation and we have no option than to carry out the mandate.

The people of Nigeria expect that much from us.

There are new dimensions to kidnapping. The criminals now target school children and so, we must focus attention around riverine areas.

Kidnappers are not spirits. They leave among us. If you see an unemployed person building mansion, tell security agencies so that he can be investigated.

Can we say we do not know criminals? The media should help us so that we can carry out out this mandate.

Those who do illegal bunkering and oil theft market their products in Lagos. If we block that route, the business will die.

But if we dont, it will continue to thrive, the FOC said

While soliciting for the corporation of officers and men of the command, Abba urged them to be alive to their duties.

Bobai, while giving account of his stewardship at the WNC, said the mandate of `Operation AWATSE when he took over last April was to flush out militants.

We started cleaning up from Ijedodo toward Mosomi, along the 72km pipeline.

That was really our mandate from the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS).

Fortunately, at that time, the NNPC pipeline was undergoing maintenance and not receiving products.

We were able to douse the tension of pipeline vandals.

Because there was no business for the vandals, most of them started to look for other things to do and we began to see the ugly faces of kidnapping in the general area.

We had to write to the CDS who reviewed our mandate to capture kidnapping also.

That is what we have been doing in aid of the police. We have tried to ensure these kidnappings within Lagos and Ogun are mitigated.

It is a thing of joy that we were able to contain the issue of vandalism and right now, ships pump in products from Atlas Cove to Mosimi, he said.

Bobai said that although some modest achievements were recorded under his watch, there was room for improvement.

He said that the navy had repositioned ships in a manner to tackle maritime challenges.

We are making progress in fleet renewal that would help us to have more ships at sea.

Every personnel must redouble efforts to fill the gaps at all times to meet existing challenges.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Nwobike is being tried by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on an 11-count charge bordering on perverting the course of justice and offering gratification to public officials.

The anti-graft agency alleged that Nwobike offered gratifications to some judges of the Federal High Court and the National Industrial Court to influence them to act contrary to their official capacities.

The EFCC also claimed that Nwobike engaged in sending illegal text messages with four registrars of the Federal High Court in a bid to unduly influence his cases being tried by the judges.

Nwobike, however, denied all the charges.

The SAN, while being led in evidence by his lawyer, Mr Olawale Akoni (SAN), denied giving gratification to Justice Samson Uwaifo (SAN), a retired justice of the Supreme Court.

I dont know retired Justice Samson Uwaifo of the Supreme Court personally, long after Justice Uwaifo retired, we had a client who had a dispute with the National Examinations Council (NECO).

The parties went to court and the court appointed Hon. Justice Uwaifo as the sole arbitrator to the dispute.

As it is customary in arbitration, we and the other party were asked to provide money for the preliminary stages of the arbitration.

We sent some money to him and one Mr Seun Ibitoye, a registrar, to kickoff the preliminary stages of the arbitration.

My Lord, Justice Uwaifo had retired about eight or nine years before he was contracted to do the arbitration.

We initially purchased a bank draft for N1.5 million in the name of Justice Uwaifo as the arbitrator, but we were later advised to purchase it in the name of the registrar, Nwobike said.

He denied giving false information to the anti-graft agency by saying that the only judicial officer he had ever helped was Justice Mohammed Yinusa.

I did not give false information to the EFCC and there was no intention on my part to give false information to the EFCC or their officials.

In my statement to the EFCC, I stated that I gave Justice H.A Ngajiwa money for the purchase of books for his library.

I wrote in my statement that I gave N300,000 to Justice Ngajiwa and N750,000 to Justice Yinusa and I stated their purposes.

On the alleged gratification he gave to Justice James Agbadu-Fishim, the SAN said the money was given as a form of `assistance to a friend.

He said: Justice Fishim and I became friends when we were post-graduate students of the University of Lagos, he left for the University of Abuja.

I did not see him until after a while and it took a long time before I got to know that he had been appointed a judge of the National Industrial Court.

Justice Fishim told me that his guardian who trained him died and as it is customary among friends, I made my contributions toward the burial.

He told me some time later that his father died and I contributed some money for him as it is customary among friends.

Some time later, he told me that he had eye problems and he needed to go for eye surgery and that I should pray for him.

I gave him some money as it is customary among friend to help each other.

Nwobike told the court that he was innocent of the allegations of the EFCC.

I have contributed to the law, I have no other job but litigation and practice. I have a lot of respect for the law and I have been very generous to people.

I am an employer of lawyers and I dont pervert the course of justice and I will never pervert the course of justice, he said.

Under cross-examination, Mr Rotimi Oyedepo, counsel to the EFCC, confronted Nwobike with a text message he allegedly sent to a registrar of the Federal High Court to unduly influence one of the cases he was handling.

You sent this text to one Mr Jide of the Federal High Court, the text reads: ours should go to Justice Yinusa or Justice Aneke.

The `ours in the text message was it a case that you filed?  Nwobike said: I cant say.

Oyedepo alleged that the suit Nwobike allegedly tried to unduly influence was between AMCON V Delta Steel Company Ltd with suit no FHC/L/CS/127/2015.

I put it to you then what you were seeking Jide to do was in not in exercise of his judicial function,  Oyedepo said.

Replying Nwobike said: Jide has no judicial function and the text was conversational as Jide has no power to assign cases.

Mr Felix Deckon is our Senior Litigation Clerk , upon filing of the AMCON case, he sent the particulars of the case to me toconfirm which of the judges did the earlier one.

Felix being my subordinate, speaks to me before sending texts and he called me on another line after sending that particular text.

Oyedepo, however, disputed Nwobikes claims about the timing of the text messages and asked: Are you aware that your phones records your phone logs? Will you be surprised that Felix did not call you before sending the text.

You received a text from Felix at 12.53pm on Feb. 12, 2015, at 12.56 p.m. you forwarded the particulars of the case to Mr Jide of the Federal High Court.

By 1.07 p.m. you sent a text message to Mr Jide which reads: The one Aribisala filed is before Justice Idris.

You immediately forwarded the text message to him saying, ours should go before Justice Yinusa or Justice Aneke, we need to do so today please, Oyedepo said.
Malam Garba Shehu, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, made this known in a statement issued in Abuja.

The presidential aide said Buharis message was contained in a personal letter of condolence he sent to Gov. Abdullahi Ganduje of Kano State, in which he expressed profound shock over the death of elder statesman.

According to Shehu, the letter, personally signed by the President, also described the death of Sule as a heavy loss, adding that the letter will be delivered by the federal governments delegation to the burial of the deceased as constituted by the Acting President.

The Presidents letter reads thus: I have heard this morning, the death of the venerable Alhaji Maitama Sule, Dan Masanin Kano, and one of Nigerias famous sons. Although, I knew he was in poor health for some time, his death nonetheless, came as a profound shock.

As a Minister in the First Republic, he was one of those who assisted our Founding Fathers, Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Alhaji Ahmadu Bello and Alhaji Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, to fashion Nigeria politically and lay the grounds of national co-existence.

Maitama Sule was blessed by God with a wonderful voice and outstanding eloquence. He served with distinction in the First Republic, the Second Military regime, as well as the Second Republic, without him being tainted with the remotest hint of scandal.

As a person, I found him personable with unceasing good humour. Nothing personified his faith more than the fact that on losing his sight, he did not retreat in himself sulking on account of his ill-fortune.

Quite to the contrary, he honoured virtually all invitations extended to him and spoke as usual with singular eloquence and unparalleled wit.

In my discussions with him, I greatly valued his counsel, and I never ceased to be amazed by his concern for the well-being of his country rather than his personal interests.

Let me extend my sincere condolences to Your Excellency, family and friends, the Government and people of Kano, and Nigerians as a whole, for this most heavy loss. We shall not soon see the like of him. May God forgive his sins and admit him to Paradise, Amin.

Maitama Sules death was announced on Monday in Kano by one of his sons, Alhaji Mukhtar Sule, saying that his father died in the early hours of Monday in a hospital in Cairo.

He said that the man passed on at 87, and left a wife and four children.

A politician and diplomat, Sule was born in Kano in 1929. He started his career as a teacher and was later elected into the Federal House of Representatives in 1954.

In 1958, he was Chief Information Officer to the Kano Native Authority, and in 1959, he was appointed Federal Minister of Mines and Power.

He was a member of Nigerias delegation to the Addis Ababa Conference of Independent African States in 1960.

The deceased statesman became Nigerias Permanent Representative to the United Nations in 1976 during the tenure of Kurt Waldheim as Secretary-General of the world body.

He was also Federal Commissioner of Public Complaints in 1979 and vied for the ticket of the defunct National Party of Nigeria for the 1979 presidential election, but lost to Alhaji Shehu Shagari.

Sule was also assigned as representative of Nigerias President to the Lancaster House Talks on Zimbabwe in London and was also counsel to African Leaders on Zimbabwe crisis.
Speaking at plenary on Tuesday, July 4, 2017, Melaye, representing Kogi West senatorial district, cited order 14, repeating his allegations against the state Governor, Yahaya Bello, as the sponsor of the recall campaign.

He asked the Senate to act as the campaign is a manipulated process riddled with illegal acts.

According to the senator, "The total score of both valid and invalid vote is 118,000 but my governors and his appointees in four days claim they got a signature of over 188,000.

"They got INEC database of registered voters and copied in one writing into a recall register and forged all the signature.

"As I speak to you, over 120 dead certificates issued by the national population commission and these people's relations and families have sworn to affidavit and these certificates have been deposited.

"The names of all these dead people appeared on the recall register submitted to INEC. 116 of my constituency have sworn to an affidavit that their names and signatures appeared in the recall registers and they are not the ones that signed it.

"86 of my constituents have sworn to an affidavit that they were approached that the government wants to carry out a fertiliser empowerment programme and requested for their PVCs and thereby deceived into putting their names in the recall register.

"I am only asking my governor to pay the wages of its workers because a labourer is worthy of its wages. They have been spending money on the pages of newspapers that they want to recall Dino Melaye. This recall is not by my constituents but by the state government.

"This orchestration, injustice, lies, malicious manifestations by my governor must not be entertained in a democracy not because it is Dino Melaye. It could be anybody."

ALSO READ: Senator says dead people signed petition against him

In response, Ekweremadu said the exercise is bound to fail, saying the Kogi people should apply "their time to more meaningful ventures".

He said, "I am wondering why we are dissipating energy on this matter and wasting precious legislative time on a matter we should not.

"What is happening in Kogi, in respect of Senator Dino Melaye, as far as this constitution is concerned, is an exercise in futility.

"They are just wasting precious time because the constitution is clear on what should happen. It is possible that the Attorney-General of Kogi state has not advised them properly.

"If he had done that, I am sure they would have applied their time to more meaningful ventures in Kogi state.

"The process of recall is the equivalent of impeachment of executive positions. To avoid the abuse of impeachment, they made it very strict, provisions and procedures were made on how impeachment can take place.

"That is why people are not taking that route of removing governors by impeachment."

Senate President, Bukola Saraki also responded to the issue, backing up his deputy.

According to him, "The Deputy President of the Senate has explained the processes. Let the process speak for itself.

"I really dont know why a lot of efforts are being wasted that should have gone on more important things.

"Eventually it must come back here for us to decide whether it is satisfactory."

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Wednesday, June 21, 2017, took delivery of signatures from electorates in Kogi state for the senators recall.
She told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Port Harcourt that some of Wikes utterances were unbecoming of a governor.

Tatua advised the governor to focus on the governance of the state and desist from constant expression of anger and attack on perceived opponents, including Transport Minister, Mr Chibuike Amaechi.

She said that the people expected the governor to continue from where his benefactor stopped but he appears to be a wrong partner for peace and progress.

According to her, a governor who stoops to tale-telling and spreading the seeds of discord in the state cannot be seen as a role model for the younger ones.

Tatua also congratulated former governor of Bayelsa, Chief Timipre Sylva on his 53rd birth anniversary, and urged him to continue to impact positively in the lives of the people.
The Senates decision was sequel to a letter to the upper chamber seeking the confirmation of Lanre Gbajabiamila, as the director-general, National Lottery Regulatory Commission (NLRC).

The lawmakers, however, dismissed Osinbajos request over the failure of the executive to obey certain decisions of the Senate.

The Senate further urged the Acting President to withdraw his earlier statement that the Senate does not have the powers to confirm nominations by the executive.

Speaking at plenary on Tuesday, July 4, 2017, Senator Issa Misau described Osinbajos letter as a case of double standard.

"I look at the issue of the confirmation brought today like a double standard or a kind of hypocrisy Missau said.

"Clearly, it shows that they don't want this national assembly to function properly. There are people that the government wants them even without confirmation to work and there are certain people that they are bringing because they have interest.

ALSO READ: Senate confirms 15 Resident Electoral Commissioners

"This shows that it is a matter of interest and Mr President we are not able to define corruption properly in this national assembly because most times we associate corruption with financial misappropriation or has to do with money. But then again a lot of things that the highest forms of corruption in terms of appointment when it comes to appointment - they bring the appointment of friends without due process and that is corruption.

"We must stand and speak the truth no matter what, what they are doing is just blackmail because I remember when they somebody blow whistle - in the executive, ministers, former ex-governors, have never been investigated, even the minister castigating the national assembly on Lagos-Ibadan road, there is corruption allegation under him. But most times when they harass our people, we keep quiet, we don't hit back. This is issue of double standard, I hope Nigerians are watching, as long as we are operating the national assembly they must respect it," he added.

In his contribution, Senator Dino Melaye urged the Saraki to stop reading letters from the executive arm of government seeking Senate confirmation of any nominee.

The Senate confirmed some Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs), the executive swore in some, and rejected some. Now he is sending us name. That is an insult and we cannot take it.

Mr President, let it not be heard that it was during your time that the institution of the Senate lost its powers. I want to move a motion to prevent you (Saraki) from reading any letter from the executive seeking the confirmation of any nominee. It should become abominable, Melaye said.
For today, Tuesday, July 4, 2017:

THE GUARDIAN

PDP ex-ministers challenge Buhari to re-contest in 2019

Former ministers who served in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) administration rose from an emergency meeting yesterday challenging ailing President Muhammadu Buhari to contest the 2019 elections.

Frontline diplomat, Maitama Sule, dies at 87

Elder statesman and former Nigerias representative to the United Nations, Alhaji Yusuf Maitama Sule, is dead. He was 87 years old. Confirming the death, the only surviving son of the late orator and Dan Masani Kano, Alhaji Mukhtar Maitama Sule told The Guardian at his Dawakin residence that his father passed on at an Egyptian hospital in the early hours of yesterday.

Heart-thumping narratives

Nigeria has been awash in recent times with heart-thumping narratives. Some of the stories are capable of bringing tears to your eyes or laughter to your lips. Whether they are tears of joy or of pain, the truth is that they evoke a mesmerising emotion in you.

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VANGUARD NEWSPAPER

Restructuring: Southern leaders give Oyegun hard knocks

FROM the lips of a host of South-South and South-East leaders, it is hard knocks for National Chairman of All Progressives Congress, APC, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, over his comments that the APC did not promise restructuring but devolution of power.

Badoo boys move to Ogun as Police screen 38 more

Indications emerged, yesterday, that the dreaded Badoo cult group has extended its gruesome killings of defenceless Nigerians to Ogun State, following the arrest of suspected members in Ogijo area of the state, weekend.

No deadline to actualize Biafra  Kanu

The leader of Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu, has said that IPOB did not give any deadline for the actualization of the sovereign state of Biafra and neither did he say there would be no election without a referendum on Biafra, but government is using media to spread false information about him and the agitation for Biafra.

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THE PUNCH NEWSPAPER

INEC releases timetable for Melayes recall

The Independent National Electoral Commission on Monday in Abuja, released the timetable and schedule of activities for the recall of Senator Dino Melaye, who represents Kogi West Senatorial District, Kogi State in the Senate.

Sambos house raid: PDP, APC exchange words on anti-graft war

The National Caretaker Committee of the Peoples Democratic Party and the ruling All Progressives Congress, on Monday, engaged in a war of words over the search of former Vice-President Namadi Sambos residence in Kaduna by security agencies.

Badoo: Lagos comedian lynched as residents, landlords buy more weapons

A Lagos-based comedian, Chinedu Paul, aka Think Twice, has been identified as one of the three persons mistaken for members of the Badoo cult and lynched on Saturday by angry residents in Odogunyan, Ikorodu, Lagos State.

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THE THISDAY NEWSPAPER

Book on Maimalari Reopens Wounds from First Coup

A new book titled The First Regular Combatant: Brigadier General Zakariya Maimalari is bound to reopen the wounds of the January 15, 1966 military coup that brought an end to the First Republic and eventually led to the Nigerian Civil War.

Maitama Sule: An Eloquent Unifier Dies in Heat of National Strife

Yusuf Maitama Sule could well have been the cat with nine lives. Twice, first in 2013, then in 2016, he was speculated dead only for family and friends of the celebrated political orator from the core North-western part of the country to clarify that, though ripe in age, he was well and still kicking. Monday, however, in the faraway ancient city of Cairo in Egypt, he died. He was 88 years old. The nation mourns.

Etisalat CEO, CFO Resign as Crisis Deepens

The debt crisis rocking Etisalat Nigeria took a new turn Monday when the companys chief executive officer (CEO), Mr. Matthew Willsher, and chief financial officer (CFO), Mr. Wole Obasunloye, resigned their appointments.

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THE BUSINESSDAY NEWSPAPER

President Buharis job safe despite indefinite sick leave

The National Assembly may have a hard time if it ever considers impeaching President Muhammadu Buhari for being away from office on health grounds, amid heightening concerns on the presidents long absence from work and secrecy around his health status.

Nigerias tax revenues could hit N19 trillion annually

A new scheme targeted at taking Nigerias tax to GDP ratio from six percent to 15 percent by 2020 could add some N19 trillion to public funds and prove the countrys biggest step yet, along the painstaking road to revenue diversification.

I&E FX window offers Nigeria light at end of the tunnel
Vanguard reports that the ex- governor was arrested by men of the anti-graft agency on Tuesday, July 4, 2017 at the public presentation of a book in Abuja.

Confirming the arrest, spokesman of the EFCC, Wilson Uwujaren, said: What is there to confirm? It is true.

Turaki, who was in office between 1999 and 2007, was declared wanted by the agency in 2014 after allegedly failing to attend a fraud charge trial since 2011.

The ex-governor currently faces a 36-count charge bordering on criminal conspiracy, stealing, money laundering and misappropriation of public funds before the Federal High Court in Dutse, Jigawa.

ALSO READ: EFCC raids Saminu Turaki's house

It was further reported that Justice S. Yahuza gave the order for Turaki's arrest after he consistently failed to attend trial.
As we head into the second half of the year 2017, it's time to take a look at what the year has offered so far in forms of feature and short films.

While we would love to include Tope Alake's "Picture Perfect," were only ranking movies that were released before July 1, 2017.

There are still a number of outstanding productions expected to grace our screens in months to come, but, for now, let's focus on the best so far, in no particular order.

This list also features stand-out Nigerian short movies.

1. "Isoken"

In her debut feature movie, Jade Osiberu tells the story of the universal and overwhelming pressure women and even men, face to get married, with Dakore Akande leading a star-studded cast.

Despite being a familiar and exhausted topic in Nigeria, "Isoken" still fleshes out the issue of marital pressure in all of its raw, hilarious, messy, and complicated glory

The laughs are accompanied by insights into friendship, love, societal pressure, self-confidence, courage and stereotypes.

"Isoken" explores a lot of topical issues. Maybe not in-depth, but enough to kick off conversations on various social media platforms.

A tribute to those coping with the loss and effects of losing a loved one, Kunle Afolayan's "Roti" is a psychological drama that explores the pain and loss felt by parents who lose a child they waited 10 years to have.

Kate Henshaw and Afolayan give great performances of grief-stricken parents on a journey of recovery, with Henshaw absorbing herself in the character, so much that her pain is almost real.

Its treatment of a sensitive topic such as mental illness is applaudable. It takes away spiritualism and tackles mental instability in the best way possible.

3. "Ojukokoro"

Dare Olaitan's "Ojukokoro" captures the brutality that comes with violence, and still finds a way to play it simultaneously with funny scenarios and witty conversations.

The movie features an ensemble cast that inadvertently merges together to give viewers a clear understanding of their different characters.

Mixed with violence and humour, the comedy/crime-heist about a money-strapped manager of a shady Petrol Station who decides to rob his employers, but along the line, finds out in a sudden twist that he is not alone in his ambition, is an entertaining watch.

4. "Slow Country"

A hybrid of the romance and action genre, the Eric Aghimien movie follows the story of a homeless teenage mother, Kome, who finds herself trapped in prostitution and drug trafficking for seven years in order to secure a good life for her son.

On the basis of stunts and special effects, "Slow Country" is a visual delight. It is rich with apt acting and stunning cinematography.

Not every movie has a moral lesson and "Slow Country" is one of those without one. It's simply a well-made action thriller that highlights the plight of some single mothers and prostitutes.

Short Films

The Asurf Oluseyi's short movie doesn't justify, support or condemn homosexuality. It simply starts a necessary conversation about homophobia, sexuality and religion in Nigeria.

"Hell or High Water" tells the story of a young married pastor, who is loved and adored by the members of his church.

Things take a different turn for him when he has to confront his sexuality - an act that breaks him spiritually, emotionally and psychologically.

Perfectly interpreted by Enyinna Nwigwe and Daniel K Daniel, the film avoids popular cliches that are usually seen in Nollywood movies with homosexuality themes.

A short film set in the mid-90s in a ghetto brothel in Lagos, Ifeoma Nkiruka Chukwuogo's "Bariga Sugar" is an emotional one that conveys the deep sense of humanity.

The film tells the story of an 8-year-old Ese, who lives in Bariga Sugar, a ghetto brothel owned by Madam Sugar in Lagos.

One day, 10-year-old Jamil and his mother Hanatu move into the brothel. Often neglected, lonely and socially awkward, Ese and Jamil begin an unlikely friendship.

Its beauty is not in its 'high quality' production, but in its original story and setting.

7. "Through Her Eyes"

A well interpreted short film, "Through Her Eyes" plays out like a prospectus for a feature. The director Nadine Ibrahim uses the movie as a springboard to address a very topical issue; the rise of child terrorists.

In "Through the Eyes," Azeeza, a young girl abducted by a terrorist group is forced to witness and do things that tarnish her life forever.

Out of the daily heartbreaking life events, Nadine carves out a thought provoking screenplay worth applauding.
1. Born Remilekun Oshodi, the actress is a native of Ondo State.

2. In 2016, the actress ventured into the music business and opened a music studio in Ikeja, Lagos State.

3. Oshodi kicked off her acting career in 1985 with the classic TV series, "Village Headmaster" and "Sparks."

4. Oshodi shot into limelight with role in the indigenous movie "Surutu" as the titular character.

5. Her first paycheck as an actress was 35 naira for her role in the movie "Sparks." She earned 75 naira for her role in "Village Headmaster."

6. The actress took a break from acting to work as a mortician. Before she returned to the Nigerian film industry, the actress worked for the popular funeral service company, Ebony Caskets.
In a recent report by Premium Times, the Kogi West Senator urged his colleagues to save him from being recalled by his constituents by citing Order 14 of the Senate Rule and pleaded with his colleagues to act.

While pleading with other Senators, Melaye restated that his recall was masterminded by his state governor, Yahaya Bello.

Melaye's appeal to the Senate is coming as the Independent National Electoral Commission unveiled a timetable and modalities for the exercise at his Kogi West Senatorial District.

ALSO READ: Dino Melaye's recall is only a waste of time

The senator restated his claim that his recall was masterminded by his state governor, Yahaya Bello

Responding to his plea, the Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, assured Mr. Melaye of the upper chambers support, proclaiming the recall process dead on arrival.
Rival political parties have said that we are afraid of conducting local government polls because we shall lose; that cannot be true. If the elections are conducted today, we shall sweep all the seats.

Our primary focus is to ensure that there is peace in Plateau. That has been our major concern. Now that we have stabilised the polity, elections will soon follow, Lalong said in Pankshin.

He spoke during an empowerment programme organised by Sen. Joshua Dariye (Plateau Central), for his constituents.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the 17 local governments had been under Interim Management Committees since 2015 when Lalong sacked officials elected in November 2014.

Elected office holders from rival political parties have claimed that the government was afraid to conduct elections because the APC had become unpopular and would be defeated in any fair political contest.

He said that governments focus had been to make Plateau a peaceful state so that development would flourish, and declared that elections would come naturally, thereafter.

Lalong, however, said that the Plateau State Independent Electoral Commission (PLASIEC) had gone far in its preparations for the polls, and assured Plateau people that the elections would hold very soon.

The governor commended Dariye for the gesture to his constituents, and described the gifts as very encouraging.

He advised other politicians to emulate the former governors love for the masses, and cautioned politicians against turning their backs on the electorate after winning elections.

Lalong said that Dariye had been his strong political pillar over the years, saying that he would remain eternally grateful to him.
According to a Daily Times report, the chairman of the new board will be CBN Deputy Governor Okwu Joseph Nnanna. Nnanna is currently in charge of Financial System Stability at the CBN and also heads the Economic Policy Directorate of the apex bank.

Boye Olusanya, a former Deputy Managing Director at Celtel Nigeria (now Airtel Nigeria) has also been named as Etisalat Nigerias new CEO with Funke Ighodaro, a former CFO and Executive Director of Tiger Branded Consumer Goods Company (formerly Dangote Flour Mills), appointed as the telcos new CFO.

Daily Times reports that they have all resumed this morning.

The report also says that the transition agreement was brokered by the Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC) and the CBN, both of whom have been actively involved in finding a resolution to the loan drama. An official announcement on the interim management team will be made by Etisalat Nigeria at a later time.

Etisalat Nigeria has been involved in a series of takeover attempts by a consortium of Nigerian banks it owes a $1.2 billion loan facility which it has defaulted on due to various economic circumstances.

As a result, Mubadala Group, a major investor in the company based in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), pulled out of the company while its chairman, Hakeem Bello-Osagie also stepped down.
Paradigm Initiative, a pan-African digital rights advocacy organisation had made an FOI request to the Ministry to ascertain the details surrounding the proposed launch of two satellites by the National Space Development and Research Agency (NASRDA), an agency under the Ministry.

With the Ministry refusing to provide the requested information on the proposed launch of the satellites, the Initiative took the matter to the courts.

Following an ex-parte motion by the Initiatives counsel, Olumide Babalola, Justice Nnamdi Dimgba of the Federal High Court in Abuja, gave the order granting the Initiative the leverage to move ahead with its suit against the Ministry and the Minister of Science and Technology, Ogbonnaya Onu, who are both respondents in the case.

In the suit filed June 1, 2017, with suit no FHC/ABJ/CS/481/2017, Paradigm Initiative seeks a declaration that the failure and/or refusal of the respondents to disclose or make available to the Applicant the information requested by the applicants letter dated 3rd day of May 2017 amounts to a violation of the Applicants right of access to information as guaranteed by Section 1 (1) of the Freedom of Information Act, 2011.

Paradigm Initiative is also seeking an order of mandamus to compel the Ministry to disclose the following information: the specifications of the two new satellites to be launched by the Respondents and details of their intended use, according to a statement from the Initiative.
MONITORING DESK



KARACHI: After a span of nine days, public transport and business activities have been resumed with strict adherence to COVID-19 standard operating procedures (SOPs) in Sindh, Aaj News reported.



According to a notification issued by the Sindh home department, businesses are allowed to open from 6 am to 8 pm five days a week. Saturday and Sunday will be observed as closed days for business, read the notification.



However, restaurants and food streets will remain closed with no indoor or outdoor dining. However, only home delivery and drive-through is allowed till 12 am. Public transport is allowed to resume its services with 50 percent occupancy and strict adherence to Covid-19 related SOPs.



The provincial government has resumed normal working hours for public and private offices.




At 7:30 am (5:30 GMT), sirens wailed in four northern parts of the city, which lies on the Rwanda border in the path of lava flow from the Nyirangongo Volcano, 20 kilometres (12 miles) to the north.

Previous eruptions have claimed hundreds of lives.

Residents of districts at risk in the capital of North Kivu province were asked to leave their homes and gather three kilometres to the south in the Afia stadium, where white tents were ready for them.

For almost three hours, groups of about 10 to 20 people headed for the stadium in two columns, with possessions ranging from motorbikes to mattresses, kitchenware and prized furniture. They helped children and had domestic animals in tow.

"We're conducting an exercise to simulate a volcanic eruption in order to show the 500 families who live on the potential paths of lava flow how to behave in the event of major volcanic activity," the head of North Kivu's civil protection service, Joseph Makundi, told AFP.

At the end of the exercise, participants would be advised on practical measures such as how to keep order and avoid slowing others down, as well as the most practical items to take on leaving home, Makundi added.

"The population is expected to follow the advice of experts at the OVG (Goma Volcanologic Observatory), because they monitor the daily activity of the volcanos" in the Virunga mountain chain, North Kivu deputy governor Feler Lutaichirwa said.

More than 100 people died in the last eruption of 3,000-metre (10,000-feet) Nyirangongo in 2002. Lava reached Goma in less than an hour and flowed over much of the east of the city, including half of the runway at the airport.
The European Union said the threat of poll clashes which pushed Kenya to the brink 10 years ago, could not be dismissed.

"It is no secret that there are concerns about the possible outbreak of violence. This is not inevitable," said Marietje Schaake, head of the EU Election Observation Mission, as she promised "an honest and impartial assessment" of the coming vote.

With violence "everybody loses," said the Dutch member of the European Parliament.

Kenyans will next month choose a new president as well as parliamentarians and senators, county governors and assembly members.

The vote comes a decade after a disputed election in 2007 led to the deaths of over 1,100 people, while more than 600,000 more were displaced.

The last election, in 2013, was mostly peaceful and this year's poll will be a re-run of that competition between the incumbent Kenyatta and Odinga, who has missed out in three previous attempts at the presidency.

Odinga has repeatedly claimed the government is scheming to steal the election, cheating him of victory.

In a statement Monday his Orange Democratic Party (ODM) urged observers, including the EU, to take note of what it said were "deliberate" efforts to tamper with the voter register.

Audit firm KPMG said in a report last month that there may be as many as one million dead people still on the list of 19.6 million voters.

The initial 30-strong EU team is among a host of international and national observers being deployed across Kenya ahead of the vote.

Also on Monday advocacy group Human Rights Watch said it had received reports of threats and voter intimidation in Naivasha, a flashpoint town in 2007 and one of the potential hotspots in this year's election.
"Do you want this car? Kill dictatorship!" said the slogan.

Erdogan is frequently accused by opponents of acting like a dictator, although he rubbishes the idea, noting that he is the first directly-elected president in Turkish history.

The action was staged by the art collective Centre for Political Beauty led bv Phillip Ruch, which has made several stunts in the past including displaying four tigers in the centre of Berlin to protest at refugee policy.

Turkey's embassy to Berlin said it was "incomprehensible and unacceptable" that Ruch had been allowed to set up such an installation with no intervention from the local security forces.

"It is clear that in such a sensitive time when communal peace and shared values need to be protected, these kinds of actions encouraging hatred and violence will not serve peace," the embassy said in a statement.

It said an "urgent note" had been sent to the German foreign ministry to make the protest.

All three leaders targeted in the stunt were due to attend the G20 summit in Hamburg this Friday and Saturday although King Salman has now cancelled his trip.

Turkey-German relations are going through a rocky period with Berlin stepping up its criticism of Ankara's rights record under Erdogan.

In another incident claimed by the Centre for Political Beauty, Turkish police at the weekend said they had seized from a hotel room in the centre of Istanbul a machine that was printing and distributing anti-Erdogan pamphlets onto the street below.

Reports on Turkish media said police were looking for a German citizen who had already left the country.
With 80,000 tobacco-related deaths in France each year, "doing nothing is not an option," Philippe said Tuesday, announcing a plan to raise the price of a packet of cigarettes to 10 euros ($11.3) from the current seven euros.

Tobacco "is the leading cause of preventable death, and daily use is growing among adolescents," the premier said in a speech to parliament.

Philippe did not give a timeline for the price hike, which he said would be accompanied by "a merciless fight against traffickers who undermine this policy."

French smokers already pay some of the highest prices for cigarettes in the European Union, surpassed only by Britain and Ireland.

Around 80 percent of the cost of a pack goes to the government in tax, bringing in 14 billion euros in revenue each year.

An estimated 16 million people smoke at least occasionally in France -- about one in three aged between 15 and 85.

Last year, the government introduced neutral cigarette packets covered with graphic health warnings.
Straddling Poland's eastern border with Belarus, Bialowieza boasts unique plant and animal life -- including the continent's largest mammal, the European bison -- as well as one of the largest surviving parts of the primeval forest that covered the European plain 10,000 years ago.

Toting signs with slogans such as "I love the forest" and "The forest should remain wild," the environmental activists from groups such as Greenpeace protested against the logging in Bialowieza.

The Polish government has said it authorised the logging, which began in May last year, to contain damage caused by a spruce bark beetle infestation and to fight the risk of forest fires.

Separated off by a police cordon, the forest rangers shouted words of support for Environment Minister Jan Szyszko and Konrad Tomaszewski, the director general of state forests.

The rangers believe the logging is meant to protect Bialowieza, while ecologists allege the infestation explanation is being used as a cover for commercial cutting of protected old-growth forests.

Scientists and the European Union have also protested the logging. In late April, the European Commission gave Polish authorities a "final warning" to address its concerns over the forest or face being summoned by the EU's top court.
The two critically injured firefighters sustained second-degree burns, spokesman Jorge Dias said, while the others had less severe burns or suffered from smoke inhalation.

Some 170 firefighters and 50 vehicles however were still fighting the blaze.

The latest forest fire comes two weeks after a giant blaze broke out at Pedrogao Grande, about 75 kilometres (47 miles) north of Tramagal, and spread to adjacent central areas including Gois, Pampilhosa da Serra and Arganil.

That fire raged for five days, killing 64 people and injuring more than 250, with many trapped in their cars by the flames.
Lee Hsien Yang accused Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, 65, of falsely telling parliament Monday that their father had been open to reconsidering plans to demolish a century-old family bungalow.

The house is at the centre of a political drama that has simmered since the 2015 death of the elder Lee, and which has played out in public with the PM and his siblings exchanging barbs on social media, shocking a tightly controlled nation unused to divisions among the elite.

The patriarch had wanted the bungalow destroyed after he passed away to prevent the creation of a personality cult.

But the prime minister's siblings say their brother is attempting to block the house's demolition to capitalise on their father's legacy for his own political agenda, including grooming his own son as a future leader.

"(Lee Hsien Loong) has made convoluted, but ultimately false, claims about Lee Kuan Yew's wishes," the 60-year-old said in a Facebook post Tuesday, which was shared by his sister Wei Ling, 62.

The dispute burst into the open last month when the PM's brother and sister launched attacks on Facebook, which quickly went viral.

In Monday's speech, the PM said that despite a "demolition clause" governing the house in his final will, his father was "prepared to consider alternatives", and had even approved renovation plans should the government decide against tearing down the building.

However Hsien Yang said that his father had been misled by the prime minister into agreeing to the renovation, with the elder Lee made to believe the house had been listed as a national monument so could not be torn down -- a claim of which the founding leader's lawyer had found no evidence.

Lee Kuan Yew, the countrys authoritarian first prime minister, ruled Singapore from 1959 to 1990.

His death at age 91 sparked a massive outpouring of grief among Singaporeans, many of whom credit the family patriarch with turning Singapore from a poor former British colony into one of the worlds wealthiest and most stable societies.
In an address to lawmakers later, Ortega complained that officials had burst into her offices like a "riot." She insisted she would cooperate with an audit as long as they showed "respect."

Ortega faces a court hearing Tuesday that could lead to her being put on trial over alleged misconduct.

Her supporters say it is punishment for her challenging the government and its allies, whom she has accused of breaching the constitution.

Her stand against President Nicolas Maduro has raised the prospect of a split in the government camp.
A longtime sympathizer of the socialist movement that brought President Nicolas Maduro to power, Ortega, 59, says her relatives have received threats since she has emerged as the biggest challenge to his authority.

Her legal challenges have put more pressure on Maduro than months of legislative maneuvers by the opposition MUD coalition, which blames the president for Venezuela's economic collapse.

In return, Maduro's allies have set the state judiciary in motion against her.

On Tuesday the Supreme Court will hear charges of misconduct brought against her by government allies. It will rule whether Ortega should be suspended from office and face trial.

"Now more than ever we have to unite and join forces to restore the state of law," she said in a video message released Monday.

'Dutiful' or 'traitor'

Maduro has branded Ortega a traitor.

Pro-government lawmaker Pedro Carreno on June 13 filed a motion in the legislature calling for experts to declare Ortega was suffering from "insanity."

He also filed charges in the Supreme Court accusing Ortega of "serious errors in the carrying-out of her functions."

Ortega's husband of 18 years, socialist lawmaker German Ferrer, said she was "doing her duty" in defying Maduro.

"She would face up to anything to defend her values. She is the guarantor of legality in this country," he told AFP.

"She is a very level-headed person, brave and honest."

Ortega was a supporter of "Chavismo," the socialist "revolution" movement launched by Maduro's late predecessor Hugo Chavez in the 1990s.

She was named state attorney for Caracas in 2002, and that year secured the convictions of police officers who attempted to topple Chavez in a failed coup.

Chavez approved her appointment as attorney general in 2007, and she was re-appointed in 2014 by a pro-Chavez legislature.

Ortega was also behind the controversial case that led to prominent opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez being handed a 14-year prison sentence in 2014 for allegedly inciting violence.

Another prosecutor in that case later fled Venezuela and declared that Lopez's conviction was ill-founded.

Lopez's lawyer Juan Carlos Gutierrez described Ortega as "an affable and respectful woman."

But he said that "in Leopoldo's case the public prosecution acted in a very irregular manner."

Disillusioned with government

Ortega's husband said that she became disillusioned with the government last year when the political conflict deepened and more opponents were locked up.

Ortega spoke out publicly when the Supreme Court tried to seize power from the legislative National Assembly in late March. She branded the short-lived move "a breach of constitutional order."

The rift laid bare by that declaration has since appeared to widen. If a party stalwart such as Ortega can break ranks, analysts say, others might follow.

Ortega has filed legal challenges against Maduro's plan for constitutional reform, alleging it is a threat to democracy and human rights.

She has accused the military of repressing protesters in deadly anti-government clashes that have left 89 people dead.

And she tried to sue the Supreme Court judges themselves, questioning the grounds on which they were appointed.

Pro-Chavez political scientist Nicmer Evans, a Maduro critic, said Ortega had a critical role to play in "restoring the country's institutions."
He said the 27 were arrested on Sunday at UPEL university in the northern city of Maracay after protests against the government.

Five other suspects, all women, were sentenced to house arrest after being detained on the same occasion, according to Romero.

Foro Penal had previously warned that scores of people were being brought before military courts over civil charges relating to recent months of anti-government unrest.

It said the 27 students were sent to regular jails, bringing to 433 the total number of what Foro Penal terms "political prisoners" in Venezuela.

President Nicolas Maduro is under mounting pressure after three months of unrest that prosecutors say have left 89 people dead.

Demonstrators blame Maduro for a desperate economic crisis in the oil-rich country. They want elections to replace him and accuse authorities of repressing protesters.
RECORDER REPORT



KARACHI: Oil and Gas Development Company Limited (OGDCL) as operator (100 percent) of Jandran Exploration Licence has discovered gas from its exploratory well Jandran X-04, which is located in District Barkhan, Balochistan.



According to material information sent to Pakistan Stock Exchange on Monday, the structure of Jandran X-04 was delineated, drilled and tested using OGDCLs in-house expertise.



The well was drilled down to the depth of 1200m into Parh Limestone. Based on Wireline logs data successfully DST was carried out in Mughal Kot Formation wherein the Well tested 7.08 million standard cubic feet per day (mmscfd) gas and 0.55 barrels per day condensate with Well Head Flowing Pressure of 1300 pounds per square inch (Psi) at 32/64 choke size.



The discovery of Jandran X-04 is the result of aggressive exploration strategy adopted by the Company, the OGDCL said adding that it has opened a new avenue and would add to the hydrocarbon reserves of OGDCL and the country.




His comments came as heads of state gathered at the union's headquarters in the Ethiopian capital for a bi-annual meeting as fears rise of mass starvation because of conflict and a biting drought.

"I cannot hide my deep frustration at the silence and inaction of Africans in the face of the terrible tragedy of famine in these regions," said Faki, a former Chadian foreign minister elected in January as chairperson of the AU commission.

"What happened to the African values of solidarity and fraternity? What happened to our civil society?"

Faki's election came days after the United Nations said the world was facing "the worst humanitarian crisis since the end of the Second World War," with 20 million people facing malnutrition and famine in Yemen, Somalia, South Sudan and Nigeria.

An official declaration of famine in South Sudan was lifted in June after four months, though the situation there and in the three other countries remains desperate.

The situation could be set to worsen as the much-anticipated rainy season in the Horn of Africa draws to a close. The rains were declared "significantly below average" by the weather monitoring group FEWSNET.

The AU summit will focus on issues including how to reform the body and make it financially independent from foreign donors.

African leaders are also facing with the security threat in the Sahel and unresolved crises in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and South Sudan.

"At its last summit in January 2017, the AU called for the implementation of the 2015 peace deal, but there is no momentum in getting the South Sudanese government to adhere to it," the Institute for Security Studies wrote last month.

The think-tank also highlighted a lack of progress in deploying a regional protection force authorised by the UN last year.

While there is little sign of a breakthrough on the major crises afflicting the continent, Faki was resolute in making security a priority.

His predecessor Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma had come under fire for neglecting the issue.

"We remain vigorously focused on the need to reduce tensions and give priority to political solutions in regions where tensions remain, alas, still alive," Faki said.
Late 1970s: Starts working on a version of the Soviet Scud-B (range 300 kilometres or 186 miles). Test-fired in 1984

1987-92: Begins developing variant of Scud-C (500 km), Rodong-1 (1,300 km), Taepodong-1 (2,500 km), Musudan-1 (3,000 km) and Taepodong-2 (6,700 km)

Aug 1998: Test-fires Taepodong-1 over Japan as part of failed satellite launch

Sept 1999: Declares moratorium on long-range missile tests amid improving ties with US

July 12, 2000: Fifth round of US-North Korean missile talks ends without agreement after North demands $1 billion a year in return for halting missile exports

March 3, 2005: North ends moratorium on long-range missile testing, blames Bush administration's "hostile" policy

July 5, 2006: North test-fires seven missiles, including a long-range Taepodong-2 which explodes after 40 seconds

Oct 9, 2006: North conducts underground nuclear test, its first

April 5, 2009: North Korea launches long-range rocket which flies over Japan and lands in the Pacific, in what it says is an attempt to put a satellite into orbit. The United States, Japan and South Korea see it as a disguised test of a Taepodong-2

May 25, 2009: North conducts its second underground nuclear test, several times more powerful than the first

April 13, 2012: North launches what it has said is a long-range rocket to put a satellite into orbit, but it disintegrates soon after blast-off

December 12, 2012: North launches a multi-stage rocket and successfully places an Earth observational satellite in orbit

February 12, 2013: Conducts its third underground nuclear test

January 6, 2016: North conducts its fourth underground nuclear test, which it says was of a hydrogen bomb -- a claim doubted by most experts

March 9, 2016: Kim Jong-Un claims the North has successfully miniaturised a thermo-nuclear warhead

April 23, 2016: North test-fires a submarine-launched ballistic missile

July 8, 2016: US and South Korea announce plans to deploy an advanced missile defence system -- THAAD (Terminal High Altitude Area Defense)

August 3, 2016: North Korea fires a ballistic missile directly into Japan's maritime economic zone for the first time

September 9, 2016: Fifth nuclear test

March 6, 2017: North fires four ballistic missiles in what it says is an exercise to hit US bases in Japan

March 7, 2017: US begins deploying THAAD missile defence system in South Korea

May 14, 2017: North fires a ballistic missile which flies 700 kilometres before landing in the Sea of Japan. Analysts say it has an imputed range of 4,500 kilometres and brings Guam within reach
The landmark decision will serve as a blueprint for future cooperation between countries and the International Criminal Court, experts say.

It will also highlight that the tribunal based in The Hague can only function with the support of its member states and the backing of the UN Security Council.

"The ruling is... fundamental for future compliance," said Carsten Stahn, international criminal law professor at Leiden University.

A decision against South Africa "would send an important message that states cannot negotiate (their) legal obligations with the court," he told AFP.

Bitter dispute

Despite two international arrest warrants issued in 2009 and 2010, Bashir remains at large and in office amid a raging conflict in the western Sudanese region of Darfur.

The long-time ruler has denied the ICC's charges, including three accusations of genocide as well as war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The deadly conflict erupted in 2003 when ethnic minority groups took up arms against Bashir's Arab-dominated government, which launched a brutal counter-insurgency.

The UN Security Council asked the ICC in 2005 to probe the crimes in Darfur, where at least 300,000 people have been killed and 2.5 million displaced, according to UN figures.

Bashir continues to travel and Khartoum announced Monday he will visit Moscow for the first time in August following an invitation by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Russia formally withdrew its signature in November from the ICC's founding Rome Statute, a treaty Moscow has never ratified.

Pretoria and the ICC became embroiled in a bitter tangle in 2015 when Bashir attended an African Union summit in Johannesburg.

Despite the arrest warrants, Bashir then flew home unhindered. It remains unclear whether he did so with the tacit approval of South African President Jacob Zuma's government.

At a landmark hearing in April, Pretoria disputed accusations by the ICC's prosecutors that it had broken its obligations to the very same tribunal it helped found in 2002.

Angry prosecutors stated Pretoria "had the ability to arrest and surrender Mr al-Bashir and it chose not to do so."

Pretoria's lawyers argued there "was no duty under international law on South Africa to arrest" Bashir, saying he enjoyed diplomatic immunity.

'Complicated matter'

International law experts agree the ICC's judges are likely to find South Africa failed in its obligations to arrest and surrender Bashir.

But they added it was not a simple matter of rapping Pretoria over the knuckles.

"The manner and tone in which the decision is meted out will be of utmost importance," said international law expert Mark Kersten of the University of Toronto.

"It is possible, and what many hope, is that the decision will show some degree of understanding, and perhaps lenience towards South Africa and suggest that the matter continues to be debated at the appeals level," Kersten told AFP.

The ICC's judges could also refer the case to the court's Assembly of States Parties or the UN Security Council for further action.

Withdrawal?

Zuma last week reiterated South Africa's intentions to pull out of the ICC, saying it was "rectifying procedural challenges."

South Africa announced it had told the United Nations in October that it was pulling out of the ICC following the Bashir debacle.

But a South African court in February ordered Pretoria to reverse the decision, saying it was unconstitutional.

Kaajal Ramjathan-Keogh, executive director at the Southern Africa Litigation Centre, said it was far from certain judges will refer the case to the UN Security Council amid "certain sensitivities" about Pretoria's continued membership.

And if they do then "the effect, looking at the ICC's history, is going to be minimal," she added.

Last month, the ICC's chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda renewed her call for UN Security Council support in "efforts to execute the arrest warrants" against Bashir.
The announcement of Bashir's Russia visit comes days before the United States is expected to announce if it will permanently lift a 20-year trade embargo on Khartoum.

"President Bashir will visit Russia in the second half of August following an invitation from ," Sudan's Foreign Minister Ibrahim Ghandour said in a statement.

"Russia has been a key supporter of Sudan in the UN Security Council and other international organisations, and there has been continuous cooperation between the two countries at all levels," Ghandour said.

Analysts said this was the first time that an overseas trip planned by Bashir had been announced weeks in advance.

"It looks like Sudan wants to send a message to the United States that we have other alternatives if it does not lift the sanctions," Khalid Tigani, editor of Elaff newspaper, told AFP.

The administration of US President Donald Trump is due to decide on July 12 whether to permanently lift the sanctions that Washington imposed on Khartoum in 1997 for its alleged support for Islamist militant groups.

Former US president Barack Obama eased the sanctions in January, but made their permanent lifting dependent on Khartoum making progress in five areas during a six-month review period that ends next week.

These conditions include improved access for aid groups, halting support for rebels in neighbouring South Sudan, an end to hostilities in Darfur, Blue Nile and South Kordofan, and counterterrorism cooperation with US intelligence agencies.

The top US envoy to Sudan, charge d'affaires Steven Koutsis, told AFP last month that Khartoum has made "positive" steps towards meeting these conditions.

Bashir's international visits are always a concern given that he is wanted by The Hague-based International Criminal Court on charges of war crimes and genocide related to the conflict in Darfur. Bashir denies these charges.
Khadr, a Canadian citizen, became the youngest prisoner at the US detention camp in Cuba following his capture from Afghanistan in 2002.

Canada's Supreme Court in 2010 ruled that his rights had been violated by Ottawa, which shared statements he made to Canadian officials with the United States.

While at Guantanamo, he was sentenced in 2010 to eight years plus time already served for murdering a US soldier with a grenade, attempted murder, conspiracy, providing material support for terrorism and spying.

He won the right to be extradited and was sent home to Canada in 2012 to serve the remainder of his sentence.

His lawyers fought for several years to have his status as a minor at the time of the attack recognized. Canada's Supreme Court finally agreed one week before his conditional release in 2015.

His legal team was pursuing Can$20 million against the Canadian government because his rights as a prisoner were violated.

Public Safety Canada said the government was not in a position to provide additional information owing to the strictly confidential nature of the case.

"There is a judicial process underway that has been underway for a number of years now, and we are anticipating, like I think a number of people are, that that judicial process is coming to its conclusion," Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told reporters in Ireland.

The ruling has precedent. In March, Ottawa apologized to three of its citizens who were tortured in Syria, allegedly with the indirect participation of Canadian officials.

The government said it had settled civil suits with three Canadian nationals -- Abdullah Almalki, Ahmad Abou Elmaati and Muayyed Nureddin -- who were arrested and tortured in Syrian custody just after the 9/11 attacks and detained until 2004.

In a similar case, Canadian computer engineer Maher Arar was tortured in a Damascus prison in 2002, after he was transferred there by US officials based on a Canadian tip-off.
Citing leaked emails, local media alleged last week that $3.3-million meant to help poor farmers was instead moved through companies owned by the Guptas and used to settle bills for the 2013 wedding.

The four-day event marked the marriage of a niece of one of the Gupta brothers. The wealthy Indian business family is at the centre of a slew of graft scandals surrounding Zuma.

The brothers, who have taken South African citizenship, are accused of wielding undue influence over the president and being unfairly awarded lucrative government contracts.

The Democratic Alliance party has asked police to probe the wedding costs.

"The fact that public funds, meant to assist the poor, were allegedly used to pay for President Jacob Zuma's number one clients, the Guptas', family wedding is grotesque," said DA lawmaker David Maynier.

It "must be investigated without fear or favour," he added.

There was no immediate confirmation from police that the matter would be investigated.

The wedding, attended by several government ministers, was held at Sun City, a luxury casino resort 200 kilometres (125 miles) northwest of Johannesburg.

The Guptas' influence over the government was highlighted when a large private jet carrying foreign guests to the event was allowed to land at Waterkloof Air Force base, outside Pretoria.

The airport is a military facility normally used to receive heads of state.

Guests did not go through normal immigration checks, and were given a police escort to the wedding venue.
"If the majority of votes are for creating a Catalan republic, obviously independence will have to be declared immediately," said Gabriela Serra, a member of the separatist coalition that governs Catalonia.

Her comments came as the coalition introduced a law aimed at extracting the northeastern region from Spain's legal system, in a bid to circumvent all legal and practical challenges to organising a referendum.

It will be submitted to a vote in the regional parliament, where separatists hold a majority, at the end of August.

Catalonia, a wealthy region of 7.5 million inhabitants with its own language and customs, has long demanded greater autonomy.

For years separatist politicians in the region have tried to win approval from Spain's central government to hold a vote similar to Scotland's 2014 independence referendum from Britain, which resulted in a "no" vote.

But Madrid has remained steadfast in its opposition to such a vote, which it considers a threat to Spain's unity, and this time is no different.

The Constitutional Court has already quashed a resolution approved by Catalonia's parliament calling for the referendum to take place.
In March, Washington barred all electronic devices larger than a mobile phone on direct flights to the United States from 10 airports in Turkey, the Middle East and North Africa, only allowing them to be transported in hold luggage.

Flag-carrier Turkish Airlines responded to the ban by offering laptops to business-class travellers in May.

The US on Sunday lifted a ban on passengers taking such devices on Etihad Airways flights from its base in the Emirati capital Abu Dhabi, the first airliner to benefit from a lift of the ban.

The decision came after the airline implemented enhanced security measures, a spokesman for the US Department of Homeland Security said.
ROCK ISLAND  A second credit rating dip recently reported by Moody's Investors Service isn't causing any undue headaches for city leaders.

The rating slipped from an "Aa3" level to an "A1" rating, according to a Moody's June 19 summary. Moody's also assigned a "negative outlook," according to the report.

"The downgrade to A1 primarily reflects the city's elevated and growing pension burden, as well as the rising risk of budgetary pressure tied to the need to service escalating long-term liabilities," the company said.

City manager Randy Tweet said Rock Island  like many local municipalities  were socked with much higher-than-expected police and fire pension costs. The city decided to fund only 35 percent of them but has a plan in place to fund 100 percent of those pension costs by 2041.

Illinois only expects municipalities to cover 90 percent of that, Mr. Tweet said.

Reports about the plan, including actuary amounts, will be shared at a yet-to-be-determined July council meeting, Mr. Tweet said. The expected lower rating is still at least five levels away from the state's junk status rating.
MOLINE  Heavy equipment is being staged on the Mississippi River in preparation for the start of the newest phase of the Interstate 74 bridge replacement project.

The new bridge will be built east of the existing one, with two spans of four lanes and full shoulders. A recreation trail and an overlook also are part of the design. The new bridge is expected to open in 2020, and the current bridge is scheduled to be demolished in 2021. The total bridge project is expected to cost $1.2 billion.

Recently, a giant red crane afloat on a barge appeared in the river near the bridge, stationed on a stretch of the Mississippi between the bridge and the Celebration Belle in Moline.

Lunda Construction Co., of Black River Falls, Wis., was awarded the contract to build the three main components of the bridge  the Iowa and Illinois approach spans and the portion that crosses the river. The company was the lowest responsive bidder at $322 million.

"Lunda has brought in a large crane on a barge this week for the new bridge project," Sam Shea, the Iowa Department of Transportation's transportation planner for its 6th District, confirmed Friday.

Work is expected to begin in later this month, according to George Ryan of Amec Foster Wheeler, another company associated with the project. Lunda is working on final approval of its plans from agencies such as the U.S. Coast Guard, which is standard procedure.

Here's the timeline for the remainder of the work on the new Interstate 74 bridge.

2017-2018:

 Workers will begin building the new span's framework this summer.

 Preparation for land work is planned in Illinois and Iowa, including drainage work on the Iowa side and retaining walls on the Illinois side. Lane closures can be expected.

2019:

 The Iowa-bound I-74 from Avenue of the Cities in Moline to Middle Road in Bettendorf will be closed for refurbishment and adjustment to fit the new bridge.

 The current bridge will remain open. Iowa-bound motorists will have to exit I-74 at Avenue of the Cities, head to downtown Moline and get on the bridge there. In Iowa, motorists will have to exit at State Street to detour along Kimberly and Middle roads to get back on I-74.

 The Iowa-bound span of the new bridge is expected to be completed by November or December.

2020:

 The Illinois-bound lanes and connections will be refurbished and adjusted to fit the new span.

 The new Iowa-bound span will be used for two-way traffic. The current I-74 bridge will be accessible to local traffic.

 There will be some ramp closures as new ones are built. Because the final Iowa exit is being moved, motorists will have to exit at Middle Road to reach downtown Bettendorf during some of the work.

 The Illinois-bound span of the new bridge is expected to be completed and opened to traffic in November or December.

2021:

 Mussel removal around the old span will be conducted in anticipation of its demolition.

 Once the new span is totally operational, the current I-74 bridge will be demolished using a combination of explosives, machines and crews.
The agreement also includes the possible participation of RZD in the reconstruction and construction of railway infrastructure in Vietnam, the joint development of software for VNR, and joint work to increase the capability of VNR's workforce.

The agreement was signed in Moscow in the presence of Russian president Mr Vladimir Putin and Vietnamese president Mr Tran Dai Quang and follows a previous agreement signed in April 2015 as part of an official visit by Russian prime minister Mr Dmitry Medvedev to Vietnam.
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Supreme Court upholds sentence of Russian national for calls to terrorism

MOSCOW, July 4 (RAPSI)  Russias Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld a 15-year prison sentence and a 100,000-ruble fine given to a resident of the Karachay-Cherkessia Republic, Jesus (Kazbek) Bostanov, for calls to terrorism, RAPSI reports from the courtroom.

Bostanov was convicted and sentenced on January 12. Additionally, he was found guilty of assassination attempt on law enforcement officers, threats to a prosecutor, incitement of hatred and enmity and illegal arms trafficking.

The defendant has pleaded not guilty to the charges. However, the man admitted that he had threatened the prosecutor in court because of emotional state.

According to investigators, in July 2015, Bostanov pushed people for jihad and joining illegal armed group in Syria during a service at a mosque in one of the republics villages. On August 25, 2015, he struggled on arrest and fired three shots at law enforcement officers. During the searches at his premises, the Kalashnikov gun, grenade ammunition and bullets were seized.

Moreover, Bostanov has threatened life and health of the prosecutor at a court hearing promising him to make the finishing head-shot.
Hague arbitration court to hear dispute between Ukrainian companies and Russia

MOSCOW, July 4 (RAPSI)  The Hague-based Permanent Court of Arbitration ruled to proceed with two arbitrations commenced by Ukrainian oil and gas companies over losses allegedly caused by Russias actions in Crimea, the Courts press-release reads on Tuesday.

The Court ruled that it has jurisdiction in these cases. Both claims were filed on June 15, 2015, under the 1998 bilateral treaty between Ukraine and Russia.

The first legal action was brought by Ukrnafta, one of Ukraine's largest oil and gas companies. The second action was brought a number of Ukrainian companies, including Stabil, Rubenor, Rustel, Novel-Estate, PII Kirovograd-Nafta, Crimea-Petrol, Pirsan, Trade-Trust, Elefteria, Satek, Stemv Group.

Ukrainian companies allege that in April 2014 Russia breached its obligations under the treaty by interfering with and ultimately expropriating their investments in petrol stations located in Crimea.
Moscow court to review appeal in $4 million dispute over 2012 Superjet crash

MOSCOW, July 4 (RAPSI)  The Moscow District Commercial Court will review on July 11 an appeal filed by QBE Corporate and five other foreign insurance companies against a ruling of a lower court refusing to recover $4 million paid in connection with Superjet 100 aicraft crash in Indonesia in May 2012, RAPSI learnt in the court on Tuesday.

On November 25, 2016, the Moscow Commercial Court dismissed a lawsuit filed by QBE Corporate, Starr Syndicate, Starr Insurance and Reinsurance, Muenchener Rueckversicherungrs-Gesellchaft AG, Dornoch and Catlin Insurance Company against Kapital Strakhovaniye insurance company. The case was being heard for the second time. On February 29, 2016, the Supreme Court overruled all lower courts and sent the case for rehearing.

On September 27, 2016, the Supreme Court dismissed a petition for rehearing of the lower courts rulings ordering twenty foreign insurers to pay $16 million to Kapital Strakhovaniye.

The Commercial Court of the Khanty-Mansi region in April 2015 granted a lawsuit filed by Russias Kapital Strakhovaniye against foreign insurance companies. The Eighth Commercial Court of Appeals and the West-Siberian District Federal Commercial Court upheld the ruling in July 2015 and March 2016 respectively.

Twenty-four companies were initially defendants in the case. However, due to partial payment of the debt, the plaintiff withdrew claims against some of them.

Kapital Strakhovaniye initially claimed $32.4 million in damages from the companies that provided insurance for 48 people on board. The sum was reduced to $16 million after partial payments were made.

General Insurance Corporation of India, Assicurazioni Generali S.p.A., UK Branch, Swiss Re Europe S.A., Starr Insurance and Reinsurance Limited (London) are named among defendants in the case. The lawsuit was filed back in June 2013.

The Moscow Commercial Court also heard another plane crash related suit. Sukhoi Company demanded $29.5 million in insurance payouts for the SSJ-100 from Kapital Strakhovaniye. In September 2013, the parties signed an amicable agreement under which the underwriter committed to pay the plaintiff $14.1 million in addition to the previous payments. The insurance company claimed that the insurance agreement on the plane was 95% reinsured in the Western market.

The airplane crashed on its first ever demonstration tour, across six Asian countries, over Indonesia on May 9, 2012. All people on board the plane, including eight Russian nationals, were killed. The plane crashed into Mount Salak at an altitude of 1.6 km. Investigation found that the disaster was caused by human error.
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By Elizabeth Kwiatkowski, 07/03/2017



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Elizabeth Kwiatkowski is Associate Editor of Reality TV World and has been covering the reality TV genre for more than a decade.

star Rachel Lindsay has shed some tears so far in her journey to find love, but the Dallas attorney teases that viewers have seen nothing yet.Rachel has hinted that the next episode on Monday, July 10 is going to be the most emotional yet, even though she already eliminated a whopping six bachelors during last week's two-night event."Copenhagen was a beautiful and difficult week where I sent men home on three consecutive nights," Rachel wrote in her People blog."So you better believe I'm ready to hit the next location and shake things up! Next week as I hand out roses they will not just be any roses -- these roses will take me to these men's hometowns!"Rachel currently has six men still in the running for her heart: Dean Unglert Adam Gottschalk , and Matthew "Matt" Munson "With six men left, that means there will be two gut-wrenching goodbyes," Rachel revealed of the upcoming episode. (The Monday, July 3 episode is a repeat due to the holiday)."My emotions reach an all time high, so prepare yourselves to see me breakdown like I never have before," Rachel teased.Rachel will have to eliminate two bachelors in order to determine the four men whose hometowns she would like to visit.According to ABC, Rachel and her group of six remaining guys will travel to Geneva, Switzerland for the next week of dates. Rachel will embark on three one-on-one dates and a group date with a rose up for grabs on each date, so there will not be a Rose Ceremony in Geneva.The first one-on-one date in Switzerland will go to Bryan. ABC has revealed the couple will take a ride to a famous watch shop, where Rachel will gift Bryan with a time piece. Later, at the beautiful Victoria Concert Hall, Bryan will open up about a troubled past relationship and then the pair will dance to music of a string quartet.Dean and Peter will also receive special one-on-one dates with Rachel. The network teases Dean is "hiding behind his sense of humor and masking his concerns about introducing the Bachelorette to his dysfunctional family."Rachel and Peter will fly over the Swiss Alps in a helicopter and enjoy a dog sled ride. Peter, however, will be struggling with anxiety since his two solo dates with Rachel were spread far apart.ABC therefore disclosed that Eric, Matt and Adam will share Rachel on a group date, but only one of the three guys will earn a rose.
Nikita Puri finds out what makes the company, which has tiled palaces, homes, restaurants and even railway stations, relevant for millenials, too.

IMAGE: Besides places like Mumbai's Bhau Daji Lad Musuem and Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, tiles by Bharat Floorings tiles can also be seen in private spaces, including the home of Kangana Ranaut. Photograph: Simon Watson for Architectural Digest/Handout.

A year after Pherozesha Sidhwa had co-founded his tile-making company in 1922 with his nephew, Rustom, during the Swadeshi Movement, he had a whole batch of black-and-white patterned tiles thrown into the Arabian Sea. Sidhwa just wasn't happy about how the tiles looked.

"It was almost worth 50,000; that was a lot in those days," says Firdaus Variava, Sidhwa's grandson and vice-chairman at Bharat Floorings and Tiles.

It was only when Sidhwa went to Italy soon after the tiles were discarded that he realised that all they needed was better polishing.

Now "polished" in their personalities, Bharat tiles have floored the country for 95 years.

Sitting in Loft38, a lounge bar in Bengaluru, it'd be hard to ignore the black, white and grey tiles that contrast with purple and wooden interiors.

Across town, in a restaurant called Kesariya, where one celebrates Shekhawati cuisine with dal bati choorma served on silver plates and a haveli-styled decor, it's the red and yellow patterned tiles that dramatise the place.

These hard-to-forget floorings come from the Mumbai-based company that has decked the Nehru Place Social in Delhi in a cheery mix of heritage and contemporary tiles, and brought alive the charm of London's marketplaces through cobblestone flooring in a gastro-pub, the British Brewing Company, in Mumbai.

Bharat's tiles have also left their mark in residences of the ex-royals of Bikaner, Gwalior Jodhpur, and more. "Although 75 years have passed, all flooring is in excellent condition. It is beautiful and is a pleasure for me, my family members and guests who visit us," reads a note from the former maharaja of Vansda, Gujarat.

Besides places like Mumbai's Bhau Daji Lad Musuem, its tiles can also be seen in private spaces, including the homes of Kangana Ranaut, Lara Dutta and Alia Bhatt.

Go anywhere across the country, even to railway stations including the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus in Mumbai, and you're likely to be walking on Bharat's tiles: it's a legacy that dates back to 95 years.

In fact, if "you've grown up in Mumbai," says designer Ravi Vazirani, "you'd have to be living under a rock to not have seen the gorgeous floors at the Royal Bombay Yacht Club or any of the city's old buildings." (Bharat tiles are here too.)

Over the last two years, courtesy an Instagram hashtag #ihavethisthingwithfloors, Bharat's tiles are fast becoming the focus of a generation in search of the perfect frame.

Throw in the fact that these are handcrafted, and they fit right into a time that celebrates all things bespoke.

It was perhaps in his parents' generation, notes Variava that "people were more of cookie-cutters: they wanted a certain look. But nobody wants things just off-the-shelf today."

Moving away from plain or cream-coloured floors, the trend now is to have "floors with character," says Variava.

Customisation starts at 180 per sq ft.
Test on lines of IIT-JEE

Illustration: Uttam Ghosh/Rediff.com

With the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) asking banks to take defaulters through the insolvency process, the role of insolvency professionals has assumed importance and people are rushing to clear the qualifying examination.

Sources said bankers last week met to decide on the appointment such professionals, considering the number of cases that would pile up and the acute shortage of insolvency professionals in the country.

However, the gap was expected to close fast as many had queued up to qualify as insolvency professionals, said Khushroo Panthaky, director at Grant Thornton Advisory.

Earlier, the hierarchy of preference for claims in liquidation proceedings was government, banks and then operational creditors.

Under the bankruptcy law, banks claims come first and the governments the last.

This would speed up bankruptcy proceedings, experts said.

There is also big money involved. According to bankers, the monthly remuneration for an insolvency professional can be as high as Rs 2 crore, depending on the complication and size of the case.

An insolvency professional is really the CEO of the company. But that does not mean creditors who have substantial interest in the proceedings cannot raise objections.

At the end of the day, for an effective resolution plan to come together, the professional has to take on board bankers, operational creditors and other stakeholders, Panthaky said.

The rules say a firm cannot become an insolvency professional entity unless more than half its partners have cleared the examination.

So the arrangement is to hire only the person as a professional, who could have a back-to-back arrangements with his firm to engage other professionals to assist him.

But earning the fat cheque is not the only motivation to clear the examination.

Several bankers are taking the examination to effectively deal with proceedings and to understand the workings of insolvency professionals.

The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI) regulates the functioning of these professionals on a case-to-case basis.

The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) and the Institute of Company Secretaries (ICSI) have formulated sample papers for their members who wish to enroll as insolvency professionals.

These sample papers are based on the format followed by the IBBI.

This examination has been set on the lines of competitive examinations like the IIT-JEE. The ICAI has also made a module of about six hours to help its members clear the examination.

The examination quizzes aspirants on the Companies Act, Evidence Act, and the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code among others.

The first examination will be completed in June, after which there will be a new examination with some modifications. This is also one of the reasons for the rush.

"I tried to book one centre in Mumbai for June 30, but of the seven centres, none was free," said a chartered accountant.

Law firms, too, are training their professionals. Pavan Vijay, who runs Corporate Professionals, said everyone in his law firm had trained in the field as insolvency procedures required people from various fields.

One person alone cannot take up insolvency proceedings. It requires a team with varied professionals, he added.

The IBBI has registered nearly 500 insolvency professionals. Around 1,000 insolvency professionals had enrolled for a period of six months after which they had to appear for an examination for full-time registration.

A Delhi-based aspiring insolvency professional said studying for the examination was like going back to college.

I had to go back to the basics and gradually studied complex concepts, he added.
Unlike global majors like Lindt and Godiva no standalone Indian chocolate boutiques have expanded into a national chain yet. ITC plans to change that with its luxury chocolate brand Fabelle, says Avishek Rakshit.

IMAGE: ITC aims to open one chocolate store each in Delhi and Kolkata before October.

Photograph used for representational purpose: Koichi Kamoshida/Getty Images.

ITC has decided to open up India's first branded chocolate chain by setting up luxury boutiques till now confined to the premises of its hotels.

The fast-moving consumer goods major aims to come up with one store each in Delhi and Kolkata by the end of September.

"Spaces have been identified and will be operational sometime next quarter. The identified spaces will be our own in the current phase to ensure quality and a befitting experience for the consumer," said Hemant Malik, chief executive of foods at ITC.

The company's luxury chocolate brand Fabelle sells in boutiques inside seven of its hotels. In September last year, ITC had indicated plans to take this brand outside its hotel premises.

Since then, it has been scouting for space in luxury malls to suit the brand's premium positioning and to give the brand good visibility.

"Plans are on to take the range outside ITC Hotels to premium modern trade outlets and select malls as well as Wills Lifestyle stores for greater accessibility and visibility," Malik said.

Currently, the Fabelle boutiques inside the ITC hotels are built over an area of 700-800 square feet each.

According to the company, limiting Fabelle to select company-owned hotels was effective, helping the brand to establish itself in the luxury market.

Although there are standalone chocolate boutiques like The Chocolate Heaven (Mumbai), Chocolatiers (New Delhi), The Chocolate Room (Bengaluru), Chocolate Atelier (Hyderabad) and several others, so far in this segment, no national branded chain has been established.

On the contrary, global majors like Lindt, Godiva, Guylian and several others have successfully tested this concept worldwide.

Apart from chocolates, the current Fabelle boutiques in ITC hotels also offer desserts and cocoa beverage.

As a brand initiative, the company also came up with the 'As you name it' campaign, where customers pick a cup of chocolate filling, garnish it to their liking and then name it after themselves.

Another brand the company piloted in its hotels, the Sunbean Gourmet Coffee, will come out in select retail stores this July. The Sunbean brand will be competing with Davidoff, Nescafe Gold, Bru Exotica and other premium brands.
Rama Krishna Sangu, partner, Manohar Chowdhry & Associates, Chartered Accountants, and a member of the Indirect Tax Committee of ICAI, fielded readers questions on GST on Rediff Chat.

Illustration: Dominic Xavier/Rediff.com

Shekhar

Q: Sir, I have a small online seller account on marketplace. But my turnover is below 2L. Can i apply for GST as it is required by the portals?

S Ramakrishnan

Ans: Yes sir any sales made through e commerce operators shall be subject to mandatory registration

Pragnesh Shah

Q: Is there any site from where we can get the GST rate applicable against each HSN CODE?

S Ramakrishnan

Ans: http://rediff.ly/6p09n

Raj Kumar Rungta

Q: During service tax professional could pay ser tax on cash basis up to 50 lks,whether same has been discontinued in gst.

S Ramakrishnan

Ans: No sir service tax provisions are different from GST provisions you need to pay either at the time of receipt of advance or raising of invoice whichever is earlier

Sunil Ipar

Q: Hello sir. I am small trader T/O below 20L hence no needs to register for GST. But when I purchase the material from Supplier with GST bill. How can I get benefit the GST, My selling price may higher compare to the GST register trader.

S Ramakrishnan

Ans: If you are Unregistered because your turnover is below 20 lacs you cannot get any GST benefit as input tax credit it is a cost to you

Neeraj Vaid

Q: We are marketing agents of gini silk mills ltd receiving commission of around Rs 300000 lac do we need to apply for GST number.

S Ramakrishnan

Ans:Since you turnover of commission is below 20 lacs you need not have GSTt registration

Jenny Dsouza

Q: What are the certain fields mandatory to be mentioned on the GST supply invoice?

S Ramakrishnan

Ans: Dear sir please refer Invoice Rules of GST in cbec.gov.in

Jjpl Ags

Q: We are distributors of health care products. In which part of GST TRAN -1 do we need to file up the closing stock position as on 30.6.17.

S Ramakrishnan

Ans:You need not separately submit any closing stock to the department unless you are claiming input tax credit on those stocks. In such a case u need to file FORM GST TRAN 01 within 60 days from 1st July

Kundan Products

Q: Shall we get input credit on car and Commercial Vehicle GST, if purchased in proprietor firm?

S Ramakrishnan

Ans:NO Section 17(5) denies itc on motor vehicles

Uttara Shah

Q: How do I treat service bills, which are unpaid by clients on 1st July 2017?

S Ramakrishnan

Ans:Since bill has already been raised you should have discharged service tax on those bills GST shall not be applicable

Sunil Ipar

Q: Hello sir. I am small trader T/O below 20L hence no need to register for GST. But when I purchase the material from Supplier with GST bill. How can I get benefit the GST, My selling price may higher compare to the GST register trader.

S Ramakrishnan

Ans: If you are Unregistered because your turnover is below 20 lacs you cannot get any GST benefit as input tax credit it is a cost to you

Kakingere Irshad

Q: Sir good afternoon. I newly opened a ladies boutique [dress material] selling. So please help me sir whether GST is applicable for me or my customers.

S Ramakrishnan

Ans: Yes

Ajay Mehta

Q: I am a professional and having books of account on receipt basis. Now if any old payment is received on which service tax was levied then how to make payment?

S Ramakrishnan

Ans: If already service tax is discharged GST will not come

Rupesh Das

Q: Sir I am planning to start industrial product trading, buying from other state and selling to industries, should I register GST

S Ramakrishnan

Ans:If your turnover exceeds Rs. 20 lacs u need regn otherwise not

Markand

Q: Is resale and buy of old property attracts GST? WHAT ABOUT CONSTRUCTION DONE IN PURCHASE OF RESALE PROPERTY?

S Ramakrishnan

Ans: Constructed flats sold after getting occupancy certificate not liable to GST

Vaibhav Malpathak

Q: For pharmacy HSN code is of 4 digit or 8 digit, rumours are 8 digit code is for international market kindly clarify

S Ramakrishnan

Ans: 4 digits

Maulik Shah

Q: Sir, we have booked a flat in an under construction flat. The builder said that after 1st July, we will have to pay 12% GST. This would increase the cost by 7%. Builder is going to give possession in November 2018. But he says he has already bought 70% of raw material and therefore can not pass on benefit of INPUT TAX CREDIT. Can you please advise what should we do? Thanks.

S Ramakrishnan

Ans: He can pass on the credit of the wipe of the projects

Bidhu Bhusan

Q: In composition scheme a trader will be allowed to purchase material from out of the state or not

S Ramakrishnan

Ans: Yes out of the state purchases can be made but out of the state sales cannot be made

Choodesh Gowda

Q: Export to Bhutan Hydel power projects. Pl advises me the impact of GST.

S Ramakrishnan

Ans: Exports are zero rated so not taxable

Ashish Singhania

Q: If I want to sell goods interstate & the customer who is purchasing goods is not having GST No. Can I sell goods to that person?

S Ramakrishnan

Ans: You can always sell goods inter state or intra state to any person. but when you purchase goods from un registered dealers then you need to pay tax under reverse charge mechanism

Pinto Sakar

Q: Hello please help me it is emergency situation why we pay personal income taxes and again I have to pay GST taxes what ever I purchase from market is it not double taxing for a job seekers and performer.???? what is everyone opinion please help.

S Ramakrishnan

Ans: Sir please remembers that you are not paying GST. as a seller you are liable to pay GST but that can be collected from the buyer. You are only acting as an agent between consumer and govt. it is the consumer who will bear the tax burden

Dhiren-Parekh Parekh

Q: Do we have to start a new Invoice serial numbers for GST or the running invoice numbers are allowed?

S Ramakrishnan

Ans: We strongly recommend starting with a new series

Sai Chavan

Q: Is non ac hotels also charge GST on food items?

S Ramakrishnan

Ans: Yes, if they opted composition scheme 5%, otherwise 12%

Kamal Kapoor

Q: [SKB] Dear Sir, I am holding stock from excise exempt area ... Pls confirm am I eligible for any refund( 60% of central GST.)as my category straight away comes in 28% GST from 12.5%Also confirm me HSN code of water dispenser.

S Ramakrishnan

Ans: if u have paid to the supplier a price which is inclusive of excise duty then u r entitled to claim 60% of the CGST payable as deemed credit

Sujoy Das

Q: How this GST will work for all products? Is there a tracking of each item? If manufacturer, distributor and retailers don't issue receipt the how to collect GST?

S Ramakrishnan

Ans: it is very difficult to escape from GST net as every purchase will be recorded in the GSTN portal let us say if the manufacturer does not say sale but he should have purchased raw materials from somebody that some body will show as sales to the manufacturer now the manufacturer has to account for that purchases in his books

Ravi Ranjan

Q: sir , running pharmacy pvt ltd company, marketing pan India , many times we bill direct to retailer (less then 20 lac category), also having many parties who do not have tin no , Pls suggested, how we raise invoice in favour of above mention category

S Ramakrishnan

Ans: For any category of buyer you need to issue mandatorily Tax Invoice. For any type of customer we need to issue Tax Invoice

Goutam Banik

Q: I want to transfer goods from Surat or Mumbai branch to Kolkata, what are the tax implications

S Ramakrishnan

Ans: It is an inter state stock transfer and attracts IGST, however intra state stock transfers are not liable to GST

Goutam Banik

Q: I have a godown in Mumbai and head office in Kolkata, what happens if I directly send goods from Mumbai to other parts of India and the billing is done in Kolkata, what are the tax implications

S Ramakrishnan

Ans: You have to register in the state of Maharashtra and accordingly raise invoices and when you are selling goods to persons located outside MH you need to pay IGST

Administrator

Q: I have purchased under construction flat 3 years ago. Now due to GST I am being taxed 12% on each instalment instead of 5 - 6 % previously

S Ramakrishnan

Ans: I did not get your question you are paying instalment to Bank or builder

Abhilash Abhilash

Q: Dear Sir. I am from Kerala handling a service centre cum branch office of a (led TV) manufacturing company whose HO is in Maharashtra .and have branches across India Company registered under GST for Maharashtra (ho) only and told one registration is enough for pan India basis. My question how can i send /receive goods (faulty TV/spares parts etc)

S Ramakrishnan

Ans: You need to have registration in every state where you have operations there is no concept called single or central registration for all locations country

Goutam Banik

Q: That means I have to take separate GST registrations for all the godowns which i have in different states

S Ramakrishnan

Ans: Yes

Shreesha Ranganath

Q: Is this 20 lacs threshold limit applicable for professionals like CA, CS, and ICMA also?

S Ramakrishnan

Ans: Yes

Vilas Raje

Q: Sir we are a "Commercial Photography Service Provided" based in Maharashtra. We have a corporate customer based in Delhi. We provide services to their customers in Maharashtra & bill to their Delhi office. Which GST should we charge (only IGST or Mix of SGST & IGST)?

S Ramakrishnan

Ans: U needs to raise IGST Bill

Jupiterinfology

Q: Hello Sir, in case of composite dealer is the value of item been treated including GST (e.g. 100+ 28%=128) or he will be benefited from tax like normal dealer. If yes then why he should pay 1% on total turnover... please clear

S Ramakrishnan

Ans: Whatever he will be purchasing he will have to insure regular taxes but on output he will pay lower tax

Santosh

Q: I am graphic designer I do designing jobs as side business does i have to take GST registration

S Ramakrishnan

Ans: If your turnover from such profession exceeds Rs. 20 lacs then u need to register
The Supreme Court on Tuesday granted the Centre and the Reserve Bank of India two weeks to consider the option of granting a window to those who could not deposit their demonetised Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes for a compelling reason.

A bench comprising Chief Justice J S Khehar and Justice D Y Chandrachud asked Solicitor General Ranjit Kumar, representing the Centre, to take instructions on the issue.

"There can be a situation where a person has lost his/her money for no fault. Suppose a person was in jail during the period... We want to know as to why you chose to bar such persons," the bench said.

The apex court observed, "One cannot make people suffer if they have genuine reasons, should be allowed to deposit old notes."

The solicitor general then sought time to seek instructions for granting an opportunity to persons to deposit their money on a case-by-case basis.

The bench was hearing a batch of petitions, including one filed by Sudha Mishra seeking a direction to authorities to allow her to deposit demonetised notes as she could not do so during the period specified by the Centre and the RBI.

The central government had on November 8 last year announced that Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes would no longer be legal tender from November 9.

The government also assured the people that demonetised currency notes could be exchanged at banks, post offices and RBI branches till December 30, 2016. If people were unable to deposit them by that day, they could do so till March 31, 2017 at RBI branches after complying with certain formalities.

On March 21, the apex court asked the government why it chose not to create a separate category for those who couldn't deposit demonetised notes by December 30, 2016 unlike non-resident Indians and people who were abroad.

The Centre informed the court that it had taken a 'conscious decision' not to extend the period beyond December 30 last year for exchanging demonetised currency notes.

It also said it was not legally bound to come out with a fresh notification to grant a grace period or a window for depositing scrapped currency notes.

The apex court had on March 6 sought responses of the Centre and RBI on why demonetised notes were not accepted till March 31 as was promised.

On March 10, it sought replies from the Centre and RBI on the plea against tweaking of rules on exchange of demonetised currency.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's address to the nation on the evening of November 8 last year on demonetisation and the subsequent notification of the federal bank that banned notes can be exchanged at RBI offices even up to March 31, 2017 were valid assurances which stood breached by the ordinance, counsel for the petitioner, Sudha Mishra, had said.

The plea alleged that the prime minister and RBI had assured people at large that demonetised currency notes could be exchanged till December 30, 2016 and then on March 31, 2017 at RBI branches after complying with formalities.

The petitioner referred to the Specified Bank Notes Cessation of Liabilities Ordinance and said it had breached the assurance.

The Ordinance said only those who were abroad, armed forces' personnel posted in remote areas or others who could give valid reasons for not being able to deposit the cancelled notes at banks could deposit demonetised notes till March 31 this year after the deadline expired on December 30, 2016.

The Centre had come out with the Ordinance making possession of a large number of scrapped notes a penal offence attracting a monetary fine.
'Modi's visit is path breaking in the sense that India has come out of the closet and is prepared to deal with Israel openly and in a host of fields, military as well as civilian,' says P R Kumaraswamy, one of India's leading experts on the Middle-East, currently in Israel.

Hysteria. This is perhaps the best way to explain the Indian media coverage of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Israel.

The historic nature of the visit is overtaken by the frenzy of reportage, coverage, and 'in-depth' analysis. Both of them highlight that peculiar place Israel enjoys in the political discourses in India.

For decades certain issues were considered taboo and hence even scholars avoided them as plagues. The prolonged Indian understanding of the Arab-Israeli conflict has also -- yes also -- been a function of domestic politics.

Since the early 20th century, Indian nationalists viewed Jewish nationalist aspirations within the Islamic context.

Until 1947, it was a function of the political rivalry between the Indian National Congress and the Muslim League for domestic Muslim support for their respective nationalism; the inclusive one represented by the Congress and an exclusive one championed by the League.

After Partition, Palestine became a platform for India-Pakistan rivalry for the support of the Arab and Islamic countries of the Middle East.

Yet, prevailing political correctness prevented even the elite to locate such an important foreign policy discourse within the domestic context.

Suggesting that the Muslim population had a role in India's prolonged non-relations with Israel was derided as communal, parochial and even a slur on the moral values championed by Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru.

Hence, many became an ostrich and buried their heads in the sand of ignorance.

They mixed up diplomatic relations with the approval of that country's domestic or foreign policy.

Traces of this became visible in January 1992 when Prime Minister P V Narasimha Rao responded to the end of the Cold War and new international political order by establishing diplomatic relations with Israel.

While some missed the comforts provided by the Soviet Union, some called normalization an anti-Arab and even anti-Muslim move.

It is essential to recognise that the core Indian position vis-a-vis the Palestinian cause has remained largely intact.

India, irrespective of the party in power, supports a two-State solution, namely, a Palestinian State coexisting side by side with Israel with peace and security. It is opposed to any unilateral move on the part of either partY.

For some time, it expressed its support for a Palestinian State with 'East Jerusalem as its capital.'

Gradually the Indian government recognised the complexities of the Jerusalem issue. It is neither Berlin to be divided nor Chandigarh to be shared.

Jerusalem evokes strong historical, political, religious, cultural, social, theological and human emotions and hence has to be resolved through mutual respect, accommodation, and compromise.

Hence, during Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's visit in May, India dropped any reference to Jerusalem while expressing its support for a Palestinian State.

This does not mean India has endorsed the Israeli claims over Jerusalem being the 'eternal and undivided' capital of Israel.

As Prime Minister Modi told the Hebrew media before his departure for Israel, 'India supports all efforts to find an acceptable solution to all the pending issues, including Jerusalem.'

'I assume the question refers to our embassy in Tel Aviv. We will take a decision on that after both sides have come to an agreement on Jerusalem,' the prime minister added.

The skipping of Ramallah was not a surprise.

It is both logical and even inevitable, and the possibility was in the air for quite sometime. This is primarily a function of Palestinian disunity and intra-Palestinian rivalry.

Indeed, for the past decade, the Palestinians have been forcing the international community to choose between the West Bank controlled by the officially recognised Palestine National Authority and the Gaza Strip controlled by the militant Palestinian group Hamas.

Internal unity -- not uniformity -- is the precondition for the success of any national liberation movement. Failure to be united against Israel and its occupation has been costly for the Palestinians, and Modi's snub has to be read in that context.

New Delhi de-hyphenating Israel and Palestine should force the latter for self-reflection.

Why is India-Israel normalisation -- which took more than four decades to materialise -- progressing in all aspects while India-Palestinian relations are nose-diving rapidly?

Interestingly, when relations were less opaque, the primary focus of attention has been military-security cooperation between India and Israel.

Bilateral relations were dominated by Indian procurements of arms and ammunition from Israel, intelligence sharing and high-value acquisitions like fast patrol boats, anti-missile system, Phalcons AWACS systems.

The prime minister's visit has opened up new areas -- civilian and economic cooperation -- between the two countries.

Cyber security is no longer a military-security preoccupation but permeates into the civilian arena like banking, e-commerce, virus attacks, money laundering, etc.

With demonetisation and electronic payments, protection of sensitive digital data is as important as protecting borders.

The biometric details of Aadhaar, for example, requires higher firewalls if India were to transform into a digital economy.

India-Israeli cooperation in the fields of agriculture and water management is to be located within the context of food security.

India's long-term self-sufficiency in food production has to move away from its dependence upon the monsoon and the vagaries of nature.

Self-sufficiency and stable production are essential if India were to become a major player in the international agrarian market as an exporter.

Interestingly for long, Arab Gulf countries have been looking at India for their food security problems.

Ironic as it might sound, India-Israeli cooperation in agriculture and water management could enable India to export food items to the Gulf countries.

Yes, the Middle East is known for its strange bedfellows.

Prime Minister Modi's visit is path breaking in the sense that India has come out of the closet and is prepared to deal with Israel openly and in a host of fields, military as well as civilian.

Everyone may not be happy with Modi's visit, the focus on military-security cooperation with Israel or him not visiting Ramallah.

But by his willingness to deal with Israel more openly and in a holistic manner, India has conveyed a powerful message: Open friendship is more enduring than clandestine affairs.

Professor P R Kumaraswamy teaches contemporary Middle East in Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi.

IMAGE: Prime Minister Narendra Modi meets Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in New York, September 28, 2014, the encounter led to closer ties between the two nations. Photograph: Press Information Bureau
A flower has been named in honour the Indian prime minister.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the Danziger Dan flower farm along with his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu in Mishmar Hashiva where they were briefed about the latest technologies being used for floriculture.

The Danziger flower farm is one of Israels leading floriculture companies with approximately 80,000 square metres of state-of-the-art greenhouses specialising in reproduction of plants.

Beginning with a focus on agriculture... Prime Minister Narendra Modi visits the Danziger Flower Farm, Office of the Prime Minister said in a tweet.

At the Danziger Flower Farm, advanced agriculture technologies were showcased by the Israeli Government, it said in another tweet.

In another special gesture, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu accompanied Prime Minister @narendramodi to the flower farm.

The highlight of visit was that a Chrysanthemum has been named after Prime Minister Narendra Modi. It was announced that the flower will be called Modi.

The two leaders were briefed about the research technologies being used there for floriculture, the office said in a series of tweets.

The farm, founded in 1953, is located in Moshav Mishmar Hashiva, about 56 km from Jerusalem, in central Israel.

Reaffirming potential of deeper cooperation in agriculture! Prime Ministers visit Danziger Flower farm  a leading facility for Research and Development in plant varieties, ministry of external affairs spokesperson Gopal Baglay said in a tweet.

Soon after landing, Prime Minister Modi visited the Danziger flower farm in Moshav Mishmar Hashiva along with Netanyahu and Agriculture Minister Uri Ariel to learn about latest innovations and advancements in floriculture.

The visit to the farm highlights that one of Israels key interests in closer cooperation with India is its expertise in agricultural technology, officials said.

Danziger flower farm developed into a company of 200 employee from a small family business, growing and selling cut flowers.

Photographs: Press Information Bureau
Afghan-American artist Aman Mojadidi has introduced an interactive art installation Once Upon a Place, which allows participants to listen to the stories of immigrants who moved to New York through the receivers of old pay phones --once a common sight on city streets.

New Yorkers and tourists in Times Square are taking a trip back in time, courtesy of repurposed phone booths.

However, instead of talking to their loved ones, one can hear the oral histories of the citys storied immigrant population.

The phone booths are an art installation titled Once Upon a Place by Afghan-American artist Aman Mojadidi.

Mojadidi came up with the idea when he learned that the phone booths were being removed.

For his art, Mojadid interviewed immigrants from countries around the world --Ireland to Ghana and everywhere in between. The participants represent a tiny sliver of the citys more than 3 million foreign-born residents.

Jose Mejia, 22, an immigration rights activist from Mexico, was one of many participants in the project.

What America means to me is the land of opportunities. Its a dream come true, Mejia said in am interview to Reuters, adding that he was just two years old when his mother carried him across the US border from Mexico. Anyone who wants to work here and better their lives can do so here in America.

And what prompted Mojadid to choose this topic as his topic, he said that he found it bizarre that goods and products can traverse borders freely, where people often cannot. The world has become so globalised, Mojadidi was quoted as saying. Trying to stick to these old ideas of borders is something thats just not realistic anymore.

The installation, which runs till September 5, opened a day after the Supreme Court allowed parts of Trumps controversial travel ban to be enacted, pending a final decision on the issue in October.

All photographs: Spencer Platt/Getty Images
On Tuesday, Narendra Modi became the first ever Indian prime minister to visit Israel.

On his arrival, Modi was given a special welcome -- accorded only to presidents of the United States and the Pope.

In a break from protocol, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu welcomed him at the airport and will travel with Modi for all his visits.

In honour of the visiting PM, a flower in Israel has been named after him.

IMAGE: Prime Minister Narendra Modi is all smiles as he is greeted by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at Ben Gurion Airport, in Tel Aviv. On arrival, Modi hugged his Israeli counterpart and greeted him with a 'Shalom'. Photograph: Press Information Bureau



Netanyahu, who, in a special gesture, was present to receive Modi as he landed at Tel Aviv on Tuesday, welcomed the latter with open arms and said that the country had been waiting for him for long.

"My friend, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, welcome to Israel! Aapka swagat hai mere dost! prime minister, we have been waiting for you for a long time. Because yours is truly a historic visit. Its the first time an Indian prime minister is visiting Israel. We receive you with open arms. We love India. We admire your culture. We admire your history, your democracy, and your commitment to progress, Netanyahu said.

Netanyahu hailed the cooperation that the two countries have been showing in the field of space.

"Today, even our space programmes are working together to achieve even greater heights. The ties between our talented innovative people are natural. Its so natural that we can ask what took so long for them to blossom, he said.

"Our partnership extends to water, agriculture, security, energy, and other fields. I believe the formula for success is simple its I squared T squared that equals the talent of both countries times the technology.

"It's said that at the Silicon Valley in California, the two most common languages overheard are Hindi and Hebrew, and occasionally one hears some native English too, he added.Netanyahu further said that he believes in the success of their p

artnership because of the great sympathy between the people of the two nations and the natural camaraderie between them.

Netanyahu described Prime Minister Modi as a great leader and a world leader.

IMAGE: The two leaders shared warm vibes as they greeted each other. Photograph: Press Information Bureau

The Israeli prime minister said he and Modi both seek a better future for the people of the two countries.

It requires a lot of work, it won't happen overnight but prime minister Modi and I want this to happen, he said.

Netanyahu said he has been inspired by Prime Minister Modi's enthusiasm for Yoga and cited yogic asanas to link the two flourishing democracies of the world.

I have to confess that I have been inspired by Modis enthusiasm for Yoga, Netanyahu said in a press statement along with Modi.

Underlining that he wants to start practising Yoga, he said, Modi advised me to start at lower level. I am starting at a lower level. When I do a relaxing Tadasana in the morning and I turn my head to right, India is the first democracy I see and when Modi does a relaxing Vasisthasana and he turns left, Israel is the first democracy he can see. So in fact we have India and Israel two sister democracies.

IMAGE: From the airport, both the leaders made their way to Danziger Flower Farm where Modi was introduced to various plants. It was here that it was announced that a flower would be named in the PM's honour. Photograph: Press Information Bureau



He also mentioned renowned Indian mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan, saying that he symbolises the talent of people of India.

He emphasised that the two countries believe in the partnership of talent.

Expressing his admiration for Ramanujan, Netanyahu said he was one of the greatest mathematicians of all times.

We have a great admiration for people of India. I told you about my late uncle professor, who was a mathematician at the Israel Institute of Technology. He told me many times about his admiration for the great Indian mathematician Ramanujan, Netanyahu said in the statement.

He was perhaps the greatest mathematician in many centuries. And this symbolises the talent of people of India, as we know we have talent in Israel. We believe in this partnership of talent, he added.

IMAGE: Prime Minister Narendra Modi is engrossed in a presentation of plants and agricultural methods at Danziger Flower Farm. Photograph: Press Information Bureau

Soon after landing, Prime Minister Modi visited Danziger Dan flower farm in Moshav Mishmar Hashiva along with Netanyahu and Agriculture Minister Uri Ariel to learn about latest innovations and advancements in floriculture.

Here, it was announced that a new fast-growing Israeli Chrysanthemum flower would be named after the visiting Indian prime minister to honour him.

Crysanthumun flower will be named in honour of PM @narendramodi. The flower will be called 'Modi', tweeted the PMO.

The Danziger flower farm is one of Israels leading floriculture companies with approximately 80,000 square meters of state-of-the-art greenhouses specialising in reproduction of plants.

Beginning with a focus on agriculture... Prime Minister Narendra Modi visits the Danziger Flower Farm, office of the Israeli PM said in a tweet.

At the Danziger Flower Farm, advanced agriculture technologies were showcased by the Israeli Government, it said in another tweet.

The farm, founded in 1953, is located in Moshav Mishmar Hashiva, about 56 km from Jerusalem, in central Israel.

IMAGE: Modi paying homage to the victims of the Holocaust at Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial, in Jerusalem. Photograph: Press Information Bureau



Reaffirming potential of deeper cooperation in Agriculture! Prime Ministers visit Danziger Flower farm  a leading facility for Research and Development in plant varieties, Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Gopal Baglay said in a tweet.

The visit to the farm highlights that one of Israel's key interests in closer cooperation with India is its expertise in agricultural technology, officials said.

These people are doing remarkable things and you can increase the productivity of crops, of irrigation, of soil, livestock with the kind of groundbreaking research that theyre doing. One thing you haven't resolved is how to bring down the temperature in a greenhouse. Its too costly, Netanyahu said.

Danziger flower farm developed into a company of 200 employee from a small family business, growing and selling cut flowers.

Prime Minister Modi also made an impromptu visit to the grave of Theodor Herzl, who is considered as the founding father of Zionism, at the suggestion of Netanyahu.

Modi, who visited the Yad Vashem Museum and honoured the victims of the Holocaust, was suggested by Netanyahu, apparently spontaneously, that they visit the grave of Herzl born Benjamin Zeev Herzl -- which lies adjacent to the memorial.

IMAGE: Modi and Netanyahu during a visit to Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial. Photograph: Abir Sultan/Pool/Reuters



Prime Minister Modi agreed on the suggestion and the two leaders visited the marble tomb at Mt Herzl. Modi placed a small rock on the marble tomb as Netanyahu watched with a smile.

PM Netanyahu and @PMOIndia Modi visited Mt. Herzl in Jerusalem, and paid their respects to the founder of modern Zionism, Theodor Herzl, the official Twitter account of the Office of the Prime Minister of Israel tweeted.

It also posted a brief video that showed Modi placing his hand on the tomb.

Before departing the Yad Vashem complex the leaders visited the Grave of Theodor Herzl -- Chozeh HaMedinah (lit Visionary of the State), Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Gopal Baglay tweeted.

Herzl was an Austro-Hungarian journalist, playwright, political activist, and writer who is considered the founding father of Zionism -- a movement to establish a Jewish homeland.

IMAGE: After his visit to the memorial, Modi signed the visitor's book. The museum occupies over 4,200 square metres -- mainly underground -- and emphasises the experiences of the individual victims through original artefacts, survivor testimonies and personal possessions. Photograph: Press Information Bureau



They comprise two different sets of copper plates that are believed to have been inscribed in 9-10th Century, the Prime Minister's Office tweeted.

The first set of copper plates is a cherished relic for the Cochin Jews in India. It is regarded as a charter describing the grant of hereditary royal privileges and prerogatives by the Hindu King, Cheraman Perumal (often identified as Bhaskara Ravi Varma) to the Jewish leader Joseph Rabban.

According to traditional Jewish accounts, Joseph Rabban was later crowned as the Prince of Shingli, a place in or equated with Cranganore.

Cranganore is where Jews enjoyed religious and cultural autonomy for centuries, before they moved to Cochin and other places in Malabar.

Local Jews once placed in each coffin a handful of earth from Shingli/Cranganore that was remembered as a holy place and a 'second Jerusalem'.

IMAGE: Modi and Netanyahu visit the grave Theodor Herzl, considered a father of the State of Israel. Photograph: @netanyahu/Twitter



The replica of these plates was made possible with the cooperation of the Paradesi Synagogue in Mattancherry, Kochi.

The second set of copper plates is believed to be the earliest documentation of the history of Jewish trade with India.

These plates describe the grant of land and tax privileges by the local Hindu ruler to a church. And oversight of trade in Kollam to West Asian and Indian trading associations.

West Asian association included Muslims, Christians, Zoroastrians, as also a group of Jews, who signed in Judeo- Persian and possibly also in Arabic and Pahlavi (Middle Persian).

The plates bear their signatures that appear to have been cut into the plates by a local workman unfamiliar with the script, the PMO tweeted.

The replica of these plates was made possible with the cooperation of Malankara Mar Thoma Syrian Church in Thiruvalla, Kerala.

In addition, Prime Minister Modi also presented Netanyahu a Torah scroll donated by the Paradesi Jewish community in Kerala.

Handwritten over a hundred years ago, the scroll had been dedicated to the Paradesi Synagogue in Kochi that had been built in 1568, the PMO tweeted.

The Torah is enclosed on wooden staves in a wooden case adorned with silver sheets. And a metal crown covered in gold sheets in floral ornament style, bearing motifs typical of lamps and decorations of south India.

With inputs from ANI
Laying the foundation of a new chapter in relations with Israel, Prime Minister Narendra Modi began his ground-breaking visit on Tuesday, receiving an extraordinary welcome by the Jewish nation.

IMAGE: PM Modi and his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu are all smiles as they greet each other at the airport. Netanyahu has broken protocol to welcome Modi at the airport. Such a greeting is normally reserved for US presidents and the Pope. Photograph: Ammar Awad/Reuters

The personal chemistry and the warmth between Modi and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was apparent in their remarks and their hugs.

Reflecting the importance that Israel is according to the first visit by an Indian prime minister since Israels establishment 70 years ago, the host nation pulled out all stops to welcome Modi -- Netanyahu broke protocol to come to the Ben Gurion airport, an honour reserved only for the US President and the Pope; Netanyahus entire Cabinet was also present as were representatives of various religious orders.

In their prepared speeches, both leaders described each other as, my friend and embraced each other three times.

Aapka swagat hai, mere dost (welcome, my friend), Netanyahu said in Hindi, adding, We love India. Modi responded by speaking a few words in Hebrew, Shalom (hello), I am happy to be here.

IMAGE: Prime Minister Narendra Modi steps off the aircraft as he arrives for a visit in Israel at Ben Gurion Airport. Photograph: Ammar Awad/Reuters

Behind the overt affection and friendship, lies deep political significance as India for the first time has delinked its relationship with Israel from its traditional support to Palestine. But, India now hopes to leverage its relationship with Israel to attract more investment, and gain from Israeli cutting-edge technology and defence.

It is truly a historic visit, said Netanyahu while welcoming Modi who was wearing a cream colour band gala suit and a dark blue handkerchief in the pocket.

At the start of the three-day visit, Modi was also accorded a Guard of Honour after an Israeli military band played the national anthems of the two countries.

Hailing Modi as a great leader of India and a great world leader, Netanyahu said, we have been waiting for the last 70 years for a visit by an Indian prime minister.

They vowed to give a push to the bilateral relationship in all aspects and jointly deal with the common threats like terrorism.

I remember what you told me in our first meeting -- when it comes to India and Israel relations, the sky is the limit. But now, prime minister, let me add even sky is not the limit. We are also cooperating in space, Netanyahu told Modi.

Talking about the vast possibilities of cooperation between the two countries, he said, We can do even more, even better together.

IMAGE: Modi's welcome at the airport was of great pomp. Earlier before his visit, Netanyahu wrote on his Facebook account, "My friend, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, welcome to Israel."

Photograph: @MEAIndia/Twitter

Speaking later, Modi said, It is my honour to be the first ever Indian prime to undertake this ground-breaking visit to Israel.

He said his visit was about the strength of the two societies and their strong partnership.

Building a strong and resilient relationship with Israel will be my intent and focus...We have to secure our societies against the common threat of terrorism, Modi said.

Together, we can do even more and even better (for India-Israel ties), he added.

Noting that India is an old civilisation but a young nation, Modi said, We have a talented and skilled youth, who are our driving force.

Describing Israel as an important development partner, he said, This is an exciting journey that we will undertake together, for the good of our people and our society.

Modi said his visit celebrates the strength of centuries-old links between the two societies and based on these bonds, our partnership has maintained a strong and sustained upswing since the establishment of full relationship, diplomatic relations, 25 years ago.

IMAGE: The welcoming of Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the airport.

Photograph: @MEAIndia/Twitter

From the airport, Prime Minister Modi visited the Danziger flower farm in Moshav Mishmar Hashiva along with Netanyahu and Agriculture Minister Uri Ariel to learn about latest innovations and advancements in floriculture.

The farm, about 56 km from Jerusalem, is one of Israels leading floriculture companies with approximately 80,000 square metres of state-of-the-art greenhouses specialising in reproduction of plants.

At the Danziger Flower Farm, advanced agriculture technologies were showcased by the Israeli Government, Office of the Prime Minister said in a tweet.

The farm named a breed of chrysanthemum after Modi.

IMAGE: Prime Minister Narendra Modi honours the memory of the victims of the holocaust at the Yad Vashem Memorial Museum. Photograph: @MEAIndia/Twitter

Modi also visited the Yad Vashem Memorial Museum to honour the memory of the victims of the holocaust that counts among the greatest tragedies in human history.

The museum occupies over 4,200 square metres -- mainly underground -- and emphasises the experiences of the individual victims through original artefacts, survivor testimonies and personal possessions.

The Holocaust was the killing of nearly six million Jews, including some 1.5 million children, by Adolf Hitlers Nazi Germany. Though the persecution of Jews began in 1933, the mass murder was committed during the more than four years of World War II.

Prime Minister Modi will have wide-ranging discussions on Wednesday with Netanyahu on the full spectrum of bilateral partnership and ways to strengthen it in diverse fields for mutual benefit. They will also have the chance to discuss major common challenges like terrorism.

Modi will meet President Reuven Ruvi Rivlin and address the CEOs of the two countries as well as the Indian diaspora.

He will also meet 26/11 Mumbai terror attack survivor Holtzberg Moshe, who was only two when he was saved by his Indian nanny Sandra Samuel. Moshes father Rabbi Gavriel and mother Rivkah were among eight Israelis killed in the attack.

Modi will also pay his respects to the courageous Indian soldiers who laid down their lives during the liberation of Haifa in 1918.

During his visit to Israel, Modi will not travel to Ramallah, the seat of the Palestinian Authority, to meet with Palestinian leaders, as is common for visiting foreign dignitaries

He, however, said on the eve of his visit that India believes in a two-state solution in which both Israel and a future Palestinian state coexist peacefully.

India supports all efforts to find an acceptable solution to all the pending issues, including Jerusalem, he added.

The two-state solution envisions independent Israeli and Palestinian states coexisting side by side peacefully.

This year, India and Israel are marking 25 years of their diplomatic relations.
MEA says Salahuddin's interview shows the freedom enjoyed by terrorists in Pakistan.

The Ministry of External Affairs on Monday said the interview given by 'global terrorist' Syed Salahuddin, leader of Hizbul Mujahideen, highlights the unabashed manner in which terrorist organisations and leaders enjoy freedom of operations in Pakistan.

In response to a query regarding a recent TV interview by Salahuddin in Pakistan where he admitted of carrying out terror attacks in India, the MEA official spokesperson said, "The brazen admission by Syed Salahuddin of perpetrating terrorist attacks on India and having the capacity to carry out such attacks at any place and time in India is a further proof of Pakistan's continuing policy of cross border terrorism."

"His confession of assistance in such activities from Pakistan also affirms the complicity of Pakistan's state structure in using terrorist proxies as a matter of policy against the neighbours," the spokesperson added.

The MEA expressed deep regret that senior Pakistan functionaries continue to justify and defend the activities of such internationally designated terrorist entities and leaders who are responsible for killing thousands of innocent civilians over the past three decades.

"The interview only highlights the unabashed manner in which terrorist organisations and leaders enjoy freedom of operations in Pakistan, including access to terror financing and procurement and supply of weapons for terrorism," the statement read.

"Pakistan must give up its policy of cross-border terrorism, fulfill its obligations under international resolutions and stop all activities of terrorists from the territory under Pakistan's control," it further said.

Salahuddin, who has been branded as a 'global terrorist' by the United States, admitted in a TV interview to having carried out terror attacks on Indian soil.

"Till now our focus was on Indian occupation forces. All the operations that we have done or are underway, we focus only on the installations of these occupational forces," Salahuddin said in an interview with Geo TV.

Asserting that Kashmir was his 'home', the Hizbul chief stated that the Valley was witnessing an uprising since the killing of Burhan Wani.

Further revealing that he has many supporters in India, Salahuddin admitted to purchasing weapons from international markets, adding that he has the capacity to deliver weapons at any place if he is paid for it.

Informing that he carried out many 'operations' in India, Salahuddin stated that the international scenario changed after 9/11.

"If we would have taken our operations out of Kashmir at that time, India would get a chance to label Kashmir-e-Tehreek a terrorist organisation. We have support and we can target any place in India, at anytime," he said.
While they have never faced any form of discrimination in India, Indian Jews say a minority status for Jews is among their foremost expectations from Prime Minister Modi's visit to Israel.

IMAGE: Jewish Rabbi Ezekiel Markel at the Judah Hyam Synagogue in New Delhi.

Approximately 6,000 Indian Jews live in the country and enjoy a minority status in Maharashtra.

Photograph: Kamal Kishore/PTI Photo

India's small community of Jews is looking forward to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Israel -- the first ever by an Indian prime minister -- hoping that it will lead to Jews being granted a minority status in India.

Some 6,000 Indian Jews live in the country, which has been home to the community for the past 2,000 years.

Jews are spread across cities in West Bengal, Maharashtra, Kerala and Gujarat, apart from Delhi.

The community says while they have never faced any form of discrimination in India because of their religion, a minority status for Jews is among their foremost expectations from the prime minister's visit, which starts on July 4.

"We look forward to the PM's visit and hope that a minority status is conferred upon the community," says Ezekiel Markel, the rabbi (priest) at the Judah Hyam Synagogue in Delhi, the only synagogue in the national capital.

In Maharashtra, Rabbi Markel says, Jews have been recognised as a minority, and a similar step should be taken at the central level.

Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists, Zoroastrians and Jains are currently notified as minority communities in India.

The community, he adds, has not faced anti-Semitism in India.

"For us, India is our motherland. We are Indians first and Jews second. If Israel is in our hearts, India is in our blood," he says.

IMAGE: Rabbi Markel blows into the Shofar, an ancient musical horn made of ram's horn, used for Jewish religious rites, at the Judah Hyam Synagogue, New Delhi.

Photograph: Kamal Kishore/PTI Photo

The rabbi's views are echoed by Queenie Hallegua, one of only five Jews inhabiting the Mattacherry area in Kochi.

Jews who chose to move to Israel did not leave India because of persecution, she stresses.

"They were all very happy, they were all well settled. But they desired to live in their own country and die there," she says.

Kolkata resident A M Cohen stresses the need for more direct flights between India and Israel.

"I want that during this visit both countries should take initiatives to start more direct flights from India to Israel, so that it becomes easier for us to visit our families and friends there," she says.

Navras J Aafreedi, an assistant professor at Presidency University in Kolkata, who specialises in Jewish studies, says there are about 26 Jewish families left in Kolkata.

Modi's Israel trip, besides strengthening ties on the defence, agriculture and medical fronts, should lead to enhanced cultural exchanges between the two countries, Jonathan Solomon, chairman of the Indian Jewish Federation in Mumbai, says.

"We feel honoured that our prime minister should take the trouble of visiting a small country. It speaks volumes about his intentions and of the goodwill that the two nations share," he adds.

The Mumbai advocate says he expects New Delhi to render "all possible help" in preserving the Jewish community's links with Israel.

"The next generations should know the rich history that binds Jews in Israel and India," he says.

IMAGE: Jews Street, Mattancherry, Kochi. Photograph: PTI Photo

Rabbi Markel believes that while Jews are "a microscopic minority community, a drop in the ocean" in India, their contribution to the country's development in agriculture, cinema, medical science and other fields must be recalled.

He also hopes that the visit will lead to increased student exchange programmes to enable the younger generation to "learn about the cultures and teachings in both countries."

An improved "people to people contact" between the two countries is what Ian Zachariah, a retired advertising executive in Kolkata, hopes for.

Hallegua of Mattacherry says her relatives in Israel have told her that over 4,000 people of Indian origin are expected to attend Modi's meeting with Indian Jews there.

"That is something wonderful. They have made arrangements from every state. Names and phone numbers of people from every state have been given so that those who wish to attend the meeting can be transported to the venue," she says.

Asked why she did not leave for Israel when her relatives did, she says, "You have to learn Hebrew, which is difficult. And I am too old to start life there. I am happy here."
UNHCR resettles group of vulnerable women refugees from Libya

Publisher UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Publication Date 4 July 2017 Cite as UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), UNHCR resettles group of vulnerable women refugees from Libya, 4 July 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/595b7be84.html [accessed 11 November 2022]

UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, evacuated today six vulnerable refugee women from Libya to a country that has accepted to resettle them. A second group of seven refugees is expected to follow shortly.

The women being resettled today suffered horrific abuse and were kept in servitude by an armed group in Libya. They were later detained by the authorities. Following UNHCR's intervention, they were released and transferred to a safe house in Libya.

In the last 18 months, UNHCR has successfully advocated with the Libyan authorities for the release of over 900 refugees and asylum seekers from detention centres in various parts of the country.

Up to 89 per cent of people crossing the Mediterranean Sea to Europe depart from Libya. Refugees and asylum seekers are among the over 90,000 who have made the dangerous sea crossing to Europe as of June 30 2017. UNHCR's protection activities, especially finding alternative solutions - such as resettlement - for refugees making their way to Libya, can contribute to reduce the number of people risking their lives in the Mediterranean.

Since January, UNHCR has submitted resettlement referrals for 60 refugees. Out of these submissions, 15 individuals have been accepted by a third country. So far, a family of five Syrian refugees left Libya for their new country on 31 May. Another Syrian refugee has also been resettled and he is now happily continuing his studies.

Finding solutions that enable refugees to live their lives in dignity and peace is a core part of UNHCR's work. For those who cannot return, either because of continued conflict, wars or persecution, and are still at risk in their country of asylum, UNHCR seeks resettlement in another country. UNHCR and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) work together to assist refugees to obtain travel documents, exit visas and facilitate departures for resettlement. Less than 1 per cent of refugees worldwide are resettled annually.

UNHCR appreciates the support of governments providing asylum to refugees and thus contributing to saving the lives of refugees in Libya. UNHCR also appreciates the collaboration with Libyan authorities in the protection of refugees and asylum seekers in Libya and calls on the authorities to expedite the release of detained persons of concern to UNHCR.

UNHCR is expanding its activities in Libya to meet increasing humanitarian and protection needs of refugees, asylum seekers and internally displaced Libyans, returned IDPs and host communities. It recently issued a funding appeal for US$75.5 million to strengthen protection activities, assistance and durable solutions in Libya, as well as advocacy on issues related to respect for human rights, access to basic services, asylum procedures and freedom of movement.
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.
One year on, Duterte remains a human rights nightmare

Publisher Amnesty International Author James Gomez Publication Date 3 July 2017 Cite as Amnesty International, One year on, Duterte remains a human rights nightmare, 3 July 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/595b7f4b4.html [accessed 11 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.

We cannot say that we were not warned. During his campaign for the Philippine presidency, Rodrigo Duterte made his contempt for human rights and the rule of law glaringly apparent. He vowed to kill as many as 100,000 people - filling Manila Bay with so many bodies that the fish will "grow fat".

Over the past year, since Duterte became President, thousands of people have been killed in the so called war on drugs. Every morning, people in some of the country's poorest neighbourhoods awake to find fresh bodies dumped in the streets, marked by bullet wounds. In some instances, signs are left on the bodies, denouncing the dead as "pushers".

In his campaign against drugs, Duterte has incited people to take the law into their own hands and kill anyone suspected of being a user or a seller. "If you know of any addicts," he told a crowd of his supporters last year, "go ahead and kill them yourself". Prone to profanity, Duterte makes no attempt to varnish his words or conceal his intent. "My order is shoot to kill you," he warned alleged drug offenders. "I don't care about human rights, you better believe me."

The police, who are supposed to uphold the rule of law, have come to resemble a criminal enterprise. They avoid making arrests in favour of shooting suspects dead in cold blood. They manipulate police reports to make it seem the victim was resisting. Even in death, the victims are denied dignity. Evidence is planted in their homes and their possessions are stolen.

Bodies are casually dragged outside and dumped in the street. They have been abandoned in front of shops, by open sewers, or stacked, in the haunting words of Pulitzer-prize winning photographer Daniel Berehulak, "like firewood" in morgues. In many neighbourhoods, the police have entered a racket with busy funeral homes, which give them a cut for each corpse sent their way. People who have bravely spoken out against the chilling disregard for human life have been demonized. Senator Leila de Lima, his most vocal critic, still languishes in detention. He has threatened human rights activists with murder. "I will take all your heads off," he said in one of his menacing rants.

Few leaders have so brazenly taken pride in their assaults on human dignity. And yet, there have been no consequences for such behaviour. Not only have there been no credible investigations into the mass killings in the Philippines, or accountability worthy of the name, but Duterte continues to strut on the world stage, his reputation somehow intact.

This year, the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) marks its 50th anniversary, with the Philippines at the helm of the regional organization. The other nine leaders, many of whom have questionable human rights track records of their own, have maintained a studious silence around the mass killings.

In May, according to a leaked transcript, Donald Trump even lavished praised on Duterte for how he has dealt with the Philippines' drug problem. "I just wanted to congratulate you because I am hearing of the unbelievable job," Trump said. This is in despite the US State Department's own annual human rights report's description of the killings as "the chief human rights concern in the country" and it raising an alarm about "cases of apparent governmental disregard for human rights and due process".

The clear danger is of the international community acquiescing to a 'new normal', where outrages against human dignity are indulged in the cynical pursuit of other aims. For Trump, any support that Duterte could offer him on defusing the North Korea crisis was enough to win his silence on human rights abuses. The cooperation has deepened since martial law was declared in southern Mindanao province, as the Philippine security forces battle the armed group known as Islamic State.

The government was so singularly focused on the violent campaign against drugs that it was taken by surprise when armed groups began seizing territory in Mindanao. When the authorities act outside the law, the consequences are felt widely. The result is an even more dangerous country - where the authorities violate the rule of law instead of upholding it, where armed groups become emboldened, and where the most vulnerable people suffer.

Copyright notice:  Copyright Amnesty International
Decode Oil Spills Innovative data project enlists thousands of digital activists to track Nigeria spills

Publisher Amnesty International Publication Date 3 July 2017 Cite as Amnesty International, Decode Oil Spills Innovative data project enlists thousands of digital activists to track Nigeria spills, 3 July 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/595b7fad4.html [accessed 11 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 latest project from a revolutionary crowdsourcing platform will engage thousands of digital volunteers to help Amnesty International ensure justice for communities devastated by oil spills in the Niger Delta.

Amnesty International supporters from all over the world can take part in the Decode Oil Spills project, which aims to hold oil companies like Shell and ENI to account for the environmental damage they have caused in the region.

By analyzing data about oil spills, decoders will help to expose false claims by oil companies, and better empower local communities to demand proper clean up and compensation.

"The Niger Delta is one of the most polluted places on earth. For far too long wealthy oil companies have evaded justice for the utter devastation they have caused to the land and water of the Delta, and to the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of people in the region.

Shell has relied on demonstrably false claims to avoid accountability, but with the help of digital activists from around the world we are determined to uncover the truth," said Milena Marin, Amnesty International's Senior Innovations Campaigner.

"The Decode Oil Spills project means anybody with a mobile phone or laptop can contribute to vital research into human rights abuses, and marks a new chapter in the way people can hold companies to account."

Hundreds of oil spills occur in the Niger Delta every year and they are rarely cleaned up properly. Decades of pollution linked to the oil industry has destroyed people's livelihoods, undermined their rights to clean water and food, and put their health at serious risk.

There have been more than 1,700 oil spills from Shell is operations in the Niger Delta since 2007. The Italian oil company ENI has smaller operations in the region than Shell but has reported even more spills - in excess of 3,000 since 2007.

There is a vast amount of publicly available data on Nigerian oil spills dating back to 2011 - too much for Amnesty researchers to analyze alone. Much of this information is only available in scanned, hand written documents, making it impossible to extract information at scale.

What is more, past experience has shown that Shell has made false statements relating to spills; for example, claiming that they were caused by oil thieves or pipeline saboteurs when they were in fact due to corroded pipes, so they can pay less compensation, or avoid cleaning up the pollution.

This is where decoders come in. Amnesty International is inviting digital volunteers to help determine the cause and location of oil spills by analyzing photos and documents using their smartphone, tablet or laptop, so that the organization can help bring the companies responsible to account. On average decoders will be required to spend under one minute per task.

With the Decoders platform Amnesty has started building a community of tens of thousands of digital activists who are able to work with large volumes of "messy" information and transform it into structured evidence of human rights violations.

Since the launch of the Decoders platform in June 2016, the organization has successfully completed three projects mobilizing 45,000 digital volunteers from 150 countries to support its research.

To become an Amnesty Decoder, click Get Started

Background

The tool used on the Decode Oil Spills platform has a built-in verification mechanism - meaning that each image will be shown to a number of different decoders, and will be treated as verified when they agree on what they have seen. Amnesty researchers will also do random checks on the data to ensure its quality and veracity.

On 28 June a case was launched against Shell in the Netherlands, accusing it of complicity in the unlawful arrest, detention and execution of nine men who were hanged by Nigeria's military government in the 1990s.

Copyright notice:  Copyright Amnesty International
South Sudan: Ongoing atrocities turn country's breadbasket into a killing field

Publisher Amnesty International Publication Date 4 July 2017 Cite as Amnesty International, South Sudan: Ongoing atrocities turn country's breadbasket into a killing field, 4 July 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/595b80074.html [accessed 11 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.

Close to one million people forcibly displaced in Equatoria region, fuelling world's fastest-growing refugee crisis

Civilians shot, hacked to death with machetes and burnt in their homes

Women and girls abducted and gang-raped

A new frontline in South Sudan's conflict has forced hundreds of thousands of people to flee the country's fertile Equatoria region over the past year, creating ongoing atrocities, starvation and fear, according to a new Amnesty International briefing published today.

The organization's researchers visited the region in June, documenting how mainly government but also opposition forces in the southern region have committed crimes under international law and other serious human rights violations and abuses - including war crimes - against civilians.



The atrocities have resulted in the mass displacement of close to a million people, including refugees fleeing into neighbouring Uganda.

"The escalation of fighting in the Equatoria region has led to increased brutality against civilians. Men, women and children have been shot, hacked to death with machetes and burnt alive in their homes. Women and girls have been gang-raped and abducted," said Donatella Rovera, Amnesty International's Senior Crisis Response Adviser, who just returned from the region.

"Homes, schools, medical facilities and humanitarian organizations' compounds have been looted, vandalized and burnt to the ground. And food is being used as a weapon of war.



"These atrocities are ongoing, with hundreds of thousands of people who only a year ago were relatively unscathed by the conflict, now forcibly displaced."



South Sudan's Equatoria region had been largely spared the political and inter-communal violence which has ravaged the country since 2013, when fighting broke out between members of the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) loyal to President Salva Kiir and those loyal to then Vice-President Riek Machar.



All this changed in mid-2016 when, for different reasons, both government and opposition forces descended on Yei, a strategic town of some 300,000 people 150 km south-west of the capital Juba, on a main trade route to Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).



Government forces, supported by allied militia, including the notoriously unaccountable Mathian Anyoor - comprised of young, mainly ethnic Dinka fighters - have committed a litany of violations with impunity. Opposition armed groups have also committed grave abuses, albeit on a smaller scale.

Massacres and deliberate killings

Numerous eyewitnesses in villages around Yei told Amnesty International how government forces and allied militia deliberately killed civilians with reckless abandon. People who escaped the slaughter described a similar pattern.

In one such attack on the evening of 16 May 2017, government soldiers arbitrarily detained 11 men in Kudupi village, in Kajo Keji county, near the Uganda border. They forced eight of them into a hut, locked the door, set it ablaze and fired several shots into the burning structure. Six were killed in the incident - two burnt to death and the other four were shot as they tried to flee - four of the survivors told Amnesty International.



Joyce, a mother of six from Payawa village, south of Yei, described how her husband and five other local men were killed in a similar attack on 18 May 2017. She also told Amnesty International how soldiers had repeatedly tormented the villagers prior to the massacre:

"This was the fifth time the village was attacked by the army. In the first four attacks, they had looted stuff but not killed anyone. They used to come, arrest people, torture them and steal things. They would take people to hidden places to torture them. They would also arrest young girls and rape them and then release them. [They raped] Susie, my husband's niece, age 18, [in the village] on 18 December 2016."

In another incident, nine villagers disappeared after being taken by soldiers from a barracks near Gimunu, 13 kilometres outside Yei town, on 21 May 2017. A police investigation located the bodies of all nine by mid-June. The victims are believed to have been hacked to death with machetes. Nobody has been held to account, which is apparently not unusual when police try to investigate cases of soldiers killing civilians.



Attacks on villages by government forces often appear to be in revenge for the activities of opposition forces in the region.



Armed opposition fighters have also deliberately killed civilians they deem to be government supporters, often simply for being Dinka or refugees from Sudan's Nuba Mountains region who are accused of sympathizing with the government.

Rape and other sexual and gender-based violence

Amnesty International also documented how abductions and rape of women and girls have skyrocketed across the Equatoria region since fighting escalated last year.

"The only way for women and girls to be safe is to be dead - there is no way to be safe so long as we are alive, this is how bad it is," Mary, a 23-year-old mother of five told the organization.

In April 2017, three soldiers broke into her home in the middle of the night and two of them raped her. She later fled with her children to another abandoned home but, on another night, an unidentified attacker set fire to it as the family slept, forcing them to flee again.

Women are particularly at risk of sexual assault when they venture out of town to look for food in the surrounding rural areas - a necessity due to dwindling food supplies and increased looting.



Sofia, a 29-year-old woman, told Amnesty International how opposition forces abducted her twice. They held her captive with other women for around a month the first time and a week the second time, and she was raped repeatedly. They were undeterred by her pleas that she was a mother of three and that her husband had been shot by government forces.



She later fled to Yei, where she faces dire food shortages.

Food as a weapon of war

Civilians' access to food is severely limited. Both government and opposition forces have cut food supplies to certain areas, systematically looted food from markets and homes and targeted civilians carrying even the smallest amount of food across frontlines. Each side accuses civilians of feeding or being fed by the enemy.



In the town of Yei, the majority of whose inhabitants have fled in the past year, the remaining civilians are under virtual siege. They face severe food shortages because they are no longer able to get food in the surrounding rural areas.



On 22 June, the UN warned that food insecurity had reached unprecedented levels in parts of South Sudan.

"It is a cruel tragedy of this war that South Sudan's breadbasket - a region that a year ago could feed millions - has turned into treacherous killing fields that have forced close to a million to flee in search of safety," said Joanne Mariner, Amnesty International's Senior Crisis Response Adviser.



"All parties to the conflict must rein in their fighters and immediately cease targeting civilians, who are protected under the laws of war. Those on all sides responsible for atrocities must be brought to justice. Meanwhile, UN peacekeepers must live up to their mandate to protect civilians from this ongoing onslaught."

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New allegations of Myanmar security forces raping Rohingya women

Publisher IRIN Publication Date 4 July 2017 Cite as IRIN, New allegations of Myanmar security forces raping Rohingya women, 4 July 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/595b90cc4.html [accessed 11 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.

Myanmar security forces allegedly raped as many as 13 women during "clearance" operations following an explosion in May that was reportedly detonated by ethnic Rohingya insurgents, according to rights groups and witnesses.

Activists and witnesses tell IRIN that the assaults took place in Buthidaung Township in Rakhine, a western state where security forces are accused of abuses against minority ethnic Rohingya Muslims. The UN estimates that about 75,000 Rohingya fled to neighbouring Bangladesh after the military launched counterinsurgency operations following deadly attacks on border police posts last October by a new group calling itself the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army.

The state-run Global New Light of Myanmar newspaper reported that the bodies of five men were discovered after they were apparently killed on 5 May while trying to build improvised explosive devices. The bodies were found, along with bomb-making material, when "security forces conducted an area clearance".

During those clearance operations, soldiers allegedly raped between five and 13 women on 9 and 10 May, according to Chris Lewa of the Arakan Project, an advocacy group with an extensive network of contacts in Rakhine State, where most of Myanmar's approximately one million Rohingya live.

"Our sources say this occurred in north Buthidaung Township following an explosion, which was attributed to the insurgency," she said. "It seems this was retaliatory."

Andrew Dusek, a spokesman for the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, said the UN has received reports of this and several other "concerning allegations of such incidents" in Rakhine during the past few months.

"They have been brought to the attention of the government," he said.

The government has in the past flatly denied that soldiers killed and abused Rohingya civilians, and it says it will not allow a UN fact-finding mission into the area to investigate. But Myanmar is facing increasing international pressure, and officials say that they are instead depending on the government's own commission to assess the claims.

"We are not rejecting the allegations," said Zaw Htay, a government spokesman. "But we need to collect data and information for the investigation commission, which is headed by Vice President U Myint Swe, which is doing the job of investigating human rights allegations and other media reports."

Testimonies of abuse

IRIN has obtained video testimonies from people who say they witnessed the assaults. Their names are being withheld for their protection.

One witness said she was "too shy to say" exactly what happened to a woman she saw severely sexually assaulted, but she provided more detail on attacks by security forces on two others.

"A woman's blouse was removed and her chest was grabbed. They kicked her and injured her," said the witness, adding that another woman "was stabbed with a knife and bled."

A separate witness said her daughter was ripped from her arms by security forces.

"The police pulled at us and my daughter was taken away," said the woman. "When I tried to prevent this, I was beaten."

The witness said she watched another woman being severely assaulted after pleading with security officers to release her daughter-in-law.

"They beat her on the head with a gun and stabbed at her with a knife," she said in the video testimony. "They cut and removed her clothes."

Mixed messages

Such allegations are impossible to verify, because the military refuses to allow journalists free access to much of Rakhine State. But the assaults would fit a pattern, documented over decades by rights groups, of sexual abuse perpetrated by the military in areas where it is fighting ethnic insurgents.

Aung San Suu Kyi, who was awarded a Nobel Prize for her pro-democracy struggle against Myanmar's military, condemned the practice in a 2011 video address to a Nobel Women's Initiative conference just months after her release from house arrest

"Especially in the areas of the ethnic nationalities, rape is rife," she said. "It is used as a weapon by armed forces to intimidate the ethnic nationalities and to divide our country."

After 49 years in power, the military initiated sweeping political reforms in 2011, and Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party swept national elections in November 2015. Although the military-drafted constitution bars her from the presidency, she today serves as state counsellor, Myanmar's de facto civilian leader.

In her new role, Aung San Suu Kyi has not only refused to speak out against sexual violence committed by security forces against Rohingya; her office has repeatedly issued statements denying such attacks. Her government says its commission has found no evidence of widespread violence, ethnic cleansing, or rape against Rohingya civilians.

The UN's rights envoy to Myanmar, Yanghee Lee, told IRIN In February that the commission was incapable of carrying out a "credible" investigation. She spoke a week after the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights issued a report based on testimonies from 204 Rohingya in Bangladesh who said they fled as soldiers committed atrocities including killings and gang rapes, which likely constituted crimes against humanity.

In the wake of that report, and others by rights groups, and media, the UN Human Rights Council announced in March that it would dispatch a fact-finding mission. Myanmar's Foreign Affairs Ministry immediately rejected the mission and said in a statement that it "would do more to inflame, rather than resolve the issues".

But these new reports, provided exclusively to IRIN, of the rape of as many as 13 more women this past May indicate that abuses of Rohingya civilians continue, despite the government's claim in that statement that it is "fully committed to the promotion and protection of human rights".
Guinea-Bissau suspends Portuguese public radio and TV broadcasts

Publisher Reporters Without Borders Publication Date 4 July 2017 Cite as Reporters Without Borders, Guinea-Bissau suspends Portuguese public radio and TV broadcasts, 4 July 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/595b94424.html [accessed 11 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 Guinea-Bissau's suspension of Portugal's state radio and TV broadcasts "until further notice," regarding it as a grave violation of free speech and the right of access to information.

Announcing the measure on 30 June, Guinea-Bissau communication minister Victor Pereira blamed Portugal's failure to respect bilateral agreements on media cooperation with its former colony.

He initially said the suspension included the Portuguese state news agency Lusa as well as the Radio e Televisao de Portugal (RTP) and Radio Portugal (RDP). But the government later clarified that Lusa was not affected.

Guinea-Bissau's condition for lifting the suspension is a renegotiation of the media cooperation accords, which were never respected. The government had previously given Portugal until 30 June to respond to its request for a renegotiation.

Under a 1997 agreement, Portugal was supposed to open an RTP bureau in Bissau and train Guinea-Bissau journalists and broadcast technicians. There was also supposed to be a regular exchange of programmes.

"It is not right that journalists should have to pay for political disputes, RSF said. This decision endangers freedom of expression and freedom of information. By suspending these broadcasts to put pressure on Portugal, Guinea-Bissau is cutting itself off from essential media voices that contribute to a plurality of opinions at a time of crisis."

Silencing the government's critics

In a communique issued on 30 June shortly after the original announcement, the Portuguese government said that it "exercises no editorial control over RTP, RDP and Lusa" and that these media "act with the same independence and impartiality in Bissau as in all those countries where they have a presence."

Aside from the official reason, it seems that Guinea-Bissau's President Jose Mario Vaz and his government want to silence media regarded as sharing the views of the Portuguese government, which is suspected of not being neutral in the political crisis that began more than a year ago in Guinea-Bissau.

Guinea-Bissau is ranked 79th out of 180 countries in RSF's 2017 World Press Freedom Index.
Al Wasat newspaper gagged for past month

Publisher Reporters Without Borders Publication Date 4 July 2017 Cite as Reporters Without Borders, Al Wasat newspaper gagged for past month, 4 July 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/595b951c4.html [accessed 11 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) calls on the Bahraini government to lift its ban on the country's only independent media outlet, the Arabic-language daily Al Wasat, which is still closed a month being suspended "until further notice" by the information ministry on 4 June. It was forced to lay off all its employees (about 160) at the end of June.

Al Wasat has been suspended before but never for such a long time. Its closure apparently violates article 28 of Bahrain's 2002 press law, which prohibits suspending newspapers without a court order.





"Al Wasat was suspended on 4 June for no good reason," said Alexandra El Khazen, the head of RSF's Middle East desk. "This suspension 'until further notice' constitutes an unprecedented act of censorship and means the end of independent journalism in Bahrain. We call on information minister Ali Al-Rumaihi to rescind this disgraceful decision and to do everything possible to help the newspaper to resume operating."





The pro-government Bahraini Journalists Association expressed regret at Al Wasat's closure and proposed coordination with the labour ministry with the aim of finding new jobs for its employees. Several Al Wasat journalists have criticized the BJA's response on social networks, calling it belated and hypocritical.





On Instagram, the journalist Mohamed Jedhafsi accused the BJA of having no real desire to intervene and lacking interest in the fate of the newspaper's employees. Also using Instagram, the photojournalist Abdullah Hassan said the BJA could have looked at the reasons for the newspaper's closure instead of just commenting on its consequences.





Announcing Al Wasat's suspension on 4 June, a national news agency communique accused the newspaper of repeatedly breaking the law, sowing divisions and undermining Bahrain's relations with other countries. And it said an article in its 4 June issue (on a wave of protests in the Moroccan city of Al Hoceima) had defamed a fellow Arab country.





Al Wasat's suspension was condemned in a joint letter published on 8 June by RSF and other media freedom and human rights NGOs.





Created in 2002, Al Wasat has been harassed by the authorities for years. Last January, its online edition was suspended for three days for inciting "discord in society and the spirit of sedition." The print edition was banned for two days in August 2015.





It was first suspended (for one day) at the start of April 2011, at the height of unrest inspired by the Arab Spring, for allegedly publishing false information and endangering the state's security and reputation.





Karim Fakhrawi, one of Al Wasat's founders and a member of its board, died in police custody on 12 April 2011, a week after being arrested. RSF expressed outrage at his death at the time.





He and three other Al Wasat journalists including editor Mansoor Al Jamri were accused of publishing false information and endangering state security, for which the other three were finally sentenced to pay a fine of 1,000 dinars each in October 2011.





With at least 14 journalists and citizen-journalists currently detained, the Kingdom of Bahrain is one of the Middle East's biggest prisons for journalists. It is ranked 164th out of 180 countries in RSF's 2017 World Press Freedom Index.
Philippines: No let-up in fighting in Marawi City

Publisher International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) Publication Date 23 June 2017 Cite as International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Philippines: No let-up in fighting in Marawi City, 23 June 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/595b9c574.html [accessed 11 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 month into the armed conflict in Marawi City in Lanao del Sur province, a large number of people are still in need of help as the fighting between government security forces and the Maute Group continues with no end in sight.

Owing to the fast-changing security situation, a humanitarian ceasefire has not been possible. Despite that, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has evacuated more than 700 people from the city since the fighting began on 23 May.

Over the last four weeks, the ICRC has delivered large quantities of medical supplies to rural health units and hospitals in the region that were overwhelmed by the influx of displaced people. Together, Philippine Red Cross volunteers and ICRC specialists are continuing to address water and sanitation issues in the Saguiaran evacuation centre.

"Our situation inside the evacuation centre is not easy - it's humid during the day and it gets too cold at night," said Casamudin Riga, a 51-year-old trader from Barangay Marinaut, Marawi. "We don't have much choice. I'm just grateful because at least my family is complete and we're safe. We hope that we can return to our homes soon, and start again."

In the first week of the fighting, the ICRC and the Philippine Red Cross distributed enough food rations to last two weeks. They also provided household and hygiene items for the displaced people in Saguiaran, including those staying with relatives.

"We need to provide more than 200,000 displaced people with more food, drinking water, sanitation facilities and health care in the coming weeks," said Roberto Petronio, head of the ICRC sub-delegation in Mindanao. "We will continue to urge all parties to the conflict to allow civilians trapped in the city to leave safely. We hope the fighting will end soon."

With various government agencies responding to the crisis and the arrival of more aid organizations, Roberto Petronio said coordination had become a major task. Regular meetings were being held to identify gaps and to address current and future needs.

"Looking ahead, the future needs of the displaced families will include support for their return to Marawi City, while those who cannot go home need temporary relocation or settlement," he said.

The ICRC continues to follow up on how civilians and those detained in connection with the conflict are being treated. The organization will also focus its efforts on more difficult-to-reach areas, such as the east and west sides of Lake Lanao and continue engaging with the parties involved in the fighting to emphasize the importance of protecting civilians.

The ICRC is a neutral, impartial and independent humanitarian organization that protects and assists victims of armed conflict. It has an international mandate to promote knowledge of and respect for international humanitarian law.
More than 350,000 people face acute water shortage in eastern Ukraine

Publisher International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) Publication Date 12 June 2017 Cite as International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), More than 350,000 people face acute water shortage in eastern Ukraine, 12 June 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/595b9ca14.html [accessed 11 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.

Following a new localized spike in hostilities in eastern Ukraine, workers manning a major water pumping station could not stay on duty, putting hundreds of thousands of people at risk of being cut off from water and basic services. Dozens of explosive ordnance fell in the compound of the 1st Lift Pumping Station on the south Donbas water pipeline, between Vasilevka and Kruta Balka earlier this week. The staff of Voda Donbassa was forced to take refuge and eventually to leave the premises, putting the pumping station out of action. As a result, around 350,000 people have been disconnected from the water supply. The station has not reopened due to a lack of security guarantees that would allow the workers to return in safety to the plant.

"This is only the latest of many incidents on both sides of the contact line that have left towns, villages and rural communities without essential water, gas or power for days or weeks on end", said Alain Aeschlimann, the head of the ICRC Delegation in Ukraine.

For instance, since the beginning of the year, the Donetsk Filtration Station was out of operation for 45 days due to damage caused by the fighting. This affected the water supply for civilians on both sides of the contact line. In the same area, one of the south Donbas pipelines has been out of order for more than four months, leaving nearly 800,000 people extremely vulnerable. Repairs to the pipeline are urgently needed.

The safety of civilian infrastructure providing essential services is a cornerstone of International Humanitarian Law. Parties to a conflict must respect the civilian nature of essential infrastructure and services. Placing military positions near such infrastructure makes it liable to attack.

All parties must take all feasible measures to guarantee the safety and protection of these facilities. The ICRC reiterates its call for the establishment of safety zones around the Donetsk Filtration Station, the 1st Lift Station and the south Donbass pipeline as well as other essential infrastructure at risk in eastern Ukraine.

The creation of a safety zone must be agreed by all parties either directly or through a neutral intermediary. The area designated as a safety zone should be clearly defined and marked. In order to maintain its protected status, military personnel and equipment should not be present inside the area. All military activities that could put its protection at risk should cease. The ICRC stands ready to act as a neutral intermediary between the concerned sides to facilitate the creation of safety zones.
Yemen: Health system at breaking point as cholera spreads at unprecedented rate

Publisher International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) Publication Date 13 June 2017 Cite as International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Yemen: Health system at breaking point as cholera spreads at unprecedented rate, 13 June 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/595b9cee4.html [accessed 11 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.

As the number of suspected cholera cases in Yemen reaches unprecedented levels, with one in every 200 Yemenis suspected of having been infected with the disease, the ICRC is stepping up its response to the crisis. The Yemen public health system is under massive strain due to the ongoing conflict in the country and has no capacity to care for the population.

"More than 5,000 suspected new cases have been reported daily during the past week. The spread of the disease, which started just over a month ago, is accelerating," said the ICRC's health coordinator in Yemen, Maria del Pilar Bauza Moreno. " It's concerning that severe suspected cholera cases now account for about half of the total, which is more than double what we usually observe during such outbreaks," added Ms Bauza Moreno. According to the health authorities in the capital, Sana'a, the number of suspected cases nationwide exceeded 124,000 two days ago, with more than 900 people dead as a result of infection.

"Two years of armed conflict have brought Yemen's health system to the brink of collapse. This cholera outbreak is only the most recent, and most visible, proof that people and structures have been seriously weakened by the way this conflict is being waged," said the ICRC's head of delegation in Yemen, Alexandre Faite. "The attacks on and lack of maintenance of the water and sewage systems in addition to the severe restrictions on the import of critical goods such as spare parts and fuel, have led to a situation where millions of people have no access to clean water."

The ICRC, in conjunction with the Yemen Red Crescent Society (YRCS), has swiftly responded to a crisis that led the health authorities in Sana'a to declare a state of emergency on 14 May. Four ICRC charter planes carrying large quantities of chlorine, IV fluids and other medical supplies, have been flown to Yemen over the past weeks. ICRC health staff and engineers are working around the clock to support health facilities and detention centres in 14 governorates, improve case management, overall hygiene and sanitation conditions, and raise cholera awareness among the general public. Cholera is a water borne disease that can spread rapidly in densely populated areas with deteriorated hygiene and poor sanitation conditions.

The ICRC is also bringing 200,000 vials of insulin to Sana'a and Aden, to support health structures that are struggling to treat patients with chronic conditions, such as diabetes.
Democratic Republic of the Congo: Two Red Cross members released

Publisher International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) Publication Date 15 June 2017 Cite as International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Democratic Republic of the Congo: Two Red Cross members released, 15 June 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/595b9dba4.html [accessed 11 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 two members of a team from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) who were abducted in the morning of Wednesday, 7 June, between Kirumba and Beni, near Lubero, in North Kivu province, were released this morning.

"We are relieved that our colleagues have been returned to us, and delighted that they have been reunited with their families. Their ordeal is over," said Christine Cipolla, the head of the ICRC delegation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. "However, we strongly deplore this abduction. Such acts can jeopardize the efforts of humanitarian workers who are striving to alleviate the suffering of communities already severely affected by conflict."

The ICRC refuses to speculate about the reasons for this incident or who might be responsible. The team was carrying out humanitarian work, overseeing the distribution of food and household essentials in the villages of Kamandi-Gite and Kikuvo to help 5,000 families who were driven from their homes at the beginning of the year by the fighting, and the local community who had taken them in.

The ICRC worked tirelessly to secure the release of its team members. "We would like to thank the authorities, the local people, the community and religious leaders and all those who stood by us at this difficult time. We would also like to thank the families for their trust and bravery," said Ms Cipolla.
Syria: ICRC condemns attack on humanitarian convoy

Publisher International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) Publication Date 18 June 2017 Cite as International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Syria: ICRC condemns attack on humanitarian convoy, 18 June 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/595b9e3e4.html [accessed 11 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 International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) strongly condemns an attack on Saturday against a humanitarian convoy on the outskirts of Damascus, Syria that wounded a staff member of the Syrian Arab Red Crescent.

The 37-truck convoy from the ICRC, Syrian Arab Red Crescent, and the United Nations was to deliver food, medicine and daily essentials to 11,000 people in the town of East Harasta.

As the convoy approached the town at around 7 pm, a shooting took place and a staff member of the Syrian Arab Red Crescent was seriously wounded. The ICRC reminds all parties in Syria of their obligations to protect and respect humanitarians as well as the Red Cross and Red Crescent emblems.

Residents in East Harasta have not received any humanitarian aid for nearly eight months. Renewed security guarantees are needed in order to proceed with this planned aid delivery. The ICRC remains committed to responding to people's needs in East Harasta and elsewhere in Syria.
Iraq: Wounded civilians trapped in Mosul must be evacuated, treated

Publisher International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) Publication Date 19 June 2017 Cite as International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Iraq: Wounded civilians trapped in Mosul must be evacuated, treated, 19 June 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/595b9e930.html [accessed 11 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 ICRC is alarmed by the situation of tens of thousands of civilians trapped in Mosul as military operations intensify in the densely populated old town.

Civilians in particular must be allowed to leave the area to seek medical care.

"It is crucial that wounded civilians in the conflict areas be evacuated without delay to the nearest medical facility," said the ICRC's Head of Delegation in Iraq, Katharina Ritz.

The flow of wounded civilians out of west Mosul has increased in recent days. About 90 percent of victims seen by the ICRC's surgical team have wounds from gunshots, shelling, and bombs.

"We're seeing dozens of new patients a day, including children and the elderly. For a heartbreakingly high number, it was simply too late; they died soon after reaching us," said Dr. Julia Schurch, an ICRC emergency room specialist deployed in west Mosul.

"Why didn't they come sooner?" Schurch continued. "Residents are being forced to make impossible life and death choices as they seek to flee the violence."

According to international humanitarian law (IHL), the wounded and sick must receive, to the fullest extent practicable and with the least possible delay, the required medical care. The ICRC reminds all parties to the conflict that all feasible precautions must be taken to avoid and minimize the incidental loss to civilian lives and damage to civilian objects.

"The close proximity of fighters and non-combatants in Mosul increases the need for all to invest more efforts to ensure that civilians are protected," said Ritz.

A special ICRC report on urban warfare released last week found that civilian deaths due to armed conflict inside cities in Syria, Yemen and Iraq amounted to 47 percent of all civilians killed worldwide in armed conflicts.

The ICRC has been providing assistance to the affected population since the start of the Mosul operation. More than 1 million people, including IDPs and host communities, have received food, relief items, clean water, medicine, and emergency medical treatment.
Around 80 years ago, Chongqing provided a temporary shelter for people from northern and eastern China who had escaped the Japanese invasion. Among them was Zong Qixiang (1917-99), then an art student at the Central University.

There, he often lingered by the riverbank gazing at the misty mountain city while listening to the sound of the water.

He was so touched by the scene that he produced several watercolors of the night view, and he posted them with a letter to his mentor, artist and educator Xu Beihong.

Xu's reply read: "Ancient Chinese painted night scenes in a symbolic way and they failed to present the luminous feel. Do you think you can depict the beauty of the lights with the ink-brush technique?"

Zong then created his own style: He used varying shades of ink and the liubai (leaving blanks) technique to show brightness in the dark night.

He showed his ink-brush paintings of Chongqing's night view at a solo exhibition in 1943. His creativity impressed viewers, including Xu.

In an article praising his student, Xu wrote, "With very simple brushwork, he presents the twinkling lights of Chongqing, the houses on the mountain slopes, the ragged hilly paths and chaotic streets. He has made a major breakthrough that deserves to be written about."

An ongoing exhibition in Beijing commemorates the 100th anniversary of Zong's birth and features his night view series.

His works include some of the most beautiful places across the country, such as the Three Gorges, and the Huangpu and the Lijiang rivers.

The exhibition, titled Harmonized Beauty, is on at the museum of the Central Academy of Fine Arts, where Zong taught for several decades until his retirement in 1987.

It is one of a series of activities ahead of the academy's 100th anniversary in 2018.

Yu Yang, the exhibition's curator, says Zong's output demonstrates his sensitivity to light and color.

He says Zong painted the lights in the war-torn era to show the sheer tenacity of the people in the face of the invasion, and in peacetime to celebrate the beauty of the country.

Fan Di'an, the academy's head, says Zong opened new ground in the traditional realm of mountain-and-water painting.

"Through the illuminated mountain towns, bridges, towers and sailing boats, Zong envisioned a spiritual place."

Zong's oeuvre includes natural landscapes, flower-and-bird paintings, portraits of ethnic groups and watercolors. They are also on show at the exhibition.

Zong's paintings from the 1940s portray people who struggled for a living, such as boat haulers and woman workers in cities.

In the 1950s and '60s, he focused on soldiers and ordinary people in New China.

Zong traveled extensively across the country after the 1950s. And in the last two decades of his life, he lived and painted in South China's Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region.

Among his landscapes on show are those he painted when journeying through the mountains and waters of Guilin and the forest-enveloped villages of ethnic groups inhabiting Guangxi.

Yu says that Zong often told his students that to produce works that touch people, painters had to be versatile, focused and observant like actors.

Jia Youfu, now 75, and a student of Zong in the early 1960s, says Zong often criticized him for following textbooks in a mechanical manner.

"He said, 'How can you overlook the beauty of nature? If you see the world from the perspective of other people, without critical thinking, you will end up being a nobody,'" says Jia, an established painter.

"Some 50 years after I graduated, I have not forgotten his words."

(China Daily 07/04/2017 page20)
Body cameras for the Mooresville Police Department have arrived. Find out when they will be used.
A man uses a computer at an internet cafe in Beijing, China, June 1, 2017.

A popular service used by many of China's 730 million internet users to get around government censorship has shut down in the wake of a ban on virtual private networks, or VPNs, by the ruling Chinese Communist Party.

Popular service provider GreenVPN sent out a notice to customer saying its services would be closing from July 1, while the Apple and Android stores have blocked downloads of GreenVPN apps to their customers since that date.

The company took the action after "receiving a notice from regulatory departments," it said in a recent statement.

A Beijing internet user surnamed Xiang confirmed to RFA that her GreenVPN app is showing "no internet connection."

"Basically, that means that the VPN has been shut down," Xiang said.

"The authorities aren't allowing the VPN service providers to enable people to bypass the Great Firewall any more."

"I can't get past the Great Firewall on my Chinese-made iPhone, but a friend of mine who has an i-Phone made in South Korea can," she said.

"We are both using the same circumvention app, but the one made in China can't get around the Great Firewall any more."

Patchy connections

Guangzhou-based internet user Huang Yongxiang said he has been having similar problems.

"It has been pretty difficult to get online in the past few days,"

Huang said. "It used to be a smooth experience, without many dropped connections, but recently the connection keeps getting cut off, sometimes every 10 minutes or half an hour."

The move comes after new rules banning the use of circumvention tools to get around internet censorship were apparently piloted in the southwestern megacity of Chongqing earlier this year.

Chongqing only recently made public the new regulations, which came into effect last July and ban the city's 50 million residents from "scaling the Great Firewall."

Individuals and companies that use tools like VPNs to circumvent the complex array of blocks, filters and human censorship were ordered to disconnect, while anyone profiting from such activity will be fined, according to the Chongqing regulations.

This could include anyone seeking to read news that the government regards as unflattering, businesses wanting to use blocked social media sites like Facebook, Twitter and Google to communicate, and academics seeking access to overseas research.

But Chinas Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said it would implement a raft of new controls of online content in January, including restricting VPNs.

Meanwhile, Chinese censors have sparked a storm of international criticism after they issued a set of rules banning the depiction of "abnormal sexual acts ... such as homosexuality" from online video content.

Obscene sexual content

The China Netcasting Services Association (CNSA), which is tasked by the ruling Chinese Communist Party to monitor and control online video, audio and streaming services, issued the guidelines for online multimedia content on June 30.

"Content in vulgar taste and with obscene sexual content ... that depicts abnormal sexual relations such as incest, homosexuality, perversion, sexual abuse, sadism or sexual violence," was listed as banned in the regulations posted to the association's official website.

Content that "shows and promotes unhealthy love and marital situations, like extramarital affairs, one night stands, sexual freedom or wife-swapping and so on" is also banned.

Prolonged shots of any sexual activity that provide "sensory stimulation" are also to be avoided, the order says.

Any organization posting broadcast content online must review it beforehand, checking for its compliance with the new rules, including overall plot-lines, shots, lines, sound effects, characterisation and subtitles, it says.

"Political orientation, values, and aesthetic orientation" must also be taken into account.

"Chinas decision to implement a new ban on homosexual content on the internet is irresponsible and dangerous," the U.K.'s Gay Times said in a recent article on its website.

And the Chinese LGBT magazine Gay Voice said: "The false information in these regulations has already caused harm to the Chinese LGBT community  who are already subjected to prejudice and discrimination."

The rules are the latest in a string of draconian regulations issued by Beijing in a bid to exert complete control over what its citizens can see, or post, online.

Last November, Beijing issued a raft of new measures require any websites operating in China to register with a Chinese domain name, which will be subject to state control and can be used to shut down entire websites within the country-level .cn top-level domain.

Reported by Wong Lok-to for RFA's Cantonese Service. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.
A Chinese Muslim pilgrim is assisted by airport staff in Lanzhou, Gansu Province, as he prepares to travel to Mecca in Saudi Arabia, Sept. 25, 2012.

Chinese authorities in the northwestern region of Xinjiang are holding hundreds of ethnic minority Uyghur Muslims after they returned from overseas pilgrimage, sources in the region told RFA.

A rights lawyer in the region who asked not to be named said courts across the region are being ordered by the ruling Chinese Communist Party to "deal with" anyone engaging in any form of illegal religious activity.

"There is a huge crackdown in Xinjiang," the lawyer said. "In March, I went to lodge appeal proceedings, and I came across a detention centerthe Changji Detention Centerwhere there were 200-300 Uyghurs who were being held after coming back from pilgrimage in the Middle East."

"They were all being held for investigation and screening," he said.

Article 21 of the "26 Forms of Illegal Religious Activity" leaked to RFA in February forbids anyone from traveling overseas on pilgrimage, including the annual Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca, with companies not endorsed by China's religious affairs authorities.

But the lawyer said the authorities appear to be pro-actively prosecuting anyone who breaks any of the rules on the newly emerged list.

"The judge told us [lawyers] that there has already been a case involving a Uyghur who held a gathering in his home," the lawyer said. "It was winter, just after Chinese New Year, and there was nothing happening, so he held a religious gathering for Muslims."

"The judge said the trial has already taken place, and they are waiting to sentence him," the lawyer added.

Article 4 of the rules forbids "Any preaching, Quranic interpretation or gathering run by religious figures or religious believers, without prior approval, outside the place of worship pertaining to that religion."

And Article 3 bans "any religious activity organized by persons not in possession of the relevant permits for a religious personage or who have not undergone patriotic education."

Middle East study

Dilxat Raxit, spokesman for the exile World Uyghur Congress group, said Uyghurs who have studied in the Middle East are also being detained on their return.

"There are currently more than 100 Uyghurs being held in Changji, and also some [Han Chinese] Hui Muslims," Raxit told RFA on Tuesday. "The authorities are charging them with illegal pilgrimage, and for taking part in illegal religious activities."

"Some of them are also facing charges of religious extremism or terrorism," he said.

Raxit said the Xinjiang authorities have stepped up their crackdown on "illegal religious activities" in recent months, based on the rules.

The anonymous lawyer said that none of those held for religious activities will likely be able to find employment once they have a criminal record.

He said even those who already have migrant labor jobs in the north of the region are constantly under the eye of local police.

"The Uyghurs who find jobs as migrant workers in the north of Xinjiang have to be investigated once every three months by the local police station, it's that strict," the lawyer said.

"They told me that southern Xinjiang is very poor, and that people there can't get migrant jobs because bosses won't hire them," he said.

Last month, authorities in Xinjiang began ordering residents to hand in all digital devices for checking at local police stations by Aug. 1, as part of an operation targeting terrorist videos."

Anyone who fails to submit the above devices and content by the stated time will be "dealt with according to the relevant national laws, according to leaked local community notices seen by RFA.

Reported by Qiao Long for RFA's Mandarin Service. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie reacts to a question during a news conference in Trenton, New Jersey, US on March 28, 2014. [Photo/Agencies]

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. - New Jersey Governor Chris Christie said late on Monday he will sign a budget bill to end a partial government shutdown that became a black eye for him after he was seen lounging on a beach that had been closed to the public over the holiday weekend.

State lawmakers were finalizing the bill and legislators and the governor said they would stay as long as it took on Monday night and into Tuesday morning to craft and sign it.

Christie said all state parks and beaches would be open on Tuesday for the Fourth of July holiday and state offices would be open as usual on Wednesday.

He said he was happy a resolution had been reached on the budget impasse, but saddened it came three days late.

New Jersey State Senate President Steve Sweeney told a news conference: "None of this was easy."

"I think this is a good day because everything will be open," Sweeney said.

Christie became the subject of widespread mockery and derision after a New Jersey newspaper captured photos of the Republican governor and his family sunbathing on a beach that had been closed to the public over the holiday weekend due to the budget standoff.

The saga, dubbed "beachgate" by some media outlets, threw a spotlight on stalled budget negotiations that caused partial government shutdowns in New Jersey and in Maine, and led to the suspension of many non-essential services.

New Jersey's state parks closed on Saturday, forcing many to alter their holiday weekend plans. More than 30,000 state workers were on furlough on Monday.

In Maine, the state police, parks and offices responsible for collecting revenue all planned to work through the shutdown, the state's first since 1991. But the majority of its 12,000 state employees will be furloughed.

Members of Maine's State Employees Association rallied outside the State House to demand a budget deal from lawmakers and Republican Governor Paul LePage.

"Governor LePage won't answer his door - we want to work!" organizers posted on Twitter, with photos and videos of dozens of the association's members holding placards and chanting.

About 10 US states still do not have budgets for the fiscal year that began on July 1, including Illinois, which is in its third year without an enacted budget.

While states have mostly recovered since the 2007-2009 recession, their revenue growth has not always kept pace with the national economy. In some states without full budgets, including Connecticut and Pennsylvania, lower-than-anticipated income tax collections exacerbated budget gaps and led to disputes over how to close them.

'I'LL GO BACK TO BEACH'

On Monday, Christie noted that 119 miles (190 km) of the state's 130 miles (210 km) of beaches were open, and that it was "another beautiful day" at the Jersey shore. "Come and enjoy them - but use sunscreen and hydrate!" he wrote on Twitter.

A spokesman for Christie, a former Republican presidential candidate who is in the last year of his final term, said Christie had been on the beach in front of the governor's residence for only 45 minutes.

Christie had said he would not sign the state's budget unless it included a reshaping of the state's largest health insurer, Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey, which covers 3.8 million people in the state.

Assembly Speaker Vincent Prieto said the agreement to end the partial government shutdown was reached after long talks in "crisis" mode on Monday with Horizon and state legislators.

Christie also promised not to remove from the budget any of the $150 million in school funding and other items from the budget that he threatened to veto last weekend if the legislature did not pass a bill to reform Horizon.

He seemed unfazed by the controversy over his time at the beach at the weekend.

"Whenever I get done tonight, I'll go back to the beach," Christie told reporters on Monday night. "That's where my family is."

Reuters
For the first time in his 30 years as a businessman in the Richmond area, Robert J. Hilb is getting a downtown view.

The Hilb Group LLC, an insurance agency he co-founded in 2009, is planning to move by years end from its current location at 8720 Stony Point Parkway into an 18th-floor office in the Riverfront Plaza building at 901 E. Byrd St. in downtown Richmond.

My only prerequisite was I wanted a view of the river, Hilb said. This space delivers that and more.

The move comes as Hilb Group, a middle-market insurance agency, continues to grow through a rapid series of acquisitions of small insurance firms throughout the nation.

Its growth plans got financial backing last year when ABRY Partners, a Boston-based investment firm, made an investment in The Hilb Group that Bob Hilb described as well north of $100 million.

ABRY also agreed to provide more than $200 million for Hilbs growth strategy, which includes expanding its business into the western U.S.

We are at around 43 acquisitions since we launched the company, Hilb said. I know we did 16 last year. I am pretty sure we have done seven so far this year.

The Hilb Group is moving into a 9,100-square-foot office in the West Tower of Riverfront Plaza, which will nearly double the space it now occupies. The company plans to renovate the office.

While about 800 people work for Hilb at the various insurance agencies it has acquired, a corporate staff of about 17 in the Richmond area will move into the new space.

We are at the point where people are just jammed into offices, Hilb said of the current office. The new one will be a much more effective use of space. It is going to allow us the ability to grow more significantly.

The Hilb Group was co-founded by Robert J. Hilb with his father, Robert H. Hilb, the founder and former chairman and CEO of Hilb, Rogal and Hobbs, a Henrico County-based company that grew to become the nations sixth-largest insurance brokerage before it was sold in late 2008 to Willis Group Holdings Ltd. The Hilb Group is a separate company.

Its acquisitions this year have included the group benefits division of North Carolina-based Charles Allen & Associates and the group benefits division of Massachusetts-based firm Sapers & Wallack Inc.
A motorcyclist was critically injured in a crash Monday night on Interstate 95 in Petersburg, state police said.

State police responded to the wreck, which occurred near Exit 50, about 8:30 p.m. Officers discovered the motorcycle on the northbound side of the interstate and its rider on the southbound side.

The motorcyclist, whose identity was not immediately released, was evacuated by helicopter to VCU Medical Center.

State police could not provide an update on the motorcyclists condition Tuesday. The cause of the crash remained under investigation.
Chris Gavaler writes his congressman every day.

Frustrated by the outcome of the 2016 presidential election, the assistant professor of English at Washington and Lee University has written more than 200 emails to Rep. Bob Goodlatte since December.

After Donald Trump won the presidential election, Gavaler, 51, was angry. He found himself having imaginary shouting matches with people he assumed were Trump supporters at the grocery store and while running other errands.

The election was upsetting, he said. The first time I voted in an election, it was for Walter Mondale. I did not become a grassroots political activist because Walter Mondale lost. Same for (Michael) Dukakis, none of them triggered me to becoming politically active.

Its very specific to Donald Trump.

While most of Gavalers concerns stem from the leader of the executive branch, hes channeling his political activism toward his local politicians.

On Dec. 4, 2016, Gavaler started submitting daily emails through the contact form on Goodlattes congressional website. Gavaler has submitted so many emails the website thinks hes a spambot.

In the past, Gavaler was never particularly politically active. He wrote the occasional letter to the editor and got roped into making get-out-the-vote calls every once in a while. The Democrat who identifies as a progressive didnt know he lived in the 6th Congressional District and he had never contacted Goodlattes office before.

Many of the emails chronicled on Gavalers Dear Bob blog center on questions about where Goodlatte, R-Roanoke County, stands on certain policy initiatives. Mostly, the emails challenge Goodlatte on replacement of the Affordable Care Act and oversight of the executive branch.

Ultimately, Gavaler  who also writes a superhero comics blog stemming from his professional research  is trying to clarify what he sees as contradictions between what Goodlatte says and what Goodlatte does.

Goodlatte, who is in his 13th term, is chairman of the powerful House Judiciary Committee that is charged with overseeing courts, administrative agencies and law enforcement on the federal level and is responsible for impeachments of federal officials.

A sampling of the subject lines on the emails include: ethics? Please audit the President-elect grabbing a woman by her genitals? Michael Flynn mean and grounds for impeachment?

Gavaler also posts the responses from Goodlattes office, which are often form letters on specific topics.

Several members of Goodlattes staff have met with Gavaler and tried to respond to his requests, said Goodlatte spokeswoman Beth Breeding.

Congressman Goodlattes office receives upwards of 5,000 constituent letters, emails, and phone calls each week, Breeding said. Responding to constituent mail is just one of the many responsibilities of staff. Congressman Goodlattes staff has met with Mr. Gavaler on several occasions, and we are well aware of his communications. Congressman Goodlatte welcomes the input of all Sixth District constituents. Even though they may not agree on each and every issue, it is an important part of our representative democracy.

The organizer of 50 Ways-Rockbridge  a group of citizens in Rockbridge County working to educate themselves on political issues  is careful about the tone of his emails. As he writes, Gavaler tries to use reasonable rhetoric instead of adding to the divisive, partisan speech that he calls ubiquitous.

A lot of progressives are shouting and hurling insults, he said. Im trying to do the exact opposite. Im trying to present common, reasonable, principled American values of how a democracy is supposed to work.

Gavaler, like many of the Indivisible groups in the 6th District, has requested Goodlatte hold a town hall meeting so the congressman and his constituents can talk.

Goodlatte, who meets with constituents when hes in the district and holds Facebook Live question-and-answer sessions and telephone town halls, has said in-person town hall meetings are not conducive for having substantive civil discourse.

Gavalers anger from the election has somewhat subsided. The emails and corresponding blog have allowed him to channel his negative energy positively, he said.

When Gavaler started the project, he vowed to write letters every day for a year. He has never met Goodlatte.
Fighting over history is an American tradition. And its never just about the past; its always about the present. Disagreements over Confederate monuments, to take one example, are less about Robert E. Lee and more about the implications of rival versions of Civil War history for American identity and race relations today.

As Mark Twain supposedly said, history doesnt repeat itself, but it does rhyme. Sure enough, present-day quarrels about the past echo those of Civil War-era Americans, who also fought over the memory of a long-finished war. For them, the great touchstone was the American Revolution. That was the history they built their identities from, the history they used to fight the battles of their own time.

Rather than arguing over statues or flags, they argued over the Fourth of July.

Today the holiday sparks little controversy. Its a saccharine celebration of all things patriotic. During the Civil War era, though, it was a day to measure the present against the promise of the revolutionary past. Americans used to read the Declaration aloud. They delivered long, earnest speeches. They thought hard about what it meant to be an American, about who was included and who excluded, about how they might do better.

The Union and the Confederacy used the same history for opposing purposes. Both sides claimed to be heirs to 1776. Both sides claimed to be enacting a second American Revolution against former compatriots turned traitors. While Northerners fought to preserve the Union created by the Revolutionaries, Confederates fought for the right of self-government against despotism. What was the Declaration of Independence but a proclamation of secession from Britain? The Declaration was authored by one Southern slaveholder, and the Revolutionary armies led by another. The South, said the Richmond Enquirer in 1861, should not forget Libertys first anniversary while founding a second.

Often missing was the principle of universal human rights with which we instinctively associate the Declaration today. Into the 1860s only a small minority, mostly abolitionists, emphasized the phrase that all men are created equal, and interpreted those unalienable rights as expansively as we do. For abolitionists, Independence Day provided the opportunity to underscore the glaring contradiction between slavery and American ideals. As Frederick Douglass put it in 1852, The sunlight that brought life and healing to you, has brought stripes and death to me. This Fourth (of) July is yours, not mine.

Much had changed by 1865, with the war won and slavery finished. In the North, the Fourth became a victory celebration. Nationwide, African-Americans thronged towns and cities, claiming their rights as free people to celebrate the Fourth. Rarely has a holiday so powerfully symbolized radical change.

The transformation left white Southerners distraught. On July 4, 1865, one South Carolina woman fumed, The white people shut themselves within doors and the darkies had the day to themselves  they and the Yankees. I could have listened to the roar of cannon at our very doors all day and thought it music were we celebrating our independence and  but well, well  what is the use of talking about it.

Racial frictions were palpable across the postwar South. An observer in 1865 Savannah reported that when a black volunteer fire company attempted to parade through the streets, a group of whites beat them with brick bats drove them off from their Engine tore up their Cloths and run their engines in to a mud hole. The following year, the Richmond Daily Dispatch related that in the wake of defeat the Fourth of July in Richmond, so far as the white population were concerned, was a dies non. African-Americans had taken the holiday over: the highways, the byways, and Capitol Square, were black with moving masses of darkeys, many of them armed, and apparently ready for anything, belligerent or otherwise.

White Southerners eventually resumed celebrating the holiday. But as whites reintegrated into the Union and regained everything Independence Day stood for, African-Americans lost out.

Throughout the Civil War and Reconstruction years, the basic freedom to celebrate the Fourth mattered immensely. The ability to control public spaces or historical narratives sometimes seems merely symbolic, but is often intertwined with political power. Postwar Independence Day battles heralded black disfranchisement and Jim Crow segregation.

This new phase of white supremacy was also embodied in the Confederate statues that sprang up throughout the South, concrete reminders of who controlled politics and historical memory. Theres good reason for people on all sides of the debate to care about those statues, just as there was good reason for Civil War-era Americans to fight so hard for their own interpretations of the Fourth of July. History matters  not only when it happens but as it ricochets, reverberates, and occasionally rhymes its way through the generations.
Our national

parks need help

Editor, Times-Dispatch:

Americas national parks tell our remarkable American story.

In Virginia, Colonial National Historical Park preserves the James River and York River shorelines including Yorktown, where British General Cornwallis surrendered to General Washington to end the American Revolution. Another national park at Appomattox Court House preserves the village where the Civil War ended. Shenandoah and other parks preserve natural beauty and offer outdoor adventures.

Like most Americans, I want our national parks to endure and prosper, but they face a backlog exceeding $11 billion in serious repairs including crumbling roads and bridges, rotting historic structures, and eroding trails. The Colonial Parkway alone may require $300 million to rehabilitate this critical feature of the national historical park.

Theres a solution. A bipartisan bill, the National Park Service Legacy Act, has been introduced in both houses of Congress. In the Senate, Virginias Mark Warner (D) partnered with Ohios Rob Portman (R) as lead sponsors. Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) has added his support.

To address the backlog, the bill would authorize increased funding that would level off at $500 million annually until 2047. Existing revenues the government receives for oil and gas royalties would provide the funds.

Fixing our parks would make them more resilient, and better prepare them to continue welcoming visitors eager to explore our nations important natural and historic places. Not only do parks inspire us, they put bread on the table in many Virginia communities. In 2016, visitors to Virginias 23 national parks spent an estimated $1.1 billion in Virginia communities, and supported 16,800 non-Park Service jobs.

I hope each of Virginias congressional representatives will cosponsor this sensible bill and work for its enactment. By so doing they will honor our American values embodied in our irreplaceable national parks.

Joy Oakes.
A Place for All Conservatives to Speak Their Mind.
RICHMOND  Thousands of items from all four seasons of Turn: Washingtons Spies are being sold in two online auctions that will close on Monday and Tuesday of next week.

The AMC series about the Culper Spy Ring  a group of spies who aided Americas fight for independence  was filmed in locations throughout the greater Richmond area.

The items include costumes, clocks, chairs, beds and various furniture that resemble household items used during the Revolutionary War.

Kate Amer, production supervisor for Turn, said that while many of the costumes for the show were rented, there are many interesting set pieces, including a small submarine.

One key piece is a replica of the Turtle, which is the first submarine that was built during the Revolutionary War, Amer said. The actual machine that we used to go in the water was one that came down from a museum on the East Coast. Then we built a replica to use on stage to do close-up work.

Other key items include Benedict Arnolds red coat (worn by actor Owain Yeoman) and the hanging coat worn by the stunt double for Maj. John Andre in season three when Andre (played by actor JJ Feild) is accused of espionage and hanged.
Dave Brat Said he didnt vet the post about Hillary Clinton that appeared on social media.

RICHMOND  Rep. Dave Brat, R-Henrico, removed a post from his Twitter and Instagram accounts in which he endorsed the idea of sending former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to Libya as ambassador.

Brat said a new staffer made the post without his approval. The picture was taken at a gun show in Fredericksburg on Saturday; Brat later posted that he had taken it down.

In the photo, Brat stood smiling next to a man holding a sign that said Hillary for U.S. ambassador to Libya.

The comment on the post read, Sign says it all.

Christopher Stevens, the U.S. ambassador to Libya, and three other Americans were killed in a raid on the American diplomatic mission in Benghazi in September 2012.

Many conservatives blame Clinton, who was secretary of state at the time, for their deaths.

The House Select Committee on Benghazi issued an 800-page report following an investigation.

Brat took heat from critics on social media over the post. He said Monday that a staffer made the post.

Ive got new staffers on board and theyre constantly putting posts up on Facebook and whatever, so I didnt vet that, he said.

Brat said he told his staff to remove it because a staffer told him people are interpreting it in crazy left, far-left-land logic thats going on right now across the web.

Brat has repeatedly said he strives to not speak ill of anyone. And he said if someone looks at his Facebook page, theyll learn that its the left thats using the vitriol.

Who actually is using the vitriolic language? Me or the hard left? And the answer is right now online, he said.
Indian shares were slightly higher in early trade on Tuesday, adding to the previous session's rally after global ratings agency Moody's said the GST regime will be positive for the country's credit profile.

Other Asian were trading mixed as North Korea launched a missile, with Japan saying it landed in the country's exclusive economic zone.

The benchmark BSE Sensex was up 71 points or 0.23 percent at 31,293 while the broader Nifty index was up 24 points or 0.24 percent at 9,638.

Adani Ports, Hindalco, Infratel, BPCL and Reliance Industries were among the prominent gainers in the Nifty pack.

Tata Motors rose 0.8 percent after its small hatchback car - Tiago - crossed the 1 lakh cumulative booking milestone.

Ambuja Cements advanced 1.5 percent after securing a limestock block at Nandgaon Ekodi in Maharashtra.

Sun Pharmaceutical Industries was marginally lower after it entered into a strategic agreement with Samsung BioLogics to manufacture Tildrakizumab.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

Market Analysis
North Korea said it successfully test-launched an intercontinental ballistic missile or ICBM.

North Korea test-fired the missile, called the Hwasong-14, under the observance of its leader Kim Jong-un, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). Kim signed an order for the test-fire, it added.

It said the missile reached an altitude of 2,802 kilometers and flew 933 km for 39 minutes before hitting a target in the East Sea.

North Korea's claim of an ICBM has the potential to change the strategic calculus between Washington and Pyongyang and across Northeast Asia, as Mr. Kim's regime continues to defy United Nations sanctions and warnings from its neighbors to curb its nuclear and weapons programs.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

Business News
It is a nostalgia for several music lovers to see and experience new vinyl albums from Sony, after a long gap of 30 years. The discarded media is finding a new lease of life these days and might be creating a new wave in the future.

It was in 1989 that Sony stopped the production of vinyl records. The music lovers have been preferring cassettes, CDs and later digital downloads over vinyl records. It was not that easy to carry on with its bulky size. What prompted the music company to come back with vinyl records is that the younger generation is showing a new interest to yester-year hit device.

CNN Money reported that vinyl music industry is expecting a double digit growth this year and aims for sales of about 40 million new discs with a revenue of around $900 million.

Sony plans to produce new discs at a facility in southwest of Tokyo. According reports, the company is seeking the help of retired engineers in the making of records as the new gen techies are not that familiar with the production process.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

Technology News
Automobile

Next-Gen BMW 5 series: launch likely In June The Indian arm of the German carmaker, BMW, is expected to launch the new 5 Series in June this year. Into its seventh generation, the new 5 Series was officially unveiled by the Munich-based auto giant in October 2016. ....



Pics: Skoda Octavia Facelift, Bookings Open In the last couple of weeks Skoda has grabbed the headlines of the Indian automotive industry. First we learnt that that Skoda will launch the Superb Hybrid in India in 2019. ....



Car, two-wheeler makers drive sales growth in April Several car makers and a two-wheeler maker on Monday said they closed the first month of the current fiscal with volume growth as compared to April last year. ....



Tata Motors to use two technologies for BS IV norms Automobile major Tata Motors Ltd. on Wednesday said it is ready with Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) and Exhaust Gas Recirculation (EGR) technologies for BS IV compliant engines for its commercial vehicles. ....



Driverless cars trial set for UK in 2019 A consortium of British companies on Monday unveiled a plan to test driverless cars on UK roads and motorways in 2019, the media reported. ....



Daimler India launches new inter-city bus Daimler India Commercial Vehicles on Wednesday launched its all new inter-city bus. ....



Volvo launches its fastest car, Polestar Swedish automobile company Volvo Cars on Friday launched its fastest car Volvo S60 Polestar priced at Rs.52.5 lakh (ex-showroom in Delhi). ....



Passenger vehicles sale rises 9.96% in March The domestic passenger vehicles sales rose by 9.96 per cent in March, industry data showed on Tuesday. ....



Hyundai launches updated creta at Rs 9.29 lakh The dual-tone treatment is only available in the SX+ trim with either the 1.6-litre petrol engine or the 1.6-litre diesel ....



Hyundai Xcent Facelift Coming This Month Hyundai is all set to update its compact sedan, the Xcent, this month. After the recent revisions to the Grand i10 the facelifted Xcent will make its debut in April, and we can tell you what to expect. ....


The textile workers in Surat are protesting against the GST. Many traders even intend to sit on a hunger strike. The textile workers in Surat has adopted a novel method to oppose the implementation of GST.

However, the Surat textile industry in Gujarat has adopted a novel method to oppose the implementation of GST. They have printed saris with design of GST.

The saris cost just Rs 110 and they are much in demand. The sari traders are getting orders for such GST saris not just from Gujarat, but also from other states such as Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Delhi.

During the protest of the textile workers Police reached at the spot and protesters were dispersed.
The Supreme Court granted the Centre and the Reserve Bank of India two weeks to consider the option of granting a window to those who could not deposit their demonetised Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes for a compelling reason.

A bench comprising Chief Justice J S Khehar and Justice D Y Chandrachud asked Solicitor General Ranjit Kumar, representing the Centre, to take instructions on the issue.

"There can be a situation where a person has lost his/her money for no fault. Suppose a person was in jail during the period... We want to know as to why you chose to bar such persons," the bench said.

The solicitor general then sought time to seek instructions for granting an opportunity to persons to deposit their money on a case-by-case basis.

The bench was hearing a batch of petitions, including one filed by Sudha Mishra seeking a direction to authorities to allow her to deposit demonetised notes as she could not do so during the period specified by the Centre and the RBI.

The Centre had come out with the Ordinance making possession of a large number of scrapped notes a penal offence attracting a monetary fine.

_

_SHOW_MID_AD__
It is easy to see the third instalment of Ram Gopal Varma's "Sarkar" franchise as an unnecessary carryover of a saga that has lost its relevance and sheen. But "Sarkar 3" rises far above the wasteland of a stagnant crime-drama to give us an insight into a life of outlawry that is richly layered with blood and drama.

Bal Thackeray is dead. Long live Bal Thackeray. In Amitabh Bachchan's persona --steely, gritty, imperturbable, granite-hard and yet malleable and vulnerable -- the Thackeray doppelganger is uncanny. The walk, the talk and the ability to walk that talk to places where the dialogue writer would never have imagined. Take a bow, Mr B. They don't make em like you anymore.



It takes courage to build one more plot around that formidable and imposing figure from Maharashtra's politics who rewrote the rules of politics and who gave political arrogance a sexy edge. The last Sarkar film came 9 years ago. And the figure of Subhash Nagre is now threatened with obsolescence, if not complete irrelevance.



And yet here lies Varma's triumph. He manufactures a compelling if somewhat cramped and at times campy yarn of a wizened but still-spirited political outlaw who has no appetite for betrayal and disloyalty.



"In order to understand politics you first need to get a hang of the politics in the family. It's called Palace politics," says Subhash Nagre, slurping tea out of the plate while, please note, the grandson Shivaji (Amit Sadh in engaging form) also slurps over his cuppa.



Lineage, continuity and perpetuity are big in "Sarkar 3". Outsiders are seen as traitors and marauders. In fact the film makes a pitch for nepotism in crime and politics arguing that absolute loyalty can only be traced in the bloodline. In blueprinting this genealogical fact of clannish life, the narrative stretches the tendons of its muscular drama into scenes that are constructed robustly and at times with enrapturing vividness.



There are some terrific shootouts in this film reminiscent of episodes from Ram Gopal Varma's best gangster films in the past. Parking lots are a favourite haunt for violence in this film. Ram Gopal Varma seems to tell us there's more to cars than Rohit Shetty. Indeed "Sarkar 3" marks the return to form for the long-disoriented filmmaker. He cuts and shoots the scenes in long shots and breathless pauseless frames that cover the dramatic tension without toppling over into overstatements.



Manoj Bajpai joins the gang-war somewhere in the preamble and opts out too soon. He has some of the best lines on the criminalization of politics. Sadly the script doesn't listen to Bajpai's harangue, busy as it is hero-worshipping the outlawed aging hero. Bajpai's one sequence with Mr. Bachchan where Bajpai's character Govind Deshpande mocks Mr. Bachchan's Nagre from a public podium for subverting Gandhian ideals is worth its weight in gold.



Of course Varma being Varma he does like shooting his actors from odd angles, like Yami Gautam, who has never looked more seductive, captured from inside the handle of a teacup. Tea-hee.



The women, Gautam, Supriya Pathak and Rohini Hattangadi get little space in this predominantly masculine war of supremacy. And that one scene where Hattangadi blows a kiss at her screen son would have you whistling in excitement.



The background score didn't have to be persuasive, though. We get the point without the over-punctuation.



Strangely very few people get killed in the course of the storytelling although the body count seems a lot higher. And when archvillain Jackie Shroff, swimming and sexing in Dubai, dies at the end "that's not a spoiler, it's nemesis", we feel a surge of empathy for the Nagre family that has lost a lot of blood, but never in vain.





Watch "Sarkar 3" for the way Varma frames the familial feud in flames of fury. The performances are largely effective specially those by Ronit Roy and Amit Sadh. The latter comes into his own as Mr Bachchan's uncontrollable grandson. But above all, this is one more triumphant celluloid outing for Amitabh Bachchan who invests his role of the aging tiger-neta with a kind of cosmic resonance that goes way beyond that famous baritone.



Yup, they don't make star-actors like Amitabh Bachchan any more. Ram Gopal Varma reminds us of the Bachchan charisma in ways that are deeply nostalgic and exceedingly provocative.



Film: "Sarkar 3"; Director: Ram Gopal Varma; Starring: Amitabh Bachchan, Amit Sadh, Manoj Bajpai, Ronit Roy, Yami Gautam; Rating: ****
Education N\' Career

Civil Services (Main) results out, interviews in February The results of the Civil Services (Main) Examination, conducted by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) held in October-November last year, were announced on Wednesday. ....



Bill on IIITs passed in Lok Sabha The Lok Sabha on Wednesday passed a bill declaring the 15 existing IIITs, established through public-private partnership, as institutions of national importance, enabling them to grant degrees. ....



DU announces fifth cut-off list Several colleges in Delhi University (DU) on Monday announced their fifth and last cut-off list for the few remaining seats. ....



Delhi University's 3rd cut-off list announced With Delhi University's admission season at its peak the 3rd cut-off list is out. Only a few seats are left for students to grab as many of the colleges have already closed the admissions. ....



MP Board Results 2017: MPBSE Class 10, Class 12 results declared, Check Now The Madhya Pradesh Board of Secondary Education has announced the Class 12 and Class 10 board exam result on Friday. ....



Check Here: Tamil Nadu Board (TNBSE) HSC, Class 12 results declared The Tamil Nadu Board of Higher Secondary Education has announced the Class 12 board exam result on Friday morning. ....



NHRC intervention sought into NEET candidate's allegation A day after a girl claimed that she had to remove her innerwear before sitting for the NEET exam in Kannur, the Kerala State Human Rights Commission (KSHRC) on Monday wrote to the National Human Rights Commission, seeking immediate action against the officials responsible. ....



Andhra Pradesh class 10 result out, check it at Bseap.org The Andhra Pradesh Board of Secondary Education declares the result of SSC Class 10 board. The AP Class 10 results have been announced by The Education minister at Vizag. ....



Uttarakhand Board to announce Class 10, 12 results May-end The Uttarakhand Board of School Education is to announce the Class 10 and 12 examination results by the end of May, an official said on Wednesday. ....



Udaipur boy tops JEE with 100% score, two from Delhi follow Kalpit Veerwal from Udaipur city, Rajasthan, has topped the JEE exam conducted by the Central Board of Secondary Examination (CBSE), with 100 per cent scores. The results of the exam were announced on Thursday. ....


The security forces have gunned down the third terrorist in the encounter in Kashmir's Pulwama.

The encounter between security forces from Special Operations Group (SOG) of Jammu and Kashmir police and terrorists began on Monday morning in Bamnoo village in Pulwama.



Two terrorists were gunned down on Monday and another militant was killed by the security forces early Tuesday.

Four Army jawans and one SOG security personnel got injured in the gunfight that lasted for 30 hours.



Militant were hiding in a house in Bamnoo village.
Noisy scenes by the opposition in the Jammu and Kashmir assembly on Tuesday forced the Speaker to adjourn the House twice as the lawmakers took up the discussion on the Goods and Services Tax (GST) implementation.

Opposition MLAs belonging to the National Conference (NC), the Congress and Independents stood up on their seats and later rushed towards the Speaker's chair as the four-day long special session started here.

Speaker Kavinder Gupta ordered marshalling out of Independent MLA Engineer Rashid and some other opposition MLAs as they raised anti-GST slogans.

A special session of the state legislature had begun on Tuesday to discuss the issue of implementation of GST in the state.

Police had earlier on Tuesday detained several traders after they tried to march towards the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly to protest the implementation of GST in the state in its present form.

The traders were detained near the gate of the Civil Secretariat complex, which also houses the Assembly, after they took out a protest march, police had said.

The traders were scheduled to hold a sit-in near the Assembly to protest the implementation of the new tax regime in the state in its present form, claiming that it would lead to the erosion of the state's special position and its fiscal autonomy.

Holding black flags and shouting slogans against the GST, several traders had reached Jehangir Chowk in Srinagar to protest.

They tried to march towards the civil secretariat complex, but police swung into action and detained several of them outside the Civil Secretariat.
Nation

Authorities ban usage of 9 Jamaat-e-Islami properties in J&K's Shopian Authorities in J&K's Shopian district on Thursday banned the entry and usage of nine properties belonging to the banned Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI) organisation following a communication from the state investigation agency (SIA). ....



Sisodia wanted access to files of Delhi liquor deals, OSD's letter surfaces Delhi's deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, accused number one in the CBI FIR in excise policy scam case, had sought the liquor deal papers through his OSD, but the request was turned down by the state law department. ....



Cabinet clears guidelines for uplinking of satellite channels The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved "Guidelines for Uplinking and Downlinking of Satellite Television Channels in India, 2022". ....



Ought to be prepared for any operational contingencies: Rajnath Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesday commended the Indian Army for maintaining a high operational readiness towards ensuring security and national sovereignty. ....



Delhi's air quality continues to be 'very poor', schools reopen today The air quality in the national capital continued to remain in the 'very poor' category on Wednesday morning according to the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR). ....



Justice DY Chandrachud sworn-in as 50th Chief Justice of India President Droupadi Murmu on Wednesday administered the oath of office to Justice D.Y. Chandrachud as the 50th Chief Justice of India. ....



There will be continuity in reforms ushered by Chief Justice Lalit: Justice Chandrachud Justice D.Y. Chandrachud, the CJI-designate, on Monday said there will be a continuity in the reforms ushered in by Chief Justice of India U.U. Lalit, during his 74-day tenure. ....



Al Qaeda operative arrested in J&K's Ramban An operative of the Al Qaeda terror group was arrested from Ramban district of Jammu division, the J&K Police said on Monday. ....



Delhi Excise Policy Scam: Sisodia's aide Dinesh Arora set to be approver Fresh trouble seems to be on cards for Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia as Dinesh Arora -- his close aide and an accused in the Delhi's Excise Policy scam case -- has decided to turn approver in the case. ....



SC upholds 10% EWS quota in admissions, jobs The Supreme Court on Monday upheld the validity of the 103rd Constitution amendment providing 10 per cent reservation to economically weaker sections (EWS) in admissions and government jobs. Three out of five judges, which heard the petitions challenging the EWS reservation, upheld the EWS quota. ....



Noida schools to reopen from Wed as AQI improves As the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) removed stage 4 of Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) following slight improvement in air quality index (AQI), schools from class 1 to 8 in Gautam Buddh Nagar will reopen from Wednesday. ....



As AQI improves, Delhi govt to decide on lifting ban With the Air Quality Index in the national capital improving slightly to "very poor" category on Monday, the Delhi government is likely to review the ban imposed under the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) restrictions. ....



BJP wins 4 seats, Cong draws blank in bypolls across 6 states The by elections on seven seats spread across six states have come as a setback for the Congress which lost both its two seats in Telangana and Haryana, while the BJP managed to gain one seat and managed to win four seats on offer. ....



Guj Congress alleges AAP leaders bring cash in chartered flights, questions BJP's silence The Gujarat unit of Congress on Saturday alleged that despite the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) managing to bring Rs 20 crore into the poll-bound state through various means, the BJP has maintained a stoic silence. ....



Set 'naya rivaj' to re-elect BJP govt in Himachal: Modi Launching his election campaign, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday pleaded electorates in this Himachal Pradesh town with a promise to set 'naya rivaj' (new tradition) to re-elect the BJP government in the state. ....



NIA likely to take over Shiv Sena leader's murder case The National Investigation Agency (NIA) is likely to take over the murder of Shiv Sena leader Sudhir Suri, who was shot dead outside a temple in Amritsar during an agitation, as the accused in the case had alleged links with Khalistani terrorist groups, sources said on Saturday. ....



Delhi reels under thick smog blanket, air quality remains 'severe' A thick layer of smog continued to cover Delhi on Saturday as the air quality remained under the "severe" category for three consecutive days. ....



Diwali is start of air pollution season in northern states: CPCB data Diwali is the start of the air pollution season in the Indo-Gangetic Plain states, and the worst of the season may be ahead of us, as per data from the Central Pollution Control Board's (CPCB) Continuous Ambient Air Quality Monitoring Station. ....



Delhi primary schools to be closed from Saturday due to pollution: Kejriwal Amid increasing pollution levels in Delhi, all primary schools in the national capital will be closed from Saturday onwards until the air quality improves, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal announced on Friday. ....



'Punjab stubble burning worsening air pollution in Delhi', SC agrees to hear plea (Ld) The Supreme Court on Friday agreed to examine on November 10 a plea seeking urgent steps to curb air pollution in Delhi. The plea said the stubble burning in Punjab was the major contributor to the worsening air pollution in Delhi-NCR. ....


Regional

Punjab

Cong not to contest bypolls in UP The Congress in Uttar Pradesh will not contest the upcoming by-elections in Mainpuri and Khatauli but will focus on forthcoming elections to urban local bodies in Uttar Pradesh. ....



Garbage is spread at vacant spaces to show the mountain's height has reduced: Sisodia After visiting Ghazipur landfill site on Wednesday, Delhi's Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia claimed that BJP was suppressing the size of the garbage and filling vacant spaces at the landfill with waste to show that the size of the mountain has reduced. ....



Hindu word origin row: K'taka BJP plans big protests The ruling BJP in Karnataka has decided to launch a big agitation all over the state over the Hindu word origin row. ....



Controversy deepens over power of attorney to Yogi issue in Gyanvapi in case The Vishwa Vedic Sanatan Sangh (VVSS) chief Jitendra Singh Bisen who has filed legal suits, including the Shringar Gauri-Gyanvapi case, has said that the compilation of power of attorneys (PoA) of the cases related to Gyanvapi issue had been completed and was likely to be handed over to Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on November 11. ....



Tremors felt in Lucknow, parts of UP as 6.3-magnitude earthquake hits Nepal Strong tremors were felt in Lucknow and other parts of central Uttar Pradesh at 2 a.m. on Wednesday after a 6.3-magnitude earthquake struck in Nepal, prompting many to rush out of their houses in the middle of the night, National Center for Seismology said. ....



Delhi's primary schools to reopen from Wednesday, truck entry ban lifted Amid an improvement in the air quality of the national capital, Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai on Monday announced that primary schools in the city will reopen from Wednesday, while the ban on truck entry has also been lifted. ....



Kerala Guv stops 2 TV channels from covering press briefing Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan on Monday barred journalists of Kairali TV and Media One TV channels from covering a press briefing in Kochin after inviting them. ....



ED questioning Sisodia's PA in Delhi Excise Policy scam case In the latest development in connection with the Delhi Excise Policy scam, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) is questioning the personal assistant of Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, sources said on Saturday. ....



Isudan Gadhvi is AAP's CM face in Gujarat, announces Kejriwal Aam Aadmi Party national convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal announced Isudan Gadhvi as the party's Chief Ministerial face for the upcoming Gujarat Assembly polls. ....



Gujarat Assembly elections in two phases, counting on Dec 8 (Ld) The Gujarat Assembly polls will be held in two phases on December 1 and 5, the Election Commission announced here on Thursday. ....


Bihar

RJD believes Nitish alone can mount a challenge to Modi in 2024 Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) believes that Nitish Kumar is the most suitable leader for the Prime Minister's post in 2024 Lok Sabha Elections ....



Now Lalu compares Bihar govt with Corona Rashtriya Janata Dal chief and former Bihar chief minister Lalu Prasad Yadav on Thursday compared the state's government with Corona. ....



Bihar government extends lockdown by 10 more days Keeping in view the 'positive impact' of its imposition, the Nitish Kumar government has decided to extend the state-wide lockdown in Bihar by 10 days. ....



45 decomposed bodies found in Ganga in Bihar's Buxar Amid the Covid surge that is wreaking havoc across India, the administration in Bihar's Buxar district on Monday found at least 45 dead bodies, most in a decomposed stage, in the Ganga, and claimed they had been thrown into the river in upstream Uttar Pradesh. ....



RJD releases manifesto ahead of Bihar polls, reiterates promises As lakhs of Bihar voters are poised to exercise their franchise in the first phase of Assembly elections, the RJD on Saturday released its manifesto or vision document, reiterating the promise to recruit 10 lakh persons in government jobs if the party returned to power. ....



57 foreigners related to Jamaat in Bihar arrested The Bihar government seems to tighten the grip over those who attended the congregation in Delhi's Nizamuddin Markaz, as 57 foreigners of different countries were arrested in Patna, Buxar, Kishanganj and Araria for violating visa rules. ....



Six injured in a blast near Gandhi Maidan in Patna At least six people were injured in an explosion near Gandhi Maidan area here on Monday. All the injured persons were rushed to the Patna Medical College and Hospital (PMCH) where the condition of one person is said to be critical. At least six people were injured in an explosion near Gandhi Maidan area here on Monday. All the injured persons were rushed to the Patna Medical College and Hospital (PMCH) where the condition of one person is said to be critical. ....



Class 12 exam begins amid tight security in Bihar Class 12 exams currently being conducted by the Bihar School Examination Board (BSEB) started on Monday amid tight security. A total of 1,283 examination centres have been set up across the state. More than 12 lakh students are appearing for the examination from all over the state. ....



No minor girls murdered in Muzaffarpur shelter home: CBI The CBI on Wednesday told the Supreme Court that 35 girls who were alleged to have been murdered based on other victims' statements in the Muzaffarpur shelter home sexual assault case have been found alive. ....



Heavy rains disrupt train services, life in Bihar Train services were temporarily suspended on the Samastipur-Darbhanga and Gaya-Koderma routes in Bihar due to continuing heavy rains on Saturday morning. Some trains from the Ara-Sasaram-Pandit Deendayal Upadhayay junction were also cancelled following water logging on the tracks, a railway official said. ....


Chhattisgarh

Chhattisgarh encounter: 17 missing cop's bodies found All the 17 bodies of the missing security personnel following a gunbattle with Maoists in forests of Chhattisgarh's insurgency-hit Sukma district were recovered on Sunday, police said. ....



ITBP destroys Maoist camp in Chhattisgarh Security forces on Friday destroyed a Maoist camp after a gun battle in Chhattisgarh, officials said. ....



BJP MLA, 4 others killed in Maoist blast in Chhattisgarh BJP's lone legislator from Chhattisgarh's Maoist-affected Bastar region, Bhima Mandavi, was killed along with four policemen on Tuesday evening as Maoists carried out a deadly attack on his convoy in a forested patch in Dantewada district. ....



4 Maoists killed in Chhattisgarh Four Maoists were killed on Tuesday in a gun battle with a special unit of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) in Sukma district of Chhattisgarh, said the paramilitary unit. ....



Chhattisgarh Congress MLAs to decide on CM The newly-elected Congress MLAs are scheduled to meet late on Wednesday to decide the name of the Chief Minister, a party official said here. ....



Naxalism will end in next three-five years: Rajnath Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday expressed confidence over eliminating naxalism in the coming three-five years and asked Maoists to join the mainstream by surrendering under the rehabilitation policy for them. ....



Polling underway in Chhattisgarh Polling in eight constituencies began at 8 a.m. on Monday and it was underway in 10 others in the first phase to elect a new Chhattisgarh Assembly, officials said. ....



BJP has made Chhattisgarh nearly Maoist-free: Shah BJP President Amit Shah on Saturday said the Chhattisgarh government under Chief Minister Raman Singh has made the state nearly Maoist-free, developing it into a power hub of prospering cement, steel and aluminium industries, besides making rapid progress in education and health. ....



2 security personnel, DD cameraman killed in Maoist attack in Chhattisgarh A cameraman of Doordarshan TV and two police personnel were killed in a Maoist attack in Chhattisgarh's Dantewada district on Tuesday. ....



Maoist landmine kills seven security personnel in Chhattisgarh Seven security personnel were killed in Chhattisgarh's Dantewada district on Sunday when a landmine planted by Maoists ripped through the vehicle they were travelling in. ....


Jharkhand

BJP slams Hemant Soren for his remark about Modi The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has hit out at Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren for his remark that Prime Minister Narendra Modi did not listen to him during a phone call over the Covid-19 situation. ....



Maoists torch vehicles in Jharkhand Suspected Maoists have set ablaze three vehicles in Jharkhand's Latehar district on Monday, police said. ....



Hemant Soren becomes 11th Chief Minister of Jharkhand Hemant Soren took oath as the 11th Chief Minister of Jharkhand amid opposition show of strength, here on Sunday. Governor Draupadi Murmu administered the oath of office and secrecy to Hemant Soren. ....



Outgoing Jharkhand CM Raghubar Das loses seat Outgoing Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das was on Monday defeated in his bastion, Jamshedpur East, by his Independent rival and former cabinet colleague Saryu Roy by a margin of 15,833 votes. ....



Raghubar Das resigns as Jharkhand CM Incumbent Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das, facing imminent defeat in Jamshedpur East, has resigned from his post. ....



Alliances Cong mantra to power in Jharkhand With leads and trends for the Jharkhand assembly election results on Monday showing the BJP on the back foot, it appears that the Congress is set to score one more point in the fight between the two national parties for power in state assembly elections. ....



Hemant cycles to parents' house to seek blessings Opposition alliance chief ministerial candidate and JMM Executive President Hemant Soren on Monday met his parents in Ranchi and took their blessings. ....



Hemant Soren, the new star on Jharkhand's political scene With the assembly election results showing a clear victory for the JMM-led alliance, it is evident that Hemant Soren is poised to become the next chief minister of Jharkhand. He will be donning the chief minister's mantle for the second time in his political career. ....



Jharkhand: Cong-JMM alliance likely to form govt The grand alliance of the JMM-Cong-RJD has managed to take early lead over the BJP in Jharkhand Assembly elections as per the early trends and is likely to form the next government in the mineral rich state. ....



29.19% voting in final phase of Jharkhand polls Jharkhand recorded 29.19 per cent voting till 11 a.m. in the fifth and final phase of polling on Friday for 16 Assembly constituencies, an official said. ....


Madhya Pradesh

Indore tops with 79 of 195 positive cases in a day The corona tide continued to lash Madhya Pradesh with 195 new cases reported on Saturday evening and total tally touched 4,790. The health department bulletin said the cases have spread to 44 of the 52 districts. ....



Migrants pelt stones at cops on MP-Maharashtra border Migrants from Maharashtra headed towards Uttar Pradesh and Bihar have become a law and order and coronavirus issue for the Madhya Pradesh government. ....



50 contractual doctors resign in Gwalior At a time when Madhya Pradesh is facing acute shortage of doctors, 50 doctors appointed on contractual basis at Jayarogya Hospital of Government Gajra Raja Medical College here resigned on Thursday. ....



Scindia clears hurdle as Kamal Nath stares at ouster Election officer A.P. Singh on Tuesday cleared the nomination papers of BJP Rajya Sabha nominees Jyotiraditya Scindia and Sumer Singh Solanki after rejecting the written objections against them. ....



Kamal Nath meets Guv, uncertainty over MP floor test Uncertainty prevailed over Tuesday's floor test of the Kamal Nath government in Madhya Pradesh. The Bharatiya Janata Party MLAs who were to fly back to Manesar have stayed back at Sehore. ....



Congress MLAs arrive in Bhopal ahead of floor test The Congress legislators who were lodged in Jaipur for the last few days returned to Bhopal on Sunday amid tight security at the airport. Section 144 was imposed in and around the airport to prevent large scale gathering. ....



Scindia strikes emotional note in maiden BJP show Former Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia who ended his 18-year association with the Congress to join the BJP was given a rousing reception by his new party on his maiden visit to Bhopal on Thursday. ....



Did Kamal Nath, Digvijaya's ambitions for sons doom MP govt? Jyotiraditya Scindia's resignation from the Congress in Madhya Pradesh poses two questions: Was it a gameplan in Congress that proved far more effective than BJP, or a plan to weed out thorns that stood in the road to advancement for the sons of Chief Minister Kamal Nath and former Chief Minister Digvijaya Singh? ....



8th MLA returns to partyfold, meets Kamal Nath The crisis within the Congress has fizzled as rebel MLA Bisahu Lal Singh met Chief Minister Kamal Nath in Bhopal on Sunday after returning from Bengaluru. ....



Bhopal airport: Youth rams into runway, vandalizes helicopter An intruder caused a security scare at the Raja Bhoj Airport, here on Sunday. He damaged a helicopter stationed in a bay of the state government's hanger and tried to enter the apron of airport. ....


Rajasthan

Rajasthan announces free Covid vaccination for 18-45 Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Sunday announced free vaccination for people above 18 years of age in the state for the next vaccination round which starts from May 1. ....



Rajasthan CM orders complete lockdown in state till March 31 Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Saturday ordered complete lockdown in the state in order to prevent the spread of coronavirus. ....



6-year-old raped, strangled to death with her school belt A six-year-old girl student, who went missing on Saturday in Rajathan's Tonk district, was found allegedly raped and strangled to death with her own school belt on Sunday, police said. ....



Don't repeat 1971 mistake, Rajnath warns Pak Defence minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesday warned Pakistan not to repeat its mistake of 1971 war with India. ....



14 killed as tent collapses at Rajasthan religious gathering At least 14 people were killed and 26 others injured when a massive tent erected for people attending a religious gathering in Rajasthan's Barmer on Sunday collapsed as a storm hit the area, police said. ....



Churu sizzles at 50 degree Celsius Rajasthan's Churu was hottest on Saturday with temperature touching 50 degree Celsius in the district, said the met department. ....



'Ram ka kaam ho kar hi rahega': Mohan Bhagwat in Udaipur Days after the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) scripted a resounding victory in the Lok Sabha elections, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat said that "Ram ka kaam karna hai, Ram ka kaam ho kar hi rahega (Ram's work needs to be done and Ram's work will be done)." ....



Proud day for India, says Modi on UNSC decision Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Wednesday that it was a proud day for India after the United Nations (UN) declared Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) chief Masood Azhar a global terrorist. ....



MiG-21 crashes in Rajasthan, pilot safe A MiG-21 fighter aircraft of the Indian Air Force (IAF) crashed near Bikaner in Rajasthan on Friday. The pilot ejected safely, the Defence Ministry said. ....



Rajasthan grants 5% quota to Gujjars, wants Centre to amend Constitution The Rajasthan government on Wednesday passed the Reservation Amendment Bill 2019 in the Assembly, which promises 5 per cent reservation to five communities, including Gujjars, in educational institutions and government jobs. ....


Uttar Pradesh

UP Assembly to have day reserved for women members The Uttar Pradesh Assembly will have a day reserved for women members during the Monsoon Session, commencing on September 19 ....



Mayawati questions bulldozer action on minorities Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) president Mayawati, on Monday, accused the Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh of creating an atmosphere of fear amongst the minorities and questioned the bulldozer action on them. ....



Yogi sworn in for 2nd term, KP Maurya, Brajesh Pathak his deputies Yogi Adityanath was sworn in as the 33rd chief minister of Uttar Pradesh on Friday in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union ministers and a galaxy of chief ministers. ....



Hema Malini provides oxygen enhancer devices to Mathura hospitals Mathura MP Hema Malini has provided oxygen enhancer devices to all the hospitals of the city. ....



UP extends 'closure' by 2 days to check Covid spread The Yogi Adityanath government has extended the closure in Uttar Pradesh up to May 6. ....



CM Yogi Adityanath tests negative, disbands 'Team 11' In a major development, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, on Friday, disbanded his 'Team 11" that had been involved in Covid management since the past one year. ....



UP: One killed in oxygen plant blast in Kanpur One person was killed and two others injured after an oxygen cylinder exploded during refilling at Panki oxygen plant in Dada Nagar industrial area here on Friday morning. ....



Yogi govt to provide 100 days employment to 25 lakh families The Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh has charted out a plan to scale up employment under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MNREGS) by engaging gram rozgar sewaks and women workers who will ensure 100 days of employment to at least 25 lakh families. ....



Yogi govt extends UP lockdown by a day Amid surging coronavirus cases, the Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh, on Thursday, announced the extension of weekend lockdown in the state by one day. ....



Akhilesh Yadab alleges Covid death data is being fudged Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav has accused the Uttar Pradesh government of fudging the corona virus death toll. ....


Uttarakhand

Thak Thak gang knocked out, four arrested Delhi Police have arrested four members of the infamous Thak-Thak gang, who knock on car windows to distract the attention of motorists in order to rob them, officials said on Monday. ....



Agriculture land will be give on lease in Uttarakhand All the hurdles in getting land on lease for agriculture have been removed in Uttarakhand. A register will be maintained for the government land and tenders will be issued for lease. ....



Amit Shah slams Congress' silence on Kashmir PM BJP President Amit Shah on Wednesday slammed the Congress for its silence on the National Conference chief Omar Abdullah's demand of a separate Prime Minister for Jammu and Kashmir. ....



45 killed in Uttarakhand accident At least 45 people were killed after a bus fell into a 60-metre gorge in Uttarakhand on Sunday, police said. ....



No ban on release of 'Padmavat' in UP, Uttarakhand Despite threats by the Karni Sena to disrupt the release of Sanjay Leela Bhansali's period saga "Padmavat" on January 25, the Uttar Pradesh government has not issued any orders in this regard, as of now. ....



NGT bans plastic in Haridwar, Rishikesh The National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Friday reiterated its 2015 order banning the use, sale, manufacturing and storage of plastic items in the pilgrimage towns of Haridwar and Rishikesh in Uttarakhand. ....



Modi offers prayers at Kedarnath temple Prime Minister Narendra Modi was one of the first to offer prayers at the fabled Kedarnath temple here as the shrine on Wednesday opened its doors after a six month long winter break. ....



In a first, Uttarakhand monitors forest fires with drones In a first, the Uttarakhand Forest Department has launched a drone for real-time monitoring of the forest fire and to take preventive measures, officials said here on Monday. ....



Uttarakhand CM wields the broom, cleans up ghats Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat on Wednesday wielded the broom and began cleanliness work at the Kedar Ghat and many other lanes adjoining Yttarkashi's Vishwanath temple. ....



Policemen injured in Uttarakhand violence over Ambedkar poster Violence broke out in an Uttarakhand village early on Friday after some posters and banners on Dr B.R. Ambedkar were burnt and torn off, the police said. ....


Technology

India smartphone market declines 11% to reach 45 mn units in Q3 India's smartphone shipments declined 11 per cent (on-year) to reach over 45 million units in the third quarter this year, led by Xiaomi with a 21 per cent market share and closely followed by Samsung at 19 per cent share, a report showed on ....



India now home to over 450 Web3 startups, 11% of global talent India now has more than 450 active Web3 startups, with four unicorns, that have raised $1.3 billion funding (till April 2022), a Nasscom report said on Wednesday. ....



Gadkari launches Toyota's pilot project on flex fuel hybrid vehicle Union Road Transport and Highway Minister Nitin Gadkari on Tuesday launched Toyota's pilot project on flex fuel-strong hybrid electric vehicle (FFV-SHEV) that can run on 20 to 100 per cent ethanol. ....



Over 7 in 10 Indians now prefer to chat with businesses: Meta report In the ever-evolving communication landscape, more than 70 per cent of Indians prefer to message businesses rather than sending an email, calling or visiting their website, a new report said on Friday. ....



22 lakh Indian IT professionals likely to leave jobs by 2025: Report The attrition rate in the IT-BPM sector in India is reaching gigantic proportions and up to 22 lakh IT professionals are likely to quit their jobs by 2025, a report has said. ....



Hughes, ISRO launch satellite internet service in India as Musk's Starlink disappears Satellite internet provider Hughes Communications India on Monday announced the commercial launch of India's first high-throughput satellite (HTS) broadband service ....



Twitter lied about bots, users' data safety, says its ex-security chief Twitter's former head of security, Peiter "Mudge" Zatko, has claimed that the Parag Agrawal-led platform lied about the actual number of bots on its platform and misled federal regulators about users' safety, media reports said on Tuesday. ....



Students of Sharda University develop Heat Alert Device for Vehicles' Battery, Got MSME Recognition India is fast adapting to the changing landscape of the automobile industry necessitated by the worsening global atmosphere and skyrocketing crude oil prices. ....



Samsung unveils Android 13-based One UI 5 beta on Galaxy S22 series Samsung on Sunday launched its Android 13-based 'One UI 5' open beta programme which will be available on the Galaxy S22 series (Galaxy S22, Galaxy S22+ and Galaxy S22 Ultra). ....


Weird N\' Wonderful

A first-of-its-kind journey along India and Pakistan border What binds the two most talked about nations - India and Pakistan together? What makes their relationship unique? ....



Pakistani boxers go missing from Birmingham airport after CWG Pakistans boxers Suleman Baloch and Nazeer Ullah Khan have gone missing in Birmingham after the conclusion of the Commonwealth Games, media reports said. ....



EMM negative: India`s first and world`s tenth person with rarest blood group found in Gujarat A man in Gujarat, who passed away during the course of treatment, has been identified with a unique blood group, which is said to be the first in the country and 10th in the world, as per reports. ....



5 feet tall thief nabbed by man half of his height in Bihar A two-and-a-half feet tall man managed to nab a five feet tall thief in Bihar's Buxar district. ....



80-year-old woman, declared dead by CBI, appears in Bihar court An 80-year-old woman in Bihar's Siwan district and a key witness in a major case appeared before the MP-MLA court of Muzaffarpur on Friday and informed the judge that she is alive though the CBI had declared her dead. ....



Putin's daughter Katerina's new boyfriend has same name as Ukrainian president Zelensky Vladimir Putins daughter Katerina Tikhonova has a lover called Zelensky -- the same name as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky -- according to reports, Daily Mail reported. ....



Johannesburg: Man's surprise proposal at McDonald's gets savagely rejected Planning a surprise proposal can be stressful yet exhilarating, but for one man in the city of Johannesburg, South Africa, it turned out to be a night he would like to forget. In a video that has now gone viral, a man's proposal to a woman in the middle of a busy McDonald's ended in a humiliating rejection. ....



Chinese PLA troops in eastern Ladakh shown learning Hindi! Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) troops, stationed at the disputed Line of Actual Control with India in eastern Ladakh, have started learning Hindi language, indicating they are not moving back ....



Hit by high fuel prices, Bihar power department staff rides a horse to collect bills A person hailing from Bihar's Sheohar district has come up with a unique protest against the fuel price hike across the country by riding a horse while going to work ....



'The American Dream': World's longest car restored, breaks its own record at over 100 feet long Measured at 100 feet and 1.5 inches long, the super limousine known as the American Dream, has broken its previous Guinness World Record of the longest car. ....


World

PTI to launch countrywide protests today PTI leader Asad Umar announced that the party will launch countrywide protests after Friday prayers, adding that demonstrations will continue till the party Chairman Imran Khan's demands are met. ....



India, SL hold talks to expedite $15mn grant projects India and Sri Lanka have agreed to expedite projects, including promoting Buddhist ties, under a special Indian grant of $15 million. ....



Death toll in Seoul halloween stampede reaches 156 One more fatality was confirmed from the Halloween stampede in Seoul's Itaewon district, raising the death toll from the tragedy to 156, officials said on Tuesday. ....



Death toll in Seoul halloween stampede reaches 154 The death toll from the Halloween stampede in Seoul has increased to 154, including 26 foreigners, officials said on Monday, as the country mourned the deadliest tragedy in years. ....



Diwali to be public school holiday in NYC starting 2023 Diwali will be a public school holiday in New York City starting next year, Mayor Eric Adams announced at a press conference on Thursday with state assembly woman Jenifer Rajkumar. ....



Imran Khan stuns all, wins majority of seats in Pak by-polls Pakistan's former Prime Minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan stunned everyone with his party re-claiming six out of eight seats of the National Assembly (NA) in by-elections. ....



Death toll from Thai childcare centre mass shooting rises to 36 (2nd Ld) A mass shooting at a childcare centre on Thursday in Thailand's Nong Bua Lamphu province has killed at least 36 people, including 24 children, local authorities said. ....



Pakistan's largest bank aided, abetted Al Qaeda: Report Pakistan's largest bank, Habib Bank Limited (HBL), faces secondary liabilities in a terror financing case in the US in which the plaintiffs had alleged that it aided and abetted Al Qaeda terrorism and joined a conspiracy to launch attacks that killed or injured 370 people, a media report said on Thursday. ....



Peace possible in sub-continent when Pakistan ends terror, comes clean: Indian diplomat Indian diplomat Mijito Vinito said that peace is possible in the sub-continent only when Pakistan stops cross-border terrorism, "comes clean" and ends persecution of minorities. ....



G4 Ministers meet to strategise UNSC reform as world leaders express support External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and his G4 counterparts met to discuss and strategise the reform of the UN Security Council (UNSC) which has been getting wide support from leaders at the high-level meeting of the General Assembly. ....


Re: Twenty two more Chinese language speakers in Samoa

Awesome news! This is good for Tourism Industry in Samoa.

It will help the industry in a huge way if Samoa is looking into China as their tourism market.

They can work as tour guides with a group or individual person.

It is another job opportunity for those students to earn an income, meet and observe people from another country and culture.

And of course pay them good as they go by doing their job in a professional level. Use that good knowledge that you have learned to help the economy of Samoa and development.

It goes a long way for Samoa as a whole.

Moaga Nuusa
The village of Gagaifolevao, Lefaga welcomed 27 new titleholders of the Sa Sua family during a colorful and elaborate ceremony last Saturday.

There were five different Chiefly titles that were bestowed. This includes the High Chief title Sua, along with four orator titles Tiumalu, Vaofusi, Leautulagi and Tolumaanave.

Among those who were bestowed the Sua chiefly title was Police Commissioner Fuiavailiili Egon Keil, Chief Executive Officer of Agriculture and Fisheries Tilafono David Hunter.

Prior to the traditional formalities, the titleholders were blessed by Rev. Ruperake Petaia of the Congregational Christian Church of Samoa in Gagaifolevao. He urged the new titleholders to take their role seriously. Being a leader comes with great responsibilities, not only to families, but to the village and churches.

You have been chosen to become leaders of your family and that means you are responsible to lead your families to great things, he said.

Being a leader is a calling and it plays a very important role in our everyday lives.

Honesty and Love are the most important key factors in the role that you are now carrying.

SUA:

1. Sua Filo

2. Sua Simona

3. Sua Faasiusiu

4. Sua Geoffery

5. Sua Maki

6. Sua Egon Keil

7. Sua Solomona

8. Sua Tuilagi

9. Sua Ulusa Peti Tiitii

10. Sua Esekia

11. Sua Fiaalii

12. Sua David Hunter

TIUMALU:

1. Tiumalu Sefulu

2. Tiumalu Sasae

3. Tiumalu Klause

4. Tiumalu Arona

VAOFUSI:

1. Vaofusi Esau

2. Vaofusi Sione

3. Vaofusi Terry

4. Vaofusi Amani

LEAUTULAGI:

1. Leautulagi Popo

2. Leautulagi Lave

TOLUMAANAVE:

1. Tolumaanave Luka

2. Tolumaanave Peni

3. Tolumaanave Risati

4. Tolumaanave Victor

5. Tolumaanave Pili.
A programme recently launched to help at risk young people is making great strides in making a difference.

Since its launch at the Apia Harvest Centre Church, Teen Challenge has counseled a number of young people referred to the programme by the Ministry of Justice, Courts and Administration.

In six weeks, Director Eric Poe said close to 30 cases have been referred to their care so far.

So M.J.C.A. refers most of the kids to us especially the youth generation and the service that were performing for them are counseling and rehabilitation programmes, Mr. Poe said.

For us, we base our procedures on the cases given by M.J.C.A. and they are very specific with their cases.

You know for example, they might say this person needs anger management so for us, its anger and personal right, so we do this programme for six weeks to help out these kids.

We also do additional activities that enable us to identify the cause of their problems or issues such as incest, thieving, as well as cases where inappropriate manners were shown towards women by the male race.

So we have to dig deep when it comes to the roots or the causes.

There are many causes.

Some cases weve learned were caused by pornography; where they have become addicted to those things for the last two years so it had built their mindset with such foolishness and other things like that, and then they started acting up. So we have to deal with the root, even with those that are responsible for physical abuse.

Mr. Poe said one of the most common sources of hurt they have found begin from within families.

You know its either between them and their parents or anyone else in the family for that matter.

It causes them to be hurt; and you know once something happens between family members, it breaks you. So we have to deal with a lot of those students that are involved with family problems because what caused them to argue or fight didnt just happen. It has to start from somewhere and it keeps on building. So our job is to step out and reach out to help.

Mr. Poe added that the youngest member in the group is a thirteen year old and this was one of the students that they needed to contribute a lot of their efforts into making sure hes taken care of.

You know for him, he doesnt have a father because he left when he was still little and his mother also has special needs.

We felt the need to step out and help, even reaching out to him because his home environment is tremendously broken. We had to help him out in providing a home for him, taking him to the hospital using money from our own pockets.

Its easy to deal with students whose issues are based on their characters but if their homes are not in place, its so difficult.

So we have to reach out when it comes to cases like these and we have two cases like that right now and theres a lot of neglect to these children because of broken homes.

Were also planning to bring in community problems, to bring in their families and try to deal with them.

As a faith base programme, it means we use the bible as a rehabilitation tool.

So some days, when we use the bible in class, we do lessons and then we do the practical side, they also take assignments at home. We use it like that, we take a scripture and we talk about it.

The good thing about using the Bible and our culture is because those are the two main pillars of the foundations of their lives.

If you try and talk to them about lifes skills, they get lost because they dont understand.

We talk to them about the Bible and then apply it to reality because they grew up hearing about the Bible. Its easy and thats why we believe our method works.

And then after our teaching, we take them one on one consultation everyday or everytime they come in because there are personal things that are happening to them that they need to let it out so they need us to help them out.

Most of them, they come out with tears, feeling emotional right after their one on one sessions especially on the first and second week, when they just started on this programme.

Eric said Teen Challenge Samoa are trying their best to help shape their students into people they should become.

The progress of change; well Ill be lying if I say theres a bit of change, it shouldnt be something that comes from us, it comes from the kids themselves.

Teen Challenge globally has identified that their (students) success percent is 86% and it has been proved in America where they have conducted surveys.

So we do our work with certainty and assurance that it will work and we see a change; we had a case before where our first student now has a job and for us, that means this programme has a great impact on these people.

From the beginning of this programme, I was the only one that stepped in for this programme, just me and the office and we walked in knowing that we will get help and so far, we have 9 counselors at the moment; they are very good counselors, they are mature in the work.

We dont just do the programme, you know this is the first base programme, its different from the circular programme and the faith base programme, we step up.

But we dont do just the programmes for the sake of numbers and records; you step out of the scene and lead.

Our division basically deals with youth because thats what M.J.C.A. are referring to us but we are trying to develop in other areas that involves adults, couples even prostitutions and homosexuals, but we are slowly getting to order.

Teen Challenge Samoa is under the covering of Reverend Faafetai Fata Meafou and the Apia Harvest Centre Church in Togafuafua.
Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi said Solomon Islands no longer needs the assistance from the Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands (R.A.M.S.I).

The ceremony to close R.A.M.S.I. just concluded and the officers will be returning to their home countries, said Tuilaepa.

R.A.M.S.I arrived in the Solomon Islands on July 2003 at the request of the Solomon Islands Government, for assistance of long-term stability, security and prosperity. This was a partnership between the people and government of Solomon Islands and fifteen countries of the Pacific.

Last week Solomon declared that Solomon Islands no longer needs the 15-nation R.A.M.S.I Participating Police Force.

Tuilaepa said the incident occurred fourteen years ago, where Solomon Island was ravaged by men with guns.

He said in 2,000 inmates were walking around with guns and they were fearless people.

There were just too many guns in the hands of the inmates who scoured through the villages, killed and took what they wanted.

The government was unable to control the ravages and thats where R.A.M.S.I came in. The second incident occurred in Fiji. He said this was where Fijis military rulers were against rebel leader George Speight who held 31 MPs hostage held in the Parliament compound.

At the same time all the Samoan students including Samoan residents came back to Samoa during this riot.

With the conclusion that no one was retuning to Fiji unless the government is assured that everyone is safe, said Tuilaepa.

The Prime Minister said that some students shouldve graduated that year, but the government was not going to risk their lives by sending them back to Fiji. According to Tuilaepa these incidents led to the establishment of R.A.M.S.I three years later.

ABOUT R.A.M.S.I

Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands (R.A.M.S.I), or Operation Helpem Fren, is a partnership between the people and government of Solomon Islands and fifteen contributing countries of the Pacific region. The Mission is majority-funded and led by Australia.

R.A.M.S.I. arrived in Solomon Islands in July 2003 at the request of the Solomon Islands Government.

Since then, R.A.M.S.I. has been helping the Solomon Islands lay the foundations for long-term stability, security and prosperity.

The partnership forged between the people and Government of Solomon Islands and R.A.M.S.I. has achieved much in the years since. Law and order have been restored, national institutions have been rebuilt and the Solomon Islands economy has been reformed.

Since mid-2013, R.A.M.S.I. has been solely a policing mission, working in partnership with the Royal Solomon Islands Police Force (R.S.I.P.F.) to build a modern, effective and independent police force that has the full confidence and support of the community.R.A.M.S.I.s regional identity is its core underlying strength.

Every Pacific Island Forum country participates in R.A.M.S.I. and the Mission benefits from the diverse cultures and experience of the 15 contributing members. Since 2003, thousands of police, military and civilian personnel from across the region have served with R.A.M.S.I. and worked side by side with Solomon Islanders.

The individual efforts of those who have worked with R.A.M.S.I. have combined to make a great contribution to the success of the Mission and the continuing peace in Solomon Islands.
Members of the public and relevant stakeholders were invited to a public consultation about the findings of the Family Safety Research 2017 last week.

Held at the Tooa Salamasina hall, the meeting was hosted by the Ministry of Women, Community and Social Development.

The aim was to gather information to understand Samoas current situation and serve to indicate how best to address violence and abuse that continue to plague and hinder the safety of our communities.

Participant Taupau Luataivafaasisina told the Samoa Observer that safety and the well being of everyone is very important.

It is our responsibility to ensure and secure our communities (tofi); we must prioritise our safety, our health, our family and the well-being of our women and children, Taupau said.

Whats happening in our country nowadays? You name it....but as a matai, father in this country, this is an opportunity for everyone to come together and share views on how to address violence against women and children.

We all have a role to play.

The draft of the Samoa Family Safety Study 2017 commissioned by the Ministry of Women, Community and Social Development (M.W.C.S.D) aims to address the present state of domestic and gender-based violence in Samoa and the extent of the impact of current interventions.

The study recommends the Village councils to introduce curfew for evening devotion.

It also calls on Village councils to introduce tough penalties on perpetrators of family violence and to reintroduce Sunday laws in order for all family members to attend church services.

The study goes on to encourage village church ministers to conduct regular visits with families especially those in marginal farming lands as well as the strengthening of aoga faifeau.

It also calls for M.W.C.S.D to initiate the process to amend the Village Fno Act 1990 in order to give village councils formal authority to intervene in matters of family violence.

This will give village councils the legal backing to intervene appropriately to resolve family violence incidents in the villages.

The village or the community is the next platform of exposure and socialization for both children and adults.

The relationship between the village members and authority is well understood and respected.

It is one of the main factor behind the survey results showing an overwhelming preference for village councils to intervene in matters of family violence.

At the centre of this recommendation is the strong need for village councils to promptly intervene through its bylaws and advocacy role to settle matters of family violence in collaboration with village church ministers.

The Family Safety Study says M.W.C.S.D should convince village councils and church ministers through advocacy work to promote family safety issues.
The Minister of Prison and Correction Authorities, Tialavea Tionisio Hunt admits the unlawful release of an innate, was an oversight on their part. He has put a stop to the weekend parole for all the inmates at Tafaigata Prison.

Last week, Supreme Court Justice Leiataualesa Darryl Clarke expressed his disappointment with the Samoa Prisons and Correction Authorities, with what he has described as the unlawful release of an inmate. From the bench, he openly criticised the system, threatening to hold the Prisons Commissioner in contempt of Court if this continues to happen.

The Judges comments were made during the case of a convicted murderer who was released less than three years after his sentencing.

Lilo Lilo, was convicted in October 2013. Sentenced to life imprisonment, he is not eligible for parole until 2023.

But that was not the case.

When Lilo was released on weekend parole, he was re-arrested and charged with possession of marijuana.

Back in Court, Lilo pleaded not guilty to the drug charge. A hearing on the matter was held and he was found guilty. This was when Justice Leiataualesa found that he was not supposed to have been released at all.

Inmates who serve life imprisonment are eligible for parole upon serving 10 years.

The Minister in response has taken responsibility for the actions of his staff. If the court is looking at holding anyone in contempt it should be me. The Commissioner of Prison Authority is under my watch, so its me that the court will hold in contempt.

And I want to thank the Supreme Court Justice for his keenness on the matter, said Tialavea. This issue was an oversight by our staff and we have made the appropriate corrections.

Last week, I informed them about the new law which prohibits certain inmates to be released on the weekend and holiday parole.

This law applies to those who are convicted of murder, manslaughter, sexual connection, rape, incest, burglary and robbery.

The Minister explained, before the new act was approved in 2016, the prisons received a copy of the drafted bill and thats the one they have been using all along.

The draft allowed for convicted murderers to be released on weekend parole.

However when the law was passed, no one bothered to give the Prison Authorities a copy which indicates the amendments, explained the Minister.

Regarding the inmate, Tialavea explained that its been five years since Lilo was convicted of murder, not three as indicated by the court.

Also Lilo was caught with the illegal drugs at the prisons gate. Our prison guards reached him and found the drugs in the bag.

The police came afterwards and we did not hide that, we reported it to the Police. My point is this was an honest mistake on our part.

If we purposely released Lilo knowing he was not allowed on weekend parole, do you think we would report the drugs to the police? said the Minister. Furthermore, the Minister said the Commissioner has the discretion by law to allow certain inmates out on the weekend parole, but not the ones convicted of specified crimes (as stated above).
Its that time of the year where leaders and members of the Samoa Methodist Church are gathering at Faleula for their annual conference.

The gathering is a lead up to the main annual conference of the church to be held next week.

On Monday, the yearly procession started with the Au-uso Fealofani or Council of Women.

More than a hundred wives of elderly deacons and ministers and pensioner mothers gathered at the church headquarters to discuss issues and share ideas about how to improve their work.

As for the main conference, the meeting will discuss issues about the development and strategic plans of the church.

The church history tells that when the first missionary arrived in 1835, some 2,000 Samoans were already following Lotu Tonga (Tongan religion).

They worshipped in rough chapels, observing a few basic Christian practices taught to them by a Samoan chief who had embraced Christianity in Tonga and on his return had become a missionary to his own country.

In 1839, it was ordered that Methodism be abandoned, and the missionary left the country.

Some Methodist Christians returned to paganism, and some went over to the Roman Catholic Church. But Methodism survived, and for 18 years it was served by Tongan and Samoan teachers.

In 1856 the conference in Australia decided to resume the work in Samoa. Towards the end of the 19th century Samoa suffered badly from civil wars and political conflicts.

The beginning of the 20th century was marked by several developments.

The church began to realize that its task was to be a sending church, not only a receiving church. It sought to become financially independent and to rid itself of illiteracy and ignorance.

The political independence of Samoa in 1962 was followed by the autonomy of the Methodist Conference in 1964.

Since then notable changes have taken place.

The number of ordained ministers has increased and lay people participate in the work of the church. Present programmes of the church extend to areas such as land development and home economics.

There is a great evangelistic zeal and a growing enthusiasm for missionary outreach.

The life of the church is based on the tradition and culture of the people. Education at all levels is a priority.

The church maintains close relationships with Methodist churches in New Zealand, Tonga, Fiji, the USA, the Caribbean, and with the Uniting Church in Australia.
Just four years after transforming the old San Diego Police headquarters into a downtown dining and retail complex, the developer is putting it up for sale, along with its interest in the adjoining Seaport Village.

Terramar Retail Centers, which holds leases with the Port of San Diego for both Harbor Drive properties, confirmed that it is marketing them for sale but offered no further comment.

A developer and operator of shopping centers, TRC, as it is known, still has 35 years remaining on its 40-year Headquarters at Seaport lease, while its Seaport Village agreement is due to expire in September next year and will not be renewed.

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The San Diego Unified Port District announced last week that it would be seeking an interim manager for Seaport Village pending redevelopment of the 37-year-old specialty retail center. Its board also has authorized an exclusive negotiating agreement with a development team that was chosen to lead the makeover of the downtown waterfront destination.

Terramar had hoped to move forward two years ago with an $81 million redevelopment plan for Seaport, but port commissioners rejected the proposal and instead took steps to offer a much larger, 70-acre waterfront area that includes Seaport and surrounding tidelands to new development teams.

The move to sell the Headquarters is welcome news to many tenants, who have struggled to remain profitable amid high turnover among smaller shops and the exit of two pizzerias that failed in the same location.

While most of the anchor restaurants, including the Cheesecake Factory and the popular Puesto, are said to be doing well, specialty retailers say they have not seen the sales and traffic they expected would come their way given the proximity to neighboring Seaport Village and the bayfront convention center.

A number of issues, they say, have dogged the center, including paid parking, lack of street signage for the individual shops, a design that turns its back on the street, and no clear physical connection to Seaport Village.

Venissimo, a San Diego gourmet cheese retailer with multiple successful locations, left the center earlier this year, unable to attract the sales it needed to sustain its business. At least nine businesses have left the center over the last four years, and there are about a half-dozen unfilled spaces, some of which were never leased. There are 17 shops and restaurants in the center, according to the Headquarters website.

Were doing OK in the Headquarters, but I think the original leases were designed with the idea of the center being much more successful, said Chris Glenn, who operates with his wife, Annie, Urban Beach House in the Headquarters and four more stores in Seaport Village.

Terramar went in with the approach of doing a high-end Seaport Village, which didnt work for the area because you dont have that high-end customer. Selling this is a great thing because itll bring in a new landlord with a fresh approach who will be more aggressive in getting tenants in there.

Others suggested that TRC, whose experience has been with grocery-store-anchored centers, may have not had the expertise to launch a more challenging mixed-use development oriented around a historic building.

San Diego port officials said Monday they are aware of TRCs efforts to market the companys two leases but stressed that any sale would require their approval.

Any assignment/sale would have to be to a qualified retail operator with solid financial resources and would have to meet all further criteria set forth by the Port in each of TRCs leases, the Port said in a statement. In addition, any assignment/sale would also require consent by the Port.

Our focus is on keeping The Headquarters and Seaport Village active and vibrant destinations for residents and visitors. At the same time, we continue to move forward in our long-term plan for the redevelopment of the Central Embarcadero.

Under TRCs lease with the port, it is paying no rent for the first 10 years as it recoups its $65 million in development costs, after which it will pay 5 percent of gross revenues, with the rate escalating to 10 percent by the 30th year of the 40-year agreement.

Representatives of Protea Waterfront Development, which is leading a team of developers that is pursuing redevelopment of Seaport Village and the central embarcadero, said Friday they would consider purchasing TRCs leaseholds but were hesitant to say much more than that.

Were very interested in purchasing the leaseholds and have been trying for a number of months to talk to them, said Protea CEO Yehudi Gaf Gaffen. Were very pleased to see theyre interested in selling and were looking forward to engaging with them.

A review of quarterly financial statements TRC submitted to the Port for the past two years show that base rental income from its tenants fell short of what the developer budgeted for each quarter, and in two of the four quarters, income fell in 2016 compared with the same periods in 2015.

The variance between what was taken in and what was budgeted likely reflects, in part, the centers turnover as retailers left and vacancies went unfilled.

However, the developments percentage rents, which reflect TRCs share of its tenants sales, went up in each quarter throughout 2015 and 2016, despite the problems with the restaurant space originally occupied by Pizzeria Mozza and successor tenant Flour & Barley. The latter restaurant closed this year.

Headquarters tenants have complained that Terramar has not done an especially good job of marketing the center, and they point out that because the courtyard-style building was at one time a jail, the design of the complex feels closed off to the street, making it difficult for people to know there are stores operating in the interior.

I think its fantastic theyre selling, said Gina Stark, who co-owns Madison, a womans boutique with her sister, Irina Rachow. Sales, she said, are flat this year. I was hopeful that Terramar would look at the barriers to success, but they really havent stepped up and addressed what we think are not insurmountable challenges. I guess they did well with Seaport Village, where you have an unending stream of traffic, and we were literally getting a fraction of that traffic.

Puesto owner Eric Adler, whose Mexican restaurant has thrived in the Headquarters, said he thinks TRC erred in thinking the center could succeed as both a dining and shopping destination. While the management has scheduled events to enliven the courtyard area, like salsa and cinema under the stars, those events have not been frequent enough, he said.

The Headquarters is not a shopping center, so it needs to be thought of in a different way, more like a food and hangout destination, said Adler, who saw a 20 percent jump in sales last year. Maybe it would help to cater to the beer community with tasting rooms and more food-related businesses.

I credit our product and service for helping us do well, but we also spend a lot of our resources to promote ourselves. Were not just waiting for people to come.

RELATED STORIES

Port looks for interim Seaport manager

Pizzeria, Venissimo cheese exit Headquarters at Seaport

Growing pains at Headquarters center

Port Oks next step for Seaport redo

Business

lori.weisberg@sduniontribune.com

(619) 293-2251

Twitter: @loriweisberg
A.J. Tangsoc has something to prove.

At 34 years old, he is one of the youngest people in home construction in San Diego and on the cusp of launching what could be a lengthy career in his adopted home.

Tangsoc is the developer of 41West, a 10-story luxury condo building in Bankers Hill, a stones throw from Balboa Park. Ranging from $1 million to $4.5 million, 16 of the 41 units have already sold  despite the project site just being a big hole in the ground at the moment.

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Born in Manila, Philippines, Tangsoc was raised in Vancouver, Canada, the son of developer Alfonso Tangsoc, CEO of Regent International. In 2011, the younger Tangsoc moved to San Diego, working with his father to form Icon Properties, an American subsidiary of Regent.

Featuring floor to ceiling windows, views of Balboa Park and San Diego Bay on the higher levels, huge balconies and 24-hour concierge, 41West adds to the ranks of San Diego Countys new multifamily market that is dominated by high-end properties.

Everyone has their own job. Mine is to build beautiful homes, Tangsoc, who serves as CEO of Icon, said recently at the sales office.

Icon has already completed two luxury projects in the United States: MZ Living, an eight-unit condo complex in Scottsdale, Arizona, and Parc Riviera, three townhomes in Pacific Beach.

Tangsoc said he chose Americas Finest City as a home base because of the weather, similarity to Vancouver, proximity to the airport, and he thought it was a good place to strike out on his own

He also had his eyes on what his Vancouver competition was up to in Southern California, namely Bosa Development and Pinnacle International. Developer Nat Bosa has been in the San Diego market for nearly 20 years, and built his first condo tower, Horizons, in 2001. His 41-story Pacific Gate condo project downtown had sold half of its 215 units by February ahead of its opening by the end of the year. His Pinnacle International developed the 484-unit Pinnacle on the Park apartment complex downtown thats known for its distinctive yellow exterior.

A rendering of 41 Wests lobby. (Howard Lipin / San Diego Union-Tribune)

Tangsoc has obsessed over every detail of 41West, down to raised counter-tops and under-cabinet bathroom lights. The complex was zoned for up to 75 units, but he decided to build fewer condos to maximize the space  allowing 1,400- to 3,995-square-foot units and 10-foot ceilings.

Who built 41West? Thats what we want everyone to ask, he said. Thats why we worked so hard on this.

Tangsoc has a bachelors degree in finance from the University of Arizona, yet much of his education, he said, comes from working with his father.

One fatherly tip: Marketing a development begins with a cocktail hour conversation, which is talking to a small group of people about what makes the project great. Tangsoc did that a few months ago, pitching 41West to brokers and hiring real estate agencies to help market it.

One of Tangsocs favorite things to show off to real estate professionals, and potential buyers, is the lobby.

He pushed San Diego-based architect Awbrey Cook Rogers McGill and interior designer Cristina Oberti of Vancouver to design an elaborate lobby with marble, wood and a roughly 8-foot chandelier. They removed a condo to make the lobby bigger, bumping up the ceiling from 14 feet to 24 feet.

Cutting back more than 30 units for 41West doesnt exactly help the countys housing shortage.

Obviously, we want the most supply we can get, said Mark Goldman, a finance and real estate lecturer at San Diego State University. But, if you can build a bigger unit and get a higher profit margin, thats whats going to happen. The market drives these things.

Construction of 41 West, a 10-story luxury condo building in Bankers Hill near Balboa Park. (Howard Lipin / San Diego Union-Tribune)

Steve Russell, executive director of the San Diego Housing Federation, does not fault developers for building fewer homes than they are approved for  partly because it reduces costs from per unit city fees. But, he said the county needs more housing at all income levels.

(41West) supplies a segment of the market that does not need any more choices. Theres plenty of choices for people that can buy a $1 million home, he said. Theres almost nothing being built at that middle-income area.

Tangsoc said having fewer condos allows the project to be more profitable, and his passion is in luxury projects.

I made decisions of how I would want to live in that building, he said, and how I would compare (it) to buildings I lived in downtown, he said.

While 41West might sound pricey, the lowest-priced condo there isnt that far off from what some homes are quickly selling for in San Diego County. For example, a three-bedroom house in North Park on 33rd Street sold for $1 million in mid-May. It was built in 1927, although recently remodeled, and sold for $25,000 over asking price after just four days on the market.

Bankers Hill will continue to be a hot spot for downtown homeownership with 122 condos under construction and no new apartments, said real estate tracker Polaris Pacific. Apartment building downtown is centered mainly in Little Italy and East Village.

With more condos coming to Bankers Hill and the Columbia neighborhood this year and next, the competition for high-end buyers has led to an amenity rush. Luxury features of 41West include a gym, resident lounge, pet grooming area, EV car-charging stations, large NanaWalls (folding glass walls), wireless Internet boosters, trash chutes, breakfast bars with USB connection ports, and porcelain tile floors and walls in the bathroom. Two penthouses include saunas and fire pits.

Another advantage 41West has is its location at 2604 Fifth Ave., next to the Britt Scripps Inn. The hotel was built in 1887 and designated as a city landmark in 1971. The designation, along with Bankers Hill height restrictions, means condo owners wont need to worry much about obstructed views.

Building of 41West is being led by San-Diego-based Reno Contracting and the project is expected to be completed sometime next summer.

A model of 41 West in Bankers Hill. (Howard Lipin / San Diego Union-Tribune)

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phillip.molnar@sduniontribune.com (619) 293-1891 Twitter: @phillipmolnar

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Bill Loeber isnt quite sure what possessed him, but four years ago at a town hall meeting he challenged a local congressman to do more for out-of-work veterans. To his surprise, the politician turned the question around and asked Loeber what he was willing to do to help.

Loeber didnt hesitate. Since 2013, the retired Hewlett-Packard executive has volunteered more than 500 hours teaching free job-hunting and networking workshops to nearly 300 San Diego County veterans transitioning to the civilian working world. His efforts with the North San Diego Business Chambers Operation Connect program have earned him numerous honors, including the chambers 2017 Volunteer of the Year Award and the San Diego Military Advisory Councils 2016 Nancy Dix Civilian Individual Achievement Award.

Chamber President and CEO Debra Rosen said Loebers selfless efforts have yielded concrete results. She knows of nearly 100 North County veterans who have found good jobs after attending Operation Connect workshops.

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Bill is so smart and hes lived networking and looking for jobs, Rosen said. He teaches from a very interactive standpoint and engages the veterans. He doesnt speak at them, he talks with them. He lives it, he feels it and hes passionate about it. Hes a good guy.

Loeber, 66, isnt a veteran himself. He trained as an engineer at the University of Minnesota and spent most of his career in marketing, including 26 years with H-P. Many years ago when his children were young, he lost his job and it had a profound impact on his life and self-esteem  a feeling he wouldnt wish on anyone.

It freaked me out, he said. I thought, there has to be a system to help people find work. Most people arent good at networking, so I thought that if I could ever teach people how to network, they wouldnt fear it and theyd find work a lot sooner.

For many years, he kept this idea on a back burner as he pursued his own career. During the recession, when thousands of laid-off people were struggling to find work in San Diego, he decided to put his engineering degree to good use.

Im an engineer and I was always fascinated with how stuff works, he said. When it came to finding jobs, I was going to figure out a way to systemize the process.

After six months of research, he came up with his step-by-step program, a PowerPoint presentation that he nicknamed Networking for Introverts. Challenged by Rep. Scott Peters, D-San Diego, at that 2013 town hall meeting, Loeber launched Operation Hand Up. Over the next two years, he used his slideshow to teach an eight-week program to more than 100 veterans. Their feedback was positive, but Loeber said he struggled to find students for the free program.

Then in 2015, he met Rosen and Patricia Reily, who is the veteran services director at Cal State San Marcos. The women had been working together with chamber staff to develop their own transition program for North County veterans called Operation Connect, but they had no curriculum and no trainer. It would become a win-win relationship. They could supply the veterans, and Loeber could supply his program and teach the classes at no cost.

Bill is very modest about his contributions, said Reily, a retired Navy commander, but hes very altruistic. Whats in it for him other than being a good guy and wanting to do something wonderful?

Loeber, who moved to San Diego in 1980, said hes always had a deep respect for the military and he credits his parents with instilling the need to help others.

Its all about helping these magnificent veterans. I love these people, he said. My parents impressed on me that its important to do the right thing, especially for people who may not be able to help themselves. This is the right thing to do.

Reily said most of the veterans who arrive at Cal State San Marcos to study on the GI Bill need to find work to cover their household expenses, but theyre not trained in how to pursue it. They dont understand how to describe their job skills in civilian terms, their resumes are filled with military jargon and acronyms and most have never held a civilian job.

Its like two cities on opposite sides of a river. Theyre on one side in the military world and they can see the people on the other side, but they dont know how that society works, Reily said. Theres a misconception that all they have to do is write a good resume, send it out and wait for the phone calls to come in. It just doesnt work that way.

As its name implies, Operation Connect is about widening the veterans circle of influence and leveraging personal contacts to make job connections. Veterans accepted into Operation Connect first attend a one-day, 8-hour workshop at the chambers office in Rancho Bernardo. Thats where Loeber and Reily teach them about job-hunting, resume-writing and networking.

The chamber provides the veterans with a free, six-month membership, which entitles them to attend monthly networking meetings and free mentorship by a chamber member in their preferred field. Loeber trains the mentors and he attends all the monthly meetings to help the veterans make business connections.

Rosen said a recent survey found that more than half of Operation Connects 190 graduates have found meaningful jobs. Loeber recalls a Navy vet named Jason who spent a year trying to land an interview at General Atomics with no success. After the tutorial in networking, Jason called a fellow alumnus from Annapolis whod worked there, and that friend helped him get an interview at the San Diego company almost immediately.

Operation Connect is available to honorably discharged veterans who are within two years of transition or are still a student on the GI Bill. The classes, for up to 18 students, are held every month or two. The August class will be held on base at Camp Pendleton. Registration details are available online at sdbusinesschamber.com/operation-connect/.

Loeber is taking a brief break from networking this month to get married. He and his fiancee, Suzanne Mack, will tie the knot on July 14 at the Navys bayfront Admiral Kidd Club in Point Loma. In lieu of wedding gifts, the couple has asked friends to contribute instead to a scholarship fund theyre establishing for disabled veterans at Cal State San Marcos (gofundme.com/wedding-helps-disabled-vets/).

Reily said the scholarship will be a great support for the universitys student veterans, a third of whom have service-related disabilities of 30 percent or more.

These veterans arrive with a goal to graduate, but here we talk about graduation day plus one, she said. Its not enough just to graduate. You have to get ready for a sustaining career. The military doesnt want you out on a corner with a sign that says homeless vet. Our vision for our veterans is to be captains of industry, leaders of their communities and successful professionals. We tell them your job is to get a sustaining career so you can be a taxpayer to pay for the military. 

Volunteer Bill Loeber, center, examines the dog tags of deceased veterans on the wall outside the Veterans Center at Cal State Marcos with the universitys veteran services director Patricia Reily, left, and his fiancee, Suzanne Mack. (Charlie Neuman /San Diego Union-Tribune)

pam.kragen@sduniontribune.com
A Carlsbad Navy veteran was picked as American Legions Recruiter of Year 2017 for California.

Mary Jane Fisher, a member of the American Legions San Dieguito Post 416 in Encinitas, was recognized for her volunteer efforts recruiting new members into the 98-year-old nonprofit patriotic veterans group and connecting service members with resources they need.

Fisher recruited 136 new members this year and helped transitioning military members, retired veterans and active-duty military find information and services for health care, veterans benefits, loans, and continuing education for themselves and their families.

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Military personnel and veterans are always needing to know what resources are available, said Fisher, who served in the Navy during the Gulf War and retired as chief petty officer after 15 years. The American Legion helped me connect with resources, now I want to give back to fellow veterans.

Fisher, who serves as American Legion executive board member for District 22, Area 5, San Diego and Post 416 communications officer, was given the Silver Brigade membership award for recruiting 28 new members last year and received the Gold Brigade membership award this year for recruiting more than 50 new members. Fisher was named Recruiter of the Year at the American Legions 2017 Department of California Convention in Riverside in late June.

Fisher has been traveling throughout California and across the country this year visiting military bases, college campuses and veterans hospitals, sharing information about the American Legion, which has a membership of several million and is one of the largest veterans groups. The nonprofit is known for helping create the first GI Bill during World War II.

Fisher has recently started reaching out to area active-duty family readiness officers and volunteer service officers to tell them about the American Legion community service program, which recognizes active-duty military for their volunteer efforts in the community.

Her goal this year is to ask her friends to invite just one veteran to become an American Legion member.

Theres no better feeling than educating our military service members and veterans about the benefits they earned through being a wartime veteran, Fisher said.

Call (760) 908-3550 or visit ald22.org
An El Cajon resident with diabetes cant make it to her medical appointment in City Heights. A physician in Mexico needs a specialist in the U.S. for a second opinion.

These are just two examples of how the rapidly growing field of telehealth or telemedicine can help healthcare facilities increase accessibility to more of their patients.

Two health organizations in San Diego using this technology are La Maestra Community Health Centers and the Telemedicine Program at UC San Diego Health.

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Telemedicine can help someone who doesnt have the means financially or otherwise to go to meet with their physician, said Lisa Moore, project manager for the Telemedicine Program at UCSD Health. Working parents may need to quickly find out how their childs doing but cant make it to their physician. The program provides access to see a physician if they need one. We want health care to be more accessible and convenient for patients.

The same goal drives telehealth at La Maestra, which, through its four main medical clinics and two school-based sites serves residents who are at or below the poverty level. Because La Maestra sees patients who speak almost 30 languages and dialects, its medically trained cultural liaisons at each clinic site assist in the telemedicine process.

Success stories

Sonia Tucker, La Maestras quality improvement director, oversees its Telemedicine Program. As an example of how telehealth can have direct and positive results, she recalled that Rady Childrens Hospital approached La Maestra 2 1/2 years ago because half the patients the clinic referred to Rady werent making their appointments.

These patients went through our examination, got the (referral) authorization, did the paperwork and then  after all that work  didnt show up, Tucker said. I did an internal survey. The reasons people gave were language barriers, fear of not knowing the physician and transportation difficulties.

Through telehealth, patients  and, in Radys case, their parents  can be at a closer-to-home La Maestra clinic. Accompanied by a staffer who knows them and speaks their language, they have a video visit with a Rady physician.

We reduced the no-show rate, Tucker said proudly. It went from a 50 percent no-show rate to a 13 percent rate the first year to the current no-show rate of zero. That is an important achievement for us.

Telemedicine at UC San Diego started with a tele-stroke program in 2001. Now it covers a number of disciplines, including mental health services and neonatal care, has a pilot program for tele-primary care and plans to offer tele-ICU services.

While the telemedicine program can help patients in Alpine, for example, who cant make it to Sorrento Valley for their appointments, the program also provides telehealth services to El Centro Regional Medical Center and other community hospitals.

If a patient in El Centro looks like they may be having a stroke, the staff can call our physicians and they would remote into our telehealth cart, Moore explained. It often is an interface with the physician and the patient.

Doctors have used video feeds and other technology for years, but growing smartphone use and customer demand are fueling its rapid expansion. (Toby Talbot / Associated Press)

Beyond face-to-face



If it sounds like a casual FaceTime chat, think again. Tucker said it goes way beyond face-to-face. La Maestras staff uses more than communications equipment.

With help from a grant, the organization has distributed scopes and other diagnostic tools to health providers at its clinics, all of which have telehealth capabilities. Covering a variety of medical problems, La Maestras providers have been trained to conduct these examinations to help the specialists make an informed decision.

UCSDs Moore explained another difference between using our smart phones and having a telemedicine session. Lets say a community hospital staff treating a patient who may have had a stroke reached out to a UCSD neurologist. The physician logs in and connects with the staff, the patient and family members and the audio and video begins.

Because of the camera, the physicians can obtain a lot of visual information, Moore said. The camera can actually zoom in very closely. So if the patient has a laceration or skin rash, the camera zooms in so that the physician can assess and make a diagnosis with the staff at the community hospital.

The UCSD program also has an international component so that a doctor in another country can turn to one of the UCSD physicians with expertise in a particular area for a second opinion.

But, as with most things, there is a downside.

A lot of effort goes into coordinating and providing telemedicine, Tucker said. And theres little to no reimbursement for it.

CMS (U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services) considers covering telehealth when the provider is in a rural area. Moores department is just beginning to bill private health insurers, in hopes some will cover telemedicine services. She said legislation is moving slowly to catch up with the current state of telehealth, which shows no signs of slowing down.

Telemedicine is going to continue to help move us forward to even greater patient care, said Moore, who calls her position her dream job. This provides better ways for patients to see their providers and communicate with them. Video visits can make patient care much quicker and more efficient.

Wood is a San Diego freelance writer.

What is telehealth or telemedicine?



A 2011 California law declared telehealth a better word than what it called the outdated telemedicine, but many people  professionals and patients alike  use telehealth and telemedicine interchangeably. E-health is also heard frequently.

By any name, it is basically the electronic delivery of health care services. In simple terms, telemedicine or telehealth facilitates a medical examination or mental-health appointment through a HIPAA-secure platform similar to FaceTime, Skype or WhatsApp. (HIPAA is the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996.)

This technology can make a critical difference to people unable to access medical expertise. It enables the exchange of such information as diagnosis, treatment and disease prevention by connecting physicians to medical providers and their patients who live miles  even continents  away.

Another aspect of telemedicine is training; it enables experienced physicians to help train medical providers serving far-flung communities.

With communication and information technologies becoming increasingly accessible and sophisticated, telemedicine or telehealth is an ever-evolving field.

Sources: Southern California Telemedicine Training Center; World Health Organization; Center for Connected Health Policy; and Sonia Tucker of La Maestra Community Health Centers.

Other telehealth resources



These organizations in San Diego also offer telehealth services:

Kaiser Permanente

An internal report released in 2016 stated that 52 percent of its patient transactions the year before were conducted online, by virtual visits or through the health systems apps.

VA San Diego Healthcare System

The local VA offers Home Telehealth, which utilizes a home-monitoring system so that a care coordinator can help with the veterans treatment plan, and Clinical Video Health, which connects via live video a specialist or primary-care provider to a veteran in another location.
Judges have broad authority in refusing to lighten the sentences of three-strike inmates, despite recent ballot measures aimed at reducing the states prison population, the California Supreme Court ruled Monday.

In a 4-3 decision, the court said judges may freely decline to trim sentences for inmates who qualify for reductions under a 2012 ballot measure intended to reform the states tough three-strikes sentencing law.

Justice Leondra R. Kruger, an appointee of Gov. Jerry Brown, joined the more conservative justices to reach the result.

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The decision aimed to resolve questions posed by two ballot measures in recent years to reduce the population of the states overburdened prison system.

Proposition 36 allowed three-strike inmates to obtain sentence reductions if their third strike was neither serious nor violent.

Judges were entitled to refuse a reduction if they believed the inmate posed an unreasonable risk of danger to public safety. They could consider the inmates history, disciplinary record in prison or other evidence.

Two years later, voters passed another ballot measure to reduce the prison population. That measure, Proposition 47, created a definition of a safety risk that judges were required to apply.

Inmates could be denied a sentence reduction only if they were deemed to pose an unreasonable risk of committing certain crimes, including a killing, a sexually violent offense, child molestation or other serious or violent felony punishable by life in prison or the death penalty.

The court majority, led by Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye, said Monday that definition did not apply to three-strikers, who have been sentenced to 25 years to life for repeated crimes.

If it had, Cantil-Sakauye wrote, it would result in the release of more recidivist serious and/or violent offenders than had been originally contemplated under Proposition 36.

Cantil-Sakauye noted that none of the ballot materials for Proposition 47 mentioned that it would affect three-strike prisoners. Proposition 47 allowed judges to reduce some nonviolent felonies to misdemeanors.

Based on the analysis and summary they prepared, there is no indication that the Legislative Analyst or the Attorney General were even aware that the measure might amend the resentencing criteria governing the Three Strikes Reform Act, the chief justice wrote.

The ruling came in appeals filed by David J. Valencia and Clifford Paul Chaney, who were both sentenced to 25 years to life under the three strikes law and both eligible for reduced terms under Proposition 36.

Valencias criminal history included kidnapping, making criminal threats and striking his wife. Chaneys record included armed robbery and three convictions for driving under the influence.

A Tuolumne County judge refused to reduce Valencias sentence, calling him a risk to public safety, particularly to women.

An Amador County judge refused Chaneys resentencing application, saying Chaney was likely to drive again while intoxicated.

Both inmates argued that the judges should have based their decisions on the more restrictive definition of safety risk.

Justice Kathryn Mickle Werdegar and Browns two other appointees  Justices Goodwin Liu and Mariano-Florentino Cuellar  noted in dissents that Proposition 47 clearly stated that the definition would apply throughout the criminal code.

The more restrictive definition advanced the goal of concentrating state corrections spending on the most dangerous offenders, Cuellar wrote, and gave three-strike prisoners only a marginally stronger basis for winning sentence reductions.

Liu said the court majority had concluded that the drafters of Proposition 47 pulled a fast one on an uninformed public.

But it is also possible that voters, unhappy about the huge amounts of money being spent on prisons, knew exactly what they were doing, Liu wrote.

Mondays ruling disserves the initiative process, the inmates who are now its beneficiaries, and the judicial role itself, he said.

maura.dolan@latimes.com

Twitter: @mauradolan

UPDATES:

3:10 p.m.: This article was updated to include details of the safety risks spelled out in Proposition 47 that judges had been required to apply in deciding whether to reduce sentences for three-strike inmates.

This article was originally published at 1:30 p.m.
This July Fourth marks the 92nd reunion of the pioneering Fletcher family.

Nearly 100 descendants of Col. Ed Fletcher, his wife, Mary, and their 10 children, will gather, as usual, at their family compound on the Del Mar beach for their Independence Day barbecue.

The Fletcher name is a familiar one in San Diego. Landmarks bearing it are scattered throughout the county: Fletcher Hills in El Cajon, Fletcher Parkway winding from La Mesa into El Cajon, Fletcher Cove in Solana Beach and Fletcher Island in Lake Cuyamaca.

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Col. Ed Fletcher is said to have come to San Diego from Massachusetts in 1889 at the age of 17 with $6 in his pocket. He went on to head the local South Coast Land Co. that first developed Del Mar, Solana Beach and Rancho Santa Fe.

He also was instrumental in creating Lake Hodges Dam and other area reservoirs. While serving as a state senator for 12 years, Fletcher was active in establishing the Del Mar Racetrack and fairgrounds.

In the early 1900s, mule teams reportedly dragged logs behind them to lay out the winding hillside roads on a plot map designed by Fletcher for Del Mar.

His family built the first residence in Del Mars Beach Colony in 1914 and still owns a beach compound on part of that property where they stage their reunions. A memoir written by Ed Fletcher Jr. mentioned the annual reunions starting in 1925.

Among expected attendees are San Diegans Charlotte Taylor Rowe, 96, and her sister, Mary Taylor Escherich, 92, whose mother was the eldest daughter of Col. Ed Fletcher. Longtime San Diego civic leader Kim Fletcher, who turns 90 this year, is another of the 31 grandchildren planning to attend. The youngest expected family member is less than 6 months old, says San Diegan Garrison Fletcher, who publishes a family newsletter.

Im honored to be part of a legacy from someone who gave so much to San Diego, says his brother, Ron Fletcher, a great grandson and reunion co-host. If the dams hadnt been built to provide water, this would still be a desert today.

Ever the entrepreneur, Col. Ed Fletcher would bring people down to Del Mar from L.A and try to sell them land, adds Ron, noting that he offered prospective buyers a free train ride and a free lunch.

Another Fletcher tradition goes along with the July Fourth meeting and eating  giving money away. Every year, family members discuss causes and announce a handful of local charities that will receive the earnings from a Fletcher family foundation endowment.

That beats fireworks.

Back to the future: About 15 years ago, a Borrego Springs nursery manager obtained some seeds of a rare species of African thorn tree from the San Diego Zoos Wild Animal Park (now called Safari Park).

As a result, the nursery now boasts a big grove of the African acacias, nicknamed fever trees because colonialists mistakenly thought their leaves and flowers caused fevers.

When creating its Africa Rocks exhibit, which opened Saturday, San Diego Zoo officials learned about the nearby African acacias and visited the Roadrunner Tree Farm and Casa del Zorro Nursery, now co-owned by Jack McGrory and Paul Backus.

In a true circle of life story, McGrory notes, We just sold about 40 of them to the zoo for their new Africa exhibit.

diane.bell@sduniontribune.com

(619) 293-1518

Twitter: @dianebellSD

Facebook: dianebell.news
San Diego Unified School District is facing a mountain of legal complaints from Scripps Ranch High School parents and students after more than 800 Advanced Placement exams were deemed invalid because of inadequate testing conditions.

School officials announced Friday that 540 students from Scripps Ranch will need to retake their AP exams in calculus, biology, U.S. history and five other subjects if they want to earn college credits.

The College Board, which oversees college admissions, and its test administrator Educational Testing Service, invalidated the exams because students were sat at six-foot tables instead of eight-foot tables, a requirement established two years ago.

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Tables were also set up with partitions, which are not allowed.

Hundreds of students and parents filed complaints over the weekend, claiming the district violated the Williams Act by failing to provide the necessary resources for students to successfully complete their AP classes and testing.

The San Diego Unified School District touts AP classes as the core curriculum for its college preparatory courses, said the complaints, which all used the same template language, with some variation from parents and students. Yet the district failed to provide the means for students to successfully test and acquire college credit.

Complaints also ask that the College Board reinstate the test scores, since it too had a responsibility to ensure that testing procedures and conditions met their requirements.

College Board officials did not return several calls and messages seeking comment on Monday.

The Williams Act was passed in 2004 by the California Board of Education. It requires school districts to provide students with equal access to instructional materials, such as textbooks or electronic resources, safe and decent school facilities, and qualified teachers.

Its a stretch, said Scripps Ranch parent Gloria Tran, who is among those who submitted a complaint with the district. But its all we can do at this point.

The district has up to 30 days to respond to the complaints.

AP classes represent a major financial opportunity for students on track to attend college after graduation. Most universities and community colleges allow students to convert AP courses into college credit if they score well on the exam.

AP credits can be put toward a students selected major or general elective courses, which all students are required to take.

Students who come into college with AP credits are also able to take fewer classes per semester  to work part-time or handle more difficult course loads  and still graduate on time.

Each AP test costs $93 and can last two or three hours. Some students take up to nine exams.

District officials said that the new tests will be given for free and eight teachers have agreed to return to school to teach refresher courses for students who want help preparing for material theyve put behind them.

For most students, a few refresher courses arent enough.

It was very upsetting to have studied for six months only to have it all thrown away by our (administrator) at Scripps, said a complaint filed by Olivia Jackson, who graduated from Scripps Ranch High in May. I have learned to trust them over my years at Scripps, so it didnt occur to me that they would not proctor our tests correctly.

Taylor Williams, who also graduated this spring, said she must retake her AP literature and composition exam and is worried she wont be able to adequately prepare.

I recently moved so all of my stuff is packed away somewhere and I have no idea where it is, Williams said. I probably wont perform as well as I did the first time, and Im at risk of not getting college credit, when I worked so hard the entire year.

Trustee Kevin Besier said San Diego Unified has retained outside counsel to fight for the kids and retain the current exam scores.

There are alternative ways to monitor and ensure the integrity of the tests, other than throwing out all of the test scores, Besier said. I think a much more appropriate response would be to sanction the district or the school, or ban the school from administering tests for a certain amount of time.

However, the district must continue to set up retesting options in case legal action is unsuccessful, he said.

The first round of new tests will be July 17- 20, and the full schedule can be found along with other information at the Scripps Ranch High School website, sandiegounified.org/schools/scrippsranch.

A community meeting on the issue has been scheduled for 6 p.m. Wednesday at Marshall Middle School. Besier said the districts outside counsel is set to attend.

About 700 or 800 students took AP tests in May, but only 540 will have to retake them. Many students were in seating arrangements that did not violate the protocol. The average AP student takes five tests.

Students who opt to not take the tests again will be given refunds, and not all students who took the tests at the school are affected.

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Southwestern College and the Chula Vista City Council have formed a task force to explore the possibility of opening a university center in the South Bay city.

Opening a university in Chula Vista has long been a goal of local and state elected officials, area educators and business and community leaders.

The idea of opening a university center came after a joint meeting between the Southwestern College Governing Board and Chula Vista City Council late last month.

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A university center offers four-year degrees but with the convenience of local community colleges. The centers can be on their own campuses or in available rooms at community colleges.

Santa Clarita Community College District Chancellor Dianne Van Hook spoke at the June joint meeting and told how she pooled funding from the California Community College Chancellors Office, the local high school district, federal government, grants, a general obligation bond and private donations to build a $21 million, 110,000-square-foot university center.

The center leases space to CSU Bakersfield, CSU Northridge, University of LaVerne, Brandman University and National University. The universities offer 39 bachelors and masters degree programs, with a doctoral program beginning in the fall.

The center also houses the high school districts middle college campus and the local economic development council.

Numerous studies have shown there is a pressing need for a four-year university in South County, said Southwestern College Governing Board President Tim Nader, who also served as the mayor of Chula Vista in the early 1990s.

We hope to bring to fruition such a university and the economic success and economic development such an institution brings, he said.

The city of Chula Vista owns 375 acres for a University and Innovation District and is marketing the site to potential users while pursuing land use and environmental entitlements for the property.

The city also funded a report that supported the idea of a binational campus that would attract students from both sides of the border. Southwestern College trustees Norma Hernandez and Nora Vargas said during the joint meeting that the idea still should be pursued.

gary.warth@sduniontribune.com

Twitter: @GaryWarthUT

760-529-4939
Global warming will likely heighten the risk of large, more difficult to control wildfires scorching the western United States.

Its the main conclusion of a body of science that, over the years, has increasingly drawn connections in the West between the prevalence of major blazes and the rising frequency of earlier springtime conditions followed by hotter and drier summers.

Climate absolutely affects fire because it affects how flammable the fuels are, said LeRoy Westerling, a professor at UC Merced who has been studying climate and wildfires for the past 15 years.

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Your drought years are going to be more extreme because its warmer during the drought years, so you have more evaporation, and those preceding years that were wetter are retaining less water, added Westerling, who has worked on these issues with colleagues at places like UC San Diegos Scripps Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla.

They and other scientists from Oregon and Washington state to California and Colorado have collaborated on improving long-range climate projections, developing more sophisticated computer modeling and creating customized equipment to better monitor weather and wildfire conditions, among other projects.

All of this work has continued to proceed despite escalating debate over the scientific validity of climate change forecasting  in the courts between regulators and major companies, in divisive policies from the White House to statehouses to city councils, in dueling marketing campaigns between conservationists and the fossil fuel industry, in testy exchanges among world leaders about whether particular countries are truly committed to lowering their greenhouse-gas emissions.

This year alone, global warming has been the subject of much attention.

In his proposed budget, President Donald Trump calls for slashing the budgets of two federal agencies most associated with climate change research and enforcement  the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Then in late May, he announced that the United States would withdraw from the Paris climate change accord, in which almost every country has pledged to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide and other gases linked to Earths warming. Trump has set off a cascade of voices worldwide praising or denouncing the decision.

Scientists, environmentalists and others have tried to put forth their own message directly to consumers, including through rallies such as the March for Science at several hundred locations across the U.S. in April.

The research on climate change and wildfires in the western U.S. has largely escaped this escalating controversy, perhaps because the body of evidence collected has consistently pointed to the same trend of mega wildfires happening more frequently.

Westerling systematically cataloged wildfires in the western U.S. over several years and found that in the mid-1980s, fires in U.S. forests steadily started getting larger and burning longer.

The number of fires that burned more than 1,000 acres on federally managed lands from the Pacific Northwest to the Sierra Nevada and through to the Southern Rockies increased fivefold in the last three decades, according to his research.

From 1973 to 1982, the average wildfire burned for six days. Between 2003 and 2012, that figure shot up to 52 days.

While the number of reported ignitions remained steady, the acreage burned by large fires between those time frames increased by up to 1,200 percent.

At the same time, the so-called fire season expanded. Thats the number of days between the first and last large blazes of any given year. Since the 1970s, the 10-year average increased 84 days from 138 to 222.

Westerling predicts that as a result, forest compositions in certain regions could dramatically change. Instead of large older trees, woodland areas may become populated with younger, smaller trees that burn more often.

If this happens, large forests in California could shift from ecosystems that suck up large amounts of carbon dioxide to those that give off significant amounts of greenhouse gas.

Over time, what happens in our modeling, is the Sierra Nevada stores less and less carbon, and then these areas start becoming carbon sources instead of carbon sinks, he said. So it starts contributing to climate change over the next couple of centuries.

Twitter: @jemersmith

Phone: (619) 293-2234

Email: joshua.smith@sduniontribune.com
Fireworks are coming back to Oceanside after a three-year hiatus.

By a unanimous vote Wednesday, the City Council said they wanted to light up the sky but theyre uncertain on whether to do it July 4 to celebrate Independence Day or July 3 to coincide with celebrations of the citys 125th anniversary.

Theyre also undecided about where to have the fireworks and instructed City Manager Peter Weiss to work out the details.

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We do have this small matter of 125 years being incorporated, said Councilman Jack Feller, who raised the issue.

I think this is a worthy investment, Feller said.

The council by a 4-1 vote also accepted a $1.5 million SANDAG (San Diego Association of Governments) grant to help pay for a $3 million project to narrow and spruce up Mission Avenue.

Councilwoman Esther Sanchez voted against accepting the grant because she said it would be a mistake to make Mission Avenue one-way westbound through downtown as proposed.

Sanchez said she also objected to project plans to have reverse angle back-in parking along a portion of Mission Avenue and she wanted to include a separate bike lane on the street.

Ive got a whole lot of objections from residents about the one-way and certainly the reverse diagonal parking, Sanchez said.

Wood said he too had reservations about making the street one-way and the reverse angle parking but added I want the project to move forward.

Hopefully, down the road, well see concerns and some changes, Wood said.

Weiss said under the planned timeline for the project, there was no time to make changes.

The city plans to call for bids in April with construction slated to start in September and finish in May 2014, said planner Nathan Mertz.

Although plans for the fireworks are fuzzier, council members were enthusiastic over Fellers call to bring them back.

To save money, the council in 2009 cancelled what had been a nearly 100-year tradition of setting fireworks off at the beach every July 4.

Several city residents said it was a tradition that should be resumed, if not at the beach, than at an inland location where there would be fewer environmental concerns.

We dearly loved the fireworks, said Ruth Clifford. Please, please try to bring it back to Oceanside again, capturing the tradition weve had for so very, very long.

Downtown resident Kim Fontes said she remembered watching fireworks in the city as a child.

I really believe its important for Oceanside to celebrate the 4th of July, Fontes said. We really should be using this holiday to showcase Oceanside, showing the amazing community that it is.

Chamber of Commerce President David Nydegger told the council that the business organization was eager to help.

The business community, the community at large would be very supportive, Nydegger said.

Restoring fireworks was one of the priorities listed by people who attended a series of public meetings late last year.

Oceanside has had a fireworks show going back at least to 1903, according to local historians.

Two years ago, Feller tried to stir up interest in raising money privately to start them up again but the idea fizzled.

This year, Feller said the city can afford to do it and with luck, rekindle support from private donors for the future.

Feller suggested staging the fireworks display at El Corazon, a 465-acre former sand mine on Oceanside Boulevard at El Camino Real. Parts of El Corazon are a massive hill and its one of the highest points in the city.

If you shoot the fireworks 300 to 400 feet in the air from the highest point, people could be looking at fireworks from all over the city, Feller said.

Sanchez said El Camino High School could be another possible site.

The biggest expense at the beach was the barge, Weiss said.

For a beachside display, the fireworks were launched from an offshore barge.

An inland location would be less expensive and security would be easier to manage, Weiss said. He said resuming fireworks would cost about $40,000, Weiss said.

When the fireworks were at the beach, more and more people showed up in a very dense area, Weiss said.
This Fourth of July  Americas birthday and our annual celebration of patriotism and national pride  comes as many Americans say they are nervous about the future of the country. But its not the nations first fraught Fourth. Heres a look back at what the papers that ultimately formed The San Diego Union-Tribune have said in prior July 4th editorials about the anxieties of our great nation.

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On July 4, 1930, as the Great Depression wiped out jobs and wealth across the nation, a San Diego Tribune editorial looked to Americas founding for inspiration: Those early moulders of Americanism were first of all revolutionists. Their philosophy was a philosophy of change, of constant questioning and constant growth. The vitality of this concept insured its survival. And it has survived. ... The fathers would not be content. But they might be encouraged by what their creation ... is doing today.

That same year, the San Diego Unions editorial seemed impatient with the idea of looking backward to figure out how to handle the problems of the day: The very essence of [the fathers] deeds was a defiance of the past, a break with tradition. ... To guarantee liberty to the common man in an exacting industrial civilization, to preserve justice in a complicated political structure, to offer equal opportunity in a society top-heavy with wealth  those are tasks calling for a manhood as fine and inspired and forward-looking as any that responded to the first brave clanging of the Liberty Bell.

In 1942, eight months after the U.S. entered World War II, the San Diego Tribune-Suns July 4th editorial had a dour tone: Never before have we celebrated a 4th of July so grimly as we are celebrating this one. ... This 4th of July we are working at home and fighting abroad to turn the tides of battle toward victory, and whether we win or lose will depend on how hard we work and how determinedly we fight. This fateful 4th of July we are celebrating our independence by defending it.

In 1968, after rioting and protests over the Vietnam War and the assassinations of Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy, the San Diego Union ran a July 4 editorial that was written in the style of the Declaration of Independence, holding that the newspaper found these truths to be self-evident ... That a nation with irresponsible citizenry cannot long endure; that anarchy, exhibitionism and immorality are destructive of the national fiber. That no nation can long endure which tolerates lawlessness and weakening of forces of law and order. ... That propaganda is not education; that intellectual brainwashing is not academic freedom and that rioting and exhibitionism on our campuses is a betrayal of free speech.

The Evening Tribunes July 4th editorial that year was more worried about godless and dehumanizing ... collectivist states than any threat from within: By whatever name they are known, they are as inimical to the cause of liberty as were the stubborn and misguided decrees of King George III. And the same determination will be required to defeat them.

On July 4th, 1974, with Washington paralyzed by the Watergate scandal and the House Judiciary Committee just three weeks away from voting for three articles of impeachment against President Richard Nixon, the Evening Tribunes editorial expressed faith in the nations ability to weather hard times: As we see it, America nears the bicentennial as a person coming of age. We do not agree with the pessimistic assumption that nations, having spanned two centuries, must by the sheer weight of time languish and retire to oblivion ... this nation not only will endure, it will prevail.

The San Diego Union-Tribune Editorial Board endorses this last sentiment. For all of our nations divisions, America has enormous strengths, only starting with our founding framework, our talented populace and our vast and remarkable resilience.

For those nervous about the nations future, Americas staying power is worth noting, too.

Twitter: @sdutIdeas

Facebook: San Diego Union-Tribune Ideas & Opinion
Expect more Boom, Boom, Booms and a brighter skyshow as Ramona Rotary Club celebrates its and the communitys 25th year of July 4th Family Picnic & Fireworks on Tuesday.

In addition to being the 25th anniversary of fireworks in Ramona, 2017 marks Ramona Rotarys 80th anniversary and the 100th year of the Rotary International Foundation, so Rotarians are stepping it up a notch this year.

As always, admission is free and the fun starts at 5 p.m. with an old-fashioned community celebration that includes food, games, family activities, and music. The grand finale will start at 9 p.m. with a 20-minute skyshow synchronized to music on KyXy 96.5 FM Radio. All activities will be on the fields behind Olive Peirce Middle School, 1521 Hanson Lane.

This annual event is an off-shoot of a dream Ramona resident Roy Winchell had. He thought Ramonans shouldnt have to drive down the hill to enjoy Independence Day and he was concerned for their safety on the return home up the winding highways of 67 and 78 after a long day of celebration.

His idea of a hometown celebration with fireworks was just lunchtime talk and a pipedream until 1993, when he was president of the Ramona Rotary Club. He and fellow Rotarian Arnie Fry decided that was the year to make it happen.

With only a few months until July 4th, they made calls  to fire officials, school officials, fireworks vendors, and businesses who might be potential sponsors  posing questions and getting answers.

Despite those who said having a fireworks show in Ramona would never get off the ground because of the fire danger, Winchell and Fry pushed on, winning over the naysayers and then getting the thumbs up for their proposal and planning from officials.

Due to a conservative fundraising budget of $4,000, the fireworks vendor working with Winchell and Fry put together a basic, but very colorful, skyshow and put Rotary in touch with KyXy Radio so the Ramona show could become part of a fireworks network  getting more bang for the buck, so to speak, since shows that were part of the network could get more fireworks for less money, plus patriotic music accompaniment.

Hoping for the best, Rotarians asked for and received the community and business donations they needed and worked with the school district to put on the first Ramona skyshow from the fields behind Ramona High School.

On July 4, 1993, Rotarians didnt know what to expect, since everything had come together so quickly. There were a few booths and some games, but people came and they had fun. At 9 p.m., when the rockets began to light up Ramonas skies, accompanied by God Bless America, The Star-Spangled Banner, Proud to Be an American and more, the thunderous applause made it clear: This had to be an annual event.

Since then, the location of the festivities has moved to the fields behind Olive Peirce Middle School.

Today, Ramona Rotary, in coordination with Pyro-Spectaculars and the KyXy Radio network, and with the continued and growing support of the community and businesses, is still lighting up the skies of Ramona on our countrys Independence Day.

Its a long way from that first $4,000 event. Todays Event costs $33,000 to produce, including equipment, security, insurance, fire plan and inspection, fire code specialist, and, of course, the rockets red glare.

At the time of this printing, $18,000 had been raised for the 2017 event. Look for a Rotarian holding a donation jar in front of Albertsons, Stater Bros., and Kmart from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday and at the entrance to the celebration on Tuesday. With your help, Rotarians have no doubt the club will meet its goal.

And its all thanks to the determination and perseverance of two Rotarians who wouldnt take no for an answer, and the continuing hard work of Ramona Rotarians who, year after year, put in months of planning and organization to make sure that, once again, July 4th in Ramona is a spectacular event.
BitAuto Holdings Ltd., whose websites and marketing services cater to consumers and auto makers alike, expects to raise up to $102.6 million in an initial public offering next week.

The Beijing company will sell 9 million of its own American Depository Shares (ADS), which allow U.S. investors to buy shares in the overseas company. Initial shareholders will sell an additional 1.6 million shares. BitAuto expects them to price between $10 and $12 apiece.

In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, BitAuto said that it intends to use its share of the net proceeds - an estimated $88 million - for product development, sales and marketing and general corporate purposes, including paying a loan that will mature in April 2011.

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Underwriters have a 30-day option to purchase up to 1.6 million additional ADS to cover excess demand. Citi, Oppenheimer & Co., UBS Investment Bank and Lazard Capital Markets are lead underwriters of the offering.

BitAuto runs two websites in China that provide consumers pricing information, specifications and reviews on new and used cars, respectively. The company also sells advertising and marketing services to car dealers and auto makers, including digital marketing, website creation and maintenance, online public relations, online marketing campaigns and advertising agent services.

The companys sales network has expanded to 77 cities in China. Its subscriber base of automobile dealerships has grown to 2,783 in the first nine months of 2010 from 981 in 2007.

As of Sept. 2010, it has 1,204 employees, up from 605 in 2007.

According to the filing, the company posted a total comprehensive loss of $122.8 million for the nine months ending Sept. 30, 2010, compared with a loss of $3 million for the first nine months of 2009. Its revenue for the first nine months of 2010 grew to $44.7 million from $29.2 million for the same period in 2009.

BitAuto expects its stock to trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol BITA.
Over 10 years ago, I moved, permanently, from New York City to San Pedro, Belize. I didnt move because I didnt like the USA  on the contrary, I love New York. I just loved Belize too  and I wanted to experience all that Belize has to offer.

I now travel to America once a year to visit family  Id visit a few more times if I could but for now, this is working fine. Touching down in my native North East United States means gorging on foods I remember so fondly and love  like sandwiches and bagels, cherries and crispy apples. It means stores BURSTING with selection  just chains like CVS or Walgreens make my head spin. It also means being run ragged by my three nephews, Nate, age 9, Tommy, age 7 and Willie, who is turning 4 this month.

But this trip I was a little uneasy. I havent been back to Rhode Island in about 13 months and, it doesnt matter which angle you look at it from, LOTS has occurred in America. Ive spent some serious hours on my couch on Ambergris Caye glued to CNN and FoxNews over this past year and I was a bit worried that Id touch down in Atlantaand then Providence, Rhode Island to find a country I didnt know. Foreign.

Maybe filled with people that would make me feel like I never knew the United States at all.

I am pleased to announce (for my own sake) that currently from my narrow perspective  in Barrington, Rhode Island  things seem just as they should be. And there is a TON to remind me why I love it here  and also remind me why I love my home on Ambergris Caye, Belize.

PLUS, I love Independence Day. Its a great day to remember that togetherness is what makes a country great  not isolation, fear and hate.

Here are some pictures of what weve been up to. And please remind me when I get home, please Rebecca, turn OFF the cable news.

Headed to Blounts Clam Shack in neighboring Warren, RI in my brothers new boat. I had a whole belly fried clam platter.

Sunday evening at the Pawtucket Paw Sox game. (They are the minor league  AAA- team associated with the Boston Red Sox)

Post game fire works.

The temperature yesterday was in the high 80s and Second Beach near Newport, RI was perfect. Except for the red tide.

And Dels Frozen Lemonade  a FAVORITE in Rhode Island. Its EVERYWHERE.

I know there is a ton of division and SO many issues and problems, violence and anger but for nowIm enjoying this trip to see my family. Overall  Im going to concentrate on the good stuff.

And Ill be back to Belize this weekend. I hope everyone has a great day no matter where you are.
While modern marine concrete structures crumble within years, ancient Roman piers and breakwaters endure to this day, and are stronger now than when they were first constructed. New research led by the University of Utah has found that seawater filtering through the concrete leads to the growth of interlocking minerals that lend the concrete added cohesion. The results are published in the journal American Mineralogist.

Romans made concrete by mixing volcanic ash with lime (the product of baked limestone) and seawater to make a mortar, and then incorporating into that mortar chunks of volcanic rock, the aggregate in the concrete.

Around 79 CE, Roman naturalist and natural philosopher Pliny the Elder wrote in his 37-volume encyclopedia Naturalis Historia about the natural capacity of volcanic ash to react with water: as soon as it comes into contact with the waves of the sea and is submerged becomes a single stone mass (fierem unum lapidem), impregnable to the waves and every day stronger.

The combination of ash, water, and quicklime produces what is called a pozzolanic reaction, named after the city of Pozzuoli in the Bay of Naples. The Romans may have gotten the idea for this mixture from naturally cemented volcanic ash deposits called tuff that are common in the area.

The conglomerate-like concrete was used in many architectural structures, including the Pantheon and Trajans Markets in Rome.

Massive marine structures protected harbors from the open sea and served as extensive anchorages for ships and warehouses.

Modern Portland cement concrete also uses rock aggregate, but with an important difference: the sand and gravel particles are intended to be inert. Any reaction with the cement paste could form gels that expand and crack the concrete.

To learn more about the makeup of Roman cements, University of Utah Professor Marie Jackson and co-authors analyzed samples from Portus Cosanus, Orbetello; Baianus Sinus, Bay of Pozzuoli; Portus Neronis, Anzio; and Portus Traianus, Ostia.

The teams earlier work at the Advanced Light Source (ALS), an X-ray research center at the Department of Energys Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, found that crystals of aluminous tobermorite, a layered mineral, played a key role in strengthening the concrete as they grew in relict lime particles.

The new study is helping scientists to piece together how and where this mineral formed during the long history of the concrete structures.

The work ultimately could lead to a wider adoption of concrete manufacturing techniques with less environmental impact than modern Portland cement manufacturing processes, which require high-temperature kilns.

At the ALS we map the mineral cement microstructures. We can identify the various minerals and the intriguingly complex sequences of crystallization at the micron scale, Prof. Jackson said.

Lime (also known as calcium oxide)  exposed to seawater in the Roman concrete mixture  probably thoroughly reacted with volcanic ash early in the history of the massive harbor structures.

Previous studies showed how the aluminous tobermorite crystallized in the lime remnants during a period of elevated temperature.

Our new findings suggest that after the lime was consumed via these pozzolanic chemical reactions, a new period of mineral growth began.

The new growth of aluminous tobermorite is often associated with crystals of phillipsite, another mineral.

The minerals form fine fibers and plates that make the concrete more resilient and less susceptible to fracture over time.

Contrary to the principles of modern cement-based concrete, the Romans created a rock-like concrete that thrives in open chemical exchange with seawater, Prof. Jackson said.

To understand the long-term chemical processes that occurred in the Roman structures, the team used thin, polished slices of the concrete with an electron microscope in Germany to map the distribution of elements in the mineral microstructures.

The researchers coupled these analyses with a technique at ALS known as X-ray microdiffraction, and a technique at the University of California, Berkeley, known as Raman spectroscopy, to learn more about the structure of crystals in the samples.

The X-ray beamline where the Roman concrete samples were studied can produce beams focused to about 1 micron, or 1 thousandth of an inch, which is useful for identifying each mineral species and mapping their distribution, said co-author Dr. Nobumichi Tamura, an ALS staff scientist.

The beam is almost a hundred times smaller than what can be found in a conventional laboratory.

The X-ray technique measures an average signal from many tiny mineral grains, providing high resolution and fast data collection.

We can go into the tiny natural laboratories in the concrete, map the minerals that are present, the succession of the crystals that occur, and their crystallographic properties. Its been astounding what weve been able to find, Prof. Jackson said.

This is a concrete that apparently grows aluminum-tobermorite mineral cements over millennia.

The study suggests that this process could be useful for modern seawall structures as well as for encasing high-level wastes in cement-like barriers that protect the surrounding environment.

Prof. Jackson is working with a geological engineer to rediscover the Romans complex recipe for concrete. She is mixing seawater from the San Francisco Bay and volcanic rock from the Western U.S. to find the right formula, and is also leading a scientific drilling project to study the production of tobermorite and other related minerals at the Surtsey volcano in Iceland.

Already, a growing number of concrete manufacturers are exploring the use of volcanic rock and less energy-intensive processes, which could be a win-win for industry and the environment, Prof. Jackson said.

In order for Roman concrete recipes to gain more traction, test structures will be needed to evaluate the long-term properties of marine structures built with volcanic rock and measure how they stack up against the properties of steel-reinforced concrete, for example.

I think people dont really know how to think about a material that doesnt have steel reinforcement.

_____

Marie D. Jackson et al. 2017. Phillipsite and Al-tobermorite mineral cements produced through low-temperature water-rock reactions in Roman marine concrete. American Mineralogist 102 (7); doi: 10.2138/am-2017-5993CCBY
High-resolution imaging of Jupiter and its Great Red Spot by the Subaru Telescope and the Gemini North telescope, both on Hawaiis Mauna Kea peak, is informing NASAs Juno mission of compelling events in the gas giants atmosphere. On July 10, 2017, Juno will fly directly over the planets most famous feature at an altitude of only about 5,600 miles (9,000 km).

Throughout the Juno mission, numerous observations of Jupiter by Earth-based telescopes have been acquired in coordination with the mission, to help Juno investigate the giant planets atmosphere.

On May 18, 2017, one day before the Juno missions sixth close passage (perijove) of Jupiter, the Gemini North and Subaru telescopes simultaneously examined the planet in very high resolution at different wavelengths.

These latest observations supplement others earlier this year in providing information about atmospheric dynamics at different depths at the Great Red Spot  a swirling storm, centuries old and wider than the diameter of Earth  and other regions of the gas giant.

Jupiters mysterious Great Red Spot is probably the best-known feature of Jupiter. This monumental storm has raged on the Solar Systems biggest planet for centuries, said Juno principal investigator Dr. Scott Bolton, from the Southwest Research Institute.

Now, Juno and her cloud-penetrating science instruments will dive in to see how deep the roots of this storm go, and help us understand how this giant storm works and what makes it so special.

The data collection of the Great Red Spot is part of Junos next science flyby over Jupiters cloud tops.

Perijove will be on Monday, July 10, at 6:55 p.m. PDT (9:55 p.m. EDT, 1:55 a.m. UTC on July 11). At the time of perijove, Juno will be about 2,200 miles (3,500 km) above the planets cloud tops.

Eleven minutes and 33 seconds later, Juno will have covered another 24,713 miles (39,771 km) and will be directly above the coiling crimson cloud tops of Jupiters Great Red Spot.

The spacecraft will pass about 5,600 miles (9,000 km) above the Giant Red Spot clouds. All eight of the spacecrafts instruments as well as its JunoCam will be on during the flyby.

The success of science collection at Jupiter is a testament to the dedication, creativity and technical abilities of the NASA-Juno team, said Juno project manager Dr. Rick Nybakken, from NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

Each new orbit brings us closer to the heart of Jupiters radiation belt, but so far the spacecraft has weathered the storm of electrons surrounding Jupiter better than we could have ever imagined.

Observations with Earths most powerful telescopes enhance the spacecrafts planned observations by providing three types of additional context, said Dr. Glenn Orton, Juno science team member and coordinator for Earth-based observations supporting the Juno project at NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

We get spatial context from seeing the whole planet. We extend and fill in our temporal context from seeing features over a span of time. And we supplement with wavelengths not available from Juno.

The combination of Earth-based and spacecraft observations is a powerful one-two punch in exploring Jupiter.

Dr. Orton and his colleagues used the Gemini North telescope on May 18 to examine Jupiter through special near-infrared filters.

The filters exploit specific colors of light that can penetrate the upper atmosphere and clouds of Jupiter, revealing mixtures of methane and hydrogen in the planets atmosphere.

These observations showed a long, fine-structured wave extending off the eastern side of the Great Red Spot.

Gemini zoomed in on intriguing features in and around Jupiters Great Red Spot: including a swirling structure on the inside of the spot, a curious hook-like cloud feature on its western side and a lengthy, fine-structured wave extending off from its eastern side, Dr. Orton said.

Events like this show that theres still much to learn about Jupiters atmosphere  the combination of Earth-based and spacecraft observations is a powerful one-two punch in exploring Jupiter.

On the same night, the researchers used the Cooled Mid-Infrared Camera and Spectrometer (COMICS) instrument on the Subaru Telescope, with filters sensitive to temperatures at different layers of Jupiters atmosphere.

A wide variety of COMICSs filters is advantageous in sensing Jupiters temperatures in its upper troposphere and in its stratosphere, said Subaru Telescope staff astronomer Dr. Takuya Fujiyoshi.

These mid-infrared observations showed that the Great Red Spot, the largest known vortex in the Solar System, had a cold and cloudy interior increasing toward its center, with a periphery that was warmer and clearer, Dr. Orton added.

This implied that winds were upwelling more vigorously toward its center and subsiding on the periphery.

A region to its northwest was unusually turbulent and chaotic, with bands that were cold and cloudy, alternating with bands that were warm and clear bands.

This region is where air heading east toward the Great Red Spot flows around it to the north, where it encounters a stream of air flowing over it from the east.

This information will allow us to determine the three-dimensional structure of winds that are otherwise only tracked in two dimensions using cloud features in reflected sunlight, he said.
Mars experienced a single colossal impact during its first 130 million years, the equivalent to the largest body in the todays asteroid belt slamming into the red planet. This is the result of models developed by researchers at the University of Colorado Boulder and the Tokyo Institute of Technology, who propose such a collision can account for the surprising chemistry of recovered Martian meteorites and even the formation of its moons.

Evidence for colossal impacts on ancient Mars can be found both on its surface and further down within its crust.

Since the 1960s Mariner missions we have known Mars as a two-faced world, split by hemispheres more different than for any other body in our solar system. Whilst two thirds of the red planet is cratered and ancient, the low lying northern polar region is smooth as a result of later volcanic resurfacing.

Various explanations have been suggested for this crustal dichotomy. These include a hypothesized mega-impact striking either the northern hemisphere, with the lowlands representing the largest impact crater discovered in our solar system, or the south with a strike that melted the entire hemisphere.

More evidence has been delivered to our planet from space.

The 2011 recovery of the 4.43 billion year old Black Beauty meteorite from the Sahara gave scientists a close up look further back into Mars history than ever before.

As with many younger Martian meteorites, they once again found higher than expected concentrations of siderophile elements, a group of high-density metals including gold and platinum which should have sunk towards the core during Mars crustal separation.

The elevated concentrations in Black Beauty suggested an external top up very early on in Mars history.

On Earth we also see elevated siderophile concentrations in our mantle. Proponents of the Late Veneer hypothesis believe these can be explained by meteorite impacts after the Earths core had formed.

Ramon Brasser from the Tokyo Institute of Technology suggested last year that rather than a series of impacts, a single moon-sized impactor could alone explain the additional siderophiles.

Now Brasser and Steve Mojzsis from Colorado wanted to find out what type of cataclysmic event could explain Mars crustal dichotomy and internal chemistry.

To do so, they created a model of Mars during this same late veneer period, and surrounded it with a population of leftover planetesimals ranging in size from 1 km to 2,000 km with a size-frequency distribution identical to that of todays asteroid belt.

This last sweep up of planetary embryos is a frequently neglected period, a kind of dark ages between the time Earths moon formed and when we see the first inklings of crust on the inner planets, says Mojzsis. It was an era defined by colossal impacts that added supplementary mass to the planets.

Brasser and Mojzsis ran simulations of planetesimal impact until they were able to reproduce the chemical properties inferred from the Martian meteorites.

Their results, published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, showed that Mars late accretion budget also required just a single impact. This cataclysmic event, which occurred before ca. 4430 Ma, must have involved a body 1,200 km across.

The impact we describe would be equivalent to the largest member of the present day asteroid belt impacting the red planet, adds Mojzsis.

The parameters and sequence of events set out in this new paper seems entirely reasonable to Oded Aharonson, who was not involved in this paper but whose own computer simulations have linked the Martian dichotomy with a single impact origin.

My only comment is that prior to the dichotomy forming impact, I think it is conceivable, perhaps likely, that Mars would have been impacted by other somewhat smaller or comparable size impacts that may have contributed to its mantle geochemistry.

As well as the hemispheric dichotomy and meteorite chemistry, Brasser and Mojzsis also looked at the ability of their model to answer another great Martian mystery  the origin of Mars moons.

Crater counting statistics of one of these moons shows that its surface is older than 4.3 billion years  that would be consistent with these moons forming from a ring of material ejected from a single colossal impact.

Whilst their model matches observation well, it doesnt give all the answers. The impact cannot account for Mars approximately 25 hour rotation period as had been previously suggested, however Mojzsis doesnt believe this shouldnt take away from their impact scenario too much.

We do not invoke the explanation of a colossal impact lightly  only when all other explanations are exhausted.

_____

R. Brasser & S.J. Mojzsis. A colossal impact enriched Mars mantle with noble metals. Geophysical Research Letters, published online June 29, 2017; doi: 10.1002/2017GL074002
[NAIROBI] Sub-Saharan Africa has a large and potentially growing market for non-quality-assured antimalarials, especially in the private sector, a study says.

Quality assured antimalarials are drugs certified by global health organisations such as the WHO for treating malaria. They contain the indicated amount of active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) as opposed to poor quality or substandard ones that may not contain the specified amount of API.

According to researchers, because the recommended first-line medicines for treating uncomplicated malaria in Sub-Saharan Africa  also called artemisinin combination therapy are mainly distributed by the private sector, studies that explore this market are necessary.

Therefore, the study published in the Malaria Journal last month (25 May) examined the extent to which non-quality-assured artemisinin combination therapy (non-QAACT) are available in the private and public sectors in eight malaria endemic countries in Sub-Saharan Africa  Benin, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Madagascar, Nigeria, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia between 2009 and 2015.

The rise of non-QAACT is critical not only to patient health and safety, but also to effective malaria control. Kate OConnell, ACTwatch Group

Trained volunteers conducted a total of 29 malaria medicine outlet surveys in the countries to examine outlets that could possibly stock antimalarials in the public (non-profit) and private-for-profit sectors, during the peak malaria transmission season for each country. In each country, the surveys lasted six to eight weeks.

The researchers screened about 50,000 eligible outlets and audited over 336,000 antimalarials, including more than 78,000 quality-assured ACT and 83,000 non-QAACT medicines which have not been granted global regulatory approval.

Private sector availability of non-QAACT varied substantially between countries during the most recent survey round from 0 per cent in Madagascar and 4 per cent in Benin, to 17 per cent in Zambia, 21 per cent in Tanzania, and 38 per cent in Uganda, notes the paper. More than 40 per cent of private sector outlets were stocking non-QAACT in Kenya (42 per cent), and about half of outlets had non-QAACT in stock in Nigeria (48 per cent) and Democratic Republic of Congos Katanga (53 per cent).

Kate OConnell, the founding principal investigator for ACTwatch Group, which conducted the study, says: Addressing the availability and distribution of non-QAACT will require effective private sector engagement and evidence-based strategies to address provider and consumer demand for these products.

OConnell adds: The rise of non-QAACT is critical not only to patient health and safety, but also to effective malaria control and protection of artemisinin drug efficacy in the face of spreading resistance.

Willis Simon Akhwale, Kenya-based malaria control specialist, says that the study covers a long period, and provides an opportunity to do a trend analysis.

Akhwale tells SciDev.Net that the findings could be due to the lack of local manufacturing of antimalarials and high cost of quality antimalarials in Sub-Saharan Africa.

According to Akhwale, the findings do not portend well for the achievements made so far towards malaria control in Africa.

Most countries in Sub-Saharan Africa have weak regulatory mechanisms, Akhwale adds, noting that international manufacturers should partner with local manufacturers to produce these medicines.It may be easier for regulatory authorities to monitor local production than a wide array of imports, Akhwale explains.The findings, says Akhwale, are important to the ministries of health, national malaria control programs and industrialisation ministries. Participation of local manufacturers and importers is also key.He is calling for strict regulation by regulatory boards with full support of the of government.
All the world knows about the U.S. Liberty Bell as the symbol of July 4th and U.S. freedom and its famous crack. The bell is portrayed on coins and stamps both here and abroad.

But its mostly an invention of George Lippard writing in 1847 for the Saturday Courier, but a its great story that has grown with the passing years.

This bell has become a powerful symbol even if it is the wrong bell and was never rung in July 1776, but who cares? IT IS a great story and a great symbol of our well-earned and hard fought freedom from Great Britain in the Revolutionary War.

The actual bell at the time of the Declaration of Independence, standing tall in the Liberty Tower of Independence Hall in Philadelphia, was old and untrustworthy. Its casting was ordered in 1750 to commemorate William Penn and his Charter of Privileges for the Pennsylvania Colony, published in 1701. It finally made its way to Philadelphia in 1752.

It was huge, almost a ton by weight. It was made of copper and tin with a bottom lip almost 12 feet in diameter. It cost approximately $200 at the time.

It was inscribed with the phrase Proclaim Liberty throughout the land unto all the inhabitants thereof taken from the Bible.

Surprisingly it was cracked on its first use, only a trial ringing, after six laborious months of work hanging it. In addition, at least according to the onlookers, it sounded horrible.

Multiple attempts to both fix it and sweeten its tone failed, so a whole new bell was ordered and placed lower in the same tower, but it too had an odd tone, and believe it or not, it also was later cracked.

The old bell was used as an hour clock, and the new bell was used for special occasions, such as King Georges Birthday and later a call to battle for the forays at Lexington and Concord, the Signing of the Constitution of the United States, George Washingtons birthdays and the deaths of Franklin, Washington, Hamilton and Jefferson.

Oddly enough, the new bell was hidden during the Revolutionary War, and so it never rang on the announcement of the Declaration of Independence.

But Lippards story is gripping as he describes a boy shouting to his grandfather up in the belfry as the declaration was signed in the hall, Ring, Grandfather, ring.

But actually, the Declaration of Independence was not read in public for at least two days until July 6, 1776, and even then it was not really known until it was published in newspapers, which took at least a month to get around the colonies and to England.

The new bell, what we now call the Liberty Bell, was itself cracked, as shown by photos of 1869 in Harpers Weekly. The new crack was probably created in 1835 during the funeral of Chief Justice John Marshall, and repairs failed. In 1846 the bell was removed from the tower after ringing out President Washingtons birthday, and that extended the 11-year-old, thinner crack to make the bell no longer workable. The bell became by 1852 the museum piece it is today on public display. Now the bell is only tapped, once on D-Day June 6, 1944, and yearly on Martin Luther King Jr.s birthday.

On occasion the bell has traveled. It traveled in the 1880s to major U.S. cities to commemorate freedom and to the San Francisco Panama-Pacific Exhibition in 1915. In 1950, replica bells made their way around the United States, including to Florence, promoting U.S. Savings Bond Sales. Tom Kinard remembers standing with his family in awe as the bell passed, accompanied by Mayor Haskell Thomas with David H. McLeod, C. Boyce Carter and Jim Putnam.

The bell was in Florence from June 30 to July 2, 1950, before going on to Darlington. The bells visit to Florence was sponsored by the Guaranty Bank and Trust Company, Hunter Motors (Ford dealer) and others. While in town, the bell was escorted by many Florence-area Boy Scouts.

Information for this article was provided by the ever-wise Tom Kinard of Florence and the new book:Fisher, David. 2016. Bill OReillys Legends and Lies: The Patriots (PP 73-78). Henry Holt and Co.

Dr. Stephen Imbeau and his wife, Shirley, have been in Florence for more than 30 years and raised their three children. He and Dr. Joseph Moyer started the Allergy Center about 21 years ago, and it is now one of the largest in South Carolina. Contact him at citizencolumnist@florencenews.com.
South Carolina has made great strides in the area of combating domestic violence since its 2014 nationwide ranking as the most dangerous state for women in abusive relationships. However, the state ranks fifth overall of states that are the most violent for women in abusive relationships. The state has taken several progressive, proactive measures to make life better for women who are abused.

For example, the South Carolina state legislature passed a ban on gun possession for people convicted of domestic violence even for misdemeanor offenses. Also several South Carolina counties (such as Horry County) has hired additional prosecutors to handle domestic abuse cases.

Although the news has been encouraging, the state is still dealing with this menace. S.C. Rep. Chris Corley was charged with pointing a gun at his wife and domestic violence in the first degree.

Several factors contribute to South Carolina's terrible rating. South Carolina is a conservative state. As a result, citizens have a traditional view of the roles that males and females plays within our society. Men are seen as the strong, tough individuals. On the other hand women are viewed as soft, gentle, dutiful and always obeying her husband. In other words, the man is the master, while the woman is viewed as the servant. This situation gives the husband the position of power within the relationship. Case in point, when husbands have career options that entail them moving out of town, the woman is expected to resign from her position and go with him. She is expected to sacrifice her career for his goals and dreams. During the beginning of the marriage, she is expected to take his last name.

Why do women stay? Several women have given me some incredible insight about why they stay in these troubled, terrible, unhealthy relationships. Some women stay because they have additional baggage around their necks. For example, some women have jobs that they dont want to lose; others stay for the kids, while others love the abuser, which gives rise to the victim staying in the relationship. Its late on a Christmas Eve night, the couple comes home from a party, and they both have a little too much to drink. An argument can errupt when the husband almost trips over their kids' toy truck, which they leave on the floor. The wife tries to get her husband to calm down. He curses at her, then yells at her, and then he proceeds to slap her around. The argument ends with the woman receiving a black eye. The next day the husband realizes this evil that he has done to her. He is remorseful. Then he sobs uncontrollably about his deeds. He apologizes endlessly to his wife.

The man beats his wife. He apologizes. The woman takes him back. These facts give rise to an endless vicious cycle called the battered wife syndrome.

The abuse continues.

KEVIN CRAWFORD

Marion
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We are excited to commence our activities in the Mexico region and offer the exclusive capabilities and operational efficiencies of our Stingray newbuilding to Blue Marine Group and their clients, said Steen S. Karstensen, ceo of Maersk Supply Service.

The subsea support vessel will operate in the Bay of Campeche performing general support duties including IRM and maintenance of Pemexs platforms as well as enhancement and well stimulation.

The contract will start in from the second half of 2018 with a firm duration until June 2020. Financial terms of the contract were not disclosed.

Juan Reynoso Durand, executive chairman of Blue Marine, commented: Despite the challenging market, we are confident that this vessel will be a valuable tool for our group in order to provide integrated services to oil companies in the region in the years to come.
The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) has reportedly obtained information that the consignment was released for onward shipment to the Netherlands without getting clearance from the Customs Department.

Based on initial investigations, we will call five witnesses (from PTP) to assist with investigations. We discovered that somebody had authorised the consignment to be released to the Netherlands without any order from the Customs Department," a spokesperson of MACC was quoted saying.

The military equipment had been detained by the port authorities because it did not have permits. All military equipment being shipped out of, or in transit at any Malaysian port, requires a special permit, under the Strategic Trade Act, from the Ministry of International Trade and Industry.

The New Straits Times quoted sources as saying that MACC was working with Customs and the police on the case.

Officers from the Customs Department and individuals from the vendors and companies involved in the consignment are also expected to be interviewed.

The matter came to light during a recent audit, when the classified military equipment could not be located at the port and a report was lodged.

It was subsequently discovered that the shipment had not gone missing as reported and had reached its ultimate destination port of Rotterdam in the Netherlands.

Port management welcomed MACC probe into case. Johor Port Authority (JPA), which manages PTP and the Johor Port in Pasir Gudang, said it welcomed the move by MACC to investigate whether there was any element of graft in the case.

JPA general manager Muhammad Razif Ahmad said MACC should be allowed to carry out its investigation.

We have no problem with MACCs move since other agencies, like the police, are also conducting their own investigation. Hopefully, once the investigation is completed and if no offence is found to have been committed, PTPs name would be cleared," he said.

Razif noted that JPA had conducted an internal inquiry following the case, and had found no element of corruption or abuse of power.
ANGARA CALLS ON GOVT TO ENSURE MENTAL HEALTH OF MARAWI EVACUEES

Senator Sonny Angara has called on government authorities to ensure that sufficient medical aid, including mental health services, will be afforded to the rescued civilians and displaced residents of the war-torn Marawi City.

"The shattered dignity of the Maranaos is more difficult to relieve. It takes more than food or water or even shelter. It needs much more than that to be restored, Angara said.

"Let's aggressively address the well-being of the evacuees. It is crucial to rebuild their souls alongside the infrastructure. When souls are broken, there is no rehabilitating a city because a city is its people," he added.

According to a recent news report, some 2,500 evacuees have shown early symptoms of schizophrenia.

Marawi Crisis Management Committee spokesperson Zia Alonto Adiong, however, said in the same report that there is a lack of psychiatrists in the area to attend to all the needs of the victims.

Angara, one of the authors of the Senate-approved mental health bill, pointed out that crisis like this highlights the urgent need for a mental health law in the country.

The bill mandates the government to provide basic mental health services at the community level and psychiatric, psychosocial and neurologic services in all regional, provincial and tertiary hospitals.

The lawmaker said that with such law in place, mental health services will be more accessible especially in conflict areas so as to immediately provide psychological first aid to victims to minimize their stress symptoms following a traumatic incident.
SEN. ANGARA'S STATEMENT ON SC RULING UPHOLDING THE DECLARATION OF MARTIAL LAW IN MINDANAO

We support the ruling of the Supreme Court being the final arbiter on the matter.

I was in Mindanao for the past week and I saw that things were proceeding as normal. May nakausap nga akong mga bakwit sa Iligan na nagsabing palagay ang kanilang loob at ramdam nilang ligtas sila sa kabila ng deklarasyon ng martial law. I think the 1987 Constitution has enough safeguards to protect the people from possible abuses.

We have high hopes that this war will soon come to an end. Buo po ang ating tiwala sa ating kasundaluhan at ibinubuhos po natin ang ating suporta at dasal para sa kanilang kaligtasan.

We call on our government to fast-track all efforts to bring Marawi back to its feet. This crisis has resulted to human cost that cannot be calculated in pesos and we must ensure that normalcy in the lives of our brothers and sisters in Mindanao will be restored. Let's unite against the common enemy. Sama-sama nating labanan ang terorismo at tulungan ang pagbangon ng Marawi.
Press Release

July 4, 2017 Sen. De Lima on Bishop David's statement on the War on Drugs

Dispatch from Crame No. 109 7 / 4 / 17 They told us that they are fighting a War Against Drugs, but thousands of people have died, yet no major drug lord or syndicate has been exposed, investigated and prosecuted. On the contrary, many self-confessed ones have been given a free pass in exchange for falsely testifying against the President's most vocal critic. They told the people that I am the Drug Queen because, without me, illegal drugs would not be traded within the New Bilibid Prison (never mind that I was the one and only Secretary of Justice to personally conduct a major raid precisely to combat such illegal activities in the NBP), yet this Administration's Secretary of Justice now admits that, despite my detention and the measures they have taken, the drug problem in the BuCor remains unabated. When our leaders feed us lies to hide their incompetence and real agenda, our only hope as a people of ferreting out the truth lies in asking the right questions. And that is the beauty and importance of Bishop Pablo Virgilio "Ambo" David's recently reported expression of disappointment over the government's so-called "War on Drugs." He asked whether our authorities have identified even just one of the cartels here in our country. No, they have not. "Why is it that only the poor or ordinary people end up being the victims?" Why, indeed? With all these killings, "Has any of these cases been solved? Even just one?" None. Not a single one. If petty crimes can be detected and solved with the use of technology like CCTV cameras, Why is it that "the murders, the people who abduct and kill the helpless, these are not seen on CCTV cameras... Are they invisible?" No, they are not. But they and the sufferings of our people are only invisible to those who are willfully blind and apathetic. Bishop Ambo makes his point by urging us to think. "If this is a war, who is the enemy?" Who, indeed? The answer is there if we but open our eyes to see it for what it is. This is a man of the cloth who does not condemn the effort to eliminate a social scourge, but its hypocrisy and falseness. I hope and pray that these questions, though they may not produce immediate answers, would at least inspire more religious, political and social leaders to speak up, and more of our people to start thinking for themselves. These unsolved summary killings are as much our problem as that of the victims and their families. This is our nation that is decaying and dying because, not only is this Administration lying to us about the true and bloody results of their "War on Drugs", they are poisoning us with their chosen panacea for our problems: death and violence. Tayo-tayo rin ang nagkakamatayan. Ang karahasan na inihahasik ng Administrasyong ito ay babalik at madidirekta rin sa atin. Ilang buhay pa ba ang maibubuwis bago tayo magising? Na hindi droga ang sinisikil at dinudurog ng Administrasyong ito, kundi tayo rin? Our search for the Truth starts with people like Bishop David, who ask searching questions and open our eyes to the sickening Truth: that we have been duped by a false and twisted promise of change.
Andy de Leon thought he was the only one.

Deported to Mexico in 2010, the Vietnam-era Army cook struggled to find a way to live in Tijuana  landing in the border city after serving time for a drug conviction. At age 65 he lost his home in Madera, his car and his family. Its been years since hes seen his 10 grandchildren.

I think its wrong. We risked our lives for Uncle Sam, and then for a little mistake we made in our lives and got in trouble with the police, they deport us right away. They dont want us, de Leon said.

De Leon, who was honorably discharged, is not alone. He is one of several thousand veterans expelled from the United States since 1996, when deportation of immigrants with certain convictions became mandatory. It wasnt until their deportations, after serving their time in jail or prison, that many of them realized they were not citizens.

De Leon sits on a metal folding chair in a place thats become a second home to vets like him: the Deported Veterans Support House.

They should give us a chance to go back, he said. We are not angels that came down from heaven. We all make mistakes.

Now state lawmakers are trying to help them. Last month, the Assembly unanimously approved AB386, which would direct the state to pay legal fees for certain deported veterans trying to return to the U.S. if they have a California connection  such as having been stationed at a California base, or having children attending school in the state. Its unknown how much this would cost the state. The bill is expected to clear the state Senate.

The state budget that Gov. Jerry Brown just signed includes $45 million for the legal defense of immigrants facing deportation. Democratic Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez Fletcher of San Diego, who sponsored AB386, is pushing ahead with the legislation because it would explicitly state that deported veterans are eligible for that legal aid.

Immigrants who serve in the U.S. military are automatically eligible for citizenship, but to gain it they must complete the application process. Some of those who have been deported were legal permanent residents  green card holders  who say they mistakenly thought they became citizens when they enlisted and took their military oaths. Others didnt follow through with the paperwork during active duty.

Many of the veterans at the support house, started by deported former Army paratrooper Hector Barajas-Varela in 2013, have pinned their hopes on the California bill and efforts by some members of Congress to help them. Otherwise, they dont expect to return to California until they are dead  when they will be allowed to be buried with military honors in a U.S. cemetery.

These are people who made a compact with the federal government  they were willing to give their life and fight for their country  and in exchange our military service said, You will be granted citizenship. And for whatever reason, that didnt happen, Gonzalez Fletcher said.

Photo by David Maung for CALmatters/David Maung/CALmatters

Opposition stems from organizations pushing for more stringent immigration laws, increased deportations and less legal immigration. Mark Krikorian heads the Center for Immigration Studies, which advocates for strict immigration enforcement and limits on legal immigration. His position: Deported veterans should not be let back in.

They had a chance to become citizens on the fast track while in the service, and they chose not to take it, despite the militarys hectoring green card soldiers to get naturalized, Krikorian said. Theyre grown-ups and need to deal with the consequences of their actions.

Ira Mehlman of the Federation for American Immigration Reform, which advocates for limited immigration, pointed out that California does not have a legal defense fund for other veterans who find themselves in legal difficulties.

Immigration authorities do not track how many veterans the federal government deports each year. But in the past two decades since the immigration laws changed, the American Civil Liberties Union estimates about 3,000 veterans have been deported.

The ACLU is working with some of the deportees, combing through their cases looking for legal recourse. Veterans may be eligible to expunge their records, reclassify their crime under current laws, appeal their deportation or apply for citizenship or visas that would allow them to return.

At the Tijuana support house they call the Bunker, the veterans have created a community. Its a small space, part storefront, part apartment, on a quiet dusty side street about 15 minutes from the border.

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.

Barajas-Varela is the backbone of the operation. Hes one of three veterans who recently received a pardon from Brown, and hes awaiting a federal decision on his citizenship application. Hes also tuned in to the fate of the California bill.

When you are deported, no one cares about you, he said. For this legislation to be introduced is huge.

Barajas-Varela and his parents arrived in the U.S. from Mexico when he was 7. He grew up in Southern California and enlisted in the Army at age 17, going on to serve in the 82nd Airborne until his honorable discharge in 2001 after six years of service.

He said he presumed citizenship was automatic and only learned later that he needed to complete paperwork. The year after he left the Army he got in trouble, eventually pleading guilty to discharging a firearm into a vehicle. After nearly two years in jail, he was deported.

I started with a little list of people, he said about making contact with other veterans. When I first started, I didnt have a plan, except that if you were a deported veteran we said, Come and stay here with us.

At the end of the day, we are still American veterans, and we should be allowed to live in the country, and if we screw up again then we should go to jail, Barajas-Varela said.

The ejected veterans will need a change on the federal as well as state level to come back to the U.S. In May, a congressional delegation led by Rep. Juan Vargas, D-San Diego, visited the Bunker, garnering attention for federal bills that would prevent the deportation of veterans in the first place and give deported veterans access to medical care and the right to re-enter the U.S. to process citizenship papers.

Theres just not a lot more that a state can do, said Gonzalez Fletcher. Im hopeful we can get similar support in Washington to move on a federal level.

Elizabeth Aguilera is a reporter for CALmatters.org, a public interest journalism venture committed to explaining how Californias state Capitol works and why it matters.
Americans may have a short time left to take a long train ride.

The Amtrak trains that roll daily from the Bay Area to Chicago, Seattle and Los Angeles  as well as into the imaginations of the traveling public  might soon be rolling to the scrapyard instead.

Federal budget cutters once again have their eyes on long-distance Amtrak trains  the ones with bud vases in the dining car and picture windows in the lounge. If the Trump administration has its way, Amtrak will lose about half of its $1.4 billion budget and be forced next year to bump off all its long-distance runs, eliminating service to 23 states, primarily in the West and the South. Short-haul commuter lines such as the Capitol Corridor trains to Sacramento would be all thats left.

Although Amtrak patronage was higher than ever last year, with 31.3 million passengers carried, President Trumps budget cutters say long-distance trains carried only 15 percent of those riders.

The administration said its proposed budget for 2018 would redirect federal subsidies so Amtrak could focus resources on the parts of the passenger rail system that provide meaningful transportation options within regions. It said long-distance trains have long been inefficient and incur the vast majority of Amtraks operating losses.

Those operating losses totaled $227 million in fiscal 2016, Amtrak says.

Eliminating long-distance trains would allow Amtrak to focus on better managing its state-supported and Northeast corridor train services, the administration said. State-supported trains include Californias Capitol Corridor, San Joaquin and Pacific Surfliner lines, which are funded largely by Caltrans.

The proposed Amtrak cuts would end funding for 15 trains serving 220 cities. Gone would be the Sunset Limited (Los Angeles to New Orleans), the Lake Shore Limited (New York to Chicago) and the Empire Builder (Seattle to Chicago). Saying Good night, America for the last time would be the City of New Orleans, of Arlo Guthrie hit fame.

California would lose the Coast Starlight, which runs through the Bay Area twice daily on its way between Seattle and Los Angeles, and the California Zephyr, which departs every morning from Emeryville over the Sierra Nevada and the Rockies and on to Chicago.

At the Emeryville depot, passengers awaiting the departure of the diesel-powered leviathans were wailing like locomotive whistles at a grade crossing.

Trump cuts everything people need, especially poor people, said Walter McCain of Oakland, hunkered down in the waiting room the other morning. Trains are a viable alternative to flying, as long as youre not in a hurry. And theres no need to be in a hurry. For what?

Also not in a hurry were Mike and Marjean ONeill of Cotati, which was a good thing because it would take them 51 hours to get to Chicago if their train left on time, which, being Amtrak, it didnt. (The California Zephyr departed 23 minutes late, to allow the dining car crew to finish loading some chickens and the porters to take on bags of linens.)

A sleeping compartment on a train isnt cheap, but, said Marjean ONeill, you dont pay extra for luggage. For their flights home from Chicago, she had calculated that the airlines would charge her $325 to carry the same five bags that Amtrak was carrying free.

The airlines nickel and dime you for everything, she said. Im tired of that crap.

Paul Aubert of Mill Valley was heading to Los Angeles on the Coast Starlight, carrying his guitar, which he planned to play in the lounge car, and also carrying two large bottled beverages, which, he said, would surely have been confiscated if the Coast Starlight had been an airplane.

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.

Threats to the operating budget are nothing new for Amtrak. Every year, foes say too few passengers take the long-distance trains and friends reply that the trains are more popular than ever. Every year, foes complain that trains gobble up federal transportation subsidies and friends reply that roads and airports gobble up even more.

Carlos Avila Gonzalez/The Chronicle

In past years, particularly in 2002 and 2016, threatened Amtrak cuts were scrapped by members of Congress who realized their states could lose long-distance trains. But its more dire this time, said Paul Dyson, president of the Rail Passenger Association of California and Nevada. This time, the Republicans control Congress and the White House. But this is a trivial sum of money in the scheme of things.

Jim Mathews, president of the National Association of Railroad Passengers, said long-distance trains should fit in with Trumps promised investment in the nations infrastructure. Instead, he said, this is a budget that treats small towns and rural communities as flyover country.

The effects of a shutdown would ripple all the way down to Maryam Ettehadiehs snack bar inside the Emeryville station. If the big trains shut down, she said, shes shutting down too.

Id have to close, she said. The people making the decision, what do they care? They only care about money. You think the president cares about people without money?

She stepped outside the station as veteran conductor Dennis Hogg, ticket punch holstered at his hip, watched the last of the late linens get loaded, slammed shut the door on the rearmost car and mouthed, Train number 6, all clear to the engineer over his walkie-talkie. Seconds later, the California Zephyr commenced its 2,438-mile meander into the heartland.

Steve Rubenstein is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: srubenstein@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @SteveRubeSF
A 35-year-old woman injured in a hit-and-run on Highway 4 in Concord on Friday night that left two of her young sons dead has been released from the hospital, officials said.

The San Pablo woman was released from John Muir Medical Center in Walnut Creek on Sunday night after receiving treatment for her injuries, according to Officer Brandon Correia, a spokesman for the California Highway Patrol.

The womans 3-month-old son was still in critical condition at UCSF Benioff Childrens Hospital Oakland on Monday morning, Correia said.

The crash occurred about 10:55 p.m. Friday when an Infiniti sedan driven by Lemuel Sirvonn Wilson Jr. veered off a Highway 4 ramp in Concord and slammed into a Dodge Durango, according to the CHP.

The injured mother, whose name was not released, and her children were returning home from a drive-in movie, officials said.

Two boys, ages 5 and 10, were ejected from the Durango and died at the scene, Correia said. The driver of the Infiniti, Wilson, allegedly fled on foot, but later showed up at Highland Hospital in Oakland.

At 12:35 a.m. Sunday, CHP took a suspect, Lemuel Sirvonn Wilson Jr., into custody.

Wilson Jr. did not turn himself in to law enforcement, Correia said. He was detained and then taken into custody when he checked himself into the hospital for treatment for injuries sustained in the crash, he said.

There will be someone with him day and night until he gets released from the hospital, and once he is, hell be booked into Martinez Detention Facility, Correia said.

Wilson was booked on suspicion of vehicular homicide, driving on a suspended or revoked license and fleeing the scene of a crash that caused great bodily injury. He was being held on bail is set at $500,000.

Last summer, Wilsons 16-year-old stepdaughter, Reggina Jefferies, was killed in a drive-by shooting after a funeral for two friends in downtown Oakland.

Filipa Ioannou is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: fioannou@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @obioannoukenobi
Bill Hutchinson / The Chronicle

Three visitors to San Francisco were robbed of a camera, lens and phones while admiring the view and taking pictures at the Twin Peaks overlook on Saturday, police said.

The victims  a 22-year-old woman and two men, ages 25 and 30  were not tourists, but they were visiting San Francisco from elsewhere in the Bay Area, according to Officer Robert Rueca, a spokesman for the San Francisco Police Department.
One popular YouTube video is at once fascinating and scary: It shows a drone flying into the middle of a big Fourth of July fireworks show, capturing the artistic beauty of destructive explosions.

But flying a drone into fireworks not only might break aviation laws, its also an invitation to disaster.

We feel its inevitable. We just hope it doesnt happen, said Jeff Thomas of Pyro Spectaculars by Souza, which is producing dozens of big Fourth of July fireworks shows throughout the Bay Area this week. The biggest one is San Franciscos extravaganza Tuesday night.

When someone calls me to ask can we fly a drone near fireworks, I just say no, and its all based on safety, he said.

Some communities around the country ban drones from firework events, though thats not the case in San Francisco. The Federal Aviation Administration is worried enough that it issued an advisory Friday warning drone operators not to fly in or near fireworks or over people.

City and law enforcement officials said there havent been problems with drones invading fireworks shows in the past, and they werent anticipating trouble this year.

But Thomas and drone experts say it might only be a matter of time, especially with the growing popularity of easy-to-fly consumer drones.

The FAA expects the number of unmanned aerial systems  a term that mostly refers to drones  to rise from 2.5 million in 2016 to 7 million in 2020, the majority belonging to hobbyists.

One of our biggest concerns is if a drone went up and fireworks hit it, it would blow the heck out of that drone, said Julie Heckman, executive director of the American Pyrotechnics Association.

Tennessee enacted a law in 2015 prohibiting drones over fireworks shows after one man flew his drone into Nashvilles Fourth of July show the previous year and posted the video on YouTube.

A 2014 YouTube video showed a West Palm Beach, Fla., Fourth of July fireworks show up close and personal, with the drone soaring through smoke, sparks and explosions while somehow avoiding being hit. That video, set to a song by classical music tenor Andrea Bocelli, has been viewed more than 15 million times.

Arthur Holland Michel, co-director of the Center for the Study of the Drone at Bard College in New York, uses that video in his lectures because it presents two sides of drones.

The video gives viewers a look at exploding fireworks that wasnt technically possible before, since no sane person in a plane or helicopter would ever get that close to the inside of a show, he said. But its also lucky the drone didnt get hit, he said.

In that single video, you see the entire spectrum of the drone issue, said Holland Michel, whose center tracks and studies the uses of commercial, consumer and military unmanned aerial vehicles, or UAVs. Theyre cool, theyre amazing, but they can be dangerous.

But the advent of smaller, cheaper, four-propeller craft have made drones popular among average consumers.

They became even more popular when their owners started outfitting them with high-resolution cameras like those from San Mateos GoPro. Drone manufacturers like market leader DJI and rivals like Parrott have seized on that trend and now offer products that are, in effect, flying cameras.

Although there are YouTube videos purporting to show fireworks hitting drones, and some showing drone owners trying to attach fireworks to their craft, Holland Michel hasnt heard of any major fireworks-versus-drone incidents.

The risk of losing a $1,000 or more craft might be enough of a deterrent for most people, he said. But he said hes wondered what sort of danger it might pose if a rocket banged into a drone.

Would the drone fall on someones head? Holland Michel said. It could catch on fire and fall into the crowd. If it fell straight down, it would still be dangerous for the people who light those fireworks. We wont know until it actually happens. What we do know for sure is no one wants to find out what happens.

FAA spokesman Ian Gregor said there are no specific rules about flying drones close to a fireworks display. However, pilots are still responsible for adhering to other general safety rules to avoid becoming a hazard to people or property on the ground, he said.

If someone flew a drone too close to fireworks, the fireworks could potentially damage the aircraft and cause it to crash, he said.

A tiny drone would be no match for a rocket; those that will be shot off a barge in San Francisco Bay on Tuesday night weigh as much as 200 pounds, said Pyro Spectaculars Jeff Thomas.

Moreover, the FAA prohibits drones from flying higher than 400 feet. Fireworks in some shows rise an average of 500 to 600 feet, and Thomas said his biggest ones go up to 1,000 feet, so soaring above the show could be illegal in itself.

Air Quality Tracker Check levels down to the neighborhood Ratings for the Bay Area and California, updated every 10 minutes

One local drone operator shot a 4K video of Pyro Spectaculars 2017 New Years Eve show in San Francisco that impressed even Thomas, who understands its just human nature to want to get as close to the action as possible.

The video didnt show the drone getting into the middle of the rocket fire, which proves you can get nice photos of fireworks from a safe distance, Thomas said. Its not rocket science.

However, Thomas turned down the owners request to work with Pyro Spectaculars on this years Fourth of July show, one of about 400 the company planned for the holiday weekend. (The drone operator, who posted the video on YouTube under the name Parallax, did not return a message seeking comment.)

Our company is still scratching our heads over this, Thomas said. We dont understand all the parameters and restrictions of drones. Its not that we wont, but youve got to take baby steps.

Thomas Webb/Special to The Chronicle

Could drones replace fireworks in the future? Santa Clara chipmaker Intel is developing a synchronized squadron of up to 500 drones with lights that CEO Brian Krzanich has said might eventually make fireworks shows a thing of the past.

Meanwhile, Disney Enterprises filed a patent for air delivered special effects. A drawing filed with the patent shows a six-propeller drone-style craft delivering pyrotechnics, water features or other effects over a crowd of people. Its unclear whether Disney has used the system, but the company has worked with Intel to produce a drone show at Walt Disney World in Orlando.

Intel hasnt disclosed how much its custom-made drones cost and whether an all-drone show could compete with the tried-and-true method of standard firework rockets. A community Fourth of July fireworks show costs from $10,000 to as much as $1 million, Thomas said.

For hobbyist drone operators, the most important thing is to keep in mind safe flying rules and avoid becoming infamous for causing a major accident, DJI spokesman Michael Oldenburg said.

Dont be that guy who ruins it for the rest of us, Oldenburg said.

Benny Evangelista is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: bevangelista@

sfchronicle.com Twitter: @ChronicleBenny
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Hate crimes in California are increasing, particularly attacks on Muslims and gay men, after nearly a decade of decline, the state attorney generals office reported Monday.

There were 931 hate-driven incidents reported by local law enforcement agencies in 2016, an 11.2 percent increase over the 2015 total and a 20 percent jump from 2014, according to the states annual report on the crimes.

Before that, the statewide tally had dropped every year since 2007. Even with the recent upturn, last years report still showed a 34.7 percent decline in hate crimes from the 2007 total of 1,426.

The report corresponds with FBI data showing an unsettling increase in hate crimes nationwide, California Attorney General Xavier Becerras office said.

Just as disturbingly, his office said, new federal data indicate that more than half of violent hate crimes nationwide between 2011 and 2015 were not reported to police.

Shannon Minter, a lawyer with the National Center for Lesbian Rights in San Francisco, said the report was consistent with what appears to be a national atmosphere of increasing intolerance.

It started during the campaign and has only escalated since (President) Trump has been in office, Minter said. I think our country has become so much more polarized.

Becerra issued a statement that also appeared to refer to Trump, saying, Discriminatory rhetoric does not make us stronger but divides us and puts the safety of our communities at risk.

Hate crimes are those motivated by the victims race or national origin, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability.

More than half of the reported California hate crimes, 519, were motivated by race or national origin  a 21.3 percent increase from 2015  and 251 were against African Americans, more than any other group of victims cited in the report.

While reported crimes against black victims rose by 8.7 percent, racially motivated crimes reported against whites increased by 64.7 percent, from 34 to 56.

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.

Crimes motivated by the victims sexual orientation totaled 207 in 2016, a 10.1 percent increase from 2015, and those aimed at gay men increased by 40.7 percent, from 108 to 152, the report said.

Minter said the disparity may be due to the fact that gay men tend to be more visible.

Reported anti-Muslim crimes declined slightly in 2016, from 40 to 37, but those figures still represented substantial increases from yearly totals earlier in the decade, which ranged from 11 to 22.

The largest number of religiously motivated hate crimes were aimed against Jews, the report said: 82 in 2016, compared to 97 in 2015.

Fewer than one-third of the reported hate crimes  307 out of 931  were referred by police to prosecutors, who filed charges in 220 such cases, the report said. So far, it said, 51 have resulted in hate-crime convictions, 45 in convictions for other crimes and 22 in acquittals or charges that were dismissed. The rest are still pending.

Bob Egelko is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: begelko@sfchronicle.com
Sami Basu has lived outside for much of her pregnancy, first in a camp near AT&T Park, then in the parking lot of a diner on Potrero Hill.

With less than a month left before her daughter is due, the 23-year-old former UC Davis student and her fiance, Dustin Johnson, are sharing a room at the Mission Street Navigation Center with their two dogs. She has kicked heroin and crystal meth. But Basu still doesnt know if shell have a place to live once the baby is born.

At this point, its a waiting game, she said, eyes widening as she clutched Johnsons hand outside the Navigation Center one day last week. The two are on a list with 60 other families, all vying for a private-room shelter.

Theyve come to symbolize a distressing, increasingly visible face of the citys homeless crisis: young adults who struggle to clean up their lives as they prepare to become parents. Doctors and agencies who work with these people say more of them are showing up on the streets of San Francisco, but the city doesnt have a way to track them or a coordinated plan to help them.

We dont even know how many of these women are not getting served, said Martha Ryan, founder of the Homeless Prenatal Program, a nonprofit that offers medical and social services to homeless and low-income pregnant women. But some are not getting served, Im sure. We just dont have the capacity.

After Mayor Ed Lee formed the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing last year, the city doubled the number of private single-room-occupancy units it offers to women in their last trimester of pregnancy  from four to eight. Ryan and other advocates applauded the increase, but are pushing for more. They say the rooms are always full.

The city does not keep data on how many pregnant women are on the streets. At least three live in Navigation Centers. Of the 22 HIV-positive women receiving services at UCSF Medical Center and San Francisco General Hospital, half are either homeless or in some kind of temporary living situation. The Homeless Prenatal Program offers medical care, job counseling and other services to 525 low-income and homeless pregnant women a year from throughout the Bay Area.

Social workers and others who serve these women say they should be a high priority.

Once you get these mothers off the streets, you can start stabilizing them; you can get them invested in raising a healthy baby; you can look at the long term, said Carrie Hamilton, a case manager at Homeless Prenatal.

She and Ryan say helping an expectant mom is the first step toward breaking a cycle of poverty that might get passed down from parents to children.

Its also a way to help these mothers bear healthy babies.

Pregnant women who live in encampments are at high risk of contracting sexually transmitted diseases. Drug use is rampant, and basic comforts are scarce. People who live outside often dont eat, sleep, drink water or use the bathroom on a regular schedule, which can be even more harmful during pregnancy.

Some women seek shelter and safety in the citys jails, getting themselves arrested for petty crimes, Ryan said. Others get health care during pregnancy but struggle to find permanent housing after giving birth. If a woman shows up in the delivery room and tests positive for drugs, she risks losing custody of her children.

And then there are some women who just show up at the delivery room, sometimes with complications that could have been prevented.

Leah Millis/The Chronicle

Its not that the city doesnt offer services to help, said Deborah Borne, medical director of the Department of Public Healths Transitions Division, which cares for homeless or marginally housed people who suffer from mental illness or substance abuse. Its that people have to seek out those services and be willing and able to navigate the system by themselves.

The challenges only intensify once a baby is born, Ryan said.

We want the baby to have food and housing, but we also want to invest in the mom, get her off subsidies and into the workforce. If our mission is to end the cycle of poverty, the effort has to continue for two generations.

Officials at the Department of Homelessness say that when they find a pregnant women sleeping in a car or a tent, they make every effort to get her inside.

If we find someone in an encampment who believes herself to be pregnant, alarm bells go off and we get her into services right away, said Sam Dodge, the departments deputy director.

There has been discussion within the department about opening a special shelter or Navigation Center for pregnant women, Dodge said, but so far nothing concrete has emerged.

Leah Millis/The Chronicle

Meanwhile, doctors and organizations who help these women face serious challenges, Borne said.

Elise Brodeur-Jacobs was one of those hard-to-reach women who nearly eluded all the outreach teams that tried to help her. The freckled, disarmingly buoyant 24-year-old was living in a tent on Division Street when she found out she was pregnant. She was arrested on an old theft warrant two months before giving birth to her son, Jeremy Lin-Harvell II.

Brodeur-Jacobs spent much of her last trimester in jail. Four months later, she talked about the experience.

I just couldnt get fresh air or eat vegetables, and I had to keep asking for extra Ensure (nutrition) drinks, because I knew I wasnt eating enough, she said of her time in jail, bouncing tiny Jeremy on her lap.

The two now live in Womens Hope, a residential treatment program for low-income mothers with drug dependencies or psychiatric disorders. Brodeur-Jacobs, who grew up in the Haight and whose parents battled crack addiction, started taking opiates when she was 14 years old. She later moved on to heroin and speed.

It took months for outreach workers to coax her into services.

People living in encampments want to be disconnected from social systems, said Kelly Costello, a social worker at the Homeless Prenatal Program who cares for women suffering from substance abuse or mental illness.

Many of them go by street names, Costello said. The mentality is, If I stay under the radar, Ill be able to keep my baby.

But pregnancy can also be an opportune time for change, Borne said.

Brodeur-Jacobs dreams of moving to an apartment on Treasure Island with her fiance, the elder Jeremy Lin-Harvell, whom she met at the Division Street camp. Getting there wont be easy. Lin-Harvell is a former foster child with deep suspicion of any authority figures, including the city workers who tried to assist him. He now lives in a Tenderloin residential hotel.

Over at the Mission Street Navigation Center, Basu and Johnson are starting to get anxious. The two have settled into a routine, taking their dogs to the methadone clinic, intermittently napping in their room and calling their case manager, Hamilton, for word about housing.

Basu, who has lupus, said she is tired all the time.

Its nerve-racking, she said. Im getting closer and closer.

Rachel Swan is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: rswan@sfchronicle.com

Twitter: @rachelswan
Pure isnt. In fact, the Canadian import premiering Friday, July 7, on Hulu is a watchable mess.

The series is about drugs, violence and Mennonites in Southern Ontario. Created by Michael Amo, Pure is about an upstanding citizen who gets tied up in the illegal drug trade and finds his moral compass set spinning by what happens to him.

His name is not Walter White, and he is not a high school chemistry teacher. He is Noah Funk (Ryan Robbins), a Mennonite pastor with two teenage children and a bonnet-wearing wife who gets drawn into the drug business herself.

This is what should be called kitchen sink drama, but not in the traditional definition of the term. In this case, its because Amo has thrown everything but the kitchen sink into the story line, apparently in the belief that if you overstuff the plot, your audience wont notice that theres very little there there.

The basic concept, if you can find it, had potential. A group of God-fearing Mennonites in the town of Antioch, Ohio, find themselves torn asunder by an offshoot gang headed by Eli Voss (Peter Outerbridge), who is working with another group of fallen Mennonites in Mexico to import large amounts of drugs into Canada. Through a flimsy plot twist that feels completely manufactured, Funk joins Voss gang to protect the life of a young boy.

Other plot strings include a prodigal brother of Noahs named Abel (Gord Rand) who is an outcast among the Mennonites because hes had a drug habit; Noahs daughter Tina (Jessica Clement), who is struggling with wanting to be a normal teenager; and Noahs son, Isaac (Dylan Everett), who adheres so strictly to the tenets of his religion that he wants to be baptized earlier than most sect members.

Amo creates a rule-breaking local cop named Bronco Novak (A.J. Buckley) to act as a kind of mirror image of Noah. We meet Novak as hes saying goodbye to a hooker in a cheap motel, which of course saves Amo time in establishing Novaks character. But as morally bankrupt as he is, he has decent cop instincts and as Noah becomes more immersed in the dark side, Novak becomes more righteous as he collaborates with a Drug Enforcement Administration agent in Texas named Phoebe OReilly (Rosie Perez) to stop the secret drug transport scheme.

Several performances are very good, and there are flashes of credibility and empathetic character construction. But mostly what keeps Pure from realizing its potential, beyond the overcrowded construct, is that to even come close to Vince Gilligans complex moral scheme for Breaking Bad, it is necessary to build delicately nuanced characters. Walter White had seeds of his future in his character from the beginning. Noah Funk and, for that matter, his wife Anna (Alex Paxton-Beesley), are morally monochromatic characters, who out of nowhere do things and make decisions without credible foundation. Everything thereafter is bound to wobble when the foundation is that weak.

David Wiegand is an assistant managing editor and the TV critic of The San Francisco Chronicle. Follow him on Facebook. Email: dwiegand@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @WaitWhat_TV

Pure: Drama. First season available for streaming on Friday, July 7, on Hulu.
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The Summer of Love was not all love. Nobody loved the draft, and while national news photographers were looking for hippies with flowers their hair on Haight Street, Berkeley documentarian Nacio Jan Brown was shooting a protest against the Vietnam War at the Oakland Induction Center.

That image is the starting point for Resistors: 50 Years of Social Movement Photography in the Bay Area, an exhibition at the Berkeley Art Center, the Arts and Crafts-style building in Live Oak Park that happens to also be marking its 50th anniversary.

The exhibit of 63 images covers just about every protest, from antiwar rallies at San Francisco State through the Black Panthers, Peoples Park in Berkeley, the United Farmworkers March, Greenpeace, AIDS activism, Chinatown rent strikes, Black Lives Matter and through to the Womens March last winter.

For every gathering of resistance, there seemed to be at least one photographer, and the 33 photographers in the show amount to the ones who we could find their negatives or their digital files,  says Ken Light, professor of photojournalism at UC Berkeley, who curated the show along with his wife, Melanie Light, a photography appraiser and archivist.

They sat down in their Orinda home and rattled off the names of photographers they knew who had done important documentary work at protests. That was the easy part. The hard part was making sure they hadnt missed any important acts of group resistance. For that they canvassed social historians.

Someone would say, Oh, the Peace Navy. That was really important, says Light. Then it was a matter of figuring out who photographed it.

That turned out to be Janet Delaney, a South of Market street photographer, who was on a boat in the flotilla that attempted in 1986 to blockade the entrance to San Francisco Bay, to keep the battleship Missouri from being home- ported here.

When word got around about the project, photographers started sending the Lights digital files, hundreds of them. The Lights turned a home office into a Resisters Room, and papered the walls with thumbnail prints attached by pushpins.

We had too many pictures of policemen beating up people and protesters holding signs, which were kind of boring, Light says. We had to look for pictures that were both representative of the event and also made a powerful statement about social change.

After several months in the Resistors Room, the images were selected. Editing was rigid. Delaney had rolls and rolls of film of the Peace Navy, and one image made the show.

The Lights made all 63 prints themselves, sequenced them and designed the installation space. Part of the design is a community bulletin board. Anyone can bring in a print, pin it up and be part of Resistors.

Sam Whiting is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: swhiting@sfchronicle.com Instagram: @sfchronicle_art

Resistors: 50 Years of Social Movement Photography in the Bay Area: Panel discussion at 6 p.m. July 20. Free; 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Wednesday-Sunday. Through Aug. 21 Berkeley Art Center, 1275 Walnut St., Berkeley. (510) 644-6893. www.berkeleyartcenter.org
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The deep-fried Oreo stand at your local county fair could soon be overrun by fairgoers who have the munchies.

That's because cannabis may be allowed at California county fairs, thanks to an option in a bill signed by California Gov. Jerry Brown in June detailing how the legalization of marijuana will be carried out.
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Locals and visitors to Pier 39 in San Francisco on Monday were not too optimistic about the prospect of seeing the big fireworks show on the Fourth of July.

Its not because they wont try to see the pyrotechnic spectacle scheduled to be launched from barges off the pier at Fishermans Wharf, but because low clouds likely to blow in threaten to block the view.

The National Weather Service is forecasting low clouds will move into the Bay Area between 8 and 9 p.m. on Tuesday, just in time for the 9:30 p.m. fireworks show at Pier 39.

Low clouds could definitely be a problem, Matt Mehle, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, said on Monday. Were not forecasting fog, but this time of year we get a lot of low clouds.

Andy Owens and Jalon Howard from Rochester, N.Y., were visiting Pier 39 on Monday and werent sure about their plans for Independence Day.

Im already lukewarm about the fireworks, Howard said. I dont know if its worth it. I guess it just depends on how foggy it is.

Howard said he and Owens plan to walk around the city during the day and then try to find a party at night. They considered the fireworks show, but it wasnt a priority.

I dont think Id be too bummed if I missed it, Owens said.

Clouds are expected around the Golden Gate Bridge, Angel Island and Treasure Island on Tuesday night. Mehle said the cloud cover could extend into the East Bay.

This could be a significant interruption for Pier 39s plans to launch their show at 9:30 p.m. But Djono Liawidjaja at Pier 39s California Welcome Center said the show usually goes on no matter the weather, even it means watching flickers of light through the clouds.

Hannah Emmett and Erin Heck, who live in San Leandro, were more optimistic about Tuesday nights potential.

They plan to make smores, bundle up and sit on their balcony, which offers views from the Bay Bridge to the San Mateo Bridge, Emmett said.

Its their last weekend before resuming classes at Life Chiropractic College West in Hayward.

Emmett said its usually clear enough to see everything over the bay, but she hasnt always had luck on Independence Day since arriving four years ago.

Three years ago, we couldnt see anything, she said.

To get better visibility, Mehle said the best idea is to head farther inland, where skies have a better chance of being clear. As of Monday morning, he wasnt forecasting clouds for San Jose, Mountain View, Santa Rosa or the Napa Valley, all of which have their own fireworks shows scheduled.

Those will be far enough from the bay to avoid visibility problems, he said.

The rest of the day should be mostly clear with temperatures about 65 in San Francisco, 85 in inland areas such as Livermore and 80 in San Jose. Mehle said people should expect clouds in the morning, but that it will clear up for most of the afternoon.

Alison Graham is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: agraham@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @alisonkgraham
A passenger was killed and the driver fled the scene after a fatal car crash Monday evening in San Jose.

The incident occurred at 10:40 p.m. when a 2010 Toyota Corolla heading south on Highway 85 swung onto the carpool flyover lane to Highway 101 at an undetermined speed, according to the California Highway Patrol. The car then smashed into the guardrail, tumbling down the embankment and landing upright on its wheels.
While she may be a familiar name to Californians, many others in the United States are just now seeing Sen. Kamala Harris (D) on a national stage thanks to her recent confrontations with conservatives. After seeing her in action, some including the Washington Post are asking "Is Kamala Harris the next Barack Obama?"

Harris was catapulted into the national spotlight after her direct questioning during the Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on the FBI's investigation into Russia's role in the 2016 presidential election.
If state regulators approve, a quarter of a million Californians scattered across Pacific Gas and Electric Co.s vast service territory will, in March, begin paying different prices for power at different times of day.

Its a glimpse of the future.

Starting in 2019, most Californians will pay time of use electricity rates, unless they specifically choose not to. Although some homeowners have already made the switch  particularly, electric car drivers and people who have recently installed solar arrays  most pay tiered rates that charge higher prices for heavy electricity usage.

Those tiered rates have long been the default for California utility customers. In 2019, time-of-use rates will become the default. And that sweeping change requires a little preparation.

So PG&E plans to select 250,000 customers from across Northern and Central California, tell them that their rates are about to change, and then move them to time-of-use rates over two weeks in March unless they object.

The pilot project, which will require the approval of the California Public Utilities Commission to take effect, will let the utility test different ways of alerting customers to the big switch. It will also show whether customers pay more overall  or less  under the new rate structure than under the old. The commission is tentatively scheduled to vote on the project in August.

The way Californians are charged for energy continues to change, said Aaron Johnson, PG&Es vice president for customer energy solutions, in an email. This pilot program will provide us with critical information to better serve our customers as we move toward transitioning to Time-of-Use rates in the coming years.

The commission has been studying time-of-use rates for more than a decade and voted in 2015 to make them standard for most utility customers.

The premise is simple: By charging more when the demand for electricity reaches its daily peak, usually in late afternoon or early evening, time-of-use rates encourage people to shift some of their electricity use to other times of day. That, in turn, can lower the daily peak and reduce the number of power plants needed to supply it.

It could also help California make better use of its booming renewable power resources, since solar power plants reach maximum production from late morning through early afternoon, while wind power peaks at night.

PG&Es pilot would divide the day into two periods: peak, lasting from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m., and off-peak, which would include everything else.

The customers chosen by PG&E to participate would have the opportunity to decline. And even if they started participating in the pilot project, they could drop out at any time.

Participants would also receive 12 months of bill protection from PG&E. If it turns out they paid more for electricity under the new rates than they would have under the old, the utility will pay them the difference with a bill credit after 12 months.

While many environmentalists have supported time-of-use rates, consumer advocates have been more wary. Shifting energy use to the morning or night is easier for some customers than others, they note.

We dont see time of use as a customer-friendly initiative or one designed to make electricity more affordable, said Mindy Spatt, spokeswoman for The Utility Reform Network consumer group.

Retirees living in Californias hot interior valleys, for example, cant turn off their air conditioners during peak summer hours without sweltering in their homes. And people who rely upon medical devices in their homes need access to them 24 hours a day.

PG&E customers whose bills already reflect the baseline use of a home medical device would be excluded from the March pilot project.

Rather than having the choice to opt out of time-of-use rates, Spatts group would prefer that the rates only be used for customers who opt in. The commission, however, chose otherwise.

David R. Baker is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: dbaker@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @DavidBakerSF
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Someone once said: If it isnt broke, dont fix it. That person does not work for Oreo.

Oreo makes a lot of cookies  40 billion in 18 countries each year  enough to make it the worlds best-selling cookie. Most of them are the familiar sandwich thats over 100 years old: white cream nestled between two chocolate wafers. But the company has increasingly been experimenting with limited-edition flavors that seemed designed as much for Instagram as to be eaten.

Everyone loves the classic Oreo, said Madeline Vincent, a brand manager for Oreo. We dont mess with that.

But outside that classic Oreo? Oh, there is much messing about. This year, the company released limited-edition flavors like Jelly Donut, Mississippi Mud Pie and Firework. They joined a packed shelf that has recently included flavors like Cookie Dough, Birthday Cake, Mint, SMores and Red Velvet, which proved so popular as a limited edition that the company upgraded it to everyday flavor status.

The limited-edition flavors are scarce by design, appearing on shelves for eight to 10 weeks. Some are available only in certain markets or certain stores; Mississippi Mud Pie, for example, was specific to Dollar General stores, which have their headquarters in the South.

The scarcity is not to torture you, Vincent said, but is because Oreo thinks a flavor might be better received in one area than another.

We consider a variety of factors to determine the right flavors for the right markets and partners, such as customer feedback and consumer preference, Vincent said, adding that there is no template for which flavor goes to which retailer. It is decided on a case-by-case basis.

But there are certain flavors that even fewer people will get to try: those that result from a social media contest that will earn one Oreo fan $500,000. The company is using the hashtag #MyOreoCreation to collect suggested flavors. The top flavors, as determined by Oreo, will be available nationwide next year for the public to vote on.

And heres where things get, comparatively, weird. Some contenders so far have included English Breakfast Tea (it tastes like tea), Peach Melba (has the flavor of a gummi peach), Mermaid (a sort of lime cream), and at least three doughnut-adjacent flavors to complement the Jelly Donut already in mass production: Raspberry Danish, Coffee and Doughnut, and Beignet. These flavors arent available for consumers to buy, but the company has made small batches of them and sent them out into the world.

(The winning flavor may return for a limited-edition run or even as a permanent flavor, but that will be up to Oreo.)

Darren Seifer, an industry analyst at the NPD Group, a market research company, said companies need to be cautious when offering consumers a product thats too similar to the original.

Any time you have a line extension, your main concern should be whether or not its going to be cannibalizing your main-line product, he said.

Oreos social media push, he added, could be interpreted as an effort to save on market research funds  which other companies certainly have done, he said.

Instead of going and spending lots of money on focus groups and taste testing, theyre almost using the power of social media to help them out figure out whats the next road and whats the next big thing, he said.

But not everyone is thrilled. One flavor, Watermelon, was widely seen as a flop when it was released in 2013. A food industry expert told U.S. News & World Report that the cookie left an unpleasant aftertaste and only vaguely tasted like watermelon.

In a 2016 post on the Ringer, after Oreo came out with a Swedish Fish flavor, Justin Charity argued that the company had gone too far.

In an interview, Charity  who said he was conditioned to love Oreos because his schools were near a Nabisco factory  doubled down on his perspective. I feel like, Why is Nabisco trying to overwhelm you with meaningless choices?

Maya Salam is a New York Times writer.
Milton Wheeler was born and raised in Modesto. He has several college degrees, including a bachelors in music and a masters in music performance. He taught high school music for more than 30 years, and his school band and choral groups performed at Disneyland for 20 years in a row. He now directs the Bay Area Mens Chorus, and is also an SCCA judge at all the major Concour dElegance shows in Northern California.

It was in 1974 at the Packard Automobile Classics national meet in San Francisco that I first saw my 1947 Custom Super Eight.

It was on the showroom floor of the Lincoln/Mercury dealership on Van Ness Avenue, along with several other Packards that were on display during the show.

Looking over the car, I realized that it was in all original condition. The salesman had been watching me and asked if I would be interested in buying the car. I laughed and said, Sure, thinking he was joking.

CHECK CAR PRICES:

The next day I drove to Treasure Island for the show and judging. While parking my current 1941 Packard, I noticed the same car from the day before in the row just behind me with a For Sale sign on it. I talked to the owner who offered to sell me the 1947 Packard for $1,600. I was pleased to buy it for that small amount, and he was glad to sell it so that he could repair his Porsche.

I am the fourth owner of this car. It was originally used as a White House staff car during the Truman administration. It then was sold to a wealthy farmer in Lodi, where it spent most of its time. After the death of the farmer, the family stored the car for many years, eventually selling it to the gentleman I bought it from.

I drove my new Packard home to Mountain View and started to check out the car. I found the rear axle seals were leaking, so I replaced them and rebuilt the rear brakes. After driving it for a while, I felt it was low on power for a Super Eight. I checked the engine numbers and found out that it was a 288 CID.

Apparently, the family had worn out the original engine and installed the 288. A friend of mine had a nice, low-mileage 1948 Packard 356 CID engine, which he gave to me so I could rebuild and install it in place of the 288.

The Packard has original paint, chrome, carpets and wood graining. The drivers seat and the back seat show signs of wear, indicating that many people had sat in the back, probably being chauffeured by White House drivers. There is a plaque on the instrument board verifying its connection to the White House and a lapel pin with a photo of Harry Truman.

My whole family has enjoyed our 1947 Packard. My father, who was a car guy, loved it. My son Mark used it for his senior prom, having his friend act as chauffeur for the evening. My wife and I have driven across many parts of the country in the Packard.

Weve done many classic road trips, like Chicago to Santa Monica on Route 66, San Francisco to Seattle on Highway 1 and the 100th Anniversary tour of the Lincoln Highway, from Times Square in New York to Lincoln Park in San Francisco.

This Packard is a joy to drive and is very comfortable for touring. I can keep up with modern traffic and it performs extremely well. I keep it well maintained and ready to pass on to my son Mark, who is the webmaster for the Packard Club website and will be happy to call it his own some day.

Attention Bay Area drivers

We are looking for submissions to the 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.
PHOENIX  Arizona Secretary of State Michele Reagan has done an about-face and now says the state wont provide extensive voter registration information to the Trump administration.

In a statement this week, the Republican said the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integritys request raises privacy concerns.

On Friday, Reagan said Arizona would hand over voter data to a commission looking into allegations of voter fraud. However, the state planned to withhold voters birth dates and Social Security numbers.

Now, Reagan said the request for extensive voter information is not in the states best interest.

Arizona joins a growing number of states that have balked at aiding President Trumps commission. Some other conservative states, such as Texas, say state laws only allow for partial responses.

Numerous state residents reportedly sent emails to Reagans office over the weekend stating their objection to her handing over voter information. I share the concerns of many Arizonans that the Commissions request could implicate serious privacy concerns, Reagan said in a statement.

Officials in 10 states and the District of Columbia said they would not comply at all with the request. Those states are California, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Mississippi, New Mexico, New York, South Dakota, Tennessee and Virginia.

Trump lost the popular vote to Democrat Hillary Clinton but has alleged without evidence that up to 5 million people voted illegally. He created the commission in May.
ALAMEDA  Vice Adm. Fred Midgette, commander of Coast Guard operations in the Pacific Area, has a challenge almost as vast as the ocean he patrols in search of drug traffickers, with responsibilities for an area that is twice the size of the continental United States.

The Coast Guard is struggling to keep pace, seizing about 20 percent of all the drugs that come into the United States through a coastal border, as its aging fleet attempts to pursue the speedboats favored by the traffickers.

When most people think border security, they think Border Patrol, Midgette said. What we do by intercepting drugs on the high seas has a direct connection to what happens at the southern border in terms of stopping illicit drugs and illegal immigration.

When you are stopping drugs at the Rio Grande, thats already a loss, he added. You want to push that stuff off from America as far as you can.

But that is becoming increasingly difficult for the Coast Guard, which has operated with flat budgets even as its mission has expanded to include intelligence and antiterrorism.

There are newer ships like the Stratton, a Coast Guard cutter, but many others in the fleet are more than 50 years old. President Trumps new budget would cut Coast Guard funding by 2.4 percent.

About 70 percent of the cocaine consumed in the United States passes through a corridor that runs up to the borders of Guatemala and El Salvador.

Catching drugs in the ocean is vital to Homeland Security efforts because that is when the volume and the purity of the drugs are at their highest. It is also where drug traffickers are most vulnerable.

We take advantage of the fact that we have the advantage on the water, said Capt. Nathan Moore, the departing commander of the Stratton. When they see that huge ship coming at them over the horizon, most of them just give up.

Moore said that even with all the technology on the Stratton, finding a panga or narco sub painted blue to blend in with the ocean was difficult. The Coast Guard said it intercepted a record six narco subs during the 2016 fiscal year.

Funding the Coast Guard at current levels  nearly $10 billion  leaves the service struggling to combat the drug trafficking that has been pushed offshore by beefed up security on the southern land border.

Ron Nixon is a New York Times writer.
Norman Dorsen, a passionate human-rights advocate who led the American Civil Liberties Union for 15 years and was involved in some of the biggest civil-liberties cases of the second half of the 20th century, died Saturday at his home in Manhattan. He was 86.

The cause was complications of a stroke, his daughter Annie said.

Mr. Dorsens career-long focus on civil liberties was informed by his involvement in the Army-McCarthy hearings in 1954, and he went on to argue Supreme Court cases that established juveniles rights to due process and that acknowledged the rights of children born out of wedlock, as well as early arguments before the court on abortion and gay rights.

He was also a key figure at New York University School of Law, where he joined the faculty and became director of the civil liberties program in 1961. Partly through Mr. Dorsens influence, the school gained a reputation for attracting students and faculty with a focus on public-interest law.

Perhaps no one else in the history of NYU Law shaped this place as profoundly, or affected it as deeply, as Norman, said Trevor W. Morrison, the dean of the law school. For half a century, he was among the most important legal advocates for civil rights and civil liberties in the country.

In 2000, President Bill Clinton awarded Mr. Dorsen the Eleanor Roosevelt Award for Human Rights. In a statement introducing the award winners, the White House referred to Mr. Dorsen as a tenacious and outspoken defender of human rights.

Norman Dorsen was born on Sept. 4, 1930, in Manhattan to Arthur Dorsen and Tanya Stone. A stellar student, he attended the Bronx High School of Science, and entered Columbia College when he was 16, while still living at home. He had finished his career at Harvard Law School, where he was an editor on the law review, by 23.

After graduating, Mr. Dorsen became a lieutenant in the Army, where he was a part of the team that worked on the Army-McCarthy hearings, which revolved around claims by Sen. Joseph R. McCarthy, R-Wis., and his chief counsel, Roy Cohn, that Communists had infiltrated the federal government and the Army. Mr. Dorsen credited the behavior of McCarthy and Cohn with shaping his career.

There is no doubt that being confronted by the McCarthy crowd, and in particular by Roy Cohn, sensitized me to issues of fairness in hearings and other proceedings and the drastic harm that the government can do to free expression, he told Columbia Colleges alumni magazine in 2013.

John Sexton, a former dean of NYU Law and a close friend of Mr. Dorsens, said the hearings were a formative experience for him because he saw the real danger that could come from this kind of demagogic seizure of power.

He later studied international economics as a Fulbright scholar at the London School of Economics.

Mr. Dorsen went on to clerk for Justice John Marshall Harlan II on the Supreme Court, where he was later remembered by Justice William J. Brennan Jr. as principled and indefatigably persistent.

Remembering a case Mr. Dorsen had been passionate about, Brennan wrote in a 2001 tribute that for weeks before and after the case was argued, he pursued my law clerk relentlessly through the halls of the court, peppering him with arguments. Sooner or later, Norm calculated, my clerk would agree, exert his influence and induce me to see reason.

Mr. Dorsen would take that persistence before the court many times as a litigator. In 1967, he helped convince the court that Arizona had acted unconstitutionally in sentencing a 15-year-old to six years in prison for making an obscene phone call. In 1968, he successfully argued that Louisiana could not discriminate against children born out of wedlock.

He became the general counsel of the ACLU in 1969 and its president in 1976, and helped to guide the organization through many challenges, including its defense of the rights of Nazis to stage a march through Skokie, Ill., in 1977. The following year, the New York Times credited Mr. Dorsen with a magic touch for healing organizational wounds.

He also helped to build the Arthur Garfield Hays Civil Liberties Program at NYU Law into a powerhouse, and in 1995, became the founding director of the Hauser Global Law School Program at NYU, one of the first programs of its kind.

He met his future wife, Harriette, at NYU, and the two were wed in 1965. She died in 2011. Besides his daughter Annie, survivors include two other daughters, Jennifer and Caroline; a brother, David; and four grandchildren.

Annie Dorsen said that, although her father was committed to the bedrock values of enlightenment humanism  he kept a bust of Voltaire in his house  he acknowledged the effect that luck had in shaping his career.

But she added that an extraordinary identification with and feeling of solidarity with the underdog had also guided him.

Jonah Engel Bromwhich is a New York Times writer.
San Francisco Superior Court, faced with a deficit of nearly $5.3 million, says it will close its clerks offices at 1 p.m. on Fridays and require court staff to take Fridays off on a rotating basis, without pay.

The closures will start in September and continue through June, Presiding Judge Teri Jackson said Monday. The unpaid furloughs will begin Aug. 4.

The deficit arose from a 9 percent cut in state funding for the fiscal year that started July 1, Jackson said. She said four unions representing the workers had accepted the furloughs, which will require each staffer to miss one Friday per month through next June, to avoid layoffs.

The court is considering other money-saving measures, including a freeze on hiring, Jackson said.

We are committed to keeping our courtrooms open and continuing to prioritize access to justice despite the reductions, Jackson said in a statement.

With clerks offices closing earlier on Fridays, drop boxes will be available outside each office from 1 to 4 p.m. for documents that will be file-stamped on that day, the court said.

The state budget approved by Gov. Jerry Brown and the Legislature for the new fiscal year includes about $3.7 billion for the judiciary, about the same as last year, despite the contention of California Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye that trial courts badly needed more funding after years of cuts. The state provides a large majority of the courts funding, and local fees cover most of the rest.

The San Francisco courts funding declined because of rules adopted by the state courts Judicial Council in 2013 that allocate an increasing share of state dollars to courts with relatively higher workloads for their judges.

Jackson said the San Francisco court suffered a 9 percent cut, the largest of any county, reducing its state funding to $51.7 million. In 2008, before the recession, the court had a $90.5 million budget and nearly 600 nonjudicial employees, compared with about 430 now, Jackson said. The court started laying off employees in 2011 after the first round of state budget cuts.

The courts judges will not be furloughed, but Jackson said they had agreed to make voluntary contributions to help support court operations. She said she was requesting an amount equal to one day of their pay per month, about $509, from Aug. 1 through June.

The clerks offices are at the courts headquarters at 400 McAllister St., the criminal and traffic courts at 850 Bryant St., and the Juvenile Justice Center at 375 Woodside Ave.

Bob Egelko is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: begelko@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @egelko
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Taipei, July 4 (CNA) A section of highway in Kenting, in southern Taiwan's Pingtung County, will be closed at certain times over the next four months to allow the safe passage of female land crabs as they migrate from inland areas to the coast to spawn, officials said Tuesday.
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President Trumps administration is not allowing grandparents, grandchildren, uncles or aunts of U.S. residents from nations affected by Trumps travel ban to enter the country because they are not considered close family members under immigration law, government lawyers told a federal judge Monday.

The Justice Department attorneys also defended the administrations exclusion of most refugees, saying they lacked a bona fide relationship with the agencies that have arranged their resettlement.

The filing in a Hawaii federal court comes a week after the U.S. Supreme Court allowed Trump to enforce part of his March 6 executive order, halting U.S. entry of anyone from six mostly Muslim nations, until the court holds a hearing in October and rules on the legality of the order.

Trump ordered a 90-day ban on immigrants and visitors from Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen and a 120-day ban on all U.S. admissions of refugees fleeing violence and hardship in their homelands.

In allowing implementation of parts of the order, which had been blocked by federal appeals courts, the Supreme Court said the government could exclude those who lacked a bona fide relationship with a person or entity in the United States, and specified that a personal tie must be a close familial relationship.

Administration officials began using their new authority Thursday with tight criteria  defining close family relations as only spouses, parents, children, brothers,sisters, and mothers- and fathers-in law. Officials later added fiances and fiancees to the approved list.

Plaintiffs, led by Hawaii, went back to court to argue that the governments definitions were arbitrarily narrow and ignored the accepted meaning of close family members. But administration lawyers said Monday they were following the law.

The 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act, in allocating visas, gives preference to U.S. residents immediate relatives, defined as spouses, children and parents, Justice Department lawyer Brad Rosenberg said.

That law, the best reference for line-drawing, does not grant any immigration benefits for other relatives, such as grandparents or grandchildren, Rosenberg said.

He also defended the governments exclusion of the most common category of refugees those who, after clearing the governments screening process, have their resettlement arranged by a nonprofit agency. Those agencies have no actual relationship with the refugees, only with the government, which provides their funding and commissions their services, Rosenberg argued.

The plaintiffs are due to file counter-arguments by Thursday. Jayashri Srikantiah, a Stanford law professor and director of the schools Immigrants Rights Clinic, said the governments arguments were not entirely convincing.

The immigration laws definition of family relationships was drafted to allocate U.S. visas and not to decide which categories of previously approved entrants would be barred, Srinkantiah said. She also said refugee agencies develop relationships with newcomers they agree to resettle.

Bob Egelko is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: begelko@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @egelko
BERKELEY (BCN)

Police are seeking the public's help to solve a series of vandalism incidents that occurred throughout a Berkeley neighborhood last week, police said Monday.

On Wednesday, at 6:49 a.m., officers responded to the 2400 block of Hillsdale Avenue regarding a report of vandalism that occurred sometime the night before.

Once there, a resident reported to officers that he discovered that his and his partner's vehicles had been vandalized with spray paint.

According to police, the victim also noticed that his front gate had been vandalized, in addition to other residents' gates as well as several other cars parked in the area.

During that call, officers counted 13 different incidents of vandalism that damaged cars and gates in the neighborhood, police said.

About two hours later at 8:58 a.m., officers learned of additional vandalism cases, this time in the 2300 block of Prospect Street. There, officers found 10 cars with slashed tires, police said.

About two hours later, officers discovered that seven more cars also had slashed tires in the nearby 2400 block of Prospect Street.

Because of the close proximity of the 30 total vandalism incidents and the time frame in which they were most likely committed, officers believe the cases are related.

Police are asking anyone with information or who may have video surveillance in the neighborhood to contact them at (510) 981-5737.

DanielMontes0142a07/04/17
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The 104th consecutive annual Cook family reunion was held at the United Methodist Church in Plattsmouth, June 25. Of the 12 branches of the Joseph Cook family, 45 descendants were present. Three were there from the Phillip branch, 14 from the George branch, 14 from the Caroline branch, two from the John branch and 12 from the Jacob branch. Those attending came from North Carolina, Colorado, Iowa, Missouri, Illinois, New Jersey and Nebraska.

Ransom Cole gave the blessing before the catered meal. All family members were introduced and there was a time of sharing of family memories. A number of members have been involved in mission work and they told about their experiences. A brief business meeting was conducted. After discussion, it was decided to hold next year's reunion at Plattsmouth again. It will be on June 24, 2018.

Many family members toured the original Joseph and Mary Cook log cabin and also visited the Cass County Historical Museum.
Its July in Nebraska, which means you can see corn and soybeans maturing and county fair season is right around the corner. Its also a time when many Nebraskans travel to visit family, take a vacation, or enjoy a weekend camping. Its a big season for tourism in Nebraska, our states third largest industry right behind agriculture and manufacturing. Whether youre a Nebraskan looking for something new, or a family visiting from elsewhere, theres a lot to see and do. From a historic eclipse to a whistle stop train tour, I hope youll get out and explore the Good Life this summer.

On August 21st, Nebraska will welcome thousands of visitors from across the nation to watch the first solar eclipse visible in the continental United States since 1979. Some of the best locations to watch the eclipse are right here in our state. In Nebraska, the eclipse is expected to begin near Scottsbluff at 10:25am Mountain Time and conclude near Falls City a little after 1:00pm Central Time. The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission has a list of watch events for the solar eclipse which you can access at http://outdoornebraska.gov/eclipse/. Before the eclipse, make sure youve read up on how to safely watch it, and identify a location ahead of time so that you dont miss out on it!

In addition to the eclipse, Susanne and I are also planning to visit Burwell for one of our favorite events, Nebraskas Big Rodeo. Its a premier event for our state, showcasing a piece of our unique heritage right in the heart of the Sandhills. Each year, around 15,000-20,000 people attend the rodeo in this town of about 1,200, creating an estimated economic impact of $750,000! We always enjoy watching the rodeo, trying out local eateries, and marching in the parade through the town square.

In early August, Susanne and I will be leading a three-day whistle stop tour of the state to help celebrate Nebraskas sesquicentennial anniversary of statehood. The Union Pacific train will stop in Omaha, Columbus, North Platte, Ogallala, Sidney, Gering, Kearney, and Grand Island between Aug. 4 and Aug. 6. Events at each stop will feature notable Nebraskans and celebrate 150 years of the Good Life and how our state is growing. For more information about the tour and the many other sesquicentennial initiatives, visit www.ne150.org. Even if youre not able to join the whistle stop tour, we hope you will get involved in one of the other initiatives to celebrate this anniversary.

These are just a few of the ways we will be celebrating the Good Lifes 150th this summer. If you want more ideas on how to get out and explore the Good Life, check out the Tourism Commissions Nebraska Passport program by visiting www.nebraskapassport.com. The program features several different tours of Nebraska which will take you across the state and help you discover new places to love and enjoy with friends and family.

As you travel the state, I hope that youll share stories from your travels with my office. To share your stories or any other matter on your mind, please email pete.ricketts@nebraska.gov or call 402-471-2244. Buckle up and travel safely!
Ron Vlach remembers experiencing many large explosions during his time spent serving in the Vietnam War, and some of the biggest happened when the United States forces would seize enemy weaponry.

Vlach, owner of Victory Marine and organizer of Fremonts firework show the past 16 years, attributes those experiences to his interest in pyrotechnics.

Thats kind of how I think I got into the whole fireworks deal, Vlach said while driving in his red pickup truck toward Christensen field Monday hours before the 10 p.m. show, which is visible to some 20,000 to 30,000 people encompassing the greater Fremont Area. We would dig a big old hole and fill it up with (items) we confiscated and then just blow it all up. Youve all seen what it looks like when an atom bomb goes up, and it was a little like that just with a smaller mushroom (cloud) on it.

On Monday afternoon, 10 employees working for Blair-based Midwest Fireworks Wholesaler spent time sorting and preparing dozens of firework shells to be shot out of large plastic tubes. The vast majority of the show was shot directly from a location at Christensen Field, and just like last year, the last portion of the finale was shot on a 6,000 foot stretch of runway at Fremont Municipal Airport.

Vlach said new this year was a surprise firework that everybody in Fremont would be lucky to see. The firework itself weighted upward of 90 pounds.

Its going to be something new unlike anything youve ever seen, he said Monday.

The show itself ran approximately 20 minutes, and the entire show was operated by one person controlling a circuit board.

Its not one of those things where you just can pick someone off the street and have them do it, Vlach said. Like me, Id just love to flick those switches, but I would just screw it up. They really do a bang-up job.

Employees from Midwest Fireworks Wholesalers have had a busy few days. On Sunday, they completed shows at Lake Ventura, Woodcliff and Summer Haven. The company hosted upward of eight shows across Nebraska on Independence Day, as well, Vlach added.

The fireworks show cost more than $15,000 this year, and Vlach said that without great local sponsors the show simply wouldnt be able to carry on each year.

Sponsors included: First National Bank Fremont, First State Bank at Trust Company, Pinnacle Bank and Royal Canin.

Vlach said all fireworks from the show were purchased from two Chinese distributors and can take upward of a year to arrive in the States.

This means no time is wasted planning for the next years show.

We start tomorrow morning on next years show, he said. We figure out what went wrong, what we can do a little better and how we can make the show a little more enticing for everyone the next year.

Vlach, who said he doesnt have a ton of time to get involved in various Fremont clubs and organizations, said he enjoys being able to give back in this way.

And while planning and setting up the show is certainly an operation, for Vlach, its always worth it.

Its always nice the next day when people come up to you and tell you how great it was, or just give you a phone call and tell you that it was the finest fireworks show theyve ever seen, he said. This is all about the people, and when its all done they are always appreciative of it.
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California Sen. Kamala Harris barnstormed the state Monday, looking for stories about how the Republican health care proposal might affect seniors to take back with me to Washington.

She got a briefcase full during a stop Monday at the Institute on Aging in San Franciscos Richmond District.

Many of the seniors and their caregivers told Harris they were worried about the GOP Senate plan, which would reduce federal Medicaid spending by $772 billion over 10 years and cap the federal contribution to Medicaid starting in 2020.

Theyre anxious about the bill even though it is stalled, as Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., postponed a vote last week because of opposition from both conservative and moderate Republicans. He hopes to hold a vote some time after senators return on Monday from the Fourth of July break and before they leave for their August recess.

Caregivers like Claudia Arevalo told Harris that President Trump and others dont understand that Medicaid funds positions like hers, which help seniors to continue to live at home.

Come and see us and meet our clients, said Arevalo, who cares for a senior in San Francisco. You can learn from us.

The GOP proposal would particularly affect seniors living in skilled nursing facilities. Of the 1.3 million people living in nursing homes, 62 percent paid for their care through Medicaid, according to the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation.

I think they should call it the un-American health care act, Connie Barker, a caregiver who lives in Marin County, told Harris on Monday.

Last month, Harris and fellow California Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein proposed legislation to help middle-class workers by limiting the cost of health insurance premiums to 9.69 percent of a persons income. The monthly premium for someone making $50,000 would be no more than $404 per month under the formula. A person earning $80,000 would pay no more than $646 per month.

Meanwhile, just 12 percent of registered voters support the Senate health care bill, according to a USAToday/Suffolk University survey released last week. The poll also found that 53 percent of the respondents wanted Congress to either leave the 2010 health care law known as Obamacare alone or fix its problems while keeping its core framework intact.

Republicans are finding out that the American public is smarter than theyre giving them credit for being, Harris said.

We cant have a system that is basically a tax benefit for the richest among us in a way that is going to harm tens of millions of people, she said. It is just wrong.

The San Francisco stop was part of Harris two-day trip through the state to speak out against the GOP health care plan and listen to Californians on other issues. Earlier Monday, she attended a rally at the Harbor-UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles County, organized by the Service Employees International Union and others to highlight opposition to the legislation.

On Wednesday, Harris is scheduled to appear at the Fowler Packing Co. in Fresno to hear about agricultural issues. Later Wednesday, she is scheduled to be at the Central California Womens Facility in Chowchilla (Madera County), where she will focus on issues involving incarcerated women.

Joe Garofoli is The San Francisco Chronicles senior political writer. Email: jgarofoli@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @joegarofoli
Qatar Airways launched direct service between Doha and Nice, the airlines second destination in France. The five weekly flights between HIA and Nice Cote d'Azur International Airport will be served by the Boeing B787 Dreamliner. The Qatar Airways B787 Dreamliner offers a two class configuration with 22 seats in Business Class that can be turned into fully-flat beds and configured in a 121 set-up, and 232 Economy seats in a 333 layout.

Located on the magnificent French Riviera, Nice has a true cosmopolitan vibe with fashionable boutiques and restaurants, alongside magnificent beaches. The city is also the gateway to the South of France, including popular destinations such as Cannes, St. Tropez, Antibes and the region of Provence, while also being within easy reach of neighboring Monaco and Northern Italy.

Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive His Excellency Mr. Akbar Al Baker said: We are truly delighted to launch direct service between Doha and Nice. The new route is a sign of our continuous commitment to improving the travelling experience for our passengers, both in France and around the world. With five weekly flights operating between the two cities, passengers from the South of France can now connect to more than 150 destinations world-wide through Dohas Hamad International Airport.

Nice Cote d'Azur International Airport Chief Executive Officer Mr. Dominique Thillaud said: "The Qatar Airways flight out of Nice enhances our long haul offering - one of the most complete amongst French city airports - and improves the connectivity out of the region, via the Doha hub. This is therefore excellent news for tourism professionals on the Cote d'Azur and companies in the area who will benefit from a new route for air cargo exports."

Qatar Airways recently announced its partnership with the French Rivieras premium helicopter operator Monacair, providing passengers arriving in Nice on board the newly-launched direct service the opportunity to seamlessly connect onto a Monacair helicopter flight to Monte Carlo. Likewise, passengers travelling from Monaco to Nice by helicopter will be able to connect at Nice Cote d'Azur International Airport to a choice of more than 150 destinations on Qatar Airways global network.

Qatar Airways currently operates 21 weekly flights between Doha and Paris on board the airlines ultra-modern fleet of Airbus A380 and A350. The airline also recently opened its luxurious, state-of-the-art Premium Lounge at Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris.
In 2016 UNESCO recognised the important role played by beer culture in Belgian everyday life and celebrations by proclaiming it an intangible cultural heritage. Throughout the year, Brussels residents and visitors can come and discover this delicious heritage during one of Brussels many beer festivals. Here are some beer events that will take place between late August and late November 2017:

BXLBeerFest  The Crossroads of Beers and Friends: 26  27 August 2017

BXLBeerFest brings a number of independent, artisanal brewers closer to the guests. The selection of Brussels breweries will be supplemented by some of the best that Belgium and other countries have to offer, with 50 breweries from ten different nations presenting over 200 beers to the public. BXLBeerFest also pays attention to the culinary aspect, with food trucks and an actual on-site restaurant led by chef Dirk Myny of Les Brigittines. www.bxlbeerfest.com

Belgian Beer Weekend: 1  3 September 2017

From Friday 1 to Sunday 3 September 2017, the Ridderschap van de Roerstok der Brouwers and the Belgian Breweries, in cooperation with the City of Brussels and the Brussels-Capital Region, present the 19th edition of the Belgian Beer Weekend.

This year the Grote Markt (Grand-Place) in Brussels will serve as a unique backdrop for this event, which has been dedicated entirely to our national beverage. This will allow 60,000 beer lovers to partake of fine Belgian beers in one of the most beautiful squares in the world (UNESCO World Heritage). Throughout the weekend, numerous small, mid-sized and large Belgian breweries will have a large selection of their products on offer. Here, one can discover the various types of beers that give our country its well-deserved reputation. www.belgianbrewers.be

International Craft Festival: 20  21 October 2017

The Brussels Beer Project brewery will hold the 2nd edition of the International Craft Festival on 20 and 21 October. This festival will bring together ten artisanal breweries from Europe, the United States and Asia in a festive atmosphere at an exclusive secret location. www.beerproject.be

Vini Birre Ribelli. Salon of rebellious wines and beers: 25  26 November 2017

Just like with the previous editions, this salon is once again all about artisanal, sustainable, organic and - whenever possible - natural products. Though the emphasis is on wine, the alternative side of beer brewing is also represented. Bringing these two worlds together offers a unique perspective. Also noteworthy: Vini Birre Rebelli is Belgiums first salon bearing the label zero waste. www.vinibirreribelli.net
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- The Andrew E. Zimmer Club brought Staten Island families to Willowbrook Lake for the 89th annual Huck Finn Fishing Tournament and Costume Contest on Tuesday.

Over 130 kids from the ages 5-14 signed up for the costume contest, where Huck Finn, Tom Sawyer and Becky Thatcher costumes were judged on creativity and detail.

"We use the outdoors as a classroom," said Zimmer Club official John Donohue. "Kids these days are engrossed in technology. This is a free, fun, event to get them out of that."

The first 100 participants received a free bamboo fishing rod that they can keep, along with bait.

"This is pure, innocent fun for kids," said Sherri Hightower, who grew up in Port Richmond.

Since 2003, the Huck Finn costume contest has been dedicated to Hightower's late son Joseph. Hightower says that the event is bittersweet for her and her family, but the memories make it worth it.

Hightower's grandson, Anthony "AJ" Harris, wore the same costume Joseph wore in the costume contest. Hightower says the costume has been in the family for over 30 years.

This event is a tradition for many Staten Island families, especially the family of Gerri Fleming. Fleming says her children -- and now her children's children -- have been fishing in the same spot every year.

"This is what we do," says Fleming's daughter Gina. "It's a tradition. It's Staten Island, we can't not do it."

Here's how it all went down: The fishing tournament ran from 9-11 a.m. The Huck Finn/Betty Thatcher costume contest started at 11:15 a.m. and trophies were awarded at 11:30 a.m. Check out the gallery above for details on the winners!
Outrigger Enterprises Group announced the appointment of Rory Campbell as Area Director of Sales and Marketing, responsible for the Outrigger Laguna Phuket Beach Resort and the Outrigger Koh Samui Beach Resort, both in Thailand.

The appointment, effective July 1, 2017, is Mr. Campbells second stint with Outrigger. He was Director of Sales and Marketing for the Outrigger Laguna Phuket Beach Resort 2013-2015 and General Manager of the Outrigger Koh Samui Beach Resort 2015-2016.

Prior to joining Outrigger in 2013, Mr Campbell, an Australian national, worked in senior sales and marketing roles for Hilton in Spain, Anantara Hotels and Resorts in Thailand, and the Eaton Hotel in Hong Kong.

In his new assignment, Mr. Campbell will report to Tony Pedroni the General Manager of the Outrigger Laguna Phuket Beach Resort, to Marc Landgraf General Manager of the Outrigger Koh Samui Beach Resort, and to Andrew Gee the Outrigger Regional Director of Sales and Marketing for Australia and New Zealand, based in Sydney.

Were glad Rory is back, batteries charged and once again ready to promote our beautiful resorts in Thailand, said Mr. Paul Richardson, Chief Operating Officer of Outrigger Enterprises Group.

The Outrigger Laguna Phuket Beach Resort features 255 rooms and suites with modern interiors subtly blended with contemporary Thai touches. The property is part of Laguna Phuket on beautiful Bang Tao Bay a 30-minute drive from Phuket airport. The resort is popular with families and active lifestyle holidaymakers. The resorts acclaimed Similan Ballroom is one of the best mid-sized event spaces in Southeast Asia.

The Outrigger Koh Samui Beach Resort offers an absolute beachfront experience for couples with 52 renovated guest suites and villas all with private pools. The property is located on secluded 300-metre Hanuman Bay in the northeast of the island 10-minutes from Samui airport (but away from the flight path).
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Two more men have been arrested as part of an investigation into the supply of firearms which has seized a total of 89 guns.

At about 5pm yesterday (Monday), officers stopped a white van in a pub car park in Iver.

Two men, aged 25 and 35 from Slough, were arrested on suspicion of firearms offences after bags containing nine handguns were recovered from the van.

A further search of a nearby storage unit found another handgun. Both men are now being questioned.

The operation was linked to the seizure of 79 UK-bound handguns at the Channel Tunnel on Saturday. Two men, 59-year-old Polish national Janusz Michek and 23-year-old Czech national Denis Kolencukov, were charged and appeared before Uxbridge Magistrates Court yesterday. Both were remanded in custody.

The on-going operation is being carried out by the National Crime Agency (NCA) and the Metropolitan Police Service, with the support of Thames Valley Police.

Graham Gardner, NCA deputy director of investigations, said: These new arrests are significant in the context of our wider investigation into a network we believe were heavily involved in the criminal supply of firearms to the UK.



The latest weapons seized were of the same type found at the Channel Tunnel terminal on Saturday, and bring the total of guns seized as part of this investigation to 89.



It goes without saying that by taking them out of circulation, we, along with our partners in law enforcement, have made our communities that much safer.
This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2017, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
"There was no food, no water; we had nothing. We were so scared," said Hana'a Ashifa, a mother of four evacuated from the Old City early Monday. "When we finally heard the security forces, my mother looked at me, picked up our white flag and said: 'It's time to go.'"
A men's support and advice group that stirred controversy at an ACT university will hold its first fundraiser next month.

Australian National University student Sebastian Rossi started the Men's Network Facebook page last year to provide a dedicated space for the discussion of men's issues.

ANU Men's Network founder Sebastian Rossi. Credit:Sitthixay Ditthavong

The group became an affiliated club of the ANU Student Association in April after an initial backlash against the cause. Mr Rossi said there was a misunderstanding about the purpose of the network after he mistakenly mentioned the long-term goal of a dedicated men's department.

"People were worried it was a kind of advocacy (group) filled with spiteful men thinking 'women have their department, why can't we have ours' type thing," he said.
Canberra's new rescue helicopter is 40 per cent faster than its predecessor, flies better at night and has already flown 120 missions since April.

The Southcare Toll rescue helicopter received its official launch on Tuesday morning, with the top-of-the-range chopper to service the ACT and nearby NSW.

Gerard Longley in front of the new Agusta Westland 139 helicopter. Credit:Jamila Toderas

The 2016 model Agusta Westland 139 helicopter has taken over from a 35-year-old Bell 412 chopper which serviced the region as the SnowyHydro Southcare Rescue helicopter.

Base manager Gerard Longley said the helicopter was a leap forward, being faster, more capable and giving emergency workers a longer range.
Ambitious plans to build a major airport near Koo Wee Rup have been described as Melbourne's answer to Sydney's Badgerys Creek project.

Paragon Premier Investment Fund has said it wants to build the commercial airport at a site between Koo Wee Rup and Lang Lang. It said the airport could be operating cargo flights by 2020, followed by domestic and international services.

Aviation consultant Neil Hansford, who has advised on airport development, said Melbourne needed a major domestic airport to supplement Tullamarine, and Avalon Airport, near Geelong, could not fulfil that role because of its location.

"Sydney has Kingsford Smith and it needs Badgerys Creek, so Melbourne is in exactly the same situation," he said.
Gai Thompson is in no doubt about the significance of the first day of a landmark Australian court case by more than 700 women against Johnson & Johnson that starts on Tuesday.

"But at the end of the day we're not going to get our lives back," Mrs Thompson said.

"No amount of money will make up for what we've suffered."

Shine Lawyers will launch one of Australia's largest product liability class actions against Johnson & Johnson and allege its pelvic mesh implants have left thousands of women suffering painful and life-altering complications.
Dairy company Bellamy's has completed a $60.4 million capital raising as retail shareholders show faith in the business and its turnaround strategy.

Bellamy's said on Tuesday that 79 per cent of the allocation went to retail investors which equated to $37.9 million, underwriters picked up the remaining 21 per cent which equated to $7.8 million.

Dairy company Bellamy's is six months into an 18-month turnaround strategy. Credit:Kate Geraghty

The shares were offered to retail investors, at a price of $4.75 per new share.

Shares in Bellamy's closed on Tuesday up 2 to $6.84, meaning that shareholders who took up the offer increased their shareholding at a significant discount to the current price for the stock. Investors will be watching Bellamy's closely next week, with the new shares expected to commence trading on ASX on Monday, July 10.
No country can be indifferent to China's economy, especially not Australia. We're more exposed to what goes on in it than just about any other nation. China has long been the biggest market for our commodities, such as iron ore, coal and wool. And now it is the largest foreign buyer of our services, especially education and tourism. The upshot? Many thousands of Australian jobs depend on the health of the Chinese economy.

Big Asian economies in our region  China, India and Indonesia  are bound to become even more important to us during this, the Asian Century. Our politicians like to dwell on the opportunities presented by the historic economic transformation to our north. But we'll also need to be prepared for some nasty bumps along the way.

The aftermath of China's enormous corporate debt bubble could well be one of them. For some years now China's economic growth has been underpinned by an explosion in corporate lending. China has accounted for half  yes half  of all new credit created globally since 2005 according to the New York Federal Reserve. That's a huge share for an economy that now only accounts for about 15 per cent of the global economy.

Alarm bells rang last August when the International Monetary Fund pointed out the trajectory of credit growth in China was eerily similar to countries that experienced painful post-debt boom adjustments in the recent past. This includes Japan in the 1980s, Thailand prior to Asian Financial Crisis and Spain prior to the European debt crisis.
Do last week's charges against Cardinal Pell over historical sex abuse allegations represent an existential crisis for the Catholic Church and its many millions of members in Australia?

There are undoubtedly many who would wish that was so. These include some militant atheists, and certain members of the media.

Cardinal George Pell at the Vatican last week, after he was charged with historical child sex abuse. Credit:Gregorio Borgia/AP

Of course, every decent Catholic must see the circumstances as a cause for reflection. Sexual assault has no place in the Christian faith, nor in any of its churches. Any priest who behaves in this way not only offends against decency, and the law of the land, but also breaks their vows to God.

The Catholic Church has in the past made some grave errors in handling sexual abuse complaints. The foremost of these was allowing the forgiveness of offenders to take precedence over its duty to ensure justice - one of the four cardinal virtues - was rendered to victims.
The Turnbull government insists there has been no major cyber security breach of its health IT systems and says "traditional" criminals - rather than sophisticated hackers - are likely to blame for a website apparently selling the Medicare numbers of all Australians.

Announcing both internal and federal police investigations on Tuesday, Human Services Minister Alan Tudge said it appeared the breach had affected only a small number of people and had not put sensitive personal medical records at risk.

But IT and privacy experts are sounding the alarm, using the revelations to call for an urgent rethink of the government's new centralised $1 billion My Health Record system - which is about to be rolled out to most Australians.
If my father's prejudice was characterised by a fear of difference and need for control, my mother's prejudice was the manifestation of a different but equally primal need: to be accepted by her community.

My parents prioritised their convoluted construction of race over other, more intrinsic, qualities of existence: kindness, compassion, love, empathy. They did not attend my wedding. My father refused to acknowledge my husband's existence, and ceased to acknowledge mine. When we came to Australia to visit, my mother would only deign to meet my husband in the covert darkness of night.

But the most noble race of all was naturally our own. Maintaining our ethnic purity and cultural solidarity was priority No.1. Though  it should be noted  there was also a hierarchy to be observed here. What Ali Wong refers to as the difference between Fancy Asians and Jungle Asians.

My parents  knowing all too well the pain and subjugation of living life with a marginalised identity  found it convenient to project that same social prejudice onto others. They bought into the narrative that blackness implied greater poverty, less privilege, poorer education. Likewise, that "whiteness" (although traitorous to marry into) denoted a kind of roughshod dominance, and was therefore acceptable. The Jewish preference was purely because my father worked at a firm where the upper echelons were occupied by wealthy, Jewish men with zappy business skills, and he felt this experience must be representative of the "quality" of the entire culture.

In her mind, her friends (other Baby Boomer Chinese migrants with a precarious foothold in the wider Anglo-Australian culture) would shun her, mock her, reject her if they found out the truth to thisthis "scandal". She was utterly convinced that her world operated on such rigidly held lines.

We might have been only a generation apart, living in the 21st century world, but our psychological realities couldn't have been more different. I  the beneficiary of my parents' sacrifices to provide a better life and education  could only observe their bigotry with horror. The world I'd grown up in had been a late 20th century Australia conscientiously embracing multicultural values followed by culturally fluid London, then three tertiary arts qualifications. For me, racism was  and is  the most ignorant type of hate, an opinion vindicated by everyone else in my life, except my parents.

Even my grandparents accepted my husband with open arms. They had lost parents to famine, children to war, generations of wealth to revolutionaries. On the day I introduced them to my husband, they gifted us with calligraphy scrolls with wishes of happiness and marital longevity. Perhaps they had seen too much not to recognise that the concept of shame was as useless a construct as race. It was the last time I saw my grandfather. He passed away three months later. That last memory of his gift, his smile, his open arms in defiant opposition to my parents' disapproval says so much about the man I'm glad my husband had a chance to meet.

My marriage lasted seven years. In the end, communication breakdown, moving to a new country and my own insecurities eroded its fabric. I walked away as things got hard, the imaginary, incessant sound of my parents' "I told you so's" greasing the wheels of my retreat. I was heartbroken, but I told myself that it was for the best. We would remain friends. And perhaps I could repair the relationship with my parents that had caused me so much pain. Pain that I had inadvertently brought into my marriage, like a fraying backpack full of bitter angst.

I returned home, and I made myself available to the family I had run away from. I engaged with the good and the ugly, and tried to stand my ground. I wrote a book, and reflected and built bridges, and then came to accept that some divides are just too wide to bridge.
Lynda and Graham Turner bought thousand of dollars worth of US and Canadian dollar travellers' cheques from American Express, but couldn't find anywhere to cash them.

They tried four banks at the start of their North American trip in Trail in British Columbia, who all said they could not cash the cheques over the counter, citing "fraudulent activity".

Lynda and Graham Turner on the ski-slopes in Canada earlier this year.

"Luckily, we had some Canadian and US dollars as well as a Westpac Global Currency card, or we would have found ourselves in dire straits," Lynda says.

Lynda, 56, is retired and Graham, 58, semi-retired with a small business.
Qualified career advisers are having their hours cut and less than half are now in the role full time, with new research showing providing better advice in schools could lower university dropout rates.

"We're faced with a lot of information around university completion rates, which are not fantastic, and any type of support to make sure we're arresting those statistics is not appearing in schools," executive director of the Career Industry Council of Australia (CICA) David Carney said.

"They'll find they struggle and change courses or leave uni," Sydney career adviser Jenine Smith says of students who go into the wrong university course.

About 800,000 students are set to leave high school in the next three years but are getting less access to qualified career advisers, who are often juggling other teaching or administrative roles, new research by CICA and market researcher McCrindle shows.

Less than 48 per cent of career advisers work in the role full time and those who work part time are far less able to sit down for interviews with students or co-ordinate work experience, which are the two most effective strategies to prepare students for life after graduation.
"I would not want my wife to undergo this procedure," the French doctor wrote in an email to a colleague in 2005. "And I don't think I'm alone in that."

The email from Dr Bernard Jacquetin - about a controversial pelvic mesh device he invented for implantation in women - drew gasps from the public gallery when it was read to the Federal Court in Sydney on Tuesday, on the first day of a class action brought by more than 700 women against Johnson & Johnson.

Dr Jacquetin was part of a Johnson & Johnson transvaginal mesh evaulation team, the court was told, and his email was included in an internal company document.

Tony Bannon SC, acting for the women, told Justice Anna Katzmann that the subliminal message of the email was "those of us who were in the know".
Three people from the same family have been charged over the death of a young father on the NSW Central Coast.

The two men, aged 48 and 24, and a 17-year-old girl were questioned by police overnight after they were arrested during separate raids on Tuesday.

Jesse Thompson was shot in the chest as a silver Toyota 4WD he was travelling in was chased through the streets of Wyong by a white ute carrying at least two men on Monday.

Fairfax Media reported on Tuesday that Mr Thompson was a known ice dealer who clashed with rivals over supply in the Wyong area.
Sentence more interesting offenders, give prisoners better food and don't wake them up so early or order them around as much.

This is some of the sterling advice dished out to Queensland's justice system in the highest court of all, Google reviews.

The Wolston Correctional Centre got one star. Credit:Greg Henderson

There's something about reviewing a place that you are legally forced to attend that seems particularly futile. Having said that, some of them are really funny.

So in the interests of informing Queensland's more poorly behaved citizens, Fairfax Media can reveal some of the best reviews of the state's police stations, courthouses and jails.
A defected Cold War spy, a man losing his trousers during a drunken brawl on the Gold Coast and Australian secret service operatives breaking into the Russian embassy in Canberra to steal a dog - all of these incidents are connected by one man, Vladimir Petrov.

The information provided by Mr Petrov and his wife after their defection to Australia exposed 600 Russian spies across the world, but they were a nightmare for the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation to keep an eye on.

Vladimir Petrov with his wife, Evdokia. Credit:Photographer Unknown

On the night of November 27, 1956, the Petrovs were on holiday in Surfers Paradise with new identities and new lives after defecting two years earlier. They were staying in a flat with ASIO minders and about 8pm Mr Petrov went for a walk, ending up at the Surfers Paradise Hotel.

Several hours later, he walked home in darkness, drunk. He went into a flat, adamant this was where him and his wife were staying, but he was wrong.
Chrissy Manetas knew something wasn't right when she saw the lights of the police cars on Burnley Street.

It was more than just passing a crash or a crime scene, having a sticky-beak and thanking God it's no one you know before moving on.

Something made the Richmond woman stop.

She found herself comforting a young woman who was crying, babbling that her dad had been in a crash and that someone was dead.
A teenager injured when thrown onto train tracks has told a magistrate he wants the man who hurt him to get treatment instead of prison time.

Cian Channon-Ling suffered a broken arm and cut above his right eye when thrown from a platform at Hawthorn train station on October 6 last year when a mentally unwell man chased him about 4pm.

Cian Channon-Ling, 15, broke his arm when he was thrown onto train tracks at Hawthorn Station. Credit:Channel Nine

Police allege Cian, 15, was one of five people Adam Reeves assaulted that afternoon, and that minutes earlier he bit a 73-year-old woman on the face and neck before getting off a train at Hawthorn.

At the station he is accused of punching a train driver who restrained him, and hitting a 12-year-old boy.
"When Ms Albert did not return home the following day, Mr Cook became concerned.

"Although it was not unusual for Ms Albert to be away from home she always maintained contact with Mr Cook and her family and it was out of character for her to not make contact for this length of time."

Ms Albert was reported missing on May 3 to Broome police.

The court was told the case was allocated to Broome Detectives but the case was closed later that year after detectives received a statement from one of Ms Albert's cousins who claimed to have seen her at a train station in Perth later in 1999.

In March 2007 the case was reviewed by the Special Crime Squad and it was from this review her disappearance was considered suspicious and that she may have been a victim of foul play, Sergeant Housiaux said.
A man at Seoul train station in South Korea watches local TV coverage of the missile test. Credit:AP "Hard to believe that South Korea and Japan will put up with this much longer," he continued. "Perhaps China will put a heavy move on North Korea and end this nonsense once and for all." Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe appeared to share Trump's frustration, if not his tone. In remarks to the press, he vowed to work closely with the United States and South Korea, but called on China and Russia to do more. Children near Pyongyang railway station in North Korea watch Tuesday's launch. Credit:AP "I'd like to strongly urge international society's cooperation on the North Korea issue and urge China's chairman, Xi Jinping, and Russia's President Putin to take more constructive measures," he said.

In a daily press conference, Geng Shuang, a spokesman for China's Foreign Ministry, condemned the test but countered that Beijing had "spared no effort" in its fight. China's President Xi Jinping. US President Donald Trump has criticised China for not putting more pressure on North Korea to halt its missile programme. Credit:AP Analysts are still looking for clues about the missile and parsing what those clues might mean, both in terms of North Korea's capability and the international community's response. The launch was made from a site in North Korea's Phyongan province and the missile flew more than 800 kilometres before landing in waters off Japan's coast, US, South Korean and Japanese officials said. A photo distributed by the North Korean government shows North Korean leader Kim Jong-un at the scene of the launch. Credit:AP

As with other recent launches, the missile appears to have been fired at a very steep trajectory in an effort to to avoid flying over neighbours. Multiple independent analyses of the test showed that the missile flew at a high-altitude trajectory, soaring to about 2,700 kilometres before landing in the Pacific off the Japanese coast, about 930 kilometres from its launch point. An unverified image taken from North Korean TV shows North Korean leader Kim Jung-un applauding the missile test. Credit:AP If the missile had flown at a standard trajectory, it could have travelled a distance of more than 6,600 kilometres, David Wright, senior scientist for the Union of Concerned Scientists, said in an analysis posted to the group's website. To qualify as an ICBM, a missile must have a minimum range of 5,470 kilometres. "That range would not be enough to reach the Lower 48 states or the large islands of Hawaii, but would allow it to reach all of Alaska," Wright said.

Melissa Hanham, a North Korea expert at the James Martin Centre for Nonproliferation Studies, called Tuesday's test a "huge milestone" for North Korea. Still, she stressed, the Alaska range is only a theoretical possibility  for now. Hanham said North Korea is not known to have tested components necessary for such a hit, but may do so in the future. The point is that they are moving quickly. "Is this particular ICBM going to hit (Washington) DC? No. But are they working toward it? Yes," she said. The launch comes after a string of recent moves, including a salvo of missiles last month and three tests in May alone. Kim has now launched more missiles in one year than his father did in 17 years in power. The number and variety of tests worry experts who see each step as part of a march toward a missile capable of striking the mainland US. Many believe North Korea already has weapons that could hit east Asia, including US bases in the region.

The North's ICBM claim adds a new complication to the relationship between the United States and China under Trump. Since taking office, Trump has made North Korea's weapons program a priority, focusing his efforts  and tweets  on getting China to pressure North Korea to back down, in part by choking of the regime's access to resources. In recent weeks, there have been signs that he is frustrated with China's progress. On June 21, Trump tweeted that, although he appreciated Beijing's efforts, "it has not worked out." China insists it is doing all it can and seems angry about being singled out. "The United States itself should take actions, not always depend on China for everything," said Zhang Liangui, a retired professor from Communist Party's Central Party School. Beijing last week condemned US sanctions that target Chinese business, warning of consequences to US-China ties. They maintain the issue should be handled by the United Nations, not the United States.

It is not yet clear how the latest news will shape this diplomatic impasse. John Delury, an Asia expert at Seoul's Yonsei University, said there may be a political imperative for Trump to downplay the significance of the test. Trump "set an implicit red line," Delury said, "and it doesn't look good if the North Koreans skipped across the line when he wasn't looking, especially after a tweet that played it down." Kim, meanwhile, will want to play up the test to bolster his domestic credibility and send a signal to the United States, South Korea and Japan. Unsurprisingly, in North Korean, the launch was indeed hailed as a historic triumph. "The success in the test-fire of intercontinental ballistic rocket Hwasong-14 is a powerful manifestation of the invincible state might and the tremendous capability of the self-reliant national defence industry of the DPRK," read one North Korean account, according to Chinese state media.
Beijing: North Korea has claimed its first successful launch of an Intercontinental Ballistic Missile, defying a tweet by US President Donald Trump in January that "It won't happen!".

Experts estimated that if the missile had been launched at a "normal" angle, instead of the steep trajectory used in the test, it could have flown more than 6000 kilometres, a distance that would see it reach the US mainland.

This range also brings Darwin within reach.

A joint statement from China and Russia, released as presidents Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin met in Moscow, called on North Korea to freeze its nuclear and missile activity, but also called for the United States to halt its military exercises with South Korea on the Korean Peninsula.
Seoul: North Korea has claimed to have test-launched its first intercontinental ballistic missile on Tuesday, despite international condemnation and calls for dialogue.

This appears to contradict South Korean and US officials, who had earlier said that Tuesday's launch was of an intermediate-range missile.

The missile was launched at around 10:40am AEST from North Pyongan province, the country's state broadcaster KCTV announced.

The launch, which North Korea's state media said was ordered and supervised by leader Kim Jong Un, sent the rocket 933km with a flight time of 39 minutes and reached an altitude of 2802 kilometres.
Seoul: South Korea's military says North Korea has launched a ballistic missile, the latest in a string of test-firings in recent months.

"North Korea fired an unidentified ballistic missile into the East Sea [also known as the Sea of Japan] from the vicinity of Banghyon, North Pyongan Province, at around 9.40am," the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff said according to the South's Yonhap news agency.

The agency quoted the military as saying the ballistic missile was fired from a province near the border with China. Japan's government said the missile is believed to have landed in Japan's exclusive economic zone in the Sea of Japan but no damage to ships or aircraft in the area has been reported.

It flew about 930 kilometres.
Beijing: Chinese company Landbridge will need to consult with the Northern Territory government before changing its top executives in Australia, under a deal which leaves 20 per cent of the Port of Darwin in government hands.

The sale two years ago of the port to Landbridge for $506 million upset the Obama administration, which held security concerns over the nearby US Marines base.

Adam Giles, the former chief minister of the Northern Territory, toasts Ye Cheng, chairman of Shandong Landbridge Group, after the 99-year lease of the Port of Darwin was signed. Credit:Sanghee Liu

In the fallout, Australia's foreign investment rules for critical state infrastructure were tightened and a former ASIO head appointed to the Foreign Investment Review Board.

Under the terms of the original sale, 20 per cent of the port must remain in Australian ownership. Two years on, Landbridge has yet to find a private buyer.
MSNBC's Morning Joe co-hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski. Credit:AP First, by assuming his supporters are in fact a bunch of mouth-breathers who grunt in approval at any intimation of violence from their hero, it is deeply condescending. And second, it lets Trump off the hook, in effect excusing whatever he does as long as it can be hypothesised that it will be met with approval by his supporters. Like all major news organisations, CNN is under fire from US President Donald Trump. Credit:Ric Field From the beginning of his campaign and continuing into his presidency, Trump created conflict with the media in part as a way of riling up his most ardent fans and in part because it was sincerely felt.

We know from numerous biographies and profiles that he has always been obsessed with his news coverage and consumed with slights and affronts. Washington Post reporter Breanne Deppisch took this photo of a T-shirt worn by a Trump supporter at a rally in Minnesota in November. Credit:Twitter/@breanne_dep On the campaign trail, this had a ritualistic aspect: At rallies he would point to reporters confined to a fenced-in area and tell the crowd that journalists are the worst people in the world, a bunch of lying jackals out to get him. He once even mocked a disabled reporter who had the temerity to contradict Trump's lie about thousands of Muslims supposedly celebrating the 9/11 attacks on rooftops in New Jersey. The crowd would boo and jeer, then toss epithets at the reporters as they walked out. It was ugly and disturbing, but while Trump openly advocated violence directed toward protesters, he never explicitly told anyone to beat up a reporter. Posting this video is as close as he's come, and there's no question that there are some Trump supporters who do in fact thrill to the idea of Trump literally beating up reporters, and might even do so themselves if they got the chance. One of them actually did, and he's now a member of Congress; his unprovoked assault on a journalist was cheered by conservative media figures.

But when we say that Trump's base loves this stuff, we should be clear about what we mean when we refer to his "base". As Trump's pollster Tony Fabrizio said: "They like him, they believe in him, they have not to any large degree been shaken from him, and the more the media attacks him, the more it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy on the side of the Trump supporters who fervently believe the media treat him unfairly." However, that may be only partially true. Trump's approval ratings are down in the 30s, meaning there are quite a few Republicans who voted for him last year but don't approve of him now. In one recent poll by NPR and PBS, Republicans were evenly split on whether Trump's use of Twitter is "effective and informative" or "reckless and distracting". A Fox News poll asking a slightly different question found that 21 per cent of Republicans approve of Trump's tweeting, 59 per cent said he should be more cautious about it, and 18 per cent outright disapprove of it. So if we say that "Trump's base" likes what he does with Twitter, we have to acknowledge that the "Trump's base" we're referring to is a minority of Republicans. That puts the question of whether this is a clever strategy in a very different light. That doesn't mean it isn't a strategy at all, only that if it is, it's probably a foolish one.

Perhaps the most revealing story about White House thinking of late was an article from Philip Rucker and Ashley Parker after Trump's repugnant attacks on Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski, in which they revealed that "to many inside the White House, as well as outside allies, what looked like a public relations debacle amounted to an abundance of 'winning'". There was a caveat, however: "Some White House advisers said they were frustrated that the Brzezinski feud  overtook the President's fight with CNN, which seemed in their eyes to have clearer villains and heroes." Soak that in for a moment - they were worried that his feud with the hosts of Morning Joe might distract from his far more productive and important feud with CNN. We should remember that the next time anyone suggests that the Trump White House is staffed by shrewd operators who know what they're doing. But more importantly, if you react to the latest vile Trump tweet with "whatever else you want to say about it, Trump's base loves it", you're excusing his behaviour. You're putting it into a value-free context where the only thing that matters is whether it works. Loading
THE HAGUE/PHILIPSBURG:--- Over the past weekend, scores of Sint Maarteners, attended the 1st of what will now be, yearly Emancipation Day celebrations, at the Cabinet of the Minister Plenipotentiary in The Hague. The packed programme event, started with words of encouragement and a prayer, by Rev. Dr. Keith Lewis of the Holland Methodist Church, the formal address by Minister Plenipotentiary Henrietta Doran-York, a genealogy presentation by former Minister Plenipotentiary Mathias Voges, song and dance by Ms. Violet Lake together with The Gwendis Group and Choir, a poem and shared testimony by Ms. Edna Illidge and poetry by Ms. Edwina Hodge. The MC for the event was Ms. Kelly Busby of the Cabinet. The event was a success and saw many Sint Maarteners from as far away as e.g. Nijmegen, Emmeloord, and Amsterdam, who were all very eager to be able to get to reunite or get acquainted with each other. The ever famous who yuh fuh? question could be heard throughout the event.

The official segment of the event closed off with the attendees, mainly decked out in folklore or African-themed clothing, getting to their feet and enjoying the song who yuh fuh of Kenyo Baly, the 2017 Carnival Soca Rumble category winner, of Sint Maarten.

The idea of Minister Doran-York is to make this very important event, an event where Sint Maarteners and friends can come together on this day, to recount, reminisce and celebrate Emancipation the same as is she has seen done by many different cultures in The Netherlands.

The address of Minister Plenipotentiary Henrietta Doran-York to the people of Sint Maarten can be seen below.
Students cried as board tried to sabotage their examination.

PHILIPSBURG:--- An RN teacher at NIPA Farrah Busby Richardson had to face police on Tuesday whose students were taking their final examinations in order to graduate.

Police showed up at the school when they were called by the chairman of the supervisory board Antonio Aventurin to escort the teacher out of the school because she submitted her resignation letter to the school stating that her resignation goes into effect as of July 8th after her students finalize their examination on July 7th.

According to information provided to SMN News when police reached the school, they met with Aventurin and was asked why he wanted the teacher removed, after given full explanation police informed Aventurin that he has no grounds to remove the teacher from the school and they left.

The situation on Tuesday created a huge turmoil for the students that were busy taking their examinations, some even called their parents, one parent even went to NIPA screaming saying that the board of NIPA is busy ruining her childs examination. Besides that, the students that were busy writing their examinations began crying in their classrooms and they see the action of the supervisory board as a way of victimizing them because they spoke to the media.

RN teacher Farrah Busby Richardson told SMN News that she decided to resign because the atmosphere at NIPA had become increasingly toxic and that the culture of victimization is not conducive to her professional development. Busby Richardson further stated that it was her intention to move on at the end of the academic year, however, her intense concern was the well-being of her students.

In an interview with SMN News Busby Richardson said that she is the only teacher that stood up to the board, she said on the day the former director Ms. Maccow was fired, the director called her to her office after she was being bullied. Busby-Richardson said when she reached the directors office the Chairman of the Supervisory Board basically pushed the door on her and she pushed back the door at him then continued to slam the door. She said the managed to give Ms. Maccow the needed support and escort her out of the compound without her being harmed. Mr. Aventurin was walking too close to Ms. Maccow and I had to get in between them and get Ms. Maccow out of the school compound safely. Mr. Aventurin was really pushy and I had to intervene.

Busby Richardson said that shortly after that the chairman of the board summoned her to a meeting told her that she ought to respect him and his decisions and asked her if she knew that he had just fired the director. She said she informed the director that respect ought to be given and also earned by those persons who want it. Busby- Richardson said that the main contention of the supervisory board is that she did not stop her students from speaking to SMN News and she made it clear to Aventurin that she will not infringe on the democratic rights of her students as there is still freedom of speech on St. Maarten. She said since then Aventurin stopped greeting the students. She said that another teacher Ms. Illidge also indicated to the board and another teacher that (she Illidge) will not interfere with the students democracy. Busby- Richardson said that a parent filed a complaint with the social worker about a group chat among the students. She said that Aventurin then said the parent filed a complaint against her but that was proven to be another false accusation. She said she contacted her lawyer and she also spoke to the social worker who spoke to the parent which she taped. In that recording the social worker was heard telling Busby- Richardson that no parent filed any complaint against her and most of all she informed the parent that she could not do anything about a group chat that took place on a Saturday and not on the school compound. In a letter, the students wrote to the board they gave detailed information on their WhatsApp group chat which they said contained adult content.

Busby said that on Monday she submitted the resignation letter, to Mr. Aventurin who was refusing to take the letter prior to Monday.

Busby- Richardson said on Tuesday that after school the students left the school and they went to the media including SMN News. She said that she wrote a report on the current adjunct director who was not performing his duties well. She said since then things began going downwards, she said one of their main contentions is that her students are her main concern and because of those students she is teaching at NIPA. She said the board is on a mission to divide and conquer and they do not want the teachers to have any kind of bond with the students.

Busby-Richardson said when the Inspector from the Department went to the school most of the teachers remained quiet due to fear of victimization she said she and another male teacher spoke out.

Busby- Richardson is a certified nurse, she also holds a masters degree in public health and studied medicine for three years. The RN teacher said that the only thing she did not complete was her residency as a Medical Doctor because she would have had to leave her young daughter for two years.

The students supplied SMN News with a letter they wrote in support of their teacher that resigned or victimized by the supervisory board.

SMN News contacted Minister of EYS Silveria Jacobs who said she could not comment on what happened on Tuesday and that she is awaiting a report from NIPA before she could comment.

In the meantime, the Inspectorate of Education was informed but they did not go to the school to investigate but instead contacted the adjunct director who told them a whole different story as to why police visited the school.

While the chairman of the board Antonio Aventurin though Attorney at Law Peggy Ann Brandon denied calling police at the school, he is yet to explain why two police officers went to NIPA and requested to speak with him.

While Police was called at the institution to remove Busby- Richardson and the board claimed that the teacher knew she could not enter the school on Tuesday they did not give her any letter barring her from the school. However, around 4:30 pm on Tuesday Busby-Richardson received and email informing her that she does not need to go back at the school since she submitted her resignation and that the examination will continue under the guidance of the supervisory board. Busby- Richardson said that the board stated that they will mark the student's examination papers in order for them to graduate if they scored well.

While the members of the Supervisory Board states that they will mark the student's examination papers it should be made clear that not one of the board members has a degree in healthcare, neither were they present in any of the RN classes. Most of all they did not prepare the examination paper for the students.

In previous statements, the board and the Minister of Education said that the teachers were evaluated all of which has been refuted by at least two teachers. Busby Richardson said last year she got an evaluation by an Inspector from the Inspectorate of Education, she said during that evaluation the former director was present and she scored highly. Busby- Richardson said she even signed off on that evaluation but since then no other evaluation was conducted. She said at the moment her lawyer is in contact with the school board and their lawyers and certainly, she will take the board to court.

Below the text of an email that Busby Richardson wrote about the adjunct director and defective examination papers. The email was sent to the former directors Patricia Lourens, Tasheena Maccow Thomas and Garfield Seargeant.

Dear All,

I'm writing to bring to your attention a series of unfortunate and unexplained events that took place this week, with respect to my examinations:

1. I came in on my off day Monday to review and print the exams that were allegedly vetted by an exam committee. Mr. Sergeant relayed to me an email sent by this committee asking me to make certain changes to items that needed no changes in actuality, e.g: assign points to my exam, when my points were clearly assigned on the exam and cover page. The committee's suggestions also included a change in NIPA's format of the examination cover page. Basically, their email was disregarded because their suggestions were already covered from the beginning. Obviously they did not review anything.

2. Tuesdays Interaction exam was printed lacking two pages and I had to leave the examination room to reprint 25 copies of the missing pages. (I suggest hiring extra administrative help or letting the Instructors assist with printing). Reminder: I came in on my off day to do this but was informed that no assistance was needed.

3. Today's Basic Care exam was a total disaster. Not only were the exams not printed causing a 20 minute delay but the exam was defective. I gave Mrs. Maccow a copy of the defective exam along with a copy of what I submitted originally. I Boldly outlined the errors in the defective exam, which were: - Questions were removed completely although the numbering and lines for the answers were visible. - 10+ questions were repeated on several pages. I literally had to read the missing question out loud to the students and have the write it in. The students were very confused and distressed by this.

This could have been avoided completely, had I been able to review and print my own exams on Monday, when I came in to do just that. Or, if the exams are printed in a timely fashion and compared to the originals.

In my opinion, these events could either be unfortunate mishaps or (more disturbingly) intentional sabotage. I do not want to jump to conclusions or assign blame to anyone but this can jeopardize and negatively reflect my competence and professionalism, and may also cast the institution in a negative light.

There is a distinct lack of transparency and organization in the way certain matters are handled by the school. The absence of timely communication is generally eroding morale and motivation. For example: I asked Mr. Sergeant to let me know if my services will be needed next semester and if so, what my schedule looked like in order for me to have a head start in preparing the lectures. Mr. Sargeant told me we need to have a conversation first and he gave me a brief glimpse of the preliminary schedule. In addition, my contract ends this week, am I suppose to guess my next working day and show up to work not knowing if my contract was renewed? Everything seems to be top secret where these issues are concerned. I am a very straight forward person and for me transparency is key.

I came to NIPA to make a positive contribution and I have devoted myself to the success of my students. I have invested extra time and personal financial resources numerous times to ensure this. These students are our future gatekeepers and may hold our lives and that of our loved ones in their hands at some point in the future. Hence, my frustration with the events of this week. I would like to urge more team work and cooperation to achieve the objective of producing competent and qualified nurses or professionals in general, that should be the main focus.

Hoping this email is received as positively and constructively as it is sent.

Kind Regards,

Farrah Busby- Richardson

RESPONSE FROM ATTORNEY PEGGY ANN BRANDON FORMER BOARD MEMBER OF NIPA AND NOW ATTORNEY FOR THE CHAIRMAN OF THE NIPA SUPERVISORY BOARD

Today you published an article suggesting that the AVE Board, through its Chairman Mr. Aventurin commissioned the local Police to have a teacher removed. Whilst it is your right to publish any story provided to you, it is not permitted to have a story containing accusations towards AVE and it chairman, which could have easily been verified. The AVE Board at no time requested the assistance of the Police today and as such was not the entity that called the Police in. Through this article enormous effort is once again made to place with one person blame, in a continuous effort to tarnish and harm.

You have not invited AVE to react to the allegations, but have published the story as if factual. You are herewith requested in so far summoned to retract the publication, and/or in any event rectify the incorrect information set forth in your publication. Failure to do so will result in litigation.

EDITORS NOTE: SMN NEWS contacted the Minister of EYS Silveria Jacobs who said she would have to Supervisory Board of NIPA send a reaction on the events that transpired at the school on Tuesday. Besides, that SMN News tried on several other occasions to contact Antonio Aventurin who refused to pick up his telephone. It is, however, questioning that Attorney Brandon was a member of the NIPA board and she resigned and today is representing said board, while she is the President of COCI a stakeholder that is supporting NIPA.
Teen arrested after gun found at Riley High School

A teenager was detained at the Juvenile Justice Facility on Friday after police say they brought a gun to Riley High School.
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Trump declares 'patience is over' with North Korea







Washington (AFP) June 30, 2017





President Donald Trump declared that the US had run out of patience with North Korea over its nuclear drive Friday as he welcomed South Korea's new leader Moon Jae-In to talks at the White House. While Moon has been arguing for greater engagement with Pyongyang as the best way to put the brakes on its nuclear and ballistic missile programs, Trump made clear that he was in no mood to pursue diplomacy with a regime he accused of having no respect for human life. And while Moon announced that Trump ... read more
SIOUX CITY | A man lost his hand Monday night in a fireworks mishap on Sioux City's north side, a Sioux City fire official said.

Asst. Chief Dan Cougill with Sioux City Fire Rescue confirmed Monday night that an adult male in Leeds had been shooting off fireworks when the incident occurred. The call came around 8 p.m.

Cougill said the man was transported to Mercy Medical Center-Sioux City. He said this was not the first hand or finger injury of the year due to the newly legalized fireworks.

 Sioux City Journal staff
T he level of saving in Britain in the first quarter of this year was the lowest since records began  in this case 1963, according to figures published last week by the Office for National Statistics.

Over those intervening 54 years the British, on average, have managed to save 9.2% of their income every year.

However, last year taxes went up but people felt confident enough to keep on spending even with less money in their pocket.

As a result, in the first quarter, the savings ratio dropped to just 6.1%.

The spending spree continued throughout last summer and by the final quarter of last year, savings had virtually halved again to 3.3%.

Then they halved again: in the first three months of this year it was an almost invisible 1.7%.

It has been calculated separately that 16 million people in the UK have less than 100 to their name  though that obviously includes a lot of children  and more than 2.5 million of the adults in this group live permanently under water on their credit cards.

The financial services industry tends to think it is the solution, but it is in fact part of the problem.

Every week someone somewhere in the business warns of the dire consequences which will befall the population in its old age if it does not immediately enrol in a pension scheme, an ISA, or even open a deposit account.

But they ignore the fact that there is a generation of savers out there who once believed them and whom they subsequently let down.

The world is full of people who bought 25-year with-profits endowment policies in the late Eighties and early Nineties, saved religiously every month, and were then presented with a final cheque by the UK saving industry which was for less than they paid in over all those years.

The insurance companies think they have put this problem behind them by forgetting about it  selling off their with-profit books of business to a consolidator and washing their hands of the continuing responsibility.

Those policyholders who have, in effect, been cut loose and abandoned by the organisation they trusted are hardly likely to advise their children  the millennials  to sign up to their successors.

Similarly with pensions. One of the five largest pension schemes in the UK is the Pension Protection Fund, an organisation which was brought into existence a little over a decade ago to put some kind of rescue in place for pension schemes which had failed elsewhere.

Today, it has assets of 28 billion, the aggregate of all those failed schemes plus some investment return and has paid out more than 3 billion.

The fund is a big improvement on the void which existed before and it has more than a quarter of a million members who depend on it because they had previously been in schemes that failed.

Unfortunately  but necessarily, to keep costs manageable  it pays out to most of them rather less than they had previously been promised in their original pension schemes.

Though grateful to the fund that leaves another 250,000 people who might reasonably feel let down by the long-term savings industry.

But the biggest problem of all is that the naked self-interest of the savings industry drives it to design products which suit itself not its customers  often requiring quite large initial lump sums, a commitment to regular payments and restrictions and penalties for early cash withdrawal.

It then tries to sell these to the public, and the offerings are studiously ignored.

When the public dont buy them, rather than change the products (as should happen in a capitalist system), the savings industry demands instead that young people be educated  as if this was North Korea  to turn them away from being feckless.

However, if alternatively, the savings industry were to look at the problems facing young people  mountains of student debt, stagnant incomes and unaffordable housing  and set about designing products which might actually help, it might get a better response.

We shall soon see.

This week Seedrs, the crowdfunding site, began raising money for Plum which has a product specifically designed to help non- savers to save.

To people of my generation this sounds positively Orwellian, but it is also very clever.

Artificial intelligence can predict financial behaviour by closely monitoring a persons existing pattern of spending and comparing it with what has gone before.

Thus the founders of Plum have developed an algorithm which monitors a persons bank account.

It then notes every couple of days when, on the basis of its predictions, there might be a small amount of cash which could be diverted to savings, without impinging on the persons lifestyle, and duly makes the transfer.

It is the electronic equivalent of emptying ones pockets into a jar at the end of the day, but with the advantage that it will do it only when it believes you will not need to dip back into the jar.

Interestingly, before launching, the companys joint founders road-tested the idea.

One of them set aside all the money left in his bank current account at the end of the month; the other relied on the algorithm to analyse his transactions and calculate how much he could safely put aside during the month. The algorithm won hands down.

The implications of this are profound because if artificial intelligence can predict financial behaviour then it paves the way for a complete solution to personal financial management.

It would be a simple matter then to link those savings flows into an automated investment platform such as EQ Investors or Nutmeg and thereby get people not only saving but investing without having to think about it.

And it would pose an existential long-term challenge to existing fund managers whose business models rely heavily on attracting clients who already have money.
A fter a few dry months, deal-hungry traders had a meaty takeover to feed on as Worldpay confirmed it had received bid approaches.

The rumour mill was in full flow in early trading as financial site Wall Street Wires suggested payments processor Worldpay had received offers, hot on the heels of news that Danish rival Nets is in talks with suitors.

There was clearly more than just mere speculation as the share price rocketed past normal levels on bid rumours, prompting the company to rush out a statement.

Worldpay said it had had preliminary approaches from US credit cards processing firm Vantiv and Wall Street banking behemoth JPMorgan Chase, but added there was no certainty of firm offers being made.

The share price continued to make strong gains after Worldpays statement, up 46.5p, or 15%, to 366p, valuing the company at over 7 billion.

Nets and Worldpay have more in common than just being payments services firms. Both were bought out by private-equity firms Advent and Bain before being floated on the stock market in Copenhagen and London respectively.

The private-equity pair floated Worldpay in 2015 and repeatedly leaked their shares onto the market, dumping their last remaining shares in February.

The takeover story injected life into an otherwise dull market as the FTSE 100 drifted 17.57 points lower to 7359.52, tracking overnight falls in Asia. Markets in the US were closed for July 4 celebrations.

Declines from the copper price prevented the oil price rise from leaving its mark on the blue-chip index, although Brents impact was limited as the price slipped as the session wore on, down 23 cents at $49.45 a barrel.

Oil services firm Hunting rose 5.2p to 496.5p after its first-half trading update. While it will remain loss making in the first six months, it said it had benefited from the shale gas boom in the US.

Troubled gold miner Acacia Mining lost more ground as the Tanzanian government rushed through new laws to enable it to renegotiate deals with miners. Earlier this year, Tanzania banned exports on gold concentrates, hammering Acacias shares. Today they fell 4.2p to 283.1p.

Finally, cars dealer Marshall Motors revved up 10.6p to 147.6p after a better first half than expected. It comes despite a tough cars market in the wake of the Brexit vote.
B ank compliance recruiter Huntswood blamed a shift in regulation for slower profit growth last year.

The Reading-based company, which provides compliance staff at FTSE 100 banks and insurance companies, saw profits and turnover dip for the first time in seven years, underscoring a change in tack by regulators.

The 2016 financial year has seen a different level of scrutiny and supervision by the regulators and, as such, we feel there has been a hiatus in the regulators approach, the firm said in its accounts.

Revenue for the year ending last September dipped slightly to 304 million from 306.6 million a year earlier; pre-tax profits also fell 16% to 44.2 million.

Huntswood, which employs 5000 people, was co-founded in 1996 near Windsor Castle by entrepreneur David Brownlow, who shared in a 38.6 million dividend last year.

Turnover has grown tenfold since 2009 because of an onslaught of compliance demands for banks in the wake of the financial crisis but regulators have recently focused more on Brexit.

Brownlow and the firm declined to comment
A disaster from the world of banking. Foreign banks are getting bigger faster than ours. Were slipping down league tables. Even the French, supposed to be useless at banking, are making inroads into a trade that is rightfully ours.

Well, thats the story.

The annual state-of-play survey from excellent industry publication The Banker offers a gloomy assessment.

It says UK banks made only $17.3 billion (13.3 billion) in profits last year, down 32%. French banks made $39.6 billion in profits. Which presumably signifies that they are better. Theres no analysis in the release of the quality or sustainability of the profits. They are just higher.

The Bankers estimable editor Brian Caplen says Brexit is to blame for the banks woes. (The fall in profits is largely down to The Banker reporting them in dollars, which is up because of Brexit, which may not in itself matter that much).

He worries that Britain has lost our historic place as a country that punches above its weight in finance. I think Caplen and others in the City who make the same case are worrying about the wrong things. And that when it comes to banking, punching above our weight usually turns out to mean dangerously overexposed to imminent disaster.

The top 10 world banks in 2017 Rank (previous) Country Tier 1 capital ($m) 1 (1) - ICBC China 281,262 2 (2) - China Construction Bank China 225,838 3 (3) - JPMorgan US 208,112 4 (4) - Bank of China China 199,189 5 (6) - Bank of America US 190,315 6 (5) - Agricultural Bank of China China 188,624 7 (7) - Citigroup US 178,387 8 (8) - Wells Fargo US 171,364 9 (9) - HSBC UK 138,022 10 (10) - Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Japan 135,944

The Banker makes the point that in 2007, the UK was the third-biggest banking sector in the world, and now it is a mere 10th. It never made sense for us to be that big in the first place. It wasnt some natural state of affairs that has been cruelly undermined by sneaky foreigners and foolish policymakers.

It did not make sense for Royal Bank of Scotland to be, briefly, the biggest bank in the world with a balance sheet more prodigious than the entire UK economy. If a countrys main claim to business fame is that it is home to some of the biggest banks in the world, thats no claim at all. Thats a flashing red light.

The high placing in 2007 was surely a function of our banks getting too big, of over-leveraging in the pursuit of short-term returns. When the crash came, they blew up, we paid the price (and still are).

Bankers tend to think that the rest of us should somehow take pleasure in the pre-eminence of the City of London, see it as a source of patriotic pride. I like a lot about the place, and some of the people, but its supposed to be functional, to serve purposes, not to be a delight in itself. When it sees itself as something other than an aid to business, thats when trouble starts.

Only one UK bank, HSBC, makes The Bankers top 10 list, scraping in at number nine. The rest are, rightly, American and Chinese with one Japanese firm also nudging in. So what?

A table I prefer is the top 10 list of banks losses. We only have one bank in that list, too  the inevitable RBS. The other loser banks are all nutty eurozone lenders  the place to where our banking business is supposedly defecting.

The top 10 highest losses Rank Country Loss ($bn) 1 - Unicredit Italy 10.9 2 - Banco Popular Spain 5.1 3 - RBS UK 5.0 4 - Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena Italy 3.4 5 - National Bank of Greece Greece 2.9 6 - Caixa Geral de Depositos Portugal 2.8 7 - Banco Popolare Italy 2.4 8 - Credit Suisse Group Switzerland 2.2 9 - Veneto Banca Italy 2.2 10 - Norddeutsche Landesbank (Nord LB) Germany 1.9

An alternative view to the gloom from The Banker is this: Our banks are in fine fettle and there has never been so much healthy competition. If profits are down, well, good.

In retail banking, challengers such as Metro Bank are racing up the charts. In the City, newly invigorated smaller players such as Panmure Gordon are getting ready to take on the big boys.

A small number of big banks snaffling all the trade isnt good for anyone but the top staff of said big banks.

The truth about gigantic banks is this: they are a thoroughgoing menace, a danger to all of us.

They are too big to fail, and more-over too big to manage. It is impossible for boards to keep track of what is happening in their own companies, which is why disasters keep emerging that they admit they simply did not foresee.

The more of such entities that are over there and not over here, the better. Let the small fry go for it.
CHARLES CITY | A man wanted in the fatal shooting of another man in Charles City Friday was still at large late Monday afternoon.

Antoine Williams, 36, has been charged with first-degree murder. Authorities say he is armed and dangerous.

Charles City Police Chief Hugh Anderson said he couldn't speculate on where Williams might be, but hopes he is in custody soon.

The police are still not releasing the name of the victim. Anderson said authorities are having difficulty notifying family members because they don't live in Charles City.

The shooting was reported just after 10 p.m. Friday at the Casa Apartments in the 2100 block of Clarkview Drive. Police say the victim was taken to a Charles City hospital and pronounced dead.

Williams is described as a black male, who is 6 feet, 7 inches tall and weighs 250 pounds.

He may be in a red 2006 Chevy Equinox with Iowa plate DOW568.

Police say anyone who spots Williams should call law enforcement rather than approaching him.

-- Mary Pieper
W izz air, the budget airline that specialises in flights to eastern Europe, has ordered 10 new Airbus aeroplanes as Brexit proves no barrier to its rapid growth.

Wizz air saw passenger numbers climb by almost a quarter in June, a month in which it took the fight for passengers to easyJets backyard with a new base in Luton.

The strong month performance meant Wizz air carried over 25 million passengers in the year to the end of June, a fifth more than in 2016.

The Luton base is providing new routes to Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria. As well as ordering 10 planes, the fast-growing airline took delivery of two new Airbus planes in June, taking its total fleet to 83. It has also opened a new base in Warsaw.

Rival Ryanair performed strongly during June, with a 12% increase in customers, taking the total for the month to 11.8 million. Ryanair has seen its load factor for the month jump by two percentage points to 96%, suggesting most of its aeroplanes are almost full.

The Irish airline said it was seeing strong demand on the back of low fares to European destinations.
C hemical weapons are the most horrific strand of the depravity in the Syrian war. They also challenge the international community with their power to kill countless innocents.

Reports that the US was recently aware of preparations for another gas attack reminds us that the need for a strategy to combat chemical weapon use has not gone away.

In 2013, parliament voted against the Governments proposals to join US air strikes in response to a gas attack in Damascus. Diplomatic options to force disarmament had not been exhausted and the link between the missions stated objective and military action proposed was not established.

The Framework for the Elimination of Syrian Chemical Weapons, agreed between the US and Russia, secured the removal of 1,300 tonnes of Syrias chemical weapons programme.

However, subsequent chemical weapons attacks, notably the use of sarin gas in April in Khan Sheikhoun, have shown the agreement has not been carried through to conclusion.

President Macron says France would be prepared to join US forces responding to another chemical attack. However, there is an open policy question of how the UK should act, and we are publishing a paper with the European Council on Foreign Relations laying down the issues that need consideration.

The parallels with 2013 imply that the Government would be wise to seek parliamentary approval for involvement in military action. Most people are sceptical of proposals for intervention in Syria but there is also the question of whether once can conduct limited intervention within strict boundaries, with the intention of deterring the Syrian government from using chemical weapons.

The Government would need to detail how non-military options have been exhausted; the clearly defined objectives; the legality of action; and, crucially, the threshold for a chemical attack that warrants a response; how action must be limited; and how it interplays with a wider strategy for resolving the crisis. The Government must also be prepared to publish a declassified intelligence assessment of the use of chemical weapons.

Some MPs might decide the risks are too great. Some will say far more people have been killed in their homes by barrel bombs or in prisons. But we have a duty to give it consideration.

If Assad unleashes another sarin attack we believe parliamentary backing for military strikes would be right, if the Government can satisfy parliament on issues of attribution, legality and the limitations of any action as well as its consistency with our Syria strategy. We believe this case can be made, and the Government should make it for these limited circumstances.

Crispin Blunt is seeking re-election as chairman of the Commons foreign affairs committee and Johnny Mercer is seeking to become defence committee chairman.
W hat next at Grenfell? Yesterday the tower stood silent, hollowed out, blackened, terrible. Around it lay an anguish of public memorials and private funerals, disaster paralysed in time. Beyond lay something else, the radiating scorch-marks of anger and blame. Westway graffiti screamed of murder, justice, prison, retribution, the symbols of tragedy turned to political cliche that know only the language of revenge. They jarred with the message of local churches and charities, which offered comfort and calm.

Yesterday the beleaguered local authority, the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, chose a new leader in Elizabeth Campbell, who carefully apologised for her councils handling of Grenfell. To the London Mayor, Sadiq Khan, this was not enough. He wants the council sacked as being not fit for purpose. He wants the Prime Minister to appoint commissioners with genuine local empathy.

Attacks on RBKC have slightly diminished since it has emerged that 51 other councils, including in London, also used versions of the same cladding on their blocks. No fewer than 41 towers in London have failed fire tests. Clearly this was a system-wide failure. Were all these councils, in the language of Labours new Trumpism, potential murderers?

Criticism of Kensington has begun to focus instead on the lesser charges of incompetence and insensitive handling of the subsequent chaos. Khans plea to the Prime Minister to send in commissioners is dubious. The idea that the man from Whitehall knows best has long been the default setting of British politics in punitive mode. Like a judge-led inquiry, commissioners appear to be the answer to the appeal that something must be done. Why does Khan turn instinctively to Theresa May? Can he not find commissioners with local empathy of his own?

The reality is that so-called commissioners arrived at Grenfell a week ago. They are the Grenfell Fire Response Team, the sign that the London boroughs emergency Gold Command had at last got its act together. Their bulletins are impressive. They detail victim contact points for everything from rehousing to benefits, childcare, passports, mental health, charity support, even a refuge for cats and dogs. The handouts are a message from two undefined people, John Barradell and Eleanor Kelly.

In real life these two are the chief executives of the City of London and Southwark, now clearly responsible for fielding the Grenfell aftermath. Despite being civil servants, their accountability leaves no room for doubt. Their latest handout mentions the Prime Minister, Theresa May, five times on its front page. The local borough is mentioned not once in the entire document. Nor is Khan. So much for elected London government.

Two weeks ago a group of carpetbaggers descended on Grenfell to capitalise on its misfortune with a day of rage. Exhausted community leaders dissociated themselves from the protest and pleaded for them to go away. The day turned into merely a demonstration of police overtime. Absent throughout was a locally elected leader to answer to and for the local community.

Kensington and Chelsea council has been, in most respects, a good local authority. It regularly won Audit Commission plaudits for its efficiency. Its streets are clean, its rubbish collected. Even in the council estate zone in the north, the low-rise estates are among the best designed and best kept I know. A survivor of Grenfell, interviewed in the Guardian, eulogised her flat in the tower compared with previous council accommodation in Ilford.

As with Camden, Brent, Hammersmith and other boroughs, fire safety in towers is clearly a disaster. Camdens leader, Georgia Gould, was so horrified by her fire officers report two weeks ago that she felt obliged to clear her towers overnight. In which case, RBKC appears to have company in its apparent negligence, and was perhaps merely the victim of misfortune, though its neglect of its tenants warnings by any showing looks appalling.

The difference is that Gould put herself in the front line, while RBKC seemed stunned into bewildered disappearance. The failure was in the nature of its leadership. There is something to the borough of a genteel shire council. Everything works until, as in Miss Marple, something goes suddenly wrong. In this case, the cataclysm was also in a part of the borough from which its leadership seem most distant.

The leader-in-cabinet model is unsuited to delivering characters with an instinct for community leadership

The Grenfell disaster reveals the lack of democratic accountability in London government. The elected mayoralty has been a success, whatever you make of the individuals involved. The office has given the metropolis a human personality, someone to be recognised, praised or blamed  but someone with a mandate.

Every borough should have an elected mayor. The leader-in-cabinet model is unsuited to delivering characters with an instinct for community leadership. The contrast in the case of RBKC is stark compared with those boroughs which have elected mayors, among them Robin Wales in Newham, Jules Pipe in Hackney and Steve Bullock in Lewisham. There is too much stress in a modern city, too many theatres of potential conflict, for the oligarchs of party caucuses and committees. Yesterday Elizabeth Campbell emerged as if from some papal conclave.

The most useful thing Khan could now do is tell the PM that he is in charge of London. He should insist that in the elections next year Kensington should switch to a directly elected mayor, and hope the parties can between them find someone to regain the confidence of the citizens of all the borough. If that person is Campbell, let her stand. Meanwhile, leave Kensington Town Hall to run the borough, and leave Barradell and Kelly to complete the Grenfell aftermath.

As for the future of towers, lets make these wretched icons to architectural pretension as safe as possible  and never build another one.
I t appears that the nation continues to be divided on Brexit. The fact that the deeply divided Tory and Labour parties received 80 per cent of the vote in the general election should not be taken as evidence that Remainers have changed their minds.

I voted Labour in my marginal constituency as the Labour candidate was pro-EU and the Conservative candidate supported Brexit. If the positions of the Tory and Labour candidate on the EU had been reversed, I would have voted Tory. I am certain that I am not the only Remainer who voted this way.

It is common knowledge that opinion polls are unreliable but I doubt there has been a major change in the opinion of voters since the referendum a year ago. As such, with an almost evenly divided country, we need to find a compromise.

It seems inevitable that Britain will leave the EU but perhaps we could stay in the European Economic Area or at least in the customs union. I think most Remainers would be happy to accept a deal of this kind.

We need to find a solution so that the country is unified as we head towards Brexit.

Pierre Royan



It is a myth that Labour Remainers were solely based in London and its suburbs [We fudged Brexit at the election, at some point it will be a dividing issue, June 30].

In fact, there were some constituencies in Liverpool that voted 73 per cent and 75 per cent Remain, a greater percentage than some constituencies in the capital. And this despite the fact that the social demographics of those Liverpool constituencies have a heavier weighting of poorer social classes than London constituencies.

X Brooke



The announcement by the President of the European Commission, Jean Claude Juncker, and the EUs chief Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, that they want the European Court of Justice to retain its precedence over our Supreme Court, even after Brexit, only proves there can be no such thing as a soft Brexit.

The eurocrats are becoming desperate as they realise that the UKs departure from the EU will leave Brussels with a 10 billion black hole in its annual spendthrift budget and they are determined to scupper talks at all costs.

Our negotiators need to make it crystal clear that we will not be bullied.

Robert Readman



Hike council tax to secure fairer pay

With the debate continuing over lifting the one per cent pay cap for public-sector workers, surely the fairest way to fund this would be to raise more money from council tax?

It would be better if there was a new council tax band for properties from 320,000 upwards which paid an additional 0.1 per cent  a property valued at 2.32 million, for example, would pay an extra 2,000 a year. This would give councils the income to fund pay increases and services.

Paul Langtry



Your article quoted Maria Caulfield, the Tory MP for Lewes, regarding nurses salaries [Tory revolt on pay rocks May, June 29].

Perhaps Ms Caulfield would like to explain why she then voted to retain the one per cent cap on public-sector pay? It is this disingenuous approach to politics that puts people off those in the political field.

Kelly-Marie Blundell



The public's help is much appreciated

I would like to thank the kind people of Tooting who helped me when my son had an operation at St Georges Hospital.

I discovered my sons music had disappeared from his iPad  he has Aspergers and music would play a large part in his recovery  so I needed a replacement. First, a girl in Lidl tried to help me find one and then, after having no luck, a young man showed me other shops to visit nearby. When we went on the Tube, a lady made sure my son was seated close to me.

These acts of kindness meant so much at a difficult time.

Sharon Walker

Join the conversation: #esnewsviews

Cleaner E10 petrol must be a priority

Claims that electric vehicles will represent the majority of vehicles in the next 10 years is overly optimistic. Recent figures show that just 3,000 electric vehicles were registered in May, against 98,518 petrol vehicles. Furthermore, the infrastructure to support the widespread use of electric vehicles doesnt yet exist, with a limited number of charge points across the country.

With air quality worsening, however, the Government needs to focus more on cleaning up petrol. It is disappointing that it is hesitating over introducing a new greener fuel called E10, which contains five per cent less fossil fuel than current petrol. Using E10 would be the emissions equivalent of removing 700,000 vehicles from UK roads.

The Government has failed to act for years and our worsening air quality requires action now, starting with a greater focus on cleaning petrol through introducing E10.

Clare Wenner, Renewable Energy Association

Join the conversation: #escleancityviews



Sonny Bill has got off so lightly

Having watched the British and Irish Lions second Test against the All Blacks, I was horrified to witness Sonny Bill Williamss tackle on Anthony Watson. Williams was rightly given a red card for inflicting what could have been a life-changing injury but was only given a four-week ban.

It should have been much longer, so that Williams appreciates the severity of the offence.

G Walker

Join the conversation: #essportviews


It may come as a surprise to those who associate Brits abroad with lobster complexions, beachside full English breakfasts and ritualistic alcoholism but we seem to be getting our act together when it comes to holidaying in style.

Sure, the cerulean shores of Antigua and the postcard-perfect towns of the French Riviera might be the bastions of chic sun-soaked glamour, while we weather-worn Londoners tend to be far better acquainted with navy jumpers than a bikini. But we are hot on the (Prada) heels of the continental contingent.

Thanks to an influx of resortwear brands based in Britain - and not the Bahamas - our high-summer wardrobes are no longer just an afterthought formed in the hours before were headed for Heathrow.

Now you dont need to travel far to bag a kaftan or cool cover-up, as an increasing number of homegrown labels are catering to a city-savvy customer who doesnt want to leave their style at the airport departure gates. Here, we ask three designers flying the flag for great British beachwear for their passport to packing like a pro  whether youre bound for Barbados or Brockwell Lido.

The escapist

Since its launch in 2015, the aim of Three Graces London was to gift us with the dreamiest of sleepwear. But after founder Catherine Johnson realised that many of her customers were taking her airy voile dresses from under the sheets and down to the beach instead, shes since expanded to include resortwear. Striped linen kaftans, crisp cotton maxi dresses and relaxed cheesecloth smocks are now the bread and butter of this luxury labels heavenly holiday line.

Elvira striped kaftan, 588, Three Graces London

For Johnson, getting on a plane is the perfect excuse to leave your sensible self behind. Its important to not take holiday dressing too seriously, she says. The three things I think every woman should pack is a silk slip  preferably vintage  to wear as an evening dress, during the day with trainers or simply to bed, a light cashmere shawl and at least one eccentric thing, such as interesting costume jewellery or a great evening bag.

Her choice jetset ensemble is the labels Ilara top paired with her wide leg paperbag-waist Rosalinda linen trousers. And when shes not beach-bound, she likes to pair her Elvira Kaftan (pictured) with Celines Pirate sandals and large gold hoop earrings in the evening. A frequent flyer  Johnson currently lives in Switzerland  she also has her packing strategy down to a T. We travel a lot so Im pretty efficient when it comes to packing. I pack outfits; beachwear and swimwear together, evening wear separately.

I love the ritual of getting dressed up and going special places in the evening. I also limit myself to flats  trainers, sandals and espadrilles. Her top tip? Always leave space in your suitcase to bring a few gems home.

The city beach bum

When I go on holiday, I dont want to wear tie-dye kaftans, says born and bred Londoner Anna Laub. I wanted easy, chic, minimal, comfortable pieces that I could wear from the beach to dinner, or from the plane to the sun lounger. Her travel-centric label Prism was launched as a stylish opticals brand in 2009 and soon grew to include sunglasses, swimwear, espadrilles and the sort of cool cover-ups she craved.

cover-up, 445, bikini top, 150, bottoms, 75, sunglasses, 225, Prism

Think light cotton shirt dresses and beautifully basic T-shirt dresses. I like my outfits pretty clean and simple on holiday, especially when its super-hot. Its about being chic while staying comfortable, so accessories  such as sandals and sunglasses  are key. Despite travelling often, Laub is a self-confessed terrible packer. But her trick is to prioritise pieces with several styling options. When I go away for a couple of days I try to make sure everything I take is multifunctional; like a swimsuit that can double as a cool top with jeans or a skirt. I also think the best way to plan is to think of the reality of your trip  dont, for example, take three pairs of heels if youre going to the beach every day. She thinks a breezy sundress  such as her Faro slip or Montecarlo strapless option  are among the most versatile. Im one of those people who would wear the same outfit to the beach as to a wedding  I dont ever like to be too overdressed.

I think its the attitude you wear that dresses things up or down.

The no-brainer packer

If the idea of mono-packing one item to wear all holiday sounds like a holiday in itself, youll find an affinity with Pippa Holt.

The former British Vogue stylist, who launched her ultra-luxe line of hand-woven kaftans last year, believes the kaftan is the epitome of easy, versatile summer dressing. Im a mother to three children aged under six, so when it comes to packing Im not organised at all, says the Aussie-born designer. Their packing comes first so Im very low-maintenance. Kaftans are so easy because theyre compact to pack and dont crease.

Handwoven kaftans, from 595, Pippa Holt

Theyre particularly good for people who only ever take hand luggage. Holt often opts for short styles for the beach and maxi lengths for dinner zsushed up with a belt and a metallic sandal but she believes the beauty of the kaftan lies in its one-fits-all approach  and not just when it comes to sizing. People like the idea of throwing something on in the morning, going down to the beach with a bikini underneath it and then not having to go back to the hotel room to change for drinks, she says.

Theyre also ageless. A 20-year-old can wear them, as can a woman in her 80s. Crucially, you dont need to be a nomad to invest in one of Holts creations. Kaftans are light and breathable so theyre great for summer in the city, says Holt, who splits her time between the capital and her home in Ireland. But I wear them all year round  even in London in December with a coat on over the top.

@miss_mccarthy
A manager at a charity for the homeless who stole nearly 10,000 from its accounts to fund his secret gambling addiction has been spared jail.

Jamie Nalton, 41, raided petty cash at The Simon Community charity and altered invoices so that money would be transferred into his own account.

Blackfriars crown court heard that Nalton had been homeless himself, but turned his life around to become interim manager and then director of the Christian organisation.

He was a vocal campaigner for the rights of the homeless, meeting Prince Charles in 2012 while working for C4WS, the Camden Winter Shelter providers. However, by the middle of last year Nalton was struggling to cope with caring for his wife, who had been diagnosed with a brain aneurysm, as well as his gambling habit.

Prosecutor Scott Brady QC said Nalton confessed to the theft, unprompted, in an email to charity chair Jessica Turtle in October last year. She received an email from Mr Nalton saying he had been clinically depressed and taken 500 from petty cash in the safe and in the office, he said. He also admitted altering bank details on invoices to show his bank details. Investigations showed that Nalton  who was fired by the charity  had taken 9,868 between June and September last year.

In an impact statement, Mr Brady said staff and clients of the charity, established in 1963 to help homeless people in London, had been emotionally affected by Naltons crime.

He added there was some disruption to service as the charity, based at St Martins Vicarage in Kentish Town, was without a director for six months.

Nalton checked himself into a rehab clinic, the court heard, and spent three months tackling his gambling.

Sentencing him to nine months in prison suspended for a year, Judge Henry Blacksell QC said: This is obviously a miserable time for you and has been over an extended period. You stole from your employer, which is always a serious matter, but its more serious when obviously you are in such a sensitive occupation at a charity for homeless people in London.

You were uniquely able to know the stresses and difficulties faced by homeless people and how they rely on small charities. Much to your credit, you became an essential part of their work, so the more sad it was that you breached that trust and stole.

Nalton, of Sunbury-on-Thames, pleaded guilty to one charge of theft. He was ordered to pay 2,400 compensation to the charity within two years.
A n "extremely dangerous" knifeman is being hunted by police after a clerical error meant he was released from jail months into a nine-year sentence.

Ralston Dodd, 25, was jailed in November after he admitted stabbing a man three times in the back following a row on a north London street.

The attack, described as an "appalling act of violence" by police, left the victim fighting for his life and an extensive manhunt was launched to track Dodd down.

Now police have been forced to launch a second search for the violent offender, after he was released from prison in error as a result of a court incorrectly recording his sentence.

The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) said it was urgently investigating the incident and a warrant for Dodd's arrest had been issued.

The thug attacked a 21-year-old man with a knife in Laycock Street, Islington on September 18 last year before going on the run.

He was arrested on October 11 and was sentenced to nine years' imprisonment at Blackfriars Crown Court on November 11 after pleading guilty to causing grievous bodily harm with intent.

At the time Metropolitan Police detective inspector Will Lexton-Jones said: "(The investigation has) ultimately led to an extremely dangerous offender being jailed.

"This was an appalling act of violence that almost cost a man his life. The seriousness of this offence is reflected in the extensive prison sentence."

According to The Sun, Dodd was being held in custody at HMP Thameside in south-east London before his release.

He was reportedly later spotted in a car by his victim, who had made a full recovery despite his terrible injuries.

The victim's father told the newspaper: "This is an unacceptable blunder by them. He got nine years for stabbing my son three times.

"He could have died. I held my son and thought he was going to die.

"How can this happen without anyone noticing?"

An MoJ spokeswoman said such releases in error are "extremely rare but we take any case very seriously".

"We are urgently investigating so we learn the lessons to prevent it happening again," she said.

"Public protection is our priority. A warrant has been issued and police are pursuing the offender."

A Scotland Yard spokesman said officers in Islington wished to trace a man "for being unlawfully at large" and a warrant was obtained at Blackfriars Crown Court on June 23.

Anyone who may know Dodd's whereabouts is asked to call Islington police via 101.
" You wanna know why young people carry borra these days? said Wayne, referring to knives. The former gang member, who has served time for armed robbery and violent disorder, laughed. They carry to protect themselves from bredders [brethren] like me. From the person I was, cuz, get me.

Even today, when I walk on certain estates, they pass me money before I even ask. Or they just run away. They know my rep. Some people carry cos they feel a need to protect themselves, others carry cos if you want respect on the street, you got to put in the work.

As Wayne, 25, walked me through his patch in Plumstead, he explained what he meant by putting in the work.

Its when you smash people up and other people say, Dont mess with him, hell shank you up. I put in the work to make myself opp-block. To be opp-block means I can go to other estates in other endz and people will show me respect and give me a pass.

Young men caught up in knife culture have a coded way of communicating that most of us do not understand. Their graphic vocabulary  skengs (guns), borras (knives), nittys (drug addicts) neeks (drug dealers)  has a swagger and energy that has seen it migrate from Londons estates into wider youth culture.

In the wake of the recent surge in knife crime  31 people, including 10 teenagers, stabbed to death in London so far this year, a rise of 30 per cent on the same period last year  the Standard sought to delve deeper into how knife culture takes hold. Where do these words come from? How is this lexicon tied in to the rising temperature on the street?

The words originate from Jamaican patois and then get mixed up with new swag from the youngers when they in prison, said Wayne. Jail is where the new words come from. Jail is like school for gang members. Every area goes there  you get eastmen [east Londoners], northmen, southmen all mixed in. Its a hothouse. And when you come out, you spread the new lingo to your area.

He added: If you wanna understand blade culture, you got to get into the head of how people on road think. The public just see gang member, but there are different levels. The lowest is roadman. Hes the guy with the handbag, always on road, dealing drugs.

The next level is what we call a hitter. Hes a thug who will hit you up and not care. The highest level is mad man. Hes done heavy stuff. You dont want to test him. A mad man will take on a whole gang on his own. The aim is to get to the next level. To get there, you got to be more violent.

What advantage does the next level bring? Power, status, girls, especially girls. Did Wayne, who is black British, think you have to be more aggressive today than in the past to earn your stripes? In the last 10 years, since the Somalis and the Congolese came to London, they taught us a whole new level of violence, he said.

Stabbed to death: Marcel Addai,

These people had seen family members mutilated so when they said, Im gonna smash you up, us guys would be shouting, Yo blud, wot you mean? and they would just pull out a blade and juk [stab] you in the chest. It upped the speed and level of violence for us British-born guys. We had to arm up to protect ourselves. It created an upward spiral.

The language of knife culture is also spread, he added, via music videos posted on YouTube. The drill genre in particular tends to glamorise knife culture by making it seem cool. Such videos used to be niche but today their popularity is shocking.

YouTube posts by south London gangs have racked up millions of views. The videos are slickly produced but their message is unrelentingly hyper-masculine and violent.

The link with knife attacks is manifest in several court cases. Marcel Addai, 17, was stabbed to death 18 months ago by four members of a rival gang. Jurors at the Old Bailey were shown eight rap videos in which Addais Hoxton Boys gang and the killers Fellows Court gang threatened and taunted each other  threats the judge concluded went to the heart of the murder.

Sheku Jalloh, 23, Rikell Rogers, 21, and Sodiq Adebayo, 23, were convicted of murder and ordered to serve a life term with a minimum 25 years. Momar Faye, 19, was also convicted of murder and sentenced to life with a tariff of 22 years.

Sheldon Thomas, chief executive of Gangsline, a consultancy that trains professionals to understand gang mentality, said: It used to be that only black estate teenagers listened to drill music, but it has crossed over and now white and middle-class teenagers listen as well. Not only them but also black kids as young as 10. When you see how many millions watch these videos, and how influential they are, it gives you an idea of the reasons behind the spread of knife culture.

Thomas added that while there was no single cause for the spike in stabbings, social media has been a gamechanger: Social media has upped the stakes of being caught slipping [without a weapon in another gangs territory]. In the past, if you were beat up, only a few people knew about it but today somebody could film it and it can go viral, so stakes are higher and people tool up. Thats where were at in 2017  we have created a culture not to walk out of the house without a knife.

Colin James, founder of Gangs Unite, a charity focusing on gang conflict resolution in east London, said: Social media is serious because when things spread, its like a virus.

The psychology of young people is that they follow trends. A few months ago there was an acid attack, so we immediately saw a spate of copycat acid attacks. Now we are seeing a spate of knife attacks.

Young boys get it from all sides  they play bloody video games, they watch crazy music videos, they follow social media. The result is they think that carrying a knife is normal and that they need to carry a knife to fit in.

The situation is compounded by the absence of fathers, Wayne said. In some households you got boys aged 13 or 14 who say, Im da man of the house. Hes shotting [dealing drugs] and bringing in money that he gives to his mother and there is no older man to challenge him. These young boys are bringing themselves up but they have no idea what to do, so they turn to social media for guidance. For these boys, social media is not just another influence  it is the daddy.

*Some names have been changed.
A man has told of the moment he was surrounded by a gang of thugs on mopeds who kicked him off his scooter and made off with the bike in a terrifying robbery.

Oliver Cheyne, 30, was riding his Honda scooter to a friends house in Lawrence Road, Tottenham, last Tuesday when he suddenly noticed he was surrounded by five men on mopeds.

Mr Cheyne was left badly bruised after he was assaulted by the gang, who then made off with the 3,000 vehicle which he had only bought six months before.

He told the Standard he is still in physical pain a week on and, although he knows the area well, he has been left afraid just to walk around.

He said: I was coming back from work, I have got a friend who lives on that road and I pulled into the road and towards the kerb.

I noticed another scooter had come up to my right hand side. He had his face covered up; there was a bandana across his face.

The bike was bought just six months ago for 3,000

Another scooter then appeared to my left, and three more behind, all with their faces covered up.

I didnt know what was going on but I tried to accelerate towards them. I got a few cars away but one of them came alongside me and kicked me off my bike.

I crashed into the road. I was lying on the ground in shock and four of them were around me shouting at me not to move.

Another couple of them picked up my scooter and rode off with it. I was really scared. I didnt know what their intentions had been.

The incident comes after the Standard revealed last month that moped gang crime has hit epidemic levels, with thousands targeted across capital in four months.

Meanwhile bikers have warned of a huge spike in stolen motorcycles being sold on social media platforms such as Instagram and Snapchat.

Mr Cheyne, who works as a studio assistant for a sculptor, added: I was left with quite bad bruising on my leg and Im still in a lot of pain. Im really angry about it. The way they have done it. The way I was physically attacked.

It happened in an area I know and travel thorough a lot and now it is worrying just to walk around.

A Met Police spokesman said: Police were called at 6.10pm on Tuesday, June 27 to reports of a robbery in Lawrence Road.

The victim, a 30-year-old man on a Honda scooter, was approached by five males on mopeds. One kicked the victim off, causing him to fall to the ground. The group then made off with his vehicle towards Philip Lane.

Officers attended. The victim declined medical treatment and was driven around the area by officers but there was no trace of the suspects.

There have been no arrests.
T wo people have been seriously injured in an acid attack in an east London street.

A woman, aged in her late 30s, and a man, in his early 20s, were left with serious burns after they were attacked in Mile End in the early hours of Tuesday morning.

Scotland Yard said police were called to reports of an acid attack in Burdett Road shortly before 2.15am.

The victims were taken to an east London hospital for their injuries after a corrosive substance was thrown over them.

Their injuries are thought to be serious but non-life threatening.

Burdett Road was sealed off and forensic officers were at the scene investigating for several hours.

A Met Police spokesman said: No arrests have been made. Enquiries are ongoing.

There are no other reported injuries.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Tower Hamlets CID via 101 or via Twitter via @Metcc or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 or visit crimestoppers-uk.org.
MASON CITY | A Mason City man caught urinating in public Saturday at the Lime Creek Nature Center fled the scene and led police on a chase, according to authorities.

Andrew D. Williams, 28, Mason City, has been charged with eluding and interference with official acts, both misdemeanors.

Williams allegedly was urinating outside the nature center, 3501 Lime Creek Road, Mason City, shortly before 9 a.m. Saturday.

Mason City Police Sgt. Dave Houser said a Cerro Gordo County Conservation Officer tried to talk to Williams, who took off in his truck.

The conservation officer followed him for a while, and then Mason City officers responded to the chase, according to Houser.

He said Williams' driving was so erratic that the chase was called off due to safety reasons.

"It just wasn't worth it," Houser said, noting officers knew the identity of the driver and could just issue a warrant for him.

However, another officer spotted Williams a few minutes later driving in the same area, Houser said.

Williams got out of the truck and fled, according to Houser. After a short foot chase, Williams was apprehended in the 100 block of 14th Street Northeast, he said.
T he contractor responsible for fire alarms at Grenfell Tower is being probed by fraud squad police after accusations it installed defective safety equipment in hundreds of London properties, a Standard investigation reveals today.

Housing services company Lakehouse is at the centre of a fraud inquiry after a three-year investigation by police and Hackney Council relating to a 184 million government grant to renovate council properties and install fire and smoke alarms and emergency lighting.

The company was identified by the Standard last week as the contractor responsible for testing and maintaining the fire alarms at Grenfell Tower, which some surviving residents claimed failed to go off in the tragic blaze.

Ten people have been arrested by police after Hackney Council received allegations of fraud and overcharging from whistleblowers.

Council leader quits over Grenfell Tower disaster

Further investigation revealed some of the fire safety work was defective, including incorrectly installed alarms and emergency lighting systems. Lakehouse denies any wrong-doing.

The council has now written to 166 town hall chief executives warning them to check work done by Lakehouse and subcontractor Polyteck in case more homes could be at risk.

Warning: the letter sent by Hackney council

The letter, seen by the Standard, says council bosses immediately notified the police after discovering the work was substandard.

It says: At all times, throughout this, our focus has been on the safety of our residents.

We have no evidence to suggest that work carried out on contracts to other councils, by Lakehouse, or its subcontractor Polyteck, was in any way at fault, so we do not wish to cause undue alarm.

Emergency workers walk on the roof of the fire-ravaged Grenfell Tower / AP

However, we believe that as social landlords, after the Grenfell Tower tragedy we must share any information with each other that could potentially help to keep our residents safer.

It is in this context that we are writing to you, so that if you have had fire safety works carried out by either of these contractors, you have a chance to check them carefully.

Inside Grenfell Tower 1 /17 Inside Grenfell Tower Water is sprayed on Grenfell Tower in west London after a fire engulfed the 24-storey building PA Fire service personnel inside Grenfell Tower in west London PA A view inside the Grenfell Tower in west London after a fire engulfed the 24-storey building PA Sniffer dogs were sent inside to the tower today PA Fire service personnel inside Grenfell Tower in west London after a fire engulfed the 24-storey building PA Part of the scorched facade of the Grenfell Tower in London as firefighting continue to damp-down the deadly fire AP Grenfell Tower in west London after a fire engulfed the 24-storey building PA A view inside the Grenfell Tower in west London after a fire engulfed the 24-storey building PA

The defective works were signed off by staff at Hackney Homes, the arms-length management organisation set up by the council in 2006 in order to receive its allocation of the governments 1.6 billion Decent Homes programme to help councils raise the standards of its housing stock.

Sources close to the case said the allegations date back to the schemes inception in 2011.

A well-placed source told the Standard that payments had been made for work that allegedly was not done, including fire safety work.

A look inside a flat offered to a family of Grenfell Tower survivors

The source said: Clearly it has implications for the situation councils find themselves in now.

A Scotland Yard spokesman said: We can confirm that in July 2014 Hackney Council referred an allegation of fraud to the Metropolitan Police Services Complex Fraud Team. An investigation was launched and enquiries are ongoing.

The charred shell of Grenfell Tower in west London / Reuters

A total of 10 people have been arrested as part of the investigation and two people interviewed under caution as part of the investigation.

Three men aged 48, 39, and 34, were arrested on suspicion of bribery. Two were released from police bail but were still under investigation, while one was bailed until October pending further inquiries.

One man, aged 50, was arrested on suspicion of bribery and conspiracy to defraud and also released under investigation.

Three men aged 44, 39, and 38 were arrested on suspicion of bribery and bailed until November pending further inquiries.

Two women aged 45 and 36 were arrested on suspicion of money laundering and released under investigation, as was a 66-year-old-man who was arrested in connection with the investigation.

A media scrum at a Kensington and Chelsea council meeting in the wake of the fire / Getty Images

Two men aged 42 and 62 were interviewed under caution on suspicion of bribery.

Founded in 1988 and with its headquarters in Romford, Essex, Lakehouse employs 2,400 people and has an annual turnover of more than 340 million.

In a statement, the firm said they never comment on commercial relationships with clients but that they completely refute the allegations of fraud and the other matters relating to Lakehouse.

They added: We are aware on an ongoing police investigation and the company continues to fully cooperate with the Metropolitan Police in its investigation and support any actions taken against individuals in relation to the allegations which arose in 2013 and 2014.

Council blocks in Camden were evacuated due to fears over their cladding in the wake of the Grenfell fire / EPA

Hackney Council said it has been re-doing the fire safety work at 68 tower blocks to a standard that was fully compliant with regulatory requirements and our specification, and at the contractors own expense.

Hackney Homes was brought back in-house by the council in April 2016. Hackneys elected mayor Philip Glanville told the Standard the council carried out a wholesale restructure of the surveyors team and said: The majority of former Hackney Homes staff left the organisation.

Aerial footage shows the full scale of the fire

He added: Grenfell and its aftermath raises many issues about the conduct of the construction industry, including sub-contractors, and also about arms-length management arrangements for housing.

It is right that councils and social landlords should work together, share information and support each other to prevent future tragedies, which is why we have taken this action.

Scores of blocks of flats across the UK have failed emergency fire safety tests carried out in the wake of the Grenfell Tower disaster which killed an estimated 80 people.

Lakehouse, which has faced a number of difficulties since floating on the Stock Exchange two years ago - including issuing a series of profit warnings and enduring a boardroom battle with senior management leaving - did not declare its involvement in the tower when announcing its results to the Stock Exchange last week.

Firefighters work at the site of the Grenfell Tower fire in which at least 80 people died / Jeremy Selwyn

While investigations into the inferno have so far focused on the cladding, it is expected that the role of fire alarms will also be closely scrutinised.

Lakehouse chairman Bob Holt said last week the company had not been asked to give evidence to any inquiry and said: We are very happy because there have been many people saying they were woken by the alarms.

Responding to todays revelations, he said: I have no comment to make. The Standard has approached Polyteck for comment.

Retired judge Sir Martin Moore-Bick, leading the inquiry into the Grenfell Tower disaster, is preparing to consider the broad causes of the fire amid concern from survivors groups over its scope and leadership, and will scrutinise issues tracing back to building regulations at the time the block was erected.

Meanwhile Elizabeth Campbell, nominated to take over from Kensington and Chelsea leader Nicholas Paget-Brown, who resigned on Friday amid fierce criticism of the councils response to the tragedy, said she was truly sorry and pledged to heal the wounds in the community.
A horrified Londoner was left fearing for his health after discovering a dead rodent in a salad mix he bought from Tesco, after accidently putting it in his mouth.

The architect was eating dinner when he found the creature, believed to be a shrew, in his mixed-leaf 'ready to eat' salad on Monday evening.

He said it was only when he put the rodent in his mouth that he realised something was wrong with the Tesco brand organic salad.

The 53-year-old purchased the item from a Tesco Express store in Kentish Town, and said he had already eaten half of his meal before the shocking discovery.

Tesco: The man said he found the dead rodent in this bag

He told the Standard: It was only when it was in my mouth that I realised something was up. I spat it straight out and as you can imagine, immediately felt quiet unwell.

I just tasted of the salad dressing I put on my dinner, but obviously didnt feel right. Pretty revolting.

I anesthetized my mouth straight away with lots of whiskey, and that seemed to do the trick. I have considered seeing a doctor and its clearly not very hygienic  but havent yet.

After the horrific incident the architect said he called the supermarkets customer services, who told him to return the packet to the Englands Lane store.

But the man, who asked not to be named, said he is suspicious that they would then dispose of the evidence.

He said he would also be contacting the Food Standards Agency.

A Tesco spokesman said: We have robust food quality processes in place during the preparation and packaging of our products, so we were surprised to hear about this incident.

Our customer service team have been in touch with [him] to ask him to return the product to one of our stores and we will be asking our supplier to carry out an investigation.


K ind strangers are offering free holidays to firefighters who tackled the Grenfell Tower blaze and survivors left homeless by the disaster.

More than 370 holiday homes have been put forward by members of public who have responded to a campaign launched in the wake of the inferno.

The short-stay offers have come mainly from small businesses, B&Bs and guesthouses across the UK, but also some in Spain and Cyprus, said the founder of the Grenfell Tower Holiday Appeal.

Angie Mays, from Ilfracombe, Devon, launched the campaign with friend Kay Gilbert and said they had received messages from as far afield as Australia telling them "how great an idea it was".

A male firefighter, his partner and their two children were the first to take up and offer and will head to a cottage in Marsden, West Yorkshire, for a week in July.

Other firefighter families have also been in touch and are considering accepting free holidays, said Mrs Mays.

She added: "I'm so happy that firefighters are using the appeal, I only hope in time that they are able to come to terms with what they have experienced that night and after.

"They are true heroes in my eyes - putting their lives at risk and going above and beyond to save lives.

"I only hope our appeal offers them some comfort and respite from their experiences, giving them time to switch off their minds and relax."

Grenfell Tower Firefighters - In pictures 1 /32 Grenfell Tower Firefighters - In pictures A firefighter pours water over his head after battling a huge fire at the Grenfell Tower, a 24-storey apartment block in North Kensington, London EPA Firefighters spray water after a fire engulfed the 24-storey Grenfell Tower in west Londo PA A firefighter investigates a floor after a fire engulfed the 24-storey Grenfell Tower in west London PA Firefighters rest as they take a break in battling a massive fire that raged in a high-rise apartment building in London AP A firefighter close at the scene after a fire engulfed the 27-storey Grenfell Tower in west London PA Emergency services close to the scene after a fire engulfed the 24-storey Grenfell Tower in west London Alex Lentati The moment a resident is carried out of the Grenfell Tower block by fire bridgae and riot police carrying shield Sky News Emergency services close to the scene after a fire engulfed the 24-storey Grenfell Tower in west London PA Emergency services close to the scene after a fire engulfed the 24-storey Grenfell Tower in west London Alex Lentati Emergency services gather close to the scene after a fire engulfed the 24-storey Grenfell Tower in west London PA Firefighters rest as they take a break in battling a massive fire that raged in a high-rise apartment building in London AP Firefighters wait to start their shift after a massive fire raged in a 27-floor high-rise apartment building in London AP Firefighters stand amid debris in a childrens playground near a tower block severly damaged by a serious fire, in north Kensington, West London REUTERS Emergency services gather close to the scene after a fire engulfed the 24-storey Grenfell Tower in west London PA Firefighters react as a huge fire engulfs the Grenfell Tower AFP/Getty Images Emergency personnel operate during the fire at the Grenfell Tower, a 27-storey apartment block in North Kensington, London EPA A firefighter rests during the ballte against the blaze at Grenfell Tower Jeremy Selwyn Emergency services close to the scene after a fire engulfed the 24-storey Grenfell Tower in west London Nigel Howard A London Fire Brigade worker moves air tanks close to the scene of a fire that engulfed the 24-storey Grenfell Tower in west London PA Firefighters spray water after a fire engulfed the 24-storey Grenfell Tower in west London PA Fire crews rest as they take part in the operation to put out a fire in a high rise apartment block in London AP A firemen reacts after battling a huge fire at the Grenfell Tower, a 24-storey apartment block in North Kensington, London EPA Residents were trapped "screaming for their lives" as flames raged through a 27-storey tower block in Notting Hill Alex Lentati Emergency services spray water towards a fire that engulfed the 24-storey Grenfell Tower in west London PA

Ms Mays said in the long term she hoped survivors would feel ready to take up the holiday offers, but that it was probably "too soon to be talking about things like that now - it's too raw".

But she urged any survivors who did feel ready to get in touch.

Separate Facebook groups have been also set up to provide holidays in Cornwall and the Highlands.
T his is the first picture of a teenage girl who fell 50ft to her death in a desperate bid to escape a fire in her bedroom.

Mei Lan Duong, 17, was seen hanging on to her fifth-storey window ledge above a parade of shops shouting for help as a crowd below begged her not to jump.

Witnesses said she tried to use a bedsheet rope to climb down but fell to the pavement.

Passersby tried to revive her but she was declared dead at the scene in Mile End, east London, at 6am yesterday.

Mei Lan Duong, 17, tried to climb to the ground using a bed sheet but fell

Minutes later firefighters broke into her familys council flat to rescue her younger brother.

Some 50 other residents, including her parents, were evacuated - with four needing treatment for smoke inhalation.

Helal Miah, 41, who lives in a building nearby off St Pauls Way, said he was woken at 5am by sounds of screaming.

He said: The young girl was trying to escape because her bedroom was on fire - she was on the window ledge.

Cordon: Firefighters at the scene in St Paul's Way / Atikur Rahman @A71KUR

I think she was trying to make some form of rope to climb down then her hair and the cloth she was holding caught fire.

She had no choice but to jump and she died on the spot. It was absolutely awful.

Richard Fitzgerald, head teacher at Langdon Park School, paid tribute to the teenager calling her one of the kindest and most considerate people.

He added: Her helpfulness and care for all around her made her a role model to everyone in the school.

As well as mentoring younger students whilst at school she often came back to help others, even after leaving in 2015.

She had so much to offer the world and will be greatly missed by all of us.

Our thoughts and prayers are with her family now.

Floral tributes and balloons left outside the flat describe the teen as a beautiful young woman with her whole life ahead of her.

One reads: Meilan, I miss you already. I cant believe youre gone. I love you so much and Im gonna miss all the laughs we had together. I hope you rest in perfect paradise beautiful.

Another said: Such a special friend with a heart of pure gold. You were such a beautiful young woman.

Resident Fatou Secka, 75, said: She was a lovely cute girl, she was always helping her little brother go down the stairs to get in his transport.

She said she did not hear any alarms go off in the building before her neighbour woke up her floor by banging on doors.

She said: My neighbour just banged on my door saying Aunty get out, we have to go. I saw smoke and everybody was screaming No outside.

A Met spokesman said: One female, believed aged 17, was found outside the property.

She was pronounced dead at the scene. Four other people received treatment - none of them are serious.

Enquiries into the circumstances of the fire are ongoing.
T he father of murdered student Stephen Lawrence is to lead a new task force to find solutions to Londons knife crime epidemic.

Neville Lawrence will chair a group of community leaders from across London to advise police and the Government on possible action to combat a surge in the number of stabbings and killings.

The 16-strong knife crime reference group will also include academics, role models and those who have lost relatives to violent crime.

The move comes as the Standard launches the second part of a focus on knife crime in London amid mounting concern at the number of murders and assaults.

So far this year, 24 people under the age of 25 have been fatally stabbed  10 of them teenagers. Mr Lawrence, speaking exclusively to the Standard, said: We are tasked with coming up with some new ideas about how to tackle the problem.

"This is not going to be a walkover. We are not going to be able to sit down and instantly say this is what we are going to do. There is no simple solution. But you cannot solve anything if you sit there and do nothing.

Ongoing violence: the scene at Tottenham Green after a fatal stabbing / Nigel Howard

In recent weeks 18-year-old Mahad Ali died after when a fight broke out after a warehouse party in East Acton while 16-year-old schoolboy Osman Sharif was knifed to death in front of fellow pupils in Tottenham.

Mr Lawrence said the knife and violent crime reference group included people from different sections of Londons community as well as individuals chosen for the respect they command.

He added: We have a lot of different people on the group to come up with ideas and then it will be up to the authorities to see if they can be used to help.

Met Commissioner Cressida Dick, who has personally backed the scheme, has made tackling gun and knife crime a priority and has spoken about putting more effort into preventing violence.

Osman Sharif, 16, was stabbed to death in Tottenham

Scotland Yard has boosted efforts to combat knife violence with a 100-strong squad and is putting greater emphasis on diversionary tactics, such as engaging with schools.

The new group will report to the Met but senior officers say it is an independent body. Mr Lawrence said a key priority would be to seek the views of young people.

He added: We cannot all know the way young people are thinking on the street so you have to be able to talk to them, get their ideas about how we can stop them carrying knives.

A-level student Stephen Lawrence was 18 when he was stabbed to death by racist thugs as he walked home in Eltham on April 22, 1993.

Mr Lawrence and his former wife Doreen campaigned for justice after a failed police investigation and a public inquiry which found that the Met was institutionally racist.

Gary Dobson and David Norris were convicted of Stephens murder in 2012 but at least four others were involved.

Today Mr Lawrence continues to speak out against violence to schools, colleges and conferences but admitted the work on knife crime would be a difficult challenge. Mr Lawrence, 75, said, personally, he wanted to see a return of local beat officers.

He continued: I have always said to officers, although you are a police officer you cannot get certain information that an ordinary person can get.

If people dont trust you then they are not going to talk to you. I think one of the worst things that has happened over the years is the decline in the community police officer who used to get to know people, to talk to individuals and know who is around.

That is one of the most powerful things to have. No one in the community wants people to be stealing things or killing people. If they have someone who they can trust, they will give them the information. Maybe they hear a rumour, if they trust a police officer they will tell them.

For me, some of the places that I visit, people do come and tell me things, and I can pass it on. But people no longer have anyone who they can give information to. We must think about the ways that we can stop these crimes happening.

He added: When I used to live in England I used to see a community police officer walking around. Now there is none.

Another challenge, he said, would be to persuade young people that it was misguided to carry a knife for protection.

He warned that the weapon could easily be taken from them and used against them.
A NDREW Garfield, star of the hit play Angels in America, may have played Spider-Man but theres always someone better off. Garfield, pictured, says he feels jealous of Old Etonian actors such as Eddie Redmayne and Damian Lewis, who have more confidence in life and Hollywood.

My friends who went to Eton who are actors, Im like: How do you feel so at home in the world? he said at a National Theatre Q&A yesterday. I have envy about it. Even if things go wrong, somehow you have a spine thats been put in you like a steel rod. What a beautiful thing to be given. Why cant we all have that? Garfield, who once lived with Redmayne in LA, went to City of London Freemens School in Ashtead, Surrey. Less posh but still rather nice.

Garfield also revealed that he prepared for playing a gay man in Angels in America by watching US reality drag queen competition RuPauls Drag Race. Every Sunday, I have eight friends over and we watch Ru  thats my life outside of the show, he said.

For all of today's Diary click here.

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J eremy Hunt has been photographed flashing a memo containing the words: Hard Brexit means people fleeing the UK.

The Health Secretary exposed the documents to waiting media as he walked along Downing Street after a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday morning.

His papers appeared to be briefing notes for his appearance before MPs in the House of Commons later.

The documents began with a question tabled in advanced from Lib Dem MP Alistair Carmichael, which read: What recent discussions he has had with the Home Secretary on ensuring the NHS has the workforce it needs after the UK leaves the EU?

One line reads: "Hard Brexit means people fleeing the UK" / AFP/Getty Images

Beneath that is what appears to be a prepared answer, which said: The 150,000 EU nationals working in our health and care services do a brilliant job and we want them to continue doing it.

I am in regular touch with Cabinet colleagues to inform both domestic workforce plans and the government negotiations with the EU.

The next line read: Hard Brexit means people fleeing the UK.

It was not immediately clear whether that line referred to a potential criticism that might by levelled at him by MPs during Health Questions in the Commons.

Mr Hunt later said on Twitter: "For avoidance of doubt I have never been advised or believed Brexit means people `fleeing UK'. I was anticipating a question along those lines from MPs at health orals - which is why the phrase appears in my briefing note."

The Health Secretary is not the first senior figure to expose documents to waiting media in Downing Street.

Last November, an aide to Conservative MP Mark Field was photographed carrying handwritten notes that referred to a have cake and eat it Brexit.
T heresa May was today urged to hold a vote in Parliament for Britain to join military action against Syrian tyrant Bashar al-Assads regime if it unleashes another horrific sarin gas attack on its own people.

Two influential Tory MPs signalled they would support military strikes against Assads bases in response to another chemical weapons atrocity.

Crispin Blunt, seeking re-election as chairman of the Commons foreign affairs committee, and Johnny Mercer, a former army officer who served in Afghanistan and is trying to become defence committee chairman, called for an unprecedented pre-emptive Commons vote to approve such an intervention.

They urged the Prime Minister to seek the backing of MPs following the sarin gas attack in April on Khan Sheikhoun, 30 miles from the city of Homs, in which at least 80 people were killed.

Writing in The Standard, they said: If Assad unleashes another sarin attack as happened in Khan Sheikhoun, we believe parliamentary authorisation for military strikes would be right, if the Government can satisfy Parliament on questions of attribution, the legality and the limitations of any action, as well as its consistency with our whole Syria strategy.

We believe this case can be made, and the Government should make it pre-emptively for these limited circumstances.

The foreign affairs committee was highly critical of the Government over its stance on military action in Syria ahead of the vote in 2013 when MPs refused to support strikes against the regime for its use of sarin on the Ghouta suburb of Damascus. Then US president Barack Obama also shied away from military intervention. Instead, Russia and America agreed the Framework for the Elimination of Syrian Chemical Weapons.

But since then his regime has been accused of carrying out several more atrocities using the banned weapons.

Following the Khan Sheikhoun attack, President Donald Trump ordered 59 missiles to be fired from US naval forces in the Mediterranean at the Shayrat airbase near Homs from where a plane is alleged to have flown to drop the sarin nerve agent.

Emmanuel Macron, the new French president, has made clear France is prepared to join the US in another military strike.

A Government spokesman said: There are no plans for a new parliamentary vote on military action in Syria. We continue to support appropriate actions with our US allies.
F irefighters have criticised a new pay offer despite it breaching the Governments pay cap on public sector workers.

The Fire Brigades Union (FBU) said the decision means the one per cent cap is dead in the water, but that the offer was not good enough.

Its general secretary Matt Wrack said it does not recognise extra work crews have been doing and that it fails to address their falling living standards.

Firefighters have endured seven years of pay restraint imposed by the Government, he said.

"Their real wages are falling and our members are struggling to make ends meet. Firefighters have, in addition, taken on many new roles that are not being recognised in their pay.

"It is sickening to hear politicians praising firefighters for the outstanding work they do every day of their working lives only to be told they have to tighten their belts as a result of economic problems caused by bankers.

He added: despite hints at improvements, does not make clear what they will be earning in future years. This offer lacks detail and credibility."

Pay in the fire and rescue service is not covered by a pay review body but is subject to collective bargaining through a joint national council representing fire and rescue services across the UK.

FBU members will now consider the offer at local meetings and the union's executive will meet later in the month to discuss its next move.

Mr Wrack said he believed the result of the general election and the Grenfell Tower fire tragedy had affected the employers' offer.


S chool teachers stunned students during an end-of-term assembly when they burst into a surprise rendition of Les Miserables.

Principal Chris Wheeler was giving the annual prize giving speech at Monkton Combe School in Bath when he broke into song.

A video clip posted by the school on Facebook shows him take on the role of Jean Valjean as he starts singing One Day More, before he is joined by other teachers in the audience.

Some pupils and parents seem uncertain but are soon swept up in the performance, breaking out into applause and laughter.

Princpal Chris Wheeler chaneling his inner Jean Valjean

The school wrote on Facebook: "The students and parents at this year's Speech Day at Monkton were certainly in for a surprise.

"Principal Chris Wheeler was halfway through his speech when this happened..."

One person commented: "Absolutely amazing! Proud to be a part of Monkton School."

Different teachers in the audience then burst into song

A former student wrote: "Makes me nostalgic for my monkton days!! Wish this had happened in my time there! Amazing!"

Another person added: "Chris Wheeler is fabulous... he worked at a school in London with me years ago and I knew he was talented!"

The school has been lauded after the clip was posted online

Mr Wheeler said after the performance: I am always keen to show pupils that just as we ask them to put themselves out there, so we are prepared to do the same.

There aren't many schools where the deputy head, medical centre nurse, a houseparent, pupils and even a governor would be prepared to risk embarrassment in the name of fun but I am very proud that Monkton is one.
MASON CITY | The wait for a new urgent care clinic on the east side of Mason City is almost over.

The Quick Care Urgent Care Clinic opens Wednesday.

Two people stopped by Monday morning hoping to be seen, but Dr. Hameed Khan, who co-owns the clinic with his wife, Husna Khan, wasn't there as they aren't officially open yet.

Medical spa will be part of new Mason City urgent care clinic MASON CITY | A Cedar Falls couple hopes to open a new urgent care clinic in Mason City in th

Husna Khan was there Monday having a meeting with the clinic employees.

"Mason City is amazing," she said. "We are super excited to be here."

Urgent care is a place people can go to get treatment for illnesses and injuries that need immediate attention but are not severe enough to require an ER visit.

Mercy Medical Center--North Iowa has an urgent care clinic at Willowbrook Mall, but the Khans saw a need for another such clinic in town.

They recommend those with heart attacks or severe bleeding go to the ER, but almost everything else can be done at Quick Care.

The clinic has procedure rooms, an X-ray room and a lab.

In addition to the clinic, Quick Care has a medical spa offering weight loss management, body contouring and skin tightening.

Medical spa will be part of new Mason City urgent care clinic MASON CITY | A Cedar Falls couple hopes to open a new urgent care clinic in Mason City in th

Quick Care has been active on social media leading up to this week's opening. They even took a public vote on Facebook for the building's exterior paint color.

The Khans purchased the former Iowa Department of Transportation building at 1420 Fourth St. S.E. for the clinic.

Midland General Contractors of Love Park, Ill., remodeled the building for the Khans. Midland specializes in building urgent care clinics.

"They have been phenomenal in getting this project completed," Husna Khan said.

CASO, a St. Louis-based architectural and engineering firm, designed the clinic. CASCO has an urgent care clinic prototype that has been used in multiple locations across the U.S.
W omen from Northern Ireland are to be offered free abortions on the NHS in Scotland.

The Scottish Government confirmed the measure and said "details will be set out shortly how that can be achieved".

Abortion is illegal in Northern Ireland without exceptional circumstances, with hundreds of women thought to be charged by the NHS each year to travel elsewhere in the UK for surgery.

Last week the UK Government backed funding for women from Northern Ireland to access free abortions in England, while Welsh First Minister Carwyn Jones did the same on Tuesday.

New powers over abortion were devolved to Holyrood as part of the 2016 Scotland Act and Nicola Sturgeon said she would look into giving Northern Ireland women access to NHS abortions in Scotland without prohibitive costs.

A Scottish Government spokeswoman said: "The First Minister has already made clear that the Scottish Government would look into the provision of abortion in Scotland to women from Northern Ireland.

"The Scottish Government's view is that abortion should be part of standard healthcare for all women, and available free from stigma.

"The Scottish Government believes that a woman from Northern Ireland, in Scotland, should be able to access an abortion for free on the same basis as women in Scotland and we will set out shortly how that can be achieved."

The issue was originally raised by the Scottish Greens at First Minister's Questions last year.

Green MSP Alison Johnstone said: "I'm pleased the Scottish Government agrees with Greens that the stress and costs that women in Northern Ireland face are unacceptable.

"Scotland has a chance to provide much-needed support. This is about trusting women to decide what is best for them.

"I look forward to the public health minister replying to me with details of how Scotland will provide free access to abortion for women from Northern Ireland, and I will continue to urge Scottish ministers to consult on decriminalising abortion."

Additional reporting by Press Association.
S hocking images of children risking their lives by running towards oncoming traffic have been revealed by police as part of a hard-hitting road safety campaign.

The images released by Northumbria Police show the children playing in the middle of a busy road in Washington, Sunderland.

In one image, the three young children running towards incoming traffic and in an other, the children are seen lying in the middle of the road.

Local residents who raised their concerns over the childrens safety informed local councillor Dianne Snowdon who sent the images to police.

A young boy lies in the middle of the road / Northumbria Police

Authorities are now trying to track down the parents of the three juveniles to inform them of their reckless behaviour, and warn others about the dangers of playing on busy roads.

Neighbourhood Inspector Vicky Quinn said: These images are shocking and truly unbelievable.

Local residents raised their concerns over the children risking their lives

The children, who appear to be very young, are risking their own safety and the safety of motorists and other road users by this reckless behaviour.

Parents should know where their children are playing and what they are doing when they go out and make sure they are safe and we would all urge parents to speak to their children about the importance of road safety and being safe.

Northumbria Police has launched a new road safety initiative aimed at all road users and dangerous drivers. The project, dubbed Operation Dragoon, will also develop activity packs for children to raise awareness on the importance of road safety.
S ir Philip Green has said he is not getting involved in his daughters new relationship with hot felon Jeremy Meeks.

Topshop heiress Chloe Green, 26, recently revealed she is dating Mr Meeks, 32, of Stockton, California, who shot to fame in 2014 when police - who arrested him for gun charges - posted his mugshot online.

The post went viral as hundreds of thousands of people swooned over him, nicknaming him the hottest convict ever blue eyed bandit and jail bae.

The 32-year-old married father-of-two, who signed a modelling contract with White Cross Management on his release from prison in 2016, was photographed on a yacht off the coast of Turkey with Miss Green over the weekend.

New relationship: Jeremy Meeks is dating Chloe Green / Instagram

But when Sir Philip was asked by the Telegraph what he thought of the new relationship, he said: With respect, I am not getting involved in it.

The new couple are believed to have met at Cannes Film Festival in May.

Jeremy Meeks - In pictures 1 /24 Jeremy Meeks - In pictures Jeremy Meeks shot to fame in 2014 when police posted his mugshot online. Man About Town Jeremy Meeks in his first ever magazine shoot for Man About Town Man About Town Jeremy Meeks prepares backstage for the Philipp Plein collection during, New York Fashion Week: The Shows at New York Public Library Monica Schipper/Getty Images Jeremy Meeks prepares backstage for the Philipp Plein Fall/Winter 2017/2018 Women's And Men's Fashion Show at The New York Public Library on February 13, 2017 Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images Youngster Jeremy Meeks spoke about growing up with his father in prison during an interview with Man About Town. Man About Town Jeremy Meeks, right, makes a court appearance with his attorney Tai Bogan July 8, 2014 in Stockton, California Elijah Nouvelage/Getty Images Jeremy Meeks in his first ever magazine photoshoot. Man About Town Jeremy Meeks the runway for the Philipp Plein collection during New York Fashion Week: The Shows at New York Public Library on February 13, 2017 in New York Albert Urso/Getty Images Jeremy Meeks prepares backstage for the Philipp Plein collection during, New York Fashion Week: The Shows at New York Public Library Monica Schipper/Getty Images Jeremy 'Hot Felon' Meeks poses backstage for the Moncler Grenoble collection during New York Fashion Week Angela Weiss/AFP/Getty Images Jeremy Meeks the runway for the Philipp Plein collection during New York Fashion Week: The Shows at New York Public Library on February 13, 2017 in New York Albert Urso/Getty Images The fashion model in an intense shot in Man About Town magazine. Man About Town Blue-eyed fashion model Jeremy Meeks in his first ever UK fashion shoot. Man About Town The tattooed ex-convict appears in Man About Town fashion shoot, which was set to be launched this week. Man About Town NO JUST JARED USAGE<BR/> Chloe Green and Jeremy Meeks out and about in Beverly Hills Splash News Model Jeremy Meeks presents a creation for fashion house Philippe Plein during the Men's Spring/Summer 2018 fashion shows in Milan, on 17 June 2017 AFP/Getty Images Jeremy Meeks and his companion, British heiress Chloe Green look on prior to the French L1 football match between Monaco and Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) at the Louis II stadium in Monaco on 26 November 2017 AFP/Getty Images Chloe Green and Jeremy Meeks attend the Balmain Homme Menswear Fall/Winter 2018-2019 show as part of Paris Fashion Week on 20 January 2018 in Paris, France Getty Images

Miss Green posted a photograph of herself and her new boyfriend on Instagram with the caption: "Just the beginning. We appreciate all the love and all the hate." She has since deleted her Instagram account.
F ast-food chain Subway is planning a major expansion creating up to 5,000 jobs in the UK.

The American-owned company currently has 2,500 stores and plans to open 500 more across the UK and Ireland.

The firm said consumer demand was the reason behind the rapid expansion and plans to revamp its menu.

Subways UK director Peter Dowding said: We already have a breakfast menu, but its a part of the day we need to work on.

The fast-food giant overtook McDonalds as the worlds largest restaurant chain more than six years ago, and will double closest UK rival Greggs after the expansion. It now plans to monopolise high streets as the largest fast-food chain in the UK.

Despite the UKs decision to leave the European Union, Mr Dowding said the firm had so far not seen an impact and said its business as usual.

Like any other business were waiting to see what the government does and will tackle it from there.

Subway was founded in the US by Fred DeLuca and Peter Buck in 1965 is now worth $7.1 billion (5.4 billion)

The popular sandwich store offers its well-known subs  a foot-long, baguette-like sandwich with favourites such as the Italian BMT, meatball marinara and the tuna sandwich.
A British-born Isis recruiter from Kent is desperate to return to the UK following the death of her Jihadi husband, it has been claimed.

Sally Jones, 47, fled her Chatham home and took her son to Raqqa in Syria in 2014 after marrying now-dead jihadist Junaid Hussain.

Hussain was killed in a US drone strike in 2015.

In an interview with Sky News, a woman named only as Aisha, claimed Jones had been heard crying and saying she wanted to return to the UK.

Bizarre image: Sally Jones

Aisha is believed to be the wife of another Isis soldier and is now reportedly being held under Kurdish guard at a refugee camp in Syria.

She told Sky News: She was crying and wants to get back to Britain but ISIS is preventing her because she is now a military wife. She told me she wish to go to her country [sic].

Describing Jones, who also uses the name Umma Hussain al Britani, she added: She lost her husband in a battle last year. She has one boy.

[She is] about 50 years and she's very cute".
P rince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall struggled to stifle their laughter as they were treated to a display of Inuit throat singing during a tour of Canada.

The royals were filmed giggling uncontrollably as they watched two female performers during a welcoming ceremony in Inqaluit, Canada's Arctic capital.

Inuit throat singing is traditionally performed as a duet by women, who stand face-to-face and match each other's rhythmic vocal noises.

The pairs compete to see who can last the longest before one of them runs out of breath.

And the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall seemed like they needed a breather themselves as they burst out laughing during Thursday's performance.

Camilla was forced to bury her face in her hand as she tried to regain her composure, with Charles also breaking into giggles as he met her eyes.

The footage emerged on Tuesday after the royals' three-day visit to Canada to mark the Commonwealth country's 150th birthday.

It was Charles's 18th tour of the North American nation and his fourth with Camilla.

The pair have previously spoken of bonding over their shared sense of humour when they first met more than 40 years ago.
A women's rights activist who established a "liberal" mosque where burkas are banned has been placed under 24-hour police protection after receiving a deluge of death threats.

Seyran Ates, 54, set up Ibn Rushd Goethe Mosque along with six colleagues in Berlin last month to take a stand against fundamentalism and cater for a "modern" interpretation of Islam.

Worshippers of different branches of the religion, as well as homosexuals and atheists, are welcome at the mosque, which counters convention by allowing men and women to pray together.

The mosque has both male and female imams and does not allow full face veils for "security reasons". Founders also believe the garments are "nothing to do with religion, but rather are a political statement".

Ms Ates said she had received thousands of abusive messages each day after the mosque opened in mid-June, with some branding her "the devil incarnate" and telling her she should burn in Hell. Turkish and Egyptian authorities have condemned the mosque.

The lawyer, of Turkish descent, told The Times: "Since setting up the mosque I have received so many death threats through social media that the police decided they have to protect me around the clock.

"The hostile reactions proved how necessary the project was."

Police have also been guarding the building during Friday prayers, which have so far been attended by only a few dozen people.

But its founders said they had also received many supportive emails and planned to open a similar mosque in Freiburg.
A gay man in China has successfully sued a mental hospital after he was forced to undergo conversion therapy.

The man, known as Mr Yu, was forced to go to the institution by his wife and family where he was treated for sexual preference disorder.

According to the Associated Press news agency, Mr Yu was held in the hospital for 19 days and was made to take medicine and given injections.

On June 26, a court in the Henan province ordered the hospital to publish an apology in a local paper and pay the 38-year-old the equivalent of 569.

The ruling did not cast a verdict on the process of conversion therapy or consider Mr Yus homosexuality but instead concluded that forcing someone who did not pose a threat into a mental institution infringed on his right to individual freedom.

But LGBT activists in China nevertheless hailed the decision as being landmark case against mental institutions who use compulsory therapy.

Being gay was listed as a mental illness in China until 2001 but many people still hide their sexuality due to pressure to enter into a heterosexual marriage and have a child.

In 2016, the BBC reported that a mental health textbook for higher education compared being gay to paedophilia and bestiality.

It suggests possible cures which include repulsion therapy  where the person endures forced vomiting or fear of electrocution every time they have sexual desire for someone of the same sex.

Peng Yanhui, a gay rights activist who also sued a private conversion clinic in 2014, said the recent rulings confirmed the illegality of forced treatments.

He told the AP. "It's time for China to enact laws to prohibit forced gay conversion therapy."
D onald Trump mocked North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un for having nothing better to do with his life hours after his regime fired a ballistic missile into waters near Japan.

North Korea launched the intermediate-range ballistic missile on Tuesday that flew for 37 minutes before landing in the Sea of Japan, the US Pacific Command said.

The test is the latest in a string of recent similar launches as North Korea works to build a nuclear-tipped missile that can reach the US mainland.

It came on the eve of the US Independence Day holiday, days after the first face-to-face meeting of the leaders of South Korea and the United States, and before of a global summit of the world's richest economies.

A previous 'underwater test-fire of a strategic submarine ballistic missile' conducted at an undisclosed location in North Korea / EPA

The launch seems designed to send a political warning to Washington and its chief Asian allies, Seoul and Tokyo, as well as put North Korean scientists a step closer toward perfecting their still-incomplete nuclear missile programme.

Hours after the test, the US President tweeted: North Korea has just launched another missile. Does this guy have anything better to do with his life?

He then speculated over whether South Korea and Japan would put up with this much longer and if China  North Koreas closest ally and biggest economic partner  would put a heavy move on the country and end this nonsense once and for all.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un inspects a "special forces" unit / AFP

Japanese PM Shinzo Abe said the launch clearly shows that the nuclear threat has grown.

Officials said the missile may have landed in waters claimed by Japan as its exclusive economic zone. The US said it did not pose a threat to North America.

North Korea last test-launched missiles in May and fired two on separate occasions towards the Sea of Japan.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga indicated this missile's capability exceeded previous ones, and suggested the altitude might have been higher than earlier tests.

Just last week South Korean President Moon Jae-in and President Donald Trump focused much of their first meeting on opposing North Korea's development of atomic weapons that threaten both allies.
A man was arrested in the US after allegedly stealing an ornamental dragon's head from a childrens playground to use as a cannabis pipe.

Police were called to Rotary Park II in Wayne County, Michigan, when a local resident reported that a large dragon head had gone missing from the childrens play area.

When police recovered the dragon head in a nearby home, they discovered that it had been turned into a pipe used to smoke marijuana.

A warrant was granted to arrest 19-year-old Nathan Richard Pearson who is alleged to have stolen the large green dragon head that was part of a play structure.

Pearson was arrested and later bailed on June 17 and is scheduled for a preliminary hearing later this month.

Pearson, who has previously been charged with theft and damage to property, will face up to five years if convicted.

Smoking cannabis can be used for medicinal purposes and is legal in some US states, including Washington, Oregon, California and Nevada, but is illegal in the state of Michigan.
ROCK FALLS | Two people were transported to Mercy Medical Center-North Iowa for minor injuries after a one-vehicle accident in Rock Falls Sunday.

Jerald Majewski, 77, Plymouth, was driving south in the 300 block of Spring Street at 5:20 p.m. when he experienced a medical issue, lost control of his car and ran into the railroad tracks, according to a news release from the Cerro Gordo County Sheriff's Office.
J ean-Claude Juncker has slammed the European Parliament for being ridiculous after most MEPs failed to show up for a debate about an EU presidency.

In extraordinary scenes, the President of the European Commission ranted at parliament members for not being serious about the debate.

His outburst sparked a heated exchange with the President of the Parliament, Antonio Tajani, who ordered him to be more respectful.

Mr Juncker was attending a debate on the Maltese presidency of the European Council.

Outburst: EU Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker / AFP/Getty Images

Only thirty-something of the Parliaments 700 MEPs turned up and Mr Juncker suggested the number would have been far greater if it was a debate on the presidency of a country such as France or Germany.

He began his speech by thanking those "who have actually taken the trouble to turn out" and claimed the incident of indicated MEPs are not serious about the task.

President: Antonio Tajani asked Mr Juncker to be more 'respectful' / EPA

Mr Tanjani interjected and asked for him to adopt a more respectful attitude, adding: "You may criticise the Parliament but the Commission does not control the Parliament."

But Mr Juncker shot back: "There are only a few members in the plenary to control the commission, you are ridiculous."

Rant: Junker said, it was 'ridiculous' to speak before an almost empty parliament / EPA

Mr Tajani interrupted again and ordered him to "change your language".

To which Mr Juncker responded: "I will never again attend a meeting of this kind.

"The commission is under the control of the parliament but the parliament has to respect even the presidencies of smaller countries, which is what the parliament is not doing."
D rake Bell has paid tribute to ex-girlfriend Stevie Ryan following her death, saying that he cant believe she is gone.

The former child star, now 31, said he was crushed by news that the actress and comic had been found dead at her LA home on Saturday.

No no no!!!! I can NOT BELIEVE THIS IS HAPPENING!!!! Please wake me from this nightmare @StevieRyan I loved you and will forever miss you, he wrote underneath a photo of the pair.

He later added: This is too much. My heart is crushed. @StevieRyan I love you and miss you

The two dated briefly from 2005 to 2006 but are thought to have remained close.

The Los Angeles Coroners Office has confirmed that Ryan was found dead on July 1 from a suspected suicide.

Just a few days before her death, Ryan tweeted about losing her grandfather, writing: The man of my dreams will now only be in my dreams. I'll miss you everyday, forever. I love you my Pa.

On Instagram, she added: "My dream man who I will only see in my dreams. I'll meet you in Percebo, soon. I love you my Papa."

Ryan was known for her viral YouTubes video, in which she played characters including Little Loca and Sceney Sceneable.

Her impressions of stars such as Justin Bieber, Amy Winehouse and Lady Gaga were also popular, racking up millions of hits on the video-sharing site.

After her videos caught the attention of television producers, she moved from Victorville to Los Angeles where she fronted her own VH1 show, Stevie TV.

For confidential support call the Samaritans in the UK on 116 123, visit a local Samaritans branch or visit them online at http://www.samaritans.org.
G reen Day have cancelled their Glasgow gig just hours before they were due to perform because of unsafe weather conditions.

The US rockers, who performed at BST in Hyde Park over the weekend, said they were distraught over the decision to call off the Bellahouston Park show but were prioritising fan safety.

Glasgow, we are very sad to report that our show today at Bellahouston Park has been cancelled, they said in a statement.

The local safety council, production crew, and concert organizers have deemed the stage unsafe for the fans and everyone involved.

We are very distraught about this as we are in Glasgow now and were very much looking forward to this show as one the highlights of our tour.

The band insisted that they wouldnt mind performing in adverse weather conditions, but the decision was out of their hands.

Green Day "No Donald Trump"

We have been playing in extreme weather conditions throughout this European tour, and the last thing we want to do is see a show cancelled, they said.

We love our Scottish fans and we dont care if its raining f****** sideways, although the safety of our fans and our crew is always our top priority. We love you Scotland, we love the city of Glasgow and it goes without saying that WE WILL BE BACK!

During their London gig at the weekend, frontman Billie Joe Armstrong told the crowd that he didnt give a s*** about the curfew.

He said: Were going to play all night long, we might even play into tomorrow who knows? No one is going to stop us.
B ritish model Neelam Gill says she is fed up with people assuming she comes from a wealthy background.

Condemning the fashion industry as elitist, the Burberry star hit back at the misconception that she must have had a rich family to be successful.

People dont realise that the industry is not only racist, its elitist, too, said Gill, 22.

When I first started modelling for Burberry I would read all the comments about me on social media.

On the rise: Neelam Gill is trying to shake the misconceptions / Iakovos Kalaitzakis

A lot of people assumed I got the job because I had rich parents.

I was like, Are you kidding me? Im from Coventry. This job paid for my parents holiday.

Neelam Gill - In pictures 1 /24 Neelam Gill - In pictures Neelam Gill poses as she arrives for the amfAR's 24th Cinema Against AIDS Gala on May 25, 2017 at the Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc in Cap d'Antibes, France AFP/Getty Images Neelam Gill departs the Martinez Hotel during the 70th annual Cannes Film Festival on May 24, 2017 Getty Images Neelam Gill attends the Gala 20th Birthday Of L'Oreal In Cannes during the 70th annual Cannes Film Festival at Martinez Hotel Getty Images Neelam Gill attends the "The Beguiled" screening during the 70th annual Cannes Film Festival 2017 at Palais des Festivals Getty Images Madison Beer and Neelam Gill attend the Wonderland Summer Issue dinner hosted by Madison Beer at The Ivy Soho Brasserie on 5 June 2017 in London Dave Benett Neelam Gill walks the runway at the Ashish show during London Fashion Week ASpring/Summer collections 2017 on September 19, 2016 in London Getty Images Neelam Gill attends the Elle Style Awards 2017 on February 13, 2017 in Londo Dave Benett Neelam Gill attends a reception and dinner for supporters of The British Asian Trust at the Natural History Museum on 2 February 2016 in London Getty Images Neelam Gill attends Poppy Jamie, Suki Waterhouse, Leo Seigal and Cade Hudson celebration of the launch of POP & SUKI on 2 November 2, 2016 in Los Angeles, California Getty Images Neelam Gill attends The Elle Style Awards 2016 on February 23, 2016 in London Getty Images Neelam Gill attends The Fashion Awards 2016 on December 5, 2016 in London, Getty Images Neelam Gill arriving at the GQ Men of the Year Awards 2016 held at The Tate Modern in London PA Neelam Gill arrives for GQ Men Of The Year Awards 2016 at Tate Modern on September 6, 2016 in London Getty Images Neelam Gill attending the Fabulous Fund Fair, a London Fashion Week event in aid of the Naked Heart Foundation charity, at Old Billingsgate Market, London PA Neelam Gill at the Glamour Women of the Year Awards 2016, Berkeley Square Gardens, London PA Neelam Gill attends the opening of the House Of Dior on New Bond Street on June 8, 2016 in London Dave Benett Neelam Gill attends the Burberry Womenswear Spring/Summer 2016 show during London Fashion Week at Kensington Gardens on 21 September 2015 in London Getty Images Neelam Gill attends the Claridge's Christmas Tree Party 2015, designed by Christopher Bailey for Burberry, at Claridge's Hotel

It annoys me that people have that perception of models.

She also claimed she was encouraged to pretend she came from nearby Leamington Spa, seen as more genteel than Coventry.

The LOreal ambassador told Hello! Fashion Monthly: When I first started modelling, people told me to say I was from Leamington, instead of Coventry. But really, whats the point?

Cver star: Neelam Gill on the front of Hello! Fashion Monthly / Hello! Fashion Monthly

The full interview is in the July issue of HELLO! Fashion Monthly, out tomorrow
I n this latest instalment of Channel 4s Life Behind Bars series, which takes an in depth look at prison life, cameras head to one of Scotlands largest prisons, HMP Low Moss to record inmates visits from family and friends.

Heres everything you need to know:

Whats it about?

The documentary focuses on one of the most important aspects in any prisoners life  their contact with the outside world.

Poignant moments come from Gary  who received his first murder conviction aged just nineteen after getting into a fight  and his fiancee Charley who are trying to plan a wedding despite Gary not yet having a release date.

The biggest and best TV shows of 2017 1 /13 The biggest and best TV shows of 2017 Doctor Who The classic sci-fi show got a new lease of life with new companion Bill Potts BBC Line of Duty The BBC's acclaimed crime drama moved up to BBC One with more twists than ever before World Productions / BBC / Aidan Monaghan Broadchurch Chris Chibnall's mystery drama came to a close with a compelling final series ITV The Moorside Sheridan Smith puts in a stellar performance as she returns to TV in the BBC's Shannon Matthews drama Stuart Wood/ITV/BBC Apple Tree Yard Emily Watson starred in the BBC's gripping psychological thriller BBC/Kudos/Nick Briggs Fortitude, Series 2 Sky Atlantic's original Nordic noir-inspired chiller is back for more bloody mysteries Sky Atlantic Sherlock, Series 4 Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman return as Holmes and Watson in the BBC's mega hit PA Taboo Tom Hardy's dark thriller is unlike any period drama you've seen before FX Networks No Offence, Series 2 Paul Abbott's comedy-drama continues to walk a tonal tightrope with total ease Channel 4/Ian Derry The Voice A move to ITV has given singing contest The Voice a new lease of life ITV

We also hear from another inmate Mike who is navigating an at-times tricky relationship with his retired church minister father.

Meanwhile prisoner Mark meets his granddaughter for the very first time on camera.

What is Low Moss?

Low Moss is a large, medium security prison located just North of Glasgow, which can house up to 784 inmates. It was opened in 1968 but underwent an extensive redevelopment in 2012. The mens prison is home to notorious criminals including John Leatham, who killed teenager Paige Doherty, but also houses less dangerous criminals serving short-term sentences.

Whens it on?

The hour-long documentary airs on July 4 at 9pm on Channel 4.
Iowa still remembers a windy day in 1931 in the small town of Spencer, where a fire ignited by a sparkler at a local drug store engulfed nearly 100 buildings and led to an 80-year statewide ban on aerial fireworks.

Or do we?

Gov. Terry Branstad signed a bill in May legalizing the sale and use of commercial-grade fireworks in the state, including bottle rockets and Roman candles. Iowans overwhelmingly agreed with the new law, with nearly two-thirds of the adults surveyed by a Des Moines Register/Mediacom Iowa Poll in support of legal fireworks.

New Jersey recently joined Iowa and seven other states in lifting restrictions on the sale and use of some type of consumer fireworks since 2011.

Whats fascinating is not that our home state of finally approved fireworks (polls leading up to the 2017 legalization consistently found a majority of residents in support) but the ways in which the legalization of consumer fireworks may serve as a litmus for more subtle political changes to come.

The restriction or outright banning of consumer fireworks has long been a fixture in nearly all of the states author Colin Woodward identifies as belonging to Yankeedom in his influential book American Nations. As of 2014 a Washington Post map of the states that heavily restricted or totally banned consumer fireworks looked very much like a map of reliably Blue "Yankee" states, including at least three located the Midwest. At that time five states  including Iowa  allowed only sparklers and/or novelty fireworks, while four others insisted on blanket bans.

Since 2014 New York and New Jersey have both dropped their blanket bans, Iowa has legalized commercial fireworks, and, Illinois may soon follow suit. Of the 10 reliably Blue states that the Post identified in 2014 as banning fireworks altogether or otherwise restricting their citizens to sparklers/novelties, nearly one-third (including Iowa) went for Trump in the 2016, defying pollsters expectations of the size and scope of the Republican victory.

Woodward characterizes the states of Yankeedom as those largely founded by Puritans, and his map of Yankeedom consists in large part of the northeastern states and the industrial Midwest  areas, he says, that tend to be more comfortable with government regulation and that prize the communal and the common good.

As far back as 2015 pundits and pulse-takers might have predicted Iowas surprising vote for Trump in 2016 if only they had looked at our states move away from its communal Yankeedom roots to a more Deep South-styled embrace of dont-tread-on-me personal liberties, even if, and when, those liberties conflict with perceptions of the common good. When polled in February 2015, more than 54 percent of Iowans favored legalizing fireworks, with 42 percent opposed.

While a majority of us were busy telling pollsters we were in favor of a Red state fixture  the right to buy and explode aerial fireworks  we were simultaneously telling presidential pollsters we favored Clinton over Trump.

Had Team Clinton followed the steady fireworks polling in Iowa instead of the shifting presidential polling numbers, it might have seen the states ideological drift rightward well in advance, perhaps in time to adjust its ground strategy if not set sails to the new political winds. While feelings about the legalization of fireworks in historically Yankee states like ours is far from a perfect forecaster, they turn out to offer a far more accurate litmus than polls of likely voters.

A map of the United States of Fireworks looks quite different on Independence Day 2017 than it did in 2011. In states like Iowa, that shift may serve as a harbinger of still more explosive political changes to come.
On June 19, a not-so-shocking announcement that the Third Ward Councilman Brett Schoneman declared his immediate resignation from the Mason City Council.

Imagine my surprise. Another young business owner failing to follow through with an elected office obligation, staying just long enough to reap some benefit from the office. Let us throw in the towel rather than be accountable.

When people run and get elected to the City Council, it is a moral imperative to put that oath above personal gain or personal discomfort. If you place your name on the ballot to see how it can benefit you, you have made a serious theft of voice of your constituents and neighbors.

Schoneman issued a lengthy Kumbaya statement. This was clearly broadcast to make sure that no current or future customers of his family brokerage could be offended by his early departure from his elective obligations.

There is something different regarding the attitude of the millennial generation relating to areas of commitment and follow through. Imagine how disheartening it was to Mason City to see this attitude pushing to front and center. The "me and mine first" attitude disappointed me. This age group is now moving into leadership positions in business as well as government. It seems to me that what is truly important to their generation has not evolved into leadership and sacrifice. By all accounts, Schoneman is a smart, likable person. Apparently, that combination did not include commitment. Those few Millennials who have developed leadership, compromise and unselfish decision-making skill sets stand out and are immediately noticed and followed.

Schoneman made a selfish decision to bail out on the Third Ward. Did he honestly think that it was all rose petals and marshmallows?

This void is a blessing since the Council needs to be filled with self-sacrificing attitudes that put solving the challenges to Mason City and pushing us forward with earth-friendly business and industry recruitment that pays a family living wage at the forefront of all initiatives. If that is not your primary objective, keep your name off this and any future ballots.

My post retirement research shows that cities in the size of what is called a regional hub, which we are, are most successful when piloted by those whose success is already in the books and the decisions they make for the population are pure as to intent. Those of you whom want to serve can jump in when you reach that benchmark.

I have no idea how the current Council or electorate will decide to fill this significant amount of unfulfilled commitment by Schoneman. If I follow the process, we will have either a council appointment or a special election for anyone petitioning with enough signatures, which I believe to be 120. Since the 120 will be audited, I encourage you to secure at least 200 signatures from Ward 3 to null out any illegitimate signatures.

I have audited plenty of petitions over my years that have had several Don Quixote's and more than a few Jimmy Hendrix signatures. Do not gamble if you have what it takes and desire to serve this city.

Do remember who and what you represent. Do remember that the best of democracy happens at the lowest levels. Be prepared for a torrent of criticism because yes, this is America and we can still move forward being the brunt of criticism if we are properly motivated.

I am hopeful for the Third Ward. I am hopeful for a clean house with pure and constant adherence to the oath taken.

Good Lord Willing and The River Don't Rise.
The Scotts Bluff County Commissioners has accepted a gross maximum price of $4.375 million from FCI Construction of Cheyenne, Wyoming, for construction of an addition and remodel of the county detention center.

County Board Chairman Mark Masterton placed an emergency item on the boards July 3 agenda to send a letter of intent to FCI with their acceptance, with a few modifications for insurance compliance.

Masterton said the Nebraska Jail Standards Board has approved the jails design plans, but the county still needs to receive an official validation letter. The deadline for approving FCIs bid passes before the next commissioners meeting, so the board filed a letter of intent until the official go-ahead arrives from the state.

It is our expectations to have an approval letter from Nebraska Jail Standards and have our Board of Commissioners approve your contract by the end of business on Friday, July 14, the letter to FCI read.

Its basically a formality were going through, Masterton said. Were sending a letter of intent. But we want the validation letter from Jail Standards in hand before we commit to a contract with FCI.

The county board will also officially sign a $5.2 million agreement later this week with the Royal Bank of Canada. That will pay for the jail project and some deferred maintenance, including boilers at the detention center and added security features at the countys administration building.

In addition to the construction companys gross maximum price, we have to add contingency fees of about 10 to 15 percent, Masterton said. We may or may not use those fees, so we cant really include that in the price at this point.

Masterton emphasized that the $5.2 million agreement with Royal Bank of Canada was a loan, not a bond. It would be repaid from funds the county currently spends on sending prisoners to other facilities.

Earlier this year, the Wyoming Legislature approved allowing out-of-state inmates to be housed in that states jails. This allows Scotts Bluff County to house some of its overflow prisoners in Torrington.

Masterton said the county should be getting some additional funding from agreements with the State of Nebraska to house some of the states inmates. Another agreement with the federal government will authorize the county to house prisoners being held for the Immigration and Naturalization Service.

He added that once the county receives the validation letter from Jail Standards, FCI would like to start construction right away.

Were at the point where were concerned about running into winter weather before we can get the additions buttoned up, Masterton said. Its less expensive for us to have the work done when the weather is nicer.

In other action, commissioners approved closing county offices from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Monday, Aug. 21, to allow for employees to watch the total solar eclipse that will cover the area.
At the directive of Mayor Tony Kaufman, Gering city staff has issued a statement explaining the process the city must follow to sell property in the new industrial park.

At the June 26 council meeting, Brian Marchant, general manager of Croell, Inc., made a full price offer to purchase about 80 acres from the city to build a concrete plant and regional headquarters for Croell Redi-Mix. The facility would employ about 15-20 new people.

Marchant said his company was on a deadline to get the new facility built and in operation, so he needed an answer from the city within a month.

The mayor and council members said they wanted to work with Marchant to being the Redi-Mix plant to Gering, but declined to accept his offer to purchase, citing procedure.

The city had purchased the 80 acres to be a key component of the industrial park, located east of the Gering sewage lagoons. At the June 26 meeting, council approved the purchase of an additional 109 acres south of U Street for further expansion of the industrial park.

According to the citys statement, several other parties were interested in the 80 acres Marchant offered to purchase. Under state statute, land sales by municipalities can only be completed through competitive sealed bids from potential buyers to ensure fairness.

Mineral rights restrictions could also be problematic for sand and gravel operations like Croell Redi-Mix. Years before Gering purchased the property; prior owners had reserved mineral rights to the land, which would restrict future owners. That reservation was already in place before the previous owner sold the land to Gering, so they couldnt transfer the rights.

However, mineral rights restrictions would have no effect on using the land for development as an industrial park.

The statement said the city is actively working with Croell Redi-Mix to explore possible partnerships to bring the companys regional headquarters to Gering. But the specific location they have proposed, and the method of sale, are not something the City of Gering can accommodate.

Gering, in partnership with Scottsbluff, is working toward the creation of a certified industrial park. A regional economic development study conducted in 2014 revealed an industrial area would help bring significant economic growth to the community.
SCOTTSBLUFF  A former Fremont Motors employee has been sentenced to five years in prison in an embezzlement case.

Terry Weddle, 58, pleaded to a charge of theft by deception, a Class IIA felony, agreeing to a plea agreement in May. He was sentenced on Monday to two to five years in prison by Judge Leo Dobrovolny, according to court documents.

Weddle has been ordered to pay restitution of more than $120,000.

Scottsbluff Police began investigation an internal theft at Fremont Motors on Dec. 6, 2016. The owner of the business alleged an employee, identified as Weddle, had written and signed unauthorized checks. The accounts were written and deposited into accounts belonging to Weddle from July 2014 to December 2016. It was also alleged that Weddle had made payments to his personal credit card account.

The investigation revealed that checks had been signed as for reimbursement purposes, however, the company had only authorized Weddle to write a reimbursement check on one occasion.

During the investigation, a letter was also obtained by officers, with Weddle purportedly admitting to the theft.

With good time, Weddle will be eligible for parole after serving a year in prison.
SCOTTSBLUFF  Twelve adventurous students traveled to Costa Rica recently to immerse themselves in the language and culture of the country.

Every other year, Western Nebraska Community College (WNCC) hosts a trip to a Spanish speaking country for students. Students immerse themselves in the language and life of their host country. They spend four hours a day in class learning Spanish and stay with host families where they must also speak Spanish to communicate.

From May 19 to June 4, 12 students learned the language, culture and history of Costa Rica.

For Erica Croft, it was her first time leaving the country. She enjoyed every aspect of the trip.

It was a good way to not only get to know the language and culture, but what they eat, how they live and what they do in their spare time, Croft said.

Croft is a second grade teacher and hadnt spoken Spanish since high school, but found herself remembering the language while she was there. Whether she was with a fluent speaker or not, she found a way to get her point across and communicate with others.

During the trip, Croft arranged to speak with her incoming students via Skype where they played a game, Where in the World is Mrs. Croft? to teach the students about Costa Rica.

Since 1998, Stacy Wilson, foreign language instructor at WNCC, has organized trips to Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico, Peru and Spain. This year, she wanted to take the students to Argentina, but the prices were prohibitive.

When I told the students the price, everyone had a little heart attack, Wilson said.

Some funding for the trip comes from grant money from the college as well as the WNCC Foundation.

Their goal is the same as my goal  to broaden cultural horizons and give students access and experience in a different culture and different language to help them better understand the world outside of Nebraska, Wilson said. The college and the foundation are in tune with that.

The idea for the trips began after Wilson realized her study abroad trips shouldnt be done alone. She had spent two years in France before becoming a teacher and spent time in Mexico after beginning teaching. She felt the need to do it personally and professionally so she would know what she was talking about in her classroom.

Although Grace Garza experienced some culture shock, she embraced the Costa Rican motto of pure life and to enjoy life and not stress out too much. The trip may have been short, but she made new friends.

The people I went with made it a lot of fun, Garza said.

Juan Garfio is already fluent in Spanish. His focus on the trip was to learn more about the background of Costa Rica and its literature.

That, to me, was fascinating since I didnt know much about the grammar and literature of the language, Garfio said.

From an organizational standpoint, Croft said there were no problems with any part of the trip, which allowed her the time needed to learn without worrying about logistical problems.

Students spent time in two schools. Garfio said the first teacher was laid back and let students try to teach themselves. She also gave them critical thinking questions. The second teacher was more strict, but his style was more helpful for Garfio.

He would make us teach the class and ask What do you think about this and what do you think about that, Garfio said. That would go into his whole plan for the week and at the end of the week, he would say, This is how it all fits in to literature.

In addition to classroom work, students had excursions to learn more about the country. Costa Rica stresses ecotourism, so they promote outdoor activities, nature and wildlife. Students went bird watching, hiking in the rain forest, visited a toucan and sloth rescue ranch. Wilson said the baby sloth is the cutest thing she has ever seen.

Students also went hiking, sea kayaking, snorkeling, swam in the ocean and ziplined in the rain forest.

On a tour of a coffee plantation, they learned how coffee is grown, harvested and processed. They were also taught the difference between light and strong coffee.

Wilson said they also experienced raccoons and Capuchin monkeys who attempted to steal items from their backpacks at the beach.

We had to fight the monkeys off from stealing our stuff, Croft said.

The only minor setbacks were a few students who were stung by jellyfish, but the reactions were not serious and everyone said they had fun overall.

It was such a great experience, northing negative happened, Croft said. It was a great way to get my feet wet and realize how interesting and complicated it can be to travel.

Crofts most memorable moment was snorkeling, something shed never done before and ziplining in the pouring rain through the rain forest. She plans to continue to improve her Spanish in her work as a teacher to better communicate with her students parents.

One thing everyone was not used to was the humidity. There is little to no air conditioning in Costa Rica and the humidity was at 80-85 percent.

By the afternoon, everyone wanted to get in the water, Wilson said. We would see people in jeans at night walking downtown and wed be dying.

Garfio said even though it was hot and humid, it was a good experience to see how another country functions and operates.

It was an amazing experience, Garfio said. If had the chance and the money, I would love to travel again.
Obesity is, literally, a large and growing problem across the world, including here at home in America.

In what is called the most comprehensive research done on the subject of obesity to date, a new study  in which data was compiled from 1980 to 2015  published earlier this month in The New England Journal of Medicine reports these troubling statistics:

- More than 10 percent of the world's population is obese.

- Rates of obesity in 73 countries at least doubled between 1980 and 2015.

For the United States, the study done by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington and funded by the Gates Foundation reports these sobering numbers:

- Combining children and adults, the U.S. showed the largest obesity increase in percentile points, from an obesity rate of 10.5 percent in 1980 to 26.5 percent in 2015. 26.5 percent  that's more than one in four Americans.

- 12.5 percent of children were obese in 2015, up from 5 percent in 1980.

For the study, which examined 195 countries, obese is described as a body mass index of 30 or higher.

The findings represent "a growing and disturbing global public health crisis," according to the authors of the study.

"People who shrug off weight gain do so at their own risk  risk of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer, and other life-threatening conditions," said Dr. Christopher Murray, an author on the study and director of the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation. "Those half-serious New Year's resolutions to lose weight should become year-round commitments to lose weight and prevent future weight gain."

Because obesity impacts society in a variety of ways, including increased health care costs, increased disability costs, and increased workplace absenteeism, this study should be a wake-up call to action in the U.S., in our view.

Due to today's national debate about health care  in particular, the costs associated with health care  alone, the results of an obesity study like this one should resonate throughout the country. According to the Campaign to End Obesity, annual health care costs for obesity-related illnesses in the U.S. are nearly $200 billion, or nearly 21 percent of total medical costs.

"This study shows what we know: No country in the globe has reduced overweight or obesity levels. This is astounding given the huge health and economic costs linked with overweight and obesity," Barry Popkin, a professor of nutrition at the University of North Carolina, told The New York Times.

The challenge of reducing obesity and becoming a healthier country is significant, multi-faceted and will not be met overnight, of course, but for inspiration, Americans need look no further than the successful effort to decrease use of tobacco.

In 1964, Luther Terry issued the first U.S. surgeon general's report on smoking and health, linking cigarette smoking with lung cancer, heart disease and emphysema. According to the Centers for Disease Control, 42 percent of Americans smoked cigarettes in 1965, the year after Terry's report. By 2015, 50 years later, the rate was reduced to 15 percent. Clearly, a national anti-smoking commitment  including warning labels, restrictions on advertising, public service initiatives, higher taxes and smoke-free laws  have showed dramatic, positive results.

Similarly, fighting what we believe is a necessary fight against obesity requires collective national acknowledgement of how serious the problem is and collective national embrace of a comprehensive, sustained strategy for action involving all of American society  government, the health care industry, schools, nonprofits, private businesses, communities, neighborhoods, families and individuals.

We can think of no better time to begin than today.

This editorial appeared in the June 25 edition of the Sioux City Journal, another Lee Enterprises publication.
Agriculture is Nebraskas number one industry, and every day its helping to grow our state. Over the years, our farmers and ranchers and ag equipment manufacturers have grown food and created equipment that is helping feed the world. In more recent years, biotechnology, biofuels, and other value-added ag operations have also helped to grow the industry, and keep Nebraska on the forefront of ag innovation and production. The last two weeks, Nebraska has received a lot of very exciting news from our number one industry that is helping grow our state and create new good-paying jobs.

Last week, the United States and China finalized a protocol, reopening the Chinese market to American beef. This is big news for our state. Nebraska is the countrys top beef processor as well as beef exporter, and China is the second largest importer of beef in the world. Within 48 hours of the news that the market had reopened, I visited Greater Omaha Packing to load the first shipment of beef from Nebraska to China since 2003. Access to the Chinese market allows Nebraska farmers and ranchers to sell our quality beef to 1.4 billion new customers, helping to grow our state for years to come.

The China announcement is particularly significant because we know the countrys growing middle class has an increasing appetite for high quality beef. At the time the market closed in 2003, Chinese beef imports were $64 million, which has since grown to $2.5 billion in 2016. Overall, Nebraska exports 18 percent of the beef leaving the United States. If we captured the same market share in China, we would export $200 million to China annually. Additionally, our success right next door in Japan is another reason to push hard in China: Between 2015 and 2016, our beef exports to Japan jumped 36 percent. Thank you to the countless federal, state, and industry partners who worked together to reopen the Chinese market.

While Nebraska is known as the Beef State, other commodities continue to help grow our state as well. This week, I helped break ground on a new chicken plant in Fremont that will provide chickens for Costco. This project will create 800 new jobs and have an estimated annual economic impact of $1.2 billion, which is about 1 percent of our states GDP. Projects like this are so important because they help provide Nebraskas ag producers with additional opportunities to grow their income. It also gives a new entry point for young Nebraskans seeking a career in agriculture.

Nebraska is seeing significant investments in the area of agriculture biotechnology as well. Just this past week, Germany-based Evonik announced a new $200 million investment in Blair where they plan to develop a manufacturing facility to produce omega-3 fatty acids for aquaculture. This comes right on the heels of the announcement of a $36 million expansion by Novozymes of their biofuels plant, which is also located in Blair. This announcement follows a 2015 trade mission to Denmark during which I visited Novozymes headquarters to urge them to consider Nebraska for future expansions.

Other biofuels operations have also experienced growth in the last year. Last week, I visited Beatrice to celebrate a $100 million investment in the Duonix biodiesel plant. In September, KAAPA Ethanol will complete a $40 million expansion of an ethanol plant they operate in Ravenna. As the second largest ethanol producing state in the nation, this renewable fuel is not only providing clean fuel for drivers around the world, but it is also adding value to our corn and growing Nebraska. Overall, Nebraskas 25 ethanol plants carry 2.2 billion gallons of capacity and directly employ 1,300 Nebraskans.

These are just a few of the big investments in Nebraskas number one industry that are helping to grow our state. While this is a lot of great news, we must continue to work together to grow agriculture. This fall, I will be leading a trade mission to Japan to promote our commodities and attract new investment to our state. Since our last trade mission in 2015, weve already seen a lot of success in the Japanese market from growing beef exports to a new $12.5 million investment from Kawasaki in Lincoln.

As we work together to grow agriculture and Nebraska, I hope to hear from you. If you have ideas to share, please consider contacting my office by emailing pete.ricketts@nebraska.gov or by calling 402-471-2244. We value your input!
A white University of Kentucky student accused of physically assaulting a Black student worker while repeatedly using racial slurs says she will withdraw from the school. The decision announced Tuesday by a lawyer for 22-year-old Sophia Rosing came after hundreds of students rallied on campus the night before. News outlets report the students called for unity and for the university to quickly address the situation. Officials say Rosing has been charged with assault, public intoxication and disorderly conduct. She pleaded not guilty during an arraignment Monday afternoon. The altercation at Boyd Hall was captured on video and posted to multiple social media platforms.
In a video message sent to AGERPRES by the Embassy of the US in Bucharest, US Ambassador Hans Klemm invited Romanians to celebrate on Tuesday, 4th of July, the Independence Day.

"Hello again. Today it's July 4th, and we are celebrating the 241st anniversary of the Declaration of Independence by the United States of America. This year we are also marking the 20th anniversary of the Strategic Partnership between Romania and the United States. This partnership was recently strongly reaffirmed by President Trump and President Iohannis, at the White House in Washington. Looking forward, the United States Embassy and I, will now work with our Romanian friends to strengthen and deepen the Strategic Partnership across every dimension. Our priorities remain to promote security, to promote democracy and the rule of law and to promote prosperity. Please join us in celebrating America's Independence Day," the Ambassador stated, according to the transcript provided by the Embassy's Press Office.



The Embassy of the US mentions that the video message can be watched at the following internet address https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OCC73C_-ZlY.
Mental health has been an issue in our country since the day we knew what it was, and there is still a stigma around it today. Why is that? Why are we so afraid to talk about something that matters? Why do people tend to ignore the issue and pretend it doesnt exist?

On average, one person successfully takes their own life every 16 minutes. Although mental health isnt cancer or heart disease, it takes just as many lives. Im willing to bet you know or knew someone who had mental health problems, and maybe its you.

This past year a good family friend took his own life. No one saw it coming, no one knew he was feeling that way at all. This guy was an outstanding member of our community and had a great personality, just by looking at him youd assume he had it all together. But thats the case with almost everyone who takes their own life.

You dont see it coming until it is too late; we can help stop that if we were open to talking about how we can help those who need it. Iowa is considered to be the second-worst state for mental health in our country. We only have 62 mental health beds in our hospitals in the state. If the citizens of Mason City were more open to discussing the issues with our mental health system here in our own community, we could create services to help those who need it, and just by doing that we could save so many lives.

So heres my proposition to you: get involved, and stand up for what you think is wrong. And most importantly, be kind to those you meet, for everyone is fighting their own battle.

Caitlin Reilly, Mason City
NEW YORK  A new fund led by Greystar Real Estate Partners, the largest operator of apartments in the United States, will acquire luxury U.S. apartment developer Monogram Residential Trust Inc. in a deal valued at about $3 billion, the companies said on Tuesday.

Monogram's shareholders will receive $12 per share in cash in the deal, representing a 22 percent premium to the company's closing price July 3.

Plano, Texas-based Monogram owns, operates and develops luxury apartment communities in coastal and urban markets including southern Florida and Boston. It has no holdings in Missouri or Illinois.

The new fund led by Greystar, called Greystar Growth and Income Fund LP, also received additional founding capital from affiliates of Dutch pension capital investor APG Asset Management N.V., Singaporean sovereign wealth fund GIC and Canadian real estate investor Ivanhoe Cambridge.

Calls for comment to Greystar and Monogram were not immediately returned.

Greystar's St. Louis area properties include Oxford Hills Apartments near Creve Coeur and Sun River Village Apartments in St. Peters.

Real estate-focused activist investors Snow Park Capital Partners LP last year urged Monogram to explore strategic alternatives including a sale because its shares were trading at a significant discount.

Analysts have noted that Monogram faces subpar performance and substantial debt maturities this year and next.

In addition to its U.S. investments, Charleston, S.C.-based Greystar has been expanding abroad, scouting out opportunities in major Chinese cities and planning to own 10,000 apartments across London by 2021, Reuters has reported.

Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC and Goodwin Procter LLP advised Monogram in the deal. Greystar was advised by J.P. Morgan Securities LLC and Jones Day.
NEW YORK  In his 4 years as a state senator from Manhattan, Brad Holyman has handed out everything from flashlights to T-shirts at political rallies. But for a gathering held soon after President Donald Trumps inauguration, he decided on something more substantial:

Copies of the Constitution.

My constituents had been asking me, What can I do to help? How do I prepare myself? says Holyman, a Democrat in his third term who has since distributed thousands of copies. A year ago, who would have imagined that giving away the Constitution would be seen as an act of resistance?

Americans have disagreed about government and civic life since the countrys founding, about who should vote, who should run for office and the risks of political factions. But as the U.S. reaches its 241st birthday, many say democracy itself is in the dock.

Trump, with his labeling the mainstream press the enemy of the people and his disparagement of so-called judges and other traditional checks on executive power, has critics anxious about not just a given policy but the fate of self-rule  at the same time that his supporters view his rise as the kind of anti-elitist triumph democracy is supposed to represent.

The debate extends from classrooms and policy institutes to popular culture, to the Trump-influenced staging of Shakespeares Julius Caesar at Manhattans Public Theater and the wave of dystopian best-sellers such as 1984 and The Handmaids Tale.

I think its highly unusual and disconcerting to have so many people worried about the foundations of our democracy, says Wendy R. Weiser, who directs the Brennan Center for Justices Democracy Program, based at New York University School of Law and focusing on voting rights and elections, among other issues. Were always talking about democracy and struggling to live up to our ideals, but never with so many fundamental questions as were doing right now.

Balancing act

But when activists vow to revitalize democracy, they dont mean the society imagined by the men who helped create it.

None of the founders envisioned our modern democracy, with its broad suffrage and competing political parties, says Gordon Wood, the Pulitzer Prize-winning historian of the Revolutionary War era. Running for office was demagogic and dangerous. The founders believed in equality, but they essentially meant equality of opportunity. Sons of weavers and cobblers could go to college and become gentlemen, but weavers and cobblers themselves were not to become politicians and campaign for office.

American leaders in the early years exchanged accusations of being too pro-British or pro-French, a division marked by two ongoing concerns: The country would relapse into British-style monarchy or fall into violence and lawlessness like the murderous Reign of Terror during the French Revolution.

In 1788, the year before the French Revolution began, Americans were deciding whether to ratify the Constitution. One concern, James Madison wrote in the Federalist Papers, was men of factious tempers, of local prejudices, or of sinister designs, (who) may by intrigue, by corruption or by other means, first obtain the suffrages, and then betray the interests of the people.

Some founders lived long enough to watch, and bemoan, the political rise of Andrew Jackson in the 1820s. Trump and supporters have cited Jackson as a favorite predecessor in the White House, a populist who defied the establishment and broke down boundaries against who might become president. Trump ally Newt Gingrich, the former House speaker, has written that Trump, like Jackson, is an outsider and a disruptive force chosen to break up existing Washington power structures.

But Thomas Jefferson, in sentiments critics have echoed about Trump, worried that Jackson had very little respect for laws and constitutions and added that His passions are terrible.

Historian Sean Wilentz calls Trump almost a caricature of the Caesar-like character the (Constitutions) framers so deeply feared. Wilentz, whose books include The Politicians and the Egalitarians: The Hidden History of American Politics, said, Madison, et al., knew nothing of corporate glitz and reality TV. Otherwise, though, Trump is exactly the kind of figure whom the framers feared too much democracy would produce.

Stability mattered more than inclusiveness for the new country. George Washington essentially ran unopposed for his two terms as president, and was voted in by white, male landowners. Madison and others called the new government a republic, with a political hierarchy from local to state to federal, the leaders presumably becoming wiser and more dispassionate the further removed from popular whims.

Joseph Ellis, author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning Founding Brothers and biographies of Jefferson and Adams, said that even the Declaration of Independence was more an attack against monarchy than a manifesto for what today we would call democracy.

Opposing monarchy doesnt mean theres confidence in democracy, he said. And the function of the Constitution was to take democratic foundations and run them through layers of refinement that allow the government to separate what is popular in the short term from what is in the long-term interest of the people.

Ebb and flow

of democracy

Over the past two centuries, the country has become more democratic than many of the founders wished  without ever reaching the standards activists have called for. Critics cite partisan gerrymandering, voting restrictions, the influence of money on elections and striking income inequality, saying the United States falls short of modern democratic ideals.

The Democracy Index, compiled by the British-based Economist Intelligence Unit, ranked the U.S. at 21st worldwide in 2016, tied with Italy and trailing Norway, Canada and Uruguay, among others. While Norway and several other Scandinavian countries are considered full democracies, according to the index, the U.S. last year fell to flawed democracy, receiving low scores for functioning of government and political participation.

Within the accepted views of the time, the founders did differ widely on what kind of government they favored. Thomas Paine may have been the closest to what we now call an advocate for democracy. Jefferson was highly suspicious of federal power, at least until he became president, while Alexander Hamilton favored a strong chief executive.

Like Jefferson, he (Hamilton) wanted a natural aristocracy to rule, by which both of them meant an aristocracy of talent, that is, men like themselves, Wood said.

But his vision for America was to make it a great fiscal-military state like Britain with a standing army and navy and a huge bureaucracy and a British financial system, a state that would eventually be able to take on the European powers on their own terms, something that Jefferson and Madison found appalling.

By 1802, with his rival Jefferson in the White House and his own ideas under attack, Hamilton was in despair and wrote, This American world was not meant for me, Wood said. On the eve of his duel (with Aaron Burr) in 1804 he said that Americas disease was democracy.
[NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO U.S. NEWSWIRES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES]

GREENWOOD VILLAGE, Colo., July 04, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- NioCorp Developments Ltd. ("NioCorp" or the "Company") (TSX:NB) (OTCQX:NIOBF ) (FRANKFURT:BR3) announces that it has entered into an agreement with Mackie Research Capital Corporation ("Mackie") pursuant to which Mackie has agreed to sell on a best efforts agency basis by way of private placement up to 3,077,000 units of the Company (the "Units") at a price of C$0.65 per Unit (the "Issue Price") for gross proceeds to the Company of up to C$2,000,050 (the "Offering"). There is no minimum offering amount.

Each Unit will consist of one common share of NioCorp (each, a "Common Share") and one common share purchase warrant (a "Warrant"). Each Warrant will entitle the holder to acquire one common share of NioCorp at a price of C$0.79 at any time prior to the date which is 48 months following completion of the Offering.

The Company has also granted the underwriter an option (the "Agent's Option") to increase the size of the Offering by up to 15% in Units, by giving written notice of the exercise of the Agent's Option, or a part thereof, to the Company at any time up to 48 hours prior to closing, which is anticipated to occur on or before the week of July 17, 2017 and is subject to the completion of formal documentation, receipt of all necessary regulatory approvals, including the approval of the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX), and other customary conditions.

As promptly as practicable following the Closing, the Company will prepare and file a registration statement and U.S. preliminary prospectus (collectively, the "Registration Statement") under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended, in respect of the Common Shares and Warrant Shares sold under the Offering; provided that if the Company has not caused the Registration Statement to be declared effective by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission at or before 5:00 p.m. (Vancouver time) on November 17, 2017, then (a) each Unit will thereafter entitle the holder to receive, for no additional consideration, an additional 10% of the Warrants underlying each Unit, resulting in the issuance of 1.1 Warrants (instead of one Warrant), with each whole Warrant being exercisable into one Warrant Share, subject to adjustment, on exercise of the Warrants (the additional Warrants are referred to as the "Penalty Securities"); and (b) each unexercised Compensation Option (as defined below) will thereafter entitle the holder to receive, upon the exercise thereof, for no additional consideration, an additional 10% of the Common Shares otherwise issuable upon exercise of the Compensation Options, resulting in the issuance of 1.1 Common Shares issuable upon exercise of each Compensation Option, subject to adjustment (the "Compensation Penalty Securities").

The Company has agreed to pay to Mackie a cash commission of 6.5% of the aggregate gross proceeds arising from the Offering (the "Commission"), such Commission also being applicable on gross proceeds arising from the exercise of the Agent's Option, where any such exercise occurs. In addition, at Closing, and subject to regulatory approval (where any such approval is required), Mackie will receive options (the "Compensation Options") exercisable at any time up to 48 months following Closing to purchase Common Shares in an amount equal to 6.5% of the number of Units issued pursuant to the Offering (subject to adjustment taking into account any Compensation Penalty Securities), including the amount subscribed for pursuant to the exercise of the Agent's Option, where any such exercise occurs. The Compensation Options shall be exercisable at the price of the Units issued pursuant to the Offering.

Separately, NioCorp and Mackie announced the termination of a previous agreement, announced on May 10, 2017, pursuant to which Mackie was to purchase, on a bought deal short form prospectus basis, 3,077,000 units of the Company at a price of C$0.65 per Unit for gross proceeds to the Company of up to C$2,000,050. The parties mutually agreed to terminate that agreement as a final prospectus could not be receipted until the NI 43-101 technical report detailing the results of the Elk Creek Project Feasibility Study announced on June 30, 2017 was filed. The technical report is expected to be filed prior to August 14, 2017.

A portion, or all of, the Offering may be completed pursuant to BC Instrument 45-534  Exemption from prospectus requirement for certain trades to existing security holders (BCI 45-534) and in accordance with the provisions of various corresponding blanket orders and rules of other Canadian jurisdictions that have adopted the same or a similar exemption from prospectus requirement (collectively with BCI 45-534, the Existing Security Holder Exemption). Subject to applicable securities laws, the Company will permit each person or company who holds common shares as of July 3, 2017 (the Record Date) to subscribe for the Units that will be distributed pursuant to the Offering, provided that the Existing Security Holder Exemption is available to such purchaser. In addition to conducting the Offering pursuant to the Existing Security Holder Exemption, the Company will also accept subscriptions for Units where other prospectus exemptions are available.

Subject to certain limitations discussed below, the Offering is open to all existing shareholders of the Company until July 11, 2017, other than shareholders located within the United States or who are, or who are acting for the account or benefit of, U.S. Persons (as defined in Regulation S under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "1933 Act"). Eligible shareholders of the Company interested in participating in the Offering should contact the Company at NioCorp Developments Ltd. 7000 South Yosemite Street, Suite 115 Centennial, CO 80112, Attn: Jim Sims, Tel: (303) 503-6203, email: jim.sims@niocorp.com, no later than July 11, 2017 so that subscription materials can be provided for completion and return to the Company no later than July 18, 2017.

Subscribers purchasing Units under the Existing Security Holder Exemption will need to represent in writing that they meet certain requirements of the Existing Security Holder Exemption, including that they were, on or before the Record Date, a shareholder of the Company (and still are a shareholder of the Company). The aggregate acquisition cost to a subscriber under the Existing Security Holder Exemption cannot exceed CDN$15,000 unless that subscriber has obtained advice regarding the suitability of the investment and, if the subscriber is resident in a jurisdiction of Canada, such advice is obtained from a person that is registered as an investment dealer in the subscribers jurisdiction.

If the Offering is over-subscribed, it is possible that a shareholders subscription may not be accepted by the Company even though it is received. Additionally, in the event of an imbalance of large subscriptions compared to smaller subscriptions, management of the Company reserves the right in its discretion to reduce large subscriptions in favor of smaller shareholder subscriptions.

Proceeds of the Offering will be used for general working capital purposes and to continue to advance the Companys Elk Creek Superalloy Materials Project.

All of the securities sold pursuant to the Offering will be subject to a four month hold period, which will expire four months and one day from the date of Closing, as well as additional restrictions required by the 1933 Act.

This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy nor shall there be any sale of any of the securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful, including any of the securities in the United States of America. The securities have not been and will not be registered under the 1933 Act, as amended, or any state securities laws and may not be offered or sold within the United States or to, or for account or benefit of, U.S. Persons (as defined in Regulation S under the 1933 Act) unless registered under the 1933 Act and applicable state securities laws, or an exemption from such registration requirements is available. Hedging transactions involving these securities may not be conducted unless in compliance with the 1933 Act.

On Behalf of the Board of Directors,

"Mark Smith"

Mark Smith

President, CEO, Chairman and Director

Source: NioCorp Developments Ltd.

@NioCorp $NB $NIOBF $BR3 #Niobium #Scandium #ElkCreek

About NioCorp

NioCorp is developing a superalloy materials project in Southeast Nebraska with an aim to produce Niobium, Scandium, and Titanium. Niobium is used to produce superalloys as well as High Strength, Low Alloy ("HSLA") steel, which is a lighter, stronger steel used in automotive, structural, and pipeline applications. Scandium is a superalloy material that can be combined with Aluminum to make alloys with increased strength and improved corrosion resistance. Scandium also is a critical component of advanced solid oxide fuel cells. Titanium is used in various superalloys and is a key component of pigments used in paper, paint and plastics and is also used for aerospace applications, armor and medical implants.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

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 document. Certain statements contained in this document may constitute forward-looking statements, including but not limited to statements related to the anticipated closing, size, structure of and exemptions utilized under the Offering, as well as the development of the Elk Creek Project. Such forward-looking statements are based upon NioCorp's reasonable expectations and business plan at the date hereof, which are subject to change depending on economic, political and competitive circumstances and contingencies. Readers are cautioned that such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause a change in such assumptions and the actual outcomes and estimates to be materially different from those estimated or anticipated future results, achievements or positions expressed or implied by those forward-looking statements. Risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause NioCorp's plans or prospects to change include risks related to the Company's ability to operate as a going concern; risks related to the Company's requirement of significant additional capital; changes in demand for and price of commodities (such as fuel and electricity) and currencies; changes in economic valuations of the Project, such as Net Present Value calculations, changes or disruptions in the securities markets; legislative, political or economic developments; the need to obtain permits and comply with laws and regulations and other regulatory requirements; the possibility that actual results of work may differ from projections/expectations or may not realize the perceived potential of NioCorp's projects; risks of accidents, equipment breakdowns and labor disputes or other unanticipated difficulties or interruptions; the possibility of cost overruns or unanticipated expenses in development programs; operating or technical difficulties in connection with exploration, mining or development activities; the speculative nature of mineral exploration and development, including the risks of diminishing quantities of grades of reserves and resources; the risks involved in the exploration, development, and mining business, and the risks set forth in the Company's filings with the SEC at www.sec.gov. NioCorp disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
Gun rights advocates, unaccustomed to court defeats, were handed two setbacks late last month when a St. Louis Circuit Court judge and the U.S. Supreme Court both upheld limits on when and where guns may be carried in public. St. Louis Judge Joan Moriarty declared the St. Louis Zoo fits Missouri laws definition of a

, and the high court declined to hear a challenge to a California law that bans carrying guns openly in most situations. The 90-acre St. Louis Zoo campus has on-site preschool and childrens education programs. Nearly half a million students participate in the programs annually. About 3 million families and visitors come to see exhibits involving nearly 20,000 animals. In that family-friendly environment, guns are the last thing the zoo needs. Cincinnati gun rights activist Jeffry Smith announced plans in 2015 to lead a group of open-carry activists into the zoo to challenge its self-declared status as a gun-free zone. A temporary order blocked Smith, so he strapped on an empty holster to walk the grounds. Moriartys June 23 order now makes the zoo ban permanent. Parents strolling with their kids should not have to be constantly on the lookout for gun carriers looking to make a political point with a menacing display of holstered sidearms. The gun owner might think it enhances safety, but everyone else feels terrorized  doubly so if an actual armed altercation develops. Friendly fire bullets are as deadly as those from an assailants gun. Visitors carrying guns, Moriarty ruled, would significantly harm the level of visitorship, as well as the mission, the public image and autonomy of the zoo as an institution. The

that was under challenge allows members of the public to carry concealed guns in public only if applicants can demonstrate good cause for needing to carry the weapon. Challengers said authorities in San Diego and Yolo County interpreted good cause so narrowly as to make it impossible to carry guns in public for self-defense. The U.S. Court of Appeals in San Francisco ruled that there is no Second Amendment right to carry a concealed weapon but did not decide whether states have a right to ban openly carrying guns. Supreme Court justices did not explain why they

the challenge, allowing the lower court ruling to stand. Although the National Rifle Association maintains that the only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is with a good guy with a gun, public security is best left in the hands of trained professionals, not gun-toting bystanders. The possibility for tragic mishaps only grows when police have trouble distinguishing licensed gun owners from criminals. The NRA stokes fear to fight limits on open gun carry, but in these two rulings, common sense prevailed.

Gun rights advocates, unaccustomed to court defeats, were handed two setbacks late last month when a St. Louis Circuit Court judge and the U.S. Supreme Court both upheld limits on when and where guns may be carried in public. St. Louis Judge Joan Moriarty declared the St. Louis Zoo fits Missouri laws definition of a

gun-free zone, and the high court declined to hear a challenge to a California law that bans carrying guns openly in most situations. The 90-acre St. Louis Zoo campus has on-site preschool and childrens education programs. Nearly half a million students participate in the programs annually. About 3 million families and visitors come to see exhibits involving nearly 20,000 animals. In that family-friendly environment, guns are the last thing the zoo needs. Cincinnati gun rights activist Jeffry Smith announced plans in 2015 to lead a group of open-carry activists into the zoo to challenge its self-declared status as a gun-free zone. A temporary order blocked Smith, so he strapped on an empty holster to walk the grounds. Moriartys June 23 order now makes the zoo ban permanent. Parents strolling with their kids should not have to be constantly on the lookout for gun carriers looking to make a political point with a menacing display of holstered sidearms. The gun owner might think it enhances safety, but everyone else feels terrorized  doubly so if an actual armed altercation develops. Friendly fire bullets are as deadly as those from an assailants gun. Visitors carrying guns, Moriarty ruled, would significantly harm the level of visitorship, as well as the mission, the public image and autonomy of the zoo as an institution. The

California lawthat was under challenge allows members of the public to carry concealed guns in public only if applicants can demonstrate good cause for needing to carry the weapon. Challengers said authorities in San Diego and Yolo County interpreted good cause so narrowly as to make it impossible to carry guns in public for self-defense. The U.S. Court of Appeals in San Francisco ruled that there is no Second Amendment right to carry a concealed weapon but did not decide whether states have a right to ban openly carrying guns. Supreme Court justices did not explain why they

refused to hearthe challenge, allowing the lower court ruling to stand. Although the National Rifle Association maintains that the only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is with a good guy with a gun, public security is best left in the hands of trained professionals, not gun-toting bystanders. The possibility for tragic mishaps only grows when police have trouble distinguishing licensed gun owners from criminals. The NRA stokes fear to fight limits on open gun carry, but in these two rulings, common sense prevailed.

Gun rights advocates, unaccustomed to court defeats, were handed two setbacks late last month when a St. Louis Circuit Court judge and the U.S. Supreme Court both upheld limits on when and where guns may be carried in public. St. Louis Judge Joan Moriarty declared the St. Louis Zoo fits Missouri laws definition of a gun-free zone, and the high court declined to hear a challenge to a California law that bans carrying guns openly in most situations.

The 90-acre St. Louis Zoo campus has on-site preschool and childrens education programs. Nearly half a million students participate in the programs annually. About 3 million families and visitors come to see exhibits involving 20,000 animals. In that family-friendly environment, guns are the last thing the zoo needs.

Cincinnati gun rights activist Jeffry Smith announced plans in 2015 to lead a group of open-carry activists into the zoo to challenge its self-declared status as a gun-free zone. A temporary order blocked Smith, so he strapped on an empty holster to walk the grounds. Moriartys June 23 order now makes the zoo ban permanent.

Parents strolling with their kids should not have to be constantly on the lookout for gun carriers looking to make a political point with a menacing display of holstered sidearms. The gun owner might think it enhances safety, but everyone else feels terrorized  doubly so if an actual armed altercation develops. Friendly fire bullets are as deadly as those from an assailants gun.

Visitors carrying guns, Moriarty ruled, would significantly harm the level of visitorship, as well as the mission, the public image and autonomy of the zoo as an institution.

The California law that was under challenge allows members of the public to carry concealed guns in public only if applicants can demonstrate good cause for needing to carry the weapon. Challengers said authorities in San Diego and Yolo County interpreted good cause so narrowly as to make it impossible to carry guns in public for self-defense.

The U.S. Court of Appeals in San Francisco ruled that there is no Second Amendment right to carry a concealed weapon but did not decide whether states have a right to ban openly carrying guns. Supreme Court justices did not explain why they refused to hear the challenge, allowing the lower court ruling to stand.

Although the National Rifle Association maintains that the only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is with a good guy with a gun, public security is best left in the hands of trained professionals, not gun-toting bystanders. The possibility for tragic mishaps only grows when police have trouble distinguishing
Last week Kris Kobach, the Kansas secretary of state, managed the rare feat of bringing officials of both political parties together. In his capacity as vice chairman of President Donald Trumps Advisory Commission on Election Integrity, Kobach sent a letter to election officials in all 50 states asking for copies of their voter data. This has all the signs of a badly disguised, new effort to suppress votes of likely Democrats.

At last count, officials in 29 states had either rejected Kobachs request outright or promised not to send him all the information he requested. They can go jump in the Gulf of Mexico, and Mississippi is a great state to launch from, said Delbert Hosemann, Mississippis Republican secretary of state.

Among the states that wont be fully complying: Kansas. Kobachs own office said state law prevents him from releasing everything he asked for: the full first and last names of all registrants, middle names or initials if available, addresses, dates of birth, political party (if recorded in your state), last four digits of Social Security number if available, voter history (elections voted in) from 2006 onward, active/inactive status, canceled status, information regarding any felony convictions, information regarding voter registration in another state, information regarding military status, and overseas citizen information.

On the other hand, theres Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft, a Republican whose initial response to Kobachs letter was that hed be happy to comply. Upon further review, Ashcrofts office said it would be supplying only data thats available to the general public through open records requests. Thats basically just names, addresses, dates of birth and voting participation. Political candidates use such data to target frequent voters or those who vote in specific party primaries.

Kobachs voter integrity commission, co-chaired by Vice President Mike Pence, is based on Trumps absurd claim that rampant fraud by illegal immigrants cost him the popular vote on Nov. 8. Independent studies have shown that voter impersonation is so rare as to be nonexistent. Kobach himself has convicted only one non-citizen who voted in Kansas.

But Americans often move from state to state and may be registered in two states; it doesnt mean they vote in both. Millions of people with similar names risk being disqualified if Kobach, a leading proponent of the vote-fraud myth, succeeds.

In Kansas, Kobachs voter suppression effort led to 35,000 people  most of them young people who tend to vote Democratic  being denied registration because they didnt have a birth certificate or passport with them. A study found 1 percent of them were non-citizens. To think that he doesnt have bigger plans is to ignore his history of politically motivated voter suppression.

The Constitution gives states the right to manage elections. American democracy doesnt need Kris Kobachs help.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, July 04, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Southern Lithium Corp. (TSX-V:SNL) (FSE:SL5) ("Southern" or "the Company") is pleased to announce it has been granted the necessary permits to execute the first phase of drilling at its Cruz Property previously announced (December 16th 2016). This permit was granted after an extensive review of the Environmental Impact Report (EIR) by the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Production for Government of the Province of Salta.



The first phase of the drilling program will consist of one core hole drilled at two separate locations in the center of a body of brine over 6-km long in length , indicated by the Transient Electromagnetic (TEM) ground geophysical survey carried out in early February and announced (February 21, 2017). The objective of the drilling campaign is to establish brine chemistry at discrete vertical intervals as well as obtain other key geologic and hydrologic information, including eventually outlining a resource.

At each location, an HQ size core hole will test the Salar to a minimum depth of 350m, or deeper if warranted to ensure that the brine body identified by the TEM geophysical survey is thoroughly sampled. In the deeper parts of some Salar basins, coarse sediments that were deposited early during the filling of the basins have the potential to be excellent brine aquifers.

The program will be managed in Argentina through its joint venture partner Millennial Lithium Corp. Millennial has engaged HIDROTEC S.R.L., a Salta-based drilling company with extensive experience in drilling and testing salar-hosted lithium brines. Millennial has engaged Mike Rosko of Montgomery and Associates, Inc. a US-based hydrogeological consultancy to provide program guidance and act as the Company's qualified person for reporting results.

About the Cruz Property

The Company has executed a formal option agreement with Proyecto Pastos Grandes S.A. (PPG SA), a wholly owned subsidiary of Millennial Lithium Corp. (TSX.V:ML) (FSE:A3N2) (OTCQB:MLNLF), through the option Southern Lithium can earn up to an eighty percent (80%) interest in the PPG SAs Cruz Property in the Pocitos Salar Basin in Salta Province, Argentina.

The Cruz Property is located in South Americas Lithium Triangle (northern Chile, northwestern Argentina and southwest Bolivia). The property encompasses 9,027 hectares (22,306 acres) in the Pocitos Salar Basin in Salta Province, Argentina.

The Cruz Property is contiguous to the southern limit of the Salar del Rincon Basin, where ADY Resources Limited is extracting lithium brine, and the northern limit of the Pocitos Salar Basin, where the Cruz property is located. Both properties lie along the structural belt that hosts the important lithium resources of the region, and at the junction of a large north-south fault system and the northwest-southeast megastructure along which lies the Rincon volcano, the possible source of the lithium brine in both salar basins. The 60-kilometre long Pocitos salar basin has previously only been drill tested with a shallow 12-hole program in the 1970s by an Argentinean government agency Direccion General de Fabricaciones Militares. To date, this is the only confirmed exploration drilling conducted in the Pocitos basin. The hole that produced the best results is near the southeast edge of the Cruz property boundary, and averaged 417 parts per million lithium. Although these results are considered historical and have not been verified by the Company's QP, the Company considers these results relevant to the future exploration of the Cruz property.

About Southern Lithium Corp (TSX-V:SNL) (FSE:SL5)

Southern Lithium Corp. is a resource exploration company engaged in the business of acquiring and exploring minerals properties. Southern Lithium Corp. has assembled an experienced management team with a strategy to develop a portfolio of technically superior Lithium projects. The Companys main objective is to add shareholder value through successful exploration and development of high quality resources through strategic acquisitions, combined with cost-effective financial management. With the potential acquisition of the Cruz property, Southern Lithium intends to establish its presence in the Pocitos basin and further deliver on its mission to secure lithium projects. The Company is only focusing on projects of the highest technical merit in favorable geopolitical jurisdictions.

Qualified Persons

The scientific and technical information contained in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Larry Segerstrom, M.Sc. (Geology), P.Geo., a Director of the Company, who is a "Qualified Person" as such term is defined under National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101").

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Clive H. Massey

Chief Executive Officer

Further information about the Company is available on our website at www.southernlithiumcorp.com or under our profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.



Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

This news release includes forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties. All statements within it, other than statements of historical fact, are to be considered forward looking. Although the Company believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those in forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include market prices, exploitation and exploration successes, continued availability of capital and financing, and general economic, market or business conditions. There can be no assurances that such statements will prove accurate and, therefore, readers are advised to rely on their own evaluation of such uncertainties. We do not assume any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, other than as required pursuant to applicable securities laws.
French energy giant Total defied US pressure on Monday by signing a multibillion-dollar gas deal with Iran, the first by a European firm in more than a decade.

Total will invest an initial $1 billion in the South Pars offshore gas field as part of a consortium with Chinese and Iranian firms.

The 20-year project, which will eventually see the firms inject $4.8bn, is by far the biggest vote of confidence in the Islamic republic since sanctions were lifted under a 2015 nuclear deal with world powers.

Today, for Total, is a historic day, the day we come back to Iran, Total CEO Patrick Pouyanne said at the signing ceremony in Tehran.

We arent a political organisation, but I hope this agreement will encourage other companies to come to Iran because economic development is also a way of building peace, he told AFP. We are here to build bridges, not walls, he added.

The project in South Pars, a field shared between Iran and Qatar, is the first under a new Iranian Petroleum Contract which offers better terms to foreign investors but has faced intense criticism from hardliners who said it was too generous.

Oil Minister Bijan Namadar Zanganeh said the deal was a direct result of moderate President Hassan Rouhanis resounding re-election victory in May and strong public support for rebuilding ties with the West.

The people said firmly that our oil policies should continue, he said. We shall never forget Total being the forerunner.

Zanganeh said Irans oil industry needs some $200bn in investment over the next five years, and European firms have been hungrily eyeing opportunities in a country with the worlds second-largest gas reserves and fourth-largest oil reserves.

But they have been cautious about investing due to continuing US sanctions.

Total has appointed a compliance officer with the sole task of ensuring it does not fall foul of US measures against Iran.

In particular, it must prevent cash flowing to Irans elite Revolutionary Guards  a tall order given their extensive and shadowy presence across the Iranian economy.

Just a fortnight ago, the US Senate overwhelmingly passed a bill targeting the Guards over their involvement in regional conflicts and the countrys ballistic missile programme.

The White House is also in the midst of a 90-day review on whether to abandon the nuclear deal entirely, which President Donald Trump threatened to do during his election campaign.

The uncertainty has been enough to deter global firms such as BP from dipping their toes in Iranian waters, while Shell and Russias Gazprom have signed only preliminary deals to date.

US HOSTILITY: Even without the threat of sanctions, investing in the Iranian economy is not for the faint-hearted.

Foreign firms in Iran still face pervasive corruption... high levels of red tape; potential for currency instability (and) reluctance to allow foreign involvement within the domestic economy, consultancy firm BMI Research wrote in a briefing note Monday.

For all that, Irans large population of middle-class consumers presents an irresistible opportunity for many businesses in Europe and beyond.

Any attempt to scupper the nuclear deal will likely face major push-back from its other signatories: Britain, France, Germany, China and Russia.

Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif was warmly received by EU leaders last month and tweeted that they were committed to the nuclear deal despite reckless US hostility.

At the signing on Monday, Pouyanne said Total has a long history in Iran, pointing to its development of phases two and three of South Pars in the 1990s.

It will take a 50.1 per cent stake in the new phase 11 project, while China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) will own 30pc and Irans Petropars 19.9pc.

The aim is to start pumping into Irans domestic grid in 2021, eventually reaching 56.6m cubic metres (2bn cubic feet) of gas per day.

Iranian officials said the products would be worth a total of $54bn at current prices.

Total had signed up to develop phase 11 back in 2009 but was forced to abandon its Iranian projects in 2012 when France joined European Union partners and imposed sanctions, including an oil embargo.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan said on Tuesday that it is the first time that big crooks are being questioned over corruption in the country's history.

Speaking to supporters in Chitral, he said "this is your money that they have looted".

Referring to the ongoing Panama case investigation, he said the Sharifs are being held accountable by the joint investigation team.

Imran Khan said the Sharifs laundered money after stealing it from public funds, and now make innocent faces when asked for explanations.

Now the princess [Maryam] has been summoned and they are making a huge hue and cry. Have you forgotten about Benazir Bhutto? he asked.

The PTI chief is in Chitral where he inaugurated a small-scale hydroelectric power supply scheme.

It was owing to Imrans visit that he failed to appear in the Election Commission of Pakistan on Tuesday to submit his reply in a contempt petition against him.

Addressing his supporters, he said there are two major problems facing the nation: water and electricity.

You will be surprised to know most children die in Pakistan because of drinking contaminated water. This is extremely shameful for us. Since the government does not fulfill its responsibility common people have to bribe the authorities in order to get clean water. Providing a basic necessity for the people is our policy. This is the right of the people. This is the responsibility of the government, he said.

The electricity produced in the country is really expensive because it is made with imported fuel paid for by dollars which leads to taking international loans, he explained. "To return those loans we have to tax our people. If this tax wasnt there then things would be relatively cheaper, he added.

Imran Khan stated that Pakistan was either importing fuel or using coal for its electricity which was also harmful since it caused pollution.

Our future is dependent on hydroelectricity. In the 1960s when we relied on hydroelectricity, the prices of electricity were the lowest and there was no load-shedding, he claimed.
Daesh fighters were battling to hold on to the last few streets under their control in the Old City of Mosul on Monday, in what looked like a hopeless last stand in their former stronghold.

In fierce fighting, Iraqi army units forced the insurgents back, cornering them in a shrinking rectangle no more than 300 meters (yards) wide and 500 meters long by the Tigris river, according to a map published by the military media office.

Smoke covered parts of the Old City, rocked by air strikes and artillery salvos through the morning.

The number of Daesh militants fighting in Mosul has dwindled from thousands at the start of the government offensive more than eight months ago to a mere couple of hundred now, according to the Iraqi military.

Reaching the Tigris would give Iraqi forces full control over the city and is expected by the end of this week. Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi is expected to visit Mosul to formally declare victory, and a week of nationwide celebrations is planned.

Mosul is by far the largest city ever controlled by Islamic State. It was here, nearly three years ago to the day, that it declared the founding of its caliphate over parts of Iraq and Syria.

The citys fall would mark the effective end of the Iraqi half of the caliphate, although the group still controls territory west and south of Mosul, where tens of thousands of civilians live.

SUICIDE ATTACKS

The group is retaliating with suicide attacks in the parts of Mosul taken by Iraqi forces and elsewhere in the country.

A suicide bomber dressed as a veiled woman killed 14 people and wounded 13 others in a displacement camp west of the capital Baghdad on Sunday, security sources said. IS claimed responsibility.

A U.S.-led international coalition is providing air and

ground support to the Mosul offensive by the Iraqi army, elite Counter Terrorism Service units and militarized police.

Thousands of people have fled the densely-populated Old City over the past 24 hours, state TV said.

But thousands more are believed trapped in the area with little food, water or medicine, and are effectively being used as human shields, according to residents who managed to escape.

Months of grinding urban warfare have displaced 900,000 people, about half the citys pre-war population, and killed thousands, according to aid organizations.

Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi has left the fighting in Mosul to local commanders and is believed to be hiding near the Iraq-Syrian border, according to U.S. and Iraqi military sources.

The group has moved its remaining command and control structures to Mayadin, in eastern Syria, U.S. intelligence sources have said.
Suspected Boko Haram militants have killed nine people in south-east Niger, an official said on Monday.

The militants arrived on foot in Nglewa village in Kablewa rural municipality some 100 kilometres north of Diffa on Sunday.

Kablewa Mayor Abari Elh Daouda said that they killed eight young people and an elderly man.

About 40 people, including women and young men, were abducted.

Report says the radical Islamist group kidnaps women to use as servants and sex slaves, while they use men as fighters.

The Nigeria-based group has killed no fewer than 20,000 people since 2009 in Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon and Niger.
Qatar on Monday responded to a list of demands from Saudi Arabia and its allies after they agreed to give a defiant Doha another 48 hours to address their grievances.

Details of the response were not immediately available, but a Gulf official told AFP that Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani had delivered it during a short visit to Kuwait, which is acting as a mediator in the crisis.

Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt had announced in the early hours of Monday they were pushing back a deadline for Qatar to agree to a list of 13 demands they issued on June 22.

A joint statement said they were extending the ultimatum, which had been due to expire at the end of the day on Sunday, at the request of Kuwait s emir.

The demands included Doha ending support for the Muslim Brotherhood, closing broadcaster Al-Jazeera, downgrading diplomatic ties with Iran and shutting down a Turkish military base in the emirate.

Sheikh Mohammed had earlier said the list of demands was "made to be rejected" and on Monday British lawyers for Qatar denounced the demands as "an affront to international law".

"They are reminiscent of the extreme and punitive conduct of bully states that have historically resulted in war," said the lawyers.

In the evening, Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir expressed hopes for a "positive response to be able to resolve the crisis".

Qatar s reply would be "examined with precision", Jubeir told a news conference with German counterpart Sigmar Gabriel in the Red Sea city of Jeddah.

Saudi Arabia and its allies announced on June 5 they were severing ties with their Gulf neighbour, sparking the worst diplomatic crisis to hit the region in decades.

They accused Qatar of supporting extremism and of being too close to Saudi Arabia s regional arch-rival Iran, which Doha has strongly denied.

The crisis has raised concerns of growing instability in the region, home to some of the world s largest energy exporters and several key Western allies who host US military bases.

The UN Security Council has told Qatar to sort out its differences with its Gulf neighbours, China s UN ambassador Liu Jieyi said in New York Monday, indicating that the top UN body has no plans to get involved in the dispute.

Gabriel, who will also visit the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Kuwait, on called for "serious dialogue" to end the crisis.

"We are worried that the distrust and the disunity could weaken all the parties concerned as well as the entire peninsula," said the German minister.

Riyadh and its supporters have already severed air, sea and ground links with Qatar, cutting off vital routes for imports including food.

They also ordered Qatari citizens to leave their territories and took various steps against Qatari firms and financial institutions.

It is unclear what further measures will be taken if Qatar fails to meet the demands, but the UAE s ambassador to Russia Omar Ghobash warned last week that further sanctions could be imposed.

As well as taking steps to expel Qatar from the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council, Riyadh and its allies could tell their economic partners to choose between business with them or with Doha, he told Britain s Guardian newspaper.

Qatar has long pursued a more independent foreign policy than many of its neighbours, who tend to follow the lead of regional powerhouse Saudi Arabia.

Doha has said it is ready for talks to end the crisis.

Kuwait, which along with fellow GCC member Oman has not cut ties with Qatar, has been heading up mediation efforts.

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has also called for compromise and hosted senior Gulf officials, but his efforts have been undermined by remarks from President Donald Trump apparently supporting Riyadh s position.

Trump spoke separately on Sunday with the Saudi king, Abu Dhabi s crown prince and the Qatari emir about his concerns over the dispute, the White House said.

The US president "underscored that unity in the region is critical" but also "reiterated the importance of stopping terrorist financing and discrediting extremist ideology," a statement said.

Egypt said it would host the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the UAE on Wednesday to discuss the crisis.

Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani is expected to visit Paris "before the end of the summer" for talks on the Gulf crisis with President Emmanuel Macron, the French presidency said Monday.

The two leaders spoke by phone and Macron said he would bring up the issue on the margins of this week s G20 summit and with Trump when he visits Paris on July 13-14.

Meanwhile Germany announced that Saudi King Salman had cancelled plans to attend the upcoming G20 summit in Hamburg.
ORLANDO, Fla., July 04, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The United States National Pageants Organization is proud to announce the live stream of our national pageants thanks to sponsors It Hair Care, the Omni Orlando Resort at ChampionsGate, and Vivace Cosmetics through the online portal BoxCast!



The United States National Pageant Organization celebrates intelligent women of all walks of life and is based on a solid commitment to uphold the standards of fairness and integrity. At the local, state, and national level, the Miss United States Pageant gives women the opportunity to promote a platform of community service. Featuring eight divisions - Little Miss, Pre-Teen, Junior Teen, Teen, Miss, Ms., Ms. Woman, and Mrs. - the United States National Pageant Organization is recognized as the premier event of its kind and the largest pageant system for girls and women ages 8+ in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and five U.S. territories.

The top 16 in the Junior Teen, Teen, Miss, Ms., and Ms. Woman United States divisions will compete on stage in swimsuits provided by Pirata Couture. The winners and runners-up will all receive beautiful bouquets sponsored by the Orlando Flower Market. Among the many prizes all winners will receive, Miss United States 2017 will receive a 3-day Bahamas cruise courtesy of The Prompting, Inc. as well as modeling and travel opportunities throughout the year.

Most recognized for our organizations role in the 2000 film, Miss Congeniality starring Sandra Bullock, the Miss United States Pageant is part of the Mrs. United States National Pageants, Inc. brand. The divisions include:

Little Miss United States - ages 8-10

Miss Pre-Teen United States - ages 11-12

Miss Jr. Teen United States - ages 13-15

Miss Teen United States - ages 16-19

Miss United States - ages 20-29 (never married or given birth)

Ms. United States - ages 20-29 (may have previously been married and/or given birth)

Ms. Woman United States - ages 30+

Mrs. United States - married women ages 21+

Finals will be held on:

July 5, 2017 - Little Miss and Miss Pre-Teen United States 2017

July 7, 2017 - Miss Jr. Teen, Teen, Ms., and Ms. Woman United States 2017

July 8, 2017 - Miss & Mrs. United States 2017

Interviews with the newly crowned titleholders will be permitted to those with press credentials following the after crowning photos on stage after each final competition.

Tickets to the competition shows will be available to the general public online through Eventbrite. The shows can be watched online through BoxCast.com.

For more information on obtaining a press pass, or for appearance requests, sponsorship inquiries, or general questions, please contact Ashley Martinez at marketing@unitedstatesnationalpageants.com.

You can learn more about our titleholders, directors, and divisions by visiting our websites:

www.unitedstatesnationalpageants.com

www.mrsunitedstates.com
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, July 04, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Central 1 Credit Union (Central 1) CEO Don Wright, who announced his decision to step down in May, has been asked to take on the position of Deputy Minister of Executive Council, Cabinet Secretary and Head of the Public Service at Province of B.C. by the new Government of British Columbia.



While I certainly didnt intend or expect to leave Central 1 so soon, the B.C. government has asked me to take on a role that requires immediate attention, said Wright. I have greatly enjoyed my time at Central 1, and look forward to watching the organizations progress on the new strategic plan and future state of the second tier, which is already in motion.

Wrights resignation as CEO of Central 1 is effective at end of business day on July 7.

With considerable expertise in both the private and public sector, and a significant understanding of government and economy, Wright was a natural choice for the role, said the B.C. NDP Leader and Premier-designate John Horgan.

Don has shown leadership and innovation in a number of high-profile organizations, and we believe his ability to build relationships and his approach to challenging situations will provide great benefit in dealing with key issues well need to address, said Horgan. "We realize that we're calling Don away from his current commitments, however this is a critical role and having him in place as we get to work on the issues that matter to people is important."

We are disappointed to lose Don sooner than we had hoped, but we support this opportunity for him to serve the greater good of everyone in B.C., said Rick Hoevenaars, Chair, Central 1. Although Don will no longer be working directly with Central 1, we see it as positive that a key figure in government will be an individual who deeply understands the value of the credit union system in supporting prosperity of British Columbians and their communities.

Central 1s Board has appointed Marilyn Mauritz, currently Central 1s SVP, General Counsel & Corporate Secretary, as interim CEO while the search for a permanent appointment which began in May, continues.

About Central 1

With offices in Vancouver, Mississauga and Toronto, Central 1 holds on balance sheet approximately $18.0 billion in assets. We provide wholesale financial products, trust services, payment processing solutions and direct banking services to about 300 credit unions and institutional clients from coast to coast.

In addition, Central 1 is the primary liquidity manager, payments provider and trade association for our 42 member credit unions in B.C. and 71 Ontario member credit unions. Our members represent a consumer-oriented, full-service retail financial network that collectively serves 3.3 million members and holds more than $118.8 billion in assets. For more information, visit www.central1.com.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, July 04, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Uniserve Communications Corporation (TSX-V:USS) is pleased to announce, subject to regulatory approval, it has entered into an agreement with the five principals and directors of Glenbriar Technologies Inc. to acquire an additional 20% of the issued and outstanding shares.

Uniserve will exchange 2,148,450 (post consolidation) Uniserve shares for an additional 26,855,804 Glenbriar shares held by the directors of Glenbriar. Upon closing of this transaction, Uniserve will own 82.2% of the issued and outstanding shares of Glenbriar. The expected closing date for this transaction is on or before July 31, 2017.

As Uniserves CEO Nicholas Jeffery stated, This is another vital step in the integration of the Glenbriar team into Uniserve, allowing us to deliver on our strategy to build revenue, strengthen our managed service portfolio and expand nationally across Canada.

Uniserve further wishes to announce that it has closed on the transaction to purchase Xanity Cloud Solutions Inc. as announced in the June 12, 2017 press release.

About Uniserve

Uniserve is a unified communications company which has been in existence for over 28 years, combining voice, data and media all into one seamless solution, one bill and one point of contact in Canada.

Uniserve has 13,000 customers spread across Residential / Small Office / Home office and Enterprise, so where ever you are trying to make smart, secure and resilient  we can help you.

Uniserve prides itself on world class customer services, when all else is equal you can trust Uniserve to have a great price, a world class customer experience and a company you trust and like working with.



This news release was prepared on behalf of the Board of Directors, which accepts full responsibility for its contents.

Learn more at www.uniserve.com or at www.sedar.com.

Michael C. Scholz

Chairman of the Board

For more information please contact Mr. Mark Stanton at 604-395-3908 or email us at mark.stanton@uniserveteam.com.

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulations Services Provider (as the term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Management has prepared this release and no regulatory authority has approved or disapproved the information contained herein. The statements contained in this news release that are not historical facts are forward looking statements. Such statements are based on managements estimates, assumptions and projections using available information. Uniserve cautions that actual financial results could differ materially from the current expectations due to a number of factors.
Waikatos regional transport committee is supporting moves to lift the open road speed to 110km/h, where appropriate.

The multi-agency committee this week signed off a submission on the NZ Transport Agencys proposed speed limit setting rule which suggests the higher speed be available on approved roads.

The ability to set a 110km/h speed limit needed to be subject to the road meeting the very high standards proposed by the agency, such as it being a four-lane highway with median barriers, the submission says.

The submission notes the completed Waikato Expressway will meet the criteria for a 110km/h speed limit.

This move seems a sensible measure providing it is controlled properly, says committee chair Hugh Vercoe of Waikato Regional Council.

The submission says, however, that its assumed trucks will continue to travel at the maximum legal speed of no more than 90km/h.

It will be very important that strong enforcement is in place to ensure cars do not travel more than 110km/h and trucks no more than 90km/h, the submission says.

To ensure this enforcement is effective, the committee supports the rollout of new technologies to enforce speed limits on these higher speed roads. This could include greater placement of new technology speed cameras.

The committee also noted extra concerns about the safety of cyclists using roads where the speed limit is lifted to 110km/h.

It said cyclists should be separated from general traffic flow and be catered for by cycle lanes on or beside such roads.
Kiwi band Hangar 18 is coming to Totara Street at the end of this month, as the second stop on their Asia-Pacific Region tour.

The tour comes off the back of the release of their new single IDKY, which has already been added to radio playlists around the world.

The single was written by Hangar 18 in collaboration with award-winning recording artist Jason Kerrison, best known as the frontman for fellow New Zealand band Opshop.

Hangar 18 will start their tour in Mangawhai on July 14, before coming to Mount Maunganui on July 28.

On October 1 they will play concert support for American rock band Everclear at The Powerstation in Auckland, before opening for the band in three Australian shows.

The third leg of the tour will take Hangar 18 back to Asia, 20 years since they last visited in 1997.

Several shows will take place at various venues in Manila, followed by one off-exclusive shows in Beijing and Hong Kong.

Special guest guitarist Brendon Thomas will also joining Hangar 18 on the tour. One of New Zealands best guitar players, well known from the success of his band, Brendon Thomas and the Vibes, as well as The Rubics and The Free Wind.

Hangar 18 have toured throughout their career including performing with No Doubt, Collective Soul, Ocean Colour Scene, Silverchair, Everclear, as well as The Unity Hong Kong Handover Concert, Sweetwaters & Mountain Rock Festivals, and many other events.

The Totara Street performance will be $10 on the door only.
A study into New Zealands retail fuel market confirms it has features which may not be consistent with a workably competitive market.

Energy and Resources Minister Judith Collins commissioned the study earlier this year, to examine issues around petrol prices.

The study found retail fuel margins have increased significantly over the last five years, while fuel margins for aviation and commercial road users have been flat or falling.

It also found that higher petrol prices in the South Island and Wellington are not explained by higher costs in those areas.

There were difficulties in comparing the information received from the companies, and some very specific information that was required could not be obtained, says Judith.

As a result, the study doesnt definitively answer whether fuel prices are reasonable or not. However, the report does conclude that we cannot definitely say that fuel prices in New Zealand are reasonable, but we have reason to believe that they might not be.

This is a very complex area and the study takes us a significant step forward in our understanding. I have now instructed my officials to assess the recommendations of the study and report back to me by November.

Furthermore, the market studies powers announced recently by the Minister of Commerce and Consumer Affairs will give the government the option to direct the Commerce Commission to undertake a further competition-specific fuel market study, backed by the ability to require comparable data across companies. There is currently no legal mechanism to do this.

She thanks Z Energy, BP, Mobil and Gull for taking part in the study.

The Fuel Market Financial Performance Study, MBIE summary of the study, and the Cabinet paper are available here.
Tahatai Coast Primary School children are learning real-life skills like compassion and empathy in their latest hands on project where every drop counts.

Five classes of Year 5 and 6 students took to the streets in Tauranga and Mount Maunganui to refund-raise money for the Hopes Initiatives Project, who help communities in Kenya access fresh water.

Tahatai Coast teacher Craig McDonald says the pupils have made a great effort and ended up raising $1323, which will go towards Sawyer PointONE bucket filters for communities in Mukuyuni.

For learning to have a real impact it needs to have a practical outcome in the world. So we wanted it to be an exercise on compassion and empathy and not just learning about some distant place, says Craig.

The children have learnt about waterborne diseases, how important fresh water is, places where there is water scarcity or the water supply is polluted, and how this effects the communities.

The whole school has also taken part in this project for the term by creating items such as posters, writing essays and dances.

Last year was such a success around the child labor issue, we thought we would tackle a different issue, but come in trying to beat that.

Last year they raised $2000 for the Born to Be Free programme who pay off any debts that the parents have to free the children from labor.

They used a chain as a metaphor for the children and each time the pupils raised some money they cut a part of the chain off with some bolt cutters.

Due to the positive feedback from last year and what the children got out of the experience, they felt like they wanted to do something similar again.

Craig says this will definitely be something that he will continue to put into practice as a teacher.
Regardless of the economic and social problems Spain has endured over recent years, it has not lost its status as one of the worlds tourism heavyweights. Every year, huge numbers of visitors from around the world come here seeking limitless sun, cheap food and drink and a laid-back pace of life, pumping money into an economy that has exited recession partly because of their spending. And according to the hotel confederation Cehat, 2017 will be another record-breaking season: the group announced on Wednesday that it expects Spain to receive around 80 million visitors between May and August, up from 75.5 million in 2016.

This is certainly not bad news for the Spanish economy, but bumper tourist years alone wont solve the countrys economic problems. One reason for this is that, although such busy tourism seasons provide hundreds of thousands of jobs (especially here on the Costa del Sol), these positions only last for the holiday season; and because joblessness rates fall during these periods, sometimes dramatically, it can seem that Spains unemployment rate - which, at 18%, is still the highest in the EU after Greeces - has permanently contracted.

Take this April, for example. The Easter holidays are also a productive time for the Spanish hospitality industry, and partly for this reason April saw the biggest reduction of unemployment claims in a single month since June 2013: according to the Ministry of Labour, the number of employed people in Spain increased by 212,216. This seems almost miraculous until you learn that 96,069 of these new positions were in the hospitality sector; they were probably only for a few weeks worth of work.

Temporary contracts in general are the reason why a lot of Spanish workers - especially those employed in the tourism industry - lack financial stability. Recent statistics from the Spanish Labour Ministry showed that the number of workers who sign more than ten employment contracts every year increased from 150,000 in 2012 to 270,000 in 2016: many such Spaniards work in restaurants and hotels during the Easter and summer holidays, but struggle to find employment for the rest of the year.

A deeper problem for the Spanish economy is that many young Spaniards seeking careers are leaving for countries where they feel their skills will be more appreciated. A 24-year-old Spanish acquaintance of mine has just finished an IT degree at Granada University and is now looking for his first job in the computer industry. He is not hopeful of finding rewarding work here and is considering moving abroad. Spain, he told me, is a good country to holiday in, but not to work in. So long as young Spaniards feel this way - and many do - the country has a problem that no number of foreign visitors will fix.
The city of Malagas exponential growth as a tourist destination continues unabated. The number of wheelie suitcases being trundled around town at any given moment is quite astonishing, although not nearly as astonishing as the minuscule size of some of them. The frequent urge to yell Pick it up and carry it, lazy bones! is strong but, being a mild-mannered sort of chap, I continue to resist.

Anyway, whats clear is that mass tourism in the city is only going to expand over the coming years, so wed better get used to it. There can be no doubt that the injection of vast quantities of tourist money is more than welcome in an area which is still suffering the full effects of the financial crisis - whatever the politicians say - and where unemployment is still sky high, especially among the young. Increased city tourism, then, must be seen as a good thing.

Unfortunately, as with many good things, there is a down side. Well leave for another occasion the extent to which Malaga is rapidly losing its authenticity, in order to concentrate here on a much more practical issue: the scarcity of living accommodation for residents in the city centre. Actually, flats and apartments for long term rent are not merely scarce, theyre almost nonexistent.

This is because property owners can, as things stand, earn three times as much by renting to The Wheelie Suitcase Gang than they can by offering accommodation to a local couple or family. Theres something quite disturbing about this state of affairs. Ive heard more than one tale of long term tenants being forced to abandon their home by dint of a sudden price hike, leaving the way clear for the unscrupulous owners in question to rent the premises to tourists. Plainly, this isnt a healthy path forward but, as is often the case, solutions are difficult to identify. One proposal that may have some effect on the current state of affairs is the idea of a series of strict regulations for holiday apartments, similar to those currently demanded of hotels (fire doors, sprinklers, smoke alarms, access for the disabled, etc.). These measures might go some way to discouraging every Tom, Dick and Paco from jumping on the bandwagon and, as a consequence, leave a fairer proportion of accommodation available for locals to rent.

Whats clearly not viable is to have swathes of tourists wandering around the city, being served and waited upon in Malagas vast array of shops and hostelries by workers whove had to commute for half an hour to get into town - its a conundrum which needs addressing sharpish. Answers on a postcard,please, to Paco de la Torre -City Hall, Malaga.
LITTLE FALLS, N.Y. -- State police are searching for three men last seen yelling for help from a paddle boat Monday afternoon in the Mohawk River.

Troopers said they started searching for 18-year-old Ryan Moak, 23-year-old Kevin Moak and 42-year-old Terry Moshier around 4:15 p.m. after witnesses saw the men near the rapids, yelling for help.

Dive crews are assembling at Rotary Park in Little Falls after a report that a paddle boat carrying 3 to 4 people... Posted by WKTV NEWSChannel 2 on Monday, July 3, 2017

A family member said Monday night that Ryan and Kevin Moak are brothers; Moshier is their great uncle.

State police say the paddle boat capsized.

Troopers responded to Rotary Park along the Erie Canal and have continued to search for the men along the river.

"State police, along with the City of Little Falls Police Department, the Herkimer County Sheriff's Office and the St. Johnsville Fire Department are positioned along the Mohawk River looking for the three men," troopers said in a news release Monday night.

A state police helicopter hovered over the river, looking for the men. Members from the state police K9 unit and the Special Operations Response Team also are helping search the area.

State police ask anyone with information about the missing boaters to call 911 or the state police headquarters in Oneida at (315) 366-6000.
Is the mission of the popes hospital in the Vatican already lost and the institution is now more aimed at profit rather than on healing children?

The Associated Press carried out an investigation on Bambino Gesu (Baby Jesus) Pediatric Hospital in Italy, where it is considered a cornerstone of the healthcare system.

Under its 2008 to 2015 leadership, the hospital expanded its services and tried to turn things around for the money-losing enterprise  sometimes at a dear cost for child patients, the AP reported.

Probe Findings

Previous uproar among hospital doctors and nurses led to an undercover three-month investigation by the Vatican back in 2014. From testimonies and documents from current and previous staff members, the authorized probe discovered that the pediatric health center was already more focused on profit than on tending to child patients.

The report was never revealed to the public, with some of its recommendations not carried out.

In 2015, the Vatican conducted another inquiry: a three-day hospital visit that concluded there was nothing amiss in the hospital.

Now the AP investigation corroborated many of the 2014 complaints, such as overcrowding and low hygiene standards that contributed to fatal infections. A highly drug-resistant superbug, for instance, persisted for almost two years and killed eight children in its cancer ward.

As an austerity measure, disposable equipment, along with other materials, was found to be used improperly at times, with a one-off order of cheap needles breaking when they were injected into tiny, fragile veins.

The report continued that there was also pressure among doctors to maximize turnover in the operating rooms, such that patients were at times taken out of anesthesia too hastily. The AP cited the case of a 14-year-old appendectomy patient who was woken up too soon against all ethics and morals of our hospital, according to an internal hospital report.

Other issues include an extreme number of medical interventions done on kids who were almost dead, and extremely high rates of infection and death at the neonatal surgery ward.

Pediatric Hospital Denies Allegations

The pediatric hospital disputed the report findings and even threatened a legal move against AP.

Bambino Gesu argued that the report peddled false, unfounded information, meant to defame the institution. Instead, it turned the focus on the hospital's reputation as a center of excellence, along with visits from top surgeons and world celebrities.

It also pinpointed the 2015 investigation, where Sister Carol Keehan was sent by the Vatican to investigate. The employees concerns were disproven by the Americans team, the hospital noted.

Hospital staff members who were interviewed by AP requested anonymity out of fear of losing their jobs. In its newsletter last July 2016, however, Bambino Gesus main union confirmed that problems remained.

Ten years ago, the ERs were jammed and they still are," the newsletter exposed. "Ten years ago, patients waited on stretchers and they still do. Ten years ago you entered with one illness and left with two hospital infections, and still do."

In a Christmas speech last year, Pope Francis dubbed it the greatest cancer for a hospital to fall prey to corruption.

Look at the children, and let each one of us think: Can I make corrupt business off these children? No! the pope said in Italian.

 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
In a bid to prove that it's not in bed with the Russian government, antivirus company Kaspersky is willing to turn over its source code to the U.S. government.

Any Russian ties are apparently reason for concern nowadays for the U.S. government. Kaspersky, for its part, does have some former Russian intelligence officers among its staff, but swears it's not helping Russian spies.

U.S. Government Bans Kaspersky

Not too long ago, a proposal reached the U.S. Senate seeking to ban the Defense Department from using any Kaspersky software platforms. Long story short, the United States doesn't trust the Russian government. Amid suspicions that the Russians may have been involved in the 2016 U.S. presidential elections, along with other questionable ties between Russia and Donald Trump's campaign, Congress and other administration officials don't trust Russian firm Kaspersky to handle critical U.S. infrastructure.

The FBI has long been worried that Kaspersky is in bed with the Russian government, although the Russian-based antivirus company has previously served as a liaison between the FBI and Moscow to facilitate cooperation.

Kaspersky Offers To Share Source Code With U.S. Government

To ease concerns that the security company could act as a Trojan horse for the Russian government, Eugene Kaspersky, the CEO of Kaspersky Lab, offered to turn over Kaspersky's source code to the U.S. government.

"If the United States needs, we can disclose the source code," the Kaspersky CEO tells the Associated Press, noting that he would also be willing to testify before the U.S. Congress. "Anything I can do to prove that we don't behave maliciously I will do it."

"As a private company, Kaspersky Lab has no ties to any government, and the company has never helped, nor will help, any government in the world with its cyberespionage efforts," Kaspersky previously explained in a statement back in May.

Deeper Implications

However, offering to gain the U.S. government's trust by granting access to its source code could set a dangerous precedent. Governments worldwide have been increasingly requesting deeper access to the inner workings of various software, and giving in to such demands could eventually compromise integrity and security.

At the same time, it remains to be seen whether the source code will be enough for the U.S. government to trust Kaspersky Lab. The CEO admitted that some governments (unspecified) have previously asked Kaspersky to fire up cyberattacks, but the company never engaged in such actions. Moreover, even if some Kaspersky employees formerly worked for Russian intelligence, the CEO says that the company's network does not leave any room for abuse.

Nevertheless, in this case regarding the United States' concerns with Kaspersky, the current source code may not be too relevant as the concerns are not about what the company has done or is currently doing, but about what it could to in the future. To that extent, the source code would only prove that Kaspersky is not engaging in any dubious activities with the Russian government right now, but offers no guarantee that it will not do so in the future.

No evidence currently sustains theories that Kaspersky Lab is a threat, but it might take more than source code to convince the U.S. government that Kaspersky poses no threats of cyberespionage.

 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
A U.S. judge has dismissed a lawsuit against Facebook accusing it of tracking users' internet usage between April 22, 2010, and Sept. 26, 2011, regardless if they've logged out of the network.

U.S. District Judge Edward Davila on Friday, June 30, stated that the plaintiffs didn't manage to prove that they had "reasonable expectation of privacy," or suffered "realistic" economic harm or loss.

Facebook Privacy Lawsuit: What You Need To Know

As The Guardian reports, the plaintiffs alleged that Facebook leveraged "like" buttons found on other websites to track which sites they visited, which essentially meant that the world's largest social media network could create a detailed documentation of their online activity and browsing history. This, argued the plaintiffs, broke federal and state privacy and wiretapping laws.

It works this way: when you stumble upon an article on the web you'd like to share on Facebook, oftentimes there'd already be integrated "buttons" you can click on to share the said article directly to various channels, including Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, and more. When a user visits a site with a like button, the browser sends information to two places: to Facebook and the server where the page is stored.

The plaintiffs argued that Facebook's alleged tracking of sites broke federal and state privacy and wiretapping laws. Davila did not agree.

"The fact that a user's web browser automatically sends the same information to both parties does not establish that one party intercepted the user's communication with the other," he said.

The lawsuit adds that Facebook had promised that cookies are deleted when a user logs out. However, the site continued to receive the information until a researcher spilled the beans on Facebook's behavior in 2011.

Plaintiffs Could Have Blocked Facebook's Intrusions But Chose Not To: Judge

He also stated that the plaintiffs could have gone out of their way to keep their online activity private, either by using Incognito mode on their preferred browser, or by using an opt-out tool by the Digital Advertising Alliance. But in the end, the judge said they failed to prove that the social media network illegally "intercepted" or eavesdropped on their interactions.

Unfortunately, the plaintiffs can't go to court again with privacy invasion and wiretapping claims, but what they could do is pursue a renewed breach of contract claim, according to Davila.

The same judge previously had dismissed an earlier version of the lawsuit back in 2015.

Thoughts about the privacy lawsuit against Facebook? What about online activity-based targeted advertising, which seems to be the underlying motivation in this case, suppose Facebook's behavior is true? As always, feel free to sound off in the comments section below if you have any thoughts or opinions!

 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
"It is not the role of military commanders to comment on the political process, much less on the performance of republican institutions," Gleisi Hoffmann pointed out. | Read More
BATON ROUGE (AP)  A year ago, Abdullah Muflahi rushed outside his convenience store, whipped out his cellphone and began taping moments before a white police officer shot and killed a black man in the parking lot.

Muflahi's video fueled nightly protests that turned his friend, 37-year-old Alton Sterling, into another symbol of outrage over deadly police shootings. The July 5 shooting also transformed Muflahi's store into a hub for protesters and a canvas for their grief and anger.

Visitors routinely stop by the Triple S Food Mart to photograph an iconic mural of Sterling's smiling face on its aluminum siding. A makeshift memorial  now reduced to soggy stuffed animals and withered flowers  still stands on the table where Sterling once sold homemade CDs outside.

Little has changed in this poverty-stricken neighborhood since the shooting  a frustrating fact of life for residents and business owners who had hoped a national spotlight on their problems could erode racial divisions and improve police relations in Louisiana's capital.

"It's overlooked. It's not much that the city does around here," Muflahi said. "There are things that the city could fix and help make it better, but nobody looks at it like that."

Muflahi, a 29-year-old native of Yemen, mourns Sterling as the friend who introduced himself as "Big Boy" and welcomed him after he moved here from Detroit and bought his store in 2010.

"He's the one who actually showed me around and looked out for me," Muflahi said.

The shooting strengthened Muflahi's bond with neighbors who protested outside the store after Sterling's death. But Muflahi said store revenue also plummeted and has been slow to rebound.

"A lot of people were scared to come up here," he said. "A lot of my regulars, the older people, I haven't seen them."

A federal investigation found the confrontation with the two white officers, Blane Salamoni and Howie Lake II, lasted less than 90 seconds.

The officers approached Sterling about a call that a black man selling CDs had threatened someone with a gun. They struggled with Sterling after he didn't comply with commands to put his hands on the hood of a car, then wrestled him down after Lake shocked him with a Taser, federal authorities said.

Investigators found that Salamoni shot Sterling three times after saying Sterling was reaching for a gun in his pocket, and fired three more shots into Sterling's back when he began to sit up. A loaded revolver was recovered from Sterling's pocket.

In May, the Justice Department announced it will not file criminal charges against either officer. Louisiana's attorney general is reviewing whether any state charges are warranted. The officers remain on paid leave.

Donna Harris, a 41-year-old nurse, lives nearby and joined the protests. A year later, she's still waiting for some reason to be optimistic.

"Nothing got better. Nothing changed," she said. "They haven't even given us justice for Alton."

State Rep. Ted James, a Baton Rouge Democrat and native of the area, said he sees some progress. But he also sees enduring racial divisions and acknowledges that predominantly black north Baton Rouge  where Sterling lived and died  still suffers from a longstanding "lack of investment."

"That type of long-term change is going to take time," he said. "Things are happening. I recognize it's not happening as fast as folks would like to see it."

At a salon across the street from the Triple S Food Mart, hair stylist Ronnie Horton said he believes politicians have shortchanged the neighborhood for years.

"You go across on the other side of town, it's beautiful," he said. "It's not up here."

After Sterling's death, James and other black lawmakers secured legislation  since signed into law  to strengthen police training requirements and prevent disgraced officers from keeping their jobs or getting new ones elsewhere. "A lot of those ideas came from concerns from people in the community," James said.

Arthur "Silky Slim" Reed, an activist who orchestrated the release of the first cellphone video after Sterling's shooting, said he believes police officers will ignore policy changes unless they face consequences for violating them.

"There was a lot of talk about police reform, bringing the community together with the police. And I think the gap is widening," he said.

Muflahi sued the city, claiming investigators illegally detained him for hours in the back of a police car. That suit is still pending. He said many residents still distrust the police department  some now more than ever  and can't fathom why the shooting is still under investigation a year later.

"I thought we would have gotten somewhere," Muflahi said. "The whole city, the family, everybody is just waiting to see what's going on."
The three-man crew putting on the spectacular fireworks show on the Mississippi River on the Fourth of July will be listening closely to the cheers, the applause and the "oohs and aahs" from the spectators Tuesday night.

"I like to play off the crowd," said Brandon Spear of J&M Displays, the company putting on WBRZ's Fireworks on the Mississippi. "When we do something out there they really like, we'll repeat it."

The show begins at 9 p.m. and can be best enjoyed from downtown Baton Rouge or Port Allen.

On Monday, workers on the Intracoastal Waterway in Plaquemine were in their fourth day of setting up the more than 19,000 fireworks on a barge donated by Verrit Shipyard.

The shipyard has donated a barge for the fireworks show for more than 30 years, ever since Brandon Spear's dad, David Spear, who once owned his own fireworks company in Mandeville, got involved in the Fourth of July spectacular here.

Today, David Spear is a Gulf South regional salesman for the Iowa-based J&M Displays company.

The barge carrying the fireworks is rigged to another barge, where the crew will sit in a protective shack during the display. On Tuesday, a tugboat will push the barges for the almost 20-mile trip to the appointed place for the show, in the middle of the Mississippi River near the USS Kidd.

On Monday afternoon, heat rose off the deck of the 110-foot-long barge as workers loaded the fireworks into fiberglass tubes, ranging in diameter from 3 inches up to 8-10 inches along with electrical charges and the electrical matches that fire off the fireworks.

Trash will be picked up on July 4 but other city-parish offices, courts close for holidays Trash will be picked up in the East Baton Rouge city-parish and the North Landfill will be o

The fireworks are set off from a firing panel in the shack on the second barge, Brandon Spear said.

Spear will have a sketched-out, hand-written plan for the roughly 21-minute show, but it's a flexible show that allows for audience response, he said.

"For every button I push, from one shell to 10 shells can go off," Spear said.

The finale features about 500 shells, he said.

"A little less than a third of the overall shells go out in the finale," which lights up the sky for some 2 minutes, Spear said.

"It's nonstop. It builds and builds, like in music, to a crescendo."

Many of the shells come in two halves that make a sphere, Spear said. "That's how you get a circle pattern."

The halves of the spheres can be configured to create other shapes, like hearts and three-dimensional boxes, Spear said.

+4 Five things you may not know about Uncle Sam Uncle Sam is 100 years old. At least, that's the age of the most iconic image of that famous

In their shack on the second barge, crew members will be wearing ear plugs, along with hard hats, safety glasses and life jackets. There are also several fire extinguishers on the barge.

Loading fireworks on Monday, crew member Cooper Beasley of Hammond, said he enjoys the percussive sounds of the fireworks.

Crew member Rusty Mayne, of Cut Off, said he likes "the sound of the crowd. You can hear it come across the water."
NEW ORLEANS (AP)  A Louisiana congressman is apologizing for the "unintended pain" caused by a video of his visit to a gas chamber at a Nazi 
If there's a holiday, you best believe south Louisiana is celebrating it. And when it comes to the Fourth of July, towns and cities around the
Prosecutors in the trial of an ADFA cadet accused of raping another cadet have closed the Crown case, using the opportunity to respond to defence suggestions the woman lied about her interest in the man.

In her closing arguments on Tuesday, prosecutor Kylie Weston-Scheuber said while jurors may question some parts of the woman's evidence, they would have no trouble finding "she was one hundred per cent telling the truth" about what happened that morning.

ADFA cadet Jack Toby Mitchell, second from left, arrives at the ACT Supreme Court with his parents last week. Credit:Alexandra Back

"You will find her a genuine and credible witness," prosecutor Kylie Weston-Scheuber said in her two-hour closing address to the jury, "you will find her solid in relation to the events of 28 May."

The accused, Jack Toby Mitchell, 19, has faced an ACT Supreme Court trial over the last week and his fate will soon be with the jury.
Disturbed frontline staff are risking their careers to blow the lid on the "destructive" environment inside the Bimberi youth detention centre.

Staff shortages and a toxic culture have created a volatile situation inside the centre, putting frontline workers and children at risk, several sources alleged.

Staff have spoken out about the toxic culture inside the ACT's youth justice system. Credit:Karleen Minney

"I'm looking for work. We all are," said one youth worker, describing how staff morale had finally hit rock bottom.

"Nobody is proud to work at Bimberi," a second Bimberi employee added.
Canberra parents paid $3.5 million to public schools last year for extra resources including art supplies, library books and sporting equipment.

An Education Directorate official said the funds were "not even the cherry on top" of the government's investment in schools and an Australian National University academic said voluntary contributions were not known to impact on students' results.

The teacher who taught the wrong maths course to HSC students since the beginning of the year has been formally sacked. Credit:Cathryn Tremain

But, ANU Centre for Social Research and Methods deputy director Nicholas Biddle added, "of course having additional money is better than not".

"It has the potential to make the school a more enriching experience for those kids who go to schools where parents are able to make that contribution," he said.
The ACT government will establish a taskforce to review the amount of flammable cladding used in Canberra, the same believed to be at the centre of the catastrophic Grenfell Tower fire in London.

A spokesperson for planning minister Mick Gentlemen previously confirmed the use of cladding was widespread in Canberra but stressed its use was not illegal.

The death toll for the Grenfell tower fire stands at 80. Credit:Frank Augstein

The ACT government is also set to take part in a national review into building compliance and certification.

Do you know more? Get in touch via finbar.omallon@fairfaxmedia.com.au or using the app Signal on your smart phone via 0437 464 126.
Fremantle's Cam McCarthy and St Kilda's Jimmy Webster have accepted two-match bans offered to them by the match review panel on Monday.

McCarthy was offered a two-match ban, downgraded from three matches with an early guilty plea, for rough conduct while tackling Saints defender Sam Gilbert on Sunday.

From the same game, Webster was offered a two-match suspension, also downgraded from three with an early guilty plea, for making unreasonable and unnecessary contact to the eye region of Freo's Nick Suban.

There had been some speculation that St Kilda would challenge Webster's sanction because of insufficient force.
More than 700 women suffering strong pain from vaginal mesh implants have launched a class action against global healthcare giant Johnson & Johnson in the Federal Court.

The implants are thought to have been used to treat pelvic floor damage on about 8000 Australian women who have suffered life-altering complications after surgery, Rebecca Jancauskas from Shine Lawyers said on Tuesday.

She said the mesh was designed to repair pelvic floors, but side effects have been devastating.

"The complications that Australian women are suffering include the mesh or tape eroding through, and into, surrounding tissue and organs, as well as incontinence, infection and chronic pain," she said.
Angela Brodie, who has died aged 82, was a British-born pharmacologist who discovered the effectiveness of aromatase inhibitors as a treatment for oestrogen-positive breast cancer.

She became interested in treatments for breast cancer in the late 1950s when working as a graduate researcher at Manchester's Christie Cancer Hospital. "There was very little known, and they did horrible things to you, a lot surgically," she recalled. "I did feel there should be a better way of doing things."

Angela Brodie in 2005 became the first woman to win the $250,000 Charles F. Kettering Prize, an honour that recognises "the most outstanding recent contribution to the diagnosis or treatment of cancer". Credit:University of Maryland School of Medicine

About 70 per cent of all breast cancers are linked to the hormone oestrogen. It was another scientist, Craig Jordan, who discovered the properties of tamoxifen, which prevents oestrogen from binding to cancer cell receptors. But Brodie was concerned that, as tamoxifen also serves as a weak oestrogen, it might not block tumours effectively enough. Other scientists cited evidence that it put women at increased risk for endometrial cancer and stroke.

Rather than searching for a drug that would block oestrogen, Brodie looked for a way to limit its production. Her husband Harry, a chemist involved in researching contraceptives, had synthesised the first aromatase inhibitors  compounds that prevent the creation of an enzyme vital to producing oestrogen. While they did not prove effective enough as contraceptives in animal trials, Angela suggested that they might be effective against breast cancer.
Outspoken Nationals senator John "Wacka" Williams has hit out at the tensions plaguing the Liberal Party, warning that "division is death".

Senator Williams said the "in-house arguments" preoccupying the party, between former prime minister Tony Abbott and his successor Malcolm Turnbull were taking away from the government's achievements.

In frequent speeches and media appearances, Mr Abbott has been questioning the direction of the Turnbull government and putting forward an alternative policy manifesto that would slash immigration and wind back subsidies for renewable energy.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull will urge United States President Donald Trump to demand that American tech companies break into encrypted messages sent by suspected terrorists.

Intelligence agencies around the world are frustrated by the increasing use of encrypted messaging services, allowing terrorists to communicate securely and avoid detection, a phenomenon known as "going dark".

The Australian leader plans to join the leaders of Britain and Germany in pressing for action at the G20 summit on Friday: "This whole issue is a massive one," the Prime Minister said in an interview with Fairfax Media.
Private companies are gaining unprecedented access to students' personal and academic data, drafting NAPLAN questions and producing teaching and learning materials, prompting fears that businesses are dictating the focus of public education policy.

More than 90 per cent of public school teachers and principals are concerned about the privatisation of public education, including the ethics of private companies having access to student data, a new study of 2200 educators, including 1100 in NSW, has revealed.

A key area of privatisation in Australian education is the standardised NAPLAN tests, administered to students in year 3, 5, 7 and 9 at public and non-government schools, according to the report, which was commissioned by the NSW Teachers Federation and released on Tuesday.

Almost all elements of the NAPLAN tests have been contracted out to private companies such as multibillion global education provider Pearson, UNSW Global and British-based National Foundation of Educational Research, including the development of test questions, reporting on results and the final national performance analyses.
The deputy mayor of Canada Bay council has been reprimanded in Sydney's local court for repeatedly failing to disclose his electoral spending and political donations.

Labor councillor Tony Fasanella, who has served on the council for more than 20 years, was handed a 12-month good behaviour bond last week after the NSW Electoral Commission took legal action against him.

Labor deputy mayor of Canada Bay council was given a good behaviour bond for failing to submit electoral disclosure forms.

Documents lodged in Sydney's Downing Centre local court reveal Mr Fasanella had failed to lodge electoral spending disclosure for four consecutive years, but was only penalised for the most recent two years.

He pleaded guilty in June to two counts of failing to submit a disclosure declaration for the 2014-15 and 2015-16 financial years.
Tracey Valesini had been locked in a court battle to retain custody of her baby daughter when she vanished more than two decades ago.

Her daughters - now older than their mother was when she disappeared - have grown up in the shadow of her suspected murder.

On what would have been Ms Valesini's 45th birthday, her family launched a public appeal for information on Wednesday, accompanied by detectives from the NSW Unsolved Homicide Team.

The NSW government announced a $100,000 reward for information leading to those responsible for her disappearance and suspected murder.
With chlamydia "highly prevalent" in Australian sheep, a Sunshine Coast researcher hopes to find a way to better spot infections of the painful disease.

University of Sunshine Coast Associate Professor Adam Polkinghorne kicked off his chlamydia research with koalas and after a trip to Europe, discovered the disease was common in other species.

The research aims to develop better methods to detect chlamydia in sheep. Credit:Rob Homer

The molecular microbiologist will use a $593,000 grant to better detect the disease.

"It turns out sheep and cattle have lots of chlamydia in Australia," he said.
The Australian Federal Police is investigating reports Australians' personal Medicare details are being accessed and sold on the dark web, an apparent breach that has been labelled an "internet catastrophe".

According to a Guardian Australia report, an online vendor can pull up the full Medicare card details of any Australian on request  and is selling them for around $30 each  indicating a security hole somewhere in the health system.

Human Services Minister Alan Tudge said the government was taking the matter seriously.

The sales are reportedly listed on an undisclosed dark web marketplace, in which the vendor claims to be "exploiting a vulnerability" in order to run software that pulls the data. The vendor calls it "the Medicare Machine".
Metro has warned the Andrews government that three of Melbourne's metro rail lines have breached capacity at peak hour, with three others to follow within the next two years.

The crowd crushes and heavy disruption experienced during the morning peak on the Sunbury, Craigieburn and Upfield lines will soon become the norm on the Cranbourne, Pakenham and Werribee lines.

The city's rail operator has proposed bypassing the City Loop more often in the peak and running trains direct to Flinders Street Station or Southern Cross Station instead, as a way to squeeze more capacity out of Melbourne's straining rail network.

It says the problem is most urgent on the "northern group" of lines that service Melbourne's booming north-west.
The most powerful rabbi in Australia's most secretive ultra-Orthodox Jewish community has taken the extraordinary step of intervening in the appointment of controversial rabbi Meir Shlomo Kluwgant as principal of Adass Israel School.

In a rare move from the leader who scarcely weighs in on high-profile issues, Rabbi Avrohom Zvi Beck has released a letter to community members calling for more consultation on the appointment.

Adass Israel School in Elsternwick, where Malka Leifer was principal from 2003 to 2008. Credit:Pat Scala

"I think it appropriate that we should consult with the members of our community on this matter," wrote the rabbi in a letter sent out days after Rabbi Kluwgant was given the role.

"Let a general meeting be arranged, and may the Lord bring us success in the endeavour."
Actor Vince Colosimo could face jail time after being caught driving under the influence of drugs and while suspended from being behind the wheel.

Police confirmed that on March 5 this year a 50-year-old Carlton North man had been charged and his car impounded after officers intercepted a vehicle on Exhibition Street.

He returned a positive drug test and is expected to be charged on summons for driving while suspended and other traffic offences.

The Underbelly star was on a 12-month good behaviour bond after pleading guilty to possession of the drug ice in the Melbourne Magistrates Court in January.
The Department of Aboriginal Affairs told WAtoday local police knew of the alleged incidents, but a spokesman for police said it had never received a formal complaint about child floggings or stonings and therefore never investigated the claims. In an email to Department of Regional Development state reform leader Grahame Searle dated April 26, 2016, an undisclosed sender wrote, "Word from Jigalong today... public floggings of two young people that were accused of breaking into the shop  not I think the first time this has happened". Another email dated July 21, 2016 penned by Department of Aboriginal Affairs operations services manager Barry Louvel also alleged violence against children. "When the two children were flogged in the community (no one seems to know where the police were and there seems to be no action following it) there was a lot of community anger (about the nature of the floggings, why it was done to some families' children not others)" he said. I would like to make it perfectly clear that schooling and the importance of children attending school will never be a bargaining point with the State Government WA treasurer Ben Wyatt

The accusations have never been proven or disproven as an investigation into the authenticity of the claims was never conducted. Less than half of the 100 children in the community are attending school. Credit:Louise Kennerley

Claims of a council ruled by 'intimidation'

It's a similar story in relation to claims Mr Samson ruled the community through intimidation and bullying after a secret survey of local service providers uncovered a number of accusations which have never been investigated. A note to Mr Collier on 30 May 2016 described how several agencies would only provide information to the state government on the condition their involvement was kept confidential.

"They were very concerned that, should the [Jigalong council and its chief executive] or Chairman discover that they had divulged the information, the service provider's ability to deliver services to community membership would be severely impacted," the note read. In a separate briefing note to former DAA director general Cliff Weeks, dated September 30, 2016, DAA executive director for accountable government Lucy Gunn said the department held concerns over the lack of transparency around the council following discussions with local services. WA Premier Colin Barnett (left) with Deputy Premier Liza Harvey, and at right Peter Collier (Minister for Education) at press conference at WA Pariliament House, after Barnett retained leadership following a spill motion today, 20 September 2016. At WA Parliament, Perth, WA. Photo by Philip Gostelow .? Credit:Philip Gostelow "None are aware of when a properly constituted JCI [council] board meeting actually occurred, and most state that bullying of other board members as well as JCI members, is done openly," she said. "Alarmingly, most service providers quoted actual examples of where their staff had either witnessed or been the agency being bullied or threatened by the chairperson and or CEO."

The note concluded with a recommendation the issues be raised with the Commissioner for Consumer Protection, who was responsible for the Act which the council fell under, but no formal complaint was ever lodged. Claims Mr Samson regularly voted on decisions without other councillors present because it was assumed they would be intimidated and "not go against" him, have also never been investigated and therefore, never proven or disproven. Mr Louvel, who is based in Broome, described the council's governing of the community in an email as a "rotten state of affairs", with his repeated calls for intervention over the past year seemingly falling on deaf ears. Some children are said to have missed up to two years of schooling. Credit:Angela Wylie AJW, Angela Wylie AJW "Need regulatory body to take some action," he wrote on September 9, 2016.

"This could come back to bite if something isn't done," he wrote on February 14, 2017.

A history of inaction: children miss up to two years of schooling and essential services over a 'principal row'

At the beginning of 2017, the council began refusing all community access permit applications for child based services in retaliation for the school principal not being moved on. "Until the problem with the school has been rectified, no permits will be approved," the council's reason to DAA read. Among those refused included a direct instruction literacy group, a school psychologist and foetal alcohol syndrome disorder officers, with a Telethon Kids Institute representative telling the school principal her team was left "shaken" by the encounter.

The move was described by an undisclosed Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet employee as a 'blatant abuse of power', while Mr Louvel expressed his frustration at the matter, writing an another DAA executive on February 14, "Why on earth is our land branch listening to a [word removed] CEO about who can and can't get a permit?... DAA is now complicit in the unlawful act of keeping children out of school." West Australian treasurer Ben Wyatt said he is monitoring the situation closely. Credit:Trevor Collens Around this same time, the council was also alleged to have voted to boycott the school, with internal DAA emails revealing attempts by the Jigalong council to prevent children attending school were first noted as early as term one in 2015  disrupting students' access to education for two years. "There is no apparent action by the education department to demand that the council stop the attempted closure of the school," an urgent briefing note in May 2016 from the Department of Aboriginal Affairs stated. An agreement between Mr Samson and the DAA for the council to temporarily cease refusing service providers access to the community was reached in February.

In May, a new principal was appointed to the school with attendance records showing, on average, more than 40 of 100 children were now attending school each week. "The Jigalong Community Council have agreed to stop actions that were impeding people accessing the community, including the non-issue of permits," a DAA spokesman said. "School attendance has improved following the appointment of a new school principal. "Issues related to community government continue to be discussed." Current aboriginal affairs minister Ben Wyatt  whose father Cedric was once the chief executive of Jigalong  has issued a warning to the council, saying he would not tolerate the education of children being used as a bargaining tool.

"I am monitoring this matter closely and have requested my department to work with the community and other agencies to address any issues," he said. "But I would like to make it perfectly clear that schooling and the importance of children attending school will never be a bargaining point with the State Government."

New laws mean state government has greater power to overthrow dysfunctional councils

New "last resort" laws which enable the state government to apply to the State Administrative Tribunal to appoint a statutory manager to a dysfunctional council came into effect in July 2016. That same month, the DAA enquired about the possibility the laws could be used to address issues with the Jigalong council but concluded along with Consumer Protection that there was insufficient evidence to proceed at the time.
When a newsagency staff member asked a Mandurah mother to see him out the back of the store, the mother's first thought was, "Oh God, what have the kids done now".

The staff member's news, however, was much more positive than the mother anticipated, with the man informing her Lotto ticket he had just scanned was a division one winner.

The mother unknowingly carried the $1.4m ticket with her for two weeks.

"He then said I was the missing Division 1 winner and that I'd won $1.4 million," the mother said.

The shocked mother and her children later attended Lotterywest headquarters to claim their winnings.
It's a renters' market for Perth's office space with rising vacancies allowing companies across the city to move to flash digs usually out of their league, according to a new survey of the city's work trends.

Y Research's latest West Australian Suburban Office Report shows that the vacancy rate across Perth's 50 suburban office markets rose to 17.7 per cent over the past six months - up from 16.5 per cent in November.

Even Perth ranks higher than Sydney in the Global Liveability Ranking. Credit:Stefan Gosatti

Drilling down, the research shows that 40,000 square metres of office space in those markets has been vacated over the past twelve months by companies moving on up to more desirable locales.

"Challenging economic conditions and increasing competition for office tenants, large and small, from office owners in the Perth CBD, West Perth and other suburban markets, have placed pressure on Western Australia's suburban employment hubs," said Y Research's Damian Stone.
Police are looking for a man over the bashing of a nine-year-old boy in a park in Perth's northern suburbs on Monday.

Around 3.30pm, the boy was playing with his brother at the Barry Britton Reserve on Balga Avenue when an unknown man approached them.

WA police are looking to speak to this man over the beating of a child in Balga. Credit:WA Police

As the pair went to walk away from him, the man grabbed the nine-year-old boy's arm and struck him on the side of his head.

The boy screamed, and the man fled the scene.
Vienna: Austria is planning to impose border controls and possibly deploy troops to cut the number of migrants crossing from Italy, defence officials said, drawing a protest from Rome and reigniting a row over Europe's handling of the refugee crisis.

Tensions between European Union countries over how to share the burden of migrants flared in 2015 when hundreds of thousands, many fleeing wars in Africa and the Middle East, began arriving in EU territory, mainly via Greece, and headed for Germany, Austria and other nearby affluent states.

An Italian paramedic helps a migrant during the disembark of 402 migrants from the Britain Royal Navy's ship Echo in the harbour of Brindisi, Italy, on Friday. Credit:ANSA/AP

Austria took in more than 1 per cent of its population in asylum seekers at the time, which helped increase popular support for the far-right Freedom Party. Keen to avoid another influx, it said then it would introduce controls at the busy Brenner Pass border crossing with Italy if one materialised there.

That has not yet happened but Italy recently asked other EU countries to help it cope with a surge in migrants reaching its southern Mediterranean shores from Africa, raising concern in Austria that many will soon show up at its border with Italy.
Beijing: North Korea's intercontinental ballistic missile test "destabilises the region and directly threatens all nations within range" said Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, as he warned the United States and its allies would show North Korea that its provocation would bear consequences.

A day after North Korea launched its first intercontinental ballistic missile, which has the capability to reach Alaska and Darwin, the federal government said it had expanded sanctions against North Korea's mining and shipping industries.

In a joint statement with his defence and foreign ministers, Mr Turnbull called on China "to use its considerable leverage to rein in the dangerous behaviour of the North Korean leadership", and said he would urge G20 leaders to take further strong action.

Australia supported "any defensive measures required to respond to the threat posed by North Korean offensive missiles".
Last week, Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke offered welcome news to Montanans and all Americans when he announced he would recommend to keep the Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument intact as is, an iconic landscape critical to fish and game and cherished by hunters, anglers and others.

The importance of Americas public lands, including our national monuments, to our fish and wildlife populations, economic health and hunting and fishing traditions cannot be overstated. The secretarys willingness to listen to a majority of Montanans and Americans in determining the fate of the Breaks is appreciated  and has not gone unnoticed. Yet we the American people must continue to speak up in support of the other monuments subject to the administrations review.

National monument proposals, including the Upper Missouri River Breaks, are forged through a locally driven process in collaboration with all public land owners, including recreationists, farmers, ranchers and business owners, as well as sportsmen and women. After a monument is established, local stakeholders remain intimately involved in shaping the lands management. This customizable approach leaves plenty of room to uphold a wide range of interests as well as a multiple-use approach to the monuments administration  all while permanently conserving our most irreplaceable landscapes.

Regardless of where you come from or the size of your paycheck, Americas monuments are open and accessible to all. In other countries, hunting and fishing is reserved for landowners and the wealthy. But not here. And certainly not in Montana, where were surrounded by American-owned public lands, available for everyones enjoyment.

Hunters and anglers in particular care about our national monuments, which conserve some of our most spectacular places across the West and in some cases boast world-class hunting and fishing. The current administration should heed the will of the American people and keep these public lands just as they are. An attack on one monument is attack on all. The Missouri Breaks may be safe, but others, including Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks and Rio Grande del Norte in New Mexico and Berryessa Snow Mountain in California, remain in jeopardy.

American citizens  including members of Congress, who in 1906 advanced the federal Antiquities Act to the desk of President Theodore Roosevelt for passage into law  decided long ago that national monument designations should stand the test of time. It was Roosevelt who invoked the Act to designate the nations first national monuments, including the Grand Canyon. Roosevelt, like all our presidents until now, understood that national monuments are national treasures, representing some of the best parts of our nations outdoor legacy.

We cant let special interests threaten our public lands, including our national monuments. If we let our guard down now, we risk sending a signal that our public lands are here for the taking, up for sale to the highest bidder. This isnt the America I know and love. We need to leave these lands intact, not undermine important and hard fought protections.

As a fellow Montanan, Secretary Zinke understands and respects the importance of our public lands and waters and what these places mean to the outdoor traditions enjoyed by generations of hunters and anglers. As public landowners, Montanans and all Americans must come together now to continue to speak up for our national monuments and to remind the secretary that now is the time for him to join us in defending and conserving these places  in perpetuity. Thats something Theodore Roosevelt would be proud of. To do otherwise is frankly, un-American.

Ryan Busse is the board chair of the Montana Chapter of Backcountry Hunters and Anglers. He lives and works in Kalispell.
Recently, a reporter with ABC News reported from Gettysburg, PA, where 51,000 soldiers were killed, captured or missing after that Civil War battle. This reporter said that people in Gettysburg believe America is on the edge of another civil war because of the hatred being expressed over political differences now. The media has stirred people up with stories about President Trump that have been discredited. The media continues to stir the anger in this nation, bringing it to a boiling point. I heard a gun show host urging gun owners to learn not only how to shoot, but also how to fight with their guns. I suspect that the media is deliberately pushing America into another civil war.
Chita single grain whisky launched in UK

Beam Suntory has launched its first single grain whisky with Chita.

Using new cask types, chief blender, Shinji Fukuyo has aged Chita in wine and Spanish Oak casks alongside American White Oak casks.

Fukuyo describes The Chita single grain whisky as the serenity of Japanese whisky from the tranquil Chita distillery. There is a quiet confidence and tenderness in our grain whiskies. These qualities allow them to be their own heroes, whether in blend or featured as a single grain whisky.

The Chita is distributed in the UK through Maxxium and has an RRP of 52.50 for 70cl.

4 July 2017 - Sam Coyne The Drinks Report, news editor
A man wanted in connection to a Brazos County death was arrested over the weekend in Dallas.

Matthew Brown, 28, was being held at the Brazos County Jail on Monday with bail set at $100,000.

He was charged with tampering or fabricating evidence in the May 30 death of 53-year-old Larry Goodman, who was found in a driveway on Wilcox Lane just after 5 a.m. No cause of death has been released, but the case is being investigated as a homicide.

Jim Stewart, chief deputy for the Brazos County Sheriff's Office, said a tip led to Brown's arrest late Sunday. Brown is a primary suspect in the investigation into Goodman's death, Stewart said.

Law enforcement officials spent more than six hours on June 1 searching the Hyatt Place hotel in College Station after learning from an informant that Brown had stayed there overnight.

Hotel employees who were shown a picture of Brown said they saw him there, but the search came up short after the 91-room hotel was evacuated and sealed off.

The investigation is ongoing, and authorities encourage anyone with information to call 361-4900.
MONTICELLO  The trial to determine whether Gregory Houser strangled his estranged wife to death 27 years ago could take two weeks, Circuit Court Judge Karle Koritz said.

Koritz warned a pool of more than 60 prospective jurors Monday that the trial for the 56-year-old Houser was expected to take that long.

Sheryl Houser, 29, was found dead in the garage of her rural Mahomet home in October of 1990. Her body was discovered suspended from the ceiling with a rope around her neck. A coroner's jury had returned a verdict in 1991 that the nature of the death could not be determined; that ruling was changed to homicide at a new coroner's inquest in 2016. Four first degree murder counts were filed against Gregory Houser in September. He has consistently pleaded his innocence.

Monday's hearing in the Piatt County Courthouse was taken up with jury selection, which lasted all day. Prospective jurors were bombarded with questions from the judge, as well as Piatt County State's Attorney Dana Rhoades and defense attorney Kevin Sanborn.

Their aim was to find out whether jurors could give the defendant a fair trial, weigh only the facts presented to them and deal with some horrific evidence.

Rhoades warned jurors they would be shown graphic photographs of wounds and other injuries as part of that evidence.

Sanborn wanted to know if jurors could ignore natural feelings of repulsion when dealing with someone charged with killing another human being. Mr. Houser is charged with the crime of murder  do you have any bias towards Mr. Houser because he is charged with this crime? asked Sanborn. If you have ... can you put those feelings aside?

Houser, who is being held at the Piatt County Jail, appeared in court wearing a short-sleeved shirt, slacks and tie. He replied Yes, sir, when the judge asked him if he understood he faced anywhere from 20 to 60 years in prison if convicted. He was also told he could be sentenced to natural life if the trial finds he committed a murder involving aggravating factors, such as wanton cruelty.

Watching the proceedings from the visitor benches was an 18-strong group of family and friends of Sheryl Houser, many wearing purple ribbons which they said were in memory of domestic violence.

Final jury selection and opening statements in the trial are expected Wednesday.
Its a very old trick. The quote above is from Lord Lawson, the chairman of the Vote Leave campaign. But it does not refer to the recent Brexit crisis.

Its Lawsons contemporaneous analysis of the 1964 general election for the Financial Times. He humbly coined it Lawsons law of election campaigning in his self-serving autobiography, The View from Number 11: Memoirs of a Radical Tory.

The Tories convinced many that immigration was the problem. But May as home secretary failed to solve the problem of immigration. This allowed the Brexiteers to present Brexit as the solution to immigration, and by implication the crisis in housing, health, employment.

Poisoned Air and Rivers

My investigation for openDemocracy suggests that immigration was only of marginal importance even to those who ran the Brexit campaign. They knew it would win votes.

What they really wanted was to leave Europe, and leave behind environmental regulations and human rights legislation designed to protect the population from poisoned air and rivers, from dangerously long working hours, and from climate change.

The key question I attempting to answer in the Brexit Inc. series for openDemocracy is, why hasnt Britain done more to protect the environment and prevent run-away climate change? The threat is extreme, and very real.

The Countervailing Force is Business

Environmental campaigners have since the early 1970s fought hard to force governments around the world to protect their citizens, and the natural environment that is the material substance of their nation. But fight for the environment is far from over, and were losing badly.

Brexit means this conflict will now take place in Westminster, Holyrood, Cardiff Bay, Stormont (and possibly Dublin) rather than Brussels. But why are the politicians resistant to the pressure of the environmental groups and their supporters?

The public, the environment charities, those politicians who are seriously concerned about climate change represent a serious force. But the countervailing force is business - micro, small, monopoly and transnational.

Hating Environmental Regulations

What does this look like up close? How did businesses influence the Brexit campaign? Was the business community split? And how did the industrial wing of the Brexit campaign succeed?

Our investigation into the Brexit campaign has established that most of the people publicly involved in the Brexit campaign are small to medium businessmen who see regulation and government as an impediment to profit and success.

The European Union is seen - rightly - as an instrument of regulation and state restrictions on the private sector. It is therefore deeply resented. In particular, the business people involved in Vote Leave and Business for Britain hate environmental regulations and the working time directive.

Regulation Costs Business

Business for Britain, one of the two main Brexit campaign groups, raised concerns about regulations designed to reduce emissions, including from the transport sector. Many of those involved work directly or indirectly for companies with high intensity emissions. They made sure their core supporters understood the important issues.

Business for Britain released a press release early in its campaign, headlined New Research Reveals 12bn Cost of Lisbon Treaty to British Businesses.

It stated: Research by Business for Britain, based on official Government data, finds that EU regulation stemming from the Lisbon Treaty has cost UK businesses 12.2bn since December 2009, and currently hits British companies for 6.1bn annually.

The Steady and Unaccountable Intrusion

In 2009, David Cameron correctly warned: The problem were facing today... will now be made worse by the ratification of the Lisbon Treaty... These problems boil down to the steady and unaccountable intrusion of the European Union into nearly every aspect of our lives.

Matthew Elliott, the chief executive of Business for Britain, was quoted saying: The Lisbon Treaty was hugely unpopular at the time, and we can now see that it has increased the cost of doing business in Britain.

There is an extremely strong correlation between supporting Britain leaving the European Union and espousing climate denial. There are very many points of evidence that the same group of people are promoting Brexit and attacking climate science and policy.

Greater Profitability and Growth

The same motive - a dislike of regulations - drives climate denial and in particular the attack on the UNFCCC and IPCC process, and the European Unions role in that process.

The assumption is that without the European Union the Conservative government would be free to remove regulations, allowing for greater profitability and growth for companies which are carbon intensive or otherwise polluting.

Lawson (yes, him again), argued that EU regulation is untouchable without Brexit. Ian Brown was the South East chairman of Business for Britain and works in the carbon intensive construction industry. He attacked the working time directive in the local newspaper.

Sheer Mountain of Regulation

Carl Chambers, then Yorkshire chairman of Business for Britain, works for CNG, which is the largest independent shipper of gas in the UK. He is also opposed to European Union regulations.

The European Union has been a very costly exercise for the UK, he told local media. We are spending 350m a week and thats on top of the cost of complying with the sheer mountain of regulation and law which come out of Brussels.

The reason I have got involved is if you are going to have regulations and laws that affect businesses as well as the general population, those laws should be passed as close to those people as possible...We have got 50 per cent of our laws and regulations coming from Brussels. Its unrepresentative, its unaccountable and its costly.

Bureaucrats in Brussels

Nigel Baxter, the East Midland chairman of Business for Britain, runs RH Commercial Vehicles with sites in Cossington in Leicestershire and Alfreton in Derbyshire, and is the boss of a truck hire company in Nottingham.

The local newspaper reported: He says many small and medium-sized businesses in the East Midlands are fed up with bureaucrats in Brussels imposing oppressive regulations and costs on them, and want to see a fundamental change in the UK's relationship with Europe.

The centrality of regulation was largely underreported in the media, but not totally ignored. Perhaps the best example is the following from the Economist, under the headline Regulation is perhaps the Eurosceptics biggest bugbear.

Stick to Most of the Rules

When trying to show how much Britain might gain from leaving the EU, they tot up all the costs of EU regulation, assert that there are no benefits from it and assume that, after Brexit, the whole lot could be scrapped.

And. Yet. The OECD club of mostly rich countries has compared the extent of regulation in product and labour markets among its members and finds that Britain is among the least regulated countries in Europe. Indeed, Britain compares favourably with non-EU countries such as America, Australia and Canada.

And there is little to suggest that, if it were to leave the EU, it would tear up many rules. Moreover, if a post-Brexit Britain wanted to retain full access to the single European market, it would almost certainly have to stick with most of the accompanying rules.

Greater Anxiety is Yet to Come

The most unpopular claim you can make is that the public has been deceived. The idea that you have been deceived creates too much shame and anxiety to bring into consciousness. It is almost as hard to say publicly that you have changed your mind, you may have been wrong.

This is what makes Lawsons law of election campaigning so powerful, and so insidious and cruel. The public voted because they do need a strong and stable society: security at work, support through hospitals and social care.

We were told that immigrants were taking away those services. That Brexit would stop immigration. That we would have jobs, schools, hospitals. The reality is Brexit means ever greater economic and environmental instability. So far greater anxiety is yet to come. Unless of course...

This Author

Brendan Montague is the new contributing editor of The Ecologist and can be reached at brendan@theecologist.org.

He is also is a regular columnist for openDemocracy in its 'Brexit Inc: the environment and corporate power in the new Britain' series.

Related Articles by Brendan Montague





This article was first published by openDemocracy under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International licence.
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 GOP's red wave foundered nationally, but it swept away Democrats in Iowa

Republican operatives credit Gov. Kim Reynolds with generating enough enthusiasm to help pull down-ballot candidates across the finish line in Iowa.
DECATUR  The 36-year-old man found dead from multiple gunshot wounds Sunday evening has been identified as Demesheo M. Lovelace of Decatur, according to the Macon County Coroner's Office.

Coroner Michael E. Day said in a news release Monday that Lovelace was pronounced dead at 6:55 p.m. Sunday at the scene near the 900 block of South Main Street. An autopsy was set for Monday afternoon in the McLean County Morgue in Bloomington, and an inquest is pending.

Police responded to a shots fired call in the 4:31 p.m. in the 1000 block of South Water Street. They found Lovelace, who had suffered multiple gunshot wounds after fleeing the shooters to a wooded area behind Greenwood Cemetery where he had been caught and killed.

Police have said they are looking for three suspects in the shooting: Joseph D. Fox, 27, Darelle D. Fox, 31, and Shawn L. Eubanks, 25. All three men are considered armed and dangerous, Sgt. Chris Copeland said in a news release early Monday.

Lovelace's family had reacted with shock to the news of his death when it first broke Sunday evening. His first cousin, Shante Davis, was told of the death in a phone call from an uncle.

"I had just talked to my cousin like two weeks ago, this is what is so crazy," said Davis, 38, on Sunday evening. "Everybody is in shock."

She said her cousin, known as "Pooder," had problems in his life and described him as planning to leave the Decatur area and make a new start in Atlanta, Ga., where his mother lives. Davis said he couldn't leave now because he had to finish up what she described as a period of probation following a prison sentence for selling drugs.

Court records show Lovelace pleaded guilty in 2006 to unlawful possession of cocaine with intent to deliver and was sentenced to 17 years in prison, followed by three years of supervised release. He was also fined more than $173,000.

Now, instead of him leaving Illinois to turn his life around, Davis said her cousin's scattered family was coming back to Illinois to mourn his death. "His dad is all the way back in Mississippi and just got wind of all this," she added. "And there is his mom and his brother in Atlanta; we've got half his family on their way back here."

Decatur Police have appealed for anyone with information related to the shooting or whereabouts of the suspects to call them at (217) 424-2711, or call the Decatur Police Detective Bureau at (217) 424-2734, or CrimeStoppers at (217) 423-8477.
It's officially summertime, and small companies everywhere are feeling the heat. In fact, a 2017 survey of 400 employees by TSheets found that 30 percent of employees polled said they would take a vacation with their paid time off. Nearly the same number -- 28 percent -- said they'd use that time to spend with family.

Related: Is 'Paid Time-Off' Actually Possible?

Chloe Mitchell, director of talent relations at The Social Select, an influencer marketing agency in Los Angeles, said that in her experience the summer months are the most popular time for vacations. "Last week, we had three out of four members of our talent rRelations team out of the office," Mitchell reported via email.

"Because we have a shared team calendar on which everyone indicates their vacation time, we were aware of this weeks prior and had time to devise a plan."

Preparing for employee vacations is key, Mitchell pointed out. It ensures that the company will operate smoothly and that employees can enjoy worry-free time off. "Once the three employees arrived back from their time off, we met as a team and discussed how things went, in an effort to improve the process for next time," she added.

When running a small company, having multiple employees leave on vacation simultaneously can be disruptive. However, preparing ahead of time as a means to ensure employees enjoy their time off leads to a successful summer for everyone.

With summer under way, here are four ways to handle your own company's vacation scheduling.

1. Rally the troops.

The worst thing employers can do during the summer vacation months is take on all the work themselves. That's why Andrew Schrage, CEO at Denver-based Money Crashers, a personal finance website, suggests rallying the troops.

"Since you'll usually know about these vacations in advance, it's a good idea to conduct a meeting. Take some time and plan out which employees will be taking on specific responsibilities," Schrage suggested via email.

Make sure your entire team is on the same page, by handing out specific duties. Once everyone knows who will cover what tasks, schedule a time for each "fill-in" person to meet with the employee taking vacation. This will help team members understand what is expected of them and give them the opportunity to ask any questions.

Also, providing direction and details to those filling in will help employees relax and enjoy their time off even more.

Related: Give Us a Break: Millennials Are Suffering From 'Vacation Shame'

2. Stay transparent.

One employee's vacation time is another's extra-busy work week. David Cancel, CEO of Drift, a marketing and sales messaging service in Boston, helps his team push through the "summer slump" by keeping everyone informed.

"We made sure everyone's vacation time was documented multiple weeks, if not months, in advance," Cancel explained in an email. "We also make sure we message our upcoming time off to each other in Slack. A month out, you might send a Slack message to your team: 'Just a reminder; next month I'll be out during this week.' Then, two weeks out, you can send another reminder."

Drift's vacation transparency policy doesn't just help everyone remember who is off and when, but also holds everyone accountable to ensure that work doesn't suffer.

To stay organized, use an all-in-one HR platform like Wurk, a one-stop shop for tracking employees' vacation time, communications about their time off and payroll issues. With an online system like that, employees can eliminate paperwork and let one another know their time-off requests.

To help ensure transparency on this issue, set deadlines by which employees must enter their vacation times into the system. This will prevent co-workers from feeling overwhelmed or caught off guard by a last-minute vacation update.

3. Go above and beyond.

Employees who pick up the slack for their vacationing co-workers are true team players. Gary Beckstrand, vice president of O.C. Tanner, an employee-recognition company in Centerville, Utah, went above and beyond to celebrate the team members who helped out when a fellow employee took an extended vacation.

"Honestly, we had a couple of intense days, but it did build camaraderie and strengthened relationships," Beckstrand reported. "I built in a budget for food and drinks as a token of my appreciation. I also spent a lot of time encouraging, by saying 'thanks' and acknowledging those who went above and beyond, with formal recognition, as well."

When it comes to showing employees appreciation, Niki Jorgensen, manager of HR services at Insperity, a strategic HR services company based in Houston, suggests that companies host special events for employees.

"A few examples might include hosting a pizza party or buying lunch for workers," Jorgenen suggested. "Some companies host a visit from animals at a local dog shelter whereby employees can interact with the animals and even consider an adoption. Workplace games and competitions can also be a good way to keep employees engaged and energized during the summertime."

4. Offer shorter weeks

Shorter weeks during the overflow of vacation time are another way to reward employees and give them a reprieve from extra work.

"As an organization, a clear and consistent policy must be implemented so that the company's business is not disrupted," Jay Starkman, CEO of Engage PEO, an HR solutions company in Hollywood, Fla., told me via email. "Companies may want to consider allowing seasonal perks such as compressed work weeks, revised work schedules, flextime or shorter hours on Fridays to help employees achieve a better work/life balance."

Starkman isn't the only one giving his team seasonal perks. In fact, a recent Gartner poll of 220 HR leaders found that 42 percent of the organizations sampled said they are offering their employees "summer Fridays" off this year.

So, think about these policies for your company: Sit employees down to discuss a flexible summer scheduling policy, and ask what will help them relax and refocus this summer. Find out what will give them the motivation to be more productive.

Related: Being a Work Martyr Doesn't Help You Advance Your Career, Study Finds

The policies they suggest, once implemented, will help them feel less overwhelmed when their colleagues take off; and supervisors will likely find that they're also better able to manage workflow.

Related:

4 Tips to Make Sure Your Company's Vacation Schedule Doesn't End up a Hot Mess

9 Things to Do to Have a Work-Free Vacation (Infographic)

More Companies Are Offering This Cheap Work Perk to Keep Staff Happy During the Summer



Copyright 2017 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reserved



This article originally appeared on entrepreneur.com


The Macon County coroner on Monday released the name of the victim in Sunday's shooting, which sparked a massive police response.

Four other stories to read are Relay for Life, Daughters of the American Revolution, empty houses and the court appearance of the Chinese student abduction suspect.

Shooting victim identified

The 36-year-old man found dead from multiple gunshot wounds Sunday evening has been identified as Demesheo M. Lovelace of Decatur, according to the Macon County Coroner's Office.

Lovelace was pronounced dead at the scene near the 900 block of South Main Street.

Relay is life for teams

Candis Cancer Crushers and Woodys Warriors are two of nearly 40 teams participating in the Relay For Life of Macon County on July 21 and 22. Their work is inspired by how cancer has touched their lives.

DAR born of patriotism

As a group that traces its traditions to the nation's founding, the Daughters of the American Revolution could say it was born of patriotism.

The women are dedicated to spreading love of country, helping veterans and providing a documented history of the United States of America and its people.

Millions spent on empty homes

Decaturs public housing agency is now accepting applications for eight new modular homes that have sat empty for five months while officials worked out final sale prices, an unexpected outcome for a project designed to help low- and moderate-income people secure permanent residences.

Abduction suspect in federal court

Hundreds of people gathered outside a federal courthouse Monday as Brendt Christensen, the suspect in the kidnapping of a Chinese scholar at the University of Illinois, made his first appearance since being arrested last week.
Grand Islanders can purchase fireworks and help support charitable causes this Independence Day.

A few fireworks stands have been erected across the city, aimed at raising funds to support charitable causes.

In the parking lot of Subway, 2136 N. Webb Road, Amy Green and her husband, Brian, operate the Grampas Fireworks trailer. Green said this is her fifth year running the fireworks stand, but her family has operated it for 16 years.

This year, Green and Grampas Fireworks are raising funds to support two causes: Folds of Honor, a scholarship program for families of wounded or killed soldiers, and the National Breast Cancer Foundation.

My sister was diagnosed with breast cancer two months ago, so we decided we were going to do an additional fundraiser in her honor, Green said. As for the Folds of Honor program, I am a disabled vet, and so I always work with charities in doing things for veterans causes.

Green said Grampas Fireworks sold 18 of the Folds of Honor Fireworks with $10 of each one sold going to the Folds of Honor Program. The Folds of Honor fireworks are a 500-gram cake with 16 artillery shots. Green said these fireworks sold out within the first two days the stand was open.

In addition to the Folds of Honor fireworks, Green said the most popular fireworks have been those with novelty packaging.

The Frog Prince has been one of our best sellers. It is just a fountain and the eyes and the mouth light up, she said. Another thing is the Snow Cone fountain. Fountains are hitting it big this year because of all the novelty items. I think it just attracts people and they last a lot longer than all the other aerial stuff.

A few blocks south, at the intersection of Highway 30 and Webb Road, the Centura Cheer Team has a fireworks stand set up to help raise funds to offset the cost of cheerleading uniforms, camp and pom-poms.

We already had our camp, but this helps pay for all their uniforms and stuff, Tammy Serr of Dannebrog said. Those expenses add up pretty quickly.

Serr said this is the third year the cheer team has had a fireworks stand. She added the team chose to have a fireworks stand for a couple reasons.

People to come to us instead of us going to them and selling items, Serr said. They are choosing to come to us and I like that better because you are not being pushy. Also, it is a big money maker. You can knock it out in a week and youre done.

Serr added that with the fireworks stand last year, none of the Centura cheerleaders had to pay more than $100 for uniforms, camp, pom-poms and other things.

For those still looking to purchase fireworks today (Tuesday), Serr said people should buy from their stand due to their affordable prices.

We have been told many times that our prices are so much better than some other stands, she said. They are also helping the girls.

On the southwest side of the Hy-Vee parking lot, the youth group at Abundant Life Christian Center is raising funds to help 15 to 20 youth go on a mission trip to Catadupa, Jamaica, in May, and to take a few students on a Disney trip. This is the third year Abundant Life has had the fireworks stand.

It is the quickest way to raise a good amount of money, said youth pastor Corey Schmeckloth. Its a lot of work, but its worth it because it is all for the kids.

Schmeckloth added a few of the kids are volunteering to help run the stand this week and have enjoyed doing so.

Kids just volunteer and they love it, which is funny because its not the most enjoyable thing in the world, Schmeckloth said. But I usually get five to 10 students here a day. They just come and hang out. They work hard though.

Per city code, fireworks can be discharged from 8 a.m. to midnight today (Tuesday). They cannot be discharged in a public right of way or in a city park.
Freedom is expensive. Just ask Grand Islander and World War II veteran Rudy Liebsack.

Liebsack, who turned 98 last week, lives at Primrose Retirement Community of Grand Island. Though hes lived nearly a century, hes quick to remember specifics about what freedom actually costs. Liebsack was drafted April 15, 1941, about seven months before the Pearl Harbor attacks.

In those days, the common thought of the average citizen here was that we do not want to get involved in the war, Liebsack said, because of German ancestors.

He was 21 and had only finished a half semester of college when he was drafted. Liebsack was put into a non-combat engineer corps. He trained for jungle fighting. His basic training was shortened from six months to three or four months. He was shipped to Hawaii January 7, 1942, Liebsack said, as Hawaii was the front lines. After about a year, he could qualify to be in the U.S. Army Air Corps.

What I wanted to be was a fighter pilot, Liebsack said.

He said being a fighter pilot was the thing in his day, with icons like the Red Baron (Manfred Albrecht Freiherr von Richthofen) from World War I to look up to. After training in 1943 and numerous tests, Liebsack became a radio operator on a B-24. Liebsack and his fellow 10-member crew were to go to Saipan, Japan.

His crew was ordered to bomb the island of Iwo Jima and was selected to bomb at night. Liebsack said it was tricky because the Japanese put out their search lights in the sky. If a plane was spotted by the Japanese through the search lights, the mission still needed to be completed.

All you could do was go on your bombing run and drop your bombs and then maneuver, trying to get away from them because they were shooting at you, Liebsack said.

After Iwo Jima fell in 1945, Liebsacks crew was sent to Okinawa, Japan, to bomb Kyushu, Japan. Also from Okinawa, his crew helped bomb Nagasaki and a few surrounding islands.

We had bombed Nagasaki about four days before they dropped the A-Bomb, Liebsack.

He said Nagasaki sticks with him because his position on the plane that day was nose gunner and he was a spotter for the pilots.

That day, I was leaning over at the 10 oclock position, I can still see it, they (Japanese) started picking up trying to find our altitude, he said.

I was leaning forward over my guns and I watched it. One shot, two shots, and I was talking to my pilot  Liebsack said. He kept popping up from his position to communicate with his pilot. Lo and behold, as I was talking to him, a piece of shrapnel came right above my head. If I wouldve sat up, I wouldnt be talking to you today. It wouldve got me right in the face.

Altogether, Liebsack said he and his crew went on about 30 missions. The toughest, though, was the third mission.

The mission on Iwo Jima left Liebsacks plane without a wheel and with many bullet holes. His plane was a part of 24 bombers and he was the waist gunner on that mission.

We had just dropped the bomb and they (Japanese) opened up on us before we even got there, Liebsack said.

As the waist gunner, Liebsack said he knew his plane was hit and that the shot took their engine. He got up off the floor and looked to the left, where plane was hit. The plane to the left went down and slid right under Liebsacks plane.

He just missed us by about 20 feet, otherwise he wouldve rammed us, Liebsack said.

He said he saw the plane go into the ocean, but he couldnt look anymore since danger was ahead. He knew a couple of Japanese planes went after the downed plane. Liebsack and his crew had to drop out of their mission, as enemy fighter planes were ahead. Other allied planes dropped back to help protect them.

Luckily they (the Japanese) didnt go after us, because we were out of formation, Liebsack said.

They ended up having to toss ammo to lighten the plane. They landed with only one wheel and a peg where the other would be.

This is where we beat the odds, I call it, Liebsack said.

He said July Fourth means a lot to him, knowing what freedom is since he fought for it. He said freedom is what he fought for and what many others sacrificed their lives for. He said to him, the Fourth of July represents independence and the right to vote.

We vote because of those who sacrificed, Liebsack said.

Though the memories are tough, and he remembers them vividly, he said hes thankful for his time in the service. He said the military took the boy in him and made a man.

I wouldnt trade it for a million or a billion dollars, Liebsack said.
DECATUR  A new Aldi is expected to be built at the site of a former America's Best Value Inn following a Decatur City Council vote on Monday night.

The council voted unanimously to rezone the site at 450 East Pershing Road, where the former hotel was demolished last year.

The vote came nearly two years after the council narrowly voted against a plan that would have allowed the construction of a new site for the German-based supermarket chain at the intersection of West Ash Avenue and U.S. Business 51.

The 2015 vote drew strong objections from many northside residents, who were concerned about traffic and the potential for hurting property values.

Councilman Bill Faber was one of the members who sided with the residents.

"Those of us of who did oppose it commented to Aldi's representatives that there were alternative locations. ... We're glad that Aldi took that advice and we wish them the very best," Faber said.

At the time, representatives for the company said it was seeking a place to build a larger store that would replace the one at 1005 W. Pershing Road, which would have closed. It was not immediately clear Monday what would happen to that store, which is about a mile and a half away from the site of the rezoning.

The four-acre site, adjacent to the Brettwood Village shopping center, is zoned B-3 Planned Shopping Center District. Under city zoning rules, those types of shopping districts are to be developed as a unit according to an approved plan. The council approved rezoning the site to B-2 Commercial District, which allows for a variety of uses that include retail.

The city's assessment of the plan noted that a new Aldi would be a visual upgrade for the now-vacant lot. The memo, authored by Deputy City Manager Billy Tyus, described the former motel as an eyesore.

Tyus said the development from Aldi is a welcome improvement for the city, and that the supermarket makes for good use of the property.

"We've seen it as a highly desirable commercial corridor," Tyus said.

Aldi also recently renovated its location at 2075 Mount Zion Road, drawing a large crowd for its reopening in May.

While the council closed the book on a once-controversial subject, it may have also opened a new one  the announcement of its consideration to double the fines for distracted driving violations from the current state-based levels.

Under Illinois law, drivers can be fined $75 for their first distracted driving violation, then $100 and $150 for a second and third incident, respectively.

Councilman Pat McDaniel said the national trend toward more car accidents and driving-related deaths is alarming, and higher fines will get the attention of local drivers.

Decatur Police Chief James Getz said higher fines would make drivers think twice, but police officers would be the ones bearing the brunt of their anger when they see the price tag.

"I would like to see more investment in educating the public (first), that if you don't get it together we are going to charge more," Getz.

Getz said police officers bear the brunt of the anger from drivers when they get served with an expensive ticket.

According to Getz, Decatur police have issued 1,100 citations related to cellphone use, since the state law was enacted in 2014.

Mayor Julie Moore Wolfe and the council agreed to consider the matter at the next council hearing, slated for July 17.

In other business, the council voted to block the requested operation of a consumer credit service at GW Plaza, located at the corner of Grand Avenue and North Water Street.

City officials had said the business, which offers small, high-interest loans to those in need of immediate cash, was operating in violation of city zoning rules.

The plaza's owner, Mohammad Shariff, had sought to change site's zoning to allow for the business to continue operating, but city staff recommended against the change and the council voted it down.

The council did vote to allow for the expansion of professional office uses.
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Linkedin EDITORIAL (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, July 4, 2017 08:29 1956 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97a79bbd2 4 Editorial #Editorial,diaspora,Indonesian-diaspora,economy,Trade,foreign-investment Free

From time to time Indonesians buzz with pride when they hear news of Indonesians who have won recognition abroad for their skills. Last year, for instance, it was the Spice Sisters, Tasia and Gracia Seger, who won the Australian cooking competition show My Kitchen Rules. On Saturday Yoshi Sudarso, an Indonesian star of a popular American childrens television series, Power Rangers Dino Charge, addressed the fourth Congress of Indonesian Diasporas. Another attendant was Luis Leeds, a 17-year-old racer of Australian and Indonesian nationality  who must choose one nationality on his 18th birthday, as Indonesia does not recognize dual citizenship.



The pride for Indonesians recognized abroad has not translated into what the country can do for them  like millions of migrants worldwide, Indonesians living overseas are mostly recognized by families and communities here as senders of remittance payments. Dual citizenship for children was huge progress in itself, ending the threat of children becoming stateless if their parents with foreign citizenship failed to extend their visas in time.



Once again the diaspora congress raised the hopes of millions of Indonesians working and living overseas that Indonesia could adopt dual citizenship, so that both Indonesian nationals and those with foreign citizenship could still contribute to the nation as citizens.



As a controversial issue there has been scant but hopefully meaningful progress. President Joko Jokowi Widodo said last year his administration was considering a revision of the 2006 citizenship law, while Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi said the ministry will soon introduce privileges for the diaspora, including a diaspora card to function as an identity token for Indonesians living abroad.



At least with facilities like visas lasting for several years many Indonesians may drop the practice of quietly reserving their Indonesian passports after having taken up foreign citizenship  a practice highlighted in the case of Arcandra Tahar, whose expertise in oil technology briefly won him the post of energy and mineral resources minister until his US citizenship was exposed. He quickly opted for Indonesian citizenship and is now the deputy minister.



The contradiction of reveling in overseas Indonesians achievements while setting up barriers against dual citizenship in part reflects our insecurity  as if anyone taking up foreign citizenship for whatever reason no longer loves the country. However, as anyone living abroad has testified, many continue to miss the motherland, warts and all, and eventually several seek ways to contribute to the nation apart from sending remittances.



Indonesia is far behind fellow Asian countries like the Philippines and India who recognize their diaspora with special status and entitlements, even allowing citizens to vote from overseas. Indonesians abroad also hope for ease of doing business and investing in their homeland, apart from retaining family and cultural ties. The diaspora have many skills and experiences to share, including their struggles to survive in and adapt to foreign environments.



Let stop whining over brain drain, low education quality and low productivity. Some 8 million Indonesian nationals and non-nationals abroad could help in many ways once we welcome them as our own brethren.
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, July 4, 2017 17:32 1956 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97a7b4683 1 Environment CorpseFlower,Corpse-flower,#corspeflower,flowers,bunga-bangkai,#bungabangkai,Amorphophallus-titanium,plant,#plants Free

The Amorphophallus titanium, locally known as bunga bangkai (corpse flower), reportedly bloomed in Rumah Perubahan (House of Change), a social enterprise training center in Bekasi, West Java, on Monday.

The giant flower, which is known for its pungent odor, is one meter in diameter and 2.5 meters tall. It only blossoms for 48 hours.

Rumah Perubahan public relations officer Dinar Wulandari told kompas.com that it was the fifth flower that has bloomed in the location. The fourth flower bloomed on June 14, she added.

Read also: Rafflesia, corpse flowers included in conservation document

Dinar mentioned that the latest blooming corpse flower was planted seven years ago.

In addition to the Amorphophallus titanium, Rumah Perubahan also grows Amorphophallus gigas, Amorphohallus muelleri and Amorphophallus variabilis. Amorphophallus muelleri, which has the smallest size, was said to bloom more frequently compared with the Amorphophallus titanium.

Originating from Sumatra's rainforests, Amorphophallus titanium can grow in a dry and humid area, such as Bekasi and Jakarta. (jes/kes)
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, July 4, 2017 18:20 1956 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97a7b5dc7 1 National deradicalization,returning-home,Indonesian,Syria,BNPB,#Terrorism Free

The National Counterterrorism Agency (BNPT) is requiring all Indonesia people returning from Syria to join a deradicalization program.

They will receive sermons from religious figures  ulema and ustadz (Islamic teachers)  for a month in Bambu Apus, East Jakarta before they are returned to their homes.

The Islamic State (IS) terror group used to control large territories in Syria and Iraq, but the governments of the two countries helped by foreign troops have managed to retake significant amounts of territory from the group.

Who can guarantee they will not be radical? As a prevention act, we will give them enlightenment through this deradicalization program, BNPT chief Comr. Gen. Suhardi Alius said in Jakarta on Monday as reported by Antara.

Once they have finished the program, we will take them to their houses, said Suhardi, adding that the BNPT had been informed that hundreds of Indonesians had come back from Syria.

He said that his organization was collecting information on the returnees, who would be verified before being required to take part in the program.

We already know the names. Hundreds of them have already returned and live throughout Indonesia, he said.

Suhardi said his organization would cooperate with local governments and the Home Affairs Ministry to actively supervise the returnees. (ecn/bbn)
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Linkedin Ni Komang Erviani (The Jakarta Post) Denpasar  Tue, July 4, 2017 17:38 1956 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97a7b5012 1 World narcotics,bali,police Free

The Bali Police narcotics squad arrested one alleged drug courier and three suspected accomplices and seized 8.4 kilograms of marijuana from a boarding house in Denpasar. The suspected courier, identified only as RFI, had allegedly received direct instruction from an inmate at the Kerobokan Penitentiary.

RFI only answered to an inmate at the Kerobokan Penitentiary who controls business from inside, the deputy director of the Bali Police narcotics directorate, Adj. Sr. Comr. Sudjarwoko, told journalists on Tuesday.

The marijuana was allegedly to be distributed to tourist spots on the island.

RFI, he said, admitted that he was paid Rp 1.5 million to bring a package containing marijuana from Pasuruan in East Java to Denpasar. The courier was waiting for further instruction when the police arrested him, Sudjarwoko added.

The three suspected accomplices, identified only as MKW, TAS and MJP, were arrested for alleged possession of marijuana.

The police are currently questioning the four suspects and are seeking information on the syndicate behind the delivery.

RFI will be charged under the Narcotics Law and, if found guilty, could face up to 20 years in prison. Meanwhile, the three suspected accomplices will be charged under the same law, facing a sentence of up to 15 years in prison if found guilty. (dic)

Topics : narcotics bali police
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, July 4, 2017 14:07 1956 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97a7aa4d6 4 City Idul-Fitri-2017,Depok-administration,Depok Free

The Depok administration plans to check people arriving in the city for Depok identity cards in a bid to avoid unskilled workers settling in the city after the Idul Fitri holiday.

Identity card checks will be conducted in several places, Depok Deputy Mayor Pradi Supriyatna said, adding that those who did not have jobs would be immediately sent back to their hometowns.

[Checks] will be done not only at the bus terminal but also at other places, such as shelters for migrant workers and maids, Pradi said on Tuesday as quoted by kompas.com.

The number of newcomers in Depok reached 3.4 percent of the city's 1.8 million population in 2016, according to city administration data.

Depok's location, which is on the outskirts of the capital city, make it attractive for newcomers to flock to the city, Pradi said.

He stressed that the administration would not reject anyone who wanted to settle in Depok, but skilled people were preferable.

We need residents that have skills because unskilled people might cause trouble, he added.

After Idul Fitri, big cities like Jakarta and its satellite cities become magnets for people coming from the regions in the hope of securing unskilled work. (wnd)
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, July 4, 2017 20:34 1956 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97a7b705f 1 City IS,Islamic-State,flag,police Free

Jakarta Governor Djarot Saiful Hidayat has said that an Islamic State (IS) flag left by an unknown individual at the Kebayoran Lama Police headquarters in South Jakarta should be considered as a serious threat by the force.

This is a warning to the police and citizens to be more vigilant, Djarot said in Jakarta on Tuesday.

Djarot, however, said he entrusted the safety of the city to the police: I think the police will be able to overcome it.

A motorcyclist who stopped briefly in front of the Kebayoran Lama Police headquarters reportedly placed a 100-centimeter by 50-cm flag on its surrounding fence early on Tuesday. The police also found a letter that threatened to turn Jakarta into a war zone like Marawi in the Philippines, which has been under siege by the military trying to root out an IS-linked terrorist group.

The situation at the police headquarters has returned to normal, kompas.com reported.

The service should run normally and the incident should not hamper our activities, Kebayoran Lama Police chief Comr. Ardi Rahananto said.

The police are currently investigating the incident by checking CCTV camera footage and searching for witnesses to question around the headquarters. (fac)
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, July 4, 2017 11:45 1956 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97a7a2fa5 1 National capital-city-relocation,jakarta,Palangkaraya,bambang-brodjonegoro Free

The government has announced that it fully intends to move the capital from Jakarta and that it will start the preparations next year.

National Development Planning Minister Bambang Brodjonegoro said on Monday that he had discussed details of the capital's relocation with President Joko Jokowi Widodo at the Presidential Palace on Monday.

Bambang, who heads the National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas), said he and the President had discussed the feasibility study and funding for the project.

In 2018 or 2019, there will be activities related to the transfer of the administration of the central government [to the new capital city], said Bambang.

Bappenas and the Public Works and Public Housing Ministry will lead ministries and other government institutions in executing the plan, said Bambang, adding that it would take three to four years to turn a city into the capital city.

We need three to four years to finish all of the basic infrastructure and government buildings, said Bambang.

Bambang said the presidential and ministerial offices would be moved to the new capital, while Jakarta would remain a business and financial center.

Bambang did not mention which city would be become the new capital, but cities previously mentioned by government officials include Palangkaraya, the capital of Central Kalimantan, and Jonggol in Bogor, West Java.

Bambang hinted that the new capital would be located outside of Java. (dis/mrc/bbn).
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Linkedin Stefani Ribka (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, July 4, 2017 09:57 1956 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97a79d8af 1 Business corn,exports,Malaysia,the-philippines,Amran-Sulaiman Free

Agriculture Minister Amran Sulaiman has said Malaysia and the Philippines will accept Indonesian corn exports of up to 3 million tons.

Delegates from Malaysia and the Philippines have come here and said would they open the door to corn imports, Amran told reporters after a post-Ramadan gathering on Monday.

Local corn production increased by 18.1 percent to 23.2 million tons in 2016, ministry data shows. The ministry projects the production of 25.2 million tons this year, leading to an oversupply.

(Read also: Indonesia targets to stop corn import this year)

Amran said harvest areas had increased significantly to 5 million hectares today from 3.7 million hectares in 2015, as a result of the expansion of cornfields and the integration of corn and oil palm plantations, which has been ongoing since 2016.

The government stopped giving corn import recommendations for the animal feed industry in July 2016 to support local farmers.

However, poultry farmers in Java recently complained of soaring corn prices since the halting of corn imports. Corn prices rose to more than Rp 4,000 (30 US cents) from Rp 3,500 per kilogram previously. (bbn)
SPRINGFIELD  The Illinois Senate voted Tuesday to override Gov. Bruce Rauner's vetoes of a $36 billion budget package fueled by a $5 billion tax increase designed to start digging out of the nation's deepest budget crisis since at least the Great Depression.

The Democratic-controlled chamber completed its work within 30 minutes of the Republican governor's vetoes, sending the package back to the House for an override vote that would give Illinois its first annual budget since 2015.

The House adjourned late Tuesday without action. A quorum of members failed to show up on the Fourth of July holiday, prohibiting work. The House returns today but its leadership gave no indication of whether overrides are in sight.

"The package of legislation fails to address Illinois' fiscal and economic crisis  and in fact, makes it worse in the long run," the first-term governor wrote in a veto message that claimed the Democrats' proposal remains $2 billion in the red. "It does not balance the budget. It does not make nearly sufficient spending reductions."

Rauner's role in stymieing a budget deal since taking office in 2015 has been to demand a freeze on local property taxes and "structural" changes to boost business. The governor acted about three hours after the Senate voted to hike the personal income tax rate by 32 percent. Individual rates would go from 3.75 percent to 4.95 percent. Corporations would pay 7 percent instead of 5.25 percent.

Democrats say it provides the revenue bridge to fund a $36 billion blueprint, which also includes $2.5 billion in spending reductions.

"We are faced today with the fierce urgency of 'now,' " the tax increase legislation's sponsor, Sen. Toi Hutchinson of Olympia Fields, said Tuesday morning before the first vote. "We don't have any more time. And too late is not good enough."

The House approved the tax increase with 72 votes on Sunday, one more than necessary to override a veto, with the help of 15 Republicans. Whether they'll continue to defy Rauner remains to be seen.

House Speaker Michael Madigan announced shortly after the Senate action that there would be no House action to override Tuesday, but his spokesman said he couldn't answer why. Later, when only 54 members answered the House quorum call, Madigan and Republican leader Jim Durkin, of Western Springs, were among 64 absences.

Although there's no firm deadline, credit-rating houses have vowed to downgrade the state's creditworthiness to "junk," signaling to investors that buying state debt is a highly speculative venture. The bond houses predicted a downgrade without a fix by the July 1 debut of the fiscal year  the third consecutive fiscal year Illinois has opened without an approved budget plan. But Fitch Ratings and S&P Global Ratings gave Illinois some breathing room on Monday, issuing notices marking the House tax increase approval a day earlier and indicating they wouldn't take immediate downgrade action.

Government has limped along for two years on the strength of court-ordered spending, but the state comptroller says the treasury will be $185 million short of what's needed to cover basic services by August.

With a $6.2 billion annual deficit and $14.7 billion in overdue bills, the United Way predicts the demise of 36 percent of all human services agencies in Illinois by year's end. Billions of dollars in road construction work is shutting down. Public universities have been cut to the bone and face a loss of academic accreditation.

Sen. Dale Righter of Mattoon, who represents Eastern Illinois University in Charleston, was the lone Republican to support the tax increase. He said he'd like to have seen more spending reductions, "but in a Democrat-majority legislature, this is as good as we can get."

"The most important issue we face right now is the fiscal stability of our state," said Righter, a legislator since 1998. "We need to protect our critical state services and the citizens of Illinois who rely on them. This budget is balanced."

Fellow Republican Sen. Chapin Rose, R-Mahomet, criticized the tax increase in a statement released after the override vote. He said the budget left billions in unpaid bills and uncertainty as to whether schools would be able to open in the fall.

"Having been in the room negotiating with both sides to reach a bipartisan agreement on the budget, it goes without saying that we need a real solution for the people of Illinois. And we almost got one," Rose said. "We were, literally, within hours of a breakthrough agreement  one that would have fundamentally, and forever, put Illinois on a positive trajectory toward fiscal integrity  it was an agreement that would have included important structural reforms and cuts.

"It is amazing to me that rather than finish that process (which could have easily been accomplished this past weekend), the General Assembly opted instead for a massive tax hike that will leave billions of dollars in bills still unpaid and the very real threat that schools wont open in the fall. This is typical of the actions that we have come to expect from Springfield.

In a statement before the governor's veto, state Sen. Andy Manar, D-Bunker Hill, expressed his support for the plan.

The district I represent is suffering perhaps more than any other area of Illinois because of its reliance on state government as both an employer and a customer and its dramatically underfunded public schools," he said in a statement. "The Illinois Senate passed a complete and balanced budget on May 23 prior to our scheduled adjournment. The governor then called the General Assembly into a protracted and expensive special session for the purpose of passing a bipartisan, balanced budget. And that is exactly what the General Assembly did today."

A third piece of legislation in the package, which authorizes implementing the budget, includes a provision allowing the state to borrow $6 billion to pay down the bill backlog  presumably at a lower interest rate than it pays in interest for past-due status.

If Rauner doesn't like the tax plan, the financial world does. On Monday, two of the nation's top credit-ratings agencies signaled it would be a good idea for Rauner to accept the results. Fitch Ratings and S&P Global Ratings, having earlier threatened to move Illinois' creditworthiness into "junk" status without swift action to approve a budget, smiled favorably on the financial outlook.

Rauner promised to veto the tax measure because Democrats who control the General Assembly have not agreed to resolve his pet issues, including statewide property tax relief, cost reductions in workers' compensation and benefits for state employee pensions, and an easier process for dissolving or eliminating local governments.

"It's regrettable that I stand here today not capable of being able to support this package, not because what's in the package is bad, but because it's incomplete," said the Senate's newly minted minority leader, Bill Brady of Bloomington. "We need a comprehensive budget package with reforms."

Democrats and Republicans have negotiated the issues that Rauner considers outstanding in the two weeks since the special session began. But the GOP claims talks broke down over the weekend in advance of Madigan calling the budget votes. Madigan said Monday that those talks were ongoing and Cullerton paid tribute to the cooperative pledge before leaving town Tuesday.

"I can't tell you when we'll be coming back; a lot of things depend on what happens in the House," Cullerton said, "but we'll continue to try to enact, and put on the governor's desk, many of the reforms that he's asked for."

The budget bills are SB6 and SB9.
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, July 4, 2017 12:35 1956 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97a7a48fc 1 Business government,debt,Sri-Mulyani-Indrawati,comments Free

Finance Minister Sri Mulyani has said there is no cause for concerning regarding government debt reaching Rp 3.67 quadrillion (US$274.23 billion) in April, Rp 201 trillion more than in December 2016.

We will always protect the Indonesian economy and manage debt carefully and transparently, said Sri Mulyani as reported by tribunnews.com on Monday.

She stressed that government debt was at a safe level as it was below 30 percent of gross domestic product (GDP). She added that the position was much better than that of Brazil, Mexico and Argentina.

She also said state budget deficit was less that 3 percent of GDP, which was better than India's, for example. The government was forced to borrow money to cover the state budget deficit.

The 2017 state budget is Rp 2 quadrillion.

Sri Mulyani stressed that people needed to know about government debt.

We hope the people understand. They need to know why the government has to borrow money and how it is managed so that the condition does not make them worry, she added. (bbn)
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Linkedin (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, July 4 2017

Law and Human Rights minister Yasonna Laoly finally met the Corruption Eradication Commissions (KPK) summons for questioning as a witness in the high-profile e-ID graft case on Monday, after dodging two previous summonses.

Yasonna refused to reveal the details of the questioning, but explained the reasons behind his failure to meet the two previous KPK summons in February.

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Linkedin Suherdjoko (The Jakarta Post) Semarang  Tue, July 4, 2017 17:40 1956 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97a7b58b4 1 World taxi,driver,Go-Car,Semarang Free

Drivers of car-hailing services in Semarang, Central Java, said they are not worried about new fare regulations and are instead eyeing the cash rewards offered by management for meeting targets.

I have witnessed the fare floor set in the range of Rp 2,500 to Rp 3,500 per kilometer by many companies since I joined the Go-Car online taxi service and they havent jeopardized my livelihood so far. I could still meet my order target and get the cash rewards, Alvin, the driver, told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.

He said many online taxi drivers right now focus more on meeting the targets so they could claim their bonuses.

Bowo, another Go-Car driver, corroborated the statement, saying management would award every driver who could meet seven pick-up orders a day with Rp 75,000 and it would add another Rp 100,000 if the driver could add another three orders to the list. If the driver wants to work harder and managed to add another three pick-up orders, then he or she would be entitled to another bonus of Rp 125,000.

So in total, if we could get 13 customers in a day, then you would pocket Rp 300,000 and that is still excluded the price that the customers have to pay for their trips, he said.

Alvin acknowledged that getting 13 customers in a day isnt that hard to achieve.

The comments were made in relation to the government's recent decision to introduce fare floors and ceilings for car-hailing services at between Rp 3,500 (26 US cents) and Rp 6,000 per kilometer on Java, Bali and Sumatra and between Rp 3,700 and Rp 6,500 in Kalimantan, Sulawesi, Nusa Tenggara, Maluku and Papua.(dic)
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, July 4, 2017 22:38 1956 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97a7b7c42 1 City Depok,bomb-scare Free

Depok Police have questioned a man named Daseng Rustana, 33, who the police said was the owner of a bag left in front of ITC Depok shopping mall in Depok, West Java, which caused panic among visitors for fear it contained a bomb.

The information given by Daseng keeps changing. We are still trying to find out the truth, said Depok Police spokesperson Adj. Comr. Rahmaningtyas on Tuesday, as quoted by tempo.co.

(Read also: Suspicious bag left at ITC Depok not bomb: Police)

Preliminary investigations showed that Daseng acted like a person with psychological disorders. He told the police that he put his bag in front of the Depok mall because he wanted to buy a drink, but then forgot where he put the bag.

The police found Daseng thanks to a mobile phone he left in the bag. (wnd)
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Linkedin Theresia Sufa (The Jakarta Post) Bogor  Tue, July 4, 2017 17:36 1956 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97a7b4723 1 City bogor,architect,silaban,Istiqlal-Mosque Free

The family of one of the nations great architects, Friedrich Silaban, plans to sell his former home, which is located in Bogor on a street named after him, because of high maintenance costs and property taxes.

Haposan Silaban, 62, the son of the late architect, explained that he and his siblings had to pay Rp 80 million (US$5,969) to repair the roof and another Rp 9 million for taxes.

We expect the city administration to buy this house so it could be used for the public interest, Haposan told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.

The 769-square-meter house, which was built in an architectural style that merged elements of both the West and the East, is situated on 1,397 square meters of land.

Commenting on the plan, the head of Bogors Culture and Tourism Agency, Shahlan Rasyidi, said the house was declared a part of the city's cultural heritage by Law No. 11/2010. Therefore, he said, the owner has the right to sell the premises, but under one tough condition: The buyer has no right to rebuild or redesign it in any way that might deviate from the original form of the house.

However, no comment was made on whether the administration was interested in buying the house.

Once first president Sukarnos favorite architect for designing and building properties, Friedrichs signature pieces can today be seen and enjoyed in the form of the Istiqlal Grand Mosque, the National Monument (Monas), Gelora Bung Karno Stadium in Senayan and the West Papua Liberation monument, all of which are located in Jakarta.

He also designed the famous Khatulistiwa Monument in Pontianak, West Kalimantan.

Bogors Culture and Tourism Agency recorded that 487 premises throughout the city have been categorized as examples of cultural heritage. The impressive number of cultural heritage properties was closely related to how the area's favorable climate allowed Bogor to host a large Dutch community during the colonial era. (dic)
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, July 4, 2017 13:04 1956 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97a7a8a0b 1 News Tourism-Ministry-Pesona-Indonesia,tourism-ministry-wonderful-Indonesia,diaspora,Joko-Widodo,exports,foreign-investment Free

During a recent meeting with representatives of the Indonesian Diaspora Global Network's executive committee, President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo conveyed his hope that the Indonesian diaspora could strengthen their role in supporting the government overseas.

The president hopes that the Indonesian diaspora can work together with the government in terms of improving exports and attracting foreign investment to Indonesia, Foreign Affairs Minister Retno Marsudi said on Monday.

For example, the Indonesian diaspora in Mexico were to cooperate in paving the way for Indonesia to enter the local coal export market. Mexico has been partnering with Australia for coal exports; we too can try to export our coal to Mexico, added Retno.

Read also: Heritage sites in Indonesia reflect spirit of tolerance: Obama

The second point President Jokowi made during the meeting was about strengthening the relationship between the Indonesian diaspora communities in different countries as well as with the government.

Jokowi also hopes that the diaspora can help promote tourism in Indonesia, especially since the countrys credit rating has recently been raised to investment grade by Standard & Poor's Global Ratings.

The investment grade makes it easier to attract foreign investors to Indonesia, Retno said. (kes)
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, July 4, 2017 12:02 1956 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97a7a4192 1 News Tourism-Ministry-Pesona-Indonesia,tourism-ministry-wonderful-Indonesia,Tourism-Ministry,Joey-Alexander,#JoeyAlexander,jazz-musician,Paris Free

Indonesian jazz prodigy Joey Alexander will reportedly perform at the All Stars Festival in New Morning in Paris on July 18.

Following the news, the Tourism Ministry stated that it would fully support his performance through the Visit Indonesia Tourism Office (VITO) in Paris.

Read also: Millennials making classical music great again

We support Joey Alexanders performance in France because his achievements as an international musician can help promote Indonesia, his birthplace, worldwide, said the ministry's deputy minister for Overseas Promotion, I Gde Pitana.

The 14-year-old musician caught the worlds attention during a performance at last years Grammy Awards, in which he was nominated for best jazz instrumental album and best improvised jazz solo.

His performance of his single Giant Steps on YouTube has so far garnered more than 1.7 million views. Joey has two albums under his belt, My Favorite Things released in 2015 and Countdown in 2016. (kes)
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, July 4, 2017 10:24 1956 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97a7a0334 1 News Obama,Barack-Obama,Michelle-Obama,Bali-hotels,Yogyakarta,jakarta,#hotel,#holiday Free

Barack Obama and his family recently spent 10 days on vacation in Indonesia, widely regarded as the former US president's chance to revisit his childhood home, where he spent four years living in the capital city.

Obama, along with wife Michelle Obama and their two daughters, Sasha and Malia, arrived in Bali on June 23. After staying on the Island of the Gods for five days, the former first family continued on to visit Buddhist and Hindu temples in Yogyakarta before finally visiting Jakarta on the last leg of their trip.

Here are the three hotels of choice during the Obamas' vacation before the family left the archipelago on July 2, according to kompas.com.

Read also: Seven Indonesian dishes Obama and family dug into during vacation

Bali

A post shared by Quintessentially Travel (@quinttravel) on May 1, 2017 at 1:43am PDT

Obama and his entourage stayed at the Four Seasons Resort Bali At Sayan in Ubud on the first leg of their vacation.

Recognized as one of the world's best resorts on the Conde Nast Traveler's Gold list 2014, the lavish complex does its best to blend in with its lush surroundings as its tucked away among swathes of green areas, including rice fields, mountains and the nearby Ayung River.

The resort boasts 60 suites and private villas, with the exclusive Royal Villa as the standout choice, as there is only one available. Stretching across 2,125 square meters, the private Royal Villa has three bedrooms, a living room, a kitchen, a dining area, a lotus pool, a meditation area and a gazebo. The unique property also features artwork by Indonesian artists.

According to kompas.com, prices for a suite at the resort begin at Rp 7,695,000 (US$575), while villas start at Rp 13,095,000. Royal Villa prices are available upon request.

Read also: Obama welcomed modestly yet warmly at Bogor Palace

Yogyakarta

A post shared by Hotel Tentrem (@hoteltentrem) on Jun 19, 2017 at 6:01pm PDT

In the ancient city of Yogyakarta, Obama and his family stayed at Hotel Tentrem, a luxurious establishment located close to the city center of Malioboro, as well as the airport.

At Tentrem, which is a Javanese word that refers to a feeling of peacefulness and tranquility, the entourage reportedly stayed in three presidential suites, which cost approximately Rp 22 million a night. Each suite measures 273 square meters and offers 24-hour butler service.

Read also: Heritage sites in Indonesia reflect spirit of tolerance: Obama

Jakarta

A post shared by Mandarin Oriental, Jakarta (@mo_jakarta) on Mar 30, 2017 at 1:22am PDT

Arriving at the capital of Indonesia, Obama chose the Mandarin Oriental Hotel, which, according to the 2016 World Travel Awards, has the archipelago's best suite, called the Mandarin Suite.

The Mandarin Suite measures 200 square meters and boasts a dining room capable of accommodating 10 people and a kitchen right next to it. The suite is equipped with a large work desk, super fast internet connection and 24-hour butler service. The Mandarin Suite costs Rp 64 million per night, according to kompas.com.

The hotel is strategically located directly opposite the Welcome Monument at the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle. (liz/kes)
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, July 4, 2017 14:34 1956 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97a7ab1d2 1 News science-and-technology,students,#education,#students,Science,National-Science-Olympics,Pekanbaru,Education,Competition Free

As many as 1,280 students from across the country are competing for 420 medals at the National Science Olympics in Pekanbaru, Riau, which began this week.

Culture and Education Minister Muhadjir Effendy said the competition was aimed at inspiring participants to become scientists and contribute to the advancement of the nation.

"In 20 years, these children will determine [the direction of] this nation. These 1,200 students are being mentored and their talent nurtured. They will become a source of strength in advancing science in the future," Muhadjir said during the opening ceremony on Monday as quoted by tempo.co.

Read also: Indonesian students win top honors at science competition in Germany

Hamid Muhammad, the ministry's director general of elementary and secondary education, noted that students from elementary to secondary school were participating in the competition, which was on nine science subjects.

"The competition will take place at various schools in Pekanbaru," Hamid said.

Students will compete for 70 gold medals, 140 silver and 210 bronze in various subjects, including mathematics, physics, chemistry, geography and information technology.

Participants went through an extensive selection process conducted at their respective schools across regencies and at the provincial level to compete in the national competition, Hamid said, adding that it was the 16th consecutive year that the ministry was hosting the event on science and technology. (liz/kes)
Several people demonstrated out Armenias National Assembly to protest a government proposal to release an additional 100 million cubic meters of water from Lake Sevan for irrigation purposes.

The parliament will debate the proposal today which has been introduced in the form of a bill to amend the existing law on Sevans eco-system.

The protesters, calling themselves S.O.S. Sevan, held signs saying that the lake has no additional water to give.

Annually, 170 million cubic meters of the lakes water is drained for irrigation and other purposes.
The latest social media star of politics is Conservative MP Jacob Rees-Mogg, an Eton and Oxford-educated Eurosceptic who campaigned for the Leave vote in last years Brexit referendum. His Instagram account now has more followers than the Prime Ministers personal account, with several pages set up on Facebook to share Mogg-inspired memes. However, there are also some pages to support him. For many of the latter, the aim is for Rees-Mogg to become the new leader of the Conservative Party. Pages range from the satirical Middle Class Memes for Rees-Moggian Teens and parody account The Church of Mogg, to genuine support pages, such as young Tory activist Sam Frosts account Ready for Rees-Mogg. While the page initially began as yet another to share and post memes, it turned into a much larger youth movement. When, Frost said: "The general election wasnt exciting because Theresa May didnt give people something to believe in." "There are too many wishy-washy politicians in Westminster, I think people like Jacob because he has a rare ability to explain complex issues and hes not afraid to say what he thinks. However, those young Mogg Maniacs are sure to be disappointed after the man himself recently acknowledged his new-found social media status: I am fully supporting Mrs May. This is all light-hearted banter but it would be a mistake to let it go to ones head.
The Arab Spring was supposed to be a mass movement towards secular and liberal democracies. Having ignited in Tunisia back in December 2010, has it been a success?

Late that month, Mohamed Bouazizi, unable to find work and selling fruit by a roadside, set himself on fire and passed away in early January 2011. This act bought together several groups in Tunisia, who had been growing in anti-government sentiment for several years.

The revolution in Tunisia, at least, succeeded in its aims. The government was overthrown and Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, the president since 1987, was forced into exile. Ben Ali had overseen a regime that was authoritarian with severe human rights abuses, and he was gone.

Tunisias period of transition ended in October 2014 and it is now officially a unicameral parliamentary republic. Tragically, 338 people lost their lives in the revolution.

Elsewhere, it is hard to see success stories. Protests took place throughout the Middle East and North Africa. Libya and Egypt overthrew Gaddafi and Mubarak, but both countries have to now deal with violent insurgencies and Libya is in a state of lawlessness, with several groups claiming to be the legitimate government.

In Yemen, the overthrow of the government has led to a civil war, which has involved brutal Saudi airstrikes that have resulted in severe loss of civilian life.

Then there's the situation in Syria; a six-year-long civil war which has generated the biggest humanitarian crisis since the Second World War. Iraq has been crippled too, far worse than any point in its recent history.

The death tolls are huge. Syria has lost 400,000 and Iraq around 72,000.

But why has this occurred?

Authoritarian regimes suck up power, like big government on steroids, and when they leave it leads to a complete power vacuum.

The regime controlled all aspects of life and now theyre gone.

The change is too sudden. It needs to be planned, controlled and involve a transition period, as Tunisias had.

Youll then have several groups vying for power. Some may have honest intentions, but as weve seen others, more radical groups that have emerged, wont.

This creates even further instability in a fragile region. Some regimes, such as that of Bashar al-Assad, arent going anywhere without a fight, and this emboldens human rights abuses.

Just recently, several Gulf nations have demanded Qatar close down Al-Jazeera . The broadcaster, funded in part by the ruling Al-Thani family, cannot be broadcast in Saudi Arabia or Bahrain, with fines being a potential punishment.

Al-Jazeeras offices in Amman, Jordan have been closed. Their property in Cairo was seized in 2013, amidst claims of support for the Muslim Brotherhood.

Regardless of your views on the organisation, this is concerning. This shows a desire in part of nations in the region to crack down on dissenting views, which would leave nobody in the region left to hold these governments to account. This would allow them to get away with more and more human rights abuse.

In Bahrain, despite all the glamour of the Grand Prix, this is even more startling. Bahrain was still relatively safe for journalists

until protests in 2011.

Zakariya Rashid Hassan al-Ashiri In 2011,, a journalist at Al-Dair, a small local paper was arrested for allegedly circulating fake news and incitement. He died whilst in casualty, and authorities claim al-Ashiri died of sickle cell anaemia complications, however, his family claim he did not suffer from this condition.

Karim Fakhrawi That same week,, founder of Al-Wasat, Bahrains only independent newspaper who was in custody for a week, also died. The authorities claim he had kidney failure, but pictures of Fakhrawis body with extensive cuts and bruises were published online.

which is has been widely reported to be a torture site. Several Bahraini journalists are currently in Jaw prison,

"Jaw is where civilisation [sic] ends in Bahrain, and it is where civilised manners die, and civilised people [are] broken." Nabeel Rajab, president of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights (BCHR), has spent several stints in the prison. He once wrote in HuffPost:

BCHR Rajab is currently awaiting another trial, but according tois in poor health and his family are unable to contact him.

This is how Bahrain treats an opposition leader, someone who can stand up to the government and make changes; he is being silenced and the regime is getting bolder and bolder in attempts to curb dissent.

The Arab Spring has failed. It may have bought regime change, but apart from Tunisia, this has been negative. Regimes have cracked down further on civil liberties, making the Middle East and North Africa far more unstable than it was back in January 2011.

Le Pouivor Algeria, which was crippled by a brutal civil war between 1991 and 2002, escaped largely unaffected. This is despite the government allegedly being figureheads, with the country run by a mysterious unelected group referred to as

Perhaps people feared that mass protests would see a return to the days when secularists fought with Islamists to control the country.
Alberobello is a small town in the Apulia region of southern Italy, famous due to its remarkable trulli districts.

These drywall, white-washed constructions with their iconic conical roofs were made a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1996, and have since made the town an interesting stop for tourists from around the world visiting Italy.

Although it is only one of 51 sites of UNESCO in Italy alone, Alberobellos trulli are a truly unique sight, creating a picturesque landscape of small and white and grey pyramidal huts amongst the old towns narrow and winding streets and Mediterranean vegetation.

Though the mortarless building technique dates as far back as the Prehistoric era, most trulli in the town date from as early as c.1350, allowing visitors to be transported to another time. Many of them were built later however, under instructions from Count Gian Girolamo II. A law at the time known as the Pragmatic De Baronibus, established that feudal lords must pay tributes to the Court if they were to establish urban centres.

The popular legend has it that, in order to avoid such taxations, the Count instructed the farmers who had migrated there to construct their shelters from the calcareous material locally available, and this without the use of mortar.

This meant that when the town was inspected by royal envoys from the Kingdom of Naples  back before the unification of Italy into a single nation  to judge whether taxes should be paid, the shelters could be demolished easily and rebuilt as quickly once they left.

Reports of a first demolition of the settlement date as early as 1644, the first of many. Also because of how easy construction of these trulli was, less stable structures that would sometimes be damaged, would simply be knocked down and rebuilt, rather than repaired.

Despite reasons of olden day tax evasion, historians generally agree that the primary cause for the existence of trulli was due to the geographical conditions of the area, which was plentiful in these calcareous sedimentary materials. Alberobellos trulli are still praised today as one of the finest examples of bioarchitecture in existence, that is to say that the design and the construction process of these buildings is considered ecologically friendly, as well as durable.

The purchase of surviving trulli is particularly popular amongst British and German tourists, to then be restored according to strict regulations under UNESCO World Heritage law. Because of this, in 2009 the cost a rebuilding a trullos roof according to guidelines was around fifteen thousand euros. Arguably for some however, this is a small price to pay to own such a distinct piece of history. In an interesting contrast, local residents in the Alberobello region who still live in trulli apparently do so because they cannot afford to move out, or because they require the income provided by offering bed and board for tourists in their homes.

Evidently, the principle activity for tourists in Alberobello is wandering around the trulli districts, though as in many Italian towns there are also a few small museums, local artisanal shops selling souvenirs and local produce, restaurants to be visited and wine tours to be done. The centre of town does little to differ from typical southern Italian towns, though buildings are sometimes interspaced with a few trulli. The most interesting parts of town for tourists however, are the two districts, Rione Monti and Aia Piccola. Rione Monti, featuring over a thousand trulli, is delicately placed on a slope facing the modern-day town centre, and is full of local vendors selling painted terracotta whistles, an apparent Puglia specialty, and kitsch souvenirs of all sorts shaped like trulli.

Contrary to probable expectations considering tourist-trap feel of the area, the prices are reportedly not extortionate, due to the large amount of competition amongst vendors which keeps prices in check. The other area, Aia Piccola is less visited due to the fact it is still primarily a residential area of inhabited trulli, but still presents 590 trulli.

Alberobello lends itself ideally to a day-trip along a broader exploration of Italy, or if one is lucky enough to be able to stay in a trullo, is a romantic and charming town in which to relax for a few days.
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Armenias parliament, by a vote of 77 to 3, passed a government-sponsored bill to draw an additional 100 million cubic meters of water from Lake Sevan

The three dissenting votes were cast by the opposition Yelk Alliance.

The government argues that the countrys reservoir water capacity isnt sufficient and that Sevans water is needed.
Kory Hartman was looking to buy a radio station in a bustling community. One look at WRPQs front window  which is covered with fliers promoting local events  told him Baraboo was the place.

Last month Hartman and his wife, Jamie Martinson, bought WRPQs radio and television stations from longtime owners Jeff and Anne Smith. Hartman said he wanted to buy an independent station in the Midwest, in a community thats small but not sleepy. The sounds of a community market echoing down Oak Street during an interview Sunday proved Hartman got what he wanted.

I wanted it to be a vibrant community, he said. Its a progressive town. Its got a lot going for it.

He also thought the company  which carries an AM radio station, an FM station, plus cable and over-the-air television stations  has a lot going for it. It just seemed like it was going in the right direction, he said.

Hartman stumbled upon WRPQ while scanning the dial during a family trip to Wisconsin Dells last summer. He stopped in for an impromptu visit with the Smiths, unaware that the broker he hired to find available radio stations was going to recommend calling WRPQ. After a year of negotiations and federal approvals, the couples closed on the sale in June. The Smiths have retired, but still own the building.

The new owners will preserve the stations commitment to local programming. WRPQ broadcasts Baraboo High School sports, downtown parades and Baraboo City Council meetings. It also carries a listing of community events and airs interviews with local decision-makers.

Were going to continue to have the community focus. Thats important to us, Hartman said. Were going to take all the things Jeff and Anne did and kick it up a notch.

Disc jockey Gene Allen Scott, whose ties to the station date back to the 1970s and continue today with a weekly oldies show, said WRPQ will flourish under new owners with a community focus. I think hes right on track, Scott said. I think hes going to do very well.

WRPQ broadcasts at 740 AM and 99.7 FM. It operates the citys cable access channel and broadcasts Retro TV, featuring reruns of vintage shows, on cable Channel 10 and Channel 43 over the air.

Hartman said the stations will expand their presence on social media. He created a Twitter account  @wrpqradio  and last week posted to the stations Facebook page coverage of a Circus World elephants stroll through a residential neighborhood. Were trying to blend traditional media and new media, Hartman said.

Hes an Upper Peninsula (Michigan) native who got started in radio at his hometown station in Iron River. Hartman has held a variety of broadcasting jobs, including a stint as a TV weatherman, and currently moonlights as a storm chaser for the Weather Channel and CNN.

Hartman was pleasantly surprised to find a mom and pop station available, as few independents remain in the state. Scott said the community will benefit from having WRPQ in the hands of local owners. You have someone like Kory who knows what the community needs, Scott said.

Popular features such as Wednesdays at Macfarlanes and Scotts Fabulous Fridays Oldies Show will continue. Hartman is looking for feedback from viewers and listeners about what they want. Its not my station; its their station, he said. I just press the buttons.

He also posts the fliers. We cant even put up all the posters we get, he said.
CAMBRIA  Even as he talked about things like gratitude, healing, charity and rebuilding, John Didion wore the face of a man in mourning.

The chief executive officer of Didion Milling and Didion Ethanol came to a recent regular meeting of the Cambria Village Board, looking and sounding like a man who has been to five funerals in a little more than a month.

But he came, he said, bearing good news.

The Didion Milling facility, severely damaged by the May 31 explosion that resulted in five deaths, will be torn down starting next week  and not long after thats done, work at the Didion Ethanol plant can resume.

All of the injured people who were hospitalized are recuperating at home now.

John Didion said many Didion employees, including those injured in the explosion, have used the services of mental health professionals trained to deal with trauma.

Asked about his state of mind, Didion admitted that the pain continues, for him, for Didion employees and for Cambria and surrounding communities.

No question about it, he said. Were family.

At about 11:30 p.m. May 31, an explosion in the Didion Milling facility in Cambria rocked the Didion plant, and shook the walls and windows of many surrounding homes.

Dead are Didion employees Duelle Block and Robert Goodenow, whose bodies were recovered the day after the explosion; Pawel Tordoff, whose body was found June 2; Angel Reyes, who died June 6; and Carlos Nunez, who died June 23.

Didion told the Cambria Village Board said he is grateful for public safety workers, village staff and the people of Cambria and surrounding communities.

Didion said he still doesnt know what caused the explosion.

Officials of the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration are still investigating at the site, along with officials from another federal agency, the U.S. Chemical Safety Board, which is charged with investigating industrial chemical accidents.

He said the Chemical Safety Board is likely to recommend some changes in state building codes to reduce the likelihood of a similar explosion at Didion or anywhere else.

In the meantime, he said, he has begun reaching out to area employers, hoping to find some who are willing to utilize the services of displaced Didion workers, until the workers can be called back to work at Didion.

At the time of the explosion, the milling operation employed 150 people, and there were job openings, Didion said. He added that he hopes to put 50 or 60 of those employees to work for employers in neighboring communities, at Didions expense for their compensation.

Demolition slated

Demolition of the mill is expected to start this month. After the demolition is completed, he said, the ethanol and grain facilities can start up again.

Our other operations are in full swing, he said.

The mill will be rebuilt, Didion said, with the best available technology for safety, automation and efficiency. We will have one of the advanced operations in the country.

Cambria resident Sandy Vardell, whose apartment is near both the Didion operations and the Cambria-Friesland Schools, said she came to a recent Village Board meeting with questions of her own.

What evacuation plans, she asked, are in place for people who live near Didion, in the event of an incident that is serious enough to affect not only Didions workers, but also its neighbors?

Fire Chief Cody Doucette, who also is a village trustee, was right there to answer her.

Doucette said its likely that public safety officials would look to the Columbia County Sheriffs Office for guidance, and perhaps procure buses  possibly from nearby school districts  to transport residents to a safe location.

Vardell expressed skepticism.

If that place goes, she said, there wont be a lot of time.

She added that her home was not damaged, but the windows shook at a neighbors house when the explosion occurred while the neighbor was looking out the window.

The windows were shut, she said, and her hair went straight back, because there was such a percussion from that thing.

Village President Glen Williams said he has sensed that village residents have calmed down considerably in a little more than a month since the explosion.

And theyve been generous, he said, as have people in surrounding communities who have raised money and collected non-perishable food for the explosion victims.

Village fundraiser

The village is getting involved, too, by selling T-shirts (size small to 3XL) for $20, with all proceeds going to the people affected by the blast. A T-shirt company donated the shirts, he said, and about half of them have already been sold. To buy one, call the village office at 920-348-5443.

While Williams was talking about the T-shirts, Village Trustee Shannon Dunahee came into the Village Hall with a donation of her own. Shed bought the fire department a portable canopy to provide shelter for firefighters when theyre on the job.

Williams said every donation, and every word of support, makes a difference.

It has helped, he said, to see how the surrounding communities have rallied around to support Didion and our community.
Watertown landowners will be involved in new Corps flood-control study

After 30 years, a new flood control feasibility study will include the input of landowners and supply a multitude of options other than a dry dam.
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.
Montreal, CA (H4T1V6)

Today

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How will the ongoing tension between India and China play out in Hamburg later this week? Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping will get ample opportunity to interact at the G20 summit on July 7 and 8.

Both will be present at the leaders' retreat, a special segment of the G20 meet, where leaders get together for two hours to discuss pre-determined topics. This time, the issue of terror will be the major point of debate.

The two will also interact at a BRICS meet on the sidelines of the G20 on July 7. All BRICS members are a part of the G20.

There is also the likelihood of a bilateral meeting between the two parties.

The latest bilateral was on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Astana last month. The meeting was held shortly after China hosted the One Belt One Road conference, which India boycotted. The proposed China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, a part of the Belt and Road Initiative, will pass through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and India. While supporting the initiative for connectivity, India objected on grounds of China not respecting India's sovereignty and territorial concerns.

Yet, Modi and Jinping managed an amicable tete-a-tete, discussing yoga and Indian cinema, two Indian exports popular in China.

This time, there were harsh words and threats from politicians on either side, along with a lot of baying for blood. China had cancelled the Mansarovar Yatra through Nathu La; Indian and Chinese soldiers had even resorted to physical brawls at the Indo-China-Bhutan tri-junction. The border has never been this tense for decades.

Will Modi and Jinping be able to diffuse this potential tinderbox?
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday left for his three-day trip to Israela first by an Indian Prime Ministerto discuss with his counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu the common challenges like terrorism and ways to boost economic ties.

"PM Narendra Modi emplanes for a historic visit to Israel, the first ever by an Indian Prime Minister," the Prime Minister's Office tweeted.

In a special gesture, Netanyahu will receive Modi when he arrives at Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion Airport. Such a special gesture has been done only for US Presidents, including Donald Trump, and the Pope.

In Israel, Modi will also meet President Ruven Ruvi Rivlin apart from paying his respects to courageous Indian soldiers who laid down their lives during the liberation of Haifa in 1918. The visit coincides with India and Israel marking 25 years of their diplomatic relations.

Modi will be in Israel till July 6 before travelling to Hamburg, Germany, to attend the G-20 summit.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Tel Aviv on his historic three-day visit to Israelthe first by an Indian prime minister. In a break from protocol, Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu received Modi as he arrived at the Ben Gurion airport. Such a special gesture has been done only for the US presidents and the Pope.

After Modi's arrival, national anthem of India and Israel were played.

'Apka swagat hai mere dost,' Netanyahu told Modi in Hindi with folded hands after according a red carpet welcome to the Indian premier. Describing Modi as a 'great world leader', Netanyahu said, "We can do even more, even better together."

Netanyahu said that in their first meeting three years ago Modi had said 'sky is the limit' for India-Israel relationship. "You said when it comes to India-Israel relationship, sky is the limit. But actually my friend the sky isn't the limit because today our space programmes are working towards reaching even greater heights," a smiling Israeli prime minister said.

"The tie between our talented, innovative people is natural. It is so natural that we can ask what took so long for them to blossom."

He also announced an innovation fund for cooperation in the fields of technology, water, agriculture, energy and other fields.

Modi, in his speech, said his visit was a ground-breaking one. Building a strong and resilient relationship with Israel would be his intent and focus, said the prime minister.

"India is an old civilisation but a young nation as 800 million youth are below 35 years of age. On the path of sustainable and high growth and all-round development, India counts Israel as an important partner," Modi said.

Modi is expected to discuss with Netanyahu the common challenges like terrorism and ways to boost economic ties.

In Israel, Modi will also meet President Ruven Ruvi Rivlin apart from paying his respects to courageous Indian soldiers who laid down their lives during the liberation of Haifa in 1918. The visit coincides with India and Israel marking 25 years of their diplomatic relations.

Modi will be in Israel till July 6 before travelling to Hamburg, Germany, to attend the G-20 summit.

(With inputs from agencies)
A minister in the SP government and senior Samajwadi Party leader, Azam Khan, landed in hot water after his provocative remarks against the Indian Army. VHP (Vishwa Hindu Parishad) leader Anil Pandey filed a sedition case against the former minister and the police have registered an FIR.

Azam, the week before, had accused the Army of complicity in "shameful, violent incidents" across the country.

Charges of sedition and abetting mutiny have been slapped against Azam Khan, said police officer Ajay Singh. Akash Saxena, son of BJP leader Shiv Bahadur Saxena, had filed an FIR against Khan in the latter's home district of Rampur.

Uttar Pradesh minister Baldev Singh Aulakh said that the government was aware of the proceedings; action may soon be taken in this regard. Meanwhile, a VHP leader from western UP, Rajesh Awasthi, announced a cash reward of Rs 50 lakh for one who would 'cut' the controversial SP leader's tongue.

Azam Khan is no stranger to controversies. In May 2017, when a woman was gang-raped by 14 men, Khan had advised women to stay indoors. UP Governor Ram Naik had written to Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, asking him to take action against Azam Khan for allegedly misusing his office during his tenure as a minister in the SP administration.
North Korea test-launched a ballistic missile from its western region into the sea off its east coast on Tuesday, South Korea's military said, ahead of a summit of leaders from the Group of 20 nations in Germany later this week.

The missile flew for about 40 minutes and landed in Japan's Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), the Japanese government said, adding it had strongly protested what it called a clear violation of UN resolutions.

The missile flew about 930 kilometres (580 miles), the South's Office of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said, adding the altitude reached by the projectile was still being analyzed.

North Korea is ignoring repeated warnings from the international community, Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Tuesday. Abe said he will ask the presidents of China and Russia to play more constructive roles in efforts to stop the North's arms programme.

"Leaders of the world will gather at the G20 meeting. I would like to strongly call for solidarity of the international community on the North Korean issue," Abe told reporters.

It was the fourth ballistic missile launched by the North since South Korean President Moon Jae-in took office in May, vowing to use dialogue as well as pressure to bring Pyongyang's nuclear and missile programmes under control.

Following the news of the latest launch, US President Donald Trump wrote on Twitter: "North Korea has just launched another missile. Does this guy have anything better to do with his life?" in a reference to the North's leader Kim Jong Un.

"Hard to believe South Korea and Japan will put up with this much longer. Perhaps China will put a heavy move on North Korea and end this nonsense once and for all!"

The White House offered no immediate comment on the missile launch on Tuesday.

In his meeting with Moon last week in Washington, Trump called for a determined response to North Korea, stressing the importance of the alliance between the two countries.

The North has in the past launched ballistic missiles timed to key diplomatic events and meetings of leaders.

Tuesday's missile was launched around 0040 GMT from an airfield in Panghyon, about 100 km (60 miles) northwest of the North's capital, Pyongyang, the South Korean military said. It did not immediately release the range and class of the missile, citing ongoing analysis.

The last North Korean missile launches were in early June and the one on Tuesday came ahead of the G20 summit on July 7-8 in Hamburg, Germany, where the United States, China, Japan and South Korea are expected to discuss efforts to rein in the North's nuclear and missile tests.

Pyongyang has been working to develop a nuclear-tipped missile capable of hitting the United States and has conducted missile-related activities at an unprecedented pace since the start of last year.

Earlier this week, North Korea was a key topic in phone calls between Trump and the leaders of China and Japan. Leaders of both Asian countries reaffirmed their commitment to a denuclearised Korean Peninsula.

Tuesday's missile launch also comes ahead of July 4 Independence Day celebrations in the United States. North Korea has previously fired missiles around this US holiday.

South Korea's presidential Blue House said President Moon Jae-in called a national security council meeting for 0230 GMT after being informed of the North's missile launch.

Moon said on Monday in a meeting with former US president Barack Obama that North Korea now faces its "last opportunity" to engage in talks with the outside world

In his meeting in Washington on Friday with Moon, Trump called on regional powers to implement sanctions and demanded the North "choose a better path and do it quickly."

The UN Security Council adopted its latest sanctions resolution in early June after North Korea conducted three ballistic missile test launches in May. Pyongyang routinely rejects such moves, saying they infringe on its sovereign right to self defence and space exploration.
North Korea declared Tuesday it had successfully tested its first intercontinental ballistic missile  a watershed moment in its push to develop a nuclear weapon capable of hitting the mainland United States.

US experts said the device could reach Alaska, and the launch, which came as Americans prepared to mark Independence Day, triggered a Twitter outburst from President Donald Trump who urged China to act to end this nonsense once and for all.

The Norths possession of a working ICBM  something that Trump has vowed wont happen  would force a fundamental recalculation of the strategic threat posed by the isolated, impoverished state.

The landmark test of a Hwasong-14 missile was overseen by leader Kim Jong-Un, an emotional female announcer said on state Korean Central Television.

The broadcaster showed his handwritten order to carry out the launch, and pictures of him grinning in celebration, clenching his fist.

The rocket was a very powerful ICBM that can strike any place in the world, the announcer said, and a major breakthrough in the history of our republic.

In a statement the Norths Academy of Defence Science, which developed the missile, said it reached an altitude of 2,802 kilometres and flew 933 kilometres, calling it the final gate to rounding off the state nuclear force.

There are still doubts whether the North can miniaturise a nuclear weapon sufficiently to fit it onto a missile nose cone, or if it has mastered the technology needed for it to survive the difficult re-entry into the Earths atmosphere.

But the country has made great progress in its missile capabilities since the ascension to power of Kim, who has overseen three nuclear tests and multiple rocket launches.

In response to the launch but before the announcement, Trump asked on Twitter: Does this guy have anything better to do with his life?

The United Nations has imposed multiple sets of sanctions on Pyongyang, which retorts that it needs nuclear arms to defend itself against the threat of invasion.

 All of Alaska 

US Pacific Command confirmed the test and said it was a land-based, intermediate range missile that flew for 37 minutes before splashing down in the Sea of Japan, adding the launch did not pose a threat to North America.

Moscows defence ministry called it medium-range in a statement to Russian news agencies.

But Tokyo  in whose exclusive economic zone it came down  estimated its maximum altitude to have greatly exceeded 2,500 kilometres, prompting arms control specialist Jeffrey Lewis to respond on Twitter: Thats it. Its an ICBM. An ICBM that can hit Anchorage not San Francisco, but still.

David Wright, of the Union of Concerned Scientists, wrote on the organisations allthingsnuclear blog that the available figures implied the missile had a maximum range of roughly 6,700 km on a standard trajectory.

That range would not be enough to reach the lower 48 states or the large islands of Hawaii, but would allow it to reach all of Alaska.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told reporters: This launch clearly shows that the threat has grown.

The US, Japan and South Korea will hold a summit on the issue on the sidelines of this weeks G20 meeting, he added. Also I will encourage President Xi Jinping and President Putin to take more constructive measures.

South Koreas President Moon Jae-In, who backs both engagement with the North to bring it to the negotiating table and sanctions, and met Trump for a summit in Washington at the weekend, warned the North against crossing a red line.

I hope North Korea will not cross the bridge of no return, he said.

 Not wise 

Washington, South Koreas security guarantor, has more than 28,000 troops in the country to defend it from its communist neighbour. Fears of conflict reached a peak earlier this year as the Trump administration suggested military action was an option under consideration.

There has also been anger in the United States over the death of Otto Warmbier, an American student detained in North Korea for around 18 months before he was returned home in a coma in June.

Trump has been pinning his hopes on China  North Koreas main diplomatic ally  to bring pressure to bear on Pyongyang.

Last week he declared that Beijings efforts had failed, but returned to the idea on Twitter following the launch: Perhaps China will put a heavy move on North Korea and end this nonsense once and for all!

Beijing called for restraint, and hit back at Trump, saying it had made relentless efforts on North Korea.

(AP)
The Kremlin says its patience with a U.S. plan to return the Russian Embassys compounds is running out.

President Vladimir Putins foreign affairs adviser, Yuri Ushakov, said Monday that Russia has demonstrated a remarkable restraint by refraining from a tit-for-tat response to President Barack Obamas decision in December to expel 35 Russian diplomats and shutter Russian compounds in Maryland and on Long Island, New York.

Ushakov says while Russia has shown unusual flexibility, Moscows patience has its limits. He urged Washington to take action to free Russia from the need to take retaliatory moves, emphasizing that Moscow will feel obliged to respond if the matter isnt settled.

Putin and Trump are to have their first meeting at the sidelines of the G-20 summit, being held in Germany on Friday and Saturday.

(AP)
The Madison-area Gander Mountain and eight other stores in Wisconsin will shutter at the end of August, though it appears most of them will reopen in the bankrupt outdoor goods and firearm retailers new incarnation.

The stores in DeForest, Baraboo and seven other Wisconsin locations will close on Aug. 30, according to a layoff notice sent to the state Department of Workforce Development last week and released Monday.

Camping World Holdings  which purchased Gander Mountains assets for a reported $390 million during a bankruptcy auction in May  said in a statement last week that 57 locations throughout the country, including the DeForest store, would be retained after the business is reorganized, assuming details can be worked out with landlords and final acceptable leases agreed to.

The Wisconsin locations planned to reopen under a combined brand of Gander Outdoors, Camping World and Overtons  a marine and watersports store  include those in DeForest, Baraboo, Janesville, Kenosha, Onalaska, Rothschild, Sheboygan and Waukesha.

Gander Mountain stores in Green Bay and Eau Claire are among 36 locations that will open in newly constructed buildings, according to a tweet from Marcus Lemonis, CEO of Camping World Holdings and television host of CNBCs The Profit.

The fate of the Germantown, Franklin and Appleton locations are not noted in the companys statement or included in list of stores to be built new. The Franklin location was included in the layoff notice.

The DeForest location, technically in the town of Burke at the interchange of Interstate 39-90-94 and Highway 51, is set to lay off 57 people, while the Baraboo outlet will let go of 31 employees.

In total, 371 people in Wisconsin are included in the layoff.

All remaining Gander Mountain locations, based in St. Paul, Minnesota, are continuing a liquidation sale as the company prepares to switch brands.
Leaders of the Jewish Federations of North America and local federations have spoken out loudly about their disappointment in the Israeli governments decision to suspend the Kotel resolution and about a contentious conversion bill that was recently put on hold.

A self-described Jewish state, of course, must maintain some Jewish standard, both with regard to its holy places and its definitions of personal status. The only reasonable standard in all such matters is that of the mutual Jewish past, the Jewish religious tradition, or halacha.

There are those, unfortunately, who agitate for different standards in Israel. That is their prerogative as individuals. But the historic role of Jewish federations has been to provide support and solace for disadvantaged or endangered Jews and to mobilize the community to come to Israels aid when it is threatened. Taking sides in religious controversies anywhere, and certainly in Israel, egregiously breaches the boundaries of that role.

It also entirely ignores the American Orthodox community, which harbors quite different sentiments.

The most conservative estimates are that 10% of American Jewry is Orthodox. The Orthodox community, moreover, is poised to become a much more prominent sector of American Jewry. More than a quarter of all American Jews 17 years of age or younger are Orthodox. And even at present, the great majority of Jewishly engaged American Jews, those whose lives are infused with Judaism (and, not to mention, who are among the most strongly involved with Israel) are the Orthodox.

Any American Jew can, again, hold and promote a personal position on any issue, including the current ones in Israel. But federations are communal entities, not private ones. By proclaiming positions on religious controversies and ignoring the convictions of American Orthodox Jewry, federation leaders do grave damage to the very Jewish unity they profess as a goal.

(YWN Headquarters  NYC)
Ending a stalemate that temporarily shut down the New Jersey government, Governor Chris Christie gave his stamp of approval to a new budget that will provide significant benefits to private school children and their families.

Despite the difficult political environment, the total budget allocation earmarked for nonpublic school families includes a $6 million increase from the amount given to nonpublic schools last year.

Nonpublic school families in New Jersey owe a tremendous debt of gratitude to Senate President Steve Sweeney, Assembly Speaker Vincent Prietto, and Assembly Majority Leader Louis Greenwald for their role in this years budget increases, said Rabbi Avi Schnall, New Jersey Director for Agudath Israel of America. However, Assemblyman Gary Schaers herculean efforts stood out as he tirelessly spearheaded the effort to secure funding that will allow nonpublic schools to provide for the safety and security of their students while continuing to uphold their educational standards.

With funding allocations for security rising from $7.5 to $11.3 million, the new budget will increase safety spending from $50 to $75 per child. The budget also included nearly $1 million in additional funds for nursing services, totaling $14.3 million. This will allow private schools to provide full time nursing services to enhance students health and well-being .Finally, technology funding has been increased by nearly $2 million, for a total allotment of $5.4 million and the budget provided increased funding for transportation services for nonpublic schools.

As in past years, the budget increases for nonpublic schools were legislative priorities for Agudath Israel. Rabbi Schnall testified before Assembly and Senate committees and met with many legislators. Agudath Israels New Jersey office also initiated a grassroots campaign, encouraging nonpublic school parents and administrators to contact their elected officials.

Agudath Israel extends its gratitude to its nonpublic school students advocacy partners, including the Catholic Conference of New Jersey and the Orthodox Unions Teach NJS.

(YWN Headquarters  NYC)
I try to avoid moving house as much as possible, but living in a rented flat means I could have to move at any time with three months notice from my landlord.

Along with the hassle of finding somewhere new, moving can be a pain whatever your circumstances as not only is it a huge expense, its usually a high-stress time full of paperwork, extra costs and moving boxes.

But what makes the whole situation even worse is when extra fees you havent budgeted for emerge and you need to somehow find the money to pay for them.

Ofcom launches a probe into Virgin Media's sky-high termination fees for those moving home

One of these  if youre a Virgin Media customer  is the fee charged if you move home while youre still in your minimum contract term if your new property doesnt have access to Virgin.

It charges up to 240 if youre stuck in this situation (less depending on your contract type and term) and as its written into the terms and conditions its hard to avoid.

Virgin runs on its own fibre network, separate to BTs Openreach which all the other major providers use. Its available in around 40 per cent of the UK so the chances of moving to a property where its not available are reasonably high.

Now I understand its pretty standard that if you leave a contract early, be it with a broadband provider, car insurer or energy firm, youll be faced with an exit fee.

A firm charges exit fees because it is losing your custom and won't get the set amount of money it thought it would as you're not completing the full contract.

While these fees arent ever welcome, theyre usually made pretty clear from the start of your contract.

HAS VIRGIN CHARGED YOU AN EARLY EXIT PENALTY? Are you or have you ever been a Virgin Media customer and been charged an early exit fee for breaking your contract? This is Money would like to hear from you, contact: rebecca.rutt@thisismoney.co.uk

But Virgin Media's exit fees seem particularly tough.

They're often expensive, and payable should you have the misfortune to move to an area that Virgin Media doesn't cover.

And ultimately this is not the same as ditching your mobile phone provider, or swapping cars and deciding to go with a new insurer.

It's Virgin's fault that it's service is not available to you in your new property. You couldn't take it with you even if you wanted to.

There are times we don't have a choice over whether or not we move, and sometimes have to move unexpectedly. But even so, the fees can still apply.

This seems incredibly harsh and short-sighted to me and in an overly competitive market, an instant way to turn off new customers.

It also ignores the fact that we dont all stay in the same homes for 12 or 18 months and for a variety of reasons we may choose  or sometimes have no choice about  having to move out.

Typically those people who are forced to move home could be less well off and not in a position to have 240 to spare.

These types of fees are supposed to be fair and proportionate to the costs incurred by the provider. I'm doubtful Virgin would lose out to the tune of 240 when someone cancels their contract early. For one thing, there is a good chance that whoever moves into the property next may sign up to the provider and therefore they're not really losing out by much at all.

High fees: Virgin Media charges up to 240 for those terminating their contract early

A few years ago the Office of Fair Trading cracked down on gym contracts that charged members high termination fees if they moved away and could no longer get to the gym. It ruled that gyms werent able to charge members if their circumstances changed and they could no longer get to the gym or afford to - so why isnt this the same for other firms?

The good news is that these rip-off fees are finally being investigated by the regulator, after years of pressure from the media - including This is Money - and consumer groups.

I think that if it sees sense it will rule them as unjust and stop Virgin from charging them to those who aren't able to access Virgin in their new homes.

Should this be the case, I think Virgin should also agree to refund anyone who has already paid out for these charges, with extra interest to compensate for the returns former customers could have benefited from had Virgin not taken their money.

Because of the merits of its offering, Virgin makes it into This is Money's top five broadband deals - it is a shame that if customers have to leave because of a lack of coverage it then treats them so badly.

Until now customers in this situation have been able to complain to Virgin about the fees, and take their complaints to the ombudsman, but I find it completely absurd that the onus has been on the customer to fight the fees  rather than the regulator to outlaw them from the start.

I hope Ofcom takes the common sense decision in this case and bans these fees for good.

Sometimes customers are forced to leave for one reason or another. But if you want them to return at some point in the future, it does not make sense to upset them with fees just when their budgets are already being squeezed.
Alexa, Amazons voice recognition personal assistant, can play your music, offer weather forecasts and now even update you on how the shares in your Isa are doing.

Investors with AJ Bell's Youinvest platform will now be able to find out the value of their portfolio and get quotes for stocks by asking a question of the artificial personal assistant made popular by the Amazon Echo wireless speaker.

AJ Bell's move is likely to be followed by more financial firms, with Capital One customers also able to integrate with Alexa. Lloyd's Bank is also currently dabbling with the capabilities of the system for its online banking services.

Users of AJ Bell's Youinvest will be able to get information on their portfolio by asking Amazon's voice recognition personal assistant Alexa

Needless to say, users of the AJ Bell platform will need to own an Amazon Alexa compatible device in the first instance.

They would also need download the Alexa mobile app, activate the AJ Bell 'skill' through the app and link it to their account.

But there's a note of caution here - once the account is linked to Alexa, anyone with access to the device will be able to retrieve information about the portfolio.

AJ Bell became the first UK investing platform to engage with the service in September 2016 and is now making it available to customers after internal testing.

The investment manager has form when it comes to integrating with the latest technological fads having launched an app for the Apple Watch in the past.

Tim Huckle, director of digital strategy at AJ Bell, said: 'We want to make investing as easy as possible for retail investors.

'It is already easier than ever for people to access their investment portfolios but digital engagement is evolving at a rapid rate and is becoming increasingly embedded in our daily lives.

'We think investing should be part of this and Amazon Alexa is an example of a number of voice activated personal assistants that we are looking to support so that our customers can engage with their investments as easily as they do with their music, their friends or the news.'
Certain fashion tycoons think nothing of allowing themselves to appear on the front pages in all their oiled and paunchy glory, with tummies as brown as a rotisserie chicken spilling over the waistband of their Bermuda shorts.

Ray Kelvin, founder of the Ted Baker chain  he doesn't like to call it a retailer, but a 'lifestyle brand'  presents himself as a more retiring sort.

So bashful, in fact, that he won't allow his full face to be photographed.

The 61-year-old has previously said he applies the veto because he thinks he's 'an ugly blighter'.

Bashful: Ted Baker founder Ray Kelvin won't allow his full face to be photographed. The 61-year-old thinks he's 'an ugly blighter'

With his steely grey locks and stylish horn-rimmed specs, though, he's actually rather handsome. Now he claims he 'doesn't want his personality or face to be the brand'.

So, there are pictures of his forehead peeking out from behind a sofa, with the lower half of his phizog concealed by the cushions.

In other photographs, half his visage is hidden under a towel, or shielded by a book.

Whatever the reason, his quirky approach is producing impressive results at a time when others such as Marks & Spencer and Sir Philip Green's Arcadia have seen their profits drop like a stone.

Having worked in his family clothing business in North London since he was 11, Kelvin set up Ted Baker selling men's shirts in Glasgow.

Chic: Amal Clooney is one of many celebrity Ted Baker fans

It took off in the 'acid house' era of the 1990s, when its brightly coloured shirts became popular with club-goers.

The brand has since become a hit with women who flock to buy its skirts and dresses, such as this summer's hit, a 160 Oriental Blossom midi-skirt.

Fans include Kate Middleton and Amal Clooney (pictured) along with millions of ordinary women.

Ted Baker's latest sales figures show an increase of more than 14 per cent in its stores and a huge rise of nearly 36 per cent in online sales.

That's not bad, considering rivals are blaming everything from the fall in the pound to a squeeze on household incomes for the damage to their bottom lines.

Ted Baker's secret  which it shares with the likes of Zara-owner Inditex and Mulberry  is quality at an affordable price.

Of course, 'affordable' is a relative concept in fashion. But what Zara, Mulberry and Ted Baker have in common is they offer good quality fashion fixes at a price their fans are prepared to pay.

And while some may find the Ted Baker ethos irritatingly arch rather than endearingly quirky, it has made Ray Kelvin very rich.

He owns a 35 per cent stake in Ted Baker and has seen his holding increase in value by 160 per cent in the past five years. The company is worth more than 1billion.

The rich lists estimate his total personal fortune at just under half a billion, though it's not something he will comment on because 'it's not nice to talk about money'.

However much he's worth exactly, he has done well for a boy who was brought up in Cockfosters, North London, which his late mum Trudie told him to pronounce 'Co'fosters' to sound posher.

He lives in Hampstead with his second wife Clare, 46, whom he married five years ago. They have a daughter, Ava, 4.

He has two sons  Ben and Josh, both in their 20s  with first wife Georgia Slowe, who appeared in soap opera Emmerdale as lady of the manor Perdita Hyde-Sinclair.

Insiders talk about 'Ted' as if he really existed but, of course, he doesn't  although it's not entirely clear Ray realises.

Again, there are several versions of why Kelvin plumped to call his business 'Ted Baker', one being that he didn't want his own name in case it went bust.

'Ray is the closest man to Ted,' a spokesman says, and in truth, Ted comes across more like an imaginary friend than a brand name.'

In the past, Ray Kelvin has described Ted as 'a pioneering fashion icon, an intrepid aviator, an all-round sportsman and consort of Princesses and Hollywood beauties.'

But cultivating an alter ego is not Kelvin's only eccentricity. Others include cuddling people, though he says it is not true his staff are forced to hug him before they can speak, which is probably just as well in today's politically correct office climate.

He does, however, have a sign reading 'Hug Here' on the floor by his desk.

'Ted has a hugging culture where everyone is treated with respect and meetings often start that way,' he says. That's apart from latecomers to meetings, who are made to do press-ups as a punishment.'

It may all sound utterly bonkers, but Ray  and Ted  have created one of the most successful fashion brands in Britain, so there must be method in the madness.
Lifeline: Sanjeev Gupta is attempting to rescue Caparo Industries pension scheme

Steelworkers whose pensions were in peril after their company fell into administration could be getting a lifeline from industry magnate Sanjeev Gupta.

His growing Liberty House steelmaker has been hammering out a better deal for 1,700 members of the Caparo Industries pension scheme.

Many are at risk of falling into the pensions lifeboat after Caparo Industries fell into administration in 2015.

But Gupta yesterday bought Caparos subsidiary Caparo Merchant Bar (CMB), which remained solvent, and is trying to sort out the group pension scheme alongside the deal.

Details are not yet clear.

Caparo Merchant Bar employs 145 workers at two automated rolling mills in Scunthorpe.

Steel giant Tata, which owns the Port Talbot steel works in South Wales, was a minority shareholder in CMB.
Court date: Former Barclays chief exec John Varley

The former chief executive of Barclays appeared in court yesterday accused of striking corrupt deals at the height of the financial crisis.

John Varley, 61, is accused of overseeing illegal payments to secure emergency funding to avoid a government bailout amid a banking sector meltdown.

Varley, 61, was joined by three senior colleagues, Roger Jenkins, 61, Thomas Kalaris, 61, and Richard Boath, 58.

The men are all charged with conspiracy to commit fraud over a scheme to raise cash for the bank in June 2008.

The lender itself, Varley and Jenkins face the same charge relating to a second fundraising in October 2008, and providing unlawful financial assistance.

In total, 346million in payments are alleged to have been made to secure almost 12billion in emergency funds.

Barclays and the executives are accused of failing to properly disclose these payments to its shareholders.

The four defendants were bailed to appear before Southwark Crown Court later this month.

Varley and Jenkins face up to 22 years in jail if found guilty on all counts.
Broken Telecoms! Customers left on hold for up to an hour, complaints piling up... BT's now the phone firm that can't seem to pick up the phone
Shares in British firm Imagination Technologies rose this morning after it reported swinging into profit this year as a bitter dispute with Apple rumbles on.

The chip maker, which put itself up for sale this month, reported pre-tax profits of 2.4million in the year to April 30, compared to a 30million loss last year.

Imagination's shares plummeted 60 per cent in March when the company's largest customer by far Apple said it would no longer use its graphics processing units in watches, iPads and iPhones.

Shares in British firm Imagination Technologies rose this morning after it reported swinging into profit this year as a bitter dispute with Apple rumbles on

Today shares recovered 7 per cent to 153.50p as traders welcomed the final results which saw group revenue rise 19 per cent to 145.2million.

Imagination also revealed it is now in 'preliminary discussions' with potential bidders for the company.

Boss Andrew Heath praised the company's financial performance but lashed out at Apple, calling its behaviour 'unethical'.

Imagination said in statement: 'Apple has not presented any evidence to substantiate its assertion that it will no longer require our technology, without violating our patents, intellectual property and confidential information. This evidence has been requested of Apple, but they have declined to provide it.'

'We believe that it would be extremely challenging to design a brand new graphics processing unit architecture from basics without infringing our intellectual property rights, accordingly we have not accepted Apple's assertions.'

'Apple made an unsubstantiated claim, which obliged us to inform the markets, leading to a significant decrease in our share price. '

'The claim has led us to invoke a contractual dispute resolution procedure and has created significant uncertainty with respect to our business, including our employees.'

Boss Andrew Heath praised the company's financial performance but lashed out at Apple, calling its behaviour 'unethical'

'We do not believe this to be acceptable business practice nor in line with Apple's own ethics statements regarding suppliers.'



Mr Heath said: 'We improved our financial performance across the business. We returned the business to profitability and saw good cash generation despite the outflow from the now discontinued businesses'.

'However, Apple's unsubstantiated assertions and the resultant dispute have forced us to change our course, despite the clear progress we have been making.'

Apple's royalty payments and licence fees brought in 60.7 million in revenues in the year to April 30, accounting for half of Imagination's total sales.
CHICAGO  Hundreds of people gathered outside a federal courthouse Monday as a former UW-Madison student suspected in the kidnapping of a Chinese scholar at the University of Illinois made his first appearance since being arrested last week.

During the nine-minute hearing, 28-year-old Brendt Christensen acknowledged to the judge that he understood his rights but did not say anything else. U.S. Magistrate Eric Long ordered Christensen held without bond in the kidnapping of Yingying Zhang. Authorities say facts in the case indicate the 26-year-old Zhang is dead, although her body hasnt been found.

Long ordered Christensen to return to the court in Urbana on Wednesday to determine bond. A preliminary hearing was set for July 14, but that would be waived if a grand jury returns an indictment before then. The federal kidnapping charge carries a maximum sentence of life in prison, according to a U.S. attorneys office spokeswoman.

About 45 people attended the hearing Monday morning, with another crowd in the courthouse lobby and more people across the street, many chanting Justice for Yingying.

After the hearing, Christensens attorney Evan Bruno said he talked to Christensen a few times, but that this case is very young and we havent had a really full opportunity to develop everything yet.

Bruno asked the public to be patient, to keep an open mind, wait until the evidence comes in.

He described his client as a very intelligent guy who has no criminal history. He has a speeding ticket, I think, but thats about it, Bruno said.

Bruno added that Christensen is married with no children, according to The (Champaign) News-Gazette. He said Christensen, who attended UW-Madison as an undergraduate from 2009 to 2013 and recently earned a masters degree in physics from the University of Illinois, is not employed but has been looking for a job.

Zhang, who received her masters degree in environmental engineering in China last year and hoped to eventually land a professorship and help her family financially, disappeared on June 9. Her father traveled from China to Illinois in June for the search.

Authorities announced that they believed she was abducted after viewing surveillance video showing her climbing into a vehicle. Authorities charged Christensen on Friday after federal agents heard him tell someone that hed kidnapped Zhang and held her against her will.

Authorities say Zhang was trying to hurry to an apartment to sign a lease and had been unsuccessful in flagging down a bus when a car stopped. The video shows a woman authorities have said is Zhang climb into the vehicle in Urbana, 140 miles southwest of Chicago.

Since then, details have emerged about Christensen and the events leading up to Zhangs disappearance.

According to authorities, a website that hosted an Abduction 101 forum linked Christensen to the kidnapping of Zhang. The federal complaint says Christensens phone was used April 19 to visit that website, including to view threads titled Perfect abduction fantasy and planning a kidnapping.

The site, FetLife, describes itself as the Social Network for the BDSM, Fetish & Kinky Community, stressing in online policy statements that it is a place for consenting adults to trade advice and images of themselves and to arrange to meet. Users provide their ages, genders and roles they wish to play, but otherwise remain anonymous.
Renwick Haddow has been accused of a multi-million pound bar and bitcoin fraud

A British businessman is on the run from US authorities after being accused of a multi-million pound bars and bitcoin fraud.

Renwick Haddow allegedly made up fictional board members at businesses in New York, raising nearly 30million from customers and investors.

It is claimed the 48-year-old then funnelled at least 14million into accounts in 40 countries.

Haddow's business Bitcoin Store promised to help investors buy online currency with stellar returns. Its literature claimed the firm was run by Gordon Phillips, a former head of currency trading at HSBC, and Joseph Bilkhorn, once finance chief at Credit Suisse.

But neither existed, according to the US Securities and Exchange Commission. The SEC said claims the business had quarterly sales of 4.3million were also untrue.

Haddow's second business, Bar Works, claimed to run shared offices at converted bars in New York and San Francisco, and pledged to generate a return of 15 per cent.

He is said to have adopted the alias Jonathan Black to run the company, claiming he was previously a director of two British bar chains and had secured 386,000 from a Silicon Valley investor.

Haddow allegedly made up the fake board members to hide his past from investors. He was banned as a director in Britain in 2008 for misleading announcements at his business Branded Leisure, which left investors nursing losses of 500,000.

He was then taken to court by the Financial Conduct Authority in 2014 over claims he ran sham investment schemes.

The High Court will decide in the next few weeks whether Haddow's company made misleading statements.

Andrew Calamari, director of the SEC's New York office, said: 'Haddow created two trendy companies and misled investors into believing that highly qualified executives were leading them to quick profitability.'
I run a small consultancy firm advising big companies on marketing  do I need to be worried about cyber security and if so, what should I do to protect my firm?

Almost half of UK businesses fell victim to a cyber breach or attack last year according to official government figures

Myron Jobson, of This is Money, says: This is increasingly a really important consideration for business owners, whatever their size or market.

Indeed, the recent WannaCry ransomware attack that rocked the NHS and a plethora of businesses in 150 different countries underlined the importance for company chiefs to think seriously about fortifying their businesses against unscrupulous online bandits.

Tackling cyber crime has become even more pertinent as businesses continue to embrace technological systems to bolster efficiency and, ultimately, profits.

As firms' reliance on technology has risen, so has criminal activity to hack it. Official government figures show the number of UK businesses which have fallen victim to a cyber breach or attack almost doubled over the past year.

Some 46 per cent of UK enterprises detected a breach in 2016 compared to 24 per cent the year before according to the data from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.

What is more, a poll from the government office surveying 1,523 British businesses revealed the average cost of a cyber attack on micro and small business was 1,380 rising to 3,070 among average medium sized businesses and a staggering 19,600 for large ones.

As an owner of a small consultancy, you are most likely privy to sensitive information on the larger companies your firm represents. You therefore have a responsibility to ensure that they are not compromised.

This is all the more important as cyber criminals become increasingly professional and deploy ever-more sophisticated techniques to circumvent defences.

We asked a cyber security experts of law firm Bond Dickinson and small business insurance company Hiscox about whether shoring up your cyber defenses is worth while and how to do it.

Backing up data is one of a number of steps businesses can take to protect against the affects of a cyber breach Justin Tivey says

Justin Tivey, legal director and cyber risks expert at national law firm Bond Dickinson, replies: Yes, you do need to be worried about cyber security.

Complacency is the biggest enemy in cyber defence but the good news is that there are steps you can take to protect your business.

Cyber criminals anticipate that smaller businesses will have weaker security and can offer a way into larger customers' businesses.

A supplier could have a direct IT link into its bigger customer's system. Also by copying real credentials or data hackers can make fake payment requests look genuine. Additionally even small enterprises may have disproportionately sensitive or valuable data.

Not forgetting that some cyber attacks are indiscriminate anyway and can spread themselves finding insecure computers.

Cyber security affects us all and the recent Queen's Speech saw the government promise a new law to give the UK a world class data protection regime.

To protect your firm, the first step is to win the battle for awareness. Make sure that you and any staff are aware of the risks and have good cyber health practices. Any electronic communication could be faked and if it is in any way odd check it out independently.

Don't open attachments unless you know they are genuine. We have cases where an email apparently from a customer supplied new bank details and tens of thousands of pounds were sent to a fraudster.

It may sound obvious but regularly changing passwords, encrypting data and locking unattended computers are a good start too. Good physical security at premises is surprisingly important as some hacks take place after operating computers are physically accessed or stolen.

Technical solutions are important so only run supported software and make sure all patches and updates are installed. The Information Commissioner's Office has come down hard on firms hacked because their software was out of date.

Back-up your data  ransomware attacks (like Wannacry) can be impossible to defeat unless you can restore backed up data.

Have a simple accessible plan for what to do if your system is affected by ransomware or a denial of service attack or if unauthorised access to the system is detected. The names and contact details of who to contact inside and outside the business are key. Test the plan and update it from the experience gained.

Finally consider cyber insurance. Many insurers now offer this as an extension to exiting policies or standalone cover and have incident response teams ready to assist if the worst should happen.

Business chiefs should ensure that their employees are train on the dangers of phishing emails Stephen Ridley says

Stephen Ridley, senior cyber underwriter at Hiscox, adds: Cyber security is a worry for businesses of all sizes, and sadly yours is no exception. Every day, cyber security attacks make the headlines and that has only exacerbated the this could happen to me feeling.

The types of attacks have changed  weve seen a definite move away from data breaches to ransomware and denial-of-service attacks. So have the perpetrators targets.

Attacks on small businesses are growing, being seen as an easy target as well as a route into the bigger prize of their client base.

The good news is theres quite a bit you can do to try to protect your firm without having to spend a fortune.

Below are our top tips.

Make sure your systems are kept patched  the WannaCry ransomware attack that affected the NHS (and many thousands of organisations worldwide) was so effective because computers hadnt had a security update applied. If they had been, the impact would have been significantly reduced.

Train your staff on the dangers of phishing emails - accidental clicks on infected emails are the most common entry points for hackers.

Use strong passwords  the more complex and long a password is, the harder it will be to crack. Also, make sure that all passwords are changed from their defaults  particularly on things like routers.

Take regular backups  this is a particularly efficient way to get around ransomware incidents; if you have a recent backup, you can restore to that, rather than having to pay a ransom or incur significant IT forensic costs.

I would say it, but purchasing cyber insurance is another important step you could take if you havent already.

Some tips to consider:

Speak to a good insurance broker who specialises in this area  companies can benefit from their knowledge and advice.

Check whether the policy stipulates minimum security requirements  you dont want to come unstuck in the event of a claim so always read the small print upfront.

Find out whether it is a ground up or a top down policy  ground up policies will typically provide basic cover and offer everything as an add-on for an additional premium, while top down policies like the ones we offer at Hiscox will be far more comprehensive.

Ask about claims response commitments  you need to know what you can expect in the event of a claim. For example, some policies will only provide financial reimbursement while others will also provide practical support via a team of retained PR consultants, lawyers, auditors and IT forensics experts. This hands-on element can be just as, if not more, important in a crisis.
MBABANE  Members of a disciplinary panel were left dumbfounded when the chairman was accused of allegedly having a sexual relationship with the wife of Matsapha businessman Tom Kirk.

Businessman and employee of Quadro Trust Mandla Ntshalintshali was the chairman during a disciplinary hearing on June 21, 2017 in which a cashier of Akunalutfo Bottle Store situated at Sigodvweni was suspected of causing a stock shortfall of E20 000.

The bottle store is owned by Quadro Trust and Kirk is one of the trustees.

The accusation was allegedly made by Sicelo Shabangu who represented the cashier, Nelisiwe Malinga, during the hearing.

Shabangus gripe was that Ntshalintshali had allegedly not been replaced as the chairman during the proceedings yet a new initiator, Mathokoza Mbhamali had taken over from Kirk.

Kirk alleged that Shabangu informed the chairperson that his client needed time to prepare for the matter and allegedly insulted Ntshalintshali before walking out of the hearing.

While the initiator was making his submissions, the representative of the applicant mentioned to the chairman that the reason he had not been changed as chairman yet the initiator had been changed was because he was sleeping with the wife of the deponent in the answering affidavit (Kirk), submitted Kirk.

In a confirmatory affidavit, Ntshalintshali confirmed that he was the chairman on June 14 when Shabangu, Malingas representative, walked out and on June 21 when Malingas representative accused him of sleeping with Kirks wife.

He told the court that Shabangu walked out of the hearing after allegedly insulting him by saying that he slept with Kirks wife, which was why he had not been removed as the chairperson. Kirk, who was represented by Thabiso Fakudze of Fakudze Attorneys, said the orders sought by Malinga had been overtaken by events.

He said the hearing had been concluded and a recommendation had already been made by the chairman.

The businessman informed the court that Malinga was dismissed after the recommendation was made. According to Kirk, Malinga absented herself from work for a month.

Kirk was responding to Malingas founding affidavit where he was seeking an order directing the respondents (Kirk and Mbongeni Simelane) to allow her external representation.

In the event that the hearing has been completed, she wanted the process to be started afresh. Malinga, who was represented by Bhembe and Nyoni Attorneys, accused Kirks wife, Bongi Thwala, of physically assaulting her and ejecting her from the work premises.




Manzini  A woman had to seek refuge at a primary school while being chased after by her naked husband who was allegedly brandishing a firearm.

The incident is alleged to have occurred on Saturday at around 10pm at Zandondo.

The woman, Ngabisa Dlamini, who is in her 30s, was allegedly involved in an altercation with her husband, Thulani Khumalo (40) after he had allegedly accused her of cheating on him.

The pair had been allegedly experiencing problems in their marriage for years, especially after Khumalo allegedly lost his job at Piggs Peak Timber, a few years ago.

Families from both sides had been called to intervene between the two on several occasions, however, nothing much changed.

They even fight in front of their children which is bad. The latest incident where the wife was threatened with a gun by her husband was the final straw.

He came out of the house naked chasing after his wife, accusing her of cheating on him with other men, a relative, who preferred not to be named, said.

Information gathered is that the woman was with her child when the incident happened.

Upon reaching a river, Khumalo allegedly lost track of the two.

They ran into a nearby school, Zandondo Primary School, where they raised the alarm.

The schools security guard, Gembe Zishwili, in a bid to protect them, locked them inside one of the rooms and immediately called the police.

Mliba police, led by Sergeant Poison Motsa, arrived at the school and after questioning the wife, they headed to their house where they arrested Khumalo.

He is said to have led the police to where he had hidden the unlicensed revolver, which was placed in between flowers near a rondavel at the Khumalo homestead.

Khumalo was taken to the police station and charged with contravening the arms and ammunitions act.

However, when asked if she would lay an assault charge against her husband, Dlamini refused and allegedly informed police officers that she feared for her life.

It was also gathered that after Khumalos arrest, Dlamini allegedly packed all her belongings and went to her parental home, where she currently resides.
LOBAMBA  The Reservation of Certain Trades and Businesses for Swazi Citizens Regulations, 2017 were yesterday tossed out by Members of Parliament (MPs).

These regulations were the ones which reserved about 31 kinds of businesses for strictly Swazis.

In motivating the regulations, the Minister of Commerce, Industry and Trade, Jabulani Mabuza, said if these jobs were not reserved for Swazis then there would be trouble. He said such an arrangement was not unique to Swaziland, especially to small businesses.

He said the businesses such as a car wash were to be strictly for Swazis.

However, the MPs were against the regulations citing that they were too limiting. Motshane MP Phesheya Hlatshwayo said petrol stations should also be reserved for Swazis. I think these regulations have come too late, they are already in the hands of the foreigners, he said.

He asked if the list could not be amended for other businesses.

Meanwhile, Dvokodvweni MP Sitezi Dlamini said he fully supported this initiative, stating that it could bring economic liberation to Swazis. However, I believe we can do more to diversify these trades and we must not be ashamed to return these businesses to Swazis, he said.

Timphisini MP Apton Ndlovu also said the regulations were long overdue, but said they should have been first taken to the portfolio committee before they were tabled in the House.

He said it was a pity that the foreigners did not even bank in the country and said the Swaziland Revenue Authority (SRA) doesnt even bother them. Instead they put it in trunks and they operate freely without paying their taxes which is wrong and I think these regulations are long overdue, said Ndlovu.

Mntfongwaneni MP Mjuluko Dlamini said the list should be amended to add bigger businesses which should include the transport business such as buses and also bottle stores.

Matsanjeni North MP Phila Buthelezi was totally against the regulations and said even if he was in his own he did not care.

He said Swazis should not run away from competition. He said some of the foreigners service was even better when compared to Swazi owned businesses. essman in a previous interview.
LOBAMBA  Food should be delivered to schools by next week Tuesday.

This was the order issued by the House of Assembly yesterday.

The motion was moved by Lugongolweni Member of Parliament (MP) Joseph Souza, through Standing Order No.58.

There is a crisis in schools as the children have nothing to eat and I am asking that the minister delivers the food within five working days, said Souza.

The motion was directed to the acting Minister of Education and Training Dumisani Ndlangamandla, as the substantive minister Dr Phineas Magagula, was reported to be out of the country.

Initially, the motion was directed to the Deputy Prime Minister (DPM)Paul Dlamini, who said although he was responsible for children in the country, the school feeding programme was not under his portfolio.

MP Souza said he had directed it to the DPM as the acting prime minister (PM) because this was now a national issue.

However, the MPs were of the view that the acting minister be called into Parliament.

Ndlangamandla accepted the motion that government would work on distributing the food items to schools.

Most government schools have run out of food supplies, particularly because the Free Primary Education (FPE) grants have not been disbursed by government.

It will be treated with the utmost urgency that it needs, said Ndlangamandla. He asked that the five working days be counted from today so that by next Tuesday they deliver, which was when the number of days would elapse. He said Magagula would be back in the country within two days, but that the ministry was working on it.

Even the minister responsible is aware of the issue and the principal secretary (PS) is working around the clock to address it, said Ndlangamandla.

Although many of the MPs wanted to debate the issue, Ndlangamandla asked that they immediately work on it instead of dwelling on it.

Chairperson of the Education portfolio committee Hosea MP Thulani Masuku said on Friday he had visited certain schools which were in a crisis.

Nkwene MP Sikhumbuzo Dlamini said they wanted to debate the issue because there were many issues which needed addressing.
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ROTTERDAM  On a clear, sunny Fourth of July morning, Mustafa Turunc was at the mall.

The 35-year-old runs a cafe at ViaPort Rotterdam, the shopping center formerly known as Rotterdam Square Mall, but stepped away Tuesday to head to the aquarium wing, where some 20 people were taking the oath of allegiance to become U.S. citizens. They were from Mexico, China, India, Nigeria, Pakistan, Costa Rica, Vietnam and Turkey, among other countries.

It was the mall's first ever naturalization ceremony, and Turunc had to see it. It was where he hoped to be soon enough.

"It was for my son, you know," he said, reminiscing about his family's move to America 11 months ago.

Empire State Plaza event The welcome and naturalization ceremony takes place at 3 p.m. Tuesday The rest of the day : 4 p.m. Garland Nelson and Soul Session

5:30 p.m. Tonic

7:15 p.m. New York State's July 4 Celebration Official Program and C-130 flyover

7:45 p.m. United States Air Force Heritage of America Band

9:15 p.m. Fireworks See More Collapse

Turunc and his wife, Bahar, had good-paying jobs in Istanbul  he was a vice president at a bank and she was a product manager for an international food conglomerate. But they were demanding jobs and they never saw their son, now 2 years old.

They dreamed of moving away, of slowing down, of opening a coffee shop and being together. In August 2016, they moved to upstate New York on an investor's visa and opened Chipmunk Coffee at the mall, which had been sold to Istanbul-based Via Properties one year earlier.

"In the big cities, in Istanbul, in New York, there is always traffic, there is always rush," Turunc said. "You look around and there are the same tired, unhappy faces on the street. It seems like you're alone between millions of people. You are doing too much, you are wasting your life. Now, we are living it."

The Turuncs are living the American dream, or their version of it at least  a quiet life in a small town where, most importantly, they're together.

The 20 individuals who became citizens Tuesday are living their American dreams, too.

Lizeth Maria Corrales, 44, moved to the area from San Jose in Costa Rica 27 years ago. Just 18 years old at the time, her goal was to live and work somewhere safe.

"I came to get a better life," she said. "Everybody had a dream and that was my dream  to be safe, to be an American."

Adjo Fasemtse, 26, moved to the U.S. from Togo in West Africa six years ago to join her husband, who had become a citizen some years earlier. Now, the couple have a son.

"I wanted better life," she said.

The ubiquitous quest for a better life. But what does that really mean? The freshly minted citizens at ViaPort had their own idea.

"What can I say, you know, it's adventure," Fasemtse said. "I'm from another country so I want to discover more. And in my country, not so many jobs as here."

The town of Rotterdam approached the mall's owners several months ago to see if they would be interested in hosting a July Fourth naturalization ceremony. Such ceremonies are held monthly around the country, but with much more fanfare on Independence Day. In the Capital Region, the Saratoga National Historical Park in Stillwater and the Empire State Plaza in Albany are regular hosts.

Town and mall officials are hoping the ceremony can become an annual tradition.

"Via is an overseas company from Turkey, so that overseas heritage kind of makes it extra special for us," said mall spokesman Alan Fanitzi. "We were pretty honored to have it here."
FONDA - An Amsterdam man is accused breaking into a town of Florida home and stealing items inside, State Police in Fonda said Tuesday.

Joseph Mosso, 22, was charged with felony burglary after he broke into the home on June 26 and stole undisclosed items, police said.
ALBANY - While knocking on doors in the upper, mostly residential wards of Albany, Common Councilman Mark Robinson said residents expressed concern with the citys recently approved ReZone Albany.

Its why he wants to postpone the enacted document until early next year  when newly elected officials can make the decision on the over 300-page plan for Albanys communities, which better aligns properties with their existing uses while promoting future development.

The new document took effect June 1, and was praised by business owners and potential developers. However, some Albanians feared the plan would destroy residential neighborhoods.

By knocking on doors at single-family homes on upper wards  where they pay the lions share of city and school taxes  their concerns are their quality of life will be interrupted in those residential districts, said Robinson, who is running for council president in Septembers Democratic Primary. "I feel it's the right thing to do."

Although Robinson aimed to have the council vote on the moratorium Monday, he decided before the regular meeting to pull the resolution and make changes.

Council President Pro Tempore Richard Conti said Robinson should revise the proposal as an amendment to the ReZone Albany ordinance in order to change the current effective date to Jan. 31, 2018.

"Your resolution doesn't achieve what you want it to achieve," Conti advised during the council's caucus prior to Monday's 7 p.m. meeting.

Councilwoman Judy Doesschate, who represents the 9th Ward, also pointed out that the new zoning has been effect for about a month, which could impact proposed developments.

"We need to address very specifically what happens to all the projects" that may have had some action taken, she said.

Robinson initially announced his plans to halt ReZone Albany on social media in late-June. Council members received a copy of his resolution a few hours before Monday's meeting.

One vocal critic of the rezone has been Joe Sullivan, who is seeking to run on the conservative line for mayor this year, and pushed for support of Robinsons proposal leading up to Monday's meeting.

Despite Sullivan and Robinson's urging the public come out and comment Monday evening, no one commented on the councilman's proposal during the public comment period.

Robinson said he pulled the resolution so he could make the proper changes and propose an amendment.

The councilman is expected to face Corey Ellis, who previously ran for city mayor against Mayor Kathy Sheehan in the last election, and Albany County Legislator Chris Higgins in the primary for council president.

Interested candidates currently are out petitioning and seeking signatures to run on the Democratic line of the ballot. Ellis secured the county Democratic Committee endorsement earlier this year.
Albany City Court Judge Gary Stiglmeier is living a judge's worst nightmare.

He allowed a career criminal to remain free on bail and that career criminal, Richard Quinn, 64, of Albany, is now charged with the stabbing murder of Marc Douglas, 47, on June 23 on Grand Street.

Cue the outrage, demands for answers and branding of Stiglmeier as a soft judge. And no question, Stiglmeier left himself wide open for criticism because he ignored the recommendation of Albany County probation officials and prosecutors, who wanted Quinn held without bail because he violated several terms of his probation.

But here is what else Stiglmeier did. He abided by New York's bail statute.

Under Section 510.30 of state criminal procedure law, judges in New York are supposed to set bail based on a defendant's risk of flight. That a defendant such as Quinn  with upward of 19 prior convictions, including four stints in state prison dating to 1974  is clearly in 20/20 hindsight not an ideal candidate for release (to put it mildly) makes a lot of sense, but it is not the law.

Federal judges can hold defendants based on danger to the community, and they do just that. But city and county judges in New York cannot use preventative detention. In fact, state lawmakers in 1970 specifically rejected preventative detention in 1970 when they rewrote the law.

Of course, city and state judges detain defendants deemed dangerous all the time  unofficially. If the person was not a flight risk, however, those judges are not following the bail statute. They can easily find their way around it because the bail statute does provide a degree of ambiguity. For instance, judges must consider nine factors to determine what, if any, bail should be set if necessary to secure a defendant's attendance in court. That list includes the defendant's prior criminal record and "character, reputation, habits." Should someone be accused of being an alleged monster, you can rest assured the person won't be released regardless of the level of flight risk. Judges risk the wrath of voters.

In a state that has no shortage of laws named after people who lost their lives, it is surprising that no law has been passed to change the bail statute to allow preventative detention. Former Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman called for bail reforms that would have allowed it but they were not enacted.

Unless the state Legislature and Gov. Andrew Cuomo enact a law allowing judges to hold a defendant based on the defendant's risk of danger to the community, that situation will not change anytime soon.

And judges such as Gary Stiglmeier will continue to be ripe for second-guessing  even when they follow the law, if not the advice of probation officials and prosecutors.
NORTHAMPTON  An off-duty local officer was struck and killed by a car Monday on Route 30 in the town of Northampton while assisting at the scene of a collision between a car and deer shortly before 11 p.m.

Robert J. Johnson, 60, of Mayfield was on the side of the road walking toward the injured deer when a car hit Johnson, according to a Fulton County Sheriff's Office police report.

Sheriff Richard Giardino told the Gloversville Leader-Herald newspaper that Johnson had his service revolver out and was walking north on Route 30 to shoot the animal when he was struck by the front end of a Subaru Forester.

Johnson had worked as a police officer for the village of Northville for the last 12 years, having previously worked as a Gloversville police officer and as a Fulton County sheriff's deputy, Northville Village Mayor John Spaeth said Tuesday.

"I think the circumstances under which he died tells a lot about who he was  the fact that he was off-duty and stopped to help, that was the type of person he was," Spaeth said. "He was a valued member of our community and a valued member of our law enforcement. He was greatly respected by the community."





The driver of the car that struck Johnson, Joseph Winnie, 25, of Hudson Falls, told police he had moved toward the northbound shoulder of Route 30 near Pine Avenue to avoid cars parked on the southbound lane, the report stated. He was not charged.

Condolences include one from the Fulton County Civil Defense

Fire Coordinators Office posted on Facebook:

"He spent his entire career protecting the citizens of our County. First with (Gloversville Police Department) and later with the Sheriffs Department and Northville Police Department. Thank you Bob for your service. May you Rest In Peace."

Funeral arrangements were not immediately available.
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Schenectady

Sometime between Andrew Kearse's arrest and the 3.2-mile ride to the police station, officers say, he complained of dizziness and difficulty breathing, and lost consciousness. He was later pronounced dead.

What exactly caused Kearse's death and how quickly Schenectady police called for help are among the issues New York's attorney general's office is now investigating, with his wife accusing officers of ignoring the Bronx man's pleas until it was too late.

"Officers themselves were judge, jury and executioner for my husband," said Angelique Negroni-Kearse, who learned of the death from news reports before police contacted her. "They did not give him the medical attention he asked for."

Kearse, who was freed April 26 from a two-year stint in prison for stealing credit cards and electronics from a car, was in Schenectady visiting friend Susan Perry on May 11 when he was pulled over on a traffic violation, according to witness and police reports. He parked and took off. Why exactly the 36-year-old Kearse ran from police is unclear, but he'd failed to report to his parole officer after his release and an "absconder" warrant had been issued for his arrest, according to correction records.

Terry Cuzdey, who lives in the neighborhood where police chased Kearse through backyards, told reporters he heard someone yelling in pain. "The fella screamed that they broke his leg and they were hurting him," he said.

According to a police news release, while alone in the back seat, Kearse "complained of breathing problems and feeling dizzy." He was unconscious when he arrived at the station.

Police said paramedics were immediately called to give treatment, and Kearse was transported to a hospital where he was pronounced dead.

But Perry, who was charged with obstruction, was at the station when Kearse arrived and said they waited about 15 minutes before getting emergency help because they thought he was faking. She called to him, but he didn't answer.

"Two police officers were dragging him by his arms like an animal," she told reporters. "And he was laying on the ground motionless."

The Schenectady county medical examiner hasn't publicly released a cause of death. Kearse was black; police wouldn't say how many officers were involved or give their races. They also wouldn't say whether Kearse's leg was broken.

The Schenectady police, dogged by a series of excessive-force complaints, immediately asked the New York State Police to investigate whether any criminality occurred.

The department, which has about 140 members, was under federal monitoring for 10 years until 2013 after a string of corruption investigations involving several officers and a former chief who served prison time for cocaine trafficking. Last year, a woman was knocked unconscious in a holding cell and in a separate incident, a police lieutenant was suspended after a woman's head was split open when she was slammed down onto a station bench by officers, according to the Times Union.

The state attorney general, tasked by the governor in 2015 with investigating police custody deaths following criticism that local prosecutors around the state couldn't be independent, is now looking into the case. They will either bring charges, or file a report explaining the decision not to.

For activists, Kearse's death recalled that of Eric Garner, who cried "I can't breathe" during an attempted arrest on New York City's Staten Island borough in 2014. The medical examiner said a police chokehold contributed, along with other factors such as heart disease and asthma. No one was charged criminally in Garner's death and federal prosecutors are still weighing whether to file civil rights charges.

"It's bigger than Black Lives Matter. It's bigger than just black people dying. This is human rights. These are people dying at the hands of law enforcement and nothing is happening," said Hawk Newsome, of Black Lives Matter Greater New York, who pushed for the attorney general to investigate.

Before prison, Kearse worked as a roofer and doing other construction and odd jobs, and helped Negroni-Kearse, 40, who works as a mail carrier, with their children.
[July 04, 2017] Thailand Launches "Strategic Talent Center (STC)" to Boost Development and Investment in Target Industries

BANGKOK, July 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Thailand is supporting investors by setting up the Strategic Talent Center (STC) to enable the private sector to have an easier access to the available pool of manpower in the field of science and technology and to facilitate the entry and sojourn of foreign science and technology experts in demand. This movement aims to encourage manpower as one of the most important capitals for business and a significant key driver for the country's "Thailand 4.0" policy to take shape. The STC was established under a solid cooperation between Thailand Board of Investment (BOI) and five government agencies namely Ministry of Science and Technology, National Research Council of Thailand, National Science and Technology Development Agency and National Science Technology and Innovation Policy Office.



Officially launched on July 3, 2017, the center will serve as a platform interacting with the private sector in identifying available specialists or researchers in science and technology to support the private sector in conducting R&D and innovation activities. The center will help identify Thai and foreign people with specialized skills across technology and innovation arena, academia and government scholars, and researchers as well as those under the Talent Mobility Project of National Science Technology and Innovation Policy Office. The STC will be actively involved with matching their skills and expertise with real demands from the requesting companies.

Mrs Hirunya Suchinai, Secretary General of Thailand Board of Investment, said, "Through the establishment of STC, we are enhancing the country's ecosystem for stronger research and development capability, which will in turn increase our competitiveness and support the development of target industries under Thailand 4.0 policy. "We believe that there are many experts and specialists in Thailand but we never had a comprehensive database or information about them. The STC will take up this role and pull together extensive lists of these experts. This will not only match demand on manpower and supply of expertise, but will also promote links between the research sector and the private sector," said Hirunya. In addition to matching services, the STC will provide expertise recognition service for those in science and technology fields. The center will coordinate with relevant government agencies in recognizing their expertise. The recognized experts will be facilitated regarding their visa and work permits and will have access to the e-expert system run by the One-Stop Center for Visas and Work Permits. This flagship project will increase convenience for companies operating in Thailand to have greater access to pool of specialists and experts in the area of research and development. "As we realize that human resources will play a vital role in moving Thailand forward, we at the BOI are looking at the comprehensive array of factors supporting investments in Thailand, not just tax incentives. STC is one step that we are taking to provide investors with better and more comprehensive services. The improved mobilisation of science and technology manpower will certainly contribute to the implementation of Thailand 4.0 policy. We are glad that our STC will play a significant role in this jigsaw puzzle and help investors optimize their opportunities here," said Hirunya. For more information, please contact:

Apichaya Sophonratana

Tel: +66 (0) 2553 8111 Ext. 6932

Email: [email protected] Photo - https://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20170704/1890106-1 SOURCE Thailand Board of Investment (BOI)

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[July 03, 2017] Chroma MES Makes Communication Easy for Complex Hardware Configuration

TAOYUAN, Taiwan, July 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Chroma ATE Inc. is a world leading supplier of precision Test and Measurement Instrumentation, Automated Test Systems, Intelligent Manufacturing Systems, Turnkey Test and Automation Solutions. To cope with the trend of Industry 4.0 and IoT, Chroma's software and hardware technologies create a smart-factory platform supporting big data through suitable solutions such as Chroma Smart Machine Interface (MI) and Chroma Fast Easy Player (FEP) for intelligent manufacturing. One of the difficulties the enterprise faces when implementing intelligent manufacturing is dealing with the interoperability among various hardware devices on the same platform. In Industry 4.0, all equipment is networked communicating machine to machine (M2M) through one integrated platform. For complex machines, Chroma Smart MI enhances network connectivity by providing a platform incorporating all machines into a unified module. The MI is a real-time hub of both horizontal communication (between the front and rear workstations) orvertical communication (between the client and backend), all linking to a universal work site and data center for real-time analysis. This improves the efficiency and stability of the manufacturing process.



To understand the status of various machines in real time in a production line, the FEP with cross-system integration incorporates various systems into a unified interface for quality control, monitoring and report management. Utilizing visual management and single management platforms, the template can be dragged and dropped to electronic billboards in every work zone with select information. This not only makes the management "visible" but also allows employees intuitive understanding of the instructions. The Chroma FEP manages the manufacturing machines, the processes and on-site manpower for real-time administration of productivity, yield and mass production. The FEP functions include picture files, weather information, clock, scrolling tests, dashboard, chart and diagram, bulletin boards, tables and embedded web pages providing the on-site manager complete Kanban information.

Driving the Industry 4.0 smart factory architecture, the Chroma Smart MI enables the hardware to integrate more efficiently while the Chroma FEP conveys clear and diverse messages optimizing the factory. Chroma's intelligent manufacturing solutions has successfully implemented in the manufacturing of batteries, solar cells/panels, LEDs, optoelectronics, electronics / ICT and medical devices to help customers optimizing their quality and productivity. Product consultation: Chroma ATE Inc. (HEADQUARTERS) T +886-3-327-9999

CHROMA ATE INC.(U.S.A.) T + 1-949-421-0355

Quantel Pte Ltd. (Singapore) T +65-6745-3200

Sajet System Technology (China, Suzhou) Co., Ltd. T +86-512-6807-1889

Chroma Electronics (China, Shenzhen) Co., Ltd. T +86-755-2664-4598

[email protected]

www.chromaate.com Logo - http://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20170306/8521701415LOGO SOURCE Chroma ATE Inc.

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[July 03, 2017] New PHNIX Heat Pump Water Heaters to See Support for Indian Business Partners as a Priority

GUANGZHOU, China, July 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Designed to respond to more and more inquiries for PHNIX heat pump water heaters from India, PHNIX, will launch a series of cost-effective new heat pump water heaters to support Indian business partners. In fact, PHNIX has just sent a team of experienced product managers and market experts to India to provide product and technical training support to local business partners, according to Peter Wang, Deputy General Manager in charge of PHNIX global overseas business. Mr. Troy Wang, PHNIX senior product manager, says the Indian hot water heat pump market is of big potentials, and many buyers are having strong cooperations with PHNIX because of its hot water heat pump solutions' successful application in hotels, hospitals and schools with a lot of sample projects replacing coal and fuel boilers in China and some areas of Southeast Asia.



About PHNIX Heat Pump Water Heaters Series Enhanced Vapor Injection (EVI) technology Thanks to EVI technology, PHNIX series heat pump water heaters feature a wide operating temperature range; the unit can reach a high water temperature of 55~65C even in cold climates ranging from -20C to 45C. And they deliver an outstanding performance and reliability, both in new buildings and boiler replacements.

Environmental Friendly R410A Refrigerant PHNIX has now developed a complete product line for R410A, obtaining significant benefits for the heat pump system using this refrigerant. Due to adopting green refrigerant, high efficient heat exchangers and circulating heating method, PHNIX heat pump water heaters have a higher COP of 4.67 and have acquired the first-class energy label according to GB29541-20139. Colorful Touch LCD Display PHNIX heat pump water heaters' 5-inch wire-controlled LCD displays have more powerful functions, such as water temperature curve display, easy timing, one key mute, mute timer and so on. It has several control modes and the operation is much easier. PHNIX smart colorful touch LCD display will undoubtedly give users a better experience. About PHNIX PHNIX, a leading manufacturer of heat pumps in China, is an international enterprise which specializes in the R&D and production of heat pump products and energy-saving solutions. Nearly 50% of PHNIX products are exported to Europe, the United States and other overseas markets. Headquartered in Guangzhou, China. For more information about PHNIX and its products, please visit www.phnix-e.com. Contact person: John Zhu

Tel: 86 20-39067742

E-mail: [email protected] Photo -https://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20170703/1889704-1 SOURCE Guangdong PHNIX Eco-Energy Solution Ltd.

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[July 03, 2017]

E-retailer Dresslily upgrades for faster, more efficient shipping

PHOENIX, July 3, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Dresslily (www.dresslily.com), a China-based online fashion retailer, has upgraded its delivery procedures, providing customers with more shipping options and faster service. The new shipping protocols will apply to shoppers in the United States, Great Britain, Spain and 12 other countries.

Photo: https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B21sPwP7X38NNGtnMFFCMUdWQm8

Customers in these areas will now have four options, enabling them to choose the delivery process that best suits their needs. Shipping times, which ranged from 7-30 business days, are expected to be reduced to 3-7 days.

Returns and refunds will be processed much more quickly as well.

"We're always striving to make the shopping experience more onvenient," said James Dean, head of customer support for Dresslily. "Our new system makes the shipping process much more efficient and shoppers can now choose a delivery time based on their budget and how quickly they need the item."







For many online fashion sites, including Dresslily, a major segment of their business comes from international customers. Thus shipping time is a critical factor when it comes to customer satisfaction.

Gamiss (www.gamiss.com), a Dresslily sister site, has followed Dresslily's lead in improving the delivery process. "In a few months, we're adding an additional shipping option for our international customers, "said Harley Cheng, head of the Logistics Dept. for Gamiss. "This will allow customers to select from three different delivery methods, enabling them to save on shipping costs in many cases."

About Dresslily

Dresslily, a discount fashion site, offers a wide range of items for men and women, including dresses, swimwear, active wear, men's clothing, jewelry, shoes and accessories. Using a high-volume, low-margin business model, the company is able to provide high-quality merchandise at bargain prices.

For additional information, visit www.dresslily.com, send a message to 503-928-7482

[email protected] or call 503-928-7482.

To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/e-retailer-dresslily-upgrades-for-faster-more-efficient-shipping-300483157.html

SOURCE Dresslily
[July 04, 2017] Morganti Legal, P.C. Announces Shareholder Investigation of Colt Resources, Inc.

Morganti Legal, P.C., announces that it has been contacted by investors to investigate Colt Resources, Inc. (TSX-V: "GTP" and CUSIP: "196874") and Nikolas Perrault, the Company's former President and Chief Executive Officer. The focus of the investigation concerns the unauthorized and unannounced allocation of the Company's capital to Turcolt Resources Madencilik Anonim Sirketi ("Turcolt") and it's banking institution in Turkey. We are also investigating the circumstances as to why Nikolas Perrault was unexpectedly replaced without any reasons or releasing a Material Change Report about the same. On November 30, 2016, Colt released its 3Q 2016 Financial Statement and MD&A. For the first time, these documents disclosed that on or about July 13, 2016, Colt made a C$0.74 million equity investment in Turcolt, a Turkish-based and incorporated company with no operations and the shareholder agreement supporting the wnership interest was unknown. The Company also announced a net loss of C$4.06 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2016, it had C$2.96 cash "held by Turcolt with a local Turkish bank", and did not have sufficient capital to meet its needs for the next twelve months. On February 15, 2017, the TSX Venture Exchanged halted trading of Colt's securities.



Any person with information about Colt Resource's allocation of capital to and investment in Turcolt are encouraged to contact Morganti Legal. Confidentiality will be respected. Investors who purchased Colt Resource's securities between July 13, 2015 and November 30, 2016, are also encouraged to stay informed. You may contact us at (647) 344-1900 or by email at [email protected] for further information. Morganti Legal, P.C. is a law firm that investigates, litigates and resolves economic and financial disputes. You may learn more about Morganti Legal, P.C., at www.morgantilegal.com.

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/20170704005316/en/

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[July 04, 2017] Usinage Numerique Plus will increase productivity and continue to expand

Government of Canada invests in a business in the Domaine-du-Roy RCM SAINT-FELICIEN, QC, July 4, 2017 /CNW/ - [Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions (CED)] Businesses need to be able to rely on adequate resources to create and commercialize innovative products. The Government of Canada is committed to supporting innovative Canadian enterprises. As a true economic driver, innovation is the key to success because it generates growth that benefits enterprises and communities. Acting on behalf of the Honourable Navdeep Bains, Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development and Minister responsible for CED, Denis Lemieux, Member of Parliament for ChicoutimiLe Fjord, announced that Usinage Numerique Plus (website in French only) has been granted $305,075 in financial assistance, in the form of a repayable contribution, to improve productivity and expand. Founded in 1979, Usinage Numerique Plus provides rapid machining services and manufactures and repairs all types of hydraulic cylinders; its products are of the highest quality. Its clienele consists mainly of original equipment manufacturers for aluminum smelters, forest equipment manufacturers, high-end hydraulic cylinder manufacturers and equipment manufacturers for wood processing plants.



The funding awarded through CED's Quebec Economic Development Program (QEDP) has helped Usinage Numerique Plus acquire a 5-axis vertical machining centre, including the specialized equipment and software needed for its operation, and to fit up the building so the centre can be installed. CED is one of six regional development agencies under the responsibility of the Honourable Navdeep Bains, Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development.

Quotes "The machining market is considerable, and manufacturers have to adapt to meet new market demands. We salute the success of Usinage Numerique Plus. Its attention to detail and ability to adapt have enabled it to offer high-quality jobs in the Domaine-du-Roy RCM." Denis Lemieux, Member of Parliament for ChicoutimiLe Fjord "With this support for Usinage Numerique Plus, the Government of Canada is showing once again that it is committed to the economic development of Quebec regions. We are determined to support entrepreneurs and encourage them to invest to ensure their growth and that of the Canadian economy." The honourable Navdeep Bains, Minister responsible for CED "CED's funding is helping us meet rising demand from our clients for increasingly complex parts. We will now be able to continue to grow and contribute to our vibrant industry." Martin Jalbert and Raynald Bouchard, Co-Owners of Usinage Numerique Plus Stay connected

Follow CED on Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube

Follow Usinage Numerique Plus on Facebook SOURCE Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions

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Election results: Check out results from various races across the state
An Indian consortium led by the country's largest explorer, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) Videsh is ready to invest nearly $11 billion for development of a giant Iranian natural gasfield and build the infrastructure to export the fuel if it gets guarantee on a 'reasonable return' from the project, said a report.



The consortium, which includes Indian Oil Corp and Oil India, India's largest explorer, has been trying to secure development rights to the Farzad-B gas field since at least 2009, said an Iran Daily News report.



The two countries had aimed to conclude a deal by February on developing the field, which India has said holds reserves of almost 19 tcf.



Indias ONGC Videsh can invest close to $6 billion on the Farzad-B field and spend the remaining amount to build a liquefied natural gas export facility, stated the report citing Narendra Kumar Verma, managing director of the overseas investment unit of ONGC.



The group is eyeing a return of about 18 per cent from the deal, he stated.



Also as per the ONGC offer, Indian companies are willing to buy all the gas exported from the project.



Iran's deputy Oil Minister Amirhossein Zamani-Nia said last month discussions with the Indian side on Farzad-B were continuing and have very much advanced.



He added that Iran was also in discussions with Russia's Gazprom on Farzad fields.



ONGC Videsh and Indian Oil each own 40 per cent interest in the Farsi block that holds Farzad-B field, while Oil India has a 20 per cent stake, stated the report.
'Jeans For Refugees' by artist and designer Johny Dar will soon announce the date for its live auction in Bahrain.



The announcement was made during the gala dinner that was held at ART Rotana Hotel, on July 1 and was attended by members of media, social media, and other VIP guests who showed their support to the initiative. The new Jeans For Refugees glass and sand installation that has been designed especially for the kingdom, were also showcased during the event where they were available for guests to browse. The auctioned pieces will be then delivered to the final bidder with its own complimentary glass and sand display stand.



Owning a pair of Jeans For Refugees is more than owning an art investment or a celebrity treasure - it is safeguarding a symbol of hope for a brighter future for humanity. By participating in Jeans For Refugees, buyers help support refugees worldwide and contribute to caring for victims of the greatest humanitarian crisis of our time. Selected Jeans For Refuges are also available to shop online - where buyers can sign up in a few simple steps to buy a piece of extraordinary history.



Founded in 2016 by internationally acclaimed artist and designer Johny Dar, Jeans For Refugees (jeansforrefugees.com) is a global initiative dedicated to helping refugees worldwide. More than 100 international celebrities have handed over a pair of their denims to Dar, who transforms each pair into a unique wearable art piece inspired by the celebrity who donated them. From Hollywood A-listers Ryan Gosling and Sharon Stone to Harry Styles, Emma Watson and many others, the stars have aligned and joined forces to create this unique initiative in support of refugees. With all proceeds going to the International Rescue Committee (IRC), the project helps to fund initiatives which help millions of refugees worldwide on a daily basis, helping to restore health, safety, education, economic wellbeing and power to people devastated by conflict and disaster. - TradeArabia News Service
Exotic Journeys International Group offer 20% base commission and reimbursement of the cost of any of its Familiarization Tours to enrolled Travel Agents.



(TRAVPR.COM) UNITED STATES - July 4th, 2017

The US based tours and travel company, Exotic Journeys International Group (EJIG) offers a vast range of pre-designed and custom designed tour packages around the World with selected iconic luxury, renowned deluxe and superior first class hotels.

Its redesigned and expanded website, www.exoticjourneys.com, is user friendly and simple to navigate. Activity based tour packages are listed country by country. Additional destinations, itineraries and activities are being added regularly. Please checkout Destinations, Wildlife Safaris, Luxury Train Journeys, Custom Designed Tours, Private Collection and Travel Agents Page by clicking on the links. (In case of difficulty, please type in the www.exoticjourneys.com on your browser). A mobile friendly website with search capabilities is being beta tested and will be launched within next 60 days.

Travel Agents are invited to join a select group of preferred sellers of upscale luxury and deluxe trips who earn 20% commission on all published tours. Register at the Travel Agents Page to receive details and access to agent only section with confidential offers.

Exotic Journeys International Group (EJIG) is reimbursing the cost of FAM trips: EJIG operates several luxury and deluxe FAMs to many destinations around the globe, including Myanmar, Nepal, India, Tibet etc.

Upcoming FAMs include luxury train journey aboard Palace On Wheels, Bhutan and Sikkim, Kerala and South India, Everest Base Camp Trekking , Nepal and Tibet etc. Please contact EJIG at fams@exoticjourneys.com for dates and availability.

If you have ever taken any of its FAMs to learn and educate yourself, EJIG considers it as your investment and commitment in your future and in the tourism industry. And you qualify for the reimbursement of full land cost of your trip you paid to EJIG less the taxes and airfares.

Besides the higher commission, you will also be rewarded with additional US $ 100.00 per person bonus commission towards the reimbursement plan. Please Contact EJIG at fams@exoticjourneys.com with your current address, phone numbers, email address and details of FAM you took.

Under Private Collection section, EJIG has started publishing the trips it created for its discerning clients. Among other trips, Leisure Partners may find the Birding Tours and escorted Spiritual Exploration to Myanmar and Cambodia programs very attractive.

Travel Agents are being encouraged to share this press release with their colleagues and friends for our mutual benefit.

###
Exotic Journeys International Group (EJIG) Offers New Birding Tours in South India and North India. Travel Agents earn 20% Commission



(TRAVPR.COM) USA - July 3rd, 2017

The USA based tours and travel company, Exotic Journeys International Group (EJIG) offers a vast range of pre-designed and custom designed tour packages around the World with selected iconic luxury, renowned deluxe and superior first class hotels.

Its redesigned and expanded website, www.exoticjourneys.com, is user friendly and simple to navigate. Activity based tour packages are listed country by country. Additional destinations, itineraries and activities are being added regularly.

New this year are birding tours india, Bhutan, Nepal and Sri Lanka.

Please access its website and click on Birding Tours for details. For a number of pre-designed itineraries, please log on to Destinations, Wildlife Safaris, Luxury Train Journeys, Custom Designed Tours, Private Collection and Travel Agents Page by clicking on the links. (In case of difficulty, please type in the www.exoticjourneys.com on your browser). A mobile friendly website with search capabilities is being beta tested and will be launched within next 60 days.

Travel Agents are invited to join a select group of preferred sellers of upscale luxury and deluxe trips who earn 20% commission on all published tours. Register at the Travel Agents Page to receive details and access to agent only section with confidential offers.

###
Mumbai, July 4

The newly-implemented goods and services tax (GST) will support productivity and boost the long-term growth prospects but is unlikely to increase tax revenue in the short-term, says a report by Fitch Ratings.

Claimed to be usher in a single tax regime, the GST rolled out on July 1 has a four-slap tax structure for different goods, ranging from 0-28 per cent.

GST will unify the indirect tax system and remove domestic barriers to trade, which should support productivity gains and GDP growth over the long term, Fitch said, adding it is unlikely to increase revenue in the short term.

It is, however, likely to boost revenue indirectly over the long-term, as it supports GDP growth and encourages tax compliance.

Unlike its rival Moodys, Fitch is silent on the impact of the new tax regime on the sovereign ratings of the country, which the agency has pegged at just above the junk grade at BBB- with a positive outlook.

Moodys had last Sunday said the new tax regime would boost GDP and would be positive for the sovereign ratings.

A benefit of value-added taxes like GST is that retailers are required to show compliance right along the supply chain to claim refunds, it said, adding large companies will now have an incentive to press their smaller suppliers into tax compliance.

The new electronic filing system is also likely to lead to more tax reporting. Moreover, the tax base will be broadened, as only SMEs with sales up to Rs 2 lakh will now be exempt from paying GST, down from Rs 1.5 crore earlier.

Small informal retailers, which account for over 90 per cent of retail sales, should also find it harder to understate their sales or to avoid filing tax returns altogether in a system where transactions are tracked throughout the supply chain. This could accelerate the shift towards organised retail.

The report, however, said there are significant short-term risks involved in the GST implementation, and emphasised that the late changes to the GST laws and the disruptive roll-out of demonetisation.

High compliance costs for businesses and administrative difficulties have been problems in some emerging economies that have introduced value-added taxes, particularly those that had complex systems, under-resourced bureaucracies and short lead-in periods, it said.

The agency said GST will overhaul the way businesses operate, affecting their financial reporting, tax accounting, supply-chain management and technology requirements.

The large bureaucracy is likely to be tested by the new system, with further potential implications for businesses, it added.

Over the medium-term, we expect GST will contribute to productivity gains and higher GDP growth by improving the ease-of-doing business, unifying the national market and enhancing Indias attractiveness as a foreign investment destination, Moodys had said, adding GST will also support higher government revenue generation through improved tax compliance and administration. PTI
Washington, July 4

The US has started rolling out for India its Global Entry programme, which allows for expedited clearance of pre-approved, low-risk travellers.

Indian Ambassador to the US Navtej Sarna on Monday became the first Indian national to enroll in the programme.

(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)

With this, India has becomes the 11th country whose citizens are eligible to enroll in the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) initiative.

On landing at select airports, the programme members enter the United States through automatic kiosks, instead of queueing up to clear the immigration by meeting an immigration officer.

At these airports, the members proceed to the Global Entry kiosks, present their machine-readable passport or US permanent resident card, place their fingerprints on the scanner for fingerprint verification and complete a customs declaration.

The kiosk then issues the traveller a transaction receipt and directs him or her to the baggage claim and the exit.

Travellers must be pre-approved for the Global Entry programme. All applicants undergo a rigorous background check and in-person interview before enrolment, the CBP website says.

"CBP is excited to offer our flagship Trusted Traveller programme to Indian citizens," said Kevin McAleenan, Acting Commissioner of US Customs and Border Protection.

"By expanding Global Entry eligibility, CBP is transforming the international arrivals process, making it more secure, efficient and welcoming, for the millions of Indian citizens who visit the United States each year," he said.

Global Entry is currently available at 53 US airports and 15 pre-clearance locations.

It is now available to US citizens, Green Card holders and nationals from Argentina, Colombia, Germany, Mexico, the Netherlands, Panama, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom, besides India.

Canadian citizens and residents enrolled in NEXUS may also use the Global Entry kiosks.

The NEXUS programme allows pre-screened travellers expedited processing when entering the United States and Canada. PTI
Tribune News Service

Kurukshetra, July 4



A man was shot dead here on Tuesday by unknown persons. Police suspect it to be a case of two rival factions engaged in the businesses of liquor and real estate.

The man has been identified as Surinder Singh, alias Jalandhar, of Fatuhpur village near here. The murder took place at an office of a property dealer located opposite the Circuit House. Police said at least two persons came in a car to kill Surinder.



Surinder was alone at his friends office when he was fatally attacked.



SP Abhishek Garg said the police had got few clues, including registration number of the car used in the crime. He said CCTV cameras installed around the crime spot were being scanned for more details in the case.



A few days ago, two rival groups had clashed in the city near Saini Dharamshala and Surinder was suspected be involved in the case, police sources said.



In that case, a doctors son, a bystander, had sustained bullet injury fired. Several members of rival groups had also suffered multiple injuries in the violence.
Faridabad, July 3

The Haryana Railway Police have announced to double the reward money for providing information about the prime accused in the Junaid murder case. It has been raised from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 2 lakh.

A spokesperson for the department said the increase in cash reward aimed at motivating witnesses to come forward to provide vital clues about the culprit who stabbed the teenager and his kin on June 22. The identity of the information provider would be kept secret.

(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)

While five persons have already been nabbed, the police are yet to arrest the main culprit. Sixteen-year-old Junaid, a resident of Khandawali village in Ballabgarh subdivision, was killed while three others, including his two siblings, suffered stab wounds in the incident that took place after a dispute over a seat in the Palwal-bound EMU train.

The quarrel reportedly started at the Okhla station, while the stabbing took place after the train crossed the Ballabgarh station.

Meanwhile, a committee of Khambi village residents in Palwal district, from where four accused were arrested on June 28, submitted a memorandum to the Deputy Commissioner, Palwal, seeking the release of all suspects. They claimed the four were innocent and had nothing to do with the murder.  TNS
New Delhi, July 4

Himachal Pradesh DGP Sanjay Kumar has been appointed the new chief of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF).

The Union Home Ministry on Monday issued an order appointing Kumar, a 1985-batch Indian Police Service (IPS) officer, to the top NDRF post.

The post of NDRF Director General (DG) fell vacant after incumbent RK Pachnanda was appointed the chief of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP).

(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)

Pachnanda, at present, is still holding the charge of the NDRF DG after he took over as the ITBP DG on June 30.

Kumar, who is the Director General of Police in Himachal Pradesh, is set to retire in December next year.

He is expected to take charge in Delhi as soon as the state government relieves him, a senior official said.

I have received the orders for my appointment as the NDRF DG. My aim will be to bring development, efficiency and robustness in the new force that I am joining, the DGP told PTI.

The officer has served in central deputation earlier with the CISF, vigilance wing of the Railway Ministry and the Railway Protection Force.

The NDRF, raised in 2006, has 12 battalions with a strength of over 13,000 personnel.

It is mandated to undertake special disaster response and combat roles independently and also assist local authorities in launching a quick rescue and response operation to save life and property. PTI
Jammu, July 4

Another batch of 1,786 pilgrims on Tuesday left Jammu for the high-altitude Amarnath cave shrine of Lord Shiva in south Kashmir Himalayas.

Escorted by the CRPF, the pilgrims comprising 1,485 men, 301 women left in 53 vehicles in a convoy for Baltal and Pahalagam base camps in the morning, officials said.

With Tuesdays batch a total of 17,146 pilgrims and sadhus have left Jammu for Amarnath since the yatra began from Jammu on June 28.

As many as 15,813 pilgrims paid obeisance at the holy cave shrine on Monday and 62,608 pilgrims have done the same till date.

Amid multi-tier security, the 40-days-long yatra began from Jammu as the first batch of pilgrims left for twin base camps of the 3,888-metre-high cave shrine on June 28.

The government has mobilised a heavy security blanket of over 35,000 to 40,000 troops, including the police, Army, BSF and the CRPF for the yatra.

This years yatra will be eight days shorter against last years 48 days and will conclude on Shravan Purnima (Raksha Bandhan) on August 7.

Situated in a narrow gorge at the farther end of Lidder Valley, Amarnath shrine is 46 km from Pahalgam and 14 km from Baltal. PTI
Majid Jahangir

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, July 4

Another militant was killed in an anti-militancy operation in Pulwama district of south Kashmir taking the militant toll in the gunfight that erupted on Monday morning to three.

Six securitymen, including two officers, were also injured in the 24-hour gunfight.

The exchange of fire continued the whole night in Bahmnoo Pulwama, 55 km from here, where the militants were holed up.

(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)

Body of the third militant has been recovered and his identity is being ascertained, a police spokesman said.

Two militants who were killed on Monday were identified as Kifayat and Jehangir Ganai--both members of Zakir Musa group.

Two houses where the militants were hiding were blasted by the forces. While the firing has stopped, the searches are underway in the area.

The anti-militancy operation was launched on Monday in Bahmnoo Pulwama, after an input about the presence of militants in the area.

As the combing was underway, militants fired at the forces triggering a gunfight. In the gunfight on Monday two militants were killed, a police officer had said.

Six securitymen were injured. The securitymen had received splinter injuries.

Clashes had erupted near the encounter site on Monday as protesters tried to disrupt the anti-militancy operation. At least six civilians were injured during the clashes.
Ehsan Fazili

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, July 4

Legislative Assembly Speaker Kavinder Gupta adjourned the House amid ruckus as the opposition National Conference, Congress and other members protested against the restrictions imposed on the media covering the proceedings of the special session here on Tuesday morning.

As the proceedings of the House to hold discussions on the extension of Goods and Services Tax (GST) began, the opposition members raised their voice expressing concern over the journalists not being allowed to carry video and still cameras and mobile phones inside the House.

The Speaker made it clear that the Assembly Secretariat had already issued entry passes for mediapersons to the Department of Information for coverage of the Assembly session. The special session to discuss GST recommenced on Tuesday after it was adjourned after obituary references on June 17.

However, the mediapersons carrying still and video cameras were not allowed to enter the main gate of the Civil Secretariat, while those from the print media were allowed only after they were made to surrender their mobile phones outside the Assembly complex. Only those belonging to the official media were allowed to carry the cameras. Facing the untoward restrictions, for the first time during the past three decades, the print mediapersons decided to boycott the Assembly proceedings.

The Directorate of Information, in its communique at 9.24 am had stated that no journalists will be allowed to carry video/still camera or mobile phone inside the Press Gallery of the State Legislature for the coverage of the special session, as conveyed to it by the authorities concerned.

Sensing trouble with the commencement of the House proceedings, the Directorate of Information issued a modified communique at 10.43 am, stating: It has now been decided by the authorities concerned that journalists can carry video/still cameras and mobile phones inside the Press Gallery of the Legislature for the coverage of the special session.
Mangaluru, July 4

Nearly 10 kg of ganja was seized from a lodge here and three people arrested in this connection, police said.

Acting on a tip-off that ganja was being smuggled from Andhra Pradesh into Dakshina Kannada district, the city crime branch police raided a lodge in Falnir and arrested the trio on Monday, they said.

The ganja was being sold to agents who targeted sections of the public and students, they added.

Around 10 kg of ganja, three mobile phones, a digital weighing scale, small plastic packets used to fill the drug and Rs 9,500 cash besides a two-wheeler were confiscated from the accused.

The total value of the seized items is estimated to be Rs 3 lakh, police sources said.

The accused had during interrogation confessed that they purchased the ganja from Chittoor in Andhra Pradesh. PTI
Hyderabad, July 4

A 17-year-old student was allegedly raped by her four classmates in a house in Khammam city where she had gone to attend a friends birthday party, police said.

The accused also videographed the incident that took place on Sunday.

The girl, a student of a private college, on Monday lodged a complaint at Khammam III Town police station accusing her four classmates, all major, of raping her at the birthday bash, police said.

According to a senior police officer, the girl stated in her complaint that the entire incident was filmed and she was threatened not to disclose the matter to anyone.

A case of gang-rape under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and under relevant sections of the POCSO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences) Act was registered. PTI
Khurda (Odisha), July 4

BJP president Amit Shah and Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Tuesday met mother of Chitrasen Jena, a BJP youth leader who was killed in the post-panchayat polls violence.

Shah, along with Pradhan, visited Bada Pokharia village in Khurda district of Odisha to meet the bereaved family.

The BJP chief expressed grief over Chitrasens death and also vowed to take stern action against the culprits.

We give our heartily tribute to Chitrasen Ji. We respect his sacrifice. I promise that those who were behind his death will be arrested soon, Shah said.

BJP youth leader Chitrasen Jena was allegedly killed by Biju Janta Dal (BJD) goons following violence erupted during the panchayat polls. ANI
Simran Sodhi

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, July 4

In a significant development, sources in the government confirmed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping would be in attendance when leaders of BRICS nations meet on July 7 in Hamburg, Germany, on the sidelines of the G20 Summit.

(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)

In the last few days, the exchange of words between India and China has got sharper with each side hardening its stance over the standoff in Sikkim. The attendance of both the leaders at the event can lead to a pull aside or an interaction which could also be an opportunity to discuss the situation and take steps for de-escalation.

While Xi is expected to hold a number of bilateral meetings, it is not yet confirmed if he will meet PM Modi separately. The two leaders met only last month at the SCO Summit in Astana.

Meanwhile, in Beijing, Chinese deputy foreign minister said the BRICS meeting would be part of the informal talks among leaders of five major emerging economiesBrazil, Russia, India, China and South Africaon the sidelines of the G20 summit.

According to the usual practice, BRICS leaders will hold an informal meeting ahead of the G20 summit in Hamburg, Li Baodong, vice minister of foreign affairs, said at a media briefing last weekend.
Mumbai, July 4

Lakhs of devotees gathered at Pandharpur, located in Solapur district of western Maharashtra, on the occasion of Ashadhi Ekadashi.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and his wife Amruta performed a maha-puja (grand prayer) at the Lord Vitthal temple in Pandharpur early on Tuesday.

Feeling blessed and positive, Fadnavis said, after the early morning ritual.

Ekadashi marks the culmination of pilgrimage, called waari, that devotees undertake from across the state on foot to reach the temple town.

In Mumbai, large crowds gathered at the Vitthal temple in Wadala to perform puja on the auspicious occasion.

Arrangements were made to ensure smooth traffic flow in the area. PTI
Tribune News Service

Mumbai, July 4

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has identified properties in Malaysia that belong to controversial preacher Zakir Naik and has initiated the process to get those attached.

Hiten Vengaonkar, special counsel for the agency, told reporters that the ED had moved a special court set up under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) to get Letters Rogatory issued to have those properties attached.

According to the counsel, the agency moved the court last week and the process for issuance of Letters Rogatory has started. Once these are issued, the Indian government will have to seek assistance of the authorities in Malaysia for the attachment process, officials say.

Properties belonging to Naik and his Islamic Research Foundation in India have already been attached. A school run by the body in Mumbai has now been handed over to an NGO belonging to Samajwadi Party leader Abu Azmi.

Naik was declared an absconder after the PMLA court issued non-bailable warrants against him.
New Delhi, July 4

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday left for his three-day trip to Israel--a first by an Indian Prime Minister--to discuss with his counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu the common challenges like terrorism and ways to boost economic ties.

PM Narendra Modi emplanes for a historic visit to Israel, the first ever by an Indian Prime Minister, the Prime Ministers Office tweeted.

In a special gesture, Netanyahu will receive Modi when he arrives at Tel Avivs Ben Gurion Airport. Such a special gesture has been done only for US Presidents, including Donald Trump, and the Pope.

In Israel, Modi will also meet President Ruven Ruvi Rivlin apart from paying his respects to courageous Indian soldiers who laid down their lives during the liberation of Haifa in 1918. The visit coincides with India and Israel marking 25 years of their diplomatic relations.

Modi will be in Israel till July 6 before travelling to Hamburg, Germany, to attend the G-20 summit. IANS
Dhaka, July 4

A boiler has exploded at a Bangladeshi garment factory killing 10 people and injuring dozens, fire officials said on Tuesday, the latest mishap to hit one of the world's biggest garment producers.

The accident happened late on Monday at a plant of Multifabs Limited, a Bangladeshi company on the outskirts of the capital, Dhaka, a fire official said.

The firm supplies knitted apparel to clients in Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Russia, Spain, Netherlands and Britain, including to Littlewoods, one of Britain's oldest retail brands, according to its website.

Nine people were killed in the blast and one died in hospital, fire service official Palash Chandra Modak said.

The company said the plant was functioning well and the boiler had just been serviced.

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class=MsoNormal>Multifabs started operating in 1992, and reached $70 million in exports in 2016, supplying European brands such as fashion chain Lindex, which is part of Finnish retailer Stockmann and Aldi, Faruqui said.

Bangladesh's garment sector came under scrutiny after the collapse of a factory complex in 2013 that killed more than 1,100 people, and a fire at a garment factory in 2012 that killed 112 workers.

Activists have criticized many retailers for failing to improve working conditions in their supply chains with long hours, low pay, poor safety standards and not being allowed to form trade unions common complaints of garment workers.

Reuters

"This was an accident. Everything was fine," Mahiuddin Faruqui, company chairman and managing director told Reuters.

"The boiler was running well. After servicing when workers were trying to restart it, it went off."

Bangladesh's garment-making industry, the biggest in the world after China's, employs four million people and generates 80 percent of its export earnings.

Multifabs started operating in 1992, and reached $70 million in exports in 2016, supplying European brands such as fashion chain Lindex, which is part of Finnish retailer Stockmann and Aldi, Faruqui said.

Bangladesh's garment sector came under scrutiny after the collapse of a factory complex in 2013 that killed more than 1,100 people, and a fire at a garment factory in 2012 that killed 112 workers.

Activists have criticized many retailers for failing to improve working conditions in their supply chains with long hours, low pay, poor safety standards and not being allowed to form trade unions common complaints of garment workers.

Reuters
Washington, July 4

Ahead of the G20 Summit in Germany, US President Donald Trump has held extensive discussions with German Chancellor Angela Merkel over the key issues of climate change and trade.

In an extensive discussion (over phone), the two leaders addressed climate issues, the Womens Entrepreneurship Financing Initiative, and trade, including global steel overcapacity, the White House said in a statement on Monday.

The president said that he looks forward to helping Chancellor Merkel make the Summit a success, it said.

The White Houses statement comes ahead of the two-day G20 Summit to be held on July 7-8.

Last week, Merkel had said discussions at the G20 Summit would be difficult given Trumps climate scepticism and America First stance, but that she was determined to seek a clear commitment to the Paris Agreement on climate change against global warming and a pledge against protectionism.

When Trump had announced in early June that he would withdraw from the historic Paris Agreement, we knew that we could not expect discussions to be easy at the G20 Summit, Merkel had told the German parliament.

Trump also spoke with Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni to discuss the agenda for the upcoming G20 Summit and to renew his appreciation for the Prime Ministers efforts in hosting the exceptional G7 Summit in May.

President Trump also underscored his appreciation for Italys efforts to address the significant Libyan migration crisis, the statement said.

The 12th G20 Summit at a major port city in northern Germany will also discuss issues like free and open trade, climate change, migration, sustainable development and global stability.

Counter-terrorism and economic reforms will dominate the discussions amongst the leaders of the worlds 20 largest economies at the G20 Summit which will also be attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The Group of Twenty is made up of 19 countries and the European Union. The countries are Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, the UK and the US. PTI
Washington/Beijing, July 4

US President Donald Trump today hit out at North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un for testing the countrys first intercontinental ballistic missile that could hit targets anywhere in the world and nudged China to make a heavy move to end this nonsense once and for all.

The announcement on North Korea state television said the successful Hwasong-14 missile test was overseen by Kim.

It said the projectile had reached an altitude of 2,802km and flew 933km for 39 minutes before hitting a target in the Sea of Japan.

The altitude achieved by the missile was the highest ever reached by a North Korean missile, and puts the US on notice that Pyongyang could potentially hit the US mainland. North Korea was now a full-fledged nuclear power that has been possessed of the most powerful inter-continental ballistic rocket capable of hitting any part of the world, the Korea Central Television said.

It would enable the country to put an end to the US nuclear war threat and blackmail and defend the Korean peninsula, it said.

Reacting to the development on Twitter, Trump said: North Korea has just launched another missile. Does this guy (Kim) have anything better to do with his life? Hard to believe that South Korea and Japan will put up with this much longer. Perhaps China will put a heavy move on North Korea and end this nonsense once and for all! he tweeted.

Later, North Korea proclaimed that it had successfully tested an intercontinental ballistic missile. The US has been urging China, North Koreas closest diplomatic ally, to pressure the Pyongyang regime to end its nuclear and ballistic missile programmes.

In Beijing, China defended its relentless efforts to resolve the North Korea nuclear issue. Foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told reporters that Chinas contribution was well recognised internationally after Trump called on China to take stern action on North.

He said China was following developments closely. China opposes the DPRK breaching UN Security Council resolutions to conduct launch activities, he said.

According to United States Pacific Command (USPACOM), the missile was tracked for 37 minutes and landed in the Sea of Japan. We are working with our interagency partners on a more detailed assessment. We continue to monitor North Koreas actions closely, the PACOM said.  PTI

Missile Hwasong-14 puts US on notice

This was North Koreas 11th missile test this year and comes amid increasing frustration from the US President about the lack of progress in curbing Pyongyangs ballistic missile programmes

The UN has imposed multiple sanctions on North Korea over its nuclear and missile programmes. Thats the highest altitude ever reached by a North Korean missile, and puts the US on notice that Pyongyang could potentially hit the US mainland

Pyongyang appears to have timed the launch for maximum political effect, giving the order to fire on the eve of the July 4 holiday in the US, just days after President Trump spoke with Japanese and Chinese leaders about the North Korea threat and G20 meeting

Veteran newsreader returns to declare ICBM launch
Lahore, July 4

An 11-year-old boy in Pakistan, who was inspired by a popular Indian television series CID, has been arrested for allegedly killing his younger sister after she teased him for his poor handwriting.

Nine-year-old Eman Tanvir was found strangled at her grandmothers house in Shalimar area in Lahore, Punjab province, on June 30.

The Shalimar police said they had arrested Abdul Rehman for allegedly killing his minor sister four days ago for teasing him for having poor handwriting, the Dawn reported.

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Earlier, the police had taken victims step-mother Saba in custody for interrogation but later released her.

The minor girl was killed by her elder brother over jealousy, Civil Lines Division Superintendent of Police (SP) Investigation wing Hasnain Haider said.

He said the children had come to spend Eid holidays at their grandmothers house in Shalimar.

The SP said, in the light of investigation, the siblings held a handwriting competition when their grandmother was not home.

Eman teased her elder brother for having poor handwriting. This annoyed the boy who allegedly put a scarf around his sisters neck and allegedly strangled her to death, he said.

Haider said the boy later also cut a vein of his arm and locked the door of the room from inside to conceal his crime.

On returning home, the grandmother found the room locked and called neighbours for help. The neighbours broke open the door, finding the girl lying dead and her brother with an injury on his arm, the report said.

Giving a statement to the police, the boy said he used to watch an Indian drama serial CID from where he had learnt the method of killing someone.

CID is an Indian detective television series in which different crime cases are investigated. PTI
Washington, July 4

The US on Tuesday confirmed that North Korea had carried out a ballistic missile test with President Donald Trump slamming Kim Jong-Un for the provocative action and urging China to make a heavy move on Pyongyang to end this nonsense once and for all.

The single launch of a land-based, intermediate range ballistic missile occurred near the Panghyon Airfield, the US Pacific Command said.

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The President has been briefed on the latest report of a North Korean ballistic missile launch, according to the White House.

Reacting to the development on Twitter, Trump said, North Korea has just launched another missile. Does this guy (Kim) have anything better to do with his life?

Hard to believe that South Korea and Japan will put up with this much longer. Perhaps China will put a heavy move on North Korea and end this nonsense once and for all! he tweeted.

The US has been urging China--North Koreas closest diplomatic ally--to pressure the Pyongyang regime to end its nuclear and ballistic missile programmes.

According to United States Pacific Command (USPACOM), the missile was tracked for 37 minutes and landed in the Sea of Japan.

We are working with our interagency partners on a more detailed assessment. We continue to monitor North Koreas actions closely, the PACOM said.

US Pacific Command stands behind our iron-clad commitment to the security of our allies in the Republic of Korea and Japan, it said. PTI
Seoul, July 4

North Korea launched a ballistic missile on Tuesday, the Souths military said, just days after Seouls new leader Moon Jae-In and US President Donald Trump focused on the threat from Pyongyang in their first summit.

The launch, which came as the US prepared to celebrate its Independence Day on July 4, was the latest in a series of provocations that have ratcheted up tensions over the nuclear-armed Norths weapons ambitions.

(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)

The unidentified ballistic missile was fired from a site near Panghyon in North Phyongan province, the Souths Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement, and came down in the East Sea, the Korean name for the Sea of Japan.

It flew for several hundred kilometers, they added.

The device may have come down in Japans exclusive economic zone, a spokeswoman for Tokyos defence ministry told AFP--waters extending 200 nautical miles from its coast.

Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said the missile flew for about 40 minutes--an unusually long flight time.

This launch of a ballistic missile can never be tolerated, and Japan strongly protested to North Korea and condemned it, he told a briefing.

Pyongyang says it needs nuclear weapons to defend itself against the threat of invasion and has carried out multiple launches since Moon--who backs engagement with the North but also stresses the need for sanctions-- was elected in May.

Moon called a meeting of the Souths National Security Council in response to the launch.

At their summit in Washington at the weekend, Trump declared that the US had run out of patience with North Korea over its weapons drive, which includes developing a missile capable of delivering a warhead to the US mainland.

Together, we are facing the threat of the reckless and brutal regime in North Korea, Trump said. The nuclear and ballistic missile programs of that regime require a determined response.

The North Korean dictatorship has no regard for the safety and security of its people, for its neighbours and has no respect for human life.

He later discussed the issue in separate phone calls with Chinese leader Xi Jinping and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

Shea Cotton, a researcher at the James Martin Centre for Nonproliferation Studies in the US, suggested Tuesdays launch was deliberately timed to coincide with the anniversary of the US declaration of independence.

Its already 4th of July in North Korea, he said on Twitter. I somewhat suspect theyre shooting off some fireworks today specifically because of that.

Washington, South Koreas security guarantor, has more than 28,000 troops in the country to defend it from its Communist neighbour, which has been intensifying missile tests.

There was also deep anger in the United States after Otto Warmbier, an American student who was detained in North Korea on a tourist trip around 18 months ago, was returned home in a coma in June, dying days later.

Trump had been pinning his hopes on China--North Koreas main diplomatic ally--to bring pressure to bear on Pyongyang but declared last week that their efforts had failed. AFP
Moscow, July 4

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping were due to hold formal talks today against a backdrop of mounting tensions over North Korea ahead of G20 Summit talks with Donald Trump.

The meeting in Moscow comes as North Korea claimed the launch of its first inter-continental ballistic missile, and US President Trump urged China to "end this nonsense once and for all".

Chinese state news agency Xinhua reported Putin and Xi "agreed to jointly push for a proper settlement of the peninsula issue via dialogue and negotiation" at a closed Kremlin meeting last evening on the eve of the official talks.

Beijing, North Korea's closest diplomatic ally, and Moscow have called repeatedly for calm on all sides, but Trump has warned Washington's patience with Pyongyang is nearing an end.

Xi and Putin once again slammed the US THAAD missile system installed in South Korea to protect against the North, Xinhua said. Both leaders argue that it threatens the strategic balance in the region.

The Kremlin gave no details on what was discussed at the "informal" tete-a-tete Monday.

While the latest tensions over North Korea figured high on the agenda the main focus of the Putin-Xi meeting was set to remain boosting growing trade and political ties between the two increasingly close partners.

The giant neighbours are expected to oversee the inking of a raft of deals worth billions of dollars as Moscow continues a pivot towards China it has ramped up since ties with the West slumped over Ukraine.

Ahead of his arrival in Moscow Xi said that relations with Russia were currently enjoying their "best time in history" as he and Putin have struck up a close relationship.

The Kremlin strongman is set to present Xi with a prestigious Russian state award at the Kremlin.

After their meeting in Moscow the two leaders are set to head to the G20 Summit in Hamburg where they will come face- to-face with Trump, a first meeting for Putin with the US president. AFP
Islamabad, July 4

Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharifs elder son Hussain Nawaz on Tuesday appeared before a Joint Investigation Team (JIT) for the sixth time, probing the high-profile Panamagate graft case against his family.

Hussain Nawaz arrived at the Federal Judicial Academy (FJA) and was questioned by the six-member JIT set up by the Supreme Court.

In its judgment of April 20 in the Panama Papers case, the Supreme Court had constituted a JIT and empowered it to summon the prime minister, his sons and any other person necessary, to investigate allegations of money-laundering, through which the four apartments in Londons posh Park Lane area were purchased.

On May 5, the Supreme Court set up a high-level six-member JIT to probe Sharifs and his sons alleged corruption in the Panama Papers case.

It has already questioned Sharif and several others of his family, including his sons--Hussain and Hasan--over the familys alleged improper business dealings.

Sharifs daughter Maryam Nawaz will appear before the JIT for the first time on Wednesday.

Sharif has denied any wrongdoing and said the property was purchased through the money his late father had invested in the Gulf states.

The JIT is expected to complete its probe by July 10 and submit a report to the apex court, which will decide the fate of Sharif. The JIT comprises anti-corruption officials, along with members of the powerful spy agency ISI and the Military Intelligence. PTI
Mogadishu, July 4

The US military says it has carried out an airstrike against al-Shabab in Somalia as the Trump administration quietly steps up efforts against the deadliest Islamic extremist group in Africa.

Pentagon spokeswoman Maj Audricia M Harris said the strike occurred on Sunday afternoon Somalia time and the US was assessing the results.

She did not call it a drone strike. Somali officials have said the US has carried out several drone strikes in recent years against the al-Qaida-linked al-Shabab.

The airstrike follows the one in June that the US said killed eight Islamic extremists at a rebel command and logistics camp in the countrys south.

Somalia President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed said Somali and partner forces destroyed the training camp near Sakow, in the Middle Juba region.

President Donald Trump has approved expanded military operations against al-Shabab, including more aggressive airstrikes and considering parts of southern Somalia areas of active hostilities.

The US in April announced it was sending dozens of regular troops to Somalia in the largest such deployment there in roughly two decades, saying it was for logistics training of Somalias army.

The Horn of Africa nation is trying to rebuild after more than two decades as a failed state, and its chaos helped in the rise of al-Shabab. Now a new threat has emerged in the countrys north with fighters claiming alliance to the Islamic State group.

Al-Shabab last year became the deadliest Islamic extremist group in Africa, with more than 4,200 people killed in 2016, according to the Washington-based Africa Centre for Strategic Studies. The extremist group has vowed to step up attacks after the recently elected government launched a new military offensive against it.

Pressure is growing on Somalias military to assume full responsibility for the countrys security. The 22,000-strong African Union multinational force, AMISOM, which has been supporting the fragile central government, plans to start withdrawing in 2018 and leave by the end of 2020.

The US military has been among those expressing concern that Somalias forces are not yet ready. AP
The Tulsa nonprofit organization that runs Community Care College, Clary Sage College and Oklahoma Technical College has filed a federal lawsuit challenging a new state law that it claims unlawfully squeezes its students out of state grant funding.

Community HigherEd Institute and two of its students filed the lawsuit Friday against the state of Oklahoma and the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education in U.S. District Court in Tulsa.

The lawsuit asks a judge to declare unconstitutional an amendment to a state law governing which colleges and universities qualify for a grant program.

A few members of the Oklahoma Legislature have unfairly and unnecessarily singled us out for reasons we believe are unconstitutional, Community HigherEd President Kelly Bailey said in a statement.

Unfortunately, we have no choice but to take action to support our students. They are fighting to earn a better education so they can obtain careers that will lead them to a better life. We are going to fight for them.

Senate Bill 600, co-authored by Sen. Jason Smalley, R-Stroud, and signed into law by Gov. Mary Fallin this spring, modified which schools were eligible for Oklahoma Tuition Equalization Grant funding.

The grant program provides $2,000 per academic year to qualifying students. In 2014-15, $3.6 million was awarded to 2,129 students, according to Oklahoma Regents for Higher Education records.

According to the lawsuit, 210 Community HigherEd students received the grant funding this spring, and 65 of them would remain eligible for funding this fall.

The one-sentence amendment added to the law requires that the funds be used at education institutions that are accredited and have been granted not-for-profit status by the Internal Revenue Service prior to July 1, 2012.

The revised law, which became effective July 1, singles out and targets Community HigherEd Institute and its students and treats them differently than other Oklahoma non-profit private educational institutions and the students who attend them, the lawsuit states.

The Community HigherEd lawsuit seeks:

 A declaration that SB 600 is unconstitutional.

 A mandate requiring the state and its regents to accept that Community HigherEd Institute is deemed to be nationally accredited and qualified to confer associates degrees recognized by the state of Oklahoma.

 A mandate that the state and its regents recognize as accredited the degrees earned by students of Community HigherEd Institute.

 A mandate that students of Community HigherEd Institute are eligible for the OTEG program.

Community Care College converted to a nonprofit entity in 2015 after its parent Community HigherEd Institute formed as a not-for-profit in 2014.

Community HigherEd is the umbrella organization for Community Care College, Oklahoma Technical College and Clary Sage College.

Smalley, the author of the legislation, could not be reached for comment.

In a news release issued when the bill was signed into law, Smalley stated that the amendment closes a loophole that was allowing certain institutions not intended for the grant to qualify for the OTEG funding.

This bill will prevent for-profit trade schools who arent regionally accredited from changing to not-for-profit and then being eligible for these funds, Smalley said. Itll also guarantee that academic rigor will be maintained with the degree programs offered by the regionally accredited colleges and universities.

Angela Caddell, a spokeswoman for the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education, said she was unable to comment on the litigation.

Community Care College students received $388,000 in OTEG funding in fiscal 2017 and another $65,500 in funding through the Oklahoma Tuition Aid Grant program, Caddell said in an email.

The Community HigherEd lawsuit is one of several that have been filed challenging legislation approved in this years session at the state Capitol. Other laws being challenged involve the constitutionality of new fees on vehicle sales and tobacco sales.

Twitter: @loucardfan61
Sitting on the classroom floor or at desks designed for preschool-age children, a group of teachers recently practiced the instructional skills theyll need when Oklahomas first public Montessori school opens in about a year.

The seven current or prospective Tulsa Public Schools teachers received three weeks of training this summer to learn how to be Montessori teachers, as the school district prepares to implement the educational strategy at Emerson Elementary School starting in the 2018-19 school year.

I love the hands-on approach and how it respects children, Elizabeth Steinocher said about why she decided to participate in the training. I think also  that I am modeling being a lifelong learner, as well. Thats something I ask of my students.

Steinocher, who teaches second grade at Skelly Elementary and is the school districts 2017 teacher of the year, is one of three TPS teachers participating in the Montessori training. The rest are either new teachers or plan to transfer from another school district, said Emily Hutton, the Tulsa districts policy and advocacy coordinator.

Focused on early-childhood and elementary Montessori education, the training is provided by the Center for Guided Montessori Studies and wrapped up June 30 at Undercroft Montessori School, a private school at 3745 S. Hudson Ave.

TPS is using funds from private donors to pay for the teachers training under an agreement that teachers who voluntarily resign from Tulsa Public Schools within 4 years of receiving the training must reimburse the school district.

The district took applications from teachers interested in becoming certified Montessori educators and is paying each trainee a $2,160 stipend for completing the training.

The school district is preparing to convert Emerson to a certified public Montessori school. TPS officials plan to implement the Montessori method in classrooms for prekindergarten through first-grade students in the 2018-19 school year and for a higher age group each following year until all grades are included.

Stephanie Jones, who teaches first grade at Skelly Primary School and took the Montessori training this summer, said she was drawn to the educational approach partly because of its emphasis on student independence and encouraging children to learn at their own pace.

The role of teachers in a typical Montessori classroom is to provide students one-on-one instruction and then stand back and observe, noting when a student is ready to learn a more advanced concept, explained Lori Karmazin, a teacher at Undercroft and the associate director of early-childhood programming for the Center for Guided Montessori Studies.

That approach of encouraging children to learn at their own pace, rather than expecting all children in the classroom to learn concepts on one timeline, has struck Steinocher as one of the biggest differences from traditional education.

Its very child-centered, child-directed, Steinocher said. So youre exposing them to everything throughout the curriculum, but youre doing it in a sequence thats meaningful to the child.

Students at a Montessori school typically spend two to three years in one classroom before graduating to a more advanced level.

I think we force a lot onto a child in traditional (schools) because we have to move to the next grade each year, Steinocher said. In Montessori classrooms, theres still an urgency, but you have time to meet the needs of the child.

Montessori teachers are not expected to spend time planning large-group lessons but rather devote themselves to preparing the classroom environment to encourage student independence, collaboration, order and concentration, Karmazin said.

As the Emerson campus undergoes construction to accommodate more students and prepare for the Montessori method, its students and staff will be relocated to the Early Childhood Development Center-Bunche, 5402 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., for the 2017-18 school year.
An Oklahoma Watch analysis of more than 3,000 horizontal wells shows that more than half of a typical wells projected lifetime oil and gas production will occur during its first three years, when it is taxed at a much lower rate.

The analysis looks at all horizontal wells in the state that began production between February 2014 and January 2017. Oklahoma Watch obtained the data from the Oklahoma Tax Commission.

Wenzel Technology LLC, an Oklahoma City petroleum data analysis firm, plotted 30-year decline curves at Oklahoma Watchs request to estimate how much of a typical wells lifetime production occurs during any given month or year.

The findings are significant because they shed new light on how much money will be generated by the horizontal well drilling boom of recent years and how much tax revenue the state can expect to collect before the wells peter out over time.

If youre focused on policy in terms of taxation, it means youre going to have to do it throughout the life of the well, or toward the front, if youre going to get anything meaningful, said Karl Wenzel, owner of the data analysis firm.

During recent legislative debates about the optimal level of taxation, lawmakers based their decisions on widely divergent estimates of how quickly production from a horizontal well is likely to decline.

One House member asserted that most of a typical wells production occurs during the first two years. A petroleum engineer told legislators the halfway mark is not reached until about four years.

The analysis by Oklahoma Watch and Wenzel Technology indicates the truth lies somewhere in between. Specifically:

 After one year of sales, a horizontal well will have produced about 37 percent of its estimated lifetime oil production and 25 percent of its natural gas.

 After two years, the well will have produced about 53 percent of its recoverable crude oil and 39 percent of its gas.

 After three years, the point at which the state severance tax goes up, the well will have produced about 62 percent of its oil and 49 percent of its gas.

The Oklahoma Watch study shows that a typical horizontal wells oil production starts out with a bang, averaging 267 barrels a day during the first full month of production. By the 36th month, its oil production will have fallen to about 34 barrels a day, a decline of 87 percent.

Under a tax structure enacted three years ago, all wells that began production after June 30, 2015, are taxed at a 2 percent rate for their first three years of production and 7 percent thereafter.

The Oklahoma Watch analysis suggests that formula will provide a blended average tax rate of about 3.9 percent for oil and 4.4 percent for gas over the lifetime of the wells.

The steep decline curves help to explain why oil and gas companies have pushed hard in recent years to adopt a two-stage tax rate formula. The better they get at front-loading a new wells lifetime production, the lower their tax burden will be.

House Majority Leader Mike Sanders, R-Kingfisher, said the Legislature might need to re-evaluate the three-year, 2 percent formula if new data corroborates the sharp decline in production from horizontal wells.

Most people, theyve heard the numbers 2 percent, 7 percent. But I dont think they realize that with a lot of these wells, most of the oil is taken out in that short an amount of time, Sanders said.

Theyll see that in three years. But by then, if youve planned incorrectly and banked on budget numbers thinking that its always going to be there, then youre going to have a problem.

From 1971 until 1994, Oklahomas tax rate was a uniform 7 percent on most production. In 1994, the state created a special incentive for what was then an exotic and expensive new technology. New horizontal wells would be taxed at only 1 percent for the first five years and 7 percent thereafter. That formula remained in effect until the three-year, 2 percent structure was approved in 2014.

Over the past five years, horizontal wells have become the norm. Fewer than 20 percent of all new wells are vertical wells, according to the Oklahoma Corporation Commission.

State Treasurer Ken Miller said he thought it no longer made sense to have a two-stage tax rate.

I dont know why you need it, Miller said. Youre pulling the oil and gas out of the ground the same way in the first 36 months as you are after that, and youre doing it with a production process and technology that are the same.

Pete Brown, a vertical well operator who co-owns Brown & Borelli Inc. in Kingfisher and Cimarron Production Co. in Oklahoma City, said he believes a single-rate system would be fairer.

They put the incentive in place to attract people in to drill horizontally. Well, theyre here, theyre doing it, and the incentive doesnt make that much difference, Brown said.

Brown said he received royalties from horizontal wells and would have less income if the initial tax rate were raised. But he said he thought it would be the right thing to do.

The state of Oklahoma is in dire need of revenue, which they lost a lot of due to the tax incentives that they gave the oil and gas industry, never thinking that almost all the wells would go to horizontal, Brown said.

Two former state finance officials, Jerry Johnson and Michael Clingman, estimated in May that the amount of money available to the Legislature for appropriation this year would have been $248 million to $313 million higher if all oil and gas production were taxed at 7 percent, beginning Sept. 1.

Oklahomas gross production tax rate is lower than the taxes imposed by most other states. A study conducted earlier this year for the state of Idaho calculated Oklahomas effective tax rate at 3.2 percent, the lowest of eight oil-producing states. The study included property taxes on oil and gas reserves in its calculation of effective rates. Oklahoma does not assess a property tax on oil and gas.

Neighboring Texas, for example, has an effective 8.3 percent rate when property taxes are taken into account, the study showed. Wyomings effective rate is 13.4 percent, the nations highest. The average for the nine states included in the study was 9.5 percent.

Rig count statistics show that some states with higher tax rates, including North Dakota and Utah, experienced much sharper declines in drilling activity than Oklahoma did after oil prices plunged in late 2014.

Donelle Harder, vice president of the Oklahoma Oil & Gas Association, said the trade group would continue to fight for a dual-rate structure.

In the current commodity price environment, this two-tier gross production tax is allowing companies to more quickly be able to drill new wells in Oklahoma, Harder said.

Wenzel, who did not take sides in the taxation debate, said he thought tax writers needed to strike a delicate balance.

I would say there are two sides to this story that policymakers need to concern themselves with, Wenzel said. One is that investors are worried about getting a return on investment. The other is that if youre going to get any serious revenue off these wells, if you wait too long, its gone.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has opened submissions as part of an informal review of a proposed joint bid by Lachlan Murdoch & Bruce Gordon for Network TEN.

Whilst no formal bid has been announced by Murdochs Illyria Nominees Television or Gordons Birketu Pty Ltd. the corporate watchdog is seeking submissions until July 24.

The federal government is proposing reforms to make takeovers easier, but at this stage they are still subject to ACCC scrutiny.

The ACCC is expected to announce its findings on August 31 as either a final decision or a Statement of Issues.

James Packer, Murdoch and Gordon have provided $30m in immediate funding to keep TEN operating while receivers PPB refinance or sell the network.

Source: The Australian
Nine premieres a new UK series Killer Women with Piers Morgan in which Piers Morgan faces US murderers.

This has just launched in the UK last month.

Rebecca Fenton

Piers travels to Lowell Correctional Institution in Florida to meet Rebecca Fenton, found guilty for the murder of her husband Larry, who was found dead, in a pool of blood in their home. Hed been shot multiple times. Rebecca claims she had no reason to kill Larry but unless she can clear her name, she will remain in prison for the rest of her life.

9:45pm Sunday on Nine.
New Foxtel special Maggie in Japan, produced by Lingo Pictures, screens on LifeStyle in August.

This sees much-loved cook Maggie Beer travel through Tokyo, Osaka and Noto -and back to the Barossa- as she explores Japanese cuisine and traditions.

With the help of both traditional and new wave chefs, Maggie immerses herself in the local food and lives of her culinary guides, experiencing the essence of Japanese cuisine and some of the unique cooking techniques found across the country.

In Tokyo, Maggie joins Koji Fukuda, a former head chef at Luke Mangans Salt and now owner of two restaurants in Tokyo. Koji invites Maggie in to his home during her Tokyo visit, preparing her an everyday family meal that provides inspiration for Maggies own Japanese feast.

She also meets Kanejiro Kanemoto of Nodaiwa, who is a revered shokunin. A shokunin is a craftsman who devotes his entire life to mastering one dish, and Kanejiro has been cooking eel for the past 60 years.

Finally, keen to get a feel for the younger and more modern chefs of Tokyo, Maggie visits Hideki Ii of Shirosaka, where she experiences food that is a creative interpretation of both Japanese and western cuisines  including a Japanese-influenced pate to rival her own.

Next, Maggie travels to rural Noto Peninsula where she meets Australian chef Ben Flatt and his wife Chikako who run a typical Japanese inn, upholding the ancient traditions of Chikakos family. Here, Maggie finds a land which has so many similarities to the Barossa, and yet the flavours are so different. Once again, in Bens cooking Maggie finds an amalgamation of cuisines, with Bens Italian background cleverly influencing the dishes he makes.

Finally, after crossing the country and going south, Maggie arrives in Osaka. Here, she enjoys a Kappo style meal at a Michelin-star restaurant, run by second generation chef Osamu Ueno.

After her whirlwind tour, Maggie heads back to the Barossa where she adapts her newfound knowledge to create her own Japanese feast.

The unique dishes Maggie creates clearly illustrates that her search to understand and perfect Japanese flavour techniques has paid off  and has made its way into her own stunning food creations.

Wednesday August 2 at 8.30pm on LifeStyle.
The Adelaide Film Festival has opened entries for its Hive Lab a 3 Day workshop.

The Hive Fund includes TV projects which premiere at the festival ahead of an ABC screening.

Adelaide Film Festival CEO and Artistic Director Amanda Duthie said With the announcement of the 2018 ADL Film Fest to follow the upcoming 2017 edition, we are thrilled to also be able to renew the life of the development and investment elements of Hive. The ongoing support from all Hive partners Australia Council for the Arts, ABC Arts, Screen Australia and the South Australian Film Corporation is invaluable.

Hive is a unique initiative that continues to uncover exciting new screen talent by bringing together creatives from the arts and film. The international success of Tender, Spear and Girl Asleep is testament to the outstanding quality of the films that have been produced as part of the Hive program. We are delighted to continue our partnership and Im excited to see what the next round of talented artists will bring to our screens, said Sally Caplan, Screen Australias Head of Production.

Mandy Chang, ABC Head of TV Arts added, By renewing the Hive initiative, the ABC and our partners have conveyed a firm commitment to making and programming daring, highly creative and boundary-breaking films, by some of this countrys finest artists. Hive is a rarity in our current media environment and the ABC are proud that this very special initiative, supported by strong partners, has uncovered some remarkable talent from across the arts. We look forward to seeing what gems the next round will uncover.

Hive Lab #4 will be an intensive 3-day workshop during the 2017 ADL FF, bringing together artists from around Australia and from different backgrounds, disciplines and experiences. With representatives from film, literature, the performing and visual arts participating and driven by a team of brilliant mentors from a number of disciplines, The Hive Lab invites practitioners from a variety of forms to gain insight into the creative processes of other media, and aims to inspire artists of all kinds to consider film as a creative outlet.

Australia Council for the Arts Chief Executive Officer Tony Grybowski said, The Hive initiative provides an opportunity for artists to create new work by translating their non-screen work for a film-based audience in a collaborative environment.

CEO of the South Australian Film Corporation Annabelle Sheehan said We are truly proud to support the Hive initiative which has produced such exceptional works of international acclaim. To now see the initiative continue with a fourth round is a true sign of success for what has become such an important and distinctively South Australian initiative. We look forward to welcoming the fourth round of Hive Lab participants at the ADL FF in October as they begin to forge new creative collaborations.

The Hive Fund is a unique collaborative funding initiative designed to join Australian artists with filmmakers to collaboratively join forces across creative mediums to develop an innovative screen based project. This partnership is unique in the Australian cultural spectrum and it demonstrates the combined commitment by all the partners to support the pursuit of creative development, new cultural practices and innovative approaches in the arts and moving image sectors.

Closing Friday 11 August.
4 new documentaries have been funded through Screen Australias Documentary Commissioned program for SBSs Untold Australia showcase.

Season one in 2016 explored the hidden multicultural communities of Australia featured Indian Wedding Race, Strictly Jewish and A Modern Mutiny. Season two saw SBS partner with Screen Queensland to fund four Virtual Reality projects from Queensland-based filmmakers.

SBS is thrilled to partner once again with Screen Australia to share these compelling stories, which explore some our countrys unknown subcultures and lesser-known communities that are often overlooked and give Australian audiences an opportunity to gain a greater understanding and insight into their world, said Marshall Heald, SBS Director of Television and Online Content.

Heart-warming, eye-opening and relatable, Untold Australia invites all Australians to witness the intimate moments and challenges faced by these real-life characters and demonstrates SBSs commitment to increasing awareness of the contribution a diversity of cultures has to the continuing development of modern Australian society.

The four projects are:

Mirrabooka from emerging West Australian producer Alice Wolfe (Art Bites series Shock Art, Opening Shot Candidate Games) who has partnered with executive producers from Joined Up Films for a look at policing tactics in one of Australias most multicultural suburbs. Set in the Perth suburb of the same name, it will focus on the specialist Mirrabooka Multicultural Unit, tasked with aiding the local police force by facilitating communication with a community that speaks over 100 languages. Stuart ORourke (Struggle Street Series 1 & 2) and Sam Field (Shock Art, Candidate Games) will direct.

Miss Lebanon from producers Janine Hosking (My Khmer Heart, Ganja Queen, 35 Letters) and Robin Eastwood (Who Do You Think You Are), takes audiences behind the scenes of the 2017 Miss Lebanon Australia beauty pageant in Sydney where the entrants are vying for the top title, while the 2016 winner competes for the international title in Lebanon. Hosking is also directing and executive producing.

Rara Rabbis which will document the work of a group of Australian Chassidic Jewish Rabbis who travel through the Australian Outback to find hidden communities of lost Jews and offer them an opportunity to reconnect with their heritage. Produced by Lizzette Atkins (Winter At Westbeth) and Rhian Skirving (Matilda and Me), it will be directed by Danny Ben-Moshe (Strictly Jewish, Breaking the Silence) who won the Walkley Documentary Award with Dan Goldberg for Code of Silence in 2014.

The Cocos Question, which will shine a light on the remote and little-known Cocos Islands off the coast of West Australia, inhabited by two very distinct cultures: descendants of Christian British colonialists, and the Sunni Muslim Coco Malays. Produced by Tony Jackson, written by David Collins and Jackson, and directed by Ben Pederick, it will paint a remarkable portrait of a highly unusual cohabitation arrangement that is both peaceful and entirely segregated.

SBSs Untold Australia documentary series takes audiences into truly unexpected territory, providing unique snapshots of multicultural communities around Australia that add to a rich and layered understanding of this country, said Liz Stevens, Senior Manager of Documentary at Screen Australia. We are proud to partner with SBS in bringing these four distinctive documentaries to the small screen.
Vince Colosimo will return to Melbourne Magistrates Court in August after being caught behind the wheel while suspended from driving and under the influence of drugs, according to media reports.

Fairfax reports police confirmed a 50-year-old Carlton North man had been charged and his car impounded after officers intercepted a vehicle on Exhibition Street about 4.45pm on Sunday.

The Herald Sun reports a court case this week was adjourned, but he was not required to attend.

In January, the ex-Underbelly star was placed on a good behaviour bond for 12 months and asked to contribute $1000 to the court fund on a charge of possessing methamphetamine.

In 2014, he was fined $1000 without conviction and banned from driving for 14 days.

Under the Road Safety Act, a first suspended driving offence can attract up to four months jail or a fine of up to $4760. Subsequent offences can attract up to two years jail or a fine of up to $38,060.

Colosimo most recently appeared in ABCs The Warriors and next appears in SBS drama Sunshine.
UNHCR joined families like Sein Miang's to celebrate World Refugee Day in Australia.

Sein Miang settled in Canberra with the help of Migrant and Refugee Settlement Services, the local settlement organization that partnered with UNHCR to hold the 2017 celebration.

Sein Miang and his family settled in Canberra with the help of Marium and Niran from Migrant and Refugee Settlement Services of the ACT.  UNHCR/Ella Fisher

Newly resettled refugees celebrated alongside local parliamentarians, ambassadors, government officials and non-government organizations.

Afghan and Burmese food was served as refugee youth from around the world performed traditional dances.

UNHCR Regional Representative, Thomas Albrecht said World Refugee Day celebrates the enormous strength and courage of those forced to flee their homes.

Despite facing tremendous hardship and suffering, the resilience of human beings is astounding. We see this among all those of refugee background who are here with us today. Thank you for your indomitable hope and your immense courage.

The local refugee community in Canberra celebrate World Refugee Day.  UNHCR/Ella Fisher

The local refugee community in Canberra celebrate World Refugee Day.  UNHCR/Ella Fisher

The local refugee community in Canberra celebrate World Refugee Day.  UNHCR/Ella Fisher

The local refugee community in Canberra celebrate World Refugee Day.  UNHCR/Ella Fisher

The local refugee community in Canberra celebrate World Refugee Day.  UNHCR/Ella Fisher

Keynote speaker, Adam Bujairami spoke about his experience as a former refugee and Australian Caseworker of the Year.

The child in me growing up in Yarmouk camp could have never imagined I would be where I am today and alongside my family. I am so grateful to this country for helping me and my family, giving us a permanent place to live and recognising who we are. 

Adam shared his memories of picking newly arrived refugees at the Sydney International Airport as a caseworker at Settlement Services International.

When I meet new arrivals at the airport its the most amazing feeling I have ever felt. I get up early of a morning to meet them at 5am. Most families that arrive are unsure about what to expect but are so thankful to be in Australia.

Adam says he witnesses newly arrived refugees feel a sense of belonging again.

It makes me feel like I have a purpose on this earth and thats to be supportive of refugees.
Sahar Amar, 22, and her children Hamood, 6, Amar, 3, and Zahra, 10 months.  UNHCR/Cengiz Yar

HAMMAM AL-ALIL, Iraq  As she fled her neighbourhood in western Mosul, Asmaa Mahmood, 25, and her husband and their two young daughters came under heavy fire from militant extremists. They were captured and the men and women were separated.

They took my husband and we had to just keep going, she says. We escaped and we hid in abandoned houses until we made it to the camp.

Two weeks after reaching the safety of Hammam Al-Alil camp, she learned from other displaced Mosul residents that her husband had been killed. They had found his body and buried him.

I was shocked and I suffered from psychological trauma and grief, she says.

"I suffered from psychological trauma and grief."

Widows like Asmaa are among more than 900,000 people who have fled since the military operation to retake Iraqs battle-ravaged second city from militants began nine months ago.

They number in their thousands. Many of their husbands were murdered by armed extremists who maintained a brutal grip on the city. Others were killed in air strikes, or were shot or blasted by artillery as they fled across the front lines.

Their husbands were often the families sole breadwinner. Without an income and often with children to support, Mosuls war widows are among the most vulnerable to have been displaced during months of fighting for the once thriving city, parts of which have been flattened.

In Hammam al-Alil 2 camp, which is run by UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, and its partners, female headed households make up more than a quarter of the total  1,250 out of 4,463 families or 21,462 people.

Widows like Asmaa are among more than 900,000 people who have fled Mosul (Houssam Hariri, camera / Rima Cherri, producer)

Since reaching the camp in April/May, Asmaa has received mattresses, a tent and items including kitchen utensils from UNHCR as part of the distribution given to new arrivals. Other help includes legal aid and reissuing of missing documents, including government ID, which is vital to receive benefits and move freely.

Like many of the widows, Asmaa is worried about her childrens future. Despite being illiterate, she wants to get a job to support her family.

She chats in her tent alongside her two young daughters, Rimah, four, and two-year-old Bedoor, who are dressed in matching green and white frilly dresses. Asmaa explains that she has to dress the girls identically to avoid arguments.

A much larger issue looms: she has yet to tell them that their father is dead, evasively saying that he was working and would soon be home.

Shamsa Ali Bello, 46, and her son Mishan Salih, 6, in their tent.  UNHCR/Cengiz Yar

Mishan's father was killed, leaving his mother to raise him and his five siblings.  UNHCR/Cengiz Yar

A young boy walks along a main road at Hammam Al-Alil camp.  UNHCR/Cengiz Yar

Asmaa Mahmood, 27, and her two children Rimah, 4, and Bedoor, 2.  UNHCR/Cengiz Yar

Asmaa's husband was recently killed and she is now raising her children in the camp.  UNHCR/Cengiz Yar

Bedoor, 2, plays in her tent at Hammam Al-Alil camp.  UNHCR/Cengiz Yar

Hamood's father Thea Jassim, 27, was recently killed.  UNHCR/Cengiz Yar

I am so exhausted worrying about the future of my children. Now I have no-one to rely on, she says. All I want is to provide a good living for my two daughters. I dont worry about myself. I just dont want my daughters to feel different from any other girls who have a father.

At the beginning of March, Sahar Amar, a 22-year-old widow, heard that her neighbourhood in West Mosul was about to be retaken by Iraqi forces. She gathered up her three children and ran towards the Iraqi troops as militants shot at them.

Her parents helped her carry her three young children: Zahra, 10 months, Amar, aged three, and Hamood, six. Together, they ran down a road that was littered with the bodies of the citys residents who had been gunned down by the armed group as they fled.

We survived by a miracle only. We could see and hear the bullets flying close to our bodies, she said. When she arrived in Hammam al-Alil 2 camp she received a tent and mattress, blankets and kitchen kits from UNHCR.

I am so exhausted worrying about the future of my children."

Sahar explains that her husband was killed last year in a collision with a vehicle carrying militants. He had previously been in trouble with the armed group for selling forbidden cigarettes. She believes the crash was not accidental. When she heard the news of his death, she was days away from giving birth to Zahra.

During the displacement, her national ID card was lost. Her children still need government ID cards and birth certificates because those issued by the armed group are no longer valid. UNHCR is assisting widows, as well as all IDPs who lived under extremist rule, get the correct documentation.

Sahar was unable to buy her children gifts for Eid this year because she was no source of income. I just want to survive and raise my children, she said.
Thousands of people have been displaced in the Kaga Bandoro area, following fighting between rebel groups and governmental forces. Some families, such as this one, have started to come back to the town since February 2007.  UNHCR/Helene Caux

UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, strongly condemns an attack against its staff and premises that took place on Saturday, 1 July, in the northern town of Kaga Bandoro, in the Central African Republic (CAR).

Armed men entered UNHCRs premises in Kaga Bandoro around 5 pm and looted all goods and money on site. Six of our staff members (including 4 UNHCR and 2 UNDP staff) who were present at the time of the incident were robbed of their belongings, including personal items and passports, and threatened at gun point.

Since the attack, UNHCR has temporarily relocated staff to the MINUSCA Base in Kaga Bandoro, and we will be moving some to Bangui.

We condemn this attack and stand by our staff. The safety of aid workers is of tremendous importance for being able to help civilian populations in desperate need.

In CAR, UNHCR provides protection and assistance to more than 8,600 refugees and 503,000 internal displaced people.

For more information on this topic, please contact:
A group of people gather inside a detention facility holding refugees and migrants in Tripoli, May 2017.  UNHCR/Iason Foounten

TRIPOLI, Libya  Fleeing death threats in his native Rwanda, 54-year-old Mihigo and his family embarked on an epic journey that took them to Burkina Faso, Mauritania, Morocco and Niger, before eventually reaching Libya four years ago.

Working from time to time in construction jobs in the capital, Tripoli, he has struggled to find a regular work. In his search he has been robbed, assaulted and racially abused, while his wife and daughters suffered sexual abuse.

I have faced all the problems: theft, bad treatment, discrimination, exploitation (and the) rape attempt of my wife and daughters, he says.

The familys desperate plight is unfortunately increasingly common among a growing number of refugees and migrants fleeing wars and hardship in Africa and reaching the North African country.

Among those arriving in Libya is Somali fisherman Hodan, 33, who slipped overland into the countrys southwest from Sudan with a smuggler, after an overland trek that took him through Ethiopia and Djibouti.

Once in the desert town of Rebyana, he was detained by unknown authorities for five days. In desperate need of both food and decent accommodation, he sees no alternative but to continue on his quest to reach Europe.

I cannot go back home because of the war in Somalia and the absence of the government."

I cannot go back home because of the war in Somalia and the absence of the government for over two decades, he said in interview in the town.

Mihigo and Hodan are among scores of voices in a new study on mixed migration trends through Libya, published today by UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, which examines the rising flows of refugees and migrants passing through the North African country, and the multiple hazards they face.

Libya has for decades drawn people from neighbouring countries, as it offered the best employment opportunities and highest salaries in the region  although it has been increasingly roiled by instability and insecurity since the ouster of Muammur Gaddafi in 2011.

The study found that around half of those travelling to Libya do so believing they can find jobs there, but end up fleeing onwards to Europe to escape life-threatening dangers and difficult economic conditions plus widespread exploitation and abuse.

The foreign nationals going to Libya are part of mixed migration flows, meaning that people with different backgrounds and motivations travel together along the same routes. They include refugees, asylum seekers, economic migrants, unaccompanied minors, environmental migrants, victims of trafficking and stranded migrants.

In recent years, the number of people crossing the Mediterranean Sea from North Africa to southern Europe has increased. The indications are that this trend is likely to continue, along with the deadly risks.

This year alone, at least 2,030 people have died or gone missing on the voyage, with the greatest number of fatalities occurring along the so-called Central Mediterranean Route, through Libya.

A group of migrants and refugees drift in a rubber boat in the Mediterranean Sea, in November 2016. They were intercepted by a Migrant Offshore Aid Station (MOAS) vessel, the Phoenix.  UNHCR/Giuseppe Carotenuto

To reach Libya, the report found most refugees and migrants arrive irregularly overland. Those setting off from East Africa travel through Sudan, while those from West and Central Africa travel through Niger. To a lesser extent, those from West Africa pass through Algeria.

In a measure of the danger facing migrants and refugees crossing the Sahara Desert, reports emerged last month of 44 desperate travellers, including women and children, who perished after the truck carrying them broke down in northern Niger.

To reach its findings, the new study drew on interviews with hundreds of refugees and migrants themselves, as well as government officials, NGO workers and smugglers in Chad, Niger, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya and Italy.

Of particular concern, it found that almost all refugees and migrants coming to Libya irregularly seek the help of smugglers or criminal networks, who now charge fees of around US$5,000, just to reach the country.

With higher fees and greater volume, the smuggling industry has grown increasingly professional, transnational in reach, and hazardous, with armed groups playing an increasingly dominant role.

I have faced all the problems: theft, bad treatment, discrimination, exploitation.

Countries of origin and profiles of refugees and migrants have also evolved, it found. Many of those on the move are young men. In particular, flows from West Africa have increased, involving individuals usually travelling step-by-step, in a series of journeys often organized by the travellers themselves.

As a consequence of this evolving dynamic, the report found that refugees and migrants making the journey are ever more vulnerable, while support services have decreased and the security situation has deteriorated.

Trafficking for sexual exploitation seems to be increasing, affecting Nigerian and Cameroonian women in particular. The number of unaccompanied and separated children travelling alone in Libya is rising, now representing some 14 per cent of total arrivals in Europe via the Central Mediterranean Route, mainly from Eritrea, The Gambia and Nigeria.

To mitigate the growing risks for refugees and migrants passing to and through Libya, recommendations in the report for UNHCR and other organizations include providing direct relief in the form of mobile joint interventions in key hubs in the South -- such as Bani Walid, Rebyana, Tazerbu, and Kufra.

Other recommendations include accompanying border monitoring and rescue operations to provide support to refugees and migrants stranded in the desert.
Demonstrators march behind an anti G-20 banner during a demonstration called by several NGOs ahead of the G20 summit in Hamburg. (AFP/John MACDOUGALL)

On Sunday, police used pepper spray as they cleared tents set up by some 600 activists on the banks of the Elbe river in scuffles that saw at least one protester injured.

More than 30 demonstrations have been scheduled in the days before and during the two-day Group of 20 summit that starts Friday, guarded by almost 20,000 police.

Protest organisers and the northern city-state of Hamburg have for weeks sparred in the courts over whether activists could set up tent cities with portable toilets, showers and kitchen facilities.

Courts have found that, while such a protest camp would in principle be a legitimate political demonstration, police had the right to prohibit overnight camping on public lands.

Activists calling themselves the "enraged groups of resistance against the G20" charged that police were unjustly characterising camps as retreats for militants in order to "criminalise legitimate protest".

In a posting on left-wing website indymedia, they warned that if they weren't granted the right to camp by early Tuesday, they would "massively occupy parks, open areas and transport hubs of the city".

Police say they expect up to 8,000 extreme left-wing militants likely to use violence during the protests.
Stuck in a financial dead end, the investors of Grand Pacific are looking at the options at hand

Four years at a snails pace

Regarding Grand Pacifics construction scale, the land area is 22,436.3 square metres for the construction of three 20 story buildings with 470 apartments.

The main investor is Pacific Investment Ltd., a fund management group based in California which focuses on real estate. Initially, the project was managed and implemented by South Korean company GNS Technology Co. Ltd. in cooperation with Australian company Lobana Trading Co., PTY Ltd. However, currently, GNS Technology Co., Ltd.s website is not functioning and Lobana Trading Co. is permanently closed.

According to the Haiphong Department of Planning and Investment, the project was licensed in 2006. The target of the project is to construct three apartment buildings for rent and purchase and one purely for rent.

The total amount of expected investment was $16.8 million. However, the developer has only disbursed $8.2 million in the end. Meanwhile, the project has received a total of $4.5 million from customers who bought 107 apartments in two buildings.

Grand Pacifics initial plan stated that the project would finish by 2012 and have the apartments ready for customers. However, until now, it has only finished structural work and the foundation of one building. The developer has not even started working on the second building yet.

According to the Haiphong Department of Planning and Investment, the developer has stopped implementing the project in June 2013. The total delay at the moment is 47 months.

Since 2012, the department has been constantly investigating and supervising the project, as well as issued several documents demanding the investor to provide explanatory leaflets and clarify the plan for project implementation.

Looking for a way out

To find a feasible solution for the problem, the Haiphong Department of Planning and Investment has recommended that the Haiphong Peoples Committee should support Grand Pacific to the most of its ability.

If the investor cannot overcome financial and operational obstacles in order to efficiently implement and complete the project as it was planned, the department will have to terminate all project activities in accordance with Vietnamese laws and regulations.

However, this is a major project with massive investment and now holds a significant amount of money raised from apartment buyers. To terminate the project, the department would have to be extremely circumspect. If the project is terminated, apartment buyers will struggle to reclaim their payments from the developer.

In addition, it is hard to make a speedy valuation of the developers initial investment in the project since the beginning and evaluate the land area used for the project, as well as prepare financial documents on debt deduction.

However, potential investors are lining up to take over the project and accountants will certainly have to provide these final statements to them, otherwise they cannot take over all responsibilities and enjoy the rights and benefits of the former investors.

According to the latest news from the Haiphong Department of Planning and Investment, Pacific Investment Ltd. is currently negotiating with some investors in Vietnam in order to sell its project.
Germany is one of the largest and most successful investors in Vietnam Photo: Le Toan

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, during PM Phucs July 5-8 stay in Germany, he will likely have meetings with the leaders of German firms such as BMW, Audi, Porsche, Mercedes-Benz, Siemens, Bosch, ThyssenKrupp, Loesche, Knauf, and Rieckermann. All are planning to expand operations in Vietnam.

More than 200 German firms will participate in a Germany-Vietnam business forum, chaired by PM Phuc and German Chancellor Angela Merkel. It is expected that many business-to-business co-operation deals with be inked, focused in the sectors of energy, heavy industry, IT, auto, and foodstuffs.

More than 10 co-operation deals will also be inked during this visit by localities and authorised agencies of both countries, centering on digitalisation, energy, and industrial equipment.

Marquardt Group, a German manufacturer of electro-mechanical and switching systems, is reportedly planning to build a factory to produce high-tech automotive components in the south-central city of Danang.

With total investment capital of around $39-50 million, the project will likely employ 500-600 local employees, and is planned for completion within the next two years.

Marquardt supplies components for world-famous auto brands like Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Volkswagen.

In another case, Bosch Vietnam managing director Vo Quang Hue told VIR that Vietnam is one of its focus markets in Southeast Asia. Bosch aims to develop the country as its regional strategic hub for research and development, and high-tech manufacturing.

In 2016, Bosch invested a further $22 million into its Dong Nai province Gasoline Systems plant for continuously variable transmission pushbelts.

Vietnam has been rising as an attractive destination for foreign investment thanks to its economic, social, and political stability. The country has a skilled workforce, geographical proximity to other markets in Asia Pacific and India, as well as relatively good infrastructure facilities, Hue said.

According to Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) statistics, as of June 2016, the number of German investment projects licensed in Vietnam was 265, registered at $1.36 billion. By June 20 this year, the number increased to 287 projects, registered at $1.68 billion.

While in Germany, PM Phuc will spend two days (July 7-8) attending the G20 Summit, where he is expected to highlight Vietnams role as host of the 2017 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit and related activities, and the countrys efforts to restructure its economy.

During Phucs July 9-11 visit to the Netherlands  one of Europes largest investors in Vietnam  the prime minister is expected to meet with the heads of leading Dutch firms like Damen, Heineken, Unilever, Royal Dutch Shell, Foremost, Akzo Nobel Coating, and Philips.

These firms, which already have a substantial presence in Vietnam, will participate in a Vietnam-Netherlands business forum with 200 Dutch firms, to be chaired by Phuc and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte.

It is expected that several co-operation deals will be inked by enterprises of both countries at this forum. Also, another 10 co-operation documents will likely be signed by both countries authorised agencies, focusing on training, agriculture, transport, environment, ports, food safety, and hygiene.

According to MPI statistics, as of June 20 this year, Vietnam had 292 Dutch projects, registered at $7.97 billion.
Customs officers, students, and scientists from around the globe flew to Azerbaijan to attend the conference

The event, taking place during July 3-7, 2017 in Qusar region of Azerbaijan, is organised by the International Network of Customs Universities and INCU Baku Regional Office, in co-operation with the Academy of the State Customs Committee of Azerbaijan.

The conference is aimed to exchange experience and develop mutual relations among the participants by creating a research environment on teaching, training, and scientific research in the field of customs matters, said Professor Aydin Aliev, chairman of State Customs Committee of Azerbaijan.

The conference will create conditions for students and scientists to present their research and to exchange views on various scientific knowledge related to customs matters, as well as to discuss relevant topics with customs experts from a number of countries across the world, Aliev said.

The event is attended by students and scholars of different universities of a number of countries, such as Belarus, China, Hungary, Iran, Laos, Macedonia, Poland, the Philippines, Ukraine, Uruguay, the US, and Vietnam.

These attendants are engaged in research and training in the field of customs matters and will investigate possible solutions to issues of mutual interest and will strengthen co-operation between the customs and scientific partners regarding capacity building in the field of customs.

The conferences topics are focused on the role of customs management in trade facilitation; international practices in customs legislation modernisation; best practices in customs; digital customs/e-customs, e-trade, and customs data analysis; knowledge-based customs education (skills and competencies); and customs to business partnership.

Stressing the importance of customs management in trade facilitation, Tran Phu Qui, a representative from Vietnams Dong Thap Customs Department, told the conference that trade facilitation is defined as the simplification, harmonisation, standardisation, and modernisation of international trade procedures. Thus, customs agencies are bound by playing the roles as both trade facilitators and guardians of the economy.

They have to find the proper balance between these parameters, and in the new globalised economy, they have to find new ways to discharge their duties, Qui said. E-commerce, cybercrime, fraud, and transnational crime are among the new challenges that impact their work today.

According to experts, the most dramatic changes are in the trading environment in which goods are carried and traded, the speed of such transactions, and the sheer volume of goods that are traded around the globe.

The conference aims to bring customs professionals in the world up to speed with the issues most relevant to the field

In the past few decades, there have been a number of significant changes in global trading practices, and customs administrations around the world have been required to continually adapt their methods of operation in an effort to maintain their effectiveness and relevance.

For example, the emergence of wide-bodied aircrafts, shipping containers, e-commerce, and the increasing complexities of international trade agreements have all impacted the way in which customs administrations fulfil their responsibilities, and customs administrations around the globe have seen a dramatic increase in workload across all areas of activity, fuelled by the technological advances that have revolutionised trade and transport.

Nevertheless, the basic elements of customs administration remain essentially the same, government officials are seeking to enforce the law and traders are seeking to minimise government intervention.

When examining the issues of trade facilitation and regulatory control, it is important to recognise these differing needs and expectations of the customs and the business community.

On the one hand, experts said, traders are looking for the simplest, quickest, cheapest, and most reliable way of getting goods in and out of the country. They are looking for certainty, clarity, flexibility, and timeliness in their dealings with customs. They are also looking for the most cost-effective ways of doing business. Customs authorities, on the other hand, are seeking to prevent smuggling, detect contraband, and ensure compliance with revenue, licensing, and other legal requirements. Additionally, they too are looking for the most cost-effective ways of doing business.

Consequently, traders are driven by commercial imperatives, while customs organisations are primarily driven by the law. What customs administrations are now seeking to achieve is an appropriate balance between trade facilitation and regulatory control.

The global customs community stands at the ready to evolve and adapt to new circumstances

To function effectively, customs administrations can no longer remain isolated entities, away from the social context. They need to co-operate with other agencies and business partners, Qui said. They also need to strengthen themselves via organisational reforms and proper use of IT, and strategic co-operation with partners around the world in order to achieve win-win solutions.
The Korea-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement has given a big boost to Korean exports and investment into Vietnam

Hong Sun, vice chairman of the Korea Chamber of Business in Vietnam, said that since taking effect in late 2015, the reduced tariffs of the Korea-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (KVFTA) have been among major propellants in the skyrocketing rise of Korean investment and exports into Vietnam.

Thanks to KVFTA, Koreas investments and exports to Vietnam have and will continue rising because many Korean firms are seeking to invest and expand their business so as to meet conglomerates demands in Vietnam, like Samsung, and LG, Sun said.

The General Statistics Office last week reported that in this years first six months, Korea was Vietnams second-largest import market (after China), with turnover of $22.5 billion, up 51.2 per cent year-on-year. Vietnam suffered from a trade deficit of $15.9 billion from Korea.

Meanwhile, in last years corresponding period, Korea was also Vietnams second-largest import market (after China), with turnover of $14.9 billion, up 8 per cent year-on-year. Vietnam suffered from a trade deficit of $9.8 billion from Korea.

According to statistics from the Ministry of Planning and Investment, Korea is Vietnams largest foreign investor. As of June 2016, the number of Korean investment projects in Vietnam was 5,364, registered at $48.5 billion. By May 20, 2017, the number had increased to nearly 6,100 projects, clocking in at $54.54 billion.

Over the 15-year period following the implementation of KVFTA, Vietnam will completely remove import duties on 89.9 per cent of all products from Korea.

For example, Vietnam will remove its 30 and 20 per cent tariffs imposed on Korean air conditioners and rice cookers, respectively, over the next 10 years. The average tariffs for foodstuffs and consumer goods will gradually be reduced from the existing 16-17 per cent to 0 per cent over the next five years.

In this years first six months, Vietnam has removed tariffs on 16 lines of products shipped from Korea. Items subject to the next round of tariff cuts include two-litre and larger engines for vehicles, auto parts, steel, and petrochemical products.

Over the past few years, Korean investments in Vietnam have been largely focused on the property, industrial, and textile and garment sectors.

But Sun also stressed an increase in Korean investment in Vietnams foodstuff and consumer goods sector, thanks to KVFTA.

Not only Korean firms but also foreign ones in general are seeing Vietnams foodstuff and consumer foods sector as a new investment attractor, Sun said.

This has strongly spurred the development of the foodstuff and consumer foods sector. Then Korean firms will benefit from this via their growing investment.

In a specific case, Chang Bok Sang, president and CEO of CJ Group Vietnam under the listed Korean conglomerate CJ Group, told VIR that CJ will continue expanding its operations in Vietnam, a country which is very important to the group.

We are trying to create a new culture by [combining] what we have done best in Korea and what we see best for the Vietnamese people. CJs vision in Vietnam is making the food industry a basic business to create a new culture, [one] which would serve best for Vietnamese peoples lives, Sang said.

We are finding the best ways to connect with Vietnamese consumers and the market in long-term investment. Mergers and acquisitions are a way to reach it.

Having been in Vietnam for over 20 years, CJ is acquiring a 65 per cent stake in Vietnam-based Minh Dat Food for VND294.8 billion ($13.4 million). Prior to Minh Dat, CJ acquired a 47.3 per cent stake in Cau Tre, another Ho Chi Minh City-based food producer.

Last month, Lotte Duty Free established a joint venture in Vietnam with a local partner. The first duty-free store has been opened on a pilot basis  a 1,000 square metres at Danang International Airport. The official opening is expected for August.

It is expected that Lotte Duty Free will continue opening more stores in major cities throughout Vietnam.

In another case, Ourhome, one of the top food catering service firms in Korea, last month expanded its business operations in Vietnam, where it provides meals for workers at LG Innoteks production facility. Ourhome, owned by LG Group, serves an average of 500 meals per day, and expects to expand the number to 1,000 by the end of 2017.

Other top food catering companies, such as Samsung Welstory, Hyundai Green Food, CJ Freshway, and Shinsegae Food, and retailers like Emart are also expanding into Vietnam.

Lee Hyuk, Korean Ambassador to Vietnam, told VIR that there are already many companies in Korea well-equipped with capital, state-of-the art technology, and strong management abilities that are paying special attention to Vietnam in their search for new markets.

Therefore, with KVFTA in full swing, I am certain that Korean companies investments will grow both in quantity and quality in the years ahead, Hyuk said.

According to him, KVFTA is also having a positive effect on investment. Compared to the Korea-ASEAN FTA or the Korea-Vietnam Bilateral Investment Treaty, KVFTA provides a higher level of investment liberalisation and investor protection.

This creates a favourable business environment for Korean companies, thereby making Vietnam an even more attractive investment destination, Hyuk said.
Local press reported that a gunman on a scooter opened fire in the La Reynerie district of Toulouse, France.

Local press reported that a gunman on a scooter opened fire at around 9.00pm (3.00am Singapore time Tuesday) in the La Reynerie district of Toulouse.

"No possibilities are ruled out, but there is at this stage no indication of any terrorist element" connected to the incident, the official added.

The favoured theory is that the shooting was some revenge killing, a source close to the enquiry said.

Local officials, meanwhile, said extra security had been deployed to the area.

Last year La Reynerie district, in the southwest of Toulouse, was the scene of two shooting incidents, both believed to be a settling of scores.

In one incident last July a Russian man of Chechen origin was shot dead by an unknown gunman on a scooter.
People walk on the corniche of the Qatari capital Doha. (Photo: AFP/STR)

Details of the response were not immediately available, but a Gulf official told AFP that Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani had delivered it during a short visit to Kuwait, which is acting as a mediator in the crisis.

Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt had announced in the early hours of Monday they were pushing back a deadline for Qatar to agree to a list of 13 demands they issued on Jun 22.

A joint statement said they were extending the ultimatum, which had been due to expire at the end of the day on Sunday, at the request of Kuwait's emir.

The demands included Doha ending support for the Muslim Brotherhood, closing broadcaster Al-Jazeera, downgrading diplomatic ties with Iran and shutting down a Turkish military base in the emirate.

Sheikh Mohammed had earlier said the list of demands was "made to be rejected" and on Monday British lawyers for Qatar denounced the demands as "an affront to international law".

"They are reminiscent of the extreme and punitive conduct of 'bully' states that have historically resulted in war," the lawyers said in a statement.

Saudi Arabia and its allies announced on Jun 5 they were severing ties with their Gulf neighbour, sparking the worst diplomatic crisis to hit the region in decades.

They accused Qatar of supporting extremism and of being too close to Saudi Arabia's regional arch-rival Iran, which Doha has strongly denied.

The crisis has raised concerns of growing instability in the region, home to some of the world's largest energy exporters and several key Western allies who host US military bases.

German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel, who on Monday starts a tour of several Gulf states, called for "serious dialogue" to end the crisis.

"We are worried that the distrust and the disunity could weaken all the parties concerned as well as the entire peninsula," said Gabriel, who will visit Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar.

TRUMP CALLS LEADERS

Riyadh and its supporters have already severed air, sea and ground links with Qatar, cutting off vital routes for imports including food.

They also ordered Qatari citizens to leave their territories and took various steps against Qatari firms and financial institutions.

It is unclear what further measures will be taken if Qatar fails to meet the demands, but the UAE's ambassador to Russia Omar Ghobash warned last week that further sanctions could be imposed.

As well as taking steps to expel Qatar from the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council, Riyadh and its allies could tell their economic partners to choose between business with them or with Doha, he told Britain's Guardian newspaper.

Qatar has long pursued a more independent foreign policy than many of its neighbours, who tend to follow the lead of regional powerhouse Saudi Arabia.

Doha has said it is ready for talks to end the crisis. Kuwait, which unlike most of its GCC neighbours has not cut ties with Qatar, has been heading up mediation efforts.

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has also called for compromise and hosted senior Gulf officials, but his efforts have been undermined by remarks from President Donald Trump apparently supporting Riyadh's position.

Trump spoke separately on Sunday with the Saudi king, Abu Dhabi's crown prince and the Qatari emir on his concerns over the dispute, the White House said.

Trump "underscored that unity in the region is critical," the statement said, but also "reiterated the importance of stopping terrorist financing and discrediting extremist ideology."

Egypt said it would host the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain on Wednesday to discuss the crisis.

The German government also announced that Saudi Arabia's King Salman had cancelled plans to attend this week's G20 summit in Hamburg.
Whats your view on the results of exhibitions held in Vietnam?

With the continuing growth of foreign direct investment (FDI) into Vietnam over the years, industry has been able to grow, feeding industrialists desire to find new technologies to match the current trends.

As a result, attendance at international trade shows and events in Vietnam is also growing. These events provide a place to gather and display content and resources that foster economic development.

Currently, Reed Tradex is holding three international exhibitions in Vietnam  Metalex Vietnam, Nepcon Vietnam, and Vietnam Manufacturing Expo. More than 10,000 industry members have joined our exhibitions to explore technologies and partake in the forums and seminars held during the events. The growing number of visitors at our exhibitions (we are now averaging 11-15 per cent growth per year) reflects the concerns of Vietnamese industrialists with respect to the importance of connectivity and industry updates.

What is your assessment of market trends and the investment environment in Vietnam?

In 2016, Vietnam attracted a total of $24.4 billion in committed FDI capital. The largest FDI sector was manufacturing and processing, accounting for some 60 per cent of the total.

South Korea was Vietnams largest FDI source with $7 billion invested, followed by Japan and Singapore. This partly reflects the potential of Vietnam, as well as the opportunity to connect with strong Asian investors to create a new and prosperous manufacturing region.

The investment has not been limited to low-end labour-intensive manufacturing. Increasingly, high-tech electronics producers are establishing a presence in the country. This trend is likely to persist, which was evidenced by the continued expansion of global tech giants like Samsung, Intel, LG, Panasonic, and Microsoft.

It cannot be denied that Vietnam is benefiting enormously from FDI inflows; however, a long-term plan is essential in order to keep Vietnam moving forward sustainably.

Vietnams thriving industrial sectors are on full display at Reed Tradexs exhibitions

The future of manufacturing is not just about attracting FDI inflows now, but sustainable development in the long-term. What issues should manufacturers consider in boosting capacity locally?

I would like to emphasise again that Vietnam has many advantages for foreign investors. Even with a lack of capable local suppliers, I do believe that existing incentives have still made investors willing to undertake projects.

The localisation rate in Vietnam is only about 10 to 30 per cent, which does not reach the required rate to enjoy preferential rules of origin in most free trade agreements (FTAs), which is 45 per cent. For long-term development, giants like Samsung, Intel, or Microsoft appear ready to invest and engage in building local capacity by training workers and supporting related businesses. Local manufacturers should take advantage of this development to build their own local production capacity.

Each production unit needs to clearly identify its goal of upgrading the technology of the production line to serve global standards, and, accordingly, develop resources to drive the new systems. Localisation and in-country value-creation are part of the solution, but it takes many years to educate a highly skilled worker. A strategy is needed to attract native experts back to local industries after they have worked overseas.

The preferential regime for local manufacturers to borrow capital in order to invest in technology will be a good solution for synchronising the production line and reaching international standards in the fastest way possible. However, the sustainability of these initiatives to foster broad-based economic development is most fully realised when industry and government work together to support local skills development, foster investment in technology and research-and-development, and create foundations for industry clusters that can innovate, capture supply-chain synergies, and leverage economies of scale.

What is Reed Tradexs direction and vision within the Vietnamese market?

In the face of the urgent need for localisation in Vietnam, we are associated with local and international professional associations and organisations to promote integrative thematic workshops, business meetings, and industry experiences at our exhibitions.

We believe that manufacturing has historically relied on developing skills, which in turn has promoted its capabilities. Individuals in the sectors workforce possess skills which are critical assets that add value to the manufacturing process.

We are continuing to invest in e-marketing products and services to allow exhibitors, visitors, and all exhibition participants to conveniently access and connect from every point in the world. In the beginning of 2016, we launched a recommendation system through the website, making it convenient for all attendees to find the partner that best suits their needs.

To serve the electronics industry in Vietnam, we are in the process of organising Nepcon Vietnam 2017, which is a special exhibition on SMT and testing technologies, equipment, and supporting industries for electronics manufacturing.

Nepcon Vietnam 2017 will celebrate its 10th anniversary this year, and will be held at the Hanoi International Centre for Exhibition during September 13-15.
Oil and gas remains a priority co-operation area between Vietnam and Russia, source: VNA

During State President Tran Dai Quangs first official visits to Belarus and Russia from June 26 to July 1, he and leaders of both countries agreed to grow trade and investment co-operation under new commitments.

On Quangs June 28-July 1 visit to Russia, the two countries agreed to continue deepening their co-operation in oil refining, petrochemicals, and the production and sale of gas engine fuel on the Vietnamese market. Russia will also supply liquefied natural gas to the Vietnamese market.

We examined opportunities for new projects and agreed on strengthening our ties in various areas. These projects include assembly and production of cars, energy, oil and gas, and construction of infrastructure facilities, Quang told the press. Vietnam and Russia will also continue to build the Nuclear Science and Technology Centre in Vietnam.

According to Russian President Vladimir Putin, there are great possibilities for co-operation in the power sector. A Russian company, Siloviye Mashiny, is already building the Long Phu 1 thermal power plant in Vietnam. Our companies are ready to take part in modernising facilities built during the Soviet era and to build new facilities, Putin told the press.

He said the oil and gas sector remains a priority co-operation area. The Russian-Vietnamese joint venture Vietsovpetro accounts for around a third of oil production in Vietnam. The number of actors taking part in this co-operation continues to grow.

Russian companies Rosneft and Gazprom have started working on developing Vietnams continental shelf. In Russia, our companies are working with their Vietnamese colleagues to develop fields in the Nenets Autonomous Area, on the Yamal Peninsula, and in the Orenburg Region, Putin said.

The Russian-Vietnamese Investment Fund additionally plans to invest up to $500 million in promising non-commodities projects, above all in pharmaceuticals and agriculture.

Mosmetrostroy and Russian Railways are ready to take part in building metro systems in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, and in modernising Vietnams railway network, Putin said. The two countries will also jointly implement projects to assemble Russian GAZ, KAMAZ, and UAZ vehicles in Vietnam.

During this visit, in addition to releasing a joint statement, the two countries signed many other documents on co-operation concerning the exchange of confidential financial information related to money laundering and financing of terrorism, the work of the Russian-Vietnamese High-Level Working Group on priority investment projects, co-operation between the two countries state treasuries, a project to build a nuclear science and technology centre in Vietnam, the development of space sector co-operation from 2017-2022, and railway co-operation.

Russian investment in Vietnam is currently at $2 billion, while Vietnamese investment in Russia reaches $2.5 billion.

The Intergovernmental Commission and High-Level Working Group for Priority Investment Projects are working actively, Putin said. Agreement has been reached on more than 20 big joint investment programmes, worth a total of around $10 billion.

Vietnam-Russia trade turnover reached $2.7 billion last year, up 25 per cent year-on-year, and $1.1 billion in this years first four months, up 30 per cent year-on-year.

During Quangs visit to Belarus, Vietnam and Belarus pledged to find ways to increase bilateral trade to $500 million, from last years $96 million.

One of the proposed solutions to reach this target is expanding co-operation in the fields of production of transport means, agriculture, petrochemicals, light industry, IT, banking, electronics, minerals, seafood processing, and agro-industrial products.

Both countries welcomed the establishment of the joint venture MAZ Asia between Vietnam and Belarus for the assembly of Belarusian trucks in Vietnam.

Vietnam and Belarus also agreed to implement major projects in Vietnam, such as designing and constructing metro lines, a national library, and mineral exploitation.

The two countries also signed several co-operation deals in the sectors of defence, economy, science and technology, sports, and natural resources and environment.
Representatives of ZARUBEZHNEFT and PVEP sign a memorandum of understanding in Moscow.

The two companies will co-operate in developing off-shore oil opportunities in Moscow.

Under the MoU, the two sides intend to create favourable conditions for each other to continue studying and developing small oil reservoirs of block 09-2/09 in Cuu Long sediment basin, about 160km east off the southern province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau.

ZARUBEZHNEFT specialises in exploration, development and operation of oil and gas fields outside the Russian territory. Meanwhile, PVEP is the upstream arm of Vietnam Oil and Gas Group (PetroVietnam), conducting the core business of exploration and production.

The signing was part of the Vietnamese President Tran Dai Quangs official visit to Russia from June 28 to July 1, on the invitation of Russian President Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister Dmitri Medvedev.
Vietnamese artists perform at the World Folk Culture Festival for the first time. Photo: Facebook of the theatre

The performances by artists from Viet Nam Singing-Dancing-Music Theatre will feature folk songs and dances accompanied by traditional instruments such as an bau (monochord), an tranh (zither) and bamboo flute.

The festival, held by the World Folklore Union, will take place in France, Italy, Romania, Greece and Serbia.

"This is the first time the World Folklore Union has invited Vietnamese artists through the Cultural Centre of Viet Nam (CCV) in France to perform at the festival," said Nguyen Truong Giang, leader of the Vietnamese troupe to Europe.

"The artists will present songs and dances which consist of combination of materials, some from the folk dance period and other from the modern era. Some of the dance styles which were derived from the folk dance period include the umbrella dance, khen (pan-pipe) dance and Cham dance."

Viet Nams attendance at the festival marks the CCV in France officially becoming the 56th member of the World Folklore Union. The membership recognition took place at the unions board meeting in Paris last March.

Talking to the Vietnam News Agencys correspondent to Paris the unions president Dorel Cosma expressed his delight at Viet Nams membership in the organisation. He praised Viet Nams diverse folklore and affirmed his confidence in the countrys future contributions to the union.

According to CCV director Nguyen Thanh Vuong, the membership enables Viet Nam to access information and take part in folklore projects among the union and gain financial and technical support from the organisation.

The union is an organisation founded in 1949 in France aiming to secure the relationship between the national federations of folklore groups in different countries.


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Oscar is plucking from TV notables: Diversification push has sent the academy on small-screen hunt
The Dangerous Side-Effects of Plastics, and How to Minimize Their Toxic Impact

Plastics are not only an environmental disaster; these man-made conveniences introduced a century ago are also harming our physical and mental health. Phthalates  chemical compounds used to make plastic more flexible and durable  are found in more products than you might imagine, and have become the human bodys
A month ago, the business community labeled this one of the worst session for employers; Im amending my statement today to emphatically say this is the worst session for employers," Greg Baise, president and CEO of the Illinois Manufacturers' Association said.

The Illinois Senate will consider a budget Tuesday that would raise taxes on businesses from 5.25 to 7 percent and from 3.75 to 4.95 percent on individuals. No substantial reforms on property taxes, workers comp or pension is in the Democrats' plan.

SPRINGFIELD - Monday, a group of associations representing Illinois private sector employers called on Governor Rauner and lawmakers to pass reforms that will make Illinois more attractive for job creators while lawmakers work to get Illinois' fiscal house in order.

"Illinois needs a balanced budget, but manufacturing companies also need stability and predictability from job crushing taxes and regulations. Adding billions of dollars in permanent tax hikes without reducing pension costs, lowering property taxes, or enacting economic development reforms is a recipe for disaster," he said.

Despite repeated calls for compromise, the Illinois House of Representatives passed a massive $5 billion tax hike without including meaningful reforms that could revitalize the economy and send a strong signal that Illinois is a good place to do business. The lack of legitimate discussion  and inclusion  of key reforms in this final package simply doubles down on the failed economic policies of the past.

Even Comptroller Susanna Mendoza noted that the budget plan passed largely with Democrat votes last night fails to reduce the nearly $15 billion backlog of bills.

Rob Karr of the Illinois Retail Merchants Association doubled down on the call for government reform.

IRMA has repeatedly and publicly recognized the need for additional revenues as part of any solution, but not at the expense of Main Street retailers. What has occurred is billions of dollars in new taxes without meaningful reforms. So far what we have seen from Springfield is the same pattern that got Illinois into its current mess in the first place, he said.

While the Illinois Chamber of Commerce is not so strongly opposed to a tax hike, they remain firm on the need for reforms.

The Illinois Chamber of Commerce calls on the Senate to reject SB 9 and SB 6. Action by the House thus far does not seem to comprehend the desperate need for economic reforms nor a clear path to fiscal sanity, said Todd Maisch, president & CEO, Illinois Chamber of Commerce.

Illinois has been without a budget for two years, and is paying bills as instructed by federal courts. Governor Rauner promises to veto House Speaker Mike Madigan's 2017 budget as it is currently presented.
The international Press campaign aimed at destabilising President Trump continues. The smear machine, set up by David Brock during the transitional period [1], plays up, as much as it possibly can, the hot-tempered and often vulgar character of the Presidential Tweets. The media entente, organised by the mysterious NGO First Draft [2], repeats tirelessly that the Justice Department is investigating the links between the Presidents campaign team and the dark conspiracy attributed to the Kremlin.

A study by Professor Thomas E. Patterson of the Harvard Kennedy School has showed that the US, British and German Press have quoted Donald Trump three times more often than previous Presidents. and that, during the first 100 days of his presidency, 80% of their articles were clearly unfavourable to him [3].

During the FBI campaign [4] aimed at forcing President Nixon to resign, the US Press awarded itself the qualifier of  4th Estate , thereby signifying that their owners had more legitimacy than the People. Far from folding under the pressure, Donald Trump, well aware of the danger represented by the alliance between the medias and the 98% of senior civil servants who voted against him, declared a  war on the Press , during his speech of 22 January 2017, one week after his inauguration. Meanwhile his special advisor, Steve Bannon, declared to the New York Times that, de facto, the Press had become the  new opposition party .

In any case, the Presidents electors did not withdraw their confidence in the President.

Lets remember how this affair began, during the period of transition, which is to say before Donald Trumps inauguration. A NGO, Propaganda or Not ?, launched the idea that Russia had organised hoaxes during the Presidential campaign in order to scuttle Hillary Clinton and make sure Donald Trump would be elected. At the time, we underlined the links between this mysterious NGO and Madeleine Albright and Zbigniew Brzezinski [5]. The accusation, repeated at length by the Washington Post, denounced a list of agents of the Kremlin, incluidng the Voltaire Network. And yet so far, nothing, absolutely nothing, has surfaced to support this Russisan conspiracy theory.

Everyone has noticed that the arguments used against Donald Trump are not simply those which are usually deployed in political combat, but clearly those employed in war propaganda [6].

The Oscar for bad faith must go to CNN, which is handling this affair obsessively. The channel was forced to apologise after they had broadcast a report accusing one of Donald Trumps close collaborators, the banker Anthony Scaramucci, of being paid indirectly by Moscow. Since this accusation was invented, and since Scaramucci is rich enough to take them to court, CNN apologised, and three journalists from their investigation team  resigned .

Then journalist James OKeefes Project Veritas published three video sequences filmed via spycam [7]. In the first, we see a CNN supervisor laughing in an elevator, saying that these accusations of the Presidents collusion with Russia were  bullshit  broadcast in order to boost the  audience . In the second, a star presenter and ex-collaborator of Obama confirms that the information was  drivel . In the third, a producer declares that Donald Trump is mentally sick and that his electors are  dumb as shit  (sic).

In reply, the President posed a video-montage created from images, taken not from a Western movie, but dating from his work with the US wrestling Federation, the WWE. He can be seen pretending to beat up his friend Vince McMahon (husband of his Secretary of State for Small Businesses and Consumer Affairs) whose face was covered by the CNN logo. The video ends with an altered CNN logo reading Fraud News Network.

Apart from the fact that this event demonstrates that in the United States, the President does not have exclusive rights to vulgarity, it shows that CNN  which has raised the question of Russian interference more than 1,500 times in the space of two months  does not practise journalism and cares nothing about the truth. We have been aware of this for a long time concerning its reports on international politics  we are disovering it today about those concerning interior politics.

Although it is far less significant, a new dispute is now opposing the President and the presenters of MSNBCs morning show, Morning Joe. They have been criticising him violently for months. It so happens that Joe Scarborough is an ex-lawyer and parlementarian from Florida who fights against the right to abortion and for the dissolution of  useless  Ministries such as Commerce, Education, Energy and Housing. On the contrary, his partner (both on- and off-screen) Mika Brzezinski, is a simple prompter-reader who supported Bernie Sanders. In a Tweet, the President insulted them by calling them  Psycho Joe  and  low I.Q. Crazy Mika . No-one doubts that these characterisations are close to the truth, but setting them down in this way is obviously aimed only at damaging the journalists self-esteem. In any case, the two presenters wrote an op-ed in the Washington Post calling the Presidents sanity into question.

Mika Brzezinski is the daughter of Zbigniew Brzezinski, one of the string-pullers of Propaganda or not ?, who died a month ago.

The vulgarity of the Presidential Tweets has nothing to do with insanity. Dwight Eisenhower, and especially Richard Nixon, were far more obscene than Trump, and were nonetheless two grand Presidents.

Furthermore, the impulsive nature of his Tweets does not necessarily mean that the President is himself impulsive. In reality, on each subject, Donald Trump reacts immediately with aggressive Tweets. Then he throws ideas around in all directions, unhesitatingly contradicting himself from one declaration to the next, and then closely observes the reactions they provoke. Finally, having formed his own opinion, he meets the opposing party and generally comes to an agreement with them.

Donald Trump does not possess the good Puritan education of Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton, but incarnates the resilience of the New World. Throughout his electoral campaign, he continually presented himself the man who would clean up the innumerable dishonesties that this good education serves to disguise in Washington. And it was he and not Madame Clinton that the United States voted into the White House.

Of course, one might take the Presidents controversial declarations seriously, choosing one thats shocking and ignoring those that state the contrary. We should not confuse the Trump style with his policies. On the contrary, we must examine his decisions - and their consequences - closely.

For example, lets take his decree aimed at refusing entry to the United States to foreigners whose Secretary of State has been unable to confirm the identity.

It was observed that the population of the seven countries for which he limited access to the United States is in the majority Muslim. We compared this fact with the declarations of the President during his electoral campaign. Finally, we created the myth of a racist Trump. There were a number of showboat trials aimed at repealing this  Islamophobic decree , until the Supreme Court confirmed its legality. Then we moved the goal-posts by affirming that the Court had based its decision on a second draft of the decree, which included several flexibilities. This is true, except that these flexibilities were already set out (with different wording) in the first version.

Arriving at the White House, Donald Trump did not deprive the US citizens of their health insurance, nor declare the Third World War. On the contrary, he opened a number of economic sectors which had been stifled for the benefit of certain multinationals. Besides which, we have witnessed a disengaging of the terrorist groups in Iraq, Syria and Lebanon, and a noticeable calming of the tension in all of the Greater Middle East, with the exception of Yemen.

How much farther will this go  what will be the outcome of the confrontation between the White House and the medias, between Donald Trump and certain moneyed powers ?
According to the New York Times, Prince Mohammed ben Nayef Al Saoud, who was the heir to the crown (that is, until last week), appears to have been under house arrest.

Several responsible officials have strongly denied that the prince has been place under arrest. This would seem to indirectly confirm that he has been subject to administrative rather than judicial proceedings.

At his palace, his bodyguards have been relieved of their functions and replaced by those faithful to the new heir to the throne, Prince Mohammed ben Salmane Al Saoud.

The Saudi institutions are in the process of initiating a secular shift that notably involves winding up the Committee for the promotion of virtue and the prevention of vice (Customs Police).
For some years now, journalist James OKeffe (photo) had made videos on hidden camera. He films politicians comments on contemporary scandals which are close to confessions. OKeffe is close to Breibart and President Trump and has just made three videos on CNNs treatment of alleged Russian interference in the US Presidential campaign.

The first video, broadcast on 26 June 2017, shows a CNN producer-in-chief, John Bonifield, responsible for non-political footage, declaring accusations of collusion between Russia and the Trump team to be nothing but nonsense broadcast for the audience.

The second video, broadcast on 28 June, shows the CNN presenter Anthony Van Jones (who previously worked with Barack Obama but who was sacked by the White House for publicly challenging the official versions of the 9/11 attacks) declaring this story of Russian interference to be an absurdity.

The third video, broadcast on 30 June, shows the CNN associate producer, Jimmy Carr, declaring that President Donald Trump was not quite the poster boy for mental health and that those who voted for him were shit crazy.

The charge CNN brings against James OKeefes Project Veritas is that it is releasing these declarations out of their broader context. Its collaborators have tried to minimize their recorded remarks. However, Sarah Sanders, spokesman for the White House, has emphasized the outrageous character of these declarations and called upon all Americans to watch these videos and to judge them for themselves.

The CNN inquiry into possible Russian interference has become the channels obsession. CNN has addressed it more than 1,500 times during the last 2 months. To date, no-one has the least bit of evidence to support the accusation that the news channel has made against Moscow.
On 30 June 2017 from the air base of Rayak, the Lebanese army carried out a crackdown operation in the Syrian refugee camps at al-Nour and Qariya (East Arsal). 5 kamikazes were exploded in an effort to make the army retreat. The jihadists have killed a young girl and injured seven soldiers. 350 people have been arrested.

This is the first operation of this type since war first broke out in Syria and the failure of a similar operation led by Al-Qaeda in August 2014 to take some soldiers prisoners. Some were set free on the orders of Qatar (which give orders to the jihadists even though it claims not to support them), while others are still being held as hostages.

From the facts, the political situation has been turned around. Initially, US Senator John McCain set up the refugee camps at Arsal as a support base for the jihadists. In 2011, the local population welcomed these camps with open arms; the camps also benefitted from passive support of political parties linked to Saudi Arabia, Israel and Qatar (notably Saad Hariris Future Movement, Samir Geageas Lebanese Forces and Walid Jumblatts Socialist Party). However today, the Lebanese population in Arsal are crying out for the jihadists to be kicked out, while the political class has been silenced.

For the Lebanese army, while the Syrian war may seem to be coming to a close, the time seems to be ripe for re-asserting national sovereignty over the territory. The political parties linked to Syria (which include Hassan Nasrallahs Hezbollah) have welcomed the operation and have expressed their sympathy for the soldiers, wounded while fighting, pro patria, against the jihadists.

Lebanese prisons are already saturated and we do not know what will become of the arrested persons, once they are placed in detention. In the past, the government has regrouped the jihadists in a prison building at Roumieh. This had been transformed into Al-Qaedas regional headquarters. The prisoners had all the facilities of communication with the aid of the administration. They even had set up a torture room so they could proceed to interrogate their own prisoners. Finally, in support of political change, the police had violently stormed the building and the prisoners had been spread out. Last year, they had been set free and had been regrouped in the giant Palestine camp of Ain al-Hilweh near Sidon. 138 Al-Qaeda leaders that the UN is looking for, have set up their new regional headquarters there. Taking account of international agreements, the Lebanese army had not been authorized to enter this camp  it being agreed that the camp does not fall within its territorial jurisdiction. Therefore the army has to settle for circling it.
Alison Brie and Betty Gilpin on GLOW. Photo: Erica Parise/Netflix/Erica Parise/Netflix

This piece contains spoilers about episode eight of GLOW.

In the first episode of Netflixs GLOW, the female wrestling series set in 1985, the shows heroine Ruth Wilder (Alison Brie) sleeps with her best friends husband. By episode eight, she learns shes pregnant and decides to have an abortion: Its not the right time. Not the right baby, she says.

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Brie and GLOW co-creators Liz Flahive and Carly Mensch discussed the episode and how Ruths decision was treated realistically. It made so much sense to me when I read the script, Brie said of her characters choice. I responded to it immediately. Thats how I would react if I were Ruth, and I didnt question it at all.

Mensch went on to explain how they wanted the pregnancy reveal to come up organically with Ruths actions guiding the story. We did have a lot of heated discussion in the writers room about whether we wanted to show the abortion. If we were telling honest stories about things that women go through, whether it be in the 80s or now, a bunch of us felt that was a very relatable and normal story for certain types of women and that we shouldnt shy away from showing that if its an actual, real experience, Mensch said.

Later Brie related the importance of this story line in the current political climate. Its really important, especially right now, to highlight that women should be able to make that choice and that it doesnt have to be the end of the world, said Brie. What I especially love about that episode is that its a very easy choice for Ruth to make, whether or not the emotional repercussions will continue throughout her life. They might or they might not. This is a show about womens bodies and about them taking control of their own bodies, and thats highlighted beautifully in that episode.

Hear! Hear!
Willy Wonka, out of business. Photo: Paramount Pictures

A spacious venue branded Wonka Chocolate Factory in big gold letters is currently nestled in the heart of New Yorks theater district, but as Mondays New York Times report tells it, dont let the signage fool you: The Willy Wonka Candy Company is no more. Producers of the Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Broadway musical have been left frustrated by the recent turn of events, going to great pains to recreate the iconic candy line  formally discontinued by Nestle in 2015  for attendees. Theyve packaged Hersheys bars and Dylans Candy bars in golden wrappers, and have overwhelmed the Lunt-Fontanne Theatres lobby with a glitzy Dylans pop-up. (The goal was to capture the spirit, if not the exact substance, of Wonkas factory, according to the Times.) But those with a special Wonka Barshaped space in their heart are far from satisfied. One confectionary historian interviewed by the Times calls the whole situation a real tragedy. Luke Kelly, Roald Dahls grandson, provided some historical context, lamenting that for the first time in decades, there is no Wonka candy at all.

Perhaps most cruelly: Children have been denied their dream Chocolate Factory souvenir. Production of the Wonka Bar ceased in the midst of the musicals original West End run, meaning attendees could no longer buy the well-promoted candy at a concession stand. Producer Kevin McCormack attended the closing night, and recounted, sadly, what he saw: I sat there as kids kept going up to people selling ice cream and saying, Can I get a Wonka bar? Oof. There may only be one appropriate (if slightly harsh) way to respond.
Knope 2020? Photo: NBC/2014 NBCUniversal Media, LLC

Amid the sea of corrupt, incompetent, and deceitful politicians currently scheming on TV, Parks and Recreations Leslie Knope still stands tall  so tall, in fact, that local officials are looking to her as a model for effective, levelheaded governing. In a Hollywood Reporter feature on the evolution of small-screen bureaucrats, Parks co-creator Michael Schur spoke about Leslies lasting influence in the civic sphere. [Local government employees] have said that her hopeful vision of government was helpful in times of crisis, he explained. Theres an aspirational quality to Leslie  She offers a kind of blueprint for how we might go about curing certain problems in government. (Shed already made a fan out of one Hillary Clinton.) Schur also revealed that Parks was initially pitched as a comedy version of The West Wing  that is, a wonky but hopeful depiction of the political process  and explained that TV tells stories and reflects the time in which we live. Were now in 2017, and Leslie left our TV screens at the tail-end of the Obama era  so, yeah, while its great that her influence is still being felt on the local level, that sounds about right.
The son of a Maryland couple who died in a plane crash in Wyoming in July 2015 is suing a local aircraft maintenance firm that reportedly overhauled the aircrafts engines.

Christopher Stubbs of Maryland, son of Gerald and Diane Stubbs, is seeking more than $1 million in damages in his lawsuit, filed Friday in Wacos 414th State District Court against RAM Aircraft.

Gerald Stubbs, 69, a biologist for the Environmental Protection Agency, and his wife of 47 years, Diane Stubbs, an attorney with the Department of Energy, died in the crash. Also killed were Diane Stubbs brother, Don Scott, who was the pilot, and his friend, Joyce Bartoo.

The Stubbses lived in Annapolis, Maryland, while Scott and Bartoo lived in Washington, D.C.

Engine work

According to the lawsuit, RAM, an aircraft maintenance firm with headquarters at Waco Regional Airport, received, removed, overhauled, modified, inspected and reinstalled the twin engines of the Cessna T310 aircraft in May 2009.

Phone messages seeking comment on the lawsuit left for RAM corporate officers and RAM attorney Robin Baird were not returned Monday.

The suit, filed on the Stubbses behalf by Dallas attorney Ladd Sanger, alleges the planes two engines and/or their components, accessories and systems were maintained, troubleshot, repaired, serviced, overhauled, installed, inspected, modified, and/or replaced by RAM.

Records of the accident aircraft reveal that on or about the time that RAM completed its work on the engines on the accident aircraft, Defendant RAM certified that the engines, including the overhauled turbocharger, were airworthy and safe for flight, the suit claims.

That work was done in May 2009, according to the suit.

On July 18, 2015, the accident aircraft was not airworthy nor was it safe for flight, the suit alleges.

Flight to Colorado

Two days before, the two couples left Colorado for a pleasure trip that was scheduled to end in Colorado on July 21, 2015, the suit says.

On July 17, 2015, the plane made a stop at the Sheridan County Airport in Wyoming and took off from there the next morning. The four flew over Yellowstone National Park and experienced left engine failure while the aircraft was about 15,000 feet above sea level and less than 3,000 feet above a nearby mountain peak.

Scott lost control of the plane, and it crashed and burst into flames.

Negligence claims

The lawsuit claims RAM was negligent in its work on the plane, breached its warranty to provide proper services and equipment, and negligently misrepresented the quality of its work.

A fourth cause of action alleges RAM acted recklessly, outrageously, willfully and wantonly, and, in dereliction of their responsibilities, failed to correct or warn of said defects and deficiencies and the likelihood of serious personal injury and/or death.

It was reported in an article published May 26, 2016, in the Powell (Wyoming) Tribune that National Transportation Safety Board investigators determined a failed left engine likely caused the crash, but they were unable to determine why it failed.
A former warehouse employee who fondled a 12-year-old girl four years ago was sentenced to 40 years in prison Thursday.

Jurors in Wacos 54th State District Court deliberated about an hour before returning two maximum, 20-year prison terms for Justin Russell Murdoch. The jury found Murdoch guilty Wednesday on two counts of indecency with a child by contact.

At the urging of prosecutors, Judge Matt Johnson ordered the 31-year-old Murdoch to serve the sentences consecutively, for a total of 40 years. Murdoch will be eligible for parole after he serves 20 years.

Multiple convictions

Two girls testified during the four-day trial that Murdoch groped them inappropriately, and prosecutors Hilary LaBorde and Christi Hunting Horse introduced evidence of Murdochs criminal record, which includes a state-jail felony theft conviction and a criminal mischief conviction for destroying a visitation monitor at the county jail.

Murdoch also has three misdemeanor assault convictions, two for driving with an invalid license, and one each for theft, marijuana possession and failure to ID while a fugitive.

After the jury returned its verdict, the victim in the case, who is now 16, told Murdoch in a brief victim-impact statement she hopes he feels some of the pain he caused her.

For four years, I had to carry this pain, she said. For four years, I had to feel like I am nothing. For four years, my family had to worry that they would say something to trigger me to fall into a deep black hole.

Defense attorney Jonathan Sibley said he thinks the sentences are excessive.

We are incredibly disappointed with the verdict of guilty and the sentences, Sibley said. Mr. Murdoch maintains his innocence in this case, and I believe the guilty verdict and the sentences were extreme, and Mr. Murdoch plans to appeal.

The girl testified Tuesday that she spent three or four nights in October 2013 with her best friend at the North Waco home that Murdoch shared with a woman and her son and daughter. Murdoch has since married the woman despite the allegations that he molested her daughters best friend.

The girl testified that her friend had gone to bed, her friends mother was in a bedroom, her little brother was asleep on the couch and she and Murdoch were lying on the floor watching a horror movie. She said Murdoch fondled her breast and groped her buttocks.

Other victim was 8

The other girl, who was 8 at the time, said Murdoch groped her buttocks at her aunts house in 2012.

In summations Thursday, LaBorde told jurors that Murdochs actions made two young girls come to the realization that the world is a dangerous place.

And its a dangerous place because of people like him, she said, pointing at Murdoch. The question is how long will you be able to separate him from the rest of us. He will get out and find another woman and another child. He always does.

LaBorde and Hunting Horse noted that the woman Murdoch eventually married was down in the hall in bed if Murdoch had sexual urges.

He preferred a 12-year-old child because he is a sexual deviant, LaBorde said. I ask you to keep that in mind when you assign a number to what that girls innocence is worth.

Sibley asked jurors in summations not to make an emotional decision and said Murdochs actions did not warrant the maximum punishment.

Hunting Horse countered that Murdoch is a lawless individual who is impulsive and dangerous.

When he wants something, he takes it, she said. If you make him mad, he hits you. If you push his button, he destroys property. If he has a sexual urge, he acts on it. This is who he is.
This Fourth of July, 30 years will have passed since a French court convicted Nazi butcher Klaus Barbie of horrific crimes against humanity committed in France during World War II. On July 4, 1987, after an eight-week trial, Barbie, former Nazi Gestapo chief of German-occupied Lyon, was found guilty of more than 300 counts of crimes against humanity. Like the better-known Nuremberg trials held before military tribunals shortly after World War II, the Barbie trial proved a lesson of history and an exceptional act by the French of remembrance  and justice.

As Americans, we share with the French a rich history of valuing liberty, justice and democracy. The Statue of Liberty  Americas beacon to the world  was a gift from the French people commemorating the alliance of France and the United States during the American Revolution. Yet the Statue of Liberty was much more than that.

Named Liberty Enlightening the World and similar to the Great Seal of the French Republic, the statue was intended as an international symbol of freedom, justice and democratic governance  and as an inspiration to France and the rest of the globe. In the 1886 dedication, the statues French creator honored the work of late President Abraham Lincoln, the so-called Great Emancipator, and the resounding success of liberty in the United States.

Following World War II, France joined the United States and other Allies in convening the international military tribunal in the Nuremberg trials of major war criminals. A French judge and prosecutor participated in these proceedings. Forty years later, France conducted its first war-crimes prosecution before a domestic tribunal on French soil. The Klaus Barbie trial was the first in a French court on a charge of crimes against humanity.

Sitting among the witnesses and victims of Barbies brutality in the Lyon courtroom, I witnessed the trial. As a federal prosecutor in New York City who had prosecuted criminal cases and had assisted with an extradition of war criminals, I was keenly interested in observing one of the first major war-crimes trials since Nuremberg  perhaps, I thought, one of the last of the World War II war-crimes trials.

The crimes for which 73-year-old Barbie was tried and convicted included the deportation, persecution and torture of 730 Jews and members of the French Resistance during the German occupation of Lyon. He was charged specifically with the deportation of Jews in a Gestapo raid in February 1943; the train transportation of 650 Jews and members of the Resistance to concentration camps in Germany and Poland; the arrest, torture and execution of famed French Resistance leader Jean Moulin; and the notorious seizure and deportation of children of an orphanage in Izieu, a village 40 miles east of Lyon.

These crimes occurred between 1942 and 1944 when Barbie was head of the Gestapo in the Lyon region. After the war, he became a fugitive living under an assumed name in Bolivia for more than 30 years. As the Cold War heated up, Barbie was able to escape detection and extradition by serving as an informant reporting on Soviet activities in Germany and France for American intelligence agents.

In 1983, in a report of its investigation into the Barbie affair, the U.S. Department of Justice acknowledged its role in shielding and concealing Barbie and in delaying justice. The U.S. government formally apologized to France for contributing to the delay in extradition. The French courts had tried Barbie twice in absentia. Barbie was expelled from Bolivia to France for the long-awaited trial to face justice in person.

For me, the story of the children of Izieu was the heart of the trial. It came to symbolize the brutality of the Nazis and contributed to Barbies reputation as a torturer and murderer, earning him the sobriquet of the Butcher of Lyon. The remote hilltop village of Izieu overlooked the Rhone River between Lyon and Chambery in central France. The orphanage  which I visited  was modest and seemed so very peaceful, surely distant from anything that could be of interest or concern to the Nazis.

The Izieu home had been founded as a refuge for Jewish children whose parents were killed or in concentration camps. Izieu was thought sufficiently remote to be a safe place for Jewish children. The home was founded by Sabine Zlatin, a Polish woman who emigrated to France and was trained by the Red Cross when the war broke out. Wanting to help Jewish women and children, Zlatin began work at the Oeuvre de secours aux enfants (OSE), a French Jewish humanitarian organization that saved and aided hundreds of mainly Jewish refugee children from France and other Western European countries. The home, part of the OSEs network of hiding places, housed 44 children aged 4-17 from France, Belgium, Austria, Algeria, Germany and Poland. Several had arrived there from other safe houses.

In early morning April 6, 1944, as the children were eating their breakfast, Barbie and his men arrived at the home. Under Barbies direction, Nazi soldiers rounded up the children and the seven adults who were in the house, including Madame Zlatins husband, Miron Zlatin, who ran the home with her, and transported them to concentration camps. During the raid, a medical student who took care of the children managed to escape from an upstairs window. But his sister, who was the homes doctor, and his parents and nephew, who all resided at the home, were deported. One child  the only one who was not Jewish  was freed.

Lea Feldblum, a caretaker at the childrens home, survived her deportation to Auschwitz. All of the children and the remainder of the adults who were present that day perished at Auschwitz except for two of the oldest children and Miron Zlatin. They were killed by a firing squad in Estonia.

Later the day of the raid, Barbie sent a telex to the German Office for Jewish Affairs reporting that the childrens home at Izieu was shut down and the occupants transported to camps.

Along with the witnesses, I observed Barbie walk out of the trial on the third day, returning to the courtroom only for the reading of the verdict. But the Izieu raid formed the basis of the most riveting part of the trial, revealing Barbies personal involvement in this barbaric act. I observed and became a witness to the remarkable courage of the witnesses who testified. Madame Zlatin, 80, who had been away from the home scouting for a safer location for the children when the raid occurred, testified against Barbie. She testified to the efforts to disguise the home and to secure identity and ration cards for the children. Lea Feldblum, 69, survived to testify to the childrens arrival at Auschwitz and their fate: that as the children were pushed to the left  to the gas chambers  she was pushed to the right. And survived.

More than any of the other crimes against humanity, Izieu properly defined Barbie as a major war criminal. The verdict of guilty was rendered by nine citizens of Lyon and the sentencing was handled by three judges from the Lyon criminal court. Barbie was sentenced to life imprisonment, dying four years later in 1991.

We need not agree on all things to believe in the ideals of our shared historical paths and memories. Trials serve the ideals of liberty, justice and democracy. Imperfect though they may be, after World War II such trials served to articulate our beliefs in justice at historic moments. Just as the Nuremberg trials established a body of international legal rules and precedents for future development of concepts of international law, the Barbie trial similarly educated and elevated the French response in service of the human conscience.

As Americans, we share with the French these common ideals of liberty, justice and democracy that spurred the Nuremberg trials. Those pivotal trials, in turn, led the French to the path-marking Barbie trial, which occurred just two years before the spirited bicentennial of the French Revolution. May the iconic gift of the Statue of Liberty and such history-making trials enlighten the world.

We should never forget the many victims of atrocities of World War II, including the children of Izieu. Nor should we forget those trials that underscore our commitment to historic principles and deliver justice to the victims. Memory is related to justice. On this Fourth of July, we must remember.
On May 13, 2017, Luis Guevara earned a Bachelor of Business Administration from Tarleton State University after several years of balancing course work with a full-time job. One could say his walk across the stage in Stephenville really began in a small village in Mexico where he was born.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed Senate Bill 4 into law on May 7, six days prior to Luis graduation. The bill, which goes into effect Sept. 1, demands local law enforcement bodies cooperate with and enforce the orders of federal immigration authorities. Additionally, and even more worrisome, the bill gives local law enforcement a green light to question a persons immigration status while being detained.

Entering the country and bypassing inspection by an immigration authority is a misdemeanor and thus a crime. Considering the language and mandates of the bill, lawful citizens with Hispanic surnames, brown skin or who speak Spanish would have to carry proof of citizenship to avoid being detained by a local police officer who finds probable cause that they committed the crime of entering this country illegally. I dont foresee myself having to carry my birth certificate or passport to prove my citizenship, and thats because I have white skin (but privilege doesnt exist, remember?). That my neighbors of color will live under different circumstances is wrong, unjust and unfair.

Luis father, who holds a degree in architecture from a university in Mexico, came to the United States when Luis was a baby. Luis was smuggled in under a false name and met with his family in Waco. His mother worked where she could, picking up night shifts so that she could be home to take Luis and his brother to school. His father demonstrated his expertise in architecture by working for a construction company. My dad knew the most I could ever hope to be in Mexico was a sheep herder, Luis explained. He brought us here because he wanted more for us.

Luis eventually made it to middle school at Carver Academy, where he was helped along by many kind teachers. He remembers earning an award at school (one of many) and wanting to tell his mother about it, but she had already left for work. He decided to tie one end of a rope to his foot and the other end to the door. That way, when his mother returned home in the middle of the night, he would wake up so he could tell her. Sure enough, when his mom opened and closed the door, Luis awoke and shared his exciting news. His mother cried  partly because she was proud of her son and partly because she knew she couldnt make the ceremony. It was almost impossible to take a day off work for even the most important things.

As a law, SB4 will surely do irreparable damage to mixed-status families. But there is another issue we must face as a state and as a nation. The law is bad, but the mindset behind it is worse. The undeniably racist undertone of SB4 will only provoke more caustic attitudes and perceptions of our Hispanic neighbors. Its like knowing you have cancer and then the doctor telling you to smoke cigarettes to ease the anxiety of having cancer.

Luis was unaware he wasnt a citizen of the United States till he was in eighth grade. He describes being in shock over the news he learned only when his parents told him they were taking a trip to the immigration office in San Antonio. They had already saved the hefty fee required for the application with the money they earned from long days and nights of hard work. When he left the office that day, he was a naturalized citizen.

Luis has ambition to run for political office. Ill start with city council, he said. Then Id like to run for governor. If Luis works half as hard at a political campaign as he did on the first half of his life, hes sure to be elected. He has my vote already.

When he graduated, the first stop he made was to the business owners who had given him a job almost 10 years prior. He wanted to take his picture with them, holding his diploma, and tell them thank you.

Luis story isnt the only one of this sort. Each day, thousands of immigrants  documented or not  exemplify the principles that our country has prided itself in since inception: independence, perseverance and hope. Senate Bill 4 will put an undue burden on Luis and people like him. If our neighbors of color will have to carry around birth certificates or citizenship papers, then so should we all.

And I implore us, as a species blessed with the ability to reason, to reconsider the deeply rooted attitudes we might hold about people we may not fully know or understand. Somewhere in this state, there is another Luis Guevara. There is another father and mother diligently cranking away at the work they can find to bring hope to their childrens lives. Our government is foolish to place anything that could be construed as an impediment to this, and I hope we can all one day feel and display gratitude for being in a country so diverse and so magnificent.
Two of Ten Network Holdings' billionaire backers, Lachlan Murdoch and Bruce Gordon, have lodged a proposal to jointly bid for the troubled broadcaster with the competition regulator.

This manoeuvre is banned under current media ownership laws but the move could be in anticipation of potential reform in the coming months.

The move on Tuesday afternoon also makes clear their intentions to end up as the owners of Network Ten, which is currently in voluntary administration with KordaMentha. And receivers PPB Advisory were appointed by the Commonwealth Bank last weekend over a $200 million debt falling due in December.

Mr Murdoch and Mr Gordon, along with fellow shareholder James Packer, recently gave permission for KordaMentha to access a further $30 million from the CBA facility, which the three men have personally guaranteed. But this money is only available until August 31.
Shopping centres will lose tenants to strip shops if they continue to cannibalise their existing tenants by opening rivals nearby, the Franchise Council of Australia says.

Fast food chain SumoSalad recently said it was so angered by the stampede of food stores into shopping centres in recent years that it had put two of its companies into administration in order to force landlord giant Scentre to cut its rent. The two parties are still in discussions.

FCA chair Bruce Billson suggested Australia's $171 billion franchise sector shared SumoSalad's concerns and was irritated the sales figures they must provide to shopping centre landlords were then used to justify opening a similar store nearby.

Mr Billson said there was a "sense that a shopping centre will see a format succeed and then be very welcoming of similar formats".
The Prime Minister appears set to defy conservatives who are pushing for greater influence and representation in the ministry, at least in the short term.

In an interview with Fairfax Media, Mr Turnbull sought to draw a line under the factional infighting and internal divisions that have erupted in the Liberal Party in the last 10 days.

Malcolm Turnbull says he has enough conservatives on his frontbench, and effectively confirmed there will not be a reshuffle over Parliament's mid-winter break.

Asked if he had enough conservatives in his cabinet, Mr Turnbull said "my cabinet reflects all traditions in the Liberal Party and indeed in the National Party. It is a very, very talented and capable cabinet".

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull this week. Credit:AAP

Ahead of his trip to the G20 meeting of world leaders in Hamburg, which will be followed by trips to Paris and London, Mr Turnbull lavished praise on his frontbench.

"The cabinet is doing a great job, it really is ... I run a very traditional cabinet government, I don't know anyone that would argue with that," he said.

"The cabinet system works, it is very collaborative, my ministers are my leading advisors. I give them, they have considerable authority but we make the big decisions collectively, as it should do. It is very traditional, conservative cabinet government, very much in line with the best example of John Howard's day."
Doha: Qatar, in a move that could impact Australia, has announced plans for a steep rise in liquified natural gas production, suggesting it is ready for a protracted dispute with Gulf neighbours.

But the country says it's doing all it can to reach an agreement with four Arab nations. Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Bahrain were due to meet on Wednesday to decide whether to continue sanctions they imposed on Qatar on accusations it was aiding terrorism and courting regional rival Iran. Qatar denies the charges and has submitted to mediator Kuwait replies to 13 demands that the gathering will consider.

Then it mounted what appeared to be a show of strength on Tuesday, when the state-owned Qatar Petroleum announced plans to raise liquefied natural gas capacity by 30 per cent.

The immediate effect of the planned production rise will be to worsen a glut on the LNG market where Australia, the United States and Russia vie.
Following a request by the Vanuatu Customs and Inland Revenue Department as part of the implementation of their Customs modernization programme, the World Customs Organization (WCO) with the financial support of Japanese Customs Cooperation Fund (CCF-Japan), organized a five-day Workshop on the International Convention on the Simplification and Harmonization of Customs Procedures (Revised Kyoto Convention - RKC) in Port Vila from 26 to 30 June 2017. Initially planned for Vanuatu only, the Workshop was extended, upon a specific request from the Oceania Customs Organization (OCO) Secretariat forwarded to the ROCB-AP, to six non-WCO Member OCO Countries (the Cook Islands, the Solomon Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, Kiribati, Nauru, and Tuvalu).

The Workshop benefited for the opening remarks from Mr. Collins Gesa (Deputy Director of Vanuatu Customs and Inland Revenue Department) who laid emphasis on Customs reform and modernization to facilitate and effectively control trade through international standards like the RKC. It brought together nearly twenty managers and executives from the Vanuatu Customs, six OCOs members and the OCO Secretariat. The main objective of the Workshop was to raise the awareness regarding the importance and advantages of the RKC and to conduct a preliminary gap analysis. It was, therefore, an opportunity to give participants a sound grasp of this instrument in order to expedite their countrys accession process, and to effectively prepare and ensure the alignment of their national legislation and eventually implement the Convention as soon as possible. After some introductory presentations by the WCO experts, participants, divided into two sub-groups (one of Vanuatu Customs participants and other of 6 Pacific Islands and the OCO Secretariat), moved on to a comparative analysis of the provisions of the RKC and the national legislation.

In order to achieve the above objectives, two experts from the WCO Secretariat took part in this Workshop as facilitators and shared with participants their knowledge of the RKC and their experiences with regard to a gap analysis of the differences between the RKC and national legislation. During this Workshop, Vanuatu Customs presented, in particular, the outline of Vanuatu Customs modernization plan, the update of Customs Act and regulations as well as progress made by Vanuatu Customs so far in many other areas including the automation with the implementation of ASYCUDA-World. The quality of the discussions through the Workshop highlighted the strong level of interest shown by participants in issues related to the simplification and harmonization of border procedures as well as their preparedness for the accession to and the implementation of the RKC.

This Workshop enjoyed great success and significantly enhanced Vanuatu Customs and other Pacific Islands understanding of the RKC provisions, especially the benefits related to the accession and implementation, the accession process, and the gap analysis. The Workshop was concluded with an indicative action plan for the potential amendment of the national legislations and the roadmap towards the accession to the RKC. With regard to the commitment shown by participants and according to the Deputy Directors as well as OCOs Secretariat representative final remarks during the closing ceremony, it is clear that Vanuatu and OCOs Members will initiate necessary next steps for the completion of their national processes of accession to the RKC according to each Countrys schedule.

Vanuatu Customs and OCOs Secretariat (including participants from the above-listed Pacific Islands) very much appreciated this timely collaboration and expressed their sincere gratitude to the WCO and the ROCB-AP for all its technical assistance and capacity building support and Japan Customs for the financial support. The WCO Secretariat will continue to support Vanuatu Customs as well as these other Pacific Islands in their modernization efforts, and particularly in the process of accession to and implementation of the RKC.
By West Kentucky Star Staff Jul. 04, 2017 | 12:53 PM | LYON COUNTY, KY

Kentucky State Police have arrested 68-year-old Willie G. Holsapple of Paducah on a warrant issued in McCracken County.

Holsapple was taken into custody in Lyon County on Tuesday just after 10:30 am. The warrant was signed on Monday, with a charge of contempt of court, stating defendant to show cause why his bond should not be revoked.

On Sunday, at approximately 10:00 am, Troopers stopped a truck being driven by Holsapple on Highway 93 in Lyon County because Holsapple was not wearing his seatbelt. During the course of the traffic stop, Troopers also discovered Holsapples drivers license was suspended.

At the time of the traffic violations, Holsapple was out on bond for the McCracken Circuit Court charges of second degree manslaughter and unsworn falsification to authorities. Holsapple was arrested in March on a Grand Jury Indictment for these charges following the McCracken County Sheriff Departments investigation into the death of former McCracken County Judge Executive Van Newberry in October of 2016.

Holsapple was lodged in the McCracken County Jail.
By West Kentucky Star Staff Jul. 04, 2017 | 11:15 AM | PADUCAH, KY

A young man riding his skateboard thwarted a robbery late Friday night at a local banks night deposit.

According to the Paducah Police Department, a 20-year-old woman was making a deposit at the night deposit box at Regions Bank on Broadway, when a man ran from Broadway and threatened her with a piece of rebar. The man demanded the woman's money and tried to hit her with the bar.

Police said the two fell to the ground and were struggling when 26-year-old Jason Sesock ran over from the sidewalk and hit the man with his skateboard. Sesock hit the mans arms and the victim grabbed the rebar and hit the would-be robber in the head. The suspect then fled on foot.

The woman sustained an injury to her wrist and was treated at the scene by Mercy Ambulance personnel. Sesock was not injured.

The suspect is described as a white man with shaggy hair, 5-feet-10 and 160 pounds, wearing black shorts and a khaki-colored shirt and no shoes.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Paducah Police Department at 270/444-8550 or Crime Stoppers at 443-TELL.
By Ro Morse, WestKyStar Staff Jul. 04, 2017 | 02:08 PM | PADUCAH, KY

Curtis said, "It's as if magic happens on holiday mornings. The flags just appear. We are very proud to display our American flags and support Troop 1. When these are removed tonight at sunset, we all have a smaller flag attached to our mailboxes. We love our country and are proud to show that throughout the year."







The 3 X 5 American flags are on a 10 pole. The flags are placed in yards by a Boy Scout for each of these holidays:

February  Presidents Day

May  Memorial Day

June  Flag Day

4th of July

September  Labor Day

September 11

November  Veterans Day



Enjoy flying the colors effortlessly. The flag is raised and retired by a Boy Scout in uniform and with a salute to old glory  all for just a year's subscription of $50 for a new participant or $40 for a renewal. Installation of a reusable sleeve to hold your flag pole is included.



Flag subscribers on the Dogwood Trail will receive a weeklong flag posting during the Dogwood Trail mid-April (if the subscriber can light the flag at night).



For questions or to order your flag as part of the Boy Scout Troop 1 Holiday Flag Fundraiser, email fowlplay12@yahoo.com

When the sun came up July 4th, Boy Scout Troop 1 was out placing flags in hundreds of lawns around Paducah, part of its Holiday Flag fundraising program.Last year Linda Curtis was asked by her youth pastor, Jamey Boone, to take part in his son Jeremiah's scout project. She wanted to support Jeremiah so she and her husband David agreed. A year later, with encouragement by her, their neighbors along Hill Terrace are all part of the program.Curtis was already placing small American flags on the mailbox poles to honor a neighbor who was a Veteran. She was inspired to display the small flags when she saw her neighbor who had a small American flag on her mailbox to honor her husband. Curtis loved the idea, and with her enthusiasm, neighbors agreed to display the small flags. The large flags flying on holidays were a welcome addition to show the neighborhood's patriotism and appreciation of our freedoms.

On the Net:
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 03/07/2017 (1957 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

After a harrowing three-year journey from Ghana to Brazil, Peru, Ecuador, Panama, Mexico, the U.S. and then Winnipeg, in the end, Mohammed Antwi got to call Canada home  but not the way hed wanted.

The stomach pains his fellow asylum seekers assumed were stress-related stomach ulcers turned out to be liver cancer. The 48-year-old mechanic from Ghana died on Canada Day at St. Boniface Hospital.

He was a good person, said his close friend Zurekanani Adams in Winnipeg. He was an elder in our group.

FACEBOOK Mohammed Antwi, 48, died of liver cancer.

Antwi was part of a large group of Ghanaian refugee claimants who arrived in late November and shared an apartment in Winnipeg with Adams and Ahmed Osaa, whose refugee claim was recently accepted.

He was a good, God-fearing person who liked to socialize and was open to people, said Osaa. He always wanted to learn about people. He was accepting and very, very friendly.

The Ghanaians walked over the border on Nov. 26 and Nov. 27 after they were all dropped off several kilometres from the Canadian border and walked for nearly seven hours to get to Emerson, where they were intercepted by the RCMP. At the time, none of the asylum seekers knew Antwi was terminally ill, said Osaa.

We laughed at him  how he carried his bag and would fall down and get up and fall down and get up again, he said.

When they arrived in Winnipeg and applied for refugee status, they shared a place together, and Antwi told Osaa he would often get pains in his stomach when he ate.

We all think its a stomach ulcer from stress, said Osaa, recalling how they thought Antwi would be OK if he avoided spicy foods.

The diagnosis of liver cancer came after Jan. 4, when they went for medical checkups required to obtain work permits, said Adams, who is related to Antwi through marriage. Antwis blood test showed he had cancer, Adams said. He figures Antwi, who was vomiting blood in 2014 when they were both held in a U.S. immigration detention centre in Arizona, was likely diagnosed there but never received any treatment other than medication for the pain. Antwi didnt discuss his illness at the time, said Adams.

Antwi was a heavy-duty mechanic who owned Superior Motors in the Ghanaian town of Abogbloshie that repaired industrial trucks. When fire ripped though his uninsured shop in 2011 and destroyed several customers vehicles, he was a wanted man, those familiar with his refugee claim said. He worked abroad for a year as a mechanic at Camp Dwyer, a U.S. Marine Corps base in Afghanistan, to try to make enough money to compensate his angry customers, who were also uninsured. When he returned to Ghana in 2012, it still wasnt safe for him, so he left for Brazil and made his way over land through South and Central America to Mexico and then the U.S.

His refugee claim was rejected in the U.S. by an immigration court judge in 2014 who said Antwi didnt prove he would be persecuted if he was returned to Ghana. He was released from detention, and his case was handed over to Homeland Security for eventual removal from the U.S. The next time Adams met Antwi was in New York in 2016.

He seemed OK, said Adams. He didnt seem sick. In photos on his Facebook page, a smiling Antwi is seen with photos of skyscrapers in the Big Apple. That was before the two men travelled to Minnesota by bus for the journey to Grand Forks, then walked to Canada.

In Canada, the Immigration and Refugee Board rejected Antwis asylum claim. He was appealing that decision on the grounds his life would be endangered if he was returned to Ghana and that he wouldnt receive the protection of the state, said his lawyer, Bashir Khan.

Before his appeal could be heard, Antwi was vomiting blood again and taken to St. Boniface Hospital, said Adams.

He was there for nearly three months, said Maggie Yeboah, president of the Ghanaian Union of Manitoba. She knew Antwi from the day he arrived in Canada until the day before he died.

Hes one of the boys  I helped to find him a place, Yeboah said Monday. She and others in the Ghanaian community have rallied to help the asylum seekers. They keep calling me their mom in Winnipeg,' said Yeboah, who struggled to talk about Antwis passing.

Since he got sick Ive been going to visit him at St. Boniface, said Yeboah, who has been to his bedside at least twice a week since Antwi was hospitalized. Shes seen his condition worsen. I told the boys they need to be going over there, Yeboah recalled.

Osaa said Antwi didnt have the strength to speak when he visited him June 24, so he read aloud from the Quran for the dying man. Adams said he last visited his friend on Friday and prayed for him. Antwi has been prayed over by members of his Muslim faith as well as Christians.

On Wednesday, Yeboah arranged for her church prayer group to meet her at the hospital, where they prayed for Antwi. Then, on Friday night, she visited him again for the last time. On Saturday, she found out he had died.

Toward the end of his life, Antwi was treated with kindness and dignity, his friends say.

He had many doctors study him, said Adams. They were giving him good care. Osaa said he believes Antwi would have suffered and gone untreated if hed stayed in the U.S.

Antwis funeral is at 2 p.m. Wednesday at Mosaic funeral home at 1006 Nairn Ave., with burial at the Muslim Cemetery inside the Transcona Cemetery, said Adams. He is survived by his parents and four children in Ghana, the oldest of whom is 20.

He loved his family, and he loved Canada and one day wanted to see his family here, Adams said.

carol.sanders@freepress.ca
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 04/07/2017 (1956 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A civic committee authorized the administration Tuesday to develop a plan that could see the redevelopment or demolition of the Public Safety Building and civic centre parkade.

Councillors on the property and development committee approved spending up to $400,000 for design services and estimates for the redevelopment of the two properties.

Were going to get those clearer numbers now, thats the whole point, said committee chairman Coun. John Orlikow. We knew it was going to be a big number but now well get the actual number.

BORIS MINKEVICH / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES The cost to demolish the Public Safety Building could be as much as $9 million, according to an administration report.

The administration report disclosed for the first time that the cost to demolish the PSB could be as much as $9 million. Previous reports cited only the cost of demolishing the parkade, at $1.8 million.

Planning director John Kiernan told the committee the potential cost for the demolition of the PSB had been included in an earlier released consultants report but that the information had not been presented in an easy-to-understand manner.

The consultants report found the PSB to be structurally sound but estimated refurbishing the interior would cost $60 million  a figure disputed by various groups hoping to save the building.

The PSB was headquarters for Winnipeg police for more than 50 years. The Winnipeg Police Service moved into the former Graham Avenue Canada Post warehouse in 2016.

The civic centre parkade was closed in 2012 because of structural concerns.

Preparation for the redevelopment of the two properties is dependent on the outcome of a CentreVenture initiative for the 2.4-acre area.

The city appears divided on how to redevelop the property. The land the PSB was built on was gifted to city hall in 1875 with the caveat the property be used for public purposes, which prevents it from being sold to private developers. Heritage proponents want the PSB saved for its historical architectural value and redeveloped for other civic purposes, while others claim its brutalist design is simply ugly and should be demolished. Mayor Brian Bowman said he favours demolishing the building and replacing it with public green space.

Coun. Jeff Browaty said the disclosure of the $9-million estimate to demolish the PSB should prompt council to reconsider demolition.

Orlikow said any talk of demolishing the PSB is premature; part of the building is still used by police. While it would be expensive, its still possible city hall might decide to keep the building for another civic departments use.

aldo.santin@freepress.mb.ca
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 04/07/2017 (1956 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A labour coalition representing more than 110,000 public-sector workers has sued the provincial government in Court of Queens Bench over its wage-control Bill 28.

The coalition is also seeking an injunction to prevent Premier Brian Pallisters government from proclaiming Bill 28 into law.

Manitoba Federation of Labour president Kevin Rebeck told reporters the legal actions were filed Tuesday but he had no idea when the case would get to a courtroom.

JOHN WOODS / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES Manitoba Federation of Labour President Kevin Rebeck says Bill 28 is unconstitutional and interferes with workers' rights to free collective bargaining.

We recognize it takes some time, he said.

The coalition contends that Bill 28  officially the Public Services Sustainability Act  is unconstitutional and interferes with workers rights to free collective bargaining.

The legislature has passed the bill, but cabinet has not yet proclaimed it into law.

Late Tuesday afternoon, the Pallister government fired back, accusing labour of creating an unfortunate distraction from most Manitobans real priorities.

Bill 28 dictates that in their next collective bargaining agreement, workers salary and benefits will be frozen in the first two years, increase .75 per cent the third year and one per cent the fourth year.

The collective bargaining agreements of about 30,000 health-care workers and the University of Manitoba Faculty Association expired March 31. Rebeck said bargaining so far has been slow, and employers are refusing to put anything on the table beyond what Bill 28 would allow.

He said that the coalition represents 25 unions covered by the bill. The only affected public employees who are not part of the coalition are doctors.

Rebeck said that Finance Minister Cameron Friesen was the only politician to meet with labour representatives  once in January  in four sessions with provincial officials.

We havent met with a decision-maker (since), he said, adding the labour reps presented practical ideas and proposals to control spending, but based on the governments failure to respond, its clear the plan was already in place.

But the government is still asking labour to work collaboratively to find solutions, said Olivia Billson, a spokeswoman for Friesen.

For far too long under the previous NDP administration, expenditure growth dramatically outpaced revenue growth. If we continued down that path, our deficit would reach $1.7 billion by 2019, she said. Deficits of that magnitude threaten the provinces ability to sustain the front-line services Manitoba families depend on. Thats why our government continues to ask for all hands on deck as we address these serious inherited challenges.

Responsibly bending the cost curve and moving back towards balance will require new approaches across the entire broader public sector.

Rebeck didnt say whether labour has any legal precedents of similar circumstances to take to court. We believe we have a strong case, he said.

The 46-page statement of claim pays particular attention to bargaining last fall between UMFA and the University of Manitoba. It cites evidence from a Manitoba Labour Board hearing on the provinces imposition of a one-year wage freeze and a directive to the university not to share that information with the bargaining unit.

The lawsuit alleges: The (act) unilaterally removes the rights of the plaintiff unions to engage in a process of good faith collective bargaining with the defendant and with other public-sector employers with whom they have collective agreements

The document argues Section 7 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms protects employees interest in not being forced to work under terms and conditions of employment which are coerced, dictated and imposed by the state.

nick.martin@freepress.mb.ca
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 04/07/2017 (1956 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A new poll shows the Progressive Conservative governments prescription of closing three emergency rooms in Winnipeg is a bitter pill to swallow.

A Probe Research poll, commissioned by the Manitoba Government and General Employees Union, found only 27 per cent of Winnipeggers agree with the changes announced in April by the government.

The poll also shows 60 per cent of Winnipeggers, or three in five, believe the changes will make wait times in emergency rooms increase, and only 16 per cent believe the city has too many emergency rooms.

JOHN WOODS / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Concordia ER is being converted to an Urgent Care facility.

MGEU president Michelle Gawronsky said shes not surprised by the polls findings.

It reverberates totally with what weve been saying all along, Gawronsky said Monday. It isnt a surprise to us. It is the confirmation.

All Canada Day, people were coming up to me and thanking me for speaking out against the reforms. Manitobans understand how important ERs and hospitals are to them.

I dont think they (the government) know what Manitobans are feeling.

In April, Health Minister Kelvin Goertzen announced Seven Oaks, Victoria and Concordia hospitals were losing their emergency rooms, with 24-hour urgent care centres opening at Seven Oaks and Victoria.

Goertzen also announced the closure of Misericordia Health Centres urgent care clinic, with the space to be used for intravenous therapy, and said Health Sciences Centre, St. Boniface Hospital and Grace Hospital would continue to offer full ER and surgical services.

The changes are based on recommendations in a report commissioned by the former NDP government that concluded the city could make do with fewer emergency rooms because Vancouver, Calgary and Ottawa had fewer ERs per capita yet had shorter wait times.

Since then, union members, health-care professionals and Winnipeggers have held rallies objecting to the changes outside the targeted facilities.

Winnipeg has more emergency rooms than bigger cities such as Vancouver and Calgary and yet our wait times are longer because our health human resources are spread too thinly across the system, Goertzen said in a statement to the Free Press.

The vast majority of Winnipegers believe emergency room wait times are too long and change is needed. The best way to act upon that is to follow the advice of experts and research, and by doing that we look forward to improving health care for all Manitobans.

Other findings of the poll include that women, at 68 per cent, are more likely to believe wait times will be longer compared with 52 per cent of men, and are also, at 59 per cent compared with 49 per cent of men, more opposed to the ER changes.

A majority of both NDP supporters, at 80 per cent, and Tory supporters, at 60 per cent, dont think Winnipeg has too many ERs.

In the northeast area of Winnipeg, where Concordia Hospital is located, 60 per cent of the people polled who live there say they strongly agree ER wait times will increase, while 52 per cent strongly disagree with the reforms.

Gawronsky said the poll will help the union as it continues to argue against the proposals.

Were not saying no changes should be done, she said.

Were saying slow down, take a breath and listen to people. They ran on a platform saying they would protect services to Manitobans, but it just seems every announcement is for a drastic cut.

Sandi Mowat, president of the Manitoba Nurses Union, said shes also not surprised about the results of the poll.

People say this to me all the time, Mowat said.

Im concerned about Misericordia. It has very significant numbers and low wait times. Were very concerned where these people are going to go. We know a little over 25 per cent of the people who go there are from the Wolseley area itself and walk there. Many of them dont have money for a cab they will walk to the Health Sciences Centres ER.

NDP health critic Matt Wiebe said the poll mirrors what people have been telling him, whether in person, through 6,000-plus names on a petition or from health professionals on the front lines of health care.

People say it defies common sense to close ERs and have shorter wait times, Wiebe said.

I think this is a time for the government to listen to patients and front-line workers. I think there is still an opportunity to reverse the changes.

I hope its not too late to change their minds.

kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 04/07/2017 (1956 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Misericordias urgent care centre will close overnight starting Wednesday, but the facility says anyone with urgent eye issues will be able to access care around the clock.

Patients who need eye care overnight are asked to use the Misericordia entrance at 99 Cornish Ave., where they will be seen, assessed and treated  the on-call ophthalmologist summoned, if necessary.

Dr. Lorne Bellan, an ophthalmology surgeon at Misericordia, characterized Tuesdays announcement as the initial step in figuring out the best way to ensure long-term access to Misericordias eye-care services after its urgent care centre permanently closes in October.

JUSTIN SAMANSKI-LANGILLE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Misericordia's Buhler Eye Care Centre is the largest surgical and treatment program for eye care in Western Canada.

Theres still some element of flux, Bellan said, explaining why Misericordia and the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority sent out a press release this week reiterating the 24-7 availability of eye care despite overnight closures.

The hospital would like to have this be the start of what will be potentially a permanent solution, he said. Misericordia would like to still have all eye patients see Misericordia as the first place to turn.

To facilitate that, Bellan said the centre hopes some funding will flow to the facility.

Misericordias Buhler Eye Care Centre bills itself as the largest surgical and treatment program for eye care in Western Canada, with more than two dozen staff ophthalmologists providing care Manitoba residents as well as patients from northern Ontario, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut.

Since the government announced the planned closure of Misericordias urgent care centre in the spring, the Eye Physicians and Surgeons of Manitoba (EPSOM) has raised concerns about patient safety.

EPSOM is still hoping for an opportunity to speak directly with the WRHA, its chair Dr. Jennifer Rahman said Tuesday.

Rahman said EPSOM wants to make sure that the long-term plan is something that we have input in and are consulted about to achieve the best care for our patients.

Until that time, patients needing eye care can still get it at any time at Misericordia. Between 7:30 a.m. and 8 p.m., patients should report to the urgent care centre. After 8 p.m., they will need to enter on Cornish Avenue.

jane.gerster@freepress.mb.ca
Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 04/07/2017 (1956 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

If you have nothing to hide, then you have nothing to fear.

That is a great quotation, although the interpretation varies quite a bit, as do theories on its exact origin. It has been attributed, at one time or another, to George Orwell, Joseph Goebbels and Upton Sinclair. Most etymologists acknowledge the sentiment expressed is much older than the exact wording.

Regardless of origin, it certainly could be offered as friendly advice to the current provincial government, which is putting in a rather heroic effort to convince its citizens it has something to hide.

WAYNE GLOWACKI / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Premier Brian Pallister does himself no favours by participating in and often encouraging a culture of secrecy.

Pallister is not alone in this regard; most politicians embrace transparency and openness as virtues when trying to curry favour with voters but almost always shun them once they have obtained power. For example, in its annual audit of freedom of information policies, Newspapers Canada assigned the Selinger government a C grade in its last year for an unwillingness to provide basic government information.

Still, some of the Progressive Conservative governments acts of opaqueness have been particularly maddening, such as its refusal to release two value-for-money audits of government services.

The audits, conducted by accounting firm KPMG, were to reveal opportunities for cost-savings and efficiencies that would help the government offer the same or better services at less cost. Premier Brian Pallister promised the audits would be released fully to the public.

Within months of taking office, that commitment began to unravel and the Tories were forced to admit none of the audits would be released.

The audits couldnt be released, we were told, because the consultant retained ownership of the results. That was shown to be a lie when details from the original tender showed the province  and not the consultant  controlled the final reports.

Then, the government claimed the audits couldnt be released because they constituted advice to cabinet, a broad trump card used to conceal government information. In fact, advice to cabinet can be released at any time. The could not was really a would not. Thats a big difference.

Why all the secrecy?

Its possible the audits contain radical measures that are too bold and controversial for the Tory government to even consider. Even if Pallister rejected the more extreme recommendations, the opposition could use the audits to fearmonger if they were fully released.

The second possibility is the audits did not find nearly as much waste as Pallister had claimed. That would be extremely embarrassing for a premier who seems happiest when he is accusing the NDP of having run a government of reckless waste and excess.

However, there are also consequences from not releasing them. This is where the nothing-to-hide, nothing-to-fear equation comes into play.

Not releasing the audits, but admitting you are relying on them for big policy decisions, can undermine otherwise worthy ideas and initiatives.

For example, consider the recent unveiling of Shared Health Services Manitoba, a new agency that will provide centralized procurement and management of ambulance services, diagnostic imaging and provincial laboratories for the provinces regional health authorities. The new agency also will take over the responsibility of negotiating contracts with unionized health-care workers.

Health Minister Kelvin Goertzen said the decision to create Shared Health Services was based on a report from Dr. David Peachey  the consultant hired by the former NDP government who recommended the reorganization of Winnipeg emergency rooms  and the KPMG value-for-money audit. That admission triggered a flurry of hysterical allegations from the NDP opposition and from health-care unions that this was a thinly veiled bid to cut back on core health services.

There is every reason to believe that if the province released the KPMG audit  or even just the section that contained a recommendation for a centralized shared services agency  it could have defused a lot of that criticism. In fact, there is very little evidence there are sinister intentions at work here.

The centralized shared services model is already at work in many other provinces: Health Shared Services BC, Shared Services Saskatchewan (3sHealth), the Health Shared Services Organization in Newfoundland and Labrador, and Health Shared Services in Ontario. All of these agencies have mission statements and mandates that are nearly identical to the new agency in Manitoba.

There isnt much news in those provinces about the centralized agencies. That could indicate it is a better overall approach to managing health care.

Or, it could mean the relationship between staff, facilities, regional authorities and the centralized agencies is so complex, nobody can figure out if its better or worse than what existed before.

Either way, by not providing a more complete rationale for this decision  which should have included the audit  the Tories created an information vacuum in which critics were free to raise all kinds of scary scenarios.

It deserves to be said the release of the audit would not have ensured smooth sailing.

The province released huge portions of Peacheys report on the reorganization of Winnipeg emergency rooms and it did little to slow the roll of the NDP and health-care unions, which have condemned the decision with histrionic flair.

However, citizens who take the time to read Peacheys report will see there is a clear rationale for the ER closures, based largely on the experience of other, larger cities that perform much better on wait times.

You dont have to agree with what the Tories are doing, but at least you know exactly why the government is doing it.

On Shared Health Services and a rash of other files, Pallister appears content to let people think he has something to hide. That is enough to give many Manitobans something to fear.

dan.lett@freepress.mb.ca
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 04/07/2017 (1956 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Manitobas Progressive Conservative government has issued a request for proposals to select a consultant to help develop partnerships with the private sector to fund social programs.

The PCs promised the establishment of social impact bonds during the 2016 election campaign.

Family Services Minister Scott Fielding said the government is creating a new channel for philanthropy it hopes will help solve costly, complex social issues and benefit the broader community.

JUSTIN SAMANSKI-LANGILLE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES Family Services Minister Scott Fielding says money from social impact bonds will be used to work alongside current programs, not replace them.

Social impact bonds are a new tool to tap into Manitobas potential to find creative solutions and foster new business, social and community partnerships, he said in a statement.

Fielding sought to allay concerns the government would be farming out existing programs to the private sector.

I want to be very clear. This is about building on current social service programming. SIBs will support and work alongside current programs, but do not replace them. They are one tool in the toolbox, he said.

Social impact bonds encourage the private sector and community groups to partner with government to deliver prevention programs designed by experts and front-line service organizations, the province said in a news release. The government sets specific goals in collaboration with service providers, secures private investment and repays investors only if the service provider meets the projects outcome.

The province is now requesting proposals from qualified professional consultants to provide expertise and mediation between the government, social service providers and investors.

The consultant would recommend an innovative proposal for a landmark SIB, develop a contract with outcome targets and evaluation criteria, develop a framework for future proposals and help build government ability to manage projects, according to the press release.

Jeff Wharton, chairman of the provinces Social Impact Bond Committee, said SIBs find a way to use private capital for the public good.

While traditional government programs may be funded regardless of whether they are working, SIBs would only receive tax dollars based on success. This type of innovation will give Manitobans better value for their money and provides an efficient addition to current funding, not a replacement, he said.

Hundreds of SIB initiatives are underway around the world but are still emerging in Canada, Wharton said. One partnership in Saskatchewan created a support home for single mothers and is expected to save that province up to $1.5 million over five years by reducing the number of children in government care.

In Manitoba, the use of social impact bonds could be used by the Families and Justice departments to find new ways to reduce the number of children in care and reduce the rate of re-offenders in the criminal justice system, the government suggested.
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 03/07/2017 (1957 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

BIRDS HILL PROVINCIAL PARK  The province has no plans to increase funding for educating newcomers on beach and water safety, and that has some Manitobans worried.

They should address that, said Vikram Brar from the sand of Birds Hill Provincial Park beach Monday. Last year, three newcomers drowned at Manitobas provincial parks in August.

The English-as-a-second-language course offers beach and water information to people in the class. Newcomers who dont take the course dont receive formal water education  and its not something they always think about when they first move here.

When I first came here, I was on a working visa, so I wasnt aware of any of that, said Grace Glendenning, who arrived in Canada in 2005. She watched two of her kids splash in the shallow water at the park from a nearby blanket Monday.

The Free Press spoke to four other immigrants who were at Birds Hill Provincial Park, and all said they received no beach safety education.

Nothing, said Simran Bhullar, who came to Canada to study nursing and hopes to stay. Bhullar said swimming isnt popular where shes from in India.

Glendenning and others also think a lifeguard would benefit the beaches at provincial parks, which have beach safety officers instead. The officers educate people, provide rescue efforts and do minor first aid but do not actively monitor the water. The exception is at Birds Hill, where beach officers do limited patrol for the lake.

I definitely think more lifeguards on the beach. It should be the first priority, said Bhullar.

JOHN WOODS / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Drayton and Noah Glendenning splash their mum Grace at Birds Hill Park beach Monday.

Of the deaths by drowning, fewer than one per cent happened in an area that was under lifeguard supervision, a report from the Lifesaving Societys provincial branch states.

The report also showed the rate of children under four who drown is highest in Manitoba when compared with other provinces.

Some beach-goers called for an implementation of the provincial Beach Safety Programs basic premise  that all individuals are responsible for themselves, their families and affiliated groups.

I think its up to the parents to keep an eye on their kids, said Anastacia Bagayoko, another long weekend beach-goer.

Someone from Bagayokos friend group will go with the kids when theyre in the water  something beach safety officers sometimes tell people is mandatory. Its a part of the education the officers provide.

Cathy Cox, the provinces sustainable development minister, said there will be updated brochures and better signage to guide newcomers.

The green-and-white sign that stood near the back of the beach Monday was rarely acknowledged by passersby Monday afternoon. It states the duties of the beach officers, four beach rules (swim in marked areas, and no disruptive behaviour, alcohol or dogs) and the meanings of colours for flags indicating lake condition.

JOHN WOODS / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Beach safety officer walks the beach at Birds Hill Park beach Monday.

At the top left, the sign states: Lifeguard service not provided.

Bhullar and Brar admitted they didnt notice the sign when they came in.

What was hard to miss was an unattended kiosk of colourful life-jackets. The honours-system kiosk allows people to use its 75 jackets for free. Glendenning was surprised to see something like that.

Its a really, really good idea, she said.

Cathy and Christine Mason used the kiosk Monday after forgetting the kids life-jackets at home.

We think its awesome, said Christine.

The province plans to increase the number of life-jackets available.

There remains a contrast in the practices of beach-goers. While some elementary-aged kids swam by themselves at Bird Hills Park, seven-year-old Allana Mason swam within arms reach of her relatives.

She later recited what shed do if she ever fell into deep water: Float (on my) back.

Would you have to panic and kick your feet? asked Christine.

No, she answered.

stefanie.lasuik@freepress.mb.ca
For almost a year, they didnt speak of it.

JamieAnn and Peggy Meyers did not discuss the seismic admission that JamieAnn had made one evening in November 2004  that she was transgender and had been grappling with her gender identity for most of her life.

I had no clue, no idea and was not expecting that, said Peggy, who married JamieAnn in 1966, when she was going by Jim. Once in a while, youd hear about someone coming out, but it wasnt something that was on my radar. I thought that, if we didnt talk about it, it might just go away.

They had originally planned to talk, but on the night they agreed upon, JamieAnns brother-in-law called to say that Ann, JamieAnns younger sister, was in the hospital. It was bad.

Anns family lived in Pennsylvania, not far from the small towns where she and JamieAnn had grown up. JamieAnn and Peggy couldnt get a flight until morning, and in the dim hours before dawn, Ann passed away.

They spent a week out East, visiting and grieving with their extended family. By the time they got back to Winona, the time for talking had passed.

I knew it was hurtful to Peggy, and I was in deep mourning for a long time for my sister, JamieAnn said. After a while, I didnt know how to approach it again. I didnt know where to turn.

Quiet months passed.

JamieAnns thoughts returned to suicide.

In October 2005, JamieAnn went to Peggy and said that, if she didnt get help, she would probably wind up dead. Peggy agreed to seek counseling.

They met with therapists individually and as a couple. JamieAnn loved it. Peggy hated it. But they each credit those sessions  they went for seven years  for helping save their marriage.

JamieAnn, finally able to embrace herself, started living more freely as a woman.

Online, she connected with other transgender women and made plans to meet them.

In Milwaukee, one winter night with her new friends, JamieAnn stepped out of a van and felt, for the first time, the wind rush up her skirt.

The first Saturday of each month, she and her friends started going to a bar in Madison, Inferno, whose predominantly goth crowd wasnt the kind to judge.

JamieAnn felt as if people were finally seeing her. The urge to drink, the need to control Peggy, melted away.

But very few people knew of her identity. She was still presenting as Jim in Winona.

JamieAnn desperately wanted to tell their two children, who were living in the Twin Cities. Peggy wanted to wait as long as they could.

I knew how hard it was for me, Peggy said. I wanted to protect the kids. No matter how old they get, you always protect your kids.

But years of visiting them, of reverting to Jim, began to wear on JamieAnn.

In November 2008, she decided to tell them the truth.

JamieAnn told her children that shed been suppressing her gender identity, that she was already presenting as a woman when she could, and, lastly, that they could always call her Dad.

Their daughter understood and said they could work through it.

Their son was more shaken and resistant. He said he needed more time.

That was OK, JamieAnn told him  they had time.

JamieAnns social transition coincided with her phased retirement from Winona State University, where she taught geology, and she was off in the spring of 2009.

That February, JamieAnn moved to the Twin Cities to take care of her daughters newborn son, her third grandchild.

She spent her days feeding the tiny boy, playing with him, singing him to sleep.

Sometimes, JamieAnn would buckle her grandson into a car seat and drive to the Mall of America. She would push the boys stroller around the mall, looking into the different shops, studying the faces of strangers. By this time, she was presenting as a woman every day and everywhere.

It was a real interesting place to watch people, to test yourself, JamieAnn said. As someone undergoing a gender transition, she took delight in being treated as just another grandmother looking after her grandson.

Peggy spent those months with her thoughts.

If she had been younger, or if JamieAnn had transitioned faster, Peggy probably would have ended the marriage, she said.

More than anything, she missed having a masculine presence in her life  a reason to shop in the mens department, a partner to dance with during slow songs.

She still misses those things, she said.

You (think you) marry a man, and that man becomes a woman, she said. I needed time. I needed to think things through. Those first few years, I was in shock. I look back and wonder how I was able to function. I wonder how I did my work and everything.

There was no sentimental moment when she decided, once and for all, to stay.

Instead, she said, it was like gravity. She realized over weeks and months that she couldnt leave JamieAnn. Their lives were so entwined, so knotted together by that point, that it seemed impossible to untie them.

Not all of their relationships were so strong.

When JamieAnn moved back to Winona in May 2009, she wrote a letter to her friends and neighbors, explaining her gender transition.

A few wrote back in support. Others had reservations. Peggys best friend of 30 years took it worst of all  she wanted nothing to do with Peggy and JamieAnn.

I didnt think she would have a problem with it, Peggy said. But she did.

JamieAnn and Peggy learned to discard certain relationships, to part ways with people who had no interest in understanding their lives.

They had other things to worry about.

JamieAnn would soon be returning to work, to the classroom. And this time, she was coming as herself.
Retail theft  Friday at 12:55 p.m., someone was cited with retail theft in the 1800 block of North Spring Street.

Hit and run  Friday at 2:24 p.m., a vehicle was struck in the 100 block of Monroe Street.

Disorderly conduct  Friday at 4:18 p.m., a man reported that a woman was swearing and flipping him the bird near the Center Street and Maple Avenue intersection.

Drugs  Friday at 5:47 p.m., a property owner found drug paraphernalia in the 100 block of DeClark Street.

Disorderly conduct  Friday at 6:47 p.m., a mother reported that a 12-year-old daughter punched her and threatened other family members in the 900 block of West Street. She left on a bicycle. She was later counseled.

Disorderly conduct  Friday at 10:50 p.m., a woman was screaming and the caller could her glass breaking in the 400 block of West Maple Avenue.

Disorderly conduct  Saturday at 1:23 p.m., a man was beating up a sign in the 200 block of Beaver Street.

Vandalism  Saturday at 10:25 a.m., someone told police that sugar was put in the gas tank of a vehicle in the 400 block of South University Avenue.

Retail theft  Saturday at 12:14 p.m., merchandise was stolen from Walgreens, 607 Park Ave.
Be pioneers of African heritage restoration

Music icon Hugh Masekela tells graduands to "go out there and kick some booty.

Wits University today conferred on honorary Doctor of Music degree on Bra Hugh Masekela in the Great Hall, the same stage where he performed as a 19-year-old member of the orchestra in the opening concert of Todd Matshikizas landmark jazz opera King Kong.

I am deeply honoured and honesty humbled, Masekela said in his acceptance speech.

He implored graduands to become the new pioneers of African heritage restoration at a time when we seem to be leaning on the brink of being wholly swallowed by most Western culture and several Middle Eastern and Eastern civilizations to the exclusion of our own traditions.

Masekela says there are innumerable alarming reasons that African society needs to heed for the revival of African heritage restoration, such as the gradual demise of the mother tongue in almost all African countries. A decade or two from now, African society will be the first in human history to have abandoned its native tongues in preference to those manipulated by colonial rule if we do not soon reinstitute our own languages back into our homes, schools and social interaction with each other.

He told graduands to learn and teach our own history instead of the European education that still consumes us  something that has left us convinced that our heritage is backward, savage, pagan, primitive, barbaric and uncivilized.

We have long relegated our magnificent vernacular literature to the dust and insect-infested floors of crumbling old warehouses in favour of imported writings, hip hop, rap and other forms of trending fashions that distance us as far as possible from our rich traditional legacy.

We need to study, learn, and teach our traditional music, dance, oral literature and more in our own academies and future educational institutions where we can revive and redevelop what has been lost from the positive content of our glorious history without abandoning the best of what the West has brought to our otherwise void-encrusted lives, he said.

Masekela also called for a return to the trader society, the great manufacturing civilization Africa once was, and to cease being consumer fodder.

The time is now for Africans to rediscover and regenerate the existing wealth of their artisanship and original design talents and skills so that we can begin to manufacture furniture, linens, cutlery, crockery, bedding, clothing, interior decor materials and fabrics and other household goods for retail and export not exclusive of traditional architecture and construction to replace the frenzied purchase of commodities from other lands.

Go out there and kick some booty, he said resulting in a thundering applause from graduands.

Citation

Hugh Ramopolo Masekela, elder statesman of South African jazz and popular music, was born in 1939 in Kwaguqa in the then Witbank. It was there that he has recalled being exposed to the stories told by migrant mine workers as they longed for home, and which were later to be articulated in one of his signature compositions, Stimela.

Both of his parents were social workers, and his father had ambitions as an artist, sculptor, and architect. He received his first music lessons on the piano in his parents house, which was where he also first listened to jazz records.

After his family moved to Johannesburg, Masekela was sent to school at St. Peters Seminary, which was directed by the noted British cleric and activist Bishop Trevor Huddleston. Still a teenager, Masekela saw the Kirk Douglas film about Bix Beiderbecke, Young Man With A Horn, which inspired him to take up the trumpet. Huddleston provided an instrument, and he joined his first ensemble, the Huddleston Jazz Band, at St. Peters. Huddleston later famously arranged for Louis Armstrong to send Masekela a trumpet in 1955.

After Huddlestons expulsion from South Africa for his anti-apartheid activism in 1956, and the closing of St. Peters Seminary under the Bantu Education Act, Masekela played in various studio recording groups and performance ensembles, including the African Jazz Revue, a prominent traveling stage show that featured the young Miriam Makeba and other rising South African artists. He was a member of the orchestra in Todd Matshikizas landmark jazz opera King Kong, which opened on the stage of the Wits Great Hall on 2 February 1959.

The success of the venture enabled the young Masekela to move to Cape Town, where he joined the pioneering if short-lived group The Jazz Epistles. The group cultivated a modernist, bebop-oriented style, documented on a single historic recording in 1960, which came to be termed township bop, a designation that would subsequently applied to Masekelas work in the U.S.

In 1959, Masekela also participated in a recording project with visiting American pianist John Mehegan, professor of music at the Julliard (later Manhattan) School of Music. The following year, Masekela travelled to London to study at the Guildhall School of Music, but soon afterwards, with the encouragement of Makeba, he transferred to the Manhattan School of Music in New York, with the support of Mehegan, Harry Belafonte, and by some accounts Dizzy Gillespie. His first solo album, Trumpet Africaine, was released in the U.S. in 1961, and he reportedly served as musical director on Makebas second album recorded there.

Masekelas close association with Makeba (the two were married between 1964 and 1966) influenced his own career, and his work of the early 1960s substantially paralleled the path pursued by Makeba in reassessing and foregrounding the African elements of his musical identity. The presence of South Africas jazz exiles on the U.S. scene led to artistic collaborations and lifelong ties of political solidarity with several leading African American musicians; Masekela soon counted among his friends such figures in the jazz pantheon as the said Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis, Louis Armstrong, Thelonious Monk, JJ Johnson, and Cannonball Adderly.

In the era of Civil Rights activism, the resonances between struggles for freedom on both sides of the Atlantic were clear to Masekela and his peers. At a time of harsh political repression within South Africa, Makeba, Masekela and other exiled artists used their rising celebrity in the United States to draw attention to conditions back home, prefiguring subsequent cultural boycotts and international campaigns.

As social and political upheavals unfolded across the 1960s within the U.S., alongside the wave of independence sweeping across African and much of the former colonial world, popular aesthetics and politics often informed one another. Masekelas work inclined away from the avant garde jazz experimentalism of the time in more popular directions, moving beyond the boundaries of what was recognized as jazz. After the dissolution of his marriage with Makeba, his move to the West Coast of the U.S. coincided with the era of so-called counter-cultural flower power and the emergence of a distinct, ethnically-oriented crossover between the jazz, R&B, Latin, and mainstream popular music markets. It was in this milieu that he found a niche and considerable commercial success. But political activism and consciousness raising was almost always present as well; in 1966, he was heard by an audience of over ten thousand at the Watts Jazz Festival in Los Angeles, an event that marked the uprising that had taken place in this predominantly black neighbourhood a year previously.

In 1968, Masekelas rendition of a tune by a Zambian composer, Grazing in the Grass, reached number one on the American R&B and pop charts, together with a celebrated appearance at the Monterey pop festival. Throughout the ensuing two decades, he occupied a position within the U.S. that mediated Makebas literal return to Africa with those elements of African-American popular music most closely associated with black liberation and pan-diasporic consciousness: soul, R&B, funk, salsa, reggae, and other African diasporic music, a repertoire that anticipated the hybrid World Music florescence of the late 1980s.

From the late 1960s onwards, Masekela maintained ties with South African and other artist-activists of the African diaspora. Later he based himself closer to home, in Botswana, though his activism against apartheid kept him in exile. By the late 1980s, his participation in Paul Simons Graceland Tour attested to his status as a global musical icon and activist, and he famously composed one of the most celebrated anthems of the global movement to free Nelson Mandela.

After returning home from exile as South Africa transitioned towards a post-apartheid dispensation, with a landmark tour titled Sekunjalo, Masekela remained active as a soloist, bandleader, producer and activist, continuing to work with a wide range of musicians, notably including younger musicians with whom he co-directed and produced. He has remained an astute and critical commentator on the sociopolitical situation in South Africa. He has also continued to use his celebrity to draw attention to social issues.

Hugh Masekela has accumulated a lifetimes worth of recognition for his artistic and activist contributions, from heads of states to his ardent grassroots fans. Prominent among his achievements are his being granted a Gold Medal of the Order of Ikhamanga in 2010 by the South African Presidency, and having March 18 proclaimed Hugh Masekela Day in the US Virgin Islands.

In motivating for the University of the Witwatersrand to applaud Masekelas achievement through bestowing his sixth honorary doctorate on him, it would be relevant to highlight the personal, artistic and political journey he made since being a nineteen-year-old trumpeter in the band of the jazz opera King Kong on the stage of the Great Hall in 1959 to his status as a globally recognised, activist artist. His music has consistently reached beyond apartheid categories and firmly located itself within pan-African and pan-diasporic frames of reference.

His work has also resonated beyond the commercial success that he has achieved and has reached audiences around the world while aligning itself with struggles for political and human rights.

Hugh Masekelas career is testimony to the capacity of music to animate the social and the political imagination, alongside its aesthetic potency.

The resilience with which he has pursued this in a career spanning an extraordinary seven decades merits academic recognition and a standing ovation and it is therefore befitting that the University if the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg awards an honorary doctorate degree to Hugh Ramopolo Masekela.




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Russia signs MOU for Vietnam nuclear research centre

04 July 2017

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A memorandum of understanding (MOU) has been signed by Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom and Vietnam's Ministry of Science and Technology on the construction of a nuclear science and technology centre in Vietnam. An inter-governmental agreement to build the centre was signed between Russia and Vietnam in 2011.

The MOU was signed in Moscow on 29 June by Rosatom director general Alexey Likhachov and Vietnam's deputy minister of science and technology Tran Dai Thanh. The signing was witnessed by Russian President Vladimir Putin and the President of Vietnam Tea Dan Quang.

Vietnam and Russia intend to promote further cooperation in the construction of the nuclear science and technology centre, in particular to work out the next steps once the Vietnamese government approves the project's pre-feasibility study. The MOU also provides for consultation on the terms and conditions for financing the project. In addition, the two sides will develop a plan for further cooperation in the development of Vietnam's nuclear infrastructure.

The nuclear science and technology centre will be equipped with Russian-designed research reactors, a multipurpose cyclotron, as well as research laboratories, an engineering complex, equipment and infrastructure to ensure the safe operation of the centre. It will be used for training staff for Vietnam's nuclear power program.

Russia and Vietnam signed an agreement in November 2011 covering the construction of a nuclear science and technology centre at Hanoi Polytechnic University. Under the terms of that agreement, the Russian government was to provide loans worth $500 million for the centre's construction.

In October 2010, Russia signed an intergovernmental agreement with Vietnam for the construction of the first nuclear power plant in the Southeast Asian country. The agreement called for the construction by Rosatom subsidiary AtomStroyExport of the Ninh Thuan 1 nuclear power plant at Phuoc Dinh in the southern Ninh Thuan province, as a turnkey project. The plant was to comprise two 1200 MWe VVER pressurised water reactors and be owned and operated by state-owned Electricity of Vietnam.

The Ninh Thuan 2 plant at Vinh Hai, on Cam Ranh Bay about 20 kilometres northeast of Phouc Dinh, was to be developed under a partnership with Japan.

However, last November Vietnam's legislature endorsed the government's decision to abandon plans to build the country's first two nuclear power plants in favour of renewable energy and power imports amid lower crude oil and coal prices.

"The government of Vietnam highly appreciates the positive attitude and the support of Russia and Japan in the preparation of our nuclear projects. Vietnam assures that Russia and Japan will remain the main partners of our country, if we are going to build nuclear power plants," the Vietnamese government said in a statement at that time.

Researched and written

by World Nuclear News

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Nuclear waste study breaks synchrotron record

04 July 2017

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An experiment to study transformations in nuclear waste materials at the UK's Diamond Light Source has become the longest running synchrotron light experiment in the world after being in place for 1000 days.

Senior support scientist Sarah Day with Claire Corkhill of the University of Sheffield on the I11 beamline (Image: Diamond Light Source)

The research, led by Claire Corkhill of the University of Sheffield, has used Diamond's Long Duration Experimental (LDE) facility to investigate the long-term behaviour of cements used in nuclear waste storage and disposal.

"Understanding the rate at which hydration occurs in cement, a process that can take anywhere up to 50 years, is very important to help us predict the behaviours of cement in the long term," Corkhill explained.

"These cements are being used to safely lock away the radioactive elements in nuclear waste for timescales of more than 10,000 years, so it is extremely important that we can accurately predict the properties of these materials in the future. The unique facility at Diamond has allowed us to follow this reaction in situ, for 1000 days, and the data is already allowing us to identify particular phases that will safely lock away radioactive elements in 100 years' time, something we would otherwise not have been able to determine," she said.

Corkhill is monitoring changes in eight nuclear waste cement materials on Diamond's I11 beamline using the LDE. She is planning to return to Diamond to investigate the reaction of these phases with uranium, technetium and plutonium on the B18 X-ray absorption spectroscopy beamline. Results from the studies are being used to support the ongoing safety case development for the disposal of nuclear waste in a deep geological repository, according to UK governmental policy.

Diamond, at the Harwell Science and Innovation Campus near Didcot, is the UK's national synchrotron science facility. It is funded as a joint venture by the UK government through the Science and Technology Facilities Council in partnership with the Wellcome Trust. The LDE was commissioned in 2014.

Researched and written

by World Nuclear News

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Wrexham Council Look to Introduce Supporting the Welsh Language Scheme For Local Businesses

This article is old - Published: Tuesday, Jul 4th, 2017

Do you think businesses across Wrexham are making the best use of the Welsh language? Could they build up stronger links with their customers through using Welsh?

Wrexham Council is currently undertaking a survey, open to businesses across the county borough, to see what use theyre making of the Welsh language, and whether or not they want to further their Welsh language training.

Once complete, the council will look to introduce a Supporting the Welsh Language scheme, which would recognise local businesses keen to back the Welsh language.

Nigel Jones, of ME Evans Ltd Butchers, which trades in the Butchers Market on the High Street, has already seen the plusses of having a Welsh speaker on his team.

Mr Jones said: Ive got one Welsh-speaking member of staff who works on Saturdays, and we have Welsh-speaking customers who will come in on Saturday to speak specifically to that member of staff  and orders will go up as a result.

Cllr Hugh Jones, Lead Member for Communities, Partnerships, Public Protection and Community Safety, said: For a lot of businesses, the Welsh language could be an untapped resource which would help them build stronger links with their customers.

As Mr Jones of ME Evans Ltd noted, some businesses will see an increase in takings thanks to the strong links built by Welsh-speaking staff with Welsh-speaking customers.

And other businesses make good use of the Welsh language in helping to construct their local brand; especially if they make use of produce sourced in Wales.

Others have expressed interest in providing staff with some basic Welsh language training in order to greet customers in their native language.

As part of our commitment to seeing use of the Welsh language increase in Wrexham, we want to see if we can help as many businesses as possible engage with their customers in Welsh.

I would encourage any business owners interested to take part in the survey.

Further information / details of how to take part in the survey can be found here.
Just days before the G20 summit in Hamburg, and in the midst of the Qatar crisis, German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel traveled to the Arabian Peninsula.

He visited Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Monday. The two states, together with Egypt and Bahrain, broke off all diplomatic ties with Qatar last month and closed their borders. They have accused the emirate of sponsoring terrorist organizations, even though they are themselves supporters of Islamist terrorist groups in Syria that are serving as proxy forces in the US-led war to overthrow the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

On Tuesday, Gabriel, a leading member of the Social Democratic Party (SPD), travels to Qatar, whose relations with Iran are a major irritant to the other members of the Gulf Cooperation Council. On Wednesday, Gabriel will visit Kuwait, which is playing the role of arbitrator in the crisis and managed to secure a 48-hour extension of the ultimatum issued to Qatar by the Gulf states and Egypt.

The June 22 ultimatum brought the Middle East to the brink of full-scale war. Saudi Arabia and its allies deliberately posed demands they knew Qatar could not accept. They demanded, among other things, that the emirate downgrade its ties to Iran, close the Turkish military base in Doha, shut down Al Jazeera, and deport alleged Islamic State and Al Qaeda terrorists, as well as members of the Muslim Brotherhood and Hizbollah. With support from Turkey and Iran, Qatar rejected the ultimatum, which would have transformed Doha into Riyadhs vassal.

The German Foreign Ministry and government are cynically seeking to portray themselves as impartial arbitrators concerned solely with the welfare of all states in the region. Gabriel declared in a statement prior to his departure, For weeks, brother and neighboring states have faced off in a troubling conflict on the Arabian peninsula. We are concerned that mistrust and disunity will ultimately weaken all sides and the Gulf as a whole.

He continued, We are not taking sides. We are not partisan. However, the conflict in the Gulf does not affect just those engaged in the dispute, but also concerns us and our interests. This applies to the struggle against ISIS, but also to the stability of a region that is deeply scarred by crises, tensions and wars, and confronts major economic and social challenges in the future.

Germany supports emphatically the attempts by the Emir of Kuwait to reach a compromise, Gabriel added. What is now required is a serious dialogue among those involved to find constructive solutions through negotiations.

There is nothing disinterested or benevolent in Gabriels solutions. They are bound up with German imperialisms offensive to assert its geo-strategic and economic interests in the energy-rich region, and increasingly to do so independently and in opposition to the United States.

Shortly after the outbreak of the crisis, Gabriel published a sharply-worded statement opposing the Saudi action, backed by US President Donald Trump, against Qatar. Gabriel warned of the Trumpification of relations and stated that the recent massive arms deals between the American president and the Gulf monarchies [intensify] the risk of a new arms race. This was, he added, a completely wrong policy, and certainly not Germanys policy.

With Trump and the Saudis adopting a confrontational approach towards Iran, the German government fears that the sharpening conflict could undermine German imperialist interests. Like France, whose oil company Total signed a multi-billion-euro deal with Iran on Monday, the German government is working towards an opening up of the country so as to obtain new energy supplies as well as markets for the export-dependent German economy.

The German Foreign Ministrys website states: German-Iranian economic relations are traditionally close. Approximately 30 percent of industrial infrastructure in Iran was German produced.

Due to the international sanctions resulting from Irans nuclear program, economic relations have been in decline since 2007, but in 2014, they for the first time developed in a positive direction. Bilateral trade volume has risen sharply ever since, growing by 22 percent in 2016 compared to the previous year. The sharp increase in German exports has been based above all on the rising export of machines, mechanical devices and utility vehicles.

The Gulf states, led by Saudi Arabia, are also close partners of Berlin. After the UAE, Saudi Arabia is Germanys second most important trading partner in the Arab World, while Germany is Saudi Arabias third most important export destination.

According to the Foreign Ministry, Saudi Arabia imported German products and services in substantial quantities and increased this tendency in 2015 despite falling oil prices. The most important German export goods are machines, vehicles, and chemical, electro-technical, fine mechanical and optical products.

Another German export is weapons! In March, the German government approved the dispatch of two additional patrol boats to Saudi Arabia. The Saudi Navy will receive 48 in total.

According to media reports, Germanys Federal Security Council also approved the export of a technical package for a radar system for border security, the sale of 330 Sidewinder air-to-air missiles, and the export of parts for a military training base in the United Arab Emirates.

Notwithstanding all of the rhetoric about peace and human rights, the Middle East makes clear how aggressively German imperialism is asserting itself after two lost world wars. To pursue its interests, Berlin is moving to conclude its own political, economic and military alliances in the region. Just two weeks ago, Germanys parliament agreed to redeploy Tornado fighter jets stationed in Turkey to Jordan, meaning they will be closer to the war zone in Syria and Iraq.

In a recent interview with the foreign policy magazine Internationale Politik, Defence Minister Ursula Von der Leyen noted, A country with the political and economic significance of Germany cannot look away if, as in 2014, ISIS attempts genocide on the Yazidi people we have supplied weapons to a crisis-ridden war-zone for the first time since the Second World War.

Everyone knows, she continued, that nothing can be achieved against ISIS without military force; it does not negotiate, it beheads.
A fourth person died last month in San Diego, California due to a Hepatitis A outbreak, which has infected over 196 people, according to the County Health and Human Services Agency. Over 142 people have been hospitalized and no source of the disease has been identified as of this writing. Those who have succumbed to the disease are either homeless, using illicit drugs, or both.

Hepatitis A is a liver infection caused by the Hepatitis A (HAV) virus. It is highly contagious and can be spread by people sharing food or touching an object that someone with HAV has handled. It can cause liver disease, which can last for a few weeks or months. In serious cases, it can be fatal.

Symptoms of HAV include jaundice (yellowy eyes and skin), loss of appetite, fatigue, nausea, stomach pains, dark urine, and diarrhea.

The disease is easily preventable with proper hygiene especially washing ones hands after using the bathroom. Given the atrocious living conditions forced on the homeless in California and the United States, diseases once thought eradicated or at least lessened are now making a comeback.

Those who have been exposed to HAV can develop symptoms up to 50 days after exposure. The disease can still be prevented if someone gets immunized within two weeks of exposure.

San Diego first began to see a rise in Hepatitis A last November and by the first press release in April 2017, 42 people had been diagnosed with the disease. An outreach campaign by the local government, including vaccination efforts and distribution of educational flyers, has failed to stop the disease from spreading.

The total caseload in the first half of 2017 was already 700 percent higher than the countys yearly average since 2011. The hospitalized are overwhelmingly from the citys homeless population.

The county has pledged to install hand-washing stations in areas of the city where there is a high concentration of homeless people. Outreach teams also have been distributing kits with soap, small bottles of water, and hand sanitizer. The city has administered roughly 4,200 vaccinations since the start of the outbreak.

San Diego County health experts have yet to determine exactly what is causing the outbreak, which usually can be traced to tainted food products. Some have theorized the states recent ban on plastic bags has forced homeless people to use the same bags in their possession and transmit the disease more easily, but that is only one theory.

Many advocates for the homeless point out there are little or no portable toilets or places that provide food and showers, which are open 24 hours a day. The city has used the pretext of drug use and illegal activity as a way of cracking down on unattended properties, like portable toilets and showers. As a result, diseases can now spread much more quickly.

The outbreak of HAV is not confined to San Diego. In Santa Cruz, the County Health Services Agency reported at least nine confirmed cases of HAV since last April. The county usually only reports cases of HAV once or twice a year. Just like in San Diego, those who have caught the disease are homeless, or using illicit drugs, or both.

There have also been serious HAV outbreaks in Hawaii due to imported scallops from the Philippines. Over 290 people were sickened, mostly in Oahu, and many more would have gotten sick had the rate of infection not slowed due to the embargo on the contaminated scallops.

In September of last year, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) announced it was investigating a nationwide outbreak of the disease in not only California, but also Wisconsin, Oregon, Arkansas, New York, Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, and North Carolina.

As a direct result of the social crisis in America, diseases once thought to be a thing of the past have returned. In 1989, the CDC reported 40,000 cases of HAV, declining to less than 5,000 cases per year today. The enormous decline in living standards since 1989 and the combined bipartisan attacks on public health means these numbers will go up again to their previous heights if not worse.
India and China have rushed troops to a remote, disputed border region, in what is widely being described as the worst border stand-off between the two countries since they fought a brief border war in 1962.

The current dispute focuses on the Doklam or Donglang Plateau, a ridge in the Himalayan hills where the borders of India, China, and Bhutan, a tiny kingdom long under New Delhis thumb, meet.

India and China are both reported to have deployed some 3,000 troops to the area. They also have traded thinly veiled threats of military action, including through references to their 1962 war, which saw China bloody Indias nose, then declare a ceasefire.

The crisis erupted last week as Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was visiting Washington to meet US President Donald Trump and further expand the anti-China alliance between the Indian bourgeoisie and American imperialism.

On June 26, Indian troops intervened to stop Chinese workers from building a road on the Doklam plateau. Initial Indian media reports claimed that the Chinese workers had intruded into territory that rightfully belongs to India under a boundary British colonial authorities imposed in 1914, the so-called McMahon line. But later New Delhi said its troops had acted to prevent the Chinese carrying out illegal construction on Bhutan territory.

The Chinese Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) responded to the Indian intervention by destroying two Indian bunkers in the area.

In a move meant to underline the gravity of the situation and Indias determination to stand its ground, Indian Army chief General Bipin Rawat flew last Thursday to the northeast Indian state of Sikkim to meet with commanders of the 17 Mountain Division. It is tasked with guarding the China-India border in the Doklam Plateau area.

Since assuming command of the Indian army last January, Rawat has raised Chinese hackles with bellicose remarks, including repeated vows that India is prepared to fight a two-front war against China and Pakistan simultaneously.

India is currently raising an 80,000-strong mountain strike corps and carrying out a massive infrastructure building plan along its nearly 3,500-kilometer border with China. It claims these actions are needed to counter a Chinese military build-up along the contested border.

The Chinese press has accused India of ratcheting up tensions over the disputed border in order to demonstrate to the Trump administration that it is ready to serve as Washingtons cats paw in its military-strategic offensive against China.

The government-controlled Global Times said Indian troops had crossed over from Sikkim into Chinese territory to show Washington that New Delhi can be counted on to constrain Chinas rise.

The Indian media and government, meanwhile, are claiming that China is illegally trying to push the tri-junction of the Sino-Indian-Bhutanese border some 20 kilometers south, so as to place itself in an advantageous position to seize hold of the strategic Siliguri corridor in the event of a war. The corridor, sometime referred to as the Chickens Neck, is a narrow slice of Indian territory squeezed between Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, and China. Just 17 kilometers wide at its narrowest point, the Siliguri corridor links West Bengal and the rest of India to the countrys seven northeastern states.

Relations between India and China have deteriorated sharply over the past three years. Under Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government India has all but abandoned any pretense of strategic autonomy and transformed itself into a frontline state in the US drive against China.

New Delhi has agreed that the Pentagon can make routine use of Indian military bases and ports to refuel and resupply its warplanes and battleships. In return, the US has proclaimed India a Major Defense Partner giving its access to the advanced weapons Washington provides only to its most-trusted allies. India has also dramatically expanded bilateral and trilateral military-security ties with the USs closest Pacific allies, that is the countries it will be principally relying on in a war with ChinaAustralia and Japan. The head of the US Pacific Command Admiral Harry Harris recently revealed that the US and Indian militaries are sharing intelligence on Chinese submarine and ship movements in the Indian Ocean.

China has responded by expanding its longstanding partnership with Indias arch-enemy, Pakistan. This is exemplified by Chinas plans to invest more than $50 billion in the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). A key component of Beijings One Belt, One Road initiative, the CPEC will provide rail, road and pipeline links between western China and Pakistans Arabian Sea port, Gwadar, enabling China to partially circumvent the Pentagons plans to blockade China by seizing maritime chokepoints.

At the conclusion of their June 26 summit Modi and Trump vowed that they will further expand the Indo-US global strategic partnership. In a joint statement, India gave full-throated support to Washingtons provocative stances on the South China Sea dispute and North Korea, and the US signed on to unprecedentedly harsh language in demanding Pakistan prevent terrorists from using its territory. New Delhi touted the statement chastising Pakistan as an endorsement of its stance on Kashmir, that is, its claim that the mass opposition to Indian rule over disputed Jammu and Kashmir is entirely a result of Pakistani-exported terror.

Significantly, China sprang to Islamabads defense. A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman said Pakistan stands at the frontline in the global fight against terrorism and the international community should give full recognition and affirmation to Islamabads efforts in this regard.

Both New Delhi and Beijing are saying that it is up to the other to stand down in the current border dispute and ruling out talks until the troops that have illegally occupied their territory are pulled back.

The Indian ruling elite has been tilting toward Washington since the beginning of the 21st century. Beijing long responded cautiously to the burgeoning Indo-US partnership, hoping to woo New Delhi through offers of economic collaboration and fearing a harsh response would only drive New Delhi into US imperialisms eager embrace.

However, in response to Modis unstinting support for Washingtons campaign to strategically isolate and encircle China, Beijing has shifted course and is taking an increasingly aggressive line with New Delhi.

A June 27 Global Times op-ed, said China must force the Indian troops to retreat to the Indian side by all means necessary. It went on to warn New Delhi that it cannot afford a showdown with China on border issues.  Indias GDP is only one-quarter of Chinas and its annual defense budget is just one third.

Two days later, senior PLA spokesman Colonel Wu Quian denounced Rawats statement about Indias readiness to fight a two-front war as extremely irresponsible. Then in a reference to the 1962 war, he declared he hoped Rawat, could learn historical lessons and stop such clamoring for war.

Indias Defence Minister Arun Jaitley quickly took issue with Wus remarks, saying the situation in 1962 was different and (the) India of 2017 is different. Jaitley didnt go onto explain how India is different, but he was clearly referring both to its nuclear-weapons capability and its strategic partnership with Washington.

The reality is, due to US imperialisms reckless drive to make India a linchpin of its anti-China offensive, the Sino-Indian and Indo-Pakistani conflicts have become inextricably entangled with the strategic confrontation between US imperialism and China. This has made them all even more volatile and incendiary, threatening the masses of South Asia and the world with a catastrophe.
On Monday, newly-elected French President Emmanuel Macron called together the two houses of the French parliament to deliver an extended address on his governments policies. Macron called for military escalation in Africa and broad-ranging changes to the basic institutions of the French government, in line with the historic attacks he is preparing on social and democratic rights in France. These, he said, would be implemented in close collaboration with the trade union bureaucracy.

Macrons decision to address the joint parliament in the royal palace at Versailles was highly unusual. On the two previous occasions such an address was delivered at Versailles, the context was an immediate emergency.

In 2009, Nicolas Sarkozy spoke in the aftermath of the 2008 Wall Street crash. In 2015, following the terror attacks in Paris, Francois Hollande called such an assembly to justify his governments escalation of attacks on democratic rights, which culminated in the imposition of a state of emergency.

This time, Macron forced the parliament to assemble so he could deliver a speech discussing his governments drive to escalate neo-colonial wars in Africa, write the state of emergency into law, impose social cuts by decree and fundamentally restructure the French state. It was widely remarked in the media that the address would overshadow the traditional governmental address to the National Assembly that Prime Minister Edouard Philippe is slated to deliver today.

Macrons decision to summon together the houses of parliament in Versailles was not, however, simply an act of personal arrogance. It was a recognition that his initiatives have consequences as far-reaching as a market crash that threatened to take down the world financial system or Hollandes decision to suspend indefinitely basic democratic rights guaranteed by the French Constitution.

These wide-ranging attacks on basic social and democratic rights face enormous opposition in France, and particularly from the working classa point that is widely remarked in the world press. The German Suddeutsche Zeitung bluntly titled its article on Macrons speech Macron acts like a king and control freak: This cant end well.

In his speech, Macron essentially acknowledged the deep popular opposition to his government and its anti-social agenda. After announcing that he would discuss the mandate that the people have given us, he noted that the forces of alienation are extremely powerful: alienation from the new division of labor, due to misery, due to poverty.

Macron referred to French societys sclerotic systems, to the fact that many Frenchmen feel themselves prisoners of their social origins, their conditions, a trajectory to which they are fated, and warned that France is a country that rebels when it feels it is not being respected.

Nonetheless, he went on to defend his reactionary agenda of rewriting French labor law in favor of the corporations, and doing so by decree, and incorporating the state of emergency into law. He denounced false accusations made against his policies: Are we discussing liberalizing the labor code? We are told we are obeying the diktat of Brussels. Are we talking of escaping the state of emergency? We are told that our freedoms are being traded away None of that is true.

It is Macrons assurances, not the widespread sentiment in the population, that are untrue. His reactionary plan to facilitate mass sackings and allow corporations to violate the labor code, in line with the original plans of the previous Socialist Party (PS) governments labor law, was worked out in close collaboration with Berlin and the European Union bureaucracy in Brussels. Similarly, by permanently granting police the right to impose house arrest on individuals and ban protests, Macron aims to gut basic democratic rights with the stroke of a pen.

Deep popular opposition to Macrons program, which is defended by all of Frances traditional parties of government, underlay the decision of millions of voters to cast blank ballots in the presidential elections, and of an unprecedented 57 percent of voters to abstain in the legislative elections.

The rest of Macrons speech was an attempt to legitimize his unpopular agenda through appeals to nationalism and militarism, as well as promises to make far-reaching changes to the different branches of the French government and calls for negotiations with the trade union bureaucracy.

Macron, who was just back from a trip to Mali to discuss with African heads of state plans for a permanent deployment of 5,000 French troops in Frances former West African colonial empire, hailed the armed forces: France will remain true to its alliances. We need a strategic and tactical renewal of our armies Everywhere, we must act to protect our interests and our security, in our interests and in those of the peoples concerned, and I observe here the role of our armed forces in Africa, in the Sahel. Such interventions are effective only if they are carried out in the long term.

Macron also proposed to redraw Frances electoral map and carry out broad changes to Frances legislative and judicial branches. He called for a one-third reduction in the number of parliamentarians in the National Assembly and the Senate, and for the election of the National Assembly by means of a dose of proportional representation. He also called for the imposition of term limits, and for limits on the power of the Republics Court of Justice, which rules on allegations of wrongdoing against state officials.

Above all, Macron signaled that he would rely politically on close collaboration with the Economic, Social and Environmental Council (CESE), that is, the main body where the French trade unions coordinate their policies with the state and the business federations. This is aimed at providing Macrons social attacks with a false veneer of legitimacy. But while Macron plans to negotiate his policies with the union bureaucracies, they remain massively unpopular.

The Economic, Social and Environmental Council must become the chamber of the future, where all the living forces of the nation express themselves, he declared. For that, we must review from top to bottom the way it represents its constituencies, all the while reducing the number of members by a third.

He added that the CESE would be turned into the basic planning body through which attacks on workers social and democratic rights would be prepared and approved: The number of consultative organizations has multiplied. Its impossible even to list them all. By reforming the CESE, we will make it the sole consultative body used by all of our legislative texts.

The speech confirms the warnings made by the Parti de l'egalite socialiste that opposition to Macrons reactionary program must take the form of an independent political movement rallying the opposition to austerity and war in the working class in Europe and internationally.

Workers face a situation where, after the electoral collapse of the PS, the trade unions and allied political tendencies such as Jean-Luc Melenchons Unsubmissive France (UF) work to provide a pseudo-left cover for the negotiation and passage of Macrons reforms.

UF and the Stalinist French Communist Party (PCF) deputies boycotted Macrons speech at Versailles, and Melenchon himself criticized Macrons remarks.

There was an interminable rain of truisms in Versailles: false marble, overplayed Bonapartism, bleating pro-European sentiment, horrible boredom, Melenchon wrote on Facebook. Beyond that, there were so many obscure passages, lists of beautiful sentiments and sugary ways of presenting ferocious and unalloyed social attacks Overall, it was written at the level of a chamber of commerce dispatch, with free-market dogmatism that is as old-fashioned as it lunatic.

Melenchons criticisms are completely impotent, however, insofar as his improbable strategy to head up opposition to Macronbased on winning a majority in the National Assemblycompletely failed. Since he refused to call for a boycott of the second round of the presidential election to oppose both Macron and neo-fascist candidate Marine Le Pen, Melenchons support has rapidly collapsed. With a handful of deputies in the assembly, Melenchon is in a position only to issue rhetorical denunciations of Macron while supporting the union bureaucracys maneuvers with him.

Opposition to Macrons reactionary program will find expression only to the extent that workers struggle outside the context of this sclerotic and bankrupt political order.
New Zealands opposition Labour Party effectively opened its campaign for the September 23 general election by announcing draconian measures targeting immigration. On June 12, leader Andrew Little said Labour would slash migrant numbers by up to 30,000almost half last years intake of 72,000.

While campaigning is not yet officially under way, Labours salvo is an indication of the reactionary programs that all parties will roll out. The election will feature the same kind of appeals to nationalism, economic protectionism and right-wing populism that animated the US presidential campaign of Donald Trump and Brexit in the UK.

New Zealands social crisis is among the most severe of the advanced capitalist countries. Overseen by successive Labour and National Party governments since the 1980s, social inequality has reached unprecedented levels. The countrys two richest billionaires possess more wealth than the poorest 30 percent of the population.

In June a UNICEF report confirmed that the youth suicide rate15.6 per 100,000is the worst in the OECD. One in four children lives in poverty. Ten percent of children under the age of 15 live with an adult deemed food insecure. Soaring house prices and rents, benefiting wealthy property investors, have made more than 40,000 people officially homeless. While insisting there is no money for basic services, the government last year allocated $20 billion to the military for war preparations.

Labours proposals are an attempt to cover up its own responsibility for this crisis while diverting growing popular anger in a poisonous direction by scapegoating foreigners for the worsening economic and social problems caused by the profit system.

Labour is trying to outflank the conservative National government from the right. In April, National announced a policy to prevent migrants from obtaining a Skilled Migrant Visa if they earn below New Zealands median annual income of $49,000. Thousands of low-paid migrant workers now struggle to obtain a visa or residency because their work no longer counts as skilled. Little denounced the measure as only tinkering with the immigration settings.

Labour is now proposing to go much further. In its sights are vulnerable foreign students who it accuses of rorting the student visa scheme as a backdoor entry to the country. Labour promises to end the ability of young people from overseas to work during and after study. Visas for vocational programs, those below a bachelors degree, will be shut down, while new restrictions will be imposed on temporary post-study work visas. Further tightening of the bonus points system for the Skilled Migrant category will make it more difficult for people deemed unskilled, such as retail and hospitality workers, to gain entry.

By contrast, Labour has not announced any changes to the Investor Plus scheme, under which wealthy migrants can gain residency by promising to invest at least $NZ10 million. Controversy has dogged the recent granting of citizenship to US tech billionaire Peter Thiel, a prominent Trump supporter, who was exempted from residency requirements because of his contribution to the country.

Labours proposed crackdown on students and unskilled workers emerged from a campaign by the trade unions, which have revived their foulest traditions, dating back over a century, of blaming foreign workers for supposedly undermining the jobs and conditions of New Zealanders.

Unite, the Tertiary Education Union, E Tu and the First Union have all joined the anti-immigrant NZ First Party over the past year in accusing migrant workers and students of putting pressure on jobs, housing, infrastructure and educational institutions. The Council of Trade Unions has endorsed calls to restrict immigration.

The xenophobic thrust of this campaign was highlighted in a tirade by the editor of the union-funded Daily Blog, Martyn Bradbury, on March 28. He fulminated: The last bloody thing we need is MORE Chinese tourism bringing more hungry speculators into a country crippled by a lack of infrastructure investment and housing crisis.

Little, a former union boss, has voiced similar positions. In March 2016, during a visit to the working class centre of Lower Hutt, Little cited Indian and Chinese chefs as examples of semi-skilled migrants allegedly taking jobs from those who are already living here and putting downward pressure on wages. Labour last year accused home buyers with Chinese sounding names of driving the surge in Auckland property prices.

Ramping up this campaign, Hone Harawira, leader of the Maori nationalist Mana party, told TV 3 last Saturday that any Chinese who bring methamphetamine or its precursors into the country should be executed. Harawira accused China of being the principal source of the illegal drug. The countrys pseudo-left groups have all promoted Mana as left wing and pro-poor since its founding in 2011.

New Zealands immigration policy has always been exclusivist, targeting Asian and Pacific Island workers. From Labours founding in 1916, the party was fiercely nationalist, stoking divisions in the working class by encouraging racism and xenophobia through the white New Zealand policy.

The offensive by Labour and its allies mirrors the campaign in Australia against Chinese power and influence. In both countries, the media and political establishment are fomenting anti-Chinese sentiment as the US builds up its military in preparation for war against China. Labour has been at the forefront of demands to align New Zealand more openly with the US military encirclement and threats against Beijing.

Labours immigration announcement was met with near-universal acclaim by the media. The Dominion Post on June 14 approvingly cited liberal academic Paul Spoonley, who described the present level of immigration as unsustainable. The paper maintained immigration was causing serious economic trouble and Labours policy was not racist or xenophobic but a careful and moderate response.

Every wing of the political establishment is joining the clamour. The Green Party used World Refugee Day on June 20 to posture as progressive, announcing it would increase the annual refugee quota from 750 to 4,000 over six years. This is a drop in the ocean of global need. Last year, moreover, the Greens proposed capping migration at 1 percent of population growth, saying the governments proposed cuts did not go far enough.

On the weekend, Greens co-leader James Shaw tried to change tack because of an outcry against the capping policy. He told the Federation of Multicultural Councils his party had abandoned this policy, and was now focused on steering the public debate on migration in New Zealand towards values rather than numbers.

The real attitude of the Greens is exposed by the fact that the party has formally agreed a joint economic program with Labour that will deepen the attacks on working people through increased government cost-cutting and austerity. Both parties are courting NZ Firsta party that openly whips up anti-immigrant xenophobiaas a potential coalition partner.

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Anti-immigrant campaign intensifies in New Zealand

[27 April 2017]
The city of Hamburg, Germany, host to the G20 summit to be held July 7-8, is a city under siege. 15,000 police officers from every German state are practicing bringing a major city under state control. Tens of thousands of protesters are expected to take part in demonstrations during the summit.

A closer look at the planned measures makes clear that they are intended not just to protect the political elite attending the G20, but represent deliberate preparations for a civil war scenario that would not be possible under normal circumstances. The number of police and security forces involved is unprecedented, with camps set up to incarcerate G20 opponents.

These measures are accompanied by massive attacks on the basic rights of demonstrators and the citys population. The German army (Bundeswehr) is also taking part in the siege of Hamburgin part publicly, in part undercover. Even bourgeois media outlets such as the Huffington Post write of a city in a state of war.

Police are assembling from all of Germanys 16 states, with several states dispatching special police units. GSG9, the special unit of the federal police, will take part.

It is the biggest operation in the history of the Hamburg police, declared police president Ralf Martin Meyer. The operation has been under way for several weeks, with civilian police posted to the most important points in the city center to conduct surveillance.

It is an unprecedented operation, and not just for the Hamburg police. The head of operations, Hartmut Dudde, told the press that almost everything the German police has will be in Hamburg.

Spiegel Online reported that every police officer will be equipped with a gun, a baton and teargas. The special units distributed throughout the city center have additional heavy armament, including a variety of pistols and revolvers, glare grenades, battering rams and the sniper rifle PSG1, one of the most precise weapons available.

The new police vehicle Survivor R will be also be used for the first time. The 15-ton behemoth resembles the vehicles used by the US army in Iraq, which were then turned into police cars and used against protesters during the police lockdown of Ferguson, Missouri in 2014. The vehicle is manned by ten policemen, including a commander, a gunner and two targeteers. The launching system can be used for tear gas or fog grenades. A blade to destroy blockades is also included.

At the presentation of the vehicle last summer, it was said that the Survivor was the only police truck that can withstand shots from an AK-47. It is also equipped with detectors that report the presence of nuclear, biological and chemical agents, and it has its own ventilation system to protect those inside the vehicle. A Survivor costs up to 500,000 euros, depending on the equipment.

The Hamburg police also have the WaWe 10000the most modern water cannon in the world, Spiegel Online writes. The vehicle can shoot up to 3,200 litres of water within 60 seconds, with the water jet extending up to 65 meters. The WaWe can create an artificial wall of water allowing police and special units to advance on demonstrators. The vehicle is also equipped with gas tanks and corresponding admixing systems, which make it possible to spray tear gas along with the water.

In addition to the above-mentioned vehicles, which are clearly aimed for use against the population in a civil war type situation, the police are carrying out numerous other measures. This includes a permanent presence in the waters of the port city, which transports goods along the River Elbe. The river and port are to be watched over by a special unit of the Dutch police.

Stern magazine reports that 3,000 police vehicles, nearly 200 service dogs, eleven helicopters, around 50 police officers [...] and special units from several states will be deployed. Special vehicles with translucent and bulletproof walls are due to be sent from France. They were previously deployed against demonstrators protesting the French Labor Market Act.

According to a report by the magazine Focus, the Bundeswehr is planning to use a maritime ship in the port of Hamburg as part of the G20 summit operation. The secret use of the ship, which is intended to rescue heads of state and government in the event of a terrorist attack, is clearly unconstitutional.

The ship could be sent at any time in the direction of the North Sea and has operating rooms on board. For camouflage, soldiers will wear civilian clothes. The pretext for the ships stay in the port is officially the procurement of missing spare parts. The federal criminal police office and the Ministry of Defence rejected the media reports. War ships were not part of our deployment concept, a police officer told the Hamburger Morgenpost.

In fact, according to the Morgenpost, the Bundeswehr is using the multi-purpose Lachs (Salmon) boat for so-called administrative assistance. It will be manned by personnel for various security tasks, as well as specialists for diving medicine. Finally, the German army is deploying an underwater drone to scan the Hamburg harbour basin for explosives.

The siege of the city is accompanied by a massive attack on the basic democratic rights of local residents and demonstrators.

A so-called general police decree enables the security forces to control the arrival and departure of the participants to the summit. The decree bans any demonstrations in a 38-square kilometre zone between the citys airport and the Elbe, and roads can be blocked at any time. Another zone surrounding the hall where the summit takes place can only be entered by local residents.

Police have reacted to the plans for over two dozen demonstrations and protests by setting up a detention center, which could more accurately described as a temporary concentration camp.

Up to 400 people can be detained on the site of a former food market covering an area of 11,000 square meters. There will also be containers for lawyers as well as facilities for taking fingerprints and identifying personal data. A total of 70 collective and 50 individual cells are available, according to Spiegel Online.

An attempt by the city of Hamburg to ban the Antikapitalistische Camp, located in the city park, has failed temporarily. Following a ban order issued by the Hamburg Higher Administrative Court, the Federal Constitutional Court ruled on Wednesday that such a ban was inadmissible because it prevented participants from exercising their right of assembly.

However, the city court and police have given sufficient scope to proceed against the camp by other means. The police can limit the size of the camp, impose various regulations and even move it to a different place in the city.

On Thursday evening Hamburgs interior affairs senator, Andy Grote (SPD), announced that prohibitive measures would be taken against the organizers of the camp if they build it illegally. While the Constitutional Court lifted a ban on the camp, the city council has failed to give its permission for a camp to be erected.
The Teamsters union ended a four-day strike by 100 truck drivers at Southern California ports on June 23. The union shut down the strike, the 15th such walkout over the last four years, without resolving any of the critical issues demanded by the drivers.

The trucking bosses, backed by the port owners and giant retail chains, have essentially expanded the cheap labor global supply chain from consumer goods factories in Asia to the container ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, which process 43 percent of all cargo entering the US, worth some $1.3 billion each day. Companies like XPO, Cal Cartage, CMI, Intermodal Bridge Transport, and others have reduced the port drivers to the status of indentured servants who bear all the costs of the privilege to work, including truck lease payments, maintenance, fuel, accident insurance and IRS taxes.

These corporations, like other Gig Economy schemes such as Uber, Lyft, and TaskRabbit, falsely label their workers as independent contractors or owner operators to skirt any payments for health benefits, unemployment or workers compensation insurance. The companies are also exempt from minimum wage, overtime laws and many workplace safety requirements.

Port truckers are compelled to work 12 to 20 hours each day. They work while sick and even avoid taking bathroom breaks for fear of losing assignments. As if these conditions were not onerous enough, many drivers report getting shorted on pay. According to a USA Today investigative report last month, 140 trucking companies had been accused of wage theft since 2010.

The misclassification of workers as independent contractors has exploded after the 2008 financial meltdown, as corporations exploited the economic desperation of workers after Wall Street crashed the economy. This has become so prevalent that California Governor Jerry Brown modified the states Earned Income Tax Credit last week to include the self-employed making less than $23,000 a year. The modification was made specifically to include the growing number of Californians with little more than a car and a smart phone to make money working for Uber or Lyft. At best, these workers can now receive a $2,000 tax credit in addition to their paltry wages.

While truck drivers and other workers are determined to end this oppression, the Teamsters and other unions have no intention, let alone ability, to conduct the type of industrial and political struggle that is required. This is not because there is no popular support for such a struggle. On the contrary, a genuine fight would quickly garner the support of tens of thousands of dock workers, including an entire generation of young workers condemned to part-time and contingent labor, and millions of other workers struggling to make ends meet in one of the most expensive metropolitan areas in the country.

The Teamsters, the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU), the public sector and other unions, however, are tied by a million threads to the corporations and the big business politicians and the union bureaucracy fears a mass movement of the working class, which would threaten its relationship with the corporate bosses and their political servants. That is why the Teamsters and ILWU castrated the truck drivers struggle from the beginning, limiting picketing to token levels and urging workers to place their trust in politicians like Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti and Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia.

The strike culminated in a rally held at Los Angeles City Hall where Teamsters Local 848 officials made an unconditional offer to send their members back to work and then delivered 10,000 signatures on petitions urging the mayors to prohibit trucking companies who hire independent contractors from doing business at the port.

Telling drivers to deliver petitions asking these corporate stooges for justice is like handing signatures over to a hangman. The Democratic politicians, no less than the Republicans, are the tools of the port owners, shipping companies, retail chains and big banks.

The Democratic Party spearheaded the deregulation of the trucking industry, which led to the destruction of hundreds of thousands of jobs and the slashing in half of real wages for truckers since the late 1970s. Six months before the close of his presidency, Jimmy Carter signed a bill sponsored by Democratic liberal stalwart Edward Ted Kennedy known as the Motor Carrier Act of 1980.

The measure was a fundamental revision of the Motor Carrier Act of 1935, which set standard shipping rates throughout the industry and reduced the cut-throat competition between companies, which had resulted in relentless wage-cutting for truck drivers. The 1935 measure was signed the year after the Minneapolis General Strike, led by the Trotskyist movement, which paved the way for the Teamsters to organize over-the-road drivers.

Signing the deregulation act in 1980, Carter said he was bringing the trucking industry into the free enterprise system, where it belongs. The following year, Reagan fired the striking air traffic controllers, inaugurating a decades-long war against the working class, which continues unabated today.

For their part, the Teamsters and the other unions responded to the deregulation of the trucking, airline and telecom industries, spurred on by the global integration of capitalist production and finance, by abandoning any resistance and transformed themselves into direct tools of the corporations and the government.

While the shipping companies certainly deserve a large share of blame for the inhuman conditions drivers face, they are just one part of a global supply chain that depends on ultra-cheap wages and exploitative conditions to maintain profits. Mega retailers and distributors such as Target, Wal-Mart and Amazon will not stand for any shipping company passing along increased overhead costs, especially labor costs. Instead, the shipping companies are put in a race to the bottom to provide the cheapest rates possible to the retailers.

The working class in the US and around the world confronts not this or that greedy employer but an entire economic and political systemcapitalismthat subordinates social need to the ever-greater private accumulation of wealth by hedge fund managers, bankers and corporate CEOs. The trade unions defend this capitalist system and have spent the last four decades suppressing the class struggle.

This only assures that the re-eruption of the class struggle will be even more explosive and draw in the broadest layers of the working class, including immigrant workers and tens of millions of others condemned to poverty level wages and sweatshop conditions. To unify every section of the working classblack, white and immigrantin opposition to social inequality, state repression and war, new organizations of struggle and a new political perspective is needed.

Port truck drivers must take the conduct of their struggle out of the hands of the Teamsters, through the building of rank-and-file committees mobilize all 16,000 port truck drivers and workers throughout the Los Angeles area. This is an integral part of the fight to build a mass political movement of the working class, independent of both corporate-controlled political parties and based on the fight for socialism, to guarantee the social rights of all workers, including the right to a secure and good-paying job.

We urge port drivers to contact the Socialist Equality Party to take up this fight.
Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon has said that Britain will support any response by the US to the Syrian President Bashar Al Assads alleged use of chemical weapons.

He was speaking after the Trump administration claimed that it had potential evidence the Syrian military is preparing another chemical attack against rebel forces that would likely result in the mass murder of civilians, including innocent children. Sean Spicer, the White House spokesperson, threatened that Syria would pay a heavy price if it went ahead.

Fallon did not question the existence or explain the nature of any such evidence, but told the BBC Radio 4s Today programme, If the Americans take similar action again, I want to be very clearwe will support it.

Referring to the US missile strikes on Syrias Shayrat airfield last April, following false allegations that the Syrian regime had launched a sarin gas attack, he added, As always in war, the military action you use must be justified, it must be legal, it must proportionate, it must be necessary. In the last case it was.

Fallon acknowledged that the US had not shown the British government any specific evidence relating to the preparations for a future chemical attack. But such trifling matters did not deter Her Majestys Government from supporting US military escalation in Syria, even though it has the potential to trigger a far wider conflagration with Iran and a nuclear-armed Russia.

He added that Britain had not been asked to participate in any such military strike and that there were currently no plans to seek parliamentary approval for UK strikes.

None of the British media have questioned whether the White Houses allegations were credible, even though they are so transparently spurious that the issue was not discussed at NATOs summit last Thursday. Allegations of a chemical attack by Syrian regime forces last April were so baseless that they provoked opposition from within sections of the US military and intelligence apparatus. The veteran journalist Seymour Hersh cited one officer as saying, None of this makes any sense. We KNOW that there was no chemical attack...

In the run up to the Iraq war in 2003, Tony Blairs Labour government went to great lengths to manufacture evidence of Iraqi President Saddam Husseins non-existent weapons of mass destruction to justify joining the US invasion of Iraq.

In 2017, Theresa Mays Conservative government is prepared to go to war regardless of whether allegations of such preparations are true or false. May told the Cabinet that stopping the use of chemical weapons by the Syrian regime was an important objective.

The UK is already up to its neck in the US-led operation to topple the Assad regime, including covert and illegal military operations on the ground, with the aim of carving up Syria into ethno-religious enclaves.

In April, May announced that British military personnel would be sent to Jordan to help with training for anti-ISIS missions. The Ministry of Defence has admitted that the operational costs of the counter-ISIS mission, up to the end of March 2016, were 238.8 million, likely a pale reflection of the actual costs.

The US-led war to topple Assad via proxy forces largely financed by Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Turkey and the CIA is aimed at undermining the regional influence of Syrias allies, Iran and Russia.

The British government has long been involved in the war, which has killed nearly 500,000 people and displaced almost half the Syrian population, covering up its activities with a campaign of lies, deceit and disinformation. It supported the armed insurgency in Syria knowing it was dominated by the Muslim Brotherhood and al-Qaida in Iraq, which wanted to establish a Salafist state in eastern Syria. This aim coincided with the US-UK plan to isolate the Assad government and dismember Syria.

Britain has been training Syrian rebel forces since 2012 from bases in Jordan and providing intelligence from its Cyprus bases on Syrian regime movements to Turkey to be passed on to the Free Syrian Army and other rebel forces. According to numerous reports, the Special Air Service (SAS) has been slipping into Syria on missions and working alongside the insurgents.

Britains spy agency MI6 cooperated with the CIA in facilitating a rat line of arms transfers from Libya to the Syrian rebels in 2012, following the NATO-led toppling of the Libyan regime and the brutal murder of its leader, Muammar Gaddafi.

While parliament voted in September 2014 to support offensive military action against ISIS alongside the US in Iraq, this did not include offensive operations in Syria. In practice Prime Minister David Cameron ignored this distinction, arguing it made no sense to stop the fight against ISIS at the Iraqi-Syrian border since ISIS did not accept the border.

British planes carried out surveillance missions over Syria, including MQ-9 Reaper drones based in Cyprus, at a frequency that soon accounted for 30 percent of all the coalitions aerial surveillance in Syria.

SAS personnel deployed to northern Iraq in August 2014 against Islamic State were sent to Syria. They also mounted raids deep into eastern Syria, assisting the New Syrian Army from its base in Jordan and providing training, weapons and equipment.

British forces took part in airstrikes in Syria, alongside US and Canadian forces, and carried out a secret drone warfare programme. Reaper drones were used to kill two British ISIS fighters in Syria, the first such targeted assassination of Britons, which Cameron justified as a lawful act of self-defence.

Britain sent forces to train the Peshmerga belonging to the Kurdistan Regional Government in Iraq, to Turkey and other nearby countries for operations in Syria.

All this was well before any authorisation to intervene in Syria and in defiance of the 2013 House of Commons vote against military intervention in Syria, which Cameron had promised to honour, much to Washingtons fury.

In December 2015, parliament voted to support an air campaign against Islamic State in Syria, but did not authorise the use of ground troops or special forces.

Since the vote, Britain has carried out nearly 100 airstrikes in Syria, second only to the US, and continually increased the size of its training teams in the region, ostensibly for anti-ISIS operations in Iraq and Syria, which now number around 1,500.

Britains special forces operate alongside their US counterparts from a base at al-Tanf, which they use to train Syrian opposition forces with the aim of sending them north up the Euphrates River valley to Deir al-Zour. Their objective is to control Syrias eastern border with Iraq, cutting off Irans land route into the country and beyond it to Lebanon and the Mediterranean.

The Syrian army is preparing to take Deir al-Zour, home to Syrias biggest oil industry, following the establishment of four deconfliction zones in Idlib, Homs, Deraa and Aleppo, and the surrender of other rebel forces in Damascus, which have effectively halted fighting between regime and rebel forces, freeing up regime forces to move east.

The US has warned that it will not tolerate any advance by Syrian regime forces on its base at al-Tanf, which could trigger a confrontation with Syria and its allies, Russia and Iran.
A phone call by US President Trump to his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping Sunday night (US time) confirms a marked deterioration of relations since their summit at Mar-a-Lago in Florida during April. Trump sought again to pressure China to force North Korea to abandon its nuclear and missile programs, but came away with little to show.

A terse readout from the phone call issued by the White House said Trump raised the growing threat posed by North Korea, adding only that the two leaders reaffirmed their pro-forma commitment to a denuclearised Korean Peninsula. Trump is demanding that China impose crippling sanctions on North Korea and threatening to take military action that could lead to a major war on Beijings doorstep.

Citing senior administration officials, the New York Times yesterday reported that Trump had warned Xi that the US was prepared to act on its own if China failed to compel North Korea to submit.

The official readout said Trump also reiterated his determination to seek more balanced trade relations with Americas trading partnersan implicit threat to press ahead with trade war measures against China.

After his April meeting with Xi, Trump toned down his inflammatory anti-China rhetoric and suggested he would offer economic concessions to China if it reined in North Korea. Late last month, Trump signalled a shift, declaring in a tweet that Chinese efforts to force North Korea into line had not worked out.

Trump intensified the pressure on China by making a phone call earlier on Sunday to Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. The two leaders spoke of the growing threat from North Korea, declared their support for increasing pressure on the regime and reaffirmed the US-Japan military alliance. Abe has exploited the alleged threat posed by Pyongyang to accelerate Japanese remilitarisation, which is aimed not only against North Korea, but also China.

Chinas state-owned media pointed to the tensions evident during Xis phone call with Trump. The Chinese president reportedly expressed his concern that relations had been affected by negative factors since the April meeting and urged Trump to uphold the consensus we reached at Mar-a-Lago.

While the reports did not elaborate on these factors, Xi evidently stressed that China attached great importance to the US governments reaffirmation of the One China policy and hoped the US would properly handle the Taiwan problem by adhering to the One China principle. For nearly four decades, the US has recognised Beijing as the sole legitimate government of all China, including Taiwan.

The Trump administration intentionally inflamed relations with China when it gave the green light last week for a major $1.4 billion arms sale to Taiwan. Previous US administrations have sold arms to Taiwan supposedly to ensure against a Chinese attack. However, the latest arms deal struck a particularly raw nerve in Beijing as Trump had called the One China policy into question last December. He withdrew the threat before meeting Xi in April but questions remain in China about his commitment to a policy that has been fundamental to US-China relations.

Beijing was given another cause for concern after the Senate Armed Services Committee approved a change in US policy toward Taiwan, to authorise regular visits by US warships to Taiwanese ports and allow Taiwanese naval vessels to visit US bases in the Pacific. If the US Congress approves the measure in the National Defence Authorisation Act, it would significantly boost US-Taiwanese military relations. The legislation also calls for the US to develop Taiwans undersea warfare capabilities and strengthen strategic cooperation with Taiwan.

As well as the Taiwanese arms deal, Xis negative factors clearly refer to other recent provocative moves by the Trump administration, economic as well as military:

* Last week, US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin announced sanctions on two Chinese entitiesthe Bank of Dandong and Dalian Global Unity Shippingas well as two Chinese business executives for their allegedly illicit business dealings with North Korea. US citizens and businesses will be prohibited from doing business with those companies and individuals.

* On Sunday, the US navy conducted its second so-called freedom of navigation operation in less than six weeks to challenge Chinese sovereignty in the South China Sea. The guided-missile destroyer USS Stethem intruded within the 12-nautical mile territorial limit claimed by China around Triton Island in the Paracel island group. The Chinese foreign ministry branded the US foray a serious political and military provocation and reported that Chinese warships and fighter planes were sent to warn off the US destroyer.

* Trumps expressed determination to have more balanced trade relations with China and other major trading partners has taken concrete form in the threat of US sanctions against foreign steel. The Department of Commerce has conducted an investigation into whether steel imports constitute a threat to national securitya pretext that Trump could exploit under little-used legislation to impose penalties. The threat is particularly infuriating to Beijing, which has just completed lifting its ban on US beef imports into China.

The Trump administration is rapidly adopting a more confrontational stance toward China across the board. At present, Trump appears to be using the threats as a lever to pressure Beijing to take tougher measures against Pyongyang. The Chinese government, however, is reluctant to impose further sanctions against North Korea that could provoke the collapse of the regime and provide an opening for the US and its allies to exploit.

Trump and Xi did reaffirm in their phone call that they would meet on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Germany later this week. Any agreement over North Korea, however, appears unlikely as Chinese officials have repeatedly urged the US to do more to ease tensions and pave the way for talks to defuse the standoff. The Trump administration has ruled out negotiations with North Korea except under the right circumstancesin other words, only if Pyongyang caves in to US demands.

After North Korea tested another intermediate range missile this morning, Trump again lashed out at Beijing in a tweet, saying: Perhaps China will put a heavy move on North Korea and end this nonsense once and for all!

If sanctions fail to bring Pyongyang to heel, the US has threatened to use all options, including the military one. The Pentagon has carried out a massive military build-up in North East Asia and developed plans to attack North Korea, which would trigger a catastrophic conflict that could draw in other major powers, including China and Russia.
The US Studies Centre (USSC), a prominent think-tank at the University of Sydney, launched a major research project in April to highlight the economic ties and investment flows between the US and Australia. The project, to involve reports, case studies and public events, is being jointly sponsored by the USSC and the American Chamber of Commerce in Australia (AmCham).

Rather than a scholarly examination of indices and economic trends, the project is a profoundly political exercise. Its purpose is to send a clear message to the Australian political and business establishment that, despite its important trade ties with China, there can be no equivocation on the US military alliance as Washington accelerates its war plans against Beijing.

The project was launched in the context of ever-greater US demands that Australia play a frontline role in Washingtons preparations for military conflict with North Korea, and above all, China.

Australia has already been integrated into the massive US military build-up in the Asia-Pacific, formally announced by US President Barack Obama from the floor of the Australian parliament in 2011. The Labor government of Julia Gillard agreed to a new US Marine presence and expanded access to other bases in northern Australia as well as greater military interoperabilitypolicies deepened by subsequent governments.

The Australian ruling class, however, confronts a fundamental dilemma between its strategic dependence on the US and its economic ties with China, now Australias largest trading partner. The tensions in ruling circles have been sharpened by worsening geo-political tensions in Asia and globally, compounded by the uncertainties produced by Trumps election as US president, his erratic and reckless foreign policies, and his America first demagogy.

Concerned that Australia could waver, a procession of high-level American deep state representatives have visited Australia in recent months to insist, in very public forums, on the unbreakable character of the US alliance.

In April, John McCain, chairman of the US Senate Armed Services Committee, delivered an extraordinary address at an event hosted by the USSC. He broke with a decades-long political taboo of not criticising the US president while abroad, telling Australian dignitaries and foreign policy experts he shared their concerns about the Trump administration.

Alluding to efforts by sections of the US intelligence and military establishment to oust Trump, McCain commented that while presidents come and go, relations between the US and Australia were eternal. In a menacing threat to those in Australia advocating a more independent foreign policy, he warned: No-one has ever got rich betting against America, my friends, and now is not a good time to start.

In similar remarks at the National Press Club in June, James Clapper, former US Director of National Intelligence, delivered a broadside against the US president, while stressing the importance of the US alliance. Both McCain and Clapper made a point of noting the close economic ties between the two countries, particularly Australias heavy dependence on Wall Street and US investment.

These comments carry an unmistakable threat that any turn away from the US alliance would have serious repercussionseconomic as well as political. Two Australian prime ministersGough Whitlam in 1975 and Kevin Rudd in 2010were ousted in political coups that were backed by the US. At the same time, the recent high-level visits underscored the extent to which Washington is mobilising the substantial pro-US networks within the Australian political establishment.

McCains choice of the USSC to deliver his speech was no accident. The centre was established in 2007 with the express purpose of combating popular hostility to Australian participation in US-led wars, and propagandising in favour of the US alliance. It has been funded by US and Australian authorities, and subsidised by corporations in both countries.

The new project on US-Australian economic ties is designed to underpin the threat made in McCains speech that Australia has no choice but to unconditionally maintain the US alliance.

Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop first made the point in 2014 that the US, as Australias largest investment partner, was just as important economically as strategically. The comments were directed at those warning that Australian involvement in the US military build-up against Beijing would jeopardise trade relations with China.

Initial research published by the USSC project echoed this theme, bearing the headline: By the numbers: How the US is Australias indispensable economic partner.

Published in the Australian Financial Review in April, the report declared: Cumulatively, two-way investment between the US and Australia totals $1.45 trillion, dwarfing Australias other bilateral economic relationships. It compared this with Chinese investment, stating: The $80 billion that Australia received in new US investment in 2015 is larger than the total value of Chinas cumulative investments in Australia.

The report noted that the US accounted for a quarter of inbound foreign direct investment. However, it placed particular emphasis on the heavy reliance of the Australian economy on US finance. Many of Australias largest businesses, in manufacturing, mining and agriculture, are ultimately owned by US financial entities.

The major Australian banks depend no less on US capital. The report commented: Australian banks have a foreign funding ratio of 24 percent, with 11.8 percent of capital being foreign short term and rolled over on a regular basis. It said the vast bulk of this capital is from the US. Over recent months, fears of a new financial crisis have centred on warnings that Australias banking sector is heavily exposed to bad debt in the property sector, threatening a liquidity crisis.

The report also drew attention to the $1.5 billion spent by US corporations on research and development in 2014, comparing the figure to the $9.5 billion outlay by the federal government over the same period.

The stress placed on Australias reliance on Wall Street and US corporations was a thinly-veiled warning that any move away from the alliance could have financial repercussions.

The report concluded by making plain the purpose of the USSC project. No shortage of commentary insists that Australia faces a choice between a long-time ally in the US and an economic behemoth in China, it stated, labelling this view naive at best, intellectually lazy at worst, and a false dilemma.

The report declared: Amid increasing tensions in the Asia region, the security alliance should not be undervalued. But Trump and Turnbull would do well to point to Australias economic relationship with the United States, a dynamic and vital cornerstone of our national prosperityits relevance resting not on any appeal to values, but on a clear-eyed appreciation of our material interests.

In other words, the cornerstone of the alliance is not the deceitful phrases often used about democracy and shared values, but the material interests and profits of the financial elite.

The media and political establishment welcomed the USSC project. There have been no allegations of US interference in Australian politics, even though the funding provided by the US Chamber of Commerce is a transparent attempt to influence politicians, corporations and public opinion. Similar interventions by the US corporate elite, and its extensive networks of supporters in the media, think-tanks, universities, political parties, trade unions and state apparatus in Australia, likewise pass without comment.

This stands in marked contrast to the hysterical campaign being waged in the media against supposed Chinese interference in Australian public and political life. The Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Fairfax, and other outlets have run scurrilous reports claiming that the Chinese government and business figures are influencing both major political parties, the press and the universities.

This anti-Chinese campaign, like the USSCs efforts, is aimed at placing the country on a war footing, in preparation for conflict with China. The USSC and other think-tanks have pointed with increasing alarm to widespread hostility among working people to Australian involvement in any Asia-Pacific conflict.

A USSC survey last month found that 61 percent of Australian respondents thought US influence in the region over the next five years would be negative. Some 72 percent said China had the most influence in the region. The report also stated: Australians are indifferent with respect to the value of American versus Chinese influence on Australia.

It is to overcome these anti-war sentiments that the Australian media and political establishment is denouncing Chinese influence and vilifying China, while the USSC is promoting the merits of Australian and US economic ties, along with the military alliance that has led already to Australian involvement in a succession of illegal US-led wars.
On June 27, hours before the Venezuelan Supreme Court stripped the dissenting attorney general, Luisa Ortega Diaz, of her powers to investigate human rights violations, a helicopter piloted by a police officer mounted a suspicious attack on the court, dropping four grenades and firing shots before flying away.

The government of President Nicolas Maduro released a statement branding the helicopter incident as a terrorist attack and part of the escalation of the coup, exploiting the incident to distract from the anti-democratic measures it is carrying out.

The governments statement identifies the attacker as Oscar Perez, and says he is under investigation for his links to the CIA. Numerous reports have described him as a 36-year-old former police investigator and part-time actor. A captain in the Scientific, Penal and Criminal Investigation Service Corps (CICPC), Venezuelas largest national police agency, Perez also co-produced and acted in the 2015 film titled Suspended Death (Muerte Suspendida), in which he plays a role based on his real life. The film even contains scenes of Perez firing shots from a helicopter.

A video released on YouTube the day of the attack features Perez, appearing to be flanked by two masked men with an assault rifles, and what looks to be two mannequins. In the video, he claims to be part of a a coalition of members of the military, policemen, and civilians that is nationalist, patriotic and institutionalist, and which is looking to reestablish stability in opposition to this temporary and criminal government.

There has been widespread dissent within the Venezuelan military, especially among the lower officer ranks. Reports indicate that at least 65 army officers have been arrested, with 14 charged with rebellion and treason. The chavista government relies heavily on the military, with military officers heading up around a third of the countrys ministries and comprising half the countrys governors.

Many high-ranking officers and generals, a key component of the boliburguesia, have enriched themselves enormously through chavismo by their control of military-owned companies. There are no doubt layers of the officer corps who feel blocked from advancement and feel they can do better at managing Venezuela.

Nevertheless, despite the accusations of the Maduro government, it does not appear that the Perez incident is connected with a wider conspiracy in the armed forces. There appears to have been one other person with him in the helicopter, holding a sign reading Art. 350, Libertad, referring to the Venezuelan constitutions article 350, which encourages people to disown any regime, legislation or authority that runs counter to democratic principles and guarantees, or that undermines human rights.

Venezuelan security forces said they found the helicopter used in the attack near the northern coast of Venezuela in Vargas State, but with so sign of Perez.

Although members of the right-wing opposition parties were initially supportive of what they took to be part of a wider rebellion among the armed forces, enthusiasm died down as it became clear that coverage of the incident was drowning out the attention being paid to government moves against Luisa Ortega Diaz, the chief prosecutor who has come out against the Maduro government. The incident also bolsters government claims that the right-wing opposition, heavily supported by US imperialism, is trying to foment a coup.

One of the figures charged in the governments statement with alleged links to Perez, Miguel Rodriguez, the former minister of the interior and intelligence chief for Maduro, as well as a high-ranking former general, told Reuters he was not at all convinced by the helicopter incident, and asked rhetorically, Who gains from this? Only Nicolas for two reasons: to give credibility to his coup d'etat talk, and to blame Rodriguez.

The action taken by the Supreme Court later on the same day of the attack broadened the power of the government ombudsman, allowing the holder of that office, Tarek William Saab, to carry out investigations of crimes connected to human rights, normally the prerogative of the chief prosecutor, Ortega Diaz. This was an escalation against Ortega Diaz, and indeed, two days later the government banned her from leaving the country and froze her assets. She faces a further hearing on July 4.

In recent months, Ortega Diaz has broken from the government, particularly over its attempt to convene a Constituent Assembly that would rewrite the constitution in order to sideline the opposition-controlled National Assembly. In claiming that the calling of the Constituent Assembly is unconstitutional, Ortega Diaz has cut through government claims to be operating on firm legal principles, a key pillar of its rhetoric against the right-wing opposition.

She has also put forward numerous accusations of government human rights violations, and has prosecuted soldiers and policemen for their roles in the killing of protesters. Ortega Diaz has blamed the government for 23 protest deaths and 853 injuries, which would amount to around a fourth of the total protest deaths.

Just two days after the helicopter incident, she charged Antonio Benavides, former head of the national guard, with systematically violating the human rights of protesters. Ortega Diazs concentration on this question of human rights has made her the darling of US-based and opposition media, which sees it as providing a justification for the intervention of US imperialism. Maduro had reassigned Benavides last week from the national guard to government head of the capital district.

Regardless of the actual origin of the helicopter attack, it illustrates the depth of the crisis gripping ruling layers. The working class of Venezuela can place no trust in any section of the bourgeoisie. A change of government achieved either through a CIA-backed coup or an independent power grab by sections of the military would mean a redoubling of the ongoing attacks on basic rights and social conditions. Venezuelan workers must prepare themselves to put forward their own socialist and internationalist program, independent of all factions of the bourgeoisie.
In late May the Fairfax County, Virginia school board adopted its $2.8 billion budget for the 2017-2018 school year. The boards budget included $50 million in cuts from its initial proposed budget.

Fairfax County has the third highest median income among all counties in the United States. Nevertheless, the cuts in the county, just outside of Washington, DC, underscore the fact that even relatively better-off areas are struggling to provide inadequate funding for basic social services.

Due to the cuts, Fairfax County will hire fewer teachers than expected, with a resultant increase in class sizes for the upcoming school year. In addition, the school system will charge students a $50 fee for participating in after-school activities.

The 2017-2018 budget reductions come on the heels of steep cuts in the previous school year when the district faced a $70 million deficit. In fact, the school system has made cuts every year since 2008. Due to the budget issues, Fairfax County has struggled to offer competitive salaries to teachers, resulting in a 50 percent turnover rate in the first five years of employment. At the start of the 2015-16 school year, there were 200 vacant teacher positions.

Prior to the cuts, class sizes in Fairfax County were already among the highest in the DC region. In 2016-2017, the average elementary school class size was 22.4 students per classroom teacher. Middle and high school class sizes were 24.6 and 25.8 respectively. With the cuts, the board says average class sizes will grow by about half a student.

In addition to school cuts, due to budget woes, Fairfax County cancelled a 1.65 percent market rate adjustment salary increase for county employees, deferred facility upgrades, sidewalk/trail maintenance, eliminated a program that allowed people with mental health issues to get treatment instead of jail time, and underfunded by $6.7 million a program for employment and day services used by individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Seventy-two percent of the school systems funding comes from county tax revenues, with most of that from real estate taxes. The county has faced a declining real estate tax base in recent years, with average home values flat and office real estate values declining in 2016. The county also has a high office vacancy rate, with more than 20 million square feet empty out of the available 116.4 million square feet.

To raise additional revenues, instead of raising taxes on the wealthy or corporations, Fairfax County proposed a regressive meals tax, which was put up for referendum in the November 2016 election. The proposal called for an additional four percent tax on prepared food and beverages. The measure was defeated.

A large part of the decade-long revenue shortfall for the school system is due to substantial reductions in state funding for Virginia schools. Since 2010 the state government has cut $6 billion in funding for K-12 education.

On the federal level, Trumps fiscal year 2018 budget proposal calls for $9.2 billion in spending cuts for education, a 13.5 percent reduction from 2017. Among the proposed cuts nationally are the elimination of a $2.3 billion program for teacher training and class-size reduction, the elimination of a $1.2 billion after-school academic enrichment program, which serves nearly 2 million children, and the elimination of a $190 million literacy program.

Trumps austerity measures follow eight years of the attacks on public education by the Obama administration, which used federal dollars to encourage cash-strapped school districts to expand for-profit charter schools, push merit pay schemes on teachers and other corporate-backed school reforms.

As the Trump administration slashes educational funding, it will sharply increase military spending. On June 22, both the House and Senate and Armed Services Committees proposed a $706 billion military budget, nearly $100 billion higher than the 2017 budget. Fairfax County is home to numerous military contractors, including Raytheon, BAE Systems, SAIC, and Booz Allen Hamilton. According to the Fairfax County Economic Development Authority, in 2015, $9.4 billion in federal procurement contracts were awarded to Fairfax County businesses to directly support the US Army, Air Force and Navy.

At the same time the defense giants have been handed hundreds of millions in tax abatements and other incentives by state and local governments at the expense of the public schools and other essential services. The financial starvation of education and other social programs in even the wealthiest districts is yet another exposure of the fraudulent claim that the US is experiencing an economic recovery.
Latin America

Brazilian workers protest labor reform bill

Strikes and protests took place across Brazil June 30 to voice opposition to the labor law reform bill currently being discussed in the Senate. The bill, which has already passed the lower house, would lower wages, undercut labor rights, raise the retirement age and cut pensions.

The mobilization was the second this year. On April 28, massive demonstrations protested anti-working-class fiscal policies pushed by Michel Temer, who took over the presidency of Dilma Rousseff following her impeachment. This time, however, key transport unions in Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro refused to support the strike. Forca Sindical and the UGT, two union centrals, did not participate, since they have reopened talks with the government.

In the capital, Brasilia bus and underground services were paralyzed and demonstrators barricaded streets. In Rio de Janeiro, police fired tear gas and rubber bullets at protesters. In Sao Paulo, marchers blocked main highways and impeded access to the nations largest airport.

Mexican newspaper workers strike over benefit cut

Workers for the Mexico City-based newspaper La Jornada voted 133 to 64 (with six abstentions) June 30 to strike over managements cutting of benefits by around 50 percent. The benefits are part of the contract agreed upon between the paper and the Independent La Jornada Workers Syndicate (Sitrajor).

The papers parent company, Demos (Desarrollo de Medios, Media Development), obtained a ruling by the Local Conciliation and Arbitration Board (JLCA) the week before endorsing the cuts based on the firms claim that there was only enough cash in hand to pay 30 percent of the benefits. Demos asserts that the strike should be declared nonexistent in line with the decision.

The issue has festered for months. Sitrajor initially called a strike in April, but delayed it three times until the JLCAs final decision.

Costa Rican health workers strike, protest increase in pension fund deduction

Some 1,500 workers for Costa Ricas health sector struck on June 29 against the one percent increase in their pension fund payroll deduction recently announced by the Social Security System, known as the Caja. The increase was to be applied in two 0.5 percent portions, on July 1 and January 1. The deduction would go from 2.84 percent to 3.84 percent.

Members of the National Union of Caja Workers gathered in La Merced Park in the capital, San Jose, and marched to the Cajas main building downtown. They were joined by groups of teachers and municipal and other public workers.

One-day strike by Uruguayan teachers over salaries, education budget

Secondary teachers in Montevideo, Uruguay held a 24-hour strike June 30, which included an assembly to analyze salary demands. Teachers in the Secondary Education Professors Federation (FENAPES) voted to delay the action, but the capital citys affiliate Secondary Education Teachers Association (ADES) opted to carry it out, in addition to holding an assembly.

Another issue under discussion is the national education budget. The recent budget report in the parliament recommended five percent of gross domestic product, while FENAPES is calling for six percent.

Meanwhile, students occupied the Artigas Professors Institute (IPA), a teachers college in Montevideo, on June 29. It was the latest occupation to demand building improvements that had been promised in 2015, but have yet to be started. The students, who also demand a bigger education budget, resolved to march to the Parliament the next day in solidarity with the ADES teachers.

Argentine social security workers strike after suicide of retired man

Workers for Argentinas National Social Security Administration (ANSES) convoked a national strike June 30 the day after a 91-year-old man shot himself at the ANSES office in Mar del Plata. The retiree, Rodolfo Estivil, took out a gun after an argument over administrative procedures, said, This is my fate, and shot himself in the head. He died later at a local hospital.

The State Workers Association (ATE) blamed the government of Mauricio Macri, which has raised prices of gasoline, utilities and public transport, destroyed both public and private sector jobs, and has made it more difficult for workers and retirees to access needed services.

Pilots at Argentine airport protest noncompliance with contract

Beginning at 6:00 in the morning June 29, members of the Airline Pilots Association (APLA) held informational assemblies at the LATAM airline terminal in the Jorge Newbery Airpark north of Buenos Aires. Six LATAM flights were canceled as a result.

APLA called the action to protest LATAMs noncompliance with several provisions of the contract, including vacations not granted, unpaid travel allowances, lack of replacement of uniforms and scarcity of food for service on the airplanes, according to APLA secretary general Pablo Biro.

The United States

Spectrum strike continues

The strike by Spectrum telecommunication workers in New York City and New Jersey is continuing without resolution, as the International Union of Electrical Workers continues to isolate and wear down strikers. There have been unconfirmed reports from strikers on the picket line that contractors who employ IBEW members are running a scab operation, doing the work of the strikers.

The corporate media has given virtually no coverage to the strike in recent weeks. A recent service outage at Spectrum in Queens was quickly blamed on vandals, but with few details to support the claim given.

AT&T wireless workers still without a contract

As the Spectrum strike continues, AT&T wireless workers are continuing to work without a contract. After a brief three-day strike in May, essentially a stunt, the Communications Workers of America (CWA) sent wireless workers back to the job, having long abandoned the principle of no contract no work.

As it has done in other strikes CWA claimed the brief strike nudged the company in the direction of negotiating fairly. A month later the workers still have no contract and AT&T remains intransigent in its demands. Small rallies and marches have been held by the union in an attempt to dissipate worker frustration. Meanwhile, workers in AT&Ts landline division in the Western US were sent back to work with a concessionary contract. No effort was made to join the landline workers with the wireless workers.

Likewise, CWA and IBEW have made no effort for a unified struggle uniting Spectrum and AT&T workers.

Workers reject concessions; continue strike at Hollister, California cannery

Some 100 workers at San Benito Foods in Hollister, California returned to the picket line June 26 after overwhelmingly rejecting a contract proposal that workers believe contains cuts and fails to provide sufficient wage increases. Workers first walked out June 23 after ignoring advice by Teamsters Local 890 to wait until after a final June 27 bargaining session.

We dont want a lot. We just want a $1-an-hour raise, said one worker. Full-time workers make $11.96 an hour while part-time seasonal workers only make the minimum wage and have to contend with the areas high cost of living. Currently only 100 full-time workers are on the job and another 350 seasonal workers are expected to start work the middle of July when the canning season begins.

Alaska municipal worker strike ends

Municipal workers in Wrangell, Alaska, who walked off the job June 22 after the citys Borough Assembly voted to implement their final offer, returned to work June 29 without a contract. The action involved 24 members of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW). The two sides said wages were the main stumbling block, with the union demanding an hourly wage hike of $2.50, while the city insists on its 75-cent wage proposal.

Behind the differences on wages, however, is a struggle over health insurance premiums. The unions appeal for a higher wage rate is an attempt to mask increases in medical costs that would consume the citys wage offer and probably more.

Akron Coca Cola workers strike

Workers at the Akron Coca Cola distribution plant are continuing a walkout begun last week after the collapse of contract talks with the Teamsters. The previous contract expired at the end of May. About 150 workers are involved in the action.

The company is continuing its operations with non-striking personnel. The union has not released any details regarding the outstanding issues in the dispute. The Akron facility was taken over earlier this year from beverage giant Coca-Cola by Charlotte-based Coca-Cola Bottling, an independent beverage bottler.

Canada

Ontario lottery-casino workers set to strike

Over 400 workers across southern Ontario employed by Ontario Lottery and Gaming (OLG), a crown corporation, are set to go on strike after their union requested a No Board Report setting a strike/lockout deadline of July 14.

The leadership of the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC), which represents workers at OLG in Brantford, Sudbury, Rideau Carleton and Toronto, Ontario, say that they are fighting a privatization scheme by OLG that puts in question their sincerity in negotiating a new contract. Most of the workers at OLG are part-time, with many making just above minimum wage even as the corporation posted over half a billion dollars in profit last year.
According to the latest figures from the World Health Organization (WHO), more than 1,500 Yemenis have died in a deadly cholera epidemic which has infected some 250,000 people since April. Children account for a quarter of the deaths and half of all infections.

The deadly outbreak is the direct result of the criminal Saudi-led, US-backed war to reinstate the puppet government of President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi, who was ousted in 2015 by an alliance of Houthi militias and forces loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh.

The Saudi-led assault on Yemen is a war crime of immense proportions, rivaling the US proxy war for regime change in Syria that has killed or displaced millions and the 2003 invasion and occupation of Iraq, which resulted in the deaths of more than a million people.

The war has been justified by Saudi Arabia with unsubstantiated accusations that the Houthis are being supported and financed by Iran. First under former president Barack Obama and now under President Donald Trump, the effort to dominate Yemen, which borders the key oil transit point of the Bab el Mandeb strait, is a major component of the effort to block Irans development as a regional power capable of impeding the predations of American imperialism in the Middle East.

Supplied with bombs and missiles, aerial refueling and vital logistical and intelligence support from the US government, Saudi Arabia and its allies have deliberately and ruthlessly carried out air strikes on food markets, schools, residential neighborhoods, hospitals and other critical infrastructure. Washington has supplied cluster bombs, illegal under international law, which have been used repeatedly.

The UN estimates that more than 16,000 people have been killed by airstrikes and ground fighting; nearly two-thirds of the fatalities have been civilians. As many as 17 million Yemenis, out of a pre-war population of 27 million, are in need of food aid, and of these 7 million are on the brink of dying from famine. Every hour, six children under the age of five die of preventable causes including starvation and malnourishment. More than three million Yemenis have been displaced from their homes.

A crippling naval blockade of the country by the US has been key to the unrelenting onslaught and has resulted in a complete breakdown in Yemens physical and social infrastructure, creating the conditions for the outbreak of a cholera epidemic and its rapid spread through the population.

Medical staff, sanitation workers and other civil servants have gone unpaid for months. Basic necessities, including electricity and clean water for drinking and bathing, have become luxuries. In the blockaded port city of Hudaydah, which has been without electricity for two years, residents have resorted to digging wells in the streets after the main water supplier ran out of the diesel fuel necessary to pump water to residents.

Garbage has piled up in the streets of the capital city, Sanaa, creating a breeding ground for disease. The current cholera outbreak, which began in October 2016 before temporarily subsiding, resurged earlier this year after the sewers in Sanaa became blocked and stopped functioning.

Simultaneously with the unrelenting war against the Houthis, the Trump administration has ramped up the pace of the undeclared war begun by Obama in 2009, targeting militants purportedly aligned with Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula for death with Hellfire missiles fired from remotely operated drones. More than a thousand Yemenis have been killed in eight years, including more than 200 civilians, among them children and pregnant women.

There have been at least 90 US drone strikes in Yemen since January, with as many as 120 people reported killed; at least one-third of the fatalities have been civilians. Fifty drone strikes were carried out in March, dwarfing any of the monthly totals during Obamas tenure. Two successive attacks on Friday and Saturday reportedly killed four suspected members of AQAP.

As part of the war against AQAP US special forces troops have also operated at will in the country, carrying out a raid a January in which they killed as many as 30 civilians, including 8-year-old Nawar al-Awlaki, a US citizen. Nawar was the daughter of Anwar al-Awlaki, an American citizen in Yemen who was targeted for death by Obama and assassinated with a drone strike in 2011.

Reports surfaced last month revealing that the US and the United Arab Emirates are collaborating in the operation of a network of torture chambers in Yemen into which hundreds of men and boys allegedly tied to AQAP have been swept up and brutally abused. Victims report being crammed into shipping containers smeared with human feces, blindfolded for weeks at a time, beaten with wires, sexually assaulted, and tied to a spit and spun in a circle of fire.

The torture regime, which began under Obama, also reportedly involves the use of interrogations by American experts on ships just off the coast of Yemen.

While the undeniable humanitarian crisis ravaging Yemen grows worse by the day, it has been met with a criminal silence in the mainstream media and among the pseudo-left press.

Predictably, those who demand the overthrow of Assad and Russian President Vladimir Putin, ultimately for standing in the way of the interests of American imperialism, have nothing to say about the monstrous crimes of Obama, Trump and King Salman of Saudi Arabia in Yemen. The tear ducts of the humanitarians at the New York Times, Washington Post and their pseudo-left adjuncts, which gushed over the Russian assault on Aleppo in Syria last year, have run dry when it comes to the millions of imperialisms Yemeni victims.
There seems to be no respite for Malayalam actor Dileep. He continues to court controversy in a kidnapping case, he claims he has nothing to do with. He was...

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By PTI: Mangaluru, Jul 4 (PTI) Nearly 10 kg of ganja was seized from a lodge here and three persons arrested in this connection, police said.

Acting on a tip-off that ganja was being smuggled from Andhra Pradesh into Dakshina Kannada district, the city crime branch police raided a lodge in Falnir and arrested the trio yesterday, they said.

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The ganja was being sold to agents who targetted sections of the public and students, they added.

Around 10 kg of ganja, three mobile phones, a digital weighing scale, small plastic packets used to fillthe drug and Rs 9,500 cash besides a two-wheeler were confiscated from the accused.

The total value of the seized items is estimated to be Rs 3 lakh, police sources said.

The accused had during interrogation confessed that they purchased the ganja from Chittoor in Andhra Pradesh. PTI MVG RA ROH

--- ENDS ---
SELAH, Wash. - Firefighters were contending with the latest wildland fire burning early Tuesday on Selah Ridge. The fire was burning below Lookout Point, which overlooks the Naches River and North 40th Avenue. (Photo by Peter Troianello for the Yakima Herald-Republic)
Scenes from the annual Wild West Fourth of July Parade in Toppenish, Wash., Saturday, July 1, 2017. The downtown area was filled with spectators as the parade traveled along South Toppenish and East Toppenish Avenues. (SHAWN GUST/Yakima Herald-Republic)
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Everyone asks me how is it possible that when the Goldin family asked the government to pressure Hamas to return Hadar and Oron Shaul , we were warned that we were bringing about a war, and when Mahmoud Abbas asks Israel to cut the electricity supply to Gaza, Israel goes ahead and does it ? My response is that since the prime minister signed the agreement with the Turks a year ago, Im no longer surprised. Im just angry and filled with shame.

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That morning, exactly one year ago, I was speaking to teens ahead of their IDF service about Hadar, in the context of the development of educational leadership. I always conclude with the song Eretz Tzvi (Land of the Deer), which was Hadars ringtone. Next week, I told them, we will mark 40 years since a plane was hijacked to Uganda and the hostages were released. It was a week of brave decisions: The government decided to launch a bold operation in a faraway place. During these same days 40 years ago, I said to them, Yoni Netanyahu planned the raid at the Entebbe airport, the battle in which he was killed. Hadar saw it as the purpose of military action. Remember that, I told the youth who were about to be drafted in July-August 2016.

Leah and Simcha Goldin with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. A leadership disappointment (Photo: Gil Yohanan)

I didnt know at the time what Benjamin Netanyahu would bring me and my family that evening and the following week. That evening, the prime minister surprised my family and announced the agreement with Turkey, without any stipulation in the conditions about the soldiers return.

The following segment was written by Tzur, Hadars twin brother, who fought 700 meters away from him in Gaza, and returned after the war to regular service in the Maglan special forces unit. This is how he remembers the conversation with the prime minister:

It was in the evening. I am sitting next to my father in the dining room, which turned long ago into the familys meeting and cabinet table for crucial decisions. The phone rings with an unlisted number, and we hear the voice of the cabinets military secretary. I put the call on speaker mode. My mother is in her car, on her way back from a cyber conference she organized at the Beer Sheva university. We tell her to stop somewhere. The prime minister is on the other end of the line from Jerusalem.

He begins the conversation, explaining to my parents that he would like to update them on an important diplomatic agreement that is about to be implemented in the coming days. Regardless of what people may say, this agreement has nothing to do with returning Hadar and Oron. It has nothing to do with the Gaza Strip or with Hamas.

My mother tries to understand the essence of the agreement and the reason for his call, and then we immediately learn that the essence of the agreement is normalizing ties with Turkey. My father cries out: But the Turks are Hamas patrons in Gaza, they are affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood. My father reminds the prime minister that no efforts have been made to bring Hadar back for a year and a half, and during this time the answer we have received is that in every agreement that has to do with rebuilding or upgrading Gaza, the soldiers return will be a precondition. Where is that promise? How is this happening?

The prime minister explains that this is an unusual case in which an agreement is being signed with Turkey, and that it has nothing to do with Gaza. My mother notes that according to the prime ministers description, its an agreement on Gaza. She asks if we have been taken advantage of until now so that Hadar and Oron will be forgotten, and now, two days before such a surprising agreement is being signed, we are being informed about it like thieves in the night. She asks the prime minister if he even intended to secure Hadar's release in the first place, and if at a certain stage of the agreement process Hadar and Oron were part of the agreement as a humanitarian case.

The prime minister says to my mother: Leah, you should know that as prime minister I have different considerations. Can you take responsibility for an epidemic in Gaza? Hunger in strip? Damage to the ground water? Can you take responsibility for threats on the part of countries that hate Israel and will slander us around the world?

At this stage, my mother starts crying. My father writes on a piece of paper, Mother is crying, and responds to the prime minister: You left me with no hope. I would like to interrupt and remind you that we were promised that the soldiers return would be a condition for any humanitarian upgrade. Where did this agreement come from? Out of the blue? Does the government know about it?

Brothers Hadar and Tzur Goldin (photo courtesy of the family)

The prime minister raises his voice and says: I hope this agreement will be signed. My commitment to bring Hadar home still stands. My mother replies: You havent left any way to bring him back. You tossed away the bargaining chips one after the other.

The prime minister concludes by saying that the conversation is over. My father interrupts him: You cant give up my son, and thats whats happening now. Its a moral disappointment, a leadership disappointment.

The conversation is cut off. My father goes to the childrens room and calls my mother, who is parked at a bus stop somewhere between Beer Sheva and the Beit Kama Junction. She is crying. The agreement is signed several days later. The ministers see it only afterwards, and most of them sign on it and approve it.

A burden rather than an asset

The agreement with Turkey was signed when the country was in a deep crisis, threatened by Russia, whose plane it downed, disconnected from Syria, at odds with Egypt, given the cold shoulder from Saudi Arabia. The Israeli government could have gotten anything from the Turkish government. Did the Israeli government demand Hadar and Orons return as a condition for the agreement? Two incumbent ministers told me that the soldiers were in the agreement and were taken out of it. Who gave them up and for what? What did the State of Israel achieve?

This agreement allowed Hamas to leave its headquarters in Turkey, to manage all its fundraising from there, all its propaganda. This is what the Israeli government agreed to.

Israel paid NIS 80 million in damages to the families of the people killed in the Marmara incident, thereby admitting to the whole world that its soldiers acted inappropriately on the vessel. After June 29, 2016, the Israeli government humiliated its brave and devoted fighters with the ridiculous excuse that the Turkish government had pledged not to prosecute these fighters in a Turkish court. As if there is a single naval commando fighter who would travel to Turkey now.

The prime minister mentioned that the achievement in normalizing relations with Turkey is the mutual return of the ambassadors. Indeed. Where is the normalization? Where are the good standard relations? Recep Tayyip Erdogan sees Jerusalem as part of the Ottoman Empire. Turkey invests money in Jerusalem and bolsters groups related to the northern Islamic Movement.

In perfect timing, one year after the agreement, Erdogan gave a speech in which he called on Muslims in the world to defend Jerusalems Muslim identity and to go up to the Temple Mount. Erdogan, the Muslim Brotherhoods patron, believes he is renewing the Ottoman Empire and seeks to take over its lands in Europe and the Middle East.

So what did Israel achieve in this agreement?

This is what the prime minister said a year ago: The gas reinforces the economys coffer We are talking about huge sums. This is what the Israeli government achieveda gas deal. Money.

Without making the soldiers return a condition, Israel allowed Turkey to transfer any equipment and humanitarian aid through the Ashdod Port to Gaza, as well as establish of a power station and a water desalination facility.

There is nothing wrong with income from gas, there is something wrong with abandoning soldiers. I said to the prime minister at the time, As a statesman, as a leader, as the armys supreme commander, you could have shown our enemies what our values are. You could have shown the world. You could have shown the families drafting their sons and daughters to the IDF, that you are conditioning humanitarian aid with humanitarian behavior.

It didnt happen a year ago. Were still waiting. Since then, we have been demanding that the government pressure Hamas to make it understand that holding onto the soldiers is a burden rather than an asset, and it isnt happening. We have been warned that any pressure will lead to war. Suddenly, Abbas demand is accepted and the power supply to Gaza is being cut because of a financial debt. We demand that this will be the humanitarian condition. The beginning of the road. Finally. We wont restore the power supply until the soldiers are returned.
The investigation bureau asked a Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act court in Mumbai to sentence Salem to life in prison, although it noted that his act called for capital punishment.

By Divyesh Singh: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) today asked a TADA court in Mumbai that Abu Salem, a convict in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case, be sentenced to life in prison.

The Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act (TADA) court found Abu Salem, Mustafa Dossa, Firoz Abdul Rashid Khan, Tahir Merchant, Karimullah Khan, and Riyaz Siddique guilty of all charges in the case on June 16.

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The CBI's prosecutor today noted that since Salem was extradited from Portugal under section 34C of the Extradition Act, he can't be given capital punishment.

However, the prosecutor said Salem deserved the death penalty.

Section 34C stipulates that an individual extradited from a nation which doesn't sentence convicts to death, can only be put in jail for life for a crime punishable by the death penalty in India, the Hindustan Times reported.

The defence's arguments will be heard tomorrow.

ALSO READ

Abu Salem deserves death for his role in 1993 Mumbai blasts, CBI counsel tells TADA court

Death or life sentence for Abu Salem? CBI counsel says not decided yet

ALSO WATCH

Mustafa Dossa, Abu Salem convicted in 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case

--- ENDS ---
In recent weeks, Hezbollah has raised its alert level on the Israel-Lebanon border and somewhat boosted its forces in the area. There is no change in interest or policy behind this move. There has been no military provocation either.

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What stirred Hezbollah into action are the reports in Israel about an impending war in the summer. Thats the reason for the alertness, for the boosted forces and mainly for the intensive intelligence gathering along the fence. In light of the comments in Israel, Hezbollah believes that the IDF will take advantage of the organizations wide deployment in Syriawhich has forced it to reduce its forces in southern Lebanonto attack.

Even when Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman declares , as he did Sunday in a press briefing with military correspondents, that Israel has no intention of launching a warneither in Lebanon nor in Gazathey dont believe him. Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah, who considers himself an expert on the state of mind in Israel, prefers to listen to the underground streams in the defense establishment and in the government, which are pushing for an attack as soon as possible rather than waiting for an agreement in Syria.

Israel-Lebanon border. One million residents in southern Lebanon will have no solution in case of a war (Photo: AFP)

Nasrallah prefers, for example, to believe the covert feelings of an Israeli commander on the border line, who has warned that the fence Israel is building on the border will draw Hezbollah fire in the summer. That commander likely doesnt understand that every word that comes out of his mouth is perceived by the other side as an Israeli government policy rather than as his own evaluation of the situation. The same applies to the leaks and thoughts of ministers, who wish to tease the defense minister and explain to him what should be done against the arming going on in Lebanon. The other side is taking them seriously.

For a war to break out in Lebanon in the foreseeable future, a dramatic change must take place. If Israel inflicts irreversible damage on the Iranian interest, the Iranians will instruct Hezbollah to attack. A Hezbollah armament that violates Israels red lineschemical weapons, for examplewill be seen as an invitation for war too. All other parameters, including Hezbollahs weapon factories in Lebanon , are not a cause for a war. They can be dealt with covertly while keeping a low media profile.

The war plans, on both sides of the border, are ready and have been exercised. There is only one component which lacks a good solution, and which both sides are afraid of, and which is basically the war mongers main obstacle: The millions of citizens here and there. While Israels preparations for handling the population at a time of war are far more developed than Lebanons, Israeli officials understand that evacuating hundreds of thousands of people is a complicated logistic operation that will leave many citizens in the north under fire.

There are some one million residents living in southern Lebanon, who will have no escape in case of a war. Most of them live in about 270 villages and towns that serve as military bases for all intents and purposes, and are therefore seen as legitimate targets for an Israeli strike. Hezbollah members live in those villages, alongside the organizations obstacles, antitank missiles, explosive devices, mines, rockets, intelligence bases and control headquarters. Each of these villages means dozens of hundreds of targets. Israel has doubled its arsenal of accurate weapons, mainly from the air, to prevent environmental damage, but in light of such a large number of targets and the planned intensity of the Israeli attacks, it wont be a sterile war. Entire areas will be destroyed.

In Operation Accountability, in 1993, Israel built an intimidation plan aimed at scaring off the population to Beirut, in a bid to pressure the Lebanese government. Today, were not dealing with leverages but with a fast destruction of targets. The population wont have time to flee. Thousands of citizens on the Lebanese side will be hurt. Not only will Israel have to answer to the international community and to itself about massive damage to the population, Hezbollah will have to answer to the population in Lebanon.

Neither side feels like starting a war, but flexing muscles is a different story. And this is where the danger lies: The loaded gun has been on the table for 10 years now. There is a very short distance between misreading the map to uncontrolled unsheathing. Nowhere is this demonstrated more clearly that than what happened in the Second Lebanon War and Operation Protective Edge.
Most Jews around the world have heard about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu suspending the 2016 policy allowing egalitarian prayer at the Western Wall . It has already caused the deepening of a rift between Israel and the Jewish Diaspora that has been growing during the past decade.

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However, there is another bill that is quietly making its way through the Knesset that will administer another blow, if not be an outright assault, on Jews around the world. It is the Conversion Bill that will strip the recognition of Jews who underwent private conversions in Israel independent of the state and would make them ineligible to make aliyah under the Law of Return.

This bill will directly affect past, present and future converts. It also indirectly affects all Jews from any type of progressive stream of Judaism, even if you aren't a convert or a descendant of a convert. The moment that the government of Israel does not recognize your converts, then they are not recognizing you.

Liberal Jews protest Conversion Bill. A direct affront on Jews around the world, on their belief systems and the authority of their rabbis (Photo: Amit Shabi)

This Conversion Bill is a direct affront on Jews around the world, on their belief systems and the authority of their rabbis. The moment that Israel does not accept the converts of any stream of Judaism, then it is not accepting its community as a whole. They are shutting the doors on people who your communities welcomed with open arms and are integral in building your Jewish communal life.

It wont stop there. Converts are only the canary in the coal mine of the ultra-Orthodoxs monopoly of Judaism in Israel. They may be coming after your converts first, but ultra-Orthodox leaders hatred towards Reform, Conservative, and egalitarian streams of Judaism runs deep. It stretches from convincing much of the Israeli public that Reform or Conservative rabbis and Reform and Conservative Jews are not real rabbis or real Jews, by using derogatory and inflammatory statements to limiting financial funding for m progressive streams of Judaism in the state. There was even a law calling for jailing for two years any rabbi not approved by the Rabbinate if he or she performed a marriage ceremony in Israel, including jailing the bride and groom.

Just as in the United States, the religious extremists are trying to chip away at minority, womens and LGBTQ rights, the religious extremists are attempting to implement discriminatory religious policy in Israel.

I know it is overwhelming with news stories about anti-progressive legislation coming from all directions, but as an American Jew, who grew up in a Conservative synagogue, who is the daughter of a Reform convert, who made aliyah to Israel and served in the IDF, I am asking you to get involved. To not only stand up for my Jewish identity, but to also stand up for yours.

Jessica Fishman is the author of Chutzpah and High Heels: The Search for Love and Identity in the Holy Land. She speaks and writes about her experience with the ultra-Orthodox monopoly in Israel in order to inspire social change.
SEOUL -- South Korea's President Moon Jae-in said on Tuesday the military is analysing a North Korean missile launched earlier in the day with the possibility that it may have been an intercontinental ballistic missile-class (ICBM) rocket.

Moon said in opening remarks at a national security council meeting at the Blue House that he was deeply disappointed North Korea had launched the missile only days after he and U.S. President Donald Trump called for restraint.

The South Korean president added he strongly condemned the missile launch that violates United Nations Security Council resolutions and ignores international warnings.
The Labor Party members heading to the polls Tuesday arent going to elect Israels next prime minister. They are going to elect a chairman for a party that has reached its lowest point, that is expected to get eight to 12 Knesset seats in the next elections, according to todays polls, making it the fourth largest party in Israelsmaller than the Joint List.

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The party members know that. The contenders, at least most of them, are deluding themselves, or us, or simply pretending that electing them is like electing the next candidate for prime minister, the one who will run against Benjamin Netanyahuand win.

The top five candidatesIsaac Herzog, Amir Peretz, Omer Bar-Lev, Avi Gabbay and Erel Margalitare all good and worthy people. They are all men with good intentions, with a history of accomplishing things, some more and some less. Each one of them could be an excellent minister, part of a remarkable Knesset team. None of them, however, is capable of toppling the Netanyahu government. None of them has the sparkle that Ehud Barak had when he defeated Netanyahu in 1999.

Labors top five candidates (from left to right): Erel Margalit, Avi Gabbay, Omer Bar-Lev, Isaac Herzog and Amir Peretz

That may be why the party which founded the State of Israel has only 52,000 members today. In 1996, it had 300,000 members, and 200,000 of them voted in the primary elections. This time, approximately 30,000 are expected to arrive at the polls, and the number could be lower, depending on the heat.

The candidates were not the only ones worn out by their campaigns over the past few months. The never-ending panels, the thousands of text messages, the mutual besmirching and the reports on corruption irritated not only the entire public, but also those who are supposed to vote Tuesday. The debates, it seems, didnt give any candidate an advantage. They only added to the lack of enthusiasm. I wont be surprised if it turns out that many voters were unable to decide who their favorite candidate was before entering the polling station.

Unfortunately, theres a small chance that it will end in the first round. None of the candidates is expected to receive the required 40 percent of the votes, and the party members will be forced to drag themselves to the polling stations for another round next week.

Former party leader Amir Peretz is believed to have the highest chance of making it to the second round. He made an impressive comeback in the Labor Party, especially for someone who left the party and returned to compete (once again) for its top spot. Peretz is an experienced man. He has held all the significant positions offered by Israeli politics: Deputy prime minister, defense minister, environmental protection minister, cabinet member, opposition leader, as well as chairman of the Histadrut Labor Federation and head of the Sderot Local Council. He managed to soften the opposition against him inside the party, and the success of the Iron Dome defense system, which he insisted on developing as defense minister, paved the way for him even among sworn rivals.

Caricature: Guy Morad

Peretzs supreme goal is to receive more than 40 percent of the votes and get elected in the first round. A second round wont be good for him. It may create quite a big front against him by all those who wish to settle the score with him. On the other hand, if he is elected, instead of having the whole party behind him, Herzog and Tzipi Livni will launch a campaign for open primaries and undermine his leadership.

The identity of the candidate who will compete against Peretz in the second round is a mystery. Gabbay could definitely surprise everyone. First of all, he is a new and quite sympathetic face. On the other hand, there is a lot of pretension in joining a new party and immediately striving to lead it. And the Labor party, as we know, likes its leader to be worn out and comfortable. Which brings us to the second candidate who may compete against Peretzthe worn out and comfortable Herzog, who seems to have made a nice recovery, but has no chance of beating Netanyahu even if he does win the primary elections. To his credit, he knows that, which explains the motivation to hold open primaries and elect a candidate for prime minister.

And theres Margalit, who hasnt taken root in peoples hearts, perhaps because of his hyperactivity, and Bar-Lev, a gentle, polite and moderate person. In these kinds of competitions, however, the winners are the ones who can be defined as predators.

But as I said, it doesnt really matter who wins the Labor elections. He wont be the next prime minister. Yet the people heading to the polls Tuesday still hope it happens somehow, and that Mr. Right shows up, sweeps the political system off its feet and becomes a proper alternative to the current government.
The High Court of Justice determined Tuesday the homes of the Jewish terrorists convicted of kidnapping and murdering Palestinian teenager Mohammed Abu Khdeir will not be demolished.

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The High Court rejected a petition by the Abu Khdeir family demanding convicted murderers Yosef Haim Ben-David and two minors receive the same punishment given to families of Muslim terrorists.

Retired judge Elyakim Rubinstein ruled "the petition should not be granted, first and foremost given the considerable delay between the abominable act of murder and the petition's submission."





Mohammed Abu Khdeir

Rubinstein noted, however, that regulation 119which allows ordering the demolition of a home where suspected terror activity occurred or a home of terrorists, their accomplices or supportersapplies both to Arab terrorists and to Jewish terrorists.

"All in accordance with the circumstances of time and place, which were set forth in a ruling on the use of the regulation," he wrote in his ruling. "Let sinners cease out of the earth, so we can soon stop using regulation 119 on any of our countrymen, both Jews and Arabs."

Judge Neal Hendel added that while "we can understand how the victim's family feels... we are dealing with a deterrent and not punitive measure. It should be remembered that the perpetrators were given lengthy prison sentence."

Regarding Jewish terrorists, whom Hendel defined as "a minority of a minority of a minority," the judge determined "the legal solution to this issue, whatever it may be, is not enough, and in any case is not the only solution... to prevent such cases from happening in the future."

'An Arab's home would've been demolished within days'

Hussein Abu Khdeir, the slain teenager's father, criticized the decision, asserting that "if this was an Arab who murdered a Jew, his home would've been demolished within days. If they don't want to demolish the Jewish terrorists' homes, then they shouldn't demolish any homes. This is discrimination and racism. Such a decision encourages (others) to continue hurting us, under the auspices of the state."

Hussein said the family intends to take legal measures against the decision, "we'll turn to an international court so we could get a decision that could punish the terrorists."

Hussein Abu Khdeir (Photo: Gil Yohanan)

In its response to the petition, the state said it does not see fit to demolish the homes of Jewish terrorists, but noted the measure would be considered if there were a sudden sharp increase in terror acts carried out by Jews.

Abu Khdeirs murder sparked a wave of terrorism in Jerusalem. Ben-David and two minors, who were both convicted for their role in the murder, abducted the 16-year-old teenager and killed him after the funeral of the three Jewish teens Gil-Ad Shaer, Naftali Frenkel and Eyal Yifrach, who were kidnapped and murdered on June 12, 2014. A day earlier, the three defendants tried to kidnap seven-year-old Moussa Zaloum while he was walking down the street in Beit Hanina with his mother and two brothers.

According to the conviction, in the late evening hours of July 2, 2014, Ben-David and the two minors, after making preparations and equipping themselves in advance, headed out to commit the "revenge attack" in memory of the three yeshiva students.

They searched for a suitable victim for three hours in the neighborhoods of Wadi al-Joz and Beit Hanina in East Jerusalem until, around 4am, they saw Mohammed Abu Khdeir on his way to the mosque for morning prayers.

Convicted murderer Yosef Haim Ben-David (Photo: Gil Yohanan)

After snatching him, and while driving towards the Jerusalem forest, the two minors held onto Abu Khdeir, who struggled and tried to free himself, leading Ben-David to order one of them: "Finish him." The minor then strangled Abu Khdeir, until the latter lost consciousness.

When they reached the Jerusalem forest, one of the minors angrily told Ben-David that they "were doing all the work," following which Ben-David took a crowbar and started hitting Abu Khdeir with it, yelling "This is for the Fogel family, this is for Shalhevet Pass" (victims of terror attacks perpetrated by Palestinians) until the Palestinian teen started bleeding from his head. Ben-David also kicked Abu Khdeir several times while yelling "This is for Gil-Ad, Naftali, Eyal."

The three then set Abu Khdeir on fire while he was unconscious, and then fled the scene. They destroyed the evidence at Jerusalem's Sacher Park, and then went to Ben-David's home, where they played guitar and then went to sleep.

In May 2016, Yosef Ben-David was sentenced to life (25 years) and a cumulative punishment of an additional 20 years in prison. One of the minors was sentenced to "only" 21 years in prison after judges determined that he played a minor role in the murder, while his accomplice received a life sentence.
A 37-year-old Israeli woman named Danielle Layman was arrested by the FBI on suspicion of attempting to hire an assassin to murder her ex-husbanda Tel Aviv taxi driverby using homemade ricin, according to media reports from the United States.

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In an interview with Ynet, the target of the murder-for-hire plot said, "Police told me there was a real threat on my life; I was shocked."

According to the man, he was not initially informed of his ex-wife's arrest and was called to a local police station several weeks ago where officers told him to maintain a low profile as there was a threat to his life.

Danielle Layman, the suspect in the case

"They called me to the police station and they didn't really know what to say to me," said the man. "They said I was in danger, but that they didn't know from whom exactly. They even told me to check my car before driving. I didn't understand what they were talking about. I'm a clean person and I'm not involved in any criminal activity."

According to court documents from the United States, Layman and her ex-husband are currently engaged in a bitter custody dispute over their daughter.

The would-be victim was interviewed by police Tuesday and informed of the updates in the case. He also provided police with an account of his relationship with his ex-wife and their custody battle, which will be made available to American law enforcement officials.

According to Fox 25 news, the investigation into Layman began on May 9th after the FBI received a tip from a woman named Tinsley Keefe, who claims that Layman attempted to convince her to travel to Tel Aviv and murder the victim.

According to the report, Keefe responded to a Craigslist ad seeking someone to work on a production abroad. The ad also promised competitive pay, while demanding strict discretion.

Tinsley Keefe

The report then went on to reference court documents detailing a meeting between Keefe and Layman in which the latter explained the poisoning plot and even claimed that if Keefe divulges the plan, they would both be murdered.

Layman then proceeded to conduct a power point presentation for Keefe on carrying out the hit in Israel. She was to pose as a tourist and contact the taxi driver by phone before ultimately slipping him coffee laced with the poison. Keefe was to repeat this process over the course of several days while paying attention to the victim's health.

"When your target is hospitalized or killed, move to a different hotel or hostel until your flight home," Layman told Keefe. Layman then instructed Keefe how to handle the ricin safely and how to bring it into Israel.

For the murder, Keefe was to be paid $4,000. However, after her meeting with Layman, Keefe contacted a lawyer who advised her to contact the FBI.

Following the tip, FBI agents and other law enforcement agencies conducted a search warrant of Layman's home in Oklahoma, where they discovered materials and instructions used to make the poison. Shortly thereafter, Layman was arrested.
BUJUMBURA -- A human rights group is accusing Burundi's ruling party of purging ethnic Tutsi army officers in a campaign of repression.

A new report by the International Federation for Human Rights and Burundi-based partners says hundreds of Tutsi soldiers in the national army have been murdered, disappeared or detained or have deserted.

It says authorities designate the Tutsi, one of Burundi's ethnic minorities, as responsible for the instability in the East African nation.

Burundi's government is denouncing the report, saying the local groups that helped produce it are not officially recognized.
President Reuven Rivlin commuted former prime minister Ehud Olmert's punishment on Tuesday, in effect easing the terms of his release.

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Olmert, who was released from prison on Sunday after having served two thirds of his 27-month corruption sentence and being granted early release , will not have to appear at a police station on a bi-monthly basis and is now eligible to fly abroad.

Rivlin rejected Olmert's request for pardon in March, but said if the parole board decided to grant the former prime minister early release, he would commute Olmert's sentence to time served in light of his past contributions to the State of Israel and its security.

Olmert after his release from prison (Photo: Motti Kimchi)

As part of his rehabilitation, Olmert will attend psychological therapy weekly sessions with a social worker and will also volunteer twice per week with two different charities. He will also meet two other release terms that remain confidential.

If Olmert commits a felony or a crime before the end of the prison term he was sentenced to, the lifted terms would snap back into place.

Olmert was convicted in 2014 in a wide-ranging case that accused him of accepting bribes to promote a real-estate project years in Jerusalem and obstructing justice. The charges pertained to a period when he was mayor of Jerusalem and trade minister before he became premier in 2006.

He was originally sentenced to six years but he waged a relentless legal battle in his quest to reduce what some considered a harsh punishment.

Efforts paid off in December 2015 when the sentence was reduced to 18 months, but Olmert was then hit with an additional 8 months in September 2016 after the Supreme Court threw out his appeal.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi told members of an Israeli and Indian delegation Tuesday afternoon that his country considers Israel to be one of its most important partners. His remarks were made immediately after landing in Israel for an historic three-day visit , during which he will sign seven bilateral agreements with Israel.

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Friendship between the two countries was manifest as Modi descended the stairs of his plane and was enthusiastically greeted by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with heartfelt hug.

Welcome ceremony for PM Modi ( ")

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Speaking at the welcome ceremony, Netanyahu said that Israel welcomed Modi with open arms. We love India. We admire your culture, we admire your history, your democracy, your commitment to progress.

We view you as kindred spirits in our common quest to provide a better future for our peoples and for our world, Netanyahu added before recalling the first ever meeting that took place between him and his Indian counterpart at the United Nations three years ago.

We agreed to break down the remaining walls between India and Israel. We shook each other's hands and we agreed to forge a historic partnership for progress. We then met again in Paris and since then we've spoken many times on the phone. But I remember my friend what you said in that first meeting. You said that when it comes to India-Israel's relations, the sky is the limit, Netanyahu said.

PM Modi and PM Netanyahu (Photo: AFP)

Referring to Modi for a second time as 'my friend,' the Israeli premier signalled his ambitions to surpass any limit, citing joint projects that had already gone above and beyond the skies.

The sky isn't the limit because today even our space programs are working together to achieve even greater heights. The ties between our talented innovative peoples is natural. It's so natural that we could ask what took so long for them to blossom?, Netanyahu quipped. The answer, he said, was that it took a meeting of minds and hearts, it took a commitment of our governments.

India established diplomatic ties with Israel 25 years ago, despite the fact that its independence was declared only year before Israels.

Photo: Reuters

Delivering his remarks after Netanyahu, Modi opened by saying in Hebrew, Shalom, I am happy to be here adding that it was a special honor for me to be the first Indian prime minister ever to make the revolutionary visit to Israel.

Thanking Netanyahu for the invitation and warm welcome, Modi also mentioned the prime ministers brother, Yoni Netanyahu, who fell in the heroic raid on Entebbe. Your hero is an inspiration for our young generations, he said.

India is a young nation, in which talented youth is the driving force. In a world where rapid progress and development is taking place, India considers Israel as one of its most important partners, Modi declared.

He also acknowledged the need to rely on scientific innovation to advance the challenges of both of us. We are also cooperating against shared threats like terror.

Later in the day, the two leaders visited Yad Vashem and toured the Hall of Names and the Children's Memorial and participated in a memorial ceremony in the Hall of Remembrance

Modi and Netanyahu at Yad Vashem (Photo: AP)

They also visited Danziger Flower Farm in Mishmar Hashiva. There, Netanyahu described the Volcani Institute as the most advanced agricultural research institute in the world.

"I'd say none is more advanced. That's the way I would say it to be sufficiently humble. But, these people are doing remarkable things and you can increase the productivity of crops, of irrigation, of soil, livestock with the kind of groundbreaking research that they're doing. One thing you haven't resolved is how to bring down the temperature in a greenhouse. It's too costly," he said.
Relations between Hamas and Egypt are growing warmer, as the Egyptians prepare for the opening of the Rafah Border Crossing this September, allowing free passage of Palestinian civilians from the Gaza Strip to Egypt and back.

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Millions of dollars were invested in preparing the Rafah Crossing for its reopening in recent months.

Rafah Border Crossing (Photo: AFP)

Israeli security sources noted that the opening of the southern crossing and the deepening of Egyptian involvement in the Gaza Strip could have positive implications for the security situation along the border between the Gaza Strip and Israel.

Its opening may also go some way to alleviating feelings of isolation in the strip, which is currently creating unrest among its residents which some fear may eventually erupt into renewed violence against Israel.

The development follows Egypt's agreement to help Gaza with its electricity crisis and Hamas starting construction of a buffer zone at the border between Sinai and the Gaza Strip.

Egypt began to sell subsidized fuel to the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip for the operation of its power plant and the private gas stations, which provided another hour of electricity per day to Gaza's residents. Hamas agreed to pay Egypt $10-15 million a month for its aid.

Last week, the Interior Ministry in the Gaza Strip began work to build a buffer zone between Gaza and Egypt in order to increase security in the border area and prevent the transfer of arms and passage of ISIS operatives from Sinai to the Gaza Strip and vice versa.

Gaza-Sinai buffer zone construction works

Israel is now closely following the agreements currently being discussed in Cairo between the Hamas delegation and the Egyptian security forces, especially concerning the opening of the border crossing.

The Rafah Crossing, which was transferred to the Palestinian Authority in 2005 after Israel's disengagement from the Gaza Strip, had security arrangements that allowed Israel to supervise those entering and leaving the Gaza Strip. The crossing was closed when Hamas came to power 10 years ago.

With the overthrow of Mubarak in Egypt, the Muslim Brotherhood regime in Egypt opened the crossing, but it was closed again, and has been closed most of the time since the rise of Abdel Fattah el-Sisi to power.
Violence had broken out in Kathiramangalam village of Thanjavur after gas started leaking from pipes laid out by energy major ONGC.

By Pramod Madhav: DMK working president MK Stalin condemned Chief Minister EK Palaniswamy for his remarks on the Kathiramangalam violence in the state assembly.

Violence had broken out in Kathiramangalam village of Thanjavur after gas started leaking from pipes laid out by energy major ONGC. Villagers have been protesting against the company saying that laying down the pipes was the reason fro ground water depletion and contamination.

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A major clash broke out on June 30, as miscreants, taking advantage of the protest, attacked few villagers, ONGC officials and the cops.

Haystacks were set on fire and police lathi charged, leaving many injured.

Speaking about the violence, chief minister E Palaniswamy said that local public did not allow the villagers to reach the spot.

"Certain miscreants burnt haystack and caused ruckus and due to that minor lathi charge was resorted to," E Palaniswamy said justifying the lathi charge.

DMK leader MK Stalin condemned the chief minister's comment, "Claiming that normalcy has returned to Kathiramangalam is a way to cover the atrocity conducted there."

MK Stalin also urged the government to retract the cases filed against the protesters.

Though Stalin spoke on the issue in the evening, DMK did not seem to have given much importance to the Kathiramangalam issue in the Assembly as they staged a walkout for the third time on the 'Gutka scam'.Also Read

Thanjavur: Protest against ONGC pipeleak turns violent, several injured

--- ENDS ---
A committee of the United Nations Education, Science and Culture Organization (UNESCO) convened in Krakow Tuesday where it approved the wording of a proposed resolution denying that Israel is the sovereign power over Jerusalem and condemning it for conducting archeological excavations in the Old City.

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The proposal was submitted to the UN bodys Cultural Committee by Arab states who originally presented a much harsher version which was formulated together with the Palestinians. However, pressure exerted by Israel forced the hostile proposal to be watered down.

Photo: Reuters

Ten states supported the proposal, among them Azerbaijan, Indonesia, Lebanon, Tunisia, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Turkey, Vietnam, Zimbabwe and Cuba. Three voted against the proposal, including The Philippines, Jamaica and Burkina Faso.

Another eight countries from several continents abstained. They included, Angola, Croatia, Finland, Peru, Poland, Portugal, South Korea and Tanzania.

Israels Ambassador to UNESCO, Carmel Shama-Hacohen said that two hours before the vote, the Arab states were convinced that they had a consensus on the phrasing of the resolution, but Israeli pressure ultimately proved heavy enough to sabotage their efforts.

According to Shama-Hacohen, despite the significant softening of the text, more nations are identifying with Israel who are no longer prepared to accept what Israel has often considered unquestionable hounding of the Jewish state, even if the resolutions have been diluted.

Carmel Shama-Hacohen

He also pointed out that for the first time, Israel gained what he described as a moral majority in the bodys cultural committee since eleven countries out of 21 either opposed the proposal or abstained.

The vote came just days after US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley sent a letter to the Director-General of UNESCO urging her to oppose a resolution to be voted on by the body next week which would recognize Hebron's Old Cityand with it the Cave of the Patriarchsas a Palestinian World Heritage Site In Danger.

In another effort to stymie the resolution, a group of 12 Holocaust survivors, who were born in Poland and now live in Israel, sent an urgent letter to the Polish foreign minister, asking him to call on his government to thwart the UNESCO resolution seeking to declare Hebron's Old City as a Palestinian World Heritage Site.
The terrorist who threw a Molotov Cocktail at a vehicle in an attack that inflicted severe burns on Ayala Shapira when she was just 11 years old in December 2014 was sentenced to 18 years in prison on Tuesday by a military court.

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Mohammed Badwan, who carried out the attack that left Ayala badly scarred on her body and face, was also ordered to pay compensation of NIS 50,000.

Ayala Shapira shares her experience (:  )

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Badwan was convicted of attempting to murder Ayala and her father by throwing the Molotov Cocktail at their vehicle while it was travelling. He was also convicted for another incident which occurred a month earlier in which he hurled a Molotov Cocktail at another vehicle being driven by an Israeli woman. Fortunately, the woman was not hurt in the attack.

Ayala Shapira (Photo: Benjamin Pataki)

Badwan was arrested on the same day as his attack. A 14-year-old who helped him commit the crime and at the time was considered a minor, was convicted last year and sentenced to 14 years in prison.

Ayala before the attack

Four months ago, Some 15 members the European Parliament, along with 150 guests, attended the inaugural ceremony for the Friends of Judea and Samaria in the European Parliament intergroup in Brussels, wherethey listened Ayala tell her story.
Amir Peretz and Avi Gabbay will be forced to go head to head in a second round of primaries for the Labor Party leadership contest after it was announced Tuesday night they had emerged victorious in pushing the incumbent leader Isaac Herzog aside after four years of heading the opposition.

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Some 52,000 registered party members headed to the polls to decide who they believe capable of leading them to victory in Israels next general election, scheduled to be held sometime before November 2019. The next round of primaries will take place on July 10.

Amir Peretz (R) and Avi Gabbay (Photo: Yoav Dudkevitch and Abigail Uzi)

The tense race took place between MK Erel Margalit, former Environmental Protection Minister Avi Gabbay, MK Omer Bar-Lev, MK Amir Peretz, Prof. Avner Ben Zaken and Hod Karovi as each hoped to snatch the reins from Herzog, who suffered a defeat at the hands of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the March 2015 elections.

Any remnants of hope that Herzog may have been able to salvage his tenuous grip on the partys top spot were dashed after he learned that he had only managed to bag a meager 16.7% (5,204) of the overall vote, precluding any chance of him duking it out in the second round.

Isaac Herzog (Photo: Gil Yohanan)

After learning the result, Herzog issued a statement accepting his defeat. Members of the Labor party have said (what they have saided). I respect their decision. I congratulate Amir Peretz and Avi Gabbay for getting through to the second round and wish both of them luck, he said.

Peretz managed to score significantly higher than Herzog, comfortably riding past the finish line with 32.7% (10,141) while Gabbay managed to clinch 27% (8,395).

Margalit managed to rally 16.1% (4,697) of the voters behind him while Bar-Lev grabbed 6.9% (2,147) of the vote.

Ben Zakens political pride was delivered a blow after he managed to garner the faith of just 0.18% (56) of the voters while Hod Karovi suffered an ignominious defeat, taking just 0.03% (8) of the vote.

Amir Peretz (Photo: Yoav Dudkevitch)

Peretz began what became an illustrious political career in 1983, occupying a myriad of prestigious posts, serving as minister of defense, minister of environmental protection and deputy prime minister in 2006 under Ehud Olmert. Indeed, if he beats Gabbay in the next round of voting, it will be Peretz's second time serving as the leader of the opposition.

After the results were announced, Peretz thanked his supporters. I am grateful for the trust that has been placed in me and for the huge support that I received the whole way that brought me to first place in the primaries, Peretz said before paying his respect to Herzog. I would like to thank my friend Isaac Herzog for the four years of service as chairman of the party and his massive achievement at the last Knesset elections.

With his sight firmly set on ultimately dethroning Netanyahu however, Peretz concluded his statement by saying that "I am convinced that I will win the second round, at the end of which I will begin the campaign to replace the Netanyahu government."

Avi Gabbay (Photo: Motti Kimchi)

Gabbay is best known for establishing the Kulanu Party alongside Finance Minister and now party leader Moshe Kahlon. After forming the party, he was appointed to serve as the environmental protection minister.

During his tenure, he promoted the "Bags Law" requiring customers to purchase plastic bags at supermarkets, worked to remove the ammonia tank from the Haifa Bay and also to reduce the emission of pollutants from the Israel Electic Corporation's power plants.

Speaking at the Tel Aviv Convention Center, Gabbay told his supporters, "I want to thank my friends in the Labor party, who accepted me with the warmest embrace possible. Over the last six months, I've seen that many found my being new difficult, but you've proven that you can focus on what matters and know how to accept someone new. You've proven this is an open party.

"We're not a members' club and not the Tel Aviv party. (I'med) happy we provedmy team and Ithat a positive campaign can win. We successfully passed the first hurdle, but the hardest one is yet to come. We need you with us next week, as well, for without that we would have only done half the job."

Left to right: Erel Margalit, Avi Gabbay, Omer Bar-Lev, Isaac Herzog, Amir Peretz (Photos: Yoav Dudkevitch, Yariv Katz, Abigail Uzi, Dana Kopel)

Referring to Peretz, Gabbay said, "He's a worthy candidate. I congratulate him on the accomplishment and am sure we will conduct ourselves in a worthy, proper and democratic manner. Whoever wins, we will join forces and move forward."

Gabbay added that he had no intention of joining a coalition. "We don't want to be part of the coalition. We want to build a coalition in Israel. My passing to the second round and the many votes that Erel (Margalit) and Omer (Bar-Lev) received highlight in the clearest way possible that the members of our party want change," he said.

"The members of our party want hope. The members of our party want victory. I hope and believe that we will complete this in the second round. I believe that with the same energy, passion and belief, we will win the second round and build the party that will win the elections."
IDF officer Lt. David Golovenchich was killed Tuesday when a fellow soldier accidentally fired his rifle at the Gilbert Checkpoint in Hebron during a training exercise.

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Golovenchich was serving in the Golani Brigade's 12th battalion, which is in charge of the Hebron sector.

Golovenchich, who was promoted to the rank of lieutenant posthumously, will be laid to rest at the military cemetery on Mount Herzl at 4pm Wednesday.

Lt. David Golovenchich

The incident occurred at around 8pm on Tuesday evening when Golovenchich's team was doing a routine drill at the checkpoint, which separates the Jewish settlement in Hebron and the Palestinian neighborhoods.

An initial investigation into the incident found the troops apparently did not disarm their IWI Tavor rifles. One of the soldiers accidentally cocked his weapon, shooting the young officer in the upper body at close range.

The officer, who was fatally injured, received emergency treatment at the scene and was rushed by helicopter to the Hadassah Medical Center in Jerusalem's Ein Karem, where he succumbed to his injuries an hour later.

The soldier who accidentally shot Golovenchich ran to his commander to try and provide him with medical assistance, but was removed from the scene shortly thereafter because he was too upset. He was also relieved of his weapon.

The Golani Brigade commander arrived at the Golovenchich family home on Tuesday night and told them what had happened.

The scene of the accident (Photo: TPS)

IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot ordered to halt training in the army following the accident and ordered commanders to reiterate safety instructions to their soldiers. The IDF chief will also hold a special General Staff meeting on the issue.

GOC Central Commander Maj. Gen. Roni Numa appointed a team led by to Col. Ronen Tamim to investigate the incident.

A special commander

Golovenchich, 22, grew up in Jerusalem, but moved to the settlement of Efrat in Gush Etzion with his family several years ago. He studied at the Bnei Zvi yeshiva in Beit El and later enlisted in the IDF and joined the Golani Brigade.

"It was clear to me from the start that I had a leader, a commander growing up in my class. It was obvious throughout his studies," said Rabbi Itamar Lieberman, who was Golovenchich's homeroom teacher.

"On the one hand, he was a mischievous child, and on the other hand he had good manners and wanted to contribute. The most noticeable thing about him is his smile... he always stood out in class for his desire to contribute."

Lt. David Golovenchich

Lieberman told a story that sheds light on Golovenchich's character. "Several years ago, an acquaintance told me he saw David wandering around Jerusalem at a very late hour. He suggested I kept an eye on him... I asked around and learned he and another guy went out every Thursday to buy food at the supermarket and then distributed it to the needy in the city. They'd finish distributing the food at a late hour. When they sat down to eat themselves, that acquaintance saw them. This is what David was like."

The head of the yeshiva, Rabbi Moshe Shmerling, said David was "a big, strong man. It was hard to ignore him. When he opened his mouth, that impression changed immediately. He was very pleasant and his smile just made you want to follow him. A special person."

His fellow soldiers were in shock following the tragic accident. "David was a special commander, always knew how to say a good word when needed, a strong and heroic man," one of them said.

A week and a half ago, a 19-year-old soldier on vacation was seriously injured in an apartment on Givat Ben Yehuda Street in Tel Aviv. The initial investigation raises the suspicion the man's friend, also a 19-year-old soldier on vacation, unintentionally shot him.

In April, Amit Popovitch, 23, was killed in his home in the settlement of Kedumim in Samaria, when his friend accidentally fired his weapon, critically injuring him.
The recent fiasco after the non -functioning air-condition in an Air India flight has once again drawn attention to the declining quality of service of India's dear-not-so-dear airline.

By India Today Web Desk: An Air India flight headed to Delhi from West Bengal had a faulty air condition leading to chaos in the flight. Videos shot by the passengers are doing the rounds on social media, adding another feather to Air India's crown of shame.

India's national airline has been recently in the news over speculations about its privatisation by the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre. The airline is in heavy debt (approximately Rs 52,000 crore) but also boasts of the highest number of long haul aircrafts in the country (140).

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In the past, our very own Maharaja, operating under the government since 1953 has been in news for its poor service and recklessness. In a report published by aviation insights company FlightStats in January 2017, Air India is the third worst airline in the world.

July 2017

A video shot by passengers was shared on social media showing the non functioning air conditioning in the flight headed to New Delhi from West Bengal. The passengers were, quite obviously, inconvenienced.

March 2017

The passengers faced discomfort after four toilets were choked on a six-hour-long flight. A Delhi-based businessman, Amit Kejriwal, dragged Air India to a consumer court after the incident. The court held Air India guilty of 'deficiency in service' and ordered to pay a compensation to Kejriwal who suffered in the flight to Singapore, courtesy stinking, choked toilet and rude staff.

February 2017

Embarrassing the already derided airline, some of the international crew members of an Air India flight stole food from morning buffet arranged at a London hotel. Air India had to serve notices to its staff after the hotel complained that Air India employees take away buffet food in boxes. In a letter, issued by the AGM of the inflight service department, Navaz Mody, said "A BUFFET IS NOT A TAKEAWAY", in the subject line.

February 2017

More than 200 passengers flying Air India Flight 130 were stranded in Turkey's Ankara for over 24 hours. AI 130 left from London for Mumbai but enroute encountered with a case of medical emergency on board. The pilot had to contact the nearest Air Traffic Control to make an emergency landing at Ankara.

But that wasn't what prevented the flight from taking off. The plane had additional 20 tonne fuel left when it landed and this made the landing categorised as 'overweight landing'. Being a Boeing 787, it could not have taken off after making an 'overweight landing'.

June 2016

In a report by the DGCA (Directorate General of Civil Aviation), it was found that Air India was the leading airline in terms of passenger complaints, delays and lags and had to compensate around 3,000 passengers in June 2016 itself for delay in domestic flights.

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December 2015

An Air India technician -- Ravi Subramaniam -- was sucked into the giant turbine of AI flight 619 in the bay of T2 Terminal at the Mumbai airport. Here's what happened:

February 2015

An Air India flight had a narrow escape when the aircraft's tail was damaged while landing on a Mumbai airport. The flight was carrying 194 passengers.

February 2015

A video was posted online where staff members were seen misbehaving with passengers who were five minutes late for boarding. Passengers were seen pleasing the staff; a girl was also seen crying begging the staff to let her on the flight as she cannot afford to miss an important exam.

September 2014

The cabin crew of an Air India flight headed to Russia had to spend 18 hours at the airport after the authorities found out that their visas were effective from the next day.

And the list goes on...

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In the June 19 issue of the India Today Magazine, the cover story discussed how discussed how the Narendra Modi government is weighing its options to strategically disinvest in the iconic but debt-ridden national carrier.

"The same afternoon, Lohani got the first clear signal of the government's intentions towards Air India. In an interview with Doordarshan, Arun Jaitley, the affable finance minister, said, "To keep Air India running, we have invested Rs 50,000 crore. That money is government's money, that's your money. It could have been used for school education. And if 86 per cent of flying can be handled by the private sector, it can also handle 100 per cent." Jaitley indicated that the Union ministry for civil aviation was exploring all options, including strategic disinvestment," writes Raj Chengappa, Group Editorial Director (Publishing), India Today Group and President, Editors Guild of India.

Here is a graphic showing the descent of Air India

And another one talking about the market share, revenues and on-time performance.

Is the end near?

--- ENDS ---
As a homeowner, you probably already know that you should be working to maintain your home. But, chances are, you Read More
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In Catholic-dominant Western and Southern Europe, residents appear to be placing less importance on God and religion and have less confidence in religious institutions. In East Asia, traditional faiths such as Buddhism and Confucianism focus on individual spirituality rather than collective spirituality, which entails social support and moral guidance.

"Secularization and the individual pursuit of spirituality are two important factors that weaken the strength of local religious communities, and this reduces the protective nature of religious participation against suicide," said MSU sociologist Ning Hsieh, whose findings are published in the Journal of Health and Social Behavior.

Suicide is one of the 20 leading causes of death worldwide. While the religion-suicide relationship is hotly contested among researchers, the current study is one of the first to examine that relationship outside Western industrialized countries.

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Funded by the National Institutes of Health, the study analyzes data on suicides and religious participation from 1981 to 2007 in 42 countries encompassing seven regions. Religious participation is measured by the percentage of people attending religious services at least once a month

Hsieh found that religious participation is related to higher suicide rates in:

Southern Europe, which includes Croatia, Greece, Italy, Portugal, Slovenia and Spain

Western Europe, which includes Austria, Belgium, France, Germany and Netherlands.

East Asia, which includes China, Hong Kong, Korea, Japan and Taiwan.

The regions are classified by geography except for English-speaking countries, which are grouped based on shared cultural values. Those countries are Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States.

Religious participation protected against suicide in many countries in the English-speaking region as well as in Latin America, Eastern Europe and Northern Europe.

Hsieh said the United States and other Western countries outside Europe, including Australia and Canada, have also experienced secularization, albeit more slowly than Western and Southern Europe. The United States in particular remains more religious than most Western societies, she said, in part due to immigration and more decentralized political and educational systems that are inclusive of religious views.

Although suicide is a global health concern, Hsieh noted, suicide prevention should consider regional and local norms, values and religious institutional circumstances.

"Without a careful consideration of context, a policy that is effective in one country or region may aggravate suicide risk in another," she said.
Doval, during his visit to Tel Aviv in March, met Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu to further enhance ties between the two nations.

Terrorism and defence would be key focus areas in discussions between Modi and Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu. (File photo)

By Ajit Kumar Dubey: India and Israel have been sharing strategic ties since the 1990s but due to political reasons, officials of both countries have preferred to keep them under wraps.

Not any more. National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, during his visit to Tel Aviv in March this year, prepared the groundwork for a robust and more open ties between the two powerhouses in the fields of terrorism and security.

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During the visit, Doval met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his counterpart Brig Gen (retd) Jacob Nagel to further enhance ties between the two nations. "It was during this visit that the two sides covered a lot of ground and moved towards coming out in the open with their strategic ties and do away with the veil of secrecy," a senior government official said.

LONG-AWAITED VISIT

India's relations with Israel have made steady progress since the two countries established diplomatic relations 25 years ago in January 1992, irrespective of the party in power in New Delhi, but a Prime Ministerial visit to the tiny Middle-eastern country has been long-awaited.

Israel has made grand preparations for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's stay starting Tuesday. In his visit, Doval extensively discussed the menace of terrorism that has badly affected both India and Israel and this would be the topmost priority in Modi's agenda during discussions with his counterpart in Tel Aviv.

"Both Prime Ministers have taken hard stands against terror and have always urged humanitarian forces to unite and uproot all forms of terror, extremism and radicalisation," the official said. Top government officials said the visit would be keenly watched by terrorist groups operating in the region as they "surely fear the closing of ranks of strong leaders in this direction".

The meeting comes after Modi's US visit where he met President Donald Trump and achieved a diplomatic victory after the US designated Sayyed Salahuddin as a global terrorist.

FOCUS AREAS

It is learnt that during his Israel visit, Modi will also pay tributes to Indian soldiers who fought there in WWI. "A plaque to honour Major Dalpat Singh Shekhawat, who led the Jodhpur Lancers will be unveiled during the Prime Minister's visit. Jodhpur Imperial Service Lancers, supported by Mysore and Hyderabad Lancers, as part of the 15th Imperial Service Cavalry Brigade, captured Haifa in September 1918," the official said.

Modi would also visit the Hall of Names and Hall of Remembrance to honour the victims of the Holocaust and the Israel museum which houses collections of Jewish heritage.

Apart from defence and security, other focus areas would be trade, economy, security, agriculture, disaster management, irrigation and water management. Since late 1990s, Israel has emerged as a strong security partner of India offering complex missile technology and ammunition for armed forces.

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India recently cleared a massive deal worth over Rs 17,000 crore for developing Medium Range Surface-to-Air Missile (MR-SAM) for the Army.

ALSO READ | Out of the closet: Narendra Modi to make history as first Indian PM to visit Israel

Modi's Israel visit: Cooperation in cyber security top on agenda, says Netanyahu

Netanyahu to Narendra Modi: People of Israel waiting for your historic visit

ALSO WATCH | Very excited about PM Narendra Modi's visit, says Israel's Director General of Foreign Affairs

--- ENDS ---
New York: With North Korea launching yet another ballistic missile that landed in waters near Japan, U.S. President Donald Trump called on China to take action and "end this nonsense once and for all!"

Maintaining his trademark streak on Twitter, Trump minced no words as he literally mocked North Korean leader Kim Jong-un asking "Does this guy have anything better to do with his life?"

North Korea has just launched another missile. Does this guy have anything better to do with his life? Hard to believe that South Korea.....  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 4, 2017

Reckoning that South Korea and Japan will not put up with these repeated provocations for much longer, the U.S. President put the full onus on China to take some concrete action and put a stop on Pyongyang's aggravations.

According to officials in Seoul and Tokyo, North Korea launched a ballistic missile that landed in waters near Japan.

South Korea's military confirmed that North Korea had fired an "unidentified ballistic missile" into the Sea of Japan from Banghyon in North Pyongan, a province near its border with China, the Guardian reported.
Moscow: Russian President Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart Donald Trump may discuss arms control during their upcoming meeting later this week in Germany, Russian presidential aide Yury Ushakov said on Monday.



At a news briefing ahead of Putin's trip to Germany, Ushakov confirmed that the Russian and US Presidents will meet on the sidelines of the G20 summit to be held in Hamburg on July 7-8, Xinhua news agency reported.



He said the long-anticipated meeting was very important for maintaining global stability and security.



Ushakov added that Putin and Trump may also discuss the return of Russian diplomatic properties in New York City and Washington DC seized by the US government last December in retaliation for the alleged Russian interference in the 2016 US presidential elections.



In addition, Putin will also hold talks with about 10 foreign leaders during the G20 summit, including French, South Korean, Turkish presidents and Japanese Prime Minister, said Ushakov.
Itanagar: An Indian Air Force light weight helicopter (HAL Dhruv) with three on board went missing near Sagalee in Papum Pare district of Arunachal Pradesh on Tuesday, PTI quoted a Defence source as saying.

The IAF ALH chopper with three crew members was deployed for lifting people stranded due to road blockage between Sagalee & Itanagar.

As per a CNN News18 report, the chopper was flying with flood relief packages from Itanagar to Naharlgar and was last in contact at 3:30 pm today.

Earlier today, a chopper carrying Union Minister of State Kiren Rijiju on board made an emergency landing in Itanagar due to the bad weather.

''Weather turbulent in North-East.I'm safe but whole State machinery geared up to locate IAF ALH chopper missing almost at same time'' ANI quoted MoS Kiren Rijiju as saying.

''Andhra Pradesh CM Pema Khandu and state government is mobilizing local people to locate missing IAF helicopter which was on a rescue mission in AP'' added Minister of State for Home Affairs, Kiren Rijiju.

Further details awaited.
Mumbai: The Maharashtra government has increased the one-time registration tax on private two- and four-wheelers by 2 percent.

The hike was approved by the Maharashtra Cabinet on Monday to compensate for the loss of revenue due to the abolition of octroi and local body tax following the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST), an official from the transport department said today.

The government has, however, capped the tax amount for high-end imported cars at Rs 20 lakh as against 20 percent of the total car cost that was being charged earlier.

"There were instances of imported vehicles (bought by people in Maharashtra) being registered in other states where taxes are lower. This was causing revenue loss to the state exchequer," the official explained.

"To avoid this, the government has decided to cap the tax on high-end imported cars at a maximum of Rs 20 lakh, irrespective of the car price," he said.

The official said that earlier, the registration tax on two- and three-wheelers was 8-10 percent, which has now been hiked to 10-12 percent.

The cars running on petrol were earlier levied 9-11 percent tax, which has been raised to 11-13 percent.

For the cars running on diesel, the registration tax was around 11-13 percent, which has been increased to 13-15 percent.

For CNG or LPG cars, the tax has been increased to 7-9 percent, from the earlier 5-7 percent, the official added.
Patna: Two police officers were spotted playing candy crush and browsing on their phones during an important seminar on drug smuggling in Patna.

The event was an important initiative to discuss upon drug smuggling and organised crimes in Bihar. It witnessed Chief Minister Nitish Kumar as the chief guest, along with the Director General of Police (DGP) Bihar as an attendee.

Responding to the incident, Additional Director General of Police (ADG) SK Singhal told ANI that such behaviour is not expected of the senior police officers.

"Such conduct is not expected of senior police officers. We will be counselling them", Singhal said.

Earlier this month, a Uttar Pradesh police officer was caught snoozing during the duty hours in a PCR van during the investigation of the Greater-Noida gang rape case.
New Delhi: One of the much-anticipated films of next year happens to be Aamir Khan starrer 'Thugs Of Hindostan'. The Yash Raj production is currently being shot in Malta where Katrina Kaif had recently joined the team.

Now, the buzz is about Kat's character in the film. According to Pinkvilla.com, Kat is playing a warrior princess' role in 'Thugs Of Hindostan' and this is making us extremely pepped up. Earlier, the rumour was abuzz about Kat playing a British character in the venture but the report quotes a source rubbishing this news.

The source has been quoted as saying, There are rumours doing the rounds of Katrina Kaif playing a British character in Thugs of Hindostan.However, the reports are completely baseless. Katrina is playing an out and out Indian role and is an integral part of the film. Since this is a period film, it will be her first Indian classical role.

Adding further, "Katrina plays this very interesting Indian princess character. The entire look has a warrior princess feel to it, with a sexy nose ring in the middle of the nose partition. Wild loose waves, smokey eyes and indo-western outfits in earthy colour tones (mostly greyish and brown) was inspired from ghagra  choli but only in a quirkier way! She is seen flashing her dashboard abs too."

'Thugs Of Hindostan' stars Amitabh Bachchan, Aamir Khan, 'Dangal' girl Fatima Sana Shaikh and Katrina Kaif in the lead roles. Now, with a cast like this on board, we can't really wait for it to roll on screens.
New Delhi: The incidence of 28 percent tax on watches under the GST regime is one of the highest in the world that could increase the risk of smuggling, Tata group firm Titan has said in a quarterly update.

"At 28 percent, India has one of the highest tax rates for watches in the world, consequently increasing the risk of smuggling of watches into the country," Titan Company Ltd informed BSE.

However, the company has ruled out any price increase immediately.

"While the GST rate of 28 percent will increase the effective tax incidence on watch division, we do not expect prices to go up because of input tax credits available now," the company said.

The company has a range of watches including its own brands such as Titan, Sonata, Fastrack, Xylys, Nebula along with licensed brands such as Police, Tommy Hilfiger, FCUK, Kenneth Cole, Anne Klein, Helios and Zoop in India.

Besides, Titan has also witnessed around 50 percent jump in its sales during Akshaya Tritiya (AT) period in the first quarter of this fiscal.

It has a successful gold exchange programme in June 2017 resulting in "an exceptional growth on topline for the division".

"The year started off for the division with a great AT, with 50 percent growth over previous year's AT period as well as a very successful gold exchange programme in June 2017," it said.

However, the company also added that in the first quarter, there was a strike of jewellers for 15-20 days, hence "the base for Q1 FY 2017-18 is also more favorable to that extent."

The company has also welcomed 3 percent GST imposed on the jewellery segment by the government and said: "It should not create any disruption in sales as well as gold exchange."

The group has added two more Tanishq stores in FY 2017-18 so far.

In the eyewear segment, its Titan Eye Plus retail format made a healthy growth during the quarter but its sunglass business witnessed a "significant slowdown, pulling down the overall performance of the division".

The company opened 11 Titan Eye Plus stores in FY 2017-18 so far.
Mumbai: A court here has initiated process against industrialists Cyrus P. Mistry, Shapoor Mistry and others in a Rs 500 crore criminal defamation complaint lodged last month by Tata Trusts` Managing Trustee R. Venkataramanan, an official said on Tuesday.



The process was initiated by Metropolitan Magistrate K.G. Paldewar and accordingly, Mistry, the ousted Chairman of Tata Sons, and other directors of Cyrus Investments Pvt Ltd and Sterling Investments Pvt Ltd, will be tried for criminal defamation.



They will have to appear before the court and execute bail bonds, said the official.



Later, the charges would be framed against the accused under sections dealing with criminal defamation and criminal conspiracy under the Indian Penal Code.



The court has posted the matter for further hearing on August 24 and directed the accused to appear before it for bail.



Venkataramanan has accused Mistry and others of making false and defamatory statements against him and thus damaging his reputation.



At the hearings, the court upheld the arguments of Venkataramanan`s counsel Parvez Memon that the Constitution`s Article 21 protecting a citizen`s right to life is inclusive of the right to live with dignity and that all are equal in the eyes of the law under it.



Memon argued that while Mistry is a man with substantial wealth and might, the value of Venkataramanan`s dignity is much more, and the accused cannot be let loose with impuity for his reckless and irresponsible insinuations which were all false and baseless.



"All such allegations were hurled irresponsibly against Venkataramanan, Ratan Tata, Tata Sons and others only after his unceremonious ouster from Tata Sons. Why was he otherwise silent for his entire tenure, not to speak about several of his own wrongdoings against which Tata Sons may have its own cause of action," he told the court.



The court was apprised of the defamatory insinuations in Mistry`s letter of October 25, 2016, following the petition filed in the National Company Law Tribunal through his brother and his companies, in which he is a director and 50 percent shareholder, and strategically made respondent No. 11.



The email letter, written a day after Mistry was removed as the Tata Sons Chairman, alleged "certain fraudulent transactions of Rs 22 crore" involving some parties in India and Singapore, at AirAsia India, which is owned in part by the Tatas.



It was alleged that Venkataramanan considered these as non-material and didn`t encourage any further study and also hinted at some foreign bank accounts.



Counsel argued that Mistry further exaggerated the baseless insinuations through his affidavit in reply, supporting the original allegations in the petition before NCLT, Mumbai, which was subsequently dismissed.



Now, the matter has come up before the NCLT Appellate Tribunal in New Delhi where the hearing has begun on Monday.



Memon cited several case laws of the Supreme Court and high courts to substantiate issuance of the process by the magistrate.



On its part, the office of Cyrus Mistry said: "The attempt to initiate criminal prosecution for alleged defamation is an ill-advised and immature proxy battle through Venkataraman, whose role in AirAsia is subject matter of several investigations by law enforcement agencies."



"The move by the Tata Trustees to attempt to muzzle and interfere with legal proceedings faced by them, now before the NCLAT, will be effectively and appropriately dealt with."



The New Delhi-based NCLAT will continue to hear arguments in the case till July 7, 2017.



On October 24 last year, Tata Sons` Board ousted Mistry as its Chairman and appointed Ratan Tata as the interim Chairman.
Mumbai: Capital markets regulator Sebi will auction a property owned by Sahara in Uttarakhand, for a total reserve price of little over Rs 223 crore, on July 28, as part of the process to recover funds from the beleaguered group.

In a public notice today, the Securities and Exchange Board of India said that SBI Capital Markets has been mandated to e-auction a 82.93 acres of land located in village - Bahadarabad and Ranipur in Haridwar, Uttarakhand.

"Sebi hereby invites bids from the intending bidders along with and amount equivalent of 25 per cent of the reserve price as earnest money to be paid through demand draft/pay order/RTGS/NEFT in favour of Sebi-Sahara Refund Account," the notice said.

The regulator said that 1.36 acres of land out of 82.93 acres has been acquired by National Highways Authority of India (NHAI).

"An amount equivalent to the valuation of 1.36 acres of land would be reduced from the successful bid amount to be paid by the successful bidder in its last tranche payment on pro-rata basis," it added.

Following directions from the Supreme Court for the sale of certain Sahara assets to recover money, Sebi has appointed SBI Capital Markets (SBI Caps) and HDFC Realty for auctioning various land parcels held by Sahara group.

In November last year, Sebi had lined up as many as five land parcels of Sahara for an e-auction at a total reserve price of over Rs 130 crore.

Besides, 13 properties were put on the block in October, and their combined reserve price was about Rs 1,400 crore and 58 properties were auctioned in July, last year, with a collective reserve price of nearly Rs 5,000 crore.

After spending two years in jail, Sahara chief Subrata Roy is currently out on parole. He was sent to jail on the orders of the Supreme Court in a long-running dispute with Sebi.
The United States of America celebrates Independence Day, also known as Fourth Of July, every year. Here is a look at five issues the country is struggling with.

By India Today Web Desk: On this day, 241 years ago, thirteen American Colonies ruled by the British Empire declared themselves to be a new nation. The Thirteen Colonies then was called The United States of America.

The day is a federal holiday and is widely celebrated throughout the country.

THIRTEEN COLONIES TO UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

The Thirteen Colonies was a collection of east coast states which included Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Georgia, Connecticut, Massachusetts Bay, Maryland, South Carolina, New Hampshire, Virginia, New York, North Carolina, and Rhode Island and Providence Plantations.

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The British exploited the resources and used different policies and taxes to oppress Americans; soon tension rose between the British and the natives of the states. Americans wanted a voice in the parliament but the British were reluctant to do that. The colonies argued that if they did not have a voice in parliament, the empire had no right to levy taxes upon them, leading to major disagreements.

Disagreements in turn led to violence. Boston Tea Party, for instance. A group of American men known as Sons of Liberty, founded by Samuel Adams, boarded three ships in Boston harbor and threw 342 tea chests overboard in protest against the Tea Act.

WHY JULY 4?

The colonies knew they will have to fight an organised battle against the British for which delegates from the all the thirteen colonies were called to form the first Continental Congress. The Congress convened to protest against the Intolerable Acts passed by the parliament in 1774, and it organised the economic boycott of Great Britain.

The second Continental Congress met in 1775, and adopted the United States Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. The American Revolutionary War had already started and on second July, the Congress legally passed the resolution but it took two more days to debate and ratify the declaration text.

On July 4, the congress issued the Declaration of Independence, hence, giving birth to a nation, The United States of America.

CELEBRATIONS

On July 4, 1777, on the first anniversary, thirteen gunshots were fired to salute the Thirteen Colonies at Rhode Island.

In 1778, George Washington gave his troops a double ration of rum to mark the occasion.

Nowadays, the day is celebrated with fireworks, parades, barbecues, picnics and family reunions.

The White House puts on its own show on the South lawn where people gather to see fireworks and events, political leaders and government officials also make speeches at events.

Americans come together to celebrate this day every year.

WHAT IS AMERICA STRUGGLING WITH?

The independence day is celebrated every year with great zeal and American people will keep doing so, but the current situation of the country doesn't look good.

1. America not the strongest and richest in the world anymore

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American middle class was the strongest and the richest in the world till about 35 years ago, but now, the middle class and working poor earn less than their counterparts in countries like Canada, Finland or the Netherlands.

2. Gender equality is still a distant dream

It was in 2016, just last year, that a woman was nominated for the first time by a major political party for the post of the President. India, on the other hand, had its first female prime minister in 1966 and first female President in 2007. Female heads of states have been elected even in Muslim majority countries, usually known for misogyny. 3. Low social mobility rate

Social mobility describes how likely a person is to rise above the levels of his parents or grandparents. The social mobility rate of America is low and continues to descend. America falls behind many developed countries in the social mobility rate.

4. Ease of doing business

Starting a business in America is challenging. The aspiring entrepreneurs' biggest trouble is getting funding. There are less financial institutions that will lend money to start a business.

5. Donald Trump

Now, this is a solid problem, ain't it? Did you nod in disagreement? Here is proof that First Citizen of America acts like a 5-year-old.

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Enough said.

On the day America is celebrating its independence day, we would like to wish all Americans best of luck.

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WATCH: What do Donald Trump's policies mean for India?

--- ENDS ---
New Delhi: the Delhi Police on Saturday arrested an auto-rickshaw driver for raping a 23-year-old woman in the national capital.

Speaking to IANS, Deputy Commissioner of Police Omvir Singh said that the incident happened in east Delhi's Gazipur on July 1st.

The accused, 30-year-old, allegedly sexually assaulted the victim after she boarded his auto on Saturday night, police said.

After the woman approached police with a complaint, the 28-year-old accused was arrested. "Passersby caught the accused and handed him over to police," a police officer said.

The accused is currently in judicial custody.

The woman is the mother of three children, police said.

Further details are awaited.
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday granted 2-week time to the Centre and the RBI to mull over option to provide window to those who could not deposit demonetised notes due to valid reasons.

The central government, on its part, told division bench of Supreme Court that it would file an affidavit in the case. The matter will be heard again in the Supreme Court on July 18.

Earlier, the Centre, in its affidavit, had told the apex court that it has taken a "conscious decision" not to extend the period beyond December 30 last year for exchanging demonetised currency notes unlike for the NRIs, and security personnel posted in remote areas, which ended on March 31.

The government has also said it was not legally bound to come out with a fresh notification to grant grace period or window for depositing scrapped currency notes.

The affidavit has given details about the raids and seizures made by the law-enforcing agencies during and after the demonetisation period claiming that undisclosed income of over Rs 5,400 crore was detected.

The apex court had on March 6 issued notice to the Centre and the RBI on one of the pleas alleging that people were not being allowed to deposit demonetised currency notes till March 31 as promised.

One of the petitions also referred to the speech of the prime minister on November 8, 2016 and subsequent notification of the RBI spelling out that people may deposit demonetised currency notes even after December 31, 2016 at specific RBI branches up to March 31, 2017 after complying with certain procedural requirements.

It has referred to the Specified Bank Notes Cessation of Liabilities Ordinance and said it had gone against the assurance.

The ordinance had said that only those who were abroad, the armed forces personnel posted in remote areas or others who could give valid reasons for not being able to deposit the cancelled notes at banks, could deposit demonetised currency notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 till March 31 this year after the deadline expired on December 30, 2016.
New Delhi: The Financial Stability Board (FSB), an international body for global financial system, has placed India in the league of countries that are 'compliant or largely compliant' on implementation of priority area reforms.

Ahead of the G20 Summit in Germany to be attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, among other world leaders, the FSB on Monday submitted its status report on progress in financial regulatory reforms in various jurisdictions, including India.

The report listed India as a 'compliant' jurisdiction with regard to Basel III reforms in risk-based capital and as 'largely compliant' on liquidity coverage ratio.

Other countries that have been found to be 'compliant or largely compliant' on these metrics include Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Mexico, South Korea, Russia, Singapore, South Africa, Switzerland, Turkey and the US.

At the same time, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and the UK have been found to be 'materially non-compliant' on at least one parameter.

With regard to the Net Stable Funding Ratio (NSFR), India figured among the countries where "final rule published but not in force, or draft regulation published".

On compensation-related reforms, India is among the jurisdictions where "all except a few (three or less) FSB Principles and Standards implemented", as per the FSB report.

On trade reporting in the over-the-counter derivatives market, India was among the countries where necessary regulatory framework was being implemented.

On shadow banking, the FSB report named India among the jurisdictions where the final implementation measures are in force for valuation, liquidity management and stable net asset for monetary market funds while final adoption measures were taken for implementing an incentive alignment regime and disclosing requirements on securitisation.

The FSB also said the jurisdictions that have not had an IMF-World Bank Financial Sector Assessment Programme (FSAP) in the last five years are undergoing one in 2017-19 and these countries include India.

It further said the FSB examined progress in implementing G20 reforms in recent peer reviews of three EMDE (Emerging Market and Developing Economies) members -- Argentina, Brazil and India -- and has made recommendations to address identified gaps.

The report was submitted ahead of the G20 Summit in Hamburg on July 7-8 along with a letter from the FSB Chair Mark Carney to the G20 leaders.

As per the letter, the G20 reforms are building a safer, simpler, fairer financial system and banks are considerably stronger, more liquid and more focused.

"A series of measures are eliminating the toxic forms of shadow banking and transforming it into resilient market-based finance," it noted, while adding that a greater resilience is being achieved without impeding the supply of credit to the real economy.

It also said some unfinished business to finalise and implement reforms merits attention.

"Basel III must be completed urgently and then implemented faithfully... Further work is required to build effective cross-border resolution regimes and realise fully the benefits of trade reporting in improving transparency in OTC derivatives markets.

"The underlying causes of misconduct are being addressed by bolstering individual responsibility, accountability and better aligning incentives and reward, but more needs to be done," it said.

The report identified three areas where authorities need to remain vigilant -- maintaining an open and integrated global financial system, market liquidity and the effects of reforms on emerging market and developing economies.

The FSB sought G20 leaders' support to reinforce global regulatory cooperation.

The FSB also released a a Framework for post- implementation evaluation of the effects of the G20 financial regulatory reforms, developed in collaboration with the standard-setting bodies, and with input from external stakeholders and through public consultation.

The framework will guide analyses of whether the G20 reforms are achieving their intended outcomes and help identify any material unintended consequences that may have to be addressed, without compromising on the objectives of the reforms.
New Delhi: The Human Resource and Development (HRD) ministry is expected to decide upon conducting a single entrance test for engineering courses across the nation.

As reported by Hindustan Times, the ministry held a meeting with health ministry officials on Monday to discuss the experience of NEET.

Also, how far it has reduced corruption and led to promotion of merit in awarding seats.

According to a senior HRD official, the health ministry officials notified them that the idea of conducting single entrance exam had been a success. The students getting into medical courses maintains a minimum academic standard.

This ensures merit is maintained and not anyone can simply buy seats. At the same time there are benefits for students as they only have to take a single test, they dont have to spend on entrance fee and dont need to travel unnecessarily to different parts of the country for taking the test, HT quoted an official as saying.

Earlier, the regulator for technical education in the country All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE) had cleared a proposal for such an exam in 2018. However, the initiative was objected by West Bengal and Tamil Nadu.

Over all, there are nearly 3,300 engineering colleges in India and so far, it is the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) who conducted the Joint Entrance Examination-Mains for admission to engineering courses. IITs conducted IIT Advanced for admissions while private colleges conducted their own entrance tests.

Now, the HRD ministry is to decide whether to conduct a similar exam from 2018 onwards which will replace all the entrances held for admissions in engineering courses.
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi was on Tuesday accorded a grand welcome by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu upon his historic three-day visit to Israel.

"Aapka swagat hai mere dost" (You are welcome my friend), Benjamin Netanyahu said as he received his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi at Ben-Gurion Airport in Israel, in a break from protocol.

"Welcome my friend. We have been waiting for you for a long time," he said, adding "Even sky is not the limit in cooperation between India and Israel."

Modi, who was given a red carpet welcome, hugged Netanyahu after descending from the special aircraft.

Netanyahu even wrote on his Facebook account, "My friend, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, welcome to Israel."

"We can do even more, even better together, said Israeli PM while describing Modi as a great world leader."

The national anthem of both the countries was played by the military band and the two leaders stood side by side. All senior Israeli ministers were at the airport.

The Israeli prime minister will accompany Modi closely throughout his three-day trip - a gesture customarily reserved for US presidents.

Modi's arrival in Israel is the first by an Indian premier to the Jewish state, during which he will have in- depth talks with his counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu on issues of mutual and global concerns like terrorism and security.
Beijing: Amid a fresh stand-off between India and China over Doklam region in Sikkim, a Chinese expert has warned that Beijinj will have no choice but resort to "military" option if India "refuses to listen".

Hu Zhiyong, a research fellow at the Shanghai Academy of Social Science, has made the remarks referring to the festering border row between the two nations.

"China is trying its best to use historical lessons to reason with India and show sincerity in peacefully solving the problem, but if India refuses to listen, then China would have no other choice than to use a military way of solving the problem," Hu Zhiyong was quoted as saying by Global Times.

The state-run newspaper had on Monday carried a report quoting "observers" that "there could be a chance of war if the recent conflict between China and India is not handled properly".

"India is provoking China because it wants to prove to the US it could contain China while Prime Minister Narendra Modi was in the US," Hu added.

Diplomatic ties between India and China have hit a low over the border row in Sikkim sector as both sides have refused budge in Doklam region, where the armies of both sides are engaged in a stand-off.

Doklam, also referred to as Donglong by China, is a disputed zone between Beijing and Thimphu.

Bhutan has opposed the road construction by the Chinese Army, citing the disputed status of the region.

China has, meanwhile, called the action just since Donglong "is on Chinese territory".

India backs Bhutan as the ownership of Doklam is yet to be decided.

Moreover, the presence of Chinese army in Doklam has security implications for India as the region is close to Siliguri corridor, which connects India's northeast to the rest of the country.

With IANS inputs
New Delhi: Amid the continuing military standoff in the Sikkim section, China on Tuesday ruled out any compromise with India and put the onus on New Delhi to resolve the situation to what it described as 'grave'.

In unusually blunt remarks, China's Ambassador to India Luo Zhaohui told PTI, "The ball is in India's court and it was for the Indian government to decide what options could be on the table to resolve the standoff."

Asked about remarks by official Chinese media and think- tanks that the conflict can lead to a war if not handled properly, the ambassador said, "There has been talk about this option, that option. It is up to your government policy (whether to exercise the military option)."

"The Chinese government is very clear that it wants a peaceful resolution at the current state of the situation for which withdrawal of Indian troops from the area is a pre- condition", he asserted.

"The first priority is that the Indian troops unconditionally pull back to the Indian side of the boundary. That is the precondition for any meaningful dialogue between China and India," he said.

"The situation is grave and made me deeply worried. It is the first time that Indian troops have crossed the mutually recognised boundary and trespassed into China's territory, triggering a close range face off between Chinese and Indian border troops. Now 19 days have passed, but the situation still has not eased," Luo said.

He also asserted that India has no right to interfere with the China-Bhutan boundary talks, nor is it entitled to make territorial claims on behalf of Bhutan.

"India cannot encroach upon the territory of other countries on the ground of its 'security concerns'. Otherwise, the world would be in chaos," the Chinese envoy added.

He also asserted that "it is critical that India shall withdraw its troops immediately to minimise the negative impact. It serves the interests of the two sides."

China and India have been engaged in a standoff in the Dokalam area near the Bhutan trijunction for past 19 days after a Chinese army's construction party came to build a road.

Doka La is the Indian name for the region which Bhutan recognises as Dokalam, while China claims it as part of its Donglang region. China and Bhutan are engaged in talks over the resolution of the area. Bhutan, however, has no diplomatic ties with China and it is supported militarily and diplomatically by India.

(With Agency inputs)
New Delhi: The Congress on Tuesday partially welcomed Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Israel, while hoping that it is not being "done not at the expense of India's traditional loyalty and ties to the Palestinians".

Congress spokesperson, Shashi Tharoor said that as the Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, he believes that the relationship has reached a level of maturity which makes it possible for India to contemplate the first ever prime ministerial visit to Israel.

"President Mukherjee went last year. So, now we are taking it to the level of chief executive of the nation. As far as foreign policy is concerned, we hope to keep this a national issue, and not a political one," Tharoor was quoted as saying.

However, Tharoor maintained that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs should have thought about the fact that Prime Minister Modi is visiting Israel but not Palestine.

"I hope the Ministry of External Affairs has done its homework. For example, the fact that the Prime Minister is going to Israel but not to the Palestinian authorities must have been thought through," he said.

"This is a very important relationship which India needs to sustain, while at the same time making sure it is not at the expense of our traditional loyalty and ties to the Palestinians," Tharoor added.

However, Tharoor maintained a positive view and suggested that if the visit is carried out properly, then there is no question of an issue.

"India has often had an allergy to hyphenated relationships. We have always told Americans, when you come to India, why you must go to Pakistan. By the same logic, we are also not hyphenating Israel and Palestine. I see no particular harm in that if we play our cards right," he said.

Congress leader Salman Khurshid also expressed his concern over the issue of Palestine.

"But, the larger question of Palestine remains looming large and the Government doesn't seem to have given very clear positions on that. To go without giving clear position can lead to difficult situations," Khurshid told ANI.

Khurshid reiterated that till the time issues of Palestine are not resolved, India cannot endorse Israeli policy.

"Prime Minister Modi is a proactive leader reaching out to the world and I imagine, a part of his desire to reach the Israel is understandable but it is a fundamental departure from consistently help policy of the Government of India which reflected a consensus in the country that till such time as the issues of Palestine are not sorted out, we cannot be seen and endorsing Israeli policy," he said.

Prime Minister Modi will today begin his two nation tour starting from Israel.

Upon arriving in Israel, Prime Minster Modi will hold talks with his counterpart Benjamin Netanyahuin Tel Aviv on all matters of mutual interest. This year both the countries are commemorating 25 years of diplomatic relations.
Tel Aviv: Narendra Modi on Tuesday became the first-ever Indian Prime Minister to step on Israeli soil, undertaking a 'ground breaking' visit and receiving an extraordinary welcome by the Jewish nation.

Israel rolled out a red carpet welcome as the Air India One aircraft landed at Tel Aviv's International Airport on a warm afternoon with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu setting aside protocol and receiving PM Modi with a handshake and a hug.

In his welcome address, Netanyahu said Israel has been waiting for a long time for this visit.

"Apka swagat hai mere dost. We have been waiting almost 70 years, in fact, because your's is a truly historic visit. It is the first time that an Indian Prime Minister is visiting Israel. We receive you with open arms. We love India. We admire your culture, your democracy and your commitment to progress," he said.



Recalling his first meeting with PM Modi three years ago at the United Nations, Netanyahu said both of them agreed to breakdown the remaining walls between India and Israel.



"We shook each others' hand and forged a historic relationship. We met again in Paris and since then we have spoken many times on the phone. But I remember my friend what you said in that first meeting," he said.

Also Read - PM Modi's Israel visit, Day 1: As it happened



"You said when it comes to India-Israel relations, the sky is the limit. But actually my friend the sky isn't the limit because today even our space programmes are working towards reaching even greater heights," the Israeli PM added.



He said that the ties between the talented and innovative peoples of both the countries is natural.

"It is so natural that we can ask what took so long for them to blossom. Well, it took a meeting of minds and hearts. it took a commitment of our governments we have that today," he also said.



Netanyahu further said in this visit PM Modi's 'Make in India' initiative meets his 'Make with India' policy.

"We are setting up a $40 million innovation fund as the seed for even greater cooperation on technology between us," he said, as per IANS.



Hailing PM Modi as a great leader of India and a great world leader, Netanyahu said, "Your visit to Israel is a testimony to that."

Also Read - PM Modi calls for opposing evils of terrorism, radicalism

Speaking later, PM Modi said, "It is my honour to be the the first ever Indian Prime Minister to undertake this ground-breaking visit to Israel."

He said his visit was about the strength of the two societies and their strong partnership.

"Building a strong and resilient relationship with Israel will be my intent and focus. We have to secure our societies against the common threat of terrorism," PM Modi said.

"Together, we can do even more and even better (for India-Israel ties)," he added.

Noting that India is an old civilisation but a young nation, PM Modi said, "We have a talented and skilled youth, who are our driving force."

Also Read - PM Modi visits Israel's Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial

Describing Israel as an "important development partner", he said, "This is an exciting journey that we will undertake together, for the good of our people and our society," as per PTI.

PM Modi said his visit celebrates the strength of centuries-old links between the two societies and "based on these bonds, our partnership has mantained a strong and sustained upswing since the establishment of full relationship, diplomatic relations, 25 years ago."

Earlier, the two leaders inspected a guard of honour by Israeli defence forces in honour of PM Modi.

Netanyahu introduced his ministers, officials, including the present and former ambassadors of Israel in India and his National Security Advisor.

From the airport, PM Modi visited the Danziger flower farm in Moshav Mishmar Hashiva along with Netanyahu and Agriculture Minister Uri Ariel to learn about latest innovations and advancements in floriculture.

Also Read - New fast-growing Israeli Crysanthumun flower will now be called 'MODI'

The farm, about 56 km from Jerusalem, is one of Israel's leading floriculture companies with approximately 80,000 square meters of state-of-the-art greenhouses specialising in reproduction of plants.

The farm named a breed of chrysanthemum after PM Modi.

He also visited the Yad Vashem Memorial Museum to honour the memory of the victims of the holocaust that counts among the greatest tragedies in human history.

The museum occupies over 4,200 square metres - mainly underground - and emphasises the experiences of the individual victims through original artifacts, survivor testimonies and personal possessions.

The Holocaust was the killing of nearly six million Jews, including some 1.5 million children, by Adolf Hitler's Nazi Germany. Though the persecution of Jews began in 1933, the mass murder was committed during the more than four years of World War II.

(With Agency inputs)
Beijing: Contrary to the Chinese government's assertion that Jawaharlal Nehru had accepted the 1890 Sino- British treaty over Sikkim to buttress Beijing's claim over the Dokalam area, the former prime minister had pointed out to China that it is claiming sizeable part of Bhutan's territory.

"It is not clear to us what exactly is the implication of your statement that the boundaries of Sikkim and Bhutan do not fall within the scope of the present discussion," Nehru wrote in a letter to his then Chinese counterpart Zhou Enlai on September 26, 1959.

"In fact, Chinese maps show sizable areas of Bhutan as part of Tibet," Nehru said in the letter accessed by PTI here.

In the lengthy letter highlighting India's stand on the boundary dispute, Nehru wrote that under treaty relationships with Bhutan, the Government of India is the only competent authority to take up with other Governments matters concerning Bhutan's external relations, and in fact it has taken up with China a number of matters on behalf of the Bhutan Government.

"The rectification of errors in Chinese maps regarding the boundary of Bhutan with Tibet is therefore a matter which has to be discussed along with the boundary of India with the Tibet region of China in the same sector," he wrote.

After asserting that Chinese maps are showing sizable areas of Bhutan as part of China, Nehru referred to the 1890 Sino-British treaty granting India's sovereignty to Sikkim.

"As regards Sikkim, the Chinese Government recognised as far back as 1890 that the Government of India 'has direct and exclusive control over the internal administration and foreign relations of that State'. This Convention of 1890 also defined the boundary between Sikkim and Tibet; and the boundary was later, in 1895, demarcated. There is thus no dispute regarding the boundary of Sikkim with the Tibet region," Nehru said.

At the same time, he pointed out that "it is wrong to say that the frontier east of Bhutan as shown on Chinese maps is the traditional frontier. On the contrary, it is the McMahon Line which correctly represents the customary boundary in this area. The water-parting formed by the crest of the Himalayas is the natural frontier which was accepted for centuries as the boundary by the peoples on both sides."

China and India have been engaged in a standoff in the Doka La area near the Bhutan trijunction for almost a month.

Sikkim, which became a part of India in May 1976, is the only state which has a demarcated border with China. The lines are based on a treaty signed with the Chinese in 1898. Doka La is the Indian name for the region which Bhutan recognises as Dokalam, while China claims it as part of its Donglang region.

Chinese are making attempts to build a road which was objected to by Bhutan.

The Ambassador of Bhutan has a lodged a protest with the Chinese Government through their Embassy in New Delhi on June 20. Bhutan has no diplomatic relations with China.
By PTI: Panaji, Jul 4 (PTI) The desecration of religious symbols and a temple over the last few days indicates "specific attempts" to create tension in Goa, Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar today said.

"There appears to be specific attempts to try and create some sort of tension in the state," he said.

Parrikar was speaking to reporters after chairing a high-level meeting of police officials called to review the situation after a spate of desecration of religious sites in South Goa.

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Police have filed cases against unidentified persons in connection with these incidents and launched investigations but no breakthrough has been made so far.

The chief minister, who declined to disclose the investigation details, said "the reason (behind such acts) is not yet known."

A total of five Holy crosses, places of Catholic worship, and a temple were found desecrated since the last three days in South Goa, especially around the town of Margao.

Parrikar said the police have been patrolling the religious places round the clock, but these incidents took place after 6 am.

The CM said he has asked the police department to take help of technological tools, including Google Map, to track down the culprits.

"These acts will not be tolerated. The culprits will face the music once they are arrested," he said.

The chief minister said similar incidents were reported in 2012-13 when he was heading the state, but police investigations revealed a "mentally unstable person" was behind those acts. PTI RPS RSY SMJ

--- ENDS ---
New Delhi: Law Commission on Tuesday suggested compulsory registration of marriage within 30 days of the ceremony.

The Commission has recommended punishing the defaulters with a fine on per day basis for delay without reasonable cause.

Once enforced, the couples who fail to register their marriage will be devoid of facilities that require marriage certificate.

Meanwhile, the Yogi Adityanath government is all set to make registration of marriages, irrespective of religion, compulsory in Uttar Pradesh.
Kolkata: The Congress-led opposition`s Presidential candidate Meira Kumar on Tuesday sought support from the legislators and members of Parliament of West Bengal`s Trinamool Congress, Left and Congress parties.

"I have been given assurance that you are supporting me. You have given me so much strength. Kolkata and West Bengal have given me strength and inspiration because it is the land of fighters. You have always fought against injustice and atrocities," Meria Kumar told the legislators in the West Bengal assembly.

"In the last 8-9 years, India has seen a major political turn. Opposition parties came together. Parties who otherwise differ on so many different things (came together)," she added.

The former Lok Sabha Speaker said she has "an old association with Kolkata and Bengal".

Meira Kumar is pitted against Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance`s (NDA) nominee Ram Nath Kovind in the July 17 presidential election.
Delhi: Signalling a shift in foreign policy calculus, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to begin 'historic' visit to Israel starting Tuesday during which he will meet his 'close friend' and Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu, elevating the 25 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

Ahead of their meeting, both leaders had recognised the threat terrorism poses to their countries and to global peace and stability and agreed to discuss ways to tackle it besides expanding bilateral economic ties.

"Accordingly, a few years ago we signed a landmark agreement on cooperation in homeland and public security. India and Israel are committed to working together to fight this scourge," the leaders said in a joint blog post.

Modi will also be the first serving Indian Prime Minister to visit Israel to mark 25 years of the establishment of diplomatic ties between New Delhi and Jerusalem.

"The 'Make in India' initiative to strengthen the Indian manufacturing base has been enhanced by its Israeli ' Make with India' counterpart. We are pleased that this vision is already bearing fruit. This week's historic visit, as we celebrate 25 years of full diplomatic relations between India and Israel, reflects not just the close cooperation of our governments, but also the great sympathy and affinity between our peoples. We marvel at the changes we have witnessed over the last two and a half decades and are proud that India and Israel are genuine partners for development, technology, innovation and entrepreneurship," both the Prime Ministers said, reaffirming their commitment to economic ties, according to ANI.

Celebrating 25 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries, the leaders further stated, "We are confident that 25 years from now, Indians and Israelis will look back on this visit as the first of many historical milestones that we reached together in the great friendship between our peoples. The natural partnership between India and Israel, formally elevated 25 years ago to full diplomatic relations, has grown stronger from year to year. The deep connection between our peoples reflects our many similarities in spirit, if not in size. Ours are two modern, vibrant democracies that draw on our rich historical traditions while striving to seize the promise of the future for our peoples."

Taking business ties to a higher level, the two wrote,"We are establishing a new India-Israel CEOs Forum. Acquiring business visas from each country has become easier today than it has ever been, thanks to steps taken by both governments. We are also asking our respective business leaders to suggest ways in which we can bring our bilateral trade closer to its real potential."

In a special gesture, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be received by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on his arrival at the Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv today evening.

Till now, this gesture has only been accorded to U.S. presidents, including President Donald Trump recently and the Pope.

Prime Minister Netanyahu will also accompany his Indian counterpart to all events during his historic visit to the country between July 4 and July 6.

During his nearly 48-hour long stay, the Prime Minister will attend 18 programmes in Israel.

These programmes include bilateral meetings, mega Community Programme, meeting top Israeli CEOs, NRIs, students.

On Thursday (July 6) both Prime Ministers will pay wreath on the two grave areas - one is for the Hindu soldiers and one for Muslim soldiers- during their visit to Haifa cemetery," said Israeli Foreign Ministry's Deputy Director General in charge of the Asia and the Pacific Division Mark Sofer during a briefing.

With ANI inputs
Jerusalem: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said that those who believe in humanity and civilised values must come together and defend it at all costs as he called for resolutely opposing the evils of terrorism, radicalism and violence that has plagued the world.

"Yad Vashem is a reminder of the unspeakable evil inflicted generations ago," PM Modi said in a press statement along with his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu.

PM Modi, who laid a wreath at the Yad Vashem Memorial museum and paid tributes to over six million Jews killed by Nazi Germany, said the memorial is a tribute to "your unbreakable spirit to rise above the depths of tragedy, overcome hatred and forge ahead to build a vibrant democratic nation."

"Yad Vashem tells us that those who believe in humanity and civilized values must come together and defend it at all costs. As such, we must resolutely oppose the evils of terrorism, radicalism and violence that plague our time," he said.

On his part, Netanyahu said the two countries must stand together to fight the menace of terrorism.
Mumbai: Excitement runs high in the Indian Jewish community as Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to land in Israel shortly on a three-day historic visit aimed at boosting the bilateral ties.

President of All India Jewish Welfare Association Chen Jacob Nagawkar on Tuesday said that excitement among the Indian community in Israel is phenomenal.

"This is fantastic news for us. In the existence of Israel from 1948, this is the first time that an Indian Prime Minister is visiting Israel. We are very happy and excited about it. We are very glad that Narendra Modi has officially accepted the relation with Israel and is taking it forward to this extent. If you see the excitement among the Indian community in Israel and India, it is phenomenal," Nagawkar was quoted as saying by ANI.

Prime Minister Modi began his two nation tour starting from Israel today.

Upon arriving in Israel, Prime Minster Modi will hold talks with his counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu in Tel Aviv on all matters of mutual interest. This year both the countries are commemorating 25 years of diplomatic relations.

The Prime Minster, in his Facebook post, said, both leaders will also discuss major common challenges like terrorism.

During the visit, he will engage with a cross section of Israeli society. The Prime Minister said, he is looking forward to interacting with the large vibrant Indian diaspora in Israel that represents an enduring link between the two countries.

The Indian Prime Minister will also call on President Reuven Rivlin.

Prime Minister Modi will address the Indian community in an event in Tel Aviv. He will also attend a CEO forum in which CEOs of companies from both the nations will participate to discuss their shared priority of expanding the bilateral trade and investment.

The Prime Minister will also visit the Indian cemetery in Haifa where he will pay homage to Indian soldiers who laid down their lives during the first world war.

In the second and final leg of his tour, Prime Minsiter Modi will visit Hamburg in Germany to attend the 12th G-20 Summit.
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will leave for a three-day visit to Israel starting Tuesday on a special invitation from his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu.

The visit will be the first by an Indian Prime Minister since the two countries established diplomatic relations 25 years ago.

Earlier, President Pranab Mukherjee had visited the country in 2015 while External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj visited it in 2016.

PM Modi's Schedule

-On July 4, PM Modi will be received by Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu at the airport. This is a special gesture only accorded to the Pope or the US president.

-PM Modi is likely to stay at the King David Hotel, where he will be accorded a red carpet welcome.

-This is the same hotel where US President Donald Trump had stayed during his recent visit to Israel.

-During the visit, PM Modi is expected to have detailed discussions with PM Netanyahu on matters of mutual interest to both countries.

-The Israeli PM will also host a dinner for PM Modi.

-Netanyahu will accompany him to most of the events, including the community reception on July 5.

-PM Modi will pay homage to Indian soldiers at the Indian Cemetery in Haifa.

-He will meet 26/11 Mumbai terror attack survivor Holtzberg Moshe, who was only two when he was saved by his Indian nanny Sandra Samuel.

-Moshe's father Rabbi Gavriel and mother Rivkah were among eight Israeli nationals killed in the 2008 terror strike.

-In the second and final leg of his tour, Prime Minister Modi will leave for Hamburg, Germany to attend the 12th G-20 Summit.
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu have hailed the bilateral ties between the two countries which they referred to as "natural partnership" in a joint editorial.

"Both our nations are complex. Like yogic asanas grounding down and pulling up at the same time, they face many challenges. By working together we can overcome some of the challenges," the two influential world leaders wrote in the editorial published in 'The Times of India', just ahead of PM Modi's Israel visit.

The two leaders also expressed confidence and wrote that "25 years from now, Indians and Israelis will look back on this visit as the first of many historical milestones that we reached together in the great friendship between our peoples."

PM Modi departed for Israel this morning in the first ever visit by an Indian premier. During his three-day visit, the two countries are set to hold extensive talks on defence, security, water management, science and technology, education, agriculture and more.

In their joint editorial, the two prime ministers also spoke on what they describe as a "unique blend of complementary capabilities" that has forged strong ties between India and Israel, particularly in the field of technology.

They also shared their concerns on the threat terrorism poses to both countries and to global peace and stability.

India has traditionally been cautious in its dealing with Israel, partly because of an alleged wariness of upsetting Arab states and Iran, upon whom it relies for its vast imports of oil, as also its own large Muslim population.

Modi's visit also holds significance since India has traditionally downplayed relations with Israel fearing it would alienate the countrys 170 million Muslims and upset the Aranb states.

But Modi, a popular leader facing weak political opposition at home, is embarking on the trip to Israel with little concern for domestic fallout - and is also skipping a similar visit to meet Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah.

In the second and final leg of his tour, Prime Minister Modi will visit Hamburg in Germany to attend the 12th G-20 Summit.
Jerusalem: India and Israel on Tuesday jointly called for resolutely opposing the menace of terrorism and the defeat of this global scourge.



Jointly addressing the media here along with Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu ahead of a one-on-one dinner between them, Prime Minister Narendra Modi referred to his visit to the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial museum shortly after his arrival here earlier in the day and said the museum was "a tribute to your unbreakable spirit to rise above the depths of tragedy, overcome hatred and forge ahead to build a vibrant democratic nation".



"Yad Vashem tells us that those who believe in humanity and civilised values must come together and defend it at all costs, Modi said.



"As such, we must resolutely oppose the evils of terrorism, radicalism and violence that plague our time."



PM Modi arrived in Tel Aviv on Tuesday afternoon in what is the first ever prime ministerial visit from India to Israel. This year marks the 25th anniversary of establishment of diplomatic ties between the two countries.



Stating that India-Israel ties have seen rapid growth since the establishment of full diplomatic relations, PM Modi said, "Common objectives of economic prosperity, strong technology and innovation ties and the need to secure our societies define the space for convergent action between us. Over coming decades, we want to frame a relationship that transforms the landscape of our economic engagement."



He said that focus on using technology and innovation to meet development priorities "provides productive scope to expand our academic, scientific and research, and business links".



"We also want to put in place a robust security partnership to respond to shared threats to our peace, stability and prosperity," he stated.

"I will work with Prime Minister Netenyahu to craft and build a clear action agenda to realise these objectives."



Referring to people-to-people links between the two countries, PM Modi said that Jews have thrived in India for thousands of years after the first of these people landed on India's south-western coastline.



"We are proud of jewish sons and daughters of India like Lt Gen JFR Jacob, Vice Admiral Benjamin Samson, master architect Joshua Benjamin, and film actors Nadira, Sulochana, and Pramila whose diverse contributions have greatly enriched the fabric of Indian society," he said.



"Indian Jews are a living and vibrant connect to this shared history. My visit to Israel celebrates this ancient bond between communities across both our nations."



On his part, Netanyahu said that India and Israel were "sister democracies" and faced the common challenge of terrorism.



Calling PM Modi as "friend Narendra", Netanyahu said that Israel believed in the "partnership of intelligence".



"India and Israel are sister democracies. We are unequal in size but equal in spirits," said Netanyahu.



"We also face common challenges and first of it is to defeat the forces of terror that's on rampage through the world and threaten both our countries. We must stand together in this battle. We have to defeat terrorism."



Netanyahu said both India and Israel shared "a bond of democracy, creativity, a deep respect for the past and a boundless optimism for future and it's in this spirit my friend Narendra, I welcome you here"



Speaking of his "great admiration" for people of India for talent and Prime Minister Modi for Yoga, the Israeli Prime Minister also recalled Indian mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan.



"We have great admiration for people of India. My late uncle who was a mathematician told me many times about his admiration for great Indian mathematician Ramanujan, who was perhaps the greatest mathematician in many centuries," said Netanyahu.



"This symbolises talents of people of India," he said.



He further added, "We believe in the partnership of talent. It won't happen over night, but we both want it to happen overnight."


New Delhi: Signalling a shift in India's foreign policy calculus, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday embarked on a two-nation tour starting from Israel during which the two sides will hold parleys on a wide range of issues including terrorism and expanding economic ties.

In a major boost to New Delhi, a senior Israeli Foreign Ministry had said that his country supports India on terrorism emanating from Pakistan hook, line and sinker, and is not asking for a quid pro quo.

Speaking about a common concern, Mark Sofer, Deputy Director General in-charge of the Asia and Pacific division, said, Both countries face the same challenges of terrorism and face the same struggle. No civilised country can defeat terrorism by itself. All like-minded countries, like India and Israel, have to make a concerted effort.

PM Modi, who will be accorded a red carpet welcome upon his arrival to Israel, will also be the first Indian Prime Minister to visit the Jewish state.

PM @narendramodi emplanes for a historic visit to Israel, the first ever by an Indian Prime Minister. pic.twitter.com/6q2iXJ71Xh  PMO India (@PMOIndia) July 4, 2017

Upon reaching Israel, Prime Minster Modi will hold talks with his counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu in Tel Aviv on all matters of mutual interest.

This year both the countries are commemorating 25 years of diplomatic relations.

In a Facebook post, the Prime Minster said yesterday that both leaders will also discuss major common challenges like terrorism.

During the visit, he will engage with a cross section of Israeli society.

The Prime Minister said, he is looking forward to interacting with the large vibrant Indian diaspora in Israel that represents an enduring link between the two countries.

PM Modi will also call on Israeli President Reuven Rivlin.

Prime Minister Modi will address the Indian community in an event in Tel Aviv.

He will also attend a CEO forum in which CEOs of companies from both the nations will participate to discuss their shared priority of expanding the bilateral trade and investment.

The Prime Minister will also visit the Indian cemetery in Haifa where he will pay homage to Indian soldiers who laid down their lives during the first world war.

During his visit, the two sides are expected to sign number of agreements in the field of innovation, development, science and technology and space.

Apart from boosting cooperation in the water and agriculture sectors, India and Israel will also discuss ways to strengthen people-to-people contact, air connectivity and investments.

During the visit, a deal with the Uttar Pradesh government is also likely to be signed to clean-up a patch of river Ganges apart from setting up of industrial research and development fund of USD 40 million.

Before the visit, the Ministry of External Affairs ministry in New Delhi said it will provide an impetus for deeper bilateral engagement in areas of mutual interest.

Modi's visit also holds significance since India has traditionally downplayed relations with Israel fearing it would alienate the countrys 170 million Muslims. But Modi, a popular leader facing weak political opposition at home, is embarking on the trip to Israel with little concern for domestic fallout - and is also skipping a similar visit to meet Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah.

In the second and final leg of his tour, Prime Minister Modi will visit Hamburg in Germany to attend the 12th G-20 Summit.
Jerusalem: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday visited the Danziger "Dan" flower farm along with his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu to gain first-hand information about the latest innovations and advancements in floriculture.

The Danziger flower farm is one of Israel's leading floriculture companies with approximately 80,000 square meters of state-of-the-art greenhouses specialising in the reproduction of plants.

The farm, founded in 1953, is located in Moshav Mishmar Hashiva, about 56 km from Jerusalem, in central Israel.

Soon after landing, Prime Minister Modi visited the Danziger flower farm in Moshav Mishmar Hashiva along with Netanyahu and Agriculture Minister Uri Ariel to learn about latest innovations and advancements in floriculture.

The visit to the farm highlights that one of Israel's key interests in closer cooperation with India is its expertise in agricultural technology, officials said.

Danziger flower farm developed into a company of 200 employee from a small family business, growing and selling cut flowers.

Today, the farm produces young plants and cuttings for the local market and for more than 60 countries all over the world.

Earlier, Modi was greeted by Netanyahu along with the top tier of Israel's leadership -- known as segel aleph -- an honour afforded to only a few select leaders like US presidents and popes.

Modi's three-day visit to Israel is the first by an Indian prime minister to the Jewish nation.

During the visit, the two leaders will discuss common challenges like terrorism and ways to boost the economic ties.

The prime minister will be in Israel till July 6 before travelling to Hamburg in Germany to attend the G-20 Summit.
People lease their children on yearly contracts to the infamous Band Baja Barat gang that carries out thefts at grand marriage functions in the Capital.

Delhi Police have arrested the kingpin of the gang, Raka (centre), and recovered Rs 4 lakh in cash, gold and silver jewellery from him.

By Chayyanika Nigam: They are wedding crashers of a dangerous kind. And they start really young.

Barely 800 km from Delhi, three villages in Rajgarh district of Madhya Pradesh -Gul Kheri, Sulkheri and Kadiya - are on Delhi Police's radar. Residents lease their children, in the 9-15 age group, on yearly contracts to the infamous Band Baja Barat gang that carries out thefts at grand marriage functions in the Capital.

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The written or verbal contract is carried out between the syndicate and the village heads.

A short crash course is provided to the kids so they can lift bags and steal valuables from the big fat weddings, police said.

KINGPIN ARRESTED, NO RAIDS YET

After the kingpin of the gang was arrested by the Delhi Police, on Monday a team comprising 12 to 15 members went to the area in MP to apprehend the children and the parents involved in this illicit business. But cops are finding it difficult to nab them, despite having identified half-a-dozen juvenile offenders.

The three villages with a population of around 4,500 have around 600 houses that have become hubs of criminal activities. Apart from leasing the children to gangs, locals are also allegedly involved in robberies, kidnappings and other offences in the neighbourhood.

The police teams of Delhi's southwest district that had gone to these villages after identifying the children who stole valuables from weddings in Delhi are unable to conduct raids in the area, sources close to the investigation said.

Delhi Police have arrested Raka (32), the kingpin of the Band Baja Barat gang and recovered Rs 4 lakh in stolen cash, gold and silver jewellery as well as other gifts given to the bride by the guests, worth around Rs 8 lakh, officers said on Sunday.

CCTV videos helped identify six to seven children involved in the thefts.

PARENTS HAVE TIE-UP WITH ADVOCATES

Speaking to Mail Today, a member of a Delhi Police team in Rajgarh said, "The children and their parents are well aware of human rights issues. They have a tie-up with a few advocates who have taught them the loopholes to save themselves if the police conduct a raid. These lawyers charge them money for each raid. Whenever police reach these houses to nab the culprits, they inflict injuries on themselves and allege that the cops have beaten them up. Sometimes, the adults drop their children from the first floor, alleging atrocities by police."

Another senior officer said even the local police is afraid to conduct raids in these three villages as the men and women consume alcohol and misbehave with the cops.

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The village heads who act as conduits between the gangs and locals also get their share of money for every deal, the Delhi Police teams say.

KIDS LEASED FOR RS 2-9 LAKH

The Band Baja Barat gang picks good-looking and smart children in the 9-15 age group. It brings them to Delhi and keeps them in rented accommodations. The syndicate has its network across the Capital and is aware of all the lavish weddings taking place.

The children are leased for Rs 2 lakh to Rs 9 lakh depending on their skills. Once a kid is auctioned, the money is handed over to the parents in two or more instalments and the child is hired for one year.

After being brought to Delhi, the children undergo training for a month on how to commit thefts at weddings and how to mingle with the people at the venue. A kid is also made mentally and physically tough not to divulge his identity and that of his gang members in case he is arrested. He is also instructed to put on pretty clothes to attend the function and also eat the snacks to dispel any suspicion. The gang comprises adult men and women as well who usually stay in rented houses and drop the children off at functions and sometimes wait outside on three-wheelers and motorcycles. The women take care of the kids like their own. The real parents are regularly informed about the children's well-being.

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--- ENDS ---
New Delhi: A small tea stall near Vadnagar railway station in Gujarat where Prime Minister Narendra Modi sold tea in his childhood is all set to become a tourist spot.

Union Culture and Tourism Minister Mahesh Sharma said,"Inside the Vadnagar railway station, there is a small tea stall, from where our PM had probably started his life's journey. We also want to develop that tea stall as a tourism spot. Our aim is to put Vadnagar on world tourism map."

Ahead of the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, Prime Minister Modi had often mentioned that he used to sell tea during his childhood at the Vadnagar railway station along with his father.

The union minister, however, clarified that although there is a plan to develop Vadnagar railway station as a tourist destination, there is no proposal for giving a facelift to the tea stall. Instead, the original charm of the tea stall will be preserved while giving it a modern touch.

"The ministry of tourism along with the ministry of railways are developing the Vadnagar Railway station as a tourist destination. We have already discussed the plans. As of now there are no plans to give any facelift to the tea stall," Sharma said in a statement.

The stall is located on one of the platforms of the Vadnagar Railway station.

As per the reports, officials of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) had visited the town on Sunday. "Apart from being the birthplace of our Prime Minister, Vadnagar is an important historical centre having famous Sharmishta Lake and a step-well. ASI had recently found remains of a Buddhist Monastery during excavation, which is still going on," Sharma said.

Earlier, Divisional Railway Manager (DRM) of Ahmedabad Dinesh Kumar had said the entire project of developing Vadnagar and adjoining places in Mehsana district would cost over Rs. 100 crore.

"The development of Vadnagar railway station is one of the components of the Rs. 100 crore project to develop Vadnagar, Modhera and Patan as tourist destinations. As of now, the Ministry of Tourism has given Rs. eight crore to the state Tourism Department to develop the railway station," Kumar had said.

(With inputs from PTI)
Srinagar: Another terrorist has been gunned down by security forces in an ongoing encounter in Pulwama district on Tuesday. According to the reports of ANI, his body has been recovered from Bahmnoo Keller area. Around 10 protesters have also been wounded in the clashes.

Talking to PTI, a police official total three militants have been killed in the encounter so far.

The gunbattle began on Monday morning after the security forces launched a search operation following a specific tip-off about the presence of militants in Bahmnoo area of Pulwama, police said, police spokesman said.If reports are to be believed, all the three slain terrorists were newly recruited.

Yesterday, two terrorists were killed in the gunbattle while two army personnel sustained minor injuries. The slain terrorists Kifayat and Jehangir reportedly belonged to Zakir Musa group.
New Delhi: The Supreme Court today refused to give an early hearing in the PMLA case filed by the Enforcement Directorate against former finance minister P. Chidambaram`s son Karti Chidamabaram.



A bench of the apex court headed by Chief Justice of India Jagdish Singh Khehar refused to give an early hearing in the case.



The Enforcement Directorate asked the apex court whether the Madras High Court has the jurisdiction to hear Kati`s plea or not.Karti had filed a plea in the Madras High Court challenging the summons issued by the Enforcement Directorate.



Last month, following the Income-Tax raids at his residence in Chennai, the Enforcement Directorate slapped a money laundering case against Karti and others taking cognizance of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI)FIR against him.



The CBI filed the FIR in connection with a Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) clearance given to media group INX Media Pvt Ltd, once owned by Indrani and Peter Mukerjea, for receiving funds from Mauritius when his father P. Chidambaram was the finance minister.



The FIR was lodged against Karti, Indrani Mukerjea, unknown officers of FIPB Unit of Ministry of Finance and others.



The charges include criminal conspiracy, cheating, taking gratification in order by corrupt or illegal means to influence public servant and criminal misconduct.



The case was registered under section 120-B r/w, section 420, section 8 and section 13(2) r/w and 13 (1) (d) of Indian Penal Code (IPC).
New Delhi: Lambasting the recent lynching incidents in the name of cow protection, Shiv Sena on Tuesday said that these incidents were against Hindutva. In party's mouthpiece 'Saamana', Sena urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to come up with a national policy on beef.

"Those who were safeguarding cows were Hindus till yesterday. Today, they have become murderers. The issue of beef is related to eating habits, business and employment. Hence, there should be a national policy over the issue," the editorial in Saamana reads.

However, Shiv Sena which is often at loggerheads with NDA, hailed PM for condemning the attacks last week. "We welcome the stand taken by the prime minister over the issue. Nobody has the right to take law in his hands in the name of cow protection. We thank him for clearly defining Hindutva. He should now come up with a national policy on beef to ease tension."

In a tough message against cow vigilantism and mob lynching, Prime Minsiter Modi last week had said killing people on the pretext of protecting cows is not acceptable and warned that no one has the right to take law into his hands.

Under attack over mobs killing those suspected of cow slaughter or eating beef, BJP chief Amit Shah recently termed such incidents as "serious", but claimed more of these happened under the previous governments than the three years of NDA rule.



Recently, a series of mob lynchings have been reported from several states, including BJP-ruled Jharkhand, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh.

A few days back, a minor boy Junaid Khan, was stabbed to death by a group of men on a train when he was returning home to Ballabhgarh in Haryana after shopping for Eid. His assailants termed Junaid, his brother and friends as "beef eaters".

In Jharkhand's Ramgarh, a Muslim meat trader was beaten to death last week by cow vigilantes who alleged he was carrying beef in his vehicle. Nityanand Mahto, a local BJP leader is among those arrested in connection with the incident.

(With inputs from PTI)
Tel Aviv: In a special gesture, a new fast-growing Israeli flower was on Tuesday named after Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Israeli Crysanthumun flower will now be called 'MODI', officials said.

"Crysanthumun flower will be named in honour of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The flower will be called 'Modi'," Office of the Prime Minister tweeted.

Crysanthumun flower will be named in honour of PM @narendramodi. The flower will be called 'Modi.' pic.twitter.com/4qLALtxHzP  PMO India (@PMOIndia) July 4, 2017

"A symbol of blooming In a special gesture, a new fast growing variety of chrysanthemum flower named after Prime Minister Narendra Modi," External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Gopal Baglay tweeted.

A symbol of bloomin rltn'p! In a spl gesture, a new fast growing variety of chrysanthemum flower named aftr PM @narendramodi pic.twitter.com/zl8d0rMgl4  Gopal Baglay (@MEAIndia) July 4, 2017

Earlier, PM Modi visited the Danziger 'Dan' flower farm along with his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu in Mishmar Hashiva where they were briefed about the latest technologies being used for floriculture.

The Danziger flower farm is one of Israel's leading floriculture companies with approximately 80,000 square meters of state-of-the-art greenhouses specialising in reproduction of plants.

The farm, founded in 1953, is located in Moshav Mishmar Hashiva, about 56 km from Jerusalem, in central Israel.

Meanwhile, reflecting the importance that Israel is according to the first visit by an Indian PM since Israel's establishment 70 years ago, the host nation pulled out all stops to welcome PM Modi - Netanyahu broke protocol to come to the Ben Gurion airport, an honour reserved only for the US President and the Pope.

Netanyahu's entire Cabinet was also present as were representatives of various religious orders.

PM Modi was accorded a Guard of Honour after an Israeli military band played the national anthems of the two countries.

In their speeches, both leaders described each other as, 'my friend' and embraced each other three times.

"Aapka swagat hai, mere dost (welcome, my friend)," Netanyahu said in Hindi, adding, "We love India."

"It is truly a historic visit," said Netanyahu while welcoming PM Modi who was wearing a cream colour 'band gala' suit and a dark blue handkerchief in the pocket.

Hailing PM Modi as "a great leader of India and a great world leader", Netanyahu said, "we have been waiting for the last 70 years" for a visit by an Indian PM.

This is the first time an Indian prime minister is visiting Israel. We receive you with open arms, @narendramodi. We love India! pic.twitter.com/H9HZSDZO9w July 4, 2017

Speaking later, PM Modi said, "It is my honour to be the the first ever Indian PM to undertake this ground-breaking visit to Israel."

He said his visit was about the strength of the two societies and their strong partnership.

"Building a strong and resilient relationshp with Israeal will be my intent and focus...We have to secure our societies against the common threat of terrorism," PM Modi said.

"Together, we can do even more and even better (for India-Israel ties)," he added.

Thank you for the warm welcome, PM @netanyahu. pic.twitter.com/a0HzII7eXV  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) July 4, 2017

(With PTI inputs)
Beijing: Chinese tech group LeEco is under growing pressure from its creditors and business partners, with a court in Shanghai ordering some of its assets frozen over late payments to a bank.

The latest financial woes of the conglomerate, which has interests ranging from smart cars to online content, have surfaced days after founder and CEO Jia Yueting said its cash problems were "far worse than expected" and that billions of dollars in funds raised in recent months were not enough to help it ride out the crunch.

China Merchants Bank Co Ltd said in a statement on Tuesday it had applied to have some of LeEco`s assets frozen because a subsidiary, Leview Mobile HK Limited, had been late on making interest payments on a loan.

"CMB`s Shanghai branch repeatedly urged repayment without success and so sought to use legal means," the bank said, adding it now had risks related to the loan under control and did not rule out using "friendly talks" to resolve the issue.

LeEco, which controls smartphone maker Coolpad and its core listed smart TV unit Leshi Internet Information and Technology Corp, has been battling huge financial pressure since Jia admitted last year the company had expanded too fast and was facing "big company disease".

According to a court document dated June 26, the Shanghai High People`s Court approved a freeze order on 1.237 billion yuan ($182 million) of assets of Leview Mobile HK Limited, two other LeEco-linked firms as well as CEO Jia and his wife.

The court document, which was seen by Reuters, said it had found CMB`s application to be "in accordance with the law" and that therefore the freeze order ruling would come into immediate effect.

Local media outlets earlier reported the asset freeze.

A LeEco spokesman said the case concerned "financing loans related to LeEco`s smartphone business", but added LeEco had enough collateral to cover the loan.

"Our senior executives are currently in close communication with various financing units of CMB, and we hope to resolve the related debt issue very soon," he said. LeEco also hopes to raise further cash to help it "get back to normal", he added.

In late 2015, CMB agreed a 10 billion yuan loan to LeEco, part of which was used to acquire a stake in Coolpad and was the biggest bank loan to LeEco at the time, financial magazine Caixin said on Monday, citing public information.

SUPPLIERS, PARTNERS

Some other partners and suppliers are re-examining their exposure to the troubled group.

This week, local media reported an affiliated company of electronics manufacturing giant Foxconn divested its 20 percent stake in LeEco`s TV and video unit Leshi Zhixin, a blow to the company`s core business and one of its most profitable units. Foxconn did not reply to Reuters` request for comment.

LeEco is also facing pressure from China Mobile over late payments of around 14 million yuan, a person with knowledge of the matter said. The carrier declined to comment.

In June, Taiwan`s Compal Electronics Inc reduced shipments to LeEco, and temporarily suspended its plans to buy shares of Leshi Zhixin, according to local media. At Compal`s first quarter investor conference, it said it was monitoring Leshi`s repayment abilities and would develop a new strategy to collect its debt, which could involve legal action.

Compal did not provide immediate comment when contacted by Reuters. LeEco did not reply to Reuters` requests for comments on its business partners` actions.

Faced with the worsening cash crunch, LeEco has put some of its global properties for sale, cut staff numbers, and is planning a restructuring to fold some business units into Leshi Internet.
Mumbai: The Special Public Prosecutor on Tuesday sought a life term for underworld Abu Salem who has been convicted in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case.

The Special Public Prosecutor made this submission during argument on quantum of sentence before TADA Court here.

A special Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act (TADA) court had on June 16 convicted underworld don Abu Salem and others in connection with the 1993 Mumbai blasts case.

However, all accused were acquitted for the charge of waging war against the nation, according to ANI

Salem was convicted under charges of conspiracy and terror activities, but was acquitted of some charges of TADA for which he was framed initially.

Riyaz Siddique also convicted under TADA and other charges, but court believed prosecution failed to prove conspiracy charges against Riyaz.

Accused Mustafa Dossa was found guilty of conspiracy, murder and terror activities in the case.

Accused Firoz khan was convicted under charges of conspiracy and murder under sections of IPC, TADA and Explosives Act.

Other accused Tahir Merchant, Karimullah Shaikh were also convicted. Accused Abdul Qayyum was acquitted of all charges in the case. Court ordered his release on personal bond.

Salem was named in the 1993 Mumbai bomb blasts case and is an accused in a slew of cases related to murder and extortion.

He is currently lodged in the Taloja Jail in Navi Mumbai.

In February 2015, Salem was sentenced to life imprisonment by a special court in the 1995 in connection with the murder of Mumbai builder, Pradeep Jain.

With ANI inputs
Mumbai: Maharashtra minister of state for home Ranjit Patil's father Vitthalrao Patil allegedly roughed up a school staff for filming his visit to a school.

The incident is said to have taken place on June 30 in Akola.

As per the report, Vitthalrao, whose foundation runs a nearby school, visited the school to inspect why parents preferred this school to his own. He was accompanied by a Maharashtra education department official.

He threatened to derecognise the by the government and even served a notice to the school.

Vitthalrao is the former member of legislative Assembly (MLA) in Akola district.

Upon realising that he was being filmed by one of the school staff, the former minister got aggressive and purportedly slaps a school employee standing nearby.

A police complaint has been lodged against the former member of legislative Assembly (MLA) in Akola district by school principal Sanjay Athavale.

When contacted, minister Ranjit Patil said, "A police case has been registered. My father has denied abusing or slapping anybody. Police investigation is on and facts will come out soon."
Mumbai: Students of Indian Institute of Technology-Bombay (IIT-B), Powai, are on a relay hunger strike since Monday after the college authority refused to pay heed to their concerns over fee hike.

Followed by a signature drive against the fee hike, the students held a day-long protest in the institute's campus on June 21, NDTV reported.

The students have been protesting for over a month, however, the institute has been skeptical saying that the fees were due for a renovation as there has not been any rise in the past 7-8 years.

Last year, the institute increased the tuition fees, while this year, it raised the charges for other facilities like hostel fee, gymkhana fee, and mess fee.

"We have been protesting for so long, but our voices remain unheard. Hence we began the relay hunger strike. Nine students began the strike on Monday. Officials at the administration building will keep seeing the protesting students there," said a member of Students Against Fee Hike at IIT-B - a student group that is leading the protest.

Reportedly, there is a 300 per cent hike in hostel fees and 167 per cent hike gymkhana fees. To the students, such hikes are unbearable.

An institute spokesperson, however, said, "The director of the institute had met the students after their one-day protest. He has assured them that the committee which took the decision of the fee-hike will consider their request of a rollback. But now, due to the vacation, all committee members are not on campus. Once the academic year begins mid-July, all faculty members will be on campus, and the committee will meet for a discussion. Students have been asked to be patient."
By PTI: New Delhi, Jul 4 (PTI) China, Singapore, Canada and Belgium are among nine countries which have shown interest in joining the Indian Railways ambitious station redevelopment programme across the country.

South Korea, Germany, UK, France and Malaysia are the other countries which have evinced keen interest in redeveloping stations in busy cities.

Railways have earmarked about 400-plus major stations for redevelopment to provide world-class passenger amenities involving investment of more than Rs 1 lakh crore in PPP model.

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There has been immense interest globally in the station redevelopment plan and many countries have expressed keenness to join the programme, said a senior Railway Ministry official involved in the redevelopment project.

The redevelopment of stations envisage commercial exploitation of vacant land and air space in and around stations.

There would be malls, hotels, multiplex, parking lots, eateries and other business activities on rail premises while at the same time many passenger-related facilities at stations would be upgraded.

The financial model for redevelopment work across stations has been devised in a way that the government doesnt incur any expenditure as the developer would be rebuilding the railway stations and maintaining it for 15 years.

In return, the developer would be granted 45 years leasing rights for the commercial properties developed at these stations.

While China is keen to develop Jhansi and Agra stations, South Korea has expressed interest in making New Delhi station a world class station.

France has agreed to redevelop Ludhiana and Ambala stations on Delhi-Chandigarh route.

Canada has shown interest in upgrading a few stations in Mumbai while Malaysia is keen to develop Howrah, Secunderabad, Udaipur, Faridabad, Indore and Pune stations.

The entire cost of station redevelopment is to be met by leveraging commercial development of vacant separable land and air space in and around the station.

Railways, which has not seen any major infrastructure development for long, have finalised plans for investment of at least Rs 8 lakh crore in the next five years to modernise the public transporter which still moved the bulk of the output from coal pits, cement silos, and steel factories.

For the current financial year, railways have earmarked Rs 1.31 lakh crore for capital expenditure. PTI ARU DV

--- ENDS ---
Mumbai: The special CBI court on Tuesday continued recording the statement of the Mumbai police sub-inspector who had arrested Shyam Rai, driver of key accused Indrani Mukerjea, in connection with an Arms Act case.

Rai was earlier arrested by Mumbai police under the Arms Act and during his interrogation in that case he had spilled the beans about the killing of Sheena Bora, Indrani's daughter.

He is the first witness to depose in the sensational murder case.

Police sub-inspector Ganesh Dalvi had earlier deposed in the court on February 23. However, his examination could not continue after the defence raised an objection, saying Dalvi should not disclose what Rai had told him about Sheena Bora murder case.

Later the defence advocates approached the Bombay High Court which said that Dalvi was not an independent witness.

Dalvi today told the court that Rai took the police to suburban Bandra and showed the spot from where Sheena was kidnapped.

"Later he took us to the Raigad (Pen taluka) and pointing towards a stone Rai told us that Sheena's body was burnt there," Dalvi told the court while he was being examined by special public prosecutor Kavita Patil.

Dalvi also told the court that he took police records about burning of a corpse.

He also told the court that later he searched the residence of Rai and recovered many things besides Sheena's photo.

"Later we came to a conclusion that Sheena has been murdered by Rai, Indrani and her former husband Sanjeev Khanna, and registered an FIR on behalf of the state," Dalvi said.

The defence later moved an application saying that they would not cross-examine Dalvi before examining Rai.

Key accused Indrani, her husband and former media baron Peter, and Khanna have been accused of conspiracy and murder of Sheena Bora, Indrani's daughter from an earlier relationship.

While Sheena was killed on April 24, 2012, the case came to light only in 2015 after Shyamwar Rai was arrested in another case.

Rai was also arrested in the murder case but he turned an approver last year.

All the three accused - Peter, Indrani and Sanjeev - are in judicial custody.
Mumbai: The benchmark Sensex gave up its early gains to end in the red Tuesday, breaking its three-day winning spell, amid weak global cues due to geo-political concerns.

Tension flared up on the Korean peninsula after North Korea launched a missile ahead of the G-20 meet slated to begin in Hamburg this weekend.

The Sensex started higher and even touched a high of 31,353.46, but worries about the missile launch spooked investors towards the fag end. The gauge settled at 31,209.79, down 11.83 points, or 0.04 percent, in line with weak Asian shares.

The gauge had gained 387.30 points in the previous three straight sessions making a strong bet on the Goods and Services Tax (GST).

The 50-share NSE Nifty too settled in the negative terrain by falling 1.70 points, or 0.02 percent, to 9,613.30. Intra-day, it shuttled between 9,650.65 and 9,595.50.

Axis Bank was the top loser with a loss of 2.08 percent, followed by Hero MotoCorp.
Jaipur: A terror suspect, accused of transferring funds to the dreaded terror outfit ISIS, was arrested by the Rajasthan Anti Terrorist Squad (ATS) in Chennai early Tuesday.

The suspect, identified as Haroon, has been taken to Jaipur for further inquiry.The team arrested him after other suspects, (Jamil Ahmed and Mohammad Iqbal) who are already in ATS custody, identified him.

Last month, Karnataka-born ISIS operative Mohammed Shafi Armar was declared global terrorist by US Treasury Department, Washington`s strict sanctions blacklist.

His name has now been added to the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the US Treasury Department which enforces economic sanctions programmes, primarily against countries and groups of individuals, such as terrorists and narcotics traffickers.
New Delhi: Delivering the first Chinese experiment ever to visit the International Space Station (ISS) to Earth, SpaceX's Dragon cargo spacecraft successfully returned from the orbiting laboratory.

The unmanned spacecraft landed in the Pacific Ocean at 8:12 am EDT  about five hours after its departure from the space station.

It wrapped up SpaceX's 11th contracted cargo re-supply mission for the US space agency NASA, Xinhua news agency reported.

"Good splashdown of Dragon confirmed  completing first re-flight of a commercial spacecraft to and from the @Space_Station," the California-based company tweeted.

Good splashdown of Dragon confirmedcompleting first re-flight of a commercial spacecraft to and from the @Space_Station.  SpaceX (@SpaceX) July 3, 2017

Dragon is returning more than 1,860 kg of cargo, including science samples from human and animal research, biotechnology studies, physical science investigations and education activities.

One of the science samples was the first-ever Chinese experiment brought to the space station, which is fully commercial, under an agreement with Houston-based NanoRacks, which offers services for the commercial utilisation of the orbiting laboratory.

Aimed at studying the effects of the space radiation environment on DNA and the changes in mutation rate, the experiment was being carried out by the Beijing Institute of Technology.

"Everything went according to our plan. All the data sent back looks good," Professor Deng Yulin, who led the Chinese experiment, was quoted as saying.

Deng said he will soon fly to Florida, where a ceremony of transfer of the experiment between NanoRacks and his team is scheduled for Friday.

(With IANS inputs)
Chennai: The anti-terrorism squad (ATS) of the Rajasthan Police on Tuesday arrested here a person suspected of links with the Islamic State terror group, said police.

The suspect, Haroon Rasheed, runs a shop in Burma Bazaar here, according to officials.

Rasheed was alleged to have raised funds for the terror outfit. He was also suspected of being involved in recruiting people for the IS.

The police had zeroed in on Rasheed after the arrest of Mohammad Iqbal here in February.
Tirunelveli: A 40-year-old woman was allegedly hacked to death by an unidentified person at a children's home in Pettai here on Tuesday, police said.

The woman, Saraswathi, who is employed by an NGO, was staying at the home, they said.

Preliminary investigations revealed that the accused barged into her room and murdered her following a heated exchange.

Though the victim raised an alarm, the man managed to get away, they added.

Investigation is on, police said.
Seoul: Samsung Electronics Co Ltd said on Tuesday it will invest at least $18.6 billion in South Korea to extend its lead in memory chips and next-generation smartphone displays, in a plan that promises to create almost half a million jobs.

The investment underscores Samsung`s determination to widen its lead in memory chips, which are expected to propel Asia`s third most-valuable company to record profit this year. It routinely invests more than $10 billion in chips annually, helping it stay ahead of competitors such as cross-town rival SK Hynix Inc and Japan`s Toshiba Corp.

The announcement follows repeated calls from new South Korean President Moon Jae-in for big businesses to invest more domestically as part of a wider job-creation agenda. Samsung said its plan could open up to 440,000 roles by 2021.

The huge investment is also likely to alleviate shareholder fears of major decisions being delayed in the absence of Vice Chairman Jay Y. Lee. The leader of Samsung Group is on trial charged with bribing former president Park Geun-hye for political favours.

"Samsung is being more aggressive in domestic investments because of the current (political) climate," said Park Ju-gun, head of corporate analysis firm CEO Score.

The firm also needs to show initiative domestically after announcing a $380 million plant in the United States, Park said.

SUPPLY SHORTAGE

Memory makers are widely expected to post record profits in 2017 as prices rise in response to demand for more features in smartphones and servers, as well as a persistent supply shortage which analysts and industry sources said is more acute for NAND chips due to increasing adoption of high-end storage products.

Samsung, SK Hynix and Toshiba have committed billions of dollars to boost NAND output in recent years, yet shortages are expected to persist at least through 2017 as new facilities will not make meaningful supply contributions until next year.

Under its latest spending plan, Samsung will put 14.4 trillion won into its new NAND factory in Pyeongtaek by 2021. It will invest 6 trillion won in a new semiconductor production line in Hwaseong, but did not elaborate on timing or product.

Some analysts said additional capacity across the industry could cause slight oversupply in early 2018, but that prices are unlikely to drop because demand is so strong.

"There`s no chance of major oversupply issues, and I think Samsung is investing so much because it`s convinced that won`t happen," said Shinhan Investment analyst Choi Do-yeon.

CHIPS IN CHINA

Samsung also said it will add a production line to its NAND plant in Xi`an, China, though it has not yet set an investment amount or time frame.

Some South Korean companies in China have seen sales decline or have had to reduce operations since Beijing objected to Seoul`s deployment of a U.S. anti-missile defence system in March. But components makers have not reported any problems, with Samsung still among China`s biggest suppliers of chips and displays.

The firm accounted for 40.4 percent of global memory chip revenue in January-March, showed latest data from researcher TrendForce.

China is trying to develop its own memory chip producers but it is likely to take several years before they can compete with existing makers, analysts said.

Samsung on Tuesday also said Samsung Display plans to invest around 1 trillion won on a new organic light-emitting diode (OLED) display complex in South Korea.

The unit controls over 90 percent of the market for OLED smartphone screens, and is widely expected to add production lines to cope with demand from phone makers such as Apple Inc.
Lucknow: In a disturbing incident, a girl was set on fire, after a man failed to rape her in Uttar Pradesh's Pilibhit area.

The girl has been admitted to a hospital.

Police has registered a case against four people in connection with the case.

Last week, a girl was allegedly burnt alive by her neighbour for resisting a molestation bid in Shahiganeshpur area in Bareilly.
Kolkata: Communal clashes have broken out in North 24 Paraganas district of West Bengal over an "objectionable" post on Facebook, prompting the state government to rush 400 troops of paramilitary BSF on Tuesday to assist the police in containing the situation.

The violence between two communities at Baduria under Basirhat sub-division in the district started last night over the post following which a young man was arrested, the police said today.

A violent mob put up road blockades at several places and attacked members of other community, besides destroying many shops, they said.

There were no immediate reports of any casualty. Shops were shut down in Baduria as tension prevailed there and spread to adjacent areas like Keosha market, Banshtala, Ramchandrapur and Tentulia, the police said.

A senior Border Security Force (BSF) officer said four companies comprising 400 troops of the force's South Bengal Frontier have been deployed in Bashirhat, Swarupnagar, Baduria and Devganga areas to assist the state police in containing the situation.

In an unprecedented move, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today accused Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi of "threatening" her over phone and said that he was acting like a "BJP block president".

"The way he spoke taking the side of the BJP, I felt insulted. I have told him that he cannot talk like this...He talked big on law and order. I am not here at the mercy of anyone. The way he spoke to me, I once thought of leaving," she said. Condemning the riots, Ms Banerjee said, "This is a serious issue, let me handle it seriously."

She said, "One person was arrested yesterday and there should not have been any further trouble after that. We were awake last night (to control it)."

The BJP alleged that over 2,000 Muslims attacked Hindu families in North 24 Parganas district and its offices at several places were set on fire.

Accusing the state police of failure to control the situation, party general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya, who is also in charge of the state, wrote a letter to Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh to intervene in the matter.

"More than 2,000 Muslims attacked Hindu families. Bombs went off at many places and information of Hindu sisters and daughters being raped have also been received. Local workers (of BJP) have said many facilities including five BJP offices were set on fire," Mr Vijayvargiya, who is based in Delhi, said.

Ms Banerjee said, "Someone had posted something objectionable on Facebook. He was arrested. Where is the fault of my government."

The West Bengal government has dispatched a special team of the state police and Kolkata Police to the riot-hit area to monitor the situation.

Official sources in Delhi said the clashes were triggered last evening over the Facebook post about a holy site.

A demonstration was held in front of the Baduria police station by the people belonging to one community.

In an indirect reference to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Israel visit, Ms Banerjee said, "He is going abroad to forge unity and the country is on fire. This must be stopped." She said, "I told police yesterday to stop it. They should have blocked the Facebook account. But, how many Facebook accounts can be blocked? If the police had opened fire, 200 people would have been killed."

The Chief Minister appealed to top leaders of both the communities that her government would not tolerate "this hooliganism".

State BJP President Dilip Ghosh said if the governor asked her about the incident, where was the question of her being insulted.
Managua: A fishing boat with 13 people on board has disappeared in the Caribbean off Nicaragua, authorities said Tuesday.

The Miss Johana Betsy set off on June 29 from the Corn Islands, a Nicaraguan territory, Edward Jackson of the country`s fisheries authority was quoted as saying by state media.

They said the navy and four fishing boats were preparing to start searching for the vessel.

In January 2016, 13 Costa Rican tourists died when a passenger vessel sank off the Corn Islands.

In July 2016, authorities rescued 61 people from a fishing boat that sank in Nicaraguan waters in the Caribbean.
By PTI: Enlai in his 1959 letter

By K J M Varma

Beijing, Jul 4 (PTI) Contrary to the Chinese governments assertion that Jawaharlal Nehru had accepted the 1890 Sino- British treaty over Sikkim to buttress Beijings claim over the Dokalam area, the former prime minister had pointed out to China that it is claiming sizeable part of Bhutans territory.

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"It is not clear to us what exactly is the implication of your statement that the boundaries of Sikkim and Bhutan do not fall within the scope of the present discussion," Nehru wrote in a letter to his then Chinese counterpart Zhou Enlai on September 26, 1959.

"In fact, Chinese maps show sizable areas of Bhutan as part of Tibet," Nehru said in the letter accessed by PTI here.

In the lengthy letter highlighting Indias stand on the boundary dispute, Nehru wrote that under treaty relationships with Bhutan, the Government of India is the only competent authority to take up with other Governments matters concerning Bhutans external relations, and in fact it has taken up with China a number of matters on behalf of the Bhutan Government.

"The rectification of errors in Chinese maps regarding the boundary of Bhutan with Tibet is therefore a matter which has to be discussed along with the boundary of India with the Tibet region of China in the same sector," he wrote.

After asserting that Chinese maps are showing sizable areas of Bhutan as part of China, Nehru referred to the 1890 Sino-British treaty granting Indias sovereignty to Sikkim.

"As regards Sikkim, the Chinese Government recognised as far back as 1890 that the Government of India has direct and exclusive control over the internal administration and foreign relations of that State. This Convention of 1890 also defined the boundary between Sikkim and Tibet; and the boundary was later, in 1895, demarcated. There is thus no dispute regarding the boundary of Sikkim with the Tibet region," Nehru said.

At the same time, he pointed out that "it is wrong to say that the frontier east of Bhutan as shown on Chinese maps is the traditional frontier. On the contrary, it is the McMahon Line which correctly represents the customary boundary in this area. The water-parting formed by the crest of the Himalayas is the natural frontier which was accepted for centuries as the boundary by the peoples on both sides."

China and India have been engaged in a standoff in the Doka La area near the Bhutan trijunction for almost a month.

Sikkim, which became a part of India in May 1976, is the only state which has a demarcated border with China. The lines are based on a treaty signed with the Chinese in 1898. Doka La is the Indian name for the region which Bhutan recognises as Dokalam, while China claims it as part of its Donglang region.

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Chinese are making attempts to build a road which was objected to by Bhutan.

The Ambassador of Bhutan has a lodged a protest with the Chinese Government through their Embassy in New Delhi on June 20. Bhutan has no diplomatic relations with China. PTI KJV ZH AKJ ZH

--- ENDS ---
Beijing: China on Tuesday criticized North Korea`s ballistic missile launch earlier during the day and warned Pyongyang to stop violating UNSC resolutions in this regard.



"China opposes North Korea for breaching the UN Security Council resolutions to conduct launching activities," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang said during a press conference here.



"We urge North Korea to stop and create needed conditions for the resumption of talks on peace and denuclearization on the Korean peninsula," Geng was quoted as saying by Efe news.



Following the intercontinental missile launch, confirmed as successful by North Korea, Geng said Beijing has been following the event closely.



The spokesperson stressed that the UNSC (whose rotating presidency was assumed by China on Monday) resolutions "have clear rules on North Korea`s ballistic missile technology and activities of (ballistic missile) launches".



Geng underlined China`s stance saying that the situation on the Korean peninsula is "delicate and complex", which is why he reiterated Beijing`s request to all parties involved to show moderation and avoid all actions which may further escalate tensions.



North Korean state broadcaster KCTV said on Tuesday that the new missile, Hwasong-14, is capable of striking anywhere in the world.
Washington: US President Donald Trump has slammed Kim Jong-un in response to North Korea`s latest ballistic missile launch and warned him that South Korea and Japan`s patience is running out.



"North Korea has just launched another missile. Does this guy have anything better to do with his life?" Trump tweeted on Tuesday.



"Hard to believe that South Korea and Japan will put up with this much longer. Perhaps China will put a heavy move on North Korea and end this nonsense once and for all!" he added.



Earlier on Tuesday, North Korea launched a new ballistic missile test, firing at least one missile that fell into the Sea of Japan, also called the East Sea, a spokesperson for the South Korean Ministry of National Defence told Efe news.



The launch was conducted near the Panghyon air base, where the North Korean military fired the Pukguksong-2 missile, also known as KN-15 with an estimated range of about 3,000 km, for the first time on February 12.



Japanese government spokesperson Yoshihide Suga said at a press conference that the missile was believed to have fallen into the maritime Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), which stretches some 200 km off the Japanese coastline.



This latest North Korean weapons test, the first since a cruise missile launch on June 8 and the 11th so far this year, comes just after the new South Korean president Moon Jae-in and Trump met last week in Washington to address the North Korean issue, and just hours ahead of the US Independence Day.
Brussels: The European Union on Tuesday warned it may consider additional sanctions against North Korea after it carried out what Pyongyang tested what it claimed to be an intercontinental ballistic missile.

Last month, the EU expanded its sanctions blacklist after North Korea launched a volley of surface-to-ship cruise missiles off its east coast.

The EU's external affairs arm said in a statement that the bloc expected North Korea to abide by UN resolutions and halt all work on its nuclear and missile programmes.

The European Union "will consider an appropriate response, in close consultation with key partners and in line with UN Security Council deliberations, including possible additional restrictive measures," it said.

The EU expected North Korea to refrain from any further action which could increase regional tensions and to take part in talks on resolving the crisis, it added.

In an unusual joint statement earlier, Russia and China condemned the missile test as "unacceptable" and urged against "any statements or actions that could lead to an increase in tensions."

EU sanctions against North Korea date back to 2006 and are part of international efforts to halt a nuclear and ballistic missile programme which experts say is intended to give Pyongyang the capability to hit the US mainland.
Jerusalem: Prime Minister Narendra Modi began his "path-breaking" visit to Israel on Tuesday with his counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu extending an extraordinary welcome and asserting that "even sky is not the limit" in the cooperation between the two countries.

Here are few pictures of the first day of PM Modi's three day Israel visit:

PM Narendra Modi arrives at Ben Gurion Airport, Tel Aviv in Israel.

PM Narendra Modi being received by Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu on his arrival at Ben Gurion Airport, Tel Aviv.

In a special gesture, PM Benjamin Netanyahu receives PM Narendra Modi at airport amidst ceremonial guard of honor.

We love India, admire your culture, history, democracy and commitment to progress: Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu

PM Narendra Modi begins arrival statement: Delighted to be in Israel, My honour to be first ever Indian PM to undertake this ground breaking visit.

PM Narendra Modi and PM Netanyahu visit Danziger Flower farm-a leading facility for R&D in plant varieties.

'Crysanthumun' flower will be named in honour of PM Narendra Modi. The flower will be called 'Modi.': Israel

PM Narendra Modi paying homage at the grave of Benjamin Ze'ev (Theodor) Herzel (Visionary of the State), in Jerusalem, Israel.

PM Narendra Modi paying homage to the victims of the Holocaust at Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial in Jerusalem, Israel.

PM Narendra Modi signing visitors' book at Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial in Jerusalem, Israel.

PM Modi and Israeli PM Netanyahu issue press statements, in Israel.
Islamabad: Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's daughter Maryam Nawaz will appear on Wednesday for the first time before the Supreme Court-appointed team probing the Panamagate graft case.



Maryam, 43, will appear with a female police officer before the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) investigating the high-profile Panamagate graft case. A German newspaper had earlier said that Maryam is a beneficial owner of offshore companies named in Panama Papers.



In 2013, Maryam was active in the general election campaign. She also made into the BBC's 100 Women list of political scions along with US President Donald Trump's daughter, Ivanka Trump in March.



The six-member investigation committee had written to the Inspector General of Police for deployment of a woman police over Maryam's appearance after which Ursala Saleem, SP of Special Branch was tasked for the day, Dunya news reported.



Today, Sharif's elder son Hussain Nawaz appeared before the committe for the sixth time which is investigating Sharif and his sons' alleged corruption in the Panama Papers case.

Hasan, Sharif's youngerson, was summoned twice.



In its judgement of April 20 in the Panama Papers case, the Supreme Court had constituted a JIT and empowered it to summon the prime minister, his sons and any other person necessary, to investigate allegations of money-laundering, through which the four apartments in London's posh Park Lane area were purchased.



The JIT is expected to complete its probe by July 10 and submit a report to the apex Court, which will decide fate of Sharif.
Islamabad: Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif`s elder son Hussain Nawaz on Tuesday appeared before a Joint Investigation Team (JIT) for the sixth time in connection with the Panama Papers probe into his family`s assets.





His younger brother Hassan Nawaz faced the JIT on Monday, while his sister Maryam Nawaz will appear before the team for the first time on Wednesday, reports Dawn news.



Following Hassan`s appearance, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar also faced the JIT on Monday in connection with the probe, which has entered its final week.



The minister, who is also the father-in-law of Nawaz Sharif`s younger daughter, is the eighth member of the extended Sharif family to be summoned for questioning.



On June 15, Nawaz Sharif appeared before the JIT and became the first sitting Pakistani Prime Minister to appear before a probe team.



The six-member JIT is due to present its report to the apex court on July 10.



In its judgment of April 20 in the Panama Papers case, the Supreme Court had constituted the JIT and empowered it to summon the Prime Minister, his sons and any other person to investigate allegations of money laundering, Dawn news reported.



The Sharif family is alleged to have purchased four apartments in London`s Park Lane area through money laundering.
Seoul: North Korea declared Tuesday it had successfully tested its first intercontinental ballistic missile -- a watershed moment in its push to develop a nuclear weapon capable of hitting the mainland United States.

Experts said the device could reach Alaska, and the launch, which came as Americans prepared to mark Independence Day, triggered a Twitter outburst from President Donald Trump who urged China to act to "end this nonsense once and for all".

The North`s possession of a working ICBM -- something that Trump has vowed "won`t happen" -- would force a fundamental recalculation of the strategic threat posed by the isolated, impoverished state.

The "landmark" test of a Hwasong-14 missile was overseen by leader Kim Jong-Un, an emotional female announcer said on state Korean Central Television.

The broadcaster showed his handwritten order to carry out the launch, and pictures of him grinning in celebration, clenching his fist.

The rocket was "a very powerful ICBM that can strike any place in the world", the announcer said, and "a major breakthrough in the history of our republic".

In a statement the North`s Academy of Defence Science, which developed the missile, said it reached an altitude of 2,802 kilometres and flew 933 kilometres, calling it the "final gate to rounding off the state nuclear force".

There are still doubts whether the North can miniaturise a nuclear weapon sufficiently to fit it onto a missile nose cone, or if it has mastered the technology needed for it to survive the difficult re-entry into the Earth`s atmosphere.

But the country has made great progress in its missile capabilities since the ascension to power of Kim, who has overseen three nuclear tests and multiple rocket launches.

In response to the launch but before the announcement, Trump asked on Twitter: "Does this guy have anything better to do with his life?"

The United Nations has imposed multiple sets of sanctions on Pyongyang, which retorts that it needs nuclear arms to defend itself against the threat of invasion.

Following the test, China and Russia jointly called for a moratorium on further North Korea missile and nuclear tests in exchange for an end to annual South Korea-US military exercises -- a formula Washington and Seoul have rejected in the past.

US Pacific Command confirmed the test and said it was a land-based, intermediate range missile that flew for 37 minutes before splashing down in the Sea of Japan, adding the launch did not pose a threat to North America.

Moscow`s defence ministry called it medium-range in a statement to Russian news agencies.

But Tokyo -- in whose exclusive economic zone it came down -- estimated its maximum altitude to have "greatly exceeded" 2,500 kilometres, prompting arms control specialist Jeffrey Lewis to respond on Twitter: "That`s it. It`s an ICBM. An ICBM that can hit Anchorage not San Francisco, but still."

David Wright, of the Union of Concerned Scientists, wrote on the organisation`s allthingsnuclear blog that the available figures implied the missile had "a maximum range of roughly 6,700 km on a standard trajectory".

"That range would not be enough to reach the lower 48 states or the large islands of Hawaii, but would allow it to reach all of Alaska."

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told reporters: "This launch clearly shows that the threat has grown."

The US, Japan and South Korea will hold a summit on the issue on the sidelines of this week`s G20 meeting, he added. "Also I will encourage President Xi Jinping and President Putin to take more constructive measures."

South Korea`s President Moon Jae-In, who backs both engagement with the North to bring it to the negotiating table and sanctions, and met Trump for a summit in Washington at the weekend, warned the North against crossing a "red line".

"I hope North Korea will not cross the bridge of no return," he said.

Washington, South Korea`s security guarantor, has more than 28,000 troops in the country to defend it from its communist neighbour. Fears of conflict reached a peak earlier this year as the Trump administration suggested military action was an option under consideration.

There has also been anger in the United States over the death of Otto Warmbier, an American student detained in North Korea for around 18 months before he was returned home in a coma in June.

Trump has been pinning his hopes on China -- North Korea`s main diplomatic ally -- to bring pressure to bear on Pyongyang.

Last week he declared that Beijing's efforts had failed, but returned to the idea on Twitter following the launch: "Perhaps China will put a heavy move on North Korea and end this nonsense once and for all!"
Seoul: North Korea launched a ballistic missile from its western region into the sea off its east coast on Tuesday, South Korea`s military said, ahead of a summit of leaders from the Group of 20 countries in Germany later this week.

The missile flew for about 40 minutes and may have landed in Japan`s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), the Japanese government said, adding that it had strongly protested what was a clear violation of UN resolutions.

The missile was launched around 0040 GMT from an airfield in Panghyon, about 100 km (60 miles) northwest of the North`s capital, Pyongyang, the South Korean military said.

The North`s missile launch is the last since Pyongyang fired several cruise missiles in early June and comes ahead of the leaders of the United States, China, Japan and South Korea are expected to discuss efforts to rein in the North`s nuclear and missile tests the G20 summit on July 7 to 8.

Pyongyang has been working to develop a nuclear-tipped missile capable of hitting the United States.

Earlier this week, North Korea was a key topic in phone calls between US President Donald Trump and the leaders of China and Japan. Leaders of both Asian countries reaffirmed their commitment to a denuclearised Korean Peninsula.

Tuesday`s missile launch also comes ahead of July 4 Independence Day celebrations in the United States. North Korea has previously fired missiles around this U.S. holiday.

South Korea`s presidential Blue House said President Moon Jae-in called a national security council meeting for 0230 GMT after being informed of the North`s missile launch.

Last week after his first summit with Moon, Trump called for a determined response to North Korea, stressing the importance of the alliance between the two countries.
Lahore: Police have arrested an 11-year-old boy in Pakistan`s Lahore city for killing his minor sister for teasing him over his "poor handwriting", the media reported on Tuesday.

Nine-year-old Eman Tanvir was found strangled at her grandmother`s house in the city`s Shalimar area on June 30, reports Dawn news.

Earlier, the police had taken the victim`s stepmother Saba into custody for interrogation but later released her.

A senior police official on Monday said the victim and her elder brother Abdul Rehman had come to spend Eid holidays at their grandmother`s house.

"The siblings held a handwriting competition when their grandmother was not home," the official said.

He said Eman teased Abdul for having poor handwriting. This annoyed the boy who put a scarf around his sister`s neck and strangled her to death.

The official said Abdul also cut his arm and locked the door of the room from inside to conceal his crime.

Later when the boy was interrogated he confessed to killing his sister.
Tel Aviv: Prime Minister Narendra Modi today hailed the sacrifices of his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu's elder brother who was killed exactly 41 years ago while saving the lives of Israeli hostages in Uganda.



"Today is July 4. Exactly 41 years ago, since Operation Entebbe. The day, when your prime minister and my friend Bibi lost his elder brother Yonatan while saving the lives of so many Israeli hostages," Modi said in his brief address at the Ben Gurion airport here.



As Modi recalled the incident, Netanyahu listened impassively.



Lt Colonel Yonatan (Yoni) Netanyahu commanded the elite commando unit Sayeret Matkal of the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) during Operation Entebbe, an operation to rescue hostages held at Entebbe Airport in Uganda in 1976.



An Air France flight from Tel Aviv to Paris was hijacked and ended up being diverted to remote Entebbe Airport. An operation was launched under the command of Yoni in which all seven hijackers were killed. Three hostages were also killed.



The mission was successful, with 102 of the 106 hostages rescued, but elder Netanyahu was killed in action, the only one among the Israeli forces to die.



The Operation Entebbe was later renamed "Operation Yonatan" in his honour.



"Your heroes are an inspiration for the younger generations," Modi told Netanyahu, who was also a member of Sayeret Matkal.



Modi, the first Indian prime minister to visit the Jewish nation, arrived here today on a three-day visit.
In a blunt interview to an Indian news agency, Chinese Ambassador to India called the ongoing border standoff in Sikkim 'grave' and said that the ball is in India's court to solve the situation.

By India Today Web Desk: Tensions between India and China are likely to remain on the boil with Beijing today ruling out any compromise on the ongoing standoff in Sikkim between the Indian and Chinese armies.

In an interview with news agency PTI, China's Ambassador to India Lau Zhaohui said that the "ball is in India's court" to solve the "grave" situation at the border.

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Zhaohui put the onus on India as far decreasing tensions in concerned, saying that that "first priority" is that "Indian troops unconditionally pull back to the Indian side of the boundary."

"That is the precondition for any meaningful dialogue between China and India," Zhaohui told PTI, in unusually blunt comments.

Referencing recent remarks by official Chinese media warning of the current standoff leading to a "war", Zhaohui indicated India's actions would determine exactly how active the militaries of the two countries might become on the border.

China and India have been engaged in a standoff in the Dokalam area near the Bhutan trijunction for the last 19 days after a People's Liberation Army construction party came to build a road in the area.

Doka La is the Indian name for the region which Bhutan recognises as Dokalam, while China claims it as part of its Donglang region. China and Bhutan are engaged in talks over the resolution of the area.

Bhutan, however, has no diplomatic ties with China and it is supported militarily and diplomatically by India.

China has also denied entry to pilgrims on the Mansarovar Yatra, a move that Beijing admitted was in direct response to the border stand-off.

'WAR'

Asked about remarks by official Chinese media and think-tanks that the current standoff in Sikkim could leader to a "war" if not handled properly, Zhaohui told PTI, "There has been talk about this option, that option. It is up to your government policy (whether to exercise military option)."

The Chinese government is very clear that it wants peaceful resolution at current state of the situation for which withdrawal of Indian troops from the area is a "pre-condition", Zhaohui reiterated.

"The situation is grave and made me deeply worried. It is the first time that Indian troops have crossed the mutually recognised boundary and trespassed into China's territory, triggering a close range face off between Chinese and Indian border troops. Now 19 days have passed, but the situation still has not eased," Luo said.

BHUTAN

The Chinese ambassador also asserted that India has no right to interfere with the China-Bhutan boundary talks, nor is it entitled to make territorial claims on behalf of Bhutan.

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"As for the so called 'security concerns' of the Indian side, India has crossed a delimited boundary into other country's territory in the name of security concerns, no matter what kind of activities it conducts there, which will not acceptable to any sovereign state," Zhaohui said.

"India cannot encroach upon the territory of other countries on the ground of its 'security concerns'. Otherwise, the world would be in chaos," the Chinese envoy added.

He also asserted that "it is critical that India shall withdraw its troops immediately to minimise the negative impact. It serves the interests of the two sides."

Commenting on the standoff, the Indian Ministry of External Affairs had said New Delhi was "deeply concerned at the recent Chinese actions and has conveyed to the Chinese government that such construction would represent a significant change of status quo with serious security implications for India".

ALSO READ | Another armed conflict with India not out of question, says China expert

ALSO READ | China escalates border tension, accuses Indian Army of betrayal

ALSO WATCH | China ups the ante, cites 1890 Sikkim-Tibet treaty to stake claim over Doklam plateau

--- ENDS ---

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Moscow: Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov on Tuesday called North Korea`s latest test launch of a ballistic missile a breach of a U.N. Security Council resolution, the RIA news agency reported.



It also cited Ryabkov as saying that tensions with Pyongyang risked leading to catastrophic developments and that the missile launch showed that the only way forward was to organise multilateral talks with North Korea.



North Korea said on Tuesday it had successfully test-launched an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) for the first time, which flew a trajectory that experts said could allow a weapon to hit the US state of Alaska.
Astana: Russia may deploy its military to police the borders of planned de-escalation zones in Syria within two to three weeks after finalising an agreement with Turkey and Iran, Russian negotiator Alexander Lavrentyev said on Tuesday.

Moscow hopes to sign the final documents with Ankara and Tehran on Wednesday, he told reporters after a series of meetings in the Kazakh capital, Astana.

Russia and Iran, which back President Bashar Assad`s government, and Turkey, which supports some of the rebels, agreed in principle to create four "de-escalation zones" in Syria in a previous round of talks in May, but put off a planned June meeting where they were supposed to work out the details.

Since the May agreement was announced, the rebel-held stronghold of Idlib province in the northwest of Syria has been mostly calm.

But fighting has continued on other frontlines in western Syria, including Eastern Ghouta of Damascus and the southwestern city of Deraa, where government forces and their allies are trying to crush remaining pockets of rebellion.

Lavrentyev told reporters that Moscow and its partners were still discussing detailed maps and other conditions related to the Idlib and southern zones, while the borders of two other zones, in Homs province and near Damascus, had been agreed.

"Overall, (the agreement) provides for the presence of Russian military police in the buffer zones, but once again this matter has not been agreed yet," he said.

"Depending on when the documents on safe zones are signed, I think one should expect concrete measures on the deployment of forces within 2-3 weeks."

OPPOSITION SCEPTICAL

The Syrian opposition, some of whose delegates walked out of the previous round of talks in protest against Iran`s participation, has routinely criticised Russia for failing to enforce the ceasefire and was sceptical of Moscow`s plan.

Armed opposition leader Muhammad Alloush, who led the opposition delegation in earlier rounds of the Astana process, is not attending the current talks.

A Syrian opposition official said the aim of Astana "is to set out the areas of influence between the three states that sponsor it, and it embodies the interests of these states and their areas of influence on the ground, unfortunately with an intended American absence and suspicious European silence".

"It will succeed in the north because the desire of the states and their interests dictate that, and if we want to interpret it on the Syria-wide level, it represents the strengthening of Russian and Iranian influence on the ground.

Riyad Nassan Agha, a member of the opposition Saudi-backed High Negotiations Committee, told Reuters the opposition feared the Astana talks aimed to undermine the U.N.-backed peace talks in Geneva, reiterating the oppositions view that Iran could not act as a guarantor of any deal because "it is a hostile state".

"What they are talking about (de-escalation) did not happen. So the Syrian people no longer have faith in these agreements that happened in Astana," he said.

Lavrentyev, who earlier on Tuesday met Stuart Jones, acting U.S. assistant secretary of state for the Near East, said he would meet Syrian opposition delegates on Wednesday.
California Puts Monsantos Glyphosate/Roundup on Cancer List

Monsantos herbicide Glyphosate, sold under the retail name Roundup, is officially part of Californias Prop 65 list of chemicals with carcinogenic properties despite Monsantos vehement objections. A judge recently ruled against Monsanto in a lawsuit challenging Californias decision to list the chemical based on a study from the International Agency for Research on Cancer. Read more here.

Hampton Creek is Moving into Cultured Meat

The Wall Street Journal reported this week that eggless mayo startup Hampton Creek  which has been a mainstay in the headlines recentlyis getting into the animal-free meat business and looking for a way to add cellular ag to its product offering, which has until now focused on plant-based alternatives. Surprisingly the startup says it can get the meat products onto shelves sometime next year, compared to peers in the space that say theyre at least four years away from a commercial product. Read more about the challenges for cellular ag scalability here.

Hain Celestial Acquires Better Bean

Cultivate Ventures, the venture arm of major organic products maker Hain Celestial, announced its acquisition of Better Bean this week, a company thats offering a variety of snack foods. Launched last year, Cultivate Ventures is an incubator and investment program aimed at startups in the small lifestyle brands sector. This is the first acquisition for the program and the companys first transaction under its newly formed C-suite structure. Read more here.

Precision Ag Startup Semios Wins British Columbia Technology Impact Award

Semios, precision agriculture startup targeting growers of tree fruits and tree nuts, was named Most Promising Startup at the 2017 BC Technology Impact Awards. As one of the largest and longest running tech award programs in British Columbia, the TIAs recognize companies that have the potential to impact their customers and the region at large.

Crop Enhancement Appoints VP R&D, Builds Go-to-Market Team

Crop Enhancement Inc. a biotech startup, has appointed Damian A. Hajduk, as vice president of research and development. Dr. Hajduk will lead efforts to expand the range of applications for Crop Enhancements technology that aims to improve crop yields, eliminate or minimize pesticide use, and to enable precise and effective delivery of active ingredients and fertilizers. To accelerate commercialization of its technology, Crop Enhancement also has formed an advisory board and added key personnel to its team to connect with leading growers and partners in the agricultural community. Read more here.

Sanderson Farms Targeted in New Lawsuit with 100% Natural Claim

Major poultry producer Sanderson Farms found itself in the crosshairs of a nationwide class action lawsuit this week that alleges the companys use of the term 100% natural on some of its products is false and misleading. Filed by consumer groups, the lawsuit cites documents obtained through a FOIA request revealing that traces of ketamine and pesticides were found on chicken breasts labeled as 100% natural. Read more here.

Wells Fargo Awards $300k to THRIVE Accelerator

According to SVG Partners, Wells Fargo, one of the biggest lenders in the US commercial agriculture sector, awarded a $300,000 grant to THRIVE, its accelerator program for agtech startups. The grant will be paid out over three years. This investment builds on Wells Fargos 2016 commitment to THRIVE, which included technical assistance and a $100,000 philanthropic contribution.

African Development Bank President Wins 2017 World Food Prize

African Development Bank president Akinwumi Adesina received the 2017 World Food Prize in recognition of the work hes done over the past two decades expanding food production throughout Africa. Read more about the $250,000 award here.

Kansas Jury Slaps Syngenta with $218m Fine in Corn Marketing Lawsuit

A Kansas jury sided with Kansas corn producers in the first of eight certified state class action lawsuits involving claims that Switzerland-based Syngentas actions with its genetically modified strains of corn led to the loss of an important market for US corn and caused the growers economic harm. After a half day of deliberation, the jury found Syngenta negligent and awarded $217.7 million in compensatory damages to the class of more than 7,000 Kansas corn growers, who were represented in the lawsuit by four Kansas corn producer plaintiffs. Read more about the lawsuit here.

DuPont Purchases ERS Genomics Ag Patent Portfolio, Partners with Bock on Biogas Enzyme Distribution

Global agricultural products company DuPont has purchased the rights to ERS Genomics ag patent portfolio. The Ireland-based startup has developed patents in the CRISPR-Cas technology realm targeting genetic editing for plants. Read more here. Also, DuPont Industrial Biosciences and silage storage specialists Bock UK also announced a strategic partnership where Bock will apply DuPonts biogas enzyme technology at commercial scale in the UK market. The enzyme technology, OPTIMASH AD-100, is touting by the company as helping biogas producers in the agricultural sector improve yields and process robustness.

18 Early-Stage Companies from 4 Countries Selected to Present at the 2017 Ag Innovation Showcase

Larta Institute, Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, and Bio Research & Development Growth (BRDG) Park have announced 18 early stage companies that will showcase their innovative work at the ninth annual Ag Innovation Showcase, September 11-13, 2017 at the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, in St. Louis, Missouri. Presenting companies will showcase their innovations in the areas of precision agriculture, robotics and big data, pathogen and disease control, biologics, processing technology and alternative food systems deigned to address a range of challenges in global agriculture. Here are the companies along with AIS description of their technologies:

Ingredients & Markets:

Bonumose Biochem  Produces sweet ingredients that lack the same negative health consequences of traditional sugar, while significantly reducing production costs.

Aspire Food Group  Uses robotics, IoT and automation to farm insects that have a similar protein quality to meat and environmental footprint of plants. Fully-automated and modular technology can be scaled to any size in any geography.

Bugeater Foods  Food products with improved nutrition value containing insect protein powders.

Decontamination & Disease Detection:

SnapDNA  Develops low cost, rapid, high throughput, genetic analysis for seeds and pathogens. For food safety, SnapDNA can eliminate 3-day test/hold with projected 2-hour total time-to-result pathogen analysis, elevating supply chain transparency, providing quantitative, strain specific results for rapid identification, isolation, and eradication of pathogen contamination in food production.

NanoGuard  A new non-thermal pasteurization technology for grain, fresh produce, spices and other food articles to reduce losses and improve the safety, wholesomeness and security of our food.

SomaDetect  A precision-dairy company that is creating an in-line system for measuring the two most critical indicators of dairy-quality: somatic cells and fat content. It connects farmers with every cow and enables early diagnosis of problems than might arise.

Beneficials and Biologics:

3Bar Biologics  Biologics microbial inoculant delivery system, Bio-Yield, stabilizes beneficial microbial preparations improving their efficacy on farm, shelf-life, and ease of application and also expanding the types of microbes available for commercialization.

NovoBind Livestock Therapeutics  Cost-effective feed additives that function as alternatives to antibiotics. Their products specifically target and neutralize specific pathogens like Salmonella, from livestock.

Amebagone  Natural biocontrol agents of bacterial pathogens of plants to control invasive and destructive bacterial diseases naturally, without spraying antibiotics or copper, which have limited effectiveness and can be toxic to crops.

Bee Vectoring Technologies  Turns bees into delivery agents for mixtures of biological inputs for crop pest management.

Genetics:

Agribody Technologies  Genetic modification (GM) or genome editing (GE) technology delays onset of plant senescence, while increasing resistance to diseases and sub lethal stresses such as drought, heat, cold, salt, low nutrients and crowding in many key crop plants.

New West Genetics  Ensures stable genetics, optimizes desirable traits, and leads the industry as the first commercial organization to adapt cannabis for sustainable and large-scale production in the U.S.

Accelerated Ag Technologies PowerPollenSM enables hybrid crops through cross pollination. The novel pollen handling process decreases the need for multiple resource processes in seed production and increases yield and seed genetic integrity.

Forecasts & Visualization:

Climate Forecast Applications Network  AgriCast, integrates meteorological forecast information, crop specific forecasts, yield/development models and web-based interactive decision tools. It has the potential to change the current dynamics of the agricultural sector through reducing yield loss and disaster payouts, reducing on-farm resource use, stabilizing food and input prices, making commodities trading more profitable and supporting long-term investment strategies.

Visual Farms  Improves farm profitability and sustainability by providing independent machine learning systems to farms with algorithms that match optimal hybrids from virtually the entire available market to each farms growing conditions and over time, become farms Machine Learning system

Wisran  Identifies operation logistic inefficiencies in real-time for growers to capture profits.

Recovery of Inputs:

Renix  Delivering excellence in Ion Exchange, Renix provides innovative and integrated solutions for agricultural and industrial liquid purification and recovery of valuable solids

Nutrient Recovery and Upcycling  Develops systems that recover and upcycle low-grade resources into high value products, such as high-quality fertilizer from water waste systems that helps prevent pollution, ensure food security, and lower the cost of waste water treatment.

Other News Thats Fit to Chew
YEREVAN, JULY 3, ARMENPRESS. President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan participated in the solemn event dedicated to the Prosecutors Day on July 3, press service of the Presidents Office told Armenpress.

President Sargsyan congratulated the prosecutors and all workers of the Prosecutors Office on the occasion of their professional holiday, as well as awarded a group of people with high state awards and conferred upon them highest service ranks.

In his speech the President touched upon the role of Prosecutors Office as one of the pillars of the Republics law enforcement system in the circumstances of new collaboration of new governance system and state authorities, its achievements, upcoming plans, as well as drew the attention of participants on separate problematic issues directly linked with the activities of the Prosecutors Office.

The President delivered speech at the event.

Dear Prosecutors,

I am congratulating you all on your professional holiday. I want you to be successful and highly appreciated in your work. Please be sure to loyally serve your responsible mission. Your activity is extremely important to our State and society. It is equally responsible, since your decisions can change the fate of a person in the most direct sense of the word.

I also wish to congratulate your families. Without the daily support of your family members you would not have been as much successful in the exercise of your functions.



In a message addressed to the National Assembly of sixth convocation, I proposed a resolution that should serve as a guideline for all conscientious public officers, especially those representing the law enforcement system. I also suggested a new understanding of the law enforcement system.

For me, law enforcement has a bias on human rights. In terms of content, I consider them to be synonymous. If we want to ease the task of the human rights defender in Armenia in the near future, our efforts should be directed to a single goal, namely to achieving a qualitatively new standard in the protection of the rights of each individual, society and the State, as a whole. The pledge is the availability of a solid, powerful and collaborative law enforcement system based on the principle of the rule of law.

One of the pillars of such a system is of course the Prosecutors Office by virtue of its historically unique status, which is clearly articulated in the new Constitution of the Republic of Armenia. The OPG is supposed to be outside the three-dimensional power system, but at the same time, it should act as a unified single structure dealing with all branches of power through its own special powers and spheres of influence.

Dear Colleagues,

The Constitution has entrusted you with the task of being directly involved in the administration of justice, oversee the activities of different bodies, as well as to be serve as a check and a counterbalance with regard to specific State structures. You have especially to play a key role in the field of criminal justice. The legality of the pre-trial proceedings, the justification of the charge filed in the court, and sometimes the publics perception of the fairness of judgments are also conditioned by your actions. And it is quite logical since the greater is the level of responsibility, the wider is the scope of possibilities; and, the greater is the latter, the stricter are the requirements set before the beneficiaries.

In this regard, I would like to pay special attention to some of the issues that are directly related to your functions, some of which are even subject to consideration within the legal process in international judicial instances. I am sure you understand what I mean: the European Court of Human Rights and, first of all, the validity of holding a person in police custody.

Undoubtedly, the court decision on choosing detention as a precautionary measure should be well-grounded. However, an important prerequisite is the availability of a qualified solicitation. It is here that the Prosecutors Office is a unique intermediate link between the preliminary investigation authority and the court un terms of solving two main problems: ruling out the submission to the court of obviously groundless solicitations, which sometimes merely file motions containing simple reproductions of the law and, at the same time, raising the quality of solicitations for which there is an objective necessity and sufficient grounds.

It is clear that I do not mean the amount of favorable considerations given to solicitations and the fact that judges are talking about the courts granting of over 90% of solicitations, which is too much by the way. There may be 100% court compliance with no justification, and there can also be 100% compliance with due substantiation, which I think would be the ideal scenario.

From the perspective of the respect of our international commitments, we are concerned about the failure to observe all the components of the fair trial. Particularly, I mean the need for the provision of counter-evidence by the key parties to the prosecution.

I think the prosecutors have much to do here. Responsible and honest service on this front may not only guarantee the realization of the fundamental rights of a person, but also ensure the fairness of investigation and rulings issued on each criminal case. From the point of view of the duration or delays in the investigation of criminal cases, the challenge of tracing the wanted persons remains relevant. I am convinced that in the frame of its constitutional powers, the OPG should pay ever more attention to such cases. In a bid to detect the suspects gone into hiding, you should collaborate closely and effectively with the investigative authorities and especially the police.

Dear Colleagues,

With all this, we can state that there is considerable progress in the activities of the Prosecutors Office. Prosecutors are becoming more prepared and more responsible. The prosecutors honest work gives a positive result. I am convinced that this is noticeable by both the officials who work with you and our society. It is can also be noticed in the annual programs of the Prosecutors Office. At the same time, I see some concerns about the annual reports of the Prosecutors Office. It is natural that the work of other State bodies may have a positive or negative impact on your activities. However, you should not assume the role of passive observers and limit yourselves to the problems identified in a specific area.

Talking about issues is not enough. That is not a solution to the problem. Any challenge should always lead to actions aimed at addressing it. This simple rule should always be applied in your daily work. When an official reports a problem to the supervisor and fails to suggest a solution or - what is better - solution options, leaving it to the supervisor, this means that both of them do not use their time and resources effectively. This is an unacceptable working style. We have no time to waste on this kind of practice. I think you have enough tools as part of your legislative powers to resolve issues or make suggestions for their resolution.

The opposite practice leads to indifference, which provides a fertile ground for abuses, corruption and eventually injustice. I have already had the opportunity to say that injustice is our number one enemy and we have declared war on injustice. In that war, we must defeat, neutralize any manifestation of indifference and eliminate any phenomenon of corruption.

You are the ones to assume key responsibility on the way to having a perceived, trustworthy and reliable law enforcement system. Your professional skills and the system of values are capable of guaranteeing that. If there are such individuals among you whose qualities and values are different, they either have to leave, or you need to disassociate from them. There is a third option, but it is rather a painful one not just so much for individuals as for the system.

An unfair and biased prosecutor is harmful both to the Prosecutors Office and the structure that remains within the range of influence due to the powers vested in the Prosecutors Office. In this sense, the struggle against injustice is a double-edged sword in the hands of the Prosecutors Office. It is difficult to say which side would suffer most from a prosecutors failure. Therefore, you should always be on alert. The weakening of your vigilance will weaken the whole system of human rights.

Dear Colleagues,

Our country has entered a crucial new era. Together we will build a new order of public administration. Before the April elections, we had set a task to show ourselves, and why not, to international community that we were firmly determined to organize elections that might comply with the best standards. It can already be stated that we succeeded. Indeed, there will be people with different opinions, but no one can deny that the elections attested at least progress in democracy and state-building efforts in Armenia. They also showed that our State is capable of responding to any such offenses as may accompany such processes.

Here, I have to underscore the important role to be played by the Prosecutors Office. With your active involvement of the Prosecutors Office, the law enforcement system demonstrated that it is capable of discussing any allegation of electoral violations by properly using the available resources. You managed to coordinate the process of solving the problems facing the law enforcement agencies, properly analyze the information at hand and promptly respond to any alert, even if it did not contain any serious offenses. Undoubtedly, this is an achievement, yet the Prosecutors Office has much to do.

Some may think that the role of the Prosecutors Office has not changed in the amended Constitution, but I think otherwise. I am convinced that the role of the Prosecutors Office is changing amid the revised relationship between the new governance system and public agencies. It is not bigger or smaller, stronger or weaker, it is simply unique. By keeping that peculiarity, you will have to instill confidence in others.

The Constitution has provided you with all the necessary and sufficient tools to increase public confidence in the Prosecutors Office and prosecutors. I do believe that the new law on the Prosecutors Office as drafted according to the constitutional amendments will provide additional safeguards to make your mission more effective. Also, I think that your future achievements and failures will be largely dependant not on the legal provisions, but on your attitude towards your mission and the quality of your work.

I know that you are facing many problems. At the same time, I want you to know that the State will back you in solving the problems and will try to make the prosecutors social role perceptible and visible. In order to achieve that goal, we must be sure that conscientiousness, honesty and professionalism dominate in the proceedings of the Prosecutors Office.

Naturally, social guarantees need to be provided to prosecutors in order to anticipate these key qualities. I feel that we have managed to solve the issue of pensions worrying many prosecutors, which has somewhat eased the systems welfare-related bottlenecks. It partially solves the problem of human resources. We very much appreciate our experienced and unbiased officers. Certainly, we will not be satisfied with the current achievements and will try to tackle other issues that are necessary for the stability and security of the country. I am confident that after the adoption of the 2018 State budget law, you will see some change for the better in this respect.

Dear Colleagues,

I once again congratulate all of you on the Prosecutors Day. I also congratulate your colleagues who have been awarded high State awards and highest service degrees. I am confident that worthy people will always be appreciated in our State. I wish you good health and every success.

Thank you for your work, thank you for the work you are going to do in the future. I am just asking you to support the Government of the Republic of Armenia, support me on our way to eradicating any such adverse phenomena as are punishable by legislation.
YEREVAN, JULY 4, ARMENPRESS. German Chancellor Angela Merkel, leader of the Christian Democratic Union, released an election manifesto ahead of the upcoming parliamentary elections, Hurriyet reports.

The manifesto includes a separate chapter on Turkey.

In the manifesto Merkel and her team oppose Turkeys membership to the European Union.

We oppose Turkeys full membership to the EU since conditions for accession have not been met. Moreover, we are deeply concerned over the recent developments in Turkey regarding the freedom of speech and media, they said.
YEREVAN, JULY 4, ARMENPRESS. Turkeys President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had a phone conversation with UK Prime Minister Theresa May, Dogan news agency reports.

The sides discussed bilateral relations and regional affairs, in particular, focusing on the Cyprus issue. Erdogan and May emphasized that its necessary to achieve fair, stable and comprehensive solution for both sides concerning this issue.

They expressed readiness to meet in Hamburg on the sidelines of the upcoming G20 summit.
YEREVAN, JULY 4, ARMENPRESS. Fitch Ratings has affirmed Armenia's Long-Term Foreign and Local Currency Issuer Default Ratings (IDRs) at 'B+' with Stable Outlook, reports Armenpress.

Dmitry Surkov, head of the Fitch CIS and Black Sea Regional Office, told reporters on July 4 that the credit rating helps to attract funding.

Credit rating is recognized by international investors. Armenia is attractive in terms of financing Eurobonds. The rating should be maintained since it is an indicator for investors. The rating is a stable outlook which means stability in the prospect of 18 months, Surkov said.

The issue ratings on Armenia's senior unsecured Foreign Currency bonds have been affirmed at 'B+'. The Country Ceiling has been affirmed at 'BB-' and the Short-Term Foreign Currency and Local Currency IDRs at 'B'.

Armenia's ratings are supported by higher income per capita, governance indicators than peers, a credible monetary policy framework and the extended maturity profile of public debt.

Conversely, the ratings are weighed down by high net external debt, high fiscal deficits leading to a rising debt burden, a highly dollarized banking sector and tensions with some neighboring countries.

Fitch revised the prediction for Armenias economic growth in 2017 up to 3.4% thanks to faster growth of state-expense surplus and exports than expected.
YEREVAN, JULY 4, ARMENPRESS. Member of the European Parliament Frank Engel representing Luxemburg defends his visit to Nagorno Karabakh regardless of the fact that he receives warnings from the European Parliament and the Azerbaijani leadership, Politico reports.

In February, 2017 Frank Engel as head of the EP-Artsakh friendship group visited the Republic of Artsakh with three other MEPs to observe the process of the constitutional referendum.

Following his visit an EP official said Engels visit undermined the official position of the EU, which didnt recognize the holding of a referendum in Nagorno Karabakh, however, Engel defended his trip saying that the referendum was a result of democratic process.

After the visit Frank Engel received an arrest warrant from the Azerbaijani authorities who tried to include his name on an Interpol list.

I say what I want, I am an elected official and I defend positions the European Parliament is incapable of defending in the Nagorno Karabakh region, Engel said.
YEREVAN, JULY 4, ARMENPRESS. President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan visited the US Embassy in Yerevan on July 4 on the occasion of the US Independence Day, press service of the Presidents Office told Armenpress.

The President congratulated Ambassador Richard Mills, the Embassy staff and the friendly people of the US, wished them welfare and continuous development.

President Sargsyan and Ambassador Mills planted apricot tree in the Embassy yard. The US Ambassador thanked the President for the visit and congratulations, stating that he is happy and proud to plant the tree together with the Armenian President, marking the 241st anniversary of the US Independence and the 25th anniversary of establishment of the Armenian-American diplomatic ties.

The United States highly appreciates its long-term partnership and sincere friendship with Armenia, and over the past 25 years we have formed firm ties in diplomacy, development, military, trade spheres and between our peoples. We hope our relations will further strengthen, and we will be able to more deepen our commercial and investment ties for the benefit of our two countries, the US Ambassador said.

President Serzh Sargsyan highly valued the close cooperation with the US since the establishment of diplomatic ties and the level of bilateral inter-state relations, stating that in a rapidly changing world full of challenges Armenia attaches importance to the continuation of dialogue with the US in all spheres of mutual interest.

Serzh Sargsyan thanked the United States for the assistance provided to Armenia, as well as for the support to organization of Armenias April 2 parliamentary elections.

Serzh Sargsyan addressed a congratulatory message to US President Donald Trump on the Independence Day.

2017 is marked in our bilateral relations with the 25th anniversary of establishment of diplomatic relations between Armenia and the United States. Today we can undoubtedly state that over the past period we managed to establish close, firm partnership and friendly ties based on mutual respect and trust. I am happy that our political dialogue bears a dynamic nature contributing to expansion of mutually beneficial cooperation, including in commercial sphere. The Armenian community also plays great role in the development of the Armenian-American ties.

I highly appreciate the US assistance provided for Armenias economic development, multisectoral reforms, establishment of democracy and civil society for years aimed at strengthening our statehood.

I should mention the importance of the US contribution as an OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairing country to the establishment of peace in South Caucasus. I believe the US active engagement together with the remaining Co-Chairing countries, Russia and France, in the Nagorno Karabakh conflict settlement process will lead to a desirable result - peaceful and lasting settlement of the conflict.



Dear Mr. President,

I once again congratulate you on your national holiday and I am hopeful that we will enrich the Armenian-American agenda with new initiatives and programs of bilateral interest thanks to our consistent joint efforts, reads the Presidents congratulatory message.
YEREVAN, JULY 4, ARMENPRESS. Istanbuls Armenian Patriarchate will convene a special session on July 4 at 18:00 Yerevan time chaired by Patriarchal locum tenens Archbishop Garegin Bekchyan, Agos reports.

During the session the Initiative group will be formed which will lead the process of organizing the elections of a new Patriarch.

The issue of number of members of the Initiative group will be clarified during the session, however, it is known that it will have 15-21 members, including two clergymen.

After the formation of the Initiative group, local election commissions will be formed which will operate at various districts of Istanbul.
Wading through the Indian Ocean now is a Yuan class - conventional diesel electric - submarine which is better that aging Indian Sub.

The submarine is being supported by Chinese Naval Ship (CNS) Chongmingdao - the Chinese Navy's submarine support vessel. (Picture for representation)

By Sudhi Ranjan Sen: In an aggressive move, China has deployed a submarine in the Indian Ocean Region, as the month long stand-off in the Doklam plateau between the Indian and Chinese People's Liberation Army continues.

Wading through the Indian Ocean now is a Yuan class - conventional diesel electric - submarine which is better that aging Indian Sub. And this is not the first, but the seventh submarine to be deployed in the area.

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The submarine is being supported by Chinese Naval Ship (CNS) Chongmingdao - the Chinese Navy's submarine support vessel. Indian assets picked up the submarine entering the Indian Ocean Region recently.

The Indian Navy has underlined the heightened Chinese People's Liberation Navy activity in the Indian Ocean Region to South Block. Chinese warships and submarines in Indian Ocean Region appeared three years ago 2013-14 - ostensible for anti-piracy operations in the Gulf of Aden.

But from a modest beginning of a flotilla of just three warships - two destroyers and a support ship - in 2013-14, more and more Chinese warships are prowling in the waters around India.

WAR GAMES

Recently, Indian satellites and naval assets have picked up at least 14 Chinese Navy warships in the Indian Ocean Region. These include the latest Luyang-III or the Kunming class stealth destroyers.

Armed with surface-air and long range missiles the Chinese warships are projecting power far away from the Beijing's backyard but in India's immediate vicinity. The silver lining - India is constantly monitoring the movement of Chinese warships courtesy Indian satellites and long range maritime surveillance platforms.

The Indian Navy's long range surveillance platforms like the US made P81 has been watching and recording movements of the Chinese Navy in the Indian Ocean. "Over the years, we have augmented our capabilities manifold. More force multipliers are being added. We have the region covered as well," a senior officer told India Today.

The first Chinese nuclear submarine was picked up in December 2013. The Shang Class- a nuclear propelled submarine-was deployed for almost three months in the waters around India till February 2014.

It was followed by Song Class - diesel electric -submarine for another three months between August and December 2014. The Song Class followed by another nuclear vessel - a Han Class nuclear submarine. Last year China deployed a nuclear submarine - a Han Class Nuclear submarine - and a conventional submarine respectively.

WORRYING SIGN?

These boats were snooped around the Indian Ocean for over six months. The Yuan class submarine detected by the Indian Navy this year is first the submarine to be sent to the Indian Ocean Region in 2017. Worryingly for India, the increased warship deployment goes hand in hand with the deployment of Hydrographic, Oceanographic vessels and spy-ships in the Indian Ocean to map the sea bed.

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Bathymetric data among other things detail how currents and noise behave at particular depth, the lay of the ocean floor are critical for submarine deployments.

Top sources told India Today that Chinese Naval Ship Haiwngxing -spy ship -entered the Indian Ocean this month. The spy ship equipped with sophisticated equipment is deployed to collect electronic intelligence among other things. It is capable of honing on electronic signals which can be returned to China for analysis. New Delhi has been told that the spy ship is the Indian Ocean region to monitor the annual tri-lateral India-USJapan naval exercise - Malabar that starts on July 7. The same ship was used to spy on previous Indo-US Naval exercises.

ALSO READ | Chinese warships frequently visit Karachi, Gwadar in bid to expand presence in Indian Ocean

Presence of Chinese submarines in Sri Lanka purely for economic reasons: Navy chief Vice Admiral RC Wijegunaratne

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China escalates border tension, accuses Indian Army of betrayal

ALSO WATCH | Centre napping, part-time Defence Minister will not work: Congress on border standoff with China

--- ENDS ---
YEREVAN, JULY 4, ARMENPRESS. On July 4, in accordance with the arrangement reached with the authorities of the Republic of Artsakh, the OSCE Mission conducted a planned monitoring of the Line of Contact between the armed forces of Artsakh and Azerbaijan, in the direction of the eastern section of Martuni region, press service of the Artsakh Foreign Ministry told Armenpress.

From the positions of the Defense Army of the Republic of Artsakh, the monitoring was conducted by Field Assistants to the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office (CiO) Mihail Olaru (Moldova) and Ognjen Jovic (Bosnia and Herzegovina).

From the opposite side of the Line of Contact, the monitoring was conducted by Field Assistant to the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office Ghenadie Petrica (Moldova) and Personal Assistant to the CiO Personal Representative Simon Tiller (Great Britain).

The monitoring passed in accordance with the agreed schedule. However, the Azerbaijani side did not lead the OSCE mission to its frontline positions.

From the Artsakh side, the monitoring mission was accompanied by representatives of the Republic of Artsakh Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Defense.
YEREVAN, JULY 4, ARMENPRESS. The international community must launch investigation over the publication at the Bulgarian newspaper regarding the Azerbaijani Silk Way Airlines supplies of weapons to terrorist groups under the cover diplomatic flights and must give clear response to the actions of that country, Eduard Sharmazanov  Vice Speaker of Armenias Parliament, told Armenpress.

Personally its not a surprise for me since Azerbaijan is a terrorist state. During the April war the Azerbaijani actions were the same as the actions of Islamic State terrorist group in the Middle East, such as torture of civilians, beheading of soldiers, torture of dead bodies. Its the same signature. During the Artsakh war in 1990s numerous terrorists were fighting from the Azerbaijani side. In other words, this is not new. And when we say that Azerbaijan and Turkey are states with terrorist behavior, they are a serious threat to regional security, we dont say this because the Karabakh-Azerbaijani conflict is unresolved, rather, we say this by taking into account the reality, the actions Azerbaijan has carried out for years, the Vice Speaker said.

According to him, international community must pay serious attention to these issues, and if it turns out a reality, the international structures must not be satisfied only with statements, they should impose concrete sanctions against Azerbaijan.

Sharmazanov is not surprised that Azerbaijan can have such links with various terrorist structures since during the years of Artsakh war they have cooperated with numerous terrorists. Moreover, Azerbaijan awarded those terrorists. Azerbaijan is the state which declared hero one of the greatest terrorists Ramil Safarov who killed the Armenian officer with an ax while he was sleeping. This is Azerbaijans real face, Sharmazanov said, adding that the international community must carry out investigation and demand clear response and explanations from the Azerbaijani leadership.

A scandalous investigation has been published in the Bulgarian newspaper Trud on July 2 which reveals the Azerbaijani state circles direct engagement in supplying weapons to Islamic terrorist groups at different parts of the world. Dilyana Gaytandzhievas investigative article mainly focuses on the illegal and large-scale export and sale of arms to Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Congo by Silk Way Airlines (an Azerbaijani state-run company) under the cover of diplomatic flights.
YEREVAN, JULY 4, ARMENPRESS. All states know that Azerbaijan has always been a transit area for international terrorism, Davit Babayan  Spokesperson of the President of the Artsakh Republic, told Armenpress, commenting on the scandalous investigation published at the Bulgarian newspaper Trud over Azerbaijani supply of weapons for terrorist groups operating at various parts of the world.

According to Davit Babayan, this reflects the real situation in Azerbaijan. The Chechen militants, Afghan mujahideens, representatives of gray wolves and Islamic State groups were recovering and undergoing treatment in Azerbaijan: these facts are known to everyone, and the published materials once again proved that we deal with a terrorist state, Davit Babayan said, adding that the international community must be very consistent on the issue.

Davit Babayan said such states must be at least held accountable. The entire civilized world fights against terrorism, and it seems one of the states carries out unconstructive, dangerous terrorist policy. If the leader of a state says they are going to down a civilian airplane operating Stepanakert-Yerevan flight, and there is no response from international community, it is already the problem of the international community. We just need to once again inform, strengthen our security, the rest is the problem of international community to be consistent since it is under their power, Davit Babyan added.

Dilyana Gaytandzhievas investigative article at Trud mainly focuses on the illegal and large-scale export and sale of arms to Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Congo by Silk Way Airlines (an Azerbaijani state-run company) under the cover of diplomatic flights.

Documents implicating Silk Way Airlines in arms supplies were sent to the author of the article by an anonymous twitter account  Anonymous Bulgaria. Dilyana Gaytandzhieva says over the past three years at least 350 diplomatic Silk Way Airlines flights transported weapons for war conflicts across the world. The state aircrafts of Azerbaijan carried on-board tens of tons of heavy weapons and ammunition headed to terrorists under the cover of diplomatic flights. The author of the investigation notes that some of the weapons that Azerbaijan carries on diplomatic flights were used by its military in Nagorno Karabakh. The facts reveal that the Azerbaijani Defense Ministrys 2016 statement according to which the Armenian side used white phosphorus is nothing more than disinformation.
YEREVAN, JULY 4, ARMENPRESS. According to Russian media the victims of a deadly accident in a Chelyabinsk lake in Russia are Armenians.

Komsomolskaya Pravda reported that a large Armenian family had gathered near the lake and were celebrating the graduation of a 9th grade girl.

8 children and one adult boarded a boat, designed to carry maximum 4 persons, in the evening.

When the boat began to sink, 4 of the children were saved, including the girl who had just graduated school.

Unfortunately, however, her father and another man who hurried to save them died.

Three boys aged 2-15, a 10-year-old girl and the man who was navigating the boat also died.

All the victims were related.

Authorities said the accident happened due to overloading the boat, not alcohol abuse.

The Armenian foreign ministry told ARMENPRESS they are currently clarifying whether the victims are citizens of Armenia.
YEREVAN, JULY 4, ARMENPRESS. On July 4, the new Ambassador of Spain to Armenia H.E. Ignacio Ybanez Rubio (residence Moscow) presented his credentials to President Serzh Sargsyan.

After the ceremonial presentation, the President and the Ambassador had a discussion on several matters.

The President mentioned that although the Armenian-Spanish ties began to develop since the establishment of diplomatic relations during the past 25 years, the Armenian and Spanish peoples, who bear common Christian values and ancient cultures have had friendly relations from earlier times.

The President said it is necessary to boost efforts for developing cooperation in all sectors and strengthening bilateral relations.

The Ambassador thanked President Serzh Sargsyan for the reception and congratulations, and assured he will do his best for deepening Spains relations with Armenia, and making Armenia more recognizable with its rich culture, history and investment opportunities in Spain.

In addition to Armenian-Spanish relations, the sides also discussed the Armenia-EU cooperation.

The Ambassador said Spain is ready to assist Armenia in developing cooperation with the European Union.

The sides also exchanged ideas on the peaceful settlement process of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict.
YEREVAN, 4 JULY, ARMENPRESS. The Central Bank of Armenia informs Armenpress that today, 4 July, USD exchange rate down by 0.31 drams to 480.26 drams. EUR exchange rate down by 1.45 drams to 545.05 drams. Russian Ruble exchange rate down by 0.01 drams to 8.10 drams. GBP exchange rate down by 2.56 drams to 620.88 drams.

The Central Bank has set the following prices for precious metals.

Gold price down by 213.11 drams to 18980.5 drams. Silver price down by 0.01 drams to 254.46 drams. Platinum price down by 179.04 drams to 14066.49 drams.
YEREVAN, JULY 4, ARMENPRESS. Armenias minister of agriculture Ignati Arakelyan participated in the July 6 Armenian-German economic talks, which were organized on the sidelines of the visit of Peter Blesers delegation, Germanys Parliamentary State Secretary of the ministry of food and agriculture.

In his opening remarks the Armenian minister mentioned the boosted partnership between the countries, the implemented programs and cooperation fields.

During this visit, the directions selected by the German delegation are targeted and include all those issues which we have highlighted for the development of agriculture in our country. I wish productive discussions to all of us for expanding the bilateral beneficial cooperation, minister Arakelyan said.

State Secretary Peter Bleser also highlighted the delegations visit in terms of expanding the Armenian-German relations in the agricultural sector.

He attached importance to the participation of business representatives in the talks, and mentioned that they include companies who produce agricultural equipment and hardware who are ready to supply their products to Armenia.

In his speech, Ambassador of Germany to Armenia H.E. Bernhard Matthias Kiesler highlighted the modernization of agricultural sector, and mentioned that Armenia is currently in the phase of modernization of the entire economy.

The Ambassador said Germany is ready to assist Armenia in this process.

The talks were followed by B2B meetings, with participation of German and Armenian businessmen.
YEREVAN, JULY 4, ARMENPRESS. Ashot Margaryan, the deputy minister of labor and social affairs of Armenia has resigned.

It was a great honor and responsibility to work as deputy minister of labor and social affairs, for which I am thankful to the Prime Minister, Mr. Karapetyan.

During five months I was able to get acquainted with the issues of the social sphere in depth and suggest solution programs. I have to admit, I am making a difficult decision because I am leaving with a great feeling of duty and responsibility, by leaving my reforms unfinished.

I dont see myself in the public service or politics in the upcoming years. I am thankful to all my colleagues for productive cooperation, Margaryan said on Facebook.
Grocery suppliers need to upskill to capitalise on developing online opportunities, according to marketing consultant Bridgethorne.

A recent report suggesting one in seven Britons are doing all of their food shopping online could have major implications for the UKs grocery suppliers and manufacturers wanting to capitalise on this sales growth opportunity, said Bridgethorne.

Manufacturers need to upskill their sales, category and marketing teams to ensure they are well equipped to capitalise on this developing online opportunity.

The comments follow the publication of a Mintel report, which suggested the proportion of households doing all of their grocery shopping online has doubled since 2014.

Nick Kirby, e-commerce director at Bridgethorne, said: Grocery manufacturers and suppliers will need to look hard at their trade investment and marketing budgets to ensure that they have a balance in spend across all channels and that they are investing substantially enough to engage and attract new shoppers and convert them to purchase where they are conducting their shopping.

With a rise in the number of grocery shoppers only engaging with brands when conducting an online shop, it is becoming even more important to optimise digital shelf activation and amplify online communication using the right messages at the right point of the online shopper journey, he added.

With shoppers switching between channels - for example, supermarkets to discounters - to complement their online purchasing, it is essential that manufacturers have winning channel strategies in place that are both effective in their own right, as well as allowing for a seamless omni-channel shopping experience.

He added that bricks-and-mortar stores could also benefit though: Up to 70% of in-store sales are influenced by an online retailer search - the so-called e-commerce halo effect.

FMCG suppliers need to address their online strategy, because it influences the shopping experience across all channels, not just online.
Warburtons has been fined 1.9m after a worker trapped his arm in a running conveyor belt.

The agency worker was cleaning the bread line at Warburtons bakery in Eastwood, Nottingham, in August 2015 when his arm became trapped, leaving him with friction burns that required skin grafts, Nottingham Crown Court heard.

An investigation by the Health & Safety Executive (HSE) found the machine could have been fitted with localised guarding to prevent access between the conveyors.

Warburtons pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 11 of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 and was fined 1.9m as well as ordered to pay full costs of 21,459.

Warburtons failed to guard the machine sufficiently to prevent access to the running conveyors, which in this case could have prevented the injuries, said Edward Walker, HSE inspector, after the case.

Employers should ensure all equipment used by agency and their own workers are sufficiently guarded and take appropriate measures if any deficiencies are found.

Warburtons was fined 2m in January this year after a worker broke his back by falling nearly two metres at the bakerys Wednesbury site.

Warburtons responded following the case by stating: The health and safety of all our people is our first priority and we are deeply saddened that, on this occasion, our procedures failed to protect Wayne [the injured worker]. We have taken the necessary action across our bakeries to prevent this happening again.
By PTI: India

(Eds: Updating)

By K J M Varma

Beijing, Jul 4 (PTI) Chinese companies operating in India should be alert and take steps to avoid being hit by anti- China sentiment following tension between the two nations over the border standoff in the Sikkim section, a leading official newspaper here warned today.

An article in the Global Times called on Chinese firms to reduce their investments in India in view of the tension.

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Citing the sentiment that swept Vietnam in 2014 when many people were killed in riots after media reported that China fired water cannons at a Vietnamese vessel to frustrate moves by Hanoi to stop Chinas resource extraction in the disputed South China Sea, the article said violent attacks against Chinese interests may happen in India "if the two countries see even small-scale military tension at the border."

"Chinese companies operating in India need to be alert and take precautions to avoid being hit by anti-Chinese sentiment following tension on the border between the two countries."

Another article in the daily known for its nationalistic views tonight said, "many people believe Indian nationalism led to the countrys independence from British rule decades ago but now it is gradually evolving into an internal factor behind the anti-Chinese sentiment, which is fuelled by ethnic and religious factors."

Quoting reports of Shiv Sena activists burning Chinese flags on the streets after China blocked Indias membership bid of the elite Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), it said, "Indias territorial issues can much more easily stir up local peoples nationalistic feelings."

Chinese firms, especially those in the retail and consumer electronics industries, should consider possible boycotts by Indians and ensure the safety of Chinese workers, the article said.

"Although India is a potential market, would-be investors from China should perhaps take a wait-and-see approach. In this context, new investment from China into India is likely to be reduced," it said.

By 2015, accumulated Chinese investment in India reached USD 3.55 billion, and most of the Chinese firms doing business there saw a proportion of local employees of over 90 per cent, according to the article.

"The fact that Indian troops recently crossed into Chinese territory will not necessarily lead to a withdrawal of Chinese firms from India, but New Delhi has to safeguard the security of Chinese-funded institutions against possible anti-China riots," it said.

To make itself a promised land for Chinese manufacturers, India needs to "spare no effort" to maintain the stability of its economic ties with China, "even if that is not an easy thing to do", the article said.

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Since the standoff on June 6, when the Peoples Liberation Army destroyed bunkers of the India Army claiming the area belonged to China, Chinese media have carried several pieces blaming India for escalating border tension and "reminding" the Indian Army about the 1962 war.

Of the 3,488-km-long India-China border from Jammu and Kashmir to Arunachal Pradesh, a 220-km section falls in Sikkim.

Another article carried by China Military Online, the official website of the Chinese military, said, "Many Indians with vision say that it was a stupid option to let the China- India border issue escalate into confrontation because there is no winner in another armed conflict between two countries".

"But the trespassing by Indian troops showed us that quite a number of people in India still hold on to the Cold War mentality, think from the geopolitical perspective, and choose to view Chinas road construction in its own territory as a threat to India", it said.

"History tells us that the Chinese military has never lost its temper easily and never fired the first shot. It didnt even want to fight the 1962 Counterattack in Self- Defence on China-India Border at first, but wanted to settle the issue through peaceful negotiations because China and India used to be friends and had similar experience in fighting against imperialism and colonialism," it said.

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"But those in India who still uphold confrontation in this event should be fully aware of the fact that if a solution isnt reached through diplomatic or military communication or the issue isnt handled properly, another armed conflict between China and India is not completely out of the question," it said.

"Some Indians dare to provoke China and even claim that its not 1962 anymore probably because they dont think China has military advantages at the border sector where the event took place. They mistakenly think that India is able to revenge itself by using the favourable terrain and its advantageous mountain division and air force on the border," it said. PTI KJV ABH AKJ ABH

--- ENDS ---
Hamish Renton, managing director of food and drink industry consultancy HRA, looks at Amazons move to acquire Whole Foods Market

Its been a busy few weeks for Amazon, then. Just days after announcing it is extending its fresh delivery service to 42 more postcodes in Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire came the news it is to acquire the health food icon Whole Foods Market in a $13.7bn deal.

At first glance this marriage looks odd, the low-cost online retailer and big data exponent acquiring a bricks-and-mortar retailer known for premium prices, instore experience and ethics.

What unites both the health foods market and online grocery shopping is their growth rates. Whole Foods also injects a sense of mission into the Amazon brand narrative  giving some character to the proposition and humanising the brand, which can suffer from a perception of being clinical, almost cold.

Since its birth in Austin, Texas, in 1978, Whole Foods mission has been to nourish the health and wellbeing of people and planet. The atmosphere within Whole Foods Market stores is similar to that of the traditional British bakery  rustic and with a focus on the experience and goodness of the food itself.

The Amazon Fresh service, launched over a year ago in the UK, enables Amazon Prime members to get a range of fresh goods delivered to their homes. Amazon wants customers to establish a weekly shop online as a way to drive its frequency and weight of purchase  the end game would be a daily Amazon food delivery, with bakery a key part of this.

Amazon specialises in software that records, tracks and predicts purchase patterns but struggles to deliver an exciting or sensory retail experience.

And here is where Whole Foods comes in  it is an involving shopping experience, full of colour, people, sights and smells. Whole Foods can put the sizzle into the Amazon sausage.

The village bakery was traditionally a location of cultural importance, with the smell of fresh bread part of the ritual. Supermarket bakery counters continue this thread with their traditional feel and merchandising nods to the traditional baker. For Amazon shoppers, ordering fresh bread online removes this element of ritual.

However, if you can shop Whole Foods online then potentially you can bring a little of this retailtainment to the online shopper. This could be priceless for Amazon.

Given the size of the worldwide health food market and the ongoing premiumisation of food, perhaps the union isnt too strange after all.
Independence Day - What it really means

What does Independence Day - the 4th of July - mean to you? Is it just a holiday to eat, drink, and light off fireworks? Do you display and wave the flag of the United States out of habit - because everyone else on the block does it? Do you cover your table with a plastic tablecloth of stars and stripes and decorate your yard with red, white, and blue because that's what Target and Walmart remind you to do with its holiday displays and sales? Do you actually understand what the 4th of July signifies? Did you sleep through that lesson in American History Class? Was it even taught to you at all?I just hope you aren't one of those Americans who doesn't think it matters.When I was very young, I thought Independence Day marked the day when the 13 colonies defeated the British for our independence. Then in middle school, I learned that it marked the date the Declaration of Independence was signed. That was the extent of my understanding until I did my own reading. Soon I learned that not only was the Declaration of Independence signed on July 4, 1776, but that it was an act of treason against the British Crown. It was an act of treason because while the colonies were fighting for their independence, the British were fighting to quash their rebellious nature for good. Rebellion against the Crown was high treason and it would not be tolerated.But it wasn't until I graduated law school that I was finally able to appreciate the real significance of the Declaration of Independence. Simply put, as its author Thomas Jefferson explained: "The Declaration of Independence... is the declaratory charter of our rights, and of the rights of man." And in that magnificent document, Jefferson has laid out the natural order of our rights and the natural purpose and limits of government.The document was almost forced on the colonies by history's happenstance. It began with the colonies' restlessness in the wake of an over-zealous King and Parliament which first sought to extract tax revenue from them (without representation) and then to oppress and subjugate them as a means of punishment. They were punished for daring to stand up for their rights as Englishmen, as Englishmen had done for over 500 years of their history. Indeed, the history of England has been a history of repeated attempts, first by the barons and then by all subjects, to assert basic human rights and to demand from the King a promise (a charter) that he will respect such. Some of the attempts were successful and some only temporary, but all of England's notable charters were signed and limited the reach of the King and Parliament, even if only for a very short time.Some of these charters and other significant documents include: The Charter of Liberties of King Henry I (1100), the Magna Carta (1215), the Petition of Right (1628), the Grand Remonstrance (1641), and the English Bill of Right of 1689. This history is critical for the foundation for our country because all total, these documents establish the notion that government must respect boundaries on the individual, acknowledging that they have certain essential rights and liberties. The rights and liberties asserted and re-asserted in these documents are the "rights of Englishmen" that the colonists most eagerly embraced and were most eager to protect.Author Brion McClanahan explains the significance of England's grand history in his article Rethinking the Declaration of Independence: "In 1100, King Henry I of England agreed to restrictions on his power through the Charter of Liberties. The English barons rejected absolute authority and sought to preserve traditional decentralized "government." Just over one hundred years later, in 1215, King John was forced again by the English nobles to sign the Magna Charta. The "Great Charter," as it is known in English, declared that the king was not above the law - making him essentially equal to the nobles - and it resisted the trend toward centralization in England. Though on the books, the Magna Charta was often ignored by more powerful English monarchs, but several of its provisions became the basis of English common law, most notably the writ of habeas corpus." (See the Habeas Corpus Act of 1679).In October 1214, King John returned to England in disgrace. His mission to reconquer his lost territory in northern France had failed and other military campaigns were unsuccessful as well. He taxed England's barons heavily to finance these campaigns and they were not happy. Upon his return, he found that a group of angry barons from across the country had formed an association and were prepared renounce him as king. Over the next eight months, they made repeated demands to the King, requesting that he give them a guarantee that he would observe their rights. But the negotiations amounted to nothing. And so, on May 5 of that year, the barons gathered and agreed to declare war on King John. On May 17, 1215 they captured London, the largest town in England, without a fight. With London lost and ever more supporters flocking to the side of the barons, the King John realized he would have to address their concerns.On June 8, he notified the barons of his willingness to negotiate. Over the next few days, the barons assembled in great numbers at Runnymede, a relatively obscure meadow just a few miles from Windsor castle, where King John was based. They arrived to repeat their demands and negotiate peace terms. On June 15, the barons presented their terms to the King and he signed the great document - The Great Charter ("Magna Carta").In Chapter 39 of Magna Carta, one of the document's most important clauses, King John made the following promise:Here, it was agreed that the Crown and his administration would not arrest, outlaw, banish, or incarcerate any free man, deprive him of his rights, possessions or legal standing, or otherwise take official and forceful action against him, except in accordance with the lawful judgement of his equals or in accordance with the laws of the Kingdom. This was, in embryonic form, the principle of due process of law: The government shall not deprive any person subject to its jurisdiction of life, liberty, or property without due process of law. The Magna Carta provided that justice was to be guaranteed to every person in the Kingdom, that the right of justice would not be sold, delayed, or denied to any person. Thus, this critical, historic document provided that every freeman -- i.e., every Englishmen who was not a serf -- was to enjoy security and protection from illegal interference by the King (ie, government) in his person and property. [See Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr. (Professor of Political Science), "The American System of Government...."] The terms listed in the Magna Carta would later be referred to as "the ancient rights and liberties of Englishmen" in the English Bill of Rights of 1689.King John, in giving his consent to Magna Carta, agreed that: (1) the Monarch was subject to the law of the Kingdom and (2) the law placed limits on royal authority. This reflected an early stage in the development of the central idea of English and American constitutionalism -- the idea that the ruler was not above the law and therefore had to abide by the law and stay within the limits the law imposed on his power. [See Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr.]Under Magna Carta, the King still governed England, but he had to share with the barons one important sphere of political authority -- the power of taxation. All royal requests for extraordinary taxes had to be submitted to the Common Council for its consideration and decision. When it came to the King's raising revenue by means other than collecting the feudal fees and aids in amounts due him by customary right, he had to share with the barons, the largest and most powerful bloc in the Common Council, the authority to make binding decisions. The requirement, stipulated in Magna Carta, that the King submit proposals for extraordinary taxation to an assembly of his leading subjects -- the barons and the Church officers of high rank -- was one small but significant step on the long road to firmly establishing as a constitutional guarantee, truly binding on the Monarch and all other officers of the government, the age old principle of English government that no subject could be taxed without his consent, given by the subject directly in person or indirectly through elected representatives in a legislative assembly. [See Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr.].When Britain began taxing the colonies without allowing them representation in Parliament, particularly with the Stamp Tax, the colonists asserted this basic right from the Magna Carta in their protest slogan "No taxation without representation." The phrase actually originated with Massachusetts attorney James Otis about 1761, who proclaimed: "Taxation without representation is tyranny!"After the Magna Carta, the Petition of Right of 1628, which was written by Parliament, was presented to King Charles I to re-assert the civil liberties of his subjects. The Petition contained four main points: (1) No taxes could be levied without Parliament's consent; (2) No English subject could be imprisoned without cause--thus reinforcing the right of habeas corpus; (3) No quartering of soldiers in citizens' homes; and (4) No martial law may be used in peacetime. Each of these four points enumerated specific civil rights that Englishmen felt Charles I had breached throughout his reign. Although he'd never been that popular as the monarch, his abuse of power against the people escalated to an intolerable level after Parliament refused to increase taxation and finance his unpopular foreign policies. The purpose of the Petition was to seek redress for the serious grievances Charles had committed.When Charles showed no sign of repenting, Parliament drafted an extensive list of grievances which it presented to him on December 1, 1641. The grievances included 204 instances of gross abuses of the King's power and usurpations of the rights of the people. Preceding this list of grievances were the following significant paragraphs:The Grand Remonstrance would help precipitate a civil war in England and eventually lead Parliament to file official charges of high treason against Charles I. He would be tried, convicted, and executed (beheaded) in 1649. His son Charles II was exiled and his other son James II was able to escape to France dressed as a girl.When England erupted in this civil war, the Parliament asserted its authority and suspended the reign of the Monarch, and by 1688 had become the driving force behind English law and policy. From 1649 to 1660, England became a republic. At first it was ruled by Parliament, but in 1653, Oliver Cromwell, commander of the army, became Lord Protector of England and served until he died (1658; his son took over briefly). Eventually the blood line of Charles I was restored in 1660 first with Charles II (who sat on the throne at the time of the plague and the great fire of London) and then in 1665, with James II. He was terribly unpopular, and in fact, was widely hated by the people. Not only did he force his Roman Catholic faith on the British people, but he willingly allowed the persecution of Protestants. He was forced to give up the crown in the Glorious Revolution (the "Bloodless Revolution") of 1688.When King James II was expelled from England in 1688, Parliament invited King William III of Orange and his wife Mary II (daughter of James II), of the Netherlands, to assume the throne. Parliament promised no resistance. The only requirement was that they sign the English Bill of Rights that Parliament had drawn up on behalf the people. It condemned James II for violating the rights of Englishmen, which the Parliament called the "laws and liberties of this kingdom," and placed restrictions on the powers of the monarch. William and Mary "gladly accepted what was offered them" and signed the English Bill of Rights.Those from England who settled the colonies, particularly Massachusetts, seeking freedom from religious persecution (Puritans and Pilgrims) and others, brought this history - and these rights - with them. After all, they were still Englishmen; they were living on a continent claimed by England and establishing settlements and communities pursuant to land patents issued by the King.But the bond of affection would seem to be one-way only. While the colonists sought to live as loyal subjects to the Crown, enjoying the same the rights and liberties as the citizens of England, England sought to exploit the colonies for raw materials, trade, and taxes. For several years, things were good. No complaints. But just as the British colonies were growing and expanding, there were French colonies growing and expanding as well - in the frontier region west of Virginia up to Canada. They were mainly fur-trappers. Eventually, Britain felt its American colonies and interests were being threatened and the two empires went to war. It lasted seven years (the French-Indian War, aka, the Seven Years War, 1754-1763), and eventually, the French were expelled and England secured greater territory. Believing the war was primarily for the benefit of the safety and security of the colonies, Parliament enacted a series of taxes on the colonies to recoup the money it had spent. [Note that around 1750, the plantations were established and against the wishes of the colonies, Britain pushed the slave trade on them to ensure that raw materials such as sugar, tobacco, indigo, cotton, and rice were produced plentifully and productively and shipped to England]
Vice President Mike Pence spoke to the graduating class of Notre Dame, drawing attention to the loss of free speech on American campuses. He denounced the "noxious wave that seems to be rushing over much of academia."The problem is that this wave is coming from within academia, not "rushing over" it as if from outside. Its source is a particular way of thinking about higher education and only secondarily about free speech.To even the casual observer, each week brings a new incident of campus outrage to our attention. That the Vice President of the United States should feel the need to intervene suggests two things-that the issue is prominent enough to call for his intervention and that there is a political constituency for protecting free speech at American universities and colleges.At the state level there are several attempts currently underway to address this issue. Bills have been proposed in several states to protect the speech rights of students and faculty.Last year, legislators diverted $445,882 of funding away from the University of Tennessee's Office for Diversity and Inclusion . This led to the resignation of the Diversity Chief last year, who immediately moved to a similar post at the University of Washington. And an Iowa state legislator, Bobby Kaufmann, has proposed a bill to punish state universities that used public funds for "healing spaces" related to the election. He refers to the legislation as the "suck it up, buttercup" bill. Both of these preceded the recent physical violence on campuses.At the federal level, the reauthorization of the Higher Education Act is an opportunity to do something positive. The National Association of Scholars and the Goldwater Institute are both recommending significant guarantees of free speech rights on any campus that receives federal money, which is all but a handful. In a way, these are well-planned versions of President Trump's reaction to the riots in Berkeley earlier this year. He tweeted:As well-intentioned as some of the legislation may be, it assumes that starving the PC warriors of funds will reduce their influence. One would think that the half-million dollars now denied to Tennessee's Office for Diversity and Inclusion should have a real result, for instance. However, while initial reports suggested the office would close, its website lists eight current employees. Diversity offices may be the only parts of higher education to thrive with zeroed-out budgets.The real power of political correctness that legislators and even the vice president would like to combat does not reside in particular offices or paid positions. The power resides in faculty and administrators who almost universally support it and increasingly see their jobs as developing support for it among students.The statistics on faculty political leanings are staggering. The organization Heterodox Academy has been highlighting the movement of faculty towards the far left. As Nicholas Kristof reported in the New York Times, 18 percent of all social scientists describe themselves as Marxists, making them a larger group than Republicans on American campuses. At this point there might be more Marxists on American campuses than in Venezuela or Cuba.The political imbalance of American campuses is easy to see, but the significance goes beyond mere partisanship. The underlying problem is that a significant portion of the American left thinks the mission of education is to reform American culture, not teach a particular body of knowledge. Angelo Codevilla has a very good article in the Claremont Review of Books on this topic. As he explains, this mission to change society is the source of political correctness and is the reason much of higher education has turned into indoctrination.Higher education used to be understood as mastering a body of knowledge. It still is in the healthier parts of the university. But in those where political correctness is most deeply rooted, the idea that some things are more important to know than others is anathema. This is why courses on zombie movies are offered alongside Shakespeare as equally worthy of study. Try making an argument in your nearest English department that one is inherently better than the other and see where you get.While some legislative interventions may rein-in the wildest of politically correct nonsense, and might even prevent violence, they will have little effect on the political culture of most campuses because political correctness is only incidentally about breaking the law. William Deresiewicz, a liberal scholar, has published a brave and forceful denunciation of political correctness for the American Scholar . He observes thatPolitical correctness is about power because it is not about knowledge or argument. The direction of cause and effect must be made clear. When you abandon the distinction between, say, an important work of literature and a trivial one; when you can scoff at Matthew Arnold's notion of "the best that has been thought and said," as most academics do, there is no way to judge between better and worse. When you cannot judge, you can say nothing. As the 20th century philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein put it,Students are shouting down and disrupting lectures because they cannot speak of the merits or demerits of disfavored arguments. They have been taught it is impossible to do so. But neither are they happy with silence. Their only alternative is shouting and imposing silence on others.A politically correct education is not about learning anything. It is about changing the students. In his new book, Out of the Ashes , Anthony Esolen describes the experience of sending a child to any of America's colleges and universities:It is an indication of just how far things have gone that on many campuses Esolen's attitude towards sex workers and the mentally ill would be considered the outrageous part of his comment, not the process he describes.Legislative efforts to protect free speech are important and ought to be encouraged, but legislation can go only so far. Alexis de Tocqueville, the great observer of American democracy, argued that tyranny in democratic societies takes on a very distinct character. It does not attack the body, but rather the soul. It says to its victim, writes Tocqueville:Two cases of this have just occurred. Anthony Esolen, for writing comments like the one above, felt forced out of Providence College after several decades of distinguished teaching. More recently, Paul Griffiths resigned from Duke Divinity School due to the way he was treated after he criticized a diversity workshop. Free speech protections would mean little to them. They were not fired. They resigned because they were ostracized.Physical violence on campuses, from Middlebury to Berkeley, has raised the stakes for those who are not politically correct. It has certainly brought campus problems to the attention of more people. But our campuses could return to peace and quiet without any good being achieved. We need to return to the idea that higher education is about mastering bodies of knowledge, not assuming a posture.When Mike Pence spoke at Notre Dame a number of students stood up and walked out of their graduation ceremony in protest. I suppose they were exercising their free speech without violating anyone else's rights, but their actions betray an irrationalism, a refusal to engage in argumentation no different than the shouters and rioters.Free speech is important, but without a culture willing to engage in what others say, it merely provides a podium in an empty room. So two cheers for legislation that protects our freedom to address it, but hold that third cheer for a while. We need to address the very idea of what education is before this problem can be solved.
City still hasn't legalized Airbnb and other rental alternatives but enforcement has been confusing and haphazard



Gregg Stebben (holding sign at right) and other Airbnb supporters collected more than 1,000 signatures in support of legalizing short-term rentals at the 2016 World of Bluegrass Festival in Raleigh. (Photo courtesy of Gregg Stebben)

It began with an anonymous complaint.It's now a full-scale debate - about property rights, the free market, and, in fact, freedom of choice.Short-term rentals - Airbnbs, for example - have been banned in Raleigh for years, though enforcement of that ban has been lax as the city debates ways to regulate the industry.Airbnb, VRBO, and Home Away are all online platforms letting people rent out rooms or their entire home to guests. These platforms are an increasingly popular alternative to hotels, largely because of their affordability and unique personal touch. As their popularity grows, cities have taken an interest and have stepped in to regulate the industry.Charlotte, for instance, has a provision in its city code requiring residents to register their rental property. In Asheville, short-term rentals are prohibited in residential districts but allowed in some non-residential areas. Raleigh city officials are working with owners of short-term rental properties to legalize the practice while also addressing concerns, such as how the additional renters would affect traffic flow and a constant turnover of people living in a neighborhood.The anonymous complaint, against Raleigh resident and tech entrepreneur Gregg Stebben, sparked the debate over whether short-term rentals have a place in the city.The city's Economic Development and Innovation Committee in the coming months is set to consider a proposed ordinance, yet the debate lingers and the issue remains unsolved.The complaint against Stebben came in 2014.Stebben explained.Stebben called the City Planning Department. Officials told him it was unclear whether short-term rentals were legal but to place his listing on Airbnb anyway. If someone filed a complaint, the city would then get involved.Someone complained.Stebben said.What followed were years of town hall meetings, City Council hearings, committee discussions, and several votes without an ordinance.Travis Crane, assistant director of planning and zoning, said the process takes time.Crane said.In January, the City Council tried a new way to address the issue.The council appointed a task force, composed of 16 members - including Stebben - who concluded a review in May and offered its recommendations.The task force recommended three categories for short-term rentals: Type I, Type II, and Type III.Type I properties require a resident manager to live on the property at least 181 calendar days each year. The owner also must be present on the property throughout the rental period. Type I properties can have no more than five bedrooms. Type II properties have the same requirements as Type I, and allow the rental property to include a detached accessory, such as a standalone garage. Type III properties don't require a resident manager.Short-term rentals would require that a zoning permit be renewed annually. The resident manager also must meet other standards, such as providing proof of insurance, maintaining a guest registry, prohibiting exterior advertising, and including a minimum amount of floor space per bedroom.The regulations would allow owners renting Type III properties before the ordinance to ask the city for a grandfather clause.But the City Council has yet to even vote on the ordinance.Rather, it forwarded them to the Economic Development and Innovation Committee, led by the city mayor Nancy McFarlane. It's unclear when the committee will meet to discuss the proposed rules.Councilman Dickie Thompson told The News & Observer.Stebben is frustrated by yet another delay.Stebben asked.Chris Browder shares Stebben's sentiments. Browder began renting his Brentwood home in August of last year.Browder said.Crane cited the constant steam of new renters as a primary issue in the debate.Crane said.According to Stebben, the task force tried to address that concern, but city attorneys rejected its plan.Stebben said.Stebben said, pointing out that all the town hall meetings and public hearings show a majority favoring the practice.Baldwin told The News & Observer last year.
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.
Nothing speaks to the promise of America more than this image of young Americans, in the the prime of their life, lounging on the sandy beach alongside the York River, where French Ships, in 1781, once stood defiant as a blockade against Lord Corwallis's British Army completely encapsulated between these French expeditionary forces and General George Washington's entire army landward. Two replica's of those French vessels remain docked in the colonial town of Yorktown, Virginia, which is little changed from those heady days: Above. General Washington's artillery still placed upon the weathered redoubt of that Yorktown battle field: Below. photos by Stan Deatherage

We all recognize the 4th of July as Independence Day - as the day we declared our independence from England. We celebrate the Declaration of Independence has since become our nation's most cherished symbol of liberty.That was the issue that prompted our secession from England. The American colonies were forced to pay taxes to King George III without being allowed any representation in Parliament, in violation of the English Bill of Rights. Soon opposition to the taxes grew, the Sons of Liberty was formed in Massachusetts, and then groups emerged in every state. Simple acts of civil disobedience such as the Boston Tea Party and the harassing the agents who collected the tax for the King gave rise to the battle cry "No Taxation without Representation!" As dissatisfaction grew, British troops were sent in to quell any signs of rebellion, and repeated attempts by the colonists to resolve the crisis without war proved fruitless. The colonies were not going to surrender their freedom and it was clear that their glorious stubbornness was going to lead to rebellion. As John Adams would later say: "The Revolution was effected before the War commenced. The Revolution was in the minds and hearts of the people..... This radical change in the principles, opinions, sentiments, and affections of the people, was the real American Revolution."The original resolution was introduced by Richard Henry Lee of Virginia on June 7, 1776, and called for the Continental Congress to declare the United States free from British rule.On June 11, 1776, the colonies' Second Continental Congress meeting in Philadelphia formed a committee with the express purpose of drafting a document that would formally sever their ties with Great Britain. The committee included Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, Roger Sherman and Robert R. Livingston. It was understood that Adams, the brilliant lawyer, would craft the document, but he insisted that Jefferson should write it instead. He gave him three reasons why it had to be him: "Reason first, you are a Virginian, and a Virginian ought to appear at the head of this business. Reason second, I am obnoxious, suspected, and unpopular. You are very much otherwise. And reason third, you can write ten times better than I can." And so Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration.On June 28, Jefferson's draft was read in Congress, and shortly after that, there was some debate and revision. On July 2, the Continental Congress met inside Independence Hall and formally declared independence from England, resolving that "these United Colonies... are absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved." Ironically, as the Continental Congress was declaring the independence of the American colonies, the British fleet and army were arriving in New York.The Continental Congress continued making revisions for another day or two and on July 4, it officially adopted the final version of the Declaration of Independence.The following day, copies were distributed and, on July 6, "The Pennsylvania Evening Post" became the first newspaper to print the exquisite document. On July 8, 1776, the first public reading of the Declaration was held in Philadelphia's Independence Square and was followed by the ringing of bells and music.But Americans might be surprised to learn that the famous signed parchment copy of the Declaration wasn't signed by delegates to the Continental Congress until August 2, 1776. John Hancock, the president of the Continental Congress, signed the Declaration first, with a large and prominent signature. After he did so, he proclaimed; "There, King George can see that."But independence was not won until General Cornwallis surrendered to General George Washington at Yorktown in 1781 to end the Revolutionary War. The Treaty of Paris was signed on September 3, 1783 to officially end the war and dissolve the bonds of dependence. That Treaty, which was signed by an agent of Great Britain and the American agents Benjamin Franklin, John Jay, and John Adams (the "American Peace Commissioner"), stated: "His Brittanic Majesty acknowledges the said United States, viz., New Hampshire, Massachusetts Bay, Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia, to be free sovereign and independent states, that he treats with them as such, and for himself, his heirs, and successors, relinquishes all claims to the government, propriety, and territorial rights of the same and every part thereof."The custom of celebrating the 4th of July started in Philadelphia one year after the signing of the Declaration and it eventually spread to other towns, both large and small, where the day was marked with processions, oratory, picnics, contests, games, military displays and fireworks. Observations throughout the nation became even more common at the end of the War of 1812 with Great Britain.We associate the Declaration of Independence with Independence Day. It has since become our nation's most cherished symbol of liberty.Sadly, on June 24, 1826, Thomas Jefferson sent a letter to Roger C. Weightman, declining an invitation to come to Washington, D.C., to help celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. It was the last letter that Jefferson, who was gravely ill, ever wrote. In it, Jefferson says of the document: "May it be to the world, what I believe it will be ... the signal of arousing men to burst the chains ... and to assume the blessings and security of self-government. That form, which we have substituted, restores the free right to the unbounded exercise of reason and freedom of opinion. All eyes are opened, or opening, to the rights of man. ... For ourselves, let the annual return of this day forever refresh our recollections of these rights, and an undiminished devotion to them."Thomas Jefferson died on July 4, 1826, the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, the brilliant document that defines our nation's character. A few hours later, John Adams would also pass away.Congress established Independence Day as a holiday in 1870, and in 1938 Congress reaffirmed it as a holiday, but with full pay for federal employees. Today, communities across the nation mark this major midsummer holiday with parades, firework displays, picnics and the playing of the "The Star-Spangled Banner" and marches by John Philip Sousa.Contrary to popular myth, the men who signed the Declaration of Independence were not great Americans. Instead, they were great Englishmen. In fact, they were as much English citizens as Americans today are American citizens. It's easy to forget that the revolutionaries in 1776 were people who took up arms against their own government.So how is it that these men are considered patriots? Well, the truth is that their government - the British Crown and Parliament - didn't consider them patriots at all. Their government considered them to be bad guys - traitors - all of whom deserved to be hanged for treason.And indeed, the men who signed the Declaration of Independence did so at great peril. They knew that if the colonies lost the war for independence from England, they could be punished by the Crown for the crime of high treason. And so, these brave men pledged "their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor" so that the colonies could state their claim of independence from England to all the world.If our Founders had indeed been captured and tried for high treason, they certainly faced the hangman's noose. Actually it was quite worse than that. In England, the crime of high treason was punished most cruelly and barbarically. Those accused (usually found guilty by a panel of judges appointed by the King) would first be hanged almost to the point of death. Then they would be temporarily revived only to be emasculated, disemboweled, beheaded, and quartered (chopped into four pieces). Sometimes the accused would simply be hung (almost to the point of death) and then disemboweled and/or drawn-and-quartered. Their remains were often displayed in prominent places across the country, such as London Bridge. For reasons of public decency, women convicted of high treason were simply burnt at the stake.Most of us consider the signers of the Declaration of Independence to be patriots because of their courage in taking a stand against the wrongdoing and tyranny of their own government, even risking their lives in the process. Yet not even the patriotism and courage of these English citizens constitutes the foremost significance of the 4th of July, any more than the military victory over their government's forces at Yorktown does.Instead, the real significance of the 4th of July lies in the expression of what is undoubtedly the most revolutionary political declaration in history: that man's rights are inherent, God-given, and natural and, thus, do not come from government. Government derives its authority from the people and serves them. Government doesn't serve itself.Throughout history, people have believed that their rights come from government. Such being the case, people haven't objected whenever government officials infringed upon their rights. Since rights were considered to be government-bestowed privileges, the thinking went, why shouldn't government officials have the power to regulate or suspend such privileges at will?The Declaration of Independence upended that age-old notion of rights. All men -- not just Americans -- have been endowed by God and nature, not government, with fundamental and unalienable rights. Governments are called into existence by the people -- and exist at their pleasure -- for one purpose: to protect the exercise of these inherent rights.What happens if a government that people have established becomes a destroyer, rather than a protector, of their rights? The Declaration provides the answer: It is the right of the people to alter or even abolish their government and establish new government whose purpose is the protection, not the destruction, of people's rights and freedoms.The Constitution and the Bill of Rights must be construed in light of that revolutionary statement of rights in the Declaration of Independence. The American people used the Constitution to bring the federal government into existence but also, simultaneously, they used that document to limit the government's powers to those expressly enumerated in the Constitution. With the Constitution, people limited the powers of their own government in a formal, structured way, with the aim of protecting their rights and freedoms from being infringed upon by that same government.Why did Americans deem it desirable and necessary to limit the powers of the federal government? Because they feared the possibility that their new government would become like their former government against which they had had to take up arms. While they recognized the necessity for government -- as a means to protect their rights -- they also recognized that the federal government was the greatest threat to their rights. By severely limiting the powers of the federal government to those enumerated within the Constitution, the Framers intended to encase the federal government within a straitjacket.Even that was not sufficient for the American people, however. As a condition for approving the Constitution, they demanded passage of the Bill of Rights, which emphasized two deeply held beliefs: (1) that the federal government, not some foreign entity, constitutes the greatest threat to the rights and liberties of the American people; and (2) that the enumeration of specific rights and liberties, both substantive and procedural, would better ensure their protection from federal infringement.On the 4th of July we celebrate the patriotism and courage of those English revolutionaries who were willing to pledge their lives, fortunes, and sacred honor in defense of the most revolutionary declaration of rights in history -- that man's rights come from God and nature, not from government.Happy Independence Day !! Happy 4th of July !Jacob G. Hornberger, "The Real Meaning of the Fourth of July," Lew Rockwell, July 4, 2008. Referenced at:http://www.lewrockwell.com/hornberger/hornberger149.html (A good portion of the article is taken directly from this article by Jacob Hornberger)
About 60 people gathered in downtown St. John's Monday afternoon to take part in an anti-poverty group's protest and march against the Muskrat Falls hydroelectric megaproject.

A press release from Anti-Poverty NL says the event is in response to "the long-known likelihood of failures" with Muskrat Falls.

The crowd yelled chants of, "Stop Muskrat Falls," and "audit Nalcor."

In the latest project update provided in June, Crown corporation Nalcor Energy put the price tag for the hydroelectric dam in Labrador at $12.7 billion.

Nalcor CEO Stan Marshall said it was worse than the 1969 Quebec deal, reiterating his motto that Muskrat Falls is a "boondoggle" that's gone too far to stop.

"The Muskrat Falls project is a disaster that will amplify poverty across N.L.," reads the press release from Anti-Poverty NL.

"We need to show that this is not OK. We need justice for the indigenous peoples, working families and folks living in poverty who are harmed by this project while the provincial government and Nalcor spend billions."

The demonstration started at Harbourside Park at 1 p.m. NT.
NIAMEY (Reuters) - Suspected Boko Haram Islamist militants killed nine people and abducted dozens more in southern Niger on Sunday night, the local mayor and a journalist said. The attackers rode camels into the village of Ngalewa, about 50 km (30 miles) north of the border with Nigeria - home of the Boko Haram insurgency - said Maman Nour, the director of a community radio station in the nearby town of Kabelawa. "They killed nine people and they kidnapped around 30," said Nour, who had spoken to fleeing villagers. Abba Gata Issa, mayor of the district, confirmed the nine dead and said around 40 women and children had been kidnapped. Boko Haram launches frequent cross-border raids from its strongholds in northeastern Nigeria and has killed more than 20,000 people during its eight-year insurgency. Last week bombers killed two people and wounded 11 others at a U.N.-managed camp in the same region of Niger that houses thousands of people who have fled Boko Haram violence. It was the first suicide attack in Niger's southern Diffa region in a year. (Reporting by Boureima Balima and Joe Bavier; Writing by Nellie Peyton; Editing by Joe Bavier and Andrew Heavens)
Atheism remains one of the most extreme taboos in Saudi Arabia. It is a red line that no one may cross. Regarded on a par with terrorists, atheists in Saudi Arabia suffer imprisonment, marginalisation, slander, ostracisation and even execution. Efforts at normalisation between those who believe and those who don't remain bleak.





Despite constant warnings issued by Saudi religious authorities about 'the dangers of atheism', which is, according to them, 'tantamount to not believing in God', many citizens in the kingdom are turning their backs on Islam. Among other things, perhaps what is primarily driving Saudis to abandon their religion is the country's strict and dehumanising codex of Islamic law coupled with easy access to information and mass communication. Unfortunately, those who are open about their atheism find themselves harshly punished or forced to live double lives.





Just recently Saudi Arabia sentenced another atheist to death for uploading a video renouncing Islam. The man was identified as Ahmad Al-Shamri, in his 20s, from the town of Hafar Al-Batin, a village located in Saudi Arabia's eastern province. In the video, Al-Shamri renounces Islam and makes disparaging remarks about the prophet Muhammad.





Saudi authorities first picked him up in 2014 after he uploaded a series of videos reflecting his views on social media, which led to him being charged with 'atheism and blasphemy'.





With leaving Islam punishable by death in Saudi Arabia, the country's Supreme Court, which ruled against Al-Shamri on 25 April 2017, has effectively already pronounced the death sentence. Although court proceedings dealing with blasphemy, atheism or homosexuality may last for months, the sentence is far more likely to be known in advance.





The birthplace of Islam: "we are the country that hosts the two holiest sites for Muslims in Mecca and Medina. We are the country that is based on Islamic principles and so forth. We are a country that is homogeneous in accepting Islam by the entire population. Any calls that challenge Islamic rule or Islamic ideology is considered subversive in Saudi Arabia and would be subversive and could lead to chaos," claims the Saudi ambassador to the UN, Abdallah Al-Mouallimi





Riyadh introduced a series of laws in 2014 criminalising those who spread 'atheist thought' or question the 'fundamentals of the Islamic religion'. According to Amnesty International Global Report on death sentences and executions, Saudi Arabia has scored 154+ executions, in which the 'death penalty was imposed after proceedings that did not meet international fair trial standards'. In January 2017, an unnamed Yemeni man living in Saudi Arabia was reportedly charged with apostasy and sentenced to 21 years in prison for insulting Islam on his Facebook page.





In November 2016, Indian migrant worker Shankar Ponnam reportedly was sentenced to 4 months in prison and a fine of 1,195 euros for sharing a picture of the Hindu god Shiva sitting atop the Kaaba on Facebook.





In November 2015, Palestinian poet and artist Ashraf Fayadh was sentenced to death for apostasy for allegedly questioning religion and spreading atheist thought in his poetry. His sentence was reduced to 8 years in prison and 800 lashes to be administered on 16 occasions.





In 2014, Raif Badawi was also convicted of blasphemy for creating a website dedicated to fostering debate on religion and politics. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison and 1000 lashes.





In 2012, the journalist Hamza Kashgari was accused of blasphemy after he posted a string of tweets. He was captured in Malaysia and brought back to the kingdom. No further information about his case has surfaced since.





Atheists are terrorists





In 2014, Saudi Arabia introduced a series of new laws in the form of royal decrees, which define atheists as terrorists. The new royal provisions define terrorism as "calling for atheist thought in any form, or calling into question the fundamentals of the Islamic religion on which Saudi Arabia is based".





Conflating atheism and terrorism has become official in Saudi Arabia, by which non-believers who commit 'thought crimes' are the same as violent terrorists.





Offering a platform: "Saudi atheists can turn to a number of Internet sites, such as 'Saudis without religion', 'Spreading atheism in Saudi' and 'Saudi secular'; all of which indicate that, despite the restrictions, there is a certain level of 'atheist' activity. On Twitter, the most widely used site in Saudi Arabia, over 20,000 Saudis have reacted to topics relating to the spread of atheism in Saudi Arabia," writes Khatib





Article 4 of the kingdom's laws on terrorism states: "Anyone who aids ['terrorist'] organisations, groups, currents [of thought], associations, or parties, or demonstrates affiliation with them, or sympathy with them, or promotes them, or holds meetings under their umbrella, either inside or outside the kingdom; this includes participation in audio, written, or visual media; social media in its audio, written, or visual forms; internet websites; or circulating their contents in any form, or using slogans of these groups and currents [of thought], or any symbols which point to support or sympathy with them."





In a programme named "UpFront" on Al Jazeera America, Saudi Ambassador to the UN, Abdallah Al-Mouallimi explains why advocating atheism in Saudi Arabia is considered a terrorist offence.





Al-Mouallimi says that atheists are deemed terrorists in his country because in Saudi Arabia, "we are a unique country."





"We are the birthplace of Islam," he adds. "We are the country that hosts the two holiest sites for Muslims in Mecca and Medina. We are the country that is based on Islamic principles and so forth. We are a country that is homogeneous in accepting Islam by the entire population. Any calls that challenge Islamic rule or Islamic ideology is considered subversive in Saudi Arabia and would be subversive and could lead to chaos."





"If he [an atheist] was disbelieving in God, and keeping that to himself, and conducting himself, nobody would do anything or say anything about it. If he is going out in the public, and saying, 'I don't believe in God', that's subversive. He is inviting others to retaliate," Al-Mouallimi elaborates.





Countermeasures





The president of the Centre for Middle East Studies in Riyadh, Anwar Al-Ashqi, does not see the authorities' adoption of these laws as a suppression of freedoms. While he believes that atheism as an independent thought is positive, it may become negative and require legal accountability if it aims to transform the traditional nature of the Saudi society, triggering communal strife and challenging the established religion. The state in this case, according to him, "has the right to outlaw this type of atheism and declare it an aspect of terrorism."





Similar to other Gulf States, Saudi Arabia perceives atheism as a threat that needs to be eliminated. There have therefore been several conferences, trainings and workshops in recent years aimed at 'immunising society, especially the youth, against atheist ideas'. Saudi Arabia has established the Yaqeen Centre at The Al-Madina University Department of the Study of Faith and Religions. Yaqeen Centre, which means 'certainty', specialises in combatting atheistic and non-religious tendencies. The centre's vision is 'to achieve leadership in countering atheism and non-religiosity locally and globally'. What this centre actually does remains unclear.





In October 2016, the Saudi Ministry of Education launched a government programme called "Immunity" in schools to "inoculate" children against Westernisation, atheism, liberalism and secularism.





Atheists in the Kingdom?





In 2012, a poll by WIN-Gallup International (Global Index of Religiosity and Atheism) found that almost a quarter of people interviewed in Saudi Arabia described themselves as "not religious" and of those 5 to 9% declared themselves to be convinced atheists.





Extrapolating that figure on a national scale suggests there are about 1.4 million atheists living in Saudi Arabia. This of course excludes all work migrants from different parts of the world, who might already be non-believers.

 | Report an error, an omission, a typo; suggest a story or a new angle to an existing story; submit a piece, a comment; recommend a resource; contact the webmaster, contact us: deathpenaltynews@gmail.com



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: qantara.de, July 3, 2017
Anti-Death Penalty Network (ADPAN) welcomes the new Criminal Code, which abolishes the death penalty for all crimes, entry into force on 1 July 2017 in Mongolia after it was adopted by the State Ikh Khural of Mongolia on 3 December 2015.





Now Mongolia becomes 18th abolitionist for all crimes country in the Asia Pacific region.

Mongolia: Historic vote abolishes death penalty

Mongolias parliament became the latest to consign the death penalty to the history books, in a major victory for human rights in the country, said Amnesty International today.





On Thursday, lawmakers voted in favour of a new Criminal Code that abolishes the death penalty for all crimes. The new Criminal Code will take effect from September 2016, and would bring the total number of countries to have completely abandoned this ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment to 102.





Mongolias historic decision to abolish the death penalty is a great victory for human rights. The death penalty is becoming a thing of the past across the world, said Roseann Rife, East Asia Research Director at Amnesty International.





Mongolia has set an example which we hope will quickly ripple across Asia. The countries that continue to execute have been shown a clear path to follow to end this cruel and inhumane punishment.





Three countries - Fiji, Madagascar and Suriname - have already abolished the death penalty this year.





The last execution in Mongolia was in 2008 and the death penalty remained classified as a state secret. Since then, the country has taken a series of steps towards abolition culminating in yesterdays historic parliamentary vote.





In 2010, the countrys President, Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj, commuted all death sentences and announced a moratorium on all executions. In 2012, Mongolia ratified an international treaty committing the country to the abolition of the death penalty.





President Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj has repeatedly said Mongolia must turn its back on the death penalty in order to fully respect the right to life. He argued that the threat of executions does not have a deterrent effect and the risk of a miscarriage of justice is inherent in any system of justice.





President Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj exposed the fallacy of the death penalty. The political leadership shown in abolishing the death penalty in Mongolia needs to be repeated elsewhere in Asia. Countries that continue to execute are on the wrong side of history, said Roseann Rife.

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By PTI: New Delhi, Jul 4 (PTI) The Congress today attacked the AAP government for "delaying" the fourth phase of the Delhi Metro project by not paying its due share.

The mass transport system in Delhi will collapse due to the "delay" in the Metro project, claimed Delhi Congress spokesperson Sharmishtha Mukherjee.

"The fourth phase of the Delhi Metro project is facing obstacles due to the attitude of the AAP government. It is deliberately delaying the project by not giving its due share of taxes," Mukherjee said in a press conference.

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In cities like Kochi, Chennai, Bangalore, where Metro rail projects are joint ventures, the state governments concerned are mandated to pay both state taxes as well as their share of subordinate debt, she said.

"The demand from the Delhi government for exemption of paying its own share of taxes is indeed going against the norm," she stated.

Delhi Metros Phase IV, featuring six corridors measuring over 100 kilometres, was approved by the Delhi government in January. PTI VIT KUN

--- ENDS ---
The United States declared independence from Great Britain in 1776 to secure for all Americans their unalienable rights. These rights include, but are not limited to, "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness."

Thomas Jefferson, chief author of the Declaration of Independence, by using the word "unalienable," claimed two things about our human rights. First, these rights are not given to us by the government. We have them even if the government does not respect them. Second, we cannot cede these rights to the government even by our own consent. They cannot be taken away from us, and we cannot give them away.

Mr. Jefferson was careful to define our rights in this way because this definition justified a declaration of independence from Great Britain. Revolt, he argued, was lawful only if, "after a long train of abuses and usurpations," a government continued to refuse to respect and secure the rights of its citizens.

The Revolution was a last resort to Americans. They had to "provide new Guards for their future security" because of a government that not only exercised despotic power, but also "evince[d] a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism."

The 56 delegates who signed the Declaration of Independence did not take their duty lightly. They risked being charged with treason against the British government but recognized it to be necessary. Benjamin Franklin, the eldest signer of the Declaration, said, "We must, indeed, all hang together, or most assuredly we will hang separately." They were willing to risk their lives to preserve their unalienable rights. Only united could they succeed.

On this Fourth of July, we Americans celebrate our independence, and the heroism of the men and women who risked, and gave, their lives to secure our unalienable rights. We recognize that these rights are not unique to Americans, indeed, they belong to every human being. Thus on Independence Day, we celebrate not only our independence and our rights, but also the rights of all peoples throughout the world.
At the recently concluded session of the UN Human Rights Council, the U.S. played a key role in shaping the international response to urgent human rights situations.

In several speeches, Ambassador Haley highlighted the need for reform of the Human Rights Council, or HRC, to make it more effective and accountable, including by eliminating the biased agenda item focused solely on Israel. She underscored the need for the HRC to focus international attention and action on the worst human rights violators, including through reforms to the Councils membership.

In particular, the United States joined consensus on a resolution establishing an international team that will investigate reports of atrocities occurring in the Kasai provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The U.S. issued a strong statement calling for the government of the DRC to cooperate with the investigation, provide unhindered access to all areas of the country, ensure the safety of all who cooperate with the investigation, including victims and witnesses, and ensure accountability for all perpetrators of human rights violations and abuses.

On Venezuela, the United States co-sponsored a side event to draw attention to the deteriorating human rights situation there. Following the event, the United States condemned reprisals by the Venezuelan delegation against two of the participants.

In support of gender equality, the United States joined consensus on resolutions on eliminating violence against women and discrimination against women and girls. The U.S. also co-sponsored resolutions to extend the mandate of the Special Rapporteurs on trafficking in persons and on child, early, and forced marriage in humanitarian settings.

The United States co-sponsored a resolution on the egregious violations and abuses of human rights in Syria. The U.S. also co-sponsored a resolution welcoming the Ukrainian governments cooperation with UN human rights monitors. The United States continued its support for the mandates of the special rapporteurs on Belarus and on the situation of human rights in Eritrea, and supported a Presidential Statement on Cote dIvoire to encourage continued cooperation between the government and the UN on human rights.

The United States work on the HRC demonstrates that it will never give up the cause of universal human rights.
One of the fundamental principles of the United States Constitution, the law of the land, is the balance and separation of power among the three branches of the Government: the Legislative, or law-making branch that is the U.S. Congress, the Executive branch which is headed by the President, and the Judiciary, which interprets the law at every level and settles legal disputes regarding the meaning and the application of the law.

The distribution of power among the three branches is meant to ensure that no one branch of the government is able to gain a disproportionate amount of power over the other two.

Each branch has separate and unique powers the others cannot impinge upon, but which are nonetheless subject to acceptance or rejection by the other two branches. This is how the balance of power is kept in check.

Thus, the Congress writes and enacts laws. It sets budgets and taxes and authorizes borrowing. It is the only body that can declare war. The Congress may override a presidential veto with a 60 percent vote.

Both the House of Representatives and the Senate initiate bills, or potential laws. The Senate also ratifies treaties, and confirms presidential appointments to federal posts.

The House of Representatives creates federal judgeships and courts except for the Supreme Court, and has the ability to start impeachment proceedings against federal officials, including the President.

Once proposed legislation passes through both Houses of the Congress, it goes to the President, who either signs the bill into law or vetoes it. In addition, the President is the Commander in Chief of all armed forces, has the power to make treaties and appointments to federal posts, and ensures that federal laws are executed throughout the country.

The Judicial branch of the Government, which includes the Supreme Court and all lower Federal courts, decides the meaning of laws, how to apply them to real situations, and whether a law breaks the rules of the Constitution.

The accumulation of all powers, legislative, executive, and judiciary, in the same hands may justly be pronounced the very definition of tyranny, wrote James Madison, the Father of the Constitution.

The defect must be supplied by so contriving the interior structure of the government, as that its several constituent parts may, by their mutual relations, be the means of keeping each other in their proper places."
Spain has dozens of beaches where nude sunbathing is allowed. Getty Images

They say our dreams are never cheap, yet one of the most inexpensive fantasies involves imagining ourselves lying in our bare skin, exulting in the luxury of a wild beach or a remote cove. The nudist beaches that dot Spains 8,000-km coastline have an innate ability to appeal to our physical senses as well as our inner dreams. The time has come to go out looking for them, as the waters of the Mediterranean will be warm enough for swimming by mid-June.

1. A sandy spit

The beach of El Puntal, in the bay of Santander.

El Puntal (Ribamontan al Mar, Cantabria)

Nobody is immune to the charms of this beach, which is located smack in the middle of Santander, but is only accessible from the city by boat, or after a 40-minute trek from Somo. The pier is just across the construction site for the new Botin Center. Once there, the beach bar El Puntal is living testimony of how this sandy spit has grown in popularity: 45 years ago it occupied the end of the beach, and now only 300 meters separate it from Punta Rabiosa. Beachgoers still fill the chiringuito at lunchtime because of its popular rabas (squid strips) and albondigas de bonito (albacore fish shaped into balls). The Robinson Crusoes of this beach take up an area located 150 meters from the beach bar, near the white dunes, while the side facing the bay is reserved for kids, and everyone else gets the spot with views of Magdalena peninsula.

2. Generous dunes

The beach of Els Muntanyans, in Torredembarra (Tarragona, Cataluna).

Els Muntanyans (Torredembarra, Tarragona)

This superb chain of dunes stretching for nearly two kilometers has an area of 200 meters reserved for the Adam and Eve types, who can lie here with the sound of the crashing waves in the background. This may well be the most relaxing spot in the entire Costa Dorada. To get there, park the car near the Cal Bofill Environmental Activity Center and take the boardwalk located behind the magnificent dunes The Mountains, as they call them around here  until you reach the nudist area, which entails around a 10-minute walk. The water puddles that form at the back, and which will dry up in August, attract birds who have learned to live with the sound of the nearby passing trains. For a taste of the local cuisine, try El Vaixell restaurant.

3. Decompressing in the sea

Playa de los Alemanes (Foz, Lugo)

Translated as Beach of the Germans, this is just one of many strips of sand named after the European pioneers of bathing in the nude. This particular strand evokes the Germans who used to work at the nearby kaolin mine, which is still in operation. It is the most dazzling of the nudist beaches in all of Lugo province, and is also referred to as Area Brava. Bathers form a large family within the 135 meters of fine sand backed by a shield of cliffs where pine and eucalyptus trees are reflected in the water. Los Alemanes, which lives up to ISO 14001 and EMS environmental standards, is better enjoyed when the tide is going down. To get there, drive by Cangas de Foz, take the exit to Burela and park in Areoura. The path leading down to the beach is tucked in between a cluster of homes at various stages of construction. For lunch or dinner, most everyone likes to head back to the car and drive three kilometers to the restaurant Lugar do Sixto.

4. Tasty coquinas from Donana

Chiringuito Bananas (Matalascanas, Almonte, Huelva)

Sitting atop a tall fossilized dune with no other buildings in sight, the Bananas beach bar flies its rainbow flag to announce the friendly and alternative lifestyle that rules along a 25-km stretch of untouched coastline between Matalascanas and Mazagon. Chiringuito Bananas is Andalusia's gay beach bar par excellence, and a living tribute to the original owner and soul of this place, Salvador Jordan, who has since passed away. The nudist area is located around 150 meters from here. The bar serves coquinas (small wedge clams), grilled choco (small cuttlefish) and for dessert, shots of rum, whipped cream and cinnamon. Patrons can sit back and enjoy the sunset to the sound of chill-out and bossa nova.

5. This place really rocks

A couple sunbathing in the nude. Barnaby Hall

Roques Planes (Calonge, Girona)

On the Costa Brava, seekers of nudist havens must take the side roads. In Sant Antoni de Calonge, leave the car at the free parking lot near Martina tower, then walk south for 15 minutes to see for yourself that it is still possible to find a virgin stretch of coastline dotted with nothing but pine trees. There isnt a lot of sand to go around, but there are lots of flat rocks and other spots to lay down a towel and enjoy views of the bay of Palamos. Erosion has created the Roca Foradada (Hole-drilled Rock) and the Espalda de Ballena (Whales Back). Until mid-July, the local restaurant Guillermo offers something called Menu de la Gamba, a prix-fixe menu that comes with anchovy on toast, a plate of local shrimp, fideua (a type of paella made with pasta), drink and dessert for 36.

6. Under the giant Faneque

Guayedra (Agaete, Gran Canaria)

Now here is one of those pieces of Canary Island heaven that have yet to be truly discovered. A dirt path veers off the GC-200 road linking Agaete and La Aldea, shortly after Kilometer 5. This 900-meter stretch takes you down a ravine that was once a major settlement for the aborigine people of the island. We are inside the Natural Park of Tamadaba, where the contrast between the green hue of the palm trees and the harshness of the rocks creates a unique charm. From here, it is necessary to continue on foot a further 15 minutes before reaching the most enchanting nudist beach in all of northern Gran Canaria, a place of pebbles and volcanic sand under the imposing presence of the Faneque, with its 1,000 meters of free-fall. Swimming here is dangerous.

7. 'Flysch' world

Siete Playas (Mutriku, Gipuzkoa)

The well-defined beach of Saturraran is an excellent place for a stroll over to the crags of Atxeku and the country house of the Count of Motrico. A footpath bypasses the estate on its sea-facing side and leads down a flight of stairs to the wild area of Siete Playas, known for its black flysch sedimentary formations. Old Neptune is always a menacing presence around here, so experts recommend coming on days when the sea is calm, and two hours before low tide if possible. After that, consider another stroll down the newly refurbished seaside promenade to Ondarroa, to sample the creative tapas at Bar Cantabrico. Those looking for offbeat accommodation should check out the watchtower-house Haitzalde.

8. From seashells to amulets

Ponzos (Ferrol, A Coruna)

In El Ferrol, large but dangerous beaches are the predominant physical forms along the seafront. A concrete ramp leads down to this wild setting, where spots for sunset-watching are at a premium. There is nothing in Ponzos quite like walking along the water at low tide and gazing down at the ojos vidales, seashells used to make amulets. There used to be a gold mine here, and a cylinder-shaped tower that is still standing marks the beginning of the nudist sector. Swimming here is dangerous, and experts recommend doing nothing more than poking the wave, or touching it and quickly jumping out again. The nearby campsite, Camping As Cabazas (www.ascabazascamping.com), has a school offering courses in surfing, skating and longskate (punkodeslizamiento.blogspot.com.es)

9. Happy feet

The hotel area at Son Bou beach, in Menorca. Gonzalo Azumendi (Age Fotostock)

Son Bou (Alaior, Menorca)

The longest beach in Menorca is slightly over two kilometers long, and boasts fine sand that feels very satisfying under your feet. To reach the nudist area, leave the car back at the hotel and walk around 300 meters. This area is also accessible from Santo Tomas. The dunes vegetation slopes down in a great display of beauty, as it blends in with the bright green of the prat, the second most important wetland on the island and a watering hole for numerous bird species. Bathers should heed the flags alerting to the swimming conditions.

10. A miracle in the Levante

The beach of L'Ahuir, in Gandia. Natxo Frances

LAhuir (Gandia, Valencia)

Now here is a true prodigy, a piece of surviving nature  dunes included  in southern Gandia, where untrammeled development is not exactly what one would associate with conservationist values. Yet the success of this two-kilometer strip of untouched coast has led to a conservation effort that includes long wooden boardwalks to protect the dunes. There is a nudist sector and another one for pets, with complimentary doggy bags.

11. A closed cove, reopened

The beach of Las Gaviotas, in Tenerife.

Las Gaviotas (Santa Cruz de Tenerife)

This is the nudist sister to the beach of Las Teresitas. Situated three kilometers from the neighborhood of San Andres, Las Gaviotas was closed to the public in order to enlarge and repave the sinuous access road and to preserve it from collapse. It is a mixed-use beach where nudists and non-nudists share space with bodyboard fanatics. The strip of sand is narrow and bathers will find themselves losing their footing very soon after walking into the sea, which is normal for a cove at the foot of a cliff. Two recommendations: get there early to find a parking spot and bring water with you.

12. The tourist vortex

Bascuas (Sanxenxo, Pontevedra)

This is a terrific half-moon beach set against virescent cliffs, where nudist bathers represent 100 percent of attendance. But the tourist hordes that descend on Sanxenxo during the summer make it a good idea to come before school is out. The entire beach is protected from the cold northern winds that can blow even in the summer, while the islands of Ons provide a natural screen against the southern storms. An added bonus: the ground slopes gently down as one walks into the sea. The restaurant Cany Playa has been offering its specialties, calamari sandwiches and fish, for the last four decades.

13. Safe from the easterly winds

The beach of Roche, in Conil de la Frontera (Cadiz). Schmidt Reinhard

Faro de Roche (Conil de la Frontera, Cadiz)

There are up to nine coves along the coast of Roche, safe from the gusty easterly winds that blow here. Thirty-meter cliffs rise above the sea while the waves eat away at its base and the sunset showcases their impressive earthy tones. Around 150 meters from the watchtower-turned-lighthouse, there is a lookout point over the cove of Faro, which is hard to reach (no footpath is provided) and thus ideal for nudist sunbathing. Go only when the tide is low.

14. Stairway to heaven

Las Escaleras beach (La Oliva, Fuerteventura)

We are now on the east coast of Fuerteventura, a mostly unknown place. Four kilometers south of El Cotillo, we come to a short slope at the end of a dirt road and, soon after that, a right turn that leads straight to the cliffs. Only 132 steps separate us from a real gem: the beach of Las Escaleras (literally, the stairs) also known as playa del aguila (Eagle beach). Its openness to the Atlantic makes it an ideal spot for surfers. Come at low tide.

A nudist beachgoer. Caroline von Tuempling

15. Highly protected environment

Barronal (Nijar, Almeria)

Although the entire Cabo de Gata natural park is comfortable with nudism during off-season, there is one particular beach that is radically off-limits to textiles: Barronal, which extends over several coves. The parking area is the next one down from Los Genoveses (around three kilometers away). From there, it is a 700-meter walk down a rural path dotted with agave, rosemary and esparto grass. The beach has 800 meters of grey sand produced by the erosion of basalt. Remember to bring lots of water with you.

16. An indiscreet glance

La Vinyeta (Calella, Barcelona)

Where the Montnegre massif slopes down into the sea, we find one of the biggest attractions on the entire coast of Barcelona. Leave the car in the esplanade under the lighthouse and take the underground passage. La Vinyeta features thick yellowish sand where people use bathing suits until a spot 100 meters from the Rocapins beach bar (which serves paella for lunch and has a rock-climbing wall to boot). After that, the proverbial laid-back spirit of the nudist sector takes over. But there is a surprise in store: passengers on the commuter trains headed for Calella have a one-second window of opportunity to cast an indiscreet glance on La Vinyeta.

17. Far from everything

The beach of Es Caragol, in Mallorca. Tolo Ramon

Es Caragol (Santanyi, Mallorca)

There are few beaches with such a power of attraction for Mallorcas nudist crowd as the remote Es Caragol. Getting there entails walking for 15 minutes from the lighthouse of Ses Salines. The sand has been colonized by lilies and marine thistles, and the waters are clean and see-through, forming a soft curve that ends with the rocky outcrop of Punta Negra.

18. Even in Benidorm

Almadraba and Tio Ximo (Benidorm, Alicante)

They say that Benidorm has no official nudist beaches, yet nudism is practiced inside the Natural Park of Serra Gelada, in hidden coves that are easily accessible. The name of La Almadraba harks back to a time when the locals caught fish here the traditional way, but this pebbly cove is very exposed to prying eyes. Better try the cove of Tio Ximo, where bathing suits are on display in its tiny bathing area but nude bodies abound on the sides.

19. Off on an adventure

Salvados cove (Alajero, La Gomera)

Getting to this hard-to-reach cove makes for quite an adventure: the final step requires taking a leap down, since the rope that someone once left there is long gone. Leave the car at Medio beach, which accomodates both nudists and non-nudists, and walk over to Chinguarime, whose caves are inhabited by folks who have opted for an alternative lifestyle. Behind the next crag, there is a spot where the waves are small and fishermen once took refuge from the storms. The sand comes and goes depending on the weather. Anyone who doesnt feel comfortable with the descent should take their clothes off in Chinguarime.

20. Thanks, Cuchillon

Ballota beach, in Llanes (Asturias). Quintanilla

Ballota (Llanes, Asturias)

Ballota, together with Andrin, is one of the best-known and most photographed beaches on the entire Asturian coast, thanks to the lookout point of La Boriza. Yet its nudist corner is little known, and separated from the rest by El Cuchillon, a jutting rock that acts like a natural and gigantic folding screen. The beauty of Ballota is closely linked to its islet and cliffs. Remember to come when the tide is low to avoid having to put your towel down on the pebbles.
This week on Facebook Live, we spoke to James Blick, a travel journalist who is fronting an online gourmet guide to Madrid.

You can click here to see his neighborhood-by-neighborhood guide to the Spanish capital.

If you missed the live broadcast, you can here to watch again and to see all of our Facebook Live videos so far.

Want more?

Last month the Vice-President of the Eurocitizens campaign group, Michael Harris, came to the EL PAIS newsroom for a Facebook Live interview conducted by English Edition editor Simon Hunter. They discussed what Brexit is likely to mean for the rights of Britons living in Spain. Click here to watch again.

Recently on Facebook Live, EL PAIS English Edition interviewed the authors of a new book entitled Las 500 dudas mas frequentes del ingles (or, The 500 most common doubts about English).

The book  written by Mick Green and Kay Welsh, who are teachers from the British Council in Madrid  details basic concepts such as the ways dates are written differently throughout the English-speaking world, or how to sign off a letter, taking in subtleties such as how the meaning of a sentence is changed depending on the adverb employed.

The stream can be replayed here.

Also discussing English learning (although in this case in Spanish) is British broadcaster Michael Robinson, who came to the EL PAIS offices to talk to us about his new English-learning course, which is available at newsstands in Spain now. Click here to watch that Facebook Live broadcast.

You can also watch when British comedian and actor Eddie Izzard visited the EL PAIS newsroom for a live interview by clicking here.
I dont trust Madrid but I dont trust London either, says Michael Netto, International Relations manager for Gibraltars Unite union. Is Spain prepared to penalize its own people by stirring hatred between Gibraltar and La Linea simply for the sake of prolonging the process? Everyone is alarmed when some idiot talks about war and the Falkland Islands [a reference to recent incendiary statements made by ex-Tory leader Lord Michael Howard], but what about when thousands of workers are stuck at the border?

An aerial view of La Linea and Gibraltar.

While Britain is involved in the larger game of easing itself out of the EU, Gibraltarians are criticizing the warmongering and demanding that The Rock be left out of the equation. Because at stake here is the welfare of 33,000 residents who leave the enclave to shop and do business in Spain, to the tune of around 695 million a year. According to the Rocks Chamber of Commerce, Gibraltarian businesses import goods and services worth 445 million a year. And there are 12,000 Spaniards who work in Gibraltar and need to cross the border twice a day.

Now, like a bad omen, border controls have been stepped up and traffic lines have grown, with waiting periods of between three and five hours to get from one side to the other.

La Linea lacks industry and its hotel and services sector are dependent on Gibraltar

Mario Fernandez, deputy mayor of La Linea

The Spanish workers in Gibraltar do not come under the cross-border Workers Statute, as Spain does not recognize the so-called Verja as a border. Applying disproportionate controls at the border as a means of putting pressure on Gibraltar will only punish its economy, with repercussions on ours, says Lorenzo Perez, President of Apymell, an association of small businesses in La Linea.

Gibraltars economy is robust and powered by financial services and technology. The Rocks economy is fueled by a magically low 10% corporate tax and exemption from sales tax (VAT), a combination in place since 2009 that attracts companies from all over Europe. In the meantime, La Lineas economy is depressed and has been for a long time. But despite this imbalance, both are anxious about the results of the Brexit negotiations.

Clear in most peoples minds are the two occasions in recent history when politics interfered with their welfare: In 1969, the border was closed on Francos orders, splitting families and triggering an exodus from La Linea to escape the resulting poverty; and in 2013, UK-Spanish tensions caused five-hour lines at the border, making daily life unbearable for an entire year.

Monument to Spanish workers in Gibraltar. P. P.

The Spanish town of La Linea de la Concepcion lies just 50 meters from the border. It has a population of 63,000 and an unemployment rate of 35%. On the Rock, unemployment is at 1% and GDP per capita is 64,000. The contrast is striking. While Gibraltar thrives and fortunes are pooled and invested, La Linea is dealing with conflictive gangs and drugs. The urban development plan has not been revised in 30 years here and the Spanish Economy Ministry has had to intervene to help shore up the towns coffers: La Linea has an annual budget of 50 million and a debt of 160 million, a legacy from the days of the deceased politician and controversial celebrity Jesus Gil.

There is, however, an extraordinary symbiosis between the two economies, due to the constant comings and goings of goods and workers. Prosperity and survival depend on this symbiosis, but it is too early to say how Brexit negotiations will play out for the Rock. Predictably, British Prime Minister Theresa May rejects negotiating the Rocks sovereignty without the consent of Gibraltarians, while Brussels has given Spain a veto over the Rocks EU access.

Spaniards from towns in the vicinity with interests in Gibraltar fear the worst and want the Spanish government to seriously consider the potential consequences of allowing Gibraltar to be used as a political pawn in the negotiations between Brussels and the UK.

There is an extraordinary symbiosis between the two economies, due to the constant comings and goings of goods and workers

La Linea lacks industry and its hotel and services sector are dependent on Gibraltar, says Mario Fernandez, the towns deputy mayor, who is demanding a special economic deal for La Linea. Millions of euros come from the Rock every year, and if the border is closed, we will be affected.

There are thousands of aspects to such a complex process, but we want to focus on a small but vital issue, says Manuel Triano, chairman of the Cross-Frontier Group, a lobby that brings together businesses and trades unions from both sides of the border to depoliticize the conflict. Triano explains that they will try to make the British, Spanish and European authorities see that a move to close the border will once again lead to the unraveling of economies.

When Franco shut the border in 1969, he built a refinery to create jobs in the area and halt the exodus that made La Linea lose 40% of its population. Today, there are other kinds of threats, such as having Gibraltars online gaming industry move to Malta. The future of the overseas territory and of the adjacent Spanish town depends on the easy cross-border flow of goods and workers.

English version by Heather Galloway.
Barely 13% of Spanish high school graduates can boast about knowing intermediate English, while 35% remain stuck at beginners level, meaning they are unable to hold a conversation in that language, according to Eurostat figures. In a bid to improve standards, the education department of the regional government of Catalonia has decided to set up a pilot project called Avanzamos (We advance) in 40 public high schools.

English language students in Spain. Samuel Sanchez

For the last two years, language teachers (English, French, German, Latin, Spanish and Catalan) have been working together to avoid duplicating content and to help students better understand the cultural differences that lie behind languages.

The traditional approach to teaching languages doesnt work. We have to take a risk, explains Montserrat Montagut, the head of foreign languages at the Catalan Education Department.

Motivation has to be based on understanding cultural differences, and that can only be done by getting teachers to work together

Olga Esteve, foreign language expert

Languages cannot be taught in isolation and the least important things are grammatical structures. This is a new approach and that is why we need time to measure the impact on students, says Olga Esteve, an expert in foreign language learning methods at Barcelonas Pompeu Fabra University.

To acquire a second language, you use the knowledge you already have from your mother tongue. Motivation has to be based on understanding cultural differences, and that can only be done by getting teachers to work together, says Esteve, explaining that the idea is to apply project-based learning to languages.

Spanish schoolchildren spend their lives learning English, yet have little to show for it. Samuel Sanchez

She offers an example: students studying conversational techniques need to understand the origin of expressions in different languages; which means thinking about similarities between languages. It is also important to grasp that verb tenses do not function the same way in all languages. We shouldnt teach verb conjugations by heart, but instead the culture of each country and why one tense is used and not another, says Esteve.

This requires foreign language teachers to program their studies jointly, to decide who will explain what, and to try not to duplicate content. The teachers at the 40 schools in Catalonia taking part in the pilot project receive 50 hours of training during the first two years. In elementary schools, teachers do coordinate their efforts, but this never happens at the secondary level, says Esteve.

Jordi Satorra is the principal at Institut Antoni de Marti i Franques High School, one of the centers taking part in the pilot project. He explains that students of German study subordinate clauses during their third year of secondary school, when they are 14 or 15, whereas they do not do so in Spanish or Catalan until their fourth year.

Teachers need to know these details about the academic program and agree to reserve one or more sessions to explain new concepts first in the mother tongue, he explains.

The traditional approach to teaching languages doesnt work. We have to take a risk

Montserrat Montagut, Catalan education department

So far, tests on students show that their motivation levels have increased. Its easy to see why. Kids connect with languages and dont study them like math tables: another example of the end of memorization, says Esteve.

Kristina Cunningham, head of the European Commissions multilingualism unit, says that Spains main problem when it comes to learning languages is lack of proficiency by the teachers.

Any measure designed to improve the quality of teaching is welcome, but until Spanish language teachers spend time abroad, their ability to teach will be reduced. One short-term solution could be to include teachers in the Erasmus+ program, which foresees teacher exchanges.

English version by Nick Lyne.
Spain continues to be in the cross-hairs of the jihadist threat, a form of global and multifaceted terrorism that, in Europe, has found a territory in which it can strike . But in Spain, a silent army of more than 3,000 officers from the security forces, spies, prosecutors, judges and analysts are working in the shadows in order to avoid another attack: the 2004 Atocha train bombings remain the deadliest of the 21st century so far in Europe .

Lahcen Ikasrrien, who was found guilty of sending combatants to Syria, is arrested in 2014. Alvaro Garcia

More information Search on for Spaniard missing after London terror attack

Currently, more than a thousand people are on the radar of the Spanish police, while 259 people are being investigated by the courts and 500 telephones are being tapped as part of dozens of investigations. Thats according to confidential information to which EL PAIS has had access. The mission is so complicated that in their reports to the government the anti-terrorist services all arrive to the same, worrying conclusion: a new attack is inevitable.

What is Spain doing to combat this threat? How can you fight an enemy that has no structure or organization? The train attacks on March 11, 2004 changed everything. Before that massacre  in which 192 people died when an Al Qaeda-inspired cell planted explosive devices on a series of commuter trains  no one believed that there was a credible jihadist threat, and just 140 officers  from the Civil Guard, National Police and National Intelligence Center (CNI)  were investigating cells from the so-called Armed Islamic Group (GIA) or the Salafist groups who were preaching and recruiting mujahideen to their ranks.

Anti-terrorist services all arrive to the same, worrying conclusion: a new attack is inevitable

Imad Eddin Barakat, known as Abu Dahdah, and one of the founders of Al Qaeda in Spain, would see off fighters from Madrids Barajas airport, sending them to join the jihad in Bosnia, Chechnya or Afghanistan. And he would welcome back the wounded, and send them off to be treated in state-funded hospitals in Spain. The Syrian-Spaniard was shepherding his flock with total immunity. No one foresaw that those bearded fighters who came back from combat zones had been trained in weapons and explosives, and could be a danger to our safety.

The lack of foresight of this threat ended the day that the bodies of 192 people were collected from the blown-out shells of the Atocha trains. Ever since then Spain has been at the forefront of this fight in Europe: more than 700 arrests, dozens of convictions and 120 prisoners puts the country at the top of all of the statistics. In the last 13 years there have been no attacks, and many have been foiled  the majority during the planning stage, rather than execution.

Understanding the enemy is the main task faced by the CNI. Hundreds of agents spend their time combing the social networks, investigating the smaller mosques, recruiting informers and analyzing so-called Islamic State (ISIS), Al Qaeda and their acolytes. The secret service will not give figures on the resources it counts on, but Deputy Prime Minister Soraya Saenz de Santamaria has just announced that 600 new officers will be recruited up to 2020 to combat jihadism alone. The Counter-Terrorism Division is the fastest growing of its kind, and its allocation from the special reserved funds budget is also the biggest.

More than 700 arrests, dozens of convictions and 120 prisoners put Spain at the top of all of the statistics

The recent attacks in other countries reveal just how hard the challenge is. The British secret services, MI5 and MI6, had been warned five times about Salman Abedi, who blew himself up at an Ariana Grande concert at the Manchester Arena two weeks ago. We receive such a large amount of warnings that its impossible to attend to all of them, a police chief admitted. In the Spanish exclave city of Melilla, for example, in North Africa, there are hundreds of targets. Between people from Morocco and Melilla, including targets and associates, we have 400 people on the radar, although thats not to say that they are all potential terrorists, explains one Civil Guard officer. We invest a lot on intelligence.

One of the blown out trains at the Atocha bombing in 2004. Peter Dejong (AP)

In the 12 square kilometers covered by the city there are five different services working: the CNI, the National Police, the Civil Guard, the Moroccan General Directorate for Territorial Surveillance (DST) and Israels Mossad.

In Spains other exclave city, Ceuta, there are 600 people of interest, many of whom come and go at the border at Tarajal. It was from this city that the first of Spains suicide bombers traveled to Iraq and Syria, youngsters such as Rachid Wahbi, 33, who created a breeding ground that attracted others. They take a lot of security measures and when they cross the border we lose track of them, confesses one officer.

Madrid, Barcelona, Ceuta and Melilla are considered to be the most dangerous cities in Spain

Madrid, Barcelona, Ceuta and Melilla are considered to be the most dangerous cities in Spain, given that a total of 150 combatants who have traveled to Syria live there. But one police chief plays down the risk of an attack in the North African exclaves. They are small cities, well controlled, and Muslims could die, he explains. Intelligence reports warn, however, of possible targets in busy areas in Madrid and Barcelona. Summer concerts are of particular concern.

So why has Spain not seen any attacks in the last 13 years? Preventive arrests have a lot to do with it, explains one police chief. The Muslim community and the level of radicalization are not the same, xenophobia has not taken hold, and the risk is proportionate to the number of combatants who have traveled to Syria or Iraq. In our case there are very few.

Its a combination of factors, says an analyst from the anti-terrorist fight. Here we dont have ghettos as they do in France. The integration of the Muslim population is greater, and there is an incipient second generation. The radicalization is not so great. If there were 100% integration, the phenomenon would not exist.

All the sources consulted agree that collaboration with Morocco is one of the keys to avoiding a terrorist atrocity. Its a comfortable and noble companion on this journey, says one police official who works side by side with the DST. They have given us everything. Sources from the Civil Guard in Ceuta and Melilla are not so positive, however. Whenever the DST communicates something you have to wonder why it is doing so at this time, and what is going on in Morocco, or what they are interested in. Its hard to know what the interests of the DST are.

All the sources consulted agree that collaboration with Morocco is one of the keys to avoiding a terrorist atrocity

Dolores Delgado, the public prosecutors coordinator of terrorism cases at Spains High Court, admits that Spain is at risk of a new attack, but argues that the country is one of the best at working with information, as well as having established the best methodologies. We dont leave a single fact without investigation, she says. We could miss something, of course, but were always very clear what we are looking for. I believe we are at the forefront. We have overtaken the European directives and we maintain a balance between freedom and security.

Spains Muslim community, meanwhile, praises the actions of the police, but is calling for more measures. The police are doing things well, with recruitment slowing down, says Laarbi Mateis, the secretary of the Islamic Commission in Ceuta. But all of the efforts are related to security and not to education. We need social measures.

The 11-M attacks showed Spains weakness, and the country continues to be a target  not least due to the constant stream of arrests. The defeat of ISIS in Syria and Iraq is making the monster even more dangerous. The terrorists need to show that they are there and Europe is the scenario they have chosen in which to do so.

English version by Simon Hunter.
Without Vladim, Iclodean, Ludmila, Georgeta and Saulius, the products made by Heck Sausages would never reach the British dinner table. According to the owner of this growing family business, Debbie Keeble, the companys survival depends on the foreigners who make up the bulk of its workforce .

On the factory floor, Vladim Protasovs looks over an enormous tray of mince before stopping the machine that will pump it into sausage skins. Dressed in white trousers and blue apron, gloves and cap, this 35-year-old Lithuanian is in charge of the production line. He is one of a staff of 70 at the small company in North Yorkshire. A total of 60 of them come from Eastern Europe.

Some are wondering what the British will eat if Brexit negotiations cause this source of labor to dry up

Of course, its not just Heck Sausages that depends on labor from the EU. Foreign employees account for 30% of berry pickers and almost 90% of seasonal workers in the horticultural sector, which has a turnover of 3.4 billion a year. Now some are wondering what the British will eat if Brexit negotiations cause this source of labor to dry up.

Just a month after British Prime Minister Theresa May ordered the triggering of Article 50, signaling Britains intention to exit Europe, a parliamentary report drew attention to the fact that 30% of workers in the British food industry were foreign. It also indicated that without free movement of labor, the sector would run into trouble. Entitled: Feeding a Nation, Labor Restrictions, the report warned that some areas within the industry could descend into crisis, sending food prices skyrocketing.

Debbie Keeble, co-owner of Heck Sausages. M. R. S.

At Heck Sausages, Debbie Keeble says that they are already feeling the effects of Brexit, despite the fact that negotiations have not yet begun. We are currently facing an enormous challenge to keep the company afloat and keep it growing, she explains.

Hecks sausages are selling well and the company needs more staff. This is more pressing because, after their success with gluten-free sausages, they have branched out into vegan fare. But Keeble says theyre having difficulty filling job vacancies. People are scared to come to Britain now because they dont know what is going to happen with Brexit. If they can, they go elsewhere, she explains.

Vladim Protasovs came to Heck Sausages four years ago with his wife, Ludmila. They have settled in the nearby market town of Bedale, where their two children go to school. The couple believe that returning to Lithuania would not be a good move, particularly for their kids. But they are scared that things in Britain are about to change. Like most of the workers at the sausage factory, they found out about Heck through word-of-mouth and have recommended it to acquaintances themselves. Hardly any of our friends are prepared to come anymore, says Vladim.

Vladim Protasovs. M. R. S.

Its not just the instability and uncertainty generated by an agreement yet to be negotiated that is putting off potential workers from coming. There is also the fact that the pound has devalued by 20%, which means that earnings are worth much less back home. Companies dealing in temporary employment, such as the Romanian outfit Esr-Vest, say that it is now much harder to fill vacancies.

People are scared to come to Britain now because they dont know what is going to happen with Brexit Heck Sausages co-owner Debbie Keeble

These are jobs, Keeble explains, that the British dont want. This is not only the case in the meat sector, which has a 63% foreign workforce, but applies to almost all areas of the food industry. A life-long Conservative, Keeble, 52, feels indignant that immigration became the main thrust of the Brexit campaign. It was all about people from other countries coming to take British jobs when thats not true. Nobody applies for these jobs, she says.

Keeble voted to remain, so she got an unpleasant surprise on June 23 when she awoke to the news that the United Kingdom had voted to leave, particularly in North Yorkshire, where 59% were in favor of coming out of the EU compared to the national average of 52%.

Yet Yorkshire companies are set to be hit hard by Brexit. Guy Poskitt, Director of the Yorkshire company Poskitts Carrots, says that Brexit will mean a major upheaval for the sector.

These are jobs, Keeble explains, that the British dont want

At Heck, another Lithuanian Saelius Serelis, 51, expresses disappointment with the results of the referendum. For him its not about whether foreigners will be able to access jobs in the same way. He believes that agreements will be reached to maintain freedom of movement within the EU. Rather he feels somewhat hurt that his neighbors for the past 14 years would vote for Brexit so that people like him would not be able to settle in the UK.

English version by Heather Galloway.
With Madhya Pradesh Assembly elections scheduled for next year, Congress is planning to target the Dalit community through a mega show in Mhow on July 10.

By Supriya Bhardwaj: Congress is planning to raise the atrocities faced by the the Dalit community in a mega show on July 10, at Mhow in Madhya Pradesh.

According to reports, senior Congress leader and grandson of Dr BR Ambedkar, Prakash Ambedkar will also be joining the day-long mega event.

Dr BR Ambedkar was born in Mhow, and his grandson's presence might just legitimise Congress party as far as the legacy of Dr Ambedkar is concerned. There is a tug of war between Congress and BJP over who the real custodian of the legacy of Dr Ambedkar is.

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Apart from Prakash Ambedkar, social organisations and civil society members from across the country will also join the campaign to raise Dalit rights issue across the country.

The day-long event includes a prayer meet at Ambedkar Memorial, followed by a Kisan Sammelan and a seminar at Ambedkar University.

Madhya Pradesh will go to polls next year, and the Congress plans to raise the farmers as well as Dalits plight issues during the election.

BJP has already rolled out its Mission 2019 focusing on Dalits, OBC, SC/STs. The event at Madhya Pradesh will mark the soft launch of Congress' campaign as far as wooing Dalit community is concerned.

Apart from this, party is holding a Kisan Swabhiman Yatra in the state and the culmination of the yatra will happen in Lahar city of Bhind district.

Also Read

Back from vacation, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi has following work cut out for him Nitish Kumar: Congress a big party, should set Opposition agenda

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The picturesque town of Carmona, some 35 kilometers northeast of Seville, has much to commend it: extensive Roman remains, a Moorish alcazar, or fortress, impressive walls, Baroque palaces and innumerable churches. But growing numbers of visitors, particularly from Japan, are drawn here for the spectacular sunflower fields on the outskirts of the town.

A Japanese tourist in the sunflower fields of Carmona, Sevilla.

Weve seen a huge increase in visitor numbers from Japan, as well as China and Korea, says Paula Moreno, who runs Carmonas tourism office. Its hard to say whether its just for the sunflowers, but rarely a day goes by without several groups or couples interested in seeing them. She says the number of visitors from Asia has increased from some 2,900 in 2012 to more than 4,000.

Mai Muraki, a twenty-something visitor from Japan, says she has come to Carmona especially to see the sunflower fields. I love sunflowers, they are beautiful, I love their color, their sheen, their elegance. Ive always loved them, ever since I was a child, she confesses.

I love sunflowers, they are beautiful. I love their color, their sheen, their elegance Mai Muraki, Japanese tourist

Muraki and a friend are waiting outside the tourism office for a taxi to take them to the sunflower fields, which cover more than 5,000 hectares. I dont know if Ill have time to take all the photos I want, she says.

Visitors have two options: they can take a taxi or use Girasoles de Carmona, which provides a tour of the farm, by a horse-drawn buggy if there is enough time, as well as information about sunflower growing, says Moreno. They have sunflowers in Asia, but not on this scale, where they stretch beyond the horizon, she adds, noting that the tourism office of Carmona is now in touch with travel agencies in Asia to organize larger groups during the growing season, which begins in May and lasts until the harvest in July.

They transmit happiness, something positive, says Muraki, holding onto a bag of sunflower seeds the tourism office has given her to plant. They are full of life, full of light, she adds.

Mai Muraki and a friend amid the sunflowers of Carmona.

Moreno explains that many visitors from Asia tell her that sunflowers represent vitality and fertility, and that in some parts of Japan there are sunflower festivals. They say they represent light, life, the sun, adds Victoria Perez of Girasoles de Carmona, who also shows visitors the very Spanish art of cracking open sunflower seeds  known as pipas  with her teeth.

Another visitor to Carmona, Jun Zhang, says that he fell in love with sunflowers after seeing Sophia Loren in the 1970 movie, Sunflower. They fascinated me, he explains, describing the fields in Spain as an endless sea of light.

Sunflower lovers can adopt a 40-square-meter patch and receive videos and photographs of every aspect of the growth cycle

They fill me with peace, with happiness, he says, returning from a walk through the fields. They make you want to lose yourself and stay there forever, hidden, or for 24 hours at least.

In response to the growing international interest in Carmonas sunflowers, Girasoles de Carmona is now offering virtual plantations. Via the internet, sunflower lovers can adopt a 40-square-meter patch for 250 and receive videos and photographs of every aspect of the growth cycle, from planting to harvest. They are then sent a dried sunflower from their patch.

For the first year, we have already received a good few requests. But above all, we get a lot of requests for information, says Perez.

English version by Nick Lyne.
Nobody picks them up after school. Nobody is waiting at home to prepare them a meal. They are Spains growing number of latchkey kids, mainly from low-income households, and who after school or during vacations spend hours at home alone, often into the evening, while their parents are working .

Hugo, the star of an awareness campaign about latchkey children. Educo

According to Spanish NGO Educo, there are around 580,000 children in Spain between six and 13 years of age who will spend their afternoons unsupervised this summer, a 66% rise from 2009. And the figure will keep growing, warns Clarisa Giamello, director of education and social action at Educo.

The passage from elementary school to high school, between the ages of 11 and 12, is the time when many parents hand over the house keys to their children, alleging that they are old enough, according to a report by Educo called Nativos de la crisis: los ninos de la llave (or, Natives of the crisis: the latchkey children).

The parents cannot afford summer camps for their children under adult supervision

Clarisa Giamello, Educo

A survey conducted by Educo found that the age range is much wider, however. Last year, there were more than half-a-million latchkey children in Spain between six and 13 years of age.

These children might have breakfast on their own, spend the afternoon by themselves and even eat dinner alone. This situation exposes them to risks such as early alcohol and drug consumption, warn the experts.

Eating disorders are also a risk, since nobody supervises what they eat, and high-calorie foods are easily within their reach.

They spend much of their time staring at screens, exposed to advertising and to all the unfiltered content available on television, reads the report.

The problem is worse in the summer. According to Educo, 58% of underprivileged households with children ages six through to 16 cannot afford to go on summer vacation, even for one week out of the year.

They dont take family holidays, and the parents cannot afford summer camp for their kids, where they could play with other children under adult supervision and that would ensure at least one full, healthy meal a day, says Giamello.

In response, Educo wants to provide latchkey children with one meal a day and has launched an awareness campaign that includes television advertisements, inviting donations toward setting up feeding centers.

The main reason given by parents who were asked why their children did not engage in summer activities was: It is an expense that we cannot afford right now.

English version by Susana Urra.
Bodega de la Ardosa, in the Madrid neighborhood of Malasana, which will be one of the busiest in Madrid during World Pride, from June 23 to July 2.

Enjoying a stroll, having a drink and enjoying some tapas in Madrid can be a fiesta all in itself, especially if you know where to go and what the specialty of each place is. More than ever, when it comes to gastronomy, the Spanish capital represents a huge melting pot, where the modern and traditional mix  theres everything from ethnic restaurants and traditional establishments, to Basque pincho bars and Andalusian frying joints. Not to mention the bakeries, burger bars, sandwich bars, fancy cake stores, terraces, food markets, ice cream parlors, and smoothie specialists They are all the mirror of a cosmopolitan city, where the modern lives side by side with venues that still preserve an air of centuries past.

JUSTICIA, CHUECA, GRAN VIA neighborhoods

La Panotheca

You will be surprised by the treasures that this venue hides inside. When you enter, there is a bakery counter, selling bread made with organic flours. At the back, a cafe for a quick fix. And for those looking for a take-away, theres a selection of homemade sandwiches.

Argensola, 26. +34 917 27 47 04.

A sanctuary for the best chocolate. Creative bonbons and bars of crumbling cacao. At the bar, chocolate milkshakes and some passable pastries. In spring and summer, they set up a counter on the street that supplies huge chocolate ice creams and fruit sorbets.

Orellana, 4. +34 913 19 58 40.

An organic cheeseburger in the restaurant Meat. Alfredo Arias

Cocktails and hamburgers. The inspiration here are the BBQ meat shacks in Austin, the burger joints from Venice Beach and the cocktail bars in New Orleans. An industrial look and a lot of allusions to the movie world. Recommended: the Royal Burger with Cheese.

Santa Teresa, 4. +34 910 26 62 76.

Iberian ham in all its forms: baguette, small cubes, fine slices This place is dedicated to the sacred jamon, but also offers the perfect accompaniment: pates and cheeses.

Fuencarral, 106. +34 915 21 27 41.

Its worth a visit here to take a seat and enjoy the pastries, palmeras and sweet or savory croissants. The standard of the coffee and tea is on a par with the sweet specialties. Also notable: the chocolate milk.

Barquillo, 49. +34 913 08 31 85.

Taberna Angel Sierra

Vermouth on tap, a tin bar and tiling are the distinguishing characteristics of this legendary tavern in Plaza de Chueca. On offer: olives, pickles, and fine canned produce, including pies, mussels and tuna.

Gravina, 11. +34 915 31 01 26.

A 100-year-old tavern. Its tortilla, which is juicy and compact, is one of the best in the capital. Its not alone though: creamy croquettes, artichokes, cold salmorejo soup, fried aubergine, and cured meats from Leon. Beers and a lovely vermouth to accompany.

Colon, 13. +34 915 21 49 79.

The specialty in Bocadillo de Jamon y Champan. Alfredo Arias

This venue ennobles the popular sandwich. Not because they serve it accompanied with glamorous champagne, but because the combination of their Andalusian buns with Iberian ham is notable.

Fernando VI, 21. +34 910 29 94 69.

Always bustling. This elegant tea house has a contemporary vibe, and a counter from which they serve sweet treats. Its glass cabinets are packed with dazzling delights: cakes, mini-tartlets, lemon-drizzle cakes, macaroons and pastries.

Fernando VI, 23. +34 913 91 43 64.

In the Only You hotel. Sweet and savory sandwiches that are gluten free and take their inspiration from North America. There is also a wide range of recipes for those who are lactose-intolerant, diabetic or vegetarian. Food to eat in or to go.

Barquillo, 19. +34 915 32 28 99.

La Duquesita. Alfredo Arias

The commitment made by pastry chef Oriol Balaguer to keep open this emblematic patisserie has been a complete success. Traditional pastries that nestle side-by-side with innovative specialties. The high tables with stools let you enjoy a magnificent croissant and a great coffee.

Fernando VI, 2. +34 913 08 02 31.

El Cisne Azul

Mushroom paradise Even out of season, or when the weather isnt obliging, at this store you can always find quality fungi.

Gravina, 19. +34 915 21 37 99.

A cream pastry at Oita. Alfredo Arias

An obligatory stop for those with a sweet tooth. Croissants and millefeuille in this branch of Pomme Sucre. Their specialties  from the teas, to the cakes and pastries  can all be prepared to go.

Hortaleza, 30. +34 915 21 75 37.

Another classic in Chueca. A rustic tavern with traditional Castilian and Andalusian fare, including fried eggs, fried fish, and smoked fish canapes.

Libertad, 6. +34 915 21 53 31.

A contemporary tavern with a marble bar and a creative menu. Its a charming place, that will win you over with its eggs served in a frying pan and its tomatoes.

Libertad, 1. +34 915 31 80 79.

This former venue for tertulias (meetings between friends and acquaintances for intellectual chat) has been transformed into a carefully looked after space, with a plentiful bar from where you can buy sandwiches to go, croquettes, Russian salad or tiger mussels. From 7.30am onward, breakfasts and chocolate with churros.

Glorieta de Bilbao, 7. +34 910 88 25 25.

The casual offering from Galician chef Ivan Dominguez (Alborada, Alabaster) in Madrid. Atlantic cuisine with ingredients from other latitudes: pompano tartare with tomato soup, or conger eel with yellow curry. No reservations.

Reina, 31.

At the bar, traditional Spanish fare with high-quality ingredients, including specialties from other restaurants from the Paco Quiros group in Madrid: red sea scorpion fish hash, cod fritters, roast peppers, ham and egg croquettes, and cheesecake. The creme caramel and Spanish omelet are unmissable.

Gran Via, 1. +34 910 52 06 20.

La Trastienda, in Mercado de San Anton, Chueca. Alfredo Arias

A modern bar in the bustling San Anton market. Very tasty informal fare: canapes, croquettes, smashed eggs, octopus salad, tiger prawns, and tuna tartar

Augusto Figueroa, 24B (Mercado de San Anton, 1st floor, stand 4). +34 913 30 02 71.

An unmissable stop for all coffee-addicts. Argentinean Santiago Rigoni and his wife, Patricia Alda, the cheerful owners, like to divulge cafe culture. Their filter coffees, espressos and cappuccinos  which have impeccable pedigrees  are exceptional.

La Palma 49. +34 917 02 56 20.

A modern bakery, whose produce is created in a kitchen thats visible to customers. At the bar, sandwiches made while you wait, including Iberian ham, mortadella with Parmesan, cooked ham and spicy pork sausages.

Prim, 1. +34 915 99 48 45.

The Lolos popsicle stand at Mercado de San Anton, in Chueca. Alfredo Arias

A childrens favorite turned into an adults treat: home-made popsicles made with fresh fruit, and no added colors, preservatives or artificial flavoring. The countertop, which is brimming with wooden sticks, is highly tempting.

Augusto Figueroa, 24B (Mercado de San Anton). +34 625 02 27 65.

A tiny venue packed with fresh, colored fruit, which are transformed into delicious smoothies according to the customers desire. You can invent your own or choose from the menu.

Libertad, 37. +34 675 92 88 67.

Orio

The pinchos on this bar are constantly renewed: codfish pilpil, Spanish omelet, peppers and asparagus. The cider and txakoli wine also flow freely.

Fuencarral, 49. +34 915 21 83 18.

Mistura ice cream parlor. Alfredo Arias

Quality ice creams that are finished off on a cold plate. The most in-demand: vanilla and cookies, chocolate brownie, yogurt and fruits of the forest, caramel and lemon and nuts.

Augusto Figueroa, 5. +34 917 55 63 91.

Here they sell glasses of fresh milk, tiger-nut milk drink with amusingly titled pastries named fartons, and milkshakes made to order. The star product is the yogurt, made with no additives or sugar. Breads and jams are also on offer.

Manuela Malasana, 29. +34 910 29 66 39.

La Caleta Gaditana, in Madrid. Alfredo Arias

LAVAPIES neighborhood

Perhaps the best fried fish in Madrid. They are served at the bar or at the tables, and they can be prepared to go in cones. A typical tavern that is packed out at rush hour. The calamari are unsurpassable, as are the wines from Jerez.

Santa Isabel, 38. +34 645 38 80 77.

On the ground floor of this food market youll find Japanese specialties at a moderate price. Delicious Japanese ramen, as well as trays of sushi and sashimi. Try the Japanese beers too.

Mercado de Anton Martin. Santa Isabel, 5.

Buns & Bones, in Lavapies. Alfredo Arias

The epicenter of bao in Madrid. Before these buns took off in the city, they were already in fashion. Street food with a number of Asian influences: shrimp in tempura with garlic, fried free-range chicken, or meatballs in a spicy tomato sauce.

Mercado de Anton Martin. Santa Isabel, 5.

Casa Melos

Traditional Castilian fare in the heart of Lavapies. The place is always packed out with unconditional fans, who are addicted to the zapatillas (bread, ham and cheese), croquettes, pies and peppers. The portions here are very generous.

Ave Maria, 44. +34 915 27 50 54.

Famous for its calamari baguettes, which sell in their hundreds every day. There are also bacon and pepper sandwiches, or fillings such as fried ham and cheese, and chicken and ham with tomato.

Plaza del Emperador Carlos V, 8. +34 915 28 69 66.

Located to the side of the Reina Sofia museum, with an exceptional terrace. A contemporary tavern with plenty to take away: Iberian ham sandwich, crunchy chicken burger, a roast beef sandwich The ham croquettes, tripe and Russian salad are a must.

Edificio Sabatini (Museo Reina Sofia). Santa Isabel, 52. +34 915 28 68 28.

Taberna La Dolores

A classic in the Huertas neighborhood. Outside, the slogan: Fresh beers and tapas. At the bar, well-poured beers, pinchos and small sandwiches with tuna and peppers, baby cuttlefish, duck ham and Iberian jamon.

Plaza de Jesus, 4. +34 914 29 22 43.

LA LATINA neighborhood

Juana la Loca

The culinary delights here go further than the famous Spanish omelet, which is deliciously juicy. On the bar youll find a wide range of cold and hot pinchos: spinach crepe, asparagus and salmon are just a few of the offerings

Plaza de la Puerta de Moros, 4. +34 913 64 05 25.

Lamiak

A wide range of pinchos and dishes with Basque influences: guacamole with smoked cod, pork with port, and peppers stuffed with hake. Wine is served by the glass, and there are also cocktails and special coffees.

Cava Baja, 42. +34 913 65 52 12.

Drinks are ordered at one bar and the food at another. The star dish is the smashed eggs with fries, as well as the Spanish omelet. The cold salmorejo soup is also highly recommended.

Almendro, 13. +34 913 65 42 52.

La Taberna de los Huevos de Lucio

This venue is overseen by the sons of the world-famous Restaurante Lucio. While the bar also supplies cheese and high-quality tapas, the big hit is the smashed eggs with fries. To drink, beers and a wide range of wines, champagne and cava, all sold by the glass.

Cava Baja, 30. +34 913 66 29 84.

El Bonanno

A classic tavern that has managed to keep itself up to date. Mussels, whitebait with fries, artichokes, cheeses and a range of Iberian meats. Very well-poured beers.

Plaza del Humilladero, 4. +34 913 66 68 86.

Confiteria El Riojano

Classic patisserie. The sweet specialties change according to the time of year and the religious festival. To take away or enjoy in their tea room. Try the Madrileno rosquillas, chocolate palmeras, or the torrijas, a specialty at Easter.

Mayor, 10. +34 913 66 44 82.

Casa Revuelta

At peak times you might have trouble getting through the door at this Castilian tavern. Its specialty, the battered cod, is the best in the whole capital. Whats more, it serves pork crackling and Madrileno tripe, but just on Wednesdays and Thursdays.
Over the next two weeks, the Spanish capital faces one of its biggest security challenges in recent years. Between June 23 and July 2, Madrid will host World Pride, the planets biggest LGBTQ event of the year, which is expected to attract up to two million people . In response, police and emergency services will be boosted, with more than 1,000 officers drafted in for the July 1 parade through the center of the city.

Last year's Madrid pride event. jaime villanueva

Spain is currently on a high-risk, level-four security alert. The highest level, five, would only be activated in the event of a terrorist attack. There will be a heavy police presence on the streets of the capital over the coming days, with armed officers stationed at railway and bus stations, along with the airport. Heavy vehicles will be prevented from circulating in the center of the city at certain times.

Counter-terrorist sources say that this is a critical moment for the Spanish capital

The regional and central government have held regular meetings over recent months with emergency services to discuss strategies to protect the public during World Pride. Security will be tight at Madrids Barajas airport.

This is a critical moment, say counter-terrorist sources. Security services are also checking the movements of people who have been identified as having links to jihadist groups, and will be on the lookout for travelers identified as a possible threat by US and EU police.

One measure that is being considered is having police accompany the floats taking part in the parade on July 1. The 600 officers who form Madrids UIP riot police will be supported by units from other parts of Spain. Mounted police and officers with dogs will also be patrolling the capital during World Pride. The GEO special operations unit will also be monitoring security from the air using helicopters.

Heavy vehicles will be prevented from circulating in the center of the city at certain times

This week will see the final security details agreed, with officers assigned to the highest-risk events, such as the July 1 parade, which will run from the citys central Atocha railway station to Colon Square, and which is expected to attract more than a million people.

All leave has been suspended for Madrids municipal police during the week of World Pride, with officers expected to have to work double shifts of up to 16 hours.

English version by Nick Lyne.
The Sad Hill cemetery , which was created 50 years ago in northern Spain to provide the backdrop for the climax of Clint Eastwoods most famous Spaghetti Western, has people from all over the world prepared to pay to have their name on one of the headstones, according to the Spain-based Sad Hill Cultural Association, which has spent the last couple of years restoring the graveyard to its former glory.

A group of movie fans enjoy a beer at Sad Hill cemetery. Guillermo Fernandez de Oliveira

Soon to be declared an Asset of Cultural Interest (BIC, to use its Spanish acronym), Sad Hill was allowed to fall into a state of disrepair after Sergio Leones The Good, The Bad And The Ugly wrapped in 1966. But, in a labor of love, volunteers have resurrected 1,500 of the 5,000 headstones that were carried there by the military during the Franco era and are now selling inscriptions for 15 a piece.

There have even been American fans who have asked if we could scatter their ashes there when they die, says David Alba, spokesman for the association. If a blessing is needed from the Church, we can speak to Domingo Contreras, a priest from around here who appeared in the film when he was a kid!

Ten days ago, we put up the last 100 headstones, and now we have 40 more on a waiting list David Alba, Sad Hill Cemetery Association

While the Tabernas desert in Almeria  which has provided the backdrop to westerns since the 1950s  is a designated Landscape of Cultural Interest and Natural Bird Sanctuary, Sad Hill, located close to Santo Domingo de Silos, about 30 kilometers southeast of the city of Burgos, in the region of Castilla y Leon, will be protected purely for its links to the movie world.

The regional government is due to trigger the process for the site to become a BIC, making it the first place in Spain to do so on purely cinematic grounds. It also has the distinction of being the only place to apply with only half a century of history behind it. This, according to Montse Moneo, a member of the association, is because cinema is a relatively new art.

The location was chosen during the unbearably hot summer of 1966, when director Sergio Leone moved the shooting of the third installment of his Dollars Trilogy to the rugged terrain of the Demanda mountains and the Arlanza valley in the plateau region near Burgos.

The movie was shot at four key locations in the vicinity: the San Pedro de Arlanza monastery, which became the San Antonio mission hospital; the River Pisuerga in Hortiguela which, in the film, is the site of the American Civil War battlefield; the suburbs of Carazo, which were transformed into the extensive prison camp of Betterville; and Santo Domingo de Silos, which was turned into Sad Hill Cemetery.

Thanks to the headstone scheme, the restoration is an ongoing project. Ten days ago, we put up the last 100 headstones, and now we have 40 more on a waiting list, all applied for in June, says Alba.

Sad Hill cemetery in 1966.

The association, which waits for 100 applications before embarking on the work needed to erect the headstones, believes that the sudden interest is linked to the fall release of Spanish director Guillermo de Oliveiras new film, Sad Hill Unearthed.

The project began as a modest documentary about the revamping of the mocked-up cemetery, but it has turned into a more robust production featuring Clint Eastwood himself as well as the soundtracks composer, Ennio Morricone, and several members of the epics production team. It also features fans such as Alex de la Iglesia and Metallica frontman James Hetfield, who explains why all his concerts begin with music from the movies final scene.

The film shows the associations volunteers starting work on the restoration of the cemetery with the idea there would be nothing left. But though locals had helped themselves to the headstones to build walls and crosses to reinforce roofs, the volunteers unearthed the cobbled square of around 40 meters in diameter that Sergio Leone used to organize the headstones  marked by no more than a line of knolls.

The shape of the graves was achieved by covering boxes with earth and the volunteers found these boxes, stitched to the ground by scrubs and weeds. Thanks to their efforts, Sad Hill is now more alive than ever with visitors making their way up the dirt track every weekend in homage to the cinema classic.

English version by Heather Galloway.
Penelope Boston has spent the last 25 years visiting some of the most spectacular caves on Earth. Sometimes she needs to wear a special cooling suit and strap on a backpack respirator that produces chilled air. It is the only way to resist, even for just half an hour, the 60C inside the Crystal Cave of Naica, in northern Mexico.

Penelope Boston, NASA Astrobiology Institute director. Victor Sainz

To explore these depths is the closest thing to visiting another planet, explains Boston, a microbiologist who currently heads the NASA Astrobiology Institute.

Inside the spectacular giant crystals that formed here around 50,000 years ago, there are pockets of fluid. From these, scientists have been able to extract dormant microbes and grow cultures in a lab, thereby bringing them back to life.

Ive been working on this all my life, I deserve to see it before I die

Penelope Boston

These microorganisms are known as extremophiles because they thrive in some of the most hostile environments on Earth. They can survive without light or water and eat rocks or even toxic compounds, inside abyssal depths where the lack of oxygen and an abundance of gases would kill a person in a matter of minutes.

If there is life on other planets, it is very likely that it is also hiding inside caves and that it looks a lot like the creatures Boston is studying.

Boston is the daughter of an actor and a dancer who emigrated to the United States from Europe following World War II. When she began working in her field in the early 1990s, very few people believed that there could be underground life forms. The first research projects that were financed by US agencies sought to find out whether it would be possible to introduce microbes underground in order to clean up radioactive contamination from nuclear bombs.

But when they started to study it, they saw that the microbes were already there, recalls Boston.

This researcher has focused on a few dozen caves that are particularly interesting because of the microbes they contain. One of them is Lechuguilla  one of the longest caves in the world  and another is Snowy River, which contains an 18-kilometer-long stream bed made of petrified white calcite. Both are located in New Mexico.

Image taken by the Curiosity rover on Mars. NASA

Boston recalls the time when she and her entire team nearly died from the sulfur emissions inside Villa Luz, a cave in the Mexican state of Tabasco.

The concentration of oxygen in the air is 21%, and that time the meter went down to 9%. I was screaming but nobody could hear me with my mask on. After that, we started carrying oxygen bottles with us, she recalls.

What Ive discovered throughout my career is how different the various life forms can be from one cave to the next. This diversity is controlled by geochemistry. Its as though each cave were a completely different planet, says the researcher, who was in Madrid recently to take part in a symposium on extremophiles organized by the Ramon Areces Foundation.

These microorganisms are known as extremophiles, they thrive in some of the most hostile environments on Earth

Boston studies the mineral formations left by many of these microbes when they feed, and which on other planets could constitute a sign of life.

But reaching the caves and cracks of Mars, Europa or Enceladus  the sixth-largest moon of Saturn  with a rover remains a challenge that is still beyond the technological ability of NASA or any other space agency, she admits.

My opinion is that the first signs of life beyond Earth will not be found in the Solar System but in the atmosphere of exoplanets. There are thousands of possibilities, and we will soon be launching the James Webb telescope next year, and that will open up a whole new range of sensibility, she says.

Boston harbors no doubt that Mars will be colonized one day, although not as soon as the visionary entrepreneur Elon Musk says. And caves will play a fundamental role once this happens because they offer a perfect habitat.

Boston has worked on studies for NASA on how to use inflatable materials to line the inside of a cave and make it livable, which is a much cheaper and more efficient option than building a colony in space, she says. The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) probe has revealed that the Red Planet has more than 2,000 cavities that could be used in this way.

The researcher, who was born in the 1950s, trusts that she will live long enough to see humanity reach Mars in the 2030s.

Ive been working on this all my life  I deserve to see it before I die, she jokes.

English version by Susana Urra.
When making flamenco dresses is not just a job, but a way in African, Latin American and Arabic women are training in a sewing workshop run by a Seville foundation that offers employment opportunities and valuable contacts

Loubna Days story sounds like a rags-to-riches Hollywood movie in which the star triumphs over adversity to become a self-made woman. Except that Loubna didnt leave her home town of Tetouan, in Morocco, for an American Dream. Instead, she left to get her two-year-old daughter treatment for eye cancer in 2009.

Once her daughter was on the mend, Loubna started to learn Spanish and to study the application requirements of a micro-credit program that makes small loans to people without financial means who are keen to set up a business. She then signed up for a sewing course and learned to make flamenco dresses fit for the famous April Fair in Seville.

The Seville Fair was like discovering a new world and I wanted to learn how to make the outfits, she says. This year she made two dresses, one yellow  for the teachers sister  and one pink, which she hopes will be the first of many.

This workshop puts them in touch with other women, gives them a job and the possibility of working for themselves

Esther Aguilera, social worker

With two sewing machines purchased at Lidl supermarket and the dedication of Ana Vera and Chelo Garcia, two volunteer teachers from the Seville Acoge Foundation, a handful of African, Latin American and Arabic women are learning the tricks of the trade at the foundations sewing workshop. Though Seville Acoge has 30 years of experience working with immigrants, the sewing workshop is a new initiative that started two years ago.

The women dont have a family-and-friend network to fall back on for help with their children or professional contacts, says social worker Esther Aguilera. This workshop puts them in touch with other women, gives them a job and the possibility of working for themselves.

Unemployment among immigrants in Spain is 25%, a full 6% above the national average, according to the last Labor Force Survey (EPA). And according to Spains National Statistics Institute, unemployment stands at 40% among Moroccans, the largest foreign community in Spain. Being an immigrant isnt in itself an obstacle to starting a business, but the lack of a support network makes it much harder, says Aguilera.

Loubna Day takes measurements from a colleague at the sewing workshop. PACO PUENTES

The foundation started the initiative in order to help immigrant women with diverse needs. Some had to learn Spanish, others wanted to meet women dealing with the same challenges as themselves, and yet others already knew how to sew, but wanted to make flamenco dresses professionally.

The first time I saw a flamenco dress was back home, says Loubna, 32, who has hardly missed a single class at the workshop. I kept thinking about it, because I had no idea how to make it.

Her teacher Chelo taught her the basics: how to take measurements, make the pattern, cut the fabric, sew both by hand and machine, and stitch the frills and other details. And that was just the start. Making a pattern is the most complicated part for them because it involves every sewing technique, says Chelo.

The two women who asked for the yellow and pink dresses brought Loubna the fabrics and told her what they had in mind. In a couple of fittings, the dresses were ready and the women put them on for the first time at the 2017 April Fair.

Loubna cant claim all the credit, though. Kenana Alsalti, a 63-year-old Syrian refugee who worked as a fashion designer in Damascus, helped with the yellow dress.

The Seville Fair was like discovering a new world and I wanted to learn how to make the outfits

Loubna Day, Moroccan immigrant

Already an expert seamstress, Kenana signed up for the workshop to learn sewing lingo in her adopted tongue. She still struggles with the language, but every time she makes a mistake she shakes her head and tries again. The dress is a lot of work, but it was easy for me, she says.

Loubna is coming along, but she needs a formal qualification, says Chelo, referring to the fact that although she can learn the basics of flamenco fashion in the workshop, the next step would be to qualify as a professional dressmaker. To this end, the foundation is getting in touch with companies, flamenco fashion houses and the regional government of Andalusia to help fund their prize student.

Loubnas a hard worker and a perfectionist and shes also punctual I only have good things to say about her, says her teacher, who notes that, with her rather serious demeanor, she is not fazed by the admiration of the other women.

This seriousness contrasts with the Seville mannerisms she has picked up, such as ending every other word with the diminutive suffix ito, but the heat stops her from wearing a flamenco dress herself. As far as her prospects are concerned, she takes a philosophical view. Any job starts little by little, she says.

The African angle

Meanwhile, Mamy Awa Thioune, a Senegalese-born woman living in Seville, runs the flamenco clothing company Lago Rosa. Like many small businesses, it was born out of need. When Mamy fell pregnant in 2015, she couldnt get a job and so decided to try out an idea she had nursed since she was little: making flamenco dresses from wax print fabric, a colored cloth from Ghana. I never thought a black woman could not design these dresses, says Mamy. The flamenco world offers a lot of scope.

Mamy Awa Thioune shows off one of her creations, which sell at a store called Opalo Negro. PACO PUENTES

Brought up in the San Jeronimo neighborhood of Seville, Mamy dances sevillanas and gets into her flamenco gear every year in April. She says that she can design up to 10 very different dresses from the same African print. In Seville, its the colors that get peoples attention. And what could be more colorful than wax print fabric? she says.

Traditionally, flamenco fashion has been dominated by Spanish designers, but Mamy believes theres room for her. This year, two dresses made from her fabrics were shown at the Seville Fair. And shes getting an entire collection ready for the 2018 event. At the fair, they all tell me, Look! A black woman dressed in a flamenco dress! So I imagine there will be the same reaction to my dresses. Theyll say, Look an African flamenco dress!

The New Arrivals project is funded by the European Journalism Center with support from The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

English version by Heather Galloway.
Three people suspected of jihadist activity have been arrested in Madrid, the Spanish Interior Ministry said in a release on Wednesday. One of those detained is considered a very dangerous and highly radicalized individual with ties to the so-called Islamic State (ISIS) and who had collected a large amount of material including manuals on how to perpetrate terrorist attacks.

One of the Madrid suspects is taken into custody. EFE

The other two shared an apartment with the former, who was training them to join ISIS, said the ministry in its release.

The raid took place in the early hours of Wednesday, just two days before the Spanish capital is due to play host to World Pride 2017. Madrid has boosted security measures to deal with an event that is expected to attract around two million people to the Spanish capital between June 23 and July 2.

The main suspects profile is said to coincide with the background of terrorists recently involved in the attacks in Britain and France

The raid also comes just hours after soldiers in Brussels shot and killed a suspect who had detonated a small explosive device at the citys Central Station.

The main suspect held in Madrid is a 32-year-old Moroccan national accused of having links to ISIS.

His profile is said to coincide with the background of terrorists recently involved in the attacks in Britain and France. He is being considered a clear threat to security in Spain, according to the ministry release.

He was allegedly training his roommates, two Moroccan nationals aged 33 and 38, to carry out violent acts in Spain.

The Interior Ministry said that the seized material included handbooks on how to become a suicide bomber and another one on how to wage jihad online. Spains National Police force is currently analyzing these documents, whose contents range from the most radical kind of ideological prepping to acts of martyrdom.

Spain has been on a threat level 4 (level 5 is the highest) for the terrorist threat since June 26, 2015 when attacks were carried out in countries including France, Tunisia and Kuwait, among others. Since then, law enforcement agencies have arrested 172 jihadists in Spain and abroad.

English version by Susana Urra.
This years guest nation at Vinexpo, one of the worlds leading wine fairs, was Spain. In the French city of Bordeaux, around 100 Spanish wineries attended the four-day biannual event  which ended on Wednesday  along with more than 2,300 other producers from 40 countries around the world.

Being such close neighbors, Spain has always had an important presence here, says Guillaume Deglise, the trade fairs general director, adding: But this year we wanted to focus more in-depth on Spanish wines.

In Spain the link between wine and gastronomy is even stronger than in France Trade fair director Guillaume Deglise

Deglise highlights the diversity, tradition and contemporary language of Spains wineries: There is a lot of creativity, in terms of wine-making and marketing and labeling. Whats more, in Spain there is an intimate link between wine and gastronomy that is even stronger than in France.

One of the highlights of Vinexpo was A Taste of Spain, organized on Monday in conjunction with the prestigious Wine Spectator magazine: it was the largest ever tasting of Spanish wines outside Spain.

Spanish chefs Jose Andres and Ferran Adria at 'A taste of Spain.' Joanna Margan

Along with many of the countrys finest wines, a team of 12 chefs, led by Spanish celebrities Ferran Adria and Jose Andres, was on hand to prepare dishes to accompany the tasting. In the 1970s, France was the role model to follow, it was an inspiration. Now, after many years of hard work, Spain has improved in all aspects: it has positioned itself as a global gastronomic benchmark. And wines are closely linked to food, says Jose Andres, who owns a restaurant chain in the US.

In the last five years, Spanish wine exports have increased by 43% in terms of volume, and have seen a 21% rise in sales. Spain exports more than anybody else, but it is third in terms of earnings, says Rafael Rey, who heads Spains Wine Market Observatory. He explains that the country sells huge amounts of wine wholesale. This is one of Spains strong points, but at the same time, one of its weak spots: wines are cheap, giving the country an unbeatable price-quality ratio.

We dont produce enough wines that sell at good prices, says Pedro Ballesteros, Spains only Master of Wine, belonging to an institute made up of 340 members from 28 countries. At the same time, he says the country should do more to promote the many different types of wines it produces: Spain has a huge variety that has been overshadowed by the regions of Castilla-La Mancha and Rioja.

A wine tasting at this year's Vinexpo in Bordeaux. REGIS DUVIGNAU (REUTERS)

Lafou Celler is a winery from Tarragona, in Spains northeastern Catalonia region, that attended Vinexpo this week. This is not the first time the company has come here. We have returned because we were here in 2015 and we did a lot of business, says the winerys manager, Ramon Roquetas. Whats more, this was a special year, he adds, noting: We cant always rely on the support that being from the guest country provides.

English version by Nick Lyne.
Can Ceuta teach Brexit Britain lessons about taking back control? The briefest of glances at Spain would have debunked the myth that the European Union is unequivocally pro-immigration and unwilling to keep member states borders in check

Take back control is widely held to be the slogan that won the UKs referendum on EU membership last year, and sent Britain charging toward the exit door. Formal negotiations have now begun, and there is one thing Britain is keen to get its hands on more than anything else: control of immigration. With those three vague yet evocative words, campaigners helped to create the perception of a naive EU, unequivocally pro-immigration and unwilling to keep member states borders in check .

A group of sub-Saharan Africans at the doors of Ceutas temporary stay center for immigrants in February. Reduan (EFE)

The briefest of glances to Spain would have debunked this myth. In its Moroccan enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla, control means massive barbed-wire fences, diplomatic tensions and misery for the increasing numbers of migrants who seek a better life in Europe. Backed and funded by the EU, these fortress territories demonstrate clearly that the bloc knows what taking back control looks like  and its not pretty.

In Ceuta, migrants in limbo describe the place as a mental prison

In Ceuta, migrants in limbo describe the place as a mental prison. Often basically penniless, they live in increasingly crowded temporary accommodation while they wait to find out whether they can stay in Europe or if their arduous journeys from sub-Saharan Africa have been totally in vain.

Yet these are the lucky ones: theyve managed to scale the dangerous six-meter-high fence. Theyve also survived the months of brutal Moroccan police tactics in the forest a stones throw from their destination, waiting for an opportunity to make a break for a better life.

Samyong Hilaire left Cameroon last summer, and spent the winter in woods on the Moroccan side of the frontier. The 23-year-old was one of hundreds of migrants to finally make it to Ceuta in one of the greatest single influxes in recent times back in February.

Would-be migrants celebrate getting across the Ceuta border fence in December 2016. Joaquin Sanchez

He said: In the forest we lived with many brothers among the trees. Its not easy to live there, because we spent a lot of time without toilets, and we ate just once a day at 11am. Every day Moroccan police came to move us on. We hid on the top of the hills and in the rocks. Its very difficult living in the forest. But we had a dream, we knew what we were searching for, and thats why we lived like this, sleeping outside during the winter.

Ulrich Cabrel, 21, arrived on the same day  after climbing the fence in the dead of night in his second attempt to reach Ceuta.

We had a dream, and thats why we lived like this, sleeping outside during the winter

Samyong Hilaire, 23, from Cameroon

The conditions in the forest are very difficult, he said. Theres no food, and often the Moroccan Auxiliary Forces enter the forest and set fire to your belongings and the small tents we slept in. In Cameroon, I have a baccalaureate qualification but my parents didnt have the money for me to continue my education. In sub-Saharan Africa, if you dont know someone who works for the government, you cant get a job. If your auntie, or your father, or someone in your family doesnt have a good job, its impossible. Ceuta is a mental prison. Here, you cant work, you just eat and sleep. Its exhausting.

After making it to Ceuta, both Ulrich and Samyong went straight for the citys temporary stay center for immigrants, known by the acronym CETI. They are among hundreds living there. But the center, with a capacity of 500, is rammed. Last year saw the number of migrants entering Ceuta rise 14% to 2,578, placing a strain on the enclaves limited resources. Since Christmas, more than a thousand others are believed to have arrived.

Some speculate that recently heightened security in Spains other Moroccan enclave of Melilla could be a factor in this change. The coastal city, some 380 kilometers east of Ceuta, has historically been more of a flashpoint on the migrant trail, but the route appears to be shifting.

Spain and the EU lean on Morocco to provide security at the border, often using fairly brutal methods

Another possible reason is Morocco  which Spain and the EU lean on to provide security at the border  often using fairly brutal methods. Observers say these include the rounding up of migrants before dumping them in the middle of the desert and telling them to be on their way. Ulrichs story suggests this is no myth. He eventually made it into Ceuta, but says during one earlier failed attempt he was captured by Moroccan security forces and taken far away from the forest before having to make his way back again.

The Moroccans use this unsavory role as a bargaining chip in negotiations with Europe, and the countrys government is often said to relax or ramp up security efforts in accordance with political expediency. The EU plays this grubby game, where hundreds of human lives are currency in a diplomatic tug-of-war.

Spain is not Britain, but Ceuta represents something thats conspicuously absent from debate about the EU in the UK. The notion of control may win referendum votes, but it may also mean walled frontiers, human suffering and disconcerting diplomacy. On immigration, the EU is far from the shrinking violet some would have people believe.
The apex court has given two weeks time to the Centre and Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to decide on giving more time to people with genuine reasons to deposit the now out of use Rs 1000, 500 notes.

By Anusha Soni: The Supreme Court today asked the Centre to consider giving grace time to those who couldn't deposit old notes in banks for genuine reasons post November 8 demonetisation move.

The apex court has given two weeks time to the Centre and Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to decide on giving more time to people with genuine reasons to deposit the now out of use Rs 1000, 500 notes. "You can't take away my money if I was terminally ill," the Supreme Court bench said while slamming the government over its December 30 deadline to deposit old notes in banks.

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A bench comprising Chief Justice J S Khehar and Justice DY Chandrachud asked Solicitor General Ranjit Kumar, representing the Centre, to take instructions on the issue.

NO GRACE PERIOD

In April, the Centre had informed the Supreme Court that it took a "conscious decision" not to extend the period beyond December 30 last year for exchanging the demonetised currency notes of Rs 1000 and Rs 500 unlike for NRIs which ended on March 31.

The government said it was not legally bound to come out with a fresh notification to grant grace period or window for depositing scrapped currency notes.

It also gave details about the raids and recoveries made by law-enforcing agencies during and after the demonetisation period claiming that undisclosed income of over Rs 5,400 crore was detected.

In its affidavit filed in the apex court, the government said, "It is most humbly submitted that the central government took a conscious decision that no necessity or any justifiable reason exists either in law or on facts to invoke its power under section 4(1)(ii) of the Ordinance to entitle any person to tender within the grace period the specified bank notes."

The affidavit was filed in response to petitions by private individuals and a firm seeking a window like those given to NRIs and people who were abroad during the period of demonetisation to deposit the scrapped currency notes with the Reserve Bank of India

ALSO READ:

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PM Narendra Modi's demonetisation move gave economy Rs 5 lakh crore advantage

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WATCH: Prime Minister Narendra Modi's currency revamp: Full speech

--- ENDS ---
An amazing expensive hotel

Les Cols Pavellons (Olot, Girona). Double room: 340

It is categorized as a boarding house, but Les Cols Pavellons (Avenida de les Cols, s/n; +34 699 81 38 17), in Olot, Girona (a province in the northeastern region of Catalonia), is an establishment that boasts among the highest average prices in Spain. And this year, it received the top international distinction for its design: the Pritzker, which is considered to be the Nobel Prize of architecture. The award was accepted by RCR Arquitectes, which comprises the talents of architects Rafael Aranda, Carme Pigem and Ramon Vilalta.

Mattresses appear and disappear. They are opened and closed. The guest decides

When Judit Planella started the project, she never imagined that it would reach such heights in these beautiful glass structures that now constitute not just her home, but the home of hundreds of travelers arriving from all parts of the world. But still, it was clear in her mind that hospitality is not limited to the physical necessities of lodging, but to a psychological experience of the senses. She pursued a unique objective, an approach to the concept of the nowhere place. And she obtained from the now award-winning architects an ethereal fantasy of beauty between glass. Judit describes it with these poetic words: To be alone before the night and the emptiness, a refugee between walls, where opacity and the reflections of glass blend in a dialogue of lights and water, so that you regain a sense of nature that we believed to have been forgotten.

Location

One of the peculiarities of this accommodation is its paradoxical placement: inside the industrial complex of Olot  because it is considerably easier to build a luxury hotel against magnificent scenery like the Volcanic Zone of La Garrotxa, for example. But to do it between factories, as Judit and her collaborators have done, requires tremendous talent.

Beds

They do not exist. Les Cols is a nowhere place. Over the surface of transparent glass float emerald-colored mattresses that can be transformed into sofas, carpets, or beds. They appear and disappear. They are opened and closed. The guest decides. And at night, they can be folded back up so that you can lie back and gaze at the moon.

Breakfast

Nor is there a breakfast room in this nowhere place. The guests are not directed to the first meal of the day, but rather, the meal comes to them. The hostess serves them in the glass rooms at the agreed hour. Local products are made especially for the hotel, treating guests to aromas and flavors in a concert of the senses with a soul of glass.

The Venta de Ulzama, in Navarre.

And a charming, affordable hotel

Venta de Ulzama (Ulzama, Navarre). Double room: 70

Many readers will remember that winding road across the Belate mountain pass, between the cities of Pamplona and San Sebastian, which used to be packed with trucks. The trip took so long that no one could avoid a stop at the Venta de Ulzama.

On such a journey, the asphalt would give way to the lush, green landscape of Navarre, where awaiting the traveler was the hospitality of the Diez de Ulzurrun family, which is now represented by its fourth generation, Felisa Goni and her daughter-in-law Inma Berberena.

The highway tunnel now avoids the ascent through the mountain, and with it, the inn has been left isolated in a forest of beech trees. But homeliness, attention to detail and good food still captivate the traveler in search of solitude. The hostesses ensure it with elegant discretion. Remnants of the old inn permeate the air as one walks up the stairs. A first floor, then another. Room 206 is perhaps the most charming, with its wooden headboards, exposed beams, and small windows. If the weather permits, there is nothing like engrossing yourself on the porch with some Patxaran liquor. As soon as it gets quiet, a herd of 20 deer owned by the inn will leave the thicket to seek amusement in the field.

Location

To spend the night in the middle of snowfall like that which regularly falls on this mountainous area in Navarre is an unforgettable experience. And in the summer, the facade exhibits balconies lined with geraniums.

Beds

The continued refurbishments have left the inn in a current condition that cannot be criticized. Especially satisfactory is the double bed of Room 103, from which one can admire the forest of trees that enshrine this rustic home.

Breakfast

In the basement of the inn, one can find an authentic factory of milk curds. This cuajada, a typical dish on many Basque tables, is the star of the menu here and will be served at dessert and breakfast. Made with the same hot stones that were used more than a century ago, the artisanal curd is famed for being the best in Navarre. Especially if Mrs Goni is putting the pot on your table.

English version by Henry Hahn.
A woman in Barcelona has been forced to illegally occupy her own apartment after the tenant she had rented it to listed the property without her knowledge on the vacation rental website Airbnb. Montse Perez only managed to seize control of her property, located in the citys popular seaside Barceloneta neighborhood, after booking it on the online platform, moving in, and then changing the locks, according to Catalan regional daily La Vanguardia.

A protest against Airbnb in the Barceloneta suburb of Barcelona. MASSIMILIANO MINOCRI

The problems started when Perezs family signed a lease renting the apartment to a 26-year-old man. That contract included a clause forbidding the tenant from subletting the property as tourist accommodation. But after the document was signed, the family was unable to contact the tenant, only later discovering their property was now listed on Airbnb.

According to Perezs daughter, the tenant belongs to an organization specializing in this type of fraud. The group has rented other apartments in Barcelona with the same aim, paying 950 a month and then listing properties rented on Airbnb for 200 a night, she said.

City Hall says Airbnb is the only rental site still listing unlicensed properties

The San Francisco-based portal was quick to react to news of the case, taking the offending apartment off its books and laying the blame at the feet of the tenant who had offered it via their site. The company has also asked all hosts, as people who list accommodation on the portal are known, to certify that they have permission to list a property and check and ensure they are following local laws.

These provisions are very clear in our terms of service and on our page about being a responsible host, the company said.

But Airbnbs response has not gone down well with City Hall in Barcelona, which is engaged in a long-running battle with the company over the issue of unlicensed vacation rentals, even fining the company 600,000 for running such listings.

On Wednesday, Barcelonas councilor for city planning, Janet Sanz, said she planned to visit Montse Perez and stated that Airbnb was the only platform that continues to post adverts for properties without the relevant paperwork.

The message to Airbnb is clear: enough is enough. The question is no longer who is right or wrong: the problem is Airbnb is hurting locals by not wishing to comply with the law and [hurting] small property owners. Those who dont comply [with the law] are going to come up against an administration that is on the side of the locals and defending their rights, said Sanz.

Perezs daughter says the family have been a victim of a scam affecting other properties in Barcelona

As of Thursday, Perez was still in her apartment in Barceloneta, according to La Vanguardia. The paper said its coverage of the story had revealed the existence of other cases, with readers writing in to say they had been the victims of similar fraud.

Vacation rentals are big business in Spain, where they now offer more beds than hotels, according to a recent study by Exceltur, the industry business association. But the sectors growth in Barcelona, which is closely linked to the citys tourism boom, has led to friction between companies like Airbnb and city authorities as well as locals. Many residents complain they have been priced out of the local rental market by people engaged in property speculation.

English version by George Mills.
On August 15, 2014, forces from so-called Islamic State (ISIS) entered Kocho, a Yazidi village in Iraqi Kurdistan. They took everybody to the local school and separated them into groups: men, pregnant women, older women and unmarried adolescents. Among the latter was Lamia Aji Bashar, then aged 16, with her three sisters. Thats when it all began, she said last week in Madrid at the diplomatic delegation from the government of Iraqi Kurdistan.

For the next 20 months Lamia was held captive and repeatedly raped by ISIS soldiers. In December, along with Nadia Murad  who was also held captive and raped by ISIS  the European Parliament awarded her the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought.

The older men and women were killed and buried in a mass grave. We were transferred by bus to Mosul and then to the area around Aleppo under the control of ISIS. In Aleppo, there were many men from different countries, she explained. Soon after her arrival, the head of the group, a Saudi, told her and her sisters they must convert to Islam. I said no. He grabbed me by the neck and lifted me off the ground. My sister begged him to release me and kissed his feet until he did it. Then he shouted, So you do not want to convert! and he raped us both.

They were animals in the bodies of human beings: each worse than the last Lamia Aji Bashar

There were around 250 other young women and girls held captive in Aleppo, some of them as young as eight. Members of ISIS would arrive and select us: I want this one, I want that one. In the Sharia court, there was a paper with my picture on it, and beneath it, my price. I was purchased five times, and another time, I was given to a fighter as a gift, she said.

At no time did her captors show any compassion: They were animals in the bodies of human beings: each worse than the last. I was trying to speak with them, but they were animals.

Aji Bashar remembers when one of her owners forced her to help him make vests for suicide bombers and to set up car bombs.

ISISs violent interpretation of Islam has led to the wholesale slaughter of men and the rape of women considered infidels. The Yazidi, an ethno-religious Kurdish group of half-a-million people who ascribe to one of the earliest monotheistic religions, have been targeted.

Members of ISIS would arrive and select us: I want this one, I want that one Lamia Aji Bashar

Aji Bashar tried to escape on four occasions. After each failed attempt, she was punished. Finally, in April 2016 she succeeded, thanks to smugglers paid by her family. Two others accompanied her: Almas, an eight-year-old, and Katherine, aged 20. Both died while crossing a minefield and Aji Bashar was injured in the explosion, suffering scarring and partial loss of sight.

I felt happy to be alive, although in my head, I felt dreadful thinking about the suffering of the other women and children, she explained. The United Nations estimates that more than 3,000 Yazidis  the majority of them women and children  remain in the hands of ISIS. The figure has been reduced by about half since 2014 as captives escape, are purchased back by their families, or are released by ISIS.

Her village was liberated in May. It made me very happy to hear the news, but now it is just a pile of rubble, tombs, mass graves, said Aji Bashar, who now lives in Germany.

She tells her story to raise awareness of the tragedies that have befallen thousands of women, and she considers herself simply a messenger with three desires: that ISIS be tried at The Hague, that the victims receive psychological treatment after their liberation, and that the world helps those seeking refuge. Many former captives suffer from post-traumatic stress and some have attempted suicide, according to the NGO Amnesty International.

Although ISIS is currently in retreat in Syria and Iraq, Aji Bashar says she wants to remain in Germany and to become a schoolteacher. Would she return one day to Kurdistan? Of course, she says, but there is no international protection for us. And as Yazidis, we are afraid of returning and suffering genocide like this.

English version by Henry Hahn.
Many people associate Spain with siesta . And yet Spaniards have been slow to turn a profit from this habit. Japan, Argentina and Belgium are far ahead on this issue, explains Maria Estrella Jorro de Inza, owner of Siesta and Go, Spains very first business offering customers some down time in between activities .

Siesta and Go, a new nap bar in Madrid's AZCA area. EL PAIS

Located in Madrids AZCA business area, which is filled with offices, Siesta and Go hopes to become a refuge for local workers seeking a quiet place to rest, read, or take a nap.

In Argentina and Belgium, these places are known as siestodromes and nap bars. But De Inza discovered the business model in Japan.

The place has 19 beds, although they have only been full once

On a trip we took, we realized that there were many options: rest centers for women, for men, and mixed options.

She decided to import the idea. For 20, a client gets three hours to rest in their own personal space. It is also possible to pay by the minute, and prices vary depending on what one wants: a couch (1.5 for 30 minutes), a bunk bed (2 for 30 minutes) or a private room (3 for 30 minutes).

Once a customers entrance is registered in our computer system, theres a five-minute courtesy period to let them get comfortable, explains the owner. The establishment offers slippers and shirts for those who really want to feel at home.

There are no shrill alarm clocks here. An employee will gently wake up the customer at the agreed time. The establishment also offers coffee, newspapers and an internet connection.

Our average customer is 30 to 45 years old, says Johan Grillo, the manager, who notes that they get as many men as women coming through the doors.

At first, says De Inza, people would look puzzled when they walked by. Inside, they would ask: So this is for taking naps? Ill have to come.

There are no shrill alarm clocks here; an employee will gently wake up the customer at the agreed time

According to the owner, customers tend to return again and again. The place has 19 beds, although they have only been full once. Were getting there slowly, she says.

As to whether Spaniards really do nap or not, the research is patchy. While it is true that lunch breaks in Spain still tend to be longer than elsewhere, a 2009 study carried out by a foundation attached to the San Carlos Clinical Hospital (Fundadeps) and the Spanish Bed Manufacturers Association (Asocama) found that just 16.2% of people in the country take a nap every day while 58.6% never do so.

English version by Susana Urra.
A Madrid judge has ordered the remains of Spanish Surrealist artist Salvador Dali exhumed in order to clear up a paternity claim brought by a 60-year-old woman who says she is his daughter.

Salvador Dali, in a picture taken by Antonio Espejo.

The court needs DNA samples from Dali, who died on January 23, 1989, because there is no other biological or personal material that can be used to determine whether he is really the father of Pilar Abel Martinez, a woman from Girona (Catalonia) who has been fighting since 2007 to be recognized as the famous painters kin.

Pilar Abel, pictured in her house in 2015. MARTA RODRIGUEZ

In a written decision, the Madrid judge in charge of the case said that it is necessary to conduct a biological test to research Abel Martinezs claim, as no biological remains or personal objects exist on which to conduct the test at the National Toxicology Institute.

The judge will now ask a court in Figueres, the Catalan town where Dali is buried  the body rests inside the Dali Museum  to instruct a forensic scientist to extract samples from Dalis remains and send them to the National Toxicology and Forensic Science Institute for further investigation.

Pilar Abel Martinez, who was herself born in Figueres in 1956, has been publicly claiming to be the famous painters daughter since 2007. She says that her mother, a native of Pineda de Mar (Barcelona), told her that she had a secret affair with Dali in Port-Lligat (Cadaques), where she was working for a family that spent part of the year there.

In 1955 she left her job and returned to her home town of Castello d'Empuries, where she got married. A few months later, Pilar was born.

The judge will now ask a court to instruct a forensic scientist to extract samples from Dalis remains

According to the latter, the first time she heard that she was Dalis daughter was from her own paternal grandmother, who repeatedly told her: I know you are not my sons daughter, but the daughter of a great painter, but I love you all the same. Her grandmother always accused her of being odd, just like your father  a reference to Salvador Dali.

I have hopes that after three DNA tests whose results I have never seen, this time we will get to the bottom of things, Abel told this newspaper in 2015, when her claim was accepted.

If she is finally recognized as the daughter of the Surrealist genius, Abel would be entitled to his surname, to her rightful share of his estate, and to copyright royalties  but all of that would be the subject of a new court case.

This is not the first time that Abel has been involved in lawsuits concerning Spanish celebrities. After working for eight years as a fortune teller on a local television show in Girona, in 2005 she sued the writer Javier Cercas, claiming that she felt insulted after seeing herself portrayed in the character of a fortune teller named Conchi in his acclaimed novel Soldiers of Salamis. She asked for 600,000 in damages.

But the case was dismissed in January 2006 after a judge determined that the character was purely fictional and that the author did not personally know the plaintiff.

English version by Susana Urra.
Why the next tech revolution will be a female affair In Spain, companies such as Google, Facebook, LinkedIn, Siemens, IBM and Microsoft are all run by women. This is no coincidence. There is a drive from the top to attract female talent to an industry routinely dominated by men. Because, besides being ethical, it makes economic sense. Nowadays, it is commonly held that only companies with a diverse workforce will survive. And so the women in this feature are working to reverse the longstanding trend for girls to turn their back on careers involving technology and engineering. It is a huge challenge, but one they have gladly taken on

Rosa Garcia was 36 when she returned from the US to become president and CEO of Microsoft Iberica. I felt a tremendous responsibility, she says. We pioneers had to do a good job for two reasons: to encourage other women to believe they could make it to the top, and to make directors see that putting a woman in charge was good business.

Since then, Microsoft Iberica has taken on one female president after another. Rosa Garcia was followed by Maria Garana and then Pilar Lopez who is now at the helm, managing a team of 700.

But the winds of change are not just blowing through Microsoft. The same thing is happening at Google, which has Fuencisla Clemares running the show, Facebook with Irene Cano, LinkedIn with Sarah Harmon, Siemens with Rosa Garcia and IBM with Marta Martinez. Clearly, when women are offered the same opportunities as men, they know how to run with them.

Rosa Garcia, CEO and President at Siemens Spain. JAMES RAJOTTE

Technology doesnt have a history of Its always been done this way to contend with, says Mireia Las Heras, Professor of Human Resources at the IE Business School in Madrid. It is a more flexible industry and its been savvy about making the most of both male and female talent. In the more traditional [engineering] sectors, the atmosphere is more favorable to men. Its not intentionally exclusive, its just that men have always occupied the jobs and so structures and procedures have been created to suit them.

In 2014, Google published data on the diversity of its workforce, deciding on a transparent approach to the issue. The report showed there were 70% men and 30% women employed by the tech giant. And of the women, only 21% were in senior positions and just 17% had tech jobs. Subsequently, LinkedIn, Yahoo, Twitter, Pinterest, eBay, Apple and Microsoft also published detailed statistics on staff composition, revealing that there was still a long way to go. But at least here was an industry that looked prepared to face the problem head on.

According to a recent LinkedIn study, between 2006 and 2016 the number of women in positions of responsibility rose 18% in the tech industry globally. There has also been a rise in women filling tech-based vacancies in general; since 2006, there has been a 67% increase in female designers, 60% in female directors and 43% in female web developers.

Irene Cano, Country Manager Iberia at Facebook. JAMES RAJOTTE

The US boss of LinkedIn in Spain and Portugal, Sara Harmon, believes that we are making gradual progress. I do think tech companies have understood the importance of inclusion, she says. At LinkedIn, we try to be diverse because we want to be competitive. The approach the tech industry has adopted doesnt seem to have filtered down to other sectors. Everybody knows its right, but a lot of companies have still not realized that its actually good for business.

The women in this report all agree diversity gives companies a competitive edge. When you have access to different points of view, any debate becomes infinitely broader and better decisions are reached, says Fuencisla Clemares, Country Manager at Google Spain and Portugal. Our products are aimed at everyone, so our staff need to mirror society to enable us to come up with developments that will be useful for everyone  irrespective of their gender, race, religion, culture or sexual orientation.

Its important to see women at the head of technology companies. We need role models. We cant always be falling back on Marie Curie!

Last year, Google announced that the number of women working for them had crept up by one percentage point to 31% from 2014. In Facebook, there was also a one-point increase  from 32% to 33%. In Microsoft, however, the number of women working went into reverse. In 2015, 31,064 of its employees were women but this dropped to 29,302 in 2016. In an industry used to constant and often vertiginous progress, change in this sphere is proving an uphill struggle, resulting in criticism from womens associations and the media.

In the last eight years, Ive worked in an office with more women than men and Ive always tried to make sure my teams are diverse, says Irene Cano, Country Manager Iberia at Facebook Iberia. But although the women who have reached the top in the tech sector are very visible, we shouldnt get the wrong impression: in Spain, girls dont want to study STEM degrees [science, technology, engineering and mathematics]. And only 4% of CEOs in tech companies are women. I would be lying if I said I wasnt operating in a masculine environment. In most meetings I go to, I am still the only woman  at best there is one more at the other end of the room. Obviously, this does not do much to foster equality or make it easy to express oneself. The fact youre in a minority makes you feel your position is weaker when it comes to giving your opinion and taking decisions. But I havent felt its got in the way of my career development. As you can see, here I am. But I have had to put up with a lot of things I dont think my male colleagues have had to go through.

All six women say their position within their respective companies has at times been met with surprise and curiosity. Obviously, we are different and sometimes, depending on the culture and atmosphere, its harder for people to understand and appreciate your style, says Clemares. For example, when I worked in consulting I was told I wasnt being assertive enough and my message wasnt getting across. This surprised me because I had a great relationship with my clients but I sought help and was told: Talk louder. As it was a male-dominated environment and I was different, they didnt know how to deal with it. Did that mean I had to work harder? No. I developed my own style which was also effective and got results.

At the start of this month, the Royal Academy of Engineering (RAL) wound up its first mentoring program, run by the Women in Engineering Project, and which aims to address sexual inequality in the sector.

Engineering is still a hostile environment for women, said one of the female mentors working in the renewable-energy sector at the projects conference in the Marques de Villafranca Palace in Madrid. We miss you! We are very happy being surrounded by men but we have to reverse the trend and realize that we at least have a different vision to offer.

This view contrasted with the optimism of one of the male academics, who had declared at the start of the conference that a balance had all but been achieved, eliciting a murmur of protest and a shaking of heads from the predominantly female audience. No, no, no. The battle from where they were sitting was clearly a long way from over.

In Spain, 54% of degree students are women. Most study nursery education, nursing, psychology, medicine, primary education or law. In the academic year 2015-2016, women accounted for 12.1% of technological engineering students and 13% of mechanical engineering students. Only two of the female executives in this report studied science at university.

Women still find it hard to imagine themselves as engineers and mathematicians. Families and schools should think about how they are educating their girls

Its a general problem, says Sara Gomez, who heads the RAL project and is the first woman to direct the University School of Technical and Industrial Engineering at the Madrid Polytechnic. There are fewer girls and boys wanting to study engineering. There is a notable drop in applications. But in the case of girls, its more serious. Girls still find it hard to picture themselves as engineers or mathematicians. A gender balance only exists in architecture and biomedicine. Families and schools should think about how they are educating the girls. They have to impress upon them that the only thing limiting them are their abilities, not their gender.

According to a study carried out by the LOreal Foundation in 2015, 63% of Spaniards think that, from the moment theyre born, girls are treated like princesses who will never have the ability to access executive jobs in a scientific sphere.

Pilar Lopez, Country General Manager at Microsoft Spain. JAMES RAJOTTE

In 2016, the global gap between the numbers of men and women studying to enter STEM careers reached 47%, according to the World Economic Forum. The imbalance is often attributed to a combination of negative stereotypes and an absence of female role models that help boost self-esteem and nurture the aspirations of girls with an aptitude in this field.

In IBM we run a program in collaboration with the most important universities in the country, says Marta Martinez, General Manager for Spain, Portugal, Greece and Israel at IBM. We try to indicate where most of the technical jobs will be while debunking the myth that these jobs are hard. Its one of the most important things we do, but weve been realizing for a while now that the intervention has to come earlier.

A recent Microsoft study showed that 11-year-old girls share the same interest in science and technology as boys. However, by the time girls reach 15, their interest has diminished. When we visit schools, we find theres an enormous lack of confidence, says Pilar Lopez, Country General Manager at Microsoft Spain. The girls say, Those jobs are not for me, I wouldnt be able to do them. Theyre only for clever people. And this comes from girls with enormous potential.

Technology companies have grasped the importance of being inclusive because they want to be competitive. Its not just right, its also good for business

When Sara Gomez goes into classrooms to explain what engineering consists of, she gets strange looks and is sometimes asked if engineering isnt just for boys.

When we speak to the kids we still see behavior more appropriate to the era I studied in than to this one, says Gomez, who took her industrial engineering degree at the end of the 1970s when it was commonly believed that girls signing up for the course were only doing so so that they could marry an engineer. But some of the girls come to me afterwards to ask for more details because they dont dare do so in front of their male classmates. They are scared they will be considered odd.

Engineering student Jessica Amo says that, although women are still in the minority in class, the atmosphere at university is positive, though the stereotypes persist. You still hear people saying things like, What are you doing here? Go home and wash up, she says. And there are lecturers who warn us that we will have to develop our personalities so we can wield authority when it comes to work projects.

Marta Martinez, General Manager Spain, Portugal, Greece, and Israel at IBM. JAMES RAJOTTE

One role model who is being resurrected is Ada Lovelace, daughter of the British poet Lord Byron. She is considered not just the first female computer programmer but the first computer programmer in history, ahead of her male colleagues when she published a program in 1843 for a computer prototype designed but never made for the mathematician Charles Babbage.

Now her genius is being celebrated every year on October 15, a decision taken in 2009 as a means of inspiring future generations of women.

Not even computer students have heard of her, says Montse Cervera, an industrial engineering student at Carlos III University, Madrid. But this is great because we hardly have role models. We cant keep falling back on Marie Curie! Thats why its important to see women at the head of technology companies. It makes it look as though its easier to get there.

More current inspiration will come from the likes of Pilar Lopez, and the other five female executives. I am very conscious of the fact that we need to act as role models, says Lopez. Attracting female talent is a fundamental part of my job. That would also be the case if I were a man, but I have my experience and conviction to offer.

English version by Heather Galloway.
Red, ardent in appearance, and fresh and alluring to the palate. That is Malquerida, a new beer created specially by Spanish superchef Ferran Adria and his brother Albert with Latino cuisine in mind. Dishes from Mexico, Peru and Brazil are currently trending globally and have taken root in Spain. In Spanish restaurants and bars, more ceviche is typically eaten than tripe, says Ferran Adria, who is keenly aware  from his years of experience in the industry  that the growth of Latino food is now unstoppable.

Albert, the younger of the Adria brothers, has established their gastronomic project elBarri in the Barcelona neighborhood of Parallel, an area where he has set up a number of restaurants already: tapas at Tickets, a vermouth bar at Bodega 1900 and cutting-edge Engima, along with Mexican food at restaurant Hoja Santa and taco bar Nino Viejo, as well as Japanese-Peruvian fusion at Pakta.

Its going to be difficult not to love it Albert Adria

The beer being served at these locales will be Malquerida (the name, unloved, comes from one of the best-known works in Spanish theater). The strategy is to raise awareness of the tipple through restaurants and then to distribute it for general consumption (at no more there 3 a bottle, says Jaume Alemany, responsible for marketing at Damm, the Catalan brewer the chefs have developed the project with). Finally, they will look to international expansion.

The Adria brothers have been planning to launch a beer for some time now, but it was only in 2016 they began their experiment, eschewing gastronomic norms by combining an assortment of singular ingredients including mescal, lime, lemon grass, anise and piper auritum (commonly referred to as hoja santa in Spanish).

True teamwork, they say. And they showed it off in a presentation accompanied by many of their collaborators: Ferran Centelles (who was sommelier at their storied restaurant elBulli from 2000 until its closure in 2011 and who is now in charge of wine and drinks at food research studio elBulliLab), Marc Alvarez (head of cocktails at elBarri), Paco Mendez (Mexican chef and friend of Albert Adria, having worked at both Hoja Santa and Nino Viejo), along with master brewers from Damm.

A chilled bottle of Malquerida.

The goal of these perfectionists has been to find the perfect marriage between the red color of hibiscus and the citric aroma of an orange, the acidity and texture of wheat, along with a touch of corn, plus the essential hops (which provide bitterness and spicy kicks) along with barley and malt (which gives structure). The result has a respectable five degrees of alcohol and should be drunk chilled but not icy.

Its going to be difficult not to love it, jokes Albert Adria, describing Malquerida as perfect not only for spicy food and mixed flavors, but also for accompanying Spanish favorites such as boquerones (a variety of anchovy) in vinegar (our ceviche) or mussels. This beer cleanses fat and contributes acidity he says.

Despite its name, Malquerida (it looks like a cocktail, says Alvarez) hopes to find a place on the menus of top restaurants as well as being available in bars. The beer shares much in common with Inedit, the first collaboration between the Adria brothers and Damm in 2008, and that can now be found across the world. Inedit was conceived as comparable to champagne, served in thin-stemmed wine glasses and presented in ice buckets with a stylishly designed bottle.

English version by Henry Hahn.
The explicit mention of Gibraltar in a British document detailing the rights to be enjoyed by EU citizens in Britain and Brits living in the EU could place the long-running dispute between Spain and the UK over the small overseas territory high on the agenda at the start of Brexit negotiations.

Gibraltar is a flashpoint in SpainUK relations. REUTERS

There are no exceptions to the principle by which no deal between the EU and the UK may apply to Gibraltar without a previous agreement between the UK and Spain, and this also affects the rights of citizens, warned Spanish diplomatic sources after details of the British document became known.

The Spanish government had been hoping that the thorny subject of Gibraltar would be left on the back burner until the end of the UK exit negotiations, after the European Council issued guidelines stating that Spain will have veto rights over the application in Gibraltar of any future agreements between the EU and Britain.

I wont say that it sounded bad, but it could have sounded better Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy on Brexit paper

Spain, which has more than 100,000 of its nationals living in Britain, was cautious about the British proposal. I wont say that it sounded bad to me, but it could have sounded better, said Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy in Brussels on Friday.

On Monday of this week, Spains foreign minister, Alfonso Dastis, struck a conciliatory tone as he pressed for a fruitful and beneficial agreement at a talk organized by Nebrija University and the Harvard Kennedy School.

Dastis admitted that Madrid and London have a small problem in the south of the Iberian peninsula, alluding to Gibraltar, which was captured from Spain in 1704 and ceded to Britain under the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713.

Brits to lose voting rights in Spain Theresa May has made it clear that EU citizens living in the UK will lose their political rights. Following the principle of reciprocity, the 300,000 British nationals who are legal residents of Spain will lose the right to vote in local elections. The British community has been among the most politically active foreign groups in Spain. More than 100,000 Brits have signed up to the census of Foreign Residents in Spain (CERE). In some tourist destinations in Alicante and Almeria, the councilors and even the mayors are foreign nationals. British office holders will have to step down unless Spain and the UK sign a bilateral agreement recognizing each others citizens the right to vote. But this seems like an unlikely option right now.

But the minister said the issue should be addressed in a dispassionate manner. I dont want this to become the fundamental issue in the negotiation.

Yet the 15-page policy paper drafted by the government of Theresa May to establish the future status of EU citizens living in the UK, as well as that of Brits living in the EU, cites the overseas territory twice.

The document states that the reciprocal agreement on citizens rights will apply to the entire United Kingdom, covering Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and all parts of England, and Gibraltar. Decisions that are currently made by the devolved administrations and the Government of Gibraltar will continue to be made by them.

This is not immediately obvious, as Gibraltar does not legally form part of the UK, but is instead an overseas territory whose foreign relations are dependent on London.

The policy paper again mentions the Rock in the glossary of terms, where it says that a UK national is the term referred to in this document to describe those people who are regarded as UK nationals for EU law purposes. There is, in fact, no such definition in British legislation, and so the paper cites past statements made by the British government, including one from 1982 saying that UK nationals include British Dependent Territories citizens who acquire their citizenship from a connection with Gibraltar.

I dont want Gibraltar to become the fundamental issue Spanish Foreign Minister Alfonso Dastis

Sources consulted by this newspaper said that residency rights will have little impact on the Rock, as the vast majority of the 7,000 Spaniards who work there live across the border in Spanish territory, while practically all Gibraltarians have their legal residence in the territory, as it is much more advantageous for tax purposes.

Still pending is an agreement over the rights of Spanish workers in Gibraltar to a pension there, or the rights of Gibraltarians to use the Spanish public health system, said sources in Spain

English version by Susana Urra.
Text in which the author defends ideas and reaches conclusions based on his / her interpretation of facts and data

In recent years we have witnessed the spread of xenophobia and Europhobia throughout Europe. This has not been the case with Spain, despite the challenging economic situation. Whats more, as the data in a report by Chatham House, Contested Legacy in Europe, suggests, Spain is a tolerant country where the process of integration is widely supported : 44% of Spaniards (with barely 30% against, the most favorable figures in this regard) support the European Union evolving into the United States of Europe.

The gay pride flag hangs from Madrid City Hall. Juan Carlos Hidalgo (EFE)

Spaniards traditional support for the EUs integration project is well-known, but the resilience of the data is surprisingly gratifying. The absence of euro-skeptic parties in Spains Congress has been confirmed by the elections of 2015 and 2016. In Spain, opposition to the EU is political suicide: the bloc is seen as beneficial to our country by 45% of those surveyed in the above-mentioned report; just 25% think the opposite.

44% of Spaniards support the European Union evolving into the United States of Europe

Those benefits are, without a doubt, material. For many years, Spain has been a net recipient of EU funds, which have helped modernize the country. But Spaniards also value less-tangible benefits. Survey after survey (and this latest is no exception) highlight among the major achievements of the EU the right to live and work throughout the Union and the elimination of physical borders between member states. Decades of international isolation by the Franco dictatorship help to explain this. Spaniards are aware that things are better when they are open to the world.

The 40 years of dictatorship explain other things: Europe has meant democracy, the rule of law and social progress. These issues, despite the serious crisis, are not easily forgotten. And less so in a country that doesnt stand out for having a strong national identity or much confidence in its politicians and institutions. The terrain is inhospitable for the far right, as the Real Instituto Elcanos report points out: The Spanish Exception: Unemployment, inequality and immigration, but no right-wing populist parties.

The 40 years of dictatorship explain other things: Europe has meant democracy, the rule of law and social progress

The desire for a break with an authoritarian past where freedom was a taboo word also explains the countrys remarkable score in several social indicators of a progressive nature, among which stand out attitudes toward homosexuals (71% of Spaniards support same-sex marriage, with just 12% against it), as well as acceptance of immigrants.

Other studies, such as the World Values Survey or those by the Pew Research Center, confirm the weakness of homophobic attitudes in Spain. In the former, which measures tolerance, Spain, along with Netherlands and Sweden, leads the ranking. In the latters The Global Divide on Homosexuality, the attitude is reinforced, with 88% of Spaniards, the highest percentage in the survey, believing that society must accept homosexuality.

Immigration is not considered a problem in Spain. Data from the Chatham House study show that Spaniards have a better image of foreigners, including refugees and economic migrants, than other countries that were surveyed. Spain is the only country with a more positive than negative vision of the arrival of refugees (albeit limited, with 26% in favor and 25% against), with the same applying to economic migrants (25% in favor and 22% against).

Data show that Spaniards have a better image of foreigners, including refugees and economic migrants, than other countries surveyed

Around the turn of the century, some specialists suggested that Spaniards positive attitude toward foreigners was not real, but instead a result of the limited number of them, and/or Spains healthy economy at the time. The data refutes this. Since the beginning of the century, Spains overseas population increased by several million (more than 10%) in just a few years, to which was added an economic crisis that did away with the Spanish miracle but that was not reflected by any substantive growth in xenophobic attitudes.

The fact that most immigrants (Latin Americans) are native Spanish speakers, or that the other main group, Romanians, find it easy to learn the language, will undoubtedly have influenced this. Either way, it is a reason for pride that there has been no substantial increase in rejection by Spaniards. The same applies to Spain being a leader in tolerance toward homosexuals, and the fact that Europhobia has not taken root. That said, we should not rest on our laurels.

Salvador Llaudes is a researcher at the Real Instituto Elcano.

English version by Nick Lyne.
The collection of modern and contemporary art belonging to multimillionaire Roberto Polo is to find a new home in two locations in Spain. From summer 2018, part of the art historians treasure trove of more than 7,000 paintings, sculptures and photographs will go on show at Toledos 13th-century Convento de Santa Fe, with other work to be displayed at the former public records building in Cuenca  also a former headquarters of the Spanish Inquisition.

A Max Ernst work from the Polo collection. EL PAIS

Works from the huge collection  insured for 50 million, although no official valuation has been carried out  will be shown on a rotating basis for a period of at least 15 years, with the collection to gradually be ceded in its entirety to Spain.

The collection covers the period from the late 19th century to the present day with a focus on central, eastern and northern Europe, and the United States. It includes pieces by such 20th-century luminaries as German artists Max Ernst and Kurt Schwitters, and Hungarian painter and photographer Laszlo Moholy-Nagy. The United States is represented by figures including abstract artist Larry Poons, the painter and sculptor Martin Kline and by Karen Gunderson, among many others.

Last but not least, Polo, 65, whose parents moved to Miami from Cuba after the Castro regime seized their assets in 1961, will donate to Spain part of his fabulous library numbering thousands of art history books, many of them first editions.

The fact that the collection is going to Spain is a dream, I am happy Roberto Polo

The historic donation on the part of a grand patron of the arts, philanthropist and former majority shareholder of the auction house Sothebys, will come without a price tag for both the Spanish state and the region of Castilla-La Mancha, where the collection is to be housed. As such, Spain will become the home to one of the largest collections of contemporary art in the world.

Art collector Roberto Polo.

This operation is proof that when things are done using your head  and you have bit of luck, because you dont always come across collectors [like Polo]  state and regional governments dont need to hand over huge sums of money, said one of the people involved in the bringing of the Polo collection to Spain, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Spain has been off the map in terms of contemporary international art because of the inferiority complex that [Spanish philosopher Jose] Ortega y Gasset wrote and spoke about, said US art critic Barbara Rose, curator of an exhibition of Flemish and US art from the Polo collection currently on show in Malaga.

This means that when these works arrive in Toledo and Cuenca it will fill a gap in terms of both history and museums, a phenomenon similar to when the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum opened in Madrid [in 1992], added Rose.

These works will fill a gap in Spain in terms of both art history and museums Barbara Rose, art critic

News of Polos gift to Spain comes after a period of intense speculation over the final destination for his collection, with three Spanish cities, another European city and a location in the United States all vying for the honor. But Polo finally chose Cuenca and Toledo.

The fact that it is going to Spain is a dream, I am happy, said Polo. I will keep buying and collecting but I want the current collection to remain where it is. In August, I will turn 66 and the time has come to lay down some roots and leave a legacy, said the philanthropist, who comes from a family of rich industrialists and began buying art at the age of 19.

Ive always preferred to dedicate myself to artists and movements that are out of fashion, said Polo, who is the descendant of emigrants from Spains Galicia region.

English version by George Mills.
55 year-old Sooraj Singh Gurjar of Patharia village was the tenth farmer from Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan's home district Sehore to commit suicide since the June 6 Mandsaur firing incident.

By Hemender Sharma: Since the day five farmers were killed in police firing in Madhya Pradesh's Mandsaur district on June 6, the number of those having committed suicide from Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan's home district Sehore alone has gone up to 10.

The latest casualty has been identified as 55 year-old Sooraj Singh Gurjar of Patharia village under the Ahmadpur police station. Sooraj was found hanging from a tree at his farm early on Tuesday morning. According to his family members, Gurjar had been depressed for the past few days after being unable to repay a debt of around Rs 10 lakh.

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THE LIST OF FARMER SUICIDES IN SEHORE

The cycle of farmer suicides in Sehore began two days after the Mandsaur firing incident when 42-year-old Bishan Singh Rajpoot hanged himself at his house in Jogakhedi village on June 8. He owed around Rs 10 lakh to banks and money lenders. Rajpoot had been served a notice by the society to which he owed some money.

On June 12, 55-year-old Dulchand committed suicide by consuming pesticide at his house in Jajna village. According to his family members, he owed a debt of Rs 6 lakh.

One June 15, 23-year-old Mukesh consumed pesticide at his house in Lachhar village. He was referred to a Bhopal hospital in a critical condition where he was declared dead. The district administration, while accepting that Mukesh was a farmer, denied that he committed suicide because of anything related to farm distress or debt and insisted that he took the extreme step as he suffered from some stomach disease.

One June 19, 54-year-old Bansi Lal of Jamonia Khurd village committed suicide by hanging himself at his house. According to his son, Lal had taken a loan of Rs 23,000 from the Punjab Nation Bank, an amount of Rs 3 lakh from the cooperative society and around Rs 3 lakh from money lenders.

One June 22, 58-year-old Shatrughan Meena killed himself by consuming pesticide at his house in Gavaria village. Meena had taken a loan from a local BJP leader, who was allegedly pressurising him to sell off his land to him.

The same day another farmer, identified as Babu Lal Malviya, killed himself by consuming poison at his house in Palkhedi village. He too owed a debt of around Rs 4 lakh.

On June 28, 45-year-old Jagdish Chuadhary killed himself by hanging himself from a tree at his farm in Gwaltoli village. According to his family members, he was depressed because of repeated crop failures.

On June 29, a tribal farmer identified as 55-year-old Haria Barela of Imlikheda village committed suicide by hanging himself from a tree at his farm. He owed Rs 1 lakh to money lenders.

Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has so far evaded questions on farmer suicides in his home district even as his government continues to deny the role of debt and farm distress behind farmers taking the extreme step.

--- ENDS ---
The Gay Pride celebrations in Madrid this year are particularly special: both the World Pride and EuroPride festivals are taking place there this week, turning the city into the world capital of the LGBTQ collective. Given the huge numbers of people expected for the celebrations, there will be a number of issues with traffic and public transport.

Road closures

Today, Wednesday, not even residents will be able to access the Plaza de Pedro Zerolo, in the Chueca neighborhood, which will be closed off from 6pm to midnight for the opening ceremony. From today onward, heavy vehicles will not be allowed in the city center while normal vehicles will not be able to park in the whole of the Centro neighborhood. Motorbikes and scooters will also be subject to the restrictions.

The area surrounded by Hortaleza, Augusto Figueroa, Barquillo and Gran Via streets will be closed off to all traffic from June 28 to July 1, while on Sunday July 2, traffic will be restricted on Augusto Figueroa, Barquillo and Gran Via streets.

Gran Via will be closed on July 1 from 8am to 4pm, with an exception for residents, tourists that are staying in hotels there, buses, taxis and private-hire vehicles.

Mayor street, which runs into the central Puerta del Sol plaza, and Carrera de San Jeronimo, which runs off it, will also see restrictions to traffic from June 28 to July 1. Plaza de Espana, meanwhile, will be closed on June 29.

From 4pm onward on Saturday July 1, roads including Carrera de San Jeronimo, Plaza Canovas del Castillo, Sevilla, Principe, Cruz, Ronda de Atocha, Paseo de las Delicias, Paseo del Prado, Paseo de Recoletos, Paseo de la Castellana, Genova, and Goya will be closed off to traffic. Whats more, Plaza de la Independencia, Alcala, Alfonso XII, Serrano and ODonnell streets will also see restrictions from 6pm onward from June 30 to July 2.

The traffic restrictions will be announced via the electronic billboards on the M-30 beltway.

Metro

Lines 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9A and 11 will all be running extra trains over the World Pride celebrations, especially on the night of July 1 to July 2 when the Madrid Metro will be running non-strop.

Train driver strike

A strike has been called by Metro Madrid drivers this weekend, but minimum services are planned. The stoppages are due to take place between June 28 and July 2. (See sidebar for more information.)

Buses

The citys night buses, the Airport Express service and Line 200, which runs between Avenida de America and the airport, will all run extra services until July 2. From today, Wednesday, a further 25 lines will also be reinforced.

All of the following lines will be interrupted during World Pride due to traffic restrictions: 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 9, 10, 14, 15, 19, 20, 21, 26, 27, 28, 32, 34, 37, 44, 45, 46, 51, 52, 53, 59, 74, 75, 85, 86, 102, 133, 146, 147, 148, 150, C1, C2, E1, M1, M2, 203.

Bus services that depart from Plaza Mayor, Latina, Jacinto Benavente, Atocha and Tribunal will also see interruptions and route changes.

On the night of July 1, an extra 15 buses will be in service.

BiciMAD

The citys public bike hire system, BiciMAD, will also be affected. From June 28 to July 2, hire points in Chueca, Puerta del Sol and Pedro Zerolo square will not be operative. On June 29 the hire point in Plaza de Espana will be closed, and the following day the Puerta del Sol point will not be in operation. On July 1 the hire point between Atocha and Colon will be deactivated.

Cercanias (suburban) trains

Trains in the city will be running with double their usual capacity in order to cope with the expected increase in volume.

Taxis

One of the taxi associations in Madrid has called a strike in the capital on June 29 and 30. The drivers are calling for more municipal officers to monitor the activity of private hire drivers. The stoppages are planned from 12am on June 29 to midnight on June 30.

English version by Simon Hunter.
Increased corporate awareness of LGBT+ issues is reflected at this years World Pride celebrations in Madrid, where high-profile brands have been increasing their presence considerably compared with other years.

Madrid's Chueca neighborhood is the hub of World Pride Madrid 2017. EFE

Vodafone, Spotify, PayPal, eBay and Facebook will all have their own floats at the World Pride Madrid 2017 parade scheduled for Saturday, July 1. For most of these companies, this will be the first time that they have taken part in the event, which is expected to draw up to two million people to the center of the Spanish capital.

Other well-known brands such as Tinder, Uber, Larios, Fox, El Corte Ingles, NH Hoteles, Iberia, AXA, Tuenti and Philips will host a range of events, from competitions to discussion panels.

Besides operating a float, the auction site eBay has also launched limited-edition glasses especially for World Pride; part of the proceeds will go to the non-profit group It Gets Better, which fights school bullying.

An artist's rendition of the Vodafone float.

Uber, the car ride service whose presence in the Spanish capital has sparked plenty of controversy in recent years, is an official mobility sponsor for the event, and is offering a special service for groups of six to eight people throughout the 11 days of World Pride Madrid, which ends on Sunday. The initiative, which offers special rates, has sparked renewed anger by the citys regular taxi drivers, who were on the verge of striking again.

Symbolic weddings

Television network Fox has rolled out the Wedding Bus, which is celebrating symbolic weddings of LGTB+ couples with the couples firm commitment to legalize them as soon as possible.

The 'pregon', which officially kicked off World Pride Madrid 2017 on Wednesday. Kike Para

Meanwhile, makers of alcoholic beverages have also found a way to tap into the vast audience that is converging in Madrid these days. Absolut, the Swedish vodka, has launched Absolut Rainbow, a limited-edition bottle that comes in six colors. And Spanish gin maker Larios has also wrapped its bottles in the colors of the rainbow flag.

The pregon

Although events have been scheduled since June 23, World Pride really kicked off on Wednesday with the pregon, the official opening ceremony, which took place at Pedro Zerolo square in the central neighborhood of Chueca, ground zero for Madrids LGBT+ community.

Events in Barcelona Barcelona is working to promote itself as an open city that welcomes the LGBT+ community, said municipal sources. As part of the World Pride celebrations, the landmark Glories Tower, formerly known as Agbar Tower, was draped in the colors of the rainbow flag. The city is holding its own Pride Barcelona 2017, which is into its 10th edition this year.

Revelers filled the large square  formerly known as Vazquez de Mella and renamed after well-known gay rights activist Pedro Zerolo, who died in June 2015  amid tight security measures.

On the stage were celebrities including movie director Alejandro Amenabar, creator of The Others, The Sea Inside and Open Your Eyes.

It is very exciting to see this full square, to see Madrid filled with rainbow flags. You are making all this possible, said actor Javier Calvo from the stage.

The crowd responded enthusiastically. Some had come a long way to be there. I came all the way here just for the pregon, said a young woman in her twenties named Emili who drove to Madrid from the northern Spanish city of Leon, more than 300 kilometers away.

Were from Ceuta [a Spanish city along the northern coast of Africa] and were spending a few days in Madrid. We found out that this was going on and we came, said Cristina, who was there with her husband and two children.

English version by Susana Urra.
Having made room in his diary for the event, Spains former monarch, King Juan Carlos is reportedly annoyed not to have been invited to a ceremony on Wednesday to commemorate the 40 th anniversary of the creation of the first sitting of the countrys Congress following the death of military ruler General Francisco Franco in 1975 and the return to democracy .

Part of the commemorations held on Wednesday. Alvaro Garcia

The reason for Juan Carloss absence at the event was, according to the Royal Household, protocol: the former monarch, who abdicated in favor of his son, Felipe VI, in 2014, enjoys the status of King emeritus, and therefore it would have been an anomaly for him to attend such an important event in the presence of the reigning monarch.

A spokesman for King Felipe told EL PAIS that when the monarch addresses Congress it is not customary for the former head of state to be present, and furthermore, it was Juan Carlos who established the principle when his son acceded to the throne.

Juan Carlos was reported to be unhappy at being excluded from an event that praised his key role in Spains democratic transition four decades ago and that was attended by other major figures who helped organize and participated in the general elections of 1977.

If the act had taken place in a less formal setting, there would have been no problem Royal Household spokesman

Juan Carlos had been sailing off the coast of Galicia for a few days, but had reportedly cleared the last week of June in his schedule, assuming he would be invited to the commemoration  not to steal the limelight from his son but to meet up with other key figures of the period.

The former monarch was in conversation with Ana Pastor, the speaker of Congress. She had mentioned ongoing talks with the Royal Household to find a way around protocol and thus make it possible for Juan Carlos to attend the event.

Juan Carlos did not attend his sons proclamation in Congress three years ago, but the institutional reasons cited on that occasion pale beside the embarrassment of him not being invited to an event to commemorate events he played a central role in.

Juan Carlos I and Felipe VI in Madrid. Carlos Alvarez (Getty Images)

For example, the inclusion of the Communist Party, which was still illegal, in the elections of June 1977 was in large part due to the intermediary role played by Juan Carlos.

During his speech to Congress on Wednesday, King Felipe highlighted the role played by his father.

If the act had taken place in a less formal setting, there would have been no problem, said a spokesman for the Royal Household on Thursday. One solution that seems not to have been considered would have been the use of the so-called Tribune of Honor in Congress, which has been used for the heads of regional governments and other illustrious guests. This is where Queen Sofia and the infantas were seated during the proclamation of Felipe VI.

The explanations appear not to have convinced Juan Carlos. Sources close to the former monarch said he was shocked that invitations were even sent to the granddaughters of Dolores Ibarruri, the Communist Party leader credited with the phrase They shall not pass during the Civil War and who returned to Spain from exile in the Soviet Union in 1977.

English version by Nick Lyne.
Once again surrogacy is a hot topic in Spain. Under the Assisted Reproduction Act, surrogacy contracts are legally void (although they are not explicitly prohibited, meaning that there are no sanctions for the parties involved). In recent years there has been a rise in the number of couples heading abroad to find a surrogate mother  to places like Mexico , Greece, Ukraine, Canada and the United States. Faced with a growing trend, political parties are being forced to take a stand on the issue  if they can ever overcome their own internal divisions.

Surrogacy is a controversial and largely unregulated issue in Spain. GETTY

Although no official figures exist, if the estimates are correct, international surrogacy has overtaken overseas adoption as the choice for would-be parents in Spain.

Spains political parties have been slow to react to a trend that shows no signs of going away. And so far, their responses have mostly served to reflect deep internal divisions over a thorny issue still largely unregulated.

Only Ciudadanos, the recently emerged protest party that grew out of Spains economic crisis and is now the fourth largest presence in Congress, has committed to a clear position.

Its not right that people need to spend $150,000, take out a mortgage and go to the US in order to be a father or a mother

Ciudadanos leader Albert Rivera

On Tuesday of last week, Ciudadanos introduced a bill in Congress to regulate altruistic surrogacy. Under the proposed terms, only women between the ages of 25 and 45 holding Spanish citizenship or legally resident, from a stable socioeconomic background and with children of their own would be eligible to become surrogate mothers in Spain.

Who are we to tell other people that they cant be parents? asked Ciudadanos leader Albert Rivera at a party rally on a recent Saturday. Who are we to prevent someone from forming a family through clear, precise and altruistic regulation?

The bill also envisions fines of up to 1,000 for minor violations, going all the way up to 1 million for serious infractions such as paying the surrogate mother for anything other than out-of-pocket expenses stemming from pregnancy and childbirth.

An uphill struggle

But Ciudadanos, which has 32 deputies in the 350-seat house, faces major hurdles in making its project a reality. None of the three other major parties in Congress  the ruling Popular Party (PP), the Socialist Party (PSOE) and Podemos  openly support surrogacy, and internal divisions exist within the parties themselves.

Assisted Reproduction Act Article 10 of the Assisted Reproduction Act says that any contract arranging for a woman to carry a child, either for a fee or not, and surrender the child at birth will be legally void. Kinship will be determined by childbirth, meaning the woman who gave birth to the baby will be considered the mother by default, although it is possible to claim paternity rights as per the general rules.

Pablo Casado, a communications spokesman for the conservative PP, said on Monday the position of the party is one of prudence.

Irene Montero, who speaks for the leftist coalition Unidos Podemos, called surrogacy the commercialization of a womans body, although she also admitted that there are varying viewpoints within her political group, and that an internal debate on the issue is taking place.

Meanwhile, the main opposition party has just shut the door on the possibility of legally regulating surrogacy. At the PSOE congress in mid-June, the Spanish Socialists decided that they cannot embrace any practice that means undermining the rights of women and young girls or reinforcing the feminization of poverty.

During the campaign for party primaries earlier this year, the newly re-elected secretary general Pedro Sanchez had openly opposed surrogacy.

Surrogacy laws in Greece, where the practice is allowed.

I am not in favor of using the female body for prostitution, for trafficking or for surrogate motherhood, he said.

Instead, Sanchez wants to restore assisted reproduction services in the public health system, eliminating the limits established by the PP government.

At the same time, there are segments within the PSOE that defend surrogacy, notably the groups Juventudes Socialistas (Socialist Youth Groups) and LGBTI.

But Ciudadanos will have more than other parties to contend with. Also on Tuesday of last week, around a hundred civil society representatives belonging to the Platform for Liberties asked congressional groups to vote against the bill.

Meanwhile, the Spanish Bioethics Committee, which answers to the Health Ministry, took a clear stand against surrogacy in mid-May, proposing an international regulatory framework that would ban this type of contract in order to guarantee the dignity of woman and child.

But the chances of the Spanish government securing an international resolution banning surrogacy globally are very low. The committee also suggested sanctions for surrogacy agencies in Spain. A recent surrogacy fair in Madrid was protested by feminist groups.

Facts on the ground

While politicians and experts debate the pros and cons of surrogacy, the facts on the ground keep piling up.

Hundreds of Spaniards undertake trips every year to fulfil their wish to become parents. If everything goes well, they will work with agencies of varying trustworthiness. These, in exchange for money, will hire women who are willing to undergo hormonal treatment, carry another persons baby to term and promise to give it up after childbirth. These women are typically from poorer countries  Mexico, Ukraine, Thailand  though not always.

I am not in favor of using the female body for prostitution, for trafficking or for surrogate motherhood

PSOE leader Pedro Sanchez

The Swiss-based International Social Security Association estimates that every year, surrogate mothers give birth to around 20,000 children worldwide. Agencies and parents estimate that between 800 and 1,000 go on to live with Spanish parents, but there are no official figures.

There are numbers, however, for international adoptions by Spaniards, and these have dropped from 5,541 in 2004 to 799 in 2015. The Spanish Health Ministry offers several reasons for this fall, including better child protection in the countries of origin.

Instead of the international adoption process, which can take up to eight years, it seems that those wanting to be parents are more frequently opting for the quicker route and paying between 60,000 in Russia or up to 120,000 in California  one of 14 US states where the practice is legal.

Babies in limbo

The trouble starts when couples who go abroad an association called Son Nuestros Hijos (They Are Our Kids) estimates there are 500 to 1,000 each year  register the newborns there, then return to Spain, where the kinship document must be validated.

In 2010, the Directorate-General of Registrars and Notaries allowed these children to be officially registered in Spain to ensure they would not be left in a legal limbo, but later court rulings have made this process more complicated.

Children cannot be left waiting at the doors of a civil records office, said Ciudadanos Rivera, acknowledging the problem. Its not right for those children not to get registered, or to have trouble doing so, depending on what province they live in. Its not right that people need to spend $150,000, take out a mortgage and go to the US in order to be a father or a mother.

English version by Susana Urra.
Spain has become a net recipient of migration once again. In 2016, more people came to live here than left the country  a trend not seen since 2009, when the economic crisis scared away both Spaniards and foreign residents.

A Latin American waiter at a Madrid bar. Carlos Rosillo

As a result, for the first time in five years the population of Spain has seen a rise. On January 1, 2017 the figure stood at 46.53 million, a 0.19% increase from the previous year, according to numbers released by the National Statistics Institute (INE).

Immigrant arrivals in Spain peaked in the early 2000s, during the economic boom derived from the real estate bubble. But the influx ended abruptly in 2009, the last year when immigrant arrivals exceeded departures. And it was not just foreigners who went back home  a lot of Spaniards also decided to go abroad in search of job opportunities.

The United Kingdom is still the favorite destination of Spanish emigrants

At the height of the crisis, in 2013, Spain lost a quarter of a million inhabitants this way. Since then, immigration has started to pick up speed again while emigration slowed down.

In 2015, more foreigners settled in Spain than those who left, but the number of emigrating Spaniards resulted in net emigration, even though it was by a small margin.

Last year, for the first time since 2009, the trend was reverted: net migration was positive, showing a figure of 89,126 people. The data for 2016 shows the most intense immigration since 2008: 417,033 new arrivals.

Of these, 85% were foreigners, while 15% were returning Spaniards. In 2016, 354,461 foreign nationals settled down in Spain, while 241,795 left.

The main country of origin is Venezuela, where a profound political and economic crisis has pushed nearly 30,000 people out of the country and into Spain. Just under 2,000 returned to Venezuela last year, leaving a net figure of 27,674 in favor of Spain.

Even so, the Venezuelan community remains small (63,491 individuals in 2016), as the country has not traditionally been an emitter of migrants to Spain.

The main country of origin is Venezuela, where a profound political and economic crisis has pushed nearly 30,000 people out of the country and into Spain

The second most important country of origin for immigration last year was Morocco, with 21,386 net arrivals. There was also significant immigration from Colombia last year (16,809).

The largest foreign communities living in Spain by far remain Romanians (678,098) and Moroccans (667,189).

Also last year, 150,739 foreign-born residents acquired Spanish citizenship.

After Venezuela, Morocco, Colombia and Romania, the fifth country in terms of net migration was Italy, with nearly 15,000 arrivals. While more British nationals come to Spain, many Spaniards choose to move to the UK, making the net migration figure smaller.

Spaniards prefer Britain

There are still more Spaniards leaving than coming back. In 2016, 86,112 Spaniards emigrated, while 62,572 returned. And despite fears over Brexit, Britain was their preferred destination. For every three Spaniards that moved there last year, only one came back.

In terms of favored destinations, after Britain, Spaniards chose to move predominantly to France, Germany and the United States.

Number of UK expats in Spain aged 65 and over doubles in 10 years A new joint report by Britains Office for National Statistics and Spains National Statistics Institute (INE) has found that that 121,000 (40%) of British residents in Spain were aged 65 and over in 2016, and that this number has more than doubled since 2006. Drafted as the first document in a new series on British nationals living abroad and EU citizens living in the UK, Living abroad: migration between Britain and Spain also found that there were 116,000 Spanish citizens resident in the UK between 2013 and 2015 with around half of these aged 20 to 39 years old. And 78% of Spanish citizens working in the UK worked in the following sectors: public administration, education and health, banking and finance, distribution, and hotels and restaurants.

English version by Susana Urra.
To be able to put together a logical speech that combines porn with subjectivism, scatology with the refoundation of the political left, or French psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan with German-American film director Ernst Lubitsch, and then to throw in a dose of regional jokes and Taylor Swift references  this is not something that just anyone can manage. But the Slovenian thinker Slavoj Zizek, 68, has turned it into an art form. Or into a show, as his detractors like to say.

Zizek is a controversial philosopher, an agitator who thrives on political incorrectness. His erudition, command of theory and vast cultural knowledge have made him a modern-day Sartre of sorts, at least when it comes to his ability to penetrate the public sphere, say his supporters.

Simultaneously, his overwhelming communications skills, use of language (as far removed as one can imagine from that of academia) and familiarity with pop culture have helped Zizek take his message to twenty- and thirtysomethings who are angry at the current state of affairs and at the neoliberal paradigm. He has connected with them because of what he stands for.

Oh, and because of his YouTube videos.

Some people think that the character created by Zizek and its viral nature have overtaken Zizek the thinker

His viral speeches, including a hilarious one in which he explains the differences between French, English and German thought by analyzing toilet design in each of these countries, partly helps to explain the long lines on Wednesday outside the Circulo de Bellas Artes, a major cultural center in downtown Madrid, to hear Zizeks A Plea for Bureaucratic Socialism. The venue was filled to capacity and around 500 people were left out, according to organizer estimates.

The case of Carlos Fulgado, an 18-year-old physics student, helps explain the phenomenon. He showed up shortly before 5pm to make sure he would get a good spot for an event due to start at 7.30pm. Fulgado says he found Zizek in a mainstream way: from hearsay and by watching snippets of his YouTube videos, most particularly extracts from The Perverts Guide to Cinema and The Perverts Guide to Ideology, two documentaries which he hosted and wrote the script for.

Fulgado says he attempted to read In Defense of Lost Causes, but this was a little too hardcore for a reader who was 15 at the time. Since then, however, he has already made it through eight to 10 volumes by his favorite thinker.

Zizek's thoughts appeal to disaffected twenty and thirtysomethings. Jaime Villanueva (EL PAIS)

He has subverted the classic way of accessing philosophy, the 18-year-old says. Instead of speaking from an ivory tower, he appeals to hipsters. He knows how to empathize with young people, through references to David Lynch and Starbucks.

On Wednesday, Fulgado was the first attendee to rush to shake Zizeks hand when the latter showed up at Circulo de Bellas Artes.

But there was someone who had arrived there before him. Pablo Castellano, a 24-year-old philosophy student, had been standing in line since 3.45pm. He confessed that he had not read Zizeks most important work, but that he was very familiar with his YouTube material.

He is very popular among philosophy school students, but academically he has no presence whatsoever; he is not studied, he noted.

Death throes of capitalism

There is no question that Zizek can really draw crowds. Nearly 500 people had packed the room to hear his digression in favor of a socialist bureaucracy. His main idea: that following the rebellion in the public squares, we now need an invisible machinery to deal with the important things in our everyday lives, such as health and education.

Zizek proclaimed that we are witnessing the death throes of capitalism, attacked the vacuity of newly elected French president Emmanuel Macron, took aim at globalization, and called upon the Left to fight for a moral majority.

He has subverted the classic way of accessing philosophy. Instead of speaking from an ivory tower, he appeals to the hipsters

Carlos Fulgado, physics student

The whole thing was peppered with references to people like Malcolm X, and delivered in a style reminiscent of Italian comedy actor Roberto Benigni in terms of accent, seduction, and ability to make people laugh.

The audience watched a brilliant, chaotic, incisive monologist who displayed a full array of nervous tics that make him a Character with a capital C: he grabbed his nose, stuck his tongue out of the side of his mouth, pulled on his shirt and pushed his hair back compulsively while he gave rein to his counter-current thoughts.

At a meeting with the press at the Reina Sofia Museum, Zizek said that he finds it very hard to give a serious talk to more than 40 people at a time, but that it is essential to expand the limits of philosophy. The time has come to revisit the major metaphysical questions. We do not live in the era of superficiality. There is an audience for great, serious theoretical work.

Some people think that the character created by Zizek and its viral nature have overtaken Zizek the thinker. But the fact remains that there is a thinker indeed behind the character.

English version by Susana Urra.
Police officers detain one of the suspects in Inca (Mallorca) on Wednesday. Atienza (EFE)

Abdelkader Mahmoudi, one of the four jihadists arrested on Wednesday in Mallorca, was planning a knife attack on the island, in the main square of the town of Inca. After questioning Mahmoudi and the three other men arrested on Wednesday, High Court judge Santiago Pedraz has ordered the four to be held in custody.

After listening to telephone conversations as well as analyzing material confiscated by police, the judge has concluded that the four men are members of a group set up by Tarik Chadlioui, a Salafist imam who has recruited people to Jihadist cells and who has traveled from abroad to Mallorca repeatedly to build a terrorist structure.

The judge says Azdad took money donated by the religious community for his own uses

The group is accused of spreading propaganda and indoctrinating members to carry out terror attacks while at the same time making videos to help attract combatants. One recruitment video, in which three of the arrested men appeared, was posted on a channel with more than 12,000 subscribers. The video tells the story of the radicalization of a young Muslim in Spain who then decides to leave for Syria to join the so-called Islamic State.

According to the indictment, Abdelkader Mahmoudi had declared his intention to become a martyr and would have planned violent acts (slaughter in the main square of Inca, stabbing passers by). Mahmoudi is also accused of preparing and sharing Jihadist material on instant messaging. Videos were found on his phone of public executions.

Abdelkader Mahmoudi had declared his intention to become a martyr

The supposed leader of the group was Abderrahman Farid, who allegedly organized indoctrination meetings and looked for new recruits. Working with him was Azzouz Azdad, who took part in the preparation and distribution of Jihadist content. The judge says Azdad took money donated by the religious community for his own uses.

The arrest of the four men came as part of a joint operation between intelligence agencies in Spain, Britain and Germany that began on Tuesday afternoon. There has also been an arrest in Britain and another in Germany.

English version by Nick Lyne.
Italy is asking its closest European partners  with Spain at the top of the list  for help dealing with the migrant crisis. The idea is for some of these vessels, which come mostly from Libya, to be taken to ports elsewhere in the union. At present, most of the rescued migrants end up on Italian shores.

Rescued migrants wait to disembark in Catania, Italy. ORIETTA SCARDINO (EFE)

Spain has expressed solidarity with Italys plight, but warned that any solution to the problem must taken at the European Union level, not bilaterally.

After the EU signed a deal with Turkey in 2016, migrant and refugee flows to Greece dropped drastically. The central route has switched to Italy, which is currently dealing with 86% of migrant arrivals, compared with 9% for Greece and 4% for Spain.

Of the nearly 97,000 migrants who have arrived in the EU via the Mediterranean so far this year, 83,650 of them have landed in Italy, according to United Nations figures.

The Commission will support what I would call a heroic effort to handle this challenge. Italy will not be alone

EC President Jean-Claude Juncker

Europe lacks the mechanisms to handle these migrants. The refugee-sharing plan designed by Brussels two years ago only covers textbook refugees, meaning basically Syrians, Eritreans and Iraqis.

But most of these new arrivals hail from sub-Saharan Africa, and even though they are fleeing poverty and hardship in their countries, they do not fit the definition of asylum seeker. So Italy cannot include them in the EU program.

After rescuing 10,000 people in just three days, Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni threatened not to let in any more ships from Libyan waters. This made EU institutions sit up and take notice.

But Spanish diplomatic sources are skeptical about Italys proposed solution.

Sharing out the immigrants among southern countries is not the solution. We need a European response to an exceptional situation, like the EU did with the crisis of the refugees arriving in Greece, said these sources.

Spanish diplomats also noted that Spain is already dealing with immigration from Morocco, Algeria and the Atlantic coast of Africa, even if the volume is much smaller.

Opening Spanish ports to these new migrants would force Spain to establish what the EU designates as hotspots (where migrants get classified and receive assistance). Most are undocumented, making repatriation very difficult.

These same sources cited an informal meeting of European justice and interior ministers scheduled for July 7 in Estonia, and an international conference called by Italy in Rome for July 6.

Meanwhile, the European Commission supports the idea of Mediterranean neighbors helping each other. Italy and Greece cannot be left alone. The Commission will support what I would call a heroic effort to handle this challenge. Italy will not be alone, said EC president Jean-Claude Juncker.

English version by Susana Urra.
Yair Lapid, chairman of Israels Yesh Atid Party. Carlos Rosillo

In two years time, Benjamin Netanyahu will become the longest-serving prime minister of Israel. According to recent polls, only one man can stop that from happening. If elections were held today, Yair Lapid would win, those polls show. Lapid has only been in politics for five and a half years, during which time he has held the post of finance minister. He is now the leader of the centrist faction of the opposition in Israel, having founded the Yesh Atid (There is a future) party in 2012 after a successful career in television.

I hope the kind of attitude left radical parties are showing toward Israel is the result of complete ignorance

Lapid, born in Tel Aviv in 1963, entered politics with the aim of stamping out corruption and ensuring that the countrys ultra-orthodox Jews  some 10 percent of the population  carry out the same obligations as the rest of the population, military service included. Now he is being held up as Israels representative of a centrist wave that is putting an end to traditional two-party systems in many parts of the world. Meanwhile, he has thrown himself into what is particularly difficult terrain in Israeli politics: foreign policy. On a recent visit to Madrid organized by the NGO group Monitor, he participated in an event denouncing the use of public money in Spain to promote boycotts in Israel, and visited Spains national Congress.

Politically, Israel is more polarized than ever. Is there space for a centrist party?

This is not an Israeli phenomenon, its global. The most obvious example is Macron in France, but it is also happening with Ciudadanos in Spain. In this struggle between the populism of the left and the populism of the right, nobody wins. Its clear that after the US election and Brexit, people have been telling themselves that we need to wait a minute and look at this because protest movements are not good at governing in institutions. What the center as a concept is offering is above all responsibility and functioning institutions.

But the fact remains that a majority of voters still prefer the Likud. What can you offer to Israelis that Benjamin Netanyahu cannot offer them?

First, an end to us versus them politics. I have been telling the people of Israel, the same way Emmanuel Macron is telling the people of France and Angela Merkel, to a point, is telling the people of Germany, that this is a diversion. Theres only us. My aspiration is to unify the country. Not to create a uniform state, but to unify it. And I think this [concept] is also spreading around, right now, more in Europe than anywhere else.

Islamic terrorists use a vocabulary they have stolen from Martin Luther King and Karl Marx

Israel faces a huge challenge in terms of its image overseas. What can you do to improve this image?

Israel has done a very bad job in Europe in the last few decades because we did not make up for the amount of money and efforts that were put into Europe by the BDS [Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions] movement [against the country]. For too long, Israeli foreign policy was saying: If we argue with them in public, we will only give them free publicity so lets pretend its not happening. But its happening. There is a lot of money coming in, a lot of Spanish money as well  money from the Spanish taxpayers that was supposed to go to humanitarian aid but instead, it goes to support propaganda of terrorists groups.

These groups say the solution to Israels problems is very easy: make peace with the Palestinians.

I am a great supporter of the two-state solution. I am ready to give them [the Palestinians] a state tomorrow! I only have one condition: I dont want my people to be killed. Israel is a bit post-traumatic since 2005 and the disengagement from Gaza. We did everything the world had asked us to do: we dismantled the settlements in Gaza, the army was withdrawn, we left them the entire Gaza Strip and we even left them 3,000 greenhouses to start building an economy. And you know what? They demolished all 3,000 greenhouses. They built training camps for the Islamic Jihad and Hamas, and to date they have fired more than 1,500 rockets on Israeli citizens.

You were very critical of Barack Obamas nuclear deal with Iran. Is Donald Trumps arrival at the White House good news for Israel?

I am still critical of the Iran deal. In terms of Trump, we dont know yet. His administration is a riddle. President Trump had a fantastic visit to Israel. We really liked that he decided to start this first international tour in Israel. Emotion counts and its very obvious that he feels strongly about the well-being of Israel and the Israelis. There are people in his administration we highly regard as partners for everything, including Trumps son-in-law, Jared Kushner [charged with spearheading an effort to forge a peace deal between Israel and Palestine]. If you put your son-in-law in charge of something, you must care about the issue. What is the practical consequence of all this? I have no idea yet.

Dont you fear that Israel could end up becoming a political subject in the United States? There is clear distancing from the Democratic Party.

In this struggle between the populism of the left and the populism of the right, nobody wins

I dont want to criticize my country while I am abroad. But I will say the following: its crucial for Israel to avoid becoming a partisan issue in the US. We should aspire to a similar consensus as that which can be seen in Spain  we met today with deputies from the Spanish Congress, and I think they were from all the parties except for [the anti-austerity party] Podemos. The alienation of the Democratic Party is a bad idea, above all, because this is politics and one day one group is in government and the next it is the other way around.

You mentioned Podemos. In Europe, the new left-wing populist parties have made criticizing Israel a prominent part of their foreign policy programs. And these people are sitting in parliament. What would you say to them?

The Gay Pride Parade is being held in Madrid on Saturday. Explain to me, if you can, how Podemos can support groups who are hanging gay people from telephone poles, who think its OK to beat women, who are burning churches and synagogues, and who think its OK to kill Jews because they are Jews, and Christians because they are Christians.

Are you talking about Iran?

I am talking about Hamas and about Hezbollah, which share the same ideology as Iran. Investigate what groups operating among Palestinians, such as Islamic Jihad, have to say about homosexuals and women's liberation. Its written there in the manifesto of Hamas, which rules over Gaza: it is necessary to kill Jews to liberate Palestine. Podemos is part of a European left that is siding against a country that has a Gay Pride parade bigger than in Madrid, a country that has been a global pioneer in womens liberation, a country that is, under very difficult circumstances, a very vibrant and vital democracy in which, for example, the Supreme Court sent a prime minister to prison two years ago. If we were not a real democracy, how could any of this be happening? So I hope that the kind of attitude Podemos and other left radical parties are showing toward Israel is the result of complete ignorance.

But why has the left taken this stance against Israel?

Podemos is part of a European left that is siding against a country that has a bigger Gay Pride than Madrid

These terrorists groups, which are only a small part of the Palestinian population, decided to focus on the political left using terms like freedom, like equal rights, like human rights, which have a lot of resonance among the radical left. Islamic terrorists use a vocabulary they have stolen from Martin Luther King and Karl Marx, from Lenin and Fidel Castro, and they tempt those radical leftist groups to their cause. They [those terrorist groups] believe, as I was saying, in killing gay people and beating wives. This is completely misunderstood in Europe. They are not in favor of the two-state solution. They dont want a Palestinian State alongside Israel. They only want a Palestinian State on the ashes of Israel.

English version by George Mills.
The young man looking shyly at the camera from behind his round glasses in Barcelona is Alec Wainman, an idealistic Englishman who came to Spain in September 1936 at the age of 23 to drive an ambulance for the British Medical Unit, one of the many international volunteers who fought against General Franco on the side of the Spanish Republic.

A man who described himself as  an apolitical Quaker, Wainman documented the Ebro Front and the arrival of the US volunteers from the Lincoln Brigade in Barcelona with his Leica camera, as well as making portraits of civilians whom he coaxed into smiling.

Wainman left Spain in August 8, 1938 after contracting hepatitis, taking with him rolls of film hidden among medical provisions to avoid the republican censors. His cache amounted to 1,650 photos, only a few of which came to light over the years. Faithful to his antifascist principles, Wainman went on to serve in World War II, working with British Intelligence.

Gonzalez Aguilo, a surgeon, with nurses from the Spanish Medical Aid Committee (SMAC), April 28, 1937, Polenino, Huesca province. The Estate of Alexander Wheeler Wainman, John Alexander Wainman

His involvement in conflict was something of a family tradition. His great-great-grandfather was asked by George Washington to use his skills as a blacksmith to make a chain to stop British ships coming up the Hudson River, while his great-grandfather fought in the cavalry against Napoleon, and his own father was killed in action during World War I.

Wainman returned to civilian life as a lecturer on Slavic studies at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, waiting for Franco to die before handing over his photographs to a London publisher. There was no agreement and the publishing house went bankrupt shortly afterwards, explains Wainmans son, Serge Alternes (a pseudonym for John Alexander Wainman, born in Vancouver in 1961).

The photos went astray and Wainman was struck down with Alzheimers before dying in 1989. Almost 40 years later, I located the photos thanks to a call from a former employee at the publishing house, says Alternes. She had kept the collection in a suitcase. It was a great relief.

Recruits exercising, January 14, 1938, Barcelona. The Estate of Alexander Wheeler Wainman, John Alexander Wainman

In 2015, Alternes managed to persuade a small Canadian publisher to put together a book that is now being published in Spanish. Entitled Almas vivientes (Living souls), it is a collection of 210 photos, along with prologues by various academics including the hispanist Paul Preston and the director of the Cervantes Institute, Juan Manuel Bonet. The book also includes excerpts from Wainmans diary that his son stumbled across 12 years ago.

I felt somehow that I was collaborating with my father again, something we were unable to do during his illness, he says.

The collection includes photographs of the doctors and nurses who tended to the injured from the international brigades in field hospitals on the Ebro Front. Wainman told his son that he often needed an hour to get the right picture.

Wounded troops being evacuated from the Ebro Front. The Estate of Alexander Wheeler Wainman, John Alexander Wainman

The book is filled with anecdotes, such as the time when Wainman gives another ambulance driver a a can of water instead of gasoline due to his poor Spanish skills. Another story details his first contact with the Catalan Communists. The men at the checkpoints had long beards and looked like Ali Baba and the 40 thieves, he wrote in his diary. He also humorously recorded his first experience with the traditional wine pitcher in a Catalan village. The novice will choke the first time around, so it is advisable to practice with white wine as opposed to red to avoid ugly stains on clothes, he noted.

Wainman did not shy away from speaking about the horrors of the war, however, such as the arrival at the hospital of a Moroccan prisoner of war with a thigh wound infected with gangrene big enough to fit a fist in, and smelling unbearably bad.

In April 1937 he was transferred to Madrid, where he witnessed the bombing of the Gran Via. The people of Madrid continue to be exposed to bombardment and grenades that have emboldened them to the very limits of fear, he wrote. That year Wainman became more deeply involved in the conflict after being named head of the English and American Press Department by the Republican government.

According to a friend, Wainman had a friendly face and sweet smile which no doubt helped him capture upbeat images of soldiers, nurses, farmers carrying wood and children with their fists in the air. He had a special connection with them because he spoke to them in Spanish, says Alternes.

However, among the last photos, there is one of a hospital train carriage with three layers of bunk beds and the injured looking down at the camera with miserable expressions on their faces, their plates lying empty on the floor. These were the faces of defeat, something that would come to pass eight months later.

English version by Heather Galloway.
By PTI: Boston, Jul 4 (PTI) A gene linked to increased risk of osteoarthritis and reduced height may have helped early humans survive Ice Age, a study has found.

Researchers at the Stanford University and Harvard University in the US have shown that, despite its association with the painful joint disease, this genetic variant has been repeatedly favoured as early humans migrated out of Africa and into colder northern climates.

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At least half of Europeans and Asians harbour the gene variant, which is relatively rare in African populations.

A more compact body structure due to shorter bones could have helped our ancestors better withstand frostbite and reduce the risk of bone fracture from falling, the researchers speculate.

These advantages in dealing with chilly temperatures and icy surfaces may have outweighed the threat of osteoarthritis, which usually occurs after prime reproductive age.

"The gene we are studying shows strong signatures of positive selection in many human populations," said David Kingsley, professor at Stanford.

"It is possible that climbing around in cold environments was enough of a risk factor to select for a protective variant even if it brought along an increase likelihood of an age- related disease like arthritis, which typically doesnt develop until late in life," he said.

The gene called GDF5 is involved in bone growth and joint formation, and mutations in the coding portion of the gene have been shown to cause malformations in leg-bone structure in mice.

In humans, GDF5 mutations are linked to shorter stature and joint problems; in particular, two nucleotide changes immediately upstream of the gene have been strongly associated with a 1.2 to 1.8-fold increase in the risk of osteoarthritis.

In the new study, researchers wanted to know more about how the DNA sequences surrounding GDF5 might affect the genes expression.

Often, these noncoding sequences contain key regulatory regions known as promoters and enhancers.

Researchers were able to identify a previously unknown enhancer region they termed GROW1, which is several thousand nucleotides downstream of GDF5.

Further research showed that this nucleotide change has been repeatedly favoured during human evolution.

Modern humans migrated from Africa between 50,000 and 100,000 years ago. However, they were not the first to leave the continent.

Neanderthals and Denisovans moved north into Europe and Asia about 600,000 years ago. Researchers found that the same GROW1 variant was found in the DNA of both ancient and modern humans in Europe and Asia.

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However, the GDF5 variant that reduces bone length comes hand-in-hand with the two upstream nucleotide changes known to confer an increased risk for osteoarthritis.

"Weve shown that positive evolutionary selection has given rise to one of the most common height variants and arthritis risk factors known in human populations," said Kingsley. PTI MHN MHN

--- ENDS ---
Dont believe what they tell you. Most of it isnt true. Its all just marketing ploys, myths and not-so-ancient traditions that have been designed to lure in the tourists and get them to part with their money. Since we lack the sun and sand, we have had to come up with something to attract people to Pamplona...

To begin with, we came up with San Fermin, the saint the July fiestas are named after. There is no historical certainty that a Saint Fermin ever existed. Until the 12th century, nobody around these parts had ever heard of him, but we clung to the fact that in the French city of Amiens, where Fermin is revered as a bishop and a martyr, the locals claim that he came from Pamplona.

Its all a farce that will vanish on July 14 at the stroke of midnight, like Cinderellas pumpkin carriage

The Catholic Church has his feast down as September 25, which is the date of his martyrdom in the third century AD. But ever since 1591 we have been observing his day on July 7 in order to make the most of the short Pamplona summer, and to make it coincide with the bullfights and fairs that have been taking place around that date here ever since the Middle Ages.

The march of progress is conspiring against bullfighting, a bloody fiesta for a crude and fanatical people, in the words of turn-of-the-century writer Pio Baroja, who spent part of his childhood in Pamplona.

Truth is, weve never had many bulls or bullfighters around these parts, but we bring them in from Andalusia, Salamanca and Madrid, and make them put on a show for the visitors while we head off to munch on our afternoon snack somewhere else.

Also, its been over a century since bulls were herded on foot to bullrings for a fight  today they are loaded on to trains or trucks instead. But we in Pamplona insist on building a walled path leading to the arena so the bulls can race there by themselves. Neither is it tradition for people to run in front of them, either. Far from being an initiation rite for young Navarrese men, as many outsiders naively presume, the practice in fact attracts many more foreigners than natives to put themselves in horns reach. But how else were we going to make the global headlines?

Oh, and be wary of our alleged hospitality. We pamploneses are actually rather stern, in the good and the bad sense of the word: noble-hearted yet sullen mountain folk who have a hard time getting along with strangers. Yet every July 6, when the traditional chupinazo firecracker is set off to mark the beginning of the fiestas, we undergo a remarkable transformation: we suddenly start to ooze friendliness, welcoming people from all over the world with open arms; we also pretend to be sophisticated city types even though we still lift rocks for sport, and seal eternal friendships over a bar counter or around a roasted pig. Its all hype. On July 15, we go back to being our regular selves.

A newspaper is not much use for fending off half a ton of bull. Javier Lizon (EFE)

By the way, dont even attempt to follow the legendary  and completely phony  route of Ernest Hemingways favorite haunts. The writer only came to Pamplona nine times, nobody paid much attention to him while he was alive, and we only adopted him when we realized he was good for business. The spot where the Casa Marceliano bar once stood is now occupied by a municipal agency that is closed during the Sanfermines. The restaurant Las Pocholas was converted into a chocolate shop. The Quintana Hotel shut down and was seized by the authorities in 1936. And guess what: Hemingway never spent the Sanfermines at the hotel where guidebooks claim that his room has been preserved the exact same way it was  yeah, the way it was when he did NOT stay there.

The list goes on. The bar counter inside Cafe Iruna, where a life-size statue of the Nobel literature laureate rests its bronze elbows, didnt even exist back in Hemingways day. And dont fall for the Ava Gardner spiel: she never came to Pamplona. The movie The Sun Also Rises was shot in Mexico because it was cheaper, not because the Franco regime had banned it. We created all these glamorous legends  with great commercial success  to get the foreigners to come to Pamplona.

An equally ineffectual method of stopping a bull. Susana Vera (REUTERS)

But sometimes it is the tourists themselves who make up the stories. In his novel The Drifters, James A. Michener places his characters at the beginning of the 1969 Sanfermines, where in recent years Holt and I had developed an affectionate ritual consisting of tying a red scarf around the neck of a bronze statue of Hemingway. Turns out this monument was only inaugurated in 1968.

Also, please dont wear white clothes and tie a red scarf around your neck thinking that this is our traditional outfit passed down by our forefathers. Weve only been wearing this costume for the last 40 years or so, ever since the advent of mass tourism. We buy the white outfits at superstores, where the labels say they are made in China or Bangladesh. And save for the dancers (dantzaris) and flute players (txistularis), nobody actually wears a beret. Peter Viertel, the screenwriter of The Sun Also Rises and someone who was personally familiar with the Sanfermines, recommended to director Henry King that the characters in the movie shouldnt wear them, either, but his advice fell on deaf ears.

Last but not least, do not come here attracted by the legend that the Sanfermines are a let-your-hair-down, no-holds-barred, mother-of-all-orgies type of event held in a lawless city where anything goes. The chaos is actually very well organized. In fact, one Navarrese university has just delivered the first ever course in Sanfermines Law. Cleaning and garbage vehicles still come out at their usual hours, tow trucks take away double-parked cars, and municipal agencies offer childrens activities, run lost-property booths and deal with all the cases of alcohol intoxication. Programmed events start with Germanic-like punctuality (the rest of the year we prefer the rather more relaxed Iberian punctuality), and a marching band is sent out in the streets early in the morning not so much to wake up the troops as to herd them back together after a whole night out.

Most people who run with the bulls vastly overrate their preparedness. Javier Lizon (EFE)

So its your problem if you ignore this advice and come anyway. You risk spending nine days and nine nights partying non-stop, drinking and eating far beyond what you thought your digestive system could take, singing songs you thought you didnt know, and dancing dances you felt you couldnt dance, running into strangers who soon become your best friends, speaking with them in strange languages you thought you couldnt speak, finding legions of bullfighting haters sitting in the bullring, atheists taking part in the Saint Fermin procession, and teetotalers drinking at all the bars.

But youve been forewarned: its all a farce that will vanish on July 14 at the stroke of midnight, like Cinderellas pumpkin carriage.

Miguel Izu is a journalist and writer from Navarre. He is the author of the novel El asesinato de Caravinagre (or, The Murder of Caravinagre), a thriller set during the Sanfermines. This article originally ran in EL PAIS in July 2015.

English version by Susana Urra.
The persistent heat waves we are experiencing are starting to ring alarm bells. Last month, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) warned that several countries in the western hemisphere had experienced extreme and unusual heat waves in May and June. Portugal was struck by a series of fires fueled by the heat, while Spain had the hottest spring on record. In Pakistan, Morocco and the UAE temperatures soared to record highs, while airplanes were grounded due to the heat in southwestern United States. And this, before summer has even begun .

A Seville thermometer showing 48C on June 18. Julio Munoz (EFE)

In the city of Turbat in Pakistan, it was 53.5C on May 28, the highest temperature ever recorded there in the month of May and perhaps the highest ever recorded in Asia and even the world, barring the 56.6C logged in Death Valley, California, in 1913, and the 54C recorded in Kuwait in 2016.

In California, Nevada and Arizona, eight records were broken after being set only last year. In Phoenix, Arizona, where planes were grounded because of the heat, thermometers reached 47.8C on June 19. Of the 11,059 days in which temperatures have been recorded, this has happened just 15 times.

Every year, summers are getting hotter, but extreme heat is still rare, says Ed Hawkins, a climate researcher from the Meteorological Department at Reading University. However, these incidents of extreme heat that pose a risk to human life are becoming more frequent.

We dont need to be frightened, but we do need to be worried

Omid Mazdiyasni, climate researcher at UC Irvine

Ricardo Francisco Garcia Herrera, a climate expert from the Geoscience Institute at the Complutense University in Madrid explains that, every year since 1980, summers have been one day longer in Spain: This means a rise in the average June temperatures to the tune of 0.5 to 1.2 degrees every decade.

Last November, the WMO published a report on the global climate between 2011 and 2015, the hottest years on record  which should also include 2016. The report links the rise in temperatures to both the glut in natural disasters and climate change. These disasters include the drought in eastern and southern Africa between 2010 and 2015, floods in Southeast Asia in 2011, heat waves in India and Pakistan, and Hurricane Sandy in the US in 2012.

Meteorologists take heat waves and the health problems they pose very seriously, explains Clare Nullis, a WMO spokeswoman.

Firefighters running from a blaze in Portugal last month. Efe/Reuters Quality

A study by the University of Hawaii published last month by Nature Climate Change magazine found 783 fatalities linked to heat waves in 164 cities in 36 countries between 1980 and 2014. The study, led by Colombian scientist Camilo Mora, concluded that 30% of the worlds population is exposed for at least 20 days a year to potentially dangerous temperatures. If measures are taken to slow down climate change, this percentage could still rise by 48% by the year 2100. If no measures are taken to reduce carbon emissions, it could rise by as much as 74%.

There are a lot of ways to define a heat wave, says Mora in a telephone conversation. Temperatures are studied to see when they depart from the standard range. The problem with this system is that you could detect a heat wave in the North Pole. In the report, we define the variable as a heat rise that could be fatal.

There is no such thing as a tolerable maximum temperature since much depends on humidity levels and the kind of heat the population is used to, as well as the conditioning of homes to deal with it. In general, the more humidity there is, the more dangerous heat can be.

Meteorologists take heat waves and the health problems they pose very seriously

Clare Nullis, WMO spokeswoman

The effect of a heat wave can be catastrophic: scientists estimate that during the 2003 heat wave, the worst ever recorded in Europe, around 70,000 people died. Since then, governments everywhere have put certain measures in place such as routine visits to the elderly.

Heat waves can also trigger other catastrophes such as fires, droughts, livestock death and crop loss. Think of it as climate disaster cooking over a low burner.

According to the forecast of the Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change (IPCC), heat waves are going to be increasingly frequent and intense in Spain and the rest of the world, says Julio Diaz, head of the Epidemiology and Biostatistics Department at the National School of Health at Carlos III University, Madrid. Heat waves can have diverse implications for health. Generally, heat waves kill the elderly and the sick, not those in good health. They mainly attack the circulatory and respiratory systems. The highest risk group is the over-65s  particularly women over 75.

Climate change now has its own genre, known as climate fiction. One of the most famous novels on the subject is Shackletons Man Goes South by Tony White, which depicts a world in which survivors have had to migrate to the far north of the planet to escape deadly temperatures.

That scenario is still a long way off, but the 53.5C in Turbat is a concern. We dont need to be frightened, but we do need to be worried, says Omid Mazdiyasni, a climate researcher at the University of California in Irvine, one of the areas most seriously afflicted by scorching heat. Theres no direct threat to life but we do expect the heat waves to increase in intensity, frequency and severity. We need to work to reduce the impact of climate change and build an infrastructure that is resilient to extreme weather events.

English version by Heather Galloway.
Airbnb, the short-term home rental site, on Tuesday announced that it has taken down 1,000 listings in Barcelonas downtown district of Ciutat Vella over the last week. The move comes just days after news emerged about cases of fraud involving homes listed on the popular vacation rental website.

A protest against Airbnb in Barcelona. G. Battista

It is also a follow-up to a pledge made by company officials in February, when they said they would introduce a one-host, one-home policy in a part of the city that is under increasing pressure from high levels of tourism. The gesture, meant to reduce the supply of short-term rentals in the area, was also viewed as an olive branch for Barcelona city authorities, who have been critical of Airbnbs practices.

Back then, Mayor Ada Colau dismissed the gesture as a joke and said that what the city wants is for Airbnb to pull all the illegal listings from its site. Local authorities note that tourist apartments require a special license to operate as such, known as HUT under its Catalan acronym.

By choosing to promote a campaign of fear and confusion over workable solutions, its local families who stand to lose most

Airbnb open letter

Now, Airbnb has released an open letter to Barcelona City Hall entitled: Heres why City Hall is wrong to turn its back on local families who share their homes.

Airbnb wants to be regulated in Barcelona, and we have zero tolerance for bad actors, states the message. We want to work with City Hall to clamp down on business operators who break the rules, while protecting local families who share their homes to boost their income and support their families.

The letter is signed by Sergio Vinay, of the companys public policy department, which is in charge of negotiating with local and regional authorities.

Barcelona mayor Ada Colau has taken a tough stance against unlicensed vacation rentals in the city. EFE

In Barcelona, this guiding principle hits a roadblock. Unlike other major cities across the world, Barcelona has no rules for local families who occasionally share their homes, the letter goes on to say. These rules are currently being worked out at the regional level.

In the absence of such a collaboration, Airbnb has already taken steps to tackle issues facing Barcelona, says Vinay in the letter. In the last week alone, Airbnb has removed more than 1,000 listings that could affect long-term housing availability, as part of our One Host, One Home policy. For context, thats almost double the number of tourist dwellings that have ceased to operate following City Hall action.

Vinay also takes issue with City Hall urban planning official Janet Sanz, who has been critical of Airbnb: Janet Sanz is wrong to say that City Hall is not fighting home sharing or local families who share their homes. It is  and by choosing to promote a campaign of fear and confusion over workable solutions, its local families who stand to lose most.

Airbnb says that the average host in Barcelona makes an extra income of 5,500 a year

The San Francisco-based firm claims that the average Airbnb host in Barcelona is a homeowner who makes an extra income of 5,500 a year on average for sharing their home around 70 nights a year. More than two-thirds of hosts say they share their primary residence and almost a quarter say that sharing their home has helped them avoid eviction or foreclosure.

Last month, it emerged that a Barcelona woman had rented out her apartment to a long-term tenant, who then illegally listed it on Airbnb and began subletting it. Unable to reach her tenant, the woman was forced to rent out her own place through Airbnb, at which time she changed the lock and reported the case to the authorities.

English version by Susana Urra.
In response to the growing global threat of cyberattacks , EL PAIS has moved its website over to the Hyper Text Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS) internet protocol. This means that as of today no third party will be able to see what data is exchanged between internet users and EL PAIS servers.

Aside from ensuring data protection, the introduction of this new security protocol will protect EL PAIS readers from external fraud and ensure privacy. Internet service providers will no longer be able to collect information about which EL PAIS pages their users visit, meaning anonymity will be ensured when it comes to visits to articles that could reveal information about a persons political or religious beliefs or sexual orientation, as well as other personal details.

The issue of security is one of the chief concerns at Google, whose browser, Chrome, is the most popular in the world: it has a 32% share of the market according to research firm Net Market Share. In September 2016, the tech giant announced it would mark as not secure all pages that did not use the HTTPS protocol with a red warning sign.

When you load a website, someone else can look at or modify it before it gets to you

Emily Schechter, Google security team

When you load a website over [the less secure] HTTP [protocol], someone else on the network can look at or modify the site before it gets to you, warned Emily Schechter, who is from Googles security team.

A recent study by online security company Redalia gave Spains public institutions, political parties and media companies a failing grade in terms of the introduction of HTTPS. In fact, apart from huge sites such as Google, Facebook, Amazon, Yahoo, Twitter, Instagram and Wikipedia, EL PAIS is, as of today, the only major Spanish media outlet using the protocol.

According to Redalia, all of Spains media outlets  apart from EL PAIS  will in future be marked insecure given that they contain user-registration sections where passwords are collected.

The HTTPS protocol came into being two decades ago to provide additional security for online financial transactions and for the sending of sensitive information via email within government departments and companies. The delay in general uptake  use of the protocol has only become widespread this decade  comes down to the fact that 20 years ago, most servers lacked the speed and processing power needed to encrypt and decrypt data.

For EL PAIS, the use of the HTTPS protocol is crucial in ensuring that third parties do not alter site content before it reaches users  something that could facilitate the publication of so-called fake news. These attacks are known as man-in-the-middle (MITM) attacks, which are also used for the creation of fake pages that are used to steal user names, passwords or credit card numbers.

In rolling out its HTTPS version, EL PAIS is following the recommendations of the Press Freedom Foundation

In rolling out its HTTPS version, EL PAIS is following the recommendations of the Press Freedom Foundation (FLIP), which in December 2016 launched an initiative to promote the adoption of the protocol on the part of media companies worldwide. Of the 125 media outlets surveyed, only 29% had adopted this security measure, and only 14% of those had this protocol as their default setting. One of the organizations principal warnings was related to censorship. Unencrypted HTTP traffic is easier to filter and block, making the censorship of articles, subjects, authors or media outlets on the part of authoritarian governments easier, the foundations said.

The EL PAIS technical team has spent the last nine months preparing for the switch to HTTPS with the protocol also being applied to millions of articles from the archive. All registration data provided by EL PAIS users has been protected since the digital edition of the newspaper was first launched.

English version by George Mills.
The European Parliament is ridiculous. Very ridiculous. I welcome those of you who made the effort to come to the chamber. But the fact that only around 30 MEPs have shown up for this debate amply demonstrates that this parliament is not serious.

A visibly angry Jean-Claude Juncker, president of the European Commission, took aim at absentee deputies on Tuesday morning during a session held to take stock of Maltas six-month EU presidency.

At the time of Junckers outburst, fewer than 5% of the chambers 751 seats in Strasbourg had someone sitting in them. Speaking in front of Maltas prime minister, Joseph Muscat, Juncker hinted that MEPs were belittling the EUs smallest member.

Low attendance at plenary sessions is a regular occurrence

If Mr Muscat were Mrs Merkel, which is hard to imagine, or Mr Macron, which is easier to imagine, we would have a full house, he said in derisive tones, beginning his sentence in French and ending it in English for greater emphasis.

His reaction drew an immediate response. In an unusual public clash between top EU representatives, the president of the European Parliament, Antonio Tajani of Italy, admonished Juncker for speaking in such a harsh tone.

I ask you, Mr President, to express yourself in a more respectful way. You may criticize the Parliament, but it is not up to the Commission to control Parliament, rather the other way around, he said to a round of applause.

EU Parliament president Antonio Tajani took issue with Juncker's tone. EFE

Then Juncker hit back.

There are very few members in the plenary to control the Commission. You are ridiculous, he insisted. I will never again, I will never again attend a meeting of this kind. The Commission is under the control of Parliament, but the parliament has to respect even the presidencies of smaller countries, which the parliament is not doing.

Later, both leaders held a private meeting at which Juncker apologized for his choice of words.

A recurring image

Low attendance at plenary sessions is a regular occurrence. Some deputies blame it on the multiple committee meetings and working groups scheduled at overlapping times.

The only solution is to stop scheduling meetings during session times; that would prevent this type of image, said the Spanish Socialist eurodeputy Ramon Jauregui, who said he was not at the session because he was attending a meeting at the time.

I understand Juncker, although I dont think he should have said it the way he said it, but I understand that the image of a relevant debate in parliament with so few members in the room is detrimental to the parliament itself, added fellow socialist Enrique Guerrero, who has been a MEP since 2009.

I understand that the image of a debate with so few members in the room is detrimental

Socialist MEP Enrique Guerrero

Guerrero also pointed to better agenda-setting as a solution. But he noted that the Tuesday session was to assess an ended presidency, not to deal with future issues, and that this fact may have also played a role in the noticeable absenteeism.

By contrast, there was a full house to hear Matteo Renzi in 2014, when he had just been appointed prime minister of Italy, and more recently to hear Antonio Guterres, the new secretary general of the United Nations.

English version by Susana Urra.
Baku, Azerbaijan, July 4

Trend:

OSCE Parliamentary Assembly Special Representative for the South Caucasus Kristian Vigenin (MP, Bulgaria) was in Vienna today for a series of meetings related to developments in the South Caucasus, including on negotiation efforts related to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

In all his meetings, Vigenin stressed the importance of continued efforts through agreed discussion formats, while noting the potential for parliamentary dialogue to contribute to political will.

The conflicts in the region continue to have a high and intolerable human price. I intend to continue to discuss with my colleagues in the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly how we can leverage our political influence to contribute to ongoing official efforts and provide momentum for comprehensive and sustainable peace, said Vigenin.

The OSCE Parliamentary Assemblys most important annual meeting, gathering some 300 parliamentarians from across the OSCE region, begins later this week in Minsk, Belarus.

While in Vienna, Vigenin met with senior diplomatic representatives from Armenia, Azerbaijan and the OSCE Austrian Chairmanship, as well as with the Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group tasked with finding a peaceful solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, and the OSCE Secretariat.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.

The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.
Baku, Azerbaijan, July 4

Trend:

The OSCE monitoring held along the line of contact between Azerbaijani and Armenian troops passed without incidents on July 4, said Azerbaijans Defense Ministry.

The monitoring was held under the mandate of the OSCE chairperson-in-office personal representative along the line of contact near the Ashagi Veysalli village of Azerbaijans Fuzuli district, said the ministry.

On the Azerbaijani side, the monitoring was held by Ghenadie Petrica and Simon Tiller, who are field assistants of the OSCE chairperson-in-office personal representative.

On the Azerbaijani territories occupied and controlled by Armenian armed forces, the monitoring was held by Mikhail Olaru and Ognjen Jovic, who are field assistants of the OSCE chairperson-in-office personal representative.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.

The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.
Baku, Azerbaijan, July 4

By Seba Aghayeva  Trend:

Preparing an official visit of President of Egypt Abdel Fattah el-Sisi to Azerbaijan is on the agenda of Azerbaijan-Egypt relations for the near future, Azerbaijans Ambassador to Egypt Tural Rzayev told Trend.

In autumn 2017, diplomatic agencies of the two countries plan to intensify work on preparation of the Egyptian presidents visit to Baku, which may take place by the year-end, the envoy said.

The diplomat noted that this visit will surely give great impetus to the development of Azerbaijan-Egypt cooperation in all spheres.

In total, the volume of trade turnover between the two countries amounted to about $5 billion in the past 5-6 years, said Rzayev.

Currently, the main spheres the two states cooperate in are energy, tourism, agriculture, medicine and pharmaceutics.

Azerbaijans trade turnover with Egypt amounted to $3.5 million in January-May 2017, which is 40 percent more than in the same period of 2016, according to the State Customs Committee of Azerbaijan.
By Azer HASRET, [email protected]

Once upon, 10-15 years ago there was very famous human rights defender  Marek Nowicki. Of Polish decent he faced many troubles in a struggle for better life in his country  Poland. He was always in a forefront of democracy and human rights, rule of law and fair society fights. He was one of the leaders who suffered even imprisonment and unfair approach in his life. He was a hero, he was dedicated human rights fighter.

But he never was an asylum seeker. He never looked for better and easy life outside of his country  Poland. He thought that the better life, more democracy and respect of law must be inside his motherland. Thats why even instead of threats by former communist Polish authorities he tried to do his best to change his country. But again, never thought about getting political asylum. Because he was a real democracy and human rights fighter. Because he wanted changes in his country. Because he thought just about the blessing of his country and his compatriots.

Once upon an Azerbaijani female journalist and another human rights actor went to Poland to attend Marek Nowicki`s seminars. After the weeklong seminar a journalist asked Marek Nowicki to help her to find an asylum in one of the European countries.

Why? asked her Nowicki.

She answered that the government in Azerbaijan is repressive and if she gets back to Azerbaijan she`ll be imprisoned.

After listening carefully Nowicki answered: Get back to your country, even if you`re going to be imprisoned. And continue your fight for freedom of expression and human rights. We have changed Poland this way. We have been imprisoned, beaten and forced continues pressures, but never thought about to leave our motherland. Because we believe that if you want more democracy, human rights in your country this is just a way to stay in and fight for them. We achieved new order  democracy in Poland using this approach. So you need to go back and change your country. If not, your country will not be changed.

I totally agree with late human rights patriarch Nowicki that if we want more democracy, open society and rule of law in our new democracies we must stay in and help with building new life. If we leave our country and claim that the country face lack of democracy this will not help much.

Azerbaijani government can be seen sometimes not much democratic as required. It is understandable. Because the country is new in the way to democracy. We need more and more expertise to achieve those standards which exist in advanced democracies. And we need more and more brave citizens who will relentlessly move on alongside with government to ensure democracy in our country.

I am one of them. I lived through the times with less opportunities. I was a student while joined national liberation movement. I spent my days and nights on the streets and squares of Baku protesting Armenian aggression and Russian continues influence. I wanted my country to be totally free. In this my way I faced even hunger, imprisonment, beating and pressures. Having no roof above my head, with no money and good relations around I was a lonely wolf who believed that one day Azerbaijan will become stable, open and secular democracy where people will feel themselves free of any outside intervention.

The times have passed and year by year my country changed. We could overcome economic crisis. Even refugee and IDP crisis was behind instead of Azerbaijani lands occupied by Armenia still are under aggressors control.

Civil society, media and opposition voices got more and more opportunities to get in touch with responsible authorities and discuss burning issues. The government of President Ilham Aliyev became the most open one in the territory of former Soviet Union. Even the President himself launched friendly ties with media, civil society and political activists.

Now today Azerbaijan is the most stable and secure country in the world. We are tolerant nation towards other cultures and multiculturalism became our lifestyle. Christians, Jews, different Muslim confessions and even smaller religious communities are happy together in Azerbaijan.

Young people who wishes to get higher education supported by new technologies can get this with no obstacle. Even those wishing to be educated outside of Azerbaijan are welcome and the government through the Ministry of Education provides scholarships for them. As a result hundreds of thousands of Azerbaijani young people study at the universities in the country. Plus a few thousands have studied and continue education abroad. The government year by year stimulates more young people to study at prestigious Western universities in order to bring more expertise to the country. Because there is still a great need for that.

As a result, thousands of young Azerbaijanis graduated from foreign universities are back to the country and serving the needs of the nation. There are dozens, sometimes hundreds of them in state services. Even some of them are serving as members of parliament. This means the government is interested to educate young citizens outside and bring more experienced talents back to Azerbaijan in order to use them for the blessing of the nation.

Why I feel a need to describe all these for the readers? Because there is a great need for this. Because sometimes some people use likewise open platforms to target and blackmail some countries.

I know and I understand that for more democratic societies we need continues struggle.

And I know, understand that any government on the globe does not love those democracy fighters. But all governments have to tolerate fight for democracy and rule of law.

The government of Azerbaijan is not an exception. It is open to dialogue, tolerant towards different opinions and is accessible for those who really want a change. But those who deals with propaganda using blackmail methods are pushed away by the government in Azerbaijan.

Is the government right with likewise approach? I think yes. Even if one understands that the person is approaching him/her in order to achieve not public blessing, but just evil intends, will not tolerate this individual or group. This is the case in Azerbaijan as well.

Some days ago I read a feature by Arzu Geybulla in openDemocracy.net titled How Azerbaijan is losing its brains where she claims that young brains are leaving Azerbaijan for better life and working conditions outside of country. Is she right? Can be seen like yes. But what says reality? Reality says that, yes, some young people have left and are leaving Azerbaijan for the reasons described by Arzu. But these are very few people, lets say dozens maybe. In contrary, as we noted above, thousands of young Azerbaijanis are getting education abroad and coming back to Azerbaijan to help to build better future.

Those young people understand that Azerbaijan is our home, our country and no one except ourselves will build its stable and developing future. Unlike Arzu and others who are mentioned in her work, they think about getting more knowledge, more experience and build a democracy just here in Azerbaijan rather than moving to most developed countries to secure individual life.

Yes, we understand that Azerbaijan has some problems. But at the same time we understand that those are our problems and must be solved by ourselves. We, the people of Azerbaijan need to work more and more to change the country, the minds of those people whose do not suit to the today`s needs.

Those several young people, who claim leaving the country due to repressions or misconduct cannot be regarded as democracy and human rights fighters. They are just individuals who want easy and ready life wherever on the globe is possible. They don`t care about Azerbaijani democracy. If they do, I`m calling on them to come back and join me in efforts for more and stable changes. We are building our democracy step by step and no one is creating obstacles in this way. Just only in the case while someone forgets about responsibilities. But one needs to remember, that democracy, freedoms are guaranteed only alongside with responsibilities

Azer Hasret is an Azerbaijani journalist based in Baku with more than 20 years of experience. He writes in English, Russian, Turkish and Azerbaijani languages. His work focuses on human rights, social and political developments, the media and corruption. He is a member of the International Press Institute and a Founder of its Azerbaijan National Committee. Since 2003 he has been a chairman of the Baku-based Central Asian and Southern Caucasus Freedom of Expression Network which won the International Press Institutes Free Media Pioneer Award in 2004. He has served as a member of the International Freedom of Expression eXchange (IFEX) Council between 2001 and 2005. He was among the founding board members of the International News Safety Institute (INSI) and is a founding member of the Azerbaijan Press Council. Just recently  April, 2017 was appointed by the Parliament of Azerbaijan as a member of Public Broadcasting Council to serve 6 years term.
Baku, Azerbaijan, July 4

By Seba Aghayeva  Trend:

Azerbaijan has its own principled position on all international issues considered on the platform of the OSCE, and this position is based on the countrys national interests, Permanent Representative of Azerbaijan to the OSCE, Ambassador of Azerbaijan to Austria Galib Israfilov told Trend.

To date, we have many supporters in the OSCE, and thanks to this, Azerbaijans position is well supported in the organization, the diplomat said.

The OSCE is a consensus-based organization, and the decision-making process depends on political will and acceptability, Israfilov said, adding that the OSCE is also a broad platform for discussing different issues and interests of various groups of states and political blocs.

The OSCE doesnt deal with the practical implementation of the neutralization of threats, as NATO or the CSTO does, he noted. These blocs have different goals and values, and they represent two opposing military blocs in the OSCE: Azerbaijan, which doesnt belong to either of these two blocs and political groups operating within the framework of the OSCE, implements its own policy based on principles and commitments agreed upon with the OSCE and backed by the national interests and position of the country.

He added that the settlement of the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is the priority issue for Baku on this international platform.

Decisions were made within the framework of the OSCE in 1992-1994 on both the formats of the settlement and the composition of the countries involved in the group of mediators, the diplomat noted.

Further, the settlement process passed to the competence of the OSCE Minsk Group, the ambassador said, adding that the OSCE Minsk Group was active in the late 1990s, and at the moment all the groups work is carried out only by its co-chairs.

"It is for you to say whether it is good or bad, he said. We see the ineffectiveness of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs activity for the last 23 years since the establishment of this group. There are no significant and effective results of the OSCE Minsk Groups work yet, but we hope that the co-chairs will make more efforts in this sphere."

Azerbaijan expects Austria, currently chairing the OSCE, to take significant and effective actions in the settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, the diplomat said.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.

The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.

OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Austrian Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurtz is expected to visit South Caucasus in accordance with his mandate, Israfilov said.

Speaking about this visit, Israfilov added that there are some factors that impede the visit.

"First of all, there is a complicated situation in the OSCE, he said. The positions of the OSCE Secretary General, as well as the heads of the three institutions of the organization, are still vacant. It is necessary to appoint people to these vacancies for the organization to fully operate.

Secondly, Austria is chairing the OSCE, while Austrian Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurtz - the current chairman of the organization, he said. Kurtz is currently involved in a rather tough political struggle in Austria, where the next parliament election is scheduled for October 15. Kurz, who heads the Austrian People's Party, intends to nominate himself for the post of Chancellor in case of victory.

Therefore, the internal agenda prevails over the elements of the OSCE Chairman-in-Offices agenda in Kurzs work schedule, the diplomat added. The visit to Azerbaijan and other countries of the South Caucasus region will depend on the results of the election in Austria.
By PTI: Panaji, Jul 4 (PTI) The Goa government has invited suggestions from the public on the draft prepared for its solar energy policy, under which it aims to generate 150 MW of power by 2022.

The draft of the policy, prepared by the state-run Goa Energy Development Agency (GEDA), has been kept open for suggestions and objections from the public and stakeholders till July 14.

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Under the policy, the state government aims to provide 150 MW of solar power to the grid by 2022, as per the draft available on the website of GEDA.

Since Goa is eco-sensitive, thermal energy generation is not possible. Thus, Goa has to entirely depend on the thermal energy from other states, says the draft.

"To attain self-reliance in power generation and to promote clean source of power generation, the solar policy is being adopted. This would result in reduction of carbon emissions," it says.

"Goa is richly endowed with moderate climate and bright sunshine for almost 8-9 months in a year for generating solar power," the draft says.

The challenge before the state government is not only to meet the ever-growing demand for power, but also to progressively increase the share of renewable sources, so as to achieve an overall energy security, it says. PTI RPS GK SDM

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Baku, Azerbaijan, July 4

By Elena Kosolapova  Trend:

Baku will host a photo exhibition dedicated to the life of eminent Mexican artists Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera.

The exhibition organized by the Mexican Embassy in Azerbaijan will take place in the "Rotunda -1" room of the Landmark Hotel on July 6 at 7:00 p.m., the Embassy said in a message.

The exhibition under the name A smile in the middle of the way will be presented in Baku for the first time.

Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo were one of the most controversial and well-known couples in the history of art in Mexico.
A meeting with graduates of Baku Higher Oil School (BHOS) selected for work at STAR Refinery of SOCAR Turkey company and BHOS students undertaking on-the-job training at SOCAR facilities in Turkey was held at BHOS. In total, 29 graduates and 20 students will be going soon to Turkey to work or have summer internship respectively.

The event gathered BHOS Rector Elmar Gasimov, SOCAR Vice president for HR, IT and regulations Khalik Mammadov, the company Vice president for strategic development Tofig Gahramanov, Vice president for refinery David Mammadov, Vice president of Azerbaijani National Academy of Sciences, Chairperson of the National Assemblys Commission on Science and Education Isa Habibbeyli, Ambassador of Turkey to Azerbaijan Erkan Ozoral. BP Vice president for communications, external affairs, strategy in Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey region Bakhtiyar Aslanbayli, Director of Petrochemical Processes Institute, academician Vagif Abbasov, Director General of SOCAR Turkey Enerji A. S. company Zaur Gakhramanov, Deputy Minister of Labor and Social Protection of Population of Azerbaijan Metin Kerimli also attended the event. SOCAR Turkey representatives also included Head of SOCAR Turkey Human Resources (HR) department Dinar Mammadova, Manager of STAR Refinerys Talent Acquisition and Talent Management department Anar Suleymanov, and staff members of SOCAR Turkey HR department Ozay Unsal, Serda Okumush, Leyla Akhundzadeh and Bahruz Babayev. BHOS professors and teachers as well as students parents participated in the meeting, too.

Welcoming the guests, the Rector Elmar Gasimov expressed his congratulations to BHOS graduates on beginning of their professional career and wished them every success. He told that BHOS established close cooperation with large international oil and gas companies, and spoke about internship and training programs implemented within this partnership.

Talking about cooperation between the Higher School and SOCAR, Elmar Gasimov informed that on-the-job training of BHOS students is regularly organized at the company facilities including SOCAR Turkey and Petkim companies. The Rector expressed his gratitude to SOCAR management for providing the internship and employment programs. This project is one of the good examples of friendly ties between Azerbaijan and Turkey. I am proud that BHOS graduates will work at one of the most prestigious companies in the region, he said.

Chairperson of the National Assemblys Commission on Science and Education Isa Habibbeyli expressed his congratulations to BHOS graduates and highly praised successes of the Higher School in training Azerbaijani engineers of international level with good knowledge of English language. SOCAR Vice presidents Khalik Mammadov, Tofig Gahramanov and David Mammadov, and BP Vice president Bakhtiyar Aslanbayli expressed their confidence that the BHOS graduates going to work at STAR Refinery would grow into best specialists of the oil and gas sector capable to contribute to development of industry both in Azerbaijan and in Turkey.

Speaking about the Higher School achievements in developing successful international cooperation, Ambassador of Turkey to Azerbaijan Erkan Ozoral emphasized that BHOS established close partnership relations with many foreign institutions. In his words, these major accomplishments can help the Baku Higher Oil School become one of the leading international universities. The Ambassador also told about long-term fruitful and diversified cooperation between the two brotherly countries, especially in the field of science and education.

Director General of SOCAR Turkey Enerji A. S. company Zaur Gakhramanov told about the company establishment, development, milestones and main activities. He also spoke about the company successes in implementation of large international projects in the region. Zaur Gakhramanov provided information about Student Internship and New Graduate Engineering programs initiated by the company, criteria for selection of the successful candidates eligible to participate in these programs, and the conditions created for interns and employees in Turkey.

We were pleased to see BHOS management and students strong and vivid interest to our programs. We received more than 220 applications from the Higher School, 173 students took the test exams and 48 were invited to interviews. The rigorous and careful selection process enabled us to choose the most talented and capable students to work at the company, he said.

Speaking at the meeting, BHOS students thanked the Rector Elmar Gasimov for providing opportunities for successful study and professional development. Their parents also expressed their gratitude to BHOS management and said that they are proud of their children achievements. In their words, this success would not be possible without excellent conditions at BHOS and continuous support provided by the Higher Schools management to students.
Tashkent, Uzbekistan, July 4

By Demir Azizov  Trend:

The World Bank (WB) approved two loans totaling $294.9 million to the government of Uzbekistan for projects in land reclamation and livestock sector, the WB said in a message.

The bank approved a loan worth $144.9 million for the implementation of the Second Phase of the Ferghana Valley Water Resources Management Project.

In 2010, the WB allocated $65.5 million for the implementation of the first phase of the project.

The new funds will be allocated for a period of 20 years, including a five-year grace period.

The second loan worth $150 million will be allocated for the project on livestock sector development in Uzbekistan.

The International Development Association, which is the part of the World Bank, will allocate $120 million and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development will allocate $30 million.

Uzbekistan joined the World Bank in 1992.
Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, July 4

By Huseyn Hasanov  Trend:

A three-day exhibition of Chinese goods opened today in Ashgabat.

President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov sent a message to the fair participants.

In his message, the president said that the exhibition of Chinese goods will contribute to the strengthening and expansion of bilateral economic and trade ties as well as fruitful business contacts.

He noted that the event aims to play an important role in expanding economic cooperation and business ties with Chinese companies and investors, and also increase the volume of foreign trade turnover.

Companies specializing in production of electrical equipment, construction materials and agricultural machinery, as well as those engaged in transportation, logistics, trade, petroleum and chemical industry, are presented at the exhibition.

China has been the largest trading partner of Turkmenistan in the last five years. According to the 2016 data, about 40 enterprises with Chinese capital operate in Turkmenistan.
Baku, Azerbaijan, July 3

By Seba Aghayeva  Trend:

Azerbaijan and Egypt intend to update the legal framework between the two countries, Azerbaijani Ambassador to Egypt Tural Rzayev told Trend July 3.

Bilateral draft documents that cover such spheres as economy, agriculture, education, culture, science, etc. are at the stage of consideration, the ambassador noted, adding that a part of the bilateral agreements requires updating.

Perspective areas for the development of cooperation between Azerbaijan and Egypt will be considered at the upcoming meeting of the bilateral intergovernmental commission on trade and economic, as well as scientific and technical cooperation, Rzayev said.

The fifth meeting of the Azerbaijani-Egyptian intergovernmental commission was tentatively scheduled for July in Baku, but later it was proposed to hold the meeting in autumn in Cairo, and the final decision regarding the date and place of the negotiations hasnt been made yet, the ambassador said.

At the fifth meeting of the Azerbaijani-Egyptian intergovernmental commission, it is planned to consider such issues as the course of implementation of previously reached agreements between the two countries, exploration of new prospects for business peoples cooperation, as well as updating and expanding the legal framework between the two countries, the ambassador noted.

Energy, tourism, agriculture, medicine and pharmaceutical sphere, where Egypt has a lot of experience, are currently the main areas of bilateral cooperation, Rzayev said.

Azerbaijan also intends to intensify efforts to promote the Made in Azerbaijan brand in Egypt and expand the opportunities for the Egyptian business to enter Azerbaijani market, he added.

Pharmaceutical industry is the most important sphere of cooperation between the two countries, he said, adding that at present, Azerbaijan imports more than 30 names of pharmaceutical products from Egypt.

Azerbaijan also delivers oil and oil products, as well as products of chemical enterprises to Egypt, the ambassador noted.

In general, the volume of trade turnover between Azerbaijan and Egypt for the past five or six years has amounted to about $5 billion, Rzayev noted.

Both countries have great potential for the growth of the trade turnover volume, the ambassador said.
Baku, Azerbaijan, July 4

By Ilhama Isabalayeva  Trend:

Azerbaijan is interested in the launch of regular flights to Baku, Ganja and Nakhchivan cities from various cities of Iran, and this will promote the development of tourism both in Iran and Azerbaijan, the countrys Minister of Culture and Tourism Abulfas Garayev said.

He made the remarks July 4 in Tehran at a meeting with Iranian vice president, Head of Cultural Heritage, Handcrafts and Tourism Organization Zahra Ahmadipour.

Garayev is on a visit to Tehran in connection with the Days of Azerbaijani Culture in Iran (July 3-9).

The minister stressed that this year, some 65,000 Iranian tourists visited Azerbaijan during the Novruz, the countrys national spring holiday, and they enjoyed their time in Azerbaijan, since both peoples have similar national traditions and cuisine.

Garayev added that it is necessary to create joint travel companies that will operate in Azerbaijan and Iran.

He recalled that in accordance with the decision made at the 6th Conference of culture ministers of member states of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) held in Baku in 2009, the city of Nakhchivan was declared the Capital of Islamic Culture in 2018, and the organizing committee for holding events in 2018 was established by the order of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev.

The first meeting of the organizing committee was held in November 2016 in Nakhchivan, where the action plan, which included performances by creative groups and other interesting programs, was approved, Garayev noted.

The development of tourism is the best way to further strengthen friendship, Garayev said, inviting Iranian Vice President Zahra Ahmadipour to pay an official visit to Azerbaijan.

Also during the meeting, the Azerbaijani minister touched upon the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, stressing that the Armenians carried out cultural genocide against the Azerbaijani heritage in the occupied territories, having destroyed thousands of historical monuments, including mosques.

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.

In turn, Zahra Ahmadipour noted that Iran supports the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Azerbaijan.

Meanwhile, she also said that handcrafts industry is developing in Iran and causes great interest among tourists.

At the meeting it was noted that the proximity of the Azerbaijani and Iranian peoples requires even greater strengthening of friendship and good-neighborliness.

The sides noted that the peoples of the two countries historically had cultural ties, which at the present stage must be developed and passed on to future generations, so that the friendship of Iran and Azerbaijan would be eternal.

The issues of organizing a joint exhibition of handcrafts, prospects for mutual relations were also discussed at the meeting with the participation of Azerbaijani Ambassador to Iran Bunyad Huseynov and Chairman of the Board of Azerbaijan Tourism Association Nahid Bagirov.
Tashkent, Uzbekistan, July 4

By Demir Azizov Trend:

Representatives of Uzbekistan Airways and Turkmenistan Airlines have held meetings in Tashkent city regarding carrying out the flights between the capitals of the two countries, the press service of Uzbekistan Airways reported July 4.

The meetings were organized as part of the implementation of the memorandum of cooperation between Uzbekistan Airways and Turkmenistan Airlines signed in May during the working visit of Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev to Turkmenistan.

During the talks, the sides discussed issues of carrying out Ashgabat-Tashkent-Ashgabat flights by Turkmenistan Airlines, the report said

Turkmenistan Airlines intends to launch the flights until late 2017.

It was previously reported that Uzbekistan resumed regular flights with Turkmenistan since April 2017.
Baku, Azerbaijan, July 4

By Anvar Mammadov  Trend:

The Azerbaijan Export and Investment Promotion Foundation (AZPROMO) will sign a memorandum of understanding with the International Trade Center (ITC), the Azerbaijani Economy Ministry said in a message July 4.

According to the message, this issue was discussed during the meeting between Azerbaijani Minister of Economy Shahin Mustafayev and ITC director Arancha Gonzalez.

"Azerbaijan attaches great importance to the international experience in the development of small and medium-sized business in the country and increasing the competitiveness of export, the minister said. The cooperation with ITC in this sphere will be very useful.

In her turn, Gonzalez added that there is a great potential for cooperation with Azerbaijan.

"There is a good opportunity for successful cooperation as part of increasing competitiveness and supplying the products, produced by Azerbaijani small and medium-sized enterprises, to the foreign markets," she said. Moreover, there is potential for cooperation as part of the direct export of Azerbaijani products to the international electronic commercial platforms, in particular eBay."
Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, July 3

By Huseyn Hasanov  Trend:

The issues of regional security and bilateral cooperation were on the agenda of the Turkmen-Afghan talks, held in an expanded format in Ashgabat July 3, said the Turkmen Dovlet Habarlary state news service.

President of Afghanistan Mohammad Ashraf Ghani is now on an official visit in the Turkmen capital, where he met with his Turkmen counterpart Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov. In this context, particular importance was attached to the TurkmenistanAfghanistanPakistanIndia (TAPI) gas pipeline project.

"Currently, the construction of its Turkmen section is underway and technical issues are being solved on laying it on the territory of Afghanistan," the news service said.

The TAPI project implementation will contribute to the modernization of socio-economic systems of the states and peoples of the region, according to Turkmen Dovlet Habarlary.

The total length of the TAPI pipeline will be 1,814 kilometers. A 214-kilometer section of the pipeline will run through Turkmenistan, a 774-kilometer section will run through Afghanistan and an 826-kilometer section will run through Pakistan.

Construction of the Turkmen section of TAPI started in 2015 and is scheduled to finish in late 2018.

The pipelines annual capacity will be 33 billion cubic meters of gas.
Baku, Azerbaijan, July 4

By Leman Zeynalova  Trend:

Liquefied natural gas (LNG) will have a hard time competing against piped gas which will be cheaper in most cases, therefore US LNG exports will not make the Southern Corridor obsolete, Gal Luft, co-director of the Institute for the Analysis of Global Security (IAGS), a Washington based think tank focused on energy security, and a senior adviser to the US Energy Security Council, told Trend July 4.

Europe needs both LNG and natural gas. After all, it is not clear how many of the LNG terminals that are being touted will actually be financed and built. And if they do get built, there is real risk that over capacity of US LNG would collapse global prices and drive US projects into bankruptcy, said the expert.

He pointed out that it is going to be a bumpy road for the US LNG play.

Luft believes that US LNG exports will be directed mainly to eastern and central Europe - primarily Poland and the Baltics.

The Asian market is less likely to be a major market for US gas due to strong competition from Australia, Russia and the Middle East, according to the expert.



Trump's policies do not aim to undermine Russia but to elevate America. Energy exports is one of the few ways for the US to improve trade balance with its main trading partners, something Trump cares deeply about, while creating jobs and economic development in the US, he added.



Luft noted that while all eyes are on the LNG story, the big surprise can come from coal.

The US has the world's largest reserve of coal and has vast surpluses of coal to share with the rest of the world, particularly developing Asia where coal is still king, he said.

But there is need for coal export terminals and the logistical infrastructures that would allow US coal to reach the coasts, the expert explained.

Despite rise in domestic oil production, the US still imports 10 million barrels of crude per day, so talks about being net exporter of crude are nonsensical, according to Luft.

Earlier, the US President Donald Trump said that the country is on the cusp of a new energy revolution.

Trump cited a series of steps the administration has taken to boost energy production and remove government regulations that he argues prevent the United States from achieving energy dominance in the global market.

Together, we are going to start a new energy revolution  one that celebrates American production on American soil, Trump said in a statement, adding that the US is on the brink of becoming a net exporter of oil, gas and other energy resources.

---

Follow the author on Twitter: @Lyaman_Zeyn
Three days after its launch, India Today spoke to common man including traders, young retailers and businessmen and most are optimistic about the reformation.

By Shalini Lobo: Goods and Services Tax (GST) was new and alien to the common man and people were not prepared for the biggest taxation regime. They are still learning the GST maths and adapting to the reform.

Three days after its launch, India Today spoke to common man including traders, young retailers and businessmen and most are optimistic about the reformation.

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"If we are pulling along after the demonetisation struggle, this shall not be tough," said Varun, who owns a general store in East Delhi. There are various products falling under all tax slabs in his shop.

Varun is not the only one who believes GST regime will yield positive results. This optimism, it seems, comes out of the fact that there is no other way around the GST but to accept it.

"It is a reform like no other. Each product is code specific and we are caught in the middle of old and new stock and might have to bear a loss," said Vikas Lokpal.

Lokpal, who is still caught in the process of understanding the GST, owns a medical store behind Ram Manohar Lal Hospital in the national capital. "Many medicines were under the 5 per cent slab earlier and now they fall under the 12 per cent bracket. It is a little confusing as it takes time to enter everything into the system," he said.

Updating information in the system is one step, but as they weren't given adequate time and no format for invoices, Lokpal said that the software he uses has been upgraded thrice in a week. But, the bill still shows VAT and not GST on it. However, the VAT amount has been placed at zero. Despite these hiccups, Lokpal remains optimistic. "Change takes time and is very difficult. But we will get by," he said.

RJ Deepak, who owns a small non-AC restaurant in central Delhi, said, "Whatever information I have is from the internet and my accountant. But yes, since the tax slab has risen, we'll have to revise our rates and it might become a little more expensive," said Deepak.

He, however, stated that it is too soon to speak about the benefits of GST. "It is only when we file our first returns will we know if we are in for a profit or loss. But until now, I do not a problem," he added. When asked if he's brushed up on GST, a young retailer Ajay Kumar who deals with comestics, said he took out 3 hours daily and watched YouTube videos on GST.

Ajay has a store in East Delhi's Mayur Vihar. According to him, the implementation has teething troubles as it has just begun, but he is confident that the creases can be ironed out. "Everything is difficult in the beginning. I thought this process of updating the HSN code will be time consuming, but it is just a one time thing and since everything is computerised it is very convenient. The only problem I face is when it comes to the software. One my computer screen in shows CGST and SGST but on the bill it shows VAT, which needs to be upgraded," said Ajay.

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Many people are facing glitches as in some cases the software doesn't work, while in the other, traders are still confused. Many cannot afford computers or do not know to operate one. It is compulsory for a bill to have the CGST and SGST separate, but many traders have started billing with one line stating GST and the tax assigned.

"Traders are yet to be made aware. Hence, we have asked the government to make the first 9 months of the GST an interim period to understand the GST and not penalise traders during this learning period," said Praveen Khandelwal, general secretary of the Confederation of All India Traders.

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ALSO READ | How GST impacts common man: Here's what you need to know

GST: Meet the men behind India's biggest tax reform that's been in making for 17 years

GST to help Uttar Pradesh the most: Deputy CM Dinesh Sharma

ALSO WATCH | GST: How small businesses are coping with the taxation reform

--- ENDS ---
Baku, Azerbaijan, July 4

Trend:

Following the successful sail-away of Azerbaijans Shah Deniz 2 Quarters and Utilities (QU) platform topsides on the STB-1 transportation barge, the topsides unit arrived in its location at around 18:00 on July 2, said the message from BP.

On July 3, the float-over operations started with the STB-1 moving slowly into the jacket slot. The float-over operation was completed with full load transfer onto the jacket at 15:00.

Yesterday evening, the first residents of the new platform  the platform manager and the initial hook-up and commissioning (HUC) team, transferred to the platform to begin HUC operations.

This is very good news with the QU deck float over operation successfully completed. And it is great to see it was executed safely. I would like to thank everyone who has contributed to this milestone through all phases of project preparation and execution, said Ewan Drummond, BPs Vice President, Projects.

The contract for development of the Shah Deniz offshore field was signed on June 4, 1996.

The shareholders in the contract are BP (operator - 28.8 percent), AzSD (10 percent), SGC Upstream (6.7 percent), Petronas (15.5 percent), Lukoil (10 percent), NIOC (10 percent) and TPAO (19 percent).

As part of the Stage 2 of development of the Shah Deniz field, 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.

The reserve of Shah Deniz field is estimated at 1.2 trillion cubic meters of gas and 240 million tons of condensate.

Shah Deniz Stage 2 will add a further 16 billion cubic meters per year (bcma) of gas production to the approximately 9 bcma produced by Shah Deniz Stage 1.
Baku, Azerbaijan, July 4

By Maksim Tsurkov  Trend:

Azerbaijans state oil company SOCAR has exported about 560 million cubic meters of gas to Georgia in the first half of 2017, a source in SOCAR told Trend July 4.

Since the beginning of 2017, slightly more than 3 million cubic meters of gas have been exported daily to Georgia in average, the source said. This figure has decreased because consumption in the summer falls significantly.

SOCAR exported 1.32 billion cubic meters of gas to Georgia in 2016.

SOCAR supplies its own gas to Georgia via the Hajigabul-Gazakh-Gardabani pipeline. The pumping capacity of the gas pipeline after its modernization exceeds 3.5 billion cubic meters per year.

SOCAR manages gas distribution networks in various regions of Georgia via the SOCAR Georgia Gas company.
Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, July 4

By Huseyn Hasanov  Trend:

Turkmenistan is a strategic partner for Belarus in Central Asia, said the article of Belarus Ambassador Oleg Tabanyukhov, published by the Turkmen media outlets.

The Belarus-Turkmenistan friendship is time-tested and not subject to any influence of the global political situation. Constructive cooperation between Belarus and Turkmenistan on major international platforms may serve as an example for other countries, reads the article.

Mutual support of international initiatives, aimed at strengthening peace, stability and expansion of efficient economic development, is confirmation of unified approaches in implementation of the basic principles of the Belarus and Turkmen foreign policy, according to Tabanyukhov.

Two historically important events for Belarus and Turkmenistan took place this year  this is the commissioning of the Garlyk mining and processing plant, and opening of a new complex of the Embassy of the Republic of Belarus in Ashgabat. These events confirmed the long-term prospects and the strategic nature of the Belarus-Turkmenistan ties, he said.
Tashkent, Uzbekistan, July 4

By Demir Azizov Trend:

Mayor of Seoul Park Won Soon invited Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev on behalf of President of South Korea Moon Jae-in to pay a state visit to the country by late 2017, the Uzbek national news agency (UzA) reported.

The Uzbek president, receiving the mayor of Seoul in Tashkent, accepted the invitation and noted that Uzbekistan and South Korea are bound by relations of friendship, mutually beneficial cooperation and strategic partnership.

During the meeting, special attention was paid to attracting advanced South Korean experience in organization of an efficient system of urban governance, development of modern transportation system and other spheres.

Later during the day, Park Won Soon met with Tashkent Mayor Rahmanbek Usmanov and mulled the issues of expanding trade, economic, investment, cultural and humanitarian ties between the capitals of Uzbekistan and South Korea.

The Seoul mayor highly assessed the plans for Tashkent development by 2030 and expressed the intention of Seoul city administration to take part in this.

He also participated in the Uzbek-Korean conference on development of urban public transportation.

Following the conference, the two sides signed a declaration on strengthening bilateral ties and a memorandum on cooperation in ICT.
Baku, Azerbaijan, July 4

By Elena Kosolapova  Trend:

The work of the Red Crescent in Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan is building hope and resilience in both countries, President of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) Tadateru Konoe said, IFRC press service said in a message.

The IFRC president visited the Central Asian nations to meet with volunteers and staff of the Red Crescent Society of Uzbekistan and the Kazakh Red Crescent, and to hold high-level discussions with Government leaders on how best to support and promote humanitarian activities in their countries.

What I have seen in both countries has inspired me, and gives me a great deal of hope, said Konoe.

In Uzbekistan, Konoe was welcomed to Tashkent and Samarkand by the President of the Red Crescent Khamid Karimov. This was the first visit by a serving IFRC president since the Red Crescent Society of Uzbekistan was founded in 1925.

In a series of high-level meetings, Uzbekistans Deputy Prime Minister, Tanzila Narbayeva, and other ministers spoke of their understanding of and support for the Red Crescent Society of Uzbekistans work as an independent humanitarian auxiliary to the Government, and agreed that this unique role should be strengthened to help build more resilient communities across the country.

During his visit to Kazakhstan, Konoe was welcomed by the Kazakh Red Crescents President, Yerkebek Argymbayev.

Konoe and Argymbayev also met with Kazakhstans Foreign Minister Kayrat Abdrakhmanov, on 3 July.

The IFRC president thanked the minister for his Governments support to the Kazakh Red Crescent, and asked him to consider exploring an enhanced partnership that would include the adoption of a Red Crescent Law in Kazakhstan, and further backing for the Kazakh Red Crescents plan to host the 10th European Regional Conference of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies in Almaty in May 2018.

Follow the author on Twitter: @E_Kosolapova
Tehran, Iran, July 4

By Mehdi Sepahvand - Trend:

Iran will host an international business-to-business exhibition on stationaries, office, and engineering equipment on July 11-14.

To be held in an area of 5,000 square meters in Shahr-e Aftab fairground to the south of Tehran, the expo will seek to be a venue for Iranian and foreign partners to find chances of cooperation in the production sector, Seyyed Mohammad Seyyedi, Shahr-e Aftab CEO said at a press conference, Trends correspondent reported from the event.

According to Davud Khalili, the executive director of the exhibition, speaking at the same press conference, Iran imports close to 90 percent of stationary products it consumes.

Of 150 million notebooks and 600 million pens used in Iran annually, only 3-5 percent is domestically made.

The exhibition will be attended by Russia, China, and India, among foreign exhibitors. Most of Irans stationary products are imported from India.
Baku, Azerbaijan, July 4



By Khalid Kazimov  Trend:



An Iranian security official has called for enhancing cooperation with Russia in order to prevent the US meddling in the Syrian issue.



Ensuring greater coordination between Iran and Russia in order to prevent the illegal meddling of the US in Syria and protecting the territorial integrity of this country as well as its national sovereignty are among the unavoidable necessities, ILNA news agency quoted Irans Secretary of Supreme National Security Council Rear Admiral Ali Shamkhani as saying in a telephone conversation with his Russian counterpart Nikolai Patrushev on Tuesday.



The officials during the phone conversation discussed the issue of cooperation between Iran and Russia regarding Syrian development and the upcoming Astana summit.



Speaking about the recent ceasefire in Syria, Shamkhani added that required measures should be taken in order to prevent the terrorists from abusing the situation.


North Korea has reportedly launched a ballistic missile Tuesday morning, just days after the South's new President Moon Jae-In and US President Donald Trump focused on deescalation of tensions on the Korean peninsula in their first summit, Sputnik reported.

The regime has test-fired another ballistic missile in validation of the international law, according to the South Korean military. The missile was reportedly launched from region bordering China towards the Sea of Japan.

"North Korea fired an unidentified ballistic missile into the East Sea from the vicinity of Banghyon, North Pyongan Province, at around 9:40am," South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff said, as reported by RT.
Baku, Azerbaijan, July 4

By Rufiz Hafizoglu  Trend:

Turkey stands for resolution of the Qatar crisis and this policy will not change, Cahit Tuz, vice-president of the Sarkiyat research center in Turkey, told Trend.

From the very start of the crisis, Turkey has been assessing the situation as a crisis among brotherly countries, he noted.

Ankara is pursuing active diplomacy with regional and global powers to solve the Qatar crisis. But, unfortunately, the Saudi bloc accuses Turkey of supporting Qatar, said Tuz.

Isolation of Qatar by Arab states is a declaration of war without bloodshed, according to him.

In line with international law, no country has the right to apply sanctions and put an embargo against another state without any evidence. Given that there is no evidence proving that Qatar supports terrorism, Ankara will provide its full support to Doha and will not silently watch what is happening in the region, said the expert.

Tuz believes the Qatar crisis is not just a crisis between several Arab states  in fact, interests of world powers clash here and this suggests that the crisis may last for a long time.

Touching upon the Saudi bloc-Turkey relations, the expert said he does not exclude that there may be temporary tension in the relations against the background of the Qatar crisis, but despite this, the Saudi bloc countries will not sacrifice relations with Ankara.

As for the blocs demand to close the Turkish military base in Qatar, he noted that this has nothing to do with the Qatar crisis.

The Turkish military base in Qatar is a purely internal matter of Ankara and Doha, and it plays an important role in the regions security, Tuz said.

He believes that, although Saudi Arabia stands for the closure of the Turkish military base in Qatar, this will not lead to serious tension between Ankara and Riyadh.

Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the UAE announced about breaking their diplomatic relations with Qatar June 5, accusing Doha of supporting terrorist organizations and destabilizing the situation in the Middle East.

Later, the authorities of Libya, Yemen, as well as the Maldives and Mauritius also announced about severing diplomatic relations with Qatar.

---

Follow the author on Twitter: @rhafizoglu
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan spoke over the phone with British Prime Minister Theresa May on Monday to discuss bilateral ties and regional issues, including the recent Cyprus talks, Anadolu reported.

Erdogan and May highlighted the importance of reaching "a fair, lasting and comprehensive solution for both sides" by overcoming the deadlock in the Cyprus negotiations, the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on talking to media, said.

The UN is seeking a peace deal to unite Cyprus under a federal umbrella, which could also define the future of Europe's relations with Turkey, a key player in the conflict.

The Eastern Mediterranean island has been divided since 1974, when a Greek Cypriot coup was followed by violence against the island's Turks, and Ankara's intervention as a guarantor power.

The two leaders also confirmed their determination to enhance bilateral relations, especially economic and defense industry ties; they also resolved to strengthen cooperation in the fight against terrorism.

May also condemned the recent killings of Turkeys ruling Justice and Development (AK) party figures in the country and conveyed her condolences to Erdogan, the source added.

According to an emailed statement from her office, The prime minister offered her condolences following the killings of the presidents party colleagues in the southeast of Turkey this weekend.

They agreed this kind of brutality only strengthens our resolve to work together to tackle terrorism, and noted countering extremism would be a key topic for discussion at this weeks G20 summit in Hamburg.
People with special abilities are demanding a complete rollback of GST, and have launched a social media campaign.

By Pooja Shali: The controversy over taxable items for the specially-abled refuses to die down. Not convinced by the clarification of the Union Government, persons with special abilities are demanding a complete rollback and have launched a social media campaign.

The government today clarified that most items will be taxable under 5 percent attempting to end confusion about the 5-18 GST bracket sine July 1.

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India Today spoke to people with varied special abilities, seeking their views on the clarification. Though many are relieved of the chaos that emerged after implementation of the GST bill, they unanimously want a complete rollback.

'IMMENSE HARDSHIP'

Suvarna Raj, a para-athelete of international fame laments the tax on wheelchairs and says that it portrays the insensitivity of the government.

"There is no tax on cultural items like sindoor and Kohl but on equipment of significance. As an athlete, I already face immense hardship ahead of events and now this tax levied on items has come as a disappointment. It should have been kept affordable."

Supporting her views are teachers at the Samarthanam Trust for the Disabled, located in South Delhi.

Meenakshi suffers from visual impairment herself but guides many young blind children, who are from a less affluent background.

"Some of these girls wait years to buy the sensor-alert stick and most depend on donations. Taxing them means many will stay devoid of possible support, in a society that already discriminates against such children. Some of my students were forced to study with newspapers as makeshift scripts because their families could not afford appropriate Braille material."

POLITICAL STORM

Rahul Gandhi on Monday raked up a storm on social media by attacking the GST on disability aids.

He said the Congress Party demands a full rollback of what he called a "disability tax"

The Finance Ministry maintains that assistive products will attract concessional five percent GST rate. This includes Braille writing equipment, optical sensors, geometrical aids, orthopedic appliances, talking books and artificial electronic implants (cochlear).

However, the special car that emerged as a boon for persons with hampered mobility, continues to fall under the tax rate of 18 percent.

Sources say many of these items utilise raw material (treated at manufacturing) are taxable and thereby five percent on the final product is an expected implementation, adding that zero tax is not a possible rethink.

The government has, meanwhile, decided to organise sessions for traders and consumers in coming week to clear further doubts.

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'WHERE IS THE UNITED POLITICAL WILL?'

Javed Abidi, convenor of Disability Rights Group says, "There was heavy tax charged on such equipment decades ago and we led a successful campaign that concluded to its removal. Since the past one decade, such goods were exempt of any tax. The issue has come into limelight since Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi spoke up but why are other leaders not reacting too? Where is the collective united political will? This is not about cities but about people in interior villages where people cannot afford basic price and even an additional Rs 200 tax is impossible."

ALSO READ

GST: Discounts on cars and bikes prove to be a hit in rural India

Ruckus in Jammu and Kashmir assembly over GST

ALSO WATCH

GST: How small businesses are coping with the taxation reform

--- ENDS ---
Baku, Azerbaijan, July 4

By Rufiz Hafizoglu  Trend:

Turkey can launch new military operations in Syria in case of necessity, Turkish Defense Minister Fikri Isik said in an interview with TRT Haber TV channel July 4.

Isik said that Turkey is entitled to neutralize any threat from outside and in particular from Syria.

He added that no country is entitled to dictate its will to Turkey in the region.

Turkey has been deploying military equipment to the border with Syria since June 21. Military equipment is in Turkeys south-central province of Kilis, which borders Syrian territories controlled by the Kurdish Peoples Protection Units (YPG) and Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD).

On Aug. 24, 2016, the Turkish Armed Forces launched the Euphrates Shield operation against the Islamic State (IS) militants and liberated the city of Jarabulus, as well as the city of Al-Bab in northern Syria with the support of the Syrian opposition.
Baku, Azerbaijan, July 4

By Rufiz Hafizoglu  Trend:

Over the past 5-6 years, Turkey has turned into a power which can eliminate threats on its borders and launch a military operation in Syria without the consent and consultations with the US, Ahmet Anapali, columnist of the Turkish Haber7 newspaper, told Trend July 4.

Anapali, who is also the author and producer of a number of political shows on the Ulke TV channel, added that the US saw Turkeys ability to act alone during Obamas presidency and in this regards expressed protest to Ankara.

The expert stressed that Trumps administration was made sure that Turkey can act independently in the region.

"President Trump first warned Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, but after making sure that Erdogan will act solely within Turkey's interests, he began to respect Turkey's actions," he said.

In his opinion, the US authorities respect the military operation which is being carried out by the Turkish Armed Forces on the territory of Syria.

Anapali is sure that Turkey is no longer the country that it was 10 years ago.

"Previously, the US consent was required for the Turkish Armed Forces to withdraw the country, but now Turkey acts independently," he said.

Of course, the EU, headed by Germany, as Anapali thinks, is concerned about Turkey's independent actions in the region.

"Turkey has become a disobedient country for Europe," he said.

Turkey can launch new military operations in Syria in case of necessity, Turkish Defense Minister Fikri Isik said in an interview with TRT Haber TV channel July 4.

Isik said that Turkey is entitled to neutralize any threat from outside and in particular from Syria.

He added that no country is entitled to dictate its will to Turkey in the region.

Turkey has been deploying military equipment to the border with Syria since June 21. Military equipment is in Turkeys south-central province of Kilis, which borders Syrian territories controlled by the Kurdish Peoples Protection Units (YPG) and Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD).

On Aug. 24, 2016, the Turkish Armed Forces launched the Euphrates Shield operation against the Islamic State (IS) militants and liberated the city of Jarabulus, as well as the city of Al-Bab in northern Syria with the support of the Syrian opposition.
Baku, Azerbaijan, July 4

By Rufiz Hafizoglu  Trend:

Turkey has sent a protest note to Germany, Turkish media outlets reported July 4.

Reportedly, the reason for the protest was a provocation near the Bundestag, where one of the cars had the phrase If you want to get this car - kill Erdogan written on it.

The Turkish Foreign Ministry has criticized such actions, which are directed against Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
- Nollywood actor Jokotoye becomes a new father

- Ex-video vixen Venita Akpofure welcomes baby number 2 with her hubby

- The two celebs shared the good news with their fans on social media

Bigval Jokotoye shared good news with his fans on social media as he welcomed his first child with his US-based wife. The excited actor shared a photo of him holding his precious little girl in his arms as he embraces the new title "father."

READ ALSO: Nigerian Muslim bride rocks both her gele and hijab at her wedding

Ex-video vixen Venita Akpofure had nothing but thanks to give to God as she welcomed her baby number 2. Venita is a model who is happily married and now has two adorable kids.

Legit.ng earlier reported how Bigval has a secret wedding in the US.

Source: Instagram, Venita Akpofure

READ ALSO: Evans saga: How to know if you are married to a kidnapper

Venita who hails from Delta shared the gorgeous photo of her angels as she fully graduates to motherhood with nothing but joy and a grateful heart.

Bigval showed off his little princess to the world and captioned the photo: "Am just happy."

Source: Instagram, Jokotoye

Watch the proud father and mother welcome their new baby below:

PAY ATTENTION: Read best news on Nigeria's #1 news app

Watch Legit.ng video on those who will marry a baby mama or papa:

Source: Legit.ng
Using forest biomass products--such as timber, fuel wood, or paper--in a sustainable manner, without exhausting resources or diminishing forest biodiversity, requires transparency on the origin and management of those forests. One way to implement sustainable forest management is by certifying the area. By showing where certified forest areas are located and how they correlate with non-certified and primary forest land, a new global map released in June 2017 can provide a basis for a global pathway towards sustainable resource use.

To address the lack of openly accessible data on forest certification on a sub-national level, the global map shows certified forest areas at 1 kilometer resolution--far more detailed than currently available maps.

The map, which is available freely online and described in an article in the journal Forest Policy and Economics, was developed by researchers at the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) together with the Mercator Research Institute on Global Commons and Climate Change (MCC) and the Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU).

The new map combines country-level statistics with modern remote sensing products and crowdsourcing. This high resolution approach--for the first time applied to forest certification and sustainability--allows a large range of users including policymakers, non-governmental organizations, researchers, forest organizations, private investors, and the general public to zoom into the area of their interest. It also provides a significant step forward in consumer transparency and credibility.

"This is the first tool where forest users and producers alike can find the spatial information they need on forest biomass sustainability. In order to identify environmentally sound biomass potentials---whether for local, regional, or global levels--it is of utmost importance to know if the biomass comes from sustainably managed origins. Our new map is the only tool that provides this information in reasonably high-resolution," says IIASA Ecosystems Services and Management Program Deputy Director Florian Kraxner, who led the project.

To support data validation, the researchers used the interactive online crowdsourcing platform Geo-Wiki as a participatory and collaborative mapping tool where the different users can give feedback to improve the map. The new certification map is also openly accessible on the platform.

"We used country-scale data and developed a special logarithm to downscale it to a one-kilometer resolution. Then we brought this up to Geo-Wiki where everybody can help us to improve this data" said IIASA researcher Dmitry Schepaschenko, who designed the map on Geo-Wiki.

Before the release of this new high-resolution certification map there was very limited publicly accessible statistical data, which only allowed for aggregated assessment on national levels. However, the global map is fully consistent with recent certification data for example from the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC) at the country scale.

In addition, combining primary forest and protected area data in one map with information on certified and managed forests contributes to the insight into the possible impact of certification to combat illegal deforestation and halt forest degradation. This again supports effective policy making, for example in the coordination of environmental agreements--highly relevant in the face of rising biomass demand, which is putting pressure on forests around the world.

"We have to ensure that biomass converted into products such as energy does not further harm our climate mitigation efforts or biodiversity. The new map is a long-awaited tool that can serve as a sustainability and environmental safeguard," says Sabine Fuss, a researcher at IIASA and MCC who also worked on the map development.

###

Reference

Kraxner F, Schepaschenko D, Fuss S, Lunnan A, Kindermann G, Aoki K, Durauer M, Shvidenko A, et al. (2017). Mapping certified forests for sustainable management - A global tool for information improvement through participatory and collaborative mapping. Forest Policy and Economics 83: 10-18. DOI:10.1016/j.forpol.2017.04.014.

About IIASA:

The International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) is an international scientific institute that conducts research into the critical issues of global environmental, economic, technological, and social change that we face in the twenty-first century. Our findings provide valuable options to policymakers to shape the future of our changing world. IIASA is independent and funded by prestigious research funding agencies in Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe, and Oceania. http://www.iiasa.ac.at
By PTI: Washington, Jul 4 (PTI) Taking drugs commonly prescribed to treat heartburn, indigestion and other stomach problems for a long time may increase the risk of death by about 50 per cent, a study warns.

Researchers from Washington University in the US examined medical records of about 2,75,000 users of proton pump inhibitors (PPI) and 75,000 people who took another class of drugs - known as H2 blockers - to reduce stomach acid.

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"No matter how we sliced and diced the data from this large data set, we saw the same thing: Theres an increased risk of death among PPI users," said Ziyad Al-Aly, assistant professor at Washington University.

"When we compared patients taking H2 blockers with those taking PPIs for one to two years, we found those on PPIs had a 50 per cent increased risk of dying over the next five years," researchers said.

"People have the idea that PPIs are very safe because they are readily available, but there are real risks to taking these drugs, particularly for long periods of time," Al-Aly said.

Previous studies have linked PPIs to kidney disease and researchers reasoned that since each of the side effects carries a small risk of death, together they may affect the mortality rate of PPI users.

The team identified 275,933 people who had been prescribed a PPI and 73,355 people prescribed an H2 blocker between October 2006 and September 2008, and noted how many died and when over the following five years.

They found a 25 per cent increased risk of death in the PPI group compared with the H2 blocker group.

For every 500 people taking PPIs for a year, there is one extra death that would not have otherwise occurred, researchers said.

They also calculated the risk of death in people who were prescribed PPIs or H2 blockers despite not having the gastrointestinal conditions for which the drugs are recommended.

They found that people who took PPIs had a 24 per cent increased risk of death compared with people taking H2 blockers.

"A lot of times people get prescribed PPIs for a good medical reason, but then doctors do not stop it and patients just keep getting refill after refill," Al-Aly said.

Both PPIs and H2 blockers are prescribed for serious medical conditions such as upper gastrointestinal tract bleeding, gastroesophageal reflux disease and esophageal cancer. Over-the-counter PPIs are most often used for heartburn and indigestion.

The study was published in the journal BMJ Open. PTI APA MHN MHN

--- ENDS ---

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By Zandi Shabalala

LONDON (Reuters) - Gold prices rebounded from seven-week lows on Tuesday after North Korea fired a missile into Japanese waters, raising geopolitical tensions and boosting bullion's safe-haven appeal.

North Korea said it successfully test-launched an intercontinental ballistic missile, days before leaders from the Group of 20 nations are due to discuss steps to rein in Pyongyang's weapons programmes.

Gold is typically seen as a store of value and therefore a safe haven investment in times of economic and political uncertainty when investors tend to sell riskier assets such as stocks.

World shares, oil and bond yields all pulled back on Tuesday as North Korea's long-range missile test and July 4 holidays for U.S. markets curbed investor appetite for risk.

Spot gold was up 0.4 percent at $1,225.08 an ounce by 1146 GMT, while U.S. gold futures climbed 0.5 percent to $1,224.60 an ounce.

"The market is turning to gold over the conflict in North Korea," Danske Bank senior analyst Jens Pedersen said. "But the market isn't pricing in a further deterioration in relations because this conflict has been going on for a while."

Gold fell 1.7 percent on Monday, the most in one day since November and its lowest since May.

Hedge funds and other money managers reduced their net long positions in COMEX gold and silver for a third straight week in the week to June 27, U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission data showed.

"The prevailing threat of geopolitical tensions is likely to cause a knee jerk reaction to safe haven assets with bullion up over 8 percent for the year," Sucden Financial said in its quarterly report.

"Accordingly we anticipate impulsive demand for bullion to persist."

Silver slipped 0.1 percent to $16.10 an ounce, after touching its lowest since May 9 at $16.01.

"More investors are coming aboard at the current relatively low entry level for silver and physical demand has been robust both in Singapore and in Hong Kong," said Joshua Rotbart, managing partner, J. Rotbart & Co in Hong Kong.

Story continues

Platinum rose 1 percent to $911 an ounce, having fallen on Monday to below $900 for the first time since May 10.

Palladium advanced 1.6 percent to $857.10 an ounce. The metal, mainly used to reduce carbon emissions in diesel cars, is the best performing precious metal so far this year.

U.S. markets will be closed on Tuesday for the Independence Day holiday.

(Additional reporting by Vijaykumar Vedala and Koustav Samanta in Bengaluru; editing by Susan Thomas and Louise Heavens)
By Daniel Trotta (Reuters) - New Jersey and Maine ended partial government shutdowns just in time for the Fourth of July holiday on Tuesday, helping New Jersey Governor Chris Christie move past the embarrassment of being photographed on a beach that had been closed to the public. Both states had suspended non-essential services for three days after failing to reach budget agreements. Their Republican governors signed the budget bills after late-night negotiations with their respective state legislatures. New Jersey and Maine were two of nine states that had missed their deadlines for enacting budgets in time for the July 1 start of the fiscal year. Christie signed a $34.7 billion budget measure that included reshaping the state's largest health insurer, Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey, which covers 3.8 million people in the state. All state parks and beaches would be open for the Fourth of July holiday and state offices would be open as usual on Wednesday, the governor said. Christie had remained unapologetic after the Star-Ledger newspaper captured the photos by hiring a plane to fly the New Jersey coastline, showing Christie with family and friends on a state beach on Sunday that was otherwise deserted because of the shutdown. The scandal became a popular topic on social media with images of Christie in his beach chair superimposed into places such as famous beach scenes in the movies "From Here to Eternity" and "Planet of the Apes." Christie played down the kerfuffle. "If they had flown that plane over the beach and I was sitting next to a 25-year-old blonde in that beach chair next to me, that's a story," Christie said. While states have mostly recovered since the 2007-2009 recession, their revenue growth has not always kept pace with the national economy. Illinois is in its third year without an enacted budget. In Connecticut and Pennsylvania, lower-than-anticipated income tax collections exacerbated budget gaps and led to disputes over how to close them. Maine Governor Paul LePage announced on Twitter that he had signed a budget for the fiscal years 2018 and 2019. "The Maine state government shutdown is now over. Happy Fourth of July!" LePage said. "I have signed a budget with no tax increase. I thank the House Republicans for standing strong for the Maine people," he said in a second tweet.Maine state police, parks and offices responsible for collecting revenue had all planned to work through the shutdown, the state's first since 1991. (Reporting by Daniel Trotta; Editing by Chris Reese)
Short seller Jim Chanos recently explained why President Donald Trump's infrastructure spending plan will not lead to big economic growth because of the way it is structured.



Chanos is founder and managing partner of Kynikos Associates, one of the largest short selling investment firms in the world. Chanos is lauded for his prescient negative calls on Enron and Tyco.

Institute for New Economic Thinking's Lynn Parramore spoke with Chanos in an interview covering Trump's agenda and the U.S. economy. Parramore asked the short seller if Trump's infrastructure spending plan will spur economic growth.



"That's just another sort of fake fiscal news, if you will. It's going to be public-private partnerships," Chanos said.



"Because private investors need high rates of return, these deals generally haven't been good deals for anybody. ... We're told that the private sector will be able to do this better. Well, they might be able to do it better and faster, but only for a small number of projects," he added.



The investor cited his experience with Macquarie Bank, a company he was short in the past, which was a pioneer in infrastructure as an asset class trend. He noted the company only focused on projects with "clearly definable cash flow" such as parking structures and toll roads.



"Real projects that we need  repairing, refurbishing, whatever  are tougher. You're not going to get private investors to sign up for those without definable cash flows," Chanos said. "It's something that sounds good but when we actually start looking at projects that make sense for private investors leveraged up with state-backed or federally-backed bonds to do a project, we're going to find that it winnows down the list dramatically."



The White House website said Trump's infrastructure plan will rebuild U.S. cities and states by "unleashing private sector capital." The proposal will leverage $200 billion of government funds into $1 trillion, according to the page.



In addition, Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross co-wrote a white paper in October 2016, when he was a senior policy advisor to the Trump campaign, which said "for infrastructure construction to be financeable privately, it needs a revenue stream from which to pay operating costs, the interest and principal on the debt, and the dividends on the equity."



Chanos declined to comment further on the interview in response to this story. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.



See here for the full Institute for New Economic Thinking interview with Jim Chanos.









More From CNBC


Protesters speak out against FCC Chairman Ajit Pais plans to end open internet regulations.

Opponents of open-internet regulations have long argued that such rules will lead to slower broadband internet speeds. Their reasoning is that with more regulations in place, internet providers wouldnt want to risk investing in the infrastructure needed to improve their networks, which would hurt consumers.

And yet five months after former-Federal Communications Commission chairman Tom Wheeler challenged those claims by asking opponents Wheres the fire?, the broadband business has yet to implode.

In fact, it may have actually improved for customers. Data from internet providers themselves show that these firms have moved to offer people faster connections and better choices. Maybe you cant credit the open-internet rules for that, but its certainly becoming harder to blame them for an industry-wide slowdown.

Net neutrality doesnt seem to hurt ISPs

Until recently, much of the debate over open-internet, or net-neutrality, rules that ban internet providers from blocking, slowing or selling priority delivery speeds to legal sites has focused on whether these regulations have led broadband providers to put less money into expanding their networks.

In the January speech that marked his last public talk as FCC chair, Wheeler pointed to a slight rise in broadband investment over his term, from $75 billion in 2013 to $76 billion in 2015.

But the trade group that compiled those numbers, US Telecom, spun them in its own press release as evidence of net neutrality impairing investment. Thats because that 2015 figure fell below 2014s $77 billion in spending. The group has since predicted that broadband investment will further decline in 2016.

Meanwhile, Wheeler and other net-neutrality advocates say lower network-upgrade costs brought on by increased efficiency mean that a 2016 dollar buys more broadband than a 2013 dollar, something an AT&T (T) executive bragged about to investors in 2016.

And pro net-neutrality groups like Free Press and the Internet Association have further argued that numbers showing lower investment involved cherry-picking the original data.

Story continues

Fortunately, we now have another metric to check: internet providers own reports to the FCC about their networks. Posted in April, those reports show impressive growth. From the end of 2015 to the middle of 2016, the share of census tracts (subsets of cities and counties with, at most, several thousand people each) with at least two broadband services offering downloads of 25 megabits per second rose from 24% to 42%.

A more recent study estimated that those numbers translate to 61.4 million households with high-speed competition  almost 53% of Americas 117 million households.

And in this debate at least, connecting more people with faster service should matter more than the budgets involved.

Net-neutrality advocates should acknowledge this progress too. But during June 26th a town hall in Arlington, Va., Wheeler dragged out the now-obsolete line that three quarters of broadband users have no choice.

The lack of it can hurt startups

During the meeting Wheeler explained the risk of undoing open-internet rules could hurt smaller startup companies, saying, If those innovators dont have access to you, the consumer, its game, set, match.

But would internet providers actually cut off legal sites from their customers? U.S. firms have not anytime recently. So then Wheelers wheres the fire? question can also be fairly asked of net-neutrality advocates who raise the specter of sites getting blacklisted by broadband providers.

The past few years have, however, shown what can happen when internet providers allow a sites connection to become bogged down. Exhibit A: Netflix (NFLX) became mysteriously unviewable around 2012 on some theoretically fast-enough providers, thanks to interconnection arrangements that left insufficient capacity into the residential networks of firms like Comcast (CMCSA) and Verizon (VZ), Yahoo Finances corporate parent.

Wheeler noted that current regulations allow the FCC to stop that kind of mischief. He warned: If these rules dont exist, its a whole new game.

Opponents of the current open-internet rules, led by Wheelers successor Ajit Pai, prefer to phrase things differently. If, they say, we let internet providers offer paid-prioritization deals that ensure a sites feeds never buffer or stutter, those providers can use the proceeds to expand their networks.

But proof of that seems scarce. At an event last week in Washington hosted by New Americas Open Technology Institute and the Internet Association, I asked Vimeo general counsel Michael Cheah if any provider, anywhere in the world, had offered that video site a paid-prioritization deal. He said none had.

High Tech Forum founder Richard Bennett, a long-time opponent of net-neutrality rules, also couldnt name any paid-priority arrangements sold by residential providers. The closest he came: the upgraded interconnection deal Comcast (followed by a few other giant ISPs) worked out with Netflix in 2013.

Comcast, however, has plenty of cash for network upgrades and has kept right on spending through the advent of net-neutrality rules. Would a smaller provider have the same leverage?

The history of cable TV suggests not, Public Knowledge vice president Harold Feld said. Smaller cable operators routinely pay more than their larger counterparts when negotiating carriage deals with channels  so if small ISPs even get a Netflix or a YouTube to take its call, their weak clout would leave them making little money off any such deals.

The least convincing argument of all

To avoid getting into the weeds of business-model discussions and network-expansion arithmetic, opponents of net-neutrality rules often fall back to a one-sentence critique of net-neutrality rules: They represent government regulating the internet.

Well, if government rules on how internet providers treat their customers regulate the internet, then the Food and Drug Administrations food-safety rules regulate your stomach and FCC bans on on-air obscenity regulate your eyes and ears.

I know many people arent too fond of government regulations in general. But do net-neutrality opponents really want to bet that they arent outnumbered by those who complain even more about their cable or phone company?

More from Rob:

Email Rob at rob@robpegoraro.com; follow him on Twitter at @robpegoraro.
Saudi Arabia and its Arab allies have agreed to grant Qatar a 48-hour extension to meet demands after Doha submitted a response to a 13-point ultimatum, Saudi state-owned TV says.

Al-Arabiya TV channel early on July 3 said the agreement to extend the deadline came in response to a request by the Kuwaiti emir, who is acting as a mediator in a dispute between Qatar and Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, and others.

The Saudis and their allies have cut all diplomatic and travel ties with Qatar, accusing Doha of supporting terrorism and of being too close to regional foe Iran. The Qataris have denied the allegations.

The countries set a list of 13 demands and imposed a midnight July 2 deadline for Qatar to respond, threatening further sanctions if it did not act.

Among the demands were calls to end financial support for terrorism, shutter the Al-Jazeera network, cut most ties with Iran, and close Turkey's air base as the price of ending a regional boycott of the small Persian Gulf state.

The Kuwaiti emir, Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah, early on July 3 said he had received the Qataris formal response and immediately asked the Arab nations grant Qatar a 48-hour extension.

The Kuwaiti emir did not indicate the nature of Qatar's response. But during a July 1 visit to Rome, Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani again rejected the demands as an infringement on Qatar's sovereignty.

The Qatari added, though, said Doha was ready to discuss the issues raised by its Arab neighbors.

Among the potential further steps the countries could take against Qatar would be to suspend it from the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), which is closely allied to the United States.

It consists of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, and Oman.

Meanwhile, Egypt on July 2 said its foreign minister and his counterparts from Saudi Arabia, the U.A.E., and Bahrain will meet in Cairo on July 5 to follow up on the developing situation regarding relations with Qatar."

The U.S. State Department has endorsed Kuwait's role in helping to settle the dispute and called for all sides to exercise restraint.

Late on July 2, the White House said President Donald Trump had spoken separately to the leaders of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Abu Dhabi and expressed "his concerns about the ongoing dispute."

It added that Trump reiterated the importance of stopping terrorist financing and the discrediting of extremist ideology.

With reporting by Reuters, dpa, and AP
NEW YORK, May 30, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- On May 18, LifeSci Advisors Paul Yook, General Partner, LifeSci Venture Partners, moderated the opening panel at MedCity INVEST, a healthcare investing conference held this year in Chicago, IL.

Led by Yook, the Whats Hot in Biopharma Investing? panel included Jack Gilbert, Co-Founder and Scientific Advisor, Gusto Global; Director, Microbiome Center, University of Chicago, Ed Mathers, Partner, NEA and Ilan Zipkin, Ph.D., Senior Investment Director, Takeda Ventures, Inc. The discussion touched on topics ranging from trends in the industry to advice on pitching VC investors.

The two-day INVEST Conference drew nearly 400 business, healthcare and technology executives and investors from around the country to network and learn about trends and opportunities in the industry.

Its important to hear perspectives from both the VC and laboratory side on where the industry is going, said Paul Yook. The INVEST audience wants to know whats coming next in the biopharma industry and discussions like this are crucial for staying ahead of the curve.

Yook established and manages LifeSci Venture Partners, a newly launched healthcare venture capital fund affiliated with LifeSci Partners, and LifeSci Index Partners, an SEC-registered investment advisor and index provider to the BioShares exchange traded funds. Prior to joining LifeSci in June 2014, Yook worked as a healthcare hedge fund portfolio manager and equity research analyst at Galleon Management. He began his Wall Street career in healthcare investment banking at UBS Securities and at Goldman, Sachs & Co. where he was involved in numerous IPOs, secondary offerings and M&A transactions for healthcare companies ranging from small, emerging biotechnology companies to large, multinational pharmaceutical companies. He earned a B.S.E. in Economics from the Wharton School and a B.A. in Biochemistry from the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Pennsylvania.

MedCity INVEST is presented by MedCity News, producer of unique innovation-focused events across the healthcare ecosystem, and MHIN (Mid-America Healthcare Investors Network), a nonprofit organization composed of more than 40 venture capital firms. The INVEST conference is the premier national healthcare investing conference based in the Midwest. For well over a decade, INVEST has united active investors with corporate business development executives to syndicate investment opportunities with promising start-ups from the biopharmaceutical, diagnostics, medical devices, digital health/health IT and health services sectors.

About LifeSci Advisors:

LifeSci Advisors, LLC (www.lifesciadvisors.com) is a unique investor relations consultancy founded to provide companies in the life sciences a comprehensive solution to investor communications and outreach. With a local presence in New York, Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia, London, Geneva and Tel Aviv, the firm provides the highest quality service for its clients through its deep sector specialization. Our roster of PhDs enables us to better understand our clients' R&D, regulatory, and commercial strategy, and our team of financial services, investor relations, and public relations specialists help our clients effectively communicate to the marketplace. This combination of life sciences, financial services, and investor relations competencies allows us to provide a valuable and unique service offering to our clients.

About LifeSci Partners:

LifeSci Partners (www.lifescipartners.com) is the leading provider of comprehensive consulting services in the areas of investor relations, corporate communications, public relations and capital markets advisory. Combining deep domain expertise in the life sciences and decades of experience in capital markets and public relations, we deliver unparalleled services to life sciences companies globally. LifeSci Partners has a physical presence in New York, Chicago, London, Geneva and Israel.
AvalonQQ wrote:

Isn't their (IIM-B) 1 year program an EPGP? I'm pretty sure I read that it isn't an MBA, but a Post Grad Diploma in Management. It doesn't make a huge difference within India and the course content is pretty similar, but if you want to work in Europe, getting an MBA might be better.



EDIT - Just to say I'm not an expert and am not sure if there's any difference at all within India or internationally. However, if I wanted to work outside, I'd definitely get an MBA over a EPGP and getting placed in Europe might be easier at Said.

I'm not sure I agree with this. The MBA isn't much of a thing in Europe (at least compared to the US). So I don't think PGP vs MBA will come into play. Though Said isn't as strong a brand as the wider Oxford brand, the Oxford brand will undoubtedly trump the IIM brand though.Also the only reason the IIM degree isn't an MBA is because of some weird rules set by the Indian govt (I think technically only universities can award MBAs and the IIMs are standalone business schools - not full fledged universities).
Re: The table above shows the results of a survey of 100 voters who each [ #permalink

The table above shows the results of a survey of 100 voters who each responded "Favorable" or "Unfavorable" or "Not Sure" when asked about their impressions of Candidate M and of Candidate N. What was the number of voters who responded "Favorable" for both candidates?

at least one candidates

at least one

Voters responded favorable for= 40+30-x = 70-x (x represent the # of voters who responded favorable for both candidates)(1) The number of voters who did not respond favorable for either candidate was 40 --> The voters responded favorable for100-40=60=70-x --> x=10. Sufficient.(2) The number of voters who responded unfavorable for both candidates was 10. Clearly not sufficient.Answer A._________________
Accusing MLA Devender Rana of double standards, Ansari said, "I can lynch you here. I know all your shady businesses".

The remark came during a heated argument during a discussion on implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST). (Photo: Twitter | @imranrezaansari)

By PTI: "I can lynch you here," Jammu and Kashmir minister Imran Ansari told National Conference leader Devender Rana in the Legislative Assembly during a discussion on implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST).

The remark came during a heated argument between the minister and the opposition MLA.

Jammu and Kashmir is the only state which is yet to implement the GST, which came into force in the rest of the country on July 1.

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Rana, while taking part in the discussion on the GST regime, said members of House should rise above "political considerations" and agree upon what is good for the state and its people.

He opposed the GST in its current form, saying it would render the special status of the state as a "hollow husk".

DOUBLE STANDARDS

The minister for information technology, technical education and youth services and sports, interrupted and accused Rana of "double standards".

He claimed that while Rana was opposing the GST in the Assembly, he has already migrated his businesses to the new taxation regime.

He also read out the provisional GST registration numbers of various businesses owned by Rana and his family.

Responding to the accusation, the NC lawmaker said he had done nothing wrong as obtaining GST registrations had no legal validity in view of non-implementation of the new tax system in the state.

"Maine tax ki chori nahi ki hai (I have not indulged in tax evasion)," Rana said.

SHADY BUSINESSES

To this, an infuriated Ansari said, "I can lynch you here. I know all your shady businesses. There is no bigger thief than you. You started from selling mobil oil. Where did you get all this wealth from?"

Rana, who kept his cool, responded, "Many like me can be sacrificed at the altar of safeguarding the interests of Jammu and Kashmir."

Several senior NC MLAs joined the issue.

Ali Mohammad Sagar, the senior-most member of the House, told the minister, "If you have planned to silence him (Rana), you are mistaken. Everyone has a right to express his opinion."

Deputy Speaker Nazir Ahmad Gurezi hit out at both the Opposition and the treasury members for "wasting the public money".

"Stop attacking each other. People might strip you when you go out. This is nonsense. Stop it!" he said.

ALSO READ | Ruckus in Jammu and Kashmir assembly over GST

Goods and Services Tax: How world went about GST and what lies ahead for India

ALSO WATCH | Ruckus in Jammu and Kashmir assembly over GST

--- ENDS ---
Beautiful Nigerian doctor, Okolo Oteri Eme, shocked her colleagues as she was reported to have returned the sum of N2.1 million to her employer for being overpaid.

The report was made viral by the chief press secretary to Kogi state governor, Petra Akinti Onyegbule via her Facebook profile who commended the young lady for her brave act.

Onyegbule posted the doctors picture with the caption: My darling Doctor Okolo Oteri Eme was overpaid her arrears by 2.1 Million Naira. She refunded it. I celebrate her today like I always do. Has it become more rampant that banks overpay or do we now have more patriotic Nigerians? I love you doc. You know that. Ladies and gentlemen, friends and well Join me in celebrating a woman of integrity, Consultant Ophthalmologist Okolo Oteri Eme. Thank you for reflecting the Christ you love.

Okolo Oteri Eme. Source: Facebook, Okolo Eme

READ ALSO: Another Badoo suspect apprehended and handed over to soldiers in Ikorodu (photos)

Another Facebook user identified as Gbenga Demola-Ojo on Sunday, July 2, posted a picture of Eme commending her for the good act and also wishing her a happy birthday.

He disclosed that: She returned the sum of about N2 million paid into her account in error! She is a medical doctor, a passionately patriotic Nigerian and a role model. Her name is Okolo Oteri Eme. Today is her birthday, and she deserves to be celebrated. Happy birthday, Sis! God bless you always.

Doctor Okolo Oteri Eme. Source: Facebook, Okolo Eme

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The picture of a man who wishes to contest during the next presidential election in 2019 has just surfaced online.

The man who was identified as Christopher Chinedu Eze is fast becoming a social media sensation as he did not only show his interest in ruling Nigeria but also released his campaign poster.

According to his campaign poster Chinedu Eze is contesting under the All Progressives Congress (APC) which is led by former governor of Lagos state Asiwaju Bola-Ahmed Tinubu.

Poster of Christopher Chinedu Eze. Source: Linda Ikeji

READ ALSO: Beautiful Nigerian doctor returns N2.1m that was mistakenly paid into her account (photos)

A look at his campaign poster Eze stated his slogan as: THE MAN WHO KNEW TOMORROWCHRISTOPHER CHINEDU EZE FOR NIGERIA PRESIDENT 2019. The poster carried the APC logo.

According to African Free Press Christopher Chinedu Eze is a popular man of God in Abuja who charges N250,000 per miracle and about 7 million (N3.2 billion) for presidential aspirants worldwide.

PAY ATTENTION: Get all the latest gossips on NAIJ Gossip App

Watch Legit.ng video below:

All the best!

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
An Indian Air Force rescue helicopter went missing today afternoon in Arunachal Pradesh. Local people are being mobilised to trace the chopper, contact with which was lost at around 4 pm today.

By Indrajit Kundu: An Indian Air Force helicopter, with three people onboard, has gone missing in Arunachal Pradesh's Papumpare district, news agencies ANI and PTI reported today evening.

The Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) was on a rescue mission and was carrying flood relief supplies. It was flying from Itanagar to Naharlagun and had three crew members onboard.

The helicopter was meant to rescue passengers stranded due to a road blockage between Sagalee and Itanagar. The chopper took off from Pilputu helipad near Sagalee at 3:48 pm but did not land back at Naharlagun helipad.

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Contact was lost at around 3:50 pm.

The incident came around the same time Union Minister of State (Home Affairs) Kiren Rijiju had a close shave after his helicopter made an emergency landing in Arunachal Pradesh's Itanagar due to bad weather.

Rijiju, who thanked his experience helicopter pilots for managing to land safely, said that locals in Arunachal Pradesh are being mobilised to locate the missing ALH.

'CM Pema Khandu ji & state govt mobilizing local people to locate the missing IAF helicopter which was on a rescue mission in Arunachal', Rijiju said in a message on Twitter.

"Weather is turbulent in North-East. I'm safe but whole State machinery is geared up to locate IAF ALH chopper missing almost at same time," Rijiju also said.

--- ENDS ---
If a solution isn't reached through diplomatic or military communication, another armed conflict between China and India is not completely ruled out, says strategic expert Wang Dehua.

By Ananth Krishnan: While China's government on Tuesday for the first time in a week didn't continue its war of words with India, state media outlets in Beijing haven't relented, again drawing parallels to 1962 and speaking of "teaching India a lesson".

An article published on the PLA website by strategic expert Wang Dehua warned that "those in India who still uphold 'confrontation' in this event should be fully aware of the fact that if a solution isn't reached through diplomatic or military communication or the issue isn't handled properly, another armed conflict between China and India is not completely out of question."

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Wang, who is the head of the Institute of South and Central Asia at the Shanghai Institutes for International Studies, said that "some Indians dare to provoke China and even claim that it's not 1962 anymore probably because they don't think China has military advantages at the border sector where the event took place."

"They mistakenly think that India can avenge itself by using the favourable terrain and its advantageous mountain division and air force on the border. But India would do better to not forget the historical lesson," he said.

PLA REMINDS INDIA OF 'HISTORICAL LESSONS'

Prior to the June 16 stand-off and China's statements last week, Chinese media rarely have referred to 1962. This week appears to be an exception, with the PLA spokesperson on Thursday reminding India of "historical lessons" and numerous references to 1962 in China's state media.

Wang wrote that "many people wonder why China didn't drive away the trespassing Indian troops by force since it was its legitimate right to build a road in its own territory".

He referred again to 1962, saying that China "didn't even want to fight the 1962 Counterattack in Self-Defense on China-India Border [as China refers to its attack on India in 1962] at first, but wanted to settle the issue through peaceful negotiations because China and India used to be friends and had similar experience in fighting against imperialism and colonialism."

"Similarly," he said, "armed expulsion of the trespassing Indian troops is the last resort that China would want to take this time. So far, there is still room to settle this event in a peaceful way."

WHAT HAPPENED IN NATHU LA IN 1967

Wang also mentioned the 1967 incident in Nathu La , when most historians say India gave China a bloody nose, with more than 80 Indian soldiers killed and between 300-400 Chinese killed. That was triggered when China stopped India from laying a wire and filled up trenches dug by India. After a scuffle, the Chinese returned after several days and on September 14, 1967 opened fire on jawans of 70 Field Company and 18 Rajput who suffered heavy casualties, but by October 1, 1967, the PLA (People's Liberation Army) was pushed back by 3 km with a strong Indian response.

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Wang offered a different version of events: "In fact, [after 1962] Indian troops made many provocations to Chinese border troops in Yatung (a frontier county situated at the mouth of the Chumbi valley near the China-India border) and Nathu La (a mountain pass in the Himalayas which connects the Indian state of Sikkim with China's Xizang Autonomous Region) in 1965-1967."

"With the conflict at Nathu La and Daggi in September and October 1967 respectively reaching a peak, when the Indian side assigned its No.112 mountain infantry brigade and No.17 artillery brigade to attack Chinese troops stationed at the Nathu La mountain pass on the China-Sikkim border. In self-defense, Chinese troops launched two destructive counterattacks against the Indian side. The Indian side didn't get the upper hand in the past. And it won't get an advantage today when the Chinese military has made remarkable progress on modernisation over the past few decades," Wang said.

On the stand-off, he concluded that while "it's not completely impossible to settle the issue through dialogue", people in India "should not get overexcited in their pursuit for regional and even global leadership, and make serious misjudgment about India's strength and China's bottom line, otherwise it will shoot itself in the foot."

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Also read | China escalates border tension, accuses Indian Army of betrayal

Also read | Doklam standoff: China tells Arun Jaitley it is also different from 1962

Also read | China will defend territory even at the cost of war with India, says Chinese daily

WATCH VIDEO

--- ENDS ---
American and Chinese officials agree that the two countrys presidents spoke Sunday over the phone.

But exactly what was discussed in the phone call remains unclear.

According to official Chinese media, President Xi Jinping warned President Donald Trump about some negative factors hurting U.S.-China relations.

During the call, Xi said China-U.S. relations had made important outcomes since his meeting with Trump in April in Florida, state broadcaster China Central Television reported.

But at the same time, the broadcaster said relations had also been affected by some negative factors. It added that China had expressed its position to the U.S. about those factors.

The broadcaster did not identify specific issues discussed in the call.

A White House statement, however, said Trump discussed the growing threat of North Koreas nuclear and missile programs with Xi. It said both leaders had repeated their commitment to working toward a denuclearized Korean Peninsula.

The statement said Trump also expressed his desire to seek more balanced trade relations with Americas trading partners. It added that the two leaders were looking forward to meeting at this weeks G20 meeting in Hamburg, Germany.

Complications in U.S.-China relations

Last week, China's foreign ministry protested to the U.S. over a planned sale of $1.42 billion in military weapons to Taiwan. The ministry called on U.S. officials to cancel the deal, saying it would be harmful to Chinas sovereignty.

Other U.S. decisions have recently drawn criticism from China. These include putting U.S. sanctions on a Chinese bank for dealings with North Korea, and accusing China of being one of the worlds worst offenders of human trafficking and forced labor.

Another issue causing tension between Washington and Beijing is Chinese expansion in the South China Sea.

The U.S. Navy has conducted two freedom-of-navigation operations, or FONOPs, in the South China Sea since Trump took office. The operations are meant to challenge Chinese territorial claims in the area.

The latest FONOP took place Sunday when a U.S. Navy destroyer, the USS Stethem, sailed within 12 nautical miles of Triton Island. Triton  which is claimed by China, Taiwan and Vietnam  is part of the Paracel Islands in the South China Sea.

The Chinese foreign ministry said in a statement the U.S. move was "a serious political and military provocation." It added that such operations "violate China's sovereignty and threaten China's security."

China deployed military vessels and fighter jets to the area.

U.S. officials said the Stethem was carrying out a regular "right of innocent passage" exercise. The operation within 12 nautical miles of the island was meant to show that the U.S. does not recognize territorial claims to the island. Twelve nautical miles marks territorial limits recognized internationally.

Trump also spoke with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Sunday. The White House said the two leaders shared a commitment to dealing with North Korea. And the president also looked forward to meeting the prime minister at the upcoming G-20 summit in Hamburg.

Im Bryan Lynn.

Bryan Lynn wrote this story for VOA Learning English based on reports from VOA News, the Associated Press, Reuters and other sources. Hai Do was the editor.

We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments section, and visit our Facebook page.

_____________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

negative  adj. thinking about the bad qualities of someone or something

factor  v. something that helps influence or cause something to happen

outcome  n. something that happens as a result of an activity or process

sovereignty  n. a country's independent authority

sanction  n. an action taken by one or more nations to make another country obey a rule

provocation  n. action causing someone to become angry or take action
From VOA Learning English, this is the Health & Lifestyle report.

American English has many expressions related to clothes. Two of the more common ones are: Dress for the job you want, not for the job you have; and, simply, Dress for success.

A professional stylist takes these ideas a bit farther. She says that our clothes can influence how we feel, our confidence, even our ability to do a job.

And new research supports her claim.

Dress to impress

Tara Luizzi is a personal stylist in Washington, D.C. Through her company, Tara Styles DC, she teaches her clients to find the clothing styles that work best for their bodies, careers and lifestyles.

Luizzi says that, like it or not, other people size us up by the way we look. In other words, they make a judgment about us before we even speak. And part of what they are considering is what we choose to wear.

My feeling is you dont have a second chance to make a great first impression. So, I think it is very important to have a look thats pulled-together and conveys who you are and your status of life, I guess.

Here, pulled-together means that someones appearance is well-thought out. Luizi says she feels this is very important. She notes that clothes are especially important in creating the professional image you want to convey.

No matter what, you should try to always walk out the door looking pulled-together  if it be on the weekend or if it be during the work week. People take you more seriously when you are pulled-together and dress to a certain level.

Do nice clothes make you work better?

But choosing the right clothes is not just about impressing others.

A recent study suggests that people who are dressed more formally perform better at some work tasks.

The co-authors of the study are psychologists Michael Kraus of the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign and Wendy Berry Mendes of the University of California, San Francisco.

Kraus and Mendes compared more than 100 men from diverse economic and racial backgrounds. They asked some to dress in business suits. They asked others to wear sweatpants, t-shirts and flip-flops.

Then the researchers asked the participants to do several work tasks.

One task involved making a business deal. Those wearing suits demanded more in their business deal. The participants dressed more casually were more willing to concede, or give up.

The other task was to use big picture thinking to solve a problem. The men in suits were more able to think about the big picture, the way a boss would.

Those in casual clothes focused more on smaller details of the problem. This type of thinking is what you would expect from someone in a lower position.

Kraus and Mendes published their findings in the Journal of Experimental Psychology.

Clothes and feelings

Stylist Tara Luizzi says, to her, the study makes sense. She compares clothing to armor, what a warrior puts on for protection in battle.

When you feel confident in yourself, I think you have a better day. So, I use clothing as the armor to the world. So, lets say youre having a horrible day or youre nervous about your presentation or maybe the big meeting, If you dress in something you love or you feel great in, youre going to walk in with more confidence.

In her job, Luizzi sees how the right outfit can change the way a person feels. When she chooses clothing for her clients that good great on them, their backs straighten. They stand taller. And they start smiling.

They just feel so much better about themselves. So, my goal with every client is to try to get that out of a person. I dont want anything in your wardrobe that makes you not happy. It should be happiness.

Luizzi says that, in general, people have a powerful emotional connection to their clothes. The intensity of peoples feelings about clothes and their appearance has surprised Luizzi.

Many people have an emotional connection to their clothing. You know, for a lot of my clients, there's an emotional level to it in that maybe they had a bad experience when they were younger shopping. Maybe they were overweight and theyve lost weight. Or maybe when they were young they couldnt afford the clothes they can afford now. Ive been in dressing rooms and closets and tears have been shed because it does bring up an emotional thing. And it was something I wasnt expecting when I first started this business.

Tips from Tara

For people going back to work or preparing for a job interview, Luizzi has some advice for them.

Research the environment of the job. Is it a casual working environment or formal? Is it creative or conservative? For a man, wearing a suit is not always the right choice. If the job is creative and casual, a suit might look out of place, or strange.

When going on a job interview, wear something new or at least newer.

Make sure your shoes are clean and polished.

For women, dont wear too much make up, perfume or jewelry.

And for your general, everyday wardrobe, Luizzi advises to keep it simple.

She helps her clients create what she calls a "capsule wardrobe." This is a small collection of well-made pieces of clothing that the client loves.

Luizzi says a couple of expressions really represent her attitude toward creating a wardrobe: less is more," quality not quantity, and "go-to."

Less is more. And I'm more about quality than quantity. So, I would rather have people have a smaller wardrobe made up of the things they love, that fit them correctly and that, you know, are higher quality. And thats their go-to  the capsule wardrobe.

And thats the Health & Lifestyle report. Im Anna Matteo.

Anna Matteo wrote this story for VOA Learning English. Kelly Jean Kelly was the editor.

Do you or disagree that our clothing matters? Describe your favorite go-to outfit, the one that always makes you feel great when you wear it. You can do both of these things in the Comments Section.

________________________________________________________________

Quiz - Can Better Clothes Make You More Money? Start the Quiz to find out Start Quiz

_______________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

stylist  n. a person whose job is to make something or someone look attractive

style  n. a particular form or design of something

size us up  informal phrase to examine something or someone carefully and decide what you think about it, him, or her

convey  v. to make (something) known to someone

status  n. the position or rank of someone or something when compared to others in a society, organization, group, etc.

impress  v. to affect strongly or deeply and especially favorably : impression  n. : impressive  adj.

formal  adj. requiring or using serious and proper clothes and manners : formally  adv.

diverse  adj. different from each other

casually  adv. designed for or permitting ordinary dress, behavior, etc. : not formal : casual  adj.

armor  n. a hard covering that protects something

wardrobe  n. a collection of clothes that a person owns or wears

quantity  n. an amount or number of something

go-to  adj. always helpful : producing desired results or information when needed
America's population is becoming older and increasingly diverse - made up of people who are different from each other.

Nowhere are those differences more apparent than in Houston, Texas.

The city has seen an increase in the number of minority communities and is being called an example of future demographic changes across the country.

Houston

Houston was once a city with large numbers of whites and Hispanic Americans. Many of the Hispanics have family ties to nearby Mexico or Central American countries.

In 1980, around 52% of the total population was white or Caucasian. By 2010, whites represented about 25% of the total population  which grew from 1.6 million to 2 million in the same time period.

People from around the world came to Houston for one reason, a long time Houston resident told VOA: the chance to make money.

Today, the city claims to be the most diverse in the United States. For many locals, this has created a sense of pride. They feel good about themselves and their hometown.

Nikkie Vasquez lives in Houston.

"I'm Caucasian and my husband is Hispanic, and we have my beautiful mixed babies, and I think here it's welcome, and it's appreciated."

Lee Hsia is a religious leader at Houston's First Baptist Church. He moved to Houston from China when he was seven years old.

The First Baptist Church welcomes people, including non-Christians, from over 35 countries. "We have 'welcome' plastered through the front doors of our church," Hsia said.

Demographic changes

Stephen Klineberg is a founding director at the Kinder Institute for Urban Research at Rice University in Houston. He notes that many whites living in Harris County, which includes Houston, are age 63 or older.

"63-year old Anglos are not going to be making a whole lot more babies. So you can go to the bank on this: no force in the world is going to stop Houston or Texas or America from becoming more African-American, more Asian, more Latino, and less Anglo as the 21st-century unfolds. Nothing in the world can stop that."

The United States Census Bureau gathers detailed information about the nations population every 10 years. It also releases population estimates every few years.

The last census, in 2010, showed that whites* made up 63.7% of the population nationwide. 2016 estimates show the same group now represents 61.3% of the population.

The Pew Research Center notes the percentage is likely to continue falling in the years to come.

Demographic changes are happening in other areas, too.

For example, the European Commission noted in a 2010 report that European Union countries also are experiencing changes. "Growth is fueled mainly by immigration, whereas the population is becoming older and more diverse, it said.

Implications of Demographic Changes

Stephen Klineberg says the changes in Houstons population are likely to continue. He wonders how the city  and the country  will react to future demographic changes. "There is a law of human nature that says what I am familiar with feels right and natural; what I am unfamiliar with feels unnatural, somehow not quite right," he said.

While recent arrivals are working toward the middle class, Klineberg notes a growing underclass of white people with low levels of education. Jobs in industries like coal and steel have disappeared.

"Every community is seeing a growing middle class and a growing underclass, simultaneously," he said. "And that underclass is the great question for the sustainability of Houston and America in the 21st century."

I'm John Russell.

Ramon Taylor wrote this story for VOA News. John Russell adapted it for Learning English. George Grow was the editor.

We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section.

*Whites, not Hispanic or Latino

_____________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

demographic  adj. of or related to the study of changes in large groups of people

plaster  v. to place on something; to cover over

Anglo  n. short for Anglo-American; a white person

resident  n. someone who lives in a place

underclass  n. a social class made up of people who are poor and have little chance to improve their lives; the lowest social class

sustainability  n. the act of lasting or continuing for a long time
As Prime Minister Narendra Modi gears up for his much-awaited three-day tour to Israel, here is a look at the ten defining moments of the India-Israel relationship.

By Santosh Chaubey: As Prime Minister Narendra Modi is all set for his three day visit to meet his Israel counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu. This visit of PM Modi's is being treated with unprecedented importance, as stated by Israeli ambassador Daniel Carmon.

Modi will be interacting with 4,000 Jews of Indian origin and will be staying in the same luxury suite at the King David Hotel that US President Donald Trump stayed in during his visit.

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"Arrangements for Modi's visit have been more strenuous than for Trump's, but without some of the restrictions. For instance, during Trump's visit, the entire hotel was cleared of guests who were not a part of the presidential delegation. But for Modi's visit, only the upper floors and the parking area had to be vacated. The lobby of the hotel had to be sterile when Trump entered - no red carpet, no welcoming committee. On the other hand, Modi and his delegation will be welcomed with pomp and ceremony," reported Jerusalem Post

While Prime Minister Narendra Modi described India's ties with Israel as special, here is a look at the ten defining moments of the India-Israel relationship.

PRE-INDEPENDENCE

Mahatma Gandhi had clearly spelled out that though he was sympathetic to the Jews and was aware of their persecutions, he was not in favour of a forced settlement between Israel and Palestine, which was already home to the Arabs.

Although he blamed the Christian community for wronging the Jews, he believed that Palestine belonged to Arabs in the same way as England belonged to English and France to French

Mahatma Gandhi was of the firm opinion that the Jews had erred grievously in seeking to impose themselves on Palestine with the aid of America and Britain.

1947: THE INDEPENDENCE YEAR

India's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru held the same belief and followed the line taken by Mahatma Gandhi in saying no to Israel if it was not with the permission of the Arabs of Palestine. He even refused Albert Einstein's appeal to vote in favour of the partition of Palestine, an event that later led to formation of Israel on May 14, 1948. Other factors, too, weighed heavily on Nehru's mind when he said no to Einstein and when India voted against the United Nations General Assembly's (UNGA) resolution on partition of Palestine on November 29 1947.

India was already facing the trauma of partition on religious lines, ravaging its geographies, and Nehru, probably, could not support another country's partition on religious lines. To add to that India had a sizeable Muslim population that was traditionally opposed to creation of Israel on the Palestinian land. Also, an immediate war with Pakistan was looming large and Nehru needed the global community's support including the Arab nations.

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AFTER INDEPENDENCE

India formally recognised Israel post independence in September 1950. However its Israel policy was driven by the principled stand of solidarity with the Palestinian cause and India's international approach on issues as aligned with its domestic needs. Nehru had mentioned this in his reply to Einstein that national leaders needed to be selfish to see the interest of their countries first when it came to geopolitics. So India continued with its pro-Palestine policy in line with its principled stand and the sentiments of its large Muslim population, coupled with the fact that more and more Indians were heading to the Gulf nations and it was fast emerging as a major source of remittances.

In addition, India was also dependent on the Arab nations for oil supply to meet its energy needs. Emergence of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) in 1950s, of which Nehru was a founding member, further drove India away from taking any pro-Israel stand openly. NAM had its origin in the Cold War which had divided the world in two blocks, pro-USSR and pro-USA. NAM countries proclaimed they would have neutral stand in global affairs instead of going with any block of the nations.

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1962 INDIA - CHINA WAR

The 1962 India China war was the first occasion when when Nehru wrote to Israeli Prime Minister David Ben Gurion for shipments of arms and ammunition. Nehru had requested Ben Gurion to ship weapons without the Israeli flag as it could have adversely affected India's ties with the Arab nations. Though expressing sympathy and solidarity with India, Ben Gurion refused help. Israel sent shipments to India only when India said it would accept them with the Israeli flag. And that is when when Israel and India started communicating at strategic levels.

1971 INDIA PAKISTAN WAR

The 1971 war between India and Pakistan that led to formation of Bangladesh was the next significant step in taking forward India-Israel strategic cooperation. Srinath Raghavan's book 1971, quoting Prime Minister Indira Gandhi's adviser PN Haksar, says even if Israel was not in a position to supply arms to India, its Prime Minister Golda Meir diverted the shipment meant for Iran to India. Israel also provided India with intelligence support. In return, Golda Meir asked for full diplomatic ties.

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1992 ESTABLISHMENT OF FULL DIPLOMATIC TIES

It was in 1992 when India finally established full diplomatic relations with Israel but only after taking Palestinian President Yasser Arafat on board. Arafat was in Delhi and after meeting Prime Minister Narasimha Rao, he announced that establishing embassies and maintaining diplomatic ties were India's sovereign decisions and he respected it. There were two reasons behind it.

The first was the peace process between Israel and Palestine was in an advanced state at that time. State of Israel and Arafat's Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) recognized each other for the first time with the US mediated Oslo Accord signed in Washington in 1993. For their peace efforts, Arafat, Shimon Peres and Yitzhak Rabin were jointly given the Nobel Peace Prize of 1994.

The second was the pressure from United States. The version in bureaucratic circles is as India needed now a global interface for its economy after it decided to follow economic liberalization in 1991 as well as new markets for to meets its defence needs after the USSR collapse, its main defence supplier, it found America as the obvious choice. But in return, America asked India to accommodate Israel in its foreign policy. And the timing was opportune as the ongoing peace process helped India in convincing Arafat, something that helped India in dealing with the Arab nations. What was sought by Golda Meir from Indira Gandhi in 1971 finally became a reality on January 29 1992 and Indira's foreign minister Narasimha Rao, who was now the prime minister, drove the development.

1998 NUCLEAR TESTS

India's second series of nuclear tests in 1998 saw the US and other western countries imposing sanctions. However, it didn't affect India much as Israel filled the gap effectively delivering the US arms as it had close military ties .

1999 KARGIL WAR

The 1999 Kargil war was a leap in terms of India-Israel military cooperation. Israel provided India with mortar ammunitions, surveillance drones and laser guided missiles along with intelligence inputs that helped in winding up the war with a befitting reply to Pakistan. It is said that the Kargil War pushed India to introspect on its security loopholes and the country decided to modernise its forces. Next year, in 2000, India's Home Minister LK Advani and Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh paid a visit to Israel beginning the series of ministerial level visits to Israel.

2003 ARIEL SHARON VISIT

In 2003, Ariel Sharon became the first Israeli Prime Minister to visit India. Strengthening the bilateral ties, the Delhi Statement of Friendship and Cooperation was signed. Though Sharon had to cut short his visit due to terror attacks in Tel Aviv, his Deputy Prime Minister Yosef Lapid had, for the first time on record, accepted that "India and Israel had closes ties in defence and Israel was the second largest supplier of weapons to India."

2017 MODI VISIT

Though ministerial and other bilateral visits between India and Israel continued unabated all this while, it is said that the Manmohan Singh led UPA government was not in favour of speaking much about India-Israel defence and strategic ties and rather focused on agriculture, science and technology for mutual areas of cooperation.

Confirming this line of thought, Israeli Ambassador to India, David Carmon, had said last year when Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj was leaving for Israel that "though India-Israel ties had evolved over the last 25 years, it had been more visible under the Modi government."

And now to take that "visibility" to the next level of bilateral cooperation, Narendra Modi is visiting Israel in the first ever prime-ministerial visit to Israel and what is the defining moment here is he has dehyphenated the Palestine ties with the Israel ties, unlike any previous official visit when Indian leaders made it a point to include both Palestine and Israel in their itinerary. During his visit in October 2015, first by an Indian President, Pranab Mukherjee first went to Palestine and then to Israel. Sushma Swaraj followed suit during her January 2016 visit.

Also Read

PM Modi says India, Israel can cooperate more closely against terrorism

During Israel trip, PM Narendra Modi set to do a Madison Square redux in July: Report

PM Modi says India, Israel can cooperate more closely against terrorism

--- ENDS ---
Turkey has historically prided itself on being a secular state.

Amendments to the constitution during the 1920s and 1930s separated religion and government policy.

Since that time, debates about the role of religion in public life have continued in the Muslim-majority country.

Evolution in Turkish schools

In a recent decision, the government banned the teaching of evolution in high school.

This action means that Turkish students entering high school will no longer learn about the theory of evolution. The theory comes from the work of Charles Darwin, the famed British naturalist.

His ideas are considered to be the basis for the scientific study of life on Earth.

The government said its decision was not about teaching Islam. Instead, officials said high school students "don't have the necessary scientific background and information-based context to understand the theory of evolution.

Alpaslan Durmus is the head of the education ministry's curriculum board. Durmus said members of the board thought the theory should be taught to higher-level students.

"We tried to leave out some of the controversial issues from our students' agenda," Durmus added.

Critics of the decision

Critics of the decision say that Turkish children will not get the education they need.

Scholar Alaattin Dincer told VOA "The Turkish education system is very weak concerning the fundamental sciences. Both in domestic and international exams; be it math, physics, chemistry and biology, our students have very low passing grade percentages. It is actually terribly low."

Dincer added that the next generation of Turkish students should learn about evolution and Darwin. "If you raise them [students] without learning those subjects, how can you argue that we are a scientifically enlightened country that can produce the scientists of the future?" Dincer asked.

This week, Turkey's main teachers' union, Egitim Sen, said it was taking the issue to court.

Mehmet Balik is the chairperson of Egitim Sen. He criticized the decision to ban the teaching of evolution and a new policy that requires schools to have a prayer room. These actions "destroy the principle of secularism and the scientific principles of education," he said.

Other critics say the government's ban on teaching evolution is part of a plan by President Erdogan to push an Islamic identity onto Turkish society.

International perspectives on the teaching of evolution

Similar debates about the teaching of evolution have taken place in other countries, including the United States.

In the late 1990s, the state of Kansas famously banned the teaching of evolution in public schools. The School Board reversed its decision in early 2001 amid public criticism.

In the mid-2000s, at least 16 U.S. states were considering changes to the teaching of evolution in schools.

Religion and science

Although critics say religion and science are at odds, some Islamic theologians say evolution and Islam can exist together quite easily.

Ihsan Eliacik is a Muslim theologian. He told VOA, "If evolution is scientific truth that exists in nature, nobody can stand against itBesides, by my religious faith, scientific truth means religious truth. The two are not contradictory."

I'm Jonathan Evans.

Kevin Enochs reported on this story for VOA News. John Russell adapted the story with additional materials for Learning English. Hai Do was the editor.

_____________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

secular  adj. not overtly or specifically religious

evolution  n. the process by which changes in plants and animals happen over time

naturalist  n. a person who studies plants and animals as they live in nature

curriculum -- n. the courses that are taught by a school, college, etc.

fundamental  adj. forming or relating to the most important part of something

controversial  adj. relating to or causing much discussion, disagreement, or argument: likely to produce controversy

theologian -- n. a person who is an expert on theology
Motorola allegedly plans to revive the Moto X name this year with the launch of the fist new Moto X phone since 2015. According to reliable leaked-info-purveyor Evan Blass, the new phone is expected to be called the Moto X4, and there have been several reports indicating that itll be the new mid-range phone coming to Googles Project Fi network sometime this year, (although itll almost certainly be available for other carriers as well).

Now Blass has also spilled the beans on the specs and design of the upcoming phone.

The Moto X is no longer Motorolas flagship phone brand (that honor belongs to the Moto Z, with its support for modular add-ons called Moto Mods). But the Moto X4 seems like a pretty strong contender for anyone looking for a device with strong specs and a sub-flagship price tag.

Its said to feature a 5.2 inch, 1920 x 1080 pixel display, a Qualcomm Snapdragon 630 octa-core processor, 4GB Of RAM, 64GB of storage, and a microD card slot.

The phone reportedly features a 3,000 mAh battery, a 16MP front-facing camera and a dual camera system on the back with a 12MP camera and an 8MP camera.

Other features include IP68 water and dust protection and an aluminum case. Theres a fingerprint sensor below the display. And the Moto X4 will ship with Android 7.1 Nougat software.

The official price and release date havent been confirmed yet, but with the number of leaks related to this phone coming out in recent days, Id say all signs point to soon.
Samsungs Bixby voice assistant software may not be ready for prime time in the US just yet, but it ships with the South Korean versions of the companys latest phones, including the Galaxy S8, Galaxy S8+ and Galaxy Note FE. And soon it may ship on a smart speaker with Amazon Echo/Google Home-like features.

The Wall Street Journal is the latest publication to report that Samsung is working on Bixby-powered speaker.

According to the WSJs sources, the product has been under development for over a year, is code-named Vega, and would compete with similar products from Amazon, Google, Apple, and Microsofts partners.

On the one hand, Samsung is a bit late to the market, which is currently dominated by Amazon. On the other hand, its a pretty new market and its not clear if the early players have a huge advantage or not: Amazons Alexa-powered speakers may feature tight integration with Amazonss web services and the companys Fire TV and Fire Tablet products. But if youve already got a Samsung phone, then a smart home speaker that uses the same voice assistant could be appealing.

Of course, that might be a better description of Google Home than of Bixby, which is currently positioned as a compliment to Googles voice assistant software for phones, rather than a replacement. Google Assistant can answer questions, play games, and set reminders, among other things, while Bixby is designed to let you control your device without using your hands.

Theres no word on when Samsungs Vega speaker is set to launch and the WSJ cautions that it could be scrapped altogether, although that seems unlikely at this point. While it remains to be seen how much consumer demand there is for yet another smart speaker platform, itd be surprising if one of the largest consumer electronics companies in the world didnt at least try to compete in this new space.
I think this could quite possibly be the year of all wet races for the EWS! Arriving into the south of France expecting to be arriving into summer and dusty hot trails, Mother Nature would have other plans for us!Millau would be a mixture of steep rocky trails with typical corners you need to nose pivot around. You see a lot of these in the south of France. Physical stages and physical liaisons would also be on the menu. It would be another super battle for both body and bike. With the rain coming in we were going to face mud, wind and cold conditions all blended into one big washing machine for the week.Starting practice, I felt confident on the trails. I did however realize that as soon as the rain came down, this was going to be a race where you would be dealing with problems and there was a lot that could happen to your bike or with crashes that could affect the outcome. A few small crashes in training out of nowhere reinforced my thoughts about this.Onto day one and we would see a slippery start; first stage of the day had a bit of everything but the steep sections would need care to stay on your bike at race speed. About mid-way into this stage I caught a rock to my pedal and I'm unsure if it was my foot or a rock but something ripped my top chain guide completely off the frame. I looked down in horror to see my chain off and the damage. Having to run the small uphill sections in that stage I was starting to think my weekend was over. On finishing that stage I was able to remove the busted guide and broken parts off the frame and continue up the liaison to stage 2.Without a guide I was unsure what stage 2 would be like as it was really bumpy and fast and had a long uphill mid stage. Unfortunately I would lose my chain again after the rough section and stopping to put it back on before the climb, Jose (30seconds behind me) would catch and pass me while I was on the side of the course.I finished out the stage and knew I needed to get to the tech zone asap to see what Larry my mechanic could do to fix the problem. Being that I had damaged the frame Larry came up with a fix that consisted of three zip ties and a small metal ring that the chain would go through. This was made under the chain stay. Although it was now very noisy to pedal it was our best shot in such a limited tech zone time. For stage 3 my chain would stay on and I was able to get through stage 4 as well without losing it.Heading up to the final stage of the day it had been a mental and physical battle and no one really knew what time we needed to be at the top for. Through the day there had been many delays and it seemed the communications between the organizers was getting lost to the starting marshals. Feeling like we were late for the final start a lot of riders were on the red zone to make the stage start.Arriving to freezing cold and rain the start marshals would tell us we had to wait up to 30 minutes more and as most of the top 20 were already there some heated discussions got us all on track earlier. No one wants to stand in the rain after 6 hours to freeze with no shelter.The final stage was best of the day with traction as it was raining full on and washing away most of the slippery mud. I would unfortunately lose my chain again and finish my day coasting to the finish line. Tough day in the office!Larry had done a really top job of my chain guide setup for the second day and I no longer had to worry about the chain coming off. I was pumped about that! Day two and we were forecasted better weather. Not to be! We would see fog and rain for the first two stages and a lot more mud to deal with today.Vision and keeping your drive chain going were the two important issues to take care with. After each stage it was super important to clean goggles and get them straight back into a zip lock bag to save them from getting wet for the next stage.The liaison to stage 8 was riding through mud which was changing from wet to boggy. It would stick to everything and you needed to stop and use a stick to remove as much mud as you could at intervals along the liaison. Dropping into stage 8 I was feeling really good and liked the stage. I didn't however plan for a root taking my front wheel out on a steeper section and I was on my face before I could even let go of the handle bars. Getting up as quick as I could, I straightened my bars and rode the rest of the stage well. Frustrating but part of racing.Last stage of the day and this time around it was a relaxed ride up and everything on time. Track conditions much better and no mechanical issues made for a much better feeling crossing the finish line. A huge weekend and so many tough moments.I finished this hard race in 50th which although isn't that good is still better than a DNF which hurts the overall much more. To finish a race like this is a win in itself!I think we all are crossing our fingers for Colorado being a dry race!Words Justin LeovPhotos Sebastian Schieck
Total alcohol per capita (litres), total alcohol per capita (grams) and average number of drinks per day. Credit: UEG

Citizens across the EU are consuming an average of 2 alcoholic drinks per day, placing drinkers at a 21% increased risk of developing colorectal cancer, in addition to other digestive cancers, a report finds.

The report, launched today by United European Gastroenterology, revealed that the average daily intake of alcoholic drinks was 'moderate' (between 1 and 4 drinks per day) in all 28 EU states, placing these citizens at a heightened risk of both colorectal and oesophageal cancer.

'Heavy' drinkers (people that consume more than 4 drinks per day) were found to be at an increased risk of pancreatic, liver and gastric cancer. These three cancers, coupled with colorectal and oesophageal cancer, are the five most common digestive cancers worldwide, causing almost three million deaths per year and contributing to over a third of global cancer deaths.

No countries within the EU were found to have 'light' alcohol consumption (on average, less than 1 alcoholic drink per day per capita).

The European Alcohol Endemic

Alcohol consumption across the European region is higher than in any other region in the world, with over one fifth of the European population over the age of 15 drinking heavily at least once a week. As a result, the continent suffers from the highest proportion of ill health and premature death directly linked to alcohol.

United European Gastroenterology highlight the scale of alcohol consumption across Europe and its direct and indirect impact on digestive cancers, including oesophageal, liver, pancreatic, colorectal and gastric cancer. The video also outlines actions that can be changed to change our approach to alcohol consumption, such as minimum pricing, improved labelling and a ban on TV advertising and sports sponsorship. Credit: UEG

Despite high levels of consumption throughout Europe, research shows that as many as 90% of people are unaware on the link between alcohol and cancer.

In light of these alarming statistics, tackling the harmful use of alcohol is a main priority for the upcoming Estonian presidency of the Council of the European Union.

How to Tackle Europe's Alcohol Crisis

Consumers are provided with mixed-messages on recommended units, glasses and volumes of alcohol. UEG are therefore calling for a pan-European approach to the provision of clear and consistent information about the health risks of drinking alcohol to help eradicate confusion on appropriate levels of consumption.

Professor Markus Peck, leading digestive health expert, comments; "One of the main challenges in addressing high drinking levels is how deeply embedded alcohol consumption is within the European society, both socially and culturally. Political action like minimum pricing and reducing access to alcohol needs to be taken now to prevent many future casualties. Research then has to follow to help generate data and allow us to fine-tune future political activity".

Increased pressure on the alcohol industry to develop clear and responsible labelling, together with a tightening of regulations on the marketing of alcohol, are other important steps outlined within the report to help tackle the crisis. France is a country leading the way in this regard, where stricter marketing, coupled with regulations for drinking at work, has contributed to a decline in alcohol consumption and digestive cancer incidence as a result.

More information: United European Gastroenterology, Alcohol and Digestive Cancers. Available at: United European Gastroenterology, Alcohol and Digestive Cancers. Available at: spink.sharefile.com/d-s9b8ba75e47644849

Provided by United European Gastroenterology
Embryo quality has long been considered the main determinant of implantation and pregnancy in IVF. Morphology - a visual assessment of an embryo's shape and development - has since the very first days of IVF been the key to measuring this embryo quality, and only in recent years has this morphological grading been made somewhat more scientific with the introduction of time-lapse imaging. Yet the fact remains that many morphologically "good quality" embryos in IVF - between 30 and 60% in various studies - fail to implant in the uterus and make a pregnancy. What's going wrong?

There is a strong case that chromosomal abnormalities in the embryo, which are not detectable by morphological assessment, carry some responsibility. Studies over several years have confirmed that the rate of chromosomal anomalies (aneuploidy) in embryos increases with patient age, which may explain a higher rate of implantation failure and miscarriage in older IVF patients. But even with embryo testing for chromosomal anomalies, embryos destined for transfer are still assessed morphological.

"The issue is that morphological grading by humans leads to wide inter- and intra-operator variation," said investigator Professor Jose Celso Rocha from Sao Paulo State University, Brazil. A study presented today at the 33rd Annual Meeting of ESHRE in Geneva will suggest that these long-standing difficulties may now be improved by using advances in artificial intelligence. Thus, mathematical variables derived from time-lapse images of embryo development may now be used such that an algorithm can classify images of an embryo's development automatically - and so remove the human variable from the crucial task of morphological assessment. "To classify images automatically will increase the predictive value of our embryo assessment," said Professor Rocha. "By increasing objectivity and repeatability in embryo assessment, we can improve the accuracy of diagnosing embryo viability. Clinics can use this information as 'artificial intelligence' to customise treatment strategies and better predict a patient's chance of pregnancy."

Behind the claims lies an analysis of images taken from the development of 482 seven-day-old bovine embryos, which were used to "train" the artificial intelligence system. This analysis identified 36 assessment variables, 24 of which formed the input of the artificial network architecture. It was notable that during this initial set-up phase only "serious errors" occurred in only 6% of the assessments. Overall, the artificial intelligence system had a 76% accuracy.

Moreover, says Professor Rocha, artificial intelligence demonstrated an improved inter-operator variation (embryologist accuracy score lower than the artificial intelligence score) and improved consistency and overall accuracy of results.

Professor Rocha notes that this work has now moved on to its early stages of development in human embryos, which is being carried out at the Sao Paulo State University (Dr Marcelo Nogueira) in collaboration with the Boston Place Clinic in London (Dr Cristina Hickman).

Professor Rocha described the main sources of error in morphological assessment by embryologists as their degree of professional experience, emotional stress, physical fatigue, and laboratory routine. "Those features will cause subjectivity in classification of the embryo," he said.

However, because the artificial intelligence system is a technique which analyses the embryo through mathematical variables, it offers low subjectivity and high repeatability, making embryo classification more consistent. "Nevertheless," said Professor Rocha, "the artificial intelligence system must be based on learning from a human being - that is, the experienced embryologists who set the standards of assessment to train the system."

He described morphology as a "key parameter" in judging the health of an embryo, whose predictive accuracy may be even further improved by the addition of other assessment techniques, such as preimplantation genetic screening. Professor Rocha said that "if things go well" embryo assessment led by artificial intelligence could be ready for routine clinical use "in a year or so" - at least as a controlled and test version. To what extent it will improve embryo grading - and thus outcome in IVF - will depend on how thoroughly the system is "trained" and how wide the sampling of embryo images is in that training. However, for a real benefit on IVF birth rates, Professor Rocha said that artificial intelligence about the embryo would need the complementary support of artificial intelligence about the patient.

More information: Abstract O-162, Tuesday 4 July 2017: Using artificial intelligence to improve blastocyst morphology evaluation
Using texts, emails, Skype and other digital communication methods can improve the health care experience of younger patients.

That is the conclusion of new research, led by the University of Warwick and King's College London, which examined case studies from 20 NHS specialist clinical teams from across England and Wales. A 'first look' scientific summary about the research has just been published on the NIHR Journals Library.

Young people with long-term health conditions often disengage from health services, resulting in poor health outcomes. In an attempt to address this, NHS clinicians are using digital communication to reverse this. However, so far it's been unclear whether this has been effective; there are gaps in evidence as to how it might work, its cost and ethical and safety issues.

The research, which was conducted between 2013-2016 was led by Professor Frances Griffiths from the Warwick Medical School and Jackie Sturt, Professor of Behavioural Medicine in Nursing at King's College London.

Professor Frances Griffiths said: "NHS policy prompts more widespread use of digital communication to improve health care experience. "Digital communication enables timely access for young people to the right clinician at the time when it can make a difference to how they manage their health condition. This is valued as an addition to traditional clinic appointments, and can engage those otherwise disengaged. It can enhance patient autonomy, empowerment and activation."

Interviews were conducted with 165 young patients, aged 16-24 years, who live with a long-term health condition, along with 173 health professionals, including 16 information governance specialists. Overall, 79 clinical observations took place. The researchers wanted to establish if 16-24 year olds involved in their own health care improves as a result of using digital communication with their clinicians could improve, and to identify associated costs and necessary safeguards.

The findings suggest that benefit is most likely, and risks will be mitigated, when digital communication is used with patients who already have a relationship of trust with the clinical team, and who need to have flexible access, such as when transitioning between services, treatments or lived context. The study noted the implications for clinicians. The main cost driver is staff time. However, the researchers believe that this is likely to be offset by savings elsewhere in the health service. Young people and clinicians can mitigate risks of this approach by using common sense approaches to avoid increased dependence on clinicians, inadvertent disclosure of confidential information and communication failures. The researchers also noted that clinical teams need to be proactive in their approaches to ethics, governance and patient safety.

Professor Jackie Sturt commented, "Digital communication is already happening between health professionals and young people, and it's clearly something young people want. We think the NHS should be proactive in creating guidelines and helping clinicians to engage young people via digital communication. There are obviously risks, but also the potential for real benefits."

More information: Timely Digital Patient-Clinician Communication in Specialist Clinical Services for Young People: A Mixed-Methods Study (The LYNC Study). Journal of Medical Internet Research. DOI: 10.2196/jmir.7154 Journal information: Journal of Medical Internet Research Timely Digital Patient-Clinician Communication in Specialist Clinical Services for Young People: A Mixed-Methods Study (The LYNC Study).
HIV Rapid Test - Orasure, by Wheeler Cooperwaite

A new study from UCL, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, and Public Health England seeks to discover whether providing free HIV self-tests to men, transgender men and transgender women who have sex with men could reduce the number of people who have undiagnosed HIV.

Funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), SELPHI is an internet-based study where respondents will be asked to register their details through an online survey that is being promoted through apps such a Grindr and Hornet, social media sites and the gay press. Researchers hope the results of the study will help the NHS decide whether it should provide free HIV self-testing kits.

SELPHI is a randomised trial, which will offer some of those who register a free HIV self-testing kit. Selected participants can then test a sample of their blood or saliva and provide the result via a survey without having to attend a clinic or other healthcare setting

Currently most HIV tests are conducted in genito-urinary medicine (GUM) clinics. It is thought that some men may be more likely to test, and to do so more often using the HIV self-testing kits - because this method is more private, quick and convenient than visiting a clinic. The tests are quite straightforward  the individual just has to take a sample of blood and process it themselves.

Professor Sheena McCormack (MRC Clinical Trials Unit at UCL) who is jointly leading the study with Dr Alison Rodger (UCL Institute for Global Health) said, "The number of new HIV diagnoses in gay and bisexual men is still depressingly high in the UK. Over half of men who have sex with men test less frequently than recommended and around a quarter have not done so at all. It is currently thought that around 13% of those of with HIV are unaware of their status."

"We are aware that many men may not get tested as they do not have the time to visit a clinic, feel embarrassed about visiting one or speaking to a doctor. Therefore self-testing kits could make them more likely to find out their status, giving them the opportunity to seek treatment for HIV earlier than they otherwise would have done."

The researchers think that the availability of free kits to those who are selected to take part in the trial will appeal to people in areas of England and Wales where rates of testing are currently quite low.

Co-researcher Michelle Gabriel (MRC Clinical Trials Unit at UCL) explained, "The self-testing kits may particularly encourage those in rural areas to get tested. If you are in a large urban area like London it is relatively easy to access a clinic and get tested, however in somewhere more remote it might involve two bus journeys, and there also may be concern about someone you know finding out that you are visiting the clinic. HIV Self-testing kits are already available for around 30 each but it is hoped that being able to offer them free will encourage greater numbers to use them."

Dr Rodger who is leading the grant added, "Although previous studies have shown that selftesting is acceptable and increases uptake of testing amongst gay men, SELPHI is the first one designed to see if there is an impact on HIV diagnoses."

The SELPHI trial is open to recruitment now; individuals who are interested in taking part can join the study by visiting the SELPHI Website www.selphi.org.
Spain is Europe's most active country in assisted reproduction. ESHRE has collected the national registry data of ART cycles performed in Europe since 1997 and for its latest report (for 2014) found that a record 109,275 treatment cycles were performed in Spain, which now sets the pace of European ART ahead of Russia (94.985 cycles) and former front runner France (90,434). The cycles monitored by ESHRE include treatments with IVF, ICSI, egg donation and intrauterine insemination (IUI).

The report covers a total of 707,171 treatment cycles performed in 2014 and 146,232 babies born - and represents the largest and most accurate snapshot of ART in Europe. Dr Carlos Calhaz-Jorge, chairman of ESHRE's European IVF Monitoring Consortium, will present the results today in Geneva at the 33rd Annual Meeting of ESHRE.

Dr Calhaz-Jorge estimates that around 80% of all European assisted reproduction fertility treatments are included in the monitoring programme - but this year (ie, for 2014) without the data so far of the UK. This, said Dr Calhaz-Jorge, may slightly compromise results in terms of favoured treatment type (IVF or ICSI). In 2013 the UK performed 61,000 treatments.

Among other findings:

Clinics in Europe continue to favour ICSI over IVF by around two-to-one (123,809 IVF, 336,123 ICSI), a pattern now evident throughout the world.

However, European results consistently show that pregnancy rate (per embryo transfer) is higher with IVF (34.6%) than with ICSI (33.1%). ICSI was developed in the early 1990s as a specific treatment for male infertility (low sperm counts, poor sperm quality) but is now clearly used for fertilisation in non-male cases.

Pregnancy rates (as measured per embryo transfer) seem to have stabilised in Europe at about 35% for IVF and 33% for ICSI. Pregnancy rates from egg donation continue to rise (now at about 50%). There is, nevertheless, wide variability between countries.

Pregnancy rates (per embryo transfer) are consistently higher with blastocyst transfers (day-5) than with day-3 transfers. This higher success rate was evident in IVF, ICSI, frozen embryo transfers and egg donation.

Pregnancy rates (per embryo transfer) from frozen donor eggs (49%) are higher than from frozen embryos and around the same as from fresh donor eggs (51%).

The rate of twin pregnancy continues to decline in Europe, in 2014 to around 17%. Similarly, the rate of single embryo transfers continues to rise - from 11% in 1997 to almost 35% in 2014.

"We began monitoring IVF in Europe in 1997," said EIM Chairman Carlos Calhaz-Jorge, "and the rate of multiple pregnancy continues its slow but steady decline. Success rates seem to have stabilised, although outcome in egg donation and with use of frozen embryos is still moving upwards. The biggest upwards movement, however, is from treatments with frozen eggs, which have been revolutionised by the widespread introduction of vitrification."

Dr Calhaz-Jorge also noted that the availability of assisted reproduction treatment remains very patchy in Europe, with Denmark, Czech Republic, Belgium and Slovenia offering more than 2000 treatment cycles per million population, while others (such as Malta, Portugal and Italy) offer considerably fewer. A study calculated that the global need for advanced fertility treatments was around 1500 cycles per million population per year. "Only a minority of European countries meet this need," said Dr Calhaz-Jorge.

More information: Abstract 0-140, Tuesday 4 July 2017: O-140: Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) in Europe 2014. Preliminary results generated from European registers by ESHRE
From Netanyahu welcoming Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Hindi to a signboard of a place called Modi'in that has now hogged the headlines, here are five instances which show how Israel prepared for Modi's welcome.

By India Today Web Desk: Narendra Modi landed in Tel Aviv today, becoming the first Indian Prime Minister to visit Israel, for which he received warm greetings by his Israeli counterpart Benjamin 'Bibi' Netanyahu in a ceremony at the Ben Gurion airport.

Because nothing explains Prime Minister's foreign visits better than handshakes.

"Aapka swagat hai mere dost," the Israeli leader said in Hindi. And following are instances to show that these ties go deep and strong.

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Don't get too excited. Modi'in is a real settlement between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. Nothing to do with Mr Modi, but it just fits in.

Some 25 km away from Modi'in, is Ben Gurian, the two leaders gave short speeches hailing the ties. The visit also coincides with India and Israel, marking 25 years of their diplomatic relations.

Bibi's brooch game was impressive today. Can you spot that tiny Indian flag fastened to Netanyahu's suit?

If the brooch wasn't enough, coupled with the visit which marked 25 years of India-Israel relations, then there is more. The visit became all the more momentous after all cabinet members of Netanyahu marked their presence.

The entire Netanyahu cabinet showed up to welcome PM Modi

Another example to show how the two countries prepared themselves well for the meeting - Israel's flag has two colours, white and blue. Modi, taking a note of that, wore a white suit with a blue handkerchief nicely tucked in the pocket.

Shedding more light on Bibi's commitment, Netanyahu said in his address at a ceremony at the airport "My friend Modi, welcome to Israel". "Aapka swagat hai mere dost," the Israeli leader said in Hindi.

If you thought PM Modi's acronym game was strong, his counterpart Netanyahu isn't far behind and ready to compete.

In May this year, while inaugurating the Supreme Court's digital filing system, Modi had come up with his own equation: "IT + IT = IT", which he explained as "Information Technology + Indian Talent = India Tomorrow".

On Tuesday, the success formula that Netanyahu came up with is sure to catch everyone's attention too. It is as absurd as it can get, like always, but both leaders are trying to outdo one another at this art, given their penchant for inventing acronyms.

"Formula for success is simple. It is I and T squared, which equals to the Indian talent (IT) and the Israeli technology (IT)," Netanyahu said.

Read Here || Bibi does a Modi: What Israel PM Benjamin Netanyahu meant by his IT success formula ||

Also Read:

Out of the closet: Narendra Modi to make history as first Indian PM to visit Israel

Modi in Israel: 5 ways how the visit is timed strategically

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Welcome to Israel, my friend Modi: Benjamin Netanyahu at Ben Gurion airport

--- ENDS ---
Spain hopes for reduction in EU refugee quota



ARCHIVED ARTICLE

The Spanish Minister for the Interior defends Spains record in accepting refugees

In the face of growing concerns over Spains failure to make significant progress towards the target of 17,000 refugees to be accepted by September from Syria and Iraq, a figure arrived at as part of the EU quota system, Jose Ignacio, the Minister for the Interior, stated in an interview this week that he expects the figure to be substantially reduced.

According to Sr Zoido, the revised total for Spain could be in the region of 7,000 or 7,500, although this would still leave the country with a lot of work to do given that so far only 1,488 individuals have been accepted for repatriation.

The Minister pointed out during the interview that Spain is currently under considerable migratory pressure, having received 15,570 requests for asylum last year and almost 13,000 already in 2017. At the same time the number of illegal immigrants detained while crossing the Mediterranean from northern Africa, or after arrival, is increasing, and there have been 34% more making it across the borders in the north African enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla since the start of this year.

As for Spains record in dealing with immigration and refugees, Sr Zoido is adamant that it is impeccable, and that in terms of solidarity and humanitarianism nobody beats us.

Image: refugees arriving at Madrid-Barajas airport last June

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BDO Forensic and Cyber Lab executive David Cohen has told MyBroadband that cybercriminals pose a danger to South African businesses.

BDO Cyber Lab provides a number of cybersecurity services, including vulnerability assessments and penetration testing, and runs a response team which deals with cyber attacks.

Cohen said it is extremely important for South African companies to factor cybersecurity into the development of their business and become cyber-ready.

He said cybersecurity should even be prioritised above physical security, and that business executives should be educated about the importance of being secure against attacks.

A major factor in creating cyber-secure business environments is challenging employees to be constantly aware of potential attacks, said Cohen.

The odds are stacked in the attackers favour, and one out-of-date machine or careless employee has the potential to compromise an entire business network.

Vulnerabilities

Cohen said while global awareness of cybersecurity is improving among businesses, South African companies are lagging behind in their adoption of cyber-ready practices.

This is especially true at the top level, with many executives not aware of the potential dangers a cyber attack can carry.

He said a common vulnerability in a business environment is a lack of enforcement for employees to adhere to network security standards.

Employees with out-of-date software or misconfigured devices can provide an ideal gateway for hackers to gain access to their companys network, and it is imperative IT security policies are followed.

Cohen said that while major hacks and data breaches reported in the media create more awareness around cybersecurity, an ongoing and enforced change to the culture of local business is required before cybersecurity is seen as a necessity.

Cohen said one of BDO Cyber Labs core functions is the setting up and maintenance of cyber defenses, including training and penetration tests.

The development of cyber risk management and analytics systems is also an important step for companies to take, he said.
Van Gogh's painting sold for a record $117 million

Gentiloni: EU countries have accumulated enough gas to get through the coming winter

Several dozen activists detained at protest rally in Baku: They chant slogans 'Freedom!', 'Resign!'

Princess Haya seeks asylum in Wales

Pashinyan: Iran is concerned about the presence of other actors in our region, which are not in the territory of Armenia

Pashinyan: Presidents of Russia and Azerbaijan listened to presented proposals

Volvo reveals its flagship EX90 electric crossover

Pashinyan: Yerevan supports Russia's proposals for Armenian-Azerbaijani settlement

Pashinyan: Russia cannot withdraw from Karabakh unless it creates additional guarantees for peacekeeping mission

Pashinyan: We will do everything to Armenia-Azerbaijan sign peace treaty by end of year

Russia bans entry of Biden's family and White House press secretary

Pashinyan: We believe there should be a dialogue between Azerbaijan and Nagorno-Karabakh

Pashinyan says positions voiced by some member countries of CSTO are unacceptable

19 countries that use euro currency will slide into recession over winter

Pashinyan to Baku: If 1991 border is mutually recognized, what are your troops doing near Jermuk?

Pashinyan: If the Karabakh issue is solved, why is Azerbaijani Armed Forces shooting at Karabakh residents?

Pashinyan: Russia should say whether their version of peace settlement is still circulating?

Pashinyan: Maybe Azerbaijan doesn't want Armenia to receive revenues?

Pashinyan: Azerbaijan must withdraw its troops from Armenia

Pashinyan: My yesterday's speech served its purpose, Azerbaijani MFA no longer uses 'corridor' term

Microsoft founder Paul Allen's collection of world masterpieces sold for $1.6 billion

Public TV of Armenia hosts Armenian PM Nikol Pashinyan

China shows drone killer

Armenian FM meets his French counterpart

Rishi Sunak decides to close hole in British budget through austerity

Delegation of Russian MPs visits Jermuk resort town

Lavrov and Mirzoyan discuss regional agenda

Harut Sasunyan: The best way to achieve peace is to be prepared for war

Turkish prosecutor demands court to ban Istanbul mayor from political activities

German business leaders warn against leaving China

Sasunyan: Russia and US pursue their own interests in South Caucasus

British economy shrinks in three months, foretelling prolonged recession

Iranian Ambassador to Azerbaijan summoned to Foreign Ministry

Euro rises above dollar for first time in long time

Hungarian Foreign Affairs Minister calls Council of Turkic States 'forum of peace' and praises Turkey

EU embargo on Russian oil will be a boon for OPEC

Armenia defense minister receives China ambassador, military attache

Lemkin Institute condemns Azerbaijan president's genocidal rhetoric

Dollar goes up, euro rises sharply in Armenia

U.S. warns Europe that conflict over Taiwan will cause massive global economic shock

EU calls on Armenia, Azerbaijan to moderate their rhetoric

Erdogan says Turkey has been waiting at door of EU for 52 years and will give answer when time comes

U.S. fears that European support for Ukrainian strategy will begin to weaken

Armenia, Iran emphasize need to quickly implement agreements reached (PHOTOS)

Armenia soldier wounded by Azerbaijan shooting undergoes surgery

Gas over morality: Hungary guards Azerbaijan's interests

U.S. quietly seeks concessions from Saudi Arabia after Mohammed bin Salman humiliated Biden

Italy's Ambassador to Armenia visits Gyumri

Russian Armed Forces complete redeployment of grouping from right bank of Dnieper

IRGC: Adversaries are frightened and on alert

Armenia appoints ambassador to Sri Lanka

Kremlin doesn't consider leaving Kherson 'humiliating'

Israeli president thinks the world is concerned about Netanyahu's far-right coalition partner

Chinese MFA: China is not distancing itself from Russia, as Biden believes

Ukraine will seek help from its foreign partners in financing Starlink satellite internet systems

Erdogan: Situation in South Caucasus remains fragile

Marukyan: Azerbaijans Aliyev admitted that his country started 2nd Karabakh war, despite previously insisting opposite

Azerbaijan blackmailing Armenia through Lachin corridor

Turkish-occupied northern part of Cyprus becomes observer in Organization of Turkic States

Armenia PM: In his latest speech Aliyev flagrantly violated agreement on refraining from threat or use of force

World Bank official: Armenia is one of best countries in terms of credit portfolio performance

Azerbaijan president makes repeated accusations, threats against Armenia

Iran citizens injured in Armenia road accident

China reveals new giant drone that could point to the future of air warfare

US embassy in Armenia closed today

Karabakh MOD: Defense Army did not fire at Azerbaijan positions located in occupied territories

Israel and U.S. counter threat of hypersonic missiles together

U.S. and EU plan to publish new roadmap on artificial intelligence

Armenia ombudsperson meets with Belgium colleagues

Newspaper: Armenia parliament opposition seats to no longer be empty

Newspaper: Armenia parliament committee of inquiry into 2020 war circumstances is inactive

U.S. will no longer consider Russia a country with a market economy

US intends to protect Azerbaijan from threats of Iran

Aliyev, Erdogan discuss results of tripartite meeting in Russias Sochi

Azerbaijan army fires at Armenia positions, uses mortars as well

UAE is going to launch flying cabs from airports

Volvo Cars expects to introduce electric SUV by 2024

Amazon becomes world's first public company to lose $1 trillion in market value

EU's odd couple: Ursula von der Leyen and Charles Michel can't stand each other

US, China set first benchmarks ahead of presidents' meeting

Iranian MFA summons Azerbaijani ambassador to carpet in connection with anti-Iranian propaganda

Washington to resist any attempt by new Israeli government to annex West Bank

Biden thinks Elon Musk's relations with other countries are worthy of being looked at

Armenian Deputy Foreign Minister tells Polish senator about consequences of Azerbaijani aggression

Armenian deputy in Vilnius talks about goals of Azerbaijan's aggressive policy

Taliban bans women from gyms

U.S. to send Ukraine another $400 million in military aid

Ursula von der Leyen announces EUR 250 million support package for Moldova

Biden and Jinping meet on sidelines of G20 summit in Bali to be held on November 14

Riches of world get poorer suddenly

State Duma deputy: Interparliamentary format Yerevan-Baku-Moscow will be included soon to solve issues

IMF sees growing risk of economic fragmentation

Armen Gevorgyan to visit Strasbourg, Brussels and Paris

State Duma deputy: Upper Lars border crossing capacity has increased fivefold

UK government freezes over 18 billion pounds worth of Russian assets

State Duma deputy on Zatulin's ban on entering Armenia: These issues must be resolved

Borrell calls for retooling EU infrastructure for rapid transport of military equipment to East

European Parliament clears way for Croatia's admission to Schengen Area

European Council President Michel calls on EU member states to jointly purchase gas to reduce fuel prices

Alen Simonyan congratulates scientists on their professional holiday
Saudi Arabia has become a major customer of Eastern European (Bulgarian and Serbian) weapons via Azerbaijans Silk Way Airlines, Bulgarian newspaper Trud reports.

In 2016 and 2017, there were 23 diplomatic flights carrying weapons from Bulgaria, Serbia and Azerbaijan to Jeddah and Riyadh. The consignees were VMZ military plant and Transmobile from Bulgaria, Yugoimport from Serbia, and CIHAZ from Azerbaijan.

The Kingdom does not buy those weapons for itself, as the Saudi army uses only western weapons. Saudi Arabia officially admits supporting of the terrorist militants in Syria and Yemen.

The Arab Kingdom also distributes military cargo to South Africa  a region plagued by wars over the control of the wealth in gold and diamonds found in African countries.

On 28 April and 12 May this year, Silk Way carried out two diplomatic flights from Baku to Burgas-Jeddah-Brazzaville (Republic of Congo). The military cargo on-board of both flights was paid for by Saudi Arabia.

The aircraft was loaded with mortars and anti-tank grenades including SPG-9 and GP-25.These very same weapons were discovered by the Iraqi army a month ago in an Islamic State warehouse in Mosul. Islamic State jihadists are also seen using those heavy weapons in propaganda videos posted online by the terrorist group. Interestingly, the consignee on the transport documents, however, is the Republican Guards of Congo.

On 5 March 2016, an Azerbaijan Air Force aircraft carried 1700 pcs. RPG-7 (consignor: Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan) and 2500 pcs. PG-7VM (consignor: Transmobil Ltd., Bulgaria) for the Defense Ministry of Saudi Arabia. Diplomatic flights from Burgas Airport to Prince Sultan Airport on 18 and 28 February 2017 each carried a further 5080 psc. 40 mm PG-7V for RPG-7 and 24 978 psc. RGD-5. The weapons were exported by Transmobile, Bulgaria to the Ministry of Defense of Saudi Arabia. Such munitions and RPG-7 originating in Bulgaria can often be seen in videos filmed in Syria, Iraq,Yemen and posted by the Islamic State on their propaganda channels.

The UAE is also included in these deals.

On 26 February 2016, an Azerbaijan Air Force aircraft took off from Baku and landed in UAE, where it loaded two armored vehicles and one Lexus car. The request for diplomatic clearance indicated the payment as cash  US dollars. The aircraft landed in North Sudan and, the next day, in the Republic of Congo. The exporter was Safe Cage Armour Works FZ LLC, U and the receiving party was the Republican Guards of Congo. The sponsoring party, however, was Saudi Arabia.

White Phosphorus is an incendiary weapon whose use is very controversial due to the deadly harms it can inflict. On 31 March 2015, Silk Way transported 26 tons of military cargo including white phosphorus from Serbia (exporter: Yugoimport) and 63 tons from Bulgaria (exporter: Arsenal). On 22 March, another 100 tons of white phosphorus were exported from Yugoimport, Belgrade to Kabul. No contract is attached to the documents of those flights.

On 2 May 2015, a Silk Way aircraft loaded 17 tons of ammunition, including white phosphorus, at Burgas airport. The exporter was Dunarit, Bulgaria. The aircraft made a technical landing and a 4-hour stop at Baku before reaching its final destination  Kabul. The consignee was the Afghani police. No contract is attached as proof.

Azerbaijans Ministry of Defense was repeatedly the consignee of weapons which it actually did not receive. On 6 May 2015, an Azerbaijani military aircraft flew to Burgas (Bulgaria)-Incirlik (Turkey)-Burgas. It carried aviation equipment from Bulgaria to Turkey with the consigner: EMCO LTD, Sofia, and consignee  Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan. However, the cargo was offloaded in Turkey and never reached Azerbaijan.

Baku plays the role of an international hub for weapons. Many of the flights make technical landings with stops of a few hours at Baku airport or other intermediary airports en-route to their final destinations. Moreover, these types of aircrafts flying to the same destinations do not typically make technical landings. Therefore, a landing for refueling is not actually required. Despite this, Silk Way aircrafts constantly made technical landings. A case in point: in December of 2015 Silk Way carried out 14 flights with 40 tons of weapons on each flight to the destination Ostrava (the Czech Republic)-Ovda (Israel)-Nososny (Azerbaijan). The exporter is not mentioned in the documents while the receiver is consistently the Defense Ministry of Azerbaijan. Strangely, the aircraft diverted and landed at Ovda airport (a military base in Southern Israel), where it remained for 2 hours.

In 2017, there were 5 flights from Nish (Serbia) via Ovda (Israel) to Nasosny (Azerbaijan). Each flight carried 44 tons of cargo  SPG Howitzer, RM-70/85. The consignor is MSM Martin, Serbia, the consignee: Elbit Systems, Israel, and the Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan. All aircrafts landed in Israel and stayed for 2 hours en-route to Azerbaijan.

The same Israeli company Elbit Systems on a flight from Barno (the Czech Republic) via Tel Aviv (Israel) to Bratislava (Slovakia) re-exported armored vehicles (TATRA T-815 VP31, TATRA T-815 VPR9). They were sent by Real Trade, Prague to Elbit Systems. The ultimate consignee, however, was the Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan. The aircraft landed in Tel Aviv and then in Bratislava, where the cargo was imported by another company  MSM Martin, Slovakia. It is not clear why the plane flew from Europe to Asia and then back to Europe with the same cargo on-board. Ultimately, it did not reach its final destination  Azerbaijan. Since the flight was diplomatic, it was not subjected to inspection.
As PM Modi was welcomed by his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu in Tel Aviv on Tuesday, Israeli tourists camping in Himachal's Kasol, which is also called mini-Israel, are excited about his visit.

By Manjeet Sehgal: As Prime Minister Narendra Modi was welcomed by his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu in Tel Aviv on Tuesday, Israeli tourists currently camping in Himachal Pradesh's Kasol village, which is also called mini-Israel, are thoroughly excited about his visit.

29-year-old Ben, who hails from Naharriya in Israel and is living in Kasol at present, said, "Modi's visit will not only boost economic and political relations but also act as a fillip to tourism as India has become a favourite destination for Israelis. I wish him good luck."

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Another Israel tourist 28-year-old Illian, who belongs to Halfa in Israel, said he was on his second visit to India. He was all praise for the Prime Minister and said that his visit would cement ties between the two nations.

Umref, 25, a native of Naharriya, said Modi's visit to Israel would be beneficial for both the countries.

Another Israeli native Yair Leshem, who is currently in Dharamsala, thanked Prime Minister Modi for his visit and hoped it would boost ties between the two nations. "All Israelis will agree that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Israel visit is very important. We hope that both the countries will work together", Leshem said.

Israeli tourists, who visit Dharamkot in Kangra and Kasol in Kullu in large numbers, are hopeful that Prime Minister Modi's visit would lead to their getting more facilities in India.

YOUNG ISRAELIS WANT NETANYAHU TO VISIT INDIA

Excited over Modi's Israel visit, young Israelis currently holidaying in Kangra want him to visit Kullu and Dharamkot, Kangra and see how they enjoyed themselves at these places and felt they were home.

"Actually I am really excited that Prime Minister of India is visiting Israel. Israeli and Indians are well connected. Both visit each others' countries. There is a good connect between all of us. It is all about love and freedom. I think the PM of Israel must come to India to see the young people travel here and see what is freedom in the little things in life here. I like India. It is my second visit here. I am excited about it because it is very good for both Israel and India", says Omer Taubel, an Israeli tourist currently visiting Dharamkot, Dharamsala and Kangra.

Another Israel resident Lea Bensou Ssan hoped that the meeting would prove beneficial for people of both the countries. He said India was like a second home as every Israeli wanted to visit this country.

"I think that Prime Minister of India's visit to Israel will encourage more Indians to visit this country. Israelis come to India all the time. All Israelis come to India as it is very popular and it is like a second home. It is very, very important for the people of two countries", says Lea Bensou Ssan.

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Also read | Modi in Israel: 5 ways how the visit, first by an Indian PM, is strategically timed

Also read | Hindi Israeli bhai-bhai: When PM Modi met Bibi

ALSO WATCH VIDEO

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The body of the seventh victim in Russia's Chelyabinsk tragedy was found. Armenians, including minors, were among the casualties of a tragic accident.

According to rescuers, the body of the last drowned 38-year-old Arman, who had been handling the boat, was raised to the surface on Tuesday morning, Metronews reported.

It became known later that the boat had a small hole in the bow of the boat. When water began to fill in, the passengers moved to the aft part, as a result of which the boat overturned.

The terrible accident, which claimed seven lives, took place Sunday evening. According to the local media, one of the men was sailing on his boat with two of his children and nephews on Maximka River. The boat suddenly overturned, the passengers appearing under it. They cried for help, and upon hearing them two other men on the river bank jumped into the water for help but they drowned as well. The bodies of two men, 40 and 45, as well as those of a 10 year-old girl and 2-year-old boy were taken out of the water. The bodies of 8- and 15-year-old boys were found later. One man is still being searched, MK reports.

Only four out of nine people on the boat managed to survive. Deputy Governor of Chelyabinsk Oleg Kilmov told journalists that the men used alcohol on the river bank and then set out in an aluminum boat. They were celebrating graduation from the middle shchool of one of the children.

According to the official information, the water basin was designed neither for swimming nor for sailing on a boat. The incident occurred 50-100 meter far from the river bank. According to the same source, none of the dead citizens observed the security rules, having no lifejacket on. The police have launched a criminal case into the incident.

According to the information of Armenian News - NEWS.am, the men on Maximka water basin were from Armenia's Vanadzor city. They had become permanent residents of Chelyabinsk for already several years.
YEREVAN.  Armenia can use Poland's experience in the area of local self-governance and civil society development, head of EU delegation to Armenia Piotr Switalski said during a round table event in Yerevan.

He emphasized that the visit of a strong team from Poland is very important for Armenia.

Poland can be proud of local self-governance and civil society. I am happy that the team is here as Armenia can learn much, he said.

Armenia still has a centralized system, but the Armenian government is thinking about expanding the competence of local self-government bodies, the diplomat said.

A strong civil society is a very important factor, he said, adding that the Armenians are good at learning something new.

Armenia is hosting a Polish delegation, which includes experts in the sphere of civil society, as well as businessmen who plan mutually beneficial cooperation in the fields of construction, agriculture and information technologies.
YEREVAN.  The President of Armenia, Serzh Sargsyan, on Tuesday visited the US Embassy in Yerevan, on the occasion of the Independence Day of the United States of America. The President congratulated Ambassador Richard Mills, the embassy staff, and the friendly people of the United States, and wished them prosperity and continued development.

First, President Sargsyan and Ambassador Mills planted an apricot tree at the courtyard of the US Embassy, the press office of the President informed Armenian News-NEWS.am. The US Ambassador thanked the Armenian President for the visit and congratulations, noting that he was pleased and proud to plant this tree at the US Embassy, together with the President of Armenia, and which commemorates the 241st anniversary of American independence and the 25th anniversary of Armenia-US diplomatic relations.

The United States greatly values its long partnership and sincere friendship with the Republic of Armenia, and together we have forged strong diplomatic, development, military, commercial, and people-to-people ties over the past 25 years, Ambassador Mills said. As we look to the future, we hope our relationship will grow even stronger, and we are especially keen to further deepen our trade and investment ties, to the benefit of both our countries.

In turn, the President of Armenia praised the close cooperation with the United States and the level of bilateral state relations ever since the establishment of diplomatic relations, and stressed that in this rapidly changing and challenging world, Armenia considers it important to continue the dialogue with the United States in all domains of mutual interest.

The interlocutors touched upon the deepening of trade and economic relations, and discussed the existing potential, the work done so far, and the prospects for development.

During the talk, President Serzh Sargsyan thanked the United States for its assistance to Armenia for many years now, including in organizing the parliamentary election in April 2017.
By PTI: New Delhi, Jul 4 (PTI) The Financial Stability Board (FSB), an international body for global financial system, has placed India in the league of countries that are compliant or largely compliant on implementation of priority area reforms.

Ahead of the G20 Summit in Germany to be attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, among other world leaders, the FSB yesterday submitted its status report on progress in financial regulatory reforms in various jurisdictions, including India.

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The report listed India as a compliant jurisdiction with regard to Basel III reforms in risk-based capital and as largely compliant on liquidity coverage ratio.

Other countries that have been found to be compliant or largely compliant on these metrics include Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Mexico, South Korea, Russia, Singapore, South Africa, Switzerland, Turkey and the US.

At the same time, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and the UK have been found to be materially non-compliant on at least one parameter.

With regard to the Net Stable Funding Ratio (NSFR), India figured among the countries where "final rule published but not in force, or draft regulation published".

On compensation-related reforms, India is among the jurisdictions where "all except a few (three or less) FSB Principles and Standards implemented", as per the FSB report.

On trade reporting in the over-the-counter derivatives market, India was among the countries where necessary regulatory framework was being implemented.

On shadow banking, the FSB report named India among the jurisdictions where the final implementation measures are in force for valuation, liquidity management and stable net asset for monetary market funds while final adoption measures were taken for implementing an incentive alignment regime and disclosing requirements on securitisation.

The FSB also said the jurisdictions that have not had an IMF-World Bank Financial Sector Assessment Programme (FSAP) in the last five years are undergoing one in 2017-19 and these countries include India.

It further said the FSB examined progress in implementing G20 reforms in recent peer reviews of three EMDE (Emerging Market and Developing Economies) members -- Argentina, Brazil and India -- and has made recommendations to address identified gaps.

The report was submitted ahead of the G20 Summit in Hamburg on July 7-8 along with a letter from the FSB Chair Mark Carney to the G20 leaders.

As per the letter, the G20 reforms are building a safer, simpler, fairer financial system and banks are considerably stronger, more liquid and more focused.

"A series of measures are eliminating the toxic forms of shadow banking and transforming it into resilient market-based finance," it noted, while adding that a greater resilience is being achieved without impeding the supply of credit to the real economy.

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It also said some unfinished business to finalise and implement reforms merits attention.

"Basel III must be completed urgently and then implemented faithfully... Further work is required to build effective cross-border resolution regimes and realise fully the benefits of trade reporting in improving transparency in OTC derivatives markets.

"The underlying causes of misconduct are being addressed by bolstering individual responsibility, accountability and better aligning incentives and reward, but more needs to be done," it said.

The report identified three areas where authorities need to remain vigilant -- maintaining an open and integrated global financial system, market liquidity and the effects of reforms on emerging market and developing economies.

The FSB sought G20 leaders support to reinforce global regulatory cooperation.

The FSB also released a a Framework for post- implementation evaluation of the effects of the G20 financial regulatory reforms, developed in collaboration with the standard-setting bodies, and with input from external stakeholders and through public consultation.

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The framework will guide analyses of whether the G20 reforms are achieving their intended outcomes and help identify any material unintended consequences that may have to be addressed, without compromising on the objectives of the reforms. PTI BJ MKJ ARD

--- ENDS ---
YEREVAN. - Newly-appointed Spanish Ambassador to Armenia Ignacio Ibanez Rubio (residence in Moscow) on Tuesday extended his credentials to President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan.

The President congratulated the Ambassador on assuming the office and wished him good luck in carrying out his diplomatic mission in Armenia. The President noted that although the Armenian-Spanish interstate ties have started developing since the establishment of diplomatic relations 25 years ago, the Armenian and Spanish peoples, who are the carriers of an ancient culture and common Christian value system, had friendly ties since old times.

According to President Sargsyan, that circumstance is obliging, it being necessary to intensify the efforts for developing cooperation and enhancing bilateral relations in all the spheres.

Ambassador Rubio, for his part, thanked the Armenian President for the reception and congratulation, assuring that he will do his best to deepen the friendly relations between Armenia and Spain and make Armenia more known by its history and investment opportunities, encouraging the communication between the societies of the two countries and also contributing to the establishment of business ties and mutual communication in different spheres.

Apart from the Armenian-Spanish bilateral relations, at the meeting reference was also made to the Armenian-EU cooperation. In the context, Ambassador Rubio noted that EU active member Spain is ready to support Armenia in terms of its cooperation with the EU.

The interlocutors also exchanged views on the peaceful settlement process of the Karabakh conflict.
Despite a high level of vitriol, President Trump's efforts to undermine CNN have failed so far, if the ratings are any indication.

The Turner Broadcasting news network reported its most-watched second quarter on June 27. Notably, Time Warner Inc.'s (TWX) CNN saw a 39% year-over-year spike in the important 25-54 demographic, pulling in 264,000 total day viewers -- second among the Big Three news channels that also include Fox News and MSNBC. In fact, the quarter represented CNN's best for adults aged 25-54 since the 2008 election cycle nearly a decade ago.

Many of the network's key programs, including "The Lead with Jake Tapper" and "Anderson Cooper 360," were up more than 50% compared with the same frame last year. Interestingly, the numbers show that CNN's viewership skews slightly younger than that of Fox News and MSNBC, as shown by the ratio of adults 25-54 watching versus total viewership. The median age for CNN in total-day viewing is 60, while it is 65 for the other Big Three news channels. With the median age of viewers the youngest since 2008, CNN could be looking at even more robust growth down the line as a new generation of cable viewers takes over.

Given the blitz of negative buzz surrounding CNN recently, its ratings success may strike some as surprising. About a week ago, the network was forced to retract a story connecting a Trump ally to a Russian bank, leading to the resignation of three high-ranking journalists. And just on Sunday, the president tweeted a video in which he wrestles and punches a stand-in for CNN, with the caption #FraudNewsCNN.

#FraudNewsCNN#FNNpic.twitter.com/WYUnHjjUjg

CNN has long been a target of Trump's campaign against "fake news," and the network released a statement on Sunday condemning the president for "encourag[ing] violence against reporters." Mind-bogglingly, the video comes less than two weeks after the White House issued a statement alleging "President Trump has condemned violence in all forms" after actor Johnny Depp made a joke about assassinating the president.

"The president has had trouble with the notion that he is not above criticism just because he is in the White House," said Jane Kirtley, a professor of media and ethics at the University of Minnesota Law School. "It's clear to me that the media has to hold Donald Trump accountable, because his cabinet and aides are not doing so."

Americans on both sides of the political spectrum have been devouring news since the election, sending ratings for cable news channels up across the board, and many Americans share Kirtley's sentiment. As Trump's activity becomes more and more outlandish, it's likely that viewership will continue to increase -- which means that, if Trump really wants to bury CNN, he should probably keep his mouth shut.

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Haroon, 30, who owns a mobile shop in Chennai's Burma Bazaar, is suspected to have been mobilising funds and recruiting young terror operatives for the ISIS.

By Pramod Madhav, Ashish Pandey: A suspected ISIS operator was detained from Burma Bazaar locality in Chennai today morning. Haroon, 30, was picked up by a joint team of Rajasthan ATS and Chennai Police.

Haroon is suspected to have been mobilising funds and recruiting young terror operatives for the ISIS.

According to reports, the Rajasthan ATS zeroed in on Haroon on the basis of information gathered during interrogation of Mohammed Iqbal, a resident of Mylapore.

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Iqbal had revealed that, Haroon, who owns a cellphone shop at Burma Bazaar, was facilitating ISIS with fund mobilisation and recruitment.

Haroon has been taken to an undisclosed location for further investigations.

The Rajasthan ATS is also scanning Haroon's back accounts to check the money flow and his terror nexus.

ALSO READ:

How ISIS lures youth with women, meat, chocolates to recruit in Kerala. An India Today exclusive

3 ISIS suspects arrested: All you need to know about how police of 6 states busted terror module

3 Hyderabad students, on their way to join ISIS, detained in Nagpur

At least 2 of 20 ISIS Kerala recruits feared dead in Afghanistan MOAB attack

WATCH: India Today penetrates Islamic State's India module, terror tapes reveal recruitment drive in Kerala

--- ENDS ---
OSHA Holding July 17 Meeting on Strengthening VPP

OSHA said it is "seeking to reshape VPP so that it continues to represent safety and health excellence, leverages partner resources, further recognizes the successes of long-term participants, and supports smart program growth." The agency anticipates holding a second meeting in conjunction with VPPPA's Safety+ annual conference in New Orleans.

OSHA announced it will hold a public meeting July 17 in Washington, D.C., to solicit suggestions for strengthening the Voluntary Protection Programs and to discuss the future direction of its Voluntary Protection Programs. (The date is six weeks before Safety+, the Voluntary Protection Programs Participants' Association, Inc.'s annual conference taking place Aug. 29-Sept. 1 in New Orleans.)

OSHA said it is "seeking to reshape VPP so that it continues to represent safety and health excellence, leverages partner resources, further recognizes the successes of long-term participants, and supports smart program growth." Some of the questions OSHA invites stakeholder input include:

What can the agency do to enhance and encourage the efforts of employers, workers and unions to identify and address workplace hazards through the VPP?

How can the agency support increased participation in VPP while operating with available resources and maintaining the integrity of the program?

How can the agency modify VPP to enhance the efforts and engagement of long-term VPP participants?

How might the agency modify Corporate VPP for greater leverage and effectiveness?

How can the agency further leverage participant resources, such as Special Government Employees?

The meeting will be held from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the Frances Perkins Building, U.S. Department of Labor headquarters at 200 Constitution Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20210. Those wishing to attend must register by July 10 at this website. And for those who cannot attend in person, a docket has been opened to receive comments. You can provide your input and/or read others' comments at https://www.regulations.gov/docket?D=OSHA-2017-0009. The docket closes Sept. 15, 2017.

The agency indicated it anticipates hosting a second stakeholder meeting tentatively scheduled to occur in conjunction with the VPPPA conference.
PHUKET, THAILAND  Outrigger Enterprises Group is pleased to announce the appointment of Rory Campbell as Area Director of Sales and Marketing, responsible for the Outrigger Laguna Phuket Beach Resort and the Outrigger Koh Samui Beach Resort, both in Thailand.

The appointment, effective July 1, 2017, is Mr. Campbells second stint with Outrigger. He was Director of Sales and Marketing for the Outrigger Laguna Phuket Beach Resort 2013-2015 and General Manager of the Outrigger Koh Samui Beach Resort 2015-2016.

Prior to joining Outrigger in 2013, Mr Campbell, an Australian national, worked in senior sales and marketing roles for Hilton in Spain, Anantara Hotels and Resorts in Thailand, and the Eaton Hotel in Hong Kong.

In his new assignment, Mr. Campbell will report to Tony Pedroni the General Manager of the Outrigger Laguna Phuket Beach Resort, to Marc Landgraf General Manager of the Outrigger Koh Samui Beach Resort, and to Andrew Gee the Outrigger Regional Director of Sales and Marketing for Australia and New Zealand, based in Sydney.

Were glad Rory is back, batteries charged and once again ready to promote our beautiful resorts in Thailand, said Mr. Paul Richardson, Chief Operating Officer of Outrigger Enterprises Group.

The Outrigger Laguna Phuket Beach Resort features 255 rooms and suites with modern interiors subtly blended with contemporary Thai touches. The property is part of Laguna Phuket on beautiful Bang Tao Bay a 30-minute drive from Phuket airport. The resort is popular with families and active lifestyle holidaymakers. The resorts acclaimed Similan Ballroom is one of the best mid-sized event spaces in Southeast Asia.

The Outrigger Koh Samui Beach Resort offers an absolute beachfront experience for couples with 52 renovated guest suites and villas all with private pools. The property is located on secluded 300-metre Hanuman Bay in the northeast of the island 10-minutes from Samui airport (but away from the flight path).
In this image taken from video footage run by China's CCTV via AP Video, a Long March 5 rocket lifts off from the Wenchang Space Launch Center in southern China's Hainan province on Sunday, July 2, 2017. Authorities say the Long March-5 Y2 launched Sunday had an abnormality during the flight after what appeared to be a successful liftoff. The failure of the Long March 5 rocket deals a rare setback to China's highly successful space program, one that will almost certainly delay plans to send a spacecraft to bring back samples from the moon later this year, along with other upcoming missions. Chinese characters at both reads "Long March-5 Y2 rocket life off." (CCTV via AP Video)

The failure of China's Long March 5 rocket deals a rare setback to China's highly successful space program that could delay plans to bring back moon samples and offer rival India a chance to move ahead in the space rankings.

Experts say the still unexplained mishap shows that for all its triumphs, China's space program is not immune to the tremendous difficulties and risks involved in working with such cutting-edge technology.

"China's approach has been slow and prudent, trying to avoid this kind of 'failure,' even though they knew it was going to occur sooner or later," Joan Johnson-Freese, an expert on China's space program at the US Naval War College, wrote in an email.

Authorities say the Long March 5 Y2 that took off Sunday in the second launch of a Long March 5 rocket, suffered an abnormality during the flight after what appeared to be a successful liftoff from the Wenchang Space Launch Center in the southern island province of Hainan. The incident is under investigation and the authorities have yet to comment on possible causes, or any knock-on effects on the program as a whole.

In a testimony to the high respect China's program now commands, the failure drew widespread commentary in the space community, including from SpaceX founder and chief executive Elon Musk, who tweeted Sunday: "Sorry to hear about China launch failure today. I know how painful that is to the people who designed & built it."

Nicknamed "Chubby 5" for its massive, 5-meter (16-foot) girth, the Long March-5 is China's largest and most brawny launch vehicle, capable of carrying 25 tons of payload into low-earth orbit and 14 tons to the more distant geostationary transfer orbit in which a satellite orbits constantly above a fixed position on the earth's surface

That's more than double that of the Long March 7, the backbone of the Chinese launching fleet, making it the linchpin for launch duties requiring such massive heft such as interplanetary travel.

In this image taken from video footage run by China's CCTV via AP Video, a Long March 5 rocket lifts off from the Wenchang Space Launch Center in southern China's Hainan province on Sunday, July 2, 2017. Authorities say the Long March-5 Y2 launched Sunday had an abnormality during the flight after what appeared to be a successful liftoff. The failure of the Long March 5 rocket deals a rare setback to China's highly successful space program, one that will almost certainly delay plans to send a spacecraft to bring back samples from the moon later this year, along with other upcoming missions. Chinese characters at both reads "Long March-5 Y2 rocket life off." (CCTV via AP Video)

First among those is the mission slated for November by the Chang'e 5 probe to land a rover on the moon before returning to Earth with samplesthe first time that has been done since 1976. China's most technically demanding mission to date, it had been put off before because of funding and then technology, Johnson-Freese said.

While the Long March 5 has suffered other setbacks, the lunar mission is "certainly the most visible one," she said.

Other upcoming Chinese missions include the launch next year of the 20-ton core module for China's orbiting Tiangong 2 space station, along with specialized components for the 60-ton station that is due to come on-line in 2022 and other massive payloads in future. The Long March 5 was also due to be the launch vehicle for a Mars rover planned for the mid 2020s.

Problems with the Long March 5 may stem from its use of liquefied gases that are less stable than the sort of propellants used in other rockets, said Morris Jones, an Australian space analyst and regular contributor to SpaceDaily.com. Unlike earlier rockets that used highly toxic fuels, the Long March 5 burns a more environmentally friendly and less expensive kerosene-liquid oxygen-liquid hydrogen mixwhich is more complex and harder to regulate.

Jones called such setbacks typical of the development phase of a new rocket and said additional launches may be required to work out the kinks. Sunday's launch failure will delay the Chang'e 5 mission at least until next year, while there may also be a small delay in launching the space station components, Jones said.

Finding a fix "takes a lot of time and effort but there is no other way to produce a reliable rocket," Jones said.

Test launched for the first time last year in what had been a towering success, the 57-meter (187-foot) two-stage rocket is just slightly less powerful than the most powerful rocket in service, the U.S.' United Launch Alliance's Delta IV, although SpaceX's Falcon Heavy is designed to carry a payload into low-earth orbit of more than 50 tons.

In this image taken from a video footage run by China's CCTV via AP Video, a Long March 5 rocket lifts off from the Wenchang Space Launch Center in southern China's Hainan province on Sunday, July 2, 2017. Authorities say the Long March-5 Y2 launched Sunday had an abnormality during the flight after what appeared to be a successful liftoff. The failure of the Long March 5 rocket deals a rare setback to China's highly successful space program, one that will almost certainly delay plans to send a spacecraft to bring back samples from the moon later this year, along with other upcoming missions. Chinese characters at both reads "Long March-5 Y2 rocket life off." (CCTV via AP Video)

Since the first launch in 1970, China's Long March series of rockets have been a remarkably solid bet, achieving a success rate of around 95 percent. That's helped facilitate a program that conducted its first crewed space mission in 2003, making China only the third country after Russia and the U.S. to do so, put a pair of space stations into orbit, and landed its Yutu, or "Jade Rabbit" rover on the moon. Administrators suggest a manned landing on the moon may also be in the program's future.

Not all has been smooth sailing, however.

A Long March 3B rocket launched June 18 launch placed its communications satellite in a lower-than planned for orbit. Though the satellite is climbing into its proper altitude on its own, the effort will reduce its useful lifespan in space. A least two similar incidents reportedly occurred last year.

With two mishaps coming so close together, Chinese space officials may decide to take a pause to re-evaluate manufacturing quality or other aspects of the program, said Stephen Clark of Spaceflight Now. That may include launching another Long March 5 test flight before attempting the Chang'e 5 mission, Clark said.

Both Clark and Johnson-Freese said they hope the failure doesn't deter Chinese officials in their pursuit of greater transparency and international participation in the country's space program.

Yet, rivals, primarily India, may see the setback as an opportunity to steal a march on China, whose geostrategic influence has benefited significantly from its role as a technology leader in space, said Johnson-Freese.

India's Mars Orbiter Mission, called Mangalyaan, is already orbiting the red planet, years before China is ready to launch such a mission, and it won acclaim and a place in the record books earlier this year by placing 104 nano satellites in orbit from a single rocket.

"The failure of the Long March 5 may provide a window of opportunity for India," said Johnson-Freese.

 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Simple and robust signalling technology proves reliable in a crisis. Credit: Katrin Binner

Researchers at the TU Darmstadt around Professor Matthias Hollick are experimenting with technologies designed to empower the civilian population in times of crisis. They aim at establishing basic communications and means to share information, thus facilitating human cooperation and mutual aid even following wide-spread power and Internet outages.

Unknown hackers launched a malware attack on the Ukrainian national power grid in late 2016. The malicious software interfered with the control system and caused an hour-long power outage in parts of Kiev. In the last year, other hackers set their sights on the Domain Name Service (DNS) owned by Dyn, a US American service provider, knocking out several websites, including Netflix and Amazon for multiple hours. These are just two of the many examples that expose the vulnerability of today's high-tech society; and the German federal government regards attacks on our critical infrastructure as a latent danger.

Natural disasters or major emergencies can also isolate a region from the power grid and Internet, which is why the German Federal Office for Civil Protection and Disaster Assistance advises citizens to stockpile food supplies for crisis situations. However, the population at large dismisses this risk. What would happen if the power supply system and Internet really were to fail? Most people no longer have battery operated radios, and would be completely cut off from all information sources.

"Despite our increasing dependence on infrastructure-based networks",warns Matthias Hollick, Professor on Security in Mobile Networks at the TU Darmstadt, "no backup plans exist. Civil protection and disaster assistance has even seen budget cuts in recent years. The authorities and armed forces are able to operate their communication networks for a considerable time, even in the absence of external power supply. In contrast, the civilian population would be mostly disconnected from any means of communications."

Interdisciplinary Research Centre "NICER"

That's why Hollick and his colleagues founded "Networked Infrastructureless Cooperation for Emergency Response" (NICER), an interdisciplinary research centre at the TU Darmstadt. Its core team consists of eleven professors, three post-doctoral researchers, sixteen research associates and six associate staff members. NICER is a joint project involving the Universities of Kassel and Marburg and receives some 4.5 million Euro in funding from the federal state of Hesse within the LOEWE programme.

The basic idea is to network the population by means of infrastructureless information and communication technologies. To achieve this objective, NICER is focused on three key themes: the establishment of autonomous communication islands, the construction of bridges between the islands, and the operation of an overall network with special applications for use in crisis situations.

That's why the researchers want to establish communication islands. An island may be an urban district or a village. All mobile devices within the island would be able to communicate with one another without the need for any underlying infrastructure. Moreover, in case of large-scale disasters, there may be several such islands all existing independently of one another. Additional bridges would then need to be established to enable communications between islands. For example, a mobile device carried by a resident of one island who happens to travel to another island could function as a bridge between the two areas. It would store information destined for recipients in the other island and physically carry it there, thus enabling the exchange of information over longer distances.

One difficulty in setting up the islands is the fact that cellular base stations, which function as central coordination nodes, would no longer work. Mobile devices can only communicate directly over short distances and therefore depend on other devices that act as forwarding and distribution nodes. Data traffic management is particularly challenging following this loss in coordination capabilities. Still, to enable the prioritisation of specific data types, devices need to be able to exchange status information. Hollick's group has developed a robust, ultra-low-lateny forwarding mechanism for such status information exchanges, in which the signal emitted from a given device is picked up and broadcast simultaneously by all devices in the immediate vicinity. The message propagation can be compared with the ring waves formed when throwing a stone into a pond. The collaboration of the involved devices needs to be precise enough for the emitted signals to overlap constructively  a level of precision that the researchers also want to achieve on standard commercial devices.

To ensure that the collaboration also functions in an energy-efficient manner, the NICER researchers have been re-engineering various mobile devices in their "Emergency Response Lab" to increase their performance. For instance, each device is equipped with a so-called firmware, which is the software empowering the processors of the radio module. Under standard operating conditions, the firmware forwards incoming data packets either to the operating system or application software. After processing, they are dispatched to the intended recipient again via the firmware and radio module.

"However", Hollick explains, "if we succeed in managing the communications on the radio module processors, we could cut out several steps. Simple data packets could be processed in fractions of milliseconds, whereas using the operating system would take orders of magnitude longer. That's a significant gain if we are operating hundreds of devices." Confining the processing to the radio module also saves power, as it is no longer necessary to power up the main processor. This would extend the battery life of the devices in question  important when the power grid is down. In order to be able to utilise the firmware in this way, mobile devices would simply require a standardised emergency operating mode, which would kick in during crisis situations.

The scientists are also looking into ways of utilising the various data available within a given island to produce a shared situation report: what sensors are available? Which of them would need to be queried to produce an accurate overview of the situation without overloading the network? Signal processing experts and robotics researchers are jointly investigating how to process this sensor data. To this end they build on the communication mechanisms for interaction with the rescue robots, which could be deployed in particular challenging environments such as for instance nuclear facilities following an accident.

Last, but not least, the services that should be available within each island are also a subject of research  Apps that, for example, provide citizens with situational updates or information about relief resources. The researchers are developing ways of operating the Apps distributed across the emergency network, thus making them resilient to infrastructure outages but also to the failure of individual devices. Hollick concludes: "We're hoping that solutions based on the NICER research will soon be available to everybody. This facilitates that the affected population has the means to help themselves under catastrophic circumstances literally in its hands  namely by making use of the mobile devices they own already."
Passengers check into a flight at Abu Dhabi International Airport in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Tuesday, July 4, 2017. Travelers bound for the U.S. now enjoy something many others flying out of the Middle East can'twalking onto an airplane with their laptop. But what has changed in Abu Dhabi remains unclear as the laptop ban still affects nine other regional airports, including the world's busiest for international travel in nearby Dubai. (AP Photo/Jon Gambrell)

At Abu Dhabi International Airport, travelers bound for the United States on Tuesday enjoyed something many others flying out of the Middle East can'twalking onto an airplane with their laptop.

But what has changed in Abu Dhabi remains unclear as the laptop ban still affects nine other regional airports, including the world's busiest for international travel in nearby Dubai.

That may change Wednesday. Both Dubai-based Emirates and Turkish Airlines in Istanbul will host American officials to show they have complied with measures to be exempted from the ban as well, said David Lapan, a spokesman for the Department of Homeland Security.

At the Abu Dhabi airport, the home of the UAE's state carrier Etihad, officials believe they'll see even more customers in the coming weeks as people learn they can keep their laptops and tablets on U.S.-bound flights. Etihad operates 45 flights a week between the UAE's capital and six cities in the U.S.

Asked about what changed, the airport's acting chief operations officer Ahmed al-Shamsi gave no details when he spoke with The Associated Press. Lapan previously said the airport had new procedures, "both seen and unseen," to protect flights.

"There was an assessment by the U.S. Homeland Security's Transportation Security Administration, they're the ones who pass certain laws that airports have to follow," al-Shamsi said. "Based on these rules and how well airports follow them, they are the ones who decide when to lift the ban."

Ahmed al-Shamsi, the acting chief operations officer at Abu Dhabi International Airport, speaks to The Associated Press in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Tuesday, July 4, 2017. At Abu Dhabi International Airport, travelers bound for the U.S. now enjoy something many others flying out of the Middle East can'twalking onto an airplane with their laptop. (AP Photo/Jon Gambrell)

Abu Dhabi's airport already has a U.S. Customs and Border Protection facility that allows passengers to clear screening they'd otherwise have to go through when landing in America. That means passengers can walk right out of the airport on arrival.

The U.S. laptop ban, first announced in March as a security measure, now applies to nonstop U.S.-bound flights from nine international airports in Amman, Jordan; Kuwait City; Cairo; Istanbul; Jeddah and Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; Casablanca, Morocco; Doha, Qatar; and Dubai. In May, U.S. President Donald Trump shared highly classified intelligence about the Islamic State group wanting to use laptops to target aircraft with senior Russian officials visiting the White House.

In Istanbul, Turkish Airlines CEO Bilal Eksi wrote on Twitter that he believed the laptop ban there would end as soon as Wednesday.

For Emirates, its Dubai hub has grown into the world's busiest airport for international traffic, in large part thanks to the long-haul carrier's expansion. Since the laptop ban, Emirates had been offering some passengers laptops they can use in flight.

Ahmed al-Shamsi, the acting chief operations officer at Abu Dhabi International Airport, speaks to The Associated Press in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Tuesday, July 4, 2017. At Abu Dhabi International Airport, travelers bound for the U.S. now enjoy something many others flying out of the Middle East can'twalking onto an airplane with their laptop. But what has changed in Abu Dhabi remains unclear as the laptop ban still affects nine other regional airports, including the world's busiest for international travel in nearby Dubai. (AP Photo/Jon Gambrell)

Emirates said in a statement on Tuesday it is "working hard in coordination with various aviation stakeholders and the local authorities" to put the heightened security measures and protocols in place. It offered no specifics on what American authorities wanted.

"We hope that we will receive validation that all measures have been successfully implemented so that the electronics ban can be lifted as soon as possible for our U.S. flights," the airline said.

The laptop ban, as well as a Trump administration travel ban on six predominantly Muslim nations, has hurt Gulf carriers. Emirates has slashed 20 percent of its flights to America in the wake of those decisions.

Passengers check into a flight at Abu Dhabi International Airport in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Tuesday, July 4, 2017. Travelers bound for the U.S. now enjoy something many others flying out of the Middle East can'twalking onto an airplane with their laptop. But what has changed in Abu Dhabi remains unclear as the laptop ban still affects nine other regional airports, including the world's busiest for international travel in nearby Dubai. (AP Photo/Jon Gambrell)

Passengers check into a flight at Abu Dhabi International Airport in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Tuesday, July 4, 2017. Abu Dhabi's airport is the first among Mideast airports targeted by a U.S. ban on laptops in airplane cabins to be exempt from the list. (AP Photo/Jon Gambrell)

Passengers check into a flight at Abu Dhabi International Airport in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Tuesday, July 4, 2017. Abu Dhabi's airport is the first among Mideast airports targeted by a U.S. ban on laptops in airplane cabins to be exempt from the list. (AP Photo/Jon Gambrell)

 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
A photo from San Juan Archives looking south from the south end of Calle Betances, Aguadilla in 1899. Credit: Roland LaForge

Repair petitions filed in the wake of the 1918 Puerto Rico earthquake and tsunami, stored and forgotten in the San Juan archives for nearly 100 years, are giving scientists a house-by-house look at the damage wrought by the magnitude 7.3 event.

In the journal Seismological Research Letters, seismologists Roland LaForge and William McCann describe how they used the records to trace the impact of the earthquake in Aguadilla, the town closest to the 1918 epicenter.

The researchers combed through handwritten and often heartbreaking petitions for funds to repair homes battered or washed away by the tsunami, or damaged by earthquake ground shaking. Together, the data provide a "pretty accurate picture to find out where the damage was, and how far the tsunami made it inland," said LaForge.

At the south end of town, in particular, the tsunami's three to four meter- high mark could be determined from repair petitions from houses closely clustered togetherwhere some homes reported wave damage and some were untouched by the waves.

The address-level findings are consistent with a 1919 reconnaissance of the earthquake damage and more modern calculations of tsunami wave heights, the researchers say. But the new study provides more detailed "ground truth" of what happened during the 1918 quake, said LaForge, and could be useful in predicting which parts of Aguadilla would be mostly likely to suffer damage during the next major earthquake.

In the United States, the Caribbean and Latin America, LaForge said, "finding and interpreting written historical earthquake damage accounts is difficult and time consuming, but we have learned that researching these old earthquakes has become more important over time".

The October 11, 1918 Puerto Rico earthquake and tsunami is the most recent damaging seismic event to affect the island. More than 100 people died, and the island sustained $4 million dollars (1918 dollars) in damage, especially in the towns of Aguadilla, Mayaguez, Aguada and Anasco.

Shoreline damage in Aguadilla, Puerto Rico is shown following the 1918 earthquake and tsunami. Credit: Courtesy of Roland LaForge

As part of the relief efforts after the earthquake, residents whose homes were damaged or destroyed submitted petitions for repair funds to a Special Earthquake Commission established after the event. Inspectors came out to review the damage claimed in each petition, and funds were awarded based on their recommendations.

McCann, a former professor at the University of Puerto Rico, stumbled across boxes of these petitions, unsealed for nearly 100 years, in the General Archive in San Juan, Puerto Rico. He later mentioned them to LaForge, who had worked with the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority on seismic hazard studies of dams on the island.

The two received a grant from the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program (NEHRP) to digitize and study more than 6000 pages of the petitions and other records and photographs related to the earthquake. Although 275 petitions were known to be received from Aguadilla, only 88 (32%) were discovered in the San Juan archives. Most of these appear to be petitions to repair damage rather than replacement of entire homes.

"The layout of the town is pretty much the same as it was in 1918," LaForge explained. "And we had these detailed damage descriptions by neighborhood and street and address in some cases. We thought if we can match up these addresses with modern-day addresses to know where they were, we could get a pretty good picture of where the damage was and how severe it was."

The petitions marked other losses as well. "Reading through the actual reports was very poignant at times," LaForge said. "Some of these people lost family members, or knew people who drowned. You get a real idea of what people went through."

LaForge hopes that other researchersstudents at the University of Puerto Rico, perhaps will use the digitized petition data to learn more about the earthquake and tsunami impact in other towns such as Mayaguez. "The dataset in general is a real gold mine."

The Seismological Society of America, which publishes Seismological Research Letters, will hold a joint conference in April 2018 with the Latin American and Caribbean Seismological Commission in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The site of the Seismology of the Americas meeting was chosen in part to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the 1918 earthquake.

More information: "Address-level Effects in Aguadilla, Puerto Rico, from the 1918 Mw 7.3 Earthquake and Tsunami," Seismological Research Letters (2017). DOI: 10.1785/0220170044 Journal information: Seismological Research Letters
When ISIS took control of Mosul, the militants ransacked the city's university during which hundreds of thousands of books from the central library went up in flames. Now that the security forces have recaptured Mosul, a group is running a campaign to restore the library.

General view of the remains of the University of Mosul, which was burned and destroyed during a battle with Islamic State militants, in Mosul. (Photo: Reuters)

By India Today Web Desk: The ISIS took control of Mosul in 2014 and ransacked the city's university during which hundreds of thousands of books and manuscripts were destroyed.

Now, a group is running a campaign to restore the library.

Founded in 1967, the University of Mosul offered courses in a number of disciplines and the central library contained books in Arabic and English. Historic maps, periodicals from the Ottoman era, and ancient Islamic manuscripts were a part of the well-known library.

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Also read: All you need to know about Iraq's fresh offensive to recapture Mosul from Islamic State

After ISIS militants took over the university, they forced the university professors to rewrite textbooks for the new education system under the caliphate. Now that the security forces have recaptured Mosul and PM Haider al-Abadi has declared the end of the ISIS caliphate in the region, one man has initiated a campaign to restore the library.

Mosul Eye, an anonymous blogger, who has been chronicling life in the city under ISIS for the last three years has initiated this project. The blogger graduated from the university and was teaching there when the terrorist organisation seized the city.

"Whenever I was in the university, I would spend most of my time at the library," he said. "When I didn't like my professors' lectures, I often went to the library to do research and study books on my own", Mosul Eye told Buzzfeed in a telephonic interview.

Also read: Iraq's Mosul celebrates first Eid without Islamic State in years

After the city was liberated, a group of local volunteers went to the library to save the remaining books. Mosul Eye said that they were able to preserve around 2,000 volumes and few hundred rare books.

Today we have preserved rare books and manuscripts in the Central library of Mosul Univ. pic.twitter.com/pyP3EcOMgb- Mosul Eye ?? ???? (@MosulEye) May 22, 2017

Soon after, the blogger decided to call for international help. Using his blog, he asked for book donation and according to him the response was "amazing".

Locals bought the books from Baghdad's street markets and donated towards the new library.

"People have been sending us books from Australia, from Europe, the United States - all on different subjects and in different languages," he told BuzzFeed News while talking about the international response.

Nearly 10,000 books have been collected and the group aims to collect 200,000 books for the reopening of the library. Many books were shipped to and collected in Irbil where volunteers are labeling and sorting them, reported Buzzfeed News.

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A paleoartistic restoration of Razanandrongobe sakalavae scavenging on a sauropod carcass in the Middle Jurassic of Madagascar. Unlike extant crocodilians, this terrestrial predator had a deep skull and walked on erect limbs. Credit: Fabio Manucci

Little is known about the origin and early evolution of the Notosuchia, hitherto unknown in the Jurassic period. New research on fossils from Madagascar, published in the peer-reviewed journal PeerJ by Italian and French paleontologists, begin to fill the gap in a million-year-long ghost lineage.

Deep and massive jaw bones armed with enormous serrated teeth that are similar in size and shape to those of a T-rex strongly suggest that these animals fed also on hard tissue such as bone and tendon. The full name of the predatory crocodyliform (nicknamed 'Razana') is Razanandrongobe sakalavae, which means "giant lizard ancestor from Sakalava region".

A combination of anatomical features clearly identify this taxon as a Jurassic notosuchian, close to the South American baurusuchids and sebecids, that were highly specialized predators of terrestrial habits, different from present-day crocodilians in having a deep skull and powerful erect limbs. "Like these and other gigantic crocs from the Cretaceous, 'Razana' could outcompete even theropod dinosaurs, at the top of the food chain", says Cristiano Dal Sasso, of the Natural History Museum of Milan.

Razanandrongobe sakalavae is by far the oldestand possibly the largestrepresentative of the Notosuchia, documenting one of the earliest events of exacerbated increase in body size along the evolutionary history of the group.

"Its geographic position during the period when Madagascar was separating from other landmasses is strongly suggestive of an endemic lineage. At the same time, it represents a further signal that the Notosuchia originated in southern Gondwana", remarks co-author Simone Maganuco.

Paleontologists Cristiano Dal Sasso (right) and Simone Maganuco (left) exhibit some skull bones of Razanandrongobe sakalavae at the Natural History Museum of Milan. The teeth are enormous, approaching in shape and size those of a T. rex. The tip of a shed tooth shows a deeply worn surface caused by contact with hard food, such as bone and tendon: this animal was both predator and scavenger. The origin of the preserved bones from opposite sides of the upper and lower jaws was a hindrance to the study of how they aligned. However, new technologies helped Cristiano Dal Sasso and colleagues solve the puzzle. Credit: Giovanni Bindellini

A paleoartistic restoration of the head of Razanandrongobe sakalavae. Unlike extant crocodilians, this terrestrial predator had a deep skull. Credit: Fabio Manucci

More information: Dal Sasso et al. (2017), Razanandrongobe sakalavae, a gigantic mesoeucrocodylian from the Middle Jurassic of Madagascar, is the oldest known notosuchian. PeerJ 5:e3481; DOI: 10.7717/peerj.3481 Journal information: PeerJ

Provided by PeerJ
Hack attack. Wikipedia, CC BY-SA

Salim Neino had been waiting for something like WannaCry.

Fast, indiscriminate and disruptive, the computer infection locked up computers in British hospitals and was spreading across the world when Neino's company, Kryptos Logic, stepped into the ring.

One of his researchers found a so-called kill switch in the WannaCry code and pounced. "We put it in a triangle choke!" joked Neino, a mixed-martial-arts fan.

Not bad for a 33-year-old Lawndale native and Cal State Long Beach grad, who co-founded Kryptos eight years ago with $120,000.

The mid-May episode thrust the small Los Angeles cybersecurity company onto a world stage. At the same time, it has opened a new era of broad-scale ransomware attacks - a fact driven home last week when a second worm, exploiting the same methods as WannaCry, briefly seized computers worldwide again, this time hitting oil, electric and shipping operations.

Neino has been quick to capitalize on the business opportunities from his new prominence. But he has also tried to use this status as ransomware wrangler to push for policy changes - measures he says are needed to cope with this new landscape of cybermayhem.

Testifying before Congress between attacks, Neino spelled out his proposal for a cybersecurity "Richter scale" - a triage system to help the public prioritize threats - and warned lawmakers against underrating the peril.

With WannaCry, and the June 27 reprise of it, the world got off easy, he insisted: "They had the bomb, they didn't have the GPS."

Until May, Kryptos was just another little-known boutique cybersecurity company operating, as much as possible, "in stealth mode," Neino said. It does no marketing, employs no sales force and its workers guard their anonymity. The reason is that revenge hackers commonly target cybersecurity companies.

Genial, earnest and still fit from his wrestling days, Neino is the son of a Jordanian immigrant father and a Mexican American mother from Montebello. His father came to L.A. as a young man with no English but talent enough to rise in the region's aerospace industry.

Neino was raised speaking Arabic and Spanish, but he can't remember either language now. Maybe code took over that brain space, he said. He got his start as a self-taught teenage programmer, landed his first computer job at age 15, and became - after a sister - the second person in his family to go to college.

The background, he said, is typical of Angelenos his age raised by aerospace workers to whom cybertinkering came naturally.

After a few years as an independent cybersecurity specialist, Neino co-founded Kryptos while still in his twenties with friends-and-family seed money, and has used its revenue to expand ever since.

At first, Kryptos struggled. Neino could show potential clients that they had been hacked, but he couldn't convince them to care.

The problem is rife in cybersecurity, a vast but fuzzily defined industry sector worth perhaps hundreds of billions of dollars in the near future - if only its purveyors could explain what it's for.

People who are good at cybersecurity tend to speak in jargon; people who aren't good at cybersecurity can't understand them. Meanwhile, the fire hose of botnets and malware gushing through the Internet these days leaves victims feeling helpless. Throngs of companies peddle a mishmash of remedies: gadgets, software and services, in various combinations.

Then, on a lark, Neino joined a team that competed at the 2011 Defcon 19 hacking contest in Las Vegas and won a coveted Black Badge, a tchotchke shaped like a skull, almost actual size, designed to hang around the neck. The boost to Kryptos' reputation brought new clients and lucrative contracts.

Today, privately held Kryptos has about 25 employees - nearly all engineers spread out across the U.S. and Europe, nearly all male, many with self-taught hacking skills - and annual revenue in the tens of millions of dollars. Its young CEO has traded blue-collar Lawndale for an ocean-view home. The Black Badge is on display in his office.

The company gathers information about who is trying to hack its clients and why. Then it helps them decide how to fight back.

Day to day, its researchers spend their time reporting on malware to subscribers and tracking the tens of thousands of new malware codes that surface daily on the Web.

In essence, they operate like zoologists in the field: They detect malicious sequences by the signals they emit, catalog them and try to lure them into simulated targets so they can be dissected.

This is what Marcus Hutchins, a Kryptos researcher in the town of Ilfracombe on the Bristol Channel in southwest England, would have been doing on the morning of May 12 if he hadn't been on vacation. Neino was too - on his way to Italy for a long-planned vacation with his wife.

Neino had hired Hutchins last year after coming across his blog. An unemployed computer hobbyist and surfer, Hutchins impressed Neino with his skill and ethics. Despite his youth - Hutchins is 22 - Neino hired him to run one of his divisions.

Fortunately for Kryptos - and for unpatched Windows systems everywhere - Hutchins hadn't gone far from home.

As computers in Britain's hospitals locked up and companies in Europe started to report problems, Hutchins conferred with Neino, who was in a hotel in Munich, Germany, on his way to catch his plane to Venice, Italy. Hutchins began analyzing samples of the malware code, sharing information via Twitter with other cyber researchers.

WannaCry is a self-replicating worm that attacks a basic file-sharing protocol on older Windows operating systems. If successfully loaded, the ransomware spreads to any connected vulnerable terminal, locking files and demanding, in slightly broken English, a $300 to $600 ransom to release them.

The worm exploits a vulnerability embedded in the very bones of the world's most popular operating system. The code used in WannaCry, which can crack Windows systems, was stolen from the U.S. National Security Agency and shared on the Internet.

Like many in his industry, Neino knew that it was only a matter of time before ordinary bandits or terrorists put these military-grade spy tools to work. WannaCry, he realized, signaled that the moment had arrived.

From now on, he thought, vast sophisticated hacks, once limited to nation states, would be in reach of just about anyone.

Neino learned that Hutchins had found an unregistered domain to which WannaCry sent a signal prior to loading. Neither of them knew what it was for. But it was up for grabs.

Neino told Hutchins to "use best judgment" and headed to the airport.

By the time Neino got there, Hutchins had registered the domain, effectively throwing Kryptos' servers into the path of the oncoming attack. To both men's surprise, the domain functioned as a kill switch and stopped WannaCry from loading the ransom note in all subsequent infections.

With Kryptos controlling the domain, each new WannaCry infection produced a ping on its servers. So a stream of data was pouring in as the attack - now toothless - spread across the globe.

Neino couldn't log into Kryptos to see for himself because he had no secure connection and his plane was leaving. He flew over the Alps, two worries gnawing at him.

One was for Hutchins' safety. Because of blanket media coverage, Neino feared that Hutchins would be exposed and hackers would retaliate against him.

The other was for Kryptos' servers. Because the company had essentially inserted itself into WannaCry's protocol, Neino knew that law enforcement agencies might mistake the company for a source of the attack and seek to shut down its servers. That could inadvertently unleash the malware again.

Online again at last in his Venice hotel, he checked the dashboard, where tens of thousands of WannaCry's pings were piling up.

He didn't have time to marvel. Kryptos was under siege. Hutchins was being hounded. The story of the youthful hero who saved humanity from the world's biggest ransomware attack proved irresistible to aggressive British tabloids.

At the same time, hackers were attacking Kryptos. As soon as word of the kill switch got out, a barrage of denial-of-service attacks were directed at the company's servers worldwide.

This "devilish flood" of malicious botnets and copycat hacks was the company's reward for stopping the worm, Neino said. He called some of the attackers "bandwagon jumpers" and said they probably just wanted to be pesky. But others were clearly trying to "take down the switch," he said - a serious threat.

Already, just as Neino had feared, two of Kryptos' servers had been mistakenly shut down by authorities in France, a common cyberfriendly-fire mishap.

His engineers pulled all-nighters. Neino spent his 10-day vacation hunched over his laptop in the hotel room, talking to security agencies, assuaging the media, managing his researchers and maintaining the kill switch. His wife made sure that he didn't forget to eat.

Attacks on Kryptos have continued for weeks. One recent botnet aimed at the company appeared to be coming from thousands of Russian routers, Neino said.

To the outside world, WannaCry quickly seemed overblown. One British publication suggested that it be renamed "What-a-wimp."

Its design was shoddy. Neino readily admits that Hutchins got lucky with the kill switch - ransomware usually doesn't have such a feature and it's not clear why this one did. Microsoft had patched a key vulnerability before the attack and subsequently released further patches, and Neino said the worm failed to load on most of the old Windows XP systems considered most vulnerable anyway.

Moreover, very few people paid the bitcoin ransom, which has yet to be collected.

But at Kryptos, where the kill switch remains permanently under guard - "we own this baby now," Neino said - the picture is different. Neino said he has counted new WannaCry infections in the tens of millions - infections that Hutchins' quick action had rendered harmless.

Kryptos has a list of "every single person affected by WannaCry," he said. Among the would-be victims were major U.S. hospitals whose leaders may still have no idea, he told Congress.

"The brakes were fully on. This was residual smoke from the tires," Neino said.

Like WannaCry, last week's ransomware attack centered in Ukraine also seemed to quickly fizzle. It used the same stolen NSA forced-entry tool, locked computers and demanded bitcoin ransom, with similarly poor results.

But Neino said it spread even more quickly, infecting 2 million computers in the first hour. It also had the ability to steal credentials and gain access to even more machines.

Most different of all, it had no kill switch. Instead, the attack seemed to shut down by itself, Neino said, with domains that hosted its payload quickly going dark.

Using his data from WannaCry, Neino published a report late June 27 arguing that this new worm had even greater destructive potential.

By his own "Richter scale" measure, WannaCry might have rated a 7 and the new attack 7.2, said Neino, speaking as one raised in an earthquake zone. The pattern suggests "saber rattling, perhaps for a bigger event to come," he said.

The day after the most recent attack, with theories swirling as to its purpose, Neino stressed a message that he'd given Congress after WannaCry:

Worry less about who did it and more about the problems such attacks expose, he said.

"If you leave the door open ... would it really matter ... who has done it?" he asked. "They do it because they can."

2017 Los Angeles Times

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
As senses go, there's nothing so immediate and concrete as our sense of touch. So it may come as a surprise that, on the molecular level, our sense of touch is still poorly understood.

Each of our senses relies on "receptor" molecules that turn signals like light, sound, and movement into electrical impulses for nerves to carry to the brain. Scientists have a fairly complete understanding of how receptors in the eye translate light into sight, and they've mapped many of the proteins in the nose and mouth that translate chemical signals into smell and taste.

But still mysterious are the "mechanoreceptors," which detect cells' motion to produce our senses of touch and hearing, and even pick up on our body's position and the flow of blood through our veins.

Now, UC San Francisco scientists have mapped in exquisite detail a protein complex called NOMPC (pronounced "nomp-see"), which acts as a mechanoreceptor in animals from fruit flies to fish and frogs. The structure, reported June 26, 2017 in Nature, reveals a machine that depends on a quartet of tiny springs that tether the complex to the cell's "skeleton" and react to its movement.

Though NOMPC is not found in mammals like us, the new structure gives scientists a better understanding of the subtle machinery that may allow our own sensory cells to detect touch.

Credit: University of California, San Francisco

In particular, the channels responsible for the human sense of hearing  which works by picking up subtle vibrations in the air  have thus far evaded detailed study. If, as some scientists hypothesize, a tethered receptor is responsible for our sense of hearing, it may well work much like NOMPC.

Springs Could Fine-Tune Channel's Sensitivity

The NOMPC receptor was mapped in such detail thanks to recent technological breakthroughs in a technique known as single particle electron cryo-microscopy. The laboratories of David Agard, PhD, and Yifan Cheng, PhD, both Howard Hughes Medical Investigators and professors of biochemistry and biophysics at UCSF, have made major contributions to vast improvements in this technique's resolution and its ability to image proteins, like NOMPC, that sit in cell membranes.

Using this technique, the NOMPC receptor was revealed as a bundle of four identical proteins that sits in a cell's membrane, each with a spring-like tether reaching into the cell.

The NOMPC receptor's function has long been an interest for the lab of Yuh Nung Jan, PhD, the other senior author on the study, who is a Howard Hughes Medical Investigator and professor of physiology at UCSF. Previous experiments in the Jan lab have shown that the receptor does not respond to movements in the membrane alone, but that larger movements in the cytoskeleton  the network of structural fibers that allow the cell to hold its shape  cause bundle to open up, forming a hole in the cell's membrane. Charged ions rush through the hole into the cell, creating an electrical impulse that signals touch to the nervous system.

Previously mapped touch receptors float free in the cell membrane, responding only when their particular patch of the cell's surface changes shape. But the new structural data show how NOMPC's spring-like tethers might tie it to the cytoskeleton, potentially enabling the receptor to sense distant changes in the cell's shape.

"This is the first tethered receptor to be modeled in such detail," said Peng Jin, PhD, a postdoc in the Jan lab and one of the lead authors on the study. "We were surprised to see that nature has created its own tiny spring to tie the receptor to the cytoskeleton."

Do You Pull It? Push It? Twist It?

To fully understand how channels like NOMPC open and close, scientists must observe the structure of the channels in both open and closed states. This is relatively easy for proteins that respond to light, like those in our retina, or to chemicals, like those in our nose and mouth, since they can be triggered remotely  by a beam of light or a chemical wash, respectively. But the proteins that coordinate the mechanical senses  like touch and hearing  must be directly pulled or twisted open by microscopic forces. This is challenging for scientists to do in a controlled way.

"It's difficult to apply a directional force to all these individual molecules," said David Bulkley, a postdoc in the Cheng lab and the other lead author on the study. "And we don't know which direction will activate the channel  do you pull it, do you push it, do you twist it?"

To work around this problem, the scientists are looking to find ways to force the channel open  perhaps by finding a molecule that binds to and locks open the protein, or by producing mutant versions of the protein which are stuck in the "open" position.

In the meantime, the team is also working to generate computational models of the protein. The high-resolution structure they've obtained will help them simulate in detail what happens when the tethers are put under tension.

More information: Peng Jin et al. Electron cryo-microscopy structure of the mechanotransduction channel NOMPC, Nature (2017). DOI: 10.1038/nature22981 Journal information: Nature
A new Pestivirus, the Linda-Virus, was recently discovered in Austrian shaking piglets. Credit: Institute of Virology/Vetmeduni Vienna

Some newly born piglets shiver even when they are kept warm. So-called "shaking piglets" have symptoms that resemble those of the classical swine fever, with extensive damage to the brain and the spinal cord. The viral origin of the disease was clarified only recently with the discovery in Europe and the USA of an atypical porcine pestivirus. Researchers at the Vetmeduni Vienna have now discovered a further new virus in shaking piglets on an Austrian farm. The pathogenic agent is related to the Australian Bungowannah virus and more distantly to the classical swine fewer virus. Because of the symptoms it causes, the new virus is termed LINDA virus (Lateral shaking Inducing NeuroDegenerative Agent). Its discovery was recently announced in the journal Emerging infectious diseases.

In 2015, an Austrian pig breeder observed a number of new-born "shaking piglets" on his farm. Such piglets suffer from a disease in which heavy damage to the brain and spinal cord causes severe shaking. The condition is associated with huge financial losses for the farm. It is believed to be caused by an atypical porcine pestivirus (APPV) that was recently discovered in Europe and the USA. Scientists at the Vetmeduni Vienna have subsequently found the virus in Austria.

Because of the pronounced symptoms on this particular farm, experts at the University Clinic for Swine checked whether the animals were infected with the recently described APPV. Despite comprehensive and highly specific tests, neither APPV nor another pathogen known to cause the disease could be found. However, the symptoms and the results suggested that a pestivirus was somehow involved, so the scientists designed a new type of diagnostic test that ultimately led to the discovery of a new pestivirus.

Unknown pestivirus found in Austrian "shaking piglets"

"The new PCR assay our team developed recognized all known pestiviruses," explains Benjamin Lamp of the Institute of Virology," and so enabled us to detect a virus that was previously unknown." The complete analysis of the organization of the genome (the RNA structure) and characteristic proteins clearly showed that the newly discovered pathogen is a pestivirus from the family of Flaviviridae. Because of the sideways shivering and the lesions in the nerve tissues of affected piglets, the virus was named LINDA (Lateral shaking Inducing NeuroDegenerative Agent).

Credit: Institute of Virology/Vetmeduni Vienna

"Pestiviruses are known to infect foetuses of pigs, sheep and cattle, often targeting the central nervous system. But pestiviral infections are widespread only in hoofed animals and so not at all dangerous to humans," says Lamp. The team also used classical cell-culture methods to cultivate the Linda virus from tissue samples. "This will be important to enable us to continue to study the new virus."

The Linda virus has dangerous relations

It is unknown how widespread the new Linda virus is in the swine population." We are currently developing a serological test to learn more about the prevalence of the Linda virus in Austria, i.e. about the number of piglets it infects," says Lamp. "The test will be important because analysis of the virus has shown that it is distantly related to the virus that causes classical swine fever. We cannot exclude the possibility that it might interfere with the official tests for swine fever." In addition, it is unclear how much of a danger the newly discovered virus poses for pig breeding. The Spanish word "linda" is usually translated as "pretty" or "cute" but there is nothing pretty or cute about the newly discovered Linda virus. Till Rumenapf, the Head of the Institute, notes that "Because it also infects the uterus of pregnant sows, the Linda virus could disrupt the development of the piglets' cerebral cortex, like infection with the Zika virus. However, we should remember that the closest genetic relative of our new virus is an Australian."

Rumenapf points to the phylogenetic analysis, which shows that Linda is related to the Bungowannah virus, described in Australia in 2006. This pathogen has to date been found only on two neighbouring farms in Australia, where it led to the death of over 50,000 animals. Although extensive measures managed to prevent the further spread of the virus, the two farms did not recover from the outbreak. Once pigs are infected, the virus remains in their bodies, so infected pigs can continue to release the virus for a long time and are extremely contagious to other pigs. Infection of the uterus with the Bungowannah virus leads to abortion and a high mortality among piglets, generally caused by a viral infection of the heart muscle. However, no neurological damage or "shaking piglets" were observed.
Credit: Purdue University

Purdue University scientists released research findings that indicate corn management processes contributing to optimal levels of plant nitrogen uptake could result in fewer nitrous oxide emissions, long identified as one of the most potent greenhouse gases.

The research, which revealed a strong relationship between actual nitrogen recovery and nitrous oxide emissions, was recently published in Frontiers in Plant Science.

"Previous internationally accepted estimates were that for every pound of nitrogen fertilizer applied in grain crop production, there is a loss of 1 percent as nitrous oxide to the atmosphere," said Tony Vyn, Purdue professor of agronomy. "We found that when it comes to North American corn production, nitrous oxide emissions are more of a function of two thingsnitrogen balance and nitrogen recovery efficiencythan simply nitrogen rate alone. Moderate N rates cause less concern for nitrous oxide emissions, but when high rates of nitrogen fertilizer exceed optimal plant nitrogen requirements, then we will get higher nitrous oxide emissions."

He said the study's findings should be used to guide any agronomic research about the impact of agricultural production on nitrous oxide emissions.

"Our models indicated that a careful selection of appropriate nitrogen rate applied at the right time can both increase nitrogen recovery efficiency, lower the nitrogen balance left in the field, and reduce nitrous oxide emissions," Vyn said. "If you're going to measure greenhouse gas emissions, you must also measure the whole plant nitrogen uptake for each nitrogen fertilizer management program being tested."

Purdue research scientist Rex Omonode, who analyzed data from throughout the United States and Canada dating back to 2002, said the research was based on 1,375 plot-level observations. "It was exciting to test a common but unproven hypothesis that an increase of plant nitrogen uptake and/or recovery efficiency will reduce nitrous oxide emission during crop production," Omonode said. Omonode and Vyn were helped in their analysis by research co-authors from the United States Department of AgricultureAgricultural Research Service, and and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada.

The link between crop production and nitrous oxide emissions has been the subject of numerous research studies, particularly throughout the United States, which is the No. 1 corn producer in the world. In 2016, 94 million acres of corn were planted throughout the country.

Many studies have either focused on greenhouse gas emissions in direct relation to fertilizer amounts applied or focused on efficiency of plant nutrient uptake without measuring greenhouse gases. "Too few researchers have looked at both simultaneously," Vyn said. "This study distinguished the proportion of fertilizer nitrogen applied that was taken into the plants and what actually went into the atmosphere during the growing season."

Vyn and Omonode said the research also provided insights on the impact of wide-scale education related to crop management. As a result of land-grant research and education programs, such as Extension programs, producers throughout the United States generally are maintaining management processes that have minimized potential nitrous oxide emissions, they said. For decades, research and education resulting from Extension programs have contributed to adoption of best management practices in crop production.

"North American maize production systems are currently at average total nitrogen application rates that are surprisingly good at limiting nitrous oxide emissions," Vyn said. Nitrous oxide emissions are also generally lower in irrigated corn systems.

Higher rates of emissions result when producers use more fertilizer than necessary, which can occur when producers are trying to guard against high nitrogen losses from soil when excessive rainfall occurs prior to plants locking up the plant-available mineral nitrogen with their roots. Nitrous oxide emissions climb steeply when a producer adds an extra 50 pounds of fertilizer per acre above the agronomic optimum nitrogen rates for their region, Omonode said.

With further studies of nitrous oxide losses, the research indicated, it is essential to gauge fertilizer recovery in all grain crops. "It doesn't matter if it's corn, wheat or other crops, it's important to look at nitrogen recovery when looking at greenhouse gas emissions," Omonode said.

More information: Rex A. Omonode et al. Achieving Lower Nitrogen Balance and Higher Nitrogen Recovery Efficiency Reduces Nitrous Oxide Emissions in North America's Maize Cropping Systems, Frontiers in Plant Science (2017). DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2017.01080
Asserting that both India and Israel suffer from the "evil" forces of terrorism, the Jewish nation has said it completely supports New Delhi in its fight against terror emanating from Pakistan and within the country.

By Press Trust of India: Asserting that both India and Israel suffer from the "evil" forces of terrorism, the Jewish nation has said it completely supports New Delhi in its fight against terror emanating from Pakistan and within the country.

"Israel has never hidden the fact that it supports India hook, line and sinker on the subject of terrorism," the deputy director general of Israels foreign ministry, Mark Sofer, told reporters here.

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"We are not asking for a quid pro quo. You have suffered from terrorism from inside India, and not just emanating from Pakistan, which has been seen in recent history," he said.

Condemning terrorism in all forms, the Israeli official said outfits like Lashkar-e-Taiba and Hamas were no different from each other and added that both India and Israel have the right to defend themselves.

"We feel that India has a right to defend itself against terrorists in the same way as Israel has a right to defend itself from terrorists. We are both suffering from the same scourge. I really dont see any difference between the Lashkar-e-Taiba and the Hamas. I never did and i dont today. A terrorist is a terrorist is a terrorist," said Sofer, who has served as ambassador to India.

"Killing people for some sort of spurious or inexplicable ideological aim is terrorism, however you look at it. And that is what is happening from outside into India and coming from outside into Israel as well. We both clearly share the same struggle against the forces of evil," he said.

ALSO READ:

PM Modi says India, Israel can cooperate more closely against terrorism

Out of the closet: Narendra Modi to make history as first Indian PM to visit Israel

ALSO WATCH:

Israel, the promised land

--- ENDS ---
Taiwanese consumers are stretching their Rakuten Super Points (RSP) further than ever thanks to the introduction of the new Taiwan-Japan Super Points exchange program. Introduced June 1, the program enables Rakuten Taiwan shoppers to exchange Taiwanese points for their Japanese equivalent, which can then be used on a host of products and services in Japan. That means a sweets-loving shopper could purchase pineapple cakes from Rakutens Ichiba Taiwan marketplace  and then put the points earned from that purchase towards a matcha roll-cake on the Japan marketplace the very next day. Piece of cake.

Our goal has always been to empower customers by offering them more choices, and now, by enabling shoppers to exchange Taiwanese points for Japanese points, we have taken a step closer to accomplishing that.  Grace Lo, CEO of Rakuten Ichiba Taiwan.

For Taiwans Ichiba business, the motivation behind launching an international exchange program was simple: the more ways there are to spend points, the more valuable they are to consumers. And based on the positive early response to the program, their thinking appears to have been spot on. Since launch, Taiwans Ichiba team has seen a double-digit increase in the RSP redemption rate and a higher overall visibility for the RSP program.

The creation of the points exchange program took nearly six months of intense collaboration between the Taiwan and Japan Ichiba businesses after initial discussions began in November 2016. The result, however, is a surprisingly easy-to-use product. Members simply sign in using their global ID (no need to create dual memberships), select the amount of points they wish to exchange  up to 500 RSP per day  and confirm the transaction. The exchange rate, which is currently set at 500 Taiwanese points to 1,500 Japanese points for July, will be routinely adjusted based on currency fluctuations.

So far, the program has proven particularly popular among users of Taiwans Rakuten Card. While cardholders already enjoyed a variety of benefits when visiting Japan  such as VIP lounge access and free wifi in airports, hotel, dining and shopping discounts  being able to exchange points earned in Taiwan for use in Japan adds considerable value to the program.

We are incredibly proud of the unique partnership we have created between Rakutens Japanese and Taiwanese marketplaces, said Grace Lo, CEO of Rakuten Ichiba Taiwan. Our goal has always been to empower customers by offering them more choices, and now, by enabling shoppers to exchange Taiwanese points for Japanese points, we have taken a step closer to accomplishing that.

The feature is currently only available for Taiwanese RSP members but, with the continued expansion of the Rakuten ecosystem into new regions and businesses, were looking forward to a future where loyalty programs are not bound to national borders. Why not allow e-commerce shoppers to have their cake and eat it too? Wherever it may be shipped from
By Francois Murphy and Isla Binnie VIENNA/ROME (Reuters) - Austria is planning to impose border controls and possibly deploy troops to cut the number of migrants crossing from Italy, defence officials said, drawing a warning from Rome and reigniting a row over Europe's handling of the refugee crisis. Tensions between European Union countries over how to share the burden of migrants flared in 2015 when hundreds of thousands, many fleeing wars in Africa and the Middle East, began arriving in EU territory, mainly via Greece, and headed for Germany, Austria and other nearby affluent states. Austria took in more than 1 percent of its population in asylum seekers at the time, which helped increase support for the far-right Freedom Party. Keen to avoid another influx, it said it would introduce controls at the busy Brenner Pass border crossing with Italy if one materialised there. That has not yet happened but Italy recently asked other EU countries to help it cope with a surge in migrants reaching its southern Mediterranean shores from Africa, raising concern in Austria that many will soon show up at its border with Italy. That is a political hot potato in Austria, where a parliamentary election is scheduled in October with immigration shaping up as a central issue. Austrian Defence Minister Hans Peter Doskozil told the mass-circulation Kronen Zeitung in an interview published on Tuesday that he expected restrictions would be introduced along the Alpine boundary with Italy "very soon". Other Austrian officials, including Interior Minister Wolfgang Sobotka, who oversees crossings like Brenner, said there was currently no reason to introduce controls and Austria remained vigilant, a stance Vienna has repeated for the past year. Echoing his counterpart, Italian Interior Minister Marco Minniti said there was "no emergency" at the Brenner Pass, and Italian and Austrian police were cooperating perfectly. "I am frankly surprised by the comments" from Doskozil, Minniti said in a statement. "This is an unjustified and unprecedented initiative which, if not immediately corrected, will inevitably create repercussions on security cooperation." An Austrian defence ministry spokesman said controls would include Brenner and that four armoured vehicles had already been deployed to the area to block roads, with 750 troops poised to be brought in within 72 hours to deal with emergencies. "These are not battle tanks. These are armoured vehicles without weapons which could block roads. These were already used during the refugee crisis of 2015/16 at the Spielfeld border crossing (with Slovenia)," he said. Austria coordinated with nearby Balkan countries last year to effectively close what was then the main route into Europe for migrants. The move drew complaints at the time that it was undermining the EU's principle of free movement, though Vienna says it did what it had to do to safeguard its borders. Italy, alongside other states on the bloc's fringes, has complained it is now bearing the brunt and the cost of the migrant crisis. It said last year that any plans to introduce controls at the Brenner Pass, a major road and rail link between northern and southern Europe, would break EU law. [nL5N17V94Q] "NATIONAL MEASURES" Doskozil said the EU was not doing enough to stem the migrant flow. "The situation should stir all of us into action," he told ORF radio. If the EU does not manage to jointly find solutions, he added, "national measures will be necessary". Doskozil's spokesman said there was no concrete timetable for the new controls on the Italian border. "But we see how the situation in Italy is becoming more acute and we have to be prepared to avoid a situation comparable to summer 2015." European Commission Vice President Frans Timmermans told a news conference in Strasbourg that Austria had not notified the commission of any extra border protection plans. More than 85,000 refugees and migrants have arrived in Italy by boat from North Africa so far this year, making it the main point of entry into Europe. France, Germany and the EU executive pledged more support for Italy on Monday, but made no direct reference to Rome's plea to allow migrant-rescue boats to dock in other countries' ports. [nL8N1JQ542] [nL8N1JU2LV] Controls at the Brenner Pass would be particularly sensitive as the frontier there separates two regions that feel closely connected - Austria's Tyrol and Italy's South Tyrol. South Tyrol was once part of the wider Austro-Hungarian empire but was annexed by Italy at the end of World War One in 1918. (Additional reporting by Kirsti Knolle in Frankfurt and Francesco Guarascio in Strasbourg; Editing by Mark Heinrich)
STRASBOURG (Reuters) - The EU executive offered Italy more funding on Tuesday to help deal with Mediterranean migrants and said private rescue boats working off Libya should review their operations to avoid encouraging people to take to sea. The European Commission announced 35 million euros ($40 million) in extra cash for Rome in response to Italian demands that its neighbours share more of the burden of handling thousands of people coming by boat every week. It also set out a list of other measures for EU ministers to discuss on Thursday. Among the proposals was that Italy draft a code of conduct for non-governmental organisations (NGOs) running rescue services off Libya. Frans Timmermans, the Commission's deputy head, told reporters after the commissioners' weekly meeting, that this was in part because their activities might be a "pull factor" -- encouraging people to risk their lives in flimsy dinghies in the hope of being picked up and then ferried over to Italy. The Commission plan calls for beefing up Libya's coastal rescue services -- something Europeans hope may curb the number of people picked up close to shore by international charities. Despite criticism of abuses by coastguards employed by Libya's shaky, U.N.-backed government, European officials argue that better local rescue services would mean more migrants being taken back to Libya or perhaps to neighbouring Tunisia or Egypt. "ABUSIVE CONDITIONS" Human rights groups have been critical of EU governments, noting a jump in the death rate and more than 2,000 drownings so far this year off Libya; many want Europe to give safe passage to refugees, though some governments fear this would boost their anti-immigration opponents. Human Rights Watch said a similar set of proposals agreed on Sunday by the Italian, French and German governments along with the Commission "fall far short" and were "awful for people fleeing Libya" and its "abusive conditions ... and conflicts". It said France and Spain could help by having rescue ships dock there, rather than in Italy, where more than 85,000 people have arrived so far this year. Paris and Madrid have responded cautiously to Italy's warning that it might close its own ports. Timmermans and Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker called on other member states to make good on two-year-old pledges to take in more refugees from Italy and Greece. An EU deal with Turkey last year has staunched flows that saw a million people reach Greece in 2015 but numbers reaching Italy from anarchic Libya are higher than last year. "The focus of our efforts has to be on solidarity  with those fleeing war and persecution and with our Member States under the most pressure," Juncker said in a statement. "At the same time, we need to act, in support of Libya, to fight smugglers and enhance border control to reduce the number of people taking hazardous journeys to Europe." The Commission reaffirmed its readiness to mobilise EU agencies and personnel to help the Italians. It said a 46-million-euro project with Italy would bolster Libya's ability to make good on promises to help curb migrant traffic. The EU also pledged to step up or otherwise enhance a range of other measures, including deportations of failed asylum-seekers, combat smuggling networks and fund African countries from which people are fleeing poverty hoping for work in Europe. Italy, the Commission said, should speed up its processing of asylum claims and deportations of those rejected. (Reporting by Alastair Macdonald in Brussels; Editing by Gareth Jones)
By Gilbert Reilhac STRASBOURG (Reuters) - EU chief executive Jean-Claude Juncker called European lawmakers "ridiculous" on Tuesday for failing to turn up to an address by Malta's prime minister, saying they should show more respect for smaller members of the bloc. Juncker, himself from the small Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, was visibly annoyed as he watched the proceedings in the near empty parliamentary chamber in Strasbourg. "You are ridiculous," the European Commission president told the gathering called to listen to a speech by Malta's Joseph Muscat, in a blunt public rebuke of another EU institution. "The fact that there's about 30 members of parliament present in this debate only really illustrates the fact that parliament is not serious," he said. "The European Parliament is ridiculous, very ridiculous." Juncker said Malta, the EU's smallest country, which has just completed a stint running the bloc's presidency, deserved better. "If Mr. Muscat was Mrs Merkel, difficult as that is to imagine, or Mr Macron ... we would have a full house," Juncker said, referring to the leaders of Germany and France. Parliament president Antonio Tajani did not address the low attendance, but told Juncker himself to take a more respectful tone. "You may criticise the parliament, yes, but the Commission does not control the parliament, it's the parliament that should be controlling the Commission," he said, to scattered applause. Juncker later apologised to Tajani, a parliamentary spokesman said. Juncker's Dutch deputy defended the outburst as the mark of a "passionate" politician: "Jean-Claude has a habit of letting his heart speak," Frans Timmermans told reporters. Institutional rivalries are a staple of EU political life. Juncker's Commission is a frequent target of national leaders and EU lawmakers for trying to impose the views of the Brussels-based administration on elected bodies. Juncker often accuses member states of reneging on commitments or undermining the EU and has used the parliament as an ally against national demands. But the Commission shares with the Council of member states a mistrust of Parliament's ambitions. Lawmakers' powers over EU legislation were enhanced by the 2009 Lisbon Treaty but national governments scoff at its claims to be the most democratically legitimate EU body because fewer than half the bloc's voters bother to take part in European elections. Its treaty obligation to divide its sittings between Brussels and Strasbourg is also a source of embarrassment -- and costs -- for the legislature, though there was little sign that travelling had kept the chamber empty for Muscat on Tuesday. Later on, it was packed for other parliamentary business. Slightly more than 400,000 people live on Malta, putting it just behind Luxembourg in the EU population league table. Muscat, who smiled during Juncker's remarks, gave parliament a briefing on his country's presidency, focused on the migration crisis and called Brexit a "disastrous creature which all of us should have seen coming but none of us acted to stop". (Writing by Elizabeth Miles in Brussels; Editing by Alastair Macdonald and Catherine Evans)
*Names have been changed to protect identities of those mentioned.

When Mikhail* (not pictured) took his first puff in secondary school, he was offered a cigarette by his friend who was of the same age as him. He tried it out of curiosity but did not start his first full pack of cigarettes until he was 19.

He started curbing the habit of smoking on his own accord, when he had a child two years ago from his marriage to his wife.

Now 26, Mikhail believes that while the governments plan to raise the legal age of smoking from 18 to 21  amid other amendments to the Tobacco Act  is fair if it helps promote a better lifestyle for youngsters, he thinks there can be another way out.

As a consumer, the government should give us less harmful alternatives instead of banning vices outright, he said. A more sustainable measure should be put into place.

He is adamant that top-down decisions like raising the legal smoking age will only open the floodgates for younger people to go to the black market to get their hands on illegal cigarettes or vapes.

If the demand is high, the black market will bring up the price but it can be easy to get illegal items if you have the right contacts, he said.

Can retailers hire people under 21 to handle tobacco at the cashier?

Smoking In Singapore - Popspoken

Photo: Jason Bagley/Flickr

This concern is also affecting Preston* who owns a minimart in the north of Singapore as tobacco and liquor form the top two income earners for his shop, and he is worried the proposed legal smoking age of 21 will affect his business.

We try and capitalise on traffic from these two categories to sell other groceries, he said. With this kind of ruling in place, people will find it more troublesome to buy tobacco and we are worried they will turn to alternative sources.

The new age limit may also affect who he can hire; during the school holidays, he hires students aged 18 and above to help him with replenishing stocks. As the minimart operations are lean, the added manpower will have to do cashiering as well.

Story continues

Now with the proposed law, he is worried he cannot hire these students because the legal smoking age is also the legal age to handle tobacco. Preston will have to look for undergraduates which will be tough because they are not keen in helping out in a minimart when they have other pressing career interests, he said.

Add this to the amount of challenges the retail industry has to contend with: growing e-commerce, disruptive technology, the Malaysian exchange rate and now, a new law from August 1 banning the display of tobacco products.

Preston is worried these new restrictions will affect how fast a customer can check out purchased items. Checking a customers age by birthday as the legal smoking age increases every year for three years will only make checkout more cumbersome, he added.

For a small enterprise, longer checkout times means customers may walk away. Every customer who does so is one less customer for the minimart, and possibly one more customer for the black market.

All these rules are slowing down our checkout processes, he said. These kind of regulatory issues counter the speed-up that we have to do in order to survive.

Yearly phases to increase smoking age: will it cause problems?

The governments plan to increase the legal smoking age in yearly phases by choosing to refer to someones date of birth  a granular piece of information that Preston said is cumbersome to check and deduce at the storefront  may also pose problems for those caught in between the overlaps:

Smoking In Singapore - Popspoken

We should not factor in changes in birthdays when it comes to the phased increase  they should just take a look at the year and factor in everyone, said Mikhail when Popspoken explained the above graphic to him.

Under the proposed new law, a new definition of what it means to be under-aged person will be inserted in Section 2 of the Tobacco (Control of Advertisements and Sale) Act, to provide for this phased increase in minimum legal age.

However, the definitions (on page 3 of this link) do not factor in the above-mentioned scenario. The new definition also specifies that the date of legal age increase will be decided by the Minister of Health.

How is the tobacco industry encouraging responsible smoking?

Smoking In Singapore - Popspoken

If you start smoking at a legal age and and then suddenly you are illegal, you have to go into it with eyes wide open, said a representative from one of the major tobacco suppliers in Singapore to Popspoken.

They are the ones going to be in and out the legal zone, the rep added, arguing that education to end-consumers should be regular during the 12-month grace period lawmakers will give before implementing the amendments to the Tobacco Act.

The rep said his company works closely with retailers, especially mom-and-pop outlets like Prestons, by using materials such as educational brochures to ensure such retailers do not sell tobacco to underaged people.

However, there is a limitation as the rep argues it is easier to implement consumer education from a public education ambit instead by targeting tertiary institutions such as universities, polytechnics and Institutes of Technical Education instead of storefront messaging.

A new smoking ban on Orchard Road may also impact the locale; the shopping street was cited by the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) as the most visited free-access attraction in Singapore among visitors from 2005 to 2014.

What about the China tourists, then?

If the government wants to make Orchard Road a smoking-free zone, foreign tourists from countries with high smoking rates can just go away and shop somewhere else, and then what? said the representative.

Smoking In Singapore - Popspoken

Photo: Jennifer 8 Lee/Flickr

Despite all the top-down directives and layering upon layering of new regulations, the helpfulness of such smoking-restriction regulations is susceptible, the rep added.

There is no attempt to review the effectiveness of current policies before introducing new ones, said the rep, arguing that the display ban may create a Streisand effect and not reduce smoking rates due to the presence of illegal tobacco.

For now, Mikhail is worried that the governments heavy-handedness in top-down directives towards smoking may soon extend to older people who have been smoking for a long time.

People should have the option to choose what they want to do for themselves, he said.

==

How you can make your voice heard on the proposed changes to the Tobacco Act:

View the draft Amendment bill here. Members of the public have until Jul 10 (Monday), 5pm to offer their feedback to the new Tobacco Act amendments, and can do so by filling up this form on the Ministry of Healths website. They can also do so via:

 Email: moh_qsm@moh.gov.sg

 Fax: 6224 1677

 Post: Ministry of Health

TCASA Public Consultation

College of Medicine Building

16 College Road

Singapore 169854

==

Featured photo by Bared Ibrahim on Unsplash

Keep culture journalism alive, at just the price of a kopi. For a little bit more, get access to exclusives and a monthly gift box. Support us at patreon.com/popspoken

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This article Rethinking Millennials Rights: Singapore Raises Smoking Age From 18 To 21  Is It Fair? appeared first on Popspoken.
The Syrian government on Monday warned that any new attack by Washington on the war-ravaged country would provoke an even stronger reaction by Damascus and its allies. "We would not be surprised if the United States carried out new attacks against Syria," deputy foreign minister Faisal al-Moqdad told reporters in Damascus. "But they should carefully consider the possible reactions, and should know that Syria's response, and that of its allies, will not be like the one after the first aggression." The United States carried out its first direct military action against Syria in April, firing 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles at the Shayrat military airport. It came in response to accusations the Syrian army used the base to unleash a chemical weapons attack on the opposition-held town of Khan Sheikhun in the country's northwest. Last week, the White House said President Bashar al-Assad was potentially preparing a new chemical weapons attack. Spokesman Sean Spicer warned at the time that if "Assad conducts another mass murder attack using chemical weapons, he and his military will pay a heavy price". And Pentagon chief Jim Mattis told reporters that it appeared the Assad government "took the warning seriously". The April strike on Shayrat was fiercely condemned by Damascus and its allies, Russia and Iran, but there was no military response. Speaking of that attack, Moqdad cast it aside as a show of force by US President Donald Trump, who had yet to complete his first 100 days in office at the time. "I believe that the new American administration wanted the world to know that it is strong and can strike anywhere," Moqdad said. "Of course, crazy men can strike anywhere." Moqdad also rejected last week's report by the United Nations' chemical weapons watchdog, which concluded that the banned nerve agent sarin was used in the Khan Sheikhun attack. The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons found that "a large number of people, some of whom died, were exposed to sarin or a sarin-like substance." It did not accuse the Syrian government of carrying out the attack. "We said that we will not recognise the results of this investigation and we will not deal with it, because it has no transparency, credibility, or integrity," Moqdad said. Russia's foreign ministry also said the findings "are still based on rather questionable data".
Turkey protested officially to Germany on Tuesday that an artist had been allowed to set up an installation in central Berlin offering a car as a prize in exchange for killing world leaders including President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The installation was set up outside the offices of Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin on Monday, comprising a Mercedes C-class car and banners with pictures of Erdogan, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Saudi King Salman. "Do you want this car? Kill dictatorship!" said the slogan. Erdogan is frequently accused by opponents of acting like a dictator, although he rubbishes the idea, noting that he is the first directly-elected president in Turkish history. The action was staged by the art collective Centre for Political Beauty led bv Phillip Ruch, which has made several stunts in the past including displaying four tigers in the centre of Berlin to protest at refugee policy. "We strongly condemn the installation in front of the federal chancellery in Berlin," Turkey's foreign ministry said in a statement. "The banner is a direct incitement to violence," the foreign ministry added, calling on the German authorities to "take the necessary action" to remedy the situation. The ministry added that it had transmitted Turkey's anger to the German embassy in Ankara and sent an urgent note to the German foreign ministry in Berlin. Turkey's embassy to Berlin said it was "incomprehensible and unacceptable" that Ruch had been allowed to set up such an installation with no intervention from the local security forces. "It is clear that in such a sensitive time when communal peace and shared values need to be protected, these kinds of actions encouraging hatred and violence will not serve peace," the embassy said in a statement. All three leaders targeted in the stunt were due to attend the G20 summit in Hamburg this Friday and Saturday although King Salman has now cancelled his trip. Turkey-German relations are going through a rocky period with Berlin stepping up its criticism of Ankara's rights record under Erdogan. In another incident claimed by the Centre for Political Beauty, Turkish police at the weekend said they had seized from a hotel room in the centre of Istanbul a machine that was printing and distributing anti-Erdogan pamphlets onto the street below. Reports on Turkish media said police were looking for a German citizen who had already left the country. The Centre for Political Beauty said over 1,000 copies of an anti-Erdogan leaflet were thrown from a hotel window into Gezi Park in Istanbul.
Venezuela's chief prosecutor refused to appear in court Tuesday in a case she says was trumped up by the authorities after she defied them over the country's deadly political crisis. Luisa Ortega faced imminent suspension after her move cranked up the tension in a standoff with President Nicolas Maduro, who is resisting fierce opposition calls to quit. Ortega, 59, is the most senior figure to defy Maduro as he fends off efforts to remove him from power in the volatile oil-exporting nation. "I am not going condone a circus that will stain our history with shame and pain and whose decision is foretold," Ortega told a news conference at the public prosecution department. "I have committed no crime nor errors and I am not going to submit to this unconstitutional and illegitimate court," she added. "We already know that today I will be removed from my post." Ortega's stand has raised the prospect of a split in the government camp that could tip the balance in a deadly power struggle. Three months of unrest have left 91 people dead, prosecutors say. The latest fatality was that of a 25 year old man killed Tuesday during a street protest in the western city of Tariba, prosecutors said. Anti-government protesters blocked streets in Caracas and elsewhere. Opposition leaders said that in Caracas, armed pro-government groups beat and shot at demonstrators. Protesters blame Maduro, a socialist, for a desperate economic crisis. He says the chaos is the result of a US-backed conspiracy. - 'Insanity' - Ortega launched a legal challenge against the government on human rights grounds, and a case against Supreme Court judges. She accuses Maduro of violating the constitution through his reform plans. Pro-government lawmaker Pedro Carreno responded by filing charges against Ortega, alleging "serious errors in the carrying out of her functions." He also alleged she was suffering from "insanity" and should be fired. Last week, the Supreme Court ordered Ortega's assets to be frozen and banned her from leaving the country. The court held its hearing Tuesday in her absence and said afterward it would decide within five days whether to send her to trial and suspend her from office. "She sold her soul to the devil," Carreno said in the hearing. "She had her price and became a traitor just like Judas." The court earlier named a new deputy chief prosecutor to replace Ortega if she is fired: government ally Katherine Harrington. Harrington was targeted by US sanctions in 2015 for alleged human rights breaches in jailing opposition leaders. - Veteran 'Chavista' - Ortega backed the "Chavista" socialist movement launched by Maduro's late predecessor Hugo Chavez. But she broke ranks with the current president in March. She accused the Supreme Court of undermining democracy through a short-lived ruling that seized power from the opposition-led legislature. The opposition says the court is packed with Maduro's allies. That court ruling was one of the moves that sparked the current wave of protests. As violence swelled, Ortega renewed her criticism of the authorities, accusing police of killing protesters. She enraged Maduro, who branded her a traitor. - 'Tipping point?' - Maduro retains the public support of army chief Vladimir Padrino Lopez -- a key factor for him to stay in power. But the president last month said he was replacing four other senior commanders of the armed forces. Maduro has infuriated his opponents by launching a plan to form an assembly to rewrite the constitution. Opponents say he will pack the "constituent assembly" with allies to cling to power. Voting for members of the assembly is scheduled for July 30. The opposition on Monday said it would hold a popular vote against that on July 16. "The next major flashpoint will be the election on 30 July of delegates to the Constituent Assembly," analysts from the Eurasia Group consultancy said last week in a note. "However, the political crisis is so fluid that the country could reach a tipping point before then."
Wes Kremer and Alexis Ramirez join forces to hype the upcoming DC Shoes X Sk8mafia collab to a full Heiroglyphics crew soundtrack in this shared section. Wes footage is always gold and Alexis more than holds his own here, with both chucking out creative gnarliness left, right and centre.

Big up edits that use Del the Funky Homosapien, keep your eyes peeled for the shoes dropping!
By PTI: (Eds: Rpting after correcting the name of Israeli diplomat)

Mumbai, Jul 4 (PTI) Israel has expressed its willingness to share advanced digital technology in the health sector, which can be used for integration, analysis and processing of patients data, with India.

Since Aadhar number is linked to most of the health related treatments it is generating huge data related to treatment of patients and Israel can provide expertise on how to handle and process it, David Akov, consul general of Israel told PTI today on the sidelines of an event.

advertisement

"Aadhaar number is widely used in India including in the health sector. It is generating huge database of patients health, treatment, medical history. Israeli technology can help in how to handle and use it (database) for better purpose of finding out trends in the health sector," said Akov.

Israel is also keen on supporting digital transportation where available data on transportation can be processed, Akov said. PTI ND RMT

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Aviva plc provides various insurance, retirement, investment, and savings products in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada, and internationally. The company offers life insurance, long-term health and accident insurance, savings, pension, and annuity products, as well as pension fund business and lifetime mortgage products. It also provides insurance cover to individuals, small and medium-sized businesses for risks associated with motor vehicles and medical expenses, as well as property and liability, such as employers' and professional indemnity liabilities. In addition, the company provides investment management services for institutional pension fund mandates; and manages various retail investment products, including investment funds, unit trusts, open-ended investment companies, and individual savings accounts for third-party financial institutions, pension funds, public sector organizations, investment professionals, and private investors. It markets its products through a network of insurance brokers, as well as MyAviva platform. The company was formerly known as CGNU plc and changed its name to Aviva plc in July 2002. Aviva plc was founded in 1696 and is headquartered in London, the United Kingdom.
Morgan Stanley is the 6th largest financial institution in the US. The company is ranked 61st on the Forbes Fortune 500 list and is the 39th largest bank in the world. A financial holding company, Morgan Stanley provides a full range of financial services to clients around the world.

Morgan Stanley was formed in 1935 as a result of the Glass-Steagall Act. Glass-Steagall separated commercial and investment banking in a way that forced the then-largest bank J.P. Morgan & Co to split into two groups. J.P. Morgan & Co. chose to retain the commercial side of the business while partners Henry S. Morga, grandson of J.P., and Harold Stanley took the investment end. In its first year, Morgan Stanley did 24% of the IPO business and maintains a lions share of the market to this day.

The original company existed and grew through acquisitions until 1987 when it merged with Dean Witter Discover & Co. The new Morgan Stanley Dean Witter Discover & Co existed for 14 years until 2001 when the name was shortened back to Morgan Stanley.

The bank is credited in part with both beginning and ending the financial crisis of 2007/2008. The Process Driven Trading unit lost $300 million in one day due to a short-squeeze that popped the bubble in the housing market. After teetering on the brink of failure Morgan Stanley agreed to become a bank holding company regulated by the Federal Reserve, a key factor in the original decision to split from parent J.P. Morgan & Co. Ironically when given the chance, present-day J.P. Morgan refused to buy Morgan Stanley but that was for the better.

Today, Morgan Stanley operates through three segments via offices in 41 countries and employs more than 75,000 people. Revenue in 2021 topped $49 billion and total assets topped $1.15 trillion.

The operating segments are Institutional Securities, Wealth Management, and Investment Management segments. The Institutional Securities segment is by far the largest and most profitable. It offers a range of services and products for businesses, institutions, and entities that include capital raising, strategic advisory, underwriting, advice on M&A, restructuring, and real estate. The Wealth Management segment provides brokerage and investment advisory services for individuals and employers. The services include brokerage, financial planning, company stock-plan administration, insurance, mortgage loans, lines of credit, and retirement planning. The Investment Management segment provides investment products to a range of institutions, organizations, corporations, and governments.
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The sharing economy is on the rise  and small business travelers are loving it, a new study has found.

According to data gathered by accounting software provider Freshbooks, ride sharing service Uber is leading a new shift in business travel.

Airbnb, another leading name in the sharing economy, however is not seeing the same exponential growth among business travelers.

Small Business Travelers Prefer Uber Over Taxis

Gone are the days when business travelers hailed taxis to reach their destination. Numbers suggest in recent years, Uber has gained a competitive edge in the market.

In 2016, small business owners were choosing Uber over taxis 2:1, Freshbooks found. At present, business users prefer Uber 3:1.

Business Travelers Still Favor Hotels for Overnight Stays

In the last couple of years, small business travelers bookings at Airbnb have seen an increase, the study revealed. But when it comes to overnight accommodations, small business travelers seem to still opt for hotels.

In 2016, small business travelers were booking hotels over Airbnb 8:1. This year, business travelers book hotels over Airbnb 6:1. So its safe to conclude that business travelers still highly prefer to book their out-of-town stays with major hotel chains.

Why Uber Outpaces Airbnb with Business Travelers

Ubers growing popularity among business travelers can be credited to its ease of use, FreshBooks suggests. Within seconds, users can request an Uber driver, choose a vehicle, track their ride and be on their way. For busy travelers on-the-go, this is a huge benefit that saves them both time and hassle.

The hotel industry, on the other hand, is driven by reward programs that attract frequent travelers. Hotel loyalty programs are especially popular among business travelers. Also, individual company policies play a big role in determining the place to stay for such travelers.

For more insights, check out the infographic below:
Central Europe has a pivotal role to play in this great task of relaunching the EU.

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What is Europe? Above all, as the President of the Republic, Emmanuel Macron, pointed out at the European Council of June 22-23, it is an ambition  the ambition to ensure our prosperity and to defend our common values, conquered in a hard struggle, i.e. democracy, social justice, rule of law, multilateralism, cultural diversity. In a world marked by the rise of authoritarian regimes and undermined by extremism or fanaticism, Europe has the historical responsibility to lead the battle in favor of these universal values.

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We must, of course, deliver this battle together, drawing on the spirit of the Velvet Revolution and the courageous struggle for freedom and democracy that the Central European peoples faced for decades. "A kidnapped West" subdued by Soviet totalitarianism, Central Europe eventually managed to break free from its shackles and fully joined, in 2004, the European family to which it always belonged. If this "return to Europe" has been successful, it is mainly thanks to the peoples of Central Europe, thanks to Solidarnosc, the Civic Forum and Public against Violence, thanks to outstanding figures such as Patocka, Havel, Antall or Geremek, Knazko and Budaj. But Central Europes "return to Europe" also owes much to so many artists, who paid the price of their revolt against censorship, as well as to so many citizens engaged in a deaf or heroic struggle against oppression. The message of these Europeans, famous or more humble, firmly attached to the spiritual heritage of Europe and to the spirit of the Enlightenment, remains more than ever topical: it binds us and provides the basis for the future of our continent.

Against this background, France would like to engage Central Europe and, in particular, Slovakia, which has made the choice of Europe. Our shared responsibility is enormous. Europe must relaunch itself, by demonstrating that it can provide concrete answers to the concerns of its citizens. This was already the spirit of the Bratislava summit last September, but it is now of the utmost importance to go further, through a Europe that better hears and protects its citizens. In the economic and social sphere, we must return to a model of qualitative, upward economic and social convergence based on innovation and knowledge. We must also gradually reform our current model characterized by excessive deregulation and financialization, which may set back our human societies, feeds on social dumping and creates frustrations and even tensions among European peoples. As an inclusive motor for this transformation of the European economic and social model, the euro area must be completed, achieving increasing economic, social and fiscal integration between our economies and our countries. France knows that it can count on Slovakia, the only member of the Visegrad Group in the euro zone, to strengthen our economic and monetary union. In an unpredictable and dangerous world, a Europe that protects its citizens must have a genuine common defense and security policy to contribute more to the peace and stability of both its neighborhood and the world. It must also adopt a more effective, proactive and united approach, in the face of migration challenges.

In order to regain its driving force for the recovery of Europe, France is determined to strengthen its economy and society by implementing the necessary reforms not only to comply with its European commitments, but also to foster greater flexibility for businesses, more job creation, more protection for employees and more training for those who need it. This reform drive is the sine qua non condition for the revival of the Franco-German couple, which must reconnect with the spirit of visionary cooperation that animated Francois Mitterrand and Helmut Kohl, to whose memory the European Union paid tribute on July 1.

Central Europe has a pivotal role to play in this great task of relaunching the EU. In particular, Slovakia, as a true European synthesis at the heart of our continent, has a historic opportunity to give a valuable impetus to Europe. We are convinced that, together, in the euro area and, more broadly, within the European Union, we can build a strong Europe, i.e. an autonomous Europe, a Europe that organizes itself and which guarantees its own security. It is the only way for Europe to be able to continue to make its universal voice heard for all the peoples of the world - the voice of all its peoples sharing a tragic history whose lessons we must never forget, the voice of the heroes of the Velvet Revolution whom no one will silence, the voice of the Enlightenment and of humanist reason, which must prevail over irrational passions. Only in this way can Europe defend its very essence, i.e. the values that we have forged together, without which there is no desirable or sustainable future for our continent.

Christophe Leonzi is French Ambassador to Slovakia
The dance piece Finetuning, which combines traditional folk music and central-European dance has been invited back to the theatre festival in France.

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After last years successful debut at the Off dAvignon festival, the biggest event of contemporary theatre in Europe, the ensemble operating in Slovakia, Ifju Szivek, received an invitation to return this summer. Its performance, Finetuning, choreographed and directed by Dusan Hegli, which taps into the issue of domestic violence, will be introduced in the Espace Alya theatre during the prime-time of the festival programme; it will run 21 times between July 7th and 30th, every evening starting at 2020.

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In 2016, the piece saw 21 performances with a packed house in Avignon, manager of Ifju Szivek, Reka Bartusz, told the TASR newswire, adding that two stagings at the MDPOH City Theatre in Bratislava followed, as well as three at the National Dance Theatre in Budapest.

Shooting stars debut at Avignon

Last years success of Finetuning exceeded all initial expectations. More than 70 stories and reviews, in five languages were written about the co-production of the Dance Theatre Ifju Szivek and the Dusan Hegli Company.

In the long performance of Hegli, everything is calculated perfectly and exactly, which is reflected not just in the dance but also in the lighting and costumes, Jean-Yves Bertrand noted, adding that this is also true about the harmony of light, sound, and movement a perfect accord  a French theatre reviewer bluntly gave his opinion that Finetuning was one of the best theatre performances in Avignon of the year 2016. Moreover, the piece got several invitations to theatres in western Europe; two performances will take place in the French towns of Saint-Lo and Lanester this autumn, TASR wrote.

Finetuning is the first part of a trilogy, a genre called by its author, concert-choreography.

Domestic violence as theatre theme

Physical and mental violence in a partnership or in a family is much graver and more frequent a problem than we would think, which is proven by the wide interest in the piece, Dusan Hegli said for the newswire. He received the Author the Year award from the Association of Hungarian Dance Artists for this piece.

The Avignon festival, which has been organised each July since 1947, attracts more than 1,200 productions and almost half a million visitors, including theatre directors and dramaturgists to the city in three weeks.

In July, Avignon is like a dream, solo dancer of Ifju Szivek, Klaudia Galik, told TASR. The crowd swarming the streets of the Old Town, from one theatre to another, is unbelievable. It was a great pleasure to observe people queuing in long rows in front of the theatre to see Finetuning every evening. Strangers talked to us in the streets, to congratulate us. However, the biggest recognition surely was the fact that we are to return to Avignon again this year.
Jakub Pavlus moved from Slovakia to the Czech Republic to serve as an Evangelical priest due to his views on same-sex marriage.

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SUMPERK. Taking a trash can filled with leafs and debris from the roof of an evangelical parishs garage in this Czech town is no easy task. Sacristan Miroslav Drozd is reconsidering his plan to take the can down by ladder when suddenly almost two-metre-tall priest Jakub Pavlus appears, reaches for the can and places it on the ground.

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Thats why we took him, Drozd told the Slovak Spectator laughing and playing with three running and cheerful dogs. He's good for manual work.

The new priest Pavlus also plays with the dogs for a while then goes to prepare for a biblical lesson.

Pavlus moved to the parish of the Evangelical Church of Czech Brethren (CCE) in Sumperk in early June. Almost one year after the The Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession in Slovakia (ECAV) chose not to prolong the year-long contract with him, because he defended same-sex marriages.

(Source: Sme)

At that time, he had twin daughters, just a few days old, lying in the intensive care unit after a premature birth. As a young father, he looked for manual work to be able to pay for his childrens medicine. People then started a collection to support him, and brought in more than 10,000 in less than a week.

Evangelicals in Turany, where Pavlus worked for a year, praised his work, but no one asked them for their opinion. The last worship was, therefore, emotional.

I got used to the place and made some friends there, Pavlus told the Slovak Spectator. It was like I broke up with a girlfriend after a year.

Pavlus case, however, is not only a story of a suspended priest, according to theologian Ondrej Prostrednik of the Evangelical Lutheran Theological Faculty of Comenius University in Bratislava.

The bishops used Pavlus to send a message to others, Prostrednik told The Slovak Spectator. Since then, the discussion about homosexual marriages has completely stopped in the church.

ECAV has not responded to questions regarding the case.

Read also:

Read also: Bishops protest teaching of humanism Read more

Referendum on family

When he began his theology studies, Pavlus disagreed with homosexual marriages. In his diploma thesis, however, he devoted himself to this subject and gradually changed his view.

For me, the key question was what in marriage really matters, Pavlus said. If two people love each other, want to live together and will live together regardless if I give them a blessing or not, then they do not have to ask for my opinion.

He added that he did not see anything bad about creating a platform for such a relationship in the form of marriage.

(Source: Sme)

On the other hand, Pavlus did not spread his opinion among Turany parishioners. Most of them did not even know.

His superiors learned about his sentiments only after a campaign took place before the 2015 referendum on family, aiming to constitutionally ban same-sex marriage. The bishops asked Pavlus about his opinion on same-sex partnerships during a meeting. When he did not accept the official view of the church, they called him in for an interview.

As priests just starting out in ECAV have one-year contracts, which do not have to be prolonged, the bishops told Pavlus to act wisely during the interview.

They were not interested in my family situation, the work in the parish or the opinions of its members, Pavlus said. They were just dogmatically interested in my attitude towards marriage.

Pavlus' views on marriage and family are in contradiction with the doctrine of the Evangelical Church in Slovakia, reads the ECAV's official statement on this issue.

That was why the Bishops Assembly disagreed with the new job contract after [the previous] fixed-term contract had terminated, the bishops told the press.

Such issues are a matter of humanity and mutual respect and should be carried in such way, according to theologian and publicist Miroslav Kocur.

Pavluss case resembles rather a managerial decision of a bishop, Kocur told The Slovak Spectator.

Read also:

Read also: Parliament speaker opposes introduction of LGBTI values Read more

New church

A friend working as a priest in the Czech Republic advised Pavlus to look for a church within the CCE. The church has a long-standing problem with a lack of priests and after a few month trial period, it welcomed him.

As a pastoral worker, he showed good abilities for working in our church, CCE spokesman Jana Vondrova told The Slovak Spectator.

He chose the parish in Sumperk with several hundred members and which has been without a priest for three years.

(Source: Sme)

With his wife and children, he now lives in a two-storey parish house close to the church.

Im happy that me and the priest have similar personalities and Im glad that he is here, Drozd said, adding that the parish in Sumperk is not only a church institution but also a community centre where Pavlus fits in well.

Drozd agrees with the views of Pavlus and says that he does not like the way in which he lost his previous work.

I dont think that Christians should behave like that, Drozd addressed the Slovak bishops.

Read also:

Read also: Tens of thousands attend Bratislava pro life march Read more

Czechs like him

Compared with the Slovak church where Pavlus worked, the Czech one is much smaller and around one hundred people fill the church.

I would like to have a more gothic ceiling, says Pavlus about a simply furnished church, where Germans, Hungarians and Poles have held services together with Moravians.

That is why this local church is more tolerant than others, according to Eva Dobravova who is a member of the church.

This church is atypical, Dobravova told The Slovak Spectator. Few churches are so tolerant.

(Source: Sme)

Parishers in Sumperk, together with CCE representatives, do not oppose Pavlus view on marriage.

Czech law does not recognise same-sex marriage, only a registered partnership, therefore, Pavlus could not marry same-sex couples even if he wanted to.

CCE does not have an official stance on such marriages and considers homosexuality to be the subject of discussion. There are, however, arguments about whether priests should bless such relationships. Thus same-sex couples have to make some effort to find a priest willing to give them their blessing, according to Pavlus.

This approach is more acceptable than the ECAVs one, according to Prostrednik.

The Bible texts do not condemn the firm and lasting relationship of two people of the same sex based on love, Prostrednik said. The attitude of the ECAV leadership is indefensible in todays theological discourse.

Pavlus says that he is happy with his new work and he is increasingly fine with the idea that he will spend a long time there.

His believers agree that they would welcome that.

The Czechs have gained a lot with his arrival and Slovaks have lost on the contrary, said Drozd.
Kiska asked Defence Minister Peter Gajdos to explain the most recent case of missing ammunition.

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Kiska said after a July 3 meeting with Gajdos and Chief of General Staff of the Slovak Armed Forces Milan Maxim that the case of missing ammunition is very serious. The meeting took place following the announcement that some 300,000 cartridges disappeared from an ammunition storehouse in Sklene (in Zilina Region) last month. An unspecified amount of ammunition from stocks in Trencin-Kubra was reported stolen in April, the TASR newswire wrote.

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An ongoing problem

The ammunition seems to have been missing for longer than was believed, and it may have taken the Slovak army years before it detected that heavy arms, dozens of grenades and tens of thousands of small-calibre cartridges were missing.

Only the recent stock-taking has found precisely what was missing, Gajdos admits, as quoted by the Sme daily. Apart form the most recent and highly publicised case, five more cases of missing ammunition are rumoured unofficially.

Gajdos faced criticism from his predecessors last week: Lubomir Galko of the now-opposition SaS criticised the minister for insufficiently informing the public, and Martin Glvac of the ruling Smer party said that the minister is responsible for the lost ammunition  as Gajdos has been in the leading position for several years. I do not believe that the ammunition has been missing for long, Glvac said to Sme. In November, the stocks were checked.

Read also:

Read also: Ammunition disappears from warehouse Read more

Army stocks are guarded by private security companies to save money, but the minister has said he wants to change this. Gajdos would not comment on the preliminary results of the audits, but he admits that previous audits were superficial and ineffective, with nobody likely counting the weapons and ammunition.

President Andrej Kiska asked Gajdos to quickly find a solution. The public has long considered the Armed Forces to be among the most trusted institutions, he said, as cited by TASR. So we expect them to be in order and that things there are working well. If ammunition goes missing, that raises some questions ... regarding how those who are supposed to protect the state can protect us when a problem like this can emerge in this very sector.

The president asked Gajdos to explain what has happened, to find the culprits, to determine when exactly the ammunition was stolen and to adopt measures to make sure that this never happens again. Kiska also pointed out that hundreds of millions of euros will soon be poured into the army.

Gajdos reiterated that he has ordered a detailed and thorough inventory of all ammunition and weapons.
Iss Pyaar Ko Kya Naam Doon 3, starring Barun Sobti and Shivani Tomar, premiered last night on Star Plus.

By Anvita Singh: Television heartthrob Barun Sobti is back with stormy dark eyes, and a perfect beard in producer Gul Khan's latest installment of the popular show Iss Pyaar Ko Kya Naam Doon.

The show's first season had starred Barun Sobti and Miley Jab Hum Tum actress Sanaya Irani. Their chemistry and performances were appreciated by the viewers. However, in Season 3, Barun will be seen romancing Kasam actress Shivani Tomar.

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The pilot premiered last night on Star Plus, and let's just say that it was a confused mess.

The first shot shows Barun's character, Advay Singh Raizada, saving a puppy, and proclaiming to the world that he has no time for love and innocence in his life.

The episode had unnecessary melodrama, a random dance number, and a number of women dressed in saris so bright it could stop traffic. The female lead, Chandni (Shivani Tomar's character) has a deep dark past, but Advay's past is apparently a complete monster compared to Chandni's, and he holds her responsible for the death of his parents.

The episode would have had more clarity had the writer not tried to cram so much information in a 24-minute show.

The performances are decent enough. But the show's ultimate test would be when the leads, Barun and Shivani, share some screen space together, which they obviously didn't in the pilot. Too soon, probably.

So far, so messy.

Iss Pyaar Ko Kya Naam Doon 3 will air every weekday at 8 pm on Star Plus.

Also read: Exclusive: Shivani Tomar on replacing Sanaya Irani in Barun Sobti's Iss Pyaar Ko Kya Naam Doon 3

--- ENDS ---
The death of the female bear Ingrid, carried out on June 1 by hunters near the Liptovska Kokava village, was avoidable.

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Before she was shot down, those responsible offered to move her to distant forest districts or localities - but nobody wanted her, the Sme daily wrote on July 4.

This comes from the results of a scrutiny by the working group set up by Environment Minister Laszlo Solymos (Most-Hid), which included State Forestry of the Tatra National Park (TANAP), the academic community and the third sector. The group looked at the case after the public complained about the death of the bear.

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Why Ingrid became dangerous

The bear was caught and separated from her cubs after repeatedly visiting regions in the Liptov area to search for food scraps.

The bear was not relocated to a more remote territory but returned to the village, where she began approaching settled areas in search of her cubs.

She was believed to be dangerous to humans, and the District Office in Liptovsky Mikulas allowed her to be shot, Sme wrote. The police-ordered shooting was met with disapproval from the public. Solymos described the shooting as an unfortunate incident and ordered a six-member working group to carry out an investigation into the matter.

Mistakes leading to the shooting

The working group examined relevant documentation, witness testimonies and available video footage and has identified several errors leading up to the case, the TASR newswire wrote.

Three of these mistakes were crucial. The first concerned Ingrids release into the wild after her initial capture: according to the experts, it was highly probable that she would return to the village to look for her offspring.

The second mistake was not having a vet present when the action was taken. The group identified a lack of communication between those in charge and the general public as the third shortcoming.

Read also:

Read also: The story of a bear named Inga has a sad ending Read more

On the other hand, the working group stressed that the bear did represent a threat to the public, so it was impossible to let it continue to roam near Liptovsky Mikulas.

Finally, the experts made several recommendations to prevent similar situations from occurring in the future. These mainly include addressing poor waste management in the area and educating the mayors and the public on minimizing the risk of encounters with bears.

The environment minister added that he has ordered inspections into whether or not waste laws are being observed in areas with high numbers of bears.
Their Vianocka robot can sort out balls of various colours

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Students from the Galileo Bilingual Grammar School in Bratislava will represent Slovakia at the first International Robot Olympics due to take place in Washington DC between July 16 and 18. In order to take part, they had to construct and programme a robot to separate balls of different colours and put them into their proper holes. A robot kit including a package of parts for construction was sent in advance from the USA. The students unveiled their robot, which they call Vianocka (Christmas Cake in English) to the media on July 3.

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video //www.youtube.com/embed/u29flfF--sU

The real use of this robot in the future is directly related to the students who are here and their ability to modify designs and to continue programming, said Adam Kukla, the teacher and mentor of the team, as cited by the TASR newswire. Its something like a starting point for many students and also for future generations that would like to take part in the competition.

Representatives of 160 countries are expected to participate in the competition, organised by the non-profit organisation, First Global. It is aimed at promoting scientific and technological initiatives and innovations among young people from around the world.
STEM

Coding Workshops in Atlanta Aim to Boost Diversity in STEM

Nonprofit organization INROADS in partnership with STEMBoard, a company that creates engineering solutions, last week held a coding workshop for high school students in Atlanta, GA who are typically underrepresented in STEM fields.

Since 1970, INROADS has connected nearly 1,300 underserved youth to more than 200 business and industry clients, such as STEMBoard. The two formed a strategic alliance late last year and the workshop is a major milestone for INROADS College Links-Atlanta, their program that provides mentorship opportunities to African Americans, Hispanic Americans, Native Americans, females and other minority groups pursuing STEM and STEAM majors.

The Hack<IT> UpStart workshop was open to INROADS College Links-Atlanta students. It is part of a series of workshops aimed at bridging the digital skills gap in underserved communities, a news release said. Participating students learned coding and tech skills  developing microcontrollers and other small devices  with help from Emory University Continuing Education, STEMBoard and INROADS.

The event was sponsored by Coca-Cola and hosted in partnership with Chick-fil-A, Home Depot, the Executive Leadership Council, Georgia-Pacific Corporation and the Information Technology Senior Management Forum, according to the news release.
* Tanzania in drive to increase domestic earnings from mining

* Acacia share price extends losses

LONDON, July 4 (Reuters) - Acacia Mining (Frankfurt: 33A.F - news) on Tuesday said it was seeking an adjudicator to resolve its dispute with the Tanzanian government, a day after the east-African country passed two laws to force companies to re-negotiate their contracts.

Tanzania's President John Magufuli has sent shock-waves through the mining community with a series of actions since his election in 2015 that he says are to distribute revenue to the Tanzanian people.

Speaking at a televised public rally in northwest Tanzania on Tuesday, Magufuli said he had decided to rush through bills passed on Monday because Tanzania was fighting an economic war.

"We couldn't wait to pass the laws because of the large scale theft taking place in the mining sector," Magufuli said.

Tanzania's largest miner Acacia, majority owned by Barrick Gold, said in a statement that notices of arbitration were served on behalf of companies that own its Bulyanhulu and Buzwagi mines, hit by an export ban.

"The serving of the notices at this time is necessary to protect the Company," Acacia said.

"But, this notwithstanding, Acacia remains of the view that a negotiated resolution is the preferable outcome to the current disputes and the company will continue to work to achieve this."

Tanzania accused Acacia of tax evasion in 2016 in a case that is ongoing and was this year accused of operating illegally. The miner denies the allegations.

And in March, Magufuli imposed an export ban on unprocessed ore to encourage the construction of local smelters, rather than allow profits from processing to be accrued abroad.

International mining companies have said mining must help to enhance the economic development of Tanzania, but the relationship has to be a fair partnership.

Shares (Berlin: DI6.BE - news) in Acacia, which have nearly halved since the export ban in March, were down nearly 1 percent by 1345 GMT. (Reporting by Zandi Shabalala in London and Fumbuka Ng'wanakilala in Dar es Salaam; Editing by Barbara Lewis and David Evans)
ZURICH (Reuters) - Switzerland's financial watchdog FINMA remains in touch with Credit Suisse over its role in arranging loans for Mozambique state-owned companies, a spokesman for the regulator said on Tuesday, after an independent report concluded it was unclear how the money had been spent. Credit Suisse, Switzerland's second-biggest bank, and Russian lender VTB have come under scrutiny after negotiating loans totalling some $2 billion (1.5 billion) with three firms owned by Mozambique - one of the poorest countries in the world. Discovery of the loans to tuna fishing company EMATUM, security firm Proindicus and Mozambique Asset Management (MAM) led the International Monetary Fund and Western donors to halt support for Mozambique, triggering the collapse of its currency and leading to a default on debt. In an audit released last month, risk management firm Kroll Inc said officials in the southern African country had given inconsistent answers about how $500 million earmarked for the tuna fishing company had been spent. It also showed Credit Suisse and VTB Capital were paid a total of $199.7 million in fees. Credit Suisse disputed the report's findings, saying banking fees charged to arrange loans for Mozambique's state-owned companies amounted to $23 million. FINMA, Credit Suisse's main supervisory body, first said last year that it had spoken to the bank about the issue. On Tuesday a spokesman said it was still in discussion with Credit Suisse over the matter, following the release of the audit report. Credit Suisse declined to comment. (Reporting by Joshua Franklin; Editing by Alexander Smith, Greg Mahlich)
Scott Pruitt has been busy. The head of the US Environmental Protection Agency has moved to dismantle or delay 30 environmental rules in his first four months on the job, the fastest rollback of that scale the EPA has ever seen, according to the New York Times. Most of these rollbacks were announced with some fanfare. But more quietly, Pruitt has begun to put together a formal program to challenge the scientific consensus on climate change.

First reported by E&E News, a news outlet focused on energy and the environment, the program will highlight uncertainty within climate science by providing a back-and-forth critique between experts appointed by the administration, according to a senior administration official who spoke with E&E News. The program will use a military tactic known as red team/blue team, used to scrutinize weaknesses in field operations. The red team will pose potential vulnerabilities, and the blue team would be charged with finding and defending the scientific reports that address that vulnerability.

This approach goes outside the existing structure of peer review, in which a scientific paper must be evaluated and critiqued by other scientists at length before it can be published. The peer review process is designed to identify weaknesses in the science. Within peer-reviewed scientific literature, 97% of scientists agree that climate change is primarily due to human activity.

As PBS Newshour host Hari Sreenivasan put it, if one wanted to take the red team/blue team approach proportionate to scientific consensus, it would be red team: three, and blue team: 97.

The program may foretell an attempt to completely revise the entire legal basis for curbing emissions in the US. Coal industry executives took the news of the program as a sign that the administration is willing to reassess the endangerment finding, which is the legal basis for any policy that limits emissions from power plants and cars in the name of curbing global warming. The EPA finding, which is backed up by a US Supreme Court decision in 2009, reads that greenhouse gases endanger the public health and welfare of current and future generations by propelling climate change.

Story continues

Overturning that would open the door to halting all US attempts to slow climate change through emissions reductions. Pruitt previously appeared reluctant to fight it, but according to coal company CEO Robert Murray, of Murray Energy Corp, Pruitt spoke to him personally and assured him the endangerment finding would be reviewed within months.

We talked about that, and theyre going to start addressing it later this year, Murray told E&E News. Theyre going to start getting a lot of scientific people in to give both sides of the issue.

Sign up for the Quartz Daily Brief, our free daily newsletter with the worlds most important and interesting news.

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KABUL (Reuters) - A bipartisan delegation of U.S. senators visiting Afghanistan on Tuesday called for a new strategy from the Trump administration to turn the tide against an increasingly strong Taliban insurgency and end the longest war in U.S. history. The delegation led by Senator John McCain was in Kabul on a regional trip that included two days in neighbouring Pakistan. The visit preceded an expected Trump review later in the month of the strategy for the United States longest war, now in its 16th year, a subject that was largely absent from last years presidential campaign. Since the exit of most foreign troops in 2014, Afghanistans U.S.-backed government has lost ground to a Taliban insurgency in a war that kills and maims thousands of civilians each year and has made Afghanistan the second-ranking country in people seeking refugee status abroad last year, behind Syria. McCain said in a Kabul press briefing on Tuesday at NATO-coalition headquarters that "none of us would say that we are on a course to success here in Afghanistan". "That needs to change and quickly," added McCain, a sharp critic of Trump within their Republican party. McCain was accompanied by U.S. senators Lindsey Graham, Elizabeth Warren, Sheldon Whitehouse and David Perdue on the regional tour. Warren, a Massachusetts Democrat, said she came to get "the view on the ground about what is happening" in Afghanistan. "We need a strategy in the United States that defines our role in Afghanistan, defines our objective and explains how we can get from here to there," Warren said. U.S. officials have told Reuters that Defense Secretary Jim Mattis will present Trump with strategic options for Afghanistan by mid-July. Last month, Trump gave Mattis the authority to set American troop levels in Afghanistan, but as commander in chief Trump must sign off on an overall strategy for the war. U.S. security officials have privately said the most likely options will be to increase training and air support by 3,000-5,000 troops for still-inexperienced Afghan security forces, while also tracking down al Qaeda, Islamic State and other global Islamist militants based in Afghanistan. The commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan, General John Nicholson, has said "several thousand" more foreign troops  mostly trainers - are needed to break a military stalemate with the Taliban. In 2001, a U.S.-backed military intervention in Afghanistan toppled the Taliban regime, whose ultra-hardline interpretation of sharia (Islamic law) banned most women from public life and executed people not seen as sufficiently pious, such as men with beards not considered long enough. More than 15 years later, around 10,000 U.S. and allied troops remain in Afghanistan to support an elected government that has increasingly been losing ground to a Taliban insurgency that now controls or contests some 40 percent of territory. (Writing by Kay Johnson; editing by Mark Heinrich)
Mexico's top drug lord Joaquin

Thomson Reuters

Sinaloa cartel kingpin Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman was extradited to the US on January 19 and has occupied a cell in a high-security facility in Manhattan ever since, awaiting his trial in April 2018.

As Guzman stews in his cell, largely isolated from the outside world, the cartel he guided to the top of Mexico's narco hierarchy has seen its power and reach erode, according to Mexican government data.

No Mexican criminal organization has spread as far as the Sinaloa cartel or been as successful at resisting government efforts to bring it down.

At its most powerful, it was thought to have had influence in 24 of Mexico's 32 states and reportedly had operations in up to 50 countries.

At the time of Guzman's capture in January 2016  the third time he was arrested, after his second jailbreak  the cartel was present in 11 states, according to Animal Politico, citing data from the Mexican attorney general's office.

In the year and a half since, that presence has shrunk to seven states. The cartel has lost territory in Colima, Nayarit, and Jalisco states on the Pacific coast as well as in the state of Yucatan on Mexico's Caribbean coast.

Mexican states map with names

Jaimiko/Wikimedia Commons

The Sinaloa cartel functions more like a federation of allied groups rather than a traditionally hierarchical cartel. Those groups tended specialize in specific areas of the drug trade, with Guzman and some of his close associates in leadership positions, often refereeing disputes. But since 2015, the Sinaloa cartel has also seen the number of criminal groups partnered with it fall from 10 to seven, according to Animal Politico.

The territory the Sinaloa cartel has lost on the Pacific coast has largely been taken over by the Jalisco New Generation cartel. The CJNG is a relative newcomer among Mexican cartels. It emerged from a split within a faction of the Sinaloa cartel led by the uncle of Guzman's current wife after he was killed in 2010.

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The CJNG has used a mix of brutality, financial cunning, and corruption to speed its rise, turning against the Sinaloa cartel after Guzman's capture in February 2014.

Veracruz Boca del Rio Zetas Jalisco CJNG cartel Mexico killings bodies

REUTERS/Stringer

After its initial expansion east into the state Veracruz (a faction of the cartel called Los Mata Zetas, or the Zetas killers, is thought to have executed 35 members of the Zetas cartel there in 2011), the CJNG has moved north, sparking violence and increased homicide levels in states like Guerrero, Colima, Baja California.

The fight for influence between the CJNG and elements of the Sinaloa cartel has been exacerbated by the battle for succession within Sinaloa.

Since Guzman's 2016 arrest, several factions have been vying to assume command, including one led by Guzman's former right-hand man, Damaso Lopez Nunez, and another helmed by Guzman's sons, nicknamed Los Chapitos. (Lopez was captured in Mexico City in May.)

Guzman's mother came under attack last summer in a Beltran Leyva-led assault on Guzman's hometown in Sinaloa state. His sons have also come under fire. Two of them were kidnapped in Jalisco state in August, reportedly at the behest of the CJNG and Lopez, and they say Lopez led a near fatal ambush on them in Sinaloa in February.

Mexico Sinaloa state Culiacan shooting killings violence

(AP Photo/Rashide Frias)

Some of the most intense violence related to this feud has taken place in Sinaloa state, where the CJNG and remnants of the Beltran Leyva Organization, a one-time Sinaloa partner that went to war with Guzman in the 2000s, have joined with factions of the Sinaloa cartel to fight for control of the organization Guzman left behind.

The hours between June 30 and July 1 appear to have been some of the most deadly in the state in years.

Mexico Pacific coast homicides

Christopher Woody/Mexican government data

At least 30 people were killed in different locations in the state over that period, though some reports put the total around 35.

The violence started on Friday night, when gunmen arrived a community near Mazatlan, in southwest Sinaloa, where they attempted to kidnap a local man, killing two or three people in the process.

Local police were alerted to the incident, and military and federal forces arrived soon in support. The resulting clash on a nearby high left 17 gunmen dead and five police wounded.

Authorities called the confrontation one of the fiercest the state has seen in recent months, and Sinaloa's state-security secretary attributed the initial incident to a dispute between local traffickers.

Relatives of the 17 killed have alleged the deaths were in fact police executions.

On Saturday, a man and a woman  and by some accounts a child  were reportedly gunned down with assault rifles in a car near Culiacan, the state capital.

That was followed by gunmen entering a private clinic in the city and killing a patient. Other bodies  some with signs of torture  were found throughout the day in Culiacan and the nearby city of Navolato.

According to the state prosecutor, Sinaloa had 182 homicides in June, the second most in a month this year after May's 184, pushing the state's total to 907 homicides this year. If that total is confirmed when official homicide data for June is released at the end of July, it would be a roughly 73% increase over the 524 homicides during the same period last year.

Local authorities have been overwhelmed and are not equipped to deal with the rising violence.

"It's terror. The word for what is happening in Sinaloa is generalized terror," Alejandro Sicairos, editor of local magazine Espejo, told AFP in June. "This hasn't been the usual kind of shootout. They're coming with everything they've got: high-caliber weapons, full arsenals, vehicle-mounted artillery."

NOW WATCH: Here's footage of 'El Chapo' arriving to the US

See Also:
BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) - Argentina has banned scandal-racked Brazilian builder Odebrecht SA from bidding on public works projects for 12 months, a government spokesman said on Monday, citing corruption cases facing the company in South America and elsewhere. The move could cut Odebrecht out of a series of government-financed infrastructure jobs scheduled in Argentina as the country heads into a key mid-term election in October. Odebrecht, which admitted in a settlement with U.S. and Brazilian prosecutors to paying bribes across 12 countries to win contracts, including $35 million (27.05 million pounds) in Argentina, can continue to operate current projects, the spokesman for the Interior Ministry said in a telephone interview. "For one year they are prohibited from taking out the certificate used to bid on public works," the spokesman said, adding that a resolution would be published in the official Gazette confirming the measure in the next few days. Odebrecht said in a statement it had not been formally informed of the decision. "When officially informed, the company will evaluate the situation and see to it that its rights are preserved," the statement said. It said Odebrecht already has adopted "the necessary measures to ensure its business actions are ethical, have integrity and are transparent." The resolution is expected to cite "strong indications that the company has been involved in corrupt practices," the ministry spokesman said. The measure could leave Odebrecht out of a spate of public works projects on tap in Argentina as President Mauricio Macri's coalition aims to boost economic growth with new infrastructure ahead of the October congressional election. Since settling in the United States, Brazil and Switzerland for a record $3.5 billion, Odebrecht has sought to negotiate leniency deals that would allow it to keep operating in other countries across Latin America. It also is banned by law from participating in new infrastructure auctions in Peru and is trying to negotiate leniency deals in Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Panama, the Dominican Republic and Venezuela. Argentine prosecutors investigating Odebrecht have said the country lacks a legal mechanism for companies to reach a leniency agreement like the one signed in Brazil. Macri's administration supports a bill that would allow companies to be punished for corruption and also enable them to sign leniency agreements. (Reporting by Maximiliano Rizzi; Additional reporting by Caroline Stauffer; Writing by Hugh Bronstein; Editing by Leslie Adler and Bill Trott)
By PTI: New Delhi, Jul 4 (PTI) India and Vietnam today explored ways to deepen defence cooperation and deliberated on the situation in the disputed South China Sea which is witnessing growing Chinese assertiveness.

Defence Minister Arun Jaitley held talks with Vietnams Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh Minh during which various aspects of defence cooperation between the two countries were discussed.

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The two sides also deliberated on the regional security situation and explored ways to further boost defence cooperation, sources said.

Vietnam is also a party to the dispute involving territorial claims by China in the resource-rich South China Sea where India has commercial interests.

Pham Binh, who is also Vietnams foreign minister, is understood to have apprised Jaitley about the situation in South China Sea.

The security cooperation between India and Vietnam is on an upswing and earlier this year the two countries elevated their ties to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership to respond to emerging regional challenges.

While China claims sovereignty over almost all of the South China Sea, the other countries laying claim over parts of the area are Vietnam, Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan.

China has increased its assertiveness in the South China Sea in the last couple of years.

It has scrambled naval ships and military jets to "warn off" a US missile destroyer sailing close to an artificial island built by it in the disputed area.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lu Kang said in a statement late Sunday night that China had dispatched military vessels and fighter planes in response to warn off the US vessel. Separately, Minister of State for Defence Subhash Bhamre met senior Minister of State for Defence and Foreign Affairs of Singapore Maliki Osman and discussed ways to deepen bilateral cooperation in the areas of defence and security.

Bhamre also meet Industry Minister of Belarus Vitaly Vovk and discussed possible cooperation in the areas of defence production. PTI MPB ZMN

--- ENDS ---
By Jack Stubbs and Pavel Polityuk KIEV (Reuters) - Ukrainian company Intellect Service was not responsible for last week's international cyber attack that brought down the computer systems of several major companies, the father and daughter team told Reuters on Monday. Cyber security investigators are still trying to establish who was behind the attack. But Ukrainian officials and security firms including Microsoft, Cisco's Talos and Symantec say they have confirmed that some of the initial infections occurred when malware was transmitted to users of a Ukrainian tax software program called M.E.Doc. They say the virus, dubbed NotPetya by some experts, was primarily spread via an update issued by M.E.Doc, the accounting software developed by Olesya Linnik and her father Sergei at his company, Intellect Service. In their first interview with foreign media since the attack, the Linniks said there was no evidence M.E.Doc, which is Ukraine's most-popular accounting software, was used to spread the virus and they did not understand the charges against them. "What has been established in these days, when no one slept and only worked? We studied and analysed our product for signs of hacking - it is not infected with a virus and everything is fine, it is safe," said Olesya, managing partner at Intellect Service. "The update package, which was sent out long before the virus was spread, we checked it 100 times and everything is fine." Little known outside Ukrainian accounting circles, M.E.Doc is an everyday part of life at around 80 percent of companies in Ukraine. The software allows its 400,000 clients to send and discuss financial documents between internal departments, as well as file them with the Ukrainian state tax service. POLICE INVESTIGATING Investigators have said M.E.Doc's expansive reach is what made it a prime target for the unknown hackers, who were looking for a way to infect as many victims as possible. "These malware families were spread using Ukrainian accounting software called M.E.Doc," researchers at Slovakian security software firm ESET said in a blog post on Friday. "M.E.Doc has an internal messaging and document exchange system so attackers could send spearphishing messages to victims." Ukrainian police said on Monday the Linniks could now face criminal charges if it is confirmed they knew about the infection but took no action. "We have issues with the company's leadership, because they knew there was a virus in their software but didn't do anything ... if this is confirmed, we will bring charges," Serhiy Demedyuk, the head of Ukraine's cyber police, told Reuters in a text message. Speaking before Demedyuk's comments at the company's modest offices on an industrial estate in Kiev, Sergei, Intellect Service's general director, raised his voice in frustration. "We built this business over 20 years. What is the point of us killing our own business?" Olesya said the company was cooperating with investigators and the police were yet to reach any conclusions. "The cyber police are currently bogged down in the investigation, we gave them the logs of all our servers and there are no traces that our servers spread this virus," she said. "M.E.Doc is a transportation product, it delivers documents. But is an email program guilty in the distribution of a virus? Hardly." (Writing by Jack Stubbs; Editing by Anna Willard)
BEIRUT (Reuters) - A fire caused by an electrical malfunction killed a girl at a Syrian refugee camp in the Lebanese Bekaa Valley overnight, a medical source said on Tuesday, in the second lethal blaze in a camp in the area in three days. Fifteen of the 140 tents in the camp were destroyed and four partly burned in the fire, according to an assessment by Save the Children Lebanon, a non-governmental organisation that assists refugees. On Sunday, a fire destroyed a Syrian refugee camp near Qab Elias, some 7 km (5 miles) away from Bar Elias, also killing one person. Initial reports indicated that fire was caused by a cooking stove. That camp was home to around 100 families. Save the Children Lebanon said it was working to provide emergency support to the families and children affected by the latest blaze. Lebanon is hosting at least 1 million registered Syrian refugees, though the government says the total is around 1.5 million, with many living in tented settlements. (Writing by Tom Perry and Angus McDowall; editing by John Stonestreet)
African migrants currently in Libya who qualify as refugees will be legally resettled to the European Union, according to the European Commission.

The surprise announcement, one of a number of "immediate measures" made in a new EU Action Plan, is designed to tackle an increasingly urgent phase in the ongoing Mediterranean migration crisis.

"All actors now need to intensify and accelerate their efforts in line with the increasing urgency of the situation and the commitments undertaken by EU leaders," the plan states.

The Commission, the executive arm of the EU, published the measures after an overwhelmed Italian government threatened to block entry to Italian ports for all aid ships who rescue and recover migrants trying to cross from Libya to Italy.

Migrant arrivals in Italy are up nearly 19% over the same period last year.

EU figures estimate that 85,183 people, from countries all over Africa, have been rescued while attempting the deadly crossing. Ninety-five percent leave Africa from the Libyan coastline in flimsy boats.

The relocation pledge from Libya is an extension to existing relocation programmes focused on refugees in Turkey, Jordan and Lebanon, from where 17,000 mostly Syrian refugees have been resettled.

"The Commission will launch a new resettlement pledging exercise in conjunction with the UNHCR starting with those in need of international protection from Libya, Egypt, Niger, Ethiopia and Sudan" the new pledge states.

The commission document, called 'Action plan on measures to support Italy, reduce pressure along the Central Mediterranean route and increase solidarity' will form the basis of discussions at an EU interior ministers meeting in Estonia on Thursday.

The document contains a series of new measures including renewed impetus on training and equipping Libyan border and coastguard operations, as well as an official code of conduct for charities involved in search and rescue missions in the Mediterranean.

Story continues

Charities have been accused of encouraging the pull of migrants by providing rescue missions. They deny this, pointing out that the migrants were making the journeys in similar numbers before they operated in the region.

Other measures in the Action Plan include 35m (30.7m) in extra cash for Italy to help the government in Rome deal with the crisis.

Migrants travel to Libya from countries all over Africa - Eritrea, Ethiopia and Sudan in the east, Mali and Niger in the centre and from Nigeria, Senegal, Guinea, Ivory Coast and Gambia in the west.

More than 2,000 are known to have died this year alone according to the International Organisation for Migration.

Around 50 migrants were missing, feared dead, off the coast of Spain on Tuesday. If confirmed, it would make the voyage the deadliest sea crossing in that part of the Mediterranean this year.

Survivors are routinely brought to Italy by charity rescue vessels because Libya is not considered a safe country for them to be returned to.

Charities including the Italian Red Cross have repeatedly warned that Italy's overcrowded reception centres are in a critical state and cannot cope with the overwhelming number of asylum applications.

Sky News has spoken to numerous migrants who have walked out of the centres after an initial registration process which includes fingerprinting. Many make their way to Rome en-route to northern Europe.

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said: "The dire situation in the Mediterranean is neither a new nor a passing reality."

"We have made enormous progress over the past two and half years towards a genuine EU migration policy but the urgency of the situation now requires us to seriously accelerate our collective work and not leave Italy on its own.

"The focus of our efforts has to be on solidarity - with those fleeing war and persecution and with our Member States under the most pressure.

"At the same time, we need to act, in support of Libya, to fight smugglers and enhance border control to reduce the number of people taking hazardous journeys to Europe."

Last September, Sky News witnessed the perilous crossings from the deck of a rescue vessel run by the charity Migrant Offshore Aid Station (MOAS).

In the nine months since then, the situation has deteriorated.

MOAS and other charities who operate rescue vessels have repeatedly called for "safe and legal routes" for migrants so that they don't resort to deadly sea crossings fuelled by people traffickers.

None of the charities who operate the rescue ships offered any immediate reaction.

Expanding on the new resettlement plan, a Commission spokesperson told Sky News: "We support resettlement financially. The amount foreseen for this new call is 377.5m (331m).

"EU Member States will receive a lump sum of 10,000 per resettled person if they resettle from the priority countries listed (Libya, Egypt, Niger, Ethiopia and Sudan)."

This means that the Commission is envisaging the resettlement of about 37,000 people from those five priority countries.

However, the Action Plan throws up numerous new questions.

:: How many EU counties will commit to the resettlement plan? The EU Commission's Vice-President Frans Timmermans said: "I count on solidarity from all member states including the United Kingdom."

:: Who will determine which migrants in Libya or any of the other priority countries are genuine refugees and eligible for resettlement?

:: What happens if or when the 37,000 cap is reached?

:: How does the EU stop those not eligible for refugee status from coming to Europe? According to the United Nations' refugee agency (UNHCR), only 30% of the people who arrive in Italy are eligible for asylum, the rest being so-called economic migrants who should be sent back home.

:: Will the resettlement plan encourage more migrants to travel to Libya or the other priority counties?

:: How can Libyan border guard and coastguard operations be improved in a lawless country with no nationally functioning government?

Three competing authorities, including the internationally-backed Government of National Accord (GNA), are vying for power in Libya amid increasingly lawlessness.

Testimony from migrants talking to Sky News suggests arbitrary detention as well as forced labour, sexual violence and torture are all common.

In a statement, Judith Sunderland, associate Europe and Central Asia director at Human Rights Watch said: "Long-term goals, however laudable, cannot obscure the current stark reality: with abusive conditions, lack of asylum system, and conflicts there, Libyan authorities cannot effectively guarantee rights or protect people."
By Fumbuka Ngwanakilala DAR ES SALAAM (Reuters) - Tanzanian authorities ordered the detention of an opposition lawmaker on Tuesday for insulting President John Magufuli, days after the president ordered officials to take action against 'incitement'. The opposition has accused Magufuli, nicknamed "the Bulldozer" for his blunt leadership style, of presiding over an increasingly authoritarian government. Kinondoni District Commissioner Ali Hapi ordered police to detain Halima Mdee, a lawmaker from the main opposition CHADEMA party, in the commercial capital Dar es Salaam and keep her for 48 hours pending criminal charges."She should be questioned and sent to court to explain the insults she made against our president," Hapi told journalists. He did not say what the insults were. Tanzania's laws allow regional and district commissioners to detain for 48 hours anyone who may "disturb public tranquillity." Magufuli warned opposition leaders on Sunday against "reckless" remarks and ordered authorities to take action against any opposition leader who incites violence. More than 10 people, including university students and a lecturer, have been charged in court over the past few months with insulting the president via social networking platform like WhatsApp.Insulting the president was made a criminal offence under a cyber crimes law passed in 2015 before Magufuli came into office. It is punishable by up to three years in jail, a fine of around $3,000 (2,320) or both.Magufuli ordered the immediate release of a popular local musician in March, a day after he was arrested for allegedly mocking the government in a song.Tanzanian authorities banned a newspaper for two years in June over articles it published linking two former presidents to alleged improprieties in mining deals signed in the 1990s and early 2000s. Activists and opposition leaders have accused the government of cracking down on press freedom. The government said free speech had limits. Magufuli remains popular with many voters for his anti-corruption drives and cutting wasteful government spending since coming to power in November 2015. On Monday, the government passed two bills allowing it to renegotiate gas and mining contracts with multinationals. Magufuli accuses many companies of tax evasion, charges the companies deny. (editing by Katharine Houreld and Duncan Miriri)
Another terrorist has been gunned down in the ongoing encounter in south Kashmir's Pulwama which began on Monday morning.

The three militants killed in encounter so far were newly recruited and one more militant is believed to be hiding in a house.

By Ashraf Wani: Security forces gunned down the third terrorist today in the ongoing encounter between holed up militants and security forces from Special Operations Group (SOG) of Jammu and Kashmir police in Bamnoo Keller area of Pulwama.

At least 10 protesters have also been injured in the clashes with the forces and protesters near the encounter site.

The three militants killed in encounter so far were newly recruited and one more militant is believed to be hiding in a house.

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The encounter began on Monday morning when forces, on specific inputs, cordoned off Bamnoo village in Pulwama district of south Kashmir.

The protesters had clashed with the security forces late on Sunday evening forcing them to call off the operation near the military air base in Koil.

On Saturday (July 1) top Lashkar commander Bashir Lashkari was killed in an encounter in Anantnag.

Hailing from Kokernag area of Anantnag district in south Kashmir Bashir Lashkari crossed to Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) in 1999.

ALSO READ | J-K: Encounter underway to flush out 3 Hizb militants in Pulwama; stone pelters urged to 'save brothers'

Kashmir: Encounter in Pulwama, 1 terrorist killed, 2 holed up inside house

ALSO WATCH | No Pak flags at my funeral, said Pulwama encounter terrorist Majid Mir in last phone call

--- ENDS ---
Yahoo UK News Video

The royal family has provided enough scandal to keep fans of Netflixs The Crown entertained for four seasons. And while Season Five of the hit show is no different, not all of the dramas that beset the royals in the tumultuous early 1990s have made the final cut  Netflix only had 10 hours after all. From how unbelievably close Diana came to getting caught collaborating with royal biographer Andrew Morton on his 1992 bestseller, Diana: Her True story, to how desperate Diana was to be believed that she even slipped Morton private correspondence between Charles and Camilla to prove her husbands infidelity once and for all, what got left out is just as gripping. While many of the scandals did end up being depicted on screen by Elizabeth Debicki and Dominic West as the warring Waleses, Scobie explores why some of these astonishing real-life moments of controversy were left out.
For many, the Fourth of July is about barbecues and fireworks, but the holiday also comes with risks, including drunken drivers, burn injuries and dehydration.

Albuquerque Mayor Richard Berry and other city officials are urging residents to be responsible and safe, and to take advantage of the public firework displays Tuesday night at Balloon Fiesta Park and Isotopes Park.

The citys annual Freedom 4th event at Balloon Fiesta Park will feature country music star Clint Black, along with several other performers. Gates open at 3 p.m., with Clint Black taking the stage at 8 p.m. and the fireworks slated to begin at about 9:15 p.m. The event is free, though there is a charge to park.

Lets enjoy the birthday of this great nation, and lets do it in a way that  keeps our neighbors and our families safe, Berry said during a news conference on Monday.

The mayor and Police Chief Gorden Eden warned that there will be consequences for impaired drivers. Berry noted that the Fourth of July tends to be one of the deadliest holidays on roadways. Eden said law enforcement agencies have stepped up patrols throughout the city.

According to the city, 14 people were arrested in Albuquerque over the weekend for driving while intoxicated.

If you intend to consume alcohol, designate a nondrinking driver. Use a taxicab, Uber or Lyft, said Paul Romero, chairman of the New Mexico state advisory board for Mothers Against Drunk Driving. The tragedy of killing or injuring innocent victims because of drunk driving is totally preventable.

Also concerning to city officials is the risk that fireworks pose.

Albuquerque Fire Chief David Downey said that if there is a caution label on the firework, it is allowed in the city. But if the device has a warning label, it is not legal to have it in the city.

Downey also warned that fireworks are not allowed near the bosque or in any city park. He said fireworks should be used in paved or barren areas with a water supply, either a hose or a bucket of water.

We all know its hot and dry, the fire chief said. If youre coming out to Balloon Fiesta Park, please bring lots of water and stay hydrated. Our most common medical emergency is going to be dehydration (today), and then (tonight) its going to be burn injuries to hands and eyes because parents are going to let their kids use fireworks. I would suggest you not do that. Kids get to watch, and adults get to light.
Another round of Base Realignment and Closure, or BRAC, is looking likely, and New Mexico  with three Air Force bases and an Army missile range  should embrace the opportunity it provides to save tax dollars while helping ensure our military installations are not only up to date but ready to tackle the future.

A BRAC, which must be approved by Congress, is a Department of Defense process to reorganize its base structure to more efficiently and effectively support U.S. forces and increase operational readiness. At least three members of the powerful House Armed Services Committee are indicating support for a new BRAC, and President Trump is requesting a BRAC in his 2018 budget proposal.

BRACs provide an opportunity to shed unneeded infrastructure and reduce maintenance costs. The Center for Strategic and International Studies estimates the militarys upkeep costs for excess infrastructure costs $2 billion annually, money that could be used to upgrade deteriorating military hardware and for other critical needs.

The Air Force and Army in particular are calling for a new BRAC. Air Force Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Stephen Wilson told the House Armed Services Committee in February the Air Force has 25 percent excess capacity and could save $25 billion by shedding excess infrastructure. The Army has said it has 21 percent more base infrastructure than it needs, even if it adds 25,000 troops.

Its important to note New Mexicans did their homework in 1995 and 2005 and Kirtland, Holloman and Cannon Air Force bases and the Armys White Sands Missile Range came out virtually unscathed from those BRACs, thanks in great part to strong community support and advance planning. It is impossible to overstate the economic impact each site has on its surrounding municipalities and the state.

And while a BRAC can prompt members of Congress to pull out all stops to ensure that no military installations in their district are downsized, a better tactic is to work with those installations to ensure they are right-sized, and with meaningful missions that address national security today and for many tomorrows to come.

With the advent of fifth-generation stealth aircraft, remotely piloted drone warfare, cyber warfare and laser-firing helicopters, its obvious the military  and its infrastructure needs  continues to evolve. A new BRAC offers the opportunity to take an objective look at the militarys basing programs, and for New Mexico to again make its best case for its economically important military installations.

This editorial first appeared in the Albuquerque Journal. It was written by members of the editorial board and is unsigned as it represents the opinion of the newspaper rather than the writers.
Pecan farmer John Clayshulte walks across an irrigation ditch containing water used to water alfalfa fields in the Mesilla Valley just west of Las Cruces in June. (Roberto E. Rosales/Albuquerque Journal) Mesilla Valley pecan orchards get a sprinkling as a storm moves through the region in late spring. (Roberto E. Rosales/Albuquerque Journal) Pecan farmer John Clayshulte stands by his pecan trees in the Mesilla Valley just west of Las Cruces in June. (Roberto E. Rosales/Albuquerque Journal) An irrigation ditch is filled with water used to irrigate alfalfa fields in the Mesilla Valley just west of Las Cruces in June. (Roberto E. Rosales/Albuquerque Journal) Pecans from southern New Mexico ready for packing and shipping. (Roberto E. Rosales/Albuquerque Journal) A farmer in the Mesilla Valley near Las Cruces prepares a field for planting on a late spring afternoon. (Roberto E. Rosales/Albuquerque Journal) A pecan orchard is flood-irrigated in the Mesilla Valley. (Roberto E. Rosales/Albuquerque Journal) Prev 1 of 7 Next

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story incorrectly said pecan acreage had grown to 95,000 acres in the Mesilla and Rincon valleys. That number refers to total irrigated acreage; pecan acreage totals 30,000 acres.

Copyright  2017 Albuquerque Journal

Most of the year, southern New Mexico farmers rely on groundwater from the Mesilla Bolson to irrigate their crops. Previous installments in this five-part series were published on June 25 and July 2 and 3.

MESILLA VALLEY  Ultimately, like they say, the river pays for all of it.

Pecan farmer John Clayshulte is talking about groundwater and its ancient link to the Rio Grande. He has come in from the orchards, a quick respite.

Irrigation season is beginning, but Clayshulte has been dealing with a pest on his trees, and he needs the ground to be dry. Today he is running his groundwater pumps to soak green fields of alfalfa.

The Rio Grande is the lifeblood of this valley, he says in his living room overlooking rows upon rows of pecan trees. No river, no life. Period. Because we wouldnt have this aquifer if it wasnt for the river. We sit over a huge, huge amount of water  there is no question about that. The questions are how much is physically recoverable, how much is economically recoverable and how much is legally recoverable.

When the Rio Grande isnt running  and most of the year, south of the Elephant Butte Dam, it isnt  southern New Mexico farmers irrigate their pecan orchards and onion, chile and alfalfa fields with groundwater from the Mesilla Bolson.

The less water there is in Elephant Butte, the less the river runs and the more farmers will pump groundwater.

They are by far the largest users on the aquifer, accounting for between 60 and 80 percent of groundwater withdrawals on the U.S. side in a given year, depending on drought conditions.

We had 19 straight years of above-average runoff into (Elephant Butte reservoir), Clayshulte said. Now, Im not a statistician. But I kept telling people, Dont get used to it. Because 19 years of above-average (runoff), somewhere out there is 19 years of below-average. It tells me there is a stretch of dry to make up for that stretch of wet. When we found it, we found it with a vengeance.

A study by a New Mexico universities working group estimated in 2015 that the cumulative volume of groundwater loss over the past 25 years due to pumping  factoring in water that is recycled to the river and aquifer  is comparable to the entire capacity of Elephant Butte Reservoir, more than 2 million acre-feet.

The aquifer has not yet recovered, the report warned, which suggests that the Mesilla Valley aquifer may no longer have the capacity to provide a reliable, supplemental supply during extended drought conditions and with the current levels of intensive use of groundwater.

Through the deserts hottest months, a skim of water covers the orchard floors, reflecting blue skies and the leafy tops of thousands of pecan trees. The technique known as flood irrigation is meant to mimic the historic flooding of the Rio Grande.

Pecan farmers saturate their orchards each spring by pumping groundwater until the river water comes available to them, which this year happened in mid-May  months after they needed to start watering their fields. And thirsty orchards are inflexible in a way that seasonal row crops are not: Pecans cant be fallowed or shorted water without harming the trees, says groundwater resources manager Eric Fuchs, who monitors water levels for the Elephant Butte Irrigation District.

The preference would be if we had a full allotment (of river water) and could run from early mid-March to September, he says.

That hasnt happened since 2008  a one-year respite. Farmers have been dealing with substantially lower allotments of river water since 2003, Fuchs says.

EBID serves the farmers of the Mesilla Valley, managing allotments of river water across the irrigation season.

Fuchs has seen the declines in well water levels  a bit concerning, he says.

He attributes the drops at wells near the border to the Ciudad Juarez well field at Conejos Medanos, which, when it was turned on in 2010, added a burst of consumption nearly the size of what Las Cruces consumes annually.

The drops at wells in the green belt of row crops and pecan orchards he blames on the heavy groundwater pumping farmers have used to get through the drought.

To the extent that it is all an interrelated resource, and to the extent you have collective stresses on that resource, eventually all those effects will have a tendency to accumulate, he said. Its the interrelated nature of the system.

But as the largest users on the Mesilla Bolson, southern New Mexico farmers have been drawing down the binational aquifer in far greater volumes. Yet as Clayshulte knows, they are limited by what they can afford to draw out and what the law allows.

To appease Texas in a 2008 water dispute, southern New Mexico farmers traded some of their rights to surface water in the reservoir for the guarantee that their groundwater wouldnt be shut down, according to EBID general counsel Samantha Barncastle. Theyre allowed to pump 4.5 acre-feet of groundwater per acre after using all their river allotment.

Its set by court order, but its also set by what I like to call farmer economics, Barncastle said. Groundwater is extremely important to these farmers here, especially in the Mesilla Valley, because its their storage, their savings account. It provides them a level of flexibility that they wouldnt necessarily have in years of short supply with surface water. Its extremely expensive to run those pumps. They only pump what their crop needs and they only pump when their crop needs it.

Even as they experiment with conservation techniques such as capturing stormwater, farmers with the money and means to do so are drilling wells ever deeper. With pecan prices close to a historic high above $3 a pound  high prices that have lasted nearly a decade, thanks to demand from China  groundwater pumping for some farmers is worth it.

Irrigated farmland in the Mesilla and Rincon valleys has grown by thousands of acres over the past decade to roughly 95,000 acres, according to Phil King, a civil engineer at New Mexico State University. Pecan acreage currently totals about 30,000 acres.

New trees are popping up all over the region, across the Mesilla Valley to the Valle de Juarez east of Ciudad Juarez and south toward Casas Grandes in Chihuahua.

On a cloudy afternoon, with the sky spitting quick showers, the ditches along Clayshultes property are running full of groundwater. Pumps spew up to 2,500 gallons per minute into the canals that slide the water onto his fields.

He is fortunate in that his wells havent dropped at the levels seen elsewhere in the valley, he says.

Many farmers are sensitive to critics  often city folk  who balk at their water use. The cities that sprung up in this region did so because farmers settled the floodplain of the Rio Grande, they say. And they are, after all, growing food  protein, in the case of the pecans.

Clayshulte boils it down further.

Bear in mind what these trees do with this water, he says. Theyre sucking up all the carbon dioxide we make and theyre producing oxygen. We do get criticized for how much water we use  I think justifiably so. But people need to remember youre breathing that water. Im breathing it.

This seasons snowmelt was running above-average; the Elephant Butte Reservoir is rising and the river may run a month longer than expected, well into September.

Now comes the question that only time will answer: Is New Mexico swinging back to a wet cycle, as wet as it once was, or is 2017 another blip on the climate chart, an exception in the trend lines toward higher temperatures and harder-to-reach groundwater?

I dont think anybody knows the answer to that one, said Dave DuBois, New Mexico state climatologist. Is it a turn for the better? I dont know. For this year, I tell people, enjoy it while you have it.

This report was produced in partnership with the McGraw Center for Business Journalism at the City University of New York Graduate School of Journalism.

Wednesday: A rancher and farmer compete for water at the Bootheel border
New Mexico Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver repeated her vow during a nationally televised interview on MSNBC on Monday not to turn New Mexico voter rolls over to President Donald Trumps administration unless subpoenaed, saying she feared a witch hunt in search of widespread voter fraud that does not exist.

Toulouse Oliver told MSNBCs Katie Tur that Trumps Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity, which sent letters to all 50 secretaries of state last week asking for names, birth dates and other information on voter registration rolls dating back to 2006, was acting inappropriately.

In New Mexico, we have certain laws on the books that protect voters private identifier information, such as their Social Security number and their birth date, Toulouse Oliver said. I would have to be issued some sort of subpoena or something like that to hand that data over.

Asked what she thought the data would be used for, Toulouse Oliver did not mince words.

I think its essentially a Trojan horse thats going to be used to advance voter suppression around this country, she said.

Over the weekend, Trump asked via Twitter, What are they trying to hide? The tweet was a reference to more than two dozen election officials around the country, including New Mexicos, who have refused the request for data.

We have absolutely nothing to hide, Toulouse Oliver said. I dont want to participate in a witch hunt, which is going to further cast aspersions on the election process in this country.

RUNNING: Tony Martinez, a Las Cruces veteran and activist, is seeking the 2nd Congressional District seat, currently held by Rep. Steve Pearce, a Republican.

Martinez, co-founder of a local Indivisible activist group, officially launched his campaign in San Miguel, N.M., on Saturday. Martinez, 58, grew up in San Miguel and Mesquite, neighboring villages strung along N.M. 28, an old trade route forged in the early 1600s.

Martinez said his discussions with residents frustrated with the Trump administration and Pearces representation prompted his decision to run.

They felt the deck was stacked against them and thought Washington no longer worked for them, the first-time political candidate said.

Three other Democrats have said they intend to run for the seat in 2018: David Baake and Ronald Fitzherbert of Las Cruces, and Mad Hildebrandt of Socorro.

Michael Coleman: mcoleman@abqjournal.com
SANTA FE  New Mexico appears to have dodged  at least for now  an additional downgrade to its bond rating, though a national credit rating agency warned that the state still faces deep-rooted economic challenges.

Moodys Investor Service announced last week that the state would keep its current bond rating for general obligation bonds but with a negative outlook for the future. A rating downgrade could have led to higher borrowing rates for infrastructure projects.

A spokesman for Gov. Susana Martinez, the states two-term Republican governor, suggested Monday that the stable bond rating validated the governors anti-tax increase stance, which had put her at odds with top-ranking Democratic lawmakers.

Those who said we needed to take more money from New Mexicans  instead of the state living within its means  will have to explain to their constituents why politics was more important than hard-working families, Martinez spokesman Joseph Cueto said Monday.

However, leading lawmakers said Martinezs tax stance had complicated budget-balancing efforts during a prolonged state revenue downturn and prompted a three-day special session in May.

A lot of what we accomplished could have been done in the regular session, said Rep. Patricia Lundstrom, D-Gallup, chairwoman of the Legislative Finance Committee.

She also said the state could ill afford to have its credit rating downgraded twice in less than a year, adding, We want to work to keep it there.

Moodys had downgraded New Mexicos top rating for general obligation bonds in October  its now AA1 instead of AAA  and some lawmakers had expressed concern about the possibility of a second downgrade.

In announcing New Mexicos bond rating would not change, the credit rating agency cited several special session actions aimed at shoring up the states budget  including setting aside more money in cash reserves and creating a rainy-day fund to help keep state government operations running in future cash-lean years  that were signed into law by Martinez.

But while Moodys noted that New Mexico has a history of taking timely action to maintain a balanced budget, it expressed concern about structural problems with the states economy.

Balanced against these strengths are an economy that has lagged the nations, below-average wealth levels and financial reporting practices which, while improving, are weaker than typical for a U.S. state, the Moodys report said.

New Mexico has had one of the nations highest unemployment rates in recent months  the jobless rate was at 6.6 percent in May  and more than 40 percent of the states population is enrolled in Medicaid.

The states revenue levels have plummeted in the past two years, largely because of decreasing oil and natural gas prices, and state cash reserves have dwindled from $613 million at the start of the 2016 budget year to an estimated $24 million for the budget year that started Saturday  or less than 1 percent of state spending.

And thats after the Legislature approved a complex bond transaction and other one-time fixes aimed at freeing up more dollars for the budget during the May special session.

Despite the budget-balancing headaches, Sen. Steven Neville, R-Aztec, said he didnt expect the states bond rating to be downgraded again.

The reality is, we have $25 billion in the bank and were not going to go bankrupt, he said, referring to money in state permanent funds that make annual distributions to help fund state public schools and other programs.

Other energy-reliant states have also struggled to fund government operations after big drops in oil and natural gas prices, and Illinois lawmakers have been trying to avert becoming the first state ever with a junk bond rating.

While Moodys assigned a negative outlook to New Mexicos general obligation bonds, the credit rating agency changed its outlook on state severance tax bonds  backed by future revenue collections on extractive industries  from negative to stable.
The former superintendent of Wagon Mound Public Schools has asked a district court judge to rule that the three-year contract she signed in January is valid and in effect and to issue a temporary restraining order preventing the school board from canceling her $99,000-per-year contract.

According to the complaint filed in District Court in Albuquerque on Friday, the Wagon Mound school board voted 3-2 in January to extend the contract of Superintendent Sheryl McNellis through June 30, 2020. But during a special meeting last month, the board, with three new members, voted 4-1 to declare the contract invalid and void because one of the school board members who approved the contract extension should not have been serving on the board.

McNellis previous contract with the school district, which has a total enrollment of about 66 students, expired Friday, the same day she filed the complaint.

The complaint says that the new chairman of the school board, Tony Rubin, was upset about McNellis contract being renewed and sought ways to remove her from office.

Rubin had filed a complaint with the Attorney Generals Office alleging violations of the states Open Meetings Act for the meeting at which McNellis contract extension was approved and that board member Debbie Coca was ineligible to vote.

A spokesman for the attorney general said Monday that the offices Open Government Division was reviewing that complaint and intends to make a determination in the near future.

Coca had been appointed to the board in July 2016 to fill a vacancy. According to a letter from the school districts attorney to the AGs Office, while Coca owns a ranch within the school district boundaries, Coca acknowledged the home there was not yet fit for her to live in. The address she used to register to vote was also outside the school district boundaries in Watrous.

The letter also says that McNellis was responsible for determining whether people interested in applying for the vacant position were eligible.

It says that McNellis told the board last fall that Cocas eligibility had been looked into and that Coca lived in an area where students can decide where they want to attend school.

Apparently, the Superintendent believed that option carried over to Board member qualification, states the letter from the school districts attorney, Linda M. Trujillo.

McNellis complaint states that the boards action to void her contract would place a cloud over her reputation, jeopardizes her income and future employment status, and undermines the public trust in votes cast and decisions made by public bodies.

McNellis is also asking the judge to award her damages and attorneys fees.

In an unrelated case, a district judge in San Miguel County last month ordered that $3,426 be garnished from McNellis wages as a result of a breach of contract complaint filed by San Miguel Hospital Corp. last December.
New Mexico State Police have concluded that the deaths of a married couple found in a truck on Interstate 40 was a case of murder-suicide.

A State Police statement issued Tuesday did not indicate which of the couple killed the other Thursday. But the statement said Jacob Kokotkiewicz, 31, was found with a 9mm handgun between his legs. His wife, Ursula Tammy Kokotkiewicz, 32, was sitting in the passenger seat.

A State Police officer who was providing traffic control for a hazmat incident west of Albuquerque found the couple.

The officer saw a blue Dodge pickup with a camper shell parked on the eastbound shoulder of the freeway with the engine running. He went to check on the vehicle and saw the bodies inside. Both had been shot in the head.

State Police Crime Scene Team members processed the scene and surrounding area, but did not find any forensic evidence indicating someone else was involved, according to the statement.

Electronic devices found in the vehicle will be analyzed for evidence that may indicate a motive, State Police said.

State Police have said the couple lived in Flower Mound, Texas.

Ursula Tammy Kokotkiewicz Facebook page showed she taught English in the Dallas area. Posts on her Instagram account show she had been traveling to national parks in the Southwest. The last post was on June 27 in Zion National Park, Utah, two days before the bodies were found.
The 400 Spanish conquistadors who walked into the Aztec capital in the 16th century had conquest and new-world riches on their minds, but they were initially welcomed as friends. From that peaceful vantage point, they were amazed by the splendor of the people of Tenochtitlan  and their cannibalistic brutality.

They found temples soaked with blood and human hearts being burned in ceramic braziers, according to the Archaeological Institute of America.

They had heard tales of thousands sacrificed at the Great Temples dedication, four rows of victims that stretched for miles, all waiting to have their hearts torn out.

The conquistadors and the Spaniards who followed them wrote of the victims of human sacrifices rolling down the steps of the temple, where they were dismembered, then eaten in a stew with chilies and tomatoes.

But one thing terrified the European newcomers more than almost anything: A rack of human skulls that towered over one corner of the temple to Huitzilopochtli, the Aztec god of the sun, war and human sacrifice

Andres de Tapia, one of Hernan Cortes soldiers, wrote that there were so many human skulls, he had to resort to multiplication to count them all.

We found there were 136,000 heads.

Those skulls, the conquistadors assumed, were what remained of men who had been defeated in battle.

They were both ornamentation and message: This is what happens to Aztec enemies.

Nearly 500 years later, scientists digging in Mexico City have unearthed the skulls.

They have also turned up more questions about the nature of Aztec human sacrifice that conflict with the conquistadors thinking.

Their biggest finding: The skulls werent just the heads of male warriors who had been defeated by the Aztecs. Some were the smaller, thinner skulls of women and children.

We were expecting just men, obviously young men, as warriors would be, Rodrigo Bolanos, a biological anthropologist investigating the find, told the news agency Reuters, and the thing about the women and children is that youd think they wouldnt be going to war.

Its clear the Aztecs had publicly displayed the skulls of women and children, but who were they?

Defeated people from neighboring civilizations? Aztecs who had been sacrificed?

And why did the Aztecs display them in one of their holiest places?

Researchers believe the tower of skulls was definitively a show of power by the Aztecs. But a more detailed explanation has eluded researchers and may have died with the Aztecs.

The skulls were found in the cylindrical edifice near Templo Mayor, one of the main temples in Tenochtitlan.

Bolanos and other researchers from the Mexican National Institute of Anthropology and History have been researching the skull rack since it was discovered in 2015.

The excavation unearthed nearly 700 skulls.

But the dig is ongoing, and researchers expect to find more as they get closer to the base of the tower of skulls.

The conquistadors werent exactly known for their attention to historical preservation. They slaughtered the Aztecs, who outnumbered the Spanish, but were literally outgunned. And the Aztecs who avoided Spanish bullets succumbed to Old World diseases, which further decimated the native population.

On the ruins of the Aztec empire, Mexico City began to rise.

In fact, Cortes and the Spaniards who followed him used the pre-Hispanic structures as the foundation for new churches and cathedrals, according to the Associated Press.

It was both a symbolic decision and a practical one.

It showed how the Aztec gods had been displaced by the Christian church, but also saved the Spaniards the trouble of building new foundations, walls and floors.

Over the intervening centuries, forgotten Aztec ruins  and clues about their pre-Hispanic civilization  were buried beneath the largest city in North America.

But the ruins have refused to stay buried. Some were discovered in the rubble of buildings destroyed in a 1985 earthquake.

And in 1978, workers laying electrical cables two blocks from the Zocalo, Mexico Citys main square, discovered the Aztecs Templo Mayor, or high temple.

Centuries after the Aztec civilization fell, the surprise find is still yielding new artifacts  and raising new questions.

Something is happening that we have no record of, said Bolanos, the biological anthropologist. This is really new, a first.
An activist has filed a complaint in the Anti-Corruption Bureau against Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramiah for allegedly indulging in corruption over the cancellation of liquor licenses.

By Nolan Pinto: Activist Ravi Krishna Reddy has filed a complaint in the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) against Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramiah for allegedly indulging in corruption over the cancellation of liquor licenses in the state.

Reddy alleged that there has been widespread corruption in the whole exercise, and that in a few cases, the Excise department deliberately refused to renew liquor licenses with the sole intention of extracting bribes from liquor vendors.

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Reddy says the "formal authority in the state who renews an excise license in many cases is the Deputy Commissioner (Revenue) who does so only after prior sanction from the excise commissioner or the excise department." So he blames Deputy Commissioners of several districts for being part of the whole nexus.

However, he doubts a proper investigation will take place since the ACB comes directly under the CM.

'CASE SHOULD BE INVESTIGATED BY LOKAYUKTA'

Senior BJP leader S Prakash wondered what the state government was doing all this time, when they knew of the Supreme Court order.

"The state government was sleeping on the order and was busy making the best use of this information," he told India Today.

He claimed that since the excise department comes under Siddaramiah, all the responsibility falls on him.

On the complaint filed by the anti-corruption activist, Prakash said, "This case should be investigated by the Lokayukta and not the ACB which has lost all credibility."

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--- ENDS ---
PRESCOTT VALLEY, Ariz.  Officials grounded a firefighting helicopter after a drone flew above a forest fire in north-central Arizona.

Fire spokesman Kale Casey says the helicopter was the only aircraft used Tuesday morning in fighting the fire south of Prescott Valley. Casey wasnt sure if it remained grounded later Tuesday.

The incident follows the arrest last week of a Prescott Valley man after a drone flight above the same blaze during peak firefighting efforts last week. Multiple aircraft were ground during what Casey says was a crucial time for containing the fire.

As of Tuesday morning, the fire was 91 percent contained and has charred more than 40 square miles (103.6 sq. kilometers).

The last of thousands of residents who fled from the fire were able to return home Monday morning.
GreenCheese, the young PR consultancy, has bagged PR mandate for two big brands. Winning out of a multi-agency pitch, the consultancy has added Dainik Jagran INEXT and ISKCON Food Relief Foundation Haryana Chapter to its portfolio. The accounts will be handled by Lovejeet Alexander, the lead strategist, from the Gurgaon office.

Speaking on the association, Alok Sanwal, the COO of Dainik Jagran INEXT, said, We are the disruptors of print publication in India. We introduced the idea of bi-lingual reporting with our flagship publication  Dainik Jagran INEXT. We have seen a similar mix of synergy, innovation, and agility in Alex and are excited with the partnership.

Lovejeet Alexander, lead strategist, GreenCheese said, While nobody could dare to consider the idea of mixed-language publishing, Dainik Jagran INEXT took that leap of faith, under the able guidance of Alok Sanwal, a decade later, even the strongest of TV news channels are following suit. We are honoured to take on the mandate of such an innovative and entrepreneurial brand.

While Dainik Jagran INEXT is a decade-old print giant that has re-written the history of newspapers in India, ISKCON Food Relief Foundation (IFRF), Haryana Chapter is an NGO that is involved in delivering millions of healthy mid-day meals to students.

Dhananjay Krishna Das, Vice Chairman, ISKCON Food Relief Foundation, Haryana, said about the association, We are serving millions of healthy, nutritious and sattvik mid-day meals in four cities of Haryana. In partnership with GreenCheese, we intend to spread the word about all the good work that we have been doing and open opportunities for people and corporate houses so as to participate in the initiative.

Talking about the association with ISKCON Food Relief Foundation, Haryana, Alex said, This is one challenging mandate that we have taken upon as a responsibility towards the society. For the cause, we will step out of our core area of work and give consultancy on marketing and branding as well. We are also committed to supporting the organisation by way of fundraising. We will do whatever it takes to help bring in a positive and healthy change in the society.

GreenCheese, the young PR consultancy that specialises in PR for startups has a challenging task of catering to the needs a giant publishing house's disruptor media product on one side while a worldwide popular organisations' social initiative on the other.
Axis Bank, countrys third largest private sector bank launched a new campaign Experience Axis, featuring its brand ambassador Deepika Padukone. The Bank showcases a range of offers on their credit and debit card bouquet, through the vibrant twenty-second video series.

The cards category in India has been growing steadily with time. Over the last 3 years, Axis Bank Credit Cards have been key growth drivers, subsequently resulting in Axis Bank being the 2nd highest contributor to the overall number of credit cards in the market. Additionally, the bank has the 2nd highest CAGR (48%) in the industry over last 4 years and the highest growth amongst the top industry players.

Speaking on the launch of the campaign, Asha Kharga, CMO, Axis Bank said, Experience Axis is a single unified idea that ties all the value offerings on cards across shopping, dining and travel. It elevates the brand imagery by focusing on experiences rather than just deals. It aims to differentiate us in a category where discounts and cashbacks are the reigning language and build usage and preference for Axis Bank Cards. The monochromatic treatment coupled with Deepikas playful charm also makes the films a clutter-breaking visual delight

The campaign conceptualized by Lowe Lintas Mumbai showcases Deepika Padukone, the brand ambassador of Axis Bank in candid moments. She is seen experiencing shopping and dining privileges that Axis Bank cards uniquely have to offer.

Arun Iyer, Chairman & Chief Creative Officer - Lowe Lintas said, the brief was to differentiate ourselves within the category. Our starting point was based on an observation that young working Indians, are more open to spending on what they desire than what they need. While cards are the enablers of this behavior, when we delved deeper to understand their point-of-view we realized that they dont see this as spending money but more as gathering experiences  something they value much more than material possessions Hence our approach was to position the range of Axis Credit n Debit Cards as the window to the world of experiences called Experience Axis We felt Deepika would be ideal to bring this alive given that she is also a young working professional and therefore the connect would be seamless.
In keeping with its commitment to provide an unparalleled level of service to architects, designers and consumers alike, Kohler Co., a global leader in the design and manufacture of kitchen and bath products, announces the launch of a new retail conceptthe KOHLER Experience Center (KEC)offering a global immersion in the full offering of KOHLER products.

The first ever KEC in India opened in Lajpat Nagar 4, New Delhi on June 30th, 2017. The Center houses fully-functioning displays of Kohlers global product line, from showers and bathtubs to sinks and toilets a first for both the industry and for the KOHLER brand in India. This will enable architects, design professionals and consumers to test and specify KOHLER products all under one roof.

Our Kohler Experience Centers signify a paradigm shift in our retail experience globally. With the launch of the Kohler Experience Center in New Delhi we are elevating our retail experience allowing end consumers, architects and designers to have an interactive and immersive experience with Kohlers global range of products, said David Kohler, President and CEO of Kohler Co.

One of the highlights of the KEC New Delhi is the zone featuring the seven exclusive designer suites. These were conceptualized to showcase the possibilities in luxury bathroom space - created by some of Indias top architecture and design talent, each exclusive suite features Kohlers finest products woven into a distinctive theme. Japanese minimalism and warm woody tones add a cozy touch to the CCBA Zen Style Bathroom by Christopher Benninger and Ramprasad Akkisetti of CCBA. Sarabjit Singh of Fabinteriors has made use of a sleek, neutral palette brightened with a splash of azure to create the ultramodern AZURE  Splendors of the Seaside Horizon. Sole Soul Flight by Husna Rahaman of Fulcrum pays reverence to the exploration of ones inner self with a stark, simplistic palette. Deco Nouveau Classic Timeless by Vikram Phadke of Interspace Architects marries old world elegance with new age technology in the classic shades of black and white. Memory, by Sandeep Khosla and Amaresh Anand of Khosla & Associates explores notions of craft and nostalgia through contrasting textures and finishes and a muted palette. Sanjay Puri created Ishatvam with rich, earthy colours and bronze highlights that render the bathing space with grandeur. Krupa Zubin and Zubin Zainuddin of ZZ Architects created Sublime Luxury, a suite designed to revitalize the senses in an ambience of warm, understated luxury.

We are passionate about being ingrained in current and future trends and understanding how architects and designers work with our products. said Mr. Salil Sadanandan, President K&B Kohler Brand - South Asia & EMEA at Kohler Co. The Kohler Experience Center features a unique collaboration with seven of Indias top architects, with the aim of inspiring our consumers to make the bathroom the centerpiece of their home.

Designed by Ambrish Arora, Founder and Principal Architect of Studio Lotus, each touch point of the 10,000 square-foot space is designed to immerse, connect and inspire while helping architects and designers specify the best products for their projects. There are dedicated spaces for Kohlers exclusive Artist Editions range of products. In addition, KALLISTA  , a Kohler Co. brand of plumbing products will have a dedicated space designed by Studio Lotus.

By the end of the year, Kohler Experience Centers will be rolled out across major cities of the world, including New York, London, Los Angeles, Singapore, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Bangkok and Taipei.
Koovs plc, (AIM:KOOV), today announces its collaboration with one of the most anticipated Bollywood movies for 2017  Jab Harry Met Sejal, starring global icon Shah Rukh Khan (playing Harry) & Anushka Sharma (playing Sejal). With the movie strapline What you seek is seeking you, Jab Harry Met Sejal will see Harry and Sejal travel across the iconic European cities of Lisbon, Amsterdam, Budapest and Prague.

Koovs has created an exclusive capsule collection, as styling partner for the film, of selected womens and mens fashion from the movie which will be launched on KOOVS.COM to coincide with the films release on 4th August. The collaboration will also include a co-branded multi-media campaign featuring Shah Rukh Khan and culminating with a social media contest to meet and greet the stars.

Mary Turner CEO of Koovs says, Im excited to be collaborating with this highly anticipated movie and with two of Indias amazing icons. Partnering with Bollywood has a massive effect in helping young people connect with our brand, so its a really smart and cost-effective way for Koovs to leverage the momentum the film is creating across all media platforms and its a perfect fit with our brand essence which stands for fun, empowerment and effortless style every day.

Web Site & Trailer

www.koovs.com
Another render showing whats said to be the Galaxy Note 8 surfaced online on Tuesday, depicting Samsungs next flagship in some kind of a protective case and clearly showing its dual camera setup and fingerprint reader, as well as a dual-LED (dual tone) flash unit and a heart rate monitor that are separating the scanner from the camera module. The placement of the fingerprint sensor was one of the main gripes consumers had with the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 Plus, otherwise highly praised devices that are reportedly breaking a number of sales records and are seemingly outperforming virtually every other Android device released this year so far.

Its currently unclear whether the protective case shown in the newly uncovered render is one of Samsungs official accessories that just went live for pre-orders earlier today, though the image itself seemingly confirms that the upcoming phablet will feature a physical Bixby button located below its volume rocker, much like the one featured on the Galaxy S8 lineup. Industry insiders previously said that the South Korean original equipment manufacturer (OEM) is looking to make the Galaxy Note 8s Bixby button textured in order to help consumers differentiate between that key and the volume down one without looking. The same source that shared the image above this writing also claimed that the Galaxy Note 8 will be the first mobile device using some unspecified imaging technology, further raising the expectations from the phablets camera setup.

Both lenses featured on the back panel of the Galaxy Note 8 are thought to be manufactured by Samsung Opto-Electronics and may be of the 13-megapixel variety with wide apertures that should allow them to perform well in low-light conditions. According to numerous previous leaks, the Galaxy Note 8 will boast a similar aesthetic to the one seen on the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 Plus, with the phone supposedly featuring a nearly bezel-less design and 6.3-inch Infinity Display with an 18.5:9 aspect ratio. The handset is widely expected to be launched in late summer, presumably in the run-up to IFA Berlin that starts on September 1, so more details on the device and Samsungs other hardware endeavors should follow shortly.
Android 7.1 (Nougat) may be hitting at least five LeEco devices in the near future, if a leaked photo that appears to depict testing firmware in ZIP files is any indication. The file names indicate that the update to Android 7.1 Nougat will bring the phones up to Ecosystem UI version 6.0.28. The phones in question are the Le 2, Le 2 Pro, Le Pro 3, Le Max 2, and Le S3. The picture shows a Windows folder full of ZIP files with names that paint them as EUI 6.0.28 updates for a number of LeEco devices, but since the screen is a bit cut off in the leaked picture, there could be more ZIP files not shown, which would mean that the update may be coming to more phones. There is no indication of exactly when the updates may hit.

LeEcos EUI is known for being a somewhat slim and unobtrusive skin, but packing in a good number of features and a distinctive look. The jump to Android 7.1 will help build on this by incorporating new features like app icon shortcuts, a blue light filter, and rounded default items into EUI, along with a number of under-the-hood tweaks and bugfixes. Memory management is high on the list of fixes, as well as battery enhancement through changes to app prioritization and Androids built-in Doze feature. LeEcos own touches on the update have not been seen as of yet, since there are currently no phones running EUI version 6.0.28.

LeEco testing out such a major update on this many devices is a good sign for both the companys fortunes and how it will treat users going forward. Even so, the omission of newer releases such as Marchs Le Pro3 Elite, seems a bit odd. This may, of course, simply mean that the folders for those devices were outside of the portion of the screen depicted in the photo, as noted above. The company has suffered serious money issues in recent years, which ended up turning its entry into the US market into a flicker, and causing a large number of layoffs in international operations. While LeEcos products are well-loved in China, the brand is relatively unknown outside of its homeland, which means that its expensive efforts to roll out in other countries have not been met with quite the reception that LeEco expected, in many cases.
LeEco is facing more financial troubles after the China Merchants Bank asked the authorities to freeze certain assets of the Chinese tech firm. The bank has reportedly submitted at least two separate requests to freeze the assets of certain subsidiaries of LeEco. One of the requests ask the authorities to prevent the Leview Mobile HK Limited from disposing or dealing with its assets, presumably until the company repays its loan with the bank. The second asset freeze request deals with the properties currently held by other LeEco subsidiary, the groups founder Jia Yueting, and his wife. This asset freeze request prevents Jia and his company to move certain assets amounting to more than $182 million.

The China Merchants Bank made the asset freeze requests to ensure that LeEco will repay the remaining portion of the tech firms loan. LeEco, back in 2015, obtained a 10 billion Yuan ($1.47 billion) loan from the bank in order to finance the companys acquisition of the smartphone manufacturer Coolpad. This was the largest loan obtained by LeEco at the time. Aside from the said bank, other companies that have made deals with LeEco have taken additional measures to ensure that it will not be severely affected by the current financial state of the tech firm. Foxconn, a major Chinese manufacturing firm, sold its minority ownership of LeEcos most profitable subsidiary, the video streaming service Leshi Zhixin. The company is also facing increasing pressure from the wireless carrier China Mobile over late payments and Compal Electronics of Taiwan over debt repayments. The latter company also set aside its plans to invest in the companys video streaming firm, at least in the short term.

LeEcos founder has already hinted on the grim financial state of his company after saying that the companys cash problems are actually far worse than expected. Despite the recent efforts made by the firm, it looks like the cash infusion from investors and massive job cuts across its subsidiaries failed to save the company from a worsening cash crunch. Whether or not LeEco will resort to even more drastic financial measures in face of the increasingly difficult business environment remains to be seen.
Samsung has announced that it plans to spend around $18.6 billion to build and upgrade different production facilities that manufacture NAND memory chips. Out of the total investment, $12 billion will go to a new NAND production facility in Pyongteak and about $7 billion will go to another new facility in Hwaseong. The remaining amount of investments will go to another facility in the Xian, China where a new production line will be installed. Aside from the boost of production capacity that these new investments will bring, Samsung estimates that 440,000 new jobs will be created as the new production facilities hire necessary staff. These new jobs could also boost the economy of the areas where the memory chip factories are located through the increased spending ability of its residents.

The investments made on the production facilities are important to fulfill the growing demand for memory chips. As more smartphones and servers utilize NAND chips, manufacturers like Samsung, Toshiba, and SK Hynix have been struggling to keep up with the demand. Nonetheless, the high prices of the NAND chips resulted in a big boost in the profits of the major chip manufacturers. In the case of Samsung Electronics, high chip prices raised the profits of the South Korean tech giant to the point where it could possibly hold the distinction of being the most profitable company globally in the second quarter of 2017. The increase in chip production will only result in higher revenue for the South Korean electronics giant since the increased demand for memory chips is expected to continue until at least the year 2020. It will also take a few more years before Chinese manufacturers will be able to produce competitive memory chip offerings, so the three major chip manufacturers will still have the market all to themselves.

While the dominance in the memory chip business has surely helped Samsungs bottom line, it is not the only division to do so. The tech giants display business, Samsung Display, was also able to generate substantial revenues for the company as its OLED panels are also in high demand. In contrast, the companys smartphone business only fills up a minor percentage of the conglomerates overall operating profits even if it is the business that many consumers identify the Samsung brand with.
Samsung, one of the largest electronics company in the world, was forced to reduce its global workforce due to the restructuring of its business operations in China, based on company data. The data shows that the electronics giant has reduced the number of its employees in 2016 by 5.2 percent, from 325,677 down to 308,745. In its South Korean home base, Samsung has cut down its workforce by 3.8 percent and is now down to 93,204 while it slashed the number of its employees abroad by 5.8 percent and is now currently 215,541. It was in China where the largest workforce reduction was implemented in 2016 where the labor force was slashed down by 17.5 percent and is now down to just 37, 070. However, the North and South American workforce experienced an increase in employee numbers by 8.5 percent, and now count 25,988 employees.

Not every Samsung outpost out there experienced workforce downsizing. The companys operations in Japan, as well as in other Southeast Asian countries, experienced an increase when it comes to employees number over the past year. There were around 28,000 people that joined Samsungs Southeast Asian facilities last year, increasing this regions workforce to 140,437. However, the overall percentage of employees in Samsungs international operations declined 0.4 percent to 69.8 percent at the close of 2016. This reduction in the number of employees in South Korea occurred when HP Inc. acquired the printing business of Samsung. Additionally, the electronics giant restructured its operations in China and other Asian countries that led to the reduction in the overall number of its workforce in this region.

While the ratio of Samsungs female employees also dropped 2 percent to 44 percent in 2016, the number of female managers and executives increased from 12.4 percent and 4.5 percent respectively in 2015 to 12.7 percent and 6.3 percent in 2016. The South Korean company has been very active in developing business partnerships with other companies abroad in line with its core business. This was revealed by Samsungs data which showed that as of the close of 2016, the electronics giant has 2,468 co-operative business partners around the world. As of last year, Samsung has been maintaining 238 major production facilities, 34 research and development centers, seven design centers, 53 distribution centers and 73 service centers all over the world.
Rijiju's helicopter made an emergency landing near the Arunachal Pradesh capital due to heavy fog and rain.

By Jitendra Bahadur Singh: Union Minister of State Kiren Rijiju's helicopter today made an emergency landing near Itanagar due to heavy fog and rain.Rijiju escaped unhurt.

"I was lucky enough to be landed safely, thanks to the BSF pilots who are very experienced," Rijiju told the news agency PTI.

The Mi-17 helicopter with Rijiju and seven other passengers and crew members on board was flying from Guwahati to Ziro in Arunachal Pradesh.

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The helicopter's BSF (Border Security Force) pilots manoeuvred for around 10 minutes before landing in a small field.

Itanagar's Superintendent of Police reached the spot within half an hour. Local residents, too, came forward to help Rijiju and others.

Rijiju is the Minister of State for Home Affairs.

(Inputs from PTI)

ALSO READ | London flight makes emergency landing in Germany over suspicious talk on board

ALSO READ | Air India Delhi bound flight takes off with faulty ACs, leaves flyers gasping for oxygen

Watch the video here

--- ENDS ---
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Colombo, Jul 4 (PTI) The Sri Lankan military said today it has returned 54 acres of land to nearly 190 families from the minority Tamil community and ended its control over a major fishing harbour it had occupied in 1990 in the former war zone of Jaffna.

The release came as a positive response from the military to the long-standing demands of the Tamil people and supports the pledge of President Maithripala Sirisena, who vowed during his election campaign to work towards achieving reconciliation with the minorities.

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In April, the Sri Lankan Army took a similar initiative and had released 35 acres of land to their original owners in Urani town in Northern Province, including a fishing harbour.

Today, the Army said in a statement that 187 families, who reside as Internally Displaced Persons since June 1990, will now be able to return to their lands and resume their fishing livelihood after nearly 30 years.

The land and the Mayliddy fishing harbour are located close to the Lankan militarys airforce base at Palaly and the naval port of Kankesanthurai.

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam ran a nearly three- decade separatist campaign leading to a bloody war with the Sri Lankan security forces.

As the civil war erupted in June 1990, many Tamils living near the military installations were driven out and their land was not occupied by the security forces.

According to the UN figures, up to 40,000 civilians were killed by the security forces during former president Mahinda Rajapaksas regime that brought an end to the brutal conflict with the defeat of the LTTE in 2009. PTI CORR ABH AKJ ABH

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Cinzia Donald

Lavan has appointed six lawyers to new positions in the firm, with a litigation expert welcomed to the partnership.Cinzia Donald was made the newest partner of the regional firms litigation and dispute resolution team. Acting for public and private companies and high-net-worth individuals, she manages complex commercial litigation in superior jurisdictions, including the Supreme Court, the Court of Appeal, the Federal Court, and the Full Federal Court. Her experience encompasses a wide range of areas, including property, corporate and commercial, intellectual property, trade practices, and general litigation.Dean Healy, managing partner, said that Donald has built a reputation as a highly skilled and commercially focused litigator. Her dedication has made her an invaluable member of the firm, he said.The firm has also welcomed back an alumnus, appointing Cameron Bourhill as senior associate in the construction and infrastructure team. He comes from CB&I in The Hague, where he managed major engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) projects in Europe and Middle East. He advises global and listed companies, government bodies, and foreign government-owned entities on joint ventures, partnerships, lender requirements, compliance, insurance, and liabilities in relation to EPC projects.Promoted to associate are Jasmine Sims, Daniel Moss, Ahshiba Sultana, and Michael Suttner. Sims specialises in banking and finance recovery, personal and corporate insolvency, and recovery. Moss is a specialist in insolvency, bankruptcy, and enforcement. Sultana focuses on disputes before the Magistrates Court, District Court, Supreme Court, and the High Court of Australia . Suttner specialises in litigation and commercial law, insolvency, bankrupty, directors duties, property law, and general commercial advice.
I must give props and respect to @porsche for this latest 700hp RWD version of the 2018 991.2 GT2 RS, as shown at the #goodwoodfestivalofspeed this week. Sadly most all will be collected versus tracked! A post shared by @ralphgilles on Jul 1, 2017 at 10:26am PDT

The most recent example of this took place over the weekend, being delivered on Gilles' Instagram account. The designer has always been a keen aficionado, one whose not afraid to give other go-fast names in the industry the praise they deserve.And since FCA's Design Director is also one of the most social media-savvy execs out there, the man took to Instagram over the weekend to applaud Porsche's 2018 911 GT2 RS He also added a message that, in our book, invites owners of the Rennsport Neunelfer to put some miles on the machine instead of giving it the garage queen treatment - we'll remind you that Gilles constantly attacks various tracks in his Viper ACR.Well, it didn't take long until another Instragrammer mentioned the Viper ACR-E (the extreme aero pack-gifted incarnation of the ACR) in the comments section of the post, congradulating the executive for his effort.And Gilles took the time to reply: "The true Glory goes to some black magic dealing engineers at SRT; Mike, Jeff, Eric, Erich, Chris and Matt... The Viper does enjoy some unique attributes that make it tough to beat. I just cleared the brush for them! Honestly their work is my affliction!"Fortunately, it looks like we might just get to compare the 2018 Porsche 911 GT2 RS and the Dodge Viper ACR-E on Nurburgring. While the Porsche will obviously drop a lap time sooner of later, we'll remind you that the now-discontinued American supercar enjoys the support of its fan base.As such, a group of aficionados has successfuly crowdfunded a Viper ACR Nurburgring lap time adventure and we can't wait to get our hands on the V10 machine's Green Hell number.
A 747 that has been parked at Quonset State Airport in Rhode Island for a couple of years now is being transformed into a replica of Air Force One, according to a local news station. The 747 first flew into the airport in Evergreen livery in June 2015, and has been sitting outside through rain, snow and wind. Now workers on site are beginning the transformation with a fresh coat of exterior paint. Franklin Exhibits, based in New York, owns the airplane. They told Channel 10 they plan to replicate every detail of the presidential aircraft, inside and out, to create a tourist attraction.

The finished airplane may first be based at Quonset for a few months, but then will be removed via barge, from the airports shipping port on Narragansett Bay, according to Channel 10. It then will either be transported to a new site, perhaps in Washington, D.C., or it may become a traveling exhibit. The 747 has been in production since 1970, but Boeing officials said recently that demand is slowing down and they dont expect to sell any more of them for commercial air travel. A few may still be built for freight and VIP transport. Boeing has produced more than 1,500 of the distinctive jets.

At least two actual Air Force One aircraft are in museums. The first jet-powered Air Force One, a Boeing 707-120, is at the Museum of Flight, in Seattle. The Ronald Reagan presidential library, in California, has a Boeing 707 that flew from 1973 to 2001, serving seven presidents. Twenty-two airplanes have flown as official presidential aircraft, starting with a Douglas C-54 Skymaster during the Eisenhower administration in 1959. Aircraft were used before that, beginning with President Roosevelt. The 747s have been the presidential aircraft since 1990. The White House today is served by two highly customized Boeing 747-200B series aircraft.

Images courtesy of Noah Forden.
image: KATU

A man who tried to steal a helicopter at gunpoint outside a flight school in Oregon was fatally shot by police on Monday. The incident began when a man wearing a gray hoodie, with the hood up, approached the Hillsboro Airports chain-link fence and climbed over. An observer, who was there with his family to watch the planes, told police, For a moment, I thought to myself that it was a little warm for the big, thick, gray hoodie with the hood over him, according to the Oregonian. The man told reporters when the man jumped the fence, he rushed his family into the car and left the scene.

At 11:23 a.m., the man went up to a helicopter with a flight instructor and student inside as it was parked with its rotor spinning at Hillsboro Aero Academy, Lt. Henry Reimann, a Hillsboro police spokesman, told the Oregonian. The man opened the door, pointed a gun at the student and ordered the student out. When the student hesitated, the man fired the gun away from the helicopter and the student got out and ran away, Reimann said. The gunman then went to the other side of the helicopter and pointed a gun at the instructor. He ordered the instructor out and then jumped in. According to the sergeant that approached, it appeared he knew what he was doing in the cockpit, Reimann said. Employees from Hillsboro Aero, armed with personal firearms, and a police officer approached the helicopter and held the man at gunpoint. The suspect fled, going back over the fence, across the road and into a field.A Hillsboro police officer encountered the man there and shot him, Reimann said. The man died at the scene.
image: ADN/Marshall Severson

About 15 years ago, the Alaska Airmens Association and local pilots pioneered a VFR route in the remote regions between their state and Russia, just across the Bering Sea. The route was completed in 2001, but its challenging, and nobody has flown it in about 10 years. That changed last month, when Marshall Severson and Dan Billman, who both live in Alaska, completed the trip. Severson, 62, retired last year as an FAA flight services manager, and Billman, 66, works for the FAA as asafety program manager, according to the Alaska Dispatch News. Both pilots had worked on the original project to create the route. They prepared for three months before making the flight, according to the newspaper, and said their expenses equaled roughly the cost of a month onthesunny Mediterranean.

After landing at Provideniya Bay Airport, they were met by about 10 Russian security personnel, border agents and others, Billman told the Dispatch News. Both travelers said they were treated courteously by the Russians throughout the trip, and after spending about five hours in the country, they got a warm send-off. We went up to shake their hands and it turned into hugs from all these folks, said Billman. The route mainly skirts the rugged shoreline, requiring only one over-water leg of about 39 miles. Pilots need to carry visas and permits, and must get prior OK from ATC. Fuel stops along the route charge up to $8 per gallon, according to the Dispatch News, and some airports charge high landing fees. The whole route, from Nome to Provideniya, takes about three hours.
image: WSAW-TV

Six people died when a Cessna 421 broke up in the air over northern Wisconsin about 3 a.m. on Saturday, the NTSB has said. The airplane had departed from Waukegan, Illinois, with six men on board who were headed to Manitoba, Canada, for a fishing trip. NTSB investigators told The Associated Press there was a discussion between the pilot of the plane and air traffic controllers about a local weather phenomenon in Catawba, Wisconsin, which is near the crash site just southwest of the city of Phillips. Soon after, the aircraft dropped off radar.

Debris was found in a heavily wooded area near Catawba and stretched about a quarter mile to the edge of a state highway. The debris field suggested an in-flight break up, NTSB spokesman Eric Weiss told the AP. Five of the six who died, ages 21 to 70, were from Illinois, and one was from California. Weiss said investigators are still trying to determine what type of weather the plane encountered and whether it caused the crash. Kevin King, 70, the pilot, had flown jets during the Vietnam war and was an active pilot who owned several airplanes, according to local news reports.
President Serzh Sarkisian praised Armenias strong partnership with the United States on Tuesday when he congratulated his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump on Americas Independence Day.

Today we can unmistakably state that in the past quarter of a century, together we have succeeded in building a close and strong partnership between our nations anchored in mutual respect and trust, Sarkisian said in a congratulatory message to Trump.

He expressed hope that the two countries will enrich the agenda of Armenian-American relations with new mutually beneficial initiatives and projects. He again thanked the U.S. for its economic assistance provided to Armenia since the early 1990s and praised Washingtons role in international efforts to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Throughout his nine-year rule, Sarkisian has sought closer ties with the United States, including in the area of defense, while maintaining Armenias political and military alliance with Russia. He has repeatedly stated in recent years that U.S.-Armenian relations are now closer than ever before. He expressed confidence in November that they will continue to develop dynamically during Trumps presidency.

The Armenian leader on Tuesday also visited the U.S. Embassy in Yerevan and met U.S. Ambassador Richard Mills on the occasion. The two men planted an apricot tree in the sprawling embassy compound symbolizing the U.S. independence anniversary and the 25th anniversary of the establishment of U.S.-Armenian diplomatic ties.

We hope our relationship will grow even stronger, and we are especially keen to further deepen our trade and investment ties, Sarkisians press office quoted Mills as saying.

On Friday, the U.S. mission hosted an annual Independence Day reception attended by hundreds of Armenian dignitaries, including Prime Minister Karen Karapetian and several members of his cabinet. In a speech delivered at the event, Karapetian described Yerevans relationship with Washington as very good, businesslike, honest and sincere. I am very happy with it and ready to continue it, he said.

Karapetian also said he hopes the two governments will work together to attract more U.S. investments in the Armenian economy.

Mills spoke in February of considerable progress in bilateral commercial ties, pointing to multimillion-dollar U.S. investments in Armenias energy and mining sectors. Those include a $250 million acquisition of Armenias largest hydroelectric complex. Another private company headquartered in the U.S. state of Colorado began building last year a gold mine that will significantly increase Armenian exports of gold.

Mills said last month that the South Caucasus state can attract billions of dollars in investments from U.S. energy companies if it liberalizes its energy sector.

According to Armenian government data, Armenias trade with the U.S. rose by over 32 percent to $60 million in the first five months of this year. The figure is equivalent to around 3 percent of Armenias overall foreign trade in that period.
4 July 2017 10:00 (UTC+04:00)

By Joseph E. Stiglitz

Under President Donald Trumps leadership, the United States took another major step toward establishing itself as a rogue state on June 1, when it withdrew from the Paris climate agreement. For years, Trump has indulged the strange conspiracy theory that, as he put it in 2012, The concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese in order to make US manufacturing non-competitive. But this was not the reason Trump advanced for withdrawing the US from the Paris accord. Rather, the agreement, he alleged, was bad for the US and implicitly unfair to it.

While fairness, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder, Trumps claim is difficult to justify. On the contrary, the Paris accord is very good for America, and it is the US that continues to impose an unfair burden on others.

Historically, the US has added disproportionately to the rising concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, and among large countries it remains the biggest per capita emitter of carbon dioxide by far  more than twice Chinas rate and nearly 2.5 times more than Europe in 2013 (the latest year for which the World Bank has reported complete data). With its high income, the US is in a far better position to adapt to the challenges of climate change than poor countries like India and China, let alone a low-income country in Africa.

In fact, the major flaw in Trumps reasoning is that combating climate change would strengthen the US, not weaken it. Trump is looking toward the past  a past that, ironically, was not that great. His promise to restore coal-mining jobs (which now number 51,000, less than 0.04% of the countrys nonfarm employment) overlooks the harsh conditions and health risks endemic in that industry, not to mention the technological advances that would continue to reduce employment in the industry even if coal production were revived.

In fact, far more jobs are being created in solar panel installation than are being lost in coal. More generally, moving to a green economy would increase US income today and economic growth in the future. In this, as in so many things, Trump is hopelessly mired in the past.

Just a few weeks before Trumps decision to withdraw from the Paris accord, the global High-Level Commission on Carbon Prices, which I co-chaired with Nicholas Stern, highlighted the potential of a green transition. The Commissions report, released at the end of May, argues that reducing CO2 emissions could result in an even stronger economy.

The logic is straightforward. A key problem holding back the global economy today is deficient aggregate demand. At the same time, many countries governments face revenue shortfalls. But we can address both issues simultaneously and reduce emissions by imposing a charge (a tax) for CO2 emissions.

It is always better to tax bad things than good things. By taxing CO2, firms and households would have an incentive to retrofit for the world of the future. The tax would also provide firms with incentives to innovate in ways that reduce energy usage and emissions  giving them a dynamic competitive advantage.

The Commission analyzed the level of carbon price that would be required to achieve the goals set forth in the Paris climate agreement  a far higher price than in most of Europe today, but still manageable. The commissioners pointed out that the appropriate price may differ across countries. In particular, they noted, a better regulatory system  one that restrains coal-fired power generation, for example  reduces the burden that must be placed on the tax system.

Interestingly, one of the worlds best-performing economies, Sweden, has already adopted a carbon tax at a rate substantially higher than that discussed in our report. And the Swedes have simultaneously sustained their strong growth without US-level emissions.

America under Trump has gone from being a world leader to an object of derision. In the aftermath of Trumps withdrawal of the US from the Paris accord, a large sign was hung over Romes city hall: The Planet First. Likewise, Frances new president, Emmanuel Macron, poked fun at Trumps campaign slogan, declaring Make Our Planet Great Again.

But the consequences of Trumps actions are no laughing matter. If the US continues to emit as it has, it will continue to impose enormous costs on the rest of the world, including on much poorer countries. Those who are being harmed by Americas recklessness are justifiably angry.

Fortunately, large parts of the US, including the most economically dynamic regions, have shown that Trump is, if not irrelevant, at least less relevant than he would like to believe. Large numbers of states and corporations have announced that they will proceed with their commitments  and perhaps go even further, offsetting the failures of other parts of the US.

In the meantime, the world must protect itself against rogue states. Climate change poses an existential threat to the planet that is no less dire than that posed by North Koreas nuclear ambitions. In both cases, the world cannot escape the inevitable question: what is to be done about countries that refuse to do their part in preserving our planet?

Copyright: Project Syndicate: Trump and the Truth About Climate Change

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Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
4 July 2017 19:00 (UTC+04:00)

By Mark Leonard

Confidence has returned to Europes chancelleries just in the nick of time, what with US President Donald Trump due in Europe in a few days. During the annus horribilis of 2016, many feared for the European Unions survival. But in 2017, there is renewed hope for the European project, owing to Emmanuel Macrons election as president of France, and electoral defeats for populists in the Netherlands, Austria, and Germany, as well as Trumps plunging popularity at home.

The recently forged Mercron partnership between Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel has European policymakers talking excitedly about a reinvention of the eurozone. There are now proposals for a shared eurozone budget and finance minister, and for an EU-level security union to tackle terrorism and strengthen border controls.

Moreover, the European Commission last month launched a new defense fund to close the gap between Europes aspiration to defend itself and its ability to do so. The hope is that 510 million Europeans will no longer have to depend on 320 million Americans for their security.

In the past, many EU member states complained that the cold peace between France and Germany was hampering effective governance of the Union. Today, those countries have expressed renewed faith in the ascendant Franco-German relationship, though if France and Germany fail to give others a stake in their success, many countries may end up with buyers remorse.

At the European Council on Foreign Relations annual council meeting in Berlin last month, 250 former and current prime ministers, foreign ministers, policymakers, and thinkers convened to discuss the state of European affairs. Many of them were torn between excitement about a European re-launch and fear that the new Mercron arrangement will leave other member states behind.

For France and Germany, it is worth remembering that the Merkozy era  when Merkel and former French President Nicolas Sarkozy tried to forge an alliance  evoked hostility in other European capitals. Other EU member states resented the exclusive role of France and Germany in developing EU- or eurozone-wide solutions, which were then presented as faits accomplis to the rest of the bloc. To take one notable example, Merkel and Sarkozy once held a summit to forge closer ties with Russia without bothering to consult or include the EU member states in Russias immediate proximity.

The challenge for France and Germany now is thus to capitalize on the recent victories for pro-European governments without provoking a backlash in the other EU member states. But this wont be easy, not least because French and German leaders are torn between two competing visions of Europes future.

One vision favors a union of concentric circles, with a Franco-German-led eurozone at its core. This idea is appealing, at least on the surface, because it would allow the core countries to continue integrating, while leaving behind perceived troublemakers such as Poland and Hungary.

But this strategy, though meeting the need for deeper eurozone integration, would not address Europes longstanding divides between east and west, north and south, or center and periphery. Issues such as Russia, refugees, austerity, military action, and Brexit would continue to challenge European solidarity.

The second vision for Europes future emphasizes coalitions among countries that are willing and able to work together. In a largely intergovernmental EU, smaller coalitions could be an effective governance tool and mitigate the veto power that currently exists in formal EU meetings. They could even sign treaties to formalize their arrangements  such as the Schengen agreement on border-free travel.

Under a coalition model, country groupings might change, depending on the issue at hand, thereby allowing for more flexibility. And, although Germany and France would probably be at the center of many of these groupings, other countries could take the lead and share the limelight, making the EU re-launch less divisive. For example, in an earlier era, Poland and Sweden spearheaded the EUs eastern partnership strategy toward countries such as Ukraine.

The Mercron partnership has a better chance of building goodwill within Europe than the Merkozy partnership ever did. For starters, the balance of power between France and Germany will probably now shift a bit toward the former, given that the French economy is strengthening, and will be positioned for renewed growth after Macrons promised reforms.

Moreover, owing to his knack for transcending traditional divides (which I previously described as the Macron method), Macron might be able to build new, better relationships with member states that have not previously had close ties to France. And, last but not least, Macron has a huge store of soft power and political capital, similar to Barack Obama after grassroots enthusiasm brought him to power in the United States in 2008.

At the same time, Germany is in a weaker position than it was during the Merkozy era, which is good news for the Franco-German relationship. The refugee crisis has rendered Germany a demandeur, rather than a supplier, of European public goods. And although Merkel seems indispensable on the international scene, plenty of people in Germany are starting to plan for the end of her mandate, which is now going on 12 years.

Most important, Merkel and Macron both need the Mercron partnership to work if they are to succeed in building a stronger Europe. The Europe of the future must be capable of protecting its citizens from global threats; but to define those threats, it will have to consider all EU member states perspectives, not just that of France and Germany.

Fortunately, Merkel and Macron are both well aware of the limitations of the Merkozy tandem, and with the need to improve on the relationship between Merkel and Macrons predecessor, Francois Hollande. Above all, their realism about the bilateral relationship and its possibilities will be essential, because Europes most powerful asset has never been a detailed vision of the future, but rather its collective willingness to improve upon past failures.

If Macron and Merkel keep this historical perspective in mind, they can turn their relationship into an open political marriage from which all of Europe will benefit. An exclusive partnership will breed more resentment than goodwill, and probably will not survive for long.

Copyright: Project Syndicate: Can Mercron Deliver for Europe?

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Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
The Shiv Sena today condemned violence in the name of cow protecting, calling such incidents against the principles of Hindutva and saying that the Modi-led Central government must come out with a national policy on beef.

By India Today Web Desk: Days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi strongly decried violence in the name of cow protection, BJP ally Shiv Sena too has spoken out against incidents of lynching in the name of cow.

The Sena said said lynching people in the name of cow protection is against Hindutva and urged PM Modi to come up with a national policy on beef.

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The Maharashtra-focused party's comments were published in its mouthpiece 'Saamana' today and come after a number of a incidents of lynching over either alleged transport of cow for slaughter or beef consumption in parts of India.

The incidents, also reported from several Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled states including Jharkhand, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, have promoted protests, most notably the #NotInMyName rallies that took place in several cities across the country.

Commenting in an editorial in 'Saamana' today, the Shiv Sena said, "The issue of beef is related to eating habits, business and employment. Hence, there should be a national policy over the issue." "Those who were safeguarding cows were Hindus till yesterday. Today, they have become murderers."

Shiv Sena welcomed the prime minister's comments from last week, when a visible charged up Modi admonished the so-called 'gau rakshaks' and said that killing in the name of cow is not acceptable.

"We welcome the stand taken by the prime minister over the issue. Nobody has the right to take law in his hands in the name of cow protection. Lynching people is against the principles of Hindutva," the Sena said in its editorial.

"We thank him (Modi) for clearly defining Hindutva. He should now come up with a national policy on beef to ease tensions," the Sena said.

Previously, BJP chief Amit Shah and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh head Mohan Bhagwat have both hit out at cow vigilante violence. Bhagwat, while demanding a national law to ban cow slaughter, said killing someone in the name of cow protection is wrong.

Shah has struck a more subdued note. The BJP chief recently termed incidents of lynching as "serious", but claimed more of these happened under the previous governments than the three years of NDA rule.

Modi's comments last week followed the lynching of a teenager, Junaid Khan, who was stabbed to death by a group of men on a train when he was returning home to Ballabhgarh in Haryana after shopping for Eid. His assailants termed Junaid, his brother and friends as "beef eaters".

In Jharkhand's Ramgarh, a Muslim meat trader was beaten to death last week by cow vigilantes who alleged he was carrying beef in his vehicle. Nityanand Mahto, a local BJP leader is among those arrested in connection with the incident.

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Earlier this year, a cattle farmer - Pehlu Khan - died after being attacked by so-called gau rakshaks who suspected him of illegally ferrying cattle for the purpose of slaughter in Rajasthan's Alwar.

In September 2015, Mohammad Akhlaq was beaten to death at Dadri in Uttar Pradesh over suspicion of storing and consuming beef. Modi had spoken up against cow-related violence even then, but did not explicitly mention the Dadri incident.

(With PTI inputs)

ALSO READ | Politics of lynching, the new normal in India

ALSO WATCH | My Take: Gaurakshaks who use violence are murderers, must be acted against swiftly

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4 July 2017 13:00 (UTC+04:00)

By Sara Israfilbayova

Azerbaijani and Iranian entrepreneurs will meet in Baku on July 6 to jointly explore business opportunities.

The meeting will be held as part of the visit of the Chamber of Cooperation delegation from Irans West Azerbaijan Province to Baku, said the Azerbaijan Export and Investment Promotion Foundation (AZPROMO).

Iran recognized Azerbaijan's independence in 1991 and diplomatic relations between the two countries were established in 1992.

The two countries enjoy developed political, economic, cultural and humanitarian relations and have signed about 50 documents on cooperation.

Iran has invested $2.7 billion in Azerbaijan`s economy as of February 2017. As many as 538 Iranian companies are engaged in various spheres of Azerbaijan`s economy. Azerbaijani companies operate in Iran as well.

Iran is an important trade partner of Azerbaijan and the bilateral trade increased 70 per cent in 2016.

Azerbaijans trade turnover with Iran amounted to $96.83 million in January-May 2017, which is 31.3 percent more than in the same period of 2016, according to the State Customs Committee of Azerbaijan.

AZPROMO was established by the Ministry of Economy of Azerbaijan in 2003 with the aim to contribute to the economic development through attracting foreign investments in the non-oil sectors of economy and stimulating expansion of country's exports of non-oil goods to the overseas markets.

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Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
4 July 2017 16:16 (UTC+04:00)

By Sara Israfilbayova

Azerbaijan and Egypt intend to update the legal framework between the two countries.

The bilateral draft documents that cover such spheres as economy, agriculture, education, culture, science, etc. are at the stage of consideration, Azerbaijans Ambassador to Egypt Tural Rzayev stated, adding that a part of the bilateral agreements requires updating.

Perspective areas for the development of cooperation between Azerbaijan and Egypt will be considered at the upcoming meeting of the bilateral intergovernmental commission on trade and economic, as well as scientific and technical cooperation, Rzayev told Trend on July 3.

The fifth meeting of the Azerbaijani-Egyptian intergovernmental commission was tentatively scheduled for July in Baku, but later it was proposed to hold the meeting in autumn in Cairo.

The final decision regarding the date and place of the negotiations hasnt been made yet.

The envoy stressed that the sides plan to consider such issues as the course of implementation of previously reached agreements between the two countries, exploration of new prospects for business peoples cooperation, as well as updating and expanding the legal framework between the two countries.

Energy, tourism, agriculture, medicine and pharmaceutical sphere, where Egypt has a lot of experience, are currently the main areas of bilateral cooperation, according to Rzayev.

Azerbaijan also intends to intensify efforts to promote the Made in Azerbaijan brand in Egypt and expand the opportunities for the Egyptian business to enter Azerbaijani market.

Pharmaceutical industry is the most important sphere of cooperation between the two countries, he said, adding that at present, Azerbaijan imports more than 30 names of pharmaceutical products from Egypt.

Azerbaijan also delivers oil and oil products, as well as products of chemical enterprises to Egypt, the ambassador noted.

He said that in general, the volume of trade turnover between Azerbaijan and Egypt for the past five or six years has amounted to about $5 billion, further adding that both countries have great potential for the growth of the trade turnover volume.

Trade between Azerbaijan and Egypt amounted to $3.5 million in January-May 2017. As compared to the same period of the previous year, the turnover between the states increased by $1million, or 40 percent, according to the State Customs Committee of Azerbaijan.

The basis of Egypts exports to Azerbaijan contains medicines, clothes, rice, frozen vegetables, foodstuff, ceramics, marble and veterinary medicines. As for the Azerbaijans exports to Egypt, predominantly, oil and chemical products, geophysics equipment, spare parts, pipes and so on.

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4 July 2017 17:04 (UTC+04:00)

By Sara Israfilbayova

The State Committee on Property Issues of Azerbaijan held next auction of privatization on July 4, following which 5 small state enterprises, 14 non residential areas and 5 vehicles were privatized.

Small state enterprises related to repair, construction and trade facilities are located in Baku, Agsu, Shirvan, Zaqatala and Balakan.

Eleven non-used non-residential areas are located in Baku, the rest-in regions. A number of real estate objects exhibited at the auction, privatized with the land. Such facilities include a cocoon plant in Zaqatala, workshop No.33 in Balakan.

The land area of the plant in Zaqatala is 18,350 square meters, the total usable area is 3,881 square meters. The land area of the workshop in Balakan is 2,803 square meters, the total usable area is 403 square meters.

In general, the area of privatized objects varies between 71 and 3,881 square meters.

In order to protect state property and effectively manage it in the new economic realities, President of Azerbaijan signed a decree on May 19, 2016.

Under the decree, the acceleration of the state property privatization process has been defined as an important direction of the economic policy.

The portal for privatization  privatization.az, launched in July 2016, reflects all necessary information about the facilities, their addresses, location, and even initial cost and aims at facilitation of the process. The website is available in two languages - Azerbaijani and English. Why Azerbaijan is special section available on the website explains the reasons and advantages of investing in the country.

The privatization process is designed to attract both foreign and local investors, as well as develop the business environment of Azerbaijan.

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4 July 2017 18:41 (UTC+04:00)

By Sara Israfilbayova

Azerbaijan Export and Investment Promotion Foundation (AZPROMO) and the International Trade Centre (ITC) will sign a Memorandum of Understanding, said Minister of Economy Shahin Mustafayev as he met Executive Director of ITC Arancha Gonzalez.

Mustafayev stressed the importance of the cooperation with the ITC, saying that Azerbaijan successfully cooperates with the UN`s bodies.

The minister further spoke of the economic reforms carried out in Azerbaijan under the leadership of President Ilham Aliyev.

He noted that Azerbaijan attaches great importance to studying the international experience for development of small and medium entrepreneurship.

Gonzalez, in turn, expressed satisfaction with the cooperation with AZPROMO.

"There is a good opportunity for successful cooperation within the framework of increasing competitiveness and entering the foreign markets with products produced by SMEs in Azerbaijan. There is a potential for cooperation in the direct export of Azerbaijani products to international e-commerce platforms, in particular Ebay, concluded Gonzalez.

Established in 1964, the ITC is the joint agency of the World Trade Organization and the United Nations.

ITC is the only development agency that is fully dedicated to supporting the internationalization of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

The Agency enables SMEs in developing and transition economies to become more competitive and connect to international markets for trade and investment, thus raising incomes and creating job opportunities, especially for women, young people, and poor communities.

AZPROMO was established by the Ministry of Economy of Azerbaijan in 2003 with the aim to contribute to the economic development through attracting foreign investments in the non-oil sectors of economy and stimulating expansion of country's exports of non-oil goods to the overseas markets.

--

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4 July 2017 11:28 (UTC+04:00)

By Laman Ismayilova

Days of Azerbaijani Culture has started in Iran.

Azerbaijani Minister of Culture and Tourism Abulfas Garayev met with Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance Salehi Amiri in Iran in this regard.

Speaking at the press conference, Garayev said that the mutual holding of Days of Culture creates an opportunity for close ties between the two nations.

The ministers said that the presidents of the two countries aim to expand relations in all spheres, including culture and tourism, 1news.az reported.

A number of concerts, performances photo exhibition are arranged in various cities of Iran.The Culture Days aim to develop bilateral cultural cooperation between the two countries, as well as to promote Azerbaijan's culture, art, tourism potential in Iran.

Earlier in May, Baku hosted the Iranian Culture Days within the 4th Islamic Solidarity Games.

The events aroused big interest among Bakus residents. Representatives of the country performed at a series of concerts, featuring country's national songs and dance numbers.

Azerbaijan and Iran have had diplomatic relations since 1918. Iran recognized Azerbaijan's independence in 1991, and diplomatic relations between the two countries were established in 1992.

The two countries enjoy developed political, economic, cultural and humanitarian relations, have signed some 50 documents on cooperation.

---

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4 July 2017 11:57 (UTC+04:00)

By Laman Ismayilova

Baku will host a photo exhibition dedicated to the life of prominent Mexican artists Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera.

A smile in the middle of the way will be presented in Baku for the first time.

To be organized by the Mexican Embassy in Azerbaijan, the exhibition will take place in the "Rotunda -1" room of the Landmark Hotel on July 6 at 7:00 p.m, Trend reported.

Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo were one of the most controversial and well-known couples in the history of art in Mexico.

One of Mexico's greatest artists, Frida Kahlo began painting after she was severely injured in a bus accident. She later became politically active and married fellow communist artist Diego Rivera in 1929.

After her accident, Kahlo abandoned the study of medicine and began to paint, to occupy herself during her three-month immobilization. Self-portraits were a dominant motif then. Kahlo once said, I paint myself because I am so often alone and because I am the subject I know best.

Kahlo created at least 140 paintings, along with dozens of drawings and studies. Of her paintings, 55 are self-portraits which often incorporate symbolic portrayals of physical and psychological wounds. She insisted, I never painted dreams. I painted my own reality.

She exhibited her paintings in Paris and Mexico before her death in 1954.

Diego Rivera had a great influence on Kahlos painting style. Kahlo had always admired Rivera and his work.

Riveras large frescoes helped establish the Mexican mural movement in Mexican art.

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Laman Ismayilova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Lam_Ismayilova

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4 July 2017 12:14 (UTC+04:00)

By Laman Ismayilova

Azerbaijan Park appeared in France at the initiative of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation.

An official opening ceremony of the Park was held on the bank of the Lake of Leman, in the city of Evian-les-Bains, France.

The ceremony took place under a charter on friendship and cooperation signed between French Evian-les-Bains and Azerbaijan`s Ismayilli towns, Azertac reported.

The delegation led by Head of Ismayilli District Executive Authority Mirdamet Sadigov, Mayor of Evian-les Bains Marc Francina, Permanent Representative of Azerbaijan to the United Nations Office and other international organizations in Geneva, Ambassador Vagif Sadigov, charge d'affaires, counselor for economic and regional cooperation of the Embassy of Azerbaijan in France Elmar Mammadov, representative of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation Alakbar Guliyev, representatives of the local public and media, as well as Azerbaijanis residing in France and Switzerland attended the event.

The opening of the Park and the "Friendship" spring here was followed by the unveiling of a statue of prominent Azerbaijani poetess Khurshudbanu Natavan.

Marc Francina, addressing the event, said they are honored to host the opening of the Park, as well as the unveiling of the statue of Khurshudbanu Natavan.

Mirdamet Sadigov, in turn, congratulated the residents of the town on the occasion of the opening of the Park. He said they are proud with the erection of the statue of Khurshudbanu Natavan in Evian-les-Bains.

Natavan is considered one of the best Azerbaijani lyrical poets whose poems are in Persian and Azerbaijani. Daughter of Mahdiqoli Khan, the last ruler of the Karabakh khanate Natavan was most notable for her lyrical ghazals, he reminded.

Alakbar Guliyev stressed that the Foundation attaches great importance to bilateral relations between the two countries, and further highlighted the projects carried out by the Heydar Aliyev Foundation in Azerbaijan and abroad.

Charge d'affaires, counselor for economic and regional cooperation of the Embassy of Azerbaijan in France Elmar Mammadov hailed the excellent relationship between the two countries.

The event then featured Gunay Imamverdiyeva's performance of Azerbaijani folk music "Shushanin daghlari" (Mountains of Shusha) and the song "Azerbaijan."

Marc Francina, talking to Azertac, said that he supported the idea of signing the charter on friendship and cooperation between Evian-les-Bains and Ismayilli towns and spared no efforts to contribute to the expansion of bilateral relations between the two countries.

Evian-les Bains is a lovely town on the edge of Lake Leman in the French Alps, located on the south shore of Lake Geneva.

With its position on the edge of Lac Leman, the biggest lake in Europe, its proximity to the mountains, and the building of some fabulous buildings in the early 19th century when spa baths were all the rage in Europe, Evian has a great deal for visitors to enjoy.

A couple of years ago Evian won the award for the best resort in France in the World Travel Awards and is also, of course, famous for its spring water which is sold worldwide.

Ismayilli, located north of the country, was once part of Caucasian Albania - IV c. B.C. Here, on top of the highest mountain lay the ruins of a medieval fortress.

Alongside Azerbaijanis there are other nations and ethnic groups living in the area: Lezgins, Russians (malakans), Jews, lahych and hapyts, the descendants of ancient Albans.

Ismayilli is also a center of wine production in Azerbaijan, which of course put the region on the map of wine tourism. For example guests can stay in the complex Shato Monolit  a full cycle winery that includes all processes: from growing grapes to bottling, in keeping with the French castle.

---

Laman Ismayilova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Lam_Ismayilova

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4 July 2017 14:32 (UTC+04:00)

By Laman Ismayilova

'Narimanfilm' studio has launched acceptance of documentary films for Flahertiana Film Festival to be held in Perm,Russia on September 16-20.

The festival is dedicated to films, which show a character that lives on the screen a part of his life directed by the author according to the laws of dramatic art.

The first edition of the festival was held in 1995 and until 2006 it was held once in two years.

The project includes training for students and aspiring documentary filmmakers and pitching experts and producers from Europe and Russia. Participation is open to documentary filmmakers from Russia and Eastern partnership countries (Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, Ukraine) with projects that have international potential.

Trainings for filmmakers will be held on September 16-18. Participants will work with experienced producers on the presentation of their projects, attend lectures of jury members and professionals of Flahertiana Workshop. Moreover, screening of documentaries and pitching will be also held as part of the event.

The tutors of the training include Rajkowska Dorota (Poland), Kai, Wesnigk (Germany), Ira Kormannshaus (Germany), Boris Karadzhev (Russia), Jorg Langer (Germany) and Daniel Sponsel (Germany).

The two-days pitching will be held at Flahertiana Forum on September 19-20. The forum will bring together students chosen by tutors and documentary filmmakers. They will present their work to producers from Europe and Russia.

Only 50 winners, including 22 amateur and 12 professional filmmakers will receive a stipend that will cover the costs of travel and accommodation. The deadline is July 15. The results of the selection will be announced on August 10.

Send abstract of your project to [email protected].

For more information, please contact:

+994 12 4916379

+994 55 260 3603.

Free listeners without projects are allowed for pre-registration through TimePad.

---

Laman Ismayilova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Lam_Ismayilova

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4 July 2017 14:52 (UTC+04:00)

By Laman Ismayilova

Azerbaijans State Museum of Musical Culture will organize a meeting with the researcher of Baku history, Fuad Akhundov on July 5.

The meeting will be held the first event within museum's new project "Nocturnes of the old Baku".

The project will feature history of the city with its cultural and musical traditions, Trend Life reported.

Back in the early 20th century, Azerbaijan went through its first oil boom, and architects from all over Western Europe were attracted to the city to design buildings for the expanding city. The result is a charming mix of architectural styles, genuinely beautiful buildings that line the city's traffic-choked streets.

Bakus skyline has grown more cosmopolitan with the addition of modern skyscrapers such as the Heydar Aliyev Cultural Centre, Carpet Museum and the Flame Towers, a three-structure, mixed-use complex that glows in the night.

The curvy lines of modern pieces of architecture co-exist with impressive examples of Azerbaijan's past. The Old City, including the Palace of the Shirvanshahs and Maiden Tower, became the first location in Azerbaijan to be classified as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.

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Laman Ismayilova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Lam_Ismayilova

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4 July 2017 11:11 (UTC+04:00)

By Rashid Shirinov

OSCE Parliamentary Assembly Special Representative for the South Caucasus, Bulgairan MP Kristian Vigenin was in Vienna on July 3 for a series of meetings related to developments in the South Caucasus, including on negotiation efforts related to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Vigenin met with senior diplomatic representatives from Armenia, Azerbaijan and the OSCE Austrian Chairmanship, as well as with the Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group tasked with finding a peaceful solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

In all his meetings, Vigenin stressed the importance of continued efforts through agreed discussion formats, while noting the potential for parliamentary dialogue to contribute to political will.

The conflicts in the region continue to have a high and intolerable human price. I intend to continue to discuss with my colleagues in the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly how we can leverage our political influence to contribute to ongoing official efforts and provide momentum for comprehensive and sustainable peace, said Vigenin.

The OSCE Parliamentary Assemblys most important annual meeting, gathering some 300 parliamentarians from across the OSCE region, begins later this week in Minsk, Belarus.

Azerbaijan and Armenia fought a lengthy war that ended with signing of a fragile ceasefire in 1994. Since the war, Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan's territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding regions. More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and over 1 million were displaced as a result of the large-scale hostilities.

While the OSCE Minsk Group acted as the only mediator in resolution of the conflict, the occupation of the territory of the sovereign state with its internationally recognized boundaries has been left out of due attention of the international community for years.

Armenia ignores four UN Security Council resolutions on immediate withdrawal from the occupied territory of Azerbaijan, thus keeping tension high in the region.

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Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov

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Patil said a thorough scrutiny would be conducted at a later stage. "If we find that anyone had provided false information in the affidavit because he was ineligible for the loan waiver we will recover the amount from him," he said.

By Kiran Tare: Maharashtra revenue minister Chandrakant Patil on Tuesday made it clear that the state government won't verify the affidavits to be submitted by farmers to be eligible for loan waivers. He said non-eligible farmers would be identified at a later stage.

After the Maharashtra government announced the "historic" loan waiver of Rs 34,000 crore to the state's farmers, it has asked them to approach the banks where they have loan accounts. The farmers will need to submit a self-attested affidavit declaring that they're eligible for a loan waiver.

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"We won't verify the affidavits. We will assume that whatever information the farmers have submitted is true. The waiver amount of Rs 1.50 lakh will be deposited in the respective farmer's account," Patil said.

However, he maintained that a thorough scrutiny of the eligible farmers will be conducted at a later stage. "If we find that anyone had provided false information in the affidavit because he was ineligible for the loan waiver we will recover the amount from him," he said.

When asked how the government would establish whether a person had provided false information, Patil said, "In rural areas, the neighbours and other villagers instantly come forward to complain against any fraud person. We will take action if we receive such complaints," said Patil, who headed a five- member group of ministers which drafted parameters for the loan waiver.

Patil also said a committee under Cooperative Minister Subhash Deshmukh will be constituted soon to implement the loan waiver in a smoother way.

The government hopes that half of the 40 lakh eligible farmers will not come forward to avail the loan waiver as the parameters are very stringent. Some elected representatives, government employees and those who pay tax on their produce are not eligible.

"Maharashtra's loan waiver is unique among the all six states who have taken the similar step," Patil said.

"We are the only state which has announced waiver of Rs 1.50 lakh without a cap of land holding. We have not restricted the waiver to district banks only like Karantaka but provided it to the farmers who have loan from nationalised banks too," he said.

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--- ENDS ---
4 July 2017 18:18 (UTC+04:00)

By Rashid Shirinov

Construction of 100 more houses starts in Jojug Marjanli village, Azerbaijans State Committee for Refugees and IDPs reported on July 4.

In this regard, representatives of the Social Fund for Development of IDPs and construction companies visited the liberated Jojug Marjanli and inspected the area where the new settlement will be built.

Funds Director Sabir Ahmadov said that the second phase of construction and restoration work in Jojug Marjanli envisages construction of 100 houses, as well as a kindergarten for 50 children, a medical center, post office and other social and infrastructure objects.

It was also noted that 14 of the houses will be one-room, 38  two-room, 36  three-room, and 12 of them will be four-room.

The settlement will also have a green zone on an area of 1.75 hectares, roads, sidewalks and other facilities. The construction work is scheduled to be completed within three months.

After the first phase of construction and restoration work, Jojug Marjanli already has 50 houses, a school for 96 students, a mosque, power station, hydro-meteorological station, gas, electricity and water lines, and a nine-kilometer road.

Thus, Azerbaijani IDPs, who had to leave Jojug Marjanli due to the Armenian aggression, will soon return to the village.

Jojug Marjanli village was fully liberated from the Armenian occupation in April 2016, when Azerbaijani Armed Forces prevented an Armenian provocation on the contact line. To protect civilian population, the Azerbaijani army launched counter attacks and as a result, the Azerbaijani troops retook hills around the village of Talish, as well as Seysulan settlement, and also took over Leletepe hill located in the direction of Fizuli region.

In late January 2017, President Ilham Aliyev ordered to restore Jojug Marjanli. Under the order, 4 million manats were allocated for the construction of 50 private houses, a school building and relevant infrastructure at the first stage.

On June 15, President signed a decree that envisages the beginning of the next phase of construction and restoration work and work on improvement and creation in Jojug Marjanli.

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Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov

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4 July 2017 10:11 (UTC+04:00)

By Trend

Azerbaijans President Ilham Aliyev has sent a congratulatory letter to US President Donald Trump.

On behalf of the people of Azerbaijan and on my own behalf, I extend my sincere congratulations to you and through you to all the people of your country on the occasion of the national holiday of the US  Independence Day, Ilham Aliyev said in his letter.

Having rapidly and comprehensively developed on the basis of friendship and cooperation over the past 25 years since the establishment of our diplomatic ties, the relations between the Republic of Azerbaijan and the United States reached the level of strategic partnership.

The US important and continuous support for the large-scale transnational projects implemented by Azerbaijan in the field of energy security, close and fruitful cooperation of our two countries in the fight against international terrorism, and the peacekeeping mission in Afghanistan are among the key factors characterizing our partnership, the president said.

We also pin great hopes on the efforts of the United States, as a co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group, and on your efforts personally, Mr. President, towards ensuring a peaceful settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict in accordance with the norms of international law, within the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, and towards liberating Azerbaijans occupied lands and ensuring the return of over a million of Azerbaijani refugees and IDPs to their homelands.

On this joyful day, I wish you robust health, success in your activities, and the friendly people of the United States lasting peace and prosperity, President Aliyev added.

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4 July 2017 12:41 (UTC+04:00)

By Sara Israfilbayova

Azerbaijans National Coordination Council for Sustainable Development (NCCSD) has recently submitted a final report on achievement of the sustainable development goals (SDG), or the Global Goals to the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), the Azerbaijani Economy Ministry reported on July 3.

The report says that poverty has decreased from 49 percent in 2001 to 7.6 percent in 2011 and further down to 4.9 percent in 2015. Azerbaijans food security is similar to that of the developed countries, with malnutrition affecting less than 5 per cent of the population.

The Government of Azerbaijan considers the national SDG process as an opportunity to empower a broader range of national stakeholders, promote participative national dialogue and to streamline wider cooperation on the path to sustainable development, according to the report.

Earlier, Azerbaijan provided the ECOSOC with the key points of the report, which were also posted on the official website of the organization.

The NCCSD was established with the purpose of achieving the SDG in Azerbaijan by the decree of President Ilham Aliyev on October 6, 2016.

The head of state appointed Deputy Prime Minister of Azerbaijan Ali Ahmadov as a Chairman of the Council.

Main goal of the Council is to work out national priorities in accordance with global targets, which possess importance for Azerbaijan, ensure the compliance of state programs and strategies covering the socio-economic spheres with the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

The SDG were adopted by the UN member countries in September 2015. Overall, there are 17 goals and 169 targets to be implemented in 2016-2030.

The Global Goals replace the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), main objectives of which were eradicate extreme hunger and poverty, achieve primary education, promote gender equality and empower woman, reduce child mortality, improve maternal health, etc.

The government of Azerbaijan is doing all its best to ensure countrys economic growth, to fully provide social demands of the population, to create favorable conditions for the development of the health system and develop all spheres of countrys public life.

All this is possible through the consistent conduct of a well-thought out and purposeful policy. The state programmes adopted by the countrys leadership, concept and strategic documents and their practical implementation are of special importance as a mechanism of implementing this policy.

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4 July 2017 13:41 (UTC+04:00)

By Kamila Aliyeva

Azerbaijani Ambassador to Islamabad Ali Alizade had a meeting with the newly appointed Special Secretary of the Pakistani Foreign Ministry, Syed Abrar Hussain.

Alizade congratulated the Special Secretary on appointment and noted that Azerbaijans relations with Pakistan are of particular importance, the embassy reported.

He said that both countries, which have much in common, constantly support each other and emphasized the priority of developing ties in all areas with Pakistan.

The ambassador praised Pakistan's fair position on the occupation of Azerbaijani lands by Armenia and the aggression of Armenia against Azerbaijan.

Hussain, in turn, said that countries supporting each other such as Pakistan and Azerbaijan can be rarely found and this support has been continuing throughout history.

He stressed that Azerbaijan is a fraternal country for Pakistan and due to the occupied Azerbaijani territories it does not recognize Armenia as a state.

The work done to strengthen economic and trade relations, arrangement of mutual visits, prospects for expanding relations between cities and regions of the two countries, continuation of consultations between the foreign ministries, increasing contractual basis and other issues were also discussed during the meeting.

Pakistan is one of the oldest and closest allies and strategic partners of Azerbaijan in Asia. Pakistan was among the first countries that recognized the independence of Azerbaijan in October 1991.

Last year, a number of high-level talks and meetings were held in order to develop bilateral trade, investment making, and identify business opportunities.

In October and December 2016, respectively, Pakistan's Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Commerce Minister Khurram Dastgir Khan visited Baku. During their visits, the expansion of trade and economic cooperation was discussed.

Trade turnover between Azerbaijan and Pakistan amounted to $7.3 million in 2016, according to Azerbaijans State Customs Committee.

---

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4 July 2017 13:19 (UTC+04:00)

By Sara Israfilbayova

The State Committee on Science and Technology of the Republic of Belarus and the National Academy of Sciences of Azerbaijan hold a competition of joint scientific and technical projects for 2018-2019, BelTA reported.

Applications are accepted from July 1 to September 15 in agrarian, biomedical and pharmacological areas and should be sent to the State Committee in printed (in triplicate) and electronic (on CD-ROM) types.

The documents should contain a business plan prepared in accordance with the established procedure, written commitments of the customer for the practical use of the results of research and development, as well as written commitments to share participation in the financing of project costs in the amount of not less than 50 percent of the total amount planned for this purpose.

The competition of joint scientific and technical projects is conducted in accordance with the agreement between the governments of Belarus and Azerbaijan on scientific and technical cooperation of June 3, 2010.

Diplomatic relations between Azerbaijan and Belarus established in 1993 but two countries started to get close during past decade.

Cooperation of Belarus and Azerbaijan in the economic sphere has been developing dynamically over the past decade.

Belarus mainly exports to Azerbaijan the production of machinery, woodworking, tires, foodstuff, medicine, household appliances, dishes and other goods, meanwhile Azerbaijan exports to Belarus the products made of aluminum, products of petrochemistry, engineering and agriculture.

Azerbaijans first ever Trade House was opened in the Belarusian capital Minsk, on May 26, 2017.

Trade turnover between Azerbaijan and Belarus increased by 21.5 percent and amounted to $6.34 million in January 2017, as compared to the same month of 2016, according to Azerbaijans State Customs Committee.

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4 July 2017 10:41 (UTC+04:00)

By Trend

Russian President Vladimir Putin and President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker will discuss resumption of the EU-Russia energy dialogue on the sidelines of G20 summit in Hamburg, RIA Novosti quoted Russian Presidential Aide Yuri Ushakov as saying.

The heads of Russia and the European Commission in particular will discuss gas supplies to Europe via Turkish Stream and Nord Stream-2 pipelines, Ushakov told journalists.

The G20 summit will be held in Hamburg on July 7-8.

Russia and Turkey signed an intergovernmental agreement on the implementation of the Turkish Stream project in October 2016. The agreement envisages construction of two branches of the main gas pipeline through the Black Sea, the capacity of each branch being 15.75 billion cubic meters of gas. One branch is meant to supply gas directly to the Turkish market and the other for the supply of gas by transit through Turkey to Europe. Initially, Russia and Turkey planned to build four branches of the pipeline. Russian Gazprom began laying pipes for the Turkish Stream pipeline off the Russian Black Sea coast in early May 2017.

Nord Stream 2 is a gas pipeline project for Russian gas supplies to Europe. Measuring over 1,200 km in length, Nord Stream 2 will travel from the coast of Russia, through the Baltic Sea, reaching landfall near Greifswald in Germany. Nord Stream 2 will largely follow the route of the existing Nord Stream pipeline. The pipeline is planned for completing by the end of 2019.

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4 July 2017 11:00 (UTC+04:00)

By Kamila Aliyeva

The fifth round of two-day talks on Syria kicked off in Astana with a meeting of a joint working group on de-escalation issues on July 4, RIA Novosti reported.

A number of bilateral meetings at the expert level were held on July 3, and today they will continue at the level of the heads of delegations in various formats.

The main topic of the talks will be the identification of de-escalation zones, a memorandum on the establishment of which was the main result of the last round.

"First of all, we are talking about how to implement a memorandum on the creation of 4 de-escalation zones, which was signed by the guarantor countries (Russia, Turkey, Iran) during the May meeting, Kazakhstans Foreign Minister Kairat Abdrakhmanov said while talking about the agenda of the meeting.

Undoubtedly, in terms of implementing this memorandum, such issues as defining the boundaries of these zones, as well as defining and discussing the issue of control over the functioning of de-escalation zones are of high importance.

To date, four rounds of negotiations on the ongoing Syrian conflict were held in the Astana, on January 23-24, February 15-16, March 14-15 and May 3-4.

During the most recent round, the guarantor countries of a nationwide Syrian ceasefire regime  Russia, Iran, and Turkey  agreed to establish four safety zones across the country.

Abdrakhmanov also recalled that this agreement mentions the establishment of checkpoints and observation posts along the borders of de-escalation zones.

Abdrakhmanov added that according to the Russian center for monitoring the ceasefire regime and reconciliation of the parties in the territory of the Syria, about 65 armed opposition groups joined the regime of truce.

"All the delegations that planned to participate in this important stage of the talks have arrived This time, as far as I was informed, nine representatives of the armed Syrian opposition, who are currently in our capital, have arrived for the talks" the minister concluded.

The civil war in Syria between government and opposition with various terrorist groups involved, including Daesh (also known as ISIS or ISIL), began back in March 2011.

Syrian President Bashar Assad managed to turn the tide of war in his favor after Russia started an air campaign in September 2015, while Iran is an uncompromising supporter of the Syrian leader.

According to a report by the Syrian Center for Policy Research, the conflict has claimed the lives of over 470,000 people, injured 1.9 million others, and displaced nearly half of the countrys pre-war population of about 23 million within or beyond its borders.

--

Kamila Aliyeva is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Kami_Aliyeva

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
4 July 2017 14:00 (UTC+04:00)

By Kamila Aliyeva

Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambayev gave a number of specific instructions to the Foreign Ministry on further development of priority areas in Kyrgyzstan's foreign policy .

The president held a meeting with the countrys Foreign Minister Erlan Abdyldaev to discuss the situation with the implementation of the country's foreign policy, Kabar reported.

Abdyldaev reported on plans to implement the agreements that were reached after the state visit of Atambayev to Russia and its federal subjects - Bashkortostan and Tatarstan.

In addition, the Foreign Minister also spoke about the joint preparations with the President's Office for holding the International Forum "Altai civilization and related peoples of the Altaic language family" in Kyrgyzstan, which is expected to be attended by representatives of several European and Asian countries.

Kyrgyz leader paid an official visit to Russia on June 19-24, during which nine documents in various areas, including the Declaration on strengthening the alliance and strategic partnership between Russia and Kyrgyzstan, have been signed.

---

Kamila Aliyeva is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Kami_Aliyeva

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4 July 2017 16:24 (UTC+04:00)

By Kamila Aliyeva

The multibillion-dollar gas deal concluded with Frances Total for investment in Phase 11 of South Pars  the world's largest gas field  will facilitate the "transfer of technological, scientific and managerial experience" between the two countries.

Irans President Hassan Rouhani announced about this on July 4 ahead of his meeting with French energy giant CEO Patrick Pouyanne in Tehran.

Rouhani noted that his administration was striving to sign a landmark nuclear agreement known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) with the P5 + 1 group to lay the foundation for strengthening Iran's economic cooperation with giant companies.

Iran has signed a $4.8 billion deal with a consortium led by French oil company Total, with 50.1 percent stake, to develop the phase 11 of its giant South Pars gas field on July 3.

This deal is the Islamic republic's first one with a European oil company in more than a decade.

Rouhani also invited big foreign companies to invest in projects in Irans oil and gas sectors valued at around $200 billion. We must make efforts toward economic growth of the Middle East to establish peace and stability in the region, he said at the meeting.

CNPC and Irans Petro Pars have 30 percent and 19.9 percent stakes as well.

The long-anticipated agreement, based on newly designed contract model, called Iran Petroleum Contract (IPC), can be extended for 5 years further, and would become operational in two stages.

Under the terms of the deal, Total will invest $1 billion in the first phase, the total cost of which amounts to $2 billion. The project includes construction of two 32-inch pipelines with length 270 km total, as well as drilling 30 wells (including 28 production wells), construction of two 1,500 tons platforms as well as construction of 4.5-inch pipeline (136 km) to transit ethylene glycol from land to offshore project for dehydration of gas and another 4.5 km 36-inch pipeline and a mooring buoy to transit gas condensate there for loading to tankers.

Pouyanne, in turn, deemed the contract of high importance to Total, expressing hope that its implementation would open doors to the presence of other European companies in Iran.

He also hailed the Irans nuclear deal for having created ample opportunities for developing Iran-EU relations, saying Total is optimistic about its cooperation with Iranian firms.

Total is familiar with the South Pars field that it will work on, as the company had experience there before sanctions made work in Iran impossible for big international companies.

Pouyanne argues that by being the first of the western oil companies to sign a major deal with a post-sanctions Iran, his company was able to shape much better terms than had been offered in the past.

However, Totals deal has certain risks as well. In particular, Trumps administration, which is reviewing its policy towards Iran, could take a harder line against Tehran, discouraging international companies from investing there.

Nevertheless, from Totals point of view, the advantages seem to outweigh the drawbacks.

The Phases 11 development project of the South Pars field is set to produce 56 mcmd of soar gas.

Within a 20-year period, 335 billion cubic meters of soar gas will be extracted from the phase. Once processed, 315 billion cubic meters of sweet gas, 290 million cubic meters of gas condensate, 2 million tons of sulfur, 14 million tons of liquefied petroleum gas and 12 million tons of ethane will be produced.

The Phase 11 is expected to bring $84 billion worth of revenues for Iran, based on the current price of crude oil.

On the sidelines of the signing ceremony Zanganeh said that the contract, which is the first IPC contract, will amount to $5 billion worth of investment.

South Pars, located in southern region, is divided into 24 development phases, and contains 40 trillion cubic meters of natural gas.

It covers an area of 9,700 square kilometers, 3,700 square kilometers of which are in Iran's territorial waters in the Persian Gulf. The remaining 6,000 square kilometers are in Qatar's territorial waters.

Iran has vast energy resources  the worlds largest proven natural gas reserves and the second-largest trove of oil in the Persian Gulf, according to BP.

---

Kamila Aliyeva is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Kami_Aliyeva

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4 July 2017 16:53 (UTC+04:00)

By Kamila Aliyeva

Turkey can launch new military operations in Syria in case of necessity, Turkish Defense Minister Fikri Isik said in an interview with TRT Haber TV channel July 4.

Isik said that Turkey is entitled to neutralize any threat from outside and in particular from Syria, stressing that no country is entitled to dictate its will to Turkey in the region.

Earlier, Turkey has informed Russia on the possibility of a new military operation in Syria.

Nine phone conversations have been conducted between the General Staffs of Turkey and Russia over the past 10 days regarding the start of a new military operation in Syria, Turkish media outlets reported on June 29.

The Turkish and Russian sides agreed that if a new military operation of the Turkish Armed Forces begins in the Syrian city of Afrin, the Russian military contingent will have to relocate to another city.

Starting from June 21, Turkey began to pull military equipment to the border with Syria.

Military equipment is concentrated in the Turkish province of Kilis, bordering the Syrian territory controlled by the YPG (Kurdish Peoples Protection Units) and PYD (Kurdish Democratic Union Party) forces.

The Turkish Armed Force launched an operation to liberate the city of Jarabulus from the IS militants in northern Syria, near Aleppo on August 24, 2016. The operation was dubbed the Euphrates Shield.

The Turkish-led Euphrates Shield is aimed to improve security, support coalition forces, and eliminate the terror threat along the Turkish border using Free Syrian Army fighters backed by Turkish artillery and jets.

The civil war in Syria between government and opposition with various terrorist groups involved, including Daesh (also known as ISIS or ISIL), began back in March 2011.

According to a report by the Syrian Center for Policy Research, the conflict has claimed the lives of over 470,000 people, injured 1.9 million others, and displaced nearly half of the countrys pre-war population of about 23 million within or beyond its borders.

---

Kamila Aliyeva is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Kami_Aliyeva

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
Meet 21-year-old, Sonal Baberwal from Maharashtra who is the first winner of the prestigious Kalpana Chawla scholarship from the International Space University (ISU).

21-year-old Sonal Baberwal from Maharashtra is the first to win Kalpana Chawla scholarship

By India Today Web Desk: "If four things are followed - having a great aim, acquiring knowledge, hard work, and perseverance - then anything can be achieved." - A. P. J. Abdul Kalam

While making the country proud, this girl from Amaravati in Maharashtra is the first winner of the prestigious Kalpana Chawla scholarship of the International Space University (ISU).

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Meet, 21-year-old, Sonal Baberwal who hails from Amaravati.

According to reports, the Kalpana Chawla scholarship of the ISU is offered at the Cork Institute of Technology in Ireland. It helps in developing strong leadership qualities.

(Read: NASA is all set to punch out the asteroids before they hit earth with DART)

More about Sonal's qualification:

Being brought up in Amaravati, Sonal has studied at the Shri R L T College of Science and the Sipna College of Engineering and Technology in Amaravati, Maharashtra.

Her hobbies:

Sonal's interests include robotics, Pluto, space debris and environmental aspects.

Furthermore, all these years, Apurva Jakhadi and her sister, Leena Bokil mentored Sonal.

Know what Apurva said:

While speaking to TOI, Apurva said that what qualified Sonal to be accepted by ISU was her excellent academic record while she was studying at Amaravati. Apart from her academic record the clinching deal was her impressive performance at the ISU interview.

About Kalpana Chawla scholarship:

The Kalpana Chawla scholarship project has been established to honour Indian-American astronaut Kalpana Chawla, who passed away in the space shuttle Columbia accident, on February 1, 2003. Further, the announcement states that the "scholarship is commitment for creating building blocks that are necessary for India to maintain its leadership in the global space community and market place."

Moreover, it provides funding for Indian nationals to attend the ISU's space studies programme.

It states that "the goal is to attract talented young Indian postgraduate students with backgrounds in science, medicine and other space-related areas of focus, who also share Kalpana Chawla's selfless and passionate pursuit of science and excellence."

Here's what Michael Potter, one of the scholarship founders said:

Calling it a historic moment, Michael Potter, one of the scholarship founders, in a recent TOI report said, "India will continue to be an important player on the international front as it moves forward leading the development of space technologies and activities."

Read: PM Modi to write a book for youth, inspired by Mann Ki Baat response

Read: PM Narendra Modi releases ICAI CA revised syllabus

Read: ICSE Class 6 textbook sparks controversy for using mosque image to depict noise pollution

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Read: Yogi Adityanath launches 'School Chalo Abhiyan' today: Basic requirements still unfulfilled

--- ENDS ---
4 July 2017 18:04 (UTC+04:00)

By Kamila Aliyeva

Russia and China - the two eastern powers - reinforced their ties as Kremlin hosted a meeting of President Vladimir Putin and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping on July 4.

The two have been strengthening economic and diplomatic relations in recent years amid waning ties with the U.S., which has opposed Russian and Chinese geopolitical policies.

Trade between Russia and China grew 33 percent in the first five months of 2017 to about 32 billion, Xinhua reported ahead of Xi's two-day visit.

President Putin, welcoming the guest, said that he is satisfied by a significant growth in trade with China and plans to discuss both economic and security issues with Chinese President Xi Jinping, TASS reported.



The Russian president said Jinpings official visit to Russia is "a key event in terms of building bilateral relations this year."

"Im glad to note that if last year we saw a modest growth in trade, but still it grew - 3.9 percent, this year it is already significant  37 percent in the first four months," Putin said.

"Economic issues have always been in the center of our attention, but we are not only dealing with this, Putin aid, further stressing that the two nation are also taking steps to unite efforts on the international arena, in security area and fight against modern threats and challenges.

China and Russia are comprehensive strategic partners of coordination, and it is quite important for them to intensify communication and coordination in dealing with major affairs, said President Xi in Moscow.

The two sides should strengthen cooperation, and steadfastly support each other in pursuing their own development paths and defending their respective sovereignty, national security and development interests, added the Chinese president.

They also need to step up policy communication and action coordination on major regional and global issues, so as to tackle risks and challenges and promote world peace, stability and prosperity, he added.

The parties also have vowed to work together to peacefully defuse the deepening crisis over North Koreas nuclear and missile programmes. They agreed to jointly push for a proper settlement of the peninsula issue via dialogue and negotiation.

Vladimir Putin also presented Chinese leader Xi Jinping with the Order of St. Andrew. The ceremony took place in the Grand Kremlin Palace, where talks between the two leaders were held.



"This award shows that Russia recognizes your special contribution to the development of the comprehensive partnership and strategic cooperation between our countries, as well as to the strengthening of friendship between our peoples," Putin said addressing Xi Jinping and calling him his "dear friend." The Russian leader added that Xi Jinping "has always consistently supported close cooperation between Russia and China based on equality, mutual trust, openness and respect for each others interests."

Russia and China signed about twenty documents following the high-level talks.

In particular, a memorandum on cooperation in the field of information space development, an intergovernmental agreement on cooperation in the field of joint film production, an agreement on cooperation in ensuring sanitary and epidemiological welfare of the population and sanitary protection of the territory, a memorandum between the Agriculture Ministries on further strengthening of cooperation in the field of agriculture.

A memorandum on cooperation in the development of international transport corridors Primorje-1 and Primorye-2, a joint statement of Russian Ministry of Economic Development and Chinese Ministry of Commerce on a joint feasibility study of the Agreement on the Eurasian Economic Partnership was signed as well.

Russia is the first leg of Xi's ongoing foreign trip, which will also take him to Germany for a state visit and the upcoming summit of the Group of 20 major economies.

---

Kamila Aliyeva is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Kami_Aliyeva

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
4 July 2017 18:19 (UTC+04:00)

By Kamila Aliyeva

The first personal meeting between the presidents of Russia and the U.S.. Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump will be held on July 7 on the sidelines of the G20 summit in German Hamburg.

This was stated by Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov, RIA Novosti reported.

"So far, there is no clarity as to how long it [the meeting] might take. I think is will be a rather detailed, in-depth discussion. We hope it will be that way," he said.

When asked whether the meeting would be followed by a news conference, he answered in the negative.

"Only talks are planned," he explained.

However, he noted that the expectations from this meeting are quite high. "The first contact is very important and the leaders have much to discuss," the Kremlin aide noted.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov also commented on the meeting saying that the format of the meeting between the presidents can be whatever that convenient.

Putin and Trump had held several telephone conversations but it was not enough because relations between Moscow and Washington were at the "zero level."

The relations between the two countries have deteriorated further after the missile strike against Syria which was carried out by the United States. In Syrian issue, Moscow backs the government of Bashar al-Assad while the U.S. supports rebels trying to overthrow him.

Previously, Trump said that the United States' relationship with Moscow "may be at an all-time low."

Putin also underlined that the level of trust with Washington under U.S. President Donald Trump degraded.

---

Kamila Aliyeva is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Kami_Aliyeva

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
4 July 2017 12:41 (UTC+04:00)

By Laman Ismayilova

Russian airline Pegas Fly is starting to operate flights from Moscows Zhukovsky International Airport to Baku from July 27.

The airline will operate regular passenger Zhukovsky-Baku flights three times per week until October 29, the airport reported.

On Thursdays, departure from Moscow to Baku will take place at 10:45 local time and the arrival in Baku is scheduled for 15:00 local time. On the same day, departure from Baku to Moscow will take place at 16:15, while the arrival in Moscow will be at 18:10 local time.

On Mondays and Saturdays, departure from Moscow is scheduled for 08:10 and arrival in Baku  for 12:25. Departure from Baku to Moscow on the same day is scheduled for 13:40 and arrival in Moscow is scheduled for 15:35.

The flights will be operated using Boeing 767 aircraft.

Baku is among the most visited CIS cities among Russian tourists.

The increase of tourists coming from Russia to Azerbaijan is mainly related with the Formula 1 Grand Prix of Europe, various festivals, active promotion of the countrys tourism in the Russian market and new flights launched between the Russian and Azerbaijani cities.

Azerbaijan offers numerous must-see spots, one of which is the Shahdag Winter-Summer Tourism Complex. It was recently claimed to enter the Top 3 popular resort for mountain hiking among Russia and CIS countries, according to the tourist portal TurStat.

Over the past year, Azerbaijan received over 2 million tourists, 685,000 of whom were guests from Russia. Taking into account all mentioned above, this figure is expected to rise by the end of 2016.

---

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4 July 2017 13:32 (UTC+04:00)

By Rashid Shirinov

ASAN Visa system is improving in Azerbaijan, and it will be possible to get an e-visa to enter the country just in three hours. The system will be applied not only at airports but also at the customs checkpoints.

Culture and Tourism Minister Abulfas Garayev announced about this at a meeting with Zahra Ahmadipour, Vice-President of Iran and Chairman of the Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization on July 4.

Garayev further mentioned that the relations between Azerbaijan and Iran, the two neighboring and friendly countries, are on the rise, and the presidents of both countries have done great work in this regard.

In accordance with the presidential decree, ASAN service, Azerbaijans leading e-Government institution, should ensure consideration of applications of foreigners and stateless persons to obtain a visa in an expedited manner for those, who want to visit Azerbaijan, within three hours.

ASAN Visa also simplified the travel of Iranian tourists to the country. Now Iranian tourists wishing to come to Azerbaijan do not need to contact the Consulate in Tehran, as they can get a visa online.

Azerbaijani and Iranian peoples enjoy the same cultural and religious traditions, and the geographical proximity play significant role in relations of the two nations. Azerbaijan traditionally welcomes many Iranians during the Novruz holiday.

The number of Iranian citizens, who visited Azerbaijan during Novruz holiday in 2017 increased by 35-40 percent, compared to last year. Alongside capital city Baku, Iranian tourists also took part in tours to tourist routes such as Lankarana, Lerik, Masalli, Gabala and Sheki.

In general, today citizens of 93 countries take advantage of Azerbaijans ASAN Visa system. Electronic visa is a document for one entry, which determines the period of stay in the country up to 30 days.

Thanks to the ASAN Visa system, up to 960,000 tourists arrived in Azerbaijan in the first five months of this year, while this figure was 768,000 people in the same period of last year.

---

Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov

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The police are now investigating the possibility that Pulsar Suni made calls to Malayalam director Nadir Shah.

By Rohini Swamy: The Malayalm actress abduction case has seen a lot of twists and turns. The latest development is the possibility of telephonic conversations between Pulsar Suni and Malayalam director Nadir Shah. Police are currently investigating this angle.

Reports suggest that Suni allegedly spoke to Nadir Shah at least three times. These calls were made to discuss a financial transaction between them.

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This does not tie actor Dileep to the case directly, but the police have examined the SIM cards used by Suni and found that each of the three calls lasted close to eight minutes.

Reportedly, Suni made calls frequently to a few numbers who allegedly have links with actor Dileep's manager Appunni. These calls were said to be made between November 23, 2016 and February 17, 2017.

All these revelations fell into place after one of Suni's jailmates, Jinson, recorded his statement with the police and mentioned that a link between Pulsar Suni and Dileep.

ALSO READ: What happened so far in the Malayalam actress abduction case

ALSO READ: Dileep's wife Kavya Madhavan's business raided by police in Malayalam actress abduction case ALSO WATCH: Seven detained in Malayalam actor molestation case, rape charges filed

--- ENDS ---
New Country President for Cemex UK

04 July 2017

Michel Andre has been appointed as the Country President for Cemex UK, with immediate effect. Andre joins the UK business following seven years as Country President for Cemex France.



Mr Andre has worked for Cemex France for a total of 12 years with senior roles in Strategic Planning and the Readymix business. Prior to joining Cemex, he worked for Lafarge in the US and France and five years at Pricewaterhouse Coopers.



Besides his role as Country President of Cemex France Mr Andre was a board member and then President of the Unicem Association France, the National Union of Quarrying and Building Materials Industries representing 2700 companies and over 1m employees. The three year term as president finished in June 2017.



I am looking forward to working with my new UK colleagues, with safety as my number one priority, in conjunction with growing the business and helping to build a Greater Britain.



Michel Andres appointment follows the announcement of the promotion of previous Country President Jesus Gonzalez, who joins the Executive team in Monterrey, Mexico, as Executive Vice President Sustainability and Operations Development. His role covers Health & Safety, Operations & Technology, Energy, Sourcing, Research & Development and Sustainability.

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CMS potential beneficiary of hydroelectric project

04 July 2017

Cahya Mata Sarawak Bhd (CMS) could benefit from the Sarawak Baleh Hydroelectric Project (HEP) as the company is the sole cement producer and major building material supplier in the state, Maybank Investment Bank Bhd believes.



The joint venture hydroelectric project between China Gezhouba Group Co Ltd and Untang Jaya Sdn Bhd would be looking to procure up to 45 per cent of locally-sourced content, which was expected to benefit local players, according to the research house.



"CMS is a potential beneficiary as the sole cement producer and major building material supplier in Sarawak," Business Times (Malaysia) quoted Maybank as stating.



The Baleh HEP will be the fourth hydropower plant in Sarawak and is expected to be fully commissioned in 2025.



"In the longer term, Baleh will help bring new investments into Sarawak, especially in energy-intensive industries, which could benefit CMS's property development at the Samalaju Industrial Park," the report added.



CMS Cement owns a 1Mta integrated facility at Mambong, Sarawak. A new grinding system was constructed by Christian Pfeiffer in 2016, which features a 150tph ball mill, two 10,000t silos and a 3000 bag/h packing and palletising machine. CMS Cement also runs two grinding units at Pending and Bintulu with capacities of 1Mta and 0.75Mta, respectively. The company now has sufficient capacity to supply all of Sarawak without the need to rely on cement imports.

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In the wake of clashes in North 24 Parganas district, Governor KN Tripathi has hit back at Mamata Banerjee for alleging that he threatened her, saying that he only asked her to ensure peace and maintain law and order.

By Romita Datta: After West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee accused Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi of threatening her over the phone over communal clashes that have been going on in North 24 Parganas since yesterday, the latter hit back, saying he didn't say anything to her that was threatening or humiliating but only asked to ensure peace and law and order.

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Baduria area in North 24 Parganas district witnessed violence and torching of houses over an inflammatory Facebook post. In response to the post, a particular community took out a procession and vandalised shops and houses, demanding that the person, who wrote this post, be hanged.

After acts of violence continued unabated for 24 hours, the BJP leaders on Tuesday met Governor KN Tripathi in the afternoon.

Following the meeting, Tripathi called up the chief minister.

MAMATA's CHARGES

Mamata said, "The governor spoke objectionable things to me over the phone. The language he has used was highly insulting. I have never been insulted so much. He spoke like a block president of BJP. I made it clear to him that he cannot speak to me in such a manner or threaten me. I am not here at the mercy of BJP or the Governor. I have reached here on people's mandate, whereas the Governor's is a nominated post."

Attacking the BJP and people of both the communities involved in the North 24 Parganas violence for fomenting tension, the chief minister for the first time came down heavily on the minority community, which she felt was unnecessarily fanning communal tension, despite the person concerned having been arrested.

"I had to face so much humiliation because of you," she said.

GOVERNOR's VERSION

Expressing shock at the chief minister's harsh language, Governor Tripathi said that he was surprised at the attitude and language used by the chief minister. He said, "Talks were confidential in nature. No one is expected to disclose it. I am amazed she shared our conversation with the press. There was nothing in the talks for which the chief minister may have felt threatened or humiliated. I have asked the chief minister to ensure peace and law and order by all means. A governor cannot remain a mute spectator in the affairs of the state."

Meanwhile, three companies of paramilitary forces have been deployed in the volatile areas. Talking about this, BJP leader Shamik Bhattacharya said that both the constitutional heads should forget their personal egos and help restore peace and normalcy in the area.

West Bengal BJP chief Dilip Ghosh, however, said that there was no reason for the chief minister to feel insulted if the governor thought it prudent to ask about the deteriorating law and order situation.

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Also read | Angry Mamata hits out at West Bengal Governor KN Tripathi over Bashirhat communal flare-up

Also read | Bengal's notorious syndicate raj comes back to haunt Mamata's own MP

--- ENDS ---
Genesee & Wyoming Inc. owns and leases freight railroads. It operates through three segments: North American Operations, Australian Operations, and U.K./European Operations. The company transports various commodities, including agricultural products, autos and auto parts, chemicals and plastics, coal and coke, food and kindred products, lumber and forest products, metallic ores, metals, minerals and stone, petroleum products, pulp and paper, waste, and other commodities. It owns or leases 122 freight railroads, including 105 short line railroads and 2 regional freight railroads located in the United States, 8 short line railroads located in Canada, 3 railroads located in Australia, 1 railroad located in the United Kingdom, 1 railroad in Poland and Germany, and 2 railroads in the Netherlands with a total of approximately 16,200 miles of track. The company also operates 6,200 additional miles of track that is owned or leased by others. In addition, it operates deep sea maritime containers and provides bulk haulage, including coal, aggregates, cement, and infrastructure services. Further, the company provides rail service at approximately 40 ports; rail-ferry service in North America, Australia, and Europe; and contract coal loading and railcar switching for industrial customers. Genesee & Wyoming Inc. was founded in 1899 and is headquartered in Darien, Connecticut.
Charlie Gard latest: US hospital offers free treatment as Trump says he wants to 'help' the baby

An unnamed US hospital today offered to treat 10-month-old terminally ill Charlie Gard for free, after President Donald Trump said he would be 'delighted' to help the baby and his parents Chris Gard and Connie Yates.

Reports of the offer of treatment came after a spokeswoman for the White House said that members of the Administration have spoken to the family, adding: 'The president is just trying to be helpful if at all possible.'

Trump's intervention followed that of Pope Francis, who has called for the parents to be able to 'accompany and treat their child until the end'.

Trump tweeted his support, writing: 'If we can help little #CharlieGard, as per our friends in the U.K. and the Pope, we would be delighted to do so.'

The Vatican said that the Pope was following the case 'with affection and sadness' and 'expresses his closeness to his [Charlie's] parents'. A statement added: 'For them he prays, hoping that their desire to accompany and care for their own child to the end is not ignored.'

The statement came on Sunday, as members of the public protested outside Buckingham Palace against turning off the baby's life support.

Charlie's life has hung in the balance since his birth. He suffers from mitochondrial depletion syndrome, a rare genetic illness which leads to progressive brain and muscle damage.

The European Court of Human Rights has refused the parents' appeal to take him to the US for experimental treatment. The court also refused to allow them to take Charlie home to die.

Judges concluded that further treatment would 'continue to cause Charlie significant harm', in line with advice from specialists at Great Ormond Street, where Charlie is being treated.

Charlie's parents had expected his life support machine to be turned off on Friday, but Great Ormond Street said it was continuing treatment to allow the family to spend more time with the baby.

Previously, a Vatican bioethics advisory panel had made a statement on the need to accept the limits of what medicine can do.

But last Friday, Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia of the Pontifical Academy of Life, said: 'We should never act with the deliberate intention to end a human life, including the removal of nutrition and hydration.'
Franklin Graham and Russell Moore urge Trump to tackle Christian persecution in Sudan

Leading evangelical groups in America are urging the US Secretary of State to stand against Christian persecution in Sudan.

In a letter signed by Franklin Graham's Samaritan's Purse and Russell Moore's Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, Rex Tillerson was told Sudan's 'discriminatory laws restrict the freedoms of minority groups and deprives them of their constitutional rights'.

Dozens of churches and other religious buildings have been destroyed in the Muslim majority country and meeting in public is illegal without government permission.

'There is no possibility of the demolished churches being replaced since in July 2014, Sudan's Minister for Religious Guidance and Endowments announced that the government would no longer issue permits for the building of new churches, stating that existing churches were sufficient for the Christian population living in Sudan following the secession of South Sudan in 2011,' the signatories say.

'Since it is also illegal to assemble in public without permission from the government, the restrictions have the effect of preventing Sudanese Christians from congregating to worship.'

It comes after Sudanese churches wrote a defiant open letter to the government accusing it of 'systematic violation of Christian religious freedoms'.

'We feel deeply sorry and strongly condemn these abusive procedures against the holy places, and we hold the National Intelligence and Security Services [NISS] responsible for the damages and other consequences [that] can be caused due to their confiscation of documents,' the letter sent last month states.

'We also hold the land authorities of the Ministry of the Planning and Infrastructure Development of the Khartoum state responsible for the attacks against the Church and [for] the financial damages caused.'

It goes on to call on the government to hand back land confiscated and asks foreign human rights groups to intervene.

Russell Moore, Franklin Graham and others joined this call for international pressure on Sudan, urging the US against lifting sanctions until crucial changes are made including ending apostasy laws that make it a criminal offence to convert religion, ceasing the demolition of churches and guaranteeing freedom of assembly and freedom of expression.
Jewish extremist found guilty of arson attack on Galilee church where Jesus fed the five thousand

A 22-year-old Jewish extremist has been found guilty of carrying out the arson attack on Church of the Multiplication of the Loaves and Fish at Tabgha on the Sea of Galilee.

The Times of Israel reported that a second, 21-year-old suspect was found not guilty in the June 2015 attack on the 4th century church, which marks the spot held to be where Jesus performed the miracle of feeding the five thousand.

A sentence for the convicted arsonist, Yinon Reuveni, is expected at a later date.

The arson attack reportedly caused damages of around $1.5 million, and the renovation work on the church took eight months to complete.

Israel contributed about $394,000 towards the reconstruction.

Reuveni, currently a resident of the southern town of Ofakim, had been banished from the West Bank on several occasions.

He is a suspect in a series of hate crimes, including the February 2015 arson attack at the Dormition Abbey, held to be the resting place of Mary, mother of Jesus, just outside the Old City of Jerusalem on Mount Zion.

The second suspect, Yehuda Asraf, had been living on an illegal outpost and is active in extremist Jewish circles, according to reports.

Two rooms in the Church of the Multiplication of the Loaves and Fishes in Tabgha were vandalised and badly damaged in the fire two years ago.

The arson attack completely destroyed a building in the compound, though the church itself was not damaged.

Hebrew graffiti was found on another building within the complex, reading: 'Idols will be cast out or destroyed.'
Kurdistan opens huge church for Iraqi, Syrian refugees

One of the largest churches in the Middle East has been consecrated in the Kurdistan region of Iraq.

The church was opened last week in Ainkawa, according to the Rudaw news service. It can seat more than 1,000 people at a time.

So far only the prayer hall has been completed. However, Khalid Jamal, head of Christian Affairs department at the Kurdistan Regional Government religious affairs ministry told Rudaw: 'When finished this will be one of the biggest such projects in the Middle East. It can accommodate 1,300 parishioners at one time.'

Among the church's congregation will be refugees driven from their homes in Mosul and elsewhere in Iraq and Syria by the depredations of Islamic State.

Miriam Sileman, a woman from Syria, told Rudaw: 'I'm a Syrian refugee. I now live here. I'm very happy about this church and I'll always come here to pray.'

The foundation stone for the building was laid by the KRG religious affairs ministry in 2009 and building started in 2013.

'Iraqi Christians see Kurdistan as a peaceful place for themselves,' said Bishop Bashar Matti. 'Building this church with support from the Kurdish government is a message that shows there is a link with and support for Christians.'

More than 2 million refugees and internally displaced persons have found refuge in Iraqi Kurdistan, representing around 28 per cent of the region's total population.
Lord Carey's son says his father was a victim of changing attitudes to abuse

The son of former Archbishop of Canterbury George Carey has said he was 'struck by the absence of any public expression of sadness and sympathy' for his father after he was found to have 'colluded' with predatory paedophile former bishop Peter Ball.

Andrew Carey, a campaigner and PR strategist, says his father was a victim of 'changing attitudes'.

Lord Carey resigned from an honorary position in the CofE after a damning report heavily criticised the Church's response to abuse carried out by the disgraced Peter Ball.

Carey, Archbishop from 1991 to 2002, was singled out for particular condemnation in the report by Dame Moira Gibb. In particular he was head of the CofE when Ball's abuse of a young man, Neil Todd, first came to light in 1993. Todd went on to commit suicide in 2012.

Ball was cautioned for gross indecency in 1993 after Lord Carey was among several influential friends who spoke in his defence.

Two years ago Ball was found guilty of grooming and abusing 18 young men between 17-25 years old. He was jailed for 32 months at the age of 84.

The inquiry found Carey had 'colluded' with Ball to cover up his repeated sexual abuse of boys and young men in order to avoid scandal.

In response current Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby asked his predecessor to 'consider his position' and Carey apologised and quit.

Andrew Carey makes his comments in his weekly column for The Church of England Newspaper.

However, writing in The Church of England newspaper, his son protested over the way that his father had been treated. 'I'm struck by the absence of any public expression of sadness and sympathy for my father from the current crop of archbishops and bishops,' he writes. 'They certainly wouldn't express any support for him in public because he now suffers from a disease that all bishops fear is contagious  that he has been criticised over handling safeguarding. To be criticised for this is like the sin against the Holy Spirit, unforgivable in the Church of England.

'It's no matter that the term "safeguarding" hadn't even been coined when Bishop Peter Ball's crimes were first reported. Twenty-five years later you are held accountable for cultural attitudes and standards that are totally different today.'

Last week Justin Welby admitted the church had been involved in a cover-up.

'This is inexcusable and shocking behaviour,' he said.
Pope Francis donates 50,000 to Greek island Lesbos' earthquake relief

Pope Francis has donated 50,000 to the stricken Greek island of Lesbos after it was hit by a powerful earthquake last month.

One person died and around 800 displaced by the 6.3 quake which destroyed homes and infrastructure from the Turkish Aegean province, Izmir, to the Greek capital, Athens, on June 12.

The pontiff's donation comes after he visited refugees on the island in 2016, bringing 12 back with him to the Vatican. Those selected were chosen at random, including six children, after they had their homes bombed in wartorn Syria.

Lesbos is currently home to about 3,500 migrants and refugees awaiting the results of their asylum applications.

Within days of receiving a full report on the scale of the damage, Pope Francis made the donation, according to Catholic News Agency.

Archbishop Nikolaos Printezis, Bishop of Naxos, Andros, Tinos and Mykonos said it was a marker of his closeness to the people affected by the tragedy.

A Vatican representative is expected to make a trip to the island in the coming days to assess the damage and deliver the money.

No damage was reported to the refugee camps on Lesbos the nearby island of Chios.

Turkey's Disaster and Emergency Management, said the epicentre was at a shallow depth of seven kilometers (four miles), under the sea between the Greek and Turkish coast.
Womb transplants to allow transgender women and gay men to have babies may soon be a reality

Fertility doctors in the U.K. are reportedly working on womb transplant procedures that would allow transgender people born as males, and also other men, to have babies.

Moreover, National Health Service doctors told The Mail on Sunday that taxpayers should fund such transplants, citing "equality enshrined in law."

Dr. Amel Alghrani of Liverpool University said that such a transplant procedure is a real possibility, and explained that it could help not only transgender women have children, but also gay and straight men who "wanted to experience the joys of carrying a child."

Alghrani further suggested that such a move would "revolutionize reproduction."

For straight men who opt to have such a transplant, it would allow "for couples to jointly share the reproductive burdens and joys of pregnancy," she said.

"Homosexual couples may also wish to procreate in this fashion, while single men may opt for it to avoid surrogacy."

Women's campaigner Laura Perrins slammed the suggestion, however, stating:

"Most taxpayers will not think this is a good use of resources. It raises profound ethical and moral issues that will have an impact on women's rights. It will impinge on the meaning of motherhood and womanhood."

Gynaecologists have claimed that such a transplant is possible, pointing to the recent success of "uterine transplantation" in women.

The article noted that at least five babies have been born to womb-less women after receiving donor wombs at Gothenburg University in Sweden, which is considered one of the first steps in the controversial procedure.

Consultant gynaecologist Dr. Arianna D'Angelo of the NHS' Wales Fertility Institute argued that there are no ethical issues with womb transplants.

"We already have fertility preservation for transgender people, to give them the possibility to have their own genetic child," D'Angelo said.

Dr. Francoise Shelfield, a clinical lecturer in obstetrics and gynaecology at University College London, commented, "I don't see much of a difference between that and actually delivering their own child."

"If we are saying we should have equality and we have legislation [defending the rights of transgender people], I do not see why not," she said.

In America, some gender studies textbooks are set to teach college students about how self-identified men can have a baby, The Daily Caller reported last week.

"The Manly Art of Pregnancy," as a chapter in the textbook Everyday Women's and Gender Studies is titled, offers the pregnancy experience of the author, J. Wallace, born a female who now identifies as a man.

"Before I was pregnant, I feared that pregnancy would make me into a woman or a lady. But it didn't; it made me more of a dude," wrote Wallace.

Universities are set to use the textbook in question for the 2018 academic year.

This article was originally published in The Christian Post.
By PTI: New Delhi, Jul 4 (PTI) A man has been arrested for allegedly misbehaving with a 28-year-old CISF woman constable, who was on duty at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in plainclothes.

The incident happened on the intervening night of June 27 and 28. The accused, Purushottam Lal Bagga, who is 45 and belongs to Punjab, was departing for New York through Kuwait Airways, police said.

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He reached a help desk in the check-in area where he saw the woman. Initially, he started staring at her and then initiated a conversation. Later, he "misbehaved with the woman, shouted at her and even made lewd gestures", they said.

Much to his surprise, he found out that the woman was a constable posted in the intelligence wing of the CISF (Central Industrial Security Force). She overpowered the accused and informed her seniors and the police.

Personnel of the intelligence wing of the CISF in plainclothes keep an eye on suspicious elements at sensitive areas like the airport and Delhi Metro stations.

Bagga, who was found to be drunk, was arrested under section 509 (word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman, punishable with a maximum term of one year or a fine, or both) of the IPC. PTI SLB NES IKA ZMN IKA

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American War: A Novel, by Omar El Akkad (Knopf, 352 pp., $26.95)

The American Spirit: Who We Are and What We Stand For, by David McCullough (Simon & Schuster, 192 pp., $25)

Comparing nonfiction with fiction doesnt usually bear much fruit, but for their titles alone, two relatively new books seem to solicit comparison. David McCulloughs The American Spirit is a collection of speeches that the distinguished historian has given over the last 25 years at a range of public occasionsfrom the bicentennial of Congress to the 50th anniversary of John Kennedys assassination, from college commencements to a naturalization ceremony at Monticelloall of which echo with distinctive themes of his work. These include the importance of studying history not as a collection of facts but as insight into human nature, and also as a joy in itself. Another theme: the need for humility, both in judging our forebears for their imperfections and in assuming that the challenges of our time are unique or unprecedented. If we are beset by problems, McCullough writes, we have always been beset by problems. There never was a golden time past of smooth sailing only. The American Spirit is a call to remember timeless lessons about work, perseverance, and the contingency of history, but for the intervention of determined individuals. In unspoken counterpoint to the academic preference for rendering history as a product of massive, abstract, forces, McCullough sees history as the story of people, and he wants us to remember those who made a difference: not just the giants we know but those we should know, such as Benjamin Rush and George Marshall and Charles Sumner and Justin Morrill and others.

McCullough notes some contemporary American problems in passing but does not examine them closely. He is deeply concerned about Americans lack of historical knowledge, telling of a college student who thanked him for enlightening her: she had not known that the 13 original colonies were all on the east coast. The core problem with American education is not at the college or high school level, McCullough says, but in the elementary gradesa judgment with which E.D. Hirsch would concur. But he never ventures a guess as to why its a problem there. He counsels us never to look down on anyone from the past for not having the benefit of what we know, or allow ourselves to feel superior, but he does not confront those most guilty of doing so: professors and administrators on campus, theorists in the education schools, and now, in substantial number, the students of a new generation.

McCulloughs admirers dont look to him to make such judgments, though. If he were to go into the pit of contemporary politics, he would lose the grandeur he has gained as a storyteller of the American past whose readers can discern their own politics in his lessons. Liberals love his devotion to education and frequent championing of teachers he often points out the sacrifices that founders like John Adams made to educate their children. Conservatives cherish his devotion to the Founders, especially John Adams and George Washington, and his deep devotion to the American idea. Both sides can cheer his gentle but firm admonishment to all of us to put down the devices and read and think more. He cites a letter that Abigail Adams wrote to her oldest son, John Quincy, in which she chastised the young future president for acting arrogantly about his learning. If you are conscious to yourself that you possess more knowledge upon some subjects than others of your standing, she writes, reflect that you have had greater opportunities of seeing the world and obtaining knowledge of mankind than any of your contemporaries. . . . How unpardonable would it have been in you to have turned out a blockhead. Extending the lesson, McCullough reminds us of how much we owe to our predecessors: How unpardonable it would be for uswith so much that we have been given . . . to turn out blockheads. Or to raise blockheads.

American War is an acclaimed first novel by Omar El Akkad, an Egyptian-born Canadian who formerly worked as a reporter for the Globe and Mail. It describes a conflict of scale and drama worthy of treatment, were it real, from some future McCullough or Ken Burns: a second American Civil War. The war, lasting from 2074 to 2095, takes place in a radically different America, parts of which have begun slipping underwater due to global warming. Most of California, Texas, and the American southwest are now under Mexican rule. What remains of America divides along lines that initially sound familiar: the South and the North, the Red and the Blue. In the novel, though, the wars precipitating cause is not social or religious, not a question of elites versus ordinary people, but rather, of energy policy. The national government, now located in Columbus, Ohio, has passed the Sustainable Future Act, mandating renewable energy and outlawing fossil-fuel use. The people in the Red, as the Southern states are colloquially called, refuse to comply; Mississippi, Georgia, Alabama, and South Carolina declare the Free Southern State. As with the first Civil War, signs of the unraveling flash for years before the first deadly shots are firedin this case, they target not a military installation but the American president, who is assassinated by a Southern radical. Though the war remains active for two decades, it is largely won, by the Blue, in its first five years. The rest is negotiation amid insurgency.

El Akkads memorable, if chilly, protagonist, Sara T. Chestnut, known as Sarat, begins the novel as a defiant six-year-old, whose family, living in the neutral territory of Louisiana (the part not yet submerged), seeks to escape to the North and start a new life. But her father is killed while endeavoring to make these arrangements, in the wrong place at the wrong time when a homicide bomber (a Southern specialty) strikes. The Chestnuts spend years as refugees at Camp Patience, where Sarat is radicalized to the Southern cause, becoming a determined Southern patriot and eventual assassin. She is finally captured and endures years of torture at the Blues detention center before being released at wars end, a seemingly broken woman. At this moment, when the novel seems at last ready to offer some resolution to the ceaseless struggle, Sarat revives and commits an unspeakable act that plunges what is left of the United States into a fresh nightmare.

American War is evocative but unrelentingly grim, one of those page-turners that yields no pleasure. Its easy to imagine it being dramatized for the big screen, though casting the 65 Sarat might prove challenging. Even by the standards of dystopian novels, some of Akkads design stretches credulity: most Americans likely imagine a putative second civil war stemming not from disputes over energy sources but from social issues, or economics, or immigration, or the enduring conflicts between state and federal power, religious and secular values. Likewise, Akkads Mexican protectorate of the American southwest reads like fabulism when one considers that Mexico has long had one of the worlds most inept and corrupt governments; fortunately, this part of the schematic plays no role in his plot. And American Wars construct of the Bouazizi Empire, a confederation of Middle East states that somehow get their acts together to become a superpower, is even more of a stretch.

The world of American War is most plausible not in its imaginative elements but in the details of wars hardshipsAkkad draws on his Syria reporting to describe life in the refugee campsand poignancies, such as the way people cherish seemingly disposable objects as a reminder of their old lives (the Chestnuts bring a small statue of the Virgin of Guadalupe with them to Camp Patience). And Akkad effectively dramatizes the ways in which war deforms human character. Karina, the woman who marries Sarats soldier brother Simon and nurses him back to health from shattering physical and neurological injuries, comes to believe that the misery of war represented the worlds only truly universal language. War broke its fighters, of whatever side, she thinks, in the same way, made them scared and angry and vengeful the same way. And it provided the rationalizations and moral justifications, too: The universal slogan of war, shed learned, was simple: If it had been you, youd have done no different.

El Akkads effective rendering of life during wartime clashes, then, with the contrivances of his plot, and points up the novels disjunction: its narrative is really less about an American Civil War than about the depredations of American foreign policy. The desperate, embittered, and displaced citizens of the Red seem like a clear analogy to certain Middle East populations, and its no great leap to read the Blue governments murderous unmanned drones, which fly around Red skies long after their own controllers have ceased guiding them, and its merciless use of superior weaponry (and torture) as Akkads analogizing to todays American superpower.

Still, the book is called American War, and those two words, coming together, arrest the imagination in a climate in which we read often about the unraveling of the country. Writing in The Claremont Review of Books, Angelo Codevilla declares that America is in the throes of a revolution and a cold civil war. El Akkads book ranges on the fantastical, but it nonetheless imagines a shooting version of Codevillas formulation, a future that none of us wants. McCulloughs book, by contrast, reminds us of a past that fewer and fewer of us seem to appreciate. We are still the strongest, most productive, wealthiest, the most creative, the most ingenious, the most generous nation in the world, with the greatest freedoms of any nation in the world, of any nation in all time, McCullough exhorts in one of American Spirits speeches, this one given shortly after 9/11. He sees our greatest source of strength coming from our story, our history, who we are, how we got to be where we are, and all we have been through, what we have achieved. Yet these are the very truths most in contention now.

Photo by Chris Hondros/Getty Images
Brookfield Infrastructure Partners L.P. owns and operates utilities, transport, midstream, and data businesses in North and South America, Europe, and the Asia Pacific. The company's Utilities segment operates approximately 61,000 kilometers (km) of operational electricity transmission and distribution lines; 5,300 km of electricity transmission lines; 4,200 km of natural gas pipelines; 7.3 million electricity and natural gas connections; and 360,000 long-term contracted sub-metering services. This segment also offers heating and cooling solutions; gas distribution; water heaters; and heating, ventilation, and air conditioner rental, as well as other home services. Its Transport segment offers transportation, storage, and handling services for merchandise goods, commodities, and passengers through a network of approximately 22,000 km of track; 5,500 km of track network; 4,800 km of rail; 3,800 km of motorways; and 13 port terminals. The company's Midstream segment offers natural gas transmission, gathering and processing, and storage services through approximately 15,000 km of natural gas transmission pipelines; 600 billion cubic feet of natural gas storage; 17 natural gas processing plants; and 3,900 km of gas gathering pipelines, as well as one petrochemical processing complex. Its Data segment operates approximately 148,000 operational telecom towers; 8,000 multi-purpose towers and active rooftop sites; 10,000 km of fiber backbone; 1,600 cell sites and approximately 12,000 km of fiber optic cable; and 2,100 active telecom towers and 70 distributed antenna systems, as well as 50 data centers and 200 megawatts of critical load capacity. The company was founded in 2007 and is based in Hamilton, Bermuda. Brookfield Infrastructure Partners L.P. is a subsidiary of Brookfield Asset Management Inc.
CarMax, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates as a retailer of used vehicles in the United States. The company operates through two segments, CarMax Sales Operations and CarMax Auto Finance. It offers customers a range of makes and models of used vehicles, including domestic, imported, and luxury vehicles, as well as hybrid and electric vehicles; and extended protection plans to customers at the time of sale, as well as sells vehicles that are approximately 10 years old and has more than 100,000 miles through wholesale auctions. The company also provides reconditioning and vehicle repair services; and financing alternatives for retail customers across a range of credit spectrum through its CarMax Auto Finance and arrangements with various financial institutions. As of February 28, 2022, it operated approximately 230 used car stores. CarMax, Inc. was founded in 1993 and is based in Richmond, Virginia.
General Mills, Inc. manufactures and markets branded consumer foods worldwide. The company operates in five segments: North America Retail; Convenience Stores & Foodservice; Europe & Australia; Asia & Latin America; and Pet. It offers ready-to-eat cereals, refrigerated yogurt, soup, meal kits, refrigerated and frozen dough products, dessert and baking mixes, bakery flour, frozen pizza and pizza snacks, snack bars, fruit and salty snacks, ice cream, nutrition bars, wellness beverages, and savory and grain snacks, as well as various organic products, including frozen and shelf-stable vegetables. It also supplies branded and unbranded food products to the North American foodservice and commercial baking industries; and manufactures and markets pet food products, including dog and cat food. The company markets its products under the Annie's, Betty Crocker, Bisquick, Blue Buffalo, Blue Basics, Blue Freedom, Bugles, Cascadian Farm, Cheerios, Chex, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Cocoa Puffs, Cookie Crisp, EPIC, Fiber One, Food Should Taste Good, Fruit by the Foot, Fruit Gushers, Fruit Roll-Ups, Gardetto's, Go-Gurt, Gold Medal, Golden Grahams, Haagen-Dazs, Helpers, Jus-Rol, Kitano, Kix, Larabar, Latina, Liberte, Lucky Charms, Muir Glen, Nature Valley, Oatmeal Crisp, Old El Paso, Oui, Pillsbury, Progresso, Raisin Nut Bran, Total, Totino's, Trix, Wanchai Ferry, Wheaties, Wilderness, Yoki, and Yoplait trademarks. It sells its products directly, as well as through broker and distribution arrangements to grocery stores, mass merchandisers, membership stores, natural food chains, e-commerce retailers, commercial and noncommercial foodservice distributors and operators, restaurants, convenience stores, and pet specialty stores, as well as drug, dollar, and discount chains. The company operates 466 leased and 392 franchise ice cream parlors. General Mills, Inc. was founded in 1866 and is headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
The Krishi Upaj Mandi in Pipaliya in Madhya Pradesh's Mandsaur, where 5 farmers were killed in police firing on June 6, has refused to allow the Akhil Bharatiya Kisan Sangharsh Samiti to hold a condolence meeting for them.

Protests against Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan after farmers were killed in Mandsaur firing. PTI Photo.

By Hemender Sharma: The Krishi Upaj Mandi in Pipaliya in Madhya Pradesh's Mandsaur district, where five farmers were killed in police action against violent protesters on June 6, has denied permission to the Akhil Bharatiya Kisan Sangharsh Samiti to hold a condolence meeting inside the mandi premises.

In a written communication, Rajendra Kanojia, secretary of Pipaliya Krishi Upaj mandi, said, "There is a shortage of sheds and the produce of farmers is lying under the existing sheds. These sheds cannot be held for any panchayat as the rainy season is on."

Letter denying permission to hold meeting.

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HERE IS ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW The Akhil Bharatiya Kisan Sangharsh Samiti that claims it represents as many as 150 farmer organisations, however, has said that it will go ahead with its scheduled programme of the condolence meeting. "The mandi belongs to farmers and we will organise the condolence meeting inside the Pipaliya mandi", Dr Sunilam of the Akhil Bharatiya Kisan Sangharsh Samiti said. Dr Yogendra Yadav, social activist Medha Patkar and farmer leader Raju Shetty are expected to participate in the condolence meeting along with 300 other farmers. After the condolence meeting, the protesters will take out a yatra that has been named the Kisan Mukti Yatra. The Kisan Mukti Yatra will conclude in New Delhi on July 18 and will call for the complete waiver of all farmer loans. Meanwhile, the Bharatiya Kisan Union, which led the 10-day farmer protests from June 1 to June 10 in Madhya Pradesh during which 6 farmers were killed in police action, has denied its involvement with the Kisan Mukti Yatra. Talking to India Today, Anil Yadav of the Bharatiya Kisan Union said, "We have given an ultimatum of July 12 to the government. If the Madhya Pradesh government does not withdraw the cases that have been slapped against farmers by July 12, we will resume our protests." Meanwhile, the government has said that no one will be allowed to incite violence in Mandsaur. It may be recalled that five farmers were killed during police firing in the Pipaliya Mandi police station area on June 6 as protests turned violent. One farmer, who was injured in a lathicharge, died at an Indore hospital a few days later, taking the toll to six.

Also read | Madhya Pradesh: 42 farmers commit suicide since Mandsaur firing, Shivraj Singh's Sehore tops the list

Also read | Shivraj Singh Chouhan asks collectors not to be casual towards issues concerning farmers

ALSO WATCH VIDEO

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The Majestic Princess arrived in Xiamen, China, recently, after a 37-day journey along the Silk Road Sea Route. It is the first call in China for a ship built for the Chinese cruise market.

From May 21, the Majestic Princess sailed from Rome to embark on the Silk Road Sea Route and visited countries including Greece, Jordan, United Arab Emirates, Sri Lanka, India, Malaysia and Singapore.

Chinese cultural organizations were invited to showcase traditional Chinese dance, fashion, music and opera aboard the ship along the way.

The success of the Majestic Princess Silk Road Sea Route is another important milestone for Princess Cruises in China, said Anthony Kaufman, Princess Cruises Executive Vice President, International Operations. Princess Cruises has always placed significant value in the Chinese market. This cooperation with Chinese Peoples Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries demonstrates Princess Cruises commitment to promote the spirit of Chinas Belt and Road initiative and to offer the ultimate cruise vacation for Chinese travelers.

The Majestic Princess will continue its Silk Road Sea Route voyage by visiting ports including Hong Kong, Taipei, Tokyo, Osaka, Seoul, and will arrive at her Asia homeport in Shanghai on July 9, where she will be officially named by Yao Ming and his wife, Ye Li. She will sail her first cruise from Shanghai on July 11, where she is set to offer Chinese guests an exceptional international cruise vacation.
Costa Cruises announced it is launching a new exotics program for winter 2017-2018 in Asia aboard the Victoria and neoRomantica, and opening sales to European and North American source markets.

The Costa Victoria will offer week-long cruises from Singapore in January and February of 2018, alternating two different itineraries.

The first itinerary will include Koh Samui (Thailand), an overnight in Bangkok (Thailand); and a call at Sihanoukville (Cambodia). The second itinerary will call at Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia), the island of Langkawi (Malaysia), Phuket (Thailand) with an overnight, Penang (Malaysia) and Malacca (Malaysia).

Our new Asian itineraries are the result of a continuous dialogue with our guests and trade partners, said Massimo Brancaleoni, senior vice president of worldwide sales for Costa Cruises. We perceived an interest for new exotic destinations and we quickly answered to satisfy this desire. We are confident that these new options will even further enrich and diversify our selection of winter cruises, and that our past guests and those new to cruising will find very appealing when planning upcoming holidays. As an added benefit, it is always important for us to provide our trade business partners with a larger portfolio of opportunities.

The Victoria will also offer a 23-day cruise in February 2018 from Singapore to Savona.

The neoRomantica will open her Japan-based deployment to international guests from October through January, offering eight night cruises from Tokyo. Costa said the itinerary includes stops at Nagoya, Okinawa, Miyakojima and Keelung.

In October and November 2017, guests can combine this itinerary with another six-day itinerary calling at Kobe or Osaka, the South Korean island of Jeju and Kagoshima.

For Christmas, a special 10-day itinerary will be offered, visiting Kobe, Amam iOshima, Ishigaki, Okinawa (overnight call), Yokkaichi and Keelung (Taiwan).
Deputy Commissioner of the Tamenglong district, Armstrong Pame has once again managed to win hearts after his decision to hold weekly dinners with school students.

By India Today Web Desk: Armstrong Pame, the Deputy Commissioner of Tamenglong district in Manipur, has come up with an interesting way to interact with the children in the district. The office of the DC in Tamenglong, Manipur is writing to schools in the district asking them to send ten students from ranging from Class Vth to Xth to attend a weekly dinner with the DC.

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The initiative is by the DC is being seen as a welcome step. A photo of the letter was tweeted.

Amidst outraging & 10 hour work sched today, here is a good thing that a DC of Manipur is doing, that I thought was worth reading & sharing. pic.twitter.com/ffxPCJcOWF- Piyu (@PBnrg) July 4, 2017

According to the letter, the kids will be given an opportunity to observe the functioning of the district. Moreover, the DC plans to talk to the kids about their future plans and understand what they desire to see in their district.

The IAS officer said in a Facebook post that he always wanted to visit the DC bungalow as a kid and wanted to see what was in there.

Armstrong Pame, the Deputy Commissioner behind this initiative is known as the 'Miracle Man' of Manipur.

Back in 2013, Pame, managed to build a 100-km-long road without any assistance from the government. The road, also known as the "People's Road", was built by funds raised through Facebook and personal contributions from Pame, his family and the society. The citizens volunteered to build the road after seeing the then Sub-divisional Magistrate's determination.

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The result of National Eligibility and Entrance Test (NEET) was declared by the Central Board of School Education (CBSE) on June 23. Now all the students from Punjab, who are competing for the all-India 15 per cent seats for MBBS and BDS can apply online.

By India Today Web Desk: The result of National Eligibility and Entrance Test (NEET) was declared by the Central Board of School Education (CBSE) on June 23. Now all the students from Punjab, who are competing for the all-India 15 per cent seats for MBBS and BDS courses other than the 85 per cent seats of state category, can apply online on the health ministry's website for which counselling began on Monday.

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The candidates can apply through the university's website, www.bfuhs.ac.in by July 11. As per HT report, the medical counselling committee has released the all-India schedule on its official websitemcc.nic.in

Counselling schedule

The counselling schedule for the state category has been released by Baba Farid University of Health Sciences (BFUHS), which will conduct the combined counselling of all colleges, including private and minority institutions in Punjab.

(Read: NEET 2017 result declared at cbseneet.nic.in: Steps to check the result)

BFUHS vice-chancellor Dr Raj Bahadur said students will be allotted seats according to their domicile. He added that in case a student with a Haryana domicile does his class 12 from Punjab, he/she will be eligible for a seat in Punjab. The student will need to surrender one seat.

A total of 11,38,890 students registered for this examination including 1522 NRIs, 480 OCIs, 70 PIOs and 613 foreigners.

About the exam

This exam was conducted in 10 languages at 1921 exam centres in 103 cities.

NEET is conducted for admission to Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) and Bachelor of Dental Surgery (BDS) courses in India in medical/dental colleges run with the approval of Medical Council of India/Dental Council of India under the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

Read: This rickshaw puller's 24-year-old son overcame all odds to crack NEET 2017

Read: NEET 2017 aspirants need to be minimum 17 years to appear in exam: High Court

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Mike Doane had an idea of what was going through the minds of the first-year MBA students attending Career Intelligence presentations in late June. After all, it was only a year ago when Mike himself was sitting in a room full of budding businesspeople, listening to representatives from a variety of companies talk about future careers he could pursue.



It was a good way to kick off the program, Mike recalls. It gets you thinking about areas of interest in the summer, before you choose a job placement.



Career Intelligence presentations are part of the first week of programming for incoming MBA students. This year, Mike  who is heading into his second year in the program  was on hand to tell new students about his experience at Dash Hudson, the company where hes completing his eight-month residency.



As Mike told the assembled first-year students, his role at Dash Hudson has given him valuable insight and experience into the world of a technology start-up. The company develops software that allows brands to track, plan and optimize content for Instagram. Its customers include internationally recognized brands such as Conde Nast (Vogue, GQ, Vanity Fair, Pitchfork, etc.), HBO and Marc Jacobs.

Taking on new responsibilities



Mike joined the company in January, expecting to adhere to a strictly defined job description. Instead, hes used his curiosity and drive to carve out a unique and ever-changing role.



I started by just learning a lot about the background of the company and the platform, Mike says, adding that he soon began to take on tasks like building reports for clients and leading a user segmentation project to determine the market viability of a new Dash Hudson product.



More recently, Mikes engineering background (he graduated from Dalhousie with an Engineering degree in 2014) has come into play for Dash Hudson.



I asked for some more responsibility and that turned into me developing a tracker for all the companies were talking to. It tracks how far theyve made it in the sales process and whats working to convert customers and close contracts.



The tracker is all done in Google Sheets (Excel), so its shared within the office. Engineering really gave me the Excel expertise that I needed for that.



Mikes message to first-year MBA students was to look for residency placements that fit their interests.



Im sort of driving my own residency here and I can focus on things that interest me. I came in here thinking I would have a job description that I would have to follow, but I can tailor it to the job I want it to be.



Looking to the future



Taking an entrepreneurial approach to his work at Dash Hudson is good practice, Mike says, for his eventual goal of running his own company. Its a passion he became more and more aware of while working in the engineering field for Ocean Contractors Limited after finishing his undergraduate degree.



I was more interested in the business side of the company I was working for. While I loved the engineering side of it, I wanted to do something different.



Following his passion has been a positive choice thus far. After his Dash Hudson residency wraps up, hell study in Copenhagen for the fall semester. And all of his classroom learning, work experience and travel opportunities have come with the added benefit of building his network of friends and colleagues.



The cohort Im in is great  some of them are my best friends now and I only met them around this time last year. Everyone comes from such diverse backgrounds, which really helps when youre studying cases and that kind of thing.


By India Today Web Desk: The night of the grand finale of Miss India 2017 was full of glitter and glamour. Amidst all that were young women of the country, brimming with hope and the zeal to make a change.

One among them was Sana Dua, Miss India 2017 runner-up. The 24-year-old from Kashmir is not just a face of beauty, for, she herself believes that she's shouldering greater responsibilities.

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On one hand, Sana harbours dreams of sharing screen space with Deepika Padukone; on the other, she worries about restoring peace in her state.

''Peace in my state first. It's time my triumph changed the face of the state,'' Sana was quoted as saying by the Times of India.

Picture courtesy: Twitter/sanadua4

The name Sana is Muslim, but Miss Jammu & Kashmir was born to Sikh parents. And that is exactly how she perceives secularism in India. ''I have a Muslim name Sana. And at the pageant, when my friends and colleagues would ask me what religion I was, I said I am a pa'aji. Pa'aji because I am born to Sikh parents. But, after knowing my name's meaning and origin, my friends began to address me as bhaijaan. Yet, I felt proud that the modern India is secular, '' said Sana.

Also Read: This is what the new Miss India winners think of the Haryana magazine veil controversy

Thanks to her roots in the Indian Army, Sana recalled how people at home used to worship Sikh gurus, visit the Vaishno Devi temple, and also wish each other on Eid. ''We may be from a strife-torn area which has a religious divide but for us a secular India comes first," she remarked.

Picture courtesy: Twitter/sanadua4

The biggest turning point of Sana's life was her graduation in law; she says it made her analyse and comprehend the violence perpetrated against women. ''When I took up law course at Panjab University in Chandigarh, the desire was to be aware of my rights. But soon, I felt that I could change lives with the laws that women of this country do not know of," she added.

--- ENDS ---
Telecom Argentina has agreed to merge its operations with cable TV firm Cablevision.

The resulting entity will be the largest provider of converged telecom and media services in the market, strengthening the position of both firms to compete once Argentinas proposed regulatory changes come into effect, due for January 2018. The reforms of communications regulation are aimed at boosting competition by creating a more open market.

A joint statement issued by the firms said that bolstering their converged offering would allow them to invest more heavily in mobile and fixed networks, in particular by allowing them to build a high-speed fibre network. This will in turn enable improved capacity, speed and quality.

Telecom Argentina CEO German Vidal said that the merged entity would be a leading company for converged services in the market, with a strong quad-play offering comprised of broadband internet, landline, mobile and pay TV services. He added that the deal would create a company with international standards in quality of service and access to state-of-the-art technology.

Under the terms of the proposed agreement, Cablevision and its shareholders will own 55% of the combined entity, while Telecom Argentina and its investors will own the remaining 45%. The unit will operate under Telecom Argentinas Personal brand, which is the markets third largest operator with a 31% share. The firms are hoping to shore up their position to compete against America Movils Claro, which leads the market with a 35% share.

As well as allowing the firms to compete better in the face of Argentinas forthcoming regulatory reforms, the tie-up will also let the companies meet the increasing demand for quad-play services in the market. The changes being implemented by regulator Enacom allow telecoms and broadcast firms to widen the range of services they can offer. The regulator has also proposed new spectrum auctions to attract investment in the countrys fixed and mobile infrastructure.

The deal is subject to regulatory and shareholder approval.
Biopsy company ANGLE announced positive headline results from 400 patient pelvic mass studies in the US and Europe on Tuesday, reportedly demonstrating the potential for a Parsortix-based blood test to outperform current tests in discriminating between benign and malignant pelvic masses.

The AIM-traded firm said evaluation of data from both ANGLE's European study (ANG-001) led by Dr Robert Zeillinger at the Medical University of Vienna and ANGLE's US study (ANG-003) led by Dr Richard Moore at the University of Rochester Medical Center, Wilmot Cancer Institute in New York showed that a test using the Parsortix system could differentiate between women with a malignant pelvic mass and those with benign tumours with a high degree of sensitivity - correctly identifying cancer - of up to 95%, while at the same time achieving a higher specificity, i.e. a low false positive rate, compared to existing tests.

Compared to the existing CA125 test for the ANG-003 samples, at a high sensitivity the Parsortix result had nearly double the specificity of the CA125 result, the board claimed.

It said the study results inferred that best performance could be achieved when combining selected gene information analysed from the Parsortix harvest in an algorithm with certain patient condition information.

The algorithm, which is proprietary, would be further optimised to give the best performance in the upcoming validation study, ANGLE explained.

It expected that it would be possible to apply for patent protection on the details of the algorithm strengthening ANGLE's competitive positive further, and as such full details of the analyses were being restricted until that process is complete.

The cancer centres involved would then publish the full results of the studies in leading peer-reviewed publications.

The 200 patient ANG-001 clinical multi-centre study has shown that the Parsortix based test allows us to successfully discriminate patients with ovarian cancer from patients with a non-malignant pelvic mass with a high degree of accuracy, said Professor Robert Zeillinger, head of the Molecular Oncology Group at the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Medical University of Vienna.

Using ANGLE's Parsortix system and a panel of RNA markers, there is the prospect that we can meet a key medical need in triaging women before surgery to ensure patients with cancer get the care they need.

ANGLE said the successful results would enable it to move into the next phase of development of a commercial blood test, addressing an estimated market size of 300m per annum.

Firstly, the test would be optimised to maximise performance, with some key aspects of the downstream analysis techniques identified as candidates for enhancement to improve the performance of the assay and provide an even stronger competitive advantage.

The performance of the optimised test would be confirmed utilising a second blood sample that has been banked from each of the ANG-003 study patients.

ANGLE said the performance of the optimised test would then be validated in a separate set of patients through the conduct of appropriately-powered validation studies designed to meet European CE Mark and US FDA regulatory requirements.

Successful completion of those validation studies would allow the commercial sale of the Parsortix based pelvic mass test in the United States and Europe, and eventually worldwide.

ANGLE's first large scale clinical studies of 400 patients have demonstrated positive results with the potential to out-perform current standard of care, said founder and chief executive Andrew Newland.

This success enables ANGLE to move forward into the validation phase for the use of Parsortix in its first clinical application.

We believe ANGLE is building momentum towards securing a leading and well differentiated commercial position in the emerging multi-billion dollar liquid biopsy market.
AIM-listed Conygar has exchanged a lease agreement with Premier Inn Hotels to construct an 80-bedroom hotel at its gateway site at Parc Cybi, Holyhead, in Anglesey.

The lease and construction of the hotel are conditional on planning approval.

Chief executive Robert Ware said: "We are delighted to have agreed terms with such a high-quality partner and are keen to start construction work as soon as possible. Premier Inn is the UK's largest hotel group and their hotel in Holyhead will provide a valuable boost to the town and tourism on the Island."

The shares were untraded on Monday.
Shore Capital said it took note of improved recent trading at Tesco implicit in the latest Kantar data from Ireland, but said the time had not yet come to invest.

After years of challenging trading conditions on the Emerald Isle, good work on price and proposition had evolved from better volumes into positive sales momentum and greater market share.

"Ireland may have lost a lot of its margin lustre for Tesco but it remains an important market where profit progress would be welcome," the broker said.

Yet investors' skepticism regarding the potential from the "surprise" Booker merger, current leverage - especially the perceived drag from its pension responsibilities - and the more cautious sentiment towards the market leader since Amazon.com's decision to acquire Whole Food Markets were weighing on the shares, the broker told clients.

So while there was potential to be more positive on Tesco 'down the line', there was no need to jump into the shares in order to front-run a more favourable valuation in fiscal year 2020.

As well, the latter assumed successful execution of the business plan, a material reduction in leverage and no regulatory risk from the Booker transaction, Shore Capital said.

"So, the good news from the provinces of Ireland does not lead us to adjust our stance on Tesco's shares, which remains HOLD, noting firmer downside support but not enough upward oomph yet for aforementioned reasons."
The second quarter of 2017 saw the European IPO market grow 43% in comparison with the same quarter in 2016, according to professional services firm PricewaterhouseCoopers.

In total, flotations within the European Union gathered 15.6bn in funding during the second three months of the year, 4.7bn more than the year before.

The number of IPOs also increased during that time to 104, up from 95 between April and June 2016.

PwCs report comes hot on the heels of the research released by Ernst & Young on Monday which showed a 141% increase in the amount of cash raised from IPOs in London in Q2.

The largest stock market flotation seen during the quarter was the dual listing of Irish banking group Allied Irish Banks in London and Dublin, raising around 3bn.

LATE PUSH

A major push in the last two weeks of the quarter drove the IPO market higher in the period, according to Mark Hughes, PwCs capital markets leader.

Hughes said: With a number of IPOs pricing towards the end of the second quarter, the markets are proving resilient in the face of the forthcoming Brexit negotiations.

As a sign of confidence, London is still able to attract cross-border IPOs as proved by the IPOs of ADES International, Global Ports and DP Eurasia.

Last years Brexit referendum, which saw the UK opt to leave the EU, had ignited fears that investment in the country would see major reductions, but PwC has said the latest IPO figures prove the opposite.

It is notable that even after the UK general election, investors are still reasonably confident about the future for UK companies, which may explain why London is still seeing healthy IPO activity, said Hilary Eastman, head of investor engagement at Pwc.

The ability for companies to adapt to uncertainty and changing situations will be vital to their success in these times.
North Korea has claimed it conducted a successful launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile for the first time.

If the claims are proven correct, it would be the first time Pyongyang has launched a missile capable of reaching the mainland of the US.

Reports from Japanese and US military have disputed the claims from North Korea, however, saying that the missile was an intermediate range weapon.

North Korea has ratcheted up its missile programme in recent months during the opening period of Donald Trumps presidency, and the latest test arrives shortly before the meeting of the G20 leaders in Hamburg later this week.

A state news agency in North Korea said that the weapon had reached an altitude of 2,802km before hitting a target in the sea.

Chinas ambassador to the United Nations had called for a de-escalation in tensions between North Korea and the West just hours before the missile was launched.

If tension only goes up ... then sooner or later it will get out of control and the consequences would be disastrous, Liu Jieyo said.

Escalating tensions caused by North Koreas actions could provide a further strain on relations between the US and China, which has been a long-time ally of Kim Jong-uns regime.

Todays launch of a ballistic missile from North Korea further added to the complication of China-U.S. relations, but it seems markets did not take this as a serious threat, said FXTM chief market strategist Hussein Sayed.

Hwasong-14 ICBM launching off its TE; fumes look similar to Hwasong-12 again. Starting to think it's the same first stage? #NorthKorea pic.twitter.com/t6iyyBhilA  Ankit Panda (@nktpnd) July 4, 2017
US President Donald Trump and Russian opposite number Vladimir Putin will hold an official meeting for the first time on Friday during the G20 summit in Hamburg.

Trumps links with the Kremlin have been intensely scrutinised in recent months amid allegations that members of his administration were in contact with Russia while it attempted to influence the result of the 2016 presidential election.

The White House and the Kremlin both confirmed the meeting on Tuesday, the first between a US and Russian president in two years.

Leaders of the worlds 20 largest economies will gather in Hamburg this week at the summit, with Trumps meeting with Putin undoubtedly one of the key focuses following events over the last few months.

Leaders of the worlds 20 largest economies will gather in Hamburg this week

Despite speculation that the meeting between the two men would be a casual one, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told state news agency TASS that the meeting was 'planned as a fully-fledged, seated meeting'.

German chancellor Angela Merkel said last week that the primary focus of the G20 summit would be on climate change issues, potentially causing a showdown with Trump after the former reality TV star withdrew the US from the Paris climate accord last month.

Trump claimed that the agreement was disadvantageous to the country when pulling out of the landmark agreement on 1 June, but Merkel told the German parliament she was adamant about maintaining the deal.
The UK wants to maintain cooperation with the European Union on drug regulation after its departure from the bloc, cabinet ministers Greg Clark and Jeremy Hunt have said.

The business and health secretaries said a deal to maintain such cooperation would be beneficial for all sides.

In a letter written to the Financial Times, Clark and Hunt said that continued investment in the sector was key, and that Britain would like to find a way to continue to collaborate with the EU, in the interests of public health and safety.

The European Medicines Agency is currently based in London, regulating pharmaceutical products for the whole of the EU, but that body will move to the continent once the UK formally leaves the EU.

Clark and Hunt said that continued investment in the sector was key

"Our aim is to ensure that patients in the UK and across the EU continue to be able to access the best and most innovative medicines and be assured that their safety is protected through the strongest regulatory framework and sharing of data," the ministers wrote.

Industry experts have warned that the departure of the EMA may lead to the UK having to create its own drug regulation body, something Clark and Hunt were keen to dismiss.

"Drug development is a global business  and we will look to continue to work closely with the European Medicines Agency, and our international partners."
Developer St Modwen Properties increased its dividend 4.1% as net asset value grew in the first half of the year but profits shrank slightly.

The FTSE 250 company, which after a strategic review last month said it would accelerate commercial development activity and grow its residential and housebuilding business, reported an EPRA NAV up 1.7% to 468.4p, with statutory NAV per share up 2.0% to 439.6p in the six months to 31 May.

PBT was down 11% to 31.6m on a statutory basis, with earnings per share up 2.5% to 12.1p and the interim dividend increased by 4.1% to 2.02p per share.

Underlying profit before tax slipped 2% to 29.3m in what the company said was a more stable valuation environment, with trading profit down 23% to 26.4m.

The residential arm performed well, with operating profits of 13.4m up 3% supported by excellent progress from St Modwen Homes grew profits 55% to offset the winding down of the Persimmon joint venture.

Commercial was said to have delivered a "resilient" performance with approximately 400,000 square feet of commercial space signed in the first half.

Chief executive Mark Allan said: "The business continued its resilient performance across the first six months of the year, despite an uncertain market environment, with all parts of the group contributing positively.

"We also concluded our strategy and portfolio review, which has confirmed the significant potential present in our business and pipeline and we are now focused on realising these opportunities in the months and years ahead."

Since the second half began, St Modwen agreed the sale of Nine Elms Square in Battersea to Chinese buyers for 190m.

Of the proceeds from the sale, St Modwen said 70m will be held in a restricted development account to fund its share of future obligations in respect of completion of 500,000 square feet of new purpose-built market facilities and associated infrastructure.

The remainder will be used by St Modwen to reduce debt and "pursue strategic opportunities".

On the wider outlook, Allan said: "We remain in uncertain times, particularly politically, and consequently we will maintain an agile approach to delivering our strategy, ensuring that we can adapt quickly if the circumstances demand.

"However, our strategy and portfolio is underpinned by dynamics that go beyond simple political and economic considerations; the UK housing shortage, the need for a sustainable approach to brownfield regeneration and the significant shift in how consumers and businesses buy and behave are all clear, longer-term trends that we are well positioned to benefit from. As a result, we feel optimistic about the future."

Shares in the company fell 1.1% to 356.9p in early trade on Tuesday, though in recent months have hit all-time highs around 370p.

Broker Numis said the result was "robust" and highlighted the benefits of its diversified asset platform.

Analysts left estimates unchanged, "but this disguises an increase in cash backed trading profit and the introduction of a non-cash charge".

"With St Modwen making good progress against its strategic targets we expect the outlook to be characterised by falling leverage and improving returns driven by the group's residential and commercial development activities."
Tesco is launching a compensation scheme to reimburse investors affected by its 2014 accounting scandal, but investors will need to make a claim themselves or via their broker.

On 29 August 2014, Tesco issued a trading update about its expected first half 2014/15 profit, an announcement that was later considered "inaccurate", with Tesco issuing a corrective statement almost a month later.

The Financial Conduct Authority decided that Tesco should pay compensation to net purchasers of Tesco shares and bonds in the period from 29 August to 19 September 2014 inclusive, who may have overpaid because of the inaccurate market announcement.

An estimated 10,000 Tesco shareholders are entitled to compensation at the rate of 24.5p per share plus interest of 4% for retail investors, according to Hargreaves Lansdown, one of the brokers that will be working with the company on the scheme.

Investors can claim directly or through their broker, and will receive the same amount of compensation either way.

Compensation should average 400 per investor, Hargreaves calculated, adding that investors should check whether their broker offers help with the claims process.

Investors who want to claim via their broker need to supply their authorisation to their brokers quickly, HL said, in its own caseby noon on Thursday 13 July.

HL's Danny Cox stressed the need for Tescos to "repair" the reputational damage:

"Tesco needs to repair the reputational damage from the accounting scandal and will hope that this compensation scheme will help draw a line under the matter. The claims process is a little clunky but important to follow as its a simple equation: no claim, no compensation."
Mumbai Congress chief Sanjay Nirupam has launched a Twitter campaign wherein people have been asked to use hashtags such as #BanksSeBachao, #TweetMorcha to speak out against banks charging customers unfairly.

By Mayuresh Ganapatye: In a unique form of protest, Mumbai Congress chief Sanjay Nirupam and journalist Sucheta Dalal on Tuesday came together to launch a campaign on Twitter against banks charging customers fee unfairly.

People were asked to use hashtags such as #BanksSeBachao, #TweetMorcha to take part and raise their voice against banks charging customers unfairly. Moreover, they were asked to tag Narendra Modi in their tweets so that the message could reach the Prime Minister, who is on tour of Israel, directly.

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"The Prime Minister is very active on Twitter. Hence we decided to use this platform to raise our concern. While on the one hand after demonetisation he suggested everyone that we go for digital transactions oftener, on the other, banks are now charging us on digital transactions also. We want him to heed our concerns. This is why we have come to this platform", said Sanjay Nirupam.

Mumbai Congress chief Sanjay Nirupam and journalist Sucheta Dalal launching Tweet Morcha.

#BankSeBachao hashtag was one of the top trends when this protest started on Tuesday afternoon. Bank employee union associations, NGOs and social workers were also present to support this morcha. On being asked whether they were planning to take this movement forward, Nirupam said if required, he would take this online campaign to offline mode and hit the streets.

WHAT IS THE AIM OF TWEET MORCHA

Tweet Morcha aims to be the voice of angry and helpless bank customers who are being exploited by banks to pay fee unreasonably. The practice of banks charging their customers different charges is utterly unfair.

Banks are charging their customers for innumerable services that ought to be free. Every person is charged a small amount. When this small sum is multiplied by the number of millions of customers who have to pay up, the huge amount thus accumulated is used by banks to make up for the losses, which they have incurred due to bad debts.

Senior journalist Sucheta Dalal, who started an online petition against this issue, said "It is very unfair that while there are several rich people in the list of defaulters, banks are recovering money from the common man (aam aadmi) by charging him unfair fees. This should stop." She has also started an online petition on change.org in this regard.

Also read | Sanjay Nirupam to launch unique tweet protest against unfair bank fees

Also read | Despite PM Modi's digital banking push, over 90 per cent Indians still prefer branch: Report

--- ENDS ---

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Adequate drainage is one of issues in the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that the Human Cities Coalition signed with the Malabon city government in Manilla, the Philippines on 29 June.

The signing marked the starting point  by identifying and developing innovative urbanization programmes  for improving the lives of locals living in slums of Malabon.

Signing of the MoU in Manila by honourable Antolin A. Oreta II (Mayor of Malabon) and Ronald Lenz (Director, HCC).

Flood prone

Malabon is part of the metropole of Manilla, the Philippines. It is a flat densely populated city, situated near the coast at the end of a large river. This makes it prone to flooding.

The city is currently in the middle of implementing a city development plan, which aims to sustain community development by focusing on poverty reduction, socioeconomic and environmental development, infrastructure development and disaster risk reduction.

Liveable megacities

The Human Cities Coalition is a new Dutch non-profit public-private partnership, initiated by a group of companies, that wants to make megacities in the emerging world more humane.

The MoU with Malabon City, marks the first official partnership by Human Cities Coalition with a local government.

Both parties agreed to address issues identified by the community, such as access to electricity, land and housing tenure, access to clean drinking water and adequate drainage.

Torrential rains regularly flood the streets in Malabon city, Manila, as here seen in August 2013.

Innovation workshop

During a two-day HCC innovation workshop, local companies, SMEs, financial experts, community members, and government representatives gathered and worked towards designing solutions for two issues: electricity and land tenure.

Given the noticeable thematic overlap, Malabon City stated it is proud to be HCCs first official local government partner.

HCC selected two mega-cities to begin its work: Manila and Jakarta. Both cities suffer regularly from floods, caused by heavy rainfall.

Their impact is worsened by the fact that slum dwellers dump their waste in the waterways, causing obstructions and further flooding.

Many slum settlements are situated close to the water and are therefore most vulnerable to flooding.

About Human Cities Coalition

The Human Cities Coalition is a public-private partnership of organizations from business, government, NGOs and academia dedicated to making cities in the emerging world more inclusive and sustainable.

In particular for people living in slums, it aims to design inclusive processes to build sustainable urban infrastructure and business cases that meet the many planning challenges megacities face. And for which they are often unprepared.

This news item was originally published on the website of Human Cities Coalition.

Read also on this website

 FlexBase to realize floating platform for low-cost housing in Laguna Lake, Manila, Philippines, 5 October 2015

 VSO teaches Philippine communities to map flood risks with free online software, 10 November 2014

 Dutch experts assess flood risk reduction options for devastated Tacloban city, the Philippines, 16 July 2014

 Country: The Philippines



More information

Human Cities Coalition

Utrecht, the Netherlands

www.humancities.co

Video presentation on the envisioned partnership between government, communities and business to improving the lives of locals living in slums of Malabon.


1. Generic drug prices increase when market competition decreases

Abstract: http://annals.org/aim/article/doi/10.7326/M16-1432

URLs go live when the embargo lifts

Decreased market competition causes generic drug prices to rise significantly, according to an article published in Annals of Internal Medicine. This trend appears likely to continue unless policies are enacted to stabilize generic drug markets in response to a decrease in competition.

Prices for some generic drugs have increased in recent years, adversely affecting patients who rely on them. One review found that the price of digoxin (a commonly prescribed heart medication) increased by 2,800 percent in a single year. Many factors have been linked to these price increases, including shortages in the manufacturing supply chain (leading to reduced production) and a reduction in the number of manufacturers of a drug (resulting in insufficient competition). Although increases in generic drug prices are thought to be the result of insufficient competition, no study has examined this relationship.

Investigators studied prescription drug claims from commercial health plans between 2008 and 2013 to determine the association between market competition levels and changes in generic drug prices. Based on 1.08 billion prescription claims, a cohort of 1,120 generic drugs was identified. The drugs were categorized as having high, medium, or low competition levels. After controlling for other factors, a generic drug in the highest marketing competition group was expected to see a decrease of 32 percent in price over the study period, while a generic drug in the lowest market competition was expected to see a price increase of 47 percent over the same period. In addition, researchers found low market competition levels had a more pronounced correlation with drug prices in lower-priced generic drugs compared with their higher-priced counterparts.

The authors suggest that understanding the connection between competition and price may be helpful in identifying older prescription drugs at higher risk for price change in the future.

Media contact: For an embargoed PDF, please contact Cara Graeff at cgraeff@acponline.org. For an interview with the lead author, Chintan V. Dave, PharmD, please contact him directly at chintandave19@gmail.com.

2. Broader firearm restrictions needed to prevent suicide deaths

Abstract: http://annals.org/aim/article/doi/10.7326/L17-0111

URLs go live when the embargo lifts

Limiting firearm access only for persons with a mental health condition or those who previously attempted suicide likely is not enough to reduce suicide deaths. The brief research report is published in Annals of Internal Medicine.

Firearms account for one half of all suicide deaths in the United States. Attempts to reduce access to firearms have focused on persons with a mental health condition or a history of suicidal behavior. Researchers from Kaiser Permanente Colorado-Institute for Health Research, sought to identify the proportion of suicide deaths that could be prevented by limiting firearm access for only persons who fall into one of those two categories.

The researchers reviewed medical records and claims information for 2,674 adults and adolescents who had been enrolled in the Treatment Utilization Before Suicide (TUBS) study in the months prior to their suicide deaths. They found that 54.7 percent of those enrolled had a mental health or substance use condition. Of those, 42.8 percent committed suicide using a firearm. Among those persons who died by suicide with a firearm, only 4.1 percent had previously attempted suicide and just 23.5 percent had a mental health or substance use condition.

Based on these findings, the researchers suggest that firearm restrictions be expanded beyond the current focus on these patients to include other persons at risk for suicide.

Media contact: For an embargoed PDF, please contact Cara Graeff at cgraeff@acponline.org. For an interview with the lead author, Jennifer M. Boggs, MSW, please contact Nick Roper at Nicholas.Mark.Roper@kp.org or 303-905-7451.

3. Demand for FMT likely to increase due to excessive rise in multiply recurrent C diff cases

Abstract: http://annals.org/aim/article/doi/10.7326/M16-2733

Editorial: http://annals.org/aim/article/doi/10.7326/M17-1565

URLs go live when the embargo lifts

From 2001 to 2012, the incidence of multiply recurrent C difficile Infection (mrCDI) increased by 188 percent, far exceeding the increase in incidence of CDI (42.7 percent). These data project an increasing demand for therapies to treat mrCDI, which will likely translate into greater use of fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) in the coming years. The findings of a retrospective cohort study are published in Annals of Internal Medicine.

CDI is the most common health care-associated infection and often recurs after treatment. Up to 50 percent of patients have been shown to have at least one recurrence after an initial episode. Patients with mrCDI are increasingly treated with FMT. An improved understanding of the evolving epidemiology of CDI and its recurrence may allow for earlier identification of patients at high risk for recurrence and also changes in treatment practices, including earlier use of newer therapies, such antimicrobials or FMT.

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine studied health records for 38,911,718 commercially insured patients in the OptumInsight Clinformatics Database to evaluate whether incidence of mrCDI is increasing, to determine whether any such increase is proportional to the increase in CDI, and to identify risk factors for mrCDI among patients with an episode of CDI. They found that between 2001 and 2012, incidence of both CDI and mrCDI increased steadily. However, the increased incidence of mrCDI dramatically exceeded the increased incidence of CDI. The excessive increase was apparent thoughout the United States and was independent of other risk factors for CDI.

The authors of an accompanying editorial from VA Ann Arbor Center for Clinical Management Research and University of Michigan discuss the historical challenges in understanding CDI and recurrent infections. They acknowledge that these findings are an important first step in developing a sound strategy to address the growing public health challenge of mrCDI.

Media contact: For an embargoed PDF, please contact Cara Graeff at cgraeff@acponline.org. To speak with the lead author, Gene K. Ma, MD, please contact Queen Muse at Queen.Muse@uphs.upenn.edu.

4. Annals of Internal Medicine Turns 90!

Abstract: http://annals.org/aim/article/doi/10.7326/M17-1482

URLs go live when the embargo lifts

July 2017 marks the 90th anniversary of Annals of Internal Medicine. Established in 1927 by the American College of Physicians, Annals has continued without pause to publish new articles first as a monthly journal, then as a twice-monthly journal, and now weekly. George Lundberg, MD, Editor at Large of Medscape and former Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of the American Medical Association recognizes Annals' major milestones in an editorial published in Annals of Internal Medicine.

Media contact: For an embargoed PDF or to speak to Christine Laine, MD, MPH, editor-in-chief of Annals of Internal Medicine, please contact Cara Graeff at cgraeff@acponline.org.

###
A primitive galaxy that could provide clues about the early Universe has been spotted by astronomers as it begins to be consumed by a gigantic neighbouring galaxy.

The Little Cub galaxy - so called because it sits in the Ursa Major or Great Bear constellation - is being stripped of the gas needed to continue forming stars by its larger companion.

The find means scientists now have a rare opportunity to observe a dwarf galaxy as its gas is removed by the effects of a nearby giant galaxy to learn more about how this process happens.

As the Little Cub has remained almost pristine since its formation, scientists also hope its elements will reveal more about the chemical signature of the Universe just minutes after the Big Bang.

The research, carried out by the University of California Santa Cruz, USA, and Durham University, UK, is being presented today (Tuesday, 4 July) at the Royal Astronomical Society's National Astronomy Meeting.

The Little Cub and its larger neighbour, a grand design spiral galaxy called NGC 3359, are about 200 to 300 thousand light years apart, and approximately 50 million light years from Earth.

Gas from the Little Cub is being stripped away by its interaction with NGC 3359, which has up to 10,000 times as many stars as the Little Cub and is similar to our Milky Way.

By observing this cosmic feast, scientists hope to understand more about how and when gas is lost from smaller galaxies.

"We may be witnessing the quenching of a near-pristine galaxy as it makes its first passage about a Milky Way-like galaxy," said lead author Tiffany Hsyu, a graduate student in the Department of Astronomy & Astrophysics at UC Santa Cruz.

"It is rare for such a tiny galaxy to still contain gas and be forming stars when it is in close proximity to a much larger galaxy so this is a great opportunity to see just how this process works.

"Essentially the larger galaxy is removing the fuel that the Little Cub needs to form stars, which will eventually shut down star formation and lead to the smaller galaxy's demise."

The researchers also hope to gain an insight into the make-up of the very early Universe, by studying the hydrogen and helium atoms that are being illuminated by the small number of very bright stars within the Little Cub - which also has the less romantic name SDSS J1044+6306.

Since this galaxy is so primitive, it may still preserve the hydrogen and helium atoms that were created minutes after the Big Bang.

Research co-author Dr Ryan Cooke, Royal Society University Research Fellow, in Durham University's Centre for Extragalactic Astronomy, said: "We know by studying the chemistry of the Little Cub that it is one of the most primitive objects currently known in our cosmic neighbourhood.

"Such galaxies, which have remained dormant for most of their lives, are believed to contain the chemical elements forged a few minutes after the Big Bang.

"By measuring the relative number of hydrogen and helium atoms in the Little Cub we might be able to learn more about what made up the Universe in the moments after it began 13.7 billion years ago."

The researchers hope further observations will find more pristine galaxies where the chemical signature of the early Universe might be found.

The Little Cub was initially identified as a potentially pristine dwarf galaxy in data from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). Follow-up observations were conducted using the 3-metre Shane Telescope at Lick Observatory and the 10-metre telescope at the WM Keck Observatory.

"The Little Cub's discovery is a terrific example of using the smaller 3-metre-class Lick Observatory to scan through hundreds of candidates before focussing on the best sources with UC's 10-metre Keck telescope," said co-author J. Xavier Prochaska, Professor of Astronomy and Astrophysics at UC Santa Cruz.

A paper describing the discovery of Little Cub has been submitted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal Letters.

###

The research was funded by the WM Keck Foundation, Google, The Royal Society, NASA, the Science and Technology Facilities Council and the National Science Foundation (USA).

The Royal Astronomical Society's National Astronomy Meeting is taking place at the University of Hull, UK, until Thursday, 6 July, 2017.
Geneva, 4 July 2017: Embryo quality has long been considered the main determinant of implantation and pregnancy in IVF. Morphology - a visual assessment of an embryo's shape and development - has since the very first days of IVF been the key to measuring this embryo quality, and only in recent years has this morphological grading been made somewhat more scientific with the introduction of time-lapse imaging. Yet the fact remains that many morphologically "good quality" embryos in IVF - between 30 and 60% in various studies - fail to implant in the uterus and make a pregnancy. What's going wrong?

There is a strong case that chromosomal abnormalities in the embryo, which are not detectable by morphological assessment, carry some responsibility. Studies over several years have confirmed that the rate of chromosomal anomalies (aneuploidy) in embryos increases with patient age, which may explain a higher rate of implantation failure and miscarriage in older IVF patients. But even with embryo testing for chromosomal anomalies, embryos destined for transfer are still assessed morphological.

"The issue is that morphological grading by humans leads to wide inter- and intra-operator variation," said investigator Professor Jose Celso Rocha from Sao Paulo State University, Brazil. A study presented today at the 33rd Annual Meeting of ESHRE in Geneva will suggest that these long-standing difficulties may now be improved by using advances in artificial intelligence. Thus, mathematical variables derived from time-lapse images of embryo development may now be used such that an algorithm can classify images of an embryo's development automatically - and so remove the human variable from the crucial task of morphological assessment. "To classify images automatically will increase the predictive value of our embryo assessment," said Professor Rocha. "By increasing objectivity and repeatability in embryo assessment, we can improve the accuracy of diagnosing embryo viability. Clinics can use this information as 'artificial intelligence' to customise treatment strategies and better predict a patient's chance of pregnancy."

Behind the claims lies an analysis of images taken from the development of 482 seven-day-old bovine embryos, which were used to "train" the artificial intelligence system. This analysis identified 36 assessment variables, 24 of which formed the input of the artificial network architecture. It was notable that during this initial set-up phase only "serious errors" occurred in only 6% of the assessments. Overall, the artificial intelligence system had a 76% accuracy.

Moreover, says Professor Rocha, artificial intelligence demonstrated an improved inter-operator variation (embryologist accuracy score lower than the artificial intelligence score) and improved consistency and overall accuracy of results.

Professor Rocha notes that this work has now moved on to its early stages of development in human embryos, which is being carried out at the Sao Paulo State University (Dr Marcelo Nogueira) in collaboration with the Boston Place Clinic in London (Dr Cristina Hickman).

Professor Rocha described the main sources of error in morphological assessment by embryologists as their degree of professional experience, emotional stress, physical fatigue, and laboratory routine. "Those features will cause subjectivity in classification of the embryo," he said.

However, because the artificial intelligence system is a technique which analyses the embryo through mathematical variables, it offers low subjectivity and high repeatability, making embryo classification more consistent. "Nevertheless," said Professor Rocha, "the artificial intelligence system must be based on learning from a human being - that is, the experienced embryologists who set the standards of assessment to train the system."

He described morphology as a "key parameter" in judging the health of an embryo, whose predictive accuracy may be even further improved by the addition of other assessment techniques, such as preimplantation genetic screening. Professor Rocha said that "if things go well" embryo assessment led by artificial intelligence could be ready for routine clinical use "in a year or so" - at least as a controlled and test version. To what extent it will improve embryo grading - and thus outcome in IVF - will depend on how thoroughly the system is "trained" and how wide the sampling of embryo images is in that training. However, for a real benefit on IVF birth rates, Professor Rocha said that artificial intelligence about the embryo would need the complementary support of artificial intelligence about the patient.

###

Abstract O-162, Tuesday 4 July 2017

Using artificial intelligence to improve blastocyst morphology evaluation

The morphological assessment of embryos: the story so far

1. Inter-observer variation in the assessment of embryos has long been recognised. While most studies describe agreement and reliability of assessment as "good" or "excellent", there are still reports of some misclassification. A very recent study from Australia concluded that the agreement between embryologists selecting a single day 5 embryo for transfer was "generally good, although not optimal, even among experienced embryologists" (Storr A, et al. Inter-observer and intra-observer agreement between embryologists during selection of a single Day 5 embryo for transfer: a multicenter study. Hum Reprod 2016; 32: 307-314).

2. It was to remove this subjective variability that strict classification systems have been proposed for the morphological grading of embryos. The scores of these many grading systems are dependent on the stage of embryo development (day 3 or day 5) and usually recognise the progress of embryo cleavage (cell number), the density of the cells, fragmentation, and formation of the cell nucleus. Despite these scoring systems, there remains a degree of subjectivity in the assessment.

3. The demands on morphology in embryo selection have become even greater with the uptake of single embryo transfer in the prevention of multiple pregnancy; now, the embryo with the highest implantation potential must be selected for transfer.

* When obtaining outside comment, journalists are requested to ensure that their contacts are aware of the embargo on this release.

For further information on the details of this press release, contact:

Christine Bauquis at ESHRE

Mobile: +32 (0)499 25 80 46

Email: christine@eshre.eu
Geneva, 4 July 2017: Spain is Europe's most active country in assisted reproduction. ESHRE has collected the national registry data of ART cycles performed in Europe since 1997 and for its latest report (for 2014) found that a record 109,275 treatment cycles were performed in Spain, which now sets the pace of European ART ahead of Russia (94.985 cycles) and former front runner France (90,434). The cycles monitored by ESHRE include treatments with IVF, ICSI, egg donation and intrauterine insemination (IUI).

The report covers a total of 707,171 treatment cycles performed in 2014 and 146,232 babies born - and represents the largest and most accurate snapshot of ART in Europe. Dr Carlos Calhaz-Jorge, chairman of ESHRE's European IVF Monitoring Consortium, will present the results today in Geneva at the 33rd Annual Meeting of ESHRE.

Dr Calhaz-Jorge estimates that around 80% of all European assisted reproduction fertility treatments are included in the monitoring programme - but this year (ie, for 2014) without the data so far of the UK. This, said Dr Calhaz-Jorge, may slightly compromise results in terms of favoured treatment type (IVF or ICSI). In 2013 the UK performed 61,000 treatments.

Among other findings:

Clinics in Europe continue to favour ICSI over IVF by around two-to-one (123,809 IVF, 336,123 ICSI), a pattern now evident throughout the world.

However, European results consistently show that pregnancy rate (per embryo transfer) is higher with IVF (34.6%) than with ICSI (33.1%). ICSI was developed in the early 1990s as a specific treatment for male infertility (low sperm counts, poor sperm quality) but is now clearly used for fertilisation in non-male cases.

Pregnancy rates (as measured per embryo transfer) seem to have stabilised in Europe at about 35% for IVF and 33% for ICSI. Pregnancy rates from egg donation continue to rise (now at about 50%). There is, nevertheless, wide variability between countries.

Pregnancy rates (per embryo transfer) are consistently higher with blastocyst transfers (day-5) than with day-3 transfers. This higher success rate was evident in IVF, ICSI, frozen embryo transfers and egg donation.

Pregnancy rates (per embryo transfer) from frozen donor eggs (49%) are higher than from frozen embryos and around the same as from fresh donor eggs (51%).

The rate of twin pregnancy continues to decline in Europe, in 2014 to around 17%. Similarly, the rate of single embryo transfers continues to rise - from 11% in 1997 to almost 35% in 2014.

"We began monitoring IVF in Europe in 1997," said EIM Chairman Carlos Calhaz-Jorge, "and the rate of multiple pregnancy continues its slow but steady decline. Success rates seem to have stabilised, although outcome in egg donation and with use of frozen embryos is still moving upwards. The biggest upwards movement, however, is from treatments with frozen eggs, which have been revolutionised by the widespread introduction of vitrification."

Dr Calhaz-Jorge also noted that the availability of assisted reproduction treatment remains very patchy in Europe, with Denmark, Czech Republic, Belgium and Slovenia offering more than 2000 treatment cycles per million population, while others (such as Malta, Portugal and Italy) offer considerably fewer. A study calculated that the global need for advanced fertility treatments was around 1500 cycles per million population per year. "Only a minority of European countries meet this need," said Dr Calhaz-Jorge.

###

Abstract 0-140, Tuesday 4 July 2017

O-140: Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) in Europe 2014. Preliminary results generated from European registers by ESHRE

1. The data collection and monitoring of ESHRE's EIM Consortium have grown more complex with the progress of ART. IUI was added to the techniques monitored in 2002, while present data collections must include PGD, in vitro maturation, and frozen oocyte replacement. Collecting data on a single procedure is no longer a simple matter of recording a cycle, but must now acknowledge oocyte and/or embryo cryopreservation, transfer in a fresh or future (non-stimulated) cycle, and outcome, which may well be several years after the initial egg collection cycle.

2. The total number of cycles submitted to the ESHRE Consortium is now increasing by about 7% per year, meaning that the Consortium has monitored a cumulative total approaching 8 million cycles since its formation in 1997 and almost 1.5 million children born. Estimates from international monitoring data put the global total of ART births at more than 6 million since the world's first in 1978.

* When obtaining outside comment, journalists are requested to ensure that their contacts are aware of the embargo on this release.

For further information on the details of this press release, contact:

Christine Bauquis at ESHRE

Mobile: +32 (0)499 25 80 46

Email: christine@eshre.eu
Ancient mitochondrial DNA from the femur of an archaic European hominin is helping to resolve the complicated relationship between modern humans and Neanderthals. The genetic data recovered by the research team, led by scientists from the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History and the University of Tubingen, provides a timeline for a proposed hominin migration out of Africa that occurred after the ancestors of Neanderthals arrived in Europe by a lineage more closely related to modern humans. These hominins interbred with Neanderthals already present in Europe, leaving their mark on the Neanderthals' mitochondrial DNA. The study, published today in Nature Communications, pushes back the possible date of this event to between 470,000 and 220,000 years ago.

Mitochondria are the energy-producing machinery of our cells. These mitochondria have their own DNA, which is separate from our nuclear DNA. Mitochondria are inherited from mother to child and can thus be used to trace maternal lineages and population split times. In fact, changes due to mutations in the mitochondrial DNA over time can be used to distinguish groups and also to estimate the amount of time that has passed since two individuals shared a common ancestor, as these mutations occur at predictable rates.

Complicated relationship between Neanderthals and modern humans

Prior research analyzing nuclear DNA from Neanderthals and modern humans estimated the split of the two groups at approximately 765,000 to 550,000 years ago. However, studies looking at mitochondrial DNA showed a much more recent split of around 400,000 years ago. Moreover, the mitochondrial DNA of Neanderthals is more similar to that of modern humans, and thus indicates a more recent common ancestor, than to that of their close nuclear relatives the Denisovans. There has been debate about the cause of these discrepancies, and it has been proposed that a hominin migration out of Africa might have occurred prior to the major dispersal of modern humans. This human group, more closely related to modern humans than to Neanderthals, could have introduced their mitochondrial DNA to the Neanderthal population in Europe through genetic admixture, as well as contributing a small amount of nuclear DNA to Neanderthals but not to Denisovans as recently detected. However, more data was needed to evaluate the feasibility of this scenario and to define the temporal limits of the proposed event.

The femur of a Neanderthal excavated from the Hohlenstein-Stadel Cave in southwestern Germany provided just such an opportunity. "The bone, which shows evidence of being gnawed on by a large carnivore, provided mitochondrial genetic data that showed it belongs to the Neanderthal branch," explains Cosimo Posth of the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, lead author of the study. Traditional radiocarbon dating did not work to assess the age of the femur, which was instead estimated using the mutation rate as approximately 124,000 years old. This makes this Neanderthal specimen, designated HST by the researchers, among the oldest to have its mitochondrial DNA analyzed to date. Interestingly, it represents a different mitochondrial lineage than the Neanderthals previously studied. The mitochondrial lineage of HST and of all other known Neanderthals separated from each other very deeply in time, at a minimum of 220,000 years ago. The differences between their mitochondrial DNA indicate that there was more mitochondrial genetic diversity in the Neanderthal population than was previously thought. This suggests that the Neanderthal population size once was much bigger than that estimated for the final stage of their existence.

Timeline for additional migration of hominins out of Africa

The proposed scenario is that after the divergence of Neanderthals and modern human mitochondrial DNA (dated to a maximum of 470,000 years ago), but before HST and the other Neanderthals diverged (dated to a minimum of 220,000 years ago), a group of hominins moved from Africa to Europe, introducing their mitochondrial DNA to the Neanderthal population. Thus this intermediate migration out of Africa would have occurred between 470,000 and 220,000 years ago. "Despite the large interval, these dates provide a temporal window for possible hominin connectivity and interaction across the two continents in the past," says Posth.

This influx of hominins would have been small enough that it did not result in a large impact on the Neanderthals' nuclear DNA. However, it would have been large enough to completely replace the existing mitochondrial lineage of Neanderthals, more similar to the Denisovans, with a type more similar to modern humans. "This scenario reconciles the discrepancy in the nuclear DNA and mitochondrial DNA phylogenies of archaic hominins and the inconsistency of the modern human-Neanderthal population split time estimated from nuclear DNA and mitochondrial DNA," explains Johannes Krause, also of the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, senior author of the study.

Nuclear data from the HST femur would be pivotal in assessing its genomic relationships with Neanderthals, Denisovans and modern humans, but it is extremely challenging to retrieve nuclear DNA from HST due to poor preservation and high levels of modern human contamination. In any case, however, high quality nuclear genome data from more than one individual would be necessary to fully investigate this proposed wave of human migration out of Africa, and is an intriguing area for future study.

###
Paleontologists document the features of a giant crocodile relative -- the largest and oldest known 'notosuchian,' predating the other forms by 42 million years

Little is known about the origin and early evolution of the Notosuchia, hitherto unknown in the Jurassic period. New research on fossils from Madagascar, published in the peer-reviewed journal PeerJ by Italian and French paleontologists, begin to fill the gap in a million-year-long ghost lineage.

Deep and massive jaw bones armed with enormous serrated teeth that are similar in size and shape to those of a T-rex strongly suggest that these animals fed also on hard tissue such as bone and tendon. The full name of the predatory crocodyliform (nicknamed 'Razana') is Razanandrongobe sakalavae, which means "giant lizard ancestor from Sakalava region".

A combination of anatomical features clearly identify this taxon as a Jurassic notosuchian, close to the South American baurusuchids and sebecids, that were highly specialized predators of terrestrial habits, different from present-day crocodilians in having a deep skull and powerful erect limbs. "Like these and other gigantic crocs from the Cretaceous, 'Razana' could outcompete even theropod dinosaurs, at the top of the food chain", says Cristiano Dal Sasso, of the Natural History Museum of Milan.

Razanandrongobe sakalavae is by far the oldest -- and possibly the largest -- representative of the Notosuchia, documenting one of the earliest events of exacerbated increase in body size along the evolutionary history of the group.

"Its geographic position during the period when Madagascar was separating from other landmasses is strongly suggestive of an endemic lineage. At the same time, it represents a further signal that the Notosuchia originated in southern Gondwana", remarks co-author Simone Maganuco.

###

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Citation to the article: Dal Sasso et al. (2017), Razanandrongobe sakalavae, a gigantic mesoeucrocodylian from the Middle Jurassic of Madagascar, is the oldest known notosuchian. PeerJ 5:e3481; DOI 10.7717/peerj.3481

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Citizens across the EU are consuming an average of 2 alcoholic drinks per day, placing drinkers at a 21 percent increased risk of developing colorectal cancer, in addition to other digestive cancers, a report finds

(Vienna, 4 July, 2017) Citizens across the EU are consuming an average of 2 alcoholic drinks per day, placing drinkers at a 21% increased risk of developing colorectal cancer, in addition to other digestive cancers, a report finds.

The report, launched today by United European Gastroenterology, revealed that the average daily intake of alcoholic drinks was 'moderate' (between 1 and 4 drinks per day) in all 28 EU states, placing these citizens at a heightened risk of both colorectal and oesophageal cancer.

'Heavy' drinkers (people that consume more than 4 drinks per day) were found to be at an increased risk of pancreatic, liver and gastric cancer. These three cancers, coupled with colorectal and oesophageal cancer, are the five most common digestive cancers worldwide, causing almost three million deaths per year and contributing to over a third of global cancer deaths.

No countries within the EU were found to have 'light' alcohol consumption (on average, less than 1 alcoholic drink per day per capita).

The European Alcohol Endemic

Alcohol consumption across the European region is higher than in any other region in the world, with over one fifth of the European population over the age of 15 drinking heavily at least once a week. As a result, the continent suffers from the highest proportion of ill health and premature death directly linked to alcohol.

Despite high levels of consumption throughout Europe, research shows that as many as 90% of people are unaware on the link between alcohol and cancer.

In light of these alarming statistics, tackling the harmful use of alcohol is a main priority for the upcoming Estonian presidency of the Council of the European Union.

How to Tackle Europe's Alcohol Crisis

Consumers are provided with mixed-messages on recommended units, glasses and volumes of alcohol. UEG are therefore calling for a pan-European approach to the provision of clear and consistent information about the health risks of drinking alcohol to help eradicate confusion on appropriate levels of consumption.

Professor Markus Peck, leading digestive health expert, comments; "One of the main challenges in addressing high drinking levels is how deeply embedded alcohol consumption is within the European society, both socially and culturally. Political action like minimum pricing and reducing access to alcohol needs to be taken now to prevent many future casualties. Research then has to follow to help generate data and allow us to fine-tune future political activity".

Increased pressure on the alcohol industry to develop clear and responsible labelling, together with a tightening of regulations on the marketing of alcohol, are other important steps outlined within the report to help tackle the crisis. France is a country leading the way in this regard, where stricter marketing, coupled with regulations for drinking at work, has contributed to a decline in alcohol consumption and digestive cancer incidence as a result.

###

Notes to Editors

About the Report

'Alcohol and Digestive Cancers Across Europe: Time for Change' is a report produced by UEG with support from the European Association for the Study of the Liver (EASL), the Association of European Cancer Leagues (ECL), the European Liver Patients Association (ELPA), Pancreatic Cancer Europe (PCE), EuropaColon and Eurocare (The Alcohol Policy Alliance). Canvassing the opinions of leading European digestive cancer specialists, stakeholder organisations and patient groups, the report highlights the scale of alcohol consumption across Europe, its direct and indirect impact on digestive cancers and the alarming lack of awareness of the link between alcohol and digestive cancers among members of the public and many healthcare professionals.

Media Enquiries

For further information and to schedule an interview with Professor Markus Peck, please email media@ueg.eu or phone Luke Paskins on +44 (0)1444 811099

About Professor Markus Peck

Professor Markus Peck is a member of the UEG Public Affairs Committee and former Secretary General of EASL (European Association of the Study of the Liver).

About UEG

UEG, or United European Gastroenterology, is a professional non-profit organisation combining all the leading European societies concerned with digestive diseases. Together, its member societies represent over 22,000 specialists, working across medicine, surgery, paediatrics, gastrointestinal oncology and endoscopy. This makes UEG the most comprehensive organisation of its kind in the world, and a unique platform for collaboration and the exchange of knowledge. Find out more by visiting http://www.ueg.eu

References

1. United European Gastroenterology, Alcohol and Digestive Cancers. Available at: https://spink.sharefile.com/d-s9b8ba75e47644849

2. Cancer Research UK, Worldwide cancer mortality statistics. Available at: http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/health-professional/cancer-statistics/worldwide-cancer/mortality#heading-Zero

3. Republic of Estonia Ministry of Social Affairs, Estonian presidency of the Council of the European Union: priorities and main topics in health. Available at: https://ec.europa.eu/health/sites/health/files/nutrition_physical_activity/docs/ev_20170308_co_07_en.pdf
Beech trees should be considered native to Scotland - despite a long-running debate over their national identity, researchers at the University of Stirling and Science and Advice for Scottish Agriculture (SASA) report.

The team examined the DNA of more than 800 beech trees at 42 locations across Great Britain and made direct comparisons with trees growing on mainland Europe.

The study - funded by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) - shows almost all of the beeches growing in Great Britain the researchers tested, are derived from native populations and, as a result, could not have been planted from abroad.

Professor Alistair Jump, of the University of Stirling's Centre for Environment, Heritage and Policy, said: "The beech tree has been experiencing an identity crisis in Scotland. Evidence shows that the European beech was mainly confined to the south-east of England after the last Ice Age. However, this tree now occurs throughout Scotland and has been considered 'not native' by many land managers.

"This tree can colonise ancient woodland in Scotland, and is sometimes removed because it poses a threat to the persistence of other native species. Our study shows that beech should be considered native throughout Great Britain, including Scotland."

Dr Jennifer Sjolund, of SASA, added: "The beech tree has been planted in Scotland in the past but the planting was from native British stock and, although humans have speeded its northward spread, it would have naturally spread up the length of the country regardless.

"Our findings have significant implications on how we define native species and how we consider natural processes when deciding what we base woodland management plans on. It points to a need to look again at the identity and distinctiveness of native Scottish forests, which historically haven't featured the beech tree."

The research, entitled 'Understanding the legacy of widespread population translocations on the post-glacial genetic structure of the European beech', is published in the Journal of Biogeography.

###
Pawanjeet Singh Kohli, 24, was heartbroken after hearing the news of his former girlfriend's engagement. He was secretly looking for ways to kill himself and decided to jump off the Bandra-Worli Sea Link.

By India Today Web Desk: All seemed well for Pawanjeet Singh Kohli. His friends thought of him as a happy person, was rich and was gifted a new Audi for his birthday. But all was not well. The 24-year-old was secretly looking ways to kill himself. His family and friends were shocked to know that he had jumped off the Bandra-Worli Sea Link.

advertisement

Pawanjeet was heartbroken after he got the news of his former girlfriend's engagement. On July 2, he left his phone and car behind and told his family he would get back home soon.

Also read: A lot like Romeo: 11-year-old kills self after girlfriend fakes suicide

Pawanjeet took a cab to Bandra-Worli Sea link and when the car reached the sea link, he asked the driver to stop mid-way saying he wanted to puke. Pawanjeet had something else planned. He climbed over the railing and jumped into the sea.

"So far, investigations have revealed that he had been in a relationship with a girl who recently got engaged, which may have been the reason he decided to take the extreme step," said a police officer as reported by Mid day.

The police found through his cell phone records that Pawanjeet had searched online for the fastest way to commit suicide.

Also read: Depression and taking one's own life: Suicide attempt is a cry for help, says senior psychiatrist

Neither his family nor his friends were aware that he was battling depression. A friend who met Pawanjeet two days before his death said that he was very cheerful.

When he did not come back home his parents filed a missing person's complaint with the Khar police and circulated his picture.

Pawanjeet's parents were called in to identify a body that was found at Bandra Fort by the Bandra Police. The 24-year-old's last rites took after a post-mortem and an ADR was registered.

Also read: Woman who 'encouraged' boyfriend to commit suicide on trial for involuntary manslaughter

--- ENDS ---
Popular heartburn drugs called proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) have been linked to a variety of health problems, including serious kidney damage, bone fractures and dementia. Now, a new study from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis shows that longtime use of the drugs also is associated with an increased risk of death.

Millions of U.S. residents take proton pump inhibitors which are widely prescribed to treat heartburn, ulcers and other gastrointestinal problems. The drugs also are available over the counter under brand names that include Prevacid, Prilosec and Nexium.

For the study, the researchers examined medical records of some 275,000 users of PPIs and nearly 75,000 people who took another class of drugs - known as H2 blockers - to reduce stomach acid. The research is published online July 3 in the journal BMJ Open.

"No matter how we sliced and diced the data from this large data set, we saw the same thing: There's an increased risk of death among PPI users," said senior author Ziyad Al-Aly, MD, an assistant professor of medicine. "For example, when we compared patients taking H2 blockers with those taking PPIs for one to two years, we found those on PPIs had a 50 percent increased risk of dying over the next five years. People have the idea that PPIs are very safe because they are readily available, but there are real risks to taking these drugs, particularly for long periods of time."

Both PPIs and H2 blockers are prescribed for serious medical conditions such as upper gastrointestinal tract bleeding, gastroesophageal reflux disease and esophageal cancer. Over-the-counter PPIs are most often used for heartburn and indigestion.

PPIs have become one of the most commonly used classes of drugs in the United States with 15 million monthly prescriptions in 2015 for Nexium alone, according to WebMD.

A kidney doctor by profession, Al-Aly has previously published studies linking PPIs to kidney disease, and other researchers have shown an association with other health problems. Al-Aly, first author Yan Xie, PhD, a data scientist, and colleagues reasoned that since each of these side effects carries a small risk of death, together they may affect the mortality rate of PPI users.

To find out, the researchers sifted through millions of de-identified veterans' medical records in a database maintained by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. They identified 275,933 people who had been prescribed a PPI and 73,355 people prescribed an H2 blocker between October 2006 and September 2008, and noted how many died and when over the following five years. The database did not include information on cause of death.

Al-Aly and colleagues found a 25 percent increased risk of death in the PPI group compared with the H2 blocker group. The researchers calculate that, for every 500 people taking PPIs for a year, there is one extra death that would not have otherwise occurred. Given the millions of people who take PPIs regularly, this could translate into thousands of excess deaths every year, Al-Aly said.

The researchers also calculated the risk of death in people who were prescribed PPIs or H2 blockers despite not having the gastrointestinal conditions for which the drugs are recommended. Here, the researchers found that people who took PPIs had a 24 percent increased risk of death compared with people taking H2 blockers.

Further, the risk rose steadily the longer people used the drugs. After 30 days, the risk of death in the PPI and H2 blocker groups was not significantly different, but among people taking the drugs for one to two years, the risk to PPI users was nearly 50 percent higher than that of H2 blocker users.

Although the recommended treatment regimen for most PPIs is short - two to eight weeks for ulcers, for example - many people end up taking the drugs for months or years.

"A lot of times people get prescribed PPIs for a good medical reason, but then doctors don't stop it and patients just keep getting refill after refill after refill," Al-Aly said. "There needs to be periodic re-assessments as to whether people need to be on these. Most of the time, people aren't going to need to be on PPIs for a year or two or three."

As compared with the H2 blocker group, people in the PPI group were older (64 years old, on average, versus 61) and also somewhat sicker, with higher rates of diabetes, hypertension and cardiovascular disease. But these differences cannot fully account for the increased risk of death since the risk remained even when the researchers statistically controlled for age and illness.

Over-the-counter PPIs contain the same chemical compounds as in prescription PPIs, just at lower doses, and there is no way to know how long people stay on them. The Food and Drug Administration recommends taking PPIs no longer than four weeks before consulting a doctor.

Al-Aly emphasizes that deciding whether to take a PPI requires a risk-benefit calculation.

"PPIs save lives," Al-Aly said. "If I needed a PPI, I absolutely would take it. But I wouldn't take it willy-nilly if I didn't need it. And I would want my doctor to be monitoring me carefully and take me off it the moment it was no longer needed."

###
A young farmer has come back from her holiday to devastating news that 71 ewes and around 130 lambs had been stolen.

Lorna Sidebottom created a public Facebook post to try and reach the news out as wide as possible.

The post, dated 27 June, has already had over 10,000 shares.

Lorna Sidebottom (Facebook)

She said on Facebook: "Whilst on holiday I received some devastating news that 71 ewes had been stolen with the majority having twin lambs at foot.

"They went missing a week ago from Sandon, Staffordshire. They are mainly young mules and mule x texel sheep. Some lambs have been left behind without there mothers.

"All of our ewes and lambs are ear marked with specific notches in both ears. They also have a red mark on their hip. All lambs have a single yellow tag however our ewes have a mix of our own tags and bought in tags.

"This is the second time this year that sheep have been stolen.

"I'm hoping that the power of Facebook will give us some information. Please please share this post as these sheep could be anywhere by now, if anyone hears anything please let us know."

Anyone with any information can ring Lorna on 07534964911.
UK forestry research involving ways to protect woodlands, tackle tree pests and cope with climate change and soil erosion is considered to be world-leading.

A specific branch of this research belongs to agroforestry  incorporating forestry with agriculture.

The need to tackle soil erosion and cope with climate change will make trees an important ingredient for productive cropping and livestock farming, an agroforestry conference recently heard .

By mixing farming and forestry, the conference heard that a well-managed agroforestry system can produce 40% more than if they are separate.

Indeed, the role that UK research is playing in the fight against tree and plant pests was demonstrated to Defra Environment Minister Therese Coffey recently during a visit to Forest Research in Edinburgh.

Forest Research is the UKs principal organisation for forestry and tree related research and provides evidence and scientific advice in support of sustainable forestry.

Between 2012 and 2019, the UK will have invested more than 37 million into tree health research.

Vital contribution

While at their Scottish base last week, the Minister learnt about the latest efforts to combat tree pests and diseases, forestrys role in reducing climate change, and the best tree species to increase planting rates.

Speaking after her visit, Therese Coffey said: We can all take pride in the UKs world-leading forestry science and research which is making a vital contribution towards protecting our native trees and plants from pests and disease.

That is why we are continuing to invest millions of pounds into tree health research to shape the response that government and the forestry industry needs to take to keep our forests and woodlands healthy for future generations.

During her visit to Edinburgh, the Minister also held a roundtable with representatives from the forestry industry to discuss steps to increase tree planting.
Shares of Disney (DIS 5.03%) inched higher on Monday, fueled by reports that Verizon (VZ -0.57%) was considering a buyout of the media giant. A New York Post column over the weekend discussed the rumor, with a "well-placed banker" saying not to count Verizon out.

This isn't the first time that a tech or telco giant has been linked to the pursuit of Mickey Mouse, and it probably won't be the last. Verizon would have plenty to gain by adding Disney to its content arsenal, but let's not jump to conclusions. Verizon isn't going to buy Disney. Let's spell out the reasons why the nuptials just aren't going to happen.

1. Verizon may not be able to afford Disney

Disney isn't up for sale, and it doesn't have to be. Despite the challenges at ESPN and its other cable properties, most of the media mogul's other businesses are holding up just fine. It would take a hefty premium to convince Disney and its shareholders to give up, and this is where one has to wonder how Verizon lines up financing.

Disney's enterprise value presently clocks in at $187.6 billion, and that's before tacking on a reasonable premium. Verizon's more valuable at $296.3 billion, but it's also saddled with $116.8 billion in debt. How is it going to pay for Disney? Stock as legal tender isn't an option. Verizon shares hit a fresh 52-week low last week. Disney investors will want cash -- a lot of it -- and that's money that Verizon won't be able to raise.

2. The synergy isn't all that obvious

It's easy to see how Verizon would capitalize on Disney's assets. It can canvas its theme parks with Verizon Wi-Fi. It can make some ESPN programming and other Disney-owned content available exclusively to Verizon wireless customers. Disney Stores can double as Verizon retail centers.

It all sounds great on paper. It will be a disaster in application. Hammering home its Verizon offerings at Disney's theme parks will be lost on its sizable base of international tourists. Splintering its content will give cord-cutters even more reason to kiss their cable companies goodbye. Please don't tell me you took my suggestion of Disney stores selling Verizon plans and replacing shattered screens seriously.

Verizon would be paying a lot for Disney, and the sum of the parts may be worth less than Disney and Verizon on their own.

3. Yield signs

Verizon's in a funk. Revenue has declined for four consecutive quarters. Profits are falling even harder. One thing that's been keeping Verizon at current levels -- even if they're the lowest levels since early 2016 -- is its chunky dividend.

Verizon is currently yielding 5.1%, rewarding income investors for their patience at a time when the market for wireless customers has become a cutthroat business. How likely is that to stick if Verizon buys Disney? Verizon will have to take on a lot of debt to finance a Disney purchase, giving it less wiggle room to return money to its shareholders. Buying Disney would likely mean a dividend cut, and that's not going to go over too well with Verizon's shareholders.

Verizon can't buy Disney. Verizon shouldn't buy Disney. Let it go.
Employees foiled an attempt to rob a Muthoot Finance branch in Hyderabad's Mailardevpally. Police have launched a manhunt to nab the accused.

By Ashish Pandey: Four robbers on Tuesday tried to loot a Muthoot Finance branch in Hyderabad's Mailardevpally, but were foiled by alert employees, who raised an alarm and forced them to flee.

When the branch was opened, they threatened the cashier at gunpoint, before the alarm was raised.

Police have registered a case based on the staff's complaint and are investigating the incident.

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They've launched a manhunt to nab the accused.

Photographs of the suspects have also been circulated across police stations in neighboring districts. Vehicles are being checked.

Sources who're investigating the case believe the suspects look like outsiders, and that gangs from Maharashtra or Karnataka may be involved.

On 28 December last year, robbers had looted 41 kilograms of gold from the Muthoot Finance branch in RC Puram on the outskirts of Hyderabad.

Later, police nabbed the 5 accused in Mumbai and other parts of Maharashtra.

ALSO READ

Band Baja Barat: How Madhya Pradesh's wedding crashers carry out thefts at grand weddings in Delhi

Jamai Raja actor Ravi Dubey gets mugged in Barcelona; takes to Twitter to inform fans

--- ENDS ---




Haiti - Politic : The TNH broadcast again in the South Department





Saturday, July 1, as part of the implementation of the national coverage project of the National Television of Haiti (TNH) launched last May https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-21000-haiti-politics-tnh-national-coverage-within-60-days.html and following the work carried out on the site relaying the station in the South, the State television has officially recommenced to broadcast its programs on the department of the South. All communes in the department and those adjacent are now able to receive signals from the Public Service Channel.



This project responds to the right and need of the population to be informed. The presence of the TNH in the region of the South, intends to complete the process of a symmetrical public communication that wants to establish the Head of State.



National Television, through its national coverage project, recently launched, intends to gradually broadcast its programs throughout the national territory and announces that Grand-Anse will be the next department to receive its signals.



While the citizens of the South Department resume watching the Public Service Channel, the institution recalls that it remains open to the complaints of viewers regarding the broadcast and its quality.



HL/ PI/ HaitiLibre






















Haiti - NOTICE : Moratorium on the granting of FM radio frequencies





The General Directorate of the Executive Body of the National Telecommunications Council (CONATEL) informs the interested parties that due to the saturation of the frequency band allocated to FM broadcasting and harmful radio interference, which interferes in particular with aeronautical communications, the following measures are adopted:



1 - A moratorium is granted on the granting of an operating license for an FM radio station in the Metropolitan area of Port-au-Prince;



2 - Licenses previously granted whose validation period comes to an end and for which the owner requests renewal, will be the subject of an in-depth technical analysis before the decision is taken;



3 - It is made injunction to stations operating without authorization of CONATEL to cease immediately the fraudulent use of radio frequencies. Otherwise, the Regulatory Body will to proceed to their closure notwithstanding the penalties provided for in Article 144 of the Decree of 12 October 1977 which stipulates that "Are punishable by imprisonment from one to three years and a fine of 1,000 to 5,000 gourdes those who, through negligence or recklessness, interferes or will have interfered, interrupts or interrupts, paralyzes or will have paralyzed telecommunications services. If the offense committed affects the Public Services as a result of fraudulent action, the maximum of the two penalties will be applied. In case of recidivism, they will be doubled."



HL/ HaitiLibre






















Haiti - Politics : After 5 years of blocking the Senate votes the law on the FNE





The Draft Law on the Organization and Functioning of the National Fund for Education, created under President Martelly in May 2011 https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-3034-haiti-education-launch-of-the-national-fund-for-education-fne-by-martelly-update-1h03pm.html was voted last Wednesday by the Senate after 5 years of blocking



Recall that the FNE had been ratified by the Chamber of Deputies 15 months after its creation (August 2012) and sent to the Senate for ratification in the same terms https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-12004-haiti-education-the-use-of-the-$220m-of-fne-still-blocked-by-the-senate.html . However, the majority opposition in the Senate blocked this ratification until the arrival of the new Moise-Lafontant Government.



The FNE, an autonomous body of unlimited duration, will operate under the supervision of the Ministry of Education and will be managed by a Director General. It will be endowed with a Board of Directors of 7 members from the Ministries of Economy, National Education, Planning and MHAVE, the sector of teacher unions, the National Federation of Haitian Mayors ( FENAMH) and the human rights sector.



The FNE will manage financial resources from various known and future sources, enabling the development and continuation of the education program for children and ensuring access to universal schooling.



However, the Bill having been amended in the Senate to take account eplicitly of needs of disabled people, it will be resubmitted to Lower House (shuttle) to be ratified in the same terms, before being transmitted to the Executive for publication in the official newspaper "Le Moniteur".



This fund currently funded by the diaspora by telephone charges of US $ 0.05 on each incoming minute https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-2993-haiti-education-it-s-not-a-tax-but-a-surcharge-on-the-tariff.html amounted in March 2017 to more than 142 million US dollars (142,263,932.38) https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-20383-haiti-news-zapping-politics.html Note that this amount does not include the US $ 1.50 fee charged to the incoming and outgoing funds transfers that are collected by the Central Bank (BRH). Today, the amount of this levy could be around 189 million [Under all reserve and based on a HL estimate calculated from the only known amount reported by the BRH for the period from June 2011 to August 2012 and based on a constant linear progression]



SL/ HaitiLibre






















Haiti - News : Zapping...





Death of the poet Serge Legagneur

On Thursday evening, June 29, the poet Serge Legagneur died of the consequences of a withering cancer. Born on January 10, 1937 in Jeremie he spent his childhood in this coastal town, also known as the "City of Poets", which he profoundly marked with his poetry. May his soul rest in peace.



Tourism : projects in the South

"The Ministry of Tourism will implement projects in the South Department," said Minister of Tourism Colombe Emilie Jessy Menos, in a press briefing, reiterating her support for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), citing as examples: Rehabilitation of sites and beaches damaged by the passage of Mathew and the signage project to facilitate access to the sites.



Words of DG of the PNH

"It is essential to fine-tune police practices so that the PNH is competitive in terms of knowledge, know-how and know-to-be," said Michel-Ange Gedeon, Director General of the Haitian National Police (PNH).



Insecurity : Appeal of the Collective December 4

The Collectif 4 December 2013 launched, on Thursday, 29 June, an appeal to the population to curb the insecurity that reigns throughout the national territory https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-21405-haiti-flash-94-shot-dead-for-the-first-6-months.html the Collective urges the population to unite in order to lead a total war against insecurity that takes on different dimensions: criminal, land, food, economic and road. In addition, he encourages the executive and the concerned bodies to take institutional measures to establish a safer environment.



BSEIPH : Report of the Technical Adviser Handicap

Odnel Eleazard, the Disability Technical Advisor to the Office of the Secretary of State for the Integration of Persons with Disabilities (BSEIPH), presented this week a report on its activities between July 2016 and July 2017. Objectives achieved, others delayed by the circumstances, the prospects of the Advisor are even greater in order to help the BSEIPH to achieve its objectives for the benefit of people with disabilities. The Bureau took the opportunity to thank Odnel Eleazard for his collaboration as well as "Konekte" and its partners who support this initiative.



Petit-Goave the Government donates 2 pumps

Saturday following a meeting held with the notables of Barrettes, a locality of the first municipal section of Petit-Goave, Carmel Andre Beliard, the Minister of Agriculture, accompanied by his Director General Branly Eugene and the agronomist, Jean Elie Philogene, West Regional Director, handed over 2 4-inch pumps to Wilnor Delicious, CASEC Coordinator and President of the Association of Irrigators of Barrettes (AIBA). HL/ HaitiLibre / Guyto Mathieu (Correspondant Petit-Goave)



Moise launches

On Saturday in the town of Les Cayes, President Jovenel Moise, accompanied by his wife Martine and President of the Chamber of Deputies Cholzer Chancy, officially launched the Caravan of Change in the Great South.



HL/ HaitiLibre


















In the wake of the row over usage of Hindi on signboards outside Namma Metro stations, Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah has said he will take a call on the issue after knowing about policies followed in other states.

By Nolan Pinto: The controversy surrounding the usage of Hindi on signboards in or outside Namma Metro stations seems unlikely to die down anytime soon. A day after Karnataka Water Resources Minister MB Patil lauded Siddaramaiah for supporting the anti-Hindi brigade on Twitter, the chief minister has himself reacted on the issue.

Siddaramaiah said that he had asked officials to find out what policy was followed in Tamil Nadu, Kerala, West Bengal and other states, adding that his government would take a decision on the matter based on those findings.

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In many states, only 2 languages are accorded primacy. The main vernacular language and English for every form of communication.

KARNATAKA CM LIKELY TO BACK THOSE AGAINST HINDI

The chief minister's specifically mentioning the aforementioned states indirectly indicates that his government would stand by all those who strongly campaign against the use of Hindi in Namma Metro.

A few days ago, Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) officials, to avoid their display boards being smeared with black paint, had covered Hindi letters on the entrance board of Chickpete and Nadaprabhu Kempegowda Metro stations.

All this began with the Twitter campaign called #NammaMetroHindiBeda that started trending very quickly.

Also read | Bengaluru: Hindi words covered on sign boards outside Namma Metro stations

Also read | KDA issues show cause notice to Bangalore Metro after pro-Kannada activists oppose Hindi on Namma Metro

--- ENDS ---
Why none of the Indian leaders feel infuriated on knowing about attacks on Hindus and Hindu Dharma happening in Bangladesh and Pakistan ?

Dhaka : Unknown fanatics vandalized 8 Deities of Hindus kept in a marquee at Kaliakoir in Gazipur District close from the city. The idols were made for Sri Durga-puja festival celebrated during autumn by Hindus. Dy. Police Inspector Zakir Husain of Kalikair Kaliakoir police station has admitted to such incident taking place. Sculptor Shanti Gopal Paul had made those idols working whole night. On the following day when he returned to work-shop, he found the damage cause to idols. There were 2 idols of Sri Ganesh, 2 idols of Sri Lakhsmi, 2 idols of Sri Saraswati and 2 idols of Kartikswmi. Police officers visited the place of incident after hearing about the news.

Tumpa Rani Paul, a local resident said that even earlier incidents of destruction and vandalism had taken place in the village; but nobody took notice of the same. Local Hindu residents are expressing their anger over such destruction.

Source : Dainik Sanatan Prabhat
HJS demands to government !

Panaji : Mr. Haridas Naik was beaten inhumanly by hooligans of Believers for registering a complaint against the illegal centre of Believers at Sancoale. Timely intervention of Mr. Naiks relatives saved his life. Instead of taking any action in this regard on hooligans police have given them protection. This is nothing but appeasement of minorities. There is religious rift in Sancoale because of this incident and Hindus are under fear. Hindu Janajagruti Samiti (HJS) demands to ban Believers sect engaged in religious hooliganism in Goa !

Since last 4 years Mr. Haridas Naik has been registering complaints with local panchayat and Verna police in this case; but in vain. Now there was an attempt to kill him. Some days back taking objection to the statement made by H.H. Sadhvi Saraswati, secular organisations and political parties had made a hue and cry saying it had given rise to law and order situation in Goa; but despite three days having passed since Believers hooligans beating Mr. Naik at Sancoale, these (Peace lovers?) secular organisations and political parties have not even shown any protest and are mum. Is this called secularism? If a cow-slaughterer is beaten or if a stone is thrown at any church then the whole country starts roaring; but when attempts are made to kill Hindus then the so called secularists stay calm, is this secularism? Why those politicians who are always making false accusations on Hindu organisations, keeping quiet now or are they scared of the Believers hooligans ?

Just with a possibility of disturbing peace in Goa, Devout Hindu leader and the founder- president of Sriram Sena Mr. Pramod Mutalik has been banned entry in Goa for the past 3 years; as against this Believers who have been engaged in activities creating religious unrest and taking law into their hands repeatedly, have been given protection by the government, which is mysterious. Immediate ban should be imposed on this Believers organisation in Goa and strict action should be taken on its hooligans, is a demand made by the HJS.
Regent Hotels & Resorts has signed a management agreement with prominent Vietnamese property developer BIM Group today in Hanoi, to manage Regent Phu Quoc, a luxury hotel and residential development in the heart of Phu Quoc, Vietnam"s largest island. The signing ceremony was attended by the Chairman of Regent Hotels Group, Steven Pan, and Doan Quoc Viet, Chairman of BIM Group. With the launch of Regent Phu Quoc in 2019, Regent Hotels & Resorts" global property portfolio will increase to nine and Regent Phu Quoc will be the company"s third mixed-use development comprising luxury residences and a hotel. Even in its early stages of development, the property has already scooped an award as Winner in the New Hotel Construction & Design Vietnam category at the 2017 Asia Pacific Property Awards. Regent Phu Quoc will be in the heart of Phu Quoc Marina, set to be the hottest new destination in Vietnam. The spectacular 400-room waterfront property will bring true luxury to this new lifestyle destination. It will offer both spacious hotel rooms and private residences; each unit will be equipped with a Lake Villa, Beach or Sky Villa that will include a private swimming pool and magnificent sea views. Regent Phu Quoc will also offer world-class dining and Michelin-starred dining options, spectacular private beaches, a luxury spa, pool and gym facilities. As with all Regent Hotels & Resorts, the property will combine indigenous design that encapsulates the essence of the locale, with understated luxury, providing guests with extraordinary world-class accommodation experiences and living spaces.Vietnam's Phu Quoc is set in the Gulf of Thailand, off the coast of Cambodia. More than 70% of the island is classified as a National Park and a protected area thus providing visitors with abundant natural landscapes, pristine beaches and tropical jungle to explore, as well as a traditional fishing village that displays strong French influences till this day. Regent Phu Quoc is located at Bai Truong, on the west coast of the island which is known for its sunsets. It is just 10 minutes" drive from the airport.

Hotel website
With TUI Blue Jadran, the seventh hotel of TUI Group"s new experience hotel brand was opened last weekend. The building is considered to be the oldest hotel on the Croatian Adriatic coast. Through its lifestyle concept with stylish rooms and junior suites, TUI Blue is breathing new life into the well-known hotel with its historic facade.

TUI Blue Jadran (4.5 stars) is located at the end of the promenade at Tucepi in the Makarska Riviera. The hotel has 161 rooms, including 12 junior suites and 11 swim-up suites offering direct access to a private pool. TUI Blue targets an international audience with an affinity for lifestyle seeking an authentic holiday experience. The hotel"s location between the sea and Biokovo mountains as well as the hotel"s own Bluef!t Park offer many opportunities for outdoor activities. The guests can also enjoy the Croatian-inspired cuisine, cutting-edge technology and a large infinity pool offering a view of the Mediterranean.

TUI Blue"s next growth initiative has already been announced: From the 2018 Spring season, the portfolio will be complemented by TUI Blue Rocador in Mallorca, TUI Blue Falesia in Portugal, TUI Blue Palm Beach Palace in Djerba and TUI Blue Marmaris in Turkey. These new openings will be based on appropriate hotels from TUI Hotels & Resorts" existing portfolio, repositioned as TUI Blue hotels. Further repositionings are scheduled for the 2018/19 Winter season and the 2019 Summer season.

Hotel website
Transient Leisure Segment Remains Inconsistent with Rate and Occupancy Growth in Second Quarter

Heading into the second half of the year, North American hoteliers are continuing to experience stable average daily rates (ADR) alongside declines in bookings during the second quarter of 2017, according to new data from TravelClicks June 2017 North American Hospitality Review (NAHR). This marks an ongoing trend for hoteliers this year.

Despite strong transient leisure travel, with positive gains in both ADR and bookings, all other travel segments are experiencing inconsistencies across the board. For example, ADR for transient business travel in the second quarter is up 1.5 percent, but bookings are down -1.5 percent. ADR for the group segment is also up 1.5 percent, but occupancy is down -1.6 percent.

Our latest data predicts a prolonged decline across many North American markets, indicating that this bleak outlook may not ease up anytime soon, said John Hach, TravelClicks senior industry analyst. Transient leisure travel is the exception, however, up 1.0 percent and 2.2 percent for ADR and bookings, respectively, during the second quarter.

Twelve-Month Outlook (June 2017  May 2018)

For the next 12 months (June 2017  May 2018), transient bookings are slightly down -0.6 percent year-over-year, but ADR for this segment is up 1.0 percent. When broken down further, the transient leisure (discount, qualified and wholesale) segment is up 0.7 percent, and ADR is up 0.6 percent. The transient business (negotiated and retail) segment is down -1.8 percent; however, ADR is up 1.5 percent. Lastly, group bookings are slightly up 0.4 percent in committed* room nights over the same time last year, and ADR is up 2.7 percent.

As we move deeper into the summer season and start the second half of the year, hoteliers should remain cautious of unpredictable booking trends and take advantage of business intelligence tools to endure this period of uncertainty, added Hach. Forward-looking data is a powerful asset to ensure that hoteliers stay ahead of the competition, both locally and overall, to prepare for unforeseeable events that may affect the industry.

The June NAHR looks at group sales commitments and individual reservations in the 25 major North American markets for hotel stays that are booked by June 1, 2017, for the period of June 2017 to May 2018.

*Committed Occupancy  (Transient rooms reserved + group rooms committed) / capacity

The second quarter combines historical (April  May) and forward-looking data (June), plus third quarter forward-looking data (July  September).

About TravelClick

TravelClick offers innovative, cloud-based and data-driven solutions for hotels around the globe to maximize revenue. TravelClick enables over 38,000 hoteliers to drive better business decisions and know, acquire, convert and retain guests. The Companys interconnected suite of solutions includes Business Intelligence, Reservations & Booking Engine, Media, Web & Video and Guest Management. As a trusted hotel partner with more than 30 years of industry experience, TravelClick operates in 176 countries, with local experts in 39 countries and 14 offices in New York, Atlanta, Bucharest, Chicago, Barcelona, Dubai, Hong Kong, Melbourne, Myrtle Beach, Orlando, Ottawa, Paris, Shanghai and Singapore. Additionally, the Company fosters more than 600 travel-focused partnerships for hotels to leverage. Follow TravelClick on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.
Ahead of PM Modi's proposed meeting with 26/11 survivor Moshe Holtzber, the Rabbi of Nariman House, where Moshe lost his parents during the 26/11 attacks, recalls the dreadful night from nine years ago.

By Kamlesh Damodar Sutar: Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Israel, where, among other things, he is scheduled meet with 'Baby Moshe', a now 10-year-old boy who surived the 2008 Mumbai terrorist attacks, has brought back memories of the dastardly 26/11 strikes in which over 150 people lost their lives.

Then just a two-year-old toddler, Moshe Holtzberg was orphaned after losing his parents Rebbeca and Gabriel Holtzberg, who were among the six people killed at Nariman House, one of the targets of the 26/11 attacks in 2008. Moshe was saved by his Indian nanny Sandra, who traveled with Moshe back to Israel after the attacks.

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Meanwhile, at Nariman House (also known as the Chhabad House) in south Mumbai, Modi's plan to meet Moshe has brought back memories of the attack. The present Rabbi Israel Kozlovsky took India Today through a tour of the room Moshe's mother wanted her son to grow up in.

"Look at this room... it has all the memories of Baby Moshe. His mother had written his name in Hebrew with smiley face.. this is what she wanted her child to grow up in a happy environment," an emotional Kozlovsky said.

The bullet marks on the walls of Chhabad house act as a stark reminder of the dreadful night nine years ago when Moshe lost both his parents. "The terrorists barged in and his mother ran from the third floor to the ground floor...There was blood everywhere," Kuzlowsky recounts.

PM Modi's meeting with Baby Moshe in Israel has elated the Jewish community in Mumbai. Rabbi Kuzlowsky said believes Israel will never forget the bravery of Moshe's nanny Sandra. "Sandra was granted an honorary citizen ship by the Israeli government. She stays barely 100 kilometers from him and meets him often at his grandparents' home. He is also fond of her as she is the one who knows how to cook Indian food, which he is fond of," Kuzlowski told India Today.

The now 10-year-old Moshe wants to grow up and become a Rabbi like his late father. "He is still young and is pursuing basic religious studies...I hope he will carry forward his father's mission. I hope with PM Modi's visit he will feel encouraged to come back here," Rabbi Kuzlowsky.

ALSO READ | Modi in Israel: 5 ways how the visit is timed strategically

ALSO READ | Welcome to Israel, my friend Modi: Benjamin Netanyahu at Ben Gurion airport

--- ENDS ---
San Fransisco, Jul 4 (IBNS) : Microsoft plans a massive layoff worldwide for a global sales reorganisation, Bloomberg says.

According to reports, the restructuring is scheduled to be announced soon resulting in job cuts and impacting local marketing efforts in various countries.

The companys sales force has been trained for years to sell software for use on desktops and servers.

The company reportedly feels now its more important to convince customers to sign up for cloud services hosted in Microsofts datacenters, Bloomberg reported quoting unnamed sources.

"The shifts will be some of the most significant in the sales force in years," it said.

The reorganisation will include a merger involving Microsoft's "enterprise customer unit and one or more of its SME-focused divisions
Mumbai, July 4 (IBNS): In yet another brand building pursuit, Bank of Baroda has again created a buzz in the branding space by acquiring the branding rights of Andheri Metro Station.

The station will be renamed as Bank of Baroda Andheri.

The strategically located Bank of Baroda Andheri station will enhance the visibility of the brand and will offer an opportunity to design innovative engagement platforms to communicate with the commuters.

Bank of Baroda, will be the first bank in Mumbai to experiment with such station branding rights as a tool to showcase the credentials of the bank to about 1.5 lakh commuters who will travel daily from Bank of Baroda Andheri to different locations in Mumbai.

Bank of Baroda Andheri is one of the busiest stations on Line 1, with 21% of the passenger travelling through the station.

Bank of Baroda Andheri, works as an interchange station for commuters traveling between Western, Central and Harbour Lines of the Mumbai local trains.

P. S. Jayakumar, MD & CEO, Bank of Baroda, speaking on the occasion said We are happy to announce the branding of Andheri Metro Station as Bank of Baroda Andheri. The station is a very important metro station of north Mumbai with an average commuter size of 1.5 lakh every day. We intend to offer a unique banking experience to the commuters in the digital space through our experiential zones created at the station.

The bank will create a touch point in the form of a ME- LOBBY, wherein the commuters can get the experience of unique and smart banking services. The bank will also organize experiential programs for the commuters at other metro stations in order to engage them.

Speaking on the occasion, Ashok Kumar Garg, Executive Director, Bank of Baroda said, The bank will use the huge canvass of Bank of Baroda Andheri, as an extension of the banks brand story. We will be regularly engaging and communicating with the commuters through the different initiatives undertaken by the bank and also familiarize them with its product and services.
Washington, July 4 (IBNS): Most of the frogs alive today owe a big thank you to the asteroid or comet that delivered the coup de grace to the dinosaurs.

A new study by Chinese and American biologists shows that if the calamity had not wiped the planet clean of most terrestrial life 66 million years ago, 88 percent of todays frog species wouldnt be here. Nearly nine out of 10 species of frog today have descended from just three lineages that survived the mass extinction.

The results, published online today in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, are a surprise, because previous studies of frog evolution pinpointed the blossoming of the main frog lineages today to about 35 million years earlier, in the middle of the Mesozoic era.

The new analysis of 95 genes from frogs within 44 of 55 living families shows that these three lineages started to take off precisely at the boundary between the Cretaceous and Paleogene periods  the K-Pg boundary, formerly called the KT boundary  when the last mass extinction occurred, and not 100 million years ago.

According to herpetologist and co-author David Wake, a University of California, Berkeley professor of the graduate school and a curator of the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, new frog species likely radiated rapidly throughout the world because so many environmental niches were available after the animals occupying them disappeared.

We think the world was quite impoverished as a result of the KT event, and when the vegetation came back, angiosperms dominated. Thats when trees evolved to their full flowering, Wake said. Frogs started becoming arboreal. It was the arboreality that led to the great radiation in South America in particular.

Taking to the trees

Trees are an ideal habitat for frogs not only because they allow them to escape from terrestrial predators, but also because their fallen leaves provide protection while the frogs are on the ground, breeding habitat and plenty of food, such as insects. Trees and other flowering plants took off in the late Cretaceous, and were ready for exploitation by frogs after they recovered from the extinction.

Another adaptation that became popular was direct development, that is, producing young without a tadpole stage, which is standard for about half of all frog species today.

The majority of the frogs that thrive now are thriving because of direct development of eggs in terrestrial situations, he said. It is a combination of direct development and use of arboreal habitat that accounts for a great deal of the radiation.

Previous genetic analyses of frog evolution focused on mitochondrial DNA and how long the molecular clock had been ticking for mitochrondrial genes. However, analysis of molecular evolution in mitochondrial DNA often produces dates for lineage divergence that are too old. In the case of frogs, such analysis pinpointed the radiation of most living frogs at about 100 million years ago, which was a puzzle, since Earths environment was stable at that time. A changing environment typically drives evolution.

The new analysis, based on data assembled primarily by graduate student Yan-Jie Feng at Sun Yat-Sen University in Guangzhou, China, focused on the sequences of 95 genes located on chromosomes in the nucleus and how they changed over time. He and his colleagues gathered genetic data from 156 frog species and combined this with earlier information about two genes from 145 different frogs, for a total of 301 distinct frog species from all 55 families of frogs. The data were calibrated using 20 dates derived from fossils and Earth historical events.

The team, which includes scientists from the Florida Museum of Natural History at the University of Florida and the University of Texas, Austin, concluded that perhaps 10 groups of frogs survived the extinction, but only three of them (Hyloidea, Microhylidae, and Natatanura) flourished and diversified to claim habitats and niches around the world.

The role of luck in mass extinctions

Nothing other than luck distinguishes the survivors, Wake said. Remnants of the other surviving lineages are scattered in isolated spots around the world, but are just as diverse today in their habitats and breeding strategies as the 88 percent.

Two of the three surviving lineages that subsequently radiated widely came out of Africa, which remained intact as the continents shifted around over the ensuing eons, with the breakup of Pangea and then Gondwana to form the continents we see today. The African rift zone and mountain building in West Africa generated new habitats for the evolving frogs, Wake noted. The third, Hyloidea, radiated throughout what became South America.

Todays frogs, comprising more than 6,700 known species, as well as many other animal and plant species are under severe stress around the world because of habitat destruction, human population explosion and climate change, possibly heralding a new period of mass extinction. The new study provides one clear message for future generations.

These frogs made it through on luck, perhaps because they were either underground or could stay underground for long periods of time, Wake said. This certainly draws renewed attention to the positive aspects of mass extinctions: They provide ecological opportunity for new things. Just wait for the next grand extinction and life will take off again. In which direction it will take off, you dont know.

The papers other co-authors are David Cannatella and David Hillis at UT Austin, Peng Zhang and Dan Liang of Sun Yat-Sen and David Blackburn of the Florida Museum. Cannatella, Zhang and Liang are all former UC Berkeley postdoctoral fellows.

Support for the research was provided by the U.S. National Science Foundation, the National Natural Science Foundation of China and the National Youth Talent Support Program and National Science Fund for Excellent Young Scholars of China.
Kolkata, Jul 4 (IBNS): To impart education to the underprivileged through digital means, mjunction, a B2B e-commerce joint venture between TATA Steel and SAIL, has launched a flagship aSchool Integration Programa (SIP) and aEnglishLaba program in the remote villages of West Bengal, as part of the company's CSR actitivities.

Under SIP and English Lab, launched in 2015 , students from Rameshwarpur High School, Jnyanodamoyee High School and Jhowkhali Haat High School in West Bengals Kakdwip area are receiving training in computer science and English language.

More than 5,000 students in Computer Science and 600 students in English Lab have been trained till date, the company recently said in a release.

Sudipta Mandal, a class V student from Jnyanodamoyee High School, who has been attending the School Integration Program (SIP) and English Lab for the past few months said, The audio -video presentation has been a first time experience for me. The subject becomes so easy to follow when presented on a large screen. Since the inception of English Lab, I have improved my vocabulary and grammatical sense. It has also helped me a lot in using a computer device.

The CSR activities are mainly done with the help of ejunction, a trust promoted by mjunction.

mjunction CEO Vinaya Varma said, We have a comprehensive CSR policy which focus on the betterment of the marginalized society. We are providing digital literacy at the grassroot level to achieve outstanding results in the future. Our main goal is to provide quality education through digital means and formulate a process where the child is learning the subject as well as getting exposed to technology.

The company said that Rameshwarpur High School, Jnyanodamoyee High School and Jhowkhali Haat High School in the Kakdwip area had computer facilities that were non-functional.

Through SIP, these facilities were renewed and infrastructure support like computer and projection devices were made available.

The SIP program subsequently revealed that students trained under the vernacular medium are weak in English language, the company said.

To solve this problem, mjunction came up with an English program for SIP called English Lab.

English lab has been mostly implemented in government sponsored schools. After an extensive study mjunction realized that the improper teaching of English was primarily because the teaching staff lacked sound knowledge of the English language which in turn resulted in loss of interest for students.

Alokesh Chawla, Principal of Jhowkhali Haat High School said, SIP introduced the students to computer learning in a structured manner. We have added computer studies in the regular curriculum with both theory and practical classes. The English Lab program has reduced the fear of English among the students. We are witnessing improvement in pronunciation of English words. The audio-video presentation has introduced the concept of joyful learning for the first time in our school.

Through EnglishLab, text books of class V, VI & VII of West Bengal Board of Secondary Education (WBBSE) got digitized. The entire text book was ready with audio visual representation and proper grammatical support with a special focus on worksheets.

This was implemented in the schools.

Students of classes V, VI and VII attend the English lab classes three times a week along with their assigned subject teacher.

An ejunction trainer helps the teacher to conduct the class through the digital medium.
Tel Aviv, July 4 (IBNS): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday reached Israel as he commenced his three-day tour to the nation.

"The Prime Minister has landed in Israel. @IsraeliPM @netanyahu will receive PM @narendramodi marking the start of a special visit," PMO India tweeted.

Country's PM Benjamin Netanyahu's also posted on Twitter: "WATCH LIVE: Indian Prime Minister @narendramodi arrives in Israel."

Modi left for Israel earlier in the day.

Modi is the first Indian Prime Minister to ever visit the Jewish nation, that too without visiting Palestine in the same trip-which had so far been unthinkable in India's foreign policy that used to attach much more importance on strengthening relationship with Arab nations than being cosy with the world's only Jewish state.

From Israel Modi is scheduled to go to Germany, where he would attend the G20 Summit in Hamburg.

Modi's visit, termed as 'important and landmark' for bilateral ties will celebrate 25 yrs of relationship between people, business and farmers of two countries. There will be emphasis on development, innovation, agriculture,water and the connect between our people.

He will hold talks with his Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu on a range of issues, including counter-terrorism operations and innovation, science and technology.

In an interview published with pro-government daily Israel Hayom Monday, Modi had said the visit was based on the deep centuries-old connection between our two peoples.

I share the opinion of many of my people, who see Israel as a beacon of technology, as a country that has managed to survive even though the odds were against it.

The visit is expected to focus on forging new defense and cyber security ties, two areas in which Israel has sought to portrays itself as a world leader.

While Modi has described Israel as a "very sepcial partner," signifying India's pursuit for a new pasture for the country's growth and development, Israel, which has been in search of allies to vote in its favor at UN bodies as well as business partners, has also been dubbing the visit 'historic.'

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had said on Monday : Tomorrow, my friend Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will arrive in Israel; India is the largest democracy in the world. This is an historic first visit by an Indian Prime Minister to Israel in 70 years and it attests to the fact that our relations with India have become closer in recent years."



"This is the fruit of my and his initiated policy. We discussed it several years ago at our first meeting at the UN in New York and afterward in Davos, and our governments and peoples are sharing in this effort to build a strong friendship between us."



"This visit will deepen cooperation in a range of areas  security, agriculture, water, energy, almost every field in which Israel is engaged. I will accompany the Prime Minister at many events during his visit as befits the leader of the largest democracy in the world."
Kolkata, July 4 (IBNS): A clash erupted between two communities at Baduria in West Bengal's North 24 Parganas district over a Facebook post forcing the Centre to deploy four companies of paramilitary forces in the violence-hit areas on Tuesday, even as Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee warned of stern action to control the situation, while attacking the state governor for his "partisan" approach towards her.

According to sources, to assist local police in restoring peace at Baduria and its adjacent areas, nearly 400 personnel of Border Security Force (BSF) have been sent there following a direction from the Union Home Ministry.

Since Sunday night, Baduria and its adjoining areas, including Swarupnagar and Basirhat, have become a warzone as two communities clashed with each other over a social media post, reports said.

According to reports, a 12th standard student from Baduria on Sunday posted a photo on Facebook which allegedly hurt the religious sentiment of another community.

After the Facebook post went viral, people of a community started agitation at several locations under Baduria Police Station limits.

Besides engaging in a clash with the people from another community, they allegedly ransacked several houses, shops and vehicles there.

When police reached the scene, they were also attacked by the agitators. Few police vehicles were vandalized and set on fire while few policemen, including a sub-inspector, were seriously injured during the clash.

Later a heavy police force along with Rapid Action Force (RAF) rushed to the spot, but the situation at the violence-hit areas is still tense, according to the latest update.

While North 24 Parganas SP Bhaskar Mukherjee refused to speak on the matter, another senior official of the district police told IBNS, "Situation remains tense at violence-hit locations in Basirhat sub-division area. A heavy police force have been deployed in the spots to maintain law and order and to avoid further untoward situation."

"We have arrested the boy, whose Facebook post allegedly led to the violence. He was produced before a local court today and was remanded to four-day police custody," the official added.

Locals claimed that since the clash erupted, family members of the class-XII student, who posted a controversial picture on the social site, fled from the area and their house was vandalized and torched on Monday night.

Commenting on the incident, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said, "A Facebook post triggered the violence as per reports and police have booked the accused."

"I can't order police to open fire on mass, local administration is taking restrained action to avoid more casualties," Banerjee added. "My government will never tolerate any communal violence in the state, we will take strict action against those who are trying to trigger a riot here."

Meanwhile, BJP Bengal president Dilip Ghosh said that police played an inactive role while countering the clash.

"Several persons were injured in the violence and a large number of people went on a three-day-long rampage. If police took an active role, this violence could be handled well and brought under control easily," Dilip Ghosh told IBNS.

Meanwhile Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday blasted the state's governor for what she called a "threat issued to her over phone on law and order situation."

While Mamata Banerjee warned the religious leaders with strong action, she chose to take on Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi saying that she never felt so humiliated and at one point felt like quitting.

"He is a constitutional person nominated by the Centre. But he is speaking like a block president of the BJP. He disrespected me. I am telling the religious leaders that I have protected them but I will not tolerate if I am humiliated like this for their actions," said Banerjee at the same breath warning the perpetrators of the riots.

She said those who hit the streets since yesterday following a Facebook post should restrain themselves or face consequences.

"I hate those who started the riots from a Facebook post. I respect only religious bodies like Ram Krishna Mission or Bharat Sevasram who are responsible," she said.

She said the riots are serious issue and she would handle it seriously. She said some of the images being shown are fake too.

She said she was elected by the people and not functioning at the mercy of anyone like the Governor.



(Reporting by Deepayan Sinha)
Tel Aviv, July 4 (IBNS): Creating history, Prime Minister Narendra Modi commenced his Israel tour as he reached the country on Tuesday.

Modi was welcomed by Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Praising Modi, he said the Indian Prime Minister is a 'great world leader'.

"Welcome to Israel...Aapka Swagat Hai Mere Dost. We have been waiting for you, for a long time. We love India," the Israel PM said welcoming the Indian leader.

He said: "You are a great leader of India and a great world leader."

He said together with Modi he can make India-Israel relation 'better'.

Modi said it was an honour for him to be the first PM from India to visit Israel.

"My honour to be the 1st ever Indian PM to undertake this ground breaking visit to Israel," Modi said after reaching the country.

Modi said thanked his Israel counterpart for inviting him to visit the nation.

"I thank my friend PM @netanyahu for receiving me. My visit is about the strength of our societies and our strong partnership," he said.

Speaking on India-Israel relationship, Modi said: "We consider Israel an important development partner."

Speaking on the issue of terrorism, Modi said: "We have to secure our societies against the common threat of terrorism."

Image: Gopal Baglay Twitter page
New Delhi, July 4 (IBNS): Pham Binh Minh, the Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam called on Indian President Pranab Mukherjee at Rashtrapati Bhavan on Tuesday here.

Welcoming Minh to India, the President recalled his state visit to Vietnam in September 2014 and thanked him for the warm hospitality provided to him and his delegation during the visit.

The President also congratulated Mr. Minh on his elevation as a member of Politburo last year.

The President said that India and Vietnam traditionally share warm and cordial relations, based on mutual respect and goodwill. Our fruitful partnership has grown in recent years.

He was confident that it would continue to strengthen in the years to come.

He said that the status of present bilateral trade between India and Vietnam is satisfactory.

However, the two countries should work together to achieve the target of US$15 billion bilateral trade by 2020. Many Indian companies are keen to invest in Vietnam for the development and prosperity of their people.

The Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister warmly reciprocated the Presidents sentiments and said Vietnam is keen to work with India in taking their mutual relationship to greater heights.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi today began a historic Israel trip. Modi was greeted by Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu at the airport and the two proceeded to spend most of the day together.

By India Today Web Desk: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday began his three-day visit to Israel, landing in Tel Aviv where he was greeted personally by his Israeli counterpart, Benjamin Netanyahu. Modi became the first Indian PM to visit Israel and his historic trip comes in the year that marks the 25th anniversary of establishment of diplomatic ties between New Delhi and Jerusalem.

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The two leaders spent most of the day together, addressing a gathering at the Ben Gurion airport, visiting the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial and offering a joint-statement at Netanyahu's home before retiring for dinner.

Modi and Netanyahu also visited Mt Herzl in Jerusalem to pay respects to Theodor Herzl, the founder of modern Zionism, and the Danziger Flower Farm, where the Indian prime minister had a breed of chrysanthemum named after him.

All through their public appearances, Modi and Netanyahu seemed to share a warm friendly vibe unusual even for carefully orchestrated diplomatic events.

At the Ben Gurion airport, Modi, sporting the Israeli colours of white and blue, and Netanyahu, sporting an India-Israel flag brooch, shared a warm hug as the former disembarked from Air India One.

Benjamin Netanyahu greets Modi in Tel Aviv

The two prime ministers went on to embrace each other at least three more times, including during at the joint briefing held at the Israeli PM's home.

Both Modi and Netanyahu described each other as "friends" with the Israeli prime minister using the Hindi word "dost" to refer to Modi. He later went on to call Modi "my friend Narendra".

'AAP KA SWAGAT HAI'

Modi and Netanyahu also spoke at the airport, after the Indian PM inspected a guard of honour. "Aapka swagat hai, mere dost," PM Netanyahu said in Hindi, noting how Modi is the first Indian PM to ever visit Israel.

"We have been waiting for almost 70 years," Netanyahu said, as he called Modi's visit a historic one. Pulling a leaf out of the Indian prime minister's book, Netanyahu coined a new term while talking about the future of New Delhi and Jersusalem's relations.

"The formula for success is simple. It is I and T squared, which equals to the Indian talent (IT) and the Israeli technology (IT)," Netanyahu said.

Modi, who hugged Netanyahu once again as the Israeli PM finished his welcome speech, called the visit a "ground-breaking" one and thanked Netanyahu for welcoming him with "so much warmth."

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"India counts Israel as among its important partners," Modi said, before meeting a large Israeli delegation, which included the entire Netanyahu cabinet, at the airport.

A FLOWER NAMED MODI

PMs Modi and Netanyahu then visited the Danziger Flower Farm, which named a new breed of an Israeli crysanthumun flower after Modi.

"We learnt about latest innovation & research in agriculture, including technology in the sector, sensor networks & more," PM Modi said in a message posted on Twitter. "Israel's strides in agriculture are well known. Latest technology, research & innovation in agriculture can benefit farmers immensely."

Visited the Danziger Flower Farm, where I saw pioneering work done in floriculture. https://t.co/JtcoECBv6O pic.twitter.com/Y0vTGPPB4l- Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) July 4, 2017

Modi capped off his day out with a visit to Yad Vashem, Israel's official Holocaust memorial, where he and Netanyahu toured the Hall of Names and participated in a memorial ceremony.

Modi later described Yad Vashem as a "tribute to Israel's unbreakable spirit to rise above the depths of tragedy."

YOGA AND RAMANUJAN

Modi's first day in Israel ended with a dinner with PM Netanyahu at his residence. The two prime ministers addressed a joint press briefing where Netanyahu was at his eloquent best as he referenced yoga and mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan to drive home the importance Tel Aviv is according to Modi's visit.

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"We have great admiration for people of India. My late uncle who was a mathematician told me many times about his admiration for great Indian mathematician Ramanujan, who was perhaps the greatest mathematician in many centuries," said Netanyahu. "This symbolises talents of people of India," Netanyahu also referred to PM Modi's "enthusiasm for yoga" and used it draw link between India and Israel.

"I have to confess that I have been inspired by Modi's enthusiasm for Yoga," Netanyahu said. "Modi advised me to start at lower level. I am starting at a lower level. When I do a relaxing Tada-asana in the morning and I turn my head to right, India is the first democracy I see and when Modi does a relaxing Vasisthasana and he turns left, Israel is the first democracy he can see. So in fact we have India and Israel two sister democracies."

Netanyahu said both India and Israel shared "a bond of democracy, creativity, a deep respect for the past and a boundless optimism for future and it's in this spirit my friend Narendra, I welcome you here"

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CLEAR AGENDA

PM Modi followed Netanyahu with brief remarks in which he said he will work with the Israeli prime minister to build a "clear action agenda" to realise objectives relating to security, technology and innovation and business.

"India is a fast growing economy and we are using technology and innovation for the progress of our nation," said Modi, who had earlier in the day called India an old civilisation but a young nation.

Referring to people-to-people links between the two countries, Modi said that Jews have thrived in India for thousands of years after the first of these people landed on India's south-western coastline.

"We are proud of Jewish sons and daughters of India like Lt. Gen. J.F.R. Jacob, Vice Admiral Benjamin Samson, master architect Joshua Benjamin, and film actors Nadira, Sulochana, and Pramila whose diverse contributions have greatly enriched the fabric of Indian society," he said.

"Indian Jews are a living and vibrant connect to this shared history. My visit to Israel celebrates this ancient bond between communities across both our nations."

TERRORISM

Both Modi and Netanyahu called for defeating terrorism during their joint address, with the Israeli PM calling it a common threat for the two countries.

"We also face common challenges and first of it is to defeat the forces of terror that's on rampage through the world and threaten both our countries. We must stand together in this battle. We have to defeat terrorism," Netanyahu said.

Modi referenced his visit to Yad Vashem, saying, "Yad Vashem tells us that those who believe in humanity and civilised values must come together and defend it at all costs...As such, we must resolutely oppose the evils of terrorism, radicalism and violence that plague our time.

ALSO READ | Modi in Israel: 5 ways how the visit is timed strategically

Hindi Israeli bhai-bhai: When PM Modi met Bibi

How Ajit Doval prepared the groundwork for robust and open ties between India and Israel

WATCH | Netanyahu: Ramanujan greatest mathematician, PM Modi's enthusiasm for yoga inspirational

--- ENDS ---
Patna, July 4 (TheBiharPost/IBNS): A high-tension electric wire fell on a house in Indiaas Bihar state on Tuesday, killing six Muslim women on the spot.

The shocking incident took place in Murliganj block of Madhepura district on Tuesday.

All the victims are women. Of the total killed, three are children aged between eight and 13.

Reports said the victims were working in the farmland when the incessant rains forced them to take shelter inside a thatched house.

Hardly had they went inside, when a high-tension overhead live wife fell on the thatched roof, killing them on the spot, reports said.

The state government has announced a compensation of Rs 4 lakh to each victim family.



(thebiharpost.com)


New York, July 4(Just Earth News): United Nations relief agencies and their partners in the occupied Palestinian territory are calling on the international community to provide $25 million in new funding to stabilize the deteriorating humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip, including the effects of deep power cuts and lack of fuel for generators for hospitals.

The situation in Gaza has become increasingly precarious over recent months. No one is untouched by the energy crisis, said Robert Piper, the UN Humanitarian Coordinator for the occupied Palestinian territory, in a press release.

The coping capacities of Gaza's families to deal with these types of shocks are seriously depleted as the cumulative impact of 10 years of isolation, division and insecurity take their toll, he added.

In a document presented on Monday to diplomats of donor countries in Jerusalem, the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the World Food Programme (WFP) and other entities identified priority, life-saving interventions in the health, water, sanitation and hygiene, and food security sectors.

Included in the package are chemicals for water treatment and spare parts for generators that have increasingly become the primary energy source instead of the back-up for key facilities.

The package also targets shortages in medical supplies and aims to provide assistance to an estimated 100,000 food-insecure families and vulnerable farmers whose livelihoods are under threat.

Responding to the heightened risk of diarrhoeal disease outbreaks, 8,500 hygiene kits will also be distributed for the most vulnerable households, funds permitting.

Despite the arrival of some fuel purchased in the Egyptian market over recent days, Gaza's electricity crisis is far from over, according to the press release. Electricity supply over recent days has ranged from four to six hours per day. Fuel is also needed for generators for water treatment plants, sewerage pumps and other key facilities.

Photo: World Bank/Natalia Cieslik (file)

Source: www.justearthnews.com
Kabul, Jul 4 (IBNS): Kabul police have apprehended a key Taliban commander from the city, local Khaama Press reported.

The police have identified the detailed leader as Abdul Rahim, who was arrested during an operation by the Afghan intelligence bureau.

According to a police statement, Rahim was in the city to carry out a series of coordinated attacks.

In the past, he had carried out multiple attacks, the statement read.

The Taliban has not commented regarding the arrest so far.
Toronto, July 04 (IBNS): To the rest of the world June 23 is any other day. So when Sarah took her dog for a walk in the evening Toronto's quiet Humber Bay park, she was puzzled to see it buzzing with people.

Most were carrying flowers and clutching to pictures of loved ones.

Soon she realised it was the family and friends of people who had lost their dear ones in the tragic incident of Air India Flight 182, flying from Toronto to Mumbai, which exploded in mid-air in Irish air-space, under terrorist attack, thirty two years ago.





The incident took place on June 23, 1985 and can easily be called one of the deadliest terrorist attacks in world history.

All aboard airplane Kanishka, 329 passengers and crew, were killed.

Since then, this day has become a day of grief and remembrance for the people who lost their loved ones in the incident.

In 2007, the Air India Memorial was unveiled in Humber Bay Park.

Balkrishna Gupta takes the initiative of organising the annual event so that the significance of the tragedy is not erased from public memory, especially the youth.

People recited prayers from across faiths  Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Sikhism, Jewish  for the departed souls. Candles were lit in honour of the victims.

Bob Rae, a former politician and interim leader of Liberal Party of Canada, who had an important role in facilitating the Air India Memorial at the site, delivered the closing note.

Chandrima Chakroborty presented her book Remembering Air India: The Art of Public Mourning to the families of the victims.

At the Air India Memorial, Mrs Sharma paid tributes and prayed for her husband Omprakash Sharma, who lost his life in the tragic incident. Mrs Thampi, Mrs Dhunna, Mr Gupta and many others were present in remembrance of their dear ones who lost their lives in the tragedy.

The granite wall of the memorial has names of all the victims inscribed on it. The sun-dial marks the passage of the sun on June 23 and identifies the time equivalent in Ireland, with the sun oriented directly south of the Irish sundial, and shining directly upon it. It is supported by a wall that includes rocks from all the provinces of Canada as well as from countries affected by this tragedy.

"It has kind of become an annual ritual for us families to meet and share our common sorrow with each other," said Mrs Subramanian who lost her sister and family in the tragedy.

People may debate if the Air India Flight 182 tragedy was that of India or Canada. But, in reality, it was an international tragedy which affected the lives of people from both countries.

According to media reports, more than 80 per cent of the people killed in the bombing were Canadian citizens, and the majority were of Indian descent.

However, one must remember that the memorial is not just a symbol of grief; it is also signifies reconciliation. The text on the memorial reads  Time Flies. Suns rise and Shadows fall. Let it pass by. Love reigns forever over all.



(Reporting by Anand Walunjkar)


A RTI response has revealed that in the last three years, the Narendra Modi government has provided approximately Rs 68 crore as subsidy to states to modernise slaughterhouses.

By Rohit Kumar Singh: A RTI response has revealed that between 2014 and 2017, the Narendra Modi government has provided approximately Rs 68 crore as subsidy to states to run slaughterhouses.

The query in this regard was made by Iqbal Ansari, a local Janata Dal United leader from Darbhanga, on May 17.

The Ministry for Food Processing Industries replied that the government ran a scheme for the establishment and modernization of slaughterhouses, under which subsidy was provided. The maximum amount that could be provided as subsidy under the scheme was Rs 15 crore.

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It's worth noting that the Narendra Modi government provided the maximum subsidies to states where there's a BJP government, or a government that's running with the support of the BJP.

SUBSIDY PROVIDED 2014-15:

Andhra Pradesh 4.5 crore

Himachal Pradesh 3 crore

Karnataka 1.02 crore

Nagaland 1.10 crore

Punjab 0.33 crore

Sikkim 0.19 crore

Tamil Nadu 0.15 crore

SUBSIDY PROVIDED 2015-16:

Andhra Pradesh 6 crore

Goa 1.85 crore

Jharkhand 2.59 crore

Karnataka 0.17 crore

Kerala 5.86 crore

Nagaland 4.82 crore

Pondicherry 0.24 crore

Punjab 0.79 crore

Sikkim 1.33 crore

Telangana 2.71 crore

West Bengal 1.04 crore

SUBSIDY PROVIDED 2016-17:

Andhra Pradesh 3 crore

Chhattisgarh 0.83 crore

Goa 3.70 crore

Haryana 0.89 crore

Jharkhand 3.45 crore

Kerala 4.18 crore

Mizoram 3.85 crore

Nagaland 8.92 crore

Tamil Nadu 1.33 crore

West Bengal 0.78 crore

ALSO READ

How UP's meat industry is butchering CM Yogi Adityanath's clampdown on illegal slaughterhouses

Is ban on sale of cattle for slaughter unconstitutional? A fact check

ALSO WATCH

Operation Slaughterhouse: How UP's abbatoirs butcher anti-cruelty animal rights

--- ENDS ---
News BREAKING: Mob Kill Rohingya Muslim in Rakhine

Army officials and police bring the victim to Sittwe General Hospital on Tuesday afternoon. / The Irrawaddy

YANGON  A mob killed a Rohingya man in the Rakhine State capital Sittwe on Tuesday, according to Sittwe district police chief Win Naung told The Irrawaddy.

The man was one of seven self-identifying Rohingya Muslims from Dapaing camp for internally displaced people on the outskirts of Sittwe taken by police to witness a trial in Sittwe Township court, according to the major, although details of the trial have not been released.

The group visited Ywar Gyi Mrauk quarter two kilometers from the court in downtown Sittwe during a break in the trial, he said, when they were attacked by a gang of men from the ward. One man was killed on the spot and another Rohingya man from the group was severely injured.

The injured man is receiving treatment at Sittwe General Hospital, said Lt-Col Win Naung, adding that the mob was armed, without specifying with what weapons.

The Myanmar government does not recognize Rakhine States Muslim minority Rohingya among the countrys official ethnic groups, and labels them as Bengali to suggest they are interlopers from Bangladesh.

Sittwe has restricted areas where Rohingya Muslims are forbidden from shopping at the town market and entering Rakhine quarters, and Rakhine residents are forbidden from visiting Muslim quarters without police permission.

Lt-Col Win Naung said the police were not aware the group of Rohingya had traveled to Ywar Gyi Mrauk quarter, a restricted area for Rohingya Muslims.

Sittwe residents told The Irrawaddy over the phone that the attack took place in the area on Tuesday afternoon.

U Saw Lwin, a Rohingya Muslim from Dapaing camp, said that seven or eight police officers escorted the group to the court and that the rest of the group was yet to arrive back at the camp.

The government has the responsibility for this incident. It happened because the security was weak. We are not allowed to visit Rakhine wards without guards, he said.

The original version of this article stated Win Naungs position as major. He is in fact lieutenant colonel.
Burma UNHCR Delegation to Meet State Counselor After Rakhine Visit

UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi (C) visits Rakhine State. / Rakhine Gazette/ Facebook

YANGON  A delegation led by UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi visited Rakhine State amid an uptick in recent violence.

UN officials met with border police Brig-Gen Thura San Lwin in Maungdaw on Monday and visited villages that suffered arson during Myanmar Army security clearance operations. The delegates will travel to Napyitaw on Wednesday to meet with State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and several Union ministers.

Six UN delegates arrived in Rakhine States capital Sittwe on Sunday and visited the Dapaing internally displaced persons (IDP) camp that afternoon.

Dapaing IDP U Saw Lwin, who met Grandi in the camp on Friday, told The Irrawaddy that IDPs were unaware of the UNHCR visit. Grandi told IDPs that the delegation intended to inquire about the situation of refugees on the ground.

U Saw Lwin said IDPs reported to Grandi that they were frustrated with the situation in the camp after nearly five years there and still hoped to be compensated for assets that were destroyed during inter-communal riots in 2012. The IDPs told UN representatives about their lack of freedom of movement, education and healthcare.

At the end of June, Myanmar government officials held a special meeting on Rakhine State affairs in Naypyitaw. The national security adviser provided recommendations on how to proceed regarding a UN fact-finding mission and Army Commander-in-Chief Vice Snr-Gen Soe Win reported on recent violence in the area and security preparations.

There have been international and local calls for Myanmars government to allow a UN fact-finding mission to look into allegations of human rights abuses in the region, which it has repeatedly refused. The government has insisted that domestic investigations, along with an advisory panel led by former UN chief Kofi Annan, were sufficient.

When asked by The Irrawaddy if the UNHCR visit and meeting with the border police were a response to international pressure to allow a UN fact-finding mission, government spokesman U Zaw Htay said, We cannot elaborate on the visit or discussion. I was not informed of the details. Ask UNHCR staff.

On July 1, the State Counselors Office Information Committee released a statement from national security adviser U Thaung Tun that highlighted a recent increase in violence in the area, some of which stemmed from incidents between the Myanmar Army and suspected militants.

It stated that from October 2016 to June 2017, 38 civilians were killed in Maungdaw district and 22 villagers were abducted or went missing. Many of the victims were village administrative officials who had collaborated with the government, according to the statement.

There has been a worrying increase in the number of murders and disappearances in recent weeks. In the past two weeks alone, six villagers have been killed and two have gone missing, read the statement.

On July 1, a man who worked distributing humanitarian assistance was murdered in his home. The statement did not provide further details of the incident.

The government has provided more than US$1.96 million in humanitarian assistance to Rakhine State in the past year. Three IDP camps in Kyaukphyu, Pauktaw and Ramree townships have been closed in line with the recommendations of the Kofi Annan-led advisory commission; among them, 55 households have been relocated to Yangon.

Grandis visit is scheduled to run through July 6. He has worked in refugee and political affairs in the Middle East, Africa and Asia. This is his first visit to Myanmar since he was appointed high commissioner in January 2016.
News Case of Detained Myanmar Reporters Moves From Hsipaw

Reporters protest as they call on Myanmar government and military authorities to release reporters who were arrested in Yangon, Myanmar on June 30, 2017. / Soe Zeya Tun / Reuters

YANGON  The case of three journalists detained in northern Shan State was transferred from Hsipaw to Namhsan Police Station, according to both police authorities.

Lawi Weng, also known as U Thein Zaw, from The Irrawaddy, and U Aye Nai and Pyae Bone Aung from Democratic Voice of Burma were arrested on June 26 near Namhsan Township on their way back from covering a drug-burning ceremony held by ethnic armed group the Taang National Liberation Army (TNLA) to mark the United Nations International Day Against Drug Abuse.

The reporters, along with four other unidentified people, were handed over to Hsipaw police on June 28 and remanded to Hsipaw Prison, where they will remain despite the transfer of the case to Namhsan. The trio is being charged with violating Article 17(1) of the Unlawful Associations Act.

According to Hsipaw police official Myint Win, the case was transferred to Namhsan station on July 2 since the arrest occurred in the Namhsan region. Staff of Namhsan station confirmed to The Irrawaddy on Tuesday that the lawsuit would be submitted to Namhsan Township Court, about a three-hour drive from Hsipaw.

However, the district courthouse could assign it to a township court closer to Hsipaw Prison, according to Myint Win.

Family members of the three detained reporters were allowed a 45-minute prison visit on Mondaytheir first since the trio was arrestedand said their loved ones were in good health. The first court hearing will be on July 11, according to initial police reports.

International and local press members, civil society organizations and right groups have condemned the arrest of journalists under the colonial-era Unlawful Associations Act, stressing a worrying trend against media freedom in Myanmar.
News NCA Signatories Recommend Review of Peace Path

PPST meeting in Chiang Mai, Thailand. / The Irrawaddy

YANGON  The implementation of the nationwide ceasefire agreement (NCA) needs to be thoroughly reviewed, according to leaders of the NCA signatories Peace Process Steering Team (PPST), calling the current process a deviation from the path they had envisioned.

From June 28 until July 2, the PPST, representing eight ethnic armed organizations, held a gathering in Chiang Mai, Thailand, in review of the peace process. The discussions explored the strengths and the weaknesses the current process, including the challenges faced at the second session of the 21st Century Panglong peace conference due to the fact that national-level ethnic dialogues were unable to be convened in Shan and Rakhine states at the time of the event, held in late May.

Pu Zing Cung, the chairman of the Chin National Front and a leader in the PPST, said that the current situation had deviated from the NCA text, and that keeping the peace process on track was the biggest challenge that the signatories faced.

Thus PPST formed a NCA implementation review and reform team led by Karen National Union vice chairman Padoh Saw Kwe Htoo Win. Members said they aimed to assess the reviews in a months time and would bring their recommendations to the next signatories summit in early August.

The leaders told the reporters at the press conference held on July 2 that the political dialogue framework needed to be finalized, as two frameworks currently exist: the one drafted between the government and NCA signatories, and another one with between the government and both signatories and non-signatories. For inclusivity, both of the frameworks are being used.

Although a comprehensive and finalized version of the framework has not been reached, the PPST members said they tried their best to move forward with the peace process and to contribute to the Union Peace Conference sessions.

Further discussions must focus on the role of the federal states, power sharing between the Union and the states, state constitutions, and the joint implemention of the peace accord, PPST representatives said.

Despite disagreements, 37 basic principles were agreed upon at the most recent session of the peace conference. But federal principles as such equality, autonomy and the drafting of state constitutions have currently been left out of the resulting signed accord.

The Union Peace Dialogue Joint Committee (UPDJC) had said that through the peace conferences, they would combine all parts of the Union accord and submit it to the Parliament for approval; then the 2008 military-drafted Constitution could be amended, they added.

The government, the Tatmadaw and the EAOs [ethnic armed groups] interpretations and understandings of the NCA text are different, said U Than Khe, the chairman of the All Burma Students Democratic Front, despite a common aim to build a future federal state through the political negotiations.

Therefore, its different interpretations have impacted the NCAs implementation, the perspectives on the basic principles, and adherence to the promises made regarding the basic principles.

Pu Zing Cung highlighted the Tatmadaw and the EAOs different understandings of security sector reintegration and the inclusion of the political parties.

In the security sector, the EAOs want to implement security sector reform (SSR) on the basis of the federal principles, as was agreed to under the previous government, but the Tatmadaw currently has pushed for a process of disarmament, disintegration and reintegration (DDR).

All political party representatives should be allowed to participate in the process, he said, as the current National League for Democracy government allows for the participation of 23 political parties which have secured seats in the Parliament to be in the process.

The NCA signatories have uniformly emphasized the importance of holding ethnic national level dialogues, in which recommendations are gathered for the basic principles and then brought to the Union Peace Conference, by the Restoration Council of Shan State in Shan State (RCSS) and Arakan Liberation Army/Party (ALA/P) in Rakhine State. The RCSS and ALP did not have their peoples voices represented at the peace conference in May.

They said time constraints matter in further peace talks, and to follow the road map drafted in the NCA; not convening national level dialogues in Shan and Rakhine states, due to inadequate timeframes, would contribute to limitations on the meetings of each working committee in the political, economic, social, security and land and environment sectors, they added.

The government plans to conduct a session of the Union Peace Conference every six months, or twice a year.

Irrawaddy reporter Kyaw Kha contributed to this report.
News Relatives of Slain Yangon Family Reject Police Statement

The funeral of the four-member family in Yangon. / The Irrawaddy

YANGON  Relatives of a family of four found dead in Yangons Mingaladon Township in August last year have disputed a police report suggesting the familys father, U Soe Naung, killed his wife and two sons before killing himself.

The four-member familyretired police lieutenant U Soe Naung, 37, his wife Daw Cherry Pwint, 34, their sons Han Thura, 13, and Swan Htet Myat, 8was found dead with knife wounds at their house in Mingaladon Township on Aug. 20, 2016, shocking the Yangon public.

Photographs of three men outside their house close to the time of the deaths went viral and were distributed by police as possible suspects in the case. The familys relatives have maintained that the family was murdered.

A police statement released on June 30, however, placed the crime on U Soe Naung and said the couple was facing financial hardship and had been arguing in the three months before the killings.

U Soe Naung was mentally unstable according to neighbors, said the statement which also quoted forensic scientists as saying that the four stab wounds found on U Soe Naung were self-inflicted.

Relatives of the family held a press conference at the familys house on Monday. U Soe Naungs brother and Buddhist monk U Wisara said police should have first consulted the family before releasing a statement.

Saying U Soe Naung killed [his family] while he was feeling unstable harms the dignity of us relatives, he added.

The police statement also suggested the familys 2.7 million kyats debt played a factor in the deaths, though authorities acknowledged that they had one million kyats on hand and the wife was wearing a pair of diamond earrings.

It is not usual for someone who cannot pay debt to wear diamond earrings, said U Wisara.

According to the police statement, only the DNA of the four family members was found at their house. U Soe Naungs DNA was found on the murder weapon.

Relatives also pointed out that the police report said U Soe Naung committed the murders with his left hand, claiming he was right-handed.

We plan to send a complaint [to authorities] about the police statement, said Daw Yi Yi Nwe, mother of Daw Cherry Pwint. The statement harms the dignity of the deceased, so I would ask police to salvage their reputation.

Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko.
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Maan News Agency |  

BETHLEHEM (Maan)  The Netherlands has reacted with outrage after Israeli authorities seized dozens of solar panels in a remote occupied West Bank village that were donated by the Dutch government.

Israeli forces confiscated the solar panels in the isolated village of Jubbet al-Dhib east of Bethlehem on Wednesday that were installed last year, under the pretext that they were built without the nearly impossible to obtain permits required by Israel to develop in Area C  the 61 percent of the West Bank under full Israeli military control.

A report Saturday by Israeli news daily Haaretz cited a statement from the Dutch Foreign Ministry, that said the Dutch government lodged a protest with Israel over the confiscation of the electricity equipment, which was said to be a hybrid power system of both diesel and solar power.

The Dutch government-donated electrification project in the southern Bethlehem region cost about 500,000 euros, 350,00 euros of which went to Jubbet al-Dhib, according to the report.

The Dutch Foreign Ministry has requested Israel return the equipment and is currently assessing what next steps can be taken, the ministrys statement to Haaretz said.

However, according to Haaretz, A source close to Dutch diplomats in the West Bank told Haaretz that these softly worded statements cover the anger brewing in the government of the Netherlands, a close friend of Israels, at the damage to the humanitarian project.

Maan reported at the time that 60 solar panels were seized, though Haaretz said that in fact 96 panels were taken down, in addition to other electronic equipment of the system that was also seized, which was funded by the Dutch and installed about nine months ago by the Israeli-Palestinian organization Comet-ME, which builds water and energy systems for Palestinians.

According to the report, Comet-ME implemented the project with the assistance of the towns womens committee using environmentally and socially sustainable methods.

The mayor of the village told Maan at the time of the raid that the solar panels were confiscated as well as destroyed, but Haaretz cited Comet-ME as clarifying that items were taken by Israeli forces intact, while equipment that was not seized was destroyed by Israeli forces and left behind.

The cost of the confiscated and damaged equipment is valued at 40,000 euros, though the material and social damage is much greater, as their seizure immediately resulted in the loss of power for the 30 families in the village and its public buildings, Haaretz wrote.

On the day of the raid, a spokesperson for COGAT, the Israeli agency responsible enforcing Israeli policies in the occupied territory, told Maan that stop-work orders had been delivered for the equipment, however, according to Haaretz, orders to cease construction and confiscation orders were given to the residents only during the raid itself, and not prior to the raid, as is required by planning and construction laws.

Had orders been given in advance the village and its representatives could have taken administrative or legal action, the report stressed.

We emphasize that the village has other electricity sources, COGAT also told Maan at the time. According to Haaretz, this likely refered to a couple of noisy and polluting generators from aid organizations, which supply power for three hours a day, which were received after Israel confiscated a solar-powered public lighting system in 2009.

Some 150 Palestinians reside in Jubbet al-Dhib, which is neighbored by the illegal Noqedim settlement  home to Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman  as well as the illegal El David settlement, in addition a number of Israeli outposts, that, despite being illegal even under Israeli domestic law, still enjoy connection to the power grid and access to other infrastructure, according to Haaretz.

Meanwhile, all Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, are considered illegal under international law.

In order to contribute in reducing the suffering of the people of the village, help them to stay in their lands by protecting it from the ambitions of the Israeli occupation to confiscate it, the idea of using solar technology to light up the village streets, as well as lighting the village gathering center (the mosque) was considered, ARIJ wrote in a village profile in 2010.

However, Israeli authorities have continued to refuse to grant a license for the project, forcing residents and NGOs to carry on with the solar panel installation without Israeli permission.

The Israeli civil administrations decision not to grant a license to implement the project of solar energy technology in Jubbet al-Dhib village means depriving the Palestinian residents of their most simple human rights of access to the most basic rights such as: education, health, the right to work, and the sense of humanity, the report said.

ARIJ affirmed that the Israeli restrictions represented a violation of international human rights law and confirms the continuation of Israeli policy towards Palestinians to increase their suffering by causing people to leave their homes, and controls Palestinian lands in order to expand Israeli settlements.

This policy does not only include Jubbet al-Dhib village, but almost ten Palestinian villages, which suffer from the lack of services and development projects, the group wrote at the time.

More than 300 structures demolished by Israeli authorities in 2016 were erected with support of international organizations or with the financial help of the European Union, according to an Israeli military official cited in a report by Israeli newspaper The Jerusalem Post.

The official told The Jerusalem Post that a new procedure was put in force in 2016, which allows Israeli authorities to demolish a structure built without Israeli permits within 60 days of its construction without legal proceedings.

In 2016, Palestinians experienced the highest number of Israeli demolitions recorded in a year since rights groups began recording the incidents.

Via Maan News Agency



Related video added by Juan Cole:

Sun rays: solar energy in Palestine
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By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) |  

Al Jazeera reports that the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) supported by the US Air Force and other international allies, has breached the walls around the old city of al-Raqqa in eastern Syria and managed to get into the old city itself. Al-Raqqa is the capital of Daesh (ISIS, ISIL) and the seat of its phony caliphate, a reference to a long-lapsed medieval Muslim institution analogous to the papacy in Christianity. It is not clear the caliph, Abu Baker al-Baghdad, is still alive. He may have been killed in a recent Russian airstrike.

The core of the SDF is is the Syrian Kurdish Peoples Protection Units (YPG) of the leftist Democratic Union Party, based in the Kurdish northeast of Syria. Daesh had menaced the leftist Kurds, as a far right wing Sunni Arab organization. The Kurds were therefore virtually the only group in the region willing to fight Daesh, right into the capital of the terrorist organization itself. The US Air Force and its allies have given the YPG air support. In fact, it appears to have been US fighter jets that made the holes in the walls of the old city of the Daesh capital, through which the YPG flooded in.

The Kurds have taken the Hashim Abd al-Malik quarter in the south of the city as well as the Yarmouk district in the west. They lost 7 men in this recent assault, while Daesh lost 5.

There are some Arab auxiliaries of the YPG in the Syrian Democratic Forces, but the Kurds form the bulk of the fighters. That is a problem, since Kurds conquering Sunni Arab townsmen could raise the hackles of Arab nationalists.

Although the US is intervening heavily in Eastern Syria from the air, it only has about 1000 special forces on the ground.

Once Daesh is rolled up, the question is raised as to whether Syrias Kurds will be allowed to continue their quest for semi-autonomy.

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson apparently told the Russians that the fate of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is up to Moscow.



Related video added by Juan Cole:

Reporters Notebook: Holly Williams in Raqqa, Syria
Cenk Uygur, Ana Kasparian, Ben Mankiewicz | (The Young Turks Video) |  

Does Scott Pruitt know how evil he is? Cenk Uygur, Ana Kasparian, and Ben Mankiewicz, hosts of The Young Turks, discuss.

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Scott Pruitt reportedly met Dow Chemical CEO Andrew Liveris in March before his office announced in May the rollback of proposed ban on Chlorpyrifos, a deadly pesticide that is known to affect the central nervous system of infants and newborn babies. Chlorpyrifos is an organophosphate made up of white or colorless crystals. It carries the odor of rotten eggs or garlic.
Describing terrorism as a global menace, Modi said that New Delhi and Tel Aviv can "cooperative even more closely" in battling terror.

Modi said Israel visit will "lead to further cementing" of bilateral ties and cooperation in key areas including counter-terrorism.

By India Today Web Desk: Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is set to visit Israel today, described India's ties with Israel as "special". Describing terrorism as a global menace, Modi said that New Delhi and Tel Aviv can "cooperative even more closely" in battling terror.

"Terrorism is a global menace. India and Israel are not immune to it either. We are in full agreement that elements which perpetrate violence on innocent people should not be allowed to flourish," PM Modi told newspaper Israel Hayom in an interview.

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"Cross-border terrorism is a major challenge for us. Divisive forces across our border are trying to disrupt the unity of our nation. These troublemakers often misuse religion as a tool to misguide youth in our country and our region," the Prime Minister added.

In the interview to the pro-government daily, Modi said his visit was "based on the deep centuries-old connection between the two nations and its two people".

FIRST BY INDIAN PREMIER

Modi said his visit, the first ever by an Indian premier to the country, will "lead to further cementing" of bilateral ties and cooperation in key areas including counter-terrorism.

"Terrorism should not be equated with any particular religion. India and Israel could cooperate even more closely and complement each other's efforts to fight with the menace of terrorism," Modi said.

"My visit comes at a special moment- we mark 25 years of the establishment of relations between India and Israel this year," Modi said on the eve of his three-day visit to Israel.

TWO-STATE SOLUTION

India, Modi said, believed in a two-state solution in which both Israel and a future Palestinian state coexist peacefully.

"A final-status agreement should respect the sentiments and address demands of all affected parties. The key to finding a solution to this issue lies with the affected parties. India supports all efforts to find an acceptable solution to all the pending issues, including Jerusalem," PM Modi said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will receive Prime Minister Narendra Modi when he arrives at the Ben Gurion Airport on Tuesday on a three-day visit to the country.

Sources said such a special gesture has been done only for US presidents, including Donald Trump, and for the Pope.

ALSO READ | Modi's Israel visit: Cooperation in cyber security top on agenda, says Netanyahu

Narendra Modi's historic Israel visit: PM says terror, economy high on agenda

ALSO WATCH | Very excited about PM Narendra Modi's visit, says Israel's Director General of Foreign Affairs

--- ENDS ---

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VANCOUVER, July 3, 2017 /CNW/ - Sandstorm Gold Ltd. ("Sandstorm" or the "Company") (NYSE MKT: SAND, TSX: SSL) is pleased to announce that the Scheme of Arrangement (the "Scheme") to acquire Mariana Resources Limited ("Mariana") has become effective in accordance with its terms, following the sanction of the Scheme by the Guernsey Court on June 26, 2017 and the delivery of the sanction court order to the Guernsey Registry earlier today. Accordingly, the acquisition has been completed and Mariana has become a wholly owned subsidiary of Sandstorm.

Under the terms of the Scheme, Scheme shareholders on the register at the Scheme Record Time, being 5.00 p.m. (London time) on June 28, 2017 will receive 0.2573 Sandstorm shares and 28.75 pence in cash for each Scheme share held, subject to rounding for fractional entitlements. Sandstorm has made applications to the Toronto Stock Exchange and NYSE MKT for the new Sandstorm shares to be admitted to trading and such admission is expected to occur within 14 days. The total consideration paid was approximately US$175 million including 32,832,813 new Sandstorm shares issued under the Scheme (at a price of US$3.87 as of the close of trading on June 30, 2017) and cash consideration of approximately US$48 million.

Transaction Highlights

100% increase in production for 19% dilution; Hot Maden anchor asset is expected to increase the Company's attributable gold equivalent ounces to more than 135,000 by 2022, increasing operating cash flow to more than US$100 million (based on a US$1,250 per ounce gold price).

Hot Maden is a high-grade, low-cost asset with significant exploration upside; Preliminary Economic Assessment (effective date of March 1, 2017 ) projects after-tax NPV and IRR of US$1.37 billion and 153% respectively (100% basis) with estimated all-in-sustaining costs of less than $400 per gold equivalent ounce. Indicated Mineral Resource of 3.43 million gold equivalent ounces (7.1 million tonnes at 12.2 grams per tonne gold and 2.3% copper) is based on approximately 15,000 metres of drilling from 52 drill holes using a 0.2 gram per tonne gold equivalent cut-off. More than 60 drill holes have been completed subsequent to the release of the Indicated Resource estimate, with many assay results returning significant mineralization. Total land package is 74 km 2 in size with the current focus being a 7 kilometre alternation zone. The majority of the exploration drilling has been over 1 kilometre of the alternation zone and several exploration targets have been identified along strike and parallel to the identified orebody.

Majority operator Lidya Madencilik Sanayi ve Ticaret A.S. ("Lidya") is a strong local partner with experience exploring, developing, permitting and operating projects in Turkey . Lidya is part of a large Turkish conglomerate called Calk Holding and is currently partnered with Alacer Gold Corp. on several projects in Turkey including the producing Copler mine and the development-stage Gediktepe and Kartaltepe projects.

. Acquisition of Mariana includes exploration properties in Cote d'Ivoire, Turkey , and Argentina . Sandstorm has begun the process to spin-out the exploration properties into a separate public company and will retain net smelter return royalties as well as equity in the spin-out. The spin-out process is expected to be completed within 6 to 12 months and has the potential to add incremental value to the acquisition.

For additional information and management commentary on Hot Maden and the Mariana acquisition, visit http://www.sandstormgold.com/hot-maden-acquisition.

Sandstorm's President & CEO, Nolan Watson remarked, "Today is an exciting day for Sandstorm shareholders as this deal is truly transformative for the Company. Hot Maden is one of the highest grade undeveloped projects in the world and will add high-margin ounces to Sandstorm's production profile. Opportunities to acquire anchor assets like Hot Maden are rare and with the exploration potential that we see on the property, we anticipate that our 30% interest will continue to grow in value over time."

Watson added, "Now that the transaction is closed and we are no longer under the marketing restrictions imposed by the U.K. Takeover Code, we are glad to be able to speak more candidly about Hot Maden and the impact that it will have on Sandstorm's future growth. Encouragingly, a number of high-profile institutional investors have been building positions in the Company including multi-billion dollar asset managers like Blackrock, Fidelity, MAN GLG, and Setanta Asset Management."

"We are fortunate to be in a strong financial position with no debt, cash on the balance sheet and an undrawn $110 million credit facility available to us. In the short-term we intend to buy-back our shares but we are also working on a number of acquisition opportunities in order to continue to grow the Company. I encourage all of you to join our upcoming webcast as we will be providing a thorough review of the acquisition rationale and Sandstorm's plans to continue building shareholder value."

Webcast and Conference Call Details

A conference call will be held on Thursday, July 6, 2017 starting at 8:00am PDT to further discuss the acquisition. To participate in the conference call and question and answer period, use the following dial-in numbers and conference ID, or join the webcast using the link below:

Local/International: (+1) 416 764 8688

North American Toll-Free: (+1) 888 390 0546

Conference ID: 90936462

Webcast URL: http://ow.ly/1bm530dc7ts

QUALIFIED PERSON

Keith Laskowski (MSc), Sandstorm's Vice President, Technical Services is a Qualified Professional (#01221QP) of the Mining and Metallurgical Society of America and a Qualified Person as defined by Canadian National Instrument 43-101. Mr. Laskowski has not independently verified the resource estimates contained in this disclosure. He has reviewed and approved the technical information in this press release.

To review the complete Hot Maden Preliminary Economic Assessment and other technical information visit www.sedar.com and see the Mariana Resources profile.

This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy securities in the United States, nor shall there be any sale of such securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful.

BMO Capital Markets has advised Sandstorm during this period.

ABOUT SANDSTORM GOLD

Sandstorm Gold Ltd. is a gold royalty company. Sandstorm provides upfront financing to gold mining companies that are looking for capital and in return, receives the right to a percentage of the gold produced from a mine, for the life of the mine. Sandstorm has acquired a portfolio of 160 streams and royalties, of which 20 of the underlying mines are producing. Sandstorm plans to grow and diversify its low cost production profile through the acquisition of additional gold royalties.

For more information visit: www.sandstormgold.com
North Korea launched another ballistic missile Tuesday, just a few days after the leaders of South Korea and the United States agreed to leave the door open for dialogue with the communist nation.

"North Korea fired an unidentified ballistic missile into the East Sea from the vicinity of Banghyon, North Pyongan Province, at around 9:40 a.m.," the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said.

The North's provocation was immediately reported to President Moon Jae-in, it added, as Moon ordered the National Security Council to convene an emergency session.

Army Col. Roh Jae-cheon, a spokesman for the JCS, told reporters that the missile traveled "several hundreds of kilometers," which means the firing was successful.

"But South Korea and the U.S. are analyzing the apogee of the missile and its exact flight distance," he added. "Our military is maintaining full preparedness against the possibility of North Korea's additional provocation."












By Park Si-soo



U.S. President Donald Trump said it was time for China to take decisive action against North Korea after Pyongyang's latest ballistic missile launch, urging Beijing to "end this nonsense once and for all."

"Does this guy have anything better to do with his life?" Trump said late Monday (local time), referring to his North Korean counterpart Kim Jong-un after North Korea fired a ballistic missile into East Sea on Tuesday morning. The U.S. military also confirmed the launch.

"Hard to believe that South Korea and Japan will put up with this much longer," Trump wrote on Twitter. "Perhaps China will put a heavy move on North Korea and end this nonsense once and for all!"

The missile was fired from a site near Panghyon, North Phyongan Province.


By Park Si-soo



North Korea said it successfully tested an intercontinental ballistic missile on Tuesday -- a watershed moment in its decades-long push to develop a nuclear weapon capable of hitting the United States.

It said the Hwasong-14 missile flew a trajectory that military experts said could allow a weapon to hit the U.S. state of Alaska. The reclusive state said the missile reached a cruising altitude of 2,802 kilometers and flew 933 kilometers before landing in the East Sea.

The announcement came hours after North Korea launched an intercontinental ballistic missile from an airfield in Panghyon, about 100 kilometers northwest of the North's capital, Pyongyang, Tuesday morning.



"The test launch was conducted at the sharpest angle possible and did not have any negative effect on neighboring countries," North Korea's major news presenter Lee Chun-hee said smiling, in what North Korea said was an "important announcement" made at 3:30 p.m.



"The test was conducted under the supervision of leader Kim Jong-un, and it was capable of hitting anywhere in the world."

Moon will tackle N. Korea issue at G20 Moon calls for security meeting over N. Korean missile launch Trump urges China to get 'heavy' with North Korea after missile launch The presenter said the Hwasong-14 missile reached an altitude of 2,802 kilometers (1,741 miles) and hit its target precisely after flying for 39 minutes.



It was believed to be the North's most successful missile test in its push for nuclear weapons capable of hitting any part of the United States.



Japan's defense ministry said the missile "greatly exceeded" an altitude of 2,500 kilometers and flew 930 kilometers before landing in Japan's Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).



Tuesday's launch came days before a summit of G20 leaders in Hamburg, Germany, and a day after U.S. President Donald Trump called China's President Xi Jinping and Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to discuss the nuclear threat from Pyongyang.



U.S. President Donald Trump, who has turned to Beijing for help in reining in North Korea, sent a series of tweets after the launch, apparently ridiculing his North Korean counterpart and urging China to do more.



"North Korea has just launched another missile. Does this guy have anything better to do with his life?" Trump wrote.



"Hard to believe that South Korea and Japan will put up with this much longer. Perhaps China will put a heavy move on North Korea and end this nonsense once and for all!"



North Korean leader Kim Jong-un signs an order sheet for the test-firing of an intercontinental ballistic missile in this Korean Central News Agency photo released on Tuesday. / Yonhap




By Yi Whan-woo

The U.S. Embassy in Korea commemorated 241st anniversary of the Independence Day in Gwangju, Monday.

This was the first time that such commemorative reception was held in Gwangju, which is a symbolic city of pro-democracy movement for the democratic uprising there against the military regime on May 18, 1980.

"Every year we hosted our national day event in both Seoul and Busan, and this year we are very pleased to be able to include Gwangju as another very important regional center with its own unique and meaningful historical and cultural traditions," the embassy said in a press release released before the event.

Referring to Honam, an area encompassing Gwangju and North and South Jeolla provinces, it said the reception offered "a chance to celebrate with the people of Honam our shared democratic values and vibrant partnership."

The reception included a commemorative speech by Charge d'Affaires Marc Knapper, the acting U.S. ambassador to Korea.

Gwangju Mayor Yoon Jang-hyun, North Jeolla Province Governor Song Ha-jin, South Jeolla Province Acting Governor Kim Kap-sup were among the 250 guests of the reception.

In January, then-U.S. Ambassador to Korea Mark Lippert handed over to the city a bundle of declassified U.S. documents about the Gwangju uprising.
An Israeli crysanthemum flower has been named after Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who today became the first Indian prime minister to visit the Jewish state.

By Ganesh Radha-Udayakumar: Israelis will soon be able to offer their loved ones a bouquet of Modis! The Jewish state today named an Israeli crysanthemum flower in honour of Narendra Modi, the first Indian prime minister to visit Israel.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry's Digital Diplomacy team tweeted pictures of the flower.

New fast-growing Israeli Crysanthumun flower named in honor of PM @narendramodi and will be called "MODI". Indeed, a #GrowingPartnership! pic.twitter.com/xj00nW2yUk- Israel A?AAA?A? (@Israel) July 4, 2017

Visited the Danziger Flower Farm, where I saw pioneering work done in floriculture. https://t.co/JtcoECBv6O pic.twitter.com/Y0vTGPPB4l- Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) July 4, 2017

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Earlier today, Modi landed in Tel-Aviv, where got a red-carpet welcome from none other than Benjamin Netanyahu, his Israeli counterpart and the chairman of the Likud party.

Netanyahu told Modi Israel had waited almost seventy years for his unprecedented visit. "Aapka swaagat hai mere dost," he said.

Modi later paid respects to Theodor Herzl, the founder of modern Zionism, and to the victims of the Holocaust - or the Shoah, the genocide of around six million European Jews by Adolf Hitler's Nazi regime and those who colloborated with it.

Not forgetting the lessons of history.Israel's official memorial to victims of the Holocaust - Yad Vashem, preserves the memory of the dead pic.twitter.com/3q0qnSa0KN- Indian Diplomacy (@IndianDiplomacy) July 4, 2017

PM Netanyahu and @PMOIndia Modi visited Mt. Herzl in Jerusalem, and paid their respects to the founder of modern Zionism, Theodor Herzl. pic.twitter.com/ZEMirEpQDV- PM of Israel (@IsraeliPM) July 4, 2017

The PM will leave Israel on July 6, and head to Hamburg to take part in the G-20 summit.

ALSO READ

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Welcome to Israel, my friend Modi: Benjamin Netanyahu at Ben Gurion airport

ALSO WATCH

PM Netanyahu greets PM Modi: Aapka swagat hai, mere dost

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By Jhoo Dong-chan



The Hyundai Group is striving to rebound during the progressive Moon Jae-in administration, which is more open to inter-Korean cooperation. The group's Hyundai Asan unit has exclusive rights for all the North Korean projects through the early 2050s.



Hyundai Asan said Monday that it is considering asking the Ministry of Unification to allow its senior management to visit the North in time for the 14th anniversary of former Chairman Chung Mong-hun's death, Aug. 4.



Expectations are high that, if approved, Hyundai Asan's visit would herald the resumption of two major inter-Korean projects of a tour to Mount Geumkang and an industrial park in Gaeseong, both in North Korea.



"We may think of seeking approval for the visit this month ahead of the anniversary of Chung's death," a Hyundai official said. "But nothing has been decided, yet."



Of note is whether Hyundai Chairwoman Hyun Jeong-eun, wife of the late Chung, will be part of the Hyundai Asan delegation to the North. Hyun took part in the memorial service on Mount Geumgang in 2014 but did not do so in the following two years.



If she participates in the event, it will further boost optimism on an early reopening of the two inter-Korean projects.



However, Hyundai refused to comment on Hyun's visit to Mount Geumgang or a resumption of the two programs.



The tour program at the scenic mountain resort on North Korea's east coast started in 1998 but it stopped midway through 2008 when a North Korean soldier shot and killed a female tourist.



The Gaeseong industrial complex kicked off as a fruit of an inter-Korean summit in 2000 and had been regarded as the symbol of cooperation between the two countries. However, the former Park Geun-hye administration suspended its operation early last year in the aftermath of the North's nuclear test.



Unlike its two conservative predecessors, the Moon administration has approved all requests for civilian inter-Korean exchanges so far, though they were all denied by the North.



The memorial service for Chung Mong-hun, who conceived of the tour program, had been held at Mount Geumgang every year since his death in 2003. Hyundai, however, did not seek approval for a visit last year due to rising tension between the two Koreas.



There are more cautious analyses, too. Some experts say that the situation could be fluid because South Korea is scheduled to carry out a combined military exercise with the United States next month.



"The United Nations is expected to impose further sanctions on North Korea, and Washington and U.S. public opinion are also very negative following American student Otto Warmbier's death," an Ilmin International Relations Institute official said.
















Whether they're swooping in to deliver packages or spotting victims in disaster zones, swarms of flying robots could have a range of important applications in the future, a new study found. The robots can transition from driving to flying without colliding with each other and could offer benefits beyond the traditional flying-car concepts of sci-fi lore, the study said.

The ability to both fly and walk is common in nature. For instance, many birds, insects and other animals can do both.

Robots with similar versatility could fly over impediments on the ground or drive under overhead obstacles. But currently, robots that are good at one mode of transportation are usually bad at others, study lead author Brandon Araki, a roboticist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, and his colleagues said in their new study. [The 6 Strangest Robots Ever Created]

The researchers previously developed a robot named the "flying monkey" that could run and fly, as well as grasp items. However, the researchers had to program the paths the flying monkey would take; in other words, it could not find safe routes by itself.

Now, these scientists have developed flying cars that can both fly and drive through a simulated city-like setting that has parking spots, landing pads and no-fly zones. Moreover, these drones can move autonomously without colliding with each other, the researchers said. "Our vehicles can find their own safe paths," Araki told Live Science.

The researchers took eight four-rotor "quadcopter" drones and put two small motors with wheels on the bottom of each drone, to make them capable of driving. In simulations, the robots could fly for about 295 feet (90 meters) or drive for 826 feet (252 meters) before their batteries ran out.

The roboticists developed algorithms that ensured the robots did not collide with one another. In tests in a miniature town made using everyday materials such as pieces of fabric for roads and cardboard boxes for buildings, all drones successfully navigated from a starting point to an ending point on collision-free paths.

Adding the driving apparatus to each drone added weight and so slightly reduced battery life, decreasing the maximum distances the drones could fly by about 14 percent, the researchers said. Still, the scientists noted that driving remained more efficient than flying, offsetting the relatively small loss in efficiency in flying due to the added weight.

"The most important implication of our research is that vehicles that combine flying and driving have the potential to be both much more efficient and much more useful than vehicles that can only drive or only fly," Araki said.

The scientists cautioned that fleets of automated flying taxis are likely not coming anytime soon. "Our current system of drones certainly isn't robust enough to actually carry people right now," Araki said. Still, these experiments with quadcopters help explore "various ideas related to flying cars," he said.

The scientists detailed their findings on June 1 at the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers' International Conference on Robotics and Automation in Singapore.

Original article on Live Science.
Presidential species

(Image credit: Vazrick Nazari/Zookeys under CC by 4.0; Trump: LOC)

The study of taxonomy is often a slog. There are measurements to take, technical descriptions to write and databases to parse  all tasks that require nothing short of meticulous, tireless precision. The naming of a new species, on the other hand, can be an exhilarating, even a celebratory experience. Scientists have been known to christen their discoveries after famous people, whether as an expression of their admiration or to draw public interest to their work. It's nice work if you can get it: Airports, schools and libraries may come and go, but the taxonomic record is forever. In honor of the birth of American independence, here are 11 U.S. presidents who have been immortalized in "life's filing system."

Washington's wasp

(Image credit: 2013 Paul M. Marsh under CC 3.0; Washington: Shutterstock)

Named after George Washington, Heterospilus washingtoni is a parasitic wasp that lives primarily in Costa Rica. Although there are scant taxonomic similarities between the critter and the father of the United States, both can claim large families. The diverse Heterospilus genus includes about 280 known species.

Jefferson mollusk

(Image credit: Berni Nonenmacher/Wikipedia under CC by SA 3.0; Jefferson: Wikipedia)

Call the Chesapecten jeffersonius a founding fossil. When English naturalist Martin Lister published a drawing of the scallop's then-unclassified remains in 1687, C. jeffersonius became the first North American fossil to be rendered in the scientific literature. Like our third president, the mollusk called Virginia home, albeit during the Pliocene, some 4 million to 5 million years ago. Due to its prevalence in the Old Dominion State, C. jeffersonius was named the official state fossil.

Lincoln's exclusive club

(Image credit: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division)

As a genus, Lincolna is an exclusive club. Only two species of parasitic wasp  L. aldrovandii and L. sismondini  can claim membership. Alexandre Arsene Girault, the American-turned-Australian entomologist who described them in the 1930s, frequently styled new species after people he admired. Other genera he named include Davincia, Shakespearia and Beethovena.

Shrew for Teddy

(Image credit: Shutterstock; Roosevelt: LOC)

Few achievements thrilled Theodore Roosevelt as much as his work to conserve natural resources. Besides establishing the U.S. Forest Service, creating five new National Parks and placing more than 230 million acres of land under federal protection, Roosevelt also lent his name to Crocidura roosevelti, a tiny shrew that gambols in the moist savannas of Central and East Africa.

Named for FDR

(Image credit: Public Domain)

While his distant cousin Theodore is known as the "naturalist president," Franklin D. Roosevelt was no slouch when it came to animal conservation, either. After cruising the Clipperton, Coco and Galapagos Islands with F.D.R. in 1938, Smithsonian scientists wound up naming several new species after their host. Among them? Siriella roosevelti, a shrimp-like crustacean.

Carter darter

(Image credit: Joseph Tomellieri; Carter: LOC)

Commonly known as the bluegrass darter, Etheostoma jimmycarter dwells in the Green River drainage basin in Kentucky and Tennessee. It gets its moniker from Jimmy Carter, whose legacy includes expanding the National Park System to include the protection of 104.3 million acres of Alaskan land.

Reagan gets an insect, too

(Image credit: 2013 Paul M. Marsh under CC 3.0; Reagan: Michael Evans/The White House/Getty)

Another member of the Heterospilus tribe, H. reagani resides in Costa Rica with roughly 280 of its brethren species. Beyond its name, there's little to connect the insect to our 40th president, although Ronald Reagan did visit the Central American country at the invitation of his counterpart, Luis Alberto Monge, in 1982.

Clinton's beaded darter

(Image credit: Joseph Tomellieri; Clinton: Tom Ewart/Getty)

Like Bill Clinton, Etheostoma clinton, a.k.a. the beaded darter, hails from Arkansas, specifically the upper Caddo and upper Ouachita Rivers. Steve Layman, the environmental scientist who described the fish in 2012, dedicated it to the 42nd president to toast his environmental work, which included the preservation of millions of acres of wilderness and the enhanced protection of national forests.

Slime mold beetle named for Bush

(Image credit: Public Domain)

George W. Bush, his vice president Dick Cheney and erstwhile Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld have more than an administration in common. Each of the trio also has a slime mold beetle named in his honor. "We admire these leaders as fellow citizens who have the courage of their convictions and are willing to do the very difficult and unpopular work of living up to principles of freedom and democracy rather than accepting the expedient or popular," Quentin Wheeler, one of two former Cornell University entomologist who described the species, including Agathidium bushi, said in a statement in 2005. (Shown here, another species in the Agathidium.)

Barack's blood fluke

(Image credit: J. R. Roberts et. al./2016 American Society of Parasitologists; Obama: LOC)

Although it may not seem that way, the scientists who named a species of blood fluke after Barack Obama meant the sobriquet as a compliment. Found in the lungs of Malaysian freshwater turtles, Baracktrema obamai is a study in resilience, according to biologist Thomas Platt, who helped discover the parasitic flatworm in 2015. Members of the species "face incredible obstacles to complete their [life cycles] and must contend with the immune system of the host in order to mature and reproduce," Platt said in a statement. "B. obamai will endure as long as there are systematists studying these remarkable organisms."
Modi is set to be given the same luxury suite at the King David Hotel that US President Donald Trump stayed in during his visit, reported Jerusalem Post.

By Mail Today Bureau: Amidst much bonhomie between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu on social media ahead of his three-day visit, palpable enthusiasm among the Indian diaspora too was reported by the local Israeli media. From personal video messages recorded to welcome Modi to grand preparations for his stay and interaction with 4,000 Jews of Indian origin, the visit is being treated with 'unprecedented importance' as Israeli ambassador Daniel Carmon puts it.

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Modi is set to be given the same luxury suite at the King David Hotel that US President Donald Trump stayed in during his visit, reported Jerusalem Post. "Arrangements for Modi's visit have been more strenuous than for Trump's, but without some of the restrictions. For instance, during Trump's visit, the entire hotel was cleared of guests who were not a part of the presidential delegation. But for Modi's visit, only the upper floors and the parking area had to be vacated. The lobby of the hotel had to be sterile when Trump entered - no red carpet, no welcoming committee. On the other hand, Modi and his delegation will be welcomed with pomp and ceremony."

Around 4,000 Jews of Indian origin, now residing in Israel, are expected to attend a keynote event hosted by Modi at Tel Aviv Convention Centre. The embassy is organising the Wednesday evening event and making buses available to transport people from all over the country - from Beersheba in the South to Haifa in the North - and from the large concentrations of the community in cities such as Ashdod and Jerusalem, media reports stated.

ALSO READ | Modi's Israel visit: Cooperation in cyber security top on agenda, says Netanyahu

Out of the closet: Narendra Modi to make history as first Indian PM to visit Israel

ALSO WATCH | Very excited about PM Narendra Modi's visit, says Israel's Director General of Foreign Affairs

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ARMOUR Residential REIT, Inc. invests in residential mortgage-backed securities (MBS) in the United States. The company's securities portfolio primarily consists of the United States Government-sponsored entity's (GSE) and the Government National Mortgage Administration's issued or guaranteed securities backed by fixed rate, hybrid adjustable rate, and adjustable-rate home loans, as well as unsecured notes and bonds issued by the GSE and the United States treasuries, as well as money market instruments. It also invests in other securities backed by residential mortgages for which the payment of principal and interest is not guaranteed by a GSE or government agency. The company has elected to be taxed as a real estate investment trust under the Internal Revenue Code. As a result, it would not be subject to corporate income tax on that portion of its net income that is distributed to shareholders. ARMOUR Residential REIT, Inc. was incorporated in 2008 and is based in Vero Beach, Florida.
Boston Scientific Corporation develops, manufactures, and markets medical devices for use in various interventional medical specialties worldwide. It operates through three segments: MedSurg, Rhythm and Neuro, and Cardiovascular. The company offers devices to diagnose and treat gastrointestinal and pulmonary conditions; devices to treat various urological and pelvic conditions; implantable cardioverter and implantable cardiac resynchronization therapy defibrillators; pacemakers and implantable cardiac resynchronization therapy pacemakers; and remote patient management systems. It also provides medical technologies to diagnose and treat rate and rhythm disorders of the heart comprising 3-D cardiac mapping and navigation solutions, ablation catheters, diagnostic catheters, mapping catheters, intracardiac ultrasound catheters, delivery sheaths, and other accessories; spinal cord stimulator systems for the management of chronic pain; indirect decompression systems; and deep brain stimulation systems. In addition, the company offers interventional cardiology products, including drug-eluting coronary stent systems used in the treatment of coronary artery disease; percutaneous coronary interventions products to treat atherosclerosis; intravascular catheter-directed ultrasound imaging catheters, fractional flow reserve devices, and systems for use in coronary arteries and heart chambers, as well as various peripheral vessels; and structural heart therapies. Further, it provides stents, balloon catheters, wires, and atherectomy systems to treat arterial diseases; thrombectomy and acoustic pulse thrombolysis systems, wires, and stents to treat venous diseases; and peripheral embolization devices, radioactive microspheres, ablation systems, cryotherapy ablation systems, and micro and drainage catheters to treat cancer. The company was incorporated in 1979 and is headquartered in Marlborough, Massachusetts.
Narendra Modi today landed in Israel, becoming the first Indian prime minister to visit the country. After being welcomed by his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu at the Ben Gurion Airport, Modi visited Yad Vashem, Israel's official Holocaust memorial.

By India Today Web Desk: Prime Minister Narendra Modi today landed in Israeli city of Tel Aviv, becoming the first Indian Prime Minister to visit the country he has long admired for its military and technical expertise, but which his predecessors kept at arm's length.

In a special gesture, Modi's Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu received him at Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion Airport, a gesture reserved so far only for the US Presidents and the Pope.

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HERE ARE THE LATEST DEVELOPMENTS:

'Thank PM Netanyahu and Mrs Netanyahu for their warm welcome and generous hospitality,' Modi end.

Will address the Indian diaspora tomorrow, Modi says.

The link between our civilisations goes back to over 1,000 years: Modi.

Yad Vashem is a tribute to Israel's unbreakable spirit to rise above the depths of tragedy: Modi.

'Just a moments ago I laid a wreath at the Yad Vashem memorial,' Modi says.

The Israeli PM again refers to Modi as his friend, calling him my 'friend Narendra' as he welcomes Modi to Israel.

'We share a bond of democracy and creativity,' Netanyahu says.

'I want to start practising yoga, and as Modi advised, I will start at a beginner's level,' Netanyahu says.

Ramanujan was a great Indian mathematician. Perhaps the greatest mathematician in many, many centuries. This symbolises the talent of India... I have to confess to you that I have been inspired by Prime Minster Modi's enthusiasm for yoga

Benjamin Netanyahu brings up Indian mathematician Ramanujan, says he symbolises Indian talent.

PM Narendra Modi and PM Benjamin Netanyahu offer a joint address.

Modi paid a visit to Yad Vashem, the world center for Holocaust research, documentation, education and commemoration. "At @yadvashem, I paid tributes to the women, men and children whose sacrifices can never be forgotten," Modi tweeted.

"I proposed to PM @narendramodi that we visit the grave of the visionary of our state, Theodor Herzl. He responded immediately and we went," PM Netanyahu tweeted.

Meanwhile, Israel has named a flower after Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

After the visit to the Danziger Flower Farm, Modi said, "We learnt about latest innovation & research in agriculture, including technology in the sector, sensor networks & more." "Israel's strides in agriculture are well known. Latest technology, research & innovation in agriculture can benefit farmers immensely."

From the airport, PM Modi headed to the Danziger Flower Farm.

Moments after landing in Israel, the PMO India account tweeted, "Partners for peace and prosperity, partners for a better future for humanity...PM @netanyahu welcomes PM @narendramodi to Israel."

Flanked by PM Netanyahu, Modi greets dignitaries, including the Israeli cabinet.

'I thank you once again for this tremendous welcome,' PM Modi says, ending his speech.

I am also thrilled to interact with the Indian diaspora in Israel, says Modi.

'India counts Israel as among its important partners,' Modi says.

'India is a very old civilisation, but a young nation,' Modi says.

'It's a singular honour for me', PM Modi, speaking in English, says.

Modi calls his visit to Israel a 'ground-breaking' one and thanks Netanyahu for welcoming him with 'so much warmth.'

WATCH | PM Netanyahu greets PM Modi: Aapka swagat hai, mere dost



Modi and Netanyahu hug again as the Israeli PM finishes his welcome speech for Modi.

Netanyahu goes on to coin a term to describe India-Israel relations: I squared, T squared, which means Indian Talent and Israeli Technology

We have been waiting for almost 70 years, Netanyahu says as he once again calls Modi's visit a historic one.

'Aapka swagat hai, mere dost,' says PM Netanyahu.

Modi inspects a guard of honour.

After walking down the red carpet at the Ben Gurion Airport, Modi and Netanyahu stand in attention as the national anthems of the India and Israel played.-

PM Netanyahu greets Modi with a handshake and the two leaders then proceed to exchange a warm hug.

Modi diembarks from Air India One.

"PM Narendra Modi emplanes for a historic visit to Israel, the first ever by an Indian Prime Minister," the Prime Minister's Office tweeted before Modi left for Tel Aviv.

In his three-day trip, Modi is expected to discuss with his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu the common challenges like terrorism and ways to boost economic ties.

The prime minister has said he will have "in-depth talks" with Netanyahu "on the full spectrum of our partnership and strengthening it in diverse fields for mutual benefit. We will also have the chance to discuss major common challenges like terrorism."

Modi will also meet President Reuven Ruvi Rivlin and address the CEOs of the two countries as well as the Indian diaspora.

He will also visit the Yad Vashem Memorial Museum to honour the memory of the victims of the holocaust that counts among the greatest tragedies in human history.

Modi will also pay his respects to the courageous Indian soldiers who laid down their lives during the liberation of Haifa in 1918.

Modi will be in Israel till July 6 before travelling to Hamburg in Germany to attend the G-20 Summit.

The theme chosen for this year is 'Shaping an Inter-connected World'.

"I look forward to engaging leaders from other G-20 countries on the vital issues affecting our world today that have a bearing on economic growth, sustainable development, and peace and stability," he had said.

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"We will review progress on decisions since the Hangzhou Summit last year and deliberate on issues of terrorism, climate, sustainable development, growth and trade, digitalisation, health, employment, migration, women s empowerment, and partnership with Africa," Modi had added.

(With PTI inputs)

ALSO READ | India-Israel relation over the years: Ten defining developments

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ALSO WATCH | PM Netanyahu greets PM Modi: Aapka swagat hai, mere dost

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GSK plc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the creation, discovery, development, manufacture, and marketing of pharmaceutical products, vaccines, over-the-counter medicines, and health-related consumer products in the United Kingdom, the United States, and internationally. It operates through four segments: Pharmaceuticals, Pharmaceuticals R&D, Vaccines, and Consumer Healthcare. The company offers pharmaceutical products comprising medicines in the therapeutic areas, such as respiratory, HIV, immuno-inflammation, oncology, anti-viral, central nervous system, cardiovascular and urogenital, metabolic, anti-bacterial, and dermatology. It also provides consumer healthcare products in wellness, oral health, nutrition, and skin health categories. The company offers its consumer healthcare products in the form of nasal sprays, tablets, syrups, lozenges, gum and trans-dermal patches, caplets, infant syrup drops, liquid filled suspension, wipes, gels, effervescents, toothpastes, toothbrushes, mouthwashes, denture adhesives and cleansers, topical creams and non-medicated patches, lip balm, gummies, and soft chews. It has collaboration agreements with 23andMe; Lyell Immunopharma, Inc.; Novartis; Sanofi SA; Surface Oncology; Progentec Diagnostics, Inc.; Alector, Inc.; and CureVac AG., as well as strategic partnership with IDEAYA Biosciences, Inc. and Vir Biotechnology, Inc. The company was formerly known as GlaxoSmithKline plc and changed its name to GSK plc in May 2022. GSK plc was founded in 1715 and is headquartered in Brentford, the United Kingdom.
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Oil States International, Inc. engages in the provision of manufactured products and services used in the drilling, completion, subsea, production and infrastructure sectors of the oil and natural gas industry, as well as in the industrial and military sectors. It operates through the following segments: Well Site Services, Downhole Technologies and Offshore or Manufactured Products. The Well Site Services segment includes a broad range of equipment and services that are used to drill for, establish and maintain the flow of oil and natural gas from a well throughout its life cycle. The Downhole Technologies segment provides oil and gas perforation systems and downhole tools in support of completion, intervention, wireline and abandonment operations. It also designs, manufactures and markets its consumable engineered products to oilfield service as well as exploration and production companies. The Offshore or Manufactured Products segment designs, manufactures, and markets capital equipment utilized on floating production systems, subsea pipeline infrastructure, and offshore drilling rigs and vessels, along with short-cycle and other products. The company was founded in July 1995 an
Modi said it is his "singular honour" to be the first ever Prime Minister of India to undertake this "groundbreaking visit" to Israel.

By India Today Web Desk: As Narendra Modi and Benjamin Netanyahu hugged at Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion airport today, the moment saw history in the making as it was the first time an Indian Prime Minister had set foot on Israel.

"My friend Modi, welcome to Israel," Netanyahu said in his address at a ceremony at the aiport marked by an unprecedented bonhomie between the two leaders. "Aapka swagat hai mere dost," the Israeli leader said in Hindi.

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In a special gesture, Netanyahu along with his entire Cabinet, received Modi at Ben Gurion Airport, a gesture reserved so far only for US Presidents and the Pope.

"We love India, admire your culture, history, democracy and commitment to progress," Netanyahu went on. "I am confident of the real mathematics of life, of success of our partnership for many reasons; talent of our people."

"I once heard you say sky is the limit in relations with Israel. But let me say that even the sky is not the limit in cooperation between India and Israel," the Israeli Prime Minister said, calling Modi a "great world leader".

"We can do even better together. Welcome to Israel, my friend PM Modi," he said as he closed his short statement.

'GROUNDBREAKING VISIT'

In his short speech, Modi said it is his "singular honour" to be the first ever Prime Minister of India to undertake this "groundbreaking visit" to Israel.

"It is my singular honour to be the first ever PM of India to undertake this groundbreaking visit to Israel," he said.

"I am keen to interact with Indian diaspora in Israel, including large number of Jews of Indian origin," Modi said.

"The Prime Minister has landed in Israel," the Prime Minister's Office tweeted. After Modi's arrival, the national anthems of India and Israel were played.

In Israel, Modi will also meet President Ruven Rivlin apart from paying his respects to courageous Indian soldiers who laid down their lives during the liberation of Haifa in 1918.

The visit coincides with India and Israel marking 25 years of their diplomatic relations.

Modi will be in Israel till July 6 before travelling to Hamburg, Germany, to attend the G-20 summit.

Also read | PM Modi in Israel LIVE: Welcome, we have been waiting for 70 years, says Netanyahu

Also read | What India can gain from Israel's defence strategy: All you need to know

Also read | India-Israel relation over the years: Ten defining developments

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WATCH VIDEO

--- ENDS ---
ResMed Inc. develops, manufactures, distributes, and markets medical devices and cloud-based software applications for the healthcare markets. The company operates in two segments, Sleep and Respiratory Care, and Software as a Service. It offers various products and solutions for a range of respiratory disorders, including technologies to be applied in medical and consumer products, ventilation devices, diagnostic products, mask systems for use in the hospital and home, headgear and other accessories, dental devices, and cloud-based software informatics solutions to manage patient outcomes, as well as provides customer and business processes. The company also provides AirView, a cloud-based system that enables remote monitoring and changing of patients' device settings; myAir, a personalized therapy management application for patients with sleep apnea that provides support, education, and troubleshooting tools for increased patient engagement and improved compliance; U-Sleep, a compliance monitoring solution that enables home medical equipment (HME)to streamline their sleep programs; connectivity module and propeller solutions; and Propeller portal. It offers out-of-hospital software solution, such as Brightree business management software and service solutions to providers of HME, pharmacy, home infusion, orthotics, and prosthetics services; MatrixCare care management and related ancillary solutions to senior living, skilled nursing, life plan communities, home health, home care, and hospice organizations, as well as related accountable care organizations; and HEALTHCAREfirst that offers electronic health record, software, billing and coding services, and analytics for home health and hospice agencies. The company markets its products primarily to sleep clinics, home healthcare dealers, and hospitals through a network of distributors and direct sales force in approximately 140 countries. ResMed Inc. was founded in 1989 and is headquartered in San Diego, California.
The Toronto-Dominion Bank, together with its subsidiaries, provides various financial products and services in Canada, the United States, and internationally. It operates through Canadian Personal and Commercial Banking, U.S. Retail, Wealth Management and Insurance, and Wholesale Banking segments. The company offers personal deposits, such as checking, savings, and investment products; financing, investment, cash management, international trade, and day-to-day banking services to businesses; and financing options to customers at point of sale for automotive and recreational vehicle purchases. It also provides credit cards and payments; real estate secured lending, auto finance, and consumer lending services; point-of-sale payment solutions for large and small businesses; wealth and asset management products, and advice to retail and institutional clients through direct investing, advice-based, and asset management businesses; and property and casualty insurance, as well as life and health insurance products. The company also provides capital markets, and corporate and investment banking products and services, including underwriting and distribution of new debt and equity issues; advice on strategic acquisitions and divestitures; and trading, funding, and investment services to corporations, governments, and institutions. It offers its products and services under the TD Bank and America's Most Convenient Bank brand names. The company operates through a network of 1,061 branches and 3,381 automated teller machines (ATMs) in Canada, and 1,148 stores and 2,701 ATMs in the United States, as well as offers telephone, digital, and mobile banking services. It has a strategic alliance with Canada Post Corporation. The Toronto-Dominion Bank was founded in 1855 and is headquartered in Toronto, Canada.
One of the pioneers of Ghanaian gospel music, Yaw Sarpong, has outlined plans of celebrating his 40 years of gospel music ministry.

According to him, as part of the anniversary celebration, he will be embarking on a church-to-church tour in spreading the gospel of Christ through music.

In an interview with the media, the 'Wo Haw Ne Sen' hitmaker said, My purpose in life is to use my music to expand the kingdom of God and I want to start with the house of God. I have, therefore, decided to and if I can, perform in almost all Bible-believing churches in Ghana. I have already spoken with my management and we welcome any invitation extended to us to perform.

As part of his 40 years in ministry, Yaw Sarpong plans to launch the Yaw Sarpong Foundation (YSF) later in the year with the objective of transforming prisons across the country.

Dubbed 'The Prison Project', it aims to establish counselling and resource centres across Ghana's prisons and provide a platform for inmates to discover their talents through the power of music.

I will be launching my foundation very soon. It is an initiative I believe will help restore hope to many people as we seek to equip people with employable skills and leadership training to drive Ghana towards a positive path, he stated.

Currently, Yaw Sarpong has 25 music albums and over 100 songs to his name. He is keen on continuing his mission to bring back joy with his songs of faith and exhorting Christians to live passionately for God. His passion to see through his God-given mission has inspired the writing of his latest album titled 'Awurade Kasa'.
Government is to offer support to cocoa farmers who will cut down unproductive trees, Chief Executive of Ghana Cocoa Board (Cocobod), Joseph Boahen Aidoo has announced.

According to Mr. Boahen Aidoo, about 40% of cocoa trees has become unproductive as a result of the trees being either over-aged or have been affected by the swollen shoot disease.

But the refusal of the farmers to slash them to make way for new ones, has culminated in the country recording low yields of the produce.

The farmers are reluctant to cut the trees because they have no alternative source of livelihood.

But Mr. Boahen Aidoo said the situation will soon change when governments intervention policy strategy towards improving cocoa yield, is rolled out.

Mr. Boahen made the remark at the palace of the Okyenhene, Osagyefo Amoatia Ofori Panin, when Management the Board of Cocobod, led by Mr. Hackman Owusu Agyemang, paid a courtesy call at Kyebi, Friday, June 30.

Mr. Boahene Aidoo (left) and Mr. Hackman Owusu Agyemang (middle) at the Okyenhene's palace.

The Board had been on a retreat at the Cocoa Research Institute of Ghana (CRIG) to deliberate on strategies to boost cocoa production and put the country back on track as the worlds leading cocoa producer.

The CEO said government is prepared to provide yearly financial support to farmers who will cut down infertile trees, supply seedlings as well as provide them with extension services.

He said discussions with some banks to that effect, are well advanced.

Members of the Board also visited the Tafohene, Nana Agyen Frimpong II, where they expressed appreciation to the Chief, for releasing land for the establishment of CRIG and other research institutions for the benefit of the country.

Story by Ghana | Myjoyonline.com | Jerry Tsatro Mordy | Email: [email protected], Twitter: @jerrymordy
A revolutionary book on legal literacy for the ordinary and the legally untrained mind has been launched into to serve as a guide for the citizenry, especially in situations where a lawyer is not readily available.

The book titled "iLegal" is authored by Lawyer Dr Nana Oppong (Nana Em), an internationally renowned expert on intelligence and author of groundbreaking works on education, science and economics.

The "iLegal" is the author's solution to solving some of the misconceptions about the legal profession as well as arming the ordinary man on the streets with some legal education on everyday issues so as to guide people's day-to-day activities that may require legal advice.

The 126 page book which was published by Smartline publishers promises to be the most controversial yet most educative book on legal education for the ordinary Ghanaian. It has 20 chapters that address matters ranging from the overview of the legal culture, through contracts up to criminal matters among others.

The book has already started stirring up controversy as professionally trained lawyers are questioning the rationale for the publication of such valuable legal information that could threaten the relevance of lawyers in the society.

During his remarks, the author, Dr. Nana Oppong, observed that one would no longer have any excuses to be ignorant of the law after reading the book.

He explained that the book is not meant to make lawyers irrelevant but rather to complement their efforts and to make their work easier because the prospective clients would be in a better position to appreciate the legal processes.

The learned Dr. Nana Oppong summarized the whole book and distinguished all laws under three categories. He said, "the first law is that everyone has the right to be wise. The second is, everyone has the right to be foolish. And the third law is that, the wise has the right to exploit the foolish in accordance with the law."

According to him, the lack of appreciation of these three fundamental rights of the law is responsible for the resource exploitation of Africa in a legal framework.

The author who is a lawyer, scientist and an author with more than 20 ground-breaking books written in diverse fields such as physics, economics, logic, philosophy, Intelligence among others, expressed the hope that iLegal will become the standard book for legal education so that no one would become ignorant in the law.

The Chief Executive Officer of Smartline, Mr. Elliott Agyare, said his outfit was glad to have partnered the author to publish such a book that clearly challenges the status quo and dares to do things differently for the greater good of the society.

He observed that there couldn't have been a better time for the publication of such a book, saying that it was very critical for the citizenry to be legally literate in these day and age.

Mr. Agyare also expressed the view that even though the publishing industry is very critical to national development very little attention has been given to it by past governments. He however praised the first government under President Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah for prioritizing the publishing industry at the time.

He underscored the need for the establishment of an indigenous publishing industry to document and propagate the culture and heritage of the Nation.

The Pro-vice Chancellor of Knutsford University, John Kwabena Essel, bemoaned the fact that a lot of people who are supposed to be documenting their experiences in books for the next generation to learn from them are not doing so. That, according to him, has contributed to the underdevelopment of the publishing industry in the country.

He therefore urged people in the academia, business as well as people from all walks of life to endeavour to document their experiences for others to read and learn from them in order to avoid common mistakes in life.
India would have been a loser had PM Modi embarked on a visit in the first or even the second and third year of his tenure. Here is why PM Modi's visit to Israel at this juncture of his term holds significance.

By Kumar Shakti Shekhar: Prime Minister Narendra Modi is on a three-day visit to Israel starting today (July 4). In the process, he has become the first Indian prime minister in about 70 years of its independence to visit Israel.

The timing of PM Modi's high-profile tour to Israel is perhaps the most significant aspect of his visit. It comes in the fourth year of his tenure.

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However, it could even have been planned in the very first year of his tenure. But the visit to Israel in the latter half of Narendra Modi's tenure has obviously been planned quite strategically.

India would have been a loser had PM Modi embarked on a visit in the first or even the second and third year of his tenure. These are the reasons why PM Modi's visit to Israel at this juncture holds significance:

1. ANTI-MUSLIM IMAGE

Due to historical reasons associated with Palestine, Israel is considered a pariah by the Muslims. Israel's second-longest serving Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, is a right-wing hardliner. He is accused of taking control of the Jewish country's politics by vilifying the Palestinians and demonising the Arabs and the Muslims.

In post-2002 Gujarat riots India, Narendra Modi is considered a polarising figure. BJP and its ideological parent RSS are regarded by the Muslims and the Left liberals as pandering to the interests of the majority community and being inimical to the Muslims.

Modi rode to power in 2014 with a handsome majority. Had Israel figured in Modi's itinerary of the first few countries he visited soon after becoming the prime minister, it would have conveyed a negative message to the minority communities, especially the Muslims. His move would have put a stamp over his anti-Muslim tag.

2. OIL PRODUCING WEST ASIAN COUNTRIES

About 70 per cent of India's oil requirements are met by imports. By 2025-30, this is estimated to rise to about 80-85 per cent. Saudi Arabia, which is the world's largest oil producer, is India's largest supplier. Saudi Arabia has remained New Delhi's rescuer in times of need. It increased its oil imports to India, reduced purchase from Iran following international sanctions between 2008 and 2015.

As far as trade is concerned, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) remains India's third largest partner after China and the United States. The UAE is India's second largest exports destination.

Modi has already visited the two Islamic countries besides others in West Asia. Had he visited Israel before these countries, India's oil imports would have been jeopardised.

Hence, PM Modi visited the West Asian countries first and strengthened New Delhi's relations with them before embarking on his trip to Israel today.

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3. INDIAN DIASPORA

Around seven million Indian expatriate workers live in the Gulf countries. Indians constitute the largest emigrants in West Asia with Saudi Arabia and the UAE hosting most of them. Kuwait, Bahrain and Oman remain some of the other countries in West Asia to host Indian workers. These workers send back about 50 per cent of India's foreign remittances. It has helped buoy India's economy.

Strained relations between India and the Gulf countries because of Israel would have put the interests of the expatriates and the country itself under jeopardy.

4. TERRORISM

In the changed geo-political scenario, India is dependent also on the West Asian countries to keep the threat of terrorism at bay. One element in it was the Indian terrorists making these countries their haven. However, after India exerted pressure, these countries started deporting terror suspects.

Saudi Arabia deported Fasih Mohamood - an alleged Indian Mujahideen allegedly involved in the 2010 Bangalore blast - and other terror suspects in 2012. The UAE too extradited several alleged terrorists.

Cordial relations with the Middle East would help India fight terror.

5. ISOLATING PAKISTAN

India's friendly relations with the West Asian countries also helped in isolating Pakistan. For instance, extradition of the alleged terrorists was a message itself to Pakistan of the changed dynamics between India and the Gulf countries. These extraditions convey the message that the West Asian countries would not allow their soil to be used for terrorist activities against India.

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A case in point was the joint statement issued by India and the UAE during PM Modi's visit to Abu Dhabi in 2015. It exhorted "all states to reject and abandon the use of terrorism against other countries, dismantle terrorism infrastructure where it exists and bring perpetrators of terrorism to justice".

Similarly, the India-Saudi Arabia joint statement of 2016 was on similar lines. It "called on all states to reject the use of terrorism against other countries, dismantle terrorism infrastructure where they happen to exist and to cut off any kind of support and financing to the terrorists operating and perpetrating terrorism from their territories against other states."

Without naming Pakistan, the two statements clearly point towards India's neighbouring country and the terrorism emanating from its soil. This was a tectonic shift in the stand of the two oil-rich Islamic countries.

POLITICAL CORRECTNESS

PM Modi has visited Israel after touching down on all countries which could have got antagonised had he ignored them. India is going to benefit immensely out of the prime minister's Israel's visit, particularly in the fields of defence, strategic security, agriculture and innovations.

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The visit holds immense significance. However, PM Modi has timed it strategically not to rub the Islamic countries the wrong way. It is about being politically correct.

Also read | Welcome to Israel, my friend Modi: Netanyahu at Ben Gurion airport

Also read | What India can gain from Israel's defence strategy: All you need to know

Also read | India-Israel relation over the years: Ten defining developments

ALSO WATCH VIDEO

--- ENDS ---
Founded in the year 1999, the G20 is an international forum for governments and central banks from twenty (20) of the major economies around the world. Its aim is to study, review and promote high-level discussion on policy issues pertaining to the promotion of international financial stability.

The G20 in 2017 held the twelfth (12) meeting of the group and was dubbed as G20 Hamburg Summit. The meeting took place in the German city of Hamburg on the 7th and 8th June 2017 with some of the worlds top policymakers and investors represented.

For the first time, Africa was high on the G20 agenda with nine African heads of government, including the Ghanaian president, H.E. Nana Akufo-Addo in attendance. Other attendants included ministers, the heads of the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the African Development Bank alongside the Federal Chancellor of Germany, Dr. Angela Merkel, German Minister of Finance Dr. Wolfgang Schauble and the German Development Minister Dr. Gerd Muller. The conference presented a platform to discuss issues of central importance for the continents future and forging a new partnership between the G20 members, emerging countries and Africa.

On Thursday 22nd June 2017, the German Embassy in Ghana in partnership with the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) held a press conference at the German Embassy to brief a section of the media about the outcomes of the G20 Africa conference and the successful high level bilateral meetings between officials of the Ghanaian and German governments.

The media encounter was addressed by the German Ambassador to Ghana, Hon. Christopher Retzlaff, who accompanied the Ghanaian delegation to the G20 Hamburg Summit, Mr. Henry G. R. Kerali, Country Director of the World Bank and Mrs. Natalia Koliadina, Country Representative for the IMF.

To renew efforts of cooperation and to enhance sustainable economic development, the German G20 Presidency launched the G20 Africa Partnership. The Partnership aims to support reliable financial frameworks in order to increase investment opportunities, push for a more sustainable infrastructure as well as create jobs and employment in African countries thereby contributing to the African Unions Agenda 2063.

In this regard, the partnership intends to support related political initiatives of the G20 and facilitate joint commitments being investment compacts between African countries, G20 Partners and International Financial Institutions. The Compacts are demand-driven and form the basis for long-term cooperation, with the aim of creating a sound investment climate in relevant sectors of selected African economies. During the G 20 Africa conference, Ghana became one of the now seven Compact countries including Tunisia, Cote dIvoire, Senegal, Rwanda, Morocco and Ethiopia, Ambassador Retzlaff highlighted.

Ambassador Retzlaff added that three Compact countries (Ghana, Tunisia and Cote dIvoire) will additionally enter into a reform partnership with Germany. This saw the signing of declarations of intent between German Development Minister, Dr. Muller and the Ghanaian Minister of Finance, Hon. Ken Ofori-Atta. This will see Germany and Ghana intensifying their cooperation in the fields of Renewable Energy, Technical and Vocational Training and Financial Sector Development with an investment package of up to 100 Million Euros from Germany. The first year will be to improve the climate for private investment and create better employment prospects.

Mr. Kerali indicated the need for the Ghanaian government to create an enabling environment to attract foreign investment and also introduce policies leading to conditions to support the growth and development of businesses. It will be great to have a review of the process to register and setup a company in Ghana to make it more easier and faster. That will be a great incentive to most investors and businesses looking at having operations in Ghana and the World Bank is committed to supporting Ghana to become very attractive to businesses and investors, he cited.

The Country Representative of the IMF, Mrs. Natalia Koliadina, was optimistic the goal of the Compact, to boost private investment by harnessing the expertise and resources of governments, investors and international organizations, will be achieved.
Washington D.C., 3 July 2017  Morocco received approval for a US $25 million loan from the Climate Investment Funds Clean Technology Fund (CIF CTF) for a project to generate solar power through an innovative hybrid Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) and Photovoltaic (PV) solution.

The Midelt Phase I Concentrated Solar Power Project is being supported by the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the World Bank with an additional allocation of US$ 25 million in CTF resources.

The project consists of two separate CSP plants, each with 150-190 MW CSP capacity and a minimum of 5 hours of thermal storage. The envisaged installed capacity of the PV component could reach approximately 150-210 MW, making the total capacity of each of the proposed plants 300-400 MW and the total capacity of this first phase 600-800 MW.

The projects innovative hybrid solar design is also built on a unique Public-Private Partnership between the Moroccan Agency for Sustainable Energy (MASEN) and private sector sponsors - with a Build, Own, Operate and Transfer project structure and implementation approach. Selected sponsors are expected to form a Special Purpose Company to build and operate the plants and sell the generated electricity to MASEN under a 25-year Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs). The process will be designed to allow the award of the plants to different bidders. The support from the CTF and AfDB is critical in driving down the cost of the projects capital and lowering the Levelized Cost of Electricity.

In 2015, the world saw an important shift in CSP investment from the developed to the developing world, particularly in Morocco stated Anthony Nyong, AfDBs Director, Climate Change and Green Growth. Moroccos path-changing Noor CSP program under CTF, for which we serve as implementing agency, has been a critical element of that shift. This new project, which will be modelled on the Noor operational and financial structure, will increase the development of solar energy and further help diversify the countrys energy mix and enhance its energy security. We believe that the project can serve as a model for other countries in the region and beyond, he added.

The project will significantly contribute to the Government of Moroccos achievement of its Nationally Determined Contribution under the Paris Agreement, including its goal of achieving 52% of installed capacity from renewable energy (20% from solar) by 2030. Moroccos Solar Plan will also contribute to industrial development, competitiveness and could create about 30,000 jobs.

Until now, CSP has been the dominant renewable energy technology assuring electricity during peak hours and by adding a PV component, we expect enhancing the reliability of the power plant stated Leandro Azevedo, AfDBs CIF Program Coordinator and Senior Climate Finance Officer. The combination of these two technologies will allow Morocco to optimize the dispatch of generated power during the daytime by ensuring that the utilization of the CSP component can be maximized during night-time through the use of thermal storage, he said.

Estimated greenhouse gas savings for the Noor-Midelt Phase 1 project is about 1.2 million tCO2 equivalent per year and 36 million tCO2 equivalent over the projects 25 year-lifetime.

About the Climate Investment Funds (CIF)

Established in 2008, as one of the largest fast-tracked climate financing instruments in the world, the US $8.3-billion CIF provides developing countries with grants, concessional loans, risk mitigation instruments, and equity that leverage significant financing from the private sector, MDBs and other sources.

Five MDBs  the African Development Bank (AfDB), Asian Development Bank (ADB), European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), and World Bank Group (WBG)  implement CIF-funded projects and programs.
04.07.2017 LISTEN

Thousands of Ghanaians come to the Chief Imam's office this afternoon to meet former President John Dramani Mahama.

Extraordinarily creative in his composure, drew many comments especially when people realised that the were looking at the real man who lead the nation for four years and rated as the second only to Nkrumah when it comes to infrastructural development and good governance.

Outside the Chief Iman's office was a display of placards with inscriptions such as " Come back messiah" "Allah has vindicated you" "Ghanaians want you back" etc. There were also exhibits of regrets on the faces of the people with others shedding tears chanting the name of the former President.

COMMENT

Respite spending much time talking to the crowd,the grounds of the Chief Iman's place,where he was mobbed by people taking seifie with him and shaking him,Former President Mahama found time to meet with all the clerics and leaders.

Mr Edmund Berfi a who traveled from Kasoa to meet the President, said, God had good reasons for giving Ghanaians the 2016 results. According to Mr Berfi, six months after Mr Mahama's exit, Ghanaians are fasting and praying for 2020 to arrive for them to vote back the great leader.

Dr Sheikh Ibrahim who resides in the United States, said happenings in the country today and comments emanating from every corner of the country vindicate the former President. He said, Trump has just submitted a bill cutting spending on education to enable him expand educational infrastructure, Theresa May's major policy for the coming years is revamping of technical education.

These he said, were part of what the advocated for years which were mischievously misinterpreted by his opponents. He mentioned the the bost issue and other corrupt practices recorded under the new administration and the unwillingness of leadership to sanction people involved.

Madam Gloria Odeibea also narrated the painful ordeal she and other traders at Nkrumah Circle go through since the NDC left office. She spoke in tears and pleaded that the former President offer himself as candidate for the NDC in the next election. Others who were spotted in Npp T- shirts refused to speak to journalists around but participated fully in all the activities including chanting for the return of the former President.
The national executive board of *GNMTA* wishes to register its displeasure on the decision of government to revoke the bond between trainee nurses and midwives in public training institutions across the country.

We as trainee nurses and midwives can vividly recall that during the 2016 electioneering period, the then opposition party NPP,now the current government in power promised trainee nurses that, the trainee nurse allowance will be restored first hundred (100)days when voted into power, which was actually a welcoming news to all trainees across the country since NPP is coming to salvage them from their challenges confronting them,

Ranging from scrapping of trainee allowance by the erstwhile government, posting of trainee nurses and midwives after successful completion of their course of study ( thus getting them employed) and many more.

These promises actually descended very well into the memories of trainees and the voted the erstwhile government out of power to enable them get what was duly promised them,but what we are experiencing as trainees in recent times is totally different from the promise given because we have come to realise that the NPP government is now playing with our senses as trainees and throwing dust into the eyes of Ghanaians because of their recent killer and spider tactics policies they are implementing ranging from full restoration of trainees allowance within first hundred days in power which has even elapsed and now intended to be implemented in September and base on response from the deputy minister of health .

Hon TINA MENSAH upon numerous interactions with the national executive board of GNMTA indicates that government is to give this allowance to only first years who will be admitted into the 2017/2018 academic year and continuing students ranging from the 2014/2015 academic year entrants will not benefit from the allowance meanwhile these were the people government promised of restoring allowance to in full when voted into power first hundred (100)days . This might seem surprising to the general public but GNMTA will want to inform the general public that these are the plans of the NPP government.

We are saying this because in our first meeting with the deputy minister of health on this same allowance issue to know the following.

- The crop of trainees that will benefit from the trainee allowance?

- Amount to be paid as allowance?

- When the process will be started? And to also get documents covering how the allowance is going to be restored.

Answers to these questions were not given but HON TINA MENSAH clearly stated that the continuing students will benefit from the allowance base on the the number of semesters left for continuing students to complete their course of studies starting from September 2017 ,since there will no be payment of arrears and the current final years will not benefit from the allowance since they will no longer be trainees after completion in August 2017. Which we the national executive board proposed that a reasonable amount of money be be given to these final years as compensation since they were equally promised of enjoying the full restoration of the trainees allowance.

The deputy minister in that meeting stated it loud and clear to us that she will forward our grievances to the minister and the president of the Republic of Ghana for consideration and to respond to us accordingly but do you know happened next?

Upon making a follow up to the deputy ministers office by the national vice president of GNMTA on the feedback of our previous meeting, the deputy minister of health TINA MENSAH boldly denied that she never said continuing students will benefit from the allowance how much more final years who will be completing in the Month of August 2017 and for that matter to the best of her knowledge she is only aware of the first years who will be admitted into the 2017/2018 academic year. Quite a part from that the Hon minister of health, Hon KWAKU AGYEMANG MANU ,the deputy minister of health, Hon TINA MENSAH and Dr NSIAH ASARE has described it irrelevant for government to bond nurses and for that matter government will revoke the bond between trainee nurses and the government which we trainee nurses and midwives sees it contradicting with government promise to full Restoration of trainees allowance and in relations to the response from the ministry of health on the restoration process of the allowance.

*GNMTA* is by this press release telling government that we have lost trust in their promises given to us during the electioneering period.

*GNMTA* will like to reiterate that government should reconsider its decision of revoking the bond between trainee nurses and reinstate the bond because it is the bond that comes in the form of the trainees allowance and also the purpose of this bond was to curve the brain drain system in the health sector of Ghana to prevent nurses from moving out of the country to seek for greener pastures since the condition of services for nurses in Ghana is not something good to write home about and also the patient to nurse ratio is very poor or not satisfactory as at then and even now.

Is the government saying that, there can no longer be brain drain in the health sector? Or has the government employed enough staff to man the various health facilities across the country to control the patient to nurse ratio which is 22:1 (PATIENT: NURSE)

Government should not take the lives of Ghanaians for granted and reinstate the bond and also avoid saying that the bond makes trainees to Mount unnecessary pressure on the ministry in terms of employment of nurses.

GNMTA is once again by this press release informing government to revoke it's decision of revoking the the bond between trainees and also pay all trainees allowance that they were promised during the electioneering period and stop throwing dust into the eyes of Ghanaians and also avoid playing with the minds of trainee nurses.

We will also use this medium to state it loud and clear that the 2016 batch of RNAC AND RNAP who completed college without allowance are still at home waiting to be posted and for that matter government should fast track the posting process and get them posted to avoid any inconvenience.

Last but not the least is that the rotation nurses who are currently offering their mandatory national service to mother Ghana have worked for more than four(4) months without service allowance and their forms they filled are still left unattended to at the various regional health directorates.

We want government to note that these group of nurses can not continue going to work on empty stomach and even without money to pay their utility bills,lorry fare to work and paying for their accommodation just to mention a few. We want government to note that if by the end of this July when this service allowances are not paid ,they will have no option than to lay off their tools and stay at home until when they are paid the allowance due them.

The above mentioned and elaborated concerns are the challenges which trainees are confronted with and therefore calling on His excellency the president of the republic of Ghana and his government ,senior colleagues in the nursing profession and concern citizens to please come to our aid and help address our challenges or else trainee nurses and interns (rotation nurses) will consider it that we are taken for granted and will have no option than the over sixty nine thousand (69,000) members of GNMTA coming out to speak to the government the only language the government of the day understands better.

*GNMTA* is therefore hoping that our concerns will be addressed by government and the appropriate departments responsible for finding solutions to our problems and give as a response to that effect within 2weeks. If there's no response within the two weeks ultimatum given then we will have no option than to speak in another language.

*GNMTA* remains the only legally registered mouth piece for trainee nurses ,midwives and interns across the country and will continue to emancipate the trainee nurses through the philosophy of dialogue and nonviolence.

*GNMTA: DOING ALL FOR THE HEALTH OF ALL*

SIGNED;

NATIONAL PRESIDENT

Batiah Semi-Ulah Santi

0541412215/0205724736.

GENERAL SECRETARY

Deladem Woyi

0208102065/0545066744

NATIONAL PRO

Akugri Gadafi Avokbil

0248401659/0204708376

PRESS AND INFORMATION

Arhin Isaac

0271042505

ZONAL PRESIDENTS;

1.GREATER ACCRA ZONE

Biney Ibrahim

0243153444

2. ASHANTI/BRONG AHAFO ZONE.

Adomah Sammuel

0202364722

3. EASTERN/VOLTA ZONE.

Danny Ambrose Zokla

0244638011

4. NORTHERN ZONE

Sugri Abdul-Rafiq

0206671237

5. WESTERN/CENTRAL ZONE.

Bismarck Kwabla Kpobi

0209001524
04.07.2017 LISTEN

In the recent past, many Ghanaians have witnessed abject lies, deceptions, naked propaganda, impunity and ugly political trajectories in our body politics. Many are those who have lost hope and faith in the system and are therefore hanging on to themselves and their convictions for survival.

To some, politics is a reserved avocation for men with the heart of the devil while others see politics as a platform for legal plunder, arena where thievery is legitimised by the mights of power holders but my views on politics are no different from the its proper rendition from a liberal perspective.

As l sit to review the complexities lurking beneath the notion that power handlers in this country are comitted to eradicate corruption from the system, my spine numbs with extreme cold considering the spate of resurgence of dubious and shady transactions running around.

We live in a country where the few elites in politics rigorously pursue subtle financial insurrection against the state using political parties as a cover and my frustrations as a young man pregnant with beautiful dreams keep growing uncontrollably.

The appalling waves of barbaric inundations sweeping over NKRUMAH's Ghana awake concerns within all well meaning Ghanaians across the world.

A ten year old boy once approached me and asked me a question, a question l couldnt impress his satisfaction with my answers and since date l have been lingering on what could have been the proper answer to his simple question.

His question was simple, "Ivan do we ( Ghanaians) have men with sterling honesty of purpose, men of unquestionable character, men with unwavering moral tenacity whom we can rely on in our dark days in our political landscape?"

In fact, l was literally overwhelmed, l kept interrogating myself what might have triggered such a thinking from such a young boy whose understanding of politics isn't that much profound.

I said to him, l understand we have men of intellectual wits, men who have excelled with the brilliance of pen and good speech, fathers and mothers who understand morality and honesty but unfortunately most of them have sacrificed these beautiful attributes for partisan expediency. Loyalty to party interest far out-weigh that of the state. The very picture on his face after answering him was that of incredulity, his eyes were coloured with the aura of bleak for the future as walked away.

I understand you might have answered

him from a different perspective if you have had similar opportunity because considering the erratic behaviour of most politicians in Ghana every questions about their conducts will naturally draw multiple answers and elicit controversies.

Infilteration of lies and deceptions into

the conduct and handling of state business and other related transaction renders our situation a desperate one which requires immediate address.

Let's review some current issues on our political radar.

Prior to the 2016 elections, the then candidate and his running mate ,now president and vice, Nana Addo and Dr.Bawumia, chastised the Mahama-led administration over loans solicited from allies abroad. In fact, the duo held series of press conferences on numerous occasions singing sweetheart choruses about abundance of money in Ghana to their followers.

"Ghana is rich, we do not need loans, l have worked at the Bank of Ghana before and l know where the monies are"--Dr. Bawumia.

Fast forward to 2017, the two at the helm of affairs in just few months, they are close to cut a loan deal with the Chinese government after the shady $2.25 million the finance minister single-handedly contracted from a US based firm after truncating all constitutional procedures required to land a loan. This alleged $19billion loan facility from China,if indeed true, because Dr. Bawumia is the last person to trust his words, he's known for his erratic tongue, will be a disaster for an economy that is struggling to pull through tough entanglement.

What is currently true is, the state sponsored 116 delegations to China over this alleged loan facility, this $19billion loan facility will be the largest single loan ever contracted in the history of Ghana, and the most bizzare aspect of the whole development is that details of this transactions are kept secret from Ghanaians to learn exactly what Ghana is mortgaging as a collateral for the deal.

Bawumia and co. now have the moral courage to talk to Ghanaians about going for

a loan, what a shame. Dr Bawumia in the run up to the 2016 elections posited Ghana's dept to GDP ratio at 72%, nothing has changed in accordance with Bawumia's own economic statistics so far, he's now raising $19billion, so the question every Ghanaian will be seeking answers for is what will be our dept to GDP ratio if this snake-deal pull through. He has the moral enfontry to talk about loans at all, politics is indeed a joke in this country.

These are characters who consistently

taint the image of politicians with disdain and impunity.

This is the height of intellectual dishonesty in modern politics.

If Bawumia has the moral energy to chase loans as a Vice President of Ghana after been reduced to a mere stooge at the corridors of power, then the devil equally can gather moral tenacity to force his way through heaven gates for redemption on judgement day and God will not even blink.

Another drama, the comic twerks of the npp government keep spinning, there are videos circulating on various social platforms, videos of undeniable evidential confirmation where Nana Addo mounted the stage at Nkoranza and other cities in B/A and

Promised individuals who under dubious circumstances got swindled by the popular DKM, God is love financial scam.

The truth is that, the NDC administration poorly handled the delicate sitution which eventually culminated in the party's abysmal performance in the region.

Bank of Ghana with oversight responsibility sat aloof and watched a broad day robery, that alone would naturally make the government in power complicit and many expected certain serious measures rolled out to attenuate the woes of victims however gullible they acted.

The situation was a disaster just like any other unfortunate natural occurance hence government intervention in such extraordinary circumstances was indispensable but that was not the case, government actors then got into tug of war with the opposition over the matter trading accusations, naturally the opposition would want to harvest genuine public sentiment for

electoral expediency.

The rhetorics of some members in the previous administration angered many in the region and those frustrations were translated into voting which eventually got the NDC kicked out and l believe the lessons to be learnt from that ugly development is overwhelming.

To the opposition then, the npp, the woes of the victims presented a veritable electoral advantage, all they had to do was to whip genuine sentitments of victims,their families and sympathizers to play their electoral cards, and they did just that.

Nana-Addo promised a refund for all victims, all they had to do was vote him into office, low and behold, he got their votes and won, few days later his finance minister stood before parliament and denied, the npp ever promising any refund for victims. This how they played victims, as we speak millions of Ghanaians have their life savings locked up in God is Love micro finance and only God knows what the hell is happening there, nobody is even talking about it anymore.

This is how far deception has rigged our system, power handlers see voters as bunch of ignoramus and non-dercerning and can use them anytime for their convenience.

Until the populace come together, pants down the excesses of partisan loyalty and tell these greedy brigadiers that enough is enough and patching national interest, the ordinary Ghanaian will remain in modern day slavery and servitude working to enrich the greedy few and their families all in the name of some nasty partisan loyalty, many are those whom, out of crass ignorance, are on their way to become matyrs of stupidity under certain misguided sense of political allegiance.

Let's all rise and build the dilapidated moral sphere of our political structure, that's the only way we can genuinely ask and demand

accountability from the corridors of power.

The Bible is my witness.....
04.07.2017 LISTEN

Over 200 Senior Citizens in the Brong Ahafo region on Saturday,1st July benefited from a free health screening organised by Brong Ahafo Regional Coordinating Council (RCC).

The project which took place at residency in Sunyani was formed to mark Ghanas 57 Republic Day Anniversary,which is now to commemorate to celebrate and recognise the invaluable service of the Senior Citizens in the country.

It is also to show appreciation for the selfless contributions and devotion to duty during the years of active service of gallant men and women which has contributed significantly to the overall development of Ghana.

The exercise which was led by Brong Ahafo regional minister Lawyer Kwaku Asomah Cheremeh was aimed at determining the oral and medical health status of the Senior Citizens and to advise them on how to live healthy lives.

They were tested on Blood Pressure,diabetes, Body Mass Index, Dental screening among others free charge.

"We are doing this to ensure that our senior citizens stay healthy to go about their daily activities peacefully " the Minister stated.

Lawyer Kwaku Asomah Cheremeh said the government recognizes their positive contributions to the development process and will continue to support them with the needed interventions that will ensure their social security.

"We appreciate and commend this good effort by you which has helped significantly to build our nation and wish to use this occasion to further encourage you to continue with your good work even though you are no more in active service, to guide and nurture those in service to exhibit such high sense of patriotism in serving mother Ghana" he told senior citizens.

"Government unflinching support and commitment to your welfare" Minister assured them.

Lawyer Kwaku Asomah Cheremeh, said we are therefore more than willing to receive your advice to help our country to develop".

The Minister advised the them to regularly go in for check-ups as well and engage in physical exercises like walking around among others in order to stay healthy.

The occasion was attracted by government functionaries like Hon. Evelyn Amma Kumi ,Municipal Chief Executive(MCE) for Sunyani,Hon.Martian Obeng, DCE for Sunyani West,Nananom in Sunyani among others.
04.07.2017 LISTEN

Authorities at the Krachi West District Hospital in the Volta Region have been extorting money from valid National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) clients.

Techiman Times has gathered that the facility sells blood product, issues incredible lab test and pharmacy receipts.

Valid sample of report on payment made without issuing receipt for (on blood product 2 banks= GH180.00 i.e. GHC90. 00 per bank, When the receipt was demanded from the lab technician, he said receipts are not giving for blood products except for the blood processing.

He also told us that with the blood processing whether one made a replacement (donation) or bought the blood product one must pay for the processing with the same amount which is GH40.00 per blood bank so GHC120.00 was paid for blood processing of which GHC40.00 was for the blood replacement processing fee because the care taker donated (replacement) the first bank of the blood. Before we were noticed to pay for the other banks and processing.

From the hospital receipt, the hospital recorded it as a bill on blood bank mean why its blood processing, a victim who spoke with this reporter on a condition of anonymity narrated. *Lab test and receipt* On the receipt of blood test, the facility doesnt write the type of lab test paid for; they only write lab fee paid.

When the facility staff was asked to enter the type of lab that is been paid for on the receipt, the staff answered that is exactly what they do. When we decided to still follow up with question they feel we are dictating to them what to do or we are making them feel they do not know what they are doing. *Pharmacy* In the hospital the system is more or less as cash and carry system.

A lot of money had been demanded for as drugs fees to be paid at the pharmacy alongside the NHIS indeed we did the payment because may be insurance doesnt cover but on the receipts they only filled it as drugs fees paid. This news paper has learnt that the District, Regional and National Managers of the National Health Insurance Scheme have done nothing to fight the canker when the matter was reported to them.
04.07.2017 LISTEN

Some problems associated with basic education certificate examination (BECE) in the Ellembelle District of the Western Region have been revealed by Mr. Bright Andoh a teacher at Hassaniya Islamic J.H.S.

Mr. Bright Andoh in a document copied to the Ellembelle District Education Directorate and the media stated that there was mass leakage of examination questions in 2016 but West African Examination Council (WAEC) failed to put things in order and continued in 2017 BECE.

"I wish to indicate that proclamations made in this piece are no uncertain terms the truth, though no backed by any hard-core evidence"

"The conduct of examinations for both basic and second cycle institutions in recent times and times past has in no doubt had its turbulent periods, one would have ordinarily expected that haven gathered enough experience throughout the period, WAEC and GES could have, in this contemporary world, devised mechanisms to help curb examination malpractices".

" This has not been the case. Am not implying that the named institutions have not provided any remedy to the situation though. After the mass leakage of examination questions in 2016, WAEC, in the conduct of the 2017 BECE, proved that it had worked really hard to put things in order, at least from its headquarters or so speak. The situation at some examination centres however told a different story".

"Let me hasten to add that these are dangerous times when crime is usually hailed and the truth is relative and dependent on the judgment of one's audience, it is necessary that one exercises care, tact and caution so as to attract negative publicity or worse; welcome an early death. But the truth nonetheless must be told in the face of overwhelming odds".

" After the rather unfortunate incidence that occurred at the BOKASS SHS examination centre during the 2016 BECE, culminating in several schools performing poorly and the District recording one of its worse ever results, I believed it was a huge deterrent to all persons involved in various forms of examination malpractices, but I wrong! Totally wrong!"

In 2012 when I was first posted into the Ellembelle District, I observed with dismay a culture; a culture where the District Examination Officer would gather and take money from headmasters to be given to invigilators so that teachers from contributing schools would have access to the examination hall. Not only that, the invigilators themselves openly dictated answers to candidates at the exams hall. Candidates, after their daily sitting would recount how 'helpful' and 'generous' invigilators were, not wasting any opportunity to label one or two others who did not support this course as extremely wicked.

Students ignorantly and shamelessly bragged about how they his mobile phones with answers to the questions they were to answer and even calling their teachers on such phones for answers to some questions in the course of writing their papers. In a particular year, candidates narrated with joy how invigilators sent a box round for candidates to dispose any foreign material they carried because they (invigilators) sensed the presence of an external invigilator.

Some disgruntled candidates also obliviously expressed their frustrations at how invigilators helped some schools more than others and how they (candidates) suspected some answers dictated openly were were wrong. This, I found to be true as my own candidates ticked wrong responses to relatively cheap questions, explaining that those were answers supplied by invigilators, thus sadly making efforts of teachers who word hard fruitless".

"Gross misconduct during the the 2016 BECE led to the creation of a new centre at Holy Child Preparatory School, Aiyinasi. I must sy that I was not overly fond of that idea as I struggled to establish how a new centre could prevent any malpractice. This time, instincts were not on point! The conduct of the 2017 BECE at the new centre - Holy Child, was nothing less than a replica of the factors that necessitated the creation of same. I visited the centre on Thursday June 8, 2017, the fourth day of the examination. Prior to my visit, I had been shown a gloomy picture of the tenure of events at the centre. A colleague went as far as taking with his phone, the picture of a man giving what appeared to be strips of papers to candidates in one of the examination rooms through a window close to the road".

Mr. Bright Andoh asked how do these teachers other people come by the questions, given that these questions don't leak from the bWAEC headquarters? "Now, the exams questions for each day are distributed each morning to the various centres in turns. A centre that receives before others then takes shots of it by a tablet or phone and send to teachers via the WhatsApp platforms. Before the distributing team gets to a particular centre, teachers and other persons of certain might have already prepared and delivered solutions to the questions to their candidates".

Suggestions

He added that, "I am saddened by the fact that I do not have any authority to turn things round but I am also optimistic that any tiniest of contributions can make huge impacts in the conduct of examinations throughout the nation. In this light, I put forward the under - listed suggestions with the hope that refinements are made where necessary to enable them fit into the legal framework and thus non-contradictory to the norms of WAEC and the Ghana Education Service;

That WAEC and GES ensure that persons appointed as examination officers as well as invigilators are made to put their jobs on the line by surrounding the originals of their highest professional and academic certificates to the Education Directorate and kept until a successful completion of their assigned tasks. Such persons should be made aware that they would lose their jobs and have their certificates ceased forever should they implicated an any form of malpractices.

That invigilators are conducted amongst candidates possibly after a day's papers to assess the situation on the ground. Eavesdropping on candidates' conversation alone could do a greater part of the work.

That the service of the police be used sparingly and should have no physical contact with invigilators or candidates.

* That GES and WAEC should be critical in their choice of persons for any exams related task.

That colours of the question papers for a particular year be random and differ from immediate previous ones to provide extra security.

That invigilators and other examination officers are under no circumstance allowed to carry mobile phones, tablets, recordable or programmable devices including calculators to exams halls except the leader of the team who should be allowed to use a phone not capable of taking pictures just in case of any emergency.

That the check for teacher absenteeism be intensified during the BECE period to keep teachers in their classrooms instead of loitering around examination centres. Again, the presence of teachers and any other unauthorized persons close to exams centres be made illegal by both and GES.

* Persons found to have engaged in any form of malpractice be made to stand quick trail and face unrelenting punishment if found guilty.

Mr. Bright Andoh concluded that BECE results presented by most candidates to Senior High Schools are not true reflection of their performance. Examination malpractice goes on persistently, he added.
04.07.2017 LISTEN

Kumasi based Prempeh College is the winner of the national mathematics and science quiz, with St Thomas Aquinas coming second and Adisadel College coming third. The winners and runners up deserve commendation for their efforts meant to promote science and mathematics education in Ghana.

For winning the 2017 edition of the Quiz, Prempeh College received GHC40,000 and packages from Tigo and GCB Bank

For 2nd place, St. Thomas Aquinas SHS got GHC30,000 and packages from Tigo and GCB Bank while Adisadel College got a cash prize of GHC20,000 and packages from Tigo and GCB Bank.

However, miss Zuweira Baba Mohammed of Tamale Senior High School who took part in the competition stole the entire show as she was named the best female contestant in the entire contest and was awarded 5,000ghc.

Zuweira might be distant away from the winners of the contest.

Her school participated in the Tuesday, June 6, 2017 preliminary contest at the R.S. Amegashie Auditorium of the University of Ghana Business School in Legon.

Unfortunately, they lost to Tepa Senior High School and couldn't make it to the next stage of the competition. In spite of all that, her feat has indeed raised the image of girls not only in her school, The Tamale Secondary School but the entire girls in Ghana. Mathematics and science is taught in all our secondary schools especially the polytechnics.

The main reason is to infuse the study of science in the up and coming generations especially the girl children as Ghana moves towards industrialization.

When Ghana attained independence in 1957 followed by attaining a republican status in 1960, the first government of Ghana which set out to promote industrialization, introduced science and mathematics educationin newly established polytechnics throughout the country. most of the products of the polytechnics have qualified to study in the countrys universities with others as employees in our industries.

As Ghana under the current government of Nana Addo Danquah Akufo Addo has set out to establish factories throughout the country under the one factory one district policy, more hands would be required to provide services in those factories. Girls who were known to fear mathematics and science are expected to show interest in the subject.

The feat chalked by Zuweira must serve as factor to influence them to study mathematics and science especially now that employees are required in telephone manufacturing firms vehicle assembly plants and repair firms and many others.

Those girls from the northern part of Ghana and Zongos must take advantage of the opportunities available to study mathematics and science at school. Most people who heard of the feat chalked by Zuweira wrote to commend her for being chosen as the best female contestant in the quiz contest. Most of them expressed the hope that many youths especially the girls from the northern Ghana and the zongos would follow the footsteps of Zuweira.

We wish her well in her effort to make good progress at school and later in higher institutions. in an interview with the media she expressed desire to pursue her education to the university and layer become a lecturer. We wish her good luck on the belief that she would achieve her aim
04.07.2017 LISTEN

Writing in the Vanguard newspaper edition of 3 November 2015, Rotimi Ogundana observed that if for any reason Biafra must come alive, majority of the people in the South East would need to decide about it in a referendum or a plebiscite. He was practically saying that the Nigerian authorities should give Nigerians from the South East an opportunity to have a say in how their destiny as a people is determined.

Mr Ogundana argued that Nigerians from the South East have continued to vote for others since the end of the civil war and deserve to be voted for to clinch the Presidency in 2023. According to him, 45 years after the end of the civil war led by Ojukwu, the South East has not grabbed the highest position in the land and it is only fair that they be given the chance, come 2023, or Nigeria should let them go in peace.

Much as I think that Mr. Ogundana had a point, I do not subscribe to the fact that grabbing the highest position in the land at any time is what the Igbo need. No one needs to grab anything.

On the contrary, I have repeatedly said it, even as the Deputy Commanding Officer of the Anti-stragglers Squadron of the 14 Division of the Biafran Army and a journalist of 40 years standing, that the position of the Igbo in the entire Nigerian experiment is uncomplicated and very easy to understand. Nigeria has a constitution. That constitution clearly stipulates who can and who cannot be called a Nigerian.

The Nigerian passport which is the document that authenticates a Nigerians nationality does not specify that a Nigerian has to be Hausa, Igbo or Yoruba in its context. That simply means that Nigerian nationalism does not recognise ethnicity. And essentially, it is the overt or covert attempt to doctor the spirit of this document that the Igbo are vehemently against, and for which they have now become continuously vilified by the Nigerian authorities who should know better.

Every true Igbo knows that agitating for Biafra does not necessarily mean that the Igbo are hell-bent on breaking up Nigeria. Leaders of both Ohaneze and the IPOB know this very well. And if the truth must be told, the Igbo also know that the Federal Government will definitely keep up its stiff neck about restructuring Nigeria unless an overwhelming pressure is put on it by stakeholders.

And the threat to break up is one such major pressure point. It is a political weapon, a political move that is calculated to bring the Federal Government on its knees to obey the dictates of the people who elected it into public office. And that is as it should be in a democracy. There is no gun, no knife, no arrow  only the peoples franchise.

That aside, most Nigerians believe that they will be happier living side by side as Nigerian citizens, working together and enjoying one anothers company despite their ethnic differences. If for no other reason, at-least there is the desire to shame those superpowers who predicted that Nigeria would break up after the first 100 years of its amalgamation.

As the most populous, most endowed African nation, a leader and the gateway to African economy, Nigerians decide. And both the leaders of Ohaneze and IPOB know this very well.

They know that although the Igbo are the ones now being castigated for agitating for the actualization of Biafra, the Igbo are also the ones for whom the unity of Nigeria means quite a lot. Since the amalgamation of 1914, the Igbo are the ones who have made the most enormous sacrifices to keep Nigeria united. They are the ones who have invested their money and skills in the development of Nigerian villages, towns and cities other than their own. No one can justifiably doubt these facts. So, for them, being truly Nigerian means that ethnicism must not be part of the national dictionary much in the same way as it is not recognised by the Nigerian passport. It means that any Nigerian child born in any part of Nigeria has legitimacy of citizenship of his or her place of birth. It means that any citizen of Nigeria can live, work and help develop any village, town or city in Nigeria where he feels comfortable to live in, without being constantly harassed and reminded by those who claim to own the land that he is a foreigner in his own country.

And if we can for once be honest to ourselves, the question is: is it possible? The answer is a resounding yes. But firstly, the current laws put in place to enforce nationalism in Nigeria are very weak. Added to that, only lip service is paid to their implementation. So, unless stringent laws are put in place and ardently enforced to ensure that Nigerians of whatever extract are made to feel at home in any village, town or city of Nigeria they choose to live in, this vexatious question of United States of Nigeria can never be fully resolved.

To adapt that resolution to our local situation, we must take a critical look at the behavioural pattern of societies which elucidates the fact that the language of a people is the bedrock of their tradition and culture. People will embrace and integrate even a stranger who speaks their language more easily than their own kith and kin who does not. So, one way to get the national bridge solidly built is to introduce the compulsory study of the three main Nigerian languages, Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba into the national school curriculum. In such a way, every Nigerian child learns in school to speak those three languages as a stepping stone towards total integration and enhancement of Nigerian nationalism.

To make Nigerian nationalism real we need to plan for it. The National Assembly needs to work harder. Building up a nation is not a days affair. As they say: Rome was not built in a day. Nigeria cannot be built in a day either. But we need to start somewhere. The National Assembly needs to make laws which will make the study of Nigerias three main languages compulsory in all Nigerian schools. In a generation, hopefully, we should be getting results.

Of course we know that, so far, Nigerian legislators have criminally refused to do this because ethnic politics pays them better. But Nigerians are no fools. They know that their representatives have all along endorsed the ethnic sentiments that underline Nigerian nationalism in its present context because that is how they are paid fat. The question now is: can they even muzzle the political will to lay the foundation of a united, strong and viable Nigeria that can command the respect of Africa and the world?

No one is pretending that this is going to be easy. We know that the northern oligarchy is economically gaining much from the oil wells in the south. That is why they sit on any attempt to call for a plebiscite so that Nigerians will decide how they want to live in harmony. Most Igbo know that even then, what they need is not a breakaway. Nwodo and Kanu know this very well. And they also know that the Nigerian authorities will not easily concede to hold either a plebiscite or a referendum to enable Nigerians determine how they want to live together unless they immensely pressurise the federal government, like some sections of the populace threatening to break up.

What I think is that the leadership of Ohaneze and IPOB should allow every Igbo to know that this is all politics. The Igbo should know that they are only asking for a fairer deal, and that such fairness will not easily come from the feudal lords in the North because they have held on to power in Nigeria for so long and because the taste of power is never relinquished without a fight.

When I look back at the events of the past few days, I am minded to say that Kanu clearly acted on impulse following the success of his stay-home order on 30 May when he announced the boycott of the Anambra gubernatorial election. As I said earlier, many people stayed home more for fear that their shops could be attacked and looted by hoodlums if they were opened on that day.

The success of the venture fortified Kanu to order that there would be no elections in Anambra in November. That was also aimed at pressurising the Federal government to call for a referendum so that Nigerians can decide for themselves how they want to live together. The main problem was that Kanus order was ill timed and probably not widely consultative. Apart from being too close, the November election had to do with only Anambra State. So, even if the Igbo boycotted the elections, it would make absolutely no impact on the status quo. Only Anambra would have lost. Only Anambra would have suffered. Without a Governor what work can be carried out in the state? And that was probably why the President-General of Ohaneze spoke to members the State Assembly, countermanding Nnamdis boycott order.

Obviously, boycotting elections would be a strong pressure point for the Federal government to cave into the demands of protesters who are agitating for a restructuring of the country. But that should be left for 2019. If by then the Federal Government is still sitting on its idea of not restructuring the country, any boycott of elections in the East would make meaning because no President can emerge in Nigeria without 25% win across six states. Can the leadership of Ohaneze and IPOB please focus on that agenda? Trust the Federal Government or not, and believe this writer or not, at some point, Federal Government must call off its bluff.

Sir Asinugo is a London-based journalist and publisher of Imo State Business Link Magazine
By PTI: By Shirish B Pradhan

Kathmandu, Jul 4 (PTI) Nepals Vice President Nanda Bahadur Pun today left for China leading a business delegation and address a meeting on cooperation and development along the ambitious Silk Road project initiated by Beijing.

The 23rd China-Lanzhou Investment and Trade Fair will be held in Lanzhou, the capital of the northwestern Gansu Province on July 6.

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During the visit, the Vice President will address the High-profile Forum for Cooperation and Development along the Silk Road and also deliver a keynote speech to the business community on the theme "Nepal- China (Gansu) Economic and Trade Cooperation Exchange Conference" on July 7, according to a statement issued by Nepals Foreign Ministry.

Vice President Pun is also scheduled to meet senior Chinese leaders during the visit. Pun will also visit two historical cities of Shaanxi Province of China - Xian and Yanan, where the provincial Chinese leaders will call on the former Maoist leader.

He is accompanied by his spouse Hastamali Pun and senior officials at the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Commerce. He is scheduled to return Kathmandu on July 10.

Nepal is the guest of honour country at the trade fair. Nepal recently signed the Belt and Road projects initiated by China.

The Belt and Road projects aims to enhance connectivity and cooperation among countries, primarily between China and the rest of Asia and Europe through land as well as maritime routes.

Nepal signing the deal with China raised some concerns in India, which has opposed Beijings initiative. India has reservations over the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, part of the One Belt One Road, as it is proposed to pass through the Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. PTI SBP AMS AKJ AMS

--- ENDS ---
A day's seminar on the need for lawyers to play a leading role in the fight against corruption has been held in Sekondi.

The seminar which was organized by the western regional branch of the Ghana Bar Association to mark this years Martyrs Day commemoration was on the theme, "Financial Integrity, Honesty and Professional Deligence,the role of the legal profession against corruption".

Over Fifty legal practitioners, students and security personnel took part in the exercise. The facilitator,Professor John Bright Kobla Aheto took them through some conducts of lawyers that promote corruption and how they can prevent them.He said the most dangerous type of corruption that has taken root in our society is the systematic type.

Professor Aheto likened this type of corruption to an endemic disease. He said it is primarily caused by the weakness in our governance system and it is mostly influenced by the culture of impunity, monopolistic powers and low salaries.

He urged lawyers and judges to take reflection of what happened Bundase Militar Range and exhibit professional integrity as they play active roles in the fight against corruption.

The Western Regional President of the Ghana Bar Association Kofi Diaba in his closing remarks advised lawyers to shun all sort of corrupt practices and exhibit high moral standards in their profession. He urged them to let their personal values and principles be their guidance.
04.07.2017 LISTEN

On Thursday, 27th November, 2014, I wrote and posted an article on this blog entitled: "NPA & GSA Must Prevent Substandard Fuel From Being Imported Into Ghana". This being Ghana, naturally, the powers that be ignored it because our vampire-elites profit handsomely from a criminal and fraudulent oil industry downstream refined products business whose main product damages the engines of millions of unsuspecting vehicle owners.

The scandalous sale of substandard fuel by the Bulk Oil Storage and Transportation Company Limited (BOST), is just the tip of the massive iceberg in a fraud perpetrated on motorists and hapless taxpayers, by powerful and influential individuals driven by ubnfathomable greed.

Clearly, the industry regulator cannot be trusted to protect the motoring public - because many of its employees are in hock with the crooks milking the system for private gain. Neither can the Ghana Standard Authority either - because the long tentacles of the criminal syndicated making millions of dollars at the expense of motorists and taxpayers reaches the GSA too.

The only way to protect motorists and taxpayers in Ghana from the ruthless criminal syndicates involved in the global trade in substandard fuel, is to allow the importation of only fuel that meets European and U.S. standards, into Ghana. Full stop. Nothing else will do. We are posting the above-nentioned blog post from November 2014 below.

Pleasee read on:

Thursday, 27 November 2014 The NPA & GSA Must Prevent Substandard Fuel From Being Imported Into Ghana It is vital that the National Petroleum Authority (NPA) takes immediate steps, to ensure that the so-called Bulk Oil Distribution Companies (BODC) that import refined petroleum products, including diesel and petrol, do not unwittingly import substandard diesel and petrol into Ghana under any circumstances.

Although the BODCs will deny the allegation that they are actually importing substandard fuel into Ghana, the NPA and the Ghana Standards Authority (GSA), must undertake rigorous tests on each consignment of fuel shipped into Ghana. Imported substandard fuel, when used regularly in vehicles, will eventually damage their engines.

Life is unbearable enough financially as it is, for most vehicle owners in Ghana, without their having to deal with the effects of substandard fuel on vehicle engines, which cost the earth to replace. Ghana owns an oil refinery. It is unpardonable and intolerable that a few powerful individuals have succeeded in sidelining the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR), and today, we have arrived at a point where private-sector entities are apparently regularly importing substandard fuel into Ghana.

If that is indeed the case, then those greedy and callous businesspeople must be stopped from colluding with companies with a history such as that of Trafigura's, to rip-off Ghanaians, by importing substandard 'fuel' into Ghana. Enough is enough. All fuel imported into Ghana must conform to the same standards existing in Europe and the US - to protect the motoring public and to ensure good air quality across Ghana.

There are rumours that the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC), which hobnobs with Trafigura, is importing 'fuel' into Ghana. Is the GNPC being tricked like Vest Tank was, one wonders? It would be tragic if it turned out that the GNPC is importing dangerous coker gasoline residue into Ghana, and storing them in tanks belonging to the Bulk Oil Storage and Transportation Company (BOST).

The government of Ghana needs to open its eyes widely in this matter. The tragedy that befell the people of Slovag and Abidjan must not be allowed to occur in the area where BOST is storing 'fuel' for the GNPC. To protect Ghanaian motorists from the dangers of imported substandard fuel, TOR must be provided with crude oil by the GNPC to process into fuel and lubricants, etc., for sale to motorists in Ghana. To make officials of the NPA and GSA aware of the chicanery they could be up against in this matter, and for the benefit of readers of this blog, I have culled two online articles, for their perusal. Today's first culled article is from the online version of BBC News.

It shows how from time to time even the UK falls prey to the activities of criminal syndicates that sell substandard fuel. The second culled article is from the website of NRK, the Norwegian state broadcaster. It outlines the production process once employed by major fuel trader, Trafigura, to produce substandard fuel. The 'fuel' Trafigura produced, was apparently so bad that it could not actually be legally sold in either the US or Europe - yet was shipped to West Africa.

Incredibly, it deteriorated when exposed to sunlight. Trafigura's substandard 'fuel' production, and its shipment to West Africa for sale, was exposed by investigations carried out by journalists from the BBC, the Guardian newspaper and the Norwegian state broadcaster, NRK. The BBC story is culled from their online edition of 1 May, 2013 (http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-22716007).

The NRK story is culled from their website: (http://www.nrk.no/fordypning/vest-tank-sweetened-coker-gasoline-1.6104693) Please read on: 1 May 2013 Last updated at 16:00 GMT Share this page Print Share Facebook Twitter Illegal fuel: 48% rise in 'pop-up garages' By Angus Crawford BBC News A man filling up his car with petrol Illegally-sold fuel is often substandard and can damage vehicle engines Related Stories Fuel price calculator: How much do you pay? PM's concern over oil price 'fixing' Q&A: Why are fuel prices rising?

There has been a 48% increase in the detection of illegal fuel sales from so called "pop-up garages" in the UK, HM Revenue and Customs figures show. The operators sell fuel which has been smuggled or is substandard after being mixed with cheaper chemicals. They do not pay tax and cost the Exchequer hundreds of millions of pounds a year in what petrol retailers are saying is a "crimewave".

HMRC says its detection is improving and the illegal trade is reducing. Figures from HMRC show that in the 2012-13 period it made 6,506 visits to sites in the UK. Start Quote We believe that the sales of illicit fuel are on the increase broadly linked to the increase in fuel prices and slump in the economy over the last four to five years Edmund King AA president It detected illicit fuel, mostly diesel, being sold on 388 occasions, compared with 262 detections in 2009-10. Pat Curtis, of HMRC's specialist investigations unit, believes criminal gangs are feeding off the recession. "Criminal gangs will take advantage of any tax differential to make money on it," he says. "They'll take advantage of customers out there who may be feeling the pinch and may be feeling they're getting value for money."

Brian Madderson, chairman of the Petrol Retailers' Association (PRA), describes the pop-up garages as a "crimewave" engulfing the market. "A stagnant economy gives rise to unemployment, especially for younger people, and lowers real wages," he says. "The inevitable result is that criminal activity becomes an alternative despite the risks." Tax losses The fuel being sold is often substandard and can seriously damage car engines. The chemicals used by the gangs and the waste they produce also damage the environment. No-one knows exactly how much excise fraud costs the government.

The most recent estimates by HMRC are from 2010-11, which calculate that the loss to the Exchequer could be anything between 150m to 700m. HMRC insist that the trend is downwards, reflecting the success of its strategy to prevent fuel fraud. But Edmund King, president of the AA, says anecdotal evidence suggests the opposite.

"We believe that the sales of illicit fuel are on the increase broadly linked to the increase in fuel prices and slump in the economy over the last four to five years," he says. "Geographically it has spread from Northern Ireland, to the north of England and now down to the south east." That view appears to be backed up by HMRC's own figures. Testing improvements In 2009-10, officers detected illegal fuel sales on 150 occasions in Northern Ireland and 112 in the rest of the UK. Start Quote The loss of this revenue affects how government works Pat Curtis HM Revenue and Customs Last year, there were 128 in Northern Ireland and 260 in the rest of the UK.

Brian Madderson, from the PRA, applauds the work HMRC has done in Northern Ireland, but argues it has to change focus. "It is now time for them to focus their efforts on Great Britain," he says. "Independent services stations continue to close at the rate of 175 to 200 each year, mostly in challenged rural areas, with loss of jobs and local facilities." But Mr Curtis suggests the reported rise in sales in England, Scotland and Wales may be down to better testing. "We were under no illusions that it was happening everywhere," he says. 'Affects everybody' So just how easy is it to buy illegal fuel? Our contacts led us to a warehouse on a trading estate in east London. We asked if they sold "cheap diesel" and were offered fuel for 1.15 per litre - approximately 25p less than at the pumps. The operator pumped 40 litres into the tank, we paid in cash and were given no receipt.

HMRC says all these are indicators of illicit fuel sales. When we had the fuel siphoned from the car and tested, it was contaminated and substandard. Mr Curtis says the criminals who sell, and the motorists who buy, are depriving the government of much-needed funds. "The loss of this revenue affects how government works," he says. "It affects everybody in their pocket." End of culled BBC News story. (http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-22716007) Min bat er lastet med... Vest Tank sweetened coker gasoline In the Brennpunkt programme Dirty Cargo, we expose the operations of Vest Tank in Slvag prior to the explosion which spread toxic gases to the Gulen inhabitants. Synnve Bakke - Foto: NRK / Synnve Bakke @nrkbakke Kjersti Knudssn - Foto: NRK / Kjersti Knudssn @KjerstiKnudsson Anbefal Tweet +1 Send epost Publisert 24.06.2008, kl. 05:09 On May 24 2007, a tank belonging to the enterprise Vest Tank in Slvag municipality exploded.

The explosion generated an intense sulphurous stench, which has caused illness among the local population ever since. Brennpunkt started investigating this case immediately after the explosion. We wished to find out what kind of operations led to the accident. Tonights programme will provide you with an insight into the kind of shady business the west coast village found itself involved in.

Through agreements with major foreign operators, the enterprise Vest Tanks tank facility in Slvag became an important link in an international production of, and trade with, extremely low quality gasoline. The final product was of such poor quality that it was illegal to sell in Europe. Instead, this bad gasoline was shipped to West Africa. Norwegian authorities proved to be completely unaware of these activities.

In the programme, we illustrate how the controlling institutions which could have disclosed and put an end to these operations, actually do not function at all. The agreement In 2006, Vest Tank entered into an intention agreement with one of the worlds largest commodity traders, Trafigura. Vest Tank was requested to desulphurize so-called coker gasoline; a residue product from oil refining. Trond Emblem - Mr. Trond Emblem Mr. Trond Emblem The owner of Vest Tank, Mr. Trond Emblem, claims that no contract was signed.

However, during the autumn of 2006, ships started docking in Slvag. Coker gasoline  low quality Emblem states that this was no pilot project, but simply a part of the ordinary Vest Tank activities. The sweetening Trafigura traded with sulphurous coker gasoline with a low octane level, originating in Mexico. The purpose of the trade was to cleanse this waste product in order to render it saleable as automobile fuel. In the course of 2006 and 2007, Trafigura dispatched a total of 150.000 tons of coker gasoline, divided into 6 shipments.

Vest Tank pumped coker gasoline into its tanks, where they added caustic soda and water to wash away the sulphur, before the cargo was once more loaded into the ship. At Vest Tank, large quantities of sulphur encapsuled in caustic soda were left behind. In addition, coker gasoline residues which were not sufficiently sweetened, remained with the company.

Permission not granted The enterprise Vest Tank was obliged to apply to the Directorate for Civil Protection and Emergency Planning (DSB) for license to store these substances in their tanks. But at least for one of the tanks, they had no such license. Seksjonssjef Bjrn Bjrnstad i SFT - Mr. Bjrn Bjrnstad, Norwegian Pollution Control Authority Mr. Bjrn Bjrnstad, Norwegian Pollution Control Authority The Norwegian Pollution Control Authority (SFT) claim they have never authorized these operations. Vest Tank disputes this; they refer to the fact that they informed SFT about the project.

In their opinion, SFT granted them permission by e-mail and over the telephone to carry out their activities. The mixture After the sweetening in Slvag, five of the six ships headed for the seaport town of Paldiski in Estonia. In Paldiski, they discharged their cargoes at the terminal of the oil company Alexela, a company partly owned by Trafigura. Incidentally, Alexela bought up Vest Tank in Slvag after the explosion. In Paldiski, the cargo was unloaded, and the Estonian customs service relate that a substance designed to increase the octane level is mixed into the gasoline. The unusable residue product coker gasoline had now turned into low quality gasoline.

The Estonian customs state that the quality is so low, it renders it illegal to sell in Europe. The gasoline is reloaded on board a ship, then dispatched to West Africa. In Europe, the maximum approved sulphur level in gasoline is 50 ppm. In West Africa, 5000 ppm is the approved limit.

The waste These were the main activities Vest Tank had established in Slvag. Consequently, the sweetening of coker gasoline generated a steady flow of hazardous waste, and in addition, the tank facility accepted waste for processing. In the documentary Dirty Cargo, we bring you the story of all in all eight ships arriving in Slvag during the year before the facility exploded. Two of the ships docking in Slvag did not sweeten gasoline.

The first of these was Probo Emu. She carried the same kind of waste that her sister ship Probo Koala delivered in the Ivory Coast. Eight ships arrived in Slvag Probo Emu carries this waste in her slop tanks. Slop is wastewater with oil residue left over after the cleaning of the oil tanks of a large ship. This waste is normally easily handled. In Vest Tanks opinion, they acted in good faith when they accepted this waste. They were assured by Trafigura that this was slop; wastewater from the operation of the ship.

It appears that instead this was waste from the sweetening of coker gasoline on board the ship. Mixing The other ship was Ottavia, which loaded cargo in Slvag. When she arrived, she was nearly fully loaded with high quality gasoline purchased by Trafigura in England. In Slvag, she collected 5400 tons of waste residue from the process of desulphurization of coker gasoline.

We have seen documents proving that this waste was mixed with the high quality gasoline on board. Subsequently, Ottavia sailed for West Africa. Beyond control Throughout a period of nearly a year, these companies carried out their activities right in the face of Norwegian authorities.

Neither the Norwegian Pollution Control Authority, the Coastal Administration, the Customs Service, nor the Directorate for Civil Protection and Emergency Planning (DSB) inspected the operations. On May 24, Tank 3 exploded. The reason was a Vest Tank blunder. They intended to get rid of caustic material and sulphur left at the bottom of the tank.

By pumping in hydrochloric acid, the waste was supposed to be transformed into salt and water. Instead, a carbon filter was ignited, and the tank blew up. The sulphur contained in all the ship cargoes was released, causing continuous illness among the local inhabitants.

culled NRK story. (http://www.nrk.no/fordypning/vest-tank-sweetened-coker-gasoline-1.6104693) Posted by Kofi Thompson at 10:38:00 am
In different parts of the world where multiparty democracy is practiced, people develop extreme passion for their political parties. Largely across the world, people join political parties because of their; personal interest, believe in the political doctrine, relatives being in that party and other cases, for personal security. People who want to go into politics must understand that others come into the party with varied reasons otherwise, they would always end up disappointed. Today, my piece aims at throwing an insight into political parties.

According to Dasraeli "a political party is an organized opinion" Edmund Burk also postulated that "a political party is an organized group made up of a persons who subscribe to some common set of policies with the intention of winning political power in government through elections to realize its aim".

In my ordinary understanding, political parties are a team of people who believe in the democratic structure of a country, understand and believe in a particular way of governance, and collectively work within an agreed framework with the ultimate aim of winning power through a well conducted national election. It is also important to add that members of the same political party share the same political philosophy or doctrine. The doctrines of the party are propagated by strategies. Of course, any realistic political strategy does not contravene the philosophy of the party.

The origin of political parties in Britain is traced to the 17th century during the reign of Charles, the second. In Africa however, there was a delay in the emergence of political parties because of long persistent colonization by the west. Indeed most of the political parties became prominently dominant around the middle of the 20th century. Indeed, political instability after most nations had gained independence in Africa equally slowed down the development of political parties.

In furtherance, there is no multiparty democracy without formidable political parties. All political parties have essential roles to play whether in government or opposition.

In Africa and elsewhere, discrepancies among different political parties especially during and after elections have ignited pockets of violence and consequently war leading to the loss of several lives and properties. Reference can be made to the Rwanda political genocide, the Liberia war, Ivory Coast political crisis and the most recent Gambia post electoral issues among the lot. The point I want to succinctly hammer on is that, political parties can make and unmake a country.

This is what citizens of Ghana must be very conscious of especially with the proliferation of political vigilantism as well as the proliferation of small arms. Political parties must engage in a dialogue and device mechanisms against political vigilantism as early as possible to prevent war in the future. The recent activities of vigilante groups affiliated to the ruling NPP is injurious to our democracy and can easily cause political conflicts should the minority groups who may feel terrorized, take revenge. I dont pray to see it happen.

In Ghana, the 1992 constitution, article 55 is explicit on the formation and the joining of political parties. Clause one of the said article states that, "to the right form political parties is hereby guaranteed". The clause two added "every citizen of Ghana of voting age has the right to join a political party." Why do people think that everybody must belong to one party? Could it be lack of knowledge on the whole idea of political parties? Obviously, the answer is YES. Many political fanatics are influenced to join parties without any education on what Political parties stand for. They are either politically indoctrinated or they follow blindly.

I think that, most political parties are doing a great disservice to democracy by running away from their core obligation of educating their members to understand the fundamentals of democracy. That certainly is the reason why people develop a permanent hatred for others who belong to different parties. It is also the reason why there is always tension ahead of any elections. That should not be allowed to continue. For the reason that some unscrupulous politicians would always take solace in violence to favor their parties. The law enforcement agencies should not be felt threatened by such political thugs in ensuring a true practice of the law. If the law enforcement bodies feel threaten and run into their hoods, then what happen to the poor ordinary civilian who is the most vulnerable in such circumstances?

Going forward, the legal regimes of political parties must be reexamined and probably given a second thought to compel political parties to stick to the cherished tenets of democracy. People must allow others to enjoy their rights too. Democracy centers on rule of law and rule of law is grounded on equality and fairness. Let's not be carried away by extreme political emotions to the detriment of cherished democratic norms and values, the only panacea to any meaningful development in Ghana as well as the secret of peace sustainability.

To be continued

Denis Andaban

[email protected]

Tel: +233549734023
04.07.2017 LISTEN

Has Hon. Kennedy Agyapong become a pain in the neck? If indeed he has, then what caused such a philanthropist who vowed to die for NPP and his country to suddenly become an excruciating pain in the arse of NPP?

It is an open secret, a public knowledge of course, that Hon. Kennedy Agyapong has done immense lot for the NPP to come to power. Without his financial support cum other political-correctness and remarkable organisational acumen, the NPP would either still be lingering in opposition with Nana Akufo-Addo compulsorily retired from active politics by the NDC as it was their avowed motive or could have won the election but by a lesser margin.

Let us give the devil his due. Many a public member, especially the NPP faithful, is gradually turning against Kennedy. Some are accusing him of being such a nuisance talkative who had better be sanctioned. In less than no time into NPP ascending the presidency and government, many a member of the NPP hierarchy and foot soldiers has become the proverbial fowl that as soon as it finishes eating, scrubs its beak in the ground. That is a sign of ungratefulness.

Without Hon. Kennedy Agyapong and a few other people including Bernard Antwi Boasiako, alias Chairman Wontumi, although Ghanaians voted overwhelmingly for NPP and Nana Akufo Addo, former President Mahama and the NDC were going to rig the election with the obvious support of Mrs Charlotte Osei, the Chair of the Electoral Commission, and her outfit. This is a known fact and it is only a fool that will pretend otherwise.

Is it not said in an Akan proverb that if you cant praise me, you dont sully my reputation? Why are some people threatening the life of Hon. Kennedy Agyapong or asking for him to be sanctioned? Why are they resolutely determined to ensure he does not get any government contract? I cannot understand it and will not understand it in a thousand years to come. Is it how best he is being rewarded for all the good things he did for NPP to come to power?

Calling a spade a spade, let it be known to all those scheming against him, the ungrateful lot of course, that Kennedy has every cause or right to bemoan the treatment being meted to him by the NPP leaders some of whom did fuck all towards the party winning the election yet, they are reaping the fruits of the labour of sufferers like Kennedy Agyapong.

It is not the best solution to threaten his life or sanction him or starve him of government contracts with intent to silencing him or rendering him poor hence less powerful. It is not the best political practice to reward somebody who has greatly assisted a political party to come to power in that despicable manner as being exhibited by some NPP opportunists towards Hon. Kennedy Agyapong.

Kennedy claims to know how NPP won election 2016 and that he will not hesitate a second to disclose it to the public to bring NPP down should some NPP members threaten to disgrace him. I do not understand what he means by this however, the one thing that I was convinced of was the unflinching determination by then President Mahama and his NDC government and partys certain determination to rig to win the election.

Yes, the NDC might have installed some secret machines to facilitate their planned rigging of the election. Could this not have taken the same nature of the STLs in year 2012? Was this not the reason why that shameless and corrupt Charlotte Osei directed that no radio station should announce any polling station results except those coming from her outfit?

Taking a harmless measure to negate a corrupt practice is not a crime, a lawyer once told me. Therefore, any method that the NPP might have taken to stop the rigging of the election by Onaapo President Mahama and NDC but to ensure the correct results were announced was not criminal as per the lawyers explanation.

Going back, if anyone should think to assassinate Kennedy so that such revelation was not made, that person must be kidding him or herself. It may not be only Kennedy who is privy to certain things but a few people may be knowledgeable about things. I shall only say, nka nkyere obi, eho adansefo ye adweesonkron - to wit, there is absolutely no guarantee that a secret confided in someone will not be told to others. Those who may be aware of any secret will as soon on Kennedys assassination throw the secret to the public to defeat the purpose of his assassination.

I am deliberately not being straight forward but any astute reader will be more than able to decipher the code being used here.

Finally, I shall ask that President Nana Akufo-Addo being the head should step in to resolve the ongoing case between Kennedy and some of the mischievous NPP leaders amicably and sooner for he stands to have himself to blame if things got out of hand. This advice is upon the Akans belief that the elderly person who stays home and looks on with nonchalance while children eat snake is also counted as a snake eater.

Why were those who blatantly maliciously refused to assist the NPP in any meaningful way given top positions as soon as the party came to power? Does it make any sense? I am not accusing the President of any error of judgment but I cannot make heads or tails of it.

One good turn deserves another. Kennedy is a political gem who is worth a dozen of Members of Parliament put together. Had it not been him, Alfred Agbesi Woyome would have enjoyed the millions of Cedis he colluded with NDC to dupe Ghana of, in peace. Additionally, if it was not him, Ibrahim Mahama would have got away with duping Ghana by his continual issuing of dud cheques.

Hon. Kennedy Agyapong, you have my support all of the time but please, tone down your public language a bit. I understand your frustrations, however, mind a bit the way you go about putting your views across. I am not trying to dissuade you from exposing the corrupt practices both within and outside the NDC or NPP.

It is a shame that I have to stop writing on Ghana politics. I have to do other things of vital importance.

More grease to the elbows of Hon. Kennedy Agyapong  Mr One Man Thousand!

Rockson Adofo

(Written on Tuesday, 4 July 2017)
Over 300 elderly persons from some communities in the Ellembelle district have been taken through Chiropractic, Nerval and Vertebral Examination at AYA Community Center in the Ellembelle district in the Western Region.

The exercise, which was sponsored by the Member of Parliament of the Ellembelle constituency, saw a team of Chiropractic doctors from the Nova Wellness Center conducting and evaluating the aged's symptoms and challenges taking into consideration their health history, comprehensive nutritional analysis and other testing.

They conducted a complete spinal and postwal examination as a part of their evaluations based on the individuals unique needs. During the examination, activators were used to manually manipulate of the spine or extremity joints.

According to the doctors, though vertebral artery dissection is rare, it does happen especially in communities where most of the aged were farmers and fishermen. This an increasingly recognized cause of stroke and it underscores the importance of safe chiropractic care.

The member parliament of the Ellembelle constituency Emmanuel Armah Kofi Buah said the original intention for providing facility (AYA community center) was to create an outlet where the elderly will be taken care of both physically and psychologically.

He said the exercise is not the first and it will not be the last because there is a by-monthly chrinics where eye doctors, ear specialist and doctors in almost all the fields to address most of the critical needs of the elderly.

He added that the contribution of the aged who are mostly farmers to the district cannot be disregarded, so they need to be taken good care off.
An exemplary servant of the nation himself, Mr Solomon Kotei the general secretary of the Industrial and Commercial Workers Union (ICU) has appealed to the nation to start rewarding it's outstanding veterans who are still alive and desist from the usual attitude of honoring them after their demise.

*The astute labour expert referred to these quotations, "a nation that fails to honor it's heroes is not worth dying for" and a "nation that is worth dying for, is a nation worth leaving for "*insisting these neglects are part of the reasons why the country has been plugged into massive corruption and scandals with some current office holders predicting life could be unbearable for them in the future after serving the country with all their abilities.

He further elaborated that the level of ungratefulness by nation has rendered many heroes of our country and their families walloping in absolute poverty resulting to unhealthy life during their old age.He again called on government to always recognise our heroes during national ceremonies.

Speaking exclusively to David Albert Quainoo of WBLS radio UK on the Republic day celebration with the topic ;" how we treat our heroes as Ghanaians ".

Mr.Solomon Kotei who is the general overseer of Radiant Light Ministries International revealed that, together with his congregation has been reaching out to the needy in society every quarterly and encouraged all churches and philanthropists to continue lending a helping hand to the poor frequently.
The Ghana Educations Service (GES), is set to launch investigations into circumstances in which seven students of the Damongo Senior High School in the West Gonja District of the Northern Region were expelled from school.

According to sources at the West Gonja District Directorate of the GES, it follows concerns raised by parents of the affected students who have threatened to drag the school to court if authorities fail to rescind their decision to expel them.

A meeting has been scheduled later this week between officials of the school and parents of the seven students who last week were sent parking for their alleged involvement in what has been described as sex party.

The affected students admit they were in the rented apartment at the time of the visit by the teaching staff of the school contrary to schools regulations but denied engaging in sex as claimed by the authorities.

One of them who spoke to mynewsgh.com on grounds of strict anonymity, said they went for Eid jams in Damongo town but decided to pass the night at a friends room and prepare for school the following morning only to be pounced on by the tutors.

We were not having sex at all. The place belong today students who are not resident on campus left to spend the Eidul Fitr celebrations so we decided to spend the night there. We could not have slept in our clothes because the place was warm, he revealed.

It would be recalled that the 7 students, comprising 3 boys and 4 girls were summarily dismissed by authorities of the school for holding their own version of this years Edul Fitr celebration at a secret location.

The students were arrested by some staff of the school led by the Headmaster at about 2am on Tuesday June 27, 2017 in a rented room with most of them naked following a tip off.

According to authorities, they the students resident on campus, rented the room at the blind side of the authorities, often skip classes and sneak into the room in town where they engage in sexual escapades.

A member of staff got hint of the happenings and drew the attention of his colleagues, who came together to apprehend the students on the night after the Edul-fitr (feasting after Ramadan) celebrated by Muslims.

Sources revealed that students of the school were asked to go and participate in the festivities and to report back to school at exactly 5:00pm on Monday in view of the fact the next day was not holiday. This group of students however took advantage and never returned to campus until 2:00am when the school authorities paid them a surprise visit at their rented place of abode to affect their arrest.

The affected students have denied any wrong doing indicating that it is a frame up to tarnish their reputation but authorities have refused to comment on the matter.
Nairobi (AFP) - Burundi's President Pierre Nkurunziza and his ruling party have moved the country toward violent dictatorship, rights groups said Tuesday in a report that slams the international community for inaction.

A "purge" of ethnic Tutsis from the army, a crackdown on opposition and media and a bid to change the constitution to allow unlimited presidential terms are signs of an "increasingly violent dictatorial regime", it said.

The tiny central African state was plunged into political crisis in April 2015 when Nkurunziza announced his intention to run for a third term which he went on to win.

At least 500 people have been killed in ensuing violence, according to the UN -- although rights groups put the figure at over 1,000 -- and more than 400,000 have fled the country since the crisis began.

In their report the International Federation for Human Rights (known by its French acronym, FIDH) and partner groups describe how the ruling party has tightened its stranglehold during a two-year conflict.

It said the ruling CNDD-FDD has become the sole state party, with monuments glorifying it erected, party flags placed at entrances to public schools and violent propaganda broadcast urging Burundians to be ready to fight and eliminate opponents.

"In a matter of two years, almost all the heads and activists of the political opposition have been silenced and hunted down by the Burundian authorities," it said.

The report details accounts of Tutsi soldiers who have disappeared, been arrested or brutally tortured or found dead.

It warns that without international intervention Nkurunziza could succeed in reversing history and establishing a Hutu-controlled regime based on a mono-ethnical army under the control of the authorities.

In Burundi, which has a long history of violence between Hutu and Tutsi communities, "this would represent a major risk for peace in the country, as in the region."

The report singles out the ruling party youth wing, the Imbonerakure, which it describes as a militia characterised by "ideological radicalisation" that has been recorded singing songs encouraging the rape of opposition women and is widely accused of human rights violations, including murder, rape and torture.

The FIDH urges "the international community to recognise the gravity of the situation in Burundi" and for the International Criminal Court (ICC) to quickly open an investigation.

It also says the African Union and UN should ensure political dialogue, impose an arms embargo and apply sanctions against Burundi officials.

"The international community's lack of determination and its incapacity to implement its own decisions " allow Nkurunziza to shore up his position ahead of a possible attempt to change the constitution to allow him to run again in 2020.

Burundi has repeatedly denied a campaign of repression and has harshly criticised UN warnings of a genocide risk.
The Hague (AFP) - War crimes judges will Thursday hand down an eagerly anticipated ruling on whether South Africa flouted international law by failing to arrest Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir in 2015, wanted for genocide in Darfur.

The landmark decision will serve as a blueprint for future cooperation between countries and the International Criminal Court, experts say.

It will also highlight that the tribunal based in The Hague can only function with the support of its member states and the backing of the UN Security Council.

"The ruling is... fundamental for future compliance," said Carsten Stahn, international criminal law professor at Leiden University.

A decision against South Africa "would send an important message that states cannot negotiate (their) legal obligations with the court," he told AFP.

Bitter dispute

Despite two international arrest warrants issued in 2009 and 2010, Bashir remains at large and in office amid a raging conflict in the western Sudanese region of Darfur.

The long-time ruler has denied the ICC's charges, including three accusations of genocide as well as war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The deadly conflict erupted in 2003 when ethnic minority groups took up arms against Bashir's Arab-dominated government, which launched a brutal counter-insurgency.

The UN Security Council asked the ICC in 2005 to probe the crimes in Darfur, where at least 300,000 people have been killed and 2.5 million displaced, according to UN figures.

Bashir continues to travel and Khartoum announced Monday he will visit Moscow for the first time in August following an invitation by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Russia formally withdrew its signature in November from the ICC's founding Rome Statute, a treaty Moscow has never ratified.

Pretoria and the ICC became embroiled in a bitter tangle in 2015 when Bashir attended an African Union summit in Johannesburg.

Despite the arrest warrants, Bashir then flew home unhindered. It remains unclear whether he did so with the tacit approval of South African President Jacob Zuma's government.

At a landmark hearing in April, Pretoria disputed accusations by the ICC's prosecutors that it had broken its obligations to the very same tribunal it helped found in 2002.

Angry prosecutors stated Pretoria "had the ability to arrest and surrender Mr al-Bashir and it chose not to do so."

Pretoria's lawyers argued there "was no duty under international law on South Africa to arrest" Bashir, saying he enjoyed diplomatic immunity.

'Complicated matter'

International law experts agree the ICC's judges are likely to find South Africa failed in its obligations to arrest and surrender Bashir.

But they added it was not a simple matter of rapping Pretoria over the knuckles.

"The manner and tone in which the decision is meted out will be of utmost importance," said international law expert Mark Kersten of the University of Toronto.

"It is possible, and what many hope, is that the decision will show some degree of understanding, and perhaps lenience towards South Africa and suggest that the matter continues to be debated at the appeals level," Kersten told AFP.

The ICC's judges could also refer the case to the court's Assembly of States Parties or the UN Security Council for further action.

Withdrawal?

Zuma last week reiterated South Africa's intentions to pull out of the ICC, saying it was "rectifying procedural challenges."

South Africa announced it had told the United Nations in October that it was pulling out of the ICC following the Bashir debacle.

But a South African court in February ordered Pretoria to reverse the decision, saying it was unconstitutional.

Kaajal Ramjathan-Keogh, executive director at the Southern Africa Litigation Centre, said it was far from certain judges will refer the case to the UN Security Council amid "certain sensitivities" about Pretoria's continued membership.

And if they do then "the effect, looking at the ICC's history, is going to be minimal," she added.

Last month, the ICC's chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda renewed her call for UN Security Council support in "efforts to execute the arrest warrants" against Bashir.

"At a minimum, the council should demonstrate its support for the work of my office by taking concrete action in response to decisions of non-compliance or non-cooperation referred to it by the court," Bensouda said.
Nguenyyiel refugee camp (Ethiopia) (AFP) - Her feet bare and her hometown in flames, Nyadet walked east alone, eating food given to her by strangers and following trails left by others escaping war in South Sudan.

She is 12 years old.

Nine days after she fled bloodshed in the flashpoint town of Malakal last November, Nyadet reached the country's border with Ethiopia, and crossed over to safety.

"Maybe they are safe," is all she can say of her mother, father, sister and two brothers, whom she lost track of when the streets of her hometown transformed into a war zone.

South Sudan's civil war has raged on for the past three years with such viciousness that parts of the country are bereft of food and a third of the population has fled their homes, but few refugees present as vexing a problem as children like Nyadet who escape the conflict alone.

Around 1.8 million South Sudanese have fled the country and of that number one million are children and of those, 75,000 have fled unaccompanied by their parents

"They are fleeing definitely life-threatening situations," said Daniel Abate of aid group Save the Children, which helps reunite lost children with their families.

At the Nguenyyiel refugee camp near Ethiopia's lush western frontier, boys and girls who crossed the border unaccompanied tell tales of murdered families and childhoods shattered by the unremitting violence in South Sudan.

"War happened," is the description Nyakung, 11, gives for the atrocities she witnessed in the capital Juba, where her mother was left to die inside a blazing hut and three of her brothers were gunned down on a road while running for the safety of a UN base.

Aid agencies are trying to get children like Nyakung back with their families, but humanitarians admit that with the conflict still raging in South Sudan, the odds of these children seeing their loved ones again are slim.

Tired and destitute

South Sudan's war, sparked when President Salva Kiir accused his former deputy Riek Machar of plotting a coup in 2013, has been marked by numerous atrocities against civilians despite the presence of thousands of UN peacekeeping troops.

Unaccompanied children who have travelled alone alone from South Sudan are sometimes reluctant to be reunited with relatives, believing it could mean returning to the violence they fled

Around 1.8 million South Sudanese have fled the country, making it the fastest growing refugee crisis in the world.

One million of those refugees are children, the UN says, and of that number about 75,000 were either separated from their parents or without any family at all.

Aid workers say they regularly see South Sudanese children straggling across the border, often with an adult stranger, but sometimes by themselves.

"You can tell they are very tired, their clothes (are) worn-out on them, they have not been showered for some time. So, you can see that they're destitute," Daniel said.

Nguenyyiel is home to nearly 2,900 children that arrived without any family, who pass their days attending school and playing in a tree-shaded jungle gym.

Chan, 13, escaped Malakal late last year when fighting erupted and the grass hut he lived in was torched.

He then walked for a month until he crossed into Ethiopia.

"I just go the direction where I see a safe place," he said.

Some, like Nyadet, hope to one day reunite with their families.

Others hold no such hope.

Chan says he doesn't know where his parents are but believes they must be dead.

Slim odds

With neither the government nor the rebels honouring a peace deal made two years ago, locating family members of lost children in the chaos of South Sudan is difficult, says Hiwotie Simachew, emergency response manager for aid group Plan International.

Some parents have also likely joined the exodus that has distributed hundreds of thousands of South Sudanese refugees to Uganda, Kenya, Sudan and beyond.

Parents, if they are still alive, could be in refugee camps in any of these countries, or in other settlements in Ethiopia, Hiwotie said.

Plan International and Save the Children have managed to reunite hundreds of youths with their families, but that's just a fraction of the around 31,500 children Ethiopia's Administration for Refugee and Returnee Affairs says have arrived without their parents.

Even when family members are located, some don't want to take custody of the children.

In one case, aid workers found the uncle of three unaccompanied minors in Australia, but he declined to adopt them, Hiwotie said.

In other instances, it's the children themselves who resist reunion, because they believe that would mean a return to the violence from which they escaped.

"They are refusing to reunify with their family and thinking that, if they show their interest, they will return back to South Sudan," Hiwotie said.
More than 7,000 trees were felled over 52 acres of the environmentally sensitive Aravalli hills over the Eid weekend for developing a housing society in Faridabad.

The NGT asked the Haryana government to explain why trees were felled in the Aravalli hills.

By Mail Today Bureau: The National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Monday asked the Haryana government and real estate firm Bharti Land - a sister company of telecom giant Airtel - to explain in two days why more than 7,000 trees were felled over 52 acres of the environmentally sensitive Aravalli hills.

A dense cover of mesquite trees was cleared over the Eid weekend last month for developing a housing society in village Sarai Khawaja of Faridabad. This happened even as a hearing was due in the green court on the issue on July 3. A bench headed by Justice Jawad Rahim asked for a reply to be filed by July 5, ordering the next hearing on the same date. However, it did not stay the construction of the project.

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Only 3.6 per cent of Haryana's land is under forest cover and the government had said previously that it wants to increase it through forestation in the Aravallis.

A battery of senior lawyers defended Bharti Land in the NGT on Monday and claimed that a huge campaign begun by activists against this deforestation is giving a bad name to the prestigious company.

It is developing a township in the area, reportedly, called "Delhi Ridge".

WHAT THE PLEA ALLEGES

The petition in the NGT was filed by a former army man, Lt Gen (retd) Sarvadaman Oberoi, and a campaign has been launched on change.org called "Restore 52-acres of felled forest. Keep real-estate out of the entire Aravalli zone", addressed to the founder and chairman of Bharti Enterprises, Sunil Bharti Mittal, and Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar apart from senior forest officers.

The plea alleged that the state government granted permission to two companies for felling trees without obtaining forest clearance under the provisions of the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980. These are Bharti Land Limited and Ajay Enterprises.

It says the area is recorded as "gair mumkin pahad" (land unfit for cultivation), forms part of the Aravalli hills and deemed forest.

The counsel appearing for the state government, however, said the petition was not maintainable and liable to be dismissed on the ground that it was based only on letters written by the forest department.

BHARTI LAND IN DEFENCE

Senior advocate Pinaki Misra, appearing for Bharti Land Limited, said the nod given to the real estate firm clearly states that "permission to fell/transplant trees/shrubs/bushes is accorded in terms of stated conditions as prescribed by the government."

He said the realty firm is ready to give an undertaking to comply with the conditions stipulated in the permission by the government and termed the plea as "forum shopping of worst kind."

Activist Vivek Kamboj said the two firms had approached the divisional forest officer of Faridabad, seeking permission for felling approximately 1,000 trees on the land acquired by them and measuring 52.2991 acres.

ARAVALLI ECOLOGICALLY SENSTITIVE

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The deputy conservator of forests of Faridabad wrote to the conservator of forests, south circle, Gurugram on September 30, 2015, that such permission cannot be granted as it forms part of the Aravallis, which are ecologically sensitive.

However, in another letter dated April 24, the additional chief secretary of the forest department wrote to the principal chief conservator of forests, directing him to grant necessary approval for felling of mesquite trees to Bharti Land Ltd.

Only in May, the Haryana forest department hastily withdrew an order, exempting kikar and mesquite, the predominant tree species across its Aravalli Range, from the purview of the Punjab Land Preservation Act 1990, which prohibits "cutting (or) setting on fire of trees." The government admitted that the order was "mistaken."

ALSO READ | NGT issues notice to Sri Sri Ravi Shankar on contempt plea

Bellandur Lake rejuvenation: NGT slams state for not shutting polluting industries

ALSO WATCH | NGT serves ultimatum to Karnataka government over Bellandur lake pollution

--- ENDS ---
Kampala June 3rd 2017 - On 1st July 2017, Jumia Travel Uganda took part in a charity event organized by 40 days 40 smiles; a well renowned NGO. The organization works to provide better lives for privileged and vulnerable children and youths in Uganda, by supporting them in different aspects of life that enable them to be the change they want with a current special focus on literacy for the children.

The annual event dubbed #5Aside, involved sporty activities that brought together youth from across Uganda to fundraise money for the initiative.

At Jumia Travel, we not only change lives by offering the best travel experiences, but also through such a noble cause that aims at bettering the lives of Ugandan youth and children, said Timothy Mugune, the Country Manager of Jumia Travel Uganda.

Proceeds will set up a children's learning center and fill it with story books, learning/teaching aids & ICT tools. The aim is to improve literacy and reduce school dropouts for vulnerable children.

Attached below are some pictures from the event.

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04.07.2017 LISTEN

During a night last week, six thieves wearing balaclava and wielding two shotguns and machetes stormed Kumawu-Bodomase Zongo. They raided the house of one Baba Haruna. The thieves injured some of the occupants of the house after obliging them at gunpoint to lie down on the floor without making any noise or raising an alarm for help.

They bolted away with valuables and cash running into thousands of Ghana Cedis. On their way to whence they had come from, they attacked the owner of the only filling station in Kumawu. They forcibly removed from him GHS7, 000, it is alleged.

As if that was not enough, the thieves returned to Kumawu-Bodomase three days later to raid some metal container shops. A pregnant woman who is the owner of one of the containers from which many Kente cloths were retrieved by the thieves is said to have collapsed only to be saved her life when rushed to the hospital.

This is not a one-off incident but ongoing brazen attacks on innocent persons to deprive them of their lives and hard-earned valuables and money. These thieves are taking advantage of the NPP government that seems to be slow in punishing perpetrators of lawlessness.

Not long ago, I published an article on Ghanaweb and Modernghana about thieves entering into some rooms in Juaben while their occupants were asleep. They entered into their rooms to steal without any of those sleeping waking up or being aware of the presence of the thieves. They only woke up in the morning to find the protective or burglar-proof iron bars with window panes removed.

Thieves have been to Nsuta, I should think. The wave of the robberies across the country is worrying.

I suggest the NPP government does something about it as soon as or else, the government becomes unpopular. A government under which people fear insecure does not take long to lose the trust of the people.

Call out the soldiers from their barracks to help fight this nasty armed robbery for about three months to bring things under control or to restore serenity to the nation. The soldiers if called out should be under the command of the police knowing Ghana is a democratic State.

If this is not done, communities may consider having community vigilante groups to help protect the townsfolk at night. My sympathy goes to all those that have suffered the spate of armed robberies in the country.

Rockson Adofo

(Written on Tuesday, 4 July 2017)
The Brong-Ahafo Regional Minister, Kwaku Asomah Cheremeh, has said that the government recognizes the positive contributions of senior citizens to the development of the country.

He therefore pledged governments continued support for them with the needed interventions that will safeguard their social security.

The regional minister was addressing over 200 senior citizens at the residency in Sunyani on July 1 as part of activities marking Ghanas 57 Republican Day.

Asomah Cheremeh said "we appreciate and commend your good effort which has helped significantly to build our nation and wish to use this occasion to further encourage you to continue with your good work even though you are no more in active service.

He encouraged the senior citizens to continue to guide and nurture those in service to enable them exhibit higher sense of patriotism in serving mother Ghana.

Lawyer Asomah Cheremeh assured the senior citizens that government is more than willing to receive their advice to further develop the country.

A free health screening was conducted for the senior citizens after which the regional minister urged them to regularly undertake check-ups and engage in physical exercises such as walking around among others in order to stay healthy.
Bureau of National Investigations (BNI) earned my biggest applause when the operatives raided a radio station in the northern part of Ghana for airing hate speech. But how does the Bureaus proactive action relate to the story below:

A man and his son lived up on a hill near Think-- a backcountry town notoriously known for setting up wild fires. The distance between the two neighbours was approximately two miles. Two rivers separate them. On Sunday June 2, 2000, the town as usual set another fire. But this one was different. Its flames had soared in just two minutes, proving too stubborn to be doused.

It seemed the end of Think was inevitable. Residents looked more than terrified. Fear had engulfed the town. The fire had shown its desire to ravage. And the aged were seen hobbling on the ground like airplanes. In the midst of the flames the people cried for help. Wheres help the residents wondered. Their neighbours on Hilltop had warned Think several times not to play with fire but they ignored the warnings.

How did they deal with the situation?

At times we pretend we dont know whats going on around us. We act like the proverbial ostrich, sink our heads in the sand while our whole frame is exposed to the pleasing eye of the enemy. Ironically, even in that posture we still think were covered and protected. We tend to gloss over that which could put our lives in danger. Perhaps, if wed paid heed to the warnings from the get go we could have prevented the mishap.

Hate has weight but many people dont realise that. The rampant fires at Think were borne out of hate. The small town had harboured hate for years. Its people never got along. There was family feud. There was religious feud and there was tribal feud. Residents were seen always at each others throat trying to settle scores.

How BNI Doused the Blaze

It was a father and sons timely intervention that saved Think from burning into ashes. And BNI last Friday acted in that similar fashion to douse a potential fire that was brewing in the northern part of Ghana. Media analysts believe but for the BNIs proactive action perhaps the story would have been different.

Must we be concern why not? Weve seen it happened all around us. And its all around the globe. Im pretty sure we havent forgotten the Rwanda story (a radio station was alleged to have aired hate speech) which triggered the genocide in the nations of the Great Lakes region. Dont forget trailblazers blaze while traitors daze. Theyre always looking for conflicts and rifts.

The media in Ghana reported that the security operatives raided a radio station in the Northern region and held its workers for several hours over hate speech. According to the reports the agents stormed Zaa radio, a station frequently accused of promoting hate speech and fanning religious discord, when some senior scholars of the Ambariyya community on the regular Friday segment attacked and insulted leader of the Masjid Bayan Sunni sect, Shaeik Ibrahim Baasha.

The scholars on the live broadcast show, speaker after speakers, raged against Sheik Bayan and levelled at him wild allegations including being envy and responsible for the prolonged ailment of their Supreme father, Sheik Seidu, one of the reports stated.

The tape recorded in fierce rage, deep vindictiveness and full of belligerent rhetoric was calling true Muslims to converge at a ground near the Tamale Kaladan Park to listen to a ministry broadcast and sermon where treachery, hypocrisy and rascality would be exhibited in words, the reports said.

It is also reported that the short audio received over a dozen shares in the first minute of its broadcast on WhatsApp and other social media tools and left the city of majority Sunni believers tensed and frail.

Online dictionary defines hate speech as one which attacks a person or group on the basis of attributes such as race, religion or faith ethnic origin, sexual orientation, gender or disability. The term or phrase vary in meaning in different countries by law.. Some countries describe hate as speech, gesture or conduct, writing or display which is forbidden because it incites violence or prejudicial action against or by a protected group or individual on the basis of their membership of the group, or because it disparages or intimidates a protected group or individuals on the basis of their membership of the group.

The International Convenant on Civil and Political Rights (CCPR) states that any advocacy of national, racial or religious hatred that constitutes incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence shall be prohibited by law.

Ghanas1992 Constitution Act 2003 section 12(2) under the criminal code states: Every person in Ghana whatever his race, place of origin, political opinion, colour religion creed or gender shall be entitled to the fundamental human rights and freedom of the individual contained in the chapter but subject to respect of the rights and freedoms of others and for public interest.

Following the raid the BNI interrogated authorities of the station and some controversial staff including host of the disputed Friday Show. The operatives also seized a recording of the sermon while some armed personnel were left behind to watch over the station after arson threats were heard.

The latest incident isnt the stations first. Zaa radio, the reports said is known to security services in the region. In 2012, it was attacked in a suspected reprisal after violent clashes between the Ahli-Sunna and Tijanniya sects at another radio station over varied interpretations of a sura in the Holy Quran.

Meanwhile the Northern Regional Minister and Chairman of the Security Council Salifu Saeed has appealed for calm in Tamale a. His appeal came a day after the BNI raid. The minister said he was saddened by the development in the region.

It saddens my heart to see how some people are blocking away developments of the region by always attempting to resolve grievances through violent attacks and destabilizing security. To make hate speech and create or spark personal disputes a subject of an Islamic sermon is needless, he said.
A 25-year-old man, Ernest Koranteng has been stabbed to death at Somanya in the Eastern region.

The deceased was stabbed twice on the chest and around his penis in a revenge attack.

The Somanya District Police Commander, ASP Isaac Otsin, explained that, information gathered indicate that the deceased and his friend attacked the suspect during a funeral on Saturday.

He said, the suspect upon meeting the deceased subsequently on Sunday, pulled a knife and stabbed him on the chest and on his penis.

The deceased who was bleeding profusely was rushed to Atua Government Hospital but pronounced dead on arrival.

According to the Somanya Police Commander, efforts are being made to arrest the suspect.

The incident comes after a similar murder case which occurred Sunday Dawn. The man believed to be in his 20s was found dead at Nuaso -Odjadornya in the Lower Manya Krobo.

The lifeless body of the deceased, a native of the area identified only as Ayernor was found in a bush Monday morning.

The deceased is suspected to have been hacked to death in the head by the assailants.
04.07.2017 LISTEN

For as long as NDC charlatans remain in office, the wheel of change will continue to grind painstakingly slowly. If we are not careful, they can stall the gains that we are experiencing, and reverse them to make our government unpopular. Given the current status of Ghana as the shining star of Africa, and His Excellency Nana Akufo-Addo the luster therein, I call for immediate steps to halt the chicanery of NDC rogues at sensitive posts in the countrys institutions.

Sack those you can and transfer those you cant. I do not care if the boards are constituted or not, just do it!

However, we are seeing some sickening chain of occurrences that tend to cause massive disfavour amongst our honourable grass roots folks and footsoldiers. I am hearing about the appointment of people who callously went on air to dent the credibility of the President during the campaign towards elections 2016. Captain Smart, a known NDC diehard member with an unhidden hatred for Nana Akufo-Addo and the NPP to maniacal levels, was revealed as the Ambulance Ambassador, a post if to be discussed does not even make sense. Maybe he needs it to send his sick heart on a spiritual emergency to rid his soul off the purgatory that he is punishing himself with.

Many more desultory characters like SenyoHosi, who openly advocated for votes against Nana Akufo-Addo is now the head of the Chamber for Bulk Oil Distribution.

What at all is wrong with us in this NPP government? For the life of me, I never imagined that such lowlife non-entities will find favour with our administration. People who were outstanding in their campaign activities and suffered the rigours of fear, intimidation, and beatings by NDC instigated police buffoons are now barely scathing through, while those that ate from the table of Ibrahim Mahama, John Mahama, Joseph SiawAgyepong of Zoomlion, Paul Afoko, and many more anti Akufo-Addo charlatans, are driving landcruisers bloviating about the foolishness of NPP officials who have no sense to reward their own, but rather those they think they can make a buck or two in connivance with.

David Asante, convener of the Let My Vote Count Alliance is still walking around jobless, and suffering actual penury. Justice Adzakuma, lost his eye, his wife, and home because of his will to see change, yet he is now a jobless, penniless outcast rejected and dejected by his very own. Mr President, please see to it that they are taken care of.

YES YES YES!!!!! Saaaaana 3se te3!!! GOD have mercy on anyone caught in a scandal. I, FadiDabbousi, will not spare them. We cannot afford to let the nation down. So far so good! His Excellency the President is making us proud everywhere Ghana is mentioned. I promise to ensure that it is kept that way. It is for this reason I insist that Alfred Obeng of BOST steps aside or be fired for foolishly allowing the NDC goad him to the pit that they had dug out for the NPP to fall in.

On the issue of corruption, I implore the President to begin cracking the whip asap. Corrupt officials from our government and those of the NDC must be brought to book immediately. With regards to John Mahama, according to the constitution, we have only two and half years to prosecute him otherwise after three years from Jan 7, 2017, he will be totally immune from same. His rot, corruption, greed, and embezzlement of the nations coffers, as alleged, must be investigated and if found culpable prosecuted and thrown in jail to become the first bold example of proper accountability that this country needs at all.

Ibrahim Mahamas shady deals with his companies and surrogates, including the nonsensical bauxite deal, must be abrogated. He must be investigated, tried, and sent to jail without fear or favour.

Joseph SiawAgyepong must be stopped in his tracks before he wreaks more havoc on our economy with his smelly contracts and trash maneuvres. The States money must be retrieved to the last penny.

CPs illegal sale of lands at the Tema roundabout area must be investigated with immediate effect. How can foreigners come to this country and sell lands illegally with such impunity? And the profits are frighteningly huge.

AlBaradiCompany must be investigated for renting out Hyundai excavators instead of selling them as per their GSA contract with Hyundai  Korea. They must also be investigated for causing serious financial losses to the State having made some 20 million US dollars in profits over a period of three and half years, albeit evading tax, by enslaving Ghanaian workers paying them meager salaries, flouting every employment regulation including SSNIT, and so on and so forth, while they employed Sudanese managers who were paid big money. These personnel operated in the country on temporary visitors visas.

What is wrong with us in this country at all? More revelations coming up!

Mr President, please crack the whip! I am beginning to have enough of the loud chattering going on within our rank and file.
MD of BOST Alfred Boateng

04.07.2017 LISTEN

The Executive Secretary of the Chamber of Petroleum Consumers, Duncan Amoah, has stated that the circumstances leading to the sale of contaminated fuel by BOST to Movenpiina is murkier than anticipated.

The scam and the rot seemed a lot more pervasive and a lot entrenched than we all even thought it was, he told Accra-based Class FM Tuesday July 4, 2017.

His comments come in the wake of disclosures that Movenpiina, the unlicensed company at the centre of the purchase of the contaminated fuel sold the product to another unlicensed firm, MacWest.

According to fresh details, Movenpiinia sold 2 million litres of the 5 million litres of the contaminated fuel it bought from BOST to MacWest.

A letter intercepted by Starr Business reveals the transaction took place two weeks before Movenpiina sold its consignment to Zupoil.

Anyone who knows what we are talking about will agree that the security implication is very high [where] a lot of these unlicensed operators are springing up everywhere across Tema, said Mr. Amoah, owning illegal tank yards where all sort of businesses are conducted there.

The minority in Parliament last week called for the immediate interdiction of the MD of BOST Alfred Boateng . But the Majority described their calls as ridiculous .

Meanwhile, the Energy Ministry has set up an eight-member committee to investigate the circumstances leading to the sale of over 5 million litres of contaminated fuel.

The Committee will be chaired by the sector Minister, Boakye Agyarko and its membership is made up of officials drawn from the National Petroleum Authority (NPA), Ghana Standards Authority, Civil Society Groups and other stakeholders.
The Executive Director of the Institute for Democratic Governance (IDEG), Dr Emmanuel Akwetey, has lauded governments ability to secure a US$19 billion aid to boost the economy.

The man who goes to China for three days and brings US$19 billion to our economy, lets give him a round of applause, he said in congratulating Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia.

He was speaking on Tuesday July 4 at a China-Africa Joint Research and Exchange Programme at a conference on China-Africa relations on the theme: Building Resilient Industries and Infrastructure for Economic Transformation in Africa: The Role of China.

Dr Bawumia, shortly after arrival on Sunday June 25 from a working visit to China, announced that government had reached an agreement with the Chinese government for the mutual benefit of both countries.

According to Dr Akwetey: If we could do more of that I believe it will set us up very well to transform our country, our economy, our society, our nation, in the next generation of 30 years.

He was glad that part of the funds had been earmarked for governments One-District-One-Factory programme at the district level.

For me, the idea that US$2bn of the amount will go to the One-District-One-Factory, which for me is a metaphor for a government that sets its focus on steering our country towards industrialisation, infrastructural development, and transformationI think that indeed it is an important breakthrough that we should celebrate because historically we have not had that amount of money going into local development in Ghana, he stated.
Rome (AFP) - Italy summoned Austria's ambassador on Tuesday after Vienna threatened to send troops to the border over the migrant crisis, as the influx to Europe across the Mediterranean topped 100,000 for 2017.

Defence Minister Hans Peter Doskozil had on Monday said Austria would close its border with Italy and send soldiers to guard it if there was no slowdown in arrivals.

Announcing that arrivals had passed the 100,000 mark for 2017, the UN's International Organization for Migration (IOM) said nearly 2,250 people had died so far this year attempting to make the perilous crossing in rickety boats.

Italy has taken in nearly 85 percent of this year's arrivals -- most of them sub-Saharan Africans crossing from Libya -- and has pleaded for help from other European Union nations, saying it is struggling to cope.

"The reception of rescued migrants cannot be seen as an issue only for Italy, but a matter for Europe as a whole," IOM chief William Lacy Swing said, appealing for the rest of the EU to show more solidarity.

On Sunday, Italian Interior Minister Marco Minniti called on EU neighbours to open their ports to rescue ships picking up migrants, after issuing a drastic threat to close its own ports to the boats.

But France rejected that idea, with an aide to Minniti's counterpart Gerard Collomb telling AFP this would only encourage more migrants to set sail.

EU interior ministers are due to meet in Estonia's capital Tallinn on Thursday to discuss the migrant crisis -- the continent's worst since World War II -- in a bid to defuse a long-running row over spreading asylum seekers across the bloc.

The EU put in place a policy in 2015 to distribute around 160,000 asylum-seekers across different countries.

But only about 20,000 have been relocated from Italy and Greece under the scheme, while Hungary, Poland and the Czech Republic have flatly refused to take part.

Ministers meeting in Tallinn will also discuss a "code of conduct" for charities operating rescue boats in the Mediterranean, a plan announced by France, Germany and Italy on Monday.

Separately, foreign ministers from European and African countries affected by the crisis will meet in Rome on Thursday with representatives of the EU and UN as part of a diplomatic push to stem the influx.

In an interview with France's Figaro newspaper, European migration commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos called on Tuesday for EU countries to speed up deportations of failed asylum seekers to ease the pressure, but warned this needed cooperation from their home countries.

'Enormous pressure'

The numbers are staggering, but far below arrival figures for last year

The UN figures show that between January 1 and July 3, more than 85,000 migrants landed in Italy, nearly 9,300 in Greece, nearly 6,500 in Spain and over 270 in Cyprus.

"We are under enormous pressure," Italy's Minniti told newspaper Il Messaggero over the weekend, while the country's Red Cross warned that the situation in overcrowded reception centres was becoming critical.

The UN's refugee agency also weighed in, warning that Italy cannot continue absorbing tens of thousands of migrants on its own.

"This is not sustainable. We need to have other countries joining Italy and sharing that responsibility," said Vincent Cochetel, UNHCR special envoy for the central Mediterranean.

While the numbers arriving in 2017 are staggering, they remain far below last year's figures.

During the same period in 2016, 231,503 people made the crossing to Europe, with the 100,000-mark passed already in February that year.

But at that time most of the migrants were crossing from Turkey to Greece, and an EU deal with Ankara in March last year effectively hit the brakes on that movement.

burs-kjl/mt/mt
The Supreme Court has dismissed an application for stay of proceedings by Businessman Alfred Woyome, seeking to halt an oral examination by the Attorney General. According to the court, presided over by a single Judge, Justice Alfred Benin, the application had no basis.

Mr. Woyome prayed the Supreme Court last week to stay proceedings on the oral examination since he had filed for a review on the case.

His lawyer, Ken Anku, argued that, his client will face an irreparable damage if the oral examination is allowed to take place but a deputy Attorney General, Godfred Dame, opposed the application, describing the reasons as incompetent and unmeritorious.

Judgement debt saga

Mr. Woyome was paid GHc 51 million after claiming he helped Ghana raise funds to construct stadia for the hosting of the 2008 African Cup of Nations. However, an Auditor General's report released in 2010, held that the amount was paid illegally to him.

Subsequently, the Supreme Court in 2014 ordered Mr. Woyome to pay back the money, after a former Attorney General, Martin Amidu, single-handedly challenged the legality of the payments.

Following delays in retrieving the money, Supreme Court judges unanimously granted the Attorney-General clearance to execute the court's judgment, ordering Mr. Woyome to refund the cash to the state.

Mr. Amidu himself, in 2016, filed an application at the Supreme Court seeking to examine Alfred Woyome, on how he was going to pay back the money, after the Attorney General's office under the Mahama Administration, led by the former Minister for Justice, Marietta Brew Appiah-Oppong, discontinued a similar application.

In February 2017 however, Mr. Amidu withdrew his suit seeking an oral examination, explaining that the change of government and the assurance by the new Attorney General to retrieve all judgement debts wrongfully paid to individuals, had given him renewed confidence in the system.

-Citifmonline
Japan's government said the missile was believed to have landed in Japan's exclusive economic zone in the Sea of Japan but no damage to ships or aircraft in the area has been reported.

By AP: North Korea on Tuesday launched yet another ballistic missile in the direction of Japan, South Korean officials said, part of a string of recent test-firings as the North works to build a nuclear-tipped missile that could reach the United States.

The South's Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement that the launch, which came before the US celebration of its national independence, was made from North Phyongan province. Other details were scarce. It wasn't immediately clear if this was a routine firing of a short-range missile or an attempt to perfect North Korea's longer-range missiles.

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Just last week South Korean President Moon Jae-in and US President Donald Trump focused much of their first meeting on opposing North Korea's development of atomic weapons that threaten both allies.

Japan's government said the missile was believed to have landed in Japan's exclusive economic zone in the Sea of Japan but no damage to ships or aircraft in the area has been reported.

China's U.N. ambassador, Liu Jieyi, warned Monday that further escalation of already high tensions with North Korea risks getting out of control, "and the consequences would be disastrous."

The Korean Peninsula has been divided between the American-backed South and the authoritarian North since the 1950-53 Korean War. Worries have increased as the North's leader Kim Jong Un pushes to expand his nuclear arsenal and develop ballistic missiles that can carry nuclear warheads.

Tuesday's launch is the first by the North since a June 8 test of a new type of cruise missile that Pyongyang says is capable of striking US and South Korean warships "at will."

Since taking office on May 10, Moon has tried to improve strained ties with North Korea, but the North has continued its missile tests. Pyongyang says it needs nuclear weapons and powerful missiles to cope with what it calls rising US military threats.

Also Read

North Korea fires ballistic missile; Trump's UN envoy says Kim Jong Un in 'state of paranoia'

Trump calls for firm response to North Korea, targets Seoul on trade

--- ENDS ---
I am sure many of us are aware of the phenomenon where many trained nurses left the shores of the country in search of greener pastures. This caused a lot of brain drain in the health sector especially. Many of these nurses travelled to the UK where they received about four times their salaries in Ghana. As the old axiom goes; necessity is the mother of invention. Therefore, about 12 years ago, the NPP government under JAK introduced the bond scheme to fund the education of nurses who then had to agree to work for the next five years in Ghana before they can travel outside the country.

This decision was taken at a time when there were few if any privately owned nursing training colleges in Ghana. Today, there are more nurses than the government and private health facilities can absorb. Sometimes, it is difficult even for the government to employ all the bonded nurses yet the embargo placed on them as result of the bond makes it impossible for these unemployed bonded nurses to seek employment elsewhere to better their lots. Remember, it is governments responsibility to provide jobs for all manner of persons who have the requisite training to work in our health facilities scattered across the country irrespective of the school you attended. Yet, privately trained nurses were always discriminated against. They are always treated as second class citizens when it comes to employment opportunities because they are not bonded graduates. Completely unacceptable, and an affront to rule of law, fairness and natural justice.

Let me quickly add that the bonding scheme has not stopped nurses from travelling abroad in search of greener pastures. In 2004, about 700 nurses who have served their bonds travelled out of the country. In 2013 and 2014, 107 and 192 nurses left the country respectively.

There are now more private schools churning out nurses and some of them can't even find jobs so why should government continue to bond the student nurses in public schools and continue to pay allowance. It is important to make the trained nurses who are unemployed geographically mobile to make them useful to society and themselves and the only way to achieve that is to scrap the bonding scheme.

It is important to note that, the plan to scrap this bonding scheme started as far back as 2015 under the NDC administration. In fact this plan was revealed by the Deputy Director of Human Resources at the Ministry of Health in an interview with the BBC in February, 2015. I support the decision of the Akufo Addo government to implement the plan of the previous administration. Surprisingly, the NDC have been attacking the Nana Addo government without a modicum of shame. Clueless opposition!!

One may ask, what about the campaign promises of the NPP to the nurse trainees? The position of the NPP was that, it was unacceptable not to pay the allowances of nurses so long as we continue to bond them. The NPP was of the view that all the nurse trainees who were in school were under the bond to serve the state for a period of five years before they can work else. Therefore, it was a kind of double jeopardy for the nursing students to be bonded and yet refused the allowance for which reason they were bonded. It is important to reemphasis the Nana Addos government will continue to deliver the promise to the nursing student who are currently under the bond until we gradually phase out the bonding scheme. Nana is a promise keeper.

Lets create equal employment opportunities for all Ghanaians with equal qualifications. Lets say no to employment on the basis of school attended. If it becomes necessary to retain more nurses again in the future, we will devise the appropriate strategies to solve the problem.

I am a Ghanaian. I am a citizen, not a spectator.

James McKeown, Helsinki.

[email protected]

+358451856393
04.07.2017 LISTEN

The Majority Caucus in Parliament has called for full-scale investigations and a forensic audit into the activities of the Bulk Oil Storage Transportation (BOST), from 2009.

It said the press conference by the Minority was to throw dust into the eyes of the public, and to cover-up the massive rot at BOST, which occurred under the National Democratic Congress (NDC) administration and Mr Kwame Awuah Darko, the former Chief Executive Officer.



Mr Emmanuel Akwasi Gyamfi, Chairman of the Energy Committee, said this at a press conference, organised by the Majority New Patriotic Party (NPP), in reaction to the Minority's conference on the recent five million litres of contaminated fuel at BOST.

The Minority NDC, on Tuesday, organised a press conference and accused Mr Alfred Obeng Boateng, Chief Executive of BOST, to have, among other things, done business with two unlicensed companies of Moveniina And Zupp Oil.

The Minority said the five million litres of contaminated fuel should have been processed to restore it to good use, instead of selling it off.

They also accused him of causing financial loss to the state, which they estimated at GH14.2 million.

Mr Gyamfi also refuted the Minority's allegation that Moveniina bought the product at GH1 and sold it at GH1.30 to Zupp Oil, adding; Moveniina, indeed, bought the contaminated product at GH1.30, and then sold at GH1.32 and made a marginal profit of GH100,000.

He said, between 2014 and 2016, when the contamination of fuel products escalated, the average price that the product was sold was 70 pesewas per litre, as the price ranged from 50 pesewas to 90 pesewas.

Mr Gyamfi said the sale price of the recent contaminated product at GH1.30 was 86 per cent higher than what was obtained in the past, and the highest value the nation had ever earned. BOST sells its good-spec at a price of GH1.75 per litre.

Mr Gyamfi also debunked the Minority's claim that under no circumstance should BOST experience such levels of contamination, as was witnessed.

He said, under the NDC, similar contaminations occurred in 2014, 2015 and 2016, and the quantities involved were 4.6 million litres, 9.9 million litres and 12 million litres respectively.

He said the Minority's allegation that the contamination had to do with the inefficiencies and negligence of Mr Boateng was not true, because the five million litres was detected on January 18, 2017, when Mr Awuah Darko was still the Chief Executive of BOST.

Mr Gyamfi said, on July 22, 2014, BOST, under Mr Awuah Darko, engaged Messrs Merson Capital Limited as a financial consultant on its projects, with the responsibility for financial evaluation and assisting in negotiating with financiers.

He said, for this assistance, Merson Capital was to be paid $50,000 per month for 36 months, and if through its instrumentality any financier came on board, Merson Capital was entitled to one percent of the total capital raised.

Mr Gyamfi said, under Mr Awuah Darko, BOST rented property at Airport Residential Area, and for more than two years after it had vacated the premises, they kept the key and kept paying rent amounting to $310,000 in June 2016.

He said BOST engaged Messrs Rolider Limited for a turnkey design, build and finance for their headquarters building at a cost of $39 million, exclusive of VAT.

According to experts, the headquarters could have been built at a cost of $19 million, saving the nation $20 million of the taxpayer's money.

He said, since 2015, BOST, under the guise of Security Transfer, had transferred unexplained amounts of between GH2.5 million to GH3.5 million, on a bi-monthly basis, to the Office of the then President and then Chief of Staff, the last amount being GH3 million, which was transferred on January 3, 2017.

Source: GNA
04.07.2017 LISTEN

The World Bank, on June 30th, this year, approved two International Development Association credits of $85.7 million for the Secondary Education Improvement Project (SEIP) and the Sustainable Rural Water and Sanitation Project (SRWSP).

Specifically, the Secondary Education Improvement Project (SEIP) received additional financing of $40 million to support low-performing schools in the targeted 100 SEIP districts, as well as the 23 newly-constructed schools, by providing bursaries (formerly scholarships) for needy students, improving and expanding facilities in approximately 75 schools, and rolling out activities to improve the quality of teaching and learning in all the beneficiary schools.



The proposed additional financing under the SEIP would provide support to the achievement of better learning outcomes to over 100 additional schools, nearly doubling the number of schools targeted under the SEIP, while continuing to support activities to increase enrollment in undersubscribed schools, said Henry Kerali, World Bank Country Director for Ghana.

The Sustainable Rural Water and Sanitation Project (SRWSP) received additional financing of $45.7 million, to facilitate the construction of additional 20,000 household toilets to the current 22,000, and assist additional 490 communities to be open defecation free. The project will also finance water supply systems that could not be completed from the original SRWSP. These areas include the Northern Region, and the fluoride and the high salinity affected areas where access to both adequate water supply and sanitation fall far below the national average.

The beneficiary regions, under the SRWSP, have high rates of poverty, and the completion of the project will reduce the outbreak of diseases such as cholera and diarrhea, as well as communicable diseases, leading to improvements in child health. Improved water and sanitation services are also an integral part of the World Bank's twin goals of ending extreme poverty and promoting shared prosperity, said Wambui Gichuri, World Bank Water Practice Manager for Africa.

The World Bank's International Development Association (IDA) , established in 1960, helps the world's poorest countries by providing grants and low to zero-interest loans for projects and programmes that boost economic growth, reduce poverty, and improve poor people's lives.

IDA is one of the largest sources of assistance for the world's 77 poorest countries, 39 of which are in Africa. Resources from IDA bring positive change to the 1.3 billion people who live in IDA countries. Since 1960, IDA has supported development work in 112 countries. Annual commitments have averaged about $19 billion over the last three years, with about 50 percent going to Africa.
Declassified:

As part of the occasion to mark 40 years after the embarassing raid on Entebbe Airport by Israeli commandos, the Intelligence Heritage and Communication Centre of Israel released a book titled Operation Yonatan in the First Person, containing first-hand testimonies of 35 fighters who participated in the raid on July 3, 1976. As we mark 41 years today, Henry Lubega draws on a few gripping excerpts from the book in a five-part series

Air France Flight No. 135 left Ben Gurion Airport in Israel with 248 passengers on Sunday June 27, 1976.

Among those on board were four hijackers, two Germans and two Palestinians. From Israel the flight had a stopover in Athens, Greece, from where other members of the hijacking group boarded the plane. On taking off from Athens, the plane was hijacked and commandeered to Uganda through Libya, where it stopped over for refueling, arriving at Entebbe around 03:00am the next morning.

At Entebbe those taken hostage were parked in a hall at the airport terminal. The next day, June 29, non-Jewish hostages were separated and later released, and only 106 Jews were kept in captivity.

The released hostages were flown to France, where Israeli intelligence met them to gather information about the hostage takers. From the freed passengers, the rescue mission planners learnt what kind of guns the hijackers had, and how many they were in number. On the night of July 3 and early hour as of July 4, 1976, four Israeli Hercules planes carrying commandos landed at Entebbe to rescue the 106 hostages.

Two different plans mooted

When the news of the hijack broke in Israel, diplomatic efforts were immediately launched to secure the release of the hostages. This happened as the military was also considering a rescue mission, which became unavoidable as the deadline that the hostage takers had given for the execution of the hostages loomed.

Yitzhak Rabin, then Israeli Prime Minister, convened a select closed cabinet meeting. One of those in the meeting was the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Chief of Staff, Mordechai Motta Gur. When the military option was decided on, a Special Forces Unit, Sayeret Matkal, was chosen to execute the operation, working with Golani infantrymen, Medical Corps, Paratroopers and a fueling team.

Avi Weiss, the Sayeret Matkal intelligence officer at the time, says in the de-classified documents: Yoni Netanyahu was on his way to the Sinai Peninsula to prepare for another operation with his troops when he was called with the news of the plane hijacking.

Yoni, who was a brother of Benjamin Netanyahu, who would later become Israeli prime minister, was the only Israeli soldier to be killed during the raid on Entebbe.

Prior knowledge

Before the relationship between Uganda under Idi Amin and Israel soured, Israel had had a military training program with the Uganda army. Muki Betzer, who during the operation headed the fire team, had spent four months in Uganda training the Ugandan army. During the preparations in Israel, he was asked by the planners to tell them what he knows about the Uganda army.

When I walked into Ehuds office, there were several officers. I was asked what I knew about the Ugandan army. I told them. I only trained them for four months. Had I kept training them, they would be better now. They are scared of their own shadow, and generally they are not very motivated. And, in this case, I really think they are not motivated to fight.

With those remarks, Ehud Barak tasked Muki to lead the preparations for storming the old terminal building at Entebbe. But they didnt have the buildings architectural designs. Solel Boneh Construction Company, which had built it, was asked to provide the much needed buildings blueprint.

On Thursday, July 1, 1976, Yoni Netanyahu met with Dan Shomron, the head of the Infantry and Paratroopers Branch, who was the overall commander of the rescue operation. During their meeting, two military rescue options were presented.

One of the options was to parachute a military force into Lake Victoria, take over the terminal building, free the hostages, and transport them by land in vehicles that would be captured during the takeover to Kenya. The second option, which was eventually adopted, was to Storm Entebbe with a large military force in eight Hercules planes, take over the airport, rescue the hostages, and fly them back to Israel.

Ehud Barak arrived in Kenya; we were informed that the plan currently being discussed to free the hostage was to parachute Shayetet 13, a special operations Israeli navy unit of commandos with rubber boats, into Lake Victoria; have them make their way to the airport, raid the terminal, and release the hostages, Michael Aharonson, who at the time was a military instructor in Kenya, said. According to Mr Aharonson, another centre was set up in Nairobi just a day after it was decided that there should be a rescue mission. While they discussed the plan in Nairobi, Aharonson said they were asked from Israel whether there were crocodiles on the shores of Lake Victoria. Two Shayeret 13 operatives, including the units deputy commander, flew to Nairobi and went into Lake Victoria with Aharonson to confirm this.

We got our answer as soon as we arrived there. There were crocodiles, and there were massive Nile crocodiles along the shore, as far as the eye could see, Aharonson said.

Having confirmed the presence of crocodiles, the air rescue plan remained the only option.

The Sayeret Matkal commandos were called to base. Sergeant Amir Ofer of the Ammon team was among the first to be called.

I was already asleep when the phone rang I immediately made the connection that this had to do with the hijacking, Ofer said.

Preparing for the operation

Drills for the mission had to be done quick and fast, for they had less than 72 hours to the deadline given by the hostage takers to execute the hostages.

Captain Amnon Peled headed what was called the Amnon Team. He said: It was during our preparations which included military simulation exercises, getting on and off the vehicles, drilling skirmishes, when we got the idea to dress up as Idi Amins soldiers in leopard uniform and Kalashnikovs.

First sergeant Shlomi Reisman was in the Amnon Team. He said: We knew what we had to do, so we dedicated the little time we had left to drilling the more specific, technical aspects of the operation. None of us had ever practiced hitching two Land Rovers and a Mercedes Benz inside a Hercules plane. Special attention was given to drilling, quickly unloading the vehicles after landing; to shorten everything to a minimum time we needed from the moment the Hercules back ramp opened to the moment we arrived at the old terminal where the hostages were kept.

Due to the distance between the two countries, information on what was happening to the hostages was very limited. Bits of information coming through Nairobi were not sufficient for proper planning.

Weiss said: One of the main points of weakness of this operation was the lack of an up-to-date contact with the target. I was feeling uneasy, to put it lightly, because the information we had on the terminal was mostly based on old plans, and our knowledge of the activity at the old terminal and around it was only partial.

It was initially a secret operation, but word leaked and even those in the reserve volunteered to go on the mission. When word for the planned mission leaked, reserve officers of the Sayeret Matkal started making frantic efforts to be part of the operation.

Danny Arditi, who was a captain by then and commander of the Arditi Team, said: Out of my dozens of soldiers one could not go. When Yoni told me I had to give up one of my soldiers, I was very angry and started arguing. I really fought for that soldier to the point of almost walking away. I told Yoni, if he is not participating, then I am not participating and left his office, furious.

It was a total of 33 commandos that was finally selected to rescue the hostages. They were divided into groups  the fire team led by Muki Betzer; Yiftach Reicher-Atir led a team that was to clear the customs area and the second floor of the terminal building; Amnon Peled led the rescuing group which stormed the hall where the hostages were; Giora Zussmans group cleared the other rooms where the hijackers and other Ugandan soldiers were.

Rami Shermans group was to provide fire cover and the vehicles the rescue team traveled with, and also set up landing beacons along the runway for the other Hercules planes.

In Part 2 tomorrow, read about the journey from Israel to Entebbe, how the Israeli commandos landed and how the attack on the old terminal building was executed.
04.07.2017 LISTEN

After almost a year since its closure, the south-bound lane of the Aburi Mountains road in the Eastern region has still not been opened to motorists and commuters.

Residents told Joy News Favour Nunoo that contractors have failed to meet the five-month deadline given by the government.

The Ghana Highway Authority gave the contractors a November 19, deadline after work commenced on June 22, 2016.

Some of the residents said contractors stopped working some weeks before the election and had resumed working this year.

According to them, the contractors have stopped working again for close to three months now.

Though motorists were supposed to use the Berekusu-Kitase bypass as an alternative, they are complaining about the heavy traffic jam in the area as a result of the closed Aburi road.

They added that a five-minute journey previously can take about an hour now.

Other residents are also worried that the hexagonal wire mesh used to prevent the rocks from falling, cannot hold for long.

The Aburi Mountain contains water and so the rocks will continue to fall as long as it rains, one resident said.

He suggested that government should expand the road and leave some distance on the side of the mountain.

Motorists also called on government to deal with the situation. They pleaded that the work that quality work should be done so it last longer to avoid financial wastage.

Story by Ghana | myjoyonline.com | Nasiba Yakubu | [Intern] | [email protected]
04.07.2017 LISTEN

The Northern Regional Minister, Salifu Saeed, has mounted a strong defence for the youth of the region, and fiercely kicked against the century-long negative perception held by many Ghanaians that portray the youth in the area as violent.

Even though the youth have, over the years, been used by some unscrupulous politicians and other influential persons to foment troubles, and have been deeply involved in almost all the chieftaincy, land and political disputes ever recorded in the region, the Regional Minister insisted that they were just victims of circumstances.

The Northern Region has several youth groups, mostly sponsored by politicians and political parties, who have built pavilions and other structures, painted with political party colours and are serving as vigilante groups for those parties.

According to him, the youth of Northern Region were only being influenced to take arms for their own destruction, simply because they had no jobs to do.

To be sincere with you; Northern youth are not violent. All the youth groups, if managed well, can be used or turned into productive groups. If you go into some of the activities of some of the youth groups in the region, you will realise that they do a lot of peace mediations, community protection, support community development; they drain gutters, weed and patch or fill potholes on roads among others. The only thing driving most of the youth to engage in certain vices is the lack of jobs. The youth need jobs, but because there are no jobs, some unscrupulous persons take advantage of them and use them for violence, Mr. Saeed explained.

The Regional Minister observed that If you profile a lot of the youth on an individual basis, you will realise that majority of them are well educated and are responsible people with wives and children, or are from good homes.

He indicated that some of the youth had completed universities, polytechnics and senior high schools, but they were being misled, because they had no jobs. Mr. Salifu Saeed further indicated that majority of them had also travelled to the southern part of Ghana to learn trade and had come back without any job, hence their involvement in violent acts.

I'm not trying to justify the bad behaviour of some of the youth, but I have every conviction that with availability of jobs and other opportunities for the youth to further their education, they will forever remain peaceful, law-abiding and productive to the region, he maintained, emphasising that, An idle mind is the devil's workshop.

The Minister, who is also a development practitioner, outlined plans by the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) government to employ majority of the youth of the region, and Ghana as a whole, to become useful to the nation.

According to him, the government was going to repackage, restructure, and expand the operations of the Microfinance and Small Loans Centre (MASLOC) to provide financial and other supports to most of the youth groups to go into their own businesses. The NPP, under former President John Agyekum Kufuor, saw the need to introduce the MASLOC in 2006 to support the small scales businesses that needed financial support, but did not have curatorial to access monies from the formal banks, but because NPP left power, the MASLOC has not been well managed to serve its purpose. Now that we are back, we, in NPP, will ensure that MASLOC works again.

Aside that, he said that the government was also going to employ several thousands of youth, under the Youth Employment Authority (YEA) and the Planting for Foods and Jobs programme, to prevent them from causing violence in society.

He disclosed that his administration was lobbying for companies that have the capacities to develop water harvesting irrigation dams, to store the excess waters from the Bagre Dam in Burkina Faso to promote dry season farming across the region, especially, vegetable and flower production.

Mr. Salifu Saeed said that one of his visions was to advocate for the government to develop the cargo unit of the Tamale Internal Airport to facilitate the exportation of fresh vegetables and flowers to Europe and other international markets.

If we are able to do massive vegetables and flower production for export, I tell you that the Northern Region will generate more revenue to the state than the oil regions.

He, therefore, called for lasting peace and unity amongst the people in the region, to enhance the development and implementation of the policies and programmes of the government.

The Minister also cautioned unscrupulous politicians and other influential persons using the youth for violence, to desist from such acts and allow them to become responsible citizens.
Ankara (AFP) - The United States is set to lift a ban on carrying large electronic devices, such as laptops, in the cabin of US-bound flights from Turkey's main international airport, Turkish Transport Minister Ahmet Arslan said on Tuesday.

Arslan was quoted by state-run news agency Anadolu as saying the ban would be lifted on July 5 following a visit by a US delegation.

Its removal would come after Turkey began using highly sophisticated tomography devices for X-ray and ultrasound at Istanbul's Ataturk International Airport, he said.

US officials are to inspect the machines on Wednesday.

"With this confirmation mission, the ban will be lifted from Ataturk airport and from Turkish Airlines," Arslan said.

"So it is an advantage for us that this hasn't gone on too long," he added. Ataturk is the only airport in Turkey with direct flights to the United States.

Late Monday, Turkish Airlines chief executive Bilal Eksi said on Twitter he expected the ban to be lifted on Wednesday.

Arslan was quoted by NTV television as saying Turkey had also been talking with Britain about removing its ban on the transport of laptops in cabin baggage from Istanbul.

Britain imposed the ban on laptops on direct flights originating from Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia and Turkey.

Flag-carrier Turkish Airlines, which has seen exponential international growth in recent years, had responded to the ban by offering laptops to business-class travellers in May.

The US on Sunday lifted a ban on passengers taking such devices on Etihad Airways flights from its base in the Emirati capita ofl Abu Dhabi, the first airliner to benefit from a removal of the ban.

The decision came after the airline implemented enhanced security measures, a spokesman for the US Department of Homeland Security said.

The ban was put into place after intelligence officials learned of efforts by Islamic State jihadists to produce a bomb that could be secreted inside such devices.
Mildred Siabi-Mensah GNA

Takoradi, July 4, GNA - Hundreds of security personnel and some media practitioners in the Western Region on Monday embarked on a walk dubbed "a walk against mob justice" to drum home the need to end instant justices in the society.

The Servicemen included the Police, Prisons, Ghana National Fire Service, the Army, Metropolitan guards and the father of the late Major Maxwell Adam Mahama, who is an ex-service man.

The walk was under the auspices of Ahoto FM, a member of the ATINKA Media VILLAGE in collaboration with Melody FM in the Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolis.

The walk, well patronized, was to create awareness on the phenomenon where some members of the society took the law into their hands and dealt mercilessly with suspected criminals.

The General Manager of Ahoto FM, Mr Patrick Bismarck Mensah, told the GNA that it was time society stemmed the tide on the practice to avoid killing innocent souls.

"We need not to take the law into our own hands and brutalize suspected criminals. That is why we have the police stations and the securities around. Just report or hand over any suspect to the police, "he added.

Captain Dennis Mahama Adam (Rtd), the father of the late Major Maxwell Adam Mahama was hopeful that by the massive awareness on the topic, communities would be more careful in handling suspected criminals.

Capt. Mahama Adam encouraged the public to go beyond the talk shows and act to put an end to mob and instant justice in the country.

He pledged his commitment to support such exercises to sensitize and educate the public against mob justice.

GNA
04.07.2017 LISTEN

Accra, July 4, GNA - The Old Achimotans Association (OAA) is putting up an ultra- modern science block for the school to give it a new facelift and enhance effective teaching and learning of science.

The project, which is being funded by Tullow Oil Ghana Limited, is expected to be completed by December, this year.

Professor Ernest Aryeetey, the President of the Association, disclosed this at the end of the Association's Global Homecoming in Accra on Sunday.

The Homecoming, which forms part of activities marking the 90th Anniversary celebration of the school, afforded members of the Association the opportunity to tour the various Houses of the school, identify their needs and see how best they could offer their assistance.

It was also to socialise, make merry and plan for the growth of the Association.

Prof. Aryeetey, who is also a former Vice Chancellor of the University of Ghana, said the various year groups of the school had been supporting their alma mater over the years.

This, he said, included the provision of infrastructure and donation of equipment.

He commended the various year groups for their immense contribution for making the school what it is today.

On the encroachment on the Achimota School land, Prof. Aryeetey said it was undermining the nation's capacity to expand educational opportunity for ordinary Ghanaians and enhance the quality of teaching and learning.

He, therefore, advised the public not to purchase any portion of the school land since it was not for sale.

Mr Osei Kwame Agyemang, the Board Chairman of Achimota School, called on the Government and other stakeholders to act immediately to halt the ongoing encroachment, sale and theft of the school land.

He urged the students to take advantage of the numerous opportunities being offered in the school to enable them to achieve their future aspirations.

GNA
04.07.2017 LISTEN

Bolgatanga, July 4, GNA - Tanga Multimedia, Operators of Tanga Radio in Bolgatanga has honoured Dr Samuel Aborah, a medical officer at the Regional Hospital for his dedication to duty and contribution to quality health delivery in the region.

The initiative was part of activities marking the 5th Anniversary of the organisation which was established on July 30, 2013.

Mr Rashid Bawa Agana, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Tanga Multimedia, at a brief ceremony to honour the doctor, said 'it takes a dedicated person to serve and work for humanity, and to accept posting to an area where colleagues and even natives refused to be posted'.

He said the honour was to communicate to the world that 'no matter where you are or whatever you are doing as a professional, society puts a satellite on you and expects you to deliver with humility'.

The CEO noted that most people fall short in their line of duty considering the pressure society mounts on them, and observed that Dr Aborah had proven beyond every reasonable doubt that he placed human life above everything.

Mr Agana said 'we at Tanga Radio, having monitored your struggles from afar, together with civil society and stakeholders in the region and beyond, thought it wise to express our profound gratitude to you this day'.

He disclosed that the organisation's choice of the doctor stemmed from its interactions with people in and around the communities, staff of the facility and stakeholders in the health sector.

Mr Agana expressed worry about the perception a section of the public has about the media as 'carriers of bad news', adding that Tanga Radio among others was not only to educate, entertain and inform, but also to give credit to where it was due.

Mr Frank Fuseini Adongo, the Deputy Upper East Regional Minister who is also the Member of Parliament for the Zebilla Constituency, observed that the inadequate number of medical doctors in the region was a key challenge that confronted quality health care delivery.

'Very often, doctors posted to the region fail to report and the few that report do not stay for long. The underlying factor is the location of our region, which some see as deprived and will not benefit them personally if they accepted posting here'. He said.

Mr Adongo who also presented an undisclosed cheque to the doctor, said 'many of our own brethren also refuse to accept postings here to serve their own people whose toil contributed to their education. We in this part of the country therefore have to suffer the benefits of the national cake supply because of our vocation'.

He commended the medical doctor whom he said was not a son of the region for his dedication and service to the region for over a decade under same conditions others refused to work, adding that 'we need to applaud such display of humanitarianism.'

Dr Aborah thanked management of the hospital, the Chiefs and people of the area, and the Upper East Regional Health Directorate for the support and kind gesture shown to him over the years.

He said 'The award will continue to motivate me and my co-workers to continue to diligently serve the people of the Upper East Region', and called on other corporate institutions and management of the Ghana Health Service to institute award schemes to motivate hardworking staff.

GNA
Days before leaders from the Group of 20 nations are due to discuss steps to rein in Pyongyang's weapons' programmes, North Korea has successfully test-launched an intercontinental ballistic missile.

People past a public TV screen broadcasting news of North Korea's ballistic missile which landed in the waters of Japan's economic zone (EEZ) in Tokyo, Tuesday. (Pic: AP)

By Reuters: North Korea said on Tuesday it successfully test-launched an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) for the first time, which flew a trajectory that experts said could allow a weapon to hit the U.S. state of Alaska.

The launch came days before leaders from the Group of 20 nations were due to discuss steps to rein in North Korea's weapons programme, which it has pursued in defiance of U.N. Security Council sanctions.

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The launch, which North Korea's state media said was ordered and supervised by leader Kim Jong Un, sent the rocket 933 km (580 miles) reaching an altitude of 2,802 km over a flight time of 39 minutes.

North Korea has said it wants to develop a missile mounted with a nuclear warhead capable of striking the U.S. mainland.

To do that it would need an ICBM with a range of 8,000 km (4,800 miles) or more, a warhead small enough to be mounted on it and technology to ensure its stable re-entry into the atmosphere.

Some analysts said the flight details on Tuesday suggested the new missile had a range of more than 8,000 km, underscoring major advances in its programme. Other analysts said they believed its range was not so far.

Officials from South Korea, Japan and the United States said the missile landed in the sea in Japan's Exclusive Economic Zone after being launched on a high trajectory from near an airfield northwest of the North's capital, Pyongyang.

"The test launch was conducted at the sharpest angle possible and did not have any negative effect on the neighbouring countries," North Korea's state media said in a statement.

The North said its missiles were now capable of striking anywhere in the world.

"It appears the test was successful. If launched on a standard angle, the missile could have a range of more than 8,000 km," said Kim Dong-yub, a military expert at Kyungnam University's Institute of Far Eastern Studies in Seoul.

"But we have to see more details of the new missile to determine if North Korea has acquired ICBM technology."

South Korean President Moon Jae-in, who convened a national security council meeting, said earlier the missile was believed to be an intermediate-range type, but the military was looking into the possibility it was an ICBM.

'HEAVY MOVE'

U.S. President Donald Trump wrote on Twitter: "North Korea has just launched another missile. Does this guy have anything better to do with his life?", in an apparent reference to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

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"Hard to believe South Korea and Japan will put up with this much longer. Perhaps China will put a heavy move on North Korea and end this nonsense once and for all!", Trump said in a series of tweets.

Stock markets in both South Korea and Japan fell, with the Kospi ending down 0.6 per cent and Japan's Nikkei share average ending down 0.1 per cent.

Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said that he would ask the presidents of China and Russia to play more constructive roles in efforts to stop Pyongyang's arms programme.

"Leaders of the world will gather at the G20 meeting. I would like to strongly call for solidarity of the international community on the North Korean issue," Abe told reporters.

Japan said on Monday the United States, South Korea and Japan would have a trilateral summit on North Korea at the G20. Chinese President Xi Jinping will also be at the July 7-8 meeting in Hamburg, Germany.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang called for calm and restraint, and reiterated China's opposition to North Korea's violation of U.N. resolutions on missile tests.

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Responding to Trump's tweet, Geng said China had for a long time been working hard to resolve the North Korean nuclear issue.

"China's contribution is obvious to all. China's role is indispensable," he told a daily news briefing.

China would continue to work hard and also hoped other parties would work hard too, Geng said.

"We hope all sides can meet each other half way."

North Korea says it needs to develop its weapons in the face of what it sees as U.S. aggression.

It has conducted five nuclear tests, two since the beginning of last year, and numerous missile tests over the past year.

It often times its tests to show its defiance and to raise the stakes when it sees regional powers getting ready for talks or sanctions, analysts say.

The launch took place hours before the Independence Day celebrations in the United States. North Korea has in the past fired missiles around this time.

LAST CHANCE FOR TALKS?

Despite the unprecedented pace of tests since the start of last year, analysts have said that they believed North Korea was years away from having a nuclear-tipped ICBM capable of hitting the United States.

North Korea is also trying to develop intermediate-range missiles capable of hitting U.S. bases in the Pacific. The last North Korean launches before Tuesday were of land-to-sea cruise missiles on June 8.

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David Wright, co-director of the Global Security Program at the U.S.-based Union of Concerned Scientists, said the assessments of the Tuesday flight time and distance suggested the missile might was launched on a "very highly lofted" trajectory of more than 2,800 km.

The same missile could reach a maximum range of roughly 6,700 km on a standard trajectory, Wright said in a blog post.

"That range would not be enough to reach the lower 48 states or the large islands of Hawaii, but would allow it to reach all of Alaska," he said.

South Korea's Moon said on Monday North Korea now faced its "last opportunity" to engage in talks with the outside world.

North Korea has conducted four ballistic missile tests since Moon took office in May, vowing to use dialogue as well as pressure to bring Pyongyang's nuclear and missile programmes under control.

This week, North Korea was a major topic in phone calls between Trump and the leaders of China and Japan, both of whom reaffirmed their commitment to a denuclearised Korean Peninsula.

Trump has recently suggested he was running out of patience with China's efforts to pressure North Korea.

Also Read

After North Korea launches missile, Trump's angry tweet suggests China could end this

North Korea fires ballistic missile towards Japan: South Korea military

--- ENDS ---
By Gifty Amofa/Jeffferson Olarbi, GNA,

Kumasi, July 04, GNA - A suspected robber was killed and a police officer hurt in a gunfight at Aboabo in Kumasi.

The yet to be identified deceased is believed to be a member of a gang linked to the recent murder of a policeman in Tema and series of robbery attacks in the Ashanti Region.

Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Juliana Obeng, the Head of Public Affairs Unit of the Regional Police Command, confirmed this to journalists and said the incident happened at about 0900 hours on Monday.

The police received information that one Basit Obolo, alias 'Outlaw', somebody, who was being sought for his involvement in violent crimes, was hiding in an uncompleted building at Aboabo with three other colleagues.

A team of officers was quickly sent to the place and met Obolo just at the entrance to the building and arrested him.

ASP Obeng said while being escorted, one of his colleagues pulled a gun and shot at one of the officers to free the suspect from his grip.

The police returned fire and the deceased took a direct hit - died instantly of his gunshot wounds.

She added that Basit and the others, however managed to escape and vowed that everything would be done to arrest and bring them to justice.

ASP Obeng indicated that the injured officer 'is responding to treatment at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH), the nation's second largest referral facility'.

Meanwhile, the body of the deceased had been deposited at the mortuary of the same hospital.

GNA
04.07.2017 LISTEN

Kumasi, July 04, GNA - A plumber caught with large quantity of dried leaves suspected to be marijuana has been ordered by a Kumasi Circuit Court to be held in prison custody.

The plea of Akwasi Adofo, alias 'Hitler', was not taken and he would make his next appearance only July 18.

Deputy Superintendent Police (DSP) Doris Amewu told the court, presided over by Mr. Ekow Mensah, that the accused was arrested by officers of the Police Drug Law Enforcement Unit at Kodie in the Kwabre District on June 19, at about 1630 hours.

This followed an operation launched to rid the area of drug peddlers.

He said large quantity of the substance concealed in parcels was seized from him together with cash of GH706.00 believed to be proceeds from the sale of the psychoactive drug.

The prosecution added that Addo in his caution statement mentioned one Kwadwo Boadi, alias 'Okrika' as his source of supply but could not lead the officers to the said man.

Meanwhile, sample of the leaves had been sent for laboratory examination.

GNA

By Gifty Amofa/Jefferson Olarbi, GNA
Supreme Court Judge, Justice Victor J.M Dotse, has urged upcoming Lawyers not to offer services only to people who can afford but do a lot of free services as well.

Speaking at the First Graduation Ceremony of the Faculty of Law at the Wisconsin University in Accra, he said, it would not be appropriate for legal services to be rendered to only people who could afford it.

"Do a lot of pro bono services to people. Do not only offer services to people who can pay in the discharge of your duties,"he stated.

That he said would open doors to many opportunities in the profession and ensure that, justice is delivered across board.

Justice Dotse also urged the graduates to ensure a very high level of professionalism, etiquette and maintain the values of the profession.

"Live and practice the profession without division but rather with integrity and hard work and learn to solve problems by playing with it."

Justice Dotse said, the practice of law is not for the faint-hearted but for courageous people that would stand for the truth despite the challenges.

Some of the challenges he said, include love of money, intimidation, fear and criticism from people across all sectors of the country and beyond.

Prof. Philip Ebow Bondzi-Simpson, Rector of the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA) urged government to support private universities to rub shoulders with the public universities.

He argued that, the private universities are equally offering quality education which eventually benefits the entire country and must be supported by government.

He urged the Wisconsin University to set aside a long term strategic plan to become one of the best Universities in the world.

The Rector also urged the graduates to put the profession ahead of other material things in order to avoid all forms of corruption.

Present at the event was the Acting Chancellor of the University, Justice Isaac Duose and Vice Chancellor of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Prof. Kwasi Obiri-Danso.

In all, about 70 people graduated as the first batch of Law students of the University.
Rome (AFP) - Italy summoned Austria's ambassador Tuesday after Vienna threatened to send troops to the border to stop migrants entering, as the number crossing the Mediterranean topped 100,000 this year.

Fresh tensions have been rising over Europe's migrant crisis, with Austrian Defence Minister Hans Peter Doskozil saying Monday that his country would close its border with Italy, and send soldiers to guard it, if there was no slowdown in arrivals.

While Austrian authorities said there had been no recent surge in border crossings despite the huge numbers landing in Italy, Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz warned: "We are getting ready and will protect our Brenner border if necessary" - referring to the main Brenner mountain pass through the Alps between Italy and Austria.

The border is open as part of Europe's Schengen passport-free zone and has seen between 15 and 40 migrant arrivals daily in recent weeks, said Helmut Tomac, police chief in the Austrian state of Tyrol.

'Unprecedented'

Italy's Interior Minister Marco Minniti said he was "frankly surprised" by Doskozil's threat considering "there is clearly no emergency at the Brenner Pass and cooperation with the Austrian police works perfectly".

He slammed it as "an unjustified and unprecedented initiative" which he said would "impact security cooperation" between the two countries "if not immediately corrected".

Announcing that arrivals had passed the 100,000 mark for 2017, the UN's International Organization for Migration (IOM) said nearly 2,250 people had died so far this year attempting to make the perilous Mediterranean crossing.

Spain's coastguard said Tuesday they feared another 50 or so migrants had drowned, citing survivor testimony from three "exhausted and disorientated" men rescued from a rubber boat that had initially held many more people.

Italy has taken in nearly 85 percent of this year's arrivals -- most of them sub-Saharan Africans crossing from conflict-ravaged Libya -- and has pleaded for help from other European Union nations, saying it is struggling to cope.

On Sunday, Minniti had called on EU neighbours to open their ports to rescue ships picking up migrants, after Italy issued a drastic threat to close its own ports to the boats.

But France rejected that idea, with an aide to Minniti's counterpart Gerard Collomb telling AFP this would only encourage more migrants to set sail.

'Short-sighted at best'

Italy, France and Germany have suggested creating a "code of conduct" to regulate the operations of privately-run rescue boats, as well as bolstering the Libyan coastguard through increased financing and training.

But the Red Cross slammed it as "short-sighted at best to think the migrant issue can be tackled by pointing the finger at those who save lives at sea and financing the coastguard of a nation like Libya that has not signed international treaties on refugees".

The European Commission on Tuesday unveiled a new plan which envisages 35 million euros ($40 million) in aid for Italy and working with Libya and other countries to stem the flow of migrants at source.

The EU should in particular help Libya better control its porous southern border and work further with other African countries -- Egypt, Niger, Ethiopia and Sudan -- to get them to take back their nationals, the Commission said.

The plan will be discussed by EU interior ministers meeting in Estonia's capital Tallinn on Thursday to address the migrant crisis -- the continent's worst since World War II.

The EU put in place a policy in 2015 to distribute around 160,000 refugees across different countries.

But only about 20,000 have been relocated from Italy and Greece under the scheme, while Hungary, Poland and the Czech Republic have flatly refused to take part.

European migration commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos called Tuesday for EU countries to speed up deportations of failed asylum seekers to ease the pressure, but warned this needed cooperation from their home countries.

'Enormous pressure'

The numbers are staggering, but far below arrival figures for last year

The UN figures show that between January 1 and July 3, more than 85,000 migrants landed in Italy, nearly 9,300 in Greece, nearly 6,500 in Spain and over 270 in Cyprus.

"We are under enormous pressure," Italy's Minniti said at the weekend, while the Red Cross warned the situation in overcrowded reception centres was becoming critical.

The UN's refugee agency also weighed in, warning that Italy cannot continue absorbing tens of thousands of migrants on its own.

While the numbers arriving in 2017 are staggering, they remain far below last year's figures.

During the same period in 2016, 231,503 people made the crossing to Europe, with the 100,000-mark passed already in February that year.

But at that time most of the migrants were crossing from Turkey to Greece, and an EU deal with Ankara in March last year effectively hit the brakes on that movement.

burs-ide/mt
The Minority in Parliament has rubbished a Bureau of National Investigations report which cleared the boss of the Bulk Oil Storage and Transportation (BOST) of any wrongdoing in the oil contamination saga.

The National Democratic Congress legislators insist the report is nothing more than a cover up of events surrounding the contamination of 5 million liters of fuel at BOST.

After a minority press conference, the ranking member of the Mines and Energy Committee Adam Mutawakilu told Joy FMs Parliamentary correspondent Joseph Opoku Gakpo government must take Ghanaians a little serious.

Can we be more serious about governance? he questioned, impugning the credibility of the BNI report and the Energy Minister Boakye Agyarko who read out the report of the BNI.

The Minister quoted the BNI report as saying the BOST boss Alfred Obeng cannot be held culpable for the contamination of the fuel.

According to Boakye Agyarko the 5 million litres of oil was contaminated on January 18, 2017 several weeks before Alfred Obeng was appointed as head.

Contrary to suggestions that the BOST boss failed to do enough due diligence before awarding the contaminated oil contract to Movenpiina, the Minister said Mr Obeng only followed existing practice at BOST.

According to him, in 2015 when 8 million liters of fuel was contaminated it was also sold to an unlicensed company.

He also stated that Mr Alfred Obeng sold the contaminated oil at a higher price of 1.30 pesewas, higher than it would have originally been sold.

While he regretted the phenomenon of contaminated oil, he said the BOST cannot be held liable for fall outs in the contamination saga.

He also dismissed claims that Movenpiina was owned by the BOST.

Boakye Agyarko said the ministerial committee constituted to investigate the fuel contamination saga will still go ahead with its investigations despite the BNI finding.

But in a reaction, Adam Mutawakilu told Joseph Opoku Gakpo the claims in the BNI report are ridiculous.

He mocked governments sudden trust and belief in the work of the BNI, when officials, had in opposition, dismissed every report of investigation submitted by BNI.

According to him the BNI report was to prejudice the work of the ministerial committee and to make its subsequent findings impotent.

He did not understand how a committee will be set up, given a terms of reference but will not be given a deadline on which it would complete its work.

Mutawakilu said the work of the committee will amount to nothing.

Story by Ghana|Myjoyonline.com|Nathan Gadugah
Addis Ababa (AFP) - Morocco's top diplomat said Tuesday that the United Nations is to lead efforts to end a dispute over a partially recognised state in Western Sahara that Rabat considers its territory.

Speaking in Addis Ababa at his first African Union summit since Morocco returned to the bloc in January, Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita said the AU had backed the move.

Morocco left the AU in 1984 after the latter admitted the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, proclaimed by the separatist Polisario Front in Western Sahara.

Bourita said he was "very satisfied" by the AU decision to allow the UN to lead attempts to resolve the Western Sahara question, with a resolution urging "appropriate support" of the UN Secretary General's efforts.

"The manoeuvres, the dithering has been discarded. Today, we have positions that go in the right direction," Bourita said.

Morocco and the Polisario fought for control of Western Sahara from 1974 to 1991, when Rabat took over the desert territory before the signing of the UN-brokered ceasefire.

Rabat, which considers Western Sahara an integral part of Morocco, proposes autonomy for the resource-rich territory, but the Polisario insists on an independence referendum.

Some African countries consider Morocco's claim to Western Sahara to be a form of colonialism.

The UN Security Council in May endorsed new peace talks between Morocco and Polisario, while renewing for a year the mandate of MINURSO, its peacekeeping mission in the disputed region.

Polisario said it was ready to negotiate with Morocco but wanted the AU to be involved as well.

Bourita said the AU's role in the talks should only be to recognise whatever agreement is reached via the UN.
The Lands and Mineral Resources minister Peter Amewu has been asked to resign after the collapse of a mining pit in Prestea Nsuta which has some 17 persons trapped after more than 48 hours.

Minority member of the Mines and Energy Committee of Parliament Adam Mutawakilu told Joy News Tuesday, "he has not been able to perform to the satisfaction that Ghanaians expected and therefore he should go out".

The NDC Damongo MP said African leaders must learn from international practice to honorably resign in the wake of government ineffectiveness.

He said the tragedy exposes government's failed efforts in fighting against illegal mining.

Adam Mutawakilu

For more than three months, the NPP government has embarked on flushing out illegal miners responsible for massive environmental degradation.

The minister has toured damaged land masses, screamed at lazy mines inspectors and criticized the Minerals Commission.

He issued an ultimatum to illegal miners to stop in three weeks or face the law. Hundreds of excavators have been seized.

But last Sunday's tragedy brings the fight against the menace under fresh scrutiny. The pits, hand dug, is said to be 80 feet deep. There is scant regard for safety.

"...They just dig and as they go they use wooden props", deputy Lands and Natural Resources minister Benito-Owusu-Bio told Joy News Tuesday.

He said the disaster happened after the illegal miners carried out an unplanned dynamite blast whilst their colleagues were inside the pit.

The NDC MP Adam Mutawakilu has described the tragedy as a "big slap" on the face of the Lands and Natural Resources minister Peter Amewu.

"He gave an ultimatum that come this day there will not be galamsey in Ghana and we are hearing of not only galamsey but it is even killing our people"

The Ranking member of the Mines and Energy Committee said Amewu must be blamed for the failure of institutions under the Ministry.

He also believes government's fight against the menace has been simplistic. "If you are a minister and you only go round and think that that going round is enough then we are deceiving ourselves" he said.

But deputy Lands and Natural Resources minister Benito-Owusu-Bio has rubbished the NDC MP's call.

He said the NPP has achieved in six months what the former NDC government failed to do in 8 years.

Rejecting the view that the fight against illegal mining has been simplistic, the deputy minister said government has three plans to address the menace.

The plan A has been to sensitize the public, followed by a military taskforce to clamp down on the activity and finally, a Multilateral Mining Integrated Programme which will reclaim the damaged lands and also to provide alternative job opportunities for the miners.

Story by Ghana|myjoyonline.com|Edwin Appiah|[email protected]
04.07.2017 LISTEN

Member of Parliament for Bolga Central has fired a warning shot at the Vice President ahead of what is expected to be a controversial parliamentary discussion on the $15 billion Chinese loan.

Albert Adongo says the Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia must be dreaming if he ever believed the Chinese will part with a whopping $15 billion with no guarantees.

The Chinese are not father Christmas to give out freebies to Ghana, he said whilst discussing the joint venture agreement between Ghana and China.

The Vice President led a government delegation to China and announced on his return a deal that will potentially hand Ghana a $15 billion worth of investment by the Chinese government.

He brought with him two MOUs and promised that details of the agreement will be brought to Parliament for scrutiny before passage.

He was quick to dismiss the claim by the minority that the deal was a loan that will cripple Ghanas over exposed debt burden.

He described the deal as a joint venture in which Ghana will be parting with only 5% of its bauxite deposit in exchange for the $15 billion investment by the Chinese.

But even before the transaction will be brought before Parliament, Bolga Central MP Albert Adongo has fired a salvo at the Vice President and seeking further and better particulars of the transaction at the same time.

Albert Adongo

According to him, there are already three companies in Ghana mining bauxite, one of which is a Chinese company.

He explained about 58% of Ghanas bauxite reserve had already been given out to the companies which does not amount to even $19 billion.

He wondered why the Chinese will offer to accept 5% of that reserve for $15 billion and over when it is clear they can just acquire a license, like one of its companies have done, without paying a ridiculous sum of $15 billion.

This is a ridiculous proposal that is not supported by any business sense, he argued, reiterating the point that China is not in the business of giving freebies to distressed governments.

For an MP whose governments under the late John Mills and John Mahama failed to secure the much publicised $3 billion promise from China, Albert Adongo said it will be next to impossible to secure 15 billion under the conditions Bawumia was busy pontificating on.

The Vice President is struggling so hard to paint a picture of China being a father Christmas to Ghana, he fired, insisting Bawumia will be dreaming if he ever believed that transaction can happen.

He said the Vice President is hiding from Ghanaians the real details behind the transaction and believed Ghana will be offering its sovereign guarantee as part of the deal.

The Chinese will not give $10bn without protection, he said, adding, immediately Ghana issues a guarantee it goes into the heart of Ghanas debt and will increase the countrys portfolio.

Story by Ghana|Myjoyonline.com|Nathan Gadugah
Associate Executive Director of Wassa Association of Communities Affected by Mining (WACAM) says calls for the resignation of the Lands and Forestry Minister is unjustified.

Hannah Owusu-Koranteng says the case of more than 10 people being trapped in an illegal mine pit in Nsuta is not enough grounds to call for John Peter Amewus head.

Any initiative that comes to any society will require that strategies are developed to fight the menace to be corrected. The campaign against galamsey has received a lot of goodwill from Ghanaians so the calls are premature.

She believes the fight against galamsey is not a one-off that can be pulled off within a week, month, in three months or six months since government does not have any statistic on the numbers involved.

Madam Owusu-Korantengs comments follow Minority member of the Mines and Energy Committee of Parliament Adam Mutawakilu telling Joy News Tuesday, that Mr Amewu "has not been able to perform to the satisfaction that Ghanaians expected and therefore he should go out".

The National Democratic Congress (NDC) Damongo MP said African leaders must learn from international practice to honourably resign in the wake of government ineffectiveness.

He said this after the collapse of a mining pit in Prestea Nsuta, which has some 17 persons, trapped after more than 48 hours.

Residents, some of whom are desperately searching for the victims say, some of the trapped miners are responding to their calls and calling for help.

It has emerged that 17 instead of 14 people are unaccounted for in the latest galamsey disaster, which happened on Sunday.

Mr Mutawakilu said the tragedy exposes government's failed efforts in fighting against illegal mining.

He described the tragedy as a "big slap" on the face of the Lands and Natural Resources Minister Peter Amewu.

"He gave an ultimatum that come this day, there will not be galamsey in Ghana and we are hearing of not only galamsey but it is even killing our people" adding Amewu must be blamed for the failure of institutions under his Ministry.

But the WACAM boss said, considering that regulators are not well equipped to deal with illegal mining, it will be akin to fighting a losing battle until they are well supported.

She said the fight requires that more logistics are pushed into the office of the regulators to enable them to meet the difficult task of fighting the menace.

Madam Owusu-Koranteng said in the Tarkwa area, for instance, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has to deal with some many miners.

There are the big mining companies, illegal miners, small-scale miners and their activities is not only the districts but they spread out to other areas. Because of the numbers, the regulators cannot match the problems thereof.

She appealed that government provides laboratories for the regulators to do their test on time to enable them to be effective and timely.

Story by Ghana | Myjoyonline.com | Abubakar Ibrahim |[email protected]
Sunyani, July 4, GNA - Developing countries are expected to spend trillions of dollars to fight child marriages by 2030, a World Bank research has said.

The "economic impacts of child marriage reports" was conducted and published by the WB and the International Center for Research on Women.

It is the first study conducted by the two institutions to look at the global cost of child marriages in order to make an economic case for its eradication.

Mr Raphael Godlove Ahenu, the Chief Executive Officer of Global Media Foundation, a human rights media advocacy organisation, made this known when he interacted with journalists in Sunyani to unveil his NGOs new advocacy on child marriages.

Describing the report as worrying, Mr Ahenu said urgent attention was needed and called for total commitment from African leaders to intensify advocacy to fight child marriages.

He said projections on child marriage in Africa were alarming and its devastating effects on girls were also enormous.

Mr Ahenu said due to population growth many girls in Africa would become victims of child marriages.

"If nothing is done to accelerate progress to end child marriages now, it is estimated that the number of child brides in Sub-Saharan Africa is expected to double by 2050", he said.

Mr Ahenu called on Africa leaders to allocate adequate technical and financial resources for effective implementation of the strategic framework on child marriages.

He said the increasing recognition of child marriage as a serious national issue has led to a growing number of initiatives by both government and civil society organisations to address the problem in the country.

Mr Ahenu called on the government to resource the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection to enable it intensify the campaign and help tackle the national challenge.

He also called for effective coordination in the implementation of the Child and Family Welfare Policy, the Gender Policy and other sectoral polices as well as initiatives by CSOs that aims at ending child marriages in the country.

Mr Ahenu said child marriages have negative implications on Ghana's economic prosperity.

'It reduces the human capital available for the country's development as millions of girls who fall victim could not contribute to nation building".

He said his NGO would educate communities, families and children about the laws and conventions on child marriage.

GNA

By Dennis Peprah, GNA
04.07.2017 LISTEN

Accra, July 4, GNA - Joni and Friends, a US based NGO, in collaboration with Always Praising the Father (APF) Ministries has held its 10th Annual Retreat for children and families affected with disabilities at Moree in the Central Region.

The retreat, held from June 26 to July 2, is organized annually to relieve parents of these children from the responsibility of having to cater for the children for a week and to have time for themselves to be counselled and taught the word of God.

It also gives opportunity for the children to be checked health wise by physiotherapists who come from the United State of America each year.

Mr. Allan Fulton, Founder of APF, said God loves all the children and he knows best why they came with one disability or the other.

'These kids are special to God and for that matter very close to him. Love them and treat them well just as you would treat any of your other children with love, for it comes with so much blessings,' he entreated the parents.

Some items donated to the families include clothes, medicines, blankets, towels, soap, toothpaste and brush, antiseptics, diapers, toys, books among others.

Parents were taken through counselling and craft making while the Short Term Missionaries (STMs) took the children through Sunday school lessons and games.

The families expressed their joy for the opportunity to attend the retreat and also the hope given them throughout their stay.

'We now see our children in a different limelight in this short stay. It was so difficult for some of us to even take our children out because people would talk about their conditions and ask too many questions that will make you feel bad. But from this day onward, knowing the truth about how special our kids are, we will take them to church, market and anywhere we go,' some families expressed.

About eight families were present for the retreat.

The next International family retreat would be held at Santasi in the Ashanti Region from 17th to 23rd July.

Joni and Friends is a US based NGO that has spread its wings to over seventy other countries to help children with disabilities.

It has been in Ghana for the past ten years working hand in hand with APF and the Covenant Family Community Church to provide wheelchairs, clutches, medications and other necessities for families affected with various forms of disabilities.

GNA

By Angela Ayimbire, GNA
04.07.2017 LISTEN

Kumasi, July 04, GNA - The 51st congregation of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) opened in Kumasi on Tuesday, with a call to social scientists to use their acquired knowledge and skills to address socio-economic challenges facing the society.

Professor Imoro Braimah, Provost of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, reminded them that they had been trained to be innovative and help in problem-solving.

They could therefore not disappoint the nation since the cardinal objective of any university education was to bring about a transformational change to improve the living conditions of the people.

In all, 2, 200 students from the College, 48 per cent of them females, graduated and were awarded first degree certificates.

In excess of 200 of them passed out with first class.

Prof Braimah appealed to the government to take steps to ensure the recruitment of new faculty members to enhance academic work.

The directive to public universities not to recruit new lecturers should be reviewed to allow for replacement of the ageing staff.

He touched on infrastructure development and said many faculties of the College were being encouraged to find innovative means to generate funds to improve their lecture theatres and laboratories.

He announced that the Department of Geography and Rural Development, KNUST, had signed an agreement with some United States (US)-based universities to share experiences and Prof. Braimah advised the graduating students to go into the job market to make a difference - bring efficiency and increased productivity.

GNA

By Stephen Asante, GNA
04.07.2017 LISTEN

Tarkwa (W/R), July 4, GNA - An eighteen year-old unemployed, Gideon Kwaw, has been fined 21,600 Ghana cedis by a Tarkwa circuit court for stealing.

He pleaded guilty to the charge, and the court convicted him to the fine and in default would serve 40 months imprisonment.

The convict who committed a similar offense was recently ordered by the same court to sign a bond to be of good behaviour for 12 months.

He would therefore serve another 40 months imprisonment for going against that bond.

Police Chief Inspector Faustina Celestina Anaman, prosecuting, told the court that on August 3, 2015, one Comfort Alliance, a witness in the case travelled to Half Assin and left her shop under the care of her children.

She said on the same at about 10:00 am her daughter informed her on phone that thieves had broken into their home and made away with 85 Ghana cedis, a 32 inch flat screen television and Toshiba laptop all valued 2,985 cedis.

The Prosecutor said the witness reported the case to the Tarkwa police station for further investigation.

Chief Inspector Anaman said on June 14 this year, Gideon was arrested on a different theft issue and whilst begin questioned he told the police that he stole the items mentioned.

The convict added he sold the television to his uncle Daniel Monny for 250 cedis and the laptop to his friend who is an ex-convict for another 250 cedis.

She said Monny was arrested for interrogation, but the stolen item was however not found in his room but was charged for dishonestly receiving.

He pleaded not guilty and has since been granted bail in the sum of 2,000 Ghana cedis with a surety.

GNA

By Erica Apeatu Addo, GNA
04.07.2017 LISTEN

By Laudia Sawer

Kpone (GAR), July 4, GNA - Mr Solomon Tettey Appiah, Kpone-Katamanso District Chief Executive, has appealed to the government to upgrade the District to a municipality status.

Mr Appiah said all necessary conditions for upgrading of the district can be satisfied hence their push for the upgrading.

The Kpone-Katamanso District which has its administration at Kpone was ceded off the Tema Metropolitan Assembly (TMA) in 2012.

He added that the District exceeded the classification criteria threshold for a municipality.

'According to the 2010 Population and Housing Census, the District has a total population of 114,617 people (with a projected annual growth rate of 2.9 per cent) which exceeds the threshold population of 95,000 people for a municipality', he stated in a sessional address during the Assembly's First Ordinary Meeting of the Second Session.

He indicated that the population pattern of the District had gone beyond the single compact settlement to cosmopolitan in nature with varied ethnic groups and densely populated communities.

According to the DCE, due to the low placement of the area as a district, a lot of benefits were denied the people while their neighbours in the adjourning communities enjoying such largess.

He stated for instance that 'the Urban Development Grant (UDG) and Greater Accra Metropolitan Area (GAMA) project are implemented by the Municipal and Metropolitan Assemblies only'.

The DCE further said the World Bank was assisting the same Assemblies to implement their street naming and property addressing programmes to the disadvantage of the district assemblies adding that 'ironically, the needs and challenges of the Kpone-Katamanso District surpass that of most of the Municipalities'.

GNA
By Isaac Newton Tetteh

Tema, July 4, GNA - The Tema Metropolitan Assembly (TMA) has feted senior citizens in the Metropolis in commemoration of Ghana's 57th Republican day celebration.

The occasion was used to award 300 aged in the Metropolis with half piece of cloth and handbags while they were treated to live band high life tunes, food and drinks.

Mr Felix Mensah Annang-La, Tema Metropolitan Chief Executive, commended them for contributing their quota towards the development of Ghana when they were in active service.

Mr Annang-La said the celebration was to acknowledge their 'selfless efforts and share in their fond memories' about the country when they were young.

He added that TMA was considering giving opportunities to the aged to own small scale businesses in the Metropolis to occupy themselves even as they were on pension.

According to him, to make healthcare accessible to the aged, his outfit would in the near future construct a specialised hospital dedicated to providing quality healthcare to the aged.

He further promised to add some of the senior citizens to his council of elders who would advise him on his agenda to restore Tema to its former glory.

GNA
Gomoa-Pomadze (C/R), July 4, GNA - Nana Apata Kofi, the Guantoahene of Gomoa Ajumako Traditional Area has lauded the government's move to improve the pay pockets of pensioners.

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo had announced at the 57th Republic Day anniversary celebration that government had initiated moves to provide pensioners with a better deal.

Nana Apata Kofi made the commendation in an interview with the Ghana News Agency at Gomoa-Pomadze in the Central Region.

He appealed to government to strive hard to speed up the implementation of the decision to bring relief to pensioners in the country.

The Guantoahene also the Chief of Gomoa-Pomadze said the poor monthly pay of the retired workers had contributed largely to the early demise of many retirees.

He called for intensive conduct of investigations into issues concerning people who served the nation for many years but were poorly treated in terms of the payment of end-of-service benefits.

Nana Apata Kofi had suggested the establishment of a joint body made up of representatives from Parliament, workers unions, employers association, the clergy and the Council of State to discuss and come out with an acceptable end-of-service gratuity which could stand the text of time for various categories of retired workers.

He said within the consideration of the issue the review of the proposed end-of-service packages should be pegged at six years, and that this would go a long way to curb the practice where workers and leaders from state-owned establishments and private companies went for roundtable discussions to negotiate for improved conditions of service every two years.

The Guantoahene said the improved pensions would serve as impetus for present workers to be committed and dedicated to their service delivery to the country to achieve its goals.

Nana Apata Kofi appealed to Ghanaian workers to endeavour to resolve their grievances through dialogue instead of embarking on strike actions, which mostly led some workers to the extreme.

He said: 'Violent demonstrations and strikes do not promote productivity hence the need for dialoguing all the time no matter how the challenges are.'

GNA
Accra, July 4, GNA - The Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) has warned its sextons and wardens in Accra to desist from burying corpses without due payment for grave space.

It said all payments concerning grave space in the Metropolis should be made at the Public Health Department at Adjabeng and not at the cemeteries.

A statement signed by Numo Blafo Omeatu III, the Public Relation Officer of the AMA, and copied to the Ghana News Agency on Tuesday, called on the public to go through the proper procedures of acquiring permits to avoid their corpses being exhumed and the owners prosecuted.

It said the attention of the AMA had been drawn to the burial of corpses by some individuals without paying for the space with the support of sextons and wardens in public cemeteries in Accra.

'In addition, all burial permits should have a hologram and receipts of payment made available for verification before burial at the cemeteries,' the statement said, adding that the public should take note to avoid being embarrassed and prosecuted.

GNA
Accra, July 4, GNA - The third prosecution witness in the case involving Gregory Afoko, who has been accused of the murder of the former Upper East Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party, on Tuesday, ended his evidence in chief.

The witness, Mr Asigri Quinn, continuing his evidence in chief, told the Court that, when they got to the hospital with Adams Mahama, he was asked to pack the car well and so did not follow them immediately to the ward.

He said upon his arrival at the ward he realized Adam's bed was wet so he asked Zuweira why his bed was wet and she told her it was the doctor who asked the nurses to pour the drip water on him.

He said at the hospital, he tried calling one Taufic but the line was not going through.

The witness said not long after Taufic entered, and Adams told him as well as his wife that, he knows he (Adams) would die, and that if he dies, it was Gregory and one Asabke who had done that to him. And that if he (Adams) dies, she should send him to his village to bury him there.

Mr Quinn said later, Adams family members started trooping in, so he decided to leave, since he also had plans of travelling the next day.

He told the court that, he left the hospital around 0100 hours when Adams was still in pains before the police came, but later gave his statement to the police.

'I travelled to Sandama very early in the morning, only to be called around 0900 hours that Adams had died'.

During cross examination, by Counsel for the accused person, Mr Osafo Buabeng, the witness told the court that he did not write his statement to the police, but read through it before signing.

When asked whether Adams gave him the keys to his cars, he said Adams gave him a bunch of keys, but upon getting closer to the car he realized the car's engine was running and the bunch of keys were not for car.

He explained that he has been driving for the past 20 years, and could easily recognize a car key, but because of the situation at that time he didn't focus on the key he was given until he got closer to the car.

Mr Buabeng asked in what condition he came to meet Adams after he went home to change to send him to the hospital, he said he came back to meet Adams wearing a cloth around his waist and was touching all over his body, pacing to and fro.

Following this the hearing was adjourned to July 5, for continuation of cross examination.

The Prosecution intends to call 12 other witnesses, in addition to Hajia Adams, Madam Issaka and Quinn.

Gregory Afoko, a farmer, is alleged to have killed Mr Adams Mahama.

Afoko is being held on the charges of conspiracy to commit crime to wit murder and murder. However, he has pleaded not guilty before the Court, which is also composed of a seven-member jury.

It is alleged that Afoko carried out the act with one Alandgi Asake, who is on the run.

A third accomplice, Musa Issa, was granted bail after the Attorney-General opined that there was not enough evidence to prosecute him.

The GNA earlier reported that on February 23, last year, an Accra District Court committed Afoko to stand trial at the High Court to answer to the charges against him.

The State at the committal proceedings tendered more than 17 exhibits in respect of the trial.

The exhibits include Afoko's caution and charge statements as well as a post-mortem report of the deceased conducted on November 25, 2015, by Dr Lawrence Edusei; a medical report on the deceased's wife, who also sustained injuries in her bid to assist the deceased when the incident occurred.

Other exhibits are a gallon containing the alleged residue of acid found at the crime scene, a cup believed to have been used by the assailants in pouring the acid on the deceased, the deceased's pair of shoes and attire and a piece of carpet in the deceased car.

The rest are various reports from the Ghana Standards Authority (GSA), a pair of blue-black track suit belonging to Afoko and photographs of the crime scene.

The Prosecution is being led by Mr Nicolas Amponsah, Chief State Attorney, who told the court that Mr Adams was a contractor, who lived at the Bolgatanga SSNIT Flats in the Upper East Region and was also the NPP Regional Chairman.

According to Mr Amponsah, Afoko also lived in Bolgatanga and was the younger brother of Mr Paul Afoko, a former National Chairman of the NPP.

The State said the accused was also a party activist, and was close to Mr Adams.

On May 20, 2015, Mr Adams left his house to his construction site in his pick-up truck with registration number NR 761-14.

The Chief State Attorney said he returned to the house in the night and at the entrance of his house, two men signalled him to roll down the window of his car.

He obliged and the two men, however, poured acid on him and fled on a motorbike.

Mr Amponsah said Mr Mahama shouted for help and his wife, Hajia Zenabu Adams went to his aid.

He said Mrs. Adams also sustained burns on her chest and breast in her bid to assist the victim.

According to Mr Amponsah, Adams told his wife that it was Gregory and Asanke, who poured the acid on him.

He also mentioned the two accused persons, in the presence of neighbours, as the people who poured the acid on him.

The Chief State Attorney said Mr Adams was rushed to the Intensive Care Unit of the Bolgatanga Hospital where he passed on.

Afoko was picked up at about 02:00 hours in his house and he led the Police to Asanke's house. Asanke was, however, not available.

A postmortem conducted on the deceased by Dr Edusei indicated that Mr Adams died of extensive acid burns.

GNA

By Hafsa Obeng, GNA
Microphone and US Flag View Photos

During the Democratic Weekly Address, Representative Joe Kennedy III (D-MA) stated health care is about the simple ability to keep the people you love safe and healthy and whole. A commitment we make to care for each other, because we know that someday we will need that care, too. And Trumpcare shatters that proudly American commitment.

Kennedy III was Tuesdays KVML Newsmaker of the Day. Here are his words:

Hi everyone, Im Congressman Joe Kennedy from Massachusetts.

Five years ago, I got the call everyone dreads. Lauren, my wife, had collapsed at work. She was being rushed to the emergency room of a Boston hospital. Its a moment painfully familiar to many. Time stops. You fight to push your breath down your throat. Your brain gets stuck on a highlight reel of worst-case scenarios. You are dazed. You are sick. You are terrified.

We were among the lucky ones. Lauren was okay. Testing revealed no life-threatening disease or impending danger, no worst nightmare confirmed. Most critically, our health coverage gave us the support we needed to focus on the one thing that mattered most  her recovery.

For any family, that is what health care is about. Not buzzwords like CBO scores or growth rates or high-risk pools, but the simple ability to keep the people you love safe and healthy and whole. A commitment we make to care for each other, because we know that someday we will need that care, too.

Trumpcare shatters that proudly American commitment. It fundamentally restructures our countrys health care into two systems  one, for the powerful and privileged, the healthy and wealthy. And another, lesser system for everyone else.

It threatens to trap the vast majority of working Americans in a series of excruciating, impossible choices. Mortgage or medication. Child care or doctor visits. Being by your loved ones hospital bed or keeping your job.

Speaker Ryan calls this freedom. I call it agony. President Trump calls it greatness. I call it gutless.

Thats what this bill does. But heres what it means.

It means that the biggest, strongest, boldest nation in the world doesnt think its people can summon the strength to shoulder a neighbors burden. It means that in your moment of deepest need, your government will tell you youre better off on your own than with 320 million Americans fighting by your side.

But this country knows better. This country is better.

We take care of each other. We pull for each other. We accept the responsibility that comes from citizenship with pride and with gratitude.

Because it doesnt matter how big or tough or rich or brave you are  you cannot be invincible. Our health is our great equalizer. That stubborn reminder that even the mighty need mercy. Any one of us can fall, and each of us will.

And in those moments, it is not your bank account or your job title or your skin color or your zip code or your religion or your sexuality or your gender that matters.

It is your humanity. It is your hurt and your fear. It is the fact that you are on the ground and you deserve a country that will pick you up, not leave you to fight alone. That belief underscores the Democratic vision of American health care: a shared promise, a common bond that we fortify not just out of sympathy for the suffering but so that it is there for us, too, when we need its sturdy brace.

Because if it was our son or daughter or mother or father in that hospital room we would beg for the strength and shoulders of our neighbors. We would pray for a system that refused to let us fall.

In the weeks ahead keep your heads raised. Keep your voices loud. Help us tell the story of a better, fairer, stronger country. And if you do, we will make it so.

Thank you, and God Bless America.

The Newsmaker of the Day is heard every weekday morning at 6:45, 7:45 and 8:45 on AM 1450 and FM 102.7.
Lake Don Pedro Firework (file photo)s View Photos

Sacramento, CA  Governor Jerry Brown has just issued a statewide proclamation declaring today as Independence Day in the State of California.

You can read the entire proclamation below:

On July 2, 1776, in the midst of the Revolutionary War, the Second Continental Congress approved a resolution of independence, drafted by delegate Richard Henry Lee of Virginia, which gave force of law to our separation from the colonial power of Great Britain. Two days later, this resolution was made public in the form of the Declaration of Independence, whose primary author was Thomas Jefferson. Each year since then, we have celebrated the fourth day of July as Independence Day, the birthday of the United States of America.

The famous principles enshrined in the Declaration of Independence are not only the foundation of our countrys freedom: they have become a global standard for the liberty and autonomy of all peoples. As we participate in Fourth of July traditions from midday barbecues to evening pyrotechnics, I urge all Californians to remember the convictions of our forebears that led them to create a new nation, the courage of those who fought to make and keep us independent and the great work that lies ahead as we strive to fulfill the American dream.

NOW THEREFORE I, EDMUND G. BROWN JR., Governor of the State of California, do hereby proclaim July 4, 2017, as Independence Day.
Prior to PM Modi's visit, a $2 billion deal was signed between India and Israel for the supply of a missile defense system to the Indian Army.

By India Today Web Desk: Israel has recently signed a $2 billion deal to supply a missile defense system to the Indian Army, which can destroy aircraft, missiles and drones within a radius of 70 km.

Reports have it that the Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) and Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) will jointly build 16 launchers and 560 missiles, including the Barak-8 mid-range missile system.

advertisement

Also read: PM Modi visits Israel: A timeline of India-Israel relations

Israel Aerospace Industries, a defense company in Israel, has received the contract to supply mid-range advanced missile systems to India in what is being called 'the largest defense contract between the two countries'.

Apart from this, there has also been an agreement for the installation of this missile system in 40 INS Vikrant aircraft carriers.

This defense agreement of worth $2 billion was finalised before Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Israel, and is believed to be crucial in strengthening the bilateral defense strategic partnership between the two countries.

Also read: What India can gain from Israel's defence strategy: All you need to know

Earlier in February, the Cabinet Committee on Security, under supervision of PM Modi, had approved the missile defense system project. It will cost Rs 16 thousand 830 crore.

--- ENDS ---
Some people may ask if there are any locations that still adhere to the old culture and way of life as our way of life changes throughout time. For example, a "Traditional Ruler," like in Nigeria, is in charge of many African traditional states. Find out more about the pre-colonial governments, Nigeria's traditional leaders, kings, and their titles.

Kings and chiefs. Photo: @sadailysun, @BBCnewsafrica, @nigerianfashions (modified by author)

Source: UGC

Different ethnic groups in pre-colonial Nigeria created traditional administrative structures representative of their local cultures, beliefs, and customs. As a result, the governments founded by the Igbo, Yoruba (Oyo Kingdom), and Hausa-Fulani were unique to their environments and had very diverse ways of operating.

Kings and their titles: Traditional rulers in Nigeria and their titles

People who hold traditional titles are those who inherited them from earlier heads of sovereign states or groups. Even though they do not hold official political power, they strongly influence the residents of their town and are highly respected.

Names of traditional rulers in Nigeria and their titles

There are currently more than 100 traditional chiefs in Nigeria. The following is a list of some of the most powerful names of community leaders in Nigeria, the state they control, and their titles.

Name Title State of rule Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi Ooni Ife Sa'adu Abubakar Sultan Sokoto Idia Queen Mother Benin Shango Alaafin Oyo Ogiame Atuwatse III Olu Warri Efunroye Tinubu Princess Consort to Oba Adele Ajosun Lagos and Paramount Sir Adeniji Adele K.B.E. Oba Lagos Alfred Achebe Obi Onitsha Jaja Amanyanaboh Opobo Abubakar Ibn Umar Garbai El-Kanemi Shehu Borno

Names of kings in Yoruba land and their titles

The Yoruba chieftaincy system has four distinct ranks: royal chiefs, noble chiefs, religious chiefs, and common chiefs. The obas, who are at the top of the hierarchy and act as the system's fons honorum, are in charge of the royals.

Here is a list of traditional rulers in Nigeria who are presently ruling.

1. Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi

Date of birth: 17 October 1974

17 October 1974 Reign: 26 October 2015  present

Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwus is the 51st Ooni of Ife. He is the Yoruba kingdom of Ile-traditional Ife's monarch.

He is a well-known humanitarian who supports the underprivileged and is dedicated to mankind. Over the years, he has assisted the House of Oduduwa Foundation and, more recently, the Hopes Alive Initiative.

2. Adedotun Aremu Gbadebo III

Date of birth: 14 September 1943

14 September 1943 Reign: 2 August 2005  present

The current Alake of the Egba clan in Abeokuta, Nigeria, is Adedotun Aremu Gbadebo III. He was a naturalised member of the Laarun Ruling House. He is the nephew of Oba Gbadebo II and the grandson of Oba Gbadebo, the sixth Alake of Egbaland, who ruled from 1898 to 1920.

3. Oba Sikiru Kayode Adetona

Date of birth: 1 0 May 1934

0 May 1934 Reign: 2 April 1960  present

The Awujal of the Ijbu Kingdom, a traditional state in Nigeria, is Oba Sikiru Kayde Adetna. He was one of Nigeria's rulers with the longest reign. He belongs to the Anikinaiya House.

4. Oba Aladetoyinbo Ogunlade Aladelusi

Date of birth: 28 December 1956

28 December 1956 Reign: 17 July 2015  present

The Nigerian monarch Oba Aladetoyinbo Ogunlade Aladelusi is also known as Odundun II. He is the 47th and current ruler of Akure Kingdom, a traditional state in Akure, the Ondo State capital.

He represented the Nigerian Institute of Architects and was a founder member of the Nigerian Architects Registration Council (ARCON).

Regarding the importance of youth in governance, he has delivered public lectures at prestigious universities, including Obafemi Awolowo University and Adekunle Ajasin University.

5. Oba Adesimbo Victor Kiladejo

Date of birth: 1970

1970 Reign: 29 December 2008  present

Adesimbo Oba Jilo III, also known as Victor Kiladejo Adenrele Ademefun Kiladejo, was chosen to serve as the 44th Osemawe, or traditional head of state, of the Ondo Kingdom in Nigeria.

He was born in Ondo City and is the eldest of the twenty-two children of Prince Gbadebo Adedoyin Kiladejo. He studied at the University of Ife, which is now known as Obafemi Awolowo University, where he received his bachelor's degrees in health sciences, medicine, and surgery.

Roles of traditional rulers in Nigeria

Tradition rulers in Nigeria play a significant role which includes:

Fostering national identity.

Intervening in conflicts between the government and its people.

Minor dispute settlement.

Giving inept state bureaucracies a safety valve within the institution.

Act as a liaison and interpreter for individuals from other ethnic groups who struggle to communicate with one another.

Titles of traditional rulers in Nigeria

Below are popular traditional titles in Nigeria.

Lamido, Mai, Sarki, or Shehu in their native tongues, or Emir in English.

Both the Yoruba and the Edo use the title "Oba."

In Edo, Odion and Okao were credited to their senior elders and governors, respectively, while Enogie is attributed to the dukes of the traditional rulers.

The Yoruba tribes are said to have governed Alaafin, Alake, Akarigbo, Awujale, Olomu, Ooni, Orangun, and Olu'wo, among others.

Isokos and Urhobos in Nigeria's Delta State utilise ovie. Other organisations go by names like Odion-Ologbo, Odio r'Ode, Ohworode, Orodje, and Orosuen.

Eze, Igwe, and Obi are common titles used by Igbo kings in the South East. Efik and Ibibio leaders are called Adidem (also called Edidem).

Local names like Amanyanabo, Obanobhan, and Olila-Ebhugh are also used among the people in their immediate neighbouring villages.

Tribal or traditional chief

When referring to the tribes in Nigeria, the terms "traditional chiefs" or "tribal chief" may also be used instead of "traditional rulers."

A traditional chief is a person who serves as the self-government representative for a tribe or ethnic group. Nigeria's states are home to nearly 300 different ethnic groups. According to rank, some of the biggest and most well-known ethnic groups are:

Hausa

Yoruba

Igbo

Ijaw

Kanuri

Fulani

Ibibio

Tiv

What is the title of traditional rulers in Nigeria?

Oba is the main title used by Yoruba people to refer to their monarch. Other names include Ooni, Alake, Alaafin, Awujale, Olomu, Akarigbo, Orangun, Olu'wo, Eleko, Soun, Olumushin, and Eburu.

Who is the head of all kings in Nigeria?

Oba of Lagos is the supreme ruler of all kings. Rilwan Babatunde Osuolale Aremu Akiolu is the current Oba of Lagos.

Who is the richest Oba in Nigeria?

According to NaijaAuto.com, the wealthiest Oba in Nigeria is Oba Obateru Akinruntan, the ruler of Ugbo in Ondo state. He is reported to be worth $300 million.

Who was the first king in Yoruba land?

Oduduwa, the first Yoruba king, is credited with creating the world. The Yoruba people are reported to think that their civilization began at Ile-Ife when the gods descended to earth.

The kings and their titles listed above still hold sway in their respective communities even though the president currently governs Nigeria. This is because they are both a part of our history and present-day existence. They have developed into our ties to our traditions and our connections.

READ ALSO: List of computer professional bodies in Nigeria and their functions

Legit.ng also published an article about the list of Nigerian professional computer organisations and their responsibilities. In Nigeria, there are numerous organisations for computer experts.

The establishment of knowledge and competence standards is the aim of the several organisations that make up the Nigerian computer professional bodies. In its function as a professional organisation, they offer the knowledge and skill standards that must be met by anyone intending to enter the field of computers.

Source: Legit.ng
The most interesting information of Stella Dimoko Korkus biography! What do we know about the famous blogger? All skeletons will be out of the closet!

Stella Dimoko Korkus, Nigerian blogger

It has now become the trend to blog on the Internet. Now its not only a hobby you do to while away time. Nowadays, a popular blogger can earn real money. They can even also get famous and build their brand. Themes and topics for the blogs can also be widely diverse: from cooking tips to political and economic news.

As it happens, the most popular of blogs is one where celebrities are constantly talked about. A blog where showbiz stars and other public figures are described and discussed. For this kind of blog, you can find truthful information, as well as all sorts of gossip and speculations. However, it must be the hottest and the top for sure. Thats all, success and views are guaranteed.

One of the most popular Nigerian bloggers is Stella Dimoko Korkus. She leads a popular SDK news blog, stelladimokokorkus.com. As for the blog traffic, some sources put it on the 55th place, the others on the 72nd, when it comes to Nigerian traffic. In any case, Stella Dimoko Korkus blog is one of the most visited blogs in Nigeria. It gets over 30 thousand readers each day. The majority of them are Nigerians.

Biography of Stella Dimoko Korkus

Like most women, Stella keeps her age a secret. It is known only that the blogger was born on August 22. Stella received her education in Nigeria. She attended school in Lagos. After leaving secondary school, she was admitted to the University Of Benin where she graduated with a Third Class degree in English Linguistics.

Her path to journalism began in a very original way. Initially, Stella Dimoko Korkus wanted to become a bank employee. But when this did not pan out, she took on the first thing that fell into her hands. It was an vacancy announcement where writers were needed and Stella went for an interview.

She began her journey as a news writer in the magazine Hints, and then in Encomium. For a short time, she worked as a writer for a couple of print media. It was a difficult job. After a while, she started writing news for online sources and later created her blog. It has become so popular that Stella has already acquired her domain.

READ ALSO: Stella Dimoko Korkus Hit With N500million Lawsuit By Lanre Nzeribe

Mrs. Dimoko Korkus has succeeded because she keeps abreast of all the latest events in the world of celebrities. All the hottest and  top gists of Nigerian showbiz first appear on her blog and then are spread on the Internet. The blogger is not afraid of fights and scandals. She often creates them with her acute publications. Even her name provokes a challenge to society.

It is tough to be always at the peak of events and thoroughly monitor what is going on in the world of celebrities. You need to work very hard. Stella works fromhome, but her working day starts very early. If anyone wants to be on top of the others, its necessary to put in more effort and not be afraid to take risks.

As for her personal life, the blogger married Mr. Stefan Korkus in 2003. In 2004, she moved to him to Germany. Stella Dimoko Korkus husband helps her to keep the blog and to search for news topics. As for children, there is not much information. One news resource mentioned that Stella starts working on the blog every day at 5 a.m. She got used to waking up so early because of her son who cried a lot as a baby.

Stella protects the private data about her children and family. At the same time, she works hard to reveal the hottest facts from the life of showbiz stars to the readers. The blogger digs out most of their secret skeletons from their closet.

In her blog, the author posts news about Nigerian and world celebrities. Stellas blog is notable for the fact that it has a lot of rubrics. Among them, there are events, news, rumours, lifestyle, fashion and more. Besides, regular visitors created a certain community based on a blog. A lot of its readers know each other. They discuss news and share their views about what they read.

Journalists experience and a natural flair for hot facts help Mrs. Dimoko Korkus to support the popularity of her blog at a high level.

READ ALSO: Legit.ng launches Nigerian blogger network

Source: Legit.ng
- Two Chibok girls recently visited the white house after completing their high school in America

- President Donald Trump's daughter wrote about meeting the two survivors at the White House

- She said she was looking forward to watching the girls flourish

President Donald Trump's daughter, Ivanka Trump writes about her encounter with two high school graduate Chibok girls who recently visited the White House.

The girls, Joy Bishara and Lydi Pogu were one of the girls who escaped from the capture of Boko Haram and were offered scholarship to complete their education in the United States by a Christian non-governmental organisation.

Bishara and Pogu would were taken to the united states by a Christian NGO.

Ivanka Trump, took to Facebook after meeting the girls to write: "Honored to have welcomed Joy and Lydia, two incredible young women from Chibok, Nigeria to the White House last week.

READ ALSO: Buhari is seriously sick, must resign - Fayose reacts to Aisha's return to London

The two Chibok girls, Joy and Lydia attended Canyonville Christian Academy Photo Credit: Facebook, Ivanka Trump

"They shared with me their remarkable journey in overcoming tremendous adversity, and I am in awe of their courage and heart.

"I look forward to watching them flourish as they begin a new chapter at Southeastern University this fall.

The girls are expected to resume university this year

"Joy and Lydia, I am so proud of you both! Thank you for inspiring us with your story."

PAY ATTENTION: Read the news on Nigerias #1 news app

Joy and Lydia attended Canyonville Christian Academy and will be starting university very soon.

Ivanka after meeting the girls said she was in awe of their courage.

Meanwhile, Legit.ng earlier reported that troops of 28 Task Force Brigade Nigerian Army visited the Internally Displaced Persons Camp, Chibok, to render free medical service to the community.

The director of Army public relations; Brigadier-General SK Usman said this was part of activities marking the Nigerian Army Day Celebration and also part of their contribution to the community.

He disclosed that the soldiers attended to over 300 persons.

Watch video of DSS officially handing over rescued Chibok Girls to the government:

Source: Legit.ng
Apart from from his scheduled official engagements, Modi is also expected to meet Moshe Holtzberg, a survivor of the 2008 Mumbai 26/11 terrorist attack. Moshe was two years old when the attack happened.

By Indo-Asian News Service: Defence, agriculture, trade, diplomacy and water management will dominate talks during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ongoing visit to Israel - the first Indian Prime Minister to visit the Jewish homeland.

Apart from from his scheduled official engagements, Modi is also expected to meet Moshe Holtzberg, a survivor of the 2008 Mumbai 26/11 terrorist attack. Moshe was two years old when the attack happened.

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"Ahead of the visit, both countries have prepared a roadmap of joint economic undertakings," The Haaretz reported on June 29, 2017. "The Israeli cabinet approved a 23-page document continuing scores of bilateral measures and a budget of 280 million shekels (about $79.6 million or Rs 514 crore) - a bigger sum than Israel has ever set aside for China, Africa and Latin America combined. No fewer than 11 ministries were involved in preparing the programme."

Here are five things that define the India-Israel relationship today:

DEFENCE

India is Israel's top destination for arms exports, buying 41 per cent of export between 2012 and 2016, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, an independent global conflict and arms-research institute.

Israel is India's third-largest source of arms, with a 7.2 per cent share of imports between 2012 and 2016, next to the US (14 per cent) and Russia (68 per cent).

The earliest signs of collaboration came during the 1962 Sino-Indian war, when Israel provided India military aid. Israel also assisted India during two wars with Pakistan in 1965 and 1971.

India reciprocated during the six-day war in 1967 by providing Israel with spare parts for French-made Mystere and Ouragan aircraft as well as AX-13 tanks (also French-made).

The highlight of the partnership was Israel's supply of artillery shells during the Kargil war in 1999 when India faced a shortage.

In the late 1990s, a crucial defence deal was the Indian purchase of Barak 1, an air-defence missile, bought specifically for its capability to intercept US-made Harpoon missiles deployed by Pakistan.

India's imports of unarmed aerial vehicles (UAVs) have almost all been from Israel. Of 176 UAVs purchased from Israel, 108 are Searcher UAVs and 68 are Heron UAVs.

In April 2017, India and Israel signed a $2 billion deal for an advanced medium-range surface-to-air missile system, which will provide the Indian army the capability to shoot down aircraft, missiles and drones at ranges of up to 70 km.

In September 2016, tests were conducted of the jointly developed Long Range Surface-to-Air Missile with a range of 70 km, intended to equip three guided-missile destroyers of the Indian Navy.

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India successfully tested the Israeli-made SPYDER quick-reaction surface-to-air missile in May this year. The Indian Air Force (IAF) is planning to deploy this system on its western border.

India and Israel also closely cooperate on counter-terrorism issues through a joint working group on counter-terrorism.

DIPLOMACY

Several ministerial and high-level official visits to Israel preceded Modi's tour. These included visits by then Home Minister L.K. Advani in 2000, former President APJ Abdul Kalam in 2008, Home Minister Rajnath Singh in 2014, President Pranab Mukherjee in 2015 and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj in 2016.

Three Indian naval ships, destroyer INS Mumbai, frigate INS Trishul and tanker INS Aditya, made a goodwill visit at the Haifa port in May 2017 to mark 25 years of full diplomatic relations between the two countries.

AGRICULTURE

An Indo-Israel agriculture action plan for 2015-18 is operational, and 15 of the proposed 26 centres of excellence in agriculture are being developed in India with Israel's help to showcase the latest technology to Indian farmers.

Phase-I (2010-12) and phase-II (2012-15) of the agreement are complete, according to a reply to the Lok Sabha.

India has benefited from Israeli technologies in horticulture mechanisation, protected cultivation, orchard and canopy management, nursery management, micro-irrigation and post-harvest management, particularly in Haryana and Maharashtra.

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Every year, more than 20,000 farmers visit the Agricultural Centre of Excellence at Gharaunda in Karnal, Haryana, where a nursery produces hybrid seedlings -- including tomatoes, cherry-tomato, colored capsicum, cucumbers, eggplant and chilli pepper-grown in small, individual cells, ready to be transplanted into containers or a field.

There was a five-to 10-fold increase in crop yields with an accompanying 65 per cent reduction in use of water and noticeable decrease in the use of pesticides and fertilisers, according to a December 2014 report on the Indo-Israel Agriculture Project.

WATER MANAGEMENT

On June 28, 2017, the Union cabinet approved a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Israel on the National Campaign for Water Conservation in India.

Technologically-adept Israel has developed water-management technologies, located as it is in a semi-arid region with limited sources of fresh drinking water.

India and Israel had earlier signed an MoU on water resources management and development cooperation in November 2016.

TRADE

Israel was India's 38th-largest trading partner, with trade of $5.02 billion (Rs 33,634 crore) in 2016-17, down 18 per cent over 2012-13. The trade balance stood in India's favour at $1.10 billion (Rs 7,370 crore) in 2016-17.

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Mineral fuels and oils are India's leading export to Israel, worth $1.01 billion in 2016-17.

India's major imports from Israel in 2016-17 included natural or cultured pearls and precious stones, worth $1.11 billion.

Trade in diamonds accounts for nearly 54 per cent of the bilateral trade. Nearly 40 diamond dealers from India have opened offices at the Israeli diamond exchange in Ramat-Gan. Some of these dealers have been active in Israel for nearly 30-40 years.

The Israeli government has proposed measures such as "offering export insurance, liberalising the aviation sector and granting longer-term visas". The aim is to boost Israeli exports to India by 25 per cent over the next four years and tourists to 80,000 annually.

"Relations with Israel are significant for India because of cooperation in agriculture, defence and science/technology," Uttara Sahasrabuddhe, professor of international relations at the University of Mumbai, told IndiaSpend.

"Israel has been giving key weapons systems to India, including missiles; it has given us those weapons which we could not directly buy from the US for ideological reasons; cooperation in counter-terrorism from information sharing to techniques/doctrine of counter terrorism," Sahasrabudde said. "It is also an important source of foreign investment, if tapped with care. The visit of the Indian PM will indicate that New Delhi has come out of the old mindset."

Also read: PM Modi visits Israel: A timeline of India-Israel relations

What India can gain from Israel's defence strategy: All you need to know

WATCH: PM Modi says India, Israel can cooperate more closely against terrorism

--- ENDS ---
As Prime Minister Narendra Modi visits Israel, here is an interesting story when the Middle Eastern country outclassed three neighbouring countries in a war which lasted just six days.

Israel defeated joint forces of Syria, Jordan and Egypt in a war which lasted just six days in June, 1967. (Photo/Reuters)

By India Today Web Desk: Prime Minister Naredra Modi is on a three-day tour to Israel. The 'historic' visit is a first by any Indian Prime Minister to Middle Eastern country.

Israel's defence power is recognised as one of the most advanced and robust even by world's most powerful nations.

According to reports, India will buy nearly $2 billion worth of weapons technology from Israel in what's being described as the 'largest defence contract' ever signed with Israel.

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As PM Modi visits Israel, a country which is considered a military exporting giant, here is an interesting story about the country.

THE 6-DAY WAR (5-10 JUNE, 1967)

Surrounded by Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and Egypt, Israel is the only Jewish country. Ever since its independence in 1948, Israel has been on the radar of its neighbouring nations. The Arab countries launched an offensive on Israel soon after its independence. Israel won the war which continued for about a year. Israel captured a major portion of Palestine during this conflict. In June 1967, Egypt, Syria and Jordan again planned attack on Israel from three sides. On the one side, Egypt moved its troops on the border with Israel and on the another front Syria deployed its air force near Golan Heights. War was inevitable. Israel was all prepared for it. The country's dreaded intelligence agency - Mossad - had then possessed world's best electronic warning system. Within the first few hours of the war, Israel showed its defence capabilities to the Arab nations. In about three hours, Israel shot down 300 of the 340 fighter jets of Egypt. Israel captured Egypt's Sinai Peninsula and Gaza strip. It also captured Golan Heights and West Bank after defeating Syria and Jordan.

ALSO READ:

What India can gain from Israel's defence strategy: All you need to know

PM Narendra Modi to land in Tel Aviv today: 5 reasons why Israel matters to India

PM Modi visits Israel: A timeline of India-Israel relations

WATCH: PM Modi says India, Israel can cooperate more closely against terrorism

--- ENDS ---
- Chadian troops are part of a Multinational Joint Task Force battling Boko Haram terrorists in Northeastern Nigeria and surrounding border communities

- Nine Chadian soldiers die following an attack by Boko Haram on an army post

Chadian troops fighting Boko Haram have suffered huge setback after heavy winds destroyed aircrafts used in combating the insurgents.

READ ALSO: Buhari is seriously sick, must resign - Fayose reacts to Aisha's return to London

Chadian army has been battling Boko Haram insurgents who have become a threat to some countries in the West African region.

Chadian troops are part of a Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF) which is also made up of soldiers from Niger Republic, Cameroon and Benin battling Boko Haram terrorists in North Eastern Nigeria and surrounding border communities.

See photos of the Chadian aircrafts destroyed by wind below:

Wreckage of a Chadian helicopter destroyed by wind, photo credit: Twitter, Matthew T. Page

Photo of Chadian aircrafts destroyed by wind, photo credit: Twitter, Matthew T. Page

PAY ATTENTION: Read the news on Nigerias #1 new app

A Chadian jet destroyed by wind, photo credit: Twitter, Matthew T. Page

Photo of Chadian jets destroyed by wind, photo credit: Twitter, Matthew T. Page

Meanwhile, an attack by Boko Haram on an army post in the Lake Chad region has left nine Chadian soldiers dead.

Dozens of Boko Haram members were also killed as the army responded to the attack on the Kaiga Post on May, 5, 2017.

In the video below, the Nigerian Air Force gives an update on operations against Boko Haram in 2017.

Source: Legit.ng
Israel earmarked 17.8 billion dollar, which is 5.8 per cent of the GDP, towards its defence needs in 2016.

Israel's defence capabilities are recognised by powerful nations like the US, Germany too. (Photo/Reuters)

By India Today Web Desk: When Prime Minister Narendra Modi will touch down in Israel later today, he will become the first ever Indian PM to visit the Middle Eastern country.

Modi will undertake a three-day trip to the Jewish nation till July 6 before travelling to Hamburg in Germany to attend the G-20 Summit.

India and Israel share a strong and old diplomatic relationship and PM Modi said he will look to strengthen ties and also discuss common challenge of terrorism with his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu.

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Israel's defence prowess is even acknowledged by countries like the United State and Germany. India too is one of the largest importers of Israeli arms and ammunition. India would like to gain as much as it can on the defence front during PM Modi's three-day tour.

So, what's behind Israel's powerful and foolproof defence system that India would want to learn during PM Modi's historic trip?

ISRAEL'S DEFENCE BUDGET

Despite being a small country, Israel spends a huge sum on its defence system and gives special importance to keep it upgraded with latest technology.

Israel earmarked 17.8 billion dollar, which is 5.8 per cent of the GDP, towards its defence needs in 2016. On the other hand, India spent 55.9 billion dollar, GDP's 2.5 per cent, in 2016.

ISRAEL'S ENVIABLE WEAPON SYSTEMS

DELILAH CRUISE MISSILE

Developed by Israel Military Industries (IMI), Delilah cruise missile is designed to destroy moving targets. It resembles a mini-Tomahawk land attack missile. The Delilah is an air-launched missile with a range of 250 km.

One of the most unique features of Delilah cruise missile is that it is able to loiter and recce an area to identify its target before being activated for action from a remote location.

The missile can be launched from F-15/16 fighter jets and also from a range of attack helicopters.

TAVOR/MICRO-TAVOR ASSAULT RIFLE

Tavor/Micro-Tavor assault rifles have been designed and developed by Israel Weapon Industry (IWI). The USP of the assault rifle is that the user can shift between semi-automatic and fully-automatic mode.

The firing range of Tavor assault rifles varies depending upon the variants used. TAR-21, GTAR-21, CTAR-21, STAR-21 are some of variants used by the defence forces of several countries.

ARROW 3-ANTI-BALLISTIC MISSILE

Developed jointly by the Unites States and Israel, Arrow 3 is an exoatmospheric anti-ballistic missile. It can carry conventional, nuclear, chemical as well as biological warheads.

One of the killer features of Arrow-3 is that it can change directions to see approaching satellites. According to some reports, the missile can hit a target as far as 2400 km away.

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With Arrow-3, which is being labelled as an anti-satellite missile system, Israel is one of the few nations having the capability of targeting satellites.

IRON DOME

Considered one of the most efficient anti-missile systems in the world, the Iron Dome missile defence system is designed and developed by Israel. The missile development system is jointly funded by the US.

The system uses C-RAM (Counter Rocket Artillery Mortar) which identifies and destroys small rockets and artillery shells before they land inside Israeli territory.

An Iron Dome launcher fires a ballistic missile. (File Photo/Reuters)

The system was developed primarily to counter artillery firing in Gaza.

One of the most advanced features of Iron Dome is its capability to determine whether an incoming rocket will land and to only intercept such projectiles that pose threats to civilian areas.

ALSO READ:

PM Modi says India, Israel can cooperate more closely against terrorism

During Israel trip, PM Narendra Modi set to do a Madison Square redux in July: Report

PM Modi says India, Israel can cooperate more closely against terrorism

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WATCH: Modi's Israel visit: An opportunity to bolster defence ties

--- ENDS ---
- The Nigerian Senate has threatened showdown with the executive arm over Ibrahim Magus continued stay as acting chairman of EFCC

- The Senate also berated Acting President Yemi Osinbajo over a statement on Magus nomination

- The Senate had today July 4 rejected the confirmation of the Chairman of National Lottery Commission Lanre Gbajabiamila

Members of the Senate are currently calling for the suspension of consideration and confirmation of appointments by President Muhammadu Buhari over a comment credited to Acting President, Yemi Osinbajo that executive appointments did not require legislative approval based on Section 171 of the Constitution.

READ ALSO: Magu will continue as EFCC chief - Osinbajo

The Punch reports that protests came from the lawmakers when a letter from Osinbajo asking the Senate to confirm the nomination of Mr. Lanre Gbajabiamila as Chairman of the National Lottery Commission, which was read by President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki, at the plenary.

Legit.ng gathered that while strongly condemning Osinbajo for the comment, the lawmakers successively asked that an embargo should be placed on confirmation of executive appointments pending the time the powers of the legislature had been recognised.

PAY ATTENTION: Read the news on Nigerias #1 new app

While threatening that legislators might move against the leadership of the Senate if it failed to take a drastic action against the executive in 48 hours, the lawmakers asked that invitation from the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to any member be ignored.

Meanwhile, Legit.ng had previously reported that Osinbajo declared that despite the Senates rejection Ibrahim Magu as substantive chairman of Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC), the Presidency had resolved to retain him as the head of the commission.

Meanwhile, in the video below, Legit.ng asks Nigerians if they regretted voting for President Buhari. Their responses will surprise you:

Source: Legit.ng
- Acting President Yemi Osinbajo is currently attending the African Union summit holding in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

- The minister of foreign affairs Geoffrey Onyeama said Osinbajo had a successful bilateral meeting with the president of Togo

- Osinbajo who is chairing the summit, has urged African leaders to ensure that they dont bequeath the burden of wars, poverty and misery to the next generation of Africans

Acting President Yemi Osinbajo concluded a successful bilateral meeting with the Togolese President Faure E Gnassingbe on Tuesday, July 4.

The announcement was made by the minister for foreign affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, via his twitter handle, @GeoffreyOnyeama.

READ ALSO: Millions of Nigerians will help foot Buharis medical bills if he is incapable - Rochas Okorocha

He tweeted: Successful bilateral meeting with the President of Togo, Faure E Gnassingbe with Ag President @ProfOsinbajo . @FEGnassingbe @AsoRock

Also attached, were pictures from the said meeting:

Yemi Osinbajo meets with president Faure Gnassingbe on the sidelines of the AU summit in Addis Ababa (Photo credit: Twitter: @Geoffreyonyeama)

Minister of foreign affairs Geoffrey Onyeama sits in during the meeting between Yemi Osinbajo and Faure Gnassingbe (Photo credit: Twitter: @Geoffreyonyeama)

The meeting comes amidst Osinbajos trip to Ethiopia, where he is chairing the African Union (AU) summit holding in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa.

During the session of AU Heads of State, Osinbajo asked the African leaders gathered to rekindle our political will and determination not to bequeath to the next generation of Africans the burden of wars, poverty and misery.

African leaders listen as acting president Yemi Osinbajo speaks during the AU summit in Addis Ababa (Photo credit: Facebook: Aso Rock Villa)

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Recall that Legit.ng previously reported that Yemi Osinbajo led Nigerias delegation to the 27th Ordinary Session of the African Union (AU) which held from July 16 to 18, 2016, in Kigali, Rwanda.

The minister of foreign affairs, Goeffrey Onyeama, disclosed that the summit would afford Nigeria the opportunity to showcase the successes recorded by the current administration and also provide opportunity for critical appraisal of the 20 billion dollar Nigeria-Algeria trans-Saharan gas pipeline project under the New Partnership for African Development (NEPAD).

Watch this Legit.ng TV video asking Nigerians if Osinbajo is a better president than Buhari:

Source: Legit.ng
- The corpse of Alhaji Maitama Sule, Nigeria's first petroleum minister, arrived from Cairo, Egypt burial in Kano state

- However, while Nigerians continue to mourn his demise, we take a look at some of his strongest statements concerning Nigeria and the state of the nation

Many Nigerians currently mourning the first petroleum minister, Maitaima Sule, have summarized his life and times to show that he was upright and straight-forward hitting issues without sentiments.

Many of such mourners, including Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, noted that Alhaji Sule died when his experience and integrity was needed most especially as the unity of Nigeria continues to shake.

But before his demise, Sule had spoken about the agitation by the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), saying that south-east would never achieve Biafra.

1. On Biafra

Asked about the agitation for Biafra, Sule, who died in Cairo, Egypt on Monday, July 3 at 88 years, said the amalgamation of Nigeria was divinely inspired and that God wants the country to lead Africa.

Although those agitating for Biafra are still making efforts, they will not succeed by the grace of God. There are people who did not know what happened during the civil war.

The story of the civil war, the Biafra war, is presented in different ways by different people. But the truth is yet to be known. For example, no one in Lagos; no one of us in Lagos knows about the night of the coup and the day after; no one knows it more than I do.

I have been asked several times to write about what I saw on that night, but I have told people that I will not. Were I to write and tell the nation what I know, what I saw, what I heard before, during and after the coup, I will open fresh wounds. I will not do that.

READ ALSO: Buhari is seriously sick, must resign - Fayose reacts to Aisha's return to London

2. Secession and readiness of the north

Concerning the readiness of the north to accommodate a break-up, Sule said in the event of secession, the north cannot stand on its own even though it got all it needs.

In any event, those in the north are not afraid, but they dont want it. I dont want this country to disintegrate because we in the North cannot stand on our own. I know what we have in the country and I know what we have in the North.

We have got diamonds, gold, uranium and even oil and minerals. We have got agricultural lands. We have got the land and we can be on our own, but I dont want us to be alone. I want us to share these with our brothers, he said.

3. On Mathematics and its difficulty

The International Centre for Investigative Reporting reports him as saying: Excuse me, sir, this trigonometry is a little bit of nonsense. What is a little bit of x and a little bit of y? X is x and y is y.

4. On being humble

Sule was quoted as saying: In life, if you are humble, if you are simple, if you are friendly, if you respect people, if you love people, they, too, will love you, respect you and like you.

5. On Nigerias many problems

Sule declared: I keep saying what we need in Nigeria is leadership, not rulership.

6. On the state of the nation

The former minister said: Symptoms of revolt loom large in the horizon. In short, there is meaninglessness in philosophy, insecurity in polity, chaos in politics, immorality in society, corruption in economy, frustration in art, and lack of creativity in literature.

PAY ATTENTION: Read the news on Nigerias #1 new app

7. On being honest

He said: Honesty, where it does not pay, has become meaningless.

8. On becoming a chief in the south

Sule said: I was the Onikoyi of Ikoyi (in Lagos Island) and the Bada of Lagos, as I was the Ada Ida Akei Igburutu of Calabar.

9. Concerning Obafemi Awolowo

The late Sule said: I told him to avoid certain things but he did not. He was a principled man, he would not lie. He would speak out his mind.

10. On corruption

The former minister said: The present-day leadership wants money. You cant have money and honour at the same time. Our former leaders didnt want money, they wanted to serve the country, and that is why they were respected.

11. On his love for politics

He said: The Sardauna called me and reminded me he told me to be his private secretary but I refused. He added that they selected me to go to London to study Law but I said I didnt like it. He asked me: What do you want to do, for Gods sake. I replied: What you are doing, sir.

Legit.ng reported that the Kano state government on Monday July 3 declared Tuesday, July 4 public holiday to mourn the passing away of Maitama Sule.

READ ALSO: Reactions trail alleged Nigerian stow-away from Lagos to London

In a terse statement, issued and signed by the state Commissioner for Information, Mallam Mohammed Garba, who confirmed the death to newsmen in Kano, disclosed that he died in Cairo during a protracted illness.

Watch this video of Acting President Yemi Osinbajo speaking on the need for Nigerians to remain united:

Source: Legit.ng
- Two combat pilots of the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) were winged today, Tuesday, July 4

- The duo successfully completed an 18-month specialized undergraduate pilot training at in the United States of America

- They will now be deployed to NAF combat units for tactical training on fighter jets

Two combat pilots of NAF were winged on Tuesday, July 4, after successfully completing an 18-month specialized undergraduate pilot training at Laughlin Air Force Base, Texas in the United States of America.

The two newly winged pilots, both of the rank of Flying Officer, went through the primary and fighter jet training during which they amassed over 100 flying hours each on the T-6 Texan ii and T-38 Talon aircraft types.

The two US-trained combat pilots winged today, July 4 by NAF. Photo credit: NAF

Legit.ng gathered that the 2 officers had earlier undergone an introductory flying training at the US Aviation Academy in Denton, where they flew the Cessna 172 aircraft. They will now be deployed to NAF combat units for tactical training on fighter jets.

The names of the officers were given as; Flying Officer Abayomi Dairo and Flying Officer Yusuf Ahmed.

PAY ATTENTION: Read the best news on Nigerias #1 news app

In his remarks during the winging ceremony, the Chief of the Air Staff (CAS), Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar, reiterated that the NAF would not relent in its efforts at human capacity building, noting that the Service cannot function optimally without appropriate personnel training.

CAS Abubakar speaking at the ceremony. Photo credit: NAF

The CAS further stated that the NAF was already reaping from its huge investment in human capacity building, as reflected in the several NAF aircraft that had been successfully reactivated, with attendant effect on operational efficiency.

His words: Only the right training can enable personnel deal with the complex security challenges facing the country. We will therefore continue to build human capacity while also ensuring that our humanitarian intervention schemes are going on.

The CAS decorating one of the officers. Photo credit: NAF

The CAS thereafter congratulated the new pilots and urged them to quickly settle down and join the rest of their colleagues in defending the territorial integrity of the nation.

Just recently, the NAF winged 10 officers who had just completed their one-year pilot training program in South Africa.

The officers are one of several other pilots undergoing training in both local and foreign training institutions. Photo credit: NAF

Legit.ng checks revealed that many more NAF pilots and members of the ground crew are undergoing training at local and overseas training institutions.

READ ALSO: N-Power disqualifies applicants over BVN irregularities

Watch the Legit.ng TV video report of the 10 young officer recently winged below:

Source: Legit.ng
Pranab Mukherjee has said the "divergence of views" between him and PM Narendra Modi - whenever it occured - didn't affect their relationship.

For five years he remained the copy book president, tenaciously avoiding anything which can be perceived as political presidency - despite retaining his image as a 'political president' who knows the highways and by-lanes of laws, procedures and the Constitution.

In his first-ever comment on his three-year work relationship with the NDA government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Pranab Mukherjee on Sunday said, "There has been the divergence of views but the two kept those to themselves and acted in close cooperation. It did not affect the relationship between the President and the Prime minister, between the titular head and the actual head of the administration."

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Mukherjee added that at times he would seek clarifications from finance minister Arun Jaitley, who was present on the occasion and has often articulated the government's position on various issues, and that Jaitley often convinced him like an "able and effective advocate."

The president said he can claim with confidence that "the functioning of the government was never disturbed, never stopped, never delayed".

NO SIGANTURE WITHOUT CLARIFICATIONS

The President's two remarks underline his stay at Raisina Hill: copy book presidency and no adventurism.

There were issues on which the government couldn't make him sign on the dotted line without clarifications.

Between May 26, 2014 - when the NDA came to power - and March 2015, the government, blocked by majority numbers of the opposition in the Rajya Sabha, brought 10 ordinances.

Pranab Mukherjee told the government that it had limited power to issue ordinances, indicating that executive orders were the last resort, not the first.

NEET ORDINANCE

Similarly in May 2016, when he received the NEET ordinance giving states the right to hold their own medical entrance exams, he called his legal team, Health Minister J P Nadda, attorney general Mukhul Rohatgi and health ministry officials.

He took two days, and asked the government what would happen to the existing admission system once the ordinance came into play. He asked the health minister to explain the ordinance, and why states were being kept out.

INSURANCE ORDINANCE

He had summoned the Finance Minister over the Insurance ordinance, which the NDA government was chasing as its first big-ticket reform move. He discussed tenets of the Land Acquisition Bill with the government a few months later.

Last December, when the government sent the contentious enemy property ordinance (as the bill on the issue was stuck in a parliamentary committee) Mukherjee summoned his team of legal experts and asked the government for a clarification.

His objection was simple: the ordinance was a makeshift arrangement and pushing an executive order which needed the Parliament's nod for the fifth time was a simple undermining of the parliamentary system.

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Finance Minister Arun Jaitley rushed to Rashtrapati Bhawan and explained why the ordinance was necessary.

Interestingly, President Mukherjee could have used the Constitutional provision of returning the ordinance cleared by the cabinet, something President A P J Abdul Kalam once did during his Presidency.

But Mukherjee avoided a confrontation, realising that the government had the powers to clear the ordinance yet again and send it back to him.

In those circumstances the president has no option but to sign the cabinet recommendation. Sources close to Pranab Mukherjee say the President was against returning cabinet decisions only for optics.

PRESIDENT'S RULE IN ARUNACHAL PRADESH

A similar situation arose in January 2016. The Union Cabinet had sent its decision to impose central rule in politically-volatile Arunachal Pradesh.

Pranab Mukherjee wasn't sure why the Centre was resorting to Article 356. Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh met him to explain the reasons for the recommendation. Sources said Mukherjee only signed after being satisfied that the state was witnessing a constitutional crisis.

STEPPING IN AT THE RIGHT MOMENT

However, political observers feel President Mukherjee may not have created moments of confrontation with the government publicly, but he always stepped in at the right time to send strong signals to the Centre.

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Over the last few months, he has been subtle and precise three times. He spoke out in favour of freedom of expression as protests continued in various academic institutions. At a memorial lecture in May this year, he praised his former boss Indira Gandhi, saying "she was one of the remarkable personalities of the 20th century. All over the world and to people of India even today after her passing away she is the most acceptable ruler or prime minister of a democratic country."

On Saturday, in the light of several incidents of mob lynching over the past couple of years, the President asked: "Are we vigilant enough to save the basic tenets of our time? I believe that vigilance by citizens and the media can act as the biggest deterrent to forces of darkness and backwardness."

Mukherjee also said one cannot obliterate one's duty towards the issue, saying: "Posterity will demand an explanation from us about what we have done. I raise this question within myself."

But sources say Pranab Mukherjee was perhaps the most suitable President to handle the working of a Prime Minister with a different style of working, and who was relatively new to New Delhi.

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In fact, Prime Minister Modi attributed his quick settling down in Delhi to "help from the President".

A senior minister in the government said Mukherjee is so politically astute, aware of the demands of the Constitution and knowledgeable about policies, that many of the NDA ministers used to enjoy their visits to Rashtrapati Bhavan.

The minister said: "There is no issue he hasn't handled in the past. The man who was heading nearly 80 GoMs in the UPA govt as late as may 2014 was like having an encyclopedia for reference. And then there is no one who Pranab da can't admonish if he feels there is a need to."

ALSO READ

Pranab Mukherjee: When mob lynchings become uncontrollable, we must ask are we vigilant enough

PM Modi gets emotional, praises President Mukherjee during book launch

ALSO WATCH

Are we vigilant enough to save tenets of country? Asks President Mukherjee over lynching fever

--- ENDS ---
- A mild drama occured in the Nigerian Senate on Tuesday, July 4, as a strange point of order was raised

- Following the absence of President Buhari, a point of order was raised to make Saraki, acting president

- The motion was raised by Senator Eyinanya Abaribe representing Abia South

The Nigerian Senate recently resumed from a 3-week break. Upon resumption, they received a communication from Professor Yemi Osinbajo, the acting president, seeking the confirmation of Mr. Lanre Gbajabiamila, as the director general of National Lottery Regulatory Commission.

However, because the acting president had earlier reportedly said the Senate had no power to confirm nominees, the lawmakers, however, subjected the letter to deliberations.

Also a point of order was raised, that the Senate president, Abubakar Bukola Saraki, was the Acting President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

The senator representing Abia South, Eyinanya Abaribe, had raised a motion that the country had no president or acting president at the moment, adding that, President Muhammadu Buhari and Professor Yemi Osinbajo were neither in the country, as at the time.

READ ALSO: BREAKING: Saraki, Governor Ganduje receive body of late Maitama Sule

This was however countered through order 53 rule 4 of the Senate standing rules, by Senator Kabiru Marafa representing Zamfara Central.

Marafa said: If the President is not around, the Vice President should act, and if the Vice President is not around, the Senate President, who is the number 3 citizen should become acting President.

The Senate President, however, quickly ruled Senator Marafa out of order.

Legit.ng earlier reported that the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kwara state has denied alleged presidential posters of Senator Bukola Saraki.

APC described the banners of Saraki, which were put on the internet, as fake and photo- shopped.

The photo-shopped banners are purportedly calling on Saraki to contest the 2019 presidential election.

Watch this Legit.ng video on what Nigerians think of President Buhari currently:

Source: Legit.ng
Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi is back from his short vacation and on his agenda is mob lynching and farmer suicides.

By Supriya Bhardwaj: On his agenda at the moment is organisation restructuring, a meeting with senior leaders of the party to discuss the mob lynching and issues faced by the farmers.

According to sources, mahapanchayats are being organised by Congress state units in Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Telangana, Gujarat and Maharashtra. These state units will be reporting the ground situation to Rahul Gandhi.

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In Uttar Pradesh, party chief Raj Babbar is going to villages holding small meetings to understand the distress faced by farmers. And Maharashtra Congress has planned a state wide protest on July 9 whereas Madhya Pradesh Congress is planning a 10-day long Kisan Yatra which will culminate on July 10.

Once the blue print of 'Kisan MahaAndolan' is ready, Congress will reach out to other Opposition parties to chart out a common strategy for Parliament's upcoming Monsoon Session.

"We will ask for a debate in both Houses of Parliament on farmers' plight. We will also protest inside and outside seeking redressal of farmers' distress. We will also reach out to other opposition parties," said a Congress Senior leader.

Reports about farmers' suicides are pouring in from across the country. Six farmers were killed during the agitation in Mandsaur, Madhya Pradesh.

Now once again opposition is gearing up to build up a campaign across country in order to corner the Centre in the Parliament.

Also Read

Rahul Gandhi: Why tax products for physically handicapped people?

--- ENDS ---
The State Bank of India (SBI) has released the results of SBI PO Mains 2017 at sbi.co.in

By India Today Web Desk: The State Bank of India (SBI) has released the results of SBI PO Mains 2017 on its official website on Monday evening.

All the candidates can check their SBI PO results at sbi.co.in

The SBI conducted the PO main exam 2017 on June 4 at various test centres across the country.

How to check the SBI PO results:

Log on to official website, www.sbi.co.in/Careers

Click on Results

Enter all the required details such as 'Roll Number'

Click to submit

Results will be displayed on the screen

Download and take print out of the same for future reference.

Selection procedure:

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Candidates who wish to apply at SBI as a PO are required to register online for the recruitment procedure. The exam will be held in two phases -- preliminary and main. The candidates who qualify in preliminary examination will qualify for the main examination and shortlisted candidates in the main examination will be called for a group discussion and interview.

Note: All the short listed candidates will now be called for group exercises and interview which are likely to take place on July 10.

Further, the results will be declared on August 5.

About State Bank of India:

State Bank of India (SBI) is an Indian multinational, public sector banking and financial services company. It is a government-owned corporation with its headquarters in Mumbai, Maharashtra. In 1806, Bank of Calcutta (later Bank of Bengal) was founded, and in 1921, it merged with banks of Madras and Bombay to form Imperial Bank of India. In 1955, SBI was created by an act of Parliament to succeed Imperial Bank of India.

For more details, candidates can visit the official website.

--- ENDS ---
By PTI: demonetised currency

(Eds: Adding background)

New Delhi, Jul 4 (PTI) The Supreme Court today granted the Centre and the Reserve Bank of India two weeks to consider the option of granting a window to those who could not deposit their demonetised Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes for a compelling reason.

A bench comprising Chief Justice J S Khehar and Justice D Y Chandrachud asked Solicitor General Ranjit Kumar, representing the Centre, to take instructions on the issue.

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"There can be a situation where a person has lost his/her money for no fault. Suppose a person was in jail during the period... We want to know as to why you chose to bar such persons," the bench said.

The solicitor general then sought time to seek instructions for granting an opportunity to persons to deposit their money on a case-by-case basis.

The bench was hearing a batch of petitions, including one filed by Sudha Mishra seeking a direction to authorities to allow her to deposit demonetised notes as she could not do so during the period specified by the Centre and the RBI.

The Central government had on November 8 last year announced that Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes would no longer be legal tender from November 9.

The government also assured the people that demonetised currency notes could be exchanged at banks, post offices and RBI branches till December 30, 2016. If people were unable to deposit them by that day, they could do so till March 31, 2017 at RBI branches after complying with certain formalities.

On March 21, the apex court asked the government why it chose not to create a separate category for those who couldnt deposit demonetised notes by December 30, 2016 unlike NRIs and people who were abroad.

The Centre informed the court that it had taken a "conscious decision" not to extend the period beyond December 30 last year for exchanging demonetised currency notes.

It also said it was not legally bound to come out with a fresh notification to grant a grace period or a window for depositing scrapped currency notes.

The apex court had on March 6 sought responses of the Centre and RBI on why demonetised notes were not accepted till March 31 as was promised.

On March 10, it sought replies from the Centre and RBI on the plea against tweaking of rules on exchange of demonetised currency.

Prime Minister Narendra Modis address to the nation on the evening of November 8 last year on demonetisation and the subsequent notification of the federal bank that banned notes can be exchanged at RBI offices even up to March 31, 2017 were valid assurances which stood breached by the ordinance, counsel for the petitioner, Sudha Mishra, had said.

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The plea alleged that the prime minister and RBI had assured people at large that demonetised currency notes could be exchanged till December 30, 2016 and then on March 31, 2017 at RBI branches after complying with formalities.

The petitioner referred to the Specified Bank Notes Cessation of Liabilities Ordinance and said it had breached the assurance.

The Ordinance said only those who were abroad, armed forces personnel posted in remote areas or others who could give valid reasons for not being able to deposit the cancelled notes at banks could deposit demonetised notes till March 31 this year after the deadline expired on December 30, 2016.

The Centre had come out with the Ordinance making possession of a large number of scrapped notes a penal offence attracting a monetary fine. PTI SJK RRT MIN

--- ENDS ---
By PTI: (Eds: Repeating after correcting intro)

By Sajjad Hussain

Islamabad, Jul 4 (PTI) Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharifs elder son Hussain Nawaz today appeared for the sixth time before a Joint Investigation Team (JIT) probing the high-profile Panamagate graft case against his family.

Hussain Nawaz arrived at the Federal Judicial Academy (FJA) and was questioned by the six-member JIT set up by the Supreme Court.

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In its judgement of April 20 in the Panama Papers case, the Supreme Court had constituted a JIT and empowered it to summon the prime minister, his sons and any other person necessary, to investigate allegations of money-laundering, through which the four apartments in Londons posh Park Lane area were purchased.

On May 5, the Supreme Court set up a high-level six- member JIT to probe Sharif and his sons alleged corruption in the Panama Papers case.

It has already questioned Sharif and several others of his family, including his sons -- Hussain and Hasan--over the familys alleged improper business dealings.

Sharifs daughter Maryam Nawaz will appear tomorrow before the JIT for the first time.

Sharif has denied any wrongdoing and said the property was purchased through the money his later father had invested in the Gulf states.

The JIT is expected to complete its probe by July 10 and submit a report to the apex Court, which will decide fate of Sharif. The JIT comprises anti-corruption officials, along with members of the powerful spy agency ISI and the Military Intelligence. PTI SH AJR AKJ AJR

--- ENDS ---
By PTI: Rameswaram(TN), Jul 4(PTI) In an unusual catch, a Sri Lankan fibre glass boat was netted by Tamil Nadu fishermen off Katchatheevu and brought here today, police said.

The boat which was found mid sea was netted by the fishermen and brought to the shore after which it was seized, police said.

Investigation is on to ascertain the owner of the boat, they added. PTI COR SSN ROH DK

--- ENDS ---

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By PTI: Chennai/Jaipur, Jul 4 (PTI) Rajasthan Polices Anti Terrorism Squad today detained a man from Chenani in connection with its probe into a case of funding the terror group ISIS.

Haroon Rashid, a businessman based here, was taken into custody by the Rajasthan ATS. After preliminary questioning, he was taken to Jaipur by a private airline today, airport sources in Chennai said.

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Rashids name was revealed by Jamil Ahmed, who was arrested in November last year from Sikar in Rajasthan, for allegedly arranging funds for the terror group.

Rajasthan Additional Director General of Police, ATS, SoG (Special Operations Group) Umesh Mishra earlier in the day said Rashid will be interrogated after bringing him from Chennai.

Earlier, the ATS had arrested Iqbal alias Travel Haq from Chennai in a money laundering case.

Iqbal used to allegedly transfer money to Ahmed in Dubai through Western Union from China and via hawala transactions from India. PTI CORR AG VGN RC SRY

--- ENDS ---
From Mike Malloy Website

Monday again. Same POTUS, different Tweet. What does he do over the weekend, Truthseekers? Try to figure out the best way to troll the press on Twitter? Last week it was the Morning Joe team. This week it's CNN. Does he honestly have nothing better to do? Do we have a president with so much free time to devote to juvenile social media posts?

Again, what a global embarrassment. Friday he heads off for another doomed encounter with the NEW leader of the free world Angela Merkel on Thursday ahead of the G20 summit this weekend. I'm sure she's looking forward to that about as much as a root canal without Novocaine.

We get to collectively hold our breath to see if he can get through the weekend without inciting an international incident. Did you ever think you'd see the day when you feared your American President would piss off our key allies in Europe? He delights in it. Trump will also get the chance to meet his hero Vladmir Putin this weekend and might even get his autograph! Maybe they can pose for a fake TIME magazine cover -- Trump with Ivanka on his knee, Putin bare-chested astride a bear. Wait -- I'm giving the National Enquirer ideas again.

The Globe and Mail have a preview for us:

"This is expected to be the most contentious G20 summit ever, and some experts believe little, if anything, will be accomplished. The prospects don't look good. "Ms. Merkel and several other leaders, including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, have already lined up against U.S. President Donald Trump on the summit's main issues of open trade and climate change. There's also plenty of tension between Ms. Merkel and Russian President Vladimir Putin over Ukraine, and the German leader has clashed with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan over political change in his country. With a German election looming in September, Ms. Merkel is also under growing pressure at home to stand up to Mr. Trump, who is always unpredictable. "'This could be the first failed summit, because the two big sides are on a collision course,' said John Kirton, co-director of the G20 Research Group at the University of Toronto, referring to the Trump-Merkel divide. 'A summit that actually made things worse, that's a failure.' Prof. Kirton believes Ms. Merkel will likely cobble together some kind of consensus on enough other issues, such as terrorism, to salvage the summit, but he said it will still rank as one of the most unproductive G20 meetings ever. "Ms. Merkel has already signaled that the summit won't be easy, and she may not be displeased with a failed outcome. She's strengthened her lead in domestic public opinion polls by standing up to Mr. Trump, and she's largely recovered from her decision in 2015 to open Germany's borders to nearly one million refugees who fled the Middle East. Last week she took a pre-G20 shot at Mr. Trump, telling the German parliament that 'anyone who thinks the world's problems can be solved with isolationism and protectionism is simply delusional.' She's previously indicated that Europeans can no longer count on the U.S. and warned her compatriots that 'the times in which [Germany] could completely depend on others are on the way out.'"

Yeah, even Trump's supporters wouldn't call him dependable. Delusional is a given. Let's just hope the twit doesn't tweet something nasty about her physical appearance -- or anything about blood. That's about the best we can hope for.
Congress Switchboard: 202-224-3121

"We're at a paradigm-shift moment in history, where we will look back at it and realize that a particular model of how we govern our affairs together became outdated. Kall's book Bottom-Up offers great alternatives and solutions that are not found in conventional governing models."



Carne Ross , is a former British diplomat, a strategy coordinator for the UN, and author of the book, The Leaderless Revolution.
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Sometimes, authors delete their quicklinks after publishing them.



To see if the quicklink was renamed or re-published, please click here.
There are some great writers and media personalities who understand that the American people have very little voice, and are powerless to change the direction or the policies of our "democratic" government. I'm thinking about the United States, but this is true in most of the so-called "democracies" in the world.



we are nazis now, scott richard

(Image by torbakhopper) Details DMCA



The best example that I can think of is the United States of America. There are many citizens and non-citizens that believe that because Americans can openly criticize their leaders and the policies of their government, that this proves America to be a democracy. People, and Americans particularly, should understand that "free speech" is only one factor that makes up a democratic nation. In the United States, the right to criticize those in power and our form of government itself provides the illusion of a democratic state.

The fact is, the people in power in the United States use the right of free speech to play people off against each other, and to keep the mainstream of political discourse confined in a "safe" range. This is the primary reason why people get distracted from the real problems that we face in America. The mainstream media portrays our system of government in terms of Republicans and Democrats. They constantly quote Democratic Senators and Congressman and Republican Congressman and Senators and spend time quoting the president and his twitter tweets and that makes up 90% of the news.

This is all a gigantic game that they use to keep us distracted. The truth is that they never report on things that really matter. One example, was the occupy movement and the way they shut it down. There was no reporting on how Obama used the fusion centers which consist of local police, state police, the FBI, the NSA, the National Guard, and other intelligence agencies, and there are approximately 12 of these fusion centers located throughout the United States. Fusion centers were mobilized to shut down the occupy movement. Some of the tactics used against occupy were brutal and many people were hurt and jailed. Still the mainstream media did not comment on how the occupy movement was shut down.

Few Americans questioned the demise of Occupy. We were distracted by other "news". This tactic is not a good omen for a supposed democracy.

All the topics that are most important are off-limits for Republicans and Democrats and the Mainstream Media alike. Peace. Election theft. The illegitimacy of the American Surveillance State. Evidence that it is our own CIA that is creating the "Terror Threat" used to justify repression and militarism. Alternative accounts of the assassinations and "suicides" that have robbed progressive politics of its most charismatic leaders.

Even people like Thom Hartmann on his regular show and you show on RT America called the Big Picture is part and parcel of the use of mass distraction. Hartmann constantly degrades the Republicans and sometimes degrades the Democrats but still talks about how we can change "the system" by calling Congressman and Senators and voicing our opinion. This gives us the illusion that we have power and that the people's will can change the direction of the government. I think he sincerely believes that you can change the system from within, but the reality is that his voice serves to prop up a failed model of governance.

The only time that I've seen recently where the people's will changed the direction of the government was when Obama wanted to send cruise missiles to Damascus because Bashir al-Assad had allegedly "used chemical weapons against his own people". (A United Nations investigation revealed it was the CIA-backed rebels who used chemical weapons.) While Americans did write their Congressman and Senators, the British House of Commons voted not to authorize the use of force against Syria, and Vladimir Putin offered to take the chemical weapons away from the Syrians. The vote in the British House of Commons, and Vladimir Putin's involvement were more important than what the people had to say.

Another case in point is the war in Iraq. Most people in the United States did not want the government to invade Iraq. Weeks before the invasion, we staged the largest world-wide peace march in history. But Congress voted more than 2 to 1 to give Bush a blanket authorization for war. The United States started bombing Iraq, then staged an invasion. All the mainstream outlets were cheering for the Americans, and no dissent against the war was tolerated. Even though the invasion of Iraq was a war crime, nobody has ever been prosecuted. This does not bode well for supposed democracy or the rule of law.

The mainstream media does not like to talk too much about foreign policy. One reason that they don't talk much about foreign policy is because if they did, they would have to tell how United States and Saudi Arabia along with Qatar and other Gulf nations of the Wahhabi Muslim sect, armed Isis and funded their attack on Syria. Even though most people know that this really happened because the reporting from outside the United States, there is been no accountability or even questioning the policies of the United States government from any elected official. When a government does anything that they want to do, without the people's knowledge or consent that does not bode well for is supposed democracy.

When the United States shot down a Syrian Russian-made jet it was hardly mentioned in the mainstream press. When the Russians said that they would target United States warplanes, that was hardly mentioned. But when Donald Trump sends a tweet that is big time news.

Everything you see and hear has a political slant and is meant to distract from the real problems we have in America. We have big problems such as driving while black. Walking while black, and being black in general. How much has this nation changed since the Civil Rights Act was enacted? How many times do we have to see congressional districts gerrymandered by both parties to make sure that the party that does the redistricting stays in power? It was only a few years ago that Congressman Dennis Kucinich had his district eliminated. He was silenced with the full complicity of the Democrats. Another example was the candidacy of Bernie Sanders. The Sanders campaign was constantly impeded by the DNC. They used everything from Superdelegates to voter role purges to changing the vote lectronically to keep Sanders from winning the nomination. Some of this story came out in John Podesta's emails. The Democrats have denounced the release of emails, blaming the Russians (!) and the New York Times publishes this story as though it were the Truth. They want you to feel so much better than Donald Trump, who Tells LIES. The Times and the people who believe in it are a big part of the problem.

Bernie Sanders didn't say a word about the fact that the nomination was stolen from him in broad daylight. When Sanders backed Hillary Clinton, that's when many Democrats walked out of the convention and refused to vote. This is probably the primary reason why we ended up with Donald Trump.

Trump is more than a clown. The man is a danger to the Republic. He has no knowledge of foreign affairs and he's giving free rein to the State Department and the Defense Department. This means that the military-industrial complex and all the people that profit from it, will make sure that we have new wars to fight and new enemies to fight to keep the bloated military budget intact. This is a danger not only to United States but for the rest of the world.

Trump campaigned on better relations with Russia and called NATO "outmoded". Many people including Dr. Paul Craig Roberts supported Trump because Hillary Clinton is a known warmonger. (Think Libya--that was her baby.) He also said he would not cut Medicare or Social Security, yet he put people in his cabinet that want to do just that. This man is not only a clown he is a pathological liar. If the mainstream media had real journalists instead of talking heads parroting what the politicians say, we would see scathing commentary on how our president lies to us. It was refreshing to see Joe Scarborough and Mika come out against Trump. It was also entertaining to see Donald Trump tweeting next to things about Joe Scarborough and Mika supposedly bleeding from a facelift. This, unfortunately, is our president. This does not bode well for supposed to democracy

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CORPORATIONS

We all grew up with the story of the Boston Tea Party. In the late eighteenth century, a group of American Colonialists dressed up as Indians, took over a docked ship in the Boston Harbor and dumped its cargo of tea into the bay. This was one of the early acts of rebellion which contributed to the American Revolution against England. However, the back story to this incidence has very deep ramifications for us today!

In 1602, the British Parliament gave a charter to the first publicly traded corporation in the world. It was called the Dutch East India Company and as the name implies, it opened up a very lucrative trade in spices as well as incense, herbs, silk, opium and tea between Europe and India.

Because of the way it was structured, it had legal powers that rivaled those of a sovereign country. "As the first historical model of the quasi-fictional concept of the mega corporation, it possessed quasi-governmental powers, including the ability to wage war, imprison and execute convicts, negotiate treaties, strike its own coins, and establish colonies." [ Wikipedia ]

By the time the Colonialist had begun to develop their own independent economy, about a hundred and seventy years after the Dutch East India company had received its charter, the company had become so powerful that it dominated India and many surrounding countries with its political and military power. When the Dutch East India company found that its prices for tea were not competitive in the new Colonies, it went to the British Parliament and demanded that their tea sales in America not be taxed.

Of course, when England gave the Dutch East India that blatant tax advantage, not only were the tea merchants in the Colonies upset, but so was the general public. And so, while chanting, "TAXATION WITHOUT REPRESENTION!" and after dumping a valuable load of tea into the Boston Harbor -- the American Revolution sputtered to a start.

Now, skip ahead in your memory to a time right after the Revolution had succeeded. The wise -- and highly educated -- Founding Fathers gathered to attempt to set up a new democracy founded on a system of laws. Based on their cumulative knowledge of current and ancient political history, they created the powerful legal documents that, to this day, are the basis for our country's self-governance.

It is difficult to define a fine line between government and industry. Difficult because of the infinite variations of and between their interactions. The ideal balance between the two requires an unbiased infusion of mutually respectful equality.

Excerpt From RECLAIM DEMOCRACY :

" When American colonists declared independence from England in 1776, they also freed themselves from control by English corporations that extracted their wealth and dominated trade. After fighting a revolution to end this exploitation, our country's founders retained a healthy fear of corporate power and wisely limited corporations exclusively to a business role. Corporations were forbidden from attempting to influence elections, public policy, and other realms of civic society.

Initially, the privilege of incorporation was granted selectively to enable activities that benefited the public, such as construction of roads or canals. Enabling shareholders to profit was seen as a means to that end. The states also imposed conditions (some of which remain on the books, though unused) like these:
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Last month more than 4,000 people gathered in Chicago for the People's Summit. Independent senator, former presidential candidate Bernie Sanders delivered the keynote speech. During his speech, he repeatedly criticized the Democratic Party, calling it an "absolute failure," and blaming it for the election of President Trump. "I'm often asked by the media and others: How did it come about that Donald Trump, the most unpopular presidential candidate in the modern history of our country, won the election?" Sanders said. "And my answer is that Trump didn't win the election; the Democratic Party lost the election. Let us be very, very clear: The current model and the current strategy of the Democratic Party is an absolute failure."





Transcript

This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.

AMY GOODMAN: Over 4,000 people gathered in Chicago in June for the three-day People's Summit, organized in part by National Nurses United. Former presidential candidate Bernie Sanders gave a major speech, where he attacked both President Trump and the Democratic Party. Senator Sanders spoke at a time when some of his supporters are pushing for him to form a new political party ahead of the 2020 election and run again for the White House. Today we spend the hour airing Bernie Sanders' address.

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS: I want to thank many, many of you for your work on our presidential campaign. You understood something that the establishment, the pundits and the corporate media did not know and still do not know. And that is that the American people are profoundly sick and tired of establishment politics and establishment economics. As RoseAnn just said, the question all over this country that people are asking themselves is: When will my life get better? And it ain't gonna get better through establishment economics or establishment politics, that's for sure. At a time of massive -- and vulgar -- income and wealth inequality, and the movement of our country toward an oligarchy, where a handful of billionaires control our economy, our political life and much of the media, you understood that the American people want a government that represents all of us, not just the 1 percent. And that's what all of us are fighting for, and I thank you very much for all that you have done, are doing and will do.

And, by the way, Jane and I just returned from the U.K. the other day. And I want to tell you -- want to tell you what you already know, is that the movement for economic, social, racial and environmental justice is not just growing here in the U.S., it is growing worldwide. All over the world -- all over the world, people are asking: How does it happen that, globally, the top 1 percent now owns more wealth than the bottom 99 percent? How does it happen that the eight wealthiest people on this planet own more wealth than the bottom half of the world's population -- 3.4 billion people? And just the other day -- just the other day, in the U.K., against all of the predictions, the Labour Party there won 30 new seats. And they won those seats not by moving to the right, not by becoming more conciliatory; they won those seats by standing up to the ruling class of the U.K. And all of us congratulate Jeremy Corbyn and his team for what they've accomplished.

This evening, what I want to do is give you, as I see it, some good news. I want to be honest and tell you about the bad news that I see. But I'm going to conclude with very good news.

Now, the good news -- the good news is that, together, because of the grassroots efforts of millions of Americans, from coast to coast, taking on the entire political establishment, our campaign was able to win 22 states in the Democratic primary, over 13 million votes, some 46 percent of the popular vote. Together -- together, in virtually every state, in virtually, I think, every single state, we won the votes of young people under 40, young people who are black and white and Latino and Asian-American and Native American. We won those votes by overwhelming numbers, and we ended up, I believe, getting almost twice as many votes as Clinton and Trump combined, among young people.

And what that means -- what that means -- and please do not forget this -- is that our ideas and our progressive vision, we are the future of this country.

AUDIENCE: Bernie! Bernie! Bernie! Bernie! Bernie! Bernie!

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS: No.

AUDIENCE: Bernie! Bernie! Bernie! Bernie! Bernie! Bernie!

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS: It's not "Bernie." It is you! We are in this together, and always have been and always will be. Together, during our campaign, we organized some of the largest rallies in the campaign, speaking to over 1.4 million people. In other words -- in other words, we have the enthusiasm. We have the momentum. And as I look around this theater tonight, I can see we have the energy to transform America.

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Historians have long grappled with the contradiction of a revolution under the banner of "all men are created equal" being largely led by slave owners. Once free of England, the U.S. grew over the next 89 years to be the largest slave-owning republic in history.





And yes, "all men are created equal" excluded women, black people and the indigenous populations of the continent, and was written by slave-owner Thomas Jefferson with all his personal hypocrisies. But the words themselves have been used many times since to challenge racism and other forms of domination and inequality. Both the 1789 French Revolution and the 1804 Haitian revolution--the only successful slave revolt in human history--drew inspiration from this clarion call. In 1829 black abolitionist David Walker threw the words of the DI back in the face of the slave republic: "See your declarations Americans!!! Do you understand your own language?" The 1848 Seneca Falls women's rights convention issued a Declaration of Sentiments proclaiming that "We hold these truths to be self evident that all men and women are created equal." Vietnam used these very words in declaring independence from France in 1946. And as ML King stated in his 1963 I have a Dream Speech, it was "A promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness."



Americans are taught to see the birth of our country as a gift to the world, even when its original defects are acknowledged. The DI along with the Constitution are pillars of American exceptionalism--the belief that the U.S. is superior and unique from all others, holding the promise of an "Asylum for the persecuted lovers of civil and religious liberty" in the words of Thomas Paine in Common Sense. Historian Gary Nash has made a case that upon winning independence, the conditions for at least the gradual abolition of slavery throughout the 13 colonies were present but lacked political leadership. "One of the lessons of history is that in cases where a fundamental change has been accomplished against heavy odds, inspired leadership has been critically important", and "Washington, Jefferson, and Madison were strategically positioned to take the lead on the slavery issue. All three professed a hatred of slavery and a fervent desire to see it ended in their own time." (The Forgotten Fifth, 91, 95.) But the July 4th 1776 Declaration of Independence (DI) was in itself a revolutionary document. Never before in history had people asserted the right of revolution--not just to overthrow a specific government that no longer met the needs of the people, but as a general principle for the relationship between the rulers and the ruled: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.--That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or abolish it, and to institute new Government..."And yes, "all men are created equal" excluded women, black people and the indigenous populations of the continent, and was written by slave-owner Thomas Jefferson with all his personal hypocrisies. But the words themselves have been used many times since to challenge racism and other forms of domination and inequality. Both the 1789 French Revolution and the 1804 Haitian revolution--the only successful slave revolt in human history--drew inspiration from this clarion call. In 1829 black abolitionist David Walker threw the words of the DI back in the face of the slave republic: "See your declarations Americans!!! Do you understand your own language?" The 1848 Seneca Falls women's rights convention issued a Declaration of Sentiments proclaiming that "We hold these truths to be self evident that all men and women are created equal." Vietnam used these very words in declaring independence from France in 1946. And as ML King stated in his 1963 I have a Dream Speech, it was "A promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness."Americans are taught to see the birth of our country as a gift to the world, even when its original defects are acknowledged. The DI along with the Constitution are pillars of American exceptionalism--the belief that the U.S. is superior and unique from all others, holding the promise of an "Asylum for the persecuted lovers of civil and religious liberty" in the words of Thomas Paine in Common Sense. Historian Gary Nash has made a case that upon winning independence, the conditions for at least the gradual abolition of slavery throughout the 13 colonies were present but lacked political leadership. "One of the lessons of history is that in cases where a fundamental change has been accomplished against heavy odds, inspired leadership has been critically important", and "Washington, Jefferson, and Madison were strategically positioned to take the lead on the slavery issue. All three professed a hatred of slavery and a fervent desire to see it ended in their own time." (91, 95.)





England's Victory Over France Leads to the American War For Independence







And while "No taxation without representation" and opposition to British tyranny are the two most commonly cited causes propelling the colonists' drive for independence, recent scholarship (Slave Nation by Ruth and Alfred Blumrosen, Gerald Horne's The Counter-Revolution of 1776, and Alan Gilbert's Black Patriots and Loyalists in particular) has revealed a heretofore unacknowledged third major motivating force --the preservation and protection of slavery itself. In 1772, the highest British court ruled in the Somerset decision that slave owners had no legal claims to ownership of other humans in England itself, declaring slavery to be "odious". Somerset eliminated any possibility of a de jure defense of slavery in England, further reinforced at the time by Parliament refusing a request by British slave owners to pass such a law. While Somerset did not apply to England's colonies, it was taken by southern colonists as a potential threat to their slave power. Their fear was further reinforced by the 1766 Declaratory Act, which made explicit England's final say over any laws made in the colonies, and the "Repugnancy" clause in each colony's charter. Somerset added fuel to the growing fires uniting the colonies against England in a fight for independence. For all their lofty rhetoric none of them lifted a finger to bring that about. Perhaps though a different question might be asked: what if the British had won, had defeated the colonists' bid to break from the mother country? Is it possible that the cause of freedom and the ideals of the DI would have been paradoxically better served by that outcome?It was, ironically, England's victory over France for control of the North American continent in the seven years' war (1756-1763) that laid the basis for their North American colonies to revolt just 13 years later. As the war with France ended, the British 1763 Proclamation prohibited white settlement west of the Appalachian mountains in an attempt at detente with Native Americans -- bringing England into conflict with colonists wanting to expand westward. More serious still were the series of taxes England imposed on the colonies to pay off its large war debt: the 1765 Stamp Act, the 1767-1770 Townshend Acts, and the 1773 Tea Acts, among others. As colonial leaders mounted increasingly militant resistance to these measures, so too did British repression ramp up.And while "No taxation without representation" and opposition to British tyranny are the two most commonly cited causes propelling the colonists' drive for independence, recent scholarship (by Ruth and Alfred Blumrosen, Gerald Horne's, and Alan Gilbert'sin particular) has revealed a heretofore unacknowledged third major motivating force --the preservation and protection of slavery itself. In 1772, the highest British court ruled in the Somerset decision that slave owners had no legal claims to ownership of other humans in England itself, declaring slavery to be "odious". Somerset eliminated any possibility of adefense of slavery in England, further reinforced at the time by Parliament refusing a request by British slave owners to pass such a law. While Somerset did not apply to England's colonies, it was taken by southern colonists as a potential threat to their slave power. Their fear was further reinforced by the 1766 Declaratory Act, which made explicit England's final say over any laws made in the colonies, and the "Repugnancy" clause in each colony's charter. Somerset added fuel to the growing fires uniting the colonies against England in a fight for independence.



"Seeing the Revolutionary War through the eyes of enslaved blacks turns its meaning upside down"

Simon Schama, Rough Crossings



Among the list of grievances in the DI is the rarely scrutinized "He [referring to the king] has excited domestic insurrections amongst us." This grievance was motivated by Virginia Royal Governor Lord Dunmore's November 1775 proclamation stating that any person held as a slave by a colonist in rebellion against England would become free by joining the British forces in subduing the revolt. While 5000 mainly free black people from northern colonies joined with the colonists' fight for independence, few of our school books teach that tens of thousands more enslaved black people joined with the British, with an even greater number taking advantage of the war to escape the colonies altogether by running to Canada or Florida. They saw they had a better shot at "Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" with the British--than with their colonial slave masters.



To further put these numbers in perspective, the total population of the 13 colonies at the time was 2.5 million, of whom 500,000 were slaves and indentured servants. While there is some debate about the exact numbers, Peter Kolchin in American Slavery points to the "Sharp decline between 1770 and 1790 in the proportion of the population made up of blacks (almost all of whom were slaves) from 60.5% to 43.8% in South Carolina and from 45.2% to 36.1% in Georgia" (73). Other commonly cited figures from historians estimate 25,000 slaves escaped from South Carolina, 30,000 from Virginia, and 5,000 from Georgia. Gilbert in Black Patriots and Loyalists says "Estimates range between twenty thousand and one hundred thousand... if one adds in the thousands of not yet organized blacks who trailed... the major British forces... the number takes on dimensions accurately called 'gigantic'(xii).



Among them were 30 of Thomas Jefferson's slaves, 20 of George Washington's, and good ole "Give me liberty or give me death" Patrick Henry also lost his slave Ralph Henry to the Brits. It was the first mass emancipation in American history. Evidently "domestic insurrection" was legitimate when led by slave owners against England but not when enslaved people rose up for their freedom--against the rebelling slave owners!



Before There Was Harriet Tubman There was Colonel Tye



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Crispus Attucks is often hailed as the first martyr of the American revolution, a free black man killed defying British authority in the 1770 Boston Massacre. But few have heard of Titus, who just 5 years later was among those thousands of slaves who escaped to the British lines. He became known as Colonel Tye for his military prowess in leading black and white guerrilla fighters in numerous raids throughout Monmouth County, New Jersey, taking reprisals against slave owners, freeing their slaves, destroying their weaponry and creating an atmosphere of fear among the rebel colonists--and hope among their slaves. Other black regiments under the British fought with ribbons emblazoned across their chests saying "Liberty to Slaves".



One might compare Col. Tye to Attucks but if Attucks is a hero, what does that make Tye, who freed hundreds of slaves? Perhaps a more apt comparison is with Harriet Tubman, who escaped slavery in 1849 and returned to the south numerous times to also free hundreds of her brothers and sisters held in bondage.



So What if the British had won?



At no point though did the British declare the end of slavery to be a war goal; it was always just a military tactic. But if the Brits had won, as they came close to doing, it might have set off a series of events that went well beyond their control. Would England have been able to restore slavery in the 13 colonies in the face of certain anti-slavery resistance by the tens of thousands of now free ex-slaves, joined by growing anti-slavery forces in the northern colonies? As Gilbert puts it, "Class and race forged ties of solidarity in opposition to both the slave holders and the colonial elites." (10) Another sure ally would have been the abolitionist movement in England, which had been further emboldened by the 1772 Somerset decision. And if England had to abolish slavery in the 13 colonies, would that not have led to a wave of emancipations throughout the Caribbean and Latin America? Among them were 30 of Thomas Jefferson's slaves, 20 of George Washington's, and good ole "Give me liberty or give me death" Patrick Henry also lost his slave Ralph Henry to the Brits. It was the first mass emancipation in American history. Evidently "domestic insurrection" was legitimate when led by slave owners against England but not when enslaved people rose up for their freedom--against the rebelling slave owners!Crispus Attucks is often hailed as the first martyr of the American revolution, a free black man killed defying British authority in the 1770 Boston Massacre. But few have heard of Titus, who just 5 years later was among those thousands of slaves who escaped to the British lines. He became known as Colonel Tye for his military prowess in leading black and white guerrilla fighters in numerous raids throughout Monmouth County, New Jersey, taking reprisals against slave owners, freeing their slaves, destroying their weaponry and creating an atmosphere of fear among the rebel colonists--and hope among their slaves. Other black regiments under the British fought with ribbons emblazoned across their chests saying "Liberty to Slaves".One might compare Col. Tye to Attucks but if Attucks is a hero, what does that make Tye, who freed hundreds of slaves? Perhaps a more apt comparison is with Harriet Tubman, who escaped slavery in 1849 and returned to the south numerous times to also free hundreds of her brothers and sisters held in bondage.At no point though did the British declare the end of slavery to be a war goal; it was always just a military tactic. But if the Brits had won, as they came close to doing, it might have set off a series of events that went well beyond their control. Would England have been able to restore slavery in the 13 colonies in the face of certain anti-slavery resistance by the tens of thousands of now free ex-slaves, joined by growing anti-slavery forces in the northern colonies? As Gilbert puts it, "Class and race forged ties of solidarity in opposition to both the slave holders and the colonial elites." (10) Another sure ally would have been the abolitionist movement in England, which had been further emboldened by the 1772 Somerset decision. And if England had to abolish slavery in the 13 colonies, would that not have led to a wave of emancipations throughout the Caribbean and Latin America?

And just what was the cost of the victorious independence struggle to the black population? To the indigenous populations who were described in that same DI grievance as "The merciless Indian Savages"? Might it have been better for the cause of freedom if the colonists lost? And if the colonists had lost, wouldn't the ideals of the DI have carried just as much if not more weight?



"The price of freedom from England was bondage for African slaves in America. America would be a slave nation." Eleanor Holmes Norton, introduction to Slave Nation



We do know, however, the cost of the colonists' victory: once independence was won, while the northern states gradually abolished slavery, slavery BOOMED in the south. The first federal census in 1790 counted 700,000 slaves. By 1810, 2 years after the end of the slave trade, there were 1.2 million slaves, a 70% increase. England ended slavery in all its colonies in 1833, when there were 2 million enslaved people in the U.S. Slavery in the U.S. continued for another 33 years, during which time the slave population doubled to 4 million human beings. The U.S abolished slavery in 1865; only Cuba and Brazil ended slavery at a later date. And the colonists' victory also further opened the gates to the attempted genocide of the indigenous peoples over the next 125 years.



The foregoing is not meant to romanticize and project England as some kind of abolitionist savior had they kept control of the colonies. Dunmore himself was a slave owner. England was the center of the international slave trade. Despite losing the 13 colonies, England maintained its position as the most powerful and rapacious empire in the world till the mid-20th century. As England did away with chattel slavery, it replaced it with the capitalist wage slavery of the industrial revolution. It used food as a weapon to starve the Irish, conquered and colonized large swaths of Asia, Africa and the Pacific.



We often see the outcomes of history as predetermined, as inevitabilities, and think there were no other outcomes possible. We look back 240 years later and for most it seems unquestionable that the American revolution was good for the world, a step, perhaps somewhat tortured, towards progress and freedom. But for historian Gerald Horne, "Simply because Euro-American colonists prevailed in their establishing of the U.S., it should not be assumed that this result was inevitable. History points to other possibilities... I do not view the creation of the republic as a great leap forward for humanity" (Counter-Revolution of 1776, ix).



The American revolution was not just a war for independence from England. It was also a battle for freedom against the very leaders of that rebellion by hundreds of thousands of enslaved black people, a class struggle of poor white tenant farmers in many cases also against that same white colonial elite, and a fight for survival of the indigenous populations. But the colonists' unlikely victory was to lead to the creation of the largest slave nation in history, the near genocide of the indigenous populations and a continent-wide expansion gained by invading and taking over half of Mexico. The U.S. went on to become an empire unparalleled in history, its wealth origins rooted largely in slave labor. The struggles for equality and justice for all that the DI promised continues of course, a task that remains undone, ML King's promissory note unfulfilled to this day.





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Professor Kwabena Frimpong Boateng, the Minister of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation (MESTI), has underscored the important role of science and technology in ending poverty in Ghana and Africa as a whole.



He said it was regrettable science and technology contributed to less than one per cent of Ghanas GDP, which was very small compared to Africas average of 2.5 per cent, resulting in a huge gap between the continent and the rest of the world in all the scientific disciplines.



This, he said, was disappointing adding that we cannot end poverty without science and technology; we cannot get supply of sustainable clean water and good sanitation without serious attention to science, while the sustainable energy for all being desired would only be an illusion if strong emphasis were not laid on these scientific disciplines.



He said it was the governments conviction to in the next four years, achieve 1.5 per cent by stimulating demand for science and technology from the private sector while establishing a merit-based research system in order to encourage and facilitate scientific research priority sectors of the economy.



Prof. Frimpong Boateng said this in a speech read on his behalf at a durbar hosted by the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission (GAEC) in Accra, to climax the week-long activities for the commemoration of the Africa Scientific Renaissance Day, which had been on the theme:  Promoting Science, Technology and Innovation for Sustainable National Development.



He said although the challenges were enormous and one could easily be overwhelmed, there is the need for all scientists to shed any doubt or despair and to rise up to the necessities of the times, by challenging themselves to think solutions to the myraid of problems that bedeviled the country.



He called for a concerted effort in making science and mathematics a serious determinant for meeting the demands of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), saying all advanced countries, have achieved economic growth and improvement in their standard of living, through Science and technology.



However the reality of a vicious cycle of deprivation, lower incomes, and excessive importation of foreign goods continues to rob African countries of similar advancements using these tools, he said.



Prof. Frimpong Boateng said the programme, which was being organised under the auspices of MESTI, as an annual event initiated by the then Organisation of African Unity, now the African Union in 1987, was to recognise the great contribution of scientists in the region, to current development in these scientific disciplines.



It also offered African countries the opportunity to take a retrospective view of their unique situation, and assess science and technology in the context of sustainable national development.



There is the urgent need to address the anomaly through the advancement of policies, improved educational and attitudinal change approaches, and increased investment.



He said government intended to strengthen the collaboration among industries, universities and research centres to promote the commercialisation of scientific research outputs, while forming partnerships with local and international institutions to establish Centres of Excellence across the country that networked all higher education and research institutions.



We want to step up our efforts at achieving 60:40 Science-Humanities student ratio by expanding Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics scholarship schemes, he said.



Prof. Frimpong Boateng said the Ministrys collaboration with GAEC had also made huge strides by establishing the Ghana Space Science and Technology Institute, for spatial research and training, to enhance agriculture, water resources, urban development, mineral prospecting, environment, drought and flood forecasting, ocean resources and disaster management.



Again the progress being made so far by GAEC and its affiliated institute to develop a comprehensive Nuclear Power Programme that would eventually lead to cheap and sustainable electricity generation into Ghanas energy mix, a stable tariff regime, boost industry performance, and job creation would deepen science and technology by the development of high Tech industries.



He urged all the research institutions including GAEC and the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), to foster collaboration at institute levels to maximise their outputs.

Source: GNA









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Featured Video
Goons from a local syndicate in south Kolkata barged into TMC Lok Sabha MP, Sugata Bose's residence demanding clarification on why he refused to take construction material sold by them.

By Indrajit Kundu: In a bizarre turn of events, the rampant syndicate raj in West Bengal has come back to haunt the Trinamool Congress under its own rule. On Monday, goons from a local syndicate in south Kolkata barged into TMC Lok Sabha MP, Sugata Bose's residence seeking clarification on why the MP had not taken supply of construction material from them for a repair work at his residence.

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According to the MP, a group of bike borne men first landed at his house in the morning after noticing some repair work which was underway in the balcony, and questioned the masons on duty. Later, they resurfaced in the afternoon when the MP and his 86-year-old mother encountered them and were even threatened.

"They asked me who the contractor was and why we did not procure cement and other material from them. When I tried calling the local police station, they spoke aggressively with me and my mother too," Bose told India Today at his residence.

The building on 90, Sarat Bose Road is a landmark in its own rights. It was Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose's elder brother and freedom fighter Sisir Kumar Bose who used to reside there and had hosted several INA stalwarts who had worked with Netaji.

The house has now been inherited by his wife and three time Trinamool Congress MP Krishna Bose and her son Sugata Bose, a renowned history professor at Harvard University.

"It was an extortion attempt and a clear case of trespassing and intimidation. What position I hold in the party is absolutely of no significance here. All I want to say is that ordinary citizens should not suffer such harassment. It has happened to me and I have responded but I am more concerned about ordinary citizens," Bose said.

Following a complaint by the MP stating his "concerns" about the safety of his mother, police have arrested six men from the vicinity, all of whom are known to be associated with supply of construction material in the area. Police claim, they indentified the miscreants from the CCTV footage from outside the house.

Reacting to the development, BJP leader and another Netaji family member Chandra Kumar Bose blamed chief minister Mamata Banerjee for the syndicate menace in the state.

"Sugata is my cousin and I'm shocked to hear how these miscreants even threatened my 86-year-old aunt. The chief minister is solely responsible for the impunity with which these goons are operating. It is happening next to her own constituency. I had raised the issue during last elections and look how it has come back to haunt the TMC itself," Bose said.

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--- ENDS ---
Contrary to what his critics say, a renowned Islamic cleric in the Upper East region, Alhaji Awudu Gariba has confirmed that the biggest mosque in Ghana located in the Upper East region capital, Bolgatanga, was indeed started by Managing Editor of The aL-hAJJ newspaper, Alhaji Bature Iddrisu, in 1982.



According to Alhaji Gariba, the yet-to-be completed mosque, which is so far, the biggest Islamic worship center in the country, was started from scratch by Alhaji Bature, Alhaji Bature and I started the foundation of this project. He was the Project Manager and I was the first Financial Controller for the project as far back in the 1980s. It started with the contributions of Muslims, most of who have passed on. The execution is taking so long because we regretfully made the size of the mosque very big. It is the size that is making it difficult for us to complete.



He told Accra based Star Fm that this mosque is the biggest worship center in the whole of Ghana. It is even bigger than the National Mosque, the one built by the Turkish at Kawokudi Junction in Accra. It can seat 15,000 people



Some Muslim worshippers in Bolgatanga, were spotted last week Monday lined up in front of closed kiosks and, in the rain, around the venue for prayers to commemorate Eid-ul-fitr. A Star Fm reporter based in the region sought for reasons why people had to pray under harsh conditions outside a sanctuary touted as the biggest mosque in Ghana.



Alhaji Gariba, in answering the question, told the Star Fm journalist that, a lot of people went inside. There is no space left; thats why those outside couldnt go in. It is today we have seen that it cant accommodate the Muslims in Bolgatanga, According to the respected Muslim cleric.



The mosque, which was started in 1982 during the reign of Dr Tinogar, then PNDC regional secretary (Regional Minister), according to other sources, was the brainchild of The aL-hAJJ Managing Editor who was also the then PDC chairman for Bolga Sabon-Zongo during the 31st December revolution in 1982.



The rare rains, Star Fm reported, came as early as about 7:00am and took so long a stretch to subside that residents, who were caged in their homes as streams of rainwater ran freely through deserted roads and streets, feared the Eid al-Fitr prayers finally could be held at an unimaginable nightfall.



Some of the worshippers, who poured out in their numbers after the long-lived shower had subsided, also brought the fasting period to an end standing next to each others shoulders throughout without shelter to pray under as the subsided rain built up once more.



It had ever rained before on Eid day in the region; but the rain stopped at dawn. This is the first time it has rained throughout Eid prayers in the region at a level we had to relocate the venue. Since we started Eid in Bolga, this is the first time we are holding Eid in the mosque, Alhaji Gariba explained.



Acknowledging the urgent need for the mosque to be completed, Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, the renowned Islamic Cleric noted, donated GHC5000 towards the completion of the mosque as part of his tour of the region.



Not long ago, the Vice President, Bawumia, was here. He donated GHC5,000. We got sand and other materials. But we plastered only the other side and this front and, then, the money is finished. And even we had some materials on the ground already. So you can see, if it had been a smaller project you could see how far it would have gone with the Gh5,000, Alhaji Gariba stated.



Alhaji Garibas confirmation that Alhaji Bature started the countrys biggest mosque goes to confirm the well-known saying that, who Jah bless, no man curse.

Source: The Al-Hajj









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The Supreme Court has dismissed an application by businessman, Mr Alfred Agbesi Woyome seeking to stop the scheduled oral examination by the Attorney General (AG) in relation to the Ghc51.2 million indebtedness to the state.



Giving the ruling Tuesday morning, the court presided over by a single judge, Mr Justice A.A Benin, was of the view that the application had no basis.



Graphic Onlines Emmanuel Ebo Hawkson reported the court said Mr Woyome failed to demonstrate that he will suffer any hardship or irreparable damage as a result of the oral examination.



Again, the court said the fact that Mr Woyome had filed a review of the case does not mean that the oral examination should be halted.



The court therefore said there was no basis for the application that sought to halt the oral examination.



Hawkson reported that, Mr Woyomes counsel brought a medical report to court that stated that Mr Woyome was sick and that he should be off duty for two weeks.



The state, represented by the Deputy Attorney General (AG) Mr Godfred Dame however argued that Mr Woyome got that medical report on June 30, 2017, a day after he was in the Supreme Court.



Counsel argued the medical report was therefore part of the ploy to dodge the oral examination and that irrespective of whatever, Mr Woyome does, the day of reckoning would definitely catch up with him, he cant run any longer.



The court therefore agreed to adjourn to July 24, 2017 by which time Mr Woyome would have recovered from the sickness.

Source: Graphic.com.gh









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
Ice, rocks and strong winds to begin the day.

The race started at 4,832 meters above sea level. In the back, the highest mountain in Ecuador, Chimborazo with 6,263 m.

With some sharp rocks hiding in the sand, it was really important to keep it cool during the steep and technical sections. In the first stage the track surface was made of small pebbles and sand, really soft unless you got out of the path and into some big boulders.

The bottom of stage 1 was not really technical but the loose surface and strong winds made it nerve wracking at high speeds.

The liaison was mostly flat but, at 4,300 meters, it was hard enough.

The upper part of stage 2 had a mixture of technical and flowy sections.

Conditions were perfect for the monster stage 2.

Third place finisher, Alex Castillo, on the pedals.

Some steep, punchy climbing at 3,500 m to test your fitness.

Daniela Costa didn't get distracted by the views in route to third place.

Some exposed lines and great views.

Vegetation and streams appeared as soon as we dropped into the stage. Tight singletrack.

Big rocks were waiting to catch pedals and slice tires.

Women's winner, Julia Lasso, keeping it together in the demanding stage 3.

Soft dirt equals great grip.

The bottom of stage 3 went trough a small rainforest.

Hungry? It was a great adventure.

Men

Women

The big Chimborazo.

Nowadays, there's a lot of races all around the world, so it becomes difficult to create something new and meaningful. But, there is huge potential in the mountains of Ecuador, with valleys in between two branches of the Tropical Andes, and big slopes that drop to the tropical forests on either side of the range. With 4,000 meters of descending, 800 meters of climbing, and only 3 stages in 41 km, "Del Chimbo al Yunga" was a great chance to ride some of the best trails in the country.Active volcanoes and clear skies in route to Guaranda. The conditions were great all weekend, it seems the weather gods were busy elsewhere.Starting in the highlands of Chimborazo at 4,823 meters, the first stage featured a fast and loose track over volcanic soil littered with big rocks. It was the shortest stage with 4,7 km and 474 meters of descending, but the high altitude and fast winds made things difficult for the racers.After a short 5 km liaison, the racers dropped into the huge stage 2, the famous Ruta de los Hieleros, named after the ice merchants that used to climb up to Chimborazo's glaciers in the past century. This trail features 1,500 meters of descending and 400m of climbing in 15 km. It begins with a difficult rock section that leads to a flowy singletrack with some technical bits. One of the difficulties of this stage was to manage the effort because of the many steep climbs.The Andes are the perfect scenery for an epic enduro race.To reach the start of stage 3 it was necessary to pass through Guaranda and San Miguel, but no elevation was gained during the pickup ride.The western slopes of the Ecuadorian Andes have lots of ancient trading routes and some of them have been transformed into beautiful singletrack. Stage 3 was one of this trails, brought back to life for this race. It was mostly singletrack, with technical rocky as well as open and fast sections, a big descent of 1,980 meters in 12 km.The race arrived at Balsapamba, a small town that sits at 784 meters. Flats, mechanicals and crashes were commonplace because of the raw nature of the tracks. After a full day in the mountains, the winner was Manuel Cobo with a time of 1:25:00, followed by Bryan Cardenas only 52 seconds behind.1. Manuel Cobo2. Bryan Cardenas3. Alex Castillo1. Julia Lasso2. Gabriela Acosta3. Daniela Costa
888poker Hand of the Week: Weiqi Liu Wins a 5-Way All In

July 02, 2017 Kim Yuhl Contributor

In the world of ICM (independent chip model) and laddering up, it's pretty unusual to see a five-way all in, but that's exactly what happened on Day 2 of Event #58: $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em and only one hour into the money.

PokerNews Live Reporting Blog:

From the PokerNews Weiqi Liu had a decision to make. Four other players were all in already, and he was making up his mind whether to join the party. He took a bit too long, and the clock was called, but eventually, he called to make it a five-way all-in.

Liu went into the preflop action in a bit more detail with PokerNews.

"The whole hand was kind of weird. The under the gun player, Tony Hoang, shoved. The guy to my right, Daniel Stanley, shoved for about 15k, and I'm not worried about him either. I got AK off suit, and I decided to call the 15k because I wanted to see how the players behind would act.

"The small blind, Kenneth Marker, shoves for 33k. I'm worried about this shove because it's really strong. Then the big blind, Alfie Adam, went all in for less. And then the action is back to me."

"I actually thought about folding but only for a split second."

Liu went into the tank and admitted that he didn't really entertain a fold, but he wanted to run through the hand in detail. Ace-king shrinks up significantly when there are four people all in. So, why did Liu end up making the call?

"I realized I didn't have many outs to win it. While I was tanking, I was trying to recall the hands that were played earlier. I actually thought about folding but only for a split second. I was most worried about the small blind player [Marker] and realized he was playing pretty loose. I had everyone covered, so I wasn't at risk. I felt I was pot committed, and even though it wasn't easy, I decided to call."

After Liu made the call, the hands were tabled.

Daniel Stanley: Kenneth Marker: Alfie Adam: Tony Hoang: Weiqi Liu:

Liu was relieved when the hands were tabled to see only one of his outs gone. He may not have realized that his hand only had a 20% chance of winning against the field.

From the Blog:

Everyone had their own sweat to cheer for. Hoang was convinced diamonds would come to his rescue while Adam had his bag slung over his shoulder but was still convinced he would get quad fours. When the pot was all sorted, the dealer put out the cards . The river delivered that "king out" and Liu jumped out of his chair in delighted surprise before settling down. He had knocked out four players in one fell swoop, and the entire pot was pushed his way.

Liu hails from New York and has only been playing poker for about a year. He primarily plays cash games and doesn't consider himself well-versed in tournament play. Basically, he thinks of poker as a serious hobby.

"I love the thinking, the strategy, and mentality behind it, but playing poker is a tough lifestyle."

"I love the thinking, the strategy, and mentality behind it, but playing poker is a tough lifestyle. I'm not sure I could do full-time. I think I want something more stable."

Liu only entered this tournament because his friend convinced him that it would be fun. When asked if he would have made the same decision again knowing he was only a 20% favorite against the field, he responded, "I think so. If I was closing the action, I probably would have folded, but since I already invested half the chips necessary, I felt I was committed."

Winning this hand most likely helped Liu ladder up to place 76 out of 1,763 entries for $4,358.
Priority: Well-being

While the whole world is celebrating World Diabetes Day on Nov. 14, which is the birthday of Sir Frederick Banting, who discovered insulin alo Read moreIntegrate diabetes education into workplaces and schools
PR-Inside.com: 2017-07-04 17:58:12

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FSCwire / Press ReleaseThe following press release was disseminated by FSCwire for Friday Night Inc--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---Calgary, Alberta (FSCWire) - Friday Night Inc (CSE:TGIF). has issued a press release with the following headline:Friday Night Pleased with the Reception of Adult-Use Cannabis in NevadaTo 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 Friday Night 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/Friday Night IncSource: Friday Night Inc (CSE: TGIF, FWB: 1QF, ISIN: CA74840V1004, WKN: A2ABE2)Date: July 04, 2017Time: 11:58 AM EDT--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---The story mentioned above was issued on behalf of Friday Night 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: 2017-07-04 18:55:11

Press Information

Made by Prosper

Unit 1, Water End Barns





Water End, Eversholt





Milton Keynes MK17 9EA



Clare Montgomery

Marketing manager

01582460990

email

https://www.madebyprosper.com



Published by

Clare Montgomery

01908325230

e-mail

http://www.3darchitects.co.uk







# 483 Words

Unit 1, Water End BarnsWater End, EversholtMilton Keynes MK17 9EAMarketing manager01582460990Clare Montgomery01908325230

By consolidating Warings at Home and Warings Cafe into one cohesive offering, customers can now relax over a coffee while mulling over potential purchases. This blurs the lines between observing and experiencing a store and creates a seamless customer experience.Strategic-led ideas such as cross selling and zoning areas reinforces this retail design concept, focusing on the product as the hero. The boutique feel gives customers a sense of discovery, with a journey that connects the cafe with the homeware on the upper levels and increases dwell time.The old section of the heritage building links to the new half with a cohesive aesthetic that juxtaposes authentic old materials and traditional character against clean contemporary finishes.Downsizing from a much larger store, space-saving ideas and clever use of the buildings architectural quirks help to maximise room in Warings smaller new home. Inventive, modular display systems double up as storage, and can be repurposed as visual merchandising stands and window displays.Client Rachel Waring comments, From initial pre-instruction telephone conversation to post store opening, Prospers designers have been charming, efficient and have delivered on all their promises. I have really valued dealing with the same individuals at every step of the process.We had a very flexible approach to the design of our store, but wanted a simplicity to the design with our quirky individuality expressed, while importantly linking our instore cafe with our homeware products. We also wanted to reflect our position as an independent store within the mass of retail chains on the High Street.From the first presentation of ideas it was clear that Prospers designers had listened carefully to our brief and as a result started us on the right design path immediately. We loved virtually every idea they suggested so the process was very simple from the beginning to end.Prosper has exceeded our expectations, which is not very easily achieved as I have VERY high levels of expectation.When it came to the fit out, with the very detailed specifications, the quality of information required was so important and Prosper never under delivered. They offered assistance to staff in replicating the design scheme and provided training where needed, which was invaluable.We were working to a very tight deadline to open pre-Christmas, and Prosper enabled us to do this by hitting all their deadlines.We are very proud of our beautiful new store and have been delighted by its success, with turnover increased on our previous store, even with a much smaller footprint. We have considerably enhanced one of Norwichs historic buildings for all to experience and enjoy. The feedback from customers has also been very positive.Looking ahead we are now negotiating a new site in an East Anglian market town and can see how the design model created by Prosper could be applied to various property styles in the future."
Ailaiah was misbehaved with, dragged and asked to crawl into police station.

By Ashish Pandey: Three days ago, a police inspector in Telangana's Siddipet police station was caught on camera misbehaving with a disabled man who had accompanied his brother to the police station.

Ailaiah accompanied his brother Komaraiah, who was summoned to the station by sub inspector Sathish.

Komaraiah reached the police station with his uncle while Ailaiah arrived on his tricycle scooter.

advertisement

Accordin to the footage, an argument broke out between the police and the trio outside the police station. The sub-inspector in anger slapped Ailaiah and dragged him by his hair.

The CCTV footage shows that he was beaten and forced to crawl inside the police station.

Siddipet police commissioner has ordered an investigation and assured justice to the victim.

Also Read

Caught on Camera: How Pakistan funds Kashmiri separatists to burn the Valley - India Today Exclusive Chennai: CCTV captures shocking chain snatching incident

Watch: Caught on camera: Telangana Police subinspector misbehaves with disabled man

--- ENDS ---
In this report, the global Glenoid Cavity Prostheses market is valued at USD XX million in 2016 and is expected to reach USD XX million by the end of 2022

PR-Inside.com: 2017-07-04 12:37:49

Press Information

Research Trades

Flat No.10, Wing C, S. No. 245/4/2+245/5/1



Baner, Pune-411045



Kusum Saonerkar

Digital Marketing Executive

+91 7507349866

email

http://www.researchtrades.com/





# 552 Words

Flat No.10, Wing C, S. No. 245/4/2+245/5/1Baner, Pune-411045Digital Marketing Executive+91 7507349866

In this report, the global Glenoid Cavity Prostheses 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 Glenoid Cavity Prostheses for these regions, from 2012 to 2022 (forecast), covering, United States, China, Europe, Japan, Southeast Asia, IndiaAsk for sample copy @ https://www.researchtrades.com/request-sample/1138438 Global Glenoid Cavity Prostheses market competition by top manufacturers/players, with Glenoid Cavity Prostheses sales volume, Price (USD/Unit), revenue (Million USD) and market share for each manufacturer/player; the top players including, Zimmer, Depuy Synthes, Kinamed, Ortomedic...Purchase a copy of this report for single user price of $ 4000 @ https://www.researchtrades.com/checkout/1138438 On 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 into, Cemented, Cementless. On 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 Glenoid Cavity Prostheses for each application, including, Hospital, Clinic, Medical Center, OthersTable of Contents:1 Glenoid Cavity Prostheses Market Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Glenoid Cavity Prostheses1.2 Classification of Glenoid Cavity Prostheses by Product Category1.2.1 Global Glenoid Cavity Prostheses Market Size (Sales) Comparison by Type (2012-2022)1.2.2 Global Glenoid Cavity Prostheses Market Size (Sales) Market Share by Type (Product Category) in 20161.2.3 Cemented1.2.4 Cementless2 Global Glenoid Cavity Prostheses Competition by Players/Suppliers, Type and Application2.1 Global Glenoid Cavity Prostheses Market Competition by Players/Suppliers2.1.1 Global Glenoid Cavity Prostheses Sales and Market Share of Key Players/Suppliers (2012-2017)2.1.2 Global Glenoid Cavity Prostheses Revenue and Share by Players/Suppliers (2012-2017)2.2 Global Glenoid Cavity Prostheses (Volume and Value) by Type2.2.1 Global Glenoid Cavity Prostheses Sales and Market Share by Type (2012-2017)2.2.2 Global Glenoid Cavity Prostheses Revenue and Market Share by Type (2012-2017)2.3 Global Glenoid Cavity Prostheses (Volume and Value) by Region2.3.1 Global Glenoid Cavity Prostheses Sales and Market Share by Region (2012-2017)2.3.2 Global Glenoid Cavity Prostheses Revenue and Market Share by Region (2012-2017)3 United States Glenoid Cavity Prostheses (Volume, Value and Sales Price)3.1 United States Glenoid Cavity Prostheses Sales and Value (2012-2017)3.1.1 United States Glenoid Cavity Prostheses Sales and Growth Rate (2012-2017)3.1.2 United States Glenoid Cavity Prostheses Revenue and Growth Rate (2012-2017)3.1.3 United States Glenoid Cavity Prostheses Sales Price Trend (2012-2017)3.2 United States Glenoid Cavity Prostheses Sales Volume and Market Share by Players3.3 United States Glenoid Cavity Prostheses Sales Volume and Market Share by Type3.4 United States Glenoid Cavity Prostheses Sales Volume and Market Share by ApplicationView this report @ https://www.researchtrades.com/report/global-glenoid-cavity-prostheses-sales-market-report-2017/1138438 Who we areResearch 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.
PR-Inside.com: 2017-07-04 11:01:01

Software exec to lead UK and Nordic operations

MEGA International Names Clark as Vice President

For MEGA

Sue Myers, 781-784-7684

Sue dot myers @ MarketSmartNow dot com

MEGA International has named Lorne Clark as vice president and managing director of the companys UK and Nordic operations.

Clark will oversee the UK and Nordic country teams that are responsible for strategy, business development, sales, consulting services and other operations in those countries.

He has been with MEGA for 11 years, first as senior business consultant, managing consultant and then head of consulting. During that time, he worked with a broad range of British and multi-national companies, helping them implement successful business transformation initiatives.

With 20 years of experience in the high tech industry, Clark has developed a great deal of expertise in digital technology, business modeling, IT strategy and change management. He has helped companies create sound business strategies, improve operations and reduce risks.

Lorne is one of the most talented professionals in our industry. He has a unique record in building strong customer relationships and delivering the highest quality consulting services, noted Lucio de Risi, CEO, MEGA. His long experience with our company provides benefits to our customers and he will be a vital asset to our executive team.

Clark began his career in software engineering with GEC Marconi, then moved into project management and pre-sales roles with companies such as Popkin Software, EMS and Casewise. During his career, he has worked on industry leading systems using new technologies, applied business and systems analysis in civilian and military engagements, and developed pre-sales teams in the UK and abroad.

He has a Master of Science degree in software engineering from Abertay University and a Bachelor of Science in electronic systems from Dundee Institute of Technology, both in Scotland.

About MEGA

MEGA International is a global software firm helping companies manage enterprise complexity by giving them an interactive view of their operations. Executives gain the visibility and information they need to make the right choices for effective governance and to strike the right balance between capacity for innovation, cost optimization and risk management. Backed by HOPEX software and MEGA consulting services, companies can boost business and IT agility in todays disruptive business environment. www.mega.com

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/201707040050

MEGA names digital technology expert Lorne Clarke as head of UK & Nordic operations #entarch #CIO
PR-Inside.com: 2017-07-04 22:59:13

Press Information





Published by

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# 394 Words

ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446

FSCwire / Press ReleaseThe following press release was disseminated by FSCwire for Morro Bay Resources Ltd.--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---Calgary, Alberta (FSCWire) - Morro Bay Resources Ltd. (TSX Venture:MRB). has issued a press release with the following headline:Morro Bay Announces Debt for Shares ConversionTo 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 Morro Bay 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/Morro Bay Resources Ltd.Source: Morro Bay Resources Ltd. (TSX Venture: MRB, OTC Pink: MRRBF)Date: July 04, 2017Time: 4:58 PM EDT--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---The story mentioned above was issued on behalf of Morro Bay 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: 2017-07-04 10:19:01

Technical analysis indicators show that oil is oversold, which means there are more bears in the market than bulls and the momentum down has started to slow down report ATB Holdings

Oil Weighed Down by Short Speculators Says ATB Holdings

ATB Holdings

Mr. Shiro Tetsuya, +81345400915

shirotetsuya@atbholdings.com,

www.atbholdings.com

ATB Holdings have noticed a recent hike in short selling contracts on Brent Oil as it reached its highest levels in six years. Short selling must be bought back before the term of the future contract is over. Some traders expect to see a sharp rise in the oil prices fueled by profit taking and stop losses investors placed to protect their positions.

Fundamental data from the US, the unexpected increase in the US inventories, and bearish technical indicators pushed the prices of Brent Oil to $44.35 last week, the lowest it has seen in six months. The move in oil prices was strong which pulled the market to an oversold state.

Daniel Holland who is the Head of Corporate Derivatives at ATB Holdings believes that the market is positioned for a sudden trend reversal, adding that number of short contracts is very high, and the sentiment is very negative, all are signs of reversal as the efficient markets tend to balance itself.

Such reversals are short lived, in the long run, supply and demand determine the price trends. Funds have built a huge short position in the last few weeks, if these funds decided to cover their shorts, it could trigger the short-term increase in prices. Funds buying and selling decisions are based on technical analysis.

Last year the same happened when OPEC (Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries) agreed to cut their oil production in November 2016. Speculators and investors covered a big portion of their short positions in response to OPECs decision, wiping out over 114 million barrels of short contracts in just one month, the reaction pushed Brent contract price up $12 a barrel in the same period.

This time, both fundamentals and technical indicators worked in favor of the bears, the increase in US inventories and bearish technical signals caused an increase of the short selling and at some level it snow-balled pushing the market further down.

Director of Investment Management Division at ATB Holdings Charles Sutton commented, the market players got carried over with the short selling, some of these positions will be cleared with the price increase.

Andrew Hayward, an advisory at ATB Holdings doesnt believe the oil fundamentals are pointing north, he thinks the move up will present an opportunity for a better place to sell.

About: ATB Holdings is a private wealth management company for retail and corporate clients. Established in late 2008 ATB Holdings has been pursuing the interests of its clients by offering various financial products and instruments through careful tailored advice to meet their requirements.

Source: ATB Holdings

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/201707040050
"Perhaps China will put a heavy move on North Korea and end this nonsense once and for all," Trump said on Twitter.

By Reuters: U.S. President Donald Trump said in a Twitter message it was "hard to believe South Korea and Japan will put up with this much longer", hours after North Korea launched on Tuesday its latest ballistic missile.

"Perhaps China will put a heavy move on North Korea and end this nonsense once and for all," Trump said on Twitter.

North Korea has just launched another missile. Does this guy have anything better to do with his life? Hard to believe that South Korea.....- Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 4, 2017

....and Japan will put up with this much longer. Perhaps China will put a heavy move on North Korea and end this nonsense once and for all!- Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 4, 2017

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The White House had no immediate official comment on reports of North Korea launching a missile.

WHAT HAPPENED

North Korea on Tuesday launched yet another ballistic missile in the direction of Japan, South Korean officials said, part of a string of recent test-firings as the North works to build a nuclear-tipped missile that could reach the United States.

The South's Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement that the launch, which came before the US celebration of its national independence, was made from North Phyongan province. Other details were scarce. It wasn't immediately clear if this was a routine firing of a short-range missile or an attempt to perfect North Korea's longer-range missiles.

Just last week South Korean President Moon Jae-in and US President Donald Trump focused much of their first meeting on opposing North Korea's development of atomic weapons that threaten both allies.

Japan's government said the missile was believed to have landed in Japan's exclusive economic zone in the Sea of Japan but no damage to ships or aircraft in the area has been reported.

ALSO READ:

North Korea test-fires ballistic missile in defiance of world pressure

Fearing North Korea's missile attack, Japan conducts evacuation drills

ALSO WATCH:

India expresses concern over H-bomb testing in N Korea

--- ENDS ---
PR-Inside.com: 2017-07-04 09:07:02

Sanjeev Nanda, Special Guest at Billionaire Mansion's First Anniversary

Billionaire Mansion

A. Choudhary, editor.team@outlook.com

Billionaire Mansion is a preferred party location in Dubai catering to the rich & famous and A-list crowd from within the UAE and around the world. Billionaire Mansion, created by the Billionaire Life Group and the first of its kind in Dubai, was brought into Taj Dubai by famous hotelier, Sanjeev Nanda. Billionaire Mansion is an ultra-luxury establishment that promises an extravagant and grandeur time to night time revelers in Dubai.

On April 30th, 2017, Billionaire Mansion celebrated its first anniversary with a host of partygoers, socialites and well-known personalities. Since it was a Sunday, it was time for the guests to enjoy The List which is considered to be the crowning point of urban parties every Sunday at the venue.

From the lounge bar to the shisha bar to the nightclub, every place was filled with people, enjoying and dancing their way into the night.

Just when the clock struck 12 oclock, it was time for the cake cutting ceremony to celebrate the first anniversary of Billionaire Mansion. Sanjeev Nanda was given the honor to cut the cake and with cheers and applauds all around, the celebration started.

Speaking about the success and popularity of Billionaire Mansion, Sanjeev Nanda said that, The first year of operation has been fantastic in terms of hotel position, business and service standards. I am excited and satisfied at the same time to see how much has been achieved within such a short span of time. Credit goes to all those who work here and the guests who frequent this venue making it a big success. He also quick to point out that Sumosan the Japanese restaurant has also contributed immensely towards the success of Billionaire Mansion as one of the finest clubs of the world.

With a host of A-list clientele from all around the world, Billionaire Mansion is a unique destination in Dubai that offers the best of private and public dining, world class nightclub as well as shisha bar and lounge.

The anniversary party continued till the wee hours of the morning till the guests bid adieu to each other. It was certainly a night to remember!

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/201707040050
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.




Families in Uttar Pradesh are sending the elderly members of their houses into forests as tiger prey to claim compensation worth lakhs from the government.

By India Today Web Desk: What if suddenly a lot of elderly folks start dying because of fatal tiger attacks? Either the tigers have targeted the old people especially or something is just not right.

An outlandish trend is making headlines these days. In villages bordering the Pilibhit Tiger Reserve (PTR), something is majorly off.

Authorities surmise that people are sending older members of the family into the tiger reserve for them to become a prey.

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Once killed, their bodies are relocated to fields, and staged as victims of a tiger attack, so that the respective family can claim lakhs in compensation from the government.

According to a TOI report, as many as seven deaths due to fatal tiger attacks were reported in the proximity of the Mala forest range since February 16.

Kalim Athar of the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB) which is a central government agency, came to the conclusion while examining tiger attacks in the area.

"Bureau authorities have decided to refer the matter to the National Tiger Conservation Authority for further action," Athar told TOI.

If locals are to be believed, elders of the family willingly participate. "They think that since they can't get resources from the forest, this is the only way their families can escape poverty," farmer Jarnail Singh, 60, told TOI.

Also Read || Telangana: Leopard climbs electric pole, dies of electrocution ||

FYI || Guwahati: 7-year-old Royal Bengal tiger dies due to heatwave ||

--- ENDS ---
Medical Tourism Directory is the winner of Medical Directory of the Year, Medical LiveWire Awards

By: MediTourDirect S.A.

Contact

Claire Charnock MediTourDirect S.A.

Medical Tourism Directory Costa Rica

***@meditourdirect.com Claire Charnock MediTourDirect S.A.Medical Tourism Directory Costa Rica

End

-- This is an international award from an organization based in England and the award ceremony will be held in The Waldorf Hotel, London in November this year. Claire and David Charnock of MediTourDirect will be delighted to attend this prestigious event.Corporate LiveWire who promote Medical LiveWire Awards explain more about the award and its nomination and judging process:"Medical Tourism is a fast-growing sector with global firms and individuals shaping the success of the industry. The Medical Tourism Awards 2017 recognize new medical developments and breakthroughs, emerging practices and academia that are helping to create a brighter tomorrow. Our panel of judges consider areas such as innovation, service, procedures and success rate of modern technology when choosing our award winners.Over the last 12 months we have invited and encouraged our corporate subscriber base to cast their vote on companies who they believe have excelled. Additionally, Medical LiveWire's professional research team have put forward a selection of companies who have shown excellence in their work.Information was submitted on each nominee and our independent judging panel have decided upon the most deserving teams, practices and individuals to walk away with one of these prestigious accolades. Award winners will gain a place in our soon-to-be published awards winners' guide, which will be distributed to over 50,000 businesses and professionals, as well as being distributed in Aspire Airport Lounges around the world."Claire and David Charnock are British and have lived in Costa Rica for 9 years. In 2013 they saw a gap in the market for a quality independent resource to promote Costa Rica as an increasingly popular health travel and medical tourism destination.Their company MediTourDirect S.A. launched the Medical Tourism Directory Costa Rica in January 2014. https://www.medicaltourismcostarica.com The Directory provides international patients seeking health treatment in Costa Rica with an easy to use guide, so they can make informed decisions and easily plan their health trip to Costa Rica.Medical Tourism Directory Costa Rica is an exclusive guide, including only quality US or Canadian accredited healthcare facilities and only those with fluent English speaking doctors, with extensive experience of helping international patients and with exemplary patient care and reputation.MediTourDirect prides itself on the close working relationships they have developed with the health and travel providers on the team ensuring patients needs are promptly and professionally met from the moment they make their first inquiry right through to the request for feedback on follow up after their health trip.MediTourDirect encourage patient feedback via their Give Back program. For each review received and provider listed, they contribute to a fund providing health checks for underprivileged children and adults in Costa Rica. This has included a dental program with indigenous communities in Talamanca as well as aid relief following Hurricane Otto in Costa Rica.Medical Tourism Directory Costa Rica would like to thank all its health providers and clients as well as Corporate Livewire for making this Award for Medical Directory of the Year a reality.
By: TUV SUD United Kingdom

Contact

TUV SUD United Kingdom

***@tuv-sud.co.uk TUV SUD United Kingdom

End

-- TUV SUD United Kingdom has achieved Certified Body status for the UK Government's Cyber Essentials programme, which is designed to protect organisations from cyber security threats.Organisations certified by TUV SUD can promote that their IT systems comply with a Government-endorsed standard, demonstrating that they are protecting their own and their customers' data by having a robust and secure IT environment.Cyber Essentials is now mandatory for suppliers of Government contracts, which involve handling personal information, and providing ICT products and services. It will also enable organisations to prove they have taken the appropriate risk mitigation steps to comply with the new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Organisations in non-compliance with the GDPR after 25May 2018 could face heavy fines of up to four per cent of annual global turnover in the event of a data breach.Ewan Fisher, Shared Services Centre Performance & Operations Manager at TUV SUD United Kingdom, said: "Cyber criminals target every size of organisation, both large and small. Cyber Essentials helps them to combat cyber attacks, the majority of which exploit basic IT system vulnerabilities. By making it easier for organisations to protect themselves, they are less likely to suffer data loss, which could have a significant impact in terms of lost revenue or reputation, as well as result in fines or prosecution."As a globally recognised provider of independent testing, inspection and certification, TUV SUD is the perfect Certified Body partner for an organisation that wishes to become Cyber Essentials certified so it can proactively demonstrate its commitment to IT security and the protection of customer data," concluded Fisher.Just under half (46%) of all UK businesses identified at least one cyber security breach or attack in the last twelve months. This rises to two-thirds among medium firms (66%) and larger firms (68%)*.The Cyber Essentials standard covers five key areas:- security measures that are implemented when building and installing computers and network devices in order to reduce unnecessary cyber vulnerabilities.- provide a basic level of protection where a user connects to the Internet.- protects user accounts and helps to prevent misuse of privileged accounts. ensures that software on computers and network devices is up to date and capable of resisting low-level cyber attacks.- protects against a broad range of malware (including computer viruses, worms, spyware, botnets and ransomware).https://www.tuv-sud.co.uk ( https://www.tuv- sud.co.uk/uk- en/auditing- systems-certific... TUV SUD is one of the world's leading technical service providers of testing, product certification, auditing, systems certification, training and knowledge services. With more than 150 years of experience, TUV SUD has grown to over 850 locations, with 24,000 employees worldwide and sales revenue of 2.2 billion Euros.Within the UK, TUV SUD employs over 600 qualified and experienced experts who operate in a wide range of industries that cover aerospace, defence, consumer & electronics, machinery, marine, medical, nuclear, oil & gas, rail, real estate, renewable energy, telecommunications and transport.
Contact

Nixxis

***@nixxis.com

+3223070000 Nixxis+3223070000

End

-- Nixxis, a leading publisher of contact center software, active in 30 countries and with a growth of 20% in 2016, announced today the opening of a new office in Istanbul, Turkey. The new location enables Nixxis to broaden its international presence and supports the company's growth strategy.Turkey is currently still undergoing strong economic development and the contact center industry is one of the most dynamic sectors in the country. By establishing a new office in Istanbul, Nixxis will contribute to the development of the local outsourcing business and give an exceptional competitive advantage to its customers."With our new facility located in Istanbul business district, we are perfectly equipped to offer regional contact centers the support they need to delight their customers", says Nixxis CEO Luc F. Jacobs. "Over the past 5 years, Nixxis has been operating in Turkey and thereby built a close partnership with a number of leading telecom and business process outsourcing companies. This is an exciting opportunity for Nixxis to expand to a market that will certainly benefit from the targeted solutions we are proud to provideNixxis has already a highly skilled team in place; Volkan Yilma is a Founding Partner of Nixxis Turkey. "I am very glad to welcome Volkan to the Nixxis family", says Luc F. Jacobs. "With Volkan we have gained a great professional who has a very valuable experience and a proven track record in the contact center industry."Nixxis solutions are outstandingly well-suited to meet the high demands of modern contact centers worldwide and particularly those which are based in Turkey. By using Nixxis Contact Suite cloud-based solutions, companies can improve the quality of every customer's interaction, increase operational efficiency and over-achieve their business goals."Nixxis Contact Suite is the unified customer engagement software that provides contact centers with the tools they need to maximize their potential and earn ever growing customer satisfaction", commented Nixxis Turkey Founding Partner, Volkan Yilma. "Nixxis Contact Suite is a complete solution for companies in our region which enables them to align to rapidly changing business environment in real timeAdding an Istanbul location is a strategic move that allows Nixxis to continue providing superior customer service and support existing customers in the country.Nixxis is a publisher of professional contact/call centre and customer interaction solutions. Thousands of users in the world trust the Nixxis team totalling more than 100 years of experience in customer interaction solutions. Nixxis Contact Suite software is a modular and visionary solution conceived by anticipating all the future needs of contact centres in customer interactions (phone, email, chat, sms, and social media). 80% of their customers are witnessing up to 20% of productivity increase.For more information about NIXXIS, visit www.nixxis.com
After entering the Hungarian market in 2016, M7 Real Estate has chosen the Budapest office of CBRE to manage the entire Hungarian real estate portfolio within the M7 CEREF I Fund. M7s Central European Real Estate Fund I acquired two retail centres, the Atom Centre in Paks and Csillagvar Shopping

[]
TriGranit announced organizational changes in several fields of its operation. Janos Gorfol, earlier Chief Construction Officer is appointed to Chief Construction & Development Officer. In his new position, he will be responsible for all TriGranit developments and supervising the construction processes in all TriGranit countries. Gorfol, as Member of the

[]
The Associated Press reports that it has asked a judge in Washington to dismiss a libel lawsuit brought by a Russian billionaire with ties to President Vladimir Putin.

Aluminum magnate Oleg Deripaska sued in May over an AP report in March that revealed his past business connections to Paul Manafort, the former campaign chairman for U.S. President Donald Trump.

Deripaska said the story was inaccurate and had hurt his career by falsely accusing him of criminal activity.

AP has stood by the story as accurate, and contended in court papers on July 3 that Deripaska was challenging the story based on his own "strained implications" and incorrect inferences, rather than on information actually conveyed in the report.

The story revealed how Manafort, a decade before joining the Trump campaign, had proposed to Deripaska a confidential business strategy to support pro-Russian political parties and to influence politics, business dealings, and news coverage inside the United States, Europe, and former Soviet republics to benefit Putin's government.

Deripaska's lawsuit contends that the AP story "left the impression" that the billionaire's "private, commercial dealings were -- and still may be -- deeply intertwined with the Trump campaign controversy."

But AP said "the report makes clear that Deripaska's relationship with Manafort ended years ago."

Based on reporting by AP
Trade ties between Russia and China reversed a declining trend last year and have grown robustly in 2017, China's leader has said on a visit to the Kremlin.

"Despite the impact of such adverse factors as a sluggish global economy, volatility of prices for oil and other basic goods, the downward trend in Sino-Russian trade was reversed last year. Trade turnover amounted to $69.53 billion and grew by 2.2 percent versus 2015," Chinese President Xi Jinping said in an interview with TASS on July 3.

"The bilateral trade acquired high dynamics during the first five months of this year and surged 26 percent. It is expected trade turnover may be over $80 billion by the end of the year," Xi said.

With China already established as Russia's largest trading partner, Xi said the recent fast growth was just the beginning and he saw "enormous potential" for further growth.

He mentioned the possibility of developing an "Ice Silk Road" that takes advantage of thawing caused by global warming to establish a northern sea route over Russia.

"Investment cooperation is gradually taking effect and financial cooperation is deepening," he said, with Russia's central bank opening its first overseas office in China.

Based on reporting by dpa, TASS, and Interfax
Toomaj Salehi's lyrical support for protesters in Iran has landed him behind bars before, but this time the popular rapper's fortune-telling has fans and family members fearing for his life.

Just days before his September 30 arrest, the 32-year-old Salehi released his latest music video, in which he makes foreboding predictions about the future of Iran's clerical regime if it continues its violent crackdown against ongoing anti-government demonstrations.

"I am the predictor, the fortune teller," he raps in the video for Omen, which shows him reading the patterns left in his coffee cup and warning that brute force will not prevail.

"I saw a cage in the coffee grounds -- a lion was hunting a jackal," he explains, alluding to a fairy tale about wisdom defeating physical strength. "We will rise from the bottom and target the top of the pyramid."

Salehi goes on to warn that the regime's protectors -- including the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), the Basij paramilitary forces, the Intelligence Ministry, and the state media -- will all get their day in court.

Salehi followed up on the new video by posting on social media images of him standing alongside protesters and chanting against security forces in his native city in Isfahan Province. The rapper, an ethnic Lur who was arrested last year after releasing other songs critical of the government, offered to turn himself in if protesters detained in his hometown of Shahinshahr were released.

In subsequent posts, he called the provincial authorities "cowardly vermin" and "scum who suppress and arrest [innocent] people."

Shortly afterward, Salehi went missing and has not been heard from since.

State media reported on September 30 that Salehi had been arrested, and a news agency close to the IRGC published a photo of the blindfolded rapper inside a car.

A short video later released by a press club associated with Iran's state broadcaster purports to show the rapper admitting he made a mistake.

But the reports' claims he had been caught while "illegally exiting the western borders of the country" have been fiercely disputed, and the video confession has been labeled a fake by some and a coerced confession by others.

Family members as well as Salehi's official Twitter account have said the rapper was, in fact, arrested in the southwestern Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari Province, hundreds of kilometers from Iran's western border.

In a statement, Salehi's uncle Eghbal Eghbali said his nephew was in the province's city of Borujen on the morning of September 30 when he wrote saying "suspicious things" were happening outside his home. Soon after, Salehi stopped communicating. Eghbali said he learned from Salehi's neighbors and friends that security personnel had arrived to take the rapper away.

Later on September 30, a prosecutor in nearby Isfahan Province was quoted by the Meezan news agency, which is close to Iran's judiciary, as saying Salehi was arrested "in one of the provinces of the country." The prosecutor alleged the rapper had played a key role in "creating disturbances and inviting and encouraging the recent disturbances in Isfahan Province and in Shahinshahr."

The official IRNA news agency, meanwhile, quoted a judiciary official from Isfahan Province as saying Salehi stood accused of "propagandistic activity against the government, cooperation with hostile governments, and the formation of illegal groups with the intention of creating insecurity in the country."

Thousands of Iranians, many of them from the younger generation, have taken to the streets in recent weeks to protest the September 16 death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who died shortly after being arrested for allegedly violating Iran's hijab law requiring that women cover their hair.

As the protests have continued, the authorities have intensified their crackdown, resulting in the deaths of at least 305 people, including 41 children, according to the latest figures released by the Oslo-based Iran Human Rights (IHR) on November 6.

Salehi is among the hundreds of prominent young voices, including activists, artists, and athletes, who have been arrested for speaking out against the states bloody crackdown on the protests. Overall, activists estimate thousands of people have been arrested by the authorities since the rallies erupted.

Faced with a potential existential threat to Iran's clerical rule, 227 of 290 Iranian lawmakers this week called for even greater force by urging the judiciary to "deal decisively" with those behind the protests.

In recent years, Salehi has gained notoriety for his open opposition to the country's leadership, using his music and social media presence to take on issues that resonate with Iranian youths.

In the song Normal, he highlights the effects of poverty, saying "Our children sleep hungry at night" and asking Iran's leaders how their conscience can let them sleep.

The song Rathole, released in 2021, accuses members of the media and art community both inside and outside Iran of being an "ally of the tyrant," a reference to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

In another song, he blasts Tehran's close relationships with Moscow and Beijing, asking: "Haven't you robbed us enough? Now, you want to give away half [of our resources] to China and the rest to Russia."

Salehi was detained in September 2021 after security agents raided his home in Isfahan, with Human Rights Watch decrying the detention of the artist for "exercising his right to freedom of expression."

Salehi was charged with "spreading propaganda against the state," but after more than a week was released on bail. In January, he was sentenced to six months in prison but was released on a suspended sentence in February.

While out, he continued his work and released Omen amid the states increasingly violent crackdown on anti-government protesters.

"Someone's crime was dancing with her hair in the wind," he raps. "Someone's crime was that she was brave and criticized."

Listing a litany of violent acts carried out by the authorities against protesters, Salehi asks, "How many young people did you kill building a tower for yourself?" and predicts that next year, the 44th year of the clerical regime's rule, will be its "year of failure."

Salehi's arrest has led to widespread condemnation inside and outside Iran, and his advocates have spread the #FreeToomaj hashtag on Twitter to shed light on his situation.

His family has said they do not know Salehi's whereabouts or health, leaving them wondering if he is even alive.

But the authorities have shed some light on the fate of another Iranian rapper arrested shortly before Salehi. The judiciary announced on November 7 that Saman Yasin, a rapper from Kermanshah Province -- a northwestern region with a significant Kurdish population and that has been a focus of the government crackdown -- has been accused of waging "warfare" against Iran and acting against the country's security.

Based on reporting by RFE/RL's Radio Farda, with contributions by RFE/RL senior correspondent Michael Scollon
Varun Dhawan will be paired opposite Anushka Sharma for the first time in Sui Dhaaga - Made in India.

By India Today Web Desk: Varun Dhawan and Anushka Sharma are all set to come together for a Yash Raj film titled Sui Dhaaga - Made in India. The film will be written and directed by Sharat Katariya and produced by Maneesh Sharma.

In a statement, Varun Dhawan said, "From Gandhiji (Mahatma Gandhi) to Modiji (Narendra Modi), our country's leaders have always endorsed the mantra of Made in India. With Sui Dhaaga, I'm proud to take their message to millions of movie lovers in a manner that is entertaining and relevant." He added that he loved the script, and expected that his first-time pairing with Anushka will result in "fireworks."

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Anushka said, "I always get excited with unique ideas that have human interest stories. Sui Dhaaga is a story of self-reliance that I believe will connect to the grassroots level with every Indian."

The film will go on floors in January next year, and is scheduled to release on Gandhi Jayanti 2018.

ALSO READ: Can you recognise a gawky 15-year-old Varun Dhawan in this TV show?

ALSO READ: Anushka Sharma says she is too practical to be heartbroken. Is Virat Kohli listening?

ALSO WATCH: Varun Dhawan talks about his first kiss, college romance, and being cheated on

--- ENDS ---
The United States has requested an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council after North Korea declared that it had successfully tested its first intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM).

The U.S. mission to the UN said on July 4 that the meeting of the 15-member council was likely to be scheduled for July 5.

Meanwhile, U.S. officials were quoted as saying they believed Pyongyangs claim.

North Korean state television reported that in a July 4 test-launch, the Hwasong-14 missile reached an altitude of 2,800 kilometers and flew 933 kilometers for 39 minutes before hitting a target in the sea.

North Korea, it said, is now "a full-fledged nuclear power that has been possessed of the most powerful intercontinental ballistic rocket capable of hitting any part of the world."

The launch, the latest in a series of tests, was in defiance of a ban by the Security Council.

South Korea's military said the missile traveled 930 kilometers on July 4 before falling into the Sea of Japan near Japan's exclusive economic zone. That is just short of a medium-range ballistic missile.

Japan's government confirmed that the missile "greatly exceeded" the altitude of 2,500 kilometers, meaning the missile went into space before reentering Earth's atmosphere.

One U.S. missile scientist, David Wright, said that if the reported time and distance are correct, the missile would have had a very highly arched trajectory.

Based on the reported time and distance, Wright estimated that the missile could have a possible maximum range of 6,700 kilometers if it was fired at a normal trajectory.

That would put Alaska within in its range.

U.S. networks Fox News and NBC quoted U.S. officials as saying they believed the test was of an ICBM. CNN cited officials as saying North Korea launched a "probable" two-stage ICBM.

But while North Korea appears to have made progress, experts believe the device cannot accurately hit a target.

They also doubt that Pyongyang has the capacity to miniaturize a nuclear warhead that can fit onto such a missile.

U.S. President Donald Trump reacted on Twitter, saying it's "hard to believe that South Korea...and Japan will put up with this much longer."

Trump urged North Korea's biggest ally, China, to "put a heavy move on North Korea and end this nonsense once and for all!"

In a joint statement, Russia and China said they agreed on the need for a simultaneous freezing of North Korea's missile and nuclear program and large-scale military exercises by the United States and South Korea.

The statement was issued by the Russian Foreign Ministry following talks between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, in the Kremlin.

It also said that Moscow and Beijing want Washington to immediately halt its deployment of the THAAD antimissile system to South Korea, a move the United States says is necessitated by the North Korean missile threat.

China earlier called for "restraint" by all parties following North Koreas latest test, with Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang saying Beijing firmly opposes any actions by North Korea that contravene UN Security Council resolutions on its missile launches.

Meanwhile, Russia's Defense Ministry dismissed the analysis by scientists in the United States, Japan, and South Korea -- saying the missile reached an altitude of only 535 kilometers.

South Korea's Foreign Ministry condemned the test as a "reckless" provocation that violates UN Security Council resolution and the global demand for North Koreas denuclearization.

Japan said "repeated provocations like this are absolutely unacceptable," and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said his country would "unite strongly" with the United States and South Korea to put pressure on North Korea.

The missile was launched from an airfield northwest of North Koreas capital, Pyongyang.

It was the latest since the country fired several cruise missiles in early June and comes ahead of a Group of 20 economic powers meeting in Hamburg, Germany, that will include South Korea, Japan, and their Western allies.

The launch came just days after South Korean President Moon Jae-in and Trump met in Washington and agreed that they should leave the door open to possible talks with North Korea on denuclearization.

The launch also occurred ahead of celebrations in the United States marking Independence Day on July 4. North Korea has previously test-fired missiles around the U.S. holiday.

Pyongyang has been working for years to develop a nuclear-tipped missile capable of hitting the continental United States.

With reporting by AP, Reuters, AFP, RIA, TASS, the BBC, CNN, Interfax, and Yonhap
President Vladimir Putin has praised the importance of growing trade between Russia and China during a meeting in Moscow with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

The state news agency, TASS, quoted Putin as saying on July 4 that trade between Russia and China grew by 37 percent during the first four months of 2017 compared with 3.9 percent growth during 2016.

Putin on July 4 awarded the Chinese president with the Russian government's most prestigious order, the Order of St. Andrew, for his "service in strengthening the friendship and collaboration between the peoples of the Russian Federation and the People's Republic of China.

China's state news agency, Xinhua, reported ahead of Xi's two-day visit that trade between Russia and China grew by 33 percent during the first five months of 2017 to about $32 billion.

Based on reporting by Reuters, dpa, and TASS
A small Ukrainian tax-software company is facing possible charges because of its alleged connection with last week's major cyberattack that brought down computer systems worldwide, while the firm says it is innocent.

The head of Ukraine's Cyberpolice, Colonel Serhiy Demydiuk, told media on July 3 that Kyiv-based M.E. Doc's employees had blown off repeated warnings that their information-technology infrastructure was not secure.

"They knew about it," he told AP. "They were told many times by various antivirus firms.... For this neglect, the people in this case will face criminal responsibility."

"We have issues with the company's leadership, because they knew there was a virus in their software but didn't do anything.... If this is confirmed, we will bring charges," Demedyuk told Reuters.

But the father and daughter team that run the company, Olesya Linnik and her father, Serhiy, told Reuters their popular tax software, M.E.Doc, was not responsible for spreading the virus and they didn't understand the charges against them.

"We studied and analyzed our product for signs of hacking. It is not infected with a virus and everything is fine, it is safe," Olesya said. "The update package, which was sent out long before the virus was spread, we checked it 100 times and everything is fine."

"We built this business over 20 years. What is the point of us killing our own business?" Serhiy Linnik asked.

Demydiuk and other officials say last week's unusually disruptive cyberattack was mainly spread through a malicious update to M.E. Doc, which is widely used by accountants and businesses across Ukraine.

The malicious update, likely planted on M.E. Doc's update server by a hacker, was then disseminated across the country before exploding into an epidemic of data-scrambling software that organizations around the world are still recovering from.

Olesya Linnik said her company was cooperating with investigators and the police.

"The cyberpolice are currently bogged down in the investigation. We gave them the logs of all our servers and there are no traces that our servers spread this virus," she told Reuters.

Ukrainian authorities have blamed Russia for masterminding the outbreak, but independent experts say it's too early to come to any firm conclusions. Ukraine has repeatedly come under fire from cyberattacks linked to Moscow.

With reporting by AP and Reuters
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy declared that Kherson is "ours after his special forces entered the strategic southern city following the retreat of Russian troops, marking another dramatic battlefield victory in Kyivs drive to recapture territory occupied by Russia since the start of its unprovoked invasion.

The Ukrainian military also said on November 11 that its troops had advanced all the way to the western bank of the Dnieper River in some areas of the Kherson region as Moscow said its forces had completed their withdrawal to the eastern bank in the face of Ukraines powerful counteroffensive.

"Our people -- Ours. Kherson," Zelenskiy wrote in a Telegram post that also included what appeared to be a video of Ukrainian troops celebrating with local residents.

Today is a historic day, Zelenskiy said in the post. We are returning Kherson. As of now, our defenders are on the approaches to the city. But special units are already in the city.

Various videos on social media from Kherson showed resident cheering and waving flags as the first Ukrainian troops reached the center of the city, the only provincial capital captured by Russian forces following their February 24 invasion.

"Kherson is returning to the control of Ukraine," the Ukrainian Defense Ministry said earlier in the day. "Units of the armed forces of Ukraine are entering the city."

"The Russian occupiers' routes of retreat are under the direct fire of the Ukrainian Army," the statement added. "Any Russian soldier who resists will be killed."

Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said in a tweet that "Ukraine is gaining another important victory right now and proves that whatever Russia says or does, Ukraine will win." The tweet included a video purporting to show Kherson residents removing a billboard that proclaimed "Russia is here forever."

Serhiy Khlan, a deputy for the Kherson Regional Council, said a Ukrainian flag had been raised in Kherson, as multiple videos circulating on social media purportedly showed Ukrainian soldiers planting their yellow-and-blue flag on administrative buildings in the city and local residents celebrating.

The Russian Defense Ministry said it had finished the pullout from Kherson city and the region at 5 a.m. on November 11 and that no military equipment had been left behind, in an another embarrassing blow to Moscow's war effort, which it refers to as a "special military operation."



"In total, more than 30,000 Russian servicemen, about 5,000 pieces of hardware, and military equipment and materiel have been withdrawn," the ministry said. "Not a single piece of military equipment or weaponry was left on the right (western) bank," he added, although the report could not immediately be confirmed.

Khlan said some Russian soldiers had been unable to leave the city and had changed into civilian clothing and urged local residents to stay at home while Ukrainian troops cleared the city.

"The number of these people is not known," he told a news briefing, without citing evidence for the claim.

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.

Khlan also said, without citing evidence, that many Russian troops had drowned attempting to flee across the river.

The head of the joint coordination press center of the Defense Forces of Southern Ukraine, Natalya Humenyuk, said Russian troops "have been changing into civilian clothes for two weeks."

"This should focus our forces as it means saboteur operations cannot be ruled out," Humenyuk told a separate briefing.

"Because of this, we are not rushing to announce our successes in other directions and in other towns."

Russia did not immediately comment on Khlan's or Humenyuk's remarks.

Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov said on November 10 that it would take Russia at least a week to withdraw, telling Reuters in an interview that Russia had 40,000 troops in the Kherson region and that it still had forces in the city.

Kherson controls both the only land route to Ukraine's Russian-occupied Crimean Peninsula and the mouth of the Dnieper, which bisects Ukraine.

Recapturing the city could provide Ukraine with a launching pad for supplies and troops to try to win back other lost territory in the south.

Meanwhile, Ukraine's public broadcaster quoted local residents as saying on November 11 that the Antonivskiy Bridge, the only nearby road crossing from Kherson city to the Russian-controlled eastern bank of the Dnieper, had collapsed.

The Suspilne broadcaster published a photograph showing whole sections of the bridge missing. The next road crossing across the Dnieper is more than 70 kilometers from Kherson city.

It was not immediately clear what had caused the collapse.

Recapturing the city could provide Ukraine a launching pad for supplies and troops to try to win back other lost territory in the south.

The Ukrainian General Staff said retreating Russian forces have been looting homes and destroying critical infrastructure, while forcibly evicting residents from the settlements still under their control.

"The Russian invaders continue to loot the settlements from which they are retreating. The enemy is also attempting to damage power lines and other elements of the transport and critical infrastructure of the Kherson region as much as possible," the military said, adding that Russian mines continue to wound civilians.

Elsewhere, six civilians were killed in a Russian rocket attack on Mykolayiv overnight, the mayor of the southern Ukrainian city said on November 11, as Ukrainian troops continued their advance in the direction of Kherson.

The mayor of Mykolayiv, Oleksandr Sienkovych, said on November 11 that the people were killed when Russian rockets hit a residential area of the city, destroying a five-story building.

"As of 10 a.m., six people were killed by the impact of the attack on the residential building," Sienkovych said.

Fierce fighting continues in Bakhmut and Soledar in the eastern Donetsk region as well as in the adjacent Luhansk region, the military said, adding that heavy Russian shelling pounded about 20 settlements in the Kharkiv, Luhansk, Donetsk, Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhzhya, and Mykolayiv regions.

In his nightly address late on November 10, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said: "Today we have good news from the south. The number of Ukrainian flags returning to their rightful place within the framework of the ongoing defense operation is already dozens.

He added that 41 settlements had been liberated.

With reporting by AP, Reuters, and dpa
U.S. President Donald Trump will encourage Eastern European leaders who are wary about their dependence on Russian energy to take advantage of newly available supplies of U.S. natural gas when he visits Poland on July 6, White House officials say.

In recent years, Moscow has cut off gas shipments during pricing disputes with neighboring countries in winter months, prompting a drive in the region to seek out more secure sources of energy.

The United States recently began shipping liquefied gas to Poland for the first time, and Trump will tell allies in Poland that he wants to make it as easy as possible for U.S. companies to ship more gas to Central and Eastern Europe, the White House officials said.

While in Poland, Trump will be attending the "Three Seas" summit -- so named because several of its members border the Adriatic, Baltic, and Black seas.

Among the aims of the Three Seas project is to expand regional energy infrastructure, including liquefied-natural-gas (LNG) import terminals and gas pipelines. Members of the initiative include Poland, Austria, Hungary, and Russia's neighbors Latvia and Estonia.

The United States is in a position to start aggressively marketing gas exports to Europe because of its "fracking revolution," which has made supplies of gas plentiful and cheap.

After decades of consuming nearly all of the energy it produced, the United States is now expected to become the world's third-largest exporter of gas by 2020.

Trump last week proclaimed that a "golden era" of U.S. energy production will enable the country to develop a policy of "energy dominance" through exports to Europe and Asia.

But his ambitions in the European market run headlong into Russia, which relies heavily on oil and gas exports there to fuel its economy and generate government revenues.

Analysts say Moscow will be greatly concerned about any move by the United States to cut into its export markets in Eastern Europe, where it has dominated for decades.

While Trump has talked about wanting to improve relations with Russia, some Republican lawmakers in Congress would like to see him take a hard line against Russia on energy because of Moscow's aggression in Ukraine and alleged interference in the U.S. presidential election.

"It undermines the strategies of [Russian President Vladimir Putin] and other strongmen who are trying to use the light switch as an element of strategic offense," said Senator Cory Gardner, a Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

"In many ways, the gas exports by the U.S. is the most threatening U.S. policy to Russia," Michal Baranowski, a director at the German Marshall Fund think tank, told Reuters.

Cheniere Energy Inc, which opened the first U.S. gas-export terminal last year, delivered its first cargo to Poland last month.

A second American energy exporter that is hoping to tap into the European market is Tellurian, which recently told Reuters that it hoped to snap up contracts to supply gas to Poland after Warsaw's existing contracts with Russia's Gazprom expire in 2022.

Some analysts are doubtful about U.S. ambitions to supply the European market, however, as a glut of gas in world markets has been depressing prices and making it difficult to turn a profit exporting liquefied natural gas.

Russia has the advantage of lower costs in Europe because of its close proximity and pipeline connections. But analysts say concerns about security may ultimately overcome that advantage.

"Europe is going to be the great competitive arena between Russian gas and [LNG]," Daniel Yergin, a Pulitzer Prize-winning oil historian, told Reuters.

Any move by the United States to expand in the European gas market also could run up against opposition in Germany and other European countries involved in building a new pipeline to pump Russian gas to Germany through the Baltic Sea.

Germany's foreign minister last month questioned whether U.S. ambitions to export gas weren't behind the U.S. Senate's move to include a provision in its Russian sanctions bill that would penalize European firms involved with that pipeline, known as Nord Stream 2.

The U.S. State Department has maintained that Nord Stream 2 is undesirable because it would make Europe more vulnerable and dependent on Russia.

With reporting by AP and Reuters
The Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague says that it has jurisdiction and will hear the case of a Ukrainian company seeking to recover damages for property lost when Russia annexed Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula in 2014.

PJSC Ukrnafta, one of Ukraine's largest oil and gas companies, launched the case and is seeking damages for expropriated gas stations.

The Hague-based court ruled on July 4 that the case was covered by a 1998 bilateral investment treaty between Ukraine and Russia that was meant to encourage economic cooperation and expansion.

In a related decision, the court said it would also hear claims brought against Russia by Stabil LLC and 10 other companies.

An attorney who filed the cases for the Ukrainian firms, John Townshend, said the private gas stations and Ukrnafta made "the same claim that by April 2104, thugs organized by the Russian Federation seized the administrative office" that ran the firms and "took the stations, took the cash, took the petrol [gasoline], [and] kicked our people out."

Russia previously told the court that it had no authority to form an arbitral tribunal to settle the claims and that Russia did not consent to participate in arbitration proceedings.

But the court ruled that the bilateral investment treaty permitted investors of one country whose property has been appropriated by the other country to launch private arbitration proceedings.

With reporting by Reuters
The United States has confirmed that Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will make his first official visit to Kyiv on July 9 and hold talks with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko.



The State Department said on July 5 that Tillerson will also meet with young reformers from government and civil society in the Ukrainian capital.



During his visit, the secretary of state will reaffirm Americas commitment to Ukraines sovereignty and territorial integrity, while encouraging the government of Ukraine to continue implementing reforms that will strengthen Ukraines economic, political, and military resilience, a statement said.

The Ukrainian president's office said on July 4 that Poroshenko will discuss with Tillerson ways to strengthen relations between Kyiv and Washington and further coordinate efforts to counter Russia's actions against Ukraine.



Moscow illegally annexed Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula in March 2014 and has been backing separatists in the country's east in a conflict that has killed more than 10,000 people since April 2014.



Tillerson's visit to Kyiv will come after a planned meeting between the U.S. President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, on July 7 in Germany, on the sidelines of the Group of 20 summit.
Russian President Vladimir Putin is to meet with U.S. President Donald Trump on July 7 in Hamburg, Germany, on the sidelines of the Group of 20 summit.

It will be the first face-to-face meeting between the two men since Trump took office in January.

"It has been agreed for July 7," Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov told reporters in Moscow on July 4.

Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the event was "planned as a fully-fledged, 'seated' meeting" to discuss bilateral issues rather than a brief

on-the-go encounter.

The White House later confirmed that the bilateral meeting will be held on the afternoon of July 7, according to the Reuters and dpa new agencies.

The meeting comes as relations between Moscow and Washington sank to lows unseen since the Cold War amid rancor over Moscows illegal annexation of Ukraines Crimean Peninsula in March 2014, its backing of separatists in eastern Ukraine, its alleged interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, the war in Syria, and other issues.

Trump's administration is under intense scrutiny over any links with the Kremlin following accusations by U.S. intelligence officials that Putin personally ordered a computer-hacking and public-opinion-manipulation campaign to try to help Trump win the November election.

The Kremlin rejects the allegation.

The White House had previously confirmed that a meeting between Trump and Putin would take place on the sidelines of the July 7-8 G20 summit but did not specify the date.

General H.R. McMaster, the White House national security adviser, said on June 29 that there was "no specific agenda" for Trump's meeting with Putin.

McMaster said Trump would emphasize "whatever the president wants to talk about."

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told journalists on July 4 that "both Syria and Ukraine will be in the focus, but the agenda will not be limited to this."

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said that it was especially important for Putin and Trump to discuss the war in Syria.

The two leaders have spoken by phone at least twice since Trump took office.

During his election campaign, Trump repeatedly praised Putin and vowed that he would work to improve ties with Russia.

But hopes have dimmed in Moscow for improved ties with the United States in recent months.

The G20 summit will bring together the heads of state and government from the world's leading economic powers to discuss the fight against terrorism, climate change, free trade, and other issues.

With reporting by Reuters, AP, AFP, dpa, Interfax, and TASS
The West Bengal Joint Entrance Exam Board will soon declare the results for the JENPAUH 2017 admission test.

WBJEEB JENPAUH 2017: Result declration date to be announced at wbjeeb.in

By India Today Web Desk: The West Bengal Joint Entrance Exam Board will soon declare the results for the JENPAUH 2017 admission test. Candidates can check their results from the official website, the link for which is wbjeeb.in

How to check:

Go to the official website

Click on the relevant link

Enter the necessary information

After submitting the same, the results will be displayed on the screen

About the exam:

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The exam was held on May 28 in two rounds and consisted of multiple choice questions.

First round: Physics and chemistry (11 am to 1 pm)

Second round: Biological sciences (2 pm to 4 pm)

It is conducted for taking admissions to Bachelor of Homoeopathic Medicine and Surgery (BHMS), Bachelor of Ayurvedic Medicine and Surgery (BAMS), Bachelor of Unani Medicine and Surgery (BUMS), Bachelor of Science (B.Sc) Nursing, Bachelor of Physiotherapy (BPT), Bachelor of Audiology Speech Language Pathology (BASLP) programmes in colleges/institutes in the state of West Bengal.

For any query, candidates can visit the official website.

Click here for examination, admission related news.

For more updates. follow India Today Education or you can write to us at education.intoday@gmail.com

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Jupiter cloud bands stand out in this image from NASA's Juno spacecraft. Citizen scientists Gerald Eichstadt and Sean Doran created the image using data Juno collected on May 19, when it was about 20,800 miles (33,400 kilometers) above Jupiter's cloud tops.

NASA's Juno spacecraft has now been orbiting the solar system's largest planet for a year.

Juno arrived at Jupiter on July 4, 2016, after a nearly five-year trek through deep space. Ever since its arrival, the probe has been peering at the gas giant intently, gathering data that should help scientists better understand Jupiter's formation and evolution.

"The success of science collection at Jupiter is a testament to the dedication, creativity and technical abilities of the NASA-Juno team," Juno project manager Rick Nybakken, from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, said in a statement. [Photos: NASA's Juno Mission to Jupiter]

"Each new orbit brings us closer to the heart of Jupiter's radiation belt, but so far the spacecraft has weathered the storm of electrons surrounding Jupiter better than we could have ever imagined," Nybakken added.

Juno's orbit is 53.5 Earth days long and extremely elliptical, bringing the spacecraft within 2,100 miles (3,400 kilometers) of Jupiter at closest approach, or perijove, and taking the spacecraft as far away as 5 million miles (8 million km).

Juno gathers most of its data during its close approaches, and the probe has completed five of them so far (not counting the initial orbital-arrival perijove), racking up a total of 71 million miles (114.5 million km) in orbit, NASA officials said.

But perijove number six is imminent, and it promises to be pretty exciting: On July 10, Juno will zoom directly over Jupiter's Great Red Spot, giving humanity its first up-close look at the famous 10,000-mile-wide (16,000 km) storm, which scientists have been monitoring from afar for nearly 200 years.

"This monumental storm has raged on the solar system's biggest planet for centuries," Juno principal investigator Scott Bolton, from the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio, said in the same statement. "Now, Juno and her cloud-penetrating science instruments will dive in to see how deep the roots of this storm go, and help us understand how this giant storm works and what makes it so special."

The $1.1 billion Juno mission launched on Aug. 5, 2011. The spacecraft took a looping path through the inner solar system to set up a speed-boosting flyby of Earth, which took place in October 2013.

Juno carries seven different science instruments, which the probe uses to study Jupiter's structure, composition, and magnetic and gravitational fields. Juno's observations so far suggest that Jupiter may have a large, partially dissolved core and that Jovian auroras are fundamentally different from those of Earth. The spacecraft has also spotted surprising cyclones near the huge planet's poles.

Juno's mission is scheduled to last through at least February 2018.

The probe's Jupiter arrival isn't the only anniversary NASA is celebrating today. An impactor released by the agency's Deep Impact spacecraft slammed into Comet Tempel 1 on July 4, 2005, and the Pathfinder lander touched down on Mars on the same date in 1997.

Follow Mike Wall on Twitter @michaeldwall and Google+. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook or Google+. Originally published on Space.com.
Remembering Home

NASA

This American flag flew outside one of the cupola windows of the International Space Station. NASA astronaut Jack Fischer captured the image during Expedition 51. Ed White's spacesuit was the first to feature the American flag after he performed the first U.S. spacewalk.



The American flag has played a prominent role in NASA missions; here's a look at the flag and NASA, in space and on the ground.

For Big Moments

NASA

NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson prepares for her eighth spacewalk inside the U.S. Quest Airlock with the American flag displayed prominently and proudly on her spacesuit.

Rights Extended

NASA

On Election Day 2016, the United States flag waved proudly outside the window of the cupola on the International Space Station to celebrate the vote for astronauts in space.

For the Country

NASA

The Horizontal Integration Facility (HIF) lies about a half-mile from launch pad-0A and notably displays the U.S. flag. The Orbital ATK Antares rocket also displays the flag as it makes it way to NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia.

From the Start

NASA

On June 28, 2016, at the Orbital ATK Propulsion System test facility in Promontory, Utah, the Space Launch System's booster rocket, with its American flag decoration, undergoes its second and final qualification motor (QM-2) test.

Honor for the Flag

NASA

On Flag Day, June 14, 2015, NASA astronaut Scott Kelly celebrated by snapping this image of the United States flag in the cupola of the International Space Station.

Proudly Worn

NASA

During 2015's Expedition 45, NASA astronaut and expedition commander Scott Kelly participates in a fit check of his spacesuit, with U.S. Flag on the left shoulder, in preparation for a spacewalk.

For Firsts

NASA

On August 30, 1984, the Space Shuttle Discovery made its maiden spaceflight. The shuttle launched from Kennedy Space Center carrying America's second woman in space, Judith Resnik. The American flag was inscribed near the main engines.

For the Cosmos

NASA

The United States flag even makes it onto other planets, as seen on NASA's Mars rover Curiosity. The flag medallion is on one of the rover's four mobility rocker arms.

For the Nation

NASA

During a "State of NASA" address in the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building Feb. 2, 2015, the U.S. flag hangs proudly over NASA Administrator Charles Bolden as he presents NASA's budget rollout.

Keeping the Mission in Mind

NASA

At Northrup Grumman, in Redondo Beach, California, the American flag even features on the facility where a major test for NASA's James Webb Space Telescope sunshield is performed.
Addis-Ababa (Ethiopia), July 3, 2017 (SPS) - The chairperson of the African Union Commission Moussa Faki Mahamat expressed Monday, in Addis Ababa (Ethiopia), his concern with the current deadlock regarding the conflict in Western Sahara, which has been occupied by Morocco since 1975.

Even though we welcome the decrease in tensions around Al-Guerguerat in Western Sahara, the nomination of a new personal representative of the United Nations Secretary General and his intention to launch a new initiative to settle the political conflict, we remain concerned with the current deadlock, said Moussa Faki at the opening of the 29th African Union Summit.

We hope that the presence of both parties (Morocco and the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic) as members of our Union will facilitate a consensual solution, in conformity with international law, which will guarantee the Sahrawi peoples right to self-determination, he said, adding that the issues of peace and security continue to highly worry us.

On Sunday, the AU Executive Council reaffirmed, at the end of its 31st session held since Friday in the Ethiopian capital, its support to the Sahrawi cause by confirming the dispatch of an African mission for the evaluation of Human Rights, to the occupied Sahrawi territories despite Moroccos attempts to block a resolution in this regard. (SPS)

062/090/700




A young father who almost died in a knife attack is furious that an alleged blunder by court staff meant his assailant served nine months in jail rather than nine years.

Jerrell Holland, 22, said today that he feared for his life and needed to be rehoused after the error.

Ralston Dodd, 25, stabbed Mr Holland, who has daughters aged five and one, in the back three times in a dispute outside a housing office in Islington in September.

Dodd was sentenced to nine years jail at Blackfriars crown court in November after pleading guilty to causing grievous bodily harm with intent. But Mr Holland said he was terrified after seeing Dodd driving around north London last week.

It is believed he was released early from HMP Thameside in south-east London as a result of a court incorrectly recording his sentence.

The Ministry of Justice said it was investigating. A warrant for Dodds arrest has been issued.

Ralston Dodd, 25, was jailed in November after he admitted stabbing a man three times in the back / Met Police

Mr Holland told the Standard: He saw me. I couldnt believe it. How could they make such an error? Im really angry. Ive really struggled to get over the attack and now Im worried my attackers going to come after me.

Im scared for my life, my familys lives, I need help to get us out of here. Weve been put at risk.

The MoJ said: Releases in error are extremely rare but we take any case very seriously. We are urgently investigating. Public protection is our priority.

The Met said officers in Islington wished to trace a man for being unlawfully at large and urged anyone with information to call 101.
T he father of the youngest victim of the Manchester terror attack has spoken for the first time of his 'nightmare' after the death of his daughter.

Andrew Roussos spoke out for the first time about Saffie Rose Roussos, one of 22 people killed after an Ariana Grande concert, on the BBCs Victoria Derbyshire programme.

Saffie, who idolised Ariana, had been at the concert with her mother Lisa and 26-year-old sister Ashlee Bromwich when she was killed by shrapnel in the blast.

In a moving interview on what would have been Saffie's ninth birthday, Mr Roussos spoke of the moment his wife, who had been placed in a coma by doctors, woke up and uttered the heart-breaking words "Saffie's gone isn't she".

Andrew Roussos paid tribute to his daughter on the Victoria Derbyshire programme / BBC

Talking of his daughter, he said: "She was a joker. She was a huge character. She was just everything you could wish for in a little girl.

"She loved dancing, music, gymnastics. If she wanted something, she would do it.

"[She loved] fame, stardom.

"I knew that Saffie would love her pictures to be on, and to be spoken about on, TV.

Saffie Rose Roussos would have been nine on Tuesday / BBC

Mr Roussos recalled the moment he arrived at the scene of the atrocity, and found Ashlee being treated at the scene. However, amid frantic scenes, he was unable to find Saffie and his wife.

He said: "We just walked round and all the police were there. It was chaos.

"You're panicking and worrying. You don't know what's going on."

Eventually Mr Roussos got word from Salford Royal Hospital that they were caring for his wife, but he could not get any information about Saffie. He was later told by a police detective that she had died.

Mr Roussos said he and his family were "all strong for each other" / BBC

He said: "It's just your worst nightmare. I didn't know what to say, I didn't know what to think."

He added that wife Lisa, who was seriously injured in the blast and has been through several operations, is improving at a much quicker rate than doctors had expected.

He said the rest of the family were "all strong for each other", adding they do a little bit of crying and cuddling to get through the day.

Mr Roussos told the BBC he had met with Ariana Grande before her One Love Manchester concert in June.

He said: "I wanted to tell her what she meant to Saffie. I wanted to tell her I don't want her to blame herself.

"All she could say to me was, 'I'm sorry', and I said, 'You've got nothing to be sorry for. You made Saffie so happy with what you do'."
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Imran, who pursued his passion for swimming, plans to organise a 45-day skill development camp for the physically disabled.

Imran is a painter, a swimmer, a netball player, a wheelchair performer, etc., and has won many accolades. (Photo: Facebook)

By Rajat Rai: Mohammad Imran Qureshi was 17 when he lost his eyesight. Doctors said the resident of Gyanipur village in Uttar Pradesh's Sultanpur district had multiple sclerosis, a long-term disease that attacks the brain and central nervous system.

After about 18 months of treatment, Imran regained his vision. But his troubles did not end. Two years later, in 2009, paralysis struck both his legs. His family took him to Mumbai where doctors declared that his condition was incurable and he had to use a wheelchair.

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"My parents decided to bring me back to the village, but I insisted on staying and joined the rehabilitation centre run by the Mumbai Paraplegic Foundation," recalled Imran, now 27.

Things then started taking a turn for the better and in the next couple of years Imran began performing various acrobatics and synchronised acts.

"My colleagues gave me the nickname 'wheelchair man of India' and I started exploring opportunities," he said.

ROLE IN AKSHAY KUMAR-STARRER HOLIDAY

In a surprising twist of fate in 2014, he bagged the role of a disabled army commando in the Akshay Kumar-starrer Holiday. His talent does not run out here. Imran is a painter, a swimmer, a netball player, a wheelchair performer, etc, and has won many accolades.

"Since childhood I was interested in drawing caricatures and painting. I also used to go to our local pond with friends and enjoyed swimming, until I fell ill," recalled Imran.

However, he pursued his passion for swimming even during rehabilitation and apart from winning some competitions there he also won a gold medal in a state- level swimming contest held in Jalandhar last year. "I also won the first prize in the state-level painting competition that was held in Gujarat in 2014," he informed with delight.

Apart from living his life, Imran now wants others like him to become self- reliant and make their families proud.

SKILL DEVELOPMENT CAMP

"Generally, society and even some parents do not accept us as normal human beings," he said.

Imran plans to organise a 45-day skill development camp for the physically disabled and he will start it from his native place, Sultanpur. The camp was slated to begin from July 2 but he postponed it by a week because of some family problems.

"The training will include becoming self-reliant, personal care, day-to-day activities, using the wheelchair to its capacity, moving around at public places as well as on difficult terrain, first aid, etc," Imran described.

A renowned surgeon of Sultanpur, Dr Sadiq Ali, has offered him space in his nursing home for the workshop.

"He is doing this for a social cause and on knowing this I offered him the space. We also held a discussion and plan to send a letter to the chief minister to organise such camps across the state," Ali said.

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ALSO READ | Parents want doctors to label their child 'disabled' for admission

14 newly recognised disabilities find no mention in government-run Swavlambhan scheme

--- ENDS ---
China is offering for export a UAV described as direct competitor to the American MQ-9 Reaper. The Chinese version is the GJ-1 UCAV (unmanned combat air vehicle). This is a combat version of the Wing Loong 2 UAV and made its first flight as the GJ-1 in February. In June several of them were seen in Tibet, near the Indian border and described as the GJ-1. This version of the Wing Loong 2 has five hard points for air-to-ground weapons. The GJ-1 is described as being able to carry up to 16 missiles. That is made possible by the new smaller AR-2 laser guided missile that weighs 17 kg (40 pounds) and can use a special rack that hangs from one hard point and carries four AR-2s, which also have 8 kilometer range. There is a similar rack that can carry two BA-7 (Hellfire size) missiles off one hard point. Max payload of the GJ-1 is 600 kg (1,300 pounds) but around 20 percent of that is taken up by the cameras, communication and fire control system (including laser designator). The rest is for weapons.

The GJ-1 is chasing after the market the MQ-9 Reaper has created since it entered service in 2007. MQ-9 is a 4.7 ton, 11.6 meters (36 foot) long aircraft with a 21.3 meters (66 foot) wingspan that has six hard points and can carry 682 kg (1,500 pounds) of weapons. These include Hellfire missiles (up to eight), two Sidewinder or two AMRAAM air-to-air missiles, two Maverick missiles, or two 227 kg (500 pound) smart bombs (laser or GPS guided). Max speed is 400 kilometers an hour, and max endurance is now over 40 hours. The Reaper is considered a combat aircraft, to replace F-16s or A-10s in many situations.

The original Wing Loong 1 (that's Chinese for Pterodactyl, a Jurassic period flying dinosaur) UAV entered service in 2008 and was basically a Chinese version of the American MQ-1 Predator that entered service in 1995 but did not start using weapons until 2001. Both Predator and Wing Loong 1 could fire two laser guided missiles (Hellfire for MQ-1 and BA-7 for Wing Loong 1. In in place of the BA-7 the Wing Loong 1 could carry or two 60 kg (110 pound) GPS guided bombs (similar to the U.S. SDB).

Although Wing Loong 1 entered service with the Chinese military in 2008 this turned out to be over three years of field testing because it was not offered for export until 2012. Wing Loong 1 was first seen in flight, over the capital of Uzbekistan, in 2012. The UAE (United Arab Emirates) and Uzbekistan were the first export customers. It was later revealed that development on Wing Loong began in 2005, first flight was in 2007 and Chinese troops got the first ones in 2008 for further testing, not combat use.

While Wing Loong 1 is similar in shape to the larger American MQ-9 Reaper, in size it's almost identical to the 1.2 ton MQ-1 Predator. Wing Loong 1 weighs 1.1 tons, has a 14 meter (46 feet) wingspan, and is 9 meters (28 feet) long. It has max altitude of 5,300 meters (16,400 feet), max speed of 270 kilometers an hour and an endurance of over 20 hours. Payload is 200 kg.

Wing Loong 2 is a little smaller than the MQ-9 with a wingspan of 20.5 meters (66 feet), top speed of 370 kilometers an hour, endurance of 20 hours and comes equipped with satellite link (which was an option on Wing Loong 1). Wing Loong 2 has an improved aerodynamic, sturdier airframe and improved flight control software.

For several decades a growing number of Chinese commercial firms have been developing military UAVs and dual use commercial UAVs. Unlike most Western nations, China will sell military UAVs to anyone who can pay and is not bothered about the use of bribes and other illegal (in the West) payments. In other words, Wing Loong is priced to move.
The three senior Hamas leaders that were hiding out in Qatar until recently have moved to southern Lebanon where Hezbollah is trying to protect them from the Israelis. The three Hamas leaders were apparently responsible for several successful attacks on Israelis and Hamas believes, with some justification, that Israel wants these men dead or alive and on trial in Israel. The current feud between Qatar and its Arabian neighbors also signals an end of Qatari efforts to persuade Hamas and Fatah to settle their differences and form a united Palestinian government. Iran is still trying to become the new patron (financial and military) of Hamas but Hamas is not interested. At least not yet.

Iranian efforts to cultivate an alliance with the Palestinians in general are not working out so well. Since 2011 Arab governments have been more open with their criticism of the Palestinians. This process accelerated after 2016 when the Arab Gulf states admitted they could no longer trust Hamas (or Fatah either) and are put off by the recent Iranian announcement that it was still subsidizing Hamas, which has run Gaza and its nearly two million Palestinians since 2005. Iran supported Hamas early on. There were recently more rumors that Iran had stopped supporting Hamas. Iran decreased its support for a while, in large part because of the sanctions and low oil prices but never cut off Hamas completely. Although Sunni Hamas sometimes persecutes Shia in Gaza, Iran supports energetic Hamas efforts to attack Israel. Hamas also supports Islamic terrorists active in Egypt and that has turned Egypt completely against Hamas and helped put Egypt firmly into the anti-Iran Sunni coalition. The Iran link made Hamas an enemy as far as most Sunni Moslem nations were concerned. Hamas made a lot of bad decisions since 2005 and the Iran link is seen as one of the worst. In response Arab states who have cut aid to Gaza and the West Bank Palestinian leaders have quietly told the reluctant Arab donors that if they do not increase aid there will be violent Palestinian protests (in Gaza, West Bank and Jerusalem) against the Arab donors as well as Israel. These Arab donors (mainly Saudi Arabia, UAE and Kuwait) have lost patience with the Palestinians and not only cut donor aid (which was being stolen or misused by corrupt Palestinian leaders) but also openly allied themselves with Israel against Iran. The Arab world still technically backs the Palestinians and their effort to destroy Israel but have lost confidence in the Palestinians.

Eyes On Lebanon

Israeli aerial, space based and on-the-ground efforts to keep track of what goes on in Lebanon have been consistently accurate, despite energetic efforts by Hezbollah and Iran to hide things. As a result of all this surveillance Israeli media is one of the best sources (for Israelis, Lebanese and everyone else) about what is going on in southern Lebanon. That area has been controlled by Iran (via the local Hezbollah organization) since the 1990s and for a long time then Hezbollah had some success in hiding things. But since the 2006 war with Israel, when some of those secrets were revealed, an embarrassed Israel has increased its surveillance efforts and regularly warns Lebanon, while taunting Hezbollah and Iran, about dangerous things Iran is doing in Lebanon. The latest warnings are about the Iranian effort to build weapons production facilities, especially ones for long range rockets, In Lebanon. Israel has made it clear they know where these facilities are being built and will destroy them before they can begin production. Naturally this alarms civilians living near these secret facilities and discourages Iran from trying to build such military facilities outside of Hezbollah controlled territory in southern Lebanon. Israel keeps repeating that it will bomb Hezbollah facilities wherever they are in Lebanon and wants everyone to know that the Lebanese government has been informed, repeatedly.

Israel has also managed to interfere with the Iranian alliance with Russia in Syria. Russia realized it had some unique opportunities here. Israel considers Iran its major military threat and for that reason is actively involved opposing Iran in Syria. Irans allies there, Russia and Turkey, are not backing Iranian efforts to destroy Israel once ISIL is destroyed in Syria. Russia is quite open about its good relationships and cooperation with Israel while Turkey is making it clear that if pressed to choose sides, they would prefer Israel to Iran. Nevertheless Turkey is still run by an Islamic political party that is highly critical of Israel, and the West in general. But thats another problem.

Meanwhile Saudi Arabia and other Arab oil states have quietly formed a military alliance with Israel. They get away with this because most of Arab citizens of these oil states see ISIL and Iran as more of a threat than Israel but are less likely than their rulers to admit that Israel would be a splendid economic and military ally. The only problem is nearly a century of anti-Israel propaganda.

Offshore Treasure

The natural gas deposits off the Israeli coast are now believed to be about 13 percent larger than previously thought. In late 2014 Israel announced a third major natural gas discovery off their coast. This one was worth over $100 billion dollars. The two previous ones are worth over a trillion dollars. These discoveries make Israel largely energy independent and a major exporter of natural gas. This is a recent development as serious exploration for natural gas off the Israeli coast only got started in the late 90s and since then more and more natural gas has been found offshore in the eastern Mediterranean, from Lebanon to Egypt. Israeli commercial production began in 2013 with the completion of pipelines extending 150 kilometers offshore. Israeli GDP was continuing to grow without the natural gas discoveries but with it Israel becomes largely energy independent and an energy exporter as well.

July 3, 2017: The Syrian Army declared a temporary truce along its southern border, to try and persuade rebels fighting down there to participate in the peace talks being held in Kazakhstan. None of the rebels are willing to attend and only Russia, Iran, Turkey and the Assad government show up and make deals no one pays much attention to. Currently the Assad government controls about 70 percent of the remaining Syrian population. About a quarter of the 2011 population, almost all of them anti-Assad Sunnis, have fled the country and probably will not return to an Iran dominated Syria. The Sunnis are still a majority, just a much smaller one. The rebels, (mostly the Kurd led SDF) control about a quarter of the population and ISIL controls about a quarter of the land areas (mostly in the largely desert eastern Syria) but only about five percent of the population. The Assads control only about a third of the country, making it easier for them to protect and patrol the population they control. The Assads have the coast and the two largest cities (Damascus and Aleppo). The only thing left to fight over is how much access Iran gets to Syria. Israel is openly hostile to a permanent Iranian presence in Syria and Turkey quietly agrees with that. Russia agrees with Turkey and Israel on this but does not say so (much) in public. The Sunni Arab states are more open in opposing Iranian plans here. Despite all that Iran is determined to have a land route from Iran to Lebanon and military installations in post-war Syria.

In the south an Israeli Skylark (Sky Rider) UAV crashed inside Gaza. This is the second Skylark to crash in the last week. The other one came down in the West Bank and was recovered by Israeli soldiers. The 4.6 kg (10 pound) Skylark is mainly used by combat units for reconnaissance. The battery powered UAV can stay aloft 90 minutes at a time and losses like this are usually because of component failure. Skylarks have gone down at least seven times on the Lebanese or Gaza border or inside the West Bank so far this year. Skylarks are one of the most frequently used UAVs on the borders and counter-terror operations in general.

July 2, 2017: Israeli police arrested nine Palestinian terrorists in the West Bank, including several who had been convicted before, served time in jail and went back to their terrorism efforts as soon as they were free again.

July 1, 2017: In the north (Golan Heights), two mortar shells fired from Syria landed in Israel and in response Israeli artillery destroyed the Syrian army mortar. Despite more than a week of this retaliation (because of at least 20 separate incidents of shells, rockets or bullets landing in Israel) the Syrians only broadcast a protest once, in which the blamed it all on Israel and threatened serious repercussions if the Israelis continued to defend themselves.

On the coast an American Nimitz class carrier visited the port of Haifa for the first time in 17 years. The carrier was too large to dock at the port itself and anchored 4,000 meters offshore. From there most of the 5,000 crew was allowed to visit the port, especially on July 4th, an American holiday. The carrier is one of those that has often been on duty in the western Mediterranean since 2002 to support operations against Islamic terrorists.

June 30, 2017: In the West Bank an Israeli police raid on an illegal weapons stockpile was met with gunfire from one Palestinian, who was promptly shot dead. He was found using one of the illegal weapons that are sold to anyone who can pay (be they terrorists or gangsters).

In the north (Golan Heights) Israeli warplanes bombed a Syrian Army position near the border after some machine-gun fire landed in Israel.

The German government approved the sale of three more Dolphin class submarines to Israel (which already has five, plus one under construction).

June 29, 2017: In the south Hamas was embarrassed when eleven Islamic terrorists they had recently released from jail showed up in Egypt (northern Sinai) openly proclaiming their allegiance to the Egyptian branch of ISIL. Hamas had recently increased security along its Egyptian border. The eleven said they left Gaza via smuggling tunnels. This comes a week after five former members of the Hamas security forces deserted, got to Egypt and openly joined ISIL.

June 28, 2017: In the north (Golan Heights), a mortar shell fired from Syria landed in Israel near a village. There were no injuries or damage and Israeli artillery fired on the Syrian army position from which the mortar fire came.

Further west, on the Lebanese border with Israel, Hezbollah erected Hezbollah and Iranian flags along the border along with signs that said We are coming.

In the south Hamas announced that it had agreed to build a security fence on their side of the Egyptian border and establish a hundred meter wide security zone along this border, which would not be constantly patrolled. This was part of a deal with Egypt to get the Egyptian border crossing reopened on a permanent basis. That crossing has been closed most of the time since 2014 because Egypt believes Hamas provides sanctuary for (or at least tolerates) Islamic terrorist groups in Gaza that carry out attacks in Egypt. After 2014 Egypt increased security on its border with Gaza including finding and shutting down most of the smuggling tunnels between Gaza and Egypt. This new deal with Egypt is part of a major change in direction for Hamas, which is temporarily giving up terrorism and concentrating on improving their performance as the rulers of Gaza and rival with Fatah for the long dormant role as undisputed ruler of Gaza and the West Bank. As part of this effort units of the Hamas military long devoted to preparing terror attacks against Israel are being reorganized (very publicly) to be more para-military. Hamas is also trying to convince Israel that it is backing off on preparations for another war with Israel. Hamas is also responding to growing economic pressure from Fatah, which still controls most of the foreign aid money coming in for all Palestinians. Hamas is also seen (by manor donors in Europe and the Persian Gulf) as responsible for most of the problems the Palestinians are having. But Hamas, and most Palestinians recognize that Fatah is far more corrupt and inept than Hamas and that includes years of cooperation with the Israelis to deal with terrorists who threaten both Israel and Fatah. This includes groups like Hamas and ISIL. So Hamas is making a major move here, to get its own house (Gaza) in order, gain control over the West Bank and then revert back to the organization that will destroy Israel, probably as an ally of Iran.

June 27, 2017: In the south a rocket fired from Gaza landed in Israel. Several hours later Israeli aircraft carried out attacks on two targets in Gaza belonging to Hamas. Later an ISIL affiliated terror group in Gaza took credit for the attack on Israel.

West of the Nile River Egyptian Air Force F-16s destroyed a convoy of twelve trucks coming into Egypt from Libya via a desert trail just north of the sand sea that is largely impassable to trucks. Video of the airstrike showed some of the trucks exploding twice as their cargoes of ammunition ignited. Smuggling Libyan weapons (looted from government warehouses during the 2011 revolution) into Egypt is still big business especially since Hamas and other Islamic terrorist groups, plus criminal gangs, are ready to buy whatever gets into Egypt.

June 26, 2017: In the north (Golan Heights), several mortar shells fired from Syria landed in Israel and several hours later Israel fired back at where the mortar fire came from. This was the third day in a row this has happened. Sometimes it is small unguided rockets that land on the Israeli side of the border. So far there have been no injuries and little damage from all this stray fire from Syria.

There was also some stray fire from Syria landing near a UN peacekeeper outpost in the Golan Heights. This rarely happens as there is nothing to be gained by Syrian Army or rebels firing on the UN positions. Israelis came over to help with the investigation and concluded that this really was accidental fire, aided by a brush fire in a nearby minefield that set off one or two mines. That could be misinterpreted as mortar fire. But the Israeli radars in the area detect mortar shells and noted none were detected coming at the UN post, despite the explosions.

June 24, 2017: In the south Syrian troops, trying to stop a rebel (al Qaeda affiliate formerly called al Nusra) offensive in Quneitra province that threatened Assad control of a key road fired into Israel. The army troops fired at the rebels who were close to the Israeli border and 10 mortar and tank shells landed in the Golan Heights. No one was hurt but Israel decided that this was not all accidental because several of those shells were from Syrian tanks and tank guns are fired directly at a target, not over a hill or building at something the mortar crew cant see. Normally if rocket or mortar fire from Syria lands in an uninhabited area of Israel (Golan Heights) there was no return fire. When the fire from Syria is deliberate the Israelis always fire back. In this case the Israelis sent in a helicopter gunship to destroy two Syrian tanks and a machine-gun firing from a bunker. The next day several mortar shells also landed in the Golan Heights. There were no injuries and an Israeli airstrike destroyed two artillery positions and a large truck carrying ammunition. The Syrians and Iranians make a lot of threats after this sort of thing, like they always do. The Israelis note the threats and ignore them, as always.

June 23, 2017: Despite mounting evidence that Fatah has long diverted aid money from the West to support terrorism Fatah is refusing to halt the practice and accusing Israel and the United States of orchestrating this continuing stream of evidence (usually little more than translations of Fatah media comments in Arabic to Palestinians and other Arabs) proving that Farah is lying. The Fatah refusal to admit its guilt and attempts to divert attention has led a growing number of donors to stop giving.

June 22, 2017: The lights came back on in most of Gaza as fuel deliveries from Egypt resumed yesterday and allowed the Gaza power plant to resume operation. Fatah has cut off supplies of fuel from Israel and until recent peace gestures by Hamas, Egypt had no reason to do Hamas any favors.

In Egypt the government extended the state of emergency (martial law) for three more months. This gives the government nearly unlimited power to investigate anyone any way they can, arrest and hold people without warrants or obligation to bring charges and basically run the country like a dictatorship. The three decades of Mubarak rule, which ended in 2011, was made possible by a permanent state of emergency and getting rid of that was one of the main demands of the 2011 rebels. The current state of emergency began in April because of increased Islamic terrorist activity, especially efforts to attack Israel from Egyptian territory. So far Egypt has continued to uncover and attack or arrest Islamic terrorists all over Sinai and to a lesser extent elsewhere in the country. There has been more Islamic terrorists activity coming out of Libya apparently because of recent defeats ISIL and other Islamic terror groups have suffered there.

June 21, 2017: Egyptian troops in the western desert (near the Libyan border) found and attacked an ISIL camp, killing seven of the Islamic terrorists. These were some of the men involved in several attacks on Christians (Copts) in Egypt since last December. Over a hundred Christians have died in this violence and the government was under growing pressure to find those responsible.

June 20, 2017: Israel carried out successful test of a new version of its LORA (Long Range Artillery Rocket) system that can be mounted and fired from standard shipping containers. The test involved a truck hauling a shipping container parked on a ship deck. Israel says it already has an export customer for the container version of LORA, but wont say who it is or whether the containerized LORA was built at the request of an export customer, the Israeli military or both. Since Israel already has nuclear weapons mounted on its longer range Jericho ballistic missiles, similar warheads are an option for containerized LORA as used by the Israeli military. That is not likely, but is can be done. Meanwhile the LORA manufacturer mentioned a ground (and bunker) penetrating conventional warhead for LORA. Israel introduced LORA in 2007 and back then it was noted that the Israeli weapon was similar to the U.S. ATACMS. Each LORA missile weighed up to 1.8 tons depending on which types of warhead carried. These weighed from 400 to 600 kg. Normally range is 300 kilometers.

Meanwhile on the Syrian border Israeli troops prepared to monitor a new security arrangement on the Syrian side of the border. This is the result of the U.S., Russia and Jordan agreeing that Iranian backed (and often led) forces would not be allowed within 30 kilometers of the Jordanian border. This includes the Syrian city of Daraa. This would prevent the Hezbollah and Iran supported Shia mercenaries from interfering with American and Jordanian operations on the Syrian side of the border. The Jordanians are mainly concerned with the many Syrian refugees that continue to head for refuge in Jordan. The American backed secular Syrian rebels who operate from bases in Jordan and now on the Syrian side of the border can also use this safe zone. These rebels are often accompanied by American advisors and air controllers. This area has seen a lot of fighting since 2011. In late 2016 it was estimated that about eight percent of the casualties since 2011 occurred down south (Daraa Province and along the Israeli and Jordan borders). Israel is a silent partner in this agreement because of similar discreet links with Jordan (going back to the 60s) and Russia and more open ties to the United States. Some Syrian factions accuse Israel of supplying cash and other items to some Syrian rebels. Israel denies this but does admit to a very public program of allowing over 3,000 (so far) badly wounded Syrians, especially women and children, into Israel for free medical care. The Syrians benefitting from this may feel obliged to return the favor in some way (like providing information on what Iranian and other Islamic radical groups are up to) and that could be described as a relationship. But that has a different meaning in the Middle East than in other parts of the world and is often misinterpreted in the West and misrepresented in places like Russia.

June 18, 2017: Iran fired six of its new Zulfiqar ballistic missiles at ISIL targets in Syria (Palmyra and Deir Ezzor). Only two of the missiles hit anything of value but some of them travelled about 620 kilometers. Four apparently landed in western Iraq. Iran denied these Israeli claims about accuracy and Israel dismissed the denials as more Iranian posturing. This public disagreement went on for a week and the Israelis did not back down with their claims that the Iranian missiles performed poorly. For a nation constantly threatened with attack by Iranian ballistic missiles the Israeli observation of the Zulfiqar performance is yet another embarrassment for Iran. The Iranian media described (and published pictures) of the Zulfiqar ballistic missile. This appeared to be another version of the Fateh-110 which is a 3.5 ton, solid fuel ballistic missile with a range of 250 kilometers and a half ton warhead. Iran first revealed Fateh-110 in 2002. These missiles were also manufactured in Syria (as the M-600). The Iranian version appeared to be based on the Chinese DF-11, which entered service in 1979 and continues to be used by China and was exported to Pakistan. The DF-11 (also known as the M11) is a single stage solid fuel missile that weighs 4.2 tons, has a range of 300 kilometers, and carries a .8 ton warhead. By 2011 there were reports of a DF-11A which used a smaller warhead and larger solid fuel to achieve a range of over 700 kilometers. Several years later an update of the DF-11A entered service with a more accurate and reliable guidance system. By 2013 Iran was airlifting in more Fateh-110s to Syria, apparently meant for Hezbollah. These longer range missiles, that can reach all of Israels major cities, are a primary target for Israeli forces in any future war with Hezbollah and some were destroyed by during at least one of the recent Israeli air strikes in Syria.

The Iranian ballistic missile attack was in response to a June 7th attack in the Iranian capital by six ISIL men armed with firearms and explosive vests. The attack went after two targets; the parliament (in central Tehran) and a shrine to religious leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini (who established the current religious dictatorship) south of Tehran. All six attackers were killed but not before seven other people died and 43 wounded. It was soon discovered five of the dead ISIL men were Iranians who police knew or suspected had left the country to join ISIL. The five apparently returned to set up an ISIL branch in Iran and ISIL boasts that this is the first attack of many in Iran.

June 16, 2017: In Jerusalem a policewoman was stabbed to death by two Palestinians, one of them armed with a gun that jammed. The two attackers were shot dead before they could attack anyone else. Elsewhere in the city another Palestinian trying to attack with a knife was shot dead before doing any damage.

June 10, 2017: Russian diplomats told their American counterparts that recent American airstrikes on Russian allies in Syria was unacceptable. Unlike some Russian politicians, the Russian diplomats did not threaten to order their troops to shoot at the Americans. Iran is fine with getting into a fight with the Americans although NATO member Turkey has mixed feelings. In Syria Russians are more concerned about not angering Israel, but then the Americans and Israelis work closely together and Syria is turning out to be less of an opportunity for Russia and more like a deadly trap. The American and Russian diplomats apparently spent a lot of time talking about how to handle the Qatar mess.

June 9, 2017: In the south (Gaza) A large (several hundred people) crowd organized and led by Hamas members attacked Israeli troops at the border fence. One Hamas man was shot dead and six were wounded. These demonstrations are attempts to inflict injuries on Israeli troops and provoke a violent response from the Israelis so Hamas can claim the resulting Palestinian casualties were the result of unprovoked Israeli aggression. That the Israelis have video of all these encounters does not deter Hamas.

June 7, 2017: In the south (Gaza) there was an explosion in the Gaza city of Rafah that killed three Hamas members, including one known Hamas military commander. There was probably a training accident.
Tor is a network of virtual tunnels that allows people and groups to improve their privacy and security on the Internet. It also enables software developers to create new communication tools with built-in privacy features.

How does the Tor Browser keep my internet activity anonymous?

The Tor Browser uses the Tor network, which consists of more than six thousand relays located worldwide, to hide the users' location and online traffic. This ensures anonymity and avoids your activities from being seen by others.

What is Tor Browser?

The Tor Browser is the flagship product from the Tor Project. The web browser is based on a modified version of Mozilla Firefox ESR that includes extras like the Tor proxy, TorButton, TorLauncher, NoScript, and HTTPS Everywhere extensions.

Who uses the Tor Browser?

With Tor Browser having made Tor more accessible to everyday internet users and activists, Tor was an instrumental tool during the Arab Spring beginning in late 2010. It not only protected people's identity online but also allowed them to access critical resources, social media, and websites which were blocked.

Individuals use Tor to keep websites from tracking them and their family members, or to connect to news sites, instant messaging services, or the like when these are blocked by their local Internet providers. Tor's hidden services let users publish web sites and other services without needing to reveal the location of the site. Individuals also use Tor for socially sensitive communication: chat rooms and web forums for rape and abuse survivors, or people with illnesses.

Journalists use Tor to communicate more safely with whistleblowers and dissidents. Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) use Tor to allow their workers to connect to their home website while they're in a foreign country, without notifying everybody nearby that they're working with that organization.

Groups such as Indymedia recommend Tor for safeguarding their members' online privacy and security. Activist groups like the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) recommend Tor as a mechanism for maintaining civil liberties online. Corporations use Tor as a safe way to conduct competitive analysis, and to protect sensitive procurement patterns from eavesdroppers. They also use it to replace traditional VPNs, which reveal the exact amount and timing of communication. Which locations have employees working late? Which locations have employees consulting job-hunting websites? Which research divisions are communicating with the company's patent lawyers?

A branch of the U.S. Navy uses Tor for open source intelligence gathering, and one of its teams used Tor while deployed in the Middle East recently. Law enforcement uses Tor for visiting or surveilling web sites without leaving government IP addresses in their web logs, and for security during sting operations.

Is Tor better than a VPN?

Tor is not a VPN. Tor is a free browser similar to Chrome or Firefox, but it includes features that encrypt your IP address, making your browsing sessions private. A VPN (Virtual Private Network) is software that can change your IP address when you use any browser installed on your PC. To learn more about VPNs, you can read this article.

What's New

Tor Browser 11.5.4 is now available from the Tor Browser download page and also from our distribution directory.

Our Android release follows our alpha branch to the ESR 102 release train. Please see the 12.0a2 blog post for details.

Tor Browser 11.5.4 backports the following security updates from Firefox ESR 102.3 to to Firefox ESR 91.13 on Windows, macOS and Linux:

CVE-2022-40959

CVE-2022-40960

CVE-2022-40958

CVE-2022-40956

CVE-2022-40962

Tor Browser 11.5.4 updates GeckoView on Android to 102.3.0esr. We also backport the following Android-specific security updates from Firefox 104 and 105:

CVE-2022-36317

CVE-2022-38474

CVE-2022-40961

The full changelog since Tor Browser 11.5.3 is here

Tor Browser Gets A New Look

Earlier this year, Firefox's user interface underwent a significant redesign aimed at simplifying the browser chrome, streamlining menus and featuring an all-new tab design. Firefox ESR 91 introduces the new design to Tor Browser for the first time.

To ensure it lives up to the new experience, each piece of custom UI in Tor Browser has been modernized to match Firefox's new look and feel. That includes everything from updating the fundamentals like color, typography and buttons to redrawing each of our icons to match the new thinner icon style.

In addition to the browser chrome itself, the connection screen, circuit display, security levels and onion site errors all received a sprucing-up too - featuring some small but welcome quality of life improvements to each.

Welcome Screen

Our old screen had way too much information for the users, leading many of them to spend great time confused about what to do. Some users at the paper experiment spent up to 40 min confused about what they needed to be doing here. Besides simplifying the screen and the message, to make it easier for the user to know if they need to configure anything or not, we also did a 'brand refresh' bringing our logo to the launcher.

Censorship circumvention configuration

This is one of the most important steps for a user who is trying to connect to Tor while their network is censoring Tor. We also worked really hard to make sure the UI text would make it easy for the user to understand what a bridge is for and how to configure to use one. Another update was a little tip we added at the drop-down menu (as you can see below) for which bridge to use in countries that have very sophisticated censorship methods.

Proxy help information

The proxy settings at our Tor Launcher configuration wizard is an important feature for users who are under a network that demands such configuration. But it can also lead to a lot of confusion if the user has no idea what a proxy is. Since it is a very important feature for users, we decided to keep it in the main configuration screen and introduced a help prompt with an explanation of when someone would need such configuration.

As part of our work with the UX team, we will also be coordinating user testing of this new UI to continue iterating and make sure we are always improving our users' experience. We are also planning a series of improvements not only for the Tor Launcher flow but for the whole browser experience (once you are connected to Tor) including a new user onboarding flow. And last but not least we are streamlining both our mobile and desktop experience: Tor Browser 7.5 adapted the security slider design we did for mobile bringing the improved user experience to the desktop as well.

Final Deprecation Of V2 Onion Services

Last year we announced that v2 onion services would be deprecated in late 2021, and since its 10.5 release Tor Browser has been busy warning users who visit v2 onion sites of their upcoming retirement. At long last, that day has finally come. Since updating to Tor 0.4.6.8 v2 onion services are no longer reachable in Tor Browser, and users will receive an "Invalid Onion Site Address" error instead.

Should you receive this error when attempting to visit a previously working v2 address, there is nothing wrong with your browser - instead, the issue lies with the site itself. If you wish, you can notify the onion site's administrator about the problem and encourage them to upgrade to a v3 onion service as soon as possible.

It's easy to tell if you still have any old v2 addresses saved in your bookmarks that are in need of removal or updating too: although both end in .onion, the more secure v3 addresses are 56 characters long compared to v2's modest 16 character length.
You might remember last summer's story of China's amazing straddling bus (which is really a train, as it runs on tracks). The concept design for the transit elevated bus, or TEB, had been around for years, and reports from Chinese media claimed a completed version had just finished its first road test. But it didn't take long before the project started looking decidedly suspicious, and now it seems that the entire thing was just a scam.

Six months after the alleged road test, the firm responsible for the TEB admitted it was actually part of "internal testing." More questions were being raised about the design, such as how would large vehicles pass under it, and accusations of illegal crowdfunding started to surface. The TEB itself, meanwhile, was at this point lying abandoned in the middle of a road that had been leased to the company.

On Sunday (July 2) it appeared that the entire TEB project was nothing more than a scam after police in Beijing announced they had started investigating and arresting people involved.

More than 30 individuals have been held, all of whom were connected with Huaying Kailai, an online capital raising firm that had been selling an investment product for the bus. One of those in custody is platform owner Bai Zhiming, who is also chief executive of TEB Technology Development, a company that purchased the patent for the bus.

The TEB's investment offering was sold as a private fund with a starting price of $150,000, promising an annual return of 12 percent.

Authorities are now trying to recover the funds from Huaying Kailai, and are advising investors to take their complaints to local police stations.

The Southern Metropolis Daily reports that 72 investors have field lawsuits against Bai and his company, which had raised around $1.3 billion by October 2016.

Things were already looking bad for the TEB when it was revealed in December that Suzhou-based design firm Autek was still owed $6.5 million for its work on the project. And last week, the TEB was moved to a nearby parking garage after officials had said they planned to demolish the 300-meter tracks it ran on.

While the TEB may be dead and buried, China can still boast the Autonomous Rail Transit (ART) smart bus, which doesn't require tracks that are embedded into the ground - and isn't a total scam.
It seems that every major company is now obliged to release a smart speaker. Not wanting to be left behind by Apple, Amazon, Google, and Microsoft, Samsung has apparently become the latest tech giant to jump on the bandwagon.

According to a report in the Wall Street Journal, the South Korean firm is working on a smart speaker device that's powered by its new Bixby AI voice assistant.

The project is codenamed Vega (no relation to AMD's Vega, obviously), and has been in development for over a year. It's still unclear when the product will be available - it's reportedly been delayed because support for English voice commands using Bixby, which launched on the Galaxy S8/S8+, isn't yet available.

While Bixby voice support started rolling out in early beta form for S8 owners last month, the Wall Street Journal notes that the full release of Bixby voice support is unlikely to arrive "before the second half of July," so expect the smart speaker to arrive later rather than sooner.

When Vega does get here, Samsung will enter a market awash with smart speakers from its rivals. In addition to Google Home and Amazon's Echo line, the company will be competing against the upcoming Apple HomePod and Microsoft/Harman Kardon's Cortana-powered Invoke. If it wants to stand out from the crowd, Vega may have to offer something different and/or be better value for money.

While many people are unsure why they would even need a smart speaker, especially when their smartphones perform many similar functions, sales of the devices continue to grow, jumping 1000 percent this past holiday season compared to the same period a year earlier.
In what could be another setback in the European Union, a senior adviser to the region's highest court said that Uber should have to abide by rules governing taxi services, and backed a French law that led to sanctions for the ride-hailing service 's top managers in the country.

The EU court is being asked to give guidance on the legality of changes made to a 2014 French law, which Uber says is targeting apps such as UberPop.

EU nations "may prohibit and punish the illegal exercise of a transport activity such as UberPop without having to notify the" European Commission of the draft law, Maciej Szpunar, an advocate general for the Court of Justice of the European Union said, rejecting Uber's claims that the rules were invalid because France didn't notify the EU in advance.

The recommendation is a non-binding opinion but as several publications are noting, judges generally follow the advice of their advocates general.

Uber says it will wait for the final ruling later this year and says the law refers to a service using unlicensed drivers known as UberPop, which it had already discontinued in France after a series of strikes. The company was fined nearly $500,000 for running the service in a separate case.

UberPop is essentially a legal workaround attempted by Uber in countries where it's legal to "ride share" and have the passenger pay a part of expenses, but not to make a profit. Furthermore the driver doesn't need to be licensed to offer professional transportation services. UberPop was meant to fall into this category but it wasn't technically ride "sharing", since the passenger decides the destination, and while it was a low-cost Uber category it was still for profit.

Uber currently works only with professional licensed drivers in many of its main European markets.
According to an investigative report by New Zealand's 1 news, airport customs officials routinely force up to two travelers each day to give up their electronic devices and passwords for searching. According to the customs agents, the program is designed to look for smugglers by performing a "digital strip search" on the phones and laptops of travelers. This does not require a court order, but the agents do claim to adhere to New Zealand's privacy act.

The searches can be quick or much more extensive depending on the level of danger perceived. One traveler was stopped for five hours and claims he was "made to feel like a terrorist" on his way home from Bali. Agents typically just peruse the data looking for any red flags but they have admitted to also copying it and passing it along to the government and police. According to the customs general manager, agents can seize travelers' devices at any moment and they have tools to break some types of encryption if it is encountered.

Since 2015 more than 1,300 people have been stopped and searched at New Zealand's three biggest airports. Of these, just under 300 were actually from New Zealand. Chinese and Taiwanese travelers accounted for 360 searches as well. If travelers refuse to comply, a bill is currently being considered by parliament to fine them up to $5,000.

The vast majority of travelers are on a strict timeline and nobody is going to plan in their itinerary for a five hour digital strip search. This leaves travelers with just two options: comply, or don't expect to fly. Government privacy activists recommend seeking legal advice before handing over credentials.
Exxon Mobil Corporation is the largest direct descendent of John D. Rockefellers Standard Oil and one of the worlds largest companies. Its earliest roots lie with Vacuum Oil which got its start in the 1860s. Vacuum Oils primary product was kerosene, an important advancement for heating and lighting in rural America. Vacuum Oil was later merged with Standard Oil of New Jersey which was the parent operation of the Standard Oil empire prior to its breakup. Standard Oil of New Jersey would merge with other independent operators over the next few years until settling on the brand Exxon for most of its operations.

Meanwhile, Standard Oil of New York was operating under much the same impetus, merging and growing, until it became known as Mobil. Then, in 1999, the two giants became one with a merger of equals that on paper had Exxon buying Mobil. Now, the combined company operates under the Exxon, Mobil, and Esso brands as an international vertically integrated energy and petrochemical business.

Today, the company explores and produces crude oil and natural gas and their derivative products globally. As of 2022, it was ranked 6th on Forbes Fortune 500 list and 12th on the Global 500 list but it has held positions from #1 to #10 over the years. In terms of its operations, it is the worlds second-largest oil refiner and the largest refiner outside of China. In terms of reserves, ExxonMobil claimed about 18.5 million barrels of oil and oil equivalents at the end of 2021 and was ranked 15th globally.

ExxonMobil operates through three segments that are the Upstream, Downstream, and Chemical segments. The Upstream segment explores for and produces oil and oil equivalents and represents roughly 70% of the income. The Downstream segment gathers, receives, stores, transports and refines oil and equivalents and their derivatives. The Downstream segment also markets and delivers fuel products to consumers and businesses. The Chemicals segment produces the full range of petrochemicals including plastics, resins and synthetic rubber.

ExxonMobil is committed to advancing sustainable and carbon-free energy solutions. The company is targeting 2050 for net-zero emissions and its 2030 interim targets are in alignment with the Paris Accord, the EU's Global Methane Pledge, and US Methane Emissions Reduction Action Plan. The companys plans include investing $15 billion into reducing greenhouse emissions by 2028.






LONDONUber suffered a blow to its expansion plans in Europe on Tuesday after a senior adviser to the regions highest court said that the ride-hailing service should have to abide by tough rules governing taxi services.

The recommendation, a non-binding opinion by an advocate general for the Court of Justice of the European Union, adds to an array of challenges that Uber is facing worldwide. This year alone, the company has grappled with a sexual harassment scandal and the resignation last month of its chief executive, Travis Kalanick.

Read more:

A timeline of Ubers escalating woes

How one lone woman exposed the frat-boy culture at Uber: Wells

The case before the court hinged on whether Uber should be treated as a taxi service in France, and therefore be subject to rigorous safety and employment rules, or as a digital platform that merely connected independent drivers with passengers.

French authorities brought criminal proceedings last year against the ride-hailing service for infringing a law that required any vehicle carrying passengers for a fee to be licensed as a taxi service and to have appropriate insurance.

Uber had argued that the law was also a technical regulation over digital services. That being the case, the company said, French authorities were required to notify the European Commission, the executive arm of the European Union, before adopting the legislation. Because France did not do so, Uber contended, the law could not be enforced.

The senior adviser, Maciej Szpunar, an advocate general of the court, recommended Tuesday that Uber was effectively a taxi service. He wrote that France could ban certain types of transportation services it deemed illegal, including Ubers low-cost service UberPop, without having to notify the European Commission.

We have seen todays statement and await the final ruling later this year, an Uber spokesperson said in a statement.

She said that the company had stopped offering the services in question and that it now worked only with professionally licensed drivers in France.

The latest recommendation came less than two months after Szpunar delivered a similar opinion to the court, arguing that Uber should have to comply with rules governing transportation companies. A final ruling in that case is expected by late summer, and a decision related to Tuesdays case is due by the end of the year.

The court typically follows the recommendations of its senior advisers, but it could still rule in the companys favour.

The two ways Uber sold itself  as a digital company and as a ride-sharing service  dont stand up, according to this legal opinion, said Andre Spicer, a professor of organizational behaviour at the Cass Business School at City University in London.

When companies like Uber and Airbnb, the short-term rental company, set up, he said, They skirted around national laws, and that was what made them competitive and cheap.

Many national regulators are beginning to chip away at that.

Uber already operates in many European cities in compliance with transportation rules, but some of its services  particularly those that do not require drivers to have a taxi license  have been banned and face stiff opposition.

In France, protests against Uber have at times turned violent. The company and two of its executives have also been convicted and fined the equivalent of nearly $500,000 in France for running an illegal transportation service in a case related to UberPop, which did not require a professional livery license. That service was suspended after a series of strikes by taxi unions led to a ban in France.

The pushback against Uber is part of wider tensions between European authorities and U.S. technology companies.

Google was slapped with a record $2.7 billion fine for antitrust violations last month, and Amazon and Apple have faced investigations over their tax practices in the region. Facebook has been scrutinized for its handling of its users data, and social networks face fines in Germany for failing to swiftly take down hate speech and illegal content.

Uber has its own challenges. Revelations about sexual harassment and discrimination prompted an internal investigation into company culture. It has been dealing with an intellectual-property lawsuit from Waymo, the self-driving business under Googles parent company, Alphabet. And revelations that it had used a tool called Greyball to avoid law enforcement led to a federal inquiry.

After months of turmoil and questions about its leadership and culture, the company is now without a chief executive  a committee of executives is in charge.

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ST. THOMAS, ONT.My husband and I fought traffic jams for hours during the evening rush with a cranky six-month-old in tow. By the time we pulled into Full Circle Ranchin St. Thomas, Ont., I was late for my special yoga class. This was a disaster. I even forgot my mat. When I threw my hands to the floor and pulled myself into cobra pose, I landed on something damp.

It was probably goat pee. After all, it was a yoga class held in a barn filled with goats. What else could it be?

The deep breathing exercises brought the pungent smell of manure. All around me, yogis giggled. Goats wandered all around us, even jumping on our backs as we were planking.

Yoga among goats is all the rage in the yoga world. Hundreds of people are currently on waiting lists for these classes in the U.S. and theyve now arrived in Ontario and other parts of Canada. Classes are held at several farms near the GTA.

The goats are there to take you out of your comfort zone, test your concentration and find your balance between work and play, instructor Ibolya Sepsi explained after class.

Photos: Hitting the farm for the latest fitness trend  goat yoga

You need to be in the moment and pick up the energy around you, said Sepsi, who owns a yoga studio in nearby London, Ont. She and Morrigan Reilly-Ansons, the owner of the ranch, decided to collaborate on a goat yoga series after seeing the craze pop up in Arizona.

As someone who offers equine-assisted psychotherapy at the ranch with her miniature horses, Reilly-Ansons is a firm believer of the therapeutic benefits of animals.

When we become adults, we lose our ability to play, Reilly-Ansons said. Goat yoga brings that back.

The goats snubbed me for the first 30 minutes of the beginner flow yoga class until Sepsis husband, Itsban, picked up Marsha, a 3.5-month-old kid and placed her on my back. Her hoofs tickled. I think Marsha sensed the unsteadiness of my balancing table pose so she jumped off, let me regain my balance, and leapt back on. I highly recommend this. Nothing can lift the weight off your shoulders, than having a goat on your back.

Fighting the instinct to take a ridiculous selfie in the middle of class is harder than the yoga poses themselves. All around me were distracted yogis who occasionally stopped mid-pose for a photo with the animals. And thats OK.

The session was more goat than yoga, and it served as a gateway for yoga newbies like Shelby McGlone and her boyfriend, David Marks, the only male participant that was there and not really a yoga guy.

I was playing with goats more than I was doing yoga, he said.

Debbie Nightingale of Haute Goat farm in Port Hope, Ont., who ran goat yoga sessions at her farms inaugural opening last month, said the session had an impact.

I had one lady visit us who had breast cancer. She told me that she would buy a goat from me if she survives her disease, and she did, Nightingale said by phone. She told me of another case where her goats interacted with an autistic child in a way the mother had never seen before. They are just so communicative and curious, she said. They are very therapeutic in the very basic level. They just make you feel good.

Our drive back to the city was much more serene. Sure, it was way past the rush hour, but I need to give credit where credit is due. Nothing affirms the pop culture acronym Greatest Of All Time like a non-sweaty goat yoga session.

Get your goat on

Full Circle Ranch: St. Thomas, Ontario, Every Wednesday, 7 p.m. $20

Fox Den Yoga: Burlington, July 9, 6:30 p.m.; Niagara-on-the-Lake, June 30, 6 p.m.; Mississauga, July 23 & 24, 6 p.m.)

Holly Hill Hobby Farm: Brantford, July 3 & 15, 7 p.m. $20

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The Canadian government will apologize to Omar Khadr and has settled a multimillion-dollar lawsuit with Toronto-born former detainee for abuses that occurred during his U.S. detention in Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay, the Toronto Star has learned.

Khadrs lawyers met with the Department of Justice attorneys behind closed doors last month to reach the deal.

While the details of the settlement are not yet disclosed, it is reportedly less than the $20 million sought in the civil suit, but more than $10 million, which was what Canadian Maher Arar received following his yearlong detention and torture in Syria in 2002.

Read more:

Odious or overdue: Reports of Omar Khadr settlement draw sharply different reactions

In the U.K., terror-plotters get life not millions of dollars: DiManno

Lawyers Dennis Edney and John Phillips had argued in the case that has been ongoing since 2004, that Canada, a world leader for the rights for child soldiers, violated international law by not protecting its own citizen and conspiring with the U.S. in its abuse of Khadr. The allegations span years where both the Liberals and Conservatives have been in power.

Khadr was only 15 years old when he was shot and detained by U.S. Special Forces following a firefight in Afghanistan. The Pentagon charged Khadr with murder in violation of the laws of war, for the death of Delta Force soldier Sgt. Christopher Speer, who was fatally wounded in the July 2002 firefight.

Thousands of American service members were killed in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, but Khadr remains the only captive the U.S. has prosecuted for murder under the Military Commissions Act, which the U.S. drafted following the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. Prior to 9/11, it was not considered a war crime to kill a soldier in a war zone.

Khadr accepted a plea deal in Guantanamo in 2010 in return for being able to come back to Canada. But he said in a 2015 interview with the Star that he doesnt know if he threw the grenade that ultimately killed Speer and saw the deal as his only way out of the prison.

Speers widow, Tabitha, and former soldier Layne Morris, who was wounded in the firefight and lost sight in one eye, sued Khadr in a Utah court for damages. In 2015, a Salt Lake judge handed down a $134.2-million (U.S.) default settlement after receiving no reply from Khadr or his lawyers.

The claim cannot be enforced in Canada without legal action here and at the time of the settlement, Morris and Speers lawyer, Laura Tanner, said it was really more of a statement case, I think, than a desire to collect this.

The government apology ends what has been a legal saga for Khadr in Canada for nearly 15 years. The United Nations and international human rights groups harshly condemned both the U.S. and Canada over the years for not recognizing Khadrs age during his detention and prosecution before Guatnanamos controversial war crimes court.

Khadrs lawyers took the federal government to court Three times over his constitutional rights, and three times the Supreme Court of Canada ruled in favour of Khadr, writing in an unanimous 2010 decision that the participation of Canadian officials in Khadrs Guantanamo interrogations offends the most basic Canadian standards about the treatment of detained youth suspects.

The settlement will be split between Khadr and his lawyers, who have fought for the Toronto-born former detainee for years, with little compensation for their work. Edney and his wife Patricia have supported Khadr since his release on bail two years ago.

Khadr, now 30, recently moved into his own apartment in Edmonton and hopes to attend classes in the fall to become a nurse.

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OTTAWACanadas elite special forces soldiers risk being run ragged after spending three years deployed in Iraq, as well as in several other lesser-known places around the globe, their deputy commander warns.

Thats why Brig.-Gen. Peter Dawe says the federal governments plan to add 600 more troops to the ranks of the special forces is not only welcome, its necessary, considering the threats Canada faces now  and can expect to face in the future.

The reality is that we deliver the effects that the government deems appropriate, that they direct us to deliver, Dawe said in an interview with The Canadian Press.

And weve been doing it for a while, frankly, on borrowed time. Weve been working our folks very hard. A brutal operational tempo.

The plan to grow Canadas special forces is one of the many measures included in the Liberal governments new defence policy, which promised more than $62 billion in new military spending over the next 20 years.

Read more:

Defence minister extends Iraq military mission by two years and praises snipers long-range kill

Record-breaking sniper shot in Iraq should be celebrated, Trudeau says

Canadian Special Operations sniper shoots Daesh fighter from 3.5 kilometres away

The expected growth is nothing to sneeze at, given the military currently has only about 2,000 special forces personnel, most of which are divided between four different units.

Those include Joint Task Force 2, the Canadian Special Operations Regiment, a special helicopter detachment and a unit that specializes in responding to biological, chemical and nuclear incidents.

Most of the attention since August 2014 has been on their mission in Iraq, where members have been helping Kurdish forces and, more recently, the Iraqi army in their fight against Daesh, also known as ISIS or ISIL.

That includes one JTF2 sniper who recently shot and killed a Daesh fighter from more than 3.5 kilometres away, shattering the previous record for longest kill shot.

Dawe said many of his soldiers have done multiple tours in Iraq  a number that is likely to increase after the government announced last week that the military will stay in the country another two years.

But Iraq isnt the only place where Canadian special forces have been recently operating.

There have also been smaller missions to different parts of Africa, Southeast Asia and Central America, where the Canadian soldiers have helped train local forces fighting extremist groups or organized crime.

Such demands for Canadian expertise show no signs of diminishing given the spread of ISIL and other violent extremism to different countries.

For the most part, much of the work that we do is in the realm of capacity building, Dawe said.

When theres a bit of a violent extremist organization nexus or the need for more generically speaking counterterrorism sort of capacity, then thats really sort of our bailiwick.

Western governments, including Canada, have also increasingly turned to special forces in recent years as a way to intervene in conflicts overseas without having to deploy thousands of troops, like in Afghanistan.

Dawe said his soldiers have successfully and repeatedly demonstrated their professionalism and prowess in Iraq and other parts of the world, but that there are concerns the force is being overworked.

Weve done a pretty good job of managing it, I would tell you, but in some areas we need additional depth because were not deep enough, he said.

When we keep going back to the well for the same sort of capabilities over and over again, it gets very taxing. And not only on the members, but on their families.

And while adding 600 more soldiers to the mix will go a long way to addressing those concerns, new special forces personnel cant simply be recruited off the street  suitable candidates need experience and specific skills and traits.

Its a complex problem, Dawe acknowledged, but one were very confident well be able to tackle.

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Barbara Kentner, a young Indigenous mother who was hit in the stomach by a trailer hitch thrown by a passenger in a speeding car in Thunder Bay, died early Tuesday morning.

The metal trailer hitch struck Kentner, 34, on Jan. 29 and she sustained devastating internal injuries. Her sister Melissa, who was walking down the street with Barbara at the time of the assault, said she heard a blond passenger in the car yell, I (expletive) got one of them, as they drove past.

Barbara spent the next five months hospitalized in agony as her major organs shut down. Barbaras teenage daughter Serena, Melissa and her cousin Debbie Kakagamic were all fixtures at her side.

Kentner is being remembered as a mom and a devoted sister who was always happy, full of life and who was dearly loved by her family.

She had a wonderful sense of humour and she loved every member of her family and everybody loved her, said Kakagamic. She has one daughter Serena, who is 16. Serena would go to the hospital and climb in bed and lay with her mom. She loved her mom so much. She rubbed her moms forehead, held her hand, straightened her blanket out for her.

Her family and Indigenous leaders in Thunder Bay are demanding her death be considered a hate crime. For years, many Indigenous people in Thunder Bay have complained about the level of racism they face in the city daily. During the eight-month long inquest into the seven Indigenous students who died between 2000 to 2011 while at high school in Thunder Bay, many youth testified they were the targets of racial taunts and often had garbage thrown at them from passing cars. Of the seven students who died, five were found in the rivers and three of those deaths were ruled undetermined by the inquest jury.

The city has been further on edge after the disappearances and deaths of Indigenous teens Tammy Keeash, 17, and Josiah Begg, 14. Both vanished on the night of May 6 and then were later found dead in the citys waterways. Indigenous leaders say they no longer trust the local police authorities to investigate the teens deaths and they wanted the RCMP to come in and takeover the investigations. The Thunder Bay Police Service is currently being investigated for systemic racism concerning how they handle Indigenous missing persons and death cases by the Office of the Independent Police Review Director.

Late last month, Ontarios Chief Coroner Dr. Dirk Huyer announced that York Regional Police and the Nishnawbe-Aski Police Service would be brought in to investigate Begg and Keeashs deaths.

Also last month, Statistics Canada reported that Thunder Bay had the highest number of hate crimes reported by police in a metropolitan area across the country.

In the Kentner case, Thunder Bay Police Services said that a post mortem will now be conducted in Toronto sometime this week. Police made an arrest in the case in February and charged Brayden Bushby, 18, with aggravated assault. His case is still before the courts.

The determination and consideration of this incident being a hate motivated crime would be part of the penalty/sentencing aspect of the trial of the accused, said Chris Adams, executive officer with Thunder Bay Police Services.

Racism is a huge problem in Thunder Bay and everyone in the city must acknowledge it and work together to end it, said Nishnawbe Aski Nation Deputy Grand Chief Anna Betty Achneepineskum.

This has been going on for far too long. This is our reality as many Indigenous peoples, especially our women, have come to me with their stories, Achneepineskum said in a release.

There is an escalation of violence in this city, and we must not minimize these horrible situations. A young Indigenous mother died today, and a young girl is without her mother  this should not happen. What do you say to a young girl that loses her mother?

Kakagamic, who spent last week with Kentner, said her cousin was incredibly touched by all the flowers and well wishes she received from her family and from perfect strangers.

She was sleeping a lot, awake sometimes but not opening her eyes. I would get the flowers and bring them right to her and get her to smell them. She couldnt believe she got flowers. It was so sad, the tears rolled down her cheeks, because people cared, said Kakagamic.

She was a very caring person and one of the thoughts that would often go through her head as she was laying there was that she would not wish this on anybody. She really suffered, she said.

Kentner, who is originally from Waabigon Saagaigan Anishinaabeg or Wabigoon Lake Ojibway Nation, lost her parents at an early age. She was raised in Thunder Bay.

Kakagamic is with the Ontario Native Womens Association. Much of the organizations work concerns murdered and missing Indigenous women and girls and the ongoing national inquiry into the more than 1,181 lost victims. It is hard to believe one of your own family members is now added to that list, she said.

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When Indigenous activists symbolically reoccupied traditional Algonquin land by erecting a teepee on Parliament Hill last week, Justin Trudeau paid a visit and spoke with them for about 40 minutes.

When Attawapiskat Chief Theresa Spence began a six-week hunger strike on Victoria Island in the shadow of Parliament Hill in late 2012, the prime minister of the day, Stephen Harper, never met with her and was loathe to utter her name.

Weeks after his cabinet was sworn in, the Trudeau government announced a national inquiry into murdered and missing Indigenous women.

Inaction on a national tragedy ends today, said Indigenous Affairs Minister Carolyn Bennett.

Harper, of course, rejected the idea, telling the CBC in a year-end interview in 2014, he saw no point in spending millions of dollars to get the same report for the 41st or 42nd time.

Harper, in 2008, apologized to generations of Indigenous peoples affected by the residential schools shame then moved on. Trudeau pledged to implement all 94 recommendations in Justice (now Senator) Murray Sinclairs Truth and Reconciliation report in 2015.

On any governments most vexing file, two very different styles. Two very different messages.

Harper usually appeared churlish and distant, Trudeau respectful and accommodating.

But are the results, so far, all that very different?

This Canadian awareness of the need to forge real reconciliation with the Indigenous population may have begun, in its most recent incarnation, with the Idle No More movement and gained much momentum with Sinclairs landmark report, but it is Trudeau who has moved the issue into the Canadian mainstream.

To his credit, Trudeau has elevated Indigenous reconciliation to what we used to call a water cooler issue.

But in so doing, Trudeau has elevated expectations for redress and action on potable water, child welfare, child suicide and other real grievances. He has elevated those expectations among both Indigenous and non-Indigenous Canadians.

So far, he has proved adept at the symbolic.

He has scraped the name of residential schools advocate Hector-Louis Langevin from the prime ministers office across from Parliament Hill, and he has renamed National Aboriginal Day to National Indigenous Peoples Day.

The long vacant former U.S. embassy, will become a space dedicated to Inuit, Metis and First Nations people.

But his murdered and missing women inquiry appears in crisis, losing senior staffers, frustrating families who wish to tell their stories, running behind schedule and almost certain to request more funding.

You can almost hear Harpers words about lawyers benefiting at the expense of victims echoing in the background.

Trudeaus government has adopted the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People, but has made it clear that a clause giving Indigenous peoples free, prior and informed consent on resource projects does not include an Indigenous veto.

A study released Tuesday by the Institute for Research on Public Policy says the absence of a shared understanding of the clause creates frustrations, conflicts and a deepening lack of trust.

It is ultimately not conducive to the development of a sustainable natural resource economy in Canada, let alone political reconciliation with Indigenous peoples, say authors Martin Papillon and Thierry Rodon, who call for Indigenous communities to become full partners on resource projects where they have jurisdiction over the land.

Beyond his symbolic announcements, Trudeau was asked a question of substance about his governments continued refusal to implement a Canadian Human Rights Tribunal order to increase funding for child welfare on reserves, and he could not answer.

He talked about ending boil water advisories, spending on infrastructure and more mental health workers.

There are an estimated 150 drinking water advisory or boil orders in First Nations communities.

Too often, funding for mental health help in communities struggling with youth suicide is stuck in some bureaucratic vortex.

On Canada Day, Bennett was confronted by Simeon Tshakapesh from the Innu community of Natuashish. His 16-year-old son Thunderheart had taken his own life just six weeks earlier.

You dont know how much pain I will carry the rest of my life, he told the minister.

Innu Grand Chief Anastasia Qupee told Bennett: The prime minister says there is money there to help the communities... but it is just sitting there, and its not helping anyone. Its just sitting there.

How long are we going to wait? We need change.

Symbols are nice. But you didnt see Indigenous peoples celebrating the renaming of the Langevin block last weekend. Trudeau is running the danger of inflating expectations he cannot fulfil.

Tim Harper writes on national affairs. tjharper77@gmail.com Twitter: @nutgraf1

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City council has sent clear direction to Toronto Community Housing to not close any additional homes with hundreds at risk of being shuttered for lack of funding.

But in the absence of commitments from other levels of government, its council that will have to find hundreds of millions of dollars in next years and the following budget in order to prevent those closures.

They dont yet know how to close that gap.

Council, voting 36 to 6 on a motion by Councillor Joe Cressy at a meeting Tuesday, asked Toronto Community Housing to ensure no additional units are closed.

Cressy said closing even one more unit would be a collective failure.

As a city and as a province and as a country we have let down TCHC over many years and weve let down the residents who live there, Cressy said on the floor of council.

By the end of this year, a total 600 units are expected to have been closed due to a lack of repairs. Another 400 are at risk of closure next year.

In a city like ours, we should be having a debate about how much housing to build, not how to better maintain and govern the housing we have, Cressy said.

Capital repairs originally planned for 2018 total $438 million and another $500 million in 2019. With city funds running out and no new funds committed, Toronto Community Housing has prepared for additional closures. The corporation is short $262 million for repairs in 2018 and $428 million in 2019. That does not include additional funds required for redevelopment projects and climbing operating costs.

To date, the provincial government has not committed to the 10-year, $2.6-billion repairs plan, despite repeated private meetings, public demands, press conferences and letters to Toronto representatives from Mayor John Tory.

The federal government has announced billions of dollars in country-wide funding, including for social housing, but it has not yet been detailed how much will be available to Toronto Community Housing and how soon.

There are currently more than 181,000 people on the waitlist for subsidized housing in Toronto.

Councillor Ana Bailao, the citys affordable housing advocate, said they will continue look at various financing options, including additional mortgage refinancing on Toronto Community Housing properties.

However, I think that it is very important that we do not leave our partners off the hook, she told reporters after the vote. They have the responsibility over these tenants.

Councillor Mike Layton (Ward 19 Trinity-Spadina) said the real test for council will come at budget time.

Are we going to be willing to put our money where our mouth is and spend the money necessary to protect these tenants and put them first?

On Tuesday, council unanimously supported the overall direction presented by staff in whats called the Tenants First plan  an attempt to decentralize parts of Toronto Community Housing.

The most significant part of the plan recommends hiving off dozens of seniors-designated buildings and making them accountable to a new city agency.

The financial impact of that move and how it might affect tenants lives has not yet been detailed. A further report is expected by the end of the year.

With files from Ainslie Cruickshank

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Toronto police are now considering the disappearance of a 49-year-old man suspicious and say they are concerned for his safety.

Cabbagetown resident Andrew Kinsman has been missing for almost a week after he was last seen near Parliament and Winchester Sts. on June 26.

Police say the missing person report is being treated as suspicious because people who know Kinsman describe his disappearance as completely out of character.

Kinsman is the superintendant of his building in Cabbagetown. He was reported missing after a neighbour checked in on his apartment and found his cat unfed, and the buildings garbage had not been taken out.

A GoFundMe page was created on Monday and almost $2,000 has been raised by Monday evening.

Costs are incurring in the search for him so we are trying to raise funds to assist in finding him, the page says. Please help find our friend, anything would help.

The Toronto People with AIDS Foundation, where Kinsman works as a volunteer, has made regular posts on their Facebook page pleading for help to find him.

Kinsman is described as about 62, medium-to-stocky build, with a buzz-cut, beard, and glasses. He often wears cargo shorts and brown leather Birkenstock sandals. He has a vertical scar on each of his knees from past surgeries.

He also has having two tattoos: an armband-type tattoo with wording on his right bicep and an armband with an expletive word tattooed on the left side of his chest.

Police are asking anyone with information to contact them or Crime Stoppers.

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The deaths of a beloved teacher from the GTA and her husband beside a New Mexico highway have been ruled a murder-suicide, state police said Tuesday.

Ursula Tammy Kokotkiewicz, 32, was found dead in the passenger seat of the couples blue Dodge truck at about 9 a.m. Thursday. Her husband, Jacob, was on the drivers side with a gun between his legs.

Both had been shot in the head. The car was still running when New Mexico State police officers found the couple on the side of the Interstate 40 highway near Albuquerque.

In a news release Tuesday, state police said they found no forensic evidence indicating an external party to be involved, and investigators would be examining a number of electronics found in the car to help determine a motive for the death.

Officers found the bodies while directing traffic for a nearby crash involving a tractor-trailer carrying radioactive materials.

Kokotkiewicz was from Canada, but the couple lived in Flower Mound, Texas, about 45 kilometres northwest of Dallas. Her husband served in the U.S. army, according to local media.

Kokotkiewicz, who went by Tammy or Ms. K, taught at a high school in Dallas. She was certified to teach English, language arts and reading for students in grades 4 to 12 since last July, records from the State of Texas show.

Read more: Students of Canadian teacher found dead in New Mexico cant believe Mrs. K is gone

According to the Ontario College of Teachers, Kokotkiewicz graduated from the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto in 2014, and was registered to teach in the province that September. Kokotkiewicz also received an Honours Bachelor of Arts from U of T in 2013.

A pamphlet from Kokotkiewiczs OISE graduation ceremony  where she went by her maiden name, James  notes she received an award from the Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario.

Tributes for the teacher began rolling in via social media Monday night as news of her death began to spread.

I cant believe Ms. K is gone still, one person wrote. Looking at her pictures makes it seem so unreal, especially because I had just talked to her before she left.

Another person wrote: My heart breaks . . . it will not be the same to look across the hall and not see you there in August.

Family and friends are also trying to raise money to help Kokotkiewiczs mother with funeral costs. The GoFundMe page has raised over $9,000 so far.

Tammy was always smiling and made the best of every situation, said the author of the page.

Those who had the pleasure of knowing her will always remember her smile and bubbling personality.

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Odds are you raised a glass this holiday weekend to Canadas 150th birthday. Cheers to that. And if youre like hundreds of thousands of beer drinkers in this country, you popped a top on a craft beer.

Craft beer drinkers are always on the lookout for something that tastes different than the rest. So, heres a question: Given their thirst for variety, why do they always want their beer to taste exactly the same, every time?

Thats more than a rhetorical question. In fact, its a gauntlet that some craft beer brewers are throwing down with gusto.

Read more:Canadian beehive numbers have been climbing since the 90s: The New Farm

A craft beer is a bit like Grandmas homemade soup  the recipe is always the same, but local availability ultimately dictates what goes in, says David Thuss, a worker-owner at the London Brewing Co-operative. The ingredients reflect whats in the local fields.

Buying Canadian

And that can affect craft beers taste (and colour), even from batch to batch. A big influence on taste is the cone-shaped flowers of the hop plant.

Hops have become particularly associated with pale ales, such as India pale ale (IPA). These brews have soared in popularity among craft beer drinkers drawn to their hoppiness.

The demand for hops was traditionally driven by national or multinational beer companies, and met by imports from the U.S. or Europe.

But now, with craft beer firmly entrenched in the local food movement, consumers are pressing brewers like Thuss for all-local ingredients.

Thats where Ontario farmers come in.

For hops, Thuss and his beer co-op have turned to a growing concern 95 kilometres away, called the Carolinian Hop Yard (named after the Carolinian Forest, the ecozone in which it lies). There, farmers Tim Wilson and Melanie Doerksen have transformed their familys vegetable farm into a specialized organic hop-growing operation, with 10 different varieties.

Hop production at the Carolinian Hop Yard is a sight to behold. Hop plants grow like gangly vines (called bines), climbing up heavy-gauge string suspended from 20-foot trellises to give the flowers sunshine and ventilation as they hang from the plant.

Organic production is labour intensive, primarily weeding and pruning by hand, and constant scouting to check the delicate, developing flowers for signs of plant disease.

Rainfall and drought, which are in constant flux, influence the hops characteristics, and ultimately influence the taste of the beer they flavour.

The Carolinian Hop Yards 30 rows of trellises cover four acres, making it a mid-size hop yard. But shortly it will become one of the provinces biggest such operations: Wilson and Doerksen are adding another six acres, and opening their own brew pub on-site.

Wilson says their beer will reflect regional differences in hops production, using their terroir  the way the geography, geology and climate of a location interact with plant genetics  as a point of distinction, like winemakers do.

These are the tastes of Ontario, says Wilson. As a society, weve lost our appreciation of these regional differences, and of the blood, sweat and tears it takes to produce food. It doesnt come from machines. It comes from the land.

Thats a lot of terroir to take in

Heres an update from the Ontario Beverage Network (@OntarioBevNet), a daily news, directory and map source for Ontario beer, cider, and spirits: Ontario now has 207 breweries, 68 contract brewers, and 124 planned breweries. Craft beer fans, get busy, you have a lot of terroir to take in this summer.

Buzzing over the bee column

Last weeks bee column generated lots of buzz. Friends of the Earth note their new poll shows most Canadians call pesticides the biggest threat to bees. Theyre not, at least not to honeybees  researchers point to blood-sucking varroa mites as this pollinators main problem. But as Friends of the Earth says, all threats to bees are important.

Owen Roberts is an agricultural journalist at the University of Guelph. Follow him on Twitter at @TheUrbanCowboy.

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WASHINGTONU.S. President Donald Trump will learn this week whether he gets a second chance to make a first impression as he returns to Europe and has his first encounter with Russias Vladimir Putin.

Trumps first visit to the continent in May stirred anxieties among his European allies when he declined to endorse NATOs common defence treaty explicitly and scolded world leaders for not spending more on their armed forces. This time, Trump will use stops in Poland and Germany to try to pull off the tricky balancing act of improving ties with Moscow at a time of particularly fraught relations while also presenting the U.S. as a check against Russian aggression.

Trump is leaving Washington for Europe on Wednesday. In what may be the most-watched event of the four-day trip, the president will meet Putin on the sidelines of an international summit meeting in Hamburg, Germany. Every aspect of the meeting between the two unpredictable leaders is sure to be closely scrutinized as investigations press on into alleged Moscow meddling in the 2016 election and potential Trump campaign collusion.

With those investigations hanging heavy in the air, there is little expectation the meeting will produce significant progress on difficult issues such as the crisis in Ukraine or the conflict in Syria.

I cant imagine any issue they can actually make major headway on, given the poison that surrounds the relationship, said Michael OHanlon, a senior fellow in foreign policy at the Brookings Institution, who suggested it might lay the groundwork for future co-operation.

Read more:

Trump eager for meeting with Putin, though officials still wary amid Russian hacking investigation

Trump to meet with Putin at G20 summit in Germany, White House says

Trump to celebrate Bastille Day in France after invitation from Macron

The Trump-Putin encounter will be one of at least nine meetings the U.S. president will have with foreign leaders while in Hamburg for a Group of 20 summit of developed and developing nations, beginning Friday.

But first Trump will stop in Poland, where leaders are looking for reassurance that the presence of U.S. and NATO troops there will continue as long as the regions security is threatened by a resurgent Russia. In return, Trump will be expecting a warm reception as he pays homage to Polish resolve with a speech Thursday in Krasinski Square, his first major outdoor address in a foreign country.

Polands leaders are closely aligned with Trumps world view, and ruling party lawmakers and pro-government activists plan to bus in groups to help ensure an enthusiastic crowd for Trump after his rather awkward European debut in May.

Previewing the trip, White House officials said Trump would reiterate the U.S. commitment to NATOs Article 5, which says an attack on one member is an attack on all  something he didnt do at NATO headquarters in Brussels during his first overseas trip but eventually endorsed last month. The president is also expected to cite the need to develop a common approach to Russia, his advisers said.

Hed like the United States and the entire West to develop a more constructive relationship with Russia, said the White House National Security Adviser, H.R. McMaster. But hes also made clear that we will do what is necessary to confront Russias destabilizing behaviour.

Preparing for the trip, Trump spoke Monday with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni. Earlier in the holiday weekend, he had conversations with Chinese President Xi Jinping, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and the leaders of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar.

After this trip, the president will be back in Europe soon for a mid-July visit to France to celebrate Bastille Day alongside new French President Emmanuel Macron. And in late July, hell send U.S. Vice-President Mike Pence to Estonia and Georgia  two former Soviet satellites straddling the Russian border  and new NATO member Montenegro.

Poland has been a staunch U.S. ally in Iraq and Afghanistan and is home to about 5,000 U.S. troops serving in separate American and NATO missions.

Theyre betting that this relationship with the United States on defence will balance their concerns about the possible directions of U.S.-Russia policy, said Jeff Rathke, a senior fellow and deputy director of the Europe Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Sharing a border with Russia is of the highest concern for Poland.

U.S.-Russian relations remain tense  Trump said in April they may be at an all-time low  and Moscow has denounced the recent decision by the U.S. to impose sanctions on more than three dozen Russian people and firms over Russian activities in Ukraine. But Trump has expressed hopes of improved relations with the global power.

White House aides said Trump did not have a specific agenda for the meeting with the Russian president and they have yet to provide details on the staging for the encounter. Trump has had three phone calls with Putin since taking office. In the past, hes offered contradictory descriptions of his connections with Putin, insisting during the campaign he had no recollection of meeting him but earlier stating that they spoke around the 2013 Miss Universe pageant in Moscow.

Trumps overseas trip will be his first since he announced that he was withdrawing the U.S. from the landmark Paris climate agreement, to the regret of a number of world leaders who had lobbied Trump to remain in the 2015 pact. The White House said Trump and Merkel discussed the climate issues in their conversation Monday.

Merkel, host of the G20 summit, has been open about her disappointment in Trumps decision and told the German parliament we cannot expect easy talks in Hamburg on climate issues.

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MEXICO CITYNine people were killed in central Mexico in a series of shootings involving disputes between suspected fuel thieves, officials said.

It was the latest round of violence in an area east of Mexico City where thieves who siphon fuel out of state-run pipelines have fought police, the army and each other.

Prosecutors in Puebla state said late Monday the shootings started when a gang of gunmen led by a man known as El Cuije  The Lizard  went looking for other thieves to extort money from them. They killed three people on the spot and kidnapped five others, whose bodies were found elsewhere, burned.

A local police official was also killed in circumstances related to the shootings in the township of Huehuetlan El Grande. Another police officer and a town official were injured.

Mexican drug and criminal gangs frequently charge other criminals for the right to operate in their territory and that part of Puebla state has come to be dominated by fuel thieves.

In May, gunmen using local residents as human shields opened fire on Mexican army patrols investigating fuel pipeline thefts, in clashes that left four soldiers and six attackers dead.

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Two thousand years ago, Roman builders constructed vast seawalls and harbour piers. The concrete they used outlasted the empire  and still holds lessons for modern engineers, scientists say.

A bunch of half-sunken structures off the Italian coast might sound less impressive than a gladiatorial colosseum. But underwater, the marvel is in the material. The harbour concrete, a mixture of volcanic ash and quicklime, has withstood the sea for two millennia and counting. Whats more, it is stronger than when it was first mixed.

The Roman stuff is an extraordinarily rich material in terms of scientific possibility, said Philip Brune, a research scientist at DuPont Pioneer who has studied the engineering properties of Roman monuments. Its the most durable building material in human history, and I say that as an engineer not prone to hyperbole.

By contrast, modern concrete exposed to saltwater corrodes within decades.

The mystery has been why the ancient material endured. Archeologists will say they have the recipe, said Marie Jackson, an expert in ancient Roman concrete at the University of Utah. (Pliny the Elder once wrote an ode to concrete that as soon as it comes into contact with the waves of the sea and is submerged becomes a single stone mass, impregnable to the waves.) But its not the complete picture: Its one thing to assemble the ingredients, another to know how to bake the cake.

To that end, Jackson and her colleagues peered into the microscopic structures of concrete samples, extracted from the seawalls and piers as part of a project called the Roman Maritime Concrete Study. This rocklike concrete is behaving, in many ways, like volcanic deposits in submarine environments, Jackson said.

Where modern concrete is designed to ignore the environment, Roman concrete embraces it. As the scientists report in a study published Monday in the journal American Mineralogist, Roman concrete is filled with tiny growing crystals. The crystals, like tiny armour plates, may keep the concrete from fracturing.

The scientists subjected the concrete samples to a battery of advanced imaging techniques and spectroscopic tests. The tests revealed a rare chemical reaction, with aluminous tobermorite crystals growing out of another mineral called phillipsite. Brune, who was not involved with the study, called the work a significant accomplishment. He likened it to the scientists biting into a cake of mysterious flavour and determining that the baker usedorganically sourced dark chocolate.

In this instance, the key ingredient proved to be seawater. As seawater percolated within the tiny cracks in the Roman concrete, Jackson said, it reacted with the phillipsite naturally found in the volcanic rock and created the tobermorite crystals.

Aluminous tobermorite is very difficult to produce, she said, and requires very high temperatures to synthesize small amounts. Cribbing from the ancient Romans might lead to better production of tobermorite, which is prized for its industrial applications, she noted.

The Romans mined a specific type of volcanic ash from a quarry in Italy. Jackson is attempting to recreate this durable concrete using San Francisco seawater and more abundant volcanic rocks. She has several samples sitting in ovens and jars in her lab, which she will test for evidence of similar chemical reactions.

If her effort is successful, the concrete could yet have a role to play in human history  if one was indeed interested in making seawalls and forced to protect shoreline environments, Jackson said. (In one 2014 study, a team of European climate scientists predicted that, if the next 90 years follow the trend of the past 30, the cost of constructing barriers to hold back the sea might rise to as high as $71 billion (U.S.) per year. The alternative, coastal flooding, could do trillions of dollars in damage annually.)

Modern seawalls require steel reinforcements; a future in which large relic walls of twisted steel dot the coast would be very troubling, Jackson said. The Romans didnt use steel. Their reactive concrete was strong enough on its own.

Its not just a historical curiosity, Brune said. It may yet have a part to play.

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BERLINThe head of Germanys domestic intelligence agency is warning that more terror attacks by Islamic extremists in Germany are likely.

Hans-Georg Maassen said Tuesday that further attacks by single persons or terror commando groups must be expected. He and German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere were presenting the annual report by Germanys domestic intelligence agency.

De Maiziere told reporters some 680 extremists are considered potentially dangerous enough to carry out an attack.

Although Tunisian Anis Amri had been under surveillance, he was able to hijack a truck in December and drive it into a crowded Christmas market in Berlin, killing 12 people and wounding dozens  the first mass-casualty Islamic extremist attack in Germany.

Maassen says 10,000 people in Germany are part of the radical Islamic Salafist scene but not all are violent.

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MOSUL, IRAQIraqs prime minister on Tuesday congratulated his fighters on the big victory in Mosul  even as fighting with Daesh militants continued in Mosuls Old City neighbourhood where Iraqi forces are about 250 metres from the Tigris River and facing increasingly brutal resistance.

Haider al-Abadi spoke during a press conference in Baghdad, less than a week after he declared an end to Daeshs self-styled caliphate after Iraqi forces achieved an incremental win by retaking the landmark al-Nuri Mosque in the Old City.

Praise be to God, we managed to liberate (Mosul) and proved the others were wrong, the people of Mosul supported and stood with our security forces against terrorism, al-Abadi said.

His remarks came on the third anniversary of Daesh leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadis sermon at the al-Nuri Mosque, from where he declared an Islamic caliphate on Daesh-held lands in Syria and Iraq.

Also during the press conference, al-Abadi added that he has given instructions to rebuild and stabilize areas of the city already freed from the militant group.

Inside Mosuls Old City, civilians fleeing Iraqi advance are increasingly desperate. The elderly and weak are carried across mounds of rubble in blankets. Soldiers  increasingly fearful of the Old Citys inhabitants after a string of suicide bombings  hurry the groups along.

A middle-aged woman with a gaunt, pale face fainted as she fled past the destroyed al-Nuri Mosque. Two soldiers carried her to the roadside and tried to revive her with cold water.

Largely cut off from food and water for months, humanitarian groups are reporting a spike in the number of displaced people suffering from malnutrition and dehydration.

None of the previous battles were like this, said Iraqi Maj. Faris Aboud, working at a small field hospital just outside the Old City.

In a single day we received 300 wounded, Aboud, a father of three continued. For me, seeing the wounded children is the hardest, we see children who have lost their entire families under the rubble, they have no one now.

Read more:

Iraqi prime minister declares end to Daesh caliphate as troops retake Mosul landmark

Hundreds flee as Iraqi forces attack last pockets of Daesh resistance in Mosul

Daesh militants send female suicide bombers as Mosul fight nears end

Lt. Gen. Abdel Ghani al-Asadi, of Iraqs special forces, said earlier in the day that Iraqi forces are just 250 metres from the Tigris River, in the western half of Mosul. The Tigris divides the city roughly into its western and eastern half, which was liberated from Daesh, also known as ISIS or ISIL, militants back in January.

Daesh militants who remain trapped in just a few hundred meters of territory in the Old City are now in a fight to the death, al-Asadi said, adding that Daesh fighters are increasingly resorting to suicide bombings and that he expects the fighting to get even heavier as they are pushed closer to the river.

Iraqi forces marked a significant victory this week when the Rapid Response Division retook Mosuls main hospital complex on the citys western side.

The building that once held the citys best medical facilities now sits devastated by the fight. For weeks, a handful of Daesh snipers perched in the main hospitals top floors held back hundreds of Iraqi forces.

Iraqi forces launched the operation to retake Mosul, the countrys second largest city, in October. Daesh overran Mosul in a matter of days in 2014. At the height of the extremists power, they held nearly a third of Iraq.

A man who asked to only be referred to as Abu Abid, for fear for his familys safety, was waiting to get a spot on a truck after fleeing the Old City.

That place, it was absolute death, he said. We will never be the same. Once the fear has been planted in your heart, you cant get rid of it.

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ST. PAUL, MINN.The judge who presided over the manslaughter trial of a Minnesota police officer acquitted in the fatal shooting of black motorist Philando Castile took the unusual step of writing to the jurors to tell them that he supports them despite widespread public criticism of their verdict.

I write to reassure you that you faithfully fulfilled the difficult task you were asked to undertake, Ramsey County District Judge William Leary III said in his letter to the jury, the Star Tribune of Minneapolis reported Tuesday.

The judge told jurors he was not providing his own opinion of St. Anthony officer Jeronimo Yanezs actions during the fatal traffic stop last July in the St. Paul suburb of Falcon Heights, but wanted to convey that their verdict was fully supported by a fair interpretation of the evidence and the law you were obligated to apply.

Read more:

Minnesota officers acquittal in Philando Castiles death worries black gun owners

Mother of Philando Castile reaches $3M settlement in shooting death

Castile protesters march in Minnesota city where acquitted officer worked

Reached Monday, Leary issued a short statement to the newspaper that said, I appreciate your interest, but I dont believe any discussion would be of any additional value.

A Minnesota police officer has been acquitted of manslaughter in the fatal shooting of a black motorist. In an emotional press conference, Philando Castile's mother says the city of St. Paul killed her son by letting the murderer go free. (The Associated Pr0

The verdict on June 16 sparked a rally at the state capitol, which gave way to a march through St. Paul that shut down light rail service and ended with a confrontation with authorities on Interstate 94.

Leary sent his letter a few days after authorities released dramatic dashboard camera video showing the Latino officer firing seven shots at the 32-year-old elementary school cafeteria worker in a matter of seconds, just after Castile informed Yanez he was armed. The shooting gained widespread attention after Castiles girlfriend, who was in the car with her then-4-year-old daughter, livestreamed its gruesome aftermath on Facebook.

During his trial, Yanez, 29, testified that Castile ignored his commands not to pull out his gun. The officer said he feared for his life. According to squad car video that captured the shooting, Castile said Im not pulling it out before Yanez opened fire. Castiles last words were: I wasnt reaching ... 

Reynolds later said Castile was reaching for his wallet.

In his letter, Leary broke down the multiple elements of the law that prosecutors were required to prove beyond a reasonable doubt, including whether Yanez acted with gross negligence and recklessness.

The states failure to prove any of the required elements of the charge required that you, the jury, return a verdict of not guilty, Leary wrote.

The mother of Philando Castile, a black motorist killed by a Minnesota police officer last July, has reached a nearly $3 million settlement with the city that employed the officer, avoiding a federal wrongful death lawsuit. (The Associated P

Leary wrote that the criticism has focused primarily on reaction to the squad car video and issues that the jury was never asked to address.

You were never asked to decide whether racism continues to exist, whether certain members of our community are disproportionately affected by police tactics, or whether police training is ineffective, he said. You were simply asked to determine, beyond a reasonable doubt, whether a crime had been committed.

Yanez attorney Earl Gray said he appreciated Learys letter.

He told the jury they followed the law and did their duty, Gray said. Im sure the jurors felt better.

The Ramsey County Attorneys Office said in an email to The Associated Press on Tuesday that it had no comment.

Its unusual to do a letter after the fact, but theres nothing inappropriate about this letter, said local defence attorney Joe Tamburino, who was not involved in the case. I say hats off to him for doing this, because the jury received an inordinate amount of criticism. The issue was whether the state proved its case, not greater social issues.

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When then-President-elect Donald Trump said on Twitter in early January that a North Korean test of an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of reaching the United States wont happen! there were two things that he still didnt fully appreciate: How close Kim Jong Un was to reaching that goal, and how limited any presidents options were to stop him.

The ensuing seven months have been an education for Trump. With North Koreas July 4 launch, the country may, analysts say, have crossed that threshold, with a missile that could potentially reach Alaska.

Kims aggressive testing shows that a more definitive demonstration that he can reach the U.S. mainland cannot be far away, even if it may be a few years before he can fit a nuclear warhead onto his increasingly powerful missiles. But for Trump and his national security team, todays technical milestone simply underscores tomorrows strategic dilemma.

A North Korean ability to reach the U.S., as former Defense Secretary William Perry noted recently, changes every calculus. The fear is not that Kim would launch a pre-emptive attack on the West Coast; that would be suicidal, and if the 33-year-old leader has demonstrated anything in his five years in office, he is all about survival. But if Kim has the potential ability to strike back, it would shape every decision Trump and his successors will make about defending Americas allies in the region.

It would, as one former top U.S. intelligence official noted recently, colour every military decision and put enormous pressure on U.S. missile defences that few trust to work.

Trump still has some time. What the North Koreans accomplished while Americans focused on Independence Day celebrations was a breakthrough, but not a vivid demonstration of their nuclear reach.

Their missile travelled only 933 kilometres, by itself no great achievement. But it got there by taking a 2,700-kilometre trip into space and re-entering the atmosphere, a flight that lasted 37 minutes by the calculation of the U.S. Pacific Command (and a few minutes longer according to the North Koreans).

Flatten that out, and you have a missile that could reach Alaska, but not Los Angeles. That bolsters the assessment of the director of the Missile Defense Agency, Vice Adm. James Syring, who told a congressional hearing last month that the U.S. must assume that North Korea can reach us with a ballistic missile.

Perhaps that is why Trump has not issued any red lines that the North Koreans cannot step over.

He has not even repeated the policy that George W. Bush laid out in October 2006 after the Norths first nuclear test: that he would hold the country fully accountable if it shared its nuclear technology with any other nation or terrorist group. Trumps advisers say they see little merit in drawing lines that could limit options and they would rather keep the North guessing.

So what are Trumps options, and what are their downsides?

There is classic containment, like the U.S. used against the Soviet Union in the Cold War. But that does not solve the problem, it is just a way of living with it.

He could step up sanctions, boost the U.S. naval presence off the Korean Peninsula  were sending an armada he boasted in April  and accelerate the secret U.S. cyber program to sabotage missile launches. But if that combination of intimidation and technical wizardry had been a success, Kim would not have conducted the July 4 test, knowing that it would only lead to more sanctions, more military pressure and more covert activity.

He could go the next step, and threaten pre-emptive military strikes if the U.S. detects an imminent launch of a intercontinental ballistic missile  maybe one intended to demonstrate the potential reach to the West Coast. Perry argued for that step in 2006, in an op-ed in The Washington Post that he wrote with a future defence secretary, Ash Carter. If North Korea persists in its launch preparations, the United States should immediately make clear its intention to strike and destroy the missile on the pad, the two men wrote then.

But Perry noted recently that even if you think it was a good idea at the time, and he now seems to have his doubts, its not a good idea today.

The reason is simple: In the intervening 11 years the North has built too many missiles, of too many varieties, to make the benefits of a strike like that worth the risk. It has test-flown a new generation of solid-fuel missiles, which can be easily hidden in mountain caves and rolled out for quick launch. And the North Koreans still possess their ultimate weapon of retaliation: Artillery along the northern edge of the Demilitarized Zone that can take out Seoul, a city of approximately 10 million people and one of the most vibrant economic hubs of Asia.

In short, that is a risk the North Koreans are betting even Trump, for all his threats, would not take. A conflict in North Korea, Trumps secretary of defence, Jim Mattis, said on Face the Nation in May, would be probably the worst kind of fighting in most peoples lifetimes.

Which leads to the next option, the one that South Koreas new president, Moon Jae-in, talked about in Washington on Friday when he visited Trump: negotiation. It would start with a freeze in North Koreas nuclear and missile tests in return for a U.S. agreement to limit or suspend military exercises with South Korea. Chinas president, Xi Jinping, has long urged that approach, and it won an endorsement on Tuesday from President Vladimir Putin of Russia, after he met with Xi.

That may be the best path available. But it, too, carries risks. It essentially achieves the North Korean and Chinese goal of limiting U.S. military freedom of action in the Pacific, and over time erodes the quality of the U.S.-South Korean military deterrent.

Negotiations with the North are hardly a new idea: Bill Clinton tried it in 1994, and George W. Bush in the last two years of his term. But both discovered that over time, once the North Koreans determined that the economic benefits were limited, the deals fell apart.

Moreover, a freeze at this late date, when the North is estimated to have 10 to 20 nuclear weapons, essentially acknowledges that the Norths modest arsenal is here to stay.

Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson said as much when he visited Seoul in mid-March and told reporters that he would likely reject any solution that would enshrine a comprehensive set of capabilities in the North. He has since softened his public comments. Administration officials now suggest that a freeze would not be a solution but a way station to a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula  in other words, an agreement that Kim would give up all his nuclear weapons and missiles.

But it is now clear that Kim has no interest in giving up that power.

As Kim looks around the world, he sees cases like that of Col. Moammar Gadhafi of Libya  an authoritarian who gave up his nascent nuclear program, only to be deposed, with U.S. help, as soon as his people turned against him. Thats what Kim Jong Un believes his nuclear program will prevent  a U.S. effort to topple him.

He may be right.

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WASHINGTONThe U.S. government has long warned that Russian organized crime posed a threat to democratic institutions, including criminally linked oligarchs who might collude with the Russian government to undermine business competition.

Those concerns, ever-present if not necessarily top priorities, are front and centre once more.

An ongoing special counsel investigation is drawing attention to Russian efforts to meddle in democratic processes, the type of skulduggery that in the past has relied on hired hackers and outside criminals. Its not clear how much the probe by former FBI Director Robert Mueller will centre on the criminal underbelly of Moscow, but hes already picked some lawyers with experience fighting organized crime. And as the team looks for any financial entanglements of Trump associates and relationships with Russian officials, its focus could land again on the intertwining of Russias criminal operatives and its intelligence services.

Russian organized crime has manifested itself over the decades in more conventional forms of money laundering, credit card fraud and black market sales. Justice Department prosecutors have repeatedly racked up convictions for those offences.

In recent years, though, the bond between Russian intelligence agencies and criminal networks has been especially alarming to American law enforcement officials, blending motives of espionage with more old-fashioned greed. In March, for instance, two hired hackers were charged along with two officers of Russias Federal Security Service in a cyberattack on Yahoo Inc. in 2013.

Its too early to know how Russian criminal networks might fit into the election meddling investigation, but central to the probe are devastating breaches of Democratic email accounts, including those of the Democratic National Committee and Hillary Clintons campaign chairman. U.S. authorities have blamed those hacks on Russian intelligence services working to discredit Clinton and help Trump  but have said the overall effort involved third-party intermediaries and paid Internet trolls.

Read more: Trump lashes out at Obama over latest report on Russian election meddling

Former law enforcement officials say Russian organized crime has been a concern for at least a couple of decades, though not necessarily the most pressing demand given finite resources and budget constraints. The threat is diffuse and complex, and Russias historic lack of co-operation has complicated efforts to apprehend suspects. And the responsibility for combating the problem often falls across different divisions of the FBI and the Justice Department, depending on whether its a criminal or national security offence  a sometimes-blurry boundary.

Its not an easy thing to kind of grasp or understand, but its very dangerous to our country because they have so many different aspects, unlike a traditional cartel, said Robert Anderson, a retired FBI executive assistant director who worked counter-intelligence cases and oversaw the criminal and cyber branch.

You have to know where to look, which makes it more complicated, he added. And you have to understand what youre looking for.

Federal prosecutors continue to bring traditional organized crime cases, such as one last month in New York charging 33 members and associates of a Russian crime syndicate in a racketeering and extortion scheme that officials say involved cargo shipment thefts and efforts to defraud casinos. But theres a heightened awareness about more sophisticated cyber threats that commingle the interests of the government and of criminals.

An organized criminal group matures in what they do, said retired FBI assistant director Ron Hosko. What they once did here through extortion, some of these groups are now doing through cyberattack vectors.

Within the Justice Department, its been apparent since the collapse of the Soviet Union that crime from that territory could affect national security in Europe and the U.S.

A 2001 report from the Justice Departments National Institute of Justice, a research arm, called America the land of opportunity for unloading criminal goods and laundering dirty money. Three months later came the Sept. 11 attacks, and the FBI, then under Muellers leadership, shifted resources to focus on terrorism.

I recall talking to the racketeering guys after that and them saying, Forget any focus now on organized crime, said James Finckenauer, an author of the report.

Besides cyber threats, Justice Department officials in recent years have worried about the effect of unchecked international corruption, creating a kleptocracy initiative to recover money plundered by government leaders for their own purposes.

In 2014, then-Attorney General Eric Holder pledged the Justice Departments commitment to recouping huge sums believed to have been stolen by the ousted Russian-backed government of Viktor Yanukovych, the Ukrainian president chased from power earlier that year. That effort led to an FBI focus on Paul Manafort, the Trump campaign chairman who lobbied for Yanukovychs government and who remains under investigation now.

Read more: Russia investigation sets sights on ex-Trump campaign chief Paul Manafort

But those same foreign links have also made cases hard to prove in court. In many instances, foreign criminal hackers or those sponsored by foreign governments  including China, Iran and Russia  have remained out of reach of American authorities. In some cases, judges have chastised U.S. authorities for prosecutorial overreach in going after international targets.

A San Francisco federal judge, for instance, in 2015 dismissed an indictment involving two Ukrainian nationals who had been accused of trying to bribe an official at a United Nations agency responsible for creating standards for machine-readable international passports.

The judge said he couldnt understand how the government could apply a foreign bribery law to conduct that had no direct connection to the U.S.

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Over three days in late June, American Airlines cancelled 57 regional flights out of Phoenix due to extreme heat of 49 C. More heat waves in the future could mean flights get cancelled, delayed or have to lose some weight. That weight could be you.

In the aviation business, really hot days are called weight restriction days, because when its hot, fully loaded planes cant get off the ground. There are only three ways for a plane to lose weight: fuel, cargo, or passengers.

In a 2015 study, researchers at Columbia University predicted that by 2050 there could be four times as many weight restriction days at the most at-risk airports in the United States. On the hottest days and longest flights, that could potentially mean dozens of passengers and their luggage are left waiting in the terminal.

To take off, a plane has to reach a certain minimum speed. On hot days and at high elevations, that minimum speed increases. High elevation and high temperature mean less molecules of air for the plane to push off of, explained Radley Horton, a climate scientist at Columbia who was involved in the study.

Longer runways can help, allowing pilots to attain a faster speed.

But when its too hot for a plane to take off, airlines must choose between cancelling the flight, waiting until its cooler, or cutting back on weight. Thats why long flights out of the Middle East and parts of Central and South America are routinely scheduled for late in the evening or overnight.

The Columbia researchers found the number of weight restriction days has already increased since 1980. Some airports in the U.S. have adopted measures to deal with extreme heat. In Washington, D.C., those protocols are routine. Most summer days already have weight restrictions  because of temperatures, and also because the airport has a relatively short runway.

Those challenges rarely result in cancellations, explained Billy Nolen of Airlines for America, the airline trade association.

You can normally accommodate weight issues by adjusting fuel levels, he said.

Larger planes are better equipped to deal with weight restrictions. A standard 737 jet carries over 18 tonnes of fuel  and most flights do not require a full tank, Nolen said.

These calculations happen every day, theyre computerized, he said.

Smaller, older aircraft used for regional flights have an added challenge. Those models dont stand up to extreme heat as well  and so, like the flights out of Phoenix last month  are much more likely to be cancelled.

Smaller planes like those in use on most regional flights are typically only certified to about 49 C- while more powerful aircraft can function up until 54 C, according to American Airlines spokeswoman Michelle Mohr.

And that, researchers say, means a higher likelihood of cancellations on short hops.

In the future, well see more planes unable to take off, said Paul Williams, professor of meteorology at the University of Reading.

Using computer models, the Columbia researchers projected a dramatic increase in the number of days when extreme heat will necessitate weight adjustments. The study focused on four high-risk airports: Phoenix, because of its number of hot days; Denver, because of its elevation and thinner air; and New Yorks LaGuardia and D.C.s Reagan airports, because they have short runways and are highly trafficked.

We can say with high confidence, said Horton, that the type of heat events that lead to weight limits are going to increase in the future.

The researchers predicted the number of 4,500-kilogram restriction days  days when a standard 737 must be 4,500 kilograms lighter than its maximum weight to take off  would increase from near zero to about 20 days per year in Phoenix.

The number of 6,800-kilogram restriction days is also expected to increase  and that tighter weight limit could lead to more bumping, Williams said.

If theres no more cargo to take off, then (airlines) start to bump off passengers, said Williams.

In theory, that could mean off-loading dozens of passengers when undertaking a cross-country journey on an extremely hot day. In cases where a full tank of fuel is necessary, 79 passengers plus their luggage would have to be removed to take off on a 6,800-kilogram restriction day.

Nolen insists that those kinds of weight restrictions are very unlikely  and that cancellations will also remain rare.

However, the International Civil Aviation Organization, the United Nations agency that oversees aviation, last year acknowledged rising temperatures as one of their biggest climate-related concerns.

Last months cancellations highlighted a poorly understood aspect of air travel and climate change. Many people understand air travel is bad for the climate, in terms of producing greenhouse gas emissions.

Yet climate change is also having an impact on air travel, in the form of shifting wind patterns, stronger jet streams, and increased instances of extreme weather and turbulence. Rising sea levels also affect siting airports.

Climate change is causing jet streams to be less stable, Williams, who helped prepare the ICAO report, explained. That could radically shake up flight schedules.

The jet stream that moves west to east over the Atlantic is getting stronger.

In 2015, the jet stream hit speeds over 320 kph. Riding the wave, an eastbound plane was propelled to nearly the speed of sound, delivering passengers from New York to London in just over five hours. In the opposite direction, planes bound for New York were forced to stop in Maine and refuel, because the head wind slowed them to a sluggish eight-hour haul.

Between the United States and Europe, were going to see a lot more record-breaking fast eastbound flights and a lot more severely delayed westbound flights, said Williams.

Changing wind patterns might also force airlines to reroute to avoid head winds causing more delays and using more fuel, both of which translate to higher costs, explained Stephen Munroe, a Bloomberg analyst who focuses on energy.

Researchers also predict increases in severe turbulence, and injuries due to turbulence, sometimes forcing flights to reroute.

But while there are hundreds of studies on how air travel contributes to climate change, there are only half a dozen or so investigating the reverse impact of climate change on air travel.

This is a new frontier, said Columbias Horton. To date we are not seeing much engagement from the aviation industry on this issue.

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WASHINGTONU.S. President Donald Trumps first face-to-face meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday will be brimming with global intrigue, but the White House says theres no specific agenda. So in the absence of a set list of topics, what are two of the worlds most famously unpredictable leaders to discuss?

Trump, who prefers to have neatly packaged achievements to pair with high-profile meetings, may be looking for some concessions from Russia to show hes delivering progress and helping restore a productive relationship between the two powers. Putin would almost surely want something in return, and theres a long list of irritants between the two countries that they could potentially resolve.

Ahead of the bilateral meeting, White House National Security Council and State Department officials have been reviewing possible gestures the U.S. could offer Russia as part of the meeting, a current and a former administration official said. They werent authorized to comment publicly and requested anonymity.

Read the latest news on U.S. President Donald Trump END

Yet any outward sign of bonhomie between Trump and Putin would be immediately seized upon by the presidents critics and Russia hawks eager to show hes cosying up to the Russian leader. The ongoing investigations into Russias interference in the U.S. election and potential Trump campaign collusion wont be far from anyones minds.

The two leaders will sit down in Hamburg, Germany, on the sidelines of a Group of 20 summit of leading rich and developing nations. Ahead of the meeting, Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak met Monday in Washington with the No. 3 U.S. diplomat, Thomas Shannon, to prepare.

A look at what Trump and Putin could address:

Election hacking

Trump has been reluctant to publicly and directly acknowledge Russias role in meddling in the U.S. election, out of apparent concern it undermines the legitimacy of his win. Hes also insisted there was no collusion with him or his campaign, a conclusion that U.S. investigators have not yet reached.

U.S. officials says Russia tried to hack election systems in 21 states and to sway the election for Trump, a level of interference in the U.S. political system that security experts say represents a top-level threat that should command a forceful response from the U.S. Putin has denied all this.

There are no indications Trump plans to raise Russias meddling at the meeting. Yet if he doesnt, it will give fuel to Trumps critics who say hes blatantly ignoring a major national security threat. It could also embolden those who say Trump is trying to cover for the Russians after benefiting from their interference.

Irritants

Each side has a long list of complaints about the other that do not rise to the geopolitical level but are nonetheless impeding broader attempts to co-ordinate or co-operate on larger concerns. After meeting in Moscow earlier this year, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov agreed to set up a mechanism to deal with these issues the Russians describe as irritants and the Americans call the smalls.

But even that effort has stalled. After the Treasury last month imposed new sanctions on Russia for its intervention in Ukraine, Moscow called off a scheduled second meeting between Thomas Shannon, the U.S. undersecretary of state for political affairs, and Sergey Ryabkov, a Russian deputy foreign minister. Shannon and Ryabkovs cancelled June 23 meeting in St. Petersburg has yet to be rescheduled.

It was not clear if either Trump or Putin would seek to reopen the channel when they see each other in Hamburg, although Tillerson and other State Department officials have taken pains to stress that they remain open to a resumption of the talks.

Russias wish list

Russia has been especially vocal about its chief demand: the return of two properties it owns in the U.S. that were seized by the Obama administration as punishment for Russian meddling in the 2016 election. The recreational compounds are located in Oyster Bay, New York, on Long Island, and along the Corsica River in the Eastern Shore region of Maryland

On Monday, Putins foreign affairs adviser, Yuri Ushakov, said Russia had been remarkably restrained by declining to retaliate but that its patience was running out. If the U.S. doesnt soon give back the compounds, also known as dachas, Moscow will have no choice but to retaliate, Ushakov said.

Another Russian demand is to ease surveillance of its diplomats in the U.S.

U.S. demands

The U.S. has its own list, topped by a resumption of adoptions of Russian children by American parents which Russia banned in late 2012, an end to what it says is intensifying harassment of U.S. diplomats and other officials in Russia and a resolution to a dispute over a piece of land in St. Petersburg that was meant to be the site of a new U.S. consulate in Russias second-largest city. The U.S. also wants expanded cultural and exchange programs between the two countries. Such programs were vastly curtailed or ended after Putins 2012 return to the Kremlin in an election he accused Washington of interfering in.

Tillerson has made the adoption issue a priority, according to aides, although it remains unclear if he has succeeded in convincing the Russians to even consider revisiting the ban. The property dispute in St. Petersburg dates to 2014 when Russia blocked the U.S. from developing the site after the Obama administration hit Russia with sanctions because of its annexation of Ukraines Crimea region.

Officials say the U.S. wont simply swap the Russian compounds for the St. Petersburg consulate. Action on the other demands is also required, they say.

Read more:

Trump to make second impression in Europe, first meeting with Putin

Russias Eugene Kaspersky battles viruses and deep suspicions from U.S. intelligence officials

Trump eager for meeting with Putin, though officials still wary amid Russian hacking investigation

Ukraine sanctions

Moscow has long sought an easing of economic sanctions the U.S. slapped on Russia over its actions in eastern Ukraine and annexation of Crimea, which the U.S. does not recognize. Though there were indications that Trumps aides entertained easing the sanctions in the run-up to the inauguration and early days of his presidency, his administration has repeatedly insisted that they will stay in place until Russia pulls out of Crimea and lives up to its commitments under a ceasefire deal for eastern Ukraine that has never been fully implemented.

Given that Russia has taken neither of those steps, easing sanctions would require a major reversal by Trump and would infuriate Russia hawks in both parties in the U.S. In fact, Congress has been pushing to increase sanctions on Russia and make them harder for Trump to lift. The Senate has passed the popular measure, which wont go to a House vote before Trumps meeting with Putin.

Syria

Eager to bolster his global legitimacy, Putin has been pressing the U.S. to co-operate militarily with Russia in Syria, where both Moscow and Washington oppose the Daesh group but disagree about Syrian President Bashar Assad. Though defence laws passed in the wake of the Ukraine crisis bar the U.S. military from co-operating with Russia, the two have maintained a deconfliction hotline to ensure their forces dont accidentally collide on the crowded Syrian battlefield.

The Pentagon has steadfastly resisted proposals to work closely with Russia in Syria, out of concern the U.S. cant trust Moscow with sensitive intelligence information. But the problems posed by the lack of co-ordination in Syria have resurfaced following recent events. The U.S. has recently shot down several pro-Syrian government aircraft, leading Russia, an ally of the Syrian government, to threaten to shoot down any aircraft that flies west of the Euphrates River.

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WASHINGTONAs of the Fourth of July, 2017, U.S. President Donald Trump will have been a Twitter user for nearly 12 per cent of his life, joining in 2009 at the age of 62 and continuing to this very day. For 1 out of every 9 days hes been alive, Trump has been on Twitter.

The net effect of this is that we have a reasonably good record of the past eight years of Trumps life, a period spanning most of President Barack Obamas two terms and into Trumps own. Its a public record unlike that of any other president, its safe to say, and its one that can show us how Donald Trump the businessman evolved into Donald Trump, the aggressively confrontational politician.

Consider the Fourth of July. The Washington Posts Trumphop tool retweets old Trump tweets on the same day and time as they were originally sent. We noticed, as the Fourth approached, that Trumps tweets related to the holiday have had a noticeably different tone in recent years than in years past.

Below, Trumps Fourth of July-related tweets from each year and a sample of the other issues he chose to highlight on the anniversary of Americas independence.

2009

2010

2011

The first three years of Trumps Independence Day tweets were straightforward. The 2009 iteration included a clumsy signature, but this was while Twitter was still young and people did such things.

By 2011, Trump was already engaged in politics, having considered and then skipped a run for the presidency. This was after he challenged Obama to present a birth certificate to prove that he was born in the United States  which Obama did shortly before roasting Trump at the White House Correspondents Association dinner. Yet that didnt come through in Trumps July 4 tweet.

2012

It did the next year, when Trump decided to make a birth certificate joke.

This is the new era of Trump, recognizing and revelling in the feedback that his more outrageous Twitter behaviour could provide.

As the holiday approached, Trump weighed in on the presidential election, having endorsed Republican Mitt Romney during the primary.

While not on the Fourth itself, this tweet is worth a mention: the politically motivated I predicted it tweet.

2013

In 2013, Trump spent the Fourth celebrating a legal victory:

He also retweeted a vulgar response to the settlement, adding that Miss Pennsylvania said some really bad and stupid things

He fought back with someone who was critical of him, saying Then why do you follow me like a little puppy, moron?

He also, for some reason, decided to focus on his attitudes about sharks.

He didnt tweet anything about the holiday itself.

2014

He did in 2014.

2015

By 2015, he was officially a candidate for the presidency. In keeping with that, he tweeted a fairly anodyne celebration of the day, tacking on his campaign slogan.

He couldnt resist, though, digging into the political moment.

Praise for his candidacy earned a retweet:

Macys, which ended its business relationship with Trump after he made negative comments about immigrants from Mexico at his campaign launch, earned Trumps ire.

As did his critic Romney.

2016

By this point last year, Trump had earned enough delegates to clinch the nomination at the Republican National Convention, a few weeks after the Fourth.

He celebrated the holiday with a professionally designed image and video.

He then quickly reverted to his campaign persona, disparaging rival Hillary Clinton and Obama as fools and the former as guilty.

He also spent part of the day rebutting the controversy of the moment. On July 2  precisely one year before he stirred up controversy by plucking an animation from the internet that showed him wrestling with CNN  Trump tweeted an image his team had found online picturing Clinton over a pile of dollar bills, with Most Corrupt Candidate printed over a six-pointed star. The image, quickly altered to replace the star with a circle, was widely criticized for being tacitly anti-Semitic.

So at 9:42 a.m. on Independence Day, candidate Trump defended his previous tweet by disparaging the media.

Its a far cry from the simple message he offered in 2009. But, since then, Trumps public persona is similarly a far cry from what it was then.

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Having found the perfect rental property near the law school, a student of mine could not get a call back from the landlord despite repeatedly leaving messages. When a friend of his called, the call was returned within minutes.

Why?

Well, my students name was Mohamed. His friend used the name Joe.

Many Canadians with non-Anglicized names can speak of similar experiences. A CBC Marketplace segment from last year, for example, explored the idea of implicit bias affecting shoppers, apartment-seekers and job-hunters across Canada, finding that those with foreign-sounding names tended to face challenges that the Joes of the country did not.

That phenomenon in mind, then-rookie MP Ahmed Hussen  who has since been named immigration minister  introduced the idea of bringing name-blind recruitment to the civil service in Parliament last year. At the time, he said the move would assist in our fight to end discrimination and attain real equality in our country.

Ottawa has now adopted as a pilot project involving six federal ministries: National Defence, Global Affairs, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, Public Services and Procurement, Environment and Climate Change and the Treasury Board.

According to the Treasury Board, the initiative will conceal an applicants name, email addresses, employment equity information (i.e., gender, visible minority, person with a disability, Indigenous peoples), names of educational institutions, and country of origin at the initial screening stage. The results will then be compared to outcomes from traditional applicant shortlisting and will be made available in a report due in October.

There is not much available data yet other than figures showing there has been a slight decrease in the number of visible minority applicants from the year 2012-13 to 2013-14 and subsequent years. One can hope that this initiative would reverse that trend.

As with most government pilots, there are surely some critics wondering why the federal civil service is busying itself with such projects.

Well, first off, there shouldnt be any dispute that this is indeed a problem. A joint study from the University of Toronto and Ryerson University found that job applicants with Asian-sounding names received 20.1 per cent fewer calls from large organizations than those with Anglo names, and 39.4 per cent and 37.1 per cent fewer calls, respectively, from medium-sized and small employers.

A similar study by the U of T in 2011  one called Why do some employers prefer to interview Matthew, but not Samir?  found that employers in Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver were about 40 per cent more likely to interview candidates with Anglo-sounding names, as opposed to those with Chinese or Indian-sounding names, even if the candidates were equally qualified. The governments pilot project aims to remedy this.

The idea is not new, in fact. Countries such as the U.K. and Australia have led the way in this regard. The British Civil Service and some of the large corporations including HSBC, Deloitte, BBC, and the U.K.s National Health Service, initiated such a program in 2015. Last year, the Victoria Police, Australia Post and Ernst & Young (Australia) joined a recruitment program that strips out gender, age and cultural details.

Here in Canada, many law schools have implemented a blind grading system whereby students names are replaced by numbers to avoid instructor bias. And the Toronto Symphony Orchestra has demonstrated the success of blind auditions for years  evolving from a white, male orchestra in the 1970s to one that is now half female and much more diverse.

A name-blind recruitment process for the federal government is hardly more cumbersome in procedure, and the makeup of the civil service only stands to gain. A more reflective service will have more credibility with the populace but will also better understand the public it is serving. Moreover, as a recent study demonstrated there is a positive correlation between diversity and increased productivity.

That said, as many critics point out: name-blind screening is not a panacea  unconscious biases cant be eliminated with one little recruitment remedy, and candidates will eventually be evaluated face to face. But removing a barrier to diversity in the federal civil service is a positive step, even if it is a minor one.

Lets hope that this is just one component of a more comprehensive strategy involving: management acknowledging and confronting their own biases; better training on how biases impact decision-making; more objective hiring processes; and a more diverse group involved in the actual hiring process.

Faisal Kutty is counsel to KSM Law, an associate professor at Valparaiso University Law School in Indiana and an adjunct professor at Osgoode Hall Law School. @faisalkutty.

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The keynote speaker was Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, president elect of the Iranian Resistance coalition-NCRI, with MEK as its main member. She first hailed MEK by saying that: Last year this time, the religious dictatorship ruling Iran was launching missiles at Camp Liberty to slaughter the members of the MEK. Now, with their victorious relocation from Camp Liberty Prison in Iraq to Albania, it is the Resistance that is advancing and on the offensive vis-a-vis the regime. We are all jubilant and proud to have MEK members and officials in Albania joining us in this gathering just now. Referring to the failed policy of appeasement toward Tehran, She said, Would giving concessions ever change the behaviour of this regime? The answer is NO. This is something that has been already tested repeatedly for the past three decades by the US and Europe. And is it possible to contain this regime? NO, the policy has been called containment, but in effect, it does nothing but obstructing the adoption of a firm policy against the regime. The conclusion is what the Iranian Resistance has emphasized since the outset and many in the world have reached today: The solution, and the only solution, is regime change the regimes overthrow is possible and within reach. Because the regime is besieged by extensive social discontent. As one of the commanders of the State Security Force has acknowledged, nearly 11,000 protests and demonstrations took place in Iran last year.

The MEKs massively attended conventions held in free countries are shock to the Iranian regime because apart from voicing the Iranian grassroots inside Iran, they foil the Iranian propaganda that MEK has no root or support within Iran. MEK supporters argue when people are not free in Iran to express their political choice, these major meetings of the opposition outside Iran are indicative of the Iranian popular support for the MEK and the Iranian Resistance.

NCRI and MEK supporters say their organization is the most influential on the Iranian opposition landscape. Based on Washington Times report covering the event no one in the Iranian opposition stands out the way the NCRI stands out in terms of their day to day engagement with the Iranian public, says Ramesh Sepehrrad, a longtime Iranian-American womens rights activist, who works with George Mason Universitys School of Conflict Analysis and Resolution. Ms. Sepehrrad told a panel ahead of the rally in Paris that its difficult to measure the NCRIs popularity inside Iran because the regime has made the price very, very high for the Iranian people to express their support for the movement. Thousands of their supporters and their family members have been executed and imprisoned by the regime, she said.

Aware of the consequences of the MEK event in Paris, the Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif visited France just before the event and reportedly asked the French authorities to ban the activities of MEK (that are all legitimate and within the law). His attempt to extend the regimes repression of the MEK from Iran to the heart of France failed.

Iranian news outlets reported, the presence and activities of the MEK in France are regarded as a moot point in relations between Tehran and Paris, Zarif told reporters in an interview published on Saturday, a day after he wrapped up his two-day visit to the French capital.

Ambassador John Bolton, former U.S. ambassador to the UN under Bush administration and a close aide to President Trump during his Presidential campaign told the crowd supporting MEK on Saturday, I can say that we have a president of the United States who is completely and totally opposed to the regime in Tehran this is the true feeling of the president and hes made it very clear he made it clear during the election campaign last year hes made it clear numerous statements and even in tweets Ayatollah Khomeinis 1979 revolution will not last until its 40th birthday the fact is that the Tehran regime is the central problem in the Middle East theres no fundamental difference between the Ayatollah Khomeini and president Rouhani theyre two sides of the same coin. I remember when Rouhani was the regimes chief nuclear negotiator you couldnt trust him then, you cant trust him today and its clear that the regimes behaviour is only getting worse.

MEK Popularity

Some of the most notable advocates of the MEK and the NCRI include US Senator John McCain, Ambassador John Bolton, Gilbert Mitterrand, etc. They helped members of the MEK in their move to relative safety in Albania last year and have visited them and Maryam Rajavi since to show their solidarity with the Iranian people and their organized resistance.

Earlier this month, 265 Members of the European Parliament, including French MEPs, called on their respective governments to halt any future relations with Iran based on its human rights record. They also called for the blacklisting of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps on terrorism charges, and an investigation into the massacre of the MEK members and supporters in 1988.

Persecution of MEK

For nearly 40 years, the MEK has put themselves at great risks because of their ideals of democracy, freedom and equality.

The Iranian regime has killed 120,000 of dissidents, including 30,000 political prisoners, during the 1988 massacre, the vast majority of whom were MEK supporters.

The Iranian regime has consistently worked to paint the MEK as terrorists  with no evidence to support it  and discredit them in the eyes of the international community.

Indeed, regime lobbyists will be out in force this week but the MEK has the Iranian people and those who champion for human rights on their side.
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S. a r.|., MIT Holdings Inc., Maher Terminals Holdings (Toronto) Limited, Morgan Grenfell & Company, MortgageIT, MortgagelT Inc., MortgagelT Securities Corp., OOO "Deutsche Bank TechCentIe", OOO "Deutsche Bank", OPB Verwaltungs- und Treuhand GmbH, OPB-Oktava GmbH, OPB-Quarta GmbH, OPPENHEIM Capital Advisory GmbH, OPPENHEIM PRIVATE EQUITY Manager GmbH, OPPENHEIM PRIVATE EQUITY Verwaltungsgesellschaft mbH, PADUS Grundstcks-VermietungsgeseIlschaft mbH, PB Factoring GmbH, PB Spezial-lnvestmentaktiengesellschatt mit Teilgesellschaftsvermogen, PCC Services GmbH der Deutschen Bank, PT Deutsche Sekuritas Indonesia, Pan Australian Nominees Pty Ltd, Plantation Bay. Inc., Postbank Akademie und Service GmbH, Postbank Beteiligungen GmbH, Postbank Direkt GmbH, Postbank Filialvertrieb AG, Postbank Finanzberatung AG, Postbank Leasing GmbH, Postbank lmmobilien GmbH, Quantiguous, R.B.M. Nominees Pty Ltd, RREEF, RREEF America LLC., RREEF China REIT Management Limited, RREEF European Value Added I (G.P.) Limited, RREEF Fund Holding Co., RREEF India Advisers Private Limited, RREEF Management LLC., RoPro U.S. Holding Inc., Route 28 Receivables. LLC, SAB Real Estate Verwaltungs GmbH, SAGITA Grundstucks-Vermielungsgesellschaft mbH, SAPIO Grundstucks-Vermietungsgesellschaft mbH, Sal. Oppenheim, Sal. Oppenheim jr. & Cie. Beteiligungs GmbH, Sharps SP l LLC, Stelvio lmmobiliare S.r.l., Suddeutsche Vermeigensvewvaitung Gesellschaft mit beschrenkter Haftung, TELO Beleiligungsgesellschaft mbH, Tempurrite Leasing Limited, Thai Asset Enforcement and Recovery Asset Management Company Limited, Treuinvest Service GmbH, Triplereason Umited, VOB-ZVD Processing GmbH, WEPLA Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH, Wealthspur Investment Ltd., World Trading (Delaware) Inc., lmmobilienfonds BuroCenter Erfurt am Flughafen Bindersleben II GbR, lmmobilienfonds Wohn- und Gescheftshaus Koln-Blumenberg V GbR, and norisbank GmbH.

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United Technologies Corporation provides technology products and services to building systems and aerospace industries worldwide. Its Otis segment designs, manufactures, sells, and installs passenger and freight elevators, escalators, and moving walkways; and offers modernization products to upgrade elevators and escalators, as well as maintenance and repair services. The company's Carrier segment provides heating, ventilating, air conditioning, refrigeration, fire, security, and building automation products, solutions, and services for commercial, government, infrastructure, residential, and refrigeration and transportation applications. This segment also offers building services, including audit, design, installation, system integration, repair, maintenance, and monitoring. Its Pratt & Whitney segment supplies aircraft engines for commercial, military, business jet, and general aviation markets; and provides aftermarket maintenance, repair, and overhaul, as well as fleet management services. The company's Collins Aerospace Systems segment provides electric power generation, power management, and distribution systems; air data and aircraft sensing systems; engine control, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance systems; engine components; environmental control systems; fire and ice detection, and protection systems; propeller systems; engine nacelle systems; aircraft lighting, seating, and cargo systems; actuation and landing systems; space products and subsystems; avionics systems; flight controls, communications, navigation, oxygen, and training systems; food and beverage preparation, and storage and galley systems; and lavatory and wastewater management systems. The company offers its services through manufacturers' representatives, distributors, wholesalers, dealers, retail outlets, and sales representatives, as well as directly to customers. United Technologies Corporation was founded in 1934 and is headquartered in Farmington, Connecticut.
Mizuho Financial Group, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engages in banking, trust, securities, and other businesses related to financial services in Japan, the Americas, Europe, Asia/Oceania, and internationally. It operates through five segments: Retail & Business Banking Company, Corporate & Institutional Company, Global Corporate Company, Global Markets Company, and Asset Management Company. The company provides deposit products; syndicated, housing, and card loans; business matching services; and advisory services related to overseas expansions, and mergers and acquisitions-related services. It also offers consulting services, including asset management and asset succession; payroll services; and sells lottery tickets issued by prefectures and ordinance-designated cities. In addition, it offers financial solutions, such as bonds, mergers and acquisitions advisory, risk hedging products, etc. for corporate customers to meet their needs in fund-raising, investment management, and financial strategies; solutions based on their capital management, business strategy, and financial strategy; real estate agency services; advisory services and solutions, such as advice on proposals on various investment products to financial institutions; and financial services that include funding support and public bonds underwriting. Further, the company offers sales and trading services to meet needs for customers; investment products for individual customers; and consulting services for institutional investors. Additionally, the company provides products and services related to trust, securitization and structured finance, pension, and stock transfers; securities services; and research, private banking, and information technology-related services. Mizuho Financial Group, Inc. was incorporated in 2003 and is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan.
The speakers gave their support to Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, the leader of the Resistance, and paid tribute to the many people that have died during the course of the movement. They expressed their hope that with the emergence of a new geopolitical era in the Middle East, things will continue to move in the right direction for the people of Iran.

The consensus among the speakers was that the overthrow of the mullahs regime is the only way to move forward. Mrs. Rajavi has been calling for regime change for years so that the people of Iran can be free and to establish peace and tranquillity in the region.

Mrs. Rajavi believes that the overthrow of the regime is possible and is very close to happening. Many of the speakers highlighted that the Resistance is the only popular, organised and democratic alternative.

The regime has, for decades, spread propaganda about the Resistance, however this has not managed to change the fact that it is still the greatest threat to the regime. Society in Iran is on the point of eruption and will rise again like it did in 2009. The number of protests happening in Iran is rising, and last year alone there were more than 11,000.

The international community is now starting to realise that the Iranian regime is at the centre of all conflicts in the region and that it is the single-most dangerous threat to the world. The international community is dealing with its belligerence in the region, but very little attention is being paid to the human rights abuses it is carrying out.

Mrs. Rajavi pointed out that from the very beginning, the Iranian regime was at war with the people and that is the central war. The other wars being waged elsewhere in the region are to cover this up. She said: From the outset, the regime was at war with the people of Iran. All the other wars waged against foreign countries were designed to cover up this main conflict. These wars are not a sign of the regimes strength. The problem is that no government in the region has ever attempted to prevent the regimes belligerence.

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said that he wants to see Iran freed. He said that containment is appeasement, and appeasement is surrender, in reference to the way the former President Obamas administration has been treating the Iranian regime.

Also speaking in support of the Resistance at the event were former Mayor of New York City Rudy Giuliani, the former chairman of the Democratic National Committee Governor Ed Rendell, Prince Turki bin Faisal Al Saud of the Saudi royal family, among others.

Many of the speakers expressed their wish to celebrate a free Iran in Tehran as soon as possible.
Egypt-based IST, a customer experience technology specialists, said it was recently recognised as the Middle East Partner of the Year by US-based Genesys, a global leader in omnichannel customer experience and contact centre solutions.



The award, which was presented to IST at Genesys annual CX17 event last month in Brussels, Belgium, recognises IST for its outstanding technical support and professional service capabilities, investment in Genesys training and certification programmes, and in-house R&D capabilities, said a statement from the company.



These efforts have allowed Genesys to extend its partnership with IST and empower it to become the first and only cloud partner in the Middle East, and launch IST OmniCloud, it said.



Perhaps most importantly, this award acknowledges ISTs successful implementation of several significant Genesys-based solutions in the region, including projects with Careem, Dubai Islamic Bank, Mobily, Sabic, and STC, it added.



Mohamed Afifi, managing director - Middle East, Genesys, said: We are very proud of IST - in less than three years they have stepped up and achieved such great results. Delivering innovation in a very competitive and challenging market is not easy.



Over the last couple of years, IST has done a great job delivering customer success to our major clients in the region and helping accelerate our new strategic solutions to the market, he said.



Sherif Fahmy, marketing manager, IST, said: Now with its latest cloud offering powered by our company, there are new opportunities to deliver unique value on digital customer experience in the region.



We pride ourselves on being true CX technology specialists  we understand the customer journey and take a consultative approach to ensure that the solutions we provide to enterprises in the region truly add value and help them improve the customer experience they offer their customers, he said.



This award is a testament to the commitment we have made to Genesys in terms of not just building the largest team of CX experts in the region but also investing in R&D and launching innovative solutions, he added.  TradeArabia News Service
AccorHotels, one of the worlds leading hotel operators, is expanding its footprint in Saudi Arabia with the opening of ibis Styles Makkah - the first international economy hotel brand to open in the holy city.



Developed with strategic partner Alesayi Group, a prominent business conglomerate with commercial investments across multiple-sectors, the new hotels opening underscores the increase in demand for internationally recognized economy hotel options in the holy city of Makkah, Saudi Arabia.



The 286-room economy-branded property was opened ahead of Ramadan and Eid al-Fitr to cater to the kingdoms growing religious tourism segment. Ibis Styles Makkah is also the first hotel to open as a result of AccorHotels strategic agreement with Alesayi Group, which will also include the introduction of seven ibis properties across the kingdom by 2018.



Olivier Granet, managing director and chief operating officer of AccorHotels Middle East and Africa (MEA), said: We are delighted with the successful opening of ibis Styles Makkah, marking a turning point with a completely new approach towards international quality standards, and addressing the growing need for economy and midscale hotels in the holy city. He further added, As the first operational hotel with the Alesayi Group, this trusted partnership has also strengthened AccorHotels position as the largest hotel operator in the kingdom.



Ahmed Elfakharany, managing director of Alesayi Hospitality Company, added: In accordance with Saudi Vision 2030, the strategy of Alesayi Hospitality company is to develop a network of hotels in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia with a commitment to offering our customers the best international quality service at very competitive prices. The success of the ibis Styles Makkah only strengthens our drive to introduce greater variety through branded economy, midscale and luxury properties within the Kingdom. Through our strategic alliance with AccorHotels, we hope to achieve this goal.



Ibis Styles Makkah is centrally located in the Al Aziziyah area, in close proximity to the Holy Masjid Al Haram and with easy access to El Mashaer in minan. Given its convenient location, the ibis Styles Makkah has become a popular choice for guests visiting the city.



The 286-room property offers guests a lively and friendly atmosphere coupled with the comforts of home through large beds and complimentary wi-fi services. The hotel has proven popular with guests through amenities designed to serve visitors to the Holy City such as an in-house mosque for both women and men. The all-inclusive hotel features a number of innovative food and beverage options including two specialty restaurants  Zurna and Al Suroor  alongside a lobby lounge offering international buffet and a la carte options.



Salah Oumouden, vice president operations, Economy and Midscale of AccorHotels Saudi Arabia and Egypt added: Since its opening, ibis Styles Makkah has welcomed scores of visitors with its strong brand approach towards international standards, all part of the ibis Styles DNA.



He further added: As Saudi Arabia continues to invest significantly in the religious tourism sector, AccorHotels is determined to expand the presence of our world-class properties with our trusted partner, the Alesayi Group.



The ibis Styles Makkah joins AccorHotels rapidly growing ibis brand family, along with ibis and ibis budget. Ibis Styles hotels are individually designed to offer excellent value with the highest level of comfort. Each property hosts a different style, yet retains three complementary values of being modern, simple and focused on well-being. The ibis Styles Makkah joins three other ibis Styles properties under operation in the Middle East in addition to nine others under development.



AccorHotels has 60 hotels in Saudi Arabia in operation and pipeline. In the Middle East, AccorHotels currently operates 96 hotels encompassing upwards to 30,000 rooms across the luxury to economy segments. The groups regional network is expected to double in number, bringing over 25,000 additional rooms to the Middle East. - TradeArabia News Service
Oman Air is expanding its operations to Salalah and is looking for investors to build and operate the airline's new offices in the region, said a report.



The airline is inviting investors and financial organisations to submit tenders for the project, which includes a five-storey building, including a basement car-park, Times of Oman reported.



Under the terms of the the tender, the invester will maintain the building for 25 years, after which it will be handed over to Oman Air.



Bidders are also expected to provide details of financial and operational resources  with evidence  that can be allocated towards the construction of this new building. The proposal must also contain structural plans for the building, it said.
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- The Kenya Police Service in Nairobi has held major meeting ahead of the August General Election

- The meeting all divisional commanders in Nairobi identified 10 hotspots in Nairobi that needed major surveillance ahead of the election

- Nairobi Police Commander Japheth Koome assured residents that they will be safe as they are prepared for anything

The Kenya Police Service on Tuesday, July 4, held a major meeting at Utalii Hotel ahead of the August General Election.

The meeting which was led by Nairobi Police Commander Japheth Koome was attended by all divisional commanders in Nairobi.

Koome identified 10 hotspots in the county that violence would likely occur as Kenya prepares for the General Election.

READ ALSO: Nairobi gubernatorial candidate kicked out of debate at Daystar University

The meeting which was led by Nairobi Police Commander Japheth Koome was attended by all divisional commanders in Nairobi. Photo/Daily Nation.

READ ALSO: DP Ruto reveals his 2022 running mate

TUKO.co.ke has learnt that the 10 hotspots are; Ziwani, Landhies Road, Globe, Dandora, Makadara, Mowlem Savanah, Mukuru, Sinai and Umoja.

The police commander said all the slums in Nairobi are under surveillance as they could be a catalyst of violence during and after the General Election.

The list is long but generally all informal settlements are on our watch list. These areas have big populations and we shall deploy extra number of officers. The threat level in these areas is higher, Koome is quoted by the Daily Nation.

READ ALSO: 21 reactions of the Gubernatorial debate that will make you laugh then cry

Umoja estate has been named as one of the hotspots in Nairobi by the police. Photo/Umoja Estate Facebook page.

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Police assured residents of their safety during the election and warned politicians who are thinking of inciting supporters they will be dealt with.

Where force is required, we shall be governed by the law. The use of force will depend on circumstances, Koome said.

Earlier European Union observers claimed Kenya should brace itself for violence after the August General Election.

Have anything to add to this article or suggestions? Share with us on news@tuko.co.ke

Watch a professionals view on the best way Uhuru can beat Raila in the August polls:

Source: TUKO.co.ke
The shelling that took place in the Iraqi Kurdistans Haji Omaran region had Iranian Kurdish rebel groups Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (KDPI) and Komala as targets. The shelling started early in the morning and lasted for several hours.

Two rebels and a civilian were injured and the shelling has destroyed the livelihood of many farmers. The reason for the attack is because Iran does not want Iranian Kurdish rebels in the Iraq border region.

Ten million Kurds live in Iran, mostly in the north western region near Iraqi and Turkish Kurdish communities across the border.

Komala and KDPI are armed groups that have been in conflict with the government of Iran for decades and they want more autonomy for ethnic Kurd areas. The armed groups are in areas the whole way across the 60km border with Iraq.

The Iranian government has difficulty in controlling the area because of the mountainous terrain, but it has on a number of occasions bombed the Iraqi border side.

Tehran has not made comment about Mondays attack but officials in Iraq say that it was a retaliation following the injury of an Iranian commander and two Iranian border guards as a result of a clash on Saturday.

The secretary general of KDPI, Mustafa Mauludi, has said that the KDPI was not involved in the attack. He did however mention that Iran has been making the tensions between the two worse since a 2015 ceasefire was broken by Iran. The ceasefire had been in place for 2 decades. He said that Iran has been attacking the group in the hope that they would abandon the struggle.

Tensions in the Kurdish province of Iran have been escalating and Iranian border guards and Kurdish armed groups have been clashing.

An official of the Iranian regime said last week that Kurdish rebels have been expelled from the region and that any suspicious move near the border will warrant a strong response.

A Kurdish rebel leader, however, said that his group has a lot of support from the Iranian Kurds at the other side of the border and there will be conflict in the province until the issue has been resolved.

He also said that his group has been in contact with Kurdish parties in Iran and it looks likely that there will be cooperation between the two.
Many people have been left without pipe-borne water in northern and eastern parts of Trinidad and some areas in Tobago.

The Water and Sewerage Authority indicates this is a result of an impact to twelve of its plants due to adverse weather, which has caused flooding in some areas.
The level of shadow economy in Ukraine in 2016 totaled 34% of GDP, which is by 6 percentage points lower compared with the indicators in 2015.

This has been stated in a preliminary report released by the Economic Development and Trade Ministry.

In particular, the level of shadow economy was reduced due to the consolidation of macroeconomic stability and the renewal of economic growth; improvement of business climate due to the carried out deregulation policy; and the legalization of the labor market due to a lower social security tax.

At the same time, the process of de-shadowing is hampered by a number of problems that negatively affect the indicators of Ukraines economic development as a whole. In particular, significant challenges to the stability of Ukraines financial system in the conditions of the ongoing liquidation of insolvent banks and their withdrawal from the market; tensions in international relations with the Russian Federation; the presence of government uncontrolled territories; low confidence in the institutions of power.

iy
A mission of the World Bank has arrived in Kyiv to assess the progress of reforms in the ease of doing business, the press service of the Economic Development and Trade Ministry reports.

On July 3, First Deputy Minister of Economic Development and Trade of Ukraine Maxim Nefedov met with economists of the World Bank Maksym Iavorskyi and Tigran Parvanyan. The mission of the World Bank arrived in Kyiv to assess the progress of reforms in the ease of doing business, reads the report.

The mission will work in Ukraine during one week. The visit includes meetings with representatives of the private sector to assess the practical implementation of reforms announced by Ukraine for the current year (in the field of business registration, construction, international trade, property registration, protection of minority shareholders and payment of taxes).

iy
For Ukraine, the U.S. has always been and will remain a reliable partner.

Prime Minister of Ukraine Volodymyr Groysman wrote this on Facebook on the occasion of the U.S. Independence Day.

"The U.S. has always been and will remain our reliable partner and true friend. Grateful for your constant support and will to deepen cooperation between our two nations to reach peace, well-being and prosperity," the Premier said.

As reported, the United States celebrates the Independence Day today.

ish
UNICEF/Sokhin

WHO: Muzoon Almellehan, youngest UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador and Syrian refugee

WHAT: UNICEF participation at the G20 Summit

WHEN: 6-8 July 2017

WHERE: Hamburg, Germany

WHY: Muzoon Almellehan will officially represent UNICEF at the G20 Summit. Muzoon, a 19-year-old education activist and Syrian refugee, was appointed as UNICEFs youngest ever Goodwill Ambassador this past June. After fleeing Syria in 2013, Muzoon lived in refugee camps for three years during which time she began campaigning with UNICEF for the rights of children to education. She is a young, credible voice on education in emergencies.

BACKGROUND: Education is one of six key actions that UNICEF is urging governments to take to protect child refugees as part of its Agenda for Action:

1. Protect child refugees and migrants, particularly unaccompanied children, from exploitation and violence;

2. End the detention of children seeking refugee status or migrating, by introducing a range of practical alternatives;

3. Keep families together as the best way to protect children and give children legal status;

4. Keep all refugee and migrant children learning and give them access to health and other quality services;

5. Press for action on the underlying causes of large scale movements of refugees and migrants;

6. Promote measures to combat xenophobia, discrimination and marginalization in countries of transit and destination.



###
More than 400 newly elected opposition commune chiefs took up their posts this week after winning at the local elections last month, the first time in history the Cambodia National Rescue Party has held strong power in local politics.

The ruling Cambodian Peoples Party won 1,156 seats to the CNRPs 489, with one seat also won by the Khmer National United Party. The CNRP did best in cities such as Phnom Penh, where it won 57 councils out of 105.

Seng Sokhorn, 62, the new commune chief in Phsar Depo 2 commune, said she had a strong commitment to improve the commune and hoped the oppositions increased popularity was a sign that it would do well at next years general election.

I am committed already to doing the work to meet peoples demands while they give us confidence. Though there are obstacles, I have to take on the challenge, she said.

Sokhorn, who was a councilor for almost a decade prior to her election on June 4, said she would launch a forum for local residents to communicate directly with their elected officials.

She added that her administration would co-operate and join hands with the former ruling party commune chief. I cannot do it alone.

He has experience, so I can communicate with him and give him work to do, she said.

However, Sokhorn said she was concerned that opposition-led communes could be discriminated against in the allocation of funding from central government, which is run by the CPP.

Communes in Cambodia receive modest budgets in the low tens of thousands of dollars. The opposition has claimed it would allocate at least $500,000 to communes if it wins the 2018 election.

Touch Chanthan, 60, the former commune chief, said the people voted for change and said he would co-operate with Sokhorn.

She has experience since she has worked here. If she does not understand something, she can ask me, he said.

Meas Sopheap, a CPP commune chief who was re-elected, pledged to double efforts to improve conditions at the local level, including building more roads, street lights and modern sewage systems.

We have to take very good care of all services in the commune and communicate well with people, making things a hundred times better than we did previously.

The authorities have to serve the people at any time without thinking of resting. People face problems any time, too.

But Kruoch Heng, a CNRP deputy commune chief, claimed Sopheaps tenure had been marred by a lack of delegation and political favoritism.

I was not assigned work to do. I just had a position, but was given no work, he said.
Activists and political observers welcomed the release of four human rights workers and an election official on bail last week and called on the courts to drop all charges against the men.

The surprise decision to release the detainees came on Thursday after they had been in pre-trial detention for more than a year.

They were arrested in early May last year and charged with allegedly bribing a witness in a case against opposition leader Kem Sokha.

The four rights workers from local NGO Adhoc -- Lim Mony, Ny Sokha, Nay Vanda and Yi Soksan -- were greeted by their families outside the Phnom Penh prison where they were held on Thursday evening.

Their release came days after Prime Minister Hun Sen met the U.S. ambassador in Phnom Penh.

Meas Ny, a political analyst, said he welcomed the decision, but called on the authorities to drop all charges against the accused.

In my opinion they should be released completely. When they are released on bail, its like they were released from a small jail to a big jail, he said.

San Chey, executive director of the Affiliated Network for Social Accountability in Cambodia, said the move was a positive sign ahead of a general election scheduled for next year.

Besides their release on bail, I think that dropping the charges against them and offering them justice is what the general public wants, he said.

The U.S. Embassy issued a statement welcoming the decision.

The U.S. embassy in Phnom Penh welcomes the release on bail of current and former officials from the Cambodian human rights non-governmental organization Adhoc. This legal decision will reduce the burden on the defendants and their families as they address the charges that have been filed against them, it said.

The opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party also welcomed the release of the detainees on bail.

Sok Eysan, ruling Cambodian Peoples Party spokesman, said he regretted the lengthy detention of the activists.

Am Sam Ath, head of investigations at local rights group Licadho, said while it was good that the activists were released, their freedom is just temporary as they were still facing what many consider to be politically motivated charges.

Vanda, one of the Adhoc staffers, said he had not believed he would be released when he was first told the news.

I didnt believe it at all at first ... there are many reasons which I dont want to go into.

But the release did happen and it seems like a dream to me.
French President Emmanuel Macron says the European Union has lost its way amid bureaucracy and needs a new generation of leaders to put it back on track. In a major speech at Versailles Monday, Macron also called for a radical overhaul of the country's government, which he wants reduced by one third. VOA's Zlatica Hoke reports his message received mixed reactions.
The Canadian government is going to apologize and give millions of dollars to a former Guantanamo Bay prisoner who pleaded guilty to killing a U.S. soldier in Afghanistan when he was 15, with Canada's Supreme Court later ruling that officials had interrogated him under "oppressive circumstances."

An official familiar with the deal said Tuesday that Omar Khadr will receive 10.5 million Canadian dollars (US$8 million). The official was not authorized to discuss the deal publicly before the announcement and spoke on condition of anonymity. The government and Khadr's lawyers negotiated the deal last month.

The Canadian-born Khadr was 15 when he was captured by U.S. troops following a firefight at a suspected al-Qaida compound in Afghanistan that resulted in the death of an American special forces medic, U.S. Army Sgt. First Class Christopher Speer. Khadr, who was suspected of throwing the grenade that killed Speer, was taken to Guantanamo and ultimately charged with war crimes by a military commission.

He pleaded guilty in 2010 to charges that included murder and was sentenced to eight years plus the time he had already spent in custody. He returned to Canada two years later to serve the remainder of his sentence and was released in May 2015 pending an appeal of his guilty plea, which he said was made under duress.

Omar Khadr spent 10 years in Guantanamo Bay. His case received international attention after some dubbed him a child soldier.

The Supreme Court of Canada ruled in 2010 that Canadian intelligence officials obtained evidence from Khadr under "oppressive circumstances," such as sleep deprivation, during interrogations at Guantanamo Bay in 2003, and then shared that evidence with U.S officials.

Khadr was the youngest and last Western detainee held at the U.S. military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

His lawyers filed a $20 million wrongful imprisonment lawsuit against the Canadian government, arguing the government violated international law by not protecting its own citizen and conspired with the U.S. in its abuse of Khadr.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau declined to confirm the apology and money when asked about in Ireland on Tuesday. "There is a judicial process underway that has been underway for a number of years now and we are anticipating, like I think a number of people are, that that judicial process is coming to its conclusion," Trudeau said.

Scott Bardsley, a spokesman for Canada's public safety minister, also confirmed there is an ongoing court process on this case.

"Settlement processes are always strictly confidential by nature. Accordingly, the Government is not in a position to provide any comment one way or another," Bardsley said in an email.

The widow of Speer and another American soldier blinded by the grenade in Afghanistan filed a wrongful death and injury lawsuit against Khadr in 2014 fearing Khadr might get his hands on money from his $20 million wrongful imprisonment lawsuit. A U.S. judge granted $134.2 million in damages in 2015, but the plaintiffs acknowledged then that there was little chance they would collect any of the money from Khadr because he lives in Canada.

Khadr's lawyers have long said he was pushed into war by his father, Ahmed Said Khadr, whose family stayed with Osama bin Laden briefly when Omar Khadr was a boy. Khadr's Egyptian-born father was killed in 2003 when a Pakistani military helicopter shelled the house where he was staying with senior al-Qaida operatives.

After his 2015 release from prison in Alberta, Omar Khadr apologized to the families of the victims. He said he rejects violent jihad and wants a fresh start to finish his education and work in health care. He currently resides in an apartment in Edmonton, Alberta.

The news of the government giving millions to someone who pleaded guilty to killing a U.S. soldier has caused a stir in Canada.

"This is nuts. Khadr should instead be in jail for the murder of Sergeant Chris Speer, whom he killed. No consideration for Speer's family," tweeted Car Vallee, the former spokesman for ex-Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

Former Liberal leader Bob Rae tweeted that compensation was "long overdue."
A young girl died and several people were injured Tuesday when a massive fire broke out at a refugee camp in Lebanon.

It was the second such deadly fire to hit refugee encampments in eastern Lebanon this week amid soaring temperatures. On Sunday, a fire ripped through a settlement near the town of Qab Elias, also killing one person.

That fire destroyed all but three of the camp's 193 tents.

Lebanon's state-run National News Agency said that in Tuesday's fire, 22 of the 185 tents in the informal settlement burned down.

It was unclear what caused the fire.

Lebanon is host is to more than 1 million Syrian refugees, though the government says the number is closer to 1.5 million, most of whom live in informal tented settlements in the Bekaa Valley.
Chinese President Xi Jinping is meeting with Russia's President Vladimir Putin for talks on boosting ties between the two allies.

Xi's visit comes amid a flare-up of tensions in U.S.-China ties and an anxiety caused by North Korea's missile launch. The missile flew higher and farther than those previously tested.



Welcoming Xi Tuesday, Putin said they would focus on economic and international issues.



Before arriving in Moscow Monday, Xi warned President Donald Trump that "some negative factors" are hurting U.S.-China relations, as tensions soared over a U.S. destroyer sailing within the territorial seas limit of a Chinese-claimed island in the South China Sea.



Trump, Putin and Xi will attend the Group of 20 summit in Germany later this week. Putin and Trump are to hold their first meeting there.
The U.N. childrens fund warns tens of thousands of malnourished children are at great risk in Yemen, Somalia and South Sudan, which are on the brink of famine.

UNICEF reports an estimated 4.7 million children in the three cholera-stricken countries are malnourished. Of these, UNICEF spokesman Christophe Boulierac tells VOA, more than one million are suffering from severe acute malnutrition.

Let me remind you that a child who is suffering from severe acute malnutrition are nine times more likely to die of disease than a well-nourished child," he said. "So, having cholera and diarrhea in countries where so many children are so fragile because of malnutrition among other things because of such a bad access to safe water is extremely worrying.



Sudan outbreak



UNICEF says it also is extremely worried about an outbreak of acute watery diarrhea in Sudan, where the Federal Ministry of Health reports more than 20,000 cases of the disease, including over 400 deaths.

Boulierac says the disease has spread to 14 of 18 states and children account for more than 20 percent of the affected population.

The situation in White Nile State, which is in central Sudan, is deeply worrying, since it is the most affected with 7,200 reported cases and since it has almost 100,000 refugees living in camps, he said.

UNICEF says it needs access, security and more money to contain cholera and acute watery diarrhea in all four countries. It says aid operations must be scaled up. Malnourished children must receive special life-saving medication, therapeutic feeding and have access to safe drinking water.
Hundreds of environmentalists protested in Krakow Tuesday against widespread logging in Europe's last primeval forest as a conference of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee got underway in the historic city in southern Poland.

The environmentalists demanded that the Polish government stop felling trees in the Biaowieza forest, a UNESCO World Heritage site that straddles the border with Belarus. The forest of nearly 142,000 hectares is one of the last and largest remaining parts of an immense primeval forest that stretched across the European Plain 10,000 years ago.

Separated by a police cordon, forest rangers held a counterdemonstration in Krakow. They support the government's explanation that selective logging will help save the forest, which is north of Brest, the Belarusian capital, and Biaystok in Poland.

The forest is home to many rare species of birds and plants as well as hundreds of European bison, the continent's largest mammals. It contains a number of large, ancient oak trees, survivors of the wars in Eastern Europe during the 20th century and many earlier conflicts; the biggest trees, named after historical figures in many cases, have circumferences of over 600 centimeters (20 feet) and stand over 30 meters (98 feet) tall.

The government said it increased logging to fight an infestation of bark beetles that has affected many spruce trees. Ecologists claim authorities have been felling not only infected trees but also healthy ones. They contend the government's stand is a pretext to increase timber production for profit.

Scientists and the European Union, which says the increased logging is illegal, have also protested the logging. In late April, the European Commission gave Polish authorities a final warning to address its concerns over the forest or face being summoned by the EU's top court.

The UNESCO committee, meeting in Poland through July 11 in its 41st annual session, is expected to decide Wednesday whether to send a mission of experts to the Biaowieza Primeval Forest to reassess the situation.
A former Mexican governor captured in Guatemala has agreed to his extradition for a second time in two weeks, but it was not immediately clear how soon that could happen.



Javier Duarte was captured in April, six months after resigning as governor of Veracruz.



The two hearings covered distinct charges he faces in Mexico, including allegations of embezzlement and ties to organized crime.



Duarte said Tuesday he did not commit those crimes and would return to Mexico to clear his name.



Duarte's lawyer, Carlos Vasquez, said Tuesday that the Mexican government had not proven that his client was the leader of a criminal enterprise.



Duarte's time as governor of the Gulf state was marked by drug violence, growing state debt and the murder of journalists.
Lawyers from around Africa gathered in Cameroon this week to call for tougher legislation against counterfeit medicine.



Sixty tons of counterfeit medicine was burned after being seized by customs officials in Cameroon, who say the stockpile had an estimated value of $80,000.

Customs official Marcel Kamgaing said the imitation medicine was being used to treat everything from diabetes and hypertension to cancer and erectile dysfunction. He said the forged drugs were destined for sale at shops and roadside pharmacies.



He says illicit drugs are very dangerous to the health of consumers and may even kill due to poor packaging and preservation. He says importers should be informed that Cameroon's customs laws give them the authority to destroy all fake drugs.



Counterfeit drugs conference



The burning was scheduled to coincide with an international conference this week in Yaounde on the problem of phony drugs in Africa.



Jackson Ngnie Kamga, president of the Cameroon Bar Association, says the current penalties are not enough of a deterrent. He said traffickers should face jail time.

He says because of its deadly consequences, it is high time for Cameroon to join African states to start considering the transportation and commercialization of bogus drugs as a major crime, not a simple offense punishable by fines and seizure of the illicit goods. He says the number of people who die because of such drugs makes them consider it another form of homicide, which the international community should help Africa tackle.



The World Health Organization says falsified medical products may contain no active ingredient, the wrong active ingredient or the wrong amount of the correct active ingredient. The WHO says about 100,000 deaths-a-year in Africa are linked to counterfeit drugs.

Asian source



Issouf Baadhio, an attorney from Burkina Faso, represented the International Association of Lawyers as its vice president. He said the counterfeit drugs are primarily manufactured in Asia, especially in China, and so African countries need to focus on stopping importation.



He says besides the fact that this trade is illegal, importing fake drugs has disastrous economic consequences and as such civil society organizations and professional groups like the International Association of Lawyers should join states and make sure that markets are protected and custom controls are set up at entrances to all states to detect and stop the sale of all dangerous drugs.



Identifying counterfeit medicines can be difficult. The WHO urges officials and consumers to look for signs like misspelled words on the packaging and to check that the manufacture and expiration dates inside and outside packaging match.
Rolando Arriaza has visited hospitals, morgues and even the harsh, mesquite-covered terrain in South Texas that his brother trekked nearly two years ago after illegally crossing into the U.S. - all as part of an ongoing effort to find his sibling's remains and bring his family closure.

You want to know if he died and you want to find the body, said Arriaza, whose 50-year-old brother Hugo Arriaza, from Guatemala, disappeared in August 2015 after being abandoned by a smuggler when he became ill.

Like many family members of missing immigrants, Arriaza, 45, has submitted DNA so it can be compared to remains found along the Texas-Mexico border. But while Arriaza, who lives in Philadelphia, submitted DNA to U.S. authorities, many others choose a different path that complicates potential identification of their loved ones' remains. Many missing immigrant family members living outside the U.S., or who live in the country but fear going to authorities due to concerns about their immigration status, instead give their DNA to non-governmental organizations working on this issue.

But advocacy groups say these families' DNA samples are being denied access to an FBI database used to make matches in missing persons cases because law enforcement didn't collect the sample. The groups say this issue has gone unresolved for years, leaving unused a valuable source of genetic data that could bring closure to hundreds of cases.

How big is the problem, and how somber are the findings? More than 2,900 immigrants have died while crossing the Texas-Mexico border alone since 1998, according to the U.S. Border Patrol. But it's unclear how many remain unidentified.

Since 2003, 222 of 879 cases of unidentified human remains sent from Texas border counties to the University of North Texas Center for Human Identification have led to identifications. But the center - which works with law enforcement on missing persons cases - cautions there's no way to definitively say if the identified remains belong to immigrants.

A review of reports on the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System's database shows more than 320 unidentified remains found along the Texas-Mexico border since 2007 are likely immigrants.

A large number of immigrant remains in Texas have been found in Brooks County, where authorities about four years ago discovered many had been haphazardly buried in a local cemetery. The county is home to a Border Patrol checkpoint 70 miles (112.65 kilometers) north of the border that immigrants avoid by walking around it for days. Arriaza's brother was attempting to do so when he disappeared.

Kate Spradley, a biological anthropologist at Texas State University in San Marcos who's helping identify remains found in Brooks County, said she's frustrated by the slow identification pace. Her lab has received 238 sets of remains but only 24 have been identified. Most are from Brooks County, but some are from other counties, including 13 sets exhumed in May in Starr County.

The DNA samples that are collected by (non-governmental organizations) in Latin America are what we need to make identifications, she said. Complicating Spradley's efforts is a lack of funding, including a loss this year of a federal grant.

Spradley said access to more family member DNA would be welcomed as six more cemeteries in several other South Texas counties have been identified where immigrants were buried.

Texas law mandates DNA samples from unidentified remains must go to the University of North Texas, which sends them to the FBI's Combined DNA Index System, or CODIS database. But per FBI rules, samples from potential family members not collected by law enforcement are denied access to CODIS.

Mercedes Doretti, co-founder of the Buenos Aires-based Argentine Forensic Anthropology Team, said her group has collected more than 2,700 DNA samples from family members in Mexico and Central and South America since 2010. Doretti said her group has tried to satisfy various FBI concerns but to no avail.

We don't know exactly what is needed to move forward, said Doretti.

The Texas Forensic Science Commission has had discussions with the FBI, the Argentine team and others, but with no resolution.

The FBI declined to comment on its concerns.

Corinne Stern, the medical examiner in South Texas' Webb County, said the FBI's safeguards are in place because this is somebody's DNA and we have to take the utmost care with it.

Arizona - with 2,970 immigrant deaths since 1998, according to the Border Patrol - also submits DNA samples from remains to CODIS. But the Pima County Office of the Medical Examiner in Tucson, which handles the majority of immigrants deaths in Arizona, does allow these DNA samples to be submitted to a private lab in Virginia, where they're compared to family DNA samples collected by the Argentine Team and the Colibri Center for Human Rights, a Tucson-based nonprofit.

This law enforcement requirement is excluding hundreds, probably thousands of families who want to have answers about their missing loved ones from getting those answers, said Robin Reineke, the Colibri Center's executive director.
A team of teenage Gambian students are upset and mystified at being denied visas to attend a major global robotics contest in Washington later this month.

This comes days after an Afghan girls team was also turned down by the U.S. Embassy in Kabul. Neither team was given any reason.

It's very disappointing, knowing that we are the only two countries that aren't going to take part in the competition, Gambian student Fatoumata Ceesay said.

The two teams will instead enter the competition via Skype. But the video link is no substitute after the youngsters worked for months perfecting their projects and dreamed of the thrill of visiting Washington.

It would be an experience to see and discover other robots and ask questions and exchange ideas with others. It's more than 160 countries, so we'd have the chance to mingle, Ceesay said.

The Gambian and Afghan students are especially puzzled because teams from Iran and Sudan, and a group of Syrian refugees were given visas. All three Muslim-majority countries are on President Donald Trump's travel ban. Afghanistan and Gambia are not.

Lida Azizi, a 17-year old from Herat, calls the visa rejection a clear insult for the people of Afghanistan.

The U.S. embassies in Afghanistan and Gambia and the State Department say they cannot discuss visa requests.

WATCH: Robotics contest for youth promotes innovation

A group called FIRST Global Challenge holds the yearly robotics competition to build interest in science, technology, engineering and math around the world.

The group says the focus of the competition is finding solutions to problems in such fields as water, energy, medicine and food production.
A federal judge south of Chicago has denied bond for an Illinois man suspected of kidnapping Chinese scholar Yingying Zhang.

FBI agents arrested Brendt Christensen last week after they placed him under surveillance. They heard him allegedly boasting to someone that he kidnapped the University of Illinois student.

Hundreds of people stood across the courthouse and in the lobby Monday, demanding justice.

Christensen said nothing at the brief hearing other than responding yes when the judge asked him if he understood his rights.

His attorney reminded reporters that his client is innocent until proven guilty and said there's a lot the public doesn't know.

Federal authorities say they are certain Zhang is dead, but have not found her body.

Zhang came to the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign as a scholar in environmental science and crop production.

Investigators say she disappeared on June 9 when she was scrambling to make an appointment to sign a lease on an apartment.

Surveillance video shows her failing to flag down a bus when a car pulled up and she got in. No one has seen her since.

Authorities became suspicious of Christensen when they discovered the car in the video looks like his, including minor damage on a front hubcap.

They also say he has given more than one account of what he was doing the day Zhang disappeared.

Investigators also say Christensen visited a fetish website for people who fantasize about kidnapping and bondage.

Zhang's father is in the United States helping search for his daughter.
Iranian artillery bombed Kurdish militants in northern Iraq on Monday, injuring at least three people and forcing hundreds to flee their homes, Kurdish officials told VOA.

The cross-border shelling in Iraqi Kurdistan's Haji Omaran region targeted positions of Iranian Kurdish rebel groups Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (KDPI) and Komala, Kurdish officials said.

"The shelling started at 5 a.m. [local time] and continued for several hours, forcing hundreds of civilians from nearby villages to flee their homes," Farzang Ahmad, the local administrator of the Haji Omaran sub-district in Iraqi Kurdistan, told VOA.

Ahmad added that one villager and two rebels were injured and many local farmers' livelihoods were destroyed as a result of the shelling.

"The Republic of Iran's justification for the attack is the presence of Iranian Kurdish rebels in the border region with Iraq," he said.

Iran is home to roughly 10 million Kurds who mostly live in the northwest of the country, close to Iraqi and Turkish Kurdish communities across the border.

Kurdish groups

Kurdish armed groups, such as KDPI and Komala, have been in conflict with the Iranian government for decades, and are seeking greater autonomy for the areas inhibited by ethnic Kurds. These armed Kurdish groups are widely spread across the 60-kilometer border with neighboring Iraq.

The mountainous nature of the terrain makes it difficult for the Iranian government to control the area.

To diminish the growing activity of the Iranian Kurdish rebels, the country's military has bombed areas inside the Iraqi border on several occasions in the past, drawing criticism from Iraqi Kurdish officials who charge that civilians bear the brunt of the bombing.

The Iranian government has not commented on Monday's shelling, but Iraqi Kurdish officials say the bombing was carried out in response to the killing of an Iranian commander and injuring two Iranian border guards during clashes in Kermanshah province on Saturday.

Mustafa Mauludi, the secretary general of KDPI, denied his group's involvement in the killing and added that no other Kurdish group has claimed responsibility for Saturday's attack.

Mauludi accused Iran of initiating escalations with Kurdish rebels and breaking a two-decades-old cease-fire in 2015.

"The Islamic Republic of Iran has been attacking us for years now, thinking we will abandon our struggle," Mauludi told VOA. "We have persisted our struggle despite difficulties and we will continue to do so."

Escalation of fighting

The predominately Kurdish province in northwestern Iran situated in the border region with Iraq has recently witnessed an escalation of fighting between Kurdish armed groups and Iranian border guards.

Iranian officials say that they have expelled the Kurdish rebels from the province.

"Thanks to efforts of the armed forces and struggles of the intelligence forces, security is in place on the border lines," Asadollah Razani, Kermanshah province governor general, said last Thursday.

Razani added that Iranian forces are closely monitoring the border region with Iraq and "any suspicious move will receive strong response."

However, Kurdish rebel leader Mauludi told VOA that his group receives broad support from the Kurdish population in Iran and that conflict in the province may continue "until [the] Kurdish issue is resolved."

He told VOA that continued Iranian attacks will more likely encourage Kurdish rebel groups to unify against the Iranian government forces.

"We have been in dialogue with other Kurdish parties in Iran for a while to develop a long-term cooperation mechanism and a mutual platform that will help us be more prepared for future challenges," Mauludi said.
A Washington lawyer's simultaneous representation of President Donald Trump and a jailed American pastor in Turkey doesn't pose an ethical issue as long as his work for one doesn't undermine the other, legal experts say.

Jay Sekulow, founder and chief counsel for the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ), had been representing Andrew Brunson for months when he went to the White House to lobby Trump to press Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan about the case. He began representing Trump soon afterward.

Brunson, a native of North Carolina who has lived in Turkey with wife, Norine, for 23 years, were arrested for alleged immigration violations in early October. She was released 13 days later, while his charges have been upgraded to supporting terrorism.

Gene Kapp, media director for ACLJ, which focuses on conservative issues, told VOA that Sekulow is representing Trump in his personal capacity and has been representing Brunson in his ACLJ role.

"His work as a member of the president's legal team is not connected to his work at the ACLJ and the ongoing efforts to get Pastor Brunson released," Kapp said, adding that Sekulow does not charge Brunson.

On his radio show on May 19, Sekulow said he met with the president and others at the White House "for over an hour" the day before, his second visit in two weeks.

"I anticipate there will be a release soon," Sekulow said, adding that his group was working with Congress, the State Department and White House.

Gulen connection alleged

A column four days later in Takvim, a pro-government Turkish newspaper, suggested that Brunson was an American spy who had been working with Fethullah Gulen, an Islamic preacher who Ankara claims masterminded a coup attempt last July 15, and supporting the PKK, a banned Kurdish militant group. Kapp called the allegations bogus.

U.S. relations with Turkey have soured recently over a number of issues, including Turkey's unsuccessful efforts to get the U.S. to hand over Gulen, who lives in Pennsylvania, and Erdogan's increasingly authoritarian rule.

There has been no obvious recent movement in Brunson's case. Turkish media have suggested that he is being held as leverage for Gulen's extradition.

"Andrew is extremely discouraged and really really needs your prayers!" Norine said in a May 27 post on the couple's Facebook page.

Kapp said the ACLJ is continuing to do everything it can, in the U.S. and Turkey, to obtain the pastor's release.

"We are very concerned about his health," Kapp said. "He is being held in a cell built for eight people but houses 22."

Brunson's case has drawn attention in Congress, too. In February, a bipartisan letter from the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the House Foreign Affairs Committee, signed by 78 lawmakers, called for Brunson's unconditional release.

William Hodes, a legal ethics expert and professor of law emeritus at Indiana University, said he didn't see Sekulow's representation of Trump and Brunson as an ethical problem.

"This lawyer's two clients are not adverse to each other, and it is hard to see how one client would fear that his confidences would be leaked to the other to the first client's detriment," Hodes said.

Communication advised

But Hodes added it's possible that Brunson could become irked if he felt Trump wasn't doing enough or working quickly enough, while Trump might have diplomatic reasons to go slowly.

"Lawyers have a lot of different clients with lots of different interests, but lawyers do have to avoid a conflict of interest between the clients," said Richard Painter, who served as former President George W. Bush's White House ethics czar.

In this instance, Sekulow needs to talk to both clients and make sure they don't object to his dual representation, and ensure that the work he's doing for one doesn't undermine his representation of the other, said Painter, who teaches law at the University of Minnesota.

A June 7 article in The Washington Post said Sekulow has built a powerful charity empire leading a team of ACLJ attorneys who jump into high-profile court cases over such issues as religious liberty and abortion rights. It said Sekulow's family or their companies received nearly $230 million in charitable donations in 2011-15.
The family of a Libyan man convicted of the 1988 Lockerbie bombing launched a new effort Tuesday to posthumously clear his name.

Relatives of Abdelbaset al-Megrahi say he was wrongly convicted of the airliner bombing, which killed 270 people.



The family's lawyer, Aamer Anwar, handed a dossier of evidence to the Glasgow offices of the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission, which will decide whether to hand the case to an appeals court.



Al-Megrahi was convicted in 2001 of blowing up Pan Am Flight 103 over the Scottish town of Lockerbie on Dec. 21, 1988, killing all 259 people aboard and 11 on the ground. Many victims were American college students flying home for Christmas.



Al-Megrahi lost one appeal and abandoned another before being freed in 2009 on compassionate grounds. He died of cancer in 2012, still protesting his innocence.

The latest appeal seeks to overturn the murder conviction, citing concerns about the evidence that convicted al-Megrahi, including doubts about the timer alleged to have detonated the bomb.



It is supported by several relatives of Lockerbie victims, including Jim Swire, who lost his daughter Flora in the attack. He and some other relatives believe al-Megrahi was wrongfully convicted.



"The reputation of Scottish law has suffered both at home and internationally because of widespread doubts about the conviction of Mr. al-Megrahi," Anwar said. "It is in the interests of justice and restoring confidence in our criminal justice system that these doubts can be addressed."



Gerard Sinclair, chief executive of the Criminal Cases Review Commission, said the body would "give careful consideration to this new application."
Authorities in Malawi have faced resistance from bus operators as they try to implement enhanced traffic safety measures amid a rise in fatal accidents this year.

Two police stations were torched on June 23 in Malawis commercial capital, Blantyre, as minibus drivers and conductors protested the new traffic safety measures. Police used tear gas to disperse demonstrations.

Officials say the new measures are a response to a rise in deadly road accidents, many of them involving buses. The most recent one killed ten people in June when a bus they were travelling in flipped three times in Ntcheu district of central Malawi.

Police spokesperson James Kadadzera told VOA there have been 927 road deaths this year in Malawi, compared to 806 during the same period last year.

We are talking of over speeding as being the main cause," he said. "Drink and drive is following as another factor and we have inconsiderate overtaking, dangerous overtaking.

The government is now requiring passenger buses to install a speed limiter. Under the new by-laws, drivers and conductors of buses that are overcrowded, operating after 10 p.m., or carrying standing passengers can also face fines and as much as 10 years in jail.

The changes went into effect in mid-June. Meanwhile, minibus operators have increased fares, a move aimed to maintain what they were making when they were overloading their buses.

We now sometimes quarrel with passengers trying to board with bags because we fear of being jailed. So we are losing customers, as many of them take us to be rude," says Gold Mabukhu, a minibus driver in Blantyre.

The state-owned Malawi News Agency reported Monday the Lilongwe Senior Magistrate Court fined five drivers $140 each for driving under the influence of alcohol.

Police spokesman Kadadzera says police need more speed guns and breathalyzer machines to curb reckless driving.

In fact, we have these gadgets, but may not be everywhere," he said. "We have them in insufficient number and they cannot be always there.

He says police have increased traffic patrols to check vehicles and drivers.

Bus operators say the government needs to do its part as well and improve the countrys roads to ensure safe driving.

They are not wide enough," says Benson Chibaka is an operations manager for AXA Bus Company in Malawi. "They are getting smaller and smaller when they are being eaten up by the rains. So the roads need to be worked on as well.

Malawi President Peter Mutharika has set up a joint committee with the ministries of labor and transport to explore further ways to stop the road carnage.
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe said on Monday he was donating $1 million to the African Union (AU), hoping to set an example for African countries to finance AU programs and wean it off funding from outside donors.

For years, about 60 percent of AU spending has been financed by donors including the European Union, World Bank and governments of wealthy non-African countries.

Mugabe, who has held power in Zimbabwe since independence from Britain in 1980, has said reliance on foreign funds allows big powers to interfere in the work of the AU.

The 93-year-old Mugabe told an African Union summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, he had auctioned 300 cattle from his personal herd in May to fulfil a promise made to the continental body two years ago.

"Africa needs to finance its own programmes. Institutions like the AU cannot rely on donor funding as the model is not sustainable," Mugabe said in comments broadcast on Zimbabwe's state television.

"This humble gesture on Zimbabwe's part has no universal application but it demonstrates what is possible when people apply their minds to tasks before them."

The African Union's 2017 budget is $782 million, increasing from $416.8 million last year. African leaders in July 2016 agreed in principle to charge a 0.2 percent levy on some exports to help finance AU operations.

Zimbabwe, whose economy was devastated by a drought last year, does not disclose its contributions to the AU. The top five African contributors are Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Nigeria and South Africa.
When three journalists were arrested last week after reporting in territory held by an outlawed rebel group in northeastern Myanmar, government officials were quick to blame the journalists.

A spokesman for the presidents office told The Associated Press that members of the media have to inform security forces before reporting in conflict zones, and that if they violate any law, he or she will have to face the charge.

The charge in this case is a section of the Unlawful Associations Act, a colonial-era statute that could mean jail sentences of up to three years each for The Irrawaddy reporter Lawi Weng and the Democratic Voice of Burmas Aye Naing and Pyae Bone Naing.

There has been rising concern about the deteriorating state of press freedom in Myanmar and the reluctance of Aung San Suu Kyis new government, which came to power last year, to challenge the army over rights abuses.

But as the journalists await their first hearing on July 11, media groups are busy poking holes in the legitimacy of the militarys case, arguing the three had been cleared to cross into the territory and the charge makes no sense in connection with coverage of newsworthy events.

Permission for visit



Aye Chan Naing, the Democratic Voice of Burmas chief editor, told VOA the journalists were in a convoy to visit the Taang National Liberation Army (TNLA) in northern Shan State late last month when they stopped at a military checkpoint and turned over reporter ID cards and identity documents.

All three journalists who are now in prison, they asked for permission from ... a Burma army checkpoint at Namsahn gate, [the] military gate. And they got the permission from the colonel who was stationed there, Aye Chan Naing said. So they did ask.

The account could not be independently verified, but it could be a crucial point in the defenses case. Aye Chan Naing believes the journalists ran into a different army unit on the way back. So there could be a miscommunication between these two checkpoints, he said, adding the account comes from two separate sources.

Four civilians were also arrested, though information about them has been scant.

Rights groups say the charge, article 17/1 of the Unlawful Associations Act, is aimed at putting a wedge between the civilian populace and ethnic armed groups by criminalizing many forms of support for them, including attending meetings and in any way assisting their operations. The TNLA is one of several armed organizations fighting for more autonomy in Myanmar, and despite attending peace talks in the capital in May, it has not signed a cease fire agreement with the military.

Aye Chan Naing added it would be difficult to argue the journalists had assisted the cause of the group in any way.

We havent even managed to make a story yet after they returned, he said.

Rarely has the controversial legislation been applied to members of the media, who have been reporting openly and objectively in conflict areas for nearly five years, since Myanmar launched a series of reforms as part of a still-unfinished transition to democratic rule.

Myint Kyaw, a member of Myanmars Press Council, which handles complaints about media coverage, said the organization sent a letter to army leadership pointing out the discrepancies between the charge and the actual purpose of the visit.

We highlighted that the intention of the trip is not to be involved in the armed conflict, and then also not to be involved in any side of the armed conflict with the ethnic groups and the military, just only to get the news, to chase the news, he said. And then also, since 2012 until now, the local media is always trying to contact the ethnic armed groups, but until now there is no problem or [hardly] any problem at all.

The Committee to Protect Journalists has condemned the arrests and called for the journalists immediate release.

Since Aung San Suu Kyi formed a government in April 2016, freedom of expression has taken a hit in Myanmar, with most cases involving charges of online defamation for articles and Facebook posts that impugn the civilian government or the military.

With the arrests in Shan State, media monitors worry about further restrictions on the free flow of information and ideas.

No comment



The military public information office in the capital, Naypyitaw, declined comment about the case, referring calls to the Press Council.

But Myint Kyaw said the Press Council has been unable to reach the army. He said the legal aspects of the case did not matter so much, as the judiciary in Myanmar lacks independence.

Thats why we are worrying about this, he added.
Germany on Monday urged China to allow terminally ill Nobel laureate Liu Xiaobo to travel abroad for treatment for late-stage liver cancer, echoing similar calls from the European Union and the United States.

China claims that the ailing dissident is too sick to leave the country but on Monday Liu's friend Hu Jia, also a political dissident, said a video emerged on YouTube over the weekend that appeared to indicate that Liu was in stable condition.

Medical experts were seen saying that Liu's treatment plan was going smoothly.

"Currently, his situation is acceptable,'' an unidentified male doctor in a white coat was seen saying in the video, which did not include any images of Liu and was dated Wednesday.

The Hong Kong-based Information Center for Human Rights and Democracy also cited an unnamed family member as saying that Liu is regaining his physical abilities and that he is able to walk.

Reliable, independent information on Liu's condition and his desire to travel has been difficult to obtain, as Liu and his wife, Liu Xia, have long been isolated by authorities, out of the reach of most friends and the media.

While the couple have not publicly stated their willingness to go abroad, their friends believe they wish to do so, based on Liu Xia's earlier indications to her friends.

Liu Xiaobo is a poet and human rights activist who was detained in 2008 and sentenced to 11 years in prison for "inciting subversion of state power." The law is often used by the Chinese authorities to silence dissidents.

He was arrested after writing Charter 08, a manifesto calling for democratic reforms in China, and awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2010 for his campaign for democracy and human rights.
North Korea said Tuesday it successfully tested an intercontinental ballistic missile.

The country has long sought that capability as it works to develop the technology necessary to send a nuclear warhead to the continental United States.

An announcement on state television said the missile flew for 39 minutes and reached an altitude of 2,800 kilometers.

Those numbers are about the same as figures given by the U.S., South Korean and Japanese militaries shortly after the test that ended with the missile falling into the Sea of Japan.



The U.S. military's Pacific Command described the missile involved as an intermediate range ballistic missile.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in said his government assumed it to be a "medium long-range ballistic missile" but would still prepare in case it were an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM).

"If it is ICBM, we will need to come up with the corresponding measures," Moon said. He added that South Korea will "resolutely deal with North Korean provocations" in cooperation with the international community.



China calls for restraint



China's Foreign Ministry called for calm and restraint after Tuesday's launch.

U.S. President Donald Trump's response to the missile test came on Twitter where he renewed his calls for China to use its position as North Korea's main ally to exert influence.

"Hard to believe that South Korea and Japan will put up with this much longer. Perhaps China will put a heavy move on North Korea and end this nonsense once and for all!" Trump wrote.

China defended its efforts, calling for calm and restraint Tuesday while saying it has opposed North Korean activities that violate U.N. Security Council sanctions.

"China has made many efforts for the solution of the Korean peninsula nuclear issues," said Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang.



Trump mulls options



The U.S. leader has said in the past that all options, including military force, are available to combat threats from North Korea.

The White House said Sunday that Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping discussed in a phone call their "commitment to a denuclearized Korean Peninsula."

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who also discussed the North Korean threat in a phone call with Trump, said Tuesday he plans to call on Xi and Russian President Vladimir Putin to "play a more constructive role."

"North Korea has once again pushed through with the launch of another ballistic missile, ignoring repeated warnings from the international community," Abe said. "Japan will work to increase international pressure on North Korea by uniting strongly with the U.S. and South Korea."



Missile trajectory



David Wright of the Union of Concerned Scientists said if Tuesday's test launch was done at a normal trajectory and not almost straight up, then by his calculations it would have a range of about 6,700 kilometers, or enough to technically qualify as an ICBM.

"That range missile would allow North Korea to reach all of Alaska but would not allow it to reach the lower 48 states or the main Hawaiian islands. But it is a considerable increase over missiles weve seen them launch before, and I think what it says is that North Korea is continuing to move forward with its ability to make longer and longer range missiles," Wright told VOA.

He said if North Korea is allowed to continue on its current path of development, it could have an ICBM capable of reaching the continental U.S. in a couple of years.

"Increasing sanctions are likely to put pressure on North Korea but I dont think they are going to stop the missile program. Its been clear I think even to the Trump administration that there are not good military options," Wright said. "We dont know where the things are wed like to hit, and any attack on North Korea would almost certainly lead to destruction of Seoul in South Korea. And so what that leads you to is to basically say that the United States really needs to engage North Korea at the negotiating table."
North Korea said it has successfully carried out the launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile, a crucial milestone in Pyongyangs efforts to develop its nuclear weapons capability, despite repeated international warnings to the contrary.



The missile, which was launched from an airport near Chinas northeastern border with North Korea, landed in Japans special economic zone, sending shockwaves through Tokyos political establishment and confirming Beijings inability to keep Pyongyang in check.



Two U.S. officials said the U.S. believes it was an intercontinental ballistic missile that North Korea tested Monday night.

The launch of the missile that North Korea claims can hit anywhere in the world will put additional pressure on Beijing to impose even tougher sanctions on Pyongyang. How it will ultimately respond is unclear.

The launch of the missile that North Korea claims can hit anywhere in the world will put additional pressure on Beijing to impose even tougher sanctions on Pyongyang. How it will ultimately respond is unclear.



At a regular news briefing Tuesday, Chinas Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said Beijing has made relentless efforts to resolve challenges on the Korean peninsula. He also said Chinas role is indispensible and called on all parties to exercise restraint to quickly ease tensions.



[China] urges North Korea to refrain from acts that violate U.N. Security Council resolutions and instead create necessary conditions for resuming dialogue and negotiations, Geng said.

Trump criticizes launch



Trump has been trying to get China to do more to put an end to North Koreas nuclear weapons ambitions, but late last month he said that while he greatly appreciated the efforts of President Xi Jinping and China to help, It has not worked out. At least I know China tried!





Even so, he renewed his call for more pressure from Beijing earlier on Tuesday in a Tweet shortly after the launch, but before North Korea said it was an ICBM. Trump said that perhaps China will put a heavy move on North Korea and end this nonsense once and for all!



Commenting on North Korean leader Kim Jong Un he also said, Does this guy have anything better to with his life? Hard to believe South Korea and Japan will put up with this much longer.

And the U.S. Pacific Command said it is working with its interagency partners to assess and monitor North Korea's actions.

On Tuesday, Japans Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said the latest missile test shows the North Korean threat has increased.



Later this week, the United States, South Korea and Japan will hold a trilateral meeting on the sidelines of the Group of 20 Nations summit in Hamburg, Germany.



I will also ask (Chinese) President Xi Jinping and (Russian) President (Vladimir) Putin to respond in a more constructive way, he added.



What will China do?



Cheng Xiaohe, a political science professor at Beijing's Renmin University, said that while it is still too early to tell what steps China might be willing to take or whether the United Nations will respond by only condemning the launch or enact a new round of sanctions.



If new sanctions are enacted it should include new measures, such as a ban on North Korea-bound tourism, the export of labor and bans on North Korean petrochemical products, Cheng said. All of these are possible measures the Security Council could discuss.

Cheng said that more research of the launch is needed, but that appears to be a missile with the capability of traveling up to 10,000 kilometers. During the test, the missile climbed 2,800 kilometers before plunging in the sea.

David Wright, a physicist and co-director of the Union of Concerned Scientists said in a blog online that if reports are correct, the same missile could have a maximum range of roughly 6,700 km on a standard trajectory.



"That range would not be enough to reach the lower 48 states or the large islands of Hawaii, but would allow it to reach all of Alaska," Wright said.





Joyce Huang contributed to this story in Washington
Ukrainian police on Tuesday seized the servers of an accounting software firm suspected of spreading a malware virus which crippled computer systems at major companies around the world last week, a senior police official said.

The head of Ukraine's Cyber Police, Serhiy Demedyuk, told Reuters the servers of M.E.Doc - Ukraine's most popular accounting software - had been seized as part of an investigation into the attack.



Though they are still trying to establish who was behind last week's attack, Ukrainian intelligence officials and security firms have said some of the initial infections were spread via a malicious update issued by M.E.Doc, charges the

company's owners deny.



The owners were not immediately available for comment on Tuesday.



The police move came after cyber security investigators unearthed further evidence on Tuesday that the attack had been planned months in advance by highly-skilled hackers, who they said had inserted a vulnerability into the M.E.Doc progam.



Ukraine also took steps on Tuesday to extend its state tax deadline by one month to help businesses hit by the malware assault.



Researchers at Slovakian security software firm ESET said they had found a "backdoor" written into some of M.E.Doc's software updates, likely with access to the company's source code, which allowed hackers to enter companies' systems undetected.

"Very stealthy and cunning"



"We identified a very stealthy and cunning backdoor that was injected by attackers into one of M.E.Doc's legitimate modules," ESET senior malware researcher Anton Cherepanov said in a technical note. "It seems very unlikely that attackers could do this without access to M.E.Doc's source code."



"This was a thoroughly well-planned and well-executed operation," he said.



ESET said at least three M.E.Doc updates had been issued with the "backdoor vulnerability", and the first one was sent to clients on April 14, more than two months before the attack.



ESET said the hackers likely had access to M.E.Doc's source code since the beginning of the year, and the detailed preparation before the attack was testament to the advanced nature of their operation.



Oleg Derevianko, board chairman at Ukrainian cyber security firm ISSP, said an update issued by M.E.Doc in April delivered a virus to the company's clients which instructed computers to download 350 megabytes of data from an unknown source on the internet.



The virus then exported 35 megabytes of company data to the hackers, he told Reuters in an interview at his office in Kiev.



"With this 35 megabytes you can exfiltrate anything - emails from all of the banks, user accounts, passwords, anything."



Little known outside Ukrainian accounting circles, M.E.Doc is used by around 80 percent of companies in Ukraine. The software allows its 400,000 clients to send and collaborate on financial documents between internal departments, as well as file them with the Ukrainian state tax service.



Ukraine's government said on Tuesday it would submit a draft law to parliament for the country's tax deadline to be extended to July 15, and waive fines for companies who missed the previous June 13 cutoff because of the attack.



"We had program failures in connection to the cyber attack, which meant that businesses were unable to submit account reports on time," Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman told a cabinet meeting.



Separately, Ukraine's security service, the SBU, said it had discussed cyber defense with NATO officials and had received equipment from the alliance to better combat future cyber attacks. Ukraine is not in NATO but is seeking closer ties.



On Saturday Ukrainian intelligence officials accused Russian security services of being behind the attack, and cyber security researchers linked it to a suspected Russian group who attacked the Ukrainian power grid in December 2016.



A Kremlin spokesman dismissed charges of Russian involvement as "unfounded blanket accusations".



Derevianko said the hacker's activity in April and reported access to M.E.Doc's source code showed Ukraine's computer networks had already been compromised and that the intruders were still operating inside them.



"It definitely tells us about the advanced capabilities of the adversaries," he said. "I don't think any additional evidence is needed to attribute this to a nation-state attack."


Russia and China have agreed on a need for a freeze on North Korea's missile and nuclear programs as well as large-scale joint military exercises by the United States and South Korea.

Hours after Pyongyang announced a missile launch Tuesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that he would coordinate with Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping to promote their plan to combat North Korea's growing missile threat.

"Weve agreed to robustly promote our joint initiative to find a solution to the Korean issue based on the Russian step-by-step program, and the Chinese ideas of concurrently freezing DPRKs nuclear activity, as well as United States' and South Koreas large joint military trainings," Putin told a news conference following a meeting between the two leaders in Moscow.



North Korea said it has successfully carried out the launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile, something that would be a crucial milestone in Pyongyangs effort to develop its nuclear weapons capability, despite repeated international warnings to the contrary.

The missile, which was launched from an airport near Chinas northeastern border with North Korea, landed in Japans special economic zone, sending shockwaves through Tokyos political establishment and confirming Beijings inability to keep Pyongyang in check.

Later this week, the United States, South Korea and Japan will hold a trilateral meeting on the sidelines of the Group of 20 Nations summit in Hamburg, Germany, which the Russian and Chinese leaders are expected to attend.
[July 03, 2017] BooleBox Increases Private Users' Security With a Summer Promo

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Qatar has announced plans to sharply increase its natural gas production, a move that could be seen as preparation for a protracted dispute with its Gulf neighbors.

State-owned Qatar Petroleum said Tuesday that it would boost its production of liquefied natural gas (LNG) by 30 percent over the next few years. Most of the increased production will come from the North Field, the world's biggest natural gas field, which Qatar and Iran are developing.

In the background of Tuesday's energy announcement was a looming deadline for Qatar to comply with a series of demands by Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt, the three leading states among those that broke off diplomatic and commercial ties with Qatar a month ago.

The Saudis and their partners claim Qatar is supporting terrorism in an alliance with Iran. They have demanded that the Doha government downgrade its relations with Tehran, shut down the state-owned broadcaster Al Jazeera and order closure of a Turkish military unit stationed in Qatar. The Arab states' ultimatum to Qatar did not mention the large military base the United States has in the Gulf state.

Qatar disavows terrorism

Qatar's rejection of the Saudi demands is expected, but it has not yet been made public. Kuwait, which has been acting as a mediator in the monthlong dispute, said it received a written response from Doha on Monday, but officials in the UAE said they had yet to see its contents.

Qatar's foreign minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani, said Tuesday in Doha, "It's not about terrorism; it's about freedom of speech."

"There is a lot of progress that has been made on that front [countering terrorists' financing] ... but of course there is always room for improvement," al-Thani said.

German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel said at the same news conference that he thought Qatar had shown restraint in the disputes with the Saudis and their partners, which began June 5. "We hope others will respond in a similar spirit," Gabriel said.

LNG glut drives down prices

Qatar has said the demands listed by the Saudis would be impossible to meet without sacrificing Qatar's sovereignty. The Doha government has said the charges by the Saudi-led group are baseless.

Energy-market analysts said the LNG supply increase Qatar announced Tuesday would worsen an existing glut on world markets, which are already dominated by U.S., Russian and Australian production. Qatar has low production costs, and its gas fields are closer to many customers in Europe and Asia than those of its competitors.

An abundant supply of LNG already has driven down prices more than 40 percent in Asian spot markets this year, and prices are down 70 percent from their peaks in 2014. Analysts quoted by Reuters said a surge in production by Qatar could make sales difficult for U.S. producers.

Most liquefied natural gas is supplied through long-term contracts between producers and users that allow for little flexibility, such as the reselling of cargoes. With supplies far outpacing demand, however, analysts expect more LNG will be traded freely. Some producers already have begun offering contracts without resale or destination restrictions.

In what would be an ironic twist on the Saudi-led demands against Qatar for allegedly cooperating with Iran too closely, the Gulf states' ultimatum to Doha could result in its closer cooperation with Tehran on gas production and exports from the gas field they share.

"Qatar needs the support of Iran now more than ever before," said Reza Mostafavi Tabatabaei, president of London-based ENEXD, a firm involved in oil and gas extraction equipment. He was interviewed by Reuters.
One thing is certain: Culture has not been lacking in takes on Spider-Man for the past 15 years. First there was Tobey Maguire, who under the direction of Sam Raimi for three films ushered in the modern superhero era, and then there was Andrew Garfield whose two films with Marc Webb were immediately forgettable. And now, like all obedient franchises, they're trying to start all over again, this time with the much more age-appropriate Tom Holland in " Spider-Man: Homecoming ."

And you know what? Superhero cynicism aside, "Spider-Man: Homecoming" is really fun. Director Jon Watts, whose only previous feature film credit is the indie thriller "Cop Car," has confidently put his stamp on the friendly neighborhood web-slinger by making one bold move: actually casting teenagers to play teenagers.

Yes, after two films with late 20-somethings donning the Spidey suit and getting bitten by that pesky spider, Spider-Man finally gets to be a kid (and we get to skip over the whole origin/ Uncle Ben story). Instead, Watts' film, which is upsettingly credited to six screenwriters, picks up with Peter Parker (Holland) right before, during and after the events of "Captain America: Civil War," which introduced Holland's Spider-Man in that epic airport Avengers battle.

Instead of a "last week in Marvel" segment to catch up, we're given a refresher via Peter's perspective. He's just an excited kid who filmed the whole adventure and ever since has been thirsting for more Avengers action. He tries, endearingly, to prove his mettle on his own as he waits idly in Queens for a call from Tony Stark  giving directions to the elderly, retrieving stolen bikes and doing flips on command.

What he doesn't know is that for eight years, there has been a supervillain emerging in his town in the form of a wronged construction worker, Adrian (Michael Keaton), who decided to break bad after losing a job to a government crew that clears post-superhero fight disaster areas. Peter, with his true-blue heart and naivete and eagerness to prove himself, of course takes on more than he can handle, while also trying to navigate high school, homework, crushes and the awkwardness of just being a teenager. Time passes easily and just when you might worry that you don't actually care about any of the characters, the story throws a great curveball that carries interest to the end.

The film is overflowing with stellar talent, even in the smallest of roles and not counting the Marvel loaners in Robert Downey Jr. (who oozes charisma and charm even when phoning it in for a handful of scenes) and Jon Favreau. In the high school alone, there's the too-cool Michelle (Zendaya), the crush Liz (Laura Harrier) and the adorable breakout best friend Ned (Jacob Batalon). Hannibal Buress and Martin Starr are there, too, to add reliable laughs. Adrian's bad-guy crew includes Logan Marshall-Green and Michael Cernus. Even Spider-Man's suit has an Oscar winner behind its voice (Jennifer Connelly).

Then of course there is Holland, a terrific actor since "The Impossible," who is the perfect amount of empathetic, excitable and clueless to make Peter Parker work now and for years to come. For the most part, "Homecoming" is a joy. It's light-hearted, smart, a little meta and the first Marvel film to really consider what it might be like for kids living in a world where superheroes are real.

My only quibble with "Spider-Man: Homecoming" is that for all of its charming and infectious realism about race, high school life and class issues, it has a bit of a woman problem. Simply: every significant and semi-significant female character looks like a model. It wouldn't be an issue were the film not so spot-on with casting such a realistic variety of men and teenage boys, or if it were less concerned with hammering down on the "Aunt May is hot" bit that goes a little too far, but when taken together you start to wonder if maybe things would have been different if just one of the six screenwriters was a woman.

But just as Peter has some growing up to do, so does this young franchise.

"Spider-Man: Homecoming," a Sony Pictures release, is rated PG-13 by the Motion Picture Association of America for "sci-fi action violence, some language and brief suggestive comments." Running time: 133 minutes. Three stars out of four.
The Syrian Army has declared a unilateral cease-fire in the south of the country until Thursday, ostensibly to support "reconciliation efforts."

The announcement Monday came a day before peace talks set to be held in Kazakhstan's capital, Astana. Hours later, however, Reuters reported rebels and witnesses in the supposed cease-fire zone said Syrian government jets had resumed dropping barrel bombs - drums or cylinders packed with explosives and shrapnel - on rebel-held areas of the city of Daraa, in southwestern Syria at the border with Jordan, and other nearby areas.

Talk of a cease-fire was seen as an attempt by Syria and its Russian backers to persuade rebel groups to take part in peace talks due to resume Tuesday in Kazakhstan's capital, Astana. A large faction of rebels in southern Syria already has declined to send representatives to the Russian-sponsored talks, because the rebels contend the Damascus government has not observed previous cease-fire agreements.

Previous rounds of talks in Kazakhstan, convened in parallel with U.N.-brokered peace talks in Geneva, have not made substantial progress. A cease-fire declared in May, built around so-called "de-escalation zones," has been repeatedly violated.

Daraa has been a focus of Syrian airstrikes in recent months, as the Damascus government tries to regain full control of the city and sever the rebels' access to Jordan.

The Syrian army's statement Monday said: "In order to support the peace process and national reconciliation, a cessation of hostilities took hold at 12:00 p.m. on July 2 and will last until midnight on July 6."

In another development Monday, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres appointed a French legal expert and former judge to head the U.N. investigative body that will help document and prosecute the most serious violations of international law in Syria, including possible war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Guterres' choice, Catherine Marchi-Uhel, has been serving as ombudsperson for a Security Council committee monitoring sanctions against Islamic State militants and al-Qaida.

She previously was a judge in France, an international judge with the U.N. mission in Kosovo and also served at the Cambodia court prosecuting leaders of the Khmer Rouge. Marchi-Uhel also was senior legal officer at the international tribunal on war crimes in the former Yugoslavia, and worked in legal positions at the French foreign ministry.

The Syrian civil war has killed more than 320,000 people, according to U.N. estimates, and the world body has established a commission of inquiry to document cases of torture, summary killings and other atrocities by all sides in the conflict.
The United Nations has called it one of Africa's biggest remaining wilderness areas. Now a dispute over a planned hydropower dam in Tanzania's Selous wildlife reserve pits the country's president against conservationists who say the project could cause irreparable damage to the UNESCO World Heritage site.

On Tuesday, a few days after President John Magufuli said the Stiegler's Gorge dam will be built "come rain, come sun," the WWF conservation group said in a report that the project threatens an important wetland as well as the livelihoods of more than 200,000 people in impoverished areas, reliant on fishing, that would be downstream.



The Selous, which covers nearly 50,000 square kilometers (19,300 square miles), has been under pressure from poachers who have decimated its elephant population to supply the illegal ivory market. Mining concessions and other industrial projects are also a concern as the East African nation's campaign to boost its economy conflicts with international efforts to preserve habitats and their wildlife.

Speaking Saturday in Dar es Salaam, Magufuli said the dam and resulting reservoir will cover only about 3 percent of the Selous.



"We are not going to listen to people who speak about impacts on environment without facts on the ground," Magufuli said, according to Tanzania's Daily News newspaper.



However, conservationists say the project could have a negative impact on a much bigger area, for example by cutting off wildlife migration routes. The WWF has asked for an environmental assessment in line with Tanzanian law and wants the government to consider alternative ideas for generating power.



Tourism Minister Jumanne Maghembe told The Associated Press that Tanzania is a developing country and needs to use its natural resources to transform its economy.



He also said the government had long set aside 38 percent of the country's land for wildlife conservation. "It's too huge area, we need the project for our development," he said.



The plan at Stiegler's Gorge has been discussed for decades. Once completed, the project would increase Tanzania's power generation from 1,450 megawatts to at least 4,000 megawatts, according to the Daily News.
Nicaragua has sent more than 1,000 Cuban migrants, heading to the United States, back to Costa Rica, accusing San Jose of deliberately sparking a humanitarian crisis.

The diplomatic crisis began last week when Costa Rica said it would issue temporary transit visas to more than 1,000 Cubans it detained in recent days after crossing into the country from Panama.

Costa Rica's immigration chief said the government initially was deporting Cubans who arrived without proper visas, but criminal gangs began using the deportation process to facilitate the illegal transportation of migrants to the United States.

Costa Rica's Foreign Ministry chided Nicaragua for using security forces to detain the migrants, citing unconfirmed reports that soldiers used tear gas.

Nicaragua said there were some altercations when migrants stormed the Penas Blancas border post on Sunday.

In recent months there has been a surge in Cubans seeking to reach the United States, by way of Mexico and Central America, following a thawing of relations between the former Cold War foes. The migrants now fear long standing asylum rights for Cuban immigrants in the United States will end.
Were counting down the five most popular songs in the Billboard Hot 100 Pop Singles chart, for the week ending July 8, 2017.

Its a big week on the Hot 100, as we finally break a 12-week chart drought.



Number 5: Ed Sheeran " Shape of You"



Ed Sheeran slips a slot to number five with Shape Of You. Ed is vocal in opposing ticket re-sellers, and now hes taking the fight to another level.



When fans come to see him in one of his seven U.K. stadium dates in 2018, theyll need four forms of identification. In a statement, Eds label Atlantic says the security measures are meant to ensure fans arent ripped off by inflated prices on secondary ticket sites.

For 12 weeks, a female voice wasnt heard in the Top Five. That drought has ended and you can thank Rihanna.



*Hot Shot Debut* Number 4: DJ Khaled Featuring Rihanna & Bryson Tiller "Wild Thoughts"

DJ Khaled takes Hot Shot Debut honors, opening in fourth place with Wild Thoughts featuring Rihanna and Bryson Tiller.



Female artists had gone missing from the Top Five for 12 weeksa streak not equaled since 1972, when the women were shut out for 13 weeks.



Number 3: Bruno Mars " That's What I Like"

From here, things quiet down considerably. Bruno Mars spends another week in third place with Thats What I Like.



Last week, Camila Cabello announced that shed go on tour with Bruno here in North America - needless to say she was happy about it! Their joint dates begin July 20 in San Jose, California and run through August 22. September finds Dua Lipa taking over, touring with Bruno into 2018.

Number 2: DJ Khaled Featuring Justin Bieber, Quavo, Chance The Rapper & Lil Wayne " I'm The One"

DJ Khaled, Justin Bieber, Quavo, Chance The Rapper and Lil Wayne stay put in second place with Im The One.



TMZ has video footage of Justin meeting Khaleds little son Asahd during the video shoot for Im The Oneand the eight-month-old promptly bursts into tears. Asahd is a celebrity thanks to his fathers social media postsand he also graces the cover of Khaleds new album Grateful.



Number 1: Luis Fonsi & Daddy Yankee Featuring Justin Bieber "Despacito"

Heres something for Justin Bieber to be grateful for: Luis Fonsi, Daddy Yankee and Justin Bieber are your Hot 100 champs for a seventh week with Despacito.



Late last month, Justin threw his Yeezy shoes into the crowd at the Wireless Festival in Frankfurt, Germany. The right shoe is being auctioned on ebaycurrent bid nearly $8,000 -- while the left one is now an Instagram star with nearly $10,000 followers.

And so it goesuntil we do it again next week!
As police step up patrols and protesters set up camp in Hamburg, Germany, no one is expecting an easy weekend when U.S. President Donald Trump joins other heads of the world's 20 leading economies.

Trump and German Chancellor Angela Merkel are on a collision course on issues of climate and trade, but counterterrorism efforts, recent North Korean missile tests and Chinese steel dumping could bring them together.

Merkel pledges to work toward consensus on wider issues, but foresees no miracles in her relations with the U.S. administration.

I do not think we will have unified positions on all issues at the end, but it is sensible and honest to talk to each other on all issues of international diplomacy, Merkel told reporters ahead of the summit.

WATCH: Preview of G-20 meeting

President Trump said he has bold plans to impose steep tariffs or quotas on steel imports, the latest and perhaps most serious of threats to protect U.S. industry, and part of his America First strategy, one that has G-20 partners feeling nervous.

What he is doing is he is throwing all kinds of cards up in the air  NAFTA, critique of climate change  because he actually wants a bit of a zero base policy, said Tim Evans, a political economist at Middlesex University. I think at the end of the day he probably, of course, wants free trade in the win-win sense, but what he is trying to expose is perhaps some of the hypocrisy of countries like China who talk the talk of openness but do not always deliver. So there is going to be a real clash of the titans at this summit.

Shock talk brings results

After threatening to not stand by NATO allies unless they pay their share of defense, members pledged to boost their contributions. Trump said he would rip up the North American Free Trade Agreement, or NAFTA, and now he has a deal with Mexico on sugar exports.

The U.S. leader's target now is China and its cheap steel exports that are blamed for killing jobs not only in the United States, but in Britain and other G-20 states, including Germany.

Chinese officials are closely watching the direction of U.S. policy and have called on Washington to exercise caution.

Trump's decision to withdraw the United States from the Paris climate accord has stoked the anger of demonstrators in Hamburg as well as concern among Merkel and some other G-20 leaders, but analysts say the threat of cheap Chinese steel imports could be a common cause, and take precedence.

Many of the G-20 members are experiencing exactly the same kinds of economic forces and constraints the U.S. is facing, Shanker Singham, director of economic policy and prosperity studies at the Legatum Institute in London, told VOA. So for example, in the U.K., the steel mills in Port Talbot and Redcar were closed because of, really, overcapacity of supply by the China steel sector. That is not very much different from what has been going on in Ohio and Pennsylvania. So I think this actually has the opportunity or a chance to get a lot of support.

Wait-and-see approach

G-20 leaders, while nervous, are waiting to see what Trump actually does before taking any action, and all indications are that they are not rushing to adopt protectionist measures.

Global Trade Alert, a group that monitors protectionism, this week reported a drop in the number of such measures adopted by G-20 members in the last several months compared with the same period last year.

The Trump administration has said a lot about 'America First' and fair trade and so forth, but they haven't actually done that much so far, said Singham. G-20 members will be looking at 'What do you really mean by this policy?' in order to determine what their response to that policy will be.

None of the major issues is likely to be resolved, but analysts say more clarity may emerge, given who the players are.

The landscape that we see looming in Hamburg is one of showmanship, said Evans. We have a lot of unpredictability because we have a lot of very charismatic, very outspoken leaders  people like [President Recep Tayyip] Erdogan from Turkey, [Prime Minister Narendra] Modi from India, Vladimir Putin from Russia and of course President Trump. These people know how to play to global audiences.
President Donald Trump's first face-to-face meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday will be brimming with global intrigue, but the White House says there's "no specific agenda." So in the absence of a set list of topics, what are two of the world's most famously unpredictable leaders to discuss?

Trump, who prefers to have neatly packaged achievements to pair with high-profile meetings, may be looking for some concessions from Russia to show he's delivering progress and helping restore a productive relationship between the two powers. Putin would almost surely want something in return, and there's a long list of "irritants" between the two countries that they could potentially resolve.

Ahead of the meeting, White House National Security Council and State Department officials have been reviewing possible gestures the U.S. could offer Russia as part of the meeting, a current and a former administration official said. They weren't authorized to comment publicly and requested anonymity.

Yet any outward sign of bonhomie between Trump and Putin would be immediately seized upon by the president's critics and Russia hawks eager to show he's cozying up to the Russian leader. The ongoing investigations into Russia's interference in the U.S. election and potential Trump campaign collusion won't be far from anyone's minds.

The two leaders will sit down in Hamburg, Germany, on the sidelines of a Group of 20 summit of leading rich and developing nations. Ahead of the meeting, Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak met Monday in Washington with the No. 3 U.S. diplomat, Thomas Shannon, to prepare.

A look at what Trump and Putin could address:

Election hacking

Trump has been reluctant to publicly and directly acknowledge Russia's role in meddling in the U.S. election, out of apparent concern it undermines the legitimacy of his win. He's also insisted there was no collusion with him or his campaign, a conclusion that U.S. investigators have not yet reached.

U.S. officials says Russia tried to hack election systems in 21 states and to sway the election for Trump, a level of interference in the U.S. political system that security experts say represents a top-level threat that should command a forceful response from the U.S. Putin has denied all this.

There are no indications Trump plans to raise Russia's meddling at the meeting. Yet if he doesn't, it will give fuel to Trump's critics who say he's blatantly ignoring a major national security threat. It could also embolden those who say Trump is trying to cover for the Russians after benefiting from their interference.

Irritants

Each side has a long list of complaints about the other that do not rise to the geopolitical level but are nonetheless impeding broader attempts to coordinate or cooperate on larger concerns. After meeting in Moscow earlier this year, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov agreed to set up a mechanism to deal with these issues the Russians describe as "irritants" and the Americans call "the smalls."

But even that effort has stalled. After the Treasury last month imposed new sanctions on Russia for its intervention in Ukraine, Moscow called off a scheduled second meeting between Thomas Shannon, the U.S. undersecretary of state for political affairs, and Sergey Ryabkov, a Russian deputy foreign minister. Shannon and Ryabkov's canceled June 23 meeting in St. Petersburg has yet to be rescheduled.

It was not clear if either Trump or Putin would seek to reopen the channel when they see each other in Hamburg, although Tillerson and other State Department officials have taken pains to stress that they remain open to a resumption of the talks.

Russia's wish list

Russia has been especially vocal about its chief demand: the return of two properties it owns in the U.S. that were seized by the Obama administration as punishment for Russian meddling in the 2016 election. The recreational compounds are located in Oyster Bay, New York, on Long Island, and along the Corsica River in the Eastern Shore region of Maryland

On Monday, Putin's foreign affairs adviser, Yuri Ushakov, said Russia had been remarkably restrained by declining to retaliate but that its patience was running out. If the U.S. doesn't soon give back the compounds, also known as dachas, Moscow will have no choice but to retaliate, Ushakov said.

Another Russian demand is to ease surveillance of its diplomats in the U.S.

U.S. demands

The U.S. has its own list, topped by a resumption of adoptions of Russian children by American parents which Russia banned in late 2012, an end to what it says is intensifying harassment of U.S. diplomats and other officials in Russia and a resolution to a dispute over a piece of land in St. Petersburg that was meant to be the site of a new U.S. consulate in Russia's second-largest city. The U.S. also wants expanded cultural and exchange programs between the two countries. Such programs were vastly curtailed or ended after Putin's 2012 return to the Kremlin in an election he accused Washington of interfering in.

Tillerson has made the adoption issue a priority, according to aides, although it remains unclear if he has succeeded in convincing the Russians to even consider revisiting the ban. The property dispute in St. Petersburg dates to 2014 when Russia blocked the U.S. from developing the site after the Obama administration hit Russia with sanctions because of it's annexation of Ukraine's Crimea region.

Officials say the U.S. won't simply swap the Russian compounds for the St. Petersburg consulate. Action on the other demands is also required, they say.

Ukrain sanctions

Moscow has long sought an easing of economic sanctions the U.S. slapped on Russia over its actions in eastern Ukraine and annexation of Crimea, which the U.S. does not recognize. Though there were indications that Trump's aides entertained easing the sanctions in the run-up to the inauguration and early days of his presidency, his administration has repeatedly insisted that they will stay in place until Russia pulls out of Crimea and lives up to its commitments under a cease-fire deal for eastern Ukraine that has never been fully implemented.

Given that Russia has taken neither of those steps, easing sanctions would require a major reversal by Trump and would infuriate Russia hawks in both parties in the U.S. In fact, Congress has been pushing to increase sanctions on Russia and make them harder for Trump to lift. The Senate has passed the popular measure, which won't go to a House vote before Trump's meeting with Putin.

Syria

Eager to bolster his global legitimacy, Putin has been pressing the U.S. to cooperate militarily with Russia in Syria, where both Moscow and Washington oppose the Islamic State group but disagree about Syrian President Bashar Assad. Though defense laws passed in the wake of the Ukraine crisis bar the U.S. military from cooperating with Russia, the two have maintained a "deconfliction" hotline to ensure their forces don't accidentally collide on the crowded Syrian battlefield.

The Pentagon has steadfastly resisted proposals to work closely with Russia in Syria, out of concern the U.S. can't trust Moscow with sensitive intelligence information. But the problems posed by the lack of coordination in Syria have resurfaced following recent events. The U.S. has recently shot down several pro-Syrian government aircraft, leading Russia, an ally of the Syrian government, to threaten to shoot down any aircraft that flies west of the Euphrates River.
Turkey's foreign minister says Turkish soldiers will remain on Cyprus under any agreement to reunify the ethnically divided island.



Mevlut Cavusoglu says Turkey won't accept a peace accord that would mandate the withdrawal of all of its troops from Cyprus  a key demand by Greece and internationally recognized Greek Cypriots.



He told reporters after a morning round of talks at a Swiss resort Tuesday that anyone "dreaming" of removing all Turkish troops from the island has "to wake up."



Cavusoglu says abolishing military intervention rights in an envisioned federal Cyprus is a "non-starter" for Turkey and the nation's breakaway Turkish Cypriots.



Turkey has kept more than 35,000 troops on Cyprus since 1974, when it invaded in the wake of a coup mounted by supporters of union with Greece.
Uber suffered a new setback in Europe on Tuesday when a European Union court adviser said France was entitled to charge local managers of the U.S. ride-hailing app firm with running an illegal taxi service.

Uber played down the non-binding opinion from an advocate general at the Court of Justice of the European Union (ECJ), saying it applied only to a service using unlicensed drivers known as UberPOP, which it had already discontinued in France.

Judges will make a final ruling later this year. However, they generally follow the advice of their advocates general and the comments come two months after another opinion, which rejected Uber's argument that it was only a digital platform and so subject to less regulation than a transport firm.

The European court battles are being fought as Uber struggles with last month's departure of co-founder and chief executive Travis Kalanick following a string of scandals that have hit a global star of the U.S. tech industry.

The latest case before the ECJ was referred to it by a French court in Lille and concerns a 2014 French law on taxis and chauffeured services which makes it a criminal offense to organize illegal taxi services and sets restrictions on the use of software to find customers in the street.

Uber had argued that it was not a taxi company and that the criminal fines imposed on two of its French managers were not valid because the French taxi law infringed EU rules under which limitations on digital services in the bloc require prior approval from Brussels.

Advocate General Maciej Szpunar, who also provided the opinion in the Spanish case in May, disagreed and upheld France's right to prohibit and punish illegal transport activities like UberPOP without seeking EU approval of its law.

"Member states may prohibit and punish, as a matter of criminal law, the illegal exercise of transport activities in the context of the UberPOP service, without notifying the Commission of the draft law in advance," he said in statement.

Uber said it now only operates in France with licensed cab drivers, as it does in many of its main European markets.

Uber was fined 800,000 euros ($908,000) last year and two of its executives were also fined for running an illegal taxi service with UberPOP. The case is currently being appealed and an outcome is expected at the end of the year.

Notably, Szpunar also said that member states remained free to punish illegal transport activities provided by intermediaries such as Uber without asking for Brussels' green light regardless of whether Uber was considered a transport or an information society service.

Damien Geradin, a professor of competition law and economics at Tilburg University in the Netherlands, said the impact of a potential ruling along the lines of Tuesday's opinion would have little impact on Uber's operations in France, but would have wider ramifications for how it is regulated across Europe.

"More generally, the significance of the opinion is that it shows once again that Szpunar resists any qualification that Ubers services can be considered as information society services," Geradin said.

"This is a missed opportunity as these provisions would protect Uber against discriminatory or disproportionate rules adopted in the member states, while still allowing member states to regulate the underlying services [provided by the drivers] to protect riders, drivers and third parties."




A second U.S. naval mission to the disputed South China Sea over the past six weeks indicates President Donald Trump is increasing pressure on Beijing after a wait-and-see period, a windfall for Chinese maritime rivals in Southeast Asia.

But China is prepared for a U.S. role, analysts believe. It has become the dominant force over in the sea the past decade and is expected to answer U.S. moves by increasing economic ties with Southeast Asian countries that dispute Beijing's maritime expansion.

China will respond

The U.S. government will keep trying to offset Chinas might in the 3.5 million-square-kilometer sea by passing naval vessels in the name of freedom of navigation, said Andrew Yang, secretary-general with the Chinese Council of Advanced Policy Studies think tank in Taiwan.

Trump had sidelined the maritime matter since April to seek Chinas help in squelching North Koreas missile program but may not have gotten what he expected.

Holding back the freedom of navigation operations was trying to encourage China to do more in the nuclear crisis in North Korea, so this will continue to be one of the bargaining positions in the future, Yang said.

The USS Stethem guided missile destroyer passed Sunday within 12 nautical miles (22.2 kilometers) of Triton Island, a Chinese holding in the South China Seas Paracel Islands, the U.S. Naval Institute website said. Vietnam claims the Paracels and disputes Chinas control over the archipelago in a sea thats prized for fish, oil and natural gas.

In late May, the Trump Administration sent its first vessel into the South China Sea. The destroyer USS Dewey passed within 12 nautical miles of Mischief Reef, a Chinese-controlled feature in the seas Spratly Island chain.

The sea is open

Washington normally uses those ship movements to prove the U.S. governments position that the sea is open to all despite Beijings claim that most of the waters fall under its flag. The United States doesnt have a claim in the sea.

Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan and the Philippines do contest Chinas claims. They resent its control of islets, some built from landfill, for military use and its passage of coast guard vessels through waters overlapping their own claims.

US/North Korea/China

After an early April meeting in Florida with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, Trump had hoped for Chinese cooperation in curbing development of North Korean ballistic missiles and nuclear capabilities. Frustration with China, an old ally of Pyongyang, crested last week in sanctions against a Chinese shipping company over suspected help for North Koreas weapons programs.

I think the U.S. using either carrots or sticks to get China to apply more pressure on North Korea will not be successful, said Steven Kim, a Korea scholar and University of California, Berkeley, Ph.D. holder.

China sent military ships and fighter planes in response to the U.S. destroyers passage Sunday, which the foreign ministry in Beijing called provocation.

China is used to this

But China is used to U.S. forays and knows what to expect, said Termsak Chalermpalanupap, political and security affairs fellow with the ISEAS Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore.

Its just becoming routine, Chalermpalanupap said. They know the procedure and what to expect. And in the meantime I think the Chinese are making progress in winning hearts and minds on continental Southeast Asia.

Since a world arbitration court ruled last year that the legal basis for China's maritime claim was invalid, Beijing has been privately working out deals with the Southeast Asian claimants who the same ruling favored.

China is spending money

In May China and the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) agreed to the outline for a code of conduct aimed at heading off accidents at sea. China has separately tapped its $11.2 trillion economy to offer individual claimants investment, tourism income and development aid.

Those offers have reached a huge amount, said Song Seng Wun, economist in the private banking unit of CIMB in Singapore. China also puts pressure on ASEAN chairs, which rotate each year, to play along with its political ambitions, he said.

China extends development aid in the name of its 4-year-old belt-and-road initiative that calls for extending Chinese investment as far as Eastern Europe.

That will always be under the belt and road banner, so perhaps its also the case that investment will continue to grow, Song said. So (the) investment push will be concurrent with I think whats happening on the political side.

Over the past year, China has discussed funding two Philippine railway projects that would cost a combined $8.3 billion. It became Vietnams top foreign source of tourism last year and offered Malaysia a $12.8 billion in a railway line.

Southeast Asian maritime claimants will still "welcome" the U.S. government's refocus on the South China Sea as a "challenge" to the Chinese claim, Chalermpalanupap said.
The U.N. Security Council could hold an emergency closed-door meeting Wednesday on the latest North Korean missile launch.

The United States asked for the emergency talks. U.S. military analysts suspect the North test fired an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of reaching Alaska.

The U.N. has imposed sanction after sanction on Pyongyang, which have apparently done little to convince the North to give up its nuclear ambitions.

The latest test launch has also frustrated North Korea's biggest ally, China, which currently holds the Security Council presidency. China has appeared to have made little progress in reining in North Korea.
A group of influential U.S. senators has cautioned President Donald Trump that a military surge alone will not help win the war in Afghanistan, and they view as very unnerving a lack of U.S. diplomatic focus on the issue.

The five-member bipartisan congressional delegation, led by Republican Senator John McCain of Arizona, made the observation Tuesday during a trip to Kabul as the Trump administration prepares to unveil a plan this month to try to defeat the resurgent Taliban.

The proposed strategy is expected to add several thousand more U.S. troops to about 8,600 already deployed to Afghanistan to help struggling Afghan security forces fight the insurgency.

We need to have a strategy to win. The strongest nation on Earth should be able to win this conflict, and we are developing the strategy to do that. And we are frustrated that strategy had not been articulated yet, to be honest with you, McCain told reporters after talks with Afghan leaders.

Tillerson visit urged

He says that the current security situation in Afghanistan is a matter of concern for his delegation. Each of us may describe that concern in our own way, but none of us would say that we are on a course for success here in Afghanistan, McCain said.

Another member of the delegation, Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, urged Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to visit Afghanistan as soon as possible to directly involve himself in terms of filling the vacant embassy posts, as well as State Department vacancies, to be able to deal with the civilian diplomatic challenge facing the U.S. mission.

You are not going to win this war just though more bombing ... and we don't have the focus we need to make sure that whatever military surge we engage in is accompanied by a diplomatic surge. ... And on the secretary of state side, I see a lack of focus that is very unnerving, Graham said.

Diplomatic efforts lacking

Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, a Democrat from Rhode Island, also underscored the need for pushing diplomatic efforts that run parallel to the possible military surge in Afghanistan.

I hope very much that the strong bipartisan message from this delegation, that at least as to south-central Asia, is these important positions need to be filled. They need to be filled with capable experienced people and they need to be empowered to make the decisions that will drive success, said Whitehouse.

McCain said that in his assessment, getting major areas of the country under government control, keeping the Taliban from urban centers and working toward a cease-fire with the insurgents would be like winning the war.

It will probably be a simmering crisis for many years to come.  They are not going to negotiate unless they think they are losing.  So, we need to win and have the advantage on the battlefield and then enter into serious negotiations to resolve the conflict, he said.

Afghan leadership under fire

The Senate delegation, which included Democrat Elizabeth Warren from Massachusetts and Georgia Republican David Perdue, visited Kabul at a time when the national unity government of beleaguered President Ashraf Ghani is under growing pressure to quit over a lack of key political and security reforms. New anti-government political alliances have emerged, involving some of Ghani's governing partners.

The security situation across Afghanistan also has rapidly deteriorated, with Taliban insurgents making more territorial gains, launching major attacks on key cities and inflicting heavy casualties on government forces. Officials say intense fighting has been raging in 21 of the 34 Afghan provinces.

Acting Defense Minister Major General Tariq Shah Bahrami told reporters on Tuesday that the Taliban  with the help of foreign fighters  was preparing to conduct a major assault against the strategically important northern city of Kunduz, which fell to the insurgents twice within a year.
The 29th biannual African Union summit opened in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Monday with Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe presenting a $1 million donation to the body in a push for self-sufficiency.

About 60 percent of the African Union's budget comes from foreign donors, including the European Union, World Bank and non-member countries.

Mugabe, who has ruled Zimbabwe since its independence in 1980, has repeatedly called on the bloc to become self-supporting.

"Africa needs to finance its own programs," he said in comments to Zimbabwe's state television. "Institutions like the AU cannot rely on donor funding as the model is not sustainable."

Mugabe pledged 300 cows from his personal herd to the AU last year. The cattle, along with hundreds more donated from his supporters, were auctioned off in May with the proceeds presented to the AU on Monday.

The African Union has a 2017 budget of $782 million. In July 2016, AU leaders agreed to impose a 0.2 percent levy on certain imports to cover its operational costs.

Meanwhile, AU chairperson Moussa Faki Mahamat said peace and security issues on the continent continue to cause worry.

"The situation in South Sudan, Somalia, Libya, the Central African Republic, the fragile relations between Djibouti and Eritrea, the difficulties in the application of peace accords in Mali, where the Jihadi terrorism is active, the political situations in certain African countries, such as the Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi, Guinea-Bissau, are sufficient in justifying these worries."

The two-day summit is centered on the theme of investing in youth.
South Africa's parliamentary speaker says lawmakers will vote on a motion of no confidence in President Jacob Zuma on Aug. 8.

The vote on Zuma, who has faced calls for his resignation because of scandals and corruption concerns, previously had been scheduled for Aug. 3.



But the parliament said Sunday that speaker Baleka Mbete changed the date because a Cabinet meeting is occurring around the time of the previous date.



Mbete has yet to decide whether the vote will be held by secret ballot.



The opposition had gone to court to try to get the motion conducted by secret ballot, which it believes could tip the balance against Zuma. The Constitutional Court said it was up to Mbete, a Zuma ally, to decide how the vote should be implemented.
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June Oswald, 46, of New Orleans is a lawyer who has struggled with addiction. She was diagnosed with hepatitis C in December. Medicaid denied her claims for treatment because the damage to her liver was not severe enough. (Edmund D. Fountain for The Washington Post)

In this city on the east bank of the Mississippi River, Rebekah Gee, Louisianas health secretary, presides over what she calls the public-health-crisis cradle of America. Poverty and poor health collide here to produce some of the nations worst rates of obesity, premature birth and other maladies.

Those problems are deep-rooted and hard to solve. The easy one, at least in theory, is hepatitis C, a liver-damaging virus frequently contracted by injection-drug users that can cause cirrhosis and cancer.

A handful of powerful new medicines offer high cure rates and few side effects. But because the drugs also launched with staggering list prices  as much as $94,500 for a 12-week course of treatment  Louisiana and other states have decided to ration care to Medicaid patients, waiting for people to get severe liver damage before providing access to the medicine.

Now, Gee is considering a radical move to get treatment to the thousands of Louisiana residents who need it but are not sick enough to qualify  asking the federal government to step in to drive prices down, perhaps by overriding the patent protections drug companies hold over the medicines.

Dominic Crocco, 31, of Meraux, La., contracted hepatitis C from heroin use about six years ago. Medicaid refused to pay for his treatment because parts of his liver were still not diseased enough. Ill get sick enough, eventually, he said wryly. (Edmund D. Fountain for The Washington Post)

This should be the low-hanging fruit, Gee said. What frustrates me as a public policymaker is I cant solve public-health problems that should be the easy ones.

[These researchers think they have a solution to the global crisis in drug prices]

Gee will decide over the coming months whether to move forward with the controversial strategy. Gee could ask the federal government to invoke a little-known law that allows it to employ companies drug patents for the governments use. After essentially overriding the patents, the government could pay the companies as little as $1,000 for a 12-week course of treatment.

Pharmaceutical firms say they invest in risky research and development because of the rich reward that comes with success  a temporary monopoly on their inventions. Companies argue that any interference in this reward structure would dull the incentives for innovation, undermine the business model that supports the development of new drugs and endanger the next transformative medicine.

If Gee moves forward or is able to leverage the threat of intervention to wring deep concessions on price, it could be a powerful precedent.

Secretary Gee is . . . directly challenging the power of a drug company to essentially determine who lives and dies by pricing products so high that she cant buy them for her population, said Sara Rosenbaum, a professor of health law and policy at George Washington University. It puts the issue into a much clearer posture than just sitting around saying, We cant afford these drugs for poor people. 

At the moment, that is Louisianas stance. Despite receiving rebates to ameliorate the high list prices, the state says it can afford to pay for treatment for only the patients with significant liver damage, at high risk of progressing to cirrhosis and organ failure. Last year, that meant only 324 of the states estimated 35,000 Medicaid or uninsured patients who are infected.

(Whitney Shefte/The Washington Post)

Dominick Crocco, 31, contracted the virus from heroin use about six years ago. His liver is damaged  his doctor told him he was lucky initially, because tests showed his liver function was impaired enough that it met the states strict criteria.

Medicaid refused to pay for his prescription, however, because parts of his liver were still not diseased enough.

Ill get sick enough, eventually, Crocco said, wryly.

Crocco and Gee, in their own ways, are experiencing the confluence of medical progress, a health crisis that weighs heavily on the poor and the realities of the safety net. The new generation of hepatitis C treatments represents a promising public-health opportunity to wipe out a disease. But even with the emergence of powerful cures, the rates of hepatitis C increased nationally between 2010 and 2015, driven primarily by injection drug use fueled by the opioid epidemic. Because private insurance will often cover hepatitis C treatment, lower-income people on Medicaid are among those most affected by the price.

The plight in Louisiana shows how, in an era of limited public finances, the government is forced to decide whom it can afford to treat and whom it cant. Those tough decisions are certain to become more acute if the Senate health-care bill, which would reduce federal Medicaid spending, moves forward. Over time, states facing rising medical costs will have to raise more money through taxes or cut back on the program.

When you look at some of the national discussion about drug prices, its often presented in isolation: This is the price, and the drug is worth it, Gee said. When I make decisions about drug coverage, I have to trade off those decisions with K-12 education, higher education, roads.

An impossible price tag

As the medical director for Louisianas Medicaid program, Gee  an obstetrician and gynecologist who moved here in 2009  was involved in writing guidelines for the states coverage of hepatitis C medications after the first of a new generation of drugs was approved in late 2013. The treatment carried an infamous $84,000 price tag.

It was frankly impossible, from a budget standpoint, Gee recalled.

[How an $84,000 drug got its price]

The criteria patients had to meet were strict. The virus must have wreaked damage, transforming a smooth, healthy liver into a leathery organ, mottled with nodules. The individual had to have a clean drug and alcohol screening.

Gee quickly found herself under fire. The issue was made even more stark when Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards (D) expanded Medicaid last July under the Affordable Care Act. That created the opportunity to cure even more people but exacerbated the financial challenge. Treating the states Medicaid and uninsured would cost $764 million, according to an online calculator created by Peter Bach, director of the Center for Health Policy and Outcomes at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.

Restrictions on access conflict with medical guidelines and infuriate physicians, who argue that patients with other diseases do not face similar barriers.

The bottom line for me is my patients are developing organ damage and I have to wait until they have organ damage until I can access medication for hepatitis C, said Jason Halperin, an infectious-disease clinician at CrescentCare, a federally qualified health center in New Orleans.

Gee this year began to think about using a federal law that allows the government to override intellectual-property rights to get more-affordable medication.

At Gees urging, Joshua Sharfstein, a professor of public health at Johns Hopkins University and a former Food and Drug Administration deputy commissioner, convened a meeting of health-policy specialists and economists. They advised that the state ask the federal government to intervene in a two-pronged approach: Gee should first ask the government to negotiate with a drug company and license a medication, in line with a recent recommendation by a committee from the National Academies.

At the same time, they advised Gee to pursue a harder-edged tactic, in case the voluntary approach did not work: Gee should ask the secretary of health and human services to invoke a century-old law that allows the government to use patents at a reasonable cost. The panel recommended a price as low as $1,000 per patient.

The law was used routinely in the 1950s and 1960s to make medicines available at lower prices. It was considered but not used during the anthrax attacks in 2001. It has been used by more than 10 government agencies or departments to lower the prices for patented inventions, including night-vision goggles for the Defense Department.

The drug has been out for years, and were failing to provide it to the majority of people who have this infection, Gee said. Were failing at our mission to improve the public health, and so just doing what were doing is not an option and we have to do better.

Corporate opposition

President Trump has used forceful language against high drug prices and threatened the industry with tough action to bring costs down. Still, health-policy experts predict that even if Gee asks the federal government to help, the odds are against a Republican administration making such a dramatic intervention in the private sector.

Department of Health and Human Services spokeswoman Alleigh Marre declined to comment.

By merely threatening the move, Louisiana could prompt the drug companies that produce hepatitis C treatments  which oppose intervention  to offer a better price.

Gilead, a company that has projected between $7.5 billion and $9 billion in sales for 2017 for its hepatitis C drugs, says federal intervention would threaten future progress.

In a statement, the company said the proposal puts in jeopardy further medical innovation by undermining the patent system and de-incentivizing research and development. Gilead said that the states predictions of the budget impact are unrealistic, based on the idea that the entire infected population could be screened, treated and connected to treatment in a year. Gilead offers states that do not restrict access to treatments deep discounts  less than $30,000 for a 12-week treatment.

Merck spokeswoman Pamela Eisele said the company had already introduced its treatment, Zepatier, at a significant discount to competitors  $54,600 for a 12-week course  and offers additional rebates.

Markeisha Marshall, a spokeswoman for AbbVie, said the $83,319 list price for that companys drug does not reflect discounts or rebates.

Gee said that she is not wedded to one approach and that she simply thinks the equity and access problems that are an outgrowth of high drug prices need to be tackled. After receiving the expert panels recommendation, Gee put out the proposal for public comment and received 102, a majority of which were in favor of taking some action. She expects to make a decision soon about a strategy to try to eliminate hepatitis C in Louisiana.

Gee said that she has not been approached yet by any companies offering a better price.

The danger of waiting

Caught in the middle of debates about intellectual-property rights and innovation are patients, who see being cured of hepatitis C as crucial in getting their lives back on track. Even for those who are not in danger of liver failure or cancer in the short term, the virus can cause emotional duress and worries about infecting others.

June Oswald of New Orleans, who was denied access because there was not adequate damage to her liver, had been painstakingly rebuilding her relationships and life in a residential treatment center. Getting rid of the virus is an essential part of that journey for Oswald, a lawyer whose struggle with addiction has damaged her career and her family.

I know I could spread it to others. I have a small child  Im worried about sharing a toothbrush or having a cut in my house, Oswald said. Im worried about developing future liver damage.

In Baton Rouge, Crocco feels as if he is on a precipice, ready to begin a new life. After his prescription for a hepatitis C medication was rejected in January, he relapsed. To claw himself out, he moved two hours from his home and his old bad habits. He went through detox and rehab and now lives with 22 other men trying to stay sober.

Crocco has seen others relapse or come close; that has only motivated him more to stay clean. Amid days packed with addiction support meetings and three-hour therapy sessions, he has started doing electrical contracting work. The idea he could fix his liver, he said, has helped him stay clean.

Im literally willing to do whatever Ive got to do to stay clean, Crocco said. My relapse mechanism is remorse-, self-esteem-related. I have all these reminders that this is what I deserve, and hep C is one of those things. Its how you live, and this is who you are.
[July 04, 2017] Taiwan AMIS releases Istanbul BFT

Istanbul BFT on JP Morgan' Quorum platform expands the options for Consensus Algorithm TAIPEI, Taiwan, July 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- AMIS announced today a major breakthrough in the consensus algorithms for Ethereum. The Istanbul BFT applications are best suited for financial transactions and will be included on JP Morgan' Quorum platform initially. Taiwan-based AMIS, a founding member of the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance, is committed to making the Ethereum blockchain structure more flexible in meeting the practical needs of various applications and exploring various possibilities of blockchain applications. AMIS R&D team develops Istanbul BFT for financial transactions in six months In recent years, the development of blockchain and its relevant applications have caught the worlds' attention as R&D professionals in various countries seek breakthroughs in this technology. The AMIS team was very active in Silicon Valley for several years and played leading roles in Oracle, Qualcomm and other companies. Combining R&D talents from Silicon Valley and Taiwan, AMIS today announced a major progress in Consensus Algorithm. The Istanbul BFT applications greatly enhance the efficiency of exchanging messages on the existing Ethereum structure and thus make the blockchain system an infrastructure for the worldwide financial web. Vitalik Buterin, inventor of Ethereum, congratulated the team, saying, "Great work on the Istanbul BFT." Alex Liu, CEO of AMIS said, "Compared to Proof-of-Work ("mining") that is currently in use in many blockchains worldwide, PBFT represents an important step forward in many ways. It ensures settlement finality, spand reduces energy consumption dramatically. For the consortium blockchains that most financial institutions are looking to deploy, PBFT represents the only way forward in consensus algorithms. "



"This is significant advancement in providing enterprises a range of 'pluggable' consensus algorithms, which is a core objective of the EEA," said Julio Faura, chairman of the board, Enterprise Ethereum Alliance and the head of R&D (blockchain) at Banco Santander. "We are proud to see EEA members such as AMIS not only contributing in such a meaningful way, but also in collaboration with other members such as J.P. Morgan. Enterprise adoption of Ethereum has never been stronger, and is getting stronger everyday through efforts like these." AMIS strategic collaboration with the world-class financial institution JP Morgan demonstrates its strong capabilities in innovation

This partnership will enlarge the number of consensus options available to institutional users of Quorum, ranging from the existing QuorumChain and Raft, to now include PBFT. This integration was made possible by the new Pluggable Consensus interface of the go-ethereum (geth) client, which also adds a Proof-of-Authority (PoA) or "Clique" mode of consensus. This brand new practice makes the Ethereum structure more flexible in meeting the practical needs of various application scenarios. Alex Liu, CEO of AMIS said, "We're honored to be able to contribute our PBFT implementation to J.P. Morgan's industry-leading Quorum platform. Having financial institutions as our primary customers meant we had to design from day one with their requirements in mind. J.P. Morgan shares many of these requirements and recognized the value of adding an enterprise-grade PBFT implementation to their Ethereum-based platform." AMIS is seeking technological breakthroughs and continues to work with the financial institutions in Taiwan to develop more blockchain applications In addition to seeking breakthroughs in technology, AMIS is working in tandem with EEA members such as JP Morgan, Fubon FHC and Taishin FHC to develop blockchain applications. It aims to make the most of the Ethereum blockchain structure with its internally developed PBFT source code. AMIS will launch more innovative blockchain applications globally and upgrade the FinTech industry in Taiwan. "This collaboration is a great testament of the capability of AMIS and the Ethereum community to meet the mission-critical demands of global financial institutions. It also establishes a new benchmark for strategic collaboration and co-creation between financial institutions and FinTech startups in global blockchain innovation," said Thomas Hu, CEO of Kyber Capital, an early investor in AMIS. ?About AMIS? A joint venture of financial institutions in Taiwan, AMIS contributes fundamental technology to the blockchain infrastructure it is building for banks, securities, and insurance companies based on Ethereum technology. It is extending its foundational technology to the telecom and Internet-of-Things sectors, forming cross-cutting relationships with the financial sector. It has a technology licensing arrangement with ITRI, the leading government industrial research organization in Taiwan. https://am.is/. SOURCE AMIS

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The burned-out remains of an abandoned mobile home and house in Parksley, Va., some of the last targets of the Accomack arsonist. (Bonnie Jo Mount/The Washington Post)

Adapted from American Fire: Love, Arson and Life in a Vanishing Land, (Liveright/W.W. Norton, copyright 2017).

It was the fall of 2012, and Accomack County was burning down.

Three fires had been set on Nov. 12, followed by three more on Nov. 13, followed by fire after fire in what would become the greatest crime spree in the history of Virginias rural Eastern Shore.

Over the next five months, more than 80 structures burned  mostly abandoned homes or decrepit outbuildings, found in abundance across the economically struggling community. Neighbors turned their suspicions upon one another as evenings erupted in the wail of sirens. Vigilante groups clad themselves in camouflage to go stalk the culprit.

It would turn out later that many of them already knew the arsonist  and that a warped and troubled love story had ignited this crime spree.

But it would take months of investigation by an alphabet soup of law enforcement agencies  the FBI, the ATF, the VSP  that began with those first November blazes.

Discreetly, so as not to stir rumors or gossip, police began developing an initial list of suspects. Virginia State Police investigators Rob Barnes and Glenn Neal started with a few criteria: people who had previously set fires, people who had previously been in jail and released within the past year, and  the intersection of the Venn diagram  everyone who had done both.

[Read Monica Hesses original story from 2014: LOVE AND FIRE: How a troubled romance triggered an arson spree]

For a spare set of hands, they called in Bobby Bailey. Bailey was a division chief at the Virginia Fire Marshal Academy in Richmond. He was also the man who had taught and certified both Barnes and Neal as fire inspectors, in an intensive course that culminated with Bailey decorating a large trailer like an apartment  sofa, coffee table, Christmas tree, stuffed animal  then putting on a flame-retardant space suit and going inside to light the whole thing on fire. The students job was to figure out how and where the fire had begun; Bailey would video the whole thing with thermal-protected cameras to show them whether theyd gotten it right.

Bailey also taught classes on arson investigation at the local university, and co-authored papers with titles such as The Use of Liquid Latex for Soot Removal from Fire Scenes and Attempted Fingerprint Development with Ninhydrin. He was both boastful and dismissive of his academic accomplishments, his personality being less fusty arson professor and more Marlboro arson poet. He was short, muscular, with a wiry mustache and a low, deep drawl. Hed been both a cop and a firefighter, and because of those experiences he looked at fire scenes holistically.

For example, were there dead bodies in the room where the fire was?

You walk into a scene and you find a person facedown, thats normal, he would explain to his students. Theyre trying to breathe. Theyd be crawling on their hands and knees and eventually theyd pass out, and when they did theyd be on their stomachs.

But if there was a body lying faceup, that would be suspicious. That would indicate that the person hadnt died from smoke inhalation, but rather a heart attack, or foul play.

Essentially, his continued fascination with fire boiled down to this. Other kinds of crimes left evidence: fingerprints, stab wounds, footprints. They were, as police called them, behavior-rich crime scenes.



The Whispering Pines Motel in Tasley, Va., once had a high-rated restaurant but it had long been abandoned before it was set ablaze. (Bonnie Jo Mount/The Washington Post)

An unoccupied home in Accomac, Va., that also burned down. They could never run out of abandoned buildings here, a neighbor noted. (Bonnie Jo Mount/The Washington Post)

Arson wasnt. It washed all of the behavior and evidence away. It was ultimately unknowable. He believed fire was a living, breathing thing, and he said that to students: Fire is a living, breathing thing. It pushes. It pulses.

He was a little intense. But this was, people allowed, to be expected of someone who loved a job about fire as much as Bailey.

And now that he was on board with the Accomack fire investigations, Neal and Barnes had a spare set of eyes to conduct the inspections, and also to help with the other things they had decided were necessary to an investigation.

Bailey had arranged to bring an armful of motion-sensor wildlife cameras over the bridge with him from Richmond. One night he went out with Sheriff Todd Godwin and a deputy to put them up around the county. The trim, agile Godwin balanced on his deputys shoulders as they positioned the equipment high in trees, trained on houses they suspected would be targets.

If the house was across the street from an occupied dwelling, they might ask the dwellings owner for assistance.

I want to put one of those cameras in your mailbox, Bailey would ask. But you cant tell nobody, because we dont know who the arsonist is.

The resident would typically agree (Oh, this is going to be cool  Im CSI!), promising secrecy and then promptly telling enough people that the story flew around the county: The police are putting surveillance equipment in your neighbors mailboxes.

Meanwhile, Neal had begun pursuing a different line of investigation. Aside from Bobby, he had another friend in Richmond. Kenneth Morris also worked for the Virginia State Police, and Neal asked if he would come out to the shore for a few days to have a look around. Thus kicked off a psychological exploration into the arsonists mind.

Approaching retirement, Morris was an experienced criminal profiler who had previously worked as an arson investigator. Neal knew and trusted him and wanted his opinion.

On this first visit, Morris and Neal drove around to each of the sites, just as Neal and Barnes had been doing for weeks, so that Morris could get a sense of the environment surrounding the fires. In between sites, they talked.

The thing that surprised Morris most, he told Neal, was that despite how many fires the arsonist had set, he actually didnt seem to be very good at it.



Police would eventually arrest Charles R. Smith III, seen here on the stand during the trial of his girlfriend and accomplice Tonya Bundick in January 2014. (Vicki Cronis-Nohe/AP)

Tonya Bundick testifies during her own trial in Virginia Beach in 2014. The reasons for their crime spree would stun their community. (Jay Diem/The Daily Times via AP)

If Im an arsonist, Im going to make sure that when Im done, the houses are a black hole in the ground, he explained. But a lot of these arent.

In one house, the arsonist had started the fire by lighting some materials that were on top of a table, which was far less efficient than if hed lit something on the floor. The house was left singed and smoking, but not annihilated. Morris decided that the motive didnt appear to be profit; if the arsonist was after insurance money, hed want the structure to burn completely. It didnt appear to be a religious or political extremist either.

Looks to me like hes motivated by vandalism, Morris told Neal. Like he has a vendetta against the county.

Ultimately, three other profilers would be brought in to assist on the case. All four of these men labored under the burden of the professions elusive reputation  and a general public that often saw them as either useless frauds or all-knowing wizards. Beyond the mystique, the job actually called for more tedious work, and more research-based knowledge, than was generally understood.

They knew statistical trends of various types of criminals. They knew general behavioral patterns. They knew, for example, that it was common for arsonists to return to the scenes of their fires. With this knowledge, they could help detectives write reports to their superiors, requesting extra staffing and surveillance for those locations. It wasnt romantic, but it was useful.

Morris was the only one who was familiar with the Eastern Shore. One of the other profilers, Ron Tunkel of the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco Firearms and Explosives, had worked on the Olympic bombings in 1996. One of his strengths was working with the police on how to devise an effective media strategy. Tunkel knew there were two kinds of witnesses: those who had seen something and understood the significance of what theyd seen, and those who had seen something and didnt even know it was important.

With as many fires as there had been, Tunkel figured there had to be people in the latter category. Perhaps someone had gone outside after dinner to dump the leftover cooking grease and spotted a person walking through a field. The key was to create a public message in a way that would jog memories without disclosing proprietary information or contaminating the pure recollections of potential witnesses.

Eventually, the profilers submitted psychological profiles of the arsonist to the Virginia State Police. Morris reiterated his belief that the arsonists primary motive was vandalism; he also suggested that the arsonist probably had an immature personality, and that it would be wise to look into people who had vendettas against the police or fire departments.

Tunkels report touched on the notion that people who committed arson were often people who felt powerless and were trying to regain authority in their own lives. He wrote, The year 2012 was probably not a very good one in the life of the offender.



Despite how many fires the arsonist had set  including this abandoned home in Parksley, Va.  he actually didnt seem to be very good at it. (Bonnie Jo Mount/The Washington Post)

A general synopsis of the profiles was provided to the media, and the Eastern Shore News published a front-page article titled Police Describe Arsonists Profile.

We feel certain that the person or persons responsible for these fires is a resident of Accomack County, a captain from the Chesapeake Field Office was quoted as saying. The article also warned readers that the arsonist likely talks frequently about the fires and may show an unusual pattern of leaving home during the night.

Privately, police had decided that the arsonist was probably not a teenager: someone so young would be noticed if he slipped out of the house at night. They were looking for someone who didnt have to account for his whereabouts to a guardian.

Locals devoured the public information and reposted it on social networks, but it also made them scoff.

Of course the arsonist was probably talking frequently about the fires. They all were. It was the one thing everyone in the county was talking about.

And of course the arsonist was a resident of Accomack County. Who would bother to drive all the way to a remote area of the United States just to burn it down?

Read more:

American Fire: Love, Arson and Life in a Vanishing Land, Hesses new book, from which this story is adapted

Love and Fire: Monica Hesses original 2014 story about the Virginia arsons
There arent many women firefighters across the country or in the Arlington County Fire Department.

But one female firefighter, Marcia Tia Reed, is trying to change that by getting more girls interested in the emergency-rescue field. She helps operate an annual girls-only summer camp that introduces teens to the male-dominated career of firefighting.

Women dont dream about coming to this field. They have no concept they can do this job, said Reed, who has worked for 10 years as a firefighter in Arlington. We wanted to bring more women into our department. Showing them in our camp what its about helps us  hopefully  do that.

The Arlington County Fire Departments summer camp, called Camp Heat, runs four days and offers girls free room and board, as well as meals. This year, the camp runs Thursday to Sunday.

About two dozen girls, ranging in age from 15 to 18, are selected from across the country based on a written essay. Girls who live in Arlington are usually given first preference, Reed said. The county foots the annual bill of about $30,000 for the camp.

Marcia Tia Reed helps organize and operate Camp Heat. We wanted to bring more women into our department, she says. Showing them in our camp what its about helps us  hopefully  do that. (Arlington County Fire Department)

Emma Jacobson, a 15-year-old who will be a sophomore at Arlingtons Yorktown High School in the fall, said she heard about the camp in elementary school and was eager to apply when she became old enough. She said she was ecstatic when she got her acceptance letter.

It will allow me to get a taste of what this career is really like, she said.

Emma said she thinks she will get to experience things from a firefighters point of view, instead of learning about them from a classroom or a book.

Since it started in 2013, the camp has had nearly 80 graduates  some of whom have gone into, or are strongly considering, careers as firefighters. One summer camp graduate now works as a firefighter in Pennsylvania and others from Northern Virginia are working to become paramedics or EMTs, according to camp organizers.

Twenty-nine of about 330 firefighters in Arlingtons fire department are women. Nationally, there are an estimated 1.1 million firefighters, although only about 7 percent are women, according to the National Fire Protection Association.

At Camp Heat in Arlington, the girls stay and train at the Marymount University campus. They learn the basics of firefighting, including fire safety, how to properly use a fire extinguisher, controlling and putting out a fire, plus CPR and first-aid skills. The girls also are taught about the nations history of women in firefighting.

In addition to spending time at a firehouse, the teens undergo a combat challenge, where they act out mock rescue situations from homes, cars and other scenarios with fire gear.

The girls stay and train at the Marymount University campus. They learn the basics of firefighting, including fire safety, how to properly use a fire extinguisher, controlling and putting out a fire, plus CPR and first-aid skills. (Arlington County Fire Department)

Emma said she has dreamed of pursuing a career as a firefighter because she thinks she would enjoy the adrenaline rush. She said she also wants to help people. While slightly nervous about some of the physical training at the camp, Emma said she also expects it will teach her discipline, confidence and how to push myself.

The camp includes mentors who provide motivation and guide the participants as they search for careers, even if it is not in firefighting.

Reed said she went into the field of emergency services thinking she wanted to be a paramedic. She tried firefighting, and now is a paramedic and a firefighter.

She said when she was training, she often felt overlooked, but continued to work hard.

Just being a female, youre challenged a bit more, Reed said. No one gives you a handout. You have to prove yourself even more because youre a woman.

Priyanka Bose, 17, an Arlington resident who will be a senior at Yorktown High, went to Camp Heat last summer and said it encouraged her to take an EMS course at a career center. This year, shes serving as a mentor to campers.

She said the camp made her absolutely sure that she wants to be an emergency responder.

It opens doors for girls, which is so necessary today because now, more and more females are entering male-dominated workplaces, Priyanka said. Even the girls who decided not to pursue careers in the field left with a much higher self-esteem and the belief that they can do anything they choose.
An American eagle balloon floats down Constitution Avenue during the National Independence Day Parade in Washington.

July 4, 2017 An American eagle balloon floats down Constitution Avenue during the National Independence Day Parade in Washington. Bill O'Leary/The Washington Post

Americans, enduring a time of painful political division, still came together by the thousands in the nations capital Tuesday to celebrate the messy, maddening and marvelous independence they have shared for 241 years. In the shadow of a Capitol many view as more frustrating than functional, citizens of every hue and party found unity in the red, white and blue of hats, socks, face paint  and at least one cape.

In a marathon day of marching bands, beach music and portable toilets, partisans didnt so much put their causes away for the Fourth of July  with Make America Great Again caps and Resist signs sharing space in the crowd  as find ways to celebrate side by side in spite of them.

Everybody is an American today, said Christa Lepore, 40, who came with her husband from Bergen County, N.J., to wish her country a happy birthday.

Ultimately not even Mother Nature could stop the festivities, although she seemed to try. Thunderstorms swept north and south of the District as the time approached for fireworks. Although a small storm appeared nearby, all missed the Mall. As scheduled, the fireworks went off with burst after

swelling burst, as the skies above the great crowd filled with streamers of smoke and light.

Jeffrey Houser, 53, said he and his family moved to Washington only a few days ago from Phoenix.

I have been around, he said. We have seen different fireworks displays but nothing quite as big as this one, he said. It was spectacularly beautiful.

And as spontaneous as they were traditional, collective gasps emanated from the crowd as the show went on. The awe seemed to peak when one of the fireworks turned into a smiling face in the sky.

Amid summers swelter, from the morning parade to those sunset fireworks, patriotism was aired in its many flavors.

Sikhs wearing turbans and American flag ties sang Happy Birthday, U.S.A. from their parade float, and Julie Blaskovich watched in awe. Such diversity wasnt always obvious in her home town of McKinney, Tex.

The 50-year-old mother of four had come to celebrate the Fourth of July on the Mall, and Washington was delivering. A float with the banner Vietnamese Americans Celebrating Freedom rolled past shortly after the Sikhs of Americas float.

Blaskovich said she hoped celebrating the greatest country on Earth would help Americans see the ground they share.

Participants gather for a parade in Washington to celebrate Independence Day on July 4, 2017. (Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images)

I cant understand why political differences cant be discussed without having hate and slander brought into it, she said. The Founding Fathers didnt always agree, but they made it work.

For a day, at least, it seemed to work again. Blue State urbanites marveled at sharing space with supporters of President Trump. We just dont see them in L.A., said Joshua Jones, 29, visiting from Los Angeles with his husband, Luis.

Some Trump supporters waiting to see the fireworks near the Lincoln Memorial credited the new president with shorter security checks and checkpoints where magnetometers that have become commonplace were not to be seen, although police in the area said the change was just a matter of available manpower.

Brennen Weidl, of Pittsburgh, gave his wife a hard time for not dressing up. He stood on the Mall, sporting a flag on his baseball hat and blue-and-red Chubbies shorts featuring pineapples and flamingos. His 2-year-old daughter, Rooney, wore a red, white and blue sundress adorned with a red bow.

The family came to the District for July 4 as part of Weidls work for PNC Bank. He is interviewing veterans under a program called Hiring for Heroes.

My grandfather was a veteran, and he was born on the Fourth of July, and hes gone now, said Brennens wife, Dixie Weidl. I was just saying that being here makes me think about him and the importance of remembering him.

Political divisions in the country are mirrored in the Weidl home  where Brennen voted for Trump and Dixie for Hillary Clinton  but that hasnt changed their July 4.

It doesnt affect anything, Brennen Weidl said.

Plus, Im the kind of Democrat who is like, We lost this one, but well get them next time,  Dixie Weidl said.

The National Independence Day Parade kicked off before noon with a huge American flag carried by dozens of volunteers. The annual Capitol Fourth Concert took place on time in the evening with performances by the Beach Boys, the Blues Brothers and Trace Adkins.

By 9:30 p.m., the birthday of the United States had been duly commemorated. The fireworks had ended.

It was now time for another tradition: the dispersal of the vast crowd.

As they left the concert, people asked one another about what they had enjoyed the most, and someone seemed to speak for many by exclaiming: That was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. No dissent was heard.

However, with the heat and the crowded conditions, at least two people voiced this reaction: Im going to need a shower.

Much of the Mall crowd headed for downtown Metro stops. Patience was required. Some car horns honked. The line from the escalator at the Federal Triangle station seemed to run 400 feet.

A few faces at another station seemed glum. But someone directing traffic called out to the pedestrians: America appreciates your attendance at her birthday party. A man responded: America appreciates you.

In addition to the concert and the departure, another component of the day in the heart of the District was the getting there.

On the drive from New Yorks Harlem to Washington, Gianhna Glasco, 27, kept seeing billboards advertising Baseball, apple pie, hot dogs, and a sober drive.

Literally, thats whats promoted as American, she said. And its so much more than that.

She and her sister, Gillian Glasco, 32, and her best friend, Brittany Jackson, 27, of Durham, N.C., decided to attend the July 4 parade to make their presence felt as African Americans.

The current state of the country and the bad place its in makes it hard to want to celebrate, Jackson said. And yet, she said, she wants to be noticed as a citizen and make it known that she is as much a part of the United States as anyone else.

Derrick Saenz-Payne, in a wheelchair near the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, said he views his country as he views his family.

Just because I critique them and dont always agree with them doesnt mean I dont love them, said Saenz-Payne, 33, a student in a summer Master of Arts program at Georgetown University.

During the school year, he teaches 11th-grade history in Modesto, Calif., and tries to instill in his students optimism, despite what he says is his own frustration and cynicism.

Its kind of humbling to take a step back and realize even though it doesnt always feel like it, in the scheme of history, weve actually made a lot of progress, said Saenz-Payne, who wore a blue shirt with George Washingtons portrait and POTUS1.

It may be slow, but its still a progressive process, he said.

Emilia Clark and Sunaina Kohli had prime views of the Reflecting Pool and the Washington Monument and even a glimpse of the U.S. Capitol from the top of the steps at the Lincoln Memorial. There, slightly left of center, they had planted their umbrellas and beach towels. Strangers before, they were now neighbors.

Clark, 33, was visiting Washington for the first time with her family from Long Beach, Calif., and said she probably wouldnt get back to the District. Kohli, 42, moved to the District in September, after coming to the United States from Britain three years ago.

Weve just made acquaintance, but were neighbors now, Kohli said with a laugh.

Thinking back on the nearly one year that she has been the city, Kohli said she found the District to be a welcoming, warm community despite the political divisions that often make national headlines.

People just share a common ground of being good people, she said. Look at us! We just sat down and were worlds apart in many ways  even professionally, everything  and its no big deal. When Kohli moved from England to Connecticut, she said she found herself constantly referring to this country. Since her relocation to Washington, shes learned to reject such generalizations.

There isnt an American person. Theres no stereotypical standard. . . . the country is too big, too vast, too diverse, and you just have to take people as you find them, Kohli said.

Clark agreed, adding that locals have been far friendlier here than they would be back home.

Take each person as they pass, she said. Dont judge them before you know them.

Just outside Washington, the day took on even deeper significance for 102 people from 44 countries who stood with their families outside the home of the countrys first president.In an annual ceremony on the grounds of Mount Vernon, each took the Oath of Allegiance and became a U.S. citizen.

As she watched her parents take the oath, Amiansu Khanal, 18, thought of how immigrants helped build America.

It feels almost spiritual, she said. Its all coming full circle. Her mother, Bishnu Khanal, 46, of Fairfax, felt the significance, too. She came close to tears as her name was called.

There are no words for how much I was happy in that moment, Khanal said. In this country, if you work hard, you can make anything. I feel like America is giving us everything.

Michelle Baruchman, Sharif Hassan, Rachel Siegel , Steve Hendrix, Martin Weil and Theresa Vargas contributed to this report.
Readers are reporting a bunny explosion around the Washington area. These rabbits are among the Eastern cottontails spotted by Susan Hale in Kent Island, Md. (Susan Hale)

Rabbits breed like rabbits, so perhaps its no surprise that people in the Washington area claim to be seeing lots of them. But are they seeing more of them?

Yes, says Karen Taylor of the Sleepy Hollow neighborhood in Falls Church, Va., who writes: Ive seen many more rabbits this year than the past four years. There are half a dozen little ones that run around my patio and come right up to the French doors.

Peter Wall, also of Falls Church, agrees: Neighbors and I have spoken about the unusual number of bunnies and small/juvenile rabbits this year, with very few adults seen.

Heres Marylands Dolores Milmoe: We, too, have experienced an explosion of rabbits this year on our farm south of Poolesville. There are plenty of foxes this season as well, so no lack of predators.

And Ted Mastroianni of Washingtons Glover Park neighborhood: We first started seeing one small, thin rabbit on our block last year. This year, several have been seen by us and our neighbors.

Jim Lieberman corroborates: I live in Potomac, and my neighbor and I agree that we have never seen so many rabbits. Weve been here more than 40 years.

Susan Hale of Kent Island, Md., has also noticed rampant rabbitification. I would definitely agree that here on Kent Island, we are seeing a lot more bunnies than in previous years, she writes. I am guessing that perhaps the mothers are getting more adept at hiding their newborn babies until they are old enough to fend for themselves.

Of course, all of this evidence is what scientists call anecdotal. It has not been certified by someone with a clipboard and a calculator, someone like Lindsay Rohrbaugh, a wildlife biologist with the Districts Fisheries and Wildlife Division.

It just so happens that Lindsays office is in the middle of a rabbit survey, inviting citizen scientists to regularly walk prearranged routes and count the Eastern cottontail rabbits (and chipmunks). Those results arent in yet, But anecdotally, yes, I would say it seems to me that people are seeing more rabbits, she said.

As for why, Lindsay feels there is no smoking carrot, per se. Its just the general predator-prey interaction, the up and down you see from year to year, she said.  You have a high rabbit population one year, thats more food for predators, then the rabbit population goes down. Until we get more data, I dont know what we can say beyond that.

Mike Fies, a wildlife biologist with Virginias Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, has a theory. He, too, stressed that anecdotal information is not scientific. And yet, Mike said, It does seem like there may be more rabbits so far this spring and summer than there have been at least last year and several previous years.

We know that rabbits are prolific breeders  They can actually be bred on the same day their young are born, Mike said  with multiple litters per year. Why more this year?

In the short term, weather may play a part, Mike said. Weather affects the cover availability. When youre at the bottom of the food chain, basically the more that survive, the more you have. The better the cover is, the more that will survive.

Weve had a lot of rain this year. Im thinking that has probably created more favorable cover conditions. Things are a little more lush than they might be in a dry year. So thats probably whats going on in the short term.

Mike regularly performs his own density survey and had done one the morning I spoke with him. Rabbits are crepuscular, which means theyre most active at dawn and dusk, and Mike had headed out before 6 a.m. to drive a 20-mile route in rural Albemarle County, Va. As he eased his truck through peach orchards, hayfields and farmland, Mike listened for quail and looked for rabbits.

I saw seven rabbits this morning  all young rabbits, baby rabbits, he said. Some years, I dont see any. It was noticeable this morning.

Of course, thats anecdotal. Thats one route, one day, said Mike the scientist.

Then Mike the animal-lover said: The little ones in the road were just the cutest little things.

Twitter: @johnkelly

For previous columns, visit washingtonpost.com/johnkelly.
A federal jury this week convicted two men in connection with a string of gun-store burglaries in Virginia earlier this year.

Preston Holmes and Matthew Jones, both 23, stole 35 handguns from 50 West Armory in Chantilly in March. The men, who are from the area with no specific addresses given, were found guilty Monday of conspiracy and theft of firearms from a federally licensed firearms dealer after a four-day trial.

A third suspect, Daniel Quarles, 19, pleaded guilty this year and testified against the other two. Sharifa Shuler, the mother of Holmess child, was a key witness.

Agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives testified that on a phone tied to Holmes, someone had searched online for gun store near me and for directions to 50 West Armory on the night of the first burglary.

The burglars were caught on surveillance footage smashing into two gun stores and trying unsuccessfully to enter a third. The clothes and shoes they wore, the plastic bin they used to carry the guns, and the U-Haul they drove off in were found at apartments in the District and Alexandria several days later. So was a receipt book from one gun store.

Its not a complicated case, Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Rich told jurors in his opening statement in U.S. District Court in Alexandria.

But defense attorneys countered that the case was quite complex and that Quarles and Shuler were unreliable witnesses because of their own involvement. Investigators made assumptions and cut corners, Holmess defense attorney, Vernida R. Chaney, said in her opening statement.

Joness attorney, Eugene V. Gorokhov, concurred, saying prosecutors believed obvious lies and ignored evidence.

The jury took nearly two days to decide the case.

Most of the guns have not been recovered, and authorities believe they were sold. Only one was found, at a home in District Heights, Md., where Quarles lived.

Only at 50 West Armory did the burglars succeed in stealing guns. At A.S.H. Tactical in Fredericksburg, Va., all the guns were kept in a safe, and the three stole only a receipt book and a small amount of cash. At nearby SSG Tactical, they could not get past a cage door.

Holmes, Jones and Shuler were arrested last fall in Charles County, Md., on theft and fraud charges after authorities said they were found with fake money, identification cards and credit cards. All faced outstanding warrants in other jurisdictions, police said.
A man was found dead in Capitol Heights early Tuesday, and authorities are investigating the fatality as a homicide, Prince Georges County police said.

Officers were called to the 800 block of Kayak Avenue around 6:50 a.m. to check on the welfare of a man, police said. Officers found the man suffering from trauma to the body, and he was pronounced dead at the scene.

Police did not immediately release other details.
John Adams leads fellow GOP candidates Jill Vogel and Ed Gillespie into the new Henrico campaign headquarters. Adams kicked off his campaign for state attorney general on July 1 with stops up and down the I-95 corridor, greeting supporters along the way. (Reza A. Marvashti/FOR THE WASHINGTON POST)

RICHMOND  John Adams, the prominent Richmond lawyer who wants to be Virginias next attorney general, is no fan of the Supreme Court decision that legalized same-sex marriage across the country.

Totally made up, totally made up, he told a Tea Party gathering in Virginia Beach last year. Not in the constitution anywhere.

But the Republican also told the crowd they had to live with the high courts ruling unless one of two things happens. Either Virginia secedes from the union, something that did not work out so well 150 years ago. Or the court gets a big makeover.

Im an optimist, he said. I clerked for Clarence Thomas on the Supreme Court. You give me four more Clarence Thomases, were good. OK? Im not kidding. Were good. Because they will fix that court in a minute.

A former Naval officer and federal prosecutor trying to unseat Attorney General Mark Herring (D), Adams is running as both blunt conservative and strict adherent to the rule of law. The premise of his campaign is that Herring is neither  that the sitting attorney general has bent the law to advance a liberal agenda, starting just 12 days into his term, when he refused to defend the states constitutional ban on gay marriage.

For the life of me, Ive never understood why the Virginia House of Delegates didnt move to impeach him when he did that, Adams told the Tea Party group.

Herring, of course, flatly disagrees with that notion. He won election four years ago promising to take the politics out of the office, a swipe at the activist tenure of his conservative Republican predecessor, Ken Cuccinelli II.

As attorney general, Herring went on toadvance gay rights and abortion access, offer in-state tuition to certain illegal immigrants and to tighten gun control. Herring contends all of his moves were grounded in the law. Yet he is hardly running this time around as a dispassionate dispenser of legal advice.

[Virginia to fight same sex marriage ban ]

As Attorney General, Mark will NEVER stop resisting Trumps agenda, Herring fund-raising appeal reads.

Virginias race plays out as national forces have politicized the office of state attorney general around the country. Herring and other Democratic attorneys general are branding themselves as the resistance to President Donald Trump, much as Republicans cast themselves as a firewall against President Barack Obamas overreach.

Ahead of Virginias November election  the nations only attorney generals contest in 2017 the Republican Attorneys General Association voted early this year to scrap a long-standing gentlemens agreement with its Democratic counterpart to stay out of contests with an incumbent. RAGAs vote to abandon that incumbency rule was first reported by Reuters.

Since then, RAGA has poured $250,000 into Adamss campaign and the Democratic Attorneys General Association has given $500,000 to Herrings.

Long regarded as head of the states law firm and sometimes as Virginias top cop, the attorney general has evolved in recent years into a high-profile, highly politicized figure, said Bob Holsworth, a longtime Richmond political analyst.

Cuccinelli began the change, Holsworth said, referring to the attorney general who filed the first suit against Obamacare, investigated a university climate scientist and played hardball with the state Board of Health over abortion.

While he [Herring] ran against the Cuccinelli record, he essentially adopted the Cuccinelli perspective that the attorney general should be an activist, but in his mind for progressive issues, Holsworth said. What Adams is saying is, he wants to turn against that form of activism.

Adams, 43, faces an uphill battle as he seeks to unseat a Democrat in a swing state that increasingly tilts blue. The attorney generals race, like the contest for lieutenant governor, is typically overshadowed by the one for governor, which this year pits former Republican National Committee Chairman Ed Gillespie against Lt. Gov. Ralph Northam (D).

[Democrats look unified, Republicans in disarray in wake of Virginia gubernatorial primary]

The Herring-Adams contest could grab more of the spotlight than usual. Republicans plan to play up the down-ticket race since Herring is more of a lightening rod than the low-key Northam.

Mark Herring fires up our base, House Speaker-designee Kirk Cox (R-Colonial Heights) said with a mock shudder.

And Democrats are zeroing in on Adamss conservative views as they try to paint the Republican ticket as too far right for a changing Virginia. Gillespie treads lightly on social issues, as does the Republican candidate for lieutenant governor, Jill Holtzman Vogel (Fauquier). Adams speaks far more frankly.

While his stump speech focuses on the law, Adams answers directly when voters ask about his views on hot-button issues like abortion, which he opposes. And while he describes his beef with Herring in terms of process  a refusal to defend a same-sex marriage ban that voters had approved in a landslide just eight years earlier  Adams volunteers his personal opposition to gay marriage on his web site.

I tell people my views on things because people want to know them when youre running for elective office, he said in an interview with The Washington Post. But if you look at ... [the campaign], its about returning the rule of law to the office and starting to concentrate on the things that really matter, like the heroin-opioid epidemic and keeping us safe.

Raised Baptist, Adams said his views are grounded in religious faith. He is the grandson of the Rev. Theodore F. Adams, who was on cover of Time in 1955 as president of the Baptist World Alliance. Another, more distant relative is his namesake: President John Adams, who as a young lawyer put his own feelings aside to represent British soldiers charged with murder in the Boston Massacre, ensuring they got a fair trial.

Democrats say Adams takes after someone else: Cuccinelli. They have seized on pro bono, friend-of-the-court briefs Adams wrote supporting the rights of two organizations  the Hobby Lobby retail chain and the Little Sisters of the Poor, a group of Catholic nuns  to be exempted from an Obamacare birth-control mandate due to religious objections.

He did it on his own, in his spare time, Herring said in a June 17 debate with Adams in Virginia Beach. Thats where his passion is, in taking peoples rights away from them.

Adams said his only interest was in protecting religious freedom.

I have zero interest in limiting womens access to birth control. None, he said. Its not an issue I think about. It's not an issue I care about. Im not limiting anybodys access to birth control. Its silly. Political talk. Its silly. What I do care about is not allowing the government to force people  the Little Sisters of the Poor  to take actions that violate their religious faith.

Within hours, Herring was out with a fund-raising appeal based on a snippet of that exchange.

At our debate this morning, heres what my opponent, John Adams, had to say about womens access to birth control: Its not an issue I think about. Its not an issue I care about, it began.

Adams is a partner at McGuireWoods, the Richmond legal and lobbying powerhouse where he is chairman of the government investigations and white collar litigation department. An older brother, Theodore F. Tray Adams III, directs the firms Virginia government lobbying arm.

An associate White House counsel under President George W. Bush, Adams is on a leave of absence from McGuireWoods while he campaigns.

Adams grew up in Chesterfield County and lives there today with his wife, Lisa, and their four boys: Thomas, 12; Daniel, 10; Andrew, 6; and Henry; 5. He attended Virginia Military Institute at a time when the Justice Department was suing to make the all-male, state-supported school admit women.

VMI, as a single-sex institution, is a wonderful thing, he told the Associated Press in 1994, as a junior.

Two years later, the Supreme Court ordered the school to admit women or go private. Today, Adams thinks its good that VMI went co-ed. But thats beside the point. Like it or not, the high court has spoken.
The $19 billion bid to clean the Chesapeake Bay and restore its health rests on a simple plan: cut the amount of nutrient waste  involving nitrogen, phosphorus and sediment  that causes most of the bays pollution.

For nearly seven years since the cleanup started, the federal government and six states in the bays watershed have reduced municipal sewer overflows that pour nitrogen and phosphorus into rivers that feed into the bay, and cut the fertilizers and other nutrients that run off from hundreds of farms. They also counted on the Conowingo Dam to block massive amounts of sediment in the Susquehanna River from smothering bay grasses that nurture marine life.

But that part of the plan has gone very wrong.

According to a report being prepared by scientists who work for the Environmental Protection Agency program that manages the bay cleanup, the reservoir behind the hydroelectric dam, which sits at the top of the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland, near the Pennsylvania border, has filled with sediment far sooner than the agency had predicted.

Using technology that didnt exist when the original calculation was made, the scientists said they have determined that the original estimate of when the reservoir would fill was off by more than 15 years. Rather than reaching capacity in 2030 to 2035, it is already 95 percent full and could cease protecting the bay from sediment within the next three years. As Johns Hopkins University professor William P. Ball said, Its like the dam is not even there.

The Conowingo Dam is a key part of conservation efforts on the Susquehanna River, but the reservoir behind it has filled with sediment much faster than expected. (Bill O'Leary/The Washington Post)

Scientists Robert Hirsch, Qian Zhang and Ball spelled out the danger in no uncertain terms in a study last year. The U.S. Geological Survey, they wrote, has estimated that when the Conowingo reservoir reaches capacity, sediment and phosphorus would increase by about 250 percent and 70 percent respectively.

Sediment and other nutrients have flowed naturally down the Susquehanna and other rivers since time began, Ball said, but human development altered the landscape and caused more. Too much sediment buries grasses that protect juvenile fish, crabs and other marine animals on the bay floor, and is key to the estuarys health.

U.S. Geological Survey hydrologist Gary Shenk and his team of scientists at the EPAs Chesapeake Bay Program in Annapolis are preparing a 500-page analysis of sediment storage at the dam for public release later this year when the cleanup reaches its midpoint. Shenk and Zhang recently shared the findings with The Washington Post.

The revelation comes at a challenging time. President Trumps proposal to cut 31 percent of the EPAs budget would eliminate the Chesapeake Bay cleanup program and the 90 employees who coordinate it, including Shenks team.

Although EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt recently praised the bay cleanup as an example of how a federal and state collaboration should work, he stood behind the presidents budget request.

Supporters of the bay cleanup could take heart in Pruitts recent bipartisan grilling by senators who deplored the cuts and said they would not stand for them. The bay cleanup has strong support among congressional leaders in the bay region.

However, theres little indication that political support for the project reaches wider.





Pruitt has opposed the project in the past. As Oklahomas attorney general, he was one of more than a dozen conservative state attorneys general who wrote a brief supporting a lawsuit to stop the cleanup. The suit failed last year.

The revelation that the dam is filling up quickly could cause headaches in the Chesapeake Bay region.

Six states  Virginia, Maryland, West Virginia, Delaware, Pennsylvania and New York  and the District share the burden of the multibillion-dollar cleanup, which calls on them to upgrade sewer facilities that pollute the bay with overflows of human waste and regulate runoff of animal waste and chemicals at farms.

Previous reports by the USGS and the Army Corps of Engineers have shown that sediment was gathering at the dam at a faster rate than projected, but the conclusion that the dams sediment reservoir is already essentially full is new.

Now that they can no longer count on the dam to block sediment in the Susquehanna River, officials probably will be forced to shift that burden to states. But the states say that they are already overwhelmed by the cleanup costs.

The miscalculation that the dam could continue to collect sediment for another quarter-century will be of particular interest to Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R). During his 2014 campaign, Hogan made sediment overflows at the Conowingo a large part of his environmental platform. He expressed suspicion that the problem at the dam was far worse than the EPA under the Obama administration let on.

Hogan and his supporters, many of whom are politicians in farming counties, said that sediment was a bigger threat to the bays health than phosphorus and nitrogen pollution that farms and cities were being forced to limit at a significant financial cost.

Hogan said the pond behind the dam should be dredged and the power company that owns it should pay for the effort.

Ball and other scientists disagreed then and now that sediment is a larger threat, saying nitrogen and phosphorus, particularly in Pennsylvania, is the overwhelming cause of Chesapeake Bay pollution.

Nitrogen and phosphorus are algae superfoods. They make the underwater plant grow out of control. As its quick life cycle ends around summer, microbes feed on it so ravenously that they suck oxygen from the water. A hypoxia event  or oxygen-depleted dead zone  follows, killing fish, crabs and anything that cannot escape.

Pennsylvania contributes more nitrogen pollution to the bay than any of the other five states in the watershed. But the Keystone States effort to mitigate pollution pales in comparison to that of the others.

To fully recover the bays grasses and reduce massive summer dead zones that suck oxygen out of the water and kill wildlife, the EPA and state partners planned to reduce its yearly sediment load by 20 percent, to 6.4 billion pounds, by 2025.

The plan also seeks to limit nitrogen by 25 percent, to 185 million pounds, and reduce phosphorus by 24 percent, to 12.5 million pounds.

Pennsylvanias effort is so lacking that the nitrogen goal cant be met.

The EPA recently fired off a letter to the states Department of Environmental Protection, ordering it to produce a stronger policy to reduce pollution. The state needs to identify watersheds it has targeted for pollution cleanup, lower the amount of manure that farmers are allowed to use as field fertilizer and spend money to make sure the changes get made.

Now that the Conowingo Dam is filling up, Pennsylvania could be asked to do even more.

Obviously any drastic changes to the overall bay model and the effects that Conowingo Dam have on sediment and other pollution would be something that DEP would have to address, Neil Shader, the Pennsylvania agencys press secretary, wrote in an email, but it is too soon to identify what those effects would be or how DEP would adjust.

Correction: A caption on a previous version of this story incorrectly referred to the Susquehanna River as the Potomac.
[July 04, 2017] ASTRI marks breakthroughs in IC technologies through national level R&D in the last five years

HONG KONG, July 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The 8th Management Committee Meeting of the first ever Hong Kong Branch of the Chinese National Engineering Research Centre (CNERC) -- set up at the Hong Kong Applied Science and Technology Research Institute (ASTRI) premises -- took place on 3 July 2017. The meeting, hosted in the Chinese city of Nanjing, was an opportunity to discuss the progress in R&D achievements, ITF project fund, industry income, patent, standardisation, future directions, technology roadmap and collaborations. It was chaired by Mr Sunny Lee, Chairman of the Management Committee; member of the ASTRTI Board of Directors; and Vice President (Administration) of the City University of Hong Kong. The CNERC branch was set up in 2012 dedicated to application specific integrated circuit (IC) systems. Over the years, leveraging the mandate of the CNERC Hong Kong Branch, ASTRI has developed a number of advanced and innovative solutions in various areas including Narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT), ultra-high-definition and 3D conversion video technologies, Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) solutions, power electronics modules, packaging and on-chip electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection circuits. The Branch is a significant contributor to the global 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) NB-IoT standard development, and promotes the overall NB-IoT ecosystem development. It has also worked with leading organisations like CEVA, Keysight, and Huawei. Its achievements in video technologies include Deep Convolutional Neural Network (DCNN) image processing accelerator developed; 'glass-free 3D image processing' demonstrated at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2017 in partnership with Marvel Digital; Jont R&D Lab on ultra-high-definition television technology with the Chinese Academy of Broadcasting Science; and a partnership with AccoreSys to develop face recognition solutions based on artificial intelligence.



ASTRI has received official recognition from China Advanced Semiconductor Industry Innovation Alliance (CASA) and the IEEE International Technology Roadmap for Wide Bandgap Semiconductors (ITRW). R&D work in high-power electronic modules has seen strong collaboration between ASTRI and several companies such as CETC, CSSC, H3C, Guangdong Rising Assets Management, CRRC, CSG, Huawei, Infineon, ZTE, China Southern Airlines, BYD and CLP Group. Development of advanced wide bandgap semiconductors, fully moulded 3D integrated structure, world-class integrated power modules etc are among the key achievements in this field. A major milestone for the Branch was the establishment of the Advanced Packaging Technologies Consortium (APTC) in 2006. Led by ASTRI, the Consortium has over 60 members from R&D and academic communities, as well as industrial sectors including foundries, packaging subcontractors, materials & equipment manufacturers, IDMs, design houses, and testing services. It promotes innovation and developments in packaging technology through participation in international forums, and spearheads the elevation of China's packaging sectors to the most advanced global standards.

Dr Meikei Ieong, Chief Technology Officer of ASTRI said, "The CNERC Branch in ASTRI focuses on delivering cost-effective solutions for cutting-edge products and applications -- enabling companies to offer the most sophisticated devices and interfaces to consumers. The Branch plays its part in developing innovative technologies that benefit enterprises in Hong Kong, the Mainland, and beyond." About ASTRI Hong Kong Applied Science and Technology Research Institute Company Limited (ASTRI) was founded by the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region in 2000 with the mission of enhancing Hong Kong's competitiveness in technology-based industries through applied research. ASTRI's core R&D competences in various areas are organised under seven Technology Divisions, namely Communications Technologies, Electronics Components, Mixed Signal Systems IC, Advanced Digital Systems, Opto-electronics, Security and Data Sciences, and Intelligent Software and Systems. Five areas of applications including financial technologies, intelligent manufacturing, next generation network, health technologies, and smart city are identified for major pursuit. In 2006, ASTRI was designated as the Hong Kong Research and Development Centre for Information and Communications Technologies by the Innovation and Technology Commission. In 2012, ASTRI was given an approval from the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) under the Central Government's State Council to establish the first Hong Kong Branch of Chinese National Engineering Research Centre (CNERC) for Application Specific Integrated Circuit System in collaboration with Southeast University (SEU) in Nanjing. Please visit www.astri.org for more information about ASTRI. Media enquiries:

Ms Cherry Au

Tel: (852) 3406 2993

Email: [email protected] SOURCE Hong Kong Applied Science and Technology Research Institute (ASTRI)

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
ILLINOIS

Man charged with kidnapping scholar appears in court

Hundreds of people gathered outside a federal courthouse Monday as the suspect in the kidnapping of a Chinese scholar at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign made his first court appearance since he was arrested last week.

During the nine-minute hearing, 28-year-old Brendt Christensen did not speak other than to acknowledge to the federal judge that he understood his rights. U.S. Magistrate Eric Long ordered Christensen held without bond in the kidnapping of Yingying Zhang. Authorities say facts in the case indicate the 26-year-old Zhang is dead, although her body hasnt been found.

Long ordered Christensen to return to the court in Urbana on Wednesday to determine bond. A preliminary hearing was set for July 14, but that would be waived if a grand jury returns an indictment before then. The federal kidnapping charge carries a maximum sentence of life in prison, according to a spokeswoman for the U.S. attorneys office.

Zhang went missing on June 9. Authorities said they believed she was abducted after viewing surveillance video showing her climbing into a vehicle. Authorities charged Christensen on Friday after federal agents heard him tell someone that hed kidnapped Zhang and held her against her will.

Authorities say Zhang was trying to hurry to an apartment to sign a lease and had been unsuccessful in flagging down a bus when a car stopped. The video shows a woman authorities have said is Zhang climb into the vehicle in Urbana, 140 miles southwest of Chicago.

Christensen had just earned a masters degree in physics from the University of Illinois this year. According to authorities, a website that hosted an Abduction 101 forum linked Christensen to the kidnapping of Zhang. According to the federal complaint, Christensens phone was used April 19 to visit that website, FetLife.com, including to view threads titled Perfect abduction fantasy and planning a kidnapping.

 Associated Press

MASSACHUSETTS

Taxi mows down pedestrians at Boston airport

A taxicab drove into a crowd of people near Bostons Logan International Airport on Monday afternoon, sending 10 people, some with serious injuries, to area hospitals, officials said.

The incident was believed to be a case of operator error, not terrorism, according to a law enforcement official familiar with the situation.

The incident happened around Logan Airports taxicab pool, officials said. Based on initial information, it appeared that the vehicles driver hit the gas rather than the brakes, according to an official familiar with the investigation.

The Massachusetts State Police said that at about 1:40 p.m., the taxi drove into a group standing in a break area frequented by cabdrivers outside the pool.

The cabdriver, who was not initially identified, is a 56-year-old man from Cambridge, and he was being interviewed by troopers after the incident, state police said.

Abdias Pierre, a cabdriver, told the Boston Globe that all of those hit were taxi drivers.

 Mark Berman

Man shot while trying to hijack helicopter: An armed man was fatally shot by police after seizing a helicopter near Portland, Ore., on Monday, authorities said. Police said the man jumped a fence to get into Hillsboro Airport and ordered a flight instructor and student inside a helicopter to get out, firing at least one round. The man got into the helicopter, but officers arrived before he could take off. The man ran into a field, where a police officer fatally shot him.

 Associated Press
North Koreas latest test launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile marks a direct challenge to President Trump, whose tough talk has yet to yield any change in Pyongyangs behavior as the regime continues its efforts to build a nuclear weapon capable of striking the mainland United States.

The missile  launched Tuesday in North Korea, late Monday in the United States  flew higher and remained in the air longer than previous attempts, enough to reach all of Alaska, experts said. They called it a major milestone for North Koreas weapons program.

The test comes just before Trump will see key Asian leaders and Russian President Vladimir Putin later this week. North Korea was already expected to be a main subject for meetings on the sidelines of the Group of 20 economic summit, but the test adds urgency to a widening U.S. campaign aimed at further isolating North Korea.

[Experts: North Koreas missile was a real ICBM  and a grave milestone]

The day after the launch, the U.S. Army and the South Korean military conducted a missile exercise in response to North Koreas destabilizing and unlawful actions, U.S. Pacific Command said in a statement. It was unclear how Pyongyang might react to the exercise, which launched missiles into South Korean territorial waters along the countrys eastern coastline.

Together with the Republic of Korea, we conducted a combined exercise to show our precision-fire capability, said Dana White, a Pentagon spokeswoman.

Trump responded to the North Korean missile test by applying rhetorical pressure on China, North Koreas ally and economic lifeline, and by mocking dictator Kim Jong Un on Twitter.

North Korea has just launched another missile. Does this guy have anything better to do with his life? Trump asked in a message very shortly after the launch.

Hard to believe that South Korea and Japan will put up with this much longer, Trump continued. Perhaps China will put a heavy move on North Korea and end this nonsense once and for all!

The launch follows a string of recent actions by Pyongyang, including a salvo of missiles last month and three tests in May. Kim has now launched more missiles in one year than his father and predecessor in the family dynasty did in 17 years in power.

North Korea has also conducted five nuclear weapons tests since 2006, including two last year.

The number and variety of tests worry experts who see each step as part of a march toward a missile capable of striking Americas West Coast.





The missile tests violate existing United Nations and other sanctions, which North Korea has found ways to evade. Although Trump and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson have declared that the era of strategic patience with North Korea is over, the new U.S. administration has not spelled out what that means.

Tillerson has said Washington might eventually negotiate with North Korea under the right circumstances, but he has suggested that possibility is remote. The United States will act alone if it must, he has warned, though he has not spelled out what exactly that would entail.

The Trump administration has recently leaned on China to rein in North Korea and curb illicit trade with the country, an international pariah largely cut off from the global financial system.

Given that Japan and South Korea are within range of existing North Korean missiles, Trump has also sought to unite leaders of both nations behind a strongly worded U.S. position that it will no longer tolerate the Norths provocations. The Trump administration has asked other nations around the globe to sever or downgrade diplomatic ties with Pyongyang.

Leaders of China, South Korea and Japan will be at the G-20 meeting in Germany.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe appeared to share Trumps frustration, if not his tone. In remarks to the news media, he vowed to work closely with the United States and South Korea, but called on China and Russia to do more.

Id like to strongly urge international societys cooperation on the North Korea issue and urge Chinas chairman, Xi Jinping, and Russias President Putin to take more constructive measures, Abe said.

In a daily news conference, Geng Shuang, a spokesman for Chinas Foreign Ministry, condemned the test but countered that Beijing had spared no effort in its fight.

On Tuesday, Russia and China jointly proposed that North Korea put further nuclear and missile tests on hold while the United States and ally South Korea refrain from large-scale military exercises. Both Russia and China oppose North Koreas nuclear weapons program. Both also oppose the U.S. antimissile system being installed in South Korea.

Experts said the Trump administration does not have many choices for what to do next.

Unfortunately, the Trump administration has few options other than robust economic pressure on China and North Korea, said Anthony Ruggiero, a specialist on the long-running diplomatic and military standoff at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. The U.S. wasted the last 10 years with a combination of negotiations that were destined to fail and strategic patience that failed from the start.

A new sanctions regime led by the United States would be the best response, Ruggiero said, because China and Russia would veto the most effective form of sanctions at the U.N. Security Council.

Last week, the Trump administration announced sanctions targeting a China-based bank accused of laundering money for the North Korean government and moved forward with an arms sale to Taiwan that Beijing opposes.

Trump followed up with a call Sunday to Chinas Xi, in which Trump raised the growing threat posed by North Koreas nuclear and ballistic missile programs, according to the White House.

Both leaders reaffirmed their commitment to a denuclearized Korean Peninsula, a White House statement said, while President Trump reiterated his determination to seek more balanced trade relations with Americas trading partners.

The trade reference was an implicit threat to reassert U.S. complaints about Chinese economic practices that Trump has largely set aside in recent months as he has sought to engage Xi, with whom he claims a strong relationship.

China has pledged cooperation with the United States over North Korea but has not fundamentally shifted away from a strategy that balances pressure on the Kim regime with keeping the regime afloat, said Chris Steinitz, a research scientist at the federally funded, nonprofit Center for Naval Analyses.

Its kind of how China looks at everything. They have a very long view, Steinitz said. They will wait, they will bide their time. They have a lot of priorities.

In the meantime, Steinitz said, North Korea will continue to test missiles.

[With South Korean president, Trump denounces reckless and brutal regime in North Korea]

The U.S. military said the Hwasong-14 was in the air for 37 minutes, a duration that signals a significant improvement over previous tests. In a special announcement on state television, North Korea said the missile flew about 579 miles, reaching an altitude of 1,741 miles.

The launch was made from a site in North Koreas North Pyongan province, and the missile flew more than 500 miles before landing in waters off Japans coast, U.S., South Korean and Japanese officials said.

As with other recent launches, the missile appears to have been fired at a very steep trajectory in an effort to avoid flying over neighbors.

Multiple independent analyses of the test showed that the missile flew at a high-altitude trajectory, soaring to about 1,700 miles before landing in the Pacific off the Japanese coast, about 580 miles from its launch point.

The Pentagon and the State Department confirmed late Tuesday that North Korea had launched an ICBM.

The United States strongly condemns North Koreas launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile, Tillerson said in a statement. Testing an ICBM represents a new escalation of the threat to the United States, our allies and partners, the region, and the world.

Tillerson added that the United States intends to bring the issue before the U.N. Security Council to hold North Korea accountable. On Tuesday, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, announced that she and her counterparts in Japan and South Korea had requested an emergency Security Council meeting, set for Wednesday afternoon.

Rauhala reported from Beijing. Joby Warrick and Dan Lamothe in Washington and Shirley Feng and Yang Liu in Beijing contributed to this report.

Read more

North Korea showed off a lot of missiles. What might be its targets?

China, Russia offer plan for easing North Korea tensions

Taiwan arms sale, North Korea sanctions outrage Beijing

Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world

Like Washington Post World on Facebook and stay updated on foreign news
MIGRANTS

Europeans pledge help to stem Libya-Italy flow

France, Germany and the European Union pledged more money Monday for Libyas coast guard and more support for Italy to cope with a surge of migrant arrivals from Africa.

The U.N. refugee agency, meanwhile, reported that more and more people lured to Libya with the hope of finding jobs there end up trying to reach Europe.

The intensified European effort comes after the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees on Saturday decried an unfolding tragedy in Italy over the weekend as 12,600 migrants and refugees poured onto its shores. UNHCR noted that more than 2,000 people have lost their lives on the Libya-to-Italy sea route this year.

On Monday, the E.U. migration commissioner and the German, French and Italian interior ministers promised extra money and training for the Libyan coast guard and efforts to reinforce Libyas largely lawless southern border, which people-smugglers exploit. No details were provided.

A UNHCR-commissioned report released Monday found that about half of people who travel to Libya do so believing they can find jobs there, but end up fleeing onwards to Europe to escape life-threatening insecurity, instability, difficult economic conditions plus widespread exploitation and abuse.

UNHCR says 84,830 migrants and refugees have reached Italys shores this year from Libya, a 19 percent increase from a year earlier. Seven in 10 are economic migrants.

 Associated Press

VENEZUELA

Maduro opponents plan symbolic vote

Venezuelas opposition said Monday that it will hold a symbolic referendum to give voters the opportunity to reject President Nicolas Maduros plans to rewrite the constitution.

The plan, announced by National Assembly President Julio Borges, is a dramatic escalation of the oppositions effort to fight Maduros proposal. Borges said the vote would be held July 16  two weeks before Maduro is asking Venezuelans to go to the polls to choose delegates for a special assembly to overhaul the charter.

Protests against Maduro have raged for three months, leaving at least 80 people dead and hundreds jailed or injured, and the opposition-controlled legislature has embraced an agenda of civil disobedience.

Polls show that barely 20 percent of Venezuelans favor rewriting the 1999 constitution.

Once seated, the constitutional assembly will have vast powers to reshape Venezuelas institutions, and some in the opposition fear that it could convert Venezuela into a Cuba-styled socialist system in which open elections would cease to exist.

 Associated Press

SYRIA

Temporary cease-fire declared ahead of talks

The Syrian military said Monday that it has temporarily halted combat operations in the south ahead of Russian-sponsored cease-fire talks with the rebels.

The announcement came after a large Syrian rebel faction in the south said it would not attend the talks in Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan, because the government of Bashar al-Assad was not abiding by previous

cease-fire agreements.

The two sides have held four rounds of talks in Kazakhstan since January in parallel to talks in Geneva brokered by the United Nations. Neither process has made much progress. A cease-fire declared in May has been repeatedly violated.

The military said the present pause would run until Thursday, to support the peace process and national reconciliation.

Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad, meanwhile, questioned the credibility of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, saying its inspectors had failed to visit key sites linked to a nerve gas attack that killed 89 people.

Mekdad dismissed an OPCW report released last week confirming the use of sarin gas on the opposition-held northern town of Khan Sheikhoun in April. He said the inspectors refused government invitations to visit the site of the attack or the military airport allegedly tied to it.

 Associated Press

British teen jailed in bomb plot: A British teenager was sentenced to at least 16 years in prison for plotting a bombing whose potential targets included an Elton John concert. Haroon Syed, arrested last year, had admitted planning terrorist acts at an earlier hearing and was said to be deeply committed to the ideology of the Islamic State . Prosecutors said the 19-year-old tried to buy explosives online from a series of intelligence agents posing as an extremist.

 From news services
Britains Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, left, meets members of the Glasgow Wrens Association as he attends the annual garden party on Tuesday at the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh. (Jane Barlow/AFP/Getty Images)

UKRAINE

Servers are seized in malware investigation

The servers of accounting software firm M.E.Doc have been seized by Ukrainian authorities as part of the investigation of a malware attack that affected companies around the globe last week.

Although they are still trying to establish who was behind the attack, Ukrainian officials have said some of the initial infections were spread via a malicious update issued by M.E.Doc, said Serhiy Demedyuk, the head of Ukraines cyber police. The companys owners deny those allegations.

The seizure came after cybersecurity investigators unearthed further evidence that the attack had been planned months in advance by highly skilled hackers, who they said had inserted a vulnerability into the M.E.Doc program.

Researchers at Slovakian security software firm ESET said they had found a vulnerability written into some of M.E.Docs software.

 Reuters

CYPRUS

Turkey toughens view on troop withdrawal

Turkey toughened its stance Tuesday in talks to reunify Cyprus, insisting that it wont sign any deal involving the withdrawal of all its troops from the ethnically divided Mediterranean island nation.

At talks to end Cypruss 43-year ethnic divide at the Swiss resort of Crans-Montana, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu made it clear that a peace accord would not include a specific, agreed-upon date by which all Turkish troops would have to be pulled out.

There will be no sunset clause . . . and Turkish troops will be staying on the island because this is the demand of the Turkish Cypriots, Cavusoglu said. If there is anybody dreaming this, they have to wake up. There will be no sunset clause.

Turkey has kept more than 35,000 troops on Cyprus since 1974, when it invaded in the wake of a coup mounted by supporters of union with Greece.

 Associated Press

Fire strikes Syrian refugee camp in Lebanon: A huge fire in a Syrian refugee settlement in Lebanons Bekaa Valley early Tuesday killed a young girl and injured 21 people. Lebanons state-run National News Agency said 22 of the 185 tents in the informal settlement burned down. It was the second recent deadly fire to hit refugee encampments in eastern Lebanon. On Sunday, a fire ripped through another settlement near the town of Qab Elias, also killing one person.

Battle for Benghazi nearing an end: East Libyan forces battled to advance into a final area of Benghazi controlled by their opponents, clearing mines and roadblocks and targeting snipers with the help of cover from tank rounds. Khalifa Hifters self-styled Libyan National Army says it is close to concluding a three-year campaign for control of Libyas second city. The campaign has been halting, with the LNA suffering high casualties even after gaining the upper hand early last year against Islamists and other opponents.

Terrorists suspected in raid on Portuguese armory: Portuguese authorities suspect international terrorists and arms traffickers are behind a very professional theft last week at the countrys national armory, the attorney generals office said. The suspicions have prompted the office to broaden the scope of its investigation into the

theft of hand grenades, 9mm ammunition and possibly other weapons, a statement said. The armed forces have not disclosed a full list of what was stolen from the arsenal on June 28 at the Tancos Air Base.

U.S. denies visas to robotics team from Gambia: The United States has denied visas to five teenage students from Gambia competing in an international robotics contest in Washington, the teams leader said. The teens found the rejection very disheartening, said Mucktarr M.Y. Darboe, a director in the largely Muslim West African nations Higher Education Ministry. He said the students were not given a reason for the visa denials in April, and he called the decision unfair. The Gambia team is not alone. An all-female team from Afghanistan also was denied visas.

Another tunnel found at Mexicos Teotihuacan ruins: Archaeologists at Mexicos Teotihuacan ruins site say they have found evidence that the citys builders may have dug a tunnel beneath the Pyramid of the Moon. The National Institute of Anthropology and History says researchers used a kind of computerized tomography scan to discover the apparent tunnel, which may have been filled in antiquity. Other tunnels have been discovered at Teotihuacan.

 From news services
At moments of institutional conflict and uncertainty, Americans naturally turn to the Constitution. But at times of anger, division and national self-doubt, the best American leaders have helped us turn to a different document: the Declaration of Independence. That few seem to be doing so now  in our season of division and doubt  is another sign that we lack real leaders.

The Declaration is an odd source of national pride since it can be properly read only in a spirit of humility. It refers to a transcendent order of justice and human dignity that existed prior to the nation  and that exposed the nations horrifying hypocrisies. (How is it, taunted Samuel Johnson, that we hear the loudest yelps for liberty among the drivers of Negroes?) We hold these truths makes us vulnerable to the judgment of those truths.

American independence, of course, involved more than humility. It was an act of defiance rooted in an arm-long list of grievances. In Worcester, Mass., after the Declaration was signed, patriots drank to the toast: Perpetual itching without the benefit of scratching to the enemies of America.

But, as Abraham Lincoln noted, the Declaration could have established national independence without its second paragraph about the human rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. The assertion that all men are created equal,  Lincoln argued, was of no practical use in effecting our separation from Great Britain. As he saw it, the Founders, while constrained by the political realities of their time, set out a non-arbitrary, timeless truth for future use.

They meant simply to declare the right, said Lincoln, so that the enforcement of it might follow as fast as circumstances should permit. They meant to set up a standard maxim for free society, which should be familiar to all, and revered by all; constantly looked to, constantly labored for . . . even though never perfectly attained.

Why is that maxim so important? At one level, Lincolns answer was bluntly practical. If liberty is denied to anyone, it could eventually be denied to you. And when you have stricken down the principles of the Declaration of Independence, he said, and thereby consigned the Negro to hopeless and eternal bondage, are you quite sure that the demon will not turn and rend you? Will not the people then be ready to go down beneath the tread of any tyrant who may wish to rule them?

But Lincoln also saw the Declaration as the embodiment of a moral ideal. It was not the mere matter of the separation of the colonies from the motherland; but something in that Declaration giving liberty, not alone to the people of this country, but hope to the world for all future time. It was that which gave promise that in due time the weights should be lifted from the shoulders of all men, and that all should have an equal chance.

By definition, America cant be a normal nation. It stands for more than getting and keeping. Its greatness is a greatness of spirit. And its failures  such as slavery, segregation and the shameful treatment of Native Americans  are not only legal but also spiritual failures. They are blasphemy against our countrys creed.

Does anyone think or talk like this now? They need to. There is so much dehumanization in our politics, and the main role of the Declaration is humanization. Its ideals are desperately needed and roundly ignored.

How do we measure our loss? It might be a useful exercise to take political arguments and apply the Declaration as a kind of suffix. So: We should fear Latino migrants as gang members and murderers . . . and all men and women are created equal. Or: Muslims are a threat and should be kept out of the country . . . and all men and women are created equal. Or: Spending on AIDS treatments for foreigners is a waste . . . and all men and women are created equal. Or: The human cost of a failing health or education system doesnt matter . . . and all men and women are created equal. Or: Human beings can be dismembered up to the moment before birth . . . and all men and women are created equal.

When our founding ideals are forgotten, it is the vulnerable and powerless who suffer first and worst. Lincoln accused politicians who dismiss or play down the Declaration of blowing out the moral lights around us. When someone calls us back to that faded document, and begins to rekindle Americas conscience, it will be a sign we have found a real leader again.

Read more from Michael Gersons archive, follow him on Twitter or subscribe to his updates on Facebook .
A local resident talks with Atlantic Coast Pipeline project manager for the Amy Corps of Engineers, Steven Gibson, right, during a tour of the route of the gas pipeline on June 6 in Bolar, Va. (Steve Helber/Associated Press)

Evidently, ensuring that the Atlantic Coast Pipelines 1,989 water-body crossings comply with Virginias water-quality standards is just too big a job for our Department of Environmental Quality, even if it is its job, so the Department of Environmental Quality handed its responsibility off to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. A Permit 12, issued nationwide by the corps, could approve all 1,989 water-body crossings of the pipeline without any site-specific review.

To make the handoff to the corps, the Department of Environmental Quality is required to determine that the corpss requirements comply with Virginias water-quality standards for these projects. The Department of Environmental Quality outsourced that job, too, and Dominion agreed to pay a contractor hired by the state to evaluate its pipeline proposal for the Department of Environmental Quality. Incredibly, the contractor is doing several other jobs for Dominion. So Dominion is paying a familiar contractor to approve its work on behalf of the Department of Environmental Quality. This clearly is a conflict of interest, but its not the only one. A contractor hired by the Forest Service to represent its interests in the pipelines Blue Ridge Parkway crossing is working for Dominion on the pipeline project, and the third-party contractor hired by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to review the pipeline is tied to Dominions main environmental consultant in the project.

The administration and our regulators need to release all of their documents. We need to know if anyone is actually working for us.

Jane Twitmyer, Roseland, Va.
President Trump at the White House in Washington on June 30. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)

Regarding the June 30 front-page article Trumps insulting tweets criticized:

President Trumps associates are defending his vile attacks on Mika Brzezinski by characterizing him as the fighter the American people wanted. Stephanie Grisham, a spokesperson for first lady Melania Trump, quoted her boss: When you attack him, he will punch back 10 times harder. Sarah Huckabee Sanders portrayed Trump in almost heroic terms: The American people elected a fighter.

The United States was attacked by Russia in 2016. Russian President Vladimir Putin undermined U.S. sovereignty and the integrity of our free and fair electoral process. Russia continues to pose a major threat to our election system.

So far, Mr. Trump has been soft on Russia. He has not thrown a single punch. To the contrary, he continues his romance with Mr. Putin, while reserving his most despicable attacks for domestic targets: journalists, judges, intelligence officials and government leaders.

Something is very, very wrong.

Tracy Zorpette, Washington
THE GRENFELL TOWER fire in London has cast a spotlight on fire safety regulations around the world. While the United States has often been singled out as a virtuous example, not all U.S. jurisdictions should be applauded just yet. Some, including Virginia and the District of Columbia, have chosen not to require a key fire safety test designed to weed out combustible cladding  the same type of material that helped fuel the blaze in London.

Most building codes in the United States are modeled after the International Building Code, which was amended in 2012 to require a test on exterior cladding for buildings more than 40 feet in height. But when the District updated its code in 2013, it responded to industry concern and carved out testing exemptions, including for buildings with sprinkler systems.

Virginia also deleted some testing requirements and exempted buildings with sprinklers. The preponderance of tall buildings in the state made this a particularly risky decision: Sprinklers will do little to extinguish exterior fires, which can obstruct escape routes and impede the access of first responders. The revised code was so controversial that Virginias Bureau of Capital Outlay Management publicly disagreed with it and reversed the rule change for all state-owned buildings.

Critics of the test cited its high cost, the difficulty of finding compliant material and the fact that these precautions might be redundancies. But other states and counties have managed to enforce the code for years. Experts have also pointed out the need for multiple safety measures to combat different fire threats.

Under a directive from Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D), the Districts Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs says it will update its regulations and reinstate the testing provision. This conversation is worth having everywhere, and Virginia should consider following the Districts lead.

Though a disaster on the scale of Grenfell Tower is unlikely to happen in the United States, we were offered a stark reminder of the importance of fire safety late last month when a fatal fire broke out in a Northwest D.C. apartment. There is no excuse for complacency. As tragically shown in London, economizing measures may reduce costs  until there is a mishap and officials must cope with property damage, displacement and even loss of life. This is an eventuality that regulatory agencies should take care to avoid.
The signers of the Declaration of Independence were highly imperfect men. Thomas Jefferson and his fellow Southerners were rank hypocrites for declaring all men are created equal while owning men, women and children as their slaves. John Adams was sour and disputatious, and later as president would sign the Sedition Act cracking down on criticism of the government. John Hancock was accused of amassing his fortune through smuggling. Benjamin Franklin could have been described as kind of a dirty old man.

Yet they laid out a set of principles, later codified in the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, that transcended their flaws. At this bizarre moment in our history, it is useful to remember that the ideas and institutions of the American experiment are much more powerful and enduring than the idiosyncrasies of our leaders.

I call this moment bizarre for obvious reasons. As Thomas Paine would write in December 1776: These are the times that try mens souls.

We have a president who neither understands nor respects the basic norms of American democracy. Make no mistake: Donald Trump is a true aberration. There is no figure like him in U.S. history, for which we should be thankful.

Trumps inexperience is unique; he is the only president never to have served in government or the military. This weakness is exponentially compounded by his ignorance of both policy and process, his lack of curiosity, his inability to focus and his tremendous insecurity. He refuses to acknowledge his shortcomings, let alone come to terms with them; and he desperately craves the kind of sycophantic adulation that George Washington, a genuine hero, pointedly rejected.

(Adriana Usero/The Washington Post)

Trump is a #FakeHero. He strings along his supporters with promises he has no idea how to keep. Like many a would-be strongman before him, he defines himself politically by the fights he picks; he erects straw men  faceless elites, cable television hosts, Muslims, Mexicans, nonexistent individuals or groups waging an imaginary war on Christmas  because authoritarians always need enemies. Yet his ego is a delicate hothouse flower, threatened by the slightest puff of criticism.

The Founders, mindful of their own faults, ultimately designed a system to contain a rogue president. They limited his elective term to four years, gave checking and balancing powers to the legislative and judicial branches, and designed impeachment as a last-ditch remedy. The Trump presidency compels all of us to be mindful of our constitutional duties.

The role of the citizenry  to express approval or disapproval at the ballot box  includes making sure that suffrage is not selectively and unfairly denied by restrictive voter-ID laws or partisan purges of the voter rolls. It is heartening that red states have joined blue in resisting the attempt by Trumps trumped-up voter fraud commission to assemble a national list of voters. Perhaps some future administration could be trusted to make sense of our confusing patchwork of voting systems. This one cant.

Congress must assert its powers of oversight. One reason the signers of the Declaration gathered in Philadelphia to pledge our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor to the cause of independence was that they saw the mingling of royal power and British commercial interests as corrupt. We now have a president whose far-flung business empire  which he has refused to divest, and which his family still operates  presents myriad potential conflicts of interest. Trump has deepened the swamp, not drained it; and Congress has a duty to sort through the muck.

Congress must also let Trump know, in no uncertain terms, that any attempt to impede or disrupt special counsel Robert S. Mueller IIIs investigation into Russian election meddling will have the gravest consequences. Trump should be told that firing Mueller would automatically be considered grounds for impeachment.

The justices of the Supreme Court, meanwhile, should study the courts decisions in United States v. Nixon, which forced Richard Nixon to turn over his White House tapes; and Bush v. Gore, which halted the 2000 vote recount in Florida. Both were instances wherein the court, which rightly shies away from decisions that determine who occupies the presidency, felt it had no choice but to act. It is no stretch to imagine that Trumps contempt for the Constitution will once again force the courts hand.

The Fourth of July is no day for despair. Its a day to remember that our system, though vulnerable to a charlatan such as Trump, is robust and resilient. Eventually he will be tossed or voted out. And the star-spangled banner yet will wave.

Read more from Eugene Robinsons archive, follow him on Twitter or subscribe to his updates on Facebook. You can also join him Tuesdays at 1 p.m. for a live Q&A.
In one of his first official acts upon taking office, President Trump designated the day of his inauguration a National Day of Patriotic Devotion. While its not unusual for incoming presidents to issue symbolic proclamations, Trumps choice of words reflected the extreme nationalism of a White House that seriously considered an inaugural parade with military tanks rolling down the streets of Washington, D.C. A new national pride stirs the American soul and inspires the American heart, he proclaimed.

As George Orwell once wrote, however, Nationalism is not to be confused with patriotism. And nearly six months into Trumps presidency, it seems especially fitting on this Fourth of July to reflect on the meaning of patriotism and to consider how one can be patriotic during such deeply troubling times for the country.

Throughout our history, American patriotism too commonly has been associated with uniform praise for the military and uncritical support for war, along with a visceral belief in Americas greatness that provided the rhetorical foundation for Trumps campaign. Especially in times of conflict  from the Spanish-American War to Vietnam to Iraq and Afghanistan  those who dare to dissent have frequently met with public scorn and shouts of disloyalty. Protest, too often, has been deemed unpatriotic.

But there is also a different view, which defines patriotism as working to ensure the country lives up to its highest ideals. That view inspired the Nation magazine, which has amplified dissenting voices ever since its founding by abolitionists, to publish a special issue on patriotism for its 125th anniversary in July 1991. As the dust was settling on the Persian Gulf War, dozens of progressive writers, activists, scholars and leaders shared personal reflections on the topic, many of which feel particularly relevant today.

The Rev. Jesse Jackson, for example, linked patriotism to the fight against oppression. America at its best guarantees opportunity, he argued, and so fighting to expand the horizons of oppressed people is an act of patriotism. Noting that real patriotism is not always popular, especially among the elite, he wrote that true patriots invariably disturb the comfortable and comfort the disturbed, and are persecuted in their lifetimes even as their accomplishments are applauded after their deaths. And he made it clear that empty displays of patriotism are no substitute for unwavering devotion to progress, saying, We must never relinquish our sense of justice for a false sense of national pride.

Similarly, Texas columnist Molly Ivins reminded us that there is more to patriotism than flag-waving and fireworks. I believe that patriotism is best expressed in our works, not our parades, she wrote. We are the heirs of the most magnificent political legacy any people has ever been given. We hold these truths to be self-evident . . .  It is the constant struggle to protect and enlarge that legacy, to make sure that it applies to all citizens, that patriotism lies.

Today, that struggle has taken on a renewed sense of urgency. The ongoing efforts to weaken access to health care, gut environmental protections, roll back voting rights, restrict immigration and ban travel from Muslim-majority countries (among other policies) constitute a full-blown assault on the rights to life and liberty envisioned in the Declaration of Independence. For many Americans, the pursuit of happiness is getting harder every day.

Yet in the face of such threats, it is inspiring to see millions of people nationwide engaging in the political process, many for the first time in their lives, and making their voices heard. In the resistance to Trump, we see clearly the resilience that has enabled Americans to overcome dark chapters in our countrys past. In the growing movements demanding justice and equality for all, we see the hard work of patriotism flourishing all around us.

In times of crisis, the historian Eric Foner wrote after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, the most patriotic act of all is the unyielding defense of civil liberties, the right to dissent and equality before the law for all Americans. This is one of those times.

Read more from Katrina vanden Heuvels archive or follow her on Twitter.
WHEN THE members of an all-girl robotics team from western Afghanistan learned that they were going to participate in the inaugural First Global Challenge  an international competition that will be held in the District of Columbia this month  they traveled 500 miles to visit the U.S. Embassy in Kabul. The six teenagers risked this arduous journey not once but twice, hoping to secure one-week business travel visas to the United States. Their efforts ended in tears when their visa applications were denied. Now, they will watch from afar as their robot competes without them.

This is a dispiriting  and, for the United States, self-defeating  end to what might have been an inspirational story. The team faced long odds, not least because they were girls striving for a technology-based education in Afghanistan. According to a recent Thomson Reuters Foundation expert poll, the country is the most dangerous in the world for women. Girls have been threatened with grenades and acid attacks for attending school, and 55 percent of school-age girls are currently missing out on an education. Science and engineering are especially male-dominated, making the teams achievements even more striking.

The Afghan girls also faced unique challenges when trying to assemble their robot. While other teams received their materials in March, the box sent to Afghanistan was held up amid terrorism concerns. Yet the girls remained undaunted and began building prototypes with household supplies. As one member of the team told Forbes, they just wanted a chance to prove themselves to the world. How sad that the U.S. government has prevented them from doing so in person.

These girls embody the values the United States has championed around the world and sought, at great cost, to cultivate in Afghanistan. Their story is a testament to innovation, entrepreneurship, equality and grit. Given that the U.S. government has also invested substantially in promoting girls education and womens empowerment in Afghanistan, the visa denial is inexplicable. (And, in fact, the U.S. government offered no explanation.) Though few business travel visas are granted to Afghans each month, it is hard to understand why the State Department would not make an exception for these intrepid girls and all that they stand for.

In their mission statement for the competition, the girls wrote, We want to make a difference and most breakthroughs in science, technology, and other industries normally start with the dream of a child to do something great. We want to be that child and pursue our dreams to make a difference in peoples lives. We can only hope that their dreams, and the dreams of other Afghan students, are not extinguished by the State Departments perplexing decision.
Bradley Ledgerwood, 36, is a proud Republican and an enthusiastic fan of President Trump.

Hes also on a fast track to becoming one of Trumps fabled Forgotten Men.

Ledgerwood has been enamored with politics all his life. An active member of the Craighead County Republican Committee and the Northeast Arkansas Political Animals lunch club, he serves as an alderman for 342-person Cash, Ark.

Profoundly physically disabled, Ledgerwood participates in these activities only through the help of two government-funded programs that are now on the chopping block: Medicaid and legal aid.

Youve no doubt heard lots about threats to the first of these, given Republican efforts to wring $800 billion from the federal low-income health insurance program. So lets focus on the second, which has received almost no attention, despite facing an existential threat from both the president and House Republicans.

(Elyse Samuels,Jorge Ribas,Alice Li/Astrid Rieken/The Washington Post)

At 2, Ledgerwood was diagnosed with cerebral palsy, which left him unable to walk, stand, bathe himself, eat or use the bathroom without assistance.

My mom and dad are basically my hands and feet, he told me by phone Friday.

His mother, in fact, cares for him full time and has done so for many years. She was able to quit her job and provide round-the-clock care as a result of a special Medicaid program designed to help people with serious disabilities avoid institutionalization. The program pays for hours worked by in-home caregivers, which can include family members.

In Ledgerwoods case, the state has consistently determined that he qualifies for 56 hours of care, the maximum.

At least, it did until last year.

Thats when the Arkansas Department of Human Services abruptly cut Ledgerwoods weekly hours nearly in half, despite the fact that his medical needs had not changed. With minimal explanation, officials claimed that a new computer algorithm determined that he did not need so much care. Other families experienced similar cuts in caregiving hours.

This cut would devastate the familys precarious finances. His mother contemplated returning to work and sending Ledgerwood to a nursing home.

That would destroy my life, he says in no uncertain terms. Fiscally minded voter that he is, he adds that institutionalization would also cost the state multiple times more money than family-provided home care.

Alongside six other plaintiffs with disabilities, Ledgerwood sued the state  and won. The case is currently on appeal.

How was Ledgerwood able to secure legal representation? Not through a lucrative GoFundMe campaign, or lottery windfall, or some long-lost rich uncle.

It was through Legal Aid of Arkansas, one of 133 programs that receive grants from the Legal Services Corporation, a congressionally established nonprofit that funds civil legal services for about 2 million low-income people each year.

And low-income families, whether in red-state America or blue, turn out to need a lot of legal help.

In the past year, 7 in 10 low-income families experienced at least one civil legal problem, according to a recent University of Chicago NORC survey done for the Legal Services Corporation. Such problems include foreclosures, domestic violence (getting a restraining order, for example), custody disputes, debt repayment or neglectful landlords. The elderly, rural residents and veterans  all core components of the Republican base  are especially well-represented in this population.

A Navy veteran I spoke with over the weekend, 47-year-old Mario Figueroa of Daytona Beach, Fla., credited his local legal aid program with saving his life. He had fought on his own for two decades to convince the Department of Veterans Affairs to provide medical treatment and disability benefits for his service-connected post-traumatic stress disorder. He was successful only after seeking representation from Community Legal Services of Mid-Florida, another Legal Services Corporation grantee.

People like to say they support veterans and stand behind veterans, he said, complaining that a congressman he met recently was more interested in a photo op than learning how to preserve veterans access to civil justice. Thats just an empty phrase.

In the  skinny budget released in March, Trump proposed eliminating the Legal Services Corporation entirely. At the time, this produced bipartisan pleas for robust funding for the organization. Nonetheless, last week a House appropriations subcommittee passed a bill that would slash the organization s funding by roughly a quarter, from $385 million to $300 million. If enacted, such cuts would inevitably leave many families such as Ledgerwoods and Figueroas to fend for themselves.

For now, Ledgerwood still supports Trump (He reminds me a lot of Ronald Reagan) and remains confident that his president and his party will have his back.

But, he says, If I lose my lawyer and my services, I may feel a little differently.
Leave it to Ben Bradlee to set things straight. The then- executive editor of The Post appeared on The Dick Cavett Show back in March 1973 and talked about the Pentagon Papers. They contained the secret history of Americas involvement in Vietnam and were first published by the New York Times and then The Post, against the vehement opposition of the Nixon administration. For a while, the government tried to suppress the news. Now, under a different president, it is trying to do it again.

On Cavetts show, Bradlee had to defend The Posts decision. He did it by turning things upside down. This was not a matter of the First Amendment or the abstraction called freedom of the press, Bradlee explained  not the right, exclusively, of a few people who have chosen journalism as a career. That isnt what the hell its about, he went on. Its about your right to read, your right to be informed.

Bradlee was on the mark. President Trump is not in a fight with CNN as depicted in the ludicrous video he tweeted Sunday in which he wrestles the cable news network  or with the Times or The Post. This is not a struggle between the White House and some corporate behemoths, but a continuing, persistent and hugely unprecedented attempt by the government to limit and control what you can see or read. Its not about us. Its about you.

When the White House bans TV cameras from the briefing room, as it has done repeatedly recently, it is not news organizations who are deprived, it is the viewer. CNN or NBC or any other news organization is going to make the same amount of money whether or not it has pictures of deputy White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders answering questions. Outside of her immediate family, no one is tuning in just to see her.

As is often the case with demagogues, Trump is supported or defended by those for whom he has the most contempt. He worships cash, thinking that to be rich is to be smart. He has stocked his Cabinet with dull multimillionaires, yet he poses as the champion of the common man. He wants to rid the country of the proclaimed curse of Obamacare, but he has nothing better to replace it with  and, truly, he doesnt care. His abiding goal is to erase Barack Obamas legacy. He is animated by grievance  recall the 2011 White House correspondents dinner, when Obama deftly skewered Trump for his mendacious support of the birther movement. That, not the health of the un-rich, is what matters.

Trump is not an existential threat to the mainstream media. He has, in fact, helped us thrive. Circulation is up. Eyeballs are popping. He is political pornography  gripping, exciting, lewd, fascinating. He devours adjectives so that, soon, we run out of them. The bizarre becomes ordinary. But he has done his damage. He has normalized contempt for the news media, framing it as a daily tussle between him, the tribune of the people, and us, vile overeducated snobs.

But thats not the correct formulation. Bradlee had it right  its more about readers than about writers. And yet Americas political class, especially the Republican Party, steps back from this fray, retreating to a neutral corner. Trumps daily attacks on the news media get almost no pushback from his fellow Republicans. Even that astonishingly tasteless attack on Mika Brzezinski  calling her low I.Q. Crazy Mika and then, from the man with the Naugahyde tan and the Halloween hair, a crack about plastic surgery. In general, this got only the weariest of reprimands from Republicans. Sen. Ben Sasse (Neb.) tweeted his disapproval. Sen. James Lankford (Okla.) also did not like it. There were tweets and more tweets. This from the worlds greatest deliberative body.

On Sept. 3, 1998, Sen. Joseph Lieberman used a Senate speech to reprimand his fellow Democrat, President Bill Clinton, for his affair with Monica Lewinsky. Once he did so, other Democrats followed suit and a kind of moral line was reaffirmed. This is precisely what the current congressional GOP has failed to do. It stands aside while Trump lies not about a particular story but about the very legitimacy of the press, as if these politicians have no stake in either the truth or getting it to the people they represent. They both encourage and abet Trumps us-against-them line of attack, not realizing or acknowledging that the them is not the media but the American people they serve.

Read more from Richard Cohens archive.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, 64, a former KGB agent, served as prime minister from 1999-2000, then two presidential terms from 2000-2008, before shifting into the prime ministers seat again for four years because of term limits. He was reelected as president in 2012.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, 64, a former KGB agent, served as prime minister from 1999-2000, then two presidential terms from 2000-2008, before shifting into the prime ministers seat again for four years because of term limits. He was reelected as president in 2012.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, 64, a former KGB agent, served as prime minister from 1999-2000, then two presidential terms from 2000-2008, before shifting into the prime ministers seat again for four years because of term limits. He was reelected as president in 2012.

President Trump promised voters that he would strike a great deal with Russia and its autocratic president, Vladimir Putin. He has repeatedly labeled an investigation of Russian meddling in the U.S. election as a hoax, and he even bragged to Russian officials about firing the FBI director leading the probe.

Now nearly six months into his presidency, Trump is set to finally meet Putin at a summit this week in Hamburg after a stop here in Warsaw  severely constrained and facing few good options that would leave him politically unscathed.



If Trump attempts to loosen sanctions against Russia for its involvement in the conflict in eastern Ukraine or its interference in the 2016 U.S. election, Congress could defy him by pursuing even stronger penalties. And if he offers platitudes for Putin without addressing Russias election meddling, it will renew questions about whether Trump accepts the findings of his own intelligence officials that Russia intended to disrupt the democratic process on his behalf.

The president is boxed in, said Nicholas Burns, who was U.S. ambassador to NATO under President George W. Bush. Why would you give Putin any kind of concession at the first meeting? What has he done to deserve that?

He added, If you try to curry favor, offer concessions, pull back on the pressure, hell take advantage. Hell see weakness in a vacuum.

Already, Moscow is clamoring for the Trump administration to return two Russian compounds in the United States that were seized by the Obama administration in retaliation for Russian meddling in the election. And the Trump administration signaled in May that it would be open to returning the properties.

Yet in the Senate, there is a rare near-unanimity in favor of tough sanctions against Russia. Last month, the Senate voted 97 to 2 for a bill that would put new sanctions in place for Russias election meddling and would constrain Trumps ability to lift existing penalties. The White House was forced to step up its lobbying of Republicans in the House to slow the progress of a similar measure.

Among the foreign policy experts who support Trumps push for improved relations with Russia, there is growing frustration that the current political climate and Trumps actions have made that goal all but impossible.

It has been extraordinarily difficult for Trump, even if he had the means to do so, to do what is in the vital national interest, that is, improve relations with Russia, said Jack Matlock, who was ambassador to the Soviet Union under President Ronald Reagan. Treating them as if they are enemies is absolutely absurd, and yet it permeates much of the attitude in Congress.

The Trump administration, meanwhile, has been moving on multiple fronts to soften the U.S. stance on Russia.

[Trump is struggling to stay calm on Russia, one morning call at a time]

Trump wants Russias cooperation on a number of issues, including the fight against the Islamic State group in Syria and Russias use of North Korean laborers whose pay goes directly to the regime in Pyongyang, despite its nuclear weapons program.

1 of 58 Full Screen Autoplay Close Skip Ad  A look at President Trumps first year in office, so far View Photos Scenes from the Republicans first months in the White House. 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.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has tried to ward off Congress from imposing more sanctions on Russia for its involvement in Ukraine, saying that getting tough now could hamper cooperation on other issues like fighting the Islamic State. Tillerson also said last month that the administration is not necessarily wedded to the Minsk agreement to end the fighting in Ukraine if something else would meet the same goals. Thats a shift in position since March, when he told a meeting of NATO foreign ministers that the United States would not ease sanctions until Russia meets its Minsk commitments.

The president asked me to begin a re-engagement process with Russia to see if we can first stabilize that relationship so it does not deteriorate further, and then can we identify areas of mutual interest where perhaps we can begin to rebuild some level of trust and some level of confidence that there are areas where we can work together, Tillerson said during a visit to New Zealand in June. The president has been clear to me: Do not let whats happening over here in the political realm prevent you from the work you need to do in this relationship.

Despite Trumps consistent overtures to Putin, however, U.S.-Russia relations have not improved since he took office.

Putin has strongly denied any interference in the 2016 election and has accused U.S. politicians of Cold War-era hysteria. Meanwhile, Russias continued support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assads massacre of his own citizens in the countrys civil war has further engendered distrust among U.S. political leaders.

Paul Saunders, who directs the U.S.-Russia program at the Center for the National Interest, said the level of mutual distrust and hostility is as bad as it was during the height of the Cold War.

Without progress on Ukraine, I dont see how one would ease sanctions, he said. And its not like Russia is going to send special forces to Damascus to arrest Assad and deliver him to The Hague or to President Trump.

[Inside Trumps anger and impatience  and his decision to fire Comey]

Trump, who has been criticized for his overly warm posture toward Putin, has not indicated how he will approach the meeting this week.

In recent months, Trump has done little to hide his frustration that his effort to pivot toward Russia has been hampered by congressional and FBI investigations, which he views as a witch hunt being carried out by his political enemies.

At an Oval Office meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak in May, Trump complained to the Russians about the ongoing probes into his campaign, suggesting that his firing of the FBI director, James B. Comey, would ease the political pressure on his administration.

I faced great pressure because of Russia, Trump told the men, according to the New York Times. Thats taken off.

Since that meeting, Trumps Russia-related troubles have only gotten worse. Shortly after Trump met with the Russian officials, special counsel Robert S. Mueller III was appointed to take over the Russia investigation and is now investigating whether Trump sought to obstruct the case by firing Comey, officials have told The Washington Post.

In light of the continued pressure from both parties, White House aides have sought to play down expectations for this first engagement between the two world leaders. But they have offered few clues about what will be on Trumps agenda, including whether he plans to raise the issue of Russias election interference.

Theres no specific agenda, national security adviser H.R. McMaster said last week when asked whether Trump planned to confront Putin. Its really going to be whatever the president wants to talk about.

As the president has made it clear, hed like the United States and the entire West to develop a more constructive relationship with Russia, McMaster added. But hes also made clear that we will do what is necessary to confront Russias destabilizing behavior.

There is also a risk that Trump could choose to freelance in the meeting, diverting from the more balanced objectives that his advisers have laid out for the bilateral relationship. If Trump prioritizes his desire to build camaraderie with Putin as he has with other world leaders, it may put him at a stark disadvantage with a former KGB operative known for his unflagging focus on Russias primacy.

He has a tendency to ad-lib in these kinds of things, said former U.S. ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul. Hes overly focused on having a good meeting. He wants to be liked, and he wants to say things are successful.

He should know and we should understand: Putin is coming with an agenda, added McFaul, who served under President Barack Obama. Putin is going to be prepared. If you are going to freelance it, doesnt mean hes going to. He is a very effective interlocutor.

Morello reported from Washington.


Kenilworth is a new community of nine single-family homes off Braddock Road in Fairfax County, Va. Seven of the nine houses are sold. The two for sale are priced between $914,990 and $1,044,177. (Benjamin C Tankersley/For The Washington Post)

Its just a small tract of land off Braddock Road in Fairfax County, Va., three acres to be exact, but the promise of spacious newly constructed houses easily convinced seven families to move there.

The first contract in Kenilworth, a new community of nine single-family homes, was written in late 2016 and another six followed quickly. I was selling remotely until our grand opening on June 10th when the furnished model was ready, said Brian Brandt, the sales manager. Only two home sites are left for sale.

The two-story plus basement Craftsman style houses about 24 miles west of the District are built by Christopher Companies, a local business founded in 1974. This is considered close-in compared to many Virginia communities farther west, said Brandt.

[Glenmont MetroCentre townhouses in Silver Spring feature spacious, four-story home designs]

He described a mix of people attracted to the property.

Move-up buyers going from a townhouse to a single-family; growing young families who need more space; relos [people relocating] from out of state; residents from elsewhere in Fairfax who want to be closer to Washington; aging baby boomers who dont want to move to Florida; and grandparents who want to live with their children and grandkids. Thats what this house can do. Its good for everyone, he said.

1 of 15 Full Screen Autoplay Close Skip Ad  Buying New | Kenilworth in Fairfax County, Va. View Photos Two single-family houses are for sale and priced at $914,990 and $1,044,177. Caption Two single-family houses are for sale and priced at $914,990 and $1,044,177. Kenilworth is a new development in Fairfax County that will consist of nine single-family houses. Seven are sold, and two are for sale. Benjamin C. Tankersley/For The Washington Post Wait 1 second to continue.

Run-around room: Lauren Morea and her wife Katie Moyer fell in love with the layout and open floor plan. Theres room to entertain, the kids can run around, said Morea, of their sons aged 9 months and 2, and we can see everyone.

They especially loved the kitchen, she said, which is huge with a spacious island, good-sized area for a breakfast table, walk-in pantry and even a little hallway off the kitchen with another counter top and additional cabinets.

They moved to the metropolitan locale last fall from Ohio. We knew we wanted to buy but decided to rent first to get an idea about the area. So were living in Vienna now in a rental, said Morea.

Kenilworth offered the opportunity to have a brand new home built from scratch.

[Pullman Place sits above train tracks behind Union Station and offers downtown views]

They visit the construction site weekly. Watching the house go up is really exciting especially for my son, she said. One week there were no walls, the next week there was a wood frame. The week after that there was brick, then siding, then dry wall inside.

Windows are large and natural light pours into all rooms and onto the second floor hallway because a window is installed midway between the two floors overlooking the staircase.

Mark and Gzne Brown moved in a couple weeks ago with their five children, ages 2 to 19. Were totally excited. We only lived half-mile away but still, said Mark Brown. When our eldest daughter chose Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Va., we decided to stay in Fairfax and looked at places in the same school district so our younger children wouldnt have to change schools.

Now were getting settled. Im putting in an irrigation system thatll automatically water the grass and flower beds so I wont be out there with a hose. I had one in our last house and loved it, he said.

And Im looking forward to building a deck off the back door by the kitchen and a patio in the next few weeks, he added. We expect to be here till all the kids finish high school.



The kitchen has stainless-steel appliances, granite counters, wall oven and microwave combo, a five-burner gas cooktop and a breakfast nook. (Benjamin C Tankersley/For The Washington Post)

The Kims, Steven and Tammy, hope to move in by end of the year. For Steve Kim itll be like coming home again. Im familiar with the area, he said, because I grew up there and its close to my childhood home. My parents still live there. We wanted to be close to family, which was one of the attractions. They also like house layout and neighborhood. We wanted a sense of community and Kenilworth gives us that.

Whats nearby: Its unlikely parents will move to Kenilworth because a child is attending George Mason University two miles to the west; nevertheless the college is a convenient location reference point. Holmes Run Stream Valley Park with playground, tot lot, picnic area, ball court, grass and trees is in the vicinity. And Lake Accotink Park with old-fashioned carousel, picnic spots and boat rentals is another popular attraction.

University Mall Shopping Center is across the street from GMU and offers abundant retail, movie theater and Giant supermarket. Fair Oaks Mall, also in Fairfax, has many shopping outlets. There are several Safeways in Fairfax, a Costco Wholesale Warehouse Club, Walmart and Target within a few miles.

Schools: Laurel Ridge Elementary (K-6), Robinson Secondary (7-12).

Transit: Kenilworth sits on Braddock Road/Virginia Route 620, which is at Exit 54 off the outer loop of the Beltway/Interstate 495. Virginia Route 50 is to the north. Kim called the location very commuter friendly. He works in the Dunn Loring area and his wife works in Fairfax. Morea works in Alexandria and her wife drives to work in Falls Church.

Local commuter rail service via Virginia Railway Express is available on two lines that run to Union Station Metro stop on the Red line. Five VRE stations are in Fairfax County. A Metro bus stops along on Braddock Road.



The master bedroom suite has two walk-in closets. (Benjamin C Tankersley/For The Washington Post)
A bipartisan U.S. Senate delegation Tuesday called for more American troops and more-aggressive American military action in Afghanistan, as well as pressure on neighboring Pakistan, saying the United States needs a winning strategy to end the 16-year war here and prevent the spread of terrorism.

We are united in our concern that the present situation in Afghanistan is not on a course for success. We need to change that quickly, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said in a news conference at NATO and U.S. military headquarters in the Afghan capital at the end of a three-day visit to the region.

America is the strongest nation on Earth, but we are not winning, and obviously we need a new strategy to win, McCain said. We are frustrated that this strategy has not been articulated yet.

The Trump administration has been working for several months on a new policy for the region, where U.S. and Afghan forces have been fighting insurgents for the past 16 years. But the plans have been delayed by internal debates, while Afghanistan and Pakistan have faced a renewed rash of suicide bombings and insurgent attacks.

McCain and Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.), who visited Pakistan and Afghanistan this week with Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and two other senators, said they plan to take back a message to President Trump that he needs to adopt a bold military plan for the region but also complement it with a strong and informed diplomatic policy.

If we leave radical Islam alone, we will not be safe at home, Graham said. He said he plans to tell the president that he needs to pull all our troops out or add even more than the 3,000 to 4,000 troops U.S. military officials have asked for, to turn the current military stalemate into a success.

But Graham also said that throwing more bombs is not enough and that the Trump administration needs to put more effort into understanding and influencing regional leaders. Rex Tillerson needs to come here quick, Graham said, referring to the secretary of state, who has not yet visited the region.

Many Afghan and U.S. experts have said that Washington needs to provide more political support to the faltering Afghan government and to the stalled peace process, rather than relying on a mainly military policy.

McCain said the group has been only partly satisfied with its visit to Pakistan, which included a military tour of North Waziristan, the tribal region along the Afghan border where the army drove out Islamist militant groups in 2014 and 2015. Members of the U.S. group said they questioned Pakistani army officials about continued alleged support for the militant Haqqani network.

We told them the Haqqanis have a safe zone there, and that is not acceptable, McCain said. They said they had taken some measures, but we made it clear we expect them to help and cooperate against the Haqqani group and others.

Pakistan has repeatedly denied harboring the Haqqanis or other extremist militias, but Afghan and U.S. officials believe those groups are responsible for a number of deadly attacks in Afghanistan. Pakistan and the United States have a long history of security ties, but Pakistan supported Taliban rulers there until it faced U.S. pressure to abandon them.

Despite the urgent tone of the senators remarks, McCain predicted that the conflict in Afghanistan would continue on a low-burning simmer for a long time to come. But he reiterated that only an aggressive U.S. effort to bolster Afghan military actions would force the Taliban to negotiate. That wont happen unless they feel they are losing, he said.

Taliban insurgents have maintained a steady pace of attacks on major urban centers, including Kabul, and they now control or influence more than 40 percent of the nations territory. The strategy advocated by U.S. military officials here, who were the senators hosts, would add several thousand U.S. troops, along with a similar number from NATO countries. The U.S. military officials would focus on building a large Afghan special-operations force and beefing up the Afghan air force.

Graham said he was impressed with a newly named group of Afghan military officials, saying they had cleaned house and moved to make needed reforms. The Afghan defense forces have been criticized for widespread corruption, poor leadership and high rates of desertion.

The Afghan people dont want to go back to the darkness, Graham said, referring to the repressive years of Taliban religious rule. They are looking forward to the light, and they need our help.

The delegation, which also included Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) and David Perdue (R-Ga.), toured U.S. military facilities in Afghanistan on Monday, bestowed promotional medals on seven U.S. service members at a ceremony Tuesday and attended a Fourth of July barbecue with U.S. troops here.

Read more

Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world

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Activists disguised as Theresa May, Angela Merkel and Vladimir Putin squeeze a big inflated rubber globe during an event organized by the activist group Attac to protest against globalisation in advance of this weeks G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany. (Focke Strangmann/EPA)

German Chancellor Angela Merkel goes north this week to Hamburg, the port city where she was born, to defend principles of economic and political integration, whose critics include not just the leaders of Russia and Turkey but also the American president.

It is an unsettling scenario for Germany, a nation that owes its modern existence to transatlantic ties. Merkel remains committed to working with President Trump when she can, her associates say. But she also recognizes that the United States now stands apart from Europe on multilateral cooperation, particularly when it comes to the environment.

This dilemma will be on display in Hamburg, where Merkel is hosting the Group of 20 summit Friday and Saturday.

To make the European Union strong enough to stand on its own is among the main reasons she is asking German voters for a fourth term in a September election. Once considered vulnerable to the wave of right-wing populism surging through the West, Merkel now leads her left-wing rival  who poses a more credible threat to her than does the far-right Alternative for Germany  by double digits.

But achieving her ambition, and fortifying Europe in the face of a combative Russia and inward-looking United States, will be a new challenge for the unassuming tactician who disclaims grand visions.

When she announced last year that she would stand again for reelection, she called it grotesque to suggest that she, on her own, could safeguard Western liberalism. But she also leads Europes most powerful economy, and she struck out on her own in opening her countrys doors to more than a million asylum seekers in 2015. This record sets her up to counter Trump, whose intransigence on trade, immigration and climate she has pledged to meet with a show of European unity.

Merkel is scheduled to meet with Trump on Thursday, the eve of the summit, in a tete-a-tete that could be a chance to reset relations after several cold encounters that led the German leader to conclude that Europe could no longer fully rely on the United States. On the campaign trail, Trump called her refugee policy insane, and as president, he has scolded the Germans for running a trade surplus with the United States. After transatlantic talks in Europe laid bare the distance between the two leaders on trade, the environment and collective defense, Merkel returned to Germany to report that Europe had to take our fate into our own hands.

Its a very difficult situation, said Hans Eichel, a former German finance minister and a founder of the Group of 20. Incredibly, the United States has decided to be outside the liberal mainstream of the world, and you see signs that China, especially, is trying to fill this gap.

The question, Eichel said, will be who manages this uncertainty. When Merkel presides over negotiations among leaders of the worlds major economies, she is the natural answer.

People are expecting her to stop the world from moving in this protectionist direction and to stand up for democracy, said Hans Kundnani, a senior transatlantic fellow at the German Marshall Fund. But the idea that the German chancellor can replace the president of the United States is nonsense.

If Merkel is not the new leader of the free world, what is she?

She is a doctor of nuclear physics, said Elmar Brok, a member of the European Parliament and a close ally of Merkels. Merkel studied physics at Leipzig University in what was then East Germany, where her father, a Protestant pastor, had moved the family shortly after Merkel was born.

Since taking office in 2005, Merkel has managed one crisis after another, including the failure of the European Constitution, the euro zone emergency and the rush of migrants fleeing Syrias civil war.

Behind Merkels resolve has been a sense that something bigger was at stake, according to people who have worked with her for years.

Coming from East Germany, she is absolutely convinced  its in her bones  that systems can fail, said Mariam Lau, a political correspondent for Die Zeit, a German weekly newspaper.

The fact that Europe could have imploded if the German chancellorship were on the line led Merkel to seek a fourth term, said Stefan Kornelius, international editor of the daily Suddeutsche Zeitung and a biographer of the chancellor.

At the same time, Merkel has made no bid to unilaterally defend the liberal international order. She welcomed the election of Frances Emmanuel Macron, who lifted hopes for a rededication to the European project along a Franco-German axis. But Berlin will have to make concessions, said Kundnani, above all easing fiscal rules to help Macron succeed domestically.

Jurgen Hardt, foreign policy spokesman for Merkels ruling coalition in Parliament, said the chancellor sees her work in the international theater  especially defense cooperation  as most pressing in a potential fourth term. She has also emphasized new engagement with Africa, to spur development but also stem the tide of immigration.

The G-20 venue is in Europe, but we wanted to send a message to our African partners that were trying to solve these problems together, Merkel said recently at a meeting of European leaders in Berlin.

Jurgen Trittin, a leading Green Party lawmaker, said Merkels Africa initiatives are window dressing that fail to leverage sufficient public money. More broadly, he said, her refusal to abandon austerity limits her ability to make Europe a more powerful global actor.

Weve seen good pictures of Merkel and Macron, but on substance, what is she proposing? Trittin said.

Brok, Merkels ally in the European Parliament, said the chancellor would like to make a more independent Europe the focus of her final term.

I think that she hopes she gets a chance to be more than a crisis manager, Brok said. She wants to be a builder, a constructor.

What precisely she aims to build is harder to say, because she eschews grand visions, approvingly quoting the warning of Helmut Schmidt, a former chancellor of West Germany, that those who have visions should go see a doctor.

As always, she is going step by step, Eichel said. But now, we have a situation in which it is no longer enough to go step by step.

Read more

No specific agenda, but Trump, Putin have lots to discuss



Heres why Germanys left has dwindling hopes of unseating Merkel



Poll shows U.S. tumbling in worlds regard under Trump



Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world

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A fighter from a special unit of the Iraqi federal police walks inside a building at Mosul's main hospital complex Tuesday after it was retaken by Iraqi forces. (Felipe Dana/AP)

Iraqi forces edged through the final roads and alleyways of Islamic State territory in the city of Mosul on Tuesday as dazed and malnourished civilians were evacuated to safety.

The militants are cornered in a sliver of land in the western Old City, and commanders say they expect to declare victory against the Islamic State here by the end of the week.

Gen. Sami Al-Aridhi, a commander with the Counter Terrorism Service, said his troops were advancing on foot through the Old Citys winding maze of streets.

Its a battle inside alleyways against an enemy that commits to no ethics, he said.

Elite Iraqi rapid-response units were calling in U.S.-led coalition airstrikes at close quarters Tuesday as Iraqi special forces moved door to door, evacuating civilians who had cowered in their homes through the final, terrifying assault.

Dozens of those families crossed the Tigris River in the beds of pickup trucks as the temperature soared to 122 degrees Fahrenheit.

Disembarking to meet aid workers at an abandoned fairground, the families looked exhausted. Some were holding back tears. Others crouched over their bags and cried.

There was no food, no water; we had nothing. We were so scared, said Hanaa Ashifa, a mother of four evacuated from the Old City early Monday. When we finally heard the security forces, my mother looked at me, picked up our white flag and said, Its time to go. 

More than 400,000 people have fled Mosuls western districts since May 10, according to the United Nations. Tens of thousands more are still thought to be trapped.

Mosul was the largest city in the Islamic States shrinking caliphate, and its recapture by Iraqi forces has been supported by a prolonged campaign of coalition airstrikes.

[U.S.-backed forces breach the wall of Raqqas Old City in the heart of the ISIS capital]

Commanders said Tuesday that fighting in the Old City is now taking place at such close quarters that Iraqi special forces have been able to lob grenades at the militants.

In July 2014, the Islamic State leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, stood in the pulpit of Mosuls medieval Great Mosque of al-Nuri, declaring a caliphate spanning parts of Syria and Iraq and calling sympathizers to join it.

On Thursday, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi declared an end to the groups state of falsehood after militants destroyed the mosque as Iraqi forces closed in.

Bustle has returned to much of the citys east, with shops reopened across the relatively undamaged eastern quarters. Hardware and sweets shops ran a steady trade Tuesday as the sound of U.S.-led coalition airstrikes echoed in the distance.

That sense of security remains fragile. Local police said this week that while they had foiled several attacks by Islamic State sleeper cells in Mosuls eastern quarters, the militants have also launched counterattacks in the more recently recaptured west.

With the fighting intensifying, we know they will send more, said Lt. Col. Mazin Abdullah, a spokesman.

Aid groups said this week that hundreds of civilians had been killed or wounded in the fight for the Old City.

They have been caught between aerial bombardment, artillery, snipers and car bombs. They live in fear; they hide in their homes without food or water, said Iolanda Jaquemet, a spokeswoman for the International Committee of the Red Cross.

That fight was visible on the bodies of women and children freed Tuesday. Shrapnel had laced the faces of several young girls. Parents described shelling that had hit their homes directly, wounding those inside without options for treatment.

Our medical teams have been treating 50 to 60 casualties per day. The hospitals are overwhelmed, Jaquemet said.

The United Nations warned last month that Islamic State fighters are using the last civilians under their control as human shields. Residents say the militants have shot families as they tried to flee, leaving bodies to rot in the baking heat.

Dwindling food and water supplies have weakened those still trapped in homes and basements. Many of the babies evacuated to east Mosul this week appeared malnourished.

Some were unresponsive to their mothers affections, seemingly too weak to move.

I saw so many bodies. I lost children. I lost my husband, cried one woman, clutching her child tight as she shepherded older boys and girls to a patch of shade.

We have walked out of hell.

Mustafa Salim in Baghdad contributed to this report.

Read more:

Iraqi security forces capture historic Mosul mosque, now little more than rubble

Pentagon plan to defeat ISIS looks very much like Obamas approach

Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world

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The North Korean missile that soared high above the Sea of Japan on Tuesday was hailed by state-run television as a shining success. But to U.S. officials, it was a most unwelcome surprise: a weapon with intercontinental range, delivered years before most Western experts believed such a feat possible.

Hours after the apparently successful test, intelligence agencies continued to run calculations to determine precisely how the missile, dubbed the Hwasong-14, performed in its maiden flight. But the consensus among missile experts was that North Korea had achieved a long-sought milestone, demonstrating a capability of striking targets thousands of miles from its coast.

Initial Pentagon assessments said North Korea had tested a land-based, intermediate-range missile that landed in the Sea of Japan just under 600 linear miles from its launch point, Panghyon Airfield, near the Chinese border. The State Department and the Pentagon later confirmed North Korea had launched an intercontinental ballistic missile, or ICBM. Government and independent analyses showed the missile traveling in a steep arc that topped out at more than 1,740 vertical miles above the Earths surface.

If flown in a more typical trajectory, the missile would have easily traveled 4,000 miles, potentially putting all of Alaska within its range, according to former government officials and independent analysts. A missile that exceeds a range of 3,400 miles is classified as an ICBM.

This is a big deal: Its an ICBM, not a kind of ICBM,  said Jeffrey Lewis, director of the East Asia program at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies. And theres no reason to think that this is going to be the maximum range.





[North Korea at top of agenda as U.S., South Koreans hold summit]

David Wright, senior scientist for the Union of Concerned Scientists, calculated in a published analysis that the Hwasong-14s demonstrated capability exceeded 4,100 linear miles, based on estimates released Tuesday.

That range would not be enough to reach the Lower 48 states or the large islands of Hawaii, but would allow it to reach all of Alaska, Wright said.

North Koreas apparent accomplishment puts it well ahead of schedule in its years-long quest to develop a true ICBM. The Hwasong-14 tested Tuesday could not have reached the U.S. mainland, analysts say, and theres no evidence to date that North Korea is capable of building a miniaturized nuclear warhead to fit on one of its longer-range missiles. But there is now little reason to doubt that both are within North Koreas grasp, weapons experts say.

In the past five years, we have seen significant, and much more rapid than expected, development of their ballistic-missiles capability, said Victor Cha, a former director of Asian affairs for the George W. Bush administrations National Security Council. Their capabilities have exceeded our expectations on a consistent basis.

While U.S. intelligence officials have sought, with some success, to disrupt North Koreas progress, Pyongyang has achieved breakthroughs in multiple areas, such as the development of solid-fuel rocket engines and mobile-launch capabilities, including rockets that can be fired from submarines. Early analysis suggests that the Hwasong-14 uses a new kind of indigenously built ballistic-missile engine, one that North Korea unveiled with fanfare on March 18. Nearly all the countrys previous ballistic missiles used engines based on modifications of older, Soviet-era technology.

Its not a copy of a crappy Soviet engine, and its not a pair of Soviet engines kludged together  its the real thing, Lewis said. When they first unveiled the engine on March 18, they said that the world would soon see what this means. I think were now seeing them take that basic engine design and execute it for an ICBM.

[North Korean missiles getting an important boost  from China]

In announcing the test in a special TV broadcast Tuesday, North Korean officials proclaimed that the country had achieved an ICBM capability that would safeguard the communist government from attacks by the United States and other adversaries. According to U.S. analysts, leader Kim Jong Un has long calculated that nuclear-armed ICBMs are the best deterrence against threats to his survival, as any perceived aggression against him could trigger a retaliatory strike targeting U.S. cities.

As the dignified nuclear power who possesses the strongest intercontinental ballistic rocket which is capable of hitting any part of the world along with the nuclear weapons, the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea will fundamentally terminate the U.S. nuclear war threats and blackmail and credibly protect the peace and stability of the Korean Peninsula and the region, a government spokeswoman said in a bulletin read on state-run television.

The spokeswoman said that the missiles trajectory was deliberately set at the highest angle to avoid harming nearby countries.

That claim rang true to U.S. analysts, who agreed the high arc was probably intended to avoid the possibility of hitting Japanese territory. Moreover, the rockets flight path would help North Korea secure another objective: secrecy. By sending the spent engine splashing into the deep waters of the Sea of Japan, Pyongyang ensured it would be hard, if not impossible, for U.S. and Japanese divers to retrieve the parts.

Read more:

North Korea showed off a lot of missiles. What might be its targets?
U.S.-backed fighters have breached the ancient wall of the Islamic States self-proclaimed capital, the Syrian city of Raqqa, marking new progress in the battle to rout the militants from their most important strongholds, the U.S. military said Tuesday.

Arab and Kurdish troops with the Syrian Democratic Forces stormed into the Old City of Raqqa overnight Monday after U.S. warplanes targeted two sections of its 8th-century wall, blasting holes that enabled fighters to funnel their way through the gaps, according to the U.S. military.

But their foothold in the neighborhood, one of the citys most densely populated, does not mean the four-week-old battle for control of Raqqa is nearing a conclusion, U.S. officials said.

[Battle for Raqqa: Snipers hunt snipers, with civilians caught in the crossfire]

Unlike in Mosul, where the Old City has been the scene of the Islamic States last stand after nearly nine months of fighting, Raqqas Old City is one of the first central city neighborhoods to be breached by the advancing forces, said Col. Ryan Dillon, the U.S. military spokesman in Baghdad.

Being in the Old City in Raqqa does not mean the same thing as it does in Mosul, where the Old City was the last bastion for ISIS, Dillon said, using an acronym for the Islamic State. That is not the case in Raqqa. Its just where the SDF forces have penetrated right now, but there is plenty of fighting that remains in Raqqa.

The neighborhood is also one of the areas Islamic State fighters had expected to defend most fiercely, relying on the city wall to provide cover and focusing their defenses around two existing breaches.

Had the SDF fighters attempted to storm the area through those gaps, they would have encountered an array of heavy machine guns, artillery, snipers, mines, booby traps and car bombs, Dillon said. By blowing up two different sections of the wall, U.S. warplanes enabled them to bypass those, he said.

By averting a battle for control of the walls, the attack may also have helped preserve the historic monument, the military statement said. The two holes blasted were about 25 meters each and will not affect the integrity of the overall 2,500-meter wall, it said.

Known as the Rafiqa wall, the structure is one of the last remaining monuments of the headquarters of the Abbassid caliphate, which was briefly seated in Raqqa before relocating to Baghdad.

It was in part because of its historical association with the ancient caliphate that the Islamic State declared Raqqa, the first major city its forces conquered, to be the capital of its self-proclaimed copy of the ancient caliphate it hoped to form.

The advances in Raqqa come as the Islamic State faces imminent defeat in the streets of the Old City of Mosul. Only around 500 square meters remain under Islamic State control, Dillon said, and a final declaration of victory could be just days away.

[Islamic State mounts final stand for Mosul as bloodied, dazed civilians flee]

U.S. officials will not put a timeline on the battle for Raqqa, now in its fourth week, but they say they expect it to be somewhat easier than the nine-month-old fight for Mosul because Raqqa is considerably smaller and less densely populated.

The fight for Raqqa, launched by a combined Kurdish and Arab force on June 6, made swift progress in the first two weeks, Dillon said. But the Islamic State appears since to have mustered its defenses, and the fighters have encountered some of the stiff resistance in the form of booby traps and suicide bombs that made advances in Mosul so slow, he said.

Read more

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As the Islamic State falls in Syria, one city offers a preview of the countrys future

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Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world

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Steelcase Inc. provides a portfolio of furniture and architectural products in the United States and internationally. It operates through Americas, EMEA, and Other segments. The company's furniture portfolio includes furniture systems, seating, storage, fixed and height-adjustable desks, benches, and tables, as well as complementary products, such as work accessories, lighting, and mobile power and screens. Its seating products comprise task chairs; seating for collaborative environments and casual settings; and specialty seating for specific vertical markets, including education and healthcare. The company's interior architectural products comprise full and partial height walls and architectural pods. It also provides textiles, wall coverings, and surface imaging solutions for architects and designers; and workplace strategy consulting, lease origination, and furniture and asset management services. The company markets and sells its products to corporate, government, healthcare, education, and retail customers under the Steelcase, Designtex, Coalesse, AMQ, Smith System, Orangebox, and Viccarbe brands. It distributes its products and services through a network of independent and company-owned dealers, as well as directly to end-use customers. The company was founded in 1912 and is headquartered in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
The following companies are subsidiares of Quanta Services: (De) Lazy Q Ranch LLC, 1 Diamond LLC, 1Diamond AS, 618232 Alberta Ltd., 8246408 Canada Inc., Advanced Electric Systems, Advanced Electric Systems LLC, Advanced Utility Testing & Maintenance LLC, Alexander Publications LLC, Allteck GP Ltd., Allteck Limited Partnership, Apprenticeship Programs Inc., Arby Construction, Arcanum Chemicals LLC, Arnett & Burgess Oil Field Construction Limited, Arnett & Burgess Pipeliners (Rockies) LLC, Arnett & Burgess Pipeliners Ltd., B&N Clearing and Environmental LLC, Banister Pipelines Constructors Corp., Banister Pipelines Constructors GP Ltd., Banister Pipelines Limited Partnership, Brent Woodward Inc., Brink Constructors Inc., Brink Constructors Inc. A Corporation Of South Dakota, Brown Engineering and Testing, CAT SPEC Ltd., CAT-SPEC Limited Partnership, CAT-SPEC Limited Partnership (Regd Name) CAT SPEC Ltd., CAT-Spec Limited Partnership, Canadian Utility Construction Corp., Cat Spec Limited LP, Cat Spec Ltd, Cat Spec Ltd. L.P., Cat Spec Ltd. LP, Cat Spec. Ltd. LP, Cat-Spec Ltd (A Domestic limited Partnership), Cat-Spec Ltd LP, Cat-Spec Ltd., Cat-Spec Ltd. L.P., Cat-Spec Ltd. LP, Cat-Spec Ltd. Limited Partnership, Catalyst Changers Inc., Chatham Electric, Citadel Industrial Services L.P., Citadel Industrial Services Ltd., Citadel Industrial Services Ltd. L.P., Citadel Industrial Services Ltd. Limited Partnership, Coe Drilling Pty Ltd., Computapole, Conam Construction Co., Consolidated Power Projects Australia Pty Ltd, Conti Communications Inc., Crux Subsurface Canada Ltd., Crux Subsurface Inc., Cutting Technology - 1 Diamond LLC, DB Utilities Inc., DE Lazy Q Ranch LLC, DNR Pressure Welding Ltd., Dacon Corporation, Dashiell (DE) Corporation (Dashiell Corporation), Dashiell Corporation, Dashiell Corporation DBA Dashiell (DE) Corporation, De Mears Group, De Mears Group Inc., Delaware Quanta Technology LLC, Delaware Underground Construction Co., Didado Utility Company Inc., Digco Utility Construction L.P. Digco Utility Construction Limited Partnership, Dorado Specialty Services L.P., Dorado Specialty Services Ltd., Dorado Specialty Services Ltd. L.P., Dorado Specialty Services Ltd. Limited Partnership, Dorado Specialty Services. Ltd. L.P., Driftwood Electrical Contractors, EHV Power ULC, ELITE PIPING & CIVIL L.P., ELITE TURNAROUND SPECIALISTS LTD, Elite Fabrication Ltd. Elite Fabrication LP, Elite Piping & Civil Limited Partnership, Elite Piping & Civil Limited Partnership, Elite Piping & Civil Lp, Elite Piping & Civil Ltd L.P., Elite Piping & Civil Ltd., Elite Piping & Civil Ltd. L.P., Elite Piping & Civil Ltd. Limited Partnership, Elite Piping and Civil L.P., Elite Turnaround Specialists L.p., Elite Turnaround Specialists Limited Lp, Elite Turnaround Specialists Limited Partnership, Elite Turnaround Specialists Limited Partnership, Elite Turnaround Specialists Ltd Lp, Elite Turnaround Specialists Ltd., Elite Turnaround Specialists Ltd. L.P., Elite Turnaround Specialists Ltd. LP, Elite Turnaround Specialists Ltd. Limited Partnership, Energy Consulting Group LLC, Enscope, Enscope Pty Ltd, FIC GP LLC, Field Personnel Services LLC, First Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC, First Infrastructure Capital GP L.P., Five Points Construction Co., G-Tek, G-Vac, GEM Engineering Co., Grand Electric Inc., Great Lakes Line Builders, Grid Creative Inc., Grid Manufacturing Corporation, Grid Training Corporation, H.L. Chapman Pipeline Construction Inc., Haverfield Aviation, Haverfield Aviation Inc., Haverfield International Incorporated, Heritage Midstream LLC, IM Electric Inc., IUC ILLINOIS LLC, IUC Nebraska LLC, InfraSource Construction LLC, InfraSource Field Services LLC, InfraSource Services LLC, InfraSources Construction LLC, Infraestructura ETP de Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V, Infrasource Engineering Company PC, Infrasource Iowa Underground LLC, Infrasource Of Pa LLC, Integracion Tecnologica del Peru SAC, Intermountain Electric Inc., Intermountain Electric Inc. A Corporation of Colorado, IonEarth LLC, Irby Construction Company, Irby Construction Company Inc., Iron Mountain M.J. Electric LLC, Island Mechanical Corporation, J.C.R. Construction Co. Inc., J.C.R. Utility Construction Co., J.W. Didado Electric Inc., J.W. Didado Electric LLC, J.w. Didado Electric, JBT Electric LLC, Kingston Contracting Inc., Lazy Q Ranch LLC, Lazy Q Training Center LLC The Lazy Q Lineman School, Legend Foundation Services, Lex Engineering Ltd., Lindsey Electric L.P., Logical Link, Longfellow Drilling, M. G. Dyess Inc., M. J. ELECTRIC LLC IRON MOUNTAIN, M. J. Electric LLC, M. J. Electric LLC - Iron Mountain, M. J. Electric LLC DBA M. J. Electric Iron Mountain LLC, M.J. Electric LLC DBA M.J. Electric Iron Mountain, M.J. Electric LLC Iron Mountain, MTS Field Services, MTS Field Services (Richmond Co), MTS Quanta LLC, Manuel Bros. 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Inc., NPC Energy Services LLC, Nacap Australia, Nacap PNG Limited, Network Communication Services, North Houston Pole Line L.P., North Houston Pole Line Limited Partnership, North Sky Communications, NorthStar Energy Services Inc., Northern Powerline Constructors Inc., Northstar Energy Solutions LLC, Northwest Lineman Center, Northwest Lineman College, Northwest Lineman Training Center, Northwest Lineman Training Center Inc., Nova Constructors LLC, Nova Constructors LTD, Nova Equipment Leasing LLC, Nova Group Inc, Nova Group Inc (CA), Nova Group Inc., Nova Group Inc. DBA NGI Construction, Nova NextGen Solutions LLC, O. J. Pipelines Canada Corporation, O. J. Pipelines Canada Limited Partnership, O.J. Industrial Maintenance, O.J. Pipelines Canada, One Call Locators Canada Ltd., P.D.G. Electric, PAR Electrical Contractors Inc., PDG Electric Co., Par Internacional S. de R.L. de C.V., Performance Energy Services Guyana Ltd., Performance Energy Services L.L.C., Phasor Engineering Inc., Phoenix North Constructors Inc., Phoenix Power Group Inc., Potelco Inc., Potelco Incorporated, Power Delivery Program Inc., Price Gregory International Inc., Price Gregory Services LLC, Probst Construction Inc., Probst Electric Inc., QEPC, QEPC Power Solutions LLC, QES GP LLC, QP Energy Services LLC, QPS Engineering LLC, QPS Engineering LTD., QPS Engineering PLLC, QPS Environmental, QPS Flint Construction, QPS Flint Tank Services, QPS Global, QPS Global Services, QPS Global Services (Richmond Ci), QPS Professional Services, QPSE, QS Mats, QSI Engineering Inc., QSI Finance (Australia) Pty Ltd., QSI Finance (Cayman) Pvt. Ltd., QSI Finance Canada ULC, QSI Finance GP (US) LLC, QSI Finance I (Singapore) Pte. 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Mercer Consulting Services Inc., TA Construction, TC Infrastructure Services Ltd., Taylor Built, Texas Specialty Tank Services Ltd. LP, The Aspen Utility Company LLC, The ComTran Group Inc., The Hallen Construction Co. Inc., The Massachusetts Ryan Company Inc., The Ryan Company Inc Of Massachusetts, The Ryan Company Inc., The Ryan Company Inc. (Massachusetts), The Ryan Company Inc. of Massachusetts, The Ryan Company Incorporated of Massachusetts, The Ryan Company Of Massachusetts Inc., The Ryan Company of Massachusetts, The Ryan Company of Massachusetts (FN), Tom Allen Construction Company Inc., Tom Allen Construction Company of Delaware, Trans Tech Electric, TurnKey Automation Limited Partnership, TurnKey Automation Limited Partnership, TurnKey Automation Ltd., TurnKey Automation Ltd. Limited Partnership, TurnKey Automation Ltd. Limited Partnership, TurnKey I&E Ltd., Turnkey Automation Ltd. L.P., Turnkey Automation Ltd. LP., UCC Underground Construction Co. 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The following companies are subsidiares of Caterpillar: Advanced Tri-Gen Power Systems LLC, Anchor Coupling Inc., Asia Power Systems (Tianjin) Ltd., AsiaTrak (Tianjin) Ltd., Banco Caterpillar S.A., Berg Propulsion International Pte Ltd., Bucyrus, Bucyrus Australia Surface Pty. Ltd., Bucyrus Europe Holdings Ltd., Bucyrus Europe Limited, Bucyrus International (Chile) Limitada, Bucyrus International (Peru) S.A., Bucyrus Mining Australia Pty. Ltd., Bucyrus Mining China LLC, Bucyrus UK Limited, Cat Rental Kyushu LLC, Caterpillar (Africa) (Proprietary) Limited, Caterpillar (China) Financial Leasing Co. Ltd., Caterpillar (China) Investment Co. Ltd., Caterpillar (China) Machinery Components Co. Ltd., Caterpillar (HK) Limited, Caterpillar (Huainan) Machinery Service Co. Ltd., Caterpillar (Langfang) Mining Equipment Co. Ltd., Caterpillar (Luxembourg) Investment Co. S.a r.l., Caterpillar (NI) Limited, Caterpillar (Newberry) LLC, Caterpillar (Qingzhou) Ltd., Caterpillar (Shanghai) Trading Co. Ltd., Caterpillar (Suzhou) Co. Ltd., Caterpillar (Suzhou) Logistics Co. Ltd., Caterpillar (Thailand) Limited, Caterpillar (U.K.) Limited, Caterpillar (Wujiang) Ltd., Caterpillar (Xuzhou) Ltd., Caterpillar (Zhengzhou) Ltd., Caterpillar Acquisition Holding Corp., Caterpillar Americas C.V., Caterpillar Americas Co., Caterpillar Americas Funding Inc., Caterpillar Americas Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Caterpillar Asia Limited, Caterpillar Asia Pacific L.P., Caterpillar Asia Pte. Ltd., Caterpillar Asset Intelligence LLC, Caterpillar Belgium S.A., Caterpillar Brasil Comercio de Maquinas e Pecas Ltda., Caterpillar Brasil Ltda., Caterpillar Brazil LLC, Caterpillar Castings Kiel GmbH, Caterpillar Centro de Formacion S.L., Caterpillar China Limited, Caterpillar Commercial Australia Pty. Ltd., Caterpillar Commercial LLC, Caterpillar Commercial Northern Europe Limited, Caterpillar Commercial S.A., Caterpillar Commercial S.A.R.L., Caterpillar Commercial Services S.A.R.L., Caterpillar Communications LLC, Caterpillar Corporativo Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Caterpillar Cote DIvoire, Caterpillar Credito S.A. de C.V. SOFOM E.N.R., Caterpillar DC Pension Trust Limited, Caterpillar Digital Services & Solutions SARL, Caterpillar Distribution International LLC, Caterpillar Distribution Services Europe B.V.B.A., Caterpillar East Real Estate Holding Ltd., Caterpillar Emissions Solutions Inc., Caterpillar Energy Solutions Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd., Caterpillar Energy Solutions GmbH, Caterpillar Energy Solutions Inc., Caterpillar Energy Solutions S.A., Caterpillar Energy System Technology (Beijing) Co. Ltd., Caterpillar Engine Systems Inc., Caterpillar Equipos Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Caterpillar Eurasia LLC, Caterpillar FS (QFC) LLC, Caterpillar Finance France S.A., Caterpillar Finance Kabushiki Kaisha, Caterpillar Financial Acquisition Funding LLC, Caterpillar Financial Aftermarket Solutions Corporation, Caterpillar Financial Australia Leasing Pty Limited, Caterpillar Financial Australia Limited, Caterpillar Financial Commercial Account Corporation, Caterpillar Financial Corporacion Financiera S.A. E.F.C., Caterpillar Financial Dealer Funding LLC, Caterpillar Financial Funding Corporation, Caterpillar Financial Kazakhstan Limited Liability Partnership, Caterpillar Financial Leasing (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Caterpillar Financial New Zealand Limited, Caterpillar Financial Nordic Services AB, Caterpillar Financial Nova Scotia Corporation, Caterpillar Financial OOO, Caterpillar Financial Receivables Corporation, Caterpillar Financial Renting S.A., Caterpillar Financial SARL, Caterpillar Financial Services (Dubai) Limited, Caterpillar Financial Services (Ireland) plc, Caterpillar Financial Services (UK) Limited, Caterpillar Financial Services Argentina S.A., Caterpillar Financial Services Asia Pte. Ltd., Caterpillar Financial Services Belgium S.P.R.L., Caterpillar Financial Services CR s.r.o., Caterpillar Financial Services Corporation, Caterpillar Financial Services GmbH, Caterpillar Financial Services India Private Limited, Caterpillar Financial Services Leasing ULC, Caterpillar Financial Services Limited Les Services Financiers Caterpillar Limitee, Caterpillar Financial Services Malaysia Sdn Bhd, Caterpillar Financial Services Netherlands B.V., Caterpillar Financial Services Norway AS, Caterpillar Financial Services Philippines Inc., Caterpillar Financial Services Poland Sp. z o.o., Caterpillar Financial Services South Africa (Pty) Limited, Caterpillar Financial UK Acquisition Funding Partners, Caterpillar Financial Ukraine LLC, Caterpillar Fluid Systems S.r.l., Caterpillar Fomento Comercial Ltda., Caterpillar Forest Products Inc., Caterpillar France S.A.S., Caterpillar GB L.L.C., Caterpillar Global Investments S.a r.l., Caterpillar Global Mining America LLC, Caterpillar Global Mining Equipamentos De Mineracao do Brasil Ltda., Caterpillar Global Mining Equipment LLC, Caterpillar Global Mining Europe GmbH, Caterpillar Global Mining Expanded Products Pty Ltd, Caterpillar Global Mining Germany Holdings GmbH, Caterpillar Global Mining HMS GmbH, Caterpillar Global Mining Holdings GmbH, Caterpillar Global Mining Hong Kong AFC Manufacturing Holding Co. Limited, Caterpillar Global Mining Hong Kong Limited, Caterpillar Global Mining LLC, Caterpillar Global Mining Mexico LLC, Caterpillar Global Mining Pty. Ltd., Caterpillar Global Mining SARL, Caterpillar Global Mining U.S. Parts LLC, Caterpillar Global Services LLC, Caterpillar Group Services S.A., Caterpillar Holding (France) S.A.S., Caterpillar Holding Germany GmbH, Caterpillar Holdings Australia Pty. Ltd., Caterpillar Hungary Components Manufacturing Ltd., Caterpillar Hydraulics Italia S.r.l., Caterpillar IPX LLC, Caterpillar IRB LLC, Caterpillar Impact Products Limited, Caterpillar India Private Limited, Caterpillar Industrial Inc., Caterpillar Industrias Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Caterpillar Industries (Pty) Ltd, Caterpillar Insurance Co. Ltd., Caterpillar Insurance Company, Caterpillar Insurance Holdings Inc., Caterpillar Insurance Services Corporation, Caterpillar International Finance Designated Activity Company, Caterpillar International Finance Luxembourg Holding S. a r.l., Caterpillar International Finance Luxembourg S. a r.l., Caterpillar International Holding S. a r.l., Caterpillar International Luxembourg I S. a r.l., Caterpillar International Luxembourg II S. a r.l., Caterpillar International Product SARL, Caterpillar International Services Corporation, Caterpillar International Services del Peru S.A., Caterpillar Investment Limited, Caterpillar Investment One SARL, Caterpillar Investment Two SARL, Caterpillar Investments, Caterpillar Japan LLC, Caterpillar Latin America Services S.R.L., Caterpillar Latin America Services de Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Caterpillar Latin America Services de Panama S. de R.L., Caterpillar Latin America Servicios de Chile Limitada, Caterpillar Latin America Support Services S. DE R.L., Caterpillar Leasing (Thailand) Limited, Caterpillar Leasing Chile S.A., Caterpillar Leasing GmbH (Leipzig), Caterpillar Leasing Operativo Limitada, Caterpillar Life Insurance Company, Caterpillar Logistics (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Caterpillar Logistics (UK) Limited, Caterpillar Logistics Inc., Caterpillar Logistics ML Services France S.A.S., Caterpillar Logistics Services China Limited, Caterpillar Luxembourg Group S.ar.l., Caterpillar Luxembourg LLC, Caterpillar Luxembourg S.a r.l., Caterpillar Machinery Nantong Co. Ltd., Caterpillar Marine Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd., Caterpillar Marine Asset Intelligence, Caterpillar Marine Power UK Limited, Caterpillar Marine Trading (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Caterpillar Maroc SARL, Caterpillar Materiels Routiers SAS, Caterpillar Mexico LLC, Caterpillar Mexico S.A. de C.V., Caterpillar Mining Canada ULC, Caterpillar Mining Chile Servicios Limitada, Caterpillar Motoren (Guangdong) Co. Ltd., Caterpillar Motoren GmbH & Co. KG, Caterpillar Motoren Henstedt-Ulzburg GmbH, Caterpillar Motoren Rostock GmbH, Caterpillar Motoren Verwaltungs-GmbH, Caterpillar Netherlands Holding B.V., Caterpillar North America C.V., Caterpillar Operator Training Ltd., Caterpillar Overseas Credit Corporation SARL, Caterpillar Overseas Investment Holding SARL, Caterpillar Overseas Limited, Caterpillar Overseas SARL, Caterpillar Panama Services S.A., Caterpillar Paving Products Inc., Caterpillar Paving Products Xuzhou Ltd., Caterpillar Pension Trust Limited, Caterpillar Poland Sp. z o.o., Caterpillar Power Generation Systems (Bangladesh) Limited, Caterpillar Power Generation Systems L.L.C., Caterpillar Power Systems Inc., Caterpillar Power Ventures International Ltd., Caterpillar Precision Seals Korea, Caterpillar Prodotti Stradali S.r.l., Caterpillar Product Services Corporation, Caterpillar Propulsion AB, Caterpillar Propulsion International Trading (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Caterpillar Propulsion Italy S.R.L., Caterpillar Propulsion Namibia (Proprietary) Limited, Caterpillar Propulsion Production AB, Caterpillar Propulsion Pte. Ltd., Caterpillar Propulsion Singapore Pte. Ltd., Caterpillar R&D Center (China) Co. Ltd., Caterpillar Ramos Arizpe LLC, Caterpillar Ramos Arizpe S. de R.L. de C.V., Caterpillar Ramos Arizpe Servicios S.A. de C.V., Caterpillar Reman Powertrain Indiana LLC, Caterpillar Remanufacturing Drivetrain LLC, Caterpillar Remanufacturing Services (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Caterpillar Renting France S.A.S., Caterpillar Reynosa S.A. de C.V., Caterpillar SARL, Caterpillar Services Germany GmbH, Caterpillar Servicios Limitada, Caterpillar Servicios Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Caterpillar Servizi Italia Srl, Caterpillar Shrewsbury Limited, Caterpillar Skinningrove Limited, Caterpillar Southern Africa (Pty) Ltd., Caterpillar Special Services Belgium S.P.R.L., Caterpillar Switchgear Americas LLC, Caterpillar Switchgear Holding Inc., Caterpillar Tianjin Ltd., Caterpillar Torreon S. de R.L. de C.V., Caterpillar Tosno L.L.C., Caterpillar Transmissions France S.A.R.L., Caterpillar Tunneling Canada Holdings Ltd., Caterpillar Tunnelling Canada Corporation, Caterpillar Tunnelling Europe Limited, Caterpillar UK Employee Trust Limited, Caterpillar UK Engines Company Limited, Caterpillar UK Group Limited, Caterpillar UK Holdings Limited, Caterpillar Undercarriage (Xuzhou) Co. Ltd., Caterpillar Underground Mining Pty. Ltd., Caterpillar Used Equipment Services Inc., Caterpillar Venture Capital Inc., Caterpillar Work Tools B.V., Caterpillar Work Tools Inc., Caterpillar World Trading Corporation, Caterpillar Xuzhou, Caterpillar of Australia Pty. Ltd., Caterpillar of Canada Corporation, Caterpillar of Delaware Inc., Centre de Distribution de Wallonie SPRL, CleanAir Systems, Downer Freight Rail, ECM Railway Evolution Romania s.r.l., ECM S.p.A., EDC European Excavator Design Center GmbH, EMC Holding Corp., EMD International Holdings Inc., ERA Information & Entertainment (BVI) Limited, ERA Mining Machinery Limited, Electro-Motive Diesel Limited, Electro-Motive Locomotive Technologies LLC, Electro-Motive Technical Consulting Co. (Beijing) Ltd., Energy Services International Limited, Equipos de Acuna S.A. de C.V., Eurenov S.A.S., F. G. Wilson (Proprietary) Limited, F. Perkins Limited, FG Wilson (Engineering) Limited, GB Holdco (China) Inc., GFCM Comercial Mexico S.A. de C.V. SOFOM E.N.R., GFCM Servicios S.A. de C.V., Gremada Industries - Assets, Hong Kong Siwei Holdings Limited, Inmobiliaria Conek S.A. de C.V., JCS Co., Kemper Valve & Fittings Corp., Leo Inc., Locomotive Demand Power Pty Ltd., Locomotoras Progress Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Lovat, M2M Data Corporation, MGE Equipamentos & Servicos Ferroviarios, MWM, MWM Austria GmbH, MWM Benelux B.V., MWM Energy Australia Pty Ltd, MWM France S.A.S, MWM Real Estate GmbH, MaK Americas Inc., MaK Americas Inc. (Canada), Magnum Power Products LLC, Marble, Maschinenbau Kiel GmbH, Mec-Track S.r.l., Metalmark Financial Services Limited, Motoren Steffens GmbH, Nippon Caterpillar LLC, P. T. Solar Services Indonesia, PT Caterpillar Finance Indonesia, PT. Bucyrus Indonesia, PT. Caterpillar Indonesia, PT. Caterpillar Indonesia Batam, PT. Caterpillar Remanufacturing Indonesia, Perkins Engines, Perkins Engines (Asia Pacific) Pte Ltd, Perkins Engines Group Limited, Perkins Engines Inc., Perkins Group Limited, Perkins Holdings Limited LLC, Perkins India Private Limited, Perkins International Inc., Perkins Japan LLC, Perkins Limited, Perkins Machinery (Changshu) Co. Ltd., Perkins Motores do Brasil Ltda., Perkins Power Systems Technology (Wuxi) Co. Ltd., Perkins Small Engines (Wuxi) Co. Ltd., Perkins Small Engines LLC, Perkins Small Engines Limited, Perkins Technology Inc., Progress Metal Reclamation Company, Progress Rail Arabia Limited Company, Progress Rail Australia Pty Ltd, Progress Rail Canada Corporation, Progress Rail Equipamentos e Servicos Ferroviarios do Brasil Ltda., Progress Rail Equipment Leasing Corporation, Progress Rail Holdings Inc., Progress Rail Innovations Private Limited, Progress Rail Inspection & Information Systems GmbH, Progress Rail Inspection & Information Systems S.r.l., Progress Rail International Corp., Progress Rail Leasing Canada Corporation, Progress Rail Leasing Corporation, Progress Rail Leasing de Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Progress Rail Locomotivas (do Brasil) Ltda., Progress Rail Locomotive Canada Co., Progress Rail Locomotive Chile SpA, Progress Rail Locomotive Inc., Progress Rail Maintenance de Mexico S.A. de C.V., Progress Rail Manufacturing Corporation, Progress Rail Raceland Corporation, Progress Rail Rocklin Corporation, Progress Rail SA Proprietary Limited, Progress Rail Services Corporation, Progress Rail Services Holdings Corp., Progress Rail Services LLC, Progress Rail Services UK Limited, Progress Rail Switching Services LLC, Progress Rail Transcanada Corporation, Progress Rail Welding Corporation, Progress Rail Wildwood LLC, Progress Rail de Mexico S.A. de C.V., Pyroban Group, Pyroban Group, Pyrrha Investments B.V., Pyrrha Investments Limited, S&L Railroad LLC, SCM Singapore Holdings Pte. Ltd., SPL Software Alliance LLC, Sabre Engines, Servicios de Turbinas Solar S. de R.L. de C.V., Shandong SEM Machinery Co. Ltd., Solar Turbines, Solar Turbines, Solar Turbines (Beijing) Trading Services Co. Ltd., Solar Turbines (Thailand) Ltd., Solar Turbines CIS Limited Liability Company, Solar Turbines Canada Ltd./Ltee., Solar Turbines Central Asia Limited Liability Partnership, Solar Turbines EAME s.r.o., Solar Turbines Egypt Limited Liability Company, Solar Turbines Europe S.A., Solar Turbines India Private Limited, Solar Turbines International Company, Solar Turbines Italy S.R.L., Solar Turbines Malaysia Sdn Bhd, Solar Turbines Middle East Limited, Solar Turbines New Zealand Limited, Solar Turbines Saudi Arabia Limited, Solar Turbines Services Company, Solar Turbines Services Nigeria Limited, Solar Turbines Services of Argentina S.R.L., Solar Turbines Switzerland Sagl, Solar Turbines Trinidad & Tobago Limited, Solar Turbines West-Africa SARL, Tangshan DBT Machinery Co. Ltd., Tecnologia Modificada S.A. de C.V., Towmotor Corporation, Traction & Mining Motor Repairs Pty Ltd, Turbinas Solar S.A. de C.V., Turbinas Solar de Colombia S.A., Turbinas Solar de Venezuela C.A., Turbo Tecnologia de Reparaciones S.A. de C.V., Turbomach, Turbomach Endustriyel Gaz Turbinleri Sanayi Ve Ticaret Limited, Turbomach France SARL, Turbomach GmbH, Turbomach Netherlands B.V., Turbomach Pakistan (Private) Limited, Turbomach S.A. Unipersonal, Turbomach Sp. Z o.o., Turner Powertrain Systems Limited, UK Hose Assembly Limited, Underground Imaging Technologies Inc, United Industries LLC, VALA Inc., Vasky Energy Ltd., Wealdstone Engineering, Weir - Oil & Gas Division, West Virginia Auto Shredding Inc., Western Gear Machinery LLC, Wetland Sustainability Fund I LLC, Williams Technologies, Yard Club, Zhengzhou Siwei Mechanical and Electrical Equipment Sales Co. Ltd., and okyo Rental Ltd..

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South Korean President Moon Jae-in concluded his first trip abroad as head of government on Saturday, holding a summit with Donald Trump in Washington, as well as meeting other political and business leaders.

Before the visit, cracks seemed to appear between the two administrations over the US regional anti-ballistic missile system known as Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (THAAD). However, Moon pledged his support for the US war drive against North Korea over two days of talks, dispelling any notion he is working to prevent a conflict on the Korean Peninsula.

The meeting between Trump and Moon took place 51 days after the latter took office. This is the fastest a South Korean president has held a bilateral meeting with his or her US counterpart. It is an indication that the mild criticisms Moon made of the US during his presidential campaign were nothing more than an attempt to exploit Korean nationalism and anti-war sentiment in South Korea.

With the election out of the way, Moon reassured Washington he was committed to the military alliance between the two countries. At a joint press conference, he hailed the deep trust and friendship between President Trump and I.

Moon also thanked Trump for his so-called determination to establish peace on the Korean Peninsula, saying: The most serious challenge facing South Korea and the United States is North Koreas nuclear and missile threats. President Trump and I agreed to work closely [to] coordinate our related measures while placing the top priority on the resolution of the North Korean nuclear issue.

South Koreas president is backpedaling after previously pledging to seek dialogue and understanding with Pyongyang. In a joint statement, he agreed with Trumps agenda to fully implement existing sanctions and impose new measures designed to apply maximum pressure on North Korea.

The Trump administration has used the slogan maximum pressure to signify a change of course after declaring Barack Obamas policy described as strategic patience a failure.

Since coming to office, Trump has drastically ratcheted up tensions in East Asia, threatening war against North Korea with three aircraft carrier strike groups now in the region along with other military assets. Washington has also demanded the full installation of the THAAD battery in South Korea, angering China, the primary target of the US military build-up in the Asia Pacific.

Moon and the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) are no less committed to this agenda. While the DPK may prefer to build economic connections with North Korea in order to exploit the latters working class as ultra-cheap labor, it is unwilling to go against the demands of the US, regardless of the catastrophic consequences for the Korean Peninsula and the region.

In fact, Moon pledged to continue developing South Koreas own, already considerable, preparations for war, including the Korean Air and Missile Defense (KAMD) and the Kill-Chain, a system designed to launch preemptive attacks on North Korean military positions under the guise of stopping a missile launch.

Moon and Trump turned reality on its head, claiming that the US and South Korea do not maintain a hostile policy toward North Korea, yet threatened the small impoverished country with nuclear annihilation.

Their joint statement declared: The two leaders affirmed the Alliances fundamental mission to defend the ROK [South Korea] through a robust combined defense posture and the enhancement of mutual security based on the US-ROK Mutual Defense Treaty. President Trump reiterated the US commitment to provide extended deterrence to the ROK, drawing on the full range of US military capabilities, both conventional and nuclear.

Trump and Moon claimedlargely for showthey were open to talks with Pyongyang, saying: Noting that sanctions are a tool of diplomacy, the two leaders emphasized that the door to dialogue with North Korea remains open under the right circumstances. However, those right circumstances would be Pyongyangs complete prostration to US demands for its denuclearisation.

North Korea has repeatedly refused to give up its nuclear and missile programs, particularly after Washington reneged on previous deals, leaving these weapons as the only bargaining chips the North Korean regime has in potential negotiations.

The Asahi Shimbun reported on June 24 that Pyongyang had communicated its desire for talks with Washington, excluding Beijing. Robert Gallucci, a former US State Department special envoy on the North Korean nuclear program, stated that in talks last October in Kuala Lumpur, North Korea appeared to want to improve relations with the US to reduce its dependence on China. However, when Gallucci demanded that the North give up its nuclear program, Pyongyangs envoy responded that it could not, as it had no other means of guaranteeing our [regime].

The US is ramping up pressure on China, heightening the risk of a major confrontation over North Korea, which would include the active participation of South Korea and Japan. Moons predecessor, the ousted Park Geun-hye, had distanced her government from Tokyo while seeming to move closer to Beijing.

Unlike Park, Moon has pledged to meet with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe alongside Trump at the G20 meeting this week in Germany. The icy relationship between the two major US allies in North East Asia has compromised the Pentagons ability to integrate them into its war plans against North Korea and also China.

The Trump administration is not taking any chances, however. During a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing last Wednesday, the same day as Moons arrival, US ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley praised Moon for making good strides toward Washington, but leveled a veiled warning. At the end of the day, I personally believe its going to work itself out, she said. But I also know that the [Trump] administration, the second we see something thats not going in the favor of protection of our troops, then I know the president will act.

That threat in the form of tougher US economic measures against South Korea was evident in the talks between Trump and Moon. The US president, who has previously called for the renegotiation of the Korea-US Free Trade Agreement, demanded more access for US vehicles to South Korean markets and an end to dumped South Korean steel in the US.

By ramping up the pressure over trade, the Trump administration is seeking to ensure that Moon remains in line not only over economic issues, but also over US military plans, including the full installation of the THAAD system in South Korea.
July 4th marks the annual holiday that celebrates the adoption of the Declaration of Independence. So how much do you know about this famous document?

1. Is Independence Day really July 2?

Officially, the Continental Congress declared its freedom from Britain on July 2, 1776, when it approved a resolution and delegates from New York were permitted to make it a unanimous vote. John Adams thought July 2 would be marked as a national holiday for generations to come.

2. July 4 is when the Declaration was adopted

After voting on independence, the Continental Congress needed to finalize a document explaining the move to the public. It had been proposed in draft form by the Committee of Five (John Adams, Roger Sherman, Robert Livingston, Benjamin Franklin, and Thomas Jefferson) and it took two days for the Congress to agree on the edits.

3. Six people signed the Declaration and also the Constitution

Franklin was among a handful of people who signed both historical documents. The others were George Read, Roger Sherman, Robert Morris, George Clymer and James Wilson.

4. But they didnt sign the Declaration on July 4th!

Once the Congress approved the actual Declaration of Independence document on July 4, it ordered that it be sent to a printer named John Dunlap. About 200 copies of the Dunlap Broadside were printed, with John Hancocks name printed at the bottom. Today, 26 copies remain.

5. So what if I stumble upon a lost version of the Dunlap Broadside at a flea market?

Thats what happened in 1989 in Adamstown, Pa. It was tucked behind an old picture in a frame and it cost the buyer $4. That version of the Declaration was eventually acquired by TV producer Norman Lear for $8.1 million.

6. OK  when was the Declaration actually signed?

Most of the members of the Continental Congress signed a version of the Declaration in early August 1776 in Philadelphia. The names of the signers were released publicly in early 1777. So that famous painting showing the signing of the Declaration on July 4, 1776, is a bit of an exaggeration.

Story continues

7. The Declarations association with Independence Day came from a lapse of memory

Historian Pauline Maier said in her 1997 book about the Declaration that no member of Congress recalled in early July 1777 that it was almost a year since they declared their freedom from the British. They finally remembered on July 3rd, and July 4th became the day that seemed to make sense for celebrating independence.

8. The Declaration suffered from a lack of early respect

Maier also said that the Declaration (and celebrating its signing) was stuck in a feud between the Federalists (of John Adams) and the Republicans (of Thomas Jefferson). The Declaration and its anniversary day werent widely celebrated until the Federalists faded away from the political scene after 1812.

9. The Declaration and Constitution were hidden away during World War II

Both documents were packed up about two weeks after Pearl Harbor. They were given a military escort to Fort Knox in Kentucky, where they remained until late 1944.

10. There really is a message written on the back of the Declaration of Independence

In the movie National Treasure, a secret message written on the back of the Declaration is a key plot device. In reality, there is a visible message on the back that reads, Original Declaration of Independence dated 4th July 1776. Its not as dramatic as the movie and experts believe it was a label added at some point when the Declaration was in storage.
Whats more American than a freebie? On the Fourth of July, dozens of retailers and restaurants nationwide will be offering free food, discounted items and deals for its customers in celebration of the patriotic holiday. Find out where to get your freebies on July 4 below!

RESTAURANTS

Hungry Howies

You can get a cheese pizza for a serious discount at Hungry Howies on July 4. The restaurant is selling 4-cent one-topping medium pizzas, exclusive to carryout online customers, on Tuesday. This offer can be redeemed with the purchase of any one-topping large pizza at menu price. Some restrictions may apply. To redeem this offer, use the code JULY4 during checkout.

99 Restaurants & Pub

Veterans and active duty military can receive one free appetizer with the purchase of any meal on July 4. No coupon is necessary, but you must present proof of service in order to redeem this offer. This deal is not valid with any other coupons or offers, including the 10 percent military discount of the Kids Eat Free deal. All locations will be participating all day long.

starbucks

Photo: Getty Images

Starbucks

Now through July 4, Starbucks is giving a $15 egift card to anyone who make an online order of $60 or more. Simply use the code EGIFT15 while shopping to redeem the offer.

Boston Market

Buying a meal will give a family in need a freebie this July 4. Boston Market will be donating a meal to a Fisher House family for every Oven-Crisp Chicken Strips Individual Meal purchase this holiday (up to 1,000 meals). The Fisher House Foundation gives housing to military and veteran families while their loved ones are receiving treatment.

Boston Market is also offering a family meal deal for $29.99 on July 4. With this coupon, you can get a whole chicken, a half rack of ribs, three side dishes, four pieces of cornbread and a whole apple piece.

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Fogo de Chao

Children aged 12 and under get a free meal with the purchase of a full-priced meal. Mention FOGO4TH when making a reservation to get this offer.

Sonic

Eating at Sonic this holiday weekend could come with some major perks. In collaboration with the release of Transformers: The Last Knight the restaurant chain is offering its customers the chance to win big prizes, ranging from a Chevy Camaro, a trip to Los Angeles, Sonic gift cards and more. To enter, simply put in the code you receive at the bottom of your Sonic receipt here and see if youve won.

RETAILERS

fourth of july

Photo: Getty Images

Forever 21

You could get free merchandise shopping at Forever 21 this holiday. Certain online and and in-store items are marked buy 1 get 1 free. To redeem online, entire the code BOGOFREE at checkout. In-store and online prices may vary.

Ann Taylor Loft

The store is offering an extra 60 percent off all sale styles online and in store as part of their July 4 sale. You can not combine this deal with other offers and this deal is only valid in the U.S. Shoppers can also receive $25 off their entire order by entering their email address on the site and receiving a promo code.

Loew s

If youre in the market for new home appliances, now is the time to buy. Now though July 12, Loews is offering $50 to $450 in Loews gift cards with the purchase or two or more major appliances priced at $396 or more before taxes. (Youll need to buy six appliances in order to get the highest gift card amount.) This offer is limited to one per household or business. Read the fine print and get the rebate information here.

JCPenney

You can get a discount on top of deals at JCPenney this holiday. No minimum purchase is required to get 30 percent off items using the code 37FORYOU. This offer does not apply to all brands and the store is offering just 15 percent off items such as watches, salon products, furniture, mattresses, custom blinds and shades.

Related Articles
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie is defending himself amid criticism for spending time over the Fourth of July weekend on the beach amid a state government shutdown that has many local beaches and parks closed to the public.

Photographs from NJ Advance Media showed Christie and his family spending the weekend on New Jerseys Island Beach State Park, where a governors residence is located. However, the beach is one of several facilities currently closed to most visitors after Christie shut down New Jerseys government Friday after the state legislature failed to pass a budget.

When asked about the photographs on Good Day Philadelphia, Christie defended his actions.

Im sorry theyre not the governor, Christie said of the people who couldnt access the beach. This is a residence. Heres the problem. We have a residence in Princeton as well and that place is a place where people can go and tour but they cant if the governments closed. Am I supposed to move out and stay in a hotel?

Read Christies full exchange below.

Reporter: Governor Christie, welcome to Good Day Philadelphia.

Christie: Good morning, how are you guys?



Reporter: Feeling good, loving the fourth of July holiday. Are you calling us from that beach house?



Christie: Yes sir.

Reporter: Im sure youve seen the Star Ledger, the newspaper. They had a helicopter over you yesterday, did you hear the chopper?

Christie: It wasnt a helicopter, it was an airplane.

Reporter: It was an airplane?

Christie: Yeah. And yeah, this is an incredible scandal as you know because they actually caught a politician being where he said he was going to be with the people he said he was going to be with. Starting a week ago today, I told people we had plans to be here, and whether the government shut down or it didnt, we were going to be here because its our residence. So they actually caught a politician keeping his word. Actually saying  being where he says hes going to be and, oh my god what a scandal, he actually was with his wife and his children. And they caught him.

Story continues

Reporter: But Governor, you can understand though why a lot of people are upset? They cant go to that beach, they want to be able to do what you were doing and they cant.

Christie: Well Im sorry, theyre not the Governor. This is a residence. Heres the problem. We have a residence in Princeton as well and that place is a place where people can go and tour but they cant if the governments closed. Am I supposed to move out and stay in a hotel?

Reporter: No, but Governor, you know the optics of this. You could have stayed

Christie: This is the problem with politics today. This is the problem. When I tell you the substance of the problem, then you say, well, you know the optics. The fact is that the reason the park is closed is one simple reason. I didnt close it. The legislature did not pass a budget to me for me to sign so that we would have the money to keep it open. Thats the simple fact of the matter. I told the legislature all week last week and I told them yesterday. Pass me any budget, I will sign any budget that you give me.

Later Monday, the Governors official Twitter account posted this:
A parasitic worm that can infect people's brains has been found throughout Florida, according to a new study.

The researchers found the parasite, called rat lungworm, living in rats and snails in five Florida counties in both the central and northern parts of the state. Rat lungworm was previously found in southern Florida, and the new study is one of the first to show the extent of the parasite's spread across the state.

The researchers warned that the parasite, which is typically found in the tropics and only recently appeared in the continental United States, will likely continue to expand its range in this country. They said that the parasite's apparent ability to thrive in areas outside its historical range is "alarming," and as average temperatures rise with climate change, the parasite will likely spread into more temperate areas. [5 Deadly Diseases Emerging from Global Warming]

The parasite carries out its life cycle in rats, snails and slugs, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). People can become infected if they eat raw or undercooked snails or slugs, or if they eat contaminated produce.

In people, rat lungworm, or Angiostrongylus cantonensis, can infect the brain and cause meningitis, according to the CDC. Infected people may experience headaches, neck stiffness, nausea, vomiting, and abnormal sensations in their arms and legs. Most people fully recover without treatment, but in rare cases, the infection can cause neurological problems or death, the CDC said.

Although human cases of rat lungworm have yet to be reported in Florida, the researchers called for increased awareness of this parasite to help prevent infection and properly identify infected patients.

"The parasite is here in Florida and is something that needs to be taken seriously," Heather Stockdale Walden, an assistant professor in the Department of Infectious Diseases and Pathology at the University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine, who led the study, said in a statement.Human cases of rat lungworm have occurred in Hawaii for more than 50 years, but it wasn't until the mid-1980s that the parasite appeared in the continental United States, showing up in rats in New Orleans. (The rats likely arrived on ships from areas already inhabited by the parasite.) Since then, rat lungworm has shown up in Louisiana and Texas. Previous studies have found the parasite in snails in Florida, but these studies were small.

Story continues

In the new study, the researchers analyzed more than 1,500 samples from rats and snails in 18 counties throughout Florida. The investigators found that samples from five counties  Alachua, Leon, St. Johns, Orange and Hillsborough  tested positive for the parasite. But the parasite is likely even more widespread than what was found in the study, the researchers said. [10 Bizarre Diseases You Can Get Outdoors]

That's because, for certain species, the researchers had only a limited number of samples. The scientists may have had more positive results if they tested more samples from these species, the researchers said. "The reality is that it is probably in more counties than we found it in, and it is also probably more prevalent in the southeastern U.S. than we think," Walden said.

The parasite didn't seem to be picky about the types of snails it infects, either, said study co-author John Slapcinsky, the collections manager of invertebrate zoology at the Florida Museum of Natural History. The researchers found the parasite in both native and non-native snail species.

To prevent infection with rat lungworm, the researchers recommended washing produce, teaching children not to eat raw snails and washing hands after handling snails. The CDC advises against eating raw or undercooked snails and slugs.

The study was published May 18 in the journal PLOS ONE.

Original article on Live Science.

Editor's Recommendations
TOWN OF WATERFORD  A Town of Waterford man who allegedly robbed a family member in Milwaukee and stole her car was arrested a week later by Waterford police.

Samir Hachemi, 19, of the 6500 block of N. Tichigan Road, was charged June 24 in Milwaukee County Circuit Court with robbery with use of force and taking and driving a vehicle without consent, both felonies.

According to the criminal complaint:

Hachemi was reportedly homeless when he showed up at his familys home in the 2900 block of South Herman Street in Milwaukee on June 17.

A woman at the residence told police she offered him lunch, $20 for medication and suggested he go to a shelter. Thats when Hachemi asked her for more money, then allegedly struggled with another family member, pushed that person down and, in the process, allegedly hurt the victims ankle before rummaging through the victims purse.

According to police, Hachemi allegedly stole $200 and the victims car keys and allegedly drove away in the victims 2003 Subaru Legacy that was parked at the residence.

On June 24, Hachemi was located by Waterford police at the residence of a family member and was taken into custody. It was unclear as of Monday if the car was recovered.

Hachemi is scheduled for a preliminary hearing in Milwaukee County Circuit Court at 1:30 p.m. on July 12.

If convicted of the most serious charge, Hachemi could see up to 10 years in prison and a $50,000 fine.
Jacquie Barnbrook had grown tired of the high electricity bills and her gas-guzzling luxury car when she finally decided to take the plunge last year.

The 52-year-old Los Angeles resident joined an ever-growing number of Californians who are switching to solar power for their energy needs in a bid to not only save money but to also do their part for the environment in a state setting the pace for the rest of the country in that sector.

"At this time of year, my power and water bills usually were around $400 a month," Barnbrook said. "Right now, it's $150 a month."

As for her vehicle, Barnbrook said she ditched it in favor of a hybrid one that she now plugs in and charges at her house.

"I was previously spending $80 dollars on gas every three or four days and now I haven't put gas in my new car since the beginning of March," she noted. "That's four months ago!"

Nearly 4.9 million homes are powered by solar energy in California -- the nation's green trailblazer and the most populous state -- and that number is expected to continue to grow, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association, a non-profit trade association.

Even President Donald Trump, an avowed sceptic on climate change, is considering putting solar panels on the wall he plans to build on the Mexican border.

- Snake oil -

Although solar installations have slowed this year due, in part, to a record number of people rushing to sign up in 2016 for fear of losing a tax incentive, the market is expected to continue to grow, especially in places like California which has a plethora of sunny days, experts say.

Driving this expansion is the plummeting cost of solar panels -- which were traditionally limited to relatively affluent homeowners -- and improving technology on batteries to store energy, they add.

"Right now, we're in throes of rapid change in the solar industry," said Rajit Gadh, director of the UCLA Smart Grid Energy Research Center. "As people process all the information out there and report their success stories and it starts to become mainstream ... the momentum will grow."

Story continues

He said apart from cost, another reason average consumers have gingerly adopted solar power in recent years was the dizzying number of regulatory hoops they had to go through to get approval from utility companies and a lot of complicated information to process.

Moreover, as demand for the product has surged in the last decade, so have the number of companies -- both serious and shady -- jostling for a piece of the pie.

"Solar power is confusing and for a long time it really didn't make a lot of economic sense," said Ryan Willemsen, CEO and founder of the San Diego-based start-up Solar to the People.

"In California, solar is really getting a snake oil reputation because of some of the unscrupulous folks involved who are pushing solar super hard," he added. "In San Diego alone, for example, there are over 200 solar operations."

Ara Petrosyan, CEO and founder of LA Solar Group, a consulting firm, said he believes that once the dust settles and shady companies inevitably go out of business, consumers will be able to make more informed and affordable choices and the sector will take off like "a rocket ship."

"In five years, so many rules and regulations have been added that you have to be a really good expert to stay in the business," he said.

He added that a clear sign of where the industry is going is the number of installations -- which cost between $15,000 and $20,000 for an average size house -- his company is handling.

"When we started in 2012, we did about 10 installations a month," Petrosyan said. "Today, we do about 120 a month ... and it will definitely keep increasing."

Such projections are good news for a state that has mandated that 50 percent of its electricity come from renewable energy sources, including solar, by 2030.

Solar power is also growing fast in other states, including New York, which look to California as an example.

"The overall industry trend is that the cost of solar panels and other components is going down," said Willemsen.

"And more and more standard folks are hearing it's a good idea and once one person in the neighborhood goes solar, more and more follow."
A US Navy destroyer, USS Stethem, on Sunday sailed within 12 nautical miles of the disputed Triton Island in the South China Sea. China has termed the exercise as "serious political and military provocation."

Beijing dispatched military vessels and fighter planes in response to warn off the US warship, China's foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang said in a statement late Sunday night, Chinas state-run news agency Xinhua reported.

READ: USS Dewey Sails In South China Sea Amid Territorial Dispute

This freedom of navigation exercise can worsen the US-China relationship as China claims the island along with almost all of the South China Sea. China has recently come up with facilities like a helicopter landing site at the island. A large Chinese flag is displayed on the island, visible from aerial and satellite photos, CNN reported.

Triton Island is a part of the Paracel Islands cluster that has been at the center of disputes in South China Sea, as these islands are claimed by China, as well as neighboring countries like Taiwan, Vietnam, the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei. Apart from being a major shipping route, the area is a rich fishing ground and is believed to have abundant oil and gas reserves. While conflicts in the area have gone on for centuries, tension has steadily increased in recent years as Beijing has begun re-asserting its claims. China claims the largest portion of territory. It also issued a map in 1947 detailing its claims.

China has built many artificial islands in the area of late, and houses military facilities in the disputed region. However, it denies any offensive agenda, saying the facilities are for civilian and defense purposes, BBC reported.

Rules of the United Nations state that any territory can claim the waters up to 12 nautical miles (one nautical mile is about 1.15 miles) from its coast, as defined by the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. The sailing of a U.S. ship within those limits indicates the U.S. does not recognize those territorial claims. Freedom of navigation operations are designed to challenge claims to disputed territory. Washington has questioned China's annexations of South China Sea islets while advocating for a diplomatic settlement between the Asian powerhouse and its neighbors.

Story continues

Brushing off repeated U.S. warnings against its occupation and aggressive reclamation of islands in disputed waters, Beijing says it is within its sovereign rights to do so.

The USS Stethem operation, meant to demonstrate freedom of navigation in disputed waters, came just few days before the scheduled meeting between President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping at the G20 summit to be held in Germany next week.

The operation is the second of its kind carried out by the U.S. since Trump took office. The first was on May 25, when the USS Dewey, a guided-missile destroyer, sailed less than 12 nautical miles from Mischief Reef - part of the disputed Spratly Islands, south of the Paracel Islands.

READ: Military Infrastructure On South China Sea Islands Near Completion

Trump has stepped up pressure on Beijing in the last few days, alleging China has not made enough efforts to create pressure on North Korea over its nuclear and missile programs, reports said.

On Thursday, the administration imposed sanctions on two Chinese citizens and a shipping company for helping North Korea's nuclear and missile programs, and accused a Chinese bank of laundering money for Pyongyang. The Trump administration has also approved an arms package for Taiwan worth about $1.4 billion.

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Chris Christie was planning on spending the Fourth of July holiday weekend with his family and friends at the Governors residence on New Jerseys Island Beach State Park. As of Monday morning, he was still there. But instead of enjoying a relaxing holiday, he was calling into a local talk show to explain a weekend beach outing, as he and his Administration found themselves on defense after it emerged that he had enjoyed some time on a public beach that was closed to the public because of the states government shutdown.

Starting a week ago today, I told people we had plans to be here, and whether the government shut down or it didnt, we were going to be here because its our residence, Christie told Good Day Philadelphia.

Photos emerged over the weekend, snapped by NJ Advance Medias Andrew Mills, of the Governor on Island Beach State Park. Although Christie has a state residence there, the beach is currently closed to the public as a result of a legislative standoff that prompted a government shutdown.

Both the photographs and Christies response seemed to encapsulate the gradual political downfall of a Republican who was once expected to be a leading candidate for his partys presidential nomination. Christies two-term run as governor of New Jersey is over in January, ending a bumpy tenure that started off hopeful but ultimately included a failed presidential bid, a scandal over bridge closures that resulted in the conviction of two of his associates  and now, dismal poll numbers.

Christies approval rating is at a lowly 15%, according to the latest Quinnipiac University survey, the worst the poll has found for a governor in any state over the last 20 years. In November 2012, after Hurricane Sandy, when he was widely praised for his response to the storm, Christies approval ratings were at a sky-high 72%, according to Quinnipiac.

With the finish line in sight, Christie and his aides did little to acknowledge the optics of himself and his family enjoying a beach that New Jersey residents were prohibited from accessing because of government gridlock. His office told TIME that 211 beaches are still open, while two state beaches remain closed due to the shutdown, including Island Beach State Park. His office said that the portion of the beach Christie was photographed on is generally not available to the public all year, regardless of a shutdown.

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When Good Day Philadelphia pressed Christie about the perception of the photographs, he responded that the question was indicative of a bigger issue.

This is the problem with politics today, he said, When I tell you the substance of the problem, then you say, well you know the optics. The fact is that the reason the park is closed is one simple reason. I didnt close it. The legislature did not pass a budget to me for me to sign so that wed have the money to keep it open.

Christies administration continued its defense into Monday afternoon, with his official government Twitter account posting a photograph of a busy New Jersey shore retweeting posts from different local beaches noting they were open.

Another beautiful day at the Jersey shore. Our beaches are open & full of people. Come & see for yourself! And you can hit the boardwalk! pic.twitter.com/Y55URA0mdg  Governor Christie (@GovChristie) July 3, 2017

But in a sign of how politically toxic he has become, even Kim Guadano, his own lieutenant governor and onetime running mate now running to succeed him, took to Facebook to criticize her boss.

If I were governor, I sure wouldnt be sitting on the beach if taxpayers didnt have access to state beaches, she said. Its beyond words.
Cowboys running back Darren McFadden rushed to the scene after family members were injured in a shooting at a club in Little Rock last weekend. (AP)

A horrific shooting at a club in Little Rock last weekend affected one of Arkansas most famous athletes.

Dallas Cowboys running back Darren McFadden, who was a superstar for the University of Arkansas, was seen outside Power Ultra Lounge early Saturday morning after a shooting that injured 25 people. According to the Associated Press, the shots came after dispute among clubgoers, multiple people fired shots and terrorism was quickly ruled out.

McFadden was spotted in the aftermath because he had relatives inside the club, and three were reportedly injured. On Monday night he went on Twitter to explain and ask for privacy for his family.

Thanks everyone for checking in and praying for my family. Just to answer a few questions: pic.twitter.com/QTAF0mbVIR  Darren McFadden (@dmcfadden20) July 4, 2017

According to ArkansasMatters.com, McFaddens mother said 23-year-old Marvell Harris, 35-year-old Wallace Muhammad and 16-year-old Marquette Muhammad were McFaddens family members injured in the shooting. Other family members were at the club that night as well.

      

Frank Schwab is the editor of Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at shutdown.corner@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!


Donald Trump has responded to North Koreas latest ballistic missile test on Twitter, suggesting it could prompt a retaliatory move from China that would end this nonsense once and for all.

Following the news of the missile launch, the President tweeted: North Korea just launched another missile. Does this guy have anything better to do with his life?

Hard to believe that South Korea and Japan will put up with this much longer. Perhaps China will put a heavy move on North Korea and end this nonsense once and for all!

The missile launched by North Korea on Monday was first reported as a single, land-based intermediate range ballistic missile that was tracked for 37 minutes before it landed in the Sea of Japan.

The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) said in a statement that the missile launch did not pose a threat to North America, adding that the weapon had been fired from North Koreas Panghyon Airfield.

North Korea has since claimed the event was it test-launching its first intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM).

ICBMs are designed to transport nuclear warheads thousands of miles.

North Korea has just launched another missile. Does this guy have anything better to do with his life? Hard to believe that South Korea.....  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 4, 2017

....and Japan will put up with this much longer. Perhaps China will put a heavy move on North Korea and end this nonsense once and for all!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 4, 2017

The country has previously conducted satellite launches that critics say were disguised tests of long-range missile technology.

South Koreas president Moon Jae-in has since said the launch may have been an intercontinental ballistic missile, while a spokesman from the Chinese foreign ministry has called for restraint following North Koreas claim.

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If confirmed as an intercontinental ballistic missile, the move would be considered a game-changer by countries looking to check North Koreas push for a nuclear-armed missile that can reach anywhere in the United States.

Chinas ambassador to the UN has already warned that further escalation of tensions with North Korea would risk the situation getting out of control, claiming that the consequences would be disastrous.

Additional reporting by Associated Press
Writing your CV is one of life's necessary  but highly time-consuming  evils. And, many of us take all the help we can get.

SEE ALSO: Irish teens sing 'Despacito' in Gaelic and they're better than Bieber

London-based author Aaron Gillies decided to let Google Autocomplete give him a hand in updating his CV. The results were both brutally honest and hilariously weird. Sorry Aaron, but we're not sure these skills are the right fit for any job.

Gillies listed his date of birth as "born to love you," a detail I'm not entirely sure any employer would be comfortable with.

I needed to update my CV so I did it all through google autocomplete and soon I will have every job pic.twitter.com/pjCBtUhtmw  TechnicallyRon (@TechnicallyRon) June 29, 2017

Gillies also noted that he is "good at nothing," a statement which  though refreshingly honest  isn't going to land him a job anywhere anytime soon.

His core competencies include his belief that "children are our future," and his experience includes once seeing an elephant and being "the chosen one".

"I am trained in gorilla warfare and I can prove it mathematically," reads Gillies' professional qualifications.

"Please hire me. I need money so I can purchase apps on my iPhone," Gillies continues.

You and me both, pal.
While fireworks may seem like a very American tradition, especially on the Fourth of July, their origins go back centuries before the first Independence Day fireworks display in Philadelphia in 1777.

The earliest forms of such pyrotechnics can be traced to around 2,000 years ago in China. During the Han Dynasty in 200 B.C., people are said to have roasted bamboo stalks until they would turn black and sizzle, and the air inside the hollow stalks would explode. Baozhu is a Mandarin word for firecracker that translates directly to exploding bamboo.

Chinese history experts say that at some point between 600 A.D. and 900 A.D., Chinese alchemists took that idea to the next level by filling bamboo shoots with gunpowder made from saltpeter (potassium nitrate, sulfur, and carbon acquired from charcoal), and throwing them into a fire pit. Steel dust or cast-iron shavings were added to make them sparkle. Another recipe for Chinese fireworks published by the Paris Academy of Sciences in the 18th century reported that Chinese fire was made by crushing old iron pots and scraps into sand and adding the sand to gunpowder. These firecrackers were often used during New Year Festivals and weddings to scare off evil spirits.

Get your history fix in one place: sign up for the weekly TIME History newsletter

As the ingredients for gunpowder spread to the West after the Silk Road opened up trade and the Mongols made their way to Europe in the 13th century, so did fireworks, according to Simon Werritt, a science historian and author of Fireworks: Pyrotechnic Arts and Sciences in European History. They became a part of official celebrations, from the annual Girandola fireworks display at the Castello SantAngelo in Rome to the 1533 coronation of Anne Boleyn as Queen of England.

So it was no surprise that, as soon as July Fourth began to be celebrated as Americas Independence Day, fireworks were part of the plan.

After all, John Adams did say he hoped the anniversary of independence would be marked for years to come by guns and bonfires and illuminations. Because the first July 4 fireworks display happened in the middle of the Revolutionary War, some historians believe they were supposed to be a morale booster. The celebrations at the time would have also included the firing of cannons and guns, adding to the explosive nature of the festivities. With the wars end and increasing concern for public safety, those firearms were eventually phased out of the celebrations and replaced almost entirely by the fireworks, which were often given the official stamp of approval in the hope of drawing citizens to public celebrations instead of more dangerous private firework shows.

Today, though fireworks are now a well-established July 4 tradition, theyve still retained some link to their origins: in 2016, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, $296.2 million worth of fireworks were imported to the U.S. from China.
Author and veteran flight attendant Heather Poole is campaigning for airline industry reform regarding flight attendant health and uniforms. (Photo: Heather Poole, Medium)

Starting in January of this year, flight attendant Heather Poole has gone public about being one of the thousands of American Airlines crew members who have allegedly gotten seriously ill as a result of company-issued in-flight uniforms.

Let the record state that I cant prove that any of my health problems are in fact caused by my wearing the uniform, Poole wrote in her January Medium post of the way that her long-stable thyroid disorder has been newly triggered by the new uniform, among other things. This is how the uniform manufacturer continues to get away with it. The burden of proof lies on me. Its also why American refuses to recall the uniform. Because we have not yet been able to prove what, exactly, is making us sick.

Throughout 2017, Poole has taken to Medium to detail the impact that the new uniform has had on her health and that of other colleagues. In addition to the respiratory and thyroid conditions that Poole is reckoning with as a result of the uniform, other American Airlines flight attendants say they have developed asthma and other breathing problems, reactive full-body rashes, and even fertility issues  all as a result of the new uniform.

But according to Pooles latest Medium post, the physical symptoms arent the only harm that have been lobbed her way as a result of her companys uniforms. Now, she says, shes also being provoked by online trolls and peers in the industry alike who are denying the veracity of her claims about her health. Their main arguments against her are either that shes a whore or sexless, both lines of attack rooted in cultural stereotypes surrounding female flight attendants and sexuality.

Because the sexy stereotype wont die, nobody cares when we have something serious to discuss, Poole writes of the cultural biases working against her.

Case in point is, Poole writes: Why so many friends and co-workers (and even an executive at another airline) are quick to ask, what about the pilots? whenever the uniform crisis comes up. Im sorry but I find it offensive that I need a pilot to prove what Im experiencing is real. For the record, there are female pilots. But not that many. In fact, whenever I hear the ratio of female to male pilots Im always shocked. Piloting airliners is still a male-dominated industry. Flight attendants are still primarily women. This is why, Im sure, our CEO continues to only discuss the flight attendants in connection to the uniform. Because if the pilots arent affected, nobody cares. Its not real. Were liars.

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Melanie Brewster, an assistant professor of psychology and the co-founder of the Sexuality, Women, & Gender Project at Columbia University in New York City, tells Yahoo Beauty that Poole is far from alone in being a woman met with disbelief about her own medical condition. The way in which women arent taken seriously in medical contexts is well-documented: Studies have found that women are forced to wait longer to receive pain medicine in hospital settings than men, that extreme menstrual pain described by women to their physicians is frequently dismissed, that women receive less aggressive treatment for heart attacks when admitted to hospitals than men, and that the default in clinical trials for pharmaceuticals is male patients. The sociocultural phenomenon of not trusting women about their own health has made women skeptical of medicine itself, too, further reinforcing a dangerous cycle that leaves womens concerns about their health ignored.

And Brewster says that she thinks womens sexuality plays a central role in this problem.

In psychology we have a framework called Objectification Theory which explains that women are sexualized to such a point that their worth and value is entirely dictated by their outward appearance, Brewster says. Women who are in historically sexualized occupations (i.e., flight attendants, hostesses, waitresses, fashion models) are some of the easiest to objectify because their jobs put them on display for consumption.

And, of course, objects dont complain; the purpose of an object is to please, Brewster continues. This is why men just dont buy womens pain; it is repeatedly minimized or dismissed as hysteria or disproportionate whining because it is incongruent with women being happy rays of sunshine, easy to look at and nondisruptive.

Brewster adds that because of this, for someone like Poole to claim that her own health isnt being believed is not totally dissimilar to the way in which survivors of sexual assault routinely meet skepticism. These survivors, she says, are too often viewed as objects  and as such, they dont have power over their own narrative. Men still hold that power.

Furthermore, Brewster says, there is something about uniforms in general that helps to invalidate womens pain. The allegations about the American Airlines uniforms, she says, reflect a long history of women having to suck up pain and discomfort in order to adhere to unrealistic cultural beauty norms.

For further proof, she says one need look no further than the fact that until very recently (and even today for some airlines), flight attendants were required to wear high heels during their in-flight shifts, despite the known health risks associated with this kind of footwear. This is why Canada went so far as to make it illegal to require the wearing of high heels at work. High heels can cause muscle degradation and hip problems when worn over long stretches of time.

And in many professions where a uniform is required, as is the case for the iflight crews of commercial airlines, these clothing choices reflect a tacit expectation  [that the female employee] either look sexy at work, or find another job.

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.




Today the US celebrates 241 years of independence from colonial British rule, the end of the Revolutionary War and the day a global superpower was born.

As millions of Americans gather to enjoy fireworks, parades, picnics and barbecues with their loved ones - and Google marks the occasion with its latest Doodle - we look back at the moment that made it all possible and some of the period's most astonishing characters.

America lost its second and third Presidents on the same day

Three US Presidents have died on 4 July so far, all Founding Fathers and two on the same day: 4 July 1826, the 50th anniversary of the countrys foundation.

Thomas Jeffersons later years were riddled with ill health and debt. The third President died at home in Virginia, aged 83, surrounded by his family.

That same day, John Adams, who had succeeded George Washington as President and masterminded the Declaration of Independence, also passed away at home in Quincy, Massachusetts, aged 85. Tragically, Adams consoled himself with the final words, Thomas Jefferson survives, the statesman mercifully unaware that his friend and fellow nation-builder had himself expired just hours earlier.

These men would be joined by the fifth President, James Monroe, who died on 4 July 1831. The Adams legacy lived on, however. John's son, John Quincy Adams, served as the sixth.

The Boston Tea Party and a fight for freedom

American independence was the product of years of souring relations with Great Britain, as the citizens of the Thirteen American Colonies grew increasingly frustrated with Parliamentary rule from across the Atlantic and the notion of "taxation without representation".

Discontent began brewing in 1763 as the House of Commons introduced measures to increase revenue from its imperial subjects, with the Stamp Act of 1765 and the Townshend Acts of 1767 sparking particular anger over the pond.

Matters came to a head with the Boston Tea Party in 1773, when a political protest group known as the Sons of Liberty dressed as Native Americans and dumped an entire shipment of British tea leaves imported by the East India Company into the harbour. The demonstration was both a gleeful satire of the ruling powers obsession with its national beverage and a call to arms against the decadence and entitlement of empire.

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The bloody War of Independence broke out in earnest two years later.

Ben Franklin, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson (Library of Congress/Wikimedia Commons)

The signing of the Declaration of Independence

A year into the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War, delegates from the Thirteen Colonies gathered to compose a statement formally declaring their sovereignty from London.

Known as the Second Continental Congress, the meeting saw the leaders come together at the Pennsylvanian State House in Philadelphia to sign a document that would both renounce British imperial control and introduce a new nation: the United States of America.

Drafted by the Committee of Five  John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman and Robert Livingston  the document established citizens "unalienable" rights, observing that "all men are created equal" and enshrining the individuals entitlement to "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness". The draft was submitted to Congress on 28 June 1776, voted into law on 2 July and formally ratified on 4 July, a date that has been celebrated by patriotic Americans ever since.

Among the most famous statesmen to sign the declaration was John Hancock, whose name lives on as a synonym for signature, as well as Adams and Jefferson, both then future Presidents in waiting.

Benjamin Franklin: Enlightenment polymath

While the Founding Fathers were all men of grand vision, none was more so than Benjamin Franklin.

Later celebrated as the First American, Franklin embodied the Puritan work ethic of the eighteenth century, serving as political campaigner, diplomat, ambassador to France, postmaster general and newspaper publisher while still finding time to dabble in freemasonry, music, chess and scientific experimentation. It is in this final capacity that he is best remembered outside of the political sphere today.

Franklin first experimented with electricity in 1746 and successfully trapped lightning by flying a kite in a storm from a Philadelphia hillside in 1752, therein establishing both the principle of battery storage and the lightning rod.

Franklins other inventions included bifocal glasses, a metal-lined cooking stove and a flexible urinary catheter. Truly a remarkable man.

Thomas Jefferson/Getty

Thomas Jeffersons not-so-secret mistress

Although hailed as the author of independence, Jefferson was no saint. The third President of the United States kept slaves, among them Sally Hemings (1773-1835), a mixed-race servant girl whose six children Jefferson is widely assumed to have fathered following the death of his wife Martha in 1782. A DNA study in 1998 established a direct genetic link between the revered politician and Eston Hemings, Sallys youngest son.

Hemings lived and worked on Jeffersons Monticello plantation home in Charlottesville, Virginia, and travelled with him to Paris, where their relationship is thought to have first been consummated. The affair was controversial at the time and used to discredit Jefferson by political journalist James T. Callender, though the President himself never confirmed or denied it.

Hemings four surviving teenage children were released from slavery upon Jeffersons death as stipulated in his will, as was Sally herself, who lived the final nine years of her life as a free woman, residing near Monticello with her two sons until her death.
RACINE  The nations birthday party kicked off a little early at Monument Square in Downtown Racine on Monday night as the Fourth Fest organizers threw an inaugural preholiday party.

David Maack, Fourth Fest President, dubbed the event the Strike up the Festivities Kick-off Party.

We got a lot of feedback that people didnt have anything to do the night before the Fourth. People who are coming from out of town and want to have a good time and do something, so we decided to throw a party, Maack said.

The party atmosphere started with Racine band Mean Jake, which plays a variety of music from Southern blues to Muddy Waters and the Rolling Stones. On Monday night, they started with tunes from the late rock n roll pioneer Chuck Berry. Fourth Fest staff sold beer for $5 alongside independent food vendors.

We really dont know what to expect, Maack said early into the event. The weather is great and there are a lot of people from out of town, so were hoping for a big crowd tonight.

Maack said the party is a fundraiser for Fourth Fest of Greater Racine and all proceeds go to funding the parade and fireworks.

Highland Park, Ill., resident Jeff Foy grabbed a beer and said he comes to Racine for the Fourth of July because the holiday is better here.

I come for the fireworks, its a much better program and the crowds are not massive. All the traffic lasts for 20 minutes. Its so easy, Foy said. Racine is a little town with big-town features that are really cool.

His father, Jim Foy, moved to Caledonia 15 years ago to escape Illinois, he said.

This is a good place, good people and good things are happening here, Jim Foy said.

Foy said the flyover returning to the Fourth of July parade is welcome after a 5-year hiatus. This year, veterans are to be honored with a heritage flight, in which modern and retired aircraft are scheduled to fly side by side.

Enjoying the city

Mount Pleasant residents Chris and Sue Gorman pulled up a seat for the music Monday night as they waited for friends to meet them.

We enjoy what the city has to offer. Its so beautiful down here, Chris Gorman said.

Sue Gorman said they would pick their spot for the parade at 4:30 a.m. Tuesday and wanted to come and buy a beer at the party Monday night, knowing the effort goes back into the budget for next years parade.

One reason is to show support for the parade and fireworks, Sue Gorman said. We love it.
(Reuters) - A man drew a gun and fired at another man he had been arguing with at a South Carolina shopping center on Monday, but there were no injuries, North Charleston police said.

Both men were still at large on Monday night.

Police had thought there was still an active shooter soon after the 5:25 p.m. incident at the Northwoods Mall but quickly learned that was not the case, police department spokesman Spencer Pryor told a news briefing.

People were evacuated from the mall and it did not reopen on Monday night. Police said the mall would reopen on Tuesday.

A restaurant manager at the shopping center told Reuters that she saw people running from the mall around 5:25 p.m. The witness said she was too frightened at the time to give her name.

(Reporting by Suzannah Gonzales in Chicago, Ian Simpson in Washington and Bernie Woodall in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.; Editing by Chris Reese, Peter Cooney and Paul Tait)
CHICAGO (Reuters) - Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner announced on Tuesday his veto of a $5 billion income tax rate hike that was the lynchpin of a newly passed bipartisan budget package designed to end the states record-setting fiscal impasse, he announced via social media.

I just vetoed Speaker Madigans 32 percent permanent income tax increase, the Republican governor announced in posts to his Facebook and Twitter accounts, referring to Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan, the packages main legislative architect.

The posts did not disclose whether he had taken similar action on spending and borrowing measures that made up the entire package.

(Reporting by Dave McKinney; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)
By Sanjeev Miglani and Tova Cohen NEW DELHI/TEL AVIV (Reuters) - Narendra Modi begins a first visit to Israel by an Indian prime minister on Tuesday, in a public embrace of a country that he has long admired for its military and technical expertise but which his predecessors kept at arm's length. India has traditionally trodden a careful diplomatic line in the region, analysts say, wary of upsetting Arab states and Iran - upon whom it relies for its vast imports of oil - and its large Muslim minority. It has been a vocal supporter of the Palestinian cause, even as it quietly pursued ties with Israel. But now Modi is lifting the curtain on a thriving military relationship. He will hold three days of talks with his Israeli counterpart, Benjamin Netanyahu, to advance sales and production of missiles, drones and radar systems under his signature "Make in India" drive, officials in Delhi and Tel Aviv said. Netanyahu, hailing what he described as Modi's "historic visit", said on Monday he and the Indian leader have worked together over the past few years to build a "steadfast friendship" between Israel and India. "This visit will deepen cooperation in a wide range of fields - security, agriculture, water, energy - basically in almost every field Israel is involved in," Netanyahu told his cabinet in public remarks. Modi will not travel to Ramallah, the seat of the Palestinian Authority and a customary stop for visiting leaders trying to maintain a balance in political ties. At home, the apparent shift in what has long been a bedrock of India's foreign policy risks sharpening criticism that the country's 180 million Muslims are increasingly being marginalized under Modi's Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government, which swept to power in 2014. "Narendra Modi's visit to Israel will only strengthen its occupation of Palestine," said Asaduddin Owaisi, a member of India's federal parliament from a regional group that promotes Muslim rights. BURGEONING RELATIONSHIP In previous decades, under the left-leaning Congress Party, former Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat was a regular visitor to New Delhi, pictured hugging then Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi when the two were championing the Non-Alignment Movement. In May, Modi hosted Arafat's successor, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, and offered help in health and information technology, but the trip was low-key. The scale of the ongoing collaboration with Israel dwarfs anything India is attempting with the Palestinians, officials say. "We have a wide ranging partnership with Israel that ranges from agriculture cooperation to homeland security," said Bala Bhaskar, head of the foreign ministry's West Asia division. He said India's ties with Israel and Palestine were important in their own right and neither should viewed through the prism of the other. But an Israeli diplomat said Modi's standalone trip to Israel was an important signal. The two sides are expected to announce strategic partnerships in areas including water, agriculture and space technology during Modi's visit. But it is the defense relationship that is most advanced - India is now Israel's biggest arms market, buying weapons at an average of $1 billion each year. Eli Alfassi, executive vice president of marketing at state-owned Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), the country's biggest defense firm, said it was supplying India with drones, radar, communication systems and cybersecurity. MISSILES, FOOD SECURITY The centerpiece of the collaboration is the Barack 8 air defense system, built jointly by the two countries in a boost for Modi's campaign to develop a domestic defense industry. "We are adjusting to the 'Make in India' policy which says only local companies will win tenders, so we are setting up three joint projects in India with local companies," Alfassi said. IAI has signed a memorandum of understanding to build missiles with India's state-run Bharat Electronics Limited, launched a joint project with Dynamatic Technologies to make drones and is scouting for a partner for a joint venture for its subsidiary Elta, which specializes in electronic warfare and communication systems, he said. India is in the midst of a military modernization program worth more than $100 billion to help counter rivals Pakistan and China. Israel, the United States and Russia are India's top military suppliers, and Modi's government has said it will favor countries that are ready to share technology. Avi Mizrachi, executive vice president of business development for Israel and Southeast Asia at Elbit Systems, which supplies electro-optic systems and upgrades of helicopters and combat vehicles, said it would be bidding for a tender to supply drones in partnership with India's Adani group. The two countries stress, though, that there is more to the relationship than arms deals. Modi will be discussing a plan for Israeli help in boosting India's food security, officials said. The plan is to expand 26 agriculture expertise centers that Israel has set up in 15 Indian states to help increase output of everything from vegetables to mangoes and pomegranates. Modi wants Indian companies involved in turning these small centers into commercial entities that would help tens of thousands of farmers to boost productivity. (Additional reporting by Ben Blanchard in BEIJING and Jeffrey Heller in Jerusalem; Editing by Alex Richardson)
By Khaled al-Ramahi and Stephen Kalin MOSUL/ERBIL, Iraq (Reuters) - Iraqis prepared on Sunday to celebrate an expected victory over Islamic State in Mosul, just blocks away from battles raging in the last few districts where the militants are dug in. Troops tied white banners and Iraqi flags to lamp posts and damaged buildings including the Hadba minaret, which the jihadists blew up in June along with the adjoining Grand al-Nuri Mosque, as air strikes and mortars rained down nearby. It was from al-Nuri's pulpit that Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi declared his caliphate three years ago. Authorities are planning a week of nationwide celebrations, according to a government statement, and Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi is expected to visit Mosul to formally declare victory. Mosul's fall would mark the effective end of the Iraqi half of the caliphate which Islamic State declared three years ago in parts of Iraq and Syria. The group still controls territory west and south of Mosul, where tens of thousands of civilians live. Soldiers from the elite Counter-Terrorism Service (CTS) retook the Makawi district of Mosul's Old City on Sunday, a military statement said, a few blocks from the western banks of the Tigris. Reaching the river will give Iraqi forces control over the entire city and is expected by the end of this week. A U.S.-led international coalition is providing air and ground support to the offensive, which Iraq's army and militarized police are also fighting in a multi-pronged attack. Federal police chief Lieutenant General Raed Shakir Jawdat said his forces had completed their mission in southern parts of the Old City on Saturday and those areas still needed to be cleared of explosives and corpses from two weeks of fighting. "Unfortunately until now there are families besieged and there are many discarded enemy corpses, and unfortunately many civilians have been martyred, so we must remove them," he told Reuters in western Mosul. "The areas must be cleared of bombs. We must make the areas safe so that civilians can return." Nearly nine months of grinding urban warfare have displaced 900,000 people, about half the city's pre-war population, and killed thousands, according to aid organizations. Thousands of residents are believed to be trapped in the Old City with little food, water, medicine and no access to health services, according to those who managed to flee. After CTS units captured the al-Nuri mosque complex on Thursday, Abadi declared the end of Islamic State's caliphate, which he called "a state of falsehood". Baghdadi has left the fighting in Mosul to local commanders and is believed to be hiding on the Iraq-Syrian border, according to U.S. and Iraqi military sources. The group has moved its remaining command and control structures to Mayadin, in eastern Syria, U.S. intelligence sources said last month, without indicating if Baghdadi was also hiding in the same area. Baghdadi has often been reported killed or wounded. Russia said on June 17 its forces might have killed him in an air strike in Syria. But Washington says it has no information to corroborate such reports and Iraqi officials are also skeptical. (Additional reporting by Maher Chmaytelli; Editing by Louise Ireland)
President Donald Trump and Pope Francis have voiced their support for the parents of critically ill British baby Charlie Gard. The pair have been engaged in a long legal battle to take their son to the U.S. for treatment for a rare genetic disease.

Who is Charlie Gard, and why is his case so significant? Heres what you should know.

Who is Charlie Gard?

In September 2016, Charlie Gard, whos now 10 months old, was diagnosed with a rare genetic condition called mitochondrial depletion syndrome, which causes progressive muscle weakness and brain damage. He cannot move his limbs or eat or breathe without assistance.

His parents, Chris Gard and Connie Yates, are both carriers of the faulty gene, but were unaware of it until Charlie turned three months old. According to a fundraising page they set up, Charlie is only the sixteenth known person in the world with the condition.

Why do his parents want to send him to the U.S.?

Charlies parents believe an experimental medication offered in the U.S. may be able to help the child, who is on life support.

After endlessly researching and speaking to [doctors] all over the world we found hope in a medication that may help him and a [doctor] in America has accepted him in his hospital, wrote the parents on Charlies fundraising page. It hasnt been tried on anyone with his gene before . . . but its had success with another mitochondrial depletion syndrome called TK2 which is similar.

Gard and Yates added that they strongly feel . . . Charlie should get a chance to try these medications and he has literally has nothing to lose but potentially a healthier, happier life to gain.

The pair set up a GoFundMe page to help raise money to send Charlie to the U.S. They raised 1.3 million ($1.68 million) in five months, with donations from 83,563 people.

What do Charlies doctors say?

Charlies doctors at Londons Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children, or GOSH, believe there is no cure for his condition, which is terminal.

Story continues

A statement on the hospitals website explains that GOSH explored various treatment options including nucleoside therapy, the experimental treatment offered by the U.S. hospital. GOSH concluded that the experimental treatment, which is not designed to be curative, would not improve Charlies quality of life, the statement says.

After balancing whether the experimental treatment was in Charlies best interests or not, the GOSH doctors said they thought it would be best to stop providing life support for Charlie and instead move on to a palliative care regime, allowing him to die with dignity.

One of the factors that influenced this decision was that Charlies brain was shown to be extensively damaged at a cellular level. The clinician in the U.S. who is offering the treatment agrees that the experimental treatment will not reverse the brain damage that has already occurred, the statement says.

What is stopping him from going to the U.S.?

Because Charlies parents disagreed with the doctors decision about Charlies future treatment, the decision went to the Family Division of Britains High Court in London.

The High Court ruled last April with the heaviest of hearts that it was in Charlies best interests for GOSH to lawfully withdraw all treatment save for palliative care to permit Charlie to die with dignity.

The judge said his decision not to allow Charlie to go to the U.S. was not related to funding. I dare say that medical science may benefit objectively from the experiment, but experimentation cannot be in Charlies best interests unless there is a prospect of benefit for him, he said, referring to the trial treatment, The Guardian reported at the time.

On May 2, the couple took their fight to the Court of Appeal, asking the judges not to take away the only remaining hope. However, on May 25, three Court of Appeal judges upheld the High Court ruling. Britains Supreme Court then agreed to review the case, but ruled that Charlies life support must be switched off.

Charlies parents took the case to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). But on June 27, the ECHR ruled that, in agreement with the domestic courts ruling, undergoing experimental treatment with no prospects of success would offer Gard no benefit, and continue to cause him significant harm. In a statement acquired by The Guardian, the ECHR declared the decision as final.

What was the response to the European Courts judgement?

Our thoughts are with Charlies parents on receipt of this news that we know will be very distressing for them, said a spokesperson for GOSH. Todays decision by the European court of human rights marks the end of what has been a very difficult process and our priority is to provide every possible support to Charlies parents as we prepare for the next steps.

With the agreement of Charlie Gards parents, Great Ormond Street Hospital is issuing this statement: pic.twitter.com/acKhuPCdSo  GOSH (@GreatOrmondSt) June 30, 2017

In a Facebook post, Charlies parents wrote that they are utterly heartbroken. The post added: Were not allowed to choose if our son lives and were not allowed to choose when or where Charlie dies. We and most importantly Charlie have been massively let down throughout this whole process.

Following the ECHRs decision, campaigners gathered at Buckingham Palace to protest the ruling, chanting save Charlie Gard and release Charlie Gard and holding placards, with one reading, Its murder.

What have President Trump and Pope Francis said?

If we can help little #CharlieGard, as per our friends in the U.K. and the Pope, we would be delighted to do so, wrote Trump on Twitter Monday morning.

If we can help little #CharlieGard, as per our friends in the U.K. and the Pope, we would be delighted to do so.  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 3, 2017

His comment came one day after Pope Francis said in a statement that he was following the case with affection and sadness, adding that he was praying that Gards parents wish to accompany and treat their child until the end isnt neglected.
PARIS (Reuters) - French President Emmanuel Macron said on Monday that after a "cruel decade" of crisis-management, European Union leaders needed to reform the bloc to fight euroskepticism among the public. "I firmly believe in Europe, but I don't find this scepticism unjustified," Macron told French lawmakers in a rare joint session of parliament in Versailles. The 39-year-old president, who defeated anti-euro far-right leader Marine Le Pen last May, reiterated in his speech a campaign proposal to launch "democratic conventions" - or public debates - in European countries to discuss the future of the European Union. "France must take the initiative. I want to do it thanks to the close cooperation I have already started with the German Chancellor," Macron said. "By the end of this year, and on this basis, we will launch democratic conventions all across Europe. It will be up to each one of us to sign up to it or not." Germany's Merkel and Macron agreed in May to draw up a roadmap to deeper European Union integration and opened the door to changing the bloc's treaties to facilitate ambitious reform. (Reporting by Michel Rose; editing by Richard Lough)
By Elinor Comlay and Chris Kenning (Reuters) - Partial government shutdowns in Maine and New Jersey stretched to a second day on Sunday as lawmakers returned to their respective state capitals in a bid to break budget impasses that have led to the suspension of many nonessential services. In Maine, a bipartisan budget committee met in Augusta in hopes of breaking a stalemate between Republican Governor Paul LePage and Democratic lawmakers. The shutdown came after LePage threatened to veto a compromise reached by lawmakers in the state's $7.055 billion, two-year budget. At New Jerseys statehouse in Trenton, there was little evidence of progress in resolving a fight over a health insurance bill that Republican Governor Chris Christie said must be passed alongside the states budget. Maine state police, parks and all offices responsible for collecting revenue planned to operate during the shutdown, the state's first since 1991, but the majority of 12,000 state employees will be furloughed. New Jersey residents were not so lucky. With the July 4 holiday weekend in full swing, the shutdown there included the closure of Island State Beach Park, one of New Jerseys few free public beaches, and all other state parks. Although he beach park was closed to the public, Christie took a state helicopter on Saturday to a gubernatorial residence there to be with family and said he would go back on Sunday night. "That's just the way it goes. Run for governor, and you have can have a residence there," he said when pressed on the issue. At a news conference on Sunday afternoon, the governor said he had not spoken since Friday to Democratic holdouts. The impasse could mean a furlough for 30,000 to 35,000 state employees on Monday. In Maine, the stalled budget proposal would have repealed a measure voters approved in November for a 3 percent income tax hike on residents earning more than $200,000 a year. It also contained a 1.5 percent increase in the lodging tax, while increasing funding for public education by $162 million. LePage has promised to veto any spending plan that raises taxes. A six-member bipartisan House-Senate budget panel huddled into the evening on Sunday seeking to reach a deal that would win the two-thirds vote needed for passage of an emergency budget bill in both legislative chambers. Mary-Erin Casale, a spokeswoman for Democratic House Speaker Sara Gideon, said a new compromise could be ready for a vote as early as Monday morning, about the time state employees planned to protest the shutdown at the capitol. A spokeswoman for the governor could not be reached for comment on Sunday. HEALTH INSURANCE STALEMATE At the center of New Jersey's stalemate was a plan by Christie to shake up the states largest health insurer, Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield, which he said lacked sufficient transparency and spent too much on salaries. He threatened to cut $150 million in school funding and other items unless lawmakers adopt his proposal, which would redirect some of Horizon's reserves to drug addiction treatment and other services. Christie offered to hear Democrats' proposals for breaking the impasse, saying: It should end today, but acknowledged a settlement was unlikely so soon. Christie, a former presidential contender whose reputation was tarnished by the Bridgegate traffic scandal involving some of his closest aides, ranks as the least popular governor in state history. He is in his second and final term. Assembly Speaker Vincent Prieto and other Democrats have criticized the Horizon bill as bad public policy, insisting that it be considered after the budget is passed. Christie blamed Prieto for the shutdown and vowed on Sunday to stand by the Horizon bill, saying: I got elected by a lot more people than Vinnie Prieto did. (Reporting by Elinor Comley in Atlantic City, N.J., and Chris Kenning in Chicago; Editing by Frank McGurty and and Peter Cooney)
A former graduate student charged with kidnapping a Chinese scholar in Illinois had previously visited a website with an Abduction 101 forum, federal authorities said.

Brendt Allen Christensen, 28, is accused of abducting Yingying Zhang, 26, a visiting researcher from China.

Read: 'Good Samaritan' Trying to Help Lost Toddler Attacked by Child's Father: Cops

Christensen, who earned a masters degree this year at the University of Illinois, used his cell phone to visit sites titled perfect abduction fantasy and planning a kidnapping, according to a federal criminal complaint.

The man made his first court appearance Monday and said nothing except to acknowledge he understood the charge against him. Authorities believe the woman is dead, but her body has not been found.

Christensen allegedly kidnapped Zhang as she tried to hail a bus in Urbana, the complaint said. She was on her way to sign a lease on a new apartment.

Surveillance video showed her getting into a Saturn Astra, which investigators tracked to Christensen, authorities said.

He was arrested Friday by federal authorities, who had him under surveillance and heard him talking about kidnapping the woman and bringing her to his apartment, the complaint says.

Read: Girl, 13, Found Dead Days After Amber Alert Issued, Killed Over Drug Theft She Had No Part Of: Report

On Thursday  the day before his arrest  Christenson was pictured at a rally on campus for the missing woman, standing close to Yingyings family and friends, CNN reported.

She was researching photosynthesis and crop productivity at the University of Illinois, officials said.

She was the daughter of a working-class factory driver who hoped her research would financially help her family, campus authorities said.

Christensen has not entered a plea. He was denied bail Monday pending a bond hearing on Wednesday.

Watch: Woman Pleads Not Guilty to Abducting Baby From Hospital 18 Years Ago

Story continues

Related Articles:
RACINE  Even though there is still no official timeline for Mayor John Dickerts resignation, aldermen are set to meet this week to again discuss the possible forthcoming special mayoral election to replace him.

Dickert did not respond to calls for comment Monday or last week about his plans to resign, which he announced in March. Dickert previously indicated that he would resign this summer to take over as president and chief administrative officer of the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative, a regional water conservation organization.

The GLSLCI has not confirmed whether Dickert has started in that role, but the voicemail of outgoing President David Ullrich, while still sounding like Ullrichs voice, says the phone now belongs to Dickert.

This is the telephone of John Dickert, president and chief administrative officer of the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative, the recording says. He cannot take your call right now.

Representatives from the GLSLCI, which still lists Ullrich as its president on its website, could not be reached for comment Monday or last week.

Nothing precludes Dickert from holding that job concurrently with his mayoral position. While he announced the acceptance of the GLSLCI position as the reason while he would step down, Dickert never directly said he would resign before starting that job.

However, social media posts indicate that a farewell party for Dickert took place Friday at Salute, 314 Main St.

Meeting about

the election

According to a city agenda posted Monday, the City Councils Committee of the Whole will meet at 6 p.m. Wednesday in Room 205 at City Hall, 730 Washington Ave., to discuss timing and logistical matters regarding the scheduling and conduct of a special mayoral election.

State law stipulates that Dickert must vacate the office before a special election can be called.

In April, in the aftermath of Dickerts March 27 resignation announcement, the Committee of the Whole met to discuss the process of scheduling the special election to replace Dickert. It was not clear Monday what, if any, new information will be discussed Wednesday.

The council can schedule the election between 62 and 77 days of approving it, or on a previously scheduled general election day. The next general municipal election is in April 2018. The winner of a special mayoral election would serve the remainder of Dickerts term, which runs through April 2019.

City Council President Dennis Wiser will serve as acting mayor immediately following Dickerts resignation. Hell have the choice to officially be mayor through the swearing in of the special elections winner, and has said previously that he will accept the role. He could not be reached for comment Monday.

State Rep. Cory Mason, D-Racine; local pastor and former School Board President Melvin Hargrove; and Wally Rendon, a former city police officer, Unified School Board member and local businessman, have announced their candidacy for the special election; Mason and Hargrove have already held campaign events. Sixth District Alderman Sandy Weidner and Justin Wheeler, who runs a marketing firm, also have filed to raise money for a future mayoral election.
(LOS ANGELES)  Demonstrators hoisting signs and chanting anti-Donald Trump slogans marched through downtown Los Angeles to urge Congress to impeach the president.

The Los Angeles march was one of several similar gatherings Sunday across California and the nation. One rally took place in Austin, Texas, the states capital.

Organizers say they believe the president has violated the U.S. Constitution and obstructed justice.

One banner called the president an Illegitimate Corrupt Puppet.

Marcher John Meranda tells the Los Angeles Times he has attended five recent anti-Trump marches. The 56-year-old says hes most recently frightened by the Republican proposal to cut billions of dollars from the Medicaid program.

Read More: Will Robert Mueller Separate Fact From Fiction?

A smaller group of pro-Trump protesters gathered nearby outside Los Angeles police headquarters. The Trump supporters say theyre unconcerned about allegations that Trump tried to thwart an FBI investigation of former national security adviser Michael Flynn.
Islamabad (AFP) - A US Senate delegation led by top Republican John McCain flew over Pakistan's tribal areas Monday after meeting with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to discuss regional security, as Washington gears up to send more troops to neighbouring Afghanistan.

The visit by members of the influential Senate Armed Services Committee came days after Islamabad slammed Washington's decision to sanction a Kashmiri militant leader.

The relationship between the US and Pakistan has been strained at times with some in Washington believing Islamabad has not done enough to bring its influence to bear to persuade the Afghan Taliban to renounce violence.

McCain said "close cooperation between the US and Pakistan was essential for securing peace and stability in the region" at the meeting with Sharif and other top Pakistani officials in Islamabad, according to a statement from the prime minister's office.

He also "attached importance to (US) relations with Pakistan, which remained a close friend and ally", the statement continued.

Sharif also called the Pakistan-US partnership "essential", and reiterated Pakistan's commitment to an Afghan-led peace process in Afghanistan, with strong relations between Washington, Kabul and Islamabad a "prerequisite", according to the statement.

Later Monday the senators flew with the military over South Waziristan in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas to see progress on infrastructure built there with US assistance, including roads and border outposts, and dam and irrigation projects.

A statement from the military said they were also briefed on border security, including Pakistan's bid to fence the frontier with Afghanistan.

Pakistan has received billions in US aid since the invasion of Afghanistan in 2001. Washington is actively considering sending more troops to the war-torn country to help struggling Afghan forces beat back the resurgent Taliban, with American commanders requesting thousands of extra boots on the ground.

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The Senate Armed Services Committee has legislative oversight of US military affairs. Other members of the delegation, which arrived Sunday and will leave Monday, included Senator Lindsey Graham, Senator Elizabeth Warren, Senator David Perdue and Senator Sheldon Whitehouse.

On Sunday they met with Pakistan's top foreign affairs official and the chief of its powerful military.

Last week, the US imposed sanctions on Syed Salahuddin, senior leader of the Kashmiri militant group Hizb-ul-Mujahideen, to the dismay of Pakistan after a meeting between Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump.

Kashmir has been divided between India and Pakistan since their independence from Britain in 1947, but both claim the territory in its entirety.

Sharif stressed Pakistan's belief in Kashmir's right to self-determination in the meeting with the US senators Monday, the statement from his office said, calling on Washington to help find a resolution to the nearly 70-year old dispute.
Washington (AFP) - A documentary about the mysterious killing of a beloved young Catholic nun half a century ago is the latest smash hit on Netflix, highlighting the popularity of true crime stories in America these days.

The series called "The Keepers," which began last month, is a suspenseful examination of the crime committed in 1969. People with information about the case are now either deceased or elderly.

The nun, a cheerful, buoyant woman known as Sister Cathy, was 26 when she died. She was a teacher at the all-girls' Archbishop Keough High School, and her students were crazy about her.

But there was apparently a dark side of the school, overseen by the Baltimore archdiocese. The school chaplain, Father Joseph Maskell, was allegedly a dangerous pedophile who exerted psychological domination over his victims.

Maskell, who was also a police chaplain, denied any wrongdoing. He died in 2001 and was never charged.

The makers of "The Keepers" follow the dogged work of two women in their 60s, Gemma Hoskins and Abbie Schaub, students of Sister Cathy (whose last name was Cesnik), who created a Facebook page to try to learn the truth about the death of their teacher.

The retired women effectively become detectives, digging back into decades' worth of files and creating an online posse of sleuths.

- Breaking the silence -

The pair uncover stunning information, which is revealed over the course of the series' seven episodes.

Dozens of former students at the high school came forward to break decades of silence and talk about how they were sexually abused by Father Maskell.

The hypothesis of the series is that Sister Cathy was killed by the priest as she was about to reveal his crimes.

The success of the series illustrates Americans' fascination with so-called cold cases -- unresolved cases that are technically open but all but dead.

Two similar documentaries have recently made real-life impacts. A man named Adnan Syed, convicted of killing his girlfriend, may get a new trial thanks to the hit podcast "Serial."

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And a man imprisoned for life as a minor may be freed because of documentary TV series "Making a Murderer."

"The Keepers" is also stirring up pressure for justice.

"People are very angry. That's the emotion I am seeing most that comes out of it. People are frustrated," said Ryan White, the director of the series. "They want something to be done about it."

- The church strikes back -

Over the course of the work by White's team, which lasted three years, two major institutions in Baltimore -- a port city with many Catholics -- were heavily criticized for their handling of the case: the police and the Catholic Church.

They have now hit back.

Accused of ignoring Father Maskell's victims, the archbishop of Baltimore published online a series of questions about the case and the church's response to them. This approach, too, has been criticized.

"I am someone now who is very protective of Maskell's survivors, because I spent the last three years listening to them and I am indebted to them because their stories comprise 'The Keepers," said White.

"And to watch the Catholic Church come out in attack mode, questioning the integrity of them and the documentary, I call this sickening."

Church officials insist they did not learn of accusations against the priest until 1992 and accuse "The Keepers" of misrepresenting the role of the church in the case.

"At no point do we suggest that Maskell was not guilty, or that the victims aren't telling the truth. We believe that to be the case," said Sean Caine, a spokesman for the Baltimore archdiocese.

As soon as the allegations emerged, Caine said, "we hired a private investigator. We spent hundreds of hours investigating it, interviewing former students, former family numbers, people in the community. No success at all."

But he acknowledged the church could have done a better job at public relations given the raw emotions raised by the documentary.

Police have reopened the investigation, acutely aware that, with the series' popularity, they are being closely watched.

Maskell's remains were exhumed to see if his DNA could be linked to the killing of Sister Cathy.

The results turned up nothing. But the probe has taken on another, larger dimension.

"I think we can still find out the answer and I think Father Maskell engineered this murder," said White.
Photographer Jacqueline Larma A Rwandan child, too weak from malnutrition to stand in line for vaccination, rests his head on a ledge at a crowded refugee camp for orphaned children in Ndosho, Zaire (Democratic Republic of the Congo), near Goma, July 28, 1994. (Photo: Jacqueline Larma/AP)

Jacqueline Larma is a photojournalist and the Associated Presss regional photo editor for the eastern United States, based in Philadelphia.

She was born in New York and grew up in Texas. In 1987, two years after graduating from the University of Texas at Austin, she followed a deep personal interest in the Middle East and moved to Jerusalem. After freelancing for the Sipa and Black Star photo agencies and working as a photo assistant for Agence France-Presse, she became an Associated Press staff photographer in Jerusalem in 1991.

Larma transferred to APs London bureau in 1994 and worked extensively in Europe before returning to Jerusalem in 1997. In 2000, she was promoted to chief photographer and photo editor for Israel and the Palestinian territories. In 2003, Larma returned to the United States, where she has been a staff photographer and regional photo editor based in Philadelphia.

She was awarded the 1995 Pulitzer Prize for feature photography as part of a four-person AP team for coverage of the Rwandan genocide and its aftermath. When she was chief photographer and photo editor in Jerusalem, her staff won the Overseas Press Clubs 2003 John Faber Award and an Associated Press Managing Editors Award for their coverage of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. (AP)

See more news-related photo galleries and follow us on Yahoo News Photo Twitter and Tumblr.
A police officer who rescued an abused young boy he found tied up in a bin has adopted him.

Jody Thompson first came into contact with his now son when he was off duty in 2015. He was pulling into the car park at the Poteau Police Department in Oklahoma to drop off his partner when he overheard a dispatch about a case of physical child abuse.

Despite not being on duty, Mr Thompson offered to respond to the call, given his experience handling child abuse cases during his time working at the district attorneys office.

"I've investigated child abuse cases before. I thought I'd better go ahead and respond, Mr Thompson told CBS News.

He arrived at the scene to find a severely underweight boy, called John, whose wrists had been bound by belts and who was covered in bruises.

The eight-year-old, who weighed just over four stone at the time, had been immersed in a dustbin full of cold water.

"He did not have a spot on his body that didn't have a bruise or abrasion. It was the worst thing I've ever seen, Mr Thompson said.

The officers then took John, covered in a blanket, to an Oklahoma Childrens Advocacy Centre so detectives and investigators could take photos. He then drove him to hospital, where he sat by his side all night as the child recovered in the intensive care unit.

"I sat with him. And when he was admitted to the intensive care unit, I sat all night until the next day," he said.

The following day Mr Thompson contacted the Oklahoma Department of Human Services (DHS) to request he become the child's foster parent. Within just a few days, he had brought John into the safety of his own home.

"When I'd seen him in that house shivering and his hands tied - just soaking wet and confused - I knew at that moment the only time I would be satisfied and sure that he was safe is if he was with me," he said.

The officer, who already had 15-year-old and 8-year-old sons, said he did not tell his family initially but that they had faith he was doing the right thing before they heard the harrowing story.

Story continues

In another extraordinary twist, just two days after bringing him into the family home, he found out his wife was pregnant with their third biological son.

In another unlikely turn seven months later, DHS called the Thompson family to ask them if they wanted to foster Johns newborn sister, Paizly, who had been born in prison with his mother.

They picked her up from the hospital the next day - when she was just a day old - and brought her straight home.

Although John's biological parents, who are both in prison and awaiting criminal trials, had relinquished their parental rights to their son, they refused to do so for their daughter, which led to a jury trial, where John testified on his own behalf.

It was not until February of this year that the Thompson's were formally allowed to adopt Paizley.

Last week, Mr Thompson received a certificate of commendation from the Oklahoma Bureau of Investigations, with John standing by his side as he accepted it.

Poteau Police Chief Stephen Fruenr released a statement, saying: "Jody's actions as well has his families are second to none. The example of love and compassion he has shown to this young man and his sister is an example everyone should follow.

"It's men like you that make me proud of our law enforcement brothers and sisters. You are very deserving of this commendation. I am proud to serve with you."

The inseparable father and son duo only recently opted to share their story with the world in the hope of helping other victims of abuse.

The NSPCC is a leading childrens charity fighting to end child abuse in the UK and Channel Islands. Adults can contact the free 24/7 helpline for advice and support or to share concerns about a child.

Adults can contact the NSPCC Helpline on 0808 800 5000, by emailing help@nspcc.org.uk or by visiting our website.

The NSPCC-run Childline service provides a safe, confidential place for children with no one else to turn to, whatever their worry, whenever they need help.

Children can contact Childline 24 hours a day, 365 days a year on by calling 0800 1111, or by visiting www.childline.org.uk
(Reuters) - Two men drew guns and fired shots at each other at a South Carolina shopping center on Monday after getting into an argument, but there were no injuries, North Charleston police said.

The suspects were still at large but there was no active-shooter situation at the Northwoods Mall in North Charleston, police department spokesman Spencer Pryor told a news briefing. The mall remained shut, he said.

A restaurant manager at the shopping center told Reuters that she saw people running from the mall around 5:25 p.m. The witness said she was too frightened to give her name.

Photos on Twitter showed police officers responding to the report of gunfire inside the mall with rifles drawn.

(Reporting by Suzannah Gonzales in Chicago, Ian Simpson in Washington and Bernie Woodall in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.; Editing by Chris Reese and Peter Cooney)
Doha (AFP) - Nearly a month since Qatar was isolated by its Gulf neighbours, residents of the emirate have learned to adapt to the daily realities of living with the embargo.

They buy vegetables and milk that come from Iran and Turkey, complain about price increases for staples while those travelling abroad face longer-than-usual flights as most neighbouring countries have closed their airspace to Qatar Airways.

"The government has found alternatives and there is no problem (of shortages)... despite a slight price increase we can cope," says Mohammed al-Chib, shopping at a Doha supermarket.

But he admits he and his family have had to make cutbacks.

"We've learned a lesson and we consume less."

On June 5, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt cut diplomatic ties with Qatar and moved swiftly to isolate Doha, accusing Doha of supporting extremism.

Riyadh and its supporters severed air and sea links with Qatar -- which denied the allegations against it -- and closed its only land border, cutting off vital routes for imports including food.

- Shelves full, prices up -

In the shock of the first days of the crisis, there was panic-buying and a very real fear of food shortages.

These were disproved and Qatar has far proved more than able to cope with the crisis, the worst to hit the region in decades.

Supermarket shelves are full again and no one is going hungry just yet.

"The shops are well-supplied but prices have increased a bit," says Maya, a Lebanese expat shopping in Doha

Perhaps that is not surprising.

Qatar is after all one of the world's wealthiest countries, transformed in recent years thanks to its much sought after energy riches, especially gas.

Doha's defiance -- and its ability to adapt -- has no doubt annoyed some of its rivals.

Though it may be largely a diplomatic crisis, some impacts are filtering their way through to life on the ground.

Some residents have grumbled about shortages, not only of their favourite foods, but also less predictable items such as replacement car windscreens.

Story continues

Prices are definitely a problem.

"The market is well-supplied but prices have increased a bit," added Maya.

One Indian resident who runs a small stall, said: "After the border closures, prices have jumped especially for rocket, parsley and chives."

Migrant labourers have told of their fears about food price increases and how it will affect how much money they can send home.

- A 'nightmare' -

Although it can seem like a distant crisis, the embargo does weigh on the daily lives of the country's 2.7 million, almost 90 per cent of them foreigners.

"The blockade is a nightmare and we hope there will be a quick end," added Maya.

ne very real consequence, especially during the summer, has been the impact on those trying to fly out of the country for holidays.

With the abolition of some routes by the Gulf countries, travelling has become a headache.

One Jordanian national complained he had "spent six hours in transit" at Muscat airport for a flight from Amman to Doha, via Oman, because of the flight restrictions imposed by the embargo.

And there has also been the human cost.

The decision of other Gulf countries to force home Qataris living on their territory and recalling their own nationals from Qatar has had a real impact.

More than 13,300 people were "directly affected", says the Qatari National Human Rights Committee.

In one reported case, a Qatari woman was forced to leave the United Arab Emirates where she lived with her husband and child.

When she arrived at the airport with her baby, she was told that he could not fly with her because he is an Emirati national.

And then there is the case of Zayed al-Marri.

Human Rights Watch says he has been blocked on the Saudi side of the land border it shares with Qatar since June 17, where temperatures reach daily 45 degrees Celsius (113 Fahrenheit).

Saudi Arabia claims he is a Qatari, but Doha insists Marri was stripped of his citizenship in the 1990s.

HRW has urged Qatar to let him in to the country.
Kuwait City (AFP) - Qatar on Monday handed its official response to a list of demands by Saudi Arabia and its allies to the emir of Kuwait, a Gulf official told AFP.

The response was delivered by Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani who made a short visit to Kuwait, which is acting as a mediator to resolve the diplomatic rift, the Gulf official said, requesting anonymity.

The official KUNA news agency reported that Sheikh Mohammed arrived in Kuwait earlier in the day to deliver a message from Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani.

No details were provided about the Qatari response but the foreign minister said on Saturday that the demands by Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt "were made to be rejected."

The Qatari response was delivered hours after the four nations accepted a call by Kuwait's Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad Al-Sabah to extend the 10-day deadline for another 48 hours.

The demands include Doha ending support for the Muslim Brotherhood, closing broadcaster Al-Jazeera, downgrading diplomatic ties with Iran and shutting down a Turkish military base in the emirate.
A Pennsylvania man, David Desper, was arrested Sunday for allegedly shooting an 18-year-old girl in a fit of rage June 28. The 28-year-old suspect, charged with first degree murder, admitted to his crime and remained in custody without bail Sunday, reports said.

Desper and Bianca Roberson, the teenager, were both driving on Route 100 in West Goshen when Roberson tried to merge into the same lane as Desper. "They jockeyed for position, and he wasn't happy, so he pulled out a gun and shot Bianca in the head, killing her instantly," District Attorney of Philadelphia Tom Hogan was quoted as saying by the CBS.

Read: Road Rage May Have Caused Muslim Teen, Nabra Hassanen's Death

After Roberson was shot, her car hit a tree while Desper reportedly fled in his vehicle. Police responded to the report of a serious automobile collision and realized the victim was shot, according to a press release by the West Goshen Township Police Department. The police questioned eyewitnesses present at the accident scene, and also reviewed several sources of video surveillance of the roadway where the shooting took place.

The number of road rage incidents involving guns is on the rise in the U.S. According to a report by Trace  an independent not-for-profit news organization that covers gun issues  1,319 gun-related road rage incidents were reported nationwide between January 2014 and December 2016.

"The Traces analysis found that incidents categorized as road rage  broadly, where someone in a car brandished a gun in a threatening manner or fired a gun at another driver or passenger  have more than doubled in the last three years, from 247 in 2014 to 620 in 2016."

Florida and Texas are known for heightened levels of rage gun incidents, as per the report. It is likely the road rage incidents have spiked in these two states due to large numbers of concealed-carry permit holders and relaxed gun laws. Cities with high violent crime rates, such as Chicago, Memphis, and St. Louis, have also witnessed large number of road rage incidents.

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Professor David Hemenway, Director, Harvard Injury Control Research Center, authored a paper in 2002 that underlined Arizona drivers having guns in their cars were more likely to act aggressively. The paper highlighted cars offered an environment where people feel safe displaying hostility.

Hemenway also co-wrote a research paper in 2006 that concluded: "A car gives the motorist power, protection, easy escape and anonymity."

Read: Charlotte Officer Kills Hispanic Man In Alleged Road Rage Shooting

Mary Vriniotis, a Harvard researcher who worked on a study of aggressive drivers in 2006, also observed, "drivers who feel slighted or endangered may feel they need to react quickly or miss their opportunity, a perspective that can cause a conflict to quickly escalate," according to the Trace report.

Further, a survey by the American Automobile Association (AAA), a non-profit federation of motor clubs throughout North America, in 2016 found nearly 80 percent of drivers admitted to at least one instance of aggressive driving within a year. Inconsiderate driving, bad traffic and the daily stresses of life can transform minor frustrations into dangerous road rage, said Jurek Grabowski, director of Research for the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety.

Far too many drivers are losing themselves in the heat of the moment and lashing out in ways that could turn deadly."

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In what is being seen as the latest tactic by the Islamic State group (ISIS) to strike back at Iraqi forces in Mosul, two female suicide bombers targeted Iraqi troops and killed one soldier Monday morning.

The women, who were hiding among a group of fleeing civilians, also injured several other soldiers, the Associated Press reported citing an Iraqi officer.

ISIS has lost majority portion of its territory during the battles being fought by the group and Iraqi forces. It is now controlling just over one square kilometer in all, or about 0.40 square miles. Regarding Monday's killing, Sgt. Ali Abdullah Hussein told the AP that using women as suicide bombers was apparently the latest tactic by the terrorist group.

They appeared from the basement (of a building) and they blew themselves up, Hussein said of the bombers, who attacked in the vicinity of the destroyed al-Nuri Mosque.

Read: Sex Slave Of ISIS Deceived Into Eating Her 1-Year-Old Son After Being Starved For 3 Days

Reports began surfacing early last year that ISIS has begun using female fighters and suicide bombers for the first time. In February 2016, at least seven female terrorists were in custody and more than three had been killed in one week in Libya.

Here are some of the facts about ISIS women suicide bombers.

1. ISIS reportedly turned its attention to train women when they started running out of children to use as shields in their fight. Sources inside the city of Raqqa said in 2015 ISIS started training female fighters as they were less likely to arouse suspicion, reported the Express,

2. According to a report compiled by activist group "Raqqa is being Slaughtered Silently," a woman from Raqqa, known only as Farah, claimed that an ISIS woman approached her to join the regime that needed women for "battles to protect Raqqa." Farah was told that it was her "duty to the city," Express reported.

Farah said: "The conversation of this woman started to evolve trying to convince me to join ISIS, but what more surprised me was that she asked me to join a new women battalion of ISIS and their mission is not to fight, but to carry out a suicidal operations being the enemy of ISIS."

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3. Sally Jones, 47, from Britain, also known as Umm Hussain al-Britani, has issued repeated terror threats against the UK, U.S. and Europe and called for supporters to carry out attacks. She was married to an ISIS hacker who was killed in 2015 in a drone strike. She is one of the most prolific propagandist for the Islamic State group and has published kill lists of targets and announced her wish to behead Christians online, the Independent reported.

Read: Is Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi Dead?

4. There are around 600 Western female ISIS recruits, but the number of non-Western women is believed to be much higher. Around 700 women from Tunisia alone have reportedly travelled to Syria to join the terrorist organization, according to Time.

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Jeddah (Saudi Arabia) (AFP) - Saudi Arabia hoped on Monday for a "positive" response from Qatar to demands that it end support for "terrorism" and its associations with Iran.

Riyadh and its allies on June 5 severed diplomatic and transport ties with their gas-rich Gulf neighbour Qatar, in the worst diplomatic crisis to hit the region in decades.

They issued a list of 13 demands but announced early Monday a 48-hour extension to the deadline which had been due to expire at the end of Sunday.

"We hope for a positive response to be able to resolve the crisis," Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said in the Red Sea city of Jeddah.

He spoke at a news conference with his German counterpart, Sigmar Gabriel, who began a tour of Arab states.

Gabriel has called for a "serious dialogue" to end the Gulf crisis which he said could weaken the entire Arabian peninsula.

Kuwait, which did not cut ties with Doha, is mediating the dispute and on Monday received Qatar's response to the demands.

Details of the response were not immediately available.

Jubeir said the reply will be "examined with precision".

In Washington last week, he said the demands were non-negotiable.

They include Doha's ending support for the Muslim Brotherhood, closing broadcaster Al-Jazeera, downgrading diplomatic ties with Iran and shutting a Turkish military base in the emirate.

Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt accuse Doha of supporting groups, including some backed by Riyadh's rival Iran, "that aim to destabilise the region".

Doha strongly denies the accusations.

Jubeir said he discussed with Gabriel "the necessity of putting an end to the support for terrorism, extremism, and calls for hate and interference in the affairs of others."

The German minister is to also visit the UAE, Qatar and Kuwait.

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has also called for compromise and hosted senior Gulf officials, but his efforts have been undermined by remarks from President Donald Trump apparently supporting Riyadh's position.

Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani has said the list of demands was "made to be rejected".

On Monday British lawyers for the emirate denounced the demands as "an affront to international law".
(Reuters) - AT&T customers in central Indiana including Indianapolis experienced service outages on Monday and into Tuesday morning after a fiber wire was cut, the company said.

Customers in Brownsburg and Danville, communities west of Indianapolis, were experiencing issues with wireless and wireline services, the company told Reuters in a Twitter message early on Tuesday.

The service interruptions were caused by a third party who cut a fiber wire, the company said.

"Technicians are on site and working as quickly as possible to resolve the issue," the company added.

According to Downdetector.com, reports of AT&T outages began at 4:00 p.m. EDT on Monday. Some 42 percent of the reports involved no internet service and 36 percent involved no phone service, the online service that tracks cell and internet outages reported.

"We apologize but there is currently a large outage in your area! Our techs are working diligently to get issues resolved!," AT&T told a customer in Indiana on Monday evening.

AT&T customers also reported experiencing service issues in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Dallas, Atlanta and several metropolitan areas along the East Coast, a map on Downdetector.com showed.

(Reporting by Brendan O'Brien in Milwaukee; Editing by Vyas Mohan)
Jezebel

Its been nearly two decades since actress and former Scientologist, Leah Remini, has been looking for Shelly Miscavige, the missing wife (and First Lady) of the Church of Scientologys de facto leader, David Miscavige. Shes dedicated entire episodes of her A&E series to her investigation, mentioned it innumerable times in the press, and even confronted church officials with questions at Tom Cruises 2006 wedding to Katie Holmes. Now, via viral thread on Twitter, Remini has detailed a new devel
By Reuters Staff WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump offered help to a terminally ill infant an ocean away in a Twitter post on Monday after his parents lost a legal battle to give him experimental therapy in the United States. The baby, 10-month-old Charlie Gard, has been at the center of a long legal battle between his parents, who wanted him to undergo an American therapy trial, and specialists at the hospital in London who said the treatment was experimental and would not help. "If we can help little #CharlieGard, as per our friends in the U.K. and the Pope, we would be delighted to do so," Trump said in a morning Twitter post. The baby, who will be 11 months old on Tuesday, suffers from a rare genetic disorder that has left him unable to move his arms, legs or to breathe unaided. He has a form of mitochondrial disease  a genetic condition that causes progressive muscle weakness and brain damage. Trump waded in to the complex case as his fellow Republicans in the U.S. Senate struggled to reach consensus on a healthcare reform plan that would slash spending on healthcare for low-income Americans. It was unclear how the U.S. president would propose to help in the case. The baby's parents, Chris Gard and Connie Yates, launched a fundraising appeal to help pay for his doctors' bills in the United States. They have raised 1.3 million pounds ($1.68 million) from more than 83,000 donations, according to his Gofundme page. Britain's Supreme Court ruled last month that going to the United States for treatment would prolong the baby's suffering without any realistic prospect of helping him. The court would not allow an American doctor found by the couple to be identified and details about the therapy were not available. The parents asked the European Court of Human Rights to overturn the ruling, but that court last week declined to intervene. Trump weighed in on Charlie Gard a day after Pope Francis. The Holy Father is following the case of little Charlie Gard with affection and emotion and expresses his closeness to his parents. He is praying for them, hoping that their desire to accompany and care for their own child to the end is not ignored, according to statement from the Vatican on Sunday. UK Prime Minister Theresa May's spokesman, asked about the Trump tweet, said it was a very sensitive case and their thoughts are with Charlies family.
By Roberta Rampton WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump spoke with German and Italian leaders on Monday, a White House official said, ahead of a summit of the Group of 20 leading economies this week that could expose his sharp differences with world powers on trade and other issues. Trump is preparing for the two-day G20 summit that starts in Hamburg on Friday, just over a month after a G7 summit in Sicily showed deep divisions between Trump and other Western leaders on climate change, trade and migration. A fractious first NATO summit with Trump also left European allies wondering where the military alliance goes next. Trump will hold separate meetings with various leaders in Hamburg, including host German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and a potentially difficult first meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Trump announced on Twitter that he would be talking on the phone with leaders from Germany, Italy and France on Monday. The White House later said in a statement that the calls would be with Merkel and Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni, but did not mention French President Emmanuel Macron. Trump and Macron spoke last week when the U.S. president accepted an invitation to attend Bastille Day ceremonies in Paris on July 14. Representatives for the White House did not immediately reply to a request for comment. Representatives for Macron's office could not immediately be reached for comment. In remarks last week, Merkel raised the prospect of an open clash with Trump at the Hamburg summit, although some Trump administration officials have played down the discord. Heather Conley, a State Department official during the Republican George W. Bush administration, said the United States' European allies are still shocked after the G7 and NATO summits with Trump cast doubt over Washington's relation with its allies. Theres concern he could improve it  but could also do further damage, said Conley, who is now with the CSIS think tank in Washington. Russia and the United States are still discussing the timing of the encounter between Trump and Putin, a Kremlin aide said on Monday. Since Trump was elected U.S. president, Russian has been keenly anticipating his first meeting with Putin, hoping it would trigger a reset in U.S.-Russia relations that plunged to post-Cold War lows under Trump's predecessor, Barack Obama. But with Trump embroiled in controversy at home over his associates' potential links to Moscow, the session with Putin has become a minefield. Too warm a meeting would allow Trump's domestic opponents to accuse him of being a Kremlin stooge. High-level U.S. diplomat Thomas Shannon met on Monday with Russia's ambassador to Washington, Sergei Kislyak, to prepare for the Trump-Putin meeting, the State Department said. They also discussed scheduling a new meeting between Shannon and Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov, which Moscow canceled in June in anger at expanded U.S. sanctions on Russia. (Additional reporting by Susan Heavey in Washington,; Andrew Callus and Richard Lough in Paris and Denis Dyomkin and Maria Tsvetkova in Moscow; Writing by Alistair Bell; Editing by Frances Kerry and Jonathan Oatis)
Beirut (AFP) - US-backed forces have penetrated the heavily fortified heart of jihadist bastion Raqa for the first time, in a key milestone in the war against the Islamic State group in Syria.

Air strikes by the US-led coalition battling IS punched two holes in the medieval wall surrounding Raqa's Old City, allowing fighters of the Syrian Democratic Forces to breach the jihadists' defences, Washington and the SDF said on Tuesday.

The advance -- the culmination of a nearly eight-month campaign -- comes as the jihadists face an expected defeat within days in Iraq's second city Mosul, the other pivot of the cross-border "caliphate" they declared in 2014.

Coalition officials said a few hundred diehard jihadists were making a desperate last stand in just one square kilometre (less than half a square mile) of Mosul's Old City.

In neighbouring Syria, the SDF said coalition warplanes opened up two breaches in the 2.5 kilometre (one and a half mile) Rafiqah Wall around Raqa's Old City, enabling its fighters to evade explosives laid by IS.

"Daesh (IS) have used this archaeological wall to launch attacks, and planted bombs and mines in its gates to hinder the advance of SDF forces," the alliance said.

During three years of jihadist rule, Raqa became infamous as the scene of some of IS's worst atrocities, including public beheadings, and is thought to have been a hub for planning attacks overseas.

"There have been fierce clashes (in the Old City) since dawn today, with 200 of our fighters mobilising to the area," said Mohammad Khaled Shaker, a spokesman for the Syrian Elite Forces, US-backed Arab fighters allied with the SDF.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said US-backed forces "are clashing with IS at four points in the eastern part of the Old City" as fresh coalition air strikes pummelled other neighbourhoods.

- 'Real fight has begun' -

The US envoy to the coalition, Brett McGurk, said on Twitter that breaching the Rafiqah Wall marked a "key milestone in (the) campaign to liberate the city."

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US Central Command, which oversees military operations across the Middle East, said the coalition air strike had allowed advancing forces "to breach the Old City at locations of their choosing."

This prevented IS from using booby-traps, landmines and suicide car bombs, "protected SDF and civilian lives, and preserved the integrity of the greatest portion of the wall," it said.

The United Nations has raised concerns for tens of thousands of civilians trapped in Raqa, where it says the jihadists are using many as human shields.

The Rafiqah Wall that surrounds the city's historic heart originally dates back to the late 8th century, when as capital of the Abbasid caliphate, Raqa was briefly the centre of the Islamic world.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the advance had been supported by US special forces and constituted the "most important progress" yet for the SDF, which broke into Raqa on June 6.

But IS still controls 70 percent of the city, according to the Observatory, and the toughest battles are yet to come.

"Today, the real fight for Raqa has begun. There are both many civilians and many mines in the Old City," said Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman.

"The biggest challenge for the SDF will be opening up humanitarian corridors so besieged civilians can leave," he said.

Activists were also concerned that as the SDF moved closer to the heart of Raqa, civilian casualties would rise.

"Now that they are in the Old City, they're in a much more densely populated area," said Hussam Eesa from the Raqa is Being Slaughtered Silently activist collective.

"We may be counting casualties by the hundreds," he told AFP.

- Mosul victory 'in 2 days' -

The coalition estimates that around 2,500 IS jihadists are defending Raqa.

That is far more than the 200 or so IS fighters, most of them foreign, that Iraqi commanders believe are holed up in Mosul's Old City.

Iraqi forces were moving in on the last IS-controlled neighbourhoods of the Old City from all sides on Tuesday, commanders said.

"In the next two days, we will announce the complete liberation of the Old City, and therefore... the city of Mosul," Staff Brigadier General Haidar al-Obeidi, a commander in the elite Counter-Terrorism Service, told AFP.

Iraqi forces have been closing in on Mosul's Old City for months, but its maze of narrow alleyways combined with a large civilian population has made for an extremely difficult fight.

Iraqi forces are facing a rising number of suicide attacks, including some by female bombers, in the final stages of the more than eight-month-long campaign, commanders said.

But coalition officials said the jihadists were now on their last legs in their two most emblematic strongholds.

"#ISIS terrorists down to less than one square kilometre in #Mosul and totally surrounded in #Raqqa," tweeted US envoy McGurk.
U.S. backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have nearly sealed off the remaining ISIS forces in Raqqa, Syria according to the New York Times Sunday. Raqqa has been the capital of the self-styled Islamic State since the extremist group declared their Caliphate, or reign, two years ago. The operation aims to trap and defeat a possible ISIS force of 2,500 militants. This push comes after a successful blow against ISIS on Thursday when Iraqi forces recaptured Al Nuri Grand Mosque in Mosul, an ISIS stronghold.

We are seeing the end of the fake Daesh (ISIS) state, the liberation of Mosul proves that, said Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi on Twitter. We will not relent. Our brave forces will bring victory.

READ: Whats Happening In The Philippines? ISIS Militants Continue Siege

Daesh is the Arabic acronym for ISIS.

If Syrian forces are successful in their fight, it would mark another huge blow to the physical presence of ISIS. The battle has been raging for a month and Reuters reported Sunday that SDF has deployed 1,000 additional troops for the fight. U.S. officials said that the city is nearly completely closed off except for one gap that remains near the Euphrates River that runs along the southern edge of Raqqa.

RTS19EE1 (1)

Photo: Goran Tomasevic/REUTERS

In addition to the ISIS militants, there are around 50,000 civilians left in the city, and officials fear that ISIS will use them as human shields.

A June U.N. report detailed how ISIS used human shields in Mosul and killed civilians as the tried to flee. Militants could use the same tactics in Raqqa.

Shooting children as they try to run to safety with their families, there are no words of condemnation strong enough for such despicable acts, said U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Raad Al Hussein in a statement. I call on the Iraqi authorities to ensure that those who are responsible for these horrors are held accountable and brought to justice in line with international human rights laws and standards. The victims of such terrible crimes must not be forgotten.

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READ: ISIS Violence In Syria Threatens More Than 40,000 Children, UNICEF Says

Complicating the final strike internationally are the tensions between Russia and the U.S. Russia is backing the Bashar al-Assad led Syrian government and their forces who are in opposition to the SDF in Syrias ongoing civil war. Both sides are attempting to push ISIS out of the country. The American commander for the SDF and coalition forces fighting the ISIS militants is Lt. Gen. Stephen J. Townsend. His Russian counterpart Col. Gen. Sergei Surovikin leads the Syrian government forces and Iranian troops. The two leaders have agreed on a buffer that keeps their forces separated. The buffer also allows airstrikes to not interfere with each other.

Many of the leaders and administrators of ISIS have already fled to a town East of Raqqa called Mayadin.

Related Articles
US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson held a private meeting with UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres to discuss the US' limited mission in Syria: Eduardo Munoz Alvarez/Getty Images

The US Secretary of State has reportedly told the United Nations Secretary General that he thinks the fate of Syria and its leader is now up to Russia.

Rex Tillerson held a private meeting with Antonio Guterres at the State Department when he said the US was limiting its mission to defeating terror group Isis, according to Foreign Policy.

Citing three diplomatic sources with knowledge of the exchange, Mr Tillerson said that though the US is committed to the 2012 Geneva Process that stated it, Russia, and other western countries would put a transition government in place, the fate of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad would be in Russia's purview.

The US has "limited tactical goalsdeterring future chemical weapons attacks and protecting U.S. backed-forces fighting the Islamic State in Syrianot weakening the Assad government or strengthening the oppositions negotiating leverage".

One official told the news outlet that the Syrian people should determine their countrys political future through a political process" and that a "credible political process" would answer the questions looming about the country's future.

The UN Security Council has tried several times to put forth resolutions to bring an end to the conflict and open humanitarian corridors to get medical treatment to civilians caught in the fighting, however Russia has used its veto power no less than eight times.

However, Mr Tillerson said in April 2017 that Mr Assad would have "no role" in Syria after his use of chemical weapons, which had prompted Donald Trump to launch nearly 60 missiles into the Idlib province after one particular attack that resulted in nearly 100 dead, many of them children according to a video of the aftermath of the attack.

White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said last month that the US has "identified potential preparation" for another chemical attack by Mr Assad as well.

The Secretary of State's message to the UN comes after Russia and the US have had a "war of words," as Newsweek called it.

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The two have a line of communication that is supposed to be used to allow US and Russian troops to avoid being struck during attacks on Isis however, in June 2017 a US Navy fighter jet shot down a Syrian war plane without communicating with Russian forces about it ahead of time per normal procedure.

Russia, which has been one of few allies to Mr Assad, responded by saying that any US war planes in the vicinity of the incident would be treated as targets.

The Russian Defence Ministry called it "a cynical violation of the sovereignty of the Syrian Arab Republic".

Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the US "should not create excuses for more attacks against the Syrian army that is fighting terrorists".

Mr Spicer then responded that the escalation of hostilities among the many factions that are operating in this region doesnt help anybody. And the Syrian regime and others in the regime need to understand that we will retain the right of self-defence, of coalition forces aligned against Isis".

Mr Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin are set to meet at some point during a meeting of the G20 this week in Hamburg, Germany. No agenda has been made public, but Syria is likely to be one topic of discussion.
ABOARD THE USS GEORGE H.W. BUSH (AFP) - A senior officer aboard a US Navy supercarrier deployed in the eastern Mediterranean said Monday his forces were wary of "tensions" with allies of Syria's regime but ready to defend US-backed forces.

The USS George H.W. Bush has been a leading part of the US bombing campaign in Iraq and Syria, primarily against the Islamic State group but on occasion targeting Syrian government forces and their allies fighting US-backed groups.

The 330-metre ship carries between 70 and 90 aircraft at a time, including a fleet of F-18 fighter jets which are used to strike IS targets in Mosul, Raqa and elsewhere.

The vast majority of the 1,600 sorties in the past five months have targeted IS in Iraq and Syria, James McCall, commanding officer of Carrier Air Wing 8, told journalists, but a small number have targeted allies of the Syrian government.

The Syrian regime is also fighting IS, as well as battling US allies in other parts of the war-ravaged country.

McCall said an aircraft from the ship was the one that had downed a Syrian warplane on June 18, after the US military had issued a series of warnings.

He admitted there had been "a lot of tension" with "pro-regime forces" in parts of Syria.

"We are looking out for coalition forces on the ground and ensuring their safety in that regard," he told journalists aboard the aircraft carrier, which is moored off the Israeli city of Haifa for a few days.

"We have actually flown in support of some of those actions -- to include air-to-surface engagements -- so that is absolutely something we are paying a lot of attention to."

The US carried out its first direct military action against Syria's regime in April, firing 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles at the Shayrat military airport in response to an alleged chemical weapons attack.

Last week, the White House said President Bashar al-Assad was potentially preparing a new chemical weapons attack.

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Asked if the US military could strike Assad forces if chemical weapons were used again, Captain Will Pennington said he would not speculate on any future responses.

Pennington said between 20 and 25 missions took off a day at peak times.

He said the forces had played a crucial role in pushing back IS in Iraq, with the militants losing control of the vast majority of their former stronghold city of Mosul.

"The battle is coming to a conclusion in Mosul, although I think the last few things will be tough given the narrow streets and densely populated (neighbourhoods)."

-Civilian deaths-

The US military reported last month that 484 civilians have been killed during attacks on IS targets since mid-2014, including 105 who died when a US aircraft dropped a bomb on an IS sniper in Mosul on March 17.

The bomb inadvertently set off a large cache of explosives, collapsing a building on top of civilians sheltering below.

McCall said everything possible was being done to prevent such deaths.

"Minimising civilian casualties on the ground is a very important part of what we do.

"We have had aviators that have spotted what they believed to be civilian personnel on the ground or just they are not sure who those are.

"In all those cases they have been able to communicate back on the radios to our folks on the ground and either stop the attack from happening or wait until that confusion could be cleared up."

He did not comment on specific incidents.

The ship's arrival marked the first time since 2000 that an American aircraft carrier has visited Israel.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu boarded on Monday along with the US ambassador to Israel David Friedman.

Netanyahu hailed the ship's role in taking on IS.

"This carrier has served as a base for flights against the Islamic State and a war against ISIS should be seen for what it is -- a clash between good and evil," Netanyahu told crew members and journalists aboard.
Caracas (AFP) - Venezuela's chief prosecutor refused to appear in court Tuesday in a case she says was trumped up by the authorities after she defied them over the country's deadly political crisis.

Luisa Ortega faced imminent suspension after her move cranked up the tension in a standoff with President Nicolas Maduro, who is resisting fierce opposition calls to quit.

Ortega, 59, is the most senior figure to defy Maduro as he fends off efforts to remove him from power in the volatile oil-exporting nation.

"I am not going condone a circus that will stain our history with shame and pain and whose decision is foretold," Ortega told a news conference at the public prosecution department.

"I have committed no crime nor errors and I am not going to submit to this unconstitutional and illegitimate court," she added. "We already know that today I will be removed from my post."

Ortega's stand has raised the prospect of a split in the government camp that could tip the balance in a deadly power struggle. Three months of unrest have left 91 people dead, prosecutors say.

The latest fatality was that of a 25 year old man killed Tuesday during a street protest in the western city of Tariba, prosecutors said.

Anti-government protesters blocked streets in Caracas and elsewhere. Opposition leaders said that in Caracas, armed pro-government groups beat and shot at demonstrators.

Protesters blame Maduro, a socialist, for a desperate economic crisis. He says the chaos is the result of a US-backed conspiracy.

- 'Insanity' -

Ortega launched a legal challenge against the government on human rights grounds, and a case against Supreme Court judges.

She accuses Maduro of violating the constitution through his reform plans.

Pro-government lawmaker Pedro Carreno responded by filing charges against Ortega, alleging "serious errors in the carrying out of her functions."

He also alleged she was suffering from "insanity" and should be fired.

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Last week, the Supreme Court ordered Ortega's assets to be frozen and banned her from leaving the country.

The court held its hearing Tuesday in her absence and said afterward it would decide within five days whether to send her to trial and suspend her from office.

"She sold her soul to the devil," Carreno said in the hearing. "She had her price and became a traitor just like Judas."

The court earlier named a new deputy chief prosecutor to replace Ortega if she is fired: government ally Katherine Harrington.

Harrington was targeted by US sanctions in 2015 for alleged human rights breaches in jailing opposition leaders.

- Veteran 'Chavista' -

Ortega backed the "Chavista" socialist movement launched by Maduro's late predecessor Hugo Chavez.

But she broke ranks with the current president in March.

She accused the Supreme Court of undermining democracy through a short-lived ruling that seized power from the opposition-led legislature. The opposition says the court is packed with Maduro's allies.

That court ruling was one of the moves that sparked the current wave of protests.

As violence swelled, Ortega renewed her criticism of the authorities, accusing police of killing protesters. She enraged Maduro, who branded her a traitor.

- 'Tipping point?' -

Maduro retains the public support of army chief Vladimir Padrino Lopez -- a key factor for him to stay in power.

But the president last month said he was replacing four other senior commanders of the armed forces.

Maduro has infuriated his opponents by launching a plan to form an assembly to rewrite the constitution.

Opponents say he will pack the "constituent assembly" with allies to cling to power.

Voting for members of the assembly is scheduled for July 30. The opposition on Monday said it would hold a popular vote against that on July 16.

"The next major flashpoint will be the election on 30 July of delegates to the Constituent Assembly," analysts from the Eurasia Group consultancy said last week in a note.

"However, the political crisis is so fluid that the country could reach a tipping point before then."
London (AFP) - British Prime Minister Theresa May's government ditched two controversial manifesto promises on Tuesday on fox hunting and free school lunches, as it limits its ambitions after last month's disastrous election.

The ruling Conservatives lost their majority in the House of Commons in the June 8 vote, forcing them to form a minority government with the help of a small Northern Irish party -- and scrap some plans they think will not pass.

One of the most contentious was the promise to allow MPs to vote on the future of the 2004 ban on fox hunting with dogs, which has widespread public support.

"We are not planning to bring forward a free vote in this session," environment minister Theresa Coffey told the Commons in response to a question from the opposition Labour party.

The Conservatives had also pledged to scrap free lunches provided for children in their first three years of school, offering instead cheaper school breakfasts for more children.

"We have listened very carefully to the views of the sector on the proposal to remove infant free school meals and we have decided that it is right to retain the existing provision," said education minister Nick Gibb, again in response to a Labour question.

MPs voted by 323 votes to 309 last week to approve the government's legislative agenda for the next two years, which was dominated by bills preparing for Britain's exit from the European Union.

The first piece of Brexit legislation -- the Repeal Bill, which will convert EU law into British law -- will be published next week, May's spokesman said Tuesday.
Donald Trump has a knack for choosing weak adversaries. He recognized the potential in taking advantage of undocumented workers. He used the element of surprise to take out Vince McMahon. Then he cut through a field of supposedly formidable Republicans as though they were Lilliputians, setting himself up for a general-election match-up against Hillary Clintonwho, it turned out, was a notably weak Democratic nominee.

Now its the presss turn. While hes bashed the news media since early in his campaign, the president has recently elevated his feud, with attacks on Mika Brzezinski and CNN that shocked even benumbed observers. Reporters are, understandably, horrified, but the general reaction from the press seems likely to encourage Trump while failing to rally the public against his behavior.

Related Story

Donald Trump Is Testing Twitters Harassment Policy

Trumps attack on Brzezinski, including bizarre (and seemingly invented) claims about a botched facelift, is fully in keeping with the behavior of a man who boasted about committing sexual assault. His decision to post a video in which he attacks a man with the CNN logo superimposed over his facean alteration of an old appearance with McMahon at a WWE eventcan only be read as encouraging violence against the media; the best that can be said for it is that it might be, like professional wrestling, insincere, though what it would mean for someone to commit insincere physical violence against the press is anybodys guess.

For reporters, it feels demoralizing to be attacked repeatedly by the president of the United States; some feel physically threatened. But the best way to respond to this is to make a stronger case to the American people as to why Trumps attacks are unacceptable, rather than expecting it to be self-evident, or hoping that pity and sympathy will elicit public support. Rather than explaining why the president attacking the media is bad for the media, the media need to appeal to the publics self-interest and explain why its bad for them.

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Recommended: How the Left Lost Its Mind

Most Americans disapprove of the presidentbut most of them disapprove of the press as well. Just a third of Americans trust the media. Two-thirds believe the media are politically biased. Forty-five percent say the media abuse their First Amendment rights, versus just 35 who say they use those rights responsibly. Other presidents have faced implacably hostile press corps, but none of them have had the benefit of so unpopular a press. Trump is trying to press that advantage, and simply appealing to the public to take the side of the press on grounds of reasonability is unlikely to find much traction.

Besides, Trump has been assailing reporters for months: There were his repeated attempts at bullying NBCs Katy Tur; his attack on Megyn Kelly, then of Fox News, for having blood coming out of her wherever; and more general bashing that was a staple of campaign rallies. This had little impact on his ability to win almost half of the votes in the November election. Even when Republican candidate for Congress Greg Gianforte physically assaulted Guardian reporter Ben Jacobs in May (dont take my word for it: Gianforte pleaded guilty), he was easily elected. And reactions to Gianfortes assault, instead of reflecting moral principles, quickly split along partisan lines, with Democrats outraged and many Republicans rationalizing the assault.

The press, and the nation, can ill-afford for condemning physical attacks on reporters to become a partisan issue, and yet so many responses to Trump have fallen into the trap of encouraging precisely such partisan reactions. Take the statement that CNNs public-relations team put out over the weekend. It is a sad day when the President of the United States encourages violence against reporters, it began. Fair enough. Next: Clearly, Sarah Huckabee Sanders lied when she said the President had never done so. This is a little dodgier. Some precincts of the press are more nervous about calling White House officials liars than others, but its hard to see what purpose dragging in a silly claim by a deputy spokeswoman serves here. And then the coup de grace:

Instead of preparing for his overseas trip, his first meeting with Vladimir Putin, dealing with North Korea and working on his health care bill, he is involved in juvenile behavior far below the dignity of his office. We will keep doing our jobs. He should start doing his.

Of course the video is juvenile; of course the president should be spending more time staffing his administration, learning whats in the Senate health-care bill, and boning up on policy. But what purpose does this snark serve? It only encourages the view of Trumpand many of his supportersthat the media are out to get him and view him as the enemy.

Recommended: The Souring of American Exceptionalism

The press tends to fare best when it doesnt make itself the story, but thats particularly imperative here. As Ishaan Tharoor writes, Turkey under Recep Tayyip Erdogan offers a cautionary tale of what happens when a free press fails to defend itself effectively against an authoritarian leader. But it isnt sufficient just to declare that the press is under attack. Its not even enough to declare that the First Amendment is under attack, since even that has lost public support. In a Newseum poll, 74 percent of respondents did not think that fake news should be protected by freedom of the pressa grave misunderstanding of how a free press operates. Four in 10 Millennials support censorship of offensive speech.

Nor is the answer, as Ari Fleischer would have it, for the press to ease up on Trump. Like all spokespeople, Fleischer, a former White House press secretary, wants to convince reporters that they just need to pull their punches, when soft-pedaling will really only erode the presss standing, and its ability to do its job.

In order to defend itself, the media will have to make the case that Trumps attacks on the press are bad for the public. The problem with the presidents behavior isnt that hes mean to the press, since anyone who signed up for a journalism job in order to be chummy with elected officials chose the wrong career. The problem is that his attacks on the press threaten to undermine public confidence in its work, and its ability to gather and convey information on an independent basis. In a democracy, the press is the means by which ordinary citizens gain the information necessary to make informed decisions and to judge their elected representatives. The president has repeatedly and flagrantly attempted to mislead the American public; those deceptions are well-chronicled, because there is a free press to document them. Theres no way to temper free speech for the media without tempering free speech for the rest of the population.

Recommended: Why Trump Keeps Returning to Reddit

Its no use trying to make the public love the members of the press, much less pity them. What matters is convincing the public that the press is worth tolerating, because its an essential guarantor of the publics own freedoms. The irony is that no one understands the utility of a freewheeling press quite like Donald Trump. Even as he railed against reporters at campaign rallies, the candidate knew full well that his ability to play to the papers and television had inflated his mediocre business career into a world-famous one, and his long-shot candidacy into a presidential victory. His attacks were doubly distasteful because they were were disingenuous. At some point, though, that changed. Trumps view of the press shifted into outright furywitness the stories of the president yelling at televisions reporting unflattering news about Russia and the firing of FBI Director James Comey.

Even now, when it suits his purposes, he recognizes the importance of the serious, mainstream press. When the House pulled the first version of its Obamacare replacement, Trump broke the news in phone calls to The Washington Post and New York Times. When the Comey story exploded, Trump chose to grant an interview to NBC Newss Lester Holt. The reason the administration has all but ended on-camera briefings at the White House is that its spokespeople cant answer simple questions from the press without coming across as either ridiculous or dishonest; its easier simply to prevent the public from seeing that. Rather than acceding to Trumps attempt to enlist them as his primary enemy, the media might enlist him as the unwitting pitchman for the indispensable role they play.

Read more from The Atlantic:

This article was originally published on The Atlantic.
A Chinese vlogger who went by the name Miss Zhang recently mistook the desert plant agave americana for aloe vera during a live video stream and it had near-fatal repercussions. What was supposed to be a fun way of teaching the viewers about the beneficial properties of aloe vera, on YouTube live, turned out to be a nightmare for the vlogger who had to be hospitalized.

Agave americana is also known as century plant or American aloe, in the arid areas of Central America, Mexico, India, Africa and Southern Europe. It has gray-green or gray-blue leaves lined with tiny spikes that reach up to 1.75 meters in height and 20 cm in width in the tropical countries. The desert plant can take up to 50 years to produce flowers which are of pale, yellow color, the Herbal Resource reported.

The juice of the of the plant has antiseptic and anti-inflammatory properties and hence, can be used to treat burns, bruises, minor cuts, injuries and skin irritation caused by insect bites. Some of the more serious health issues that can be treated by agave americana are stomach inflammation, ulcers, tuberculosis, jaundice, liver disorders, high fever, menstrual problems and syphilis.

Agave Americana

Photo: Getty Images/ David Mcnew

The flower stalks and the base leafs of the agave americana plant make for good food sources as they can be safely consumed after roasting. Alcoholic beverages like pulque, mescal and tequila can also be made after the plant is fermented through proper procedures.

Read: YouTube Stunt Gone Wrong After Monalisa Perez, Minnesota Teen, Fatally Shoots Boyfriend While Filming Video

Some other daily use products that can be manufactured from the leaves and roots of the plant are soaps, mats, paper, needles and nails.

Aloe Vera

Photo: Wikimedia Commons/3268zauber

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However, the sap contained in the raw plant is toxic and can cause pain and a burning sensation when it comes in contact with skin, SF Gate reported. Skin exposed to the sap may also develop blisters and rashes. Agave americana cannot be consumed raw as ingesting its sap leads to kidney and liver failure. This is why the Mexican Tarahumara Indians used to coat their arrow tips with sap from the plant before using them to kill fish.

The sap contains natural chemicals like calcium oxalate crystals, acrid oils and saponin that irritate the skin and the digestive system upon contact or ingestion respectively.

The fact that agave americana looks eerily similar to the aloe vera plant caused Miss Zhang, to accidentally poison herself on live stream.

Read: YouTuber Austin Jones Arrested On Child Pornography Charges

The 26-year-old bit into two large raw leaves she thought were aloe vera so she could demonstrate the benefits of the plant in front of a live audience. However, her attempted aloe vera feast took a turn for the worse when Zhang realized the great taste of the plant quickly transformed into something more bitter.

The video was cut short and Zhang had to be rushed to hospital after just a couple of bites from the plant, which turned out to be agave americana. According to a local Chinese news outlet, Shanghaiist, Zhang had to get her stomach pumped to get rid of all traces of the plant after she discovered that her throat was on fire and covered in rashes.

It was only after Zhang was admitted to the hospital she was informed by doctors that she had consumed agave americana instead of aloe vera. The doctors also added there could have been dire consequences if Zhang had not sought help in time, The Mail Online reported, citing Chinese news outlet Chongqing Times.

Zhang is one of the many Chinese vloggers who make a living out of live-streaming their day-to-day activities. Currently, she is recovering in the hospital.

Related Articles
The Apple iPhone 8 is among the smartphone industrys most anticipated releases this year and as with past iPhone releases, the iPhone 8 has also been subject to its share of rumors over its potential features. Hardware and software speculation always comes with a degree of uncertainty, but as the iPhones expected fall release window approaches, enough rumors have pointed in the same direction to give fans an educated guess as to what the phone might include.

Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo at KGI Securities gave 10 predictions for what Apple might include in its traditional fall smartphone release window, via Street Insider. Heres several of Kuos biggest takeaways for Apples newest iPhones:

Read: Apple iPhone 8 Will Have Snapdragon 835 Like Chip, Similar To iPad Pro

Apple will launch three new iPhones this year

Kuo says that Apple will feature three new phones thatll debut during the second half of this year. One could include a 5.2 to 5.8-inch OLED display while the remaining releases may feature 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch LCD screens. Analysts have banked heavily on Apple dropping the iPhone 8 alongside its regular S-series sub release for the iPhone 7. As with past iPhone S releases, the 7S and 7S Plus are expected to feature refreshed specifications from the iPhone 7.

The iPhone 8 will have a full-screen design, but no in-screen fingerprint sensor

Case mockups and accessory leaks have hinted at an aggressively sized display that will take up close to the entire front side of the phone. The move lines up with current smartphone trends that have seen companies trim bezels to their limits in order to maximize screen size. Kuo predicts that the iPhone 8 will include a virtual Home button, but unlike many rumors, Kuo says it wont support fingerprint sensing:

"We predict the OLED model wont support fingerprint recognition, reasons being: (1) the full-screen design doesnt work with existing capacitive fingerprint recognition, and (2) the scan-through ability of the under-display fingerprint solution still has technical challenges, including: (i) requirement for a more complex panel pixel design; (ii) disappointing scan-through of OLED panel despite it being thinner than LCD panel; and (iii) weakened scan-through performance due to overlayered panel module.

Story continues

Kuos prediction lines up with his previous stance for the technology and other industry analysts. At the moment, in-screen fingerprint sensors remain a work in progress. While Qualcomm debuted an in-screen sensor at Mobile World Congress Shanghai, the company says it wont hit consumer smartphones until the first half of 2018. In addition, the technology still isnt ready for primetime just yet  in their hands-on with a demo unit, Engadget found in-screen sensing to be noticeably slower than physical sensors. Its possible Apple could be working on its own solution, but for now, the tech has several hurdles to clear before it reaches consumers.

Read: 10th Anniversary Device Will Charge Faster With 10W USB-C Connect

The iPhone 8s camera will have 3D sensors

Kuo predicts the iPhones new camera will include 3D sensing that could improve both facial detection and photo-taking quality. While details on the phones camera are still up in the air, Apple has made its interest in augmented reality applications clear.

At its Worldwide Developers Conference earlier this year, Apple debuted its ARKit for augmented reality development and developers have teased early demos of games and practical applications that take advantage of the technology. With cameras capable of processing positional awareness, Apple could make AR a major part of the iPhone 8.

Related Articles
A Soyuz rocket blasting off from the European Space Center, pictured in December 2015, launching one of the four satellites of the Galileo satnav system (AFP Photo/jody amiet)

Paris (AFP) - Investigators have uncovered the problems behind the failure of atomic clocks onboard satellites belonging to the beleaguered Galileo satnav system, the European Commission said on Monday.

For months, the European Space Agency -- which runs the programme -- has been investigating the reasons behind failing clocks onboard some of the 18 navigation satellites it has launched for Galileo, Europe's alternative to America's GPS system.

Each Galileo satellite has four ultra-accurate atomic timekeepers, two that use rubidium and two hydrogen maser. But a satellite needs just one working clock for the satnav to work -- the rest are spares.

Three rubidium and six hydrogen maser clocks were not working, with one satellite sporting two failed timekeepers.

"The main causes of the malfunctions have been identified and measures have been put in place to reduce the possibility of further malfunctions of the satellites already in space," commission spokeswoman Lucia Caudet said.

ESA found after an investigation that its rubidium clocks had a faulty component that could cause a short circuit, according to European sources.

The investigation also found that operations involving hydrogen maser clocks need to be controlled and closely monitored, the same sources said.

The agency has taken measures to correct both sets of problems, the sources added, with the agency set to replace the faulty component in rubidium clocks on satellites not yet in orbit and improve hydrogen maser clocks as well.

"The supply of the first Galileo services has not and will not be affected by the malfunctioning of the atomic clocks or by other corrective measures," Caudet said, and that the malfunctions have not affected service performance.

- 'Most accurate clocks ever' -

The Galileo system went live in December last year, providing initial services with a weak signal, having taken 17 years at more than triple the original budget.

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The civilian-controlled service is seen as strategically important for Europe, which relies on two military-run rivals -- GPS and Russia's GLONASS.

ESA boasts that Galileo has the most accurate atomic clocks ever used for geolocalisation.

Similar to traditional clocks relying on the tick of a pendulum, atomic timekeepers also count regular oscillations, in this case switches between energy states of atoms stimulated by heat or light.

But Galileo has experienced many setbacks, including the placement of two satellites in the wrong orbit.

In January, ESA director general Jan Woerner announced that the system had suffered a setback with its atomic clocks.

The EU Commission expects Galileo to be fully operational by 2020.

ESA signed a contract in late June with a German-British consortium to build eight more satellites for Galileo, which will eventually comprise 30 orbiters.

Twenty-four will be operational, in three orbital planes, with the rest standing by as spares, in orbit and on the ground.

Once fully deployed, Galileo aims to pinpoint a location on Earth to within a metre -- compared to several metres for GPS and GLONASS.

Clients of a paying service will be able to receive even more accurate readings -- down to centimetres. Such accuracy will be very useful in search-and-rescue operations.

All new cars sold in Europe by 2018 will be fitted with Galileo for navigation and emergency calls.

Its high-precision clocks will also boost synchronisation of banking and financial transaction, telecommunications and energy smart-grids, making them more efficient.

It should also boost the safety of driverless cars.
SpaceX Dragon as seen from ISS

SpaceX already proved it could lower the cost to space with its reusable Falcon 9 rocket, but this morning, it proved that it could also recycle its robotic Dragon capsule for a mission from start to finish.

Dragon splashed down into the Pacific Ocean near Baja California at 5:12 a.m. PT, returning 4,000 pounds of cargo from the International Space Station. Its the first Dragon to make two successful splashdowns, and the first spacecraft to make two round trips to the space station since the space shuttle era ended in 2011.

NASA astronaut Jack Fischer released the capsule from the International Space Stations robotic arm at around 11:40 p.m. PT Sunday, with crewmate Peggy Whitson alongside.

Dragons been an incredible spacecraft, Fischer said. I can even say it was slathered in awesome sauce. This baby has had almost no problems, which is an incredible feat, considering its the first reuse of a Dragon vehicle.

Fischer spoke excitedly about the contents of SpaceXs CRS-11 resupply mission, which was launched from NASAs Kennedy Space Center exactly a month ago.

Most of the 6,000 pounds of cargo it carried was science, and almost all the return cargo are precious samples for discoveries we cant wait to see, he said.

Among the scientific experiments making their return are the Fruit Fly Lab-02 experiment, testing how the microgravity can affect the heart; and Systemic Therapy of NELL-1 for Osteoporosis, a study focusing on a drug thats meant to counteract the loss of bone mass in zero-gravity conditions as well as on Earth.

The capsule was picked up by an oceangoing recovery team and will be brought back to Los Angeles. From there, it will be shipped to SpaceXs Texas facility for processing.

This Dragon was first used for a space station resupply mission in 2014 and was refurbished after its first return to Earth. SpaceX plans to reduce the turnaround time for the future reuse of Dragon capsules as well as Falcon 9 boosters.

Story continues

Today is shaping up as busy day for SpaceX. The company is gearing up to launch the Intelsat 35e telecommunications satellite aboard a Falcon 9 rocket from Kennedy Space Centers Launch Complex 39A.

SpaceX originally planned to launch the satellite on Sunday, but the launch was scrubbed at T-minus-9 seconds after the computer system detected a guidance error. The next hourlong launch opportunity comes at 7:37 p.m. ET (4:37 p.m. PT).

More from GeekWire:
Stephen Hawking takes the stage at his 75th birthday celebration. (Facebook Live photo)

An auditorium erupted in a chorus of Happy Birthday to You followed by traditional cheers of the English Hip Hip Hooray on Sunday at a 75th-birthday celebration for famed physicist Stephen Hawking.

Following lectures by British physicist Brian Cox and gravitational-wave researcher Gabriela Gonzalez, Hawking took the stage at Cambridge University in England to reflect on his past 75 years.

Actually, for those keeping count, I am closer to 75 and a half, but that shouldnt get in the way of a good celebration, he joked, using his computer-generated voice.

Hawkings birthday is actually in January, but Cambridge organized the conference as a belated birthday present.

The wheelchair-riding physicist put the jokes aside as he talked about his early life. The most emotional part of the talk came when Hawking recalled how he became aware of his disability as a young graduate student in 1962.

At that time, it became clear something was not right with me, Hawking recalled.

During the Christmas break, he stumbled while skating with his mother. I fell over, and had great difficulty getting up again, Hawking said.

That led to weeks of hospital tests, but his doctor left him in the dark about his condition, which turned out to be amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a crippling neurodegenerative disease.

At first, I became depressed. I seemed to be getting worse pretty rapidly, he said. There didnt seem to be any point in working on my Ph.D. because I didnt know if I would live long enough to finish it.

But his story quickly turned into a tale of hope as he made progress on his work and started his family.

After my expectations had been reduced to zero, every new day became a bonus, and I began to appreciate what I did have, he said.

Hawkings success continued to rise, proving that with technologys help, he could continue his work and communicate with the world.

Now Hawking is worried about a new challenge having nothing to do with his medical condition or black holes: namely, climate change.

Story continues

During a pre-conference interview with the BBC, he spoke out against President Donald Trumps decision to pull out of the Paris climate agreement and said that global warming could become irreversible.

Trumps action could push the Earth over the brink, to become like Venus, with a temperature of 250 degrees and raining sulphuric acid, he said.

Unless action is taken to curb industrial carbon dioxide emissions, the world will be at great risk in the years to come, he said. Hawking envisions future generations turning to space settlement as a cosmic insurance policy, and for that reason hes a strong proponent of space exploration.

I dont think we will survive another 1,000 years without escaping beyond our fragile planet, he said. I therefore want to encourage public interest in space  and Ive been getting my training in early.

More from GeekWire:
AT&T appears to be overhauling its prepaid plans. While that might sound like the most boring thing youve heard all day, its actually great news for anyone who wants a simple, SIM-only plan on a good network for dirt cheap.

Don't Miss: Massive layoffs loom over Microsoft

Fierce Wireless noticed earlier this week that AT&Ts GoPhone prepaid offerings are being rebranded, to the much more sensible AT&T PrePaid brand. It seems that there are also structural changes to the plans coming with the overhaul, and a Redditor found this flyer with the new PrePaid plan rates.

The $35/1GB plan is a brand-new low-price offering, and it looks good for anyone who doesnt use much data. $35 per month is comfortably AT&Ts cheapest plan, and is far less than the Unlimited plans from other carriers that start around $70 per month.

For your $35, you get unlimited talk and text in the US, free texting to most of the world, and 1GB of high-speed data. After you burn through your data allowance, youre throttled to 128kbps speeds (enough for email and messaging, but not much else) rather than charged overage fees.

The $45 is a good step up plan for heavier users thats still a bunch cheaper than a postpaid unlimited plan. 6GB of data is enough for the vast majority of users, and you also get free roaming to the US and Canada, which is a perk you dont normally see on prepaid plans. The same throttling applies after you hit the data limit.

The one plan worth steering clear of here is the $60/Unlimited rate. Its far from unlimited: your speeds are capped at 3Mbps, and theres a soft cap of 22GB of data per month, after which you may be subject to throttling. For that much per month, the postpaid unlimited plans from Verizon, T-Mobile and Sprint offer way better service for very little extra.

All three plans are already available on AT&Ts website under the older GoPhone branding. Its unclear if or when a change to PrePaid branding is coming.

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Trending right now:

See the original version of this article on BGR.com
2 SPs called to police headquarters

Two Superintendent of Nepal Police (SPs) were called to the police headquarters in Naxal, Kathmandu, for their alleged involvement in financial irregularities, on Tuesday.
6 injured in BP Highway jeep accident, 2 serious

At least six people were injured in a jeep accident that took place at Pipal Bhanjyang, Kamalamai Municipality-2 along the BP Highway on Tuesday.
Stop vehicular movement at Narayangadh-Muglin road during night: House committee

The Development Committee of the Legislature Parliament has directed the road division and Physical Infrastructure and Transport Ministry to bar vehicular movement during night at Narayangadh-Muglin road section.
Dissatisfaction brewing in RJP-Nepal? Tripathi threatens to quit party

Dissatisfaction seems to be brewing in the Rastriya Janata Party-Nepal, which was formed in April after the merger of six Madhes-based parties.
Domestic air fares set to drop

Travelling by air is likely to become little cheaper. Following up on a drop in the jet fuel price in international markets, domestic airlines are set to reduce the fuel surcharge. The new airfares will come into effect on Wednesday.
Ministry of Health pilots mHealth, eHealth services

The Health Ministry has begun formal efforts to expand mHealth and eHealth services, a popular term explaining use of mobile phones and electronic tools in healthcare, by its health facilities.
Nepal Communist Party calls for indefinite strike in Rolpa

Nepal Communist Party has announced an indefinite strike in protest of the local administration's non-compliance with its demand to free its cadre.
Nepal receives wide support for UNHRC bid

Nepal has received wide support from the international community for its candidacy in the UN Human Rights Council as the country moves towards concluding its crucial transitional justice mechanisms.
Oil dealers call off planned protest

Gasoline dealers have called off their protest programme scheduled to start on Tuesday following assurances by the government that their grievances would be addressed.
PM asks for progress report on projects every fortnight

Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba has instructed officials to a fortnightly report on the progress at various projects, including the national pride projects.
PM to push for dev of two key hydro projects

Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba has expressed commitment to expedite implementation of West Seti Hydroelectric Project and Pancheshwar Multipurpose Project to develop the economy of the far western region of the country.
Race for chief secy post begins

With Chief Secretary Somlal Subedi all set to join the Asian Development Bank, the race for a new leader of bureaucracy has begun.
Revolutionise agriculture

The government is expecting paddy production to go up by almost 4 percent to 5.4 million tonnes in the next fiscal year. This is welcome news for Nepal, which is likely to see a bumper paddy harvest of 5.2 million tonnes in the current fiscal year.
Double marginalisation

About a year and half ago, the UN General Assembly adopted the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Infant among three dead in Chitwan bus accident, 4 injured

Three out of the seven people who sustained serious injuries when a passenger bus overturned on the Prithvi Highway at Chumlingtar, Ichhakamana Rural Municipality-3 at around 2.25 am today have died.
Veep leaving for China today

Vice President Nanda Bahadur Pun is leaving for China on Tuesday to attend the 23rd China-Lanzhou Investment and Trade Fair in Lanzhou, the capital city of Gansu province.
Veep Pun off to China

Vice President Nanda Bahadur Pun has left for China to attend the 23rd China-Lanzhou Investment and Trade Fair in Lanzhou, the capital city of Gansu province.
1. Yes. Taxpayers are funding its operation; they should have a voice in the naming process.

2. Yes. The city should operate with a spirit of inclusivity. Residents will be responsive.

3. No. Public input can be problematic; rejection of suggestions can be divisive for residents.

4. No. Residents elect council members to make decisions on their behalf. No input is needed.

5. Unsure. Its hard to say whether public input would be more of a benefit or a hindrance.

Vote

View Results
By Paul Tajuba

Strict dress code guidelines issued by the Ministry of Public Service have drawn mixed reaction from various circles.

Ms Adah Muwanga, the ministrys director human resource, says the move is in response to public outcry over indecency.

According to the circular sent out this afternoon, female staff have been told that dresses or skirts that are above the knees, sleeveless blouses or any clothing made out of see-through material will not be allowed. Braids and extensions have also been banned.

Men must wear long-sleeved shirts and ties and not brightly-coloured clothes.

The circular further states that while women will be allowed to wear pant-suits, they should not wear any tight-fitting clothing or show cleavage.

Flat, open shoes are also ruled out, except in cases where one can prove that it is for medical reasons.

However, Rita Achiro the Executive Director of the Uganda Womens Network has questioned the timing of such a decision.

Public service should concentrate on things that are affecting the general public. How will decent dressing bring drugs in hospitals, teachers in schools? Ms Achiro asked.

However, Stephen Langa, the executive director of Family Life Network Uganda, a civil society organisation has supported Public Services move saying: Dressing is personal but it sends a message to the public. You cannot just let people to dress the way they want when they cannot control themselves,

The circular is derived from Public Service Standing Orders on dress code, put in place in 2010.

The Orders require that  For the promotion and projection of a good image of the Public Service, a Public Officer shall at all times dress appropriately and appear decent and respectable in a way that is generally acceptable
BY AMOS NGWOMOYA

Members of Parliament on the Presidential Affairs Committee have been questioning Kampala Minister, Beti Olive Kamya and city businessman, Hamis Kiggundu over their alleged involvement in the demolition of Park Yard Market.

The market which was demolished on March 1 2017 left hundreds of traders stranded causing uproar with many accusing government of being inconsiderate to the urban poor, something Parliament found worth probing.

The committees outgoing deputy chairperson, Susan Amero who is the Woman MP representing Amuriat District says they also sought to know the steps taken by the Ministry of Kampala and KCCA in settling the evicted traders.

The Committee on Presidential Affairs is mandated among others to oversee the activities of KCCA among others.
The Kazakh President together with the Heads of State attending the Summit of the Organization of Turkic Countries took part in the tree-planting campaign in the city of Samarkand.
As far back as WWI connecting soldiers with nature and farming has been used to treat the invisible wounds of war, Brian Sales recently told members of the Senate Agriculture, Small Business and Tourism Committee. Back then it was called shell shock. Today its called PTSD. No matter what its called, its effects are the same and what was true then is true now. Veterans need help and help is what I am here to talk about.

In a bipartisan effort to bring more veterans into agriculture, newly introduced legislation, the Wisconsin Veterans Farm Bill of 2017, calls for state agencies to work together assisting veterans in urban and rural communities. The proposal seeks to provide education, technical assistance, employment and mentorship including connecting existing farmers with veterans who want to learn farming. More than 40 percent of the Legislature supports the bill as cosponsors, including myself.

A U.S. Army Infantry and combat veteran who served two tours of duty in Iraq and one in Kosovo, Sales captivated senators with his story of how farming brought his life purpose.

When I returned to civilian life after my final tour, I found myself, like so many other veterans, void of direction, he said. Military service changes a person in many ways. Transitioning back to a civilian life is an overwhelming and often shocking experience  not unlike entering boot camp for the first time. However, there is no such thing as reverse boot camp. The military are experts at turning civilians into soldiers, but not turning soldiers back into civilianswe are still coming to terms with what we experienced in the serviceleaves us feeling overwhelmed, confused and restless.

Sales experience led him to college to study sustainability, which led him to form the group Green Veterans. Working with civilians and veterans, he found a new sense of purpose and a renewed commitment to service and ultimately a passion for farming.

Using his skills and knowledge, Sales worked with Will Allen to develop of veteran farmer boot camp. The veterans get up early and stay focused on a mission to build, teach, heal the soil and grow crops.

Sales said, with farming, I can see the beginning and the end of a task completed. Through natures technology, I can see the result of my work and sacrifice, knowing that Im serving my fellow man, woman and children. I feed people. I create healthy soil in a way that sustains nature. This is a mission I am dedicated to and with the collaboration of Growing Power and Mr. Will Allen; our vision is to make Growing Power the National Urban Farming Training Center for all veterans who want to learn and become an Urban Farmer.

Joining Sales at the hearing was Shea Zastrow, who serves at the Civilian Chair of Green Veterans of Wisconsin. Zastrow spoke about how veterans are hardwired to finish jobs. He gently admonished the committee to do more than simply thank veterans on Veterans Day and then think they are good for 364 days.

I challenge civilians to spend just one more day this year with a vet than they did last year.

Committee members seemed eager to support the bill. However, during discussion on the bill, members expressed concern as to whether the bill duplicated existing programs. Some of what the bill seeks to do is available through some programs. The Wisconsin Farm Center and University of Wisconsin-Extension play critical roles in assisting farmers across the state every day.

But 20-year US Army Veteran and certified organic farmer, Tony Kurtz testified, there is not a specific program to get veterans into agriculture.

Kurtz told the committee the average age of Wisconsin farmers is 56  years old. To maintain our leadership in agriculture, we need an infusion of young, enthusiastic workers. A dedicated program to promote veterans entry into the agriculture industry is a great step forward in helping our aging workforce.

This is a proposal we can all rally behind. As Sales said so eloquently, This bill is an investment in Wisconsins veterans that I strongly believe will pay dividends for generations to come.
When this latest round of felling ash trees in south La Crosse ends, about 500 of the species used to fill voids left by Dutch elm disease in the 1970s will be left in the city.

As the city replants the boulevard trees, it wont repeat the monoculture mistake.

We planted 260 trees this spring and of those 260, theres 13 different species that we ordered, said Dan Trussoni of the citys Parks, Recreation and Forestry Department. We do that so we dont have a problem in the future like we have now. A lot of these ash trees they were replacements for ... when Dutch elm disease came through.

The citys urban forest will be filled with a diversity of trees, such as river birch, oak, sycamore and Dutch elm disease-resistant elm.

As emerald ash borer infestations continue to spread deeper into the region, the La Crosse Board of Public Works on Monday approved removing 386 ash trees in Zones 3 to 5 at an average price of $155 per tree. The area is roughly between Causeway Boulevard and the La Crosse River on the north to Jackson Street on the south. It encompasses the campuses of Viterbo University, the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse and Western Wisconsin Technical College.

Were really focusing on removals because thats where the hazard is, dead trees, Trussoni said. So the sooner we get the trees removed the better. Were stumping and replanting as we go as well, but well really ramp up planting once the trees are down.

Todays Tree Service received the contract that will pay $35,000 for ash tree removals in Zone 4, and $24,500 in Zones 3 and 5.

The city wants the trees felled and removed by Aug. 25. The stumps are to be cut low to the ground.

This would basically wipe out the remaining ash trees in these locations, Trussoni said.

With most of the students gone from the universities, which means fewer parked cars, access to the trees is easier during this time, he said.

The downed trees can be sold to lumber mills if they meet certain standards, Trussoni said. The money goes into the departments budget. Otherwise, the city turns the trees into wood chips that are used in playgrounds, flowerbeds or other area. Surplus chips are available for sale to the public.

The emerald ash borer is deadly to ash trees. The adult beetles live on the outside of ash trees, feeding on the leaves during the summer, and their larvae feed on the living plant tissue underneath the bark, according to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. The trees are killed by the tunneling activity of the larvae under the trees bark.

Emerald ash borers continue to spread throughout the region. Since January three more communities in La Crosse County have confirmed infestations: the towns of Washington, Shelby and Hamilton. Nine communities overall have confirmed infestations.

Trempealeau County has eight confirmations after adding five since January: the village of Trempealeau, and the towns of Ettrick, Gale, Preston and Lincoln. The city of Arcadia was added to the list in December 2016.

The city of Sparta is among four added in 2017 in Monroe County, bringing the total to eight. The other 2017 confirmations are in the towns Angelo, Lafayette and Byron. Infestations in the city of Tomah and town of LaGrange were confirmed in 2016.

Vernon County has two confirmations so far this year, in the towns of Franklin and Stark, bringing its total to 10.
FIFTY LAKES, Minn.  Kevin Woizeschke peered through binoculars at a pair of loons gliding across the water.

Woizeschke, a nongame wildlife biologist for the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, was in a boat on West Fox Lake about 30 miles north of Brainerd, Minn. He was looking for loons wearing a silver leg band that holds a tiny geolocator tag.

These geotags are $700 each, Woizeschke said. The information that is on them is even way more valuable than that.

That information includes estimates of the birds location and how deep its been diving. For scientists trying to learn more about where loons are spending their time, that knowledge is priceless.

Researchers have been trying to figure out whether Minnesotas beloved loons were affected by the BP oil spill seven years ago in the Gulf of Mexico. They think theyve established the connection.

Now theyre seeking federal money to help restore the damage to the states loon population, estimated at about 12,000 birds  the most of any U.S. state except Alaska.

Carrol Henderson, the DNRs nongame program wildlife supervisor, has led the DNRs loon research since the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster.

Over the last seven years, weve kind of put all the pieces together to correlate the status of Minnesotas loons, their behavior their migration their feeding activities to the places that were most affected by the oil spill, Henderson said.

After loons hatch, they fly south and dont return to Minnesota until theyre 3 years old. So scientists knew there was a good chance young Minnesota loons were in the gulf in April 2010 when the BP spill dumped nearly 5 million barrels of oil.

But they wanted to know if the loons were going to the most heavily polluted areas. So, they captured dozens of loons and implanted or banded them with tracking devices.

They also took samples of the birds blood, fat and feathers to test for contaminants, either from the petroleum itself or from the chemical used to disperse the oil in the gulf.

We found out that theyre diving all the way to the bottom where the oil would have settled, Henderson said. Theyre picking it up, its in their feathers. Its in their blood. Its in their eggs the following spring. Theyre bringing this back to Minnesota.

Researchers dont yet know whether the contaminants will affect the loons life span or reproduction. Loons dont mate until theyre 5 years old, so some of the affected birds are just starting to have chicks.

But now that the research has confirmed that Minnesotas loons were directly impacted by the oil spill, scientists want to start working to restore the damage.

Henderson hopes to hear any day whether the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will grant Minnesota $6 million from the BP settlement for the first phase of a 15-year loon remediation plan. If thats successful, additional money could follow.

We have more loons than any other state in the lower 48 states, and we like to keep it that way, he said.

Some of the funds would be used to restore shoreline habitat on loon nesting lakes and protect deep, cold lakes that support fatty fish called cisco that loons eat before migrating south.

Money would also go to promotion of non-toxic fishing tackle, since lead poisoning is one of the biggest causes of loon mortality.

The DNR also wants to partner with lake associations to create a loon-friendly designation for lakes, Henderson said.

Thats good news for loon lovers like Jim Sand, who lives on Big Fish Lake near Cold Spring. Sand is a longtime volunteer with the Minnesota Loon Watcher program, which helps keep tabs on the number of loons throughout the state.

Sand and other lakeshore owners usually put out three nesting platforms every year on Big Fish Lake. This year, the lake association raised $2,000 in donations for a fourth platform, plus devices to keep boats away. Its the type of project that could benefit from the federal funding.

Henderson said it will be important to track the success of the restoration program to demonstrate to federal officials that it is actually increasing the loon population.

We want to make sure that in Minnesota, it does make a difference, he said.
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U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is upping their presence at local hiring fairs ahead of an "upcoming hiring surge," according to a press release from the agency. The press release was specifically issued to highlight their presence at a "major recruiting event" and forthcoming hiring plans. The Trump administration announced plans for the hiring surge back in February, as additional agents are needed to carry out the President's hardline immigration policies. The President has said that he plans to "to triple the number of ICE agents" in the field.

According to the agency press release, ICE was one of 60 exhibitors at a job fair geared toward veterans. ICE Homeland Security Investigations and ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations's Los Angeles teams will "work together throughout the recruitment period by attending events, representing the law enforcement workforce and educating potential applicants on the benefits of working for ICE," according to the agency.

There have been two large-scale ICE enforcement operations so far this year in the Los Angeles area, one in February and one in May. Although the raids targeted individuals with criminal records, 10% of the nearly 200 people arrested in March had no prior criminal convictions.

Fear of increased immigration enforcement has had a chilling effect on some Los Angeles communities, affecting many aspects of civic society. LAPD Chief Charlie Beck spoke in March about how reporting of sexual assault and domestic violence by members of L.A.'s Latino community had dropped significantly during the first months of 2017, compared to last year. Community groups have seen a marked uptick in landlords exploiting immigration fears to threaten tenants since the election. Officials conducting much-needed outreach around Exide lead contamination in June worried that immigration fears could hinder participation. According to a recent poll, 37% of Los Angeles County residents fear that they, a family member or a friend will be deported from the United States.

"We see this impact all across our city," Mayor Eric Garcetti said at a press conference in March, adding that the Lincoln Heights youth center where the press conference was held had itself seen a 34% drop in enrollment so far that year.

"The ICE recruiters say they are excited about working together in a joint recruitment effort to identify competitive applicants who will be the future of ICE," the agency statement continues.

Related: This Is What It's Like When A Father Of 4 Is Detained By ICE While Dropping His Daughters Off At School

ICE Detains Former Unaccompanied Minor With Pending Asylum Case On His 18th Birthday

Sexual Assault Reporting In L.A.'s Latino Community Down 25% Amid Fears Of Immigration Enforcement

Garcetti Signs Executive Directive Expanding Protections For Undocumented Angelenos
The online retail sector in Africa presents an exciting opportunity for retailers to grow their businesses by connecting with new customers. e-commerce is expected to grow significantly and as the use of technology also grows, the market becomes more attractive to companies based both inside and outside the continent.

 Tsung-Lin Wu via 123RF

With mobile penetration reaching close to 70% on the continent, technology will continue to open doors and provide new opportunities for e-commerce in Africa.

The existence of e-commerce operators encourages start-ups outside the tech space to facilitate distribution and improve revenues. Internet companies and those providing e-commerce integrations should do well as the number of African start-ups and existing companies getting involved in e-commerce increases.

Online platforms are making it possible for people across Africa to find and purchase goods, get rides, find accommodations, access movies and make payments. A lot of what the African e-commerce platforms provide is connecting global brands with the continents consumers. IT News Africa compiled a list of e-commerce platforms making strides in the industry.

1. Zando

Founded by Rocket Internet AG in 2012, Zando has grown exponentially to become South Africas biggest online fashion store with investors such as Rocket Internet AG, Milicom and MTN. Zando is a subsidiary to parent company, The Jumia Group, which operates as a fashion retailer and across numerous other vertical in various other African countries. The e-retailer sells over 500 brands, including footwear, apparel, homeware, beauty products and our very own in-house brands, like Utopia.

2. Takealot

takealot.com was officially launched in June 2011 post the successful acquisition of an existing ecommerce business called Take2 by Kim Reid and the US based Hedge Fund, Tiger Global. In 2014, it was announced that Takealot would merge with kalahari.com which is owned by Naspers. In May 2015 all Kalahari customer accounts were successfully transferred to takealot.com.

3. Konga

Nigerias number one online Shopping destination, Konga was founded in July 2012 by Sim Shagaya. The site initially functioned as a Lagos-only online retailer focused on merchandise in the Baby, Beauty, and Personal Care categories, but broadened its scope to all of Nigeria in December 2012 and gradually expanded merchandise categories through 2012 and 2013. The platform was launched with the aim of becoming a provider of e-commerce infrastructure services for all e-commerce market participants.

4. Bid or Buy

BidorBuy was first launched by Andy Higgins in August 1999. The online platform officially launched with a massive marketing campaign in January 2000 and in June 2010 a Kenyan bidorbuy site, was established. BidorBuy is an online auction site and marketplace where users, buyers and sellers, transact with each other. Anyone over the age of 18 can transact on the site.

5. Kaymu

Kaymu initially launched in Nigeria and Pakistan in January 2013 and within 27 months opened operations in 32 other countries. Kaymu copies eBays model; it does not offer first-party product sales, and it has separate retail websites for each of the countries it operates in. Kaymu currently has operations in the following regions and countries: Africa- Algeria, Angola, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Morocco, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Tanzania, Tunisia, Uganda & Zambia Asia and the Middle East.

6. Jumia

Jumia was founded in 2012, formerly known as Africa Internet Group (AIG). It is an online shopping website for electronics and fashion. The e-retailer offers different lines of services including Jumia Market, Jumia Travel, Food, Jumia House, Jumia Jobs, Jumia Car, Jumia Deals and Jumia Services.

7. Checki

Checki is an online marketplace where all of Africas car dealers, importers and private sellers post their cars for sale. The company does not sell cars directly but offers the advertising medium for users to buy and sell their cars, 4WDs, vans, bikes and trucks and other vehicles. The Kenyan online car classifieds business also has dedicated websites for Nigeria, Ghana, Tanzania and Uganda.

8. Mall for Africa

Mall for Africa works as a digital appavailable on PCs and mobilethrough which customers can order goods using PayPal or Visa cards, which are then delivered. In Nigeria, Mall For Africa created an MFA WebCard, which reloads with US dollars like a debit card, for people without these traditional online payment methods.

9. iRoking

iRoking is one of the biggest suppliers of music to the Nigeria market and, with the mobile app, users are able to download music files from Nigerias top music artists. iRoking brings Nigerian music lovers some of the biggest artists of the moment, direct to Android phones, the company states. Users are able to download unlimited tracks directly on to their mobile device and keep up-to-date with Nigerias freshest music and videos.
Lawmaker Jose Pereira Coutinho has issued an apology to the Liaison Office of the Central Peoples Government, after he accused the organization last month of providing discriminatory treatment to certain Legislative Assembly (AL) election candidates.

In the apology, printed in Macaus two largest Chinese newspapers, Macau Daily News and Va Kio Daily, Coutinho described his accusation as being inappropriate and said that he had no evidence for the charges he made.

First of all, please let me express my most sincere apologies related to the comments I made regarding the incident of the invitation of another Macanese group to the Liaison Office dinner, it read.

During the interview I made statements which were not based on facts regarding the invitation and the Liaison Office leaders. Besides that, the words I used were profoundly inappropriate and that has had negative repercussions in the Liaison Office, for which I apologize.

The Liaison Office has demonstrated its esteem for the Macanese community. It has contributed to the harmony of the local society. Its efforts are recognized by the Macau people, including the Macanese.

Speaking last month as he formalized New Hopes (Nova Esperanca) candidacy to the AL elections, the lawmaker and candidate in the 2017 AL election accused the Liaison Office of interference in the election.

Coutinho said that the Liaison Office had organized a special dinner and invited members of the Macanese and Portuguese communities. He then accused officials from the Office of encouraging these attendees to vote for rival Macanese candidate Jorge Neto Valente.

Neto Valente, the son of the Macau lawyer of the same name, is running in the election as the third-place candidate on Melinda Chans list.

I was very [disappointed] to realize that [such a dinner] was organized specifically in a way that [only] one of the candidates to the election could address the community, said Coutinho last month. When the Central Government pays for this, I consider that this is a serious matter because we see the infringement to the principle that elections must be fair.

Coutinho added that he suspected local representatives of Beijing were supporting these kinds of events in exchange for benefits when they leave [their posts].

The Macanese legislator is the head of the New Hope political association as well as the Civil Servants Association. Despite having been directly elected to the AL in every election since 2005 and the fact that he will again stand first on the New Hope list this year, the lawmaker warned it would be difficult to electeven a single lawmaker in September.

The lack of fairness is already affecting the [election] run, he said at the time.
The registration period for the monthly activity Open Day of the Cotai Ecological Areas opens today. The activity will take place from July 8 to 22 (at 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. each day) and lasts two hours (in Eco-Areas I and II). During the guided tour, participants can enter areas which are normally restricted so that they can see fauna and flora specific to the area. Due to the limited number of entries (100), the registration will end as soon as all the slots are filled.

AACM approves July-August extra flights

The Civil Aviation Authority (AACM) has approved 142 extra and charter flights for July and August so far. These flights are destined for mainland China, Taiwan, Thailand, the Republic of Korea and Japan. In accordance with the application submitted by Air Macau this year, AACM has approved the airlines to operate a total of 142 extra and charter flights. The extra flights begin today and will continue until August 31. The added flights include 57 flights to Taipei, 26 to Kaohsiung, 30 to Bangkok, 17 to Jeju, eight to Ningbo and four to Okinawa, according to the bureaus statement. AACM has also approved the applications for a capacity increase submitted by Air Macau and Tiger Taiwan for their Taiyuan and Taiwan flights respectively.

Licensing eased for employment agencies

The Labor Affairs Bureau launched measures that aim to ease regulations on the licensing of employment agencies yesterday, the bureau informed in a statement. These measures include exemption for the presentation of several documents such as company registration certificate, land registry certificate and declaration of the commencement of activity (M1) from the Financial Services Bureau. In addition, it is also possible to send the Criminal Record Certificate directly to DSAL from the Identification Bureaus self-serve kiosks.

MGTO awards photo contest winners

The Macau Government Tourism Office (MGTO) held a prize-giving ceremony yesterday for the winners of the photo, student drawing and trophy design categories in the 28th Macau International Fireworks Display Contest held at the Macau Tower. A total of 89 prizes were awarded. The first prize winners for the photo contest went to Leong Ka I and Chan Kun Fai while Sam Hoi Kin, Chong Leong Hang and Cheang Chi Ian were awarded the first prizes for the student drawing contest. Ng Lei Lai Ha won the first prize for the trophy design contest. The list of all of the awardees is posted on MGTOs website. The awarded artworks will be exhibited at the lower ground level of the Macau Tower until July 9.

OM holds concerts for its devotion series

The Macao Orchestra (OM) held a series of concerts last month titled Love Music, Love Devotion at Hospital Conde S. Januario, Sir Robert Ho Tung Library and the Coloane Prison on June 14, June 29 and June 30 respectively. The orchestra performed Mozarts string quartets in a series of string concerts, showcasing classical music which attracted many listeners. The concert series is an effort to contribute to the community through musical performances and to share classical music with the public. By organizing these concerts, the OM aims to convey its appreciation for music to the community by offering opportunities for all social groups to enrich their cultural exposure.

Group suggests free university education

The Macao Citizens Federation suggested that the local government should extend its free education scheme to tertiary education. A report by Cheng Pou, the president of the association, said that the government has a great revenue surplus which offers the possibility to invest more resources into education. The president also suggested that the government could offer free university education for bachelor degree levels. The association believes that by doing so, the competitiveness of local youth in the labor market can be enhanced. Moreover, Cheng wrote that this does not correspond to a big amount of money.

Bus lane signs removed from San Ma Lou

Electronic road signs indicating exclusive bus lanes have been removed from the streets along the San Ma Lou area. Instead, the Transport Bureau (DSAT) has placed permanent transportation instruction signs along these roads. However, according to a report by Macao Daily News, the change causes a considerable number of vehicles to enter the bus lanes by mistake. DSAT said that the exclusive bus lanes along San Ma Lou had been implemented for more than seven years, and that transportation facilities are well equipped at these locations to implement the exclusive bus lane policy. The majority of the drivers are accustomed to this policy. The exclusive bus lane is only enforced on Sundays and public holidays.

Police officer suspended after dog abuse

A male police officer who was found to have beaten his own dog in January has been suspended from his position, the Secretariat for Security announced on its official website. A notice was signed by Secretary for Security Wong Sio Chak on June 26 regarding the officers suspension. The secretariats official website also declares that the Judiciary Police has continuously required its members to watch their personal behaviors and to obey the law. The secretariat revealed that it had initiated an investigation into the police officer on January 28.
A tourist from the mainland is being prosecuted for an unlawful drone flight which occurred on the evening of July 2 in the Nam Van Lake area, a Public Security Police Force (PSP) spokesperson informed yesterday during a press conference.

The man, of approximately 30 years, was chased by the police after an officer on duty at the Governments Headquarters noticed an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) commonly known as a drone flying over the area of the Nam Van Lake.

The police found the presence of the drone during the evening and in an area very close to the government headquarters very suspicious, and started a manhunt in all the area to find the operator of the equipment. He was located a few minutes later in the leisure area of the lake.

Questioned by the police, the man admitted to be the drone operator, saying that he was a tourist. The man said he was walking by the area and he found it interesting. This prompted him to use the UAV to film the surrounding area, from the Nam Van to the Macau Tower.

According to the PSP, the UAV weighed 743 grams, which according to the law would require both an authorization to fly during nighttime and an identification tag with the owners name and contact, in line with the new rules published by the Civil Aviation Authority (AACM) in late September last year. These laws require all drones weighing over 250 grams to be identified in addition to establishing a security zone around a list of government institutions and other sensitive areas. Such rules prevent UAVs from entering the airspace within 50 meters of the Government Headquarters, the Legislative Assembly building, and the Court of Final Appeal building, as well as the official residences of the Chief Executive and principal officials of Macau and the Central Peoples Government.

The PSP informed that they have issued an official letter to the AACM which details their findings, and the AACM will now deal with the case.

In the case of unlawful use of UAVs, the new regulations set a penalty fee that ranges from MOP2,000 to MOP20,000 in addition to other sanctions.

In a separate case reported by the same police force, a 20-year-old non-resident worker is being charged with stealing a bag from a man lying on the street.

The case started with a report to the police from a passer-by that stated a man was lying on the street.

A patrol from the PSP was sent to the location finding the man sleeping on a stone bench. When questioned by the police the man, who had been drinking a lot and eventually had fallen asleep in that place, said his bag that allegedly contained cash, credit cards and mobile phones worth a total of MOP22,000 had been stolen.

A further investigation, through the viewing of street video surveillance cameras, identified a Filipino, around 20 years old, who resides in a nearby building.

Upon questioning by the police, the suspect admitted to have taken the bag but denied that he had any of the possessions mentioned by the owner.

He told the police he disposed the bag in the rubbish bin nearby after not finding any valuable items inside.

He is being charged for theft.

Two casino employees charged for fraud and forgery

Two local resident men, aged 24 and 25, have been accused by their employer, a local casino company, of trying to commit fraud by forging documents to grant a casino credit line of HKD5 million to be used by a third party. The credit line aimed to facilitate gamblers access to money without having to carry it into Macau, the Judiciary Police (PJ) informed in press conference.

The complaint to the PJ was filed by the employer who told the police that the men had submitted the aforementioned documents in order to acquire such credit from the company.

For the time being, the company has not reported any loss, as the credit was not granted.

In a separate case, the police informed that a 33-year-old from the mainland has been accused of extortion and providing false declarations to the police.

The case started on June 30 at around 5 a.m., when the suspect presented a complaint to the PJ accusing another man (51) of having pushed him to the ground, causing him injuries.

The event, which allegedly occurred in a casino in Cotai, was investigated and a viewing of the casino CCTV revealed a different story. The accuser can be seen asking for tips from the other man who refused, after which point he grabbed him with both arms before falling on the ground.

Questioned by the police, the suspect informed that the man threatened to file a complaint against him if he did not forfeit HKD 500,000.

The first man was detained and presented to the Public Prosecutions Office on the charges of extortion and false declarations to the police.
On a crowded street in the Inner Harbor district, residents have discovered a pleasant surprise  a row of seven dilapidated buildings has been transformed into a sparkling new library. The Patane Library opened on December 9 at a ceremony presided over by Alexis Tam, Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture, and Ung Vai Meng, then president of the Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC). Since then, it has attracted around 700 visitors a day to enjoy its wide range of free newspapers, magazines, books, films, and music.

Built in the 1930s, the buildings were used as shops, selling timber to shipyards and piers that were then the heart of the city. But as the economy changed, the shops closed and the buildings were converted into overcrowded apartments for the poor. The property fell into such disrepair that in 2010, the owner, a real estate company, wanted to demolish them. The IC stepped in, proposing that the buildings be restored and converted into a library. It took six years and an investment of MOP26 million to revitalize the property, with an additional monthly rent of MOP165,000, 11 months a year paid to the real estate company over the next five years.

Building on empty land is the easiest and costs less, says Lam Kai Wun, an architect from the Division for Research and Planning of the ICs Department of Cultural Heritage. But there is nothing special about it. It has no story. This site is more valuable than a new building, he adds.

We kept the elements from the original buildings. The old residents say that they remember the old wood windows and doors. They have a feeling for this place and say that they used to live here. For each person, each room has a story and they remember it. The story goes on and, we hope, will be told from one generation to the next, explains Lam.

Built in the 1930s, the seven buildings on Rua da Ribeira do Patane combined European and Southeast Asian architectural styles. They housed timber merchants who sold their goods to the citys booming shipyards located a short distance away in the Inner Harbor. It was the business center of the city, where passenger and cargo ships arrived from Hong Kong and the mainland, and where fishing vessels set out to sea. The street bustled with people and clients for the timber.

The exterior of the buildings reflected a style common across southern China with a covering over the pavement that provided protection for pedestrians from both rain and the scorching summer sun. Inside, each building was comprised of a shop on the ground floor, stocks on the top floor, and living quarters for the merchant and their family on the first floor.

Over time, the economy of Macau changed. As the mainland developed its own shipyards, the city could no longer compete in terms of price of land and labor. Production moved to port cities in Guangdong. As their sales dwindled, the timber merchants were forced to shut down. Consumer traffic diminished as well with the emergence of Avenida de Almeida Ribeiro as the citys commercial center, full of new shops, banks, hotels, and restaurants.

The poor condition of the buildings complicated the restoration process. Our principle was to preserve the whole facade, says Lam. The first job was to clear out all the waste and additional structures put in by the new residents. We needed 2530 rubbish trucks to remove everything. Only then could we see the original state of the buildings.

Since the buildings stand on reclaimed land, there had been slippage in some places during the long period of neglect. So Lam and his team repaired the severely damaged areas, and reinforced the foundations. They built a new roof using glass and steel frames, and demolished the walls that separated the seven buildings to create a single unit. Old wood windows and doors from each wall were retained, and a portion preserved for visitors to see.

To accommodate the collection of books and audiovisual materials, the team built a new structure in three of the shops capable of supporting such a massive weight. They also added a lift, to move books and people, and modern drainage and fire prevention systems.

The new glass front allows passersby to see what is inside, and encourages them to come in. To make it even more inviting, Lam placed two benches at the entrance where people can sit, and sip a coffee or eat a snack. Inside they reproduced the original paint scheme, and hung some of the original shutters on one wall, a feature popular with elderly residents.

Why build a library and not a museum or another kind of public facility? To meet demand. According to Lo Chi Keong, chief of Division of Reader Services and Promotion of the ICs Department of Public Library Management, the citys 17 public libraries drew 2.5 million visitors last year.

Our aim is to have one within 510 minutes walking distance of every resident. In July 2012, we opened a small one nearby, the Red Market Library, he says. A former branch of the Post Office, the 260 square meter facility has seating for 73, as well as eight computers and a collection of 7,100 books, mainly on home economics. Although it is open 24 hours a day, the Red Market Library does not have library officials on duty after 8 p.m..

But the Red Market Library is too small. The area needed a larger one and the residents were asking for one. Each district needs a cultural center, and this one is a historic building that deserves to be preserved. Each library needs its own special features. The Patane Library specializes in drama and music, Lo explains.

The Patane Library consists of three floors, covering an area of 1,130 square meters, with 170 seats for readers, as well as space to read the 79 newspapers and 643 magazines. The periodicals come from all over the world, including the mainland, Taiwan, Singapore, Europe, and the United States. The collection also boasts 14,000 books and 4,100 audiovisual materials. It has a multi-media zone to show films and concerts, as well as a room for meetings and school projects.

Since it opened, we have attracted a wide range of people, says Lo. In the morning, elderly people queue up for the opening at 9.30 a.m. to read newspapers and magazines. During the lunch break, we have white-collar people coming from their offices. After the end of class, students come from the schools. Parents come in with their children. We have activities for children, as well as for adults. Presentations from publishers and authors have been especially popular. Readers can access both traditional and electronic books, and order books from other libraries.

Ten years ago, the derelict buildings that now comprise the Patane Library were something to avoid. Now the IC has transformed them into a social and cultural center in the Patane district, and a prime example of how to combine the past and the present. Mark ONeill*

*MDT/Macauhub
Scandal-hit Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe faces one of his biggest tests since coming to power in late 2012, after his ruling party lost to an upstart outfit in an election for Tokyos assembly.

The Liberal Democratic Party lost more than half its seats to end up with 23, the lowest number ever in the capital, in a vote that could be a harbinger for national elections. Voter turnout was up about eight percentage points on the previous poll four years ago.

Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koikes Tomin First (Tokyo Residents First) party won 49 spots in the 127-seat assembly, up from six beforehand. That will give her a majority after she formed a local alliance with parties including Abes national coalition partner Komeito.

Somber-faced party executives sat in silence at the opening of an extraordinary meeting yesterday morning to discuss the defeat.

At times like this we must pull ourselves together and reflect on the things that should be reflected on, then move ahead carefully but decisively, Abe said Monday in remarks carried on NHK. Its been almost five years since the administration was launched and there was severe criticism that we might be lax. We have to accept that with sincerity.

A poll conducted by the Asahi newspaper over the weekend found support for Abes cabinet had fallen three percentage points to 38 percent, while 42 percent of respondents said they did not support him.

A spate of scandals has eroded support for Abe, and the election result may stir more criticism within the LDP, where potential rivals are positioning themselves to try and end his run as Japans third-longest serving premier since World War II. The loss could also hamper his controversial push to revise Japans pacifist constitution by 2020.

Several executives of the partys Tokyo chapter are expected to resign, the Nikkei newspaper reported yesterday, and Abe is likely to reshuffle his Cabinet as soon as August.

Basically what weve had here is a smack upside the head for the prime minister, Nicholas Smith, a strategist at CLSA, told Bloomberg TV. Voters want Abe to stop faffing around with the constitution and instead focus on the economy, he added.

Abes rush to change the constitution to make clear the legitimacy of the countrys Self-Defense Forces has handed his critics a cudgel with which to attack his leadership, according to Tobias Harris, a Japan analyst at Teneo Intelligence in Washington.

Criticism over constitutional revision could be the thin end of the wedge for broader criticism of Abes leadership, Harris said. I wonder whether well also see Abe backed into a Cabinet reshuffle that is sooner than he wanted and more extensive than he wanted.

The defeat could also hurt the partys chances in a national election due next year. In 2009, a big loss for the LDP in Tokyo preceded a landslide general election defeat months later.

Yosuke Takagi of Komeitos Tokyo chapter said there would be no change to the coalition with the LDP in the national parliament. Still, the Buddhist- backed party may become a more vocal critic of Abe, both on the scandals and constitutional issues, according to Harris.

Koike, who defected from the ruling party last month, campaigned on a platform of open government and cutting wasteful spending in the city of 13.7 million, which accounts for about a fifth of Japans economy. One of her first moves as governor was to halve her own salary.

The LDP sought to portray her as indecisive for delaying the relocation of the iconic Tsukiji fish market over pollution concerns and insisting on reviewing the ballooning cost of the 2020 Olympics.

Tokyo citizens expectation that we would reform the outdated assembly enabled us to become the biggest party, Koike told a press conference yesterday, where she expressed willingness to work with Abe.

In the 2009 Tokyo poll, the LDP and Komeito lost their dominant position in the assembly  months before a resounding defeat to the Democratic Party of Japan in a general election that led to more than three years in opposition. This time, however, Abe doesnt have to call a vote until December 2018, a few months after the LDP is due for a formal leadership election.

Its almost a foregone conclusion that someone will run against Abe in the party poll in 2018, Harris said. The question is whether someone with a real chance of winning runs. MDT/Bloomberg
MINNEAPOLIS (AP)  A company that owns 10 Jimmy Johns sandwich shops in the Twin Cities was within its rights to fire six union workers who circulated posters critical of the companys sick-leave policy, a federal appeals court ruled Monday.

The full 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a three-judge appeals panel, which had affirmed a National Labor Relations Board ruling in favor of the workers, who were part of a unionization drive by the Industrial Workers of the World at shops owned by MikLin Enterprises.

The full appeals court concluded that the poster attack was so disloyal that it wasnt protected by federal labor law.

The posters were timed to the flu season in early 2011. They protested the companys policy against workers calling in sick without finding replacements to take their shifts, and accused the company of putting the health of its customers at risk. The poster features two identical photos of Jimmy Johns sandwiches but said one was made by a healthy worker and one was made by a sick worker.

Cant tell the difference? the poster read. Thats too bad because Jimmy Johns workers dont get paid sick days. Shoot, we cant even call in sick. We hope your immune system is ready because youre about to take the sandwich test.

The poster and a press release were distributed to more than 100 local and national news organizations, and the IWW threatened wider distribution if its demands were not met.

The NLRB concluded that MikLin violated protections for employee communications to the public that are part of an ongoing labor dispute. The three-judge appeals panel agreed. But the full appeals court said the board misapplied a controlling precedent set in a 1953 U.S. Supreme Court case that permits firings for disloyalty when the quality of a companys product is attacked, as opposed to communications targeting the employers labor practices.
TWIN FALLS  Chobani is extending its reach farther down the yogurt aisle.

About a month ago, the company began producing its first classic yogurt, Chobani Smooth, which is hitting store shelves in five flavors: peach, strawberry, cherry, blueberry and vanilla.

Although currently produced in the upstate New York factory, Chobani Smooth was developed in Twin Falls and will likely be made here in the future.

This launch is our most successful launch since Fruit on the Bottom, said Kai Sacher, vice president of global research and development, and the man behind Chobani Smooths invention.

Almost every Chobani retailer has not only agreed to offer the new product, but has chosen to carry every flavor, he said.

We did not expect this, Sacher said. It tells us they were desperate for innovation.

Chobani is the leading Greek yogurt brand in the U.S., having accounted for 38 percent of Greek yogurt sales in the 13-week period ending June 17.

On Friday, the Times-News sat down with Sacher to learn how Chobani Smooth was developed in Twin Falls.

What is Sachers background with Chobani?

Kai Sacher joined Chobani six years ago, and was working in research and development at the New York plant.

Sacher, 52, is a food engineer who previously worked with Dannon worldwide. Hes from Munich, but spent part of his life in the mountains of Austria, helping out on dairy farms.

Not only did Sacher see the U.S. as a green field for yogurt development, but Chobani was an up-and-coming business with a passionate CEO  Hamdi Ulukaya.

Hes not only a yogurt maker, hes in love with his product and the design of his product, Sacher said. He had a big vision, which I totally understood.

Since Sacher joined Chobani, the yogurt maker has expanded from offering six products and flavors to producing hundreds.

What inspired Chobani Smooth?

Chobani has transformed and built up the Greek yogurt market in the U.S., forcing other companies to compete, Sacher said.

The classic yogurt, nobody really challenged, he said. This was a clear opportunity for us.

The company has anticipated branching out into a classic yogurt market for at least a couple of years.

The final development took about a half-year, he said.

Most yogurts in the aisle, Sacher said, are made with gelatin, modified starch and artificial ingredients.

We dont use a modified starch, we dont use gelatin. We dont use an artificial sweetener, he said. (We) just make a natural, good yogurt.

Chobani Smooth is sweetened with a less refined sugar  evaporated cane sugar.

On top of it, our product has 25 percent less sugar than the majority (of classic yogurts), and double the protein, he said.

How is Greek yogurt different from classic yogurt?

Greek yogurt has been strained and has a strong, tart, character with more thickness than classic yogurt.

For the consumer, the big difference is the smooth texture and the mildness (of classic yogurt), Sacher said.

What went into the research and development of this new product?

It took six months from the first prototype to the first Chobani Smooth product in the market.

This was a much more intensive development phase, Sacher said.

Invention at Chobani happens with involvement from the CEO himself, who flew in to Twin Falls to sample yogurt and offer direction. Employees would work late at night to prepare the yogurt workshops for Ulukayas arrival, Sacher said.

This is highly unusual from most yogurt companies, where a CEO doesnt taste the product until its on the line, he said.

If a visionary is really involved in the development, he can really express what he wants, he said.

Tell us about Chobanis research and development team.

When Sacher came to Twin Falls in 2012 for a visit, he was convinced that Twin Falls was a great place to attract people. The factory itself, he said, was built for innovation  as the place where Chobani would make and release its Flip products.

In such a fast-moving company, you need to have research and development close to the production, Sacher said.

The R&D team moved to Twin Falls in 2013. It currently operates out of trailers, but later this year Chobani hopes to break ground on a new office building.

The team includes people representing six to eight nationalities, who bring diverse sensory experiences to the table, he said.

Whats it like to work in R&D?

The team puts a huge focus on having fun at work, he said, and yogurt is the output.

You eat a product which is basically super healthy, Sacher said.

And eating yogurt is huge part of his job.

My job is really to see if my translation got translated in the right way, Sacher said.

His scientific instructions to the R&D team result in numerous samples which go through Sachers selection process before they come before Ulukaya.

There are days when I taste 40 yogurts in a day, he said.

Thats about a pound of yogurt. Of the 140 samples tested for Chobani Smooth, Ulukaya probably tasted the top 20, Sacher said.

And its more than just a little taste.

You need to have a few spoonfuls to understand whats happening, how its playing, this game of flavors, he said.
GOODING  A fire along U.S. 26 between Gooding and Bliss was contained Monday evening before it could damage a nearby house and vehicles.

The fire at 1316 U.S. 26 was burning in trees on private property. The cause is under investigation, but it is likely man-made, a Gooding Fire Department employee said.

Gooding Fire Department, Bureau of Land Management and Gooding County Sheriff's Office responded, and assistance had been requested from Bliss Fire District.

The fire burned 3 acres. As of 6:40 p.m. Monday, crews were working to get it controlled.

Around 5:30 p.m., another fire was called in at 101 Proctor St. in Bliss. The fire was initially reported as a brush fire, but there was an unknown structure involved. Bliss Fire District had called for assistance from Hagerman Fire Department.

Check for updates at magicvalley.com.
The current academic rage is to condemn the founding of our nation as racist and cruel and genocidal. Were told Europe is a better model with its parliamentary systems. Long before the U.S. Civil War the United Kingdom banned the slave trade. Then the same government went about starving the next-door neighbor. The neighbor worshipped the same deity, looked like the ruling English (and is genetically almost identical) and all were subjects of the same crown. His/Her Majestys government was torturing colonialists in Africa as the Beatles were touring the USA. In between Ireland and Kenya, the Europeans twice engaged in the wholesale slaughter of world war. It would appear our founding fathers were men of their time as were the European colonialists who subjected the Mau-Mau, Boers and people of the Congo to unspeakable horrors. Middle America can see all of this quite clearly. The elites on campuses, in newsrooms and populating Hollywood are the blind. Which is why there is a divide of opinion when it comes to the president of the United States. Last week as media and political elites were bellyaching about presidential tweets sullying the Oval Office, I immediately thought about Monica Lewinsky. Donald Trump didnt stain Mikas dress. As Im writing there is a TV clip airing in the background. Mikas fiance, Joe Scarborough, is making fun of the late Fred Thompsons wife. In the old video, Mr. Morning Joe appears to call Mrs. Thompson a streetwalker. Trump didnt call the future Mrs. Scarborough any such thing. He referenced cosmetic surgery. By definition chin work falls into the category of face-lift. So, Lefty, shut the heck up! There are far more serious stories in need of our attention. Is Trump stupid? While the media dog chased its tail, he was busy with his pen. The president can be crude but it appears he loves his country. When he was first becoming a household name in the middle of the 1980s, I visited his hometown with a consulting class. One evening our group wandered into a pub called Blarney Stone for dinner. The clientele was mainly working men. The kind of people the wealthy Trump associated with from his childhood on his way to gaudy wealth. Hes one of them. These are the same type of New Yorkers who voted in large numbers for William Buckley 52 years ago. My country, right or wrong, was their popular slogan of the time. Many of these men are descendants of Irish troops who fought with Thomas Francis Meagher. In between their families twice went back to Europe and saved civilization. We make fun of a lot of effete New Yorkers but there are quite a few who share flyover country values. Trump is their man.
July 4, 1946. Philippine flag is raised while the U.S. flag is lowered. The flagpole in front of the Rizal Monument is thus known as the Independence Flagpole, commemorating the culmination of the quest for national independence.





July 4th





Filipinos used to celebrate this day as their Independence Day. For it was on July 4, 1946 when the formal recognition of Philippine independence by the United States of America took place. This For it was on July 4, 1946 when the formal recognition of Philippine independence by the United States of America took place. This Third Republic * was marked by the recognition by the global community of nations, of the nationhood of the Philippines.





The Philippine Islands were occupied by American forces in 1898, and were U.S. territory until 1935 when the Commonwealth government was established. But the Empire of Japan then occupied the country between 1941 and 1945, with a government-in-exile headed by President Manuel Luis Quezon operating in Australia and later in the US. The country thus fell under U.S. sovereignty for 48 years prior.





On that historic day of July 4, 1946, as the people of the United States of America celebrated their own Independence Day, a long-time Philippine resident, Gen. Douglas MacArthur returned to Manila to grace the occasion as guest.





Gen. Douglas MacArthur arrives at Nichols Field (now Villamor Air Base),

as guest at the inauguration of the Republic of the Philippines.



Said MacArthur:





"48 years ago the mantle of American sovereignty fell over this land and these people. It was the magnificent sovereignty of a liberator, pledged to be withdrawn as soon as the well-being of a people would safely permit.

America never wavered in that purpose. America today redeems that pledge. This land and these people that I have known so long and loved so well..."





Cover of the Official Souvenir Program of the Proclamation

and Inauguration of the Republic of the Philippines





Today, the Official Gazette of the Republic of the Philippines even corroborates this without twisting any of the facts





The independence of the Philippinesand the inauguration of its Third Republicwas marked by Manuel Roxas re-taking his oath, eliminating the pledge of allegiance to the United States of America which was required prior to independence, this time as the first President of the Republic of the Philippines. The Congress of the Commonwealth then became the First Congress of the Republic, and international recognition was finally achieved as governments entered into treaties with the new republic.









Meaning, there was never any Independence Day celebration for Filipinos prior to 1946, simply because we were not yet an independent nation, right?





Front page of Manila Bulletin's Independence Edition,

its "Salute to Freedom"





Independence was delayed by just one year





Our Independence should have been granted in 1945 in accordance with the mentioned Act of the U.S. if not for the Japanese occupation of the Philippines that threw a wrench into the plan. A campaign to retake the country from the Japanese began only in October 1944, when Gen. Douglas MacArthur with his troops landed in Leyte.





Long fierce land, sea and air battles ensued with intermittent fighting even after the official Japanese surrender in September 1945. After withdrawing her sovereignty from the Philippines as promised, the United States provided the needed reparations and free trade concessions to rebuild the war-ravaged and exceedingly poverty stricken country.





Official program of the Proclamation of the Independence of the Republic of the Philippines and inauguration of Pres. Roxas and Vice Pres Quirino



So how come we're celebrating "Araw ng Kalayaan" now on a different date, and what is the Philippine Republic Day all about? Did we just decide one day in the recent past to reinvent our history?

1962, we remember that President Diosdado Macapagal issued a Proclamation which declared June 12 (the date in 1898, when Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo declared our independence from Spain), a special public holiday throughout the Philippines. Going back to(the date in 1898, when Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo declared our independence), Macapagal cited that the establishment of the Philippine Republic by the Revolutionary Government under General Emilio Aguinaldo on June 12, 1898, marked our peoples declaration and exercise of their right to self-determination, liberty and independence.

Heneral Miong was there himself on July 4, 1946. Veterans of the Philippine Revolution led by Gen Emilio Aguinaldo join the parade in their rayadillo uniform.



Two years later, on August 4, 1964, through Republic Act No. 4166 Philippine Independence Day was changed from July 4 to June 12, and July 4 was declared "Philippine Republic Day" that happens to coincide with the Independence Day of the United States.





What about Philippine-American Friendship Day?





President Ramon Magsaysay who issued Presidential Proclamation 212 for the observance of Philippine-American Day every 15 November, the anniversary of the inauguration of the Philippine Commonwealth on November 15, 1935. That day was originally established in 1955 underwho issued Presidential Proclamation 212 for the observance of Philippine-American Day every 15 November, the anniversary of the inauguration of the Philippine Commonwealth on November 15, 1935.





(A Philippine Independence Act was passed by the U.S. Congress in 1934 and signed by U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt specifying a 10-year period of peaceful transition to full independence, the date of which was to be on the 4th of July following the tenth anniversary (or by 1945), of the Commonwealth.)













President Ferdinand Marcos, "PhilippineAmerican Day" was renamed "PhilippineAmerican Friendship Day" and was simply moved to 4th July. "Republic Day" was no more. But sometime under the rule ofand was simply moved to 4th July. "Republic Day" was no more.





Celebrating PhilippineAmerican Friendship Day or Republic Day as a non-working holiday were, however, decidedly abolished in 1987 by President Corazon C. Aquino. In a news report Aquinos In a news report Aquinos press secretary said ''July 4 is no longer a holiday. The president said we are friends, the U.S. and the Philippines, but we don't need to have a holiday for it.''





1996, President Fidel V. Ramos found it fitting to once again commemorate the anniversary of Republic Day on July 4. He issued Proclamation No. 811 to mark it not with a holiday but with public celebrations to commemorate 50 years of independence! Infound it fitting to once again commemorate the anniversary ofon July 4. He issued Proclamation No. 811 to mark it





All of these only means that as of July 4, 2016, the Philippines has been an independent nation for seventy years!





But is anyone counting the years or remembering at all? Why or why not?





"A new nation is born", Field Marshal of the Philippines, Douglas MacArthur said, calling the day as "turning point in the age-long struggle of man for liberty".


Chicken will be the best-positioned protein due to its low price position in times of pressure on consumer spending power but rises in production costs and the long-term impact of COVID-19 threaten to disrupt the sector, according to Rabobank.
Morocco has renewed its resolve to contribute to the emergence of a New Africa, able to turn the challenges it is facing into genuine prospects for development and stability, an Africa able to reinvent itself and to unleash a momentum of its own.

The pledge was made by King Mohammed VI in the speech delivered before the 29th summit of the African Union currently convening in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Morocco wants to contribute to the emergence of a New Africa: a strong, daring Africa that defends its interests; an Africa that is influential on the world stage, said the Sovereign in the speech read out on his behalf by Prince Moulay Rachid, who is representing him in the AU Summit.

It is the first time that Morocco is taking part in the AU Summit since it reintegrated its seat within its institutional family last January after 33 years of absence.

The Sovereign who expressed his firm belief that Africa can turn the challenges it is facing into genuine prospects for development and stability, pointed out that in order to shape this new Africa, it is important to shed all illusions and reject any fantasies.

The New Africa I am yearning for should, on the contrary, be based on a solid, pragmatic vision which is likely to help forge a conquering Africa that is committed to solidarity.

To do this, he said, it is essential for African States to set realistic, pragmatic objectives based on the continents real priorities.

He added that Morocco has faith in Africas ability to reinvent itself and to unleash a momentum of its own. Given the obvious limitations of classic North-South cooperation in the bid to rise to the challenge of an emerging Africa, our continent should make greater use of inter-African cooperation and of strategic, solidarity-based partnerships between sister nations.

Actually, King Mohammed VI has made of the promotion of a solidarity-based cooperation and a win-win partnership between African states his number one priority.

Since coming to power in 1999, he attached a special attention to his countrys relations with African states, basing his African policy on forward-looking strategies for social, human and economic development and on sharing Moroccos economic, political and security model with the continent.

Touching on the challenges facing the continent, the King underlined that the AU should be fully attuned to the stakes involved in the continent and be constantly heedful of todays challenges.

The emergence of Africa requires an overhaul of African institutions one that would enable the continent to respond fully and decisively to the challenges faced, he stated.

Insisting that a transformative vision of the African Union is needed today, more than ever, he pointed out that the reform of the African Union is a flagship project in which Morocco will be actively involved.

The implementation of such a reform is no longer a luxury; rather, it is an imperative need, considering the enormous stakes involved and the immense challenges to which our continent must rise, the King said, expressing confidence that Africa can turn the challenges it is facing into genuine prospects for development and stability.

In his speech, King Mohammed VI tackled a set of other subjects such as African population growth, African institutions, migration and youth questions, insisting that addressing such challenges requires collective efforts and concrete, resolute action in peace-building, security and human development.

In this regards, he argued that sustained and judicious investment should be geared towards education, health, vocational training and employment. Investing in young people, who account for nearly two-thirds of Africas population, is crucial. It calls for appropriate training, smooth, well-regulated integration into the job market and the ability to take initiatives in order to create wealth, to showcase ones talents and to contribute to the continents progress and development.

Creating jobs and offering promising prospects for the youth is instrumental in hampering the recruitment of unemployed youth by rebel movements and extremist or terrorist groups, which are present throughout the continent, and in preventing the youth from risking their lives in illegal migration attempts, King Mohammed VI said.
Six months after it officially returned to the African Union, Morocco is participating for the first time at the AU summit as a full-fledged member since Monday.

The African Union re-admitted Morocco as a member in January this year, more than three decades after Rabat withdrew from the blocs predecessor, the Organization of African Unity, over a row about the status of Western Sahara.

On Monday, a large Moroccan delegation, led by the Kings brother Prince Moulay Rachid, converged to Addis Ababa with a commitment to contribute to the implementation of the African Union Agenda for peace, stability, security and development.

Prince Moulay Rachid, who arrived Sunday in the Ethiopian capital, delivered the message of the Moroccan sovereign to his African peers.

For its first participation, the North African nation has reiterated the pledge made by King Mohammed VI during his historic speech before the 28th AU Summit in Kigali, Rwanda last January.

The on-going 29th Summit of the African Union is held under the theme Harnessing the Demographic Dividend through Investments in Youths.

The theme of the summit aims to address a plethora of challenges that relate to investment in youth through education and training, among others, as a panacea to the unemployment crisis in Africa.

A proactive, youth-oriented policy was needed to channel energy for the achievement of development, said the Moroccan King in his speech, stressing the urgent need to use the demographic dividend to stimulate the emergence of the continent. This is a godsend for Africa; it makes it possible for the continent to benefit from a young, educated and abundant labor force to drive the continents economic growth, he stated, noting that while over 11 million young Africans enter the labor market each year, only three million jobs are created.

Underlining that African youths are bearing the brunt of unemployment, the King suggested a proactive policy whose three watchwords are education, higher education and vocational training. In this vein, he called for a substantial, sustained and judicious investment to be geared towards education, health, vocational training and employment.

Investing in young people, who account for nearly two-thirds of Africas population, is crucial, he argued, adding that idle African youths will hamper the continents much-desired emergence.

King Mohammed VI also sounded the alarm that unemployed, disenfranchised youths are an easy prey as recruits for terrorist groups swarming in the Sahel and elsewhere in Africa.

If the challenge of young peoples employability is not addressed urgently, their idleness will be compounded, thus reinforcing their vulnerability and the risk of radicalizationClose to 40% of unemployed people are ideal recruits for rebel movements and extremist or terrorist groups, which are present throughout the continent, the Monarch warned.
BUILDING THE LA RAZA 'The Race' WELFARE STATE ON MIDDLE AMERICAS' BACKS: Months ago, the Biden administration publicly defended their proposal to begin providing federal identification cards to border crossers and illegal aliens who they plan to release into American communities. The goal of the proposal is to make securing public benefits easier.
@ByKristenMClark

Florida is planning to execute its next Death Row inmate in August  which will be the first execution in more than a year-and-a-half amid months of legal limbo over the states death penalty law.

Gov. Rick Scott on Monday issued a death warrant that re-schedules Mark James Asays execution for 6 p.m. Aug. 24.

Asay was convicted in 1988 of killing two men in Jacksonville. If his execution happens as scheduled, Asay will become the first white person put to death for murdering a black person in Florida, now-retired Justice James E.C. Perry previously said.

Asay was originally scheduled to be put to death in March 2016 but his execution was halted that month in the wake of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling known has Hurst v. Florida that upended Floridas death penalty law by deeming unconstitutional the states procedures for sentencing prisoners to death.

As part of addressing that decision, the Florida Supreme Court last December cemented death sentences for nearly 200 prisoners  including Asay  whose sentences were finalized before a June 2002 U.S. Supreme Court ruling referenced in the Hurst decision.

RELATED: There are fewer murderers on Floridas Death Row but not because of executions

State justices in December also lifted a stay on the execution of Asay, in particular, paving the way for executions to resume in the state.

Its unclear why Scott waited more than six months to issue the new warrant.

Full story here.

Photo credit: Florida Department of Corrections.
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EVARO  The Pyromania Fireworks stand is still recovering after fire restrictions in western Montana hurt its July sales two years ago.

Sales were down, but were gaining ground, said Jason Clinkenbeard, one of the owners of the Northwest Display and Pyromania Fireworks.

Clinkenbeard was at the Evaro tent next to Gray Wolf Peak Casino Monday selling fireworks to last-minute holiday shoppers. Clinkenbeard and his brother inherited the business from their parents. The brothers purchase fireworks from China and they sell to individual buyers as well as some of the bigger shows across the Pacific Northwest.

In 2015, the stand saw a drop in sales after every county in northwestern Montana, as well as the Flathead Indian Reservation, prohibited the personal use of fireworks in the days before Independence Day. Most people who are regular users of fireworks self-regulate during a dry season, so even before the restrictions were announced, there was a dramatic drop in the number of fireworks being sold, Clinkenbeard said.

On Monday, Jonathon Broaden, 35, was shopping at the stand with his 3-year-old nephew Benjamin Broaden. Jonathon Broaden is a big fan of fireworks but also a former firefighter who helped fight the Cave Gulch fire in the Helena National Forest in July 2000. People can start fires if they arent paying attention, but there are lots of tips online about how to set off fireworks while being safe, Broaden said.

For the past five years, Joe Madaski has held a fireworks show in memory of his friends dead father. The show has never resulted in a fire or injury, Madaski said. The party ranges from 20 to 50 people each year and Madaski will drop about $600 a year on fireworks. Madaskis friend buys the food and Madaski supplies the fireworks, normally bought from Pyromania.

For Arianne Berger, 30, and her boyfriend Chance Heath, 30, this is their one chance to get some real fireworks.

This is blowing my mind right now, Berger said.

Heath is from Missoula but the two live in New York and are in town for the holiday. Berger grew up in New Jersey where the majority of the kinds of fireworks sold at the stand are not allowed in city limits.

I blew up my hand on one of these when I was younger, Heath said. So were staying away from the handheld ones.

Heath said hell probably spend about $200 on fireworks for their Fourth of July barbecue.
ARLEE  At this year's Arlee Esyapqeyni, Ruth Swaney organized a cooking competition to honor her late father and his friend who used to appear together on the SKC-TV series, "Cookin' with the Colonel."

Swaney is the daughter of Thomas "Bearhead" Swaney, the former leader of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes. Bearhead Swaney and his friend Col. Doug Allard appeared together for 13 episodes on the colonel's cooking show, with Swaney acting as a critic and taste tester for Allard.

"The two were like an old married couple," said Johnny Arlee, who was acting as one of the judges at Monday's competition. "They'd be there arguing and they'd say 'Johnny, did you hear that?' I'd be like, 'Keep me out of it.'"

Competitors in the Monday event at the Arlee powwow were asked to make buffalo stew and fry bread for the first round. All the ingredients and utensils were provided, but with the buffalo meat still frozen and the pots and pans for the most part purchased at consignment stores, this was more of an impediment than an accommodation.

"Those are Dollar Store tongs," Ruth Swaney said, heckling the competitors as they started working on their fry bread.

Patty Stevens, who was competing on a team with Millie Schmidt, began breaking up the celery and throwing it into the stew after getting frustrated with the provided knives. Moments later she realized she'd been holding the knife upside-down the entire time.

"Millie's the master cook," Stevens said.

Competitor Joe Fisher is a former culinary instructor at the Kicking Horse Job Corps. He didn't care much who won.

"Don't matter, I just want to cook," Fisher said.

This was the right attitude, given that the judges didn't seem to plan on being too picky.

"I'll give them all probably a 10," Arlee said.

The third team competing was Angela Diaz and her husband Dude Perry, who own Bannock Burgers. The couple live in Idaho but drove out for the Arlee celebration. Diaz and Perry didn't use any spices in their stew, limiting it to the provided bison meat, onions and celery.

"The onions are nourishing and have all the good stuff to keep you from getting sick," Diaz said.

Keeping the meal more simple kept it more traditional, she said. Fry bread, a fried batter bread, is not really a traditional food, Perry said.

As the judges began tasting the different stews, the cooking competition's audience swelled as people began to line up to try what the cooks had made. In the end Fisher and the Schmidt-Stevens team went on to the finals, where the two teams both made huckleberry desserts. The Schmidt-Stevens team was the ultimate winner.

It was the first year the Arlee Esyapqeyni had included a cooking competition, but with the success of the one this year, Ruth Swaney said the celebration's committee was already talking about how it could be done again next year. She said her father and Allard would have liked watching the competition.

"And done a good amount of bantering with each other and with the chefs," Ruth Swaney said.
After interrupting its Planning 2.0 process just as it was getting started, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management has announced a new round of public ideas to shape its decision-making system.

Our goal is to identify inefficiencies and redundancies that should be eliminated from our land use planning and NEPA (National Environmental Policy Act) processes, while ensuring that we fulfill our legal and resource stewardship responsibilities, acting BLM Director Michael Nedd wrote in a press release on Monday.

By doing this, we will be able to dedicate more time and resources to completing the important on-the-ground work on our public lands.

The 21-day comment period ends July 24. Nedd specifically asked for ideas on how we can make the BLMs planning procedures and environmental reviews timelier and less costly, as well as responsive to local needs.

In Montana, BLM oversees a smaller slice of the federal land pie than the U.S. Forest Service: about 8 million acres compared to 16 million Forest Service. Nationally, the slices reverse with BLM controlling 248 million acres and the Forest Service 193 million.

BLM Missoula Field Manager Joe Ashor said the agency was looking for ways to improve its three-decade-old planning process. BLM has been using a rule first drafted in 1986 to review land-use proposals and environmental assessments.

Were open to any and all directives from the current administration for how they might tweak the process, Ashor said. Its pretty wide open in whats requested as to how the planning process can be improved upon. Theres clearly a desire to make sure local governments and the public have a chance to be involved in much greater degree than they have in the past. That was part of the 2.0 rule.

Congress rescinded the rule in March using the Congressional Review Act, which allows reversals of presidential actions within 60 days of publication. The Obama Administration put forward the Planning 2.0 rule after a two-year public process with the stated goal of allowing more public input into federal land use decision-making. The rule drew criticism from oil and gas developers, who argued it would discourage multiple-use access.

This rule would have given even more power to the bureaucracy in Washington when what we need is the exact opposite, House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Rob Bishop (R-Utah) said at the time. Reversing this rule is just one of many actions we will take to shift land management decisions back to the people who live in these areas and away from unelected, and in many cases unaccountable, bureaucrats.

But the Congressional Review Act also requires that a revoked action cant be replaced by something essentially similar. Western Values Project director Chris Saeger called the new process a way for Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke to provide cover for more favors to the special interests that have bankrolled his and President Trumps political careers.

It's no wonder Interior is dumping this news on a day when so many Americans are enjoying the public campgrounds Secretary Zinke wants to privatize, Saeger wrote in an email on Monday. These leading questions reveal this exercise to be as much of a sham as the supposed review of national monuments.

Anyone wishing to submit comments on the new BLM planning process can send them to goo.gl/CYxqM5
Missoula County prosecutors are charging a man for what could be his seventh DUI if he is convicted.

Jack Dean Kottre, 59, made his initial appearance in Missoula County Justice Court on Monday. He is charged with felony driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, fourth or subsequent offense. He has six prior DUI convictions.

The crime is punishable by not less than 13 months in the Montana Department of Corrections. Kottre is also charged with misdemeanor counts of failure to use a seatbelt and operating without liability insurance.

According to the complaint, a Highway Patrol trooper was patrolling Interstate 90 on July 1 when he observed a maroon Buick with only one headlight. He also noticed the driver not wearing a seat belt. When the trooper tried to stop the car, the driver did not at first pull over.

The trooper alleged that after the driver stopped, he appeared dazed, was mumbling and his eyes were bloodshot and watery. The driver allegedly admitted he had consumed alcohol the night before and may still have been a little impaired. The trooper reported that the driver refused to perform some sobriety tests or give a breath or blood sample. The trooper applied for and was granted a telephonic search warrant for Kottre's blood. He has six prior DUI convictions.

He is being held on $15,000 bond.
Rodeos, barbecues, fireworks, parades  these are what often come to mind when we celebrate the Fourth of July in Montana. In fact, these activities have always come to mind when we think about Independence Day.

On July 4, 1776, the Continental Congress officially adopted the Declaration of Independence. From the very beginning, people understood the significance of what they had just done. John Adams, our would-be second president, wrote to his wife about his vision for future celebrations of this historic occasion: I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated, by succeeding Generations, as the great anniversary Festival  It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more. And weve done just that.

While there may not have been a rodeo on the Fourth of July in 1776, our celebrations still share some of the traits described by Adams. And more importantly, our devotion to this country still remains  displayed clearly by the fact that Montana has one of the highest populations of veterans per capita in the nation.

From our very beginning, men from various colonies and backgrounds pledged to each other their lives, fortunes and sacred honor in the hope of freedom. Independence Day is not a holiday for Republicans or Democrats. Its not a holiday for one religion or another. Independence Day is a celebration for all Americans, everywhere, to celebrate our freedom.

The cause for independence is one that we often take for granted, but our Founding Fathers counted the cost. In the same letter to his wife, Abigail, John Adams wrote, You will think me transported with enthusiasm but I am not.  I am well aware of the Toil and Blood and Treasure, that it will cost us to maintain this Declaration, and support and defend these States.  Yet through all the Gloom I can see the Rays of ravishing Light and Glory. I can see that the End is more than worth all the Means. We still believe this to be true 241 years later.

America remains the greatest nation on earth. Generations of men and women have taken up the call to defend our nation and vision for freedom  and for that, we are very grateful. As I travel across our great state, I see constant reminders of the dedication to country that was reflected by our Founding Fathers and its an honor to represent you in the United States Senate. Happy Independence Day and as the great song America the Beautiful states, God shed His grace on thee.
MISSOULA  In 1993, Montana legislators created a hotline for the public to report "waste, fraud and abuse" in state government.

The website lists information on how to file complaints about Montana employees, statewide elected officials, attorneys, bankers, non-profits, child abuse, contractors, discrimination, elder abuse, foreign lotteries, gas pump accuracy, healthcare professionals, highway patrol, insurance companies, judges, utilities, public assistance programs, pay disputes, water wells, wildlife, and workers compensation.

But want to file an ethics complaint against a legislator?

You won't find directions anywhere on MT.gov.

Even many legislators interviewed did not know how to do so. Some thought complaints must be filed to the Commissioner of Political Practices. But that office has no authority over the ethics of legislative acts. The responsibility to guard against abuses of power by legislators lies with legislators: the House and Senate Ethics Committees that have not met since 2001.

Montana received a failing grade from the nonpartisan Center for Public Integrity in its 2015 investigation of state government transparency and ethics.

Some legislators admit Montana has room for improvement.

Legislators routinely vote on policies that would personally benefit their businesses because of the narrow definition of a conflict under state law. Rules do not block them from voting even if they declare a conflict. And no one ensures state officials fill out disclosure forms completely.

If someone were to spot a violation, there are no public instructions about how to file a complaint.

If a complaint makes its way to the ethics committees, they can dismiss it without calling a meeting or documenting the reasoning for a decision. There is no requirement to notify the filer of the outcome.

Unlike ethics complaints filed against other state officials, there is no public listing of reports against legislators and how they were resolved, nor are there confidentiality protections for involved parties. Even if a complaint is filed, ethics committees tasked with reviewing them cannot meet outside the 90-day legislative session held every two years.

More than a dozen legislators interviewed had not heard about most of those issues.

"Really? I didn't know that," said Senate Ethics Chairman Nels Swandal, a Republican from Wilsall. "I'm sure we could come up with some answers."

Helena attorney Jonathan Motl, who served as the Commissioner of Political Practices until recently, described conflicts of interest as "an area that needs to be looked at" statewide, including among legislators who operate with separate oversight. In recent years, commissioners have focused their small staff almost entirely on enforcing campaign finance laws.

"It's an area of concern to Montanans," he said, reflecting on his three years watchdogging Montana elections and handling a few ethics complaints against statewide officials. "Ethics. That word is what makes government work. Governance depends on the ethics of action, which gives the public confidence in government. That's why it's so important."

Motl said his office received several phone calls this year from people wanting to file complaints against legislators. He told them to email complaints to the chairs of legislative ethics committees or the Legislature's attorney. Only one did. Two complaints erroneously filed with the commissioner about legislators were forwarded to the Legislature.

"Anybody can file a complaint for whatever reason they feel is justified," said Rep. Theresa Manzella, R-Hamilton, who was the subject of one of those complaints. "She (the complainant) took it to the COPP, and they said no violations. She then took it to legal counsel, who said no violations. Then she put it before the ethics committee and was told a third time there were no ethics violations."

Manzella's account of events is flawed but highlights common misconceptions about the process among legislators interviewed. When asked about the discrepancies, Manzella said she had not studied the rules in detail and had not recently reviewed the documents in question.

The complaint against Manzella was filed by Paula Nelson of Darby. She first submitted a complaint to the Commissioner of Political Practices, who told her that office could not process it. As directed by the commissioner, she sent an email to the Legislative Services Division and members of the House Ethics Committee, although they already had received a copy from Motl.

Nelson was concerned Manzella had used "taxpayer provided stationery with, assumedly, taxpayer provided postage" to send thank-you notes following a fundraiser for an injured community member, an event with no direct connection to state duties.

House Ethics Chairman Bill Harris, R-Mosby, and Legislative Counsel Todd Everts met briefly to discuss the issue and draft a response letter. Harris wrote back to Nelson, explaining that the use of "stationery and envelopes for constituent communicationis not prohibited."

Nelson declined an interview request.

Michael Spreadbury also submitted a complaint this year. He accused Rep. Daniel Zolnikov, R-Billings, of carrying a bill that "actively promotes" the interests of ride-sharing company Uber. Zolnikov said during the initial hearing that he had driven for Uber for a short while to better understand the service.

Spreadbury, who owns a Helena limo company, said Zolnikov earned enough money from those rides to constitute a financial interest that should exclude him from participating in the legislation.

Harris and Vice Chairwoman Ellie Hill-Smith, D-Missoula, reviewed the complaint personally and decided not to convene a committee meeting. They concluded that the bill, written by the Public Service Commission, not Zolnikov, would not have benefited Uber significantly and that Zolnikov had followed legislative rules by disclosing his personal tie to the company. In the previous session, Smith had been instrumental in rewriting state law to allow ride-share companies to operate in Montana.

"There's no way to move forward in Montana without some sort of conflict. We're a small state," Spreadbury said, acknowledging the "natural" challenges citizen legislators face. "I don't know what the penalties are, but I don't think Daniel Zolnikov should honestly be in the Legislature anymore."

He did not know that his complaint had been forwarded from the commissioner's office to the House Ethics Committee, received no call or email to discuss the complaint, and did not know it had been dismissed.

Zolnikov called the complaint "absurd" and echoed many other legislators who do not think conflicts should automatically disqualify someone from participating in bill drafting or votes.

"There were insurance agents on the committee who knew insurance. Is it a conflict of interest if they carry a bill about insurance? Or is it the smartest thing because they can tell if the lobbyists are telling the truth or not?" he said. "It's a double-edged sword."

Nearly every legislator interviewed believed they do an adequate job of policing their own members, mostly through informal conversations.

"You don't come up here to personally benefit yourself. It typically costs you more money to be up here than if you stayed at home and paid attention to your knitting," Senate President Scott Sales, R-Bozeman, said. "You'd get called on it. These are some of the most conscientious people I've ever served with, regardless of political persuasion."

Sunlight Foundation Executive Director John Wonderlich questioned the willingness of legislators to call out colleagues for ethical violations "when every other piece of their legislative work is about getting along."

"Legislators are notoriously bad at overseeing their peers," said Wonderlich, who leads the country's primary nonpartisan nonprofit that advocates for government transparency and the public's right to know.

One example of how legislators manage those decisions can be found in 2010. It involves Harris, the current House Ethics Chairman.

A week after being elected to his first term, the Mosby outfitter introduced a draft of his first bill: It would rescind a ballot measure voters had just approved to end outfitter-sponsored hunting licenses. Some outfitters feared a loss of business from the passage of the initiative because it ended guaranteed access to 5,500 big game and deer licenses for their nonresident clients.

At the time, Harris said the change would make securing customers "more cumbersome" and cost some outfitters money.

Despite a report in the Billings Gazette that sparked conversation statewide about whether the bill was self-dealing, legislative leaders were reluctant to block him from introducing the measure or to file a formal complaint with the ethics committee that could have ruled whether to allow Harris to carry the bill. Privately, some legislators encouraged him to drop the measure, according to people who served at the time.

Shortly after introducing the bill in March, Harris tabled the proposal, which was opposed even by the main outfitters lobbying group.

"I had always planned to table it," Harris said recently, describing his bill as an attempt to clarify how the state would reimburse outfitters, if at all, for hundreds of thousands of dollars in licenses already purchased. "I didn't try to be secretive about any of it. I don't see a problem with that, where it was so blatantly damaging to people. They got robbed by a change in the law."

Sen. Mike Phillips, D-Bozeman, saw the episode as an example of how legislators successfully pressure colleagues to do the right thing but also as a case where more formal action might have been warranted if Harris had not tabled his proposal. That year, Phillips served on the House Rules Committee, which can call on the Ethics Committee to meet in such cases, but remembered no serious discussions to do so.

"It struck me as a clear violation of the conflict of interest rules," Phillips said. "We haven't needed to meet because people found the error of their ways on their own and stood down on their own like Rep. Harris.

"Some people have probably kept their head down, not drawn attention to their conflicts, and benefited from the passage of legislation. I've never gotten the impression it's a problem," he said.

Wonderlich found it unlikely that legislators were heading off all conflicts with hallway conversations. Even if they were, he said that informal system provides no guarantees for the public and leaves criminal investigators with less material to draw from should they try to build a case against someone whose ethical violations were also criminal acts. Inadequate conflict of interest laws make the Legislature vulnerable to abuse and too weak to respond should that self-policing culture fail in the future, he said.

"I'm sympathetic to the idea that ethics should be responsive to people's norms and expectations," Wonderlich said, noting that the U.S. House, for instance, exempts pediatricians from rules that ban working while in Congress because it is widely accepted that the job has little potential to corrupt. "You can acknowledge life's complexities and that people are human and still have a process."

He said Montana legislators were arguing for "a non-process" rather than rules "based on public expectations that help us be confident in our representatives."

Center for Public Integrity Executive Editor Gordon Witkin said Montana's failure to define a process for the public to file complaints speaks volumes.

"If you care about accountability and transparency in government, there has to be a clear, well-publicized path for citizens to file ethics complaints about legislators and have them seriously adjudicated," he said.
MUSCATINE  The Muscatine County Board of Supervisors Monday awarded a contract to begin reconstruction of the parking lot at the Community Services building.

The county hired Watersmith Engineering to design plans for the new parking lot at 315 Iowa Ave. for at least $7,000, according to the county's claims register.

The plan includes excavating, adding a new handicap-accessible ramp and hand-railing, paving and electrical work.

On Monday, the board awarded a contract to the lowest bidder, All American Concrete of West Liberty, for $175,439. That includes $20,000 for excavation and more than $13,000 for the handicap-accessible ramp.

During construction, one lane of 4th Street should remain open to traffic at all times. Any closed lane will reopen at the end of each work day, according to the design firm.

Brad Roeth, senior engineer for Watersmith Engineering, said after the parking lot is finished, the city will hire a contractor to plant trees. The cost of the project is accounted for in the county's budget.

"We got a lot of local bidders on this, that was nice to see," Board Chair Jeff Sorensen said.

Board members said All American Concrete also built the new walkways at the Muscatine County Courthouse and were contracted for the work on Cedar Street, including building the roundabout.

The board also approved transferring about $16,000 from the county's general fund to the conservation reserve fund.

Last week, Muscatine County Conservation Board Director Curt Weiss told the Board of Supervisors it had $16,284 unused in its budget. He asked for it to be moved to the reserve fund to cover expenses related to the construction of a new shooting range and new facilities at Deep Lakes Park.

Weiss said the Conservation Board saved some money over the last year because it hired fewer people to work during the summer.

"Summer help last year was down a bit, not because we wanted it to be but because it's hard to get people," Weiss said.

Weiss said the Conservation Board has about $60,000 in its reserve account.

The Board of Supervisors also transferred $3,500 from the general fund to the Historic Preservation Commission Fund.
MUSCATINE  A Georgia man was sentenced to up to 10 years in prison after wounding a victim with a knife and stealing a wallet at the Walmart Supercenter in Muscatine.

Sonny Boyce, 22, of Carrollton, Georgia, was sentenced in Muscatine County District Court last week after pleading guilty to theft in the first degree, a Class B felony, and willful injury causing bodily injury.

The Muscatine Police Department responded to a report of a stabbing around 1:28 a.m. Thursday, March 2, at the store, 3003 N. Highway 61.

Boyce and another man were later transported by ambulance to UnityPoint Health-Trinity Muscatine with non-life threatening injuries.

After an investigation, police found Boyce took a wallet from a victim during the altercation and the victim received multiple knife wounds, according to the County Attorney's office.

Sarah Ritter
MUSCATINE  Muscatine-area veterans told U.S. Congressman Dave Loebsack (D-Iowa) they have had issues receiving care through the Veterans Choice program, which pays for veterans to receive private-sector health care when Veterans Administration services are not available.

President Donald Trump extended the program in April, but during a veteran forum at American Legion Post No. 27 in Muscatine Monday, Loebsack said it is still not fully funded.

"Clearly this is a resource issue as much as anything," Loebsack said. "Whatever happens with the budget going forward, the last thing we want to do is cut programs that benefit veterans. Folks need those services and we've got people coming home all the time."

Some area veterans said they have been told to travel to facilities as far away as Iowa City and do not feel the program has made obtaining health care more convenient.

Loebsack said several committee chairs of Iowa veterans service organizations are encouraging lawmakers to fully fund the program at $4.3 billion.

"We need to do a much better job of integrating with community care," Loebsack said. "There needs to be better oversight by people in Congress."

"It's a good program in theory, but it's a matter of making it work," he said, adding he worries if the Choice Program cannot be funded by the state, money will be diverted from local organizations.

Loebsack also is concerned about the health care reform, which he said will make "dramatic cut-backs to Medicaid."

"There are a lot of veterans on Medicaid, many people don't know that," he said. "Those cuts will affect everyone eligible or who will be eligible...and deprive people from getting Medicaid in the future."

But health care was not the only thing on veterans' minds Monday.

Richard Havel of Muscatine had one goal: To bring his father-in-law's victory medals home.

Havel's father-in-law, Harold Blake of Muscatine, was a World War II veteran. Havel said he served in the U.S. Navy on three ships in the Pacific theatre.

Blake earned several World War II victory medals and a defense medal, but never received them, Havel said, adding he has been trying to get them for several years, and has asked elected officials for assistance.

"They sent me a letter saying to try to buy some online or at a pawn shop," Havel said. "They refused to do anything so I was hoping Mr. Loebsack would."

Loebsack listened to Havel's story, gave him a business card and promised to look into the matter further. He has been helping veterans obtain lost medals for years, as part of his veterans town hall events.

"I think something will get done about it now," Havel said. "These guys know what they're doing."

Muscatine veterans also talked to Loebsack about the War on Terror, asking if there is an end in sight for the wars in the Middle East.

"Terrorism will likely be around for as far as the eye can see, but how we deal with it is the question, diplomatically and economically," Loebsack said.

Loebsack said there is no easy answer, but he encourages the United States to "work with its allies."

This is the sixth year Loebsack has traveled Iowa to visit with veterans for the Fourth of July. Loebsack's brother served in the Vietnam War, and his uncle and stepson serve in the military. His stepson will soon serve in Kuwait.

Loebsack said it is especially meaningful for him to speak with veterans in advance of Independence Day.

His goal is to hear their concerns, help improve their lives and reduce the number of veteran suicides in the country. On average, Lobesack said more than 20 veterans commit suicide every day in the United States.

After visiting Muscatine, Loebsack spoke with veterans at the Briggs Center in Wapello, and then stopped at the Washington Public Library.
Here are some facts about the Fourth of July. Some of them may surprise you.

Benjamin Franklin proposed the turkey as the national bird but was overruled by John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, who recommended the bald eagle.

In 2012, fireworks sales by wholesalers totaled $482.6 million, and sales by retailers totaled $368.6 million.

In 2016, the United States imported $5.4 million in American flags.

Americans consume about 155 million hot dogs on the Fourth of July each year. They also spend $92 million on chips, $167.5 million on watermelon and $341.4 million on beer.

More than 11,000 people will visit ERs this Independence Day due to firework-related injuries.

Fireworks have been a major part of Fourth of July since the earliest celebrations. In 1884, miners blew up the post office in Swan, Colorado, because it wasn't supplied with fireworks.

Countries like Denmark, England, Norway, Portugal and Sweden celebrate the Fourth of July because many of their citizens moved to the United States, or simply to attract American tourists.